A psychological study of religious transformation among Moslems who practice Dzikir Tawakkal

Abstract

The aim of the study is to explicate the experience of religious transformation among Moslems who practise dzikir tawakkal, a meditation like practice within the Islamic tradition. The data is gathered by means of a dialogical interview with nine members of the Pengajian Tawakkal (PT) group in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A qualitative-phenomenological methodology is developed and applied to the data. Four sequential episodes are identified from each of the Individual Phenomenal Description (IPD): the pre-dzikir period, the period of initial contact with the PT group, the period of dzikir experiences and the period of renewed religious life. The themes which emerge in each of the episode are explicated. The most important themes are then discussed and compared with the literature in this area. The value of a phenomenological approach to the study of religious transformation is also discussed.The current study concludes that religious transformation is a change from "ordinary" to "mystical" religious life, from immature to mature religious life, from imitative faith to intuitive faith, from being-with-other Moslem being-with God. This process involves a transformation of the sense of self, a transformation of understanding religious teaching and a transformation of consciousness