The origin of the use of the word 'spirit' is found in the discussions that took place between people who believe in the existence of God, frequently using words such as 'spirit' and 'spirituality' to articulate the effect of a creator.
One of the most misunderstood areas of Islam amongst the Ummah is this very topic of spirituality with the Muslim Ummah today holding a wide range of varying views on what spirituality is and how it is to be interpreted.
It must however be asked as to whether the issue of spirituality in Islam is something that has always existed. Is the discussion of spirituality part of Islam or a separate universal topic?
Spirituality: Past and present
The first time spirituality was discussed amongst the Muslims was when they encountered Hindu philosophy. Hindu philosophy advocates ascetism and renunciation of the world. Comparisons were made with zuhd (pious austerity), a well-known status which has been reported in several ahadeeth. It is from this comparison that the 'Sufis' emerged.
Throughout the medieval ages, spirituality came to be defined, due to the history of Christianity, in Europe. The Christian Church maintained that man embodies both spiritual ascension and physical yearning and that life includes both the materialistic and the spiritual aspects. They advocated that the tangible reality contradicts the unseen, and that spiritual ascension cannot be together with physical yearning, and that matter is separate from the spirit. They contended that these two sides are separated from one another due to their fundamental contradiction in nature.
This understanding led to an historic conflict in Europe which eventually saw the removal of the Church as an authority and its replacement by man-made system and laws. This in turn led to the industrial revolution where vast leaps were made in technology, allowing mass consumption on a scale never seen before. It is no surprise, therefore, that this has created a world were material gratification is seen as the ultimate ideal. The materialisation of society has led many to accumulate vast amounts of wealth and still unable to fulfil their spiritual void, famous examples being Madonna turning to Jewish asceticism and Tom Cruise turning to Scientology. Both these personalities are considered to have achieved the ultimate level of sensual pleasure.
Islam and Spirituality
Scholars in Islamic history did not write at length about spirituality as it was never a discussion. Some discussion did take place when Islam came into contact with Hindu philosophy due to elements of the new thinking i.e. Hindu asceticism being espoused by some.
The issue of spirituality can only refer to two matters, either the reality of the created i.e. who created all the creation and the relationship between the creator and the created, or it can be the ruh, translated often as 'soul'.
The ruh definitely exists and is proven in the definite Qur'anic texts, and hence Muslims are obliged to believe in it. The word spirit or ‘ruh' is a common term like the word ‘ein' in Arabic, a word that has multiples meaning; such as ‘water source', ‘eye', ‘spy', ‘gold', ‘silver' amongst others. The word ruh appeared in the Qur'an with numerous meanings, such as the secret of life;
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِّن الْعِلْمِ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً
"And they ask you about the ruh. Say: The ruh is one of the commands of my Lord, and you are not given aught of knowledge but a little." [Al-Israa, 17:85]
In Islam, spirituality is defined as the linking of actions to the purpose of life. So for instance, a Muslim's purpose of life is to worship Allah, hence spirituality in this sense is linking the actions of an individual to the purpose of their life. Actions on their own, without using this framework, are just that - actions. They are material constructs of time, space and objects.
So somebody could pray their salah without ever thinking about the words they are reciting and with these words having no impact upon them. This prayer cannot then be described as spiritual because it has become robot-like. It is just the same as eating a certain meal, or going on a train, as there is no link to the purpose of life. A Muslim is he who does actions to seek the pleasure of Allah and to draw nearer to Him. By this definition, all actions undertaken for the pleasure of Allah are spiritual because they link the material action with the purpose of life.
This why sexual relations within marriage, the most material of actions, becomes a spiritual action when linked to Allah سبحانه وتعالى commands. Spirituality has often been seen as an intangible sensation, based on the Christian precept of the Holy Spirit inspiring morality and hence, actions. This understanding is wholly inconsistent and at complete contrast with the way Islam views spirituality because this view is subjective, whereas the Islamic view is objective because it is from Allah.
There are two extremes of practising spirituality. Firstly, there are those who are highly influenced by and inclined to emotional spirituality and to ignoring the aspects of life perceived to be ‘materialistic', preferring the spiritual value over the materialistic one. So they accordingly turn to prayer (individual ibaadah) and renounce the material world and its aspects; they neglect life because it is material and under such a common definition and understanding, it becomes obvious that religion is bound to be a personal matter in every sense of the word. When this becomes common in people's thoughts, the standard of living in the society they live in declines as they seek only to perfect their character and morals. On the other extreme are those who are highly influenced by the material world and are taken over by their whims and neglect the spiritual value, preferring the materialistic value and making their purpose in life to achieve it.
