I joined a virtual meeting with Dr. Tarek Elgawhary, the author of “In Search of Mindfulness”, hosted by Wardah Book Shop Singapore on May 2nd, 2024.
Dr. Tarek is a scholar at the Islamic Community Center of Potomac, Georgia, USA. He studied at both Princeton University and Al-Azhar Seminary. His undergraduate degree was in comparative religions, with a focus on Judaism. He is very passionate about sharing his knowledge and experience, especially in the relationship between Islam and the contemporary Muslim world.
He created a platform called Making Sense of Islam where he discussed issues related to Islam and mindfulness. This platform offers a variety of courses to teach about mindfulness in the Islamic way and can be accessed on makingsenseofislam.com.
Dr. Tarek opened the virtual session by sharing the fundamentals of mindfulness, which are meditation, remembrance, and kindness. In Sufism, the practice of being aware and mindful also known as Muraqaba, which is a spiritual state of being constantly aware, mindful, and vigilant.
Often in life, we always rush to get things done. It makes us feel anxious. This anxiety has to be dealt with first by settling ourselves. We need to settle down and see that we are drowning in Allah’s blessing.
During the session, I asked a question regarding breathing in Sholat. Suppose Muraqaba has a similar concept to sati in Dharmic traditions, where in meditation practice we control our breath. Why does my recitation become miserable when I concentrate too much on controlling my breath during Sholat? His answer was practical. Sholat is our way to communicate with Allah by reciting the prayers, and they need to be recited aloud not just in our hearts. Breathing is another practice that needs to be trained separately, as it serves as our foundation to stay grounded.
After hearing this explanation, I am even more curious to read his book “In Search of Mindfulness”, which has been out of stock for a while. I am eagerly awaiting the fulfillment of the pre-order.