Wujud (Being)

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“Indeed the name Wujud (Being) is the most common name shared between the Creator and the created, however not in the same sense of existence” Al-‘Ihyā Book 5 by Abi Hāmed Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Al-Ghazali

In most religious or philosophical presentations words such as ‘being’ or ‘existence’ are used and all in the same sense for any creature or eternal entity or even Allah. This has created a fallacy, rightfully so pointed out by the non-religious folk, that questions the very existence of Allah.

Though the most shared name between Allah and the creation is that of Wujud (Being), however the intrinsic essence of each existence is not shared at all. Human being does not exist, in the same way, as Allah exists!

Traditional concepts of ‘being’ was that of a 1-0 binary mode: Being vs. Non-being. In ‘Irfān (Divine Gnosis) we are not really ‘beings’as we think we are, and we were not ‘non-beings’ as we think we were not. Indeed the binary mode, is a child-like sketch made up by our mind to explain the universe in simple approximate terms, however Haqiqa (Reality) of Wujud (Being) is that of a spectrum, shades of grey, our existence is nothing but the transference from one shade to another:

“Ahoy people of eternity, Ahoy people of everlasting-ness, you have not been created for destruction, solely you were created for eternality; however you transfer from one universe to another.” (Derived by Abu Al-Sheikh in his Tafsir and Abu-Na-im from Bilal Ibn Sa’d, Suyuti’s Sharhis-Sudūr (Opening the hearts for acceptance: Elucidation of the state of death and graves.)                                       

Transience of time from one moment to the next is the Simulation through which you can visualize the ‘prototype’ of the above said transference, sprouting of the plants in the spring going from the dead earth to living earth again the Simulation through which you can visualize the ‘prototype’ of that transference.    

Had this Wujud (Being) not appeared there would have been only evil:

“Wujud (Being) is the very intrinsic essence of goodness and ‘Adam (Non-being) the very essence of evil: We created them not except for Haqq (Just Ends, The Truth) but most of them do not understand. Qur’an [44:39] (Haq-qul Yaqin (The Absolute Truth & Certainty), Chapter 4 by Mahmoud Shabestari)

It is this Wujud (Being), the epitome of absolute truth, the mirror facing the Divine Face, manifesting the truth, the justice and the goodness throughout created realms, without which there were only darkness and evil. Why evil? Because where there is no Wujud (Being) there is also no clue to the Wujud (Being) of Allah, there is only evil by default. Again traditionally we attribute evil to cases such as lewdness and abuse, but lack of Wujud (Being) means lack of pointing at the Divine Knowledge, hence the source of all evil. That is why in all religions destroying life is considered evil:

“Where the Wujud (Being) appears, the goodness appears, and its destruction immediately replaced by evil”

Wujud in the language of the Arabs fundamentally means ‘to be found’, ‘to be there’. In other words, an object was ‘always there’ ‘independent of all’ within the Divine Knowledge, beyond any destruction, however what has Wujud ‘can be found’ and by 'finding' it is meant: by eyes to be seen, by forces to be pulled or pushed, by time-space to move or be still, by instruments to be measured and so on:

“If an object can be found by other objects, in any form or fashion, then it has Wujud (Being-ness)”

A tree eternally exists within the Divine Knowledge, however within the concrescence of the physical and biological forms it is FOUND by molecules, chemicals and physiological processes and so on.

Atoms, force-fields, wave functions, processes, chemicals and physiologies all form a vector, pointing at the real ‘tree’ in the Divine Knowledge, hence found! This vector has one end-point within the Divine Knowledge and one end-point in this universe and when we look along the vector into the past we see atoms, force-fields, processes, and chemicals and so on.

This vector is like a pointer: “Here I am!” announcing that this Wujud (Being) can be addressed and be found by many other objects. Or we can say the object is now addressable, as addressable in computing, and the addressability might be via different objects e.g. atoms, thoughts, processes and so on. If the object has no Wujud (Being) means it is not addressable, it exists within the Divine Knowledge but to any other object e.g. human being, it is not addressable whatsoever and therefore it is a non-being.

This is why the world is called ‘Ālam meaning a signpost pointing to some direction, indeed pointing at the other universe at the Divine Knowledge.

