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Certainty and
What People Do Not Know About the Lord of the Worlds
(The Greatest Secret of the Universe and the Movement of Man in Soul and Body Between the Worlds of Heaven and Earth)
Allah Almighty says{And certainly We made above you seven heavens; and never are We heedless of creation. – AL-MUMENOON 17}. The two Arabic words, tara`iq and turuq (meaning paths ) are the plural forms of tareeq (path), and since the Almighty says about these paths that they are the seven heavens, so when Imam Ali, peace be upon him, said , “O people, ask me before you lose me. Behold! I know the paths of the heavens better than I know the paths of the earth” , he meant that his knowledge about the details of man’s journey from the first creation up to his return to Paradise or Hell is taken from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, as is indicated in the Almighty’s saying {He is your Lord, and to Him shall you be returned. – Hud: 34} and the Almighty’s saying {And guard yourselves against a day in which you shall be returned to Allah – Al-Baqara : 281}.
Therefore, the paths of heaven are not so much places as they are worlds in which a person moves between these paths. Some people were created by Allah Almighty with a body made from the clay of Paradise, so they are its inhabitants , for whom the best [reward] has preceded from Allah and are from Hell far removed. Indeed, these are the (reassured) souls. Others were created from the clay of Hell, so they did on the earth after the descent what would lead to it, and they are the souls (inclining to evil). And Allah Almighty commanded Gabriel, peace be upon him, to take a handful of the earth, then it was mixed with the clay of Paradise, so they did both good and bad deeds , and it is the self-blaming soul. Allah, Blessed and Most High, created souls before bodies. Allah Almighty said: {And the heaven and Him Who made it. And the earth and Him Who extended it. And the soul and Him Who made it perfect. Then He inspired it to understand what is right and wrong for it– Ash-Shams 5,6,7,8 }. Thus, with the creation of the heavens and the earth, Allah Almighty created the souls after them. Then He created the bodies, inspired them with their immorality and piety, and placed in them insight through which they can know good and evil, as Allah Almighty said: { Nay! man is evidence against himself, – Al-Qiyama 14} and the first of these souls, before the creation of the heavens and the earth, were the souls of our master Muhammad and the People of the House (Ahl al-Bayt) , peace be upon them, as we will explain. With the creation of the heavens and the earth, there was the Prophet of Allah, Abraham, and he was one of the witnesses to that in the Almighty’s saying {He said: Nay! your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, Who brought them into existence, and I am of those who bear witness to this – Al-Anbiya’ 56} . In this context , {I am among the witnesses} means that there are other witnesses, and they are the ones with whom Allah Almighty began creation and whom we will clarify later.
Then Allah Almighty created the rest of the prophets, each according to his status and closeness to Allah Almighty, as in the Almighty’s saying: {We have made some of these messengers to excel the others among them are they to whom Allah spoke, and some of them He exalted by [many degrees of] rank; and We gave clear miracles to Isa son of Marium, and strengthened him with the holy spirit. And if Allah had pleased, those after them would not have fought one with another after clear arguments had come to them, but they disagreed; so there were some of them who believed and others who denied; and if Allah had pleased they would not have fought one with another, but Allah brings about what He intends. – Al-Baqara :253}.
Then Allah Almighty created the heavens and the earth, then the bodies after that, and the first of them was the Prophet of Allah Adam, peace be upon him, according to the Almighty’s saying { So when I have made him complete and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down making obeisance to him – Al-Hijr :29} This is about the creation of the Prophet of Allah Adam, then all the sons of Adam at once. Allah Almighty said: { And certainly We created you, then We fashioned you, then We said to the angels: Prostrate to Adam. So they did prostrate except Iblis; he was not of those who prostrated. – Al-Araf 11} .And here, after He formed them, Allah Almighty took from their descendants the covenant after displaying the trust to rule according to what Allah Almighty revealed, and His guardianship is the truth over the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to carry it. Allah Almighty said : {Surely We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to be unfaithful to it and feared from it, and man has turned unfaithful to it; surely he is unjust, ignorant. Al-Ahzab 72}. And the oppressive and ignorant here is everyone who rebelled against the guardianship of Allah Almighty and the guardianship of His Messenger and his household. He was ignorant and wronged himself first and wronged those around him due to his ignorance of the Book of Allah and the consequences of matters, then Allah Almighty covenanted with His oneness and lordship over the children of Adam. Allah Almighty said:
{And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls: Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes! we bear witness. Lest you should say on the day of resurrection: Surely we were heedless of this. Or you should say: Only our fathers associated others [with Allah] before, and we were an offspring after them: Wilt Thou then destroy us for what the vain doers did? – Al-Araf :172-173}.
