Perfecting Prayer 2/2: Know the Value of Prayer

Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim. Alhamdulillah Rabb Al-Alameen. Wa assalaat wa assalam 'ala ashraf al-anbiya'i wa al-mursaleen, habibi ilahil 'alameen, abi al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. Wa a'laa Ahli Bayti at-tayyibin, at-tahireen. Qaala Allahu Ta'ala fi kitaabihi al-kareem. Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim "Ya ayyuha al-Muzzammil, qumi al-layla illa qalila. Nusfahu aw inqus minhu qalila. Aw zid 'alayhi wa rattili al-Qur'ana tarteela. Inna sanulki alayka qawlan thaqeela. Inna nashia'ta layli hiya ashaddu wat awwa akwamu qaleela" (73:1-6). Sallu 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad.

We spoke last week regarding the importance of building a bond with Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. And the strongest and the most important bond that anyone could build with Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala is through prayer. As-Salat amudu ad-deen in qubilat qubila ma suwaha wa in ruddat rudda ma suwaha. We have many ahadith from the Prophet, from the Imams that speak about the importance of prayer. Prayer, as I mentioned last week, is the pillar of the faith.

If you want your faith to have a foundation, to have a solid foundation. You need to pray. There are some people, they say, I have faith, I believe in God, but I don't need to pray. Yes, you could say that you have faith, but faith, there are types of faith. Some people, they say, I have faith, but then when it comes time that their faith is tested, you see that they have no faith.

Faith is during the time of tests. Faith is determined, it is determined that you have faith, you're a faithful person when you are tested. That is the time that someone's faith is tested. So for someone to say, I have faith, yes, everyone believes in God, everyone knows God is the Creator, but the ones who truly have faith are the ones who pray, the ones who stand and build a relationship with Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Because after all, we are all in need of worshiping Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. I mentioned last week, Allah says in the Qur'an: "wama khalaqtul jinna wal ins illa li ya'budun" (51:56). Allah says I created the jinn and the Ins and the humans so that they worship, so that they worship Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Now, someone might ask, how is it that I was born to worship Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala? Doesn't make sense. But scholars of the soul, they say we have a few needs in our lives that are only met, are only satisfied if we worship Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala and they will not be satisfied in any other way.

Why do we worship? Why did we sit in the musallah? We were gathered there. Why do we get up and pray? Not only us. Why do millions and billions of people pray? Even people who are not Muslim, why do they feel that there's a need to pray? Prayer is not only something exclusive to Muslims, you find the Buddhists pray, the Hindu pray, the Christians, the Jews, every religion, they have a type of prayer.

Why do people pray? Why is that? Is it that we have a drive that pushes us to pray no matter what difference our religion is? This is all goes back to the need that we have. There's a necessity that we have that cannot be satisfied in our lives except through building a bond with a Higher power. Now, yes, some people, they don't know who the higher Power is. So they worship a rock, they worship something that doesn't really make sense to us but they still have that drive that tells them that they have to pray.

And this is the fitra. This is the fitra that Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala created us all with: "fitrata Allahi allati fatara an-naas alayha"(30:30) . This is the creation, we're all one the Hindu, the Buddhists, the Christian, the Jewish, the Muslim. We're all the same type of human being. It's not like I'm programmed in a different way than someone else.

And therefore, you find all religions, they say that we have to worship a Higher Power. We have to pray to a Higher Power. It's only a small minority of the creation that refuse to worship. And that is not because they are not convinced that it's not because there's no calling within them that is telling them to. That is because of their being, probably they probably had bad experiences with a religious group, with a religion, and therefore, it's the reaction to something that they have had. Otherwise human beings, naturally, we will want to worship Allah.

If you put someone in a society where in a jungle someone is born in a jungle, no one has taught this person. You will find that this person who is in the jungle, they will try to worship for reasons for a few reasons. What are those reasons? The first reason is the need of al-intima'. We all have a requirement, we all have a need within us, and that is the need to feel a sense of belonging.

Every single one of us, we have that need to feel a sense of belonging. I say I'm from this country, I'm from this school, I'm from this group of people, I work in this organization. Why do we say that? Why are we always talking about the organizations? Our last name, the which school did I graduate from, what country I'm from, what family I'm from. We always do that as humans. Why do we do that?

Because when I do that, I feel that I'm more powerful. When I say I'm from this family, that means you have to watch out. I'm from this family, you have to respect me, I go back to this family. I graduated from this school, you have to respect me. We always do that. We, human beings, we are always do that, we are programmed to do that. Now, the one who stands in front of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, who does this person return to?

This person says I belong to Allah and because I belong to Allah, I feel satisfied to attribute myself to a religion, to a group of people that worships Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, because after all, we all belong to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala: "Qul inna salati wa nusuki wa mahyaya wa mamati lillahi rabb il-aalamin" (6:162) [Say, "Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds]. When I realized that everything that I have belongs to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, I will be driven to worship Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala because I feel a sense of belonging.

I feel under the protection of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, under the umbrella of protection of Allah. The same reason I say I belong to this group, I belong to this community I belong to, this is my last name. Why? Because I feel protected when I attribute myself to these groups of people. Now ,who is the greatest protectors? Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. When I attribute myself to Allah, that means that I have a Protector, I have a Lord, I have a Powerful Being that is able to help me and answer me in times of need. And Allah says: "A'laa bi dhikri Allah tatma'inna al-qulub"(13:28), it is through the remembrance of Allah that the hearts will find peace.

The second reason people worship, not only Muslims, anyone worships, they find a requirement to worship is because there's a need at-ta'beer 'ala adh-dhaat. They need to talk to someone. A need for someone to listen to me. You know, here in the United States, there is a very big proportion of people that are depressed. Mental illness and even the politicians, the presidential candidates, they're talking about this because it's such a big problem that no one talks about it.

And unfortunately, even in our communities, we don't talk about these things, depression, mental illness. Well, of course, there are many ways. There are ways to deal with the mental illness, but there is also a very important way. I don't want to say that this is the only way, because there are other ways that we have to always go back to the experts. They are the ones who will tell us how to deal with our problems.

But then there is a requirement that we have to speak to a Higher Power, at-ta'beer 'ala adh-dhaat, we speak to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. When we worship, when anyone worships, they feel that when they pray, they're praying to someone that listens to them, because we live in a society where no one listens to us, where no one listens to our problems, no one listens to our challenges. But there's one person, there's One Power that has promised to be there for me and answer me and listen to me at all times. And that is Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. The One who says: "wa idha sa'alaka Ibadi anni fa inni qareeb. Ujeebu da'watad da'i idha da'aa" (2:186) [And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me]. Wa idha sa'alaka ibadi anni fa inni qareeb ujeebu da'wata da'ii idha da'aa.

And the third requirement that we have is the need to charge our souls. We live our lives like a battery, like a machine, we're always doing this, go there work, drop off the kids at school, do this, do that. When are we going to get a break for the soul? Yes, the body Alhamdulillah some of us, we know the best restaurants, we know the best food, we satisfy our body in the best way possible. We satisfy our desires by going and traveling, going to Disneyland, Disney World and going to Florida, you know, vacation. We're very good at that. What about the spirit? What about the soul?

Because one thing that we learn is that happiness cannot be purchased, you cannot buy happiness, you cannot buy feelings. Yes, you could pay thousands of dollars to go somewhere. But will that remove will that bring happiness to your life? No. Why? Because happiness is a feeling and who is the one that controls the hearts? Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. So when we charge our souls, we need to charge our souls by speaking to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, by building a relationship with Allah that recharges me just like a battery.

