Appendices 4
Appendix 4
The Journey of Moses to the Junction of the Two Seas · Ahmed Alhasan
Appendix 4
(Taken from the book The Sealing Prophecy)
Muhammad pbuhap the Appearance of Allah in Faran
In the Dua of Semat narrated from the Imams pbut,
…And I ask you my Lord…by Your glory that appeared on Mount Sinai, that You spoke through to Your servant and messenger Moses bin Imran pbuh, by the rise of You in Mount Seir,[1] and the appearance of You in the Mount of Faran[2]…[3]
The rise of Allah in Mount Seir is through Jesus pbuh, and the appearance of Allah in Mount Faran is through Muhammad pbuhap.
It is essential to notice that the phrases of the dua are ranked in an ascending order, from a prophet whom Allah spoke to that is Moses pbuh, to a prophet exemplifying the rise of Allah that is Jesus pbuh, to a prophet exemplifying the appearance of Allah that is Muhammad pbuhap.
And the difference between the rise and the appearance is that the rise is the partial revelation and appearance, meaning that the rise is a lower-ranking manifestation than the appearance, so both Jesus pbuh and Muhammad pbuhap have represented Allah swt within the creation, however, Jesus pbuh in a rank lower than Muhammad pbuhap, and the dispatch of Jesus pbuh was essential for paving the way for the appearance and the dispatch of Muhammad pbuhap who represented Allah within the creation, so Muhammad pbuhap was truly the successor of Allah.
And if we returned to the origin and the beginning of creation, we would find Allah swt addressing the angels by:
30. ﴾“I am placing on earth a successor.”﴿
-Surat Al-Baqara (The Cow) 2.
So even though Adam was the successor of Allah, as were the rest of the prophets and successors pbut, the goal to be reached is the True successor of Allah, meaning the person who is a complete successor of Allah swt, therefore reflects the Divinity in the mirror of his existence in a more complete and more perfect manner than all the prophets and successors pbut.
So the goal to be reached is to be a person who oscillates between the self and the state of being human and the Divinity and the Divine Self. Abu Basir asked Abu Abdullah pbuh, he said, “May my soul be your ransom, how many times was the Messenger of Allah pbuhap taken for ascension?” The Imam pbuh said,
It happened twice. Gabriel asked him to stop at a place saying, “Wait right there O Muhammad, you have stood at a place whereat no angel or prophet has ever stood before you. Your Lord Is praying.”
He asked, “O Gabriel, how does He pray?”
[Gabriel] said, “He says, ‘The Glorious, the Holy, I am the Lord of the angels and the Spirit. My mercy exceeds My anger.’ ”
The [Holy Prophet] pbuhap then said, “O Lord, I beg Your forgiveness, I beg Your forgiveness.”
The Imam pbuh said, “It was as Allah has said,”
9. ﴾And he was at a distance as the length of two bow or nearer.﴿
-Surat An-Najm (The Star) 53.
Abu Basir then asked, “May my soul be your ransom, what is ﴾the length of two bow or nearer﴿?”[4]
The Imam pbuh said, “It is the distance between the arch and the head of the bow.”
The Imam pbuh then said, “Between them there was a veil that shined and oscillated…,” until he said, “It was emerald. He looked into what Allah willed from the light of Greatness the size of the eye of a needle.
Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, said, ‘O Muhammad.’
He said, ‘Yes, my Lord.’
He said, ‘Who will be after you to guide your followers?’
He said, ‘Allah knows best.’
He said, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib will be the Prince of Believers, the master of the Muslims, the leader of the ones marked with brightness on their foreheads [from prostration].’ ”
The narrator has said then that Abu Abdullah pbuh said to Abu Basir, “O Abu Muhammad, by Allah, the allegiance of the Prince of Believers Ali pbuh did not come from earth but it came from the Heavens by words clearly spoken.”[5]
At the time when Muhammad pbuhap does pass away in the Divine Self, none remains but Allah the One the Conqueror, and none remains but Light with no darkness within, that is Allah swt, so the cover would be lifted for that servant until he knew Allah as He should be known. That servant alone, can introduce Allah to the creation in a true and complete manner. Also, that servant alone is the complete successor of Allah, which in him, the Divinity or the Divine Self manifested as perfectly as possible for a human.
