The Standard of Awareness
How To Have A Sound Heart (2/7)
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
- Carl Jung
Disclaimer: This is one of eight parts in the faith-based series ‘How To Have A Sound Heart’ and can be read as a stand-alone.
However, for unclear terms: check the footnotes and links.
For disjointed concepts or more like this: start with the series index here, or navigate to the previous chapter here.
I’ve heard of multiple topics under ‘Islam had it first’ - a way to describe a now mainstream or modern concept that was quietly established in Islamic history or sciences way before. Think of inventions like algebra, coffee or universities, and concepts like manifestation or the law of attraction.
One of my favourites is the concept of Muraaqabah - or mindful meditation in today’s language.
أَنْتَ تُرَاقِبُ اللهَ، وَاللهُ يُرَاقِبُكَ
You are observing Allah and Allah is observing you.
- Imam Ghazali
Meaning you are being attentive of your current awareness and your relation with God, and He is watching over your outward and inward states. Or you are ‘being mindful of Allah and finding Him in front you.’
Muraaqabah is derived from the root meaning “to watch, observe, regard attentively.”
It’s an act of metacognition - being aware of your self and your thoughts as you think them, to alter your conceptual frameworks and thought patterns - for your own benefit. This is also the definition of ‘mindfulness’, which the American Psychology Association deems as a helpful practice to lower stress and emotional reactivity while enhancing memory and focus, even improving personal relationships with heightened compassion.
…وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ فَٱحْذَرُوهُ ۚ
Know that Allah is aware of what is in your hearts, so beware of Him. {2:235}
The first part of anyone’s self-development journey is consciously paying attention to their mind, body and heart for surveying. Vigilant self-awareness comes under the umbrella of Muraaqabah. A parallel to this in the biological body’s terms, would probably be ‘interoception’ - the internal sensory system watching for signals to bring to awareness and respond to states appropriately - consciously or otherwise.
Self-surveillance and self-awareness birth a constant companion. It’s like there is another version of me perched in the room at all times who knows me well and wants to uplift me (or scrutinises my words and gestures a bit much sometimes - promise I’m not delirious). Intentional living is a great outcome created by that companion but beware of overdoing this examination - even self-reflection can curdle into self-obsession. Your version 2.0 is meant to recalibrate you, not exhaust you; to nudge, not nag; to be a mercy instead of a monitor.
The second part puts the ‘development’ in self-development. It is holding ourselves accountable for those patterns and psychological signals to result in an urgency to improve our being - with focus and moderation. When you audit your current bearings and then look towards the position your ideal self stands on, you feel the cognitive dissonance as you calculate that distance you need to climb. This is called Muhaasabah: calling your self to account. In tandem with Muraaqabah, it is the most sure-fire approach to have a sound heart.
Small brushstrokes create the big picture here: your routine, closest confidant, diet - physical and spiritual, hobbies, your reactions, where your humour lies, what irks you (ask it why), your representations of identity. Somatic, temporal, emotional and mental data you collect.
All calculating where you are vs. where you want to be.
Evaluations of these as well as the desire for change sometimes catalyse actual growth in our lives - if only we are brave and proactive enough to carry it out.
The entire process of introspection plus acted-upon discipline; the practice of polishing the soul constantly, is called Tazkiyah in the Quran. A key battle against our lower selves, or Jihaad (struggle) against our ‘Nafs’, like taming a wild horse. The real mission to be undertaken by every Muslim.
If the previously mentioned Ruh is our other-wordly spirit or higher self, the Nafs is defined to be the alter ego which can be tainted or swayed both positively and negatively. In fact, there are 3 kinds of Nafs mentioned in the Quran, lower to higher: 1) the commanding self concerned only with immediate gratification, 2) the rebuking self that feels guilt upon a mistake, 3) the peaceful self no longer caught in the turmoil of urges; content and tranquil. The process of trying to become the tranquil self, or a higher self from a lower one, is Tazkiya - or self-purification. You might have heard another version of its rood word in Zakat - a means to purify wealth.
Ramadan is an ideal time to talk about this - the repetitions of fasting aren’t really for losing weight; they teach us self-discipline and to ascend our Nafs more than anything.
It may help to explore resources from Yaqeen Institute for details on Muhaasabah and Muraaqabah, and this practical piece on substack. Also, these reads by imaan , Arslan and Mubeen I. also considerably clarify concepts on Islamic Psychology and the Nafs, respectively.
Other constructive approaches for you and I are some of many weaves between contemporary and Islamic Psychology. Delving into mainstream Psychology after starting a journey to understand the Quran (and the nuance of Arabic language that provides untranslatable depth and context) is something to advocate a lot. This is in an attempt to apply modern science and other principles after placing the Quran as the foundational compass to explain these, rather than the other way around.
Your worldview shifts when you put these lenses on, with undeniable conclusions brought forth.
سَنُرِيهِمْ ءَايَـٰتِنَا فِى ٱلْـَٔافَاقِ وَفِىٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ ٱلْحَقُّ ۗ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُۥ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ شَهِيدٌ
We will show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this ˹Quran˺ is the truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a Witness over all things? {Quran, 41:53}
Verses are called Aayaat in Arabic, meaning signs or miracles - just as proofs of theories can be, and when approached from an introspective and curious mind Qalb (spiritual intellect), they help make sense of ourselves and the world, arguably more than purely scientific siloes.
When we ponder and think of ourselves (Muraaqabah) and the broader world, it becomes painfully blatant to us, much like the first realisation of most philosophers, how insignificant or puny we are.
Intelligence and wisdom necessitate humbling yourself to the vastness of creation, and so, a Creator.
It’s easy to be awed by miracles - how intricate your health is, how infinitely vast the cosmos is, how rightfully abled an eagle is, how complex the mind is made, how many things had to align to bring forth achievements you attribute to yourself.
These meditative thoughts upon the heavens and the earth elicit wonder, then makes us form divine conclusions, as illustrated in the chapter of Aal-e-Imraan:
إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلَـٰفِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍۢ لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ۞ ٱلَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ قِيَـٰمًۭا وَقُعُودًۭا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَـٰذَا بَـٰطِلًۭا سُبْحَـٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the day and night there are signs for people of reason. ˹They are˺ those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth ˹and say˺, “Our Lord! You have not created ˹all of˺ this without purpose. Glory be to You! Protect us from the torment of the Fire. {Quran, 3:190-191}
This humility manifests internally as dawned truths and externally as a lens to radically shift our behaviour - straighten our act in accordance with things that matter (Muhaasabah).
For when your Qalb is receptive to the intricacies of the universe you pull it to see, it floats in awe and settles back into position brimming with purpose and gratitude.
Read the next part of this series here:
