How can we have more control over our thoughts in this time of information overload and anxiety? Exercising mindfulness, or muraqabah, can help discipline our minds in order to handle the current situation and focus on our connection with Allah.
Introduction
In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful
Modern
life involves a daily bustle of noise, distraction, and information
overload. Our senses are constantly stimulated from every direction to
the point that a simple moment of quiet stillness seems impossible for
some of us. This continuous agitation hinders us from getting the most
out of each moment, subtracting from the quality of our prayers and our
ability to remember Allah.
We
all know that we need more presence in prayer, more control over our
wandering minds and desires. But what exactly can we do to achieve this?
How can we become more mindful in all aspects of our lives, spiritual
and temporal? That is where the practice of exercising mindfulness, in the Islamic context of muraqabah, can help train our minds to become more disciplined and can thereby enhance our regular worship and daily activities.
This article examines the virtues of mindfulness and silence in
the Islamic tradition. It properly conceptualizes meditation in Islam
and presents a practical exercise for daily mindfulness that can help us
cultivate muraqabah with Allah and our inner self.
The Virtue of Mindfulness
Mindfulness
linguistically is defined as “the quality or state of being conscious
or aware of something,” and more specifically, “A mental state achieved
by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly
acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily
sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.”[1] In the context of modern psychology, mindfulness is “a tool we can use to examine conceptual frameworks.”[2] By
watching closely how we think and feel, we gain the ability to alter
our conceptual frameworks, or thought patterns, for our own benefit.
When we are in a state of unmindfulness, we react to thoughts and
emotions in knee-jerk fashion and let them lead us wherever they wish.
By contrast, cultivating a state of mindfulness gives us the ability to
follow or not follow our thoughts as we choose.
Put differently, mindfulness is a form of metacognition (“awareness of one’s awareness”), a
self-awareness of what is really going on inside one’s mind and heart.
It is a phenomenon that has attracted the attention of psychologists and
health professionals, resulting in hundreds of scientific papers,
studies, and books on mindfulness every year. Cultivating mindfulness,
even in a non-religious or neutral context, has been demonstrated to
provide measurable health and wellness benefits.
According
to the American Psychological Association, numerous peer-reviewed
studies show that mindfulness practices (such as relaxation or
meditation) help to reduce stress, boost memory, enhance focus and
concentration, decrease emotional reactivity, and improve personal
relationships. Mindfulness practices also promote empathy and compassion
and are effectively used in clinical cognitive therapy.[3] The
burgeoning field of mindfulness, in science and spiritual practice, is
an exciting development that deserves critical investigation.
In the Islamic context, mindfulness is the virtue of muraqabah, a word which is derived from the root meaning “to watch, observe, regard attentively.”[4] Already we can see the close etymological and linguistic proximity between “mindfulness” and muraqabah.
As a technical spiritual term, it is defined as “the constant knowledge
of the servant and conviction in the supervision of the Truth, glory be
to Him, over one’s outward and inward states.”[5]
That is, a Muslim in a state of muraqabah is
in continuous full knowledge that Allah is Aware of him or her,
inwardly and outwardly. It is a complete state of vigilant
self-awareness in one’s relationship with Allah in heart, mind, and
body. The basis of muraqabah is
our knowledge that Allah is always watching us at all times and, as a
consequence, we develop greater attention and care for our own actions,
thoughts, feelings, and inner states of being. As Allah said, “Remember
that God knows what is in your souls, so be mindful of Him.”[6]
Ibn Al-Qayyim and Al-Ghazali both have chapters in their books about the merits and realities of muraqabah.[7] And it is not simply a recommended character trait, but rather it is the realization of the supreme character trait, spiritual excellence (al-ihsan). As the Prophet ﷺ defined in the famous hadith of Gabriel, spiritual excellence “is to worship Allah as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him, He certainly sees you.”[8] In
other words, spiritual excellence is to be completely aware and mindful
of Allah at all times—the very peak of faith. According to Sheikh
Al-Tuwayjiri,
Spiritual excellence is the essence of faith, its spirit, and its perfection by perfecting presence (al-hudur) with Allah Almighty, and mindfulness of Him (muraqabatihi), encompassing fear of Him, love of Him, knowledge of Him, turning to Him, and sincerity to Him.[9]
The fruit of muraqabah,
aside from the reward of eternal Paradise in the Hereafter, is a state
of tranquil calm leading to contentment in this life, “The means leading
to stillness (al-sakinah) are produced by the servant’s acquisition of muraqabah for
his Lord, glorious and exalted is He, to the point that it is as if he
can see Him.” All positive spiritual and mental states derive from it,
“for muraqabah is the foundation of all the deeds of the heart.”[10]
Muraqabah is
actually the fulfillment of worshiping Allah according to a proper
understanding of the beautiful names that convey His perfect knowledge.
