Understanding Salat — Page 6
Understanding S al A t 6 Saying ‘Allah is the greatest’ ( ُ اَلل َُّ اَكْبَر ) seems like a statement of the obvious, but in practical application, it is not. Often, we actually believe others are greater than Allah. For example, when we stand before Allah Almighty in S al ā t, sometimes our mind is lost in thinking about someone else. We came to S al ā t with the purpose of reflecting on the beauties of Allah, but in reality, we find someone else’s beauty more worthy of attracting our attention than Allah Almighty. When we say ‘Allah is the greatest’ ( ُ اَلل َُّ اَكْبَر ), it’s not because we need a reminder of a concept, it’s because we need a reminder of a reality. When we say ‘Allah is the greatest’ ( ُ اَلل َُّ اَكْبَر ), we should think of what in our mind is competing with Allah for greatness. What is so attractive about that distraction and what is the cause of our boredom in S al ā t ? The statement of ‘Allah is the greatest’ ( ُ اَلل َُّ اَكْبَر ) is a comparison in application. When we say it, we should remind ourselves that the distrac- tion which seems more attractive than Allah is not greater; rather, Allah is the greatest. The repetition of ‘Allah is the greatest’ ( ُ اَلل َُّ اَكْبَر ) allows us to break up S al a t into segments where we renew our resolve that Allah is greater than anything else on our mind. Hadrat Mu s le h Mau‘ ū d ra said, A useful technique for them is to concentrate on one posture at a time. When they stand for Qiy ā m they should resolve not to let any thoughts disturb them up to the end of Ruk ū ‘. Going in to Ruk ū ‘ they should