5. TEN DEGREES OF GUIDANCE (4)
B. The
second degree of ilhām is an inspiration that takes place clearly which
is general and, unlike the first degree of ilhām, it is higher degree,
as it is inevitable, and cannot be rejected by the heart. This is viewing (مُعَايَنَة) and unveiling (مُكَاشَفَة), and therefore it appears to the heart like its appearance to
the eyes. It has three signs:
1. It does not penetrate a veil, which means if a person is shown in one
occasion an unveil thing, either good or bad, he cannot penetrate the veil and
unveil what Allah veils from people.
2. It does not violate the limit, (a) committing
disobedience, such as the works of soothsayers, or devilish practice, (b)
contradictory to Islamic law, such as spying against people, (c) there is no
room for mistake; it is contrary to the devil’s inspiration which is mainly a
mistake. When the Prophet s.a.w. asked Ibn Ṣā‘id, “What have you seen?”
he answered, “I have seen something right and wrong (at the same time).” The Prophet told him, “He (Satan) is
deceiving you.” Therefore, this devilish unveiling has to be wrong and will
never be right.
C. The third degree of ilhām is an inspiration
where the essence (substance) of conviction has become purely unveiled, and
genuinely talks about the essence of eternity. This ilhām is an
objective where the essence of conviction is unable to identify itself, as it has
become annihilated in witnessing the reality, so that other than the reality has
disappeared. There is no longer any feeling and mental perception in receiving
this kind of ilhām, because it is beyond senses and reason. This
experience leads a person to the annihilation of appearance, and not of
existence. This is called Waḥdat al-Shuhūd وَحْدَةُ الشُّهُود), lit. “Unity of Witness,” “Unity of Perception,” "Unity
of Appearance" or "Oneness of Manifestation" “Unity in
Conscience”, “Apparentism”) which states that Allah and His creatures are
entirely separate.
With regard to those who
believe in the unity of existence, namely, the annihilation of oneself in
witnessing the reality (namely, Allah) which is called Waḥdat al-Wujūd وَحْدَةُ الْوُجُوْد), lit. “Unity of Existence” or “Unity of Being”), that the
Creator and the creatures are one, and that the creatures are only reflection
of the Creator, the person who reaches this point is free from this idea and
denounces it based on reason, religion, actuality, and perception.
Ibn al-Qayyim said further that in the
condition of (divine) intoxication, unconsciousness, and annihilation a person
could lose his discretion, feeling, thinking, and intelligence. In this case he
might say, like Abū Yazīd al-Busṭāmī (d. 261/874 or 264/877) who
was reported to have said, سُبْحَانِي،
مَا أعْظَمَ شَأْنِي (“Praise to Me, for My greatest Glory!”)
instead of، مَا أَعْظَمَ شَأْنُه سُبْحَانَ اللّه (“Praise to Allah, for His greatest Glory!”) or مَا فِي اْلجُبَّةِ إلَّا
الله(“There is nothing in this robe I am
wearing except Allah”) and similar expressions, then accountability might be
lifted from him, as he has become insane.
Ibn Taymiyyah explained of him, “He does not see himself as existing any
longer, but only sees the existence of Allah, due to his self-denial.” It is
impossible for a rational and sensible person in whatever condition to believe
that the Creator and the creatures are one, the worshipper and the worshiped
are one, and that Allah is the human being. Otherwise, if he is in his full
sense and conscience, he is then a non-believer.
The concept of Waḥdat
al-Wujūd (“Unity of Being”), namely, union with God or the deity is also
found Hinduism, through practicing yoga, which we do not discuss here whether
it has influence on it or not. The term yoga has many meanings, among
which are: joining, uniting, union, mode, manner, and means. It is a means to
be united with the deity. The New Hutchison 20th Century
Encyclopedia (1980) mentions yoga as follows:
Yoga (Sanskrit, union). A system of Hindu
philosophy, characterized by belief in personal deity with whom it is possible
to attain mystical and ecstatic union by the
practice of hypnosis and complicated and
prolonged
system of mortification of the senses, e.g.,
by
abstract meditation, induced apathy, rigidity
of posture, ascetic practices, concentration
of mind on one particular point, etc….
The
Hutchinson Softback Encyclopedia (1991), explains
yoga in more details, as follows:
Yoga (Sanskrit,
union) Hindu philosophic system
attributed to Patanjali, who lived about 150
BC at
Gonda, Uttar
Pradesh, India. He preached mystical
union with a personal deity by the practice of
self-
hypnosis and a
rising above the senses by abstract
meditation, adoption
of special postures, and
ascetic practices.
As practised in the West, yoga
is more a system of induced relaxation
and mental and physical exercises.
The
tenth degree of guidance according to Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah is al-Ru’yā
al-Ṣādiqah,الرُّؤْيَا الصَّادِقَة) “True Vision”) which is
part of prophethood. The Prophet s.a.w. said on the authority of Ibn
Mas‘ūd:
الرُّؤْيَا الصَّادِقَةُ
الصَّالِحَةُجُزْءٌ مِنْ سِتَّةٍ وَسَبْعِينَ جُزْءًا
مِنَ النُّبُوَّة
(رواه الطبراني)ِ
True valid vision is
one seventy-sixth of
prophethood (Reported by al-Ṭabrānī)
In another tradition the Prophet s.a.w. said:
الرُّؤْيَا الصَّادِقَةُ مِنْ اللَّهِ
وَالْحُلْمُ مِنْ الشَّيْطَانِ (رواه البخاري)
True vision is from
Allah, whereas dreaming is
from Satan (Reported by Bukhari)
Ibn
al-Qayym al-Jawziyyah quoted a ḥadīth that true vision is one 46th of
prophethood, but also mentioned in another ḥadīth that true vision is
one 70th of prophethood. He said that as the True Vision took place in a half
year, and the revelation in wakefulness took place in 23 years, from the
starting of revelation until the Prophet’s death, it means that True Vision is
one 43rd of the whole revelation. To combine these two traditions
there is an opinion that the true vision of ṣiddīqīqīn starts at the age
of 64, whereas for the believers in general it starts at the age of 70.
Vision is the starting
point of revelation, and its truthfulness depends on the truthfulness of the
person who has the vision, and the most truthful vision is with the most
truthful person. On the other hand, it
is said karāmāt , الْكَرَامَات)
miracles that Allah works through a pious man or allows to happen to him), did
not happen in the time of the ṣaḥābah (companions of the Prophet), for they are
not in need of them due to their strong faith. But it did happen to many ṣaḥābah.
The Prophet’s
companion ‘Ubādah ibn Ṣāmit (d. 34/654) said: “The vision of the believer is
the Lord’s talking to His servant in his sleep.” The Prophet s.a. said
as narrated by Abū Hurayrah, as follows:
لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ
النُّبُوَّةِ إِلَّا الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ قَالُوا وَمَا الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ
قَالَ الرُّؤْيَا
الصَّالِحَةُ (رواه البخاري)
Nothing left after
the prophethood, except
good news. They
asked what is that good news?
He said the right
vision (Reported by Bukhārī).
The right vision comes
from Allah only. If the vision is from other than the prophet, it is to be
compared with the vision of the Muslims. If it agrees with theirs, then the
vision is right. The vision is also is compared with the clear revelation; if
it agrees with it we accept it, and if it disagrees with it, then it is not accepted.
Ibn al-Qayym al-Jawziyyah said that the truest vision is when it occurs in
predawn, as it is the time Allah brings closely His blessings and forgiveness
and the devils are in state of rest.
Vision is like the kashf , الْكَشْف) unveiling, illumination), either it is divine
mercy, personal, and devilish. The
Prophet s.a.w. said:
الرُّؤْيَا ثَلَاثَةٌ : رُؤيَا مِنَ اللهِ وَرُؤيَا
تَحْزِيْن (مِنَ الشَّيْطَان) وَرُؤيَا مِمَّا
يُحَدِّثُ اْلمَرْءُ بِهِ نَفْسَهُ (فِي
الْيَقَظَة, فَيَرَاهُ فِي الْمَنَام) (رواه مسلم)
There are three
kinds of vision: vision from Allah,
vision causing grief
(from Satan), and vision of what
a person talk about
to himself (in his wakefulness,
then he sees it in his sleep) (Reported by Muslim)]
The vision from Allah
could be either good news or a warning. The vision from Satan is always bad,
saddening, terrifying, and consists of confused dreams. The vision of a person
talking about himself includes what he used to say, to do and to know in his
wakefulness.
The vision of prophets is
revelation, and cannot be from Satan, as they are protected from his
temptation. It is through this vision Prophet Abraham a.s. obeys Allah
to sacrifice his son Ishamel. Satan tries to prevent him from obeying Allah,
telling him that Allah would never order him to do bad things, like sacrificing
his only and innocent son. Satan does not tell him that he is the one who
tempts him in his vision, because he (Satan) knows that Prophet Ibrahim knows
that he (Satan) cannot do it.
It
is said that Prophet Abraham a.s. saw one night in his vision that someone
told him, “Indeed, Allah orders you to sacrifice your son.” In the morning he
wondered whether this vision had been from Allah or from Satan. Therefore that
day was called “the day of reflection” (يَوْمُ التَّرْوِيَة). In the next night he saw
in his vision again and was ask to promise it, and in the morning he
knew that it was from Allah, and that day was called “the day of knowing” (يَوْمُ
عَرَفَة). In the third night he saw the same
vision, so that in the morning he insisted to sacrifice his son, and that day
was called “the day of sacrifice” (يَوْمُ النَّحْر). It was
also reported that when Prophet Abraham (Ibrāhīm) a.s. was on the
process of sacrificing his son the angel Gabriel (Jibrīl) a.s. said, اللّهُ
أَكْبَر, اللَّه أَكْبَر (“Allah is Great, Allah is
Great”), and the sacrificed Ishmael (Ismā‘īl) said, لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ
وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ (“There is no god but Allah,
and Allah is Great”), and Prophet Abraham a.s. said, اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ وَالْحَمْدُ
لِلَّهِ(“Allah is Great, and Praise be to Allah”.
This is what the pilgrims cite in their pilgrimage (ḥajj) with slight
difference: instead of citing وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ they
invert it, saying وَلِلَّهِ الْحَمْد (“To
Allah –only- Praise Belongs”) which is stronger in meaning.
In order to have a true
vision a person has to be honest, has to eat ḥalāl (legal) food only,
keep doing what is good and avoiding what is evil, sleep while he is completely
clean by having wuḍū’ (ablution), face the qiblah (the direction
of the Ka‘bah in Makkah), and citing dhikr (remembering Allah) until he falls
asleep. By doing this, he will have a
true vision, in shā’ Allāh (if Allah wills).
(CIVIC, 5
February, 2016)
المراجع:
المكتبة الشاملة
تفسير الطبري (ت. 310 هـ(
تفسير القرطبى (ت. 671
هـ(
تفسير ابن كثير (ت.
774 هـ(
ابن القيم الجوزية. مدارج
السالكين.
The
New Hutchison 20th Century Encyclopedia (1980)
The
Hutchinson Softback Encyclopedia (1991)
http://jamharah.net/showthread.php?t=22172#.VpycPlLIWpY
http://www.nabulsi.com/blue/ar/art.php?art=2999&id=150&sid=734&ssid=753&sssid=754
http://www.alhiwar.net/ShowNews.php?Tnd=26462
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufi_metaphysics
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