3 Common Flaws in Our Daily Salah, Part 1

Being a Muslim, we must perform Salah 5 times a day. Alhamdulillah! we try our best to pray on time. But how good is our attention, concentration, and focus in Salah? Do we understand, feel, and ponder what we recite in the prayer?

Allah The Almighty invites us to reflect on His Book and ponder its meanings and secrets.  This is true for what we recite in Salah too.  Allah Says: [This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded.  [Al-Quran 38:29]

Lets’ reflect on the 3 common flaws we make during Salah.

1. Reciting fast: Most of us recite very fast.  To realize how unethical it is, imagine your secretary or savant, talking to you at the same speed.  Would you tolerate that? Won’t you say to him: Stop! Don’t you know how to talk? Talk slowly and clearly.
If I don’t accept this ‘fast talking’ from my own secretary or servant, how dare I do the same to Allah?

2. “Roaming around”: We take out time from our busy schedule, perform Wudoo(ablution), come to Masjid, begin the prayer, and then start ‘roaming.’  Shaitan uses this opportunity to remind us of the past and the future; of what we discussed in meetings before Salah, of upcoming appointments, missing items, and so on.  To realize how unethical it is, let us imagine your secretary talking to you slowly and clearly but thinking somewhere else.  He says: Sir, you are great; I never saw a person like you; I will never forget your favors; etc. But in his mind, he is thinking about washing his dirty clothes, cutting his nails, or polishing his shoes.  Will you be happy with just the words that come out of his mouth?
If I am not happy such a behavior, how dare I do the same to Allah?

3. Reciting without feelings: Most of us recite in plain mode without any feelings. To realize how bad that it, imagine your secretary talking to you slowly and with attention but without any feelings. Just in plain mode just like a robot: Sir, you are great; I never saw a person like you; I will never forget your favors….
If I don’t like to even sit with such a friend, how come I do that to Allah?

We need to ponder and realize how these common mistakes can ruin our worship and connection with our creator. What’s the solution to these flaws then? Don’t worry, we have got it for you, read on.

First, we must know the most important reason for these flaws. The answer is, reciting without understanding. Unless you understand what you are reading you cannot maintain focus in Salah. Once we understand what we recite, we can then use our imagination and feelings associated with this verse to maximize our attention in the Salah.
Inshallah, we will continue the discussion on this very important subject in our next blog post i.e. in part2.

May Allah help us pray the way He likes, Aameen.

Jazakallahu khair
Team UQA