Lecture C
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
THE KNOWN TRUTHS OF THE SOUL
In our eulogy the expression that YOU MADE THE SOULS EXISTS WITH YOUR LIFE O ALLAH explains that Allah Taala created the souls with his Life attribute from his Self Attributes. The life attribute of Allah is a general one in whose content exist also OTHER NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. The venerable Muhyiddin Ibn’ul Arabi evaluates this subject from another point of view:
“It is the special character of the souls that when they touch something, it becomes ALIVE AND THE SIGNS OF LIVING APPEAR at it. Life is a special attribute of the soul”.
FUSUS-UL HIKEM TERCUMESI, A. Avni Konuk, Vol 3, pp-134
As LIFE MEANS BEING ALIVE AND ANIMATED, all creatures that are alive, having the ability of movement, and continue to live must be the POSSESSOR OF A SOUL. Therefore the key to understand what the soul is to know the forces and faculties that makes the soul ALIVE, and gives it the ability TO MOVE AND TO ACT and make it continue to live. Life is one of the general attributes. All living creatures have the ability to see, to hear, to eat, to speak and to think and they also have a reflective faculty and the power to take action. If the attribute of life coexists with the aforementioned abilities, it can cause BEING ALIVE and ANIMATED AND ABILITY TO ACT. Consequently the attribute of life requires the existence of KNOWLEDGE, WILL, POWER, HEARING, SIGHT and SPEECH. When we say life is a general attribute, we mean this.
We now understand the owner of the anthology the venerable Visali having said in one of his private speeches that THE SOUL IS THE SHADOW OF THE LIGHT OF THE POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH and has the honour of the positive attributes. As per the fiqh books (Jurisprudence of Islam) the positive attributes of Allah is seven: LIFE, KNOWLEDGE, WILL, POWER, HEARING, SIGHT and SPEECH.
Even though some Islamic catechisms (books of primary Muslim religious instructions) include the attribute of CREATOR (or TAKWEEN) within the positive attributes, our author venerable Hajji Bekir Effendi (may Allah exalt his mystery) did not take TAKWEEN in the positive attributes, instead included it in the SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES of Allah. That is why we said they are seven.
THE CREATION OF ALL SOULS FROM THE SOUL OF MUHAMMAD
Our prophet (peace be upon him) fulfilled his duty of prophethood by his EXISTENCE ELEMENTS in his advent to this world.
The hadith qudsi says:
1-The first thing Allah created is my light
2- The first thing Allah created is my nafs
3- The first thing Allah created is my soul
4- The first thing Allah created is my intellect
FUSUS SERHI, A. Avni Konuk, Vol 1, pp-31
“O people, fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul. From it He created its spouse, and from both of them scattered (like seeds) numerous men and women”. (4/1)
The Qur’anic verses and qudsi hadith inform us about the fact that all worlds and creatures are created by Allah Taala and emanated from the stage of the reality of Muhammad.
Our author used to mention two related hadith in his speeches:
1- O my beloved Muhammad I first created your light (noor) and from that I created all worlds.
2- O my beloved Muhammad, if I had not existed, you would not have existed, and if you had not existed, I would not have been known.
On one hand, the prophet had a physical body like us as per the verse “Say, I am a humanbeing, too just like you”. On the other hand he had a REAL BODY (EXISTENCE) AND THE TRUTH OF MUHAMMAD. This was his body that included the essences and entirety of all created ones, which was notified us by the above written verses and the qudsi hadith. His body added up the particles and contents of ALL NAFS, SOULS, and LIGHTS AND INTELLECTS. This does not mean he had two bodies. There is ONE SINGLE WUJUD (EXISTENCE) and it is (from) the existence of the absolute God.
His existence deigned and manifested in his physical body in the world, a part of the physical realm, from the past eternal knowledge, from the degree of THE LIGHT, OF THE TRUTH OF MUHAMMAD.
As per the venerable Visali’s expression:
All perfections are given together to our prophet (peace be upon him) in the past eternal. When he honoured the world, by divine reason the mystery of the fate was closed and he got cognizant of the truths and mystic sides of all verses which were sent down as chapters throughout 23 years. In God’s name:
“This day I have perfected your religion for you and completed My favor to you. I have approved Islam to be your religion” (5/3)
When this verse was revealed, he got all perfection which was granted to him in the past eternal knowledge.
