A Quranic-Mystical Definition of the Term " Ahadiat"

The aim of this study was to find a Quranic-mystical definition for “Ahadiat” (oneness). For the Quranic part, it focuses on Tohid Sura, as the one that informs of the notion of Ahadiat, which is at the apex of monotheism. This information comes in an impossibly simple form through a negative structure different from usual demonstrations. Mysticism is a practice whose fundamentals are also monotheistic and is rooted in the Quran. Therefore, this study first follows Quranic implications of “Ahad” (the One) using a semantic approach (i.e. through morphology, associate and succession relations, context) and by analyzing Islamic narrations and interpretations. It then compares the results with definitions in mystical tradition to illustrate the concept’s perceptual space. The Quran and Islamic narrations use negative descriptions for Ahadiat: presence, names and attributes, need, disjunction-based relationships, dissimilarity, similarity, and independence are all detached from this concept. Similarly, in mysticism Ahadiat is a degree detached from presence, names and attributes, divinity, relation, speech, and address. These detachments can be referred back to the detachment of “relation”, as the Sura is an answer to the question of the relationship between God and Being. This denial of relation should be defined together with the concept of “Samadiat” (needlessness), which signifies the closeness of God with Being. However, even “closeness” is unexpressive of the nature of this connection; it is so close that there remains absolutely no space for “otherness” or “independence”. This is why “relation” is detached from Ahadiat. The oneness of God with its creation has also been uncovered by pantheistic mysticism through the theory of manifestation. But, are Ahadiat and “unity of God and creation” really understandable? Ahadiat is, indeed, understandable, although it is used in an indefinite form. God (Allah) is both “Ahad” (the One) and “Samad” (needless); thus, it is as if the goal of being is oneness. Oneness is accessible, and only in oneness is oneness understood. It is a different type of understanding, totally beyond reason. It is only realized in “unity”. Both the Quran and Mysticism annunciate the possibility of unity with Ahadiat. This unity is achieved through love. Samadiat implies perfect goodness and something that can be loved, while Ahadiat is a degree beyond Samadiat, and therefore, even a loving relation is unexpressive of it. In Mysticism, Allah has two manifestations: one is a product of the quality of the recipient (the container) – the lover’s manifestation, and one emanates the quality itself – the beloved’s manifestation. Human being is the only creature capable of love of God, and can acquire the capacity to understand Ahadiat through the beloved’s manifestations and successive annihilations (unification with the beloved). In a sense, man’s existence is transformed in the course of perfection and moving toward the absolute truth: not only God is individualized in man, but also man is completely unified with God. In the latter, there is no bifurcation of the lover and the beloved – all is the beloved. The Muhammadia truth, which is the source of creation and worldly relations, is an example of this unity. It is seen that the Sura begins with “Ghul” (say), and the Prophet “says” about Ahadiat. It is worth mentioning that, this study implicitly shows that mystical knowledge is built on top of Quranic concepts.