This excerpt is taken from the treatise compiled by Sheikh Abu Umar Abdul Aziz Al-Nuristani and other Ahl al-Hadith scholars, "Dr. Israr Sahib's Theory of Wahdat al-Wujud and Its Shariah Ruling" .
Hafiz Muhammad Zubair, may Allah preserve him, published a writing titled The Theory of Wahdat al-Wujud and Dr. Israr Ahmad. The purpose of its publication was stated as follows:
The purpose of this brief writing is neither to support Sheikh Ibn Arabi’s position nor to defend Dr. Israr Ahmad’s viewpoint. The fundamental aim of this writing is that whoever wishes to critique Dr. Israr Ahmad’s position in the light of the Book and Sunnah should first understand his position well and then critique it. Hafiz Muhammad Zubair Sahib explains the fundamental and essential difference between Dr. Israr’s theory of Wahdat al-Wujud and Ibn Arabi’s theory of Wahdat al-Wujud as follows:
Ibn Arabi’s Position:
According to researchers and scholars, the concept of Wahdat al-Wujud was first presented in a comprehensive form by Ibn Arabi (died 538 AH). Below, we present a summary of this theory in the simplest possible words and with utmost brevity.
Philosophy and philosophers have always had a fundamental intellectual dilemma: how to resolve the issue of the connection between the contingent and the eternal? Sheikh Ibn Arabi resolved this connection through his theory of Wahdat al-Wujud. He derived its foundations from the Batiniyya sect, which in turn had obtained these ideas from Greek philosophy. Sheikh Ibn Arabi described the journey from the eternal to the contingent through the path of descent (Tanzalat). Before understanding Sheikh Ibn Arabi’s descents, it is essential to know this premise: according to the Sheikh, essence and attributes are not separate entities; rather, the names and attributes of Allah are also essentially the same as His essence.
According to Sheikh Ibn Arabi, the first descent from the Divine Essence occurred in
the first descent: the "Muhammadan Reality." This descent took place in the attribute of knowledge of Allah Almighty.
Second Descent: According to them, the "Muhammadan Reality" has descended into the "Fixed Entities."
Third Descent: From the "Fixed Entities" it descended into the "Spirit."
Fourth Descent: From the "Spirit" into the "Form," and
Fifth Descent: from the "Form" into the "Body," and
Sixth Descent: from the "Body" into the "Human."
Try to understand Ibn Arabi's philosophy with a simple example: for instance, when a carpenter intends to make a table, first a general concept of the table comes to his mind. Then a detailed concept of the table appears. That is, first in his mind, thought, or imagination, the idea arises that he has to make a table. Then, in the next stage, the thought or concept in his mind will be about what kind of table he has to make. For example, will this table have drawers or not? Will there be a place to rest the feet under this table or not? What will be the length and width of this table? And so on.
Sheikh Ibn Arabi says that when Allah Almighty intended to create the creation, He first had a general conception of it, and this general conception is called the "Muhammadan Reality" by them. The "Muhammadan Reality" is described by the Sufis as the rank of Unity, the existing generality, the Reality of Realities, the First Intellect, the World of Attributes, the First Manifestation, the World of Symbols, the Mother of Effusion, and so on. According to Ibn Arabi, after this general conception and idea, Allah Almighty had a detailed conception and idea of His created creation, and this stage is called "Ayan Thabita" by Sheikh Ibn Arabi. This rank is described by the Sufis with terms such as "Oneness," "Capacity for Manifestation," "Excessive Existence," and "Extended Shadow," etc. These three ranks, namely the Divine Essence, the Muhammadan Reality [the general conception of the created creation in Allah’s knowledge], and Ayan Thabita [the detailed conception of the created creation in Allah’s knowledge], are called the Divine Ranks in Sheikh Ibn Arabi’s theory of Unity of Existence, because whether it is Allah’s general knowledge or detailed knowledge in the form of the first and second descent, it is an attribute of Allah, and Allah’s attributes are the very Essence. Therefore, all three are ranks of Allah’s Essence. The central idea of Sheikh Ibn Arabi’s philosophy of Unity of Existence ends here.
Sheikh Ibn Arabi's viewpoint regarding ،،الاعيان ماشمت رائحة الوجود الخارجی،،, the "Ayan Thabita" (Fixed Entities), is very important: the have not even experienced the scent of existence outside. That is, according to the Ayan Thabita, no creation has come into existence in the external world in Allah's knowledge.
