The real focus of Islam is bringing about change in an individual’s character, another name for which is the re-engineering of the mind of individuals on positive lines. In Islamic terms, this is called tazkiyah or the purification of the mind on positive lines.
Man is born on nature. Due to environmental conditioning, every person becomes a case for the conditioning of the mind. For the purpose of a human being’s reform, it is essential to de-condition his mind, i.e., re-engineer his mind so that he returns to his nature. Then he becomes capable of seeing reality “as it is” and thus forms accurate opinions.
As people’s minds are re-engineered, a spiritual transformation occurs in them. They start living God-oriented lives, instead of self-oriented lives. The formula I give them to re-engineer their minds is: “Change yourself by living a God-oriented life and you will be able to change the whole world.”
Source: Spirit of Islam December 2018
The mindset of the people differs from age to age. One accepts something only when it is in accordance with one’s way of thinking. This is what is called the addressing of the mind. There are two ways of addressing people: addressing crowds at the collective level and addressing people at an individual level. While most speakers prefer to address people en masse from the stage, U have always preferred to interact with and address people at the individual level. As individuals constitute the basic unit of society, addressing a crowd does not yield any long-term results, for, in very large groups, the individual's mind is never properly addressed. Therefore individuals—the building blocks of society—are unlikely to change. When we interact and address people at the individual level, their minds are addressed. Their minds start getting re-engineered on positive lines. And as individuals start living in positivity, it has a far-reaching effect on the reform of society, in a community, nation, and internationally.
Source: Love of God
In moments of crisis, when the individual opts for the way of peace, he cultivates positive thinking. He raises his moral standards. He goes from strength to strength in the improvement of his own character. Indeed, he gives practical proof of his being a human being. On the contrary, when a man opts for the path of violence to solve his problems, he slides down the slippery slope toward perdition. He makes it all too clear that he is suspect as a human being.
Inclinations towards peace or violence serve as indicators of the true character of the human being. If the former proves the humanity of the individual, the latter proves his animality, despite his appearing to be a human being.
Peaceable behaviour is indicative of self-control. Self-control is undoubtedly a very great strength: it saves man from engaging in negative activities like violence. One who does not have the power of self-control will be enraged at times of provocation and will hurl himself into violent activities. Controlling one’s anger is the way of the peaceful person while losing one’s self-control when provoked is the way of the violent person.
Source: Spirit of Islam October 2018
The problem here is that we are living in society. Man is a social animal. He is bound to live in society. What is society? Society is a construct whereby human beings live in congregation for mutual benefit. But all of its members have their differences. Difference is a part of nature. Every man is born as Mr. Different and every woman is born as Ms. Different. Indeed, society is an amalgam of highly disparate elements.
It is this difference that creates problems. When you face a situation that is not in accordance with your desires, you become irritated. Then a chain reaction sets in—leading to anger, vengefulness, negative thinking, and violence. It is this phenomenon that prevents you from thinking positively.
To overcome this problem, one has to learn the art of remaining silent. When any negative thought comes to your mind, do not react. Say nothing. Make your mind empty for a moment. Then the whole matter will settle down. If someone makes a harsh remark about you, you should not take it seriously. Things not taken seriously do not become registered in the mind and thus do not continue to rankle.
Fortunately, nature is very helpful in this regard. Apart from other qualities, there is a unique quality in human nature, that is, the ability to cool down. The only condition is that we should give nature a chance. When we are faced with some unwanted situation, our powers of reasoning are generally swamped by a flood of negative thoughts. But if we can only keep quiet, the cooling down faculty of its own dispels the negativity. It changes the direction of the flood and within seconds, it is gone. Keep silent for thirty seconds. Everything will return to normal as if nothing at all had happened.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
Positive thinking, the source of all kinds of good things, is the most important habit in a man or a woman. It ensures good health and a sound mind, enables you to plan competently, and helps you in crisis management. Indeed, positive thinking results in super achievement.
Positive thinking is the other name for natural thinking. Positive thinking cannot be acquired from the external world. It is your inner nature that provides a reservoir of positive thought. Preserve your inborn nature and you will surely emerge as a positive thinker. Every human being is born with great potential. Allow your potential to unfold and you will become a positive thinker in the perfect sense of the word.
The opposite of positive thinking is negative thinking. Positive thinking enhances the inner qualities of every human being, while negative thinking does the very opposite. Negative thinking can all too easily overwhelm one’s better self, therefore, a concerted effort is required to keep it at bay. If you want to live as a positive thinker, try to distance yourself from negative thoughts.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
Complaint or protest against problems is of no value. Problems are not created by some person: they are a part of the creation plan of God. No one has the power to change the course of nature. We have no option but to accept this natural course. The above Quranic formula is the only formula that is feasible to follow in our world.
