What is the importance of khushu' in prayer, and how is khushu' achieved?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. What is the importance of khushu' in prayer, and how does a person become khushu' in prayer?
The Shaykh : The importance of khushu' in prayer is from two aspects:
The first aspect is that it is the perfection of the prayer; indeed, it is the core and the spirit of the prayer. Khushu' means the presence of the heart, such that when a person prays, he reads, bows, and prostrates while keeping this in mind, not doing these things while his heart is far away.
The second aspect is that khushu' in prayer has a greater reward, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has praised those who are khushu' in their prayer.
As for what helps in achieving khushu', it is that a person empties his heart completely when he turns to prayer, and feels that he is standing before Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We ask Allah to help us with that, that he is standing before Allah, and that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) knows what is in his heart just as He knows his movements in his body. It is not like kings; you might stand before a king, being polite in your appearance, while your heart is everywhere and He does not know. But Allah (Mighty and Majestic) knows your outward and your inward, so keep in mind that you are before Allah. And when you say:[Al-Fatihah 1:2] keep in mind that Allah will answer you, because it is established in the authentic hadith from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: قال الله تعالى : قسمت الصلاة بيني وبين عبدي نصفين ، فإذا قال : الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ قال : حمدني عبدي ، وإذا قال : الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ قال : أثنى علي عبدي ، وإذا قال : مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ قال : مجدني عبدي ، وإذا قال : إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ قال : هذا بيني وبين عبدي نصفين ، وإذا قال : اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ قال : هذا لعبدي ولعبدي ما سأل Allah the Exalted said: "I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant in two halves. So when he says: 'Al-hamdu lillahi Rabbil 'alamin' (All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds), He says: 'My servant has praised Me.' And when he says: 'Ar-Rahmanir-Raheem' (The Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate), He says: 'My servant has extolled Me.' And when he says: 'Maliki yawm ad-din' (Master of the Day of Judgment), He says: 'My servant has glorified Me.' And when he says: 'Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in' (You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help), He says: 'This is between Me and My servant, half for Me and half for My servant.' And when he says: 'Ihdinas-siratal mustaqim' (Guide us to the straight path), He says: 'This is for My servant, and for My servant is what he has asked.'" If we kept in mind this dialogue with Allah (Mighty and Majestic), could our hearts possibly turn to the right or to the left?!
But we, the one praying, are in heedlessness. So one of the greatest helps for khushu' is for a person to believe that he is now standing before Allah. This is one point.
Second: that he believes that khushu' is part of the perfection of the prayer, and that a person might leave his prayer with only half, a quarter, or a tenth of what was written for him.
Third: that he believes in the abundance of reward through khushu'. These are among the reasons that a person keeps in mind. For this reason, the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) said:Riyad as-Salihin 1753 Why?
Because his heart is preoccupied. As for the ordinary person, what makes his heart preoccupied?
The Shaykh : The importance of khushu' in prayer is from two aspects:
The first aspect is that it is the perfection of the prayer; indeed, it is the core and the spirit of the prayer. Khushu' means the presence of the heart, such that when a person prays, he reads, bows, and prostrates while keeping this in mind, not doing these things while his heart is far away.
The second aspect is that khushu' in prayer has a greater reward, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has praised those who are khushu' in their prayer.
As for what helps in achieving khushu', it is that a person empties his heart completely when he turns to prayer, and feels that he is standing before Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We ask Allah to help us with that, that he is standing before Allah, and that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) knows what is in his heart just as He knows his movements in his body. It is not like kings; you might stand before a king, being polite in your appearance, while your heart is everywhere and He does not know. But Allah (Mighty and Majestic) knows your outward and your inward, so keep in mind that you are before Allah. And when you say:
[All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds -
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَBut we, the one praying, are in heedlessness. So one of the greatest helps for khushu' is for a person to believe that he is now standing before Allah. This is one point.
Second: that he believes that khushu' is part of the perfection of the prayer, and that a person might leave his prayer with only half, a quarter, or a tenth of what was written for him.
Third: that he believes in the abundance of reward through khushu'. These are among the reasons that a person keeps in mind. For this reason, the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
No Salat (prayer) should be performed when the food has been served, nor should it be performed when a person is in need of relieving himself.
لا صلاة بحضرة طعام ولا وهو يدافع الأخبثانBecause his heart is preoccupied. As for the ordinary person, what makes his heart preoccupied?