Looking at the place of prostration and closing the eyes in prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: When I pray, I do not look at the place of prostration, but I close my eyes, recite the Qur'an, and reflect on it. Is my prayer valid, or is there something wrong with it?
The Shaykh:
The prayer is valid, but not looking at the place of your prostration is a mistake. If you do not look at the place of your prostration, your gaze wanders in front of you, and you become distracted from the prayer. Looking at the place of your prostration keeps your gaze focused, and this is more conducive to humility and not thinking about other things. However, if you start looking at the passersby or looking at everyone in front of you, this distracts you from the prayer, and this is contrary to the Sunnah. Yes, and what does he say?
The questioner:
He says: And I close my eyes, and I stand.
The Shaykh:
Closing the eyes is disliked, because this is the characteristic of the Jews in their prayer, unless there is something in front of him that distracts him. If there is something in front of him that distracts him, he closes his eyes. But if there is nothing in front of him that distracts him, he does not close his eyes. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: When I pray, I do not look at the place of prostration, but I close my eyes, recite the Qur'an, and reflect on it. Is my prayer valid, or is there something wrong with it?
The Shaykh:
The prayer is valid, but not looking at the place of your prostration is a mistake. If you do not look at the place of your prostration, your gaze wanders in front of you, and you become distracted from the prayer. Looking at the place of your prostration keeps your gaze focused, and this is more conducive to humility and not thinking about other things. However, if you start looking at the passersby or looking at everyone in front of you, this distracts you from the prayer, and this is contrary to the Sunnah. Yes, and what does he say?
The questioner:
He says: And I close my eyes, and I stand.
The Shaykh:
Closing the eyes is disliked, because this is the characteristic of the Jews in their prayer, unless there is something in front of him that distracts him. If there is something in front of him that distracts him, he closes his eyes. But if there is nothing in front of him that distracts him, he does not close his eyes. Yes.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب ذكر تشهد ابن مسعود وغيره — islamhouse.com (41:43)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.