The reality of the Shadhili order
The creed of Ash-Shadhili, Al-Mursi and ibn ‘Ata Illah Al-Iskandari
Ibn ‘Ata Illah Al-Iskandari is considered as the third Imam of Shadhiliyah and is a student of Al-Mursi, student of Abul Hasan Ash-Shadhili. This misguided Sufi was among opponents to Shaykh ul Islam ibn Taymiyah when he came to Egypt.
In the book “Lataif Al-Minan fi Manaqib Abil ‘Abbas Al-Mursi wa Shaykhihi Abil Hasan” translated in English by Nancy Roberts with name “The subtle blessings in the saintly lives of Abul Abbas Al-Mursi and his master Abu Al-Hasan”, we can see the clear heresy and deviation of ibn ‘Ata Illah Al-Iskandari, Al-Mursi and Abul Hasan Ash-Shadhili.
Creed of Wahdatul Wujud
P 38 and after:
“In the tradition which reads, “And if I love him, I become the hearing by which he hears, the sight by which he sees, the hand by which he strikes and the foot by which he walks…” what is being described is permanence (Baqa) following annihilation (Fana) SUCH THAT YOUR OWN ATTRIBUTES ARE EFFACED, HAVING VANISHED WITH THE APPEARANCE OF THE MASTER’S ATTRIBUTES WITHIN YOU”
I once heard our Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas (may God be pleased with him) say, “God has servants who have obliterated their actions with His actions, their attributes with His attributes, and their selves with His self. He has caused them to be bearers of secrets which the more ordinary friends of God would be unable to hear. It is these who have drowned in the sea of the Divine Self and in the stream of (His) attributes. Hence, there are three annihilations: for Him to annihilate you to your actions with His actions, to your attributes with His attributes, and to yourself with Himself. It has thus been said:
Some people wander in a desert wilderness
While others wander in the land of His love
They are annihilated, then annihilated,
Then annihilated
Yet they preserve in permanence through
The nearness of His nearness
If He annihilates you to yourself, He will preserve you in Himself, for annihilation is the portal through which one enters the realm of permanence. He whose annihilation is genuine will find genuine permanence, and he who is annihilated to everything other than God will find his permanence in God. It is for this reason that they say: he whose ruin is through God, through God will his successor be raised up. Annihilation requires that they be excused, while permanence requires that they be granted victory. Annihilation requires their absence from everything, while permanence causes them to be present with God in everything such that by nothing are they separated from Him. Annihilation puts them to death, and permanence brings them to life. When the mountain of one’s existence have been crushed, he will hear the Summoning Voice of his vision “And they will ask thee about (what will happen to) the mountains (when this world comes to an end). Say, then: ‘My Sustainer will scatter them far and wide, and the leave the earth level and bare (so that) thou wilt see no curve thereon and no ruggedness. On that day, all will follow the Summoning Voice from which there is no escape. All sounds will be hushed before the Most Gracious, and wilt hear nothing but a faint sough in the air” (“Taha (O MAN) 20: 105-106)
The one who has attained permanence calls others to the truth on God’s behalf; as for the one who has experienced annihilation, God calls others to the truth on his behalf.”
Comment: So for these Sufis the slave can obtain the attributes of Allah. La Hawla wala Quwatta ila Billah.
P 48 and after, Ibn Ata Illah wrote:
“Shaykh Abu al-Hasan (may God be pleased with him) once said, “In one of the scriptures which He revealed to His prophets, God declares, ‘If anyone obeys Me in everything, I will obey him in everything!”
In explanation of this, Shaykh Abu al-Hasan said, “If anyone obeys Me in everything by his abandonment of everything, I will obey him in everything by disclosing Myself to him in everything. This is a superior path, the path of the spiritual wayfarers, a majestic way: If anyone obeys Me in everything by approaching everything in light of his Master’s goodwill expressed therein, I will obey him in everything by disclosing Myself to him in everything until he sees Me as the essence of everything.”
Once you have realized this, you will understand that there are two types of saints: one who has been annihilated to everything in such a way that he sees nothing but God, and another who remains in everything in such a way that he sees God in everything. However, this is an imperfection, because God, may He be praised, only revealed the kingdom in order that He might be seen therein. Created entities are the mirrors of the (divine) attributes; hence, if someone is absent to the created universe, he will likewise be absent to the vision of the Truth therein. Created entities were not set up in order for you to see them, but rather, in order for you to see their Master within them. Hence, what the Truth desires of you is for you to see created entities with the eye of the one who sees them not; that is, for you to see them not with a view of their creatureliness but rather, with a view to His appearance in them. This message is expressed in the following lines:
I only revealed the world to you
That you might see them with the eye of one
who sees them not,
Detached therefrom with the upward vision of one
who contents himself not
With any condition unless (therein) he sees His Master.
The one who looks at created entities without seeing the Truth therein is in a state of heedlessness, while the one who has been annihilated to them is a servant dazzled by the “assaults” of the divine vision. As for the one who sees the truth in created entities, he is a servant completed and set aside (for his appointed mission). Attention is turned away from the created universe only with respect to its creatureliness, not with respect to the Truth’s appearance therein; hence, this is due not to His failure to appear in everything but rather, to their inability to perceive Him in everything. For He does appear in everything; in fact, He appears even in those entities through which He is veiled. Hence, there is, in reality, no veil. As one poet expressed it:
I see everything in need, while all wealth is Yours
It is in my nature to sin, while it is in Yours to pardon.
Demonstrating loving-kindness out of Your gracious bounty,
It is in Your nature to nurture, and in my nature to turn away.
No life is sweet without Your loving communion,
Nor is it tranquil- no, by God!- for how could it be so?
I have resolved to abandon the entire universe
And to follow love’s path as do those whom God has chosen
Both the vision of You and the veil serve to disclose,
For when realization comes, it becomes itself unveiling.
How fines are the loved ones in every state,
For to God belongs what they reveal, and to Him
Belongs what they conceal.
As for those who have no vision of You,
Their hearts are dull to the longing to win the secret
of passionate love.
You are the One who brought the light, then came the light
In all manifestations as even the most ordinary have
born witness.
…
A disciple once asked his Shaykh, ‘O Teacher, where is God?” To which his Shaykh replied, “May God crush you! After a vision (of the Divine) with your own eyes, you seek to know where He is?”
A Gnostic sang:
You became manifest so that You were hidden from the one
But the blind man who cannot see the moon
Then you were concealed from view, O Samad,
For how can One shrouded in almighty power be known?
….
One Gnostic sang:
How many a soul has camouflaged himself in al-Shi’bayni and ‘Alam
When his secret was plain for all to see?
I hear you asking about Najd when you are already there,
And about Tihamah- what suspicious conduct!
I also found the following lines written in our Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas’s own script:
Have you from Layla any words uncensored
Which, when they come, raise dry bones to new life?
Ours has been a long acquaintance, yet I,
Even so, have been neglectful of her love.
Her apparition would visit me in days of yore,
But when it faded, why should it have become elusive?
Has she withheld even her apparition,
Or has it grown so delicate it no longer appears to
My mind’s eye?
From Layla’s face the sunrise seeks light,
While in the sun human sight is confounded.
She was only veiled by the lifting of her veil,
What a marvel the appearance itself is a concealment!
…
Shaykh Abu al-Hasan (may God be pleased him) said, “We view God with the perceptive powers of faith and certainty, which has freed us from the need for evidence and proof. Indeed, we see no creature. After all, is there, in all existence, anything but the True Sovereign? And even if we must acknowledge other entities, they differ little from the fine dust particles in the air which, when you examine them carefully, you find to be nothing at all”
Comment: So for these people Allah is unveiled by lifting of his veil, and Allah is everywhere and this is the veil laymen cannot understand. So for these Sufis, the camouflage is known to the elite of Sufis, and Allah is everywhere, and so there is no veil in reality.
P 310, ibn Ata illah quoted some poetry of Al-Mursi, and this poetry contained these lines:
“All is You” in a sense that is evident for all to perceive,
Yet the light is obscured as water is concealed in milk”
P 311-312, ibn Ata Illah quoted some lines of Poetry of Al-Suhrawardi that Al-Mursi would recite:
“Have mercy upon the lovers who have endured love’s burdens,
And whose passionate ardor they wear on their sleeves!
If they divulge the mystery they’re declared outlaws,
Branded as criminals for giving the secret away!”
Comment: So if someone tells their secret, he will be considered as an outlaw and criminal, so it shows their secret opposes the religion of Islam.
P 314, ibn Ata Illah quoted some lines that were quoted and Al-Mursi was listening:
“Remove the veil, the veil of your senses,
And the mystery whose grandeur you’ve failed to perceive will appear.
The Divine is the most sublime entity that could ever be known,
Hence, the blindness of those who fail to see Him.
It is through Him that those endowed with discernment see Him
And indeed, He hasn’t been out of their sight for a moment.
After all, how could He be absent when nothing but He exists?
Yet the very intensity of His presence conceals Him from view!”
Comment: So for these Sufis Allah is present everywhere, and this proximity is the veil, and only the blind can fail to see Him.
P 316, ibn Ata Illah read to his teacher Al-Mursi a poem of ibn al-Faras containing lines:
“Those who fail to see His essence with the eye of discernment
Are shrouded in the veil of their own blindness.
But for those who never see anything but Him,
It would be unthinkable to forget Him.”
Comment: here again, it is told that only blind people cannot see Allah.
P 56 ibn Ata illah said :
“I once heard our Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas (may God be pleased with him) say, “If the saint’s true nature were disclosed, he would be worshipped, since his attributes and qualities are derived from His (Lord’s)”
Comment: The Prophet (saw)’s nature was known to the Sahabah and they did not worship him. Secondly how can the attributes of the slaves be from the attributes of Allah? Can anyone justify this from Quran, Hadith, saying of Salaf? And this shows that for these Sufis, the Awliya deserve worship and they are not only because their reality is hidden.
