The Effectiveness of Contemplation on Conceptual Metaphor in Cognitive Spiritual Therapy

Abstract

Contemplation (tafakkur) is a practice that fills the spiritual needs of a human’s soul by linking the mind with the heart and soul. As there is an urgency in developing more effective therapies due to the worldwide rise of psychological disorders, this research analyses the effectiveness of contemplating on metaphors in the Qur’an. Although the therapeutic factors in metaphor have been amplified by cognitivist, related studies based on the Qur’an are scarce. Therefore, this research aims to reveal the effectiveness of Qur’anic contemplation for healing by focusing on the contemplation of metaphors. This interdisciplinary qualitative research analyses the spiritual effects of the Qur’an from the linguistic and psychological perspectives through an explanatory case study. The use of contemplation as a cognitive process is focused on conceptualisation that involves conceptual metaphor which is a metaphor that operates at the level of thinking. The conceptualisation of spiritual healing in terms of a journey to God that pervades throughout the Qur’an through metaphorical linguistic expressions such as ‘path,’ ‘way’ and ‘travel’ reveal the conceptual metaphor spiritual healing is a journey. Contemplating this conceptual metaphor reveals the spiritual guiding principles in the healing journey and the effectiveness of religious discourse in influencing positive actions for psycho-spiritual well-being. Eventually, this research proposes contemplation on conceptual metaphor as a cognitive spiritual therapy for psychological disorders. This research contributes to the field of language, psychology, and religious studies by revealing the richness of persuasive language for effective therapy in mental health practices.