Introduction 3
2. Concealment of Khushoo' 4
3. Rulings on Khushoo' 6
4. The means of developing Khushoo' 8
5. Knowing the advantages of Khushoo' in Salaah 27
6. Warding off distractions and things that adversely affect khushoo 31
7. When a person suffers a great deal of waswaas 39
8. Conclusion 41

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, Who has said in His book (interpretation of the
meaning), “...and stand before Allah with obedience” [al-Baqarah 2:238] and has said
concerning the prayer (interpretation of the meaning): “... and truly it is extremely
heavy and hard except for al-khaashi‟oon...‟ [Al-Baqarah 2:45]; and peace and blessings
be upon the leader of the pious, the chief of al-khaashi‟oon, Muhammad the Messenger
of Allah, and on all his family and companions.
Salaah is the greatest of the practical pillars of Islam, and khushoo‟ in prayer is required
by sharee‟ah. When Iblees, the enemy of Allah, vowed to mislead and tempt the sons of
Adam and said “Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from
their right and from their left...” [al-A‟raaf 7:17, interpretation of the meaning], one of
his most significant plots became to divert people from salaah by all possible means and
to whisper to them during their prayer so as to deprive them of the joy of this worship
and cause them to lose the reward for it. As khushoo‟ will be the first thing to disappear
from the earth, and we are living in the last times, the words of Hudhayfah (may Allah
be pleased with him) are particularly pertinent to us: “The first thing of your religion
that you will lose is khushoo‟, and the last thing that you will lose of your religion is
salaah. There may be a person praying who has no goodness in him, and soon you will
enter the mosque and not find anyone who has khushoo‟.” (al-Madaarij, 1/521).
Because of what every person knows about himself, and because of the complaints that
one hears from many people about waswaas (insinuating thoughts from Shaytan)
during the salaah and the loss of khushoo‟, the need for some discussion of this matter
is quite obvious. The following is a reminder to myself and to my Muslim brothers, and
I ask Allah to make it of benefit.
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Successful indeed are the believers, those

who offer their salaah (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness.” [al-
Mu‟minoon 23:1-2] – i.e., fearing Allah and in a calm manner. Khushoo‟ means

calmness, serenity, tranquility, dignity and humility. What makes a person have this
khushoo‟ is fear of Allah and the sense that He is always watching. (Tafseer Ibn
Katheer, Daar al-Sha‟b edn., 6/414). Khushoo‟ means that the heart stands before the
Lord in humility and submission. (al-Madaarij, 1/520).

It was reported that Mujaahid said: “‟...and stand before Allah with obedience” [al-
Baqarah 2:238 – interpretation of the meaning]‟ – part of obedience is to bow, to be

solemn and submissive, to lower one‟s gaze and to humble oneself out of fear of Allah,
may He be glorified.” (Ta‟zeem Qadr al-Salaah, 1/188).
The site of khushoo‟ is the heart, and its effects are manifested in the physical body. The
various faculties follow the heart: if the heart is corrupted by negligence or insinuating
whispers from Shaytan, the worship of the body‟s faculties will also be corrupt. The
heart is like a king and the faculties are like his troops who follow his orders and go
where they are commanded. If the king is deposed, his followers are lost, which is like
what happens when the heart does not worship properly.
Making a show of khushoo‟ is condemned. Among the signs of sincerity

Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: “Beware of the khushoo‟ of
hypocrisy.” He was asked, “What is the khushoo‟ of hypocrisy?” He said, “When the
body shows khushoo‟ but there is no khushoo‟ in the heart.” Fudayl ibn „Ayaad said: “It
was disliked for a man to show more khushoo‟ than he had in his heart.” One of them
saw a man showing khushoo‟ in his shoulders and body, and said, “O So and so,
khushoo‟ is here” – and he pointed to his chest, “not here” – and he pointed to his
shoulders. (al-Madaarij, 1/521)
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said, explaining the difference between
the khushoo‟ of true faith and the khushoo‟ of hypocrisy: “The khushoo‟ of true faith is
when the heart feels aware and humble before the greatness and glory of Allah, and is
filled with awe, fear and shyness, so that the heart is utterly humbled before Allah and
broken, as it were, with fear, shyness, love and the recognition of the blessings of Allah
and its own sins. So no doubt the khushoo‟ of the heart is followed by the khushoo‟ of
the body. As for the khushoo‟ of hypocrisy, it is something that is put on with a great
show, but there is no khushoo‟ in the heart. One of the Sahaabah used to say, „I seek
refuge with Allah from the khushoo‟ of hypocrisy.” It was said to him, „What is the
khushoo‟ of hypocrisy?‟ He said, “When the body appears to have khushoo‟ but there is
no khushoo‟ in the heart.‟ The person who truly feels khushoo‟ before Allah is a person
who no long feels the flames of physical desire; his heart is pure and is filled with the
light of the greatness of Allah. His own selfish desires have died because of the fear and
awe which have filled his heart to overflowing so that his physical faculties have
calmed down, his heart has become dignified and feels secure in Allah the
remembrance of Him, and tranquillity descends upon him from his Lord. So he has
become humble (mukhbit) before Allah, and the one who is humble is the one who is
assured. Land that is “mukhbit” is land that is low-lying, in which water settles, so the
heart that is “mukhbit” is humble and content, like a low-lying spot of land into which

water flows and settles. The sign of this is that a person prostrates to his Lord out of
respect and humility, and never raises his head until he meets Him. The arrogant heart,
on the other hand, is one that is content with its arrogance and raises itself up like an
elevated portion of land in which water never settles. This is the khushoo‟ of true faith.”

 A book on how to develop Khushoo in prayers, rulings on Khushoo, the means of developing Khushoo, knowing the advantages of Khushoo in prayers and etc.