Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
11. The Concept of Spirituality in Islam
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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.” (3:191)
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 word 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 is based in Islam on two things,
at-tafakkur wat-tadabbur
(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
