Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera – How to Attain Concentration in Prayer
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Bismillah your Walkman you're walking.
Anyway, so now, how to develop concentration in prayer. So
firstly
these are the things that we should focus on before the prayer.
Identify, what is it that that's distracting us in the prayer?
Right, what is distracting us in the prayer? And try to eliminate
that? Is it that it's our business accounting? Right? Are we just
worried about our customers? Are we worried maybe we're a taxi
driver, and we just worried about who if the if the other guy's
taking the calls properly or not? Right and doing their work
properly or not? We're maybe missing a customer, is it that
we've got just some problem on our mind all the time. And in order
Shaytaan, The shaytaan the Hubby, the accursed, you know what he
does, he will remind us of the last sin that we committed in the
prayer, especially if it's a pleasurable sin. Right? Many sins
are pleasurable. That's why we do right. Drinking, looking,
whatever, right, whatever the Haram is, and you may have
forgotten all about as soon as you start the prayer. In Wait, you go
in Roku,
or such that that's when he reminds you
because Roku and says that I like them some of the most important
parts of the prayer, right? Because that's when you're in the
closest to Allah subhanaw taala. There's a hadith leucine, which
mentions that the closest to seven is to Allah is in such that. So he
wants to spoil that. So remind you of the sin, and you start
remembering her or him or whatever it is, right? Or the thing, or
whatever it is. And that's what is your prayer.
Identify the factors that will cause this problem to happen, and
try to eliminate them. Now, some factors will not be eliminated,
you've got an ongoing business or an ongoing issue, you can't
eliminate it. But what you can do is you can sit down and try to
clear the mind and meditate on what's coming. If you just kind of
jump up Allahu Akbar, and you start, you bring everything with
it, it's try to leave everything behind focus on something just for
that moment. In fact, think to Allah subhanaw taala these
problems that I have this issue that I have these distractions
that I have, if I pray properly, and the Prophet sallallahu Sallam
has mentioned that whoever connects himself with Allah
subhanaw taala, Allah will make his other connections with
everybody else easy, and simple and smooth for him. If you think
that way, you'll actually benefit from it. Because then logically,
intellectually, you're convincing yourself that this is the best way
to do it. Right? There is no point me carrying my baggage into the
prayer.
So one is remove the distractions.
If it's a physical like noise outside or whatever, then find a
room that is not like that, if it's things around you, a lot of
the time having your phone around you is really bad today. Right?
Because even while you're sitting here, I guarantee you there's only
a few of you have probably not checked their email,
or their WhatsApp. What's the latest? What's going on? It's just
so so if it's there, and you hear the people you hear that you see
the flush? Like who knows who's that? Who's that? Right? It's just
a big problem. So try to just keep all of that eliminated a friend of
mine, I mean, you know, everybody doesn't have the luxury of this.
But a friend of mine, what he was able to do is he actually had a
separate room in the house. Nothing around the walls, just
masala and some speeches and things like that. And it was it
was called a prayer room. So he made it for serenity. Do you see
what I'm saying? So make, it's actually recommended to have a
muscle Masjid of the house.
You know, especially for women, right, but for men as well,
because the prostate also said Don't make your house like
graveyards and the meaning of that. One of the biggest
interdomain main interpretations of that is do not pray everything
in a masjid where you don't pay anything in the house. Because
prayer brings baraka and prophets Allah will always know often were
prayed in the house. You never prayed. Now I feel in the masjid.
But you try to do that. I don't advise it. Because you go from the
masjid go home and something distracts you and your Sooners
will go right you want to use sadness, but do try to make salads
in the home as well for men as well. The women, many of them are
praying in the home anyway, right away. You don't go to the masjid.
You pray in the home, but the men should also bring the home because
it's a Baraka that's created by that.
Number two, the second thing is from before learn the meaning of
what you read in the prayer. So essentially what Allahu Akbar
means semi Allah Who human Hamidah Allah has heard him who has
praised him Robina local hand. Oh my lord For You is all Praise
Subhana Allah Allah subhanaw taala Alim Glorified is my Lord. Allah
Allah the most the highest Subhana Allah Aleem, Glorified is my lord
the majestic
When you're reading that in such that with that meaning in your
mind, it's different from just being so humble. And so Mr.
