To all our Brothers and Sisters in America

Mühledorf, June 6^th, 2004

Theme Work:

Theme Work starting on the Divine Names of Allah

 

My dear Friends,

This is meant for those who want and are prepared to continue with theme work. Following the last four themes on the Nafs I suggest to continue with a glance at some of the Divine Names of God (Asmâ’ul Husna), as far as possible in the light of what we learned about the Nafs. Therefore, when working with the Divine Names, you should make further use of the following documents that were sent to you some time ago:

·        The four letters on the Nafs

·        Fundamentals on the Divine Names (available on our Website in German and English, and also available in Spanish from the Group Leaders)

·        A Summary on the Nafs (available on our Website in German and hopefully soon in English)

First I wish to render a few thoughts about the name “Allah”. It is a name that does not express any attribute, and therefore it is superior to all other Divine Names. Allah does even not include the Good or exclude the Bad: Allah is neither good nor bad; Allah stands above such attributes, and with that He enrobes even Satan who will be forced to give back his power at the end of this world. I say this in order to erase some misinterpretations that often occur. Allah is not in opposition to Satan. Satan is powerless in front of Allah. Satan only exists because this is the will of Allah. Satan exists as long the worlds exist, and it is Allah who is the “Rabb il Alamin” or “The Sustainer of all the Worlds” (second verse in the Fatiha). Muhammad Asad, a translator of the Holy Koran, wrote the following comment to the expression “Rabb il Alamin”:

“In this instance, the term “worlds” denotes all categories of existence both in the physical and the spiritual sense. The Arabic expression “Rabb” – rendered by me as  “Sustainer” – embraces a wide complex of meanings not easily expressed by a single term in another language. It comprises the ideas of having a just claim to the possession of anything and, consequently, authority over it, as well as of rearing, sustaining and fostering anything from its inception to its final completion.”

To what then is Satan in opposition? We may say in general that Satan is in opposition to “God our Lord”.  This expression stands for all we have to seek, in opposition to all we have to turn our back to. But this does not yet tell us about the qualities of “Our Lord” versus the qualities of Satan. How does Satan appear in this world? He is the source of disorder, non-transparency, mud, obscurity, treachery, envy, jealousy, and so on. All this has to do with things not being at the right place. To exercise power on the right might be a divine quality, to exercise it at the wrong place is abusive. To offer peace at the right time is divine, to offer it at the wrong time is cowardice. To be merciful in the right moment is divine, to have mercy in the wrong moment is irresponsible.

Allah’s will becomes recognizable to us if His attributes expressed in His Divine Names are appearing in the right context and at the right place and time. With the last four themes on the Nafs we have learned about the three levels of consciousness, namely the unconsciousness, the awakened consciousness and the cosmic consciousness. If we are in an unconscious state we do not see where things belong to, and it is in this state that Satan can seduce us, unless we are protected by a deep affiliation with a Umma (gathering of believers) that helps us to persist in the right code of behavior. If on the other hand we are in a complete conscious state, we can see the cosmic order and where things belong. In this high state Satan cannot reach us, but he can wait until we fall back in a normal state of consciousness, and then he may again try to seduce us.

Being aware that all these descriptions are only an imperfect approach to what we would call “the reality”, I acknowledge that finally everything depends on His Grace. It is God the One who finally brings us on the Right Path, and that’s why we include the Fatiha in all our prayers. The final justice is in Allah’s hands, and it is not possible for us to comprehend the injustice in this world of relative appearances. We try to do the right things, to do good deeds, not because we can comprehend, but only because we were told to do so. The various revelations brought to us by the Prophets give us the frame of action, and it is not alone our understanding and our feelings that can and should guide us.

Let me come now to two very important and often repeated names: ar-Rahmân and ar-Rahîm. In translations both names often are rendered with the same attributes. Both stem from the same root rahm, which means a feeling comprising pity, compassion, kindliness, love, friendliness. But still we can and shall distinguish between ar-Rahmân and ar-Rahîm:

Ar-Rahmân is the constant sympathy of Allah for His creation. It is this constant flow of goodwill stemming from Allah that keeps His creation in motion. It is ar-Rahmân that for instance makes us sickor throws us into difficulties – also if we can’t comprehend. It is ar-Rahmân that creates the basis for our fate and destiny. Ar-Rahmân is the only Divine Name that can be easily replaced with the name Allah, this because ar-Rahmân is not a limiting attribute but it stands for Allah Himself; it is an aspect of His being.

Ar-Rahîm describes a compassion, mercy or kindliness specially designated for the good of the human being. It becomes normally visible as an echo to our yearning, effort and prayers. It is an aspect of “Allah’s activity”.

Should you work with these two names I’d like to suggest the following:

While contemplating on the name ar-Rahîm, try to recognize how this quality appears depending on your moods. The sensation of ar-Rahîm obviously depends on the influence of the different Nafs. If Nafs-e ammâre is dominant, we will probably measure the amount of God’s grace with the amount of food, goods and sexual satisfaction we receive; with Nafs-e lawwâme prominently active we will probably measure God’s grace by the amount of control we have over our life; on the level of Nafs-e molhama we will probably measure God’s grace by the type of inspiration we receive; and on the level of Nafs-e motma’ene we will probably measure God’s grace by the sensation of tranquility and peace we are experiencing. These are only hints; there is a lot to experience!

 

I hope that you can make good use of this in your daily life, and I remain with love and good wishes for you and your relatives.

 

 

Yours,  Peter