So when you face a problem, don’t be negative. Be normal. Don’t be disturbed. Don’t allow tension to develop in your mind. Simply assess the situation and, by avoiding the problem, try to discover the opportunities. Believe with complete conviction that there are enormous opportunities waiting for you—either hidden or open. So, set about discovering them, using all your mental powers and energy.
In such a situation, lodging complaints and making protests are nothing but a waste of time. Developing anxiety is only the result of your own failure to understand the law of nature. So, be a realist and ensure your success.
All difficult situations have their problems, but at the same time, there are always certain opportunities in-built in these situations. If you start your task by harping on your problems or obstacles, then it is like putting the cart before the horse. In this world there is only one starting point, and that is based on opportunities and certainly not on problems. Leaving the problem pending is not inaction. It is, in fact, based on deep wisdom. By adopting this method you can save yourself from futile confrontation and can devote all your energy to achieving your goals.
In every situation there are problems, but at the same time, there are opportunities. This is a law of nature. But it is also a law of nature that the quantum of opportunities will be more than the quantum of problems.
Choosing to start with a problem is an act of emotional reaction while launching out from the basis of opportunities shows great wisdom. It means: Start from what is possible today and you will attain, by tomorrow, what is apparently impossible. This principle is based on practical wisdom, and practical wisdom is the only workable principle in this world.
Source: Spirit of Islam October 2018
Many people today complain that they are deprived of the opportunity to live and work in an atmosphere of freedom and peace. Such people are simply unaware of the secret of life. If you want to enjoy the blessings of freedom and peace that we have been bestowed with in this age, you must know that you should set such a goal for yourself that can be achieved without having to resort to violent confrontation with anyone. If you devise a goal for yourself that will disturb someone else’s life, you will be left to complaining and protesting against others. But if you devise a purpose for yourself that will not, in any way, become a problem for others, you can carry on with your work for the rest of your life, and you will have no complaints against others.
This secret is referred to in the Quran (4: 128) thus: “Reconciliation is best”. This indicates that the aim that you set for yourself should not lead to you entering into confrontation or conflict with others. In this way, you will find that everything in this world is favourable for you. It will become possible, then, for you to achieve your purpose, while being safe from developing the psyche of complaints against others. On the other hand, if you speak the language of complaint, it only means that you have chosen a wrong aim for yourself. It is a problem of a wrong aim, not one of other people’s oppression or enmity.
Source: Spirit of Islam July 2018
No! It is never okay to complain. We must abstain from complaining completely. The British MP Enoch Powell (1912 – 1998) once made an interesting comment about political leaders who complain about the media. He felt that such complaints were unnecessary or unjustified. ‘A politician who complains about the media,’ he said, ‘is like a ship’s captain complaining about the sea.’
This comment applies actually to every person. Whenever someone complains about someone else, his or her complaint is actually a needless complaint. He or she turns an issue into a cause for complaint, although the issue is actually not something to complain about at all.
This world is established on the principles of nature. Life in this world is like a vast ocean, always full of waves. Living in society, we will always have to face one wave after another. The only sensible way to deal with the waves that appear in our lives is to consider them as challenges. Instead of complaining about the waves that come our way, we should learn the art of successfully going over or bypassing them.
The fact that we have to face many waves or challenges in life is not something bad or wrong. In fact, challenges are for our own good. They come into our lives in order to train us, to increase us in wisdom and to strengthen us. The difficulties that we face in life are experiences, and without going through such experiences one cannot become a more complete person. Abstaining completely from complaining, we should learn lessons from our experiences.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
The spirit of Islam may be called the Allah-u-Akbar spirit. The expression Allah-u-Akbar is repeated several times during Salath or prayer. Allah-u-Akbar means God is great. It implies that ‘I am not great’. In this way, every day, all believers refresh their minds repeatedly with the idea that greatness pertains only to God: there is no greatness for them.
Congregational prayer is a practical demonstration of this reality. In congregational prayer, all believers make one person a prayer leader, and the rest stand behind him. This is a social form of expression of the Allah-u-Akbar spirit.
The purpose of saying Allah-u-Akbar is to develop the spirit of modesty. When the spirit of modesty develops in a person in the real sense, it does not stop at any point; just as this spirit manifests itself before God during prayer, it manifests itself in like manner in relation to other human beings. The spirit of modesty becomes part and parcel of his everyday life.
