Elucidations
of "Aqeedahtu Tahawiyah" 3-4
Adapted from Lectures by Sheikh
Ahmad Musa Jibril
(3-4)
3.
There is nothing that can overwhelm Him.
This shows Allah 's full strength
and power.
PROOF:
1) Allah (azza wajal) said:
"He is Able
to do all things." 5:120
*Mentioned over 35
times
2) Allah (azza wajal)
said:
"Allah is able
to do all things." 18:45
3) Allah (azza wajal)
said:
"Lo! He is the
Wise, the Mighty."
Qadeer Means
exaggeration and outmost peak in power and capability to do things.
The Qudrah= Power of Allah (azza wajal) cannot be hindered by anything.
If he wants something he says be and its done. This is the proof that
Allah (azza wajal) has all the power to do all things.
Some authors say (Allah (azza wajal)
is able to do that which He wishes) they restrain it by the wish of
Allah (azza wajal) . However, this is incorrect because Allah (azza
wajal) did not restrict his qudrah, his power to do things by that which
he wishes. For instance,
"And He is Able
to gather them when He will." 42:29
It is specified by his will here
because "gathering" necessitates a certain time in the future,
and Allah (azza wajal) is capable of gathering the people of the sky
and the earth at that time or anytime.
"Have they not
traveled in the land, and seen what was the end of those before them,
and they were superior to them in power? Allâh is not such that
anything in the heavens or in the earth escapes Him. Verily, He is AllKnowing,
AllOmnipotent." (Fatir 35:44)
"and He is never
weary of preserving them." (Al-Baqarah 2:255)
Yaooduh
means it is not difficult for him nor is it too much for him to maintain
and preserve the sky and earth.
Affirmation of Allah's Attributes
When Allah (azza wajal) denies an attribute of himself, it is obligatory
upon us to affirm the complete and total opposite to Allah (azza wajal).
For example:
1. When Allah (azza wajal) says:
"Nothing can overcome Allah."
Then, we have to affirm its opposite this meaning, Allah has full
power.
2. When Allah (azza wajal) says:
"And (all) faces shall be humbled before (Allâh), the Ever
Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists." [Ta-ha
20:111]
In this ayah Allah mentions He is al-hayy, an affirmation of himself,
thus it is upon us to affirm that Allah does not die.
3. When Allah (azza wajal) says:
"and your Lord treats no one with injustice." (Al-Kahf 18:49)
This proves Allah (azza wajal) gives complete justice.
4. When Allah (azza wajal) says:"Those
who disbelieve say: "The Hour will not come to us." Say: "Yes,
by my Lord, it will come to you." (Allâh, He is) the AllKnower
of the unseen, not even the weight of an atom (or a small ant) or less
than that or greater, escapes from His Knowledge in the heavens or in
the earth, but it is in a Clear Book (AlLauh AlMahfûz)."
(Saba' 34:3)
This proves Allah (azza wajal) has complete knowledge.
5. When Allah (azza wajal) says:"And
indeed We created the heavens and the earth and all between them in
six Days and nothing of fatigue touched Us." (Qaf 50:38)
This proves the full power of Allah (azza wajal).
6. When Allah (azza wajal) says:
"No vision can grasp Him, but His Grasp is over all vision. He
is the Most Subtle and Courteous, WellAcquainted with all things."
(Al-An'am 6:103)
This shows Allah's supremacy and his majestic honor.
Those who Deny the attributes
of Allah
Proving attributes to Allah (azza wajal) is dealt with in depth and
detail in the Qur'an, while, the denial of attributes comes in general
and not in detail.
However, the mentality of the proponents
of Philosophy is the opposite of this. They say Allah (azza wajal) is
not a body, not a shade, not a picture, not flesh, not blood, not color,
not smell, not testable, not of coldness and hotness, not of height,
not of width, he is not of directions, not of right, not of left, not
of front,
etc
By denying the attributes
of Allah's creation, they arrive at their false conclusion of "what
Allah is." This is from falsehood for two reasons:
(1) because they
are lowering Allah with His trivial creations, and to even place Allah
in the same category of these attributes is an outright disrespect.
