Quran is a book of wisdom giving details of the divine scheme and principles acquired for successful living on this Earth. However, all these things can be discovered only through contemplation. Abu Darda was a senior companion of the Prophet of Islam. After his death, a man came to his wife and asked her what was the most basic form of worship performed by Abu Darda. She replied: He would spend the whole day thinking, thinking, and thinking. (Sunan an-Nasai, No. 11850) Contemplation or tadabbur opens the doors of the Quranic treasure of knowledge.
Spirituality in Islam is based on tadabbur (thought of God) (4:82). Contemplating the universe functioning perfectly, one realises that man’s life, too, must have a meaningful end. Then one exclaims: “O our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose. Glory be to you! Give us salvation in the life to come.” (3:191). Thus, the universe manifests God’s attributes, a source of spiritual nourishment for those who want to lead a divine life on earth. For them, the whole universe becomes an essential means of reaching spiritual perfection. This spiritual development continues throughout one’s earthly life till a time comes when one attains that degree of spirituality, which the Quran calls the ‘Rabbani soul.’ Souls such as these will inhabit Paradise in the life Hereafter. Our most compassionate Lord will say: “Dwell in Paradise; you shall have no fear, nor shall you grieve.” (7:49)
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The Quran is the Book of God, revealed to the Prophet of Islam in the first quarter of the seventh century. In the chapter Sad (Sad), the Quran says of itself:
“This is a blessed Book which We sent down to you [Muhammad], for people to ponder over its messages, and for those with understanding to take heed.” (38:29)
The Quran is, indeed, a book of wisdom, which gives us knowledge about the divine scheme along with all those principles that are required for successful living in this world. In short, the Quran is a book of guidance for mankind. It is, moreover, a simple book, which is easily understandable to anyone who has even the most rudimentary knowledge of Arabic. But all the things it has to offer can be discovered only through contemplation, called tadabbur. Contemplation opens the doors of the Quranic treasure of knowledge.
Source: Quranic Wisdom
The source of the realization of God is, in the words of the Quran, reflection (tafakkur and tadabbur). (The Quran, 3:191) The attainment of God-realization by contemplation is entirely a function of the mind. In the human body, the act of thinking is done only by the brain. What is achieved by this process of thinking has been defined as God-realization.
In ancient times, there were groups of spiritual persons who held that the source of realization of God was the heart, and it was due to this concept that the method of meditation, by focusing on the heart became prevalent. But this concept does not relate to divine religion. With reference to the heart, the Quran uses the word “understanding” (fiqh) (7:179), but this word “heart” is used only as a metaphor to refer to the “mind”. It is only through thinking and contemplation that one can achieve God-realization.
Source: Discovering God
Who is a deserving candidate for the eternal world of Paradise? According to the Quran, only a muzakka (20:76) person will be selected for being settled into Paradise. Muzakka means a purified soul. The hearts of the people of Paradise will be filled with the glory of God. (39:75) This is the first quality of a muzakka person. That is, he must discover the glory of God in the present world and acknowledge it from deep within his heart. Glorifying God is always a result of discovery. It means that a person should adopt the culture of contemplation (tadabbur), and through thinking and reflection, discover God as the Lord of the Universe. This discovery must be intellectually so deep that it should bring about a revolutionary change in his personality. In this way, he becomes a rabbani (3:79) person, as defined in the Quran.
Source: Spirit of Islam October 2018
