Explanation of Tajrid al-Tawhid al-Mufid — Lesson 1 شرح تجريد التوحيد المفيد — الدرس الأول

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. To proceed: this is the first of the lessons of His Eminence Shaykh Sulayman ibn Nasir al-Alwan, may Allah preserve him, containing the explanation of the book Tajrid al-Tawhid al-Mufid by the Shaykh, the erudite scholar Ahmad ibn 'Ali al-Maqrizi al-Shafi'i. The subject of this lesson is from the beginning of the book until the end of his statement, "…just as mercy is the link between them and Him, the Mighty and Majestic." This lesson was delivered on the thirteenth day of the month of Rajab in the year one thousand four hundred and twenty-one.

The text

Explanation

All praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and companions. This is the book Tajrid al-Tawhid al-Mufid by the erudite scholar Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Qadir al-Maqrizi. His kunya was Abu al-'Abbas — and it is said, Abu Muhammad — and his family was originally from Baalbek. He was born in Egypt a few years after the year 760, and it has been said that he was born in the year 766. He followed the Hanafi school of fiqh, then moved from it to Shafi'i fiqh. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned of him that he was an outstanding, meticulous, precise and religious imam. He loved Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah, and he inclined toward hadith and acting upon it, to the point that he was associated with the Zahiris. More than one of the people of knowledge praised him, and that can be looked up in the biographical works, so we will not prolong speaking about him; at the beginning of the book there is a sufficient biography of him. He died in the year 845.

The book Tajrid al-Tawhid al-Mufid is considered one of the most beneficial and best books on tawhid al-uluhiyyah [the oneness of Allah in worship], and more than one has said that it is the first book devoted specifically to tawhid al-uluhiyyah. The books written on tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat [the oneness of Allah's names and attributes] are very many, whereas books devoted solely to tawhid al-uluhiyyah became numerous in the works of the later scholars, while in the works of the earlier scholars you see only a few — and I mean [books] devoted solely to it; otherwise, no book from the books of the imams of the Salaf is free of an affirmation of tawhid al-uluhiyyah. For tawhid al-uluhiyyah is the foundation with which the messengers were sent and for whose sake the books were revealed; for its sake the swords of jihad were drawn, and over it people divided into the wretched and the fortunate.

Allah did not send a messenger nor raise a prophet except to establish this tawhid: "Worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him." And He, the Exalted, said: "And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying]: Worship Allah and avoid taghut." Worship ('ibadah) is a comprehensive term for everything that Allah loves and is pleased with, of statements and actions, outward and inward. His saying "and avoid taghut" means: keep away from, abandon, and disbelieve in taghut. Taghut is derived from tughyan, which is transgressing the limit, and the tawaghit are many.

The description of disbelieving in taghut, as Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, may Allah have mercy on him, said, is: that you believe in the falsehood of the worship of other than Allah, that you abandon it, that you hate it, that you declare its people disbelievers, and that you show enmity to them. A servant's Islam is not sound until he disbelieves in taghut, as is explicit in the Qur'an, and as is in the Sahih of Imam Muslim, by way of al-Fazari from Abu Malik al-Ashja'i from his father, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever says 'There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah' and disbelieves in whatever is worshipped besides Allah, his wealth and his blood become inviolable, and his reckoning is with Allah, the Mighty and Majestic."

Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, may Allah have mercy on him, said in the issues drawn from Kitab al-Tawhid: "This is among the greatest things that clarify the meaning of 'There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah', for he did not make merely uttering it a protection for blood and wealth — nor even knowing its meaning along with uttering it, nor even affirming that, nor even his calling upon none but Allah alone, without partner. Rather, his blood and wealth are not inviolable until he adds to that disbelief in whatever is worshipped besides Allah. If he doubts or hesitates, his blood and wealth are not inviolable. What a tremendous and lofty issue this is! What a clear explanation, and what a decisive proof against anyone who disputes!"

The author, may Allah have mercy on him, drew most of the material of this book from the books of the two eminent imams: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his student, the erudite scholar Ibn al-Qayyim. The author, may Allah have mercy on him, excelled in the arrangement, ordering and composition of this book, and the book has met with acceptance among the scholars from when it was written until this era of ours. This book was chosen to be taught because of the importance of this subject; for the sake of giving attention to tawhid al-uluhiyyah; in emulation of Allah's prophets and messengers and the well-trodden path followed by their followers; and because of what we see in this era of the abundance of deviations in this area, the lack of attention to tawhid al-uluhiyyah, and the belittling of its standing — as shirk has appeared in its various colours, innovations have multiplied, and evils have spread, so that the calamity has grown great. All of this results from turning away from this tawhid, from knowing it, and from attending to its rights and what completes it.

The Prophet ﷺ used to proclaim this matter at the start of his call — and there is nothing strange in that — but also at the end, in the last part of his life, as an alert and a notice of the importance of this matter, and that a person, however much knowledge he attains, is in need of tawhid al-uluhiyyah. Let no one imagine that if he does not worship a grave or an idol, he has affirmed Allah's oneness with true tawhid, as the dull-witted of the world imagine — those who say, "We are fine as long as graves are not worshipped in our lands!" [Yet] there is in it what is worse than the disbelief of the graves: deifying other than Allah and glorifying created beings in another form; obeying the rabbis and monks in what Allah has forbidden; making lawful what Allah has forbidden and forbidding what Allah has made lawful; ruling by other than what Allah revealed; allying with the enemies of Allah; handing over the lands of the Muslims to the Jews and Christians; abandoning the support of the Muslims despite being able to do so — and even handing over the children of the Muslims to the Jews, Christians and polytheists so that they may turn them away from their religion, making them Jews or Christians — and other such things, which may be major disbelief or less than that.

The author, may Allah have mercy on him, opened his book with the basmalah, beginning as the Noble Book begins, and following the example of the Prophet ﷺ in his letters and correspondence. In Sahih al-Bukhari, from the hadith of al-Zuhri from 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdillah ibn 'Utbah from Ibn 'Abbas — concerning the letter which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrote and which Dihyah delivered to the ruler of the Romans — in it is: "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Muhammad, the servant of Allah and His Messenger, to Heraclius, the ruler of the Romans: Accept Islam and you will be safe…" to the end of the hadith. The point of evidence is his saying, "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy," since he opened this letter with the basmalah, indicating that it is a Sunnah.

Writing the basmalah is prescribed for everything written, whether poetry or otherwise, as long as the poetry is not tainted with indecent love poetry, extremism, or something forbidden. If the poetry is in support of the people of Islam, or in versifying books of fiqh and creed and the like, there is no harm in writing "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy" at its beginning.

Some authors cite as evidence in this regard the hadith: "Every important matter that is not begun with 'In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy' is cut off [from blessing]." This report is weak by agreement. Al-Khatib narrated it in al-Jami', and al-Subki in Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyyah; in its chain is Ibn al-Jundi, who is weak in hadith. There is also inconsistency (idtirab) in the report. What is preserved in this report is the hadith "Every important matter that is not begun with praise [of Allah]…", and that as a mursal report. As for the first, it is very munkar and is not authentic.

The author, may Allah have mercy on him, began with the basmalah and the hamdalah, combining the two. According to the correct view there is no harm in combining them, as long as one does not make that a habit. Better is to open with this one at times and that one at other times; and if one combines them there is no harm. What is written differs from what is spoken: the Sunnah in speech is to begin with the hamdalah. This is how the Prophet ﷺ used to open his sermons, as in the Sahih of Imam Muslim, from the hadith of Ja'far ibn Muhammad from his father from Jabir ibn 'Abdillah. And in the hadith of 'Asim ibn Kulayb from his father from Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet ﷺ said: "Every sermon in which there is no tashahhud is like a leprous hand." Abu 'Isa al-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud narrated it, and there is disagreement about its authenticity.

Were one to confine oneself to the basmalah in writing, one would be correct, because the Prophet ﷺ at times confined himself to it. As for following it with the hamdalah, in the hadith of Abu Ishaq al-Sabi'i from Abu al-Ahwas from Ibn Mas'ud, he said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to teach us the sermon of need (khutbat al-hajah) as he would teach us a surah of the Qur'an: 'Indeed, all praise is for Allah; we praise Him, seek His help and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide; and whomever He leaves astray, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah' — and in one narration, 'alone, without partner' — 'and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.'" The authors of the Sunan and others narrated it, and its chain is authentic.

His statement "wa ba'd" (to proceed) — in some copies, "amma ba'd" — means: whatever may be, after [this]. According to most grammarians the fa' must be brought after "amma ba'd", though a group permitted it without; bringing the fa' is better. "To proceed: this is a book abundant in benefits" — and the description matches what is described: whoever reflects on the book, reads it and studies it will know the abundance of its benefits and the depth of its knowledge, especially since we are speaking about the tawhid with which the messengers were sent. "Unique in its gems": its excellence shows in the abundance and variety of its information, the beauty of its presentation and delivery, and in beginning with what the Muslim needs and cannot do without for the blink of an eye — just as he, may Allah have mercy on him, divided tawhid into actions of the limbs and actions of the hearts. The Muslim needs both matters: whoever believes with his heart but does not act with his limbs is not judged to be a Muslim; and if he acts with his limbs but does not believe with his heart, he is a pure hypocrite.

"From which benefits" — that is, benefits from the book — "whoever desires Allah and the Final Abode." [The word] "Allah" is in the accusative, and "the Final Abode" is conjoined to the Name of Majesty. None benefits from the book except one who intends by his deeds the Face of Allah, and desires by reading it and books like it the Final Abode — not desiring thereby any of the goods of this world nor a passing enjoyment — intending thereby to bring himself out of the darkness into the light, and to know the tawhid with which the messengers were sent. For the messengers were not sent with tawhid al-rububiyyah [the oneness of Allah's lordship], since the polytheists affirmed it. This is despite there being groups of the people of this era who disbelieve in tawhid al-rububiyyah, just as among the polytheists in the time of the Messenger ﷺ there were those who disbelieved in some types of tawhid al-rububiyyah, such as those who said, "We were given rain [by the star] such-and-such" — this is disbelief in tawhid al-rububiyyah. And there are sects among the polytheists and others who disbelieve in tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat. So we must affirm all types of tawhid, with the focus on tawhid al-uluhiyyah, because it necessarily entails belief in tawhid al-rububiyyah and tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat.

A lord who is worshipped yet not described with attributes of perfection is inconceivable — attributes such as hearing, sight, will, knowledge, power, life, mercy, anger, joy, and other such attributes of Allah, majestic and exalted is He, which must be affirmed with an affirmation free of likening [Him to creation], and with a declaration of His transcendence free of negating [the attributes]. For Allah, majestic and exalted is He, "There is nothing like unto Him" — not in His essence, nor His attributes, nor His actions — "and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." This verse is a refutation of the mu'attilah [who negate the attributes] and the mumaththilah [who liken Allah to creation]: His saying, majestic and exalted is He, "There is nothing like unto Him" refutes the mumaththilah, and "the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing" refutes the mu'attilah. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, explained this verse in a whole volume — more than one of those who wrote biographies of Abu al-'Abbas, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned that — and what exists of his printed words contains a great deal on the tafsir of this verse, the clarification of its meaning, and its many benefits.

"Unique in its gems." The author, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "I named it" — that is, I named this book — "Kitab", in the accusative, though it may also be read as quoted speech — "Tajrid al-Tawhid al-Mufid." To whom is tawhid devoted purely? We do not devote tawhid purely except to Allah, so we do not direct any part of it to created beings. Whoever worships a created being — such as by prostrating to it, obeying it instead of Allah, making a vow to it, or slaughtering for it — is a polytheist and has not known tawhid. For tawhid is the verbal noun of wahhada, yuwahhidu, tawhidan, and the one who does it is a muwahhid; and a servant is not called a muwahhid unless he singles out Allah with his actions: "So to the One be one, upon one [path] — I mean the path of truth and faith."

"And Allah I ask": [the word] "Allah" is in the accusative, and "as'al" (I ask) is a present-tense verb. "I ask Allah for help in acting upon it" — in acting upon what is in this book, because of the evidences from the Book and the Sunnah it contains — with a few observations on what the author mentioned, which will be pointed out [in their place], if Allah wills. But on the whole this book is beneficial and useful, and among the most beneficial books in this area.

"Know": knowledge is firm belief after conceiving a thing as it truly is. "That Allah, glorified is He, is the Lord of everything, its Owner and its Deity." "He is the Lord of everything": this is part of tawhid al-rububiyyah; one must believe that Allah is the Lord of everything, and whoever believes that there is another deity alongside Allah is a polytheist. His statement "and its Owner": to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; "Unquestionably, His are the creation and the command." "And its Deity": the ilah [deity] is the one whom hearts worship out of love, veneration and reverence. It is said: alaha, ya'lahu — with fathah in both — ilahatan, when one worships ('abada, ya'budu, 'ibadatan).

Concerning the meaning of the saying of Allah, majestic and exalted is He, "All praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds": "Lord" (rabb) here means owner, as it is said, "So-and-so is the rabb of the riding animal." What does this mean? It means that he is the owner; "so-and-so is the rabb of the riding animal" means the owner of the riding animal. And rabb is also used in the sense the author, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned, in the sense of "the Nurturer of the worlds." When "al-Rabb" is made definite with alif and lam and used unrestrictedly, it is applied only to Allah, majestic and exalted is He; it is not permissible for you to say "al-Rabb Zayd" [Zayd, the Lord]. Rather, rabb [for others] is used in a possessive construction: it is said "the rabb of the riding animal," "the rabb of the house," "the rabb of the goods." When it is qualified, what is meant by the usage becomes clear, so there is no ambiguity in it — as protection for the station of tawhid. His saying "yarubbu" — with dammah on the ra'.

So [regarding] the meaning of His saying, the Exalted, "Lord of the worlds": it is said that rabb means owner, as preceded; it is said that rabb means deity; and it is said that He is the Creator who brings His servants into existence, the One who undertakes their nurturing and their rectification. There is nothing to prevent it encompassing all of these meanings, for a single word may contain several meanings and be understood as all of them; they are interconnected and bound together, and they are tethered to a single station, which is knowing the Lord and singling Him out alone. As preceded: "The ilah is the one whom hearts worship out of love, veneration and reverence," derived from alaha, ya'lahu, ilahatan — with fathah in both — that is, to worship. So you must worship Allah; this is tawhid al-uluhiyyah. And tawhid al-uluhiyyah is singling out Allah with the actions of the servants.

If someone says, "From where did we take tawhid al-uluhiyyah, tawhid al-rububiyyah and tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat?" — as some of the later Mu'tazilah and Ash'aris have said — the answer is: all of this is taken from the Qur'an. In the Opening of the Book, with which Allah, majestic and exalted is He, opened His Book, are all the types of tawhid. His saying, the Exalted, "All praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds": if we say that rabb means the One who nurtures, or the Owner, then this is tawhid al-rububiyyah; and if we say that rabb means the One who is worshipped, then this is tawhid al-uluhiyyah. "The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy": this is tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat. And He, the Exalted, said: "And to Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call upon Him by them, and leave those who deviate concerning His names." Two verses from the verses of Allah that contain all the types of tawhid. In reality, the whole Qur'an, from its opening to its close, establishes this foundation and establishes tawhid in its types.

"And uluhiyyah," as the author said, "is that the servants take Him, glorified is He, as the one beloved and worshipped" — beloved and worshipped, because worship is not valid except with love and devotion (ta'alluh), as Ibn al-Qayyim said:

“Worship of the Most Merciful is the utmost love of Him, together with the abasement of His worshipper — these are the two poles;
upon these two the orbit of worship turns — it does not turn until the two poles stand firm —
and its axis is by the command — the command of His Messenger — not desire, the self and the devil.”

"And they single Him out with love, fear and hope": the author, may Allah have mercy on him, did not intend this as an exhaustive list; he intended to draw attention to important matters of the tawhid of worship with which Allah, majestic and exalted is He, must be singled out. So you single out Allah with love, and you do not make Him equal to His creation; others besides Allah are loved as a consequence of loving Allah. We love Allah and we love the Messenger ﷺ, but we love the Messenger as a consequence of loving Allah; we love the allies (awliya') of Allah, and we love the righteous among the believers, as a consequence of loving Allah. For love for the sake of Allah and hatred for the sake of Allah are among the firmest handholds of the religion of Ibrahim, and "whoever loves for the sake of Allah, hates for the sake of Allah, gives for the sake of Allah and withholds for Allah has completed faith" — in the hadith of Yahya ibn al-Harith al-Dhimari from al-Qasim ibn 'Abd al-Rahman from Abu Umamah in Sunan Abi Dawud; and about al-Qasim ibn 'Abd al-Rahman the people of knowledge, may Allah have mercy on them, have spoken.

