Fatwa by: Shaykh Muhammad bin Salih al-Uthaymeen (حفظه الله)
Question:
I fulfill all the obligations from Allah (ﷻ). However, during Salah, I often become forgetful and begin to think about events that happened during the day. This only happens at the beginning of the prayer, and I cannot seem to overcome it unless I recite the Qur’an aloud. What advice would you give me in this regard?
Answer:
What you are complaining about is something that many worshippers also experience. During Salah, Shayṭān opens the doors of distractions for them, and sometimes a person finishes the prayer without knowing what he recited or did in the prayer.
The treatment for this was taught by the Prophet ﷺ: a person should recite three times:
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
and then lightly spit to his left.
When a person does this, the distractions will leave him by the permission of Allah (ﷻ).
A person should also begin the prayer with the certainty that he is standing before Allah (ﷻ), whispering to Him, drawing near to Him through His exaltation and through reciting the Qur’an, and seeking His blessings and mercy during the supplication portions of the prayer. When a person realizes this, he will be present with full humility and reverence before Allah (ﷻ), loving the goodness he has in front of him and fearing the punishment he seeks refuge from.
And Allah knows best.
Question:
I fulfill all the obligations from Allah (ﷻ). However, during Salah, I often become forgetful and begin to think about events that happened during the day. This only happens at the beginning of the prayer, and I cannot seem to overcome it unless I recite the Qur’an aloud. What advice would you give me in this regard?
Answer:
What you are complaining about is something that many worshippers also experience. During Salah, Shayṭān opens the doors of distractions for them, and sometimes a person finishes the prayer without knowing what he recited or did in the prayer.
The treatment for this was taught by the Prophet ﷺ: a person should recite three times:
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
and then lightly spit to his left.
When a person does this, the distractions will leave him by the permission of Allah (ﷻ).
A person should also begin the prayer with the certainty that he is standing before Allah (ﷻ), whispering to Him, drawing near to Him through His exaltation and through reciting the Qur’an, and seeking His blessings and mercy during the supplication portions of the prayer. When a person realizes this, he will be present with full humility and reverence before Allah (ﷻ), loving the goodness he has in front of him and fearing the punishment he seeks refuge from.
And Allah knows best.
