11-04-2003, 03:30 AM
<b>THE CRITERION</b>
BETWEEN THE ALLIES OF THE MERCIFUL AND THE ALLIES OF THE DEVIL
BY: SHAIKH-UL-ISLAM IBN TAIMIYA (RA)
TRANSLATED BY:
Salim Abdallah Ibn Morgan
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL
AL-FURQAN
Chapter 1
All praise is to Allah. We seek His aid, ask Him for guidance, and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil which is in ourselves, and the wicked of our actions. Whoever Allah guides none can send astray, and whoever Allah sends astray, none can guide. We testify that there is no deity except Allah, alone and with no partner. And, we testify that Muhammad is His slave and messenger. He sent him with the guidance and the way of truth so that He (i.e. Allah) might make it predominate over all other ways, and Allah is sufficient as a witness. He sent him preceding the Hour (qiyama), as a bringer of good tidings, a warner, and a caller to Allah by His permission, and as a beacon light. He (Allah) guided with it those who had been lost, and gave sight to those who had been blind, gave uprightness and order to those who had been following unbridled impulse, He opened unseeing eyes, deaf ears, and sealed hearts. With it, He established the criterion for distinguishing truth from falsehood, guidance from going astray, uprightness from following of whims, the believers from the disbelievers, the joyous people of paradise and the miserable people of the fire, and the allies of Allah from His enemies. Whoever the Prophet (sas) has attested to as being among the allies of Allah, are the awliyaa' (friends or allies) of the Merciful, and whoever the Prophet has described as being among the enemies of Allah, are indeed among the enemies of Allah, and are among the awliyaa' of the shaitaan (devil).
Allah has explained in His Book, and in the Sunnah of His Prophet that He has awliyaa' among the people and that shaitaan also has his awliyaa', and He has differentiated between these two types of awliyaa'. Allah said:
[indeed, there is no fear upon the awliyaa' of Allah, nor shall they grieve, those who believe and are ever pious in their actions. To them are glad tidings in this life and in the hereafter. There is no changing the words of Allah. That, then, is the great success.] Qur'an 10/62-64
[Allah is the protector (ally) of those who believe, He takes them out of the darknesses into the light. As for the disbelievers, their allies are the taaghoot who take them out of the light and into the darknesses. Those are the people of the fire, and they will be in it forever.] Qur'an 2/257
[O, you who believe, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are allies of each other. Whoever among you puts his allegiance with them, is certainly one of them. Allah does not guide a people who oppress. And so, you see those in whose heart is sickness rushing to (make alliances with) them, saying: "We fear being caught in some unfortunate turn of events". Perhaps Allah will bring victory, or something from Him, such that they come to regret that which they hid within themselves. And the believers (will) say: "Are these the ones who swore their strongest oaths that they were with you?" Their works have been invalidated, and they have ended up in complete loss. O, you who believe, whosoever among you turns back from his way (Islam) Allah will surely bring another people whom He loves and who love Him. (They will be) humble and merciful with the believers, strong and firm with the disbelievers; they fight in the path of Allah, and do not fear the blame of those who blame. This is the grace of Allah, and He gives it to whom He wishes, and Allah is encompassing, knowing of all things. Verily, your (true) ally is Allah, His Prophet, and those who believe; those who establish the prayer, pay the zakat, and bow in prayer. Whoever puts his allegiance with Allah, His Prophet, and those who believe, the party of Allah are surely the victorious ones.] Qur'an 5/51-56
[Thereupon the only true alliance is with Allah, the Truth, that is the best in reward, and the best in final results.] Qur'an 18/44
The allies of the devil have also been mentioned in the Qur'an :
[And so, when you read the Qur'an, seek refuge in Allah from the accursed shaitaan. He has no power over those who believe and depend on their Lord. His power is only over those who give their allegiance to him and who (succumb to his urgings and) associate (partners) with Allah.] Qur'an 16/98-100
[Those who believe fight in the path of Allah, and those who disbelieve fight in the path of taaghoot, so fight the allies of shaitaan, verily, the plot of Shaitaan is weak (when confronted with true faith).] Qur'an 4/76
[And when we said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam.", they bowed down all except for Iblis. He was one of the jinn, and he rebelled against the order of his Lord. And so, do you then take him and his descendants as allies instead of me, though they are your avowed enemies? What an evil substitute for the oppressors!] Qur'an 18/50
[And whoever takes the devil as an ally instead of Allah, has brought about a very clear loss.] Qur'an 4/119
[Those to whom the people said: "The people are gathering against you, so fear them," were only increased (by that) in faith, and they said: "Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best of guardians." So, they returned with bounty from Allah and His grace. No harm touched them. They sought only Allah's pleasure, and Allah's grace is great. That is only shaitaan, he gives his allies the ability to strike fear into your hearts, so do not fear them, and fear me if you truly are believers.] Qur'an 3/173-175
[We have made the devils allies of those who do not believe; those who commit outrages and then say: "We found our predecessors on this (tradition)" ... Surely, they have taken the devils as allies instead of Allah, and they think that they are on the guidance.] Qur'an 7/27-28, and 30
[And, verily, the devils pass suggestions to their allies, so that they might dispute with you.] Qur'an 6/121
Allah narrates the statement of the prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him):
[O, my father, I fear that you may be touched by a punishment from the Merciful, and be an ally of the devil.] Qur'an 19/45
[O, you who believe, do not take my enemy and your enemy as allies toward whom you (secretly) cast your love.] Qur'an 60/1
[Our Lord, do not make us a temptation for the rejecters of faith, and forgive us, you are the mighty, the wise.] Qur'an 60/5
<b>Chapter 2</b>
Once it is known that there are among the people allies (awliyaa') of the Merciful, and allies of the devil, we must differentiate between this group and that, just as Allah and His Prophet (sas) differentiated between them. The allies of Allah are the pious believers, as Allah said:
[surely, there is no fear upon the allies of Allah, nor shall they grieve: those who believe and are pious (have taqwa).] Qur'an 10/62-63
Abu Huraira narrates in the sahih hadith found in the collection of Al-Bukhari, that the Prophet (sas) said:
"Allah ta'ala says: I have declared war on anyone who is an enemy of any of my allies. There is nothing better with which my slave can come closer to me than fulfilling all that I have made obligatory upon him. Then, my slave will continue to come closer to me be making extra efforts until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks. If he asks me, I will give him, if he seeks refuge with me, I will give him refuge. I have not hesitated in anything which I do as I hesitate in taking the soul of my believing slave. He dislikes death, and I dislike annoying him, but he must meet his death."
