Islamic Perspectives

Transcendentalism concerns about social issues, the idea of nature as divine and the human soul as inherently wise. In order to Islamise the knowledge of Transcendentalism, we should include the ‘soul’ of human being as the important element to get a better understanding of Allah’s creations and the existing of Allah.


Although the recognition of the existence of some form of a Supreme Being is common to almost all religions, it does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that these religions are equally valid and/or bear the same degree of truth. Though acknowledging God as the Creator of the world is professed by many religions, this general belief is distorted by their conceptual system and worldview from which the nature of God is developed and understood. To some God is a far away "pie in the sky" that has no direct relationship with its creatures. To others God is symbolized by an animal, an idol or a human being that they worship.
According to al-BÊrËnÊ (d. 443 / 1051), a renowned scholar of world religions, there are two categories of religions, i.e., 1. al-Haqq [the Truth] or Islam, and 2. al-kufr [rejection of or deviation from the Truth], or al-Inhiraf [alteration of the Truth]. This is particularly true, for the Hadith clarifies that the disbelivers [kuffar] i. e., those who are not Muslims are in one category namely millat al-wahidah.

The Qur'an makes clear that not any kind of submission can be accepted as true submission. The true submission and acceptable religion to God is the religion which emanates from the true conception of the unity of God. This conception of God [tawhid] will then determine the truthfulness and falsity of a religion, and at this point, diversity occurs between din of Islam and other religions, for the unity of God in Islam is perceived differently from the unity of God as perceived by other religions. The Qur'an explicitly points to this fact [al-Kafirun [109]: 1-6], [al-'Imran [3]: 18-20]

For further reading: http://www.thelightoftruth.org/transcendentalunity.htm



Social problems or social issues are the crucial things that we are facing today. Due to the modernization, people becoming more materialistic. As a Muslim, it is good to be modern but there are some limitations in Islam which is called balance and propriety. Propriety means proper in terms of manner and the right things to do or to wear. In Islam, we must be moderate because Islam is a moderate religion where everything must be on balance (tawazun). Balance in Islam observes the balance between life and value, wealth and enjoyment, knowledge and action, and relation to Allah swt and to human.

In Islam, we should make full use of our lives by involving in activities which can give benefits to us such as outdoor activities, study group, etc. in order to avoid social problems to happen. Allah swt created us as a khalifah according to His purposes on this earth as a Muslim and we have a freedom to choose whether to be good or bad. With the ‘Aqal given by Allah swt, we can think our niyyah’ and the consequences of our action before committing something.

Modernity is a product advocating Western values including individualism, secularism and materialism. The global culture is chaotic rather than orderly culture because of self empowerment, sexuality, music, money, freedom, drugs, and rejection of heritage. Unlike culture in Islam, the Western culture is not governed by social and religious constraints. As a Muslim, we should focused and chased on the knowledge that Allah swt has encouraged us to seek because the balance is also observed between the demands of this life and the preparations for the Hereafter as in Allah swt said in Surah Al-Qasas : 77

“But seek, with that (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on you, the home of the Hereafter, and forget not your portion of lawful enjoyment in this world.”

Islam does not forbid modernisation however the way to pursuit the modernisation should be guided by Islamic values and teachings so that we will not go astray of the real intention to be in a modernised world. We should always be moderate in our lives and not solely chase materials and be occupied with worldly matters. Social problems also are increasingly happening around us because of the rise of technology and the urban, city life environment. We should not misuse the technology and easily get influenced by the environment which really full of temptations and desires.