Malfuzat – Volume II — Page 199
199 after. The words ُ اہلل َ ّ ٓ اِلٰہ َ اِل َ ل (There is none worthy of worship except Allah) actually imply the following: ُ اہلل َ ّ مَطْلُوْب َ لِی ْ اِل َ مَقْصوْد َ لِی ْ وَل َ مَعْبُوْد َ لِی ْ وَل َ ل I have no object of worship, or any being that I desire or seek, other than Allah. This is true Unity of God, when one deems Allah the Exalted alone to be worthy of all praise and admiration. Who Is Khannas ? Then Allah the Exalted states: 1 ِ مِنْ شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاس Meaning, seek refuge from the evil of the whisperings of khannas (the evil whis- perer). In Arabic, the snake is called khannas , or nahash in Hebrew, on account of the sin that it committed in earlier times. Here, Allah Almighty does not use the name Iblis or Satan so that man is reminded of the trial he confronted in the very beginning, when Satan deceived his two ancestors. At that time, his name was khannas. Allah the Exalted employed this sequence so that man is reminded of past events and realises that just as Satan once deceived man, turning him away from obedience to God, he must not be allowed, in any future time, to make you rebel or turn away from obedience to the ruler of the time. In this way, man is moved to continuously scrutinise and judge the intentions and designs of the inner self to see the extent to which he is willing to obey their ruling king, and so that he continues to strive positively in this regard, and continues to supplicate before God Almighty that may Satan not infiltrate him by any avenue. Hence, the commandment of obedience given in this chapter is obedience to God Almighty, for true obedience is due to Him. However, there is also an in- struction to obey one’s parents, a spiritual mentor or guide, and the ruler of the time, because it is God Almighty Himself who has instructed man to show obe- dience to these people as well. The benefit of obedience will be that one will be saved from the grip of khannas. Therefore, man has been taught to seek refuge from the evil whisperings of khannas because a believer is not bitten from the same hole twice. You must not fall prey to an affliction in which you have been 1 an-Nas , 114:5