KHUSHOO

By Bint Ahmad

Last Week we had a class on Khushoo.

The statement of Ibn Al Qayyim regarding Khushoo of Faith And Khushoo of Hypocricy;

“The khushoo‟ of true faith is when the heart feels aware and humble before the greatness and glory of Allah, and is filled with awe, fear and shyness, so that the heart is utterly humbled before Allah and broken, as it were, with fear, shyness, love and the recognition of the blessings of Allah and its own sins. So no doubt the khushoo‟ of the heart is followed by the khushoo‟ of the body. As for the khushoo‟ of hypocrisy, it is something that is put on with a great show, but there is no khushoo‟ in the heart.

One of the Sahaabah used to say,
"I seek refuge with Allah from the khushoo‟ of hypocrisy.”
It was said to him, „What is the khushoo‟ of hypocrisy?‟
He said, “When the body appears to have khushoo‟ but there is no khushoo‟ in the heart.‟
The person who truly feels khushoo‟ before Allah is a person who no long feels the flames of physical desire; his heart is pure and is filled with the light of the greatness of Allah. His own selfish desires have died because of the fear and awe which have filled his heart to overflowing so that his physical faculties have calmed down, his heart has become dignified and feels secure in Allah the remembrance of Him, and tranquillity descends upon him from his Lord. So he has become humble (mukhbit) before Allah, and the one who is humble is the one who is assured. Land that is “mukhbit” is land that is low-lying, in which water settles, so the heart that is “mukhbit” is humble and content, like a low-lying spot of land into which water flows and settles. The sign of this is that a person prostrates to his Lord out of respect and humility, and never raises his head until he meets Him. The arrogant heart, on the other hand, is one that is content with its arrogance and raises itself up like an elevated portion of land in which water never settles. This is the khushoo‟ of true faith.” As for overdoing it, and the khushoo‟ of hypocrisy, this is the attitude of a person who tries to make a great show of khushoo‟, but deep down he is still filled with desires. So on the outside he appears to have khushoo‟, but the snake of the valley and the lion of the forest reside within him, watching for prey.


Ibnul-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah (rahimahullaah) said:
And mankind, with regard to their performance of prayer are in five levels:
The First: The level of the one who is negligent and wrongs his soul: He is the one who falls short in performing wudhoo (ablution) properly, performing the prayer upon its time and within its specified limits, and in fulfilling its essential pillars.

The Second: The one who guards his prayers upon their proper times and within their specified limits, fulfils their essential pillars and performs his wudhoo with care. However, his striving (in achieving the above) is wasted due whisperings in his prayer so he is taken away by thoughts and ideas.

The Third: The one who guards his prayers within the specified limits, fulfils their essential pillars and strives with himself to repel the whisperings, thoughts and ideas. He is busy struggling against his enemy (Shaytaanor Satan) so that he does not steal from the prayer. On account of this he is engaged in (both) prayer and jihaad.

The Fourth: The one who stands for the prayer, completes and perfects its due rights, its essential pillars, performs it within its specified limits and his heart becomes engrossed in safeguarding its rights and specified limits, so that nothing is wasted from it. His whole concern is directed towards its establishment, its completion and its perfection, as it should be. His heart is immersed in the prayer and in enslavement to his Lord the Exalted.

The Fifth: The one who stands for the prayer like the one mentioned above. However, on top of this, he has taken and placed his heart in front of his Lord Azzawajall, looking towards Him with his heart with anticipation, (his heart) filled with His love and His might, as if he sees and witnesses Allaah. The whisperings, thoughts and ideas have vanished and the coverings which are between him and his Lord are raised. What is between this person and others with respect to the prayer, is superior and greater than what is between the heavens and the earth. This person is busy with his Lord Azzawajall, delighted with Him.

The First type will be punished, the second type will be held to account, the third will have his sins and shortcomings expiated, the fourth will be rewarded and the fifth will be close to his Lord, because he will receive the portion of the one who makes his prayer the delight and pleasure of his eye.

Whoever makes his prayer, the delight and pleasure of his eye, will have the nearness to his Lord Azzawajall made the delight and pleasure of his eye in the hereafter. He will also be made a pleasure to the eye in this world since whoever makes Allaah the pleasure of his eye in this world, every other eye will become delighted and pleased with him.