Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Do you have information as to why we do what we do in salat, that is why we go into sajdah, why are there 2 sajdahs, why we lift our hand to say allahuakbar etc. Can u also answer it on medical point of view!

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Salaat – Medical point of view

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Subhan is our Creator and the Creator of everything that exists in the Universe. Thus, it is His Right Alone that He guide us to the way of obedience and worship that is acceptable to Him. Allah in His Ultimate Wisdom and Knowledge has chosen this form and type of prayer for the believers to worship and glorify Him.

The main reason for the prayer is to establish the Remembrance of Allah in our lives, but it is definitely possible that the actual physical actions in the prayer might have some medical benefits; but that is not the primary objective of the salaat. The salaat is not some physical training or exercise, but an act of obedience and worship as a sign of gratitude and remembrance of our Lord and Creator.

Your Question: why we do what we do in salat?

The reason we do what we physically do in the acts of salaat, is because that is how Allah and His Messenger (saws) commanded us to do. This is the way of prayer as was taught to Prophet Mohamed (saws) by Hadrat Jibrael (a.s.) himself, and Prophet Mohamed (saws) taught the way to pray to the believers. This is absolutely the best and only way to establish the salaat in our lives as believers; for if there was a better way, the Merciful Lord would have taught that way to the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Direction: Wherever one might be, all the believers face towards Makkah during their prayer to show their unity and a form of Universal Brotherhood. It is a unique declaration that no matter what country, what color, what background, what language, what race, etc. we come from; in the worship of our Lord and Creator we are all United. .

Taqbeer: We start our prayers by raising our hands and declaring that ‘Allah is the Greatest’ as a testimony of glorification of our Majestic Lord.

Qiyam: Then we stand humbly and with awe, and supplicate our Merciful Lord with the words that He has taught us to supplicate with from the Glorious Quran.

Ruku: Then we bow down again in awe and in humility, and submit ourselves to His Majesty and we glorify our Magnificent Lord.

Sujood: Then we prostrate in absolute and complete submission with our foreheads touching the floor, and again glorify the Exalted Lord.

Sitting Posture: Then we sit humbly in the prayer posture and at the end of the prayer spread the salutations of peace on either side; both to the angels and to the believers.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan