The Names of Allah: Chapter 2

Ma’rifa Chapter 2

[The Following Article is written by an honorary and knowledgeable brother, ‘Abd al-Wali]

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

[Bihar al-Anwar, volume 91]

Imam ‘Ali (upon him be peace) said:

"...Do not make me, O’ my God, one who worships the name without the meaning..."

الإمام عليّ عليه السّلام: 

لا تَجْعَلْنِي يَا إِلَهِي مِمَن يَعْبُدُ الاِسْمَ دُونَ المَعْنَى...

بحار الأنوار ج91

The question that this invocation of our Master (peace be upon him) raises is what is worshipped in the worship of Allah, the Exalted.

Shaykh al-Kulayni (may God have mercy on him) relates several hadiths on this subject in a chapter of his Book of Oneness entitled "what is worshipped?"

Here is the first of them, from Abu Abdullah al-Sadiq (peace be upon him):

"Whoever worships God while being half certain, or less than that, of His Existence has truly disbelieved.

Whoever worships the Names without their Meaning has also disbelieved.

Whoever worships both the Names and the Meaning has truly associated.

Who, on the other hand, worships exclusively the Meaning, understanding that the Names only convey the Attributes that He has attributed to Himself, is among those who have firmly clung to this in their hearts and have testified with their tongues both in private and in public. They are certainly the Friends of the Prince of the Believers. (And according to another version: "They are certainly the true believers")"

How do we understand these venerable words?

An unlimited amount of comments could be produced that would not exhaust the richness of these few words.

“And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted…” (31:27)

Your humble servant will therefore limit himself to giving a few brief comments without pretending to do anything other than try to deliver some elements of understanding that he deems relevant to feed the reflection of whoever finds something useful in them.

God is the Hidden (al-Batin) and the Apparent (al-Zahir), since He is at the same time totally foreign to His creation, and therefore to the senses; and made manifest by it, through the harmony that reflects to the eyes of the man of Intellect the whole of the divine qualities and perfections.

At the same time, He is the One (al-Ahad) and the Unique (al-Wahid), that is to say, on the one hand, the synthesis of these qualities and perfections (what we are accustomed to call the Being, al-Wujud) and, on the other hand, everything other than these qualities and perfections in their own singularity.

Now, if the teaching of the infallibles (peace be upon them) seems to distinguish between these two "aspects" in God, it professes at the same time the Oneness of God, who has no associates, for there are not two gods or ninety-nine gods, but only one, may He be Praised.

And this seems to us to be the crux of the problem raised by this narrative.

Let us now return to the words of the Master (peace be upon him) himself in order to give some commentary:

"Whoever worships God while being half certain, or less than that, of His Existence has truly disbelieved."

For it is in the man of certainty, i.e., having attained through the Intellect the knowledge of God, that the mystery of Unity can be resolved.

The mystery of Unity consists in this unity and singularity of God beyond the multiplicity of his own qualities and beyond all chronological temporality:

This is why God is always simultaneously Wrath and Grace, Anger and Kindness, Rigor and Gentleness, existing beyond mere duality.

Without this certainty of Unity, there is only negation. Let us continue: 

"Whoever worships the Names without their Meaning has also disbelieved." 

As the Master (peace be upon him) will say further on, the Names "only convey the Attributes that He (God) has (...) attributed to Himself."

Strictly speaking, they are only the vehicle, the envelope, the symbol through which the Divine Being can manifest itself under its particular aspects.

Thus, he who confuses the symbol with the symbolized, or to say it differently, the "vehicle" with the "conveyed" has disbelieved.

Let us continue: 

"Who worships the Names and the Meaning has truly associated."

Here, association is defined in clear terms: it consists of directing one's worship (i.e., one's actions, words and thoughts) to the God and to the medium through which He manifests Himself.

Again, this is an error of polytheism, and what could this error possibly stem from if not the confusion that there is anything Permanent besides God?

Let us continue:

"Who, on the other hand, worships exclusively the Meaning, understanding that the Names only convey the Attributes which He has assigned to Himself (...)"

Here pure worship and complete monotheism are expressed: completely directed towards the unspeakable Absolute.

And taking the Names for what they are, i.e. the partial supports, the envelopes of a Heart which is the Reality of God signified by the divine Names and attributes.

Now, if these vehicles of God's manifestation represent the divine totality signified, each in a fragmentary way in nature, in the Angels, in the Holy Books, in the heart of the believer... it is indeed in the Light of Mohammad-‘Ali - the first of God's creations, whose abode is the believer's innermost being - that the totality of the divine qualities and perfections are expressed and exemplified.

The historical existences of Mohammad and ‘Ali are, in spite of their grandiose and supernatural character, only the accomplished manifestations of a metaphysical and metahistorical Reality.

To receive this Light in one's heart, and to devote one's worship to it as the totalization and meaning of the Names of God, is to be among the "Friends of the Prince of Believers" and the "true believers".

Now this narration from the Imams makes sense:

[al-Kafi volume 1 page 144]

“We (Ahl al-Bayt) by Allah, are the beautified names of Allah, such that Allah does not accept deeds from the servant except by our Ma’rifa (Understanding).”

الحسنى فادعوه بها " قال: نحن والله الأسماء الحسنى (1) التي لا يقبل الله من العباد عملا إلا بمعرفتنا

When the Imams say they are the Names of Allah, it means that they are the means through which Allah is worshipped. It is through their Ma’rifa that God is Understood, is is through their means that God is worshipped. As He says:

“O’ you who have believed, fear Allah and seek the means [of nearness] to Him and strive in His cause that you may succeed. (5:35)

It is not possible that one can attain the peak of excellence in the worship of God except through the path of the Imams. Ma’rifa al-Tawhid (Understanding of the Unity) can only be perfected through what they (Ahl al-Bayt) have stated. 

Not just the Ma’rifa of Allah, but also, one’s deeds are not accepted unless through the guardianship of these chosen ones of Allah.

This is not surprising, as Allah has stated:

“But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.” (4:65)

True belief is only achieved through complete submission to the order of the Chosen One of Allah.

O’ Allah, send your blessings upon Mohammad and Mohammad's family and hasten their relief and curse their enemies.