The Reason For The Muslims Not To Understand The True Meaning Of Arsh

According to the dictionary, Arsh meant – ‘Seat of the Kings’. This was why a vast majority of the people got confused and moved away from the truth. Therefore, the sects like Mujassama (corporal) and Qashireen further developed this view, where God was presented as a heavy- weighted Monarch, seated on a glittering Throne that squeaked like a saddle, under the weight of the one seated aboard.

However, it was made clear earlier with a logical and practical reasoning that God is free of corporal attributes. Therefore, such ideas had no significance at all for an inquisitive mind. So, the symbolism and the meanings that had been used in the Shariah for the term – Throne – are described below.

The author of this work suggested that one meaning for the term – Throne - was the entire creation of God. Arabic dictionary suggested that throne also had meanings such as a State or a Country. The statements and narrations from the family of the Prophet (S) favoured this explanation.

Honourable Sudair narrated that he asked Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a) about the meaning of the term - Throne and the Chair. Imam replied that Arsh stood for several different connotations and wherever it had been used in the Qur’an, its meaning was dictated by the implications for its use. Therefore, in the Verse:

وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ

“...and He is Lord of the Tremendous Throne” (9:129).

it was meant that God was the owner of a mighty Universe.

Similarly, in the Verse:

الرَّحْمَٰنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَىٰ

“The Beneficent One, Who is established on the Throne” (20:5).

it was meant that God dominated the mighty Universe.

We could however, investigate why the Universe was labelled as Arsh. On the surface, it could be seen that the centre of a State’s Authority was considered to be its Capital, which could be further narrowed down to the Royal throne. The situation is precisely similar when we look at every speck of the Universe, which bears witness to its Creator’s ingenuity and splendour. The evidence is so immense that its circumvention is impossible. This is why the entire collection of all the components of the Universe is referred to as the Throne.

Apart from the meaning conveyed earlier by the author of this text when investigating the meaning of term – ‘alal ‘arshi stawa - another important inference could be drawn is that God is dominant over the entire Universe.

The Mujassema sect stumbled on the wrong sense of this phrase and deduced its meaning to be - ‘sitting in straight position’. They never gave it a thought that such associations were below God’s dignity. In Arabic language, the phrase, ‘ustawa’ also stood for dominance. When Baees, an Arabic poet, expressed in a couplet - “qad ustawa basharan alal Iraq”, he meant that a man had dominated over Iraq, without bloodshed or swordsmanship.

The other meaning of the Arsh was the matter that had been created by God around the edges of the Universe. It did not seem clear whether it circumvented the Chair or the Chair enveloped it. There were several different narrations about this, which have been quoted in Chapter Thirteen.

Allama Al-Majlisi’s study suggested that Arsh was predominant over the Chair. This view was supported by the work of other scholars also. They speculated that the Chair prevailed up to the eighth Heaven, whereas, the Arsh extended its influence up to the ninth Heaven. However, the narrations of the Infallibles (another title for the Twelve Imams, the Prophet and Lady Fatimah - daughter of the Prophet) did not correspond with this point of view.

Anyhow Arsh was a mighty installation that had been created before the initiation of the Universe. It contained some kind of liquid substance in itself within a spaceless environment. It was composed of various energy levels of different colours and its dimensions were now beyond the imaginative Cosmos. Its numerous stability stations were so far apart from each other that the fastest flying object would take tens of thousands of light years to reach only one of its stations. Each station was full of Angels, whose numbers were only known to God, busy in the praise of their Lord.

What Is Within The Throne Of God?

God only truly knew and had the knowledge of what was contained within the Throne. There were a few Ahadith available on this issue but their contents were not reliable. It has been stated that virtual image of whatever was present in the Universe was found in the Throne. This was stated on the narration of Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a).

Allama Al-Majlisi wrote in Bihar on the authority of Imam Zayn Al-’Abidin (‘a) that Arsh contained the real time virtual image of all the things present in the Universe. It was reported from the Prophet (S), who had said, while elucidating a Verse from the Qur’an, that all acts of human behaviour performed on the earth, were replicated at the same time on the Arsh. It has also been reported that good acts of human beings were freely available for the heavenly creatures to see, while their bad acts were made to hide by the grace of God.

A third meaning of Arsh stood for knowledge. It was reported in Kitab at-Tawhid, on the authority of Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a), that whatever, was present in the Universe was contained in the Chair and Arsh depicted that Knowledge of God, which no one could comprehend. Since understanding of God was achieved on the basis of knowledge attained by His creatures, Arsh could be symbolised with knowledge. The bedrock of Arsh (knowledge) was some of the prophets prior to Prophet Muhammad (S), and the rest were fourteen Infallibles.

The fourth allegorical meaning of Arsh was the heart of a believer, as described by the Hadith Qudsi, which stated that nothing could contain God, but the heart of a believer. It was important to know that all those meanings that had been described for the Throne also included the Chair. The only controversy was about the magnitude of these objects.

The Pronouncement Of Reality

Some of the traditions were related to the resting of the Throne upon eight Angels, who resembled some of the living creatures of this world, in their shape and form. We would agree to the criticism levelled by Shaykh Al-Mufid, who said that all these statements were solitary assertions, therefore, their subject matter could not be relied upon. Thus, care must be exercised about these proclamations.

Allama Al-Majlisi further, reiterated that some of the bearers of the Throne resembled the species proposed by Plato and Aristotle in outline. However, what the recipients of the revelations had said about them was totally different. This was not hidden from the people of faith.

The names of the Prophets that came to surface as being the foundation of the Throne were all Grand Prophets and Heads of the Institution of Prophethood. Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a) said that these Prophets (who were the pivot of revelations) were - Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. They were the recipients of Shariah, as indicated in the Qur’an.

However, Prophet Muhammad (S) was on a higher level in comparison to them, since the Shariah of Muhammad (S) had replaced their Shariahs. It would continue until the Day of Judgment. After the Prophet, this status was transferred to Imam Ali (‘a) and the other Imams, as they were the Legatees of the Knowledge, attributes of all the Prophets, and God’s reason upon the Cosmos.