Ibn Al-Qayyim concludes his chapter on muraqabah, writing,
Muraqabah is to be devoted to the names of the Watcher (Al-Raqib), the Guardian (Al-Hafith), the Knowing (Al-‘Alim), the Hearing (Al-Sami’), the Seeing (Al-Basir). Thus, whoever understands these names and is devoted to fulfilling them will acquire muraqabah.[11]
Muraqabah necessarily includes mindfulness of one’s own intentions, thoughts, emotions, and other inner states. Al-Murta’ish said, “Muraqabah is observation of one’s innermost being (al-sirr), to be aware of the hidden with every moment and utterance.”[12] In
every word we speak and in every thought that we choose to pursue, we
should be aware of our thought patterns and emotional states in order to
react to our inner experiences in the best manner. As put by Ibn
al-Qayyim, maintenance of inward muraqabah is “by guarding thoughts, intentions, and inward movements… This is the reality of the pure heart (al-qalb al-salim), by which no one is saved but by coming to Allah with it. This itself is the reality of the inner refinement (tajrid) of the righteous, the devoted, and the God-conscious. Every inner refinement besides this is deficient.”[13]
To summarize, according to Sheikh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, muraqabah is realized in four aspects:
1. Knowledge of Allah Almighty.
2. Knowledge of the enemy of Allah, Iblis (Satan).
3. Knowledge of your soul’s capacity to suggest evil.
4. Knowledge of deeds to be done for the sake of Allah.[14]
It is this third aspect—awareness of one’s own heart and mind—that
exercising mindfulness within an Islamic framework can help us achieve,
“To know which things characterize (the self), what it wants, what it
calls to, and what it commands.”[15] This
type of exercise is a method of training the mind to identify the way
thoughts and feelings behave inside us, with the aim of exerting more
control over them and thereby enriching our mental and spiritual
well-being.
Non-religious
or neutral mindfulness practices advocated by therapeutic psychologists
focus on this third aspect, without grounding it in a theological
worldview, to give it a wider appeal to the diversity of their patient
populations and to pluralistic society at large. Sometimes these are
practices that originated in Buddhist or Hindu traditions but have been
secularized from their religious ontological premises. This
non-religious approach, by itself, still produces health and wellness
benefits in people’s lives.
It
will sharpen the mind, no doubt, but the mind is a tool that can be
used for good and evil. Neutral mindfulness practices can be potentially
utilized for evil by people ungrounded in an ethical worldview. Mental
clarity gained from mindfulness may be used by a predator aiming to
deceive or harm others. Of course, such would be an abuse of
mindfulness; all the more reason to approach the topic critically
according to Islam’s guidance.
For
Muslims, mindfulness of the inner life is simply one aspect—albeit a
critical and often neglected one—within the greater framework of muraqabah.
Altogether, Islamic mindfulness involves a comprehensive awareness of
the basics of Islamic creed, law, ethics, and of one’s own subtle
psychological make-up.
To begin putting these insights into practice, we still need to know why it is so important to learn to enjoy simply being present in silence, without distraction or noise from the world, our own words, or our inner monologues.
The Virtue of Silence and Seclusion
The famous proverb says, “Silence is golden.”[16] The righteous predecessors understood that silence (al-samt)
was the preferred default state of being, according to the saying of
the Prophet ﷺ, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him
speak goodness or remain silent.”[17] Whatever
words come out of our mouth should be true and beneficial; otherwise we
should remain quiet. If we have nothing good to say, we should not say
anything at all. Certainly, there are times when we definitely should
speak up, to support a good cause or to oppose an evil deed. The Prophet
ﷺ said, “May Allah have mercy on a person who spoke rightly and was
rewarded, or who was quiet and remained safe.”[18] Speech
that is neutral, neither benefitting nor harming, is still permissible,
but for spiritual and moral reasons it is better to become accustomed
to silence.
Silence
has an important effect on our hearts and character, because a habit of
bad or frivolous speech results in an impure heart. The Prophet ﷺ said,
“The faith of a servant is not upright until his heart is upright, and
his heart is not upright until his tongue is upright.”[19] The
heart and tongue are inextricably linked, so to guard our speech is to
also guard our hearts. Towards this end, learning to not just tolerate,
but enjoy, silence is an aspect of positive character development.
The Prophet ﷺ said to Abu Dharr (ra), “You must have good character and observe long periods of silence (tuli al-samt). By the one in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no one can behave with deeds more beloved to Allah than these two.”[20] Silence
is also a means to help us defeat the devil and his satanic whisperings
which come in the form of evil thoughts. The Prophet ﷺ said, “You must
observe long periods of silence, for it will drive away Satan and help
you in the matter of your religion.”[21] And Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri (ra) said, “You must be silent except in the truth, for by it you will defeat Satan.”[22]
Moreover,
silent reflection is the sign of a wise person, with the Prophet ﷺ as
the leading example. Simak said to Jabir ibn Samrah (ra), “Have you sat
with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” Jabir said, “Yes, he would observe
silence for long periods of time and laugh little.”[23] Abu
al-Darda’ (ra) said, “Silence is a form of wisdom, yet few people
practice it.” Wahb ibn Munabbih said, “The doctors agreed that the head
of medicine is diet, and the wise ones agreed that the head of wisdom is
silence.”[24]
Silence of this nature is a skill to be acquired, as Abu al-Dhayyal said, “Learn to be silent.”[25] Developing
a talent and love for silence is likewise an integral part of enhancing
our prayers and acts of worship. Sufyan al-Thawri said, “It is said
that observing long periods of silence is the key to worship.”[26] Our practice of silent mindfulness will necessarily lead to the enhancement of our prayers and other acts of worship.
Silence is related to muraqabah in that observing silence in seclusion for a regular period of time cultivates presence, the mind’s quiet awareness of here and now. Abu Bakr al-Farisi was asked about the silence of one’s innermost being (samt al-sirr) and he said, “It is to abandon preoccupation with the past and the future.”[27] When in silent reflection or mindfulness exercise, we have time to simply be present in the moment without worrying about what is past or future or elsewhere in creation.
It is an opportunity to nourish presence before Allah (al-hudur),
the same type of presence that we are required to have in ritual
prayer. Certainly there is an appropriate time to think about the past
or the future—to learn from our mistakes, to plan action, to live daily
life, to reflect on our fate. The point of learning to be present in
silence is to limit our thoughts on the past or future only to what is
necessary and beneficial.
Seclusion
for worship is the close companion of silence; they go hand-in-hand.
Those who make a regular habit of quietly worshiping and remembering
Allah alone are among the most rewarded in the Hereafter. The Prophet ﷺ
said, “Those in seclusion (al-mufarridun)
have raced ahead.” They said, “O Messenger of Allah, who are those in
seclusion?” The Prophet said, “They are men and women who remember Allah
often.”[28]
Al-Munawi explains this hadith,
saying, “Those in seclusion are those who seek solitude and they
withdraw from people to be alone and free to worship, as if one sets
himself apart to be devoted to Allah.”[29] Seclusion,
properly practiced, is ultimately a cure for bad feelings in the heart,
as Ibn al-Qayyim said, “In the heart are disorders that cannot be
remedied but by responding to Allah, in it is a desolate feeling that
cannot be removed but by intimacy with Him in solitude (khalwah).”[30]
Imagine for a moment how much better our life situation would be if we could sit silently alone in our room, content with simply being in front of Allah.
No need for smartphones, or games, or television, or electronics, or
addictions, or distractions. Would you be calmer, happier, and more
satisfied? Blaise Pascal, the French theologian and scientist, remarked,
I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber. A man who has enough to live on, if he knew how to stay with pleasure at home, would not leave it to go to sea or to besiege a town.[31]
Indeed,
were every person disciplined enough to enjoy the inner life without an
incessant desire for external stimulation, the world would be a much
better place for us all.
Therefore,
how can we learn to enjoy silence and thereby increase our mindfulness
of Allah and our own inner states of being? Islam has a profound, and
perhaps forgotten, tradition of meditation designed to help us do so.
Meditation in Islam
Meditation
is defined as “continued or extended thought, reflection… devout
religious contemplation or spiritual introspection,” being derived from
the Latin meditatio (“thinking over”).[32] As
a general term, meditation linguistically refers to any and all
deliberate and directed mental activities. In therapeutic or spiritual
practice, different kinds of meditation have been scientifically proven
to achieve mindfulness and its associated wellness in everyday life.
