Globally, the mindfulness meditation apps market is expected to be worth $6.8 Billion by 20301. Modern meditation coaches claim that focusing on our thoughts and feelings is crucial to success in the contemporary world. They believe that paying closer attention to each moment, without passing judgment, has the revolutionary power to transform one's entire world. At the movement's core is the belief that the underlying cause of our distress resides in our heads. By engaging in meditative practices, it is argued, the power of mindfulness separates one's mind from surrounding distractions, silencing all voices, achieving total stillness, and unleashing unprecedented healing powers.
Why is mindfulness so popular today? It's impossible to keep up with the fast pace of modern life, to gain control over our straying thoughts, and to slow down and find moments of pause to reflect. For the past few decades, the global economy has been slowly capitalizing on a new scarce commodity: human attention. As information, distractions, advertisements, and content grow in abundance; attention has become the limiting factor in information consumption. The psychologist who first coined the term attention economy, Herbert A. Simon famously said, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”'2 In an age where the reality of our poverty remains hidden, people feel the overwhelming effects of external forces on their minds and attention. So they are searching for remedies to counteract not the causes but the effects.
While Western civilization is moving away from God, all their novel solutions to modern, man-made problems are intriguingly in line with the religious practices of yesteryear that the West has presumably committed to the museum of archaic ideas. The goal of secular meditation is to become mindful, and 'modern mindfulness,' with its repulsion towards any moral commitment, refers to venturing into the inner mind (sensations, feelings, thoughts) in a non-judgmental way to be fully present with oneself. While secular meditative practice essentially stems from religious traditions, fostering positive short-term psychological benefits for individuals, it's not a revolutionary solution to the suffering that plagues the human condition. In this essay, we explore 1) the inherent problems with secular meditation for long-term well-being; 2) meditative practice beyond the modern purpose of attaining individual happiness, and; 3) we demonstrate that, contrary to secular meditative practice, Islamic meditation endeavors to ultimately bring humanity in alignment with God's Will and harmony with the universe. Lastly, we attempt to illustrate the genius behind Islamic meditative practices from a psychological perspective.
What makes modern meditation incomplete compared to the Islamic understanding of prayer?
Meditation aims solely toward an immediate physiological benefit
Modern secular meditation seeks to take advantage of the human stress response system by addressing instability at the physiological level and completely ignoring metaphysical considerations. Difficulties, whether big or small, have a considerable impact not just on our spiritual and mental health, but research has also demonstrated the effects on our physical health. We all have experienced stressful situations where we can feel the heaviness in our bodies and the pain in our joints. Difficulties as minor as an upcoming work deadline or a difficult conversation one needs to have with a loved one can trigger a surge of stress hormones that translate into physiological changes, such as making the heart pound faster, feeling breathless, and muscle tensing.
Our stress response system is a sequence of hormonal changes and physiological responses, enabling us to react quickly. Our bodies can also overreact to stressors that may not necessarily be too serious in the first place. Consequently, chronic stress can have adverse long-term effects. Think about the constant states of stress we find ourselves in. Chronic stress is a potential cause of common illnesses like hypertension, headaches, sleep problems, cardiovascular disease, and digestive problems. Besides physical illness, research shows the impact chronic stress has on our mental health through anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.
The stress response system's command center resides in our brain3. When someone is actively confronting a stressful situation, our eyes and ears send the situation to the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing. When the amygdala perceives danger, it sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. This area of the brain communicates with the rest of the body through the autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary body functions such as breathing, blood pressure, heartbeat, and the dilation or constriction of key blood vessels. The autonomic nervous system has two components, the sympathetic nervous system, and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system triggers the fight-or-flight response - think of a gas pedal - providing the body with energy to respond to perceived dangers. The parasympathetic nervous system calms the body down - think of a brake - after the threat has passed4.
After the distress signal is sent, the sympathetic nervous system sends signals to the adrenal glands5. These glands respond by pumping the hormone epinephrine into our bloodstream. As epinephrine circulates through the body, it brings on several physiological changes. The heart beats faster than usual, pushing blood to the muscles, heart, and other vital organs. Pulse rate and blood pressure go up. Small airways in the lungs open wide, and rapid breathing starts. Extra oxygen is sent to the brain to increase alertness, sharpening our senses. Meanwhile, epinephrine triggers the release of blood sugar and fats from temporary storage sites in the body. These nutrients flood into the bloodstream, supplying energy to all parts of the body6.