This is the speech of the Mu3tazilah. The fact is, the absence of a
certain quality does not indicated absolute perfection. A sincere heart
would be able to distinguish why Allah does not specifically go into
detail that for example, he is not an apple, simply because how could
we even think for one second that Allah is that?
There was once a debate with a mu3tazilah
and the scholar went on to say "your father is not tall, your father
is not short, your father is not fat, your father is not skinny, and
so on. The mu3tazilah became angry. The scholar said "Why do you
become angry with this, yet you do not become angry when you do this
to Allah?"
(2) The method in the Qur'an by
which Allah describes Himself is such that He denied His attributes
in general and specifically gave his attributes.
Again, the Mu3tazilah
believe in the denial of attributes more than the affirmation of Allah's
attributes and this is not the method of the Qur'an proven in what Allah
(azza wajal) says:
"There is
none like Him and He is all- hearing all- seeing."
In the ayah, Allah
(azza wajal) gives both His attributes and a blanket denial of attributes.
Thus, the path of Ahlus Sunnah is to believe what Allah (azza wajal) and
his messenger (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) describe as attributes of
Allah (azza wajal) and deny that which Allah (azza wajal) and his messenger
(sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) denied.
Likewise, it is important to note
that there are attributes of Allah (azza wajal) which we do not know.
The proof is evident in the the words of the prophet (sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam) in his dua'a for anxiety and sorrow (hisnul muslim page 55,
#116):
"Or you (Allah)
have preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with you.."
Therefore, the author
made no mistake by saying nothing can overcome Allah because Allah (azza
wajal) said in the Qur'an:
"Nothing at
all can overcome Allah."
So, the author denied that Allah
(azza wajal) can be overwhelmed and said it is because Allah (azza wajal)
has full knowledge and full power.
Being overcome can be caused by
both (a) lack of knowledge and (b) lack of power. Neither
of these two exist with Allah because Allah (azza wajal) knows every
element and every tiny particle of element.
Examples:
-A woman named Khadijah was going to have a baby. But the doctors claim
that her baby was going to have just one kidney. They went to every
doctor the last one telling them not to continue with the pregnancy.
Khadijah gives birth and the baby has two kidneys.
-a cat used to eat at a house. Then the owner of the house noticed that
it began to enter the house and steal, he followed it, and discovered
that it used to take it to another cat who was blind.
-There was a dog who was treated at the vet. After leaving the vet,
later on they heard a knock on the door and that dog had brought in
another injured dog to be treated.
-A slave was slapped by her master and the master told the prophet (sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam). The prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) requested
for her presence. He then asked her where Allah was and she pointed
to the sky. The prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) told the master
to set her free because she was a believer and freeing her would be
his only recompense.
-There was going to be a volcanic eruption in an area called Juzr Alkamer.
Scientists and reporters went to see and cover the story. Muslims began
to make dua'a. The scientists became curious as to what the Muslims
were doing and they explained to him. He said it was impossible to escape
the eruption because they know the expected date from their findings.
When that day came, the eruption did not happen and the scientist went
to the masjid and embraced Islam.
-A man who could not have children once saw a blind man and he got out
to help him. The blind man thanked him and asked him if he was married
with children. The man said no and explained that for 7 years of married
life, he and his wife could not have children. The blind man made dua'a
and taught the man to say "rabbi hab le min ladunk rahmah."
The man told the blind man that doctors were not able to help them and
the blind man said "Allah ala kulli sha'in kadeer." He and
his wife decided to turn to Allah. Later on, his wife became pregnant.
-There was a woman by Badr Almashry (a street in madina) who was married
3 times having had no children. When she got married at 40 for the
last time and turned to Allah, she became pregnant. At that age, even
if women were fertile, there is a small chance of getting pregnant.
This is Tawheed al Ibadah (meaning,
tawheed al uloohiyyah)
Al-ibadah is a general
term for everything Allah (azza wajal) loves of our words and actions
apparent and internal. Everything Allah (azza wajal) is pleased with
we do, fear and love of Allah (azza wajal), and everything Allah is
displeased with we abandon.
· This
is the start of the message of the messengers.
· This
is the problem between the messengers and their people.
· This
is the tawheed that divided people to happy and doomed.
· This
is the tawheed that because of it we have heaven and hell.
