COSMOLOGY
OF THE SELF
(Excerpts Only)
By:
Shaykh
Fadhlalla Haeri
Chapter
One
Where Heaven and
Earth Meet
<snipped>
The
Divine Spark of the Spirit (Ruh)
There
is within us a Divine spark that has no limitations. This is the ruh.
Its origins lie in the realm of non-time and non-space. We yearn for
infinite space, for endless stretches of land, seas, and vast oceans
whose horizons are invisible; we long for peace and tranquility. It
is that same zone within us that contains pre-existence,
post-existence, as well as pre-cognition and post-cognition. Death
demonstrates the point at which we will return material borrowed
from the earth. We will continue to carry an aspect of ourselves
into the timeless, spaceless zone after death, which will be the
reverse of the way in which it manifests here. At death and beyond
the body will not contain the ruh but rather the ruh
will be imprinted with the image of the body. As we progress along
the path of enlightenment, we know this as a fact rather than merely
believe in it as a theory.
While
the importance of rationality in this world of duality and opposites
is undeniable, the ruh transcends the limits of reasoning.
Since such knowledge is based on tawhid, it is not subject to
dialectical reasoning. God says in the Qur’an: ‘They ask you
about the spirit - say: "It is from the command of my
Lord"’ (Qur`an: 17:85), meaning it is from the unseen.
Its nature is unknown.
The
Heart
If
the heart can be well enough to send us the right signals, the
attainment of clarity of vision and an unfailing ability to
discriminate between what is harmful and what is of benefit becomes
easy. No one can judge another’s heart, which can change; we can
only hold each other accountable for our outer actions. However, the
heart may become deadened to its spiritual reality, as a result of
the thick layers of ‘rust’ we allow it to accumulate. At this
stage it may not be possible to cure it of its ills; we cannot even
chisel the rust off any more.
Many
of us, however, need to make use of the chisel that Allah provides
for us through hardship, illness and sometimes abrupt changes in our
existential situation. Our nature is to immediately ask ‘why? -
why have I lost my job? why has my husband left me?’ - when shaken
up in such a way. If we take it on trust that God has based His
creation on mercy and love, then from our wondering ‘why’ will
come the light of knowledge. With the aid of this light, it becomes
clear that perhaps we were drowning in emotionalism and are now
paying a price for it. Perhaps we were seeking results which would
have been harmful and had too many expectations. We may have been
reacting when we are meant to act.
Everyone
wants results and if our objectives are real, necessary and within
the framework of our existential reality, God will honour the
seeker. If, on the other hand, the aim is to embellish our outer
surroundings or forms, then our objectives are frivolous. The tailor
may succeed in giving us a good image with an exquisitely tailored
suit, but of what use is this to us if we remain misshapen and ugly
inside? We all love perfection and even wanting to have a pleasing
outer aspect is a facet of loving the Perfect Designer. However, our
love of perfection need not mean fixed physical perfection. There is
only disappointment if we stop short at the physical. This happens
because no sooner do we place a certain value on anything that is
sensory, at the expense of its meaning and ultimately its essence,
than it decays and disappears. This is its natural reality.
The
cosmic Big Bang that originated creation echoes the shock of
awakening in the rise of human consciousness. We have come from
non-existence and we will return to our origin. Just as there will
be a collapse of the planetary cosmos, so will there be a collapse
of our physical cosmos, our bodies. Indeed, the Qur`an speaks of
two deaths, two events of importance for us. One is the individual
end of this world - my individual world ends when I die - and the
other, when the cosmic world ceases to be.
The
Original Blueprint (Fitra)
Time
is in motion and yet something within us yearns for a certainty that
is before time and beyond time. We desire outer harmony in order to
grasp its meaning within the original blueprint that is inherent in
every created thing. This primal blueprint is called fitra in
Arabic. The Prophet said: ‘Every child is created with an intact fitra
and is born in a state of submission, (islam)’. He goes on
to say, ‘but it is the parents, culture, and society that make it
a Christian, a Jew, or a fire-worshipper.’ Environmental and other
external influences modify the blueprint. This brings about an
altered output. The original Divine Imprint with which each child is
born has been tampered with.
One
rather inadequate word that alludes to this blueprint is
‘conscience’. Fitra, however, is a more precise, neutral
term which also means, amongst other things, ‘the original
crack’ that brings about creation. We shall call it ‘the
original self.'
