Life is a series of different kinds of experiences, both good and bad. A good experience, suits us perfectly well, but what how can we ensure that bad experiences do not result in conflict? The Quran gives us a very simple answer: Avoid any unpleasantness by remaining noncommittal. This principle is set forth in one of the chapters of the Quran. When the Prophet of Islam started his mission in Makkah in 610 CE, the situation was highly unfavourable. Often, he faced unwanted situations and at that juncture, the following verse was revealed in the Quran:
“Bear patiently with what they say, and ignore them politely.” (73: 10)
In such a predicament, patience is not a passive attitude; it demonstrates great wisdom. When you keep your patience, you are saving your time and energy. Being patient in a difficult situation means that if you sense that the other person is not in a responsive mood, you should adopt the principle of avoidance, give him an evasive reply and then proceed with your own affairs. It is only if you see that the other person is listening to you in earnest that you should present your point of view to him. This principle is very important in social life. Society is a combination of different kinds of people and the way we live our lives in society is very often determined not by our own choices but by the will of others. If you try to convince all the members of society of your wish to prevail.
Source: Spirit of Islam July 2016
The real means of attaining the ends of tazkiya is for man to reflect on the signs of God, activate his thinking, and through continuous reflection or pondering, discover the deeper realities of things. Tazkiya means preparing oneself with regard to the Hereafter, that is, developing in oneself those qualities which will benefit one in the Hereafter. The way of Tazkiya is to activate one’s thinking. One way to do this is to identify such incidents in one's life when one was going to be plunged into some great trouble but was saved by the special succour of God.
It is a must for the seeker of Tazkiya to recall such incidents repeatedly in order to refresh the mind of how, when he had reached the very brink of destruction, was saved by the special intervention of God. He should keep remembering every graphic detail of these incidents and beseech God thus: “O God, you have repeatedly saved me from the horrible consequences of my actions in the life of this world. In the same way, save me from the horrible punishment of hell in the Hereafter.”
Source: Spirit of Islam July 2016
Tazkiyah or purification, is a Quranic term. The Quran tells us that tazkiya is the means for human salvation (91: 9-10). According to the Quran (20: 76), only those people will be admitted to the world of Paradise who have purified themselves in this world.
The literal meaning of tazkiya is ‘purification’. Just as iron ore passes through various difficult stages and finally acquires the shape and form of a useful machine, a human being’s character passes through difficult stages and emerges as a purified soul.
What are these difficult stages? These stages are when we are faced with unwanted conditions. These unpleasant conditions are the situations that we need to pass through in order to develop our character. When our ego gets a beating and yet we remain firmly established in justice, when we feel angry but control our anger, when we get some position of honour but still remain modest, when we feel the fire of revenge burn within us but douse out the flames inside, when we experience hatred towards someone but still retain concern for his wellbeing, when we acknowledge others even though we are not compelled to, are a few examples of situations that serve to purify us. These are opportunities for our tazkiya. They build within us a lofty character.
Unpleasant conditions are the situations that we need to pass through in order to develop our character. Such opportunities cannot arise in normal conditions. They arise only in abnormal situations. According to the Quran (41: 35), in this examination, only those people succeed who are patient.
Source: Spirit of Islam June 2016
Tazkiyah literally means growth, one example of which can be seen in the tree. A tree is the result of the growth of a seed. When a seed finds a favourable environment, it starts growing until it becomes a green, verdant tree. The same is true of the purification of a human being. In this sense, Tazkiyah also covers intellectual development.
God has created a person with great potential, and this potential of the human personality is actualized by Tazkiyah. In this sense, it would be right to call it the building of the human personality on a divine foundation.
When a person discovers and realizes faith, he has in actual fact, started the journey of Tazkiyah. Gradually, he becomes a purified soul or an intellectually and spiritually developed personality. This is the person who will gain entrance into the eternal Paradise of the Hereafter.
