Understanding the spirituality of Islam

By Wazir Sourjah and Surya Vishwa 

‘Wellbeing and the Worshipper,’ authored by Dr. Mohamed Safiullah Munsoor, PhD (UK), PhD (Malaysia) is a must read by all spiritually inclined persons in general and Muslims belonging to all the sects of Islam in particular. It provides non-Muslims readers with an in-depth immersion into the spiritual aspects of Islam, which is not apparent when one reads general books on Islam. 

The book published by Springer Switzerland released in May 2021 is available for purchase on the Amazon and other major book stores around the world. The book is a result of empirical research carried out by the author over several years and provides a graphic insight into the workings of an Islamic Spiritual Order – The Naqshabandiyyah Khalidiyyah in Malaysia. 

This Order has similar roots to most Naqshbanddi tariqas, starting with the Prophet (pbuh) at the helm, with its silsila (chain) coming through Abu Baker Siddique (r.a), Salman al Faris (r.a) through several generations to Sheikh Khalid Al-Baghdadi. This Order is similar to the Naqshbanddi Haqqani in its ‘Silsila’ (chain of lineage), and then branching off to four other splinters of tariqas. 

This chain then converges again culminating in Sheikh Sulaiman Al-Zuhdi through to Sheikh Abdul Wahab Rokan (Indonesia) with two other Sheikhs in-between to the current Sheikh Dr. Jahid Sidek. 

The author relates and interprets spirituality in the contemporary technologically developed state of affairs with particular regard to neuroscience and consciousness and takes great effort to present the interconnection sighting various authorities in the past, research studies into contemplative practices in its numerous forms to interviews and observations in the chosen Tariqa (spiritual order). The book comprises seven chapters.

Introduction

The introductory chapter opens, “Life has never been more comfortable for a sizeable part of the global population, with technological advances infiltrating every facet of our lives. Notwithstanding this, poverty remains a chronic issue, as do greater levels of anxiety, depression and substance abuse, with accompanying negative impacts on the general sense of wellbeing. This trend seems to transcend geographic, cultural and religious boundaries, affecting mankind irrespective of faith or orientation”. 

The author in the light of the above statement goes on to pose some pertinent questions affecting humans and human activity/ “What ails society? Why are people not content with their lives? Why are they not striving to achieve a sense of wellbeing? Why are individuals turning to external dependencies to sustain their lives, with obvious related costs and side effects? 

Is this connected to their way of life and their psychology in terms of their attitude? Is it to do with the way they understand their faiths through their belief systems? Or is it not having any religious or spiritual orientation?

The answers to these questions are gradually unravelled to the reader and the underlying reasons and causes, especially from an Islamic perspective. Comparisons are made where appropriate from other faiths and presented to make a strong case for Muslims to read and understand the reality of the “inner aspects” of worship and unity in the Divine objectives and goals. From the Islamic perspective this is despite variety in the means, as long as they confine within the parameters of the Quranic revelations, Prophetic traditions and the Sunnah.

Conceptual Framework for Worship (Ibadah)

The chapter details key concepts such as the nafs (self), ruh (spirit), qalb (heart-soul) and aql (intellect). It has some interesting charts such as the stages of development of the nafs (self) based on verses in the Quran and also the various stages of meditative progression and consciousness. The illustrative tree of Islamic contemplative framework and practices ranging from Stillness Practices, Creative Process Practices, Generative Practices, Movement Practices, Relational Practices, Activist Practices to Ritualistic-Cycle Practices provides a dimension of knowledge and awareness in the whole exercise of the worship that can be practiced to connect with the divine.

Conceptual Framework for Morality (Akhlaq)

The chapter deals with the ‘right way to God’ and takes inspiration from the life, times and the conduct and behaviour of the Holy Prophet. The section on the key traits of the prophet describing his Compassion, Love, Gratitude, Equity, Generosity, Steadfastness, Modesty, Bravery, Freedom and Justice are most refreshing and enlightening to the earnest seeker.

Research Approach and Methodology

The approach and methodology adopted for this research has been within the confines of the Religious – Scientific connection. In order to achieve maximum exposure of the system and subjects involved in the case study, research of this theme calls for a sensitive approach, given the subject matter. Therefore it delves with tools and models ranging from the Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA), Symbolic Modelling (SM), Clean Language (CL) to Neuro-Semantic and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Case Study of a Spiritual Order, Malaysia

According to the author the “Naqshabandiyyah Khalidiyyah was ‘selectively sampled’ based on specific criteria within the methodology of the study, namely that it should be an indigenous organisation, which is both functional and has been operational for over a generation”. Apart from the Naqshabandiyyah order which is a worldwide spiritual Sufi movement, “the order is unique in terms of its methodology of dhikr and its main focus is on silent dhikr (sir or dhikr qalb – remembrance in the heart, even though some tariqas also include the louder forms of dhikr” (Jahir or dhikr lisan – remembrance of the tongue).