This is why no matter where Wujud (Being) is found it announces/broadcasts itself non-stop e.g. a particle announces itself by where it is, momentum, electro-magnetic field, nuclear forces, or large bodies of mass announce themselves with gravity, gravitational waves and so on.

Human being, additionally, announces himself by speech, thoughts, actions and Dhikr (Remembrance) the ultimate form of announcing one’s Self and pointing to the other universe.

Therefore Wujud (Being) is a vector, one end-point in the other universe within the Divine Knowledge (Knowledge as Sifat (Attribute) of Allah) and the other end-point the physical concrete object here, and looking along the vector into the past we see the elements of its concrescence.

Even if the elements of the concrescence are there and yet there is no such vector formed, there will be no Wujud (Being).

If there is no concrescence of physical matters, then the Wujud (Being) is within some intellect e.g. mind, imagination, emotion and so on. However, according to this definition it is still a vector-form of existence pointing at the Divine Knowledge in the other universe and the other end-point, here, in some intellect. And it is no less of a Wujud (Being) in comparison to a physically concreted Wujud (Being).

In summary, Wujud (Being) is a vector with one end-point pointing towards Allah or a Sifat (Attribute) of Allah, and the other end-point here either concreted in physical matter or within some intellect. This vector of Wujud (Being) makes the object addressable by other objects. Prior to the formation of this vector, the object was within the Divine Knowledge, a timeless being beyond any destruction, but in-addressable by other objects e.g. human mind, hence a non-being.

Pointing at Allah or towards Allah or at Allah’s Sifat (Attribute) needs some more explanation. “To Allah belongs the east and the West: Wherever you turn, there is the Wajh (Face) of Allah” Qur’an [2:115], and in several other verses of the Qur’an as well as the Hadith (Prophetic Narration) the term Wajh (Face) is used. There are several possible interpretations of this word extracted from the Qurtubi Tafsir (Exegesis) and Ibn ‘Ajiba:

1.    Huz-zāq said: It means returning towards the Wujud (Being) of Allah, and the term face is used metaphorically. And the term Face is used since the face is the most patent part of a body and therefore it is used for observing or seeing.
2.    Ibn Fūrak said: In Arabic sometimes an attribute of an object is used instead of the object itself e.g. I saw his knowledge today or I glanced at his knowledge means I saw a scholar today! Therefore seeing someone’s face means seeing their being in entirety and this usage of ‘Face’ means seeing Allah’s Wujud (Being).
3.    Some said: Wajh (Face) is a Sifat (Divine Attribute) of Allah from Qadim (Time Immemorial). (So Allah has an attribute, just like the other attributes e.g. Mercy or Light and this attribute is called Face)
4.    Ibn ‘Ajibah said: Wajh also means direction, so Wajh (Face) of Allah means towards the direction of Allah. Everything including the directions/dimensions and places exist/subsist upon the Nur (Divine Light) of the Sifāt (Divine Attributes)—meaning there is nothing but Allah that we may turn our face towards to—and all shall be obliterated by the Ahadiyyat (Absolute Oneness) of Dhāt (Divine Intrinsic Essence) that “Allah is and none else with IT, IT is over whatever it is”; The rays of Divine Light efface all traces of anything (in existence) and the secrets of Ahadiyyat (Absolute Oneness) eradicate the Lights and IT is singular so far as the Wujud (Being-ness). (Universe is immersed/drown within the sea of Nur (Divine Light) and Light is immersed/drown searchlessly within the infinite sea of Divine Secrets)

In all these several things are clear:

1.    The very nature of Wujud (Being-ness) has a ‘towards’ attribute i.e. it is a directional vector, a vector guiding towards Allah’s Wujud (Being)
2.    There is no need for anything to be in existence in order for this vector to be, everything faces Allah no matter when or where
3.    Imagine a circle, and an object roaming on the circumference, no matter what happens to the object, being (moving clockwise) or non-being (moving counter-clockwise), it faces the center of the circle i.e. Allah’s Wujud (Being). Even when the object is a non-being, it is within the Divine Knowledge and still faces the Wujud (Being) of Allah.
4.    Everything is a consequent Wujud (Being-ness) save the Wujud (Being-ness) of Allah.