At the end of the day, we have to plug in our phones. We have to plug in our computers to recharge it. Well, we also need to be charged. Yes, I charge myself by sleeping, by resting, by eating, but there's also another type of charge, and that is through Ibadah. That's through building a relationship with Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. This is why Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala when He speaks to Rasul Allah, He tells him: "Ya ayyuha al-Muzzammil, qumi al-layla illa qalila. Nusfahu aw inqus minhu qalila. Aw zid 'alayhi wa rattili al-Qur'ana tarteela." (73:1-4). Oh Muzzammil, one of the names of Rasul Allah. Stand up and pray in the middle of the night. Qumi al-layla illa qalila. Nusfahu aw inqus minhu qalila. Either half the night. A little bit more. A little bit less.

Why? Because "inna sanulki alayka qawlan thaqeela" (73:5). Because you have the most difficult task and that is the task of guiding people, that is the task of bringing people towards the haqq, that is the most difficult job, the job of Rasul Allah, sallalahu 'alayhi wa 'alihi. Where he was able to bring people who lived in a backward society in a society of darkness. "Yukhrijuhum min adh-dhulumaat ila an-noor"(2:257). He brings them to the light. He changes their culture. He changes their lifestyles. He changes the gods that they worship. They used to worship idols. He made them let go of the idols and worship Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

This was a very difficult task, the most difficult job of anyone on earth, was the job of Rasul Allah sallalahu 'alayhi wa'alihi. And he was the most successful person in his job because he was able to transform the hearts of the people. You could probably control people physically, you could probably control people by giving them money. But how many people can you change their hearts? You could probably introduce a God to people because the the pagans, they used to worship over 300 gods they had in the Kaaba, they used to worship them, idols, gods with the lowercase G. It was very easy to come and say, OK, this is a three hundred and one God, add another God. But Rasul Allah, he came and he told them La illaha Illa Allah. There's no God other than Allah.

Imagine how difficult the job of Rasul Allah was. So Allah says: "inna sanulki alayka qawlan thaqeela" (73:5). You have a very difficult task ahead of you, and the only way that you will be able to deliver, the only way that you will be able to fulfil your message and charge your soul is through praying. And this is why Rasul Allah, sallalahu 'alayhi wa'alihi used to pray in the middle of the night, every night. He used to stand and he used to pray in the middle of the night.

Now, last week, I spoke a little bit about the qualities of what kind of a prayer brings me closer to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. We spoke about the importance of prayer. We spoke about that some prayers don't help. There are some people they pray their whole lives but their prayer does not do anything to them. And Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says: "inna as-salaata tanha ani al-fahsha wa al-munkar" (29:45) wal baghee. Prayer, it's supposed to remove the fahsha, the munkar and the baghee.

These are three types of words for three types of evil that are in our lives. Moral evils, ethical evils, sexual problems, deviances that we have in our lives. Inna as-salaata tanha. Prayer, it's supposed to remove the fahsha, the munkar and the baghee from our lives. But the problem with us is that we've been praying our whole lives and we keep going back into sin. We keep falling back into sin. So what am I supposed to do?

Scholars say that there are a few things that must be done. If we do these, we will be able to pray a prayer with khushu. Last week I went through them quickly. Today, InshaAllah I will take a little bit more time with them. The first is hudhur al-qalb. When you pray, your heart has to be praying. For many of us, when we pray, it's only our bodies praying. Up, down, rukuh, sujood, up, down, and that's it. We don't know. I finished the prayer. I don't even know what I did. I don't know who I was praying to. I don't know what it meant, I didn't know the value of my prayer.

Hudhur al-qalb, when the heart is there, that means you will be praying and you will know what your prayer is. When your heart is there, the Hadith says ma laka min salaatik illa ma aqbalta alayka bi qalbik. Your prayer is what your heart tells you your prayer is. When you're standing in front of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, what does your heart feel? Does it feel like you're standing in front of some ordinary person? Or does it feel like you're standing in front of no one, nothing? How do we stand in front of our boss? How do we stand in front of a president? How do we stand in front of someone who controls our job? Maybe he could fire me. Maybe he could keep my job. How do I stand in front of that person?