This is also the reality of the Mi’raj (the ascension). Our prophet (peace be upon him) ascended to his real degree in the past eternal knowledge from his physical BODY composed OF ELEMENTS. Mi’raj meant getting closer to and knowing his past eternal perfection with certain knowledge and certain sight.
All creatures with all their parts are created out of the light of our prophet as per the divine program and plan. Thus, they wore the garment of existence in the physical world as THE SHADOW BODY.
I USED TO SEEK SIGNS FOR MY BODY, MY ESSENCE IS MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA.
The truths that the line above points out are the matters having been dealt with above.
THE EUOLOGY OF HAMIDIYE
I LOOKED FOR SIGNS FOR MY BODY, MY ESSENCE IS MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA.
I ALSO SOUGHT MY SOUL, MY SOUL IS FROM THE SELF OF GOD
I GOT OUT OF THE DARKNESS OF THE BLIND, AND CAME TO the throne of Muhammad
I drank the wine of love with him; I found the pleasure with him, too
His nightingales wail, his lovers revolve around themselves,
His apostles invite, his happy servant believe
The wretched ones disbelieve, the rebellious ones rebel
His scholars read the Qur’an, the founders of the Islamic law read furqan (the standard of true and false; tHE CRITERION, IT REFERS TO THE QUR'AN ITSELF AS THE DECISIVE FACTOR BETWEEN THE GOOD AND THE EVIL)
His wises promenade, his saints guide
Sidki is one of them and guides the disciples
He leads to the right path of the sha’ria, being an oil-lamp in front,
He is the proof of the path (Tariqat), also MUN’IM (nourısher) in his way,
He is the beautiful of the truth, and also the extinction of his nafs,
The charming of the cognizance of Allah and also the eternity of his soul.
The line of (I GOT OUT OF THE DARKNESS OF THE BLIND, AND CAME TO the throne of Muhammad) refers to the degree of oneness of the unity of existence, and can not be known and seen through sciences, attributes, names or whatsoever. This degree is exempt from any kind of limits and restrictions and is the origin, essence and source of the degrees that will come out after it. In the eulogy, the expression of I GOT OUT OF THE DARKNESS OF THE BLIND refers to getting out of this degree, and the expression of I CAME TO the throne of Muhammad refers to the degree of our PROPHET (peace be upon him) which is made of light, and the eternal knowledge of all creatures exist at this degree.
The subsequent couplets of the eulogy conveys the fact that those who constantly remember God, lovers, apostles, the happy ones and wretched ones, scholars, the founders of the Islamic law, the wises, the saints all are created from this degree and upon their coming to this world, and through their acts and deeds they started to manifest their good (praised) and bad (reproached) attributes as an outcome of their inborn aptitude.
A verse in the Qur’an:
“We have not sent you (Prophet Muhammad) except as a mercy to all the worlds”. (The prophets 21/107)
As per our Sultan, the venerable Visali who was a spiritual guide for human beings and the genies; our prophet (peace be upon him) had four kinds of graces:
1.
Grace of creation
2.
Grace of succour
3.
Grace of command
4.
Grace for afterlife
1-HIS GRACE OF CREATION
Creation means making to come into existence, transforming into a living creature.
He is the reason for the creation of all creatures.
Creation is in the hands of Allah Taala. Our prophet is the cause of the creation act.
The below hadith qutsi expresses this truth:
Allaah says, 'were it not for you (O Muhammad) I would not have created the universe.'
Even though we are shadow creatures, our transformation to our bodily structure, all creatures’ being able to come to today’s level of living are due to the existence of the venerable Muhammad, by way of the absolute self of God, the gentlest of all that are gentle, being at the first degree, going through five deigning degrees and his gentleness getting further condensed at each degree passed by. The creator of all causes is Allah Taala.
2- Grace of succour
Succour means help, coming to the help swiftly.
For example, millions of electrical bulbs, factories, motors and the like running on electricity all continue their level of existence by fast coming of the electric power. If the current has been cut off from its place of production all running machinery and equipments turn into inertia and non-existence in a short time. This example makes the SUCCOURING property of the power of electricity on equipments more understandable.