There is nothing mysterious about Tazkiyah. Tazkiyah can be attained, not through meditation but through contemplation and reflection. This entails pondering over or thinking about oneself and the universe, and receiving intellectual sustenance for God-realization. This is the process which results in a purified personality. There is nothing abstract about Tazkiyah. It is a known reality. Tazkiyah is the result of a struggle on the part of the individual. It is not at all related to any mysterious inspiration from some supposedly saintly person.
Source: Discovering God
The British writer Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) wrote a poem called ‘Miss T’. A few lines of the poem are presented here: “It's a very odd thing - As odd as can be - That whatever Miss T eats Turns into Miss T.” The poet suggests that as long as food is on the table it has an identity as an edible item. But once Miss T eats them, they become a part of her. This is a form of conversion, through which a material substance is changed to become a part of the human body. But there is another aspect of this change. This aspect relates to the human consciousness.
Pondering over material experiences can transform them into a means for the development of our consciousness. When we see various material things around us, they are just objects. But when they enter our minds, they can be transformed into a source for the development of our consciousness.
A conscious person might wonder on the creation and existence of various materials on this earth. Their compatibility with humans go to form a fascinating life support system. Exploring further, one begins to discover the meaningfulness of God's creation and can see the Creator through His creation. This experience is a means to develop intellectually and spiritually.
Source: Spirit of Islam July 2015
The believer, according to the Quran, must be a traveler (al-saihoon) (9:112). This is not just in the sense of one who goes on journeys: it actually means one who learns spiritual lessons through tawassum (15:75), i.e. through reflection on material experiences. Guidance to this effect is set forth in the chapter Al-An‘am (The Cattle) of the Quran. The translation of the relevant verse is as follows:
“Say, ‘Travel about the land and see what was the end of the deniers.” (6:11)
A believer is one who is always in a state of contemplation. When a believer is on his travels, his mind is always in the contemplative mode. Whatever a believer sees around him turns into a spiritual experience. A true believer’s mind is like a spiritual industry. He sees everything with a divine eye and learns spiritual lessons through tawassum. His travelling thus becomes ibadat, or worship, in that it serves to remind him of God.
This process is integral to the workings of the mind of a true believer—a spiritually hungry person, who is constantly trying to derive spiritual lessons from everything. Naturally, this process continues during his travels. There is a formula for this which can be summarized thus: siahat plus tawassum is equal to maarefat.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
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’ 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. God is so generous that He has created the whole universe to be at our service, day and night. Spirituality is based on taking lessons from God’s signs spread in the universe (Tawassum) (15: 75) which means converting every material event into a spiritual lesson. Tawassum is, in a sense, a matter of conversion, on a parallel with grass entering the body of the cow and through a natural process being transformed into milk. Similarly, the truly religious person is like a divine industry. He is able to convert physical events into spiritual lessons. He extracts spiritual nourishment from material things. True spirituality is that which leads man to intellectual development.
Source: Spirit of Islam April 2013
Tafakkur (contemplation) aims at bringing man closer to God. The Quran states: “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)
Man established a rapport with God when he thinks of Him, worships and remembers Him, when his heart is turned towards Him with full concentration, and when he makes a request or a plea. 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 and contemplation.
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 that 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.
Source: Spirit of Islam October 2018
Jesus Christ once said: “Man does not live by bread alone.” (Matthew 4:4) This is an important teaching of all religions. This means that all men and women need two kinds of nourishment: the physical and the spiritual. Everyone knows the importance of physical nourishment but, where spiritual nourishment is concerned, people remain in ignorance of how vital it is.
Man cannot afford to live in a state of physical starvation, for physical starvation brings on weakness and disease. Everyone, being aware of how debilitating this can be, makes sure that he or she has proper sustenance.
The same is true of spiritual starvation. Spiritual starvation makes you a weak personality. It erodes the faculty of wisdom. It deprives you of moral values. Spiritual starvation may go to such an extreme that one may face spiritual death.