This is the most authenticated narration about the awliyaa' (allies) of Allah, in it, the Prophet explains that to be enemies of the allies of Allah, is to enter into warfare against Allah!
In another hadith, the Prophet (sas) says:
"I will take revenge for my allies as the revenge of a ferocious fighting lion."
i.e. He will extract revenge from those who oppose His allies as a fighting lion takes his revenge. The reason for this is that the awliyaa' (allies) of Allah are those who believe in Him, and give their full loyalty to Him. Thus, they love all that which Allah loves, hate what He hates, are pleased with what pleases Him, despise what He despises, they enjoin that which He enjoins, forbid that which He forbids, give to those whom Allah loves for them to be given, and withhold from those whom Allah loves not to receive. The Prophet said, in a hadith narrated by At-Tirmidhi and others:
"The most dependable handhold on faith is: love for the sake of Allah and hatred for the sake of Allah."
And, in another hadith, narrated by Abu Daud, the Prophet said:
"Whoever loves for Allah, hates for Allah, gives for Allah, and withholds for Allah, has sought the completion of his faith."
The word for the allies of Allah, awliyaa', singular: waliy, comes from the root wilaya. Wilaya is the opposite of enmity ('adaawa). The basic meaning of wilaya is love and closeness, while the basic meaning of 'adaawa is hatred and distance. It has also been said that the waliy (of Allah) has been called this because of his consistency (muwaalaatihi - from the same root) in obedience to Allah, but the first analysis is more correct. The waliy, therefore, is one who is close. It is said this one yaliy (the verb from the same root) that one i.e. is close to him. Another example is the statement of the Prophet:
"Give the assigned portions (i.e. of the inheritance) to their rightful owners, then that which the assigned portions leave should be given to the nearest (awlaa, the superlative from the same root we are discussing) male man."
i.e. to the man most closely related to the deceased. The redundance of the adjective "male", and the word "man" is by way of emphasis that this ruling is for male relatives only, and females are not included. Redundance is normal as a means of emphasis just as in the hadith about zakat in which the Prophet used the phrase: "a nursing male son". "A nursing son" fully describes a young male camel of a certain age range, and male is redundant and only for emphasis.
Since the waliy of Allah is the one who agrees with and follows Allah in all that he loves and accepts, hates and despises, and enjoins and forbids, it is clear why the enemy of Allah's waliy has in fact put himself in a position of enmity with Allah ta'ala. Allah said:
[Do not take my enemy and your enemy as allies (awliyaa') toward whom you (secretly) cast your love.] Qur'an 60/1
Thus, whoever bears enmity towards the allies of Allah, bears enmity towards Allah, and whoever bears enmity towards Allah is at war with Allah. This is why the Prophet (sas) said in another version of the hadith about the allies of Allah:
"Whoever bears enmity towards an ally of mine has entered into warfare with Me."
The best of Allah's allies are His prophets, and the best of His prophets are the messenger prophets, and the best of the messengers are the five known as the five firmly intentioned prophets (uluu ul-'azm): Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, 'Isa, and Muhammad, may the peace and prayers of Allah be upon them all. Allah said:
[Allah has ordained for you by way of deen that with which he counselled Nuh, that which has been revealed to you, and that with which He counselled Ibrahim, Musa, and 'Isa: to establish your deen (way) and do not become divided therein.] Qur'an 42/13
Revised to here...
[And when we took from the prophets their covenant, as we did from you, from Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, and 'Isa the son of Maryam, we took from them a mighty covenant. (This) so that the truthful may be rewarded for their truthfulness, and
He has prepared for the rejectors a painful punishment.] Qur'an 33/7-8
The best of the firmly-intentioned prophets is the Prophet Muhammad (sas), the seal of the prophets, the imam of the pious, the foremost among the sons of Adam, the imam of the prophets when they gathered (on the night of israa'), and their speaker when they came in delegations, the one of the praiseworthy position (Al-Maqaam al-mahmood) for which he will be envied by people of the early and the late generations, the possessor of the flag of praise (Al-hamd), the possessor of the pond to which believers will flock (Al-hawdh which awaits Muhammad and his followers in paradise), the Intercessor for the creation on the day of Qiyama, the owner of Al-waseela and Al-fadheela, the one with whom Allah sent the best of His books, and ordained the best laws of His deen, and made his nation the best nation brought forth for the people. Allah gathered together for Muhammad and for his followers all qualities of dignity and goodness which were divided among the previous nations, never found all at once. They are the last nation to be created, the first nation to be brought back, as the Prophet said in the sahih hadith:
"We are the last ones, the first ones on the day of Qiyama. Even though they were given the Book before us, and we were given it after them, this is their day over which they have differed (he is referring to Friday), to which Allah has guided us. The people then follow after us: tomorrow for the Jews, and the day after tomorrow for the Christians."
"I am the first one who the earth will give up."
"I will come to the door of paradise and seek entry. The guard will say: "Who are you?" When I say that I am Muhammad, he will say: "You are the one for whom I was ordered to open to no one before you."
