Brothers and Sisters! Alhamdulillah, we are all Muslims. We say, we claim, and we believe that we have submitted ourselves to the will of Allah (SWT). But let us ask ourselves with full sincerity; have we actually humbled and submitted ourselves to Him? If we have, then do we find khushu’ i.e., a state of humbleness and submissiveness in our prayers, in our actions and in our daily lives? The topic of my khutba today is khushu’. What is khushu’? What does it mean? What are its benefits? How do we achieve it? These are some of the issues that I will try to address. Surat al-Mu’minun describes true believers as those who offer their prayers with khushu’. The blessed surah says,
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ () الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ()
“Successful indeed are the believers; those who humble themselves in their prayers” (al-Mu’minun, 23:1-2).
What is khushu’? It refers to a state of mind when we stand in front of Allah and fully direct our minds and hearts towards Him. It is also said to be a state of mind that contains calmness, tranquility, dignity, and humility during prayers. Linguistically, the term khushu’ refers to a feeling of intense reverence, awe, submission and respect. What makes a person have this khushu’ is fear of Allah and the consciousness that He is always watching.
Khushu’ goes beyond fear. It is the means by which our hearts are brought to life, finding peace in the remembrance of Allah, seeking His pleasure with every action of ours. Khushu’ is often associated with prayers, but it shouldn’t be confined to it. The ritual prayer or salah is the manifestation of this submission of the hearts and limbs and, without khushu’, the salah becomes a mechanical act. If our hearts are not in it, the very objective of salah, which is to link us with Allah, has been missed.
The Prophet (SAW) said: “The first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgment is the salah. If it is sound, then the rest of his deeds will be sound. And if it is bad, then the rest of his deeds will be bad.” Brothers and Sisters! How can our salah be accepted if we take it lightly and our attention is continuously diverted while we are in the midst of it? Surat al-Ma’un clearly says,
فَوَيْلٌ لِلْمُصَلِّينَ () الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ()
“Woe to those who pray but whose hearts are not in their prayers” (al-Ma’un, 107:4-5).
Khushu’ is very important, but it is something that is easily lost and is rarely seen. Some of us do not concentrate on what we are saying; some of us rush through our prayers; some of us let our gaze wander during salah. It seems that the duniya hugs our hearts and clouds our minds during salah. When Satan vowed to Allah to mislead and tempt the sons of Adam, he said,
ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَائِلِهِمْ
“Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left “(al-A’raf, 7:17).
One of his most significant plots is to divert people from salah by all possible means and to whisper to them during their prayer so as to deprive them of the joy of this worship and cause them to lose the reward for it.
Concerning the virtues of khushu’ and as a warning to the one who neglects it, the Prophet (SAW) said: “Allah has made five prayers compulsory. If anyone performs ablution for them well, offers them at their time, and observes properly their bowing and has perfect khushu’, it is a promise from Allah that he will be forgiven, but whoever does not do this, has no such promise. If Allah wishes, He will forgive him, and if He wishes, He will punish him.
One of the benefits of khushu’ is that it makes prayer easier for a person. Allah tells us,
وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ
“Seek help with patience and prayer. But that is a very hard thing, except for the humble ones” (al-Baqarah, 2:45).
There are Muslims who delay their prayers until the time for it is almost over and then they quickly peck the floor with their heads, thinking they are absolved of the obligation. In other words, they ‘just get it over with’. But, Brothers and Sisters! Do you realize what the Prophet (SAW) called such a prayer? He called it the ‘prayer of the hypocrite’! Allah says that laziness in prayer is a characteristic of the hypocrites.
قَلِيلًا وَإِذَا قَامُوا إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ قَامُوا كُسَالَىٰ يُرَاءُونَ النَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ إِلَّاً
“And When they get up to pray, they get up lazily, showing off to people, and only remembering Allah a very little” (al-Nisa’, 4:142).
In a hadith, the Prophet (SAW) said: ‘The worst type of thief is the one who steals from his prayer.’ When asked how can a person steal from his prayer?’ He said, ‘By not doing ruku’ and sujood properly.”
The Prophet (SAW) used to move at a measured pace during salah, allowing every bone to return to its place with each movement. And he commanded those who were not doing their prayer properly to do the same. Remember the hadith about the person who rushed through his prayer? The Prophet (SAW) told him three times: “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” Then he told the man: “When you go to pray, say takbeer, then recite whatever you can of the Qur’an. Then bow until you are at ease in bowing, then rise until you are standing up straight. Then prostrate until you are at ease in prostration, then sit up until you are at ease in sitting. Then do that throughout the entire prayer.”