· This
is why Allah sent messengers and books.
· This
is what mushrikoon denied.
· This
is what the people (ie. people of Nuh, of 'Aad, and of Thamud) disbelieved
in their messengers for.
The people disbelieved when the
prophets told them of this tawheed. Thus, it is very important to worship
Allah (azza wajal) with knowledge. Allah (azza wajal) told us of himself
so we know His rights upon us. Tawheed arRububiyyah and Tawheed al Asma'
was Sifat are the tools, and Tawheed Uloohiyyah is the goal by declaring
that Allah is the creator, razik.
· The Quraish
disbelieved in this Tawheed.
"Nay, they wonder
that there has come to them a warner (Muhammad) from among themselves.
So the disbelievers say: "This is a strange thing!" (Qaf 50:2)
Just as the Pharaoh
denied this same tawheed to Musa (alayh salam): [Fir'aun (Pharaoh)]
said: "What about the generations of old?" (Ta-Ha 20:51),
the Quraish also responded to this tawheed in the same manner:
"But the chiefs
of those who disbelieved among his people said: "He is no more
than a human being like you, he seeks to make himself superior to you.
Had Allâh willed, He surely could have sent down angels; never
did we hear such a thing among our fathers of old." (Al-Mu'minun
23:24)
The meaning of la
ilah illa Allah is to be totally submissive to Allah (azza wajal) in
our worship. The Quraish knew the meaning of this but they rejected
it.
· Then, came the proponents of philosophy and the grave worshipers.
They say la ilah
illah Allah (azza wajal) but do not know what it truly means. Some even
interpret it as tawheed arRububiyyah.Imam
Muhammad bin abdelwahab said in Kashf alshubuhat "La ilaha illah
Allah means no one worthy of worship but Allah."
· This word takes shirk from Allah (azza wajal).
No one is rightfully
worshiped but Allah (azza wajal). Everyone other than him worshipped
is not rightfully worshipped.
· No creator but Allah (azza wajal).
Even the mushrikeen admitted this.
To say there is no
one worshipped but Allah (azza wajal) is wrong.
There are many worshipped but Allah (azza wajal) is the only one worthy
of worship.
· This is Tawheed Talab wal Qast. What is Tawheed Talab
wal Qast? Talab means seeking, while Qast means intending. Sometimes
Qast is interchangeable with the word, Iradah. This tawheed pertains
to intending one's actions for Allah, Ibadah. Now, when the scholars
divided tawheed into categories at first, it was divided into two. Tawheed
talab wal Qast, which consists solely of Tawheed al ibadah, and
Ma3rifah wa ithabat which consisted of tawheed arRububiyyah and
tawheed al asma was Sifat. Ma3rifah refers to knowledge, while ithbat
refers to affirmation.
Hence, Tawheed al
ibadah translates to Tawheed Talab wal Qast.
· This tawheed is evident all throughout the Qur'an.
"Say (O Muhammad):
"O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians): Come to a word
that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allâh,
and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall
take others as lords besides Allâh. Then, if they turn away, say:
"Bear witness that we are Muslims." (Aali Imran 3:64)
Ibn al Qayyim said the whole Quran is tawheed because all the surahs
discuss the rewards of people who follow tawheed and and the punishment
of people who do not try to perfect or even follow tawheed.
· This is the reason Allah (azza wajal) created you for. So
learn it and know it good. It is the reason for your happiness.
· It is to make Allah (azza wajal) one in our ibadah (worship),
jihad, birwalidain (kindness to parents), dua'a, khawf (fear), raja
(hope), estianah (seeking assistance), estighatha (seeking aid), tawaf
(circumambulation)
.etc
· Watch out from shirk!! Or this tawheed will be invalidated
· Kufar, mushrikeen and munafikeen went astray in this tawheed.
· You need to know this tawheed and its opposite.
· The opposite
of this tawheed is shirk and nifaq.
Having minor shirk and nifaq means our tawheed is DEFICIENT.
Having major shirk and nifaq takes one out of Islam.
What is Shirk?
