The Queen of Tawhid

The Tawḥīdic Cry of the Lady of Light in the Mirror of the Fadak Sermon: The Sacred Realm of Fāṭima, the Veil of God, and the Secrets of Perfect Sincerity in Worship

Contents and Chapter Headings

Chapter One

• Fāṭima (SA), Queen of Tawḥīd and the Most Complete Embodiment of Sincerity in Worship
• The Inner Interpretation of Laylat al-Qadr and the Secret of Creation’s Inability to Comprehend the Essence of Fāṭima’s (SA) Being
• Fāṭima, the Veil of God: The Closest Path to the Station of Meeting God
• The Assault on the House of Revelation as a Violation of the World’s Tawḥīdic Veil

Chapter Two

• Anatomy of an Eternal Passage: “کَلِمَةٌ جُعِلَ الْإِخْلَاصُ تَأْوِيلَهَا”
• The Gradual Perfection of Religion: From Knowledge and Affirmation to the Negation of Attributes in the Words of Amīr al-Mu’minīn (AS)
• The Light of Reason and Reflection in the Radiance of Intelligible Tawḥīdic Truths
• Fāṭima (SA), Pioneer of Tawḥīdic Discourse in the Most Arduous Periods of History

Chapter Three

• “ضُمِّنَ الْقُلُوبُ مَوْصُولَهَا”; The Interweaving of the Soul’s Every Fibre with the Words لا اله الا الله
• The Impossibility of Detaching the Heart from Tawḥīd and the Futility of Establishing Polytheism
• An Interpretation of the Verse of Alast and Humanity’s Primordial Covenant in the World of ذر
• Tawḥīdic Disposition: A Bright, Impenetrable Light Within the Human Soul

Chapter Four

• Imām Ḥusayn’s (AS) Interpretation of Sūrat al-Tawḥīd and the Degrees of Negating Density and Composition in Divine Self-Sufficiency
• Amīr al-Mu’minīn’s (AS) Historic Response amid the Battle of the Camel on the Meaning of “One”
• The Invalidity of Numerical and Generic Oneness, and the Affirmation of God’s Unique and Incomparable Unity
• Absolute Inability to Comprehend the Divine Essence as the Utmost Possible Knowledge

Chapter Five

• The Abandonment of Tawḥīd as the Root of Humanity’s Brutality, Injustices, and Crises
• The Promised Mahdī (AJ), Embodiment of the Words of Tawḥīd and the Fulfilment of Fāṭima’s Aims
• Examining the Afflicted Condition of Those Who Claim Love Yet Do Wrong, and the Obstacles to Establishing a Tawḥīdic Government
• The Nectar and Sweetness of Pure Worship aboard the Ship of Salvation of al-Zahrā al-Mardiyya (SA)

Golden Passages from the Book

The Sacred Realm of Fāṭima and the Truth of the Veil of God
“أَلَا إِنَّ فَاطِمَةَ بَابُهَا بَابِي وَ بَيْتُهَا بَيْتِي فَمَنْ هَتَكَهُ فَقَدْ هَتَكَ حِجَابَ اللَّهِ… Fāṭima is the Veil of God, and the Veil of God is the highest sign and the closest path to meeting God. From the heart of the Fadak Sermon—which is, in truth, a sermon of Tawḥīd—the Lady of Tawḥīd unleashed a storm of divine oneness, making history’s ears resound with its call. The gateway of the Queen of Tawḥīd was set ablaze so that the world might collapse and the foundations of polytheism be raised.”

The Truth of Laylat al-Qadr and the Secret of the Name Fāṭima (SA)
“عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ (ع): «إِنَّا أَنْزَلْناهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ»؛ اللَّيْلَةُ فَاطِمَةُ وَ الْقَدْرُ اللَّهُ، فَمَنْ عَرَفَ فَاطِمَةَ حَقَّ مَعْرِفَتِهَا فَقَدْ أَدْرَكَ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ، وَ إِنَّمَا سُمِّيَتْ فَاطِمَةَ لِأَنَّ الْخَلْقَ فُطِمُوا عَنْ مَعْرِفَتِهَا. Fāṭima al-Zahrā (SA), Queen of Tawḥīd, spreads the light of divine oneness in the hearts of God’s servants and is the radiant flame of joy and the soul’s brilliance for all creation.”