Then Allah Almighty will establish the creation after descending to the earth in the wombs of the mothers, as in the Almighty’s saying: {Was he not a small seed in the seminal elements . Then he was a clot of blood, so He created [him] then made [him] perfect. Then He made of him two kinds, the male and the female- Al-Qiyama 37-39}. Allah Almighty created all of creation at once. Allah Almighty said: {And We created you, then formed you. Then We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam.” So they prostrated, except Iblis. He was not of those who prostrated – Al-Araf 11}.
These people lived in the Garden of Eden before descending to earth, until Adam and his wife, peace be upon them, ate from the tree, and their private parts, which are the bodies, and not just their genitals , appeared to them. Allah Almighty said: {so when they tasted of the tree, their evil inclinations became manifest to them, and they both began to cover themselves with the leaves of the garden – Al-Araf 22}. And this evil is the entire body , not only the private parts due to the Almighty’s words: {Then Allah sent a crow digging up the earth so that he might show him how he should cover the dead body of his brother. He said: Woe me! do I lack the strength that I should be like this crow and cover the dead body of my brother? So he became of those who regret.– Al-Ma’ida 31} .
Therefore, the evil is the body with which we live in this world. If a person dies on earth, his created soul emerges from the clay of Paradise to return to the Garden of Eden. The Almighty said: {to Allah is your return, of all [of you], so He will inform you of what you did. Al-Ma’idah 106}. As for the disbelievers, they are hidden from their Lord, as in the Almighty’s saying {No, they will be hidden from their Lord on that day – Al-Muttafifeen 15}.
And on the Day of Resurrection they will be gathered on their faces blind, mute, and deaf. And when their bodies die in this world, they will be returned to the Hell from which they were created, according to the Almighty’s saying: { Then most surely their return shall be to hell. Al-Saffat: 68} and the Almighty said: { Surely hell lies in wait . A place of resort for the inordinate. Living therein for ages. – Al-Naba: 21, 22, 23}.
As for their bodies, they are tormented in this world, not for their unintentional participation in disobeying Allah as they are commanded by the inciteful soul that commands evil. Therefore, their torment is only in this world, and it begins in the throes of death so that people may know the fate of the disobedient, and those who disbelieve in Allah Almighty, and the believers would increase in faith by signs that appear in their frowning, bleary faces, or their white, radiant, laughing and rejoicing faces . When, on the Day of Resurrection, this clay earthly body will testify to the disobedient and those who mixed good deeds with bad deeds, i.e. the blaming souls and the ones who incite evil , against themselves. Allah Almighty said:{ Until, when they come to it, their hearing, their sight, and their skins will testify against themselves as to what they were doing, and they said to their skins, Why did you testify against us and They would respond , It is Allah who made everything speak , made us speak all things. It is He who created you the first time, and to Him you will be returned – Fusilat 20-21}.
That is the detail of the Almighty’s saying {How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were dead and He gave you life? Then He will put you to death, then He will bring you to life, then to Him you will be returned – Al-Baqara 28} That is, you were dead in evil, alive in a clay body. Then they descended to the earth with the heavenly clay body (itself) and the evil , then the evil dies and the soul returns with its created clay of Paradise, then on the Day of Resurrection they will return to Allah Almighty with their souls, their bodies, and their evil . Thus, man is created between two terms. The first is the term of his lower clay body, or (his evil body) which has emerged, and it has a specific term on which Allah Almighty said: {And they did not disperse except after knowledge had come to them out of envy among themselves, and had it not been for a word that had preceded from your Lord. For an appointed term, it will be decided between them, and those who inherited the Book after them are in doubtful doubt about it – Al-Shurah 14}. And another term was appointed by Allah Almighty for the soul, and it is a term appointed by Him, Blessed and Most High , so it does not die, and it will either enjoy pleasure in the Garden of Eden or return to Hell. The Almighty said about these two terms : { He it is Who created you from clay, then He decreed a term; and there is a term named with Him; still you doubt. – Al-Anaam :2}. The term designated here is the Day of Resurrection when Allah Almighty will unite the sun and the moon. Allah Almighty said { Do you not see that Allah makes the night to enter into the day, and He makes the day to enter into the night, and He has made the sun and the moon subservient [to you]; each pursues its course till an appointed time; and that Allah is Aware of what you do? – Luqman 29 }.
So when the Resurrection occurs, Allah, Blessed and Most High, will replace the earth and heavens with other than the present ones , and Allah Almighty will reward believers with His bliss that they have never experienced before , and for that the Almighty said: {So no soul knows what is concealed for them which is comfort of eyes, a recompense for what they used to do – Al-Sajdah :17} And this is a summary of the details of the paths to heaven and earth as gleaned from the Book of Allah, which we will detail, Allah willing.
