The Prohibition On Congratulating Disbelievers On Their Holidays !

Rejecting Democracy with Heart, Speech & Action !

Rejecting democracy isn’t simply believing the judgement of the people besides Allāh is invalid and major shirk, but we must also not participate via our ‘actions’ in this system of selecting deities (PM’s who legislate besides Allāh) or voting ‘yes’ to a man-made constitution, which is a ‘statement’ of Kuffr.

Īmān is belief, speech and action, which means that our Islām is nullified by belief (such as accepting that the people have the right to determine the type of state they want), speech (such as voting “Yes” for the constitution or hailing praises to those Tāghūt deities who gain victory through this means of shirk), and actions (such as selecting PM’s who legislate besides Allāh to represent the people as a judge over them).

SubhānAllāh, it’s as if Imām Ibn Kathīr is speaking about these mushrikīn in his Tafsīr of sūrat al-An’ām, Āyah 114:
‎يقول الله تعالى لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم : قل لهؤلاء المشركين بالله الذين يعبدون غيره : ( أفغير الله أبتغي حكما ) أي : بيني وبينكم
❝Allāh the most High says to His prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم); Tell these mushrikīn in the sight of Allāh who worship other than Him:
{Then is it other than Allāh I should seek as a judge}, i.e. between me and you.❞ [End Quote].
‎أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلًا ۚ وَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ مُنَزَّلٌ مِّن رَّبِّكَ بِالْحَقِّ ۖ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ
[Say], "Then is it other than Allah I should seek as a judge while it is He who has revealed to you the Book explained in detail?" And those to whom We [previously] gave the Scripture know that it is sent down from your Lord in truth, so never be among the doubters.” [6:114]

Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-6

The last thing that we talked about last week or two weeks ago, was the issue of the excuse of ignorance when it comes to matters of Shirk, or what they call in Arabi, “al-‘Udhr bil-Jahl”, so we talked a little about that. When the author said, that the person can say something and not know it’s Shirk or not know the severity of what he’s saying, and that he would leave Islam, based upon that statement and he wouldn’t be given the excuse of ignorance. So, that was the last thing we talked about.

We mentioned the hadith from Ibn ‘Abbas in Sahih al-Bukhari, in which he mentioned this when he was talking about the people of Prophet Nuh, and when they worshipped the idols that they set up when Allah mentioned about in the Qur’an, Wadd and Suwa’, and Yaghuth and Ya’uq and Nasr, when Allah mentioned these people, Ibn ‘Abbas explained that they were from the people of Prophet Nuh, they were righteous people from amongst them, and when they passed away, the Shaytan came to them and told them they should set up idols or set up statues to remind them of the worship that these people would perform to try to keep them as an example, and the Ibn ‘Abbas said in the end, “And then when the knowledge was forgotten, they worshipped them.”

So, he mentioned or he clearly states here, when the knowledge was gone, that’s when they performed this action of Shirk. So, obviously when Allah sent Prophet Nuh to these people, obviously He was sending him to a people who had disbelieved, and who had left Islam, and weren’t upon the religion of Prophet Adam anymore. So, the fact that he says that when the knowledge was gone, that’s when they performed the Shirk. This indicates that this idea that no matter what anyone does, there’s always this excuse that, “I didn’t know”, or “they didn’t know”, or “what if they didn’t know”, it’s not absolute how people try to make it, so we talked a bit about that.

The second thing we talked about last time was the issue of judging upon the outward, or judging upon what we see from people, and we’re not required to look into the hearts of people because we can’t do that, because Allah said,
“Allah does not place responsibility upon a soul except in what it can bear” [2:286]

Different Ranks of those who Fear Allah...

The Companions and the righteous Salaf, (predecessors) were extremely fearful of Allah. For instance, Ibn ‘Abbaas had two dark lines under his eyes due to the extent of his crying; ‘Umar once recited some verses which caused him to fall ill out of anxiety. Abu Bakr would say, “I wish I was a tree from which people eat (so that he would not to be held to account)”; ‘Uthmaan would say, “I wish that when I die I will not be resurrected”; and Abu Hurayrah would faint three times whenever he would narrate the Hadeeth in which the Prophet (saws) informed us about the first three people who will be thrown into Hell.

The person who fears Allah, in this life, will be secure tomorrow in the Hereafter. When the believers are admitted into Paradise, fear will depart from them and their love of Allah will increase. Imaam Ibn Rajab said, “Allah has created the creation in order to know Him and worship Him; He has provided them with pieces of evidence of His might and greatness in order for them to fear and glorify Him; He has described for them the severity of His punishment of those who disobey Him in order for them to avoid it by virtue of their good deeds (after the mercy of Allah).” This is the reason why Allah. The Almighty, repeatedly mentions Hell and the punishment He has prepared in it for those who disobey Him; He tells His slaves to fear Him, be conscious of Him, adhere to His commands, rush to fulfil what He has mandated upon them, do all that pleases Him, and refrain from that which He hates.

This is evident in the Sunnah of the Prophet (saws) which is a clarification of the Quraan. This is also apparent in the practice of our righteous Salaf. If we ponder upon their condition, we will be amazed by the fear of Allah, and humility that they possessed, and how this caused them to elevate their ranks and exert extra efforts in the obedience of Allah, as well as to easily refrain from minor disliked matters, to say nothing of prohibitions.

Riyaa' (Ostentation) !!!

There is an abundance of proof in the Quraan and Sunnah regarding the impermissibility of ostentation; and those who show off are often dispraised, as when Allah said: "So woe to those who pray. (But) who are heedless of their prayer - those who make show (of their deeds)" [107:4-6]; and, "So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone." [18:110]. Allah also says, in a Divine Hadith: "I have absolutely no need of partners; and he who performs a deed wherein he associates others with Me, I will forsake him and his partner." [Hadith Qudsi]

The Prophet (saws) said: “What I fear most for you is minor Shirk (associating partners with Allah).” The Companions asked what that was, so he replied: “Riyaa'.” [al-Silsilah al-Saheehah]

Further, on the Day of Judgment, when Allah will judge people for their deeds, He will tell them to: “(go) to those whom you used to impress, in order to gain their praise; see if you will find your recompense there.”

That is why, when Abu Umamah saw a man weeping in prostration in the mosque, he asked him: “Would you do the same if you were at home?"

Causes of Ostentation

In Arabic, ostentation is Riyaa’, which is derived from the noun Ru’yah, which means vision. Perhaps that is so, because the essence of pretension is seeking praise and high status in the eyes of people, by showing them one’s good characteristics. This is manifest in many, but chiefly five, external aspects, which include every action by which a person tries to be admired by others: in one’s body, clothing, words, deeds and friends. 

Best ways to increase RIZQ !

Allah sends an angel to breathe the soul into it and write down its provision, its lifespan and its deeds, and whether it is doomed or blessed.