This physiological process is so efficient that it starts even before our brains can fully process what is happening7. As the initial surge of epinephrine subsides, the hypothalamus activates the second component of the stress response system — the HPA axis. The HPA axis relies on a series of hormonal signals to keep the sympathetic nervous system — the gas pedal — pressed down. If the brain continues to perceive something as dangerous, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which travels to the pituitary gland, triggering the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). This hormone travels to the adrenal glands, prompting them to release cortisol. Our bodies stay revved up8.
So how does meditation play into this? Meditation counters the human stress loop by using a combination of actions that elicit a relaxation response. These include deep abdominal breathing, focus on a soothing word, prayer, and routine physical movement.
While secular meditation addresses stress at the physiological level, doing so while completely ignoring the metaphysical spectrum can only provide immediate physical and mental relief, but nothing more.
From the Islamic perspective, there is an acknowledgment of the physiological system's impact on human behavior, however; greater emphasis is placed on our Qalb - the spiritual heart - which is the central faculty in humans that houses our intellect, emotions, and will. Suppose an individual doesn't acknowledge the role of spiritual disease in the perpetuation of challenges in their life and continues with the same toxic and unhealthy behaviors or patterns of thought. In that case, they will never achieve the contentment they desire. Common spiritual diseases such as jealousy, envy, greed, ego, and pride are at the core of many people's internal disarray. Modern man's complete disregard of its metaphysical state is a primary reason why secular meditation can never provide long-term direction on how the individual ought to behave and traverse this worldly life.
Meditation ought to be more than an individual coping tool
The goal of meditative practice is to bring one's attention to the present moment, without judgment, with the ultimate goal of creating the condition to navigate through our problems deliberately and intentionally. However, treating meditation as just a coping tool does not lead to long-term well-being. Meditation as a coping tool gratuitously places undue focus - on the symptoms in a manner that ultimately comes at the expense of actually addressing the underlying problems that lead to those symptoms. Specifically, it hyper-focuses on personal stress which places the crisis in our minds, and strips meditation of its intended revolutionary potential. By its very definition, secular meditation is divorced from collective suffering and wider social issues. Instead of addressing how our attention is being exploited at the expense of our well-being by corporations and global entities, it is argued that the problem lies in individuals' failure to be mindful and resilient in an unpredictable world. Proponents of secular meditation pay no heed to the nature of our economic systems, accepted social norms, and unfettered pursuit of desires and whims. In order to be happy, we can only look within to cope and there is no point in critically engaging with the real world.
Does non-judgemental meditation distract us from the original purpose of meditation which was to critically and actively engage with our problems to self-correct and improve the world around us? In isolation, meditation will not address the root cause of negative thoughts and emotions. Humans are endowed with the responsibility to do more than cope. Problems need to be looked at holistically and comprehensively assessed against the backdrop of a coherent worldview. But secular meditation is not interested in this undertaking. It attempts to treat symptoms, not causes. Many people flock to meditation, religious or irreligious because they are seeking a cure without addressing the cause of their pain. From an Islamic perspective, God is more interested in seeing us grapple with the cause of our tribulations than pursuing an illusion of a healthy and happy life for the sake of itself. In other words, challenges serve a purpose and are not happenstance nuisances.
So why does meditation feel so impactful for humans, even if it's just addressing symptoms? As social beings, we are constantly active and reactive in our social environments, imitating each other's behavior patterns, adopting each other's standards, and conforming to the people and environment around us. Meditation feels impactful because it breaks this nonstop cycle and allows the individual to step outside the bubble of constant reactivity. In meditation, the individual can observe their feelings and thoughts, and while secular meditation doesn't focus on change, it starts the process with awareness. A complete meditation ought to require critique, not just affirmation, and it ought to require truth, not just what feels right.
Emotivist belief is prevalent in the modern age and contributes to the perceived impact of secular meditation. Emotivism denies objective morality and allows individuals to feel good in the short term. According to emotivism, moral judgments are merely expressions of our emotions and cannot be objectively true or false9. For example, when someone states that alcohol consumption is harmful or promiscuous behavior is wrong, they are expressing personal preferences rather than making objectively conclusive moral judgments.
But here's an important question: If individuals increasingly embrace emotivism and engage in secular meditation, can it truly be a successful long-term method for problem-solving? The answer is no, as it assumes that secular meditation can operate within incoherent worldviews that offer no real direction to individuals. While secular meditation may provide physiological relaxation in response to stress, its main benefit remains consistent physical relief. In other words, secular meditation, while inducing a relaxed state of mind, fails to address the lack of direction and restlessness in the metaphysical realm of the heart. Its aim is to relax, center, and balance our minds, suggesting that only then can individuals feel whole and complete through an undefined inner journey.
The primary appeal of secular meditation is that people should live whatever lifestyle suits their personal preferences. As a secularized practice, however, meditation still acknowledges that the individual should import a moral framework from somewhere to complete their 'inner journey.' This implies an incompleteness to secular meditation if it's directionless. If the individual's worldview encourages them simply to seek what brings happiness, what possible goal can secular meditation have beyond individual coping?
Meditation is value-neutral
‘Have you seen he who has taken as his god his [own] desire, and Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart and put over his vision a veil? So who will guide him after Allah? Then will you not be reminded?’10
Secular meditation, by design, stands devoid of moral and ethical commitments, which makes it lack a compelling vision for the betterment of individuals and society. This absence of a moral compass finds its roots in the secularization sweeping through the contemporary world. Tailored to harmonize with prevailing cultural norms, secular meditation seamlessly fits into our lives, requiring no substantial change from us. Its efficacy in alleviating a myriad of modern afflictions propels it to the forefront, positioned as an innocuous technique compatible with anyone and everyone. In this context, sociologist Linda Woodhead's insights highlight a seismic shift in values. The modern ethos exalts self-expression, supplanting the ethos of endurance in the face of suffering. This new pinnacle of moral virtue casts self-expression as the paramount good, as evident in the modern reinterpretation of spirituality—an endeavor focused on cultivating self-awareness and self-acceptance. This transition reflects a broader trend toward prioritizing personal fulfillment over the notion of endurance and self-denial.
Proponents will argue that ethical behavior arises organically from meditative practice. However, non-judgmental awareness coupled with secular meditation's repulsion toward any prescriptive worldview or moral framework disables an individual's moral intelligence. Of course, reductions in stress and increases in personal happiness and well-being appeal more to the secular mind than serious questions about injustice, social ills, or the greater good. Secular meditation reinforces the notion that the individual alone is responsible for dealing with the ailments in their mind and has no bearing on the external world. In a culture obsessed with easy answers and life hacks, it's no wonder 'spirituality' is commodified and sold to us in such a diluted fashion. Secular meditative practice doesn't allow individuals to take responsibility for and analyze feelings and thoughts. Without a coherent worldview grounded in the Divine, an individual wastes time sifting through incoherent explanations for why they might think or feel a certain way. Nor can it clarify what these thoughts and feelings might reveal about character and purpose.
What are the various Islamic meditative practices and what is their purpose?
Salah
Salah صلاة linguistically means connection. It's one of the fundamental pillars of Islam and signifies the ritual institution of the daily prayers that Muslims are required to observe five times a day at specified time intervals. In many scholarly opinions, performing the five-daily prayers is considered a prerequisite for claims of belonging to Islam to be even admissible. In the minds of many, however, questions loom. What is the divine objective of demanding prayer from humans? Does the obligatory and ritualistic nature of the prayer make it less likely for people to follow through and benefit from its spiritual value? Can't we remember God when we have time, so it doesn't feel forced? What's the point of remembering God? Does God even need our prayers?
These are not illegitimate questions. They do, however, reflect the ethos of the one inquiring, namely, someone who is a product of the secular, postmodern age of individualism. A traditionally minded Muslim would answer those questions with great ease and retort that one finds true communion with God in salah. Engaging in the 5-daily prayers has more to do with erasing the proverbial fences between man and Divine and between the mundane and transcendental than it has to do with the achievement of one particular worldly goal or the other. Salah is not about God needing our prayers but rather about us needing to muster the spiritual fortitude required to take a peek into the realm of the ethereal, unleash man's imagination, and giving him a glimpse into the endless possibilities of what lies beyond his sense perception.
