How sound is the Hadeeth of Abu Hurairah: "Indeed, a man may pray for sixty years, and Allah does not accept any of his prayers. Perhaps he completes the bowing but not the prostration, or he completes the prostration but not the bowing," and what is its meaning? Does this contradict the devoutness of Umar in his prayer despite his preoccupation with state affairs? And does the lack of devotion in prayer affect its acceptance?

Humility (khushu') is the spirit of prayer, but it is not a condition for its validity according to the majority of scholars. This means that prayer is not invalidated by its absence, but its reward is diminished and may even be lost.

As for the hadith: "Indeed, a man may pray for sixty years and Allah does not accept any of his prayers. Perhaps he completes his bowing but not his prostration, or he completes his prostration but not his bowing," Al-Albani graded it as hasan (good).

What is narrated about Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding his preparing armies during prayer does not mean he lacked humility. He was commanded with jihad, and this places him in the position of one praying the fear prayer, who fulfills both obligations (prayer and jihad) to the best of his ability. The perfection of his faith does not deny that his heart was present in his prayer while he was managing the affairs of his subjects. Allah has placed truth upon his tongue and heart, so he possessed a presence that others did not. As for a worshipper's thinking during prayer about an urgent matter whose time might be limited, this is not like thinking about something that is not obligatory. It might be that he could only think about managing the army in this situation.

A person might remember things during prayer that he does not remember outside of it. This could be from Satan, as it was narrated from the predecessors that one of them advised a man who had forgotten where he buried his money to pray. He knew that Satan would not leave him during prayer until he reminded him of what distracted him.