Now the question arises, when the ،،مراتب کونیہ،، (A'yān Thābita), i.e., the entities existing in Allah's knowledge, have no actual existence outside according to their essences, then what is the meaning and significance of the remaining four descents? Regarding the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth descents, Sheikh Ibn Arabi says that these are actually reflections and shadows of the . That is, the descents from the fourth to the sixth are reflections and shadows of the , but according to the Sheikh, these reflections and shadows are also the very essence of the . To understand this with a simple example, when we place a mirror in front of the sun, we see the reflection of the sun in the mirror. The first point is that the sun in the mirror has no real existence; it is merely a reflection of the sun in the sky. The second important point is that the sun we see in the mirror is the same sun that is in the sky because the rays of that sun in the sky have struck the mirror and created its reflection. Therefore, it is correct to call the sun in the mirror the sun in the sky, and if someone says that the sun seen in the mirror is the sun in the sky, that statement would be correct. However, Sheikh Ibn Arabi does not call this reflection an exact replica but calls it the essence, as he considers attributes to be the essence of the self. In reality, the , i.e., the entities in Allah's knowledge or conception or imagination, have no external existence outside. If there is external existence, it is a reflection or model of the . And it is in these reflections and shadows that he explains the four stages of descents. The third, fourth, and fifth stages described by Sheikh Ibn Arabi are called . They are also called the ranks of possibility. That is, although the existence of the entities in these ranks is possible outside, their actual existence outside does not occur. So, according to Ibn Arabi's viewpoint, this universe and everything in it is actually Allah's thought and conception and has no external existence. Therefore, outside of the Essence of the Exalted Allah, there is no other existence, and this is what the Sufis call Wahdat al-Wujud (Unity of Existence).
Dr. Israr Ahmed's Position:
When the question of the relationship between the eternal and the created arose for Dr. Israr Ahmed, the solution he presented was fundamentally based on philosophy and the science of knowledge rather than on creed. And there is no doubt that the perspective of Wahdat al-Wujud that Dr. Sahib presents under ربط الحادث بالقدیم had not been presented in this form by anyone before him. For Sheikh Ibn Arabi, the series of descents occurred in the attribute of knowledge of Allah, and since the attribute of knowledge is not separate from the essence, the descent actually took place in the essence itself in the form of intellectual distinction. Whereas for Dr. Israr Ahmed Sahib, the series of descents occurred in the attribute of speech of Allah Almighty. According to Dr. Israr Ahmed, when Allah Almighty intended to create the creation, He said "Kun" (Be). Dr. Israr Ahmed here, to solve the problem of the relationship between the eternal and the created, says that when Allah Almighty first wanted to create the creation, the word "Kun" did not produce the creation, rather the word "Kun" itself took the form of that creation which Allah wanted to create. In other words, the attribute of Allah, that is speech, took the form of the first creation, and this first creation was a simple light. From this simple light, later the angels and human souls were created. This was the first stage of descent. The world in which the angels and human souls were created is called by Dr. Sahib the world of "Amriya" or the world of light, and he considers it beyond time and space.
In the second stage of the destination, Dr. Sahib says that Allah Almighty said another word "Kun," from which a part of that simple light transformed into fire, which we can call a large fiery sphere. Dr. Sahib considers the birth of this large fiery sphere as the starting point of the creation of time and space. According to his view, jinn were created from this fiery sphere. Dr. Sahib calls the world of creatures created in the second descent the "World of Creation," and in this world, the concept of limitation of time and space exists. In the third stage of descents, according to Dr. Israr Ahmed, the fiery sphere separated into fiery cores that cooled down, and one of these cores is our Earth.
When the heat of the sun on this earth rises upwards, this heat turns into vapor and then into clouds, and heavy rains begin. By the command of Allah, from the mixture of this rainwater and the soil of the earth, life began on earth. From inanimate objects to plants, from plants to animals, from animals to the human animal, and with the blowing of the soul into the human animal, the first human was created (end).
Hafiz Muhammad Zubair has given an example to explain Ibn Arabi's theory of Wahdat al-Wujud, which is as follows:
The best interpretation of this has been given by Manazir Ahsan Gilani in his book Al-Din Al-Qayyim: Understand the relationship between the Creator and the creation in this way: Imagine a concept of something in your mind. Suppose you have seen the Taj Mahal. Now bring the concept of the Taj Mahal into your mind. This concept in your mind is established by your attention; your attention remains on it. This concept will remain in the mind. As soon as the attention is withdrawn, it will have no existence left. It will cease to exist. This mental creation of yours, you are beneath it, above it, the first and the last. It has no independent existence of its own. The real existence is yours. This is your concept which you have created inside your mind. The relationship between the universe and the Creator is exactly the same. This universe is not a separate entity; in other words, it has no independent existence of its own.
This is the same example that Dr. Israr Sahib has brought in support of his belief regarding Manazir Ahsan Gilani. See:
Reference: Tafseer Surah Hadeed page: 52
It is clear that Dr. Sahib is not different from Ibn Arabi in terms of the conclusion.
