Reciting the Qur'an for Calmness: A Health Review
Reciting the Qur'an for Calmness: A Health Review
Al-Qur'an is one of the forms of miracles revealed by Allah to earth as a guide for human life and is valid until the end of time. No one is able to tamper with the content of the Qur'an because Allah SWT promised to maintain its authenticity forever. This is in accordance with the word of Allah in surah Al-Hijr verse 9.
اِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَاِنَّا لَهٗ لَحٰفِظُوْنَ
Meaning: "Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and surely We (also) who maintain it." (QS. Al-Ḥijr [15]: 9) (Ministry of Religion Qur'an, nd)
It doesn't stop there, the Qur'an will also benefit those who draw closer to it. Reading, memorizing, listening, and contemplating its contents will bring benefits to the culprit. It's a loss for people whose lives are far from the Qur'an.
One of the activities that is often practiced in everyday life is reciting the Qur'an or tartile. Before doing this activity, we should be familiar with various rules, such as makharijul letters, which is the place where the sound of the letter comes out, and recitation or the rules of reading the Qur'an. Properly and correctly reciting the Qur'an will have a positive impact on the body's physiology, one of which is related to controlling psychological stress. This stress is closely related to the autonomic nervous system which regulates the performance of all organs of the body and homeostatic functions.
The high level of stress will trigger sympathetic stimulation in the autonomic nervous system. This makes the body to be in a state fight or flight, or tend to be alert and tense. Several indicators can be observed, among others are heart rate (heart rate). High heart rate frequency is related to stress levels which will affect the physical and emotional quality of a person.
A study proves the effect of listening to the verses of the Qur'an on the brain and heart by recording electrical activity signals using electrocardiograph (ECG) and electroencephalograph (EEGs). An overview of brain and heart signals shows significant differences between people who listen to the Qur'an and those who don't (Sheibani et al., 2023). Reading the Qur'an also facilitates blood flow to the brain. This shows that listening to the recitation of the Qur'an can have a good impact on the state of the body, which will later affect the psychological condition (Vaghefi et al., 2019).
Hearing and listening or reciting verses in the Qur'an have also been shown to have a relaxing effect on the body. Listening to the holy verses becomes sound therapy that can help overcome various health problems, while reading it with recitation as well as the correct rules will affect the heart rate and breathing. Relaxed and ideal conditions after doing these two activities will create a feeling of comfort and prevent us from anxiety and depression (Nayef & Wahab, 2018). God willing, reading and listening to the Qur'an can lead us to have a healthy body and soul and achieve peace.
By:
Muhammadiena Ramadhannisa Wijayanto
22711064
Reference
Nayef, EG, & Wahab, MNA (2018). The Effect of Recitation of the Quran on the Human Emotions. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(2), 50–70. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v8-i2/3852
Ministry of Religion Qur'an. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2023, from https://quran.kemenag.go.id/quran/per-ayat/sura/15?from=9&to=99
Sheibani, R., Bajestani, GS, Goshvarpour, A., While, HS, Title, R., Variation, I., & Brain, B. (2023). Research Paper Study of Interactive Variation Between Brain and Heart Signals While Listening to the Holy Quran by Fusion Technique. 9(2), 78-91.
Vaghefi, M., Nasrabadi, A., Hashemi Golpayegani, S., Mohammadi, M., & Gharibzadeh, S. (2019). Nonlinear analysis of electroencephalogram signals while listening to the holy Quran. Journal of Medical Signals and Sensors, 9(2), 100-110. https://doi.org/10.4103/jmss.JMSS_37_18