To clarify this more, I will cite this example: If a person had a factory which had machines and workers, if he managed that factory by himself, the production yield would be one-hundred percent (100%). It then occurred to this person to make another person who succeeds him in managing that factory, so he found another human who is capable of managing this factory. However, if he did not supervise that person by himself, the production yield would be eighty percent (80%), so he must supervise him in order to maintain a complete production yield (one hundred percent). He then found another person who is more qualified than the one before, but he also needs to supervise him, otherwise the production yield would be (90%), so he made him his successor in this factory and supervised him and his work in order for the production yield to be maintained at one hundred percent (100%).
He then finally found a human similar to him, as if he is an image of his, who is capable of managing the factory and with no supervision, and the production yield would be one hundred percent (100%), so he made him his successor upon the factory and gave him the option to do with it as he wills, because his will is nothing other than the will of the factory owner. Now supervision over this complete successor by the factory owner would be in vain.
Therefore, the one who hears about the fire knows it as much as he has heard about it, and the one who sees it knows it as much as his sight of it. As for the one of whom a part burns by the fire, he knows it in certitude but as much as what burned from him by it. As for the one who burns by the fire completely burns by the fire completely until he himself becomes the fire, he knows it completely, such that you cannot distinguish him from the fire, because he became a part of it,
8. ﴾Blessed is whosoever is in the fire and whosoever is around it. And Praise be unto Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.﴿
-Surat An-Naml (The Ant) 27.
43. ﴾As for these examples, We cite them for people, and none will grasp their meaning but the knowledgeable ones.﴿
-Surat Al-Ankaboot (The Spider) 29.
❦❦❦
Muhammad pbuhap, the Seal of the Prophets and their Seal
We now direct ourselves back to Muhammad pbuhap being the
seal of the prophets and their seal, as it is he pbuhap, the last of the prophets and messengers from Allah swt, his message, his book the Quran, and his legislation which is to be valid until the Day of Judgment as there is no religion to come after Islam:
85. ﴾And whosoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him, and he will be a loser in the Hereafter.﴿
-Surat Aali-Imran (The Family of Imran) 3.
However, reaching the rank of prophecy was still attainable for the children of Adam. Anyone from the believers who is sincere in his work and worship to Allah swt can reach the rank of prophecy. Moreover, the path of the inspiration from Allah swt to the children of Adam is still present, attainable, and open in perceptible reality through the True Visions.
As for the sending of messengers (who have reached the rank of prophecy) from Allah swt, whether they preserve the legislation of Muhammad pbuhap, Islam, or they introduce a new religion, it is not existent, and this is the pathway which Allah swt sealed with His dispatch of Muhammad pbuhap.
However, after the dispatch of Muhammad pbuhap (the complete human, the True successor of Allah, the appearance of Allah in Faran and the image of Divinity), the matter of dispatch from Muhammad pbuhap was renewed by him pbuhap, so all the Imams pbut are messengers to this nation, but from Muhammad pbuhap (Allah within the creation). Allah swt said,
47. ﴾And for every nation there is a messenger. And when their messenger comes, it will be judged between them with fairness, and they will not be treated unjustly.﴿
-Surat Yunus (Jonah) 10.
Jabir narrated,
I asked Abu Jafar pbuh about the interpretation of this verse, ﴾And for every nation there is a messenger. And when their messenger comes, it will be judged between them with fairness, and they will not be treated unjustly.﴿
And he pbuh said, “The hidden interpretation of this verse is that for every century of this nation there is a messenger from the progeny of Muhammad who emerges unto the century which he was sent for as a messenger. They are the supporters [of Allah] and they are the messengers. As for the words: ﴾And when their messenger comes, it will be judged between them with fairness, and they will not be treated unjustly﴿, he said, “It means that the messengers are who judge between them with fairness, and they do not commit injustice as Allah said.”[6]
Allah swt said,
7. ﴾You are only a warner, and for every nation a guide.﴿
-Surat Ar-Rad (The Thunder) 13.
