Understanding Salat — Page 11
Qiyam 11 from maintaining our attention, another wisdom in raising our hands in this way is that this gesture is a natural expression that is used for leaving everything else behind. With this gesture, a Muslim expresses that he has separated himself from all thoughts and work of the world and has turned his attention to his Lord. In a couplet, the poet Ghalib indicated to this movement of our hands, “The courtiers place their hands on their ears as they greet, by which they mean that we are not acquainted. ” Thus, by this movement, a believer expresses that he cuts himself off from the entire world and has turned his attention towards his Lord. ( Tafs ī r-e-Kab ī r, vol. 1, pp. 110) When we raise our hands to begin S al a t , we should con- sciously express with our body the sentiment of leaving everything behind, of turning our attention away from the world. Combining this gesture with the statement of ‘Allah is the greatest’ ( ُ اَلل َُّ اَكْبَر ) creates a complete intention. We leave everything that is insignificant behind with our ges- ture and we move forward towards the One who is Greatest with our words. When our body, our words, and our heart come together to turn our attention away from the world and towards Allah, then we begin S al a t with a solid Niyyah [determination of the mind].