3.3. THE UNION OF GOD WITH MAN
Nothing escapes Allah’s knowledge, therefore, the wise are those who act accordingly. They feel His presence at all times. They carefully perform all their obligatory (Fard) duties, then they piously try to make up for any of the inevitable deficiencies by doing a host of voluntary acts. These voluntary acts help to protect the obligatory duties. For example, during times of weakness or spiritual lows, one may become lax in fulfilling one’s religious duties. However, those who had voluntary practises would likely neglect some of their voluntary practises, while keeping their obligatory duties intact. If they did not have a protective shield of voluntary acts and they fell into a period of spiritual laziness, some of their obligatory duties are likely to be discarded or neglected. The more someone strengthens his obligatory practices by performing voluntary acts, the more his life conforms to the Sharee’ah, the will of Almighty Allah. Allah conveyed this principle through the Prophet in a Hadeeth saying: “The most beloved thing with which My slave may come close to me is that which I have made obligatory (Fard) on him. My servant will continue to come closer to me by voluntary acts (of worship) until I love him. If I love him, I will be his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand by which he grasps, and his foot by which he walks. If he asks Me anything I would give it and if he seeks refuge in Me I would protect him.”
This Walee of Allah would only hear, see, grasp and walk to what is Halaal (lawful), while conspicuously avoiding all the Haraam (prohibited) as well as that which leads towards it. This is the only true goal worthy of dedicating one’s life. Its attainment is the perfection of man’s dual role as servant of God and governor of the world. But, it cannot be reached except by the route prescribed in the Hadeeths. First the compulsory duties have to be completely established, then the prescribed voluntary acts of worship have to be performed consistently and according to the Sunnah. Allaah emphasized this fact by telling His Prophet to inform the believers:
“Say, if you love Allaah, follow Me (Muhammad) and Allaah will love you.”33
Therefore Allaah’s love can only be attained by strictly following the directives (Sunnah) of His Apostle and by carefully avoiding all innovations in religious matters. This formula is contained in the following Hadeeth in which the Prophet was reported by Abu Najeeh to have said, “Keep to my Sunnah and that of the rightly guided caliphs. Bite on to it with your molars. And beware of innovations, for verily they are all heresy (Bid‘ah) and heresy is misguidance which leads to the hell fire.” One who strictly follows this principle will only listen to what Allah wishes for him to listen to. For Allaah said describing the righteous:
“And when the ignorant (mockingly) address them, they merely say: ‘Peace.”35
Elsewhere in the Quran He also said,
“He has already revealed to you in the Book, that when you hear the signs of Allah denied and ridiculed, you should not sit with them unless they change the subject. If you did you would be like them.”36
By him listening only to what Allah wishes for him to hear, Allah has metaphorically become his hearing. In a similar way, Allah becomes his sight, hands and feet.
This is the correct interpretation of the previously mentioned Hadeeth in which Allaah states that He will become man’s hearing, sight, hands and feet. Unfortunately, this Hadeeth has been misinterpreted by mystics as support for the concept of union with Allaah – May Allah forbid.
Roohullaah: The “Spirit” of Allaah
Support for the mystic belief in the reunification of the human soul with Allaah has also been falsely deduced from some of the verses of the Quran itself. The following verses in which Allaah said:
“Then He (Allaah) fashioned him (Aadam) and blew in him from His spirit.”37
and
“When I fashioned him and blew into him of My Spirit.”38
have been used as evidence for the belief that every human being contains within his body a part of God. The portion of Allah’s “spirit” which Allah breathed into Aadam has supposedly been inherited by all of his descendents. Reference has also been made to Prophet ‘Eesaa about whose mother Allaah said,
“She was chaste, so We blew into her from Our Spirit…”39
Thus, it is believed among mystics that this divine eternal spirit within man yearns to reunite with its origin from whence it came. However, this is not the case. Possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, our) in Arabic, as in English, have two general meanings depending on the context in which they are used. They may describe an attribute or a possession which is or is not a part of its owner. For example, in Allaah’s command to Prophet Moosaa (Moses)
“Put your hand inside your shirt and it will come out shining unharmed…”40
Both the “hand” and “shirt” belonged to Prophet Moosaa but his hand was an attribute which was a part of him, while his shirt was a possession which was not a part of him. The same is the case relative to God with regards to His attributes and His creation. For example, in the case of divine mercy wherein He says:
“Allaah give His mercy specifically to whomsoever He wishes…”42
Allah’s mercy is one of his attributes and not a part of His creation. On the other hand, Allaah sometimes refers to created things as “His” to emphasize the fact that He created them. Yet others are referred to as His to indicate the special position of honor with which He views them. For example, with respect to the She-Camel sent as a test to Prophet Saalih’s people, the Thamud, Allaah quoted Prophet Saalih as saying,