According to the Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology, “Meditation, regardless of the particular form, is engaged to lead to post-meditative mindfulness.”[33] Meditation
can be done in many ways and for many purposes. For some, it is simply a
means of calming relaxation and stress relief, a way of slowing down
their thoughts. Others meditate by intensely contemplating an idea or
focusing their attention on God or something else.
Some
Muslims are understandably hesitant or skeptical about the word
“meditation,” because there are so many different types of meditation,
some of which are specifically associated with religious beliefs and
practices that contradict Islam. The fact of the matter, however, is
that our righteous predecessors practiced several forms of meditation,
in the purely linguistic sense of the word, and through these
meditations they achieved advanced spiritual states and enhanced their
acts of worship, prayer, and remembrance.
The
key to reviving their practices is to examine closely how they
conceptualized meditation and to emulate their practices within the
framework of Islamic creed, worship, ethics, and etiquette. We can even
incorporate modern insights from psychology and mindfulness
practitioners as long as we remain grounded in Islamic tradition, as the
Prophet ﷺ said, “Wisdom is the lost property of the believer, so
wherever he finds it then he has a right to it.”[34]
Ritual prayer (salah)
in modern times has been enhanced and aided by audio equipment, while
in the classical period the science of architecture was utilized to
enhance and aid the acoustics of reciting the Qur’an. None of these are
blameworthy religious innovations (bid’ah)
because they do nothing to alter Islamic creed, worship, or ethics. In a
similar manner, modern insights into mindfulness, and specifically
mindfulness exercises, can be helpful tools to enhance prayer and
spirituality.
Ibn
Al-Qayyim has provided one of the best and most concise explanations of
the many meanings of “meditation” in Islam. He states that an integral
part of our preparation for the Hereafter is by “reflecting (tafakkur), remembering (tadhakkur), examining (nathr), meditating (ta’amul), contemplating (i’tibar), deliberating (tadabbur), and pondering (istibsar).”
Each of these words represents different shades of mental activity that
can be considered forms of meditation. There is considerable overlap in
meaning among all of them, but there are subtle differences as well. Ibn Al-Qayyim continues:
It is called ‘reflection’ because in that is the utilization of thought and its procurement during it. It is called ‘remembrance’ because it is the fetching of knowledge which must be considered after being distracted or absent from it… It is called ‘meditation’ because it is repeatedly examining again and again until it becomes evident and uncovered in one’s heart. It is called ‘contemplation’—taking lessons—because one takes a lesson from it to apply elsewhere… It is called ‘deliberation’ because it is examining the conclusion of matters, their endings and consequences, and deliberating on them.[35]
All
of these types of Islamic meditation involve some form of remembering
or awareness of Allah, the purpose of which is to purify the heart of
evil feelings and the mind from evil thoughts. Every human soul is like a
mirror that is polished by mindfulness or tarnished by unmindfulness.
Al-Ghazali writes:
The heart is in the position of a mirror that is surrounded by influential matters and these traits proceed to the heart. As for praiseworthy traits that we have mentioned, they will polish the mirror of the heart and increase it in brilliance, light, and radiance until the clarity of truth shines from within it and the reality of the matter sought in religion is unveiled.[36]
By cultivating the remembrance and muraqabah of
Allah through various mental exercises and activities, we effectively
“polish” our hearts and unveil the virtuous nature of the soul (al-nafs al-rabbaniyyah), which is the pure spiritual state that Allah has created us to dwell in.[37] Abu al-Darda (ra) said, “Verily, everything has a polish and the polish of the heart is the remembrance of Allah Almighty.”[38] And Ibn al-Qayyim writes,
The heart is tarnished by two matters: unmindfulness (al-ghaflah) and sin. And it is polished by two matters: seeking forgiveness and the remembrance of Allah.[39]
For
example, reflecting upon the blessings of Allah is an excellent act of
worship and mental activity (meditation) that produces gratitude in the
heart and expels ingratitude from it. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz said,
“Speaking in remembrance of Allah Almighty is good, and thinking
about the blessings of Allah is the best act of worship.”[40] Remembering
Allah with outward words is a virtue, to be sure, but thinking of our
blessings is even better because it necessarily occurs inwardly; we are
not always fully mindful of the audible words we speak, even when they
are good words.
