Ilqa, Ilhaam, Wahy (Revelation)

That which is revealed unequivocally onto the heart of the seeker from the Almighty is called ilqa, ilhaam and wahy. Here, reasoning plays no part.

What is revealed to the seeker initially is called ilqa. The revelations received in the final stages are called ilhaam and wahy. Ilhaam is revelation to the auliya, while the revelations received by the prophets is called wahy. Ilhaam is a revelation received without an intermediary angel, from a direction specified for every creation by his Creator. (To each is a goal to which Allah turns him). (Al-Baqaaru, 2:148) Wahy is always revealed through an angel. That is why hadis-e-Qudsi is not Quranic wahy. Wahy is both kashf-i-shahud (witnessing Divinity) and kashf-ima’anvi (spiritual revelation), while ilhaam is spiritual revelation (kashf-i-ma’anvi) only. Wahy is revelation to the prophets and is to be announced and promulgated while ilhaam is for the auliya Allah and need not be promulgated.

This generalization needs a brief explanation:

The relationship of God with the universe is not like the relationship of a watchmaker, or the owner of the watch to the watch. The watchmaker assembles the various parts, makes the watch, starts it and then has nothing to do with it. In the same way the one who purchases a watch, only has to wind it once in twenty-four hours. The watch is not dependent on either the watchmaker or purchaser. Bur the relationship of God Almighty with the universe is different. The universe is utterly dependent on God’s attention and care at every instance and moment to exist, it would perish the moment God’s attention is withdrawn. He keeps His attention perpetually fixed on the universe with all His attributes (Sifaat).

Speech (Kallam) is one of His Attributes, and He speaks constantly to everyone in accordance with their capacity of reception, as none of God’s Attributes remain inactive for a single moment. Some are blessed with direct speech like Prophet Moses, (Musa) as in the following ayah. (And discoursing did God discourse with Moscs). (Al-Nisaa, 4:164). Some are addressed by wahy (revelation). Some are addressed from behind the curtain: (Or from behind a veil). (Al-shura, 42:51). Some receive revelation through the medium of angels in their minds, as in the case of the mothers of Prophets Moses and Jesus, (peace be on them). Some receive revelation directly, without an angel, as said in the Holy Quran, (And thy Lord hath taught the bee). (Al-Nahl, 16:68). Some are favoured with Divine revelation via dreams. In short all kinds of spechh in the form of ilqa and ilhaam form part of Divine wahy of various kinds known by different names, by virtue of the difference in their strength or weakness, or by the difference in the form of kashf and hijaab or veil (opening and concealing). The strongest and the clearest kind of speech is wahy which can be defined like this:

Wahy is Speech (Kalaam) revealed to the prophets through the medium of Archangel Gabriel, as said in the Quran:

It is not for man that God should spek with him but by vision, or from behind a veil; Or, He sendeth a messenger to reveal, by His permission what He will: for He is Exalted, Wisel Thus We sent the Spirit (Gabrial) to thee with a revelation, by Our Command, Thou knewest not, ere this, what “the Book” was, or what the faith. But We have ordained it for a light: by it will We guide whom We please of Our servants. And thou shalt surely guide into the right way. The way of god. (Al-Shuru, 42-51-52)

Wahy is of three grades from the point of view of its strength and subtlety and its being more explicit or less explicit:

(a) The first grade is the strongest and the most perfect, where Divine Knowledge is revealed to the prophet so firmly that he can remember and preach it. This grade is again sub-divided into two kinds:

(i) God Speaks directly to the prophets as He Spoke to Moses. (And discounrsing did God discourse with Moses). (Al-Nisaa, 4:164). Or when He Spoke to our Holy Prophet, saying, (And He revealed to His servant (abd), what He revealed). (Al-Najm, 53:10). This is called wahy sarib (explicit).

(ii) The second kind in the first grade of wahy is through the medium of the Archangel Gabriel, who descends with the revelation in exact words and sounds, and delivers to the prophets, along with its true significance and meaning thereof. Both these kinds of wahy are revealed to prophets only.

(b) The second grade of wahy which is weaker and lesser than the first is that the Word (kalaam) of God is revealed to a person who is worthy and capable of accepting it, such as the mother of Moses, who was guided to give milk to the baby and surrender him to the river in a chest.

