Spirituality: Definition, Area and its functions in psychology and its comparison with the Islamic approach

The purpose of this study is to identify spirituality in three dimensions of meaning, scope and functions in psychology and Islam. According to the purpose of the research, psychological sources related to religion and spirituality as well as verses of the Qur'an, narrations and works of Muslim thinkers were referred to and the data were extracted and compared and analyzed descriptively-analytically. Findings showed that spirituality in psychology is a psychological state that includes characteristics such as insight, understanding of unity, inner integrity, feeling of wonder, feeling of excellence, feeling of acceptance, disconnection, love and compassion, gratitude for the blessings of life and feeling of meaning. But spirituality in Islam is a state that is realized in connection with the existence of God Almighty and includes the components of knowing God, believing in the Creator, feeling belonging to the Creator, and doing action for God, comprehensive understanding of His presence and understanding of nearness to God. It was also found that the functions of spirituality in psychology in the areas of physical and mental health are the effect on happiness, personality and healing, reducing pain and esoteric satisfaction. From the Islamic point of view, functions such as relaxation and reduction of suffering are related to common spirituality, but Islamic spirituality has specific functions such as lasting pleasure, genuine meaning to life and closeness to the Creator, which is not mentioned in spirituality in psychology.