Appendix 2: Rahmatu Lil-‘Alameen (The Universal Grace)
رحمة للعلمين
Note: This is the second of a series of articles written by the Author on various occasions that have bearing on the topics of the book, and hence they have been included in it as appendices.
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In order to understand the extent of our intellectual limitations, the person, the significance of the name and the connotations of the description, the following Qur'anic points should be borne in mind.
1) According to the Qur’an, the process of creation is circular:
كَمَا بَدَأَكُمْ تَعُودُونَ
“…as He brought you forth (in the beginning) so unto Him shall ye also return.” (7:29)
It is in the sense that it ends at the point where it started from. This view is common to both the atheists and theists alike. The difference between the two opposite schools is that the atheist thinks that matter, space and time or something presentable in terms of four dimensions as the point wherefrom the process starts and at which it also ends.
وَقَالُوا مَا هِيَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ
“And they say there is naught (wherein) save our life in this world; we die and live, and destroyeth us not but time...” (45:24)
From the atheistic point of view, matter - the least in degree and in state of perfection, and in its most chaotic condition - is held as the beginning and the end of the whole accidental, purposeless developments, called the process of creation. Whereas from the theistic point of view the system begins with the highest in degree and state of perfection proceeding downward to the matter, which is the least in degree of perfection, and again turns back upward to the point, from where it had started
قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
“…Say: verily, we are God’s and verily unto Him shall we return.” (2:156)
أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا لَا تُرْجَعُونَ
“What! do you then think that We created you in vain, and that ye shall not be returned unto Us?” (23:115)
يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ
“He regulates (all) the affairs from the heaven down to the earth, then shall it ascend unto Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what ye reckon.” (32:5)
The process is designed and administered by the creative Will (that is, the intention) of the Absolute and Infinite Real One. The Universal Grace and Justice are a Priori factor manifested in His Will and Intention. Grace and Justice are not different attributes, as held by some schools of thought; they are two different aspects of His universal love.
Grace means to give out sheer love without expecting return and justice means ‘He’ keeps everything in its proper place and according to merit, so that the system should function as one harmonious unit representing the absolute unity of its Creator and Administrator. Thus, in this sense grace and justice are always interrelated so far as the Creator is concerned. Whatever ‘He’ gives is out of sheer love but in accordance with the merit and appropriateness of the state of the receiver.
2. Taking the system as a manifestation of His Grace and Justice, the order of creation begins with the highest non-physical and most comprehensive created entity, who is foremost in having within his fold all the excellences which are to be unfolded in the chain of beings next to him in grades and spheres. They follow one another according to their degree of comprehensiveness and perfection. The created entity, being the most comprehensive in perfection, cannot be but one in number and of non-material and intellectual nature.
He is presented in various terms, but the most appropriate one is ‘Muhammad’ in its true adjectival sense. From him the downward order of intellectual and angelical beings begins. This unique created unit is followed by spheres of beings who are lesser in the degree of comprehensiveness, but larger in number.
Thus, the order of created beings or the order of the manifestations of His Creative Will starts from the one and the most comprehensive intellectual entity, unfolding itself in innumerable spheres of intellectual and angelical beings. They are termed in the Qur’an as ‘malakoot’ (ملكوت) or the realms of unseen active spiritual and psychic entities, having two aspects of holding and being held.
Each sphere is held by the one above it and is holding the sphere below it, till it ends in the four-dimension sphere termed as matter or material being.
This is the lowest sphere that is held, and it has no holding faculty at all. So, it is termed in the Qur'an as ‘Alam al-Mulk (علم الملك) or Alam ash--Shahadat (علم الشهادات) the held-world or seen-world. It forms the base of the hierarchy, the top of which is the first and the most perfect and comprehensive entity, the one that holds all the spheres next to it and is held by nothing, but the Absolute, Whose Hand (or Might - ياد، يمين، قبضة) has the hold over everything, and nothing has any bold on ‘Him'.
The base has nothing of actual or creative in it, but it is endowed with unlimited potentiality and recipiency which forms the background of its upward and gradual evolutionary movement. As such, it also becomes the ground for another upward hierarchy parallel to the downward one. This gradual evolutionary movement, according to the Qur'an is actualized by the creative Will of God through the agencies of the downward order of intellectual and angelical entities.
3. Thus matter in its evolutionary upward course begins with the simplest form of particles of atom and proceeds towards the formation of atoms into nebula and solar system, populated with inanimate and animate objects - plants, animals, man or other conscious and intellectual beings of various species - the nature and number of whom the Creator alone knows. So far as the terrestrial globe in which we live is concerned, the last and the most complicated and the highest intellectual entity into which matter has developed through the aforesaid divine agencies is 'man'. Adam (man) being the highest in the hierarchy of the earthly beings is endowed and gifted according to 'his merit with the power of expression (بيان) or power of discovery and invention.
On the one hand man is gifted with the power to receive through his external and internal senses all that is manifested by His Will in various spheres - terrestrial, celestial and super-celestial - and on the other hand, to reflect and reproduce all that he has received. So far· as the earth is concerned, it is man only and no other earthly being that is endowed with this faculty.
4. According to the Qur'an the quantity of matter which carried the potentiality for the distinct form which is termed ‘humanity’, was protected by the Creative Will of the Absolute against all hostile conditions that would destroy the aforesaid potentiality. Under such environment did the first man appear on the scene of the evolutionary course of creation on the earth. This man and his partner were lodged, as the evolutionary course would require, in the lowest paradise of animal comfort, having their animal requirements met with no effort.
But with those latent potentialities of representing the divine names to other created beings and representing all those beings and their needs to the Creator, man had to come out of that animal stage of comfort designed and willed by God and shoulder the hardship of responsible life. Thus, man's coming out of the Paradise of animal comfort with his partner was no fall or drawback. It meant coming out of individual, selfish and irresponsible life and entering social empathy and responsible life.
This was the step that forms the basic impulse to develop all the material and spiritual aptitudes which Adam and his issues were endowed with. It was a progressive step towards all that he and his issues had and will have to achieve in manifesting in themselves all the divine excellences.
5) Adam's coming out of the lower paradise, resulting in the material sufferings, which he and his issues have undergone is a loss in the eyes of Satan, the satanic forces and those whose object of life is only material gain. To those whose aim and object of life is to establish communication with the higher sphere of beings and ultimately make their mind and heart the focus of the will and intention of the Absolute One, Adam's coming out of paradise was a primal, necessary step towards progress. It was a gain for those who would pursue the prescribed guidance of the Creator.
It was an attempt without which Adam and his chosen issues would not be able to secure the representative status of the divine vicegerency on the earth. Adam as the first vicegerent of God was the top in the hierarchy of earthly beings, but to complete the circle and establish communion with the first created entity, he was the base for the hierarchy of his accomplished issues. They in turn had to develop spheres of perfect entitles, one above the other, higher in grade though less in number.
The hierarchy had to reach its possible height by having the most accomplished one on its zenith to focalize all the excellences which were folded in the first created entity in the downward hierarchy and were unfolded in various spheres of beings next to him.
6. By specific mental and intellectual faculties, man is distinguished from the other living beings. But to achieve the final goal of evolutionary course, Adam and his chosen issues have been gifted with the distinct faculty of direct communion or communication with the various angelical spheres, termed as revelation or inspiration (وهي، إلهام). These chosen men, though all are blessed and honoured with the status of vicegerency of the Absolute One, yet differ from each other in degree and the limitation of their respective jurisdiction,
تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ مِنْهُمْ مَنْ كَلَّمَ اللَّهُ وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَهُمْ دَرَجَاتٍ
“These apostles, We have exalted some of them above the others, among them are they to whom Allah spoke, and some of them He exalted by (many degrees of) rank….” (2:253)
The last and the topmost among them is the one whose soul has been made to be directly in communion with the first intellectual entity. This means the return of the system of creation to the point where it was started from. As such the circle is completed through two arcs - one is descent from the Absolute One down to the extremely imperfect four dimensional many and the other is to turn upwards, forming the arc of ascent, unfolding and folding whatever exists in the arc of descent.