When We spake unto thy mother, what was spoken: ‘Cast him into

The ark; then cast him on the sea (the river)’ (Ta Ha, 20: 38-39)

This kind of secret revelation created the state of conviction in her mind that the future of the child was safe. The same wahy was revealed to Mary, mother of Jesus, saying:

Grieve not thou, thy Lord hath provided a streamlet at thy feet. (Maryam, 19:24)

We know for certain that the mothers of Moses and Jesus were not prophets. This shows God the Most Exalted has reserved this kind of wahy called ilqa and ilhaam for other than prophets. Similarly Hazrat Khizr was bestowed with secret knowledge (ilm-e-ladunm) by means of the same grade of wahy as stated by God, (and whom We had instructed with Our Knowledge). (Al-Kabf 18:65). The Holy Prophet has said,

“Verily, there are some servants of God in every community with Who Allah speaks, and my community (ummab) has such persons To whom Allah speaks,”

And pointed to some of his companions. Some traditions suggest it was Hazrat Umar.

c) the third grade of wahy is weaker than the second, and is revealed by way of intuition to those entities (nafus) which are concerned with special functions such as the spider making a web, the silkworm making thread, the bee making honey etc. Says God:

Thy Lord hath taught the bee, saying: “Provide Thee houses in the mountains.” (Al-Nabl, 16:68)

No angel came to the bee, not did God speak to it in any word and sound. He created in the bee the ability to work and then inspired it to work.

When human souls are purified, and they get rid of camal desires and rise above human impulses, instinctively they become detached from the lower physical world and attached to the higher spiritual world. The angelic qualities become dominant and they strongly feel the urge to acquire Divine knowledge. Then they are blessed with angelic status, and they are happy in the company of angels. It is in this state, that they are blessed with wahy of various kinds through the angels and they achieve an elevated status.

There are two ways of gaining knowledge: zaahiri and baarini. The zaahiri method is ordinary learning, like students. The baatini method is through meditation (maraqibah) and contermplation (tafakkur). Moraqibab is to detach the heart from other than God and get attached with God. While tafakkur means to concentrate on the search for secret knowledge and understanding of Divine mysteries with deliberate effort in time and space. There is a third way called huds (spontaneity). The difference between tafakkur and huds is that while one exerts one’s energies in tafakkur, huds is a spontaneous wave of inspiration, materializing in the mind without effort. In huds, one is automatically and suddenly drawn to the upper spiritual world and is the recipient of Divine mysteries. Those who reach the stage of perfection are closer to huds than tafakkur. Spontancity (huds) breeds spiritual insight (firaasat), while tafakkur increase intelligence (kiyaasat). Kiyaasat relates to the brain, while firaasat is the inner spiritual light (noor) with which the perfect believer (momin) sees and is benefited. The Holy Prophet said about firaasat:

“Beware of the momin’s firaasat for he sees through Allah’s Noor (Divine Light).”

This firaasat is the result of huds, which leads to ilhaam. While prophethood (nabuwwat) lead to wahy.

When a man’s attention is attracted to the higher spiritual regions by way of huds in the earlier stages, the secrets revealed to him are clothed in the veils of secrecy, concealment and ambiguity (ibhaam). If he is not spiritually strong enough to receive them in wakefulness, he is allowed to glimpse Divine secrets and mysteries in dreams, in the garb of various shapes, figures and forms.

Revelation (inkashaaf) through dreams is inferior to ilhaam and ilhaam is inferior to revelation through angels; which is inferior to ‘explicit’ revelation (wahy sareeh) vouchsafed to the prophets only, who may get it in dreams as well. Ilhaam is meant for auliya-Allah who are favoured with wahy sareeh after losing consciousness, in fana-ul-fana, where they have transcended time and space, as said by the Holy Prophet:-

The Lord will speak directly to

Every momin without any

Interpreter or medium.

(Bukhari/Muslim)

Ilqa and Ilhaam are characterized by effort, while this is not the case in wahy. Like prophethood, wahy is not attainable by effort or excessive worship. Whereas in ilhaam you get the meaning only, in wahy, it is both the meaning and articulation of words that are revealed along with the realization that it is being received through the Archangel Gabriel, who is also called Rooh-ul-Quds. Both these names indicate the same personality. The only difference is, when the angel Gabriel is in the state of extreme subtlety, to the extent of invisibility, he is known as Rooh-ul-Quds, but when he is discernible in any form he is called Gabriel. The angel assumes the subtle form of Rooh-ul-Quds or Rooh-ul-Amin in the heart of the prophet at the time of revelation of wahy. But when it comes to revelation of words in sounds, the angel is in the visible form of Gabriel and whishpers in the ears of the prophet. Then follows the amalgamation of the hearing of the prophet. Then follows the amalgamation of the hearing of hidden spiritual truths in the prophet’s mind for further dissemination to mankind by his tongue and attention as stated by the Almighty:

The faithful spirit (Gabriel) hath

Come down with it upon thy heart,

That thou mightiest become a

Warner- In the clear Arabic tongue.

(Al-shu’araa, 26:193-195)

The prophets can see things by the power of wahy, things which the auliya-Allah cannot see with the power of ilhaam. The prophets hear the words of wahy with their ears, understand the meanings in their mind and see the angels with their eyes, but in ilhaam only the secret meanings are revealed.