P 262, ibn Ata Illah wrote:
“Or as we have stated the same truth in our book al-Hikam, “The (created) worlds are established by His establishment of them, yet they are rendered as nothing by the singularity of His being.”
Shaykh Abu al-Hasan (may God be pleased with him) said, “I had a companion who would often come to me speaking of the unity of existence, and I said to him, ‘If you want that in which there is no cause of censure, then let distinction (farq) be what you speak of the others, and let unity (jam’) be what you witness in your heart.”
The phenomenon with which you could most usefully compare the existence of created entities when viewed with the eye of inward perception is that of shadows. A shadow is neither existent in the full sense, nor non-existent in the full sense. If you affirm the shadow-like nature of effects (creatures), you do not thereby negate the singularity of that which produces them (the Creator). For a thing is only doubled by adding an identical entity to it. Hence, those who testify to the shadow-like nature of effects are not thereby prevented from (affirming) God’s unique existence. Similarly, the shadow cast by trees on the surface of a river do not prevent boats from moving through its waters.
From these observations it should be clear to you that the veil which you perceive between yourself and God is not something which actually exists. For if there were an actual veil between you and God, the veil would of necessity be closer to you then God. Hence, the presumed reality of the veil is the product of illusion. You are not veiled from God by some entity which exists with Him, since nothing exists with Him. Rather, what has veiled Him from you is the illusion that something else exists with Him. The situation might be likened to that man who spent the night in a shelter of some sort and who wanted to come out; however, he heard the sound of wind blowing through a hole in the building and thought it was the roaring of a lion, which prevented him from venturing out. When he woke up the next morning, he found that there had been no lion, but rather, simply the wind whistling through the hole. Hence, what prevented him from coming out was not the existence of a lion, but rather, the illusion of there being a lion.”
Comment: So this is a clear saying that nothing exists but Allah, and people by illusion think something else exist, like someone hears the wind and thinks it is a lion. Can anyone be clearer than this?
Ghulu (exaggeration) in Awliya
P 5 in the introduction:
“I make clear that the friend of God (saints) receive their sustenance from the “Muhammadan reality” and they are none other than the manifestations of the lights of prophethood and the points of ascent of their radiances”
Comment: Can these Sufis justify this “Haqiqah Muhammadiyah” by the Quran and the Sunnah, even by a Khabar Ahad, as for these people creed is only established by Quran and Mutawatir Ahadith?
Can they quote any of the Salaf believing that Awliya receive their sustenance from Nur Muhammadi or Haqiqah Muhammadiyah?
P 24 in the introduction of ibn ‘Ata Illah:
“The Muhammadan reality is like the sun while the hearts of the saints are like moons; the moon shines due to its facing the sun and the appearance of the sun’s light upon it…the saints are God’s “signs” which He recites to His servants by disclosing them one after another. (As God Almighty declares) “These messages of God do We convey unto thee, setting for the truth” (Al-Jathiyah 45: 6)
(Correction: This verse should rather be translated as: “These verses (Ayat) We recite (Natlu) upon you”)
Commenting on the words of God, almighty and majestic is He, “Any Message which We annul or consign to oblivation, we replace it with a better or similar one” (Al-Baqarah 2 : 106)
(Correction: This verse should rather be translated as: “We do not abrogate a verse (Ayat) or make it forget except that We come with a better or similar to it”)
I once heard our Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas (may God be pleased with him) say, “In other words: Never do We cause a saint to depart but We replace him with a better or similar one”
A certain Gnostic was once asked about the “saints of sustenance” (Awliya al-madad): Are their numbers ever reduced by one? He replied, “If their numbers were reduced by (even) one, the heavens would not sent down their rain, nor would the earth bring forth its vegetation…”
Comment: So for these misguided Sufis, the world works because of Awliya ul Madad, and if one of them dies and is not replaced, then there are problems in the world’s ruling.
P 112, ibn ‘Ata Illah quoted Abul Hasan Ash-Shadhili about qualities of the Qutb:
“He must likewise be honored with the miracle of judgment, the ability to distinguish between the two existences, the separation of the first from the first, that from which it was separated until its end and those who have been established therein, the judgment concerning what is before and what is after and concerning the One who has neither before or after, and the knowledge of the beginning, that is, that knowledge which encompasses every science and everything known, from the first secret until its end, then returning to it again.”
Comment: The Prophet did not have knowledge of Ghayb, and they only knew what Allah revealed them through Wahi, and here the knowledge of everything known is attributed to these Qutbs, La Hawla wala Quwatta ila Billah
P 135, ibn Ata illah wrote:
“Gnostic Shaykh Najm al-Din al-Isbahani once told me, “One day Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas asked me, What’s the name of such-and-such in Persian?’ After that it occurred to me that the Shaykh really ought to become acquainted with Persian, so I brought him a book entitled, The translator.
‘What is this book?’ the Shaykh asked me. ‘It’s The translator’ I replied. The Shaykh laughed and said, ‘Ask me whatever you wish in Arabic and I will answer you in Persian.’ So I asked him questions in Persian and he answered me in Arabic; I also asked him questions in Arabic and he answered me in Persian. Then he said, ‘O servant of God, when I asked you about the name of such-and-such in Persian, I only did so as a way of conforming to the way you perceived me. After all, no one could have attained the station I have and be ignorant of languages.’”
Comment: Al-Mursi claims to know all languages, while the Prophet (saw) did not know this, neither did the Sahabah know all languages. And these people attribute such knowledge to their Qutb that none of the Salaf had.
P 152, ibn Ata Illah described Al-Mursi
“You would hear him speak of nothing but the Supreme Intelligence, the Most Excellent Names and its four branches, the names, the letters, the saints’ varied spheres of influence, the spiritual stations of those with inward certainty, the angels with near access to the Throne, the sciences of the mysteries, the spiritual resources released through phrases of divine remembrance, the day on which human beings’ destinies were determined, the science of the (divine) will, the divine “grasp” in which the cosmos exists and the men with an understanding thereof, the sciences of the Solitaries (‘ulum al-afrad) and what will take place on the Day of Resurrection by way of God’s dealings with His servants: His forbearance, His grace, and His vengeance. In fact, I once heard him say, “I tell you truly, if it weren’t for people’s limited understanding, I would speak to them of the future manifestation of God’s mercy.”
Comment: So ibn Ata Illah claims Al-Mursi knows the future, knows what will happen on the day of Judgment, will the Prophet (saw) did not know what some people of his community did after him and he called them on his Hawd.
P 140, Ibn Ata illah tells stories of Al-Mursi knowing what his students do:
“My master Jamal al-Din, the Shaykh’s son, may God be pleased with them both once told me, “A European envoy once came to Alexandria, so I went to see him, but I didn’t inform the Shaykh. When I returned, he said, ‘Where have you been?’ ‘Right here,” I said. ‘No,” he replied, ‘you went to see the envoy from Europe. Do you really think that any of your affairs are hidden from me? The envoy was wearing such-and-such and riding a such-and-such. So-and-so was to his right, and so-and-so was to his left.’ And in this way he described the situation exactly as it had been.”
‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Madyuni told me, “The Shaykh once asked me, ‘’Abd al-‘Aziz, did you water the mare?”
‘Yes, I did’ I replied. He repeated the question several times, and each time I replied that I had. After asking the question for the last time, he said, “O Lord!” and took off into the air until he disappeared from sight.
The next day he said to me, “’Abd al-‘Aziz, what would make it necessary for you to speak anything but the truth?
You were about to say that you hadn’t watered the mare. And what would have I have done to you of you hadn’t?
Comment: The Prophet (saw) did not know that ‘Uthman was not killed during Hudaybiyah, in matters of dispute between people, it is possible the Prophet (saw) gives based on witness the land of someone to another, and he (saw) said that in this case, one should not take the right of his brother, and he only takes a portion of fire, and likewise the Prophet (saw) was not fully aware of the incident of al-‘Ifk and other incidents…Yet these misguided Sufis claim that their Shaykh know everything from their student.
P 324 and after, ibn Ata illah said a poem for Al-Mursi with lines:
“Creation was deep in confusion
Till the pole of humankind came and guided it aright.
Through al-Shadhili its darkness was dispelled
And its horizons filled with light.
A treasure trove of devotion, a signpost of true guidance, an ocean
Of dew, the pole of creation, its life-giving rain and refuge,
He is the one who, if the community suffers affliction,
Protects them and draws them out of misfortune and adversity.
A shelter in which all humankind can find refuge,
Their hope in times both hardship and ease.
Until God takes him in death_
And what a desire fulfilled and cherished attainment!
I have succeeded him in his spiritual states and stations
By ascending their heights and receiving his legacy.”
Comment: How can Ash-Shadhili protect people from affliction? Only Allah has this power, else some Prophets were killed, other jailed, ill, in affliction and adversity.
P 96, ibn Ata Illah wrote:
“Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas (may God be pleased with him) said, “I went wandering through the kingdom of God and I saw Abu Madin (Correction: Abu Madyan), a fair-skinned man with blue eyes, clinging to the leg of the throne. I said to him, ‘What are your fields of knowledge, and what is your station?’ He replied, ‘As for my fields of knowledge, they are seventy-one, and as for my station, I am the fourth of the caliphs and the first of the seven substitutes (abdal).’ I asked him, ‘What do you say about my Shaykh, Abu al-Hasan Al-Shadhili? He replied, ‘He has forty more fields of knowledge than I do. He is the sea which cannot be contained.’”
One of our companions told me, “The Shaykh was once asked, “Who is your Shaykh, master?’ He replied, ‘I was once associated with Shaykh ‘Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish, but now I am associated with no one. Instead, I float in ten seas. Five of them are human, namely the Prophet (saw), Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali, while five of them are of the spiritual realm, namely, Jibril, Mika’il, Israfil, Izra’il, and the Greater Spirit.’”
