The Benefits of Prayer
Source: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah [d.751]
- 1 - Prayer is something that causes one to receive sustenance.
- 2 - It is something that safeguards one's physical health.
- 3 - It keeps away harmful things.
- 4 - It casts away illnesses.
- 5 - It strengthens the heart.
- 6 - It brightens one's countenance.
- 7 - It delights the soul.
- 8 - It gets rid of laziness.
- 9 - It makes the limbs active.
- 10 - It increases one's physical strength.
- 11 - It expands the chest (making one at ease and giving him insight).
- 12 - It is nourishment for the soul.
- 13 - It illuminates the heart.
- 14 - It safeguards one's blessings.
- 15 - It repels catastrophes.
- 16 - It brings on blessings.
- 17 - It keeps away the Shaytaan (the Devil).
- 18 - It draws one close to Ar-Rahmaan (Allaah, the Most Merciful).
And overall it has an amazing effect on the health of the body and heart, and in strengthening them and expelling harmful pollutants from them. No two people have been afflicted with any disability, disease, or other calamity, except that the portion of the one who prays is less and his outcome is cleaner.
Also, prayer has an amazing effect on the evils of the dunyaa (the worldly life) and how it repels them, especially when the prayer is performed properly and completely, inwardly and outwardly. Nothing keeps the evils of the dunyaa at bay and brings on the benefits of it like prayer.
5 Comments:
Thank you for this post and this site in general.
I had stopped the daily prayers in July 2004.
I started praying back again in June 2005, when I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia and prescribed medication. I did not believe the doctor then, never used the medication, but did my daily prayers. In September I decided to reattend the Friday prayers and congregational prayers. Eventually elhamdulillah I was able to go back to normal thinking in October 2005, in Ramadan.
I had a relapse in November 2006 due to stress (I had made a major decision without thinking carefully) and this one lasted 3 weeks. I think the second one was much shorter because of my establishing the 5 prayers. The going back to normal thinking was instantaneous, I made a dua to have some sincere friends after dhuhr, and thought about what reason I have to be suspicious of the brother who was praying next to me.
However I still face problems in my thinking (such as thinking I am looking at the private parts of human beings when talking to them and being ashamed for this and thus looking in front of me), or making associations that should not be there (such as a woman wearing a red colored sweater raising her arms while I am speaking as that she is interested in a romantic relationship), or interpreting everything that is happening around me with respect to myself (e.g. if somebody in his email talks about his daughter and says she is growing and becoming more socially active I interpret this to my situation and think that the person is actually also talking about me). Perhaps these are waswasa (any comments or suggestions?), I am aware of them, and insha'Allah can control my thoughts in these situations, with the help of surahs such as Nas and Felak and Ayet-el-Kursi.
Salamu alaykum Anonymous,
Al hamdulilaah that you are seeing the benefits of implementing prayer in your life. As for mental illness it is a test for the believer and it seems that you are trying to do what you can by increasing your ebadaah and implementing what is incumbent for a muslim to do namely the jumah prayer and for the man praying in congregation. May Allah bless you for striving against the whisperers of shaytaan. I think you are doing the right thing in reciting the quls but please make sure to do this after every salat. For example after fajr and magrib you should recite surah iklas, falaq and naas three times each. After Zuhr, Asr, and Isha you recite the 3 khuls one time and this should be a further protection for you against the whisperers of shaytaan. It should also help against jinn possession which is something that schizophrenia can mimic as the jinn can really twist a believers mind up but Allah has given us the khuls to help protect us from that. Also we need to make sure that we are doing things so the angels will come in our house by eliminating the pictures with a soul and dogs as the angels will not enter a house with these and we do need the angels to enter our homes as opposed to the evil shayateen.
As for medicine there is nothing wrong with seeking help with medication as in some cases it is warrented. I would try to find a muslim psychiatrist who can advise you with the medicinal cures as well as keeping in mind your faith and its impact.
Finally remember to make dua to Allah to cure you of this ailment and be patient as Allah does answer the dua of the believer if they are patient and don't despair.
May Allah cure you of your disease and bless you with all that is good in this life and the next life. Ameen.
Assalamu alaikoum Sister, I haven't visited for a while. The link I had to you stopped working and then I moved to wordpress. Recently I've been diagnosed with post-natal depression. Thank you for this site. It really does help. Jesak Allah khairun.
Jamila Lighthouse
Salamu alaykum Jamila,
I'm sorry to hear that you are suffering from post natal depression. I'm just getting over it myself al hamdulilaah.
Did you just deliver? Mabrook on the baby. Have you let the people around you know so they can try and help out? How are you coping with it? Let me know how things are going with you and don't despair.
As salamu alaikum,
Jazak Allah Khair for your comments.
the first anonymous.
The following link I find interesting:
http://www.themodernreligion.com/convert/convert-chrisnelson.html
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home