sirat mustaghim eng

Transcript

1. Unofficial Translation � رال�ص�ميرقت سملا اط The Straight Path Shaykh Muhaddith Âbdullah Ibn Muhammad al-Harariyy al- Habashiyy

2. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 2 3. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 3 اطرالص�يمقاملست�� The Straight Path Al-

Muhaddith Ash-Shaykh Âbdullah Ibn Muhammad Al-Harariyy Al-Habashiyy First Draft, 2012

4. 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

5. 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 ﴿نم�انوحر ﴾and His Saying �﴿ 122نمىوح�ر﴾ ................................................................................................ Interpretation of the Verse ﴿� رشالعىواست﴾ ....................... 124نمح�الرىلع The Interpretation of the Maîyyah ( معية( of Allah that is Mentioned in the Qur’an........................................................ 131 The Explanation of the Saying of Allah ﴿��

134مثفهجوالل﴾ ................. The Explanation of the Verse ﴿� أالاو﴾ ................... اتاوم�السضر 135اللورن 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

6. 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

184ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص ................................................... Some of the Miracles of the Prophet 185ملسو 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

7. 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 [Bidâh].............................................................. 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

227ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص............. Ijtihad and Imitation ................................................................... 233 Epilogue....................................................................................... 239 The Epilogue of the Epilogue ...................................................... 242

8. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 8 Author’s Biography He was the great Islamic scholar, Imam, Muhaddith, the pious worshipper, Ash-Shaykh Abu Âbdir-Rahman, Âbdullah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Ibn Âbdillah Ibn Jami^, Al-Harariyy, Ash- Shaybiyy, Al-Âbdariyy, 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-Âbdariyy because he also belongs to Âbdud-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.

9. 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-Shafiîyy, 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-Shafiîyy, its Usul and Arabic Grammar from Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Âbdus-Salam Al- Harariyy, Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Ûmar 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

10. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 10 other three schools and their Usul under Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Al-Ârabiyy Al-Fasiyy, and Ash-Shaykh Âbdur-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 Âbdur-Rahman Âbdullah 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 Âbdul-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

11. 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, Âlawiyy Al-Malikiyy, Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Yasin Al- Fadaniyy and Ash-Shaykh Amin Al-Kutubiyy. He attended circles by Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Al-Ârabiyy at-Tabban. He contacted Ash-Shaykh Âbdul-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 Âliyy as-Siddiqiyy Al-Bakriyy. He met with Muhaddith Ibrahim Al-Khutniyy, the student of Muhaddith Âbdul-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 Jamiûl-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

12. 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 Îzzud-Din Ibn Ahmad Al- Khaznawiyy, Ash-Shafiîyy, an-Naqshabandiyy from Al-Jazirah in the north of Syria, Ash-Shaykh Âbdur-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 Âbdul-Karim Ar-Rifaîyy, Ash-Shaykh Naji Nur from Jordan, Ash-Shaykh Saîd Tanatirah, Ash-Shaykh Ahmad Al- Husariyy, the Director of the Islamic school of Maârratu-n- Nu^man, Ash-Shaykh Âbdullah Siraj Al-Halabiyy, Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Murad Al-Halabiyy, Ash-Shaykh Suhayb Ar-Rumiyy, the Amin of Al-Fatwa in Halab, Ash-Shaykh Âbdul-Âziz Ûyunus- Sud, the Head of the Qurra’ of Hims, Ash-Shaykh Abus-Suûd Al- Himsiyy, Ash-Shaykh Fayiz ad-Dayr Âtaniyy, Ash-

Shaykh Âbdul- 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 Âbbas 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.

13. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 13 He was also praised by Ash-Shaykh Ûthman Sirajud-Din, the descendant of Ash-Shaykh Âla’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 Âbdul-Karim Al-Bayyariyy, the teacher in Jamiîl- 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 Âbdullah 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-Rifaîyyah from Ash-Shaykh Âbdur-Rahman as-Sibsibiyy, Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Âliyy 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-Îrbiniyy, Ash-Shaykh Al- Muâmmar Âliyy 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 Âbdullah went to Beirut in 1950 and he was the guest of the famous shaykhs like Qadi Muhyid-Din Al-Âjuz,

14. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 14 Shaykh Al-Mustashar Muhammad Ash-Sharif, Shaykh Âbdul- 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 Âbdur-Rahman Al-Majdhub and Shaykh Muhammad Al-Butariyy. He met with Shaykh Mukhtar Al- Âlayiliyy, 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 Âbdullah’s primary goal was to spread the correct belief of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaâh, a task which has been occupying most of his time. He fought the atheists and the people of bidâh to extinguish their misguidance. Shaykh Âbdullah 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

15. 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 Âbdullah Al-Harariyy conveyed the knowledge of the Religion with continuous chains back to Prophet Muhammad .ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص Among them is: from Muhammad Ibn Âliyy Âdham Husayn as-Siddiqiyy Al-Khayradadiyy Al-Madiniyy from Muhaddith Abul-Maâli 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-Jamiîl-Azhar] from Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Salim Al-Hifniyy from Shaykh Îd an-Namrisiyy from Âbdullah Ibn Salim Al-Basriyy from Shaykh Âliyy Zaynul-^Ābidin Ibn Âbdul- Qadir at-Tabariyy Al-Makkiyy from Âbdul-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-Âsqalaniyy from Ustadh Ibrahim Ibn Ahmad at-

Tanukhiyy from Abu-l-Âbbas Ahmad Ibn Abi Talib Al-Hajjar from Abi Âbdillah Al-Husayn Ibn Mubarak Az-Zabidiyy from Abu-l-

16. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 16 Waqt Âbdul-Awwal Ibn Îsa Ibn Shuâyb as-Sijziyy Al-Harawiyy from Abil-Hasan Âbdur-Rahman Ibn Muhammad Ibn Mudhaffar Ibn Dawud ad-Dawudiyy Al-Bushinjiyy from Abi Muhammad Âbdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hammuyah as-Sarakhsiyy from Abi Âbdillah Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Ibn Matar Ibn Salih Ibn Bishr Al- Farabriyy from Imam Abi Âbdillah Muhammad Ibn Ismaîl Al- Bukhariyy Al-Juâfiyy from Imam Abi Âbdillah Ahmad Ibn Hambal Ash-Shaybaniyy from Imam Abi Âbdillah Muhammad Ibn Idris Ash-Shafiîyy Al-Muttalibiyy from Imam Abi Âbdillah Malik Ibn Anas Al-Asbahiyy from Nafi^ Ibn Âbdir-Rahman from Âbdillah Ibn Ûmar 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.

17. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 17 Introduction لر ح يم ٱسمبهللحملرن ٱ ٱ The Shaykh and Muhaddith Âbdullah 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 : ﴿�لل �و لت �لمدق�ا�مفسن�رنظ ٱي�اهيأ�.اونام�ءينذل�.اوقت�دغت ٱ ٱ ﴾ [which means] “O you who believed, fear Allah, and let each self look at that which it has prepared for tomorrow.” Âliyy [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.

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 : ﴿�لل� �يأ�رغف�ي �ل �د�مرغفي�وهب� كشرن �يم�لكلذ�نوا ٱنإ�آءشن ﴾[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 : ﴿�� &رغفيٱمللل﴾ ثلل مكهواواتم� �ارف اوورفكينذ�لٱنلف /سعاو�دص إاٱيلب 2ن Surat an-Nisa’, ayah 48. 3 Surat Muĥammad, ayah 34.

19. 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: ��ع�.ب�د�ه� �ش�ر�يك��ل�ه�أو�،�ن��م�م�د�ا �شم��و�.ح�د�ه��ل للإ�لهإ��ل.ن�أدهن ال��م�.ر�ي�،�و�ر�وح� �ع�.ب�د��الل��و�ر�س�لو�ه��و�ك�ل�م�ت�ه��أ�.ل�ق�اه�إ�ا�ىل �و�ر�س�لو�ه��أو�ن��ع�يس�ى�م�ك�ا�نا��م�ن��الع�م�ل Whoever testifies that no“ [which means] �م�.ن�ه��و�ال�ن�ة��ح�ق��و�نال�ار��ح�ق�أ�،�.د�خ�ل�ه��الل��ال�ن�ة��ع�ل�ىone is God except Allah alone without a partner, that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, that Îsa (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: الل�عمر�ح�اللنإف��ه.ج�وكلذب�يغت.ب�يالل��الل�� [which means] لإ�لهإ��لالق�.ن�مرانى“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.