His son and our master, the imam and Gnostic Shihab al-Din Ahmad told me, “The Shaykh said upon dying, ‘Verily, I have brought something along this path which no one else has.’”
Comment: Can any Sufis explain us how these Sufis can reach level of fourth of the caliphs and float in seas in which there is the Prophet (saw), his four caliphs and angels?
P 119, ibn Ata Illah wrote:
“I heard Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas say, “What matters is not who rules. What matters us who rules and has the power to cause others to rule, and I, in truth, have ruled and had the power to cause others to rule for thirty-six years.”
I heard him (may God be pleased with him) say, “The saint, if he wills to do so, causes others to become rich.” I also heard him say, “Verily, all I have to do is to look at a man and I will have made him rich.”
Comment: Prophet Ayub was sick for many years, Prophet Yusuf remained in Jail, Prophet Zakariya and Yahya were killed by Jews, none of them had powers to become rich or come in power, and these Sufis claim to make whoever they want rich, and decide about rulers. La Hawla wala Quwatta ila Billah.
On the same page, it is written:
“Someone from al-Bahansa once said to me, “Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas once came to us and said, ‘I am now twenty-five years old, and never has the vision of God been concealed from me for so much as the twinkling if an eye.’ Then he was absent from us for fifteen years, after which he came to us again and said, ‘I am now forty years old, and never has the vision of God been concealed from me for so much as the twinkling of an eye.’”
Comment: So these misguided Sufis claim to see constantly Allah, and Allah said to Musa (aley salam) that he will not be able to see him, so he could not see Him once.
P 120, describing his teacher Al-Mursi, ibn Ata Illah wrote:
“One day he said, “Verily, if the vision of the Messenger of God (saw) were concealed from me for as much as the twinkling of an eye, I would not consider myself a Muslim.”
Ibn Ata Illah further wrote on the same page a story whose end is:
“The Shaykh laughed , then said, “By God, the only person whose hand I have ever shaken with this hand is the Messenger of God (saw).”
Comment: so seeing constantly the Prophet (saw) was not enough, they also claim to have shaken his hands, Allah ul Musta’an.
P 121, there is Al-Mursi who can take people to secret mountain Qaf of Sufis:
“I said to him, ‘What matters is not that you go to the Zaytun Mountains and return on the same night. If I wished right now to take your hand and place you on the peak of Qaf while remaining where I am, I could do so.’”
P 122: Al-Mursi claims to see paradise:
“He used to say, “Truly, if the vision of the Garden of Paradise were concealed from me for so much as the twinkling if an eye, I wouldn’t count myself a Muslim.”
Comment: None of the Sahabah claimed to have a vision of the paradise awake, and they would fear hypocrisy and hell, until ‘Amr ibnul Ass cried before dying, not knowing what will happen for him, and yet these people see paradise at every moment.
P 130, ibn Ata Illah wrote about his teacher Al-Mursi:
“One of his companions reported to me, saying, “The Shaykh lay on his back one day and grasped his beard, saying, “If the scholars of Iraq and Syria knew what lies beneath these hairs, they would come after it, even if they had to crawl to get here!”
Comment: Is this not self-praise and arrogance? Did any of the Sahabah, Tabi’is said such falsehood?
P 114: We has Sufis telling they have been educated by the Prophet (saw), and none of the Salaf made such a claim.
“Shaykh Makin al-Din al-Asmar (may God be pleased with him) said to me, “I have been educated and nurtured by no one but the Messenger of God (saw). He also mentioned that Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahim Al-Qanawi (may God be pleased with him) used to say, “I am beholden for grace to no one but the Messenger of God (saw), and if God wills, He may choose out of us gracious bounty to exempt a servant of the need for a teacher in order that he not have any predecessor therein.”
Awliya for these Sufis are like Prophets of Bani Israil
P 20 Ibn Ataillah quoted the fabricated Hadith: “The scholars of my nation are like the prophets (Anbiya) of the children of Israil.”
Ibn Ata illah said in commentary: “A point to note here is that he (saw) did not say, ‘The scholars of my nation are like the messengers (rusul) of the children of Israil.”
After quoting many explanations given to the difference between Prophets and Messengers, ibn Ata illah wrote: “What distinguishes a prophet from a messenger, as has been noted by certain scholars, is that the prophet does not bring a new law, but rather, comes to confirm the law which was brought by those before him. An example of a prophet was Joshua son of Nun, who came to confirm the law of Moses and to command that the contents of the Torah be carried out; however, he did not bring a new maw. The role of messenger, by contrast, is exemplified in Moses, upon him be peace, who came with a newly law, namely that which was contained in the Torah. He (saw) thus said, “The scholars of my nation are like the prophets (Anbiya) of the children of Israil” not in the sense that they bring a new law but rather, in the sense that they come to confirm what has already been revealed and to command that it be carried out.” End of ibn Ata illah’s words.
The editor of this book wrote in notes: “This tradition is groundless, and is nowhere to be found in any recognized Hadith collection. See al-Sakhawi, Al-Maqasid al-Hasanah p 459. See also Asna al-Matalib p 140 under the topic, ‘It has no foundation, as more than one memorizer (of Hadith) has affirmed.”
Comment: Compare the saying of ibn Ata illah with what ibn ‘Arabi wrote in his “Fusus ul Hikam”, translation Bewley, chapter Uzayr:
“Know that wilaya is the universal encompassing sphere. This why it is not intersected, and so it is informed about things. As for the prophethood of law-giving and the Message, it is intersected, and it was cut off in Muhammad, peace be upon him. There will be no Prophet after him, either giving law or bound by law. There is no Messenger after him, and he is the lawgiver.
This hadith is a fragment of the manifestation of the awliya’ of Allah, because it contains the cutting off of the taste of complete perfect slavedom, so the name of slavedom, which is particular to it, was not used. The slave does not want to share with his Lord, who is Allah, in the same name. Allah is not called “prophet” or “messenger.” However, He is called Wali and is described by that name. Allah says, “Allah is the Wali of those who believe,” (2:257) and He says, “He is the Wali, the Praiseworthy.” (42:28) This name, “wali”, continues to be applied to the slaves of Allah both in this world and the Next. A name which is particular to the slave and not to Allah no longer remains since prophethood and the message have been cut off.
“Allah is gentle to His slaves,” (42:19) so they still have the general prophethood in which there is no law (shari’a), and they still have the law in striving in the confirmed ordinances. They still have heirs in the laws. The Prophet said, “The ‘ulama’ (men of knowledge) are the heirs of the Prophets.” The only inheritance here is that they strive with the ordinances, and so they legislate them.
Also Shaykh Ihsan Ilahi Zaheer in his “Tasawwuf” quoted ibn Arabi in his Futuhat, saying that only Nubuwwah of Tashree is finished, not its level. So the level of Nubuwwah stills remains
ولكن ابن عربي يقول معاكسا لذلك في فتوحاته :
( ويتضمن هذا الباب المسائل التي لا يعلمها إلا الأكابر من عباد الله , الذين هم في زمانهم بمنزلة الأنبياء في زمان النبوة , وهي النبوة العامة .
فإن النبوة التي انقطعت بوجود رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إنما هي نبوة التشريع لا مقامها فلا شرع يكون ناسخا لشرعه صلى الله عليه وسلم , ولا يزيد في حكمه شرعا آخر , وهذا معنى قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم : إن الرسالة والنبوة انقطعت , فلا رسول بعدي ولا نبي , أي لا نبيّ بعدي يكون على شرع يكون مخالفا لشرعي , بل إذا كان , يكون تحت حكم شريعتي … فهذا هو الذي انقطع وسدّ بابه , لا مقام النبوة )
الفتوحات المكية لابن عربي ج 2 ص 3
So All of this clearly shows that for these misguided Sufis, Wilayah is just like Nubuwwah, the only difference is that the Awliya do not bring any new laws. This is way the books of Sufiyah are filled with expression: Al-Haqq told me, My Lord informed me…
And Ilham is Zanni, none can say for sure what he feels in his heart is from Allah. Yet for these people, they hear Allah from sure, they receive orders from Allah, so there remains no difference with Prophets except bringing laws…
Ibn Ata illah wrote p 77 and after:
“At this juncture you might say: How do you account, then for the words of God, “He (alone) knows that which is beyond the reach of a created being’s perception, and to none does He disclose aught the mysteries of His own unfathomable knowledge unless it to be to an apostle whom He has been pleased to elect (therefore)” (Al-Jinn (The Unseen beings) 72 : 26-27)? According to this declaration, no one but the apostle is excepted. Know, however, that I once heard our Shaykh, Abu al-‘Abbas (may God be pleased with him) say, “The word ‘apostle’ as used here includes the sense of someone fully realized in righteousness (Siddiq) or a saint (wali).”
Ibn ‘Ata illah further wrote:
“(You might also object) This Qur’anic verse points likewise to the fact that no servants are made privy to unseen realities unless God makes them privy thereto. However, God, may He be praised, has made clear the reason for which He has given knowledge of unseen realities to those to whom He has given such knowledge, namely, that the servant to whom He grants such knowledge is one “whom He has been elect (therefore).” Moreover, the use of the word “apostle” singles out the apostle for mention. He does not, for example, mention the Prophet (al-nabi), the one realized in righteousness (al-siddiq) or the saint (al-wali) despite the fact that each of them would be a person with whom God is pleased, since the apostle is more worthy of this than anyone else”
Comment: So one can clearly see that for ibn ‘Ata illah and his teacher Al-Mursi, the saints are included in this verse of the Quran under the word “Rusul”, so they do not make any distinction between Wahy and Ilham.
