Date post: | 11-May-2015 |
Category: |
Spiritual |
Upload: | yousef-al-khattab |
View: | 1,851 times |
Download: | 30 times |
Unofficial Translation
اط تقرميالصر امل س
The Straight Path
Shaykh Muhaddith ^Abdullah Ibn Muhammad al-Harariyy al-Habashiyy
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
2
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
3
املستقيمالصراط
The Straight Path Al-Muhaddith Ash-Shaykh ^Abdullah Ibn Muhammad
Al-Harariyy Al-Habashiyy
First Draft, 2012
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
4
Contents Author’s Biography ......................................................................... 8
Introduction .................................................................................. 17
The Straight Path........................................................................... 17
The Greatest of Allah’s Rights over His Slaves .............................. 18
The Meaning of the Two Testifications of Faith ........................... 21
The Obligation of Every Accountable Person ............................... 25
No Religion is Correct Except Islam .............................................. 25
The Judgment of the One who Claims Islam Verbally but Nullifies
Islam in Meaning ........................................................................... 28
Clarification of the Divisions of Blasphemy .................................. 31
What is Exempted from the Blasphemous Expressions ........... 38
Important Benefit ......................................................................... 52
A Return to the Classification of Blasphemy for the Additional
Benefit ........................................................................................... 55
Benefit ........................................................................................... 58
Protection from Hell ..................................................................... 60
The First Creation .......................................................................... 60
The Eternality of Allah is not Related to Time .......................... 63
Clearing Allah of a Place, and the Mental Validity of His Existence
Without a Place ............................................................................. 65
The Thirteen Attributes of Allah ................................................... 87
Existence ................................................................................... 87
Eternality ................................................................................... 88
Everlastingness.......................................................................... 89
Hearing ...................................................................................... 90
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
5
Sight .......................................................................................... 90
Speech ....................................................................................... 91
Will ............................................................................................ 94
Power ........................................................................................ 96
Knowledge ................................................................................ 98
Life ............................................................................................. 99
Oneness................................................................................... 100
Independence of Others ......................................................... 101
Dissimilarity to the Creation ................................................... 102
All of the Attributes of Allah Are Perfect .................................... 104
The Reason for the Revelation of Surah Al-Ikhlas....................... 108
The Decisive and Ambiguous Verses .......................................... 110
The Decisive Verses ................................................................. 111
The Ambiguous Verses ............................................................ 111
Interpretation of His Saying ﴿روحنامن﴾ and His Saying ﴿روحىمن﴾ ................................................................................................ 122
Interpretation of the Verse ﴾است وىالعرشعلىالرمحن ﴿ ....................... 124
The Interpretation of the Ma^iyyah (معية) of Allah that is
Mentioned in the Qur’an ........................................................ 131
The Explanation of the Saying of Allah ﴿اللوجه ف ثم﴾ ................. 134
The Explanation of the Verse ﴾واألرضالسماواتن ور الل ﴿ ................... 135
The Meaning of Destiny and Believing in It ................................ 138
Guidance Is of Two Facets ...................................................... 154
The Destining of Allah Does Not Change ................................ 157
Dividing the Matters into Four Categories.............................. 160
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
6
The Tawhid of Allah in the Doings .......................................... 161
The Intellectual Evidence for the Invalidity of the Saying of the
Mu^tazilah that the Slave Creates his Deeds ......................... 165
Confirmation that the Normal Reasons Do Not Affect in Reality
and that the Only One Who Affects in Reality is Allah ........... 166
Important Notice ........................................................................ 179
Prophethood ............................................................................... 181
The Difference between the Prophets and the Messengers .. 181
What is Necessary for the Prophets and What is Impossible for
Them ....................................................................................... 182
The Miracle ............................................................................. 183
Miracles That Took Place for Those Who Came before Our
Master Muhammad 184 ................................................... ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
Some of the Miracles of the Prophet 185 ......................... ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
The Miracle’s Substantiation of the Truthfulness of the
Prophet ............................................................................... 192
The Way to Know the Miracle by Definitiveness and Certainty
............................................................................................ 193
Belief in the Torture of the Grave and its Enjoyment and
Questioning ............................................................................. 194
The Judgment of the One who Denies the Torture of the
Grave ................................................................................... 200
The Resurrection ..................................................................... 201
The Gathering ......................................................................... 201
The Questioning of Allah......................................................... 202
The Scale ................................................................................. 202
Reward and Punishment ......................................................... 203
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
7
The Bridge ............................................................................... 204
The Basin ................................................................................. 205
The Description of Paradise .................................................... 206
The Description of Hell ............................................................ 207
The Intercession ...................................................................... 208
The Soul ................................................................................... 208
Clarification that the Mercy of Allah is Inclusive of the Believers
and the Blasphemers in the Present Life and Specific to the
Believers in the Afterlife ............................................................. 210
The Innovation [Bid^ah].............................................................. 212
Confirmation that Tawassul by the Prophets and the Waliyys is
Permissible, and not Shirk as Said by the Wahhabiyys ............... 216
Seeking Blessings from the Traces of the Prophet 227 ............. ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
Ijtihad and Imitation ................................................................... 233
Epilogue....................................................................................... 239
The Epilogue of the Epilogue ...................................................... 242
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
8
Author’s Biography
He was the great Islamic scholar, Imam, Muhaddith, the pious
worshipper, Ash-Shaykh Abu ^Abdir-Rahman, ^Abdullah Ibn
Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Ibn ^Abdillah Ibn Jami^, Al-Harariyy, Ash-
Shaybiyy, Al-^Abdariyy, the Mufti of Somalia. He is Al-Harariyy
because he is from the city of Harar. In 1887, Somalia was
occupied and divided into five parts, and the western province of
Harar was given to Ethiopia. He is Ash-Shaybiyy because he
belongs to Banu Shaybah, a clan of Quraysh; they are the people
in charge of the Ka^bah. He is Al-^Abdariyy because he also
belongs to ^Abdud-Dar, a clan of Qusayy Ibn Kilab, the fourth
grandfather of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.
He was born in Harar around 1339 A.H., or 1920. He grew up in a
humble house loving Islamic knowledge and its people. He
memorized Al-Qur’an by heart with tajwid rules when he was
seven years old. He continued to scoop from the sea of
knowledge. He memorized numerous books in various Islamic
sciences. He gave the knowledge of hadith a great amount of
attention. He memorized the six books of Hadith (Al-Bukhariyy,
Muslim, at-Tirmidhiyy, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, an-Nasa’iyy) and
other books of Hadith with their chains of narration. He was
authorized by scholars to give religious judgments and to relate
hadith when he was less than eighteen years old.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
9
He was not satisfied with taking knowledge only from the scholars
of his own city. He went to many places in Ethiopia and Somalia
seeking knowledge and its people. He had many trips with
hardships and difficulties, but he did not care about them;
whenever he heard about a scholar he went to him, which is the
habit of the righteous Salaf.
His intelligence and wonderful memory helped him gain a vast
amount of knowledge in the school of Imam Ash-Shafi^iyy, as well
as the Malikiyy, Hanafiyy, and Hambaliyy schools. To the point
that he became a person at who fingers point; people would come
to him from different places in Ethiopia and Somalia. He became
the Mufti of Somalia at the age of eighteen.
He took the Fiqh of the School of Ash-Shafi^iyy, its Usul and Arabic
Grammar from Ash-Shaykh Muhammad ^Abdus-Salam Al-
Harariyy, Ash-Shaykh Muhammad ^Umar Jami^ Al-Harariyy, Ash-
Shaykh Muhammad Rashad Al-Habashiyy, Ash-Shaykh Ibrahim
Abil-Ghayth Al-Harariyy, Ash-Shaykh Yunus Al-Habashiyy, and Al-
Hafidh Muhammad Siraj Al-Jabartiyy. From those Islamic scholars
he took many main texts such as Alfiyyah Az-Zubad, At-Tambih,
Al-Minhaj, Alfiyyah Ibn Malik, Al-Luma^ by Ash-Shiraziyy and other
main texts.
He took the sciences of the Arabic Language, especially from the
righteous Shaykh Ahmad Al-Basir and Ash-Shaykh Ahmad Ibn
Muhammad Al-Habashiyy and others. He read the Fiqh of the
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
10
other three schools and their Usul under Ash-Shaykh Muhammad
Al-^Arabiyy Al-Fasiyy, and Ash-Shaykh ^Abdur-Rahman Al-
Habashiyy. He took at-Tafsir from Ash-Shaykh Sharif Al-Habashiyy
in his town, Jimmah.
He took the Hadith and its sciences from many teachers, notably
from Al-Hafidh Ash-Shaykh Abu Bakr Muhammad Siraj Al-
Jabartiyy, the Mufti of Ethiopia, Ash-Shaykh ^Abdur-Rahman
^Abdullah Al-Habashiyy, and others.
He met with the righteous Shaykh, Muhaddith, Qari’ Hajj Ahmad
Al-Kabir, the Head of the Reciters in Al-Masjidul-Haram in Makkah
(he was appointed as the Imam and Shaykh of Al-Masjidul-Haram
by as-Sultan ^Abdul-Hamid II, the last Ottoman Khalifah), from
him he took the 14 ways of reciting Al-Qur’an, as well as the
Science of Hadith. He also met Shaykh, Qari’, Dawud Al-Jabartiyy.
He started giving classes at a young age for the students who may
have been older than him; so he was both learning and teaching.
He was superior in both Ethiopia and Somalia to his peers in
knowing the biographies of the people of Hadith and their ranks,
memorizing the texts, and getting in depth in the sciences of
Hadith, language, Tafsir, and other than that.
He did not leave any known Islamic science without mastering it.
He may talk about some knowledge or science and a person may
think that he specialized in that only. You would see him humbly
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
11
listening to a Hadith with his ear and his heart, although he knows
better about it than the speaker himself.
He went to Makkah and met its scholars such as Ash-Shaykh, as-
Sayyid, ^Alawiyy Al-Malikiyy, Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Yasin Al-
Fadaniyy and Ash-Shaykh Amin Al-Kutubiyy. He attended circles by
Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Al-^Arabiyy at-Tabban. He contacted
Ash-Shaykh ^Abdul-Ghafur Al-Afghaniyy an-Naqshabandiyy and
took at-Tariqah an-Naqshabandiyyah from him.
Afterwards, he went to Al-Madinah and contacted its scholars. He
took hadith from Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ^Aliyy as-Siddiqiyy
Al-Bakriyy. He met with Muhaddith Ibrahim Al-Khutniyy, the
student of Muhaddith ^Abdul-Qadir Shalbiyy. He stayed by and in
^Ārif Hikmat and Al-Mahmudiyyah libraries going through the
manuscripts. He stayed in Al-Madinah close to the Prophet’s ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
Mosque for about a year while receiving ijazah from many
scholars.
He then went to Jerusalem in the 1940’s, then to Damascus,
where he was welcomed by its people, especially after the death
of its Muhaddith, Badrud-Din Al-Hasaniyy. He went to Damascus,
Beirut, Hims, Hamah, Halab, and other cities. He then lived in
Jami^ul-Qatat, and his fame spread in the area. Consequently, the
scholars and students of Ash-Sham came seeking him, and he got
to know some of its scholars. They benefited from him and
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
12
acknowledged his knowledge, and he was called “the Successor of
Ash-Shaykh Badrud-Din Al-Hasaniyy”. He was also known as “the
Muhaddith of Ash-Sham”. A great number of the scholars of Ash-
Sham praised him such as Ash-Shaykh ^Izzud-Din Ibn Ahmad Al-
Khaznawiyy, Ash-Shafi^iyy, an-Naqshabandiyy from Al-Jazirah in
the north of Syria, Ash-Shaykh ^Abdur-Razzaq Al-Halabiyy, the
Director of Al-Masjidul-‘Umawiyy in Damascus, Ash-Shaykh Abu
Sulayman Suhayl Az-Zabibiyy, Ash-Shaykh Mulla Ramadan Al-
Butiyy, Ash-Shaykh Abul-Yusr ^Ābidin, the Mufti of Syria, Ash-
Shaykh ^Abdul-Karim Ar-Rifa^iyy, Ash-Shaykh Naji Nur from
Jordan, Ash-Shaykh Sa^id Tanatirah, Ash-Shaykh Ahmad Al-
Husariyy, the Director of the Islamic school of Ma^arratu-n-
Nu^man, Ash-Shaykh ^Abdullah Siraj Al-Halabiyy, Ash-Shaykh
Muhammad Murad Al-Halabiyy, Ash-Shaykh Suhayb Ar-Rumiyy,
the Amin of Al-Fatwa in Halab, Ash-Shaykh ^Abdul-^Aziz ^Uyunus-
Sud, the Head of the Qurra’ of Hims, Ash-Shaykh Abus-Su^ud Al-
Himsiyy, Ash-Shaykh Fayiz ad-Dayr ^Ataniyy, Ash-Shaykh ^Abdul-
Wahhab Dibs wa Zayt of Damascus, Dr. Halawaniyy, the Shaykh of
reciters in Syria, Ash-Shaykh Ahmad Al-Harun of Damascus, the
righteous Waliyy, Ash-Shaykh Tahir Al-Kayyaliyy from Hims, Ash-
Shaykh Salih Kaywan ad-Dimashqiyy, Ash-Shaykh ^Abbas Al-
Juwayjatiyy ad-Dimashqiyy, Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Thabit Al-
Kayyaliyy Ash-Shaykh Muhammad As-Sayyid Ahmad, Ash-Shaykh
Nuh Al-Qadah Al-Urdunniyy and others, may Allah benefit us from
them.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
13
He was also praised by Ash-Shaykh ^Uthman Sirajud-Din, the
descendant of Ash-Shaykh ^Ala’ud-Din, the Shaykh of an-
Naqshabandiyyah in his time, and they had brotherly and
scholarly correspondences between them. He was praised also by
Ash-Shaykh ^Abdul-Karim Al-Bayyariyy, the teacher in Jami^il-
Hadrah Al-Kilaniyyah in Baghdad, Ash-Shaykh Ahmad Az-Zahid Al-
Islambuliyy, Ash-Shaykh Mahmud (Efendi) Al-Hanafiyy, who is one
of the famous and active Turkish scholars, Ash-Shaykh ^Abdullah
Al-Ghumariyy, the Muhaddith of Morocco, and Ash-Shaykh
Habibur-Rahman Al-‘A^dhamiyy, the Muhaddith of the Indian
Peninsula, whom he met with many times and stayed as his guest
for some time.
He took permission for At-Tariqah Ar-Rifa^iyyah from Ash-Shaykh
^Abdur-Rahman as-Sibsibiyy, Ash-Shaykh Muhammad ^Aliyy Al-
Haririyy, and Ash-Shaykh Tahir Al-Kayyaliyy. He took permission in
At-Tariqah Al-Qadiriyyah from Ash-Shaykh At-Tayyib Ad-
Dimashqiyy, Ash-Shaykh Ahmad Al-^Irbiniyy, Ash-Shaykh Al-
Mu^ammar ^Aliyy Murtada ad-Dayrawiyy Al-Bakistaniyy and Ash-
Shaykh Ahmad Al-Badawiyy as-Sudaniyy Al-Mukashifiyy, may
Allah have Mercy upon them. He took At-Tariqah Ash-
Shadhiliyyah from Ash-Shaykh Ahmad Al-Basir. He took the
Tariqahs of Al-Chistiyyah and As- Suhrawardiyyah as well.
Ash-Shaykh ^Abdullah went to Beirut in 1950 and he was the
guest of the famous shaykhs like Qadi Muhyid-Din Al-^Ajuz,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
14
Shaykh Al-Mustashar Muhammad Ash-Sharif, Shaykh ^Abdul-
Wahhab Al-Butariyy, the Imam of Jami^ Al-Basta Al-Fawqa, and
Shaykh Ahmad Iskandaraniyy, the Imam and Mu’adhdhin in Jami^
Burj Abi Haydar, and they learned and benefited from him. Then
he met with Shaykh Tawfiq Al-Hibriyy, may Allah have Mercy on
him, and at his residence he used to meet the important people in
Beirut. He also met with Shaykh ^Abdur-Rahman Al-Majdhub and
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Butariyy. He met with Shaykh Mukhtar Al-
^Alayiliyy, may Allah have Mercy upon him, who was the Amin of
Al-Fatwa who acknowledged his honor and breadth of his
knowledge, and prepared for his residence in Beirut to teach in
different mosques. The Department of Al-Fatwa paid the
expenses of his residence during that period. In 1969, upon the
request of the Director of Al-Azhar in Lebanon, he lectured in at-
Tawhid to the students there.
Shaykh ^Abdullah’s primary goal was to spread the correct belief
of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah, a task which has been occupying
most of his time. He fought the atheists and the people of bid^ah
to extinguish their misguidance.
Shaykh ^Abdullah Al-Harariyy was very pious, humble, and a
worshipful Muslim. He spent his time teaching and performing
dhikr at the same time. He did not care about acquiring worldly
things. He had a good and pure heart. He did not waste a moment
without teaching, performing dhikr, reciting, admonishing, or
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
15
guiding. He had the correct belief in Allah and held on to Al-
Qur’an and As-Sunnah. He had a good memory and powerful,
brilliant proofs. He was wise, managing things at the right time
and place. He refused and renounced disobeying Allah very much.
He had a high effort in bidding Al-Ma^ruf and forbidding Al-
Munkar until the people of misguidance and prohibited
innovations feared and envied him. This did not lessen his efforts
to fight them, because Allah Supports and Defends the people
who believe in Him.
Ash-Shaykh ^Abdullah Al-Harariyy conveyed the knowledge of the
Religion with continuous chains back to Prophet Muhammad
Among them is: from Muhammad Ibn ^Aliyy ^Adham .ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
Husayn as-Siddiqiyy Al-Khayradadiyy Al-Madiniyy from Muhaddith
Abul-Ma^ali Muhammad Badru-d-Din Ibn Yusuf Al-Baybaniyy Al-
Hasaniyy Al-Maghribiyy from Muhaddith as-Sayyid Yusuf Ibn
Badru-d-Din Al-Maghribiyy from Shaykh Abdullah Ibn Hijaziyy Ash-
Sharqawiyy [Shaykhil-Jami^il-Azhar] from Shaykh Muhammad Ibn
Salim Al-Hifniyy from Shaykh ^Id an-Namrisiyy from ^Abdullah Ibn
Salim Al-Basriyy from Shaykh ^Aliyy Zaynul-^Ābidin Ibn ^Abdul-
Qadir at-Tabariyy Al-Makkiyy from ^Abdul-Qadir Ibn Muhammad
at-Tabariyy Al-Makkiyy from Imam Yahya Ibn Mukrim at-Tabariyy
Al-Makkiyy from Hafidh As-Sakhawiyy from Shihabu-d-Din Ahmad
Ibn Hajar Al-^Asqalaniyy from Ustadh Ibrahim Ibn Ahmad at-
Tanukhiyy from Abu-l-^Abbas Ahmad Ibn Abi Talib Al-Hajjar from
Abi ^Abdillah Al-Husayn Ibn Mubarak Az-Zabidiyy from Abu-l-
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
16
Waqt ^Abdul-Awwal Ibn ^Isa Ibn Shu^ayb as-Sijziyy Al-Harawiyy
from Abil-Hasan ^Abdur-Rahman Ibn Muhammad Ibn Mudhaffar
Ibn Dawud ad-Dawudiyy Al-Bushinjiyy from Abi Muhammad
^Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hammuyah as-Sarakhsiyy from Abi
^Abdillah Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Ibn Matar Ibn Salih Ibn Bishr Al-
Farabriyy from Imam Abi ^Abdillah Muhammad Ibn Isma^il Al-
Bukhariyy Al-Ju^afiyy from Imam Abi ^Abdillah Ahmad Ibn Hambal
Ash-Shaybaniyy from Imam Abi ^Abdillah Muhammad Ibn Idris
Ash-Shafi^iyy Al-Muttalibiyy from Imam Abi ^Abdillah Malik Ibn
Anas Al-Asbahiyy from Nafi^ Ibn ^Abdir-Rahman from ^Abdillah
Ibn ^Umar Ibnil-Khattab from the Messenger of Allah.
He (may Allah have Mercy upon him) departed this life the dawn
of Tuesday, the 2nd of Ramadan, 1429 AH - September 2, 2008.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
17
Introduction
لرحيم ٱن لرحم ٱهلل ٱبسم
The Shaykh and Muhaddith ^Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Al-
Harariyy Al-Habashiyy, may Allah have Mercy upon him, said:
The Straight Path
Excellent praise and gratitude are due to Allah. May Allah increase
the rank and honor of Prophet Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and protect his
[Muslim] Nation from what he feared for it.
Allah the Exalted Said1:
ولتنظ رنفسماقدمتلغد ٱت ق واٱلذينءامن واٱأي هاي ﴿ ﴾لل
[which means] “O you who believed, fear Allah, and let each self
look at that which it has prepared for tomorrow.”
^Aliyy [Ibn Abi Talib], may Allah accept his good deeds and honor
his face, said, “Today is the work and tomorrow is the Reckoning.”
This was narrated by Al-Bukhariyy in the Chapter of Ar-Riqaq.
1 Surat Al-Hashr, ayah 18.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
18
The Greatest of Allah’s Rights over His Slaves
Know that the greatest of the rights of Allah the Exalted over His
slaves is [confirming] His Oneness and that nothing would be
associated with Him. This is because associating partners with
Allah is the biggest sin committed by the slave. It is the sin that He
does not Forgive [after death], and He Forgives whatever is less
than that for whomever He Wills.
Allah the Exalted Said2:
ماد ونذلكل منيشآء ٱإن﴿ أني شركبهويغفر ليغفر ﴾لل[which means] “Surely, Allah does not forgive the association of
partners with Him, and He forgives whatever is less than that for
whomever He Wills.”
Likewise, all types of blasphemy are not Forgiven by Allah [after
death]. This is due to the Saying of Allah the Exalted3:
كفر واوصدواعنسبيلٱإن﴿ مات واوه مك فارف لنٱلذين للث ل مٱيغفر ﴾لل
2 Surat an-Nisa’, ayah 48.
3 Surat Muĥammad, ayah 34.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
19
[which means] “Surely Allah will not Forgive those who
blasphemed and those who blocked others from the path of
Allah4, and then died while being blasphemers.”
The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:
ه د باعد مم ن،وأه ليكرلشه دحومنشهدأنلإلهإلالل وحر ،ويرىلماإاهقلأه ت ملكوه ول س رواللد بىعيسعنوأه ول س روكىملعةنالالل ه لخد،أق حارالنوق حةنالوه نم لمالعنمانا
[which means] “Whoever testifies that no one is God except
Allah alone without a partner, that Muhammad is His slave and
His Messenger, that ^Isa (Jesus) is the slave of Allah and His
Messenger, and the good news given to Mary, and a soul from
Allah, that Paradise is true, and Hellfire is true, Allah will admit
him to Paradise no matter what he did.” This hadith was narrated
by Al-Bukhariyy and Muslim.
In another hadith:
حرمعلىالنارمنقاللإلهإل ي بتغيبذلكوجهفإنالل اللالل [which means] “Surely Allah Made forbidden for Hell5 whoever
said no one is God except Allah sincerely for the sake of Allah.”
This hadith was narrated by Al-Bukhariyy.
4 This means blocking others from embracing Islam.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
20
It is obligatory to associate the belief in the Message of
Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص with the testimony that no one is God except
Allah. That is the least by which safety from the everlasting stay in
Hell would take place.
5 Meaning to stay in Hell forever, not a negation of a believer entering it.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
21
The Meaning of the Two Testifications of Faith
In general, the meaning of the Testification that “no one is God
except Allah” is: I confess with my tongue and I hold as a
conviction and submit to it in my heart that the only rightfully
worshipped One is Allah the Exalted.
The meaning of the Testification that “Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah” is: I confess with my tongue and I accept with
my heart that our Master Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص is sent from Allah to
all of the humans and jinn. Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص was truthful in
everything he conveyed from Allah the Exalted, therefore the
people must believe in his Laws and follow him.
What is meant by the two Testifications of Faith is the negation of
Godhood for other than Allah and confirming it for Allah the
Exalted, along with the confession of the Message of our Master
Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. Allah the Exalted Said6:
﴾فرينسعري اللورس ولهفإنآأعتدناللك ٱومنل مي ؤمنب﴿[which means] “Whoever does not believe in Allah and His
Messenger, then he is a blasphemer, and We have Prepared Hell
for the blasphemers.” This verse is explicit in charging whoever
does not believe in Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص with blasphemy, and
6 Surat Al-Fath, ayah 13.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
22
whoever argues with this point would be objecting to the Qur’an,
and whoever objects to the Qur’an blasphemes.
The Islamic scholars have agreed on charging whoever practices a
religion other than Islam with blasphemy, as well as whoever does
not charge him with blasphemy, or doubts, or remains neutral
[about his blasphemy]; like for one to say “I do not say he is a
blasphemer and I do not say he is not a blasphemer.”
Know with certainty that Iman (faith) and Islam would not be
valid, nor would the good deeds be accepted, without the two
Testifications of Faith, i.e., by the expression: “I testify that no one
is God except Allah and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah,” or by whatever carries the meaning of these two
statements, even if it were expressed in other than the Arabic
language. It is enough for the validity of one’s Islam to utter it
once in a lifetime. After that, the obligation of saying the
Testification of Faith remains for the validity of every prayer. This
is in reference to the one who was following a religion other than
Islam, then he wanted to enter Islam. In reference to the one who
was raised as a Muslim and he believed in the two Testifications of
Faith, uttering them is not a condition. Rather, he is a Muslim even
if he does not utter.
The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
23
تعاىل:ومات قربإىلعبديبشىء قال الل إىل عليه أحب مااف ت رضت
[which means] “Allah Said, ‘My slave does not come closer to Me
(i.e. he does not gain a higher status from Me) by doing anything
more acceptable to Me than what I have Made obligatory upon
him’.” This is a Qudsiyy hadith narrated by Al-Bukhariyy.
Moreover, the best and first obligation is the belief in Allah and
His Messenger.
The Creed that no one is God except Allah alone is not enough if it
is not associated with the Creed that Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص is the
Messenger of Allah. Allah the Exalted Said7:
وٱق لأطيع وا﴿ ٱلرس ولفإنت ولوافإنٱلل ب لي ﴾فرينلك ٱلل[which means] “(O Muhammad,) say, ‘Obey Allah and the
Messenger,’ and if they turn away (from believing in Allah and His
Messenger) then Allah does not Accept the blasphemers.” This
means that because of his blasphemy, Allah does not Accept the
one who turned away from believing in Allah and His Messenger,
and what is meant by “obeying Allah and His Messenger” in this
verse is “believing in them.”
7 Surat Al ^Imran, ayah 32.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
24
This is evidence that whoever does not believe in Allah and His
Messenger, Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, is a blasphemer, and Allah does not
Accept him because of his blasphemy. Whoever says that Allah
loves the believers and the blasphemers because He Created all of
them has contradicted the Qur’an. So it is said to him, “Allah
Created all of them, but He does not Accept all of them.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
25
The Obligation of Every Accountable Person
Know that uttering the two Testifications of Faith after puberty
once in a lifetime, with the intention of fulfilling the obligation, is
obligatory on every accountable person according to the
Malikiyyah. This is because they do not consider the Tashahhud
obligatory in the prayer; they only consider it to be
recommended. According to the Shafi^iyyah and the Hanabilah, it
is obligatory to utter in every prayer for the validity of the prayer.
No Religion is Correct Except Islam
The true religion to Allah is Islam. Allah the Exalted Said8:
ألخرةمنٱمدين اف لني قبلمنه وه وفإلسل ٱومنيبتغغري﴿ ﴾سرينخل ٱ
[which means] “Whoever seeks other than Islam as a religion, it
will not be accepted from him, and he will be among the losers
in the Hereafter.” Also, Allah the Exalted Said9:
ينعندٱإن﴿ ﴾إلسلم ٱللٱلد 8 Sūrat Āl ^Imrān, āyah 85.
9 Sūrat Āl ^Imrān, āyah 19.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
26
[which means] “The (acceptable) religion to Allah is Islam.”
Therefore, all of the Prophets were Muslims. Whoever was a
follower of Musa [Moses] was a “Mosaic Muslim” and whoever
was a follower of ^Isa [Jesus] was a “Jesusite Muslim”. It is valid to
say about someone who follows Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص that he is a
“Muhammadan Muslim”. Islam is the Religion that Allah Accepts
for His slaves and Ordered us to follow. Allah is not called a
“Muslim” as mentioned by some ignorant people.
In ancient times, mankind altogether was on one religion, which
was Islam. Associating partners with Allah and blasphemy took
place only after Prophet Idris [Enoch]. Nuh [Noah] was the first
Prophet sent to the blasphemers, calling to the worship of Allah,
the One Who has no partners. Allah warned all of the Messengers
[i.e., so that they would warn their people] after Nuh from
associating partners with Allah. Our Master Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
came with the renewal of the Call to Islam after it was cut off
among the humans on Earth. He was supported with Miracles
that prove his Prophethood. Some people embraced Islam, and
the people of misguidance rejected his Prophethood. Some of
them were pagans, like a faction of Jews who worshiped ^Uzayr
(Ezra), adding blasphemy to their blasphemy. Some of the People
of the Book, the Jews and the Christians, believed in him, like
^Abdullah Ibn Salam, the scholar of the Jews in Madinah, and
Ashamah An-Najashi, the king of Ethiopia; he was a Christian.
Then he followed the Messenger in a perfect way and died during
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
27
the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. The Messenger
prayed the funeral prayer for the absent on the day he died; Allah
revealed his death to the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. Then light was seen on his
grave during the nights, and this is evidence that he became a
perfect Muslim who was a Waliyy among the Awliya’ of Allah, may
Allah Accept his deeds.
The Islamic basis which unites all the people of Islam is the
worship of Allah alone.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
28
The Judgment of the One who Claims Islam
Verbally but Nullifies Islam in Meaning
There are many factions that have contradicted Islam in meaning,
even if they are attributed to Islam because of their saying the
two Shahadahs, “I testify that no one is God except Allah and I
testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”, and their
praying and their fasting, because they have contradicted the two
Testifications of Faith by believing what negates them. They have
surely gone out of Tawhid by worshipping other than Allah, so
they are blasphemers, they are not Muslims; like those who
believe in the godhood of ^Aliyy Ibn Abi Talib, or Al-Khadir, or Al-
Hakim Bi-Amri-llah, and others. Likewise is anything that has the
judgment of that, whether a saying or doing.
The judgment of the one who rejects the two Testifications of
Faith is that he is definitely charged with blasphemy. His
destination will be Hell. He will be in it forever and ever. The
everlasting torture in the Hereafter will not be cut off from him,
and he will not be the one who gets out of Hell.
Whoever performs the greatest of the rights of Allah by
confirming His Oneness, the Exalted, i.e. leaving out associating
anything with Him, and having faith in His Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, will
not dwell in Hellfire forever, even if he does enter Hell because of
his sins. His fate in the end, no matter what the situation, is exiting
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
29
Hell and entering Paradise after receiving the torture that he
deserves, if Allah does not Forgive him. The Messenger of Allah
:said ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
ي ميان نإمة رذن زوهبلوفق لالل إلهلإالقنمنالنارمر[which means] “Whoever says “There is no God except Allah” will
come out Hell as long as he has a particle’s weight of faith in his
heart.” This was narrated by Al-Bukhariyy.
As for the one who adhered to the Tawhid of Allah, the Exalted,
and he refrained from disobeying Allah and fulfilled His Orders, he
will enter Paradise without torture, where the everlasting and
ongoing luxuries are. This is proven by the Qudsiyy hadith
conveyed by Abu Hurayrah in which he said, The Messenger of
Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص Said:
لعبديالصاحلنيم وجل:أعددت عز العنيرأتولقالالل أ ذنسعتولخطرعلىق لببشر
[which means] “Allah the Mighty and Great Said: I have prepared
for my pious slaves what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and
what never occurred to the heart of any human.” Abu Hurayrah
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
30
continued to say: “Recite, if you want, the Saying of Allah the
Exalted10:
كان وا﴿ فلتعلم نفسماأ خفىل ممنق رةأ عني جزآءب ما ﴾يعمل ون
[which means] “No soul knows what is hidden for them of
pleasurable things as compensation for what they used to do.”
Al-Bukhariyy narrated that in his Sahih.
10
Sūrat as-Sajdah, āyah 17.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
31
Clarification of the Divisions of Blasphemy
Know, O my Muslim brother, that there are creeds, doings and
sayings that invalidate the two Testifications of Faith and make
one fall into blasphemy. Blasphemy is of three types: the
blasphemous creed, the blasphemous act and the blasphemous
expression.
This is by the Consensus of the [scholars of the] Four Schools, like
an-Nawawiyy and Ibnu-l-Muqri of the Shafi^iyyah, Ibn ^Abidin of
the Hanafiyyah, Al-Buhutiyy of the Hanabilah, Shaykh Muhammad
^Illaysh of the Malikiyyah, and others. So whoever wants, let him
go look in the books of the scholars. Similarly, other than the
scholars of the Four Schools among the past mujtahids, like Al-
Awza^iyy, mentioned that. He was a mujtahid; he had a school
that was practiced, after which his followers died out.
