KHUTAB IV: 9. KHUSHŪ‘ IN THE QUR’ĀN AND IN PRAYER
9. KHUSHŪ‘ IN THE QUR’ĀN
AND IN PRAYER
(ANUMA 24/4/09)
Our topic today is khushū‘. What is khushū‘?
According to al-Rāghib al-As.fahānī (d.ca.
423 H/1034 M) in his book Mufradāt Alfādh al-Qur’ān, khushū‘ is الضَّرَاعَةُ (humbleness,
submissiveness), mostly used for the submissiveness of the limbs, namely,
physical submissiveness, whereas the word d.arā‘ah is
mostly used for the submissiveness of the heart, namely spiritual
submissiveness.[1] According
to commentators of the Qur’ān there are four meanings of khusyu‘ in the Qur’ān
mentioned by al-Dāmaghānī )d. 478
H/1085 M) and Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 H/1201 M) as follows:
1. الذُّلُّ وَ التَّذَلُّلُ (humbleness, humility, humiliation, submissiveness,
and self-abasement), as in the following verses: يَوْمَئِذٍ يَتَّبِعُونَ الدَّاعِيَ لَا عِوَجَ لَهُ
وَخَشَعَتِ الْأَصْوَاتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ فَلَا تَسْمَعُ إِلَّا هَمْسًا (طه : ١٠٨) “On that Day mankind
will follow strictly (the voice of)
Allah’s caller, no crookedness (that is without going to the right or left of
that voice) will they show him (Allah’s caller). And all voices will be humble
for the Most Gracious (Allah), and nothing shall you hear but the low voice of
their footsteps.” Q. 20:108) وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ
(الغاشية : ٢). . “Some faces that Day will be humiliated
(in the Hellfire, i.e., the faces of all disbelievers, Jews and
Christians).” (Q. 88:2), and خَاشِعَةً أَبْصَارُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ
ذِلَّةٌ وَقَدْ كَانُوا يُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى السُّجُودِ وَهُمْ سَالِمُونَ (القلم
:٤٣) “Their eyes will be cast down and ignominy
will cover them; they used to be called (call for the congregational prayer in
the mosque) to prostrate themselves (offer prayers), while they were healthy
and good (in the life of the world, but they did not come to the mosque)” (Q
68:43). Based on this meaning, khushū‘
in prayer means showing submissiveness and humiliation to Allah with eyes
looking down.
2.
َالْخَوْفُ
(fear), as in the verse: فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ يَحْيَى وَأَصْلَحْنَا
لَهُ زَوْجَهُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَيَدْعُونَنَا رَغَبًا
وَرَهَبًا وَكَانُوا لَنَا خَاشِعِينَ (الأنبياء
: ٩٠) “So, We answered his
(Zakariyyā’s) call, and We bestowed upon him Yah.yā
(John), and cured his wife (to bear a
child) for him. Verily, they used to hasten on to do good things, and they used
to call on Us with hope and fear, and used to fear Us.” (Q.21:90).
However, many translators translate خَاشِعِينَ
here as “humble themselves before Allah.” So, khushū‘ in prayer according to
this meaning is to fear Him.
3 اَلتَّوَاضُعُ (humility,
modesty, humbleness), as in the verse: وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ وَإِنَّهَا
لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ (البقرة : ٤٥) “And seek help in
patience and prayers, and truly, it is extremely heavy and hard except for
humble people..” Q. 2:45). So, khushū‘ in the prayer in this sense
is humbleness towards Allah.
4 سُكُوْنُ
اْلجَوَارِحِ (the
calmness of the limbs) and added by al-Dāmaghānī وَ
رَمْيُ اْلبَصَرِ ِإلَى َمْوضِعِ السُّجُوْدِ (and casting the sight to the place of
prostration), as in the following verse: قَدْ أَفْلَحَ
الْمُؤْمِنُوْن. الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ (المؤمنون
: ٢) “Successful indeed
are the believers. Those who offer their salat (prayer) with all solemnity and
full submissivenes [i.e., with calm limbs.]” (Q. 23:2).[2] Khushū‘ in the prayers according to
this interpretation is the calmness of the limbs, as well as looking at the
place of prostration in the prayer.
Khushū‘ in the prayers according to Ibn
‘Abbās (d. 68/687) is “fear and calmness,” while according to Qatādah it is
“the fear feeling and gazing down ”. Al-Awzā‘ī when he was asked about khushū‘ in the prayer he answerd: “to lower the gaze, to be humble, and to
be gentle”. Muslim
ibn Yassār, Imam Syafi‘ī, Ish.āq ibn Rāh.awayh
(d. 238/852), Abū Thawr (d. 240/854-5) and adherents of personal opinions (أَهْلُ الرَّأْي) say that khushū‘
in the prayers is “looking at the place of prostration” and consider it one of
the sunnahs (acts recommended) in the prayer. Ibn Sīrīn said that Prophet
Muhammad s.a.w. raised up his gaze while praying, then he was ordered to
do the khushū‘; so he lowered his gaze to the place of prostration.[3] Despite
this difference of interpretation, khushū‘ in the prayer is “humility
and devotion before Allah.”
