A tweet published on 22 June 2013 under the hashtag “Guidance signs for every creative person” stated:
“Prostrate frequently to God. Prostration helps blood reach the brain effectively, nourishing it, refreshing it and preparing it for clear thinking.”
Comment:
1. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, directs his community to prostrate frequently in pursuit of God’s pleasure, a higher rank with Him, greater closeness to Him and the removal of sins. He said: “You should prostrate to God frequently, for every prostration you make to God raises you one degree and removes one sin from you.” Sahih Muslim (488). Yet we see utilitarian advice of this kind which, unless regulated by the requirements of Islamic law, turns worship and drawing near to God into a purely material, worldly benefit that will inevitably pass away.
2. Such advice should not stand foremost among the means used to encourage worship, particularly an act among the greatest forms of worship of God: prostration. Islamic law has not overlooked the proper place of these benefits. It makes them subordinate to worship’s original purpose: worshipping God, for whose sake alone He created creation, sent the messengers and prescribed religious laws.
Muslims should beware lest such advice turn their acts of worship into something resembling practical movements for satisfying appetites, outwardly perhaps indistinguishable from those of an unbeliever. All people share in seeking and obtaining worldly benefits, whereas closeness to God is attained only by a Muslim.
3. If some health benefits of prostration must be mentioned, let them be secondary and come last. It must also be made clear that most of these fruits are conjectural, while the original purpose is assured for whoever fulfils it.
See:
Encouraging prostration by magnifying its worldly benefits