TAG: Rukoo
Common Errors In Prayer That Must Be Avoided
Listed below are the 6 Common mistakes usually we make in prayers
Mistake 1: Reciting Surat al-Fatiha fast without pausing after each verse.
The Prophet (SAW) used to pause after each verse of this surah. (Abu Dawood)
Mistake 2: Sticking the arms to the sides of the body, in rukoo’ or sujood, and sticking the belly to the thighs in sujood.
The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: ‘Let not one of you support himself on his forearms (in sujood) like the dog. Let him rest on his palms and keep his elbows away from his body.’ (Sahih Muslim). The Messenger of Allah (SAW) used to keep his arms away from his body during rukoo’ and sujood that the whiteness of his armpits could be seen (Sahih Muslim).
Mistake 3: Gazing upward during prayer.
This may cause loss of concentration. We are commanded to lower our gaze, and look at the point at which the head rests during sujood. The Prophet (SAW) warned: ‘Let those who raise their gaze up during prayer stop doing so, or else their sights would not return to them. i.e. lose their eyesight].’ (Muslim)
Mistake 4 : Resting only the tip of the head on the floor during sujood.
The Prophet (SAW) said: ‘I am commanded to prostrate on seven bones the forehead and the nose, the two hands [palms], the two knees, and the two feet.’ (Sahih Muslim) Applying the above command necessitates resting the forehead and the nose on the ground during sujood.
Subtle Secrets In Our Prayers
Not many of us realize the subtle and hidden secrets that lie behind our movements in Salah (prayer). Some of us may even rush through it without giving much thought to the hidden intricacies and the hidden beauty. How many people stand in Salah but their mind does not stand focused? How many people bow down but their inner soul refuses to bow? How many people prostrate but their heart fails to do so? And how many people pray but a prayer has not been written for them? Ibn Al-Qayyim gives a beautiful description of prayer in his book Asrar Al-Salat. An excerpt of which follows:
It has been prescribed for the servant to extol and praise his Lord as he is rising up from Rukoo’ (i.e. bowing in prayer). So he exalts and praises his Lord because Allah has guided him to attain this humbleness which others have been prevented from attaining. He is returned to a state of uprightness, standing up to be in his Lord’s service. He stands in front of Him just as he stood in front of Him during recitation (when reciting Al-Fatihah), and for that reason it is prescribed that he praises and exalts Him just like he praised and exalted Him during the recitation.
There is a special meaning to this rising: It is a state that reaches and penetrates the heart. It is for this reason that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to prolong this standing (after the Rukoo’) just as he prolonged the Rukoo’ and Sajdah (prostration). He would praise and exalt Allah much therein.
In the night prayer, the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to repeatedly say during this standing after the Rukoo’, “For my Lord is all Praise, for my Lord is all Praise.” (Abu Dawood and Nasa’i)
Repetition
It has been prescribed for the servant to repeat these actions and words (i.e. repeat recitation of Al-Fatihah, Tasbeeh in Rukoo’, Sajdah etc), as it is a source of nourishment for the heart and soul. There is no strength in them (the heart and soul) except by this. Repeating it is just like repeatedly eating food – mouthful after mouthful until a person eats his fill, and drinking again and again until his thirst is quenched. If a hungry person only took one mouthful of food and then pushed his food away, what will that mouthful do for him? In fact, it may even cause him to become hungrier!
For this reason, one of the Salaf said: “A person who prays but does not find tranquility in his prayer is like a person who is hungry, then food is brought to him but he only takes one or two handfuls. What will it then do for him?”