Found this on WikiHOW.

I hope whoever wrote it won't mind if I copied n pasted it here. Hope this post will benefit whoever read it.

 

HOW TO CONCENTRATE ON SALAT
Click the link above to view this article on its original page.

Before the Prayer

1. 1
   Identify the factors that distracts you in prayers, then try to eliminate them. For example, if you are always distracted by the noise outside of your house, go to the nearest mosque instead of praying in your own home.
2. 2
   Learn the meaning of prayer. Try to find out what the exact meaning of the words that you are reciting. Think the meaning as you recite the verses. This will definitely keep your mind on your prayer. What you are saying won't just be a bunch of Arabic words anymore; it'll have meaning to it.
3. 3
   Try your best to pray together with other Muslims. In Islam, this is known as jama'ah.You will ultimately feel a sense of togetherness. You might also want to have your prayer done at your local mosque. There would normally be some brothers of Muslims in the mosque. Offer to shake your hands to them or even start a new conversation with them.
4. 4
   Learn to perform your prayer according to the sunnah of our blessed prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).
5. 5
   Give your mind a break for a few minutes. Take a time out from this world and relax. Capture calmness in your mind. Prepare the mind by thinking about your salat.
6. 6
   Relieve yourself from your mental stresses.
7. 7
   Put on good clothing.
8. 8
   Plan what Surahs and Du'ahs you are going to recite.
9. 9
   Intend that you are praying to Allah Almighty and only for His sake. Focus on the nature of the prayer you are making. The clearer you are in your intention, the better your attention and concentration will be.

During the Prayer

1. 1
   Instill discipline in yourself. Stand upright with a softened heart. Think of your prayer as your last prayer, as how one hadeeth says. Believe that Allah is by your side. Be as quiet and still as possible and try not to fidget. Keep your eyes open and look down straight to where your head will be when you prostrate (sudjood)
2. 2
   Don't pray hastily. Perform every part of your prayer with care and in a relaxed manner, as what one hadeeth would say, "Hastiness is from satan."
3. 3
   Remember that you are meeting with nobody but Allah!
4. 4
   Pay attention to the recitation.
5. 5
   Adopt your own way of reciting softly without disturbing others.
6. 6
   Bring the mind back when ever you feel that it's lost. Recite Ata'uz (Refuge to Allah from Satan):
   
   A'udhubillahiminash shaitaan nirrajim.

After The Prayer

1. 1
   Do not rush away after the prayer. Sit for a while for evaluation, Dhikr and Du'ah. Evaluate whether the prayer has softened your heart.
2. 2
   Implore Allah earnestly to accept your prayers. Recite:
   
   Allahumma a 'inni 'ala dhikrika wa shukrika wa husn 'ibadatika
   "O Allah, help me in remembering You, in thanking You and in worshipping You in the best way."
   
   
3. 3
   Recite Dhikr as prescribed by the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)
   • Allahumma antas salamu wa minkas salamu wa ilaika yarji'us salam. Haiyina Rabbana bis salami tabarakta ya dhal dhalaali wal ikram
   • Subhanallah "Exalted is Allah" (33 times), Alhamdullilah "Praise to God" (33 times),Allahu Akbar "God is the Greatest" (33 times)
4. 4
   Seek refuge from hell fire, especially after Fajr and Maghrib,
5. 5
   Say your peace to the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him),
6. 6
   Du'ah as you need.

Outside the Prayer

1. 1
   Don’t treat prayer as an isolated act of worship, but part of your lifestyle. Keep in mind that your life in general has an effect on prayer (and vice versa).
2. 2
   Keep your lifestyle pure and clean. Eating non-halal food, earning unlawful income, and committing sins take away the joy and concentration in prayer.
3. 3
   Begin to schedule your work according to prayers. Let your employers or boss know that you need a few minutes break for prayers and a longer break on Friday noon (for Muslim brothers). Avoid night shift duty, if possible.
4. 4
   Try to go to bed early so that you do not miss your morning prayer.
5. 5
   Too much engagement in worldly affairs hinders the mind to be attentive inside the prayers.
   • ...surely by Allah's remembrance are the hearts set at rest. (Quran 18: 28)
   • Avoid activities that divert your attention (e.g. too much gossip, TV, music etc), as mentioned in Surah Al-Mu’minun.

