FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Dr. Farida Khanam has been a professor at the Department of Islamic Studies
at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. A Study of World's Major Religions, A Simple
Guide to Sufism are two of the books amongst others, of which she is the author. She
has also translated many books on Islam authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan.
Currently, the chairperson of Centre for Peace and Spirituality (CPS International),
an organization founded by her father Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, she is a regular
contributor of articles to journals, newspapers and magazines. Dr. Khanam has
edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his
Urdu commentary of the Quran into English. Under Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Peace Foundation, along with the CPS team, she has designed a series of courses on
peace-building, countering extremism and conflict resolution.
THE CONCEPT OF
SPIRITUALITY IN ISLAM
SPIRITUALITY as a philosophy has a long history of five thousand
years. In ancient Greece there were great philosophers like Plato
and Aristotle whose thinking was spiritual in character. According
to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, spiritualism is the philosophy of higher
reality, which has been defined by different philosophers in different
words such as, “immaterial reality”, “a universal mind”, “a supreme
being”, “spiritual cosmic force”, “infinite personal God”, etc.
Spirituality, being a subjective discipline, it cannot be described in
objective terms. Every person is composed of two things—body and
spirit. The body is related to objective science while the spirit is related
to subjective science.
There are two different concepts of spirituality: God-oriented
spirituality which is based on the concept of God Almighty, and manoriented
spirituality, which is based on man’s soul itself being the
treasure-house of spirituality. As for the former concept, spirituality
results in God-realization while in the latter, spirituality results from
self-realization.
The concept of self-realization is based on the assumption that
the treasure of spirituality exists within man himself. And through
meditation man can peep into his inner self and discover spirituality.
However this concept of man-oriented spirituality is not corroborated by Islam. According to Islam, man has no such spiritual treasure
house existing independently. For man is a taker-creature. He receives
everything from his Creator.
The concept of spirituality in Islam is based on the principle of Godrealization.
God is the treasure house of all virtues. And when man’s
contact with God is established, in the world of his feelings, at the
psychological level, an unseen, inner revolution is brought about which
is called spirituality. In this matter the relationship between God and
man can be likened to an electric bulb and the power house. When the
wire from the bulb is connected to the power house, electric current
flows and the place is lit up. In this way, light is the result of the wire’s
connection to the power house of God.
Human nature is like an inflammable element. When an inflammable
element like petrol comes near fire, it is ignited. Similarly, human
nature is awakened when it comes in contact with God.
This finds expression in the Quran in these words:
God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The metaphor
of His light is that of a niche in which there is a lamp, the lamp
inside a glass, the glass like a brilliant star, lit by a blessed tree,
an olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would
well-nigh glow forth even though fire did not touch it. Light upon
light! God guides to His light whom He wills. And God sets forth
parables to men, and God has knowledge of all things. ( 24: 35 )
This is a compound simile. ‘Light’ here means the guidance of Almighty,
‘niche’ means the human heart and ‘lamp’ denotes the capability to
receive divine inspiration. Glass and oil elaborate upon this receptivity.
‘Glass’ shows that this receptivity has been lodged in the human
heart, protected from outside influences, and 'oil' indicates that this
receptivity is very strong and is eagerly waiting to receive inspiration.
This verse makes it clear that, on the one hand, is God, the source of
inspiration, and on the other, is the consciousness of spirituality (Godconsciousness)
with which man is born. In this way when these two
things come together, Islamic spirituality comes into existence. This is
indeed another name for the awakening of God-consciousness. When
it reaches its highest stage the believer’s realization of God comes to
that point where he begins to feel consciously in his worship that he is
seeing God and that if he is not seeing God, God is seeing him. If the
first type of experience is called direct spiritual experience, the secondtype
may be termed indirect spiritual experience.
As the Quran tells us, “Prostrate yourself and draw near.” ( 96: 19 ). For
God is always close to us—closer than the life blood in the jugular vein
( 50: 16 ). By total surrender to God, the soul can attain nearness to God.