That which is revealed unequivocally onto the heart of the seeker from the Almighty is called ilqa, ilhaam and wahy. Here, reasoning plays no part.

What is revealed to the seeker initially is called ilqa. The revelations received in the final stages are called ilhaam and wahy. Ilhaam is revelation to the auliya, while the revelations received by the prophets is called wahy. Ilhaam is a revelation received without an intermediary angel, from a direction specified for every creation by his Creator. (To each is a goal to which Allah turns him). (Al-Baqaaru, 2:148) Wahy is always revealed through an angel. That is why hadis-e-Qudsi is not Quranic wahy. Wahy is both kashf-i-shahud (witnessing Divinity) and kashf-ima’anvi (spiritual revelation), while ilhaam is spiritual revelation (kashf-i-ma’anvi) only. Wahy is revelation to the prophets and is to be announced and promulgated while ilhaam is for the auliya Allah and need not be promulgated.

This generalization needs a brief explanation:

The relationship of God with the universe is not like the relationship of a watchmaker, or the owner of the watch to the watch. The watchmaker assembles the various parts, makes the watch, starts it and then has nothing to do with it. In the same way the one who purchases a watch, only has to wind it once in twenty-four hours. The watch is not dependent on either the watchmaker or purchaser. Bur the relationship of God Almighty with the universe is different. The universe is utterly dependent on God’s attention and care at every instance and moment to exist, it would perish the moment God’s attention is withdrawn. He keeps His attention perpetually fixed on the universe with all His attributes (Sifaat).

Speech (Kallam) is one of His Attributes, and He speaks constantly to everyone in accordance with their capacity of reception, as none of God’s Attributes remain inactive for a single moment. Some are blessed with direct speech like Prophet Moses, (Musa) as in the following ayah. (And discoursing did God discourse with Moscs). (Al-Nisaa, 4:164). Some are addressed by wahy (revelation). Some are addressed from behind the curtain: (Or from behind a veil). (Al-shura, 42:51). Some receive revelation through the medium of angels in their minds, as in the case of the mothers of Prophets Moses and Jesus, (peace be on them). Some receive revelation directly, without an angel, as said in the Holy Quran, (And thy Lord hath taught the bee). (Al-Nahl, 16:68). Some are favoured with Divine revelation via dreams. In short all kinds of spechh in the form of ilqa and ilhaam form part of Divine wahy of various kinds known by different names, by virtue of the difference in their strength or weakness, or by the difference in the form of kashf and hijaab or veil (opening and concealing). The strongest and the clearest kind of speech is wahy which can be defined like this:

Wahy is Speech (Kalaam) revealed to the prophets through the medium of Archangel Gabriel, as said in the Quran:

It is not for man that God should spek with him but by vision, or from behind a veil; Or, He sendeth a messenger to reveal, by His permission what He will: for He is Exalted, Wisel Thus We sent the Spirit (Gabrial) to thee with a revelation, by Our Command, Thou knewest not, ere this, what “the Book” was, or what the faith. But We have ordained it for a light: by it will We guide whom We please of Our servants. And thou shalt surely guide into the right way. The way of god. (Al-Shuru, 42-51-52)

Wahy is of three grades from the point of view of its strength and subtlety and its being more explicit or less explicit:

(a) The first grade is the strongest and the most perfect, where Divine Knowledge is revealed to the prophet so firmly that he can remember and preach it. This grade is again sub-divided into two kinds:

(i) God Speaks directly to the prophets as He Spoke to Moses. (And discounrsing did God discourse with Moses). (Al-Nisaa, 4:164). Or when He Spoke to our Holy Prophet, saying, (And He revealed to His servant (abd), what He revealed). (Al-Najm, 53:10). This is called wahy sarib (explicit).

(ii) The second kind in the first grade of wahy is through the medium of the Archangel Gabriel, who descends with the revelation in exact words and sounds, and delivers to the prophets, along with its true significance and meaning thereof. Both these kinds of wahy are revealed to prophets only.

(b) The second grade of wahy which is weaker and lesser than the first is that the Word (kalaam) of God is revealed to a person who is worthy and capable of accepting it, such as the mother of Moses, who was guided to give milk to the baby and surrender him to the river in a chest.