Those who are imbued with this spirit will never display egoism or pride. They will never distance themselves from others on minor provocations. Working under others will appear to them as an act of worship. Their spirit will find happiness in surrender and modesty rather than in making others surrender to them. They will accept their mistakes. They will be totally free from any desire for leadership.
If one has the Allah-u-Akbar spirit, he will be a modest person.
Source: Spirit of Islam June 2019
The ego is present in everyone, in varying degrees. This gives one courage and confidence. If a person has no ego, he will be deprived of self-confidence and in the absence of self-confidence, no one can perform any worthwhile task. But it is necessary that one’s feelings of self-confidence should be bound by limitations, that is, it should be reined in by the feeling of modesty.
In the absence of such pressure, a person will lose his utility and viability in social life. He will suffer from excessive pride. And without a doubt, there is nothing more destructive than excessive pride in this world. There are two things in this world that make a person modest. One is a scientific bent of mind; the other is being God-fearing. A scientific bent of mind results from the realization of knowledge. And a God-fearing mind is the result of the discovery and realization of God.
When excessive pride builds up in a person, it could be because he sees himself in relation to others, and since there are many people he finds less accomplished than himself, the feeling of ego or appreciation of his own greatness begins to grow. But one who has a scientific bent of mind in the real sense sees himself and his issues in relation to knowledge rather than in relation to the person who has knowledge. A person can be limited, but knowledge is unlimited. In relation to the person who has knowledge, one can think of oneself as greater than others but in relation to the vast world of knowledge, everyone is less in stature. This feeling naturally produces modesty in a scientific or learned person.
One who has fear of God will see his affairs in relation to God, the Almighty. When one sees oneself in relation to God, everyone becomes small, in relation to God.
Similarly, one who has fear of God will see his affairs in relation to God, the Almighty. When one sees oneself in relation to God, everyone becomes small, in relation to God. No one is great. In this way, the belief of a God-fearing man makes him a balanced and modest person.
Source: Spirit of Islam June 2019
Belief in God—Tawheed—enables man to establish a direct link between God and man. It makes man humble and modest instead of proud and arrogant. This is because belief in one Great God implies that man is His humble servant and that modesty alone befits him. Believers know that they must submit to God, on whom they depend utterly. Submission to one God results in individual freedom and dignity, for, all human beings become equal and all deserve our respect.
There is only one God and all of us are servants of the same God. Belief in the oneness of God helps individuals to live in unity with others. Belief in one Creator gives a sense of oneness with all creation.
Life and death are entirely in God’s hands.
Belief in one God gives the believers confidence; for, they trust in God and believe that nothing can happen unless God wills it. Life and death are entirely in His hands. They remain content because they believe that power, wealth, and success come from God alone. He gives them to whom He wants and takes them away from whom he wants. Tawheed thus brings about a unique blend of submission to God with human dignity and freedom.
Source: Spirit of Islam January 2015
When a scientist discovers the scientific world, he doesn’t leave the material world, but rather stays here, studies, and makes discoveries in this very world. Spirituality is also a science. Consequently, in spiritual science, the same method is valid, i.e. undergoing spiritual experiences while remaining in the material world. Spirituality, in fact, is a process of converting our everyday material events into spiritual experiences. While living his social life, man is affected by events, which trigger negative thoughts such as malice, lust, anger, arrogance, greed, etc. But when man raises himself above his immediate surroundings, i.e. from the material level to a higher level of thinking, he experiences real spirituality. At this elevated level, man is able to eradicate his negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. In this state, he learns to convert non-spiritual matters into spiritual matters.
The art of conversion means converting negativity into positivity. You have to try to live with a positive mind even in negative situations. While this seems to be a very difficult task, God Almighty has given us a mind with unlimited capacity. Our mind, itself, helps us to rise above the situation and give a positive response even in negative situations.
For example, in our life, there can be negative experiences at any moment. These experiences disturb our spirituality, but by applying our mind we can cause all this negativity and the tension generated by it to disappear and thus maintain our spirituality.
A question I am often asked is in trying to develop ourselves spiritually, is it necessary to detach ourselves from the physical world? My answer to them is simply: no. The physical world can be helpful in developing spirituality. If you become a slave of material things, then the physical world becomes an obstacle to developing spirituality but if you become the master of the material world, you will be mature enough to squeeze spirituality from material things. For example, if someone abuses you, don’t become upset. It is better to shake hands with him and say: ‘My friend, there was a news item in today’s paper and I would like to have your comments on it.’ In this way, you can change the subject and so turn negativity into positivity. But you can do this only by thinking before reacting and rising above the situation and giving a positive response. Activating of the mind is what is called mind-based spirituality.
