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עמוד:12
The Sufis’ and Ibn al - ‘Arabī’s Attitudes Towards the Pillars of Islam 12 The Greatest Master adds another theological principle in his discussion of ritual purity To wit, whoever does not know that God’s will is equal to his command, loses his purity Thus, true knowledge, which is naturally an inward element of theological tenets, safeguards one’s purity Impure substances are compared to doubts and false proofs Ethical values are incorporated in the treatment of ablution Accordingly, just as one has to purify his organs as the Law prescribes, one should purify his organs of vices, such as theft done by the hands or looking at unlawful things . In Ibn al - ‘Arabī’s view, there is an inevitable connection between body and soul Hence, fulfilling the outward rules of ritual purity serves as a necessary condition for complying with the inward, spiritual requirements Additionally, the heart is the place of morals and true knowledge . Hence, one should purify his heart of ignorance, doubts and hypocrisy Purity of the heart causes the presence of God to enter into it Thus, purity observed in its two aspects, the outward and the inward, makes one come close to God The first part of the witness of faith ( shahāda ) , there is no god but God ( lā ilāha illā allāh ) is the call to unify God ( tawḥīd ) The unification of God is interpreted by the Sufis to mean God’s transcendence, that is, His being totally different from all other entities They also add the notion that all things originate in God Al - Makkī states that in this matter the people are divided into two types : the first are the common people who learn God’s unity from the sacred texts and the second are the elite who receive the knowledge of the mystery of God’s unity by His revelation to them Some Sufis add the notion of passing away from one’s consciousness ( fanā’ ) as the highest stage of the unification of God Those who are immersed in this state are aware only of God’s existence and do not even see themselves The Sufis do not ignore the second part of the shahāda, the belief in Muḥammad the Messenger of God . Here also,
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