The chapter is rich in information about the workings, organisation, and the conduct and antecedents of the seekers/Murids guided with great love, affection and care by the role model Sheik, Dr. Jahid Sidek, a Malaysian academic. The chapter merits reading with all the attention it deserves to absorb the spiritual content, which is reinforced in its presentation with a plethora of graphs, illustrations, schedules and tables. At some point the religious divide does blur and any person with a spiritual bent; a serious seeker with a contemplative mind can benefit from the book. 

A mindful reading of the chapter will result in its appreciation and is an experience that has to be engaged personally with the intention of absorbing the subject matter, its findings and observations.

Spiritual Leadership and Self-Development Model

The thrust of this book is the examining of avenues available currently for self-development and spiritual leadership within the Islamic framework and this objective is experienced firsthand in the case study. It is made out that Islam in general concentrates essentially on the ‘outward’ element of worship in contrast to the ‘inner’, element and the latter being practiced to an extent by the various Sufi orders.

In this context the author’s observation “criticism has been levelled against Sufism and tariqas, especially by those belonging to emerging ‘Salafi’ types of movements, the focus of which has been on perceived deviations, unorthodox ritual practices and the reverence of its Sheikhs. While acknowledging that there are Sufi type of orders whose practices are not within the Islamic tradition and this has been criticised by eminent Sufi oriented scholars themselves including Al-Ghazali (1995) among others, there are acts of certain Salafi type of orders themselves, which do not follow the practice of the Prophet, especially relating to tolerance and understanding of others”.

The observation continues “the important thing is not to lay blame on one another but to maximise one’s worship and actions towards oneself and others, so that one lives an exemplary life being mindful that one does not know of their own final exit or state. As the Prophet himself, mentioned that it is only by the grace of God that we shall all enter the garden”.

It is explained further by the author “what this study highlights is that the concept of modelling that the tariqa employs is largely within Islamic orthodoxy, even though one discerns variations in the methodologies of rituals and dhikr that the different tariqas utilise. Thus, it cannot be simply dismissed, as is done by some quarters, as not being within the boundaries of Islam”. 

Amongst other matters, the chapter also mentions the approaches, methods and tools used by the order to spiritually groom its seekers. These are Tarqiyah (Spiritual Grooming), Tarbiyah (Education), Tazkiyah (Purification) and Dhikr (Remembrance of God). Another interesting aspect is highlighting spiritual actualisation in terms of self-actualisation mooted on the lines of two eminent Psychologist Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, and pointing out the difference in the latter, that is, self-actualisation to be more confined to the worldly realm, whereas the former, spiritual actualisation embraces wellbeing in this world and in the hereafter.

Summary and Conclusion

Spiritual and actualisation, which subsumes self-actualisation rests primarily on seekers using multiple tools of worship explained in detail in the book; Salah (ritual and optional prayers), Saum (obligatory and voluntary fasting), Dhikr (Remembrance of God both silent and loud), Tauba (Repentance), Dua (supplications), Tahajjud (night vigil) and Zakath and Sadaqa (Charity). Tazzakar (recollection), Taffakur (reflection), peer-to-peer learning, modelling of both the Sheikh and the peers as well as creating a loving and learning environment were found to be keys to their growth and development. 

The author advocates all of the above to be practiced, while being part and parcel of the society. “Islam encourages mysticism or spirituality in everyday life, where, whatever is the state or station of one, he/she has to be part of society and actively contribute to it, and this was exemplified by the life of the prophet himself.” 

Five key conclusions

1. Worship (ritual prayers, dhikr, fasting) was directly correlated with a sense of well-being including the emission of alpha brain waves and hormones that elicited a sense of peace and relaxation.

2. Spiritual modelling of the Exemplar-Sheikh and following the Order generated multi-benefits for the seeker (physical, physiological, psychological and social).

3. The Heart-Brain connection found to be significant, where immersion in worship and good conduct-behaviour enables the seekers to connect with themselves and others.

4. The development of a model for spiritual leadership, with its framework for the development of the self, which explains how the system works and creates a pathway for spiritual development.

5. Postulate a ‘spiritual theory of learning’ building on Albert Bandura’s ‘social learning theory’.

The book is inclusive of Appendices, which the reader and interested social science researchers can glean through to gauge the depth and extent of the questions and information gathered from the seekers and the order itself, in the course of the case study, to present the unique findings.

An interview with the writer, Dr. Mohamed Safiullah Munsoor shows some insight into his long journey as a seeker and his sojourns in deeply understanding Buddhist and Islamic traditions especially through meditation based practices. Munsoor as a person seems to have genuinely mastered the core of spirituality in his humility about his achievements in making a scholarly study of the spiritual. A work that has taken him several years to complete, this book will be a guiding light in troubled times when religion is often consigned to fanatical misinterpretation and where the first casualty is the humanistic spiritual core.