Allah and His Glory in mystical point of view
- Updated On Sunday, 17 May 2015
- Written by A group of writers
- Editor Kawther Rahmani
- Supervisor Sayyed Roohullah Musavi
- Published on Sunday, 17 May 2015
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- Hits: How do Muslim mystics explain the relationship between God and the universe?
According to the mystical point of view, there is no question of cause and effect in the matter of doings of Allah . The best way of expressing the relationship between the Creator and the created is found in the Quran. In some places this relationship has been described as glorification - "Your Lord revealed His glory" - while in others it has been expressed as "manifestation". It has been said about Allah that 'He is the First and the Last, the Explicit and the Implicit.' This relationship is different from that of cause and effect, which implies a sort of tendency that is not appropriate to Allah, and therefore it is not a proper expression of the relationship between Allah and existing things. According to the mystical point of view, that the letter (بـ) (meaning "with") in the beggining of the phrase (بسم الله) (meaning "with God's name") does not signify causation as some grammarians say. For this purpose we have either to expand the meaning of causation to include glorification and manifestation or to say that the 'بـ' in بسم الله"" does signify causation and that "with the name of Allah" means "with His manifestation" or "with His glorification." According the Muslim mystics, the state of universal 'wilayat' is the first determination of the Absolute Manifestation. The name is synonymous with absolute glory. It is primarily determined by the Wilayat of the Holy Prophet, Imam Ali, etc. The first and primary determination of absolute glory is the highest stage of existence and this highest stage of existence is the same as the stage of absolute wilayat. As a matter of fact, a divine name is sometimes a symbol of the state of the self. The comprehensive name of this state of the self is Allah. Sometimes a divine name is the symbol of the manifestation of some divine attribute such as beneficence, mercy, etc. All these names are the reflections of the Exalted Name. Some of these names are the names of the state of the self, some are the reflections of the glory of names and some others are the reflections of the glory of doings. The names of the first category are called the state of uniqueness; the names of the second category are called the state of oneness and the names of the third category the state of will. All these are terms used by the mystics. The last three verses of the Surah al-Hashr (59:22-24) perhaps hint at this division of the divine names: (i) "He is Allah, there is no other deity but He, the Knower of the invisible and the visible. He is the Beneficent, the Merciful." (ii) "He is Allah, there is no other deity but He, the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One, the Peace, the Keeper of Faith, the Guardian, the Majestic, the Compeller and the Superb. Glorified be Allah from all that they ascribe as partners to Him." (iii) "He is Allah the Creator, the Shaper out of naught, the Fashioner, His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him and He is the Mighty, the Wise." These three verses possibly hint at the three states of the divine names as mentioned above. The first mentions the names appropriate to the state of self. The second verse contains the names appropriate to the reflections of the glory of names. The third verse has the names suitable to the reflection of the glory of doings. Thus, there are three stages of divine glorification: the stage revealing self-glory for self, the stage of revealing glory at the stage of divine names and the stage of revealing glory at the stage of manifestation. He is the First and the Last is perhaps the negation of the existence of any other being. He is the First and the Last, the Explicit and the Implicit, shows that it is He who is manifestation, not that manifestation is from Him, for "He is the First and the Last, the Explicit and the Implicit."