The Distractive Devilry of the Cell Phones
By Abdul-Majeed Azad
Cleveland, Ohio
Last year for one of the Jumu’ah prayers, my wife and I went to a small but beautiful masjid in Columbia – a picturesque suburb of Maryland. The khateeb was a young Latino-American revert. He talked about the expulsion (exclusion by choice, he said) of consciousness of God from our life in general but particularly from our prayers.
He lamented – as many of us would agree – about the obsession that we have developed for the materialistic aspect of life. It seems the more we get the more intense our pursuit become for yet more – without an iota of reflection whether it is good or bad for us in the long run.
He illustrated this by taking a very poignant example: our unforgivable obsession and insatiable infatuation with our cell phones. He shared his observation that these days when we stand in prayer, many of us are only momentarily and fleetingly thinking of our Creator – Allah. For the remainder of our prayers, first our eyes, then our thoughts and finally our concentration are focused only on one thing: our cell phone! It is as if, all affairs of life have morphed into a 5 inch x 3 inch sleek box made of chips, metals and glass.
It has become quite a common sight in prayer halls that for most part, only one hand rests on the chest or the belly: the other hand automatically goes to our pocket where our precious little cell phone resides, lest we should miss a call or text from our spouse, child or a friend!
Prayers demand absolute Ikhlaas’ (total devotion and submission to the Creator). Sadly, our ego defies the presence of Allah and His angels above and around us! As such for most people, prayers have become mere rituals. The soullessness of those rituals becomes more tainted by the omnipresence of cell phones. Then, no matter how many gazillions prostrations we make in our entire lifetime, we will not experience the strength that prayers gave to the Prophet (saw), his companions and those who followed them soon after. It has been said that when ‘Ali ibn Taalib (may Allah be pleased with him) would enter the mosque for prayers, he would make a thorough ablution after which he would sit down on the floor until his body organs had all come to sync with each other and his whole being had attained total calmness, allowing his mind to concentrate fully for the purpose of prayer.
In one of the narrations, it is mentioned that the first sign of diversion from salaat is the shifting and wandering of eyes. This is followed by the heart becoming inattentive as it begins to entertain not only vain thoughts but is also filled with purely worldly matters. This tempts the brain to entertain everything else other than the prayer. At that moment, it is said that Allah calls out to the person, saying: Where to O’ my servant? Where to? Something better than me? Something better than me? Allahu Akbar!
In a well-known narration (recorded as authentic in saheeh Muslim and Bukhari both), one of the signs given by Rasulullah (peace be upon him) of Dajjal – the antichrist – was that "he will have one eye, and, you know your Lord cannot be the one with one eye."
The allegory of ‘one’ eye in this hadith is profound. When we concentrate too much on one thing, it becomes the focus of our attention, our obsession and our lifelong goal. At that point, we cannot see clearly, nor can we think rationally about other benign venues and possibilities. Thus, for all practical purposes, it appears as if we have only one eye.
Our religion is that of moderation. There is nothing wrong in using the latest technology and gadgets in moderation. But when our cell phone becomes a joined-at-the-hip item, it adds a unique dimension to our detachment from khushoo’. Because of this self-imposed inseparability, one begins to expect a call, an IM or a tweet, within seconds of entering the prayer. This callous attitude towards prayers has emboldened us so much, that we don’t feel an iota of shame or guilt - let alone sincerity - towards Allah (swt) or the fellow Muslims standing next to or around us. Many allow - shamelessly and proudly – their phone to ring repeatedly, bird-tweet jarringly or fill the room with loud obnoxious Bollywood tunes, while standing in prayer! Sadly enough, even the two most sacred mosques are not immune to this shameless defiance by many.
Many of us are well-versed in this humble yet steadfast covenant in the Qur’an: Say, Verily my prayers and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are (all) for Allah – the Cherisher of the Worlds. (6:162)
In the obsessiveness with our phones, true appreciation of this undertaking seems to have blurred. This gadget in our hand/pocket is a manifestation of the empowerment we have given to our nafs (these days it is called selfie). So, the next time your phone rings in the prayer hall, think how far removed we are from fulfilling this solemn covenant.
How do we expect to reap the benefits of prayers, when we come into it with such a baggage of distraction? Come to think of it, we were never commanded by Allah (swt) to ‘offer’ prayer: the commandment was to ‘establish’ prayer. There is a world of difference between the two: ‘offering’ is a worldly thing as you’d see Mushrikeen doing to their false deities, while ‘establishing’ transcends the soul of a Muslim to the highest station, beyond his/her comprehension! Developing unconditional trust in Allah’s Power is a pre-requisite, even before we come to the prayer. Once this realization sets in, we will truly affirm that all our affairs are indeed in His hands and if there was some urgency or emergency, it cannot be thwarted by you, your spouse, your friend or anyone else, save by Allah. Then and only then, we would experience the sweetness of prayer in our life. Otherwise, none of us would have a response to this declaration: And they do not value the attributes of Allah, as they ought to be (6:91, 39:67).
Ever wonder if the father and son were to take a quantum leap and time travel to the present, how would the conversation between Aazar and Abraham go? If Abraham were to challenge that Aazar’s handmade idols don’t speak, his father would simply take him to a mosque, ask him to peek inside and point out to a Muslim obsessing with his phone!
While some may resent the suggestion, it is undeniable that many of us consciously bring along a partner to Allah to the prayer hall – a partner that warrants as much (or even more) attention as deserved by Allah. Ironically, very much like the calf fashioned by Saamrei for Moses’ people, this mini God in our pocket too creates a sound!
So, next time we enter prayer - in congregation or alone, let us make sure that our hands are free, our pocket is light and our heart is filled with Allah’s presence. The distractive devilry of the cell phones belongs in our home, our car or office desk drawer. [The writer is a Chemical Engineering Professor and a freelance writer)
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