I must admit that I don’t know very much about Islam, so when an article concerning Reiki appeared today in an English language Arab newspaper I was sure to take notice. It didn’t say much, but there were two points I found rather interesting and would like to touch upon them here.

The article, appearing in the Sunday 3 August 2008 (30 Rajab 1429) issue of Arab News was called “Having the write stuff“ and was written by Hassna’a Mokhtar. It was mainly concerned with graphology (a type of handwriting analysis), but also touched on Reiki and NLP as fellow “western” sciences.

The first thing I found interesting was the definition of Reiki itself that was given in the article. Per Mokhtar, “Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing.” I found this definition to be rather revealing in and of itself and I assure you that Mokhtar is not the only one who looks at it this way. For many, perhaps the stress reduction and relaxation aspects of Reiki are Reiki’s greatest attributes and there is no reason to hold any other interpretation as more valid or legitimate.

I realized, once again, that my own interpretation of Reiki as a spiritual art that also promotes healing is based on my own needs and perceptions and that these may not be the best way to promote Reiki to others. Those that frequent these pages either have the same (or similar) understanding as I do, or are just incredibly bored. In that this forum is not intended to present only one viewpoint I realized I must make a greater effort to diversify so that the more diverse interpretations of others are more welcomed and not put off to the side as invalid in any way.

This epiphany comes on the heals of the second thing I found interesting in the article which was the way Reiki itself is regarded by Islamic people. Per the article, “Some Saudi scholars disapprove of sciences such as graphology, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Reiki” and “argue that sciences such as Reiki are not permitted in Islam”. I can’t vouch for the validity of these statements but I did find them quite revealing.

Further, I don’t know whether this viewpoint is the generally accepted opinion of the masses, certain orthodox traditionalists, or limited to certain Islamic sects or a handful of scholars, but the fact that some Muslims feel this way and regard Reiki this way is, in and of itself, reason for a rethink.

For any chance of success Reiki must be presented to each culture it meets in a way that is completely acceptable to that culture. Forcing one culture to assume the attitudes or behavior of another has resulted in discontent (if not outright war) for ages. If Reiki has any chance of proliferating within Islamic cultures it must be done in a way that is appealing and comfortable to them. Since Reiki has no religious component I see no reason it can’t be accepted by Islam, but of course it must be done on their terms since Islam is more than just a religion in that it contains a culture and philosophy and epistemology of its own.

Perhaps what the Reiki world needs, from an Islamic standpoint, is a person like Mrs. Takata, who is not afraid to bend Reiki to the Islamic culture to the degree necessary for its acceptance… luckily Reiki has always been rather flexible.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 10:23 am and is filed under Reiki Theory. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.