Help from the Holy Spirit

Argument 5:

You will come across numerous such verses in which it is mentioned that God helps His chosen servants through a special spirit of Him, particularly the verses: 2:87, 253; 5:110; 16:102; 58:22. In the first three verses is mentioned that God used to help Hazrat Isa through the Holy Spirit, in the fourth is mentioned that the Holy Qur’an was revealed to the blessed heart of the Prophet through the Holy Spirit and in the fifth is mentioned that God helps His party, i.e. the true mu’mins, through a special spirit of Him. I think that sometimes questions are very useful in order to understand the subject better, so let us discuss this in the form of questions and answers.

Question: Is it correct to hold the concept that the Holy Spirit or any other special spirit comes from the presence of God, without the mediation of the Holy Prophet and helps mu’mins, while the Prophet is God’s mercy for the whole world? 

Answer: No, it is not correct. Such a spirit comes through the Universal mercy, namely, the Prophet and through his prayer. Rather, a secret should be disclosed here that the Holy Prophet is the centre of God’s mercy and that the angels of mercy are the rays of the light of his mercy. For the fountainhead of this light is not inanimate and irrational like that of the external and material sun. It has the Holy Spirit and the Perfect Intellect. When this light illumines or casts light in the heart of a mu’min, it has the particles of spirit and intellect. This fact or event is expressed in the language of tanzil (exoteric aspect of the Qur’an) that a mu’min or mu’mins were helped by a special spirit which was of God.

In this book, wherever it is mentioned that the mu’mins were helped by the descent of the angels, it does not mean that this happens without or independently of the light of Prophethood and Imamat. It means that there is a great centre of the unity of the angels and spirits, which is called Nur-i Muhammadi or the Light of Muhammad (s.a.s.). And it is this light which has the rank of eminence of Divine closeness. Otherwise, God is free from the concept of time and space.

Thus

“wa-ayyadahum bi-rãhin minhu (and He helped them through a spirit of Him)” (58:22)

means that God helped them through the Light of Mustafa and Murtaza.

Salawat (Blessings)

Argument 4:

The Holy Qur’an says:

“He it is Who sends blessings and His angels too, so that He may bring you forth from darknesses unto light” (33:43).

Another verse:

“And of the rustic Arabs of the desert there are those who believe in God and the Last Day and consider what they spend to be a means of approach to God and the blessings of the Messenger. Verily it shall be a means of approach for them; soon shall God admit them to His mercy” (9:99).

In these two verses the concept of God’s guidance and mercy is given so that mu’mins can understand how His guidance and mercy is conveyed to them. When the method is such that in coming forth to the light from darknesses and in attaining closeness to God, the angels and the Messenger can help, then for guidance and mercy should not our belief, concept and knowledge have a yearning to have recourse to these means? And to those who are able to help, for they have been appointed by God in order to help, is it wrong to say to them: “Help us!”? Hallowed be God! It should be remembered that although externally the angel, the Prophet and the Imam are separate, internally (spiritually), the angels are not separate from the light of the Prophet and the Imam.

Means of God’s Help

Argument 3:

God, Who is free from and above everything else, by His infinite mercy has created means and resources for all the works of religion and the world and in order to accomplish each and every work, has provided not only one but numerous means. When He grants something to His servants, He Himself does not come forward, nor does He give to someone by inviting him to Himself, but grants this gift through a means or an intermediary. Similarly, when He accepts something from His servants, He does so through an intermediary. And this is known only by the people of intellect. We will now discuss this matter further, keeping an important question in mind from a Qur’anic teaching: “(O God!) You alone we worship and from You alone we seek help.” The question relating to this holy prayer is: Is such a pure help, which is sought from God, possible without any means or is it possible through the general principle of the religion of Islam? If the answer is that this seeking of help is the same as that in Islam, then the practical form of it is mentioned in the Qur’an, in that the mu’min should seek help from God through the prayer of the Prophet (9:99) and through patience and prayers (2:153), so that He according to His law (sunnat) may help him through an angel (41:30-31), or Spirit (58:22), or Prophet (9:103) and Waliyy (=Imam, 5:55). This form of help has always been the custom of God, the Exalted.

It should be known that to worship God and seek help from Him through the means ordained by Him is pure tawhid (Oneness of God) and is not shirk at all. For these means or signs (sha’ir) belong only to God and not to anybody else, whilst shirk really means to make someone else a means without His pleasure. One of the teachings of the Qur’an is:

“Seek help through patience and prayer (salat)” (2:45).

Now if a wise person reflects on this for a while, he will soon realise that the patience which is mentioned here is a human attribute, and means to bear hardship with determination and courage in a difficult task or in affliction and calamity. The importance of patience (together with prayer) is such that it is ordained as a means of seeking help from God. Therefore, is it shirk that Divine help is sought through patience and prayer? In addition to the exoteric meaning of patience and prayer, they also have ta’wils. According to ta’wil, patience is the Holy Prophet and prayer or salat is his successor, namely Mawlana Ali. It is through them that Divine help should be sought and it has been commanded for us to do so. And this is the best way to seek Divine help.

