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A Time for Prayer
By Raven Rowanchilde                                Ramadan 2003

“…take refuge in that cave:  God will spread Divine grace over you, and will endow you – whatever your outward condition – with all that your souls may need!”  (18:16)

“[Be mindful] never does their flesh reach God, and neither their blood: it is only your God-consciousness [taqwa] that reaches God…”  (22:37)

“Convey unto others what is sent of the Book by inspiration to thee, and establish regular Prayer [salat]; for Prayer restrains from unjust deeds; and remembrance of God [dhikr] is the greatest thing in life without doubt.  And God knows the deeds that you do.” (29:45)

“Remember God with unceasing remembrance.”  (33:41)

“Remember Me, and I remember you.”  (2:152)

The Seen and the Unseen

Having acknowledged the importance of all forms of prayer, let us turn our attention, specifically, to the ritual prayer.  Like all prayer forms, salat is multi- dimensional, encompassing both the unseen (internal) and the seen (external) realms.  For example, on a physical level, ritual prayer functions as a kind of physical yoga:  

“The movements are even, flowing and easy:  muscles, joints and spine are exercised five times a day; inner organs are stimulated; the brain is richly supplied with blood through the repeated bowings; and much more.  Practicing Muslims usually remain limber and connected with the earth on into a mature old age.  This succession of bodily states forms the outer framework in which the inner dimensions can unfold.”  (Ozelsel 1996: 143)

Ritual prayer begins with a ritual cleansing, wudu.  On the external level, wudu cleans the body, emphasizes the importance of hygiene and physically prepares one for prayer.  If water is not available however, wudu can be performed using sand or touching a clean surface of a wall.  The point here is that, internally, wudu is about holding a conscious intention to be pure (i.e. clean, clear) of negativity in mind, heart and body before formally coming into relationship with God.  This intention is amplified by the conscious turning toward Mecca and the declaration of one’s intention, niyah or purpose for praying, without which the prayer would be rendered meaningless.  

Such self-directed actions align mind, heart and body, and affirm our interconnectedness with Spirit and Earth.  This alignment serves as a spiritual fulcrum around which our life experiences orient, and a ground in which to come into relationship with the Earth.  A fulcrum is a still point that organizes motion; it is a state of balance from which we can come into relationship with Divine Forces (1). Fulcra are found in all forms of Creation; from the primordial midline to which embryological life forms orient, from quantum fields organized around a neutral zero point to planetary nebulae organized around fulcra of light.  We are all derived from fulcra.

Structure and Form

The structure of the ritual prayer follows with this wonderful translation by Shaykh Nur al-Jerrahi in Atom from the Sun of Knowledge (2):

Audhu bi-llahi mina-sh-shaytan-r-rajim / Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim

Al-hamdu-li-llahi-r-Rabbi-l-alamin / Ar-Rahmani-r-Rahim / Maliki yaumi-d-din /

Iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nasta’in / Ihdina-s-sirata-l-mustaqim / As-sirata-l-ladhina an ‘amta alayhim /

Ghayri-l-maghdubi alayhim wa la-d-daalin

"I take refuge with Allah the All-Merciful from the rebellion and negativity of the evil one In the name of Allah Most High —Who is Tenderly Compassionate, Infinitely Merciful—

"Perfect praise flows to Allah alone, Lover and Sustainer of all Worlds, Most intimately called the Tenderly Compassionate the Infinitely Merciful,, Presiding magnificently over the Day of Divine Awakening. O Lord, we worship only You and rely upon You alone. Reveal Your Direct Path, the mystic way of those who, through Your Mercy, have received and truly assimilated Your sublime Guidance, Those who never wander from the spiritual path and therefore never experience Your awesome Correction."

Al-Fatiha (10x) (Everyone)

Bismi-Llahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim             [In the Name of Allah, the Tenderly Compassionate, the Infinitely Merciful]

Al-hamdu-li-Lalhi Rabbi-l-‘alamin     [Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Lover of the Worlds]

Ar-Rahmani-r-Rahim       [Most Compassionate, Most Merciful

Maliki yawmi-d-din     [Magnificently presiding over the Day of Return into the Radiance of Allah]

Iyyaka na‘budu wa Iyakka nasta’in   [O Lord, we worship only You and rely upon You alone.]

