Questioner

Some people say that the one who invented the idea of Waḥdat ul-Wujūd (Singularity of Existence or Panentheism) was al-Ḥusayn ibn `Aliyy ibn Abī Ṭālib, Allāh be pleased with him. What is your reply to this claim?

Shaykh Muḥammad Bāzmūl

This is a lie and a libel against al-Ḥusayn ibn `Aliyy ibn Abī Ṭālib, the grandson of the Messenger ﷺ. We know of no heretical misguided statements that can be confirmed to have been made by any of the disciples, Allāh be pleased with them. Al-Ḥusayn ibn `Aliyy is the last person, in shā Allāh, who would make such a statement. This, then, is a slander that we will not accept from the slanderer, and we turn it back on him, declare him a liar and warn people to be on their guard against him, because the idea of Waḥdatul Wujūd is an idea that the scholars all agree is a form of unbelief. All the scholars agree that it is a form of unbelief and a false notion.