Eyes closed??

[Kazablanka]

I find closing my eyes while praying very helpful, sometimes I even close the lights of the room and close my eyes so nothing will distract me. It helps me concentrate cuz I have a very difficult time concentrating while praying. And I've been doing this for a while now, but someone told me that its like forbidden to close your eyes while praying! Whats that all about? Is there a hadeeth or something that confirms that?

[Enigma]

If it gives you khushoo3 (concentration or whatever they call it in English) then I don't see why it would be haram :os

[Persian Queen]

I also do that while praying too , make me feel relaxed and also more concentrated . :blush: but i can say when ever is that haram or not

[Pineapple Thief]

Yeah, it helps me. Close eyes, eliminate sources of noise, and sometimes read out loud. It can be really, really relaxing sometimes.

[Soulless]

i dont know why it is not accepted in islam ..
some times i pray beside people who moves alot while they are praying so if i did not close my eyes i might be bothered by that guy and start to look at him.

and as PT Says :
"it eliminate sources of noise, and sometimes read out loud"

hey Moderators this is a very serious problem pleas provide us with a helpful answer.

[amo_l_oman]

Found an answer on islamonline where it says is permissable since helps concentration
http://www.islamonline.net/livefatwa/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=AFdac5

on another instead, it says the best thing to do is going to the roots which make difficult to concentrate on prayer and trying to remove them
http://www.al-islam.org/adab/14.htm

[Soulless]

amo I oman you should be more than a normal member ... you can be a mod why dont you ask them ?

your information are always helpful. thanx alot for providing us with two links :)

[Kazablanka]

I agree with MP, amo is probably the most loyal member to the sabla.

[Vamp]

Question :

What is the ruling on closing the eyes when praying?


Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.

The scholars are agreed that it is makrooh to close the eyes for no reason when praying. The author of al-Rawd stated that it is makrooh because this is what the Jews do. (al-Rawd al-Murabba’, 1/95). The authors of Manaar al-Sabeel and al-Kaafi stated likewise, and added that it looks as if the person is asleep. (Manaar al-Sabeel, 1/66; al-Kaafi, 1/285). The author of al-Iqnaa’ stated that it is makrooh unless there is a reason for doing so, such as fear of seeing something one should not be looking at whilst praying, such as seeing one’s concubine or wife, or a non-mahram woman, naked. (al-Iqnaa’, 1/127; al-Mughni, 2/30). The author of al-Mughni said likewise.

The author of Tuhfat al-Mulook said that it is makrooh without discussing the ruling when there is a need to do it. (Tuhfat al-Mulook, 1/84). Al-Kaasaani said: it is makrooh because it goes against the Sunnah, which is to focus the gaze on the place of prostration, and because all of a person’s faculties have a role to play in worship, including the eyes. (Badaa’i’ al-Sanaa’i’, 1/503). The author of Maraaqi al-Falaah stated that it is makrooh unless done for a purpose. He said, closing the eyes may be preferable to looking in some cases (Maraaqi al-Falaah, 1/343).

Imaam al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salaam said in his fatwas that it is permissible when necessary, if that helps the worshipper to focus more fully on his prayer.

Ibn al-Qayyim said in Zaad al-Ma’aad that if a man can focus more fully on his prayer by opening his eyes, then it is better to do so. If he can focus more fully by closing his eyes because there are things that may distract him from his prayer, such as adornments and decorations, then it is not makrooh at all and the view that in this case it is mustahabb for him to close his eyes is closer to the aims and principles of sharee’ah than saying that it is makrooh. (Zaad al-Ma’aad, 1/283).
Source (http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=22174&dgn=4)

I believe the above is according to Sunni sect.

Also you might want to try and spit on your left 3 times if you feel distracted or loose concentration while praying, because shaytan tries to play tricks on your mind so that you wont get the ajr of praying. And I dont mean a huge chunk of spit straight outta your throat, lol, its something like: thu, thu, thu. Got it?

Hope that helped!

