A Muslim need not go to any Ashram (or Special Retreat) for meditation if he or she knows how to perform Salât. Salat is the formal, uniform way of prayer for whole of humanity taught by God through the last messenger, Muhammad, the praised one.
Salât is a meditation of the highest order but even most Muslims have forgotten it. A Salât does not even start without the state of meditation. The Prophet, peace be upon him, instructed a person in Salât to meditate upon the presence of God who is watching the devotee. A state of trance is reached when he really meditates upon it.
Then comes the voice of The Word of God from the lips of the Imam (person who leads the prayer in a gathering). If he really started Salât with a state of meditation, the voice of the Imam seems to be coming from a spiritual source. The words of the Qur’ân work as suggestions in a trance and he gradually starts believing in the orders and teaching of those words. There are repetitions of Allâhu Akbar (Glorifying God) and the Tasbihât (Praising God) of Ruku' (bowing down) and Sajda (prostration) etc. They all work wonders in a state of trance. They are auto suggestions. An individual Salât (the prescribed obligatory and voluntary) is based completely on autosuggestions where there is no outside voice but his own recitation works as autosuggestion.
Remember what Qur’ân said about Zikr (Remembrance and not merely chanting)?
"Beware! In remembrance of Allah do hearts find peace" (13:28)
