Where should the eyes be looking while praying?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jalal~
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 25
  • Views Views 9K
Jalal~

Jalal~

Elite Member
Messages
250
Reaction score
30
Gender
Male
Religion
Islam
:sl:
i heard when standing, the eyes should be focused on the area of prostration, but does that apply during rukoo? is it ok if i close my eyes during prayer, because that helps me focus usually. Jazakallah Khair
 
When standing, I usually look down at the floor (with maybe a quick glance sideways at the brothers next to me to see if I'm doing the motions right since I am still learning how to pray).

When prostrated, that is when I usually close my eyes and concentrate on Allah.

Now keep in mind that I am a new brother and as such, I am not the best source for this, so don't pay too much attention to me.
 
Assalam alaikom,
Usually we look to our head/toes place and there is no need to close the eyes.

BRMM
 
halalmeat4free said:
is it ok if i close my eyes during prayer, because that helps me focus usually.
Click to expand...
Just a Guy said:
When prostrated, that is when I usually close my eyes and concentrate on Allah.
Click to expand...

Don't close your eyes while praying. It is makrooh (shouldn't be done) to close your eyes while praying. Try to concentrate while keeping your eyes open. In fact when you close your eyes, how do you concentrate on Allah? it could lead you to ideas about Allah SWT etc.

halalmeat4free said:
heard when standing, the eyes should be focused on the area of prostration, but does that apply during rukoo?
Click to expand...

When rukoo', just keep your eyesight downwards.
 
See, that's a holdover from my Christian days. We always closed our eyes during prayer, to concentrate on God.

When I am praying at the masjid with the congregation, sometimes I admit I sneak a glance to the side to make sure I am doing the motions right. I'm still trying to figure all of this out.
 
Just a Guy said:
When I am praying at the masjid with the congregation, sometimes I admit I sneak a glance to the side to make sure I am doing the motions right. I'm still trying to figure all of this out.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it's not that big of a deal; I always have to keep glancing at a piece of paper where I wrote down the opening surah and Tashahhud because I can't remember, lol :D My Arabic is dreadful.
 
Just a Guy said:
See, that's a holdover from my Christian days. We always closed our eyes during prayer, to concentrate on God.
Click to expand...

To tell you the truth, when I started to become practicing again, I also did my shalah with my eyes closed, thinking it was better to concentrate, but it is not actually. with your eyes closed, your mind tend to wander and create ideas or imageries. It is better to concentrate on your reading (thats why for you in the long run when you have memorised al fatihah and other surah and iftitah or tashahud du'a, it would better also to memorise the meanings so it would be easier to concentrate on your shalah) while keeping your eyes open. When you are able to concentrate on your readings and keeping in mind that when you are in shalah, you are actually in front of Allah SWT, so try to visualize that without any imagery, that means you are in true concentration, instead of forced concentration with eyes closed.

Just a Guy said:
When I am praying at the masjid with the congregation, sometimes I admit I sneak a glance to the side to make sure I am doing the motions right. I'm still trying to figure all of this out.
Click to expand...
Just_A_Girl13 said:
I'm sure it's not that big of a deal; I always have to keep glancing at a piece of paper where I wrote down the opening surah and Tashahhud because I can't remember, lol My Arabic is dreadful.
Click to expand...

These things are perfectly acceptable. You both are still learning.
May Allah SWT give you both ease in learning deen and steadfast on the deen. amiin.
 
The range you can view while praying...is.... from your toe ...to ...the place where you place your head.

...Thats what i have heard from my masjid imam.
 
I am learning Al-Fatiha for prayer. I've learned it in English. Not perfectly yet, but I can stumble through it without looking in the Qu'ran now.

I'm also learning the first couple of lines in Arabic. I still can't read it yet, but I at least can understand the opening when it is read to me in Arabic.
 
Jazakallah Khair for all the answers. @Innocent Soul, i think the link is dead
 
Question: can I recite the prayer in English after the Arabic...because when I say it in Arabic I don't know what I am saying, so how can it be counted as a prayer?
 
:sl:

In ruku your eyes should be looking towards your feet. Personally when I pray standing up, I look at point between my two big toes.



Refresher insha Allah
 
crimsontide06 said:
Question: can I recite the prayer in English after the Arabic...because when I say it in Arabic I don't know what I am saying, so how can it be counted as a prayer?
Click to expand...

In shalah, the only obligatory surah to recite is Al Fatiha. It is very short, only 7 verses.
You said you want to recite the prayer in english, this means you already know the meaning of al fatiha in english, do I understand you correctly?
So why repeat it in english?

In shalah, we are supposed to recite verses from the Qur'an, and there is only one Qur'an, and that is not in english.
You may, however, want to offer extra prayer after shalah, which is called du'a (supplication) and you can offer supplications in any language you are comfortabale with.
You can also offer du'a during sujood (prostration) during the shalah, which is one of the best times to offer du'a, and you can offer your du'a in english, but you are not supposed to say it out loud, just offer it by heart.

I guess one of the wisdoms why we must only recite from qur'an verses during shalah is as a way to preserve Al Qur'an, that we msut memorise it.
Anyway, Allah has taught us the best supplications and prayers in the Qur'an, and the best one is Al fatiha, so why not use them as much as we could?
What can be the best du'a/supplications/prayers than the ones taught to us by the Creator?
 
I dont know arabic at all, besides a few words. I know what the 7 verses mean, but I feel like if I say it in english(after saying it in arabic) it will mean more..


Ramadhan said:
You said you want to recite the prayer in english, this means you already know the meaning of al fatiha in english, do I understand you correctly?
So why repeat it in english?
Click to expand...
 
crimsontide06 said:
I dont know arabic at all, besides a few words. I know what the 7 verses mean, but I feel like if I say it in english(after saying it in arabic) it will mean more..
Click to expand...

Well I don't understand/speak arabic myself, but I am learning.

I am also like you, so when I recite al fatiha, I am usually reciting it while remembering their meanings, so it is more meaningful to me.
 
Makes sense, I know what the words as a whole mean but I don't know which specific Arabic word means which English word.


Ramadhan said:


Well I don't understand/speak arabic myself, but I am learning.

I am also like you, so when I recite al fatiha, I am usually reciting it while remembering their meanings, so it is more meaningful to me.
Click to expand...
 
Try to recite al fatiha more slowly so you'll have time to remember the meanings of each sentence (ayat).
after a while, you'll get used to it and you'll be able to recite al fatiha as if arabic is your first language.
 
:sl:

One thing that struck me when I first heard Qur'an recitings in Arabic is the lyrical quality of the original text. I can understand a little of it now, but most of it I still don't. It is still a beautiful thing when done right though. Just lovely.
 
:salamext:

I have heard the eyes should either be closed, or be fixated on a point where you do the sujood.

And Allaah knows best.
 

Similar Threads

Back
Top