THE HELP OF THE REALITY OF MUHAMMAD
There is a word in Sufism called FAYZ which normally means abundance, blessing, benevolence, endowment and science. In the sufistic terminology it means DIVINE HELP that comes swiftly for the establishment and continuation OF THE divine order in the whole universe. FAYZ (blessing) is the name of the power that enables all creatures from the macro realms to micro realms and the light creatures namely angels and genies to live in the order set by Allah.
It gushes forth from the divine treasury with the name of THE MOST SACRED BLESSING (fayz al- aqdas) and at the station of the truth of Muhammad which is its first stop; it goes through strength and intensity transformation and named SACRED BLESSING (fayz al-muqaddas).
This blessing is a bit condensed from its initial gentler state that had been gentler than all that is gentle and spreads out the whole universe in its less gentle state. Each creature gets from this blessing (fayz) in proportion to their eternal (inborn) aptitude to continue their existence in the divine order. To make it clearer, they own a succouring help which is granted to them. If the fayz (blessing) is cut off for an unimaginably short time span, they turn into ABSENCE and nothingness with their all parts.
Just like all the electrical system starts not working when the power has been cut off from the dynamo that produces the electricity.
If the voltage of the electricity is transmitted to the equipments as strong as it comes out the dynamo, all will be burnt and broken. In the transformer centers the voltage is lowered so that bulbs and others can make use of it.
Likewise, if the most sacred blessing spreads out as intensive as it comes out of the absolute self of God, the universe is burnt and gets to nonexistence. The ability and capacity to bear this power and transform it to the state that creatures can bear is only peculiar to our prophet (PEACE BE UPON) and his reality at the existence level.
3- Grace of command
Command (huqm) comes to mean order, power, authority, sovereignty.
Sovereignty means controlling and ruling countries through power and strength. Sovereignty fundamentally belongs to Allah Taala. As per our perfect spiritual guide, Allah has two types of sovereignty and command in the order of the universe.
I – Sovereignty over creatures
II – Sovereignty over haqqiyyah realm (invisible realms)
I- Sovereignty over creatures
This involves the created realms. It is also called apparent realms, or the places of OBJECTS AND MATTERS that we see by our physical eyes.
Allah rules here with his power and mastership. Being the (owner, master) sustainer of all worlds means making all things, objects, creatures in the divine order appropriate for their creation aim. For instance, all the living beings in the world need HEAT for the continuation of their life. HEAT comes from the Sun, from a distance of 150 million kilometers, passing through the ozone layer and atmosphere where its harmful rays being eliminated and thus it becomes suitable for the creatures that they can utilize. The transformation of the sunlight into the above mentioned form and condition means it has been trained. The trainer here is its master (RABB, one of the names of Allah).
Transforming the basic elements that are the creation substances of all objects into the conditions and forms they need is done by the governing of the mastership attribute and Rabb name of Allah Taala. From this aspect, Allah is the sustainer of all worlds.
The first revealed surah in the Qur’an , SURAH AL- FATIHAH starts with:
“All praise is due to the God, the Sustainer of all the worlds” ( 1/1)
Surah Al- Fatihah contains in summary the MEANING AND TRUTHS of the whole of the Qur’an. It takes attention that the first surah of the honourable Qur’an starts with the verse of sustainership.
If we look at our bodily structure in a full-length mirror, it is the manifestation of the mastership attribute of Allah that the first cell that forms the synthesis structure of male and female cells is nourished by the foods in the mother’s womb and each organ is put into their place with wisdom in a carefully thought-out and balanced organization: Besides the formation and the composition of all organs in aesthetic proportions and the most beautiful way, and the working of the metabolism also shows Allah’s mastership attribute.
We all observe and notice that all fish in the seas, all birds in the air and animals on the earth are all created in aesthetic shapes in compliance with their creation aim.
“Those who… contemplate upon the creation of the heavens and the earth (saying:) 'Lord, You have not created these in falsehood. Exaltations to You! Guard us against the punishment of the Fire.” (3/11)
As the verse above states the perfection of Allah in creation of the creatures necessitates the acceptance of the fact that he is the true God and deserves to be prayed to.
This thought system which is an outcome of reflection on the first verse of the surah Fatihah channels Muslim people toward praying. As humans are created for praying, Grace of command helps people materialize their creation purpose.
II- Sovereignty over gentle (Latif) creatures
This type of sovereignty refers to ruling and creation in gentle realms that we can not see. Ruling and sovereignty in invisible realms happens with wisdom. For example the coordination of heart, soul, intellect, mind, consciousness, intellectual faculty, common sense, shortly all latif organs, their acting together are all from gentle realm.