Provision is also written down and connected to the means that one adopts to search for it. Among these means are that man should work to seek provision, as Allah says:
"He it is Who has made the earth subservient to you (i.e. easy for you to walk, to live and to do agriculture on it); so walk in the path thereof and eat of His provision. And to Him will be the Resurrection." [67:15]

One of the most important means of increasing one's provision is having Taqwa i.e., being conscious of Allah and fearful of Him. Allah says: “And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allah will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allah has set a measure for all things.” [65:2-3]

Allah will reward the one who fears Him and is mindful of what pleases Him in all situations, in this life and the Hereafter. One of the worldly rewards is that Allah will make a way out for him from hardships and adversities and will provide him from means which he never could have expected. Allah says: “And if the people of the towns had believed and had the Taqwa (piety), certainly, We should have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they belied (the Messengers). So We took them (with punishment) for what they used to earn (polytheism and crimes." [7:96]

Shaykh As-Sa’di said, "If they truly and sincerely believed with their hearts and proved their belief with actions, and were fearful of Allah inwardly and outwardly, then Allah would have opened for them blessings from the Heavens by sending rain and the earth by causing plants to grow by which they as well as their cattle would benefit; they would have lived the richest life without the least difficulty or effort."

Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-5

 

The next part of the book that we’re going to talk about is that the author he says, and again we’re going over “Kashf ash-Shubuhat” by Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhab, he says:

“So, if you know this, or if you know that the person can disbelieve can leave Islam, with a word that comes off of his tongue, and he might say it, and he’s ignorant about it, but he would not be given the excuse of ignorance, or he would not be excused due to his ignorance on this topic, or he may say something or he believes it’s actually bringing him closer to Allah, just as the Mushrikin, or the polytheists, or the people of Shirk do, then you should know, or that you’ll have a good understanding of what Allah mentioned about the people of Musa, despite their righteousness, and despite their knowledge, they came to him and they said [in the Qur’an], “We bought the Children of Israel across the sea and they came upon a people devoted to some of their idols, they said “O Musa, make for us an Ilah (God), as they have Aliha (Gods).” He said, “Verily, you are a people who are ignorant.” [7:138]

So, then the author continues, he says:
“– then after all of this your eagerness for and your great fear of what will deliver you from all of this and what is similar to it will greatly increase.”

If you understand this, meaning if you understand the fact that someone can disbelieve or leave Islam just by a statement they say on their tongue without knowing the greatness or severity of what they’re saying, then at that point your fear and your zeal for Islam or for knowledge would increase and your zeal to have knowledge about that, which would keep you safe from this matter and the likes of it would increase and would be great.

So, this section here, there’s a number of points that we can talk about, the first one, and it’s the one I’ll probably focus on a bit more is when the author said that the person can disbelieve by a statement that he says. So, there’s two points here that I’ll talk about in this topic. The first is, the fact that someone can disbelieve with a statement and the second one is that he can disbelieve with a statement, while not knowing exactly what it means or not actually being completely aware of the severity of what he’s saying. So, there’s two points to this section.

Jihad legislated or not?

It has reached us that some people are confused as to waging Jihād against those who claim to be Muslim – Is this Jihād legislated or not?

A treatise written by some students of Shaykhul-Islām Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhāb (rahimahumullāh), Al-Hamdulillāh, and we praise and thank Him… It has reached us that some people are confused as to waging Jihād against those who claim to be Muslim – Is this Jihād legislated or not?

So we respond, and success is from Allāh: This Jihād is legislated (Mashrū’) for a number of reasons:

١) One of them is “rebelling against the (Muslim, Muwahhid) ruler of the Muslimin”. So whosoever rebels against the (Muslim, Muwahhid) ruler, then it is obligatory upon the entire Ummah to wage Jihād against them…

٢) The second matter which requires Jihād against whosoever perpetrates it, is not performing Takfīr of the mushrikīn, or doubting their Takfīr; because this is from the nullifications of Islām, and it invalidates it. And the proof for this is the statement of the Prophet (saws), “Whosoever says: ‘None is worthy of being worshipped, except Allāh,’ and disbelieves in whatsoever is worshipped other than Allāh, then his wealth and blood are protected, and his reckoning is with Allāh.” So he has attached the safety of one’s life and property with two affairs:
1) The statement “Lā ilāh illā Allāh”, and 2) disbelief in whatsoever is worshipped other than Allāh. Thus, the blood and wealth of a person is not protected unless he fulfills both stipulations. Firstly, the statement “Lā ilāh illā Allāh,” and the goal is its meaning, not merely its recitation; and its meaning is the singling out of Allāh with every type of ‘Ibādah. And the second stipulation is “disbelieving in that which is worshipped other than Allāh”, and this implies making Takfīr of the mushrikīn, and declaring Barā’ah from them and whatsoever they worship along with Allāh.

Secularism & it's Dangers !!!

Allah sent down The Book, Quraan to clarify all things and to give Guidance and Mercy to people who believe.

He sent His Messenger, Muhammad (saws) with guidance and the true religion with which He opened blinded eyes, deaf ears, and sealed hearts. With it, He eliminated the darkness of ignorance and stupidity and released the chains of polytheism such that misguidance became a legend of the past and worshipping idols became an old myth.

A Muslim wonders at the stupidity of the polytheists. Allah says: "He whom Allah guides is rightly guided but he whom He leads astray never will you find for him a protective guide." [18:17]
We must always remember though, that trials are continuous and the substance of evil remains till today. Devils among humankind and Jinns continue to spread misguidance, and to make it seem attractive and spread it by means of all tongues. Allah says: "And thus we have made for every Prophet an enemy, devils from mankind and Jinn, inspiring to one another decorated speech and delusion." [6:112]

It is mandatory upon us to know the ways of misguidance, warn people of it, expose it, expose its objectives and block the way for those who call to it. By doing this, Muslims can be aware of what their Lord wants of them and have proper insight so as not to be harmed by the plotting and planning of the misguided ones.

Today, in the Muslim world, many different philosophies and ideologies are propagated…ones that deceive numerous people with its superficial sparkle and glory. Many slogans and terms have captured the minds of people and control their way of thinking.

These false beliefs are like a disease and are of the fire. If it has been decreed for these false beliefs to be disseminated, they will not overcome anyone but will turn him into disintegrated ruins.
 

Ibn Taymiyyah: Idol & fire worshipers “entered into Islam” ?

Why did Imām Ibn Taymiyyah say idol and fire worshippers “entered into Islām”, isn’t that clear kufr?! This is also another interesting topic which has rarely been spoken about.

My dear brothers and sisters, knowing the terminology of the scholars is extremely important, otherwise we would be attributing false statements to them, and infact possibly even following them in these incorrect statements which may lead us to Kufr! So we must protect ourselves at all times.

Previously, I mentioned that Ibn Taymiyyah used the terminology of “Kufr” and “Kāfir” to refer to someone who opposes the truth after the Hujjah has been established upon him, and the scholars have explained his terminology on this issue, that this is not referring to “The label of Kufr”, but rather “The rulings of Kufr” which relate to the dunyā and Ākhirah.

Likewise, it’s also important to highlight Ibn Taymiyyah’s terminology when it comes to the word “Islām”, and that entering into Islām has two meanings according to the noble Imām, which is actually derived from the Qur’ān, sayings of the Salaf, including Imām ash-Shāfi’ī.

