The Manifestation of the Light of Allah: The Meaning of Gods Creation of

Adam in His Image By Sayyid Ahmed Amiruddin

October 7, 2009 by ahmedamiruddin- Authorised deputy of Sheikh Nazim
adil- Haqqani
Q. What is your belief regarding of the Hadith of Jabir (rad) which states,
Awwalu ma khalaqallahu nuri and how would you explain it based upon
the following Hadith wherein the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa aalihi
wa sallam) is reported to have said: Allahcreated Adam in His Image (AlBukhari, Vol. 8, Hadith 246)?
A. Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. It is the correct belief of Muslims
that Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta`ala) cannot be literally seen (in this life), as to
literally see Him Most High would mean that He would occupy a direction, but He
is the Creator of directions, and beyond all directions. The answer is,Allah cannot be
seen, but the Madhahar, Manifestation, of His Nur can be seen. Hence, the meaning
of in His Image is a reference to the Madhahar of Allah; the Manifestation of His
Nur; Meem Haa Meem Daal; Nur Muhammad, which is Nurim min Nurillah. The
meaning of Adam is related to the statement of Shaykh al-Akbar Muhiuddin Ibn
Arabis statement, Allah created one hundred Adams, we are the descendents of
the last and Mawlana Shaykh Nazims statement, so many Adams have been
created-no one knows their (exact) number! The Holy Quran states that Adam was
created from Turab, it is my understanding, as I will explain below, that the Adam
mentioned in this Hadith is actually Abu Turab, the first Adam.
The hadith of Jabir (rad) which you quoted states that the Messenger of Allah (S)
said, Awwalu ma khalaqallahu Nuri (The first thing that Allah created was my Nur).
This light was then divided into 4 parts, then 4 more parts, then 4 more parts, then
4 more parts, then the Twelve Veils were manifest. There are different transmissions
of this hadith, and the hadith stating Awwalu ma khalaqallahu Nuri has been
declared weak according to some Ulema and authentic according to others. The
truth in this matter is that it is weak, but not because of the fact that the Nur
Muhammad is Awwal, the first, which it is, without any doubt, but rather only
becuase of the words created which appear in the narration of Jabir (rad). The
Light of the Holy Prophet (S) is not created, because Allah did not create Himself,
but rather the correct position is that the Light of the Prophet (S) is the
Manifestation of Allahs own Light, meaning Allah Manifested Himself as Light and
that Light was manifest through Muhammad (S). There are many meanings of this
hadith, but the one most relevent one to our goal is the following:
The Light mentioned in the hadith is the Light of Allah Himself, as the Holy Quran
states, Allah is the Light of the Heavens and Earth. This Light (Manifested) was
divided into 4 parts, these are represented by the 4 letters of the Ism Muhammad,
Meem Haa Meem Daal, which then formed Nur Muhammad. This Light was then

divided into 4 more parts, these are represented by the 4 letters Alif, Haa, Meem,
Daal, from the Ism Ahmad. This Light was then divided into 4 more parts, these are
represented by the 4 names `Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn, who are from Ahmad
(sallallahu alaihi wa aalihi wa sallam). This Light was then divided into 4 more parts,
and these four parts are represented by the 4 letters Qaf, Ra, Ya, Shin, from the
word Quraysh. In Takhrij ahadith sharh al-mawaqif (p. 32 #12) Imam Jalaluddin
Suyuti cites the following hadith: The Quraysh were a light in front of Allah. These
4 parts were then divided into the Twelve Veils, which represent the Twelve Imams,
about whom the ahadith state, There will be after me Twelve Sucessors, all of them
from Quraysh.
Hadrat al-Ghawth Mawlana Sultan ul-Awliya Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi (Q) said
regarding the Muhammadan Realilty, the Manifest source of all creation, including
the Kursi, Qalam and the Tablet: Allah appeared through him (Meem Haa Meem
Daal, Muhammad). There is one Muhammad. I am Muhammad, you are Muhammad.
The Manifest One is Manifested through Muhammad.
Hu Allah. Human, Hadrat Hajji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki declared, Creation is
nothing but the visible manifestations of Allah. Just like Allahs Asma al-Husna
(Beautiful Names) are not other than Him, similarly these Hawadith are not other
than Him. Allah does not have a corporeal form. Anyone who believes that Allah is
like is creation is a misbeliever. Allah used His Three Thousand Names to describe
Himself, one thousand went to the Angels, one thousand to Prophets and one
thousand to Mankind. Of these one thousand to Mankind, three hundred were
known during the time of the Torah, three hundred during the time of the Zubur,
three hundred during the time of the Injil and ninety-nine were revealed in the Holy
Quran.
Khalifatullah and the Importance of Letters
The first revelation was Iqra, read, or recite. One form of reading is based on
forming words with meanings from letters, huruf. The Holy Quran states, Huw
Allahul ladhi (He is Allah..). In this verse, Hu comes before Allah. What is
Hu?, it is the Madhahar. From the Madhahar these Names which Allah used to
describe Himself to His creation were manifest as letters, huruf, forming words with
meanings i.e. Raufur Raheem. For example, while He cannot be literally seen, or
comprehended, He calls Himself Allah. The Ism Allah is comprised of four
letters, Alif, Laam, Laam, Ha, Allah. Using the ABJAD system, the value of Ism Allah
is Alif=1, Laam=30, Laam=30, Ha=5, bringing the total (Jaml i-Kabir) to 66. The
Jaml i-Waseet of Ism Allah is 6+6, meaning 12. The Jaml i-Saghir of Ism Allah is
1+2, meaning 3. These 3 represent the Reality, the three Haqaiq, which are taught
as an elementary lesson in Sufism as the three realities, Allah, Rasul, and the Guide,
Wali, or Shaykh. This doctrine originates from the Jaml i-Saghir of Ism Allah which
is 1+2, meaning 3. The reality of this 3 are the Reality of AllahMuhammadAli.

