Lessons in aqeedah for new Muslims

http://www.ebnmaryam.com/vb/clientsc...ges/extra3.gif






The new Muslim needs to study the Islamic aqeedah, the study must be simple and easy.
Through the gradient to explain the basics and rules
Therefore. I collected ideas and lessons in aqeedah
Levels to suit the stage for a New Muslim



http://store2.up-00.com/Sep13/dbf00021.jpg

Index الفهرسة
First level
*معنى العقيدة
The meaning aqeedah
*أهمية العقيدة
The importance ofadeedah
*الأسئلة الكبرى الملحة في نفس الانسان
Frequently Asked Questionsfor all people
1- ما الذي اوجدني بعد ان لم اكن شيء مذكورا؟
Who created meout of nowhere?
Statements by physicists which support the existence of Allah and acknowledge His
attributes
A question which puzzles many people
2- ماهي الغاية التى وجدت من أجلها؟
What is the purposeof my existencein this world
3-ماهي النتائج التى تترتب على اعمالي؟
What are theresults related tomy jobinlife
Summary1

http://www.al-wed.com/pic-vb/52.gif

The second level
اركان الستة للايمان
The Six Pillars of Faith

1. Allah
2. His Angels
3. His revealed Books
4. His Messengers
5. The Day of Resurrection
6. Al-Qadr; Whatever Allah has ordained must come to pass (In other words, fate and destiny).
Summary2

http://www.al-wed.com/pic-vb/52.gif

Level III
أين الله
where is Allah
من اين ياتي الشر
Where does evil come from

هل الانسان مسير او مخير
Are you human trajectory or has the choice
Types of Shirk
انواع الشرك
Shirk
Magic
Astrology
Grave Worship
Sacrificing
Making Haram Things Halal
Showing Off
Omens
Swearing by Other Than Allah
Those who practice black magic
Types of kufr
http://www.al-wed.com/pic/8124.gif

The meaning aqeedah

Aqeedah عقيدة refers to those matters which are believed in, with certainty and conviction, in one’s heart and soul. They are not tainted with any doubt or uncertainty.

The Arabic word ‘aqeedah stems from the root ‘aqada, which conveys meanings of certainty, affirmation, confirmation, etc. In the Qur’aan, Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

"Allaah will not punish you for what is unintentional in your oaths, but He will punish you for your deliberate oaths (bimaa ‘aqqadtum al-aymaan)…"

The verb paraphrased here as "deliberate oaths" is ‘aqqada/ta’qeed, which refers to when one has determination in the heart. It may be said in Arabic, ‘aqada’l-habl (the rope was tied), i.e., it was pulled tight together. The word i’tiqaad (belief) is also derived from this root, and has the meaning of tying up and making strong. The phrase a’taqadtu kadhaa (I believe such and such) means: I am convinced of it in my heart; this is a rational conviction.

In Islam, ‘aqeedah is the matter of knowledge. The Muslim must believe in his heart and have faith and conviction, with no doubts or misgivings, because Allaah has told him about ‘aqeedah in His Book and via His Revelations to His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

The principles of ‘aqeedah are those which Allaah has commanded us to believe in, as mentioned in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
"The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allaah, His Angels, His Books and His Messengers. They say, ‘We make no distinction between one and another of His Messengers’ – and they say, ‘We hear, and we obey. (We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return (of all).’"

- and as defined by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the famous hadeeth which describes how Jibreel came to him and asked him about Islam etc.: "Eemaan (faith) is to believe in Allaah, His angels, His Books, the meeting with Him on the Last Day, His Messengers, and the Day of Resurrection."

So in Islam, ‘aqeedah refers to the matters which are known from the Qur’aan and sound ahaadeeth, and which the Muslim must believe in his heart, in acknowledgement of the truth of Allaah and His Messenger.



(Source: Sharh Lam’ah al-I’tiqaad by Ibn al-Uthaymeen, and al-‘Aqeedah fi-Allaah, by ‘Umar al-Ashqar).

Oneness of Allah

The entire universe, in the way it is created and the way it is controlled, bears witness to the oneness of Allaah:
“Surely, His is the creation and commandment. Blessed is Allaah, the Lord of the ‘Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists)!
The creation of the heavens and the earth, the alternation of night and day, the different kinds of inanimate objects, plants and fruits, the creation of humans and animals… all of that indicates that the Almighty Creator is One with no partner or associate:
“That is Allaah, your Lord, the Creator of all things, Laa ilaaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He). How then are you turning away (from Allaah, by worshipping others instead of Him)?
The variety and greatness of these created things, the perfect way in which they are formed, the way in which they are maintained and controlled, all indicate that the Creator is One and that He does as He wills and rules and decides as He wants:
“Allaah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Wakeel (Trustee, Disposer of affairs, Guardian) over all things”
All of the above indicate that this universe has a Creator, that this dominion has a Sovereign, that behind these forms is One Who gives them shape:
“He is Allaah, the Creator, the Inventor of all things, the Bestower of forms. To Him belong the Best Names”
The soundness of the heavens and the earth, the order of the universe, the harmony among created things, all indicate that the Creator is One, with no partner or associate:
“Had there been therein (in the heavens and the earth) aalihah (gods) besides Allaah, then verily, both would have been ruined. Glorified be Allaah, the Lord of the Throne, (High is He) above all that (evil) they associate with Him!”
These great created things either created themselves – which is impossible – or man created himself then created them – which is also impossible:
“Were they created by nothing? Or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, but they have no firm Belief”
Reason, Revelation and the original state of man (fitrah) all indicate that this universe has One Who brought into being, that these created things have a Creator Who is Ever-Living and Eternal, All-Knowing and All-Aware, Powerful and Almighty, Kind and Most Merciful. He has the Most Beautiful Names and Sublime Attributes and He knows all things. Nothing is beyond His control, and there is nothing like unto Him:
“And your Ilaah (God) is One Ilaah (God — Allaah), Laa ilaaha illa Huwa (there is none who has the right to be worshipped but He), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

The existence of Allaah is something that is there is no excuse for not knowing. It is the matter of common sense:“Their Messengers said: What! Can there be a doubt about Allaah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?”

