Spiritual Experiences - Spiritual War and the Victory of Islam
Spiritual War and the Victory of Islam
Tags: Spiritual War, Jihad, Ta'wili War, Gog Magog, Spiritual Army
1. You will all be extremely happy to know that spiritual war continues since the time of the father of humankind (i.e., Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him)), and in every personal world the religion of nature (Islam) gains superiority and victory in this major jihad. As it is said in (4:4, 4:7): "All the armies of the heavens and earth belong to Allah". From this blessed verse it is apparent that the very purpose of God's powerful armies is to help the believers of all times in their spiritual war and to make them overpower and be victorious, because the felicity of the major jihad [i.e., spiritual struggle] is possible for all believers.
2. In the Qur'an, wherever martial words are mentioned, secretly there is definitely the mention of spiritual war. For instance, some of the words are junud (army), victory, overpowering, jihad, soldiers, war, martyr, martyrs, battle, hizbu'llah (the group of Allah), booty, king, fortress, to strike, garments (cloak = chainmail), sarabil (shirts), ba's (war), spoils of war, confrontation, etc.
3. It is said in (58:21): "God has written (in azal) that I and my Apostle will prevail. Indeed, Allah is strong and overpowering". That is, it was God's will and help that the Imams of the cycle of every natiq in their respective time fought the spiritual war by the name of resurrection, in which the true religion prevailed every time.
4. One exegesis of the above-mentioned verse (58:21) is: "(Remember) that day when we will summon people of the time with their Imam (17:71)". It is clear from this, that the Imam (May peace be through him) of the time has been appointed as the leader of spiritual war and the lord of resurrection of every time by Allah and the Prophet of every cycle, because the law of obedience says that first of all obedience is for Allah, then for the Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) and then for the waliyy-i amr (Custodian of command), that is, for the Imam (May peace be through him). After that, there is nobody's obedience. In fact, it is now the turn of resurrection which is da`wat-i haqq in the form of spiritual war.
5. In Islam, which is the religion of nature, the act of renewal always continues. Therefore spiritual war (which is resurrection and batini da`wat as well) continues to take place in the leadership of every Imam so that, in accordance with God's promise, Islam may prevail over all other religions at all times, as it is said in (9:33): "It is He (God) who has sent His Apostle (Muhammad) (after making him undergo the inbi`as) with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religions". Al-huda means the Silent Qur'an (Qur'an-i samit) and Speaking Qur'an - Imam (Qur'an-i natiq) which alludes to the esoteric (ta'wili) war after the exoteric (tanzili) war.
6. The above-mentioned verse is in (48:28) and in (61:9). This means that the small jihad is physical (in zahir) and the major jihad is spiritual (in batin), which starting against the carnal soul, turns into a representative resurrection and a universal spiritual war, whose commander and leader is the Imam (May peace be through him) of the time on behalf of the Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) and by God's command, all the people of the religions of the world enter into the true religion in the form of particles.
7. See verse (4:54): "Indeed, we have given Ibrahim's progeny the book and wisdom and have also given them a great kingdom". The chain of the progeny of Hzarat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) is linked with Hazrat-i Muhammad (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) and the chain of his progeny. Therefore, the progeny of Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) is also called the progeny of Hazrat-i Muhammad (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny), to whom God has given the spirit, spirituality and wisdom of His book (Qur'an) and the great kingdom of spirituality. That is, spiritual war takes place under the guardianship of the Imams of the progeny of Hazrat-i Muhammad (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny), because it is they whom God has made kings in all its meanings and given them the royal authority.
8. There is a noble hadith: "We have returned from the minor jihad to the major jihad". When the holy Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) was asked: "What is the major jihad?", he said: "Verily it is the jihad against the carnal soul". If the purpose of the jihad against the carnal soul was confined to personal improvement and salvation, it would not be 'major' compared to the physical jihad, which is in the interest of all Muslims and believers. Thus, we learn that the jihad against the carnal soul is the secret title of the spiritual war of the religion of Islam, because from this jihad the soul undergoes all-inclusive experiential death in this very lifetime and simultaneously the spiritual war and resurrection start, which is mentioned throughout the Qur'an.
9. In the end of all or some chapters of the Qur'an, there is a big treasure of knowledge. One such precious treasure is in the end of surah-yi `Ankabut: "And We shall certainly guide those who do jihad (against their soul) in our cause, to Our path. Verily, Allah is with those who do good" (29:69). There is no doubt that this verse is about the major jihad because, if there was no mention or allusion of the major jihad in the Qur'an, then it would not have been praised so tremendously in the noble hadith.
10. The major jihad (spiritual war) or representative resurrection is something internal or spiritual, which continues secretly in the personal worlds of the Prophets and the Imams (Awliya'). Thus, when a Perfect Man or `arif undergoes universal resurrection, a wall with a door is erected between him and the public, inside of which is mercy and outside it is punishment (57:13). Here, it is important to know that this punishment is intellectual punishment, which means deprivation of knowledge and wisdom and an ignorant life.
11. Hazrat-i Qa'im (May peace be through him) was an individual as well as a community and therefore in the Qur'an there are many examples of the plural in the form of the singular and the singular in the form of the plural. For instance, Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him)'s blessed personality was itself a community (16:120). Similarly, Hazrat-i Qa'im (May peace be through him) is also called a community in relation to the spiritual army (5:54). Study this verse carefully and gain more knowledge from it.
12. In (16:81) it is said: "And He made shirts for you to protect you from war". These are subtle bodies which protect you from the damage of spiritual war. It must be remembered, that when God reminds believers of a bounty, it implies that others do not have this bounty. Therefore, these shirts are never of worldly things, they are, in fact, celestial bodies which are alive and conscious.
13. In this subject of spiritual war, it is inevitable to mention Gog and Magog, although their original reality has always been hidden from the exoteric people. However, from the experience of spirituality or spiritual science it has become known that Gog and Magog are an army of particles. From these, some are of your own and some are of the enemy and they are prominently mentioned at two places in the Qur'an: (18:94, 21:96). The Qur'an says about them that they make mischief in the earth, which means spiritual war and reform.
14. The mention of the major jihad (spiritual war) starts from the story of Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him), when the angels said: "Will you give the vicegerency on the earth to a person who will cause mischief and shed blood" (2:30). The reason for the objection of the angels was that they had seen the spiritual war of the previous Adam, but were unaware that spiritual war has countless hidden advantages. In short, in the spirituality of Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him), Gog and Magog's battle had taken place because it is they who are the army of souls.
15. There is a noble hadith which says: "All souls were/are [in the form of] assembled armies". That is, in the spiritual war of every Perfect Man, all souls have taken part as the army of good and evil, in which many Divine wisdoms are hidden. From this, we know that souls can be present in the personal world of every Perfect Man, as in the event of the covenant of 'Am I not?', the renewal of which has continued to take place in the `arifs and the Perfect Men. Since God's sunnat is eternal, therefore in the spirituality of His special servants all the fundamental things are similar. That is, spirituality and resurrection are a chain of renewal of its own kind which has neither a beginning nor an end.
16. Since the major jihad is against the carnal soul, it is therefore known from the beginning that this war is for the sake of the supremacy and victory of the intellect and knowledge. Thus, in spiritual war, intellect, sagacity, knowledge and wisdom have paramount importance and without them there is no concept of victory. Therefore, with the full vigour of knowledge and wisdom you should all wage the major jihad and, God willing, your efforts will never go to waste.
Karachi, 26th June 1997
Thursday, 20 Safaru'l-muzaffar 1418 A.H.
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