But particularly relevant to our conversation about mindfulness, Salah is a far cry from what secular meditation seeks: a mere presence with oneself. Instead, a presence that is directed toward the Most Supreme. God, it is indicated in the scriptures, wants humans to achieve hudhoor-ul-qalb, the presence of the heart, as that spiritual heart is the primary faculty that enables us to break from the chains and know God within the confines of a physical universe. The Qur’an says:
إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَذِكْرَى لِمَنْ كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ أَوْ أَلْقَى السَّمْعَ وَهُوَ شَهِيد
Surely in this is a reminder for whoever has a present heart and lends an attentive ear12.
Secular meditative coaches encourage coming into presence with oneself to achieve physical, hormonal, and neurological serenity. But the reduction of human emotion and thought into physical material is why modern neuroscientists and empirical psychologists focus on the human brain, completely divorcing it from the heart, which, from the Islamic perspective, we understand is the metaphysical seat of human will, intellect, and emotion.
Being a person in the constant presence of God paves the way for humanity to serve in this world as His representatives. Unlike other religious perspectives on prayer, being a private, sequestered affair, the Islamic vantage point holds that it is expressly practiced and employed in ways that translate into the world. Our prayer is not just about spirituality, but a spirituality that is practically embodied through the life of the believer. The Qur'an emphasizes that humans were created for two purposes: to worship God and to show God while worshiping Him, 'which among them is the best in conduct'13.
Our salah is governed by the rhythm of the sun, which means that we, by extension, are anchored in a natural, primordial rhythm. As God's representatives, we must also care for the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms - all of creation. In psychology, Eutierria refers to having good and positive feelings of oneness with the earth and all of life. Even nonbelievers will make statements indicating a desire to 'feel one with the universe,' demonstrating an innate propensity to connect with the signs of the Divine in the world. To develop the greatest motivation for caring for the world, humans must adopt the creation's welfare as our own. Throughout the Qur'an, God links salah with the greater good to demonstrate the necessity of being in His presence by serving as His representatives on earth14.
As we continue to explore Islamic meditative practices and the mental processes they define, one must distinguish with great nuance between different Quranic terms, which are often used synonymously in spoken Arabic, but indeed bear very important differences. These terms are Tafakkur التَّفَكُّر, Nadhar النَّظَر, Basar الْبَصَر, Ta’mmul التَّأَمُّل, and Tadabbur التَّدَبُّر. For most Arabic speakers, these words elicit very similar ideas. The average person assumes that they all, in one way or another, imply contemplation, pondering, or reflection upon a subject or a situation. This is not very far from the truth. Nonetheless, there are subtle differences between those words that can prove to be of the utmost usefulness to a discussion about meditation in the Islamic ethos and its connection with the spiritual presence of God.
Tafakkur
First is the term Tafakkur التَّفَكُّر. It comes from the root word fakara فَكَرَ, which means to think. The historical origin of the word implies need or necessity. Ibn-Mandhoor defines the term as "applying the tools of the mind to ascertain an idea or a group of ideas.15" Tafakkur is a mental process in which one's mind must diligently oscillate between one aspect of the idea to another to achieve a thorough understanding of that idea, its meanings, manifestations, and consequences. In the Qur’an, the word yatafakkaroon يَتَفَكَّرُون , which means they reflect, was repeated over ten times, certainly more if we include its other derivatives. Every time it's mentioned, it addresses the existence of signs of God in the universe and within oneself, which only those with the faculty of Tafakkur التَّفَكُّر can benefit from by contemplating over to further anchor oneself in connection with the one God and the subsequent wonder about his creation.
Nadhar
Second, Nadhar النَّظَر, which means to look at something with one’s naked eyes16. It implies using the faculty of eyesight to create a stockpile of data, objects, and occurrences ready to be used by the mind without necessarily processing or reflecting upon them yet. Much of that data eventually gets lost or remains unused unless one deliberately chooses to bring it into the realm of thinking and pondering, in which case some end product may emanate from it. When you see a cat, that's all Nadhar achieves, merely seeing it. You make a mental note that you saw a cat, and that's it. No further detail is required. In most cases where the word Nadhar النَّظَر with its derivatives is mentioned in the Qur’an, the implication is that one sees something valuable and consequential. Still, because they failed to process it into useful thought, it becomes lost on them and loses its ability to provide spiritual or mental value. The word yandhuroon يَنْظُرُون, or they look, was mentioned more than 33 times in the Qur’an with its derivatives.