When We spake unto thy mother, what was spoken: ‘Cast him into

The ark; then cast him on the sea (the river)’ (Ta Ha, 20: 38-39)

This kind of secret revelation created the state of conviction in her mind that the future of the child was safe. The same wahy was revealed to Mary, mother of Jesus, saying:

Grieve not thou, thy Lord hath provided a streamlet at thy feet. (Maryam, 19:24)

We know for certain that the mothers of Moses and Jesus were not prophets. This shows God the Most Exalted has reserved this kind of wahy called ilqa and ilhaam for other than prophets. Similarly Hazrat Khizr was bestowed with secret knowledge (ilm-e-ladunm) by means of the same grade of wahy as stated by God, (and whom We had instructed with Our Knowledge). (Al-Kabf 18:65). The Holy Prophet has said,

“Verily, there are some servants of God in every community with Who Allah speaks, and my community (ummab) has such persons To whom Allah speaks,”

And pointed to some of his companions. Some traditions suggest it was Hazrat Umar.

c) the third grade of wahy is weaker than the second, and is revealed by way of intuition to those entities (nafus) which are concerned with special functions such as the spider making a web, the silkworm making thread, the bee making honey etc. Says God:

Thy Lord hath taught the bee, saying: “Provide Thee houses in the mountains.” (Al-Nabl, 16:68)

No angel came to the bee, not did God speak to it in any word and sound. He created in the bee the ability to work and then inspired it to work.

When human souls are purified, and they get rid of camal desires and rise above human impulses, instinctively they become detached from the lower physical world and attached to the higher spiritual world. The angelic qualities become dominant and they strongly feel the urge to acquire Divine knowledge. Then they are blessed with angelic status, and they are happy in the company of angels. It is in this state, that they are blessed with wahy of various kinds through the angels and they achieve an elevated status.

There are two ways of gaining knowledge: zaahiri and baarini. The zaahiri method is ordinary learning, like students. The baatini method is through meditation (maraqibah) and contermplation (tafakkur). Moraqibab is to detach the heart from other than God and get attached with God. While tafakkur means to concentrate on the search for secret knowledge and understanding of Divine mysteries with deliberate effort in time and space. There is a third way called huds (spontaneity). The difference between tafakkur and huds is that while one exerts one’s energies in tafakkur, huds is a spontaneous wave of inspiration, materializing in the mind without effort. In huds, one is automatically and suddenly drawn to the upper spiritual world and is the recipient of Divine mysteries. Those who reach the stage of perfection are closer to huds than tafakkur. Spontancity (huds) breeds spiritual insight (firaasat), while tafakkur increase intelligence (kiyaasat). Kiyaasat relates to the brain, while firaasat is the inner spiritual light (noor) with which the perfect believer (momin) sees and is benefited. The Holy Prophet said about firaasat:

“Beware of the momin’s firaasat for he sees through Allah’s Noor (Divine Light).”

This firaasat is the result of huds, which leads to ilhaam. While prophethood (nabuwwat) lead to wahy.

When a man’s attention is attracted to the higher spiritual regions by way of huds in the earlier stages, the secrets revealed to him are clothed in the veils of secrecy, concealment and ambiguity (ibhaam). If he is not spiritually strong enough to receive them in wakefulness, he is allowed to glimpse Divine secrets and mysteries in dreams, in the garb of various shapes, figures and forms.

Revelation (inkashaaf) through dreams is inferior to ilhaam and ilhaam is inferior to revelation through angels; which is inferior to ‘explicit’ revelation (wahy sareeh) vouchsafed to the prophets only, who may get it in dreams as well. Ilhaam is meant for auliya-Allah who are favoured with wahy sareeh after losing consciousness, in fana-ul-fana, where they have transcended time and space, as said by the Holy Prophet:-

The Lord will speak directly to

Every momin without any

Interpreter or medium.

(Bukhari/Muslim)

Ilqa and Ilhaam are characterized by effort, while this is not the case in wahy. Like prophethood, wahy is not attainable by effort or excessive worship. Whereas in ilhaam you get the meaning only, in wahy, it is both the meaning and articulation of words that are revealed along with the realization that it is being received through the Archangel Gabriel, who is also called Rooh-ul-Quds. Both these names indicate the same personality. The only difference is, when the angel Gabriel is in the state of extreme subtlety, to the extent of invisibility, he is known as Rooh-ul-Quds, but when he is discernible in any form he is called Gabriel. The angel assumes the subtle form of Rooh-ul-Quds or Rooh-ul-Amin in the heart of the prophet at the time of revelation of wahy. But when it comes to revelation of words in sounds, the angel is in the visible form of Gabriel and whishpers in the ears of the prophet. Then follows the amalgamation of the hearing of the prophet. Then follows the amalgamation of the hearing of hidden spiritual truths in the prophet’s mind for further dissemination to mankind by his tongue and attention as stated by the Almighty:

The faithful spirit (Gabriel) hath

Come down with it upon thy heart,

That thou mightiest become a

Warner- In the clear Arabic tongue.

(Al-shu’araa, 26:193-195)

The prophets can see things by the power of wahy, things which the auliya-Allah cannot see with the power of ilhaam. The prophets hear the words of wahy with their ears, understand the meanings in their mind and see the angels with their eyes, but in ilhaam only the secret meanings are revealed.