In
addition, thinking about the Hereafter in a balanced and informed
manner ought to lead to positive psychological outcomes, contentment
with one’s place in the world and rejection of materialism. Abu Sulaiman
said,
Thought upon the world is a veil over the Hereafter and a punishment for people. Thought upon the Hereafter produces wisdom and life in the heart. Whoever looks to the world as his protector will come to accept its delusions.[41]
On
the other hand, thinking about the world and its displeasures more
often than is necessary will lead to unhappiness and an impure heart.
A
person cannot think about Allah and the world at the same time; it is
one or the other. Too much unnecessary thought upon the world weakens
our overall mindfulness, particularly by diminishing the hope in Allah
that encourages us to do good deeds and the fear of Allah that compels
us to avoid sins. Al-Nasrabadhi said, “Hope motivates you to acts of
obedience and fear distances you from acts of disobedience, and muraqabah leads to pathways of truth.”[42] Accordingly,
we should make a quiet time for reflection upon Allah and the Hereafter
every day, as a means of increasing our mindfulness of His presence,
gratitude for His many favors, and to prepare for the life to come.
Reading the Qur’an itself, which has been named “the Remembrance” (Al-Dhikr),
is one of the most powerful and rewarding forms of meditation, as Allah
said, “This is a blessed Scripture, which We have sent down to you, so
that people may think about its messages and those with understanding
take heed.”[43]
Al-Ghazali recommends for us to engage in four distinct daily spiritual practices (al-watha’if al-arba’ah): supplication (dua’), remembrance (dhikr), recitation of the Qur’an (qira’at), and contemplation (fikr).[44] The
variety of these acts of worship will prevent a worshiper from becoming
too bored with a single act, while also nourishing the heart and mind
in different and complementary ways. Just as a balanced diet relies on
different food groups for nutrition, a balanced spiritual life depends
upon different acts of worship and meditations for complete sustenance.
One
of the spiritual practices described by Al-Ghazali is quite similar to
modern mindfulness practices but within an Islamic theological
worldview. For him, it was simply another form of dhikr.
The worshiper should sit in seclusion, empty their heart of all
concerns, and “not scatter his thoughts with the recitation of the
Qur’an, nor pondering over its explanation, nor with books of hadith,
nor anything else; rather, he strives to let no thought enter his mind
besides Allah the Exalted.” The worshiper does so to instill “presence
of the heart” until “his heart is diligent in remembrance.”
Consequently, Al-Ghazali continues:
If his intentions are true, his concerns are in order, and his diligence is improved, then he will not gravitate to his base desires and will not be preoccupied with idle thoughts related to the world. The reality of the Truth will shine in his heart.[45]
Each
form of Islamic meditation has its place and function, and often they
overlap and blend together. For the purposes of attaining mindful
self-awareness, as discussed, we are interested in the act of inward ta’amul,
to continuously examine and observe our inner life in silent seclusion
until the realities of our mental and emotional states (“conceptual
frameworks”) become clear to us. This is a specific technique for
cultivating awareness of our inner states, to notice our thoughts
bubbling to the surface at their very inception rather than being taken
away on a train of thought before we even know what happened.
To
become more mindful of what is happening within us, we need to
understand how our thoughts progress through stages into actions.
According to Al-Suyuti, the first stage of a thought is al-hajis,
a sudden and fleeting thought that comes and goes before one can
consider it. We may not even notice it was there at all. The second
stage is al-khatir,
a thought that we give attention and consideration. At this stage we
have a choice to continue down this train of thought or to ignore it.
The third stage is hadith al-nafs,
our inner dialogue or “talking of the self” as we pursue the thought
and seriously consider acting upon it. The final stages are al-ham and al-‘azm, the decision and determination to put the thought into action.[46] Of
course, when thoughts are good, we can and should pursue them. The
trouble comes from bad thoughts. How do we learn to ignore them,
especially when they feel at times so powerful and overwhelming?