His good qualities (sas) and those of his followers are many. From the moment he was made a Prophet, Allah made him the criterion between His allies and His enemies: none are allies (awliyaa') of Allah except one who believes in Muhammad and in that with which he was sent, and follows it openly and in secret. Whoever claims love of Allah and alliance (wilaya) with Allah but does not follow the Prophet (sas) is not one of the allies of Allah. No, whoever contradicts the Prophet is one of the enemies of Allah, one of the allies (awliyaa') of the devil (shaitaan). Allah said:
[say: If you truly love Allah, then follow me so that Allah may love you.] Qur'an 3/31
Al-Hassan Al-Basry said about this verse:
"A group of people claimed to love Allah, and so He sent down this verse as a test for them."
Allah has made clear in this verse that Allah loves whoever follows the Prophet, and whoever claims the love of Allah, but does not follow the Prophet, is not one of the allies of Allah, even though many people imagine themselves or others to be among the allies (awliyaa') of Allah while they are in no way close to or in alliance with Allah. Examples are the Jews and the Christians, who claim that they are allies of Allah, and that no one will enter paradise except one who joins them, or, they even claim that they are the sons or the beloved of Allah. Allah said:
[Then why would He punish you for your sins? No! You are nothing more than people among those who He created.] Qur'an 5/18
[And they say: "None shall enter paradise unless they be a Jew or a Christian. Those are their hopes. Say: Produce your proofs, if you speak the truth. No! Whoever submits his face to Allah, and is a doer of good has his reward with Allah; there will be no fear upon him, nor shall he grieve.] Qur'an 2/111-112
The associationist Arabs used to claim that they were the "people of Allah" because they lived in Makka near the house of Allah. This was a source of pride and arrogance for them over other people. Allah said:
[My verses used to be read to you, but you used to turn back on your heels. Arrogant with it (Ibn Abbas said about this verse: "it" here is the Ka'aba about which they used to say: "We are its people"), enjoying light talk into the night, neglecting (their true obligations to) it.] Qur'an 23/66-67
[And when the disbelievers plotted against you, to keep you in bonds, kill you, or expel you from your home; they scheme, and Allah schemes, and Allah is the best of schemers. * When our verses are read to them they say: "We have heard. If we wanted to, we could say things like this. This is nothing but tales of the ancients. * And when they said: "O, Allah, if this is the truth which comes from You, then send down on us a rain of stones from the sky, or bring us a painful punishment." * Allah is not about to punish them while you are among them, and He is not about to punish them while they (i.e. some among them) seek His forgiveness. * Yet what plea do they have that Allah should not punish them when they block people from the sacred Masjid though they are not its guardians (awliyaa'). Its guardians can only be the righteous, but most of them do not know.] Qur'an 8/30-34
Allah explains that the associationists are not his allies (awliyaa'), nor are they the guardians (awliyaa') of His house - these are only the pious in belief and action.
It has been authenticated in the books of Muslim and Bukhari on the authority of 'Amr ibn Al-'aas (May Allah be pleased with him) that he said:
"*I heard the Prophet say publicly, not in secret: "Verily, the family of so-and-so are not of my awliyaa' - referring to one group among his relatives - (Note: The word awliyaa' in Arabic means in general those who are close, beloved, or allied, and also means specifically, as we have seen those closely related by blood, i.e. relatives) My allies (awliyaa') are none other than Allah and the righteous believers."
This is the same meaning as in the verse:
[Verily Allah is his (i.e. the Prophet's) guardian (or protecting ally) and the righteous of the believers.] Qur'an 66/4
The "righteous of the believers" are all those who are righteous of the believers, and they are the believers who are pious (have taqwa), the allies of Allah. This category includes Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, and all the people of the Oath known as bai'at-ul-Ridhwaan who took the oath under the tree. They were fourteen hundred in number, and all of them are in paradise, as is authenticated in the sahih hadith that the Prophet said:
"No one shall enter the fire among those who took the oath under the tree."
"My allies are the pious whoever they are, and wherever they are."
Some of the kuffar (disbelievers) claim to be allies (awliyaa') of Allah. They are not so, rather, they are enemies of Allah. Also, some of the hypocrites, who put on an outward display of Islam, acknowledging publicly the testimony of faith: that there is no deity other than Allah, and that Muhammad is His Prophet and messenger, and that he was sent to all of the people, no, to both humans and jinns, but they believe in their hearts things which invalidate that. Examples of beliefs which invalidate the testimony of faith:
1) One who does not truly believe that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, but believes that he was a great and respected ruler who, like other great kings, led his people based on his own intellectual efforts and opinions.
2) One who believes that Muhammad is a messenger of Allah, but not to the entire race, e.g. to the illiterate Arabs only, and not to the people who were given previous books. This is heard from many of the Jews and the Christians.
3) One who believes that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah to the whole creation generally, but that Allah has special allies (awliyaa') to whom he was not sent, and who are not in need of his message, rather, they have a way to Allah without need for the Prophet, as Al-Khidhr was with Musa in the story found in Sura Al-Kahf.
4) One who says that he can take what he needs directly from Allah and benefit from it without the need for any intermediaries or prophets.
5) One who believes that Muhammad was only sent with the "superficial" laws which he accepts, but believes that there are other hidden truths with which the Prophet (sas) was not sent, did not know, or that he is able to know them better than the Prophet, or that he can come to know them as the Prophet knew them, but not through the Prophet (sas).