Al-Futheil said,
I asked Abu Abdullah pbuh about the words of Allah (m) ﴾and for every nation a guide.﴿ He pbuh said, “Every Imam is a guide for the century he is amongst.”[7]
Abu Jafar pbuh said,
About the words of Allah (m), ﴾You are only a warner, and for every nation a guide,﴿ he said, “The Messenger of Allah pbuhap is the warner, and for every era there is a guide from us to guide them to what the Prophet of Allah pbuhap has brought. The guides after Muhammad pbuhap are Ali and then the successors after him, one after the other.”[8]
Abu Basir said,
I said to Abu Abdullah pbuh, ﴾You are only a warner, and for every nation a guide.﴿. He said, “The Messenger of Allah pbuhap is the warner and Ali is the guide. O Aba Muhammad, is there a guide today?” I said, “Yes, may my soul be your ransom. From you are the guides one after the other until it has reached you.” He said, “May Allah have mercy on your soul, O Aba Muhammad. If that verse has descended upon one man, and that man passed away, the verse would pass away, and the Book would pass away, but the Book is alive and it applies for those who remain just as it applied for those who came before.”[9]
Abu Jafar pbuh said about the word of Allah swt, ﴾You are only a warner, and for every nation a guide﴿, he said,
The Messenger of Allah pbuhap is the warner, and Ali is the guide. I swear by Allah it has never left us and it remains within us until the time of the Hour.[10]
They pbut are the guiding messengers from Muhammad pbuhap and to Muhammad pbuhap. In addition, they all pbut have the rank of prophecy. Rather the unchanging condition of dispatch is the completion of the intellect, so it is essential to reach the rank of the ideal seventh sky (the sky of intellect).
This renewed matter is read by everyone (whether they comprehend it or not) when visiting the first messenger from Muhammad pbuhap who is Ali bin Abi Talib pbuh. In fact, one does not enter the purified shrine of the Prince of Believers pbuh without reading it and it is equivalent to visiting the prophet Muhammad pbuhap.
In the visit of the Prince of Believers Ali pbuh narrated from Al-Sadiq pbuh:
...and you say, “Peace from Allah be upon Muhammad the safeguard of Allah on His message and His explicit commands, the core of inspiration and descending, the seal of whom came before, and the initiator of those yet to come, and the dominator upon all that, the witness upon the creation, the bright light, may peace be upon him, as the mercy and blessings of Allah.”[11]
The same phrase appeared in the visit of Al-Hussain pbuh from Abu Abdullah pbuh in which he said,
...if you face the grave of Al-Hussain pbuh you say, “Peace be upon the Messenger of Allah pbuhap, the safeguard of Allah upon His messengers and His explicit commands, the seal of whom came before, and the initiator of those yet to come, and the dominator upon all that, may peace be upon him, as the mercy and the blessings of Allah.”[12]
Prince of Believers Ali pbuh said,
…and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone with no partner, a testimony if testified [by someone] gives Islam its right and if cherished is a safeguard from the torture of judgment day. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant, the seal to what came before of the message, and its cherisher, and His messenger, the initiator of what is yet to come of the call and its disseminator…[13]
Therefore, Muhammad pbuhap has sealed the dispatching from Allah swt, and has initiated the dispatching from himself pbuhap (“the seal of whom came before, and the initiator of those yet to come”).
By that, it has been revealed about him pbuhap being the seal meaning the middle of two matters and him pbuhap being the seal meaning the last. It has also been revealed that he is the Seal of Prophets meaning that he pbuhap is what their messages are sealed with, meaning that their messages are signed and sealed by his name pbuhap. That is because the dispatch of the previous prophets, even if it was by Allah swt, is also by Muhammad pbuhap as he is the veil between Allah swt and the prophets. The messages are diffused from him, and through him passed down onto prophets. So Muhammad pbuhap is bearer of the messages of the preceding prophets, as these messages have been passed down through him. He is the closest veil to Allah swt, as the previous dispatch was from Allah and through Muhammad pbuhap (the closest veil) as he had not been dispatched pbuhap, and the subsequent dispatch is from Muhammad pbuhap by the command of Allah, as he had been dispatched pbuhap.