Similarly, according to this Hadith, ‘Worship God as if you are seeing
Him’ (Sahih al-Bukhari), when man engages himself in true devotion, he
is linked with God at a sensory or psychological level. He comes close
to God. Through an invisible cord he comes in contact with God; God’s
light passes through him. His entire existence comes to be pervaded
by this indescribable feeling, which is called spiritual experience. This
has been termed as Rabbaniat in the Quran (Be people of the Lord.)
( 3: 79 ). Rabbani means, one whose thinking and actions are God-oriented,
who has placed God at the centre of his attention. When an individual
attains spirituality, his state becomes like a lamp lit all of a sudden.
He undergoes spiritual experiences. His heart becomes an ocean of
spiritual waves. He appears to live in this world, but he has found
another far superior world for himself.
These spiritual experiences cannot be explained in words. Everything
in the universe seems to convey to him a divine message. The leaves
of the tree become a thrilling experience. A waft of air gives him a
message of truth. He can hear divine music in the waves of the sea and
the chirping of the birds.
Due to his high state of receptivity, he reaches the stage where the
wavelength of God and man become one. And he is enabled, in the
words of the Prophet: “to see with God’s eye, to speak with God’s
tongue, to walk with God’s foot, to hear with the ear of God.”
Then all limitations vanish and his day and night are spent in God’s
neighbourhood. All this can be felt, not described in words. This can
be explained with the example of a child who has limitless love for his
mother. He knows it himself in the full sense but cannot fully describe
it in words. The same is true of spirituality.
When a person is linked with the source of spirituality, he undergoes
such spiritual experiences as he himself fully understands, but has
difficulty in conveying to others. He may describe some external signs
but he cannot describe the inner reality.
Although it is difficult to describe the inner reality of spirituality, its
method of attainment can be described to a certain extent and followed
by others.
First of all, man has to free his mind from confusion. It is difficult for
a confused mind to undergo spiritual experiences. The basic reason for confused thinking is that man is not able to differentiate between
the real and the superficial, the relevant and the irrelevant, rational
thinking and superstition, logical and illogical statements. One who
thinks thus will always remain in a state of mental confusion. He will
never be able to find the straight path. As a result, his spiritual journey
will never be started.
On the path of spirituality one cannot be one’s own guide. And one
certainly needs a guide. This guide is the Quran. It is an authentic and
carefully preserved book of God. That is why the Quran can be trusted
as a guide by the spiritual traveller. After making the Quran one’s guide,
one can set out on the right track on one's spiritual journey.
This spiritual journey demands a change in lifestyle. The lifestyle for a
spiritual traveller may be put briefly in these words: ‘Simple living and
high thinking.’ Simple living means limiting one’s worldly requirements
to the minimum, assiduously avoiding comfort and luxury. That is
why the Sufis used to wear coarse clothes
as a symbol of the simple life. It helps the
traveller in his spiritual journey. High thinking
means that his thoughts are not embroiled
in material things. By engaging one’s mind in
higher realities, one becomes a recipient of
divine inspiration. This inspiration of divine
light comes to his mind uninterruptedly,
igniting his whole existence.
The Quran attaches great importance to
reflection and serious thought. There are a
number of verses in the Quran that indicate
that innumerable signs of God are extant in
the heavens and the earth. The observance
of God’s signs is the greatest source of
spirituality.
The concept of
spirituality in Islam
is based on the
principle of Godrealization.
God is
the treasure house of
all virtues. And when
man’s contact with
God is established,
in the world of his
feelings, at the
psychological level,
an unseen, inner
revolution is brought
about which is called
spirituality
Spirituality called Rabbaniat in the Quran,
involves focussing the mind on higher, nonmaterial
realities. Materialism is the opposite,
indeed, the anathema of spirituality. For attaining a spiritual state
one has to rise above material things, and focus his attention on nonmaterial
things. Those who succeed in this are the spiritual or godly
servants of God. As the Quran says:
Be godly servants of God. ( 3: 79 ).