Some of these people even say that the people of the Suffa (a place in the Prophet's masjid reserved for the Muslims who migrated to Madina, and had no house or other place to stay) were not in need of the Prophet, and he was not sent to them. Some of them say that Allah gave revelation to the people of the Suffa, showing them secretly that which was revealed to the Prophet on the night of the ascension, so they are equal to the Prophet in status. In their excessive ignorance, they did not even know that the ascension occurred when the Prophet was still in Makka, as Allah said:
[Glory to the one who took His slave on a journey by night from the sacred Masjid (which is in Makka!) to the farthest Masjid whose precincts we have blessed.] Qur'an 17/1
and that the people of the Suffa did not exist until after the migration of the Prophet (sas) to Madinah. The Suffa was an area in the northern parts of the Prophet's Masjid in which stayed the newcomers who had neither family nor close friends in Madinah with which they could stay. The believers used to migrate to the Prophet in Madinah; if they had some place in which to stay, they went to it, and if this was not easy for them, they stayed in the masjid until it was made easy for
them to find another place to stay.
The "people of the Suffa" were not a particular group of people who never left the Suffa. In fact, they used to decrease in number sometimes, and increase other times. A man may stay there for some time, and then move out to another location in Madinah. Those who stayed in the Suffa represented all sectors of the people, they had no particular characteristics of knowledge or religiosity. In fact among the people of the Suffa was one who turned back from Islam, and was killed by the Prophet. In sahih Bukhari, there is a story of a group of Arabs who came to Madinah during the time of the Prophet. They found difficulty with the climate of Madinah, and their health degenerated. They asked the Prophet to supply them with milk. He ordered them to go to where his camels were being tended. They went there and drank of the milk and the urine of the camels. When they regained their health, they killed the one tending the camels, stole the camels, and ran off into the desert. The Prophet (sas) sent out a party in pursuit, and when they were captured, he ordered that their eyes by cauterized by heated nails, their hands and feet were cut off without sealing the wounds, and they were left in a rocky area of Madinah, asking for water but finding no one to give them.
In this hadith, as it is found in Sahih Bukhari, it is mentioned that they had been staying in the Suffa. So, it was inhabited by people like this, and it was also inhabited by some of the best of the Muslims such as Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqaas, he was the best of those who stayed in the Suffa, then he moved elsewhere. Abu Huraira and others also stayed in the Suffa. The scholar Abdul Rahman As-Salmi has collected a history of those who spent time in the Suffa.
As for the Ansaar, none of them were of the people of the Suffa. Likewise, the greatest of the migrators like Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Talha, Az-Zubair, Abdul Rahman ibn 'Auf, Abi 'Ubaidah ibn Al-Jarraah, and others, none of them were ever of the people of the Suffa.
It has been narrated that a boy of Al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba stayed in the Suffa, and that the Prophet said about him: "He is one of the seven." This hadith is a forgery and a lie in the unanimous opinion of the scholars, even though it is found in the book by Abu Na'im called "Hilyat-ul-awliyaa'. Furthermore, all of the hadith which have been narrated as words of the Prophet (sas) about mysterious personages of a specific number are all false hadith, none of them has been authenticated as being the words of the Prophet. Examples of these fabrications are: that there are specific numbers of awliyaa', abdaal (substitutes), nuqabaa' (sing. naqib), nujabaa' (sing. najib), awtaad (literally: stakes), or aqtaab (sing. qutb, literally: poles), and that their number is four, seven, twelve, forty, seventy, three hundred, three hundred and thirteen, or that there is only one qutb, etc. None of this is authentic, it is all found in weak and fabricated hadith, and the first generations of Muslims never uttered these words at all except for the word abdaal.
There is a hadith narrated about the abdaal found in the collection of Imam Ahmad known as the musnad which says that they are forty in number, and that they are in Shaam. It is attributed to Ali (May Allah be pleased with him), but its chain is broken, thus it is not a sound hadith. It is well known that Ali and those companions who were with him were better than Mu'awiya, and those who were with him in Shaam (the area of Syria), so the best of all people would not have been found in the camp of Mu'awiya and not in the camp of Ali.
In a hadith found in Muslim and Bukhari, Abi Sa'eed narrates that the Prophet said:
"An element will shoot out of the deen at a time when the Muslims are divided. They will be killed by the closer of the two groups to the truth."
This element which left Islam are the khawaarij (sometimes referred to in English as the "kharijites" who left the fold of Islam when the dispute arose between the Muslims about the Caliphate of Ali. They were killed by Ali ibn Abi Talib and those with him. Thus, this sahih hadith proves clearly that Ali ibn Abi Talib was closer to the truth than Mu'awiya and those with him. How, then could the supposed abdaal be in the lesser of the two camps and not in the better of them?
Also among the lies attributed to the Prophet are what some attribute to the Prophet that when he heard a poet read:
"The serpent of lusts has bit my liver
So there is no doctor for it, nor any healer
Except for the beloved with whom it is infatuated
With him is my cure and my healing incantation"
that the Prophet (sas) was overtaken with feelings until his cloak fell from his shoulders. This story is a lie in the unanimous opinion of the scholars of hadith. An even worse lie than this is the version narrated by some which says that he tore up his cloak when he heard the poem, and that Jibreel took a piece of the torn cloak, and hung it on the 'arsh (throne) of Allah. These and other nonsense like them are of that which the people of knowledge and background in the study of the Prophet recognize as the most blatant lies against the Prophet.
Of the same type is that which has been attributed to Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "The Prophet and Abu Bakr would be talking, and I would be between them like a foreigner." This is a lie and a fabrication in the unanimous opinion of the scholars of hadith.
