Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 15
15 Malfuzat – Volume IV The Concept of the Unity of Being Therefore, the aforementioned concept is a most unholy one. Those who believe in this concept known as Unity of Being (wahdat-e-wujud) are extremely insolent and arrogant. They do not correct their mistakes; and how would they when, God forbid, they consider their own selves to be God? If they had learned to differenti - ate between God and His servant, the reality of their errors would become clear. However, they are quite content with their childish views. For this reason, they can have no knowledge of the insights with which the Holy Quran is replete. This is a grave evil indeed and I fail to understand when it first came about. In my view, there are perhaps few from among the custodians of shrines who do not adhere to this belief. They have crafted their own philosophy from the state - ments of the holy men of the Faith, which they uttered in a state when they were overcome with extreme love and in the fervour of their passion. In reality, the dif - ference between annihilation of perception ( fana-e-nadhari) and the belief held by the Wujudis is that the former is not a matter of philosophy, it is characterised by extreme love, whereas the latter leads one to become a sophist. The sophist is an enemy of God and an atheist, and possesses no love for God. For example, a philosopher could dissect a dead body, but it would be completely irrelevant to suggest that just because he has done so, he would eat the dead body too. In the same manner, an individual who believes in the Unity of Being claims to be God, but this claim has no relation whatsoever as to whether they actually love God as well. Just because a person has seen the skeleton and inner parts of a monkey or dog, does this mean that they share a bond with the animal too? The con - cept under discussion is based on similar types of claims. These people portray themselves as real philosophers but they can provide no evidence as to whether they even possess a relationship with God or not. The great ones of the past who advanced on the spiritual path became the chosen ones of God. This is because the love of God Almighty had dominated their beings; they believed in the Holy Quran, they would swim in the ocean of love for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and Islam was their religion. Due to this, by the grace of God Almighty, they manifested miracles and wondrous feats. The fact of the matter is that when a servant develops an intense relationship of love and passion with their Creator, God Almighty grants them a portion of His attributes, for God has made man His vicegerent on earth. p. 290