Remembrance of Allah — Page 82
82 imam. ’ The people who suffer from such irrational doubts also commit a mistake and its result is very destructive, turning the Niyyat into an affliction. The Niyyat is actually related to the heart, but as they stand up, some people do not have the slightest idea as to what they are about to do. Thus, when you are about to offer S al a t, bring S al a t to mind also and conceptualize what you are about to do. When you will come to understand this, you will begin to develop reverence from that very moment within you, and when reverence comes into being, then concentration can also be maintained. 8. The eighth method is congregational S al a t because when offering S al a t in this way, the words drawing your attention to the grandeur of God Almighty are made to fall upon your ears from the imam. And the person who may be heedless and falls into other thoughts is nudged. For example, when All a ho Akbar is called out, he is, as if, being alerted that—‘Beware! Stand with full attention, for the One in whose presence you are about to stand is Immensely Great. ’ Then, when some time has been spent in the standing pos- ture, and all manner of thoughts begin to arise within one’s heart, the imam again says in a loud voice, All a ho Akbar, that ‘Allah is indeed the Greatest. ’ Again, after a while, when heed- lessness rears its head, the sound of ُ سَمِع َ الل َُّ لِمَن ْ حَمِدَه [ Sami-‘All a ho li-man H amidah—‘ God listens to him who praises Him’]—is made to fall upon the ears reminding the person that Allah the Exalted hears and accepts the sayings of the person who praises Him. And in this way his attention is drawn that if he