“There is no prayer without presence of heart”

Question

[ar]لَا صَلَاةَ إِلَّا بِحُضُورِ الْقَلْبِ[/ar] “There is no prayer without presence of heart.” What is meant by presence of heart (hudur al-qalb)? Worldly thoughts come during the prayer: sometimes presence of heart remains and sometimes not. Will the time during which there is no presence of heart be counted as part of the prayer or not?

Answer

This does not mean that if presence of heart does not remain, the prayer becomes batil (void) and the obligation remains owing, because among the conditions and pillars that the jurists have stated for the discharge of the obligation they did not count presence of heart.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.