Meaning and purpose المعنى

وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ

I created jinn and mankind only to worship Me

رَبَّنَا وَٱبۡعَثۡ فِيهِمۡ رَسُولࣰ ا مِّنۡهُمۡ يَتۡلُواْ عَلَيۡهِمۡ ءَايَٰتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ وَٱلۡحِكۡمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمۡۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ

Our Lord, make a messenger of their own rise up from among them, to recite Your revelations to them, teach them the Scripture and wisdom, and purify them: You are the Mighty, the Wise.’

كَمَآ أَرۡسَلۡنَا فِيكُمۡ رَسُولࣰ ا مِّنكُمۡ يَتۡلُواْ عَلَيۡكُمۡ ءَايَٰتِنَا وَيُزَكِّيكُمۡ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ وَٱلۡحِكۡمَةَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُم مَّا لَمۡ تَكُونُواْ تَعۡلَمُونَ

just as Wehave sent among you a Messenger of your own to recite Our revelations to you, purify you and teach you the Scripture, wisdom, and [other] things you did not know

وَإِذَا طَلَّقۡتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَبَلَغۡنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَأَمۡسِكُوهُنَّ بِمَعۡرُوفٍ أَوۡ سَرِّحُوهُنَّ بِمَعۡرُوفࣲۚ وَلَا تُمۡسِكُوهُنَّ ضِرَارࣰ ا لِّتَعۡتَدُواْۚ وَمَن يَفۡعَلۡ ذَٰلِكَ فَقَدۡ ظَلَمَ نَفۡسَهُۥۚ وَلَا تَتَّخِذُوٓاْ ءَايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ هُزُوࣰ اۚ وَٱذۡكُرُواْ نِعۡمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ عَلَيۡكُم مِّنَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ وَٱلۡحِكۡمَةِ يَعِظُكُم بِهِۦۚ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَٱعۡلَمُوٓاْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيۡءٍ عَلِيمࣱ‏

When you divorce women and they have reached their set time, then either keep or release them in a fair manner. Do not hold on to them with intent to harm them and commit aggression: anyone who does this wrongs himself. Do not make a mockery of God’s revelations; remember the favour He blessed you with, and the Scripture and wisdom He sent to teach you. Be mindful of God and know that He has full knowledge of everything

فَهَزَمُوهُم بِإِذۡنِ ٱللَّهِ وَقَتَلَ دَاوُۥدُ جَالُوتَ وَءَاتَىٰهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡمُلۡكَ وَٱلۡحِكۡمَةَ وَعَلَّمَهُۥ مِمَّا يَشَآءُۗ وَلَوۡلَا دَفۡعُ ٱللَّهِ ٱلنَّاسَ بَعۡضَهُم بِبَعۡضࣲ لَّفَسَدَتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ذُو فَضۡلٍ عَلَى ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ

and so with God’s permission they defeated them. David killed Goliath, and God gave him sovereignty and wisdom and taught him what He pleased. If God did not drive some back by means of others the earth would be completely corrupt, but God is bountiful to all

يُؤۡتِي ٱلۡحِكۡمَةَ مَن يَشَآءُۚ وَمَن يُؤۡتَ ٱلۡحِكۡمَةَ فَقَدۡ أُوتِيَ خَيۡرࣰ ا كَثِيرࣰ اۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُوْلُواْ ٱلۡأَلۡبَٰبِ

and He gives wisdom to whoever He will. Whoever is given wisdom has truly been given much good, but only those with insight bear this in mind

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except that they may worship Me the fact that disbelievers do not worship God does not contradict this statement since a purpose does not have to be realised in an act for it to be valid as when you may say ‘I sharpened this pencil in order to write with it’ even though you might not actually write with it.

Likewise, no Messenger came to those before them but they said: "A sorcerer or a madman! (52)Have they transmitted this saying to these? Nay, they are themselves a people transgressing beyond bounds (53)So turn away from them, you are not blameworthy (54)And remind, for verily, the reminding profits the believers (55)And I created not the Jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (56)I seek not any provision from them nor do I ask that they should feed Me (57)Verily, Allah is the All-Provider, Owner of power, the Most Strong (58)And verily, for those who do wrong, there is a portion of torment like to the evil portion of torment (which came for) their likes (of old); so let them not ask Me to hasten on (59)Then woe to those who disbelieve from their Day which they have been promised (60) All Messengers met the Same Type of Denial from Their Nations Allah comforts His Prophet

“Our Lord, and raise up amidst them a messenger from among them, who will recite Thy signs to them, teach them the Book and the Wisdom, and purify them. Surely Thou art the Exalted, the Wise.”

Our Lord! And send among them the people of this House a messenger one of them and God granted him this petition with the sending of Muhammad (s) who shall recite to them Your signs the Qur’ān and teach them the Book the Qur’ān and Wisdom that is what the former contains of judgments and purify them cleanse them of idolatry; You are the Mighty the Victor the Wise in His creation.

As also We have sent this verbal clause ka-mā arsalnā ‘as We have sent’ is semantically connected to wa-li-utimma of the previous verse that is to say ‘Also We have sent by way of perfection’; as it My grace has been perfected by Our sending among you of yourselves Muhammad (s) a messenger to recite Our verses the Qur’ān to you and to purify you to cleanse you from idolatry and to teach you the Book the Qur’ān and wisdom the rulings therein and to teach you what you knew not.

Similarly (to complete My blessings on you), We have sent among you a Messenger (Muhammad ﷺ) of your own, reciting to you Our verses (the Qur'an) and purifying you, and teaching you the Book (the Qur'an) and the Hikmah (i. e., Sunnah, Islamic laws and Fiqh ـ jurisprudence), and teaching you that which you did not know (151)Therefore remember Me (by praying, glorifying). I will remember you, and be grateful to Me (for My countless favors on you) and never be ungrateful to Me (152) Muhammad's (ﷺ ) Prophecy is a Great Bounty from Allah Allah reminds His believing servants with what He has endowed them with by sending Muhammad ﷺ as a Messenger to them, reciting to them Allah's clear Ayat and purifying and cleansing them from the worst types of behavior, the ills of the souls and the acts of Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic era). The Messenger ﷺ also takes them away from the darkness (of disbelief)

حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ عُقَيْلٍ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، أَخْبَرَنِي عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُتْبَةَ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ لَمَّا تُوُفِّيَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَاسْتُخْلِفَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ بَعْدَهُ كَفَرَ مَنْ كَفَرَ مِنَ الْعَرَبِ فَقَالَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ لأَبِي بَكْرٍ كَيْفَ تُقَاتِلُ النَّاسَ وَقَدْ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أُقَاتِلَ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَقُولُوا لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَمَنْ قَالَ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ عَصَمَ مِنِّي مَالَهُ وَنَفْسَهُ إِلاَّ بِحَقِّهِ وَحِسَابُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ وَاللَّهِ لأُقَاتِلَنَّ مَنْ فَرَّقَ بَيْنَ الزَّكَاةِ وَالصَّلاَةِ فَإِنَّ الزَّكَاةَ حَقُّ الْمَالِ وَاللَّهِ لَوْ مَنَعُونِي عِقَالاً كَانُوا يُؤَدُّونَهُ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لَقَاتَلْتُهُمْ عَلَى مَنْعِهِ فَقَالَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ فَوَاللَّهِ مَا هُوَ إِلاَّ أَنْ رَأَيْتُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ شَرَحَ صَدْرَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ لِلْقِتَالِ فَعَرَفْتُ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ وَهَكَذَا رَوَى شُعَيْبُ بْنُ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ‏.‏ وَرَوَى عِمْرَانُ الْقَطَّانُ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ عَنْ مَعْمَرٍ عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَهُوَ حَدِيثٌ خَطَأٌ وَقَدْ خُولِفَ عِمْرَانُ فِي رِوَايَتِهِ عَنْ مَعْمَرٍ ‏.‏

Narrated Abu Hurairah:said: "When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) died and Abu Bakr became the Khalifah after him, whoever disbelieved from the Arabs disbelieved, so Umar bin Al-Khattab said to Abu Bakr: 'How will you fight the people while the Messenger of Allah has said: 'I have been ordered to fight the people until they say La Ilaha Illallah, and if they say that, then their blood and wealth will be protected from me, except what it makes obligatory upon them, and their reckoning is with Allah?' So Abu Bakr said: 'By Allah I will fight whoever differentiates between Salat and Zakat. For indeed, Zakat is the right due upon wealth. And by Allah! If they withhold even (camel) tethers which they used to give to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) I will fight them for withholding it.' So Umar bin Al-Khattab said: 'By Allah! I saw that Allah had opened Abu Bakr's chest to fighting, so I knew that it was correct

حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ يَعْقُوبَ الطَّالْقَانِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ، أَخْبَرَنَا حُمَيْدٌ الطَّوِيلُ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أُقَاتِلَ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَشْهَدُوا أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَأَنْ يَسْتَقْبِلُوا قِبْلَتَنَا وَيَأْكُلُوا ذَبِيحَتَنَا وَأَنْ يُصَلُّوا صَلاَتَنَا فَإِذَا فَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْنَا دِمَاؤُهُمْ وَأَمْوَالُهُمْ إِلاَّ بِحَقِّهَا لَهُمْ مَا لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ وَعَلَيْهِمْ مَا عَلَى الْمُسْلِمِينَ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ مُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ وَأَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ غَرِيبٌ مِنْ هَذَا الْوَجْهِ ‏.‏ وَقَدْ رَوَاهُ يَحْيَى بْنُ أَيُّوبَ عَنْ حُمَيْدٍ عَنْ أَنَسٍ نَحْوَ هَذَا ‏.‏

Narrated Anas bin Malik:that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "I have been ordered to fight the people until they bear witness to La Ilaha Illallah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, and they face our Qiblah, eat our slaughtered (meat), and perform our Salat. And if they do that, then their blood and wealth will be unlawful to us, except with its due right. For them shall be whatever is for the Muslims, and they shall be obliged with that which the Muslims are obliged

حَدَّثَنَا آدَمُ بْنُ أَبِي إِيَاسٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي السَّفَرِ، وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ الْمُسْلِمُ مَنْ سَلِمَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ لِسَانِهِ وَيَدِهِ، وَالْمُهَاجِرُ مَنْ هَجَرَ مَا نَهَى اللَّهُ عَنْهُ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ وَقَالَ أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ حَدَّثَنَا دَاوُدُ عَنْ عَامِرٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏ وَقَالَ عَبْدُ الأَعْلَى عَنْ دَاوُدَ عَنْ عَامِرٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A Muslim is the one who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue and hands. And a Muhajir (emigrant) is the one who gives up (abandons) all what Allah has forbidden

حَدَّثَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُوسَى، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا حَنْظَلَةُ بْنُ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ، عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ بْنِ خَالِدٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ بُنِيَ الإِسْلاَمُ عَلَى خَمْسٍ شَهَادَةِ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، وَإِقَامِ الصَّلاَةِ، وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ، وَالْحَجِّ، وَصَوْمِ رَمَضَانَ ‏"‏‏.‏

Narrated Ibn 'Umar: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Islam is based on (the following) five (principles): 1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). 2. To offer the (compulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and perfectly. 3. To pay Zakat (i.e. obligatory charity) . 4. To perform Hajj. (i.e. Pilgrimage to Mecca) 5. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، أَحْمَدُ بْنُ شُعَيْبٍ - مِنْ لَفْظِهِ - قَالَ أَنْبَأَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَلِيٍّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْمُسَيَّبِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم سُئِلَ أَىُّ الأَعْمَالِ أَفْضَلُ قَالَ ‏ "‏ الإِيمَانُ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that:The Messenger of Allah [SAW] was asked: "Which deed is best?" "He said: Faith in Allah [SWT] and His messenger [SAW]

أَخْبَرَنَا هَارُونُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا حَجَّاجٌ، عَنِ ابْنِ جُرَيْجٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي سُلَيْمَانَ، عَنْ عَلِيٍّ الأَزْدِيِّ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ بْنِ عُمَيْرٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ حُبْشِيٍّ الْخَثْعَمِيِّ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم سُئِلَ أَىُّ الأَعْمَالِ أَفْضَلُ فَقَالَ ‏ "‏ إِيمَانٌ لاَ شَكَّ فِيهِ وَجِهَادٌ لاَ غُلُولَ فِيهِ وَحَجَّةٌ مَبْرُورَةٌ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

It was narrated from Abdullah bin Hubshi Al-Khath'ami that:The Prophet [SAW] was asked: "Which deed is best?" He said: "Faith in which there is no doubt, Jihad in which there is no Ghulul, and Hajjatun Mabrur

وهؤلاء يشهدون أن الله سبحانه لم يخلق شيئا عبثا ولا سدى وأن له الحكمة البالغة في كل ما قدره وقضاه من خير وشر وطاعة ومعصية وحكمة باهرة تعجز العقول عن الإحاطة بكنهها وتكل الألسن عن التعبير عنها

