Session: 15 July 1959 — Wednesday

۱۵ جولائی ۱۹۵۹ء — چہار شنبہ

Improper Calculation of Sin (ارتکاب گناہ)

Permissible calculation — thinking, carelessness, and ingratitude — at the time of committing a sin there are three things: inattention, carelessness, and ingratitude. Hazrat gave these three interpretations regarding the state of the sinner. He said: 'the Imam-e-A'zam will certainly take care of.' Hazrat said about the gathering: what am I to do? — 'I mean, I am doing two things simultaneously — I am going here and there, I am a Hanafi — if our Imam does something wrong, what goes wrong? The moment our Imam said something — and Imam Malik would certainly go up to the knee — and if there is any difficulty only on the forehead, then even that would not be permissible for him — Imam Malik says to always go to the knee (if the forehead is on the knee, it is not correct — that is the Imam Shafi'i's position, which is according to his position).' Sahibo! If I am doing two jobs at once — what to do? — 'I mean I need to go and come back — why are these two positions impermissible?' — 'When Allah and His Messenger have left something completely open, then what is the right to fix it — who are you who will fix it?' — 'Just as the Imam-e-A'zam was upset at the Companions' words and set the rules — after this the jurists in the words 'masah' established and fixed it — the Imam gave one ruling and secondly — when he gave it — is it permissible or not? — I mean, I will certainly go to the forehead — Imam Malik says, 'Always go to the knee' (if shami brow on the knee is not correct) — Imam Malik says to always go to the knee. Do I always do it in both? — I will go to both — if only a problem on the forehead — then Imam Shafi'i will not permit it (this is according to Imam Shafi'i's position, with permission).

Similitude and Likeness (مثل اور مثال)

Allah has no mithl (counterpart, equal) — He is beyond all comparison. However, Allah does have amthal (similitudes, illustrations) in the Qur'an — likenesses offered to our limited understanding to help us approach comprehension of divine realities. The word 'mithl' (like, similar) means equality and resemblance — no thing can be said to be equal to Allah. But 'mathal' (parable, similitude) is a representational likeness that preserves the distance between creator and creation. Muhyi al-Din Ibn 'Arabi (may Allah have mercy on him) explains that humans have in them all the attributes that are in Allah the Exalted — they are the image of divine attributes — 'so to the meaning that Allah has created Adam in His image' (hadith — undoubtedly Allah created Adam in His own image) — it is being proven from this that there is a similitude — meaning it is like an image, a picture of divine ownership. Where will Allah's similitude be? There will be no such similitude — 'there is nothing like Him' ('Shaykh' means the same as 'like') — this is the meaning of 'his similitude' — they do not make any similitudes of his similitude.