Basar
Third, al-Basar الْبَصَر, which means to see but with your mind's eye17. It implies a deeper degree of examination than just seeing something. It means to actually see. It involves a lot more than just gazing at an object. When you look at a cat, seeing it is about the mere recognition that it's a cat. But applying the faculty of Basar to it means you can identify its breed, color, size, and gender. One might be able to look at many things, but of the things one looks at, only a few are selected for further examination. In fact, the Qur’an even characterizes certain people as being able to look but incapable of seeing. Allah says:
وَإِن تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَى لَا يَسْمَعُوا وَتَرَاهُمْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ وَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ
And if you invite them to guidance, they do not hear; and you see them looking at you while they do not see18.
The word yubseroon يُبْصِرُون, which means they see, with its multiple derivatives was mentioned in the Quran more than 15 times.
Ta’mmul
Fourth, is the word Ta'mmul التَّأَمُّل, which means to patiently look at something, while processing all the available data about it, with the hope of figuring out over time its significance and implications. It essentially comes from the root word أَمَلَ meaning to hope, which in the case of thinking of a matter implies hoping for its eventual clarity. When you perform Ta'ammul on the idea of a cat, you understand its behavior, manners, and predictions over time. The word Ta'ammul was not used in the Quran per se but implied in many locations. It is commonly used in modern Arabic and has connotations about deep thinking, pondering, and reflecting and the mental effort applied over time.
Tadabbur
Fourth is the word Tadabbur التَّدَبُّر, meaning foresight or prudence. This word is unique because it has a very particular nuance on the overall notions of contemplation. According to the dictionary of modern Arabic, Tadabbur means to reflect upon something one saw or knew to learn about its fading vestiges and bring to light the consequences of its complete understanding19. The word dubur دُبُرْ means the tail end of something. It implies anterior discernment, involving examining current information with the intention of having a thorough conceptual analysis leading one to wrap their head around its consequences and aftermath. To do Tadabbur on a cat involves asking oneself whether keeping the cat is useful and how its presence in one's life would bring benefit or value. It's the type of reflection that leads to ends, not an end in itself. The word yatadabbaroon was mentioned twice in the Quran.
Samt
Fifth is Samt الصمت, which is the state of remaining silent, and according to a hadith from the prophet (PBUH), it is the preferred state of being. In the hadith:
ومَنْ كانَ يُؤمنُ باللَّهِ واليومِ الآخرِ فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا أَوْ لِيَسْكُتْ
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak goodness or remain silent20.
The ability to remain silent induces opportunities to think, reflect, and ponder, and in our modern world, a skill lost on us in the middle of our full engrossment in vain engagements. The loudest voice drowns all other voices, regardless of its coherence, truth, or benefit. The contemporary period has stressed and overwhelmed our internal states to the point where we feel uncomfortable with silence. We must always express our feelings, thoughts, whims, and ideas without fully coming to terms with what we are putting out into the world. As self-conscious and insecure we have become, individuals have become very comfortable spewing the unadulterated content of their weak internal states. Keep talking and maintain the noise, (un)conventional wisdom seems to suggest nowadays, as long as one avoids being silent with oneself.
There are countless hadiths in the prophetic tradition, regarding the link between our speech and our hearts. Our articulations reflect the actual state of our hearts. Therefore, silence (control) of speech is a sign of a stable heart. In a world where unfettered expression of desires and emotions is encouraged, we find, in direct correlation, a world of pervasively sickened hearts. Islamic theologians mention three types of hearts, giving us a reference point to assess our hearts:
قلب سليم is a sound heart that is entirely in the presence of God at all times.
قلب سقيم is a sickening heart that is in a constant state of flux and hypocrisy.
قلب ميت is the dead heart which is shackled and led by its desires, whims, and feelings. This heart has sealed itself from caring to ascertain truth and falsehood21.