Allaah has created people with the natural instinct (fitrah) to affirm His Lordship and Oneness, but the shayaateen (devils) came to the sons of Adam and caused them to deviate from their religion. According to a hadeeth qudsi, “I created all My slaves as haneefs (monotheists), but the shayaateen (devils) came to them and made them deviate from their religion, and they forbade them that which I had permitted to them.” (Narrated by Muslim, no. 2865)
Among them are those who deny the existence of Allaah, and those who worship the Shaytaan, and those who worship man. And there are those who worship the dinar , or fire, or genital organs, or animals. And there are some who associate in worship with Him a stone from the earth or a star in the sky.
These things which are worshipped instead of Allaah, cannot create or provide; they cannot hear or see, or bring benefits or cause harm. So how can they worship them instead of Allaah?
“Are many different lords (gods) better or Allaah, the One, the Irresistible?”

Allaah has condemned those who worship these idols which cannot hear, see or think: “Verily, those whom you call upon besides Allaah are slaves like you. So call upon them and let them answer you if you are truthful. Have they feet wherewith they walk? Or have they hands wherewith they hold? Or have they eyes wherewith they see? Or have they ears wherewith they hear?”

“Say (O Muhammad to mankind): ‘How do you worship besides Allaah something which has no power either to harm or benefit you? But it is Allaah Who is the AllHearer, AllKnower”
How ignorant man is of his Lord Who created him and provides for him. How he rejects Him and forgets Him, and worships others instead of Him:
“Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind”
Glorified be Allaah far above that which they associate with Him. Praise be to Allaah the Lord of the Worlds:
“Say (O Muhammad): Praise and thanks be to Allaah, and peace be on His slaves whom He has chosen (for His Message)! Is Allaah better, or (all) that you ascribe as partners (to Him)?” (Of course, Allaah is Better).
Is not He (better than your gods) Who created the heavens and the earth, and sends down for you water (rain) from the sky, whereby We cause to grow wonderful gardens full of beauty and delight? It is not in your ability to cause the growth of their trees. Is there any ilaah (god) with Allaah? Nay, but they are a people who ascribe equals (to Him)!
Is not He (better than your gods) Who has made the earth as a fixed abode, and has placed rivers in its midst, and has placed firm mountains therein, and has set a barrier between the two seas (of salt and sweet water)? Is there any ilaah (god) with Allaah? Nay, but most of them know not!
Is not He (better than your gods) Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls on Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations? Is there any ilaah (god) with Allaah? Little is that you remember!
Is not He (better than your gods) Who guides you in the darkness of the land and the sea, and Who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His Mercy (rain)? Is there any ilaah (god) with Allaah? High Exalted be Allaah above all that they associate as partners (to Him)!
Is not He (better than your socalled gods) Who originates creation, and shall thereafter repeat it, and Who provides for you from heaven and earth? Is there any ilaah (god) with Allaah? Say: ‘Bring forth your proofs, if you are truthful’”

From Usool al-Deen al-Islami by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem al-Tuwayjri

Effects of Tawheed' (Monotheism) On Human

When an individual pronounces the testimony: "Ash-hadu allaa ilaaha illallaah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadar- Rasullullaah" (I testify that there is no god worthy of worship except Allaah and I testify that Muhammad is His Messenger), believing in it and acting upon it, he experiences a noticeable change in his life.

By understanding who his Lord is as well as the purpose of his creation, he will be able to achieve success in this life and the next. This success emanates from the following points:

1- A believer in this testimony can never be narrow in outlook. He believes in Allaah, Who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Master of the universe and its Sustainer. After this belief, he does not regard anything in the world as a stranger to himself. He looks on everything in the universe as belonging to the same Lord he himself belongs to. Allaah Almighty Says (what means): "Say (O Muhammad): 'To whom belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth?' Say: 'To Allaah.'"

His sympathy, love and service are not confined to any particular sphere or group. His vision is broadened, his intellectual horizon widens, and his outlook becomes as liberal and as boundless as is the Kingdom of Allaah. How can this width of vision and breadth of mind be achieved by an atheist, a polytheist or one who believes in a deity supposed to possess limited and defective powers like a man?

2- This belief produces in man the highest degree of self-respect and self esteem. The believer knows that Allaah Alone is the Possessor of all power, and that none besides Him can benefit or harm a person, or provide for his needs, or give and take away life or wield authority or influence. This conviction makes him indifferent to, independent on, and fearless of all powers other than those of Allaah. He never bows his head in homage to any of Allaah's creatures, nor does he stretch out his hand before anyone else. He is not overawed by anybody's greatness. This attitude of mind cannot be produced by any other belief.

3- Along with self-respect, this belief also generates in man a sense of modesty and humbleness. It makes him unostentatious and unpretending. A believer never becomes proud, haughty or arrogant. The boisterous pride of power, wealth and worth can have no room in his heart, because he knows that whatever he possesses has been given to him by Allaah, and that Allaah can take away just as He can give. In contrast to this, an unbeliever, when he achieves some worldly merit, becomes proud and conceited because he believes that his merit is due to his own worth. In the same way, pride and self-conceit are a necessary outcomes and concomitants of 'Shirk' (association of others with Allaah in worship), because a polytheist believes that he has a particular relation with deities, which does not exist between them and other people.