Ihdina-s-sirata-l-mustaqim      [Reveal Your Direct Path]

Sirat alladhina an ‘amta ‘alayhim       [The mystic way of those who have received and truly assimilated Your sublime Guidance]

Ghayri-l-maghdubi ‘alayhim wa la-d-daallin    [Those who never wander from the spiritual path and therefore never experience Your awesome Correction]


Be Still and Know Me

Prayer and meditation may orient our minds to Source, but remembrance takes place in the heart.  The fulcrum of the heart dynamically balances the energies of mind and body and opens us to the deeper truth of our interconnectedness with Cosmic forces.  The heart is a resting place that opens to an inner dimension – “the secret place” of the Sufis:  a Dynamic Stillness (3) wherein God resides.  

 Sufis understand with the heart what cannot be understood with the head.          - - Islamic saying

 The Bible says, “Be Still and know Me, for I am thy God.”  Centered in Stillness, the heart becomes a viewing place to behold the Beloved.  And, Love is the active spirit in all things that compels us to reach out to the world:

“How silent it has become in the house of the heart!
The heart as hearth and home
Has encompassed the world.”  - Rumi

The body positions of ritual prayer symbolically recapitulate themes of unity, interconnectedness, stillness and the primacy of the heart over the intellect. Michaela Ozelsel in Forty Days:  The Diary of a Traditional Solitary Sufi Retreat (pp. 144) explains the symbolic meaning of the ritual prayer:  

“The prostration (sajde), with the forehead touching the ground, emphasizes the head or cognition and thus symbolizes the domain of human existence.  In this position the heart is positioned higher than the brain.  Blood flows ‘from heart to head’: and thus recalls the basic premise of Sufism, the harmonizing of heart and intellect.  This position is assigned the Arabic letter ‘mim’:

The bow at the waist symbolizes animal life and is expressed with the letter ‘dal’:

The upright standing position (qiyam), the position of being ‘rooted in the earth,’ symbolizes vegetative life in close connection with the mineral kingdom.  This is expressed by the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, ‘alif’:”

According to Ozelsel, alif, dal and mim are the three letters that make up the word “Adam”  --  the Qur’anic name for the first human being and the first prophet of Islam (pp. 144). It is worthy to note that “Adam” does not refer to a gendered position of the first man.  Rather, Adam denotes the Divine Blueprint or “Original Intention” (4) for the incarnation of a human being.  Adam may also refer to humankind, in general.

A Biomythology*--  Embryos, Galaxies and Sentient Beings

“The embryo is the universe writing itself on its own body.”  - Richard Grossinger, Embryos, Galaxies and Sentient Beings: How the Universe Makes Life.

I suggest the body positions also recapitulate the biodynamic morphogenetic development of the human embryo as it organizes around a primordial midline – a fulcrum. Midline, here, includes the formation of the embryonic disc, the primitive streak and notochord during the early stages of embryogenesis (5).  

At approximately 19 postovulatory days (Stage 9), the developing proto-heart (pericardial coelom) of the growing embryo takes its position above the developing forebrain: imagine your body extended and heart positioned above your face with your head tilted up. This is recapitulated in the alif position.  

At twenty-two days (Stage 10), the fluids initiate a flexion, moving the developing brain to begin to fold the embryonic body in on itself and encompass the heart, which now begins to beat.  This recapitulates the dal position.  As the embryo grows, it continues to fold in on itself into a C-shape.  This recapitulates the mim position.

At 47-48 days (Stage 19), the trunk of the embryo begins to elongate back into extension with the head more upright.  At this stage brain waves are now clearly detectible and primitive hands with defined fingers appear to be holding the heart.  The embryological holding of the heart ends with the completed development of the heart at 53-55 days (Stage 22).  

The sequential repetition of prayer or rakah recapitulates the continuous unfolding of creation that happens every moment of our existence.
 
