Welcome to F.I.E.L.D.- the First Ismaili Electronic Library and Database.

RUH WA MA'DA

Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

Life has two aspects, body and soul. Body represents the matter, which is perceivable and mortal, while the soul is immaterial, not perceivable and immortal. Matter has a form, but the soul is formless. This earthy body belongs to the material world (alam-i ijsam), which is made of dust and will return to the dust. The soul belongs to the spiritual world (alam-i arwah), which is to return to its origin.

Muayyad fid-din ash-Shirazi (390-470/1000-1078) writes, "God has created everything in twins, perceptible and imperceptible, matter and soul, form and substance, and this is the central point in the order of His creation." He develops this topic in his public discourse known as Majalis, in which he says, "Everything God has created consists of mathal and mamthul that is, matter and soul, form and its substance, visible and invisible." Man's body then is mathal and his soul is mamthul. This world is mathal and the next world is mamthul. The sun, the moon and the stars on whom depends human life on earth are all living beings, they are mathals and the inner power, which is responsible for their functioning and their influence on the world is mamthul. The Ismailis take these mathals as a ladder for climbing the spiritual realm. This philosophy is the essence of their religious instructions. They maintain that religion is made after the pattern of the laws, which govern the world. In this connection they quote the Prophet who says, "God has founded religion on the model of His creation. It is through His creation that man is led to religion and through religion he is led to God Himself." Muayyad fid-din ash-Shirazi quotes in his Majalis two Koranic verse, which run as follows: (1) "We have created everything in twins" (2) "God has created all things in twins." From these verses it clearly follows that the perceptible heavenly bodies must have their counterparts, which must be imperceptible and which must belong to the other world. Hence the counterpart of this earth must be another one. This one must be vocal, intelligent and perfect. In another Majalis, he says, "Since we have to live in this world it is natural that mathal of the religion of God must be this world which consists of heaven and earth, and what is between the two."


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