Last week we finalized the explanation, according to our understanding, about the attributes of Allah Almighty, especially regarding the demonstrative and personal attributes / dhatiye and the concentratic or essential for existential attributes / thubutiye of Allah Almighty. And we said that this week we will talk about the fi’liyye attributes / the active attributes of Allah Almighty. Howeve before saying anything about the active, in action attributes, I would like to emphasize that through the demonstrative and concentratic attributes we slowly begin to create a metaphysical physiognomy of God. This metaphysical physiognomy is widely discussed, especially in the second half of the 20th century in Europe. Albert Camus one of the very solid philosophers of the twentieth century, was a Frenchman from Algeria, “The Myth on Sisyphus” is his work (if you have not read it, it is good to read it) and he talked about the issue of the physiognomy of the universe and the world. Metaphysical physiognomy is a term that people, especially in the contemporary world have invented. For example, the oriental man has created a physiognomy in relation to the oxidant / western man (the oxidium is the west, the orient is the east), but at the same time the oxidant, the oxidative scientist in his imagination has created a physiognomy in regard to the man of the East, and these physiognomies created on the basis of imagination and what is not visible have caused for them not to know each other properly. Through the attributes of Allah Almighty, man in his imagination creates a metaphysical physiognomy as he experiences God. Through the attributes of Allah Almighty, there are some boundaries set, on the basis of which we should be orientated when talking about Allah Almighty. And if we venture to analyze further the qualities we have mentioned so far, we will see that in our head we have already created an imagination which is within the limits of the permissible and within the revelation / revelation paths. In other words, the attributes themselves are guiding and orientating us hither the ways we can experience God properly.
Another group of Allah’s attributes are active / fi’liyye attributes. Among these qualities of Allah Almighty, there are mainly two sub groups of attributes. The first group is the group of attributes of creation / tahlik and the second group of attributes is the group of qualities of the abundance / God’s supply on this world. In the group of tahlik attributes I will not stop to explain, because when we talked about the tekvin attribute, within the centric essential attributes, we spoke about creation. In the acting attributes of Allah, it is clearly stated that He is not out of the universe, but is embedded within the universe, and the creation in the universe has uninterrupted creation. Allah cannot be static, he is always in a new doing. There are some thoughts that the Lord is on the Throne and has no relation to the world, He is drawn over the Throne; these thoughts are almost dualists. They claim that God and the universe are two separate entities, that’s why they have taken the name dualists; God is out of the universe, and the universe is an entity other than God. Such assertion is not in direct relation to the Quranic worldview for The Lord and the universe.
There is one verse of the Qur’an which has been greatly argued, (we don’t really need to go into details about the meaning now, but just to mention it so we have it in mind) the verse says: “The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established” (Ta-ha, 20:5). Some people have even translated this as, God is with His being in his Throne and just remaining there. From the physiognomy of metaphysics this cannot be a true statement; we cannot state that He has a certain placement. The second matter here is, that in this verse the term which characterizes the individuality of God / dhatin is not even used. The term which characterizes God’s individuality is Allah, while here is said al-Rahman, it is about the attribute of Allah’s mercy, and the Throne in this Qur’anic viewpoint refers to everything being encompased except for God, which means that He is the highest Being which covers all other dimensions of existence, and Allah Almighty has thus all of it under his Rule.