And the full verses are (as translated by Yusuf Ali):
26. “He (alone) knows the Unseen, nor does He make any one acquainted with His Mysteries,- 27. “Except an apostle whom He has chosen: and then He makes a band of watchers march before him and behind him, 28. “That He may know that they have (truly) brought and delivered the Messages of their Lord: and He surrounds (all the mysteries) that are with them, and takes account of every single thing.”
So one can see that the Messengers/apostles (Rusul) mentioned here transmit the Risalah from their Lord and Allah sends Angels behind and before him, and this does not include Wali and Siddiq, as they do not bring any Risalah from their Lord.
So for these misguided Sufis, the Awliya hear the speech of Allah, and they do not think that what they might hear can be the voice of Shaytan or their own Waswas. This is illustrated in p 93, where ibn ‘Ata Illah wrote:
“The jurisprudent Makin al-Din al-Asmar told me, “I once heard the Truth addressing me.”
“How did that happen, sir” I asked him.
He replied, “There was, in Alexandria, a certain righteous man who had become a companion of Shaykh Abu al-Hasan, after which he heard about so many imposing sciences and matters that transcend the rational and the conceivable that his mind could no longer grasp it, as a result of which he parted company with Shaykh Abu al-Hasan (may God be pleased with him).
Then one night, I heard (God say), “So-and-so called upon Us at such-and-such a time, making six requests. If he wants his supplications to be answered, let him be an adherent of Shaykh Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili. He asked Us for such-and-such and for such-and-such until I had counted up six request.” Then the divine address came to an end.
I looked to the mid-point (of that period of time), and I knew what time the man had made his supplications. The following morning, I went to the man and I said to him, “You called God yesterday, making six requests. You asked Him for such-and-such and for such-and-such, until you made six requests.” ‘Yes, I did’ the man replied. So I said to him, “Do you want your requests to be granted?’ “And who might make this possible for me?’ he asked. I said to him, “I have been told, “If he wants his request to be granted, let him be an adherent of Shaykh Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili.””
Commentary: So here al-Asmar is told to have heard Allah saying that if this man who left Abul Hasan Ash-Shadhili wants his requests to be answered, he should follow Ash-Shadhili. Now, maybe al-Asmar heard a devil, who wanted to misguide people and making them follow Sufism after people left it.
And why is the answer of the slave linked to follow Ash-Shadhili? Are these not Khurafat made to make the Murid stick to their Shaykh, and Allah will only consider them if they have a Sufi Shaykh?
Secret knowledge
Ibn Ata Illah wrote p 101:
“Know that al-Khidr’s continued existence is a matter of unanimous agreement among the members of this community, while the saints of every age recount having met him and received teaching on his authority. In fact, such accounts are so well-known and have been passed down based on so many independent chains of transmission that their veracity is undeniable. There are this numerous stories in this connection.
Shaykh Abu al-Hasan (may God be pleased with him) said, “I met al-Khidr in the ‘Idhab desert once and he said to me, ‘Abu al-Hasan, may God cause wonderful kindness to attend you, and may He be a companion to you in times of both rest and itineration.’”” End if ibn Ata Illah’s words.
Then ibn Ata illah told two stories of Al-Khidr told by Muhyi al-din ibn ‘Arabi, once ibn ‘Arabi claimed he himself saw al-Khidr.
Later p 104 ibn ‘Ata illah answered to an objection about Al-Khidr:
“Moreover, if they say, “If this were so, it would have been passed down in written accounts,” you should realize that nothing that not everything which God revealed to the Prophet (saw) was something which he was to pass on to others. After all, it has been reported concerning him (saw) that he said, “My Lord has taught me three types of knowledge: one type which He has commanded me to spread, another type which He has forbid me to spread, and still another type which He has left me free either to spread or to conceal.”
Comment: Everybody know can clearly see that ibn ‘Ata Illah and these Shadhilis are just like Batinis, that believe in secretive knowledge. And they justify if by a Hadith which has no reference. So we can see that their religion is based upon lies and fabrications.
If the Prophet (saw) received some revelation from Allah and Allah forbade him to reveal it, then this would come in the Quran or the Sunnah, yet there is no trace of it.
This is in fact what exactly some misguided philosophers say that the Prophet (saw) knew the hidden reality that there is no paradise and hell, but he only lied to people, as they could not understand these matters.
At the same type, these people are Ash’aris and Maturidis, they tell us that the creed can only be taken from Quran or Mutawatir Ahadith, not with Khabar Ahad, yet for the Abdal or Khidr, they do not even have one authentic Isnad, rather testimonies of Sufis like ibn ‘Arabi and others seeing Al-Khidr or Abdal and others is enough.
Batini Tafsir of the Quran
P 191, ibn Ata illah mentions some esoteric Tafsir from Al-Mursi:
“Commenting on God’s words, glory be to Him, ‘Behold, God forbids you to sacrifice a cow” (Al-Baqarah (the cow) 2: 67), the Shaykh said, “each person’s cow is himself, and God bids to sacrifice it.”
P 204, another esoteric Tafsir of Al-Mursi:
“One day, as I prayed the dawn prayer behind the Shaykh (Abu al-Hasan), he recited the surah which begins with the letters ha, mim, ‘ayn, sin, qaf. When he came to the words, ‘He bestows the gift of female offspring on whomever He wills’ (Al-Shura (Consultation) 42: 49)), it occurred to me that through the phrase ‘female offspring’ God was speaking of good works. He then recited the words, ‘…and the gift of male offspring on whomever He wills’ (42 : 49), and I thought to myself that the phrase ‘male offspring’ must refer to various types of knowledge. He continued reciting the words, “…or He gives both male and female (to whomever He wills).’ ‘Both knowledge and good works,’ I though to myself. And as he recited the words, “and causes to be barren whomever He wills,’ I thought ‘neither knowledge nor good works.’
When the Shaykh had completed his prayer, he summoned me and said, ‘I realize that during the prayer, you understood the words , ‘He bestows the gift of female offspring on whomever He wills’ as referring to good works, and the words ‘male offspring’ to refer to the various branches of knowledge, ‘or…both male and female’ as referring to those who are given neither knowledge nor good works.’
I was amazed that the Shaykh would be aware of how I had understood these verses.
He asked me, ‘Are you amazed that I should be aware of what you were talking during the prayer? So-and-so understood the verses in question to mean such-and-such, while so-and-so understood the verses in question to mean such-and-such’ whereupon he proceeded to enumerate the interpretations of everyone who had prayed behind him that morning.”
Comment: First we see the falsehood of the Batini Tafsir of the Quran, and secondly Ash-Shadhili is told to understand the thoughts of all the people behind him…fairy tales and Batini religion.
P 209, Ibn Ata Illah felt the necessity to explain these Batinis Tafsir of the Quran:
“Know that this group’s (the Sufis’) interpretation of God’s word and words of His Messenger (saw) in such a way as to yield certain unexpected meanings, as reflected in the shaykh’s statements of the effect of the words, ““He bestows the gift of female offspring on whomever He wills” refer to good works, that the words “He bestows the gift of male offspring on whomever He wills” refer to various types of knowledge, that the words, “…Or He gives both male and female (to whomever He wills)” refer to god’s granting knowledge and good works, and that the words, “And causes to be barren whomever He wills” refer to God’s granting neither knowledge nor good works, as well as the interpretation of God’s command “to sacrifice a cow” with the statement that “each person’s cow” is himself, and God bids him to sacrifice it,”, and as will be seen below, God willing, in his interpretation of Prophetic hadiths – know that this is not a denial of the outward and apparent meaning of such texts. Rather, the apparent meaning of each verse is a product of the situation in response to which it was revealed, and the message it yields based on people’s customary use of the language. However, there are, in addition, hidden meanings of this or that verse or Hadith which are disclosed to these whose hearts God has opened. Accordingly, the Prophet (saw) declared, “Every verse has both an outward meaning and an inward meaning, a beginning and an end.”
Ibn Ata Illah further wrote: “It would indeed be a distortion if they were to say, “The verse (in question) has no other meaning.” However they have not said this. On the contrary, they acknowledge the outward meanings of texts as they relate to the topics which they deal with, while at the same time, they arrive at (inward) understandings which God has disclosed to them.”
Comment: One can see that for these people, there are two meanings of Allah’s speech, and the cow Musa (aley salam) ordered to kill was at same time a physical one and a metaphorical one. Also Allah meant same time son, daughter and same time knowledge and good works…the Ayat recited to the Prophet (saw) by Allah mean Ayat of the Quran, as well as Wali.
Now if a Batini comes and says that Lulu wal Marjan means Hasan and Husayn, as well as physical Lulu and Marjan, and Jibt wa Taghut they mean Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, as well as magic and Shaytan, then what is the difference between the two…
So anyone can see that there is no criterion of truth in these Tafsir, rather it is a Batini religion, doing Tahrif of Allah’s words, lying upon Allah…and playing with the religion…opening the door of Ilhad and Qaramitah…
Khurafat and fairy tales harming the creed of Islam
P 184, Ibn Ata Illah wrote:
“Shaykh Makin al-Din al-Asmar told me, “I once entered the mosque of the Prophet Daniel in Alexandria (in Al-Dimas), and as I came in, I found the prophet who was buried there, clothed in a striped outer garment and praying. He said to me, ‘Come pray in front of me.’’
Comment: The rest of the story is irrelevant; we see here clearly that for these Sufis the Prophets can come back in this world. And none of the Salaf never made such a claim.
P 184-185, ibn Ata Illah tells more Khurafat:
“Shaykh Makin al-Din al-Asmar also told me, “One Friday night I spent the night at the Qarafah Cemetery. When the (other) visitors rose, I rose with them. They were reciting the Qur’an, and they continued reciting until they reached Surah Yusuf, upon him be peace, and specifically, the verse in which God states, “Joseph’s brothers came.’ They concluded their visit with the tombs of Joseph’s brothers. When we got there, I saw a tomb split open, and out of it emerged a tall man with a spare beard, a small head and a dark complexion who said, ‘Who told you our story? That is exactly what happened to us!”