Observe what Dr. Israr Ahmad Sahib states while explaining the belief of Wahdat al-Wujud with reference to Ibn Arabi:
There is another interpretation of Tawheed al-Wujood (Unity of Existence) which is that of Ibn Arabi. This is a much more subtle interpretation because there is a very fine difference between Pantheism and Ibn Arabi’s theory of Wahdat al-Wujud (Unity of Existence), which is not easy for the common person to grasp. Ibn Arabi’s theory is that the existence of the Creator and the creation is one. In terms of essence, the creation is the very existence of the Creator, but where determination (specificity) occurs, it becomes other than Him. For example, science today tells us that all bodies are made of atoms. Molecules are made from atoms, and from these, various things come into existence. If you further divide the atom, there are electrons and protons. Even smaller than these are photons. In reality, there is nothing but electric currents. These electric currents, when they take a particular form, that thing comes into existence. You see this hall as empty, but it is not empty; it contains air, which is a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. Inside it, all those atoms exist in a subtle form. Different objects have atoms in different formations. Thus, in terms of essence, there is no difference between this watch and these glasses; they are different arrangements of the same atoms. But when, under a specific formula, the conglomeration of atoms takes this shape, they become other than each other. Therefore, wherever the determination of an existence or entity occurs, it is other than the Divine Being; it is not a part of Him. But in essence, existence is common. Within the entire universe, existence is one, and that is the existence of the Divine Being. This is called Wahdat al-Wujud, meaning the oneness of existence.
Reference: Explanation of Surah Al-Hadid, p.54
In response to respected Hafiz Zubair Sahib, he says:
When the doctor accepts the un-Islamic unanimous decision of the theologians (لاعین ولاغیر) with both eyes closed, and draws its logical conclusion that (this universe is neither the essence of Allah nor other than Allah. That is (من وجه عين ومن وجه آخر غير) in one respect this universe is the essence, and in another respect it is other than the essence. The essence is unity in existence, but wherever determination is made and the existence of different things is accepted, then that (universe) is other than Allah.
Reference: Umm al-Musabbihat, p. 94
This means, according to the doctor, that there is unity between Allah and the universe in the essence of existence. That is, Allah and the universe are one, and in external existence they are separate. Now this point that the doctor presents, is it based on any verse of the Quran? Or on any hadith? Also, the doctor holds the belief that:
Everything that exists in the universe is merely an illusion or imagination; these are reflections or shadows seen in mirrors. In reality, only the Being of Allah Almighty truly exists. Nothing else truly exists, although sometimes it is said that it does not exist, yet it does.
Reference: Umm al-Musabbihat, p. 87], [Nazriya Wahdat al-Wujud and Dr. Israr Ahmad, p. 9
With this clear statement and acknowledgment, believing in the existence of the universe is nothing but a contradiction. Because when it is said: everything that exists in the universe is merely imagination, although it is said that it does not exist, it denies the existence of the universe but simultaneously affirms it. If this is not a contradiction, then what is? Even Dr. Sahib himself was in the universe, meaning Dr. Sahib is saying that my existence is merely imagination and illusion. Whether I say that I do not exist or I do exist, in this clear matter, there is no question of understanding or misunderstanding Dr. Sahib's position. The belief that Dr. Sahib presented is exactly the belief of Tlemcenian. Khalil, may Allah have mercy on him, says:
[ذهب التلمساني إلى أن الوجود كله شيء واحد في نفسه لا تكثر ولا تعدّد فيه أصلًا. وهذه الكثرة التي نراها بأعيننا أو نتخيلها في نفوسنا لا حقيقة لها، بل هي من أغلاط الحس الذي قد يرى الشيء الواحد كثيرًا، والوهم الذي قد يتخيل الصورة الواحدة صورًا متعددة وذلك الغلط في الحس والوهم من طبيعة الإنسان]
Talmasani has gone to the extent that the entire existence in its reality is one and the same thing; there is neither multiplicity nor plurality in it at all. And this multiplicity that we see with our eyes or imagine in our souls has no real existence. Rather, it is among the errors of the senses, because sometimes a sense shows one thing as many things, and imagination perceives one form as multiple forms. And this error of the senses and imagination is part of human nature.
Reference: [Sharh al-Nuniyya by Khalil al-Harras: 63, 62/1
Despite this clear reality, explaining the fundamental difference between Ibn Arabi and Dr. Sahib's theories, or listing seven or seventy points of difference between their theories of Wahdat al-Wujud, is nothing but a waste of time. Because those who believe in Wahdat al-Wujud, whether they assert manifestations from the Divine Essence, or only assert manifestation from the attribute of speech among all the attributes of Allah Almighty, no matter how different their expressions are and how distinct their apparent statements may be, the essence of their discourse is the same: that in reality, only the existence of the Creator is true. And nothing else truly exists, even though some say it exists and some say it does not.
وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وآله وصحبه وسلم
