{"id":2843,"date":"2022-05-13T18:52:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T17:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/?p=2843"},"modified":"2022-05-13T18:52:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T17:52:08","slug":"focus-during-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/05\/13\/focus-during-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus during Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear\nbrothers and sisters, we dive deeper into last week\u2019s topic and focus today\u2019s\nreminder on establishing the focus. This resonated with many people last week\nand so today\u2019s reminder will serve as a lesson on how focus is established and\nwhy it is so important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The imam\nspoke regarding this topic and mentioned first the ayats 4 and 5 from Sura Ma\u2019un\nwhich is translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So woe to those who pray but who are heedless or neglectful\nof their prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as\nayat 238 of Sura Baqara which is translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observe the \u02f9five obligatory\u02fa prayers\u2014especially the middle\nprayer\u2014and stand in true devotion to Allah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And also\nfollowed up by mentioning the hadith of the Prophet SAWS in which he is\ntranslated to have said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe one who commits the worst theft is he who steals from\nhis prayer.\u201d When asked how one could steal from his prayer he replied, \u201cBy not\nperforming his bowing and his prostration perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear\nbrothers and sisters, we can learn from these sources that the focus of prayer\nand the performance of it is so important for us. We must strive to bring back\na sense of occasion and a sense of pride to performing salah and not just see\nit as a tick-box exercise that we all perform almost as an inconvenience to our\nday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the\nrest of the day should be considered as something to be moved around the anchors\nthat are our five daily prayers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many of\nus, this is a challenge and we first need to look at our mindset before we put\ninto action a plan to bring our prayers back to the level of worship they need\nto be at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The imam\nmentioned the importance of mindset and specifically of the heart by reminding\nus of a warning that Allah SWT send us in the Quran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The imam\nreferenced the 142nd<\/sup> ayat of Sura An-Nisa which is translated to\nsay:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surely the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but He outwits\nthem. When they stand up for prayer, they do it half-heartedly only to be seen\nby people\u2014hardly remembering Allah at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear\nbrothers and sisters, we can contemplate from this ayat that the word hypocrite\nis being mentioned in the same ayat as those who are performing their prayers\nwith half-heartedness or lack of heart. May Allah SWT save us from these group\nof people!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, we\nneed to reset our hearts, our minds and then through practical actions, bring\nourselves back from the abyss of praying zombie-like and instead get to a point\nwith Salah where we yearn to return in front of Allah SWT five times a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so this\nreminder offers some practical ways in which we can try and achieve that.\nRemember, if this is a problem that resonates with anyone listening today then\nthe remedy comes from Allah SWT and the first step is to acknowledge the\nproblem and be patient as the solution may take time to accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Awareness \u2013 As mentioned last, week\none of the main points worth implementing is to remind yourself of the\noccasion. You are stood in front of your Creator, the Creator of everything you\nsee and know and so this should over time prompt you into rising to the\noccasion and remaining focused, humbled and dedicated to this act of worship.<\/li>
  2. Punctuality \u2013 Try to make each prayer\ntowards the beginning of it\u2019s allotted time. Better still, in congregation. By\nleaving the prayer in the final moments before the next is due, you are already\nrushing to make it on time and this then jeopardizes the quality of it.<\/li>
  3. Knowledge \u2013 Again, as mentioned last\nweek, invest some time to understand what it is that you are reciting. Once\nunderstood, take your time to pray, read each ayat with a slow pace, low voice\nand pause between them as you contemplate what you have just recited. This may\ntake time but will be a precious habit formed for this worship.<\/li>
  4. Seek refuge in Allah \u2013 Seek refuge in\nAllah SWT by reciting it at the start and if needed, recite during the Salah so\nthat your mind comes back to the prayer. Remember, it is the intention of\nShaitaan to distract you from the prayer so use all tools at your disposal to rid\nhim from your worship.<\/li>
  5. Could be the Last \u2013 Remember, dear\nbrothers and sisters, nobody knows which prayer of theirs could be their last.\nIf you knew for sure this was to be your final salah to Allah SWT, what would\nyou do different? And then ask yourself why is it that you aren\u2019t maintaining\nor trying to achieve that level in all of your prayers?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    And so dear\nbrothers and sisters, lets start with the Jummuah prayer and begin to establish\nthe correct heart and mindset to our prayers so that we can be included in the\ngroup of people mentioned by the Prophet SAWS when he was reported to have\nsaid:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWhen the time for a prescribed prayer comes, if any Muslim\nobserves proper ablution, humility and bowing, it will be an expiation for his\npast sins, so long as he has not committed a major sin; and that means for all\ntime.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Dear brothers and sisters, we dive deeper into last week\u2019s topic and focus today\u2019s reminder on establishing the focus. This resonated with many people last week and so today\u2019s reminder will serve as a lesson on how focus is established and why it is so important. The imam spoke regarding this topic and mentioned first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"blocksy_meta":[],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","post_slider_layout_landscape_large":"","post_slider_layout_portrait_large":"","post_slider_layout_square_large":"","post_slider_layout_landscape":"","post_slider_layout_portrait":"","post_slider_layout_square":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}