The importance and virtue of contemplation, which is the key to truth and salvation…

Reaching the Truth is possible only through contemplation. How can a person who acts blind and deaf towards the glaring presence of Divine majesty find the right path? Not for no reason do they say, ‘That which does not awaken feelings is not knowledge’.

The mindsets of nonbelievers who cannot come around to finding the Truth are described by Allah, glory unto Him, below:

“Surely you do not make the dead to hear, and you do not make the deaf to hear the call when they go back retreating.” (an-Naml, 80)

A mind trained under Divine revelation, which assures security from coming under the grip of groundless fears, deliriums and desires, combined with an effort to emulate the heart thread of the Prophet –upon him blessings and peace-, guides one to the truth and good. The Prophet’s –upon him blessings and peace- all other miracles aside, just reflecting on his morals and life would suffice to convince one of his honesty and the goodness of everything to which he invited. As a result of this reflection and with Divine help, one is then saved from the clamp of the ego and the dead ends of reason.

The plight and remorse of those in Hellfire are depicted by the Almighty as follows:

“And they shall cry therein for help: O our Lord ! Take us out; we will do good deeds other than those which we used to do. Did We not preserve you alive long enough, so that he who would be mindful in it should mind? And there came to you the one who warns; therefore taste; because for the unjust, there is no helper.” (Fatir, 37)

That means man can reach the truth and eternal salvation through two avenues:

1) By either finding righteous Muslims and surrendering himself to their dependable hands and obeying the Real through the inspiration and spirituality received from them;

2) Or by using his ability to contemplate and sense in the direction of the Quran and Sunnah to find the truth, to which he is to submit his ego. Not obeying the ahl’ul-haqiqah and not training the mind and then following its unwavering lead is bound to conclude in a tragic end.

Source: Osman Nuri Topbaş, Contemplation in Islam, Erkam Public.

Accompanying Contemplation with Dhikr