Developing Khushu in Salah #1

Khushu

We perform Salah five times a day but can we honestly say that we have Khushu in it. When some of us pray, we go into autopilot or we daydream, but we should realise that the Salah is like a gift from Allah and that is how we should treat it. Being able to stand in front of Allah five times a day is an honour and we really should make the most out of our Salah and to do this we need to have Khushu.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ

And seek help through patience and prayer; and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive [to Allah] (Al Khasi’in – Those who have Khushu)

(2:45)

Khushu means humility. It is to be humble in front of Allah. It also means serenity, tranquillity and dignity. To have Khushu a person needs to fear Allah and know that He is always watching.

Khushu also means that the heart stands before the Lord in humility and submission. (Al Madarij)

حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ

Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle [i.e., 'asr] prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.

(2:238)

Part of obedience is to bow, to be solemn and submissive, to lower one’s gaze and to humble oneself out of fear of Allah, may He be Glorified. (Ta’zim Qadr al Salah)

Allah says:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

Certainly will the believers have succeeded:
الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ

They who are during their prayer humbly submissive

(23:1-2)

Khushu is developed in the heart (that is why I decided to do a post about it and to benefit my brothers and sisters in the deen) and the results of it manifest on the body. This brings to mind the hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمwho said: “Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body, if it becomes good (reformed), the whole body becomes good, but if it gets spoilt, the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.” (Sahih Bukhari)

Shaitan, who wishes to mislead mankind, tries to distract us during Salah so that we lose the reward and sweetness of Salah and he also tries to divert us getting closer to Allah hence why some people get a lot of waswas during Salah. May Allah save us from the cursed one.

The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم also said:

“The first thing of your religion that you will lose is Khushu, and the last thing that you will lose of your religion is Salah. There may be a person praying who has no goodness in him, and soon you will enter the masjid and not find anyone who has Khushu” (Al-Madarij)

So in these difficult times where we are drawing closer to the Day of Judgement, day by day, we really need to hold fast to our deen and try to improve our Salah so that we may please Allah and draw closer to Him, Most Glorified and Exalted is He.

May Allah make it easy for us to gain Khushu.

More posts about Khushu heading your way in’shaa’Allah

(A reminder to myself first and foremost)

Purifying The Heart #2 - Sincerity

Sincerity to Allah is really important in whatever deed you do throughout your life. We need to have sincere intentions to please Allah through our deeds. 

Narrated `Umar bin Al-Khattâb رضي اللهُ عنه : I heard Allah's Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم saying, ``The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrates for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, 

his emigration will be for what he emigrated for.'' (Bukhari) 

For purification of the heart we need to constantly ask ourselves who are we doing it for? Are you doing it for Allah or are you doing it so people will think good of you. With all deeds we need to ask ourselves are we doing it for Allah. We need to make sincere intentions and also be sincere to Allah. We all know that Allah is watching us and He knows what is in our hearts (intentions etc). So during the purification we really need to be sincere and do it solely for the purpose of Allah's pleasure and so that we can be closer to Him. 

Tips
• Make dua to Allah to grant you sincerity to Him

• Remember that Allah is watching you and knows what your intentions are

• Before doing any deed ask yourself 'Am I doing it for Allah?' Doing it for people will not benefit you at all but doing it for Allah will benefit you immensely!! 

• Purify your intentions with whatever deed you do. And try to do it for the purification because no one can see your heart but Allah so why not purify it and make it beautiful for Allah who is the All Loving, All Merciful and He is the Greatest. 
“There is among people, he whose speech will dazzle you in this life and he will claim that Allaah is witness to (the sincerity of) what is in his heart, yet he will be among the most vicious enemies (of mankind).” (2:204)

• Be humble, once you see that you are starting to see results from purification thank Allah and praise Him and remember that you wouldn't have been able to do it without His help or guidance. 

• Strive against yourself and other things to please Allah 

• Have a focus on where you want to go with this purification = Allah's pleasure and closeness to Him

• Have patience, purification of the heart can take quite a long time depending on the state of your heart 

"The servant of Allah does not attain a true state of emaan until he sees trials as a blessings, ease as distress, and that he does not like to be praised about his worship" ( Fudayl Ibn Iyaad) 

(A reminder to myself first and foremost)

Purifying The Heart #1 - Self Reflection

It is really important to reflect on one’s self and see how you can improve yourself for the sake and pleasure of Allah. That is purifying and adorning the heart with what Allah loves and adopting good manners. After all He does say

لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ض

َلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ

“Certainly did Allah confer [great] favour upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book [i.e., the Qur'an] and wisdom, (the prophet's sunnah) although they had been before in manifest error.”
(3:164)

And living our lives the way the Prophet (SAW) lived, who is the best example anyone can have. Allah said to him:

وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ

And indeed, you are of a great moral character.
(68:4)

The prophet (SAW) emphasised on the necessity of ihtisab or self evaluation. 'Everyone starts his day and is a vendor of his soul, either freeing it or bringing about its ruin' (Muslim)

Umar (RA) also said 'Judge yourself before you are judged, evaluate yourself before you are evaluated and be ready for the greatest investigation.’

