FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

for confused thinking is that man is not able to differentiate between the real and the superficial, the relevant and the irrelevant, rational thinking and superstition, logical and illogical statements. One who thinks thus will always remain in a state of mental confusion. He will never be able to find the straight path. As a result, his spiritual journey will never be started. On the path of spirituality one cannot be one’s own guide. And one certainly needs a guide. This guide is the Quran. It is an authentic and carefully preserved book of God. That is why the Quran can be trusted as a guide by the spiritual traveller. After making the Quran one’s guide, one can set out on the right track on one's spiritual journey. This spiritual journey demands a change in lifestyle. The lifestyle for a spiritual traveller may be put briefly in these words: ‘Simple living and high thinking.’ Simple living means limiting one’s worldly requirements to the minimum, assiduously avoiding comfort and luxury. That is why the Sufis used to wear coarse clothes as a symbol of the simple life. It helps the traveller in his spiritual journey. High thinking means that his thoughts are not embroiled in material things. By engaging one’s mind in higher realities, one becomes a recipient of divine inspiration. This inspiration of divine light comes to his mind uninterruptedly, igniting his whole existence. The Quran attaches great importance to reflection and serious thought. There are a number of verses in the Quran that indicate that innumerable signs of God are extant in the heavens and the earth. The observance of God’s signs is the greatest source of spirituality. Spirituality called Rabbaniat in the Quran, involves focussing the mind on higher, nonmaterial realities. Materialism is the opposite, indeed, the anathema of spirituality. For attaining a spiritual state one has to rise above material things, and focus his attention on nonmaterial things. Those who succeed in this are the spiritual or godly servants of God. As the Quran says: Be godly servants of God. (3: 79). The concept of spirituality in Islam is based on the principle of Godrealization. God is the treasure house of all virtues. And when man’s contact with God is established, in the world of his feelings, at the psychological level, an unseen, inner revolution is brought about which is called spirituality.