The point here is: that there are among those who accept the message of Muhammad generally externally, some who hold beliefs internally which invalidate their apparent acceptance of Islam, and as such are hypocrites. Such claim for themselves and for others like them that they are the allies (awliyaa') of Allah in spite of their hidden, internal kuf or rejection of that which the Prophet brought to us - either out of rebelliousness or ignorance, just as many of the Jews and Christians believe that they are the allies of Allah. They may also believe that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah, but they say: "He was sent to other than the Jews and the Christians, and it is not obligatory upon us to follow him because we have already been sent prophets before him. All of these are disbelievers (kuffar), even though they believe that their group are allies of Allah. The allies of Allah are only those who Allah has described as possessing His wilaya:
[Verily the allies of Allah will have no fear upon them, nor shall they grieve - those who believe and have taqwa of Allah.] Qur'an 10/62-63
Belief (imaan) of necessity entails belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His Prophets, and the Last Day. The believer believes in every prophet whom Allah has sent, every book which Allah has revealed, as Allah said:
[say: We believe in Allah and in that which has been sent to us and in that which was sent to Ibrahim and Isma'il and Is-haq and Ya'qub and the Tribes, and that which was given to Musa and 'Isa and that which was given to the prophets from their Lord. We do not differentiate between any of them, and we submit to Allah. And so, if they believe in that in which you believe, they have achieved guidance, but if they turn away, they are surely in rebellion. Allah will suffice you against them, and He is the all-hearing, the all-knowing.] Qur'an 2/136-137
[The Prophet has believed in that which was sent to him from his Lord as have the believers. All of them believe in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. We do not differentiate between any one of His messengers, and they say: "We hear, and we obey. Your forgiveness, our Lord, to You is the end of all things. * Allah does not emburden any soul except with that which is within his ability. To it is (the good of) what it earned, and upon it is (the bad of) what it earned. Our Lord, do not hold us responsible if we forget, or make a mistake. Our Lord, and do not put on us burdens as were placed on those who came before us. Our Lord, and do not put on us that which we have no power over. And over look for us (our sins), and forgive us, and have mercy on us, You are our Guardian and Protector, so give us victory over the people who reject faith.] Qur'an 2/285-286
[A.L.M. * This is the book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for those who are pious. * Those who believe in the unseen, establish the prayer, and spend out of what we have provided for them. * Those who believe in that which was sent down to you and that which was sent down to those before you, and have certainty of faith in the existence of the hereafter. * Such are on true guidance from their Lord, and such are the successful.] Qur'an 2/1-5
Thus, a necessary component of faith (imaan) is to believe that Muhammad (sas) is the seal of the prophets, that there is no prophet after him, and that Allah sent him to all of the two possessors of free will: humans and jinns. Anyone who has not believed in that which he brought is not a believer, much less a pious ally of (waliy) of Allah. Whoever believes in part of what he brought and rejects part is a kafir (disbeliever), and is not a believer. Allah said:
[Those who disbelieve in Allah and His prophets and seek to differentiate between Allah and His prophets, and they say: "We believe in some and we reject some" and they seek to strike a path between that. Such are the true disbelievers, and we have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment. As for those who believed in Allah and his prophets, and sought not to differentiate between any of them, these Allah will give their reward, and Allah is forgiving, merciful.] Qur'an 4/150-152
Faith also includes: belief that the Prophet is the intermediary between Allah and His creation for the purpose of delivering His orders and forbiddances, His promises and threats, and the definition of the halal (allowed) and the haram (forbidden). The halal is that which Allah and His Prophet have declared halal, and the haram is that which Allah and His Prophet have made haram. The deen (way) is that which Allah and His Prophet have ordained. Thus, whoever believes that any waliy has a way to Allah without following Muhammad (sas) is a kafir, and is an ally of the devil (shaitaan).
As for Allah's creating of the creation, and his providing them with sustenance, and His answering their supplications, His guiding of their hearts, His aiding them over their enemies, and all other types of bringing about benefit, or driving away harm: all of this is from Allah alone. He does these things, and links them to whatever (observable) causes He wishes. The intermediation of Prophets does not enter into these matters.
Moreover, whatever level a person reaches in terms of asceticism, devotion, and knowledge, but without believing in the entire message brought by Muhammad (sas) can never make him a believer, nor an ally of Allah, as, for example the monks and ascetics among the scholars and worshippers of the Jews and the Christians. Also, those seeming to have knowledge and devotion among the associationists of Arabia, Turkey, or India, or others among the "sages" of India or Turkey who possess some knowledge, discipline and devotion in their religion, but are not believers in all of the message of Muhammad (sas), are all kafir (disbelievers) and enemies of Allah. This, even though many may believe them to be allies (awliyaa') of Allah. Thus, the sages of the Persian Zoroastrians are all kafir, as well as the sages of Greece such as Aristotle and those like him. They were associationists, worshipping idols and the planets. Aristotle was before 'Isa (Jesus) by three hundred years, and was a minister for Alexander son of Phillips the Macedonian, who is mentioned in the histories of Rome and Greece, as well as the histories of the Christians and the Jews. He is not, however, the same as the man named Dhu-l-Qarnain who Allah mentioned in His book, as some imagined.
Some people mistakenly thought that Aristotle was a minister for dhu-l-qarnain, when they saw that (the one found in the Western histories) was named Alexander, and the names are similar, they thought that they were one in the same man. This mistaken view has been promulgated by Ibn Seena and some others with him.
This is not the case. Rather, the associationist Alexander - for whom Aristotle was a minister lived much later than the man mentioned in the Qur'an. He never built the wall, and did not travel to the land of Juj and Ma'juj, and the history of the Alexander for which Aristotle served as minister has been recorded in the well-known histories of Rome.
Among the various types of associationists, those of the Arabs, India, Turkey, and Greece, and others are individuals who exert themselves very much in seeking knowledge, disciplining themselves and in devotions, but they do not follow the prophets, nor do they believe in the messages brought by the prophets, neither believing them in the information which they passed on from Allah ta'ala, nor obeying them in the orders they transmitted. Such people are not believers, and not allies of Allah. The devils (shayateen) attach themselves to such people, and come to them so that they amaze people with some mysterious acts. They, with the help of their shayateen can perform miraculous feats which is actually sorcery. They are nothing more than a type of sorcerer or fortune-teller upon which the shayateen descend, as Allah said:
[should I tell you upon whom the shayateen descend? They descend upon every forging sinner. They cast to them the hearing (which they "snatched" from the heavenly assembly), and most of them are liars.] Qur'an 26/221-223
All of these are associated with revealing of secrets and miraculous feats, but are not followers of the prophets. They will always, of necessity lie, and their helpers among the shayateen will also lie to them. Also, there must appear in their actions something which is sinful and corrupt. It may be some form of associationism, oppression, obscenity, or excess or innovation in worship.