I claim no rights to the above writings. The original article can be found here
I just hoped re-posting this would benefit to whoever read it, just as it did to me. :)

The Stream

Some may not realize the stream. that a smooth sailing life may not be the life worth living, we may be drifting within the stream along with other drifters, which then made us look like, relatively, we're not moving. and that we're just like everyoneelse. We might feel the breeze of the journey, that feels refreshing, but as the stream goes to shallow waters, you would gradually sense the mud dragging your feet, and suddenly bumped into gravels and rocks underneath. Things around you changed as you tumbled over and tossed aside. Somehow then, you know you're in a stream, but somehow you choose to endure. Unlike them, you might have been taught to swim ashore, but you choose not, and teased those you passed by as cowards for not taking the journey further as you go along.

But, honestly, you may not know exactly where you're going, and that the jokes have not been on them. They were given the choice to tell you, but some of you shut your ears. "Be it!" you said. Though they were wet and might seem like a stand still as you flow over, they walk each and every steps across the stream for a land much promising ahead of them. Then, as you slowly flow over a deep calm water, and unable to feel the breeze, you're caught up banging your head up and down, right and left, denying the reality that you're now trapped with no base to stand. As you're adrift in a boundless ocean.

It's a Cycle of (dot) (dot) (dot) ?

Today, is the day when Venus crosses the sun. Some astro scientists said that it's the second coming of its twin-like cycle of appearance after June 2004 transit, the next one sould be 105 years from now.

The importance of the event varies amongst the observer. But Surely, it helps us to understand of how big is big, and how small is small through this once (or probably twice) in a life time chance to directly compare the size of a planet next to us to the sun. Venus is said to be about the same size as earth by radius. And yet how lucky we are to be 'placed' here on earth. And it gives a sense of gratitude to be here at the right distance, as compared to being in unimaginably hot Venus. And that we could imagine how small the earth could be, seen from Mars and other planets further from the sun. and how 'insignificant' we (the human) are.

It's interesting when scientist could predict the cycle of planetary objects to appear and to where its course is heading. Yet, still, no one knows what cycle 'a week' represents. As we know, a month is a cycle of moon re-appearing in its original phase. A year is said to be the time when the earth completes its course around the sun. and a day is a cycle of sun rising and setting. If a month is not entirely made of similar amount of days. and thus a year does not always consists of an exact 365 cycles of sunrise and sunsets, and that a year is when the moon has changed its phase 12 times. and yet a year is not always made of 52 weeks as 365 (366 on leap year) could not be evenly devided by 52. Should they then be considered as separate measures? Still, what is a week? What inspires the 7-day count? Who started it? If some religious activities carried out in 7 day interval within a week, does 'A Week' originate from a religious trait then? Still, of what?

This may sound differently to different readers, but i just want to make sure the emphasis is that there are probably a lot more things around us that we have no idea what it is, and it's not about something unusual, it's about something as casual as 'a week'.

This is only a ponder. no other means intended.

try looking around

There's no other time in my lifetime than now that a prophet is greatly missed. Try to find something that is purely pure. Try to step on something that is free of dirt. Somehow, making a so called good decision would also include compliance towards things that is against the heart. In contrary, things become slightly more difficult as we know more, and knowing less is highly tempting, but somewhat expose to understanding is prevalent, the course is undeniable. Hence, a quarell in peace is inevitable. Do we then live accordingly? Has the society become hard enough to be blamed? Or that truly, mistakes are of human. and surrender to AlMighty is the only way out.

Bismillah. if that's the only thing to do that's assuring.

Major-ed in Advertising with 'Sarjana Sosial' title -- might not be an easy responsibility

The knowledge of influencing others using tiny space in the mass media, to certain extent, contradicts the Bachelor of Social Science or Sarjana Sosial title I was given, and I'm still in a process of understanding how both could function in tandem.