To keep spirituality alive, spiritual food is at all times a necessity. The source of that spiritual food is thinking or contemplation. Moreover, one should develop the habit of not taking things at face value. The deeper aspect of things must be gone into so that their inner meaning may be discovered. This requires an uninterrupted intellectual process.
Source: Spirit of Islam October 2018
One of the major concerns of the Quran is to inculcate in every man and woman the spirit of contemplation. A verse of the Quran states:
“There are certainly signs in that for those who can learn a lesson.” (15:75)
Natural phenomena as well as historical events have great lessons for those who go deeply into them and contemplate to learn lessons from them. The Quran, in referring to them, attempts to develop the thinking habit, so that readers may gain from them intellectually.
The individual must keep his mind alive every day and every night. When he studies a book and contemplates its verses, when he observes a scene, and when he is confronted by a historical event, he must properly activate his mental faculties in order to learn some spiritual lesson from it. He must endeavour to turn his experiences into meaningful lessons.
Source: Quranic Wisdom
Who is a deserving candidate for the eternal world of Paradise? According to the Quran, only a muzakka (20:76) person will be selected for being settled into Paradise. Muzakka means a purified soul. The hearts of the people of Paradise will be filled with the glory of God. (39:75) This is the first quality of a muzakka person. That is, he must discover the glory of God in the present world and acknowledge it from deep within his heart. Glorifying God is always a result of discovery. It means that a person should adopt the culture of contemplation (tadabbur), and through thinking and reflection, discover God as the Lord of the Universe. This discovery must be intellectually so deep that it should bring about a revolutionary change in his personality. In this way, he becomes a rabbani (3:79) person, as defined in the Quran.
Source: Spirit of Islam October 2018
The Quran is the Book of God, revealed to the Prophet of Islam in the first quarter of the seventh century. In the chapter Sad (Sad), the Quran says of itself:
“This is a blessed Book which We sent down to you [Muhammad], for people to ponder over its messages, and for those with understanding to take heed.” (38:29)
The Quran is, indeed, a book of wisdom, which gives us knowledge about the divine scheme along with all those principles that are required for successful living in this world. In short, the Quran is a book of guidance for mankind. It is, moreover, a simple book, which is easily understandable to anyone who has even the most rudimentary knowledge of Arabic. But all the things it has to offer can be discovered only through contemplation, called tadabbur. Contemplation opens the doors of the Quranic treasure of knowledge.
Source: Quranic Wisdom
The source of the realization of God is, in the words of the Quran, reflection (tafakkur and tadabbur). (The Quran, 3:191) The attainment of God-realization by contemplation is entirely a function of the mind. In the human body, the act of thinking is done only by the brain. What is achieved by this process of thinking has been defined as God-realization.
In ancient times, there were groups of spiritual persons who held that the source of realization of God was the heart, and it was due to this concept that the method of meditation, by focusing on the heart became prevalent. But this concept does not relate to divine religion. With reference to the heart, the Quran uses the word “understanding” (fiqh) (7:179), but this word “heart” is used only as a metaphor to refer to the “mind”. It is only through thinking and contemplation that one can achieve God-realization.
Source: Discovering God
The formula for Quranic spirituality is very simple—simple living and high thinking. Simple living prevents you from succumbing to distractions, thus allowing you to find more time to engage your mind in meaningful arenas. Simple living and high thinking are interdependent. Simple living gives you more time for high thinking, and high thinking makes you a man capable of simple living.
Islamic spirituality is, in essence, God-centred and not self-centred. Activating one’s minds, when you discover your Creator, you instantly establish communication between yourself and your Creator. It is like establishing a connection between the electric bulb in your room and the powerhouse situated outside your room. Just as the electric connection illuminates your room, so also does the divine connection illuminate your whole personality. Then you become a ‘rabanni’, or a man of God.
Quranic spirituality or God-oriented spirituality is the essence of divine life. Such spirituality leads to a life where there is no tension, no negative thought. In other words, spirituality makes us positive human beings.
