Call for Prostration in the Day of Judgment from the Viewpoints of Quran and Mystics

Subject Areas : Christianity

علی  اشرف امامی ¹ (ندارد)

Received: 2013-03-05 Accepted : 2013-05-08 Published : 2013-03-21

Keywords: Adam, Perfect Man, Hadith Tahawwol, sāq, prostration, divine throne, guardianship, the Day of Judgment,

Abstract :

In Holy Quran (68:42) one of the characteristics of the Day of Judgment hasbeen described as “the day when the leg shall be bared” which is a metaphorfor removing the veil of Glory; and subsequently the humiliation of creaturesare shown by general command for prostration. In this research, by takingadvantage of mystical principles and traditional commentaries, fourpropounded questions about these verses (68:42-43) are responded: thegenerality of this command; benefit and sagacity of prostration, polytheists’disability, and whose presence to prostrate. By referring to the HadithTahawwol (a tradition about God's self-transmutation at the Resurrection)-upon which Ibn al-Arabī’s theory of Ilāh ul-Motaghid were developed- andthe other traditions mentioned under these verses by other commentators,author comes to the conclusion that the interpretation of “the leg shall bebared” is associated with divine theophany in the form of Perfect Man.According to Hadith Tahawwol, God reveals Himself to each group ofpeople, but they keep on denying Him until He transmutes Himself intoa form that has the mark which they recognize. However, the Day ofJudgment is the field where monotheists are detached from others. Hence, aparticular theophany is needed by which monotheists start prostrating andothers fail to do so. Concerning the fact that in Shiite tradition the phrase “sāqal-ʻarsh” has been interpreted as the meeting place of the light of oneness(Tawhīd) and the Mohammadian light, and “Kashf sāq” has been interpretedas the authority and guardianship of Shiite Imams, and with regard to what isnarrated in Bukhari’s Sahih one can interprete the verse as the epiphany ofuniversal guardianship. Therefore, prostration in the Day of Judgment beforethis Truth is like angles’ bowing down to man.