For thousands of years, sacred scriptures have played a pivotal role in shaping societies, economies, cultures, languages, religions, politics, civilizations, and empires. They have provided epic narratives to help us on our journeys of identity, exploration of ideas, and nurturing relationships. From the Bhagavad Gita to the canonical Semitic scriptures like the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur’an, to lesser known scriptures and gnostic manuscripts often deemed apocryphal by orthodox religious authorities; humanity has negotiated, navigated, and even contested its relationship with the Divine and each other through these sacred texts.
Each of these books, without exception, were compiled and collected after its principal author(s) had long departed the earthly realm. What began as face-to-face, chest-to-chest, highly situated, oral communications rooted in embodied, organic relationships became fixed and detached words removed from their original context. As a result, these words became disembodied, decontextualized, and quite frankly incomplete. Even if the words of God’s chosen ones were recorded verbatim, there was and still is something missing. The written word is inherently incomplete when it comes to conveying the full scale of meaning. Critical questions remain: How were these words uttered? What was the context? What were the relationships between the interlocutors? What were the power dynamics at work? What were the intended meanings being conveyed?
For centuries, experts of language, rhetoric, and communication have demonstrated how much non-verbal actions and gestures are essential dimensions of communication and thought. When it comes to the existing holy scriptures, none of this information is available to later generations. Even if we had access to digital recordings (which we don’t), we would still be limited in making sense of these words. Three years of pandemic life should clearly make us keenly aware of the gaps in digitized interactions and appreciate the importance of social interaction and embodied communication. This gap in communication between God’s chosen ones and their adherents has undoubtedly led to uncertainty and confusion amongst the people. A gap that has only increased over time to the point where the original communications, intentions, and meanings have been effectively lost at best and intentionally manipulated for worldly gain at worst.
Many of the significant religious conflicts and civil wars have been between adherents of the same literal text(s). From the Judean Wars between the Pharisees and Sadducees (93 B.C. to 87 B.C.) to the Battle of Karbala between the Umayyads and Imam Al-Hussein’s Family and Companions (680 A.D.) to the more recent European wars of religion or Wars of the Reformation that began after the Protestant Reformation in 1517, each of these conflicts were battles for the correct interpretation and definitive word of God. Generally, these battles were between those who claimed their divine authority through elections of self-appointed religious figures, and the minorities who claimed their authority through a written Will or public confirmation by the preceding Prophet widely known at the time. As a result, myopic dogmatism, literalism, alienation, and authoritarianism replaced an authentic, empathic, and intimate relationship with God. Thus, humanity was left with “incomplete words.”
Orthodox religious authorities, generally self-appointed and backed by state power, throughout the course of history have tried to solve this problem through standardization of divine scriptures. Whether it was the Masoretes (Jewish scribe-scholars) standardizing pronunciation of the Torah beginning in the 5th century C.E., or Constantine assembling the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. to standardize the Bible and destroy all manuscripts deemed “deviant,” or the Caliph Othman burning all “the deviant” manuscripts of the Qur’an less than twenty years after the death of Mohammed (PBUH & His Family), the standardization of God’s words in black ink on white paper has come with some benefits but also serious costs. The Qur’an states,
“And even if We had sent down to you, [O Mohammed], a written scripture on paper and they touched it with their hands, the disbelievers would say, ‘This is not but obvious magic.’ ”
To this contentious conversation comes The Goal of the Wise: The Gospel of the Riser of the Family of Mohammed. The word Ġāyāẗ (غاية) in the Arabic language signifies the ultimate purpose and goal, a question every religion and philosophy has tried to answer. This is a Book that is both a continuation and a clarification of previous communications between The God and His creatures. Its uniqueness lies in a fundamental claim common to all the previous Prophets and Messengers of God. From Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses to Jesus to Mohammed (PBUT), all of them claimed to be appointed by God based on the recorded Will of their predecessor. Each brought knowledge/signs to prove it, namely the Will (from their predecessor), Divine Knowledge, and calling to the Supremacy of God. Those who were contemporaries of the Prophets and Messengers were inspired by the knowledge which led to spiritual and material transformations. However, over time, this effect became diluted and dimmed because they didn’t recognize the living, appointed Prophet and Messenger of their time. It was like having a pharmacy filled with drugs and antidotes but no pharmacist, or a school filled with books but no teachers. Anyone reading The Goal of the Wise should thoroughly scrutinize this matter. Ask yourself, is this knowledge purely from God? This is the foundation upon which this Book stands.
