While the stories of Abraham (SAW) caution us from idolizing and deifying our exterior and interior faculties, i.e., the body and its components, the narrations about Lot (SAW) give examples of the felonious lives led by those who were captives of their bodily demands and sexuality. In the case of Moses (SAW) on the other hand, the emphasis is on the Pharaoh’s claim to be God, warning us from the grave danger we may encounter in pursuit of getting to know our true selves.
When the fruit of reality manifests in one’s consciousness, no matter how essentially true it may be to claim ‘I am the Reality’, it is ultimately only one compositional reflection of the infinite Names that compose one’s essence! The whole of manifestation comprises the compositional Name qualities. Thus, even though by ‘essence’ everything obtains its life force from ‘Allah’ and everything is the ‘Reality’ they are not the ‘Rabb of the Worlds’ (the source of the infinite meanings of the Names), that is, nothing that has become manifest in the apparent cosmos can be the ‘source’ and ‘discloser’ of the infinite and illimitable Names! Nothing that has become manifest can be the ‘Rabb’ of other manifestations. Hence, the Pharaoh encountered what he did because of his ignorance to this truth. All those who aspire to attain and live the reality go through this perilous state, known in Sufism as the station of the Inspiring Self (nafs-i mulhima)! Resultantly, just when one is a step away from the Reality, one becomes seized by the idea with which Satan infused Adam: “Do not restrict yourself! Do as you wish, become limitless!”, and falls into the dense and base pit of the bodily state, the station of the Commanding Self (nafs-i ammarah). This is why the Quran repeatedly narrates the story of Moses (SAW) and the Pharaoh.
The event known as doomsday (qiyamah) points to the various experiences of one’s consciousness during the process of death. The imminent doomsday is one’s personal death. For, with death, an unchangeable state of existence known as the afterlife commences. The global doomsday has been awaited for approximately 1400 years now, whereas all that has been said in reference to doomsday has direct pertinence to one’s own death. While everyone has their own Savior (Mahdi), Antichrist (Dajjal) and Jesus (Isa), and is subject to the activities symbolized by these names throughout their whole lifetime, people ignorantly think ‘doomsday’ is only a galactic event involving the end of our solar system or the world, supposedly to take place at some time predicted by some people!
Unfortunately, the inability to comprehend the life period of hundreds of millions of years at the galactic level, and the attempt to evaluate time based on the data received from one’s untaught environment, and the primitive understanding of a God with a magic wand, had led humanity to adopt an improper understanding of the doomsday explained in the Quran.
As for heaven and hell… The Quran makes a clear statement “heaven as a parable (representation, similitude)” (Quran 52:20 and 47:15, ‘Math’alul jannatillatiy’) and thus makes it evident that all expositions of ‘heaven’ in the Quran are symbolic and metaphoric. It is quite challenging to both comprehend and talk about a state of existence in which the ‘awakened’ ones will dwell, in congruence with the Power and other Name qualities they will be endowed with, and far from all bodily limitations. This is why “Allah says: I have prepared for my pious servants that which no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and no human mind has ever conceived”.( Bukhari Muslim and Tirmidhi.)
Hell is most certainly an atrocious state of existence, in terms of the physical body one will assume in that environment. According to our observation it will be sustained in the Sun. I wrote about this in detail in my book The Mystery of Man in 1985. On the other hand, hell in respect of consciousness, which has a stronger emphasis in the Quran, is a far more dreadful torment: When one dies they will realize they have been endowed with the qualities and potentials of the Names, and have been given the most perfect opportunity to discover and manifest these during their earthly life. In the case that they squandered this chance by indulging in the physicality of things rather than internal values, they will feel an inexplicably tremendous remorse knowing they no longer have a chance to compensate. This burning will be the greatest hellfire one can experience!
As for the hellish state of existence while still on earth, it is when the consciousness confines itself to a bodily state of existence and becomes attached to others and conditioned by value judgments.
There are many more notes to make but I guess I should not extend this introduction any further. If the Rabb of the Worlds (the source of the infinite meanings of the Names), wills, the doors of inspiration will be opened up to you also and you will have the delightful experience of READing the living Quran as it talks to you in person, and tells you about yourself.
Nevertheless, if you read this work, Decoding The Quran, in light of all that I have explained here, I believe you will hear it talking to you and feel the Quran living within your Self in a way that you have never experienced before.
If you question my concept… All I can say is, let us wait and see… Death is too near! If I am rightly guided, it is with the favor of Allah, and I am forever impotent from duly thanking Him. If this work is valid and legitimate, I don’t know how those with differing opinions will react! This is my understanding of the Quran, how you take it is up to you!
If, in this work that I share with you without any material expectation in return, any humanly interference has occurred on my part besides my Rabb’s (the Names constituting my essence) guidance and inspiration, I earnestly apologize.
All success is from Allah, and any shortcoming or error is from the inadequacy of my individual consciousness.
Astaghfir’ullah wa atubu ilayh . (I ask for repentance (forgiveness, the covering of my shortcomings due to my human nature) from Allah. My repentance (return) is to HU alone.)
AHMED HULUSI
21 January 2009
North Carolina, USA