Humility in Prayer by Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali

In-store location: Shelf 3.16

By Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali, Dar As-Sunnah, paperback, 93 pages

This is a treatise concerning humility (khushu’) and the heart's meekness and breaking (inkisar) before the Lord.

The basic meaning of khushu’ is the softness of the heart. It's being gentle, still, submissive, broken, and yearning. When the heart is humble, so too is the hearing, seeing, heard, and face; indeed all the limbs and their actions are humbled, even speech.

This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) would say in his bowing (ruku), “My hearing, sight, bones, and marrow are humbled to You,” another narration has, “and whatever my foot carries.” One of the Salaf saw a man fidgeting in his prayer and remarked, ‘If the heart of this person was humble, so too would his limbs be.’