Certainty: means the truth that is free from doubt and suspicion, and: {Being certain of something :is that its description is duly clear and proven . It is also used to designate death, so it is also termed certainty because no one doubts it. Dictionary of the Words of the Qur’an, Chapter Al-Yā’ , the qāf and the nūn section} .
Annotators said: The position of certainty in relation to faith is the same as of soul is to body, and the specialists differed on it and people competed and strove to reach out. And when patience combines with certainty, the achievement of imamate in religion is born between them. The Almighty said: {And We made from among them imams who guided by Our command when they were patient and had firm faith in Our signs – As-Sajdah 24} and the Almighty singled out the people of certainty that they will benefit from the signs and proofs. Allah Almighty said, and He is the most truthful of those who speak: { And in the earth there are signs for those who are sure, – Adh-Dhariyat 20}. He singled out the people of certainty with guidance and success from among all creatures, and said: {And who believe in that which has been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you and they are sure of the hereafter, these are on a right course from their Lord and these it is that shall be successful – Al-Baqara : 4-5 } .
And Allah Almighty informed about the people of Hell that they were not certain. Allah Almighty said: {And when it is said, “Indeed, the promise of Allah is true, and there is no doubt about the Hour.” You said, “We do not know what the Hour is.” We only assume a suspicion, and we are not in certainty – Al-Jathiya : 32} . The base form (Yaqun) and its derivatives are mentioned in the Qur’an twenty eight times and occurred in the verb form in fourteen places, including His saying, Glory be to Him: {and they are sure of the hereafter – Al-Baqara: 4}. And it came in the noun form in fourteen places as well, including the Almighty’s saying : {And worship your Lord until certainty comes to you – Al-Hijr: 99} . The word “Yaqun” and its derivatives are mentioned in the Qur’an in four meanings as follows :
First: certainty in the sense of truthfulness and belief:
For instance, what the Qur’an narrated on the lips of the Queen of Sheba: {And I came to you from Sheba with certain news – An-Naml 22} meaning with truthful news. And also from it is the Almighty’s saying {And of the Hereafter they are certain – Al-Baqara 4} meaning they believe in the existence of the Hereafter and resurrection. This word is most frequently mentioned in the Holy Qur’an with this meaning.
Second: certainty in the sense of death:
It is mentioned in two places in the Qur’an: The first: The Almighty said: {And worship your Lord until certainty comes to you – Al-Hijr 99} meaning: Remain committed to the worship of your Lord until your time comes. The second place: His saying, Glory be to Him, {until certainty has come to us – Al-Muddaththir : 47} meaning death.
Third: Certainty in the sense of seeing and watching :
This meaning was stated in His saying, Glory be to Him: {No, if you only knew the knowledge of certainty, you would see Hell and then you would see it with the eye of certainty – Al-Takathur :5-7} ,meaning the knowledge of seeing and watching when looking with the eye in the head, so you see it with certainty, because it does not get out of your sight.
Fourth: Certainty in the sense of knowledge:
As is the sense in what Allah Almighty said regarding His Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him: { and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure – An-Nisa :157}.
The meaning is as Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: They did not kill their doubt with certainty, as when you say: I killed it with perfect knowledge ,here the pronoun ,it, refers to doubt . Abu Ubaid said: If the meaning had been: And they did not kill Jesus with certainty, he would have said: And they did not kill him only. And Allah Almighty says: { And in the earth there are signs for those who are sure, – Adh-Dhariyat 20}. In this connection , Al-Tabari said: “And in the earth are signs and lessons for people who are certain of the truth of what they saw and observed when they walked in it.” Al-Qurtubi, on the other hand said: “(The certain ones) are those who know and verify the oneness of their Lord, and the truthfulness of the prophecy of their Prophet.” In sum, the word “yuqn” and its derivatives are mostly mentioned in the Holy Qur’an in the meaning of (honesty and belief), it is mentioned in a few places to mean (inspection and viewing), and it occurs twice in the meaning of (death), and it occurs in the meaning of (knowledge) – Islamweb website .