Comment: So the dead coming out of graves shows that these people are fooled by Jinns taking human forms, and if they recited Ayat ul Kursi or other, this would disappear.
P 244, ibn Ata Illah quotes from al-Mursi:
“In accordance with this same principle, it was God’s wise choice for Adam to eat of the tree after he was forbidden to do so in order that he might repent of what he had done and, in his way, become a model for all those who repent. God chose this for Adam in order that he might recognize God for His magnanimity and know that He is the Most Munificent of the munificent…In addition, Adam’s eating from the tree was intended to be the occasion of his descent (from paradise to Earth), just as this descent was intended to be the occasion of Adam’s becoming God’s vicegerent on Earth. This is why Shaykh Abu al-Hasan (may God be pleased with him) said, “What an auspicious act of disobedience it was which led (Adam’s) vicegerency.”
Comment: If Allah chose this for Adam, why is Adam to be told to have committed a sin, and he repented to Allah saying he has wronged his soul. Here these Sufis are denying fee will from human.
P 239 and after, ibn Ata Illah wrote:
“He also said (may God be pleased with him), “Birshr al-Hafi (may God be pleased with him) said, ‘For forty years I’ve craved grilled meat, but haven’t been able to afford it.”
In explanation of this statement, he said, “Anyone who thinks that this Shaykh went forty years without having enough money to buy some grilled meat is mistaken. After all, how did he obtain what he needed by way of food and clothing throughout those forty years? Rather, what this statement means is that the spiritual rank occupied by people of his type is such that they neither eat nor drink, nor enter into nor abandon anything without God’s permission and a sign. Hence, of God had given him permission to eat grilled meat, he would have been able to afford it.”
Comment: Allah has already given him permission to eat grill food by the Shari’ah of his last Prophet Muhammad (saw), the Prophet (saw) himself ate meat, the Sahabah ate meat…and here it is claimed that a Sufi does not have permission from Allah to eat that…And what about ‘Aqiqah and sacrifice of ‘Id and Hajj, did Allah also not want him to eat meat on these occasions?
P 273, ibn Ata illah quoted from Al-Mursi why Al-Qushayri in his Risalah first mentioned Ibrahim ibn Adham:
“The Shaykh replied, “The reason for this is that Ibrahim ibn Adham had been an earthly king; he woke up one morning still a king, and by noon he had become one of the greatest of saints. Hence, the author of the Risalah began with him in order to make it known that God’s grace is not based on human action.”
Comment: Allah said only the Muttaqun are his Awliya, and that after doing a lot of Nawafil, Allah becomes his eye by which he sees, meaning by His help…Is this in any Hadith that someone became one of the greatest saints in few hours? While for Déobandis, even a Kafir can become a Muslim and just after can be made from the greatest of saints. So it shows again that for the Sufis, the human free will is denied, he is like a leave of the tree and the wind brings it wherever it wants, and the person can wake up and become without action one of the greatest saint…
Ibn Ata illah wrote p 105:
“One of Shaykh Abu al-Hasan’s companions said to me, “The Shaykh said one night, ‘I met with al-Sharif al-Buni and Sharaf al-Din al-Majalli, who informed me that they had gone in to see a woman in western Alexandria. They said, “She told us to show her our hands, whereupon she smelled our hands and said, ‘Two righteous brothers.’ Then she told us, ‘In my experimental knowledge I reached the station of perplexity. Then I said: My God! How can Gnostics find their way out of perplexity? I have been told that it is through affirmation of the divine unity (Tawhid). Hence is there among you someone who knows this Tawhid by which Gnostics can find their way out of perplexity?’
We said to her, ‘We have only come in order to receive your blessing.’ Then Shaykh Abu al-Hasan (may God be pleased with him) said, ‘Verily, guide her to the one who himself is beleaguered. Verily guide her to the one who himself has been beleaguered!’ Then he turned in the direction in which the woman was located and said, “The Tawhid by which Gnostics find their way out of perplexity is (the words), ‘There is no god but He (la ilaha illa huwa). Gnostics emerge from perplexity by ‘There is no god but He (la ilaha illa huwa)’
One of the Shaykh’s companions rose the following and went to the woman. When he found her, she was saying, ‘My need has been met!’ Hence we knew that the Shaykh had provided her with spiritual sustenance at that very hour.”
Comment: What is this spiritual sustenance these Sufis masters sent to people? Khawarij and Qadiris started at the time of Sahabah, and did any of them send spiritual sustenance to anyone?
They could have said that she was confused in such matter, and Abul Hasan Ash-Shadhili sent her someone to explain her, no there is no need of this, just sent some spiritual sustenance…anf of course Sufis should justify this by the Quran and Sunnah…
Innovations
P 3: “My intention in writing this book has been to mention a number of virtues of our master and companion, the pole of Gnostics, the signpost of the rightly guided, the supreme apologist for Sufism, the travelers’ guide, the rescuer of the perishing, HE WHO BRINGS TOGETHER THE SCIENCE(S) OF NAMES, LETTERS AND CIRCLES, he who speaks by the light of his flawless spiritual insight into (people’s) secret thoughts, the “cave” of those with perfect certainty, the elite of those who have arrived, he who unveils the suns of knowledge after they have set ad the secrets of subtle intimations after they have departed, HE WHO HAS ARRIVED IN GOD and who assists others on doing the same: Shihab Al-Din, ie. Abu al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Umar Al-Ansari Al-Mursi.
Comment: One can see that Shadhilis are also involved in these kinds of secret religions, numbers and circles that is magic.
And what is funny is that in p 18, ibn ‘Ata Illah quoted the Hadith of the Prophet (saw) saying as translated in English: “I have left it white and pure”
Meaning the Prophet (saw) left the religion clear and pure its night like its day, and where did the noble Prophet (saw) taught these circles and numbers
P 17, ibn ‘Ata Illah dared to write: “There is nothing capable of drawing one nearer to God but he invited others to embrace it, no courtesy which it is fitting for the servant to observe with God but he urged others to adopt it, nothing which would distract God’s servant from Him but that he warned them against it, nor any action that would alienate them from God but that he drew them away from it”
So one can ask these Sufis: Does Allah have partners who have legislated a religion for which Allah did not give permission?
But these people have destroyed their intelligence in following such falsehood such as these secrets numbers and circles.
P 109 ibn Ata Illah wrote:
“Shaykh Abu al-Hasan (may God be pleased with him) said, “Once a companion of mine and I had repaired to a cave, seeking to reach God. We were saying, “Tomorrow He will open up (understanding) to us,’ and ‘the day after tomorrow He will open up (understanding) to us.’ A man with an awe-inspiring presence then came in to where we were and we said to him, “Who are you.” He replied, “I am the king’s slave.” From this we knew that he was a saint of God. “How are you?” we asked him. And he replied, “How is one who says, “Tomorrow He will open up (understanding) to us,’ and ‘the day after tomorrow He will open up (understanding) to us.’? For he enjoys neither friendship and protection from God, nor prosperity. O soul, why do you not worship God for Himself?” Realizing whence he had came, we repented to God and sought His forgiveness, after which He opened up our understanding to us.”
Comment: So one can see that Abul Hasan Al-Shadhili isolated in caves, and this is not the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw), neither the Sahabah, Tabi’is and others. Rather this is a pure Sufi innovation.
Praise of Sadr Al-Qunawi and Hakim At-Tirmidhi
P 113, it is written:
“When Shaykh Sadr al-Din Al-Qunawi came to Egypt as a messenger, he met with Shaykh Abu al-Hasan and spoke in his presence of many fields of knowledge. Shaykh Abu al-Hasan kept his head bowed until Shaykh Sadr al-Din had finished speaking. Then he raised his head and said, “Tell me, where is the pole of the era today? Who is his friend, and what are his fields of knowledge?”
Shaykh Sadr al-Din remained silent and gave no reply.”
P 131:
“He (Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas) and Shaykh Abu al-Hasan used to venerate the godly imam, Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Tirmidhi, whose words held the highest place in both of their hearts.”
P 144:
“This same Abu al-Hasan (Al-Jaziri) told me, “One night I was at the home of Shaykh Abu al-Hasan, and he was reading to us from the book Khatm al-Awliya by al-Tirmidhi Al-Hakim.”
Comment: al-Tirmidhi Al-Hakim has been expelled from his country and people called him a Zindiq because of his book “Khatm ul Wilayah”, and this book also talks about levels of saints, and that the earth is established by them, La Hawla wala Quwatta ila Billah
And Sadr ud Din Al-Qunawi was a clear caller to Wahdatul Wujud.
The creed of Muhammad Wafa and his son Ali Wafa
Muhammad Wafa is the fourth Fifth Imam of the Shadhili Tariqah and Ali Wafa is the sixth.
In his book “Sanctity and Mysticism in Medieval Egypt The Wafa Sufi order and the legacy of ibn ‘Arabi” Richard Mc Gregor showed the creed and writings of Muhammad Wafa and his son Ali Wafa.
He showed the criticism of Ibn Hajar on ‘Ali Wafa and his father:
Ibn Hajar said in “Inba al-ghumr bi anba al-‘umr” (2 : 308) said about ‘Ali Wafa: “His poetry cries out Ittihad (mystical union) to the point of heresy, and likewise the verse of his father”
Ibn ‘Iyas in his “Bada’i Az-Zuhur” p 6 and ibn ‘Imad in his “Shadharat Adh-Dhahab” 7/70 repeated ibn Hajar’s statement.
Comment: Mc Gregor translation Ittihad as mystical union, while for ibn Hajar, these Ittihad leads to heresy.