Now how do I stand in front of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala? So the heart must be there when we pray and there's a Hadith from Rasul Allah sallalahu 'alayhi wa'alihi. He says that two rakahs if a person prays. But during this during this time, only two rakahs, two units of prayer, this person does not think of this life at all and only thinks of Allah in these two units of prayer. How many minutes do they take? Three or four minutes. Two minutes.

If during these two minutes, three minutes, you don't think of anyone other than Allah or anything other than Allah, Allah will forgive all of your sins. This is a hadith from Rasul Allah. Sallalahu 'alayhi wa'alihi. How many of us are willing to accept that challenge? How many of us can do that? You pray without thinking of anything other than Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. I will tell you that that's one of the most difficult jobs. To pray without thinking of anything other than Allah.

Many of us when it comes time to pray, we start as soon as Allahu Akbar, we start remembering what do we have to do, what's our daily schedule like, I find where I lost my things. Right away the Shaytan comes, right when we pray. Why? The mehraab, you know, the place of prayer, it's called mehraab. Mehraab is derived from the word harb. Harb means war, because as soon as I enter the Mehraab, Shaytan has declared a war against me. My desires have declared a war against me. As soon as I say Allahu Akbar, I see a million thoughts they come to my mind. When I wasn't thinking of them right before that. But as soon as I say Allahu Akbar, I start. I want to build a relationship with Allah. We have a million thoughts in our mind.

And this is the time that Shaytan comes and he tries to remove you from worshipping Allah because that's his job. That's what he wants. He's not going to come and bother you when you're watching a basketball game. He's not going to come and bother you when you're getting your nails done, but he's going to come to you when you're praying. This is the time that Shaytan wants to stop you. Otherwise, he doesn't care when you do anything else. But when you are praying to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, that's the time that he comes.

Second. We have to have our heart there, that was first and second, we have to have our mind to be there when we are praying. I have to know what my prayer means. What does my prayer symbolize? What does my standing in front of Allah symbolize? What does my sujood symbolize? What does rukuh symbolize? Everything that we do, it is symbolic. And then not only that, I have to think, I have to use my intellect. Our faith, our religion, the religion of Islam, it's built upon logic. It's not only faith, there are other religions that will come and tell you just believe and you will be saved.

Islam is no, you have to believe, but you have to also have be convinced based on logic. You have to be convinced in your faith. And when you're convinced in your faith, that means you have to know who your Lord is. You have to know who Allah is. How many of us, how many people they pray to a God that they do not even know? They pray to a God that they do not even acknowledge the Power of their God.

Rasul Allah, sallalahu 'alayhi wa'alihi, he tells Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari, one of his best and most truthful companions. He tells him Oh Aba Dharr, two rakahs, two units of prayer. Another challenge from Rasul Allah, sallalahu 'alayhi wa'alihi. Two rakahs, if you pray, and while you're praying, you are thinking and you understand who you are praying to. You are focused in your prayer. This is better than praying the whole night with the heart and mind that is disturbed.

Two, you could just pray before you sleep. See how easy the religion is. Before you sleep, you pray two rakahs. Two rakahs, three or four minute. You do wudhu, then you stand and you pray, but during that prayer, you think of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, no one else and nothing else. This is better than someone who, if they were to pray, the whole night praying for three or four hours, but their heart is somewhere else, their mind is somewhere else, they're thinking of something else.

In the eyes of Allah, it's about quality, not quantity, and I see this many times in Laylat ul-Qadr. Laylat ul-Qadr, there is one of the 'amaal to pray 100 rakah prayer. Some people, they choose to do that. And I see some people, they say, yes, we have to do, it's a checklist, we have to do this, do this, do this, do this. Yes, it's good to do all of this, but how much focused am I in these prayers? Where's my heart? Where's my mind?

Some people, I see them, they do this 100 rakah prayer in 30 minutes. What kind of a prayer is that? Where's their mind? Where's their heart? What are they thinking of? It's just I have to finish because suhoor time, I'm going to miss out on the suhoor and then I'm going to be hungry the next day. But when it comes to prayer, we have to focus and think of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. When we stand in front of Allah to pray, we have to think of our standing in front of Allah on the Day of Judgment.