– Introduction to the Book of Certainty:
In the Book of Allah Almighty certainty has knowledge, and it has an eye in the bodies of the children of Adam with which they look, and insight into their souls with which they see things as they are in this world , and in the Hereafter after death, they see the truths and the unknown as certain. That is why Allah Almighty said of death that it is certainty {And worship your Lord until certainty comes to you} and after it they will see all the unseen and the promises of Allah Almighty that He has promised to the believers, and His promise is the certainty of sight. That is why Allah Almighty said: {No, if only you knew the knowledge with the certainty of sight , you would certainly see Hell, then you would see it with the certainty of sight , then You will certainly be asked that Day about the bliss –At- Takathur} . And this is the right of the people about whom Allah Almighty said: { Then if he is one of those drawn nigh [to Allah], Then happiness and bounty and a garden of bliss. And if he is one of those on the right hand, Then peace to you from those on the right hand. And if he is one of the rejecters, the erring ones, He shall have an entertainment of boiling water, And burning in hell. Most surely this is a certain truth. Therefore glorify the name of your Lord, the Great. – Al-Waqiah : 88-96}. And certainty is in everything that comes after death from the world of the unseen and what is hidden from our bodies and minds in this world due to the distance in time between us and the eras of the prophets and the imams of the Ahl al-bayt (the Prophet household ) Peace be upon them . The eminent upcoming of the Hour of the resurrection , and the loss of much knowledge for many reasons, until belief in the unseen has become just words and whose details , essence , what happened to the children of Adam before they descended from Paradise and what will happen to them after death have become hard to understand . This is faith in the unseen and certainty in what Allah Almighty has promised in the Hereafter. Allah Almighty said { And of the Hereafter they are certain – Al-Baqara :4}. For the servant of Allah to reach certainty in Allah Almighty, they must reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth and their constant movement, and that they inevitably have a mover, and one day the Children of Adam will meet this Creator to be judged for their deeds that they did in this world whether good or bad. Whoever wants certainty in Allah Almighty, let them think about the creation of the heavens and the earth. Allah Almighty said about what Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, did :{And thus We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and that he may be of those who are certain. So when the night descended upon him, he saw a star and said, “This is my Lord.” And when it set, he said, “I do not like the setting .” And when he saw the moon rising, he said, “This is my Lord.” And when it set, he said, “If My Lord does not guide me, I will be among the misguided people. When he saw the sun rising, he said this is My Lord, this is greater. Then when it set , he said, {O my people, I am disavowed of what you associate with Allah. Indeed, I have turned my face to Him who created the heavens and the earth, upright, and I am not of the polytheists. Al-Anaam :75-79} . And Allah Almighty said this to the rest of creation in an invitation to them to think: {It is Allah who raised the heavens without the pillars that you see. Then He settled upon the Throne and subjected the sun and the moon, each running for an appointed time. He manages the matter , elaborates the verses that you may be certain of meeting your Lord – Ar-Raad : 2 }
And whoever wants to meet Allah Almighty, they must act according to His wisdom, which was revealed in the heavenly books of Allah and in the last of which , the Noble Qur’an, which was revealed to the last of the prophets (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him and his family): {This is insight for the people and a guidance and mercy for a people who are certain – AJ-Jathiya: 20} . Whoever abandons acting according to the Book of Allah Almighty, then he is in ignorance and a lack of certainty in Allah, according to the Almighty’s saying: {What is the wisdom of ignorance that they seek? And who is better than Allah in judgment for a people who are certain? – Al-Ma’idah : 50}.
And this is certainty in what is with Allah Almighty and in the Hereafter {And if you could see, when the criminals bowing their heads before their Lord. Our Lord, we have seen and heard, so return us to life to do righteousness. Indeed, we are certain – Al-Sajdah 12}.
And the beginning of this certainty begins with gargling and death and that is why Allah Almighty says, clarifying that death is the beginning of certainty in His saying : {And worship your Lord until certainty comes to you} and what comes after death is the certainty that all the children of Adam will see, due to their saying at the time of reckoning: {And we used to deny the Day of Judgment until certainty came to us – Al-Muddathir : 46 – 47}. Moreover , this certainty in Allah Almighty and the Hereafter was taught by the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, to the point that he said in the interpretation of the Almighty’s saying: {And when the word came upon them, We brought forth for them an animal from the earth that which tells them that the people had no certainty in Our signs – An-Naml :82}. Regarding its interpretation, the companion Ammar bin Yasser asked Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and the latter told him that [It is an animal that eats dates and honey]. It is narrated in the interpretations of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) that certainty is the Wilayah of Imam Ali, peace be upon him. Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) said: “A man said to Ammar bin Yasser: O Abu Al-Yaqdhan, there is a verse in the Book of Allah which has corrupted my heart and made me skeptic. Ammar said: What verse is it? He said: {And when the word came upon them, We brought forth against them an animal of the earth telling them that the people were not certain of Our sign}. So what kind of animal is this? Ammar said: By Allah, I will not sit, eat, or drink until I show it to you. So Ammar came with the man to the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), while he was eating dates and butter . He told Ammar to sit down by saying O Abu Al-Yaqdhan, come. Ammar sat down and shared him his food . The man was amazed at him, and when Ammar got up, the man said to him: Glory be to Allah – O Abu Al-Yaqdhan – you swore that you would not eat, drink, or sit until you showed it to me . I have shown it to you, if you are a man of reason . On the authority of Abu Abdullah Al-Jadali, he said: I entered upon Ali bin Abi Talib (peace be upon him), and he said: Shall I not speak to you three times before someone enters upon you and me ? “I said: Yes. He said: I am the servant of Allah, and I am the dabbeh (the beast ) of the earth, its truthfulness and its justice , and a brother of its Prophet. Shall I not tell you about the Mahdi’s nose and eyes?” I said: Yes. He put his hand to his chest and said: “I am.”
