A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE HOLY QUR’ĀN

(Chair in Islamic Studies & Research, Yenepoya (Deemed to be) University, Mangalore)

21st ramada 2025

Excerpts (21) from

Fundamental Duties
(I) Imān (Realization and Commitment)
In the Name of God, Kind-Merciful

١٣٦- يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا آمِنُوا بِاللَّـهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِاللَّـهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا ◯

O those who have attained Realization! (In order to make it complete,) have Realization (with Commitment) to God, His Ambassador, the Testament He dispatched to His Ambassador, and the Testaments He sent to the previous (Ambassadors).

Subsequently, whoever repudiates God, His Executive Angels, His Testaments, His Ambassadors and the Hereafter, has fallen in huge misguidance. (4: 136)

(See the chapter on Imān)

(II) Salāh (Prayer)
Prayer is an essential part of all religions. In Islam, it has special features. Worship of One Who is in charge of everything in the universe is sure to attract His special attention. God has designed a system of prayers, which ultimately aims to help man himself, individually as well as collectively, in this world and Hereafter.

Prayer helps in a large number of ways. It is immensely useful from the point of view of well being and health. It diverts attention from the ennui of the routine activities, and provides an escape route for worries, at least for the time being.

It revitalises brain, so one can start afresh. Imploring God imbues a feeling of immense satisfaction in the mind; one feels as if one has shared one’s worries with One Who is Omnipotent.

One feels confident that God will surely find a way for Him. Burdens do seem to have lightened; diffidence does appear to have evaporated.

This helps mental peace in a big way. Depression and anxiety get a thrashing and are less likely to devastate an individual who pays regular attention to his prayers.

In Islam, prayers assume distinctive character in many ways:

1- As stated before, prayers in Islam are directed to none but the Highest Authority in the Universe; no deputy stands between God and man. One therefore feels guaranteed that God has listened to his invocation.

This direct relationship with Almighty generates a much greater degree of confidence than an indirect relationship through an intermediary.

2- Prayers in Islam are more frequent and disciplined. At least five times a day, a Muslim bows to God, glorifying Him, seeking His forgiveness and imploring His help in all the spheres of life.

This means that he has a break from the routine at least five times a day. This not only disciplines his life, but also has a much greater relaxing effect on brain than once a day, or once a weak, prayer would have.

Obviously, anxiety and depression will be far less likely to distract the person. Timings of prayers have been perfectly chosen: before Sunrise, immediately after Noon, in the Afternoon, after the Sunset and in the Night. Regular reminders of God’s presence and His injunctions have definite influence on his actions.

He is less likely to engage in forbidden practices. The more sincere, attentive and regular he is the more the chances are of his leading a purer life.

The Islamic history of Salāh is extremely absorbing and spiritually enlightening. According to Islamic sources, Salāh was made obligatory during Mi’rāj, the journey of Prophet and Ambassador of God, Muhammad (PBUH) to the highest point of the universe and direct interaction with God.

It is narrated in Hadith (sayings of Prophet) literature that initially God enjoined fifty prayers to be performed night and day. Then the Prophet (PBUH) kept pleading God to reduce it until it came to five prayers to be offered night and day.

But at the same time, God decreed the reward of fifty prayers for these five, meaning that whoever offers five Salāh will receive the reward of fifty Salāh.

Medical Facts regarding Wudu and Prayer

Qur’an only describes the general order. We are made aware of the details in the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). A very specific order of washing the organs is followed.

First, (after washing the hands to ensure that no dirt goes along with the water) mouth is cleansed, taking water inside mouth and rinsing three times. Then some water is pushed into nostrils. After this, the whole face is washed with both hands from the forehead to the chin.

This is followed by washing of hands, from hand to elbow (hands, forearm and elbow). All these actions are preferably repeated thrice. After washing hands and forearm, one again returns to head, passing a moistened hand over the head (also behind ears and neck in Sunni school of thought)).

Lastly, feet are either washed (Sunni school of thought) or rubbed with moist hands (Shiite school of thought)) three times.

This sequence is extremely significant. There are different regions in the brain, which have a map of the body on it. The body in this map appears to be highly distorted form of the body that our eyes see.

Each area of the body is represented on a specific place in the brain. Sensory map is situated on a portion of the brain called postcentral gyrus.

Brain is the organ of the body that controls various functions of the body. Apart from performing functions such as thinking, learning etc., it receives different types of sensations such as cold, touch and warmth. It analyses them so that the body can be able to give a proper response to each one of them.

Brain consists of several parts such as cerebellum, cerebrum, thalamus, medulla oblongata, pons etc. The brain substance consists of grey and white matters. Cerebral hemisphere is the seat of higher functions.

It is also the final centre for the reception of all types of sensations and consists of frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal lobes. It has been found that the cerebrum has a peculiar cortical organisation.

A specific bit of the substance of the brain receives sensations from a specific portion of the body.

Using various techniques including electrical stimulation, the projection of the body surface has been mapped on the postcentral gyrus, a portion of Cerebrum, and it has been seen that the projection is in the following order (from below upwards):

Intra-abdominal – Throat and inside of mouth- Tongue- Teeth, gums and jaw- Lower lips, lips and upper lip- Nasal passage- Nose- Eye- Forehead- Cheek, ear, chin,- Thumb, and other fingers- Hands- Wrist- Forearm- Elbow- Arm- Shoulder- Head- Neck- Trunk- Hip- Leg, toes and foot

The Scientists are of the opinion that this extensive coding system has a lot to do with the various sensations of the body. Loss or diminution of the function may cause degeneration of the part of the brain associated with that function, and vice versa.

Some bands known as psychic bands surround the sensory, visual and auditory areas. Their lesions cause the inability to perceive the objects, so they are said to combine the sensory impression into significant patterns.