Albeit the most important issue has to do with the fi’liyye attributes, which conveys that Allah is constantly within the universe and He is not separated from it. Aristotle was one of the main dualists; he said that God has timed the clock of the universe and has left for it to work within its action-reaction system and he has stepped aside from it. Have you heard of one Aristotle terms, regarding the identification of God which says that God is moving the unmovable, which means God himself Is static while He moves things. The religious mentality does not accept this, in the Surah Rahman it has been said: “Whoever is within the heavens and earth asks Him; every day He is bringing about a matter.” (Ar Rahman 55:29). This conveys that God is dynamic, he cannot be static. The dynamics of God is manifested through his attributes of creation and through His attributes of supply for human kind; these are the attributes in motion of Allah Almighty. Within creation there are some terms through which Allah Almighty resembles his creation in the Universe. The initial term is Halek / tahlik. Haleka is used in the Qur’an and is mainly used to describe the Creation of God from non-egistence. The non-existence is relative matter and from the moment when everything has been enveloped by existence, which means that God has wrapped existence, then we can no longer discuss about the absolute nothingness or non-existence. in Arabic language this is known as Adem; in the Qur’an we never come across this statement, that God created something from its nothingness. Instead we come across statement like, God created from the non-being. Non-being is different from the nothingness term. Non-being simply indicates that something is not a being. Imam Abu Hanifa, in his work: “Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar” says “God created things not from things / La min shey’in. According to the Sufi thinking this term arises from the Nur – light of God; there is a rising in an illuminating rise from Allah Almighty. But it is a fact that God didn’t create the universe from “things”; there was no other material, substance, as the materialists would like to state, from which He then created the universe. The material is not pre-destined, God created the substance not from its substance, and if there wasn’t anything else, He created it from an idea. Everything existed in the knowledge of God and from that knowledge He created the universe, humans and everything else that exists.
What concerns us tonight mostly is this continuous creation, and that within this creation there are other concepts used by Allah Almightly. For instance, when God mentions creation in the Qur’an aside from the words halekas semavati vel / He created the skies of the earth, He also uses the concept fetarassemawati wal ard which means, God is creator; even from the viewpoint of the nature of the universe. This tells us that God is present in the natural. The natural creation of man arises from Allah Almighty, and that perfection in which Surah Tin mentions, in which Allah Almighty states: “We have certainly created man in the best of stature;”. In this statement, the best stature of most beautiful shape, is one aesthetical category. It doesn’t tell us we created man in the rightest form or shape, but instead it says best stature. I repeat this is an aesthetical category and shows the dimention of value of man in the universe. For this reason, in the Qur’an God uses another term for creation and that is Bedias semavati vel ard. Bedias semavati vel ard means, creation which didn’t have a sample before; it strickly refers to creation and things, matters that didn’t have a specific model or sample beforehand. Everything that Allah Almighty has created in the universe, does not have its sample; there is no previous model to follow for it. Man, on the other hand, discovers and creates upon samples and models given by God, have this one in mind. Look at all the technological advancements, they are all based upon real living creatures, created by God. Several times I have mentioned one example that I have been impressed…the Japanese have made a glove which is used for opening the tunnels. When the glove enters the tunnel, it doesn’t throw the earth / dirt, because then it will close the path he has opened and won’t be able to go outside. It either has to be very large to entail the dirt within and then once it goes outside the tunnel to throw it, or there needs to be another way to throw the earth aside and to press it. For this situation they have mimicked the weasel, because the weasel opens the holes on the earth by this structure. Man must create things based on the initial creation of God. For instance, the airplane, is based upon the structure of the birds that fly; even its physical construct is similar.
Another term which Allah uses in the Qur’an is jeala. Oftentimes people who haven’t dwelled in the allusion, metrics, metaphors and the symbolic of the Qur’an, tend to misunderstand the verses of the Qur’an. This is done by many people, even our colleagues, because each one of these Qur’anic terms has its own origin in the Arabic poetry. The ones who are not well acquintaned with the pre islamic poetry, cannot righteiously judge upon the Qur’an, upon its verses. When we translate them to English or Albanian or another language, we translate all these terms as creation -since we don’t have another synonym. In one of the verses of the Qur’an, it is said fe jealna minel mai kula say’in hajj / and we created each living thing from water. At first, we find this contraversery, since even the word jeala we translate it as creation, but the word halak as well, even if the latter states, we have created man from earth / soil, we translate this as creation as well. In one verse it says created from water, in another from the earth, soil. Which one is right? The word halaka – refers to the first creation. Whereas the word jeala, refers to something potentially existing, to bring something to its function, and everything becomes functional through the usage of water. Allah Almighty in one verse of the Qur’an says, “we made everything to be alive, and we protect its liveliness through water”, and this is constantly manifested in the universe. The other attribute fi’iliye is terzik or ten’im. Terzik means abounding the supply of man with goodness; this another important and delicate matter of religion. According to the Islamic belief and the Qur’an, abundance is provided by Allah Almighty. Man is merely a reason that initiates the providing on behalf of Allah Almighty, and the aboundance is granted by Allah Almighty. That is why he is everyday present in the universe; that’s why when we sit to eat we always say Bismilahirahmanirrahim / in the name of God, the Beneficent, the All-Merciful. And when we stand up from the table we then say Elhamdulilah / praise be, we are thankful to Allah Almighty. This is because in the Qur’an, Allah Almighty says: “And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.’ (Ibrahim, 14:7). In most cases people want to believe that their wealth is generated from themselves, but this is not true. Especually during the XX-XXI century, during which period a lot of consumption philosophies developed, which did not consider man as a value, as an axiological matter, but instead he was perceived as a consumptionist.
