The Ruling on Praying While Overwhelmed by Intrusive Thoughts and the Heart Not Being Present

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner says: When I begin the prayer with the imam, I try to focus my heart, but I drift out of the prayer with thoughts and worries, and I do not feel the presence of the imam until the last rak'ah. What is the ruling on my prayer? Do I have to repeat it?

Answer:
This is a deficiency in the prayer, without doubt. The one who prays gets from his prayer only what he understood of it. He may come out of it without any reward if his heart was not present in any part of it; he comes out without reward. However, he is not ordered to repeat it because he prayed, but he has no reward except for the portion in which his heart was present. It may be half, a quarter, a fifth, or a tenth. If his heart was present in all of it, he gets all of it. People differ in this. But a person must strive for khushu' (humility) in the prayer, to be present in heart, and to stay away from obsessive thoughts. If an obsessive thought occurs to him, he should leave it, reject it, and stay away from it. Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you