I am not getting any benefit from daily prayers(Salah)

Assalamu alaikum, an important incident, we are usually used in it; extra unwanted thinking in Salah, Daily Prayers, or in Night prayer. 

Today we will discuss this problem and In Sha Allah, we may find some "True & Reliable" suggestions to get rid of it. 

When we stand in prayer, the thoughts that go on in our minds, if they can be expressed in words, then it may like this:

""Alhamdulillah(sura Fatiha start)........." 

""What is the state of the country, war, rape, killings…....""

""Maliki Yaomiddin… ""

Ahh, I mistyped the answer to question number three in the exam yesterday… 

""Yaka Nabudu wa Yaka...."" 

We want to fight with rapists..

 ""…… kul Hu Allahu Ahad(sura ikhlas starting)......"

 I will cook chicken and vegetables today, I don't want to do anything else…"" 

""""Allahu Akbar""""""

Is it number two Rakat or number three? 

""Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah......"" 

Oh, I forgot to make the Niyah in the prayer.   ......" Allahu Akbar"

 When the Salah is ended, most of us have no worries about the world. 

An accountant(bank manager) solves all his difficult calculations during standing in prayer. 

A programmer fixes the bugs of his program when standing in prayer. 

A doctor thinks about how to perform the surgery while standing in prayer.

And finally, we think: I am not getting any benefit from praying! My interest in Islam is not growing! 

I have prayed to Allah so many times, but I have not got anything. Is there any benefit in praying?

But why in the Quran, Allah says: Read, what has been revealed to you in this Book, establish the prayer, surely prayer keeps man away from indecency and wrongdoing. [Ankabut 29:45]. 

Is it wrong !!

Yes, Prayer will keep people away from obscene and unjust deeds, this is the guarantee that Allah has given us. 

Now if you can't stay away from obscenity by doing prayer, then think  about your this kind of prayer, are you actually praying or doing physical exercise?

Why do all the thoughts of the world come to our minds when we stand in prayer?

Because actually, we start our prayers without any preparation. 

In our school/college/university/job exams, there are many preparations for hours before any exam. 

Some of us, come and sit quietly for an hour before the exam in hall. 

We try to keep calm and quiet our minds so that no other thoughts may come to our mind during the exam, thus we can complete the exam with full attention.

But there is no preparation before, standing in front of Allah(SWT)!!!!

While studying, we usually just stop writing or shut down our PC's and perform ablution and start Salah. When the prayer is over, we cannot even remember it. After half an hour, suddenly we think:  

Did I perform the Zuhr prayer?

Suppose you have got an invitation from the President to meet with you. 

You will be awarded an 'Intellectual' Medal for your outstanding contribution to your country through writing on Facebook/Twitter, etc.

Further, you are invited to go to the President's office and bring the medal from him.

Now, Preparations begin from the day. You have started thinking from a month ago, how you will go and greet, or shake hands! 

Read: How to talk with people - Sura Hujurat 

Finally, on the day of the meeting,  you have combed your hair neatly, taking off the most expensive clothes, and go to in front of the President's office and sit from three hours ago!!!

In your mind, you are now thinking like rehearsing,  what to say, how to stand, how to laugh. Because It is a great privilege to meet the President. 

How many times do people get such an opportunity in the entire life!!!

But have you ever wondered, the superior of that president, who has authority overall presidents of the whole world has given you the opportunity to meet him five times a day. 

And how do you go to meet Him?

Now why do we are used to thinking thousands of thoughts of the whole world when we go to pray? One of the main reasons for this is ""the devil." 

Satan/devil will never want you to pray. Because when you pray, he loses. That is why whenever you stand up to pray, he jumps on you with all his strength. 

That's why, before starting our prayers we should say:

Aw'u Billahi Minash Shaytani's Razim 

 I seek refuge in Allah from the devil.

""Au'u"" means seeking refuge like helpless. Just like small children run to their mothers for help when they are afraid. 

So we should helplessly seek Allah's help to protect us from Satan's forces. Say this word in prayer with a little emotion, think for a while. 

You will understand how much difference it makes.

Another big reason for not being able to concentrate on prayer is that we are busy in the whole day. 

Thousands of tasks a day and we even don't give enough time to our brain for rest. Thus we cannot get a moment to think about our own. We are just busy with non-stop working life. 

Due to which, prayer becomes our only time to "rest"" our heads/brain/minds.

So it is very easy to understand that If you stand in prayer normally, the thoughts that have been stuck in your head all day will come out. 

Silent loneliness is the only way to get rid of the unbearable events of the day, the bitter words of different people, the thousands of worries that create stress in your mind. 

Read: The perfect Dua - When your people around you try to harm

If you do not keep some time before the prayer, then the prayer will be the only time to rest your head/brain/mind/Qalb.

I have some suggestions for you to solve your problem during Salah

At first, stop all tasks 5 minutes before Athan Calling.  It is really and truly very helpful ( set an alarm on your phone/PC/Android/Laptop/MacBook/Tablet or table clock, you may need an Athan clock - best suited for those who want to perform salah in a cool & fresh mind, Inn Sha Allah. We have given a picture of it at the end of this article)

• When athan calls, listen to the Athan - as like Allah is calling you with much kindness.
• Perform the right ablution, slowly do it, so that you will get some time to relieve stress.
• Stand quietly for a while and find if a thousand thoughts are jammed in your head e.g. the bank accounts are not matched, can't decide what to cook, when to send the driver to buy fuel for your car, etc. 
• Wait Until your brain is cooled, you have a fresh & quite mind.
• Drink a glass of water slowly.

