Relaxation

Syed mentions in his essay that taraweeh helps achieve ‘relaxation response’ of the brain.

Relaxation response is theory developed by a Harvard professor, Dr. Herbert Benson, who studied the impact of spirituality for physical health and whose work serves as a bridge between religion and medicine and mind and body.

According to Benson, continuous repetition of certain words, as in prayer or meditation, or a muscular activity coupled with passive disregard of intensive thoughts, leads to the lowering of blood pressure and reduction in heart and respiratory rates.

In words of Benson “the relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress”. Relaxation response puts the mind at ease, reduces effects of stress and induces the attitude of acceptance.

And while Benson never actually examined the effects of tarawih or any other Islamic prayer, focusing rather on the transcendental meditation of Yogis, his theory seems to be well applicable in explanation of the soothing effects of taraweeh and zekr on Muslims.

According to the study “Effect of Taraweeh Prayers on Mental Health and Self Control” conducted by Quadri Syed Javeed, Head & Associate Professor in Psychology at M.S.S. Art’s Commerce & Science College, in Jalna, India, published in the February 2013 issue of Golden Research Thoughts, the tarawih prayer significantly improves mental health and self-control.

In his study Javeed examined the mental health of fifty respondents aged 18-30 before and after the prayer using Mental Health Inventory and Multi Assessment Personality Series Inventory, and the results upheld his hypothesis of the positive effects of taraweeh on mental and spiritual well-being.

📚 Read Also: Your Guide to Revival in Ramadan

Brain Activity

Yet another explanation of the beneficial effects of taraweeh on mental health may be found in the results of the studies conducted by a University of Missouri neuropsychologist Brick Johnstone and by the Professor and Director of Research Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine Andrew Newberg.

The studies on the brain activity of Francescan nuns and Buddhist meditators during their prayer and found that during spiritual experiences the activity of right parietal lobe of the brain is significantly decreased.

Right parietal lobe is a small region near the back of the brain that constantly calculates a person’s spatial orientation, the sense of where one’s body ends and the world begins, in other words, it is a part of the brain responsible for the sense of self.

During intense prayer or meditation, and for yet unknown reasons, the right parietal lobe becomes a quiet oasis of inactivity. “It creates a blurring of the self-other relationship,” said Professor Newberg, “If they go far enough, they have a complete dissolving of the self, a sense of union, a sense of infinite spacelessness.”

Decreased activity of right parietal lobe induces the sense of selflessness, and the experience of selflessness, in the opinion of Johnstone positively affects the psychological health especially among people with strong faith in God.

“Our research focused on the personal experience of spiritual transcendence and does not in any way minimise the importance of religion or personal beliefs, nor does it suggest that spiritual experience are related only to neuropsychological activity in the brain,” Johnstone said. “It is important to note that individuals experience their God or higher power in many different ways, but that all people from all religions and beliefs appear to experience these connections in a similar way.”

The functioning of the brain during spiritual exercise is yet a field in which very little research has been done. The results of the studies of Johnstone and Newberg, the relaxation response theory of Benson and the neurotransmitters explanation of Syed, only partially answer the question of how prayer in general, and tarawih prayer in particular, benefits the mental health and the spiritual well-being.

Yet even though the ‘how’ is still largely unknown, the positive effects of tarawih during Ramadan and of everyday salat in the lives of Muslims are obvious even without scientific data to prove it.

After all Allah tells us in the Qur’an: “Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success, and remembers the name of his Lord and prays” (Surat Al-A`la: 87:15-16), and “O ye who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance and prayer; for Allah is with those who patiently persevere.” (Surat Al-Baqarah: 2:153).

This article is from our archive, originally published on an earlier date

References:

• Ibrahim B. Syed, The Medical Benefits of Tarawih Prayers.
• Marylin Mitchell, Dr. Herbert Benson’s Relaxation Response.
• Herbert Benson. Harvard Medical School, Mind Body Medical Institute. How to Elicit the Relaxation Response, Step by Step.
• Neuropsychology of selflessness.
• Brick Johnstone, Spiritual Transcendence.
• Scientists find biological reality behind religious experience.
• What is the nature of reality and how do we understand it? Dr. Andrew Newberg.