Imām ash-Shāfi’ī mentions in his “Tafsīr” (3/1281) upon the 14th Āyah of Sūrat al-Hujurāt:
“Allāh has informed us about a group among the bedouins:
“The bedouins said, we have attained Īmān, but say (O Muhammad) that you haven’t attained Īmān, but say that you’ve entered into Islām (for Īmān has not yet entered your hearts. And if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not deprive you from your deeds of anything. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful).” [49:14]

So He notified us that Īmān hasn’t entered their hearts, and that they simply displayed it, and their blood was protected due to it.

Self-examination !

In the Quraan, Allah says: "We will set up the scales of justice for the day of resurrection, and no soul shall be treated unjustly at all. And if there is (even) the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it forth. And sufficient are We as accountants." [21:47] Allah also says: "Let every soul see what it sends on before it for the day of account." [59:18] Caliph ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab said, "Call yourselves to account before you are called to account."

The righteous men and women are always fully aware that they have come into this world to carry on a spiritual undertaking the resulting gain or loss of which is Paradise or Hellfire. He, therefore, is a wise man who strife in worship and says to his soul, "O my soul, you have only one life; no single moment that has passed can be recovered, for in the counsel of Allah the number of breaths allotted to you is fixed, and cannot be increased. When life is over, no further spiritual work is possible for you; therefore what you do, do now; treat this day as if your life had been already spent and this were an extra day granted to you by the special favor of the Almighty. What can be greater folly than to lose it?"

At the resurrection, a man will find all the hours of his life arranged like a long series of treasure-chests. The lid of one will be opened, and it will be seen to be full of light: it represents an hour which he spent in doing good. His heart will be filled with such joy that even a fraction of it would make the inhabitants of Hellfire forget the fire. The lid of a second will be opened; it is pitch-dark within, and from it issues such an evil odor as will cause every one to hold his nose: it represents an hour which he spent in ill-doing, and he will suffer such terror that a fraction of it would embitter Paradise for the blessed. The lid of a third treasure-chest will be opened; it will be seen to be empty and neither light nor dark within: this represents the hour in which he did neither good nor evil. Then he will feel remorse and confusion like that of a man who has been the possessor of a great treasure and wasted it or let it slip from his grasp.
 

"We hate disbelief, but not the disbelievers" ?!?!

 

Misconception of murj'ah: "We hate disbelief, but not the disbelievers!"

Shaykh Haytham Sayfaddīn absolutely destroyed this false lie by saying:
❝Allāh said, “So they said to their people, we distance ourselves from you and from that which you worship other than Allāh”.

So this idea now that we say or some people, and even in this city, people try to spread this idea, that any beliefs we have about something being bad, it’s only to the action, and it’s not to the person themself, so if someone comes and throws the Qur’ān in the toilet, we (i.e. those people) say well that’s a very bad action, and it’s disbelief, but the person who did it, we can’t judge him, or we don’t have nothing to say about the person himself, even though children would know, what would make someone a bad person, what makes someone a bad person?

Student: Bad actions.

Shaykh: Bad actions, bad beliefs, bad statements, you know someone kills someone, we don’t say killing is bad, but he’s the best guy in the world.

Or some guy is a rapist and we say, we hate rape, rapists we don’t have a problem with, we’re okay, it’s okay do whatever you need to do, we don’t like what you’re doing, but you as a person, you’re the best.

If someone did that, you’d look at them as like they have something wrong with them, but then when it comes to Allah, what’s worse, swearing at Allāh or stealing?

Ofcourse, someone will steal and even now they will say he’s a bad guy, he steals all the time, and everyone will be okay with that.

But then when someone swears at Allāh or they fight against the Muslimīn, or they do this and this and this, we can’t say anything about him, it’s a bad action, you shouldn’t do it, but him as a person we can’t make a judgement.

Whispering of the Shayateen...

There is no doubt that the enmity between man and the devil is ancient. It started when Allah ordered the angels to prostrate to Adam and Shaytaan refused this in arrogance and declared war against the sons of Adam. Allah says about this: "(Iblees) said, “By Your might, I will surely mislead them all. Except, among them, Your chosen servants.”" [38:82-83] The devil is keen on seducing and misleading the sons of Adam and is also keen on pouring his poison into the Muslims’ hearts in order to rock the foundations of their belief in Allah in Might, the Praiseworthy. Moreover, the devil tries to throw doubt in our hearts regarding what Allah has told us about the Unseen. In a Hadith on the authority of Sabrah ibn Abu Faakih the Prophet (saws) said: The devil sat on all man’s paths. He waited for him on the path of Islam and said to him, “Will you revert and abandon the religion of your fathers and forefathers?” But the son of Adam disobeyed him and embraced Islam. Then, the devil sat for him on the path of Hijrah and said to him, “Will you emigrate and leave your homeland when a person in the lands to where he immigrates becomes like a tied horse?” But the son of Adam disobeyed him and emigrated. After that the devil waited for him on the path of Jihaad and said to him, “Will you fight in the cause of Allah and sacrifice yourself and your money? You would be killed and your wife would marry another man and your wealth would be distributed.” But the son of Adam disobeyed him and went for Jihaad. (The Prophet (saws) continued:) Allah will certainly let the one who does this enter Paradise, and He will certainly let the one who is killed, the one who is drowned and the one whose camel kills him by breaking his neck, enter Paradise.” [An-Nasaa’i - Hasan]

Out of His mercy for His slaves, Allah did not enable the devil to have authority over these slaves of His, as He says: "Indeed, My servants - no authority will you have over them, except those who follow you of the deviators." [15:42] Moreover, Allah describes the devil’s plot as being weak when He says: "Indeed, the plot of Shaytaan has ever been weak." [4:76] Hence, the devil resorts to whispering when he cannot find any other way to seduce the believers.

The Meaning of Whispering:

Qalu Innaha Waad (They said it's a Promise) - English Subbed

Lessons from Treaty of Al-Hudaybiyah...

The following illuminating account and analysis from Treaty of Al-Hudaybiyah establishes many lessons for Muslims as they proceed towards carrying the message of Islam to the world. It demonstrates the need for astute politicians, the requirement of Muslims to build world public opinion towards Muslims and Islam and establishes the strength and resolve of the early Muslims which must be emulated today.

Six years had elapsed since the emigration of Allah’s Messenger (saws) from Makkah. By now he (saws) had become reassured about his army and the general state of the Islamic society in Madinah. The Islamic State had become a major force of contention for all the Arabs. But inspite of this, the Messenger of Allah (saws) was continually thinking of new moves which would enable him to strengthen the Islamic Message, which in turn would lead to the weakening of his enemies.

News had already reached Allah’s Messenger (saws) that the people of Khaybar and Makkah were conspiring to raid the Muslims. Muhammad (saws) designed a plan with the aim of appeasing the people of Makkah. It was hoped that this would result in them leaving the way clear for the Messenger of Allah (saws) to pursue his Da’wah within the Arabian Peninsula as well as to isolate the Jews of Khaybar from their allies, the Quraysh. To achieve this, the plan called for a peaceful visit to the Sacred House of Allah. He (saws) knew that his plan would be easy to fulfill because the Arabs would not fight during the sacred months. He (saws) also knew that the Quraysh were divided and had become fearful of the Muslims, therefore they would have to think twice before attempting any rash move against him. So he (saws) decided to go to the Sacred House as a pilgrim, if the Quraysh were to prevent him then he would use this as a powerful propaganda tool against them and this would serve to further promote the Message of Islam in the eyes of the general public.