Source: Spirit of Islam April 2013
According to me, true spirituality is based on contemplation or reflection, or pondering, which has all to do with intellectual activity. Such mind-based spirituality is produced when man gives serious thought to questions pertaining to the ideology of life such as, ‘Who am I?’ What is the purpose of my life? What is this world around me? What is the creation plan of the Creator? Is my life governed by destiny or free will? What is my purpose in life?... A seeker is able to find true spirituality by finding rational answers to such questions, whereby he receives spirituality at the mind or thinking level.
Indeed, the journey of spirituality begins with the urge to search for the truth. When a seeker discovers the truth and learns the creation plan of the Creator, his life enters a new phase, i.e. that of building the human personality according to spiritual principles. This journey is entirely intellectual in nature. Its quest is two-fold, one is to solve the riddle of why, all men and women undergo negative experiences in this world and the other is to offer positive solutions. It addresses the paradox of human beings having been given the freedom to make their own moral choices, and their frequent misuse of this freedom—a course of action that causes them to repeatedly face situations in which people do each other harm; losses are incurred because of others’ injustice; severe provocations are suffered because of untoward experiences. At such times spirituality teaches us to convert negativity into positivity through the art of conversion. This is the ideology of spirituality as presented in Islam.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet of God said: 'Such people will go to heaven whose hearts are like those of little birds.' (Musnad Ahmad)
Small birds possess a unique feature that is absent from all other animals. That is, the birds are free of feelings such as hatred and vengeance. All other animals have an instinct of attacking when threatened, but birds are completely free of such instinct. Looking at a little bird, you will immediately recognize that it is an embodiment of sweetness, tenderness, and innocence. That is why the dove has been universally declared a symbol of peace.
According to the above-quoted Hadith, this is the heavenly quality that every individual who is desirous of Paradise must have. A heavenly personality is one that is completely free of all negativity. A bird has this positive quality by virtue of its instincts, whereas a heavenly personality has this quality as a conscious choice.
A heavenly person is one who has moulded himself in such a way that his heart is completely devoid of feelings such as hatred and vengeance; who is able to control anger; who does not react negatively to situations; who can respond with love despite hatred from others; who can do good to people selflessly; who is able to live amongst people while considering all of them as his brothers and sisters; who averts all evil, seeking out the company of angels; who patiently bears all complaints; who carries out his duties and asks his rights from God—these are those superior qualities which will make a person deserving of entering Paradise.
Source: Spirit of Islam April 2014
Spirituality is the culture of nature. Nature demonstrates this spiritual culture in various ways. Take the case of a rose bush. It is a combination of two opposite parts: flowers and thorns. Both flowers and thorns live together on the branches of the bush. There is no clash between the two. It is this culture that makes a rose bush such a very beautiful scene to behold. This indicates what the better way to live in society is. Man should live in society as a rose bush lives in the wilderness.
If positive men and women are like spiritual trees, their applied behaviour, or their applied spirituality, makes the society in which they live a spiritual garden. Applied spirituality is the multiplication of spiritual values. Applied spirituality is beneficial to both the spiritually-advanced person as well as his neighbour. It makes the person a happy person, and his neighbourhood a problem-free society.
Spirituality means giving more importance to non-material values than to material values. Spirituality promotes the culture of simple living and high thinking. A person with a simple lifestyle becomes a no-problem person. Someone who develops high thinking becomes a truly selfless person, concerned about the whole of humanity. Clashes between people over conflicting material interests often lead to all manner of inhuman actions. When you go beyond these interests by developing spiritually you will no longer find yourself constantly fighting with others. You will become a healthy member of society, and a society that consists of large numbers of people of this kind is bound to emerge as a peaceful society.
Source: Spirit of Islam January 2014
In front of my house, in New Delhi, there is a full-grown tree, in whose shade I am in the habit of sitting. I call it my spiritual tree. In fact, this tree is my teacher, although a silent one. The previous summer, this tree, like many other trees, shed its green leaves. Gradually, it became simply like dry wood. I was doubtful whether it would ever again turn green. But in the spring, the whole scenario changed. My spiritual tree again became a tree with lush green foliage.
The rebirth of this tree was a great lesson. My spiritual tree turned into a speaking tree. It gave me a significant message: “Don’t be hopeless in any situation. After every dry season, there is a good harvest. After every spell of hopelessness, there is new hope, and after every failure, there is great success. After every dark night, there is a bright morning.”