The hour and the day that passes by, as long as 50,000 years. This is what Allah says in the Qur'an. Fi yawmin, a day that mikdaaruhu khamseena alfa sana (70:4), fifty thousand years. That is the day that we stand in front of Allah, where we will not be allowed to move an inch. Now, when I stand in my prayer, that's the time, that's the standing that I should remember.

Third. Ta'dheem. In order to have a salaah of khushu, our heart must be there, our mind must be there. And third, we need to glorify Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, ta'dheem Allah. Glorifying Allah in one Hadith, Idha kumta lis salaah fa qum muta'ta'an ra'sik. When you stand for prayer, stand with humility in front of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. There are some people, MashaAllah, they work out so they have the muscles, so you see them when they're standing in front of Allah as if they're going to wrestle with someone. This is how they stand when they when they're praying.

Now, there's nothing wrong with working out, but in your prayer, pray with khushu, bring your head down. You're praying in front of a Higher Power, you're praying in front of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. In one Hadith, the Imam says that when you do the rukuh, stick your head out, stick your head out and make your back straight. Stick your head out and say, Oh Allah, this is my neck, Oh Allah, this is my life, I'm offering it to you. This is the ta'dheem, this is the glorifying Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Or when we do sujood, the first time you raise your head from the sujood, you realize that this is the soil that I was created from. And the second time you bring your head down, you say to yourself, this is the soil that I will become. This is what I will become. This is how we glorify Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. This is the ta'dheem, this is how we glorify Allah in our prayer.

The Fourth, having rajah, having hope in the Mercy of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. You know, the greatest sin, there are two sins that are considered the greatest of sins. One, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala does not forgive the one who associates a partner with Allah. The one who says that there's more than one God, why? Why does not forgive that person? Because this person does not even acknowledge Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. You're not acknowledging that Allah can forgive you because you're believing in someone else. So Allah says let the other person that you believe in, let that person forgive you. So this is because the person has cut off the bond with Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

The second, the greatest of sins is losing hope in the Mercy of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. For someone to say Allah will not forgive me, Allah will not forgive me. This person has committed a sin just by saying that, because here this person is undermining Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. This person says, I don't believe that Allah can forgive me. And that is a sin in itself, because Allah forgives all of the sins as long as we turn to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

And Allah says in the Qur'an "Qul ya Ibaadiyal ladheena asrafu a'la anfusihim la taqnatu min rahmatillah. Inna Allaha yaghfiruhu dhunuba jami'a"(39:53). Oh you people who have oppressed yourselves, qul ya ibaadi, tell my servants who have oppressed themselves. La taknatu min rahmatillah, do not give up hope in the Mercy of Allah. Inna Allaha yaghfiruhu dhunuba jami'a, Allah forgives all of the sins so when we pray we have to have rajah. We have to glorify Allah, but we have to have hope in Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. This is what prayer is, hoping that Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala will forgive me and never losing hope in Allah.

And the fifth and final step to reach khushu is being embarrassed from Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, having that feeling of embarrassment. And this is how the Imams, they speak to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. The Imam, Imam Zain ul-Abideen, Amir ul-Mu'minin, all of the Imams, he says, Ana as-sagheeru alladhee rabbayta, wa ana al-ja'in alladhee ashba'ta, wa ana al-atchaan alladhee arwayta. I am the one who was nothing, and You gave him. I am the one who was hungry and You fed him. I am the one who was thirsty and You gave him. I am the one who did not have clothes and You clothed him.

And then the Imam also later on, he says, I am the one who continues to disobey Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, I am the one, ana alladhee asaytu jabbar as-samaa, ana alladhee ala sayyidi hijtara. I am the one who disobeyed Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, remembering the favours of Allah upon me, and then later on I remember how I have repaid Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. Doesn't this bring a feeling of embarrassment? Wouldn't we be embarrassed from our parents if we treated them in that way? Wouldn't we be embarrassed from a normal person, average person who has done a favour upon me? And I don't repay back that person or I do something to hurt that person, wouldn't I be embarrassed?

