Theology and Creed

The severity of the punishment on the Day of Resurrection will make the unbeliever wish he could offer up everything he owns and everyone he loves—including his children, wife, brother and clan—to escape it. This shows that worldly pleasures and possessions are worthless beside the punishment of the Hereafter, and that a person would be willing to sacrifice them all to be delivered from it.

The Medahdeha are a wavering group whose beliefs are unsettled. They cannot distinguish truth from falsehood, and their convictions are shaken by doubts. They resist God’s proof and prefer their own opinions to his—like the Samaritan, who, with his limited understanding, fashioned a calf and led people away from the truth.

Forgetting the details of the Realm of the Primordial Covenant is part of our worldly test. Yet its traces and teachings remain within our innate nature, and one day we will remember. Knowledge of God is firmly rooted in our hearts, even though we have forgotten that occasion. For more information, see the commentaries on verse 172 of Sūrat al-Aʿrāf.

Religion is the constitution of ethics and humanity, while ethics and humanity are the soul of the divinely revealed religions. Human nature inspires us to follow the path of truth, which remains ever present in the human heart. The geography of Palestine is not what makes someone Jewish, and every religion can be found throughout the world. If we study the Qur’an with sincere intent, we will find it bearing witness to this truth.

Will is an act of God and is originated—that is, created. God created will through His own essence, then used it to create all other things. This is compatible with divine unity because will itself is created and is subject to God’s will.

The rank of the “Hidden Name” is higher than that of the “Greatest Name,” and even the “Chosen Name.” The term *ism musta’thir* derives from the root ء-ث-ر, meaning “share,” “remnant,” or “grace,” and conveys the sense of something held exclusively and reserved. The full reality of these Names is disclosed to God alone and belongs to the realm of the “Absolute Unseen.”

The deeds of unbelievers, even when they appear good, are deemed invalid and without effect because they lack a foundation in monotheism and sound belief. Such deeds may be superficial, incomplete, self-serving, or performed without sincere devotion to God; alternatively, they may lose their worth because of rejecting the authority of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) or committing what is forbidden. Islam rests on five foundations, and wilayah is the key to them all; without it, deeds are but scattered dust.

Intellect is the first creation of God and the commander of the seventy-five forces of noble character. A person’s rationality depends on how much they benefit from the light of intellect and distance themselves from ignorance. We should respond with patience and forbearance to those who, in our view, do not act rationally, and try to help them move toward perfection by learning about intellect and its forces and turning away from ignorance. Intellect can be strengthened through practice and understanding.

Both human existence and human will are manifestations of the divine will. God has willed that human beings have freedom within certain bounds and be able to exercise their will. Thus, the statement “Your seeking is the form of His self-disclosure” means that both human existence and human will are manifestations of the divine will.

The just and most learned jurist is a radiant light of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Household, and a voice for the Two Weighty Things. So long as he upholds this station and meets the standards of superior knowledge and sound judgment, the authority of God’s proof remains a shelter for all people, and obedience to him is obligatory.

There is nothing wrong with turning to others for help with our ordinary worldly needs, provided we understand that they are means through which things come about and are themselves in need of God. Asking them for help must not become worship or supplication; we should recognise the limits of their abilities and not regard them as healers in their own right.

The emergence of ugliness is a particular expression of creation, itself portrayed in perfect beauty. Ugliness is the appearance of conduct that departs from God’s law, displayed by the Creator in the most beautiful way possible; it is the mark given to those who fail the test. God is beautiful and loves beauty, and He made everything He created good.

The diversity of human perceptions of God reflects both the Lord’s indescribable greatness and the limitations of those who perceive Him. The idea of the divine Essence manifesting itself is mistaken; what is manifested are God’s signs, names, and attributes. Self-knowledge means recognizing the station of the One who is sought by the Divine Will—that is, discerning God’s will—not a means of knowing the divine Essence.

Reason and ignorance, light and darkness, beauty and ugliness, peace and anxiety—all are created by God. Ugliness is inherent in a world that serves as a test, and cannot be something nonexistent or merely relative; in one respect, it is real and existent. God Almighty created both beauty and ugliness, and His original creation was pure beauty. But ugliness came to be classed as beauty through deviation from divine laws.

The Face of God refers to the divine religion and God’s proofs, whose permanence is willed by the Lord and which have no independence of their own. Everything—whether transient or enduring—comes to be by God’s will. The verse «یمحو الله ما یشاء ویثبت وعنده أم الکتاب» (Qur’an 13:39) points to this truth.

At the height of sincerity, the mystic’s silence is the highest expression of God’s perfection, and it holds a place above speech. It comes after one has become certain of God’s majesty, and is itself an inward, wise form of speech.

Studying time in discussions of divine unity deepens our understanding of the majesty of the Almighty and prevents us from confining the Divine Essence within the limits of time. An understanding of time also helps us better appreciate God’s Most Beautiful Names and verses such as «و ان یوما عند ربک کالف سنه».

Real time depends on the divine will, whereas conventional time is measured by clocks and human-made divisions. Units such as seconds, minutes, and hours have no bearing on the reality of time; they were devised solely to organise worldly affairs.

The experience of time and timelessness, like everything else, is a manifestation of divine power. Whenever God Almighty wills, He brings a person to experience time, timelessness, or any other mode of temporality.

The Face of God—which refers to religion and God’s proofs—has no connection with the philosophers’ doctrine of the unity of being. The Face of God consists of realities through which God turns His servants toward Himself. God is the Creator of existence and transcends it; His oneness means that He is unique and without equal, not that He is one with His creatures.