The 2 Rakk'ah Solution

An old man walked in on Sheikh Khaled Al Jubair(1) and asked him to help him out with a problem he was having. He was 70 years old and smoked for a half a century. He wanted to quit smoking now but he didn't know how.

The sheikh fell silent, deep in thought. He then proclaimed, "Follow this prescription and God willing you will quit. Every time you smoke a cigarette, I want you to immediately wash up for prayers and pray 2 Rakk'ahs to Allah(2)."

The man exclaimed, "I smoke 40 cigarettes a day! Do you want me to pray 80 Rakk'ahs.?"
"Yes. That's my solution to you. Its up to you to take it or not. If you decide to take it, come back tomorrow to inform me of what happened."

The old man went and came back the next day. "So what happened yesterday" asked the Sheikh.
"I only smoked 5 cigarettes yesterday." The old man was excited. "Every time I would take out the cigarette, put it in my mouth, and watch the flame burn up the tip, a voice in the back of my head reminded me that I would have to pray 2 Rakk'ahs immediately afterwards. My enjoyment slowly withered as the voice grew louder and louder. By the 5th cigarette, I began dreading what I knew would come next."

The sheikh asked him, "Do you know what that voice in the back of your head is? It is the Shaytan. He nagged you to stop smoking so that you wouldn't continue to pray."

The man implemented the system for a few weeks and slowly, but surely he had quit smoking cigarettes.


This system is derived from the Prophet Muhammad's teachings:

"ما من رجل يذنب ذنبا فيتوضأ ويحسن الوضوء , فيصلي ركعتين فيستغفر الله عز وجل إلا غفر له"

"Whoever commits a sin, then washes up and prays 2 Rakk'ahs and asks Allah for forgivness; he will be forgiven."

I call the system, the 2 Rakk'ah solution. It works with anything you want to do or quit. I tried it out myself and so far the results have been real favorable. I had a problem waking up for Fajr prayers. Today is my 4th day on the system, and so far my record is 3 out of 4.

Try it.


*Notes:

1. Sheikh Khaled Al Jubair is a Saudi heart surgeon which has dedicated his life to treating the hearts of people both medically and spirtually.
2. Rakk'ah literally means bow. It refers to a full unit of prayer.