With the above in mind, the Messenger of Allah (saws) announced that he was to go on the Hajj in the sacred month of Dhul al-Qa’dah and he sent to the other Arab tribes enjoining them to take part in the pilgrimage to the Sacred House peacefully. The purpose of this last move was to signal to the Arabs that he (saws) was coming out as a pilgrim and not as a raider. He (saws) had asked the non-Muslim Arabs to join him although they were not of his Deen simply because he wanted to emphasize that he did not want to fight.

"a Mubtadi’ (innovator) may be rewarded for his Niyyah" ?!?

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

Shaykh al-‘Alwan (hafidhahUllah) explains Shaykh al-Islam’s (rahimahUllah) statement that a mubtadi’ may be rewarded for his niyyah.

What Ibn Taymiyyah means is that a mubtadi’ can be mujtahid and muta’awwil, such as ta’weel on a specific text, like mawlid for example, using the hadith of Prophet (saws) fasting on Monday to celebrate his birthday.

So if someone falls into a bid’ah out of ta’weel while he is a MUJTAHID then he is rewarded for his intention (according to Ibn Taymiyyah), but punished for his action.

What Ibn Taymiyyah means are hidden minor Bid’ah, not apparently clear bid’ahs, such as if someone makes ta’weel to do tawaf around the grave, or to make istighaatha in other than Allah, or if someone replaces shari’ah of Allah, or if someone stands in the ranks of the kuffar fighting the muslims, or if someone learns sihr and practices sihr, these people are not excused with anything, no ta’weel is given to them!

Rather ta’weel is only accepted in unclear matters which are besides the nullifiers of Islam. Moreover, this claim of mubtadi’ being rewarded for his niyyah isn’t correct in all matters, even in matters besides nullifiers of Islam, rather it’s only acceptable in matters when an individual has textual evidences to support his claim and knowledge, not a foolish jahil, he isn’t rewarded whatsoever (he never strived hard!), it’s not even a ta’weel in order for us to say he made ta’weel!

A call to Scholars and Students !!!

We remind ourselves and as well advise others to have Taqwa of Allah. Before we commence with good actions, let us together answer a few important questions.

Are you from amongst those who are working in the field of hadith and its science?

Beware of busying yourself with the means at the expense of the goals. Do not spend your life gathering together all the different supporting chains of narrations and in doing so become oblivious of the intent behind it. In this regard, I would like to relate to you this short story, hoping that a lesson may be taken from it.

On the authority of Hamzah al Kanaanee who say, "I gathered [The reference here is to the science of takhreej ul-Hadith] a hadith of the Prophet (saws) from about two hundred different chains of narrations, which caused me great pleasure and satisfaction. I then saw Yahya ibn Ma'een in a dream so I said, "O Abu Zakariyah, I gathered one hadith from two hundred different chains of narrations." So he remained silent for a while and then said, "I fear that this might fall under (the saying of Allah):
"The mutual rivalry for piling up of worldly things diverts you". [102:1]

[Siyar A'laam an-Nubalaa - adh-Dhahabi, vol.16, p.108]

Do not neglect acting in accordance with these texts, for you were not created so that it may be said, "you gathered this knowledge, checked that book, authored this and did that..."

Ibn Taymiyyah first to use Kuffr and Takfeer?

I asked Shaykh Hassān Husayn as-Sōmālī (حفظه الله):

هل شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية أول من اصطلح العقوبة في كلمة الكفر والتكفير، كقوله لمن أشرك بالله "لم يمكن تكفيرهم إلا بعد إقامة الحجة الرسالية". لأني لم أقف على اصطلاح الكفر والتكفير بهذا المعنى لمن أشرك قبل شيخ الإسلام والأئمة الدعوة النجدية
❝Was Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah the first one to use the term “Kufr” and “Takfīr” in reference to ‘Uqūbah (punishment), such as his statement for whoever commits shirk billāh, “It’s not possible to make takfīr upon them (i.e. apply punishment upon them), except after the hujjah risāliyyah has been established”, because I haven’t come across anyone use the terms “Kufr” and “Takfīr” according to this meaning (in reference to ‘Uqūbah — i.e. punishment) for whomever commits shirk before Shaykh al-Islām and the A’immat ad-Da’wah an-Najdiyyah.❞

Shaykh Hassān Husayn as-Sōmālī (حفظه الله) replied to me by asking Allāh to provide me with beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds, then said:
‎أما إطلاق شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية وأئمة الدعوة النجدية بنفي التكفير على نفي العقوبة الدنيوية والأخروية في مسائل الشرك والكفر الأكبر فلا أعرف لهم سلفا في هذا... وهذا الاصطلاح نانج لمتابعة اللاحق (النجديون) للسابق (ابن تيمية) وشبهة اللاحق هي شبهة السابق نفسها، وهي الموقف من أهل الفترات وحكمهم في الآخرة مع الإجماع على أنهم ليسوا مسلمين في الدينا إذا لم يتحقق فيهم وصف الإسلام...مع الذهاب إلى صحة الأحاديث الواردة في امتحان أهل الفترة ونسبة ذلك إلى السلف... وقد كتبت جزء مفرداً في ضعف تلك الأحاديث وأنه لم يذهب إلى موجبها أحد من السلف الصالح.. وأن ما نسبه الأشعري في المقالات إلى أصحاب الحديث في هذا الصدد خطأ منه صادر عن ضعف خبرته بمذاهب أهل الحديث....... وآخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله وسلم على محمد واله اجمعين
❝As to what Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah and the A’immat Ad-Da’wah An-Najdiyyah said about the negation of Takfīr to be a negation of the punishment in the dunyā and ākhirah in the matters of major shirk and kufr, then I do not know a Salaf for them in that [claim].

Effects of using Weak Hadith (Da'eef) !

The term “Weak Hadith (Da'eef)” refers to any narration which does not fulfill the conditions of authenticity. The scholars of Hadith (Muhaditheen) agree that a “Weak Hadith” must not be attributed to the Prophet (saws) by saying: “The Prophet (saws) said …”.

Applying Weak Hadith in excellent deeds?

Very often when you point to the weakness of a Hadith you hear being cited, someone will immediately say: “But this Hadith is talking about (the reward of) excellent deeds, and it is alright to refer to unauthentic Hadith when talking about excellent deeds.”

It has become a norm amongst the majority of a good number of scholars and students of Islamic learning that it is alright to use Weak Hadith when it refers to the reward of excellent deeds. They consider it a fully accepted rule that should not be argued. They also would quote the words of great scholars to support their point.

Before going into detail to refute the arguments of these people, let me point out that they have, in general, misunderstood the sayings of the great scholars of Islam they quote, relative to Weak Hadith and how it should be used.

This serious misunderstanding has led to the great epidemic of freely using weak narrations; which certainly may involve lying against the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Refutation of the claim:

Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-4

Insha’Allah we’ll continue discussing some points or some explanatory notes on the book “Kashf ash-Shubuhat.” The last thing that we talked about was the idea that some people try to propagate or try to spread that the Mushrikin at the time of the Prophet (saws) didn’t actually believe in Allah, or the existence of Allah, or that they didn’t even believe Allah existed or created anything or any of these types of Tawhid, which we call Tawhid ar-Rububiyyah. More importantly, we talked about the dangers of saying this, so someone might say what’s the problem if we say that Quraysh who were kuffar, that they didn’t believe in the existence of Allah, and the Prophet (saws) came to teach them this. 

