The Reality of Revelation

Islam is founded upon submission, the submission that is based on knowledge and certainty. The constant determining factor that keeps all particles in balance on the plane of existence is the law of submission. They all submit to an innate knowledge and are governed by the laws of existence. So too is the human being, who is able to cognize the source of the innate knowledge within. This cognition causes the dynamic evolution and revolution that takes place from the core of the believer’s heart, where all boundaries of separation cease to exit. In this truthfulness, the believer attests to the oneness of Existence.1

The submission in Islam is not to an unknown God. How can one submit to an unknown god? Blind faith is a result of submitting to a god formulated in people’s imaginations. It is not the God of whom prophets have spoken. In Sura Baqara of the Holy Qur’an (2:2-3), it is stated that it is a Book for those "who believe in the Unseen." The "Unseen" has been taken to mean that it is beyond human capacity to know God, therefore one must accept blindly or on "faith". How much certainty is there in a faith whose only foundation is what someone else has told you? Faith must be based on certainty which comes from direct cognition or knowing.2

Mola Amir al-Mo’menin Ali (pbuh), has said: "Faith is manifested in the heart as a ray of light, and as faith increases, the light spreads."

The Holy Qur’an states:

يوم ترى المؤمنين و المؤمنات يسعى نورهم بين أيديهم...

One Day shalt thou see the believing men and the believing women- how their Light runs forward before them …. (57:12)

It is recorded that: "The devout Za’lab Yamani asked Amir al-Mo’menin Ali (peace be upon him): ‘Have you seen God?’ He replied: ‘Would I worship a God whom I have not seen?’ Yamani then asked: ‘How have you seen Him?’ He said: ‘He is not visible to the eye, whereas the heart beholds Him with the reality of faith.’ However, seeing is witnessing of the eye and at times it is applied to the inner faculties and the heart. But absolute vision is when knowledge is unveiled to the heart at three levels, the elevated wisdom, the moderate wisdom, and the inferior wisdom."3

Existence is vast and infinite, and human being is a true unit of Existence. Therefore, his abilities and capabilities are vast and unlimited too. To attain the state of "hearing" and "seeing", one must be elevated from the lowest state of his existence, which is the physical level , to his most elevated state, which is called "adamiyyat" (the rank of Adam) – the chosen of Creation – as created in the image of God.4

As it has been recorded in the Sacred Hadith: "The earth and the skies cannot contain Me, but the heart of My pious and virtuous servant is able to behold Me. "

Islam is a religion of knowledge which has been revealed and entrusted to its keepers through time. The prophets, saints, and the enlightened are example of this ascendance.

Every human being should become in harmony and on the same frequency so that one can discover the reality of "seeing" and "hearing." For this to take place, the seeker needs a teacher. The Teacher, called Arif, is the patient guide to spiritual ascension. The Teacher is called "The Light of the Path," for he illuminates the darkness to help seekers to find their truth.5

Safieddin Ardebili, the renowned 14th century Sufi, said: "One must know that without being in the company of the men of God the veil shall not lift from the heart of the salik (the true seeker). The one who goes on this journey on his own will drown in the mirage of the self. The body is nourished from the elements and the soul is nourished in hearing the words and heeding the guidance of the enlightened ones."6

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1. Nader ANGHA, Theory "I", M.T.O. Publication, Riverside, CA, USA, 2002, p. 166
2. Nader ANGHA, Hazrat Salaheddin Ali, Sufism The Reality of Religion, M.T.O. Shahmaghsoudi Publication, Washington D.C., USA, 2002, p.51
3. Sadegh ANGHA, Hazrat Shah Maghsoud, Al-Rasa'el, University Press of America, Lanham, 1986, pp. 38-39
4. Nader ANGHA, Hazrat Salaheddin Ali, Sufism The Reality of Religion, M.T.O. Shahmaghsoudi Publication, Washington D.C., USA, 2002, p.48
5. Theory "I", p. 145
6. Al-Rasa'el, p.91

Quran