The gist of the third part of the discussion of Wilayat of human being in the Holy Qur’an is that divine recognition and sincere good deeds are both like obligatory acts and other things are like recommended acts.

The basis of recognition is divine recognition whose conclusion is monotheism and qualitative monotheism and personal monotheism. In such a way that human being should find every act, quality and being annihilated in the act, quality and being of the Almighty Allah. Such recognition causes human being to become the Wali of Allah; but that recognition, which is the result of system, possibility, happening or other logical proofs, there is no capacity in it to become the cause of practical monotheism, qualitative monotheism and personal monotheism.

Therefore, it does not convey human being till the position of Wilayat; on the contrary, at the most, it becomes the cause of moral perfections like worship and piety.

Practical Monotheism Is The Base Of Wilayat

Contemplation is necessary to receive such recognition, which is the basis of Wilayat mentioned in some Verses of the Holy Qur’an:

“And whatever favour is (bestowed) on you it is from Allah” (16:53)

This holy Verse does not imply that the source of all bounties and base is only the Almighty Allah in such a way that these bounties are only attributed to Allah, the Mighty and the High in their birth and coming into existence, but they are not needful of Him for their survival. On the contrary, the implication is that every bounty, which in this world of being is realized, from both the aspects: its birth and survival is needful of Almighty Allah, because the body of every bounty is the property of the Almighty Allah and only Allah is its owner. Also, its control and domination is also His kingdom, because the Almighty Allah is the ruler. And this control and domination is on the basis of the holy Verse of ‘ruler of the kingdom’, which considers domination to be restricted in His being, and it is His absolute property.

This knowledge and insight, warns human being that all bounties all given to human being by way of trusts and he is their trustee, but not their owner. From this aspect, he should return those trusts to their real owner; that is the Almighty Allah; as early as possible.

“Surely Allah commands you to make over trusts to their owners” (4:58).

Human existence and being is a divine trust and one of the conditions of the high and lofty position of Wilayat is that this trust should be returned to its owner before death, because at the time of death, whether he likes it or not, this trust would be taken away from him and a forceful return is not considered as returning of trust. Thus, when the wayfarer of the path of Wilayat has refrained from everything, which is in his control, then he would have followed the practice of the chief of the prophets and sing this fact in the following manner:

“I do not control any benefit or harm for my own soul” (7:188).

That is: I am not the master of anything. Neither of real property and nor its profits (or harms) and nor of any of its benefit, because human being is either the master of something, like a person buys a carpet (then he becomes its owner) or he is the owner of its profit, like if he borrows that same carpet. Or like he is neither himself the master of a thing nor its profit, on the contrary, he becomes the master of other benefits. For example, if he borrows that same carpet. Other than these instances, neither he is the owner of things nor profits or other benefits. The Almighty Allah commands His Messenger to say:

“Say: I do not control for myself any harm, or any benefit except what Allah pleases; every nation has a term; when their term comes, they shall not then remain behind for an hour, nor can they go before (their time)” (10:49).

If the common noun occurs with negation, it implies generality; that is: I am not the master of anything. The least derivation of benefit and protection from least harm is not in my control. This holy Verse is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an in two places. In the beginning of the Verse, ‘say’ implies not only verbal saying, because the Almighty Allah is informing His Messenger about it and He is not deeming him to be the 'mentioner' and the 'sayer'; on the contrary, it implies that it is the same revelation, which was first revealed to your heart:

“The Faithful Spirit has descended with it” (26:193).

“Upon your heart…” (26:194).

And now, it should be uttered by your tongue.

This saying of the Messenger of Ailah (S) is not opposed to the following statement of Prophet Musa (‘a), which the Qur’an has quoted as follows:

“Surely I have no control (upon any) but my own self and my brother” (5:25).

Because this statement of Prophet Musa (‘a) is under the legislative matters. Prophet Musa (‘a) says: “O Allah, You commanded us to believe; so, I had control only my own belief and I believed; my brother was also having the choice on his faith; thus, he also believed and more than that nothing is there in our control”.

This Verse does not mean that I am only the master of myself and my brother, because in that case, the word of brother would have to take conjunct on ‘myself; whereas it is a very remote possibility; the strong possibility is that brother should be the conjunct on the noun of ‘surely’ or ‘I have no control’. In any case, this ownership is from the legislative aspect, whereas from the natural aspect no one is the master of anything. And the statement of the Messenger of Allah (S), based on the negation of ownership, is regarding the natural aspect. Therefore, it is not having any contradiction with the statement of Prophet Musa (‘a), which is about the legislative aspect.

If human being reaches this stage from the aspect of divine recognition, he neither finds himself to be a source of something nor someone else; on the contrary, he sees everything under the control of the Lord of the worlds. Thus, his lips open up to praise and extol God in the following manner:

“Therefore, to Allah is due (all) praise, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, the Lord of the worlds” (45:36).