20. 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.

21. 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 : ﴿� ف نر ي يعس ر لا ل و ر س لو فه إا ن آا � تأا ع لند ا ٱكل و ي�لنم م م بنؤ ﴾ [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.

22. 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:

23. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 23 � تمعاىل:�و�تالل� الق�ىءشب�يد.ب�عىلإ�برقا�افم� ىلإ�بحأ�ه.يل�عت.ضرت.ا

�� [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 : ﴿�.ف نر لٱكلي لل & ي ٱ�ب ر �ل لس فو تإا / �لو و فا إا لٱ�ن ل لقٱو أا ط ع ي و ا ﴾ [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 Îmran, ayah 32.

24. 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.”

25. 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 Shafiîyyah 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 : ﴿� � �يمو�لسإل ٱريغ�غبتنأا افيندمٱنمةرخ /يل فوهو/هملقب

ٱل�خل�ينرس ﴾ [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 : ﴿�� إال﴾ إاٱ/دعينلدٱللٱم&سل 8ن Sūrat Āl Îmrān, āyah 85. 9 Sūrat Āl Îmrān, āyah 19.

26. 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 Îsa [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 Ûzayr (Ezra), adding blasphemy to their blasphemy. Some of the People of the Book, the Jews and the Christians, believed in him, like Âbdullah 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

27. 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.

28. 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 Âliyy 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

29. 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 ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said: إانميان� م ذ�رة وزن Dقلبه و Fالل إا إالله منقال /النا مر ر Whoever says “There is no God except“ [which means] يAllah” 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: � �خطر تع�سنذأ� �ق�ول �عني رش�ب ب.ل�على �ل �م�الصاحلنيي�لعبدت.دعدأ�:لج�وز�ع�اللالق��ول تأ�را[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

30. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 30 continued to say: “Recite, if you want, the Saying of Allah the Exalted10 : ﴿نولعمي�� أ�مفسن�ملع�ت لف �قم�مل�ىخفا اوانك�امب�آءز�جعني�أةرن ﴾ [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.

31. 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 Shafiîyyah, Ibn Âbidin of the Hanafiyyah, Al-Buhutiyy of the Hanabilah, Shaykh Muhammad Îllaysh 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- Awzaîyy, 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 Âbdul- Ghaniyy an-Nabulusiyy said: “Whoever believes that Allah filled the Heavens and Earth, or that He is a body sitting above the Ârsh, then he is a blasphemer even if he claimed that he was a Muslim.”

32. 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 Âbidin 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.

33. 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

34. 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 : ﴿�� ف نر لٱكلي لل & ي فٱ�ب تإا / �لو و فا إا ن ﴾ [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 Îmrān, āyah 32.

35. 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 Âzra’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.

36. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 36 ﴿� م ع ٱفع�د وللو�لل�تمد�لعضبب�مهعض�باسنل�وص�عيب�و ٱ�ولصو�سم�وت�دج ﴾ [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

37. 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 Îyad [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.

38. 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.

39. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 39 ﴿� �ب�ملل�ب�نئطم�مهلبق ٱب�رفك�نم�ميإ�عدن

لل � �فدر�صرف �مك�لك�ن�مبضغ�مهيلعا �شن �لو�ب�حرن مالإ�هن�ميإل�ن � �أ ركن ه و ٱ� ٱ ٱ ﴾ [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 : ﴿� لل � � ن ب � ٱٱتلاقو�ودهلي�ع�ز�يز��بن��لل��و�ق�لا�ت��نل�ص��ر�ى�ملس�يح� ٱ ٱ ٱ ٱ ٱ ﴾ [which means] “The Jews said ‘Ezra is the son of Allah’ and the Christians said ‘the Masih (Jesus) is the son of Allah’.” [Also20 :] ﴿م� غل ٱتلاقو�د�يودهلي�لل�ةلو ٱ ﴾ [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.

40. 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 : ﴿� &ولصم�لنكسكت﴾ مصل موهرهطتةقد مبهيكزت او& إامهيلعلص ذمخ�ن أان 21مو Sūrat at-Tawbah, āyah 103.

41. 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 له أا تن م م ت� / ه نو ﴾ [which means] “Are you going to stop?!” to be giving a choice rather than

as a prohibition of drinking wine, so they drank it. Ûmar [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.

42. 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 Âliyy fought in the three conflicts: the conflict of Al-Jamal, the conflict of Siffin with Muâwiyah, 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 Zurâh Al-Îraqiyy 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

43. 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 Âliyy 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 Âbdir-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

44. 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 Âliyy, 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 Âliyy, 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

45. 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 Shafiîyy, 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 Jamû-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.”

46. 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

47. 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 Îzzud-Din Ibn Âbdis-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 Ûbaydillah and Az-Zubayr Ibn Âwwam, may Allah accept their deeds. Both of them went

48. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 48 against the Prince of the Believers, Âliyy, may Allah Accept his deeds, by standing with those who fought against him in Basrah. So Âliyy 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: لتقات� �ظاملو�اي�علنلإنك Surely‘ [which means] �لهأنتyou will certainly fight Âliyy 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 Âliyy followed him and killed him. So he repented by Âliyy’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: كنتم�� موله�فعلي�مولهن[which means] ‘Whomever I was his supporter, then Âliyy 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 Âliyy 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-Ashâriyy mentioned that Talhah and Az- Zubayr are forgiven by virtue of the good news that was given to

49. 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- Ashâriyy that they commited a sin. He said the same about Â’ishah because she also received the good news of going to Paradise. She regretted severely that she stood with those who fought Âliyy, to the extent that whenever she would remember her travel to Basrah and her standing with those who fought Âliyy 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 Âliyy with Muâwiyah—“Their forgiveness and pardon is possible,” as conveyed by Imam Abu Bakr Ibn Furak from Abul- Hasan Al-Ashâriyy in his book Mujarrad Maqalat Al-Ashâriyy. Ibn Furak is the student of the student of Abul-Hasan Al- Ashâriyy, 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 Â’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

50. 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 : � �ابأكثر� Most of the sins of the son of Adam are‘ [which means] ه�لسان.�منم�ءادن�خطاياfrom his tongue.’” Among those sins are blasphemy and major sins. In another hadith of the Messenger :ب�.ني� ر.ش�املاملو�بر.غ�� ب �ف�ال ي �ي�.ه�و��مادع.بأ�رانا 23 �نإ��الع�.ب�ل�د�ي�ت�ك�ل�ب�م�كال��مةمل�ا��ف بنيتي�يه�ا Narrated by Abul-Qāsim Sulaymān Ibn Aĥmad at-Tabarāniyy with a authentic chain from the route of Âbdullāh Ibn Mas^ūd.

51. 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.

52. 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 : ﴿�دحقفن إالهلمعطب /يموٱمي بركف ﴾ [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.

53. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 53 ﴿�� .ن �س�ع.اودص�و.اورفك�ينذل�ل�فارفم�كه�و.اوات�م��ثلل ٱنإ�يلبن ٱلل ٱ�رف.غيمل� ﴾ [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 : ﴿�Lيو ام اووظلم كفر

إا�نٱ�لذين

ي �ل�ي�مه ل�ه�م�و�لٱ�ك�ن��لل��ل�ي�.غ�ف�ر��

هايقرط��خمنه�جيقرط� لإادبأ�آيه�فيندل د. ﴾ [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 Îmran Ibn Husayn that a man came to the Messenger of Allah and said, “O Muhammad, Âbdul-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: ش� ر ن� ف� س ي�� و اع لر� م� ى ل ع� ا� ر ش�� د أ� م ر ي��

26ن�ق�اللهم.قل Sūrat an-Nisā’, āyah 168-169. 27 Meaning he responded to him. 54. 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: ��أس �ع�وت.نل.عأ��ومات.رر.ما �أخدتمما �ج�وت.أط.�وما لااللهم ت.لهما �أرزاعو�يس.ف�ن�شر ن�ق�اللهم.قل� �اغفر� �على ري.�أمشد.م�ل[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 îddah. 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.

