Wahdatul-wujood. This is one of the most misunderstood and hence misquoted concepts. Some people forcefully try to impose their own confused understanding of this issue upon others with the label of kufar and shirk. There are many terms in daily life which people use but do not take their meaning literally, for example people say, so and so has a runny nose . No one in the world understands that to imply that the nose is running anywhere.The nose is fixed in its place. When we say the river is flowing. The river has banks which are stationary with a fixed route but what is flowing is the water in the river. When people say , they feel heartburn . That is never understood to mean that their heart is on fire. Similarly the term wahdatul-wujood ,though literally means, unity or oneness of existence but does not imply that the whole creation is one or that Allah the almighty, himself exists physically INSIDE everything and all creation as some people forcefully try to imply. Wahdatul-wujood is also not listed amongst the Aqaaid or taught as such in any institution including Deoband. Rather, it is described as a feeling or awareness of a believer as he progressese in his relationship with Allah as has also been described in a saheeh hadeeth reported by Imam Bukhari إنَّ اللهَ قال : من عادَى لي وليًّا فقد آذنتُه بالحربِ ، وما تقرَّب إليَّ عبدي بشيءٍ أحبَّ إليَّ ممَّا افترضتُ عليه ، وما يزالُ عبدي يتقرَّبُ إليَّ بالنَّوافلِ حتَّى أُحبَّه ، فإذا أحببتُه : كنتُ سمعَه الَّذي يسمَعُ به ، وبصرَه الَّذي يُبصِرُ به ، ويدَه الَّتي يبطِشُ بها ، ورِجلَه الَّتي يمشي بها ، وإن سألني لأُعطينَّه ، ولئن استعاذني لأُعيذنَّه ، Indeed Allah has said. Whosoever has any hatred against any of my friends , I have declared war with him. And my servant does not attain more nearness to me with anything than what I have made obligatory upon him. And my servant continues drawing nearness to me until I love him. And when I love him , I become his hearing with which he hears , his sight with which he sees , his hand with which he holds and his legs with which he walks. And if he asks me anything I definitely give him and if he seeeks my refuge I definitely grant him. Being close to Allah also means a person loves Allah deeply as Allah says in the Quran, والذين أمنوا أشدّ حبا لله And those who believe, love Allah profusely. Being in a state of deep love with and close to Allah , one is then overcome with Almighty Allahs awareness so much so that as though everything else simply seems insignificant and meaningless as though it does not matter. The only thing which is important to such a person is the pleasure and nearness of Allah. They do not even contemplate anything but Allah. This is also mentioned in the Quran, قل ان صلاتي ونسكي ومحياي و مماتي لله رب العالمين Say ! Indeed my prayers and my sacrifices and my life and my death are for Allah , Lord of the worlds. Their prayers then also become as the prophet sallallaho alaihe wasallam has stated , ان تعبدالله كأنك تراه. That you worship Allah as though you see him. In this saheeh hadeeth the prophet sallallaho alaihe wasallam described the feeling and awareness as though you see him (Allah). Because physical vision of Allah in this world is not possible but the feeling and awareness is attainable as though one sees Allah. When the believers will be blessed with the vision of Allah in jannah, the blessings therein will seem insignificant compared to the vision of Allah. If that will be the case in paradise then what value can the worthless things of duniya have in the eyes of a friend of Allah who lives and worships him as though he sees him. One who reaches this level will then obviously not feel any attraction or have any significance of anything in his heart and mind as for him Allah is sufficient for all his affairs as Allah says in the Quran, أليس الله بكاف عبده Is Allah not sufficient for his servant. Everything else becomes worthless in their eyes and they FEEL that the only real power , authority and independent existence is that of Allah , the Almighty. Everything else is simply a manifestation of his will and authority. In all of Allahs creation they see his Qudrat in action. This state of awareness is termed as wahdatul- wujood . Some people like Shah Wali-Ullah Muhaddith Dehlvi and Mujaddid Alfe-Thani, Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi rahimahumullah have instead used the term wahdatush-shuhood to describe the same concept as this represents the issue more clearly as being an awareness or a state instead of a reality as the term wahdatul - wujood appears to imply. Some people confuse this issue with a belief of Hindus who believe in HULOOL whereby they believe that God actually and physically descends into his creation and resides IN them. Their belief in this concept is further supported by them worshipping different things, like snakes and other animals because they believe that God is actually in them. This however is not the belief of muslims anywhere. Had that been the case , then these people would have also worshipped things other than Allah , like the Hindus do. So this proves that the concept of wahdatul - wujood is not the actual or physical existence of Allah within his creation but rather an awareness and understanding of his QUDRAT at work in his creation in a manner that the creation seems insignificant and meaningless in comparison to the majesty and authority of Allah Rabbul Aalameen .
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 08:22:40 +0000
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