Almost every kid loves watching cartoons, which are then replaced by shows, movies and sit-coms when we grow older. Recently, I was watching my little cousin watch cartoons; he sat right in front of the television, put on cartoon network at full volume and then forgot about everyone around him. He was mesmerized by the pictures and the sounds which are obviously the farthest thing away from reality, yet to him it was all too real. Obviously not all of us watched cartoons with the same fervor but isn’t this somewhat true with us and our favorite shows as well? I have even seen many grown-up people being unable to respond while their favorite show is on. Now compare the way we do this to the way we pray, do you see the huge difference? We give more significance to fictional characters than we do to our Creator!
People can talk at length about their favorite actors yet a little talk about Allah makes them uncomfortable. And if this is our reality then how can we ever improve our salah (namaz)? If all day long we are focusing on other things then obviously our prayers will be reduced to nothing but a mere ritual, in which we’ll hurriedly and absent mindedly go about making the necessary postures and positions till the time we say salam and then we’ll run back to our daily activities to find “peace”. When in fact, finding peace through worldly activities is completely ironic in it of itself because "Verily! Only in the remembrance of Allah will your heart find peace." (Surah 13, verse 29) So what we need to start from to improve our salah is to make our lives Allah oriented- that is to be conscious of Allah throughout the day, every day.
However, when talking about being conscious of Allah throughout the day we’re talking from a very broad perspective which we’ll have to work on individually, as writing about it can be a tedious job because it will be so extensive. Luckily along with this we also have other practical and effective methods through which we can improve our prayers; so what are those methods exactly? The first method starts from something unique and beautiful- the azaan. Never thought about azaan that way, have you? I hadn’t either until very recently. Why was it that a proper way had to be decided to call people towards namaz instead of just ringing a bell or something like that? That’s because even the call to prayer is extremely significant in our religion; we’re being called towards our Lord! Remember how people were gasping for air when they received Imran Khan’s phone-call to invite them to his jalsa; only to find out later that it was a simple recording. If we get so excited, so hyped up about a call to a jalsa then how come we don’t even stop to listen to the azaan?
Let’s think about what the azaan starts with; Allah-o-Akbar (four times). Many people translate Allah-o-Akbar as Allah is Great which is obviously true, yet it’s not COMPLETELY true either because it actually means that Allah is Greater. (Source- Nouman Ali Khan’s lecture “message to Pakistan’s youth”) But then what is being referred to when it’s being said Greater, as in who or what is it that Allah is Greater than? Obviously Allah is Greater than everything so this implies that when the azaan is being said and you hear Allah-o-Akbar that means you are being told that Allah is Greater than WHATEVER you are doing/saying/thinking, which should immediately make you stop everything and pay attention to the azaan. But we poor humans are so ignorant hence it is repeated three more times and then the rest of the azaan is said. So the importance of azaan is because it’s calling us to Allah, if we don’t take the call seriously then we can’t take namaz seriously either.
We need to listen to the azaan intently and answer it the way it’s supposed to be answered and then once it’s finished then read the supplication (dua) that is prescribed to be read at the end of the azaan. Also one can make any dua that they personally want at the end of azaan as this is a time for acceptance of duas. Once done with the azaan, one needs to take immense care of wuzu as well. There are two separate duas that are to be read at the beginning and end of the wuzu; learn and recite them. Apart from this, while doing wuzu one should be aware that his/her sins are being washed away so they should perform ablution with mindfulness and humility, and should perform wuzu the way it was performed by the Prophet(S.A.W.). If both the steps discussed so far, i.e. listening to azaan and performing wuzu, are done with their due diligence then one is already on his/her way towards a better salah.
And now we have reached the actual exam- the salah! Notice how there is a preparation that must be done with the utmost care before we start the actual test. This preparation is necessary to take our minds away from the dunya and to assist us in our meeting with Allah Ta’ala as it is a transition that cannot be made directly. Also before starting we should make sure that we’ve chosen a place with minimal distractions, which is clean and also which has enough light that we can see the place on which we’ll perform sajdah. So now that we have the prayer mat laid down and are ready to start the salah, we once more need to remind ourselves about the meeting and hence we need to make the niyyat of namaz before starting. Then throughout the namaz the four things that will help us in concentrating will be:
1. Knowing the translation (preferably also the explanation) of the surahs and the supplications that we recite in namaz,
2. Reciting these surahs and supplications with proper pronunciation (talafuz/ tajweed),
3. Making the right postures e.g. looking at one’s feet while in ruku and on the place of sujud while standing,
4. Being continuously aware of the fact that this is a conversation with Allah and that He is watching us and listening to us, so we need to make it worth that attention.
Apart from these afore-mentioned steps, we should also try to extend the time we stand in ruku and sit in sujud; as it is narrated by Abu Qatadah [R.A.] that the Prophet (S.A.W.) said, “The worst kind of thief is one who steals from his prayer.” The companions said, “O Prophet of Allah how can someone steal from their prayers?” He (saw) said, “He does not fulfill the ruku of the prayer nor its sujood.” And at the end of each salah pray to Allah that He accepts our prayers, forgives our mistakes and make this dua:
اللهم أعنِّي على ذِكرِكَ, وَشُكرِكَ, وَحُسنِ عِبادَتِك
Transliteration: Allahumma a’inee ‘ala dhikrika, wa shukrika, wa husni ibadatik
Translation: O Allah! Assist me in remembering You, in thanking You, and in worshipping You in the best of manners.
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