“Religion involves relationship, service, and worship of God but spirituality involves a relationship with nature and the universe that ultimately leads to God. Spirituality involves your exposure to your religion and God, and having your own experience.” đź“ż
Spirituality in Islam: How Is It Different From Religion and How Do We Become More Spiritual?
“Religion involves relationship, service, and worship of God but spirituality involves a relationship with nature and the universe that ultimately leads to God. Spirituality involves your exposure to your religion and God, and having your own experience.” đź“ż
Spirituality means the quality or state of being attached to questions and values related to religion. Spirituality in Islam is defined as a relationship with Allah that affects an individual’s daily life. The study of spirituality is nothing more than tracing the pathway of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammed.
Major Aspects
Some of the major aspects of spirituality include:Â
- Purification of soulÂ
- Remembrance of Allah
- Prayer to AllahÂ
Certain aspects also involve love, compassion, altruism, and wisdom.Â
Difference Between Religion and Spirituality
Religion involves relationship, service, and worship of God but spirituality involves a relationship with nature and the universe that ultimately leads to God. Spirituality involves your exposure to your religion and God, and having your own experience. On the other hand, religion consists in believing in experience.
Spirituality is not any ideology or theology, it comes from your own soul. Spirituality is always universal but religion is a perspective. Spirituality is a network that connects us with the whole universe and most supreme power, the one and only one Allah Almighty.
Concept of Walliullah
Walli means someone who loves truth and is helpful to others – basically, a walli is defined as a “friend of Allah”.
They live their lives for Allah and their hearts are like clean mirrors reflecting back the reality of life. In the Holy Quran they are described as:Â
“Behold! Verily on friends of ALLAH, there is no fear, nor shall they grieve.”(10:62)Â
Walliullah are the people who are spiritual and they have close connections with Allah Almighty along with special characteristics such as faith, piety, and obedience.
Spiritual Practices
Spiritual practices involve love and knowledge of God – which is the ultimate goal of creation. It also involves your behaviour, attitude, and interaction with other people.
For every religion, spiritual practices are unique. According to Islam, spiritual practices involve prayers, connection with nature, sincerity, and repentance.
Ways of Attaining Spirituality
Remembrance of Allah
Remembrance of Allah Almighty protects us from sins, helps us to soften our hearts, and know the purpose and objective of life. In the Holy Quran it is stated:Â
“I did not create jinns and mankind except to worship Me” (51:56)
Visiting Graves
It is also a kind of act to remember Allah Almighty and to accept the reality of life and death. It helps us to think deeply about this purposeless and fake life and the main objective of human creation.
Repentance
To err is human. Nobody is complete and perfect except Allah Almighty.
Ask Allah for forgiveness and His mercy, ask him to replace the hardness of our heart with softness, and ask to replace your sins with forgiveness. Beg from Allah to turn your bad deeds into good ones.Â
Connecting with Quran
The Holy Quran is a blessing. Muslims should always approach the Quran and they must build a deeper and stronger connection with the Quran.
By learning the true meaning of Quranic verses and applying them in their daily lives, Muslims can gain success if they get captivated by the powerful words of the Creator of nature.
Reflecting on Creations
Allah Almighty is the owner of this whole world. Everything in this universe tells us about our Creator.
We should continually move our lips in gratitude for Allah by saying “ALLHAMDULILAH”.
Dua and Dhikr
They are also forms of direct communication with Allah. This can be felt in your heart.
Allah remembers those who remember him and responds to those who call upon him.Â
Particular Objectives
Every prayer should have an objective so that we come out more purer than before. There must be a unique purpose behind every prayer and we should beg for Allah Almighty to turn our desires into realities.
Life is a test for everyone with different circumstances but the main goal and purpose for everybody remains the same – which is to worship Allah in the manner He deserves to be worshipped.
Allah Almighty is very kind and merciful. He loves us when we go back to Him with sincerity and the burdens of our sins and hopes of having them obliterated and being forgiven by Allah who has created us and blessed us.
