Friday Prayer

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Healing Colours of Friday Prayer

1 See Volume One, Chapter Twenty six

O Allah (The Exalted) bless our master Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as many times as those who have asked for blessings upon him.

In the Encyclopedia of Healing Therapies, Anne Woodham and David Peters relate that these colours have contained significant meaning for people since prehistoric times. In ancient history, green was the colour of growth, and blue was thought of as the colour of the sky and of heavenly peace. An Indian named Dinshah P. Ghadiali is the first scientist to be documented as having tried to explain the power of colour. He claimed that the secret to the power of colours lay in the fact that they affect vibrations that in turn transmit certain moods as well as healing.

Modern scientists have built on this theory, and discovered that the sun’s rays form a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation that forms visible white light. Light travels in waves, and its different wavelengths are perceived as different colours. Each colour also has a certain frequency at which it vibrates.

The science of colour therapy has been exploring both psychological and physical effects of different colours. Colour therapists believe that touching or being exposed to a colour can provide the same benefits as looking at it since colours work according to their vibrational wavelengths rather than the brain’s interpretation of that colour. The faster the vibration, the warmer the colour; the slower the vibration, the cooler the colour. Research into the effects of colour has shown that people who are blind from birth can learn to differentiate colours through their fingertips by picking up on the vibration of the different colours.

Many studies have been done to demonstrate the effect of different colours on the human mind. Studies conducted in 1948 in West Germany showed that the use of the colours yellow, orange, and red in the classroom raises student IQ levels. Further studies in the U.S. in 1973 showed that red light causes the blood pressure and heart rate to rise and that orange causes hunger pangs; hence, many restaurants use the colour orange in their decor and their dishes to stimulate appetite. Many advertisers also use the theories of colour therapy to promote their products.

Spirituality Blue and green are good choices for promoting a “spiritual life.” Blue is said to correspond to the throat of a person and green to the heart. Coincidentally, these are the two tools we use to worship when we recite and pray. Blue has been shown in studies (U.S., 1973) to lower blood pressure and heart rate; decrease hunger; and inspire relaxation, peace, and tranquillity. It is often used in colour therapy to treat insomnia, an overactive thyroid, and panic attacks.

Green colour

Green invokes the feelings of harmony, balance, sympathy, and devotional love as well as relieving nervous tension. According to Doctor Lepore, green provides the natural balance between the powers of red and blue. Green also balances blue (a highly spiritual colour invoking a sense of awe in most people as they gaze at the sky or sea) and yellow (said to be a very “mental” colour that, in studies, affects subjects’ abilities to study and learn). As the combination of these two colours, it helps people to merge their spiritual “heavenly thought” with their earthly “mental thoughts.”

Green is the colour of self-esteem. It may be disliked by persons just experiencing trauma because as it seeks to balance, it may cause aspects of the trauma to surface. Creating harmony and hope, it helps with the heart area and is good for tired nerves as it balances the emotions and brings a feeling of calmness. It stimulates growth so it is good for helping to heal broken bones, and re-growing tissue of all kinds.

Next time you visit the mosque, reflect on the healing inherent in the colours around you, for indeed, Allah 2 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk

i By Karima Burns, MH, ND 22/02/2001

has sent us cures in many things – even in many places where we would not expect to find them. The messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) liked wearing white clothes as it signifies purity and from amongst coloured clothing he would like green the most. Imam Shafi states four things that strengthen the eyesight, to sit towards the Qibla, to use Surma (Kohl) before sleeping, to look towards something of green colour, and to keep the clothes clean.