Williams formula idiom three times. So learn the meanings and
ponder over it. And then learn the meanings of the last 10 sutras
that you know you frequently read or whatever you read, you know,
parts of your scene, whatever you read in, learn the meaning of that
and try to focus on that, right. So you have to, obviously do all
of these things from before, relieve yourself from mental
stress, sit down and meditate for a while, read a few Ascar. Calmly
relax yourself, have a have a break for a few minutes just to
make a barrier between your normal mundane daily life, and what
you're about to do have a transition in like they make you
wait in a waiting room for a while. It's just to make a barrier
to make a buffer zone between what you're doing, clear your mind, get
ready for the next put on good clothing.
The other mentioned that it's actually my crew to pray in any
clothes that you wouldn't want to be seen outside with, because
you're standing in front of Allah subhanaw taala. Right. So what are
these things actually help because you're giving more Allah will open
it up even more if you're showing him these things.
And
the clearer your intention is for prayer, we I want to do this while
I'm standing in front of Allah, the better the prayer will be.
Then finally, during the prayer itself, this was all pre prayer,
during the prayer itself.
Make sure that we discipline ourselves in our actions, cut out
all of the mistakes, we're making, educate ourselves about the best
way to do it. stand upright with a soft and heart, right, that we're
doing this for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala. And as the Sahaba
some Sahaba used to mention stand as though this is your last
prayer. That if this was to be my last prayer, then how would it be?
I'd make it the best. So make every prayer of ours like that.
And I think slowly, slowly, it will become a habit. It will be
very difficult in the beginning. May Allah give us the to all the
Tofik for this.
And
don't pray haste in haste. Haste is from the shaytaan relax in your
prayer. Take each action slowly, even when you're going down.
Allahu Akbar, no, like Allahu Akbar. Right? Send me Allah holy
man. Hamidah. So take it easy, relax, savor every prayer that we
make every word that we read, every movement that we that we
express in front of Allah subhanaw taala.
Remember that, in this case, you are actually in front of Allah
subhanaw taala the prophets Allah was almost taken up in his
ascension to the seven heavens. And it's mentioned in the Hadith,
that the prayer is the ascension of the believers. That's when we
talk to Allah subhanaw taala.
And
your mind will wander, but keep bringing it back, your mind will
wander, keep bringing it back. That is why we pray five. That is
why we make solid so many times that it needs to be learned. You
can't go in a gym and start lifting a certain amount. You
start slowly, right? Likewise, with sparring or anything you
learn you develop salad has to be learned. So if we feel that our
salad is really bad, don't worry about it, as that feeling is good
that you even recognize this bed. So try to make it better in each
subsequent one. And after the prayer, there's also a post prayer
aspect to this right to really make the benefits of it linger and
sustain. And the way to do that is don't just rush away after the
prayer.
Sit there and do the vicar that have been related the remembrances
that have been related after the solid Allahumma and the salaam of
Allah, you are the source of peace. You are peace, when Minka
Sullivan from you comes all peace.
About the little jewelry will Iran bless it, are you Oh, one of great
majesty, and benevolence. And then read is still far three times a
stop federal law, stop federal law stop federal law. Why do we read a
stick for three times? It's soon because we may have had some
shortcoming in the prayer. Our mind may have wandered, we may
have not done everything optimally. So read so far, three
times just Allah forgive me for that. That's why we read you know,
some people might be one you've just done a good deed. Why are you
reading so far after it is because we might have some shortcoming in
that regard.
It may not be perfect.
And then
ask Allah earnestly to accept this prayer. Because we don't know if
it's accepted or not. We don't get a you know, we don't get it.
Something you can check online. Yeah, that one was accepted. That
one was an accepted do that one again. You know, that one was nine
out of 10, four out of 10 We don't do that. So we have to just ask
Allah and hope for the best. But if we're trying our best and we're
asking Allah subhanaw taala to help them to accept then that will
make a difference. Insha Allah.
Allah Houma are in the clinical we're shoe Creek warehouse near a
bar that this is another door that you could make. There's a number
of doors that are mentioned, right? Oh, Allah helped me assist
me to remember you
And to thank you and to do good worship of you. If that door is
accepted, our Salah becomes perfect because Allah will help us
then to perfect our prayer.
