"Fana fillah and Baqi billah"- a scientific notion

‘Fana fillah’/annihilation in Allah is a mystical concept which states that man is capable of attaining unity with Allah after passing through various stages of self-purgation and self-purification. This is a state when man loses his existence into Allah’s Existence. The concept of ‘baqi billah’/ permanence within Allah is a natural corollary of concept of ‘fana fillah’ ; ‘baqi billah’ means when man loses his existence in Allah’s Existence, he becomes permanent existence because Allah’s Existence is Permanent. These two concepts- “fana fillah and baqi billah” have various shades. The mystics disbelieving in ‘wahdatul wajood’ do not believe in above-mentioned description of these concepts; however mystics believing in ‘wahdatul wajood’ believe in this description. In other words, rightness or wrongness of this description of these concepts depends on correctness or incorrectness of concept of “wahdatul wajood” itself. ‘Wahdatul wajood’  describes natural/ ‘wajoodi’  oneness of entities of the Creator and the created; whereas ‘fana fillah’  and ‘baqi billah’ describe how human can attain ‘wajoodi’ and qualitative oneness with the Creator.

We have already seen in my articles “wahdatul wajood”, and “Ibn-e-arbi and Quran” that tenets of theory of ‘wahdatul wajood’ are contradictory to Quran and sunnah, and are not tenable logically. In the succeeding lines, we would evaluate the concepts of ‘fana fillah’ and ‘baqi billah’  on the basis of scientific notions based on Quran and sunnah.

We have already seen in my article ‘Time Travel’ that Time and space are considered as a twin and interdependent phenomenon. Time may be defined as a distance between two points in space. Simply speaking, if a person moves from point A to point B, the duration required for space travelled/ covered between points A and B may be called Time to reach from A to B. In other words, if space between A and B is expanded, the time to reach from A to B will be expanded; and if the space between A and B is contracted/ condensed, time to reach from A to B will be shortened. It means the same event (in this case moving from A to B) will require more (expanded) time to happen, if space is expanded; and the same event will require lesser time to happen, if space is condensed/ contracted. 

This concept of time and space may be substantiated on the basis of Quran.

Sura al-maarij states that “Lord of the Ascending Stairways. The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him in a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years” (al-ma,arij-3,4). These stairways or gates are used by Hazrat Gabrael (as) and other angels to reach to such divine proximity from where they receive commandments from Allah, and such ascendance of angels from earth to seventh sky happens within a DAY (twenty four hours) which is actually equal to fifty thousand years on earth. It means events happen quicker on 1st sky as we move from 1st sky to upper skies; the events occurring in fifty thousand years on earth take one day/24 hours in seventh sky to occur on earth. In other words, one second spent in the seventh sky would be equal to 211.22 days spent on earth; it means the earthly events which are seen to be  happened in seventh sky  in one second would happen in 211.22 days on earth. That is why Allah states: “Indeed, they see it [as] distant, But We see it [as] near”(al-ma,arij-6,7). It also explains why 'meraj' was possible only within a part of night; the events witnessed by Hazrat Muhammad (saw) during the ‘journey of meraj’, would take thousands of years to take place according to earth time. It also explains return of Hazrat Masih (as) from an upper sky (i.e. fourth sky) to earth as much a young man as he was at the time of his exaltation - he would have stayed in the upper sky for a short period of time, but events happened in that short period  would have taken thousands of years passed on earth.

From understanding of above mentioned Quranic verses, we may draw three conclusions. The first conclusion is because events happen quicker on earth as we move from 1^st sky to upper skies, it means space starts contracting/ condensing as we move from seventh sky to 1^st sky. In other words, space starts expanding more as we move from 1st sky to upper skies. It means both time and space contract  more on earth as we move from 1^st sky to upper skies. Thus, as we have seen through al-ma,arij-3,4, by spending a few hours in upper skies, we can see the events happening in future hundreds of years on earth.

It means we can draw second conclusion that mankind can travel in future time; this is what has been actually done by Hazrat Muhammad (saw) during ‘journey of Meraj’. During the short period which our Nabi (saw) spent in upper skies, he (saw) witnessed events which would require thousands of years to happen on earth; it means, ‘meraj journey’ was travel in future time.