What’s the problem of saying this, and we talked about the dangers of that idea and that the real danger in this idea is that, we know that the Prophet (saws) was sent by Allah to teach the people what they needed to learn, so and what he came with was the Tawhid that was needed by the people, or that the people didn’t have at the time. So, we know also based upon that, that if Allah judged on the people at the time of the Prophet (saws), that they were disbelievers or kuffar, or that they were polytheists or mushrikin, that the Prophet (saws) came to bring the people away from that.

So, this is where we see the danger in saying that at the time of the Prophet (saws), the people didn’t believe in Allah at all, because then what this would lead us to say is that the Prophet (saws) didn’t come to teach people to stop making Shirk and to worship Allah Alone, but what he actually came to do, was to teach people about the existence of Allah. If we accept this idea, then the next logical step is that we would say that, as long as someone believes in the existence of Allah, and that Allah created everything, and He is the Sustainer and the Provider, and these types of Tawhid, that we called Tawhid ar-Rububiyyah, that Allah is the Lord, then after that, whether the person worships Allah or not, or whether her worships Allah Alone or something with Him, that this wouldn’t affect their Islam, and it wouldn’t affect their status in the Hereafter.

Worshippers of Shaytaan are NOT Kuffaar ?!?

Worshippers of shaytaan are NOT Kuffaar and NO judgement of Kuffr is applied upon them according to Ibn Taymiyyah??!?

For those who want to understand why the idol worshippers among Ahlul-fatrah are not considered Kuffaar by Imaam Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim and Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab must read the following:

1 — Imaam Ibn al-Qayyim said about the mushrikeen idol worshippers among Ahlul-Fatrah who no messenger came to them in “Tarīq al-Hijratayn” (page 387):

❝These people are not judged with Kufr nor Īmān, since Kufr is to deny what the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) came with, so the condition for the actualisation of Kufr is the conveyance of the Risālah (prophetic message).
And what necessitates from negating either one of them (i.e. negating Īmān or Kufr) is the presence of the other after the occurrence of its sabab (cause of it).
So when these people aren’t considered kuffār nor believers in the dunyā, they would have a different hukm (ruling) in the ākhirah which is different to the two parties (believers and kuffār).
But if it’s said, why do you judge upon them (i.e. people of fatrah) with the rulings of the kuffār in the dunyā from inheritance, leadership and marriage.
It would be said in return, we only judge upon them with that in the rulings of the dunyā, not in the rewards and punishments (which relate to the ākhirah) as we have previously clarified.

The second viewpoint: That we agree for argument sake that they are considered kuffār, however the absence of punishment from them is due to the absence of its condition which is the establishment of the hujjah upon them, for indeed Allāh doesn’t punish anyone except whom the hujjah has been established upon.❞ [End Quote].

Let us see this quote from 3 angles Insha’Allah:

Takfir upon Mushrikeen an obligation & proof from Quraan!

The proof from the Qur’ān showing why takfīr upon the mushrikīn is from the most important obligations of Kufr bit-Tāghūt, which every muslim is required to pay attention too.

1 — Shaykh al-‘Allāmah ‘Abdul-Latīf Ibn ‘Abdir-Rahmān Ibn Hassan Āl ash-Shaykh (رحمه الله) mentioned in “Ad-Durar as-Saniyyah” (12/264):

‎وأهم شروط الصلاة والإمامة، هو: الإسلام، معرفته والعمل به; ومن كفّر المشركين ومقتهم، وأخلص دينه لله، فلم يعبد سواه، فهو أفضل الأئمة وأحقهم بالإمامة، لأن التكفير بالشرك والتعطيل، هو أهم ما يجب من الكفر بالطاغوت
❝The most important condition of Salāh and Imāmah (leadership) is Islām, knowing its meaning and acting upon it; Thus, whoever makes takfīr upon the mushrikīn, detests them and purifies his Dīn for Allāh, not worshipping anyone besides Him, then he is the best of Imāms and the most deserving of Imāmah (leadership). Since performing takfīr upon shirk and ta’tīl (denying ALL of Allāh’s names and attributes) is from the most important obligations of Kufr Bit-Tāghūt.❞

2 — Shaykh al-‘Allāmah Hamad Ibn ‘Atīq (رحمه الله) further explains why takfīr upon the mushrikīn is from the most important obligations in “Hidāyat at-Tarīq” (pages 33-34):

‎وهاهنا نكتة بديعة في قوله: {إنا برءاء منكم ومما تعبدون من دون الله}: وهي أن الله تعالى قدم البراءة من المشركين العابدين غير الله، على البراءة من الأوثان المعبودة من دون الله، لأن الأول أهم من الثاني، فإنه قد يتبرأ من الأوثان ولا يتبرأ ممن عبدها، فلا يكون آتياً بالواجب عليه، وأما إذا تبرأ من المشركين، فإن هذا يستلزم البراءة من معبوداتهم وهذا كقوله تعالى: {وأعتزلكم وما تدعون من دون الله وأدعو ربي عسى أن لا أكون بدعاء ربي شقيا} فقدم اعتزالهم على اعتزال معبوداتهم، وكذا قوله:

{فلما اعتزلهم وما يعبدون من دون الله}، وقوله: {وإذ اعتزلتموهم وما يعبدون إلا الله

❝And here is an amazing point of benefit in His Saying, the Exalted, “Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allah.” [60:4]

Difficult to Abide by Islamic teachings?

This is a very important and pressing question - Is it Difficult to Abide by Islamic teachings???

What is this mysterious illusion that prevents many Muslim women from abiding by the teachings of Islam and repenting of all apparent and hidden sins and fully adhering to the Sunnah of the Prophet (saws)?

Dear sister, let us talk about this issue generally. What prevents many people from repenting and following the path of the believers?

Those people find repentance burdensome and think that abiding by the teachings of Islam is something difficult. All this is caused by the devil and the soul that is a persistent enjoiner of evil.

When you advise some people to repent, they say that this is extremely difficult for them. A smoker, for instance, says, “I have been smoking for twenty years. I intend to repent and give up smoking, but how can I do this after this poison has penetrated into my body to the extent that I cannot give it up?” Another man says, “I have been gazing at women since the first time I opened my eyes and started to see. How I can repent?” A third man may say, “How can I give up lying and tale bearing?” A fourth one might say, “All through my life, I have been giving people an imaginary image of myself and I cannot destroy this image now?”

In fact, those people know deep inside their hearts that they are mistaken, but they object and say daringly, “Observant people have made everything prohibited; cigarettes, intoxicants, music, and recreational drugs… all these things are prohibited… what is left for us?”

Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-3

Insha’Allah, we’re continuing now with the commentary or explanation of the book “Kashf ash-Shubuhat” by Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhab. The last part we talked about last week was the discussion on the issue of the kuffar of the Quraysh and the fact that they believed in the existence of Allah, and that they believed that Allah was the Creator of the universe, and they believed Allah was the Sustainer of the universe, and they believed Allah had many of these characteristics and Attributes, so, they believed many of these things about Allah.