[amo_l_oman]

amo I oman you should be more than a normal member ...
Infact am Outstanding didn't you notice :duh:


you can be a mod why dont you ask them ?
There's a little problem: am very unmoderate, didn't you notice this too :p


amo is probably the most loyal member to the sabla.
Just i don't have a life, that's why :(

lol is just 3 years am Muslim and i miss so many things, so much to learn and only God knows how much time still i have :)
there was not much in English anyway, am sure mods will find more and better from arabic sites

[amo_l_oman]

Thanks Vamp, sounds more than reasonable.
I remember also something about forbidden looking up while praying, i think SAWS said that but don't remember the reason. Do you know?

[Kazablanka]

Thank you for the links you guys.

I love the sabla. When I'm too lazy to go search for stuff myself, I just open a thread and people find things for me. You guys are so awesome!

[Vamp]

Amo, Im not really sure but I remember hearing a hadith: Allah (SWT) looks at you while you pray as long as you are praying with "khushu", concentrating on your prayers. The second you turn your head, Allah (SWT) looks somewhere else. Or thats what I understood, a bit irrelevant here but I couldnt think of somthing else.

And as written in the text I quoted above, if you were to open your eyes while praying your should look at the place of prostration, nowhere else.

If you are worried that turning your head to "spit" on shaytan is not allowed, well, I didnt mean turning it all the way left to spit. Just a little while trying to maintain your concentration.

[amo_l_oman]

Ahaa lol i never did cause i thought it had to be a triple spit like Totti , got me :p , so i found it a bit :yuck:
Now i understand thx :wave:

[Vamp]

LOL amo, no no, imagine you're praying in your local mosque with lots and lots of people and you just turned your head left and did it the Totti way :sweat:

It should be done like this. Try closing your mouth and then say "thu" very softly. It should sound like whispering

[Kazablanka]

It should be done like this. Try closing your mouth and then say "thu" very softly. It should sound like whispering

yeah, but make sure you dont accidently spit on the person next to you while doing that.

[Arabian Princess]

to tell you the truth, I dont like the spitting idea :os

[HaYa]

to tell you the truth, I dont like the spitting idea

neither do i !! ..

i have this problem .. the thing is sometimes i keep forgetting at which rak3aa i am !! :sorry: .. i'll be doing fine suddenly right in the middle , as If am lost !! :(

so it makes me live in a doubt of how Good is my prayer .. sometimes i end up redoing it bcoz of the wiswas ..sometimes i just say allah ra7eem .. almighty knows my intention ..what shall i do ?

[Arabian Princess]

as a start, start organizing your prayer by specifying a certain short aya to read in each rakaa .. like : al kawthar in first, al ikhlas second, and so on .. so when you are lost, from the aya you are reading you can identify what rakaa you are in.

However, after you do that, I guess you will learn how to remmber .. trying changing ayas coz I heared its advisable.

[Kazablanka]

HaYa, that always happens to me too. I guess that just shows how unfocused we are while praying.

Another problem I face is that, I stick to the same surah's EVERY PRAYER. Like I'm always praying with the shortest surah's there are ( i.e surat al-ikhlas, surat al-nass). I have alot of the Quran memorized, but I always stick to the last 2 pages of Juzu' 3amah.

[Arabian Princess]

happens to me .. guess that happenes when ur concentration is low as ur mind tend to go to whats most revised or something ..

[HITMAN]

if closing ur eyes makes u perform ur prayers in a better manner, then im sure it pleases ALLAH!

[HaYa]

HaYa, that always happens to me too. I guess that just shows how unfocused we are while praying

maybe :sorry: although i try my best .. the weird thing is i'll be so sure that am done with the 2nd rak3aa but when it comes to 3rd rak3aa i wonder if this is my 2nd one or 3rd !! off 2 confused .. !

Arby ..i think i'll try & do that..i hope now i wont be mixed up with which surah i read before and which one is left !!

inshallah .. allah KareeM ..

[Arabian Princess]

as long as you are trying your best ,, Allah will reward you inshallah

[Diva]

Very interesting. I always close my eyes when I pray as well. I didn't realise that it was even makrooh.

