We all know what “Mutant Prayers” are... or do we? Mutant prayers are when Shaitan comes and tickles your neck, causing you to forget how many rak’aat or units of prayer you’ve prayed. I mean, who doesn’t want to get in a perfect salaat/ prayer?

For cases of praying extra rak’aat, we can do as Nabi Muhammad ﷺ taught us, by praying sajda-as- Sahw. This is basically a prostration after the prayer is over. This is when you’re praying alone, because if you were praying behind an imam, you would just follow him. But of course sometimes we have that awkward moment when we get up when were supposed to be at tashahud (sitting) lol!

Next, is the case of forgetting how many rak’aat you’re praying at the moment. Surely if you couldn’t figure out if you were on the 3^rd or 4^th then you’ve got to repeat them again.

So, how do we avoid praying “mutant”prayers? Especially if you were planning on praying the sunnah prayers, and it becomes a tad bit difficult? That’s Shaitan by the way, whispering that things are hard. Us, we want to please our Lord Allah, and praise Him in the best way we can!

1. Attaining khushoo’ in prayer. This helps to feel inner peace, as well as get prayers right! In simple terms, Khushoo is the feeling of utmost purity and peace in praying that you feel very connected to Allah. Do not despair, there are many ways to help us attain this state, and there is even an entire book on how to attain khushoo in prayer. My tiny tips for this are

 2.  Reading varied suwar (pl: surah) or chapters. For instance, you can read surah Nas for one rakat and for the next, you read surah Ikhlas. This is a guaranteed method of remembering you number of rak’aat!

3. There’s the case of contemplating. Where you try to remember how many rak’aat you prayed. If you remember, then you’re obviously good to go. If Shaitan’s really succeeded, then you’ve got to resort to the other methods listed.

4. Being aware. I think this goes back to having khushoo. Allah says in the Holy Qur’an

“... and stand before Allah in devout obedience.”

Surat Al Baqarah 2:238

Man, if Allah commanded it in the Holy Qur’an, we should be all for obeying this command. We truly shouldn’t be lazy in Islam. Let’s be strict in establishing the 5 daily prayers, let alone the sunnah prayers.

If you've got any tips to add, which I'm sure you do, please add to this list! Assalaamu aleikum!