Knowing how to focus and what deeds to prioritize ( Abdullah Cheng)
Dear brothers and sisters,
As Muslims, we all believe in the unseen. We know that Allah is Al-Haqq, He is the Truth. His saying is true. His promise is real. Our meeting with Him is real. Jannah is real. Jahannam is real. The Judgement Day is real. The Prophets are real. And Muhammad ﷺ is real.
These are things that none of us have witnessed with our own eyes, but we firmly believe in our hearts that the Oneness of Allah, the existence of the Hereafter and the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ are more real and more truthful than our very own existence.
However, despite having this firm belief, it’s still possible for our Iman to become weak, it’s still possible that we become distracted by this Dunya, it’s still possible that we feel lazy in our worship. So having the correct belief and understanding is one thing, but putting our attention in the right place is another thing. And this life is indeed all about attention, giving attention to what truly deserves our attention, giving attention to what is worthy of our attention.
Because our attention is limited and finite, there’s only so much capacity we have as a human being. If we were to do multitasking, the more tasks we do at the same time, the lower the quality of our action becomes. So we have all these things in the Dunya, like our careers, entertainment, friends, to compete with our acts of worship, in terms of our attention. And that’s why we need to make wise decisions in terms of how we should divide our attention and which are the things that we should prioritize.
Just like in Taiwan, we are all familiar with earthquakes. When an earthquake happens, we don’t have too much time to make decisions, and we need to get out of the building as soon as possible. But at the same time, we would also bring certain things with us, in case the earthquake actually becomes bigger and destroys the building. So in that moment, are priorities become very clear. We know we’re not going to bring the plates in the kitchen. We’re not going to take the heavy books with us. We’re not going to take photo albums. We would take what is the most essential. Maybe our IDs, our phones, our wallets, and most importantly, our family members. These are things that are light to carry but heavy in value.
Similarly, the Judgement Day is going to be the ultimate earthquake:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ ٱلسَّاعَةِ شَىْءٌ عَظِيمٌۭ
O mankind! Fear your Lord, for the ˹violent˺ quaking at the Hour is surely a terrible thing. [22:1]
And for this day, we would have to make the wisest decision about what to actually bring with us. What deeds are we prioritizing? What habits are we building? What are the sins that we should get rid of from ourselves so that we could feel lighter?
That is why there needs to be a level of detachment that we should seek in this Dunya, to leave away things that shouldn’t take as much weight as things that will truly matter on the Day of Judgement. Of course it also doesn’t mean that we do not give any attention to the Dunya at all, but rather we should keep our focus on the present while also being fully aware of the future.
There are also certain times when we are supposed to cut off almost completely from this Dunya. And that is during the time of worship. During that time, we want to maintain a level of concentration that the only thing in our mind, the only attention we give is entirely for Allah and nothing else. This applies to our Salah, our Du’a, Dhikr, and also during Jumu’ah, as Allah says in the Qur’an:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا نُودِىَ لِلصَّلَوٰةِ مِن يَوْمِ ٱلْجُمُعَةِ فَٱسْعَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلْبَيْعَ ۚ
O you who believe! When the call to prayer is made on Friday, then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave off ˹your˺ business (transactions, whatever else you are dealing with). [62:9]
The business and transactions are not only related to money, but the entire attention and preoccupation of this Dunya. You should be here not only physically, but even more importantly, you should be here emotionally and spiritually.
And that is why when we pray, the first Takbir is called Takbiratul Ihram, because once you say that first Allahu Akbar, everything else becomes Haram for you, except what is allowed in the prayer. Just like when we go and perform the Hajj, we wear the Ihram; same word is used here. When we go to Masjid Al-Haram, the place is called as Haram because what may be Halal outside would be Haram here, because you are here only for Allah.
So if we really want to keep ourselves detached from the Dunya and not distracted by them during our acts of worship, we need to prepare ourselves even before the actions take place. And the Sunnah actually shows us how to achieve that already. The fact that there is an Adhan before the Salah, you set your mind up for Salah; there is an Iqamah before the prayer; we take the Wudhu before praying; a lot of times we have the Sunnah prayers before the actual Fardh prayer; we would change our clothes if they’re not appropriate for prayer; on Jumu’ah we would take a bath and put on perfume; all of this showing us that there is a gradual build up of momentum that allows us to be in the best state of attention when standing in front of Allah. Because the presence of the heart is more important than the physical presence. As our Prophet ﷺ narrated in a Hadith:
“The Salah should not be performed when the food has been presented, nor should it be performed when someone is fighting the urge to go to the bathroom” (Abu Dawud).
The Prophet ﷺ also said, “If dinner is served, and the Iqamah for Salah has been given, then start with the dinner” (Bukhari).
Why is that the case? Because our body would be distracted by these needs and that would affect the quality of the prayer. So one would rather sacrifice the opportunity of praying early on time rather than sacrificing the quality of the prayer. Similar to the attendance of Jumu’ah, it is more important to be spiritually present with our heart rather than just being physically attending the congregation in the Masjid.
Therefore my brothers and sisters, if we want to increase the quality of our worship and ensure that we give the full attention to Allah, we need to reserve some more time beforehand, come prepared without rush, and allow the transition to be gradual and smooth rather than a sudden change.
May Allah make us among those who remember Him and remembered by Him. May Allah grant us the wisdom to prioritize what is lasting over what is temporary. May Allah accept our repentance and our acts of worship.
