Common problem when reading namaaz, do not be afriad you are not alone.
I remember someone once telling me this is the work of the devil trying to steal you away from prayer. What you ultimately believe is up to you, i cant help you there.

All i can say is keep trying to concentrate on what your doing. Focus your mind on the here and now, on what you are saying and let the world and its worries melt away. Remember to breathe.... dont give up if you cant do it at first. Practice makes perfect.

I posted this yesterday in the wrong topic (it should have been in here):

"Admin" wrote:

There is a hadith that says once someone someone tries to read Salaah, the Shaitan will do many things to distract the person. It cpuld be with some smell, or some sound or something else. It will even remind you of forgotten things in the hope of distracting you.

Worship Allah as if you see Him, for even if you dont, He sees you

The thing is if ou concentrate on concentrating, all you are doing is not concentrating.

We are human. We do what we can in the best way we can. Then Its not our decision to judge wether its good enough or not.

You are managing to wake up, and pray fajr. That is a massive thing. That shows you have the will to be a good muslim.

Even if you cannot concentrate, you are still doing your duty. Inshallah over time the concentration will increase.

Its nothing to be disheartened about.

true....concentartion levels go up and down

when u feel strong in your Imaan and inner self, aoutomtically u'll find ur more focused in your prayers

bets thing is to never give up

some tips tho:

1 - try to recite other Surahs beside Al-Ikhlaas.....the more variety you have, the more focused ur goint to be....coz lets face it, we can all read Surah Al Ikhlaas from the tip of our tongues without even thinking about it

it prevents robotic-ness

2 - go slowly, dont rush it........lengthen times in Sajdah, and also whilst in Sajdah learn sum lil duas you can read

3 - picture yourself reading at Makkah or Madina

jus basically also try to fresh yourself physically and mentally everytym u pray, and remember - namaz is a gift from the Prophet (Saw) to us, he asked for the Ummah to be given 5 a day... at least do it out of Love for the Prophet (SAW)

"Fresh Prince" wrote:

2 - go slowly, dont rush it........lengthen times in Sajdah, and also whilst in Sajdah learn sum lil duas you can read.

Not in fardh Salaah. You can only dosome other dua's in nalf salaah.

"Fresh Prince" wrote:

3 - picture yourself reading at Makkah or Madina

jus basically also try to fresh yourself physically and mentally everytym u pray, and remember - namaz is a gift from the Prophet (Saw) to us, he asked for the Ummah to be given 5 a day... at least do it out of Love for the Prophet (SAW)

Thats a very good point, think why are u readin namaz, dont think of it as a ritual or you HAVe to read it think of it as communication between yourself and Allah (swt) and then think about who brought this beautiful gift for us. Also know what you are readin, learn the translation of the namaz and concentrate on that.

It aint easy but you just gota think i am in the court of Allah (swt) my mind should be focused on Him alone.

"Salma" wrote:

So it's not just me then?

is my namaaz not accepted because of this?

i really have tried to concentrate, a friend recommended that i play a tape of quran readings in the background, but it still hasn't helped

im not giving up, but i don't want my namaaz to be pointless

Namaaz is never pointless

someone told me that when you read namaz ,as long as you recite these parts right = alhumdullah rubil alameen...,qul hu ahad... and attayatu..., an angel comes down and corrects the namaz for you and sends it to Allah(swt)

Salam

Salma. Prayer is useless if you don't know what you are saying.

Therefore, do it in English.

It is just as valid, and you will love it.

God will love you too.

So, get yourself a good, accurate translation.

By the way, thank you for coming back.

Omrow

you cant pray in english you clown

Salam

Arabic is preferred.

However, I heard some muslim clergy say that if you don't know Arabic then you can pray to God in any language.

Some people claim that God understands over 67 million languages.

Omrow

i dunno... i would have thought God can understand all languages but Arabic is prefered as its the language of the Quran.

"Omrow" wrote:

Arabic is preferred.

However, I heard some muslim clergy say that if you don't know Arabic then you can pray to God in any language.

Some people claim that God understands over 67 million languages.

languages are man-made ofcourse Allah understands ALL of them!! :roll:

no 'clergy' would say its ok to read [b]salaah[/b] in any language besides Arabic. they probably meant 'prayer' as in Du'a, which one can make in whatever language they want.

"Omrow" wrote:

Salam

Salma. Prayer is useless if you don't know what you are saying.

Therefore, do it in English.

It is just as valid, and you will love it.

Everyone has to read namaz in Arabic, even converts have a certain time length to learn namaz in Arabic so importance lies in reading it in the language Allah (swt) has revealed the Holy Quran in.

Think of it as practice when you will be speaking it in heaven

Perhaps Brother Omrow misunderstood the scholar. Scholars say you can do supplications in any language not the actual prayer. Of course God understands all languages, but it's a prerequisite for prayer to be accepted that you recite it in Arabic- just as our prophet and those after him did.

