Second Matter

Explanations of the three matters asked by the elderly hoja are present in sections of the Risale-i Nur. For now, we shall briefly indicate:

His First Question: Muhyiddîn Bin 'Arabî said in his letter to Fakhraddîn Râzî: "To know Allah is different from knowing His existence." What does this mean, and what was his aim in saying it?

Firstly: In the introduction to the Twenty-Second Word you read to him, the comparison and example that demonstrate the difference between tawhîd al-haqîqî and tawhîd adh-dhâhirî point to his aim. While the Second and Third Stopping-Places of the Thirty-Second Word and its Aims explain it.

And Secondly: Since the expositions of the Imams of Usul ad-dîn and the ‘ulamâ of ‘Ilm al-Kalâm concerning the aqâid, the existence of Al-Wâjib Al-Wujûd and tawhîd of Allah were insufficient in his view, Muhyiddîn Bin 'Arabî said that to Fakhraddîn Râzî, who was one of the Imams of ‘Ilm al-Kalâm.

Yes, the ma’rifatullah gained by means of ‘Ilm al-Kalâm does not give a perfect ma’rifat and a complete hudhur. When it is in the way of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, it gives complete ma’rifat and also causes one to gain a complete hudhur; InshâAllah, all sections of the Risale-i Nur perform the service of an electric lamp on that luminous highway of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition.

Also, how deficient the ma’rifatullah Fakhraddîn Râzî acquired by means of ‘Ilm al-Kalâm is in Muhyiddîn Bin 'Arabî’s view, in the same way, the ma’rifat acquired by way of tasawwuf is deficient to the same degree in comparison with the ma’rifat acquired directly from Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm through the mystery of the legacy of nubuwwah. Because in order to attain a perpetual hudhur, by saying لاَ مَوْجُودَ اِلاَّ هُوَ1 , the way of Muhyiddîn Bin 'Arabî came to such a point that will deny the existence of the universe. As for the others, again, in order to gain a perpetual hudhur, by saying 2 لاَ مَشْهُودَ اِلاَّ هُوَ , they have entered a strange way such as putting the universe under absolute oblivion. As for the ma’rifat acquired from Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm, together with giving a perpetual hudhur, it neither condemns the universe to non-existence nor imprisons it in absolute oblivion. It rather saves it from disorderliness and employs it in the name of Janâb-i Haqq. Everything becomes a mirror for ma’rifat. As Sa'dî Shirazi said:دَرْ نَظَرِ هُوشِيَارْ هَرْ وَرَقِى دَفْتَرِيسْتْ اَزْ مَعْرِفَتِ كِرْدِگَارْ3 In everything, it opens a window onto the ma’rifat of Janâb-i Haqq.

In some of the Words, about the differences between the way of ‘ulamâ of ‘Ilm al-Kalâm and the true method taken from the Qur'an, we said the following comparison:

For example, in order to obtain water, some people bring it from a distant place by means of pipes by digging under mountains. While some people extract it by digging wells everywhere. The first sort is very laborious; pipes become blocked and water stops. But those who are competent to dig wells everywhere and extract water can find water everywhere with no difficulty. In exactly the same way, the ‘ulamâ of ‘Ilm al-Kalâm cut causes at the extremities of ‘âlam with the impossibility of the chain of causes and causal sequences, then they prove the existence of Al-Wâjib Al-Wujûd with that. A long road is travelled. However, the true method of Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm finds water everywhere and extracts it. Like a staff of Mûsâ, each of its âyahs makes water of life flow forth wherever it strikes and makes everything recite the rule: 4 وَ فِى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ لَهُ آيَةٌ تَدُلُّ عَلَى اَنَّهُ وَاحِدٌ

Also, îmân is not obtained only through ‘ilm; many subtle faculties have their share in îmân. Just as when food enters a stomach, it is distributed in various ways to various blood vessels and nerves. In the same way, after the matters of îmân, which come through ‘ilm, enter the stomach of the mind, the rûh, heart, sirr, nafs and other subtle faculties receive their share from it according to their degree, and absorb it. If they do not receive their share, it is deficient. Thus, Muhyiddîn Bin 'Arabî was reminding this point to Fakhraddîn Râzî.