Remembrance of Allah — Page 78
78 comes before it, then it also recalls those other things that are associated with it. Thus, if a man offers his S al a t at a place which has no special connection with S al a t, then he will not recall anything in particular. However, when he offers his S al a t at such a place where S al a t is offered morning and evening, he will certainly think that he is standing in the house of that God for whose worship that place had been built and it was incumbent upon him that he should follow and obey Him with full sincerity of heart. This is indeed the reason why the Holy Prophet s as has instructed that Muslims should reserve a specific place for Prayer in their homes and they should not do anything else there except offering Prayers so that while they are praying there, they should think that that is the place for the worship of God Almighty ( Mishk ā t al-Ma sā b īh , Kitābus- S alāt, Bābul- Masājid wa Mawad‘i s-S alāt; Hadith 717). 19 It is possible that some of you may have never had this thought pass through your mind even when you went to the mosque, but now that the wisdom behind going to offer Prayers in the mosque has become known to you and with this thought when you go to the mosque to offer your Prayers, your thoughts will immediately stop and you will attain tranquillity. 3. The third method is the instruction to face towards the Qiblah [direction of the Ka‘bah in Makkah] also helps in main- taining concentration. The holy city of Makkah holds many distinctions. By the command of God, a man had abandoned his wife and child in this place with no provisions, no popu- lation, and no protection. And because he had done this for