Mindfulness
exercise in this context is not about suppressing thoughts, but rather
simply becoming aware of them and learning to let them pass. As we
become more cognizant of our thoughts, we begin to perceive a distance
between ourselves and our thoughts. We disassociate and disidentify
ourselves from our thoughts; our involuntary thoughts are just
“happenings” (hadath) and do not necessarily reflect who we are. Initial thoughts (al-hajis) can originate involuntarily from the self, as Allah said, “We created man—We know what his soul whispers to him.”[47] Thoughts also originate from an external source, the whisperings (al-waswasah) of a devil or an angel. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Verily, Satan has influence with the son of Adam and the angel has influence. As for the influence of Satan, he promises evil and denies the truth. As for the influence of the angel, he promises goodness and affirms the truth. Whoever finds this goodness, let him know that it is from Allah and let him praise Allah. Whoever finds something else, let him seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.[48]
Then
the Prophet ﷺ recited the verse, “Satan threatens you with the prospect
of poverty and commands you to do foul deeds; God promises you His
forgiveness and abundance.”[49] No
matter where thoughts originate, involuntarily from the subconscious
self or externally from angelic or satanic suggestions, mindfulness
teaches us to better perceive the zone between us and thoughts as they
happen and before they progress into voluntary, conscious thoughts.
We
are not bad people for having bad thoughts; we all have bad thoughts no
matter how righteous we are. It is harmful and counterproductive to
burden ourselves with guilt because we experience bad thoughts. The
Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Allah has pardoned my nation for their bad
thoughts within themselves as long as they do not speak of them or act
upon them.”[50] We
are only held accountable for our thoughts if we consciously choose to
act upon them. By training ourselves to become more aware of thoughts,
this gives us some space between ourselves and our thoughts so that we
have time to react properly, to ignore what is bad and to pursue what is
good.
Consider
bad thoughts from Satan or your ego as if they were a dog who is
ultimately under the control of Allah. Ibn Taymiyyah said, “If the
shepherd’s dog troubles you, do not busy yourself warring and defending
against it. You must appeal to the shepherd to direct the dog away from
you.”[51] Do
not try to combat evil thoughts by engaging them or trying to suppress
them. Instead, turn your attention back to mindfulness and remembrance,
as Allah said, “If Satan should prompt you to do something, seek refuge
with God.”[52] This is why exerting great effort to suppress a bad thought—and thereby giving it
more attention than it deserves—often ends up backfiring and making
things worse. We end up talking to ourselves about the evil thought
(“I’m so bad for thinking that!” “I shouldn’t think like that!”) which
then feeds right back into it and gives it oxygen to keep it alive.
For
another point of view, consider your mind as if it were a still pond
and your thoughts are ripples and waves in this pond. We cultivate
mindfulness by becoming aware of the ripples and learning to ignore them
or engage them at will. A bad thought is like a ripple in a pond. If
you touch it, or engage it, it only makes the waves stronger. You cannot
beat back the waves with a club; you must learn to let them float away.
Through silent mindfulness exercise, we let the waves and ripples
simply dissipate. Notice them, acknowledge them, and let them pass on
their own as you direct yourself back towards muraqabah with Allah. This is the practice of mindfulness exercise, in a nutshell.
Mindfulness
exercise is not about experiencing spiritual ecstasy, even though
sometimes the practice leads to pleasurable feelings. Many people
attempt to meditate or engage in mindfulness practices only because they
want to feel a spiritual high, but the feeling is not the point. It is
about practice—training (riyadah)—in
the same way we exercise our bodies; sometimes exercise feels good, an
added bonus for sure, but the main purpose is to accumulate health and
strength. Similarly, mindfulness exercise is a means of accumulating
mental strength and, in conjunction with an Islamic framework, spiritual
strength.
Mindfulness
exercise is not about supplanting our regular primary acts of worship
either. Among other benefits, it functions as a type of preparation for
the main acts of worship, similar to how some Muslims prepare for
Ramadan by eating less on non-fasting days.[53] Think of mindfulness exercise like basketball practice and ritual prayer (salah) like the basketball game; we strengthen our muraqabah through exercise and practice so that when we put muraqabah into action, in salah, we are in top mental and spiritual shape. The salah is the performance, the mindfulness exercise is the rehearsal.
In
the following section, we present an easy way to practice daily
mindfulness exercise in an Islamic context. To be sure, there is no
specific prescribed method of mindfulness exercise in Islam like there
is for the daily ritual prayers. This exercise is a voluntary activity
that complements the obligatory acts of worship, although it
incorporates acts of worship including remembrances (dhikr) and supplications (dua’).
Regular practitioners will find that they can build upon their
exercise, to adapt and customize it to their particular preferences, in
the same way individuals can use common fitness principles to design
their own personal routine in the gym. Every human soul and situation is
different—there is no one-size-fits-all way to engage in mindfulness
exercise—so each person has to discover what works best for them.