Now, how many times have we disobeyed Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala despite the fact that everything that we have is from Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala? And here we look at the Ahlul Bayt, alayhum as-salaam. Look at Amir ul-Mu'minin, look at Rasul Allah sallalahu 'alayhi wa'alihi. The last ten nights of the month of Ramadhan, Rasul Allah, he used to close his bed, he used to fold his mattress his small mattress that he had and he used to stay in the Masjid. And he used to worship and worship and worship until his feet, they would swell. The feet of Rasul Allah, they would swell because he was standing and praying to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

So the Muslims, they would come and they would tell him Oh Rasul Allah, why are you doing this to yourself? Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala has promised you the Maqaam ul-Mahmood, the highest of positions. Why are you doing this to yourself? He would tell them. He would tell them 'Afala akuna abdan shakura?'. Should I not be a thankful servant? Should I not appreciate and thank Allah for everything that He has given me? This is how the Imams used to speak to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Amir ul-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abu Talib. And because a day like yesterday, the 13th of Rajab was the birth of Amir ul-Mu'minin, we remember some of the virtues of Amir ul-Mu'minin. Amir ul-Mu'minin, he was known, many people when they remember Amir ul-Mu'minin, they remember him by his bravery, the man who was very brave in the battlefield. But Amir ul-Mu'minin had another side. And the poet speaks about Amir ul-Mu'minin, he says, 'Huwa al-bakka fi al-mehraabi laylan, huwa adh-dhahaaku idha shkadda al-harabu.' This is the same person who in the battle he is smiling but at night he is praying and he is crying to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. Because he feels the closeness with Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Building a bond with Allah in the middle of the battle. In the Battle of Siffin Amir ul-Mu'minin, he would stand in the middle of the night after a whole day of fighting and defending Islam, he would spend the night time praying. And his prayer was so, he had so much khushu in his prayers, so much closeness to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala that Imam Al-Hasan, alayhi assalam, they told him there's an arrow in the thigh of Amir ul-Mu'minin. Amir ul-Mu'minin, of course, all of the bruises when he would fight in the battle. The day that Imam Al-Hassan washed his body, he saw that all of the bruises were on the front side of his body. None of them were on the back because he never turned around in the battle. He never turned around to run away in the battle.

There was an arrow in the thigh of Amir ul-Mu'minin and they tried to take it out, but they saw that they couldn't take it out. It's too painful. It's too painful to take it out. Imam Al-Hasan, he tells the companions, wait until my father goes to pray. Once he prays, when he is in the sujood, then they came and they pulled it out and Amir ul-Mu'minin did not even notice because he was in another state. He was speaking to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala where he does not even feel the pain of this life. And this is the value of prayer. When you pray, when you have faith in Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, the pain in this life will be gone.

And this also brings us to another person from the Ahlul Bayt, from the family of Rasul Allah, who her martyrdom is a day like tomorrow, Sayyida Zaynab, alayha assalam. Sayyida Zaynab, on the day of Ashura, after she witnessed Imam Al-Husayn killed, she witnessed the children massacred, she witnessed everyone wiped to the ground, killed. They see her in the middle of the night, standing in that half burnt tent, sitting in that half burnt tent and praying to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Imam Zain ul-Abideen, alayhi assalam, he says, Sayyida Zaynab, she used to always stand in her prayer, but because of the day of Ashura, it was so difficult for her that she had to sit while she prays. But this shows that even in the most difficult situations the Ahlul Bayt, they never stopped praying.

So we ask Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala to have our prayer become a prayer of khushu, a prayer that brings us closer to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, a prayer that fulfils its goals. And the goals of prayer is that a prayer is supposed to bring me closer to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Wal hamdulillah, Rabb Al-Alameen, wa Sallallahu 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala Ahli Baytihi, at-tayibbeen, at-tahireen.