In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful
The content of the study:
A study has been recently carried out in one of the American universities about the influence of prayer and invocation in soothing pains of illnesses. This study, which was completely objective, confirms that prayer and invocation both soften pains felt by patients.
In the human body there are gates for pain, which, in turn, follows certain routes from the nerve endings to the spinal cord, medulla, and brain. This is called “the route of pain”; and on this route there are gates through which pain passes to the brain.
The gates of pain are controlled by the psychological and spiritual condition of the patient. If he/she is a believer and, therefore, contented with Allah’s Divine Decree, these gates are closed, preventing pain, except very little, from reaching the brain. This is a firmly established scientific fact: Those who have strong Faith in Allah suffer much lesser pains caused by illnesses than other people, simply because the gates through which pain messages pass to their brains are closed. This fact was confirmed by the above-mentioned study carried out by the famous American university, which established that treatment with prayer and invocation has proved effective in soothing pains felt by patients.
Moreover, 57% of those who underwent this experiment were greatly and positively affected by prayer and invocation. In this context, books of Prophetic biography show that Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), used to put his holy hand on the infected area and invoke to the Lord, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, to heal the sick person. To this effect, Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that whenever Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), entered upon a sick person, consoling, he would say,
“Never mind! It is purification by Allah’s Will.”
[Narrated by Al-Bukhari (3420)]
Other experiments also show that if a person of some importance puts his hand on the infected area, the results are usually positive. Some 1400 years ago, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), not only did that but also bade Muslims to practice it among themselves.
In order to make the study more authentic, patients were made to undergo certain unrealistic meaningless illusive things. For, example, they were given to drink some distilled water, but they were told that it was a kind of medicine. Patients, however, did not at all respond to such fake unrealistic treatments; but they were greatly influenced by prayer and invocation and also by placing the hand of a righteous holy person on the afflicted area and invoking the Lord, All-Mighty, to heal the sick person.
In fact, prayer is not meant to be a way for healing as much as it is a religious obligation. But when you get connected to Allah, through prayer, your pains are softened, your immunity system is made stronger, and, consequently, you are made more resistant to different kinds of illnesses, simply because your immunity system is responsible for fighting bacterial and cancerous diseases.
I would like to put forward a most up-to-date study, which I received from the internet, and which was carried out by one of the famous universities. The study confirms that prayer and spiritual treatment can not only decrease pain that patients feel but also hasten recovery. This is because prayer and spiritual treatment bring about a very good spiritual enhancement that helps quick recovery and decrease of pains. This is done either through illusion or true Faith. A person, for example, may be given a fake check for a hundred million Pounds. If he believes that the check is true, he is spiritually enhanced and feels that he is a really wealthy person. Although fake and unreal such a state provides a great spiritual enhancement. Anyway, it has been proved that a person’s high spiritual condition has to do with softening pains and quick recoveries. Whether it is done through the patient’s true Faith in Allah, Most Gracious, submission to His Will, and being connected to Him, which is very good, or through illusion, by convincing the patient of the validity of such prayer or invocation.
In short, the high spiritual condition in which a patient can be put in makes him stronger and more immune against pains and illnesses. In other words, if you are connected to Allah, you attain not only health and immunity but also everything. To this effect, in a Divine Hadith Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, says,
“O My slave! Seek Me, and you will find Me. If you find Me, you find everything; but if you miss Me, you miss everything. And I am dearer to you than everything!”
[Ibn Katheer Interpretation of the Holy Quran (2/302]
O Lord! What could he, who finds you, ever miss? And what could he, who misses you, ever find? If Allah, All-Mighty, is with you, who could ever be against you? But if Allah, All-Mighty, is against you, who could ever be with you?
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Creations