Because of these transgressions, the shayateen which have attached themselves to them come to them, so they have become the allies of the devil, and are not of the allies of Allah. Allah said:
[Whoever turns away from the reminder of the Merciful, we will assign to him a devil, who will be a partner to him.] Qur'an 43/36
The "reminder of the Merciful" is the reminder with which He sent His Messenger (sas) such as the Qur'an. So, whoever does not believe in the Qur'an, in all the information contained therein, and does not believe in the obligatoriness of the orders contained therein, has turned away from it, and so is assigned a shaitaan who attaches himself to him.
Allah said:
[This is a blessed reminder which we have sent down] Qur'an 43/36
[And whoever turns away from my reminder will have an oppressive, restricted life, and we will resurrect him on the day of Qiyama blind. He said: "Lord, why have you resurrected me blind, while I used to see?" He said: "Just as my verses came to you and you forgot them, today you are forgotten."] Qur'an 20/124-126
This verse shows clearly that "my reminder" (dhikriy) here is the same thing as "my verses" (aayaatiy) which Allah sent down. Thus, even if someone mentioned Allah (which is also called dhikr in Arabic) constantly, day and night, with the utmost of self discipline, and exerted himself in constant acts of worship and devotion, but, at the same time, was not a follower of Allah's dhikr (Qur'an) which He sent down to His Prophet (sas), he would be one of the allies of the shaitaan, even if he were to fly through the air, or walk on water. The shaitaan is perfectly capable of carrying him through the air, or over the water. This has been explained more fully elsewhere.
<b>Chapter 3</b>
There are some people who have some faith (imaan), and along with it some components of hypocrisy (nifaaq), as has come in the sahih hadith on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar that the Prophet (sas) said:
"Anyone in whom are found four things is a pure hypocrite, and if they have some degree of these things, they have that degree of hypocrisy until they change their ways: When they speak they lie, when they promise they break their promise, when they are given a trust they betray it, and when they engage in a truce they are treacherous."
And in the two books of Muslim and Bukhari on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Prophet (sas) said:
"Faith (imaan) is some seventy-odd components. The greatest of them is the pronouncement: There is no deity other than Allah, the least of them is removing something harmful from the road, and modesty is a component of faith."
From these hadith, we understand that anyone in whom are found some of these components has some degree of hypocrisy until he changes his ways.
Also in the two books of sahih, that the Prophet said to Abu Dharr, one of the best of the believers:
"You are a man in whom there is jahiliya (pre-Islamic foolishness). Abu Dharr asked: "At my age, O messenger of Allah?" The Prophet said: "Yes".
Also in a sahih hadith, the Prophet said:
"Four things are found in my nation from the affairs of the jahiliya (pre-Islamic ignorance): pride in social status or class, casting doubt on peoples family origin, weeping and wailing over the dead, and praying for water using the stars."
"The signs of the hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks his promise, and when he is trusted he betrays your trust." In one version of this hadith, the Prophet added: "...even if he fasts and prays and thinks that he is a Muslim."
Imam Bukhari mentioned on the authority of Ibn Abi Maleeka that he said:
"I met thirty of the companions of Muhammad (sas), every one of them fears for himself from hypocrisy."
Allah said:
[That which afflicted you on the day when the two armies met was by the permission of Allah, and that He would know the believers, and that he would know those who were hypocritical. It was said to them: "Fight in the path of Allah, or defend." They said: "If only we knew how to fight, we would follow you." They, on that day were closer to kufr than to imaan.] Qur'an 3/166-167
Allah has described the band of hypocrites on that day as being closer to disbelief than to belief. It is clear that they combine some qualities of belief and some of disbelief, and that their disbelief is stronger than their degree of belief. Others mix kufr and imaan, but the imaan is stronger than the kufr.
Since the allies of Allah are the pious (i.e. having taqwa) believers (Qur'an 10/62-64), it is clear that the degree of ones closeness to Allah (wilaya) is according to the degree of his faith (imaan) and his piety (taqwa). Thus, whoever is greater in faith and in piety, is greater in closeness of his relationship to Allah. So, people are of different degrees of closeness to Allah, in accordance to the difference in degree of their imaan and their taqwa. (Note: We are translating the word taqwa as piety for lack of a better word. Taqwa denotes both the mental state of piety, and the outward actions which may protect one from Allah's punishment, make one deserving of His mercy i.e. obedience.) In the same way, people differ in their degree of enmity to Allah ('adaawa) in accordance to their different degrees of disbelief (kufr) and hypocrisy (nifaaq). Allah said:
[And whenever another sura is sent down, some of them say: "Which of you has been increased in faith by this?" As for those who believe, it has increased them in faith, and they they look forward to good. But those in whose hearts is sickness, have only been increased by it more disease on top of their disease until they die in a state of disbelief.] Qur'an 9/124-125
[Verily An-nasee' (exchanging another month for one of the sacred months when one wishes to fight wars in the four months in which they are prohibited) is an increase in disbelief.] Qur'an 9/37
[And Allah increased those who became guided in guidance, and granted them the characteristic of taqwa.]