We should implement as much fard (if not done so already) and sunnah acts as possible and try to be like the Prophet (SAW) In character and manners.

Narrated `Abdullâh bin `Amr رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُما : The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was neither a Fâhish nor a Mutafahhish (never used bad language). He used to say, ``The best amongst you are those who have the best manners and character.'' (Bukhari)

Abu Ad-Dardâ' narrated that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ``Nothing is heavier on the believer's Scale on the Day of Judgement than good character. For indeed Allah, Most High, is angered by the shameless obscene person.'' (Sahih)
(Tirmidhi)

The truth is no one is perfect. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Self reflection can be used for many things in our life e.g. Sincerity of intentions of deeds but we will be using it as a tool for purifying the heart and to learn about ourselves so that we know what makes us act in a certain way. This would be the first step to purifying yourself.

Firstly, Reflect on how you can be a better servant of Allah by doing extra good deeds, purifying yourself from bad habits, staying away from things that have been forbidden by Allah.

Self reflection is a must if you wish to purify your heart, so that you know what you can improve on and what diseases of the heart you need to get rid of.

In the next few weeks/ months In'shaa'Allah I'll put up a few diseases in the heart and how it can be cured by the help of Allah.

Some of the diseases are:
-Kufr, Shirk
-Relying on other than God
-Showing off
-Arrogance
-Jealousy/ Hatred
-Controlling the tongue
-Animal desires
-Anger
-Greed
-Ungratefulness
-Love of the world
-Boasting
-Fantasising
-Fear of poverty
-Displeasure with divine decree
-Seeking reputation
-Negative thoughts

I would recommend that people write down which diseases you need to get rid of and your strengths as well and how you think you can improve both strengths and weaknesses.

Tools needed:
• Plenty of dua to Allah to seek His aid in your purification.

• The Qur'an (try to implement a verse in your life every week. E.g. Allah says the successful ones are those who fear Him in Surah Baqarah. So try to fear Him. I'll be putting a post up about that. And remember some verses may take longer to implement)

• Be sincere - do it only for the sake of Allah and know that He is watching you and knows your intentions.

• Be humble, once you feel that a certain disease is gone, praise and thank Allah and know that without His help you would not have succeeded in doing so.

• Start keeping a book and write your experiences in it. The diseases, what you have learnt, your strengths and weaknesses. Go back to it at least once a week and review.

• Some diseases will take longer to be cured so patience is needed. "And Allah loves those who are firm and steadfast (As Sabirin - The patient) (3:146)

• Speak to someone you trust and ask them what habits they noticed that you can get rid of and do not get offended even if you think you don't do a certain thing, instead take it as a learning experience.

"The day when there will not benefit (anyone) wealth or children. But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart." (26:89,90)

May Allah make us among those who return to Him with a sound heart. Ameen.

(A reminder to myself first and foremost)

Dawah Tip #1 - Body Language

Before starting your dawah conversation, make dua to Allah to make it easy for you and ask Him to guide the person you are giving dawah to because none can guide or help except for Allah.

When giving dawah, it is important to have the right body language, correct tone of voice etc as 94% of our communication is non verbal. A lot of people like Yusuf Estes and others embraced Islam after seeing the kindness and mannerisms of Muslims. 

Narrated `

Abdullâh bin `Amr رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُما : The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was neither a Fâhish nor a Mutafahhish (never used bad language). He used to say, ``The best amongst you are those who have the best manners and character.'' (Bukhari)

We should aim to adopt the best manners and character for our own benefit and use it for dawah as well as to get us into Jannah.

When giving someone dawah you should make them feel relaxed. You can do this by relaxing yourself first. Make sure you keep your back straight. This helps with increasing your own confidence. Being confident is crucial as the person can take over the conversation or change the subject. And try to keep them interested by emphasising what you are saying.

Make eye contact with the person. This makes them feel that all your attention is on them and they would want to listen to what you have to say. But do not stare at them because this will make them feel uncomfortable.