Source: Quranic Wisdom
A believer is one who finds God considers himself God’s servant in the ultimate sense of the word. His thoughts and feelings are all perfectly attuned to this servitude, to this condition of being God’s servant. One who has acquired a taste for divine reality relishes simplicity. In his eyes, pretensions lose their attraction. A teaching of the Prophet is:
“Simplicity is a part of faith”. (Sunan Abu Dawood, Hadith No. 4161)
Simplicity is a support to the believer. It contributes to his strength. By opting for simplicity he is able to put his time to the best use by not wasting it on irrelevant matters. He does not let his attention be diverted to things which are inessential so far as his goal is concerned. And in this way, he is able to devote himself wholeheartedly to the achievement of higher goals. Thus, simplicity serves as an apparel for modesty for a believer. Such a person by his very nature becomes a simplicity-loving person. His motto in life becomes: Simple living and high thinking.
Source: Spirit of Islam December 2018
Spirituality, in essence, promotes the philosophy of simple living and high thinking. One who believes in simple living creates problems neither for himself nor for others, and one who engages in high thinking becomes a truly selfless person. The majority of the anti-human activities in society result from the clash between people over material interests. But if, by obeying one’s spiritual proclivities, one can go beyond such interests, the result is entirely positive. One who does so will become a healthy member of society, and a society that is largely composed of such members is bound to emerge as a peaceful society.
Spirituality is a culture of nature, a demonstration of which is given to us by nature in a variety of ways. Let us take the example of a rose plant. The rose plant is a combination of two quite opposite elements: flowers and thorns. Both flowers and thorns live together on the stem of a rose plant, but there is no clash between the two. It is this feature that has made the rose plant a very beautiful and thought-provoking thing to behold, in that it is symbolic of how we should live in society without there being any friction between disparate elements.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
When one makes a mistake, there are two possible kinds of responses. The first response is to become regretful. One who is full of regret will become disheartened after every mistake. He will be a victim of stress. It is also possible that he may lose courage and be unable to do anything else again. This is the negative aspect of making a mistake. But there is also a positive aspect of a mistake. That is, it encourages you to engage in introspection and self-reassessment. When you do this, your mistake will turn into a mistake plus. A mistake plus is bound to activate your mind. It will lead to brainstorming. In return, it will emerge as a natural gift for you. It will increase your creativity and produce a thinking process that may lead to the capacity for better re-appraisal of yourself and an increased ability to analyze things. A mistake becomes a mistake plus when it awakens your mind. It thus enables you to re-plan your life. A mistake plus makes a man a superman.
Nature’s greatest gift to man is his mind. The mind is the greatest miracle of nature. The German psychologist Alfred Adler observed: “One of the wonder-filled characteristics of human beings is their power to turn a minus into plus.” Now there is the question of how this miracle may come about? The answer is that if a person makes a mistake and saves himself from being a victim of negative thinking, then by nature a miraculous event occurs. That is, by the law of nature a rethinking process is developed in him. He analyzes what happened with him and tries to understand where he went wrong. He thinks how he may achieve at the second attempt what he could not at the first attempt. In this way, a new process of positive thinking is initiated in the mind of this person, which becomes a means for his intellectual development. Thus, this process turns his mistake into a mistake plus. This kind of rethinking will open up new possibilities to you. Thus, in an indirect way, the mistake will become a means to climb to new heights of success in life.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
In family life as well as social life, untoward events are unavoidable. Such happenings sour relations and create a distance between people. The best solution is tauba. Don’t wait for others to take the lead. It is for you to come forward and say without hesitation: “I’m sorry, I was wrong.” This is the only way of maintaining normalcy among relatives, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers. Problems in social life invariably arise from some kind of wrong behaviour. In reality, men are by nature egoists and women are emotional. The simple solution to having a tranquil social life is not to ruffle the ego of a man and not to neglect a woman’s emotions.