From
the Fitra to the Perfect Man
The
discovery of our fitra plays a key role in the transformation
and illumination of the soul. The fitra has come about as a
result of a divine gift and encapsulates the complementary
male/female principles. After four months the fetus in the womb has ruh,
after which it develops a nafs. The fitra arises from
what will become the ruh. So that original blueprint, the fitra,
contains within it the entire plan of the self. While the
lower aspects of this self, the human and animal aspects,
pertain to the earth, the higher, spiritual aspects link us to what
is beyond time/space.
This
is the domain of ‘alam al-ghayb, the unseen world - the
world of the angelic forces - which exerts considerable influence on
us without our being fully aware of it. We have evidence of the
existence of such forces by our crude interventions in physics,
harnessing some of these powers without quite understanding the
essence of the laws to which they are subject, electricity being
just one example. The worlds these forces inhabit seem to overlap
ours; their lowest zone being at the edge of our highest (see
diagram). References to space/time are a reflection of the
limitations of language and are only an aid to understanding a
reality beyond our comprehension.
A
few decades ago we were less able to harness some of these energies
in existence. Now, for example, we have a clearer understanding of
the nature of many physical realities. We know that light travels in
certain wave patterns and that it is formed in bundles of discrete
quantities. Visible light is of only a limited spectrum, from red to
violet. Beyond infra-red and ultraviolet, light moves into other
wave forms that are invisible. The world of the arwah -
(spirits or souls, plural of ruh) and its relationship to the
original self is the same as the relationship between the total
spectrum of light and visible light: we can only speak of the aspect
of light that is visible - the soul.
A
part of man contains the world of spirit, ruh, which is ruhaniyya,
while another part relates to the human world, called insaniyya
(see diagram 1).
During
its journey through time and space, the original self develops into
a persona, the so-called ‘you’ and ‘I’. If we aim to attain
the higher values as shown and lived by our prophets, then ruhaniyya,
the spiritual side of our nature, is developed. If, however, the
higher is neglected, then the lower self is reinforced.
This
is not a denunciation of our life on earth. We are a microcosm of
all that is in existence; mineral, vegetable and animal, as well as
our own unique human qualities. If all this is taken care of and
given its due, then the original self will drive man towards the
state of insan al-kamil, the complete or perfect man, denying
neither spirituality nor humanity, and who is served by the angels.
In
the diagram we can see a zone of the unknown, which we have named
‘Heaven’. This zone interacts with its inferior and opposite,
which we call ‘Earth’. Where ‘Heaven’ meets ‘Earth’ or
the ruh connects with matter, there arises this fusion in the
field between them, which we defined earlier as the ‘original
self’.
We
may see how essentially unified the nature of the original self is
by looking at references from the Qur’an and the prophetic
teachings. Allah says: ‘I created you from one self’
(Qur`an 4:1 ).This means that there is one original design,
one blueprint, one fitra. From this blueprint is developed
the form of the individual self, which is the so-called ‘you’.
While
each individual appears to be different from the other, this
essential self is the foundation of each person’s reality. Our
forms are different: men and women. This difference is essential, as
man without woman cannot embark on the journey of life and woman
without man is equally only half the story. Even on a wider social
scale, we need to complement each other as nations. God tells us in
the Qur’an that He created us as different tribes and different
nations so that we may interact and come to know and learn from each
other. By acknowledging outer differences amongst people, the deeper
realization is that we are the same in essence; that we are all
seeking harmony, the aspect in us that never changes, that is always
tranquil, the source of divine reassurance. Allah is always there: ‘I
answer the call of the caller if he calls Me’ (Qur`an 2:186).
From
the Unity of Essence to the Unity of Actions
Creation
began from the eternal void, which is referred to ‘as the darkness
of non-existence’. From this non-existence arise God’s Divine
Attributes (al-sifat) as symbolized by the ninety-nine
‘most beautiful Names of Allah’ (al-asma’ al-husna),
and His words. God says: ‘If you take all the woods in the
world to make pens and take all the oceans as ink, seven times over,
My words will not be completed’ (Qur`an 31:27).
All
of creation, with its myriad forces and dynamism, points us towards
the knowledge of God, so that we know why we are here and who we
are. Manifested creations are the Divine Actions (al-af‘al).
These connect and relate to each other through a unifying force both
known and unknown. The study of cause and effect, logic and other
sciences are attempts to discover the unifying factors behind
creational actions.
