TREASURY OF BLESSED KNOWLEDGE

TREASURY OF BLESSED KNOWLEDGE

The precepts of the Sharia concern the creed affect the conviction of the heart about the true attributes (sifat) of Allah ﷻ and His Prophet ﷺ. The belief of the people of the Sunna is otherwise called the belief of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari. There was a time when the ummah was divided according to its beliefs, but never at the time of the Prophet ﷺ or of his companions or of their followers. The fact that such a division would take place is reported in the following hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, “During the time of the Prophet Musa, the sons of the Israelites were divided into 71 groups. One of them will go to Heaven, and the other 70 to Hell. At the time of the prophet ‘Isa there were 72 groups, of which one will also go to Paradise, the rest to Hell. There will be 73 groups in my ummah, of which one will enter Paradise and the rest will go to Hell.» When the Prophet ﷺ was asked who would be in this group, he replied, “Those who will follow the path that I and my companions have followed,” that is, those who will follow the Sunna of the Prophet ﷺ and the unanimous opinion (ijma ‘) of his companions. Those who belong to this particular group, also belong to the people of the Sunna and the consensus of the community.

Beliefs that have emerged in the remaining 72 groups are innovations. One group of people, for example, likens God ﷻ to a person, endowing Him with a body, organs, etc., while another asserts that Allah ﷻ is on the Heavenly Throne (‘Arsh). Some say that someone who has committed great sins falls into unbelief. One group claims that the Quran was supposed to be revealed to the companion ‘Ali, but the angel Jabrail was mistaken and thus the Quran reached the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. The conviction of people of these and other trends leads to unbelief. We have spoken earlier about what kind of conviction the people of the Sunna should have. There are hadiths that criticise people who introduce unlawful innovations and in which it is announced that such people will appear. For example, the Prophet ﷺ said, “The Almighty ﷻ chose me over the people and gave me selected companions and made them my helpers and sons-in-law. In the future, people will appear in my ummah who will slander my followers, denigrate them and will not follow them. Be careful not to eat or drink in the company of such people, do not marry them, do not pray with them and do not pray for them in the event of their death.»

The Prophet ﷺ also said that, the Creator ﷻ will fill with faith (iman) the heart of one who, only for the sake of Almighty Allah ﷻ and without pursuing any other goal, looks angrily into the face of a person who introduces unlawful innovations. The Almighty ﷻ protect from the dangers and difficulties of the Day of Judgment one who, for the sake of Allah ﷻ, denounces such a person in front of people. The Almighty ﷻ will glorify in Paradise a hundred times one who is dissatisfied with the behavior of such people and denigrates them. If someone meets such people benevolently and with a friendly face in order to please them, such a person is humiliating the word of Almighty Allah ﷻ, which was sent down to the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ said, «The Almighty ﷻ does not accept the good deeds of a person who introduces unlawful innovations until he abandons them and returns to the true path.»

Fudhail narrated that he heard Sufyan [1] say, “If, in the event of the death of a person who introduced unreasonable innovations, someone who goes to bury him will be subject to the anger of the Almighty ﷻ until he returns home.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “One who introduces innovation into religion, which was not in religion, and one who has followed this, are under the curse of the Almighty ﷻ, His angels and His creations.” He also said, “Allah ﷻ will not accept worship either obligatory or desirable from one who has introduced innovation.” The Prophet’s companion Abu Bakr said,

«From the beginning our religion is based on transmission from one person to another and not on human reasoning.»

Once, to a question from one of those who said that Allah ﷻ is on the Arsh, Imam Malik [2] replied, “Istiva’ is known, that is, that Allah ﷻ exists is known, but how and in what form, we do not know. It is necessary to be convinced that Allah ﷻ is and it is also necessary to strengthen your faith in this, but asking questions and arguing about it is an innovation. Drive such a person away from me.» Thus Imam Malik answered.

Among Muslim scholars there are those who are called «al-khalafun». These were the scholars of Islam who lived five hundred years after the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ accomplished the resettlement (hijra) from Mecca to Medina. The word «istiva’» in relation to Allah ﷻ is explained through the attributes inherent in Allah ﷻ. The Almighty ﷻ is powerful and omnipotent over everything created and subordinates everything to Himself together with the ‘Arsh according to His will. The Holy Quran contains the following verse, «I created the heavens with My hands.» Its meaning lies in the fact that Allah ﷻ created the heavens with His power and strength (see tafsir Al-Jalalayn, Quran, 51:47). Another literal translation of the verse of the Quran reads, «The hand of Allah is over their hands.» This ayah means that Allah ﷻ is aware of the agreement concluded between Him and the people (see tafsir “Al Jalalayn”, Quran, 48:10). Or indeed the meaning of the word «aidin» (literally, «hands») should be left to the Almighty ﷻ and its interpretation should not be associated with hands. Only Allah ﷻ knows what is the true meaning. One of the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ reads, «When the night draws to an end, Allah descends to the near heaven.» The meaning of this hadith is that the mercy of Allah ﷻ or by the will of Allah ﷻ, the angels of mercy descend, but not Allah ﷻ Himself. Now, brothers Muslims, think for yourself which of these two examples has to do with the attributes of Allah ﷻ.

Imagine that a certain writer writes about how one ruler took the whole world into his own hands. Would the reader be right if he thinks that the ruler has such huge hands? Was the writer trying to convey such a misunderstanding to his readership? Consider this example too, dear brothers. For if you tell the reader that it is not natural for a person to have such huge hands, he could dispute this, claiming that there is an argument for this - a word from a book. What to do if he does not have enough knowledge and intelligence even to comprehend such a primitive fact? Those who interpret the Holy Quran in their own way are similar to such a person.

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[1]  Fudhail and Sufyan are holy servants of Allah, recognized by the entire ummah.

{2]  Malik ibn Anas al-Askhabi (713 – 795 CE) was a faqih, muhaddis and founder of the Maliki madhab.

FROM THE BOOK “TREASURY OF BLESSED KNOWLEDGE” BY SHEIKH SAID-AFANDI AL-CHIRKAWI