The Ruling on Prayer Without Khushu' and the Causes of Khushu'
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you. From Tabuk, the questioner 'A. N. al-F. says: I am a person who maintains the five daily prayers, praise be to Allah, but my problem, Honorable Shaykh, in prayer is the lack of khushu'. Do these prayers count for me, or do I have to repeat the ones in which I did not have khushu'?
Answer:
Khushu' is not something a person can force upon himself. Khushu' is something Allah places in the heart, but it has causes. One must avoid distractions and things that disturb the mind before entering into prayer. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade praying while one is struggling with the urge to urinate or defecate until one relieves oneself. He also forbade praying in the presence of food one desires, so one does not pray until one has satisfied one's appetite, thereby entering prayer with a clear mind. He also forbade praying near anything that disturbs one, such as annoying noises, or in a place that is extremely hot or extremely cold. He also forbade rushing to prayer when the iqamah is called; rather, one should walk with composure. One prays what one catches up with and makes up what one missed, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded. One should also reflect on the Qur'an and be present in heart when reciting the Qur'an or hearing it from the imam, so that khushu' is attained. One should also realize the greatness of the One before whom one is standing, for one is standing before the King of Kings, standing before Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). One should be aware of this. If a person were standing before a king of kings, what would be his feeling and his sense of reverence? How much more so for the one who stands before the Lord of the Worlds? One should know this and not let it leave one's mind, so that one has khushu' before Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Yes.
May Allah reward you. From Tabuk, the questioner 'A. N. al-F. says: I am a person who maintains the five daily prayers, praise be to Allah, but my problem, Honorable Shaykh, in prayer is the lack of khushu'. Do these prayers count for me, or do I have to repeat the ones in which I did not have khushu'?
Answer:
Khushu' is not something a person can force upon himself. Khushu' is something Allah places in the heart, but it has causes. One must avoid distractions and things that disturb the mind before entering into prayer. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade praying while one is struggling with the urge to urinate or defecate until one relieves oneself. He also forbade praying in the presence of food one desires, so one does not pray until one has satisfied one's appetite, thereby entering prayer with a clear mind. He also forbade praying near anything that disturbs one, such as annoying noises, or in a place that is extremely hot or extremely cold. He also forbade rushing to prayer when the iqamah is called; rather, one should walk with composure. One prays what one catches up with and makes up what one missed, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded. One should also reflect on the Qur'an and be present in heart when reciting the Qur'an or hearing it from the imam, so that khushu' is attained. One should also realize the greatness of the One before whom one is standing, for one is standing before the King of Kings, standing before Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). One should be aware of this. If a person were standing before a king of kings, what would be his feeling and his sense of reverence? How much more so for the one who stands before the Lord of the Worlds? One should know this and not let it leave one's mind, so that one has khushu' before Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Yes.
Source
الخشوع في الصلاة — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.