They say, there’s goodness in everything. On the occasion of EID, we bring you, some great insight with five things that make Islamic prayer awesome! You will rather be surprised how intelligently it is designed.
1. The Prayer:
The religion requires its followers to pray five times a day, but that is a common knowledge. What makes it interesting is the way it is done. The prayer referred to as Salaat in Arabic and Namaaz in Urdu and Farsi, literally means a complete submission or surrender to the God. In other words it is also called a close conversation or whisper to the almighty God. And it is designed quitelogically and scientifically, in terms of postures or physical movement, like a set of exercises that it keeps the body just fit enough for daily activities.
The process entails five different positions of the body which work towards making the gut stronger,stretching the muscles, relaxing the mind and hence improving blood circulation. Quite close to many sun-salutation exercises, practised in yoga from India and Japan. Since it is a prayer, so, before reciting the breath is inhaled and while it is being recited, the breath is exhaled slowly, a very important rule for all exercises.
Most importantly a larger part of the prayer is spent in sitting on your knees position. The Asians, including the Japanese, Indians and Chinese, have it in their scriptures to sit in this position to make your gut stronger. This exercise alone, called the Vajrasan in Yoga or Seiza in Japan makes digestion and spine strong. The position is considered best during or after every meal. Imagine someone practicing it regularly.
2. Before the prayer:
The prayer requires a quick cleaning of the body, actually senses, before sitting for prayer. This is called Vazu. You start by cleaning your hands till the wrist, rinse your mouth; clean your nostrils,wash your face, clean forehead, earlobes and neck, and eventually your feet. This in itself is refreshing. Every time you do a ‘Vazu’ you will rejuvenate your senses and improve blood circulation. It not only refreshes but also energises you while washing away bacteria in the form of maintaining ‘paakeezgi’ (hygiene).
3. After Vazu
The prayer starts. Imagine in a busy hectic super-stressed schedule, you take out time forcefully, to cleanse your senses and then sit to pray, equivalent to any meditation. The relaxed breathing for next few minutes in conversation with oneself is a powerful exercise to stay away from any kind of stress.
4. During Namaaz
You will be surprised to know, if during the process of Namaaz, wind passes from the body, as it is bound to, when eating habits are not correct, then the entire process of praying right from Vazu has to be repeated! The brighter side is that it’s a sign from your body that you need to take care of your food intake. Another important rule in Islam which says eat less, only as much as to fill your stomach not your soul.
5. And Finally, time of Namaaz is so carefully chosen. Just the times of the day when laziness hits you the maximum! And that’s when you are asked to get up, refresh yourself, give a thought to mind, feel rejuvenated and get back to work!
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Editor’s Note: I would like to thank Khalid Ansari, Editor-in-Chief, fashioncurry.com for his important inputs in this article, to make it factually correct.
Quite an eye opener. Did not know that Islamic prayers are so scientific….interesting read…