The definitions of khushū‘ in the prayer according to Islamic schools of
law are as follows:
a. Ḥanafī: The definition of khushū‘
in the prayer in the Ḥanafī school is
not available, except that in order to do it one has to look at the place of
prostration. .
b.
Mālikī: اَلْخُشُوْعُ هُوَ
اسْتِحْضَارُ عَظَمَةِ اللِه تَعَالَى وَهَيْبَتِهِ وَ أَنَّهُ لَايُعْبَدُ وَلَا
يُقْصَدُ سِوَاهُ
Khushū’ is to bring in your mind the greatness of Allah
the Most High and His reverence
that verily there is
none to be worshiped and intended
except Him
According
to the Mālikī school bringing to mind that one is obeying Allah in doing the
prayer is sunnah no. 3 of 48 sunnahs (recommended acts) in the
prayer.
c. Shāfi‘ī: اَلْخُشُوْعُ
فِيْ الصَّلَاةِ هُوَ حُضُوْر اْلقَلْبِ وَسُكُوْنُ الْجَوَارِحِ
Khushu’ in the prayer is keeping in
your mind (that you are praying)
and calming down the limbs.
Khushū‘ and pondering/contemplating (tadabbur)
are recommended in the prayers, and al-Zuhaylī put khushū‘ no. 32 in
Shāfi’ī madhhab. In order to assist us
in obtaining khushū‘ we should start our prayer enthusiasticly and empty our mind
from wordly matters.
d.
Ḥanbalī: اَلْخُشُوْعُ
مَعْنىً يَقُوْمُ فِيْ النَّفْسِ يَظْهَرُ مِنْهُ سُكُوْنُ اْلأَطْرَافِ
Khushu’ is a concept expressed
with the calmness of the
limbs
This Ḥanbalī madhhab
also considers khushū‘ as one of many recommended acts in the prayers
(about 72 of them). Al-Zuhaylī put it no. 44 in his book al-Fiqh al-Islāmī.[4]
Islamic history recorded many examples
of pious people performing their prayers in khushū‘, among them are as
follows:
1. Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/778),
the great scholar who had his own madhhab (school of law) but did not develop,
is said that if you saw him praying you might have
thought that he was going to die immediately because he did it with khushū‘.
2. Abdullah Ibn al-Zubayr ibn ‘Awwām
(2-72/624-692), when he was told that his foot had to be cut off because of
cancer, refused to take a drug (to be anesthetized) to relieve his pain, but he
asked for it to be done while he was prostrating in prayer.
3. Ibn
Taymiyyah used to tremble when he started to pray, so that he would lean left
and right.
4. Al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī (3-50/625-671) looked
pale and so humble upon entering the prayer. When he was asked the reason he
said it was because he was praying before Allah.
5. ‘Alī ibn Abī Țālib (d. 40/661)
while he was doing his berwudu’ he looked pale. When he was asked the reason
for it he said, “I know before Whom I am
going to stand. ” When the time for prayer
came he became shaken and the colour of his face changed. When he was asked the
reason for it, he answered: “Now it is time to carry the amānah (trust,
namely, religious obligation which had
been offered by Allah to the heaven, the earth and mountains but all declined). ” What he meant was the
Qur’anic verse as follows:
إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ
يَحْمِلْنَهَا
وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنْسَانُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا
جَهُولًا (الأحزاب : ۷۲)
“Truly,
We did offer the trust (religious obligations) to the
heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they declined
to bear and were afraid of it (i.e., afraid of Allah’s torment).
But man bore it. Verily,
he was unjust (to himself)
and ignorant (of its
result) . ” (Q.
33:72)]
6. When
Ḥātim was asked how he prayed with khushū‘ he said: “ I stood up saying
the takbīr imagining the Ka‘bah in front of me, my feet were stepping on
الصِّرَاط (the extremely narrow foot-bridge that extends over Hell to be crossed by all
people in the Hereafter), Paradise on my right side, Hell on my left side, the
angel of death is behind me, the Prophet is watching my prayer, and thinking
that it was my last prayer. I said my takbīr glorifying Allah, read the
verses of the Qur’an contemplating their meanings, I bowed with full humility,
prostrated with submission, I prayed fearing Him and expecting His blessings,
and said the taslīm (the greeting (السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ الله Then I wondered whether this prayer was
accepted by Allah or not.”
In
conclusion, in order to be khushū‘ in our prayer, we do it in humility
and devotion, looking at the place of prostration, keeping our limbs and body
calm (not doing unnecessary movement), contem-
plating to what we are reading, keeping in our mind that we are praying
before Allah and leaving behind worldly matters. The imām used to remind
us to pray as it is our last prayer when he said,صَلَّوْا صَلاَةَ الْمُوَدِّع “pray as it is the farewell ( last) prayer.“
المراجع:
الدَّامَغَانِي. قَامُوْسُ الْقُرْآن
إبْنُ الْجَوْزِي. الْوُجُوْهُ وَ النَّظَائِرُ فِي الْقُرْآن
وَهْبَه الزُّحَيْلِيْ . الْفِقْهُ
اْلإسْلامِيْ وَأدِلَّتُهُ
إبْنِ الْمُنْذِر. الأَوْسَط
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