how to concentrate on salah?
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Ok I have been wondering and please brothers and sisters help me out because it is been a huge problem to me. Ok I don't know if you guy believe in waswas but whenever I pray I get alot of distracting thoughts. First, I keep getting images on my head about people. It's like the image is telling me to worship them. And I keep getting songs stuck on my head wether it's secular or not (nashed).
Now the images I can handle, since all I have to do is just focus on the words and read of my prayers. Meaning, If I'm going to perform my salah, Im just going to read of the words from my mind. But The song part is realy difficult. I tried not listening to music it failed. I tried to pray louder, it failed. I tried focusing on the words and echoing the words in my head but it still failed. I tried playing a nashed on my head but I heard your not suppose to do that. Now what am i going to do now I feel like im doom PLEAE ANY ADVICE? -
Ok I have been wondering and please brothers and sisters help me out because it is been a huge problem to me. Ok I don't know if you guy believe in waswas but whenever I pray I get alot of distracting thoughts. First, I keep getting images on my head about people. It's like the image is telling me to worship them. And I keep getting songs stuck on my head wether it's secular or not (nashed).
Now the images I can handle, since all I have to do is just focus on the words and read of my prayers. Meaning, If I'm going to perform my salah, Im just going to read of the words from my mind. But The song part is realy difficult. I tried not listening to music it failed. I tried to pray louder, it failed. I tried focusing on the words and echoing the words in my head but it still failed. I tried playing a nashed on my head but I heard your not suppose to do that. Now what am i going to do now I feel like im doom PLEAE ANY ADVICE?Peace!
I can only speak from personal experience, and the subject is rather mystical. Nevertheless
What you describe very much mirrors my own experience in trying to master prayer. Having a piece of music looping over and over in my mind is the worst distraction I know of when trying to gather my wits for any task, and prayer is the one task that requires the most concentration of all the things I regularly attempt. I think snippets of music in essence work the same as any other distracting whispering, and can be successfully silenced in the same way as imagery, words or anything else. I am confident that praying "louder" or "harder" is not the way forward, but rather to practice the art of seeking refuge with God from these influences. This seeking of refuge is, I think, at the very heart of my own struggle to connect with God, and I think it's quite possible to get better at it with practice. Reciting words can help in doing it (the last two chapters are good reminders) but ultimately it is an action that needs to be carried out, rather than words that need to be spoken.I find that it is ultimately an exercise in centering my attention, letting go, losing myself, being the most humble I can possibly be, surrendering. Satan used to successfully trick me into believing that this process was scary and bad, that I was losing my mind and going insane, or that I was about to hurt myself, even about to die. Now the process just feels cleansing and relaxing, whenever I can manage to do it well. It's not a binary "on" or "off"-thing, but rather an infinite scale between utter confusion/distraction on the one end and uncorrupted awareness of truth/God on the other. Increased awareness can only come at the expense of the whisperings, up to (and later beyond!) the point when the mind actually turns silent - the inner voice is no longer there, there are no images flashing on the "projection screen of the mind", the mind is still and the chest is soft and penetrable. It is only in this state of being that God, my own life, prayer, or the words of the Quran start to make any real sense to me.
TLDR; You can't fight Satan with strikes and blows, but you can turn away from him. The only place you can turn and not find Satan is in turning towards God. Look in the very middle of yourself. You can only find this place by relaxing/surrendering.
May God lead us closer to truth and give us peace of mind.
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Ok I have been wondering and please brothers and sisters help me out because it is been a huge problem to me. Ok I don't know if you guy believe in waswas but whenever I pray I get alot of distracting thoughts. First, I keep getting images on my head about people. It's like the image is telling me to worship them. And I keep getting songs stuck on my head wether it's secular or not (nashed).