The Goal of the Wise is backed by the divine authority (Wilayat) of Imam Mahdi, his successor Al-Yamani Ahmed Al-Hassan, and penned by the Companion of Egypt, Abdullah Hashem, Aba Al-Sadiq who are alive, accessible, and with us in the flesh in this time and age. Its author(s) have claimed their divine successorship via the written Will of the last major known successor of God, Prophet Mohammed son of Abdullah (PBUH & His Family) born in 570 C.E. and died in 632 C.E. A document that is available in at least eleven major authoritative sources of the Twelver Shia Muslims. Since the apparent occultation of the 12th Imam began over eleven hundred years ago, history has not recorded anyone claiming their authority via the written Will of Mohammed (PBUH & His Family). There have been a number of claimants (false Mahdis, Messiahs, etc.); however, none have claimed to be the prophesized successors named in this Will or any will for that matter. The Will is a document which Mohammed (PBUH & His Family) promised, “shall never lead you astray.” This living divine authority is the first point that distinguishes this Book from any other written, sacred book currently available to humanity. We can directly access its author(s) without any intermediary. We can ask them questions to clarify, expand, and explain. We can even challenge them with our current understanding, so they can practically demonstrate the divine origin of their knowledge.
The Goal of the Wise is a synthesis of conversations taken place between Imam Mahdi, the Yamani, the Companion of Egypt, as well as their companions over the last two decades. It includes dialogues with companions who have remained steadfast in this path, some who turned away and returned, and others who turned away but have yet to return. This Book is a living reminder that the doors of God’s mercy are always open for anyone whose ardent desire is God and the Messengers of God.
The second distinguishing point is The Goal of the Wise provides a framework, a language, and a discourse for resurrecting a lost conversation in this time and age. The Holy Qur’an states,
“And We did not send any Messenger except in the language of his people in order to clarify for them, and God sends astray whom wills and guides whom wills. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.”
The Goal of the Wise is both a continuation of God’s previous communications with the creation as well as a correction of previous consequential distortions in the name of God and His Messengers (PBUT). It is written in the language(s) of this time and its principal author Abdullah Hashem, Aba Al-Sadiq, the Companion of Egypt foretold by the Ahlul-Bayt is an Egyptian-American, a borderless personality, a hybrid Messenger for hybrid times.
The Goal of the Wise consists of forty-two chapters, or Doors beginning with the foundational idea of the Book and in particular the first seven Doors: The Covenants established between God and humanity. The emphasis on the idea of a Covenant speaks to the nature, function, and ultimate purpose of our creation. It is the Rock on which our bond with God rests. As Moses (PBUH) proclaims in his last call and final Will,
“Give ear, O heavens, let me speak; Let the earth hear the words I utter! May my discourse come down as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, Like showers on young growth, Like droplets on the grass. For the name of יהוה I proclaim; Give glory to our God! The Rock!—whose deeds are perfect, Yea, all God’s ways are just; A faithful God, never false, True and upright indeed.”
We learn that with each major Covenant that God made with humanity, there was a breaking of the Covenant followed by a punishment, or a divine withdrawal. In other words, God’s restorative justice acts to recalibrate humanity. This leaves humanity in a state of purposeful wandering in order to help us develop our minds and souls, find the more correct words, and reach our ultimate purpose: the knowing of God through deeply knowing and serving one another. In other words, we are to become more than just a believer, more than a Prophet, more than a Messenger, more than an Imam even. We are to become God in Creation. Ultimately, this process comes down to words, not just in the literal sense, but in the co-creation of stories of empathy and pursuing the highest pathways of shared love, generosity, and meaning-making. Thus, our lives are a process of moving from incomplete words toward more complete words. If God is the Author of all creation, He is inviting humanity to be co-authors, collaborators, and co-designers in His grand plan. This is followed by the topics of knowing the celestial bodies, reincarnation, transmigration of the soul, and soul family. These topics mirror the upward and inward gaze of every person towards the celestial bodies when they wonder about who they are, where they truly come from, and what is their rightful place and purpose in the vast universe.
