Khushoo eBook Snippet

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Make sure you feel awesome
The Prophet (saw) advised to: “Take benefit of five before five: ... your
health before your sickness ... [Hakim]
How To Implement This Tip
• Keep a healthy diet and regular fitness routine to stay in tip top shape. You can
take nutrition and lifestyle inspiration from the Sunnah - there are immense
blessings and wisdom therein!
• Make sure the food you eat before praying won’t make you feel lazy and sluggish
- especially before Taraweeh in Ramadan!
• Grab a light snack if you feel really hungry before praying (so long as there’s
enough time!), so you don’t hear your stomach rumbling as you fantasise
about food!
• Properly relieve yourself (i.e. visit the bathroom) before praying if you need to go.
Struggling to hold it in will definitely distract you during prayer. Plus,
it’s considered to be really disliked to pray while needing to answer the
call of nature.
• Take a little rest if you don’t feel too great. Sip water, relax, then begin.
• Try to maintain a stress-free life. Stress can have large effects on our physical wellbeing,
making it a very common Khushoo’ buster! Use Salah as your stress-free
get away from the hustle and bustle of life. Let it be the coolness to your eyes.
Earlier we mentioned that our clothes should be clean and comfortable, making our
prayer a more enjoyable experience. However, there’s something much more important
that should be in check before we pray - our bodies!
Being physically uncomfortable can be a real Khushoo’ buster. We can’t always help this
of course, especially if we’re ill, but we should always try to keep our bodies in tip-top
shape with the intentions of not only being healthy but to be able to worship Allah SWT
better too. Our bodies are entrusted to us by Allah SWT, so it is our duty to take care
of them.
Our diets, sleeping patterns, daily routines, the amount (or lack of) physical activities
we engage in, our relationships with others, levels of stress and overall quality of life
can all affect both our physical and spiritual states.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Companions (may Allah SWT be pleased
with them) regularly engaged in physical activities such as horse riding, swimming,
running, wrestling and others to keep fit and in shape. The Prophet (peace be upon
him) was even described as having ‘squares on his stomach’ - i.e., a 6-pack! Now is
that motivation to workout or what?
Keeping our minds, bodies and souls in good condition can contribute to an overall
satisfying experience when we stand before Allah SWT in prayer - InshaAllah.
Guest Tip!
"If someone asks me about khushoo’ then I'm going
to tell them about sleep! Talking about sleep seems
a bit odd but this is especially important when you
are young and just starting to build those life long
routines. Getting in the habit of sleeping at such a time
that you wake up in the quiet hours of the morning
is the biggest hack to khushoo’ I know. The day is
so much calmer when you wake on time catch the
night prayers then pray the Fajr with the concentration
it deserves. Watch how the rest of your day is filled
with effortless ease and your mind is literally ready
for that awesome sense of peace."
Maheen Malik - Co-founder,
www.MuslimLifeHackers.com (podcast)
(Note: I interviewed sister Amina Khan from Amanah Fitness in
an episode of the Deenspiration podcast. Although the episode
covered health and nutrition tips for Ramadan, these tips can still be
applied throughout the year. Visit www.deenspiration.com/podcast
to find and listen to the episode.)
24 www.deenspiration.com
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