Did you ever wonder why, at the exact moment when you stand for prayer, you remember where you left your car keys? Or why, going into ruku', you realize you have not trimmed your toenails in a while?
It seems silly, but this problem plagues the Ummah.
Why It Happens
Basically, human beings have far more control over their physical bodies than over their minds. It is entirely possible to complete the physical act of prayer perfectly while the mind wanders somewhere else altogether.
What, then, is the solution?
Why the Examples Are Deliberately Trivial
Because that is how the problem actually presents. Nobody's mind wanders to something important during prayer — it goes to car keys and toenails, which is what makes it embarrassing and what makes people reluctant to admit it happens to them constantly.
Naming it in those terms tells a listener he is not uniquely bad at this, which is the necessary first step to doing anything about it.
The Title's Claim
Programming toward righteousness. The argument is that the prayer is not a test of concentration but a mechanism for producing it — and that the wandering mind is the raw material rather than the disqualification.
Five times a day is a considerable amount of training, if it is understood as training.
Who It Is For
Every Muslim who prays. There is no other qualification, and no one is exempt from the problem.
