KHUSHU' (CONCENTRATION)

In the literal sense, khushu' means stillness.

In the Shari'ah, khushu' is the physical immobility of the limbs of the body, along with the immobility of the thought fixed on Allah Ta'ala.

It is therefore the concentration of thought on our Creator and the abstention of thinking of anything else. Like the other regulations of the Shari'ah, khushu' is obligatory on each individual according to his ability.

For a healthy person, the law of khushu' requires that he or she does not move in the Salah. However, for a person who is sick or who is suffering from any pain, moving in the Salah is excusable if the pain is very difficult to bear.

What we have just seen concerns the external appearance of khushu', i.e. physical immobility. However, as we have seen above, from the point of view of the Shari'ah there is also the inner aspect or the mental state, the state of the heart.

Again, the degree of khushu' that a person must attain depends on his ability. For the one who is endowed with tranquillity and who is free from all worry, he is obliged to prevent his thought from wandering, while the one who has problems and whose state of mind is affected by multiple worries will only be responsible to the extent of concentration he can achieve.

Foreign thoughts often disturb the Salah, but the Musalli must have the will to fight them. He should only have thoughts that are compatible with Salah. In this way it will be easier for him to attain khushu', for the heart of man cannot go in two opposite directions at the same time.

There are thus different thoughts that are compatible with Salah that can replace those that are not. We can and should think that we are standing before Allah Ta'ala and that He is watching us and knows everything about us, even our most secret thoughts. We can also think that we are facing the Ka'bah.

Another method is to recite the Surahs, Tasbih, etc. with concentration and precaution like someone who has just learned and who recites with willingness and not in a routine way. This avoids automatic recitation devoid of concentration.

Normally, each person's nature, potential, and taste differ. So a method that is beneficial for one person may not be beneficial for another. This is why one must be careful when adopting a method to avoid making a bad choice that can consequently lead to neglect a technique under the pretext that it is too difficult to perform. The second mistake we often make is to make a huge effort to chase away all the unwanted thoughts to the point that we are mentally affected.

What is needed is to avoid thoughts that are foreign to Salah and to fight them when they come to mind. However, if they continue to assail and haunt us in spite of our efforts, then there is no fault on our part - as long as we continue our inner Jihaad.

To understand this, let's take the example of the person who looks up a word in the dictionary. His gaze automatically falls on other words too. However, there is a big difference between the two looks: the first look has a specific goal while the second is only secondary because it is involuntary. Therefore, it is only the foreign thoughts that are brought voluntarily into the Salah that are disastrous.

Another even simpler technique to develop khushu' is to think that soon all Ibaadaat will be presented in the court of Allah Ta'ala. So, a harmful action must not be committed and presented to his court.

At first, this technique will seem weak, but the person's concentration will increase in the long run.

To conclude, it can be said that the ideal is total concentration in the Salah, so much so that the Musalli thinks only of Allah Ta'ala and nothing else, neither of his surroundings nor of his own body.

Although praiseworthy, this degree of khushu' is neither necessary nor imposed, for we see through several narrations that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) shortened his Salah when he heard the children crying.

[English version of "Khoushoogh (La concentration)" – Al Haadi – Vol. 1 No. 5]