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Dear
Gilberto I have
always read your e-mails with interest and respect. But I am always wary lest
through the medium of e-mail with all its impersonality and terseness I may,
God forbid, get into a repetitive and argumentative mode. And the truth of the
matter which is open to investigation may be lost. There is also the primary
importance of actually reading and re-reading the original Sacred Texts (the
Holy Bible which Book you believed in before your conversion to Islam), the
Holy Qur’an Itself, the Sacred Iqan, Some Answered Questions, and the Gleanings. Sadly if
we do not do this carefully again and again we miss each other’s point. Any way
for the love of God (Allah) this lowly one will present the exact text of your
Letter, and offer something. Please
be forbearing with my offering. You
wrote: ** Folks, I
think there is still a confusion (maybe on my part, maybe on yours) which still
isn't being addressed it seems. Maybe
it would help if I could see a specific reference of the following. On
7/7/06, Iskandar Hai <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >
Baha'u'llah does not >
accept that the infallibility of the imams was on the same level of >
the Prophet's infallibility, the Most Great Infallibility. >
IshrAqAt >
expatiates on this. In some Tablets, He even calls the Shi`ah >
"mushrik" >
for holding such a view. In
other words, Bahais are saying Muhammad, as a Manifestation is so intimately
related to Allah that saying "the imams are like Muhammad" is
shirk. While from a Muslim perspective, saying Muhammad is that close to Allah
can sound like shirk. Please
correct me if the above description is untrue or unfair. -G ** There
are important points in this letter Your
worry is that *** from a Muslim
perspective, saying Muhammad is that close to Allah can sound like shirk.*** Firstly in this perspective of yours the transcendence
[Tanzeeh/Taqdees] of Allah God are emphasized. In other words from the perspective
of many Islamic Theologians especially of the Sunni following it is *transcendence*
that is emphasized. God is so transcendent that He is beyond all attributes. He
does not ascend, descend, egress, and regress. No one even the Prophet Muh.ammad
is like Him. ((By the way the extreme of Tanzíh is ta’teel [totally divesting
God of all attributes except His Name Allah] )). To
suggest so is to entertain SHIRK [*joining a God with God*]. Then
there is the other Pole that of *Tashbeeh* [Attributes and anthropomorphisms]
such as the Yadullah [the Qur’anic hand of God] Wajh ullah [Countenance of God]
*Ghazab Allah [the anger of God] etc. NOW
I believe the Bahái Teaching is quite reasonable and rational in this regard. We
believe the Essence of God is beyond comprehension, beyond words, beyond
depiction, and attributes…[Dhaat Allah} but that God does have a Will A
Volition a Mashiyyat and that Mashiyyat/Will/Logos is expressed through the
Manifestations [the Maz.aahir] Who thereby reveal/manifest [yuz.hiruun] God’s
Will. No
one in the Islamic Dispensation had the authority to disclose the Divine Will
[Mashiyyat] but His holiness Muh.ammad …until the year 1260 AH [=1844 CE] when
the exalted Bab became the focal Point of that Will. The Primal Will manifested
His Purpose through Him. Now
we have your second worry re the Imams and what Iskandar referred to. Extreme
Shi’ism ascribed to the Imams a Purpose and authority beyond that which was
derivative from the Prophet Muh.ammad having verbally appointed the First Imam ‘Ali
ibn Abi Taalib [Peace be upon Him]. The
authority of the Imams was derivative. And this is what Baha’u’llah, exalted be
is His Utterance, was emphasizing in the Ishraqat and the Gleanings [please
ponder quote below. Not
only that but the Us.uliyyah ‘Ulama [the divines adhering to the Us’uli A marja,
or marja-e-taqleed (Arabic مرجع تقليد), literally "source of
imitation" or "source of tradition", With the
Advent of the Bab [Whose Day of Martyrdom is today 9th July 1850] and
Baha’u’llah the situation is radically transformed. The Divine Primordial Will
is revealed through Their Utterances Their Book. The Essence of God is still
unknowable [ tanzeeh] but His Will, His Countenance, His Glory, His Books His
Kalimah are manifest as the sun in mid-July. [sorry for my enthusiasm on that
last analogy]. I hope
this helps. Again I say: I do not honestlty think this may/will satisfy you. I
wish to God I could see you and resolve your many issues. Any way rest under
the grace of God. I responded because I am one of those “folks2 apostrophized
in your e-mail. The Text
is here: http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/GWB/GWB-28.html The
other Passage is this one: [Abbreviated
from the Ishraqat] **The
purpose is that all should know of a certainty that […the Prophet Muh.ammad] is
without likeness, peer or partner in His Own station. The Holy Ones([the
Imams]) - may the blessings of God be upon them - were created through the
potency of His Word, and after Him they were the most learned and the most
distinguished among the people and abide in the utmost station of servitude. The
divine Essence, sanctified from every comparison and likeness, is established
in the Prophet, and God's inmost Reality, exalted above any peer or partner, is
manifest in Him. This is the station of true unity and of veritable singleness.
The followers of the previous Dispensation grievously failed to acquire an
adequate understanding of this station… The
people aforetime joined partners with God, though they professed belief in His
unity; and although they were the most ignorant amongst men, they considered
themselves the most accomplished. ….** Again in
the above the Divine Essence is established means the Purpose is established in
Manifestation. Because elsewhere Baha’u’llah reveals: To every
discerning and illuminated heart it is evident that God, the unknowable Essence,
the Divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute, such as
corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress and regress. Far be it from
His glory that human tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that human
heart comprehend His fathomless mystery. He is, and hath ever been, veiled in
the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality
everlastingly hidden from the sight of men. "No vision taketh in Him, but
He taketh in all vision; He is the Subtile, the All-Perceiving."... The
door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in the face of
all beings, the Source of infinite grace, according to His saying, "His
grace hath transcended all things; My grace hath encompassed them all," hath
caused those luminous Gems of Holiness to appear out of the realm of the spirit,
in the noble form of the human temple, and be made manifest unto all men, that
they may impart unto the world the mysteries of the unchangeable Being, and
tell of the subtleties of His imperishable Essence. (Baha'u'llah:
Gleanings, Pages: 46-47)
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- dear Gilberto's question saying: "Folks, ..." s... Khazeh
- Re: dear Gilberto's question saying: "Folks, ..... Gilberto Simpson
