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 ï·º
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 3rd
or 4th 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
·
Read Qur’aan regularly, and contemplate on the
meaning
·
Prolong your prostrations (ruk’u and sujood)
·
Realise that you are before Allah, He with the
best attributes
·
Take some time before prayer and make your
intention, say some dhikr for some time and get in the mood.
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!
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