Shirk is defined as others equal to Allah (azza wajal) in that
which is especially for Allah (azza wajal) alone . To make other than
Allah (azza wajal) equal to Allah (azza wajal) in Rububiyyah, Uloohiyyah,
al Asma was Sifat then that is shirk akbar, a major shirk. Whatever
is in the proof as shirk but not reached the level of shirk akbar then
its small shirk.
Difference between shirk akbar and
shirk asghar is that:
Shirk akbar:
Shirk akbar is not
be forgiven by Allah (azza wajal) .
Shirk akbar takes
one out of islam
Shirk akbar erases
all deeds
Shirk akbar makes
the eternal abode hell.
Shirk Asghar is not
included in this ayah:
"Verily, Allâh
forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but
He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever
sets up partners with Allâh in worship, he has indeed invented
a tremendous sin."
(An-Nisa 4:48)
Shirk Asghar is like
major sins under Allah (azza wajal) maseeah.
Shirk Asghar abolishes
that deed not all deeds.
Shirk Asghar does
not take one out of Islam.
Shirk Asghar does
not place you in hell forever, its like other sins.
The danger of committing shirk:
1. Shirk is the biggest of all sins because Allah (azza wajal)
will not forgive it for one who meets Allah (azza wajal) with it unlike
other sins Allah (azza wajal) may forgive or punish.
2. Shirk is biggest oppression
and biggest evil.
Its making other than Allah (azza wajal) equivalent to Allah (azza wajal)
It is the act of placing our ibadah
to other than Allah (azza wajal). Thus, it has degraded Allah (azza
wajal) .
3. Shirk is against purpose of
creation.
We were created to worship Allah (azza wajal) alone only and shirk goes
against the purpose of creation. Hence this is the peak of rebelling
against Allah's commands. The more one enters into shirk the closer
his destruction, to the point that Judgment Day will not come with one
saying Allah, Allah. This world will be doomed with no tawheed. As long
as there is tawheed this world will remain. Allah (azza wajal) will
take the souls of the good people before the end of time.
4. Shirk is imitating the creation
with the creator in matters that may harm you, bring benefit, fear,
hope, dua'a, tawakul,
etc.
5. Shirk is evil thinking in
Allah (azza wajal).
Why do we Study Shirk?
Hutiefah bin yaman said "People
used to ask about the good and I ask about the bad, fearing to fall
in it." These words explain why we need to know the shirk of these
taweeds.
Ibrahim (alayh salam)
said:
"O my Lord! They have indeed led astray many among mankind. But
whoso follows me, he verily is of me. And whoso disobeys me, - still
You are indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Ibrahim 14:36) "Rabbi
inhun adlalan katheran min ansas."
The Prophet Ibrahim was an ummah
by himself , he was a mountain, an ummah against his people by destroying
the statues.
Again, we study shirk in order to
fear from committing it and to ask Allah for protection from it. The
Prophet Ibrahim was hanifan, far from shirk and on tawheed and Allah
(azza wajal) says about him:
"And when Ibrahim
said: My Lord! Make safe this territory, and preserve me and my sons
from serving idols (shirk)." (14:35)
In this ayah who were his sons he
is worried over? His sons Ishaq and Isma'il, who were messengers of
Allah. They were messengers yet he feared shirk over them. This is how
heavy we should take shirk to be, as generation after generation of
messengers came from prophet Ibrahim (ie Ishaq, Yaqoob, Yusuf) yet he
feared shirk over them.
Ibrahim Taimy said "Who
can be secured of shirk after this verse!?!"
Umar (ra) said, "Islam
will be stripped layer by layer if we don't know Jahiliyyah (ie shirk
and its consequences)."
The Sahabah who knew shirk and all
its evil saw it in front of them thus they did not fall into it as we
might be proned to do today because we do not see it as being apparent.
An example today would be those who make tawaf around the graves.
Fear of shirk makes one closer to
Allah (azza wajal), humble to Allah (azza wajal), beg to Allah (azza
wajal), pray to Allah (azza wajal) , and so on.
Ibn Taymiyyah said "Shirk
is two kinds, big and small, whoever gets rid of them will enter heaven
and who ever dies in shirk akbar will be in hell. Whoever dies on ashgar
with many good deeds, he will be heaven, if his sins are more then he
will be in hell." (majmoo' fatawa)
Last updated: January 26, 2003
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