55. 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: � Surely Allah is Beautiful,” it does not“ [which translates literally as] يل�ج�اللنإ�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,

56. 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: ﴿ىء�شهثلمك�يسل� ﴾ [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.

57. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 57 د�عجزالع��اكشرإ�وفر�كهاتذ�ن�عحثالبو�� اكدرإ�اكدرإل�اركن[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-Rifaîyy30 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.

58. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 58 Benefit Al-Ghazaliyy31 said in Ihya’ Ûlumi-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-Shāfiîyy 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.

59. 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: �فرقة�وسبعني�إحدى افرتقتاليهودافرتقتو� �فرقةس��أميت �وسبعني علىا�ثنتني علىالنصارى�إل�احدة�ووهي�الماعة� �فرقة�كلهم�ف النار� �وسبعني �ثلث The Jews have divided into“ [which means] تفرتإ��ىل71 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 Jamaâh,” i.e., the vast majority. As for the knowledge of Kalam that Ahlus-Sunnah busied themselves with, it was practiced before Al-Ashâriyy and Al- Maturidiyy by the likes of Abu Hanifah, for he has five treatises on the subject, and Imam Ash-Shafiîyy mastered it to the extent that he said, “We mastered that before this,” i.e., we mastered the science of Kalam before Fiqh.

60. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 60 Protection from Hell Allah the Exalted said: ﴿�� ايمنو &نورمؤ �&لاددشظ&لغةكئ&لم أاامه�لالنوصعي &اهيلعةارجاحلومهرم أااي ااه�ي آامينذ�ل اقون أااو أاومكس/ف اوارنميكله االهودق لعفيواسن ﴾

[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

61. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 61 The Messenger of Allah said, upon being asked about the beginning of creation: � �أك� وال�لن� كملن� س� ىءن�� غ� أكوهري�� رعن� ك�،ول�ىأم�لاءعهس� ن0 ن1 ف�� .Allah Existed and nothing else existed“ [which means] �ل�كر.كالذ��ض.رألا�و اتاوم�السقل�خ،��ثىءش�His Ârsh 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

62. 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.

63. 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.

64. 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.”

65. 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: ﴿��لك ف�� كلف� سن� وحن1 لأوهو ي�� ذ� خ� لي� لألف0 ولن� وارهأل�ن� لأوشمأل�س� رمف0 ﴾ [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, ﴿ىء�شهثلمك�يسل� ﴾ [which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way,” is enough to clear Allah from place, containment, and direction, because had

66. 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, الل� �شىء�غريهو�كان �يكن Allah Existed and“ [which means] ملnothing 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. Âliyy said: “Allah Existed and there

67. 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.

68. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 68 We raise our hands in duâ’ 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 duâ’ 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 duâ’], 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?

69. 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 Ârsh 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: ﴿�� كف بقنا قا و يس / أا و أا ند ﴿ ﴾ فند تا لد �ى ث ﴾ [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

70. 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: ﴿ع ﴾﴿ىر.خ�أةل.ز�ناهء�ر.دقلو�ىهت.ن�املةر.د�سد.ن ﴾ [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.

71. 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: � رانأ�و�الل � ولس مأ�� ر ت. أ� ن أ. ق� ات ل�ياس�حنال الل� I was ordered to fight the people until they“ [which means] الإ�لهإ��ل.نأ�اوده.شىتtestified 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.

72. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 72 Allah, and Abu Bakr and Ûmar, 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-Shafiîyy 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.

73. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 73 save them from misguidance. They say, “We interpret the statement, ‘fis-sama’,’ in the hadith as ‘fawqal-Ârsh,’ [above the Ârsh].” [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: �سانإ� Certainly My Mercy overcomes My Punishment.” That“ [which means] ضيبغ�تقب�رمحيتbook is above the Ârsh, so they would be confirming similarity between Allah and that book, because they confirm both Allah and that book dwelling above the Ârsh. By that, they would have contradicted the Saying of Allah: ﴿ىء�شهثلمك�يسل� ﴾ [which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way.” This hadith about the book is narrated by Ibn Hibban according to the expression: وDوعالعرشDمر [which means] “Raised above the Ârsh.” As for the

narration of Al-Bukhariyy, the expression is: عفو Put above the“ [which means] العرشموضوÂrsh.”

74. 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 Ârsh.” 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 Ârsh, 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 Ârsh 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 Ârsh 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.

75. 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, ﴿خ� � ىء�شال�كقالالل ﴾ [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 Ârsh. There is only a book above the Ârsh. Written in it is: نإا ا س U ي ح م بغتقبر ي ض [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 Ârsh is confirmed. Al-Bukhariyy and an-Nasa’iyy narrated that hadith. An-Nasa’iyy narrated that in his

76. 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: ��ت �العرشفو�ليبضغ�ب� �رمحيت .غ�إن �خلق خللقمال �نفسه�يكتب�ف�كتاب�كتب�الال� [which means] فوعر�وهو�مه�على“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 Ârsh. 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 Ârsh? There is no explicit text that documents that it is above the Ârsh or below the Ârsh. So it is an issue of possibility i.e.,it is possible that the Guarded Tablet is above the Ârsh and it is possible that it is below the Ârsh. According to the saying that it is above the Ârsh, that Likener would have made Allah similar to the Guarded Tablet, i.e., according to them Allah would be parallel to part of the Ârsh, 37 The Promise of Allah is not like the promise of the creation because It is fulfilled and It never changes.

77. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 77 and the Guarded Tablet would also be parallel to part of the Ârsh. 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 Ârsh 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”: � هوDأاليسنة فب إا Lكتان بكUابال /يل أ] \ اقب أالرضو&اتومااالسق ا�ةسور��ةالبقر� �العرشهعند �ختم�بما�وإنه�أنزل �على ءايتني �الكتاب� �ذلك Certainly Allah had“ [which means] ��منa 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, عندهفهو�موضوع�� [which translates literally as] “It is put with Him [îndahu].” This is explicit in saying that the book is above the Ârsh with a real aboveness that cannot be explained in a way that is different from the apparent meaning.

78. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 78 The term “înda [with]” is for honor and is not to confirm that Allah is contained above the Ârsh, because the word “înda” is used for other than a place. Allah, the Exalted said: ﴿��ك ذري�1 عن� ودمسومة0 ض� لمن� ن� سح�1 من� أرة0 هأحخ1 أعلن� مطري�� وا�* ﴾ [which means] “Allah made stones of sijjil mamdud rain

upon them. Those stones are known to [înda] your Lord.” The term “înda” 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 “înda” 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 Ârsh to them, and that those stones were dwelling in a place next to Allah above the Ârsh, according to their claim? Al-Bukhariyy narrated that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said: ح�ذك� أ� كBأن�� ا د� Dأ أي�� ن� أح�1 ى� ي� ره� ن� صق0 ب1 Iلي هق� هولأب�1 لت0 ى1 ق0 ف��

إان هف نميين يقبULهرع هوبن هبين إاب هف UL`ف م [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

79. 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- Ashâriyy that the Messenger of Allah said: ��غائبا،�إنكم�تدع �أصم�ول �تدعون �أنفسكم�فإنكم�ل �على ا�ق� �عنقو�،يبارسيعا حدكم�من �إىأل� �تدونه�أقرب ونوبعرااحلة�أحدكمر�الذي [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.

80. 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: ﴿� ض.عبب�نور.فكت�و ابتك.ل�اأا ضعببنونمؤتف ﴾ [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: ﴿��تمن.يأف�الل �فولوا ه.ج�ومثا ﴾ [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 Âbbas, 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: �ارمحرال��م �يرمحهم�الرمحن �ف�األرض�يرمحكموامحون �من ا�فماءاالس� ن

81. 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: لسماء� يرمحكم�أهال�[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-Îraqiyy in his millennial

poem: فس�� ما The best thing by which you have explained a“ [which means] اردوته�بالروخريhadith is another narrated hadith.” Furthermore, what is meant by “The People of the Sky” is the Angels. That was mentioned by Hafidh Al-Îraqiyy 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: ﴿� اءم�السأا أا مم/تم /ف� ﴾ [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

82. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 82 the Sky.” The word نم�� [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: ﴾أا أام مم/تم /ف� أااءم�الس& /ي ﴿اباصحمكيلعلسر [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-Îraqiyy in his dictation session is: مارمحرالماء� مالرحي /يرمحه \]لسوامحو أاه م ضيرمحك أالر [\ أاه ا Those who are merciful, Ar-Rahim is“ [which means] اMerciful to them. Be merciful to the people of the earth and the people of the sky will be merciful to you.”

