Muraqaba

Priority: c, Quality: b
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Ethics


Moral Verses
Ifk VersesAl-Ukhuwwa VerseAl-It'am VerseAl-Naba' VerseNajwa VerseVerse of TrustsAl-Sulh Verse


Moral Hadiths
Hadith of qurb al-nawafilHadith Makarim al-akhlaqHadith of Mi'rajHadith Junud al-'Aql wa l-Jahl


Moral Virtues
HumilityContentmentGenerosityControlling AngerTruthfulnessHilm (forbearance)AsceticismBraveryChastityInsaf (Equity) • Silat al-RahimWara'Islah dhat al-bayn


Moral Vices
HubrisGreedEnvyLieBackbitingNamima (Talebearing)MiserlinessDisobedience to Parents'Ujb (self-conceit)Sum'aCutting blood relationSpreading grave sinsIngratitudeHypocrisyTabdhir


Moral Terminologies
Jihad with the selfSelf-critical soulCommanding SoulSoul at peaceSelf-reckoningMuraqabaMusharataSinMorality lessonsIstidraj


Scholars of Ethics
Muhammad Mahdi NaraqiAhmad al-NaraqiSayyid 'Ali Qadi Tabataba'iSayyid Rida Baha' al-DiniSayyid 'Abd al-Husayn DastghaybMuhammad Taqi Bahjat


References of Ethics

Qur'anNahj al-balaghaMisbah al-shari'a wa miftah al-haqiqaMakarim al-AkhlaqAl-Mahajjat al-bayda'Tanbih al-khawatir wa nuzhat al-nawazirJami' al-sa'adatMi'raj al-sa'adaAl-Muraqabat

Murāqaba (Arabic: مُراقَبَة) is one's observation over one's actions, speeches and thoughts to avoid disobedience of divine orders. It is the second stage of the three stages of recommended spiritual wayfaring (musharata, muraqaba and muhasaba). Scholars of ethics emphasize on muraqaba very much. They refer to verses and hadiths and consider it among the essentials of spiritual wayfaring.

Meaning

Muraqaba is the servant's observation of performing actions so that they are not against divine orders. In muraqaba, the servant considers this fact that God Almighty is aware of the appearance and the heart of his actions and of what he has in the heart.[1] Scholars of ethics emphasize on muraqaba very much and consider it among the essentials of spiritual wayfaring.[2] Due to muraqaba, a person will acquire a disposition in which having the knowledge in one's heart, one continuously observes (being in the presence of) God and is occupied and concerned with Him and knows that one will return to God.[3]

Levels

Different levels are mentioned for muraqaba:

1. Performing obligations and abandoning forbidden actions

2. Intensifying muraqaba and performing any action only for the contentment of God and avoiding dissolute affairs

3. Seeing God as the observant in all the states and admitting the fact that God Almighty is Omnipresent and Observant over creatures.

4. The highest level of muraqaba is that the wayfarer sees God as the Observant and generally sees the divine beauty.[4]

Some believe that by practicing muraqaba seriously, the wayfarer will discern the unity of God in actions, the unity of God in attributes, the unity of God in names and the unity of God in essence.[5]

In Verses and Hadiths

The scholars of ethics have mentioned verses and hadiths as proofs for the necessity of muraqaba such as:

  • Verse fourteen of the Qur'an 96: Does he not know that Allah sees [him]?
  • A hadith from the Prophet (s): Worship God as if you see Him that though you do not see Him, He sees you.[6]

See Also

Notes

  1. Narāqī, Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt, vol. 3, p. 96; Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Risāla-yi siyr-o-sulūk, p. 150.
  2. Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Risāla-yi lub, p. 113.
  3. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Maḥajjat al-Bayḍāʾ fī tahdhīb al-aḥyāʾ, vol. 8, p. 193.
  4. Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Risāla-yi lub al-lubāb, p. 144-145.
  5. Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Risāla-yi lub, p. 164.
  6. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Maḥajjat al-Bayḍāʾ fī tahdhīb al-aḥyāʾ, vol. 8, p. 191-192.

References

  • Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Muḥammad Mahdī b. Murtaḍā. Risāla-yi siyr-o-sulūk. Edited by Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Mashhad: Nūr Malakūt-i Qurʾān, 1425 AH.
  • Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Muḥammad b. Shāh Murtaḍā. Maḥajjat al-Bayḍāʾ fī tahdhīb al-aḥyāʾ. Translated to Farsi by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Ārif. Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍawī, 1379 Sh.
  • Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Risāla-yi lub al-lubāb dar siyr-o-sulūk-i ulu l-aḥbāb. Mashhad: Allāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, 1425 AH.
  • Narāqī, Mahdī b. Abī Dhar. Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt. 4th edition. Najaf: Manshūrāt Jāmiʿat al-Najaf, [n.d].