4- This belief makes man virtuous and upright. He has the conviction that there is no other means of success and salvation for him except purity of soul and righteousness of behavior. He has perfect faith in Allaah Who is Above all needs, is related to none and is absolutely Just. This belief creates in him the consciousness that unless he lives rightly and acts justly, he cannot succeed. No influence or underhand activity can save him from ruin.

As to those who do not believe that there is any Being having power over them, to whom they should be responsible for their good or bad actions; therefore, they consider themselves independent to act in whatever way they like. Their own fancies become their gods and they live like slaves of their wishes and desires. Allaah states in the Quran (what means): "Have you seen he who has taken as his god his desire, and Allaah, knowing (him as such), left him astray, and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart, and put over his vision a veil? So who will guide him after Allaah? Will you not then remember?"

5- The believer never becomes despondent. He has a firm faith in Allaah Who is The Master of all the treasures of the earth and the heavens, Whose grace and bounty have no limit and Whose power is infinite. This faith imparts to his heart extraordinary consolation, fills it with satisfaction and keeps it filled with hope. Although he may be met with rejection from all sides in this world, faith in and dependence on Allaah never leave him, and on that strength he goes on struggling. Such profound confidence can result from no other belief than belief in Allaah Alone.

Atheists have small hearts; in the sense that they depend on limited abilities; therefore, in times of trouble they are soon overwhelmed by despair and, frequently, they commit suicide.

The testimony of Prof. Joad is also very explicit on this point. He writes about the West: "For the first time in history there is coming to maturity a generation of men and women who have no religion, and feel no need for one. They are content to ignore it. Also they are very unhappy, and the suicide rate is abnormally high."

As to the world of Islam, let the views of a non-Muslim historian, not in any way being sympathetic to Islam, be read with profit:

"In this uncompromising monotheism, with its simple and enthusiastic faith in the supreme rule of a transcendent being, lies the chief strength of Islam. Its adherents enjoy a consciousness of contentment and resignation unknown among followers of most creeds." (Phillip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs, 1951, p.129)

6- This testimony of faith inspires bravery in man. There are two things which make a man cowardly:

(a) fear of death and love of safety,
and (b) the idea that there is someone else besides Allaah who can take away life, and that man- by adopting certain devices- can ward off death. Belief in 'Laa ilaaha illallaah'' blocks and drives away both these ideas.
The first idea goes out of his mind because he knows that his life and his property and everything else really belong to Allaah, and he becomes ready to sacrifice his all for the pleasure of Allaah. He gets rid of the second idea because he knows that no weapon, no man or animal has the power of taking away his life; Allaah alone has the power to do so. A time has been ordained for him, and all the forces of the world combined cannot take away anyone's life before that time.

It is for this reason that no one is braver than the one who has faith in Allaah. Nothing can daunt him: not even the strongest tempest of adversity and the mightiest of armies.

7- The belief in 'Laa ilaaha illallaah' creates an attitude of peace and contentment, purges the mind of jealousy, envy and greed, and keeps away the temptations of resorting to base and unfair means for achieving success.The believer understands that wealth is in Allaah's hands, and He apportions it out as He Wills; that honor, power, reputation and authority - everything - is also subjected to His Will, and He bestows them as He Wills; and that man's duty is only to endeavor and to struggle fairly

Who created me out of nowhere?

Virtually every human being has pondered this question. Some answered by saying that the formation of the universe was merely a coincidence. Others felt there must be an unseen Creator. In what will follow, we will try to assist you in answering this question. Our approach will depend primarily on the text of the Qur'an (the Word of Allah (i.e. God), inspired to Prophet Muhammad (saws)). We request only that you open your mind and read.
Allah asks in the Qur'an:
35. Were they created out of nothing? Or were they themselves the creators?
36. Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, but they are sure of nothing!
(Qur'an 52:35-36)
Most deny or ignore the existence of The Creator because they cannot see Him. However, there are many things which we do not see, but yet we believe in their existence. Further, most of us believe in creatures which exist yet undiscovered and undocumented.
Many reject the existence of The Creator, believing only in science and data gathered and confirmed by its canonical methods. But, on any given day, the same person might find himself in love, deep remorse or sadness. And while contriving the most complex and personal thoughts, he does not, at the time, suppose that his feelings are a random product of firing neurons. How can he then believe that the only distinction between a corpse and a living person is the absence of organ functionality. That we need only revive his physical body to restore him to normality.
The Scientific Proof

Let us imagine ourselves standing in a laboratory stocked with beakers and test tubes containing all sorts of chemical compounds. Then suppose an earthquake has just occurred upsetting the shelved vessels, sending their contents spilling onto the laboratory floor. It would be a very strange coincidence indeed to find new life forms generating themselves where none had existed before.

You might say, 'Your analogy didn't account for time - these organisms need time to evolve.' We ask, 'How much time should we have allowed? Was there enough time since the beginning of the universe to allow for their self-induced formation?'

Let's hear from Swiss mathematician Charles Eugene Jai. In an experiment aimed at answering this very question, Jai set out to calculate the probability of the random formation of a single protein molecule. Jai 'helped' the situation by assuming the existence of formative elements, and by selecting a protein consisting of only 2,000 atoms (An average protein might consist of 32,000 atoms or more). Jai also assumed that the protein would consist of only 2 unique formative atoms.

He determined the value of probability by considering the size of the material and the time necessary for the random formation to occur. He calculated that the probability of forming even a simplified protein molecule was approximately 1 in 5 x 10 e+320 !

