“Successful indeed are the believers. Those who perform their Salah with all solemnity and full submissiveness” – Qur'an (23:1-2)
As we all know Salah is one of the five pillars of Islam and whoever claims to believe in Allah and His Messenger (saw) must establish prayer. Just as they say, words without action is meaningless, similarly belief without sincerity has no meaning in Islam and sincerity is defined by our actions. So why is it so important that we concentrate better on our salah?
It is narrated by Omar ( ra ) that a man might have white hair in Islam (he reaches old age while Muslim) and yet, he has not completed even one Salah for Allah the Exalted! He was asked why and he answered: He does not perfect the prayer’s required Khushu (Humbleness) ” Al-Ihya, vol.1, p202.
Khushu literally means fearing, obeying, being modest and submissiveness. In this sense, humbleness is a dual interaction, the essence of which is in the heart and the reflection of which is on the body. Khushu is like an indication of your faith and when you don't have it at all, you might want to check the status of your faith.
Below are some tips and tricks to help you concentrate better in your prayer that I found to be the most effective and helpful in my own salah:
1. Make Wudu before each and every prayer
It helps prepare your mind and body for salah.
2. Be grateful
When you think and acknowledge all the blessings Allah(swt) has showered you with , it is almost impossible to distract the mind from being humble and thankful.
3. Know the meaning of the verses you are reciting
When you know the meaning of the verses you recite in prayer it helps increase concentration in prayer since you can now connect with the Qur'an on a personal level.
4. Reflect upon the verses
Try to stop and think about every verse you read. Look up the hadiths and histories of that particular context beforehand and try to relate it to a situation around your life, this will help with the understanding of those verses better.
5. Pray like it's your last prayer
You never know if tomorrow comes so as long as you have this moment, try your best to dedicate it to Allah(swt) like you would if you knew this was your last prayer.
6. Pause between reciting each verse
When you pause between each verses it slows you down and helps you stay more aware of what you're saying.
7. Think of Allah all day long
It is commonly seen that whatever we think about the whole day, we end up thinking about it during our prayer. It is more sad than actually strange that we spend hours after hours paying full attention to our worldly activities but fail to give a sincere few minutes to the One who created us and the whole world itself.