In this holy Verse, the word of ‘Lord’ occurs three times, which is a special feature of this Verse and it is a sign of its greatness. Another point, which is worthy of attention in this Verse is that the term of ‘Lord of the worlds’ is mentioned for ‘Lord of the heavens’ and the ‘Lord of the earth’ that is it is an interpretation and not a conjunct on it.

Whatever is mentioned regarding practical monotheism explains why the Almighty Allah, instead of attributing the killing of infidels to the holy warriors, has attributed it to Himself:

“So you did not slay them” (8:17).

“But it was Allah Who slew them” (8:17).

The explanation is that if we fix a mirror on the battle front, in which the reflection of the soldiers is seen; now, one who is present there to see the reflection, can address them and say: You are not fighting the battle, on the contrary, the owner of the form is fighting and is getting victories; under the view of this example it can be said that the holy fighter, who is present at the battlefront is the mirror image of Almighty Allah.

From this aspect, it is correct to say that he should be told: O image of truth, you have not defeated the enemy; on the contrary, your master, the Almighty Allah has accomplished this; and the negation in ‘you have not killed them’, in ‘but the Almighty Allah has slain them’ is abstract proof and not actual proof, although the act of the Almighty Allah is not restricted to fighting and war; rather all the good deeds, obediences and worship acts are the acts of the Almighty Allah, which appear in different expressions; but disobedience, deficiency and mischief are away from the holy presence of the Almighty Allah. Therefore, attribution cannot be made to it. That is the reason why after mentioning some of their sins, the Almighty Allah says:

“All this - the evil of it - is hateful in the sight of your Lord” (17:38).

In the same way, if someone sees ‘what they see in it’1 (whatever is seen in it), then he does not see the form in the mirror. Whoever is involved in pride and selfishness is deprived from seeing the truth. Thus, all sins return to selfishness and are opposed to divine Wilayat; that divine Wilayat, among whose necessary prefaces is practical monotheism.

People Must Not Believe In The Lordship Of Anyone Or Anything Other Than Allah

Another point that became clear is that every kind of ownership and rulership should be denied for anyone other than Allah and it should be accepted only for Allah. That, which is extremely important is that human being is obliged only to negate the ownership of others; and this negation of ownership is not in the meaning that first human being should deny the ownership of himself and other and then deem ownership for Allah; on the contrary, the divine recognition of human being is like cleaning the dust from the surface of the mirror; it prepares the way for absolute ownership of Allah.

Ownership of Allah, like His existence, is an absolute and unchangeable reality, which has been kneaded into the nature of every human being and the responsibility of a truth-seeking human being is that to witness that reality he should remove the veils from before his eyes, and see the beautiful face of reality in the hidden part of his nature.

The same thing can be said about monotheism and the confession of faith; that ‘there is no god, except Allah’ (Tahlil). This pure statement can be uttered in two different parts and different matters. One is about the denial of ‘false deities’ and another about proving the truth. The position of the soul of human being is the position of monotheism. The appearance and advent of One God is present in the nature of all human beings. From this aspect ‘except’ here is in the meaning of others and this pure word refers only to one issue, whose result only proves the judgment of nature and it implies that there is no other god except Allah, the Mighty and the High, whom the nature of human being realizes.

The issue regarding the ownership of the Almighty Allah is same. The Almighty Allah says to His Messenger: Say: I have no control over the capacities of perception and movement and neither am I the master of any independent divided part and neither am I having any ownership in it. I neither have any share in it as mortgage or in some other aspect. The absolute master of my existence is the owner of the heavens and the earth.

It is concluded that the responsibility of a wayfaring human being is that he should purify the sanctuary of his heart from the impurities of other than the Almighty Allah and protect his being from the access of every usurper, so that there is no obstacle in divine illuminations and actualization of planning and Lordship.

Guidance Of The Holy Prophet (S) For Achieving Wilayat

Sayings and instructions of the Holy Prophet (S), which he gave to Abu Dharr, guide us and this matter2.

Abul Aswad says that I went to Rabaza to meet Abu Dharr, where he was exiled. In that meeting, he narrated this tradition for me: He said: One day I entered the Mosque of the Prophet. I saw that the Messenger of Allah (S) and Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) are seated together and no one else was present there. I found it to be a good opportunity and asked the Messenger of Allah (S):

“May my parents be your ransom, please dispense an advice to me, through which the Almighty Allah may bestow some benefit to me”

The Messenger of Allah (S) said: Yes.

“O Abu Dharr, you are from us, Ahl Al-Bayt (‘a)”3

“I am giving you a special advice. Remember it well. This advice is a collection of all goodness. If you remain attached to it, there are two parts for you”4

He further said: “Your worship should be on the basis of witnessed recognition. You should worship Allah as if you are seeing Him. Thus, if you are not seeing Him, He is seeing you.

