The Concept of Tafkeer in Islam

The concept of meditation in Islam is based on two things, at-tafakkur wat-tadabbur (thinking and contemplation) (3: 191, 4: 82). Abu Darda was a senior Companion of the Prophet, after his death a man came to his wife and asked her what was the most important form of worship performed by Abu Darda. She replied: “He would spend the whole day thinking, thinking, thinking”. According to this, Islamic meditation is a thinking process rather than the cessation of intellectual activity. The Quran further tells us that this intellectual process has two different directions—al-anfus and al-afaq. Al-anfus literally means soul, that is, inner world; afaq literally means universe, that is, external world. So when a believer sees the universe functioning in a perfect manner and he finds that all the events in this vast universe always proceed towards a meaningful result, he realizes that man’s life too must have a meaningful end. This makes him exclaim: 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)

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QURANIC VERSES1:7
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