Being Mindful of God: A Practical Guide to Taqwa

The Quran informs us that the key to God’s friendship is mindfulness of Him. Well-being in this life and in the next depends upon safeguarding ourselves against those things that are spiritually harmful. This is what the Qur’an calls taqwa.

This course will explore how to increase such mindfulness of God in our own daily lives. We will learn the meanings of taqwa, and how to operationalise it by being mindful of all of those matters which God and His Messenger (God bless him and grant him peace) have warned us to protect our souls against. This includes actions of the heart, of the mind, and of the limbs. The course shall also treat those matters which people often think are part of taqwa, but in fact are merely neurotic misgivings (waswasa) or, worse, unwarranted innovations (bid‘a).

The path of God is wide and expansive, accepting people from all walks of life. The purpose of this course is to help students learn how best to remain upon the wide expanse of God’s grace; and, when faced with new opportunities or challenges in life, to know how to practice the art of taqwa.