He - rahimahullaah - said:
And know that the prayer has actions which are pillars, actions
which are obligatory and actions which are sunnah. The spirit of prayer is in
the niyyah (intention), ikhlaas (sincerity), khushoo’ (awe coupled
with humility and submissiveness) and the presence of the heart. The prayer also
contains remembrances, private conversations (with Allaah) and physical
actions. When the heart is not present the desired goal is not obtained by the
remembrances and private conversations with Allaah the Exalted, because
speech, when it does not express the innermost feelings or what is in the heart,
is (nothing but) absent-mindedness and folly.
Likewise the desired goal (from the prayer) is not obtained
from the (mere performance of) actions. The purpose of the standing in prayer is
service (to Allaah) and the purpose of the rukoo’ and sujood is
magnification of Allaah and humility to Him. If the heart is not present,
the desired goal will not be reached. When an action is devoid of the purpose
and intent behind it nothing remains except a picture or an impression which has
no value to it. Allaah the Exalted said:
It is not the meat or blood (of the sacrifice) which reaches
Allaah but it is the taqwaa (which is in your hearts) that reaches Him.
The meaning here is that what reaches Allaah is the
quality which has overtaken and is predominant in the heart so that this same
feeling is present when the requested acts of worship are performed. It is vital
that the heart is present. Allaah has, however, overlooked the
unmindfulness which occurs unexpectedly in the prayer because the judgement for
maintaining the presence of the heart at the beginning of the prayer is the same
for the remaining part of it.
The meanings by which the life of the prayer is perfected are
many:
The First: The presence of the heart as we have just
mentioned. It’s meaning is that the heart is empty and devoid of what is
otherwise mixed with it. The cause of that is ambition and aspiration. When a
matter is on your mind and concerns you the heart will by necessity become
engaged with it. There is nothing to cure this except to turn all your concerns
towards the prayer (alone). A persons concerns in the prayer intensify and
weaken in accordance with the strength of ones eemaan in the Hereafter and the
extent to which one holds the world in contempt. If you find that your heart is
not present during the prayer then know that the reason for it is weak eemaan,
so you must strive to strengthen it.
The Second: Understanding the meaning of the words and this
is the matter which lies behind the presence of the heart. It may be that the
heart is present with the pronunciation of the words but not with the meanings
behind them. So it is desirable that the mind is turned towards perceiving their
meanings by repelling the other distracting thoughts and cutting off their roots
because when the roots are not cut off the thoughts do not stop arising from
them.
The root can be either external, such as what occupies the
hearing and sight, or internal and this is stronger, like the one whose concerns
for the world have multiplied and diversified. His thoughts are not restricted
to one matter and even lowering his gaze does not protect him from this because
whatever occurs in his heart is enough to keep him occupied.
If the root is external the cure for it is to cut off what
occupies the hearing and the seeing and this includes being close to the qiblah
(i.e. sutrah), looking at the place of prostration, being careful of and
avoiding places which are colourful or attractive and not leaving anything
besides oneself which would occupy his perceptions and feelings. The Prophet
(sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam) when he prayed in a shirt
which had marks upon it took it off and said: "It has just diverted me from
my prayer."
If the root is internal, the way to treat it is to compel the
soul to become occupied with what one is reciting in the prayer. He should
prepare for that before entering the prayer by freeing himself from (thinking
about all) other occupations, striving to empty his heart (from everything but
the prayer), to renew the remembrance of the hereafter in his soul, realise the
seriousness of standing in front of Allaah Azzawajall and the terror of
being examined. If these are not the thoughts present (in the prayer) then a
person should know that (his heart) is reflecting about those things which
produce aspirations and desires in him. Let him therefore leave those desires
and cut off those attachments.
Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisee and His Comments Regarding the Prayer