“This is Allaah’s camel sent to you as a sign. So allow it to graze in Allaah’s earth.”43
The camel was miraculously sent as a sign to the Thamood who did not have any right to deny it from grazing, because the whole earth belongs to Allah. Similarly is the case of the Ka’bah about which Allaah made a covenant with Prophets Ibraaheem (Abraham) and Ismaa‘eel (Ishmael):
“That they may purify My house for those who circle it, cling to it, bow down prostrate (near it).”44
and paradise in the case of the righteous who on the Day of Judgement will be told by Allah “Enter My Paradise.”45
As for the spirit (Rooh), it is one of Allah’s creations. Allaah states in the Quran
“They ask you concerning the spirit, tell them the Spirit is from my Lord’s command; and you have not been given except a very small amount of knowledge.”46
Elsewhere in the Quran He said:
“If Allah has decided a thing, He only has to command: Be, and it is 47
And He also said:
“He (Allaah) created him (Aadam) from clay then said: Be, and he was.”48
The command is “be ” for all of creation. Therefore, the spirit is created by Allaah’s command. Islaam does not consider God to be an incorporeal Spirit, as do some religions like Christianity. He has neither corporeal body nor is He a formless spirit. He has a form befitting His majesty, the like of which no man has ever seen or conceived, and which will only be seen (to the degree of man’s finite limitations) by the people of paradise. Consequently, when Allah refers to the blowing of a spirit from Himself into prophets Aadam and ‘Eesaa, special honor is given to their created spirits due to the prominence of Prophet Aadam’s position in relation to the rest of mankind and to clarify the confusion concerning Maryam’s virgin birth of Prophet ‘Eesaa. Even Allaah’s attribution of the act of blowing to Himself is, in fact, a clarification of His will and supreme power, for it is the angels who actually insert and extract the souls into man. This fact is evident from the following Hadeeth of Ibn Mas‘oud who reported that Allaah’s Messenger said, “Verily you creation is combined in you mother’s womb for forty days in the form of an oily fluid, then as a leech-like clot for a similar period and as a clump of flesh for another similar period. Then an angel is sent to him to blow the spirit into him…”50
Thus, Allaah has the spirit blown into every human by one of His angels. By saying that ‘He blew’, Allaah in fact reminds us that He is the primary cause of all that takes place in creation, as He said:
“Allah created you and whatever you do.”51
Just prior to the battle of Badr the Prophet (r) threw a handful of dust at the enemy ranks assembled hundreds of yards away, but Allaah caused some of the dust particles to miraculously reach all of the eyes of the enemy. Allaah referred to the Prophet’s action as follows:
“It was not you that threw when you threw but it was Allaah who threw.”52
Thus, by attributing the Spirit to Himself. Allah simply gave it a special place of honour among the spirits which He has created. No that He, Allaah, has a spirit and blew off a piece of it into both Prophet Aadam and Prophet ‘Eesaa. To further emphasize that point Allaah also refers to the Angel sent to inform Maryam as “His spirit”:
“So we sent to her Our Spirit who took the appearance of a well formed man.”53
The Quran is a totality. Its verses explain themselves and the sayings and practices of the Prophet further clarify its meanings. When verses are taken out of context, the meanings of the Quran can easily be distorted. For example, verse four of Soorah al-Maa‘oon reads:
“Woe be on those who make prayer (Salaah).”
This verse by itself is in total contradiction to the rest of Quran and Islaam. Salaah has been made obligatory throughout the Quran, For example, Allaah said:
“Verily I am Allaah, there is no god besides me, so worship me and establish prayer (Salaah) in order to remember Me.”54
Yet this verse curses those who make Salaah! However, the verses which follow it clarify the intended meanings as:
“Those who are negligent in their Salaah, who do it to be seen. Yet they refuse even the simplest of kindness.”55
Thus, Allaah’s curse is on the Salaah of the hypocrites who pretend belief and not on all who make Salaah.
A more meaningful translation of the verse “Then He fashioned him (Aadam) and blew into him from His spirit,” would be “Then He fashioned him and caused one of His (noble) spirits to enter him.” Consequently, there is no basis in the divine scriptures for the mystic belief in the uncreated soul of man, yearning to reunite with its origin, God. In Islaam, there is no distinction between the Arabic terms Rooh (spirit – pl. Arwaah) and Nafs (soul-pl. Anfus) with respect to man except that when it is connected to the body it is usually referred to as a Nafs.56 In the Quran God states:
“It is Allaah who takes the souls (Anfus) at death and those which do not die (He takes) during their sleep…”57
The Prophet was reported by Umm Salamah to have said, “Verily, when the spirit (Rooh) is taken the eyes follow it.” The successful souls will be made to enter paradise as Allaah said to the righteous souls
“O soul (Nafs) at peace, come back to your Lord pleased with yourself and pleasing to Him. Enter among My devotees. Enter My paradise.”59
Thus, in the end, the righteous human soul will not become extinguished in God nor unite with His supreme being, but will remain a finite spirit reunited with a finite body enjoying the pleasures of paradise for as long as Allaah wishes.
By Bilal Philips
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