Prayer has great sanctity for Muslims, because of being the pillar of religion, and its goal is to make the Muslim in a continuous connection with Allah SWT in addition to worshipping Allah sincerely by achieving sincerity to Him alone. Prayer has five basic obligations (Faridah) in addition to various types of voluntary prayers (Sunnah), but is it permissible to listen to prayer while praying?
Most men should pray in mosques by following the imam and praying like him. The imam must have special qualities to lead Muslims in prayer. In this article, Sheikh Saleh Academy provides a clear answer to this famous question: can I listen to prayer while praying? It will also mention the cases in which this is permissible, and how to achieve humility in prayer.
Can You Listen to Prayer While Performing Salah?
The answer to the question: can I listen to prayer while praying? is that a Muslim can listen to the imam and do the same while he’s in the same place. However, if the Muslim is far from the mosque, it isn’t permissible for him to pray following the voice of the imam of the mosque coming from far away or the radio or television, but it’s required that he be in the same place with the imam.
A Muslim must be careful to pray in a place free of noise so that it doesn’t affect khushoo. However, if there are external sounds that he can’t control and he listens to them unintentionally, this won’t invalidate his prayer.
Can Listening to Recitations Distract You while praying?
A Muslim isn’t allowed to listen to Quran recitation during prayer, as this may invalidate the prayer according to some Madhabs such as the Hanbalis because this action may greatly affect khushoo. You can listen to the Quran a lot outside of prayer until you learn how to recite it correctly.
However, new Muslims can listen to Quran audio, especially those who find it difficult to recite Al-Fatihah, while advising them to learn how to pray as a Muslim; because prayer is the most important act of worship that improves your relationship with Allah. You can also go to the mosque to pray behind the imam because this helps to listen to holy quran to make learning easy. Allah SWT said:
﴿قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ﴾
Qad aflaha al-mu’minoona. Allatheena hum fee salatihim khashi’oon.
Certainly will the believers have succeeded. They who are during their prayer humbly submissive.
You must also be careful to learn how to perform 4 rakat because most prayers such as Dhuhr, Asr, and Isha consist of four rakat.
Can I use my phone to help me pray in Islam
After answering the question: can I listen to prayer while praying? It is possible to use the phone outside of prayer to learn the steps of prayer and master the recitation, but inside prayer it isn’t permissible to use the phone. A large number of scholars differed on this, and it is most likely not to use it in Faridah prayer because this affects the humility of the heart, due to the presence of many distractions inside the phone such as notifications, messages, or someone calling and other things.
عن أبي هريرة: أن النبي -صلى الله عليه وسلم- دخل المسجد، فدخل رجل، فصلى، ثم جاء، فسلم على النبي -صلى الله عليه وسلم- فرد النبي -صلى الله عليه وسلم- عليه السلام، فقال: «ارجع فصل فإنك لم تصل»، فصلى، ثم جاء، فسلم على النبي- صلى الله عليه وسلم- فقال: «ارجع فصل، فإنك لم تصل» ثلاثا، فقال: والذي بعثك بالحق، فما أحسن غيره، فعلمني، قال: «إذا قمت إلى الصلاة، فكبر، ثم اقرأ ما تيسر معك من القرآن، ثم اركع حتى تطمئن راكعا، ثم ارفع حتى تعتدل قائما، ثم اسجد حتى تطمئن ساجدا، ثم ارفع حتى تطمئن جالسا، ثم اسجد حتى تطمئن ساجدا، ثم افعل ذلك في صلاتك كلها».
On the authority of Abu Hurairah: The Prophet (PBUH) entered the mosque, and a man entered and prayed. Then he came and greeted the Prophet (PBUH), who returned his greeting and said, “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” The man prayed again, came back, and greeted the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet said again, “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed,” three times. The man then said, “By the One who sent you with the truth, I do not know any better, so teach me.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “When you stand for prayer, say ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is the Greatest). Then recite whatever you can of the Qur’an. Then bow until you are at ease in Ruku. Then rise until you stand upright. Then prostrate until you are at ease in Sujood. Then sit until you are at ease sitting. Then prostrate again until you are at ease in prostration. Do this throughout your entire prayer.”
However, reading the Qur’an from the phone in Sunnah prayer is permissible if the intention is to diversify between the surahs to increase humility. Some people ask this question: how long does a Muslim prayer last? This varies from one person to another, but it is necessary to be reassured in each corner of the prayer so that it isn’t invalidated. In most cases, it takes several minutes to finish the prayer, and the duration may differ from one prayer to another, so it’s necessary to know how many rakats each prayer, because the more rakats the prayer duration increases.
Can you pray with headphones in Islam
After we answered in detail the question: Is it permissible to listen to prayer during prayer? Some people may wonder about the ruling on wearing headphones during Islam prayer; it can be said that this isn’t permissible and this is due to the sanctity of prayer where the Muslim stands before his Lord. However, if the headphones are used to isolate annoying sounds that continue for a long time and affect humility, then there is no harm in using them.
It is preferable not to pay attention to these sounds and to strive to push them away as it wasn’t reported from the Prophet, PBUH, to put anything in his ears to ignore the sounds, especially if they are simple sounds that do not affect the prayer.
Some people have a question about prayer before eating iftar, so you can say this supplication:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي لَكَ صُمْتُ، وَبِكَ آمَنْتُ، وَعَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْتُ، وَعَلَى رِزْقِكَ أَفْطَرْتُ.
Allāhumma innī laka ṣumtu wa bika āmantu wa ‘alayka tawakkaltu wa ‘alā rizqika afṭartu.
O Allah, for You I have fasted, in You I believe, in You I trust, and with Your provision, I break my fast.
How can I maintain focus during prayer without distractions?
There are several ways that can be used to focus during prayer without listening to any external recitation, the most important of which are the following:
- Seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan when feeling any obsessions, and it’s preferable to start focusing while hearing the call to prayer by repeating after it while mastering Wudu and remembering that you will stand before Allah.
- Increase supplication to Allah SWT to guide you to good deeds, the most important of which is humility in prayer.
- Turn off the mobile phone during prayer and go to the mosque to pray with the imam in the case of men and choose a quiet place inside the house for women.
- You can listen to some religious lessons that explain the importance of prayer and show ways to be humble.
- It’s important to diversify between the surahs after Al-Fatihah while developing a plan to learn How to Read Quran in 30 Days with contemplation as this helps to increase focus by recalling the meanings of the verses.
- You can use different formulas for supplications while being careful to repent from sins and transgressions because transgressions deprive you of the pleasure of obedience.
Can you pray if you are spotting before your period? This is one of the most important questions that comes to mind for a large number of women. If this blood is istihadah (Non-menstrual bleeding) and not menstruation, it’s permissible to pray, taking care to perform ablution before each prayer when its time comes. Also, women aren’t allowed to pray at home behind the imam in the nearby mosque. We have explained this in the answer to the question: Is it permissible to listen to the prayer during prayer?
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