A name from the names of Ali bin Abi Talib is the messenger of the Messenger of Allah pbuhap. Jameel bin Saleh narrates that Thuraih said,
I heard Abu Abdullah pbuh warning some of his sons and saying, “I have resolved upon you O wind and O pain, whatsoever creation you may be, by the resolution that Ali bin Abi Talib the Prince of Believers pbuh the messenger of the Messenger of Allah pbuhap has resolved upon the Jinn of the valley of Sabra, so they answered and obeyed for what I answered, obeyed and emerged from the son such and such, the son of my daughter such and such, this hour, this hour.”[14]
❦❦❦
The Messengers from the Messengers
The Holy Quran has shed light upon this important issue because
Prophet Muhammad pbuhap is the launcher of its wide door. This happened before, specifically with Jesus pbuh (“the rise of Allah in Mount Seir”) and the one who paved the way for Muhammad pbuhap and his great call, the great call that shall witness a major transformation in the method of the Divine dispatch to the people of Earth and the succession of the successor of the Almighty in His land, as Jesus pbuh had sent messengers from him to Antioch and they are also messengers from Allah because Jesus pbuh works by the command of Allah swt.
27. ﴾They speak not until He has spoken, and they act by His command.﴿
-Surat Al-Anbiya (The Prophets) 21.
And, this dispatch by Messenger of Allah Jesus pbuh has been mentioned in the Quran, in Sura Ya Seen. The Almighty said,
13. ﴾Give for them an example of the people of the village when those sent came unto them.
14. We sent unto them two, and they denied them both, so We reinforced with a third, and they said, “Verily, we have been sent unto you.”﴿
-Surat Ya Seen (Ya Seen) 36.
Allah says ﴾We sent﴿ even though the sender was Jesus pbuh. So the dispatch from Jesus pbuh became the dispatch from Allah, because Jesus pbuh represented Allah swt amongst the creation as he is the “the rise of Allah in Mount Seir.”
There is still something that we should know in the issue of the dispatching of messengers from the messengers, which is that the dispatcher must be in the rank of the Divinity according to the dispatched. That is why those who are dispatchers from among the ones dispatched from Allah swt must be in the rank of Allah within the creation.
To clarify this matter more I say, in the dispatch from Allah swt Allah was with the dispatched ones hearing and seeing. Therefore He is surrounding the dispatched and his enemies so that no error occurs in delivering the call, and also the enemies of Allah are not able to prevent the delivery of the message, no matter how much they try. He swt said,
46. ﴾“Fear not. Verily, I am with you two, hearing and seeing.”﴿
-Surat Taha (Taha) 20.
It is essential for this to be the case with the dispatch from the messengers pbut. So the dispatcher who represented Allah must be surrounding the dispatched and his enemies, hearing, seeing, capable and knowledgeable due to the capability and knowledge of Allah. Otherwise, this will not truly be a dispatch from Allah, and exactly how He swt expressed it ﴾We sent unto them﴿, and if the matter is so then the dispatcher is Divinity according to the dispatched.
Moreover, the dispatcher has dispatched his messenger by the permission of Allah swt, so how would Allah authorize him without equipping him with the perfect capability to perform this dispatch which is also a dispatch from Him swt? Because if it was not so, there would be insufficiency and this insufficiency would be attributed to the side of Allah swt.
Moreover, the goal of creating the children of Adam is to achieve this result because it represents the complete, perfect and true succession of Allah, and He swt mentioned it in the presence of the angels when He had wanted to create Adam pbuh:
30. ﴾And when your Lord said unto the angels, “Verily I am placing a successor in the earth,” they said, “Will You place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?” He said, “Surely I know that which you know not.”﴿
-Surat Al-Baqara (The Cow) 2.
And the perfect successor must be a perfect image of the one who made him a successor, so this perfect successor must be Allah within the creation or the fairest names of Allah or the face of Allah. The Almighty said,
22. ﴾That day will faces be resplendent
23. Looking towards their Lord.﴿
-Surat Al-Qiyama (The Rising of the Dead) 75.
