Meditation

Society Religion & Philosophy
1

What does Islam say about meditation. I am not talking about namaz because that is different. Exactly how would a Muslim meditate. And is yoga allowed?

2

Re: Meditation

AL!

to quote from wiki!

Meditation is a holistic discipline by which the practitioner attempts to get beyond the reflexive, “thinking” mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. Meditation is a component of many religions, and has been practiced since antiquity. It is also practiced outside religious traditions…
Meditation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

namaz is the “meditation” for us Muslims.

Yoga on the other hand is a “meditation” for the followers of Hinduism however it has been adapted by many to the local style in the West.

Having said that, there are many aspects of mediation that are common between different types/styles of meditation.

Such as

1 . concentrating and focusing on the “supreme being”. For us the supreme being is Allah swt.

  1. Relaxation (without which you cannot concentrate. )

  2. Physical poses and movement of body to bring harmony between the physical world and spiritual world.

If we offer our namaz with true meaning and focus on Allah swt, we won’t need any other meditation.

Unfortunately for many of us, Namaz is a just a fardh, a forced obligation that we must complete by rapid movements and quick ending.

We focus more on getting the number of raka done, instead of focusing on Allah swt.
We count Fardh, Sunnahs, and Nawafil by the very number, without ever worrying that “we must get the furdh done in the best possible way”.,

We forget that during namaz, Allah swt is in front of us, watching us, and yet we ignore his presence.

The bottom line is that you meditate/say namaz in its true sense, and you will be just fine.

Yoga in the West is more fad than substance. However if you want to try it out, for your curiosity, it is OK to attend yoga classes offered in a non-religious and non-Hindu settings.

It may help you find the commonality between Namaz and Yoga, and perhaps learn few techniques that you could later use as part of your namaz such as breathing and relaxation.

3

Re: Meditation

If you can use yoga to help you concentrate on and focus in Namaz then why not use it to your advantage. Yoga can also help you strengthen your relationship with Allah(SWT)

4

Re: Meditation

First define meditation? What do you mean by it. In Islam meditation = muraqaba, that's what the Sufis do and it's all permissible. here is an article by Mufti Ebrahim Desai:

The word Muraqaba is derived from the root letters ر ق ب .

رقب – يرقب (raqaba – yarqubu) means;
to observe, to watch attentively, to heed, to inspect. In terms of Sharia, it refers to inspection and introspection of one’s Nafs (inner self) with certain forms of silent dhikr ( الذكر الخفى ) in an attempt to bring the Nafs in line with the injunctions and commands of Allah. In essence, it is derived from the following verses, إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا - “Verily Allah is ever-watchful over you” and أَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَى – “Does he not know that Allah is watching?”

Generally, Muraqaba is carried out by clearing one’s thoughts of everything besides Allah. Thereafter, a person turns his spiritual gaze and attention completely and exclusively towards Allah Ta’ala. He meditates upon the fact that Allah Ta’ala is constantly watching and observant of every single move he makes and every thought that crosses his mind. When such a mindset becomes firmly established in an individual, he is said to have achieved the stage of Ihsan (excellence) as referred to in the following Hadith,

قال ما الإحسان ؟ قال أن تعبد الله كأنك تراه فإن لم تكن تراه فإنه يراك

Jibreel (AS) asked Rasulullah صلى الله عليه و سلم , “What is Ihsan?”

Rasulullah صلى الله عليه و سلم replied, “It is that you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him and if you are unable to see Him, then (know well) that He sees you.”(Bukhari, Hadith # 50, Dar Ibn Katheer - Beirut).

When a person is entrenched in the thought that Allah is watching over his every move and thought, how could such a person ever conceive of committing even the most venial of sins. Furthermore, such a person will worship Allah with full attention, reverence and subjugation which is the basic purpose of life as stated in the following verse,

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

“And I have not created the Jinn or mankind except that they should worship Me.”(51:56)

The Mashayikh of Tasawwuf have divided Muraqaba into various types depending upon the aim and objective. There are many more types of Muraqaba but a few have mentioned hereunder by way of example:

Muraqaba Dua’iyya : This is a type of meditation wherein the person ponders that his heart is making Dua and that the words of dhikr are emanating from his heart instead of his tongue.
Muraqaba al-Maut: This is a type of meditation wherein the person sits in seclusion, closes his eyes and ponders about death and the conditions that will occur after death. He will imagine scenes such as his soul is being extracted from his body, his final Ghusl being performed, being buried in the earth etc.
Muraqaba al-Ru’ya: This is a type of meditation wherein the person sits in seclusion and imagines that Allah Ta’ala is watching him. All the while he ponders over the verse أَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَى .
Muraqaba al-Ma’iyya: This is a type of meditation wherein the person imagines that Allah Ta’ala is with him all the time. However, Allah does not take any shape or form during such imagination and meditation.
All of the above-mentioned types of Muraqaba are permissible and praiseworthy. Such Muraqaba will lead a person towards establishing the desired object, namely, the quality of Ihsan as previously mentioned.

5

Re: Meditation

The meditative aspect of Salah is called Khushoo.

6

Very good input everyone..
now here is my question: What if we sit in a yoga/meditation class and when they ask to inhale/exhale or join the hands and say "namaste" stuff, wut if we do that with them but consider in our mind that we are doing it in front of ALLAH swt rather any other force, is it permissible?

