The Gateway to the Quran

  The Quran lays much emphasis on the `kindly, fearfully dutiful righteous-good deeds'. Man, as his own esteemed `personality' and `indispensable constituent of the society’, has higher standing in the worlds of creations on the basis of reasoning and understanding, rather than, wandering or `astraying’ in the wonder-lands. The belief in The Existence and Omni-Presence of Allah, and that man is accountable to Him, disciplines human thought and conduct with responsibility, in which his own conscience is his keeper-watcher. Righteousness with fear of Allah (Taqwaa) in every human activity is an essential requirement of communion with Him.

  “And he who fears Allah, He will make for him a way out,
  and will provide for him from where he expects not.
  And he who puts his trust in Allah, He (Allah) is sufficient for him.
  Verily, Allah will accomplish his purpose.
  Indeed, for everything has Allah appointed a measure.” 65-2 & 3.

  “And whoso fears Allah,
  He will provide facilities for him in his affairs.
  That is the Command of Allah, Which He has revealed to you. And
   whoso fears Allah, He will remove the evil consequences of his deeds,
  And enlarge his reward.” 65- 4 & 5.

  “Behold! The friends of Allah shall have no fear,
  nor shall they grieve.
  Those who believed and kept to righteousness,
  for them are glad tidings, in the present life,
  and also in the Here-after.
  There is no changing the Words of Allah;
  That indeed is a great triumph..”10-62 to 64

  “Come back thou, To thy Lord-Master-Owner-Sustainer (Allah),
  Well pleased and well pleasing, Unto Him.” 89-28

   Allah gives us the choice of rejecting or accepting His love and concern, (18-29). “But the point of love is that the ego has, in some sense, to be annihilated. “…God relates to human beings by means of a dialogue rather than silent contemplation. (Consider the depth of discourse and dialogue even in supplications, besides style of direct address and dialogue in the Quran.)..The prophets had declared war on mythology: their God was active in history and in current political events rather than in the primordial, sacred time of myth. When monotheists turned to mysticism , however, mythology reasserted itself as the chief vehicle of religious experience.(One of the greatest blows which the Quranic concept of monotheism (not mysticism), as the driving force for the development of human personality and society (ummah), suffered!)..There is a linguistic connection between the three words `myth’, `mysticism’ and `mystery’. All are derived from the Greek word `Mustcion’: to close the eyes or the mouth. All three words, therefore, are rooted in an experience of darkness and silence. They are not popular words in the West today. The word `myth’, for example, is often used as a synonym for a lie: In popular parlance, a myth is something that is not true…a `mystery’ has been seen as something that needs to be cleared up. It is frequently associated with muddled thinking. Similarly `mysticism’ is frequently associated with cranks, charlatans or indulgent hippies.”(Karen Armstrong, A History of God, pp.243-244. Notes given above in brackets are from the author).

  Different Practices in Mysticism: As already discussed, there are practices, meditations, etc as numerable as there could be ideas about mysticism. They affected Muslim thought and philosophy from all sides. Greek, Hindu, Budhist, Christian and other practices, in their respective areas and aspects of contact with Muslims, influenced very deeply and miscreated a sort of mist of mystic interpretations even around the Quranic presentations and teachings. There are innumerable orders, forms and practices of contemplation and meditation of various concepts of mysticism in different religions, penetrating even those among Muslims, which are far, very far from the Quranic teachings. Some of them are so subtle that differences and deviations may not be possible to recognize without deeper understanding of the Quranic concept and teaching, first. In order to remain within the subject matter, we are not going into details. It requires volumes of study separately.
  We may, however, have at least a very brief understanding of some important or main out of the plethora of practices in order to ultimately sift right from wrong and select the easy and the assured one. In such situations of confusion and conflict, Allah has already guided to refer to the Quran and the Prophet. Let us first discuss them and then refer accordingly.
  Contemplation:Prayer is used as a form of contemplation. The central idea is the `loving awareness of God'. It is `the prayer of quit.' It is not discursive. It is, rather concentrative, involving deep thought, intention and expectation. It is practiced in central Christian traditions also.
  Meditation:It involves serious and deep thought and consideration specially in a religious matter. It relates more to the process of thinking.
  Hesychasm:It is a form of contemplative, practice developed by the monastic order of the Orthodox Church. The essence of this practice lies in (i) drawing the consciousness into the heart (mind), and becoming aware of God's Presence there; and (ii) in the practice of pure prayer. Pure prayer is the spontaneous intercourse of the human spirit with God. Evagrius of Pontus (d.399) ..thought of prayer as the perfect activity of the intellect, and gave no place to the body. This Platonistic approach was changed under the influence of pseudo-Macarius (5th century C.E.), who speaks of the heart rather than the mind as the focus of prayer, affirming that prayer involves the whole person. The hesychast practice ..uses no mental images, no concepts, no rational considerations, no imaginings. It uses the recitation of the ..Prayer.. for ..Lord's `Mercy on (oneself) sinner,' to attain the prayerful awareness of God. The hesychast usually prays sitting, head inclined, gaze lowered. (John R. Hinnels, Dictionary of Religions)

  Dhyaanaa-yoga:“Astaanga-yoga, a mechanical meditative practice, controls the mind and senses and focuses concentration on Paramatmaa (the Supersoul, the form of the Lord situated in the heart). This practice culminates in samaadhi, full consciousness of the Supreme.”