When we discuss about abundance, we only think about the issue of consuming food: eating and drinking, the issue of money, if we have 100K $ or not, but abundance can also refer to inspiration, because that is provided by Allah Almighty as well; it has to do with the goods and the positive, the qualities given to us by Allah Almighty, it has to do with beauty and knowledge presented to us by Allah Almighty. Notice sometimes when you are studying for an exam, you take the book one day prior to the exam, but you cannot study. You have the same qualities that can help you study; same ears, same eyes, mouth, but what your mind cannot absorbe today, tomorrow it can. You try to write one night, and you cannot do it, the next night it becomes easier and you can write much better. This shows us that people are suffocating because they limit the abundance and see it merely from the financial perspective. Money is not the only abundance, other things that are gifted to us are abundances as well. But even from the financial perspective, surely, we as humans must do our outmost best, and the one that strives the most has more chances to gain, but it doesn’t mean that we should always expect more. Even abundance is directly connected with our faith and trust in Allah Almighty completely. If we wait for abundance from people, it’s useless. We must strive our best; its an Islamic principle that we must do our best, however the abundance and the supply is provided to man by Allah Almighty.
Islam does not differentiate between the poor and the wealthy, there is no sepearation as per the ontology of the knowledgeable and the not-knowledgeable. However, from the viewpoint of axiology and social viewpoint, there is surely a difference in their value. For instance, in one verse of the Qur’an Allah Almighty says: “can darkness be equal to light”, this shows that light, from the axiology viewpoint of values, is more valuable than darkness. Even from the social viewpoint, the wealthier ones have more opportunities to help others, which does not neccessarily mean that they are better and created as better beings from others; but merely from the social stand they can contribute more. That is the reason why a Muslim ought to give his / her outmost to be a strong individual, that will seek to contribute and advcate others with purpose of helping. Undoubtedly that, if Allah Almighty has limited the abundance to some in the financial context, He might have granted them wealth in other ways, through knowledge or spiritual inspiration. Once, an as’hab of the Prophet (PBUH) goes to him and asked “Ya Rasulallah, the wealthy took all our good deeds. They prey like us, they fast like us, but they are able to give more Zakat and can afford to go to Haj, whereas all of us here cannot commit to thise good deeds”. The Prophet (PBUH) replied: “Are you also unable to be grateful and thank God and dwell in His rememberance?”. This clearly showed him that the good deeds the wealthy have obtain through Zakat and Haj, the as’hab could obtain through being grateful and remmebering God. We can note here that there is no difference between the wealthy and the poor, from the aspect of values. And have in mind that the one Muslim that makes this difference, is no good man.