The place of the blasphemous creed is the heart. Examples are
denying an Attribute among the Attributes of Allah the Exalted
that are necessary for Him by consensus, such as His Existence, His
Being Powerful, Hearing, and Seeing. [It is also blasphemy to]
believe that He is an illumination or a soul. Shaykh ^Abdul-
Ghaniyy an-Nabulusiyy said: “Whoever believes that Allah filled
the Heavens and Earth, or that He is a body sitting above the
^Arsh, then he is a blasphemer even if he claimed that he was a
Muslim.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
32
An example of the blasphemous act is throwing a book of the
Qur’an in the trash. Ibn ^Abidin said, “Even if he did not intend to
belittle the Qur’an, because his doing itself is an indication of
belittlement.” [It is also blasphemy to] throw religious papers in
the trash or any paper that has a Name among the Names of Allah
the Exalted, while that person knows that Name is on it.
Furthermore, whoever hangs the signs of blasphemy on himself
without a necessity, if it were with the intention of seeking
blessings, glorification, or out of legitimating it, would be an
apostate.
The blasphemous saying is like insulting Allah, the Exalted—we
seek refuge with Allah from blasphemy—by saying “O daughter of
your Lord,” or “O son of Allah.” Blasphemy will take place in this
case even if the person did not believe that Allah has a daughter
or a son.
If a Muslim calls another Muslim by saying “O blasphemer,”
without any ta’wil11, he blasphemes, because he has named Islam
blasphemy. Whoever says to the Muslim, “O Jew,” or the like, with
the intention that he is not a Muslim, blasphemes, unless he
intended that he resembles the Jews; then he does not
blaspheme.
11
An explanation of the statement that saves him from falling into blasphemy. Such as meaning by the saying “O kafir,” “You act like a blasphemer,” or that this Muslim committed an enormous sin which the speaker thought was blasphemy.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
33
If a person said to his wife, “You are more beloved to me than
Allah,” he blasphemes. If he said to her, “I worship you,” while
understanding from that the worship which is specific to Allah the
Exalted, he blasphemes.
If a person said to another, “May Allah be unjust to you as you
have been unjust to me,” he blasphemes, because he attributed
injustice to Allah the Exalted. However, if he understood from the
meaning of “May He be unjust to you,” “May He avenge me,” we
do not charge him with blasphemy, but we forbid him from
[saying] that.
If a person said to another person “Damn your Lord,” he
blasphemes. Likewise blasphemes the one who said to a Muslim,
“Damn your Din.” Some of the scholars said that if he meant by
the word ‘Din’ that person’s own behavior he does not
blaspheme. Some Hanafiyy scholars said that he blasphemes if he
generalizes, that is, if he did not intend that person’s own
behavior, and he did not intend the Religion of Islam.
Likewise blasphemes whoever says, “So-and-so moved my Lord,”
because this has the attribution of movement and place to Allah.
Likewise blasphemes the one who says—and we seek refuge with
Allah—“The likeness of Allah,” he means someone resembles
Allah.
Likewise blasphemes whoever attributes to Allah an organ, like
the saying of some stupid people, “O penis of Allah.” This is an
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
34
explicit statement of blasphemy, and there is no way to explain it
other than the apparent meaning. Likewise blasphemes the one
who says, “I am the Lord of whoever does such-and-such.”12
Likewise blasphemes the one who says—and we seek refuge with
Allah—“My Lord went crazy,” or the one who says to a
blasphemer, “May Allah honor you,” with the intention that Allah
would give them a high status, because Allah does not give honor
to the blasphemers, as Allah the Exalted Said13:
ٱفإنت ولوافإن﴿ ب لي ﴾فرينلك ٱلل[which means] “If they turn away from that, then Allah does not
Accept the blasphemers.”
Likewise, to say to a blasphemer, “May Allah Forgive you,” if he
intended that Allah would Forgive him while he is on his state of
blasphemy until he dies. Likewise blasphemes whoever says about
the one who died as a blasphemer, “May Allah have Mercy upon
him,” with the intention that Allah would relieve him of his torture
in the grave, not with the intention of Allah lightening his torture
12
This judgment does not pertain to the one who says, “I am the lord of
the land (landlord),” for example. It refers to the one who says, “I am the
lord of carpenters,” for example. This is blasphemy because Allah is their
Lord.
13 Sūrat Āl ^Imrān, āyah 32.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
35
without him getting complete relief. If he says that with that
intention then it is possible that he does not blaspheme.
Whoever uses the word “create” in reference to the people in a
context in which it means “to bring into existence from non-
existence” blasphemes, like for someone to say, “Create for me
such and such like Allah Created you.”
Whoever insults ^Azra’il14, peace be upon him, blasphemes, as
mentioned by Ibn Farhun in the book Tabsirah Al-Hukkam, or
cursing any angel, peace be upon them.
Likewise [blasphemes] whoever says, “I hate Allah.” Whoever says
“Allah does not tolerate so-and-so,” blasphemes, if his
understanding is that Allah is attributed with inability or that Allah
is annoyed by him. However, if he understands from this that
Allah grants that one a low status he does not blaspheme.
Whoever says, “Damn the sky of your Lord,” blasphemes because
he belittled Allah the Exalted by that.
Likewise, whoever calls the religious places of the blasphemers
“Houses of Allah” blasphemes. As for the Saying of Allah the
Exalted15:
14
The Angel of Death 15
Sūrat Al-Hajj, verse 40.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
36
ل دمتٱللٱولولدفع ﴿ مع وبيعصو لناسبعضه مببعض ﴾جد تومس وصلو
[which means] “Had it not been for Allah protecting the people
by others, then Sawami^, Biya^, Salawat, and Masjids would
have been demolished,” what is meant by what is in this verse is
the places of the followers of Moses and Jesus when they were
Muslims, because those places are like the masjids of the Nation
of Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. Each one of those different types was built
for the Oneness of Allah and His glorification, not for worshipping
other than Allah. Allah has named the Aqsa Mosque a masjid, and
it is not among the buildings of Muhammad’s Nation. So let a
person fear Allah and let him beware of naming what was built for
shirk “houses of Allah,” and whoever does not fear Allah says
whatever he wants.
Likewise whoever tells a lie, while knowing that it is a lie, and says,
“Allah is a witness to what I say,” intending, “Allah Knows the
issue as I said,” attributes ignorance to Allah, because Allah Knows
he is a liar.
Likewise it is not permissible to say, “Everyone is on his [own]
religion, Allah empowers him,” with the intention of making
supplication for everyone who is on [his own] religion.
Likewise blasphemes whoever generalizes his speech and says
“The dog is better than the children of Adam,” or the one who
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
37
says “Arabs are scabies.”16 If he qualifies his speech or the context
of the situation qualifies his talk, such as saying “Today, the Arabs
are corrupt,” then saying “The Arabs are scabies,” in this case he
does not blaspheme.
Whoever calls the Devil, “Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim,”
blasphemes, but not if he merely mentioned the basmalah with
the intention of seeking refuge with Allah from the evil of the
Devil.
There are some poets and writers who write blasphemous words,
like one who wrote, “Allah fled.” This is among the bad manners
towards Allah that drop one into blasphemy. Qadi ^Iyad [Al-
Malikiyy] said: “There is no difference among the Muslims that the
one who insults Allah is a blasphemer.”
Whoever deems these sayings and expressions good blasphemes,
and how widespread they are in many authored works. The bad
manners that people show towards the Messenger by making fun
of any of his situations, or making fun of any of his deeds, are
blasphemy.
Belittling what has some Qur’an written in it, the Prophets, peace
be upon them, the signs of Islam, or belittling a law revealed by
Allah is definite blasphemy. Likewise, deeming blasphemy good
16
This statement about the Arabs is blasphemy because some of the
Prophets were Arabs. Likewise if someone says “all men are dogs”, he
blasphemes because the Prophets are men.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
38
from others is blasphemy because accepting blasphemy is
blasphemy.
The one who conveys another person’s blasphemy does not
blaspheme, if he did that without deeming it good, by saying “so-
and-so said such-and-such.” If someone delays the words “he
said”, to the end of the statement, it is a condition that he had the
intention to say it before he said the statement.
What is Exempted from the Blasphemous
Expressions
The slip of the tongue is exempted from the blasphemous
expressions. That is, to say anything of that type without will;
rather, it ran on one’s tongue and he did not intend to say it at all.
The case of the absence of mind: The lack of a conscious mind
[exempts one from being charged with blasphemy]17.
The case of compulsion: The one who utters blasphemy with his
tongue under the threat of death or the like, while his heart is
tranquil with faith, does not blaspheme. Allah the Exalted Said18:
17
The one who says a blasphemous statement out of anger is not
covered under this rule, thus they are not exempted from the charge of
blasphemy.
18 Sūrat an-Nahl, āyah 106.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
39
كفرب﴿ منأ كرهوقلب ه م طمئنبللمنبعدإمي ٱمن نإلمي ٱنهإلا﴾للٱفرصدر اف عليهمغضبمنلك ٱكنمنشرحبول
[which means] “…except for the one who was compelled while
his heart was firm with belief. However, whoever blasphemes in
Allah after belief, and his heart was delighted with blasphemy,
he deserves the Punishment of Allah.”
The case of conveying another’s blasphemy: The one who conveys
the blasphemy of another without accepting it does not
blaspheme. Our reference for excluding the case of conveying
another’s blasphemy is the Saying of Allah the Exalted19:
﴾للٱبن ٱيح ملسٱىر صلنٱتالقوللٱبن ٱيززع لي ه ود ٱوقالت﴿[which means] “The Jews said ‘Ezra is the son of Allah’ and the
Christians said ‘the Masih (Jesus) is the son of Allah’.”
[Also20:]
﴾مغل ولةللٱلي ه ود يد ٱوقالت﴿[which means] “The Jews said ‘Allah is stingy’.”
Furthermore, the citation that protects the narrator from
blasphemy would either be at the beginning of the statement that
19
Sūrat at-Tawbah, āyah 30.
20 Sūrat Al-Mā’idah, āyah 64.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
40
he cites or after his mentioning that blasphemous word, while
intending beforehand to say the citation. So if he said, “‘The Masih
(Jesus) is the son of Allah’ is the saying of the Christians,” or, “the
Christians said that,” it is a citation that prevents blasphemy from
the citer.
The case of a person who has a misunderstanding of the Religious
Law while trying to arrive at the truth: The one with a
misunderstanding does not blaspheme unless his
misunderstanding was in reference to the definite matters – in
this he is not excused. Like the misconception of those who said
that the world is beginningless, such as Ibn Taymiyah.
An example of those who do not blaspheme is those who
misconceived and withheld the Zakah during the era of Abu Bakr,
claiming that Zakah was obligatory only during the lifetime of the
Messenger. They said that this is because his supplication for
them due to the paid Zakah would be mercy and tranquility for
them, and that was cut off by his death. The Companions did not
charge them with blasphemy for that because those people
understood from the Saying of Allah the Exalted21:
لمصدقة ت طهر ه موت زكيهمباوصلعليهمإنخ ذمنأمو ﴿ ﴾تكسكنل مصلو
21
Sūrat at-Tawbah, āyah 103.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
41
[which means] “Take a charity from their money that purifies
them, and make supplication for them; surely your supplication
is a mercy for them.” The meaning of this verse [according to
their understanding] is “O Muhammad, take their Zakah from
them so that when they pay it, it would be mercy for them.” Then
they said that his supplication would not happen after his death,
so it is not obligatory on them to pay it because he died and he
was the one ordered to take it from them. They did not
understand that the ruling was general during his life and after his
death.
The only reason Abu Bakr fought them like he fought the
apostates who followed Musaylimah Al-Kadhdhab in his claim of
prophethood was because he was unable to take the Zakah from
them except by fighting them. They were a mobilized force, so he
was forced to fight them.
Likewise those who interpreted the Saying of Allah the Exalted22:
﴾ف هلأن ت ممنت ه ون﴿[which means] “Are you going to stop?!” to be giving a choice
rather than as a prohibition of drinking wine, so they drank it.
^Umar [Ibnu-l-Khattab] did not judge them as blasphemers, rather
he said, “Whip them eighty times each, and if they return [to
22
Sūrat Al-Mā’idah, āyah 91.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
42
deeming] it [lawful] then execute them.” This is narrated by Ibn
Abi Shaybah.
They only charged with blasphemy those who apostatized from
Islam by believing in Musaylimah Al-Kadhdhab, the one who
claimed prophethood. So fighting those who misinterpreted and
withheld the Zakah in this way was for taking the obligatory right
on their money. This case is like fighting the rebels; they are not
fought for blasphemy, rather they are fought to bring them back
to the obedience of the Caliph. This is like those whom our master
^Aliyy fought in the three conflicts: the conflict of Al-Jamal, the
conflict of Siffin with Mu^awiyah, and the conflict of An-
Nahrawan with the Khawarij, although among the Khawarij there
is a group that are actually blasphemers, and they have their own
judgment.
Hafidh Abu Zur^ah Al-^Iraqiyy said in his book, An-Nukat:
Our Shaykh Al-Bulqiniyy said, [that] it is necessary to say
‘without an acceptable excuse (that saves them from
blasphemy)’ in order to exclude the rebels and the
Khawarij who legitimized the People of Justice’s blood and
money, while believing in the prohibition of their own
blood being lawful for the People of Justice, as well as
those who denied the obligation of the Zakah on them
after the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص are excused. This is
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
43
the judgment because the Companions (may Allah Accept
their deeds) did not charge them with blasphemy.
This is a reference from the documents of the School concerning
the case of misinterpreting the text.
Among the documents of the School about the case of
misunderstanding the religious text and the case of citing another
person’s blasphemy is the saying of Shamsu-d-Din Ar-Ramliyy in
his explanation of Minhaj at-Talibin, in the beginning of the Book
of Apostasy, in his explanation of the saying of an-Nawawiyy:
“Apostasy is cutting off Islam with an intention or saying of
blasphemy,” “So there is no affect from the slip of the tongue,
compulsion, misunderstanding, and citing another person’s
blasphemy.”
And the saying of the commentator, that is, the author of the
Commentary of the Explanation [of Minhaj at-Talibin], Nuru-d-Din
^Aliyy Ash-Shabramallisiyy (1087 A.H.), concerning Ar-Ramliyy’s
statement, “and misunderstanding”: “That is, not absolutely, as is
clear from what will be presented about the likes the blasphemy
of those who say that the world is eternal, despite that it is based
on deduction and inference.”
The other commentator on the explanation of Ar-Ramliyy, Ahmad
Ibn ^Abdir-Razzaq who is famous as “Al-Maghribiyy Ar-Rashidiyy”
(1096 A.H.): “When he said, ‘misunderstanding’, that is in
reference to what does not have definitive evidence [against his
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
44
misunderstanding], as proven by the blasphemy of the likes of
those who say ‘the world is eternal,’ even though it was by
inference.”
From here, it is known that not every person who has a
misunderstanding is saved from blasphemy by his
misunderstanding. So let the student of knowledge always
remember the aforementioned saying of Ar-Rashidiyy when he
said, “in reference to what does not have definitive evidence.”
This means one should always recall this statement in his heart,
because it is important. Misunderstanding in the face of definitive
evidence does not prevent the charge of blasphemy against the
one who misunderstood.
What we said about the Khawarij, excluding some of them from
being among those who were charged with blasphemy, is because
of the confirmation of what dictates charging some of them with
blasphemy, as supported by the saying of some Companions who
narrated the hadiths about the Khawarij.
As for what was narrated from our master ^Aliyy, that he said,
“Our brothers have rebelled against us,” there is no evidence in it
to judge all of them with Islam because its chain of narration was
not confirmed from ^Aliyy, and the Hafidh and Mujtahid Ibn Jarir
at-Tabariyy and others were certain about the blasphemy of all of
them. This should be taken to be in reference to the different
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
45
cases of the Khawarij; that some of them reached the level of
blasphemy and others did not.
This case has been expressed by some as “ijtihad” and some have
expressed it as “ta’wil”. Among those who used the term “ta’wil”
is the Hafidh, Faqih, and Shafi^iyy, Siraju-d-Din Al-Bulqiniyy, the
one the author of Al-Qamus referred to as “The Savant of the
World”. Some of the explainers of Minhaj at-Talibin have
expressed it as “ijtihad,” and both expressions must be properly
restricted.
From here it is known that not everyone who misunderstands is
protected from blasphemy by his misunderstanding. So let no one
think that is absolute, because generalizing in that is a disbanding
of and exiting from the Religion.
Do not you see that many of those who are attributed to Islam
who busied themselves with philosophy went out of the Religion
for their belief that the world is eternal, out of their “ijtihad”?
Despite that, the Muslims have agreed on their blasphemy, as
mentioned by the Muhaddith and Faqih Badru-d-Din Az-
Zarkashiyy in the explanation of Jam^u-l-Jawami^. He said after
mentioning the two groups [of the philosophers]; those who
claimed that the world in its entirety is eternal, and those who
claimed that the world is eternal by its kind only and not its
elements, “The Muslims have agreed on their misguidance and
their blasphemy.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
46
Likewise the Murji’ah, those who said sins are not harmful while
having belief, just like good deeds are not beneficial while having
blasphemy; they only said that out of “ijtihad” and “ta’wil” of
some texts outside of their contexts, and they were not excused.
Moreover, groups other than them became misguided and they
are attributed to Islam; their deviance was through “ijtihad” and
“ta’wil”.
Rule: The expression that has two meanings, one of which is a
type of blasphemy and the other is not blasphemy, and the
meaning that was blasphemy was the apparent meaning,
however, it was not explicit, the one who said it is not charged
with blasphemy until it is known which of the two meanings he
intended. So if he said, “I intended the blasphemous meaning,” he
is judged with blasphemy, and the rules of apostasy are applied to
him, or else he is not charged with blasphemy. Likewise, if the
expression has many meanings, and all of its meanings were
blasphemy except one, he is not charged with blasphemy until the
intent of the blasphemous meaning is known from him. This is
what was mentioned by some Hanafiyy scholars in their books.
As for what some people say, that if the statement has ninety-nine
opinions confirming a charge of blasphemy and one opinion not
confirming a charge of blasphemy, then we take by leaving out the
charge of blasphemy, it is meaningless. It is not valid to attribute
that to Malik or to Abu Hanifah as Sayyid Sabiq attributed the likes
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
47
of to Imam Malik. This is widespread on the tongues of some
contemporaries, so let them fear Allah.
The scholars said that the explicit blasphemy is that statement
which only has one meaning; it necessitates the charge of
blasphemy. Therefore, the one who says it is charged with
blasphemy, like to say, “I am Allah.” Even if this [type of]
expression came from a Waliyy while his mind was absent, he will
be punished, despite that he was not accountable at that time;
that was said by ^Izzud-Din Ibn ^Abdis-Salam. This is because
punishment affects the one whose mind is absent, just like it
affects the one with a clear mind and just like it affects the
animals. For surely had the beast been defiant and then was hit, it
stops its defiance even though it does not have a mind. Likewise
the Waliyy; if he utters blasphemy while his mind is absent, then
was hit or shouted at, he would refrain because of the natural
affect of being reprimanded.
Keep in mind that blasphemy does not come from a Waliyy while
his mind is present. It would only occur if his tongue slips or he
loses his mind, because the Waliyy is protected from blasphemy.
This is different from the major or minor sin, because it is possible
for a Waliyy to commit it. However, he will not insist on that sin,
rather, he would repent immediately. It could be that a Waliyy
commits a major sin shortly before his death; however, he will not
die unless he repents, like Talhah Ibn ^Ubaydillah and Az-Zubayr
Ibn ^Awwam, may Allah accept their deeds. Both of them went
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
48
against the Prince of the Believers, ^Aliyy, may Allah Accept his
deeds, by standing with those who fought against him in Basrah.
So ^Aliyy reminded both of them about a hadith. As for Az-Zubayr,
he said to him, “Did the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص not say to you:
إنكلتقاتلنعلياوأنتظاملله[which means] ‘Surely you will certainly fight ^Aliyy while you
are unjust to him’?” So he said, “I forgot.” Then he left the
battlefield without fighting, and a man from the army of ^Aliyy
followed him and killed him. So he repented by ^Aliyy’s reminder
and he did not die without repentance.
As for Talhah, he said to him, “Did the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
not say:
موله فعلي موله منكنت [which means] ‘Whomever I was his supporter, then ^Aliyy is his
supporter’?” So he left, abandoning the battle, then Marwan
Ibnu-l-Hakam hit him and killed him. He also repented and
regretted upon ^Aliyy mentioning this hadith to him. Each one of
them did not die without repentance. Both of these hadiths are
authentic; in fact, the second is mutawatir.
Imam Abul-Hasan Al-Ash^ariyy mentioned that Talhah and Az-
Zubayr are forgiven by virtue of the good news that was given to
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
49
them by the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص with eight others in one
session. This is a confirmation from Imam Abul-Hasan Al-
Ash^ariyy that they commited a sin. He said the same about
^A’ishah because she also received the good news of going to
Paradise. She regretted severely that she stood with those who
fought ^Aliyy, to the extent that whenever she would remember
her travel to Basrah and her standing with those who fought
^Aliyy she would cry strongly; her scarf would become wet from
her tears. This is also mutawatir. And he said about other than
those two [Talhah and Az-Zubayr] among the people of the
incident of Al-Jamal and the people of Siffin—those who fought
^Aliyy with Mu^awiyah—“Their forgiveness and pardon is
possible,” as conveyed by Imam Abu Bakr Ibn Furak from Abul-
Hasan Al-Ash^ariyy in his book Mujarrad Maqalat Al-Ash^ariyy.
Ibn Furak is the student of the student of Abul-Hasan Al-
Ash^ariyy, and that student is Abul-Hasan Al-Bahiliyy, may Allah
accept their deeds.
What some ignorant people believe, that a Waliyy does not fall
into a sin, is abominable ignorance. For those three, Talhah, Az-
Zubayr and ^A’ishah are among the greatest Awliya’.
Imam Al-Haramayn Al-Juwayniyy said, “The scholars of the
Fundamentals of the Religion agreed that whoever says a word of
apostasy (i.e., blasphemy) and claims that he intended some far-
fetched meaning is charged as a blasphemer inwardly and
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
50
outwardly,” and he agreed with them. This means that the far-
fetched explanation does not benefit him, like the one who says,
“Damn the Messenger of Allah,” then he says, “What I meant by
the Messenger of Allah is the lightning.”
Numerous scholars, like the Hanafiyy faqih, Badru-r-Rashid, and
he was close to the eighth Hijriyy century, listed many
[blasphemous] things. So it is a must that one would be aware of
that, for surely the one who does not know evil will fall in to it, so
let him beware. It is confirmed from one of the Companions that
he took hold of his tongue and addressed it by saying, “O tongue,
say good and reap the goodness. Be silent from evil and be safe
before you regret. Surely I heard the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
saying23:
خطاياابنءادممنلسانه أكثر [which means] ‘Most of the sins of the son of Adam are from his
tongue.’” Among those sins are blasphemy and major sins.
In another hadith of the Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص:
يبافالنارأب عدماوهاي يهي تبني فالمةمالكم بلكتيدلبالعإنغربواملاملشر نيب
23
Narrated by Abul-Qāsim Sulaymān Ibn Aĥmad at-Tabarāniyy with a
authentic chain from the route of ^Abdullāh Ibn Mas^ūd.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
51
[which means] “Surely the slave would certainly speak with the
word. He does not distinguish it [i.e., he does not contemplate on
its meaning], and because of it he would fall into Hell a distance
greater than what is between the east and the west.” That is
narrated by Al-Bukhariyy and Muslim from the route of Abu
Hurayrah.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
52
Important Benefit
The judgment of the one who commits any one of these types of
blasphemy is that he loses his good deeds entirely, so not one
particle of good deeds that he did previously will be counted for
him, whether charity, Hajj, fasting, praying, etc. The only good
deeds that will be counted for him are the new good deeds that
he did after renewing his belief. The Exalted Said24:
﴾نف قدحبطعمل ه إلمي ٱومنيكف رب﴿[which means] “Whoever blasphemes after belief has lost his
deeds.”
If one says, “I seek the forgiveness of Allah,” before renewing his
belief by saying, “I testify that no one is God except Allah and I
testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” while he is on
this state [of blasphemy], for him to say “I seek the forgiveness of
Allah” will not increase him in anything but sin and blasphemy.
This is because he is contradicting the Saying of Allah the
Exalted25:
24
Sūrat Al-Mā’idah, āyah 5.
25 Sūrat Muĥammad, āyah 34.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
53
كفر واوصدواعنسبيلٱإن﴿ مات واوه مك فارف لٱلذين نللث ل مٱي غفر ﴾لل
[which means] “Surely those who blaspheme and those who
blocked others from embracing Islam, then they died while they
are blasphemers, Allah will not Forgive them.” And this is also
because of the Saying of Allah the Exalted26:
هدي ه مي للموه لرفغي للل ٱنك وامليم لظواور فكينذلٱنإ﴿طريقجهنمخ طريق ا اإل ﴾لدينفيهآأبد
[which means] “Surely, those who blasphemed and did injustice,
Allah will not Forgive them nor guide them to a path except the
path of Hell, to dwell in it forever.”
Ibn Hibban narrated from ^Imran Ibn Husayn that a man came to
the Messenger of Allah and said, “O Muhammad, ^Abdul-Muttalib
is better to his people than you. He used to feed them liver and
camel hump, and you kill them.” So the Messenger of Allah said
whatever Allah Willed.27 Then when the man wanted to leave he
said, “What should I say?” The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:
ن فسيواعزملعلىأرشدأمري قلاللهمقنشر
26
Sūrat an-Nisā’, āyah 168-169.
27 Meaning he responded to him.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
54
[which means] “Say, ‘O Allah, save me from the evil of myself
and make me firm on that which is the best guidance for me.’”
Then the man left and he did not embrace Islam. Then he said to
the Messenger of Allah [at a later date], “I came to you and said to
you ‘Teach me.’ So you said, ‘Say, “O Allah, save me from the evil
of myself and make me firm on that which is the best guidance
for me”.’ So what should I say now that I have embraced Islam?”
The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:
نفسيواعزملعلىأرشدأمري اللهمااغفرلقلاللهمقنشروماجهلت وماأخطأت وماعمدت وماأعلنت ماأسررت
[which means] “Say, ‘O Allah, save me from the evil of myself
and keep me firm on that which is the best guidance for me. O
Allah, Forgive me for what I have done secretly and what I have
done openly, what I have done purposely and what I have done
mistakenly, and what I have done ignorantly.’”
Among the judgments of apostasy is that the apostate corrupts his
fasting, his tayammum, and his marriage before consummation.
He likewise corrupts it after consummation if he does not return
to Islam within the ^iddah. His marriage contract would not be
valid with a Muslim or a blasphemer, even if she were an apostate
like him.28
28
The judgments related to the validity of the marriage contract are the same whether the man or the woman apostatizes.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
55
A Return to the Classification of Blasphemy
for the Additional Benefit
Know that blasphemy is of three categories. It will be either
likening, contradicting, or denying.
The first of them is likening Allah to the creation. [Examples are]
for one to attribute to Allah a beginning for His Existence or going
out of existence, or a body, color, shape, or quantity [i.e., a size or
a volume].
As for what came in the hadith:
يل ج إنالل[which translates literally as] “Surely Allah is Beautiful,” it does not
mean a beautiful appearance, rather it means that He has the
Attributes of Perfection, or it means He is Generous.
The second of those is contradicting the Religious Law. That is
contradicting what came in the Honorable Qur’an or what the
Messenger came with, i.e., what was confirmed from the
Messenger, while what was contradicted was commonly known
and immediately recognized by the Muslims to be of the Religion.
For example, for someone to believe that Paradise or Hell will end,
or to believe that Paradise’s pleasure is not physical, or that the
torture of Hell is allegorical, or to deny the Resurrection of the
bodies and souls together, or denying the obligation of prayer,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
56
fasting, or Zakah, believing that divorce is [absolutely] haram,
believing that wine is lawful, and other matters which have been
confirmed by definite religious evidence and are spread among
the Muslims and became famous.
This is different, for example, from the one who believes the
prayer is obligatory upon him, however, he does not pray. He
would be a sinner, not a blasphemer like the one who believes the
prayer is not obligatory upon him.
The third type is denial, meaning negating the Existence of Allah,
and that is the worst of blasphemy29.
The judgment of the one who likens Allah to His creation is
definite blasphemy. The way to avoid likening Allah to the
creation is following this decisive rule: “Whatever you imagine in
your mind, Allah is different from that.” This rule is agreed upon
among the People of Truth and it is taken from the Saying of Allah:
كمثلهشىء﴿ ﴾ليس[which means] “Nothing resembles Him in any way whatsoever.”
Also, it is by observing what was narrated from [Abu Bakr] As-
Siddiq, and that is a line of poetry in a meter called Al-Basit:
29
Also in this category is the belief of hulul (believing that Allah dwells in
creations) and ittihad (believing that Allah and the world are united as
one). All of these are considered the worst type of blasphemy.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
57
عندركاإلدراكإدراك ك فروإشراك العجز عنذاته والبحث [which means] “The inability of realizing His Reality is in itself a
correct realization, and searching for the Reality of His Self is
blasphemy and shirk.” It is also by the saying of some: “No one
knows the Reality of Allah except Allah the Exalted.”
Our knowledge about Allah is not an encompassing knowledge;
rather, it is knowing what is necessary to ascribe to Allah, such as
the necessity of His Existence with no beginning, and clearing Him
from what is impossible to ascribe to Him, such as the
impossibility of a partner for Him, and [knowing] what is
permissible to say about Him, such as the Creating of something
or not Creating it.
Imam Ar-Rifa^iyy30 said: “The extent that one can know about
Allah is the certitude in His Existence, the Exalted, without a how
and without a place”.
30
AHmad ibn Abil-Hasan 3aliyy Ar-Rifaa3iyy.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
58
Benefit
Al-Ghazaliyy31 said in Ihya’ ^Ulumi-d-Din:
Surely He (Allah) is Eternal, His Existence does not have a
beginning and His Existence does not have an end, and
surely He is not an entity that is contained. Rather, He is
Exalted and Glorified from whatever is the attribute of the
occurrences. Surely He is not a body that is composed of
particles, and had it been valid to believe that the Maker
of the world is a body, it would have been valid to believe
in the godhood of the sun and the moon or any other
thing among the different types of bodies. So He does not
resemble anything, and nothing resembles Him, rather He
is the Living, the Qayyum32 who does not resemble
anything. How would the creation resemble its Creator,
and the limited thing resemble the One who Limited it,
and the image resemble the One who Gave it the image?
This Kalam is not the Kalam that the scholars dispraised. The
Salaf have only dispraised the Kalam of the innovators in the
creed, like those who liken Allah to the creation, the Mu^tazilah,
the Khawarij, and the other deviant factions, those factions that
31
Abū Ĥāmid Muĥammad Ibn Muĥammad Ibn Muĥammad Ibn Aĥmad
ať-Ťūsiyy Ash-Shāfi^iyy Al-Ghazāliyy (450 – 505 AH).
32 The One who does not need anything, or the One Whose Existence
does not end, or the One with confirmed Existence.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
59
have deviated from what the Messenger and his Companions
were upon, those who have divided into 72 factions, just as the
Messenger informed about in the authentic, confirmed hadith. Ibn
Hibban narrated with his chain of narration back to Abu Hurayrah
that he said that the Messenger of Allah said:
وافرتقت اليهود افرتقت فرقة وسبعني إحدى على النصارى علىكلهمفىلثلثوسبعنيفرقةإتفرت أميتسثنتنيوسبعنيفرقةا
الماعةهيواحدةوالنارإل[which means] “The Jews have divided into 71 factions, the
Christians have divided into 72 factions, and my Nation will
divide into 73 factions. All of them will be in Hell except one, and
that is the Jama^ah,” i.e., the vast majority.
As for the knowledge of Kalam that Ahlus-Sunnah busied
themselves with, it was practiced before Al-Ash^ariyy and Al-
Maturidiyy by the likes of Abu Hanifah, for he has five treatises on
the subject, and Imam Ash-Shafi^iyy mastered it to the extent that
he said, “We mastered that before this,” i.e., we mastered the
science of Kalam before Fiqh.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
60
Protection from Hell
Allah the Exalted said:
ياأي هاالذينآمن واق واأنف سك موأهليك منار اوق ود هاالناس ﴿ها ي عص وناللهماأمره مواحلجارة علي ملئكةغلظشدادل
﴾وي فعل ونماي ؤمر ون[which means] “O you who believed, protect yourselves and your
families from a fire; its fuel is people and stones. In it are Angels
who are merciless and powerful, they do not disobey Allah in
what He Ordered them, and they do what they are ordered to
do.”
It came in the interpretation of this verse that Allah Orders the
believers to protect themselves and their families from Hell,
whose fuel is people and stones, by learning the religious matters
and teaching their families that, meaning knowing what Allah
Made obligatory to do and to avoid (i.e., the obligations and the
prohibitions). This is so that one would not fall into likening Allah
to the creation, blasphemy and misguidance; for the worship of
the one who likens Allah to anything would not be valid, because
he worshipped something he imagined in his imagination, and by
his delusion he was deluded. Abu Hamid Al-Ghazaliyy said, “The
worship is not valid except after knowing the Worshipped.”