On the authority of Al-Asbagh ibn Nabatah, he said: I entered upon the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) while he was eating bread, vinegar, and oil, and I said: O Commander of the Faithful, Allah Almighty said: {And when it happens? To say to them, we have brought out for them a beast from the earth that speaks to them that, indeed, the people had no certain belief in Our signs.} So what is this beast? He said: “It is a beast that eats bread, vinegar, and oil.” – Tafseer (Exegesis) of Al- Burhan}.
He explained the truth of that certainty when he said to them: [O people, ask me before you lose me. Behold! I know the paths of the heavens better than I know the paths of the earth} .
On the authority of Abu Tufayl, he said: I witnessed Ali while he was giving a sermon, and he said: Ask me before you lose me. I swear by Him Who split the grain and created the souls; if you ask me about each Quranic verse one by one, I will tell you whether it was revealed at night or in daylight, at Makkah or at Al-Madinah, and during a journey or in hometown; and I will tell you whether the verse is repealing (another verse) or is repealed (by another verse), whether it is decisive or allegorical; and I will tell you about its interpretation and about the reason for its revelation. Ibn al-Kawwa said: while I was between him and Ali and he was behind me, so he said: What are (the Dhariyat Dharwa – Dhariyat 1) So he mentioned something like it, and said about it: Woe to you, ask for understanding and do not ask out of obstinacy . In the same vein is his questions about things other than this, and there is a marfu` Hadith narrated by Al-Bazzar and Ibn Mardawayh but with a slightly weak chain of narration on the authority of Omar. Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani – Fatḥ al-Bari sharh al-Bukhari (‘Victory of the Creator: Commentary on Bukhari – Book of the Tafseer (Exegesis) of the Qur’an – Surah Wa Al-Tur, vol. 8, p. 459}.
It is recorded from Abu Tufayl Aamir bin Wathilah as saying : I heard Ali (peace be upon him) standing up and saying : Ask me before you lose me, and after me you will not ask someone like me. Then Ibn al-Kawwaa stood up and said: who are meant by the ayya {those who bestowed the blessings of Allah in disbelief and made their people a dwelling place of waste – Ibrahim : 28}. The Imam responded : They are the hypocrites of Quraysh. He also asked about those meant by the verse : {(These are) they whose labor is lost in this world’s life and they think that they are well versed in skill of the work of hands. – Al-Kahf : 104) and he replied : among them are the people of Harawra’, this is a highly authentic hadith, and Bassam bin Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sayrafi is one of the trustworthy Kufans from whom the hadiths are compiled, but it is not narrated in the Sahihs of Al- Bukhari and Muslim . (Al-Hakim Al-Naysaburi – Al-Mustadrak on the Two Sahih Books – The Book of Exegesis – Interpretation of Surat Ibrahim: 28. Interpretation of the surah: {Have you not seen those who exchanged the blessings of Allah for disbelief and made their people dwell in the abode of destruction?} Vol. 2, p. 352 .
This Daabah (beast) , it was narrated, is one of the major signs of the Hour and the ten signs before the Resurrection Day: [On the authority of Abu Hurairah, he said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Indeed, before the Hour is the Antichrist, the beast, Gog and Magog , the smoke, and the sun rising from the west.” . On the authority of Abu Hurairah, he said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “A beast will emerge from the earth. With it shall be the ring of Sulaiman and the staff of Musa. It will brighten the face of the believer, and stamp the nose of the disbeliever with the ring, such that when the people gather to eat, it will be said to this one: ‘O believer! and to that other : ‘O disbeliever!.” – Tafseer Al-Durr Al-Manthur by Al-Suyuti.