Silence is related to the important spiritual exercise of muraqabah, which means vigilant introspection because it allows the individual to cultivate a presence with God. Having control over our speech comes from maintaining a state of silence. Once silence is a habitual state of being for an individual, it disables the desirability of constant attention, thereby obliterating the source of man’s ego. A person comfortable with and habituated to silence can come into presence with God because they are less likely to gravitate toward other people, ideas, and incoherent worldviews. If we are constantly spewing the unfettered and misguided expressions of our desires and whims, when will we ever have the opportunity to cultivate silence and engage in the meaningful process of Tafakkur? Individuals habituated with silence also are more likely to become attuned to the world around them, thereby helping humanity to come into its role as God's vicegerent on this earth.
Khulwa
Sixth is the concept of Khulwa الخلوة, seclusion, which goes hand in hand with Samt الصمت . By creating humans as social creatures, Allah (SWT) has given us many benefits and blessings. However, it is also a test and can pose a difficulty for us if we don't generate healthy boundaries between ourselves and others. We believe that each of us is here for a purpose: to know God, align ourselves with His Will, and carry out the collective mission as His representatives by sharing the universal faith with the world. We must to occasionally cultivate a presence with Allah (SWT) away from the eyes and influence of people to maintain our sincerity and integrity. If you think about it, the vast majority of people who cannot grow and move forward in life are often in the situations they are in because of other people who keep them down, mentally and emotionally. They are not physically impeded most of the time, but they are chained to incoherent ideas, flawed thinking, and misguided understandings of their actions and thoughts.
Dhikr
Dhikr ذِكْر, meaning remembrance, is mentioned in the Qur'an 292 times. Allah refers to human beings as insaan إنسان, which some scholars have said comes from the root نسي, meaning 'to forget.' This understanding lends itself progressively to establishing Dhikr as a central part of a Muslim's daily life. One may ask, nonetheless, aren't the five-daily prayers enough? Why are there so many different types of Dhikr? To answer these questions, consider the countless passing thoughts individuals have throughout the day. Some thoughts are good, some are neutral, and some can be bad. Why do some people get caught in a spiral of recurrent negative thoughts, whereas others are able to disengage from these thoughts? Research shows that cognitive control, referring to the intentional selection of thoughts and emotions, is the determining factor. We should neither engage nor try to suppress passing thoughts because that will debilitate and worsen our cognitive control. Ibn al-Qayyim writes:
وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ وُرُودَ الْخَاطِرِ لَا يَضُرُّ وَإِنَّمَا يَضُرُّ اسْتِدْعَاؤُهُ وَمُحَادَثَتُهُ فَالْخَاطِرُ كَالْمَارِّ عَلَى الطَّرِيقِ فَإِنْ تَرَكْتَهُ مَرَّ وَانْصَرَفَ عَنْكَ
Know that passing thoughts are not harmful. Indeed, they are only harmful if they are sought after and engaged. For a thought is like a passerby on the road; if you ignore him, he will depart from you22.
Dhikr is the conceptual act of remembering Allah (SWT) and celebrating his praises. It, therefore, redirects our minds to positive cognitions. Dhikr, like the much-celebrated mantras of modern mindfulness, directs our mental and emotional energy toward positive belief. While modern mantras attempt to reframe negative thoughts into beliefs of self-sufficiency and self-confidence, Dhikr, pre-formulated directly by God or the Prophet ‘(PBUH), reframes negative thoughts into beliefs about our position with God and His Power over all. Mantras encourage individuals to transcend their limitations, but there are times when everyone must bow to inescapable reality. In fact, there are much more things in life that we don't have control over than what we do have control over. Dhikr corrects our frame of reference from ourselves to God by reaffirming that ultimate control lies beyond us, yet we are responsible beings with agency nonetheless. It's the most perfect and healthy balance.