[in their hearts (i.e. the hypocrites) is a disease, and Allah increased them in disease.] Qur'an 2/10
In these verses, Allah explains clearly that a single individual may contain a portion of closeness (wilaya) to Allah in accordance with his degree of faith, and, at the same time, a portion of enmity ('adaawa) to Allah in accordance with his degree of disbelief and hypocrisy. Allah said:
[And those who believe increase in belief.] Qur'an 74/31
[...that they may increase in faith in addition to their faith.] Qur'an 48/4
<b>Chapter 4</b>
The allies of Allah are of two levels: forerunners, those brought near, and those of the right hand who acted in moderation. Allah has mentioned them in a number of places in His sacred Book such as in the beginning of sura number 56, and again at the end of the same sura, and in suras 76, 83, and 35. In the beginning of the sura called Al-waaqi'a (56) Allah mentioned the Greater Qiyama, and at the end of it, He mentioned the Lesser Qiyama. In the beginning of this sura, He said:
[When the inevitable event comes to pass * There will be no one to deny its reality. * Bringing (some) low, raising (others) high, * When the earth will be shaken to its depths, * And the mountains will be crushed and split, * Until they become mere floating, scattered dust. * And you become three categories * Those of the right hand, and what are those of the right hand? * And those of the left hand, and what are those of the left hand? * And the forerunners, the forerunners * They are the ones brought near, * In gardens of bliss * Many from the early generations, * And a few from the later generations.] Qur'an 56/1-14
This is the division of people at the time of the Greater Qiyama in which Allah will collect together all the people of the early and the later generations, as Allah as described in many places in His book. Then, Allah said at the end of the same sura:
[so why, then, when it (i.e. the soul of a dying person) reaches the throat * And you, at that time are looking on, * And we are closer to him than you, but you do not see * So why, if you truly are not to be held to account * Do you not call it back (i.e. stop death), if you speak the truth? * Then, if he is one of those brought near, * Then rest and complete satisfaction, and a garden of bliss. * And if he is one of those of the right hand * Then "Peace unto you" from those of the right hand * And if he is one of the deniers, those who are lost * For him is a resting place of boiling water * And the basking in a ferocious fire * Verily, this is the certain truth * So glorify the name of your Lord, the Great.] Qur'an 56/83-96
Allah said in sura number 76:
[We surely have shown him (i.e. man) the way whether (he chooses to be) grateful or ungrateful, rejecting. * Verily, we have prepared for the rejectors chains and bonds and roaring fire. * The righteous drink from a cup whose mixer is kaafuur. * (There is) a spring from which drink the slaves of Allah, they cause it to spring forth at will. * They (used to) fulfill their oaths and fear a day whose evil is widespread. * They (used to) feed others (their) food in spite of their love for it: poor people, orphans, and prisoners. * (They say) We only feed you for the pleasure of Allah, we want no reward from you nor thanks. * Verily we fear from our Lord a day long, and difficult. * So Allah protected them from the evil of that day, and will give to them a beautiful light, and joy. * And He will reward them for their patience a garden and silk.] Qur'an 76/3-12
[No! Surely the destiny of the wicked is to an oppressive prison. * And what can make you understand the reality of that prison? * A destiny which has already been set. * Woe, on that day, to the deniers * Those who deny the (existence of the) Day of Judgement. * None deny that except for every transgressor and sinner. * When our verses are read to him, he says: "Stories of the ancients!" * It is not so! Rather, the sins which they used to commit have coated their hearts (preventing them from understanding) * On that day they will be blocked from the seeing of their Lord * Then, they will enter the #### fire. * Then it will be said to them: "This is the reality which you used to deny!" * No! Surely the destiny of the righteous is to a wide and spacious place * And what can make you understand the reality of that wide and spacious place? * A destiny which has already been set. * The righteous will be in bliss * On comfortable seats, looking (i.e. at Allah) * One can recognize in their faces the brightness of bliss. * They are given to drink from sealed bottles of wine. * Drinking it leaves the smell of finest musk. For this should be the competition of those who compete. * It (the wine) is a mixture of tasneem (the finest drink of the people of paradise). * A spring with which drink those brought near.] Qur'an 83/7-28
On the authority of Ibn Abbas, and this is the statement of others of the early generations: A mixture is prepared (i.e. from the spring of tasneem) for those of the right hand, while those brought near are allowed to drink directly from the spring as they wish. It is as they said (the language also supports this interpretation). Because Allah said: "They drink with it" (yashrabu bihaa), and did not day "They drink from it" (yashrabu minhaa). This is because the word for drink in this way includes the concept of quenching of thirst. One may drink, but not necessarily completely quench his thirst. Thus, when it is said: "They drink from it", it does not denote quenching of thirst, but when it is said: "They drink with it", the meaning becomes that they fully quench their thirst and eliminate their need for drink. So those brought near totally quench their thirst with pure tasneem from the spring, and are not in need of anything else of lesser degree along with it. This is in contrast to those of the right hand for whom a mixture is prepared. This is just as Allah said also in another verse:
[its mixer is kaafuur, a spring from which the slaves of Allah drink, they cause it to spring forth at will.] Qur'an 76/5-6
The "slaves of Allah" in this verse are the same as the ones referred to as "those brought near" elsewhere. This is because rewards are of similar nature to actions, both in good and in bad, as the Prophet (sas) said:
"Whoever relieves a believer of a hardship of this life, Allah will relieve him of a hardship of the day of Qiyama. Whoever gives relief to someone in difficult (financial) straits, Allah will make it easy for him in this life and in the hereafter. Whoever conceals the fault of a Muslim, Allah will conceal for him his faults in this life and in the hereafter. And Allah is (engaged) in the aid of His slave as long as the slave is engaged in the aid of his brother. And whoever travels a road searching for knowledge, Allah will make his road to paradise easy for him. And whenever a group of people come together in one of the Houses of Allah, reciting the Qur'an and teaching it to one another, peace will descend on them, mercy will cover them, the angels will congregate in large numbers over them, and Allah will mention them to those around Him. And whoever is slow in application, Allah will not be fast in assigning its reward." (Muslim)
"The Merciful has mercy on those who are merciful. Be merciful with those on earth, so that He who is in the heavens may have mercy on you." (At-Tirmidhi said: A good, sound hadith)
"Allah says: I am the Merciful (Ar-Rahman), I created the womb (Ar-Rahm), and I derived its name from my name. So, whoever maintains its relations, I will maintain my relation with them, and whoever cuts off its relations, I will cut them off."
