Topics
God is the Lord Creator, that is, He is the
one who created after providing all the resources for life so that he could be
recognized. For recognition it was necessary that there should be a creation
that could recognize God as God wills and wants to be recognized.
God has appointed two different approaches
for his recognition, according to the first approach, the creatures enjoy only
that much knowledge that they are creatures and have been created by God, the
most gracious. The other form of recognition is to know with a conscious
awareness, why we have been created and what is the purpose and motive for our
creation. Why God has fashioned the creatures is one of the secrets of the God.
To unveil this secret Holy Quran states “We created man and jinn’s so that they
worship us and as; a token of their bondage and subjection should bow down
before us." Acknowledgement and subjection and bondage to God is
indicative of the fact that one is admitting and accepting his insignificance
and significance actually belongs to that Supreme Being before whom one is
bowing down in submission.
One approach is the general approach and is
common for the whole universe. Man, jinn’s, angels, animals and inanimate are
all correlative in this general approach. All the creatures are busy in
worshipping God whether these are plants, birds, hills or mountains. Jinn’s and
angels are also actively busying worshipping Him. One aspect for worship is to
know only in the literal sense that we have been created by some one and the
other aspect of worshipping is to practically observe and recognize that
someone is our Creator. We should be able to listen to Him directly and act
upon His directives after receiving them directly from God the best of all
creators.
It has been discussed earlier that there
are two states of knowledge one is to know only and the other is to have
observations or; the experiences resulting from the knowledge. One state of
knowledge is to know that we have been created by God, the most exalted so that
we worship him and should adopt that which is liked by God and should refrain
from that which is disliked by Him. In this knowledge, observation of anything
is not present. The other form of knowledge is that in which besides
theoretical aspect the practical aspect of knowledge is also included. The
practical aspect of knowledge duly substantiated by experiences has been
declared the "Entrusted Trust" by Allah, the most High.
A unique position of man establishes when
the trust reposed in man by God, the most sublime, comes under discussion. In
the Holy Quran besides introducing Himself God has defined how His fabulous
craftsmanship is in operation in fashioning the universe and what laws,
formulae and rules are responsible for the existence of the cosmos. This is
that form of knowledge which if believed, transforms into practical
observation.
In Holy Quran the opening verse of 2nd
Surah (Baqara) God, the most Exalted, has declared, "This book is
the sure guidance for those who are pious and pious are those who believe in the
Unseen" Believing the unseen means that they possess that observing sight
which can witness the unseen. The universe will not be subjugated and put to
man's domain if the observing sight is not activated in him. One aspect of
subjugation of the universe is that it is one of our routine observations that
the earth is providing us sustenance’s systematically and according to certain
rules. When a house is built on the earth it does not prevent us from doing so.
It does not become so hard that walking on it become impossible nor turns so
soft that we start sinking in it. The sun and the moon are performing their
duty to serve us according to a strict rule and system. The moonlight is
responsible for sweetening of fruits for man's use. Their performance is
proving beneficial for man whether they intend to benefit him or not. Another
form of man's domain over the universe is to harness the forces of nature. Man
by using his power can make use of the sun, the moon, the earth, the ocean, the
rivers
and the mountains in order to benefit mankind. But the most superior form of
this domain is to split the moon into two halves merely by pointing towards it
by the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Hazrat Umar (R.A) commands the Nile (River in Iraq)
to maintains its flow by sending this message that if you are flowing at the
behest of Allah then refrain from arrogance otherwise my whip would be enough
for you.
Once a peasant came to Umar (RA) and
complained, "I work on my land. After tilling when I sow the seed it
doesn't yield any harvest as it crumbles to dust despite my effort to improve
the land. I don't know what to do." Hazrat Umar told him to hear up till
he happens to be there on that land. When Hazrat Umar was passing that way the
peasant pointed out the land. Hazrat Umar lashed the land with his whip and
said' "when this man fulfill all your requirements then why do you spoil
his labor." After that the land started bearing harvest in abundance.
Once the mentor of the writer; His Divine
Grace Qalander Baba Auliya, relating the following incident said that once an
astrologer came to see the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The Holy Prophet at that time
was on a hill, when the astrologer approached him. The astrologer introduced
himself and said that if the rock under the Prophet's feet turns soft enough to
bear the impression of his feet he would become a believer and be amongst the
faithful. Holy Prophet reciting 'Bismillah' placed his foot on the rock. The
astrologer looked up towards the sky and then towards the rock. The rock now
bore the impression of the foot as if it was made on soft clay. Seeing this act
of conquest that astrologer believed the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and became a
Muslim. Later explaining his peculiar request he stated that he was one of the
great astrologers of his time and was unparalleled in knowledge of astrology.
There is a star in the sky, when the star is right above somebody's head the
hard rock like clay turns soft beneath his feet. According to his estimation,
where the Holy Prophet was standing, that star was due many thousand years
later. When upon my request the Holy Prophet (PBUH) lifted his foot to place it
on the rock I saw that star turning and coming to that point and after staying
overhead above the Holy Prophet (PBUH), momentarily returned to its actual
position.
Yet another form of conquest is to know,
how many types of waves, and in what magnitude, are operative in gold and one
could add that adequate quantity in those of the copper to make them equal to
those of the gold.
No creation of God by any chance is
imbalanced. This universe is also not the outcome of an accident. There is no
room for any thing like by-chance or accidental creation. According to the laws
of creation every existing thing is composed of certain definite quantities. As
far as the creative process is concerned, the process of birth in goats and man
are one and the same. Birth process of a goat is similar to that of a man. A
goat also feels the hunger just as it is felt by man. A goat also feels thirsty
just as man does. A goat also sleeps just as man yields to sleep. And a goat
also strives for its food just as man does. The only difference is that of the
creative quantities operative in these two species. With one amount of these
quantities donkey is produced, with another, man is created. Certain fixed
amount of these quantities produces mountains and the angels. The halls and
paradise are no exception to this creative law; these are also produced from
certain fixed quantities.
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
When any branch of knowledge is taken into
consideration, two things, because of their significance, immediately become
important. The first one is theoretical knowledge, which we possess about that
particular branch of knowledge and in its final stage practical demonstration
and implementation of that branch of knowledge is observed. In other words,
knowledge is the name given to the combination of theory and practice. Like any
other branch of knowledge, the spiritual sciences, too, are no exception to this
rule, that is, after learning and Rules, Laws, Principle and Formulae
Theoretically; they are tested, analyzed and examined practically. There are
two possible ways of learning and acquiring knowledge. One method is to learn
the theory first and then to use the learnt formulae, principles and laws
practically. The other method is to start learning through practical
experiments directly.