When Islam speaks of zuhd (living an austere life) in this world, this means that one should not take the world as one's goal in life, for example setting the procurement of wealth as the highest goal. It does not mean that Muslims should not enjoy the good and halaal aspects of life. This is contrary to ascetism and renunciation of the world, both of which require the abandoning of pleasures and delights in life despite having the ability to attain them. This contradicts Islam.
It is also wrong for Muslims to evaluate actions from a deen-and-dunya perspective (matter and spirit). Instead they must be evaluated by their Creator who is Allah سبحانه وتعالى. The Shari'ah or laws of Allah has demonstrated the solutions to life's problems through obedience to Allah's commands and prohibitions. Allah has also shown Muslims the action that achieves the spiritual value which is the Fard (obligatory) and Mandub (recommended) worships.
The best example we have of this is that of the Sahabahs or Companions of the Prophet. They took part in wars, governed the lands of the Muslims, engaged in business and trade and all these actions came under the banner of spirituality. If we begin to separate matters into 'deeni' and 'dunya' matters, we run the risk of compartmentalising Islam and at the very least losing out on the reward of everyday actions. At its worst, this mentality will lead to secularism where we completely separate our actions from our purpose of life, leading to a compromise of our religion.
Inevitably we must realise our relationship with Allah سبحانه وتعالى when undertaking any action, whether it is spiritual or material, thus making sure that our actions are in accordance to the commands and prohibitions of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and ultimately attaining his pleasure.
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Rehman
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@ waseem zai :- brother, according to Sufism one can feel and see Allah's wisdom in all His creation. Do not mis-quote. Language of the Sufis is very complex, you cannot understand them. They do not mean that you can see Allah "literally" in his creation, that's absurd. Their language is implied not literal. To understand what type of language Sufi's speak you first need to learn it otherwise if you take literally what Sufis say, you will think they are saying everything wrong. So i advice before blaming them, learn their language or clarify what do they mean when they say something. Also Sufism and Tasawuf is an integral part of Islam, it is not a sect but rather an Islamic science. If there were no Sufis, there would be no proper Islam or Muslims left today. They converted Millions of people to Islam without a single violence. Many great scholars including Sheikh Ibn Taymiyyah were all Sufis. |
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Aftab
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As Salam walecum everyone, I was browsing Internet regarding spirituality and got to this discussion. I guess theres a doubt among the readers who have commented above, let me try to clear the doubts. We all have Ruh in us regardless of Muslim, hindu or any other religion, because when Allah created us, he breathed Ruh in us. Find below the reference from Quran. 38.72 - When I fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit*, fall ye down in obeisance unto him. So as per the Quranic verse we all have Ruh. One more information I would like to share I have read somewhere that Spirit = Ruh and Soul = Nafs So Spirit and Soul are different. |
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Sarmad Kamal
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Success in Spirituality It is very easy to get success in spirituality .If you follow the some basic steps then you will see very good change in your life. These steps are as follow: When you will start offering your prayers five times with jammat and with full concentration. For concentration It is the problem of many peoples that they do not get the concentration in their prayer. The only tip for this concentration is that you must concentrate the words of the payer which are you saying. For this you have to learn the translation of namaz. You can feel calm in your prayer and in your Namaz and get the blessings of Allah. Read the Holy Quran with tafseer and always try to complete Quran with tafseer for at least one time in your life. Always speak the truth and never tell a lie because when you speak the truth you will automatically have the satisfaction of your heart and if you speak a lie then you speak ten more lie for this. Allah unlike those people who speak a lie. Also give great respect to your parents. Also fulfill the Rights of ALLAH (Haqooq-ul- ALLAH), as well as the rights of others (Haqooq-ul-Ibad). Make yourself a punctual of time because punctually make man more perfect. When you will start loving Allah and his Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (SAWW) more than your life. You have also a real love of Allah and his prophet (SAWW) in your heart. You also have the real fear of Allah. You also show this love by sending more and more darood pak to Hazrat Mohammad (saww). Do your zikar at the time of morning and evening with full concentration. Do not back biting (Ghyibaat) of others because it gives a great damage to our soul. Do not make faction (Fitna) because it is a greater sin than the murder. Do not laugh so much because laughing is too much let your heart to die. Do all your work according to the way of Sunah (Sunat) because it gives us a lot of benefit. Do not waste your time illegally because its make you weak. Do not used abusive language while talking in gathering. Do not watch the television because television creates many problems for you. When you fulfill these things for Allah and not for yourself then you get the more blessings of Allah but if you do these things for yourself and not for Allah then you do not get the better result for these things. When you will start followings these things by heart then you will feel a big change in your life. You feel yourself most easy and comfort. |
