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Spiritual, Psychological, Physical

and Social Benefits of Salah
Spritual Benefits of Salah

Remembrance of Allah

Almost every person in the modern world is involved in

some basic worldly activity like earning a living, going to
school, eating, sleeping, and socializing.  Naturally, we forget
Allah and the obligations due to Him.  When we forget Allah,
this life and its worries become the central occupation of the
human mind.  Desires run wild.  A person begins to ‘chase his
shadow’, something he can never catch.  For many, money
becomes the sole goal of life.  The more you make, the more
you spend, the more you want.

Allah has set times to break regularly from the daily chores
of life for a few minutes and worship Him.  First thing in the
morning before we begin our day, in the middle of the day, in
the late afternoon, in the evening, and at night before we go
to sleep.  When done with concentration and properly, it
awakens and stimulates the soul.  A Muslim reminds himself
that Allah is in charge of everything, he is Allah’s faithful
servant, and Allah’s pleasure is His aim.  For a few minutes,
five times a day, a Muslim leaves this world and meets  His
Lord:

“And establish the prayers (salah) in order to remember

Me.”(Quran 20:14)

God-consciousness (Taqwa in Arabic)

The prayers (salah) also makes a person God-conscious. 
When a person prays five times a day, he becomes
accustomed to feeling the presence of God and develops the
sense that Allah is watching Him at all times.  He is never
hidden from Allah, even when alone.  A sense of God-
consciousness keeps the heart suspended between fear and
hope.  Fear of Allah keeps a Muslim away from the
prohibited and encourages him to do the obligatory; a mix of
divine love and devout reverence that keeps him religiously
observant. Regular performance of the prayers increases
one’s awareness of Allah.

Seeking Forgiveness

To err is human, and even the most pious of Muslims sin and
need to repent.  We all need to constantly ask for Allah’s
forgiveness and try our best not to repeat our mistakes. 
Without regular contact with Allah, a person is unlikely to
feel guilty for his sins and repent.  Sometimes if a person has
not asked Allah to forgive him in a long time, he might
become insensitive to sinning and may even forget that he
fell into it, thus not even seeking forgiveness for it.  Certain
prayers in the formal prayers (salah) reminds the Muslim of
his sins and makes him seek forgiveness for them  This in
turn causes Muslims to feel guilty for their sins and seek
repentance as soon as they are committed. A Muslim learns
to constantly seeks forgiveness for his sins and never feels
too distant from his loving Lord.   The prayer places man
directly before Allah seeking pardon for his short-comings.  

The prayer itself is a means of erasing sins, albeit the lesser

ones[1].

Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon

him) asked:

“What do you think if there was a river by the door of

any one of you and he bathed in it five times a day, would
there be any trace of dirt left on him?” 

They (his companions)(may Allah be pleased with them)

said, “No trace of dirt would be left on him.” 

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

said, “This is like the five daily prayers, through which
Allah erases sin.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim)

Control and Discipline

The prayer has the capacity to catalyze change for the better
in people’s life.  The fact that we give up whatever we are
doing and line up behind a prayer leader (called imam) five
times a day in the mosque, or find room to pray in at work or
school by ourselves, instills discipline in life. People join the
army to learn discipline and everyone admires it.  Similarly,
the prayer trains us to go through specific motions and utter
special words at specific times. All the body parts are under
control, obeying and worshipping Allah, and if this discipline
is broken, the prayer may have to be repeated. 

Islam recognizes that we are all different, so it allows

flexibility in many cases.  The prayer leader (imam) should
keep the prayer short.  Women are not required to attend the
prayers in the mosque.  A sick person may pray sitting, and if
unable, he may even pray laying down.  The discipline
learned in the prayer is to be acquired in other aspects of
one’s religious and mundane life as well.  Just as we should
not look around when praying, we should control our eyes
outside of the prayer not to fall on forbidden objects.  Just
like we use our tongue to praise Allah, outside of the formal
prayers we should not let it backbite or lie.  Just as our hands
and feet perform controlled motions, outside of the prayers
we should not use them to steal, buy or eat what is
forbidden.  We should not walk towards the forbidden, but
away from it.  This is the essence of which Allah tells us:

“…Surely, the prayer (salah) prevents evil speech and

bad deeds…” (Quran 29:45)

Calmness and Serenity by Developing Focus in the

Prayers

A very important ingredient of the prayer is the state of

calmness and tranquility coupled with humility achieved by
deep concentration.  Allah says in the Quran:

“Successful indeed are the believers, those who humble

themselves in their prayers.” (Quran 23:1-2)

The purpose of the prayer is not just to fulfill an empty ritual.