"Love and fear": that is, you fear none but Allah, and you hope in none but Allah. A person may fear a created being — such as fearing that someone will attack him, or fearing a beast of prey — and this does not contradict tawhid or impair tawhid, unless he fears the created being in his heart and dreads it more than he dreads his Lord. And this has levels: some of it contradicts tawhid, some of it contradicts the obligatory perfection of tawhid, and some of it contradicts the recommended perfection of tawhid. "And hope": "So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous work." "And ikhbat": ikhbat is humility (khushu'). Humility must be for Allah, and Allah, majestic and exalted is He, must be singled out with it: "Successful indeed are the believers, those who are humble in their prayer." It is said that khushu' is with the limbs and with the heart, unlike khashyah [awe], which is among the actions of the hearts. All of this will be mentioned in detail, if Allah wills, with its evidences and what relates to it.

"And repentance": so you do not repent to a created being, as the Sufis do when the disciple repents before his shaykh, shaving his head before his shaykh as repentance to him. If someone says: "In al-Bukhari, 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, 'I repent to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ'" — then repentance here means returning — repentance here means returning — that is, I return to the command of Allah and I return to the command of His Messenger ﷺ.

"And vows": a vow (nadhr) is the legally responsible person obligating himself to an act of worship that the Lawgiver did not make obligatory upon him. In Sahih al-Bukhari, from the hadith of al-Qasim from 'A'ishah, the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him; and whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him." [Whoever vows] an act of obedience must fulfil it; and if he vows an act of disobedience, it is not obligatory to fulfil it by consensus — indeed, it is not permissible to fulfil it, by agreement. Does he expiate [as for] his oath? There are two views among the people of knowledge; the more correct of them is expiation, as in the hadith of 'Uqbah in the Sahih of Imam Muslim, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The expiation for a vow is the expiation for an oath."

So whoever makes vows to the awliya' and makes vows to the dead — such as saying, "For al-Badawi I owe…", or "for al-Hasan", or "for al-Husayn", or "for so-and-so I owe a vow", and so he makes a vow to him and for his sake — this person is a polytheist with major shirk, because the vow is worship, and directing worship to a created being is shirk. He, the Exalted, said: "They fulfil their vows" — Allah praised them for fulfilling vows — and His saying, "and let them fulfil their vows"; and he ﷺ said: "Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him." Yet this servant, who does not know his Lord, does not know tawhid, and does not know [what] the messengers [came] with, makes vows to the dead and the absent, saying, "For al-Badawi I owe a vow!" He does not say, "For Allah I owe a vow"; he says, "For al-Badawi I owe a vow; for al-Hasan I owe a vow; for 'Ali I owe a vow." This is major shirk. And if he said, "For the Prophet I owe a vow," he would be a polytheist with major shirk — there is no difference.

So let no one imagine that if he makes vows to the awliya', the righteous, the prophets and those brought near [to Allah] it becomes permissible, while [making them] to the wicked and the criminals is forbidden. There is no difference between making vows to, or worshipping, the prophets and messengers, and worshipping the wicked and the polytheists. "And whoever calls upon another deity alongside Allah, for which he has no proof — his reckoning is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed." Allah, majestic and exalted is He, called them disbelievers.

His statement "and obedience, seeking, reliance" and similar things: that is, all of them must be directed to Allah, singling out Allah, majestic and exalted is He, with them. Allah, majestic and exalted is He, said about some of His prophets and messengers: "Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds and call upon Us in hope and fear, and they were humble before Us." "And do not call upon, besides Allah, that which neither benefits you nor harms you." "So remain upright as you have been commanded." This is what Allah, majestic and exalted is He, has commanded us.