Wasitah (Intermediary) and Wasilah (Means)

Argument 2:

In order to obtain guidance man is in need of a holy personality, because he himself cannot reach God directly. This clearly means that he personally is not able to hear the holy guidance of God. Or without any hesitation, one should say frankly that the ear of his heart cannot hear. And he who is deaf, as a result, also becomes dumb. Thus how can such a person invoke God when he does not have the tongue which he needs to have for this purpose. It follows that he who has conveyed to him the holy guidance of God can also duly present for him in His presence his prayer and supplication. This is why it is commanded in the Holy Qur’an:

“And if when they had done injustice to themselves, they had but come to you and asked God’s forgiveness, and the Prophet had (also) asked forgiveness for them, surely, they would have found God Forgiving, Merciful” (4:64).

This shows that whether we go to the presence of the Prophet physically or have recourse to him spiritually, in any case, we have to implore him: O Messenger of God! We have come to your presence by the command of God, hold our hand and help us. The meanings in “Ya Ali madad” are similar and nothing more than this. Because Mawla Ali Mushkil-kusha, the solver of difficulties, is the true successor of the Holy Prophet. According to the above mentioned verse, when God commanded the people to have recourse to the Prophet for the forgiveness of their sins and ask for forgiveness through him, does this not establish the necessity of this means forever and should it not be living and present forever?

Meaning of Madad (Help)

In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Ya Ali Madad (O Ali Help!)

Argument 1:

It has been indicated throughout this book that real help to creatures comes from God, but it comes through the mediation of the Prophet and the Imam. There is also the help which should be offered by people to God, the Prophet and the Imam. This implies that the meaning of help depends on position and rank. That is to say that, God’s help, the Prophet’s help, the Imam’s help and the help of people is not alike. Thus “Ya Ali Madad” means “O Ali guide and help us on the straight path”. Because here, by help is meant nothing but exoteric and esoteric guidance. Despite this clarification of the meaning of “Ya Ali madad” if we are asked why we do not say “Ya Allah madad (O Allah help!)” and “Ya Rasul madad (O Prophet help!)” instead of “Ya Ali madad” then the answer is as follows:

1. Those who are convinced that the Prophet and the Imam are the living and speaking Supreme Names of God (7:80), believe that it is right to invoke God by a name which is Supreme and most dear to Him.

2. It is extremely important for the wise to note that God did not appoint any of His literal (zahiri) or verbal (harfi) names as His Vicegerent (Khalifah), or as the Prophet or as the Imam, or as the Teacher of the Heavenly Book, nor did He say that it is the fountainhead of the light of guidance, or the Rope of God. Thus it is evident that the real names of God are the Prophet and the Imam of the time and therefore it is correct to have recourse to Him through them.

3. And why not, for even in the literal and verbal names of God, there is definitely light for mu’mins, but only when the Prophet and the Imam are pleased with them, otherwise it is not only difficult, but impossible to receive light from them. For instance, give a literal name of God to a non-Muslim and find out from the Qur’an if they will be able to attain any light from His name without first affirming the prophethood and messengership of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.). I am sure that you will receive a negative answer from the Qur’an.

4. The Perfect Man who is God’s Khalifah on earth and on His behalf, the light of guidance and the treasure of knowledge and wisdom, is the means and the intermediary between God and His creatures and is the guide and helper of people. It is inevitable then that people should have recourse to him and invoke him for help. Because God Himself has appointed him for this purpose.

5. No Muslim can doubt the eminence, sanctity and excellence of the Glorious Qur’an. Therefore, it is right and permissible to respect and revere it. And this is also applicable to the Imam, and there is not an iota of shirk (association with God) in this. For to have recourse to God’s things is in fact to have recourse to God. How then can there be any shirk in it?

6. According to one of the concepts of the recognition of God, it appears as if God is sitting on the Supreme Throne, which is borne by some great angels. Even if this is taken in a real rather than an allegorical sense, it means that those extremely powerful and great angels are not partners with God but are only His servants, in spite of the fact that the Divine Throne is borne by them.

7. There is also the concept of God’s Pen and Tablet, who have accomplished all His work. But since they did all this by His command, they are not His partners, because God’s own things cannot be called His partners.

8. God has His Archangels Jibrail, Mikail, Israfil and Izrail, who accomplish many works of spirituality. In addition to them, there are innumerable other angels who are appointed to perform different tasks. Since they do so by His command, by doing these works of spirit, spirituality and the unseen (ghayb), they cannot be called partners of God.

9. Let us take an example from the physical world of what great work is accomplished by the sun in this universe. The entire system of this material world depends on the sun. If we suppose that there is a sun of its own kind in the world of religion, then it is obvious that he must be far more wonderful than the physical sun. But can any wise person say that the sun of the world of religion is God Himself or a partner of God? If the physical sun, despite being the fountainhead of immense light and physical powers cannot be a partner of God, then it should be known that the sun of the world of religion also cannot be called a partner of God.

But he can be the mazhar (place or person of manifestation) of His power, he can be called God’s treasure and he can be the means of guidance. Thus it should be known that the Prophet and the Imam are the sun, namely, the light of the world of religion. Therefore, in order to obtain the light of guidance, it is permissible to have recourse to them and invoke them for help. And there is no shirk in this. The sun of the world of religion has the Holy Spirit and the Perfect Intellect. He is appointed as the fountainhead of rectitude and guidance. In addition, God has granted him power and sovereignty. In that case, if we say: O sun of religion convey to us the light of religion, can this be shirk? If so, how and in what sense?