Ibn Hajar also said in the same page about Ali Wafa: “I met him, I reject his companions gesturing in prostration towards him”
Comment: So this is the state of this Shadhili Imam, his followers do Sajdah to him without any blame, and when ibn Hajar went to see Ali Wafa he witnessed this clear opposition to the Shari’ah. The Prophet (saw) clearly said that if prostrating to anyone was legal, he would order the women to prostrate to her husband, and the Prophet (saw) forbade anyone prostrating to him, but these Sufis do not care of the Shari’ah, they have their own Batini Shari’ah… Allah ul Musta’an.
Ali Wafa and clear Wahdatul Wujud
Ali Wafa wrote in Mafatih al-khazain al-‘aliyya (Dar al-Kutub; Tasawwuf 152; film 33564) 45a:
“He encompasses all, as if He were a sea and they (the entities) are His waves; that is, He is the reality of everything and the essence of everything, and everything is He Himself and His attribute.”
Ali Wafa wrote in Mafatih al-khazain al-‘aliyya 98a, 98 b:
“God is your existence with regard to your essence, while you are His existence with regard to His entity (‘ayn)…he is the essential Existence determined (specifically) in all existants. All things are His Attributes and Names…”
Ali Wafa wrote in Wasaya 101a:
“Your existence is your Lord by its lordship, and your God by its divinity, and your Merciful by its mercy. And the same is applicable by analogy to all meanings and attributes. Sometimes, (your existence) appears to you by virtue of those levels, or some of them in your perception, from a perceptive by which you see them as you; and thus you see it (the Lord, God etc) by them (lordship, divinity) (as) your existence. Sometimes (your existence appears) from a perspective by which you see them (lordship, divinity etc) as other than you; and thus you see it (the Lord, God etc) by them (lordship, divinity etc) (as) the existence of other than you. In reality it is only your existence, since existence –why, how or wherever it appears- only appears to you because it is your own existence. You do not grasp this nor anything else except by the fact that it is your existence which you have grasped.”
Comment: Ash-Sha’rani in his Tabaqat 2: 56 quoted the end of this quote:
“Existence –why, how or wherever it appears- only appears to you because it is your own existence. You do not grasp this nor anything else except by the fact that it is your existence which you have grasped”
Ash-Sha’rani also quoted 2: 32 about Ali Wafa:
“He said of the Hadith “I was an unknown treasure,” the meaning is the level of abstraction (Tajarrud). (The meaning of) “And I wanted to be known, so I created creation” is I ordained an elite, I made Myself known to them and guided them to all of it (ie the level of abstraction) by all of it (ie creation). “And by Me they know Me”, since I am the All”
Ash-Sha’rani further quoted 2: 33 about Ali Wafa:
“The elite (makhsus) of God is he who penetrates, in every way, both His secret and what is commonly known of Him. None but God encompasses him, and none but he encompasses God. However, the non-elite are fettered to things like the world, heaven, the intermediary world, hell, and the afterlife”
Ali Wafa said in as in “Wasaya Sayidi ‘Ali Wafa” 3b:
“You are in the form in which you see your teacher, so see what you want. If you see him as creation, then you are “a creation.” If you witness him as truth, then you are a “truth”. God said, “I am according to My servant’s opinion of Me, so he thinks of me as he wills.”
Comment: so according to this, if someone wants to witness his teacher as Allah, then he can witness his teacher as Allah since Allah is according to the opinion of his slave. What misguidance is greater than this?
The Wafas and Unity of religions
Ali Wafa said as quoted in Tabaqat of Sha’rani 2: 51:
“Every seeker simply seeks al-Haqq; sometimes he reaches that object in truth, so he worships Him by an unveiling, and sometimes he reaches it by imagination (only), so he worships Him through a veil. Thus no worshiper truly worships except God (Himself)”
Comment: Ibn Arabi also said that only Allah is worship as Allah decreed not to worship but Him, and he explained that the lower category restrict with their imagination worship to stones, trees and they worship others to get close to Allah and the second higher category does not restrict and they say all is a manifestation of Allah.
Muhammad Wafa wrote in his “Sha’air al-‘irfan” Al-Maktabah Al-Azhariyah 142b:
“Forgiveness and unbelief are both from the veil (of self-disclosure); yet there is a difference between them since unbelief is the hiding of al-Haqq by creation, and asking forgiveness is the hiding of creation by al-Haqq.”
Comment: like ibn ‘Arabi, for these Sufis Kufr is only a veil, by which Kufar are veiled and restrict divinity to some and the real Muwahid for these people is the one who does not restrict divinity but says it is all Allah. Na’uzu Billah min zalik.
Shi’i influence on Ali Wafa
Mc Gregor quoted some clear sayings of Ali Wafa similar to Shi’ah p 144-145, and some of Ali Wafa’s saying shows he considers Ali ibn Abi Talib as higher than Abu Bakr.
Ali Wafa said in his “Mafatih al-khazain al-aliyya 11b:
“In the Hadith (it is said) “Abu Bakr is from me at the station of hearing, and ‘Umar at the station of seeing.” He (Muhammad) accepted from ‘Uthman the pledge of allegiance by his noble hand. He said, “By God, this is the hand of ‘Uthman.” So ‘Uthman is of him at the station of the hand. He (Muhammad) said, “Nothing is said on my behalf, save by me or ‘Ali” for ‘Ali is his tongue, and the tongue is the elite station for a speaker. Thus said ‘Ali, “I am the greatest of the upright (Siddiq)” that is, he who is truthful to the Muhammadan Truth; “and none says this after me except a liar”
The Hadith “Nothing is said on my behalf, save by me or ‘Ali” can be found in the Shi’ah book “Bihar ul Anwar” 38: 268, 239, 254 complied by Muhammad Baqir Al-Majlisi (d 1699 or 1700) as said by Mc Gregor.
Also Sha’rani quoted that Ali Wafa said in his “Tabaqat Al-Kubra” vol 2 p 43:
“Verily ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib was raised as Jesus was raised, and likewise he will descend as Jesus will. And I (Al-Sha’rani) have said on this matter: ‘Ali al-Khawwas (d after 941/1543) said, “Verily, Noah preserved from the Ark a plank with the name ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib on it, riding upon it to heaven. It remains preserved in the Chest of power until ‘Ali is raised.” God knows best of all this”
Also Ali Wafa said in his “Wasaya” 12a:
“This is the return (raja’a) by which are awaited the likenesses of Jesus and ‘Ali”
Comment: All of this clearly shows that Ali Wafa believed in the Shi’a doctrine of Raja, and this is quoted from his own book and Ash-Sha’rani also quoted the same. So anyone can see the influence of Shia and Batiniyah upon the Shadhiliyah.
The creed of Muhammad Wafa on the pole (Qutb) and Insan Kamil
Mc Gregor wrote p 106:
The Muhammadan reality and the Pole
Central to the philosophy of ibn ‘Arabi was the central position of the prophet Muhammad. In his cosmic function, the Prophet operated essentially as the First intellect, that is, the first in creation, from which all else is derived. Ibn ‘Arabi himself equates this First Intellect with the Muhammadan reality (haqiqa Muhammadiyya)…Muhammad Wafa, in his won writing, does not deal with the term haqiqa Muhammadiyya directly; however, he does seem to apply the equivalent concept to his own person. He recounts:
“Al-Haqq said to me, ‘You are the elite, to you is the measure (Miqdar) of all things, yet you have none with Me; for none contains Me other than you, since there is nothing like you. You are the source of My Truth (in creation) and everything is a metaphor (Majaz) for you. I am present in the truth and absent in the metaphor.” (Sha’rani “Tabaqat Al-Kubra” 2: 22)
Mc Gregor showed Muhammad Wafa’s view on the pole (Qutb) in “Nafais Al-‘Irfan” Dar ul Kutub 5b:
“In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate. “There is nothing like Him; He is the All-hearing and All-seeing” (Q 42 : 11). In Him are the pole, the imam, the succour (ghawth), the solitary (fard), the khalifa, and the verifier (muhaqiq). Those beneath, like the pegs (awtad) and the substitutes (abdal), the nobles (nujaba) and otherd, exceed in numbers, and they persist in secrets”
In “Nafais Al-‘Irfan” Dar ul Kutub 25a:
“The heart of the pole is the Greatest Name of God; and His face (Correction: it should be: his face, meaning of the pole) is His most noble Essence, by which is established creation and (divine) Command, and it (the heart of the pole) is the axis of the secret and notoriety. “And all of the hearts of humanity are between two of His fingers, like one heart”. They are His speaking tongues and His truthful words and His rending and repairing pens.”