"For tawhid, in its reality, is that you see all matters as coming from Allah, the Exalted — a seeing that cuts off turning [the heart] to causes and intermediaries — so you do not see good and evil except as from Him, the Exalted."

“When a servant's hopes are cut off from mankind, his hope attaches to the Generous Lord;
he becomes free, with dignity and contentment, upon his face its lights and its radiance.
But if his soul's hopes attach to creation, what he hopes for grows distant and his toil grows long.
So hope in none but Allah alone in hardship, even if a true friend's sincerity proves sound.”

So one must attach oneself to Allah and see all matters as coming from Allah. This seeing cuts off the heart's turning to causes and intermediaries; but there is nothing to prevent taking the means with the limbs, while the heart is attached to Allah, majestic and exalted is He. And among the means there are things that are not permissible to do at all.

For example, if a person says: "I want to take the occupant of the grave as an intermediary between me and Allah," or, "I want to take Muhammad ibn 'Abdillah ﷺ as an intermediary between me and Allah, because he never disobeyed Allah. He is brought near to his Lord, and Allah, majestic and exalted is He, chose him over His prophets and messengers, so I want to make him an intermediary and ask him for relief in times of anguish, the removal of distress and the relief of hardships." Or, "I want to make him intercede for me with his Lord, majestic and exalted is He, so I say, 'O Messenger of Allah, intercede for me with your Lord.' I do not ask him directly; rather, I say, 'O Messenger of Allah, intercede for me with your Lord.'" So if he says, "O Messenger of Allah, intercede for me," or, "O Messenger of Allah, forgive me," or, "O Messenger of Allah, have mercy on me," or, "O Messenger of Allah, I want the lifting of distress and the removal of calamities," then this person is a polytheist with major shirk, by consensus.

If he says, "I do not ask the Messenger ﷺ; rather, I want him to bring me near to the Lord and to intercede for me with the Lord. I do not say, 'O Messenger of Allah, intercede for me'; rather, I say, 'O Messenger of Allah, intercede for me with your Lord,' and, 'O Messenger of Allah, ask Allah to forgive me; ask Allah [for] healing'" — then some of the people of knowledge said: this is not major shirk; rather, it is one of the grave innovations, but it does not reach the level of major shirk, because he did not ask him [for the thing itself]; rather, he believed that this dead person is alive in his grave, so he wanted him to ask Allah, and he did not ask him [for it]. This is a view of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, in the first volume of the Fatawa. The second view is that it is major shirk, for there is no difference between a person asking the dead and seeking the need from him, or asking him to fulfil his need with his Lord.

He, the Exalted, said: "If you call upon them, they do not hear your call; and if they heard, they would not respond to you; and on the Day of Resurrection they will deny your shirk." "And do not call upon, besides Allah, that which neither benefits you nor harms you" — does it benefit? It cannot benefit. Does it harm? It cannot bring harm — "for if you did, you would then be among the wrongdoers," that is, the polytheists. The apparent meaning of this verse and the one before it is that asking the dead is major shirk — asking the dead is major shirk — even if he says, "I am not asking [the thing] from him; rather, I am asking him to intercede for me with his Lord," or to ask Allah on his behalf to fulfil needs and relieve hardships. And even if we were to say that it is not major shirk, it is one of the grave innovations, of the shirk that does not fall below the minor kind. It must be condemned and treated with severity, and people must be informed of what Allah has made obligatory upon them and warned against what Allah has forbidden them, and ignorance of this is not befitting.

His statement "so you do not see good and evil except as from Him": good and evil are both created by Allah, majestic and exalted is He, and from Allah, majestic and exalted is He. Evil does not come in the speech of Allah, nor in the speech of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — meaning, the attribution of evil alone to Allah. The attribution of evil alone to Allah does not come in the speech [of Allah], nor in the speech of His Messenger ﷺ. Rather, evil is mentioned only in one of three ways, as Shaykh al-Islam and other great verifying scholars have said. First: its inclusion within the generality of created things, as He, the Exalted, said: "Allah is the Creator of everything." Second: its attribution to the cause, as in His saying, the Exalted: "From the evil of what He has created." Third: that its doer is left unmentioned, as in His saying, the Exalted: "And we do not know whether evil is intended for those on earth, or whether their Lord intends for them right guidance."