The First Creation
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
61
The Messenger of Allah said, upon being asked about the
beginning of creation:
ومليك نشىءغري ه وكانعرش ه علىاملاء،وكتبف كانالل ك ل خلقالسماواتواألرضالذكر شىء ،ث
[which means] “Allah Existed and nothing else existed. His ^Arsh
was over the water, He ordered for everything to be written in
the Guarded Tablet, then He created the Heavens and the
Earth.” This is narrated by Al-Bukhariyy. The Messenger
responded to this question by saying that Allah has no beginning
for His Existence, meaning He is Eternal and there is no eternal
one other than Him. In other words, in Eternity, nothing existed
except Allah, and Allah Created everything, meaning He is the One
who Brought it from non-existence to existence. The meaning of
“He Created everything” is that He Brought all existing things from
non-existence into existence. Allah the Exalted is Alive and does
not die, because He has no end for His Existence, meaning He is
Everlasting. Therefore, non-existence does not occur to Him,
because had He existed after non-existence, Eternity would be
impossible for Him.
The judgment of the one who says, “Allah created the creation,
but who created Allah?” is a definite charge of blasphemy,
because he has attributed to Allah non-existence before
existence, and this is not said except about events, meaning the
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
62
creations. Hence Allah the Exalted has the Necessary Existence,
i.e., His non-existence is inconceivable to the mind; His Existence
is not like our eventual existence, because our existence is by His
Creating, and everything other than Allah has a possible existence.
This means that it is mentally possible that it could exist after non-
existence, and that it could go out of existence after existence.
This is the judgment of the mind [regarding the possible matter] in
and of itself.
Know that there are three categories of existence. The first is
Eternal and Everlasting, and that pertains to Allah only, meaning
there is no beginning and no end for His Existence. The judgment
of the one who says that there is something eternal other than
Allah is definitely a charge of blasphemy. For this reason the
philosophers blasphemed by their foolish creed that the world is
eternal and beginningless, because Eternity is only valid for Allah
the Exalted.
The second is everlasting and not eternal, that is, it has a
beginning and it has no end. This is in reference to Paradise and
Hell; both of them are created, meaning they both have a
beginning, however, they have no end, meaning they are
everlasting. So destruction does not happen to them, nor non-
existence, because Allah Willed for their everlastingness. In and of
themselves, it is mentally possible that they would go out of
existence.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
63
The third is neither eternal nor everlasting, meaning it has a
beginning and it has an end, and that is everything in this present
life from the seven Skies to the Earth. Therefore, there is no
escape from their ceasing to exist, their annihilation, and the
annihilation of what is in them, whether humans, jinn or angels.
Know that it is the habit of the scholars to mention that the
mental judgment is divided into three categories: the necessary,
the possible and the impossible. The necessary is what is not
conceived to be nonexistent, and that is in reference to Allah and
His Attributes. The impossible is that which its existence is not
conceived by the mind, and they sometimes express it as the
prevented existence. The possible is that which its existence and
nonexistence are conceived by the mind, and this why they
ascribe to Allah the Necessary Existence.
The Eternality of Allah is not Related to Time
Allah the Exalted Existed Eternally without time or place and
before darkness and light. Thus He is not of the tangible type
within the world such as earth, stone, the stars, plants, and the
human. Furthermore, He is not of the intangible type within the
world, such as light, souls, air, jinn, and angels, because of His
dissimilarity to the events, i.e., His Difference from all the
creation.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
64
If it were said, “Isn’t one of His Names Al-Latif?” The answer is
that the meaning of Al-Latif, which is a Name of Allah, is the One
Who is Merciful to His slaves, or the One Who is not reached by
delusions, so they do not realize Him. Therefore, there is no
resemblance for Him, the Exalted; there is no likeness for Him;
and there is none similar to Him in His Self, or in His Attributes, or
in His Doing. Had He been similar to the creation in one way or the
other, such as by size, motion, stillness, and the like, then He
would not have been the Creator of those things. Therefore, Allah
the Exalted is Glorified from the attributes of the events, and
likewise the Attributes of Allah are Eternal; that is, they are
without beginning. Because of the importance of this subject,
Imam Abu Hanifah said, “Whoever said that the Attributes of
Allah are events, or he doubts, or he is neutral about that, then he
is a blasphemer.” He mentioned that in the book Al-Wasiyyah.
Additionally, At-Tahawiyy said, “And whoever attributes to Allah
attributes of the human has blasphemed.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
65
Clearing Allah of a Place, and the Mental
Validity of His Existence Without a Place
Allah the Exalted is Free of needing the creation, meaning
Eternally and Everlastingly He does not need anything other than
Him. He does not need a place in which He would be contained, or
something in which He would dwell, or a direction, because He is
not like any of the different types of things. He is not a tangible
body or an intangible body. The tangible body and intangible body
are contained in direction and place.
Allah the Exalted Said:
وه والذيخلقالليلوالن هاروالشمسوالقمر﴿يسبح ون ﴾ك ل فف لك
[which means] “He is the One who created the night, the day, the
sun, and the moon; and each of them is in an orbit, moving.”
Allah has Confirmed for each one of those four containment in its
space, which is its pathway.
The Saying of Allah,
كمثلهشىء﴿ ﴾ليس[which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way,” is enough to
clear Allah from place, containment, and direction, because had
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
66
He had a place then He would have similarities and dimensions;
length, width, and depth, and whoever is like that is an event in
need of the one who specified Him with this length, width, and
depth. This is the evidence from the Qur’an.
As for the evidence from the hadith, it is what was narrated with
an authentic chain of narration by Al-Bukhariyy, Ibnul-Jarud, and
Al-Bayhaqiyy that the Messenger of Allah said,
كاناللومليكنشىءغريه[which means] “Allah Existed and nothing else existed.” Its
meaning is that Allah never ceased to Exist Eternally. There was
none other than Him with Him; no water, air, Earth, Sky, Kursiyy,
^Arsh, human, jinn, angel, time, place, or direction. So He, the
Exalted, Existed before the place without a place, and He is the
One who Created the place, so He is not in need of it. This is
among what is derived from this aforementioned hadith.
Al-Bayhaqiyy said in his book Al-Asma’ was-Sifat: “Some among
our colleagues have used as evidence for negating a place for Him
the saying of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص,
[which means] ‘O Allah, You are Adh-Dhahir and there is nothing
above You, and You are Al-Batin and there is nothing below
You.’ If there is nothing above Him and nothing below Him He is
not in a place.” This hadith also has the refutation for those who
ascribe a direction to Allah. ^Aliyy said: “Allah Existed and there
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
67
was no place, and He Is now as He Existed.” This was narrated by
Abu Mansur Al-Baghdadiyy.
The foundation of the Creed is not based on delusion; rather, it is
based on what is dictated by the sound mind, which is a witness
for [the validity of the truthfulness of] the Religious Law. The
sound mind judges that what is limited is in need of whoever
limited it with that limit, so it would not be God.
Just as Allah’s Existence without a place is valid before He Created
places and directions, His Existence after Creating the places is
valid without a place or a direction. This would not be a negation
of Allah’s Existence, as claimed by the Likeners and the
Wahhabiyys, the callers to ascribing a body to Allah in this time.
The judgment of whoever says that Allah the Exalted is
everywhere, or in all places, is a charge of blasphemy if one
understands from this expression that Allah by His Self is spread
or dwelling in all places. However, if one understood from this
expression that Allah has control over everything and that He is
knowledgeable about everything, then he does not blaspheme;
this is the intent of many who are fond of these two expressions.
In any case, it is obligatory to forbid them from saying it, because
these statements are not originally from the Salaf; rather, they
originally came from the Mu^tazilah, then the ignorant lay people
started to use them.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
68
We raise our hands in du^a’ to the sky because it is the place from
which the mercy and blessings descend; it is not because the Self
of Allah exists in the sky. Similarly, we direct ourselves to the
honorable Ka^bah in the prayer because Allah Ordered us with
that; it is not because the Ka^bah has some merit or specification
of Allah living in it. The one who believes that Allah is contained
blasphemes, or if he believes that Allah is something like the air or
the light that fills a place, room or masjid.
Those who believe that Allah is contained in the direction of
above say that we raise our hands to the sky while making du^a’
because He is in the direction of above. They are refuted by what
is confirmed from the Messenger of Allah, that he sought rain and
he put his palms toward the ground and the back of his hands up
to the sky [when he made du^a’], and that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
forbade the one who is praying from lifting his head to the sky.
Had Allah been contained in the direction of above as the Likeners
think, then he would not have prohibited us from lifting our vision
up to the sky while praying. Further proof is that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
used to lift his pointer finger while praying when he said “illallah”
in the Tashahhud, and he would bend it slightly. Had the issue
been as the Likeners said, he would not have bent his finger;
rather, he would have lifted it to the sky. All of this is confirmed in
authentic hadiths according to the scholars of hadith; what then
would the Likeners and the Wahhabiyys do?
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
69
We call the masjids, “the Houses of Allah,” not because Allah lives
there, rather because they are places that are prepared and
dedicated for the remembrance of Allah and His worship.
It is said about the ^Arsh that it is an entity that Allah has
prepared for the Angels, around which they make tawaf just as
the believers on Earth make tawaf around the Ka^bah.
Likewise blasphemes whoever said Allah lives or resides in the
hearts of His Awliya’, if he understands from it the belief of those
who believe that Allah dwells in His slaves.
It is not intended by the Ascension [Mi^raj] up to the skies that
the Messenger would reach a place in which Allah exists, and
whoever believes that blasphemes. The only intent of the
Ascension is to honor the Messenger by making him aware of the
amazing upper world, glorifying his status, and letting him see the
Holy Self of Allah with his heart, not his eyes, without the Self of
Allah being in a place. Rather, the place is for the Messenger.
What is meant by the Saying of Allah:
أوأدن﴿﴾دناف تدىلث﴿ ﴾فكانقابق وسني[which means] “Then he drew close and dangled, and he was as
close as two cubits or closer,” is Jibril when the Messenger saw
him in Makkah in a place that is called Ajyad. He has six hundred
wings, and his enormous size filled the horizon. This is just as the
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
70
Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص saw him a second time by Sidratul-Muntaha33, as
Allah said in the Qur’an:
﴾عندسدرةاملنت هى﴿﴾ولقدرءاه ن زلة أ خرى﴿[which means] “He saw him a second time at Sidratul-Muntaha.”
There are two reasons why what is in Sahih Muslim is not
authentic, which is that a man came to the Messenger of Allah
and asked him about a slave woman of his; the man said, “I said,
‘O Messenger of Allah, should I free her?’ He said ‘Bring her to
me’, so he brought her to him. Then he said to her, ‘Aynallah?’
She said, ‘Fis-sama’.’ He said, ‘Who am I?’ She said, ‘You are the
Messenger of Allah.’ He said, ‘Free her, for she is a believer.’”
[The first is] because of inconsistency [idtirab], since it was
narrated with this expression and also with the expression: “‘Who
is your Lord?’ She said, ‘Allah,’” and with the expression
“‘Aynallah’, and she pointed to the sky,’” and with the expression,
“‘Do you testify that no one is God except Allah?’ she said ‘Yes,’ he
said, ‘Do you testify that I am the Messenger of Allah?’ She said,
‘Yes’.
The second issue is that the narration of “Aynallah” is against the
known Rules of the Religion, because among the basic Rules of the
Religion is that a person is not judged with Islam because he said,
“Allah is in the sky,” for this saying is shared by Jews, Christians
33
A huge tree rooted in the sixth Heaven that grows to the seventh.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
71
and others. Rather, the known rule in the Religion of Allah is what
came in the mutawatir hadith:
أنأ قاتل أ مرت رس ول وأنا الل الناسحىتيشهد واأنلإلهإلاالل
[which means] “I was ordered to fight the people until they
testified that no one is God except Allah, and that I am the
Messenger of Allah,” and the expression of Imam Malik in which
he asked the girl, “Do you testify that no one is God but Allah?” is
in compliance with the known Rules of the Religion.
If it were said, “How would the narration of Muslim, ‘“Aynallah?”
She said, “Fis-sama’,”’ until the end of the hadith, be rejected,
despite that Muslim narrated this hadith in his book, and
everything that is narrated by Muslim is described with
authenticity?”, the answer is that there is a number of hadith in
Muslim that have been rejected by the scholars of hadith, and
they mention them in their books. An example is the hadith that
the Messenger said to a man, “My father and your father are in
hell.”34 Also rejected is the hadith that every Muslim on Judgment
Day will be given a sacrifice among the Jews and the Christians.
Likewise is the hadith of Anas, “I prayed behind the Messenger of
34
As-Siyutiyy rejected this hadith, because either the Prophet’s ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
parents were believers or they were not accountable. This hadith is
against the known rules; that the ones who died before the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
received the Message are not accountable.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
72
Allah, and Abu Bakr and ^Umar, and they used to not mention
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim.” The first hadith was weakened by
Hafidh As-Siyutiyy, the second hadith was rejected by Al-
Bukhariyy, and the third hadith was weakened by Ash-Shafi^iyy
and a number of Hafidhs.
The apparent meaning of this [narration of the] hadith [of the
slave girl] is invalid because it is in conflict with the
aforementioned mutawatir hadith, and anything that opposes
what is narrated by tawatur is invalid if it does not accept a
ta’wil35. The scholars of hadith and Usul have agreed upon that.
However, some scholars have made a ta’wil for the hadith of the
slave girl, which is that they said the meaning of “aynallah” is a
question about her glorification of Allah, and when she said “fis-
sama’,” she meant “He has a very high status.” As for taking it by
its literal meaning, to say that Allah lives in the sky, this is invalid
and rejected. It is confirmed in the knowledge of hadith
terminology that whatever goes against what is narrated by
tawatur is invalid if it does not accept a ta’wil, and certainly the
apparent meaning of [this narration of the] hadith of the slave girl
is corrupt because the apparent meaning of this hadith is if the
blasphemer says Allah is in the sky, he is judged with belief.
The Likeners have taken the narration of Muslim by its apparent
meaning and were then misguided, and what they say does not
35
In this context, explaining a text by other than its apparent meaning.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
73
save them from misguidance. They say, “We interpret the
statement, ‘fis-sama’,’ in the hadith as ‘fawqal-^Arsh,’ [above the
^Arsh].” [This does not protect them from misguidance] because
by that they have confirmed a similar for Allah, which is the book
in which Allah Ordered to be written:
إنارمحيتسب قتغضيب[which means] “Certainly My Mercy overcomes My Punishment.”
That book is above the ^Arsh, so they would be confirming
similarity between Allah and that book, because they confirm
both Allah and that book dwelling above the ^Arsh. By that, they
would have contradicted the Saying of Allah:
كمثلهشىء﴿ ﴾ليس[which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way.”
This hadith about the book is narrated by Ibn Hibban according to
the expression:
فو العرشمرفوع [which means] “Raised above the ^Arsh.” As for the narration of
Al-Bukhariyy, the expression is:
موضوعفو العرش[which means] “Put above the ^Arsh.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
74
Some people have explained the term “fawq” in this hadith, which
means “above”, as “below”, and that is rejected by the narration
of Ibn Hibban, “Raised above the ^Arsh.” In this narration it would
not be valid to interpret “fawq” as “taht.” Furthermore, according
to this creed of theirs, it would be necessary that Allah would be
parallel to the ^Arsh, either having its size or being bigger or
smaller than it, and everything that has a measure is an event and
is in need of the one who gave it that measure. There is no
similarity between the ^Arsh and Allah, just as there is no
similarity between Him and any of His creation.
Furthermore, Allah is not granted an honor by any of His creation
and He does not benefit from any of His creation. For the Likeners
to say that Allah sits on the ^Arsh is insulting Him, because sitting
is the attribute of humans, animals, jinn, and vermin. Every
attribute of the creation, if attributed to Allah, is insulting Him.
The Hafidh, Faqih, and Linguist, Murtada Az-Zabidiyy said,
“Whoever makes Allah limited by a measure has blasphemed.”
That is because he made Him someone with a quantity and
volume. Volume and quantity are among the things that
necessitate eventuality. 36 Mentally, did we know that the sun is a
created event by other than its having a volume? Had Allah had a
volume, He would have been similar to the sun in respects to
having a volume. Had He been like that, He would not deserve
Godhood, just as the sun does not deserve Godhood. Had the sun
36
Being an event, i.e., something with a beginning, a creation.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
75
worshipper sought mental evidence from those Likeners that
Allah deserves Godhood and that the sun does not deserve
Godhood, those Likeners would have no evidence. The most that
they would be able to say is that Allah Said,
ك لاشىء ﴿ ﴾اللخالق [which means] “Allah is the Creator of everything.” If they said
that to the sun worshipper, the sun worshipper would say to
them, “I do not believe in your book. Give me mental evidence
that the sun does not deserve worship.” Here they would be
silenced.
There is nothing alive above the ^Arsh. There is only a book above
the ^Arsh. Written in it is:
إنارمحيتسب قتغضيب[which means] “Surely My Mercy overcomes My Punishment.” It
means that the signs of Mercy are more than the signs of torture.
The Angels are among the signs of Mercy, and they are more
numerous than the drops of rain and the leaves of the trees.
Paradise is also among the signs of Mercy, and it is thousands of
times bigger than Hell.
That book being above the ^Arsh is confirmed. Al-Bukhariyy and
an-Nasa’iyy narrated that hadith. An-Nasa’iyy narrated that in his
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
76
book As-Sunanul-Kubra, and others have narrated this hadith. The
expression of Ibn Hibban’s narration is:
يكتب ه علىنفسهوهومرفوع كتبفكتاب ملاخلقاللاخللقغضيبلفو العرشإنرمحيتت غ ب
[which means] “When Allah Created the creation He had a book
written and Promised37 that He would Adhere to that book, and
that book is elevated above the ^Arsh. Written in it is, ‘Certainly
my Mercy overcomes my Punishment’.”
If someone tries to interpret “fawq” to mean “below,” it is said to
him, “Explaining the texts by other than their apparent meanings
is not permissible except with confirmed textual evidence or
definitive mental evidence.” They do not have either one. There is
no evidence that one must adhere to giving this hadith a ta’wil.
How would it be necessary when some of the scholars said that
the Guarded Tablet is above the ^Arsh? There is no explicit text
that documents that it is above the ^Arsh or below the ^Arsh. So it
is an issue of possibility i.e.,it is possible that the Guarded Tablet is
above the ^Arsh and it is possible that it is below the ^Arsh.
According to the saying that it is above the ^Arsh, that Likener
would have made Allah similar to the Guarded Tablet, i.e.,
according to them Allah would be parallel to part of the ^Arsh,
37 The Promise of Allah is not like the promise of the creation because It is fulfilled and It never changes.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
77
and the Guarded Tablet would also be parallel to part of the
^Arsh. This is resembling Allah to His creation, because being
parallel is of the attributes of the creation.
Among what proves that that book is above the ^Arsh in reality,
with a real aboveness that cannot be explained in a way which is
different than its apparent meaning, is the hadith narrated by an-
Nasa’iyy in his book “As-Sunanul-Kubra”:
فهوسنة يبألفإنااللكتبكتاب اقبلأنيل قالساماواتواألرضعنده علىالعرشوإنهأنزلمنذلكالكتابءايتنيختمبما
البقرةسورة[which means] “Certainly Allah had a book written before He
Created the heavens and the earth by 2,000 years. Allah
certainly sent down from that book two verses by which He has
ended the chapter of Al-Baqarah.” According to an expression
narrated by Muslim,
فهوموضوععنده [which translates literally as] “It is put with Him [^indahu].” This is
explicit in saying that the book is above the ^Arsh with a real
aboveness that cannot be explained in a way that is different from
the apparent meaning.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
78
The term “^inda [with]” is for honor and is not to confirm that
Allah is contained above the ^Arsh, because the word “^inda” is
used for other than a place. Allah, the Exalted said:
﴾كبردنعة موسم*ود ض نميل جنسمة ارجاحهي لاعنرطمأو﴿[which means] “Allah made stones of sijjil mamdud rain upon
them. Those stones are known to [^inda] your Lord.” The term
“^inda” here refers to that [issue] being by the Knowledge of
Allah, and it does not mean that Allah has a vicinity in which those
stones are. So whoever used the mere word “^inda” to confirm a
place for Allah and to confirm closeness between Allah and His
creation is of the most ignorant of the ignorant. Would a sane
person say that those stones that Allah descended upon those
blasphemers came down from the ^Arsh to them, and that those
stones were dwelling in a place next to Allah above the ^Arsh,
according to their claim?
Al-Bukhariyy narrated that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:
كانأحدكمفصلتهفإناهيناجيربهفليبصقنافقبلتهول إذا عنميينهفإنربهبينهوبنيقبلته
[which translates literally as] “If one of you were in his prayer,
then surely he is addressing his Lord. So let him not spit in the
direction of his Qiblah or to his right, for certainly His Lord is
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
79
between him and his Qiblah.”38 This hadith has a stronger chain
of narration than the hadith of the female slave.
Al-Bukhariyy also narrated from the route of Abu Musa Al-
Ash^ariyy that the Messenger of Allah said:
اربعواعلىأنفسكمفإنكملتدعونأصمولغائبا،إنكمتدعونسيعاقريبا،والذيتدونهأقربإىلأحدكممنعنقراحلةأحدكم[which translates literally as] “Take it easy on yourselves, for
certainly you are not calling on someone who is deaf, nor are
you calling upon someone who is absent. You are calling on
Someone Who Hears and He is Close. The One that you are
calling is Closer to one of you then the neck of an animal that
you are riding.”
So it is said to the one who opposes, “If you took the hadith of the
female slave by its apparent meaning, and these two hadiths by
their apparent meanings, then your claim that Allah is in the sky is
invalidated. Then, if you explain these two hadiths of Al-Bukhariyy
by other than their apparent meanings, and you do not explain
38
The real meaning of this hadith is that when the person is praying, he
is facing his Qiblah. This Qiblah is an honorable direction, and the person
is also addressing his Lord while he is praying, so let him not spit in front
of him, because it is not the befitting manner for the status of his prayer,
for the status of addressing his Lord, and for the status of this direction
that he is facing. Also, let him not spit to his right side.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
80
the hadith of the slave girl by other than its apparent meaning,
then this is being arbitrary; a saying without evidence. Then what
Allah said about the Jews in the Qur’an would be applicable to
you:
﴾أف ت ؤمن ونبب عضالكتابوتكف ر ونبب عض ﴿[which means] “Do you believe in some of the Book and
disbelieve in some of it?” Likewise, what do you, O Likeners, say
about the Saying of Allah:
﴾اللفأي نمات ولواف ثموجه ﴿[which translates literally as] “Wherever you turn yourself is the
face of Allah.” If you explain this verse by other than its apparent
meaning, why do you not explain the hadith of the female slave by
other than its apparent meaning? It came in the tafsir from
Mujahid, the student of Ibn ^Abbas, that this means the Qiblah of
Allah. So he explained the term “wajh” [which literally means
face] of Allah as “Qiblah” of Allah; this means that this verse is
revealed in reference to the optional prayer while traveling on an
animal.
As for the hadith that was narrated by At-Tirmidhiyy:
منفالرامحونيرمحهمالرمحنارمحوامنفاألرضيرمحكمالساماء
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
81
[which means] “Those who are merciful, Ar-Rahman is Merciful
to them. Be merciful to whoever is on Earth and whoever is in
the Sky will be merciful to you.” According to another narration,
the hadith is:
يرمحكمأهلالسماء[which means] “…the People of the Sky will be merciful to you.”
This narration explains the first narration. That is because the best
thing by which the narrated hadith is explained is another
narrated hadith, just as said by Hafidh Al-^Iraqiyy in his millennial
poem:
وخريمافسرتهبالوارد[which means] “The best thing by which you have explained a
hadith is another narrated hadith.”
Furthermore, what is meant by “The People of the Sky” is the
Angels. That was mentioned by Hafidh Al-^Iraqiyy in his dictation
sessions after he mentioned this hadith. His exact statement is “By
the Prophet’s ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص saying, ‘The People of the Sky’, it is proven
that what is meant by the Saying of Allah in the verse:
﴾أأمنت ممنفالسماء﴿[which means] “Do you feel secure from who is in the sky?” is the
Angels.” That is because Allah is not referred to as “The People of
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
82
the Sky.” The word من [man; “who”] is used for the singular and
the plural. Therefore, there is no evidence in this verse for that.
The same is said about the verse that comes after that verse:
﴿أمأمنت ممنفالسماءأني رسلعليك محاصب ا﴾[which literally means] “Or do you feel secure from who is in the
sky from sending stones upon you?” So “man” [who] in this verse
is also “The People of the Sky” and not “the one in the sky.”
Certainly Allah sends Angels to the blasphemers if He willed to
punish them in the present life, just like in the Hereafter; they are
the ones appointed with inflicting the punishment on the
blasphemers, because they are the caretakers of Hell, and they
pull a section of Hell to the place of Judgment so that the
blasphemers will be terrified by seeing it.
The expression of that narration narrated by Hafidh Al-^Iraqiyy in
his dictation session is:
ماءالرامحونيرمحهمالرحيمارمحواأهلاألرضيرمحكمأهلالسا[which means] “Those who are merciful, Ar-Rahim is Merciful to
them. Be merciful to the people of the earth and the people of
the sky will be merciful to you.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
83
Furthermore, had Allah been residing in the sky like some people
claimed, He would be crowding the Angels. This is impossible
because of the hadith which has been confirmed:
مافالسمواتموضعأربعأصابعإلوفيهملكقائمأوراكعأو ساجد
[which means] “There is not a four-fingered space in the sky,”
and in a narration “a handspan”, “except that it has an angel in
the standing position, or the bowing position, or prostration.”
Likewise the hadith which is narrated by Al-Bukhariyy and Muslim
from the route of Abu Sa^id Al-Khudriyy that the Messenger of
Allah said:
أمنيمنفالسماءيأتينخربمنفالسماءألتأمنونوأنامساءصباح
[which means] “Do you not deem me as trustworthy while I am
deemed trustworthy by who is in the sky? The news of who is in
the sky comes to me day and night.” What is meant by this is also
the Angels, and if Allah is meant by the hadith, then it means the
One Who Has a very high Status.
As for the hadith of Zaynab Bint Jahsh, the wife of the Prophet
that she used to say to the wives of the Messenger, “Your ,ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
families gave you in marriage, and Allah gave me in marriage from
above seven Skies,” it means that the Prophet’s marriage to her
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
84
was recorded in the Guarded Tablet. So this is a marriage contract
that is specific to Zaynab; it is not the ordinary marriage contract.
The normal marriage contract is for all of the people, and every
marriage that takes place until the end of the world is recorded on
the Tablet, which is above the Seven Skies.
As for the hadith, which in it is:
والذينفسيبيدهمامنرجليدعوامرأتهإىلفراشهفتأىبعليهالسماءساخطاعليها...إلكانالذيف
[which means] “By the One Who Controls my soul, there is no
man who calls his wife to his bed and she refuses except that the
one who is in the sky would be angry with her,” until the end of
the hadith. This is also taken to be in reference to the Angels. The
proof for that is the second authentic narration, which is even
more famous than the previous one:
لعنتهاامللئكةحىتتصبح[which means] “The Angels will damn her until the dawn.” This
hadith was narrated by Ibn Hibban and others.
As for the hadith of Abu-d-Darda’ that the Messenger of Allah
said:
ربناالذيفالسماءتقداساسك
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
85
[which means] “O our Lord, the One in the sky, Your Name is
Holy,” it is not an authentic hadith; rather, it is weak, as judged by
Hafidh Ibnul-Jawziyy. Had it been authentic, then its case would
be like what passed in the hadith of the slave girl [i.e., it would
mean the One with a high Status and not the one in the sky].
As for the hadith of Jubayr ibn Mut^im, from the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص:
القبةعرشهفو سواته،وسواتهفو أراضيهمثلإنااللعلى[which means] “Certainly, Allah is on His ^Arsh above His Skies
and His Skies are over His Earths like a dome,” Al-Bukhariyy did
not narrate this hadith in his book of sahih, so there is no evidence
in it. In its chain of narration is a weak narrator, and what he
narrates is not taken as evidence. That was mentioned by Ibnul-
Jawziyy and others.
Likewise, Al-Bukhariyy narrated in his book, “Khalq Af^al Al-^Ibad”
from the route of Ibn ^Abbas that the Messenger of Allah said:
كلماللموسىكاننداؤهفالسماءوكاناللفالسماء ملا[which means] “When Allah Spoke to Musa, His Call was in the sky
and Allah was in the sky.” This hadith is not confirmed, so it is not
taken as evidence.
As for the saying that is attributed to Imam Malik:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
86
اللفالسماءوعلمهفكلمكانليلومنهشىء[which means] “Allah is in the sky and His Knowledge is
everywhere and nothing is devoid of Him,” it is also not confirmed
from Malik. It does not have a continuous chain of narration. Abu
Dawud did not narrate that from Imam Malik with a sahih chain of
narration, instead, he narrated it in his book Al-Masa’il, and the
mere narration of something is not a confirmation [of its validity].
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
87
The Thirteen Attributes of Allah
It was the norm of the later scholars who authored works in the
Creed to say that the personal obligation on every accountable
person (meaning the pubescent, sane person) is to know the
Thirteen Attributes among the Attributes of Allah: Existence,
Eternality, Dissimilarity to the creation, Oneness, Independence of
others, Everlastingness, Power, Will, Life, Knowledge, Speech,
Hearing, and Sight; and whatever negates these Attributes is
impossible to ascribe to Allah.
Since these Attributes were mentioned frequently in the religious
texts, the scholars said that knowing them is obligatory as a
personal obligation, meaning on every individual accountable
person. Some of them said it is obligatory to know 20 Attributes,
and so they added seven Attributes called Ma^nawiyyah
Attributes. They said, “…and His being Powerful, Willful, Alive,
Knowledgeable, Speaking, Hearing, and Sightful.” The first method
is the weightful method.39
Existence
Know, may Allah have Mercy upon you, that Allah the Exalted is
Existing Eternally and Everlastingly, so His Existence is not by the
creating of a creator.
39
His being Powerful is known by the confirmation of His Attribute of Power, and likewise is the rest.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
88
Some people have considered the statement “Allah [is] Mawjud
[Existent]” to be objectionable because the pattern of the word
“mawjud” is the pattern dedicated for what receives the action
[maf^ul]. The response is that pattern “maf^ul” may be used in
reference to what did not receive the action of another, just as we
say, “Allah [is] ‘Ma^bud’ [Worshipped].” Those who said that
thought about themselves that they have a share in the
knowledge of the language, and they are not as they thought they
were.
The great linguist and explainer of Al-Qamus, Az-Zabidiyy, said in
the explanation of Al-Ihya’, “The Creator, the Exalted is “Mawjud,”
thus it is valid that He would be seen.”
Al-Fayyumiyy, the linguist and author of Al-Misbah, said, “Al-
mawjud is different from the non-existent.”
Eternality
Eternality is necessary for Allah, meaning having no beginning.
When referring to Allah [the term] Qidam does not mean a long
period of time that lapsed. The expressions Qadim and Azaliyy, if
used in reference to Allah, mean that Allah has no beginning for
His Existence. Thus it is said that Allah is Azaliyy and Allah is
Qadim. If they were used in reference to the creation, then they
would have the meaning of an extended lapse of time. Allah the
Exalted Said about the moon:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
89
كالع رج ونالقدي﴿ عاد ﴾حىت[which means] “…until it returns back to the stage that resembles
the old [qadim] palm branch.”
The author of Al-Qamus, Al-Fayruz’abadiyy, said, “The Pyramids
are two ancient [Azaliyy] buildings in Egypt.”
The evidence of His Eternality, the Exalted, is that had He not been
Eternal, it would be necessary that He have a beginning. Then He
would be in need of someone to give Him a beginning, and had He
been in need of someone to give Him a beginning, that would lead
to circular causation or to the claim of [a chain of] beginningless
events, and both are impossible. It is confirmed that it is
impossible for Allah to have a beginning, hence His Eternality is
confirmed.
Everlastingness
Everlastingness is necessary for Allah, meaning that non-existence
does not follow His Existence, because once it was confirmed
mentally that Allah is Eternal, it was necessary that He would be
Everlasting. This is because had it been possible that His Existence
would be followed by non-existence, Eternity would not be
applicable to Him. Therefore He is the One Who is Everlasting by
Himself, there is none Everlasting by himself except for Him. As for
Paradise and Hell, their everlastingness is not intrinsic, rather it is
because Allah Willed for them to be everlasting. Hence, it is valid
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
90
that Paradise, in and of itself, would go out of existence. Likewise
Hell; in reference to itself it is valid that it would go out of
existence.
Hearing
It is an Eternal Attribute that is confirmed for the Self of Allah. He
hears the sounds with an Eternal and Everlasting Hearing. It is not
like our hearing; it is not with an ear or ear canal. And so, nothing
escapes His Hearing, Exalted is He, meaning no heard thing is
absent from His Hearing, even if it were unclear for us or far [from
us], just as He Knows without a heart.
The mental evidence for the necessity of the Hearing is that had
He not been Attributed with Hearing, He would be attributed with
deafness; that is deficiency for Allah, and deficiency is impossible
for Him. Whoever says that He hears with an ear is a blasphemer.
Sight
Sight is mentally necessary to attribute to Allah. He Sees all seen
things with an Eternal and Everlasting Sight, and He Sees Himself
without a pupil or organ because senses [which are related to
organs] are among the attributes of the creation.
The mental evidence for the confirmation of His Sight is that had
He not been Attributed with Sight then He would have been blind,
and blindness, i.e., lack of sight, is deficiency for Allah, and
deficiency is impossible for Him.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
91
The textual evidence for Hearing and Sight is verses and hadiths,
like the Saying of Allah,
﴾وه والسميع البصري ﴿[which means] “And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing,” and
the Prophet’s ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص saying when counting the Perfect Names of
Allah:
السميع البصري [which means] “The All-Hearing, the All-Seeing,” which is in a
hadith narrated by at-Tirmidhiyy; Ibn Hibban authenticated it.