وأما الشكر فهو القيام بطاعته والتقرب اليه بأنواع محابه ظاهرا وباطنا وهذان الأمران هما جماع الدين فذكره مستلزم لمعرفته وشكره متضمن لطاعته وهذان هما الغاية التي خلق لأجلها الجن والانس والسموات والأرض ووضع لاجلها الثواب والعقاب وأنزل الكتب وارسل الرسل وهى الحق الذي به خلقت السماوات والأرض وما بينهما وضدها هو الباطل والعبث الذي يتعالى ويتقدس عنه وهو ظن أعدائه به قال تعالى وما خلقنا السماوات والأرض وما بينهما باطلا ذلك ظن الذين كفروا وقال وما خلقنا السموات والأرض وما بينهما لاعبين ما خلقناهما إلا بالحق وقال وما خلقنا السموات والأرض وما بينهما إلا بالحق وان الساعة لآتية وقال بعد ذكر آياته في أول سورة يونس @QB@ ما خلق الله ذلك إلا بالحق @QE@ وقال @QB@ أيحسب الإنسان أن يترك سدى @QE@ وقال @QB@ أفحسبتم أنما خلقناكم عبثا وأنكم إلينا لا ترجعون @QE@ وقال @QB@ وما خلقت الجن والإنس إلا ليعبدون @QE@ الله الذي خلق سبع سموات ومن الأرض مثلهن يتنزل الأمر بينهن لتعلموا أن الله على كل شيء قدير وأن الله قد أحا

وهذا المشهد يطلعه على رياض مونقة من المعارف والإيمان وأسرار القدر والحكمة يضيق عن التعبير عنها نطاق الكلم

| فصل الصنف الثاني القدرية النفاة الذين يثبتون نوعا من الحكمة

قال وهذه المقايسة تشق على من ليس له ثلاثة أشياء نور الحكمة وسوء الظن بالنفس وتمييز النعمة من الفتنة

يعني أن هذه المقايسة والمحاسبة تتوقف على نور الحكمة وهو النور الذي نور الله به قلوب أتباع الرسل وهو نور الحكمة فبقدره ترى التفاوت وتتمكن من المحاسبة

Existential meaning's role in the enhancement of hope and prevention of depressive symptoms.: The authors confirmed that existential meaning has a unique relationship with and can prospectively predict levels of hope and depressive symptoms within a population of college students. Baseline measures of explicit meaning (i.e., an individual's self-reported experience of a sense of coherence and purpose in life) and implicit meaning (i.e., an individual's self-reported embodiment of the factors that are normatively viewed as comprising a meaningful life) explained significant amounts of var

Existential therapies: a meta-analysis of their effects on psychological outcomes.: Objective: To review the evidence on the efficacy of different types of existential therapies: a family of psychological interventions that draw on themes from existential philosophy to help clients address such issues in their lives as meaning and death anxiety. Method: Relevant electronic databases, journals, and reference lists were searched for eligible studies. Effects on meaning, psychopathology (anxiety and depression), self-efficacy, and physical well-being were extracted from each publi

Things will get better: the anxiety-buffering qualities of progressive hope.: Terror management theory argues that people can cope with the psychological threat of their own death by bolstering faith in their cultural worldviews. Based on the notion that-since the Age of Enlightenment-belief or faith in progress has become one of the defining qualities of modern Western thinking, we expected that this belief serves as a buffer against mortality concerns. Three experiments were conducted to test the relationship between existential anxiety and belief in progress. Results o

Relations of meaning in life and sense of coherence to distress in cancer patients: a meta-analysis.: Objective: Cancer patients report high rates of distress. The related constructs of meaning in life (MiL) and sense of coherence (SOC) have long been recognized as important factors in the psychological adjustment to cancer; however, both constructs' associations with distress have not been quantitatively reviewed or compared in this population. Informed by Park's integrated meaning-making model and Antonovsky's salutogenic model, the goals of this meta-analysis were the following: (1) to compar

Meaning in life and physical health: systematic review and meta-analysis.: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify the associations between meaning in life and physical health using random-effects models. Conceptualisation of meaning (order in world vs. purpose in life), type of health indicators, participants' health status, and age issues were investigated as moderators. Systematic searches of six databases resulted in inclusion of k = 66 studies (total N = 73,546). Findings indicated that meaning in life and physical health formed weak-to-moderate

Self-transcendence among adults 65 years and older: A meta-analysis.: Introduction: Self-transcendence is a human capacity for wellbeing by expanding one's personal boundaries and may act as a health-promoting resource among adults ≥65 years. Therefore, the objectives of this meta-analysis were to determine the mean score of self-transcendence based on place of residence and gender, and to evaluate the correlations of self-transcendence with meaning, sense of coherence, resilience and depression. Methods: Based on inclusion criteria, 13 studies were included. Orwi

Mindfulness Broadens Awareness and Builds Eudaimonic Meaning: A Process Model of Mindful Positive Emotion Regulation.