The size of the material necessary to produce that almost zero probability would have been a sphere with a diameter of approximately 6 x 10 e+176 miles - about 10 e+63 times bigger than the imagined size of the universe. Finally, the time necessary for the molecule to form was 10 e+243 billion years. This was far greater than the supposed age of the universe - only about 2 billion years.
He concluded that the universe was neither old enough, nor big enough to allow for the random formation of even a simple protein molecule. It was impossible for the universe to have created itself, and for life to randomly form. We must then consider another course. There is a Creator who created the universe.





He is Allah

A question which puzzles many people

It was narrated in a hadith by Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be with him, said:

Some people will keep asking questions until they ask: ‘Allah created the creation but who created Allah?’ Whoever is asked this question, let him (simply) say ‘I believe in Allah’. (Narrated by Muslim)

Imam Mazrewy commented on this hadith and said that the Prophet seems to be enjoining Muslims to refrain from trying to respond to such questions about Allah. However, Imam Mazrewy explained, such questions are of two types: those which are not troubling the mind and did not arise because of some misconception. Those can simply be ignored. It seems that the above mentioned hadith is referring to this type of questions which are referred to as waswasah (whisperings of Satan). Since they are not persistently occurring to the mind, they can be set aside without consideration of evidence, because there is no benefit in dwelling on them. As to the persistent questions which arise as a result of some misconception, they can be tackled only with arguments and evidence. Allah knows best!

This question is wrong in the first place because we have been commanded by the Prophet, may the peace and blessing of Allah be with Him, not to ponder over the essence of Allah (SWT), because our weak minds are incapable of conceiving the true nature even of themselves. So how can they possibly understand the true nature of Allah (SWT). However, this question comes to the minds of some people and I would like to explain the answer to them through an example which, God willing, will satisfy their questions.

I would say the following:
If you place a book on your desk and then go out of the room and come back a short while later and find that the book which you had left on the desk had been removed and placed in the drawer, you would in this situation, be firmly convinced that someone must have put it in the drawer, this is because you know very well that among the attributes of this book is that it cannot move by itself. Remember this point and let us now move to the next point.

If there is someone sitting on a chair in your office, and you go out and come back and find him sitting on the carpet, for example, you would not ask about the reason for his movement, and you would not believe that someone moved him from his earlier position, because you know that among the attributes of this person is that he can move by himself and that he does not need anyone to move him. Now bear this second point in mind and listen to what I am going to say next.

Human beings came into existence at a certain point in time, and we know that they do not come into existence by themselves, but they must have a Creator. From that we conclude that their Creator is Allah (SWT). Now since perfect divinity presupposes that the deity does not need any other but is necessarily self-sufficient, we conclude that Allah (SWT) exists by Himself and does not need anyone to create Him.

If you place the first two points next to what I have just said, the answer will become clear to you. This is as far as the human mind can go. I ask Allah to protect us from error for He is indeed Kind and Merciful.

Now I would like to quote to you some statements of some European scholars which support the existence of Allah (SWT) and acknowledge His perfect attributes, and Allah alone I trust to help me succeed in my endeavor.

Why were we Created?

All praise is due to Allah. May His prayers and blessings be upon his Last Messenger and on all those who follow the path of righteousness until the Last Day.

Not just Muslims, but every single human being has to answer the most fundamental question at some point in his or her lifetime:

"Why was I created? Why am I here? What am I doing in this world? Why did God create me?"

These questions are questions which each and everyone of us reflects on at some point during their life. We have some answers, which are given generally but usually these answers don't satisfy us - seeming somewhat simplistic. So, we still wonder: "Why me? Why here?" I know all of you (Muslims), are saying, "To worship Allah, khallas (finish). What more is there to say? Why do we need to have a big long talk on why we were created when we all know it is to worship Allah?!"

But wait. If this is presented to a non-Muslim, the next logical question would be, "Why does Allah want us to worship Him?" Then your stuck, which can only mean that in our own minds it is not really clear. Why did Allah create us to worship Him?

Addressing the question, "Why did Allah create us?", we have to understand how to deal with those people we live with (in the West). Those who don't consider there to be any purpose in man's creation, firmly believing that they are just a product of evolution and that the forces of nature. Just as we don't have apes, dogs or cows thinking about why they are here, then we also don't have to think about it either. Following from this belief being the basis of the philosophy of Western society (that man is without purpose), the whole issue of government, morality, etc. has no basis for them in Revelation. The product of this attitude is, of course, the corruption that we are living in.

When a Muslim addresses this topic, we have to find our understanding from Divine Revelation and not human speculation. Because human speculation has no bounds; we can imagine all kinds of things and if any of you has studied philosophy of religion, you will know how many opinions there are about the creation of man and existence. Because of the variety of philosophies which are out there, no one can say this one is correct or that one is incorrect, because there is no guidance behind it. No Divine Revelation. It is only from Divine Revelation that we can determine the reality of our creation, because it is Allah who has created us and so He knows the purpose of our creation. We can hardly understand it ourselves, much less trying to understand the essence of things. So it is for Allah to inform us through the revelation in the Qur'an and the sunnah (the Prophetic traditions) which were brought to us by His Last Messenger and the Messengers before him.

Now if we are to look initially into revelation, to determine why was man created, there is a deeper question that we should be asking before that: "Why did God create?" This before we even get to man because man is not the greatest act of creation. Allah says:

"The creation of the Heavens and the Earth is indeed greater then the creation of mankind; yet, most of mankind know not."
[Al-Qur'an 40:57]
Man is not the greatest act of creation, this universe is far more complex and far more magnificent than man. So the issue of creation should then go to, "Why did God create?", as opposed to simply, "Why create man?"

