THE UNIVERSE—A SOURCE OF DIVINE INSPIRATION

~ 17 ~ compassionate Lord: “Dwell in Paradise; you shall have no fear, nor shall you grieve.” (7:49) There is nothing mysterious about spirituality in Islam. It is rather the direct result of the kind of intellectual development that takes place when a believer ponders over the Creator and His creation: he gains something in the process that may be termed spirituality. The source, therefore, of Islamic spirituality is perusal and reflection rather than any sort of mysterious exercise. That is why the Qur’an rejects asceticism (monasticism), referring to it as a bida‘a (innovation) in religion which God did not prescribe for people. (57:27) From the Qur’an we learn that, in the very creation of the universe, the signs of God lie hidden all around us. A person who is in a state of keen awareness when he reflects upon the things of the world comes to see the Creator in the creatures. The meaning of the creation of the Universe is laid bare before him. Ultimately, the universe becomes a permanent source of spiritual inspiration. He is continuously nourished by it during his worldly