Reverts are instructed to learn to read in arabic asap. There are many transliterated books which can help those who are still learning in the interim. There's no excuse for missing the prayers even if you're a convert coz you can merely exhalt and praise God with certain arabic phrases to fulfill the minimum length of a verse. Then as you learn the surahs you implement them. The reason the rules are so stringent even for converts is so they may get into a daily routine, and not become lazy. Obviously it has manyspiritual benefits aswell, not to mention good practise for those learning the actions as beginners.

With regards to the sisters difficulties: one of the best ways to get the most out of prayers is to learn the english meanings of the verses you are reading in arabic, so you may ponder over them and reflect. So try doing that, start with Al Fatihah it doesn't take very long. You should notice a huge difference in your concentration levels.

Salam

Whats the point of reading a prayer in mumbo jumbo.

When one stands before God to perform a ritual act,
one must know what is being done and said. Its one of the requirements.

Anything less would be a mockery of the act as well as an insult to God.

Can you imagine what a fool you would look if you
went on a pilgrimage to Mecca and yet you didn't have a clue what you were doing.

Omrow

My niyat of Salaah is always done in Urdu (thats the way mum taught me)...my Salaah is always in Arabic and my dua's are ALWAYS in English.

There is leniency in Islam when it comes to converts reading Salaah in their own langauge...but this is only providing that they're actively learning Arabic at the same time.

niyat can be in any language, and it doesn't even have to be recited allowed in fact the preferred way in the hanafi school is non verbal, as far as i was taught.

When i was at mosque they made us learn the niyat in dhakai bengali even though i don't speak that lol. To be honest i never knew what it meant. i was just told this is what you read before anything else in prayer.

Since i've grown up studied up on the subject i've come to realise i can say it in a lanugage i actually understand. Now i know this niyat business meant intention, back then i was just told be quiet child do as we say don't ask questions :?

niyat in english....prayer in arabic.....dua in urdu.......dawah in spanish

Resulting in a nonsense ritual.

"yashmaki" wrote:

When i was at mosque they made us learn the niyat in dhakai bengali even though i don't speak that lol. To be honest i never knew what it meant. i was just told this is what you read before anything else in prayer.

same here, u saying those words just made me relive that mosque experience

The 'niyah' can be in any language. Or none at all.

Its just the intention. if you say it, then the thought goes you will know what you say, thus you will be aware that you are about to pray.

Omrow, its always beter to learn what the words mean, and when recting them in prayer think what they mean...

"Fresh Prince" wrote:

niyat in english....prayer in arabic.....dua in urdu.......dawah in spanish

this may seem like a stupid question but whats the difference between dua and dawah???

"madiha" wrote:

"Fresh Prince" wrote:

niyat in english....prayer in arabic.....dua in urdu.......dawah in spanish

this may seem like a stupid question but whats the difference between dua and dawah???

Dua is supplication to Allah (swt), Dawah is telling people bout Islam ie preaching.

"Angel" wrote:

"madiha" wrote:

"Fresh Prince" wrote:

niyat in english....prayer in arabic.....dua in urdu.......dawah in spanish

this may seem like a stupid question but whats the difference between dua and dawah???

Dua is supplication to Allah (swt), Dawah is telling people bout Islam ie preaching.

well that then that makes sense, i was wondering why someone would want to do dawah in spanish, cos obviously u want to preach about islam in a language what people understand.

Asalaamo Alikum ,
If you want your mind not to wander around when you are saying your namaz , say your namaz a little loudly so that at least you can hear it , also try and understand the meaning of what you are saying. Insha Allah your problem will be solved to a great extent. Also you could check out the lecture by Dr. zakir naik on SALAAH. you can read or also see it on YOUTUBE.
ALLAH HAFIZ,
Your brother in ISLAM
I.Yunus

I get that same problem aswell ...
i read in a book that someone asked one of the Sahabas (may Allah be pleased with them)how they read their namaaz and he said that before they read their namaz they relax their body and they imagine the Kaaba infront of them with Jannat on their right and Jahannam on their left. And also that their feet were on the bridge of Siraat.

What i do is that i read aloud a bit so i can properly hear myself.
also read slowly taking care with every word
and if you think to yourself that this is the last namaz you may ever pray then that might help.
and also know that Allah can see and hear you so when your praying your namaz your not being ignored but Allah is looking towards your direction and listening to you.
also make dua to Allah that you pray your namaz with concentration.
i know how you fell but I hope that helps.

yep, to help me concentrate my biggest point is, this might be the last time i ever pray. now that's a scary thought.

knowing the translation, or just what the surah is about is also very good, as you know what you are saying and therefore can concentrate better. I've also always find it easier to memorize my surahs if i knew the meaning.

sometimes i find it better to concentrate if i imagine the page of the Qur'an im reciting from. or i picture every single words.

I was listening to this talk and the brother was saying how he had this friend who, because of someone, ended up in a wheelchair. He wasnt angry at the person but he said "i'd give anything to make sujood again, to be able to put my forehead on the floor" that just went WHAM in my brain and everytime i make sujood im so grateful to Allah.

any tips on waking up for Fajr? With 'Isha being so late and all, I find waking up for fajr really hard.