My spiritual tree never left its allotted space. It did not protest against anyone; it never demanded that others find new, living leaves. It remained in the same place and started a new process within itself. What was this process? The process was to get its food from below as well as from sunlight. The strategy worked. The whole of nature came to its aid and after some months, it gained its lost greenery once again. This is the lesson I learned from my spiritual tree.
No protest, no complaint, no demand, no street activism or stage activism: simply trust your own natural abilities and work silently. Try to reshape your destiny. And very soon you will be glad to discover that you have regained your life.
In this life often, you face experiences when a person abuses you, troubles you, provokes you. In that case, you have two ways of responding to them. One is the way of ‘tit for tat’. Just as you have been troubled, you do the same to the other person. You also abuse him, trouble him or harm him. You are provoked by another’s provocation. The one who responds in this manner develops a negative personality in him. On the contrary, another person is the one who responded in a positive manner to negative behaviour: the one who was abused by others but himself did not abuse anyone. Others tormented him but he did not torment others. The one who was harmed, but did not harm others. These are the characteristics of a truly enlightened and wise person, one who has learned well from nature.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
People generally know the power of fighting but a wise person will tell you that the power of positive behaviour is more effective. At the time of a controversy, if you choose to fight, you will need arms but when you opt for the spiritual method, you don’t need any arms. As the conscience is greater than the power of the ego, the power of positive behaviour can triumph over the power of negativity, while the power of negativity cannot win anything—it can only lead to destruction.
This kind of ability to conquer is not the monopoly of extraordinary people. Any ordinary person also can win the hearts and minds of people, provided he knows the law of nature and can avail of it by the power known as the power of spirituality. According to the creation plan of God, all human beings, both men and women, have two quite different qualities—the ego and the conscience. The ego symbolizes arrogance, while the conscience symbolizes modesty.
With such extraordinary inherent qualities, one can become a master of all situations. Such individuals can, when they come to a gathering, win the hearts and minds of people simply by appearing there. There is a saying about such persons: They came, they saw, they conquered.
Spirituality is a science, the science of mind. It nourishes positive thinking, positive tastes, positive habits, and positive behaviour. A positive person is a blessing for his home, his society, and his nation. In secular terms, spirituality is positive thinking. In religious terms, it is divine discipline.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
If you discover the value of well-wishing and decide to live as a well-wisher for all mankind, then you are one who engages in applied spirituality. Likewise, if you have a bad experience with your neighbours, but avoid treating this as a departure from normalcy and face those neighbours with a smile, then that too is an example of applied spirituality. Spirituality comprises a set of values. And, applied spirituality means practicing these values in conjunction with your fellow men in society.
Applied spirituality is ostensibly a matter of giving. But, every instance of giving is paralleled by an instance of receiving. That is a law of nature. According to this law, the giver is not simply a giver. The giver is also the receiver of many things – appreciation, goodwill, better relations, and peace – from those who are the objects of his generosity.
Spirituality, moreover, being an inner quality, has to be applied if its external actualization is to take place. Applied spirituality means living in society as a spiritual giver. Just as the cow is the giver of milk, which is good for physical health, one who has the capacity to apply his spirituality is the giver of such assistance as will be good for intellectual health.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
Man has a dual personality—physical and spiritual. In physical terms, a person’s body most often has its limitations in terms of height, girth, health, muscularity, athleticism, and so on. Due to these limitations, a person frequently becomes dissatisfied as far as his physical prowess is concerned. On the contrary, his spiritual or intellectual being has no limits to it. The realm in which the mind travels is vast and eternal, like the space stretching throughout the cosmos. The mind travels by thinking, and there are no boundaries to the thinking process. Traversing all kinds of frontiers, it continues unhindered on its journey.
Let us consider the activities of a businessman. These are confined to the material world. Due to the narrowness of his field of action, he is very likely to become prey to boredom. The American business magnate Bill Gates once rightly said: “Once you get beyond a million dollars, I have to tell you, it’s the same hamburger.”
Scientific pursuit is an example of traveling in the intellectual domain. This is why scientists seldom suffer from the businessman’s ennui. For example, Newton said about himself toward the end of his life: “I was like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Such was the feeling of the great scientific thinker, Albert Einstein when he said: “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”
Greater even than scientific pursuit is the spiritual quest. According to the creation plan, the scope for material fulfillment in this world is very limited, while the scope for spiritual fulfillment or intellectual development is so vast that only the word ‘unbounded’ can describe its scope.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
