Document Type : ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

Authors

1 Department of Islamic Education, Faculty of Islamic Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Philosophy and Studies of Religions, Faculty of Philosophy and Studies of Religions, Al-Mustafa Open University, Qom, Iran.

3 Department of the Quran and Hadith, Faculty of the Quran and Hadith, Al-Mustafa Open University, Qom, Iran.

4 Department of Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Dhar El Mahraz, Fez, Morocco.

Abstract

SUBJECT & OBJECTIVES: Contemporary emerging spirituality is derived from spirituality in postmodern conditions, moving beyond the era of modernity toward a form of spirituality without religion. Thus, the formation of contemporary emergent spirituality arises in response to the spiritual deficiencies of modernity, characterized by a pursuit of tranquility, accommodation to existing circumstances, and a stance of moral and political disengagement. This study aims to examine the critiques leveled against the elements of humanistic spirituality in newly emerging spiritual movements situated within the postmodern framework.
METHOD & FINDING: Using qualitative content analysis, the components of humanistic spirituality in emerging spirituality-based movements within the postmodern context were extracted and subsequently subjected to critical analysis and review. The findings of the study indicate that one of the defining characteristics of this movement is humanism, according to which the human being is regarded as the measure of all things and the axis of the universe, standing in contrast to the various forms of theocentric religious thoughts. 
CONCLUSION: Prioritizing humanity and its desires over the primacy of God and His absolute will is a central consequence of humanistic spirituality, resulting in tendencies toward empiricism, pluralism, the pursuit of liberty, and individualism. Spiritual modernism is centered on a re-presentation of the sacred in a different form, and the stress on religious experientialism is rooted in an inadequate or flawed understanding of God, the cosmos, and the human being. With the introduction of religious experience, the legitimacy of every religion and denomination becomes dependent on the personal experience of each individual, making religiosity a relative matter and replacing religious realism with religious relativism.

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