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I promised myself two more minutes to finish the email. My desk was still full, my hand on the keyboard, and the adhan echoed through the evening. Seven seconds later I was making wudu. What changed in my head in those seven seconds?
This was not only about prayer. Something in those seconds was training my mind for more than I realized. Psychologists call this delayed gratification, giving up a short term urge for a long term reward. In salah this happens five times a day. We step away from food, rest, scrolling, or work, and align with Allah. Each pause strengthens the brain’s serotonin system, the pathway tied to stability and long-term purpose. When this system is strong, it guides other emotions and helps us live with direction. The marshmallow study by Mischel and colleagues (1972) showed that children who waited for the second sweet grew into more disciplined adults. Salah is our daily rehearsal for waiting, not for a marshmallow, but for Allah’s pleasure.
Inside the prayer there are smaller tests that seem ordinary but carry weight. Why does something as simple as standing still feel like such a struggle? The body wants to move, the tongue wants to join in the conversation around, but instead we keep reciting. The mind wants to rush, but we stay until the tashahhud is complete. These are micro forms of delayed gratification. Each one strengthens the ability to pause, refocus, and choose value over impulse.
It is easy to think the test ends when we start the prayer, but the truth is the opposite. The test only begins there, and it grows heavier with the mind’s wandering and the body’s urge to rush. In a world that rewards hurry, salah teaches wait. Five times a day, we practice choosing the long reward, and each repetition strengthens self-regulation, the habit of pausing, holding back, and acting with intention.