Contemporary scholarship on mindfulness casts it as a form of purely non-evaluative engagement with experience. Yet, traditionally mindfulness was not intended to operate in a vacuum of dispassionate observation, but was seen as facilitative of eudaimonic mental states. In spite of this historical context, modern psychological research has neglected to ask the question of how the practice of mindfulness affects downstream emotion regulatory processes to impact the sense of meaning in life. To fill this lacuna, here we describe the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory, from which we derive a novel process model of mindful positive emotion regulation informed by affective science, in which mindfulness is proposed to introduce flexibility in the generation of cognitive appraisals by enhancing interoceptive attention, thereby expanding the scope of cognition to facilitate reappraisal of adversity a…

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Yoga meets positive psychology: examining the integration of hedonic (gratitude) and eudaimonic (meaning) wellbeing in relation to the extent of yoga practice.

The present study aims to explore the existence of a relationship between the extent of yoga practice and two dimensions of psychological wellbeing: meaning in life and gratitude. Both of the variables are positive psychology constructs; there is theoretical affinity and empirical evidence that they are related to overall psychological wellbeing. One hundred and twenty four participants aged 18 years and above, with yoga experience ranging from none to over six years, responded to a number of scales. The extent of yoga practice was measured by the number of years during which individuals practiced yoga at least two times a week. Participants responded to the following scales: MLQ (Meaning in Life Questionnaire) and GQ-6 (Gratitude Questionnaire). This study hypothesised that the number of years practicing yoga would be positively correlated to the score obtained on the aforementioned sca…

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The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being: Psychometric properties, demographic comparisons, and evidence of validity.

The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being (QEWB) was developed to measure well-being in a manner consistent with how it is conceptualized in eudaimonist philosophy. Aspects of eudaimonic well-being assessed by the QEWB include self-discovery, perceived development of one's best potentials, a sense of purpose and meaning in life, intense involvement in activities, investment of significant effort, and enjoyment of activities as personally expressive. The QEWB was administered to two large, ethnically diverse samples of college students drawn from multiple sites across the United States. A three-part evaluation of the instrument was conducted: (1) evaluating psychometric properties, (2) comparing QEWB scores across gender, age, ethnicity, family income, and family structure, and (3) assessing the convergent, discriminant, construct, and incremental validity of the QEWB. Six hypotheses re…

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Reflecting on meaning in an existential-reorientation group psychotherapy approach for cancer patients: A qualitative thematic analysis.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate, in the Italian cultural context, breast cancer patients' main meaning themes related to the experience of the disease, on the one side, and to be part of an existentially oriented group intervention, on the other. Method: A short reorientation-existential (RET) group intervention, structured by using some tools and background from cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) and based on the meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP) existential framework, was delivered to 29 breast cancer patients. The sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, with the narratives from reflective exercises (meaning of the journey cancer, meaning of the journey of intervention) uploaded to computer software NVivo 11. Analysis of the transcripts emerged from reflective exercises on the personal meaning of cancer and the letters of meaning (goodbye letter…

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The Relationship Between Spiritual Health and Religious Coping with Death Anxiety in the Elderly.

The elderly is a period of life when a person reaches the age of 65 years. This study aimed to determine the relationship between spiritual health and religious coping with the death anxiety in the elderly people. The study is a descriptive cross-sectional study: 180 Elderly according to similar studies. Data gathering tools are Paloutzain and Ellison SH questionnaire, religious coping questionnaire and death anxiety questionnaire. SPSS16 and descriptive and analytical tests were used; there was a relationship between religious health and religious coping with the anxiety (p < 0.05).The M(SD) religious health is 39.25 (11.67), existential health is 40.50 (11.29), total spiritual health is 79.75 (22.03), and also the M(SD) religious coping is 23.84 (5.02). Considering the relationship between RC and SH with DA in the elderly, it is necessary to make the necessary spiritual-religious arran…

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Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for psychiatric and existential distress in patients with life-threatening cancer.

