Unconventional Duha Research Unitary

Modern thought often reduces knowledge (ʿilm) to empirical observation or rational proof, sidelining imagination and intuition as “subjective” or “non-scientific.” Yet, in the Islamic tradition, imagination (khayāl), insight (basīrah), inspiration (ilḥām), and true dreams (ruʾyā ṣādiqah) form an integral epistemology. They are not opposed to reason, but complete it, anchored by revelation and illuminated by nūr from Allah.

The Qur’an itself affirms this multi-faceted knowing:

“And fear Allah, and Allah will teach you.” (Q 2:282)

“Indeed, in that are signs for those who discern (al-mutawassimīn).” (Q 15:75)

“And those who strive in Us – We will surely guide them to Our ways.” (Q 29:69)

The sālik (spiritual traveler) in the path of Allah (sulūk) walks by these lights, balancing intellect (ʿaql), discipline (mujāhadah), and divine gift (ilhām).

1. Khayāl (Imagination as Ontology)

Unlike modern reduction of imagination to fantasy, Muslim thinkers treated khayāl as a real ontological faculty.

Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna): Saw al-quwwah al-mutakhayyilah (imaginative faculty) as mediating between sense perception and intellect. It synthesizes forms, allowing abstract truths to be grasped through images.

Ibn ʿArabī: Elevated ʿālam al-khayāl (the imaginal world) to a true ontological realm — a barzakh between spirit and matter. In his Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, he writes that meanings (maʿānī) descend into images (ṣuwar) within imagination, making khayāl the “theater of divine self-disclosure.”

Qur’anic groundings: Parables like the “Good Tree” (Q 14:24–26) and the “Spider’s Web” (Q 29:41) use imagery as epistemic tools — not mere ornament but pathways to truth.

Thus, khayāl is not opposed to reality but is a mode of perceiving reality through symbols.

2. Basīrah (Insight of the Heart)

If ʿaql reasons discursively, basīrah perceives directly.

The Qur’an: “This is my path; I call to Allah upon basīrah.” (Q 12:108).

Ibn al-Qayyim: Defined basīrah as “the light Allah casts into the heart of His servant by which he distinguishes truth from falsehood” (Miftāḥ Dār al-Saʿādah).

The sālik trains his basīrah through dhikr, tadabbur of Qur’an, and muḥāsabah (self-reckoning). Over time, the heart becomes polished, reflecting divine light. Without basīrah, khayāl risks slipping into delusion; with basīrah, imagination is purified and aligned with truth.

3. Ilḥām (Divine Inspiration)

Ilḥām is a form of direct knowing that Allah places in the heart without reasoning.

The Qur’an: “By the soul and He who proportioned it, and inspired it (fa-alhamahā) with its wickedness and its righteousness…” (Q 91:7–8).

al-Ghazālī: In al-Munqidh min al-Ḍalāl, he distinguished between acquired knowledge (ḥuṣūlī) and gifted knowledge (ʿilm ladunnī). The latter is granted when the heart is purified.

Sufi tradition: Ilḥām is not revelation (waḥy), which is reserved for prophets, but it is a share of divine guidance given to the awliyāʾ (friends of Allah).

For the sālik, ilḥām is the fruit of spiritual discipline, a sign that his heart is receptive to divine wisdom.

4. Ruʾyā Ṣādiqah (True Dreams)

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Nothing will remain of prophecy after me except mubashshirāt.” He was asked, “What are mubashshirāt?” He replied, “The true dream.” (Bukhārī, Muslim).

True dreams are 1/46th of prophecy.

They can reveal guidance, warnings, or confirmation, as in the dream of Ibrāhīm (Q 37:102) or the dream of the Prophet ﷺ entering Makkah (Q 48:27).

Scholars like Ibn Sīrīn systematized dream interpretation as part of the spiritual sciences.

For the sālik, dreams serve as mirrors of the heart’s state and occasional windows into divine wisdom.

5. Integration in Sulūk (The Traveler’s Path)

The path of the sālik integrates these faculties into a single journey:

1. Khayāl provides the symbolic images through which truths appear.

2. Basīrah discerns which are true signs and which are illusions.

3. Ilḥām grants sudden clarity, divine gift beyond effort.

4. Ruʾyā ṣādiqah confirms, strengthens, or redirects the seeker.

Anchored in Qur’an and Sunnah, this constellation becomes the epistemology of sulūk: a way of knowing that is not speculative but luminous, verified by practice, and ultimately returning to Allah

The Islamic tradition offers a profound corrective to modern reductionisms: knowledge is not confined to reason or empiricism but flows also through imagination, insight, inspiration, and dreams. The sālik embodies this integrated knowing, walking with Qur’an as anchor, Sunnah as guide, and nūr as illumination.

When re-integrated into the Mujaddid Model of Intelligence, these faculties restore creativity (khayāl), intuition (ilḥām), and vision (ruʾyā, basīrah) as central — not peripheral — dimensions of intelligence. In this light, every believer can aspire to walk the path of tajdīd: reviving knowledge as illumination, action as worship, and imagination as a mirror of divine truth

References

al-Ghazālī, A. H. (n.d.). Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifah.

al-Ghazālī. (n.d.). al-Munqidh min al-Ḍalāl.

Ibn al-Qayyim. (n.d.). Miftāḥ Dār al-Saʿādah.

Ibn ʿArabī. (n.d.). al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya.

Qur’an 12:108; 15:75; 29:69; 37:102; 48:27; 91:7–8.

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Taʿbīr; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Ruʾyā.