Fundamentally, we can say that the creation is the natural consequence of the attribute of creator. Allah is the creator. That is one of his attributes. That is what he has informed us. That being his attribute, the creator, the natural consequence or the product of this attribute is his creation.

A painter, if we are to draw a similitude on a lower level, who tells you that he is a painter, if you ask him where are his paintings and he replies I don't have any. What kind of painter is this? The concept of a painter who doesn't paint, there is some thing not quite gelling together here, of course Allah is beyond this. But if we are to understand on the simplest level, the two go together. The perfection of a painter lies in his paintings. His quality and his ability to paint, is manifest in his paintings. And Allah, beyond all that, as creator, this quality of creation is manifest in the creation itself. Allah didn't create out of a need. No, the fact that he is the creator, is manifest in the creation.

Furthermore, consider the act of creation, this act, with regards to Allah is unique. Though we use the term i.e. So and so created a table etc, actually it is in a limited sense. Human beings don't really create, they manipulate, because they can only "create" what already exists. When we make a chair or a table, we didn't create the wood, we had to take it from a tree, we didn't create the metal, which makes the screws etc, we had to melt down rocks and take the metal out. So we are not creating from nothing. We are manipulating things which Allah has already created in to different shapes and forms which are useful to us. We call it "creation" but the real act of creation, is creation from nothing, and this is unique to Allah alone.

This is a concept, which many people in ignorance, because they couldn't grasp the idea of creation from nothingness, it lead them to conclude that the world is Allah. Those who say "inside of each and every atom is Allah." And you have people, who call themselves Muslims saying this. Non-Muslims have said this before and there are Muslims who claim this. That Allah is inside each and everything, because Allah is the reality and everything else is fake in their interpretation. That means then, that the creation is Allah, and Allah is the creation. Very, very dangerous concept, which leads some of those who make this claim to say that you don't have to worship outside of yourself. Ibn Arabi, was famous for this statement, he is considered to be one of the saints, amongst the so called Sufi religion. Ibn Arabi said, "There is no need to worship one outside yourself, you are Allah. It is sufficient to worship yourself." This is shirk.

This concept of Allah being within his creation, no distinction the creation and Allah, it leads them to this shirk. Because they are unable to accept the uniqueness of Allah's creation, they compare the act of creation by Allah to human creation. That is, just as we manipulate, Allah took pieces of himself and made the earth and the universe. Others will say that all human beings have inside of themselves Allah, that there is a part of Allah inside each and everyone of us. The whole essence, the purpose of life is for us to realize that we have part of Allah inside of ourselves, remove the material blocks which keep us from Allah and again become one with Allah in what they call "fana". This is again a teaching of the Sufi religion.

Becoming one with Allah, returning back to Allah in this sense. But this is in fact part of the teachings of shirk. Shaytan (Satan) has deluded man into this imagination. It is part of the belief of the Hindus. Nirvana, the concept that when you die, you are reborn again, and you move up in stages, each time, if you are a good boy or good girl, you go up higher and higher, until you get to the top. You know you have reached the peak, because when you die the next time you become one with the universal soul, Nirvana. That is the end of rebirth. So your whole purpose is to return and become one with God again. This is all, as I said, a product of the inability to understand the concept of creation from nothingness, which is unique to Allah. Allah says:

"There is nothing like him, and he is the hearer and seer of all."
So when we try to interpret Allah's creation like the way we create, then we have made Him like his creation and it leads us ultimately to those aspects of shirk which I have mentioned. This is quite common amongst the Muslim world today, because when you look into the various branches of the Sufi religion, where they have prescribed various acts of purification, they call it dhikr, exercises to torture the body through spinning and dancing. What is the purpose of this? They will tell you, to liberate the soul from this earthly body and to achieve that state of "fana" or "i'tihad", a variety of names they have for it.

It is this concept, which lead al-Hallaj, many centuries ago, when he was promoting this idea, and he was put before a panel of judges questioning these concepts, which he was expressing. When they asked him to recant, to take this stuff back, he stood up, opened up his cloak and said "There is nothing inside this cloak except Allah". So they executed him. And of course, those in the Sufi religion, they have stories that when they cut his head off, it rolled around saying "Allah, Allah, Allahu Akbar etc". It might have, that is Shaytan may have entered and said these things, as happened with the calf of the Isrealites, when the Prophet Musa (Moses) let Egypt and the people, after crossing the red sea, had a desire to have a god that they could see, so they made a golden calf which they began to worship. This calf was saying "moo" like the calves do. This is what convinced them that this was the real thing. We know it wasn't the calf saying this. The evil jinn can enter the in to physical entities, make sounds and give these impressions. So there is no problem for us to say ok, maybe when they cut of al-Hallaj's head that it said these things, because this was part of a test. If we are clear in terms of creator and creation, this is no problem for us.