Speech
Speech is an Eternal and Everlasting Attribute. He is a Speaker by
this Attribute; a Commander, Forbidder, Promiser, and
Threatener. It is not like the speech of another, rather it is Eternal
by the Eternality of the Self. It does not resemble the speech of
the creation. It is neither a sound that takes place by the passage
of air or the collision of bodies nor a letter that is cut off by closing
the lips or by the motion of the tongue.
We believe that Musa heard the Eternal Speech of Allah without it
being a letter or sound, just as the believers will see the Self of
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
92
Allah in the Hereafter without the Self being a mass40 or a
characteristic, because the mind does not deem hearing
something that is not a letter or sound as impossible.
The Speech of His Self, Exalted is He, is not successive letters like
our speech. If the reciter recites the Speech of Allah [i.e. the
Revealed Qur’an, not the Attribute], then this recitation is of a
letter and a sound; it is not eternal.
These details were conveyed by Abu Hanifah, and he is from the
Salaf. He was alive during part of the first century, then he died in
year 150 after the Hijrah. He said, “Allah Speaks without an
instrument and without a letter, and we speak with an instrument
and a letter.” So let that be understood. The issue is not as the
Likeners have said, that the Salaf did not say that Allah is a
Speaker with a Speech that is not of a letter, and that this is only
the innovation of the Ash^ariyys. This talk from Abu Hanifah is
confirmed; he mentioned it in one of his five treatises.
The word Qur’an has two usages. It is used in reference to the
expression revealed to Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, and in reference to the
Speech which is the Eternal Attribute; that Speech which is not a
letter or a sound, neither is it Arabic language nor any other
language. If what is intended by it [i.e., the word Al-Qur’an] is the
Speech of the Self, then it is Eternal; it is not a letter or a sound. If
40
I.e., a body or jawhar (indivisible particle).
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
93
what is meant by it and by the rest of the Heavenly Books is the
Revealed Expression, then among them is what is Hebrew, and
among it is what is Suriyaniyy. These languages as well as the
other languages were not existent, then Allah the Exalted Created
them and they became existent. Allah the Exalted was Existing
before everything, and He was a Speaker before those languages
existed, and He never ceased to be a Speaker; and His Speech,
which is His Attribute, is Eternal and Everlasting, and it is One
Speech. All of the Revealed Books are expressions of the Eternal
and Everlasting Speech of the Self.
It is not necessary for the expression to be created that the
expressed be created. Had we written on a board or on a wall
“Allah” and then it was said, “This is Allah,” does that mean those
scripted letters are the Self of Allah? No intelligent person is
deluded about that; no one thinks that is the case. Rather, it is
only understood from that that these letters are an expression
referring to God, the One Who is Existing and worshipped and is
the Creator of everything.
Despite that, it is not said, “The Qur’an is created.” Rather it is
clarified, when teaching, that the Revealed Expression is not
confirmed as an Attribute of the Self of Allah. Rather, it is Created
by Allah, because the Revealed Expression is made of letters.
Some of those letters precede other letters, and whatever is like
that is definitely a created event; however, it is not the authoring
of an Angel or a human. Therefore, it is an expression of the
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
94
Speech of the Self, that Speech which is not described as being
Arabic or Hebrew or Suriyaniyy. All of those Revealed Expressions
are called the Speech of Allah. That is, the Attribute of Speech
which is confirmed for the Self of Allah is called the Speech of
Allah, and the Revealed Expression, which is an expression of that
Eternal Speech, is also called the Speech of Allah.
Both usages for “Al-Qur’an” are literal usages, because literal
usage will either be linguistic, religious or normal. Using the word
“Al-Qur’an” for the Revealed Expression is a religious literal usage,
so let that be known. What clarifies that is that the Majestic
Expression, “Allah,” is an expression that refers to the Eternal and
Everlasting Self. So if we said, “We worship Allah,” then that Self is
the One that is intended by our statement; and if this expression
were written, and it was said, “What is this?”, it would be said
“Allah”, meaning that these letters refer to that Eternal
Everlasting Self, not with the meaning that those letters are the
Self that we worship.
Will
Know that Will (Al-Iradah or Al-Mashi’ah) is necessary to attribute
to Allah. It is an Eternal and Everlasting Attribute; by it, Allah
specifies the mentally possible with existence instead of non-
existence, and with an attribute over another, and with a time
instead of another. The evidence for the necessity of Allah’s
Attribute of Will is that had He not been Willful, then nothing of
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
95
this world would exist, because the world is a mental possibility;
mentally, its existence is not inherently necessary. The world is
existent, so we know that it only existed by the Specification of He
who Specified its existence and Made the side of existence
weightful over the side of non-existence. Therefore, it is
confirmed that Allah is Willful.
Furthermore, the Will, according to the People of the Truth, is
inclusive of the deeds of the slaves entirely; the good and the bad.
So all of what came into existence of the bad deeds, good deeds,
blasphemy, sins, and obedience took place by the Will of Allah.
This is perfection in reference to Allah the Exalted, because the
inclusivity of the Power and Will is befitting for the Greatness of
Allah. Had something in His Dominion taken place without His
Will, that would have been evidence of weakness, and weakness is
impossible for Allah. The Will follows the Knowledge, i.e.,
whatever Allah Knew would occur, He Willed for it to occur, and
whatever He Knew would not be, He did not Will for it to be.
The Will does not follow the Order, as proven by the fact that
Allah ordered Ibrahim to slaughter his son, Isma^il, and He did not
Will that for him. If it were said, “How would Allah Order for
something that He did not Will to happen?”, the answer is that He
could Order what He did not Will, just like He Knew that the slave
would do something when He Ordered him not to do it.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
96
Power
It is necessary that Allah would have Power over everything. What
is meant by “everything” here is the mental possibility. Thus, the
mental impossibility is excluded from that, because it does not
accept existence, so it is not suitable to be related to the Power of
Allah.
Ibn Hazm opposed that. He said, “Allah the Mighty and Great has
the power to take a child for Himself. If He did not have the power
to do it He would be weak.” However, what he said is not
necessary, because taking a child for Himself is impossible to be
attributed to Allah. The mentally impossible is not a subject of the
Power.
Power not being related to something could be because of
deficiency, and that is in reference to the creation, and sometimes
it would be because that thing does not accept entrance into
existence, meaning to occur, because it is mentally impossible, or
because it does not accept non-existence because of it being
mentally necessary. The inability is the first one, which is negated
from the Power of Allah the Exalted; not the second one, it is
neither permissible to say that Allah has power over that, nor that
He is weak. Some said, “Just like you do not say about the stone
[that it is] knowledgeable or ignorant.”
Likewise is the response to the saying of some atheists, “Is Allah
able to create one like Himself?” In that there is deeming
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
97
permissible that which is mentally impossible. The clarification for
that is that Allah is Eternal, and had He had a similar it would have
been eternal, and the eternal would not be created because it is
already existent. So how would the existing thing be created?
As for the mentally impossible, its non-acceptance of entering into
existence is clear. As for the mental necessity, it does not accept
an eventual existence because its existence is eternal. There is a
difference between existence and entering into existence.
Existence includes the eternal existence and the eventual
existence; both are called existence. As for entering into
existence, that is the eventual existence.
The mental necessity41 refers to Allah and His Attributes. Allah’s
Existence is a mental necessity. His Existence is Eternal and His
Attributes are Eternal. It is not said about Allah or His Attributes
that they came into existence, because the Existence of Allah and
His Attributes is Eternal. When we said, “The mental necessity
does not accept entry into existence,” that is correct. However,
the understanding of some of the beginners in the Creed is
deficient in this. As for the one who is experienced in that, the
intended meaning is clear.
41
In reference to existence.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
98
Knowledge
Know that the Knowledge of Allah is Eternal, Beginningless, just as
His Self is Eternal. So He never ceased to be Knowledgeable about
His Self, Attributes, and what He Brings into existence of His
creations. So He is not attributed with an eventual knowledge,
because had it been permissible for Him to be attributed with
eventual attributes, Eternality would be negated from Him,
because whatever is a vessel for events must then be an event.
Whatever gives a false impression of the renewal of Allah’s
Knowledge, Exalted is He, of the Qur’anic verses like the Saying of
the Exalted:
عنك موعلمأنفيك مضعف االئ ﴿ ﴾نخففالل [which means] “Now Allah has lightened [the ruling of jihad] for
you, and He Knew about weakness in you,” it does not mean
that. His Saying:
﴾وعلم﴿ [which means] “He knew…” does not refer back to:
﴾نالئ ﴿ [which means] “Now…”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
99
Instead, the meaning is that Allah the Exalted has lightened the
ruling for you now.
And likewise His Saying:
نعلمالم ج ﴿ ﴾ربينهدينمنك موالص ولنبل ونك محىت[which translates literally as] “And We will test you so that We
would Know the one who strives among you and those who are
patient.” It means “We would test you so that We would
differentiate, i.e., make apparent for the creation between you
who strives and who is patient and others. Allah was already
Knowledgeable about that, as copied by Al-Bukhariyy from Abu
^Ubaydah Ma^mar Ibni-l-Muthanna. This is similar to the Saying
of Allah:
اخلبيثمنالطيب﴿ ﴾ليميزالل [which means] “So that Allah would distinguish [for the slaves]
between the wicked and the good.”
Life
Life is necessary to attribute to Allah the Exalted. So He is Living
unlike those who are alive. Since His Life is Eternal and Everlasting,
it is not by soul and blood. The evidence for the necessity of His
Life is the existence of this world, because had He not been Living,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
100
then nothing of this world would exist. However, the existence of
the world is confirmed by the senses and necessity without doubt.
Oneness
The meaning of Oneness is that He is not a Self composed of
pieces. So there is no self like His Self, and no one other than Him
has an attribute like His Attribute, or a doing like His Doing. The
oneness of number is not meant by His Oneness. The one who is
one by number has a half, and parts as well. Instead, the meaning
is that He has no similar.
The proof for His Oneness is that it is necessary that the Maker
would be Living, Powerful, Knowledgeable, Willful, and Choosing.
So if the Attribute of the Maker is confirmed as we have
mentioned, then we say that had the world had two makers, it
would be necessary for each of them to be alive, powerful,
knowledgeable, willing, and choosing. If there are two choosers,
then it is valid that they would differ in the choice, because each
of them is not forced to comply with the other in his choice; or
else both of them would be forced, and the one who is forced
would not be God.
If this is valid, then if one of them willed for what opposes the will
of the other in something—like for one of them to will a person to
be alive, and for the other to will his death—then it must be that
either both of their wills are fulfilled, or neither of their wills is
fulfilled, or one of their wills is fulfilled and the other’s is not. It is
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
101
impossible that both wills would be fulfilled, because of their
opposition. That is, if one of them willed a person’s life and the
other willed his death, it is impossible that this person would be
alive and dead at the same time. If both of their wills are
unfulfilled, they are both weak; the one who is weak would not be
God. If the will of one of them were fulfilled and the will of the
other were not, then surely the one whose will was unfulfilled is
weak, and the weak one would not be God and would not be
Eternal. This evidence is known to those who believe in the
Oneness; it is called the proof of mutual exclusivity.
Allah the Exalted Said:
كانفيهماءالةإلا﴿ لفسدتالو ﴾لل [which means] “Had there been for the Heavens and Earth gods
other than Allah, they would have been in ruins.”
Independence of Others
Know that the meaning of His Independence of the creation is His
not being in need of everything that is other than Himself. So He
does not need someone to specify Him with existence, because
being in need of another negates His Eternality and the necessity
of His Eternality and Everlastingness has been confirmed.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
102
Dissimilarity to the Creation
It is necessary that Allah the Exalted would be Different from the
events. This means that He does not resemble anything of His
creation. Therefore, He is not a volume that occupies a space and
He is not an attribute. The volume is what has containment and an
independent standing, such as bodies. The quality is what does
not have an independent standing. It only stands through other
than itself. Examples are motion, stillness, contact, disconnection,
colors, flavors, and smells. For that reason Imam Abu Hanifah said
in some of his works, “The Creator does not resemble His
creation.” It means that it is not mentally or textually valid that
the Creator would resemble His creation.
Abu Sulayman Al-Khattabiyy said, “Certainly, what is obligatory
upon us and every Muslim to know is that our Lord is not
someone with an image or a shape. For certainly, the image
dictates a manner of being, and that is negated from Allah and His
Attributes.” Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated that from him in his book Al-
Asma’ was-Sifat.
The word “kayfiyyah” [manner of being] could be used to mean
“the reality”, just like what some said:
ي درك هامرءليسالكيفية ال كيفيةالبارفالقدممرء فكيف[which means] “The how of man is not encompassed by man, so
how about the Reality of Al-Jabbar Who Exists Eternally?”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
103
What this person meant was “the reality.” This line of poetry was
narrated by Az-Zarkashiyy, Ibnul-Jawziyy, and others.
Abu Ja^far At-Tahawiyy said, “Whoever attributes to Allah an
attribute of the humans has blasphemed.” Abu Ja^far is among
the people of the 3rd century, so he is included in the hadith:
الذيني ل ون ه م الذيني ل ون ه مث الق ر ونق رنث خي ر [which means] “The best of centuries is my century, then those
who come after them, then those who come after them.” This is
narrated by at-Tirmidhiyy. The Arabic term “qarn” in the hadith
means “century”, as said by Hafidh Abul-Qasim Ibn ^Asakir in his
book Tabyin Kadhib Al-Muftari, which he wrote in defending Abul-
Hasan Al-Ash^ariyy, may Allah Accept his deeds.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
104
All of the Attributes of Allah Are Perfect
The Attributes of Allah are Eternal and Everlasting, because the
Self is Eternal. Therefore He would not acquire an attribute He did
not have in Eternity. As for the attributes of the creation, they are
events. They accept development from perfection to what is more
perfect. Hence, the Knowledge of Allah is not renewed. Allah
Created everything in accordance with His Eternal Knowledge, His
Eternal Power, and His Eternal Will. Allah has encompassed the
past, present and future with His Eternal Knowledge.
The Saying of Allah the Exalted:
ن علمالم جاهدينمنك موالصابرين﴿ ل ونك محىت ﴾ولنب [which translates literally as “And We test you so that We would
know the mujahids among you and those who are patient,”] does
not mean that He will become knowledgeable of the mujahids by
testing them after He was not knowledgeable about them. This is
impossible to be ascribed to Allah. Instead, the meaning of the
verse is, “So We would make apparent for the slaves the mujahids
among you and the patient ones among you from others.”
Whoever says that Allah the Exalted acquires new knowledge
blasphemes.
All the Attributes of Allah are perfect. Allah the Exalted Said:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
105
احلسن﴿ ﴾وللاألساء [which means] “Allah has the Perfect Names.” And Allah the
Exalted Said:
﴾األعلىل ثمالللو﴿[which means] “Allah has Attributes of Perfection,” therefore
every deficiency is impossible to be an attribute of His. As for the
Saying of Allah the Exalted:
الماكرين﴿ خي ر والل ﴾ومكر واومكرالل [which translates literally as “They have harmed others by
committing acts of makr, and Allah has harmed them with makr.”]
Makr as an attribute of the slaves is wickedness and deceit by
making harm reach another through means of trickery. When
attributed to Allah, it is that Allah would Compensate the people
of makr with punishment in a way that they do not expect. In
other words, Allah is Greater in making harm reach the
practitioners of makr, as compensation for them for their makr.
Makr with meaning of trickery is impossible to attribute to Allah.
Likewise the Saying of the Exalted:
يست هزئ بم﴿ ﴾الل
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
106
[which translates literally as “Allah belittles them,”] it means that
Allah will Compensate them for the belittling that they do.
Know that the scholars say, “We believe in the confirmation of
what came in the Qur’an and the authentic hadith, like Al-Wajh,
Al-Yad, Al-^Ayn, Ar-Rida, Al-Ghadab, and other than that. We
believe in them as Attributes that Allah Knows about, not as
organs and emotions like our hands, faces, eyes and anger. For
certainly, organs are impossible to be attributed to Allah because
of the Saying of Allah:
كمثلهشىء﴿ ﴾ليس[which means] “Nothing resembles Him whatsoever,” and His
Saying:
ك ف و اأح﴿ ﴾دومليك نله [which means] “There was never a similar for Him.”
They said that had Allah had a ^ayn with the meaning of an organ
and a body, then He would have [many] similars, let alone one,
and whatever would be applicable to the creation would be
applicable to Him, such as death, annihilation, change, and
development. That would be abandoning what is dictated by the
mental evidence about the impossibility of change and
development from one situation to another being attributed to
Allah.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
107
It is not valid to negate the intellect, because the Religious Law
does not come with anything except what is permitted by the
mind; that is, it does not come with anything other than what is
accepted by the mind, because the mind is the witness for the
validity of the Religion. The mind dictates that the body and the
bodily characteristics, i.e., the transient situations that occur to
the body, are all events, and there is no doubt about that and that
they are in need of one to make them occur. Accordingly, it is
necessary that whoever is attributed with that would be in need
of someone to make him occur, and Godhood is not valid for
someone who is in need of someone else.42
42
The mental evidence that the world is an event is the occurrence of attributes that it did not have previously and changing from one situation to another.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
108
The Reason for the Revelation of Surah Al-
Ikhlas
The Jews said to the Messenger, “Describe your Lord for us.” Their
question was out of stubbornness, not out of the love of
knowledge and seeking to be guided by it. For that reason Allah
revealed Surah Al-Ikhlas:
أحد﴿ ﴾ق له والل [which means] “[O Muhammad,] say Allah is One,” meaning the
One Who does not accept multiplicity, or to be many. Also, He
does not have a partner in the Self or the Attributes or the Doings,
and no one has an attribute like His Attributes. Instead, His Power
is One Power, with it He has Power over everything, and His
Knowledge is One; with it He Knows everything.
The Saying of Allah:
الصمد ﴿ ﴾الل [which means] “Allah is As-Samad,” means the One to whom all
the creations are in need, while He is Free from being in need of
anything that exists. It also contains the meaning that He is the
One Who is sought in times of hardship with all of its different
types. Allah does not obtain benefit for himself by His creation,
and He does not repel harm from Himself by them.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
109
The Saying of Allah:
﴾وملي ولدمليلد﴿[which means] “He did not give birth and He was not born,” is a
negation of being made of physical matter and being a vessel for
containment.
What came in the book Mawlid Al-^Arus, [the false claim] that
Allah took a handful of the light of His face and said, “Be
Muhammad,” and it became Muhammad, is among the invalid
fabricated perversions. The judgment of whoever believes that
Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص is a part of Allah the Exalted is a definite charge
of blasphemy, and likewise for the one who believes that ^Isa
[Jesus] is a part of Allah. This book is not authored by Ibnul-
Jawziyy, and no one attributed this book to him except for the
orientalist Brockelmann.43
Allah the Exalted Said:
ك ف و اأحد﴿ ﴾ومليك نله [which means] “There was never a similar for Him.” This means
that nothing resembles Him, meaning He has no similar for Him in
any way whatsoever.
43
Carl Brockelmann (1868–1956).
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
110
The Decisive and Ambiguous Verses
To understand this topic as it should be understood, it is necessary
to know that the Qur’an has within it decisive (muhkam) verses
and ambiguous (mutashabih) verses. Allah the Exalted Said:
ه والذيأنزلعليكالكتابمنه آياتمكماته نأ م﴿م تشاباتال فأماالذينفق ل وبمزيغف يتبع ونماكتابوأ خر
نةوابتغاءتأويلهتشابهمنه ابتغاءالف الل وماي علت م تأويله إلك ل منعندرب ناوالراسخ ونفالعلمي ق ول ونآمنا ومايبه إل ذكر ﴾بابأ ول واألل
[which means] “He is the one who revealed the Book to you, (O
Muhammad). Within it are decisive verses; they are the
reference of the book, and others are ambiguous. As for those
who have deviance in their hearts, they follow what is
ambiguous from it with the purpose of fitnah [tribulation], and
seeking its ta’wil44. No one knows its ta’wil except Allah and
those who are deeply rooted in the knowledge. They say, ‘We
believe in it. All of it is from our Lord. No one is admonished by it
except those of sound mind.’”
44
Ta’wil has a number of meanings which vary depending on the recitation of the verse, as will be explained.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
111
The Decisive Verses
The decisive verses are those which do not accept more than one
meaning as an explanation as far as the rules of the language are
concerned, or [according to another definition] that which its
intended meaning is known with clarity. Like the Saying of Allah:
كمثلهشىء﴿ ﴾ليس[which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way,” and His Saying:
ك ف و اأحد﴿ ﴾ومليك نله [which means] “And there was never a similar for Him,” and His
saying:
﴾هلت علم له سيا﴿[which means] “Do you know of a similar for Him?”
The Ambiguous Verses
The ambiguous verse is that which what it refers to is not clear, or
it could possibly have several facets in meaning and is in need of
contemplation to interpret it in accordance with the proper
meaning, like the Saying of Allah the Exalted:
﴾علىالعرشاست وىالرمحن ﴿And the Saying of Allah the Exalted:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
112
والعمل الصالح ي رف ع ه ﴿ ﴾إليهيصعد الكلم الطيب which means the good words like “La ilaha illallah” ascend up to
the place that Allah honored, which is the sky, and the good deed
is raised by it, i.e., the good word raises the good deed. This is
harmonious with and in compliance with the decisive verse:
كمثلهشىء﴿ ﴾ليس[which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way.”
Consequently it is necessary to refer the interpretation of the
ambiguous verses back to the decisive verses. This is in reference
to the ambiguous matters that are valid for the scholars to know.
As for the ambiguous matter that is meant by the Saying of Allah:
الل ﴾وماي عل﴿ م تأويله إل[which means] “No one knows its ta’wil except Allah,” according
to the recitation of stopping at the Majestic Expression [the Name
Allah], it refers to what is like the occurrence of Judgment Day and
the precise time that ad-Dajjal would appear. That is not the same
type [of ambiguity] as in the verse of Istiwa’.
It was narrated from the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص:
هه ابشتم وابن ءاموهمكحم وابل ماع
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
113
[which means] “Apply its decisive and believe its ambiguous.”
This hadith is slightly weak.
The linguist, Muhaddith and Hanafiyy scholar, Murtada Az-
Zabidiyy said in his book Ithaf as-Sadatil-Muttaqin, conveying
from the book At-Tadhkirah Ash-Sharqiyyah by Abu Nasr Al-
Qushayriyy45:
As for the Saying of Allah:
الل ﴾وماي عل﴿ م تأويله إل[which means] “No one knows its ta’wil except Allah,” He
only means by that the exact time of the Hour [the Day of
Judgment]. The pagans asked the Prophet about the Hour,
“When will it happen?” Therefore, the ambiguous is a sign
of the knowledge of the unseen; no one knows the
outcome of the matters except Allah the Mighty and
Great. For that reason He Said:
تأويله يوميأتى﴿ ﴾تأويل ه هلي نظ ر ونإل[which means] “Are they awaiting anything other than its
ta’wil? The day when its ta’wil comes…” Meaning, are
45 Abu Nasr Al-Qushayriyy is the one who Hafidh ^Abdur-Razzaq At-
Tabsiyy described as the Imam of the Imams, as narrated by Hafidh Ibn ^Asakir in his book Tabyin Kadhib Al-Muftari.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
114
they awaiting anything other than the occurrence of the
Hour?
How would it be valid for someone to say about the Book
of Allah the Exalted that there is something in it for which
there is no way for a creation to know what it means, and
no one knows its meaning except Allah? Is this not among
the greatest discreditors of the Prophethood, that the
Prophet did not know the meaning of what came about
the Attributes of Allah the Exalted, and called the creation
to know what cannot be known? Does Allah not Say:
م بني ﴿ عرب ي ﴾بلسان [which means] “[The Qur’an was revealed] in a clear
Arabic tongue”? Then according to their claim it is
necessary to say that Allah lied when He said that the
Qur’an is revealed in a clear Arabic tongue, since it was
not known to them [i.e., the Arabs]. Or else where is the
clarity? If this were in the Arabic language, how would he
claim that this is something that the Arabs do not know,
while that speech was Arabic? So what kind of saying is
this doctrine when it leads to contradicting Allah the
Glorified?
Furthermore, the Prophet used to call the people to the
worship of Allah the Exalted, so had there been in what he
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
115
conveyed to his Nation something which no one knows its
meaning except Allah the Exalted, the people would have
been able to say, “First clarify for us the one you are
calling us to and what are you saying.” For sure, believing
in something which cannot be known is unachievable in
itself, and attributing to the Prophet that he called to a
Lord who is attributed with attributes that are
inconceivable [i.e., that cannot be known]is a serious
matter; no Muslim accepts that.
Ignorance of the attribute leads to ignorance of the
attributed. The goal is for the one who has some bit of a
mind to clarify that the saying of he who says, “His Istiwa’
is an attribute of His Self and its meaning is inconceivable,
and His Yad is an attribute of His Self and its meaning is
inconceivable, and His Qadam is an attribute of His Self
and its meaning is inconceivable,” is a distortion of facts
within which is ascribing a manner of being to Allah,
likening Him to the creation, and a call to ignorance. And
the truth has become clear for the one who has sound
mind.
I wish I knew, this one who denies ta’wil, does he apply
this denial to everything and every verse, or is he content
with abandoning ta’wil in reference to the Attributes of
Allah the Exalted?
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
116
If he prevents ta’wil in all cases, he has invalidated the
Religious Law and the different branches of knowledge,
because there is no verse46 or hadith except that it is in
need of ta’wil and treatment.47 48 For there are things that
there is no escape from ta’wil for them. There is no
difference among the sane people about that except for
the atheist whose intent is to invalidate the Religious
Laws. Furthermore, this creed [of denying ta’wil] leads to
invalidating what he claims to be adhering to of the
Religion.
If he said “Ta’wil is valid in general49, excluding what is in
reference to Allah and His Attributes, for there is no ta’wil
in that,” this claim of his implies that what pertains to
other than Allah should be known, and what pertains to
the Maker and His Attributes should be avoided, and this
is something that no Muslim accepts.
The secret of the issue is that those who prevent ta’wil
really believe in the reality of likening Allah to the
creation, except that they use trickery. They say, “He has a
46
Among the verses that there is difference in opinion about their meaning. 47
i.e., looking into it and explaining it in some way. 48 Except for the decisive verse like the Saying of Allah: ﴾عليم شىء بكل وهو ﴿ [which
means] “He is Knowledgeable of everything,” in reference to what came about the Attributes of Allah, and His Saying: ﴿مت م الـميتة عليكم حر ﴾الخنزير ولحم والد [which means] “Dead meat, blood, and pork have been made forbidden for you…,” in reference to what came in the rules. 49
i.e., sometimes.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
117
hand not like the hands and a foot unlike the feet and an
istiwa’ of the Self that is not like what we conceive among
ourselves.” So let the precise one say, “This is talk that
must be clarified. For you to say, ‘We take the issue by the
apparent meaning, and we cannot conceive its meaning,’
is a contradiction.If you take the apparent meaning, then
what appears from the Saying of the Exalted:
عنسا ﴿ ﴾يومي كشف [which means] “The Day when the ‘saq’ will be exposed,”
is the organ composed of skin, muscle, bone, nerves, and
marrow. If one took by this apparent meaning, adhered to
it, and confirmed these organs, then this is blasphemy.
And if you are unable to take by that, then where is taking
by the apparent meaning? Did you not abandon the
apparent meanings and know that the Holy Lord was
Exalted from that to which the apparent meanings
delude? Then how would that be taking the apparent
meaning? And if the opponent says that these apparent
meanings are meaningless in themselves, then that is
judging them nullified; that there was no benefit in them
being conveyed to us and that they are a waste, and this is
impossible.
In the language of the Arabs there is whatever one wants
of figurative usage and vastness [of meaning] in speech,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
118
and they used to know the different contexts, and they
understood the intentions. So backing away from ta’wil is
because of one’s puny understanding of Arabic, whereas
by encompassing the different facets of the Arabic
language, realizing the true meanings is easy.
It was Said:
الل وماي عل﴿ ﴾والراسخ ونفالعلمم تأويله إل[which means] “No one knows its ta’wil except Allah and
those who are deeply rooted in the knowledge.” It is as if
He Said, “Those who are deeply rooted in the knowledge
also know it.”
Belief in something is only conceived after knowledge. As
for that which is unknown, believing in it is unachievable,
and because of this, Ibn ^Abbas said, “I am among those
who are deeply rooted in the knowledge.”
This is the end of the quote of Hafidh Az-Zabidiyy in reference to
what he conveyed from Abu-n-Nasr Al-Qushayriyy, may Allah have
Mercy upon him.
Here there are two methods; both are correct. The first is the
method of most of the Salaf, and those are the people of the first
three centuries; they interpret the [ambiguous] verses by other
than their apparent meanings, but in a general way. That is by
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
119
believing in them and having conviction that those are not the
attributes of a body, rather, that they have a meaning that befits
the Majesty of Allah and His Greatness, without specification;
instead, they referred those verses back to the decisive verses,
like the Saying of Allah in the Qur’an:
كمثلهشىء﴿ ﴾ليس[which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way.”
The matter is as Imam Ash-Shafi^iyy said, “I believe in what came
from Allah according to the meaning that Allah Willed, and what
came from the Messenger of Allah according to the meaning that
the Messenger of Allah meant,” may Allah accept his deeds. He
means that the meanings of those verses are not according to
what the delusions and thoughts of the people might go to in
reference to the physical, bodily meanings, those meanings that
are not permissible to be attributed to Allah.
Furthermore, denying that the Salaf made detailed interpretation
different from the apparent meaning, like some have claimed, is
rejected by what is in Sahih Al-Bukhariyy, in the Book of
Interpretation of the Qur’an, and Al-Bukhariyy’s expression there:
“Surah Al-Qasas:
وجهه ﴿ ﴾ك لشىء هالكإل
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
120
[which means] ‘Except for His Wajh;’ [which means] except for His
Dominion50, and it is said [about the meaning of this verse], ‘That
which is done to seek a higher status from Allah’.” As for the
Dominion, it is an Eternal Attribute of Allah, it is not like the
dominion that He Gives to his creations. And in the book of Al-
Bukhariyy is more than this case, like explaining the “ كحض
(Dahik)” 51 in the hadith as Mercy.
Also, the detailed interpretation of a verse according to other than
its apparent meaning is confirmed from Imam Ahmad, and he is
from the Salaf. It is confirmed from him that he said about the
verse of the Qur’an:
﴾وجاءربك﴿[which translates literally as ‘Your Lord comes’], that it means
“The traces of His Power become apparent.” The chain for this
narration by Imam Ahmad was authenticated by Hafidh Al-
Bayhaqiyy, the one about whom Hafidh Salahud-Din Al-^Ala’iyy
said, “No one came after Al-Bayhaqiyy and Ad-Daraqutniyy like
them, or even close to them.” As for the saying of Al-Bayhaqiyy, it
is in his book called Manaqib Ahmad. As for the saying of Hafidh
Abu Sa^id Al-^Ala’iyy about Al-Bayhaqiyy and Ad-Daraqutniyy,
that is in his book called Al-Washyul-Mu^lam; and as for Hafidh
Abu Sa^id himself, he is the one about whom Hafidh Ibn Hajar
50
Supreme Ownership 51
Which could literally translated as ‘smiling’ or ‘laughing’
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
121
said, “The shaykh of our shaykhs.” He was from the people of the
eighth Hijriyy century.
There is a great number of scholars who mentioned in their
written works that Ahmad explained verses by other than their
apparent meanings. Among them is Hafidh ^Abdur-Rahman Ibnul-
Jawziyy, who is one of the sultans of the Hambaliyy School
because of his great knowledge of the texts of the Hambaliyy
School and the situations of Ahmad.
The second is the method of the Khalaf. They interpreted with
detailed meanings that are dictated by the language of the Arabs,
and like the Salaf, they do not carry those verses by their apparent
meanings. There is no problem taking this method, especially as
protection from likening Allah to the creation when fearing for
one to take a corrupted creed.
[An example of the method of the Khalaf is their explanation of]
the Saying of Allah in scolding Iblis:
بيدي﴿ ﴾مامن عكأنتسج دل ماخلقت [which means] “What prevented you from prostrating to what I
have Created with My Yadayn52?” It is valid to be said that what is
meant by “Yadayn” is Care and Preservation.
52
Which literally translates as ‘two hands’.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
122
Interpretation of His Saying ﴿روحنا من﴾ and His
Saying ﴿ من روحى﴾
Let it be known that Allah the Exalted is the Creator of the soul
and the body, so He is not a soul or a body. Despite that, Allah
attributed to Himself the soul of ^Isa [Jesus] with the meaning of
ownership and honor, not with the meaning of [the soul] being a
part of [Him] in His Saying:
﴾منروحنا﴿[which means] “…from Our soul.” Likewise, in reference to Adam,
is the Saying of Allah the Exalted:
﴾منروحى﴿[which means] “…from My soul.”
So the meaning of the Saying of Allah:
﴾ف ن فخنافيهمنروحنا﴿[which literally translates as] “We blew Our soul into him,” is “We
ordered Jibril to blow into Mary the soul which is owned by and
honorable to Us.” This is because the souls are of two divisions,
honorable souls and wicked souls. The souls of the Prophets are
from the first category, and attributing the soul of Jesus and the
soul of Adam to Himself is an attribution of ownership and honor.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
123
Whoever believes that Allah the Exalted is a soul blasphemes. The
soul is created; Allah is Exalted from that.