The total letters in the Ism Allah are 4, which are part of the Madhahar of the Ism
Allah, not seperate, because together they form the Ism, and they are part of the
Ism itself, not seperate. The Madhahar of Hu-Allah (He is Allah) in the form of these
4 letters is in the form of Meem Haa Meem Daal, 4 letters. The complete Hadith of
Jabir (rad) states that the Light was then divided into 4, these are the letters in the
Ism Allah, Alif, Laam, Laam, Ha, and they are represented by the letters Meem Haa
Meem Daal, and the Prophet (S) declared that his family is from him, not seperate
from him. Hence, these 4 letters represent the creation of Ali, Fatima, Hasan,
Husayn, the Ahlul Bayt, his family. Imam Suyuti reported that Ibn Abbas asked the
Prophet (S) about the words which Adam received from his Lord. The Prophet (S)
replied, He prayed saying, O Allah, for the sake of Muhammad:Ali, Fatima, Hasan
and Husayn, do turn towards me, and He turned towards him.
The Jaml i-Waseet of the ABJAD value of Ism Allah is 6+6, which is 12, as I
described above. This 12 represents the Twelve Veils. Coming back to my point,
while it is clear that these letters (Alif, Laam, Laam, Ha) are not Allah in Himself,
He however, used them, Alif, Laam, Laam, Ha, to identify Himself to His creation,
and therefore these letters are from Allah in the sense of belonging to His
introduction of Himself and His own Name, Allah. It is from this same
understanding that the Sufi doctrine Wahdatul Wajood stems, and it is on the basis
of the letters representing a Manifestation, which could be witnessed, the counter of
al-Wajood, Wahadtul Shuhud stems. Hence, the reality of those two doctrines is that
both are equally correct. This is why we must be pure when touching the Holy
Quran, because it is composed in the letters of the Arabic alphabet, the same
letters Allah used to make His Names and Attributes Known, and thereby make
Himself known to His Khalifa, Insan al-Kamil, as I will explain below.
The Manifest One
The Holy Quran states, He is the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden (Hu wal
Awwalu wal Aakhiru wadh Dhahiru wal Batinu) and the Hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari
states Allah created Adam in His Image (Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 8, Hadith no. 246).
What is the meaning of this? One meaning is that the name of that Manifested Nur
from Allah is Meem Ha Meem Daal, the Madhahar of Allah, Nur Muhammad. Again,
by saying the name of the Manifested Nur is Muhammad I mean the letters
Meem, Haa, Meem, Daal.
This Nur, the Manifestation of the Primary Nur, is the manifest Nur of the Heavens
and the Earth which is described in the Holy Quran. It is the meaning of the vision
of our GrandShaykh Sultan ul-Awliya Mawlana Shaykh Abd Allah Daghestani (q)
wherein he spoke of the conversation between Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (karram
Allahu wajhu) and Uwais al-Qarni, wherein Hadrat Ali declared that he actually only
saw the Holy Prophet (S) twice, similar to what the Holy Quran states about the
Vision of Allah of the Holy Prophet (S) about which Ibn Abbas declared, The Holy

