Unity is based on two perspectives: The first is creation from the perspective of Allah, and the second is Allah from the perspective of man!

The verses from the Quran and the hadith I shared previously cover much about creation from the perspective of Allah. As for Allah from the perspective of man, I have covered this in various chapters both in this book and in detail in “Know Thyself”.

The reason I went into the topic of “Unity” immediately after the topic of fate is because I wanted to underline the “most honorable” vicegerency quality of man, in addition to his robotic aspect. For both are equally valid and true. Taking a one-sided approach will most definitely be misleading and result in deprivation!

One will either be deprived of the external aspect or the internal!

Whereas Allah is both the apparent (Zahir) and the obscure (Batin)!

This being the case, being deprived of either one means being deprived of Allah!

So, it a duty upon us to examine existence both from its external and its internal aspects, that is, both from its aspect of consciousness and from its energetic-material aspect.

If, with the unawareness of our inherent vicegerency quality, we think of ourselves only as cosmic robots, we will in effect be turning down such grave blessings that its inescapable remorse will lead to suffering no less than that of physical hell!

In fact, I covered more on fate in this book than any other book you can find on shelves today, for the reality of fate and destiny is still largely unknown in our present day, which leads to digression from the path of Unity. 

In Bukhari Rabia bin Abi Abdurrahman (ra) is recorded to have said:

− One who has knowledge but keeps it to himself (does not share his knowledge) is undeserving of it!

At this point she points to the neck of Abu Zarr Ghifari, one of the prominent followers of Rasulullah (saw) and says:

− If you put a sword to my head, in fear that I may not have enough time to share what I have heard from the Rasul (saw) before you execute me, I will explain it right away!

Having faith in fate is one of the six pillars of faith, but one must first know what it is to have faith in it.

If the Rasul of Allah (saw) had said, “Have faith in Tangu” surely you would say, “Ok, but who or what is Tangu!? Teach us about it so that we may know and place our faith in it. How can we have faith in something we don’t know?”

This is why I tried to share as much as I can on this topic so that you may understand it.

It is entirely up to you whether you want to accept the teachings of the Rasul of Allah (saw) or not.

But I felt it mandatory to narrate the hadith regarding fate so that people know what they’re placing their faith in.

These hadiths can be construed and interpreted but they can never be doubted!

 

Abu Huraira narrates:

One day, as we were engaged in an argument about fate and destiny, Rasulullah (saw) came over. He got so angry that his cheeks went red as though pomegranate juice had spilled on them. 

He said:

“Is this what you have been ordered with? Is this what I have been sent to you for? When the people who came before you argued over the matters of fate they were destroyed. This, I swear to you, that you may not argue with each other, I swear to you!” (Tirmidhi)

Unfortunately, some books translate the last sentence of this hadith as “I swear to you that I will never talk about this topic, I swear to you” even though he is warning his followers no to “argue” about fate.

Thus, we must get our act together and accept the message of the Rasul of Allah (saw) without arguing and doubting.

Whoever argues about the validity of hadiths has most definitely chosen the way of destruction!

Sadly many “sheikhs” today belittle the intellect and denounce knowledge, they even claim things like “knowledge has been removed from the world” confessing their ignorance.

On the other hand, Imam Ghazali has reported in his revered collection “Ihya-u Ulumuddeen” the following from Tirmidhi:

The Rasul of Allah (saw) said:

“Allah has not created anything more valuable than the intellect!”

 

The Rasul of Allah (saw) said to Ali (ra):

“If people attain closeness to Allah with their good deeds you attain closeness with your intellect!”

Rasulullah (saw) said to Abu’d-Dardaa (ra):

“Increase your intellect so that you may get closer to Allah!”

“May my mother and father be sacrificed for you O Rasul of Allah, how can I increase my intellect?”

“Refrain from what Allah has forbidden and follow his commands, this will make you intellectual.”

 

Narrated by Said bin el- Musayyab:

Hadhrat Omar (ra), Abu Hurairah and Ubayy Ibn Kaab (ra), asked the Rasul of Allah (saw):

“O Rasul of Allah! Who is the most learned among the people?”

“The intellectual ones!”

“Who are the highest in worship?”

“The most intellectual ones!”

“Who are the highest in virtue?”

“The most intellectual ones!”

“O Rasul of Allah, is not an intellectual a reputable person who is generous and well-informed?”

“All of this pertains to the worldly life. The hereafter is for those who protect themselves.”

In another hadith the Rasul of Allah (saw) says: 

“The intellectual one is he who believes in Allah and his Rasul and follows his orders.”

 

The qualities the followers ask about in the above hadith are worldly qualities. The intellect, on the other hand, allows one to think comprehensively, to evaluate extensively, to comprehend the life after death and then to duly prepare for it.

This is why man can reach the honor of faith with his intellect.

The intellect will take you to Allah. He who denies intellect and knowledge displays his ignorance, may Allah save him from the pit of ignorance and honor him with knowledge and intellect is all I can say…

To sum up…

We must utilize the most valuable thing Allah has created, our intellect, an even if we can’t discern the wisdom behind some of Rasulullah’s teachings we must accept them as they are without questioning, doubting or debating over them.

A hadith al-qudsi narrated by Bayhaqi and Ibn Najjar Anas (ra) is as follows:

“Whoever is not satisfied with my fate and preordainment let him find himself another Rabb!”

Abu Hind ad-Daaari (ra) narrates from the Rasul of Allah (saw) as Allah saying:

“Whoever is not pleased with my preordainment and does not show patience to my trials let him find himself another Rabb! (Tabarani)

My intent for writing this book was to touch on and clear up many topics so I don’t want to go into a lot of detail here. Allah willing, I will cover in greater detail in my future books the things I didn’t elaborate on here.