Satan, then he rises and pecks hurriedly through four units of prayer, remembering Allah only a little during them.” Elsewhere we have presented evidence from the Quran and Sunnah on this subject that would take too long to recount here. Allah knows best.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was also asked:

“What about someone who is sometimes attentive during prayer and at other times troubled by intrusive thoughts? What can help him remain attentive throughout the prayer? Do such thoughts invalidate the prayer, detract from it, or neither?

“And regarding ʿUmar’s statement, ‘I make preparations for my army while I am praying,’ did that distract him from his state of inner concentration, or not?”

He replied:

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The scholars agree that a small amount of distraction does not invalidate the prayer, but it does diminish the reward. As Ibn ʿAbbās said: “You are credited only with the part of your prayer to which you were attentive.”

It is reported in the Sunan collections that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“A servant may finish his prayer with only half of it recorded for him, or a third, a quarter, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, an eighth, a ninth, or a tenth.”