[This is] like the Saying of Allah the Exalted in reference to the
Ka^bah:
﴾بييت﴿[which means] “My House.” It is an attribution of ownership
because of honor. It is not an Attribute of Allah or relation
between Allah and that thing, because of the impossibility of
touching or contact between Allah and the Ka^bah.
Likewise is the Saying of Allah:
العرش﴿ ﴾رب[which means] “The Lord of the ^Arsh.” It is not for other than
proving that Allah is the Creator of the ^Arsh, which is the largest
of creations. It is not that the ^Arsh has a relation to Allah by Him
sitting upon it or being parallel to it without sitting on it. It does
not mean that Allah is sitting on His ^Arsh with contact and it does
not mean Allah is parallel to the ^Arsh with the existence of space
between Allah and the ^Arsh, whether that space was estimated
as vast or little. All of that is impossible to attribute to Allah.
The merit of the ^Arsh is that it is the Ka^bah for the Angels, who
circle it, just as the Ka^bah itself is meritorious by the believers
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
124
circling it. Also among the special merits of the ^Arsh is that Allah
was never disobeyed there, because those who surround the
^Arsh are all honorable slaves. They do not disobey Allah for a
blink of an eye.
Whoever believed that Allah Created the ^Arsh to sit on it, he has
likened Allah to the kings who make big seats to sit upon, and
whoever believes that does not know Allah. Whoever believes
that Allah is attributed with contact has blasphemed, because this
is impossible to be an Attribute of Allah the Exalted.
Interpretation of the Verse ﴾الرحمن على العرش است وى﴿
It is necessary that the interpretation of this verse be other than
dwelling, sitting, and the likes of that, and whoever believes that
blasphemes. It is obligatory to leave out carrying this verse by its
apparent meaning; instead, it is carried by a meaning that is
acceptable to the intellect. Therefore, the expression istiwa’ is
taken to mean subjugation. In the Arabic language it is said:
كالممىاللعلنف ىوت سا[which means] “So-and-so had istawa over the kingdoms,” if he
possessed the keys of rulership and had dominion over the
people. That is like the saying of the poet:
م هرا قداست وىبشرعلىالعرا ودم منغريسيف
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
125
[which means] “Bishr conquered [istawa] ^Iraq without a sword or
bloodshed.”
The benefit of specifically mentioning the ^Arsh is that it is the
greatest creation of Allah the Exalted in size, therefore the
inclusion of what is less than that is more so known. Imam ^Aliyy
said, “Certainly Allah the Exalted created the ^Arsh as a
demonstration of His Power, and He did not take it as a place for
Himself.” This was narrated by the Imam, Muhaddith, Faqih and
Linguist, Abu Mansur At-Tamimiyy in his book At-Tabsirah. Or it is
said that He Istawa with an Istiwa’ that He Knows, and He is
Exalted from the istiwa’ of the creations, like sitting and dwelling.
Know that it is obligatory to warn against those who validate Allah
sitting upon the ^Arsh or dwelling upon it by interpreting the
Saying of Allah the Exalted,
﴾الرمحن علىالعرشاست وى﴿
as sitting or being parallel from above, claiming that no existing
thing is conceived unless it is in a place. Their evidence is invalid.
They also claim that the saying of the Salaf, “Istiwa’ without a
how,” is in agreement with that. They did not know that the Salaf
were negating sitting, dwelling, containment in a place, being
parallel, and all created attributes, such as motion, stillness, and
emotions.
Al-Qushayriyy said:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
126
What invalidates their fallacy is that it would be said to
them, “Before creating the world, was He Existing or not?”
By the necessity of the mind, they would say, “Indeed.”
Hence, one of two matters is imposed on them: either to
say that the place, the ^Arsh, and the world are eternal, or
else to say that the Lord is an event, and this is the result
of the saying the ignorant speakers of nonsense. The
Eternal is not an event and the event is not eternal.
Al-Qushayriyy also said in his book At-Tadhkirah Ash-Sharqiyyah:
“If it were said, ‘Does Allah not Say:
﴾علىالعرشاست وىالرمحن ﴿while it is obligatory to take the apparent meaning?’, we say to
them, ‘Allah also Says :
ك نت م﴿ ﴾وه ومعك مأينما
[which translates literally as “He is with you wherever you are,”]
and the Exalted Says:
يطأآلإنه ﴿ ﴾بك لشىء م[which translates literally as “Is it not true that Allah encompasses
everything”]? Then, according to you, it would also be necessary
to take these verses by the apparent meaning, so that all at once
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
127
He would be on the ^Arsh, and with us, and encompassing the
world, surrounding it by Himself.’”
Al-Qushayriyy said, “It is impossible that the One Who is
Indivisible would be, at one time, in every place by himself.” Al-
Qushayriyy [also] said, “They said: ‘His Saying,
﴾معك موه و﴿
means “by Knowledge” and
يط﴿ ﴾بك لشىء مit means, “Encompassment by Knowledge.”’”
He means that they have made ta’wil for these verses and did not
carry them by their apparent meanings, so how would they blame
others for making ta’wil for the verse of al-istiwa by explaining it
as subjugation? What is this capriciousness?
Al-Qushayriyy [also] said:
Had what we said given the impression that He was
overcome, then the Saying of Allah:
فو عباده﴿ ﴾وه والقاهر [which means] “He is the Subduer over His slaves,” would
also give that impression; that reasoning implies that He
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
128
was subdued before the creation of the slaves—how
preposterous!—since the slaves had no existence before
He created them. In fact, had the issue been as the
ignorant people imagine, that His Istiwa’ is by the Self,
that would imply change and previous deficiency that
existed before the time of that istiwa’; for certainly the
Creator, the Exalted, was Existing before the ^Arsh, and
the one who is honest knows that saying that change
occurred to the ^Arsh because of the Lord is more
appropriate than saying that change occurred to the Lord
because of the ^Arsh. The Lord is attributed with high
Status and Greatness and He is cleared from connection
or disconnection and moving or stillness. He is clear from
being in a place or being parallel to things.
Al-Qushayriyy, may Allah have Mercy upon him, [also] said:
A group of ruffians showed up, and had it not been that
they present to the lay people what rushes to their
imaginations I would have exalted this book from staining
it by mentioning them. They say, “We take by the
apparent meaning; we take the verses that suggest
resemblance and the hadiths that give the illusion of Allah
having an organ according to the apparent meaning.” And
they say, “It is not permissible for us to make ta’wil for
any of that.” According to their claim, they are holding
fast to the Saying of Allah,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
129
الل ﴾م تأويله وماي عل﴿ إل[which means] “No one knows the ta’wil except Allah.”
Those people, I swear by the One Who Controls our souls,
are more dangerous to Islam than the Jews, Christians,
Majus, and idol-worshippers, because the misguidance of
the blasphemers is apparent; the Muslim refrains from
that. Those people come to the laymen from a path by
which the weak people would be deluded. Those people
who propagated misguidance and conveyed those
innovations in the creed to others, in their hearts they
have legitimated ascribing the Glorified, Worshipped One
with organs and body parts, and riding, and descending
and leaning, and sitting or dwelling in a place by His Self,
and going back and forth in the different directions.
Whoever gives consideration to the apparent meanings,
physical matters rush to his imagination. Then he would
hold the ugly, shameful matters as a creed, i.e., likening
Allah to the creation. Then the current would sweep him
away without him realizing it.
So it became clear that the saying of those who say that
interpreting the text by other than the apparent meanings is not
permissible is a mistake, and is ignorance; and it is disproven by
the saying of the Prophet about Ibn ^Abbas:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
130
علامه احلكمةوتأويلالكتابالله م[which means] “O Allah, teach him the Wisdom [i.e., the Sunnah]
and the Ta’wil of the Book.” This hadith was narrated by Al-
Bukhariyy, Ibn Majah, and others, with varying expressions.
Hafidh Ibnul-Jawziyy said in his book Al-Majalis, “And there is no
doubt that Allah answered this supplication of the Messenger.”
Ibnul-Jawziyy was very stringent against those who denied
interpreting those verses by other than their apparent meanings,
and he spoke about that at length, so whoever wants additional
certainty then let him read that.
The meaning of the Saying of Allah the Exalted:
﴾ياف ونرب ه ممنف وقهم﴿[which translates literally as “They fear their Lord from above
them,”] refers to the highness of subjugation and not the highness
of place or direction.
The meaning of the Saying of Allah,
صف اصف ا﴿ ﴾وجاءربكوال ملك [which translates literally as: “And your Lord will come and the
angels will be row after row,”] is not a “coming” of motion,
transfer, or moving and emptying one place and filling up another
in reference to Allah, and whoever believes that blasphemes.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
131
Allah the Exalted created motion and stillness, and everything that
is an attribute of the created things. Therefore, Allah would not be
attributed with motion or stillness.
What is meant by the Saying of Allah:
﴾وجاءربك﴿[which translates literally as “Your Lord comes,”] is “the Order of
your Lord comes.” This means that a trace among the traces of His
Power becomes apparent. It is confirmed from Imam Ahmad that
he said about the Saying of Allah,
﴾وجاءربك﴿[which translates literally as “Your Lord comes,”] that it means
“His Power came.” This means that the traces of Allah’s Power will
become apparent. This is related by Al-Bayhaqiyy in his book
Manaqib Ahmad.
The Interpretation of the Ma^iyyah (معية)53 of
Allah that is Mentioned in the Qur’an
The meaning of the Saying of Allah,
ك نت م﴿ ﴾وه ومعك مأينما
53 Ma^iyyah comes from the word ma^ (مع)which means ‘with’.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
132
[which translates literally as: “He is with you wherever you are,”]
is the encompassment by Knowledge. Also, ma^iyyah comes with
the meaning of support, like in the Saying of Allah the Exalted,
معالذينات قوا﴿ ﴾إنالل[which translates literally as: “Allah is with those who have piety.”]
Dwelling in something or being connected to something is not
meant by this ma^iyyah. Whoever believes like that has
blasphemed, because He, the Glorified and Exalted, is clear of
connection and disconnection by distance. So it is not said that He
is connected to the world, nor is it said that He is disconnected
from the world [which would be] by a distance, because these
issues are attributes of the volume, i.e., the thing that takes up
space. The mass and volume are the things which accept these
two issues, i.e., connection and disconnection, and Allah is not an
event. He negated that from Himself by His saying,
كمثلهشىء﴿ ﴾ليس[which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way.” Allah the Exalted
is not described with being big in size or small, nor is He described
with being tall or short, because He is different from the creation.
And it is obligatory to reject every thought which comes to mind
that leads to limiting Allah.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
133
The Jews attributed tiredness to Allah. They said, “After creating
the heavens and the earth He rested, and so He lay on His back.”
This saying of theirs is blasphemy. Allah the Exalted is cleared
from that, and He is cleared from feelings, like tiredness, pain and
pleasure; he is cleared from all of that. It is necessary that
whoever has these situations would be a created event subject to
change, and this is impossible to be attributed to Allah the
Exalted.
Allah the Exalted Said:
وما﴿ولقدخلقنا ن ه مافستةأيام السماواتواألرضوماب ي ﴾ مسنامنلغ وب
[which means] “Allah Created the Heavens and the Earth and
what is between them in six days and was not touched by
tiredness.” The only one who gets tired is the one who works with
organs, and Allah the Exalted and Glorified is cleared from the
organ. Allah the Exalted Said,
﴾ه والسميع البصري إنالل﴿[which means] “Certainly Allah is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
Allah the Exalted is Hearing and Seeing without a manner of being.
So Hearing and Sight are two attributes which are eternal and
without organs, i.e., without an ear or a pupil, and without the
condition of being close or far, and without the condition of a
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
134
direction, and without light rays reaching the eye, and without
airwaves.
Whoever says that Allah has an ear has blasphemed, even if he
said Allah has an ear that is not like our ears. This is different from
the one who says, “He has an ^Ayn that is not like our eyes, and a
Yad that is not like our hands,” with the meaning of the Attribute
[and not an organ]. This is certainly permissible, because the
expression of Al-^Ayn and Al-Yad came in the Qur’an; the
expression of Al-Udhun [ear] did not come in the Qur’an.
The Explanation of the Saying of Allah
﴿ف ثم وجه اهلل﴾
Allah Said:
ولل﴿ والمغرب ﴾اللوجه ف ثمت ولوافأي نماالمشر [which means] “To Allah belongs the east and the west, so
wherever you turn yourselves, there is the Wajh of Allah.” The
meaning is that wherever you have directed yourselves in the
optional prayer, while traveling, then there is the Qiblah of Allah,
i.e., that direction to which you have faced is a Qiblah for you. The
organ is not meant by the word “wajh.”
The judgment of the one who believes in an organ for Allah is that
he is charged with blasphemy, because had Allah had an organ
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
135
then He would have been like us, and then what is valid for us,
such as annihilation, would have been valid for Him.
Among what could be meant by the word “wajh” is “jihah”
[direction; directing oneself]. What is meant by that direction is
what one does for the sake of Allah, like for someone to say, “I did
such and such for the ‘wajh’ of Allah.” The meaning of that is “I
did such and such out of obedience to the Order of Allah.”
It is forbidden to say like what has become spread from the
ignorant people, “Open the window so we can see the face of
Allah.” It is forbidden to say that because Allah said to Musa,
﴾لنت ران﴿[which means] “You will not see Me [in this life].” Even if the
people say that they did not mean that they are really going to see
Allah Himself, it is forbidden [to say this statement].
The Explanation of the Verse﴾اهلل نور السماوات واألرض﴿
The meaning of this verse is “Allah the Exalted is the guide of the
people of the skies and the people of the earth to the light of
belief.”54 Al-Bayhaqiyy related that from ^Abdullah Ibn ^Abbas,
may Allah Accept his and his father’s deeds. So Allah the Exalted is
54
The verse translates literally as: “Allah is the light of the heavens and earth.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
136
not a light with the meaning of an illumination; rather, He is the
One who Created the light. Allah said:
﴾وجعلالظل ماتوالنور﴿
[which means] “And He Made the darkness and the light.” This
means that He Created the darkness and the light, so how would it
be that He would be a light like His creation? Allah is Exalted from
that with a great Exaltation.
The judgment of whoever believes that Allah is a light, meaning an
illumination, is that he is definitely charged with blasphemy. The
verse:
﴿احلمد للالذيخلقالسماواتواألرضوجعلالظل مات والنور﴾
[which means] “Praise is due to Allah, the One who Created the
Heavens and the Earth and Made the darkness and the light,” is
the most explicit evidence that Allah is not a tangible entity like
the skies and the earth or an intangible entity like darkness and
light.55
So whoever believes that Allah is a volume that is tangible or
intangible has likened Allah to His creation, and the verse is a
witness for that. Most of the people who liken Allah to the
55
Because it explicitly mentions both types of bodies and that He is their Creator, therefore He would not be of either type.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
137
creation believe that Allah is a tangible body, and some of them
believe that He is an intangible body; they said, “He is a shining
light.” This verse alone is sufficient to refute both groups.
There are many blasphemous convictions, like the conviction that
Allah is someone with a color or a shape. So let the person be
aware of that with his utmost effort in every situation.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
138
The Meaning of Destiny and Believing in It
Some scholars said, “Al-Qadar [the Destining] is Allah’s
Management of things in a way that complies with His Eternal
Knowledge and His Eternal Will.” He Brings the thing into
existence at the time that He Knew it would exist; included in that
is the voluntary deed of the slave, whether good or evil. What
proves that the Qadar is confirmed is the saying of the Messenger
of Allah to Jibril when Jibril asked him about Iman:
ؤمناإلميان أنت ؤمنباللوملئكتهوك ت بهور س لهواليوماآلخروت بالقدرخريهوشراه
[which means] “Iman is to believe in Allah, and His Angels, and
His Books, and His Messengers, and the Last Day; and to believe
in the Qadar, its good and its evil.”56 Narrated by Muslim.
Allah has Ordained the creations, and among them are the good
and the evil. All of them exist by the Eternal Destining of Allah. As
for the Destining of Allah which is the Attribute of His Self, it is not
described as being evil. Instead, Allah’s Destining of evil kufr, and
sins, and His Destining of belief and obedience is good from Allah.
The Will of Allah is fulfilled in all of the subjects of His Will and in
accordance with His Knowledge of them. So whatever He Knew
would exist, He Willed for it to exist at the time that He Knew it
56
Narrated by Muslim.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
139
would exist; and what He Knew would not exist, He did not Will
for it to exist.
Therefore, nothing takes place in the world except by His Will, and
nothing will hit the slave, whether good or evil, health or sickness,
poverty or richness, or other than that, except by the Will of Allah,
and nothing that Allah Willed to hit the slave will miss him. It
came that the Prophet taught one of his daughters to say:
ماشاءالل كانومامليشأمليك ن[which means] “Whatever Allah Willed to be shall be, and
whatever Allah did not Will to be shall not be.” This is narrated
by Abu Dawud in his book As-Sunan. Then it became tawatur from
there and spread abundantly among the individuals of the nation.
Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated from our master ^Aliyy that he said:
“Certainly, the iman will not be pure in the heart of one of you
until he is absolutely certain that whatever hit him was not going
to miss him, and whatever missed him was not going to hit him,
and he confesses about the Qadar completely.” This means it is
not permissible to believe in some of the Qadar and to disbelieve
in some of it.
Al-Bayhaqiyy also narrated with an authentic chain of narration
that ^Umar Ibnul-Khattab was in Al-Jabiyah, which is an area in
Ash-Sham, when he stood to give a speech. He praised Allah and
then said, “Whomever Allah Guided, then there will be no one to
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
140
misguide him, and whomever Allah Misguided, then there will be
no one to guide him.” In the audience was a non-Arab
blasphemer, i.e., he was among the people of adh-dhimmah.57 He
said in his own language, “Certainly Allah does not misguide
anyone.” Then ^Umar said to the translator, “What is he saying?”
The translator said, “He is saying that Allah does not misguide
anyone.” Then ^Umar said, “You lied, O enemy of Allah. And had it
not been that you are among the people of adh-dhimmah I would
have beheaded you. He is the one who Misguided you and He is
the One who will Put you in Hell if He willed.”
Hafidh Abu Nu^aym narrated from the nephew of Az-Zuhriyy, who
narrated from his uncle, that ^Umar Ibnul-Khattab used to love
the poem of Labid Ibn Rabi^ah which has these verses:
لجثيوعياللرإذنبولفن ري اخنوىرب اقت نإ علفاءماشاخلري هيدبي له دلناللفد أمح
لأضاءشنومالالبمناعدىاهتريخ اللب س داه نهم[which means] “Certainly the obedience of our Lord is the best
nafl [that which is given without obligation], and by the Will of
Allah is my slowness and my swiftness. I praise Allah for there is
no similarity for Him and He Owns and Creates the good, and
whatever He Willed He Does. Whomever He Guided to the paths
57
A non-Muslim subject of the Muslim state.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
141
of goodness is guided and has a relaxed mind, and whomever He
Willed He Misguides.”
The meaning of what Labid said:
لفن ري اخنوىرب اقت نإis that the taqwa to our Lord is certainly the best nafl that the
human being has been granted.
The meaning of his statement:
لجثيوعياللرإذنبوis that no slow person goes slow and no fast person goes fast
except by the Will of Allah and His Permission.
When he said:
له دلناللفد أمحit means there is no similar to Him.
And when he said:
اخلري هيدبيwhat was meant by that is the good and the evil, and not just the
good. He only settled with mentioning the good because there is
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
142
something in the Arabic language called al-iktifa’ [sufficiency]. An
example of that is the Saying of Allah:
﴾سرابيلتقيك م ال حر﴿[which means] “Allah Created clothing for you that protects you
from the heat.” This also means “and the cold,” because the
clothing protects from both matters, not only the heat.
When the poet said:
علفاءماشit means whatever Allah Willed to take place must take place and
whatever He did not Will to take place will not take place.
And when he said:
دىاهتريخ اللب س داه نهمthis means that whomever Allah Willed to be on the straight,
correct path is guided.
When he said:
الالبمناعit means his mind is tranquil.
When he said:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
143
لأضاءشنومit means whomever Allah Willed to be misguided, then Allah
Misguides him.
Al-Bayhaqiyy narrates from Ash-Shafi^iyy that he said when he
was asked about destiny:
ش أشوإنملأكانئتاشم توما مل إن يشئت مل نك أعلىنسم والىتجيريالفففيالعلم تلمعلىماعبادالعقتلخ
أ تلذوهذاختنذامن ت عنتوهذا مل نعوذانسوهذاحوهذاقبيح عيدومنهمسقي مشنه فم
[which means] “O Allah, whatever You Willed was [i.e., You Made
it come into existence] even if I did not will; and whatever I willed,
if You did not Will then it will not be. You Created the slaves
according to what You Knew, and according to that Knowledge the
young person and the old person will run [i.e., act]. And You have
Endowed upon this one and that one you have Forsaken, and You
have Empowered this one and that one You did not Empower. So
among them are those who will die as blasphemers and among
them are those who will die as believers, and this one is ugly and
this one is beautiful.”
So from this it becomes clear that the pronoun in the Saying of
Allah:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
144
وي هدىمنيشآء ﴿ ﴾ي ضلمنيشآء [which means] “He misguides whomever He Willed and He
guides whomever He Willed,” goes back to Allah; it does not go
back to the slave as was claimed by the deniers of the Qadar. This
is proven by the Saying of Allah the Exalted, informing about what
our Master Musa said:
وت ه﴿ نت كت ضلب هامنتشآء فت ﴾آء شتنىمدإنهىإل[which means] “Certainly that issue is the fitnah that was created
by You, O Allah. You misguide by that fitnah whomever You
Willed and You Guide whomever You Will.”
Likewise said a faction that is attributed to Amin Shaykhu, those
whom their leader today is ^Abdul-Hadi Al-Baniyy, the one who is
in Damascus. They claimed that the Will of Allah follows the will of
the slave, so the meaning of the ayah according to them is that if
the slave willed the guidance then Allah Willed the guidance for
him, and if the slave willed to go astray, then Allah will Misguide
him. So they have belied the verse:
﴾الل آءشينألإونآء شاتمو﴿[which means] “You do not will unless Allah Wills.” If some of
them try to use a verse in the Qur’an to prove the opposite of this
meaning, it is said to them that all the verses in the Qur’an verify
each other and do not contradict. There is no verse in the Qur’an
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
145
contradictory to another verse, and this is not an issue of
abrogation, because abrogation does not apply to the convictions.
Also, abrogation does not dictate contradiction, and abrogation
does not apply to information; rather, it applies to the order and
prohibition. Abrogation is only the clarification of the expiration of
the judgment of a previously revealed verse by the judgment of a
subsequently revealed verse. Beyond that, this group does not
believe in abrogation.
Among their strange stupidity is their interpretation of the Saying
of Allah the Exalted:
ك لها﴿ ﴾وعلمءادماألسآء[which means] “Allah Taught Adam the names of all the things.”
They said this means that Allah Taught Adam the Perfect Names
of Allah. Had it been said to them that had these names been the
Perfect Names of Allah, Allah would not have Said after that:
﴾مهآئسأمبه أبن أآف لم﴿[which means] “…so when he informed them of their names,”
and instead He would have Said, “When he informed them of My
Names,” they would be silenced. Despite that, they will insist on
their ignorance and their perversion of the Qur’an.
Al-Hakim, may Allah the Exalted have Mercy on him, narrated that
^Aliyy Ar-Rida, the son of Musa Al-Kadhim, was sitting in the
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
146
Rawdah [of the Masjid of the Prophet] wrapped in wool, and he
was a young man; the people were asking him while the shaykhs
of the scholars were in the Masjid. He was asked about the Qadar,
and so he said that Allah Said:
على النارفي سحب وني وم*وس ع ر ضلل فالم جرمنيإن﴿ ﴾بقدر خلقناه شيء ك لإنا*سقرمسذ وق واو ج وههم
[which means] “Certainly the criminals [i.e., blasphemers] are in a
state of misguidance and destruction. The day when they will be
dragged in Hellfire on their faces, [it is said to them] “Taste of
the touch of Hell.” Certainly We Created everything by Qadar.”
Then Ar-Rida said, “My father used to mention from the route of
his father that the Prince of the Believers, ^Aliyy, used to say:
‘Certainly Allah Created everything by Qadar, even stupidity and
intelligence. And to Him is the all-inclusive Will, and from Him is
the ability to do the good deeds or refrain from the bad deeds.’”
So the slaves are driven to do what occurs from them by their
choice, not by compulsion and coercion like a feather stuck in the
wind, the wind taking it left and right, as said by the Jabriyyah.58
Had Allah not Created the sins of the sinners, the blasphemy of
the blasphemers, the belief of the believers and the obedience of
the obedient, He would not have Created Paradise and Hell.
58
A deviant faction that denied that the slave has a will.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
147
Whoever attributes to Allah the creation of good, and not the
creation of evil, has attributed inability to Allah; had it been like
that, this world would have two managers, a manager of good and
a manager of evil, and this is blasphemy and shirk. This foolish
opinion, from another point of view, makes Allah the Exalted
overcome in His Dominion; according to this conviction, Allah the
Exalted only Willed the good, so the evil would have taken place
by Iblis and his assistant blasphemers despite whatever Allah
Willed. Whoever believes in this opinion blasphemes, because of
its opposition to the Saying of Allah the Exalted:
والله غالب على أمره
[which means] “Allah is Dominant over whatever He Created.”
This means no one prevents the fulfillment of His Will.
The judgment of the one who attributes to Allah the good and
attributes to the slave the evil out of good manners is that there is
no harm on him. However, if he believed that Allah Created the
good but not the evil he is charged with blasphemy.
Know, may Allah have Mercy upon you, that if Allah tortured the
sinner, that is by His Justice without any injustice; and if He gave
reward to the obedient, that is from His Generosity with no
obligation upon Him, because injustice is only conceived to occur
from someone who has a commander and a prohibitor. Allah has
no commander and no prohibitor, so He Does in His dominion as
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
148
He Willed, because He is the Creator of the things and their
Owner.
It came in the Sahih Hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad in his
Musnad and Abu Dawud in his Sunan and Ibn Hibban from the
route of Ibn Ad-Daylamiyy that he said,
“I came to Ubayy Ibn Ka^b and I said, ‘O Aba-l-Mundhir,
something in myself has taken place in reference to the
Qadar; so talk to me, perhaps Allah will Benefit me.’ He
said:
‘Certainly Allah, had He tortured the people of His earth
and His skies, He would have tortured them without being
unjust to them; and had He had Mercy upon them, His
Mercy would have been Generosity, not due to them
because of their good deeds. And had you given in charity
the likes of Mount Uhud in gold, Allah will not Accept it
from you until you believe in the Qadar and know that
whatever hit you would not have missed you, and
whatever missed you was not going to hit you; and if you
die on other than this, you have entered Hell.’
Then I went to ^Abdullah Ibn Mas^ud and he told me the
same, then I went to Hudhayfah Ibn Al-Yaman and he told
me the same, then I went to Zayd Ibn Thabit and he told
me the same from the Prophet.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
149
Muslim narrated in his Sahih and Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated in Kitab
Al-Qadar from the route of Abu Aswad Ad-Du’aliyy:
“^Imran Ibnu Husayn said to me: ‘Do you see what the
people are doing today, and that in which they are
laboring? Is it something predestined for them that has
come to pass on them, or among what they encounter
[without destiny]? [Answer] with that with which their
Prophet came to them, and by it the Evidence was
established against them.’ I said, ‘It is something that has
been destined for them and came to pass on them.’ Then
^Imran said, ‘Would that not have been injustice?’ I was
very repelled by this question, and I said, ‘Everything is His
creation and His ownership, He is not asked about what
He Does, rather, they are the ones who will be asked.’ He
said, ‘May Allah have Mercy on you, I did not mean
anything by my question except to test your intellect.
Certainly two men from the tribe of Muzaynah came to
the Messenger of Allah and they said to him, “O
Messenger of Allah, do you see what the people are doing
today, and that in which they are laboring? Is it something
predestined for them that has come to pass on them, or
among what they encounter [without destiny]? [Answer]
with that with which their Prophet came to them, and by
it the Evidence was established against them.” He said, “In
fact, it is something that has been ordained for them and
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
150
came to pass on them, and what proves the truthfulness
of that is the Saying of Allah:
﴿ هاوماون فس ها*سوى ﴾فألمهاف ج ورهاوت قوى [which means] ‘And I swear by the soul and what Created
it [Allah], He is the one who inspired it with its
wickedness and its piety.’”’”
And there is also the sahih hadith,
إلنذلكفليلومغريوجداللومنفليحمدي ر اخوجدفمنهنفس
[which means] “Whoever found goodness, then let him praise
Allah, and whoever found other than that, let him blame noone
but himself,” narrated by Muslim from the hadith of Abu Dharr
from the Prophet from Allah. As for the first, and that is the one
who found goodness, then he praises Allah because Allah is the
one who is Generous to him by Creating and Giving him the
success without any obligation on Him. So let the slave praise his
Lord for His Generosity upon him. As for the second one, and he is
the one who found evil, it is because Allah Made the evil
inclination of the slave become clear by His Power. And so
whomever Allah Misguided, that was by His Justice, and
whomever He Guided, that was by His Generosity.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
151
Had Allah Created the creation and Put a group of them in
Paradise and a group of them in Hell based on His prior
Knowledge, then the situation of the tortured among them would
have been as Allah Described in the Qur’an when He Said:
منق بلهلقال وارولوأنا﴿ ناب نالولأرأهلكناه مبعذاب سلتإلي ونزى ر ف نتبعآياتكمنق بلأننذل ﴾س ول
(which means) “Had We Devastated them with a preemptive
torture before they did anything, they would have said, ‘O our
Lord! Had You only Sent to us a messenger, so that we would
follow Your signs before we were degraded.”
So Allah Sent the Messengers as givers of good tidings and
warners, so by the Sending of the Messengers Allah would make
clear what was the readiness of the slave, whether obedience or
refusal; thus, the one who is tortured would be tortured with
evidence, and the one who lives in luxury would live in luxury with
evidence. He Informed us that the fate of a portion of His creation
is Hell because of the deeds they did by their choice, and He, the
Exalted, was Knowledgeable with His Eternal Knowledge that they
would not believe.
The Exalted Said:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
152
ألملن﴿ من القول ه داهاول كنحق ك لن فس نا ناآلت ي ولوشئ ﴾أجعنيجهنممنالنةوالناس
[which means] “And had We Willed, We would have Given every
soul its guidance; however, what I have Eternally Said will come
into existence: ‘Certainly I will surely fill Hell with jinn and
humans.’” In this verse Allah Informed that He Eternally Said,
“Certainly I will surely fill Hell with jinn and humans,” and the
saying of Allah is truth; He does not go back on His Word, because
going back His Word, i.e., changing, would be lying in reference to
Allah, and lying is impossible in reference to Him.
Allah the Exalted Said:
﴾ق لفلل هاحل جة البالغة ف لوشاءلداك مأجعني﴿ [which means] “[O Muhammad] say, Allah has the ultimate
Evidence, and had He Willed He would have Guided all of you,”
i.e., “He did not Will the guidance of all of you,” since that is not
what He Knew would occur; and so the slaves are driven to do the
deeds that occur from them by their choice, not by compulsion or
coercion.
Know that what we have mentioned about the issue of the Qadar
is not delving into the issue in the inappropriate way that the
Prophet forbade when he said,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
153
مسك وافأدر القذ كرإذا [which means] “If Destiny is mentioned, then hold back,” as
narrated by At-Tabaraniyy, because this is the explanation of the
Qadar with which the religious text came. As for what is
prohibited, that is delving to reach its secret.
Ash-Shafi^iyy and Ibn ^Asakir narrated from the route of ^Aliyy
that he said to the one who was asking about the Qadar, “It is the
secret of Allah, do not delve into it,” but the man insisted. ^Aliyy
said to him, “Then if you refused to stop, know that certainly it is a
matter between two matters; it is not compulsion and it is not
unrestricted free will.”
Also know that the Messenger of Allah dispraised the deniers of
the Qadar, and they are of factions. Among them are those who
said that the slave is in charge of all of his voluntary deeds, and
among them are those who said that he is the creator of evil, not
the good, and both factions are blasphemers. The Messenger of
Allah said,
األ مةهذهم وس القدرية [which means] “The Qadariyyah are the Majus of this nation,”
and in one narration of this hadith,
قدرلي ق ولونالذيناأل مةهذهوم وس م س،أمة لك لا
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
154
[which means] “Every nation had its Majus, and the Majus of this
nation are those who say ‘There is no destiny.’” Narrated by Abu
Dawud from the route of Hudhayfah from the Prophet.
In the book of Al-Qadar by Al-Bayhaqiyy, and in the book
Tahdhibul-Athar by Imam Ibn Jarir At-Tabariyy, may Allah have
Mercy upon both of them, [it is narrated] from the route of
^Abdullah Ibn ^Umar that the Messenger of Allah said,
واملرجئة القدرية اإلسلمفنصيبل ماليسأ ميتمنصن فان [which means] “Two factions from my nation have no share in
Islam: the Qadariyyah [those who deny the Qadar] and the
Murji’ah [those who deny that believers will be punished].” The
Mu^tazilah are the Qadariyyah because they made Allah and the
slave equal by negating the Power of Allah over what the slave has
power over. As if they are confirming [many] creators in reality,
just like the Majus have confirmed two creators, a creator for
good, who according to them is the light, and a creator for evil,
who according to them is the darkness.