For the prayer to be acceptable, it must be done with a
passion. Learn the meaning of the Arabic words used in the
prayer, focus on their meaning and whatever portions of
Quran you will recite. Know that Allah responds to prayers
and He is listening to you. Focus your eyes on the place of
prostration, or shut them if something present causes you to
be distracted and can not focus otherwise. By concentrating
on the words of the prayer said in different postures, by
raising one’s consciousness of being in front of Allah, by
choosing a comfortable, clean place with no distractions, one
can increase their presence of mind in the prayer. There will
always be room to improve it.  Remove the clutter in the
mind and focus on Allah’s blessings in life, feel your
insignificance in front of the Magnificent Creator, feel guilty
for your sins. It will help you reduce stress, worries, and
anxiety. There is only so much our mind and body can take. 
The prayer is relaxing and will help regain lost focus in life.
The prayer is healing for the soul. But for your salah to 
reach this state of concentration it requires patience,
practice, and asking Allah for help. The postures of the
prayer are important. For example, in prostration the
believer is closest he can be to Allah, and thus he should feel
this closeness and supplicate even more.

To reach a high level of concentration and humility in prayer

requires constant work, and struggle.  There will be lows – but
one should never give up the prayers (salah).  Remember!  It
connects you to your Creator.  You don’t just pray while you
feel it is working for you and easy to do. Frequently, a new
Muslim is overcharged with zeal on accepting Islam, reading a
lot, listening to tapes, surfing the web, talking to friends, but
after some time they burn out. It is at that critical moment
when the real test comes, one feels weak in faith and it is
difficult to pray. Take some good advice for those times, and
keep on praying.

Psychological, Physiological and Physical Benefits of

Salah

Different postures of Salat. In every posture there are certain

health benefits, for example, bowing position tones stomach
muscles, abdomen and kidneys and the spine becomes
supple and flexible, while the spinal nerves are nourished. In
doing Sujud, there is less chance of getting headache, spasms,
aches, etc…. due to the fact that the electrostatic charges are
dissipated and discharged.

SALAT has been made compulsory on all believers in all

situations. It is an activity which cannot be neglected under
any circumstance. This obligation on us should not be
regarded as a burden, but rather it should be cherished and
appreciated.

The Arabic word “Salah,” doesn’t only mean “prayer,”

because “pray” basically means to address a prayer to God or
another deity, according to the Oxford dictionary. “Salah,” is
a word with a broad meaning, which doesn’t only mean
prayer, but also means goodness, righteousness and
godliness. In Salah, we not only ask from Allah but we also
thank Him, praise Him and at the same time receive
guidance from Him. Salah in the true sense is programming
or conditioning.
The prayer conditions us to stay away from forbidden and
shameful actions, and encourages us to do righteous and
sensible deeds. Since we humans have limited free will, this
conditioning will help us and enable us to stay away from
forbidden things, and enjoin on what is not forbidden. A
healthy body requires three meals a day. Similarly, the
spiritual soul requires five times Salah a day.

Besides attaining spiritual upliftment from performing one’s

Salat, one may also gain many physical and psychological
benefits. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is
recorded in a Hadith (Ibn Majah) stating that prayer is a cure
for many diseases. The wisdom in this claim can be
understood when assessing the physical benefits of the act of
prayer.

The process of performing Salat expects certain movements

and actions, these actions performed at least five times a day
have been found to equate to jogging or walking at a rate of
three miles an hour.

