The Better Me: Perfecting Prayers

"Perfecting Salah (Prayer)"

The first question in the grave would be about Salaah (prayers), the 5 times obligatory prayers, that each Muslim is to offer every single day of life after the age of 8. Are we ready for that very first question? We have a grand time making philosophical statements like "The first impression is the last impression". Are we ready to make a good first impression before our Lord?

As the chart shows, there are the Farz prayers (obligatory prayers), the Sunnah prayers (as offered by Prophet Mohammad saww), and the Nafil prayers (the extra prayers) that one offers to please Allah (swt). There is no reason for anybody to miss out the Farz.

Would you miss a chance to please a teacher, a boss, or a supervisor who is to grade you an A+ or promote you? Then why miss out a chance to please Allah (swt) Who has promised to greet us personally on the Day of Judgment if we prove our worth. 

The Sunnah prayers are not obligatory unless of course they are Sunnah Muakkadah which means that it is a Sunnah so important that one should treat it as an almost obligation. We would be fools to miss out in practicing what our beloved RasoolAllah (saww) practiced, because following him alone carries such great rewards.

The Nafil prayers are your choice and there are a variety of extra prayers that you can offer to please Allah (swt) and seek His mercy and forgiveness this Ramadan and throughout your life. You can choose to offer the 2 rakaahs after the sun has just risen - the Ishraaq prayer. You can also offer 2 to 4 rakaahs before noon - the Chaasht prayer. You can even offer 6 rakaahs after the Maghrib (sunset) prayer until before Isha (night) prayer. All these extra prayers promise immense mercy, complete forgiveness, and great rewards from Allah (swt).

However, before you try tackling all the extra prayers to please Allah (swt) you must ensure that your basic obligatory prayers are near to perfection (nobody by Allah (swt) is perfect). So one of your major goals should definitely be to develop Khushoo (dedicated focus and 100% concentration) in your prayers. 

I am linking you to an article that I have gathered/written up on Khushoo to give you a detailed idea of what needs to be done. Click on the red links below to review.

33 Ways to Develop Khushoo (summary of a book)