Prophet (S) sawAllah twice in his heart.. Our GrandShaykh said Hadrat Ali said
when he saw twice, everywhere he looked in all directions of creation to the Throne
and beyond, all he saw was Muhammad.
Insan al-Kamil, the Khalifatullah, Man, was created in the form of these perfect
letters, Meem, Haa, Meem, Daal, which are the Madhahar of Nur Allah: Meem, Haa,
Meem, Daal; Muhammad; Nur Muhammad. That is the meaning of the Hadith,
Allah created Man in His Image. The image is the form of letters, in which He
Manifested His Own Light, Meem Haa Meem Daa, Nur Muhammad. The meaning of
this statement is, in the form of letters then, the Human head is in the form, image,
of the letter Meem, the body with the ribs are in the form of the letter Haa, the hips
until the knees are in the form of the the second letter Meem and the legs from the
knees to the feet, which face forward in the manifested form of the letter Daal. Thus
the Human is formed in the image of the perfectly Manifested letters, the Madhahar
of the Nur Allah: Nur Muhammad, Meem Haa Meem Daal, which are Muhammad,
the primary of Divine Manifestation.
Ibn `Ajibah writes in the explanation of the Hadith of Al-Bukhari regarding image
in al-Mabahith al-Asliyyah, line 22: And the Reality of the Human has a pattern in
the Divine.
Hadrat Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (rah) used to say that Insan is outwardly a
Slave (Abd, the Primary being Abduhu wa Rasulu) and inwardly (Batini) the Haqq.
He Created Adam in His (Manifested) Image
The spiritual son of Ghawth al-Adham Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (Rad), Shaykh
al-Akbar Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi wrote in his Futuhat al-Makkiyya Allah created one
hundred Adams, we are the descendents of the last.
The venerable Ghawth Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi (q) revealed in one of his
illustrious discources,
Our GrandShaykh says, Knowledge is an endless oceanSaints know about from
before the time of Adam (peace be upon him).Our GrandShaykh said that this is
the period of our father Adam (peace be upon him) and his sons. We are living in it
now. But before our fathers period, so many Adams have been created-no one
knows their (exact)number!Each Adam, and his sons were generally like us, in
that they may be recognized as sons of Adam. All are servants of our Lord. Also, He
Almighty, alone, knows how many Adams will come after us, how many periods
there will be.Our GrandShaykh says, Allah Almighty was addressing those Adams
that were created before our father, Adam (peace be upon him) with the secrets of
the Holy Quran. Quran, the Holy book, contains endless secret knowledge. Its
secrets are such that you can find, included in it, all news from before and after us.
(Mercy Oceans: The Teachings of Maulana Abdullah al-Faizi ad-Daghestani, on p.
104-105)

Hadrat Ali ibn Abi Talib (karram Allahu wajhu) declared, Anna Adamul Awaal (I am
the First Adam). Regarding the excellence of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Imam Rabbani
Mujadid Alf Thani declared in his Maktubat Vol. 1,
O Brother! Indeed Imam Ali is the holder of the keys of the Sainthood, Wilayah, of
the Prophet Muhammad and the training regime for the status of Aqtab, Awtad and
Abdaal, who are from amongst the reserved Awliya, is done under the shelter of his
Sainthood. The rank of Qutb al-Aqtab, who is the greatest Qutb and the guide and
mentor of others, lays under his (Alis) feet. His orders are issued under the
supervision and support of Ali and he performs his duties under the supervision and
support of Ali and fulfills his tasks. Sayyida Fatima and both of her sons, the Imams
(Hasan and Husayn) share this rank with Ali. (Maktubat Imam Rabbani, Volume 1,
page 438 Letter 251)
In the Maktubat, Imam Rabbani went further to declare that he believed that Hadrat
Ali enjoyed his exalted status even before his physical birth, stating,
And there is another way close to the spiritual sovereignty and this is the way of
the Saints and the general friends of Allah, and this way is marked by its
characteristic passion and it carries the guarantee of mediation and the leader and
chieftain of the Saints of this way is Al al-Murtada. And this grand office is reserved
for him. On this way, the feet of the Holy Prophet are on Als head and Fatima and
Hasan and Husayn are included with him. I believe that he enjoyed this position
even before his physical birth, as he did after it, and whosoever has received the
divine blessing and guidance, has received it through him, because he is closest to
the last point on this way and the centre of this spot belongs to him. And when his
period ended, the grand office passed on to Hasan and Husayn and then on to each
one of the Twelve Imms, individually and elaborately. And whosoever received
guidance in their life and after their death, received it through these saints. And the
refuge and place of shelter of the saints of high ranks are these saints, (because
they are the centre of all spiritual activity) and the sides tend to converge on the
centre (Maktubat, Volume 9:173#123).
Hadrat Ali existed before the creation of our Adam. Hadrat Ali declared Anna
Adamul Awaal (I am the First Adam), that means, while Meem Haa Meem Daal is
the primary Manifestation of the Light of Allah, Ali is the Manifestation of perfectly
surrendered form of the letters Meem Haa Meem Daal, Muhammad, the
Khalifatullah, as Adam, the first Human.
Adam was created according to the Holy Quran from Turab (khalaqahu min
turabin) and the Messenger of Allah (S) said in an authentic hadith that Ali was
Abu Turab, meaning the Father of Turab. Ism Ali, represents one of the three of the
Jaml i-Saghir of Ism Allah as mentioned above,Allah Muhammad Ali, Ali is the
father of Turab. Turab is earth, dust, and the earth and creation came from Nur
Muhammad, from the 12 Veils. These 12 Veils are from the Jaml i-Saghir of Ism