This is a basic level of exercise strongly advocated by doctors

and members of the medical fraternity on a whole. The
importance of exercise is undeniable, with potential benefits to
the cardiac, respiratory, skeletal and muscular system. The
dynamics of Salat contribute to the improvement of all of these
systems, with specific emphasis on the muscular and cardiac
systems. Before we delve into a detailed discussion, it needs to
be noted that the purpose of performing Salat should not be to
obtain health benefits, but rather to fulfill a religious
requirement. The fact that there are physical benefits
associated with prayer comes as a blessing.

In Salah, when we perform ruku that is bowing down, extra

blood flows into the upper part of the body. The spine
becomes supple and flexible, while the spinal nerves are
nourished. This relieves backache and pain. This is a good
posture for reducing flatulence. This action stretches the
lower back, thighs, and calves while blood gets pumped into
the upper torso. Bowing position tones stomach muscles,
abdomen and kidneys. When we come back to the standing
position (after ruku), the blood which has entered into the
upper part of the body, comes back to normal and the body is
relaxed. As a result, this blood carries away toxins and
releases tension.

When we do Sujud, which is basically the prostration to the

ground with eight parts of the body touching the floor, the
forehead on the ground which is the best position of Salat. It
is the most relevant part of Salat. Daily, the human beings
are propounded by electrostatic charges from the
atmosphere, which exudes perspiration in the central
nervous system which gets super-saturated.

These extra electrostatic charges have to be dissipated and

discharged, otherwise resulting in headache, neck ache,
muscles spasms, etc. No wonder people regularly take
tranquillizers and drugs to relieve the pain. These
electrostatic charges are dissipated and discharged when the
frontal lobe of the brain is put on the ground, in Sujud. There
is dominance of the frontal lobe, and the thinking capacity of
the brain is not on the top of the brain, but in the frontal
lobe.

In doing Sujud, there is less chance of getting headache,

spasms, aches, etc. due to the fact that the electrostatic
charges are dissipated and discharged.

Moreover, the Sujud allow extra blood supply to enter the

brain, which enables it to become healthier. It also has a
positive effect on memory, vision, hearing, concentration and
the psyche. In addition, extra blood flows into the skin, neck
and face which increases circulation of blood of the skin,
neck and face, which is very healthy especially in cold
seasons.

Also, it allows mental toxins to be cleaned by blood. This is

also very good for the brain. This prevents diseases such as:
Fibromyalgia (Fibrositis) and chilblains. During the Sujud,
there is drainage of the paranasal sinuses, thus there are less
chances of getting sinusitis which consists of inflammation of
the linings of the sinuses that surround the nose.

Social Benefits of Salah

Praying Salah in congregation gives a sense of coming

together, knowing each other, friendship, and
reinforcement of the bonds of brotherhood. It also leads
to righteousness, piety and it spreads a love for doing
good deeds.

When praying, Muslims stand shoulder to shoulder behind one

Imam asking Allah and supplicating to Him. This shows their
strength and unity. Praying in Jama’ah also strengthens the
ties of brotherhood between the elderly and the young, the rich
and the poor and the strong and the weak. 

People prefer praying in Jama’ah to praying alone. The reasons

people gave for this was that first of all Jam’ah has more
reward and second of all it was easier. If the entire family gets
up to pray together at a certain time, then they will pray in
Jama’ah more than a family where everyone is independently
doing their own Salah. 

            All Muslim men are encouraged to perform Salah in

Jama’ah in the Masjid (mosque). The prophet (saw) said,” “The
prayer in congregation is twenty seven times better (in
reward) than the prayer offered by person alone.” (Sahih
Bukhari – Book 11; Hadith 618). 

            The purpose of Jama’ah is to unite the Muslims in one.

By meeting several times a day in the mosque allows one to
learn to look out for his brothers needs and problems. In this
way, the Muslim society establishes an example of social
integration and compassion for one another. This allows an
individual to feel at ease and secure in their community.   

Salah also helps in scheduling daily routine of human

life that leads to disciplined and punctual life.

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