(Bhaktivedanta Swami, Bhagavad-Gita, pp.199-238).

  Look at this news item!:
  “Patna, Aug 11: `To improve efficiency of rail staff, yoga training will be given (by Indian Railways) every morning.. The aim is.. to `keep the staff physically fit and mentally alert.” (The Dawn, 12.8.2003)

  Mysticism and `Wujuud: “…In about 1094 (Al-Ghazaali) found that he could not speak or give his lectures…He fell into a clinical depression … (He) resigned his prestigious academic post and went off to join the Suufiis.“…Without abandoning his reason – he always distrusted the more extravagant forms of Sufism – Al-Ghazaali discovered that the mystical disciplines yielded a direct but intuitive sense of something that could be called `God’.
  “The British scholar John Bowker shows that the Arabic word for existence (Wujuud) derives from the root `Wajada ’, (meaning) `he found’. Literally, therefore, ‘Wujuud’ means `that which is findable’: it was more concrete than the Greek metaphysical terms… (Therefore) Arabic speaking philosopher who attempted to prove that God existed, did not have to produce God as another object (or idol) among many.. he simply had to prove that He could be found. The only absolute proof of God’s `Wujuud’ (existence) would appear… when the believer came face to face with the divine reality after death, but the reports of…the prophets and mystics who claimed to have experienced it in this life should be considered carefully. The Suufiis (mystics) certainly claim that they had experienced the `Wujuud’ of God: the word `Wajd’ was a technical term for their ecstatic apprehension of God which gave them complete certainty (Yaqiin) that it was a reality, not just a fantasy.
  “…After living for ten years as a Suufii, Al-Ghazaali found that the religious experience was the only way of verifying a reality that lay beyond the reach of the human intellect and cerebral process…Suufiis thus found the essential truths of Islam for themselves by reliving its central experience.
  “Instead of being an external, objectified Being whose existence can be proved rationally, God is an all-enveloping Reality and the Ultimate existence which can not be perceived as we perceive the beings that depend upon (Him) and partake of (His) necessary existence: we have to cultivate a special mode of seeing.
  “Al-Ghazaali eventually returned to his teaching duties in Baghdad…
  “The Reality that we call `God’ lay outside the realm of sense perception and logical thought, so science and metaphysics could neither prove nor disprove the Wujuud of Allah.” (Karen Armstrong, A History of God, pp.219-221).

  ‘Tasawwuf’ – Eastern (Mystic) Tradition:Some Explanations:
  “Tasawwuf, Tariiqat, Suluuk, Ihsaan are different names conveying the same sense. The basic aim of Tasawwuf is not simply Zikr (remembrance or mention of Allah).. There are some people who take `Tasawwuf’ to embrace certain practices and spiritual healing .. We must understand it well that Tasawwuf has nothing to do with these things. We must also know that even Zikr is not the real objective of Tasawwuf though it is a means to the real objective.. To seclude .. in meditation, to shut.. up for forty days or to engage in extraordinary efforts.. are not the real objective of Tasawwuf but means and paths to it. “ Then what is the real objective of Tasawwuf ? “It is what is pointed out in this verse of the Quran:

  “ Indeed prosperous is he who purifies it (self)” 91-9

meaning purification of soul. This is what Allah has mentioned while describing the objective of the Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) mission:

   “And shall teach them
  the Book and the Wisdom,
  and shall purify them “ 2-129

  In the process of purification, “its technical meaning, in Shari’ah, is explained thus: There are certain apparent deeds which Allah has prescribed or forbidden... It is `Waajib’ (incumbent) to be grateful for the blessings of Allah, to show patience when faced with difficulty, to place reliance on Allah which is Tawakkal, to be humble and observe humility, to be sincere and to seek the pleasure of Allah in all one does, for no deed meets approval if it lacks sincerity. Thus gratitude, patience, Tawakkal, humility, sincerity, etc, are Fazaail – (Manners), developing of which is ‘Waajib’.
  “There are also certain evil qualities in one’s inner self which are unlawful and one must shun them. They are ‘Razaail’ - worthless or vile manners, meaning the low and base qualities. If these characteristics are found in the inner self, they are destroyed and eradicated so that they do not lead man to sin.. Arrogance, jealousy, hatred, ostentation and impatience are unlawful qualities, the last named implies displeasure on Divine Decree and to complain against it. Anger is also one of these qualities if used at the wrong time. In short, there are many ‘Fazaail’ (meritorious qualities) in the inner self which, it is necessary to develop. And there are many ‘Razaail’ (worthless qualities) that must be abandoned.” (Muhammad Taqi Usmani, “Reality of Tasawwuf”, Al-Balagh International, July 2003, p.13-14)