83. 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: � ساجد Dالسم ا أاوم ع eموض أاورا م كقائ Lهم لوDي إا ع أاصاب ع أاورب ع which] اكmeans] “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 Saîd Al-Khudriyy that the Messenger of Allah said: �� من �خرب �ف�السماء�يأتين �من �تأمنو�ن�أمني أناو�أل ف�السماءصباح�مساء� [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 ,ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص that she used to say to the wives of the Messenger, “Your families gave you in marriage, and Allah gave me in marriage from above seven Skies,” it means that the Prophet’s marriage to her

84. 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: ��ي �رجل �من �بيده�ما �نفسي �فرالذي �عليهرأته�إىل اشه�فتأىب... �عليها� �ف�السماء�ساخطا �الذي �كان دعو�اموإل [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: تصبح�� امللئكة�حىت The Angels“ [which means] لعنتهاwill 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: ف�السماء�تقر�� الذي اسادبنا ك س�

85. 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 Mutîm, from the Prophet :ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص سعرشه�فو�القبة� أاته�فوواته،�وسو� �علىانإاضيه�مثلر� الل � � [which means] “Certainly, Allah is on His Ârsh 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 Afâl Al-Îbad” from the route of Ibn Âbbas that the Messenger of Allah said: نداؤه�ف�السماء�و�� كان �كلم�الل�موسى �ف�السماءمال �الل When Allah Spoke to“ [which means] كانMusa, 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:

86. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 86 هشىء ومن LيL / Lمكا فك ه ءوعLم فالسما L Allah is“ [which means] الin 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].

87. 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.

88. 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 [mafûl]. The response is that pattern “mafûl” 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:

89. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 89 ﴿�ىتح&� يدقالونجرالعكادع ﴾ [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

90. 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.

91. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 91 The textual evidence for Hearing and Sight is verses and hadiths, like the Saying of Allah, ﴿ريصالبيعم�السوهو� ﴾ [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: ريص�البيعمالس� [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

92. 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).

93. 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

94. 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

95. 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.

96. 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

97. 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.

98. 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: ﴿مو/كعالل�ففخن� أاملع مضيكف�ن ئلااعف ﴾ [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: ﴿ملعو� ﴾ [which means] “He knew…” does not refer back to: ﴿ئلان� ﴾ [which means] “Now…”

99. 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: ﴿� جم.ل�املعن�مو/كميندهينرب مح�كنوبلنلو�الص �ىت ﴾ [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: ﴿�بيط�الن�ميثب�اخل�الليزميل ﴾ [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,

100. 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

101. 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: ﴿�ءمهي�فناك�ولاتدسفل�لل إ�ةالا ال� ﴾ [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.

102. 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: �.يف فك ل�يفيك ا �بة ا قر ل ا D د م

م ر ء ي د ر ك ه ا م ر ء يل س لا �يفيك ة The how of man is not“ [which means] لا

encompassed by man, so how about the Reality of Al-Jabbar Who Exists Eternally?” 103. 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: ث.ر�قونر�القر.يخ�� The best of centuries is my century, then“ [which means] مهونل�ين.�الذيم��ثهونل�ين.�الذي�نthose 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 Âsakir in his book Tabyin Kadhib Al-Muftari, which he wrote in defending Abul- Hasan Al-Ashâriyy, may Allah Accept his deeds.

104. 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: ﴿مح�كنولبنلو� �&ىت ينربا�الصومكنمينداهجملاملعن ﴾ [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:

105. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 105 ﴿أالاللو� ناحLساء&س ﴾ [which means] “Allah has the Perfect Names.” And Allah the Exalted Said: ﴿و�لل��.لا�م�ث�ل�ىل.عألا� ﴾ [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: ﴿ينراكملاريخاللواللركمواوركمو� ﴾ [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: ﴿م�بئز.هت.س�يالل﴾

106. 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-Âyn, 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: ﴿ىء�شهثلمك�يسل� ﴾ [which means] “Nothing resembles Him whatsoever,” and His Saying: ﴿د� أااوفكه�لنكيملو ح ﴾ [which means] “There was never a similar for Him.” They said that had Allah had a âyn 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.

107. 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.

108. 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: ﴿دحأ��اللو�ه.لق� ﴾ [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: ﴿دم�الصالل� ﴾ [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.

109. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 109 The Saying of Allah: ﴿�.دليملدلويملو ﴾ [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-Ârus, [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 Îsa [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: ﴿�أااوفكه�لنكيملو دح ﴾ [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).

110. 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: ﴿�� لا�ات ابشت�مرخأ�و ابتك��ا�منوعبتي�فغ.ي�ز.موبل�ق. م�أن�هاتمك.�مات�آيه.ن�مابتك.ل�اك.يل�علنزأ�يذل�اوه �يمو��الل لإ�هليو.أ�تم�� ان�آمنولوق�يم.لع.ل�ا �امأف ف.ل�ااءغت.�ابه.ن�مهابشت�هيلو.أ�تاءغت.اب�وةن.ت��ل.عا �فينذلاأاابب أاللو وا &ل إار�ك�ذ �&ل ايمو فنوخاس�الروانبر/دعنملكهب ﴾ [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.

111. 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: ﴿ىء�شهثلمك�يسل� ﴾ [which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way,” and His Saying: ﴿أااوفكه�لنكيملو� دح ﴾ [which means] “And there was never a similar for Him,” and His saying: ﴿يسهلملعتله� ا ﴾ [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: ﴿العلع�� ن.محالر�ىوت.�اس ش.رى ﴾ And the Saying of Allah the Exalted:

112. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 112 ﴿إا� يل يه ص ع لد ا لك لم ا بي�ط و ع ل ا صلم ل �ا ل ا يح عفر ه ﴾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: ﴿�ىء�شهثلمك�يسل ﴾ [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: ﴿� � �يمو�الل لإ�هليو.أ�تم ﴾ل.عا [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 ىلصمحكمهوءامنباومتشباهه ابو اعمل

113. 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: ﴿� �� يمو�الل لإ�هليو.أ�تم ﴾ل.عا [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: ﴿يه�هيلو.أت�� ىت.أ�يوم�يهليو.أ�ت لإ�نورظ.نل ﴾ [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.

114. 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: ﴿� نيب�ميبر�عانسلب� ﴾ [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

115. 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?

116. 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: ﴿ وهول�كبىءشيملع ﴾ [which means] “He is Knowledgeable of everything,” in reference to what came about the Attributes of Allah, and His Saying: ﴿تم�رح�م�كيلع�ةتيمالـ�مدال و�محل ويرنزخال ﴾[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.

117. 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: ﴿� �س�عفكش�يومي ان ﴾ [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,

118. 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: ﴿� يمو��الل لإ�هليو.أ�تم�مل�الع� ل.عافنوخاس�الرو ﴾ [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

119. 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: ﴿ىء�شهثلمك�يسل�﴾ [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: ﴿� �لك كألهىءش�� Dهو لأ ﴾هخ1

120. 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 “ � �خك 51 in”(Dahik) ض��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: ﴿ك�براءجو� ﴾ [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-Âla’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 Saîd Al-Âla’iyy about Al-Bayhaqiyy and Ad-Daraqutniyy, that is in his book called Al-Washyul-Mu^lam; and as for Hafidh Abu Saîd himself, he is the one about whom Hafidh Ibn Hajar 50 Supreme Ownership 51 Which could literally translated as ‘smiling’ or ‘laughing’

121. 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 Âbdur-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: ﴿�مم�� تأ�كعنا �خم�لدسجن يديب�قتلا ﴾[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’.

122. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 122 Interpretation of His Saying ﴿نمانوحر ﴾ and His Saying ﴿ رنم وح ى ﴾ 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 Îsa [Jesus] with the meaning of ownership and honor, not with the meaning of [the soul] being a part of [Him] in His Saying: ﴿رم� انوحن ﴾ [which means] “…from Our soul.” Likewise, in reference to Adam, is the Saying of Allah the Exalted: ﴿رم� ىوحن ﴾ [which means] “…from My soul.” So the meaning of the Saying of Allah: ﴿ نفنف فخ ا ه ي م ر / � ح نو ا ﴾ [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.

