As I was driving home, I heard something that triggered my interest on the radio that revolved around the benefit of salat. Muslims are required to perform prayers 5 times a day, some know the physical benefits of this ritual, and others including me never thought about it really.
Well that radio talk show made me want to know more about this topic, so I scoured the internet for answers. I found several articles explaining the benefits with different approaches, one even compared it with yoga. It is also stated that a Muslim that preforms the 5 prayers daily has a lower chance of getting arthritis, since during the prayer you move your joints and bones; but here are some obvious physical benefits:
- It lowers cholesterol, since you are in a way exercising;moving your body which lowers cholesterol.
- It prevents indigestion. “In the morning when stomach is empty, a Muslim is required to offer fewer number of Rak'aat whereas in the evening after the dinner we offer an extra number of Rak'aat.”
- “By offering Takbir at the beginning of salat, we move hand and shoulder muscles thereby increasing the flow of blood towards torso.”
- “The most important function in salat is sajdah where we touch the ground with our forehead. This posture increases fresh supply of blood to our brain. Needless to say in certain forms of yoga some adherents stand on their heads for the same purpose.”
- “In tashah'hud position, our hip, elbow, knee joints, backbone, wrist joints move in a way that it provides a form of relaxation to our entire body. Pressure is applied on the body parts as if it was a kind of massage which releases tension.”
- Salat also benefits our heart. The movements we preform during the prayer are a good exercise for our heart.
I never thought of the salat to be that beneficial physically which only proves the all mightiness of Allah.
Source: Al-Islam
Guest-Blogger: Haya.AS
Image Credits: Sains Solat
