Remembrance of Allah — Page 84
84 or not doing which may lead to loss, dominates [the mind over] another task that has less impact in comparison. For example, if someone is engaged in a task in which he does not see any significant benefit, and he has something to do afterwards from which he is hopeful of substantial benefits, or there is a danger of some harm if it is not carried out, or that task is in accordance with his desires, then, thoughts about the other task will be dominating the matter he is engaged in and his attention will remain occupied with it. Take, for exam- ple, a worker in an office. If he has to carry out a personal task after office hours, he will start thinking about it an hour or two before he leaves his office. And if an important task in the office business has triggered to attract his attention, then— even after finishing official duty—his attention will remain focused on it during the way [home] and for some time even at home. Only after some time will he attend to the matters he is busy with currently. It is due to this very wisdom that the Holy Prophet s as has prescribed Sunnahs before and after the Far d [Obligatory] Prayers so that if the mind is occupied in any thoughts before starting the S al a t they should not impact the Far d negatively and make them defective. Instead, burying them in the offer- ing of Sunnah, a man should set his mind to rest content and be able to pay full attention to the Far d s. Similarly, the Sunnah have also been appointed after the Far d Prayers, so that if there are other important chores to be done after the S al a t, its thoughts should not find their way into the heart of the person and spoil his S al a t before he completes the offering of the Far d. Thus, the person can attend to his S al a t peacefully,