Mc Gregor further quoted Muhammad Wafa’s view on the “Insan Kamil” (perfect human), in “Nafais Al-‘Irfan” Al-Maktabah Al-Azhariyah 73b:
“That which is described by the Attributes of the Essence is the Greatest Name in the horizon of the Beautiful Names. It is the loftiest likeness in the world of Jabarut, the prior (Sabiq) and the eternal (Qayum) in the world of Awe. It is the encompassing spirit in the world of command, which is the holy spirit in the world of Malakut and the originating (Wadi’) reality in the world of creation. The perfect human being is the effuser of forms (Fayadh Suwar) in the world of becoming. “And to Him all matters return.” (Q 11: 123)”
And this is for Mc Gregor’s quote. Now to understand what “Insan Kamil” means for the Sufis let’s read the book “Insan Kamil” of Abdul Karim Al-Jili, chapter 60, as translated by Nicholson in his book “Studies in Islamic Mysticism”
“The Perfect Man is the Quṭb (axis) on which the spheres of existence revolve from first to last, and since things came into being he is one (wáḥid) for ever and ever. He hath various guises and appears in diverse bodily tabernacles (kaná’is): in respect of some of these his name is given to him, while in respect of others it is not given to him. His own original name is Mohammed, his name of honour Abú ’l-Qásim, his description ‘Abdullah , and his title Shamsu’ddín. In every age he bears a name suitable to his guise (libás) in that age. I once met him in the form of my Shaykh, Sharafu’ddín Ismá‘íl al-Jabartí, but I did not know that he (the Shaykh) was the Prophet, although I knew that he (the Prophet) was the Shaykh. This was one of the visions in which I beheld him at Zabíd in A.H. 796. The real meaning of this matter is that the Prophet has the power of assuming every form. When the adept (adíb) sees him in the form of Mohammed which he wore during his life, he names him by that name, but when he sees him in another form and knows him to be Mohammed, he names him by the name of the form in which he appears. The name Mohammed is not applied except to the Idea of Mohammed (al-Ḥaqíqatu ’l-Muḥammadiyya). Thus, when he appeared in the form of Shiblí, Shiblí said to his disciple, “Bear witness that I am the Apostle of God”; and the disciple, being one of the illuminated, recognised the Prophet and said, “I bear witness that thou art the Apostle of God.” No objection can be taken to this: it is like what happens when a dreamer sees some one in the form of another; but there is a difference between dreaming and mystical revelation, viz., that the name of the form in which Mohammed appears to the dreamer is not bestowed in hours of waking upon the Ḥaqíqatu ’l-Muḥammadiyya, because interpretation is applicable to the World of Similitudes: accordingly, when the dreamer wakes he interprets the ḥaqíqa of Mohammed as being the ḥaqíqa of the dream-form. In mystical revelation it is otherwise, for if you perceive mystically that the ḥaqíqa of Mohammed is displayed in any human form, you must bestow upon the ḥaqíqa of Mohammed the name of that form and regard its owner with no less reverence than you would show to our Lord Mohammed, and after having seen him therein you may not behave towards it in the same manner as before. Do not imagine that my words contain any tincture of the doctrine of metempsychosis. God forbid! I mean that the Prophet is able to assume whatever form he wishes, and the Sunna declares that in every age he assumes the form of the most perfect men, in order to exalt their dignity and correct their deviation (from the truth): they are his vicegerents outwardly, and he is their spiritual essence (ḥaqíqa) inwardly.
The Perfect Man in himself stands over against all the individualisations of existence. With his spirituality he stands over against the higher individualisations, with his corporeality over against the lower. His heart stands over against the Throne of God (al-‘Arsh), his mind over against the Pen (al-Qalam), his soul over against the Guarded Tablet (al-Lawḥu ’l-maḥfúẓ), his nature over against the elements, his capability (of receiving forms) over against matter (hayúlá).…He stands over against the angels with his good thoughts, over against the genies and devils with the doubts which beset him, over against the beasts with his animality. …To every type of existence he furnishes from himself an anti-type. We have already explained that every one of the Cherubim is created from an analogous faculty of the Perfect Man. It only remains to speak of his correspondence with the Divine names and attributes.
You must know that the Perfect Man is a copy (nuskha) of God, according to the saying of the Prophet, “God created Adam in the image of the Merciful,” and in another ḥadíth, “God created Adam in His own image.” That is so, because God is Living, Knowing, Mighty, Willing, Hearing, Seeing, and Speaking, and Man too is all these. Then he confronts the Divine huwiyya with his huwiyya, the Divine aniyya with his aniyya, and the Divine dhát (essence) with his dhát—he is the whole against the whole, the universal against the universal, the particular against the particular.… Further, you must know that the Essential names and the Divine attributes belong to the Perfect Man by fundamental and sovereign right in virtue of a necessity inherent in his essence, for it is he whose “truth” (ḥaqíqa) is signified by those expressions and whose spirituality (laṭífa) is indicated by those symbols: they have no subject in existence (whereto they should be attached) except the Perfect Man. As a mirror in which a person sees the form of himself and cannot see it without the mirror, such is the relation of God to the Perfect Man, who cannot possibly see his own form but in the mirror of the name Allah; and he is also a mirror to God, for God laid upon Himself the necessity that His names and attributes should not be seen save in the Perfect Man. This obligation to display the Divine attributes is the “trust” (amána) which God offered to the heavens and the earth: they were afraid to accept it, “but Man accepted it; verily he is unjust and ignorant” (Kor. 33, 72), i.e., unjust to his own soul in letting it suffer degradation (from the things of this world) and ignorant of his real worth, because he is unaware of that with which he has been entrusted.…Beyond the plane of the Names and Attributes, which are ranged on the right and left of him according to their kind, the Perfect Man feels through his whole being ” a pervasive delight, which is named the delight of the Godhead” (ladhdhatu ’l-iláhiyya).…Here he is independent of his modes, i.e., the Names and Attributes, and regards them not at all. He knows nothing in existence save his own nature (huwiyya), contemplates the emanation (ṣudúr) from himself of all that exists, and beholds the Many in his essence, even as ordinary men are conscious of their own thoughts and qualities; but the Perfect Man is able to keep every thought, great or small, far from himself: his power over things does not proceed from any secondary cause but is exercised freely, like other men’s power of speaking, eating, and drinking.”
End of the translation of “Insan Kamil” of Al-Jili by Nicholson.
Neoplatonic influence on Muhammad Wafa
Mc Gregor wrote: “From there Muhammad Wafa goes on to restate the creative descent according to a Neoplatonic model. Here the first intellect is described as engendering the souls and intellects within the absolute Soul, or the spiritual world, giving rise to creation in all its varieties.”
Then Mc Gregor quoted a long quote of Muhammad Wafa about creation of the universe, and I will just quote this without comments of Mc Gregor. Muhammad Wafa said in his “Nafais al-‘irfan” Maktabah Al-Azhariyyah 100a:
“If this is understood, then we say, according to similitude, that the First Intellect as the first fatherhood originates intellects and souls in the absolute Soul. Each of these (intellects and souls) is an absolute in itself, and the encompassing of their species and genera is like the seed of the plants. If it brings out its branches, leaves and fruit, then its particular form appears in its very fruit, which is its unique and ultimate level. When the fruit of the whole is the children of Adam, all of them (the fruits) are based upon intellect and soul, being the fruit of diversity. And the fathers and mothers which were from the divine Self-disclosure are the creators and originators. Every tree is (from) a seed of their fruit, a root of their tree. Thus, the world occurred in its form with innumerable faces, and inexhaustible (divine) help. So each intellect judges the world by the form which has occurred in it, like…the viewpoints of the creeds and the sects according to the differences of their conceptions. In various spheres and horizons, each (sect) knows its own salat and praise, but the perfect intellect is the seed of the fruit encompassing tree of all roots and divisions. Vision does not know this face (of the perfect intellect), yet it knows all visions. As is said; “It is not He who encompasses all things “(Q 41: 54).”
Comment: anyone can see that Muhammad Wafa believes like philosophers that creation came through ‘Aql Awwal, also ‘Aql Kamil plays a role. So even a Kafir admit that these Sufis have influence of neo-platonists like ibn Sina and others.
Also Muhammad Wafa also talks about Rational faculty (Al-Quwwah An-Natiqah) and common intellect (Al-‘Aql Al-Mushtarak), in “Kitab al-azal” 60:
“The possible is divided into the visible (mulki) and the invisible (malakuti) realms. This visible is divided into six parts: the five senses and the “common sense”. The invisible is divided into six parts: estimation, imagination, preserving, remembering, reflection and the “common intellect”. The “common intellect” is the link between the invisible and the Jabarut.
Know that the five senses, along with the “common sense” are the six days in which God made creation. They are unknown as “days” because they are the lights of elucidation, the clarification of vagueness and the revealing of the unseen. They are the keys to the heavens and earth. This seeing (basar) is the key to the treasure-house of visible things, and their light and elucidation. And (so are) hearing…smelling…tasting…touching. The “common sense” is all of these things, their presence and preservation, in the state of the absence of their original sources. Imagination is their treasure-house and the utmost occasion of their pure form. This is the clear horizon, and the furthest Lote-tree. Thus the invisible lights (of the unseen world) are face to face with these visible lights. These twelve lights are the realities of the preparedness of the tablet. All of its levels are accepting of the emanated forms from the Pen. This is the “rational faculty”. God has elucidated this in the transcript that is humanity. So he who knows himself knows his Lord. He is the throne under which is found the likeness of all things.”
Comment: So one can see that like the Batini philosophers they make Taweel of the Qalam, Lote-tree, the six days of creation…They speak of imaginary worlds and the common intellect is the link between these worlds and other falsehood.
The Wafa and their belief in seal of Awliya
Muhammad Wafa said in Nafasi al-‘Irfan, Al-Maktabat al-Azhariyya 92b, 93a:
“The words complete in justice and sincerity are the beauty of the word of the Spirit in the world of Jabarut; and the word of Gabriel is in the world of Malakut, and the word of Adam is in the world of Mulk, and the word of Jesus is in the world of Prophethoods, and the word of Muhammad is in the messengerhoods, but the unifying word of words is that of the Seal of sainthoods from the illiterate community, who ascertains God by divine Secrets. “And to Him return all things, so worship Him and put your trust in Him.” (Q 11: 123)
Comment: So Muhammad Wafa believes in the saints having a seal, like Hakim At-Tirmidhi and Ibn ‘Arabi. And ibn ‘Arabi believes that all Prophets take from the niche of this Seal of saints. Muhammad Wafa said that the Seal of saints has words unifying all words (Kalimah Al-Jami’ah li Kalimat).