May Allah make us of those who observe khushu’ in their prayers. Ameen.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
In psychological terms, we can liken the state of mind during khushu’ to a single-minded immersion of oneself with deep focus on the activity at hand and one that leads to maximum performance. We know that our state of mind, directly or indirectly, impacts almost everything that we do in life. A bad state of mind can have a devastating effect on our overall performance, shows its effects on our outward appearances, and in general becomes a hindrance to bringing out the best in us. On the other hand, we also know the good feelings associated with being in a good state of mind. It makes us feel livelier and more productive, and life generally seems more fulfilling.
We must find ways to get in the right states of minds to maximize our performance for any given activity or else we can expect poor results. The activity of “Prayer” or salah is no exception to that rule. The Prophet (SAW) alluded to something similar in a hadith which implied that we get only a portion of the reward for our prayers depending on the level of our efforts. He (SAW) said: “A slave may pray and have nothing recorded for it except a tenth of it, or a ninth, or an eighth, or a seventh, or a sixth, or a fifth, or a quarter, or a third, or a half.” This means that the reward that one gets for salah is in proportion to the degree of khushu’ he has in the prayers. Why should we then lose the blessing and reward because of a wandering heart and an itchy hand? Concentration is the soul of our salah. Yet, in spite of knowing this, people do not strive to perfect their salah and hence it is very likely that only a small portion of it is written for them.
However, voluntarily getting in a focused state of mind and staying there is easier said than done. Many a time we tend to get sidetracked by our own thoughts. As for prayers, the reality is that as soon as we enter the state of prayers, various thoughts rush into our minds distracting us from the state of worship. These distractions also include satanic whispers, also referred to as “wasawis” and sometimes reach to a level where the act of worship fails to deliver any notable spiritual value.
Sadly, this lack of control on our thoughts and states of our minds not only deprives us from establishing a relationship with our creator but also prevents us from bringing calm to our jittery nerves and lives in general. Among other things, the Prophet (SAW) relied on prayers to provide him comfort and mental calm. He once said,
حُبِّبَ إِلَىَّ النِّسَاءُ وَالطِّيبُ وَجُعِلَتْ قُرَّةُ عَيْنِي فِي الصَّلاَةِ
“’Women and perfume have been made dear to me, but my comfort has been provided in prayer.”
He also used to say to Bilal (RA)
“ يَا بِلاَلُ أَقِمِ الصَّلاَةَ أَرِحْنَا بِهَا ”
“O Bilal, call Iqamah for prayer: give us comfort by it.”
One way to get in a positive state of mind so that we may excel at a task is to ensure that we develop a passion for it. The more passionate we feel about doing something, the less likelihood there is to get distracted from that activity. We know this from our hypnotic interest in the many TV shows, movies, and numerous other entertainment episodes that occupy our minds on a daily basis. So, if we complain about not having khushu’ in our prayers, we ought to assess our passion and level of interest in prayers and our relationship with our Creator. How does it compare with our life’s other passions and interests?
A reduced interest drives us to rush through prayers so that we can get back to our other activities of interest. The reason behind our poor khushu’ levels, therefore, may be rooted in our lack of interest to pray in the first place. We can get over this problem by spending time to learn and internalize the merits and rewards of prayer. We should know that khushu’ and knowledge are deeply related. We have in Surat Fatir,
إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ
“Only those of Allah’s servants having knowledge fear Him” (Fatir, 35:28).
May Allah increase us in knowledge so that we benefit from it both in this world and in the hereafter. Allahumma Ameen. We should strive to learn some Arabic; at least to the extent that we understand the translation of the Qur’anic verses we’re reciting. There is a general notion that this is very difficult, if not impossible. Allah says four times in Surat al-Qamar,
وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِر
“And We made the Quran easy to learn. Do any of you wish to learn?” (al-Qamar, 54:17).
Another method to help us perform our best in any activity is to get mentally ready for that activity beforehand. Athletes do it regularly. We do it too before getting ready for any challenging activity. This preparation before the actual event helps clear the clutter from our minds that maybe lingering from previous activities. As far as prayers are concerned, performing proper ablution (wudu), making du’a, offering Sunnah and nawafil prayers are some of the things that can get us in the right state of mind before we start the obligatory prayers.
Let me conclude by saying that khushu’ is an ideal practice to help us increase the quality of our prayers that can, as the Prophet (SAW) said bring delight and calm to our lives.
