by Tariq Ramadan
Columnist Tariq
Ramadan, a scholar of Islamic studies writes on the necessity of Muslims spiritual
teaching. He writes: “As far as Islam is concerned, it must be noted that Arab
and Muslim majority societies are seriously lacking in spirituality. There is
not a deficit of “religion” but of spiritual life. It can be encountered among
Islamists, as well as among secularists and ordinary citizens. Religion refers
to the framework, to the structure of ritual, to the rights and obligations of
believers and, as such, lies at the heart of social and political debate. In
the classical Islamic tradition, framework, reference and practices can — like
all religions and spiritual traditions — be best seen in the light of their
relation to meaning (here, to the Divine), to a conception of life and death,
to the life of the heart and mind. Contemporary Islamic discourse has, however,
too often lost its substance, which is that of meaning, of understanding
ultimate goals and the state of the heart. Increasingly, it has been reduced to
reactivity, preoccupied with the moral protection of the faithful, based on the
reiteration of norms, rituals and, above all, prohibitions. But spirituality is
not faith without religion; it is the quest for meaning and peace of heart as
the essence of religion. Viewed in this light, Muslim majority societies are
profoundly bereft of serenity, coherence and peace. The time has come for a
spiritual and religious emancipation.”
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