This morphodynamic interpretation arises from the paradigm shifts emerging in the current literature of embryology, neurobiology, biophysics, neurotheology, and the [re]emerging discipline of Craniosacral Biodynamics: Universal Forces at work create unified energy fields that generate and organize stable forms and thus generate life. Embryological forms are created and differentiated by an Intelligence called the Breath of Life (6):

“Thus, God created humankind in His own image...male and female He created them. And God blessed them and said....And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the Breath of Life, I have given every green plant for food.”  (Genesis  1:26-31)

“At conception, a spiritual intention becomes embodied and incarnation occurs in the creation of a human being.  The Word is made flesh.  This begins as the Breath of Life expresses its intention within the embryo.  This intention is an act of love, because love is the ultimate intention of the Breath of Life.  The Breath of Life, as the primary epigenetic force, organizes and integrates the form and function of the human body.  Its actions initiate a variety of biodynamic fluid rhythms and purposeful membrane movements that are biokinetic.  These two forces form the embryo and are in constant action throughout life.  The membranes mediate the action of the environment on the body and all its 70 trillion cells.  The fluids mediate the forces of the divine.”  (Shea  2002: 65-66).

The Breath of Life generates an organizing matrix, which first enfolds space to generate form and unfolds Divine intention through the “unerring Potency” expressed in the fluids of the body, in particular, the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord (7).  This process does not begin and end with conception and embryogenesis: rather it is an ongoing, ever-unfolding process in every moment of existence.  The Potency is a biodynamic Force within the fluids. 

The Qur’an speaks of a “humble fluid” (8) that carries an essence [i.e. Potency] that orders the creation and differentiation of the human embryo through the transmutation of the Breath of Life [nafkhat al-ruh = Breath, Essence, Holy Spirit, can also mean Soul] in the fluids:

“Humankind was fashioned from a liquid emitted — proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.” (86:6)

“Thus, God begins the creation of a human being out of clay, then God causes his procreation to be begotten out of the essence of a humble fluid; and then God forms the human in accordance with what he is meant to be, and breathes into him of His Spirit” (32:8-9)

“And lo, Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: ‘Behold, I am about to create a human being out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted; and when I have formed it fully and breathed into it of My Spirit,  fall down before the human in prostration!“  (15:28-29; also 38:71-72; see also (9) in the Notes)

“The genes make the letters; the fluids create the words.” – embryologist Erich Blechschmidt, Ph.D

The notion of embryogenesis as an expression of Divine intention is not such a ontological stretch given that the Qur’an repeatedly declares the embryo an ayah (i.e. a “sign” or “message” that reveals something beyond itself) symbolically representing the Oneness of the Creator with the Creation (10). Indeed, the first verses revealed to the Prophet, Al-’Alaq the ninety-sixth sura, highlights embryogenesis as khalaqa, Divine Intention continuously initiating, ordering and unfolding the blueprint for the creation of a human being:

“Read in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created — created human beings out of a tiny thing that clings [alaq]!” (96:1)

“Now, indeed, We create humankind out of the essence of clay, and then We cause [them] to remain as a small quantity of liquid in the [womb’s] firm keeping, and then We create out of the liquid a germ-cell, and then we create out of the germ-cell an embryonic lump, and then We create within the embryonic lump bones, and then We clothe the bones with flesh — and then We bring all this into being as a new creation: hallowed, therefore, is Allah, the best of artisans!”  (23:12-14)                           

“It is Allah Who...has formed you and made your shapes beautiful...” (40:64)

God, Woman and Taqwa

From the perspective of a biomythology (11) of embryogenesis, we can read the Qur’an’s instruction to regard women, as the only human beings capable of bringing forth human life and therefore maintaining the continuity of human existence, with taqwa. Taqwa in the following sura, has been translated as “reverence” and “God-consciousness” (12):

“Oh humankind! Be conscious of your Sustainer, Who created you [all] out of one living entity [nafs]...And remain conscious of God [taqwa] in Whom you claim your mutual rights, and reverence [taqwa] the wombs that bore you: for God ever watches over you.” (4:1)

 “Allah knows what every female bears in her womb...for with Allah everything is created in accordance with its scope and purpose.” (13:8)

“We placed humankind as a drop of fluid in a firmly established lodging.” (23:13)

According to Maurice Bucaille (2000: pp. 201) the adjective, makin, which refers to the phrase firmly established lodging “expresses the idea of a firmly established and respected place” although makin has conventionally been translated as womb. Male-biased assumptions in translation and interpretation, of these verses however, have reduced the womb (and therefore, women) to maternal incubators of human beings “begotten from a drop of sperm” (See also comments in Notes 7 and 8).  Such interpretations fail to understand the Qur’an’s message that God created women with the potential to give birth to God’s Creative Intention, therefore, they be respected and regarded with taqwa.

