Khanzab

So there you are, doing your duhur,  you're making your way through your prayer, coming up from sujuud and into the second rukaa. You start going through your Al Fatiha and deciding which Surat your going to recite, but you can't for the life of you remember where you heard that line before. You know, the one....some guy was saying it....he was in a movie, and you think there was a motorcycle chase. Man, motorcycle chases are awesome, but they're so unrealistic. I wonder how hard it is to get a motorcycle licence. How would the instructor teach you? Would they sit behind you? That would be so awkward. I'm pretty awkward, I should fix that. I wonder if I should whiten my teeth today? I don't even know if those white strips are working, maybe I should stop drinking coffee, I heard it stains teeth. Aw man, I want Timmies now! I think I'll get a cup after this....wait...how did I get here? Okay, my head was on the ground....then I came up...I'm sitting now..so I must have done two bows....so now I recite Tashhaddud..no...I need to go down one more time...what if I don't? should I just add another rukaa? Or do the prostrations of forgetfulness? maybe I should just start over....no I don't need to...




If you said yes (come on, I know you have :P ), then YOU my friend, have had a good little chat with your fiend and mine: Khanzab. Khanzab is a devil responsible for screwing over our prayers. Distracting us with stuff until we have no idea how many rukaa's we've prayed. AND MAN IS IT IRRITATING. 


So what do you do? How do you cast him out? Well, according to this hadith:


“Oh Rasūlullah! The Shaytān comes between me and my prayers and my recitation, confusing me therein.” Rasūlullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “That is a shaytān that is called khanzab¹. If he affects you seek refuge in Allah  from him and spit drily to your left three times.” The companion said, I did that and Allāh took him away from me.
(Narrated by Muslim, 4083)


you simply spit on your left 3 times. Now, I'm not going to argue with hadith, that's what it says, okay try that. Personally, I have my own little techniques. 


THIS IS MY OWN INFORMATION, THIS IS WHAT I DO, IT HAS NO BASIS IN RELIGION, SO I DON'T GUARANTEE IT'S RIGHT AND WON'T GET YOU IN TROUBLE WITH THE LORD.


Technique 1) My first technique to keep my count during prayers was just that. As I start each rukaa, I imagine a number drawn in a strange way. Some way I'll remember (for rukaa 4, the 4 was usually the Fantastic 4 symbol :P). That way, if I lost count, I would just remember the numbers I've thought of and how they looked.


Technique 2) Count something. for me, it was usually corners of the prayer mat, but if there's something within your immediate field of view (specs of dust on the carpet, or something that doesn't require you to look around a whole lot). Again, if I lost count of the numbers of rukaa's, I'd just look for the things I counted.


Technique 3) This is my newest one, and probably the least likely to get you in trouble. In your mind, ask for a different thing in each rukaa, and each time you bow. For example, in rukaa 1 maybe ask for help improving your character, in 2: forgiveness, 3: cheesecake, 4: get out of debt. And stick with it, only change them up every few months (or after you've got what you asked for). That way you'll learn that if you just finished asking for cheescake, you're heading into rukaa 4. 


Good luck!