I always think that It's not going to be easy to play both roles at the same time. The former usually normalize the manipulating nature of persuasive communication to intentionally change the minds of the society, or at least certain people, while the later, usually pursue the betterment of social life based on the reality of the society. Somewhat the inner spirits of both are different. Not sure how to explain them. But, if we have classified rigid associations of good and bad, we'll eventually be able to measure both and each will have a tendency to be higly associated with one. However, Advertising is a grey matter, that is usually also gray in colour, and to determine whether an ad is of a good intention or not is not easy, the objectives may not resemble the true subject's intention of an object. If you know what i mean.

Moreover, what is culturally accepted on both worlds may not necessarily projects the true nature of advertising and society. Indonesia might be the land where creativity scarcely gained from within, as many ads depicts worldwide trend which come from what revolves around the social life of the advertising agencies, and do not necessarily reflect on the society it is produced in. I could not endeavour deeper on the execution, as things are usually depicted straight forwardly. The industry has somewhat turned into becoming budget conscious and invest less on image quality, and good direction, and good script.

Advertising could work as the mover and shaker of the society to walk through towards its betterment. but how much trust do we have on the parties involve in the making of an ad? dont we still count expose on even a PSA ads?. how many ads are there that're actually produced to support the society's improvement per se?

The big questions also come from the product that is advertised. are they as good as it is portrayed or as misleading as the packages do? Should I support a mass consumption of a certain manufactured product, or should I enhance the livelihood of people by consuming more of a product? Some ads are meant to create associative effect towards certain things, usually the brand, thus the repetitive nature of it. Will I then supporting the removal of human natural instinct to know and to think before consuming something, or such event could occur naturally on any type of communication? Or should I work in support of the people to re-ignite their instinct to get to know about everything they consume? should I remove the mindset of branding and reinstate the instinct?

I'm in the brink to find the best job to do without having to be consciously guilty of the later effect, Which I think both will have implications on the people eventually. If I could lay down a bit about the choices now, I'm almost certain that producing my own goods and selling them should be the ideal perfect job for me. I consider F&B. For that,  I have endeavoured online to find any food that is easy to make but profit the most, that suits the tastebuds of the locales, and would sustain to more than 5 years. But then, just by the time the decision is made regarding what food to sell, I started reconsidering of what the society have accepted as food, and some counter arguments about what should be eaten, and what not. and it is not easy. should I incorporate processed product? or should i also administer the production the ingredients as well? or should i just follow what the government have allowed to be produced & consumed. Should I just do what's right, trust my guts, and see how it goes?

I know this type of self-discussion would not help me in any point in the industry, but somewhat the power of it is too big to be used for only commercial purposes. and somewhat there is something called as good propaganda, despite the negative association of the word. but then, that's how advertising works. it creates associations. couldn't we then change the scenes and let advertising be culture-laden, and associate it more as a complementary of the society than its enemy? I guess we should.

All in all, getting to this point has not been easy. There were tonnes of stories within and prior to getting in that were all part of the lessons in life. and who else would cherish it if not me. and therefore, First, I have to congratulate myself. Alhamdulillah. I'm now officially holding Sarjana Sosial title.

the syahadah

Asyhadualaailaahailallaah, wa asyhaduannamuhammadarrasulullah.
I bare witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bare witness that Muhammad (SAW) is the Messenger of Allah

A muslim who prays 5 times a day would have mentioned it at least 9 times daily; once during tahyaatul akhir at Subuh, and twice on each Dzuhur, Ashar, Maghrib, and Isya.
Not to mention those who perform the sunnah prayers, and those who listened to adzan and then answer the call.
In society nowadays, the syahadah is commonly viewed as a vow which marks a person's inclusion into Islam. If it is so, we could imagine how many times a muslim have re-newed his vow everyday.

Anyway, I stumbled upon this...
Surat Al-'Isrā' (The Night Journey) - سورة الإسراء
http://quran.com/17
Please read the translation, there are hints to understand of what this whole life is all about.

May this post benefits us in any way possible. In God All Knowledge Resides.

