how i made my two-hour tahajjud easy: contacts and movements. Pt. 4

So, ablution is done, and one is now on one’s mat, and right before one heads to the lectern, to start reciting from the Quran, one puts on one’s glasses, or not?

One thing I tried to sort out was the issue of glasses, and not having to remove it and place it on the lectern or on the mat when I’m bowing or prostrating. I try to keep my movements as minimal as possible, and so the extra reach to take it off, or to put it back on was something I figured I should take care of.

Contacts, you know, those colorful things people put on their eyes, and it totally replaces one’s need to put on glasses, I thought I’d give it a shot. I’d heard there are a lot of rules around it, like when and where to wear and not to wear it, this and that, but I figured since I’m only going to be wearing it for taHajjud, I should be good. 😁

I approached my optician, they tested my eyes, did all of their measurements, and in a couple of weeks, they called me in to come get my contacts. But something they do at this place was that they have a contact lenses specialist, who coaches one on how to wear it, tells one all the rules and all. Come to think of it, I think it’s true of all places contact lenses are issued in America, I think. 🤷🏿‍♂️

Anyway, to cut the long story short, I tried to stick these lenses on my eye balls, with the voice of the coach guiding me through 🤦🏿‍♂️ Ladies and gentlemen, it’s safe to say that my contact lenses haven’t been touched since the day I brought them home. Luckily, the first issue was free, and only lasts a month, one has to then buy subsequent ones.

You might be asking why I haven’t touched the contact lenses since then; it must have taken me 30 minutes or so to place just one on my iris. Like, who comes up with these inventions? 🤯Whereas, the coach kept putting hers in, and out, to show me the steps. Like! 😳 She didn’t give up on me though, and neither did I, I was determined, even if I was never going to wear it again, today, the lenses must don my eyes. And eventually, I got them on, an awesome experience. 🥰 I could see again. 🕺🏿

She said it will take practice, and that with time, it gets easier; nope, not when I’m waking up at 1.30am in the middle of the night, and trying to get my taHajjud started in the next minute, nope, I ain’t giving this a chance. God forbid I poke my eyes one of those nights, and now, even with my glasses, I won’t be able to do taHajjud that night. Those contacts, slippery too, what if I got them infected? 🤦🏿‍♂️Okay, don’t let me scare y’all too much, but that was it for me. If you are reading this, and you are a contact lenses expert, kudos to you. 👊🏿Your discipline and dedication is applaudable, and if you venture into it, and you find it easier to place on than I did, it will definitely make the taHajjud process easier. So, now, I still put on my clunky glasses, and removing them and put them back as at when needed. Oh, I asked her if one can cry in it, and she said yes. 🤔 So… 🤷🏿‍♂️

The question I should have asked myself before going to them is this; how are my bad eyes suppose to guide me to place a tiny rubbery slippery semi circle lense on my eyes? 🤔

Anyway, if you are thinking Lasik. Eye. Surgery, that’s also another alternative, so that you have perfect vision, but personally, I don’t want perfect vision. 🤪 I like my astigmatism just the way it is. I’m able to zone events happening around me out with or without my glasses on, and just live in my head where I’m putting things together. I believe it helps my creative process. Would I have been able to busy my mind in creative endeavors if I had perfect vision, and the million things happening around me caught my attention? I don’t know, I don’t care. All I know is, this works, you know, don’t fix it if it ain’t broken and all. Perhaps, this is why people that wear glasses are thought of as being smart? 🤣 Their inability to see properly has made them focus and think deeply about the little that they see? 🤷🏿‍♂️Science!🤦🏿‍♂️

Like I have alluded to at the start of this piece, movements, minimization of movements, is one of the reasons I journeyed through sight enhancing alternative options. The reality of being still is that one’s body also stills, and because it is still, it feels everything, phantom or otherwise. Talking of phantom feelings, I have a couple of tricks under my sleeves. I try to delay itching or passing my hand over an itchy spot till the next page of the Quran. So if I was on line 4 of page 7, I delay itching till I get to line 4 of page 8, and what happens is that by the time I get to page 8 line 4, the itch is gone. The thought of the itch returns most of the time when I’m already on line 7 page 9 or something.

