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Sufi Prayers and HealingShahid Athar,
M.D., F.A.C.E., F.A.C.P. We the Physicians have now come to accept a fact known to our patients for centuries, that healing is from God, and we are just an instrument of the Healer. We give the same medication to two different patients with the same type of medical problem or perform similar operations on two patients otherwise at the same risk and one will survive and the other one doesn’t. It is more than LUCK. As Socrates put it: “I dress the wound and God heals it.” This is also acknowledged by Prophet Abraham “and when I am ill, it is He who cures me” (Quran 26:80). God himself attests to it by saying “If God touches thee with an affliction, no one can remove it but He” (Quran, 6:17). Healing from Quran Quran, the Muslim revealed scripture is not a text book of Medicine but in it are some guidance, that if followed, will promote good health and healing. Thus Quran calls itself a book of healing. “O mankind, there has come unto you a direction from your Lord and a healing for the heart and for those who believe in guidance and mercy” (Quran, 10:57). “We have sent down in the Quran that which is healing and a mercy to those who believe” (Quran, 17:82). Healing from Quran is of Three Types
Echo of sound is such a powerful force that it has been used to blast off mountains. Now the miniaturized version of Echo is used in medicine to break Kidney Stones (lithotripsy), gallstones, and even vegetations in the subendothelial bacterial endocarditis (SBE). Listening to the recitation of Holy Quran, in a study conducted by Dr. Ahmed E. Kadi and Associates, has been shown to lower blood pressure, heart rate, and to cause smooth muscle relaxation in Muslim Arabs, non-Arab Muslims and even in non-Muslims. It is postulated that Echo Target of Alif Lam Meem is in heart and that of Ya-seen is in the pituitary gland of the brain. Thus Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) always stressed reading Quran (Quran=recitation) loudly and not silently by saying “The comparison between a silent reader and a reciter (Qari) is like a bottle of perfume when it is closed and when it is opened.” Use of Meditation (dhikr, Zikrallah) in Prayer and Healing Dhikr (Zikr meditation) are tacts of remembrance and communications with God as ordained to us.
Sayings of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.), like all other prophets of God, was engaged in the remembrance (dhikr) of God most of the time. He is known to have said:
Thus dhikr (meditation/remembrance) has been a practice of all Sufi sheikhs. In the words of Sheikh al-Mursi “dhikr pleases God, defeats and drives evil forces, increases livelihood, makes personality more prestigious, cleanses the heart, removes the faults and saves the tongue from lying, gossip, backbiting and hypocrisy while engaged in the remembrance of God.” Seeking Help with Prayers According to Imam Ghazali (RA), illness increases faith and brings man closer to God. Knowing this nature we are told in Quran: “O you who believe, seek help with patience and prayers, as God is with those who patiently persevere” (Quran, 2:153). Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) when he visited the sick, used to comfort him and say the following Prayer for the Sick. “O Allah remove the hardship, O Lord of mankind, grant cure for You are the Healer. There is no cure but from You, a cure which leaves no illness behind.” He used to make following prayer for his own health: “O Allah cure my body, cure my heart and cure my eyesight from any illness” (repeated 3 times). Do Prayers Work? Yes they do Dr. Larry Dossey in his book The Healing Words has documented the healing effects of prayer. Citing one example from the research conducted by Dr. Byrd at San Francisco General Hospital in 1988, 393 critically ill heart patients admitted to the intensive care units over a 10-month period were divided in 2 groups. Group A were the patients who were prayed for by name till they left the hospital. Group B were not prayed for. The prayer makers were not told how to pray. The results were very interesting. Those who were prayed for left the hospital early, had less cardiac arrest, 2 ½ times less incidence of congestive heart failure and needed 1/5th less antibiotics. They also observed that prayer combined with loving care worked even better. Men who had angina pectoris and a loving caring wife, reported 50% more reduction in angina than man who were single or divorced. Prayers work for us even while we are sleeping. Thus Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) has advised us to say prayers from Quran (Surah Ikhlas, Al-Falaq, Ann-Naas) and/or last verse of Al-Baqarah (2:286) before going to sleep. My Own Practice I do dhikr in all my free time, especially while driving and I pray for myself, my family, my friends and my patients by name, knowing that cure is only from God. One time I visited a critically ill patient who had an adrenal tumor (pheochromocytoma) and was in hypotensive shock. I asked her what could I do for her and she, out of desperation (doctors had told her she wouldn’t make it) asked me to pray. So I placed my hand over the site of the tumor and made the Prophetic Prayer and left. The next day when I came, I was surprised to see her sitting up in bed smiling. She told me that evening the radiologist x-rayed her again and found no trace of the tumor. He could not explain it but thought the arteriogram may have “infarcted the tumor.” The Sufi Practices In the treatment of diseases, Sufis use prayers and the knowledge of specificverse of Quran and names of Allah (Asmae Husna). This is called the Science of Tawidh (Taweez). They use science of numerology associated with Arabic alphabets. One must know the healing is not in a piece of paper, words or numbers, but only from Allah. In my humble opinion, tawidh is only a way to become God-conscious and receive His mercy as a result. REFERENCES
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