[Haroundb]

1-Closing your eyes while praying.
2- Leaving your hands down or above each other on your chest, or on your stomach, while praying?
3- Shaving your beard or not?
4- Wearing white long dress in the middle of the leg is a must or not?
5- Using "Siwak" -that thing that Muslims in the old days were using-, or using toothpastes?
6- Using honey or medicine for medication.
7- Walking to the Mosque for prayer or driving the car?
8- Putting oil fragrances, and not using alcohol mixed fragrances.
9- Drinking malt Haram or not?
10- If I am away 82.5 km not 82 from home shall I shorten my prayer or no?
11- Is the km 82 inclusive or exclusive?
12- Is it 82, 28, 34, 16, 12 or 8 km?
13- Shall I grow my hair long like our Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) or not?
14- Can I eat horse meat or not?
15- When I shake hands with my wife that breaks my Wadou (wash before praying) or not?
16- If I saw a dog shall I do my Wadou again?
17- When shaving my armpit hair, Shall I use a shaving machine or pull it away?
18- Eating camel's meat does it break Wadou?
19- How many fingers we have to use while eating?
20- Is a "Hairy" man much blessed from Allah than a "Blank" man?
21- Is wearing hand watches in your left hand is Haram (forbidden)?
22- Is it Haram (forbidden) to drink Coca-Cola and Pepsi?
23- Is mobile phones ring tones are Haram because music is Haram?
24- Is music Haram?
25- Which type of musical instruments is Haram?
26- Sleeping on your left side, is it Haram (forbidden)?
27- Is trousers Haram for men?
.
.
.


Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) told us that our religion is easy, and if someone make if hard on himself religiously, religion will be much harder on him (you do it to yourself). We have to make it easy on ourselves:

عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله قال : "إن الدين يسر، ولن يشاد الدين أحد إلا غلبه ، فسددوا وقاربوا وأبشروا واستعينوا بالغدوة والروحة وشئ من الدلجة " [ رواه البخاري]

[IceTea]

Haroun, but every muslim is requested to worship Allah with knowledge which means he/she needs to make sure what is doing is right. If there is no clear evidence and rule either from the Quran or Hadith then the person is requested to ask people of the book as stated in the Quran and get a fatwa.

As for the concentration while praying then it should be through the heart and the brain and not by closing the eyes during the whole prayer. Let us assume that the person is closing his/her eyes and then there was a snake down then how you will know and how you can protect yourself.

[Haroundb]

Let us assume that the person is closing his/her eyes and then there was a snake down then how you will know and how you can protect yourself.
This is what I was trying to say, closing it or opening it would not change any thing. Let us always get to the real meaning of wha we do.

[Pineapple Thief]

Let us always get to the real meaning of what we do.

:app: :app:

[IceTea]

I got this answer related to the topic (it's the Ibadi point of view) and I tend to agree with it.



بالنسبة لاغماض العينين في الصلاه ، فلاهل العلم خلاف في ذلك. فمنهم من يقول أنها فاسده واستدلوا بحديث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "إذا قمت إلى الصلاه فلا تغمض عينيك". وبعض أهل العلم لا يرى فساد الصلاه بتغميض العينين في أثناء أدائها.

ومنهم من فرق بين من غمض عينيه في أكثرها أو في بعضها.

وعلى كل حال القول الذي يأخذ به جمهور أصحابنا هو أنها لا تفسد ولكن لا ينبغي للانسان أن يغمض عينيه في صلاته إلا لضرورة لا محيص عنها كأن يكون بسبب غبار أو ما شابه ذلك. وفي نفس الوقت لا ينبغي أيضا أن يحد بهما البصر. فيفتحهما بمقدار ما يميز بين السواد والبياض أو بمقدار ما يفرق بين النور والظلمه والله أعلم.

وإن يغمض لا بعذر تفسد........وقيل لا تفسد وهو أجود
وإن يكن غمض في أكثرها.......فإنها فاسدة بأسرها