Therefore, you are either the seeing one or the seen and, in both conditions, you are from the people of witnessing; because you are either a seer, who sees; in that case your being the seer is a witness for you or you are a seer, who is being watched. In that case your being watched is watchful for you and it is also a kind of witnessing.

You should know that the first worship of Allah is His recognition”5

After that he said regarding the recognition of Allah:

“If He is the first, at the beginning of everything there is nothing, except the witnessing of truth and if He is the Last, the end of everything is nothing, but the witnessing of truth. If he is the apparent, whatever human being sees is nothing, except the signs of the majesty and beauty of Almighty Allah. If He is the hidden, whatever human being sees as the inner secret in his being or in someone else; that also is nothing, but the inner part of truth, although this point is related to the favour of Allah, otherwise no one has any access to the position of the divine being of God.

Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) says: “Whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate, and the divings of understanding cannot reach”6

The position of being is neither the interpretation of any philosopher nor is it a realization of the penance of any gnostic. Whatever appearance he has and whatever is within his access is the favour of Almighty Allah, His signs and His qualities. In the captioned tradition, the Holy Prophet (S) says: For nothing precedes it and neither is anything accompanying Him and nor is there anything after Him. Therefore: ‘Originator of the heavens and the earth and what is in them and what is between them’.

It is so, because someone may not get the false notion of transmigration of souls or unification. That is why he further said: “And He is the Knower of subtleties, the Aware. And He is powerful over everything”.

The qualities that the Holy Prophet (S) has mentioned in this part are compatible with what the Almighty Allah has mentioned in the Holy Qur’an to prove that Wilayat is restricted. That is why it can be said that the Holy Prophet (S) also wanted to prove this point from the beginning of the statement. In:

“Then Allah - He is the Wali” (2:257).

The restriction of Wilayat mentioned by way of its proof the Holy Qur’an says:

“And He gives life to the dead, and He has power over all things” (42:9).

That is enlivening is under the control of Allah and the one who is the enlivener and giver of life is the Wali. Thus, the Almighty Allah is the Wali and in the same way, the power is in the hand of Allah and the one who is the powerful is the Wali. Thus, Allah is the Wali.

“And in whatever thing you disagree, the judgment thereof is (in) Allah’s (hand)” (42:10).

He is the judge and one who is the judge is the Wali. Thus, Allah is the Wali. And the Verses following it are as follows:

“The Originator of the heavens and the earth; He made mates for you from among yourselves, and mates of the cattle too, multiplying you thereby; nothing like a likeness of Him; and He is the Hearing, the Seeing” (42:11).

His are the treasures of the heavens and the earth; He makes ample and straitens the means of subsistence for whom He pleases; surely, He is Cognizant of all things” (42:12).

All this proves that Wilayat is restricted in the Almighty Allah. After that the Holy Prophet (S) mentioned his prophethood and love for Ahl Al-Bayt (‘a); to believe in whom is the recognition of the founders of religion, which as a supplement of recognition is having great importance. Continuing the discourse, the Holy Prophet (S) said:

“O Abu Dharr, you should pay attention to intention in every matter; in sleep as well as in eating;” for if someone wants to tread the path of Wilayat, he should consider intention not only in the matters of worship; rather in all matters. One who smears himself with unlawful food, and eats to satiation, he cannot make an intention of proximity. One who does not pay attention to the manners of sleep, neither he sleeps facing the Qibla, nor does he perform the ablution at the time of going to bed, and neither does he recite the supplications narrated for sleep, he cannot make an intention of proximity in sleep”.

The Messenger of Allah (S) also said: “O Abu Dharr, keep your voice low while reciting the Holy Qur’an and recite the Qur’an with sincerity and humility”.

He further said: “O Abu Dharr, while accompanying a corpse, make your thoughts focus on death and know that you would also join the departed”.

Then he said: “O Abu Dharr, praying only two units of prayers with full concentration is better than praying the whole night, in which there is no presence of mind”.

These sayings of the Messenger of Allah (S) regarding divine recognition and sincerity, which are the two pillars of recognition, are divine guidance for obtaining Wilayat and they help human being in that way.

And praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

• 1. It implies that which is seen in the real sense by an independent view. It is opposed of ‘that which they see from it’. It implies something, which should be seen as a tool and a medium.
• 2. Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 77, Pg. 74.
• 3. He also said thus regarding Salman Farsi: Salman is from us, Ahl Al-Bayt (‘a).
• 4. Here the same two parts of divine mercy are indicated, which are mentioned at the end of Surah al-Hadid: “O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) Allah and believe in His Apostle: He will give you two portions of His mercy”.
• 5. Many statements of Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) are derived from these sayings of the Holy Prophet (S). That which is narrated from Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) in Nahj al-Balagha or other books of traditional reports that: The first stage of religion is recognition, is taken from this saying of the Holy Prophet (S) that: The first worship of Allah is His recognition. That is worship in its general connotation begins with intellectual worship and the best worship is recognition.
• 6. Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 1.