The Secret of Prayer.

 

Prayer is one of the most important aspects of our lives and it should not be taken lightly. It is something we can do every day. When we pray, we invite God into our lives and ask for His guidance. The Bible says: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). The Bible presents prayer as a powerful, transformative, and essential tool for believers, highlighting its importance and numerous benefits. Prayer is depicted as the primary means through which believers communicate with God. It fosters a personal relationship with Him, as seen in the Psalms where David often pours out his heart to God (Psalm 62:8). It is acknowledging one’s dependence on God for provision and strength. Jesus’ life is a testament to the importance of prayer. He often withdrew to solitary places to pray (Luke 5:16), highlighting its crucial role in spiritual life. I have studied carefully the Islamic way of prayer and discovered the following. 

One form of prayer that Muslims perform daily is known as “Salat” plural “Salawat”, it is a particular way of worshiping Allah that involves certain acts and reciting certain words, and it is performed at certain times as per the order of Allah in the Holy Qur’an and teachings of their Prophet Mohammad.   

Muslims are performing these prayers five times daily. According to them, Salat is the most important and valuable form of worship to Allah, and they consider it one of the most beautiful gifts given by Allah to humankind. It has been narrated that the Prophet Mohammad said: “The first at that the servant of Allah will be accountable for on the Day of Judgment is Salat; if it is good then the rest of their acts will be good, and if it is bad then the rest of their acts will be bad”. In the Qur’an, Allah said: “Recite what has been Revealed to you of the Qur’an and establish Salat; For Indeed, Salat protects you from immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is the Greatest act; Allah knows what you do and what is in your hearts” (The Holy Qur’an 29: 45).

Muslims as they are sincere servants of Allah, take the act of Salat seriously and pray every day five times at particular times as commanded by Divine order, Allah said: “Indeed, the Salat is a duty on believers at appointed times” (The Holy Qur’an 4: 103). They perform facing the direction of Al-Qaaba, the House of Allah at Makkah. During the act of Salah, it is not befitting to turn their face left or right or above and to turn their heart away from Allah to matters other than Him. Their intention during Salat is to focus their hearts on Allah only and their minds must be focused on it only during the act. In the Qur’an, Allah said to Moses: “Indeed, I am Allah; there is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish Salat for My Remembrance” (The Holy Qur’an 20: 14). This is the order to the Prophet Moses and his followers among the Children of Israel, and it is equal order to the Prophet Mohammad and his followers, and it is also equal order to all Messengers sent to all nations.

It has been reported that Muslims who are performing Salat correctly are getting fewer physical diseases related to joints, muscles, bones, and brain as the movement of Salat would normally enhance flexibility and general muscular fitness. This results in moderate physical exercise, particularly to the large muscle group of the upper legs and hips that encourage health and well-being. Besides being an excellent exercise, the physical activity of salat breaks the monotony of chores because it is the nourishment for the soul that gives the body vitality and eliminates laziness.  

Modern medical research conducted by the US National Library of Medicine showed that performing Salat lessens someone’s feelings of isolation, anxiety, depression, and fear because of being closer to Allah more frequently. It has been reported by WHO that the rate of suicides is extremely low or absent among Muslim communities anywhere in the world. This is because the act of Salat plays a greater role in lowering rates of depression, stress, and anxiety in people who perfume it. As part of the fulfillment of religious duties ordered by Allah, Salat causes the inculcation of moral values, teaches how to discipline, provides a greater sense of purpose, helps overcome the difficulties life brings, and is the best journey to spiritual upliftment. This is happening because Muslims love to perform Salat as they see it as the order from Allah that must be fulfilled and is the direct connection to Allah. Prayer itself is full of Praising, Blessings, and Glorifying Allah and it is full of supplications and asking for forgiveness, so Muslims feel the closeness to their Creator during the act of Salah. It also includes sending Blessings and Praises to the Prophet Abraham. In the Bible, God told Abraham: “I will bless those bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all people on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3), and Allah commanded all Muslims in their Salat to bless Prophet Abraham equally as they bless Prophet Mohammad and all other Prophets. In the Qur’an, Allah narrated what Jesus said to his people: “Verily, I am a servant of Allah, He has given me the Scripture and He has appointed me a Prophet; He has made me Blessed wheresoever I be, and has enjoined on me Salat and Zakat as long as I live; and He made me dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me a wretched tyrant” (The Holy Qur’an 19: 30 – 32). Here, Allah is saying that Jesus was performing Salat. 

Another health benefit of Salat is it increases the blood flow to the frontal lobes and to the anterior cingulate during prostration, which causes the activity in the emotional centers of the brain to decrease that helps more focus of the brain and increases the activity of thinking and sharpers concentrations. This reduces the chances of brain hemorrhage and headache. Recent scientific studies showed that when Salah elicits feelings of love and compassion, there is a release of serotonin and dopamine; both neurotransmitters play a role in how we feel and act and hence are responsible persons. An additional benefit of Salat is that when Muslims bow their face down. Our bodies are accumulating.

