Breath Control
Your question
JazakAllah for the detailed response. It really helps. May I ask one more question, as it is slightly connected to the previous one? Is guided meditation allowed?
In this case, someone guides you to focus on your breathing and then asks you to imagine gathering all the negative emotions that have been keeping you in a state of unhappiness, before letting them go so that you stop overthinking and calm your mind. It could be considered a form of self-hypnosis, since you are not surrendering your consciousness to someone else, but using your own imagination to visualise.
My response
Understanding the role of breath
Breath is the deepest and most autonomous function in the body. It is controlled from within the nervous system, including the brain, without any deliberate effort. It is the basis of the body’s energy flow and therefore the basis of every activity, whether consciously or unconsciously undertaken, including thinking and feeling.
Accordingly, deliberately becoming conscious of how one is breathing necessarily brings one beneath whatever activity or preoccupation one happens to be engaged in. This is why, when someone is overexcited or even panicking, we encourage them to take slow, deep breaths so that they gradually recover their composure. This recovery is effectively a distraction from whatever was provoking the excitement or panic.
It is also considered beneficial to take long, slow, controlled breaths for a few moments before settling down to sleep. Again, this helps the mind let go of the day’s concerns. In summary, breath control is a means of deep reorientation, stilling the mind and clearing it so that one can focus on something else.
Washing and bathing, as in wudu and ghusl, serve a similar purpose. Likewise, praising Allah is the proper preparation for supplicating to Him. This is reflected in the principal division of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah.
Having said that, let me answer your question.
Learning beneficial techniques
For any technique or skill that a Muslim needs in order to lead a full, healthy, intellectually and spiritually enriching life, he has the right, and in some circumstances the obligation, to learn that technique or skill from whoever possesses it. This applies whether the expert is Muslim or non-Muslim, male or female, young or old.
The issue that arises is how far it is possible to adopt or master a technique without also, perhaps unknowingly, adopting the concepts and principles embedded within it. How should we decide?
In urgent matters involving life, death, or severe suffering, necessity determines the answer. Once the urgency has passed, however, the question returns. Can a Muslim learn, understand, and make permanent use of the technique or skill that saved a life or relieved extreme suffering?
The answer is usually yes. Nevertheless, the question should still be asked. The technique, together with the knowledge and assumptions behind it, should be examined before it is accepted as a regular part of Muslim life.
Meditation and religious traditions
As for meditation techniques, they are almost always connected to some form of religious tradition. In the modern secular world, the religious elements of these practices are generally not made explicit while they are being taught at beginner or intermediate levels. Most people have neither the desire nor the intention to progress beyond those stages.
It is therefore the responsibility of each individual Muslim to protect himself or herself from gradually drifting into ways of thinking about Allah and the obligations of the religion that are forbidden or strongly criticised in Islam.