Muhammad Wafa said in Nafasi al-‘Irfan, Al-Maktabat al-Azhariyya 71a, 71b:
“When there were seven days, God struck a similitude of the Seven oft-repeated which are the Self-disclosures of the Attributes of the Essence. These are Life, Knowledge, Power, Will, Hearing, Seeing and Speaking. Then (He struck) the great Quran and the Self-disclosure of the Essence, to which refer all the Names and Attributes. Then the eight throne-bearers descended…to the seven heavenly received commands…and descended in (the mission of) Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Sulaiman, and Jesus. (The throne bearers) then appeared in Muhammad, and he is the heir “day of Assembly” and the arrangement of the affair. Then they turned towards the ummi community and the Ahmadi milla, by virtue if the tradition, “God dispatches at the start of every century a man by whom He renews the religion of this community.” This is the reality of the polehood, up to (the year) 800. The uniting eight appears as…the seal of the Seven oft-repeated, the organizer of their realities among both concrete and abstract things, from the ummi community and the Muhammadan Ahmadi milla. (This unifying eight, being himself) the great Qur’an, (is known) as “In the Name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate.” And “this is the Day of assembly of which there is no doubt” (Q 42: 7) or denial. “This is the day for which mankind is gathered together. That will be a day of Testimony.” (Q 11: 103)
Comment: Muahmmad Wafa is saying that the reviver of the eight century, meaning the pole of this century, will be their seal, like the Prophet (saw) completed the 7 Prophets Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Sulaiman, and Jesus, so he is the seal of Messengers and Prophets, and likewise the pole of the eight century will be the seal of sainthood. See also Wafa’s Tahrif of the Quran as he says that the seven oft-repeated that are in fact the seven Ayat of Surah Al-Fatihah, means that the seven poles will be sealed by the eight pole. And see also how he uses verses of the Quran dealing with resurrection to hint at the arrival of their eight pole, for Wafa, the appearance of this Seal of saints will be the day of gathering and witness meant in these verses of the Quran.
Muhammad Wafa said in Nafasi al-‘Irfan, Al-Maktabat al-Azhariyya 82b:
“The abode of each tiding: since what is announced is fixed, then Noah is the abode of what Adam announced; and Abraham is the abode of what Noah announced; and Moses is the abode of what Abraham announced; and Jesus is the abode of what Moses announced; but Muhammad is the abode of them all. Likewise the men dispatched at the start of each century, who are the abodes of the Muhammadan tidings. The master of the eighth time is the Seal of the age, and the source of total union, the abode of the Great Tiding (cf Q 38:67), which is called “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.”
Comment: so Muhammad Wafa is saying that the Seal of the saints will come in the eight century.
Ali Wafa said in his “Mafatih al-Khaza’in al-aliyya” 43 b:
“Since the quality of the ninth sphere is inseparable from the esoteric of the quality of the eighth sphere, then Muhammad, the Seal of prophethoods, reaches the (position of) opener of sainthoods, announcing the immutable Verification. His time contains what all earlier times contain, for the learned of his community are like the prophets of other times.”
Comment: So Ali Wafa like ibn Arabi considers that the level of Prophethood will still carry on, as the learned of this community are like Prophets before.
Ali Wafa wrote in the same place after:
“God raises at the start of each century one who renews for this community its religion.” Understand, each century a pole comes down with a quality appropriate to the predisposition of the people of his time. It is known thereby that the poles are equivalent to the “holders of resolutions,” and that they (the poles) are their (the Prophets’) inheritors. The first (pole) corresponds to Adam and was sent down on the day of the Farewell pilgrimage; for time on (that) day turned back to a situation (like that of the) day God created the heavens and the earth. And the master of the second century is on the heart of Noah…and likewise (are the poles) from one-hundred to eight-hundred years, until the Muhammadan pole, the Seal of the saints…the teacher Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (d 658) was the pole of the seventh time; and the great completing speaker came down as the Seal of sainthoods in the eight time.”
Comment: So for Ali Wafa, the first pole was Ali ibn Abi Talib and he was the inheritor of Nuh (aley salam), and the reference of Farewell Hajj is to the event of Ghaddir Al-Khumm as pointed as by Mc Gregor, and Shi’ah made it clear that ‘Ali was appointed here at his successor, and Ali Wafa said he was appointed then as the first pole, so one can see the similarities. Also Ali Wafa considers the poles as being like holders or resolution, meaning Ulul ‘Azm.
Moreover Ali Wafa considers the seal of the saints as greater to Abu al-Hasan Ash-Shadhili.
Ali Wafa said in his “Mafatih al-Khaza’in al-aliyya” 5 b:
“God raises, at the start of every one-hundred years, a man by whom He renews this religion.” This man is the pole. We also read in the Hadith that, “God places each saint upon the heart of a prophet.” The “holders of resolution” are the poles of the prophets, and they are seven, with Muhammad as their seals, the eight. As for the poles of the saints, the eight is their Seal, and is upon the heart of the Seal of prophets.”
Comment: So one can see that with this fabricated Hadith, these misguided Sufis put Awliya’s hearts upon hearts of Prophets, so for them Prophethood carries on, only the name of it is changed, else its level is the same, except for bringing new laws.
Then Ali Wafa declared himself to be this Seal of saints as in “Wasaya” 75b, and Ash-sha’rani also quoted this in his “Tabaqat” 2: 52:
“I received an inspiration (Ilham) in the year 799 AH, which was not from my imagination, which said, “O Ali, We have chosen you to resurrect the souls from the tombs of their bodies. If We have commanded you, then take heed!””
Comment: so Ali Wafa claims he will be the Seal of saints who is to come in the eight century.
Belief in Sahib uz Zaman and Sahib ul Waqt
Ali Wafa also speaks about a Sahib Zaman (Lord of time) and Sahib ul Waqt, and ibn ‘Arabi and Deobandi also believe in Ibn ul Waqt or Abu Al-Waqt, a special Sufi…
Ali Wafa wrote in Wasaya 24b:
“The first intellect is the Rational faculty of the Lord of time. The effusor of the forms (of creation) is his sensory spirit. The rest of the (lower levels) are to be similarly understood.”
Ali Wafa wrote in Wasaya 48a:
“The Lord of each Time is to his people a self-disclosure of their encompassing existence by the entity that is the discerning truth…He is in his essence (bi-‘aynihi) their Necessary, and they his possibilities…The lord of each time is greater than what was self-disclosed to the Lord of Time before him…thus one is prostrated to by the people of his time, yet he in turn prostrates to the Lord of Time who is after him.”
Ali Wafa further describes this Sahib ul Waqt (Master of Time) and his Faydh (effusion) in Wasaya 50b, 51a:
“Know that the Heralding Reality in each age is the Master of its/his Time. “Say: My way is to supplicate to God in sureness; I and those who follow me.” (Q 12: 108). Its mark is that their elucidations and their accounts are by his unveiling and elucidation. He is distinguished from them by the fact that they have no way to it without His aid and Effusion.”
Ruh As-Siyadah manifested in Al-Khidr and the angel that came to Maryam for Ali Wafa
Ali Wafa wrote in mafatih al-khazain al-aliyya 17b:
“Know that al-Khadir is the manifestation of what is hidden in the Trust of Moses, from the Spirit of Lordship. Therefore, his (al-Khadir)’s external (acting) by which he manifested himself, was interpreted (in the Qur’an) as belonging to the “footsteps” of Moses and his attendant (Q 18: 64), while (al-Khadir’s inner reality) is his being “one of the servants” of the essential Secret of unification and of the blessing of Nearness. (Q 18: 65)”
Ali Wafa wrote in mafatih al-khazain al-aliyya 17b:
“The Praiseworthy, Independent Haqq, disclosing Himself by this al-Khadir to Moses and his attendant as He manifested Himself through His Spirit, sending it down to Mary as a well-formed man, said, “They (Moses and the attendant) returned along their footsteps” to its (the spirit’s) manifestation, by which He (had) manifested to her, so they would perceive him (as she did), by their bodily senses, as a well-formed man: “So they found one of Our servants” (ie al-khadir) (Q 18: 65).”
Ali Wafa wrote in mafatih al-khazain al-aliyya 18a, 18b:
“When (Moses) following (of al-Khadir) ceased with “the interpretation of that for which you were not able to have patience” (Q 18: 78) from the governing of supremacy, because he (Moses) was at the level of the Trust, he (al-Khadir) explained to him the (significance of the) events. The latter continued to unveil from the face of supremacy veils by his speech, “I wanted” (Q 18:79) and “You made holes” (Q 18: 71). Then he said “We feared” (Q 18: 80) and “We wanted” (18: 81), so that the secret from its husk appeared to him (Moses) by his (al-Khadir) saying “Your Lord wanted that they should reach maturity and get their treasure out (from under the Wall); a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it on my own accord” (Q 18: 82). Then it (the Spirit) informed him, as it appeared to him, by (the way he) put what he had done as coming by his own accord and none other. By this it was known that this manifestation (of the Spirit) is the “interpretation of that for which you (Moses) were not able”-when it self-disclosed upon the mountain-“to bear” (Q 18: 78)”
Ali Wafa wrote in mafatih al-khazain al-aliyya 18b:
“Likewise, the Spirit of the esoteric dominion of Jesus’s Trust manifested to Mary as a well-formed man, saying according to its personification, “I am a messenger from your Lord; to you will be the gift of the holy son” (Q 19: 19). And He made him a sign to the people and a blessing from Him (cf Q 19: 21). This was a completed matter when he unveiled for her the face of the Creator by saying “So (it will be). Your Lord has said “For Me that is easy.”” (Q 19: 21)
Comment: So for Ali Wafa, there is a Ruh of Syadah (spirit of Lordship) which is the manifestation of Allah, and this Ruh appeared to Musa on the mount Tur, but he could not recognize it, same al-Khidr was a manifestation of this Ruh, and this Ruh also manifested to Maryam. So for Ali Wafa, Allah Himself appeared in this Angel and in Al-Khidr.
May Allah send Salah and Salam on the Prophet (saw), his family, comapnions and those who follow them
Complied by Ali Hassan Khan