Now the images I can handle, since all I have to do is just focus on the words and read of my prayers. Meaning, If I'm going to perform my salah, Im just going to read of the words from my mind. But The song part is realy difficult. I tried not listening to music it failed. I tried to pray louder, it failed. I tried focusing on the words and echoing the words in my head but it still failed. I tried playing a nashed on my head but I heard your not suppose to do that. Now what am i going to do now I feel like im doom PLEAE ANY ADVICE?Peace,
A song huh? First I must admit that I really laughed when reading your post, I wondered
what was the song, who was it by.I get distracted by daily matters (shaytayn), my best solution was to seek refuge
in Allah, whenever needed, not only at the beginning of the fatihah but whenever
shaytayn whispers, secondly I increased the length of my intentions to a meditative
state, also finding the right cadence helped me to actually get more of a spiritual
benefit from salat.When the devil whispers to you any whisper, seek refuge in GOD; He is Hearer,
Omniscient.May God make your worship easy
O0
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Salam and Komostaka?
What the above posts say are good guidance, I would like to add something though.........
What is wrong with having a song stuck in your head? This is what salat is all about, to let your mind work through all those distractions so you finally can find inner peace. Salat has a ritual to it that is meant to make you focus, that is why you are told to prostrate, to tell your mind to concentrate by using physical movements. So dont fight it, embrace it and try to understand why.
When hindus or buddhists meditate, do you think they are sitting in lotus position and their minds are completely blank? No, their minds are racing all over the place, crazy thoughts, songs, images etc etc........They go through the process so they can "cleanse" themselves. You can kind of compare it to dreaming, the mind is "getting rid" of crazy stuff that dont make sens elektro
You should not see it as a curse, but a blessing......Let your salat take its time, let all those thoughts go through and then when you are finished with them you can successfully focus on Allah. If the distractions are stopping you from salat, then the devil is successful.....So meet him face to face, go with the flow, focus and let it go. You should ask yourself why, try to understand what the thoughts and songs are coming from. Do not deter but embrace.
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A few tips from myself
- perform the salat very slowly. Pronounce all the salat words very slow, and try to think about the words and how you are pronouncing them.
- whenever you get distracted, pause a bit; try to clear your mind before continueing saying your words
- try to make your salat basic and easy; don't make it too long. In former times, when I was praying, I was pronouncing so many words and repeating them every time again, which made the only subject in my mind during salat how I could perform the bowing and the prostration faster, how I could save time with my salat, etc. brickwall Later on, I found out that it was not correct, and instead started to remove all the sunnah's from my salat (before I was a Quranist). I was trying to make my salat BASIC, minimalistic, with no extra's. That helped me to improve my salat. I am now pronouncing less than 70% of what I used to say, yet my salat is taking the same amout of time.
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Salam and Komostaka?
What the above posts say are good guidance, I would like to add something though.........
What is wrong with having a song stuck in your head? This is what salat is all about, to let your mind work through all those distractions so you finally can find inner peace. Salat has a ritual to it that is meant to make you focus, that is why you are told to prostrate, to tell your mind to concentrate by using physical movements. So dont fight it, embrace it and try to understand why.
Nothing wrong with having a song in your head if that is your goal, but if you want to
perform salat you will need a way to concentrate on salat.None is worthy of worship except God
O0
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Nothing wrong with having a song in your head if that is your goal, but if you want to
perform salat you will need a way to concentrate on salat.None is worthy of worship except God
O0
Salam
My point was that instead of fighting it during salat....use salat to embrace, process and get rid of whatever is disturbing you. Afterwards you may find the bond with Allah
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Why not just talk to God? Sometimes writing things down also helps like a diary. So just like you are posting here on this forum, you can write to God, talking to him, asking him what to do, telling him how you feel, what you are thinking, thanking him, etc.
salat is not a ritual prayer to be performed a specific way at specified time - not according to God.
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salat is not a ritual prayer to be performed a specific way at specified time - not according to God.
Peace justamuslim
I beg to differ with you, salat has been rituallistic for a long time, if one wants
to perform the ritual payer or not is a personal decision.Sahih Internationa And when you are among them and lead them in prayer,
let a group of them stand with you and let them carry their arms. And when
they have prostrated, let them be behind you and have the other group
come forward which has not prayed and let them pray with you, taking precaution
and carrying their arms. Those who disbelieve wish that you would neglect your
weapons and your baggage so they could come down upon you in one attack.