They also used to worship Allah with a number of types of worship. We mentioned that, they would perform Hajj, and within the Hajj, Tawaf and they would fast in general, and specifically we mentioned that, they used to fast the fast of Ashura, and they would mention or remember Allah and perform Thikr of Allah, and they would make du’a to Allah, and they would give Sadaqah, and they would do many of these acts of worship, and they claimed that they were upon the religion of Ibrahim, but despite this, this wasn’t sufficient for them to be considered Muslimin.

So, we see from this, that the idea that the person believes in the existence of Allah, or they believe in some of the Attributes of Allah, or they worship Allah with false or even if it’s a correct type of worship, that all of these things, in an of themselves, and even all of these things combined together isn’t sufficient for the person to be considered Muslim. There’s more to Islam than that and even if a person claimed to follow the Prophet (saws) and they worshipped Allah, and they believed in the existence of Allah, but then they associated or performed an act of Shirk with Allah, that this would be sufficient for them not to be Muslim.

So, in the end, it isn’t sufficient to worship Allah, it has to be worship sincerely for Allah, and it can’t be with any sort of intermediary or any sort of partner with Allah, whether we’re saying it’s the same as Allah, or whether we’re saying that it’s an intermediary between us and Allah, that worshipping this person or this thing, so that they will intercede for us with Allah, that this isn’t an argument or this isn’t an excuse for these acts and it doesn’t make this forgivable or it doesn’t make them to be valid excuses. 

So, we’ll move on and mention the next point that the author mentions, so after mentioning all these points, he says:

“If this becomes known to you, that they accepted all this”.
So, meaning, they accepted Allah exists, and that He’s the Creator and the Sustainer.

Then he says:

“But this did not include them or enter them into Tawhid, or the Tawhid which the Messenger of Allah (saws) called them to, and you know that the Tawhid which they rejected was the Tawhid of ‘Ibadah, that which the Mushrikin of our time have called belief (I’tiqaad). So, they used to call upon Allah in the day and in the night but then some of them would call upon, or perform du’a to the Angels, due to their Salah, or their righteousness and their nearness to Allah, and that they would do so that they would intercede for them. Or they would make du’a to a righteous person or righteous man such as “Al-Lat”, or a Prophet like ‘Isa, and you come to know that the Messenger of Allah fought them due to their Shirk and called them to make their worship sincere for Allah Alone, as He said:

“And the masajid belong to Allah, so do not perform du’a to anyone with Allah.” [72:18]

And Allah said,
“For Him is the Word of truth, so whom they invoke or perform du’a to or worship besides Allah, will not answer the, except the way that one who stretches out his hand in order for water to reach his mouth but it reaches him not and the invocations of the disbelievers is nothing but an error” [13:14] 

And then he [the author] continues: 
“And when you have established that the Messenger of Allah (saws) fought them so that all of invocation (du’a) would be for Allah [alone], likewise making oaths for Allah alone, [ritual] sacrificing (dhabh) for Allah alone, seeking aid [in times of hardship] from Allah alone, and all the various forms of worship for Allah alone. And when you have come to know that their [mere] affirmation of Tawhid ar-Rububiyyah did not enter them into Islam, and that their seeking the Angels, or the Prophets, or the Righteous, seeking their intercession and seeking nearness to Allah through all of that was the reason that made their blood and wealth lawful. When you have come to know all of these affairs], then you will have come to know [the true nature] of the Tawhid which the Messengers invited to and which the Mushrikin refused to affirm and accept [which is the Tawhid of ‘Ibadah].”

So, this is the section we’ll begin talking about today, so the author here is following up on what we talked about last week. So, he is explaining that accepting the existence of Allah and worshipping Him with acts of worship and attributing to Allah some of the things that are correctly attributed to Him, that He is the Creator and Sustainer and so on, that this isn’t sufficient to enter the person into Islam, just like it isn’t sufficient for someone who was in Islam to only accept these things, and to mix in acts of Shirk with this.

So, what he argues here, is he says that, when Allah said,
“And the masajid belong to Allah, so do not perform du’a to anyone with Allah.” [72:18]

This is, Allah giving us the forbiddance of worshipping anything with Allah and the reason for this. So, the masajid here in this verse, the scholars differ upon the opinion. So, the masajid, the main understanding of what the masajid are, are the place where you go to pray. The other understanding of masajid is the limbs in which you perform Sujud.

So, in any case, whether it’s either of the explanations of what masajid in this verse means, in any case Allah is giving us the reason why we shouldn’t make Shirk. So, if the masajid which are the houses of Allah, belong to Allah, then why would we go to this House of Allah, then worship someone other than Him. And if it’s the limbs which we perform Sujud with, so meaning our hands, our knees, our feet and our head, if these belong to Allah, then why would we use them in worshipping someone other than Allah.

So, this is the point here. Allah is giving us a forbiddance and He’s telling us the reason why which Is only logical. If someone did this in the dunya, if someone gave you something and you thanked someone, it would be illogical for you to do so. Or if someone gave you something as a present and you did something wrong to them with that present, you insulted them with that present, this would be illogical even in the dunya. So how about, when it’s not a person giving you something, it’s Allah creating you and giving you these virtues and these bounties, then you use them to worship other than Him. So, this is the meaning of this verse.

Then what Allah said in the other verse,
“And the du’a, or the acts of worships of the kafirin are nothing but an error.” [13:14]
So, Allah is saying here that, the Mushrikin who claim to believe in Allah, or they might actually believe in Allah, the acts of worships that they do when they’re in this state, in the end they won’t benefit them. So, the fact that they claim something and do something based upon that claim because it’s not being fulfilled in the correct way, meaning that because these acts of worship are either being done with Shirk in them, or they may be doing something sincerely but then performing Shirk elsewhere, it invalidates all of these things, and it makes them worthless in the end, and we’ll talk about that in a bit more detail.

So, now just to talk specifically about some of the things that the author said. I’ll talk about some of the words, or some of the sentences that he used. So, it’s been confirmed from these Ayat and these hadith that we talked about, that the kuffar accepted a number of things which we also accept. So, the Rububiyyah or the Lordship of Allah. We also know that they used to worship Allah and we know that the Tawhid that the Prophet (saws) called them too, wasn’t to accepting the existence of Allah, but it was to the worshipping of Allah Alone, and to leave any types of Shirk, and we talked about this last week, when we said that the Mushrikin used to say “Labayk Allahumma Labayk”, but then they would add something to it, which was an act of Shirk. So, the Prophet (saws) didn’t say, “It’s good that you’re doing this, we have this in common,” no, he said “Stop where you are, stop”, he said in the hadith that we talked about. So, he didn’t say that we have these things in common, or this is good that you’re doing this, it was like stop no, the whole thing is needed. It’s not sufficient that you do just part of it, you need to have the whole thing, because it’s not something where part of it is sufficient. If you do something good, but then you put something within that goodness that invalidates the whole thing, then really in the end, the whole thing was worthless. It isn’t something where you could say, part of it is sufficient, or part of it will fulfill what needs to be fulfilled. It’s an all or none when it comes to Tawhid and Shirk.