What is important here is that the latif realms are above material realms of creatures and is superior to it due to the fact that the actions of humans and other creatures turn into actions from mere word after intellect; mind and other forces of interior faculties together take decision in heart. That is, the action and deeds of the creatures that come to existence in material realm with the creation of Allah are formed with the orders taken from haqqiyyah realm before turning to action with the OPINIONS AND MEMORIES therein came to the phase of decision.
By talking about the above points, the truth of the grace of command of our prophet, the sheikh of the universe, (peace be upon him) has been completed.
The angels have the honour of the attributes of SOVEREIGNTY and its synonym DOMINATION which come to mean the execution of commands and orders definitely. Pertaining to spiritual dominion, as an attribute, means POWER and FORCE. They are gentle and blessed creatures. They are powerful servants of Allah, they execute the orders of Allah perfectly and without any objections. In a way they are the execution body.
Allah Taala realizes his COMMAND AND SOVEREIGNTY in above mentioned realms through his servants THE ANGELS. Seven GREAT ANGELS are responsible for the execution of these two types of sovereignty.
THE ANGELS IN CHARGE OF CREATION REALM
1.
Gabriel
2.
Angel of death (Azrael)
3.
Michael
4.
Israfel
The angels in charge of invisible realms:
They are called:
1.
NUUN
2.
WAL KALAM
3.
WA MA YASTURUN
(peace be upon them).
This last classification does not occur in known books of basic Islamic instructions of our time, it is written in the anthology of venerable Visali, in the religious precepts section, in the details of 54 obligations (fard). These 54 obligations (fard) branches out from the SIX obligations of AMENTU (the Islamic creed) that designate the principles of the Islamic faith. As he did not provide the details of the above classification, we do not have more in hand to talk about this.
It was taught to our spiritual master through inspiration and emanated from the same source that revelations come from. But REVELATION is above inspiration and has a higher degree. It comes from the divine treasury and to the great prophet (peace be upon him).
These names are written in the first verse of the 68th surah called PEN in the Qur’an.
“ Nuun. By the Pen and that (the angels) write,” (68/1)
The apparent meaning is given like this.
SEHL (may Allah exalt his mystery) says NUUN IS ONE OF THE NAMES OF ALLAH.
A hadith says:
“Allah first created the pen and told it to write what will happen until the Day of Judgment. Then it wrote in the Guarded Tablet everything about when people will die, their deeds and their sustenance”
(Ruh ul Beyan, a sufistic commentary on the Qur’an ,Vol:9, pp:210)
A quotation from Ibn-i Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him):
“The pen here is the pen of noble scribes (the angels that write whatever we do)”
If we take the above information as proof, they confirm the classification of our author. At least they do not contain opposite ideas.
The writing of pen in the Guarded Tablet designates the synonyms degree with the invisible realm, the eternal knowledge, DIVINITY, AND THE reality of Muhammad. These are subtle realms and are the name of the haqqiyyah realm in the terminology of the author of the anthology.
The real doer is Allah Taala. The other seemingly doers are the causes. We accept that the pen writes the lines. There are other truths, too. Fingers hold the pen, our arm activates fingers, and the measured movements of our arm produce syllables, words, sentences, ideas and knowledge. Up to here is the material REALM of creation. The conscious intellect determines how the arm will move for certain purpose and gives orders to arm to do it in a measured way. With the intellect, the act of the realm of creation finishes and the influence and control of the SUBTLE haqqiyYAH realm starts. Finally it passes to Allah Taala, the real doer, and the issue is knotted there. It is the eternal realm and there is no beyond.
The Qur’an contains the truths that are mentioned above in general terms. All living things, both the ones that can be seen by eyes and the ones that can not be seen by eyes -either because they are so small or they are invisible- keep moving. They have acts in accordance with their creation purpose.
Acts appear in the degree of ONENESS as gentle objects and turn into material three-dimensional objects in the world, the physical realm.
Objects change their shapes and forms constantly as time passes, but never get annihilated. For instance seeds contain and preserve the features and qualities of the living plants in their structure as scientific truths. When the plant germinate from the seed in the soil, the seed now turns to the root, the body, branches, leaves, flowers and finally to fruits. Within the fruits are seeds (the initial form). It was originally a seed, went through various changes and turned to its initial form. This rule is valid for all living beings and plants. The Sufism literature points out this as below:
“Everything turns back to its origin”.
