In times of crisis, humans have an innate need to seek hope, meaning, and comfort. Many studies have acknowledged the significance of religiosity and spirituality in influencing a person's ability to cope with illness and coping with crisis situations. As a continuation of our previous post on guidelines, advice, and resources for COVID-19, this article by Dr Intan Aidura Alias discusses how truly experiencing the solat (prayers) can shed light on understanding ourselves and become a source of solace and resilience at this challenging time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Intan Aidura Alias
I cannot be more awed in my exploration of the solat practice. I think it’s the best psychotherapy for me. In this sense, I feel that solat helps in correcting our thoughts and resetting our emotions.
The solat procedure starts as early as taking the ablution. The ablution gets my limbs cleaned up before presenting myself before Allah. Upon completion of the ablution, I say the accompanying prayer whereby I renew my syahadah and recite a du’a that I’ll be placed among the Repent, the Cleansed, and the Solihin. This then ends with wishing peace for the beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through the selawat.
As I stand straight, I try to practice ‘ihsan’, picturing myself being seen by Allah and thinking that His Mercy is showering me. Knowing that I will face distractions by Syaitan, I say a short prayer that Allah makes me khusyoo’ in my solat and be sincere with my solat. I end the prayer with Ameen and thanking Allah in advance. Immediately a smile is formed - (somehow saying thanks to Allah does this to me).
I say Allahu akbar, imagining Him in front of me, watching me with Love. As I recite the iftitah, I renew my promise to do everything for His sake. And I slip a prayer for strength to do this. Then it’s time to recite the al-Fatihah. As I say the first verse Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I feel the calmness that the thought of "Allah is indeed Most Merciful, Most Rahmah" brings. I continue with Alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin and I find myself truly in praise of Him - I cannot help but feel happy with the praise. Then I recite Arrahmanirrahim, which is another praise, realising indeed that Allah is Most Merciful, Most Rahmah. The next verse, Malikiyaumiddin, is another praise. This time the praise brings me to the Hereafter whereby I ask for a good placing there. Reciting the fourth verse reminds me that I have been blessed with Islam, and Allah is waiting for my pleas of help. As a plea, I ask for the three most important thing for me to be – mu’min, strong, useful, and thanking Allah in advance.
Next, I ask Allah for His guidance to the righteous path. In saying this, I realised that He has already put me on the right path (since I’m at that moment praying to Him instead of doing other wasteful things). I thank Him, smiling. In the last verse, I ask Allah to not make me go astray to the path of Syaitan. I end with Ameen and thanking Allah in advance for the guidance He’ll be giving.
Following the al-Fatihah, I recite surahs that relate to the afterlife (akhirah), e.g., al-Qari’ah or surahs that relate to the temptations in dunya (e.g., at-Takathur) to remind me of my goals in life.
Then I bow during ruku’, hearing myself praising Allah and restating my obedience to Allah and to His commands.
I then proceed to do sujood, bringing all my limbs in submission to Him while praising Him and thanking Him. While sitting, I prayed for the most important things in life – forgiveness, rahmah, sufficiency, raised (to a high position), health, and mercy - all the while thanking Him and feeling pleasure again. The process repeats with a sujood and a pause signalling the completion of the first rakaat.
The process repeats. When done with full consciousness, the whole calming exercise will repeat itself - the submission thoughts, the praises, the prayers. In my syahadah during tahiyyat awal and akhir, I renew my vow to truly submit to Him and thank Him for the opportunity of being a Muslim and for blessing me with the beloved Prophet. The solat ends with ultimate gratitude to Allah for the whole therapeutic experience. In the end, the spirit is rejuvenated, confidence raised, and prayers renewed. The trust in Allah increases and I’m set to fight again.
In psychotherapy, the main idea is to make someone feel rejuvenated, spirited, and gain strength by having the correct thoughts and emotions so that one can continue with life’s missions. This is what solat can do. The thoughts are corrected because one knows that Allah is the primary source of help as one is reminded over and over again of His love and His Might. The calmness one gets through the praise recitations comes with the belief. And one can do this at least five times a day.
But to achieve this, it will certainly be a big challenge. It’s all by His Will, and you cannot begin to thank Him enough when you get it. Syaitan is at his heels in making sure that you cannot concentrate and connect to Allah. But, Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed you with your sense of sight and hearing to assist you.
What you need to do is just attend to these senses, redirect the thinking, and reconnect accordingly. Also, go slow - it takes time to achieve this.
The main idea is to live our love for Allah and the Prophet in the solat, and Insyaa-Allah, we will experience the magic.
Alhamdulillah.
===================================================================
About the Author:
Intan Aidura Alias is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Her full profile can be found at
Note: This article gives the views of the Authors, and not the position of the Department of Psychology IIUM Blog, nor of the Department of Psychology IIUM.