And these are the aadhaan, purification, covering ones awrah, facing the qiblah, standing, the intention, the takbeer, seeking refuge, the basmalah, the recitation of Faatiha and another surah, the rukoo, sujood and tashahhud.

The Aadhaan

When you hear the call of aadhaan then make the terror of the call on the Day of Judgement present in your heart and prepare yourself externally and internally to respond and race towards it. Those who race to answer this call are the ones who will be called out with benevolence on the Day of Judgement. Remember also the description which Allaah Azzawajall has given to the Hypocrites when he said:

And when they stand for the prayer they stand without earnestness (lazy).

The description of the Believers is the opposite of that. They stand for the prayer whilst rejoicing and with eargerness and liveliness, turning themselves towards Allaah Azzawajall.

The Purification

When you purify yourself in your home which is the furthest place (from the place of prayer), then your clothes which is your nearest covering and then your skin which is your lowest and innermost covering do not forget to purify your heart with repentance, remorse, firm resolution not to return to sins, and avoiding injustices (to others). The purification of the inner self precedes the purification of the external form.

Covering One’s Awrah

It’s meaning is that you conceal the undesirable parts of the body from the creation. But bring to mind along with this the ugly traits and characteristics and the scandals of your inner self. Try to bring about modesty and feel shameful in front of Allaah Azzawajall from Whom no secret is hidden as it is not possible to cover it.

Facing the Qiblah

This is turning your face away from all other directions to the direction of the House of Allaah Azzawajall. Know that it is also obligatory to turn the heart away from all other things towards Allaah Azzawajall. Thus there occurs in one of the opening supplications of the prayer: "I have turned my face towards the One Who Created the heavens and the earth, sincerely." The purpose is the turning of the heart towards Allaah and its sincerity towards Him after the body has been made to face the House of Allaah.

The Standing

This is making the body and the heart stand erect, upright in front of Allaah Azzawajall. Bring to mind along with this the standing in front of Allaah on the Day of Judgement for questioning and try to feel and sense the Might of Allaah Azzawajall. Prepare yourself to stand in front of Him (in prayer) in such a way that it will lead you to safety on the Day of Judgement.

The Intentions

Fill your intention with sincerity to Allaah Azzawajall, hoping for His reward, fearing His punishment and loving His nearness. Train and nurture yourself to recall this sincere intention along with every speech and action and know that none will be saved on the Day of Judgement except the sincere ones. Every action which has a desire for other than Allaah is adulterated and obscured. Allaah Azzawajall said regarding this:

And We shall turn to whatever actions they did and make them into scattered dust.

The Takbeer

When you declare the takbeer with your tongue it is desirable that your heart does not treat it as having lied. If there is something in your heart which is greater than Allaah the Sublime or your hawaa (whim and desire) is greater to you than Allaah Azzawajall and you are more obedient to it than to Allaah the Exalted then you have taken it as a god and your will have declared its greatness. So your saying: Allaahu-Akbar will have been but a mere expression of the tongue and the heart will have refrained from supporting the tongue. If it had not been for repentance, seeking forgiveness and harbouring good thoughts about Allaah’s generosity and forgiveness this would have been one of the greatest dangers.

Seeking Refuge

Know that this means seeking a sanctuary with Allaah the Mighty from Shaytaan the Rejected and Accursed, the one who lies in wait for you, jealous of your private conversation with your Lord Azzawajall and of your rukoo’ and sujood to Him, along with the fact that he did not agree to or offer a single prostration to Him. He has made it his concern to prevent you and cut you off from conversing privately with your Lord by his whisperings about the concerns and affairs of the world and its engagements and occupations until he prevents you from the honour of secretly conversing with Allaah, its blessing and its reward. He also tries to cut you off from your Master, whose love and secret conversations make the hearts happy, and from gaining nobility in this life and the herafter by His remembrance and beautiful worship.

The Basmalah

When you pronounce this, intend to receive blessings by the name of Allaah along with which nothing in the heavens or the earth can cause harm and He is the All-Hearing the All-Knowing. When you say ar-Rahmaan ir-Raheem, recall in your heart His various benevolences so that His Mercy becomes manifest to you and hope arises in your heart.

Recitation of the Faatihah

Remember the saying of the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam), what he has narrated from his Lord: "I have divided prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves, and My servant shallhave what he has asked for. When the servant says:

All praise belongs to Allaah the Rabb of all the Worlds.

Allaah (mighty and sublime be He) says: My servant has praised Me. And when he says:

The Most Gracious the Most Merciful

Allaah (mighty and sublime be He) says: My servant has extolled Me, and when he says:

Master of the Day of Judgement

Allaah (mighty and sublime be He) says: My servant has glorified Me -and on one occasion He said: My servant has submitted to My power. And when he says:

You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help

He says: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he has asked for. And when he says:

Guide us to the Straight Path, the Path of those whom you have favoured, not of those upon whom is your anger, nor of those who are astray

He says: This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he has asked for"

An-Nawawi (rahimahullaah) said: The scholars have said: And the meaning of the word ‘prayer’ (in this hadeeth) is the Faatihah...