As The Goal of the Wise demonstrates, we clearly see this cosmic pattern unfolding following the break of each of the Covenants followed by a restorative healing process. Adam (PBUH) wasn’t just taught “the names of all things” in a superficial sense, but our true spiritual identities, incarnations, and reincarnations (Raj’a). The clarification of the meaning of Raj’a (رجعة) is one of the major signs of the divine authority. In addition, we learn the true meaning of the Tree of Knowledge, the consequence of eating the forbidden fruit, the reason for Adam and Eve’s original exile from the Garden of Eden, the path of return, and the true location of the Garden of Eden, a place right here on Earth. Many of the ambiguous metaphors and symbols of the past scriptures are clarified throughout the Book leading to a more cohesive narrative that connects the dots across previously disparate scriptures. It is a fulfillment of the verse,
“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.”
This symbology, or science of the signs, is another distinguishing feature of this Book.
We discover how each of the Covenant Messengers made errors in judgment that God used to reveal additional nuances of our spiritual development and our path toward perfecting our relationship with God. For example, in the Noahic Covenant, we learn the true meaning of the Mountain in which one of his sons takes refuge: a false claimant to divine knowledge, the non-working scholar.
We learn that Noah (PBUH) despite a millennium of dutiful patience and delays in the promised flood, should never have asked God for a flood:
“Never again will I bring doom upon the world on account of what people do, though the human mind inclines to evil from youth onward.”
The transition from Covenant to Covenant also shows the developmental process as humanity moves through the various stages of growth: 1) Belief; 2) Prophethood; 3) Messenger; 4) Imam; and ultimately 5) God in Creation. We learn throughout the Book that to become God in Creation is to manifest divine qualities and reflect God’s infinite light until there is less and less obstruction (i.e. the Self). This is explicated in Doors concerning the Nature of Reality, Light & Darkness, and the Human Ego.
We learn about unseen cosmic forces that impact our lives such as the role and function of Archangels, Jinn, Death, the reality of Heaven & Hell, the Source of Evil, and Alien and Extraterrestrial life. The Book delves into salient topics to help us better understand our gnostic capacities and higher cognitive functions such as the reality of dreams, lucid dreaming, past life memories, and other aspects of mindfulness and complete self-actualization. These topics collectively help us better understand the cosmic context of our existence. Like all previous Prophets and Messengers (PBUT) who were commissioned to perfect human character and ethics, the Door on Morals and Manners provides practical guidelines for humanity under the Seventh Covenant.
As knowledge and humanity’s relationship deepened from Covenant to Covenant, humanity moved closer and closer to its ultimate purpose. The Goal of the Wise serves as a divine invitation into the Seventh, final, and complete Covenant with humanity. The Seventh Covenant is not based on geography, local languages, and customs like the previous six Covenants. It is a universal Covenant with the souls.
“And they ask you, [O Mohammed], about the soul. Say, ‘The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little.’ ”
The answer to this fundamental question that was unanswered fourteen hundred years ago, has now arrived in The Goal of the Wise. Is this Book the final complete word(s) of the Absolute God? Absolutely not, because the knowing of The God is continuous, infinite, and beyond finite words. No written scripture whether with black ink on white paper, or electronic fonts on a screen can ever be final. The Goal of the Wise represents an authentic divine renewal, a new beginning that will reveal the remaining twenty-five letters of knowledge so that humanity can continue perfecting its contemplation of the Divine and embracing a more intimate relationship with God and His creatures.
The Goal of the Wise is a Gospel for apocalyptic times, bringing more transparency and authenticity to our collective understanding of the heavens and earth. Its ultimate message is one of radical redemption. Indeed, humanity is destined to fulfill its ultimate purpose: to repair the world through reconciliation with the absolute source of all through recognition of the Philosopher King of every age and realizing Plato’s Republic, the Divine Just State.
Aria Razfar
Professor of Education & Linguistics
University of Illinois Chicago