I say “having faith in the Rasul” because by appearance a Rasul is also an earthling with a physical body, there is no apparent difference between a Rasul and other humans. Yet the difference lies in that a Rasul is the articulation of the Reality, which cannot be seen with the physical eyes but initially experienced only through having faith.
The Quran explains faith in the One denoted by the name Allah as being in two stages. The first stage pertains to an ‘external’ creator beyond the reach of individual consciousness, that is, a creator or ‘the dimension of the Names’ comprising infinite and illimitable qualities. This is the faith shared by the majority of believers, and in terms of its proceeds, enables one to live a life bearing a paradisiacal state of existence. The second stage applies to believers with a truly enlightened heart and who have reached the essence of faith. This is the faith implied by the letter B, which points to the truth that the reality of the Self is the qualities of the Names, and these qualities are and forever will manifest themselves. Hence, it calls the believer to awaken to the reality that through his own acts he is at all times invoking and serving Allah, and as such, observing and evaluating the universal perfection of Allah on worldly forms (Hamd) manifested by the name al-Waliyy in his own being (b-Hamdihi).
‘To believe in the angels’ means to have ‘faith in the potentials’ arising from the Names. In other words, angels signify the various potentials that arise during the process of the Names becoming activated from their dormant states. Since what has come to be known as the world of multiplicity essentially comprises individualized manifestations of various Names, the higher (subtler) state of everything in existence is angelic (malakiyyah)… The difference lies not in whether this is present or not, but in whether this reality is recognized or at least, believed in or not. One who accepts himself only as an earthling through individual consciousness and who lacks faith will have grave difficulty recognizing and accepting this truth.
‘To believe in the Books-Knowledge’ is to have faith in the knowledge of Reality and the mechanics of the system - Sunnatullah imparted by the Rasuls and Nabis via a process known as revelation, that being the dimensional transferal (emergence) of this knowledge through pure consciousness.
Rasuls are the enlightened ones who acquire the Knowledge of the Reality through pure consciousness (without the influence of their personal consciousness) from the Names and angelic potentials in their essence via revelation and who communicate these truths at the level of consciousness.
To believe in the afterlife, or an eternal life, is to know with conviction that the Self will not become extinct after losing its body during death, but that death is also an experiential reality. That is, when the physical-biological body is omitted a process called resurrection (ba’th) will take place, during which one will pass to another dimension of life with the spirit body, shared by other invisible beings and eventually continue its life in either of two dimensions known by various names.
When the letter B is used as a prefix to a word in regards to having faith, such as ‘to believe in the hereafter’ (bil-akhira) or afterlife, it points to the various stages of development the Self will indefinitely go through (Quran 84:19) in pursuit of self-actualization.
The concept of ‘protection’ (taqwa) or ‘to have fear of Allah’ is also generally misunderstood. Since the name Allah does not refer to an external God, the real reference is made to the Names and their governance. Allah created the worlds with the Names and governs it with the System known as Sunnatullah. The one law that most absolutely applies here is that of the Name al-Hasib inherent in one’s ‘Name composition’, whereby one’s experience of their latter stage is a result of their former stage. Simply put, whatever behavior one has at any given time whether it is an action or a thought, one will inescapably live its consequence at some point in their life. This has been expressed as ‘the One who is swift at reckoning’ (Sari'ul-Hisab) and ‘the One who responds to wrongdoing with severe punishment’ (Shadidaul-Ikab).
Therefore, living in a system with caution and prudence has been termed as ‘fearing Allah’ or as ‘protection’ (taqwa). Since ‘Sunnatullah = the System and mechanics of Allah’ is essentially the manifestation of the Names of Allah, it is not incorrect to refer to this as ‘fear and protection from Allah’ after all. As such, an act of ungratefulness to any being is an act of ungratefulness to Allah, and its consequence will be lived accordingly! This process is known as ‘jaza’ (consequence). Hence, jaza is not really the result or punishment but the automatic experience of the consequence of an act.
The Quran invites its readers to contemplate through its innumerous parables and metaphors, all to remind (dhikr) humans of their own reality.
Unfortunately, due to the conditions of time and place, and the comprehension levels of the people, the examples that can be given are not many. Due to this, the limited number of objects that people do know of has been associated with various meanings over time, such that the same word has been used to refer to different things in different times, or to different specifications of the same thing. For example, while the Arabic word ‘sama’ is seldom used to refer to the ‘sky’ or ‘space’ it is more commonly used in reference to the ‘states of consciousness’ or the ‘intellectual activity in one’s consciousness.’ Another example is the word ‘ardh’. While infrequently used to refer to the earth, it is generally used to refer to the ‘human body.’ The human body is also denoted by other words such as ‘an’am’ which means ‘domestic animal’ referring to the animalistic nature of mankind, i.e. eat, drink, sleep, sex etc., and ‘dabbah’ which refers to the material and earthly make-up of the biological body. The word ‘shaytan’ (satan) has been used to connote mankind’s tendency to reduce and limit their boundless consciousness, in respect of their essential Name composition, to the base bodily state. The word ‘mountain’ is also seldom used to denote what it actually means; while it is more commonly employed to imply the ‘ego’, the ‘I’ or ‘I’ness. Also, when the word ‘ardh’ is used in reference to the ‘body’, the word ‘mountain’ is seen to denote the ‘organs’ of the body. For example, the verse ‘the mountains walk but you perceive them to be still’ indicates the constant activity and renewal of our interior organs, which seem to be fixed like the mountains on earth.