These two arcs are in complete correspondence with each other, similar to the correspondence that exists in the line of radiation and reflection. The line of radiation is always conditioned with the state of its immediate source, whereas the line of reflection is conditioned to the state of the ground to which the radiation reaches.
The divine line of radiation is termed in the Qur'an as spirit, light and command of God (روح، نور، أمر). The line of reflection is termed as soul or psyche or ego-centre of every individual and species. The purer the ground, the more will the reflection correspond with the radiation and vice versa.
The most purified quantity of matter carried by Adam and his chosen issues in the arc of ascent became the ground for reflecting arc of descent. As it has already been pointed out, the most appropriate term to present the nature of the first and the last entity in the degree of perfection in their respective arcs of descent and ascent is the term ‘Muhammad’ in its true adjectival sense.
It means the one who has been made praise-worthy, he is not self-praised as God’s most submissive servant. He is the one who has been kept away from all defects and is gifted with all excellences and perfection by his Creator. Thus, the term ‘Muhammad’ presents the spirit and soul of one and the same entity, the most perfect spirit in the arc of descent and the most perfect soul in the arc of ascent.
They are almost identical with each other without any gap as the phrase ‘Qaba Qawsain Aw Adna’ in these verses:
ثُمَّ دَنَا فَتَدَلَّىٰ
“Then he went near and becomes hanging (losing independence due to nearness),” (53:8)
فَكَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَىٰ
“Such as there was the measure between the two bows (facing each other) or nigher still.” (53:9)
7. According to the Qur'an the four-dimension sphere - of which our earth is an insignificant part - includes all the regions which are shining with stars, the solar systems, constellations and galaxies. The distance between them is so large that they are measured to some extent by light years. This huge sphere according to the Qur'an is the lowest sky or sphere encompassed by higher spheres beyond the reach of empirical means.
Those skies and spheres go up and up till they reach the 'transcendent Absolute One', who is holding all by His creative Will and Might. Therefore, one can imagine the greatness of the thing which 'He', to whom the whole kingdom of the heavens and earth belong, describes as great.
It is God the Absolute, Great and High, Who describes ‘Muhammad’ as ‘the person of great character.’
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
“And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character.” (68:4)
As such, nothing can be greater than Muhammad’s character except the Essential Attributes of his Creator.
8. Khulaq (خالق) or character - when the creature is concerned - means the established state of mind responsible for all his actions. When it is concerning God, it signifies the principal attribute of God responsible for all the actions which include the system of creation, administration and legislation. That principal attribute is nothing but His Love and Mercy, which manifest in His Grace and Justice.
It is His Grace and Justice which are ever pervading all the spheres of existence. 'Muhammad’, the first and the last among the created beings, in degree of perfection, is characterized in the Qur'an as the representation of this principal attribute of God. He has been sent down not to a particular sphere or region of the universe, but as a universal Grace of God to all the spheres, which are termed in the Qur'an as ‘Alameen (worlds).
In other words, to the worlds, wherein God is the “Lord Cherisher’ (رب العالمين), Muhammad is His grace (رحمة للعالمين). Muhammad’s limit of mission - in extensiveness and intensity - is in accord with the universal grace of God.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ سَبَقَتْ لَهُمْ مِنَّا الْحُسْنَىٰ أُولَٰئِكَ عَنْهَا مُبْعَدُونَ
“Verily, those for whom blessings from Us went first Our Grace was ordained first, they shall be kept away from it (Hell).” (21:101)
لَا يَسْمَعُونَ حَسِيسَهَا وَهُمْ فِي مَا اشْتَهَتْ أَنْفُسُهُمْ خَالِدُونَ
“They hear not (even) the slightest sound of it (Hell), and they, in what their souls desire, shall abide.” (21:102)
لَا يَحْزُنُهُمُ الْفَزَعُ الْأَكْبَرُ وَتَتَلَقَّاهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ هَٰذَا يَوْمُكُمُ الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ
“Shall grieve them not that greatest terror, and the angels shall meet them (saying): This is your day, which ye were promised.” (21:103)
يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ وَعْدًا عَلَيْنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا فَاعِلِينَ
“On the day when We will roll up the heavens, as a written scroll is rolled up; As We began the first creation, so We will repeat it. (It is) a promise binding on Us, verily We shall fulfil it.” (21:104)
وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ
“And indeed, We did write in the Psalms1after the Reminder2, that the earth shall be inherited by My righteous servants.” (21:105)
إِنَّ فِي هَٰذَا لَبَلَاغًا لِقَوْمٍ عَابِدِين
“Verily this is a far-reaching lesson for devoted people.” (21:106)
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ
“And We sent the not (O’ Our apostle Muhammad) but the grace unto all worlds.” (21:107)
It is the universal Grace of God, Rahmatul-Lil-Alameen with which Muhammad was commissioned and characterized as person of great character. Next to him, are those whom the Qur'an and Muhammad declare as ‘identical in spirit and soul’ with him as purified as he is 3
To this effect the prophet declared at the time of his departure from this world, “Only Qur'an and his Ahl Al-Bayt, are the two inseparable ones” who represent him through all the worlds in all aspects and respects till the day of resurrection.
The great sage and mystic, Hakeem Sennai says:
بر کتاب الله و عترت را احمد مرسل نماند
یادگاری کو توان تا روز محشر داشتن
“Nothing was left by the holy messenger of God to represent him and to remind people of him till the resurrection day except the Book of God and the holy members of his House”.
It is only the two - the 'Book' as the word of God and 'those' with whom is the knowledge of the Book - which will always bear the testimony to the truth and universality of the prophethood of Muhammad.
وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَسْتَ مُرْسَلًا قُلْ كَفَىٰ بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ
“And say those who disbelieve: Thou are not sent (by God). Say thou (O' Our Apostle Muhammad!); Sufficient is God a witness between me and you, and he with whom is the knowledge of the Book.” (13:43).
These two - the Book and those given the knowledge of the book - give evidence that Islam, in its most perfect form and exact sense of absolute submission to the Will of God, is the universal guidance and true religion with which ‘Muhammad’, the first and last in spirit and soul, was commissioned by God. As such, his religion is bound to overcome ultimately all other religions, despite the disliking of the disbelievers and of all the satanic forces.
This goal shall be achieved before the advent of the Resurrection Day by Al-Mahdi, the last member of the Holy Prophet's purified House. He is the one who bears the blood, name, feature, character and all the excellences which are signified in the term ‘Muhammad’. Through him, truth and justice with ultimately prevail throughout the world. It is due to this sublime status of 'Muhammad’ in the hierarchy of both arcs that Qur’an declares.
كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ وَعْدًا عَلَيْنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا فَاعِلِينَ
“... As We began the first creation, so We will repeat it. (It is) a promise binding on Us, verily We shall fulfil it.” (21:104)
God has, both directly and through His angelical agencies who are functioning who are functioning in the administration of the universes, blessed 'Muhammad’ and along with him those dearest and nearest entities who are identical with him in purity of spirit and soul. Next to those blessed ones, blessed are those who are attached to them in spirit and soul and are always invoking God to bless 'Muhammad’ and those who are attached to him in accordance with the degree and nature of their attachments.
ٱللَّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ
O’ Allah! Bless Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad
Having concentrated so far, it is the duty of those who are anxious to have a glimpse of the spiritual aspect of the personality of the Holy Prophet, to refer only to these two sources of light, Qur'an and Ahl Al-Bayt.