Actions
and Attributes are from one Essence (dhat) which we cannot
describe. All we know is that it is the source from which everything
emanates.
As
travelers to higher knowledge, the first requisite is to contemplate
and understand ourselves in tawhid al-af‘al, the unity of
action in creation. We shall discover how actions relate with one
another; how cause and effect link; how correct actions result in
appropriate reactions, and so on. This is seeing the One behind the
apparent ‘two-ness’ or duality of creation as an experiential
reality and not just as a mystical quest. It is what drives us to
want to know why we are unwell or unhappy. Once we come to know the
connection we are relieved because it enables us to unify diverse
aspects of our world.
When
we see that all of creation links up within a unified field, then we
recognize tawhid al-sifat, the unity of Attributes. To
demonstrate this let us take the example of a man who wishes to
project an image of piety. He even lies and cheats to maintain a
good reputation. This apparent contradiction in his actions may
puzzle us. The man, however, is being true to his objective of
maintaining his image and is therefore willing to go to any lengths
to achieve this. He is concerned with appearance and not with
reality so he is connecting and unifying with the image. Unless we
first awaken to tawhid al-af‘al, we find difficulty in
seeing tawhid al-sifat . We can easily see that the
attributes of Mercy, Generosity and Power are linked. So are the
others.
Awareness
of the unity of Essence, tawhid al-dhat, becomes spontaneous
as a result of our awakening to the unity of Action and Attributes.
We are conscious of the diversity in creation but at the same time
are aware that all of these differences lead back to the One
Essence. That is when we can truly say la ilaha illa’llah,
that there is no reality other than God Alone; that He is the Doer
and He is the Creator of all. Our intellects and experience fail us
because of the veil of reasoning, but the truth of our hearts and
faith will confirm it.
Shari‘a,
Tariqa, Haqiqa
We
have seen how the ruh energizes the self to produce a
‘person’. The person contains the original self, the human fitra,
and the divine spark. First the human aspect is dealt with; for
example, hunger. Then the sublime part of the self develops and
matures with the aid of discipline and awareness. The person's will,
patience, faith, commitment and honesty are all vital. The seeker on
the path of self-transformation and awakening is like a zoo-keeper:
he recognizes all the wild animals within the self, but confines
them to their cages and is safe from their wildness! The design of
the original self, the fitra, contains shari‘a and haqiqa;
that is, the natural laws and the ultimate truth. We can also see
how the original self can develop positively, remain
under-developed, or become warped beyond the possibility of cure. We
need to open our hearts to the divine light within and follow the
natural laws as revealed by the Prophet.
To
begin with one is concerned with oneself, then we strive to improve
the condition of our hearts. None of this however can be done in
isolation. Real transformation and spiritual evolution occurs whilst
serving others along the path. The overall cosmic drama has to be
enacted constantly: microcosm and macrocosm; "I" and the
world. One is the mirror image of the other.
The
inner, microcosmic being needs to be groomed along the tariqa
(path) and its 'prescription' which is the middle path. The tariqa
offers the discipline of balance in a holistic way, in the din
(the religion or life-transaction). It encourages diligence and
commitment to the prescribed remedies, which are key elements in
harnessing our lower, human nafs and enabling the higher to
unfold. On the tariqa there must be a teacher, one who has
traveled ahead, otherwise, as the sufi masters say, your whims will
be your teacher. The teacher can help to reflect us and become more
aware. For years and years I have not moved an inch unless I thought
my four main teachers were present; I did not sit, move eat, drink
or speak unless I felt all of them were watching me, and this is the
absolute truth. The speed and efficiency with which the microcosm is
groomed depends entirely upon our commitment to correct action.
While
tariqa teaches us inner discipline, our interaction with
society at large must be governed by the din and shari‘a
(code of conduct). We are held accountable by Allah for our dealings
with other people. Our awareness must extend beyond the self and the
immediate environment. Shari‘a provides clear guidelines
for what needs to be done and what should be avoided both on the
individual and social levels.
The
health of the human microcosm is ultimately dependent upon the
wholesomeness of the heart but our interaction with society demands
full use of our intellect. Yet there is always argument and conflict
in society. Often this causes disappointment. However, this is part
of being different; it has to be this way in this world of duality.
That is why theologians argue, and why you can almost guarantee that
any two mosques or churches will be at variance with each other.
However, it is clear that this is not enough; that the intellect
with little or no inner light is incomplete.
<snipped>