Surprisingly, a modern yoga practice that focuses on concentration shows some similar benefits to Salat, including calming effects that can help reduce stress and depression. Yoga comes at a cost, but Salat comes free as a best gift from Allah and can be performed at any time with compassion and love. Furthermore, many people who are prescribed to do yoga to overcome their stresses, are doing it just for health reasons, and in many instances, people are fed up and discontinued and the prices of attending yoga sessions is mostly expensive. However, Muslims just like to practice Salat because of strong feelings of closeness to Allah.

The Holy Qur’an described Salat as the continuation of God’s commandments to humanity, it was ordered to all nations through all Messengers of Allah from Adam to Mohammad. Indeed, when we read the Scriptures of both Jews and Christians, and even of that of Buddhism and Hindus, we find similar prayers ascribed to all nations, and all Prophets of God in the Bible were praying by kneeling and bowing down their face on the ground, exactly like the act of Salat that Muslims are performing today. Examples of Bible Verses of such prayers are the following. “Abraham prayed to God and fell facedown” (Genesis 17:3); “Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to entrance to the tent of meeting, pray and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them” (Numbers 20:6); “Daniel always prayed to God three times every day. Three times every day, he bowed down on his knees to pray and praise God” (Daniel 6:10); “David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem.

 Then David and elders of Israel, clothed, sackcloth, prayed and fell facedown” (1 Chronicles 21:16); “For this reason I pray and bow my knees before the Father” (Ephesians 3:14); “Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall pray and bow yourself down, and to Him you shall sacrifice” (2 Kings 17;36); “And shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to pray and bow their knees down before Me, says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:23); “But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter your house, at your holy temple I will bow down on my knees in reverence for You” (Psalm 5:7); “The Lord will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will pray and bow down to Him, every one from his place” (Zephaniah 2:11); “And after going a little farther, Jesus prayed fell face down, saying, “My God, it is possible to let this cup pass from me, yet not as I will but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). 

These are examples of those righteous people in the Bible who prayed by kneeling and bowing down their faces on the ground. Thus, God ordered all nations to perform this prayer. Moses and Jesus did that too, and all disciples continued to do that for decades after Jesus as described in the Book of Acts. 

Indeed, prostration or kneeling and bowing face down is the highest degree of worship, and the most elevating act of worship a person can do to His Most High the Creator, as indicated in the above scriptures. The person puts his most noble features, face, to the ground in an act of humility, humbling, and submission to His God. The Qur’an also says the same thing, and in addition to that on the day of Judgment people who refused to prostrate to God in this life will be regretted: “The Day the shin will be uncovered and those who rejected to bow down to their Creator, they will be invited to prostration but they shall not be able to perform so; Their eyes be cast down, ignominy will cover them, seeing that they had been summoned aforetime to perform Salat and bow in adoration while they were healthy and whole but they had refused” (The Holy Qur’an 64: 44).

The Question that often comes to my mind is: why this form of prayer that has tremendous benefits to people, spiritually and physically, was prescribed to all nations and performed by all Messengers of God, including Moses and Jesus and it is now forgotten by Christians?! The Qur’anic verse in the Chapter of Mary, it mentioned various Prophets and righteous people like Zakariya, Mary, Jesus, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, and Ishmael; they were establishing Salat. However, there came after them people who gave up and neglected Salat and followed their desires, as it says: “After these chosen Prophets and righteous people, came followers of evil and deviation, who neglected Salat and who perpetrated sins driven by their desires; they will come face to face with evil in Hellfire” (The Holy Qur’an 19: 59). Is this a warning from the Qur’an that there are a generation of people who neglected this type of prayer by not following the example of their ancestors? I am here waiting for your input and comment regarding this issue; are we Christians going in the correct path of Jesus and righteous people before Jesus? Our scholars and leaders in Christianity need to review what they teach us and show us clearly what Jesus was doing and what he prescribed us to do. We find many commandments spoken by Jesus, but we don’t apply them in our lives. We pray but each of us pray differently, and each church has its way of praying. Muslims on the other hand, apply commandments that are written in the Qur’an and from the Prophet Mohammad, and interestingly even those commandments spoken by Jesus and Moses they apply in their lives. 

Muslims also have only one way of praying their Salat and it seems every mosque in the world as well as every individual is praying the same way, they are united in their prayers and all pray in one direction, and united in following commandments. It has been written in our Scripture the same performance of such prayer as Muslims are doing today, as an example in the following: “Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam; Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, Amen; Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground” (Nehemiah 8: 4-6). This act is very similar to Salat Muslims praying in their Mosques. So why we don’t do something like this is our Churches?

References:

The Bible.

The Qur’an.

World Health Organization (WHO), Suicides Worldwide; Published 2021.

The Effect of Prostration on The Prefrontal Brain Activity: A Pilot Study. National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biochemistry Information; 2024; USA.

Physical Benefits of (Salat) Prayer – Strengthening the Faith & Fitness. Journal of Novel Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation; 2018. Heighten Science Publications Inc, USA.

A Review of the Literature on the Health Benefits of Salat (Islamic Prayer). National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biochemistry Information; 2021; USA.

https://youtu.be/3Db11nYBLP0?si=fb_rm2DRJux2Kc5l