Lady Fāṭima’s (SA) Theological Masterpiece in the Fadak Sermon on Divine Oneness
“وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، كَلِمَةٌ جُعِلَ الْإِخْلَاصُ تَأْوِيلَهَا، وَ ضُمِّنَ الْقُلُوبُ مَوْصُولَهَا، وَ أَنَارَ فِي التَّفَكُّرِ مَعْقُولُهَا… Sincerity is the inner meaning of the words of Tawḥīd, and perfect sincerity calls for perfect Tawḥīd: «کمال الاخلاص له نفی الصفات عنه». Thus Tawḥīd begins with knowledge of divine oneness and culminates in perfect sincerity in Tawḥīd.”

The Interweaving of the Words of Tawḥīd with Every Fibre of the Human Heart
“«ضُمِّنَ الْقُلُوبُ مَوْصُولَهَا»; He bound hearts to the connective element of the words of Tawḥīd! The hearts of all creation are interwoven and joined with these words. The heart cannot be separated from the words of Tawḥīd: the Creator has formed such a bond between them that their separation is impossible. To establish Tawḥīd is to acquire what is already possessed, while establishing polytheism is manifestly impossible—for Tawḥīd would have to be denied by the heart, even though that very heart is its greatest witness!”

The Perfection of Knowledge Lies in Absolute Inability to Comprehend the Divine Essence
“It is difficult to grasp and understand Him: He is neither a subject from whom an attribute proceeds, nor an attribute manifested from a subject. To say that He has no attributes means that He is beyond all need of attributes; no attribute can reach His stature. He lies beyond the realm of knowledge, understanding, and imagination, and the threshold of His presence admits no such thing as human knowledge. To know that we are utterly incapable of knowing Him is the perfection of our knowledge of Him.”

The Innate Disposition toward Divine Unity and the Primordial Covenant in the Realm of Particles
“عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ (ع) فِي قَوْلِ اللَّهِ: «فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْها» قَالَ: فُطِرُوا عَلَى التَّوْحِيدِ عِنْدَ الْمِيثَاقِ عَلَى مَعْرِفَتِهِ أَنَّهُ رَبُّهُمْ… وَ لَوْ لَا ذَلِكَ لَمْ يَدْرِ أَحَدٌ مَنْ خَالِقُهُ وَ لَا مَنْ رَازِقُهُThe word of divine unity is a light with which the Creator of light has illumined the lantern of our hearts; whatever shines forth from the heart can be nothing but the light of divine unity.”

Imam Husayn’s (AS) Interpretation of the Reality of God’s Absolute Self-Sufficiency
“أَنَّ أَهْلَ الْبَصْرَةِ كَتَبُوا إِلَى الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ (ع) يَسْأَلُونَهُ عَنِ الصَّمَدِ… فَكَتَبَ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ سُبْحَانَهُ قَدْ فَسَّرَهُ فَقَالَ: «لَمْ يَلِدْ وَ لَمْ يُولَدْ». لَمْ يَلِدْ: لَمْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ كَثِيفٌ كَالْوَلَدِ وَ لَا لَطِيفٌ كَالنَّفْسِ وَ الْخَطْرَةِ وَ الْهَمِّ وَ الْحَزَنِ… وَ لَمْ يُولَدْ: لَمْ يَتَوَلَّدْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ كَالْبَصَرِ مِنَ الْعَيْنِ وَ السَّمْعِ مِنَ الْأُذُنِ؛ بَلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ الَّذِي لَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَ لَا فِي شَيْءٍ وَ لَا عَلَى شَيْءٍ، مُبْدِعُ الْأَشْيَاءِ بِقُدْرَتِهِ.”

Amir al-Mu’minin’s (AS) Answer on the Meaning of Divine Unity in the Thick of the Battle of the Camel
“إِنَّ أَعْرَابِيّاً قَامَ يَوْمَ الْجَمَلِ فَقَالَ: يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَ تَقُولُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَاحِدٌ؟ فَقَالَ (ع): دَعُوهُ فَإِنَّ الَّذِي يُرِيدُهُ الْأَعْرَابِيُّ هُوَ الَّذِي نُرِيدُهُ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ! إِنَّ الْقَوْلَ فِي أَنَّ اللَّهَ وَاحِدٌ عَلَى أَرْبَعَةِ أَقْسَامٍ: فَوَجْهَانِ لَا يَجُوزَانِ عَلَى اللَّهِ (numerical and categorical oneness), وَ وَجْهَانِ يَثْبُتَانِ: أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَهُ فِي الْأَشْيَاءِ شِبْهٌ، وَ أَنَّهُ أَحَدِيُّ الْمَعْنَى لَا يَنْقَسِمُ فِي وُجُودٍ وَ لَا عَقْلٍ وَ لَا وَهْمٍ.”