How can i gain concentration in Salaah?

Question:

How do i gain concentration in my Salaah?At times i don’t know how many Rakaats Salaah i performed.

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Concentrating in prayer does not mean that stray thoughts do not come to one at all. Rather, if such thoughts do come then one should not pay any attention to them. When a person ignores such thoughts they will go away on their own. When a person performs his prayers then there is a devil by the name of kinzab who whispers to a person. Therefore, we should seek refuge in Allāh Ta`ālā from khinzab. We should cry before Allāh Ta`ālā and Him to bestow us with the enjoyment of pratrating before Him and the pleasure of communicating with Him. One should also read the incidents of the honourable companions of Nabi ṣallallāhu `alayhi wasallam. They were examples for us to follow. Before standing in prayer one should mentally prepare one’s self that I am going to stand in the court of Allāh the All Mighty. Just as people stand with respect before a king of this world, with more respect than this one should stand before Allāh Ta`ālā. Those chapters and supplications which are recited in prayer, one should try to learn its meanings and ponder over them whilst praying. Prayer as if you are directly talking to Allāḥ Ta`ālā.

Mufti Ebrahim Desai.