5. TRANSCENDENCE
Allah, Most Great and Glorious, has described Himself in His revealed books and through His prophets in order that man may have a better understanding of just who He is. Since the human mind is limited in its knowledge and scope, it is impossible for it to understand something which has no limits. Therefore, Allaah mercifully took it upon Himself to reveal to man some of His attributes, in order that mankind may not confuse the attributes of created things with those of Allah. When Allaah’s attributes are confused with those of creation, man ends up deifying creation. It is this deification of creation which is the essence and basis of idolatry in all of its forms. In all pagan religions and cults created beings or objects are falsely endowed by man with divine attributes and consequently they become objects of worship instead of Allaah or along with Allah.
Among Allah’s countless attributes is one which is of paramount importance with regard to the worship of God as opposed to the worship of His creation. It is an attribute which became confused with the appearance among Muslims of the Greek-influenced Mu‘tazilite school of philosophical thought that remains misunderstood among many Muslims until today. This Critical Attribute is that of “ a l-‘Uloo” , which in English means highness or transcendence. When it is used to describe Allah, this attribute refers to the fact that Allah is above and beyond His creation. He is neither enclosed by the creation nor is any part of the creation above Him in any way. He is not a part of the created world nor is it a part of Him. In fact, His Being is totally distinct and separate from His creation. He is the Creator and the universe and its contents are all a part of His creation. However, His attributes function without restriction in His creation. He sees, hears and knows all, and He is the prime cause of all the happenings within the worlds of creation. Nothing happens without His will. Consequently, it may be said that the Islamic concept of Allah in relationship to His creation is essentially dualistic, but in relationship to Allah alone or creation alone it is strictly unitarian. It is dualistic in the sense that Allah is Allaah, and creation is creation. Two separate entities, the Creator and the created, the Infinite and the finite. Neither is one the other nor are they both one. At the same time the Islamic concept is uncompromisingly unitarian in the sense that Allah is absolutely one, without parents, offspring or partner. He is unique in His divinity and nothing is similar to Him. He is the sole source of power in the universe and everything depends on Him. Likewise, it is firmly unitarian vis-a-vis creation, because all of the universe and its contents were created by Allaah alone. All created beings and entities are the product of the same Creator, and, as such, are constructed from the same elemental substances, the building blocks of “nature”
Significance
The attribute of transcendence has special significance to man with regard to his worship of God. Prior to the arrival of Islaam in its final form, man had strayed far away from the implications of this noble attribute. Christians claimed that Allaah had come to the earth and became flesh and blood in the form of man, Prophet ‘Eesaa (Jesus), whom they claim was crucified and died. The Jews before them also claimed that Allaah came down to earth in the form of a man and lost in a wrestling match with Prophet Yaqoob (Jacob). The Persians regarded their kings as gods endowed with all of Allah’s attributes, and, consequently, they worshipped them directly. The Hindus believed that Brahman, the supreme Being, was in every place and in everything so they worshipped countless idols, human beings and even animals as personifications of Brahman. In fact, this belief has taken Hindus to an incredible state wherein they actually make pilgrimage to their Holy city of Banaras to worship the god Shiva personified as an erect male penis endearingly called “lingam.”
The Hindu idea that Brahman is everywhere later became a part of the Christian belief system and eventually found its way among the Muslims many generations after the Prophet. When the philosophical books of India, Persia and Greece were translated during the Golden Age of the ‘Abbaasid Empire, the concept of Allah being everywhere and in every thing was introduced into philosophical circles and became a foundational principle in the creed of Sufi(mystical) orders. Eventually it gained sway with a philosophical school known as the Mu‘tazilah (the Rationalists) followers of which occupied key posts in the administration of the ‘Abbaasid Caliph, Ma’moon (rule: 813 to 832 CE). With the blessing of the Caliph, they vigorously propagated this belief along with the other distortions contained in their school of philosophy. Inquisition courts were set up throughout the empire and many scholars were killed, jailed and tortured for their opposition to the philosophy of the Mu‘tazilites.
It was not until Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (778-855 CE) stood his ground and defended the beliefs of early Muslim scholars and the Sahaabah, (companions of the Prophet), that the tide was eventually turned. During the reign of Caliph al-Mutawakkil (rule 847-861), the Mu‘tazilite philosophers were removed from sensitive administrative posts in the government and their philosophy was officially condemned. Although most of their ideas died out in time, that of Allah being everywhere (i.e. immanent) has remained to this day among followers of the Ash‘arite school. This school was founded by scholars who left Mu’tazilite philosophy and attempted to refute the excesses of Mu‘tazilite thought from a philosophical basis.
Danger of the Immanence Concept
On the basis of the false attribute of divine immanence (i.e. the “God is everywhere” belief) some claimed that God was more in humans than in animals, vegetation, minerals, etc. From that theory it was only a matter of time before some claimed that God was more in them than in the rest of humans, either by Hulool (indwelling of Allah in man) or by Ittihaad (complete unification of the human soul with Allaah’s “soul). Among Muslim people of the ninth century, a deranged mystic and so-called saint, al-Hallaaj (858-992 CE), openly declared that he and Allaah were one. The Nusayrites, a breakaway Shi‘ite sect of the tenth century, claimed that the Prophet’s son-in-law, ‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib, was manifestation of Allah and another breakaway Shi‘ite sect of the eleventh century called the Druze ̧ claimed that the Fatimid Shi‘ite caliph, al-Haakim bi Amrillaah (996-1021 CE) was the last incarnation of God among men. Ibn ‘Arabee (1165-1240 CE), another so-called Sufi saint of the twelfth century, exhorted his followers in his poetry to pray to themselves and not to anything outside of themselves because he believed God was inside man. This same theory was the essence of Elijah Muhammad’s (d. 1975) claim in America that black people were “Allaah” and that his mentor, Fard Muhammad, was the supreme Allaah himself.Reverend Jim Jones, who killed himself and 900 of his followers in Guyana in 1979, is one of the most recent example of man claiming to be God and people accepting it. In fact, Jim Jones learned his philosophy and psychological techniques for manipulating the innocent from another American who called himself Father Divine. Father Divine, whose real name was George Baker, appeared during the early depression years of the 1920’s and opened restaurants for the poor. After capturing their stomachs, he projected on them the claim that he was god incarnate. In time he married and named his Canadian wife, Mother Divine. By the mid-thirties his followers numbered in the millions and Reverend Jim Jones, who killed himself and 900 of his were to be found all across the U.S.A. and even in Europe.
Thus, these claims of divinity were not limited to any particular place or religious group. They simply took root wherever the soil was fertile. If minds were already prepared by the belief in God’s immanence in His creation to accept the man-god concept, then those who claimed divinity could easily find followers.
It may be concluded that the belief that “Allah is everywhere” is extremely dangerous primarily because it encourages, defends and rationalizes the greatest sin in Allaah’s sight, the worship of His creation. It is also an aspect of Shirk in Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Sifaat as it claims for God an attribute which does not belong to Him. Neither in the Quran nor on the tongue of the Prophet can such a description of Allaah be found. In fact, both the Quran and the Sunnah confirm the opposite.
By Bilal Philips
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