Spirituality Across Belief Systems: Comparative Insights from Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, and Atheism

Abstract

This study aims to develop a comparative analysis of the understanding of spirituality among followers of different faiths, including Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, and Atheism. For this purpose, five participants from each belief system were selected, including Muslims, Christians, and Atheists, and four participants were selected from Sikhs. Therefore, a total of 19 participants were selected for the structured interview. Structured interview questions were made from general spirituality literature. Moreover, only participants with reasonable knowledge of spirituality in their religion or atheist school of thought were paid attention. After selection, interviews were conducted through interview guides from the participants from different belief systems. After that, the interviews were transcribed, and five superordinate themes were generated from the data, such as the definition of spirituality, spirituality and religion, spirituality and nature, spirituality and lifestyle, and spirituality and well-being. It was found that Muslims and Sikhs differ in their concept of religion and spirituality from Christians and Atheists. In contrast, all the religions and, to a great extent, atheist's data resemble the theme of spirituality and nature. At the same time, Mixed responses were observed to other superordinate themes of spirituality.