Manfaat posisi sujud dalam shalat

Banyak ulama yang menulis berbagai manfaat sholat untuk kesehatan. Kali ini akan Mei berikan sebuah tulisan yang Mei ambil dari notes Intellect Magazine di facebook. Mengutip hadis Nabi Muhammad saw bahwa sholat merupakan suatu cara penyembuhan dari berbagai macam penyakit, maka tak heran bahwa penting untuk diketahui manfaat setiap gerakan sholat dan tentunya gerakan sholat sesuai yang dilakukan oleh Nabi Muhammad. Untuk tulisan kali ini, dalam notes tersebut secara khusus membahas manfaat posisi sujud.

Medical Advantages of Sajda (Prostration)

Sajda (Prostration) is a unique position or stance in the regular prayers, which a Muslim is supposed to offer at least five times a day. Although the basic purpose of obligatory prayers is not to provide an exercise for people yet it is being increasingly recognized that it has plenty of medical advantages for the human body.

Here it is worth mentioning that Holy Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) has mentioned in a hadith in Ibn Maja: 'That prayer is a cure for many diseases'. The position of Sajda in which the forehead touches the ground is exclusively associated with the Muslim form of prayer.

In a Hadith narrated by Anas bin Malik (R.A.) Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) advised Muslims to perform Rukuu (bowing) and Sajda (prostration) properly. In another Hadith he (peace be upon him) advised to perform Sajda (Prostration) and Bowing calmly and to get up only when the body has come to ease. Hence the first positive effect upon a person who prostrates or does Sajda(Prostration) is that he comes nearest to Allah and hence in that condition he can supplicate.
Psychological advantage:

This is a great psychological advantage and it gives relief to the person concerned as life is full of worries and in this position he gets at least a transient refuge from the agonizing problems.

When a person goes to the position of Sajda (Prostration), his whole body is in active motion. This position can be considered as a mini dive as the musalli (one who offers prayer) goes to rest his forehead on the ground while his hands are placed at the sides. This brings most of the body muscles if not all in active motion and serves to give them some exercise. The hands are then specifically stretched out and thence the forearm as well as arm muscles are supposed to bear the weight in the Sajda (Prostration) position. It gives good exercise to the muscles of the upper limb. The Prophet (peace be upon him) in a hadith advised not to put the forearms flatly on the ground but to keep them elevated above ground and this is better for the forearm and arm muscles.

Sajda (Prostration) is a unique position as this is the only position in which brain (or head) becomes lower than the heart and hence for the first time the blood gushes towards the brain with full force whereas in all other positions (even when lying) brain is above the heart when it has to work against gravity to send blood to the brain. In the position of Sajda (Prostration) due to the increased blood supply the brain receive more nourishment and it has good effect upon memory, vision, hearing, concentration, psyche and all other cognitive abilities.

People who offer their prayers regularly have more will power and can cope with the difficulties of life in a much better manner.

They have less incidence of headaches, psychological problems and other defects of cognitive function. In the unique position of Sajda (Prostration) the neck muscles get best exercise. They have to bear the load when the forehead lies at the ground hence the neck muscles become stronger. One can note the tense pressure at the neck muscles in the position of Sajda (Prostration) specially the active motion of the neck and the facial muscles when the head is being lifted. (e.g. one inch above the ground) and it will be noticed that they are in a very active motion.

More strong cervical muscles mean the cervical vertebra will be better protected. Strength of cervical muscles is important as the head rests upon cervical vertebra supported by cervical musculature. In fact head performs rotator movements over the cervical vertebra. In any accident cervical neck examination is especially important to the physicians because of its extraordinary importance. It is uncommon that a person who offers his prayers regularly will get the usual neck myalgias or cervical spondylosis as the neck muscles particularly become very strong due to the 34 sajdas (Prostrations) offered daily in five prayers.

The unique position of Sajda (Prostration) also has positive effects upon the back muscles as while going into Sajda and getting up from it the back muscle contract actively and they become stronger. Probably it is because of this reason that a person who is regular in prayers will (rarely) get backache.

Finally it must be reminded that (even though) prayer is not meant to be an exercise, there are a lot of medical advantages associated with it. Still the best blessing is the peace of mind, which a person derives by the accomplishment of his duty to Allah by fulfilling an obligation.

Inti dari notes ini antara lain sebagai berikut :

1. Secara psikologis, posisi ini membuat manusia sadar bahwa hidupnya penuh dengan kekhawatiran dan dia amat membutuhkan perlindungan dari penciptanya, Alloh subhana wa ta'ala. Dengan kesadaran ini maka dia pun meyakini bahwa hanya Alloh yang mampu melindunginya dan dia pasrah kepadaNya. Tentu saja jika sudah seperti ini maka ketenanganlah yang akan didapat. Oleh karena itu orang yang sering sholat akan mempunyai kemampuan menyelesaikan masalah dan kesulitan hidup yang lebih tinggi serta mempunyai pola pikir positif.
   
2. Saat sujud, tubuh bergerak aktif dengan beban2 tubuh yang seluruhnya bertumpu pada bagian kepala depan dan kedua tangan pada kedua sisi tubuh. Posisi ini akan melatih kekuatan otot2 tangan yang terentang dan bagian atas tubuh. Oleh karena itu Nabi menganjurkan untuk tidak meletakkan lengan saat sujud tapi hendaknya menaikkan lengan hingga membentuk sudut yang memisahkan lengan dengan lantai.
3. Posisi ini membuat otak kedudukannya lebih rendah daripada organ hati sehingga aliran darah secara keseluruhan mengalir ke otak dan tentu saja membuat otak mendapatkan nutrisi lebih banyak. Posisi otak seperti ini tak kan pernah didapatkan pada posisi lainnya bahkan saat berbaring sekalipun. Ini merupakan posisi yang bermanfaat dan mempengaruhi perbaikan memori ingatan, penglihatan, pendengaran, konsentrasi dan kemampuan kognitif lainnya.
4. Orang yang sering sujud akan lebih jarang sakit kepala, jarang memiliki masalah psikologis, dan tidak mengalami gangguan fungsi kognitif. Hal ini dikarenakan otot2 leher dan wajah saat sujud lebih terlatih dan menjadi lebih kuat.
5. Kekuatan otot2 dan tulang2 pada bagian tulang belakang akan semakin kuat serta terlindungi dengan posisi ini. Sehingga jangan heran bila orang yang sering sujud akan terhindar dari myalgia dan spondylosis cervical karena mereka melatih tulang dan otot2nya sebanyak 34 kali selama sehari dalam 5 waktu sholat.
6. Otot2 bagian punggung pun lebih sering terkontraksi saat posisi sujud sehingga sangat jarang ditemukan orang sakit punggung atau bagian pinggang pada orang2 yang sering sujud.

Sumber : http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=272573147852