Tawheed

[abba]

I am old timer on Shiachat but post very rarely.  This lecture is something I thought I would share.  I have read several books and listen to lectures on this topic but over the last 2 plus decades, I have not heard a more comprehensive and logical lecture on Tawheed than this: 

Please let me know if you recommend any books on Tawheed or lectures, etc.  As this is the basic building block of all Aqaid, Fiqh, etc. Its the fundamental basis of all our religion.
 

 

[Abu Nur]

6 hours ago, abba said:

I am old timer on Shiachat but post very rarely.  This lecture is something I thought I would share.  I have read several books and listen to lectures on this topic but over the last 2 plus decades, I have not heard a more comprehensive and logical lecture on Tawheed than this: 

Please let me know if you recommend any books on Tawheed or lectures, etc.  As this is the basic building block of all Aqaid, Fiqh, etc. Its the fundamental basis of all our religion.
 

 

Very good lecture, Jazakallah khayran.

[Abu_Zahra]

Thanks for sharing this video. My comments in chronological order:

-Fully agree that tawheed is unfortunately neglected from the pulpit and in the seminaries.  The Sheikh is correct is to point out this major shortcoming. 

-Side comment: fully agree with his comments on this phenomenon of trying to interpret signs of the end of times in every era (chaotically trying to identify the Sufyani, Khorasani etc) 

-The Sheikh explains the three different kind of relationships between two entities in a clear and simple way. He then evaluates this with the relationship between Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) and the creation. It is interesting and well explained and the Sheikh does mention that he is using an 'aqli (rational) approach but i still think for such a fundamental topic it is essential to try and support  the claims and statements with the Quran. 

One of my personal criticisms of Ilm ul Kalaam in general is that a lot of strong/significant statements are made but often with very limited reference or support from the Qur'an. 

-After rejecting the three previously described relationships (equality, exclusion and subset) the Sheikh then explains what he actually believes the relationship to be between Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) and the creation (encompassment). The explanation is quite clear but with the same criticism as above. 

Essentially it seems that the Sheikh is trying to explain the concept of wahdatul wujood to the layman (without actually naming it). 

-The Sheikh does eventually cite a few verses of the Qur'an to try and support his theory. With respect I found this part quite chaotic especially when it came to Suratul Ikhlaas and the Sheikh suddenly jumped from the ayah to a parallel discussion about Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) being 'al mawjood'. The previously cited ayaat were also not really explicitly supporting the theory, rather it was a case of retroactively attributing an interpretation to the verses. 

In general this whole section was chaotic and the Sheikhs method of tafseer was not convincing at all. 

-In conclusion I would say that the rational explanations in this lecture are interesting and easy to understand, but the attempt to support it with the Quran was insufficient and not convincing. I agree with the Sheikh that it's important to have these discussions although I would have presented it as a theory of tawheed rather than THE only reality of tawheed. 

-General comment: slightly off topic but after so many years of lecturing I think the Sheikh should be able to pronounce arabic terminology correctly. It is cringeworthy to hear religious lecturers heavily mispronounce commonly used Arabic words and phrases. 

On 1/28/2023 at 5:36 PM, abba said:

Please let me know if you recommend any books on Tawheed or lectures, etc.  As this is the basic building block of all Aqaid, Fiqh, etc. Its the fundamental basis of all our religion.

The Holy Quran 

Nahjul Balagha (specifically sermon 1)

Kitab al Tawheed - Sheikh as Saduq

Edited January 30 by Abu_Zahra
Typo

[PureExistence1]

Salaam, can someone please guve the name of the sheikh  and the name of the video? I am not able to see the posted video or any info about it. I would like to search for it on another platform but need this relevant info to do so. Jazakallahkheyr

[313_Waiter]

4 hours ago, PureExistence1 said:

Salaam, can someone please guve the name of the sheikh  and the name of the video? I am not able to see the posted video or any info about it. I would like to search for it on another platform but need this relevant info to do so. Jazakallahkheyr

Title of the video: 01_Tawheed - The Notion of Encompassment | Dr Faroukh Sekaleshfar

from IBN TV

[Guest AllahBanda]

16 hours ago, PureExistence1 said:

Salaam, can someone please guve the name of the sheikh  and the name of the video? I am not able to see the posted video or any info about it. I would like to search for it on another platform but need this relevant info to do so. Jazakallahkheyr

Dr Sekaleshfar, he also has a website: https://sekaleshfar.com/

 

17 hours ago, Abu_Zahra said:

General comment: slightly off topic but after so many years of lecturing I think the Sheikh should be able to pronounce arabic terminology correctly. It is cringeworthy to hear religious lecturers heavily mispronounce commonly used Arabic words and phrases. 

Care to elaborate, which words? I am not a native speaker of Arabic or student of a relgious madressa or hawza so I can't really criticize.  I know he is a qualified Doctor, and grew up in the UK and went to Med School there.

Have you listened to the rest of the lectures in the series,  as he goes in more details. Curious to hear your thoughts on those?  He also has other lectures on spritual wayfaring and "recognizing the soul:
https://youtu.be/bpUVJ3LxVO0?list=PL_xsHLiYPpLKRvt_5MX-BEUkF78jo9RMt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiMR9r09aik&list=PLZXXHiIRWMBweP-l0sRXN3QjQJOoWd6OR

 

Thank you for suggestions on the books! much appreciated.  

[abba]

21 hours ago, Abu_Zahra said:

Essentially it seems that the Sheikh is trying to explain the concept of wajdatul wujood to the layman (without actually naming it). 

Are you refering to "Wahdatul Wujood"?  From my limited knowledge, I think that concept is slightly different from what the Shaikh is talking about. 

[Abu_Zahra]

29 minutes ago, abba said:

Are you refering to "Wahdatul Wujood"?  From my limited knowledge, I think that concept is slightly different from what the Shaikh is talking about. 

Yes I misspelled it.  Corrected it now. How is it different?

 

4 hours ago, Guest AllahBanda said:

Care to elaborate, which words?

I will try and show a few examples through transliteration although it would be better if I used Arabic script:

Cowfir, instead of kaafir

Bismillow, instead of bismillah

Ella, instead of Allah

Erefa, instead of 'arafa 

Etc...

[Liggel]

1 hour ago, Abu_Zahra said:

Cowfir, instead of kaafir

Bismillow, instead of bismillah

Ella, instead of Allah

Erefa, instead of 'arafa 

That is Irani accent. I don't like it personally but you cannot say that it is wrong. It's just like the arabic word "Emaan" is often pronounced as "Emayyn" by Arabs, while in Farsi/ Urdu it is just "EmAAn". There is nothing wrong in either style.