Certainly the look will not be towards Him, rather the resplendent faces of His supporters will look towards their teacher Muhammad pbuhap, who is the face of Allah swt that He faced His creation with. The Almighty said,
210. ﴾Wait they for nothing else than that Allah comes unto them in shadows of the clouds and the angels? Then the case would be already judged. All cases go back to Allah.﴿
-Surat Al-Baqara (The Cow) 2.
Exalted is He from coming, going, and moving which are the attributes of the creation. The one meant by this verse is Muhammad pbuhap, the perfect successor of Allah, who represents the Divinity (Allah within the creation). And if the successor does not practice the role of the Divinity in sending the messengers, then he would not truly and completely be the perfect successor of Allah, rather the goal of creation would not be achieved. By the practice of this successor of the role of the Divinity, he would be a perfect image by which Allah swt would be known and thus the goal of creation would be achieved, which is knowing, meaning knowing the Divinity and the true monotheism,
56. ﴾I have not created the Jinn nor the Mankind but to worship Me﴿,
-Surat Adh-Dhariyat (The Winnowing Winds) 51.
meaning but to know Me.[15]
❦❦❦
Footnotes
- ↩Mountain in Palestine.
- ↩Mountain in Mecca.
- ↩Misbah Al-Mutahajid, by Sheikh Al-Toosi: page 416, Jamal Al-Osboo’ page 321, Misbah Al-Kafami page 424, Bihar Al-Anwar Vol 87 page 97.
- ↩The Quran 53:9.
- ↩Al-Kafi Vol 1 page 442, Al-Jawahir Al-Sunneyya page 312, Bihar Al-Anwar Vol 18 page 306, Al-Tafseer Al-Safi Vol 5 page 87, Tafseer Noor Al-Thaqalain Vol 3 page 98.
- ↩Tafseer Al-Ayashi Vol 2 Page 123, Tafseer Noor Al-Thaqalain Vol 2 page 305, Bihar Al-Anwar Vol 24 page 306.
- ↩Al-Kafi Vol 1 Page 191, Basait Al-Darajat page 50, Ghaybat Al-Numani page 109, Bihar Al-Anwar Vol 23 page 3.
- ↩Al-Kafi Vol 1 Page 191, Bihar Al-Anwar Vol 16 page 358, Tafseer Al-Safi Vol 3 page 59, Tafseer Noor Al-Thaqalain Vol 2 page 483.
- ↩Al-Kafi Vol 1 Page 192, Bihar Al-Anwar page 279, Tafseer Noor Al-Thaqalain Vol 2 page 483, Ghayat Al-Maram Vol 3 page 7.
- ↩Al-Kafi Vol 1 Page 192, Basair Al-Darajat page 50, Ghaybat Al-Numani page 110, Bihar Al-Anwar Vol 23 page 3.
- ↩Man La Yahtharuhu Al-Faqeeh Vol 2 page 558, Tahtheeb Al-Ahkam Vol 6 page 25, Misbah Al-Kafami page 474, Farhat Al-Ghirri page 107, Bihar Al-Anwar Vol 97 page 148, Al-Mazar for Al-Mofeed page 77, 104. Nahjul Balagha Vol 1 page 120, Bihar Al-Anwar Vol 74 page 297, Al-Mazar for Al-Mash’hadi page 57, 264.
- ↩Kamel Al-Zyarat page 378, Al-Mazar by the First Martyr page 37.
- ↩Yanabe’ Al-Mawadda Vol 3 page 206, Elzam Al-Nasib Vol 2 Page 157, Nafhat Al-Azhar Vol 12 page 80.
- ↩Al-Kafi Vol 8 page 85, “The medicine of the Imams page 40,” Bihar Al-Anwar Vol 92 page 8.
- ↩Jawahir Al-Kalam Vol 29 page 31, Al-Rawashih Al-Samaweyya page 45, Omdat Al-Qari Vol 9 page 25, Jami’ Bayan Al-Ilm Vol 2 page 44, Tafseer Al-Thalabi Vol 9 page 12, Tafseer Ibn-Katheer Vol 4 page 4. Tafseer Al-Aloosi Vol 15 page 50.