As Muslims, we all believe in the unseen. We know that Allah is Al-Haqq, He is the Truth. His saying is true. His promise is real. Our meeting with Him is real. Jannah is real. Jahannam is real. The Judgement Day is real. The Prophets are real. And Muhammad ﷺ is real.
These are things that none of us have witnessed with our own eyes, but we firmly believe in our hearts that the Oneness of Allah, the existence of the Hereafter and the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ are more real and more truthful than our very own existence.
However, despite having this firm belief, it’s still possible for our Iman to become weak, it’s still possible that we become distracted by this Dunya, it’s still possible that we feel lazy in our worship. So having the correct belief and understanding is one thing, but putting our attention in the right place is another thing. And this life is indeed all about attention, giving attention to what truly deserves our attention, giving attention to what is worthy of our attention.
Because our attention is limited and finite, there’s only so much capacity we have as a human being. If we were to do multitasking, the more tasks we do at the same time, the lower the quality of our action becomes. So we have all these things in the Dunya, like our careers, entertainment, friends, to compete with our acts of worship, in terms of our attention. And that’s why we need to make wise decisions in terms of how we should divide our attention and which are the things that we should prioritize.
Just like in Taiwan, we are all familiar with earthquakes. When an earthquake happens, we don’t have too much time to make decisions, and we need to get out of the building as soon as possible. But at the same time, we would also bring certain things with us, in case the earthquake actually becomes bigger and destroys the building. So in that moment, are priorities become very clear. We know we’re not going to bring the plates in the kitchen. We’re not going to take the heavy books with us. We’re not going to take photo albums. We would take what is the most essential. Maybe our IDs, our phones, our wallets, and most importantly, our family members. These are things that are light to carry but heavy in value.
Similarly, the Judgement Day is going to be the ultimate earthquake:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ ٱلسَّاعَةِ شَىْءٌ عَظِيمٌۭ
O mankind! Fear your Lord, for the ˹violent˺ quaking at the Hour is surely a terrible thing. [22:1]
And for this day, we would have to make the wisest decision about what to actually bring with us. What deeds are we prioritizing? What habits are we building? What are the sins that we should get rid of from ourselves so that we could feel lighter?
That is why there needs to be a level of detachment that we should seek in this Dunya, to leave away things that shouldn’t take as much weight as things that will truly matter on the Day of Judgement. Of course it also doesn’t mean that we do not give any attention to the Dunya at all, but rather we should keep our focus on the present while also being fully aware of the future.
There are also certain times when we are supposed to cut off almost completely from this Dunya. And that is during the time of worship. During that time, we want to maintain a level of concentration that the only thing in our mind, the only attention we give is entirely for Allah and nothing else. This applies to our Salah, our Du’a, Dhikr, and also during Jumu’ah, as Allah says in the Qur’an:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا نُودِىَ لِلصَّلَوٰةِ مِن يَوْمِ ٱلْجُمُعَةِ فَٱسْعَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلْبَيْعَ ۚ
O you who believe! When the call to prayer is made on Friday, then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave off ˹your˺ business (transactions, whatever else you are dealing with). [62:9]
The business and transactions are not only related to money, but the entire attention and preoccupation of this Dunya. You should be here not only physically, but even more importantly, you should be here emotionally and spiritually.
And that is why when we pray, the first Takbir is called Takbiratul Ihram, because once you say that first Allahu Akbar, everything else becomes Haram for you, except what is allowed in the prayer. Just like when we go and perform the Hajj, we wear the Ihram; same word is used here. When we go to Masjid Al-Haram, the place is called as Haram because what may be Halal outside would be Haram here, because you are here only for Allah.
So if we really want to keep ourselves detached from the Dunya and not distracted by them during our acts of worship, we need to prepare ourselves even before the actions take place. And the Sunnah actually shows us how to achieve that already. The fact that there is an Adhan before the Salah, you set your mind up for Salah; there is an Iqamah before the prayer; we take the Wudhu before praying; a lot of times we have the Sunnah prayers before the actual Fardh prayer; we would change our clothes if they’re not appropriate for prayer; on Jumu’ah we would take a bath and put on perfume; all of this showing us that there is a gradual build up of momentum that allows us to be in the best state of attention when standing in front of Allah. Because the presence of the heart is more important than the physical presence. As our Prophet ﷺ narrated in a Hadith:
“The Salah should not be performed when the food has been presented, nor should it be performed when someone is fighting the urge to go to the bathroom” (Abu Dawud).
The Prophet ﷺ also said, “If dinner is served, and the Iqamah for Salah has been given, then start with the dinner” (Bukhari).
Why is that the case? Because our body would be distracted by these needs and that would affect the quality of the prayer. So one would rather sacrifice the opportunity of praying early on time rather than sacrificing the quality of the prayer. Similar to the attendance of Jumu’ah, it is more important to be spiritually present with our heart rather than just being physically attending the congregation in the Masjid.
Therefore my brothers and sisters, if we want to increase the quality of our worship and ensure that we give the full attention to Allah, we need to reserve some more time beforehand, come prepared without rush, and allow the transition to be gradual and smooth rather than a sudden change.
May Allah make us among those who remember Him and remembered by Him. May Allah grant us the wisdom to prioritize what is lasting over what is temporary. May Allah accept our repentance and our acts of worship.