This certainty after death is (the Certain Knowledge) which primarily learned from the Messenger of Allah , may Allah bless him and his family. It is also learned from Imam Ali, peace be upon him, the Imams of Ahlul Bait (peace be upon them), those who followed them, and whomever Allah Almighty wanted after that to give them some of this knowledge that many people do not know at a time when many people do not know what is the “Samadiyah”(The impossibility of the existence of two bodies at the same time ) and many of them do not know the name of the grandfather of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and his family) and Muslims have become just a name only but in their behavior they are completely against the teachings of Islam. Indeed, many of them imitate the worshippers of the Satan in the world and they do not care about religion . On the authority of Ali bin Abi Talib (peace be upon him) , he said: The Messenger of Allah , may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: A time will soon come upon the people when nothing will remain of Islam except its name, and nothing will remain of the Qur’an except its inscription. Their mosques are crowded, but they are in ruins as they cry for guidance, their scholars are moving evil under the firmament of the sky. From them comes temptation and among them nests . This was narrated by Al-Bayhaqi but he did not mention the part saying: And from the Qur’an remains but its distortion . Besides , there are additions to it. See: Shu’ab al-Iman 3/317 & Ibn Adi in Al-Kamil 4/227, and others] .
That is why we titled this book “Knowledge of Certainty of the Paths of the Heavens and the Earth,” . Moreover, since Imam Ali was the first after the Prophet to address these paths between the heavens and the earth [“Ask me before you lose me”] , so after writing the present book titled Knowledge of Certainty, we discovered that it is a detailed statement of what Imam Ali mentioned about the paths of the heavens and the earth, but this explanation was not mentioned .Hence, this book comes as an explanation of the Imam`s , peace be upon him, reference to this path, as on his reading of the Almighty’s saying {And We have not given them any book for them to study. And We did not send to them before you any warner – Saba: 44}. He held the Book of Allah Almighty in his hand and said [ “Our Lord has not given us anything other than this book so that we may study it” ].
Consequently , this is the explanation of Imam Ali, peace be upon him, regarding these paths before and after creation, as clearly stated, and what they contain on creation, then the descent of the sons of Adam and the expulsion of Satan from Paradise. Likewise, the return of the heavenly clay body which was created from the clay of Paradise, i.e. , the soul attached to the body of man or his saw`a (body) with which he lives , as they separate from each other. If the Saw`a is infidel or hypocrite, then its torment is in this world, and it has signs of death throes and mutterings that indicate remorse or visions of terrifying things, and that is a sign so that people may be advised by it and be certain that we humans will be called to account by Allah Almighty after death. And on the Day of Resurrection it will be resurrected to testify against its owner as we indicated before. By contrast , if the saw`a was a believing one , it would show during her death throes, signs of joy, happiness, and optimism, a white face, wide smiles, and the like. These are signs for warning people to repent and be certain that they have a Creator. He is the one who gives them life, He is the one who will cause them to die, and He is the one who will hold them accountable for what they did and said in this world. It is as if the world is a place of doubt, suspicion, and whispering, and certainty in it begins with the death rattle , and then one’s sight becomes clear from the sight of the eye in this world to see with certainty everything that Allah Almighty has promised has become true. He/She saw it, and those around him/her did not notice it except by the signs that appeared on his face at the time of the throes of death. Allah Almighty said: {I was While you were heedless of this, We removed your cover from you, and today your sight is iron. – Qaf: 22} And the Almighty also said: { Why is it not then that when it [soul] comes up to the throat, And you at that time look on- And We are nearer to it than you, but you do not see. Al-Waqiah: 83-85}. And here begins the stage of certainty of which Allah Almighty said: {And worship your Lord until certainty comes to you}.
And thereafter:
When the command of Allah Almighty descended to the lowest heaven on the Night of Decree and He wrote on the preserved tablet what will happen until the Day of Resurrection, He entrusted that to angels within two universes between heaven and earth.
Every Muslim , who has read or heard the Holy Qur’an, knows that there is reward and punishment, Paradise and Hell, and when they die , they will come to account, but this is trust in Allah , in the Book of his Lord and his religion. It is also what their eyes see of the death of everyone around them, including fathers, uncles, friends, and neighbors as well as the death of children and living beings which confirm that life is no abode of permanence and there is no immortality in it. All that stands and moves on the face of earth is doomed to annihilation, { Whatsoever is on it (the earth) will perish. And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honour will remain forever Ar-Rahman :26-27}. Thus, the foundation of trust in Allah has become entrenched in the souls of many knowing that living beings will die and they will be held accountable for what they did.
