Islamic and Christian Mysticism

¶ … mysticism in the Christian faith and the Islamic faith. The writer describes what mysticism is in religion and then presents examples of its use and existence in the faiths of Islam and Christianity. The mystical dimensions of religion are all encompassing in that they refer to the intuitive understanding or belief in a higher power usually referred to as God.

The mystical belief in a God in two prominent faiths, Christianity and Islam point to the underlying belief that having faith is enough to believe in and understand there is in fact a God who is all powerful and all creating. Each faith has its own set of traditions and rules but both of them have the mystical quality of a belief in a God, and that belief is based on subjective and intuitive acceptance of the existence of a God.

In the Christian faith followers are taught that if they pray for Jesus to become their savior and they accept that he died for our sins then they will feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. Millions of Christians worldwide insist that they have felt the warmth of positive knowledge that assured them through the spirit of the Lord that he does in fact exist and he will take their souls to heaven with them.

The only requirement for them is that they accept Jesus as God's son and ask him to be their savior. The intuitive understanding of this being that they cannot see but who is responsible for their eternal happiness is mysticism. The Islam faith has a similar belief. The followers of this faith believe there is a higher power named Allah. Allah is the creator of all that we experience according to the Islam believers.

This understanding is both intuitive and subjective in that each believer takes experiences to be proof of the higher power's existence whereas another person may not view the same experience as the same proof. Both of these examples prove the existence of mysticism in the faiths and the belief of the followers that is steeped and founded in intuition and subjective speculation. In the Islam faith there is a quest for mystical truth in some areas.

These followers study the Sufi and they seek the truth through not only the traditional ways of faith but also through mystical dances and chants that are believed to be designed to bring them closer to Allah. Christianity believes in eternal happiness as well. While Islam believes that there are several stages and requirements to getting to the eternal resting place the Christians believe that there is only one way.

If one believes that Jesus died for the sins of mankind then when they die they are taken to heaven and live their for eternity. It is a place that is imagined and told to be filled with peace and happiness. There is no sickness or sadness. The Christians believe the soul ascends immediately upon death and is escorted to heaven for eternity. Islam followers have a slightly different take on the same basic idea.

They have to go through several stages to get to the final place and there are many traditions that must be followed to insure the trip is successful. Mysticism is a must in almost any religion because the belief in a higher power and an eternal life is based in faith that cannot be proven. The followers base their life work and belief on intuition and subjective beliefs in events that indicate the truth of the light of their path.

In Frederick Denny's Islam: and the Muslim community, the reader is taken on an exploratory journey in which the.