From The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, William C. Chittick (SUNY Albany, 1983), 181.
"There is no god but God. This testimony of faith is composed of two parts. The first part, "no god" (la ilaha) is known as the "negation" (nafy), while the second part, "but God" (illa-llah) is the "affirmation" (ithbat). First the shahadah negates the world, then it affirms the existence of God. It signifies that nothing is real but the Real. Everything we see and imagine as real is a false reality, a false divinity; and beyond all these things and all vision and imagination is the true Reality, the One God. "There is no god but He: All things perish, except His Face (qtd in Qu'ran, XXVIII 88)
"When the shahadah is applied to the human individual, it signifies that "There is no self but the Self." Since man does not see things as they are, he imagines that his own self is real and that nothing lies beyond it. Even if he acknowledges the existence of God, he still lives and acts as if he himself were real and God were illusory. Therefore he is in need of the spiritual path, which involves the realization and actualization of annihilation and subsistence or negation and affirmation: Man's illusory self must be naughted so that his true Self may be affirmed and he may subsist within God.
"On the one hand the shahadah signifies that "Nothing truly exists but God." All that appears as "other than He"is nonexistent in itself, whether it lies outside the world or inside in ourselves. But all for,s are manifestations of meaning, all foam derives from the Sea. So on the other hand, the Shahadah also means that "Everything that exists is God." Since "there is no reality but the Reality," everything that may be called a reality--i.e. every single thing--is ultimately none other than the Reality, for there cannot be two completely independent realities, since that would mean that there are two Gods.
"To see things as they are, man must combine the two points of view contained within the shahadah. He must negate the world and himself as separate existences and then affirm them both as manifestations of God's Being. However, a theoretical combination of these two points of view involves "imitation." It does not derive from a direct spiritual vision of the way things are. Man will not necessarily benefit from this merely theoretical knowledge unless he enters the Path with the aim of annihilating himself and attaining subsistence in God. "
"There is no god but God. This testimony of faith is composed of two parts. The first part, "no god" (la ilaha) is known as the "negation" (nafy), while the second part, "but God" (illa-llah) is the "affirmation" (ithbat). First the shahadah negates the world, then it affirms the existence of God. It signifies that nothing is real but the Real. Everything we see and imagine as real is a false reality, a false divinity; and beyond all these things and all vision and imagination is the true Reality, the One God. "There is no god but He: All things perish, except His Face (qtd in Qu'ran, XXVIII 88)
"When the shahadah is applied to the human individual, it signifies that "There is no self but the Self." Since man does not see things as they are, he imagines that his own self is real and that nothing lies beyond it. Even if he acknowledges the existence of God, he still lives and acts as if he himself were real and God were illusory. Therefore he is in need of the spiritual path, which involves the realization and actualization of annihilation and subsistence or negation and affirmation: Man's illusory self must be naughted so that his true Self may be affirmed and he may subsist within God.
"On the one hand the shahadah signifies that "Nothing truly exists but God." All that appears as "other than He"is nonexistent in itself, whether it lies outside the world or inside in ourselves. But all for,s are manifestations of meaning, all foam derives from the Sea. So on the other hand, the Shahadah also means that "Everything that exists is God." Since "there is no reality but the Reality," everything that may be called a reality--i.e. every single thing--is ultimately none other than the Reality, for there cannot be two completely independent realities, since that would mean that there are two Gods.
"To see things as they are, man must combine the two points of view contained within the shahadah. He must negate the world and himself as separate existences and then affirm them both as manifestations of God's Being. However, a theoretical combination of these two points of view involves "imitation." It does not derive from a direct spiritual vision of the way things are. Man will not necessarily benefit from this merely theoretical knowledge unless he enters the Path with the aim of annihilating himself and attaining subsistence in God. "
The ultimate climax of this journey is to realize that there is no self, there is no validity to the ego.
ReplyDeletethe ultimate climax, therefore it also follows, is the realization that we Are god.
Subsequently, many other things stem from this realization which explain a great deal of things about our existence in this world.
cheers,
-Shah
Assalaamu alaikum,
ReplyDelete"He must negate the world and himself as separate existences and then affirm them both as manifestations of God's Being."
While I do believe that there are several layers of meaning to the Qur'an (and I surely do not know them, may Allah guide us towards increasing our knowledge), I do not agree with this author's take on the shahadah.
We are explicitly the creations of Allah, so how is it that nothing "exists" but God? I believe that "la ilaha il Allah" simply denotes the absence of any other god, possibly in reference to the worship of many gods in the Kabah at that time or to the worship of Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah upon him eternally) as a part-god. I would also like to know how the author applies the shahadah to the individual? What is the reasoning behind that application?
While I agree with the idea of defeating one's ego, the idea of annihilation of oneself goes against the fundamental "middle path" taught to us by Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah upon him eternally). My humble belief is that full submission to Allah involves both the worship of Allah and the search for one's role in this world.
wa Allahu Alim,
Mohamed
P.S. The ultimate climax of this journey? Is not this journey simply a test? Is not this journey just a passing ground for submission to Allah ? Also, wasn't the focus of Muhammad (may Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him) on building a community rather than annihilating oneself? I am still not convinced of the reasoning that a realization of the humbleness of our egos leads to a realization that we are God. we are not God, we are the creations of God. And that is, without question, different.
Brother Mohamed,
ReplyDeleteSalaam. your comments were fun to read and certainly reminded me of a lively muslim community of debate i used to belong to a long time ago, before for one reason or anothe such activities ceased and I was left to my own devices.
I understand your qualm about the sentence that we "are God". This is not a presumptuous statement in a Nietzsche fashion, that is to say it is not intended to be. Rather, one must pose the question , why have we been created? in order to seek , as you say, our purpose or our role within the universe. What is the highest honor a subordinate can offer his superior? Reveration, placing the superior in a position that often negates the wants and needs of the subordinate, and finally, acquiring the qualities and thoughts of the superior to the extent that those thoughts and qualities are positively beneficial.
Is that therefore not the goal of every moslem.
that his or her whole being sing in unison Praises of god not only through tarabi or prayer, but also through the eyes, the hands, the mind, and the spirit.
That is to say, an annihilation of the nafs, a vehicle through which you can see "one of God's Signs".
peace,
Shah
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete