The Muhammadan Reality
During the
course of a series of e-mail exchanges, a person had begun to feel there was more to the
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) than that of being restricted to a purely historical
figure of central importance to Muslims. The individual asked whether this intuition was
correct.
The
historical Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the most perfect manifestation of what is
referred to by the Sufi shaykhs as the "Muhammadan Reality". All of creation is,
on the one hand, a tapestry woven from the Names and Attributes of God, and, on the other
hand, a manifestation of those Names and Attributes through the capacities of the
"things" which constitute the created Universe and which collectively are
encompassed by the Muhammadan Reality.
The facet of
created existence which has the greatest potential capacity to give expression to the
Names and Attributes of Allah in a balanced, knowing, conscious and loving way are human
beings. Al-insan kamil ... the perfect human being ... is the one who has realized this
purpose of life by giving expression to that dimension of the Muhammadan Reality in
accordance with the spiritual capacity each has been given the capacity to do so by Allah.
All of the
124,000 Prophets who have been sent to the peoples of different nations in different
times, as well as the Companions of these Prophets, along with the shaykhs and awliya of
Allah who were not physical Companions of these Prophets, together with the generality of
believers and non-believers are all made possible through the nature of the Muhammadan
Reality ... all are derived - in one mode or another - from the light or nur of this
underlying Reality ... with the historical Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) being the
brightest, most noble, most beautiful expression of this Reality.
However, in
truth, every manifestation of this Muhammadan Reality is unique. As Sufi shaykhs say -
Allah does not repeat Divine Self-disclosures as given reflected expression through the
locus of manifestation of this or that modality of the Muhammadan Reality.
This means
we each have a responsibility to do what we can to work toward bringing to light the
unique spiritual capacity for giving expression to our role or participation in the full
realization of the Muhammadan Reality. This leads to the following question: Why do we
have this responsibility or amanat (trust)?
An allusion
to the answer is given in an Hadith Qudsi in which Allah indicates that the first thing
which was created was the light of spirit of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) - which is the
Muhammadan Reality. From this light, Allah brought forth the lights of the angels, jinn,
Prophets, saints, believers, non-believers and so on.
We each have
been given the opportunity to participate in the Muhammadan Reality which is the hidden
treasure for which Allah brought forth creation. Our mode of participation can be
co-operative or it can be rebelliousness.
If we
co-operate, this is the path of Deen (the journey of Self-realization). Through Deen, we
find our way back to our fitra, or original nature, which is none other than a
manifestation - according to our unique capacity to do so - of the Muhammadan Reality.
If we fail
to co-operate, and, therefore, rebel and transgress against our own Self, we will not find
our way back to realizing our original nature, and, consequently, we will be a veil of
darkness with respect to this underlying Reality. As such, we become our own punishment,
since by being veiled, we separate ourselves from - as far as awareness, knowledge, and
conscious participation in the Muhammadan Reality are concerned - from our true nature or
fitra. And, in this separation, we distance ourselves from our Lord who is longing to
disclose Divinity to us through that nature (fitra) by virtue of God's Names and
Attributes.
When a
person says Darud on the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), one is, in reality, saying
Darud on all of Creation - including your own true Self, since all of Creation is derived
from the light of the Muhammadan Reality which is at the heart of the historical Muhammad
(peace be upon him). In saying Darud on the Prophet (peace be upon him), one is saying
Darud on all of the 124, 000 Prophets, their companions, the awliya (the saintly friends
of God), as well as the shaykhs and mureeds of the different silsilahs - this is so
because, each in her or his own way, are unique manifestations of that Muhammadan Reality
toward whom the Darud is being directed, even while the historical Muhammad (peace be upon
him) is the most prominent, noble and perfect manifestation of this Reality which is being
addressed.
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