The very first lines of the Surah entitled “Al-Mu`minoon” tell us how to be successful in our prayers.  “Successful indeed are the Believers, those who are humble in their Prayers.” For this reason, many of the fuqahaa` have actually made khushoo’ (humility) a requirement for a good prayer.  And if you think about it, that makes sense since the whole purpose of the prayer is not to make a series of thoughtless movements- as if you are taking an aerobics class or doing a dance, but the purpose is to humble yourself and remember your Lord.

So what is exactly meant by khushoo’, or “humility”?  We might all have our own ideas about it, so let’s see what Islam says about it.  Allah mentions that “…from His Signs is that you see the earth stilled (khaashi’ah).  So when We send water down upon it, it trembles and grows.” [Sooratul-Fussilat 41:39] This is a beautiful analogy and you can see that humility is something wherein you acknowledge your own insignificance and dependence on Allah, and it is something which when you achieve it brings you closer to Allah.

Humility is also a characteristic of the believers, and the ones who have knowledge, about whom Allah says, “And they fall upon their faces weeping, and it(the Qur’an) increases them in humility.” [Sooratul-Israa’ 17:109]

Allah also warns us of having “hard hearts”, which is the opposite of khushoo’, which is a softening of the heart: “"So woe to those whose hearts have been hardened against the remembrance of Allah, those are clearly misguided.  Allah has sent down the best statement, a consistent Book wherein is reiteration.  The skins shiver therefrom of those who fear their Lord, then their skins and their hearts become soft at the remembrance of Allaah.” [Sooratuz-Zumar 39:22-23] So this deep and shivery feeling is some more of the specifics of what makes up humility.

Even more commentary and description of this quality was given by the Companions radhi’allaahu ‘anhum.  Hudhayfah radhi’allaahu ‘anhu said, when noticing a man moving excessively in the prayer, “If his heart was submissive, his limbs would have become subservient.”

In giving Quranic commentary on the verses of Suratul Mu`minoon, Ali bin Abi Taalib radhi’allaahu ‘anhu said, “It is the humility in the heart, and it is that you soften your side towards the Muslim, and that you do not look around during your Prayer.” while Ibn ‘Abbas radhi’allahu ‘anhu said, “They are fearful and tranquil.”

In a hadith reported in An-Nisaa’ee the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) looked towards the sky one day and said, “This is a time when the knowledge will be raised up.” And he asked, “…should I not inform you what will be the first thing to be raised up?...It is humility, until you will not even see one humble person.” Notice how the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam is saying humility is the first thing in knowledge!  So this means actually that people can have “knowledge” but it is not real, they are actually ignorant since it does not benefit them and is a sham.

And why not, because if someone was truly “knowledgable” they would actually realize the greatness of Allah and tremble in fear of Him.  As He tells us, “If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and broken apart from fear of Allah.” [Sooratul-Hashr 59:21]

But now we get to the heart of the matter.  You’ve heard this phase before, “heart of the matter” since it is universally acknowledged that the heart is the place that is the center of anything, as in “the heart of the city”.  So the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam emphasized this also when he said, “Verily there is a small morsel of the body, if it is rectified, the whole body is rectified; and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt.  Indeed it is the heart.” (reported in Bukhari and Muslim) So the point here is that many people focus on the actions of salaah, but forget the heart, which is the actual place of prayer.  For due to a journey you might pray shortened prayers, and due to illness you might pray sitting or even just moving your head or eyes, and you might know short chapters of the Quran or long.  But the constant in all of this is your khushoo’, without which there is no prayer.  The hypocrites, the worst of the disbelievers who will be in the lowest pit of Hell, used to pray.  But for sure their hearts did not have khushoo’.

This is why the salaf used to say, “Seek refuge from the hypocritical humility (khushoo’un-nifaaq)… When you see the body humbled, but the
heart is not humbled.”

And ‘Umar (radiyallaahu ‘anhu) looked at a youth who was lowering his head, so he said to him, “What is this!  Straighten your neck, since humility is here [pointing to his heart], not here [neck].”

So what if you find that this does not come naturally to you- how can you attain humility?  The first thing is to increase in your reflection on the Quran and your adhkaar of Allah.  Both Ibn Mas’ood and Az-Zubayr radhi’allaahu ‘anhumaa said that the verse: “Has the time not come for those who have believed, that their hearts should become humble at the remembrance of Allaah, and at what He has revealed of the Truth?” [Sooratul-Hadeed 57:16]- was the first rebuke they received after accepting and practicing Islam for 4 years.  So how much more in need of rebuke are we than the Companions radhi’allaahu ‘anhum.  The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam himself used to make the following du’aa:

“Allaahummaa innee a’oodhubika min ‘ilmillaa tanfa’ wa min qalbillaa takhsha’ wa min-nafsillaa tashba’ wa min da’watullaa yustajaabulahaa.”

“O Allaah, verily I seek refuge in You from knowledge that does not benefit, and from a heart that is not humble, and from a soul that is not content, and from supplication that is not answered.” (reported in Muslim)

So therefore you can see that although there are many signs of humility- lowering the gaze, having tranquility in your limbs and actions, crying, trembling, etc., the reality of it is what is found in your heart.