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Chapter 3: Pantheism, Wahdat al-Wajood or
Moksha
After an explanation of the Islamic Concept of Tawheed, we come
to the Tawheed of the Sufis or Tawheed al-Wujoodi or Wahdat al-
Wajood.
Wahdat al-Wajood is a concept based upon the idea that nothing
exists other than Allah, and creation is merely the
manifestation of Allah. This implies that the creation is Allah,
and Allah does not exist outside the creation. Haji Imdadullah
Muhajir Makki, the spiritual guide of the most prominent
Deobandis, explains Wahdat al-Wajood in a booklet by the same
name, with an example of a seed and a tree. He states that the
seed is Allah and the creation is the tree with its stem, roots,
branches and leaves. Initially, only the seed was present, and
the entire huge tree was hidden in the small seed. When the
plant grew into a massive tree, the seed disappeared. The seed
is now manifest in this huge tree and does not have an
existence outside of it.
The Sufis consider the realization of Wahdat al-Wajood to be a
matter of great wisdom. According to them, Tawheed (lit. making
one) is a complete denial of existence for everything other than
Allah, as explained by the Deobandis in ‘Irshaadul Mulook’ and
‘Ikhmaalush Shiyaam’, “The root of Tawheed is the negation of the
non-existent and transitory things and the confirmation of the
everlasting thing.” 114 “A concept which posits true existence for
any being other than Allah is Shirk in Divine Attribute of
Existence (Wajood).” 115
The Sufis consider this type of Tawheed to be suitable only for the
‘Spiritually Elite’, and claim that only those who have reached the
‘stage’ due to excessive penance and Dhikr are able to
114 Irshaadul-Mulook (Eng. Trans.) p.152.
115 Ikhmaalush-Shiyaam (Eng. Trans.) p.219.
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