Making Time for Prayer

“Turn toward that which transcends direction.”  - Rumi

Ramadan presents a great opportunity to orient ourselves to the Infinite through focused and steadfast prayer.  The ninth lunar month in the Islamic calendar is highlighted by fasting from sunrise to sunset, intensified prayer, self-discipline, attunement, harmony, resonance, heightened reflection and opening oneself to Divine guidance, compassion, forgiveness and solidarity with others.  All these represent ways to attain taqwa, God Consciousness. Prayer also offers therapeutic benefits that have gained the interest of medical researchers in recent studies (see Levin 1997, Byrd 1998, Harris 1999, Sloan 1999).   Prayer is a resource that provides us with a deep, felt sense of:  I am okay (13). 

This Ramadan, I invite you to make time for heartfelt prayer and meditation. You don’t need to follow any prescribed rules or protocols because:

There are as many ways to Allah as there are human beings. – Islamic saying

Experiment.  For one lunar month, give yourself permission to set aside your wounding, your burdens and your disappointments and open yourself to the possibility of spiritual reconnection, healing and transformation. 

“Just take one step outside your self.  The whole path lasts no longer than this step.” – Ni’Matullah Wali

Acknowledgements and Notes

(1) I gratefully acknowledge the work of Franklyn Sills, RCST, which inspired the interpretation I present in this paper. In his book, Craniosacral Biodynamics, Volume One, and in his lectures and teachings, Franklyn Sills has revitalized the paradigm of biodynamic cranial osteopathy, and further articulated concepts originally presented by the brilliant founder of cranial osteopathy, Dr. William Garner Sutherland.  Dr. Sutherland introduced the concepts of the Breath of Life, its Intelligence, “unerring Potency” and transmutation as a palpable reality.  Dr. Sutherland spent his life’s work trying to assign language to the realities he was able to perceive through palpation.  His student Dr. Roland Becker (and others) further developed his work, but the Newtonian, biomechanical paradigm was so entrenched that the biodynamic paradigm remained largely ignored until Franklyn Sills picked up the threads and re-presented it.  I also thank my teacher Jan Pemberton, RCST for her innate gift of teaching through presence and spaciousness, and for her demonstration of the morphodynamic movements of the developing embryo, which ignited my curiosity about body movements in the prayer forms of different cultures, including Islam, Tibetan Buddhism, Christianity and in yoga (i.e. sun salutation) and others. Thank you all.                                                                                   

(2) Graciously forwarded to me by El-Farouk Khaki.   Jazak Allah.
(3) For a clear and detailed presentation of the concept of Dynamic Stillness, please refer to Franklyn Sills, Craniosacral Biodynamics, Vol. One, 2001.                                     (4) Original Intention (also Original Health) is a term used in Craniosacral Biodyamics to denote the biodynamic forces at work in the creation  and health of a human being.  It is my understanding that Dr. James Jealous coined both terms (however, any error is my own).  See also Franklyn Sills (2001).
(5) I highly recommend interested readers to logon to an excellent graphical resource illustrating human embryological development:  Visible Embryo Project:  www.visembryo.com/baby/index.html.    
(6 and 7)  The Breath of Life, Intelligence, unerring Potency and transmutation, in this context, are terms assigned by the founder of cranial osteopathy, Dr. William Garner Sutherland to represent the Universal Forces at work in the human body.  Transmutation -- a shift or change in state, is expressed as a surge of Potency in the fluids of the body, which generates an embodied rhythm that shapes form.
(7 and 8)  See also Maurice Bucaille (pp. 201) who argues that the translation of the Arabic word nutfa into a small quantity “of sperm” is inappropriate “because the word comes from a verb signifying ‘to dribble, to trickle’...[and] is used to describe what remains at the bottom of a bucket that has been emptied out.”  Assigning “sperm” to define the “humble fluid” comes from association with other verses in which the word sperm mani appears.
(9) The story of God’s command that the angels bow before the created human being points to the unequivocal submission of all beings, all creation to the Universal Laws of Creation. Regardless of how much we may bristle or rebel against this truth, our submission or self-surrender to God, as instructed by the Qur’an, is our acknowledgement that, as Richard Grossinger astutely observes: “we are all outlaws obeying [Universal] laws.”                                                                                             (10) Ayah is also the word for verses of the Qur’an, implying that the verses are also symbolic, and the position, context and meanings of the words are interdependent. Some traditional Sufi schools propose there are multiple levels of meaning in every verse of the Qur’an -- encoded not only in the words, but in the letters (shapes, numerical value) and in syntax, proximity, context, theme, allegory, archetype, sound vibration and resonance in the rhythm and intonation of the recitation, the feeling tones invoked by the sound and resonance, to name a few.  With respect to individual characters in the Qur’an, Amina Wadud (1999:33) writes: “the Qur’anic ayah is intended as a continual reality independent of the individuals (mentioned), and the individuals mentioned are merely examples of this reality.”
(* and 11)  Biomythology is a term used by Michael Shea (2002) who was inspired by the work of German embryologist Erich Blechschmidt (and others), “who did a thorough phenomenology of the morphological development and differentiation of the human embryo”  (in Shea 200, pp.57).  Michael also spoke enthusiastically about the Embryo as the Biomythology of the Millenium in class lectures, Sept. 2003. (12)  Muhammad Asad in his translation, the Message of the Qur’an translates taqwa as God-consciousness. Amina Wadud (1999) acknowledges taqwa as ‘God conscious’ but further elaborates it to mean “…a pious manner of behaviour which observes constraints appropriate to a social-moral system; and ‘consciousness of Allah’, that is, observing that manner of behaviour because of one’s reverence towards Allah…[For] Allah does not distinguish on the basis of wealth, nationality, sex, or historical context, but on the basis of taqwa.” (pp. 37).   Interestingly, Muhammad Asad completely omits the passage that instructs humankind:  “…and reverence [taqwa] the wombs that bore you…” in his otherwise excellent translation.           (13) Resource and the Felt Sense are terms that come from the work of Eugene Gendlin in his book Focusing (1996) and Peter Levine in Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma (1997).  Presented in class lectures by Franklyn Sills, Karuna Institute, U.K.

