On the recognition of God’s oneness (Tawhid)

With the mercy of Imam Shah Mustansirbillah (peace be upon him) we say that:- Eternal bliss may be attained by the human soul (only) through the recognition of ONENESS OF GOD ( tawhid ).

This is the knowledge of GOD BEING ONE.

One must firmly believe and declare that Gods oneness(tawhid) is boundless. It is not defined or limited by anything.

One must firmly believe and recognize that his oneness is due to the fact that he remains one in number and that is why we say that He is one .

Everything that has a pair is like two pieces of the same kind. but God has no counterpart, there is no such thing as a pair of God.

God created the universal intellect (Aql-e-kull) out of non-being into being without any intermediary. God put its cause into itself making it independant of any intermediary cause.

The first cause is Akl-e-kul. God has created Akl-e-kul by making it ( Aql-e-kul )the cause of Akl-e-kul itself.

You have to consider Akl-e-kul as the first cause, the cause of all causes.

God is free from either being a cause or a result of causation. Neither is there anyone like Him nor was there any that he might become greater with the addition of them, or suffer a loss without them.

He is beyond existence or non-existence.

Both , the world and its creator (Nafs-e-kul) must be below the first cause that is Aql-e-kul.

Nafs-e-kul which is the creator of the material world, has a position below that of Aql-e-kul.

Nafs-e-kul is the true creator of the world and the world is its creation.

The world is a material substance(gawhar-i-kathif - dense) while the Nafs-e-kul is a spiritual (latif-subtle) substance.

The substance of the world has received its form (surat) from Nafs-e-kul.

Thus, God is the creator of 'Gawhar' (substance). Yet, God is beyond the Gawhar matter.

Since it is difficult to explain these things in words during the discussion of Tawhid, therefore nothing can be directly described about it except in an allegorical sense or logical analogies.

An example can be given to understand this matter more clearly and to prove its truth: Example- if a man takes a handful of dates or grass and throws it away after a while. He would still be the same man whether holding them or having thrown them away. No one would say that when he held the handful of dates or grass , he was bigger or that now that he no longer held it, he is smaller.

This is because the dates or grass is not similar to him.

Man has similarities with other men, and there is no similarity between man and animal. As dates or grass have no similarity or dissimilarity with man , no one would say he was bigger when holding the dates or grass, or smaller without them . However, man has in common with dates and grass, the substance of vegetative nafs (nafs-e-namiya).

For this reason, it is impossible to attribute to God, being either a cause or the result of causation because both these categories have been created by Him and He is above and beyond these two.

Human speech and speaker are both below Aql-e-kul and therefore they cannot perceive or define anything except what is also under it.

All beings, whether spiritual or physical have originated from Tawhid. You need to know that whatever exists has non-existence as its opposite.... and that which has an opposite side cannot be God.

Both the attributes and the attribute bearers are under His authority. But He Himself is above all these, and nothing has any relation to Him.

As He has said In Quran-e-sharif (sura 112 ayat 1) “Say, Allah is one” (Qul huwallahu ahad).

The four letters with which Allah is written in arabic have included four main principles (hadd).

Two of them are spiritual (ruhani) and two of them are physical (jismani) by which the oneness (wahdaniyyat) of God can be proved.

One of them is the letter ALIF (A---I) which is a straight line to which all letters can be joined, while it does not join any letter . All letters take curve from it. All letters that exist form curved lines.

Alif (A-I) is a symbol or metaphor for Aql-e-kul from which all spiritual and physical beings have derived their existence and all those beings are connected to him while it itself (Aql-e-kul) is beyond all those things and is not depends on anything due to his own power.

The second letter is Lam (ل), which is a line whose lower part is stretched forward in such a way that it looks like a surface with length and width. It looks like “Alif”, and it also connects to other letters, just as other letters connect to it on both sides. The “Lam” symbolizes for “Nafsekul” which is connected on all sides by both spiritual and material entities, and it has a relationship with “Aql” (Aqlekul) just as “Lam” has a relationship with “Alif”.

The third letter is also “Laam”, which, although similar to the letter before it, is only equal to half of the degree of importance of “Alif”. It symbolizes Natiq who is connected to Nafs-e-kul from all sides and receives from it help (tayid) in the organization of the world of religion, which is the third world.

The first world is the world of spiritual entities (Latif-subtle).

The second world is the world of physical beings (kathif-dense)

The third world is the world of religion.

Just as Aql-e-kul has the highest status in the spiritual world, Natiq holds the highest status in the world of religion, just as the second Lam also has a similarity with “Alif.”

The fourth letter of the word Allah is Hay (H) which symbolizes the material world, possessing length, width and height. It occupies the fourth place from the 'Alif.' and is a circle in which one end of the line is brought down to meet the other end. It symbolizes the “Aasas” who is connected with the Natiq. Receiving spiritual support from it by the power of Nafs-e-kul.

Asaas brings back the souls of the momins to the recognition of the oneness(tawhid) and the interpretation of the shari'at in it's relation to the higher world ( alam-i-ulwi) so that ultimately, creation may re-join its source (awwal) , like the line in the letter 'ha' which is a circle, whose ends are joined together.

Then, brother, you should understand the meaning of what Allah has commanded in the verses of the Quran e sharif regarding the four spiritual principles that we have mentioned above.

God says that “Allahu Samad”, which means Allah is self-sufficient, or independent or eternal, infinite, indestructible or the object of worship.

What that means is that these four principles were created by God and the virtue or greatness of all, whether spiritual or physical depends on them.

The reason for this is that the physical entities are under the control of Natiq and Asaas while all the spiritual entities are under the control of Akl-e-kul and Nafs-e-kul. And these physical and spiritual beings derive their superiority from these four principles which are higher than them.

Thereafter God said “He does not give birth to anyone and is not born” This means that just as one thing is begotten from another, and is similar to it, So too ,whatever is below the spiritual ranks (Aql-e-kul and Nafs-e-kul) are like them. Just as everything is born from something. Similarly, every one who is under the Natik and Asa's in the corporeal world (jismaniyyat), spiritually is born from them through the religious knowledge (ILM).

But Whatever is born, will one day become like its begetter(parent), while nothing, physical or spiritual will ever be associated with God.

Then, He, God says that “ And there is none like unto him” . This means that in the spiritual and physical world, whatever exists, in turn will become similar to each other. This proves that Allah created them in pairs to resemble each other, while reserving “oneness” ( tawhid-uniqueness) and causelessness for Himself.

Ya Ali Madad.