Allah is the creator and everything besides Him is His creation, which He created from nothing. It is not Him, nor is He it. This is the pure concept as taught by the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, his companions, and the early generations of righteous scholars, the students of the companions and those who came after them. The best of generations. That is how they understood this matter. There was no confusion in their minds. It wasn't until Islam spread to areas like Egypt, India and Persia, areas where the Christians had already gotten into deep philosophies, trying to explain how Jesus was a man and god at the same time. When they came in to Islam they brought it with them. This is the reality. It is not something we should necessarily condemn them for or feel is unusual. It is natural, when a person reverts to Islam, that they will carry with them what they believed before. What has been clarified for them, of the basic principles, they accept, and they reject things, which obviously contradict. But it doesn't mean that every last thought that they have, and everything that was wrong in their philosophies, ideology and concepts will be erased. They will carry these things in with them. This is why in the later part of the Prophet's sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam life, prior to his death, when he was coming back from one of the battles, his companions asked him to set aside a tree for them, that they could hang their weapons on, like the way the pagans would hang their weapons on trees, believing that when they hung the weapons, it became super-powerful, as if some power was coming from the tree, that their shields would now block steel and their swords would cut through the enemy. Some of the companions who had newly accepted Islam, asked the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam to designate one for them, a special one, an Islamic one. They understood that what the pagans had, this was wrong. These were the companions of the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam and he had to clarify it for them. He said:

"You are like the companions of Musa who asked to have the calf built."
And he clarified for them that all of this is shirk and there is no place for it in Islam. So if it could happen to some of the companions, then we cannot blame the generations who have come after them, who come into Islam and carry with them some of their old ideas. What it is for us to do is to clarify.

So what we have in front of us then, is that Allah created this universe out of nothing, and everything that is in it was created. For example:

"Allah created all things, and he is the agent, upon which, all things depend."
[Al-Qur'an 39:62]
This is the reality. This is stressed for us, in order for us to realize that ultimately, all good, all evil, that takes place in the world, only takes place by the permission of Allah. Therefore we should not seek any other channels to protect ourselves from evil, or to gather for ourselves good, as people commonly do today. They will go to fortunetellers, this is big business today, all the magazines have various forms of fortunetellers like dial a horoscope etc. in a society that has lost touch with Allah, this is what is open to them. Allah has stressed for us that no calamity will befall us except by Allah's permission:

"Nothing is taking place in this world except by the permission of Allah."
And the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam further emphasized this principle by saying:

"If the whole of mankind gathered to do some thing to help us, they could not help in anything which Allah had not already written for us. And if the whole of mankind gathered together to harm us, then they would not be able to harm with anything which Allah had not already written for us."

Therefore what is required of us is to depend on Allah, put our trust in Allah. This is what we have to draw out of this attribute of Allah being the creator. This creation exists because of that attribute. Its practical significance to us lies in putting our trust in Allah.

There is another aspect, besides the fact that the creation exists because Allah is the creator. We can also see from what the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam has informed us, that in the creation there is manifestation of Allah's attributes of mercy, forgiveness, kindness etc etc. Allah created man in paradise, they disobeyed Allah, but Allah had taught them how to repent, how to turn back to him and seek his forgiveness, then he would forgive them. Having done that, they were forgiven, Adam became the first prophet, and mankind was absolved of that sin. The story of Adam and Eve is the story of human existence. Human beings are given a consciousness of Allah. When Allah created all human beings, as he states in the Qur'an, he took from Adam all of his descendents, and made them all bear witness that Allah is their Lord. So we are all born with that consciousness. He has also given us a consciousness of what is right and what is wrong.

"We have inspired each and every soul to an awareness of corruption and righteousness."
Allah gave revelation through his commandments, not to eat of the tree. However, human beings forget. And when they forget Allah then they fall into sin. We can absolve ourselves of that sin by means of repentance, and Allah forgives us when we repent sincerely. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:

"The one who repents is like the one without sin."

"If you did not commit sins and turn to Allah seeking his forgiveness, then he would replace you with another people who would sin, ask Allah's forgiveness and he would forgive them."

So in our sinning and asking Allah's forgiveness, the attribute of Allah's mercy and forgiveness becomes manifest. Allah knew what we were going to do before he created us, he knew that he was creating a species who would sin. If he didn't wan t them to sin, if it was not his intention to permit them to sin, then he could have created angels, more angels. But the had already created angels, so he chose to create a being, that would disobey his commandments through forgetfulness or just simple disobedience, but would turn back to him in repentance, and his attribute of forgiveness would become manifest. Similarly, his mercy.

The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is quoted as saying that when Allah created the universe, He made an obligation on Himself, recorded in a document, kept by Him, that "My mercy precedes my wrath." He sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam also was reported as saying:

"Allah created mercy with a hundred parts. One of which was sent down upon the jinn and human beings and other living creatures. It is out of this one part that they love each other, show kindness to one another, and even the animals treat their offspring with affection. Allah has reserved the remaining ninety-nine parts for his true worshippers on the Day of Judgment."
This is the mercy of Allah manifest in his creation. What is also manifest in creation, in the act of creation, the creation of man, is his attribute of justice, fairness, which comes out as the judgment at the end of this world. I am sure we have all read the ahadith in which the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:

"Allah created some people for hell and some people for paradise."
For a lot of people, this is something very heavy. And the companions, they asked the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam then what is the point in doing good deeds? If Allah created some for heaven and some for hell then what is the pin in doing anything? It has already been decided. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:

"Each one of you will find it easy to do what he was created for."
So if you choose the evil way, you find it easy and you carry on in that way, then that was what you were created for. But ultimately it is your choice. You choose hell. The fact hat Allah has recorded, before anything was created, who would be in hell and who would be in heaven does not change the fact that it is we who choose. The judgment is only to manifest to those who go to hell, that they deserve to be in hell. It is only for them basically. Because if Allah created you, and put you in paradise, with all that is in paradise, and you see those people in hell suffering, are you going to ask Allah, why did you put me in paradise? No, you're going to say "all praise be to Allah!", you don't want to question or to wonder, all you will be is ecstatic that you are of those in paradise. So the judgment is not for you, it is for those who are going to hell. If you happen to be amongst those who were created for and put in hell, you would say, why me? Why did you put me in hell? And Allah would say because you would have done so and so in your life. But you would say no, no I wouldn't. If you give me a chance I would do good deeds. You would not give up arguing.