© 2005-2002,  Dara O. Shayda



 تفسير الجامع لاحكام القران/ القرطب


ومن جعلها منسوخة فلا ٱعتراض عليه من جهة كونها خبراً؛ لأنها محتملة لمعنى الأمر. يحتمل أن يكون معنى { فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّواْ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ ٱللَّهِ }: وَلُّوا وجوهكم نحو وجه الله؛ وهذه الآية هي التي تلا سعيد بن جُبير رحمه الله لما أمر الحجاجُ بذبحه إلى الأرض.

الرابعة: اختلف الناس في تأويل الوجه المضاف إلى الله تعالى في القرآن والسُّنة؛ فقال الحُذّاق: ذلك راجع إلى الوجود، والعبارة عنه بالوجه من مجاز الكلام، إذ كان الوجه أظهر الأعضاء في الشاهد وأجلّها قدراً. وقال ٱبن فُورك: قد تُذكر صفة الشيء والمراد بها الموصوف توسُّعاً؛ كما يقول القائل: رأيت عِلم فلان اليوم، ونظرت إلى علمه؛ إنما يريد بذلك رأيت العالم ونظرت إلى العالم؛ كذلك إذا ذُكر الوجه هنا، والمراد من له الوجه، أي الوجود. وعلى هذا يتأوّل قوله تعالى:
{ إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ ٱللَّهِ }
[الإنسان: 9] لأن المراد به: لله الذي له الوجه؛ وكذلك قوله:
{ إِلاَّ ٱبْتِغَآءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِ ٱلأَعْلَىٰ }
[الليل: 20] أي الذي له الوجه. قال ٱبن عباس: الوجه عبارة عنه عز وجلّ؛ كما قال:
{ وَيَبْقَىٰ وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو ٱلْجَلاَلِ وَٱلإِكْرَامِ }
[الرحمن: 27]. وقال بعض الأئمة: تلك صفة ثابتة بالسمع زائدةٌ على ما توجبه العقول من صفات القديم تعالى. قال ٱبن عطية: وضعّف أبو المعالي هذا القول، وهو كذلك ضعيف؛ وإنما المراد وجوده. وقيل: المراد بالوجه هنا الجهة التي وُجِّهنا إليها أي القبلة. وقيل: الوجه القصد؛ كما قال الشاعر:
أستغفر الله ذنباً لستُ مُحْصِيَه           رَبِّ العباد إليه الوَجْهُ والعَمَلُ
وقيل: المعنى فَثمّ رضا الله وثوابه كما قال:
{ إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ ٱللَّهِ }
[الإنسان: 9] أي لرضائه وطلب ثوابه؛ ومنه قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: " من بنى مسجداً يبتغي به وجه الله بنى الله له مثله في الجنة " وقوله: " يُجاء يوم القيامة بصحف مُختمة فتُنصب بين يدي الله تعالى فيقول عز وجل لملائكته ألقوا هذا وٱقبلوا هذا فتقول الملائكة وعزّتك يا ربّنا ما رأينا إلا خيراً وهو أعلم فيقول إن هذا كان لغير وجهي ولا أقبل من العمل إلا ما ٱبتغى به وجهي " أي خالصاً لي؛ خرّجه الدارقطنّي. وقيل: المراد فَثمّ الله؛ والوجه صلة؛ وهو كقوله: «وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ». قاله الكَلْبي والقُتَبِيّ، ونحوه قول المعتزلة


تفسير البحر المديد في تفسير القران المجيد/ ابن عجيبة

قلت: { أينما } شرطية، و { تولوا } شَرْطُها، وجملة { فثم } جوابها، و(وَلْي) يستعمل بمعنى أدبر وبمعنى أقبل، تقول: وليت عن كذا أو كذا، والوجه هنا بمعنى الجهة، تقول: سافرت في وجه كذا، أي في جهة كذا. قاله ابن عطية.

الإشارة: اعلم أن الأماكن والجهات، وكل ما ظهر من الكائنات، قائمة بأنوار الصفات، ممحوة بأحدية الذات، " كان الله ولا شيء معه، وهو الآن على ما عليه كان "؛ إذ لا وجود لشيء مع الله، { فأينما تولوا فثم وجه الله } ، محق الآثار بإفلاك الأنوار، وانمحت الأنوار بأحدية الأسرار، وانفرد بالوجود الواحد القهار