Question:

Assalamualikum Ya Sayyidi Mawlana Shaykh Hisham(qs)
and Shaykh Gibril,

Pls advise what in page 13 of Mercy of Oceans part -1 .
An elderly person 70+ (named [private]) from Pakistan attacking and telling that he found “shirk“( as per his understandings) ,we nouzubil lah…I advise him to go to Cyprus and meet Mawlana (qs) and better understand from Mawlana(qs) or discuss with Mawlana Iliyas Attari (qs) or Peer Syed Irfan Shah Mashadi(qs)..because it is highly spiritual matters and NOT easily can understand for layman…but he ignored…one of mureed of Mawlana(qs) from Sri Lanka told him that this “maturidi” position what Mawlana told in that page….also we do not found any respect from him about awliya allah like Mawlana Shaykh Nazim(qs)….though he claim himself as Sunni, Razvi, Qadiri…..etc..

Allah Hafez,

Answer:

wa `alaykum salam,

Excerpt from “Mercy Oceans” Volume I, pg. 13:

“Allah Almighty is greatest. He is timeless, ever ready, without beginning. He is king. And yet you cannot find a king without a kingdom. Without subjects his kingship has no meaning. Just as there can be no meaning for a prophet without an ummah (nation). Therefore, Allah was ready without beginning, and his servants also were ready without beginning. If there were no people, to whom was He Allah? Was it to Himself? No! A hadith relates: “I was a hidden treasure and wanted to be known.” His people were part of this treasure. He is God to His people, and to each of them He gave a private station in His Divine Presence. There we are always worshipping without need of eating, drinking, or marrying.

“It is a reward for the sons of Adam (peace be upon him). These heavenly stations are fixed. When people come to this world, they have the appearance of beginning, but in reality they were with Allah always, without beginning. We come from Allah and return to Him. You cannot say that we are a part of Him. We are only an appearance of His Power – no more. He says, “Kun fa yakun!” (“BE – and it is.”) Thus, we have our realities in His Divine Presence. Now, in this world, we have only a representation of that reality. This body, and all things of this world, have their origin in the reality of the Divine Presence. We are like a photograph. We, ourselves, are not on the paper, only an image. A rocket is sent into space. Is the power that sent it here on earth or there with the rocket? The power is here, though we may see that rocket going back and forth, seemingly on its own.”

——————-

The “without beginning” of Allah Most High is absolute and applies only to Him, whereas the “without beginning of creatures” here is by definition relative, since they are created. It is like saying that in relation to our knowledge, the knowledge of the Holy Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) is like an ocean without shore and ours is a drop in it; yet in relation to the Divine knowledge his knowledge is a drop in another ocean without shore.

Similarly the “with Allah” of creatures is not the same as His Own uncreated Divine Attributes. So even if the same terms may be used, still we have to make a difference in our understanding. As Mawlana always says, Rabb is Rabb, and makhluq is makhluq; the two can never be the same.

However, Mawlana wishes to draw attention to the relationship of “king” to “subjects”, i.e. Rabb and marbub, and he is indicating that that relationship predates the appearance of subjects in creation and goes back to the creation of souls in a time that may be described as outside time. That is the meaning of his suggestion that subjects are intrinsinc to kingship although of course Allah is King in absolute terms even without subjects, worshipped even before the existence of worshippers, Raziq even without marzuq etc. Cf. at-Tahawi, `Aqida §15: “To Him belonged the meaning of Lordship [even] when there was nothing to be lorded over.”

The speech of Awliya is like poetry and contains motivation and emotion. Mathnawi for example is not meant as a textbook of creed or fiqh. Otherwise the reader might fall into the same mistake as those who criticized Rabia al-Adawiyya, Abu Yazid al-Bistami, Mawlana Rumi and other greats for saying supposedly incorrect statements when they are only motivating us to love Allah and His Prophet (upon him blessings and peace).

And Allah knows best.

Hajj Gibril Haddad