Background: A recently published randomized controlled trial compared single-dose psilocybin with single-dose niacin in conjunction with psychotherapy in participants with cancer-related psychiatric distress. Results suggested that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy facilitated improvements in psychiatric and existential distress, quality of life, and spiritual well-being up to seven weeks prior to the crossover. At the 6.5-month follow-up, after the crossover, 60-80% of participants continued to meet criteria for clinically significant antidepressant or anxiolytic responses. Methods: The present study is a long-term within-subjects follow-up analysis of self-reported symptomatology involving a subset of participants that completed the parent trial. All 16 participants who were still alive were contacted, and 15 participants agreed to participate at an average of 3.2 and 4.5 years followi…

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Religion, Culture and Meaning-Making Coping: A Study Among Cancer Patients in Malaysia.

The present study aimed to explore the use of meaning-making coping mechanisms (existential, spiritual and religious coping) among ethnic Malay cancer patients in Malaysia and to investigate the impact of culture on their choice of coping methods. Twenty-nine participants with various kinds of cancer were interviewed. Four kinds of coping resources emerged from analyses of the interview transcripts: (1) relying on transcendent power, (2) supernatural or mystical beliefs, (3) finding oneself in relationships with others and (4) nature. In this article, the two first resources are in focus. The present findings suggest that Malay culture, which is imbued with Islamic belief, strongly influences cancer patients' coping methods and ways of looking at their experience of being cancer patients.

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Shared decision-making as an existential journey: Aiming for restored autonomous capacity.

Objective: We describe the different ways in which illness represents an existential problem, and its implications for shared decision-making. Methods: We explore core concepts of shared decision-making in medical encounters (uncertainty, vulnerability, dependency, autonomy, power, trust, responsibility) to interpret and explain existing results and propose a broader understanding of shared-decision making for future studies. Results: Existential aspects of being are physical, social, psychological, and spiritual. Uncertainty and vulnerability caused by illness expose these aspects and may lead to dependency on the provider, which underscores that autonomy is not just an individual status, but also a varying capacity, relational of nature. In shared decision-making, power and trust are important factors that may increase as well as decrease the patient's dependency, particularly as infor…

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The role of therapists' treatment adherence, professional experience, therapeutic alliance, and clients' severity of psychological problems: Prediction of treatment outcome in eight different psychotherapy approaches. Preliminary results of a naturalistic study.

In this naturalistic study, 262 audiotaped psychotherapy sessions--randomly drawn from 81 individual therapies from eight different psychotherapy approaches--were rated completely on treatment adherence using a newly developed rating manual. In the therapy sessions, a relatively low percentage of treatment specific interventions (ranging from 4.2% to 27.8%) was found for all eight approaches, 50% to 73% of the interventions were nonspecific or common, and approximately 18% to 27% were intervention techniques from other approaches. Different types of psychotherapy differed highly significantly in levels of treatment adherence. There was no statistically significant association between the type of psychotherapy and its outcome, or between the degree of therapists' treatment fidelity and the treatment outcome. However, there were significant associations between therapists' degree of profes…

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Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Cancer Caregivers (MCP-C): Rationale and Overview.

Objective: The multidimensional burden that results from providing care to a patient with cancer is well documented and a growing number of psychosocial interventions have been developed to address this burden. None, however, target existential distress, a critical, common element - and potentially driving mechanism - of caregiver burden. Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) is a structured psychotherapeutic intervention originally developed by our group to target existential distress and spiritual well-being among patients with advanced cancer. We are currently developing Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Cancer Caregivers (MCP-C). The objective of this qualitative study is to describe the application of MCP to the unique experience of caregivers of patients with advanced cancer. Methods: A case study of a participant from an initial MCP-C group is presented, with a focus on the applic…

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Social, psychological and existential well-being in patients with glioma and their caregivers: a qualitative study.

Background: Cerebral glioma has a devastating impact on cognitive, physical, social, psychological and spiritual well-being. We sought to understand the multidimensional experience of patients with this form of cancer as they progressed from receiving a diagnosis to the terminal phase of the disease. Methods: We recruited patients with a suspected brain tumour from a tertiary referral centre in the United Kingdom. We interviewed patients and their caregivers at key stages of the illness: before receiving a formal diagnosis, at the start of initial treatment, after initial treatment was completed and at six months' follow-up; caregivers were also interviewed postbereavement. We interviewed the patients' general practitioners once, after treatment had been completed. We transcribed the interviews and analyzed them thematically using the constant comparative method of a grounded theory appr…

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Sense of presence experiences and meaning-making in bereavement: a qualitative analysis.

