By Shaykh Abdul Qayum
7 November 2025

﷽ 

Brothers and sisters, one of the greatest blessings Allah bestows upon His servants is not found in wealth or health, but in the subtle, transformative sweetness of worship. Of all the acts of worship, none embodies this sweetness quite like Salah. The second pillar of Islam sits at the heart of our faith and fosters the deep intimate link between us and Allah that we should all crave.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

This worship, however, was never meant to feel like a burden. Rather, it is the path to peace and contentment in a world that constantly pulls us in a hundred different directions.

How many of us perform our daily prayers but leave without tasting their sweetness? We go through the motions – standing, bowing, prostrating – yet the heart remains distant. This is a tragedy, because Salah is meant to be a source of serenity. It is not just a duty to check off, but a private audience with the King of kings.

The Prophet ﷺ described this when he said:

The coolness of my eyes was made in the prayer.

In moments of distress or hardship, he ﷺ would turn to Salah – not as an escape, but as a refuge.

When we say Alhamdu lillahi Rabb il-ʿAlamin, it is not a monologue. Allah responds,

My servant has praised Me.

Imagine that. Every time we recite the opening chapter of the Qur’an in prayer, Allah is listening, responding, and acknowledging us. Is there any conversation more beautiful than the one with our Rabb?

So why, then, do our prayers often feel heavy or dry?

It’s because the sweetness of prayer is not automatic. It must be sought. It must be earned.

Allah says:

This level of submission isn’t easy. But when we strive for it with sincerity, Allah opens the door to it.

He also promises in another verse:

So the first step is to try. Make duʿa. Prepare your heart. Stand before Allah with the intention to connect with Him and not just to perform a function.

The Prophet ﷺ taught us that distraction in prayer comes from Shaytan. When ʿAʾishah (RA) asked about looking around during Salah, he ﷺ replied:

It is something which Shaytan snatches from the servant’s prayer.

This is why our eyes should remain fixed on the place of sujud, to anchor our focus.

Consider this Hadith:

A man may finish his prayer, yet only a tenth of it is written for him – or a ninth, or an eighth…

How much are we really gaining if our minds are elsewhere?

We must enter the prayer with presence and must not rush into Salah with phones still in our hands, minds buzzing with emails and errands. One of the early scholars would tremble at the time of prayer. When asked why, he said, “The time has come for the trust that Allah offered to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, and they refused to bear it.”

SubhanAllah. What awe! What mindfulness!

One of our righteous predecessors once said, “When I stand to pray, I imagine Paradise on my right, Hell on my left, the Kaʿbah in front of me, the angel of death behind me, and that this may be my final prayer.” This is khushuʿ. This is the state that transforms prayer to something more than just a ritual.

And when we truly taste it, prayer is no longer a task. It becomes a longing. As one scholar said, “We experience such delight in Salah that if kings knew of it, they would fight us for it with their swords.”

So how do we reach this level?

We begin by preparing before the takbir. We focus our hearts. We leave the dunya at the door. We speak to Allah, knowing He is listening. We pause after every verse. We reflect on its meaning. We give our best in that moment, as if it were our last.

The result? Prayer becomes not a burden, but a daily retreat into peace and tranquillity, a moment to recharge our soul. And Allah, in His mercy, rewards not perfection but effort.

O Allah, make Salah the comfort of our eyes. Let us not be among those who pray out of habit but those who pray out of love. Allow us to taste the sweetness of Your worship, to stand before You with humility, and to leave our prayers with hearts at peace.

Ameen.

---

Help us complete our Phase 3 expansion for the new prayer halls!