123. 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: ﴿� ييتب ﴾ [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: ﴿�رش�العبر ﴾ [which means] “The Lord of the Ârsh.” It is not for other than proving that Allah is the Creator of the Ârsh, which is the largest of creations. It is not that the Ârsh 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 Ârsh with contact and it does not mean Allah is parallel to the Ârsh with the existence of space between Allah and the Ârsh, whether that space was estimated as vast or little. All of that is impossible to attribute to Allah. The merit of the Ârsh is that it is the Ka^bah for the Angels, who circle it, just as the Ka^bah itself is meritorious by the believers

124. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 124 circling it. Also among the special merits of the Ârsh is that Allah was never disobeyed there, because those who surround the Ârsh are all honorable slaves. They do not disobey Allah for a blink of an eye. Whoever believed that Allah Created the Ârsh 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 ﴿ ىواست

العىلع نحمالر رش ﴾ 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: �لعللنأممألك ن� ويف� -So“ [which means] اشن0and-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: ��العل�عر.شب�ىوت.د�اسق��ار.ه�ممد�وف.ي�س.ريغ�.نم� ارى

125. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 125 [which means] “Bishr conquered [istawa] Îraq without a sword or bloodshed.” The benefit of specifically mentioning the Ârsh 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 Âliyy said, “Certainly Allah the Exalted created the Ârsh 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 Ârsh or dwelling upon it by interpreting the Saying of Allah the Exalted, ﴿العل�عنمحالر� ىو�است رشى ﴾ 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:

126. 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 Ârsh, 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: ﴿��العلع نمحالرىو�است رشى ﴾ while it is obligatory to take the apparent meaning?’, we say to them, ‘Allah also Says : ﴿�.أامكعموهو اكمني متن ﴾ [which translates literally as “He is with you wherever you are,”] and the Exalted Says: ﴿مىءشلكب� طي أا آال إا �هن ﴾ [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

127. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 127 He would be on the Ârsh, 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, ﴿وهو�.مكعم� ﴾ means “by Knowledge” and ﴿مىءشلكب� طي ﴾ it 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: ﴿�هادبعوفراهقالوهو ﴾ [which means] “He is the Subduer over His slaves,” would also give that impression; that reasoning implies that He

128. 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 Ârsh, and the one who is honest knows that saying that change occurred to the Ârsh because of the Lord is more appropriate than saying that change occurred to the Lord because of the Ârsh. 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,

129. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 129 ﴿� �� يمو�هليو.أ�تم�الل لإ ﴾ل.عا [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 Âbbas:

130. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 130 �� [which means] مالله�ابت�الكيلو.أتة�و.مك�احله.مالع�“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: ﴿فم�مهب�رنوافي� مهق.ون ﴾ [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, ﴿اصفصكلملاوك�براءجو اف ﴾ [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.

131. 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: ﴿ك�براءجو� ﴾[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, ﴿ك�براءجو� ﴾ [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 Maîyyah ( 53معية( of Allah that is Mentioned in the Qur’an The meaning of the Saying of Allah, ﴿�. أامكعموهو﴾ اكمني 53متن Maîyyah comes from the word ma^ (مع)which means ‘with’.

132. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 132 [which translates literally as: “He is with you wherever you are,”] is the encompassment by Knowledge. Also, maîyyah comes with the meaning of support, like in the Saying of Allah the Exalted, ﴿إا ل�ن ل ا م ع �لا نذ تي �ا ق و ا ﴾

[which translates literally as: “Allah is with those who have piety.”] Dwelling in something or being connected to something is not meant by this maîyyah. 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, ﴿ىء�شهثلمك�يسل� ﴾[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.

133. 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: ��س ﴿ان.قل�خ.دقلو�ام�واميأ�ةتأالو ابموضرا افمهني

�منسم السوبغل�نا م او ات ﴾ [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, ﴿إاريصبلايعم�السوه� الل�ن ﴾ [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

134. 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 Âyn 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-Âyn 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 ث �&م و ج &ه ل L ه Allah اSaid: ﴿�مثف��ه.جو��الل

للو�بر.غم.لا�و ر.شم.ل�اامن.يأف�اولوت�� ﴾ [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

135. 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, ﴿�انر�ت.نل ﴾ [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 ﴿ض.رألاو اتاومالس ور�ن 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 Âbdullah Ibn Âbbas, 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.”

136. 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: ﴿�ورنالو&اتمل�ظاللعجو� ﴾

[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: � أالو اتمل�ظاللعجوضرا م﴿احل﴾�ورنالو للد ا ل ذ� يخ ل ق الس م� او ات [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.

137. 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.

138. 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: � Iman is“ [which means] ت�ور�اآلخومالي�وهلسر�وهبتك�وهتكلئم�واللب�نم.ؤ�ت.ن�أميانإلا�نؤم هارش�وهري�خردقالب�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.

139. 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: �شم� �يم�وناك��اللاءا �مل �ي.أشا Whatever Allah Willed to be shall be, and“ [which means] نك�ملwhatever 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 Âliyy 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 Ûmar 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

140. 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 Ûmar said to the translator, “What is he saying?” The translator said, “He is saying that Allah does not misguide anyone.” Then Ûmar 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 Nuâym narrated from the nephew of Az-Zuhriyy, who narrated from his uncle, that Ûmar Ibnul-Khattab used to love the poem of Labid Ibn Rabiâh which has these verses:

�ش�اء��ف�.عل � �ن�د��له��بي�د�.ي�ه��اخلري��ما �أمح�د��ف�الل�ل �وع�ج�.ل �ر�.ي�ثي وب�إذن��الل�خ�ري��ن�ف�.ل�� إ�ن��ت�.ق�ابر�وى�ن�ا

ناع�م��الب�ال��وم�.ن��ش�اء��أضل�ه�داه��س�ب�ل�ال�خ�ري��اهتدى�� Certainly the obedience of our“ [which means] �م�ن

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.

141. 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: ��خ�ري��ن�ف�.ل is that the taqwa to our Lord is certainly the best nafl that the human إ�ن��ت�.ق�ابر�وى�ن�اbeing has been granted. The meaning of his statement: وع�ج�.ل�� ر�.ي�ثي is that no slow وب�إذن��اللperson goes slow and no fast person goes fast except by the Will of Allah and His Permission. When he said: ن�د��له�� it means there is no similar to Him. And when أمح�د��ف�الل�لhe said: � .what was meant by that is the good and the evil, and not just the good بي�د�.ي�ه��اخلري�He only settled with mentioning the good because there is

142. 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: ﴿�رح�الميكق�تيلبارس� ﴾ [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: � �ش�اء��ف�.عل� it means whatever Allah Willed to take place must take place and ماwhatever He did not Will to take place will not take place. And when he said: ��ه�داه��س�ب�ل�ال�خ�ري��اهتدى� this means that whomever Allah Willed to be on the straight, correct م�نpath is guided. When he said: � :it means his mind is tranquil. When he said ناع�م��الب�ال�

143. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 143 وم�.ن��ش�اء��أضل� it 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: �

إان مل شومات أا /ملش إا و أا نكا اشئت م

أاكن مل ي ئتش�العل �ع�لمت��مففي �ما �خ�ل�قت��الع�باد��على�ىتالو��م�سن�على ال � ��فجيري وهذا�عنت��ت أ� ت�� ل� ذ�. �خ� وهذا ت�� ن� �من�. ذا � �ح�سن� �قبيح��وهذا وهذا

ومنهم�س�دعي��ملوذا�ع�.ن فم�نه�م�ش�قي�� [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:

144. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 144 ﴿مد.هي�وآءش�ي.ن�ملضي�� آءش�ي.نى ﴾ [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: ﴿�.آاء ىمنتش إاد إاىهن �&ل امهب�لضتكتنتف آاءشتن هتو ﴾ [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: ﴿و�م�ت�ا�ش�آء�نو��إ�ل�أ��.ن��ي�ش�آء��الل� ﴾ [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

145. 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: ﴿أالامادءم�لعو آاء&س اه�لك ﴾ [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: ﴿�ملفآ��أ�.ن�ب�أ�ه�ب�م�أ�.س�آئ�هم� ﴾ [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 Âliyy Ar-Rida, the son of Musa Al-Kadhim, was sitting in the

146. 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: ﴿�� نإ��نيمر.جم.لا��ف��ل لض��رعسو�*��م.وي��نوبح.سي��ف��رانال��ىلع��لكءيشاهنقلخردقب إا �ان مهوهجواووقذ�سمرقس* ﴾ [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, Âliyy, 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.

