It is also desirable for the worshiper
to make his heart present during all the matters which are related to the
prayer. When he hears the call of the Mu’adhin he should liken it to the call
on the Day of Judgement and set out to answer it with vigour and determination.
Let him consider (the reality of) what he is responding to and in what state
his body comes to the prayer. When he has covered himself (for the prayer) he
should realize that the purpose behind it is to conceal the shamefulness of his
body from the creation. Let him also realize his deficiencies and defects and
the scandals and disgraces of his inner self which none can know except the
Creator and which none can cover or hide. Only remorse, modesty and fear can
expiate for them.
When he faces the Qiblah he has turned
his face from all other directions to the direction of the House of Allaah and
yet turning his heart to Allaah is more befitting than that. Just as he cannot
face the Qiblah without turning away from all else besides it, likewise the
heart cannot turn to Allaah without turning away from all that is besides Him.
When you make the takbeer (i.e., say, ‘Allaahu Akbar), O worshipper, do not let
your heart treat your tongue as having lied, because if there is something
greater than Allaah in your heart then you have lied. Beware also that your
whim and desire is greater (than Allaah) which would be proven by your
preference to go along with it (rather) than to give obedience to Allaah, سُبحانه وتعالى.
When you seek refuge, know that seeking
refuge means recourse to Allaah, the Sublime. When you do not seek refuge with
your heart (as well), then your words are futile and ineffective. Understand
the meaning of what you recite. Make this understanding present with your heart
when you say: “All praise belongs to Allaah the
Rabb of all the Worlds.”
Bring to mind His Benevolence when you
say: “The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”,
and His Might and Grandeur when you say: “Master
of the Day of Judgement.”
Likewise (understand the meaning) of
everything that you recite.
We have already reported about Zuraarah ibn Abee ’Awfaa (may Allaah have mercy
on him) that when he recited in his prayer: 'And when the Trumpet is blown (a second
time),' he fell to the ground, dead. This did not occur except that he
imagined and pictured that situation and it brought destruction upon him. Try
to feel modesty in your bowing and humility in your prostration because in such
a position you have placed the soul in its proper place.
In the prostration you have
returned the limbs to their place of origin, upon the dust from which they were
created.
Understand also the meaning of the
remembrances with inclination and zeal. Know that performing the prayer with
these internal conditions is a cause-of the purity of the heart from
adulteration and pollution, of obtaining the light by which the Might and
Greatness of the One Who is worshiped is realized and of discovering His
secrets and none understands them except those grounded in knowledge (the
scholars). As for the one who is standing performing the external actions
without knowing their significance or meanings he will not realize or discover
any of the above, rather he will reject its existence.
{Ibn Qudamah al Maqdisee:
chapter 6 of Ibnu Qayyim’s Path to Guidance}
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