Meditation is a mental body work system that aims to develop concentration and wisdom. The word meditation itself actually comes from the Latin words, namely meditatio which means to contemplate. There is also a mention derived from the word mederi which means health so that absorbed into the medicalin, which was associated with the medical or health. Meditation is not only synonymous with Hinduism or Buddhism alone.
All religions know meditation, including Islam. In a broad sense, meditation has the meaning of concentration of mind in one purpose, and cultivate the connection spiritually. Every religion has different ways of meditating. Here is the correct way of meditation according to Islam.
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1) Shalat
First thing we want to share is Shalat. As we know we always doing Shalat five times a day, sometimes more with shalat sunnah such as dhuha, tahajud, etc. If we want to get a benefit of meditation in shalat, do with tuma’ninah or khushu’. At the moment, we can feel how good it is to worship while believing that God sees us worshiping.
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2) Dzikr
Dzikr can be a media for Meditation in Islam. With always remembering Allah, we will be focus to reach Allah’s blessing. This type of meditation is one of the easiest way to do, anywhere and anytime, but it will increase our good deed if we do it frequently.
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3) Reading Qur’an
Allah sent the Qur’an to all mankind on this earth. Therefore we must apply it in everyday life. There are so many virtues contained in it if we read the Qur’an, especially if we understand every single words in it. This can help us to meditate ourselves and bring a new energy for us.
4) Tafakur
Tafakur is a reflection by seeing, analyzing, believing with certainty to gain confidence in everything related to God. Tafakur has a same meaning with meditation; it will increase monotheism, belief and belief in God based on mind and heart or mind. In addition to getting closer to God, Tafakur can also be used for every moment to see, pay attention to behavior, nature, events, problems that at any time arise as long as humans live.
See also : Character of Prophet Muhammad
5) Fasting
Fasting, or shaum, is one of the way of meditation. It resting our digestion system and raise of careness to other people in poverty; which is they must struggle to eat three times a day. Also, it will raise our faith to Allah swt. This is supported in Al-Baqarah verse 183 :
“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.”
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6) Ablution
Ablution means cleansing. Cleansing is a part of meditation, which is the terms has many definition, both physically and mentally. When we take a wudhu, and wash a part of our body such as face or hand, we can feel a soothing and coolness sensation by water. It will bring a freshness and indulgence to us, so we feel in-charge to do some activity.
See also : Cleanliness in Islam
7) Self-intropection/Evaluate Yourself
Another things to meditate ourselves is introspection or evaluate ourselves. It is no wrong if we think about what we do all this time, whether good or bad, right or wrong. If we ever do something wrong or bad, fixed it and committed to yourself not to doing same mistake. If we ever doing something good, keep it up and intend it to Allah. As a human being, we are compete each other, in doing good deed. This is elaborated in Al-Baqarah verse 148 :
“For each [religious following] is a direction toward which it faces. So race to [all that is] good. Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you forth [for judgement] all together. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.”
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8) Be Focus and Concentrate
One of the most important thing to meditation is focus and concentration. We should aim our mind, body and soul to Allah swt, in obeying His command. If we were distracted by any little thing, it could be ruined our meditation, but we can start it over again, with more focus and more concentration. Feel it as Allah sees us and assured that Allah hears anything what we said and taught, including in our heart.
9) Fixed the Attitude
Attitude is one of the most important thing in life. It shows how we to be treated in society. Although as a human we are not perfect, but it is recommended if we fixed some bad habit or attitude to ourselves, not to get people respect, even it will gained by itself. No need to be fake or pretend it, just be ourselves and obeying the rules in a place we were.
10) Dua Only to Allah swt
Allah swt created human and other creatures is only to worship him. If we want to Dua, refers to Allah swt. This is directly describe in Surah Adh-Dhariyat verse 56 :
“And I did not create the jinn and mankind but only to worship Me”
So, if we want our meditation is worked, make it to Allah SWT.
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11) Self-esteem with good things
Sometimes, we had doubt and other negative things that haunted us. This is obviously avoid and cultivate ourselves with positive taught and positive mental attitude. With those things, it will meditate us indirectly and bring us to a new view for life.
12) Relaxation
We have been in activity for almost 24 hours a week, or at least from Monday to Friday. On weekends, it is time to spend some time for ourselves by relaxing. Anything can be done for relaxation, but we can fill our relaxation time with useful things like sunnah prayer, reciting the Qur’an and remembering remembrance of Allah swt.
13) Choose the right place and the right time
Usually, if someone wants to meditation, they choose the quiet and peace place such as Ubud in Bali, or anywhere. And yes it will help our meditation running smoothly. But as a Muslim, we can go to the Mosque, to pray obviously and read some verse in Qur’an, which is available in every Mosque or Mushalla. In Mosque, we can pray to Allah and ‘talk’ to Him; such as expressing our anxiety or lament and asking for solution, with hope that Allah will gave the solution.
14) Arrange the breathing
If we want our meditation is working, we need to regulate our breathing. We can start with relaxing our mind, which is followed by regular breathing. With these, we can do meditation and relieve ourselves. We are recognize two types of breathing : by chest and stomach. You can choose either one of those type, as long as it make you comfortable.
15) Control the Emotion
This is one of the most important in meditation. We need to arrange our emotion. We can not go to meditation if our emotion is not in the right condition; whether it is angry, anxiety, sad, or anything else. It takes a stable emotion, so we can go to process of meditation correctly.
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16) Clean our Mind
Before we start the meditation, we have to prepare ourselves with cleaning our mind. It does not mean empty at all, but as we mentioned before, we are focus to Allah swt, so it helps us in meditation. No need to meditation in one hour, we just need a couple minutes to do (i.e 3-5 minutes, and raise the time if we sure to do it longer).
17) Avoiding any distraction
Not only to prepare ourselves, we also avoid any distraction around us; for example we turn off our cellphone, television, radio, or anything that make a sound or noise.
18) Walking
If we are the people who cannot stand to sit for a long time, you can go walk. Choose the quiet and soothing place, such as park or garden when it just a few people in there, or a beach in the same condition as the former. In that condition, we can start to think or meditation and you can take the time as much as you want.
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19) Lie down
Usually, when we in a super tired condition, we are going to our bed, whether it is just lying or go to sleep. We can meditate ourselves with just lie down, but we should be pay attention to where we will lie. It is no big deal if we lying on bed, but if we lay on the public place such as in mosque or anywhere, we can not do in a very long time, and never to fall asleep in there.
20) Practice
And last but not least, we must practice the meditation and method that we used. The proverb ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ is absolutely true, so let’s do it.
That was the 20 tips how to do meditation in Islam. The point of meditation is about holding without feeling possessed. In other way, the willingness, not about feeling lost. Keeping a promise to ourselves, that is a life of compulsory kindness. Holding the principle of kindness to ourselves, that good returns to the good itself. Meditation is not about when you want to start. It’s more about when you’ll finish : to release the sincerity. Nevertheless, this is very easy to do, because it was in our daily activity. We hope you enjoy the article and take a benefit as much as you get.