Divine Source and Connection

God taught Adam the names of everything and endowed him with prophethood. There are different interpretations of what he was taught. Among those things given to Adam, Sufi scholars argue, was the bounty or light that forms the spiritual part of religion. Bounty or divine bounty is used within two contexts in Sufi literature: the revelation of the divine truth in the human heart in terms of knowledge (ma‘rifat) and Sufi cosmology.

According to Sufi scholars, the bounty (knowledge and spiritual bliss) that comes from God was revealed to the prophets through the Archangel Gabriel, and from the prophets it passed onto the saints, their spiritual heirs, and from the saints to humanity. Therefore, the original source of bounty is God.

Divine bounty, which is endless, reaches man either directly, via manifestation (tajalli), or via the saints, by means of love. Tajalli, which means becoming obvious, appearing, occurring, and being granted God’s special favors, is a state in which divine secrets are inspired into the heart of a student through rays of wisdom that come from God. The initial stage moves on in a spiritual chain reaction, which is regarded as a sign of legitimacy and reliability.

According to Sufis, the light of the Prophet is eternal. It passes from generation to generation. It first emerged in the image of Adam and finally in that of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Thus all the prophets, from Adam to Muhammad, peace be upon them, are the bearers of Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) light, and are connected to the same source.

To summarize, one must have a strong connection that leads to God in order to move in the spiritual world. This requires a sound belief in God and the prophets, and a proper understanding of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). A person excels in relation to their closeness to the Prophet (pbuh). Thus one can gain closeness to God and become receptive to bounty. On the other hand, all beings, including humans, are the realization of the names of God and His attributes, so any mistaken belief or assessment concerning divinity will deprive a person of all bounties and drive him/her to chaos.

What makes modern movements, including western mysticism, useless and what drives people into blind alleys – despite the fact that they may derive some personal benefits or pleasures – is their lack of this connection and the lack of an overall system. They miss the target and are left flailing uselessly.

S.A. Nadir Shah, the spiritual leader of the school of Islamic Sufism in the USA, provides an allegory of an electric lamp to describe the difference between modern psychology in the West and Sufism. In this allegory, psychology studies the size, weight, and the composition of the lamp. Is it a lamp for the floor or for the table? Is it a night lamp or a reading lamp? How much does it weigh? How is the weight distributed? All these properties are changeable.

Psychotherapy is interested in learning all the variables that one must know in order to place the lamp properly. Does the color match that of the room? Is it attractive? Does its model go with the furniture? Is its wiring sound? Is the switch easily accessible? Different branches of psychotherapy study these external properties. On the other hand, no matter how much we change the properties of the lamp and study them, the lamp will not work if it is not plugged in. For a lamp to provide light it has to be connected to an electric source. Otherwise, knowing all the properties has no meaning.

Sufism is interested in the reason for the why the lamp is there. That is, it is interested in turning on the lamp, to connecting it properly so that it will carry out its function, and to finding the necessary power supply, not to changing its shape or color. Consequently, Sufism is interested in one unchanging property of the lamp: its connection to the source. It tries to cure the major disease of the soul, modern man’s estrangement from his real identity and from God. This treatment lies in the connection with the Source of Life.[21]

In almost all modern movements and philosophies there is lack of a true guiding source. In other words, modern movements lack a foundation.

E=mc² encompasses the limits of matter. No natural matter can be defined outside its scope. A problem arises when it comes to determining where the area outside this scope connects with the material universe. This area, which feeds our body and seems to serve as a source for it, which is termed as the sub-zero, virtual or imaginative, is claimed to be the creator himself by some philosophies and this is a serious misconception.

We have a mirror in our hand that reflects the sun. When we look at the mirror, we may think that it is the source of the light, not taking into consideration the fact that it is simply reflecting the light. We think that it is the creator. In fact, we are seeing no more than a smooth surface in which an unreal sun rises.

The view that claims that the limits science has reached are the borders of the malakut[22] (immaterial) world, that our souls are unbounded by time or space and that this area or dimension, which is considered as a source of boundless energy, is merely a reflection of the unlimited energy of the Creator (the manifestation of His names and attributes) and that our souls feed on infinite energy, corrects this mistake. Lijun Wang, a doctor of physics at Princeton NEC Institute, has found that light can travel three hundred times as fast as it was previously thought to, which is an important piece of information.[23] When we go beyond the area that is described by E=mc², we enter the world of Heaven, a world in which space can be present simultaneously in several places and where souls can travel beyond the limits of time.

All Far Eastern philosophies regard this area (the world of Heaven) as the Creator Himself, the essence and source, and perceive the human as being part of God. This view has developed into a false philosophy which says “You are the source of infinite power; you can do anything you want to.” Such a philosophy can only lead to depression, as it is clear that human beings are not capable of doing everything.

The theories positive science has established and techniques based on Eastern philosophies are of use and they do contribute to change. However, they will fail to produce satisfactory answers as long as they hide the Sun. When a person who has based their life on such philosophies dies, they will understand that something is missing, but they do not have the chance to come back and live again (63:10-11). Reincarnation is offered in an attempt to hide this fact or to cover this flaw.[24]

[21] Wilcox, Lynn, Sufizm ve Psikoloji, Insan Yayinlari, Istanbul, 2001, 13. Originally published as Sufism and Psychology (The Quilliam Press, London, 1996).

[22] This concept has meanings like dignity, sovereignty, dominion and refers to the invisible realm of souls and spirits.—Ed.

[23] Zaman, June 5, 2000.

[24] For more information see: Bozdag, Muhammed, Ruhsal Zeka (trans. Spiritual Intelligence), 133 etc. Istanbul, 2001.

[25] Hewitt, James, Meditasyon, 145. Akasa Yay., Istanbul, 2000. Originally published as Meditation (Random House, 1998).