Shall we start (again) ?

it's been two months since i came back home in Medan. plans were not as previously planned. and life has apparently began to shift its course towards the way i never expected before. it's weird to start looking your previous courses of past incidences and beginning to be hinted to see it differently now (i feel old though). and compare that to some kids nowadays that would've probably known these earlier and get treated better. But somehow i guess that's just a tease--to think that way. because it feels so right to understand it the way it is now, yet somehow it gets me insecure, as it probably just a phase where you're about to begin another new course of life.

I'm technically officially 'unemployed' --the term which doubt the state of mind of a free man, which also describe the definitively blue collared world. For now, the mission is (not to save the world, hehe) to overlook the possibilities of what might be the best  thing to do (or, to pursue), which incorporates the meanings gained from previous incidences. Looking at the scenes now, there's nothing more reassuring than being a businessman, gaining wealth, to prospere ownself, and hopefully be the medium for others' prosperity too and opening other chances. Coming here, and seeing apparent 'reasons' somewhat opens (closes) possibilities that here may be it (thus there may be not) . which later lead to the 'what' question, which doubtly give more assurance.

one thing though, despite the region is known for its recklessness, on business side, this area is thriving peacefully, it's like no matter how much good there is, there's always people buying it, or that no one gets too poor, as there's always good man helping out. All praise be to God if this is what happens. And prices are reasonably good. the food especially. you'll taste less food with MSGs sold. you'll find more of a mother/daughter/family of a working man cooking their best recipe, with good ingredients, with probably less margin in profit, but more enthusiasm in preparing their food. hence the reasonably good price. It's just that, observing how things were, here, everything has a tendency to be -quote unquote- seasonal. only those who gain the best product+service+price survive. the rest are mostly late comers, or followers. but the competition somewhat had gone into a better direction, a positive non-violent co-existence. although it might need a bit more time before it is proven to be called so, the progress are way better. I'm sensing an ending to Javacentric mind set amongst the youth, and more part-of-the-world and being-proudly-local kind-of attitude here. which i think is good, as we now will observe less about insecurity of not being more of the urbanites, but more about what's better be done to preserve the peace, within ourselves. well, this might be doubt with the fact that even those in the capital are becoming apparent followers of a-now-highly accessible 'world culture' youtube, twitter, 9Gag, and what not. might as well develop your own and directly communicates with those outside than being an adopters, though it's still easily reluctant to be marked copycats here right? bad news spread faster and more expose to what once a 'priviledge'. the culture reproduction facility.

yet again, these kind of spirits are most likely conveying more of a bad news for some of the nation-wide 'culture producer' giants. they're dwindling. as no definite recipe could carry the overall intentions, and no definite character could cater to the indefinite audience. and that the minds are now in critical mode against them. we could sense the game, the subtle messages, the role, the missions, and even further to their state of finance. But what's more important for those supporting such medium are that, this should go to a better direction. Money is better spent on research to improve product, to target less generic market, to support the local economy, to finance more on true consumer satisfaction, to gain more trust, and building performance, rather than to advertise. it  is now becoming unreasonably 'expensive' as more inlets are provided than the true outcomes. I'm poised to see this from a better perspective, as some of us have become more in line with the 'Order' of universe. if you contribute more for a good cause, you'll get more to replace your expenses. if the intention is bad, the outcome are usually now perceived as bad too arent they. The audience have had enough with the (now apparent) ruling media and its intrigue. and prefer a better peaceful non tendencious way. besides, who truly 'rules'. God is.

the scene is becoming more sentimental, which means more people use their feelings more, or in other word their emotional projections to judge you. as you're getting distant, it gives more time for them to think and permanently becoming part of their attitude in the future. and if the industry is still holding on the century old theories and data and money-minded-mechanisms, somewhat we're prepared to see more national channels to merge (if not, closed down), and the flourishing of genuinely local channel/content. in a long run, hopefully, someone will flame the true spirit of nationalism, despite the diversity of localism, by igniting the true feeling of being a fellow countryman, regardless of social characters. Hopefully one day, Indonesia, will be another household name of a nation regarded with full respect whose people lives harmoniously inspiring the world to be in harmony. Indonesians, prepare.

All in all, so far, here, is good.