Salman Spiritual :: Towards the Inner Vision of the Truth :: An Ismaili Perspective

Thus the Ummat-e-Wasat' are only the Holy Imams—and their position among the Muslims—is that of the 'Ka'ba' to the Muslims world, towards which Muslims necessarily turn. In the absence of the Holy Prophet, the Imams of his Ahlul-Bait are the spiritual centers to which every true believer in God has to resort to for correct guidance and the necessary inspiration of goodness and virtue. The closer anyone is attached to these spiritual magnets, the more he will be conditioned with their divine attributes and get qualified for the praise from God and to receive the honour of being associated with the real 'Ummat-e Wasat' like Salman, who for his faithfulness and the closest attachment to the Holy Prophet, was bestowed with the unique honour of being called 'Minna Ahlul-Bait, the honour and privilege which was given to none else outside the family of the Holy Prophet.
 

(Source: S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali's translation of the Holy Qu'ran, pp.162-164)

"Vr. 4:125. (608) The best religion is the submission to God—i.e., Islam.

'Hanif', i.e., wholly devoted to one object—attached exclusively to the Right Path—always avoiding the wrong one.

'Wajh', literally face. In Qur'an mostly used signifying the distinctive aspects of a being by which the being is recognized—man is distinguished by his cognitive self—God is distinguished by His Absolute Universal Excellence which is manifest throughout [as described] in 2:115 [And God's is the East and the West, therefore whithersoever ye turn ye find the face of God; Verily God is All-Pervading, and All-Knowing].

'Millat-e-Ibrahim' repeatedly used in the Qur'an indicating the universality of his mission."
 

(Source: S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali's translation of the Holy Qu'ran, p.424)

"Now, the created world is called [the realm of] religious law, multiplicity and relativity, and the divine world is called the realm of truth, unity and resurrection. These two worlds are indispensable for human beings. In any case, as long as human beings are not manifested in this world of creation, where 'From man and woman has been scattered abroad a multitude of men and women' (4:1), they cannot attain to the divine world, since man is the offspring of both these worlds.

We may in this context, take an example which is quite near to the conditions of both these realms of being and worlds, both in respect to the body (jism) and the spirit (ruh). Being in his body, man is the child of the corporeal world, while in his spirit, he is the child of spiritual world. Just as nurture of body depends upon things appropriate to the body, so care of soul depends upon things appropriate to the soul. Just as the body cannot grow without physical nourishment, so the soul will disintegrate and will not survive without suitable nourishment. Inevitably, if the soul cannot obtain suitable nourishment, it will not nurture itself properly, and so abominable and satanic behaviour will become manifest from it."

(Source: Paradise of Submission, p. 173)