Then there's other of God that we can read SubhanAllah 33 times
Alhamdulillah 33 times Allahu Akbar 33 This is all to put the
cherry on the top. This is all to enhance it to beautify it. Right?
And you know why we make Knuffle prayers and Sunnah prayers after
the press. If there's any shortcoming in our fourth which is
an obligation, then by doing the Sunnah prayers, if in the
hereafter were taken to task for our for the Sooners should be able
to complete it. That okay, we've had some problems here. But look,
he's got all of these additional bonus points. Let's put them on
there. So let's try to make sure we do our sunnah and knuffel
prayers as well.
Right? And to tell the truth, there was a I was sitting with a
great scholar just some time ago, and he said that
if you can't make your Knuffle prayers of the day, then what is
the purpose of this life? And I think the older you get, right,
the more serious you become.
You really start thinking that I'm trying to achieve what I do buy
through university, through work through employment, through
business, whatever it is, I'm doing, but if I even as a scholar,
right, even going even even as a welfare worker, even as somebody
who's in Dawa, right, you're doing all of this external data. But if
at the end of the day, we can't come back and do our Tahajjud
prayer, or we can't get up in the morning, right mid morning
Schrock, prayer to have prayer and forget those we can't even do as
soon as in knuffel property or even our solid property the what
is the purpose of it.
Just think like that for a moment. Because whatever we get for this
world is going to be limited until our death, but this prayer and
that is going to be what's in the hereafter. There's a person a
Sahabi was sitting there with a sort of Lhasa low Salam. And he
said to Rasul Allah.
I want more Africa, takaful Jana, I want your companionship in the
hereafter. Suppose that awesome said, Are you sure?
So you could ask for something else? says no, that is what I want
to ask. I want your companionship in Jana. So what the promise loves
him told him is okay. But you need to help me.
Right? You need to help me to do that with a lot of sadness, with a
lot of frustration, meaning, your your solid, that includes your
frustration is going to get you to be close to me.
Right? So we can't dis you know, we have times when we're young,
really busy. We need to start thinking that it's not worth it.
If we don't get this, right. And the great thing is that if we're
doing these things, if we're making tahajjud. We're doing these
prayers properly. And our business is not going right we die tomorrow
in whatever situation we die. May Allah forbid, may Allah protect us
from sudden and unsavory deaths. But regardless of how we die,
we're going to, we'll feel content, that at least I've been
doing these things, I've got things saved up. You know, like
people save up for a rainy day. So you at least feel comfortable. And
that feeling of comfort is so important. It will help us on our
deathbed. When we say the last words, if we feel comfortable that
yeah, I'm leaving this world, you won't have a sense of loss,
because you'll think when I have been trying, so you'll feel like
I'm going with something. Otherwise, if we always haven't
been trying, and we're about to die. That sense of hustler and
loss is really really detrimental. And may Allah subhanaw taala
protect us from an evil ceiling state. That's what you could sue
will hajima
right evil seeding states, we want personal hardship which is called
the good and blessed seeding state. May Allah give that to all
of us.
And especially after fajr and Maghrib right morning and evening,
there's something you can read seven times Allahu jedynie Mina
NAR, Allah Who a journeyman and NAR Allah Who journeyman and not
Allah who didn't even a knob, Allah homogeny Mina, not Allah who
didn't even and not Allah Who journeyman and not seven times, oh
Allah give me refuge from the Hellfire give me refuge from the
Hellfire seven times Fajr and Maghrib. And we do it every day.
If one even one of those was accepted in literally, that's it.
We've got delivery from the hellfire. Right. And normally a
person who can do these things slowly, slowly the other aspects
of their life will become better. There was a person who'd been who
drank who there was a person who committed a sin one was he had
kissed a girl, right
I'm unlawful, right? So he went and prayed he came back in the
province of Alaska and told him your salad has has cleared that
out. Now, that doesn't mean you can go around doing that and go
mix a lot and it's all done and dusted. That was with the prophets
of Allah some his salad must have been something and there was a
process in there to tell him to otherwise you know, if somebody
tries to misuse this, that yeah, I can go around flirting around and
go mix a lot and he'll be fine. It doesn't work that way. Right.