This is the faith of the common people, regardless of the reckless and mocking ones who ridicule the religion, and who turn away from the remembrance of Allah . Those who do not hear, understand, read, and work for the afterlife, and live in this world like cattle rather, they are more misguided, as Allah Almighty said about them: {dead, not living, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected – An-Nahl :21} , i.e. : [They do not know when they will be resurrected, that is, the disbelievers do not know when they will be resurrected, that is, the time of resurrection, because they do not believe in the resurrection until they prepare to meet Allah, and it was said: that is, what informs them to know when the Hour will be, and perhaps it will be soon. – Al-Qurtubi].
Even though these common believers know the details of this simple belief of the inevitability of meeting Allah and judgment, this is only followed by a few of those who monitor themselves , hold them accountable, and blame them for the sins and transgressions they have committed. Allah Almighty said: {And indeed, many of the people, when they meet their Lord, are disbelievers – Ar-Room } and that is because it did not come across their minds throughout their lives even just once ,that they will meet their Lord and He will hold them accountable for what they have done . In this regard , we say that whoever reads this book of ours, Allah willing, will move from the stage of relying faith, in which there is doubt or uncertain belief, to firm certainty, because he/she will know where he/she came from, began, and how he/she will end. How will he/she move with his/her body, soul and spirit among them on a cosmic journey that ends with the highest paradise or eternity in hell, Allah forbid? And death here is as if it were a journey of travelling and moving between worlds, the tool of which is good deeds, so death and life are equal to them . They do not fear it for sure, but rather they will be certain that the afterlife is better for them than the first one , because of the lasting bliss that Allah Almighty has prepared for them if they are among the believers . And how they do not walk alone in this world, as their souls companions, demons, and angels are entrusted to them from the time of their creation in their mothers’ wombs until their meeting with Allah Almighty move along with them . Here their faith will be certain and they will be fully aware of the ways of the heavens and the earth, a knowledge about which Imam Ali, peace be upon him, based on what he learned from the Messenger of Allah , may Allah bless him and his family, said, “O people, ask me before you lose me. Behold! I know the paths of the heavens better than I know the paths of the earth.”
Indeed, this book is not made up of quotes from any books other than the Book of Allah Almighty , some details of verses as stated through the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the traditions of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, which have the ruling of the Prophet.
Consequently, there is knowledge in it that was not known or mentioned except by Allah Almighty, His Messenger, the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, in the folds of their books, and by the great mystical scholars who spoke about things for which no evidence was available to them , so it came out as reprehensible by one group and was met with silence by another. While a third group , however , believed in it without knowing certain supporting evidence, such as their denial of having any Knowledge of the unseen and talking about it , which the ignorant considered to be blasphemy and astrology, for example, and they forgot that Allah Almighty says { And in the heaven is your sustenance and what you are threatened with. – Adh-Dhariyat : 22}.
Allah the Almighty decrees everything that is predestined in the heavens and sends it down to the earth in a known measure. The unseen has degrees and measures among people, among the prophets, the righteous, and the believers. This is because the unseen, as stated in the Book of Allah, begins with the private matters of women, which Allah has kept hidden. Allah says: {the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded– An-Nisa :34}.
These private parts are hidden from all of creation and are not hidden from her husband. The unseen is elevated to what the Prophet knows and what no one else knows, revealed by inspiration from Allah the Almighty. That is why Allah, Exalted and Mighty, said: “Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His [knowledge of the] unseen to anyone except whom He has approved of messengers.- Al-Jinn :26-27).
Consequently, individuals or scholars can know what is hidden from many according to their level from Allah the Almighty and their relation to the family of the Prophet, peace be upon them, who are the highest in rank. Allah the Almighty has placed them in understanding the Quran and the Shariah, as well as what has been hidden from this Ummah. Thus, it is said about the Mahdi that “he is called the Mahdi because he guides the Ummah to what it has been missing.” (Al-Hawee li’l-Fataawa by Ibn Hazm).
Among the greatest of these secrets is the knowledge of interpreting the Book of Allah the Almighty, as Imam Ali, peace be upon him, said: “The Quran is further from the understanding of men…” .This is because it is the Book of Allah the Almighty, and it has a family who He has granted insight and interpretation. Allah says: ” None shall touch it save the purified ones.- Al-Waqiah : 79} . Many words in the Book of Allah the Almighty have meanings that scholars presume to be the meaning in language, and the truth is that language is a gateway and an entrance to understanding the intended meaning of Allah the Almighty’s Noble Book, not the interpretation and meaning intended by Allah the Almighty from His Noble Book.
