Developing Khushu and Khudhu in Prayer.

Seerat Shahina
Karachi
Developing Khushu and Khudhu in Prayer.

Praying 'salaah' in the religion of Islam is an ordained act, in the Holy Quran. All Muslims have to pray five times a day. The true prayer is a state of connection, of a person paying to God. Prayer plays a fundamental role in the Islamic faith. Its purpose is to strengthen our relationship with Allah Subhana hu wa ta’ala to be grateful for all His blessings and bounties. The Holy Quran ordains:

“Verily, Salah is an obligation on the believers to be
observed at its appointed time.” 4:103

Khushu is an Arabic word used to refer to humility. It also means serenity, tranquillity and dignity. In Khushu a person fears Allah and knows that He is always watching. khushu is the tranquillity of the heart while we are reporting for our daily prayers to Almighty Allah. Khushu and Khudhu are used together. Khudhu (veneration) refers to showing humbleness that manifests in body limbs, and in abstaining one’s eyes from looking around. In a prayer a servant submits to Almighty Allah with his/her heart full of fear before Allah’s magnificence, the All-Knower, the Lord Master. Holy Qur’an says:

“And stand before Allah with obedience”. 2:238,
“And, seek (Allah’s) help with patient perseverance and
prayer”.2:45

Despite prayer being so important, it is a sad fact that some people do not fulfil the conditions of the prayer like concentration with Khushu. When we set out to pray there can be any number of distractions that take us away from an intimate conversation with Allah Subhana hu wa ta’ala. It could be something exterior to us, like noise of crying baby next door or the distraction could be something like noise of video game, etc. Sometimes wandering thoughts like constantly thinking of all the things that need to get done constantly pops into our mind. These distractions may have a human or natural origin, but there are evil sources also, like Satan, that can take advantage of our own human failings and use these distractions to his advantage. When Iblis, vowed to mislead and tempt the sons of Adam, he said: he is allowed to tempt all to not to obey as commanded.

“Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left.”
7:17

Place or location of our prayer greatly affects our ability to open our hearts to Almighty Allah. Many people pray in the mosque still there are many who may go mosque once a day or once in week. This means that rest of the personal prayers are most often done in the home, or elsewhere. Praying at home can also be distracting. The ability to have a dedicated room for prayer is extremely rare, which means that prayer usually happens in the bedroom or living room. The primary challenges of praying at home are staying focused and getting involved in prayer.
That is why it is important to dedicate a part of home or apartment for prayer. This is often called a prayer place or corner, neat and clean with prayer rug, and Holy Quran. We can pray anywhere while travelling on the road or at work place or in a hotel room, but often we will not have the atmosphere we need for Khushu & Khudhu in our prayer neither full devotion in the prayer to God.

“Successful indeed are the believers, those who offer their prayers with all solemnity and full submissiveness.” 23:1-2

Hadrat Ali (RA) said: “Khushu is in the heart and it means your two hands are softened towards a Muslim, and that you don’t turn your face to right or left.”

The believers should realize that the prayer is like a gift from Allah and how everyone should treat it. Being able to stand in front of Allah five times a day is an honor, with Khushu, or humility. In order to have khushu and Khudhu, one needs to guard his/her senses, and stay focused. If we are sincere in our praying then no distractions will ever come in between our prayer and the Almighty Allah.

It is essential to seek refuge in Allah from Satan by saying “Aa-udhubillahi min As-Shaitanir Rajim” before starting the prayer and during the prayer too when needed. he primary purpose of prayer is to establish person’s communication with Allah. We should offer Prayer with Khushu in order to gain actual reward and more blessings from Almighty Allah.

We need to be mindful of the words we are reciting from the Quran, and better by understanding the meanings of the words we’re uttering in prayer, glorifying and praising Allah Almighty with consciousness, humility and humbleness. Khushu helps one connect deeply with Allah Almighty and in that state the prayers become worthy of acceptance.