The third conclusion is if events happening in 211.22 days on earth can be seen happening so in one second in seventh sky, from the same analogy it seems possible that all events happening from beginning to end of this world can happen in a single moment in such a frame of Time and Space which exists separately from frames of time and space of seven skies. Allah is not bound to operate keeping within ambits of Time and Space in seven skies. Quran says about process of creation: “For to anything which We have willed, We but say the word, "Be", and it is” (al-nahl-40).  From this verse it is evident that anything which is willed by Allah happens forthwith. It is possible only in such frame of Time and Space which exists separately from the frames of time and space of seven skies. We can say that Time and space may be contracted/expanded to such a point where all events happening from beginning to end of this world may happen in a single moment of time. This testifies our Messenger's (saw) saying that Allah is done with process of creation and its allied matters; it means He is alone as all creatures are already finished.

It means Allah even at the present moment is alone; even at the present moment, He is ‘ahad’. Even at the present moment, Allah has such a frame of space and time where all the creations have already been annihilated; that is why He is alone and 'Ahad' even at present moment. That is why our sufis experience only one existence during meditation/ ‘mushahda-e-zaat’. But it does not mean that the created and the Creator are one; it only means that we experience one existence in such a frame of space and time when the creations have already been annihilated and Allah is already done with business of creations.

Allah’s all creations are to be extinguished one day. Only Allah’s Existence is Permanent and to live forever and eternally. Allah’s creations are not to be annihilated into Allah’s Existence; they are to be annihilated to make them non-existent, not to make them transformed into Allah’s Permanent Existence. The Creator and the created cannot be one at any stage; they are not one in the initial stage nor can be one in the final stage of annihilation of creations.

 All frames of time and space prevailing in seven skies will be extinguished one day; that will be end of journey of human soul. “Fana fillah”  and “baqi billah” are stages of the highest spiritual development of human soul. ‘Fana fillah’/annihilation in Allah   is not losing one’s existence in Allah’s Existence, and becoming permanent existence within Allah’s Existence. Actually ‘fana fillah’  is a stage when human soul reaches to such a proximity with Allah where Allah exists as 'Ahad'; this is the stage associated with such a frame of time and space where Allah exists as 'Ahad'. This is Allah's frame of time and space. This is eternal frame of time and space. This frame of time and space is to live forever and it is never ever to be extinguished, because it is Allah's frame of time and space. All other frames of time and space prevailing in seven skies are to be perished; but Allah's frame of time and space is to continue, because it is a frame of time and space where Allah exists as 'Ahad'. It does not mean Allah does not exist in other frames of time and space; actually,  Allah exists everywhere in all frames of time and space.  But the difference is that in seven skies' frames of time and space, creations exist, but, in Allah's frame of time and space, all creations are already perished but all the events from the beginning to end of all creations, happening in all frames of time and space prevailing in seven skies, are collected in Allah's frame of time and space; all stages and finality of all these events is recorded. A person attaining the stage of ‘Fana fillah’ and ‘Baqi billah’ is enabled to observe and feel all events recorded in Allah’s frame of time and space. Allah exists in Allah's frame of time and space as ‘Ahad’ , but it does not mean events occurring in other frames of time and space prevailing in seven skies are non-existent in Allah's frame of time and space; actually Allah is ‘Ahad’ /alone in his frame of time and space in the sense that all creations are already annihilated in Allah’s frame of time and space.

 At ‘fana fillah and baqi billah’  stage, human soul has NO sense of its existence because all creations are already perished in that frame of time and space.  But Allah makes human soul able to feel and observe events in Allah's frame of time and space because human soul- at the time of attaining stage of fana fillah and baqi billah- actually belongs to such a  frame of time and space where he/she is still alive.  But one day all frames of time and space prevailing in seven skies will be extinguished; all creations including human souls will be annihilated; that would be end of final stages of human journey; that would be end of ‘fina fillah’ and ‘baqi billah’ stage of human journey; after that no human soul would be able to observe and feel the events recorded in "Arsh e Elahi"/Allah's Frame of Time and Space; after that no human soul will exist to be graced with stages of ‘fana fillah’ and ‘baqi billah’'. “Everyone upon the earth will perish”(al-rahman-26). Only Allah's frame of time and space will exist forever.

We may conclude that concept of oneness of existence is not tenable either in the form of ‘wahdatul wajood’ nor in the form of “fana fillah’ or “baqi billah".