This qualitative study aimed to explore the potential role that might be played by the reported experience of "sensing the presence of the deceased" in meaning-making processes in bereavement. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 participants who reported having had such an experience and the transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis. Seven overarching themes were identified, 3 of which were considered central: finding benefit in the continuation of the deceased, finding benefit in the continued relationship, and finding meaning through existential, spiritual, and religious sense-making. While participants found many benefits in what they experienced, finding meaning beyond immediate coping seemed to require the availability of spiritual/religious frameworks that could be adopted or, if available but discrepant, could meaningfully accommodate the experience.

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Existential aspects of living with addiction - part II: caring needs. A hermeneutic expansion of qualitative findings.

Aim: This paper aims to describe caring needs associated with existential aspects of living with addiction. Background: Spirituality is considered a driving force within and the concept relates to self, others and God and the relationships between them. The spiritual dimension is of great importance in both the addiction itself as well as in recovery and addressing caring needs relating to spirituality is important in nursing. Design: Hermeneutic inquiry was used to explore caring needs related to peoples experiences of living with addiction. Method: This paper is a hermeneutic expansion of findings presented in Part I. Existential themes in the form of spiritual challenges and caring needs are reflected upon as a process between figure and background. Results: The themes presented are: meaning - meaninglessness, connectedness - loneliness, life - death, freedom - adjustment, responsibil…

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Meaning in life as a mediator between death anxiety and life satisfaction.

Research based on Terror Management Theory suggests that death anxiety is a fundamental existential concern that threatens individuals' life satisfaction and that, in the process of coping with this anxiety, individuals tend to seek meaning in life. However, studies directly examining the impact of death anxiety on life satisfaction and the mediating role of meaning are lacking. This study aims to investigate the relationship between death anxiety and life satisfaction among adults and to test the mediating role of meaning in life in this relationship. 396 participants completed online scales measuring death anxiety, life satisfaction, and meaning in life. The findings revealed that death anxiety significantly predicted life satisfaction and that meaning in life partially mediated this relationship. The results suggest that meaning in life may play a buffering role in the association bet…

matched on meaning in life (text), Attitude to Death (mesh)

Spiritual orientation and mental health: an SEM analysis of meaning and death attitudes as mediators in Turkish religious officials.

This study examines the relationships between spiritual orientation, meaning in life, attitudes towards death, and indicators of psychological health (depression, anxiety, and stress) among 348 Muslim religious officials in Turkey (28% female). Using structural equation modelling (SEM), the results showed that spiritual orientation directly and indirectly reduces psychological distress by enhancing personal meaning and fostering more accepting attitudes towards death. Results showed a moderate positive association between spiritual orientation and meaning in life, and weak but significant negative associations between meaning/attitudes towards death and psychological symptoms. As one of the first empirical studies to examine the mediating role of death attitudes in this population, the research highlights the theoretical relevance of existential frameworks such as logotherapy. The study …

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When meaning in life protects against fear of death: The moderating role of self-alienation.

Objective: A sense of meaning in life (MIL) is thought to help protect people against experiencing explicit anxiety about death. However, the experience of meaning is complex and subjective and may relate to death anxiety in nuanced ways. We examine how self-alienation-a feeling of not knowing/being disconnected from one's self-might moderate the relationship between MIL and death anxiety. Method: Across five studies, we tested the hypothesis that MIL would negatively predict death anxiety more strongly for people relatively low in self-alienation. These studies were similar in design and included exploratory, confirmatory, and pre-registered tests. Results: A meta-regression across our five studies (N = 2001) provided clear evidence that MIL was most strongly associated with lower death anxiety at low self-alienation. We also observed that MIL was positively associated with death anxiet…

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Life is short, stay awake: Death anxiety and bedtime procrastination.

In the present study, the relation between bedtime procrastination and death anxiety, and also the moderator roles of gender and purpose in life were investigated. Data were collected from 245 participants through an online survey. The results revealed that gender, but not purpose in life, moderated the relation between death anxiety and bedtime procrastination. The effect of death anxiety on bedtime procrastination was significant only for males. Further, this effect was still significant even after controlling circadian energy and self-control. The findings can be explained based on the Terror Management Theory. Bedtime procrastination can be considered risk-taking behavior, and it functions as a world view for males. Moreover, males might have regarded sleep as a waste of time, and therefore, delayed bedtime to increase their non-sleeping lifetime.