Allah, 3, as mentioned above. The Reality of this Jaml i-Saghir, which is 1+2,
meaning three, isAllah, who is Rab, and Muhammad and Ali.
The ABJAD Value of Rab is Ra=200 + Ba=2, meaning 202. The ABJAD Value of
Muhammad is Meem=40 + Haa=8 + Meem=40 + Daal=4, meaning 92, and the
ABJAD Value of Ali is Ayn=70 +Laam=30 + Ya=10, meaning 110. Allah is Rab, and
the ABJAD Value of Rab is 202. If the ABJAD Values for Muhammad and Ali are
added, 92 (Muhammad) + 110 (Ali) we get the same ABJAD Value as Rab, 202. Ali
ibn Abi Talib is Abu Turab, and Adam (the later) was created from Turab, meaning
from the 12 Veils, which came from the Jaml i-Saghir, Allah Muhammad Ali, which
came from the 4 letters, which are the Mudhahar.
When Insan, Man, who is created in the image of these primary Manifested letters,
in the form of Meem Haa Meem Daal, Muhammad, Nur Muhammad; which is the
Madhahar of Nur Allah, as Mawlana Shaykh Nazim declared, There is one
Muhammad. I am Muhammad, you are Muhammad. The Manifest One , he (Man) is
then ready to come down to earth as the Khalifatullah, in the form of the letters
Meem Haa Meem Daal, he becomes ready to be born from his mother. Again, I
would like to make it clear that it is the correct belief of the people of Islam that it is
Kufr, misbelief, to believe that Allah can be likened to His creation. When I am
speaking here, it is of form, not corporeal form, but rather based on letters, like I
explained earlier, which Allah used Himself to describe Himself. I will quote Hadrat
Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki here again, Creation is nothing but the visible
manifestations of Allah. Just like Allahs Asma al-Husna (Beautiful Names) are not
other than Him, similarly these Hawadith are not other than Him.
Continuing, when the Human is ready to come to earth, the Human baby in the
mothers womb enters the perfect birthing position, which is head down and feet up.
Man with head up and feet down, represents the form of the letters Meem Ha Meem
Daa, as I explained above. However, with his head down and feet up, he forms the
letters of Ism Ali. See this Ambigram of Ism Muhammad and Ism Ali below to get a
better understanding.
To further explain, Allah is Rab. He Manifest Himself as Nur. The Name of the
manifestation of that Nur is Meem Haa Meem Daal, Muhammad; Nur Muhammad.
The Prophet (S) declared, I and Ali are from One Light..
The numeric value using ABJAD of Rab, is Ra=200, Ba=2, meaning 202.
The ABJAD value of Ism Muhammad (S) is 92
Meem=40
Haa=8
Meem=40

Daal=4
The ABJAD value of Ism Ali is 110
Ayn=70
Laam=30
Ya=10
When we add the Values of Ism Muhammad (S) and Ism Ali, 92+110, we get 202,
the same Value for Rab.
Hence, the proper meaning of the Hadith is not that Allah is like His creation, but
rather that AllahManifest His Own Light as Meem Haa Meem Daal, Nur Muhammad,
Muhammad; nurim min nurillah. Adam, the first Adam, referred to in the Hadith was
created in the form of that Manifestation. The meaning of Adamul Awwal has been
explained. Adam is the Khalifatullah, the Wali of Allah. That Adam was created in the
form, image, of the Madhahar (letters) of the Nur Allah. The Adams which came
after, were created from Turab, and this Adam is Abu Turab. That is the correct
meaning of Allah created Adam in His image.
Creation is nothing but the visible manifestations of Allah. Just like Allahs Asma alHusna (Beautiful Names) are not other than Him, similarly these Hawadith are not
other than Him. Hajji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (rah)
And Allah Knows Best!
Sayyid Ahmed Amiruddin
Copyright 2009 Ahlus Sunnah Foundation of Canada. All rights reserved.