Once, one vizier of the Sultan had confronted the primeminister the Sadrazam of that time. The soldiers of the prime minister have followed the vizier, and since the latter was a dervish of a well shaykh of the Tarikat Halwati, Ramadan Al Mahfi, he had entered the teqqa. When the soldiers entered the teqqa, the police of that time together with another vezier have entered and said that they were looking for this specific person. The crowd in the Teqqa have answered to them saying that there is no vezier here, since everyone in the teqqa are dervish, or in other words only believers. When we are inside here we are only believers, and everyone here is equal. This means that we should look at this from this perspective. Can you guess why? Because, abundance is arising from Allah Almighty, and we should not limit the understanding of abundance only from the perspective of materialistic wealth. If God has granted the Fakir materialistic wealth, God has granted another one with a good heart and soul. Even I can have a lot of wealth in my posession, but I might not have his good-hearted soul. And if we are to work together on something, the one with the good-hearted soul will give more. Why? Because he has a good spirit and heart.
Oscar Wilde was an Irish contraversial playwriter. He was also once a famous painter and had his own exhibitions. Once, by his side passed a young boy, he saw one painting he liked and said, “I want to buy this painting”. The seller told him that he cannot buy the painting since its too expensive and he cannot afford it as the painting might have cost $ 10,000. Oscar witnessed the situation and the boy then said, “alright I have saved money, I will come back and buy it”. The boy went home. At the exhibition another person wanted to buy the painting for $80,000 and Oscar didnt agree. When the boy came back he said: “here I am back to buy the painting” and all the money he had was around $200-$300, perhaps even less. The boy said: “I have decided to buy this painting because it is my brother’s birthday and I want to gift it to him”. Oscan went by his side and said: “But how are you going to buy the painting with so little money?”. The boy had replied: This is my entire wealth. I give my whole wealth, so I can buy this painting”. After hearing these words Oscar decided to give the painting to the boy. The seller on the other hand was shocked and turned to Oscar: “What did you do, you didnt give it to the other one for $80,000 and you sell it to this biy for $200”. Oscan then replied: “the man who offered $80,000 was very wealthy and the money he was going to give to us does not make up to even 1% of his wealth, whereas the $200 of the boy, were his entire wealth”. This shows us that in regard to values, the $200 is more valuable than the $80,000, and thats why Oscan sold the painting for $200.
This is why we should not worry if God hasnt provided our abundance in one form only. God is the provider in various ways. Knowing this should not put us asleep, and say, this is how much we are given, we will not work or ask for more” (I am against this). Muslims should strive their best to be wealthy, in order to help others. We dont need wealth for ourselves. Even the ones that keep wealth for themselves, cannot last in this world. We use the term Fakir, which means the poor. When one Sufi speaks of himself he never says “I”, but instead says Fakir. We do not need materialistic wealth for ourselves, and those who desire this, take part in the Karun and the Ebu Jehli group. We will become wealthier but not only for ourselves but to help others as well. Why? Because only through this attribute we take part in the moral of God. Nowhere in the Qur’an God mentions, be part of that which I have made for you. He only uses this term when in the act of helping others: “You shall give to others from which I have given you”. This indicates that that wealth is not ours and God says: “I have given to you, and I say to you, that you shall give and help others”. Zakat is 2.5% of the wealth that we need to give to the poor annually; even the term Zakat / tezkiye in Arabic does not mean “giving” or provding, but it refers to purification. What does giving money have to do with purification? In Islam there is a relation. Just as we can become purified and clean by washing ourselves with dirt from the earth (people become dirty with earth, but when we do not have water we can clean / purify ourselves wih it). In this same manner, our ego, the ego of man clarifies only when he can sacrifice his wealth and soul; himself, his life for Allah Almighty. Without sacrificing his wealth and himself, we cannot discuss about a purified self. Thats why my well respected, I say that Allah Almighty through tarzike / abundance reflects his continous existence in the universe and if we can see this with ur eyes (maybe until now we have not witnessed it) from now onwards this is how we should look at wealth, and in each moment before us this picture will come to our minds: how Allah Almighty intervenes in certain moments. The same matter goes for knowledge, social status. Thats why these representative matters do not mean much to us; wealth, social status or knowledge. We dont act like this to degrade others, but instead we respect those who have all these three qualities and use them for a greater good, for the good of mankind. Thats why we respect the leaders, the wealthy, the knowledable which use their power, knowledge and wealth for the good of people.
Thank you.