Muslim Prayer (Salah), and Its Restorative Effect: Psychophysiological Explanation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23917/ajip.v1i1.3702Keywords:
Salah, Restorative effect, Stress, Mental Fatigue, Nervous systemsAbstract
Stress is the most common problem experienced by people across ages and is associated with poor psychological and physical health. Stress is related to emotional and mental states that can be seen psychologically, namely relaxed and focused, also physiologically through the central nervous system (CNS) and autonomic nervous system (ANS), both sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous systems (PNS). Salah, as obligatory Muslim worship, is a coping strategy beneficial for psychological and other aspects, such as physical and neurological health. Salah has a restorative effect, such as reducing mental fatigue and stress, as explained by attention restorative theory (ART) and stress restorative theory (SRT). Salah can reduce stress, psychologically and physiologically, indicated by an increment in PNS [nuHF of heart rate variability (HRV), galvanic skin responses (GSR), heart rate (HR), and blood pressure (BP) activity and a decrease in SNS (nuLF and LF/HF of HRV) also increase of alpha brainwave which part of the central nervous system (CNS). In terms of focus, concentration, and awareness, salah is perceived as giving the worshiper a better mental state. In addition, salah increases the gamma power, which is part of CNS and related to awareness. Interestingly, the relaxation effect of salah is higher in the prostration position; also, reciting the Holy Quran while doing salah has higher effects on focus and attention than mimic salah. Apart from the obligation of salah, the psychological and physiological benefits of salah should make a Muslim pray obediently, and the finding that reciting the Holy Quran ayah during salah and prostration has a higher effect shows that remembering Allah is vital.
Downloads
References
Abhang, P. A., Gawali, B. W., & Mehrotra, S. C. (2016). Chapter 1—Introduction to Emotion, Electroencephalography, and Speech Processing. In P. A. Abhang, B. W. Gawali, & S. C. Mehrotra (Eds.), Introduction to EEG- and Speech-Based Emotion Recognition (pp. 1–17). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804490-2.00001-4
Achour, M., Bensaid, B., & Nor, M. R. B. M. (2016). An islamic perspective on coping with life stressors. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 11(3), 663–685. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-015-9389-8
Achour, M., Muhamad, A., Syihab, A. H., Mohd Nor, M. R., & Mohd Yusoff, M. Y. Z. (2021). Prayer Moderating Job Stress Among Muslim Nursing Staff at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Journal of Religion and Health, 60(1), 202–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00834-6
Alwasiti, H. H., Aris, I., & Jantan, A. (2010). EEG activity in Muslim prayer: A pilot study. Maejo International Journal of Science and Technology, 4(03), 496–511.
American Psychological Association. (2015). APA Dictionary of Psychology (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association.
Binlateh, T., Tohma, H., & Wichitsa-Nguan, K. (2017). Effect of muslims praying (salat) on electroencephalograph (eeg), galvanic skin response (gsr), blood pressure (bp) and pulse | journal of applied statistics and information technology. Journal of Applied Statistics and Information Technology, 2(1). https://ph02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/asit-journal/article/view/164890
Boy, E., Lelo, A., & Sagiran. (2023). Salat dhuha effect on oxidative stress in elderly women: A randomized controlled trial. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 30(4), 103603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2023.103603
Burr, R. L. (2007). Interpretation of normalized spectral heart rate variability indices in sleep research: A critical review. Sleep, 30(7), 913–919.
Callender, K. A., Ong, L. Z., & Othman, E. H. (2022). Prayers and mindfulness in relation to mental health among first-generation immigrant and refugee muslim women in the USA: An exploratory study. Journal of Religion and Health, 61(5), 3637–3654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01600-x
Chamsi-Pasha, M., & Chamsi-Pasha, H. (2021). A review of the literature on the health benefits of Salat (Islamic prayer). The Medical Journal of Malaysia, 76, 93–97.
Chandra, S., Jaiswal, A. K., Singh, R., Jha, D., & Mittal, A. P. (2017). Mental Stress: Neurophysiology and Its Regulation by Sudarshan Kriya Yoga. International Journal of Yoga, 10(2), 67–72. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-6131.205508
Doufesh, H., Faisal, T., Lim, K.-S., & Ibrahim, F. (2012). Eeg spectral analysis on Muslim prayers. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 37(1), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-011-9170-1
Doufesh, H., Ibrahim, F., Ismail, N. A., & Wan Ahmad, W. A. (2013). Assessment of heart rates and blood pressure in different Salat positions. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 25(2), Article 2.