But there is no blame upon you, if you are troubled by rain or are ill, for putting down
your arms, but take precaution. Indeed, Allah has prepared for the disbelievers a
humiliating punishment.Once you complete your Contact Prayer (Salat), you shall remember GOD
while standing, sitting, or lying down. Once the war is over, you shall observe the
Contact Prayers (Salat); the Contact Prayers (Salat) are decreed for the believers
at specific timesChapter (19) ayat 58 srat maryam (Mary)
Sahih International Those were the ones upon whom Allah bestowed favor from
among the prophets of the descendants of Adam and of those We carried
with Noah, and of the descendants of Abraham and Israel, and of those whom We
guided and chose. When the verses of the Most Merciful were recited to them, they
fell in prostration and weeping.After them, He substituted generations who lost the Contact Prayers
(Salat), and pursued their lusts. They will suffer the consequences.O0
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People have engaged in rituals since the beginning of time setting up a statue, bowing down or prostrating or circumambulating the statue, offering prayers, sacrifices, involving some kind of physical hardship or suffering like kneeling for long periods, starving, etc, having a certain dress code or mannerism, having some kind of celebratory festival and so on.
Muslim practices are no different. Main difference is instead of statue, people have built a structure - building, facing it to offer their worship in a specified manner at specified time every day.
But is this ritual commanded by God? The answer is a NO.
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@Hawknintynine,
Yes, I am fully aware of the translations and also that of others like Picktall, Yusuf Ali, Asad, Khalifa, etc.
If you want to define salat as this contact prayer then by all means continue to do so performing your rituals in the manner that you think best. However, for those who are interested in the truth and wanting to understand the definition and meaning of "salat" only from the Koran and wanting to use the faculties given by God to rationalize and reason, I invite you to take a closer look at the verses in the Koran where salat is mentioned and referenced.
God does not define salat as this ritual prayer to be done at specified time in specific manner. If anyone here finds anywhere in the Koran where GOD (not sahih international, or Asad or Khalifa or whoever) defines salat as a contact worship to be done at specified time in a specified way, then post them here.
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@Hawknintynine,
Yes, I am fully aware of the translations and also that of others like Picktall, Yusuf Ali, Asad, Khalifa, etc.
If you want to define salat as this contact prayer then by all means continue to do so performing your rituals in the manner that you think best. However, for those who are interested in the truth and wanting to understand the definition and meaning of "salat" only from the Koran and wanting to use the faculties given by God to rationalize and reason, I invite you to take a closer look at the verses in the Koran where salat is mentioned and referenced.
God does not define salat as this ritual prayer to be done at specified time in specific manner. If anyone here finds anywhere in the Koran where GOD (not sahih international, or Asad or Khalifa or whoever) defines salat as a contact worship to be done at specified time in a specified way, then post them here.
Peace justamuslim,
Can you provide us with infomation that supports your conclusion or is this just
your personal opinion. Did you ignore ?O0
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Peace,
A song huh? First I must admit that I really laughed when reading your post, I wondered
what was the song, who was it by.I get distracted by daily matters (shaytayn), my best solution was to seek refuge
in Allah, whenever needed, not only at the beginning of the fatihah but whenever
shaytayn whispers, secondly I increased the length of my intentions to a meditative
state, also finding the right cadence helped me to actually get more of a spiritual
benefit from salat.When the devil whispers to you any whisper, seek refuge in GOD; He is Hearer,
Omniscient.May God make your worship easy
O0
Well most of the time it is an ost from an anime caled deadmanwonderland. Sometimes it is a nashed called "Dust is my bed" and sometimesit is an opening from anime called "Arcanna"...and it's frustrating....lol
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filipinomuslim
My adviseTry to understand what you are saying and to reflect over the words. Even if it means only focusing on a few verses. Better to reflect and understand them than just utter things without concentrating.
