Ma’rifat - Ma’rifatullah

معرفة - معرفة الله

 

Literally and Etymologically: Knowledge, cognition, information, a branch of learning or science, skill and expertise. Derived from the root ‘a-r-f (ع-ر-ف ), which fundamentally denotes to know, to recognise, to discern through distinct signs and to become acquainted with something. From this root arises the verbal noun ma‘rifat, which signifies not merely an abstract, passive acquisition of information (‘ilm), but an experiential, deeply ingrained cognition achieved by tracing the signs, manifestations and attributes of the object being known. Within this etymological framework, ma‘rifatullah linguistically implies the ultimate ascent of human consciousness: recognising and discovering the Creator by investigating and reading the signatures embedded within His creation behind the veils of causes.

As an Islamic term: Ma’rifat or Ma’rifatullah denotes comprehending and knowing the existence, oneness, attributes and names of the Khâliq, as well as the hikmahs and purposes of His creation through learning the lessons and teachings of the Qur’an. It is to perceive the hikmahs manifested within beings and events throughout the entire universe and to attain the awakening and illumination of the heart and basîrah as a favour of Allah. This degree can be achieved through making profound tafakkur upon Allah’s wondrously crafted creations in the universe, learning the haqiqahs of the Qur’an and attaining a luminous embodiment of those haqiqahs within the conscience (Vijdân). The opposite of ma’rifat is inkâr, which means wilful denial and rejection.

Excerpts from the Risale-i Nur that elucidate this haqiqah:

Know certainly that the highest aim of creation and the most elevated result of fitrah are îmân in Allah. The most exalted degree of humanity and the greatest rank of mankind are ma’rifatullah within îmân in Allah. The most brilliant happiness and the sweetest ni’mah of jinn and man is the love of Allah (muhabbetullah) within ma’rifatullah. And the most sincere joy for the rûh of man and the purest delight for the heart of man is the pleasure of the rûh within the love of Allah.

Indeed, all true happiness, sincere joy, sweet ni’mah and pure pleasure are most certainly in ma’rifatullah and the love of Allah; they cannot exist without them. The one who knows and loves Janâb-i Haqq is the mirror for the manifestation of endless happiness, ni’mah, nûr and mysteries, potentially or actually. The one who does not truly know and love Him is — in meaning and in matter — subjected to endless misery, pain and wahm.

Indeed, in this forlorn world, amidst the desolate mankind, within a fruitless life without an owner or a protector, if an impotent and poor man were even become the sultân of the whole world, it would be worthless. Thus, everyone understands how wretched and bewildered man is if he does not know his Owner and find his Protector amidst desolate mankind in this forlorn transient world. If he finds his Owner and knows his Protector, he seeks refuge in His rahmah and relies on His Qoudrah. That dreadful wilderness of the world turns into a place of recreation, and it becomes a place of trade.

The Twentieth Letter

 

Hence, man has come to this ‘âlam to progress toward perfection by means of ‘ilm and du‘â. In terms of its essential reality and capacity, everything is bound to ‘ilm; and the foundation, and the source, and the nûr, and the rûh of all kinds of true ‘ilm is ma‘rifatullah, and the ultimate foundation of that foundation is îmân in Allah.

The Twenty-Third Word - Fourth Point

(Please refer to 26th Letter-Second Matter, Compilations on Îmân and Allah Jalla Jalâluhû)