Now you have officially entered Salah when you proclaimed "Allahu Akbar." You lower your gaze to the place of your Sujood (prostration) and you now place your hands right over left and close to your heart/lower chest. Why?
Imagine that you have walked into a royal palace and you enter upon a group of people standing in the distance. Some in the grou fix their gaze boldly at you with their arms comfortably at their sides. The other group stands with their gaze to the ground and their hands clasped in fromt of them. Just from the way they stand; you will easily be able to distinguish the royalty from the palace servants, wouldn't you?
It is not befitting of us, as servants, but to stand in a position of humility when we face Our Lord. It is humbling when we remember who we really are before Him. But let us remember that the humility due Allah is a dignifying humility because, in essence, it liberated us from the undue humility to felow man. As the Prophet (pbuh) said, "The one who humbles himself before Allah is elevated (by Allah) in honor!"
It is only proper now, to salue The King:
"How perfect You are O Allah, praise be to You. Blessed is Your name and lofty is Your position and non has the right to be worshipped except You."
There are several salutes to choose from which the Prophet has taught us. Each one adds a unique aspect to our prayer. Varying our salute with teach prayer aids in better focus and concentration during these sacred moments.
Expelling the intruder:
As you stand in Allah's hands, during such sacred moments, during such a grand encounter, no one is more envious of you than Shaitan (Satan). So his mission is to steal every sweet moment you might have with the One you love, to steal every reward! So that you will finish your prayer, but only 1/3rd has been accepted, or 1/5th of 1/9th or 1/10th since the sobering reality of the matter is: Only the parts of Salah you are mindful of are accepted by Allah. (One will come on the Day of Judgement with over 90 years of Salah under his belt, but to his devastating surprise, only 6 years will have been recorded to his name, or 5, or 4..)
It is because of Satan that we begin to drift. Do you not notice that every wordly thought, matter, issue, predicament suddenly makes it way to your thoughts in Salah? Items you have lost for days are months are suddenly remembered and maybe even found! Even the design on the prayer rug start to tell all sorts of entertaining stories! What do you do? You try to fight him and refocus. But he comes back. You fight him again. He comes back like a fly that will not leave you alone.
What is the solution for we are so weak!? We seek the help of your Beloved from the evils of his creature. With His Name is barakah! With His Name is total protection from all harm. Thus, before we proceed in your prayer any further, we formally express with confidence: "Aoothu billahi mina-shaitan arrajeem" (I seek Allah's protection from Satah the accursed). Feel its power as you say it!
