Yesterday we traveled to the Qatar State Mosque and attended a prayer.
We learned that Muslims pray five times a day. Men and women originally prayed together, men in the front of the mosque and women in the back. This was not to segregate the men and women but rather to minimize distractions. During prayer, one goes through several positions such as kneeling and bending over. Women remained in back so that they were not bending over in front of the males.
Today, women and men pray on separate floors or in separate mosques.
When praying each individual is to have their shoulders and ankles touching one another forming a line to establish that everyone is equal.
When bending over there hands and forehead are to touch the floor. This position is called prostration. The act of prostration and touching the ground with the forehead is called Sujud. The frontal cortex of the brain is stimulated during the act of Sujud and the frontal lobe is said to be involved in focusing our attention.
Islamic prayer brings each individual closer to their creator, Insha'Allah and helps them become less worldly and focus on their inner purification of the heart and thus soul. Congregational prayer in the mosque helps bring the community closer together to be more caring for one another.
What I found most interesting was in addition to trying to gain nearness to their creator, there are numerous physical, emotional, and mental benefits of the Islamic prayer. For instance, the Soujud is said to activate the 'Crown Chakra,' which is related to the person's spiritual pursuits.
