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The English word "prayer" is generally understood as an act of addressing God with reverence, offering praise, giving thanks, affirming and confirming one's total dependence on God, and asking His grace, mercy, and help. In Islam, the closet equivalent to the word prayer is the Arabic word "Dua", literally meaning to call upon, to invoke, and to supplicate. Prayer in Islam is both the essence and existence of life. The purpose of life is prayer and it has its therapeutic value. Healing is defined as the diagnosis of the cause of evil, which may be psychological and physical sickness. It also envisages the development of techniques for its cure. A scientific mind unclouded by preconceived notions is able to discern the validity and utility of a comprehensive approach to health, which includes spiritual healing. The present paper discusses the importance of prayer and how it can be a powerful healer in itself and can also form an adjunct to the healing power of medicines. The act of prayer in itself is meditative and if one goes into the depth of the process it somewhere is a relaxation technique that calms the mind and body.
Keywords: prayer, dua, spiritual healing
During medieval times it was only in Arabia that the more scientific aspects of Greek medicine survived. The first mental hospital was established inBaghdad in A.D. 792; it was soon followed by others in Damascus and Aleppo (Polvan, 1969). In these hospitals the mentally disturbed received much more humane treatment than they did in Christian lands.
The outstanding figure in Arabian medicine was Avicenna, called the "prince of physicians" (Campbell, 1926). In his writings, Avicenna frequently referred to hysteria, epilepsy, manic reactions, and melancholia. He treated a prince who was suffering from melancholia and had a delusion that he was a cow in a very unique manner which in psychology is called a Humanitarian Approach. So, there is historical evidence that Islam advocated humanitarian approach in the treatment of abnormal at a time when they were treated in very inhumane manner.
Recent scientific research indicates that affirming belief in God or Allah (SWT) makes a critical contribution to our physical health. When people call upon faith, they activate neurological pathways for self-healing.
The Muslim prayer...