Knowing Allah through Knowing the Self, an Account of the Hadith "He who knew his Self, has truly known his Lord"

The relation between knowing one's Self and knowing Allah is one of the most familiar issues highlighted in the Islamic doctrines. There are questions to be answered such as, "What kind of knowledge is meant by this Self-knowledge?", "What kind of Knowing Allah can be brought about by Self-Knowledge?", and "How can we explain the implication between these two pieces of knowledge?" Theories proposed to those questions differ considerably from one another. For example, "Some say that Self-knowledge is impossible, but others say that not only it is possible but also it is an obligation to acquire such knowledge." "Some say that Self-Knowledge leads us merely to the knowledge that Allah exists, but others claim that it brings about the knowledge of divine names and attributes, too." "Some say that self-intuition leads to the intuition of Lord Almighty in order to provide for the conceptual knowledge of both." "Some say that it leads to our prior knowledge of Allah and others argue that it helps acquire the knowledge of personal oneness of existence (panentheism)." Viewing such ups and downs in this hadith, it goes necessary to examine those opposing theories in order to be able to explain the real meaning of it. In what follows, the author has categorized and examined those theories in order to take a decisive measure on the issue of Allah's existence.