Imam Ali (R.A.): Levels of True Religious Understanding in Islam

James Morris

The contents of [Imam] Ali’s lesson to[ his closest companion and disciple] Kumayl [ibn Ziyad al-Nakha’i] are all presented as a clarification of his opening statement that:

There are three sorts of people (with regard to Religion, al-Din).

• A divinely inspired Knower (‘alim rabbani);
• the person who is seeking (that true spiritual) Knowing (muta‘allim) along the path of salvation;
• and the riffraff and rabble, the followers of every screaming voice, those who bend with every wind, who have not sought to be illuminated by the Light of (divine) Knowing and who have not had recourse to a solid support.

In the remainder of his lesson, Ali goes on to explain some of the basic conditions for these three radically different levels of (and potentials for) true religious understanding. Each of his points here—as throughout the Nahj al-Balagha—is of course profoundly rooted in the central teachings of the Qur’an. However here we can only summarize his most essential observations in the simplest possible terms.

First, and most importantly, it is human Hearts (the Qur’anic qalb al-insan) that are the

locus of true spiritual ‘Knowing’ (‘ilm) and of our awareness of God and Truth: that is, it is not simply our mind or intellect or passion. Hence the decisive practical importance, throughout theNahj al-Balagha, of Ali’s constant stress on the purification of our hearts, through inner surrender to the divine Will (taslim), as the underlying spiritual purpose of the many divine commandments.

Divine, inspired ‘Knowing,’ however it is outwardly acquired, can only be 

perceived as such by the Heart that has been ‘polished,’ emptied of this world’s distractions and attachments, and thereby opened up to the full significance and reality of the divine Word—and to the further rights and obligations (another dimension of the Arabic al-Haqq) flowing from that opening.

Second, the practically indispensable key to this human potential for religious Knowing

is the real existence and efforts of a limited number of divinely guided individuals—again, not of particular books, rituals, doctrines or worldly institutions, none of which are even mentioned in this intimate, highly personal lesson. Ali refers here to those very special human doorways to true religious understanding by several profoundly significant Qur’anic expressions: the ‘divine Knowers’; the ‘Friends of God’ (awliya’ Allah); God’s ‘Proofs’ or ‘Clear Signs’ on Earth (hujja,bayyina); God’s ‘True Servants’ (‘ibad Allah); and finally as God’s true earthly ‘stand-ins’ or 'Stewards’ (khalifat Allah).

The Imam tells us several other very important things in his description of these true

‘Friends of God:’

• They are always present on earth, ‘whether openly or in secret.’

• They are directly inspired by the divine ‘Spirit of Certainty’ (ruh alyaqin

Therefore they pre-eminently possess true spiritual Insight (haqiqat albasara) into the deeper spiritual realities underlying earthly events and experiences, into the actual meanings of the infinite divine ‘Signs’ constituting our existence

• Their spiritual task and mission on earth is to pass on this divine

Knowing to those properly qualified souls who are truly ready for and

receptive to their divinely inspired teachings.

Third, Ali describes the divine ‘Knowing’ that can be conveyed uniquely by these

specially missioned individuals as having the following qualities:

• It is the ‘Din (true Religion/true Justice) by which God is truly

worshipped and served.’

• It is the indispensable key to realising what the Qur’an constantly

describes as our ultimate human purpose: i.e., to transforming the mortal

biped or ‘human-animal’ (bashar) into the theomorphic, truly human

being (insan), who alone can freely follow and truly obey God (the inner

state of ita‘a), eventually becoming a pure manifestation of the divine

Will.

• Their divinely inspired Knowing is the true ‘Judge’ or Criterion for

rightly perceiving and employing all the illusory possessions (mal) of this world .

Fourth, the ‘true Seekers’ (muta‘allimun) of that divine Knowing have at least the

following basic pre-requisites, each of which distinguishes them from the large majority of ordinary souls (al-nas). One might therefore say that each of these following five points mentioned by Ali here is in itself an essential pre-condition for acquiring true religious understanding:

Those true religious Seekers have a rare natural spiritual capacity to

recognize, absorb, and actualize the inspired teachings of the Friends of

God.

• They know that they need the indispensable guidance of God’s Friends

(the awliya’), and therefore actively seek it out. That is to say, they

actually realize that they are spiritually ‘ignorant’ and needy.

• They are willing and able to submit to the guidance of those divine

Knowers and Bearers of Truth, especially with regard to acknowledging

the true, ultimate aims of this inspired spiritual Knowing. In other

words, they have the indispensable humility to recognize their inner

ignorance and to overcome the central spiritual obstacle of pride.

• They have the practical insight and active spiritual perspicacity (basara)

to ‘see though’ the ongoing divine ‘private lessons’, the most essential

divine ‘Signs’ (ayat) of each soul’s life. (This particular point is one that

Ali especially stresses throughout all the sermons and teachings of the

Nahj al-Balagha.)   

• They are not secretly governed by their desires for power and

domination, qualities which Ali stresses (along with pride) as the

particular psychic passions most likely to trip up the otherwise apt

potential spiritual seekers of this group.

Finally, the rest of humanity are clearly—indeed even vehemently—said to lack, for the

time being, the above-mentioned prerequisites for realized spiritual learning and illumination, because of the current domination of their hearts by their psychic passions of the nafs: for power, pleasure, possessions, and the attractions ‘this lower world’ (al-dunya) in general. In this particular context, Ali does not openly clarify whether or not ‘purification’ of our hearts from such worldly passions is in itself the only obstacle to deeper spiritual and religious realization, or whether some individuals are simply born with dramatically greater, relatively unique spiritual capacities and potential. However, his recurrent and insistent practical stress on the ethically purifying dimensions of Islamic ritual and devotional practice throughout much of the rest of the Nahj al-Balagha is a strong indication that revealed prescriptions for religious teaching and practice can and should be understood as well as an indispensable preparatory discipline that can be used to move at least some individuals toward the receptive inner state of these true ‘seekers.’

http://baytunur.blogspot.com/2010/03/imam-ali-as-levels-of-true-religious.html

Ali imaam-e-manasto manam Ghulaam-e-Ali

hazaar jaan-e-giraamii fidaa-e-naam-e-Ali

Ali is the master of all, I am the slave of Ali

thousands life are to be sacrificed for Ali.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbKvwLTUzcU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83Nu7NubonI&feature=related

Read full paper: 

http://www.religioperennis.org/documents/morris/ImamAli.pdf

Prof. James W. Morris teaches at the Theology Department at Boston College, MA, USA. He took his doctorate from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, 1980.

Prior to joining Boston College, Professor Morris held the Sharjah Chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, and he has taught previously atPrinceton University, Oberlin College, Temple University, and theInstitute of Ismaili Studies in Paris and London.

Imam Ja'fer as-Sadiq: Master in Exegesis, Jurisprudence, and a Mujtahid

Naqshbandi

The son of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, son of al-Imam Zain al-'Abidin, son of al-Husayn, son of Ali bin Abi Talib (r), Ja'far was born on the eighth of Ramadan in the year 83 H. His mother was the daughter of al-Qassim (r), whose great grandfather was Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r).

Ja'far narrated from his father, Muhammad al-Baqir, that a man came to his grandfather, Zain al-'Abidin, and said, "Tell me about Abu Bakr!" He said, "You mean as-Siddiq?" The man said, "How do you call him as-Siddiq when he is against you, the Family of the Prophet (s)?" He replied, "Woe to you. The Prophet (s) called him as-Siddiq, and Allah accepted his title of as-Siddiq. If you want to come to me, keep the love of Abu Bakr and 'Umar in your heart."

He took the knowledge of hadith from two sources: from his father through 'Ali (r) and from his maternal grandfather al-Qassim. The two Sufyans, Sufyan ath-Thawri and Sufyan bin Ayinah, Imam Malik, Imam Abu Hanifa, and al-Qattan all narrated hadith through him, as did many others from later hadith scholars. He was a mufassir al-Qur'an or master in exegesis, a scholar of jurisprudence, and one of the greatest mujtahids (qualified to give legal decisions) in Madinah. Ja'far (r) acquired both the external religious knowledge as well as the internal confirmation of its reality in the heart. The latter was reflected in his many visions and miraculous powers, too numerous to tell.

From his knowledge he used to say to Sufyan ath-Thawri, "If Allah bestows on you a favor, and you wish to keep that favor, then you must praise and thank Him excessively, because He said, "If you are thankful Allah will increase for you" [14:7]. He also said, "If the door of provision is closed for you, then make a great deal of istighfaar (begging forgiveness), because Allah said, "Seek forgiveness of your Lord, certainly Your Lord is oft-Forgiving" [11:52]. And he said to Sufyan, "If you are upset by the tyranny of a Sultan or other oppression that you witness, say "There is no change and no power except with Allah," because it is the key to Relief and one of the Treasures of Paradise."

He received from the Prophet (s) two lines of inheritance: the secret of the Prophet (s) through 'Ali (r) and the secret of the Prophet (s) through Abu Bakr (r). In him the two lineages met and for that reason he was called "The Inheritor of the Prophetic Station (Maqam an-Nubuwwa) and the Inheritor of the Truthful Station (Maqam as-siddiqiyya)." In him was reflected the light of the knowledge of Truth and Reality. That light shone forth and that knowledge was spread widely through him during his lifetime.

He spent his life in worship and acts of piety for the sake of Allah. He rejected all positions of fame in favor of ^cuzla or isolation from the lower world. One of his contemporaries, ^cUmar ibn Abi-l- Muqdam, said, "When I look at Ja'far bin Muhammad I see the lineage and the secret of the Prophet Muhammad (s) united in him."

Imam Ja'far (RAA) passed away in 148 H. and was buried in Jannat al-Baqi in the same grave as that of his father, Muhammad al-Baqir, his grandfather, Zain al-'Abidin, and the uncle of his grandfather, al-Hasan ibn 'Ali (r).

Read more: http://naqshbandi.org/chain/5.htm

Courtesy:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhrabbani/1149621984/in/set-72157601500708922/