I would also like to acknowledge the work of Amina Wadud  (1999) in her “rereading of the Sacred Text from a woman’s perspective” which taught me to pay close attention to [specifically male] biases in translation and conventional interpretation of the Qur’an. I often use four or five translations to crossreference when I am researching specific verses in the Qur’an and I am still amazed that the variations, omissions and discrepancies in interpretation from one translation to another.  Amina Wadud inspired me to take her cue to reframe gendered language “from the perspective of universal Qur’anic guidance” (pp. 7).   Thank you also to Imam Abdullah Daiyee for his insights into the Qur’an.

 

Most importantly, I humbly and gratefully acknowledge God’s gift of the Breath of Life eternally unfolding Divine Intention, Creative Intelligence, unerring Potency, and the Original Blueprint for Health.  Alhamdulllilah!

Resources

Becker, R.E, The Stillness of Life, Stillness Press, Portland, 2000

Blechschmidt, E, The Beginnings of Human Life, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1977.

Bucaille, M, The Bible, The Qur’an and Science, Islamic Book Service, New Delhi, 2000.

Byrd R.C, Positive Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer in a Coronary Care Unit Population, Southern Medical Journal, July 1988, Vol. 81, No. 7:826-829.

Gendlin, E.T, Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy.  Guilford Press, New York, 1996.

Grossinger, R,  Embryos, Galaxies and Sentient Beings:  How the Universe Makes Life, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, 2003.

Harris W.S, et al. A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Effects of Remote, Intercessory Prayer on Outcomes in Patients Admitted to the Coronary Care Unit. Archives of Internal Medicine, October 25, 1999, Vol. 159, No. 19:2273-2278.

Levin J.S, et al. Religion and Spirituality in Medicine: Research and Education. The Journal of the American Medical Association, September 3, 1997, Vol. 278, No. 9:792-793.

Levine, P.  Waking the Tiger:  Healing Trauma.  North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, 1997.

Ozelsel, M, Forty Days:  The Diary of a Traditional Solitary Sufi Retreat, Threshold Books, Vermont, 1996.

Shea, M, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy:  A Primer, Shea Education Group, Florida, 2002

Sills, Franklyn, Craniosacral Biodynamics, Volume One, North Atlantic Books, 2001.

Sloan R.P, et al. Religion, Spirituality, and Medicine. The Lancet, February 20, 1999, Vol. 353, No. 9153.

Sutherland, W.G., Teachings in the Science of Osteopathy, Rudra Press, Texas, 1993.

Wadud, A, The Qur’an and Woman, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999.