The Qur'an and Initiation (part 1)

I think part of the reason some things are not mentioned by God in the Qur’an is not because they aren’t true but they were originally (before the main Hadith collections) reserved for a certain elite who would be capable of directly contextually understanding them first hand from within the realm of the Prophet (saw), the Ahlulbayt and the Sahaba.


This does seem to largely be the case between Prophet Muhammad (saw) and the twelve Imams, who bare the most intimate of initiatory lineages.One of the reasons for keeping certain things secret is the inevitable obsession and destructive tendencies within the mind of man(kind) when given to the wrong people. Another reason is that some things are too “out-there” for certain types of people to contemplate (one example easily accessible to Christians is how Pharisees prepared to stone him after proclaiming the deeply eStoteric statement “I and the father are one”), and another reason is that people have the habit of developing false hopes through false (and often fanatical) interpretations.


Things such as knowledge of the Mahdi (Qa’im), Barzakh, et al are clearly esoteric or occult, and deal with concepts that are not relatable to the layman.The Qur’an gives allusions constantly to many things but at the same time God revealed the Qur’an for all of mankind. Because of this, the role of something like Sunnism becomes obvious as it caters to the average layman audience, regardless of cultural background. It’s understandings are sweet, simple and uncontroversial to itself. It’s aims have zero to do with spirituality (Ihsan) and the esoteric (batin), with exception of Sunni Sufis, and all instead to do with the overimportance of morals, discipline and ethical customs.


The role of Shi’ism prior to the modern era stands in stark contrast, having been one of central esoteric (batin) initiation, one that looks very deeply at the philosophical and esoteric truths that Sunnism only lightly touches the surface of – as to say, that Shi’ism has a much more sophisticated metaphysical understanding of the same universally-Islamic ontology (all grounded in Tawhid, which is the Unity of God).I think the Sunni/Shi’i divide (as it is commonly framed as) is more than just politics or even spiritual succession, it is the relating in an obscure way to who deserves what knowledge. Sunnism serves as a gatekeeping for the masses, a way of ensuring the layman stays focused at the most basic aspects of faith (Iman). This likewise also relates to a Sunni’s (sometimes detrimental) understanding of their own doctrines – as a result it creates a politicising reaction to Shi’ite doctrine because they lack the knowledge (‘ilm) and wisdom (hikmah) to process and evaluate that which they have no knowledge – as to say, the process of understanding a word, idea, symbol and scripture is left in it’s surface aspect for need of cohesion and social stability.


Such states of mind can be seen, for instance, between the average Protestant Christian and the monastic monks of Catholic Orders. The comparison is radical but it does a good idea at demonstrating what the divide really entails, in it’s purer form. In one hand the monk says “I only want to be with God and experience God’s presence” and on the other hand the Protestant sees any attempt at connecting with God as evil and “Unbiblical” since ‘belief alone’ in the Protestants mind is the be-all-end-all of their religion.God keeps things ambiguous often in the Qur’an because many passages, many Surah too, are referring to multiple things at the same time. It has a doctrinal axis pole (qutb) that is firm, but it’s surrounding contents are rather like a prism wherein light shines through from different angles and gives different colours, such angels are embodied in the unfoldment of the Shi’ite Imams and their relation to the Qur’an. Such initiatic figures as the Imams represent the continued divine guidance from God to mankind, not in the form of Nabi or Rasool but rather the Wali (Walaya).

The Qur'an: Created or Uncreated?

Regarding if the Holy Qur’an is ‘uncreated’ or not (which I’ve not really understood either view), I’ve recently had contemplations on the subject and how it relates to freewill/determinism. 
In this post I will be exploring it from a philosophical and theological perspective, and not from fiqh.
Whilst the Qur’an does have some very mystical-apocalyptic passages throughout, it places emphasis on these as inevitable culminations of macro-history but through the inner dramaturgical experience of the Soul itself uniting with it’s Creator.

