The Difference between Ecstasy
and God-Realization

Ecstasy and realization appear to be similar in meaning but, in reality, they are quite different from one another. Maarifah or the realization of God is a noble Islamic quality, whereas ecstasy is not related to Islam. Anyone may have this experience of ecstasy. But the truth is that, ecstasy has nothing to do with religion. Even music and dance can bring about a state of ecstasy in a human being.

Maarifah relates to conscious discovery. When a person engages in contemplation and discovers his Creator, then at the intellectual level, he discovers something spiritual (rabbani). This is called maarifah. Maarifah, in other words, can be called intellectual development. If intellectual development takes place in a purely natural way, it will inevitably take a person to the discovery of his Creator, and the conscious discovery of the Creator is another name for maarifah.

Ecstasy, on the contrary, is not something which takes shape on a conscious plane. It is a feeling or state. Such feelings can be produced by many things. They could be religious or non-religious in nature. Maarifah, on the other hand, awakens the capacity for deep thinking and contemplation in the person concerned, whereas ecstasy only causes one to enter a trance-like state. Temporarily, a person feels himself in a tension-free state. A trance can give one a vague kind of thrill, but it cannot produce intellectual and spiritual development.

Maarifah brings about an intellectual awakening in the believer and brings him nearer to his Lord, whereas a trance makes it possible for a person to be lost in himself, unable to perceive the external reality. Maarifah increases insight, whereas a trance only leaves one in a state of unawareness. Maarifah is a conscious state whereas a trance only produces a thrill.