Mindfulness Exercise in Islam
To begin, choose a time of the day when you can be in a quiet place alone. Some Muslims prefer the time before the dawn prayer (fajr)
or another prayer, before or after work, at lunch break, or even before
bed. A quick exercise right before prayer is particularly beneficial as
mental preparation for prayer. It is good to pick a regular time for
daily exercise, but it can be done at any time of the day to suit your
schedule. It can also be done for as long as you want, an hour or even
five minutes a day. Beginners who want to advance their practice should
commit to at least five minutes every day, to solidify it as a long-term
habit, and gradually increase it over time as they see fit. As you
begin to see the cumulative positive effects of the practice, and learn
to enjoy silence and stillness and simply being present, you may
eventually want to do the exercise for longer.
Next,
choose a posture that you find comfortable. You can sit up in a chair,
on a comfy cushion, or even laying on your side or back in bed, as Allah
praises those “who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down.”[54] The
aim is to find a posture that is relaxing and comfortable, but
not so relaxing that you will fall asleep. As a side note, meditative
remembrance of Allah in another context—when laying down for sleep—can
help ease us into sleep. Ibn Al-Qayyim writes, “The Prophet ﷺ would
sleep when it was warranted, upon his right side and remembering Allah
until sleep overtook his eyes.”[55]
Now,
begin by focusing awareness on your natural breathing. Progressively
relax the muscle tension throughout your body: your arms, your legs,
your core, your jaw. You can close your eyes or simply lower them. As
you start with relaxed breathing, feel for a sense of your state of
heart and mind in this moment. What are you feeling? What are you
thinking? Is your mind racing or calm? Try to settle your mind by
bringing awareness to your natural, relaxed breathing, simply feeling
the life and energy Allah gave you throughout your body. Feel a deep
sense of gratitude to Allah for your breath, your living and being in
this moment.
As you settle into stillness within your inner space, begin to perceive the feeling of muraqabah with Allah. Know and feel that He is watching you, “He is with you wherever you are.”[56] He knows everything going on inside you right now and at all times. Focus on the feeling of muraqabah in this state of inner silence (samt al-sirr). Try to stop talking to yourself (hadith al-nafs)
or pursuing trains of thought. Silence your inner dialogue as much as
you can and simply focus on being present with Allah in the moment.
When
your mind starts to wander off—and it surely will—you want to bring
your awareness back to the center of your being, and to your presence in
this moment before Allah, by quietly reciting remembrances of Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ would use supplications to bring him back into a state of muraqabah if
he had become distracted. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, at times there
is fog over my heart, so I seek the forgiveness of Allah one hundred
times in a day.”[57]
Al-Nawawi explains this hadith,
saying, “It is said that it means he had periods of inattention and
unawareness of the remembrance of Allah, which was his normal state of
affairs. When he had a period of inattention, he would consider that a
sin and seek forgiveness for it.”[58] Even
the Prophet ﷺ would sometimes experience short periods of
forgetfulness, so he would seek the forgiveness of Allah (he would say “astaghfirullah”) as a way to bring himself back into the state of muraqabah. If that was his condition, then how much more can we expect our own minds to wander?
In this exercise, the supplication or remembrance acts as an “anchor” for your muraqabah.
An anchor is a phrase that you say inwardly when your mind wanders,
which helps bring your mind back to the center of being and awareness.
It is not necessarily an object of intensely focused concentration,
repeated over and over again. Rather, it is a calming phrase that your
mind will come to associate with the state of muraqabah, both inside and outside of the exercise.
It is best to pick an anchor from one of the numerous authentic supplications in the Sunnah, “Two words are beloved to the Most Merciful, light on the tongue but heavy on the scale: Glory and praise to Allah (subhan Allahi wa bi hamdih), and glory to Allah Almighty (subhan Allahi al-‘Athim).”[59] And again, “The best remembrance is to declare there is no God but Allah (la ilhaha illa Allah), and the best supplication is to declare all praise is due to Allah (al-hamdulillah).”[60] Seeking the forgiveness of Allah (al-istighfar)
was one of the Prophet’s ﷺ anchors, so nothing could be better. Your
anchor could also be just one of the beautiful names of Allah that
elicit remembrance and awareness in your heart, or you could use all of
the above in combination.
