“…that all good and bad are from Allah”

One of the pillars of faith is to believe all good and bad are from Allah.

Whatever good comes to you it is from Allah, but whatever evil comes to you it is from your self (from complying with your conditioned beliefs including your alleged ‘moral codes’). We have revealed you as a Rasul for the people. Sufficient is Allah, as your essence with His Names, as a Witness for you.[1]

Death will find you wherever you are. Even if you were within tall and sturdy towers... But if good comes to them, they say, “This is from Allah”; and if evil befalls them, they say, “This is from you.” Say, “All of it is from Allah!” What is the matter with people that they do not try to understand the reality![2]

Let us first try to understand what is meant by the word ‘evil’ in this verse. What is bad or evil? How can we do good or bad to others? What do we understand from these terms?

When I do or give you something that is compatible with your nature or natural disposition you’ll probably think I’m doing something good to you, this is according to your understanding.

If I were to do or give you something that is incompatible with your nature you’ll think I’m doing something bad to you. Again, this is also according to your understanding.

In reality however, it’s the complete opposite. That is, I’d be doing a good to you by giving you something that contravenes with your nature, and bad to you by giving you something that suits your nature. This is according to the Reality!

As the verse confirms:

Fighting has been ordained for you, even though you despise it. Perhaps you dislike a thing that is good for you and like a thing that is bad for you. Allah knows, but you know not.[3]

What we call bad are things that go against our nature, our creational make-up or disposition.

“This is from you” is in reference to Muhammad (saw)… Because the divine reality is disclosed through Muhammad (saw) he is told, “Say: That which you see, that which you call bad or evil is from Allah” in other words, “It is not from Muhammad, it is from Allah” thus pointing to this truth.

So good and bad are only valid when you look in respect of your compositional make-up. The things that are in conflict with your make-up you call ‘bad’ and the things that comply with your make-up you call ‘good’. But in reality good and bad are known only to Allah. Therefore, in any case, we must accept that all good and bad are from Allah.

Actually, the reality of one’s self, one’s essence, is a composition of the Names of Allah. Thus to say it is from you or from your ‘self’ is again a manifestation from this composition. Since this composition is comprised of divine names, is it not correct then to say the source of all ‘bad’ is also Allah?

It is Rabb, not Allah!

Allah has no opposition. But a composition is limited. Even though in essence a composition is of Allah, because it is a composition it is referred to as the ‘self’ or the ‘person’.

This is your limited existence at the level of Rububiyyah, therefore it is linked to the ‘self’ (nafs) not to Allah. The ‘bad’ is only bad according to the self anyway, not according to Allah! You only think its bad because it goes against your composition. If your consciousness was cleansed from the limitation of the ‘person-self’ you will no longer call it bad, you will simply say, “It is from Allah!” without labeling it good or bad.

Thus I have explained what good and bad means. Let me repeat, ‘bad’ is only that which goes against your composition or that which enables you to remain within the boundary of your limited composition.

In divine terms, ‘bad’ that is used in the sense of a warning is that which preserves your compositional make-up. You think this is ‘good’ because it keeps you within your person identity. Yet in reality it imprisons you within your limited self, and therefore it is actually ‘bad’. Thus “you dislike a thing that is good for you and like a thing that is bad for you”! 

But in reality “All of it is from Allah!”

“Indeed Allah has determined a measure (fate) for all things.”[4]

The word ‘things’ in the above verse denotes all objects, people, matter or meaning. All things have been created with a fate and effectuate their existence based on this fate. Generally it is used in reference to people and hence it is said “His or her fate has been determined by Allah”

Indeed the fate of man is determined by Allah.

What does this mean though?

Man is the manifestation of the various compositions of divine names and qualities. This manifestation is brought about by the One to whom these meanings pertain. So if it is said a certain locus of disclosure, which we call a unit, is to manifest these specific names to this specific amount, then this is the fate of that unit.

We can look at fate in two ways:

The formation of a skill and the formation of a capability. Both are from fate, however, since the locus of disclosure comprises divine names and qualities, in order to manifest these meanings, there is call for skill and capability.

The determination of these skills and capabilities by the divine power is ‘fate’ and the seeming freewill pertaining to the unit, which comprises divine names and qualities, is called ‘partial freewill’ (iradah al-juziyyah). In other words, the partial freewill of a unit is also the divine names that comprise that unit.

When the unit discloses the meanings of these names, the unit is using his partial freewill. To what extent can you use your partial freewill? To the extent of the power of the names that comprise your being.

If and when you transcend your limited self and realize your essential SELF is the presence of Allah with His Names and Essence, this observation and experience will enable you to use the divine names to a much greater scope, and thus your partial freewill will transform into absolute will (irada al-kulliya).

 

Ahmed Hulusi

1986