GCSE Religious Studies A

 What is a religious experience? It could be a

general revelation, a special revelation, a
vision, a trance, a dream.
 Some people (non-Muslims) also believe in
« enlightenment » which they consider to be
the gaining of true knowledge about God or
self, usually through meditation and self-
discipline. In Buddhism and Hindu Traditions
it is gaining freedom from the cycle of
rebirth.
 Muslims believe that only Prophets receive
special revelation.
 Surah 2, verse 118 which means : « AND
[only] those who are devoid of knowledge
say, "Why does God not speak unto us, nor is
a [miraculous] sign shown to us?" Thus spoke
those who lived before their time; their
hearts are all alike. Indeed, We have made
all the signs manifest to people who are firm
in faith.»
 In Sunnism : they are not considered
significant to prove that God exists
 In Shiism: similar
 In Sufism : they also do not prove that God
exists, but there are more people claiming to
have had experiences such as visions or
extraordinary matters
 ATHEISTS consider all revelations as being
illusions
 They say that they cannot be tested
scientifically and that they can be interpreted in
different ways,
 That they might be brought by alcohol or drugs
or that they are wishful thinking
 That they are due to a physical or mental illness
that make them hear voices or play tricks on
their mind
 Finally they say that general revelation depend
on a person’s beliefs in the first place. Eg if an
atheist looks at a beautiful landscape, he says he
sees nature only, and the Muslim will say he sees
the creation of God.
 Revelations are not the main argument of
Muslims to prove that God exists anyway. They
can reinforce a person’s beliefs
 Some of these have led people to embrace Islam
 Some extraordinary things did happen to some
people who were not Prophets. Muslims call
these things « karamah » and they count as
indirect miracles for the Prophet that is followed
by those who had experienced these events
 Karamahs happen to people who are awliyah (
saints) ( waliyy= saint, waliyya= female saint)
 Verse quoted earlier
 3:37 verse where it is mentioned that Maryam
had miraculous sustenance and when Zachariah
asked her where it was from she replied it is
from Allah( fruits of the summer in winter for
example)
 In surat al-An’am (S.6), verse 40 it says what
means that a follower (one of the awliyah) of
Prophet Suleyman brought back the throne of
Queen Bilqis within a glance (he made a
supplication and Allah made for the throne
to be transferred from one place to the
next).
 Enlightenment (see above)