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Muslims must perform
five daily prayers, salat, throughout the day as a
form of submission to God. The ritual combines specific
movements and spiritual aspects, preceded by wudu', or
ablution. It is also supposed to serve as a reminder to
do good and strive for greater causes as well as a form
of restraint from committing harmful or shameful deeds.
It is believed that the
prayer ritual was demonstrated to Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) by
the angel Jabrīl, or Gabriel in English.
Common
mistakes usually we make in prayers
Listed
below are the 7 Common mistakes usually we make in prayers
Mistake
1: Reciting Surat al-Fatiha fast without pausing after
each
verse.
The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) used to pause after each verse of this
surah. (Abu
Dawood)
Mistake
2: Sticking the arms to the sides of the body, in rukoo'
or
sujood, and sticking the belly to the thighs in sujood.
The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) said: "Let not one of
you support himself
on his forearms (in sujood) like the dog. Let him rest
on his palms
and keep his elbows away from his body." (Sahih Muslim)
. The
Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) used to keep his arms away from
his body
during rukoo' and sujood that the whiteness of his armpits
could be
seen (Sahih Muslim).
Mistake 3: Gazing upward during prayer.
This may cause loss of concentration. We are commanded
to lower our
gaze, and look at the point at which the head rests during
sujood. The
Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) warned: "Let those who raise their
gaze up during prayer
stop doing so, or else their sights would not return to
them. i.e.
lose their eyesight]." (Muslim)
Mistake 4 : Resting only the tip of the head on the floor
during
sujood.
The
Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) said: "I am commanded to prostrate
on seven bones
the forehead and the nose, the two hands [palms], the
two knees, and
the two feet." (Sahih Muslim) Applying the above
command necessitates
resting the forehead and the nose on the ground during
sujood.
Mistake
5 : Hasty performance of prayer which does not allow repose
and calmness in rukoo' or sujood.
The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) saw a man who did not complete
his
rukoo' [bowing], and made a very short sujood [prostration]
; he (Peace and Blessings be Upon him)
said: "If this man dies while praying in this manner,
he would die
upholding a religion other than the religion of Muhammad."
Abu
Hurairah (RA) said:
"My
beloved friend, Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) forbade me to perform postures
of
prayer copying the picking of a rooster; (signifying fast
performance
of prayer), moving eyes around like a fox and the sitting
like monkeys
( i.e. to sit on thighs)." (Imam Ahmad & at-Tayalisi)
The Messenger of
Allah (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) said: " The worst thief is the one who
steals from his own
prayer." People asked, 'Messenger of Allah! How could
one steal from
his own prayer?' He (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) said: "By not completing
its rukoo' and
sujood." (At Tabarani & al-Hakim).
To
complete rukoo' is to stay in that posture long enough
to recite
'Subhana rabbiyal Adtheem' three times, SLOWLY, and 'Subhana
rabbiyal-
a'ala' three times, SLOWLY, in sujood. He (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) also announced:
"He
who does not complete his rukoo' and sujood, his prayer
is void." (Abu
Dawood & others)
Mistake
6 : Counting tasbeeh with the left hand
The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) used to count tasbeeh on the fingers
of his right
hand after salah. Ibn Qudamah (RA) said: " The Messenger
of Allah
(Peace and Blessings be Upon him) used his right hand for tasbeeh." (Abu Dawood).
The above
hadeeth indicates clearly that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) used
only one hand
for counting tasbeeh. No Muslim with sound mind would
imagine that the
Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) used his left hand for counting tasbeeh.
Aa'ishah (RA)
said that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) used his left hand only for
Istinjaa', or
cleaning himself after responding to the call of nature.
He never used
it for tasbeeh. Yasirah (RA) reported: The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon him)
commanded
women to count tasbeeh on their fingers.
The
Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) said: "They (the fingers)
will be made to
speak, and will be questioned (on the Day of Resurrection.
)" (At-
Tirmidhi) .. The above Hadeeth indicates that it is preferable
to
count tasbeeh on the fingers of the right hand than to
do so on
masbahah (rosary).
Mistake
7 : Crossing in front of a praying person.
The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings be Upon him) warned: "Were the one
who crosses in
front of a praying person to know the consequences of
doing so, he
would have waited for *forty better than to cross in front
of
him." (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim). *The forty in the
tradition may be
days months or even years. Allah knows best.
Common Errors in Prayer That MUST Be Avoided - Please
inform your near
and dear ones to take care of the above.
Remember
Muslim Ummah in your supplications
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