We pray to Allah the Almighty to make this book a guide to the paths of the heavens from which man descended, the return of the believers to it after their death, and the imprisonment of the disbelievers on earth in the world where they are prevented from entering paradise again. Allah the Almighty says: {Indeed, those who deny Our verses and are arrogant toward them – the gates of Heaven will not be opened for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel enters into the eye of a needle. And thus do We recompense the criminals.- Al-Araf :40}.
The book of certainty revolves around Quranic studies accumulated over more than 35 years, not just about the literal meaning as some may think but it is the essence of what we have learned from the Book of Allah the Almighty, from the apparent and hidden sciences, that many people pass by its verses while they are heedless of them. Therefore, important topics emerge from those who read it, increasing their certainty in Allah the Almighty, righteous deeds, worship, and not wasting their time in what is not beneficial in religion or worldly matters, awaiting the reward of the Great Judgment after death and then the Day of Resurrection. It begins with the agonies of death and the appearance of signs indicating their final abode, whether they are destined to Paradise or to Fire. Here, death becomes like life for them, and the Hereafter will be better for them, and they will work for it more than they did for this world.
For the believer, the soldier, and the fighter in the path of Allah, death will be like life to them, not fleeing from the enemy at the meeting, especially in the time of the greatest Dajjal on earth and the approaching of Gog and Magog, while most people are unaware. The beginning of their return to Allah the Almighty after death and then the Day of Resurrection and the highest Paradise.
Therefore, we are between two worlds, and the third is informed and denied knowledge by Him: Allah clarifies that we as humans are between two worlds: life and death, two bodies, two heavens, two earths, and a body that contains a soul within it, which is the inner person. Both are connected to a soul that moves between these two worlds according to the cosmic laws that Allah the Almighty has arranged, corresponding to the body’s remaining alive after death with the fear of Allah in the Garden of Eden or evil in this world, which is the lower earthly body created from the combination of male and female. After death, it decays into the dust of this evil, and the soul which was created from the clay of Paradise and lived with it in the Garden of Eden before descending to earth separates from it,. This is because Allah the Almighty created all people in one single instant and entered them into Paradise and Hellfire in one single moment because He does not have time. Allah says: {And We have certainly created you, [O mankind], and given you [human] form. Then We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam”; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated – Al-Araf 7:11).
So time, according to us, is known by the sun and the moon, which come with them the night and day , both of which are created. Allah says about them: {It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases – that you may know the number of years and account [of time]. Allah has not created this except in truth. He details the signs for a people who know.– Yunus 10:5).
And He differentiated between the world and the Hereafter, or life and death, moving between the world of life and the Hereafter, as with the departure of his soul from his body on earth after descending from the sky to the earth, the human then moves to Paradise if he is a believer and to Hell if he is a disbeliever. As for his body, it will not be punished except in this world because it participated in sin without intention. On the Day of Resurrection, it will bear witness against its companion who lived with it in the evil or in one body.
Therefore, the death of this one reveals that one, and the death of that one reveals this one, so they do not meet except on the Day of Resurrection. Allah says:{How do you deny Allah and you were dead and He gave you life? Again He will cause you to die and again bring you to life, then you shall be brought back to Him. Al-Baqara :28}.
If you were dead evil beings brought to life in the earthly clay body, the upper form created from the clay of Paradise in Eden, hiding within it the evil that Iblis knew before he stripped Adam and his wife of their garments. Afterwards, Allah Almighty revives the person with their evil in this world after the descent from Paradise. The person conceals within this body, or the upper clay body. When the evil, which is the human body, dies, their upper clay soul emerges from it, incompatible with life on Earth, to transition to the Paradise of Eden if they were among the righteous believers. Then they return to Allah Almighty on the Day of Judgment with their soul and body. As for the criminals, they are imprisoned in the lower world in a prison.
As for those who mixed good deeds with bad deeds, they are the ones created from the clay of Paradise, but this clay is mixed with clay from the Earth, so their deeds match what they were created from. These individuals are punished only in this world, then on the Day of Judgment, they will bear witness against themselves, as Allah Almighty says: {Until, when they reach it, their hearing and their eyes and their skins will testify against them of what they used to do. – Fussilat :20-21] . It is known that the witness does not punish.
So if on the Day of Judgment, Allah Almighty replaces the Earth with another Earth and the heavens, as He says: {On the Day when the earth will be changed to another earth and so will be the heavens, and they (all creatures) will appear before Allah, the One, the Irresistible.- Ibrahim : 48} . Here, a new existence arises, which Allah Almighty has not disclosed in His saying, {And We will produce you in a manner you do not know.}
We will elaborate on this in the book, Allah willing. This is by Allah’s guidance.
Khalid Muhyi Al-Din Al-HElEbi
