Pages 36 and 37 -
Chapter Three: "In other terms, annihilation results from the negation
asserted in the first half of the first Shahadah, and subsistence from the affirmation
mentioned in the second half. ‘No god’ demands that all of the positive
qualities and characteristics that are ascribed to creatures be negated from them, because
in truth these do not belong to them. ‘But God’ means that God alone can be
affirmed as real so every positive attribute belongs only to Him. When the travelers reach
the perfection of their own capacity created in God’s image, they experience nothing
but the negation of egocentric, separative reality and the affirmation of God-centered,
unitive reality.
"In contrasting
subsistence and annihilation, we need to remember that subsistence is real, not
annihilation, for subsistence is the affirmation of an ancient reality, but annihilation
is the negation of something that never truly was. ‘No god’ negates all false
realities, and ‘but God’ affirms the subsistence of the Real. In terms of the
divine attributes, this means that the mercy that designates God’s presence and
sameness dominates over the wrath, so mercy and subsistence have the final say, not wrath
and annihilation."
Commentary: The
author’s characterization of the Shahadah is both misleading and incorrect. Contrary
to the contention of the author, the first half of the Shahadah is a bearing witness that
‘there is no reality but Divinity’, while the second half of the Shahadah
involves bearing witness that ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’.
There is no negation in
the first half of the Shahadah - just affirmation. The Reality of the Divine Presence is
the standard through which one discerns Truth from falsehood, and identifying that which
is false, presupposes having access to what is true.
The first half of the
Shahadah does not demand "that all of the positive qualities and characteristics that
are ascribed to creatures be negated from them". Instead, the first half of the
Shahadah addresses the need for human beings to bear witness - and, thereby, come to
realize, the actual nature of Reality.
The beginning of
understanding is to realize that all truth issues from one, and only one Source - namely,
Divinity. Unless, and until, one is prepared, at a minimum, to bear witness and accept the
nature of this starting point, then, one cannot proceed along the Path of Deen.
The author never appears
to ask himself the following questions. If a human being is something which "never
truly was", then, how does that which "never truly was" come to ascribe
positive qualities to herself or himself? If a human being is something that "never
truly was", then, what is the nature of the ‘capacity’ alluded to by the
author when he speaks of individuals reaching "the perfection of their own capacity
created in God’s image"? Moreover, what is the nature of the
‘perfection’ of something that "never truly was" coming to realize
that one’s ‘capacity’ is to never truly to have been, and how does
something that "never truly was" realize anything at all?
These questions are not
paradoxes or tricks of language. Such questions, however - questions which, unfortunately,
the author never raises nor addresses in his book - do allude to mystical possibilities
that are far more subtle, amazing, and profound than anything which is being suggested by
the author.
More specifically, given
the truth of the first half of the Shahadah - that ‘there is no reality but
Divinity’, what is the significance of the second half of the Shahadah - namely, to
‘bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah’?. If
there is no Reality but Divinity, then, who is Muhammad (peace be upon him) and why is
there a need for a Messenger?
The author mentions a
"capacity created in God’s image." Although the wording is not the same,
the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is reported to have said: "God created Adam
upon His own form."
There are a number of key
terms in the foregoing Hadith - namely, ‘created’, ‘upon’ and
‘form’. These terms require a certain amount of elaboration.
The Reality of Divinity
is, among other things, original, uncreated, independent, and absolute. The
‘reality’ of a human being is derivative, created, dependent and relative.
To say that a given
‘reality’ is derivative, created, dependent and relative, does not make the
entity at issue something that "never truly was". Instead, the nature of the
latter is specified as that which presupposes a more fundamental level of Being in order
to have status as even a delimited modality of ‘reality’.
Through Creative
Imagination, Divinity generates, or creates, a modulated ‘piece’ of Knowledge.
The character of the modulation determines the qualities and parameters of the
‘piece’ of Knowledge which has arisen through Creative Imagination.
The Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) is reported to have said: "God created His creation in darkness,
and, then, scattered His Lights over them." Consequently, in a manner somewhat
reminiscent of cyber-space - in which ‘inhabitants’ are generated through the
modulation of 0s and 1s - the ‘creatures’ of Creative Imagination are woven from
darkness and light.
Earlier a Hadith was
cited in which the Prophet indicated that Glory is the lower garment of Divinity and
Majesty is the cloak of Divinity. In other words, the ‘form’ of Divinity is
given expression through the Names and Attributes of God.
