Answer
Short Answer: “Islam has nothing to do with this practice of astral projection. Rather, Muslims must give a wide berth to any persons who practice or propagate this patently pernicious superstition.”
Salam Dear Tarib,
Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.
What is “Astral Projection”?
First of all, let us try to understand what is meant by the expression, “astral projection”.
Its main idea is based on the belief that it is possible for the astral body — which is said to be a “double” of the physical body — of a person to consciously leave the physical body at least for a short time and “travel” in the astral dimension.
Robert Bruce, an expert on the subject, writes the following:
“The astral is the closest dimension to the physical. […] Its contents are created by the collective consciousness of the world mind. It contains all the thoughts, memories, fantasies, and dreams of every living thing in the world. In it, the laws of sympathetic attraction causes this ocean of mind stuff to strata and settle into layers or pools. These pools of thought are more commonly called astral planes, astral worlds, astral sub planes or astral realms.”
There are persons who say they have had the vivid sensation of separating from the physical body in what feels like a second body, often floating above them or traveling at great speeds.
Some say that they have experienced lucid dreams which led them to the feeling of being in a conscious presence of mind without a body at all.
The Rise of the New Age Movement
The concept of astral projection became widely known with the popularity of Theosophy.
This is the discipline which the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines as:
Any of various philosophies professing to achieve knowledge of God by spiritual ecstasy, direct intuition, or special individual relations, esp. a modern movement following Hindu and Buddhist teachings and seeking universal brotherhood.
It also became widely spread as a result of the recent New Age Movement.
To clarify the matter more I need to mention that the term New Age describes a broad movement of late 20th century and contemporary Western culture, characterized by an individual eclectic approach to spiritual exploration.
Collectively, New Age has some attributes of an emergent religion, but is currently a loose network of spiritual teachers, healers, and seekers.
On the other hand, the prosperity and the accompanying comforts of some aspects of the modern lifestyle have led many people to a kind of spiritual emptiness and meaninglessness.
This means that a large number of persons, leading the stereotyped modern lifestyle might, in fact, be regarded as mentally-ill.
Mental Illness On The Rise, Too
For example, mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally.
An estimated 22.1% of Americans, ages 18 and older—about 1 in 5 adults—suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.
When applied to the 1998 United States Census residential population estimate, this figure translates to 44.3 million people.
In addition, 4 of the 10 leading causes of disability in the U.S. and other developed countries are mental disorders: major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time (National Institute of Mental Health).
The result is that a considerable percentage of people are driven to a mental condition that needs attention.
Consequently we find there are a large number of not only psychiatrists but “psychics” as well. This fact also accounts for the increasing instances of psychological malpractice.
A Multi-Million Dollar Industry
To fill in the spiritual vacuum generated, a number of swamis and New Age gurus have stepped in.
In fact, I see astral projection as the postmodern version of the old superstitions about the ghosts who walk about in the eerie hours of the night and interact with certain people.
As there is money in it, the whole thing is commercialized and globalized now, especially by drug dealers who wish to capitalize on the idea that psychedelic drugs are a great facilitator of the out-of body-experience.
So those who are already into chemical dependency or substance abuse are most probably the ones likely to have a comparatively more intense Out-of-body experience.
Islam has nothing to do with this practice of astral projection.
Rather, Muslims must give a wide berth to any persons who practice or propagate this patently pernicious superstition.
And Allah knows best.
Salam.
(From AboutIslam’s archives)
Read more…