Do you have a hard time concentrating while performing your salat prayer? Does your mind wander? In this video, Dr Sultan Abdulhameed will explain how mindlessness during salat can occur and how we can prevent it
Transcript
MRMO: I’m not able to concentrate in salat prayer. I do my best to pay attention to the recitation but my mind wanders in different directions.
Why is that?
Dr AbdulHameed: The main reason why the majority of Muslim people are not able to concentrate in salat is because they don’t know the meanings of the words they are speaking.
That you should know the meaning of what you say is common sense however Muslim people, we Muslim people, have been conditioned by centuries of bad advice that repeating the salat in arabic without knowing the meaning is rewarded by Allah.
The important fact is that a key idea, a vital idea, is being transmitted in every sentence of salat and we can benefit from it only to the extent that we understand it. if you don’t understand what you are saying, what you are speaking to Allah, then what registers in your mind or what you convey is meaninglessness and your prayer becomes mindless.
MRMO: But we pray using the words that Prophet Muhammad used peace be upon him. We are following the sunnah of the prophet. Isn’t that the best way?
Dr AbdulHameed: Well actually this is a misunderstanding because Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, deeply understood the meaning of the words he said in salat.
Then to claim that just repeating the sounds or uttering the sounds of words or his words which you don’t understand is following the sunnah is not correct
Now another argument which people make in in in defending meaningless salat is they say well arabic is a very complex language and it cannot be translated. And if you try to translate it you can get the wrong meaning. But think about it, if you don’t know the meaning then your meaning is mindlessness. It is blankness. It is emptiness and that is your salat
And to see how ridiculous it is think about this: you can teach a parrot to memorize surahs. And actually many people have done it and you can watch these parrots on youtube. Do you really think that these parrots are very spiritual? And they are benefiting from the surah they are reciting? Obviously not.
The human being has the ability to think, understand, and benefit from important teachings, and make life better for himself and for others. That is the purpose of salat.
And if you think about it, it is not difficult to learn the meaning of salat. You can find them in a book or or on the internet. You can learn the meaning and memorize them in a couple of hours or spending some time over a few days
And then that itself will immediately improve the quality of your prayer, your concentration in prayer, if you speak these words paying attention to the meaning of what you are saying
And then, as you do that, you will then think about what these words are saying to you. It will lead to introspection. These words of salat are asking us to shape our lives in particular ways. So as we think about them and think about our lives, salat actually gives us direction on how to live better.
And this is a continuous process of spiritual growth
MRMO: Thank you Dr Abdulhameed