So, the author mentioned a number of things that the Mushrikin would worship besides Allah. So, we see that Allah mentioned that the kuffar at the time or the Mushrikin at the time would worship Angels, or Prophets, or righteous people with Allah.

The important thing to look here is that, if we look at what the Mushrikin used to do, when they were questioned about, why are you worshipping these things, they wouldn’t say “Because we believe they’re creating us”, or “because we believe that they have power.” It was because their good, because the Angels are righteous, because Allah has bought the Angels near to Him, and He has given them specific virtues, because of their righteousness, instead of worshipping Allah directly, we worship these things to intercede for us with Allah. But despite this, this was sufficient for them to be considered Mushrikin. So, the fact that they claimed that, they weren’t saying “We’re not worshipping Allah”, if you look at it, they’re saying, “we accept Allah should be worshipped, but these creations have a better chance with Allah than us, so we’re going to do an act of worship for them, and this will bring us nearer to Allah.”

So, for a Muslim, we look at this as quite ridiculous and it doesn’t make any sense, as Allah told us to worship Him, why are you worshipping something then hoping that’s going to intercede for you with Allah. But it is quite common nowadays, they might go to a grave and make du’a to that person to make du’a to Allah for them. Or they’ll make a sacrifice of an animal, and do it for so and so, whether it’s for their father, or someone in a grave a saint, in some of the countries, this is widespread, that they’ll go to certain places and they’ll slaughter at that area and they’ll say this is for the person in the grave, so they’ll intercede with Allah on our behalf. It’s common also, you know they call them saints or they call them or a Sayyid, amongst many groups of the Sufis, throughout the world, and it’s become quite widespread Allahul Musta’an in our city now, or the groups of the Rafidah who make du’a to al-Hasan or al-Husayn or Fatimah, or ‘Ali, or the Imams.

These types of things become very widespread now, where to us when we look at it, it seems ridiculous, but it’s being done by people who claim to be Muslimin, even in our time. So, this is the importance of knowing this, because if someone was ignorant, and they went to some of these people, and they said what are you doing, and they said “I’m going to this grave, because if I worship this person here, then he’ll intercede on my behalf with Allah.” Someone who doesn’t know about Tawhid, doesn’t know about Islam, their fitrah will be “I want to please Allah, if this is going to please Allah then I’m going to do it.”

So, people who aren’t aware of these things, can fall into this trap, just out of ignorance of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, so they might think they’re doing something good, but really in the end, this is the exact opposite of what Allah told us to do. So, this as we see becomes a trap of the Shaytan, that someone will think they’re doing something good, when in reality not only is it not what Allah ordered us, it’s the completely opposite with what He ordered us, and it’s the thing that the Messengers came with to actually fight and eradicate.

As we see here, when the author mentioned they might worship an Angel, or they might worship a righteous person like “Al-Lat”, or they might worship a Prophet like ‘Isa, this isn’t intended to be like all inclusive. So just because the author didn’t mention something else, it doesn’t mean there’s not people out there who worship other things. We talked about people who will go to a grave, or they’ll go to a site, or they’ll go to a house or whatever it is, and they make du’a to this Sayyid, or their Imam, this would be included in all of this, even though the author didn’t mention it. So this is something that, insha’Allah it’s clear, the evidence is quite clear for it, but despite this, there are people who, nowadays, what they try to do, is that they say, “no, what you’re saying in that the Mushrikin accepted Allah as their Lord, but they just worshipped other than Allah, this is incorrect.” And they’ll try to mention Ayat from the Qur’an to try to prove this statement.

So the point of them doing this, there’s something behind, there’s an ideology behind it, and what that is, is that, if we establish from the Qur’an and the Sunnah that someone who claims Islam, might not actually be Muslim, if they worship other than Allah, and we use these evidences, this will have implications on people doing things they shouldn’t do. If someone follows a certain methodology in which they perform acts of worship for their Shaykhs, or they perform acts of worship for their Sayyid’s or whatever they call them, and they claim to be Muslim and they claim this is from Islam. When this evidence is presented to them, that the Mushrikin used to do things very similar to what you’re doing, that they accepted Allah as their Creator, but they worshipped other than Allah, or they associated other than Allah in their acts of worship that were for Allah, so they had a partner with them.

This has implications on what they’re doing because then this proves now, we can’t continue doing what we’re doing, we can’t claim to be Muslim, and claim that we’re worshipping Allah, but then also associate these people, or these shrines or these Angels, we can’t associate them with Allah, so what is the argument they try to put forth in order to reject this?

They say no, the whole concept that you’re coming up with is wrong to begin with. This isn’t what the Mushrikin used to do, the Mushrikin actually didn’t accept Allah, so this is why the Prophet (saws) was sent to them, it wasn’t to make them worship Allah Alone, it was to make them accept Allah to begin with. And they try to use a number of Ayat to prove this.

So, the first Ayah they try to us is in Surah al-Furqan, when Allah said,
“And when it was said to them, “Protrate to Ar-Rahman”, they would say “And what is Ar-Rahman, shall we perform prostration to that which you command us”. And it increases them only in aversion.” [25:60]

Meaning they would turn away from it even more so. So the ones who try to argue against this idea that we’re showing in the Qur’an and the Sunnah that they can’t worship anyone with Allah, and this was what the Prophet (saws) was actually sent with to the Mushrikin to clarify, they say, no, they didn’t even believe in Allah to begin with, they didn’t accept Allah.

What is your evidence? They say when Allah mentioned in this verse, that they said, “What is Ar-Rahman?”. So, their argument is they say that when the Prophet (saws) commanded them to worship Allah, they were saying “Who is Allah?”, or “What is Allah?”. We know that Allah has many Names, and from His Names was “Ar-Rahman”, so they say they didn’t even accept Allah to begin with.

Also, they use another verse which is similar to this, when Allah said,

“Thus have We sent you to a community before which (other) communities have passed on so you might recite to them that which We revealed to you, while they disbelieve in the Most Merciful. Say, "He is my Lord; there is no deity except Him. Upon Him I rely, and to Him is my return.” [13:30]

So, they say this is another verse that shows they disbelieved in Allah to begin with. They didn’t even accept the existence or the Lordship of Allah, it had nothing to do with worshipping someone other than Allah, the Prophet (saws) was sent to inform them about Allah to begin with.

So, they mention these two verses, but if we look at these verses and the context in which it was revealed. If we look at some of the incidences that took place during the lifetime of the Prophet (saws), we see that what is meant in these Ayat, isn’t what these people claim that these Ayat mean.

So, first of all when they said, “What is Ar-Rahman?”, if we look to the treaty of Hudaybiyyah in which the Prophet (saws) wrote a contract with the kuffar, we see that in this hadith, that the Prophet (saws) commanded ‘Ali (ra) to write down, “Bismillahi al-Rahmani al-Rahim”, on the contract. At this point, Suhail, who was from the kuffar of Quraysh said, “What is Ar-Rahman?, we do not know what Ar-Rahman is, but instead write the name of Allah”.

So, we see here that this Ayah isn’t referring to the Prophet (saws) coming to teach them Allah exists, it’s referring to the kuffar rejecting one of the Names of Allah. So, this argument is a completely invalid argument, and even more so, if we look at the evidences that were mentioned last week, when they used to say “Labayk Allahumma Labayk”, they’re clearly believing in the existence of Allah, and they’re even worshipping Him, but then they would add acts of Shirk to it.

