Islam & Religious Experiences (Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B)

The Nature of Religious Experience

• A religious experience is an experience that many people claim is related to God

• Religious experiences are events where people experience something that they believe brings them directly into the presence of God

• There are several types of religious experience: visions, miracles, revelations, numinous experiences

• Religious experiences can happen to anyone, even people who don’t believe in God

Islam Attitudes Towards Religious Experiences

• The Qur'an teaches that some people make demands for signs and revelations in order to believe in God

• Allah’s response is that the signs are clear enough for people who have faith 

• These signs include religious experiences

• Allah says elsewhere in the Qur’an that he will respond to anyone who genuinely seeks him

• Many religious experiences happen as a result of a person genuinely searching for Allah

• The reward for those people is being able to come close to Allah in this life and also the next life

Divergent Muslim views about religious experience

• All Muslims believe in religious experience since the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through a religious experience

• However, some Muslims place greater emphasis on religious experience than others

  • For most Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, the teachings of the Qur’an and the prophets are the most important source of authority and most reliable sources of information on the existence and nature of Allah

  • For Sufi Muslims there is a greater focus on religious experience and its importance in connecting humans with Allah

    • Sufis will meditate and repeat the names of God in the hope that they can have a direct experience of Allah

Muslim Responses to Non-Religious Arguments About Religious Experiences

Non-religious arguments about religious experiences

• Non-religious people, including atheists and humanists, would doubt the truth of religious experiences

• They would say:

  • there is not enough evidence to prove that they are actual encounters with God

  • there is always more compelling evidence that they were mistaken than that it was a genuine encounter with God

  • they might say that the person was hallucinating, perhaps as a result of drink or drugs

  • religious experiences are sometimes wishful thinking - people are searching for meaning in their lives and these experiences can give them a sense that their life has some purpose

Muslim responses to non-religious arguments

• Muslims would say that religious experiences are real

• Any religious experiences are described in the Qur’an and this is sufficient evidence for many Muslims to prove they are true

• Religious experiences are universal, proving that God appears throughout the world and to all types of people

• Religious experiences are proof that Allah wants us to believe in him and understand something of his nature

• If Allah is omnipotent, he can communicate with humans by any means he wishes to, and religious experiences are an example of this

• The prophets were people who were blessed to have religious experiences

  • The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was unique in the unparalleled nature of his experience and the influence he had on the world after these events

    • For Muslims, this is proof that Muhammad's (pbuh) religious experiences were real. They cannot be explained any other way