So Allah has allowed us to live out our lives. So when we stand before him, our book of deeds is spread before us, we know without a shadow of a doubt, that we chose hell. That Allah's judgment is just. There is no injustice in it, in any way shape or form. Allah says he oppresses no one. We will know that we chose hell.

And the only thing that remains for us, and I pray that it is not in fact us, who are going to hell, is to beg Allah for another chance. Allah says:

"If you could only see when the sinners will bow their heads before their lord, saying; O Lord, we have now seen and heard, so send us back and we will do righteous deeds. Verily, we now believe with certainty."
This is the only response, which will be left for them. Or as Allah said:

"And those whose light scales of good deeds, they ruined themselves and they will be in hell eternally. The fire will burn their faces, and they will grin with disfigured lips, I will say to them; Were My Verses not recited to you, and you rejected them? They will reply; Our Lord, our misery overcame us and we were a people astray. Our Lord, bring us out of this, and if we ever return we will truly be unjust."
When we die, there remains behind us a barrier, the barzakh, none of us will come back, it is a one-way ticket. Those poor individuals who think they will get another chance, this is the new age religion, they think it is new, but it is just plain old Hindu delusion, that when you die, you get another chance to come back again. The effects of this actually, among Hindus, where I am in the UAE, there are a lot of Hindus here, everyday in the news paper you read about a Hindu man or woman who ties a rope to a ceiling fan, which is found in many of the homes, put it around their neck, kicked away the chair and passed out of this world. Suicide is common amongst them. Why? Because they think they have another chance. It will be a rude awakening for them when they meet the angel of death and find themselves in the next life, realizing that there is no coming back.

In the creation of man is manifest the grace of Allah. This is a particular point which all of us should reflect on and be thankful to Allah for. His grace, and Christians, they like to refer to us Muslims as those who don't believe in the grace of God, we are those who look at God's judgment and it is just about deeds, you do good then you go to heaven, you do bad and you go to hell, that is it, no grace there at all. For them the grace of God is there for all those who accept that he became a man, and was crucified by man, to provide salvation for human beings who's sins had become so great that they could not remove that sin through any act themselves. So it was with the spilling of the "Blood of God" that we could be absolved of our sins. For them, if you accept that God spilt his blood for mankind's salvation, then you have earned the grace of God. Does not matter what you do as long as you have accepted this belief in the grace of God.

Muslims also believe in the grace of God. Actually it plays a major and significant role. Often it is not stressed but it is important for us to realize how the grace of Allah is manifest in our creation. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Observe moderation, but if you fail, try to do as much as you can moderately and be happy. For none of you will enter Paradise only because of his deeds." Of course when the companions heard that they said, "O Messenger of Allah, not even you?" And the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Not even me. Were it not that Allah wrapped me in his mercy. And bear in mind that the deed most loved by Allah is one done constantly even if it is small."

What does this mean? It means that God's grace is manifest in our lives in that were He to call us to account, one good deed, one evil deed, equal to each other, then we would not enter paradise, not even the prophets of Allah. But Allah through his grace and mercy has multiplied the value of the good deeds. Allah says:

"Whoever brings a good deed, shall the value of ten like it. And whoever brings an evil deed will be punished with one like it. And they will not be wronged."
[Al-Qur'an 3:160]
This is Allah's grace. Good deeds erase evil deeds. One good deed will erase at least ten evil deeds. Allah's grace is not arbitrary, simply because you say I believe you have his grace, no matter what you do, no. The more good you do, the more of his grace is manifest in you. If you chose evil and reject the good, then you don't receive His grace, it doesn't matter what you say. If you say, I am a Muslim, I believe, but really you don't believe, it is just some words you are saying, them you will not be subject to the grace of Allah.

So the creation is a manifestation of Allah's attribute of being the creator. In the creation of man within the scheme of things, there is manifest Allah's attribute of mercy, his attribute of justice and this is the reason for the creation of man from the point of view of Allah. From human perspective, why did God create man in terms of for what purpose? Then this is the one we all know and are familiar with:

"We did not create the jinn and men except to worship us."
[Al-Qur'an 51:56]
So relative to Allah, we were created in a means or a way in which Allah has chosen to manifest his attributes of creation, mercy, grace etc and he could have chosen another one. But relative to us as human beings, we know that our purpose is to worship Allah. As we said, Allah does not need our worship, a Allah didn't need to create. When he created us to worship him, he didn't create us, out of a need for our worship, because Allah has no needs. In a famous hadith qudsi in which Allah says:

"If all of you, jinn and mankind, were to worship like the most righteous amongst you, it would not increase the dominion of Allah in any way shape or form. And if all of us, jinn and mankind ... "
Therefore when we look for the purpose of worship, we have to look into man. Allah created us to worship him, because we need to worship him. It is something he has given us as a means of benefiting ourselves. We are the ones who benefit from it. Worship has been established, fundamentally for the growth, the spiritual growth of man. This growth takes place through the remembrance of Allah. When you look at all the different aspects of worship, you will see the core of it is focused on the remembrance of Allah.

"Establish the prayer for My remembrance."
This is the essence for the consciousness of God. Allah says that he has:

" ... prescribed for us fasting, as he prescribed it for those before us, so that we may fear him."
Worship is there for us to remember Allah. And it is in the remembrance of Allah, that we achieve that consciousness. Because it is when we forget Allah, that Shaytan causes us to disobey Allah and fall into sin. So it is only in His remembrance that we can attain salvation. All of the various acts of worship from saying "Bismillah" when we eat is to help us remember Allah in order to grow spiritually.