Another evidence that they try to use is the verse in which Allah said, 
“And the thunder exalts (Allah) with praise of Him - and the angels (as well) from fear of Him - and He sends thunderbolts and strikes therewith whom He wills while they dispute about Allah ; and He is severe in assault.” [13:13]

So, they say here that, Allah mentioned here that, they actually dispute the existence of Allah to begin with, so they argue that, “you claim that the Prophet (saws) fought Quraysh and called them to Islam”, it wasn’t because they were performing Shirk, it wasn’t because they were worshipping a Prophet, or it wasn’t because they were worshipping their elders or their ancestors, and it wasn’t because they were worshipping At-Lat and Uzza, it was because they didn’t accept Allah to begin with.

So, they say the evidence is, “They are disputing about Allah.” So, they say this is evidence enough to prove this point.

There’s a number of ways to reply to this. First of all, we know that the name of Allah comes from “Ilah”, which is The One that is Worshipped, so their disputing the worship of Allah, they’re not disputing the existence of Allah. Secondly, the beginning of the verse is talking about worship, “the thunder praises and glorifies Allah”, this is an act of worship, “as do the Angels due to awe”. So, Allah here is mentioning that these creations, so the thunder which is from Allah’s creation and the Angels, which are from Allah’s creation, they’re worshipping Allah, due to their knowledge of the power and the awesomeness, and the awe of Allah, but the kuffar are disputing this.

So, it’s not that they are disputing the existence of Allah, they’re disputing the worshipping Allah Alone. Plus, if we look at the fact that they used to accept Allah, and they used to worship Him, and they used to perform these actions, then really in the end, this argument is a baseless argument, and it’s quite ridiculous in the end if we look at it in the context of all the other evidences.

They also try to use the verse when Allah said,

“Nor would he order you to take the Angels and Prophets as Lords.” [3:80]

So, meaning that the Prophet (saws) wouldn’t come to the people and order them to take the Angels and the Prophets as Lords. Allah is saying here that the Prophet (saws) didn’t come to teach the people to take these things as Lords, on the contrary, he was coming to teach the people to take Allah as their Lord. So, if we look at this again, what’s mean by “Ar-bab” here or “Lords” is, Gods. Allah sent the Prophet (saws) to take the people worshipping other things, to worshipping Allah, not that he came to teach the people to accept the existence of Allah, or to take Him as their Lord.

Likewise, if we look at it the context in which this verse in the Qur’an was revealed, there’s actually a story behind it. So, the story for this is that there was a group of the kuffar, specifically they’re Christians from Najran, and they came to the Prophet (saws), and the Prophet (saws) called them to Islam, so their response was, “Do you want us to worship you?”, so they’re asking is it you that you’re wanting us to worship, so Allah revealed this verse. So, we see from this verse, that the Prophet (saws) was being asked, should we worship you, so Allah revealed this verse explaining that it would be impossible, or that the Prophet (saws) would come with Islam then call people to worship himself.

So, if we look at this, we can see that, of all the creation, we know that the Prophet (saws) is the best of creation, he’s the best of the humans, he’s better than any of the creation of Allah, so if there was going to be a creation which would be the most logical, even though it’s not logical, but if it’s not accepted to worship the Prophet (saws), than how about a Prophet that isn’t at his status, and how about on top of that, someone who isn’t a Prophet, he’s only a righteous person, and if he’s not a righteous person, he’s a fasiq, and how about if he’s not a fasiq only, he’s not even a Muslim.

So, if it’s unacceptable to worship the Prophet (saws) and to perform du’a to him, and to perform oaths based upon him or oaths to him, and to slaughter things on his behalf, all these things are unacceptable for him, then doing it for your Shaykh, or your Sayyid or your Imam, or doing it for a Prophet or anything else would be even more unacceptable.

So, this verse that, they try to use to say that the Prophet (saws) didn’t dispute with the Mushrikin about Tawhid of worship, it was about the existence of Allah that this would be completely unacceptable. And they use a number of other Ayat, which are again very weak in their argument. For example, they mention that Allah said,

Or that, “Most of them don’t believe in Allah, except that they are Mushrikun.” [12:106]

So, they say that here that most of them didn’t believe in Allah. But if we look at this in the context, Allah is saying, most of them didn’t believe in Allah, except that they added to this, acts of Shirk. So, again this is something that is exactly what we’re saying, if someone worships Allah, or believes in Allah, then they perform an act of Shirk with it, it makes their claim invalid. And I’ll stop there in regards to mentioning the Ayat that they use, but I just want to add a bit more as to the reason for this.

So, what is the big deal if someone claims that the Prophet (saws) came to teach Quraysh that Allah exists, or that he came to teach the Quraysh that Allah is the Creator. What’s the problem if we say this?

We would say that the problem with this is, first of all it’s not reality, the Prophet (saws) didn’t come to Quraysh to tell them Allah exists, this was something that was well established amongst them, they knew Allah exists and we proved this last week, the author talked about it. So, what is the fall out of accepting this?

The results of following this misconception is that people who accept that Allah exists, and they accept that Allah is the Creator and they worship Allah, regardless of what they do, regardless of whether they worship someone other than Allah, these people would be considered Muslims, and they would be afforded the rights of Muslimin, and we would treat them as Muslimin, and we would make du’a for them for goodness and we would give them all the rights of the Muslimin, and we would say that eventually they would enter Jannah.

This is why it’s a problem, because if we’re saying that the only reason the Prophet (saws) came was to tell people that Allah exists, the next steps of this is saying that, all we really need to do to be Muslim is accept that Allah exists, and that He creates everything, and that we do some acts of worship for Him, regardless of whether we worship Allah in the masjid, then we go out and go to graveyard and prostrate to a grave, or we bring someone to the masjid, and we pray our Salaat, and after we put someone in front of the masjid and everyone makes Sujud for him. If we accept this argument that the prophet (saws) came to teach Quraysh that Allah exists and that was the only thing he came for, that’s the result of that, that’s what that argument would lead to, because then we’re saying what Quraysh did was correct because once they believed in Allah, they were upon the correct religion.

So, someone might look at it and say what’s the big deal if we say that Quraysh didn’t believe in Allah, this is the fall out of it, and this is why it’s so important to be aware of the misconceptions that people try to bring and this is why we’re spending so much time talking about these things because it’s becoming more and more widespread in general and it’s becoming more and more widespread in our city, and the da’wah to these types of things, and bringing up these misconceptions about Islam, and misconceptions about Tawhid are becoming more and more widespread so insha’Allah, people should be aware what’s out there from the misconceptions, and they should know how to argue against, and how to answer against these misconceptions so that they themselves don’t fall into it, and they can warn others about it.

Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid #3 [Transcribed] - By Shaykh Haytham Sayfaddeen

TO BE CONTINUED INSHA'ALLAH...

TO READ MORE, CLICK:

• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-1
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-2
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-4
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-5
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-6
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-7
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-8
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-9
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-10
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-11
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-12
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-13
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-14
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-15
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-16
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-17
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-18
• Kashf ash-Shubuhat fit-Tawhid, PART-19 (LAST)