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Relationship between meaning in life and death anxiety in the elderly: self-esteem as a mediator.

Background: Death anxiety is a common phenomenon in all societies. Older adults may be more prone to death anxiety than their younger counterparts; however, death anxiety among older adults is not well understood. This study explores the relationship between meaning in life, self-esteem, and death anxiety in senior citizens in China. Methods: A total of 283 older adults participated in this study; data were collected via the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Death Anxiety Scale. Results: Results show that the dimensions of meaning in life, presence of meaning (r = - 0.43, p < 0.01), search for meaning (r = - 0.31, p < 0.01), and self-esteem (r = - 0.54, p < 0.01) were each negatively correlated with death anxiety. Regression analysis reveals that meaning in life significantly predicted self-esteem and death anxiety (F = 45.70, p < 0.01; R2 = 0.33). P…

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Association of sense of coherence and supernatural beliefs with death anxiety and death depression among Romanian cancer patients.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the association of supernatural beliefs and sense of coherence with death anxiety and death depression in a Romanian sample of cancer patients. We found support for the terror management theory worldview defence hypothesis postulating the presence of a curvilinear relation between death anxiety and supernatural beliefs among cancer patients. Results conformed to an inverted U-shape quadratic regression, indicating that cancer patients who scored moderately on supernatural beliefs were afraid of death the most, while death anxiety was lowest for the extreme atheists and extreme believers in supernatural entities.

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Finding meaning despite anxiety over life and death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.

Aim and objectives: To illuminate how people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) create meaning despite the disease. Background: Coping strategies for living with ALS have already been investigated. However, there is a lack of studies on how people with the disease find meaning and what helps and hinders this. Design: A qualitative descriptive study. Methods: Fourteen individual interviews were performed in Spring 2007. The interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis. Results: Two themes emerged to illuminate the complex life situation of the interviewees: experiences of anxiety over life and death and finding meaning despite the illness. It became clear that the uncertain journey towards death was more frightened than death itself. Despite the incurable disease, which brought feelings of life and death anxiety, physical loss, unfairness, guilt, shame and existential lo…

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Psychological and spiritual wellbeing of family caregivers of children with cancer at a teaching hospital in Ghana

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the significance of families’ caregiving roles for sick children, especially in the case of cancer and other chronic diseases. This study aimed to explore the psychological and spiritual wellbeing of family caregivers of children with cancer at a teaching hospital in Ghana. A qualitative exploratory descriptive design was employed. Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants who met the inclusion criteria. A total of thirteen (13) participants were interviewed one-on-one, using a semi-structured interview guide. All interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. It was identified that caregiving affected the psychological and spiritual wellbeing of family caregivers. Four subthemes emerged as psychological experiences and these include; fear and anxiety, distress an…

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The Effect of Fiction on the Well-Being of Older Adults: A Longitudinal RCT Intervention Study Using Audiobooks

Research has examined the psychological benefits of fiction, particularly for socio-cognitive and interpersonal processes, but has yet to examine whether it can have an impact on individuals’ personal well-being in a natural setting over time. A longitudinal randomized control trial (RCT) using audiobooks was conducted to compare the effects of fiction (novels, short stories) and non-fiction on the well-being (subjective, eudaimonic, social) of 94 older adults from diverse urbancommunities over a six-week period. Participants chose one of four books in the condition to which they were allocated. The participants in the fiction, compared to non-fiction, conditions did not show greater improvements in any aspect ofwell-being over the study period. However, regression analysis controlling for initial levels of well-being showed that individuals who reported greater absorption in, and apprec…

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Under the Dome: Air Pollution, Wellbeing, and Pro-Environmental Behaviour Among Beijing Residents

The conflict between economic development and environmental protection has been made salient by increasingly severe air pollution in China, a visible consequence of the costs of rapid economic progress. How does air pollution affect people's psychological experiences? How are newly rich Chinese beginning to think about this social dilemma and are they willing to take any action to deal with the problem? Are there individual differences that contribute to the effect of air pollution on mental experience and concern for environmental protection? The present work explores answers to these questions through two studies among convenience samples of participants residing in Beijing, which is the capital of China and plagued by toxic haze. Study 1 recruited 50 undergraduates and applied a 10-day experience sampling method. Results revealed that the real-time objective air pollution index was ne…

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