Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 719 [Read full issue]
State of Recollection
Spirituality, from an Islamic point of view, is the way in which the believer keeps his faith alive and intensifies and reinforces it. Spirituality is remembrance - recollection and the intimate energy involved in the struggle against the natural human tendency to forget God, the meaning of life, and the other world. All the practices prescribed by Islam, especially prayer, are in fact a means of recollection (dhikr).
Excellence, defined as the ideal behaviour of the Muslims, would be to attain a state where there was no forgetfulness. Excellence (al-Ihsan), the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, is "to worship God as if you could see Him, or even if you cannot see Him, He sees you. [Bukhari]" that is, to try to be with God in every situation.
Compiled From:
"Western Muslims and The Future of Islam" - Tariq Ramadan, p. 79