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hatter
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When someone accepts that a create created everything, he recognises the spiritual aspect. When he connects this to his action, he has spirit. Spirituality, is the 'feeling' generated Allah knows best |
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sameen
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spirtuality in budha is adopted for the sake of this life only whereas in islam it is for both lives. |
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arif altaf
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I am interested in knowing whether Lord Buddah's teaching comes close to sufism in Islam. According to buddhist philosophy the evil of all the problems is our desire. If we cut down our desire we will be happy and content. Seeking some guidance!! |
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waseem zai
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wats the concept of SUFISM or TASAWUF in islam? and according to SUFISM 1 can see ALLAH in every thing HE created like human,plants,animals etc. simply can anyone can say that he can see ALLAH in flower, in beauty or a huge mountain? |
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Abu Jibreel
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I found something interesting about this subject, which actually answers my question... From the book, "Mafaheem Hizb-ut-Tahrir" (Concepts of Hizb-ut-Tahrir). الروح صلة الإنسان بخالقه أي بما وراء هذا الكون وهو الله تعالى وإدراك الصلة بالله هو الناحية الروحية ومزج المادة بالروح هو الإلتزام بأوامر الله ونواهيه "The Ruh (Spirit) is Mans connection to his Creator, or to what is behind this universe, and that is Allah Ta'ala. And realising the connection to Allah is the Nahiyah Ar-Ruhiyyah (spiritual aspect), and the mixing of matter with the Ruh, which is the commitment to the orders of Allah and His prohibitions." wa salam |
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Abu Jibreel
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Thank you for the response, brother Adnan. There are to my knowledge three categories in this discussion, which are the following: 1. Ruh "Spirit" - Perceiving the connection between the created and the creator, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. 2. Ruhaniyyah "Spirituality" - Perceiving and understanding that the action is legislated by the creator; this is before the action is performed. 3. An-Nahiya ar-Ruhiyyah "The spiritual aspect" - that one recognises that everything is created by a creator. My question was; A Kafir (non-muslim), who recognises that there is a creator behind this universe, does he have Ruh "Spirit" or is this the spiritual aspect only? You said that anyone who believes in a creator, has Ruh or Spirit. My further question is then; Howcome in the book, "The system of Islam", in arabic, the Ruh is "As-Silatu billah" - "The connection to Allah", and not "As-Silatu bil Khaaliq" - "The connection to the creator"? Because saying Allah and not creator, kind of specifies this Ruh to muslims only, according to my understanding. Please clarify more... wa salam |
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Adnan Khan
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Not to sure what you question is, But everubody that believes in the creator has Spirit, Because this means one accepts that the realtionship between the created and the creator is that Allah (swt) created everything. From this perspective this is not an Islamic discussion as anyone who believes in Allah (swt) would have spirit, because they recognise this relationship. |
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Abu Jibreel
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Does this mean, that everyone who reaches to the conclusion, that there is a creator behind this universe, has Ruh or "Spirit", or is this only for muslims, because our Iman is correct? Meaning, is it the spiritual aspect to conclude, that there is a creator, or is it Ruh or "Spirit"? Please clarify... Wa salam |
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Zeital
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Asalam Walakium, Since the removal of the Church during Europe’s Middle Ages, there was the Schism (Wars of Religion) fuelled by Protestant and Catholic rivalries, and also the Counter Reformation of Catholic powers (Spain and Portugal). In the 1500’s the Spanish carve out an Empire in the New World, dividing the world up with Portugal, whilst the Ottomans push into Europe. During the 1600’s there was the rise of mercantilism, stock markets in Amsterdam, the integrated global economy (dominated by the Dutch Empire), and fledgling commercial trading maritime empires. This parallels the Age of Enlightenment, rise of the nation state, channelling to autocracy, and Republican governments (Netherlands, and later U.S.A and France). During the 1700’s saw development of the triangular trade of slaves from West Africa, exploiting sugar plantations, and manufacturing. Finally in the late 1700’s beginning in Britain (following the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707 came to be called Great Britain), first experienced this Industrial Revolution, and developed machines that did the equivalent work of plenty of labourers. This resulted in creation of new wealth, mass production and business opportunities. As one nation took ascendancy it campaigned for ‘Free Trade’ as clearly the advantage now lay with the country in advanced economic development and manufacturing base. Hence the aggressive push to open up foreign markets, and have colonies with advantageous trading conditions. In the 1800’s the Second Industrial Revolution occurs, and the rise of new industrial giants Germany and the U.S.A. The Industrial Revolution itself would not have been possible without the ingenuity of the Renaissance thinkers and earlier developments in Chinese, Indian and Islamic civilisation in developing mathematics further, building complex machine systems and gears. |
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