...(His saying) ‘I have divided it’ is in terms of its meaning because the first half of it contains praise of Allaah, His glorification, extolling Him and submitting (one’s affairs) to Him and the second half contains a request, an imploration and a need.

Al-Ghazaalee (rahimahullaah) said: As for the other surah which is recited: You must recite it with reflection and thought, pausing at every verse until you understand its meaning. Allaah Azzawajall said:

Do they not carefully ponder over the Qur’aan or are there locks upon their hearts?

Do not therefore, be heedless of His commands, prohibitions, promises, threats, admonitions, the stories of His messengers and the mentioning of His favours and bounties (upon His creation). Every one of these has a right upon you. Hope is the right of the promise, fear is the right of the threat, having a firm resolution to obey Him is the right of His commands and prohibitions, taking a lesson and warning is the right of His admonitions, gratefulness is the right of his favour and consideration is the right of the stories He has narrated.

Al-Qaasimee (rahimahullaah) said: These meanings are related to the levels of understanding and the levels of understanding are related to the abundance of knowledge and the clarity of the heart. The levels and degrees of this (amongst people) cannot be comprehended. The prayer is the key to the hearts. Within it, the secrets of the words (which are recited) are uncovered. This is the right of the recitation and is also the right of the remembrances, and the glorifications. Then the worshipper should oberve and maintain awe and fear of Allaah during his recitation by reciting with Tarteel (slow rhythmic tones) as this makes it easier to reflect.

The Rukoo’ and the Sujood

Ibn Qudaamah (rahimahullaah) said: Try to feel modesty in your rukoo’ and humility in your sujood because in such a position you have placed the soul in its proper place. In sujood you have returned the limbs to their place of origin, upon the dust from which they were created. Understand also the meaning of the remembrances with inclination and zeal.

Al-Qaasimee (rahimahullaah) said: It is desirable that you renew the mention of the Greatness of Allaah the Sublime during them, that you strive to soften your heart, renew your khushoo’ and that you sense and realise the power of your Master and His transcendency and then your own lowliness and insignificance. Seek help from Allaah to establish all of that in your heart and upon your tongue. Glorify Allaah (above all defects) then give testimony for His Grandeur and that He is mightier than every single thing. Repeat this so that it is confirmed and established (in your heart). By saying: Allaah listens to the one who praises Him, which means He will respond to the one who is grateful to Him, you raise your head from the rukoo’ with certain hope. Then follow that with additional gratefulness by saying: O Lord to You belongs all praise. Then fall into prostration which is the highest form of submission and yielding oneself (to Allaah). Place and fix the noblest of your limbs, the face, upon the lowest of things and that is the dust. Along with this renew in your heart the greatness of Allaah and say: Glorified is my Lord the Highest then raise your head while declaring His greatness and asking Him for your need by saying: O Lord forgive me and show mercy to me. Confirm your modesty and humility by repeating this a number times and then return to the sujood for a second time.

The Tashahhud

Al-Ghazaalee said: When you sit then sit courteously and declare that all of what you express is from the salawaat and the tayyibaat, that is from the pure characteristics of Allaah. Likewise, that the dominion belongs to Allaah, and this the meaning of tahiyyaat. Recall in your heart the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and his noble personality when you say: Peace be upon the Prophet and the Mercy of Allaah and His blessings. Send peace upon yourself and upon all of Allaah’s sincere slaves. Then testify to the oneness of the Exalted and to the messengership of Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam) thereby, renewing the covenant with Allaah the Sublime with these two words of testification. Send prayers upon the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam), like those of Ibraheem and then seek refuge in Allaah from the four things: Punishment of the Fire, punishment of the grave, the trial of life and death and the trial of Dajjaal, the Maseeh. Then with the final salutations, intend peace and security for the angels and those besides you. Feel grateful to Allaah for giving you success and capability over this act of obedience. Fill yourself with awe and humility because you might have been negligent in your prayer and fear that it may not be accepted from you, that you might be disliked for a sin that you committed and as a result of which your prayer is thrown back at your face. Along with all of this hope that Allaah will accept your prayer with His Generosity and Bounty.

This then, is the explanation of the prayer of the khaashi’een, those who are humble and submissive in their prayers, the ones who guard their prayers, the ones who are constant in offering them, the ones who converse with Allaah to the extent that they are able to become enslaved to Him. Let the worshipper turn himself to this prayer, let him rejoice to the extent to which it has been made easy for him and let him be grieved to the extent that the prayer has passed him by, and let him strive to find the cure for that.

As for the prayer of the inattentive and heedless, it is very risky, unless Allaah covers him with His Mercy and Allaah’s Mercy is vast and His Generosity is abounding. We ask Allaah that He covers us with His Mercy and that He showers us with His forgiveness as there is no way for us except to admit our incapacity to perform His obedience. From SP