Doufesh, H., Ibrahim, F., Ismail, N. A., & Wan Ahmad, W. A. (2014). Effect of Muslim prayer (Salat) on α electroencephalography and its relationship with autonomic nervous system activity. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 20(7), 558–562. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2013.0426
Doufesh, H., Ibrahim, F., & Safari, M. (2016). Effects of Muslims praying (salat) on EEG gamma activity. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 24, 6–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2016.04.004
Fisher, J. W. (2014). Comparing the influence of God and other transcendents on spiritual well-being. Religious Education Journal of Australia, 30(2), 9–15. https://doi.org/10.3316/aeipt.203821
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A., & Gruen, R. J. (1986). Dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(5), 992–1003. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.5.992
Hartig, T., Mang, M., & Evans, G. W. (1991). Restorative effects of natural environment experiences. Environment and Behavior, 23(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916591231001
Ibrahim, F., & Ahmad, W. A. W. (2008). Study of Heart Rate Changes in Different Salat’s Positions. In N. A. Abu Osman, F. Ibrahim, W. A. B. Wan Abas, H. S. Abdul Rahman, & H.-N. Ting (Eds.), 4th Kuala Lumpur International Conference on Biomedical Engineering 2008 (pp. 687–690). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69139-6_171
Ijaz, S., Khalily, M. T., & Ahmad, I. (2017). Mindfulness in Salah prayer and its association with mental health. Journal of Religion and Health, 56(6), 2297–2307. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0413-1
Irawati, K., Indarwati, F., Haris, F., Lu, J.-Y., & Shih, Y.-H. (2023). Religious practices and spiritual well-being of schizophrenia: Muslim perspective. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 739–748. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S402582
Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature: A psychological perspective (1 edition). Cambridge University Press.
Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15(3), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2
Khan, N., Ahmad, N. bt, Beg, A. H., Fakheraldin, M. A. I., Alla, A. N. A., & Nubli, M. (2010). Mental and spiritual relaxation by recitation of the holy quran. 2010 Second International Conference on Computer Research and Development, 863–867. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCRD.2010.62
Khanam, F., Rahman, Md. A., & Ahmad, M. (2018). Evaluating alpha relative power of EEG signal during psychophysiological activities in salat. 2018 International Conference on Innovations in Science, Engineering and Technology (ICISET), 195–200. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICISET.2018.8745614
Kozier, B., Erb, G., Berman, A., Snyder, S., Frandsen, G., Buck, M., Ferguson, L., Yiu, L., & Stamler, L. L. (2017). Fundamentals of Canadian Nursing: Concepts, Process, and Practice (4th ed.). Pearson Canada.
Kupriyanov, R., & Zhdanov, R. (2014). The eustress concept: Problems and outlooks. World Journal of Medical Sciences, 11(2), 179–185. https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.wjms.2014.11.2.8433
Legiran, L., Febriani, R., Mubarak, M. R., & Pakpahan, S. (2022). Effect of salat on blood pressure and pulse rate in stage one primary hypertension patients. JKKI : Jurnal Kedokteran Dan Kesehatan Indonesia, 178–185. https://doi.org/10.20885/JKKI.Vol13.Iss2art10
Matud, M. P., Díaz, A., Bethencourt, J. M., & Ibáñez, I. (2020). Stress and psychological distress in emerging adulthood: A gender analysis. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(9), 2859. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9092859
Pascoe, M. C., Hetrick, S. E., & Parker, A. G. (2020). The impact of stress on students in secondary school and higher education. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1596823
Ridzwan, W. M. F. W. M., Mahmood, N. H., Zakaria, N. A., & Ali, E. A. (2011). Salat and brainwave signal analysis. Jurnal Teknologi, 181–192-181–192. https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v54.809
Seangpraw, K., Auttama, N., Kumar, R., Somrongthong, R., Tonchoy, P., & Panta, P. (2020). Stress and associated risk factors among the elderly: A cross-sectional study from rural area of Thailand. F1000Research, 8, 655. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.17903.2
Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system: A meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological Bulletin, 130(4), 601–630. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.601
Shaffer, F., & Ginsberg, J. P. (2017). An overview of heart rate variability metrics and norms. Frontiers in Public Health, 5, 258. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00258
Syed, I. B. (2003). Spiritual medicine in the history of islamic medicine.
Toussaint, L., Shields, G. S., Dorn, G., & Slavich, G. M. (2016). Effects of lifetime stress exposure on mental and physical health in young adulthood: How stress degrades and forgiveness protects health. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(6), 1004–1014. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105314544132
Ulrich, R. (1983). Aesthetic and affective response to natural environment. Human Behavior & Environment: Advances in Theory & Research, 6, 85–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3539-9_4
Ulrich, R. S., Simons, R. F., Losito, B. D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M. A., & Zelson, M. (1991). Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11(3), 201–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80184-7
Valizadeh, L., Farnam, A., & Rahkar Farshi, M. (2012). Investigation of stress symptoms among primary school children. Journal of Caring Sciences, 1(1), 25–30. https://doi.org/10.5681/jcs.2012.004
Witruk, Q. U., Evelin. (2017). The effectiveness of sabr (patience) and salat (prayer) in reducing psychopathological symptoms after the 2010 Merapi eruption in the region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In Trends and Issues in Interdisciplinary Behavior and Social Science. CRC Press.
Downloads
Submitted
Accepted
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Bayu Suseno
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