The truly spiritual person does not enjoy material comforts and
luxuries. He feels no desire to acquire them. They have no attraction
for him, for he is engrossed in the higher realities of spiritual life. This
spiritual experience that comes to him from reflecting upon the signs
of God is far superior to what one experiences in leading a worldly life.
The greatest source of pleasure for him is the remembrance of God. It
is this reality, which finds expression in this verse of the Quran:
It is only in the remembrance of God that
hearts are comforted. ( 13: 28 )
Here comfort means peace of mind that stems from God Almighty.
For, true and lasting comfort can be achieved only through the Perfect
Being. One who discovers the secret of living on an elevated plane of
spirituality, has discovered a life of limitlessness. Thus if materialism is
to live a life of limitations, spirituality is to live in limitlessness.
We learn from the Quran that the universe has been fashioned by
God in a way that it may become a source of spiritual inspiration for
man. According to the Quran, it is the quality of Tawassum ( 15: 75 ) that
enables one to find inspiration in the universe. Tawassum is the ability
to understand the signs of nature. That is, to
observe the phenomena of the universe in
order to draw lessons from them and receive
spiritual nourishment from physical events.
This spiritual journey
demands a change in
lifestyle. This lifestyle
for a spiritual
traveller may be
put briefly in these
words: ‘Simple living
and high thinking.’
That is to say, a truly religious person is able to
convert physical events into spiritual lessons.
He derives spiritual nourishment from
material things. The Quran has described
how godly people continuously derive such
sustenance from their environment, thus
maintaining their intellectual and spiritual
well-being. This is elaborated upon in the Quran as follows:
In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession
of night and day, there are signs for men of understanding;
those that remember God when standing, sitting, and lying
down, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth
(saying): ‘Lord, You have not created these in vain. Glory be to
You! Save us from the torment of the fire, Lord. ( 3: 190-191 )
Meditation is essential for developing our spirituality. Meditation is a
high kind of contemplation. It is not a state of silence, but a deep kind of thinking process. It takes us from the seen world to the unseen,
from darkness to light, from chaos to conviction, from limitation to
limitlessness, from words to meaning. It is like a door through which
one enters another world. In short, from the human world we reach
the divine world.
The concept of meditation in Islam is based on two things, at-tafakkur
wat-tadabbur (thinking and contemplation) ( 3: 191 , 4: 82 ). Abu Darda was
a senior Companion of the Prophet, after his death a man came to
his wife and asked her what was the most important form of worship
performed by Abu Darda. She replied: “He would spend the whole day
thinking, thinking, thinking”. According to this, Islamic meditation is a
thinking process rather than the cessation of intellectual activity. The
Quran further tells us that this intellectual process has two different
directions—al-anfus and al-afaq. Al-anfus literally means soul, that is,
inner world; afaq literally means universe, that is, external world.
So when a believer sees the universe functioning in a perfect manner
and he finds that all the events in this vast universe always proceed
towards a meaningful result, he realizes that man’s life too must have
a meaningful end. This makes him exclaim:
O our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose.
Glory be to you! Give us salvation in the life to come. ( 3: 191 )
Thus the universe is a manifestation of God’s attributes. Hence, it is a
source of spiritual nourishment for those who want to lead a divine life
on earth. For them, the whole universe becomes an important means
of reaching spiritual perfection. This spiritual development continues
throughout their earthly life till a time comes when they attain that
degree of spirituality which the Quran calls the ‘Rabbani soul’. It is,
souls such as these, who, in the life Hereafter, will inhabit Paradise.
Our most compassionate Lord will say:
Dwell in Paradise; you shall have no fear, nor shall you grieve. ( 7: 49 )
There is nothing mysterious about spirituality in Islam. It is rather the
direct result of the kind of intellectual development that takes place
when a believer ponders over the Creator and His creation: he gains
something in the process that may be termed spirituality. The source,
therefore, of Islamic spirituality is observation and reflection, rather
than any sort of mysterious exercises.
