Sittings of August 1959 — Part VII

مجالسِ اگست ۱۹۵۹ — حصہ ہفتم

29 August 1959 (Saturday)

Topics 37–39: Spiritual Practices and Magic; Seven Attributes and the Science of the Soul's Centre; The Power of Spiritual Concentration

There is a fundamental difference between legitimate spiritual practices ('amal and 'amaliyyat) and magic (sihr). Legitimate spiritual practices draw on the Names and Attributes of Allah with pure intention and within the framework of the Shari'a. Magic, by contrast, involves association with forces that are prohibited, and its use is strictly forbidden in Islam.

The seven attributes (sab' sifat) — Life, Knowledge, Will, Power, Hearing, Sight, and Speech — are the foundational Attributes of Allah. In Sufi teaching, each of these corresponds to a subtle centre (latifa) within the human being. The science of these centres is the inner dimension of the Sufi path, and working with them is the substance of the spiritual discipline (shughl).

The power of spiritual concentration (tawajjuh) is real and substantial. When a perfect shaykh directs his inner attention toward a disciple with the intention of spiritual benefit, this concentration — by Allah's permission — can transform the disciple's inner state, remove veils, and open the heart.

Topics 40–44: Divine Likeness; Beholding Allah in the Hereafter; The Qur'an — Created or Uncreated?

Hazrat discussed the matter of 'tashbih al-Ilahi' — the Divine Likeness. The Qur'an and hadith employ language about Allah that resembles descriptions of created things (hands, face, settling upon the throne), yet Allah is utterly unlike any created thing. The scholars of the Sunni mainstream interpreted these in ways that affirm their reality without likening Allah to creation.

In the Hereafter, the believers will behold Allah — this is confirmed by sound hadith. The nature of that vision transcends all worldly analogy. It is the supreme reward of Paradise.

The great theological debate regarding the Qur'an — whether it is created or uncreated — occupied the Muslim world during the reign of the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal suffered greatly for refusing to say that the Qur'an is created. The orthodox Sunni position, established by the Ash'ari and Maturidi scholars, is that the Qur'an — as the Speech of Allah subsisting in His Essence — is uncreated. The physical letters and sounds through which it is recited exist in the created world, but the Divine Speech itself is eternal and uncreated.