You cannot see among the beautiful names of Allah a name that contains evil; rather, this occurs in what Allah, the Exalted, has brought about (maf'ulat), not in His names nor His attributes. At that point the meaning of his saying ﷺ becomes clear: "And evil is not [attributed] to You" — that is, it does not enter into Your names nor into Your attributes. Whoever thinks that the meaning of his saying ﷺ, "And evil is not [attributed] to You," is that it is not among Your creations has made a clear error, for some sects say that evil is not created by Allah — and this is a tremendous misguidance.

If someone says, "Is not al-Muntaqim [the Avenger] among the names of Allah, and it contains evil?" we say: al-Muntaqim is not one of the names of Allah, and whoever makes al-Muntaqim one of the names of Allah has erred, even if some sects have said it. It has not come in the Book of Allah except by way of affirmation: "Indeed, Allah is Mighty, Owner of retribution." It has not come as a name, and it is not correct to make it a name, as the great verifying scholars have mentioned. The names of Allah have attributes beneath them, meanings beneath them:

“His names are all descriptions of praise, derived, laden with meanings.
Beware of deviating (ilhad) concerning them — it is disbelief; Allah's refuge from disbelieving in them.
The reality of deviating in them is inclining to shirk, ta'til and denial.”

In summary: al-Muntaqim is not one of the names of Allah, and it is not correct to make it one of the names of Allah.

His statement "and this station" — that is, the station of tawhid, which is singling out Allah in worship and seeing all matters as coming from Allah with a seeing that cuts off turning to causes and intermediaries — "yields reliance," that is, reliance upon Allah, depending on Him, and entrusting affairs to Him; so he does not turn to the created beings, neither to the right nor to the left. Ibn 'Aqil, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "I do not measure my faith at the crowding at the doors of the mosques, nor in the Hajj [with] 'Here I am, O Allah, here I am.' I look at my faith and measure it by where my heart flees for refuge when calamities and hardships occur." For some people, when a misfortune befalls and when a calamity occurs to him, his heart flees for refuge to the created beings; he does not turn to Allah, majestic and exalted is He, nor flee for refuge to Allah, majestic and exalted is He. "And upon Allah rely, if you are believers."

Ibrahim, peace be upon him, when he was cast into the fire, said, "Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs," and did not turn to the created beings. And our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, when it was said to him, "Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them" — "but it increased them in faith, and they said: Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs" — that is, Allah suffices us, and the best Disposer of affairs is He to whom we entrust our affairs, and He is the One able to deliver us from our enemy. If the jinn and mankind gathered to benefit a man and Allah did not will to benefit him, they would not be able to; and [if they gathered] to harm him and Allah did not will to harm him, they would not be able to do that.

In the hadith of Hanash al-San'ani from Ibn 'Abbas, the Prophet ﷺ said: "O boy, I will teach you some words: Be mindful of Allah and He will protect you; be mindful of Allah and you will find Him before you. When you ask, ask Allah; and when you seek help, seek help from Allah. And know that if the nation were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you except with something Allah has already written for you; and if they gathered together to harm you with something, they would not harm you except with something Allah has already written against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried." Abu 'Isa narrated it and said: "This is a hasan sahih hadith."

This station is called reliance (tawakkul), "and abandoning complaint to the creation and abandoning blaming them," because the heart is attached to Allah and knows that the creation cannot bring a benefit that Allah has not willed, nor can they repel anything from him that Allah, majestic and exalted is He, has not willed. The matter is in Allah's hand: "Say: Nothing will befall us except what Allah has written for us; He is our Protector, and upon Allah let the believers rely." We take the means that exist in the Shari'ah, which Allah, majestic and exalted is He, has permitted, with our limbs, and we rely upon Allah, majestic and exalted is He. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Abandoning the means altogether is a defect in the station of tawhid, and depending on the means instead of Allah is shirk in tawhid."