Another trick I use is that I tell myself not to itch more than 3 times a rakah, and since each rakah is 10 pages long (the Witri is mostly suratul ahad), that’s 6 itches for the entire 20 pages of the night. It’s mostly effective when I only have 1 itch left in each rakah, a lot of legitimate itches don’t get soothed 😂 because I’m thinking what if the next one is more serious than the present. Anyway, you get the drift, you can start with this tactical tricks, until one gets to a state that one doesn’t feel itches anymore. I call it the Ali-state. He is the one I remember they couldn’t remove an arrow from his body until he had to stand for prayer, and they removed it without him even feeling it. 👍🏿 So, as time goes by, one can reduce it to 4, from 6, to 2, and then 0.

Having the flu while doing taHajjud and trying not to keep wiping one’s nose can be trying, and on those days, you can have tissue in your pocket or something, depending on how serious the ailment is. Don’t leave taHajjud on those nights, I find that I feel stronger when I’m done than I would have felt had I just laid in bed not doing it. I think maybe it has to do with the continuous breathing, standing, meditative state, and all, it just fixes the flu for that night until the next night, it lasts a week max anyway. That doesn’t mean you should still take your medications, I did take mine, but the taHajjud does its thing too. Hopefully, you don’t get sick, but if you did, try it and see for yourself. 😁

Another movement one is bound to do is the ‘page turn’ movements. These days, I mostly use my iPad, so it’s more of a swipe than it is a turn, the latter may require extra effort than the former in turning the pages. And as soon as I turn the page, I put my right hand back on my left hand which rests on my chest.

And this brings us to the issue of where one’s hands should be during prayer; sides, below the navel, above the navel, on the chest? I’m reminded of Hulb’s hadith in which he said he saw the prophet pbuh praying with his right hand over his left upon his chest above the elbow, and this hadith was reported by Ahmad and Tirmidhi. And so with this, we know the area that the hands be placed isn’t just above the navel, but in a way, more on the chest area since both palms go ‘above the elbow’. And the question might arise about how the palms should be placed.

That takes us to Wail’s hadith in which he said he saw the prophet pbuh ‘put his right hand over the back of his left wrist and forearm’, and this hadith is recorded in Abu Dawud and An-Nasa’i with those wordings. So after the palms must have been placed on one’s chest, one then moves one’s right palm to cover the wrist as the fingers linger on some parts of the forearm. Right away, what one will notice is how the area that both palms will be on is where the heart is located. So that one is basically placing both palms on one’s heart as one recites the entire Quran month in month out. The rhythm, the vibrations, the peace, the blessings and all. 🥰

As for the question of how right above the navel, below the navel and placing one’s hands on one’s side came to be; I am of the opinion that the heart is the optimum position, but over the centuries, people started lowering their palms for strength and health reasons, so much so that the later generations followed suit. And this may have even happened during the lifetime of the prophet pbuh, and he may have let it be whilst considering the particular ailment or encumbrance that a particular fellow has, this applies especially to those that place their hands on the sides. So, despite the permissibility of hands below the chest and on the sides, I’d still like to place them on my heart where every word can be in harmony with my heartbeat. 💓

I should mention that it takes perseverance to numb one’s arms to be able to achieve that position for hours. When I started, I’d alternate from placing them on my side to chest by the pages, until I was able to place them on my chest for the entire 20 pages I recite every night. So, if you wish to chest place, you might try that technic and see if it works for you. 👍🏿

Another movement that occurs is the movement from my lectern to the base of my mat so that I am able to ruku and sujud. I take 3 to 4 steps backward slowly, as it is recommended that movements while praying should be one that if someone were to see one, they’d not assume one wasn’t praying. So, it shouldn’t be brisk. Another reason to take it slowly is because one’s legs might have become swollen and heavier at this time, and so as not to trip, it’s best to take those steps slowly.

Another thing I have found that reduces movements especially when one is doing ruku, sujud or sitting from sujud is wearing a free cloth, because if it is too tight, one won’t be comfortable, and in trying to be comfortably seated for instance, one will have to be adjusting, thereby ‘moving’ unnecessarily. If one’s cloths is comfortable, it will reduce one’s need for non essential maneuvers whilst praying.

The above are my thoughts on the subject, the next piece will be about the Quran, period.