meditation and religion

 *Meditation and Religion*

 The masters of religion and pulpit say that meditation has nothing to do with religion and it is not mentioned in the heavenly scriptures.  This impresses a superficial minded person, but when the wisdom and depth of religion is explored, this impression disappears.

 When we consider the teachings of the heavenly scriptures and the last book of the Holy Qur'an, the book of Allah commands contemplation.  Contemplation means to consider with all mental strength the signs spread throughout the universe.

 The second most important element of religion is Salat and the word Salat is a comprehensive term.  The translation of Salat is to establish connection.  Establishing connection means that a person's relationship with Allah is established with mental thought.  Concentration is meditation.

 Meditation cannot be specified by any sitting or method.  Because meditation is a mental state or mental activity.  Religion has set up the system of actions and members.  Both external and internal events have been taken into consideration in this.  Every member and every process has an outward form and appearance and another is an inner or meaningful state, these two components must exist together.

 The inner state that is tried to be achieved through religious members and duties is the extreme level of kindness (meditation).  Muhammad-ul-Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam reminded us of the inner state in these words.

 "When you engage in prayer, imagine that you are looking at Allah or feel that Allah is looking at you."

 Through the inner attribute (contemplation) of the members of the religion, one ultimately attains the "attribute of benevolence".  In other words, he gets the knowledge of the Almighty.

 During the era of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for the people of faith, the holy person of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the center of attention.  The souls of the Companions were colored by the love of the Prophet.  Most of his time was spent in thinking about the blessings of the Holy Prophet.  He was extremely eager to find the wisdom of the Prophet's speech and actions.  Thanks to this Anhamak, he was fully blessed with spiritual light.  Being constantly present in the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had created the angle of thinking and intuition within him.  He did not need any effort and hard work to achieve this.

 After the departure of Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, the nearness of him changed from the distance and the source of spiritual blessings disappeared from the visible eyes.

 Gradually, the inner attribute of religion (thought) began to disappear from the mind and religion became only a collection of rituals and external actions.  Auliya Allah and Sufis Ikram highlighted the spiritual purpose and purpose of religion and made regulations while organizing and editing the inner aspect.  The purpose of this effort was to incorporate the path of contemplation with remembrance.  Therefore, the practical form of thought is called meditation, which means to meditate or concentrate on something.

 Book: Meditation

 Author: Khawaja Shamsuddin Azimi