Try not to stand too close to the person you are giving dawah to as this might make them feel intimidated and they will feel like your invading their personal space. Leave at least an arm’s length distance between you and the person.

ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِۖ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِۖ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided. (16:125)

Speak to them calmly and with kind words and make them realise how beautiful Islam is through you by showing them. E.g. Kindness, respect.

Try to find out their name by asking them and get to know them a bit. Use their name during the conversation. This would make them feel that the message is specifically for them. Shake hands with them too.

Introduce yourself as well and talk a bit about yourself (but not too much) so that the person feels comfortable and doesn't see you as a complete stranger.

If they ask a question listen to them attentively. They will throw a lot of questions at you but in turn question them about their beliefs (Not to show interest but just to make them realise that logically Islam makes more sense)

Do a bit of research beforehand like the basics of Islam etc and watch videos on YouTube of people giving dawah so that you would know what questions and comments to expect from people.

Smile at them and enjoy talking about this wonderful deen. But mostly enjoy! Giving dawah makes you realise how fortunate you are to be a Muslim.

I would personally recommend this website to learn about the basics of Dawah
http://www.missiondawah.com/dawah/dawah-training/call-of-duty-dawah-course-online-training.php

And I’ll finish this tip off with a beautiful ayah from the Quran.

وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا مِّمَّن دَعَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, "Indeed, I am of the Muslims." (41:33)

Depression

Depression is an illness that a lot of people go through at some point in their life and it can be avoided and treated just like all other illnesses. Although, anti depressants are used to treat it somehow the person may find that they are back in that state again after a year or two. Some of the symptoms of depression are:

• continuous low mood or sadness
• feeling hopeless and helpless
• having low self-esteem 
• feeling tearful
• feeling guilt-ridden

• feeling irritable and intolerant of others
• having no motivation or interest in things
• finding it difficult to make decisions
• not getting any enjoyment out of life
• having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming yourself
• feeling anxious or worried
(Symptoms according to NHS)
The solution to it can only be found in the infallible words of Allah, The Qur'an.

Have you wondered why it happens? There may be an answer like a life event or unhappiness with one’s life but this is not the answer because one may find that after a while they end up in depression again. The truth is life is hard.

Allah says in the Qur'an “Or do you think you will enter into heaven (with ease)?” (2:214)

This verse poses a question for people to understand that entering Jannah is not possible without various difficulties surrounding it.
We also need to remember this verse in the Qur'an where Allah says: “Allah does not place a burden on a soul greater than what it can handle.” (2:286). One should feel hope from this verse because whatever you are going through, you CAN handle it or else Allah, The Almighty, The All-Knowing would not have put you through a certain test.

Depression can be related to from a spiritual way. Allah has created everything in a perfect balance, even humans. Allah says in the Qur'an “And do not ruin the balance” (55:9).

So how can depression be related to balancing something? We as humans have a spiritual side and a physical side and both need to be kept in a balance. We need to feed our bodies for energy and feed our spiritual side with prayer and acts of worship as we have been created to worship none other than Allah. If we overfeed our bodies, we’ll be unable to perform our duties or if we focus too much on the dunya and not on Islam, this unbalances the natural balance and abandoning worshipping Allah has a detrimental effect on us especially our soul, which leads to depression.

The only solution to avoid and treat depression is found in the Qur'an.

Allah says in the Qur'an “Those who believed, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah.” (13:28)

Ibn Kathir said in his tafsir “for their hearts (believers) find comfort on the side of Allah, become tranquil when He is remembered and pleased to have Him as their Protector and Supporter. So Allah said,

“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest” (13:28)

So one needs to ask themselves are they remembering Allah during hardship, trials, tests and during times of ease.

The best option to avoid depression and find peace in the heart is to remember Allah constantly. Some of the acts that help are:

• Ask Allah to help you because none can help but Him. Just turn to Him and remember “Verily the help of Allah is near” (2:214)
• Ask Allah for patience
• Having Khushu in prayer ( I would recommend everyone to read ‘Developing Khushu in the prayer’ by Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid)
• Dhikr (Remembering Allah and Praising Him whenever you have some time free e.g. walking to the bus stop)
• Reading the Qur'an (Even if it is just a page or a verse, plus translation if you do not understand Arabic)
• Having Hope in Allah and leaving everything in His Hands because He knows what is best for us
• Also remember that everything comes to an end so whatever trial or test you are going through will come to an end as well
• Speak to a friend or family (Talking about a problem helps to perceive your problems in a different way)
• Do exercise (During depression, a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which regulates mood, anger etc goes low. Doing exercise helps to keep it up). Even the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) took part in various sports.