Don't just rote read/recite. Remember you're doing it to remember God, to remember your duties, to praise and thank. Make it personal by including dua's.
If other thoughts come into your head stop your salat, when you're ready to concentrate recommence or start again.
see what works for you
justamuslim
Just some thought. Salat is a commandment, whether it is taken as prayer or not is based on a persons understanding. There are verses which indicate times and conditions e.g. 443 to be conscious not drunk and clean, 17110 to speak in a moderate tone, 56 to perform ablution, 2238 to be diligent in salat by maintaining a balance, 2237 to attend salat regularly, 11114 to perform salat at the 2 ends of the day. There are many verses on salat which indicate specific requirements. How you execute these requirements may differ from one person or another, let them be. Ultimately salat is a dhikr 2014
peace
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Well most of the time it is an ost from an anime caled deadmanwonderland. Sometimes it is a nashed called "Dust is my bed" and sometimesit is an opening from anime called "Arcanna"...and it's frustrating....lol
I apologize filipinomuslim but your post is just hilarious, it's hard for me to "concentrate"
on a solution for you without laughing, again I apologize.O0
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Just some thought. Salat is a commandment, whether it is taken as prayer or not is based on a persons understanding. There are verses which indicate times and conditions e.g. 443 to be conscious not drunk and clean, 17110 to speak in a moderate tone, 56 to perform ablution, 2238 to be diligent in salat by maintaining a balance, 2237 to attend salat regularly, 11114 to perform salat at the 2 ends of the day. There are many verses on salat which indicate specific requirements. How you execute these requirements may differ from one person or another, let them be. Ultimately salat is a dhikr 2014
peaceThanks SarahY I will copy these ayats for future references.
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I apologize filipinomuslim but your post is just hilarious, it's hard for me to "concentrate"
on a solution for you without laughing, again I apologize.O0
it's all good thanks for the advice though sun
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What I do is is simply concentrate on God's presence, which leads to an increased awareness of God's presence.
thaks but it is realy hard to get rid of songs or music in my head which is difficult. Any advice on how to silence your mind during salah? is there a certain sound that you allow to play in your head like nature sounds or something? cuz sometimes it is very frustrating.
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Peace justamuslim
I beg to differ with you, salat has been rituallistic for a long time, if one wants
to perform the ritual payer or not is a personal decision.Sahih Internationa And when you are among them and lead them in prayer,
let a group of them stand with you and let them carry their arms. And when
they have prostrated, let them be behind you and have the other group
come forward which has not prayed and let them pray with you, taking precaution
and carrying their arms. Those who disbelieve wish that you would neglect your
weapons and your baggage so they could come down upon you in one attack.
But there is no blame upon you, if you are troubled by rain or are ill, for putting down
your arms, but take precaution. Indeed, Allah has prepared for the disbelievers a
humiliating punishment.Once you complete your Contact Prayer (Salat), you shall remember GOD
while standing, sitting, or lying down. Once the war is over, you shall observe the
Contact Prayers (Salat); the Contact Prayers (Salat) are decreed for the believers
at specific timesChapter (19) ayat 58 srat maryam (Mary)
Sahih International Those were the ones upon whom Allah bestowed favor from
among the prophets of the descendants of Adam and of those We carried
with Noah, and of the descendants of Abraham and Israel, and of those whom We
guided and chose. When the verses of the Most Merciful were recited to them, they
fell in prostration and weeping.After them, He substituted generations who lost the Contact Prayers
(Salat), and pursued their lusts. They will suffer the consequences.O0
So do you still pray the traditional way with rakas and stuff or do you just s tand, bow and prostrate and just glorify and recite and supplicate in any position. Because me, when I pray i usualy start with the recitation of the quran in the standing position, but i dont usualy recite the al-fatiha but mostly the last two surah's in the quran..because of my situation. Then i do my bowing with all my glorification and then prostration with all my duas of forgiveness and other stuff..lol..well that's how I pray . Can you share to me how do you pray?...just curious.