The angels had been
witness to the Divine fashioning of the human being. When they saw certain potentials
being placed in man, they inquired of God - not rebelliously but in perplexity: "Art
Thou fashioning one who shall cause corruption and bloodshed?" (2:30). Yet, Allah
responded by saying: "Surely, I know that which you do not know." (2:30)
A little later, the
Qur’an states: "And God taught Adam all the Names..." (2:31) The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) is reported to have said: "I have been given all the
Names and have been sent to perfect good conduct." On another occasion, the Prophet
is reported to have said: "Allah has 300 Attributes, the one who acquires just one of
these Attributes for one’s own character will inherit Paradise."
What Allah knew, but the
angels did not, was that the fitra, or spiritual potential, of humankind is equipped with
the ability to reflect, under appropriate conditions, the Divine Template or Form. If this
were not true, then, Adam (peace be upon him) - and, by implication, the rest of humanity
- could not give, or reflect, back to God the Divine Names ("O Adam! Inform them of
their Names" - 2:33) which God originally had taught to Adam (peace be upon him), nor
would good conduct have been possible to be brought, God willing, to maximum fruition - in
the form of acquiring Divine Attributes according to one’s spiritual capacity -
through the assistance of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Ultimately, to bear
witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah is to affirm
that he - along with the entire Prophetic tradition, as well as the heirs of that
tradition - has been sent to, God willing, help people, experientially and knowingly,
realize the full meaning of the fact that there is no reality but Divinity and how
creation fits into that Truth.
When the Divine Presence
of fana’ descends, nothing is negated. However, falsehood does disappear -
"The Real has come and the unreal has vanished away. Lo! falsehood is ever bound to
vanish." (17:81)
According to the author
of Sufism - A Short Introduction: "In contrasting subsistence and
annihilation, we need to remember that subsistence is real, not annihilation, for
subsistence is the affirmation of an ancient reality, but annihilation is the negation of
something that never truly was." However, the author’s way of stating things is
incorrect.
Annihilation is every bit
as real as subsistence, for annihilation is nothing but subsistence cloaked in manifest
forms that perish. Manifestation exists and disappears through the Will of Divinity, and
the exercise of Will gives expression to the Presence of the Subsisting One which is
experienced differently depending on whether one’s spiritual condition is fana’
or baqa.
Furthermore, the author
is wrong when he maintains that: "subsistence is the affirmation of an ancient
reality". Baqa, or subsistence, is the realization of a Present Truth - a
realization and Truth which is permeated with knowledge concerning the purpose of
Creation.
What is primordial is the
potential or capacity for such realization. Indeed, precisely because this potential has a
reality - created, derivative, dependent, and relative though this may be - rather than
"something that never truly was", there is something - namely ‘fitra’,
which, God willing, can be brought to fruition.
The author closes out his
section on annihilation and subsistence by claiming that: "In terms of the divine
attributes, this means that the mercy that designates God’s presence and sameness
dominates over the wrath, so mercy and subsistence have the final say, not wrath and
annihilation." In truth, although all Names and Attributes of God indicate Divine
Presence - not just Mercy, the author’s use of the word "sameness" in the
foregoing quote is problematic.
God is not the
‘same’ as Creation even though the former makes the latter possible. Similarly,
participating in an awareness, according to capacity, of Divine Presence does not make
such awareness the same as the latter - although, clearly, the former is derivative from,
and dependent on, the Presence of Divinity.
The mirror is not the
Reality which is reflected. Yet. Reality, mirror, and reflection are intimately tied
together since Reality is the One Who has fashioned the mirror and its capacity to
reflect.
In addition, contrary to
the contention of the author in the previously cited quote, Baqa, or subsistence,
does not have "final say". Baqa is a spiritual condition whose
realization is dependent on a bestowal of immense Grace through Divine Will.
Moreover, annihilation is
not an expression of Divine wrath but, rather, of Mercy. Manifestation appears and
disappears to serve the purpose of Creation, and the Divine Intention inherent in the
Purpose underlying the spiritual condition of fana’ is one in which Mercy has
priority since realization of the Divine Presence only can take place when the days of
manifestation which usually preoccupy consciousness disappear or perish.
Both fana’
and baqa are expressions of Divine Mercy - as well as expressions of Generosity,
Love, Kindness, and many other Names and Attributes of Divinity. Nonetheless, each of
these spiritual conditions only occurs by Allah’s leave.
This is not, as the
author suggests, a matter of Mercy versus Wrath. Instead, as the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) is reported to have said: "Whoever finds good, then, let that person
praise Allah, and whoever finds other than this, then, let that person blame no one but
himself."
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