In reality, the root, origin and essence of everything is the existence of the perfect and beautiful Allah Taala at the degree of oneness. This is also called eternal aptitude. Below we give the verses in the Qur’an relating to the abovementioned content.
“We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.”
Surah al Baqarah (2/156)
“And all affairs are referred back to Allah”
Surah al Hadeed (57/5)
“To Him belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth. And all affairs are referred back to Allah”
Surah al Hadeed (57/5)
“To Allah belongs the unseen in the heavens and in the earth; to Him the matter, in its entirety, shall be returned.”
Surah the Prophet Hood, (11-123)
The pen refers to the noble angels that have the honour of the attribute of power (qudrah). Behind the seemingly doers at the second and third degrees i.e. LINES AND PEN are the angels. It is correct that the honourable verse “NUUN, WAL KALAM, WA MA YASTURUN” (Nuun, by the pen and by what they write) must be attributed to the angels and called as angels.
“He directs the affair from heaven to earth.”
Surah the Prostration, (32/5)
“Allah speaks the truth and guides to the Path.”
Surah the Confederates (33/4)
4-HIS GRACE IN THE AFTERLIFE
This is the grace of Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the afterlife. It is known as the great intercession. The life in the grave, resurrection, transferring to maHSHAR (the assembly for the last judgment), the last judgment arena, A’raf (the ramparts between the paradise and the hell) , the reckoning, the scale (for weighing good deeds and sins), the shadow of the almighty, throne, alsirat (the bridge between the hell and the paradise)…. These are the starting phases of the afterlife. After these comes entering the paradise with the grace of Allah, or entering the Hell as an outcome of the manifestation of the justice.
The intercession means the pray of our prophet (peace be upon him), the intercessor for sinners, for forgiveness of his community (ummah) by Allah.
In the assembly for the last judgment, the great crowd, the sun will come closer to the people and there will throng. People will wish the reckoning to be completed as soon as possible due to the heat, the throng and other uneasy conditions. They will demand help starting from the first prophet, Adam (peace be upon him) and then from four great prophets (i.e. Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus). Finally with the recommendation of Jesus (peace be upon him), creatures will be connected to THE RECKONING AND THE SCALE with the intercession of the sheikh of the universe, the most honourable creature, the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). This will be his first intercession.
Intercession is from the divine favour. The hadith of our prophet occurring in the most authentic six hadith books say the Muslims that have faith in their heart as little as a grain, barley or even a mustard seed will attain the intercession of our prophet at a time and enter the paradise.
The existence of Allah is eternal, free from any limits and restrictions. As -the existence is eternal, the evolution, too, continues for ever for those who deserve it. That is why as per the verses in the Qur’an, the divine favour for the noble people; the prophets, those who uphold truths, the martyrs, and the doers of good take place as causing their degrees and levels to rise.
A hadith says:
“Seventy thousand people among my community will enter the paradise without seeing any reckoning.”
His answer to the question of who they were was:
They are who does not have his body branded, who does not make use of ruqyah (ruqyah means recourse to a supernatural force for a desire to materialize such as enchantment by witches and sorcerers), or does not believe in bad omen and who trusts in their God.
The Encyclopedia of Hadith, Ibrahim Canan, Volume 11, pp: 93
In one of his preaching, the venerable Visali said that seventy thousand muqarrabeen (those who are near to Allah) will enter the paradise without seeing any reckoning, each one of them will also intercede for seventy thousand people.
There is no contradiction between the hadith above that specifies the properties of the ones who will enter the paradise without seeing any reckoning and the expression in the eulogy that names those who will enter the paradise without seeing any reckoning as THE SAINTS THOSE WHO ARE NEAR TO ALLAH. Those who are thoroughly free from being occupied by the cause-effect relationship, and who thoroughly trusts in God are the noble saints who are at the degree of muqarrabeen (those who are near to Allah). The creator of all causes is Allah Taala. From this aspect, there is no contradiction, but there is confirmation, strengthening and verification.
His eulogy that expresses the true TRUST AND SURRENDERING, he says:
The eulogy of the noble basmalah
Bismillah, the servants who say always “Allah” won’t be hurt by other creatures either on earth or in the skies….