"And contentment with Allah, the Exalted": whoever knows tawhid and knows its reality, and believes in the decree, its good and its bad, this gives him strength of faith, strength of reliance upon Allah, majestic and exalted is He, and contentment with Allah, majestic and exalted is He. For some people are not content with Allah and object to the decrees of Allah; even if he does not object with his tongue, he objects with the tongue of his state — [as it is] said: he objects with the tongue of his state. He is always complaining: "Why am I poor? Why are we afflicted with calamities? Why am I like this? Why is it that so-and-so disobeys Allah and the world and its means are made subservient to him, while I, who obey Allah, have the world closed before me and my calamities multiply?" — and so on. This is from weakness of faith. Allah did not give so-and-so the world out of love for him, as long as he is disobedient to Him. For Allah gives faith to whom He loves, and gives the world to whom He loves and to whom He does not love. This world is not a measure of Allah's love for the servant, nor of His hatred. We should know that, and be content with Allah: "I am pleased with Allah as Lord, with Islam as religion, and with Muhammad ﷺ as Prophet."

We should not say this with the tongue while not grasping it in the reality of our hearts and our belief. So let us be content with Allah in all circumstances, and know that what has befallen us was never going to miss us, and what has missed us was never going to befall us, and that what has befallen us is a raising of our ranks and an expiation of our sins. For the first thing Allah created was the Pen; He said to it, "Write." It said, "What shall I write?" He said, "Write what will be until the Day of Resurrection." Ahmad and others narrated it with a strong chain.

When you know that — contentment with Allah and submission to His judgement — "when you know that, then know that lordship is from Him, the Exalted, to His servants, and devotion [in worship] is from His servants to Him." Lordship, because Allah, majestic and exalted is He, created them and brought them into existence, and created the heavens and the earth: "To whom belongs the earth and whoever is in it, if you know?" And they say, "To Allah." Say, "Will you not then remember?" Say, "Who is the Lord of the seven heavens and the Lord of the Mighty Throne?" And they say, "To Allah." Say, "Will you not then fear [Him]?" Say, "In whose hand is the dominion of everything, and He protects while none can protect against Him, if you know?" They will say, "To Allah." Say, "Then how are you deluded?" "Rather, We have brought them the truth, and indeed they are liars. Allah has not taken any son, nor has there ever been with Him any deity. [Had there been,] then each deity would have taken away what it created, and some of them would have sought to overcome others. Glorified is Allah above what they describe, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, so exalted is He above what they associate [with Him]." Lordship is from Him, the Exalted.

And for our part, we are to single out Allah in acts of worship. He, the Exalted, said: "And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me." He placed the jinn first because they were before mankind. "And mankind except to worship Me": except to single Me out [in worship], as Ibn 'Abbas, Mujahid and a group said. And it is said: except that I may command them and forbid them — and the greatest command that Allah, majestic [and exalted is He], gives is tawhid. That is why the first command in the Qur'an is the command to tawhid. He, the Exalted, said: "O mankind, worship your Lord," that is, single out your Lord [in worship]. Because of the importance of tawhid, the first command in the Qur'an became the command to tawhid, and the first prohibition in the Qur'an is the prohibition of shirk: "So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know." The nidd [equal] is the counterpart, the like, and the resemblance.

"Just as mercy," he says, "is the wuslah" — with dammah on the waw — "between them and Him, the Mighty and Majestic." If they obey Him, He has mercy on them; and if they oppose His command, He takes retribution and punishes them: "Inform My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Bestower of Mercy" — that is, to whoever obeys Me — "and that My punishment is the painful punishment" — for whom? For whoever disobeys Me. In Sahih al-Bukhari, from the hadith of Fulayh ibn Sulayman from Hilal ibn 'Ali from 'Ata' ibn Yasar from Abu Hurayrah, he ﷺ said: "All of my nation will enter Paradise" — all of my nation will be shown mercy and enter Paradise — "except whoever refuses." They said: "O Messenger of Allah, and who would refuse?" He said: "Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise" — that is, he has earned the mercy of Allah; "indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good" — "and whoever disobeys me" has refused, and has earned the punishment. The wuslah is anything that connects one thing to another — anything that connects one thing to another; what is between them is a wuslah.

We will stop at the author's statement, may Allah have mercy on him: "And know that the most precious of deeds and the greatest in rank is the tawhid of Allah, the Exalted."

النص العربي الأصلي