Theology and Creed

The purpose of dhikr is not to unite with the Essence of the One, for both the one who joins and the one who separates is God. Dhikr is the highest station of every created being, an effort to attain supreme knowledge and a sign of greatness. Ultimately, dhikr means arriving at pure remembrance—remembrance itself. At this station, dhikr itself is regarded as the greatest veil.

Heedlessness is a veil that settles over the human heart, keeping it from perceiving truths and divine light. It locks the heart and prevents it from attaining knowledge and nearness to God. In the Alawite supplication, God is asked to lift these veils and draw the human spirit near the light of the Throne.

The divine names are distinct from the Essence of the Almighty. We invoke and worship Him by these names; we do not worship the names themselves, for that would be disbelief. To worship both the names and the Essence would likewise be polytheism. True worship is worship of the Essence, of which these names are signs—and this is the very essence of monotheism.

Your understanding that divine love, affection, knowledge, grace and mercy are one-sided is correct. Every being is a manifestation of God’s will, and that will transcends every perception and state experienced by created beings. It is enough for us to take pride in being God’s servants and creatures: the very fact that He brought us into being is the highest honor, leaving no room for self-conceit or arrogance.

God’s knowledge is a form of all-encompassing presence, a one-way relation proceeding from Him: created beings are known to Him, but He is not known by any created being. His knowledge and existence are beyond our comprehension, and both the unseen and the manifest lie within His knowledge. It is therefore better to describe God’s knowledge of beings as a knowledge that encompasses and encompasses them.

The unseen and the seen are the same for God, for all knowledge comes from Him and ignorance has no place in Him. Thus, both are alike in His supreme presence. These concepts apply to the inhabitants of the world, not to its Creator, whose relation to creation is different.

The passage “O You whose all-embracing mercy…” from the Supplication of ʿArafah means that God has extended His mercy equally over all things, and that the Throne has become hidden in His Essence. The Throne is understood as divine knowledge of the unseen: a veil over the Essence that nonetheless unveils realities.

Exaggeration about Imam Ali (AS) leads to a grave misunderstanding of tawhid and his true standing. The Messenger and God’s appointed guide must be known through tawhid; otherwise, neither God nor His Messenger and guide can truly be known. Despite his exalted rank, Imam Ali (AS) always prayed facing the qibla. Excessive praise of him leads to ruin.

In light of the statement, “The First Will is the life of all wills,” the First Will refers to the absolute divine Will, which issues forth without any condition or limitation of time or place and encompasses the entire past, present, and future. All subsequent wills are interpretations of this same First Will. Whoever connects with it gains insight into all times, places, and events.

Worship is the manifestation and expression of servitude to God, while obedience is one of the means of worshipping Him. Obedience entails accepting and acting on God’s command, thereby demonstrating one’s servitude; in truth, obedience is a form of worship. Worship is a station in which the divine will alone is manifested, encompassing one’s inner state, words, actions, and more.

Asexual offspring of human beings include the cells, bodily particles, and waves of our existence that leave the body and combine with other elements to form new phenomena. Like the cells of the body, these phenomena have a particular relationship to us. Beyond our physical aspect, our spiritual dimensions also create remarkable works through their encounters with matter and with what lies beyond it.

Our role in managing body and soul is like that of an airplane pilot: we do not build or maintain the aircraft’s equipment; our task is to fly it skillfully and reach our destination. The “wise stewards of the human soul” manage the resources that enable us to worship and live, while our responsibility is to guide the journey well.

The scope of each being’s freedom of choice determines the extent of its duties and mission, and God has equipped every being with what it needs to fulfil that mission. In light of the verse «لا یکلف الله نفسا إلا وسعها», no one will have an excuse for falling short in carrying out their mission.

The authenticity of the Sermon of Bayān, attributed to Imam ʿAlī (peace be upon him), is disputed, and it is not cited in the authoritative Shiʿi sources. The text can be verified only through the path indicated by the supplication «اللهم عرفنی نفسک...», which requires attaining stations of divine unity. Without this, extolling the authority of the Imams can be a deadly poison.

Anything that dims the remembrance of God in the heart and distracts a person with anything other than God is a sign of Satan’s presence. Outward or excessive acts of worship that lead to forgetting God or getting ahead of the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt are also included. Forty days of sincere devotion and worship banish demons from the heart and make way for blessing.

True knowledge consists of three things: a clear verse, which is an evident sign and a guide to understanding the allegorical verses; a justly balanced duty, which sets out the obligations of serving God; and an enduring tradition, which encompasses religious practice, law and noble character. Fields such as Arab genealogy and poetry are forms of knowledge that bring no harm to those who do not know them, nor any benefit to those who do.

Death is the cessation of the self (nafs), not the spirit (rūḥ). The human self begins at conception, and once the body’s organs and limbs have formed, the four spirits become established in it. The complete stillness of a person marks the departure of the self—not a heart stopping in the absence of the spirit.

Forgetting a sin and, consequently, forgetting to repent of it is among the worst forms of forgetfulness and one of Satan’s strongest ways of gaining influence over the human heart. By bringing sins to mind, God creates the opportunity for seeking forgiveness, so that a person may leave this world purified—for Satan has no power over this matter.

The introduction to al-Kulaynī’s *Uṣūl al-Kāfī* draws on hadith. Its message—that religion must be understood through the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah, and that taking one’s religion from other people is dangerous—remains relevant in every age.

God created all beings with wisdom. Animals have found different ways to meet their needs, while some, by overstepping divine limits, have become enslaved to their appetites and desires. They have turned a beautiful, measured way of meeting their needs into a harsh and difficult one.