SPIRITUAL PROGRESS

The true aim of Islam is spiritual growth. Islam aims to awaken human spirituality—the awakening of the divinity (rabbaniyat) hidden within each person. This is the genuine purpose of Islam. In the Quran, this idea is called tathir and tazkiyah (9:102), which means the purification of one’s soul.

The reality is that every human being is born with a sound and pure nature (fitrat-e-sahih). In this sense, every person is initially pure and uncorrupted. However, as one lives in the world, external layers of ‘dust’ begin to settle upon them. The process of cleansing oneself from this external dust and returning to one’s original natural state is what purification is about.

This process of tazkiyah is something that each individual must carry out for themselves. A baby is naturally pure and clean—but this state is not the result of any personal effort; it is simply a reflection of how nature has been created.

However, when a person grows up and undertakes spiritual purification, it becomes a conscious and personal act. It is the result of a deliberate journey toward inner growth, pursued with individual intention and effort. This self-acquired spiritual development is what Islam truly seeks. The Quran refers to it as attaining a “sound heart” (qalb-e-saleem) (26:89).

A hadith states that the Prophet of Islam once prayed, “O God, place light in my heart” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 6316). In another instance, he prayed for someone else: “O God, forgive his sin and purify his heart” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 22211). Similarly, in Muwatta of Malik, a saying of Luqman is recorded: “God revives hearts with the light of wisdom, just as He revives dead earth with rain from the sky” (Narration No. 2117).

This is the meaning of spiritual progress—and it is this spiritual progress that constitutes the true aim of Islam. Whoever is deprived of it is, without doubt, also deprived of the essence of Islam.