When dealing with scripture, the Qur’an does say numerous times “and we have not destroyed a town who had not first been sent a messenger” (paraphrasing)
In contemplating determinism/freewill, we must consider that scripture serves as a warning in the most direct and immediate sense. In conjunction with this, scripture is also the forcing of realization or awareness onto people who are oblivious to such things. The Qur’an is revealed to both the most intelligent and spiritual of people, as well as the most unsophisticated and secular-minded, so we must take this into account when dealing with how the Qur’an conveys such things. As a logoic book of direct revelation it serves as a meeting point, as a mediator, between various views, philosophies and conceptions but remains heavily on the esoteric side.
From here we can look at the paradox:

If the Qur’an was ‘uncreated’, then either it would not reference ‘earthly’ events at all (which of course is paradoxical because human language is from earth), or it would indicate that human events are equally part of the same book – in that I can see an aspect of the notions of ‘book of nature’ or ‘nature as scripture’ which both Muslim and Jewish philosophers have spoken of.

On the other hand, if the Qur’an was ‘created’ then on the exoteric level it would indicate a finite or lower divine status. The question as to what exact forms this perspective however, I remain unsure for now.

I think a further aspect to this which is always overlooked, is that in Islamic metaphysics, the Qur’an is the last portion of the Umm al-Kitab (or, the mother book), a celestial or heavenly logoic essence which resides in heaven symbolically. This is the basis of the Tawrat and Injeel in their original states. This aspect of the Quran’s ontological status is always missed when discussing the topic, the relevance is a necessity. 
We also have the further implication of all things been kept in a ‘record’, as stated in various Quranic Ayah (e.g, Surah 57:22).

Now the Qur’an being ‘uncreated’ along with actual theological contemplation would suggest a monistic view of reality (an obvious layer being related to the central Islamic axiom of La ilaha illa'llah, or "There is No God But God".)
The contents of the Qur’an in such a view would emphasize how reality parallels itself, how the Qur’an itself outlines the universal archetypes for the unfolding events of history. Such understandings, while prevalent in the Qur'an and understandings of even Sunnism, is far more expressed in Shi'i views with Imamate.
This also relates to an aspect of the inner or esoteric mystery contained within the veil (al-hijab) or reality, of which could be achieved through meditation on it’s pages would show us in the ‘aql sense.

The Qur’an being ‘created’ would suggest an undetermined history that is nudged by the Divine. It’s references to events in the Prophet Muhammad’s (a.s.) life could be seen as an indication and evidence of the created aspect, however the aforementioned apocalyptic passages throughout seem to create a paradox within such a question. 
As with the other prophets outlined in the Qur’an (and also in the Bible), the life and actions of these divinely chosen leaders and reformers seem to instigate a metahistorical universality in the aforementioned actuality of history being a mirror to itself.
Shi'ism and Sufism contains the doctrine of the Muhammadun Light (Nur), which would be one good concept we would naturally expect from the Qur'anic narrative. The seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, is the encapsulation of all Prophets - the synthesis of all previous ages. The light (Nur) that emanates through him, preceded the creation of Adam.
The nature of the Qur'an itself can therefore be seen as an illuminating amplification and on some level, self-awareness, through this ongoing process that is outside of time itself.
This awareness through various layers, both affirms the Primordial Doctrine (Tawhid) and instantiates change, while providing a kind of potentiality for the history that is to unfold for us. The Prophetic aspect of all of this boarders between real historical events and allegory, even to the point of allegorizing our own existence.

As far as the nature and universality of the Qur'an itself, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a.s.) himself is reported to have said:
"Because Allah (swt) did not make the Qur'an for a certain time and not another, or for certain people and not others. It is new every time and fresh for all people until the day of judgement"
(Scale of Wisdom, ch.1510, H5163)


Fundamentally the ambiguity between paradox itself (man/woman, chicken/egg, free-will/determinism etc) is an over-arching theme that should be noted and I find that breaking down the exoteric in the abrahamic religions leads to the esoteric by necessity, by it’s nature.