Examples of this type are many in the Qur'an and the Sunnah.``
The allies of Allah are of two types, as we have said: those brought near, and those of the right hand. The Prophet mentioned the actions of the two groups in the hadith of the awliyaa' (allies) saying:
"Allah ta'ala says: I have declared war on anyone who is an enemy of any of my allies. There is nothing better with which my slave can come closer to me than fulfilling all that I have made obligatory upon him. Then, my slave will continue to come closer to me be making extra efforts until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks. If he asks me, I will give him, if he seeks refuge with me, I will give him refuge. I have not hesitated in anything which I do as I hesitate in taking the soul of my believing slave. He dislikes death, and I dislike annoying him, but he must meet his death."
The righteous, those of the right hand are those who seek to come close to Allah with all that is obligatory: they do that which Allah has ordered them to do, and avoid that which Allah has forbidden them, and do not demand of themselves the doing of the commendable but less than obligatory (i.e. the mandoob), or the avoiding of some of the disrecommended of the allowed (i.e. the makrooh).
As for the forerunners, those brought near, they sought to come close to Allah with extra efforts after the obligatory. They did the obligatory and the commendable, and avoided the forbidden and the disrecommended. When they sought to come close to Him with everything within their ability of that which they love, Allah's love for them became complete, as He said (as reported by the Prophet):
"Then, my slave will continue to come closer to me by making extra efforts until I love him."
He means unqualified love, as in Allah's statement:
[Guide us to the straight path, the path of those upon whom You have bestowed Your grace, not the path of those with whom You are angry, nor of those who have gone astray.] Qur'an 1/5-7
i.e. upon whom You have bestowed Your grace - Your complete and unqualified grace which has been mentioned in another aya:
[And whoever obeys Allah and His Prophet are among those upon whom Allah has bestowed His grace: the prophets and the ever-truthful, ever-believing, and the martyrs, and the righteous doers of good, and what good companions these are.] Qur'an 4/69
For those brought near, ordinary allowed actions (i.e. which are neither obligatory nor forbidden) become acts of obedience to Allah with which they come closer to Allah. Thus all of their actions are worship of Allah, and so they drink from the spring straight and pure, just as their actions were purely for Allah ta'ala. On the other hand, those who were moderate their efforts, had in their actions things that, though not forbidden, were done for their selves and in their own interest. They are neither punished nor rewarded for such actions, and they do not drink directly from the spring. Rather, a mixture is prepared for them from the drink of those brought near (mixed with lesser ingredients) according to the way they mixed their actions in this life.
Analogous to this is the division of the prophets into slave messengers and prophet kings. Allah gave Muhammad (sas) the choice between being a slave and a messenger or being a prophet and a king, and he chose the former. Prophet kings are like the Prophet Dawood, Sulaiman, and others (prayers and peace of Allah be upon them). Allah said, informing us of the statement of Sulaiman:
[My Lord, forgive me and give me a dominion which will not be allowed to anyone after me, verily You are the Giver. * And so we brought the wind under his control - it goes under his command, gently, wherever he wishes. * And also the shayateen, including every builder and diver * And others bound up in shackles. *
This is our grant, so give or withhold, no account will be asked.] Qur'an 38/35-39
i.e. give to whomever you wish, and deny whomever you wish, there is no account-taking upon you. Thus, the prophet king does what Allah orders him, avoids what Allah has forbidden, and acts freely in whatever worldly power or property he has been granted in whatever way he chooses and likes, without any sin upon him.
As for the slave messenger, he gives to no one without the order of his Lord, he cannot give whom he wishes nor can he withhold from whom he wishes. He gives to whom Allah has ordered him to give, and assigns responsibilities and powers to those whom Allah has ordered him to assign. Thus all of his actions are acts of worship to Allah ta'ala, as the Prophet (sas) himself said in the hadith found in Sahih Bukhari:
"Verily, by Allah, I give no one, and I withhold from no one. I am only a divider, I place wherever I am ordered."
For this reason, Allah has described the public properties in Islam as belonging to Allah and His Prophet, as in His statement:
[say: The spoils are Allah's and His Prophet's.] Qur'an 8/1
[That which Allah has caused to come back to His Prophet from the people of the villages is Allah's and His Prophet's.] Qur'an 59/7
[And know that one fifth of that (property) which you have captured belongs to Allah and to the Prophet] Qur'an 8/41
Thus, the clearest of the opinions of the scholars is that these properties are to be spent in any ways loved by Allah and His Prophet, according to the ijtihaad (jurisprudential effort) of the head of the Islamic state. This is the position of Imam Malik and other early scholars. It has been mentioned as the position of Imam Ahmad. It has also been said about the one-fifth portion of the spoils: It is divided into five parts (i.e. according to the five mentioned in the rest of the aya above - See Qur'an 59/7), as is the opinion of Ash-shafi'i, and the most famous opinion of Ahmad, and it has been said: it is divided into three parts, which is the opinion of Abu Hanifa.
What is intended here is that the slave messenger is superior to the prophet king, just as Ibrahim, Musa, 'Isa, and Muhammad, upon them be peace, are superior to Yusuf, Dawood, and Sulaiman, upon them be peace. In the same way, the forerunners, those brought near are superior to the righteous, those of the right hand who are not of those brought near nor forerunners. So, whoever performs all that Allah has ordered him to perform, and does of the allowed (halal) whatever he wishes, is of the second group, and whoever does everything according to what Allah loves and is pleased with, and seeks the allowed only to aid him in the performing of the obligatory, is of the first group.
to be Cont ..........