Praying as though we see Allah

21-6-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

How do we visualize Allah when we pray? It is true that He sees us, or we should imagine that we see Him? How should we visualize Him, with His Attributes, His Names Allah, etc? Please explain details.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

It is reported that the Prophet said: "Pray and consider that as your last prayer in this world and as if you see your lord, as if you do not see Him He truly seeing you." [Reported by Ibn Majah and Tabrani]

Al-Albani said in Al-Silsilah Al-Sahihah that this Hadeeth is authentic as it is narrated by many companions.

This is a proof that Allah truly sees us, so we have to feel as if we see Him (in our prayers) and we should pray feeling that He is watching us, in this way a person feels more reverent.

As regards the feeling and imagining that Allah is watching us, it seems that we should feel that we see Allah Himself.

Al-Nawawi said when interpreting the Hadeeth of Muslim: "Al-Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him." This is absolute eloquence, because if we suppose that a person stands in worship while considering that he is addressing Allah, this makes him stand in submission, reverence, and concentration in order to perform the prayer at his best. In addition to this, people should know that they will not see their Lord on this life, as it is reported in a Hadeeth. "Indeed you will not see your Lord until you die", reported by Ahmed, Nassai, and Al-Albani classified it as an authentic Hadeeth.

And Allah says toMoosa "You cannot see Me." (Al-A'raf 7:143)

Allah knows best.