This is driving me nuts!

[ayan333]

Salamu Alaykum!

i hope ive reached everyone on the best of health and the highest of Iman InshALLAH

so this its my PROBLEM!..

Ive had waswas before in my salahs and im sure everyone has it,some more then others.Alhamdulilah it went away and salah was very enjoyable and for,UNTIL NOW!

Problem number 1: I am not a arabic native speaker but my language consist of alot of the same root words and im currently studying it.So in Salah i have this BAD habit of trying to understand or translate word by word of everything i am saying so you can imagine how long this takes.I pray five times a day not to mention sunnahs ect so it gets to be a little difficult after a while.i know everthing i am saying,i completely understand it but when im reading it.i obviously have a better understanding of the english language so what i do is i translate everything in my head in english while im reciting in arabic.confused? Imagine how i feel

this has made salah very difficult for me.In salah do we have to no exaclty what we are saying or do we need to know the over meaning for EXAMPLE

I RECITE THIS: "BISMILAHI RAHMANI RAHMEEM" ....I TRANSLATE THIS IN MY HEAD "IN THE NAME OF ALLAH MOST BENEFICENT MOST MOST MERCIFUL"

OR AllahoMasali 3la Muhamad wa 3la aliy Muhamed i translate it in my head as :may ALLAHs grace and honour be upon Mohamed (saw) and his family as ALLAH(SWA)'s blessing was on Ibrahims Family,YOU are the most Praiseworthy the Great"

what should i do.its driving me crazy

JazakALLAH Khair

Wasalamu Alaykum

 

[mathematician]

'alaykum salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

Have you considered doing the sunnah prayers that Muhammad pbuh used to do on a regular basis?
I find that doing them helps me focus a lot more. Do that for a week and see how things go.

For information on importance of these sunnah prayers see:
http://islamqa.com/en/ref/82619/sunnah prayers


The Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, offered extra Raka'at of Prayer in addition to those of Fardh Prayers. These are called Sunnah Prayers
Following are the Sunnah Prayers:

a. Two Rak'at of Sunnah Prayer should be offered before the Fardh Prayer of Fajr. However, if a person joins the congregation without having offered Sunnah due to circumstances beyond his control, he can offer these after the Fardh prayer.
b. Four Rak'at of Sunnah Prayer before Fardh and two Rak'at after the Fardh in Dhuhr Prayer. In case one is unable to perform four Rak'at Sunnah before the Fardh in Dhuhr Prayer, one should offer these after the congregational Fardh Prayer. (Note: Followers of Hanfi school of thought offer two Sunnat while some other Muslims offer four Sunnat after Fardh in Dhuhr Prayer.)
c. Two Rak'at of Sunnah after the Fardh of Maghrib Prayer.
d. Two Rak'at of Sunnah after the Fardh of 'Isha Prayer.

 

[Salahudeen]

I do the same thing, it feels pointless standing there and just reciting arabic like a parrot and not even knowing what you're saying. So I translate it also in my head so I read the arabic version then the english in my head lol. How come this annoys you though?

 

[Ummu Sufyaan]

wa alaykum us-Salaam
just concentrate on your khusoo3 in prayer and not so much what they mean if that makes sense. it sounds like shaytaan is having a ball.

if you can just give yourself a chance to fight him (as opposed to giving in so quickly-its hard, but its not impossible) soon you will realize that giving in to your weakness was wrong all along becuase you have deprived yourself of realizing that instead of acting on these wiswaas what you were meant to do, was fight them. this realization, fortunately/unfortunately comes after much agony, time and experience. once you get into the habit of fighting these thoughts, its becomes a habit. you learn the difference between a genuine mistake in your recitation and what a waswasah is. you learn how and when shaytaan likes to play on your vulnerable weaknesses. for example, when you are saying the salaam (i.e arabic) to someone, you never will doubt how you say it but when you come to reciting anything in prayer (again arabic), sit back and watch how shaytaan likes to mess with your head. its becuase he knows that you care about your prayer so he makes you think that for it to be accepted you need to exaggerate and be excessive...a way he does this is to make you needlessly worry.


but remember this: the key lies in not giving in. if you do, you fail to give yourself a good chance of true recovery.

being a non-Arab native speaker makes no difference. its just an excuse shaytaan likes to make you think so that you can fall into further error. you will realize that those excuses you make, are just in reality a mask shaytaan likes to hide behind.

 

[Alpha Dude]

it feels pointless standing there and just reciting arabic like a parrot and not even knowing what you're saying

Of course it's better to recite with understanding but I wouldn't consider it pointless if one doesn't know the meaning. Remember, the qur'aan is the word of Allah and anyone reciting whilst giving it due humility and respect is earning a reward inshaAllah.