7

Re: Meditation

^^ holding hands with larkiyaN ? :omg: j/k
and namaste means “i bow to you” so yeah that’s shirk right there. hindus are known for it lol

why not just stick to namaz and dhikr, there’s no need for this yoga cr@p

8

Meditation, prayer, Khushoo, muraqba etc. they are all in the realm of "Haqooq Allah".

Thus it is strictly your private matter, unless you are in public area / mosque/ temple etc. Then you have to follow the rules set for that establishment.

So do what you want to please Allah swt. If it remains your sole objective, then you are safe from "haqooq Allah" point of view.

What you have in your heart is between you and Allah swt.

9

holding both hands together in a form of submission just like they do while saying namaste…

Did you misunderstand my point or you take everything on the same line? i’ll be detailed from next time.

10

Thanks...I think that too

The only reason I asked that is that I like the yoga thing except that namaste thing but then I thought why not I think about ALLAH swt in place of anything else while doing that. And yes, if I get it going I'm sure i'll be able to concentrate more in Namaz.
Right now, even if I try hard, I cannot concentrate that much during namaz and get a lot of things in mind which are very distracting..

11

oh ok i thought you were talking about the groups that hold hands in a circle..etc lol sorry.

well saying namaste is part of their religion, we shouldn't say it. it literally means "we bow to you", why not just say Allahu akbar instead of namaste?

IMO, by doing yoga, we're only encouraging their way of life / religion.

for more concentration in namaz, reading sunnats rakats help a lot. your thoughts will only decrease in number as you go towards your fardh salat... get it?
also why not try "islamic meditation"? :) instead of yoga...

[QUOTE]
Muraqaba Dua’iyya : This is a type of meditation wherein the person ponders that his heart is making Dua and that the words of dhikr are emanating from his heart instead of his tongue.

Muraqaba al-Maut: This is a type of meditation wherein the person sits in seclusion, closes his eyes and ponders about death and the conditions that will occur after death. He will imagine scenes such as his soul is being extracted from his body, his final Ghusl being performed, being buried in the earth etc.

Muraqaba al-Ru’ya: This is a type of meditation wherein the person sits in seclusion and imagines that Allah Ta’ala is watching him. All the while he ponders over the verse أَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَى .

Muraqaba al-Ma’iyya: This is a type of meditation wherein the person imagines that Allah Ta’ala is with him all the time. However, Allah does not take any shape or form during such imagination and meditation.
[/QUOTE]

12

Great.

Namaste or joining your two hands is not too different from the way we make Dua.

Similar poses are used in many many cultures and religions. Hindus and especially Muslims didn't invent new styles.

All our Ibadah have been around for a long log time before 7th century AD.

Who knows that Hindus are following one of the paghambers Allah swt sent to them thousands of years before Mohammad pbuh.

If you say "Namaste" it really depends on you! to figure out who you are bowing to.

And if someone says to the other human being in a normal meeting "I bow to you",

then only an idiot will think that you are considering the other person "Allah mian" (nauz billah).

I hope you get the point.

We Pak Muslims should not disparage Hinduism outright just because they have some bad aspect.

I mean how do WE the Muslims feel when others disrespect our religion just because we have bad apples e.g Islamists.

I hope this will help you feel comfortable with saying Namaste to a Hindu collegue, or during a spiritual session of yoga.

that's so true. you will learn one thing from Yoga is that ibadah, or prayer needs a specific set of steps to prepare for it.

  1. Quiet room (and if there is a music, it is very low volume and very calming)
  2. Burning incense / candles etc.
  3. deep breathing.

3 is the most important. Use it before starting your next prayer and inshallah you will see a HUGE difference.

Unfortunately many many Muslims right now treat the Namaz as if they are doing any other daily ritual such as brushing the teeth.

So a guy wakes up at 6, does other things, then brushes his teeth at 6:15 for 3 minutes, and then runs to the next ritual while radio plays the latest tunes.

The problem is that going in the Hazoor of Allah swt is TOTALLY different from the daily rituals needed to get ready for your office/school in the morning.

Preparation for Namaz goes way beyond the part of doing woodu. There are additional requirements that we ignore sometimes.

  1. You must not be hungry
  2. You must have had good sleep,
  3. you must be smelling good, put on a good fragrance.
  4. You must put good clean clothes on
  5. you must have 30 min (at least) set aside for your meditation.
  6. The room and the prayer rug must be super duper clean (unfortunately prayer rugs are seldom washed)
  7. You are not running late for the next meeting / travel etc.
  8. If you are the wife/husband, then you are not being called by your spouse.
  9. You are not sick
  10. You are not outside in the elements (like rain, storm, etc. )

Remember you are going in the court of Allah swt, and not some ordinary stage show. Thus you must be clean inside and out.

And then

if you sit down and take deep breaths for few minutes, and then start your meditation/prayer

You will surely be able to concentrate.

I guarantee that!

13

I agree.

14

Re: Meditation

i say oommmmmmmmmm when i meditate and namaste at the ned of the sun salutation during my yoga session..and i dont care..it doesnt bother me one bit and i dont care what people say bcs i know what i am and what i believe in..