(This kind of work will give you a chance to relax, to relieve stress)

• Finally, when you stand for prayer, think yourself what an outstanding task you are going to do now.
• Think to yourself in a new way every day so that you don't start praying in a distracted state. 
• Remind yourself of the importance of prayer, remind yourself once again of how great a respected is Allah(SWT), you are going to talk with Him.

Many of we think that it is necessary to pray in Arabic. 

We think there is no necessary, what we are saying, what it means, why it should be said, what is the benefit of saying - we think, we do not need to understand these, Allah will understand; so no problem !!!!

Moreover, we also think about our people around us, they are praying without understanding anything knowing Arabic. If they can, why can't I?

Suppose the Qur'an was revealed in ""Chinese Language"", so when you stand for your daily prayer, you've to say

"Chen Chun Shi Chui Veda"

Have you ever wondered how strange it would be? Isn't strange it to pronounce some similar words in Arabic without understanding anything? 

If you think about it for a while, you will understand why Allah has sent down these horrible Ayahs:

And do not pursue that of which you have know knowledge. Indeed the hearing, the sight and intelligence - about all those one will be questioned " [Al-Isra 17:36] 

Allah will place defilment those who do not use their judgment. [10: 100]

Do they not think about the Qur'an? Are their minds locked up? [48:24]

And they (the inmates of Hell) will say, "If we had listened or used our intellect, we would not be among the inmates of Hell today." [6:10]

It is very important for every Muslim to think deeply about these four verses, because if you think about these four verses, you will understand how much benefits are actually gained by praying without understanding or praying in Arabic without knowing these.

You will realize for yourself why our prayers are not usually accepted. 

Why is there no change in us after praying? 

Properly praying is the most important thing for every Muslim, because the difference between a Muslim and an unbeliever is prayer. 

So there should be no foolishness in this very important matter.

• When you have just started your prayer, just think it again and again, and repeatedly do it that Allah is seeing you. Think about the person whom you fear so much that you cannot move a "centimeter" in front of him/her. Now thinking about Allah like that person. Because Allah is who, the greatest punisher and no one has the power to defend Him. SubhanaAlloh....!!!!
• Do not think it that how beautiful your recitation is.
• During recitation of each verse, think about it in your own language. 
• What is in the verse that you have never thought of before? 
• Instead of reciting the same surah five times, recite one surah at a time. In this way, try to bring as much variety as possible in the prayers. 
• Think about the UNDEFANDABLE Power of Allah(SWT), and fear Him
• Always keep in mind that Allah is whom, who has the supreme power and He Has many people whose prayer He accepts but we have no other God/Creator/Rabb except Allah(SWT).

Read: Nine lessons from Sura Hujurat

If you recite the prayers every day in the same way, in the same rhythm, with the same sura and dua, then you will never be able to hold the interest and attention in the prayers.

Thus, you will use 10% of your brainpower on prayers and the remaining 90% will be spent on monthly budgets, education status of boys and girls and what you will achieve in life. 

Remember that prayer is not a ritual or social program, that you will talk a few times a day, stand up and sit down, look right and left, and your life will change drastically.

Prayer is a special systematic way to talk to Allah(SWT). 

Speak in your own language with Allah in every Dua and Sajdah(prostration) of the prayer. 

Express your gratitude and give Special thanks to Him for all the joy, all the happiness, all that you have got in your entire life. 

Then tell to Allah about all your sorrows, all your grievances, all your pains, and stresses. He must listen to you and give you a proper solution like his.

Don't look for people, don't posting on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram,  share all your joys and sorrows only with Him. He alone can change your destiny.

Another reason for not paying attention to prayer is entertainment. 

The amount of entertainment that today's generation immerses itself in has never been seen before.

Every day they come home after studying or work: 

• spend one hour in Social media, 
• listen to music for an hour, 
• playing games on mobile for an hour, 
• chatting with friends on the phone for an hour,  
• watching TV or movies for an hour, 
• finally another hour of useless browsing on the computer, or playing games, or chatting with friends on Skype, 
• also reading a story/comics book for an hour. 

There is no end of entertainment !!!!

They think they will not pass a single day if they do not do these entertainments every day! 

And when they get a little time in the midst of this entertainment, get up quickly and stand for prayer. 

After some days or months, they think: I'm not getting any benefit from praying?

There is an extreme kind of 'entertainment mania/addiction' in today's generation. The past generations, in that time only drug addiction was a problem in young society. 

But these days they are addicted to entertainment too.

Now, if they cannot able to keep themselves entertained for a few hours every day, they think they will be stressed or depressed. 

• When they are in the toilet or bathroom, they think about a movie scene or android game level.  
• While reading, they think about how to shoot the enemy in the head with a sniper from a hundred feet away in the 'Call of Duty' game. 

Their heads are filled with thousands of such garbage. 

When they stand up to pray with so much rubbish, how will they remember Allah?  There must be some power remaining in the brain to think of something good!

By the way, from today, In Sha Allah,we will try to understand what we are saying in prayer, why Allah ﷻ has asked us to forget our studies, work, family during five times prayer a day and think about Allah with deep attention, to remind ourselves of His words, again and again, to ask Him for help to realize that. 

As we have the honor of standing in front of the highest power in the world five times a day.

Read: Is it the right decision to take a baby with you on Hajj?

Read: Get some extra Thawabs of SADQAH ZARIA in Hajj

So, let's try to evaluate our Salah with great honor. Let's try to be like those whom Allah has spoken in this verse, one day In Sha Allah —

How successful are those believers who pray with deep attention and stay away from evil things? [Believers 23: 13]

[Reminder: The time after Athan and before Iqamah of Farz prayer, it is the time of accepting Dua. So, please check your local Masjid's time to get some time for Making Dua]

Collected and Edited