The researches on that map have now grown substantially. Now a term “Homunculus” is being used to describe that map, and has become a topic of huge interest. Homunculus means a tiny and highly disfigured man within man, which controls him.

It can be seen that organs washed or rubbed in Wudu cover almost 80% of the total surface of the image in the brain.) It is important to note that

1. The mapping is not in the order like head, face, trunk, hands, foot etc., but according to the spinal enervation. So is the order in the Wudu.

Mouth is rinsed first and the face is washed later. This is exactly the sequence the homunculus shows.

Again, instead of rubbing head along with the face, hands and forearms are washed first and then head is rubbed. This again is according to the sequence shown in the map.

There are very specific cortical paths, which also explain why the face is washed simultaneously with both hands while other left and right extremities are washed one after another.

This is because both the parts of the face, right and left, are represented in both portions of the brains. In contrast, extremities are only represented on the opposite side.

The homunculus plays an extremely significant role in temperature control mechanism of the body. In the events of the infarction of this area of the brain, there are huge temperature regulation failures on the corresponding sides of the body.

The cortical area covered by the hands is one of the largest. If the more sensitive areas are stimulated first, they can immediately call the body to bring out proper responses.

For example if the hands are put into cold water, the blood vessels may constrict resulting in decreased loss of heat from the body.

Though in Wudu the first portion to be washed is mouth, hands are usually washed before that to ensure that the water does not become dirty. In doing so, the brain also gets acclimatised to the warmth of the water.

As is seen in the picture of mini-man (Homunculus) as mapped in the brain, hands and face occupy the largest portions and cover more than 70% of the total area.

Hands and face are the two organs which are part of both Wudu and Tayammum. By rubbing these portions therefore, as in Tayammum, too, a very significant portion of the brain is activated. (In Tayammum, which is done in absence of water, hands and face are rubbed with sand or soil.)

In Wudu, only those parts are washed or rubbed, which are normally exposed to atmosphere and are easy to wash. In ghusl (bathing), the whole body is washed, and Islamic ghusl again follows the pattern in the homunculus.

We have just seen how almost 80% of Homunculus, the mini-man controlling the man from inside the brain gets activated as the result of Wudu.

It appears likely that this may substantially increase the ability of the brain to respond to the different kinds of sensory stimuli, particularly heat and cold.

As several kinds of psychic bands are also situated along with these sensory areas, the Wudu also increases the capacity to face different psychological situations. Wudu is extremely beneficial in many other ways.

1- It helps in countering the skin cancers. Currently, between 2 and 3 million non-melanoma skin cancers and 132,000 melanoma skin cancers occur globally each year, substantially contributing to mortality rates in fair-skinned populations. According to a report, if 2020 rates remain stable, the global burden from melanoma is estimated to increase to 510 000 new cases and 96 000 deaths by 2040.

(Global Burden of Cutaneous Melanoma in 2020 and Projections to 2040 Melina Arnold, PhD, and others) In Norway and Sweden, the annual incidence rate for melanoma is estimated to have more than tripled in the last 45 years; in the United States, the rate has doubled in the last 30 years.

Worldwide, the incidence of melanoma varies more than 150-fold. The highest rates are found mainly in those nations where people are fairest-skinned and where the sun tanning culture is strongest: Australia, New Zealand, North America and Northern Europe. One in three cancers worldwide is skin-related; in the United States, that figure is one in two.

There are an estimated 1.8 million annual cases of skin cancer in the United States. The melanoma cancers particularly affect the white people, while non-melanoma cancers affect both whites and blacks.

It is now well known that (1) continuous exposure to sun light is the chief factor in melanoma cancers; and (2) the exposure to industrial pigments like petroleum products and tannin, etc., along with sweat further accentuates the risk of skin cancer on exposure to sun.

If there is a gap of shelter away from the sun for a certain period of time, the chances of Skin cancers would remarkably decrease. If exposed organs are recurrently washed or wiped, this would wash away the harmful chemicals that gather on the skin.

This will substantially reduce the risks of skin cancers. Prayer preceded by Wudu achieves both these objectives. There are two breaks for the prayer in the most harmful period of the day.

The first, known as Zuhr, is immediately after the midday. This prayer (including the obligatory and additional parts) is the second longest among all prayers. The Wudu involving washing of face and arm and the wiping/washing of head and feet will ensure removal of dust, sweat and chemicals from the exposed portions.

The Wudu followed by a long prayer under a shelter will ensure a shadow for the skin. There is very little to doubt that the incidence of skin cancer will remain low among those Muslims who regularly offer prayers at the prescribed times.

2- The recurrent washing of the skin and the removal of sweat, dust and other chemicals will also decrease the incidence of infective and allergic disorders of the skin. These include furuncles, pyomas, deep-seated abscesses, rashes, allergic dermatitis, etc.

3- Oral Hygiene is another important outcome of the Wudu. The rinsing of the mouth and the brushing of teeth (Miswak) are sure to cause a substantial decrease in all the diseases of the mouth, teeth and gums.

The Prophet said: “If I had not thought this to be an unbearable hardship for my followers I would have prescribed the use of Miswak before every prayer.” (Bukhari, Muslim). It was narrated by the Lady Aisha (RA) that the Prophet (SA) said; “Miswak is purification of mouth and gratification to the Lord.”

On the basis of the worldwide medical studies, it can be noted that:

(1) According to the epidemiological estimates, about half of all adults have at least the early stages of the gum diseases.

(2) It has also been shown that more than 90% of all people develop gum disease at some part of their lives.

(3) The risk becomes greater in Diabetics, drug addicts and alcoholics.

(4) The disease of gums and teeth are now known to have caused systemic disorders like Atherosclerosis, Subacute Bacterial Endocarditis and Glomerulonephritis.