If you’re a Muslim curious about enlightenment, mysticism, and direct God consciousness you may be interested to know if it’s possible to achieve spiritual awakening. The term spiritual awakening has become increasingly popular in recent years, but what does it mean for Muslims?
The short answer is yes, Muslims can experience spiritual awakening or spiritual enlightenment. Islam has a deep history of mysticism and direct experience with God consciousness.
In today’s article we’ll dive into what spiritual awakening is, its history in Islam, and what it means for a practicing Muslim.
What is Spiritual Awakening?
Spiritual awakening is the experience of shifting into a state of higher divine consciousness. In other words, spiritual awakening is when you experience God or the divine face to face.
Mysticism is simply the way that religious ideologies label spiritual awakening. Awakening itself however is not limited to a specific religion.
People often describe their spiritual awakening experiences as the most profound experience of their life.
Mysticism in Islam
Mysticism aims at having direct experience with God, Source, or Allah. The purpose of mysticism is to come as close to God as possible and experience divinity directly.
Mysticism is not about “knowing” or trying to learn about some philosophy, rather it’s focused on direct experience itself.
Mystical experiences will be unfathomable. No matter how much you try to describe it, it simply must be experienced to be understood.
Islam has a long history of mysticism, most notably in the Sufi tradition.
Sufism, Islam’s Mystical Tradition
Sufism is the lineage of Islam concerned with mysticism and spiritual awakening. This branch of Islam focuses on having deep experiences of the divine and close relationship with Allah using several spiritual practices.
Sufis focus on the concept of “Tawhid”, the fundamental Islamic belief in the oneness of God. Sufis seek to experience this oneness on a personal level.
The concept of Tawhid has been interpreted by some to be similar to concepts like sat chit ananda in Hinduism and non-duality in Buddhism.
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Sufis have many different forms of practice to aid in attaining mystical experiences such as:
- ascetic practices
- mystical dance
- maraqaba (meditation)
- dhikr (repeating the name of Allah)
Though Sufism is a real Islamic tradition that embraces spiritual awakening experiences, it’s a sect that is often rejected by mainstream Islam. Sufis have faced persecution for their practices many times throughout history.
Rumi, Islam’s Most Important Mystic
The greatest figure in Islam who focused on mysticism was Rumi or Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī in the 13th century.
Rumi created some of the most profound spiritual literature and poetry in regards to mysticism in Islam that we know of.
One quote by rumi reads,
“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
referring back to the concept of oneness and Tawhid.
It’s believed that Rumi’s writings have inspired much of the Sufi ideology and practices that exist today. Rumi’s spiritual appeal spans past just Islam. Almost all spiritual traditions today see Rumi as a great spiritual teacher.
Conclusion
Though often not incorporated in mainstream Islam, spiritual awakening and mysticism can be found in the Islamic tradition of Sufism. Muslims can absolutely seek mystical experiences to have direct connection with Allah and his universal divinity.
See also the mystical traditions of every major world religion.
Hi, I’m Ryan. I’m a meditation teacher, spiritual seeker, and founder of nurtureyourspirit.org. I’m glad you’re here! I founded Nurture Your Spirit because of my love of meditation, spirituality, and spiritual awakening.
