Discussion on Types of Knowing Allah

Source: The glorious Qur'an- by: Misbah yazdi –P. 21-25
Two Types of Knowing Allah
Two types of knowing Allah can be imagined: The intuitive knowing which is fulfilled without the intermediation of mental concepts. The other is the general knowing which is fulfilled by means of the rational concepts, and does not directly belong to Allah.
The knowledge, which is achieved by way of rational proofs, is a general and acquired knowledge attained to through mental concepts. Yet, if a visionary and intuitive knowledge takes place, it will be known without the intermediation of mental concepts.
Probably, the prevision mentioned in certain a yahs and narratives is this very visionary knowledge. It is also possible that Allah cannot be recognized except through His own self. ["Usulul-Kafi", vol. 1, the Book of "He (the Almighty) cannot be recognized except through His own self:"] refers to the same knowledge. The contexts of some other narratives can also be regarded likewise.[Such as the narrative quoted from the Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) who said: "Whatever you recognize through your own imagination with its tiniest concepts is but a creature made like yourself and it returns to you."
"Al-Mahajjatul-Bayda", vol.l, p.219, printed by As-Sadiq press.
And a narrative quoted from the Imam As-Sadiq (A.S.) that: ""Whoever claimed that he worshipped [Allah] on the basis of attribute, not of understanding, he would be referring to an absent ...Recognizing the present thing itself comes before its attribute, and recognizing the attribute of the absent comes before the very thing." (Tuhaful `Uqul") in his speech about describing love for Ahlul-Bayt" (A.S.)].
Admitting this point would protect our minds against a prejudgement on the ayahs concerning recognizing Allah, by taking them as general and as mental knowing of Him. They are to be better scrutinized lest some of them might refer to the presence of Allah through heart intuition, which may happen consciously or half-consciously. It is of the intuitive kind of knowledge.
Naturally, the intuitive knowledge can neither be learnt nor taught. Learning and teaching are practiced by means of words and concepts which insert certain meanings into the minds of the listeners and thinkers. The intuitive knowledge is not an intellectual meaning and can neither be conveyed nor received. Even the Qur'anic declarations cannot, by themselves, grant us intuitive and visionary knowledge, but they can us to get to intuitively know Allah, the Exalted, or to bring our unconscious, or half-conscious guide us along the road which helps, knowledge up to the level of conscious knowledge.
So, we have to answer this question: does the Qur'an aim at giving man a general idea about Allah, the Exalted, His Names and His Attributes, like that which is taught by the philosophers and theologians, or does it have another loftier aim - i.e., does it acquaint us with Allah and guide us to the intuitive and visionary knowledge?
2. The names and the words which refer to Allah in the diverse languages are of two kinds: some are "particular names", or "proper names", and some are used as names or general attributes". Sometimes a word is used in two forms: as a "proper name", or as a "general name", since there seems to be a kind of verbal communion between them, such as the word "GOD".[If used with capital "G", it is a proper name, and if used with a small "g", it is a general name.]
In the Arabic language, the Glorified Name, "Allah", is used as a proper name or a personal pronoun, and "Ar-Rahman" [The Beneficent], is His Exclusive Attribute.
As to his other Names and Attributes they have no such exclusiveness, and, as such, they can be grouped and used for other than Allah, such as "rabb, pl. arbab" [master(s), owners)]", ilah, pl. alihah" [god(s)], khaliq, pl. khaliqun" [creator(s)] and "rahim, pl. ruhama and rahimun" [merciful].
In the Qur'an we find such qualities as "ra'uf" [kind] and "rahim", attributed to the Prophet (S.A.): "(he is) kind and merciful to the believers". [Surat Bar'a'ah/128.]
3. The proper name might have been assigned to a particular being from the beginning , with no previous common name, though, before using it as a proper name, it might have been used as a general name or attribute, such as Muhammad and 'Ali, which had not formerly been used attributively.
Such names, in their new position as proper names belong to the first group.
Consequently, the Glorious Word "Allah", whether aplastic or derived, when used as a proper name, it exclusively refers to the Divine Sacred Being. But, as His Sacred Being is not visible, He is introduced by way of an exclusive epithet that cannot be used to describe other than Allah, such as: "The Being All-Inclusive of all attributes of perfection”, yet, it does not mean that the word "Allah" is intended to cover the total of these concepts. So, any research about the matter and form of this word would not help us to know any more of the meaning of the word as a personal knowledge.
4. Although the Persian word for Allah, "Khuda", is said to be the abbreviation of "Khud-da", which is equivalent to "the One whose existence is necessay' or "the Necessary Being" there are some other similar ones, like "Khudawand" and "KadKhuda", one may declare that it means "The Owner" or "The Proprietor", while its common meaning is like "The Creator" or "The Originator".
The most common word used in the Qur'an to denote God is "Ilah" and "Rabb", the first of which is used even in the slogan of monotheism: "La ilaha illallah" (there is no god but Allah). It is, then, suitable to offer an explanation regarding these two words: "llah, though on the measure of "fi'al", has the meaning of ";af'al", like "Kitab" which means "maktab". So, linguistically it means "ma'bad" [The Woshippedl. One can also add that "llah", like many other derivatives, denotes status and meritoriousness. Thus, He can be said to be "worthy of worshipping". So, in the slogan "la ilaha illallah", there would be no need to think of a relevant attribute.
Here, another question may be asked: If "Ilah" means "the One worthy of worshipping", why then it is used in the Qur'an to denote the false 'deities such as "the Samiri's calf", which is referred to as "your 11ab", or Pharaoh's deities which are referred to as "your Ilahs"? The answer is that such uses are either according to the beliefs of the addressees, or uttered by the disbelievers - the case in which it means "the thing which, according to the listener's, or the speaker's, belief, is worthy of worshipping". Thus, even in such instances the intended meaning of the word is also "worthiness", though from the point of view of the addressee or the addresser.
As to "rabb", which means "educator ", "nourisher" or "breeder", originally meant "the owner", as is gathered from the Arabic phrase: "rabbul-ibil" [the owner of the camels], or "rabbud-dar" [the owner of the house] although it can be related, through "the grand derivation", to the root "to bring up", yet it does not exactly mean that. Therefore, translating it into "rearer" is not quite suitable, and using it for Allah, the Exalted is because He is "the Owner" of His creatures, and needs no genetic nor legal permission from anybody to deal with them and manage their affairs.
So, believing in one's "ownership" means believing in one's independent and needless of permission from anybody to do whatever one likes to what one owns. Believing in the oneness of the "Owner means believing that it is only Allah who can, independently and without any permission, dispose of all His creatures (the whole world) and manage their affairs.
Looking into the meanings of "ilah and "rabb, we realize that the former is a carollary to the latter, as worship and servitude are practiced by the one who believes that the worshipped must have an independent mastery, domination and absolute ownership over the servant, inasmuch as to benefit or harm him.