Am I not your Lord?

Question 63: Allah (swt) said: {And when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify over themselves, “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.” Lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were of this unaware.”} [7:172]?

Is the world of al-Thar a real world which truly exists, and where does it exist? As Sheikh al-Sadooq says that it does exist, while Sheikh al-Mufeed (may Allah have mercy upon him) in the book of Tasheeh Al-Itiqad said that if it had existed, we would not have forgotten it or we would have remembered some of it.

Answer: The world of al-Thar is real and not imaginary or hypothetical; rather, it has been forgotten by the unaware and the negligent. And the prophets, messengers and successors (pbut) have not forgotten it. Rather, they remember it and they know it and they know who supported them in it and they recognize them in this worldly life, as Ali bin Abi Talib (pbuh), the Master of Successors said that which means: “I do not know you.” to one who said to him, “I am from your followers.” 1

So exalted is Allah, Sheikh al-Mufeed (may Allah have mercy upon him and raise his noble rank) says: “If it had existed then we would not have forgotten it.” So here you are, unaware of the mirror when you look at your reflection. Exalted is Allah, if you are unaware of what is between your hands and before your eyes thus you do not see it, then it is more worthy and deserving that you be unaware of the world of al-Thar.

Moreover, Ahlulbayt (pbut) spoke of this world extensively, 2 so I do not see denying this world as due to anything except ignorance nested within those who deny it. And if only they had not spoken about it when knowledge about it confused them. And if only they had turned to the Almighty’s saying: {They forgot Allah , so He made them forget themselves.} [Quran 59:19] as it was sent down regarding the world of al-Thar, and that is what it meant.

And the truth about The world of al-Thar is that it is the world of the souls and it is in this worldly sky. And the seeds of the children of Adam descend from it to the earth. So when the seed grows after it has made its way into its vessel, and the physical image prepares for the entry of the soul, the soul enters that physical image and attaches to the seed from which it descended. So when the human dies, that seed comes out once again from his mouth or from any other place, along with the departure of his soul from his body. And this seed remains attached to the human soul. So the soul is attached to the seed and the seed is attached to the soul and they are from one world which is the world of al-Thar or the world of the souls. Thus when the seed descends to the earth, the soul follows it. And when the soul departs from the body, the seed follows it.

And in this worldly life, if the human obeys his Lord and strives toward His satisfaction (swt), and has a fortune in the heavenly skies, he becomes one of the People of the Right, and he is written among the living ones, and his name is written in the record of life and among those who inherit the heavens. And if he persists in the obedience he becomes one of the Close Ones (the supporters of Allah) upon whom there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. And if the human disobeys his Lord and strives toward His anger (swt), he has no fortune in the heavenly skies and is not written among the living ones, rather he is counted among the dead. And his name is not written in the record of life, and he becomes one of those who inhabit hellfire, rather a piece of hellfire.

1 – Narrated regarding Ali pbuh when a group had come to him asking about a worldly matter, they then entreated him because of it by saying, “we are from your Shia O Prince of the Believers,” so he looked toward them for a long time, and then said, “I do not know you nor do I see a trace upon you from what you speak of, rather, our Shia are from those who believe in Allah and in His Messenger … ”) Du’aa’im Al-Islam: vol 1 page 56.

2 – Review upon the path of these examples: Bihar Al-Anwar: vol3 page279, and vol5 page234. And for you is this example: From Al-Hussain ibn Na’eem Al-Sahaf who said: I asked Al-Sadiq pbuh about Nis saying: (“So from you are disbelievers and from you are believers”), so he replied: (“Allah knows their faith by the (accepting of) our Authority and their disbelief by their abandoning of it the day he took the covenant upon them and they were in the Thar World and in Adam’s pbuh loins”) Tafseer Al-Qumi: vol2 page371.

Also from Zarara, from Abi Ja’far pbuh who said: I asked him about the saying of Allah Praise and Glory to Him: the verse (“And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from Adam’s children, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying) “Am I not your Lord?” – They said: “Yea! We do testify (this)!”), he said: (“He took out from the back of Adam, his offspring until the Day of Judgment, so they emerged as (the emergence of) the Thar (world) so He informed and showed them Himself and if it was not for this then no one would know his Lord …”) Al-Fusul Al-Muhima by Al-Har Al-‘Aamali: vol1 page423 Hadith5, 7.