With this linguistic analysis of some of the most important and commonly used words in the Arabic language and the Islamic tradition pertaining to reflection and meditation, one can assess and propound a hypothesis. The overarching process of the mind, which leads one to thoroughly introspect the self and where it stands vis-à-vis God and the world, is called Tafakkur. This is the title of the entire exercise. But it involves many steps that direct one's mental energy to an intended objective. The first step is Nadhar, which involves merely collecting data through sense perception to create a reservoir from which one can select the object of further examination. The second is Basar, which enables the human subject to actually look with mindfulness into what their sense perception has collected and ascertain additional value, meaning, and purpose. Third is Ta'mmul, in which one patiently examines the meaning, purpose, and value of something over time, hoping they'd fully ascertain its place and value in their life. Fourth is Samt, which allows the individual to utilize the gifts of Basar, Nadhar, and Ta'mmul to achieve the goals of Tafakkur and come into the presence of God. Fifth is Khulwa, which allows us to cultivate a presence with Allah (SWT) away from the eyes and influence of people. Lastly, Tadabbur helps us see how the means lead to the end and answers the questions: What's in this for me? What consequences does it have, and which value does it bring? These steps adjudicate the process of Tafakkur. In order to perform Tafakkur on the cat, you have to look at it first, then attempt to see its qualities, then examine its behavior over time, maintain silence to engage in reflection, stay in khulwa from the prying eyes of others, with the hope that you will achieve full discernment of the role it plays in your life.
Engaging in Tafakkur, however, requires time and investment. Dhikr addresses how individuals ought to get through their daily life without being debilitated by their recurrent thoughts. Dhikr is an ointment for our superficial cognition where passing thoughts are nonstop, allowing for an immediate correction towards a positive belief at the moment, which only strengthens cognitive control in the long term to then engage in thorough introspection (Tadabbur).
With this typology, it is possible to extrapolate the concepts onto Islamic meditative practices. As opposed to conventional techniques of mindfulness, which seek to bring stillness and silence to the mind, Islamic meditation, which is rooted in the authenticity of the religious tradition, seeks to tether the soul to its Creator in a lasting, unbreakable bond that can successfully override the relentless noise of the day to day distractions. Modern mediation surmises, without evidence or proof, that bringing the energy of the mind to a halt is not only possible but meritorious. There is nothing, neither in psychology, nor science that presumes the correctness of this assumption. The mind always works, no matter what. Complete silence in a lobotomized fashion is not just impossible, but the attempt to achieve it is also harmful. Islamic meditation aspires to achieve something very different, with very different consequences. It assumes the possibility of silencing all noises, but only to accentuate, and not to muffle the voice of God in one's head. The end goal of Tafakkur with its multiple stages, it is true, is to bring to a complete stillness all the aberrations and disturbances of the world and to lower the voices to a bare minimum, but only to achieve true communion with the voice of the Creator, so that after a long period of disconnect, you're able to finally hear what the Divine imparts upon your heart's ear. If mindfulness requires the search for an anchor, be it breathing or otherwise, let that anchor be the consciousness of God's presence.
Concluding Remarks
Mental health struggles have become so pervasive in the modern age. In an attempt to evolve beyond medications and drugs as the immediate knee-jerk response to ailments of the mind, meditation and mindfulness practices are now widely prescribed by many experts. Bringing stillness to the mind helps it overcome the relentless screeching noise of a mental health crisis. Secular meditation has shown much promise and helped many. Nonetheless, thoroughly exploring the inherent limitations of secular meditation makes it clear that it is inadequate for our long-term well-being. More broadly, secularism has stripped humans of their responsibility toward the world. This essay attempted to uphold the value of meditative practice but had some contentions to make. First, secular meditation addresses stress at the physiological level while completely ignoring the metaphysical spectrum. Addressing the former can only provide immediate physical and mental relief, but nothing more. Second, disregarding our Qalb - the spiritual heart which houses our intellect, emotions, and will - is why secular meditation can never provide long-term direction on how the individual ought to behave and traverse this worldly life. Third, humans are endowed with the responsibility to do more than cope. Meditation as a coping tool gratuitously places undue focus on the symptoms of a problem in a manner that ultimately comes at the expense of actually addressing the underlying problem that leads to those symptoms in the first place. Lastly, secular meditation is void of moral and ethical commitments, lacks a vision of the social good, and has perpetuated the idea that self-expression is the new highest moral virtue. This is why the modern definition of spirituality is constrained to developing deeper self-awareness and self-acceptance. By comparison, the various Islamic meditative practices collectively form a cohesive approach to reflection and meditation with the ultimate goal of maintaining a presence with God so that we adequately carry out His Will on earth. In the words of God in the Quran, We were not made purposeless:
ًوَمَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمَآءَ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا بَـاطِلا
And We did not create the heaven and the earth and that between them aimlessly…’ 23