As
you are present in this moment before Allah, the mind will wander off
again and again into unmindfulness and distraction due to emerging
thoughts. That is okay, there is nothing wrong with that; in fact, it is
completely normal. But every time you use your anchor (remembrance or
supplication) to come back into a state of muraqabah, it
is like doing a mental push-up or a sit-up. Through continued practice
you will strengthen your mental and spiritual muscles. Do not blame or
censure yourself when your mind wanders off, just bring it gently back
to silent awareness with your anchor. This is the act of ta’amul, repeatedly bringing yourself back into the state of muraqabah, with Allah and with your inner self, until it becomes a natural and comfortable habit to be in this state.
Sometimes
our minds race and race during the exercise, wandering off again and
again until we feel that we have not achieved anything from our
exercise. That would be a mistaken notion. The best mindfulness exercise
session is the one you completed, period. No matter how long your mind
spent in unmindfulness, every time you brought it back to muraqabah it
became stronger and stronger. And every time you mentioned the name of
Allah inside you or silently nurtured gratitude for His giving you life
and energy and breath, it was written down by angels in the record of
your good deeds and it polished away some of the rusted spots over your
heart.
Fruits of Mindfulness Exercise
If
you make this simple practice a regular habit, you will see positive
results that accumulate over time. You will notice that having presence
in prayer becomes easier and more natural than before. You will be able
to better relieve stress and attain calming relaxation, better focus
your attention when needed, have an easier time dealing with life’s
difficult moments, and experience more compassion with others. Your
anchor (remembrance or supplication) in the exercise can be used at any
time to bring you back into a state of muraqabah,
wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Of course, while the
practice of mindfulness exercise will become pleasurable, we
should never emphasize it to the neglect of other excellent acts of worship like voluntary prayers, fasting, or reciting the Qur’an.
One of the most important results of the practice will be
in the way we gain a measure of control over our thoughts and emotions.
As we have been noticing thoughts appear at their inception during our
exercise, at other times we will more easily notice bad thoughts as they
emerge. This gives us a space of time to react to them before we start
following a bad train of thought and acting on it without even realizing
what happened. We can now view bad thoughts as ripples in a pond, bound
to dissipate as long as we are aware of them when they bubble up from
the subconscious mind (or from Satan) and let them pass without engaging
them or talking to ourselves about them. When we have good thoughts, we
will be quicker to notice them and therefore nurture them as we wish.
We do not want to disassociate ourselves from thoughts altogether, as is
taught by some mindfulness practitioners, but rather only to better
direct thoughts as we choose.
A
similar mechanism applies to feelings and emotions as well. As we
become accustomed to noticing subtle internal changes, we become more
aware of the distance between a feeling and a reaction to it. For
example, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not get angry.”[61] But
we all inevitably feel angry and have angry thoughts at some point. As
Ibn Hajar explains, scholars have said the meaning of the hadith is “to avoid the causes of anger and do not expose yourself to what incites it… do not act upon what anger commands you.”[62] As
we become more aware of our feelings, we become more aware of our
negative triggers in order to avoid them, as well as putting a buffer
zone between us and our feelings that gives us time to react in the
right manner, such as remembering to seek refuge in Allah when angry
instead of reflexively shouting at others or doing something rash that
we will regret later.
Furthermore,
we will inevitably experience desires and urges to commit sins. This is
part of the trials of life. When we cultivate muraqabah,
we can be aware of such desires as they begin to germinate. We can
acknowledge them without guilt; they are natural and unavoidable. Having
bad desires does not make us bad people. But
the more mindful we become of our inner states, the better we will
become at disassociating ourselves from our lower desires and instead
acting upon our virtuous, higher desires. The habit of referring back to
our anchor (remembrance or supplication) gives us just enough breathing
room to confidently say “no” to the self’s or the devil’s evil
suggestions.
Conclusion
Mindfulness in Islam (al-muraqabah)
is a conscious state of comprehensive awareness of Allah and our inner
states in relation to Him. In its complete form, it is the highest
spiritual state attainable—the perfect realization of excellence in
faith (al-ihsan).
Modern science has demonstrated the efficacy of mindfulness exercises
in procuring a number of health and wellness benefits, even in a
non-religious context. These insights can be critically synthesized with
Islam’s traditional concepts of meditation to produce practical
contemporary techniques that cultivate Islamic mindfulness, enhance
worship, and enrich our quality of life.
Success comes from Allah, and Allah knows best.
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