147. 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: مأىلع ر. ه &ه�لالو Allah is Dominant over whatever He Created.” This means no“ [which means] بالغone 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

148. 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 Âbdullah Ibn Masûd 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.”

149. 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

150. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 150 came to pass on them, and what proves the truthfulness of that is the Saying of Allah: ﴿� ف أا ل م فه ا ج ر و ه و قتا ىو ه ا * س ى�و ه ا و م ا فنو س ﴾ [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, �.&/فسه إال LيLوم�ن كف Lومنوجدغريذل ال دLDيحم D [which means] “Whoever found goodness, then let himمندوجخاريpraise 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.

151. 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: ﴿� ان.يلإ�ت.لس

رأ� ل.ول�انب��ق�مابذعب�ماه.نكل.هأ��. �روالقل�هل.بن �انأ�.ولو�ا

�ق�مكات�آيعبتن�فولس ىز.ن�ولذن�نأ�ل.بن�ر�� ﴾ (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:

152. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 152 ﴿�� آالنئشولو ا اكنيت& اواهدهسفن�ل &نملوقلا�قحنكل أال نلمأا ج �ةنالنم�منهج/يع �اسنالو ﴾ [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: ﴿نيع.جأ�.ماكدل�اء�ش.ول�فةغالب.ل�اةج.�احلهللف�.لق� ﴾ [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,

153. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 153 اذإ��ركذ��قال�رد��أفاوكس.م [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-Shafiîyy and Ibn Âsakir narrated from the route of Âliyy 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. Âliyy 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, ةيردقال��وس م��هذه��ةماأل� [which means] “The Qadariyyah are the Majus of this nation,” and in one narration of this hadith, الكل��ةأم�،س م��وس وم��ههذ��ةماأل��الذين��نلووقي�ل��ردق�

154. 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 Âbdullah Ibn Ûmar that the Messenger of Allah said, رجئوLة�يردقالةام إالس يبصنفلما ليسمال أا Two“ [which means] انفنصمنيت�مfactions 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

155. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 155 ﴿يمقت.س�ماط�ر�ص ىلإ�يد.هتل�كنإو�� ﴾ [which

means] “Certainly you surely guide to a straight path,” and also the Saying of Allah: ﴿�أاو اث�م ااو�بحتاسفماهنيدهفود ىالعىمعل ىدل ﴾ [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: ﴿� أاد ن /يموم&لسلله ر ردصح

أاه�لالد /ي رشيهيده

/يمف ر

�ال�عس.ج نونم.ؤ�ي �لينذلى�ينأك�اج �الرهل�اللع.جي�� كلذك�اءم�الس �فدعصا

�حقي�ضه�� را�ر.د�ص.لع.�جيهلضي�� ﴾ [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: ﴿اتمو� إانواءش �&ل أا /ي ﴾ه�لالاءش

156. 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

157. 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: ﴿�ي�مهلو�الح.مي� ﴾ابتك.ل�ام�أهندع�وتب.ثي�واءشا

158. 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 duâ’, 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 Âbbas signaled to. Al- Bayhaqiyy narrated from Ibn Âbbas 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 [saâdah] . Al-

159. 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: ﴿يمكح� �لك أا رم اييهف رف ﴾ [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 duâ’ 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 Ûmar, nor from Mujahid, nor from anyone else from the Salaf, as is known from the book of Al-Qadar by Al-Bayhaqiyy.

160. 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: إالالدعاء Nothing deflects the Qadar except duâ’,” it refers“ [which means] ليردالقدرback 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: ﴿�. ر.فك.ل�اهادبع�لىض�

ر�ي لو�� ﴾ [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

161. 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: ﴿� علأ.س�ي��يم ل�نولأ.س�ي.مه�ولع.فا ﴾ [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: ﴿اتمومكقلخه�لالو� نولمع ﴾ [which means] “Allah Created you and your deeds,” and the Messenger of Allah said: 59 Allah being exclusively Attributed with Creating.

162. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 162 �إن�الل��عانص��الك��انعص�هتع.نوص� [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: ﴿�ء.ي�شل�كقال�خهلال ﴾ [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: ﴿� وكسن�و ت� �رهل�ل اتم�وايي.مينيمل.سم.ل�الوأ�انأ�وت

رم�أكلذب�وهل�يك��نيملاع.ل�اب*�� ل رش��.

ل�صنإ�.لق�� ﴾ [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.

163. 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: ﴿�. امهيلعو اا تبستك�مل .تبسك�اا ﴾ [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 Âbbas said, may Allah Accept his

164. 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 Ashâriyys and the Shafiîyys, because he is an Ashâriyy and a Shafiîyy; in fact, he is a prominent leader among the Shafiîyys, 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.

165. 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-Âbbasiyy 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.

166. 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-Ânbariyy saying, “I heard Abu Îsa Ibn Muhammad Ibn Îsa At- Tahmaniyy Al-Marwaziyy saying: ‘Certainly Allah Makes

167. 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

168. 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: ﴿يح�/

رف نوقز*

&ري & مب

ت&لو �بس افولتقينذ�لا أاه�لاليلبس& اباتوم أال ر/دعاءيح ﴾ [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-Âbbas 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.

169. 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 Âbdullah Ibn Âbdur-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

170. 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 Âbdullah Ibn Âbdur-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,

171. 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-Âbbas 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.

172. 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-Âbbas Âbdullah 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- Ârid. 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

173. 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.

174. 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

175. 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

176. 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-Âbbas 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

177. 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 âwrah), 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

178. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 178 add anything or omit anything. I presented her talk to Âbdullah Ibn Âbdur-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.

179. 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: ﴿� ينإ�نومل.ع�ي� ركذتاولوأ ابب.ل.األ

�اوت.س�ي.ل�ه.لق�� لينذلا�ونومل.ع�يينذلي ﴾ [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 Îyad said:

180. 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: ﴿�اخمو إالو�نالتقل إا/سا �&ل وندبعيل ﴾ [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: ﴿ولس�

�كمو�� منا �رثع.ب�ن ىت�حنيبذعا ﴾ [which means] “We do not Punish until sending a Messenger.”

181. 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

182. 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.

183. 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.

184. 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 Îsa [Jesus], such as reviving the dead. That is something that cannot be opposed with its likes. So the Jews, who were cursed for belying Îsa, and were diligent to fabricate about him, were unable to oppose what he did with its likes. He also performed another great strange

185. 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

186. 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 Âbdullah 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’ Ûlumi-d-Din. Among them is the springing of water from between his fingers, which was witnessed in several incidents in great battles that

187. 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 Masûd, Ibn Âbbas, 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 Âsr 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

188. 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: �.فإن�نإ��نكا�ىوسم�ىقس��طبا.سألا�من��رجح��

ف��راحلج ليس� م�� ع ن. االكف�� ف�� 189. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 189 �.كمهتاحربدق�ردنمرصبDأالاهعوتبد نكاىسعياربىمع إا ن

[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 Îsa cured the blind with his duâ’, 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 Masûd 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 Îsa. 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.

190. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 190 ﴿�� ر.�احلدج.سم.ل�ان�مل.يل�هد.بعب�ى�� ىلإ�امل�اناح.بس�ر.سأ�يذ��

�حن.ك��انات�آي.ن�مهي رن�لهل.وا�اص.ق.�األدج.سم.لا�� بذلى �اري ﴾ [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, ﴿ر.خ�أةل.ز�نآه��ى�

�ر.دقلو�� ﴾[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: � ويلط��وف��راحلما��ن.وود��ل.غالب��عيض�

ةبدا��ضأبي��يتتأ��ابالرب��وهو��

�هرحاف��عند�ىهمنت�،هف.طر�هت.بكفر��احىت��أتيت��بيت��سد.قامل��هطتبرف� �ةقباحلل�اليت��طبري�با�،األنبياء��ث��ت.لدخ��داملسج��يتلصف�فيه�

191. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 191 ،/يعتكر�ثترجخ�نDجاءجربيلعLيهالسLمبإناء�من��رخ��اءنوإ� �.من��بل��تفاخرت�،بالال�ف�قال��جربيل�عليه��

) :(( رع�ابن�إىل��ماءالس�(�ا�ث�� الف� ط ر. �ة اخت� ر السلم)�:�ت. .... [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 rakâhs 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 Âbbas, may Allah Accept his and his father’s deeds, “Muhammad saw his Lord

192. 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-Âliyah from the route of Ibn Âbbas about the Saying of Allah the Exalted, ﴿�ى�ر.خأ�� آه��ةل.زن

دقلو��ر��ى��.�� هنو��ىلع�ام��ري

ىأ��ارمتفأ��ف.ل�ابذك�ام�ادؤ�ام��ر�� ﴾ [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 Âbbas said, “He saw his Lord with his heart twice.” Notice: Al-Ghazaliyy said in Ihya’u-Ûlumi-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

193. 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.

194. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 194 Belief in the Torture of the Grave and its Enjoyment and Questioning Allah the Exalted Said, ﴿�دشأ��ابذع.لا

ن.وع��.رف�� نوض�اه.يلع�اودغ�ايشعو��م.ويو��ومقت��ةاعالس�اولخ.دأ��آل�

ر.عي��ارنال�� ﴾ [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, ﴿�نإف��هل��ةيشعم�انكض

�ذع�ي�� ض�ر.كنر.عأ�.نمو�� ﴾ [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 Âbbas: “The Messenger of Allah passed by two graves. He said, ‘Certainly they are being tortured.

195. 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 Âzib which was narrated by Al-Bayhaqiyy, Al-Hakim, and Abu Ûwanah, and more than one person deemed it as authentic, and the hadith of Ibn Âbbas which is elevated up to the Prophet: رمي��.ربقب��يهأخ��ناملؤم��ناك��رفه.عي�ف�نياالد��مالسيف�يهلع�

��ام�نم��دأح

ردو��عليه��لمالس There is not one of you that passes by the grave of“ ,[which means] �هفرإلع��

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 Âbdul-Barr and Âbdul-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,

196. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 196 ياء.أح�ف�قبورهم��نولصي� [which means] بياء.نألا��

“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: ��عضوفهربق�ىلووتهن إا إاندبالعاذع��حابه.أص�هنوإ��عم.سيل��ع.رق� مالعن�اذإ�اوفرص.نا��اهأت��كانلم�هاندع : ما��ت.نك��ولقت�ف� فيفولن� قفي�� .ذاه��لجالر�؟دمم�افأم��املؤمن-�أي��الكامل�–��فيقول�:�ده.شأ�هنأ� �د.بع�الل�،هلوسور��قاليف��له�:�.رظ.نا�إىل��كدع.قم�من��رانال��كلأبد�الل� �هريف�ايع به�ادع.قم�من��ةنال�اا : . ل� في� ولق املناف� ق أو�� كال� اف ر أمو�� ا ج� : ل��ت.ير قالفي� ،فيه�� اسنال� يقول�� ما�� أقول� كنت�� أد�� ر. يث ل يلق�ا / ل إا ه ي L &ي نم ي س عم ا ه يص ة يح D ص ح ي ذ أا ين يه ن ب ح يد ند بم م ط ر ة يق ر ثبض &ا rتيلت ل و [which means] د

“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

197. 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 Âbdullah Ibn Âmr, the Messenger of Allah mentioned the two who come with the fitnah of the grave [i.e., the questioning of the grave]. Then Ûmar Ibnul-Khattab said, “Will our minds be returned to us, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Yes, like you are now.” Âbdullah Ibn Âmr 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: ��إذاربق��تااملي�أو��سان.ناإل��اهتأ��كانلم��دانو.أس��قانر.أز��قالي�ا �هألحد�

: ما��كنت له� في�� قولن نك�� ريلخو�� آل ر نم�� ك. ر �

؟ ��ولتق�ف�اذه��لجالر�قائل�ما��ناك��وليق�.�.نإف��ناك�

دمم��هوف�� : وه��بدع�الل� ق� ال مؤ�� م. ان�ث��حفسي��له�ف�ه.ربق�

أن�ادمم��هعبد�هلوورس� ولنقفي��هل�:�.نإ�انك��مل.علن��كنأ��ولقلت�،لكذ��هلوورس��هد.شأ�أن�ل��إله�إل�الل��أشهدو��

198. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 198 �عني.بس�ااعرذ�ف��عني.بس�ااعرذ��رونوي��هل� : ،.ن��امفين� ل� ه ف�� قالي ،فيه��أاه أاحهل إال�ب ومكنوسرالعالذيلهظوقيحىت��هعث.بي�الل�من�

��

: . أاد لrري ا/اDقمقال إاننكا D ذ ملك ض ج ع ه��كنت��ع.أس��الناس� �نلوويق�ايئش��فكنت�،هلوأق��ولنقفي��له�:�.نإ� حىت��تلف.ت��هلع.أض�فل�

،ذلك��ث��قالي��ض.رلل�ميئالت��ئمت.لفت�عليه�� ت� ولق كانأ�� لنعلم�� ل�ك�انك�� مد� خ1 هغض� Sغأن�لمن أل�لن0 ن1 ن� خهغن� عمأي�ن0 ذ� أي�1 ي�� -If the dead were put in his grave, two blue“ [which means] .الر�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.’

199. 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: ةن�السو ارف�/ياالد&Dارنجاالس إا DؤهتنوساذLيان�الدنجسنمام [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

200. 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: ﴿�ابذع.ل�ادشأ�ن.وع

.رف�� غه.يل�عنوض �وودا �ويشعا �آلولخ.دأ�ةاع�السومق�تم.ويا ار.عي��

�ارنال�� ﴾ [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.”

201. 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 ,ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and the people of Makkah, Madinah and At-Ta’if are among 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.

202. 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: ناج.رت�� أح �سدمن �مم�هين�وبهين�بيسل�ةيام�القوم�يهب�رهمالكي�إل [which means] نكما“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

203. 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

204. 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 Ârsh. This is the meaning of the hadith, �ف�ظهملظ�يةع.بس� هال�الل[which means] “There are seven types of people whom Allah will shade with His shade,” i.e., in the shade of His Ârsh. 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.

205. 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 Saîd 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.

206. 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: ��أاب Dحبادي &ةرضنوةر ةكثريةاكهفو rوزةيجضن rوحةيل&جسناءحةوج Dمةكثريلل &امق أالليتورنبةعكال rو�زتتةنايور بوريهrدر�طمرونديشمصرق[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.

207. 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: وDهعرشقو Above it“ [which means] الرمحن(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.

208. 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, س� ف� أع ن0 ي�� ل أ� له ن1 أل�ك اي�� ر م م أ� ن� ن0 ي�� [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, ﴿�.ىضت

�ارنم�ل لإ�نوعف.ش�ي لو�� ﴾[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

209. 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, ﴿ت�

�اذإو��. رش�حوشحو.لا ﴾ [which means] “…and on the Day of Judgment, when the beasts will be gathered…” and the Messenger of Allah said: � ن�محاء.ل�الاةلش�لقاد�ي

الس� ألأة0 أءرف�0 ن�� ل ي�0 و� ذ لن� اح� و ق0 ة ا� ل ن� Dأ ل ي�� أ ه م و ال�ف0 أمة0 ن� خ ن0 اي� [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.

