Yes! I can do it!

May the peace and blessings of Allah be onto you!

"How do I make my prayers consistent..?" was the question I left my readers with in the previous article. So it's time we get to work ;)

Let's accept the fact. We, young Muslims do not find comfort and joy in our prayers. We tend to treat the 5 daily prayers as a burden due to which our love and passion for Salah has vanished.. 

Our hearts have become hardened and sadly we have become the so-called 'depressed' generation! As a result many of us are searching for 'cures and remedies' through any means available... 

Phrases like "Let's go for shopping!" "Dude, let's party hard!" "Chill Mahn, we'll take revenge!" "Just sleep!!!" are SO COMMON for the 'next gen'. 

By doing so, we are just TEMPORARILY avoiding that depressed state. Eventually after shopping or partying or sleeeeeping, we are still 'dukh bhari aatma'. :(

We are unable to find any remedy to our sadness because we have ignored the greatest medicine (Yes, you know where I'm going...) It's Salah! 

The youth needs to realize the potential role of prayer in changing our life.

Absentmindedness (HUGE word..phew!!) destroys the quality of our Salah. The ability to concentrate in Salah can be improved by taking adequate preparation before the prayer and also using certain techniques during the prayer.

Here I will divide my article into two parts. Firstly I will talk about the steps that we can adopt prior to offering Salah... Which I call EXTERNAL STROKE and I have divided it into 2 :

1. Spiritual ES (External Stroke)

# Avoid praying in a state when you are mentally or physically fatigued -

In such cases I suggest, one can have few dates and a glass of water. I've tried it myself and it's a great energy booster! :D

# Keep your mind free of worldly worries - 

Happens all the time. For once, just let go of all your worries and pray with a piece of mind. You are standing in front of The One who can knock out all your worries in the blink of an eye! So concentrate! ;)

# Plan what verses/duas you are going to recite -

Sometimes, we are so lost in our wordly affairs, we hardly realize what we are reciting in our prayer. Planning it prior, will help us focus and concentrate better.

# If you do not understand Arabic, then it's better you read the meaning of the duas before hand -

Now this takes a lil effort. But trust me, it's all worth it! It will help you concentrate better. I went through the same trouble but Alhamdullilah I'm working my way out of it. I suggest to start lil by lil. For instance, you can start with the duas recited in Ruku and Sujood. And then the dua recited after the first takbeer (Sana'a). Then the meaning of the surah that you plan to recite in your Salah and so on.. :)

# Remind yourselves that engaging in prayer offers you an opportunity to release yourself from the tensions of this world.

It is a forgotten fact that Salah is the comfort of our lives. Therefore cherish this opportunity to remove the burdens of this world from your shoulders.

# Use your prayer as a source of strength, inspiration and enthusiasm for your life and activities.

2. Physical ES

# Fulfill all your personal needs before you commence your prayer. Eg: thirst, hunger, call of nature etc.

# Pray in a pure physical state. Perform wudhu with care and perfection

# Choose a place that is clean, free of noise and one where there is no distraction.

Now that we have discussed about the ES, it's pretty obvious what the next step of preparation is, INTERNAL STROKE which is on it's way in the next article... ;)

As Salam Alykum