There is no social ill that cannot be set right by this two-point formula. But it must also be accepted that to err is human, so whenever you err and someone becomes negative towards you, do not hesitate but at once admit your mistake and say: ‘Sorry, I was wrong.’ This short sentence will prove to be magical in its effect and the whole situation will instantly be normalised. This is the miracle of tauba.
Tauba is an instrument of self-correction, initiating a process of self-reassessment. This process is vital, as it enhances your intellectual calibre and increases your capacity for analysis. This, in turn, leads to spiritual development.
Source: Spirit of Islam December 2018
One of the Quranic teachings is tauba, which means repentance. When you make a mistake and do tauba, the blessing of God will return to you. In the chapter entitled Al-Tahrim (Prohibition), the Quran says:
O believers, turn to God in sincere repentance, in the hope that your Lord will forgive you your bad deeds and admit you into gardens watered by running streams. (66:8)
In this verse, the Quran declares that after engaging in genuine repentance, one who has erred will be unburdened of the effect of his bad deeds. What is most important about this is that the wrong-doer will be granted forgiveness by God and will consequently be rewarded with Paradise in the Hereafter. This divine blessing is not confined to the next world; in the extended sense, it also includes the present world. Family life and social life will also be blessed with the fruits of tauba.
If you make a mistake that arouses anger in another, but then you repent and say: “Please forgive me, I was wrong”, this will certainly cause the aggrieved person to have a change of heart. Such an apology will, on the one hand, inculcate positivity in your soul and on the other, it will promote the culture of love among the people you are living with.
It is, however, relevant to understand that often people have no difficulty in saying: “O God, forgive me.” But when it comes to a human problem, they are reluctant to say: “O brother, please forgive me.” This kind of hesitation is against the spirit of faith. A true man of faith will say to another: “Forgive me,” just as easily as he says to God: “O Lord, forgive me.” Tauba is an inner spirit, a readiness to atone for every kind of mistake.
Source: Spirit of Islam July 2016
Every person is born in a particular society, and it is this society that creates the mindset of an individual. We imbibe the effects of our surroundings and the prevailing culture. Every person is a product of the environment or society they live in. These societal effects that are cultivated in one’s mind are referred to as the conditioning of the mind. Everyone possesses a mind that is conditioned in some way or the other, and this is the biggest issue we face.
It is this conditioning that is responsible for turning us away from our original pure nature. In this respect, everyone is a sure case of a conditioned mind. It is very important that this unnatural effect is eliminated; which means the conditioned mind must be deconditioned. Hence, it becomes imperative that each one of us decondition ourselves and bring ourselves back to our pure original nature. This process of deconditioning of the mind can also be called the re-engineering of the mind.
In society, various activities are undertaken with the aim of purification of the mind. Despite diverse activities, this goal is far from being realized. This is because all these activities are attempted without first deconditioning the mind. It is as if everyone is on a journey that has yet to commence. It is only after deconditioning the mind that one can have a truly well-prepared mind. Without such a well-prepared mind, one will be unable to accept anything with an open mind, and will, instead, understand things based on preconceived notions. We are all born in a pure natural state. Due to the conditioning, we receive from society and family, our nature is influenced. This conditioning is like a series of coverings over our true nature, similar to the peels of an onion. Deconditioning is a process that can be symbolically explained as the removal of these layers, one by one, until the true, pure nature is uncovered. In this respect, an onion is a material example of the deconditioning process.
Deconditioning of the mind can only be done by one process alone, and that is introspection. This is a continuous, merciless examination of our own selves in order to improve.
All efforts to purify the mind are unproductive until and unless a deconditioning of the mind is first undertaken. And the biggest thing that requires deconditioning is the total elimination of negative thinking. Tazkiyah is the Islamic name for this process of deconditioning, re-engineering of the mind or the purification of the mind, which has to be undertaken continuously, till the end of one’s life.
Source: Spirit of Islam December 2018