210. 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: ﴿�آايبمهينذ�لاو اينات &نونمؤ أاسفءيش�لك&تعسو&يتمح الهبتك ةاك�الزنوتؤيونو�قتيينذ�ل

رو ﴾ [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: ﴿� أا �ةنالابحص أا أان اعويضف امنيل اءملان أاىادنو ر�انالابحصين اعمهم ىال رافكل إااوالقه�لالمكقز�رحه لال�ن �

أا ارمو � ﴾ [which means] “The people of Hell will call out to the people of Paradise, “Pour some water on us, or something from what Allah

211. 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: ﴿��افو نونمؤي&لمه

�والد رفكينذ�لاه�لال/دعاب إا رش�ن ﴾ [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.” 212. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 212 The Innovation [Bidâh] Linguistically, the

innovation [bidâh] 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 Â’ishah, may Allah Accept her deeds, that she said: “The Messenger of Allah said: هر.�ف�أمثد.حأ�نم�� منا [which means] د�روه�فه.ن�ميسل�اذا‘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 Âbdullah Al-Bajaliyy, may Allah Accept his deeds, that he said: “The Messenger of Allah said: �

�م �يريغ�نه�مد.ع�ب.نا �صق.ن�أن �يم �أن �غري �أجصق.نن �س،�ومىءهم�شرو�من �ةن�سلم.�ف�اإلسنن �ع�مأجرو�ها�أجرهل�فةن�حسةن�ف�اإلسلم�سن�س.نم �بعدلمن ه�با�ىءهم�شراوزأ�نم �ور.زو��عليهنكا� �ع�مر.زوها �بلمن

213. 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 Ûthman Ibn Âffan 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 Ûthman. 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

214. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 214 of the Followers of the Companions. He narrated through the route of Âbdullah Ibn Ûmar 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 “

68صلعم” after the name of the Prophet instead of .ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص The scholars of hadith have documented in the books of 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-Shafiîyy, 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.

215. 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-Shafiîyy.

216. 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 îbadah [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, “Îbadah in the language of the Arabs is the obedience with the humility.” Al-Farra’ said similar, as mentioned in Lisanul-Ârab 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.

217. 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 Muâdh 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 îbadah. 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.

218. 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 Ûmar’s treasurer, that he said: The people were inflicted with a drought during the time of Ûmar, 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 Ûmar, and inform them that they will be watered, and say to him, ‘Endeavor, endeavor.’” The man came to Ûmar and informed him, so Ûmar 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. Ûmar 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-Îraqiyy 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, � أالمح &را /علاللو �أا و أاله/د مقتير Lجهربك إاى بيثكالدنع&يقر�طال&بن

219. 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 Âbdullah 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.’”

220. 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 Âd…” 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 Âbbas that the Messenger of Allah said: � �احلو�س�ف� �ي�منبوكت�يةظفى ر�و.ن�مطق.سا

ألس� ح�1 ر ف�� Dا ضذ� أا� أي�1 ح ا� ذ ك غ م� ر ح�1 رة0 أ� ن1 ض� ف�� لة0 لف� ن� ي�� أد ع أ� ن� ي�� و اع أد ال�لن1 Sن Dأ م لل ل�ن� ة0 ك ل�رض�� أا� [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: ��خ اتفوم،�وكل�ثد.�و�ينوثد.م�تكل�ر.يات&مح ريخ&ياتح مومكل متكل أاع�ليعضرع ارفمكمال أايتم ريخنم دمكل�ت.رف.غ�استار�ش.ن�مأيتر��و�مايهلع اللت. � خ� ري [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., 221. 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 Ûthman Ibn Hunayf that a man used to go back and forth to Ûthman Ibn Âffan, and Ûthman 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 Ûthman Ibn Hunayf and complained about that to him, so he said: “Go to the place of wudu’ and make wudu’, then pray two rakâhs, 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 Ûthman [Ibn Hunayf] told him to do, then he came to Ûthman [Ibn Âffan]’s door. Then the doorman came and took him by the hand, and he took him in to Ûthman Ibn Âffan, and he sat him on his carpet. So Ûthman said, “What do you need?” He mentioned his need to him, then Ûthman fulfilled his

need, and he said “I did not remember your need until this moment.” He left Ûthman Ibn Âffan and then he met Ûthman Ibn Hunayf and he said: “May Allah Compensate

222. 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.” Ûthman 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 duâ’ 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 rakâhs and then say these words.” So the man did what he said, and Ûthman 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 Ûthman 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

223. 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, ف�نفس�وش�فه.فع�شاللهم� O Allah, Cure him by me and Cure me“ [which means] يفعنby 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: الغمام بوجهه ثمال اليتامى عصمة أللرامل

وأبيض He was fair in complexion. Rain would be sought from the“ [which means] يستسقىclouds by the self of the Prophet ;ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص the aid of the orphans and widows.” As for Ûmar’s tawassul by Al-Âbbas 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-Âbbas when Ûmar sent him forward to do the supplication: “Oh Allah,

224. 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 Ûmar delivered a speech to the people and said: “O people, certainly the Messenger of Allah used to treat Al- Âbbas 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-Âbbas, and take him as a means to Allah in reference to what you are inflicted with.” This clarifies the reason for Ûmar’s tawassul by Al-Âbbas. 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 Ûthman Ibn Âffan after the death of the Messenger .ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

225. 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 Âbbas that was narrated by At- Tirmidhiyy, that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said to him: إا ذ س ا أا تل س ا Dل أا & إا و L ل ا ذ س ا تنعتا س ا Dلعت ل ا ب / [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-Îd, respectively.

226. 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 , م باحصلت� �يأكنم.ؤ�إل �ول �تكعامط�.لا يق�إل [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 Âbbas; 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: � ياىت�حيامة�القومو�ين.دت�مس�الشإن�مان.ي�فبنذ�األف.ص�ن رالع � ب كمةملسو هيلع هللا ىلصغل. أشلكذ� ن0 أي�� دوع�� aأ مأن�1 نوشمن� ن� Certainly the sun will draw near on“ [which means] دح�ممب1Judgment Day until the sweat reaches the mid-ear; and so when they are

227. 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 Âbdullah Ibn Ûmar’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: مث.يغ�ان�اسقاللهم�� نافيعرا �غريعا ل �ءاج�غريل �عاجا�ضارا[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

228. 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

229. 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. Â’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.”

230. 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 Âbdullah 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 231. 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 Ûmrah 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-Âliyah. 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

232. 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

233. 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:

234. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 234 � ف عو ه ا د أا D ا � ه ا س ا كم ا ع ر Dr ا �به لغلبم ض / �ر ]م \ ل ا ر أا سقف ه د ن ع &ه ع ا ق تلم May Allah Enlighten the face of the person who heard my“ [which means] ي

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, ��سع.غ�أولب�مبور �من How many a person received the conveyance and they“ [which means] عامىunderstood 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

235. 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, ��هوه.ق�ف�حاملبفر �من How many a carrier of fiqh there is who carries it“ [which means] �منههق�أف�إىلto 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 ىلصإا تذ ج ا ا د ه ]كم \ ح با ا ص أا Dلف جه أا نر ا د ه U ج ا ا ذ إا و ط خ أا D أا ر ج أا ه L D [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, Ûmar Ibnu-l- Khattab, Ûthman, Âliyy, Al-Hasan Ibn Âliyy, 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

236. 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.

237. 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.

238. 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.

239. 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, ﴿�. رالد� �تلو��ا ريصن�.مل�دن

ران�الن�ملف.س.�األك��فنيقافنم.ل�انإ�� ﴾ [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.

240. 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, � ذ�كم� �ل �لهب.نن

The one who repents from the sin is like the one who has“ [which means] ب.ن�الذن�مبائتالno sin.” This is an authentic hadith narrated by Ibn Majah from the route of Ibn Masûd. 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

241. 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.

242. It might be said: Unofficial Translation 242 The Epilogue of the Epilogue Let the intelligent person think about the Saying of Allah, ﴿ديت�عيبق�

�ق�مظف.لي�� ام��ره.يدل� لإ�ل.ون ﴾ [which means] “No saying is uttered except that it would be recorded by Raqib and Âtid,” 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, � و��إتانل.صخ�ت.م�الصطول �حل.ث�مبق�اخللئلم�ت.ن�ما ,There are two attributes that“ [which means] ق�اخللن.سهماif only the creation would beautify themselves with the likes of those two: good manners and lengthy silence.” This was narrated by Âbdullah Ibn Muhammad Abu Bakr Ibn Abi-d-Dunya Al-Qurashiyy in Kitabu- s-Samt. The End

243. 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.

sirat mustaghim eng

Documents

unofficial translation

straight path shaykh

eternality of allah

additional benefit

clearing allah

attributes of allah

important benefit

classification of blasphemy