We learn from the Quran that in the very creation of the universe, the
signs of God lie hidden all around us. One who has developed keen awareness when he reflects upon the things of the world is able to
see the Creator in His creatures. The meaning of the creation of the
universe is laid bare before him. Ultimately, the universe becomes a
permanent source of spiritual inspiration. He is continuously nourished
by it during his worldly experience.
A believer is not supposed to shun his normal life in order to lead
a life of observation and contemplation. Islam does not advocate
withdrawing from the world. He has to live in this world and participate
in its activities. What is desired from him is that while fulfilling all his
duties, his heart should not be attached to worldly affairs. In this way
he continues to gain spiritually.
A noted scientist has said that only a prepared mind can make a
scientific discovery. The same can be said of meditation. Here also a
prepared soul alone can benefit from it. First of all tazkia, purification
of the soul, has to be done through meditation. Tazkia aims at clearing
one’s heart of all kinds of negative sentiments, otherwise meditation
will not work. There is a very interesting story which illustrates this
point.
A milkman came to Gautam Buddha and
asked him to give him Gyan, i.e. the realization
of truth. Gautam Buddha asked: “Would you
like milk to be put in an unclean container?”
The milkman said: “No. First of all we must
clean the container and only then can we put
milk in it.”
A truly spiritual
person is able to
convert physical
events into spiritual
lessons. He derives
spiritual nourishment
from material things.
Gautam Buddha then said: “The same is true
of realization. Realization can be put only in a
clean container. First of all, you have to cleanse your heart and mind of
all kinds of moral pollution. Only after this cleaning process will you be
able to receive the truth.”
The preparation during the pre-meditation period is very important.
Anyone who desires to benefit from meditation will have to complete
this pre-meditation course based on simple living and high thinking.
Jesus Christ said: “Man cannot live by bread alone”. It means that
physical food cannot provide complete fulfilment to man. Man
requires something more. This something more is spirituality. If food
is needed for the nourishment of the body, spirituality is needed
for the nourishment of the soul. Both are required for the complete
development of the human personality.
The human body is nourished by material food as is known to all of us.
But the question arises as to how our soul receives its nourishment.
The position of the soul can be likened to ore, and the position of
spirituality can be likened to steel. Then how is this ore developed into
spirituality? High thinking alone provides the answer to this question.
This means thinking by rising above the mundane.
Meditation in Islam aims at bringing man closer to God. When man
worships God, when he remembers Him, when his heart is turned
towards Him with full concentration, when he
makes a request or a plea, he establishes a
rapport with his Maker. In the words of the
Hadith, at that particular moment he comes
to whisper with his Lord. He has the tangible
feeling that he is pouring his heart out to God
and that God in turn is answering his call.
Spirituality in
Islam is the direct
result of the kind
of intellectual
development that
takes place when a
believer ponders over
the Creator and His
creation. The source
of Islamic spirituality
is observation and
reflection.
When this communion is established between
God and man, man can feel himself becoming
imbued with a special kind of peace. His
eyes are moist with tears. He starts receiving
inspiration from God.
According to a Hadith the Prophet Muhammad
said the highest form of worship is to pray as
if you were seeing God. We learn from this
Hadith the true sign of a superior form of
worship. The true sign is for man to sense the presence of God during
worship, and feel that he has come close to God. That is when he can
experience the refreshing, cooling effect of God’s love and blessings for
man. It is this feeling of closeness to God which is the highest form of
spiritual experience. In chapter 96, the Quran says:
Do Sajdah (prostration) and come nearer to God. ( 96: 19 ).
This Sajdah is the highest form of meditation. Sajdah is a form of
unification of soul and body. According to this Quranic verse, Sajdah is
the meeting point between God and man.
Sajdah is the sign of submission or surrender, for it is only in a state of
submission or surrender that we can meet God Almighty. Sajdah is the
final position of submission for acquiring a place very close to God.
Dr. Farida Khanam
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