Guidance Is of Two Facets
Guidance is of two types. The first of them is clarifying the truth
and calling to it, and establishing the evidence for it. According to
this meaning, it is valid to attribute guidance to the Messengers
and to everyone who calls to the Religion of Allah, like in the
Saying of Allah about His Messenger, Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
155
صر﴿ مستقيم وإنكلت هديإىل ﴾اط [which means] “Certainly you surely guide to a straight path,”
and also the Saying of Allah:
علىال دى ﴿ ﴾وأماث ود ف هدي ناه مفاستحبواالعمى [which means] “As for Thamud, We guided them [i.e., sent a
Prophet to them], but they preferred blindness over guidance.”
The second type of guidance is Allah’s Guidance of His slaves, i.e.,
Creating the guidance within their hearts, like in the Saying of
Allah:
للسلمومني رحصدردالل ه أني هديه يشرفمني ر﴿ دأنه ضي ق احري ضله جيعلصدر لكه كذ ايصعد فالسماء كأن ا ج
﴾جسعلىالذينلي ؤمن ونجيعل الل ه الر [which means] “Whomever Allah Willed to Guide, He Expands his
chest to Islam; and whomever Allah Willed to Misguide, He
Makes his chest tight.” Misguiding is Creating the misguidance in
the hearts of the misguided people.
The slave’s will follows the Will of Allah. Allah the Exalted Said:
أنيشاءالل ه ﴿ ﴾وماتشاء ونإل
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
156
[which means] “You do not will unless Allah Wills.” This verse is
among the clearest evidence of the misguidance of the group of
Amin Shaykhu because they say that if the slave wills to be guided,
then Allah will Guide him, and the if the slave wills to be
misguided then Allah will Misguide him. What would they say
about this verse [which means]: “Whomever Allah Willed to
Guide, He Expands his chest towards Islam,”? It is explicit in
showing that the Will of Allah has precedence over the will of the
slave. In this verse Allah attributed the Will to Himself and he did
not ascribe it to the slave. As if those people are saying, “Whoever
the slave willed that his chest would be expanded to Islam, then
Allah will expand his chest.” Furthermore, when He Says [what
means], “Whomever Allah Willed to Misguide, then Allah Makes
his chest tight,” there is no way to return the pronoun in “He
Wills” back to the slave, because this would make the expression
in the Qur’an weak, and the Qur’an is the pinnacle of eloquence;
there is no eloquence above the eloquence of the Qur’an.
By this their deep ignorance and strong stupidity becomes clear,
and according to the implications of their talk, the meaning of the
verse [which means]: “Whomever Allah Willed to Guide, He
Expands his chest to Islam,” would be that the slave who wills
that Allah would Guide him, then Allah would Expand his chest to
the guidance, and this is opposite of the expression that Allah
Revealed. This is the necessary conclusion of what their creed
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
157
dictates: that if Allah and the slave willed that Allah misguides
him, then Allah Makes his chest tight, and this is not correct.
This a perversion of the Qur’an, because it takes the Qur’an out of
the proper modes of the Arabic language, those modes of the
Arabic language according to which it was Revealed. The
Companions understood the Qur’an according to the rules of the
Arabic language, and the proof that the they understand the
Qur’an differently than this group understands it is the unanimous
agreement of the Muslims, their Salaf and the Khalaf, about
saying, “Whatever Allah Willed to be shall be, and whatever Allah
did not Will to be shall not be.”
The Destining of Allah Does Not Change
Know that Allah’s Eternal Predestining is not changed by anything;
neither the supplication of the one who supplicates, nor the
charity of the one who gives charity, nor the prayer of the one
who prays, nor anything else among the good deeds. Instead
there is no escape from the creation existing according to what
Allah had Predestined for them Eternally without this changing at
all.
As for the Saying of Allah:
وعنده أ مالكتاب﴿ وي ثبت ﴾ميح والل ه مايشاء
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
158
[which means] “Allah Erases whatever He Willed, and He
Confirms whatever He Willed, and to Him belongs the Guarded
Tablet,” this does not mean the erasing and the confirmation is
related to the Preordainment of Allah. Instead, the meaning of
this is that Allah, Whose praises are exalted, Ordered to be
written what would inflict the slave among His slaves, such as
hardship, prevention from goodness, death, and other than that;
and if the slave were to make du^a’, or he were to obey Allah by
staying in touch with his [Muslim] relative or other than that, this
hardship would not be inflicted upon that Muslim, or Allah will
give him lots of provision instead, or make his life long.
He had written in the Guarded Tablet what will actually happen
between those two matters. So the erasing and the confirmation
goes back to one of the books of the angels in which this
conditional destiny is written, just as Ibn ^Abbas signaled to. Al-
Bayhaqiyy narrated from Ibn ^Abbas that he said about the verse
of the Qur’an [which means]: “Allah Erases whatever He Willed,
and He Confirms whatever He Willed, and to Him belongs the
Guarded Tablet,” “Allah Erases whatever He Willed from the two
books of the Angels. There are two books; Allah Erases whatever
He Willed from one of them, and He Confirms the other one, and
to Him belongs the Guarded Tablet [that contains all of it].”
Also, this erasing does not pertain to dying on the state of kufr
[shaqawah] or dying on the state of Islam [sa^adah] . Al-
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
159
Bayhaqiyy narrates from the route of Mujahid that he said about
the interpretation of the Saying of Allah:
ك لأمر فيهاي فر﴿ ﴾حكيم [which means] “On that night, every definitive matter is
distinguished,” “On the night of Qadr what would take place in
the coming year would be clarified, such as provision or hardship.
As for the confirmation of dying on a state of blasphemy or a state
of belief, this is confirmed and it will not change.”
For this reason, the du^a’ that some people say in the month of
Sha^ban is not authentic from the Prophet, which has in it: “O
Allah, if you had written me in the Guarded Tablet as someone
who will die as a blasphemer, then erase from me the name of
being miserable and confirm for me the state of bliss [dying as a
believer]; and if You wrote for me in the Guarded Tablet that I
would be prevented from goodness and that my provision would
be cut off, then erase for me that prevention from goodness and
the cutting off of my provision, and confirm for me bliss and
success in goodness. For certainly You said in Your Book [what
means]: ‘Allah Erases whatever He Willed and He Confirms
whatever He Willed and to Him belongs the Guarded Tablet.’”
Nor is any other hadith of this sort confirmed from the Prophet,
nor from ^Umar, nor from Mujahid, nor from anyone else from
the Salaf, as is known from the book of Al-Qadar by Al-Bayhaqiyy.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
160
Let it be known that the Will of Allah and His Destining do not
change, because changing is impossible to attribute to Allah. As
for the hadith:
الدعاءإلالقدريردل [which means] “Nothing deflects the Qadar except du^a’,” it
refers back to the conditional destiny, not the definitive.
Dividing the Matters into Four Categories
All of the matters are of four categories. The first is something
that Allah Willed and Ordered for it to be done, and that is the
belief of the believers and the obedience of the obedient. The
second is something that Allah Willed but did not Order for it to
be done, and that is the sin of the sinners and the blasphemy of
the blasphemers. However, Allah does not Accept blasphemy;
even though He Created it by His Will, He does not Accept it from
His slaves. Allah the Exalted Said:
لعبادهالك فرولي ر﴿ ﴾ضى [which means] “He does not Accept blasphemy for His slaves.”
The third category is a matter Allah did not Will for, but He did
Order for it to be done, such as belief in reference to the
blasphemers that Allah Knew would die on blasphemy. They were
ordered with belief, but He did not Will that for them. The fourth
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
161
is a matter that He did not Will and He did not Order, such as
blasphemy in reference to the Prophets and the Angels.
So whoever is a believer in the Honorable Qur’an, then let him
stop at the Saying of Allah:
ع﴿ ﴾ماي فعل وه مي سأل ونلي سأل [which means] “He is not asked about what He does, they are
asked.” So it is not said, “How could Allah torture the sinners in
the Hereafter for their sins that He Willed for them to fall into?”
The Tawhid of Allah in the Doings59
It was narrated from Imam Al-Junayd, the Imam of the true
Sufiyys, that when he was asked about Tawhid he said,
“Certainty.” Then he was asked for clarification, so he said,
“Certainly, there is no one who gives being to anything among the
things, whether entities or deeds, and no creator for them other
than Allah.”
Allah the Exalted Said:
﴾والل ه خلقك مومات عمل ون﴿ [which means] “Allah Created you and your deeds,” and the
Messenger of Allah said:
59
Allah being exclusively Attributed with Creating.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
162
عتهصانع ك لاصانع اللإن وصن [which means] “Certainly Allah is the Maker of every maker and
his making,” as narrated by Al-Hakim, Al-Bayhaqiyy, and Ibn
Hibban from the hadith of Hudhayfah. Since the slaves do not
create anything of their deeds, and instead they acquire them,
Allah certainly Said:
ك لشيء ﴿ ﴾الل ه خالق [which means] “Allah is the Creator of everything.” Allah is
praised by this, because it is something specific to him, and that
dictates absolute inclusivity of all entities, deeds, movements and
stillnesses.
Allah the Exalted Said:
العالمنيق لإنصلتون س كيوميايوماتلل هر﴿ ل*بلكأ مرشر الم سلمنييكله وبذ وأناأول ﴾ت
[which means] “[O Muhammad,] say: ‘Certainly my prayer and
my nusuk,60 and my life and my death, are all owned by Allah; He
has no partners. With this I was Commanded, and I am the first
of the Muslims among this nation.” Allah Mentioned the prayer,
nusuk, life and death all in one context, and He made all of that
His Ownership. So just as Allah is the Creator of life and death, and
60
The worships of Hajj, or slaughter.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
163
likewise He is the Creator of the voluntary deeds, like the prayer,
and the nusuk, the involuntary deeds are even more obviously
Created by Allah.
What is special about the voluntary deeds, meaning the deeds to
which we have an inclination, is that they are the deeds related to
acquisition. Therefore accountability is related to those voluntary
deeds. Acquisition, which is the deed of the slave, for which he is
either rewarded or punished in the Hereafter, is for the slave to
direct his intention and his will towards a deed; meaning he
spends his power in that. Then Allah will Create it for him upon
that. So the slave is an acquirer of his deed, and Allah is the
Creator of the deed of this slave, which is his acquisition, and this
is among the most ambiguous matters in this Science.
Allah the Exalted Said:
هامااكتسبت﴿ كسبتوعلي ﴾لاما [which means] “For every soul is what it acquired, and against it
is what it acquired.” Therefore the human being is not compelled,
nor is he forced to act, because compulsion negates
accountability. This is the true way; it is different from [the belief
of] compulsion and it is different from denying the Qadar. It is
different from the schools of the Jabriyyah and the Qadariyyah.
Whoever says that the slave creates his own deeds, like the
Mu^tazilah, blasphemes; as Ibn ^Abbas said, may Allah Accept his
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
164
deeds, “The talk of the Qadariyyah is blasphemy,” and the
Qadariyyah are the Mu^tazilah. Abu Yusuf said, “The Mu^tazilah
are not people of religion,” and Abu Mansur At-Tamimiyy in his
book Al-Farqu Bayna-l-Firaq described them as mushriks. Abu
Mansur is the one that Ibn Hajar Al-Haytamiyy said about him,
“The great Imam, the Imam of our colleagues, Abu Mansur Al-
Baghdadiyy said…” and he is among those from whom Al-
Bayhaqiyy copied hadith.
Do not be enticed by the lack of charging them with blasphemy
from the later scholars. Ustadh Abu Mansur At-Tamimiyy
conveyed the Imams’ charge of blasphemy against them in his
books Usulu-d-Din and Tafsiru-l-Asma’u wa-s-Sifat. He said in his
book, Tafsiru-l-Asma’u wa-s-Sifat: “Our colleagues have a
consensus about charging the Mu^tazilah with blasphemy,
meaning those who say the slave creates his voluntary deeds, and
likewise those who say that it is obligatory on Allah to do what is
most beneficial for the slave.”
He means by his saying, “Our colleagues,” the Ash^ariyys and the
Shafi^iyys, because he is an Ash^ariyy and a Shafi^iyy; in fact, he is
a prominent leader among the Shafi^iyys, as said by Ibn Hajar, and
he is a forerunning Imam in the conveyance of documents. He is
known for that among the scholars of fiqh, the scholars of usul,
and the historians who have authored works about the factions;
so whoever wants more certainty, let him read these books of his.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
165
His conveyance is not discredited by the talk of Al-Bajuriyy and his
likes who came before him or after him.
As for the talk of some of the early scholars in reference to
abandoning charging the Mu^tazilah with blasphemy, that is in
likes to Bishr Al-Marisiyy and Al-Ma’mun Al-^Abbasiyy because
Bishr agreed with them in saying that the Qur’an is created61, and
he charged them with blasphemy for saying that the slaves create
their own deeds. So know that not everyone who is ascribed to
the school of the Mu^tazilah is judged with the same judgment,
but every single individual among them is judged as being
misguided.
The Intellectual Evidence for the Invalidity of the
Saying of the Mu^tazilah that the Slave Creates his
Deeds
The people of the truth say that the slave’s creation of his own
deeds is invalid because of the absolute inclusivity of the Power,
Will, and Knowledge of Allah. The clarification of that is that the
Power of Allah is all-inclusive, and His Knowledge is all-inclusive,
and His Will is all-inclusive. The relation of all these Attributes to
the possible occurrences is one relation, because the existence of
the mentally possible is in need of the Powerful One in reference
to its possibility and its occurrence.
61
This statement is not explicit blasphemy, because by it it may be meant that the Revealed Expressions are created.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
166
If these Attributes of His were specific to only some of the
possible matters, that would dictate Allah’s attribution with the
opposites of these Attributes, such as ignorance and inability; that
is imperfection, and imperfection in reference to Allah is
impossible. Furthermore, the specification of those attributes
would have dictated a specifier, and then [the specification of]
that specifier would be related to the One with necessary
Existence and His Attributes, and this is impossible. Therefore the
absolute inclusivity of His Attributes is confirmed.
If Allah the Exalted Willed for the creation of an occurrence, and
the slave willed for what is different from that, and the will of the
slave took place instead of the Will of Allah, that would validate
the impossible claim of two gods and for there to be numerous
gods. The multiplicity of God is impossible by the known evidence,
and whatever leads to an impossibility is impossible.
Confirmation that the Normal Reasons Do Not
Affect in Reality and that the Only One Who
Affects in Reality is Allah
Al-Hakim, the author of Al-Mustadrak, mentioned in his book
Tarikh Naysabur:
I heard Zakariyyah Yahya Ibn Muhammad Al-^Anbariyy
saying, “I heard Abu ^Isa Ibn Muhammad Ibn ^Isa At-
Tahmaniyy Al-Marwaziyy saying: ‘Certainly Allah Makes
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
167
apparent whatever He Willed, if He Willed, of signs and
lessons of His creations. Then by those signs Islam would
be increased in honor and power, and it supports the
Guidance that was Revealed and the Evidence that was
Revealed, and it spreads the Signs of Prophethood, and it
clarifies the indications of the Messenger.
‘As Generosity from Him, those signs and lessons would
more firmly establish the reality of iman for His Waliyys;
and it gives them more evidence and proof against those
who refused to obey Allah and left out His Religion. Then
whoever was tortured would be tortured with evidence,
and whoever was rewarded would be rewarded with
evidence.
‘So to Him is the praise, no one is God but He, the One
with the Ultimate Evidence, the One with the Dominating
Might, the Extremely Powerful One; and may the Salah of
Allah be upon our Master Muhammad, the Prophet of
Mercy and the Messenger of Guidance, and upon his pure
Al is the salam and Mercy of Allah and His Blessings.
‘Among what he have seen with our own eyes and
witnessed in our time, and known about it with certainty,
and as a result our certainty about our Religion increased,
and our faith in what our Prophet came with and the truth
to which he called was increased, and it encouraged the
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
168
practice of jihad because of the status of the martyrs; and
it increased our faith in what he conveyed from Allah the
Mighty and Honored about the martyrs, which is that He,
may His praises be glorified, Says in the Qur’an:
الذينق تل وافسبيلالل هأموات ابلأحياءعندر﴿ مولتسب ب ﴾حنيفر*زق وني ر
[which means] “Do not consider those who were killed
fighting for the sake of Allah as dead; in fact, they are
alive to their Lord, and they are provided for, happy,” is
that I came in the year 238 to a city of Khuwarizm. It is
west of the valley of Jayhun, and from that city to the
largest there is a distance of half a day. I was informed
that there was a woman among the wives of the martyrs,
she saw a dream as if she was fed something in it, and she
does not eat anything or drink anything since the time of
Abul-^Abbas Ibn Tahir, the Governor of Khurasan; and
before that he had died by eight years, may Allah Accept
his deeds.
‘Then I passed by that city in the year 242, and I saw her,
and she told me her story, but I did not take good care to
document all of what she told me because of my youth.
Then I returned to Khuwarizm at the end of the year 252,
and I found her still alive, and her story was widespread.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
169
This city is in a place where the caravans passed by, and
many of those who settled there, if her story reached
them, they would love to go look at her. So they would
not ask any man, woman or child except that they would
know her and give the indication to where she was.
‘When I reached the area, I sought her and found her
outside of the town by many farsakhs. So I went after her
by following her traces from village to village, and caught
up with her between two villages. She walked in a strong
fashion, and she was a middle-aged woman with a good
stature and high breast; the blood was apparent in her,
her cheeks were rosy, and her heart was intelligent. She
walked while I rode; I offered her a ride and she did not
take it, and she started walking with me strongly.
‘Among the people who were traveling with me in the
session were some traders and landlords, and among
them was a scholar who is called Muhammad Ibn
Hamdawayh Al-Harithiyy—and Musa Ibn Harun Al-Bazzar
took from him in Makkah—a middle-aged man who was
worshipful and narrated hadith. Also there was a nice
young man named ^Abdullah Ibn ^Abdur-Rahman, and he
used show the people of his area who had cases how to
swear in front of the judge. I asked him about her, and
they praised her greatly and said good about her. They
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
170
said, “Her situation is clear to us. There is not any one
among us who differs about her.”
‘The one who is named ^Abdullah Ibn ^Abdur-Rahman
said, “I heard her story since I was young. I was growing
up, and the people were talking about her story all the
time; I dedicated attention to her situation and busied
myself with researching it. I did not see except that she
was a good, chaste woman, I did not some across any lie
in her claim, and I did not find any trickery or any
deception.”
‘He mentioned some of the people who work for the
governors around Khuwarizm; in the past they used to
summon her, and they would put her in a house for a
month, two months, or more and lock her in it. They
would appoint someone to observe her, and they would
not see her eating or drinking nor find any trace of urine
or feces. Then they would set her free, and they would
give her clothing and let her go. So when the people of
the area had all agreed to her truthfulness, I asked her her
story, and her name, and I asked her all about her
situation.
‘She mentioned that her name was Rahmah Bintu
Ibrahim, and that she had a husband who was a poor
carpenter. His livelihood was by the work of his hands,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
171
and his provision came to him day by day. What he earned
was never more than what he needed for feeding his
family. She had given birth to a number of children for
him.
‘Al-Aqta^, the king of the Turks62, came to the town. [She
said] “When the river froze, he crossed the valley and
came over to us with three thousand horsemen. The
people of Khuwarizm call him Kasra.”63 Abul-^Abbas said
that this Al-Aqta^ was an extremely unjust blasphemer
with a strong enmity towards the Muslims. He had been
troublesome to the people on the borders, and insisted on
capturing people of Khuwarizm and killing and raiding
them. The governors of Khurasan used to appease him
and his likes among the leaders of the non-Arab
[blasphemers] to minimize their harm on the citizens and
their bloodshed of the Muslims. They would send each
one of them money, lots of trinkets, and different types of
fine clothing.
‘One year this blasphemer was disrespectful to the ruler,
and I do not know why that was. Were the gifts late? Or
did he consider that what was sent to him was inferior to
what was sent to the other kings? He came with his army
and blocked the roads. He killed and maimed and
62
They were blasphemers at that time. 63
The title of the old Persian kings.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
172
committed corruptions and atrocities. The horsemen of
Khuwarizm were unable to defeat him. The news of his
attack reached Abul-^Abbas ^Abdullah Ibn Tahir, may
Allah have Mercy upon him, so he dispatched four
commanders: Tahir Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Mudrik, Ya^qub Ibn
Mansur Ibn Talhah, Mikal Mawla Tahir and Harun Al-
^Arid. He loaded the town with soldiers and weapons and
arranged them into four segments of the region. Each
commander took a quarter. They protected the women by
the Will of Allah.
‘Furthermore, the valley of Jayhun at the highest point of
the river of Balkh froze over when the cold intensified. It is
a great river, it is very treacherous and destructive to the
crops. When the river expands its width would be about a
farsakh, and if it would freeze it would become a level
surface, and nothing beneath it can be reached unless a
hole is dug into it like digging wells out of boulders. I have
seen the thickness of the ice ten handspans, and I was
informed that in the past it would exceed twenty
handspans. When it would freeze it would serve as a
bridge for the people of the area; the soldiers, the pack
animals, and the caravans would pass over it, and so what
is between the two banks would become arranged.
Sometimes it would remain frozen for one hundred
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
173
twenty days. If in a year the cold would be less, it would
remain for seventy days to about three months.
‘The woman said that the blasphemer crossed over with
his horsemen to the door of the fortress. The people
sought refuge in the fortress and gathered their
belongings there. So they attacked the Muslims in the
morning and harmed them, and so the people of the town
were detained inside. They wanted to go out, but the
magistrate prevented them until the soldiers of the Sultan
and the volunteer fighters arrived, and so some young
men strapped up and went close to the wall of the
fortress with whatever weapons they could carry.
‘They attacked the blasphemers, so the blasphemers
faked a retreat and pulled them away from between the
buildings and walls. When they got outside, the
blasphemers returned to them, and the Muslims wound
up in something like the forest. They sought cover and
took a structure to fight from behind it; they were
separated from the fortress, and help was far from them.
They battled the most severe battling; they stayed firm
until their bowstrings popped and their bows snapped,
the tiredness reached them, and they were touched by
hunger and thirst. Most of them were killed and the rest
were inflicted with severe injuries. When the night came,
both factions fell back.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
174
‘The woman said that the fires were lit on the
mountaintops the hour the blasphemer crossed over. The
signal reached Jurjaniyyah, which is a large city on the
outskirts of Khuwarizm, where Mikal Mawla Tahir was
with his army, so he rushed to respond out of reverence
for the Amir, Abul-^Abbas ^Abdullah Ibn Tahir, may Allah
have Mercy upon him. He ran to Hazarasb in a day and a
night, forty Khuwariziyy farsakhs, and those were much
bigger than the Khurasaniyy farsakhs.
‘The blasphemer decided to wipe out the band the next
day. When that was in progress the black flags showed up,
and they heard the sounds of the drums, so they
retreated from the people, and Mikal reached the
battlefield. He buried the dead and carried the wounded.
‘The woman said, “That evening we had four hundred
funerals in the fortress; there was no house except that
there was a dead person carried to it. It was a widespread
tragedy, and the whole region shook with crying.” She
said, “My husband was placed in front of me dead. So I
was overcome with extreme sadness and crying, as a
young woman would cry over her husband, the father of
her children, and we had dependents. The women of my
family and neighbors gathered to help me through the
crying. The children came, and they were babies; they had
no concept of the issue. They asked for bread, and I did
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
175
not have any, and my chest was tightened by my
situation. Then I heard the adhan of Maghrib, so I went to
resort to the prayer. I prayed what my Lord Ordained for
me, then I prostrated, supplicating; and I was beseeching
Allah the Exalted, asking Him for patience and for Him to
Mend the orphanage of my children.
“Then sleep took me away in my prostration. I saw myself
in my dream as if I was in a beautiful land with many
stones. I was seeking my husband. A man called me,
‘Where are you going, O free woman?’ I said, ‘I am
seeking my husband.’ He said, ‘Go to the right.’ I saw a
level land; it was fragrant and had plenty of greenery, and
behold, there were palaces and buildings that I am unable
to describe, and the likes of which I have never seen, and
there were rivers flowing on the face of the earth without
banks.
“I ended up at some people who were sitting circle by
circle. They were wearing green clothing and they were
engulfed in light, and behold, they were the people who
were killed in the battle, eating from food laid out for
them. I started going between them and examining their
faces so that I would meet my husband. However, he saw
me, and so he called me: ‘O Rahmah!’ So I followed the
voice and behold, he was in the same situation in which I
saw the other martyrs. His face was like the full moon. He
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
176
was eating with his companions that were killed with him
that day.
“He said to his companions, ‘This poor woman has been
hungry all day. Do you permit me to give her something to
eat?’ They permitted him, so he gave me a piece of
bread.” She said “I knew at that time that it was bread,
but I do not know how it was made. It was whiter than
snow and milk, sweeter than honey and sugar, and softer
than butter and fat. I ate it, and when it settled in my
belly, he said: ‘Go. Allah has Given you sufficient food and
drink for the rest of your life in the dunya.’ I woke from
my sleep satiated and quenched. I needed neither food
nor drink, and I have not tasted them since then until this
day of mine, nor anything the people eat.”
‘Abul-^Abbas said, “She used to sit with us. We used to
eat and she would gag, and take hold of her nose,
claiming that she is harmed by the smell of the food.”
‘So I asked her, “Do you seek nutrition from anything, or
drink anything other than water?” She said “No.” I asked
her, does gas and waste come out of her like other
people? She said: “I have not experienced waste since
that time.” I said, “And menstruation?” I think that she
said, “It stopped when the eating stopped.” I said, “Do you
have the women’s need for men?” She said, “And you are
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
177
not shy of me to ask me the likes of this?” I said, “It is so I
could tell the people about you, and it is necessary that I
would be thorough.” She said, “I do not need it.” I said,
“Do you sleep?” She said, “Yes, the sweetest of sleep.” I
said, “What do you see in your dreams?” She said, “Like
you see.” I said, “Do you experience weakness because of
the lack of food?” She said, “I have not felt hunger since I
was fed that food.”
‘She used to accept charity. I said to her, “What do you do
with it?” She said, “I clothe myself and my children.” I said
to her, “Do you feel the cold, and are you harmed by
heat?” She said, “Yes.” I said, “Do you become tired when
you walk?” She said, “Yes, am I not a human?” I said, “Do
you make wudu’ for salah?” She said, “Yes.” I said,
“Why?” She said, “The scholars ordered me with that.” I
say: They have given her this fatwa from the hadith that
wudu’ is not obligatory except for impurity or sleep.
‘She mentioned to me that her stomach is stuck to her
back, so I ordered a woman who was with us, and she
looked (i.e., without looking at her ^awrah), and her
stomach was as she described. She took a bag, stuffed it
with cotton, and tied it to her stomach so that her back
would not snap when she walked. I never ceased to visit
Hazarasb every two or three years, and she would meet
with me and I would repeat the questions. She would not
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
178
add anything or omit anything. I presented her talk to
^Abdullah Ibn ^Abdur-Rahman the faqih; he said, “I have
heard this talk since I was raised, and I have never found
anyone who denies it, or claims that he heard that she
eats or drinks or defecates.”’”
This story proves that there is no necessary intellectual relation
between the lack of food and sickness, the loss of health, and
degeneration of the body. Likewise, it is mentally valid that the
rest of the normal reasons would be devoid of their results.
Furthermore, it proves that things are by the Will of Allah the
Exalted, and that the martyrs have a life in the graves. Glory be to
the One Who has Power over everything.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
179
Important Notice
The ignorant person is not excused from what we mentioned of
the basics of the Creed, and he is not excused if he falls into
blasphemy because of his lack of care about the Religion. Had
ignorance excused one from punishment, then ignorance would
have been better than knowledge, and this is against the Saying of
Allah the Exalted:
اي تذكر ﴿ أ ول وق لهليستويالذيني علم ونوالذينلي علم ونإن﴾األلباب
[which means] “[O Muhammad,] are the people who know equal
to the people who do not know?”
However, whoever was new to Islam, or similar to him, does not
blaspheme for denying the obligation of the prayer, the
prohibition of wine, and the like, if he never heard that this is the
Religion of Islam.
The first obligation in reference to the family is teaching them the
fundamentals of the Creed so that they would not fall into
blasphemy by their ignorance of it. For instance, had they believed
that Allah was a white, illuminated body, and reached puberty
believing in that, and then died believing it, they will dwell in Hell
as a result of their corrupted convictions. Al-Fudayl Ibn ^Iyad said:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
180
“Do not be enticed by the numbers of the doomed.” Is this
ignorance of the Creed the result of one’s love for his children?
Allah the Exalted Said:
لي عب د ون﴿ نسإل واإل الن ﴾وماخلقت [which means] “I have not Created the jinn and the humans
except to worship Me.” The interpretation of the verse came as,
“Allah did not Create the jinn and humans except to Order them
to worship Him.” After the guidance came to us, which is the
Messenger, and the evidence was established against us by him,
we have no excuse. The Exalted Said:
ن ب عثر﴿ بنيحىت ك نام عذ ﴾س ول وما [which means] “We do not Punish until sending a Messenger.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
181
Prophethood
Nubuwwah [Prophethood] is derived from naba’ [news], because
Prophethood includes informing from Allah; or it is derived from
nabwah [highness]. According to the first possibility, the word
Nabiyy has the pattern of fa^il with the meaning of the doer,
because he informs from Allah about what was Revealed to him.
Or it could be with the meaning of the receiver; then it would
mean he is informed from Allah, meaning that the Angel informs
him from Allah.
Prophethood is intellectually possible, not impossible. Certainly
Allah the Exalted sent the Prophets as a Mercy to the slaves,
because the intellect does not have what frees the people from
the need for the Prophets. The mind does not independently
know the things that save one in the Hereafter, so in sending the
Prophets there is a necessary welfare for the slave, because of
their need for that. So Allah is Generous by making Prophethood
for His slaves. It is the embassy between Allah and His slaves.
The Difference between the Prophets and the
Messengers
Know that the Prophet and the Messenger both share in the
reception of Revelation. Allah Revealed a Law to both of them to
work according to and to convey to the people, except that the
Messenger comes with the abrogation of the Law of the
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
182
Messenger before him, or he comes with a new Law. It is Revealed
to the Prophet who is not a Messenger to follow the Law of the
Messenger before him and to convey it. For that reason the
scholars said, “Every Messenger is a Prophet, but not every
Prophet is a Messenger.” Furthermore, there is also a difference
between Prophets and Messengers in that the Angel would be
ascribed with being a Messenger and Prophethood would only be
for the human.
What is Necessary for the Prophets and What is
Impossible for Them
Truthfulness is necessary for the Prophets, and lying is impossible
for them; and intelligence is necessary for them, and dullness and
stupidity is impossible for them; and trustworthiness is necessary
for them; and so the prophets are clear of blasphemy, major sins,
and demeaning small sins. This is the necessary impeccability for
them, and treachery is impossible to be an attribute of theirs. The
Protection is necessary for them; despicability, foolishness and
cowardice are impossible for them, and they are clear of
everything that repels the people from accepting the Call from
them. Likewise, it is impossible that they would be attributed with
any repulsive sickness. So anyone who attributes to them lying,
treachery, despicability, foolishness, cowardice, or the likes of
that, has blasphemed.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
183
The Miracle
Know that the way to know the Prophets is the Miracle; it is a
supernatural matter, it happens in compliance with the claim of
the one who claims Prophethood, and it is clear of being
discredited by something similar. Any matter that is strange but
does not oppose nature is not a Miracle. Likewise, whatever does
oppose nature but is not accompanied with the claim of
Prophethood is not called a Miracle, like the supernatural matters
that happen to the Waliyys, those who follow the Prophets. That
is not a Miracle, rather it is called a Karamah. Likewise whatever
is possibly opposed by its likes is not a miracle, like magic, for
magic is opposed by magic of its likes.
The Miracle is of two categories: a category that takes place after
the people’s challenge to the one who claims Prophethood, and a
category which happens without any challenge. The first is like
the camel of Salih, the one that came out of the boulder. His
people challenged him with that. They said, “If you are a Prophet
sent to us for us to believe in you, then bring a camel for us out of
this boulder, and its calf,” so he brought a camel out of the
boulder for them with its calf. They were amazed, so they
believed in him; because had he been a liar in saying that Allah
sent him, then he would not have performed this strange
supernatural matter which no one among the people was able to
oppose with its likes.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
184
Therefore the evidence was established against them, and they
had no valid option except acceptance in the heart and faith in
him, because the intellect dictates the truthfulness of the one who
performs such a matter. Those who oppose a Miracle are unable
to perform something like it to discredit it, so anyone who does
not accept it in his heart and stubbornly opposes it is considered
someone who deems the value of intellectual evidence as
nothing.
Miracles That Took Place for Those Who Came before Our
Master Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
Among the examples of Miracles that took place for those who
came before Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص is the great fire’s lack of effect on
Ibrahim [Abraham], in such a way that it did not burn him or his
clothing. Among them is the transformation of Musa’s [Moses’]
staff into a real serpent, then it returning to its original state after
the magicians that Pharaoh prepared for opposing Musa
confessed, accepted in their hearts, and believed in Allah and
disbelieved in the Pharoah, and confessed about Musa that he
was truthful in what he came with.
Also among them is what took place for ^Isa [Jesus], such as
reviving the dead. That is something that cannot be opposed with
its likes. So the Jews, who were cursed for belying ^Isa, and were
diligent to fabricate about him, were unable to oppose what he
did with its likes. He also performed another great strange
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
185
matter, which was curing the one born blind, and no one from his
time was able to oppose that with its likes, despite the proficiency
in medicine at that era. So that is evidence of his truthfulness in
everything that he informed about, such as the obligation of
worshipping the Creator alone, without any association of
partners with Him, and the obligation of them following him in the
deeds he ordered them to perform.
Some of the Miracles of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
As for Muhammad, may the Salah of Allah be upon him and all of
his brotherly Prophets, among his Miracles is the moaning tree
stump. The Prophet used to lean against a stump of a palm tree
when he would give the speech in his Masjid, before the pulpit
was made for him. Then when the pulpit was made for him, he
ascended on it and he started with the speech while he was
standing on it. Then the tree stump moaned to the extent that
everyone in the Masjid heard its moaning, so he came down and
embraced it until it was silent.
Also among his Miracles is the speaking of those who do not
speak, i.e., the animals. Imam Ahmad and Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated
from Ya^la Ibn Murrah Ath-Thaqafiyy with an authentic chain of
narration that he said:
We were walking with the Prophet when a camel that was
made to carry loads passed by. When the camel saw the
Prophet it made a strange noise and lowered its neck, and
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
186
so the Prophet stopped at it for a moment. Then he said,
“Where is the owner of this camel?” So the owner came,
and the Prophet said, “Sell it to me.” He said, “In fact, we
would give it to you, O Messenger of Allah, however, it is
for my family and we have no other means of making
livelihood.” So the Prophet said, “If you insisted on
keeping it, this camel has complained about excessive
work and too little fodder, so treat it well.”
Ibn Shahin narrated in his book Dala’ilu-n-Nubuwwah from the
route of ^Abdullah Ibn Ja^far that he said,
“The Prophet let me ride with him that day behind him.
He entered a garden of a man among the Ansar and there
was a camel there. When it saw the Prophet it moaned
and cried until the Prophet came to it and he rubbed the
bases of its ears, and so it stopped. He said, ‘Who is the
owner of this camel?’ Then a young man from the Ansar
came and said, ‘It is mine.’ The Prophet said: ‘Why do you
not fear Allah in reference to this animal that Allah
Enabled you to own? For certainly it has complained to
me that you starve it and overwork it.’”
This is an authentic hadith, just as said by Muhaddith Murtada Az-
Zabidiyy in the explanation of Ihya’ ^Ulumi-d-Din.
Among them is the springing of water from between his fingers,
which was witnessed in several incidents in great battles that
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
187
were narrated through many routes. The sum of those narrations
promotes definitive knowledge, which is what the hadith that is
mutawatir by its meaning promotes. This did not happen for
anyone other than our Prophet; it happened in such a way that
the water sprang from his bones, nerves, flesh and blood, and this
is more amazing than water springing from the stone that was hit
by Musa. For water to come out of a stone is known, which is
different than water coming from between flesh and blood. This
was narrated through the route of Jabir, Anas, Ibn Mas^ud, Ibn
^Abbas, Abu Layla Al-Ansariyy and Abu Rafi^.
The two Shaykhs [Al-Bukhariyy and Muslim] narrated from the
hadith of Anas: “I saw the Messenger of Allah and ^Asr came in,
and he sought the water for wudu’ but he did not find it. Then the
Messenger was approached with water for wudu’. He put his hand
in that container and then ordered the people to make wudu’, and
I saw the water springing from between his fingers, and the
people made wudu’ until the last one of them.” In a narration of
Al-Bukhariyy, the narrator said to Anas, “How many of you were
there?” He said, “Three hundred.”
Al-Bukhariyy and Muslim also narrated from the hadith of Jabir:
“The people were thirsty on the day of Al-Hudaybiyah and the
Messenger of Allah had a bucket in front of him from which he
was making wudu’. Then the people gathered, and he said, “What
is wrong with you?” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, we do not
have that by which we would make wudu’ and we do not have
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
188
anything to drink except what is between your hands.” So the
Prophet put his hands in the bucket and the water started to pour
forth from between his fingers like springs. So we began to drink
and to make wudu’.” Then it was asked, “How many of you were
there?” He said, “Had there been one hundred thousand of us it
would have been enough. We were fifteen hundred.”
What is precise is that the water was springing from the flesh
between the Prophet’s fingers itself. That is what An-Nawawiyy
said explicitly in the explanation of Muslim, and it is supported by
the saying of Jabir, “I saw the water coming out,” and in another
narration, “It was springing from between his fingers.”
Among his Miracles is replacing Qatadah’s eye after it was
knocked out. Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated in his book Dala’ilun-
Nubuwwah from the route of Qatadah ibn Nu^man that his eye
was hit on the day of Badr and his eyeball dangled on his
cheekbone. They wanted to cut it, so they asked the Messenger of
Allah. He said, “No.” He called him and he buried his eye back into
the socket with his palm. After that Qatadah did not know which
one of his eyes was hit.
In reference to these two miracles, some of the people praised
the Prophet in the meter of poetry known as Al-Basit. They said:
ليسمعن الكفاففإنحجر مناألسباطسقىم وسىكانإناحلجرف
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
189
بصرمنردقدبراحتهفكمبدعوتهاألعمىب راعيسىكانإن [which means] “If Musa watered the Asbat64 from a stone, then
certainly in the palm is a meaning that does not exist in a stone.
And if ^Isa cured the blind with his du^a’, then how many by his
palm did he return their vision?”
Also among the Prophet’s Miracles is the food saying
“subhanallah” in his hand. Al-Bukhariyy narrated the hadith of Ibn
Mas^ud that he said, “We used to eat the food with the Prophet
and we would hear the food saying ‘Subhanallah.’” These three
miracles were more astonishing than reviving the dead, which was
one of the Miracles of ^Isa.
Al-Isra’ and Al-Mi^raj
Among his Miracles are Al-Isra’ and Al-Mi^raj. Isra’, which was the
Night Journey, is confirmed by the explicit documentation of the
Qur’an and the authentic hadith, so it is obligatory to believe that
Allah Made him take a night journey from Makkah to Al-Masjidu-l-
Aqsa. As for the Ascension into the sky, it was confirmed by the
explicit hadiths. As for the Qur’an, it was not documented therein
with an explicit documentation that does not accept any other
explanation. However, it came in the Qur’an that which is virtually
an explicit documentation, i.e., it is practically explicit.
The Saying of Allah came in reference to al-Isra’:
64
The Tribes of Israel.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
190
منالمسجداحلرذيأسرس بحانال﴿ بعبدهليل امإىلى ﴾يه منآياتناكناحوله لن رالمسجداألقصىالذيبار
[which means] “Glory be to Allah, Who is Clear of resemblance,
the One who Made His slave take a night journey at night from
Al-Masjidu-l-Haram to Al-Masjidu-l-Aqsa, which We have
Blessed its surroundings, so that We would Show him of Our
amazing signs.”
If it were said that the Saying of Allah,
﴾ى آه ن زلة أ خرولقدر﴿ [which means] “He saw him a second time,” is possible to be a
dream, we say, this is interpreting the verse according to other
than its apparent meaning, and it is not permissible to make ta’wil
from the religious texts without any definitive mental evidence or
confirmed transmitted evidence, as said by Ar-Raziyy in his book
Al-Mahsul and others among the scholars of Al-Usul.
Muslim narrated from Anas Ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah
said:
ا أ تيت يضع الب غلود وناحلمارفو طويلأبيض دابةوهوبالرب فربطت ه املقدسبيتأتيت حىتافركبت هطرفه،منت هىعندحافره
فيهفصليت املسجددخلت ثاألنبياء ،بايربط اليتباحللقة
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
191
وإناء خر منبإناء السلمعليهجربيل فجاءنخرجت ث ركعتني،اخت رت:))السلم عليهجربيل قالفاللاب،فاخرتت لب من
ثا((الفطرة ....السماءإىلبناعر [which means] “I was approached with Al-Buraq, a white,
long animal, taller than a donkey and shorter than a
mule. He puts his hoof wherever his sight falls.,, So I rode
it until I reached Jerusalem, and so I tied him to the ring
by which the Prophets tie their animals. Then I entered
the masjid and I prayed two rak^ahs in it. Then I went
out and then Jibril came to me with a container of wine
and a container of milk, so I chose the milk. Then Jibril
said, ‘You have adhered to the Religion.’ Then we went
up into the sky…”
In the hadith is the evidence that Al-Isra’ and Al-Mi^raj
took place in one night by both his body and soul while
being awake, since no one said that he reached Jerusalem
and then went to sleep.
The Messenger Seeing his Lord with his Heart and Not with his
Eyes on that Night
As for the Prophet seeing his Lord on the night of Al-Mi^raj, At-
Tabaraniyy narrated in Al-Mu^jamul-Awsat with a strong chain, as
said by Hafidh Ibn Hajar, from the route of Ibn ^Abbas, may Allah
Accept his and his father’s deeds, “Muhammad saw his Lord
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
192
twice.” Also, Ibn Khuzaymah narrated with a strong chain that
Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص saw his Lord.
What is meant is that he saw Him with his heart, as proven by the
hadith of Muslim from the route of Abu-l-^Aliyah from the route
of Ibn ^Abbas about the Saying of Allah the Exalted,
كذبالف ﴿ ن زلة آه رولقدى ي رماعلى ونه أف ت مار أى رماؤاد ما﴾ى أ خر
[which means] “The heart did not lie about what it saw. Do you
debate with him about what he sees? And he saw Him a second
time.” Ibn ^Abbas said, “He saw his Lord with his heart twice.”
Notice: Al-Ghazaliyy said in Ihya’u-^Ulumi-d-Din, “What is correct
is that the Prophet did not see his Lord on the night of the
Ascension.” What he means is that the Prophet did not see Allah
with his eyes, because it is not confirmed that the Prophet said, “I
saw Him with my eyes.” Nor is it confirmed from any of the
Companions, their followers, or the followers of their followers
that the Prophet said, “I saw him with the eyes in my head.”
The Miracle’s Substantiation of the Truthfulness of the
Prophet
The supernatural matter that occurs for the one who claims
Prophethood when challenged, without any possible opposition
by something similar to it, is as if Allah Said, “My slave is truthful
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
193
in everything that he conveyed from Me.” This means that had it
not been that he was truthful in his claim, then Allah would not
have Made this Miracle appear for him. So it is as if Allah Said,
“This slave of mine is truthful in his claim of Prophethood because
I have made this Miracle appear from him,” because the one who
deems the liar truthful is a liar, and it is impossible that Allah
would be a liar. So that proves that Allah only Created the Miracle
for deeming his Prophets as truthful, because every sane person
knows that reviving the dead, and transforming a stick into a
serpent, and bringing a she-camel out of a solid boulder, are not
normal.
The Way to Know the Miracle by Definitiveness and
Certainty
The knowledge of the occurrence of the Miracles takes place by
observation, in reference to those who witnessed it, and by way of
tawatur in reference to whoever did not witness it. This is like our
knowledge of the far-off lands and the confirmed historical events
that took place to the people before us among the kings and the
nations. The information that is narrated by tawatur replaces
witnessing. So, mentally, it is a necessity to accept, in the heart,
the one who came with the miracle, just as it is religiously
necessary.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
194
Belief in the Torture of the Grave and its
Enjoyment and Questioning
Allah the Exalted Said,
هاض وني عرالنار ﴿ آلأدخل واالساعة ت ق وم وي وموعشياغ د واعلي ﴾العذابأشدعونفر
[which means] “Hell will be presented to them morning and
evening, and on the day when the Hour takes place, insert the
aristocracy of Pharaoh into the most severe torture.” Allah also
Said,
امعيشة له فإنيعنذكرضومنأعر﴿ ﴾ضنك [which means] “Whoever turns away from my remembrance [i.e.
believing in Me], then he will have a hard life.” These two verses
came in reference to the torture of the grave for the blasphemers.
As for the sinful Muslims among the major sinners who died
before repentance, they are of two groups. Allah will Pardon one
group from the torture of the grave; the other group will be
tortured by Allah and then their torture will stop. Then Allah will
delay the remainder of their torture until the Hereafter.
Al-Bukhariyy, Muslim, At-Tirmidhiyy, Abu Dawud, and An-Nasa’iyy
narrated from the route of Ibn ^Abbas: “The Messenger of Allah
passed by two graves. He said, ‘Certainly they are being tortured.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
195
And would they be tortured for a major sin? Indeed. As for one of
them, he used to walk with instigation [namimah]. As for the
other, he used to not protect himself from urine.’ Then he called
for a moist palm branch, and broke it in half, and he submersed
one half into one grave and the other into the other grave. Then
he said, ‘So that it would be lightened for them.’”
Know that the return of the soul to the body in the grave was
confirmed in the authentic narrations, like the hadith of Al-Bara’
Ibn ^Azib which was narrated by Al-Bayhaqiyy, Al-Hakim, and Abu
^Uwanah, and more than one person deemed it as authentic, and
the hadith of Ibn ^Abbas which is elevated up to the Prophet:
نيافي عرفه كاناملؤمنأخيهبقربمي رأحد منما عليهف ي سلام الدالسلمعليهوردإلعرفه
[which means], “There is not one of you that passes by the grave
of his fellow believer that he knew in the dunya except that he
[i.e., the dead one] would know him and return his salam.” This
hadith was narrated by Ibn ^Abdul-Barr and ^Abdul-Haqq Al-
Ishbiliyy, and he deemed it as authentic.
This dictates that the soul would return to the body entirely, or to
some of the body, and this is the apparent meaning of the hadith,
and the return of life to the body in the grave is prominently
emphasized in reference to the Prophets. It was narrated in the
hadith of Anas from the Prophet,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
196
ي صلونقبورهمفأحياءاألنبياء [which means] “The Prophets are alive in their graves praying.”
Al-Bayhaqiyy deemed it as authentic and the Hafidh [Ibn Hajar Al-
Asqalaniyy] agreed with him.
Al-Bukhariyy and Muslim narrated from the route of Anas from
the Prophet that he said:
ق رعليسمع وإنهأصحابه عنه وت وىلق ربهفو ضعإذاالعبدإنفت ق ول كنتما:فيفولنفي قعدانهملكانأتاه انصرف واإذانعالمأنهأشهد :فيقول –الكامل أي-املؤمن فأماممد ؟الرج لهذااللأبدلكالنارمنمقعدكإىلانظ ر:له ف ي قال ورس ول ه ،اللعبد ابه االنةمنمقعد ل:في ق ولاملنافق أوالكافر وأما.جيع افرياه
ت ليت،ولدريتل:في قال فيه،الناس يقول ماأقول كنت أدريمنيسمع هاصيحة فيصيح أذ ن يهبنيحديد منمبطرقة ي ضرب ثا
الث قلنيإليليه [which means] “Certainly the slave, if he is put in his
grave, and his companions turn away from him, he will
surely hear the steps of their sandals as they leave. Two
angels will come to him. They sit him up and say, ‘What
did you used to say about this man Muhammad?’ As for
the (perfect) believer, he will say, ‘I testify that he is the
slave of Allah and His Messenger.’ Then it will be said to
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
197
him, ‘Look at your seat from Hell, Allah has Replaced it
with a seat from Paradise,’ and then he will see both of
them. As for the blasphemer or the hypocrite, he will
say, ‘I do not know. I used to say what the people say
about him.’ Then it will be said to him, ‘You do not know
and you do not know’ [i.e., he is chastised]. Then he
would be hit with an iron mallet between his ears, and
he will scream with a scream heard by everyone close to
him except for the humans and jinn.”
From the route of ^Abdullah Ibn ^Amr, the Messenger of Allah
mentioned the two who come with the fitnah of the grave [i.e.,
the questioning of the grave]. Then ^Umar Ibnul-Khattab said,
“Will our minds be returned to us, O Messenger of Allah?” He
said, “Yes, like you are now.” ^Abdullah Ibn ^Amr said, “Then he
had a stone in his mouth,” [i.e., he could not respond].
[It was narrated] from the route of Abu Hurayrah that the
Messenger of Allah said:
ألحدهاي قال أزرقانأسودانملكانأتاه اإلنسان أوامليات ق ربإذاالرج لهذافتق ول كنتما:له فيقولننكريولآلخرم نكراللعبد ه و:قالمؤمن اكانفإن.يق ول كانماقائلفهوممد ؟
اأنوأشهد اللإلإلهلأنأشهد ورس ول ه ورسول هعبد ه ممد ق ربهفله ي فسح ثذلك،لت ق ول أنكلن علم كناإن:له في ق ولن
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
198
فينام ن،:له ف ي قال فيه،له وي ن ور ذراع اسبعنيفذراع اسبعنيمناللي بعثه حىتأهلهأحبإلي وقظ هلالذيالعر وسكنوم
الناسأسع كنت أدري،ل:قالم نافق اكانفإن.ذلكمضجعهت ق ول أناكلنعلم كناإن:له في ق ولنأقول ه ،فكنت شيئ ايقولون
فلأضلع ه تتلفحىتعليهفت لتئم التئميللرضي قال ث ذلك،ب اي زال .ذلكمضجعهمنتعاىلالليبعثه حىتام عذ
[which means] “If the dead were put in his grave, two
blue-black angels will come to him. One of them is called
Munkar and the other is called Nakir. They say to him,
‘What did you used to say about this man Muhammad?’,
and then he will say what he used to say. So if he were a
believer he would say, ‘He is the slave of Allah and His
Messenger. I testify that no one is God but Allah and I
testify that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.’
Then the angels will say to him, ‘Certainly, we knew that
you would say that.’ Then his grave would be expanded
for him seventy cubits by seventy cubits, and it will be
illuminated for him, and it will be said to him, “Sleep.”
Then he will sleep like the sleep of a newlywed who is
not awakened except by his most beloved wife, until
Allah Resurrects him from that bed of his.
“If he were a hypocrite, he says, ‘I don’t know. I used to
hear the people saying something, so I used to say it.’
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
199
Then they will say to him, ‘Certainly we knew you would
say that.’ Then it would be said to the earth, ‘Close.’
Then it will close on him until his ribs cross, and he will
not cease to be tortured until Allah Resurrects him from
that bed of his.”
Those two hadiths were narrated by Ibn Hibban, and he deemed
them as authentic. In the first of them is the confirmation of the
return of the soul to the body in the grave and the return of the
feelings. In the second is the confirmation of the soul remaining in
the grave and the confirmation of sleep, and that will be the case
as long as the body has not decayed. This enjoyment is for the
strong believer, and he is the one who fulfills the obligations and
refrains from the sins. He is the one that the Messenger of Allah
said about him:
نيا نيافار فإذاوسنت ه املؤمنسجن الد والسنةالساجنفار الد [which means] “The dunya is the believer’s prison and his
drought. If he departed the dunya then he departed the prison
and the drought.” This is an authentic hadith narrated by Ibn
Hibban, and what he meant is the perfect believer.
If the body had decayed entirely, and nothing was left except the
piece of the tailbone, the soul of the pious believer will be in
Paradise. The souls of the sinful believers, i.e., the people of the
major sins who died without repentance, will be between the sky
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
200
and the earth after the decay of the body, and some of them will
be in the first sky. The souls of the blasphemers will be in Sijjin
after the decay of the body, and that is a place in the lowest earth.
As for the martyrs, their souls ascend immediately into Paradise.
Notice: Excluded from the questioning of the two angels are the
Prophets and the battlefield martyrs, and likewise the children
who died before pubescence.
If it were said, “How would a big number of people be
questioned?” The answer is what Al-Halimiyy said, “What is most
likely is that the angels of questioning are a large group. Some of
them are named Munkar and some of them are named Nakir; two
of them will be sent to each dead person.”
The Judgment of the One who Denies the Torture of the
Grave
The one who denies the torture of the grave blasphemes because
of [his opposition to] the Saying of Allah:
هاغ د واوعشياوي ومت ق وم الساعة أدخل واآلي عرالنار ﴿ ض ونعلي العذابفر ﴾عونأشد
[which means] “Hell will be presented to them morning and
evening, and on the day when the Hour takes place, insert the
entourage of Pharaoh into the most severe torture.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
201
This is different from the one who denies the questioning of the
grave. He would not be judged as a blasphemer unless he denied
that out of stubbornness.65
The Resurrection
The Resurrection is true. It is the exiting of the dead from the
graves after the reconstruction of their bodies that had been
eaten by the soil, if they were among the bodies eaten by the soil.
Those are the bodies of other than the Prophets, the martyrs of
the battlefield, and some of the Waliyys, because of what was
narrated by tawatur of witnessing some of the Waliyys. The first
for whom the grave would split open is our Master Muhammad
and the people of Makkah, Madinah and At-Ta’if are among ,ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
the first who will be resurrected.
The Gathering
The Gathering is true. It is for the people to be gathered after
Resurrection in a place, and that would be on the transformed
earth, a leveled earth which is completely flat; it is like a stretched
skin, with neither mountains nor valleys in it. It is bigger and
wider than this earth of ours, and it is white like silver.
The gathering will be of three categories. One category are people
who will be fed, clothed, and riding on female camels with golden
saddles, and those would be the pious people; and another
65
i.e., he knows what Muslims believe and he denied it anyway.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
202
category will be barefoot and naked, and those would be the
Muslims who are major sinners; and another category will be
gathered and dragged on their faces, and they are the
blasphemers.
The Questioning of Allah
It is the presentation of the slave’s deeds to them by Allah
Speaking to the slaves in their entirety. They will understand from
the Speech of Allah the Questioning about what they did with the
endowments that Allah Gave them. So the pious believer will be
pleased, and the blasphemer will not be pleased, because he will
not have any good deeds in the afterlife. Instead, he would be
practically about to die from the despair.
It came in the authentic hadith:
منأحد إلسي كلام هربه يومالقيامةليسبينه وبينه مامنكمان ت رج
[which means] “There is not one of you except that his Lord will
Speak to him on Judgment Day, and there will be no interpreter
between them.” Narrated by Ahmad and At-Tirmidhiyy
The Scale
The Scale is true. It is like the scale of this life; it has a pole and a
beam and two pans; a pan for the good deeds and a pan for the
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
203
bad deeds. The deeds will be weighed on it on Judgment Day, and
Jibril and Mika’il are in charge of weighing the deeds. What is
weighed is the pages upon which the good and bad deeds were
written.
The one whose good deeds outweigh his bad deeds will be among
the saved people, and the one whose good deeds and bad deeds
are equal is also among the saved people, however, his status is
lower than the first level and higher than the third. The one whose
bad deeds outweigh his good deeds is under the Will of Allah. If
Allah Willed, he will torture him, and if He Willed, He will Forgive
him. As for the blasphemer, his pan of bad deeds will be
weightful, and there will be no other situation, because he will not
have any good deeds in the Hereafter because he had been fed
for his good deeds in the present life.
Reward and Punishment
Reward, according to the people of truth, is not a right of the
obedient that is obligatory on Allah, it is only Generosity from
Him. It is the compensation by which Allah Compensates the
believer with what pleases him in the Hereafter. The torture also
is not obligatory on Allah to inflict upon the sinners; it is only
Justice from Him, and it is what displeases the slave on Judgment
Day. It is of two types, the greater torture and the lesser torture.
The greater torture is entering Hell, and the lesser torture is
everything other than that; like the harm of the heat of the sun on
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
204
Judgment Day, for the sun will be unleashed on the blasphemers.
They will drown until the sweat of one of them reaches his mouth,
and the sweat of one person will not mix with another person’s,
rather, it will be restricted to him. The blasphemer will even say
from the severity of what he suffers from it, “O my Lord, relieve
me, even if that were by entering Hell.”
The pious believers will be under the shade of the ^Arsh. This is
the meaning of the hadith,
سبعةي ظلهم اللفظلاه[which means] “There are seven types of people whom Allah will
shade with His shade,” i.e., in the shade of His ^Arsh.
The Bridge
The Bridge is true. It is a wide, extended bridge over Hell. All of
the creations will come to it. Among them are those who will
come to it and enter Hell, and those are the blasphemers and
some of the sinful Muslims; they slip from the Bridge and fall into
Hell. Also among them [the creations] are those who will come to
it by passing over it in its air. Among them are those who pass by
it with the speed of a lightning bolt, and among them are those
who pass by it with the speed of a blink of an eye, and all of this is
taken by its apparent meaning with no other explanation.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
205
One of its edges is at the transformed earth, and the other is at
what is close to Paradise. It is narrated about its description that
it is slippery, and among what was narrated about it is that it is
sharper than a sword and thinner than a hair, like what Muslim
narrated from Abu Sa^id Al-Khudriyy. He said, “It reached me that
it is thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword.” That did not
come as a hadith elevated up to the Prophet, and the apparent
meaning of this is not intended; instead, it is wide. It is only meant
by that that its danger is great, for the ease of passing it or its
difficulty is measured by the obedience and the sins, and no one
knows the limits of that except Allah. It came in the authentic
hadith that their deeds will make them run over the bridge; it
means that their deeds will be the power of their stride.
The Basin
The Basin is true. It is a place in which Allah has Prepared a drink
for the people of Paradise; they drink from it before entering
Paradise and after passing the Bridge. For our Prophet there is a
Basin to which his nation comes exclusively; no other nation will
come to it. Its length is a walking distance of a month, and its
width is similar; its containers are like the number of the stars in
the sky; its drink is whiter than milk, sweeter than honey, and
more fragrant then the smell of musk. Allah has Prepared for
every Prophet a Basin, and the biggest of those Basins is the Basin
of our Prophet.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
206
The Description of Paradise
Paradise is true. It is obligatory to believe in it and that it is
presently created, just as is understood from the Qur’an and the
authentic hadith. It is presently above the seventh sky and not
connected to it. Its ceiling is the ^Arsh of Ar-Rahman.
Its people have the appearance of their father Adam, sixty cubits
tall by seven cubits wide. They have a beautiful appearance; they
have no facial hair and no body hair. They would be thirty-three
years old. They will remain in it forever, and they never exit from
it. The hadith was authenticated that the people of Paradise have
the image of their father Adam: sixty cubits in the sky, seven
cubits wide.
The Messenger of Allah said about its description:
،وقصرمشيدونرم طرد،هيورب وريانةتت ز الكعبةن وريتلأل كثريةفم قام جيلة،وح لل كثريةنضيجة،وزوجةحسناء وفاكهة
رة ونضرة أبديافحب [which means] “I swear by the Lord of the Ka^bah, it is brilliant
lights and fragrant musk, and firmly structured castles and
continually flowing rivers, and lots of ripe fruit and beautiful,
lovely wives, and lots of endowments in an everlasting abode
that is a luxurious life.” Narrated by Ibn Hibban.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
207
The Description of Hell
Hell is true. It is obligatory to believe in it and that it is presently
created, as is understood by the verses of the Qur’an and the
authentic hadith. It is a place Allah has Prepared for the torture of
the blasphemers that never ceases, and it is also prepared for
some of the sinful Muslims. Its place is below the seventh earth
without being connected to it.
Allah will increase the size of the blasphemer in Hell so that he
would be increased in torture, to the extent that his molar would
be as large as Mount Uhud, and he will dwell in Hell forever and
ever; he will not die in it and he will not live.66 They will not have
food it except from the plant of dari^, and their drink will be from
hot water that has reached the extremity of heat.
As for Paradise being above the seventh sky, that is confirmed in
the authenticated hadith, and that is the saying of the Prophet
when he said:
الرمحن وفوقهعرش [which means] “Above it (Firdaws) is the ^Arsh of Ar-Rahman.”
As for Hell being below the seventh earth, Al-Hakim said in Al-
Mustadrak that authentic narrations came in reference to that.
66
i.e., comfortably.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
208
The Intercession
The Intercession is true. It is to ask for the good from another for
another; and so the Prophet and the practicing scholars and the
martyrs and the angels will intercede. Our Prophet will intercede
for the major sinners of his nation, and it came in the authentic
hadith,
شفاعيتألهلالكبائرمنأميت[which means] “My intercession is for the major sinners of my
nation,” narrated by Ibn Hibban; meaning that other than the
major sinners are not in need of intercession.
For some of them it would be before they enter Hell, and for some
of them it would be after they enter Hell, but before the time that
they deserve to be tortured passes. There will be no intercession
for the blasphemers. Allah the Exalted Said,
لمنار﴿ ﴾تضى وليشفع ونإل [which means] “They will not intercede for anyone except those
who are accepted by Allah.” The first one to intercede is the
Prophet.
The Soul
It is obligatory to believe in the soul. It is a subtle body; no one
knows its reality except Allah. Allah Made the norm that life is
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
209
sustained in the bodies of angels, humans, jinn and animals as
long as that subtle body is with them, and life will depart them if it
departed those bodies.
It is created; it is not eternal. Whoever says it is eternal and not
created has blasphemed, and likewise whoever says the animals
have no souls, like what was said by Muhammad Mutawalli Ash-
Sha^rawiyy in his two books; one of them is a book of tafsir and
the other is a book of fatwas. That is contradicting the Qur’an and
is objection to what is witnessed.67 Allah the Exalted Said,
ح شر﴿ ﴾توإذاالو ح وش [which means] “…and on the Day of Judgment, when the beasts
will be gathered…” and the Messenger of Allah said:
ي قادللشاةاللحاءمن إىلأهلهايومالقيامةحىتا لت ؤدناحل قو الشاةالقرناء
[which means] “Certainly the rights will be given to those who
deserve them on Judgment Day, to the extent that it would be
granted to the hornless sheep over the horned sheep that butted
him.”
67
i.e., the difference between the dead and the living.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
210
Clarification that the Mercy of Allah is
Inclusive of the Believers and the
Blasphemers in the Present Life and Specific
to the Believers in the Afterlife
Allah the Exalted has Mercy on the believers and the blasphemers
in the present life; His Mercy has encompassed all of them. As for
the afterlife, His Mercy will be specific to the believers. Allah the
Exalted Said:
ك لشيء فسأكت ب هاللذيني ت ق ونوي ؤت ونالزكاةور﴿ محيتوسعت﴾والذينه مبآياتناي ؤمن ون
[which means] “My Mercy encompasses everything [in this life],
and I will reserve it for those who have taqwa [in the next life],”
meaning that in the present life His Mercy has encompassed every
believer and blasphemer. He Says, “I will reserve it for those who
have taqwa,” meaning, “I will specify it for those who feared shirk
and all the other types of blasphemy.”
Also, Allah the Exalted Said:
النار﴿ أصحاب نامنالماءونادى أصحابالنةأنأفيض واعلي ﴾ينمه ماعلىالكافر هحرزقك م الل ه قال واإناللأومار
[which means] “The people of Hell will call out to the people of
Paradise, “Pour some water on us, or something from what Allah
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
211
has Provided you.” They will say, “Certainly Allah has Made both
of them forbidden for the blasphemers,” meaning Allah Makes
forbidden for the blasphemers that beneficial sustenance and the
quenching water in the Afterlife. That is because they neglected
the greatest of the Rights of Allah, which has no replacement, and
that is believing in Allah and His Messenger.
Furthermore, Allah Made entering Islam, which is the greatest
endowment from Allah, easy; and this by uttering the two
Shahadahs after knowing about Allah and His Messenger. He also
made blasphemy easy; one word that is an indication of belittling
Allah or His Religion would take the speaker out of belief and
throw him into blasphemy, which is the worst situation. It is such
a bad state that he would be to Allah more insignificant than the
vermin and the beast. It does not matter whether he spoke that
word seriously, jokingly or angrily. This has been explained in the
books of fiqh and the reliable madhhabs, and they have judged
that the one who utters such a word blasphemes.
Allah the Exalted Said:
كفر إنشر﴿ عندالل هالذين ﴾واف ه ملي ؤمن ونالدواب [which means] “Certainly the worst of the beasts to Allah that
walk the face of the earth are those who blaspheme; they are
not believers.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
212
The Innovation [Bid^ah]
Linguistically, the innovation [bid^ah] is what was invented
without a previous example. Religiously, it is the new thing that
was not documented in the Qur’an or the hadith. It is divided into
two categories, as understood from the hadith of ^A’ishah, may
Allah Accept her deeds, that she said: “The Messenger of Allah
said:
منأحدثفأمرناهذاماليسمنه ف ه ورد [which means] ‘Whoever innovates into this affair of ours that
which does not comply with it is rejected.’”
The first category is the good innovation. It is called “the good
sunnah.” It is the innovation that complies with the Qur’an and
the Sunnah. The second category is the evil innovation, and it is
called “the evil sunnah.” It is the innovation that opposes the
Qur’an and the hadith. This categorization is also understood from
the hadith of Jarir Ibn ^Abdullah Al-Bajaliyy, may Allah Accept his
deeds, that he said: “The Messenger of Allah said:
منعملبابعده منسنفاإلسلمس نة حسنة ف له أجر هاوأجر منغريأني ن ق صمنأج ورهمشىء،ومنسنفاإلسلمس نة منعملبامنب عدهمنغريأني ن ق ص كانعليهوزر هاووزر
منأوزارهمشىء
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
213
[which means] ‘Whoever starts a good sunnah in Islam has its
reward and the reward of whoever practiced it after him, without
diminishing any of their rewards. And whoever starts an evil
sunnah in Islam, then upon him is its sin and the sin of whoever
practiced it after him, without diminishing any of their sins.”
Narrated by Muslim.
From the first category is celebrating the birth of the Prophet in
the month of Rabi^ Al-Awwal. The first to innovate it was King Al-
Mudhaffar, the King of Irbil, in the 7th Hijriyy century.
Also, Yahya Ibn Ya^mar, the high-ranking follower of the
Companions, dotting the book of the Qur’an (mushaf); he was
among the people of knowledge and piety. This was approved by
the scholars, hadith scholars and otherwise; they considered it
good. It was not dotted when the Messenger dictated it to the
scribes of the Revelation, likewise when ^Uthman Ibn ^Affan had
the five or six mushafs written; they were not dotted. Since that
dotting, the Muslims never ceased to be upon that until today.
Would it be said about this that it is an innovation of misguidance
because the Messenger did not do it? If this is the case, then let
them abandon these dotted books of the Qur’an, or let them
erase these dots from them so that they would return to being
devoid of dots, as they were at the time of ^Uthman. Abu Bakr Ibn
Abi Dawud—[the son of Abu Dawud,] the author of As-Sunan—in
his book Al-Masahif, said, “The first to dot the books of the Qur’an
was Yahya Ibn Ya^mar.” [Yahya Ibn Ya^mar] is among the scholars
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
214
of the Followers of the Companions. He narrated through the
route of ^Abdullah Ibn ^Umar and others.
Among the second category are the innovations in the Creed, such
as the innovations of the Mu^tazilah, Khawarij, and others who
abandoned what the Companions, may Allah Accept their deeds,
were upon in the matters of the Creed. Also [among them is]
writing “ص”, or “68”صلعم after the name of the Prophet instead of
The scholars of hadith have documented in the books of .ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
hadith terminology that merely writing the “ص” is disliked.
Despite that, they did not prohibit it; in fact, [some of them] did it.
So how do these troublemakers say that observing the Mawlid is a
forbidden innovation, and that making salah on the Prophet aloud
after the adhan is a forbidden innovation, claiming that the
Messenger did not do it, and the Companions did not do it?
Another example is perverting the name of Allah to “Ah” and the
like, as done by many who are ascribed to the tariqahs, for this is
an example of the forbidden innovations.
Imam Ash-Shafi^iyy, may Allah Accept his deeds, said: “The
innovated matters are of two types. The first of them is what was
innovated and opposes something from the Book, the Sunnah, the
Consensus, or the Athar.69 This is the innovation of misguidance.
The second was the good thing that was innovated; it does not
oppose anything from the Book, the Sunnah, or the consensus.
68
Or in English, “S” or “SAW”. 69
The narrations of the Companions and their students.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
215
This is an innovation that is not blameworthy.” This was narrated
by Al-Bayhaqiyy with an authentic chain of narration in his book
Manaqibu-sh-Shafi^iyy.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
216
Confirmation that Tawassul by the Prophets
and the Waliyys is Permissible, and not Shirk
as Said by the Wahhabiyys
Know that there is no true evidence proving the lack of
permissibility of tawassul by the Prophets and awliya’ in their
absence or after their deaths, claiming that this is worship of
other than Allah, because merely calling on one who is alive or
dead is not worship of other than Allah. Nor is mere glorification
of someone, nor merely seeking the help of other than Allah, nor
merely seeking the grave of a Waliyy with the purpose of seeking
blessings, nor merely seeking what is not usually sought from
people, nor the mere expression of seeking help from other than
Allah the Exalted.
This means that none of that is shirk, because that is not
applicable to the definition of ^ibadah [worship] according to the
linguists; for worship, according to them, is the obedience with
the humility. Al-Azhariyy, who is one of the elite linguists, said in
his book Tahdhibul-Lughah, copying from Az-Zajjaj, who is among
their most famous, “^Ibadah in the language of the Arabs is the
obedience with the humility.” Al-Farra’ said similar, as mentioned
in Lisanul-^Arab by Ibn Mandhur. Some said, “The ultimate extent
of fear and humility,” and others said, “The extent of humility,” as
understood from the explainer of Al-Qamus, Murtada Az-Zabidiyy,
the Seal of the Linguists.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
217
This is what is correct, linguistically and normally. Mere humility is
not worship of other than Allah, or else everyone who lowers
themselves to the kings and high-ranking people would
blaspheme. It was confirmed that when Mu^adh Ibn Jabal came
from Ash-Sham, he prostrated to the Messenger of Allah, and so
the Messenger said, “What is this?” He said, “O Messenger of
Allah, surely I have seen the people of Ash-Sham prostrating to
their generals and their priests, and you are more deserving of
that.” He said, “Do not do that. Had I ordered anyone to prostrate
to anyone, I would have ordered the woman to prostrate to her
husband.” Ibn Hibban, Ibn Majah, and others have narrated that.
The Messenger of Allah did not say to him, “You have
blasphemed,” and he did not say to him, “You have committed
shirk,” despite that his prostration to the Prophet is a great sign of
humility.
Those who charge a person with blasphemy because he sought
out the grave of the Messenger or other than him among the
Waliyys for seeking blessings are ignorant about the meaning of
^ibadah. They have opposed what the Muslims are upon, because
the Muslims of the Salaf and the Khalaf never ceased to visit the
grave of the Prophet for seeking blessings. Traveling to seek
blessings does not mean the Prophet creates the blessing for
them. Rather the meaning is that they hope that Allah Creates the
blessing for them by their visiting his grave.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
218
The evidence for that is what Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated with an
authentic chain of narration from Malik Ad-Dar, who was ^Umar’s
treasurer, that he said:
The people were inflicted with a drought during the time
of ^Umar, so a man came to the grave of the Prophet and
said “O Messenger of Allah, seek the rain for your nation,
for surely they are perishing.” So the man was approached
in his dream [by the Prophet]. It was said to him, “Convey
the salam to ^Umar, and inform them that they will be
watered, and say to him, ‘Endeavor, endeavor.’” The man
came to ^Umar and informed him, so ^Umar cried and
said, “O my Lord, I do not fall short except in what I am
unable.”
The identity of this man came as Bilal Ibnul-Harith Al-Muzaniyy,
the Companion. This Companion sought the grave of the
Messenger for blessings. ^Umar did not object to him, nor did
anyone else. Therefore, Ibn Taymiyah’s claim that this is a travel
of shirk is invalidated.
Hafidh Waliyyu-d-Din Al-^Iraqiyy said about the hadith of Abu
Hurayrah that Musa said, “O my Lord, draw me as near to the
Holy Land as the throw of a stone,” and that the Prophet said,
ره إىلجنبالطريقعندالكثيب والللوأنعنده ألري ت كمق ب األمحر
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
219
[which means] “By Allah, had I been there, I surely would have
shown you his grave on the side of the road at the red hill,” “In
this hadith is evidence of the recommendation of knowing the
graves of the pious for visiting them and doing what is rightfully
done there.”
Hafidh Ad-Diya’ said:
Salim At-Tall told me: “I have not seen the supplication
answered faster than a supplication made at this grave.
And Shaykh ^Abdullah Ibn Yunus, who is known as Al-
Armaniyy, told me that he visited this grave and that he
slept, and in his dream he saw a dome there, and in it
there was a man with a tawny complexion [asmar]. So he
gave him salam and he said to him, ‘You are Musa, the
one to whom Allah Spoke,’ or he said, ‘The Prophet of
Allah.’ So he said ‘Yes.’ So [he said] ‘I said, “Say something
to me.” So he signaled to me with four fingers and
described their length. Then I woke up and I did not know
what he said. So I informed Shaykh Dhayyal about that
and he said, “Four children will be born for you.” I said, “I
have married a woman and I have not approached her.”
He said, “She will be other than this one.” And so I
married another one, and she gave birth to four children
for me.’”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
220
Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad with a hasan chain of
narration, as said by Hafidh Ibn Hajar, that Al-Harith Ibn Hassan
Al-Bakriyy said to the Messenger of Allah, “…I seek refuge with
Allah and His Messenger from being like the delegate of ^Ad…”
This hadith in its entirety is evidence that invalidates the saying of
the Wahhabiyys that seeking refuge with other than Allah is shirk.
It is narrated from Ibn ^Abbas that the Messenger of Allah said:
إنللملئكة فاألرضسوىاحلفظةيكت بونمايسق ط منور ن واعبادالل فلة فلي نادأعي الشجرفإذاأصابأحدك معرجةبأرض [which means] “Certainly Allah Has angels who roam the earth
other than the recorders. They write the leaves that fall to the
ground. So if any of you are inflicted with a hardship in a open
land, then let him call out, “Help, O slaves of Allah.” Narrated by
At-Tabaraniyy, and Hafidh Al-Haythamiyy said its narrators are
trustworthy.
Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah said:
لك م،ووفات رلك موماتخي رلك مت دث ونوي دث حياتخي منخري مح أعمال ك مفمارأيت علي اللخريلك مت عرض دت
لك م است غفرت منشرا عليهومارأيت [which means] “My life is good for you and my death is good for
you. You do things, and so the Revelation occurs for you [i.e.,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
221
comes in reference to what you have done], and my death is good
for you; your deeds will be presented to me. So any goodness
that I saw, I praised Allah for it, and any evil that I saw, then I
have sought forgiveness for you.” This is narrated by Al-Bazzar
and the narrators of the chain are authentic narrators.
At-Tabaraniyy narrates in his big and small Mu^jams from the
route of ^Uthman Ibn Hunayf that a man used to go back and
forth to ^Uthman Ibn ^Affan, and ^Uthman did not turn to him
[i.e., pay him attention, because he was busy] and he would not
look into the man’s need. So this man met ^Uthman Ibn Hunayf
and complained about that to him, so he said: “Go to the place of
wudu’ and make wudu’, then pray two rak^ahs, then say: ‘O Allah,
certainly I ask you, and I direct myself to you by our Prophet
Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad, certainly I
direct myself by you to my Lord in my need, so that it would be
fulfilled for me.’ Then come to me, so that I will go with you.”
So the man left and did what ^Uthman [Ibn Hunayf] told him to
do, then he came to ^Uthman [Ibn ^Affan]’s door. Then the
doorman came and took him by the hand, and he took him in to
^Uthman Ibn ^Affan, and he sat him on his carpet. So ^Uthman
said, “What do you need?” He mentioned his need to him, then
^Uthman fulfilled his need, and he said “I did not remember your
need until this moment.” He left ^Uthman Ibn ^Affan and then he
met ^Uthman Ibn Hunayf and he said: “May Allah Compensate
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
222
you with goodness. He would not look into my need, and he
would not turn to me until you spoke to him about me.”
^Uthman Ibn Hunayf said, “I swear by Allah, I did not speak to
him. However, I witnessed the Messenger of Allah when a blind
man came to him and complained to him about the loss of his
sight. The Prophet said, “If you want, you will be patient; and if
you want, I will make du^a’ for you.” So he said to the Messenger
of Allah, “Certainly the loss of my sight is a hardship upon me, and
certainly I do not have a guide.” So the Prophet said to him, “Go to
the place of wudu’ and make wudu’ and pray two rak^ahs and
then say these words.” So the man did what he said, and ^Uthman
Ibn Hunayf said “I swear by Allah, we had not dispersed, and the
session had not been long, when the man returned to us while he
was sightful as if he was never blind.”
At-Tabaraniyy said, “The hadith is sahih.” At-Tabaraniyy’s habit is
that he does not verify hadith, despite the vastness of his book Al-
Mu^jamu-l-Kabir. He did not say about any hadith that he
narrated, even if it were authentic, “The hadith is authentic,”
except for this hadith.
In this hadith is evidence that the blind man made tawassul by the
Prophet in his absence, which is proven by the saying of ^Uthman
Ibn Hunayf, “Until the man returned to us.” Also in this hadith is
evidence that it is permissible to make tawassul by the Prophet in
his life and after his death. So the saying of Ibn Taymiyah that it is
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
223
not permissible to make tawassul, except by the present and
living, is invalidated; and every condition that is not in the Book of
Allah is invalid, even if it were a hundred conditions.
As for this claim of Ibn Taymiyah’s, to which some Wahhabiyys
hold fast, which is At-Tirmidhiyy’s narration of the hadith, which
has in it,
اللهمشفعه فوشفعنفنفسي[which means] “O Allah, Cure him by me and Cure me by myself,”
this hadith does not prove that there is no seeking of blessings
from the self of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, rather, seeking the blessing
from the self of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص is a matter of consensus. No one
opposed that except Ibn Taymiyah, and the Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص is the
one about whom someone said:
وأبيض يستسقى الغمام بوجهه ثمال اليتامى عصمة لألرامل
[which means] “He was fair in complexion. Rain would be sought
from the clouds by the self of the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص; the aid of the
orphans and widows.”
As for ^Umar’s tawassul by Al-^Abbas after the Prophet’s ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
death, it was not because the Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص had died; instead,
that was for the purpose of observing the right of his relation to
the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, as proven by the saying of Al-^Abbas when
^Umar sent him forward to do the supplication: “Oh Allah,
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
224
certainly the people have directed themselves by me to You
because of my place to Your Prophet.” So the invalidity of Ibn
Taymiyah’s opinions and those of those who follow him becomes
clear. This athar was narrated by Zubayr Ibn Bakkar, as said by
Hafidh Ibn Hajar.
What clarifies this further is what Al-Hakim narrated in Al-
Mustadrak, that ^Umar delivered a speech to the people and said:
“O people, certainly the Messenger of Allah used to treat Al-
^Abbas like the child treats his father; he would glorify him and
give him high rank, and he would fulfill his swear. So, O people,
follow the Messenger of Allah in reference to his uncle Al-^Abbas,
and take him as a means to Allah in reference to what you are
inflicted with.” This clarifies the reason for ^Umar’s tawassul by
Al-^Abbas.
After this, there is no consideration given to the claim of some of
those demagogues that in the chain of the aforementioned hadith
[of the blind man] is Abu Ja^far and he is an unknown man. The
case is not as they have claimed; in fact, Abu Ja^far is Abu Ja^far
Al-Khitmiyy, and he is trustworthy. Likewise, no attention is given
to the claim of some of them, which is specifically Nasiru-d-Din Al-
Albaniyy, that what At-Tabaraniyy meant when he said the hadith
was sound is the original amount of the hadith, which is only what
the blind man did during the life of the Messenger of Allah, and he
did not mean to include what the man did during the days of
^Uthman Ibn ^Affan after the death of the Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
225
This is rejected because the scholars of hadith terminology said
that the word hadith is used in reference to what is elevated up to
the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and what is stopped at the Companions. This
means that the speech of the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص is called a
hadith and the saying of the Companion is called a hadith, and the
expression “hadith” is not limited to the speech of the Prophet in
their terminology. The talk of this camouflager does not comply
with what is confirmed in the knowledge of hadith terminology, so
whoever wants, let him look into the book Tadribu Rawiyy and Al-
Ifsah70 and other books of hadith terminology; for surely nothing
dragged Al-Albaniyy to this claim except for his strong partisanship
making him adhere to his desire, and his lack of concern for
opposing the scholars, similar to his predecessor Ibn Taymiyah.
As for the hadith of Ibn ^Abbas that was narrated by At-
Tirmidhiyy, that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said to him:
إذاسألتفاسألاللوإذااست عنتفاستعنبالل[which means] “If you ask, then ask Allah, and if you sought help,
then seek help from Allah,” this hadith also does not contain
evidence for the prohibition of tawassul by the Prophets and the
Waliyys, because the hadith means that the most deserving to be
asked and for help to be sought from him is Allah the Exalted. The
70
By As-Siyutiyy and Ibn Daqiq Al-^Id, respectively.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
226
hadith does not mean, “Do not ask other than Allah and do not
seek help from other than Allah.”
What is similar to that is the Prophet’s saying ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص ,
لت صاحبإلم ؤمن اوليأك لطعامكإلتقي [which means] “Do not accompany except the believer, and no
one eats your food except a pious person.” Just like it is not
understood from this hadith the impermissibility of accompanying
someone other than a believer, or feeding someone other than a
pious believer, and what is understood from it is only that the best
for companionship is the believer, and that the best for feeding is
the pious, likewise the hadith of Ibn ^Abbas; nothing is
understood from it except what is preferred. The prohibition that
they are claiming is not in this hadith.
There is no difference between seeking the means and seeking
help, because seeking the means [tawassul] is called seeking help
[istighathah], just as it came in the hadith of Al-Bukhariyy that the
Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:
ل غ ي ب نماإنالشمستدن ويومالقيامةحىتا نصفاأل ذ نفب ي العر مب حمد م وسىث كذلكاستغاث وابآدمث ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص ه م
[which means] “Certainly the sun will draw near on Judgment
Day until the sweat reaches the mid-ear; and so when they are
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
227
at that point, they seek help from Adam, then Musa, then
Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.” This is ^Abdullah Ibn ^Umar’s narration of the
hadith of the intercession of Judgment Day, and in the narration
of Anas, the hadith is narrated with the expression, “They seek the
intercession.” Both of those narrations are in books of Sahih. So
this proves that “seeking intercession” and “seeking help” have
the same meaning. So the Messenger named this seeking
intercession from Adam with his Lord, “seeking help
[istighathah].”
Furthermore, the Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص called the rain “the one who
comes with help.” Abu Dawud and others narrated with an
authentic chain of narration that the Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:
غريءاجل عاجل اللهماسقناغيث امريع انافع اغريضارا[which means] “O Allah, water us with the help, the helper, the
quencher, the benefitter, without it being harmful, soon and not
delayed.” So the Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص called the rain “helper,”
because it saves one from the hard situation by the Will of Allah,
and likewise the Prophet and the Waliyy save one from the hard
situation by the Will of Allah the Exalted.
Seeking Blessings from the Traces of the
Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
228
Know that the Companions, may Allah Accept their deeds, used to
seek blessings from the traces of the Prophet during his life and
after his death, and the Muslims have never ceased to be upon
that until this day of ours. The permissibility of this matter is
known from the doing of the Prophet, which is that he distributed
his hair when he shaved for the Farewell Hajj and distributed his
nails.
As for the distribution of his hair, Al-Bukhariyy and Muslim have
narrated that from the route of Anas. According to the expression
of Muslim, when he threw the stones at the station, and
slaughtered his sacrifices, and shaved, he directed the barber to
his right side and had him shave. Then the Prophet called Abu
Talhah Al-Ansariyy and gave him that hair. Then he made the
barber go to his left side, and he said “Shave.” So he shaved, and
he gave it to Abu Talhah and he told him to distribute it among
the people.
In another narration of Imam Muslim he started with the right
side, and he distributed a hair or two among the people. Then he
said, “The left side,” and so he did the same. Then he said, “Here,
Abu Talhah,” and he gave the hair to Abu Talhah. In another
narration, also by Imam Muslim, he said to the barber, “Ha’” and
he signaled with his hand to the right side, and then he distributed
his hair to whoever was by him. Then he directed the barber to
his left side, and so he shaved it, and he gave the hair to Umm
Sulaym. The meaning of the hadith is that he personally
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
229
distributed the hair to the people who were close to him, and he
gave some to Abu Talhah so that he would distribute it among the
rest of the people, and he gave some to Umm Sulaym; therein is
seeking blessings from the traces of the Messenger.
He distributed his hair so that they would seek the blessing by it,
and seek intercession with Allah by that which is from the
Prophet, and seek a higher status from Allah for that. He
distributed that hair among them so it would be a remaining
blessing among them and a reminder for them. Then whoever
Allah endowed to follow the Companions in their footsteps did so
in seeking the blessings from his traces, and the latter-day
Muslims took that from the Salaf.
As for the distribution of his nails, Imam Ahmad narrated in his
Musnad that the Prophet clipped his nails and distributed them
among the people. It is known that that was not so that they
would eat it, rather, it was so they would seek the blessing by it.
As for his cloak, Imam Muslim narrated in the Sahih from the
servant of Asma’ Bintu Abi Bakr that he said, “She brought out to
us a cloak which is Tayyaalisa and Kisrayaniyyah and Farjaahu
Makfufaan. She said, ‘This is the cloak of the Messenger of Allah.
^A’ishah had it, and when she died I took it. The Prophet used to
wear it, and we wash it for the sick people to seek cure by it.’” In
another narration it is said, “We wash it for the sick among us.”
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
230
[It came] from the route of Handhalah Ibn Hadhyam that he said,
“I came with my grandfather Hadhyam to the Messenger of Allah,
so my grandfather said, ‘Oh Messenger of Allah, I have sons who
have beards and other than them, and this is the youngest of
them.’ So the Messenger of Allah brought me close and he wiped
my head, and he said ‘May Allah Bless you.’” Adh-Dhayyal said “I
saw Handhalah approached with a man with a swollen face or a
sheep with a swollen udder, so he would say ‘Bismillah’ on the
spot where the Messenger of Allah wiped, then he would wipe it
and the swelling would go away.” At-Tabaraniyy narrated this in
Al-Mu^jamu-l-Awsat and Al-Mu^jamu-l-Kabir with the likes of this
expression, and Imam Ahmad also narrated it in a long hadith, and
Ahmad’s narrators are trustworthy.
It was narrated from the route of Thabit that he said, “I used to
come to Anas, and when I came he would be informed about my
arrival, and so I would enter in on him and take him by his hands,
and I would kiss them and say, ‘By my father, these two hands
that have touched the Messenger of Allah!’, and I would kiss his
two eyes and say, ‘By my father, these two eyes that have seen
the Messenger of Allah!’” Abu Ya^la narrated this, and the
narrators are narrators of sahih except for ^Abdullah Ibn Abi Bakr
Al-Maqdimiyy, and he is still trustworthy.
It was narrated from the route of Dawud Ibn Abi Salih that he said,
“One day Marwan [Ibnu-l-Hakam] came and found a man putting
his face on the Prophet’s grave ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. He said, “Do you know what
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
231
you are doing?” So he approached him, and behold, it was Abu
Ayyub [Al-Ansariyy], who said, “Yes. I came for the Messenger of
Allah, and I did not come for a stone. I heard the Messenger of
Allah saying, “Do not cry for the Religion if it is under the
supervision of those who are qualified, rather, cry for it if it is
under the supervision of those who are not qualified.” This is
narrated by Ahmad and At-Tabaraniyy who narrated that in the
Kabir and the Awsat.
Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated in his book Dala’ilu-n-Nubuwwah, and Al-
Hakim narrated in his Mustadrak, and others have narrated in a
chain of narration, that Khalid Ibnu-l-Walid lost his qalansuwah on
the day of the battle of Al-Yarmuk. So he said, “Seek it,” but they
did not find it; then they searched for it again and they found it.
Then Khalid said, “The Messenger of Allah made ^Umrah and he
shaved his head, and the people rushed to get the hair from the
sides of his head, and I beat them to his forelock and put it in this
qalansuwah. And I did not attend any battle with this qalansuwah
except that I was provided with victory.” This story is authentic, as
mentioned by Shaykh Habibu-r-Rahman Al-A^dhamiyy in his
commentary of the book Al-Matalibu-l-^Aliyah. He said, “Al-
Busiriyy said, ‘Abu Ya^la narrated this story with an authentic
chain of narration.’” Also, Al-Haythamiyy said that At-Tabaraniyy
and Abu Ya^la narrated this story by the likes of these words, and
both of their narrators are men of authentic narration. So there is
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
232
no consideration after this given to the claim of those who reject
seeking blessings from his honorable traces ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
233
Ijtihad and Imitation
Al-Ijtihad is extraction of judgments for which there is no explicit
text that can only have one meaning. The mujtahid is the one who
is qualified to do that by having memorized the verses related to
judgments, and the hadiths related to judgments, and the
knowledge of their chains of narration, and of the situations of the
narrators of the chain, and the abrogating and the abrogated, the
general and the specific, the absolute and the restricted. Likewise
he will have mastered the Arabic language in a way that he
memorized what the expression of those texts refer to, i.e., he
knows what those texts are in reference to according to the
language in which the Qur’an was revealed. He would also know
what the mujtahids have agreed upon, because if he does not
know that, we do not feel safe that he will not breach the
consensus, i.e., the consensus of those who were before him.
Above that is a great condition in ijtihad, and that is fiqhun-nafs,
i.e., great strength of understanding and realization.
Trustworthiness is conditional, which is being clear of major sins
and being clear of persisting in doing small sins in a way that they
overcome his good deeds in number. As for the imitator, he is the
one who has not reached this level.
The evidence that the Muslims are of these two levels is that the
Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
234
س لنضراللامرأ م ب لغ كماسعها،فر ب عمقاليتف وعاهافأداها فقهعنده
[which means] “May Allah Enlighten the face of the person who
heard my saying, understood it, and conveyed it as he heard it,
for how many conveyors there are who have no fiqh.” Narrated
by At-Tirmidhiyy and Ibn Hibban. The evidence in the hadith is his
saying, “…how many conveyors there are who have no fiqh.” In a
narration,
م ب لغأوعىمنسامع ور ب[which means] “How many a person received the conveyance
and they understood better than the one who heard.” In this
hadith is evidence that among the Followers are those who were
more knowledgeable than the Companions themselves. This
hadith makes us understand that among those who heard the
hadith from the Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص are those whose share is only to
narrate what he heard to someone else, and his understanding
would be less than the understanding of the one to whom he
conveys, [whereas] the one to whom he conveys is able, from the
strength of his genius, to extract rulings and cases from that
hadith. This is called istimbat [derivation; extraction]. The one
who heard does not have this strong genius; he only understands
the meaning that is close to the expression. From here it is known
that some of the Companions would have less understanding than
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
235
the one who heard the hadith of the Messenger of Allah from
them.
[It came] in another expression for this hadith,
حاملفقه إىلمنهوأفقه منه فر ب[which means] “How many a carrier of fiqh there is who carries it
to he who has more fiqh than him.” These two narrations are in
At-Tirmidhiyy and Ibn Hibban.
This mujtahid is the subject of the Prophet’s saying ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص,
إذااجتهداحلاكم فأصابفله أجرانوإذااجتهدفأخطأفلهأجر[which means] “If the ruler makes ijtihad and he is correct, then
he has two rewards; and if he makes ijtihad and he is mistaken,
then he has one reward,” narrated by Al-Bukhariyy. The
Messenger of Allah only specified the ruler in this hadith because
he is more in need of ijtihad than others. In the past, there have
been mujtahids from the salaf who, along with being mujtahids,
were also rulers, like the six khalifahs: Abu Bakr, ^Umar Ibnu-l-
Khattab, ^Uthman, ^Aliyy, Al-Hasan Ibn ^Aliyy, and Judge Shurayh.
The scholars of hadith who authored works of hadith terminology
counted the muftis among the Companions as less than ten. It was
also said that they were about six, and some scholars said about
two hundred of them reached the level of ijtihad, and this saying
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
236
is the most correct. So if the issue is like this in reference to the
Companions, then how would it be valid for every Muslim who is
able to read the Qur’an and to read in some of the books to say,
“They were men and we are men. So we do not have to follow
them”? It is confirmed that most of the Salaf were not mujtahids;
rather, they were imitators of the mujtahids among them.
It was mentioned in Sahih Bukhariyy that a man was an employee
of another man and he fornicated with his employer’s wife. So his
father asked, and it was said to him, “It is obligatory on your son
to pay one hundred shah71 and a slave woman.” Then he asked
the people of knowledge. They said, “What is obligatory on your
son is one hundred lashes and exile for one year.” So the father
came to the Messenger with the husband of the woman and said,
“O Messenger of Allah, this son of mine was an employee for this
person, and then he fornicated with his wife. People said to me,
‘Your son is to be stoned.’ So I gave one hundred ghanam and a
slave woman on my son’s behalf. Then I asked the people of
knowledge and they said, ‘The only thing that is on your son is one
hundred lashes and exile for a year.’” The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
said, “By God, I will surely judge between you by the Book of
Allah. As for the slave woman and the ghanam, they should be
returned, and on your son is one hundred lashes and a year’s
exile.”
71
Shah and ghanam are both words that refer to sheep and goats as one category.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
237
So this man, despite that he was a Companion, asked some people
who were also among the Companions, and they made a mistake;
then he asked scholars among them. Then the Messenger of Allah
gave him the religious judgment, which is what complied with
what those scholars said. So if the Messenger made us understand
that some of those who heard the hadith from him have no fiqh,
this is that they do not have the ability to extract judgments from
his hadith; and their only share is to narrate from him what they
heard, despite that they understand the eloquent classical Arabic
language. So what about those rabble-rousers, those people who
dare to say, “Those are men and we are men”? They mean by
“they are men” the mujtahids, like the four Imams.
In the same meaning is what was narrated by Abu Dawud about
the story of the man who had his head split, then had a wet dream
on a cold night, so he sought the religious judgment from the
people with him. They said to him, “Take a ghusl,” so he took a
ghusl and died. The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص was informed about
this. He said, “They killed him, may Allah Kill them. Why did they
not ask if they did not know? The cure for ignorance is the
question.” This means the cure for ignorance is asking the people
of knowledge. He also said, “It would have been enough for him to
make tayammum and squeeze a rag over his wound, then wipe
over it and wash the rest of his body.” This hadith was narrated by
Abu Dawud and others.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
238
So, had ijtihad been valid from the Muslims without restriction,
the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص would not have dispraised those who
gave that man the religious judgment without being among the
people of fatwa. Furthermore, the function of the mujtahid that
is specific to him is comparative analogy, that is, for him to
consider what has no narrated text according to what does have a
narrated text, because of a resemblance between them. So be
warned and be warned again from those who encourage their
followers to make ijtihad, despite that they and their followers are
far from this rank. These people cause destruction, and they call
their followers to make destruction in the matters of the Religion.
What is similar to them are some people who got used to
distributing the tafsir of an ayah or a hadith in their sessions,
despite that they did not previously have reliable transmission
from the mouths of the scholars. So those claimers, they deviated
from the scholars of Usul, because the scholars of Usul said that
comparative analogy is the function of the mujtahid, and they also
oppose the scholars of hadith.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
239
Epilogue
The synopsis of the different subjects that have passed is that
whoever knows Allah and His Messenger and uttered the
shahadah even once in his life, and he accepted that with
conviction, is a believing Muslim. Whoever knew that and uttered
that, but he did not have conviction, is not a Muslim and not a
believer to Allah. As for us, he is a Muslim, because his inner
situation is hidden from us. If he only shows Islam outwardly and
he dislikes Islam inwardly, or is doubtful in his heart whether Islam
is correct or not, then he is a hypocrite blasphemer and he is
included in the Saying of Allah the Exalted,
﴾اولنتدل منصري كاألسفلمنالنارإنالم نافقنيفالدر﴿ [which means] “Certainly the hypocrites will be in the very
bottom of Hell.” So he and the damned blasphemer will both be
forever and ever in Hell. What some have said, that the faith of
the blasphemer is valid without utterance72, while able, is an
invalid saying. Some said, whoever was raised among Muslim
parents, it is enough for him to know and have the conviction
about the validity of his Islam and Iman even if he did not utter it
once. Furthermore, whoever had a valid Iman and Islam is safe
from staying in Hell forever, even if he did not perform any of the
obligatory acts, like the five prayers and the fasting of Ramadan,
72
i.e., of the Shahadah.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
240
and he did not avoid the sins, and he died in this situation before
repentance. Allah will Pardon a portion of those and Make them
enter Paradise without torture, and He will torture a portion of
them, then Make them come out of Hell and admit them into
Paradise, and Allah Knows best about whom He will Pardon and
whom He will not pardon. As for the one who died after
repentance, and he fulfilled all of what Allah Made obligatory
upon him, and he avoided the forbidden matters, then it is as if he
did not sin, because of what the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said,
كمنلذنبله نب منالذ التائب [which means] “The one who repents from the sin is like the one
who has no sin.” This is an authentic hadith narrated by Ibn
Majah from the route of Ibn Mas^ud.
It is narrated in Sahih Al-Bukhariyy that a man said, “Oh
Messenger of Allah, should I embrace Islam or should I fight?” He
said, “Embrace Islam, then fight.” So he embraced Islam, he
fought, and he was killed. The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said, “He
did little and was rewarded a lot,” meaning that he reached the
status of a martyr after Islam eradicated every sin that he did
previously. So the great merit is for Islam, because had he not
embraced Islam, no deed that he did would have benefited him.
This man was among the fighters because his people, who were
Muslims, went out to fight, but he had not embraced Islam. Then
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
241
Allah inspired him to ask the Messenger, so he asked, and so the
Messenger guided him to embrace Islam and then to fight.
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
242
The Epilogue of the Epilogue
Let the intelligent person think about the Saying of Allah,
لديهرما﴿ إل ﴾قيبعتيدي لفظ منق ول [which means] “No saying is uttered except that it would be
recorded by Raqib and ^Atid,” for certainly whoever thought
about that knows that whatever he speaks about, whether
seriously or jokingly, while pleased or angry, is recorded by the
two angels. So would it please the intelligent person to see these
wicked words in his book when it is presented to him on Judgment
Day? In fact, that would disturb him and sadden him at a time
when regret will have no benefit. So let him take care to preserve
his tongue from the talk that disturbs him if presented to him in
the Hereafter. The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said,
الصمتخصلتانماإنتملاخللئق مبثلهماح سن اخلل قو طول [which means] “There are two attributes that, if only the creation
would beautify themselves with the likes of those two: good
manners and lengthy silence.” This was narrated by ^Abdullah
Ibn Muhammad Abu Bakr Ibn Abi-d-Dunya Al-Qurashiyy in Kitabu-
s-Samt.
The End
It might be said: Unofficial Translation
243
Glory be to Allah, and Praise and Thanks are due to Him,
The Lord of the Humans and Jinn,
And may the Salah of Allah be upon our Master Muhammad,
the Trustworthy
And upon his Pure Family and Companions.