Treating Obsessions in Prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
When I stand for prayer, I am afflicted with a type of obsessions and intrusive thoughts, and sometimes I do not know what I recited or the number of rak'ahs? Please advise me on what I should do?
Answer:
It is prescribed for the one praying, whether male or female, to focus on his prayer and be humble in it before Allah, and to be mindful that he is standing before his Lord, so that Satan may distance himself from him and the obsessions may decrease; acting in accordance with the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Mu'minun: 1-2]. And when the obsessions become numerous, it is prescribed to seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, even during the prayer, by spitting to the left three times and seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan three times, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded Uthman ibn Abi al-As to do when he informed him that Satan had confused his prayer.
And when the one praying doubts the number of rak'ahs, he should take the lesser number, build upon certainty, and complete his prayer, then prostrate twice for forgetfulness before he says the taslim; based on what is established from Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Muslim narrated it in his "Sahih". And success is from Allah.
When I stand for prayer, I am afflicted with a type of obsessions and intrusive thoughts, and sometimes I do not know what I recited or the number of rak'ahs? Please advise me on what I should do?
Answer:
It is prescribed for the one praying, whether male or female, to focus on his prayer and be humble in it before Allah, and to be mindful that he is standing before his Lord, so that Satan may distance himself from him and the obsessions may decrease; acting in accordance with the saying of Allah the Exalted:
(1) Certainly will the believers have succeeded: (2) They who are during their prayer humbly submissive
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ And when the one praying doubts the number of rak'ahs, he should take the lesser number, build upon certainty, and complete his prayer, then prostrate twice for forgetfulness before he says the taslim; based on what is established from Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
If one of you doubts in the prayer and does not know how much he prayed: three or four? Let him discard the doubt and build upon what he is certain of, then let him prostrate twice before he says the taslim. If he prayed five, they will make his prayer even, and if he prayed the full amount, they will be a humiliation for Satan.
إذا شكَّ أحدُكم في الصلاة فلم يَدْرِ كم صلَّى: ثلاثًا أم أربعًا؟ فليطرح الشك، وليبن على ما استيقن، ثم ليسجد سجدتين قبل أن يُسلم، فإن كان صلَّى خمسًا شفعن له صلاته، وإن كان صلى تمامًا كانتا ترغيمًا للشيطان
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.