I love being sore. Yes, it hurts – oh so much. Yet, I love the feeling. Coming back home from the gym and barely being able to turn the steering wheel has a very interesting result on my body. And the best part of it, I move so much slower. You may wonder why is it a good thing that I move so much slower after I workout. SubhanAllah, soreness helps me so much in salaah. And it helps me fulfill the pillar of salaah called ‘tumma’neenah’(Calmness). Even when I raise my hands, the movement is so nice and slow, I really feel like I am praying.
I remember the first time I worked out. I came home and started to pray isha. When i went down for sujood, I was so fatigued that my hands could not even support my body so my face went down slamming into the ground! After that experience I learned my lesson and went down MUCH slower alhamdulillah.
Salaah means so much more when it is done slowly with concentration. SubhanAllah, even surah fatiha, when I am reciting it and actually thinking about the meaning, sometimes I just feel like reciting these ayat over and over again:
It is You we worship and You we ask for help.
Guide us to the straight path
These ayat are so simple, yet so powerful. How many times a day does it feel like we have left the straight path. How many times a day does it feel like we are on the path that has angered Allah, instead of the path that of those whom Allah has favored. May Allah give us the ability to worship Him as He should be worshiped. And may He guide us all to the straight path. By the way, if you do not know the meaning of surah fatihah, please memorize it. Break up the words and memorize the meanings. This is something sooo important and something that can really help you in your prayer. I recently discovered that my sunday school kids were clueless about the meaning of surah fatiha. May Allah increase us all in knowledge that benefits.
master of the day of judgment.
man that always gets me…
masha’Allah, your head slamming to the ground brings back memories… i know what you mean
the fact that “soreness brings khushoo” makes me a bit envious of you as Allah has bestowed this honor of “soreness” (for lack of a better word) as a medium to increase your concentration and endurance of prayer. At times, most of us simply take salah as a ritual that most be done as it it fard. Little do many realize that this salah consists of not only performing, but also ESTABLISHING. to establish prayer means to perfect it in its beauty and to express khushoo within it — a state that, subhanAllah, you seem to have acquired. When salah is established, the purpose is fulfilled — time management, purification of the mind and soul, and a momentary respite from this dunya are essentials that come along in the package of salah when it is established correctly. The essence of salah is quickly being forgotten, and the benefits are slowly diminishing, as we give a superficial look upon the stance of salah. InshaAllah, more will have such an epiphany as you did, as it will be a noble attempt to have this beautiful gift of “khushoo” of salah saved.
wow mA very impressive post – reminded me of the important things in a strangely poetic way