Allah has said that he has created us to test us, to see which of us is best in deeds. He is not testing us to know, in the sense that he doesn't already know, but this world is a test for us in order again that we can grow spiritually.

We cannot develop this spiritual characteristic of generosity unless some of us have more then others and then we are required to give of the wealth we have. When we give, we grow. Similarly, if we were not in a position where others had more then us then we wouldn't have the ability to develop the higher spiritual quality of contentment, patience, satisfaction in what Allah has given us.

So it is all there in order to bring out the higher spiritual qualities, which enable us to attain the state, which makes us suitable and eligible to return to paradise. The paradise from which we were created, we were created in paradise and for paradise. Through our choices we have left, in this life, a field of testing, where we can grow to a state where we deserve paradise.

The purpose of this life is the worship of Allah, this life is a test. A test for us, will we worship Allah, or will we forget Him. This is where our focus has to begin.

What are the results related to my job in life

As justice is the main concern of Islam it is necessary that people should get justice in this world and the world hereafter. It sounds natural and logical that everyone should reap what he has sown. One should receive the fruit of his deeds. If one has sown flowers he should pluck flowers. If one has sown thorns he should pick thorns. Virtues breed virtues and vices breed vices. The Day of Judgment in the Quran has been also named as the Day of Reckoning, the Day of Resurrection, the Dooms day or the Day of Accountability. The account of the deeds of everyone is being maintained. Islamic concept of two angels maintaining the record of ever word and movement is scientific. The video has solved this mystery. The alpha and beta rays have special role in photographic process. The Gamma rays play their own part. It is a great lesson. If through material rays we can preserve activities there should be no doubt about our record preserved by the special divine agencies. The Quran in Sura “The Friday Prayers” announces: “The death from which you flee will truly overtake you; then will you be sent back to the knower of the things secret and open; and He will tell you (the truth) of the things you did.”(62:8)

Everybody’s record is being maintained during his life period. It is very accurate record. The day of judgement is the day of justice. No body will be wronged. His limbs will be his witness. He will see his record and his video film will be shown to him. Everyone will be rewarded or punished according to his deeds. The Quran in Sura “The Israelite” says; “Everyman’s fate we have fastened on his own neck. On the Day of Judgment we shall bring out for him a scroll, which he will see spread open. Read thine record sufficient is thy soul this day to make out an account against thee”. (17:13-14).

As the literal meaning of Arabic word used for the Day of Judgment “Qayamah” is to raise up, hence the question arise as to why they should be raised up after demise. There are three reasons for “Qayamah”.

(a) It is the demand of natural and divine justice that everyone should get the result of his life examination. As in academies one is given result of his tests, similarly everyone must get the result whether he passes or fails. About the examination of Life in Sura “The Bee” the Quran says: “Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily to him we will give a new life, a life that is good and pure, and we will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions.” (16:97).

(b) Had there been no concept of the Day of Judgment there would have been no human morality. Might is right would have become the law of the day. Atheists are of two types. The ideological atheist and the practical atheist. The practical atheist is the one who claims to have a religious faith but in practical life he acts otherwise. It is my considered opinion that the man who believes in God and fears God can never be a sinner or a transgressor. Hence to maintain the supremacy of Right over Might we must believe in the concept of the Day of Judgment. The concepts of Hell and Heaven are very essential to keep balance in human conduct. The tyrants, the oppressors, the murderers and the aggressors must be punished. If they escape in this world because of their power, pelf and influence they must be punished on Doomsday. Abraham must be rewarded and Nimrod must be chastised. Moses must be rewarded and Pharaoh be punished. Hussain be rewarded and Yazid be punished. It is divine justice and God promises that. In the Quran in Sura “Abraham” about the virtuous and righteous people God says; “But those who believe and work righteousness be admitted to gardens beneath which rivers flow. To dwell therein for aye with the permission of their lord.”(14:23).

(c) All the prophets have promised this day. They were sooth – sayers. They were divinely appointed. They were not liars. They were the messengers and warners sent from God. We must believe in their words and vows. We have no reason to reject or refute them. They valiantly, patiently and boldly bore the inflictions and excesses. They were tortured. They were persecuted. They were executed. But they never bowed before tyrants and vicious forces. Their steadfastness and perseverance testifies the truth of their mission when such truthful people believed in the Doomsday, we have no reason to disbelieve in which they believed. Now let us briefly discuss the Quranic logic about the Day of Judgment. The Quran refutes the plea of the unbelievers who say that how it can happen. After death when we will be turned into dust, then how can we resurrect? The Quran in Sura “Yasin” announces; “Does not man realize that we created him from a seed of fluid? Yet he does not believe and forgets even his own creation. He says as to who could revive the decayed bones back to life from nonentity.” (36:79). After giving the argument of first birth the Quran gives the second argument. It says: “one of the clear divine signs is that you see the earth dead and motionless, but as soon as Allah pours rain on it, it comes to life and becomes fertile and green. Allah who revives the dead earth to life will also revive the dead man to life. Allah is able to do all things: (41:39). Then in Sura “Saad” the Quran gives third argument on the basis of Justice. It is related to the Islamic concept of Good and Bad. The Quran says: “We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in vain, though this is the belief of the infidels. Woe to the disbelievers; they will suffer the torment of the Hellfire. Do we consider the righteously striving believers equal to the evil doers in the earth? Are the pious ones equal to those who openly commit sins?” (38:27-28).

These are the Quranic arguments about the Day of Judgment which no same person can reject. In verse 20 of Sura The Iron, in verse 20 of Sura Winding Sand Tracts and in verse 200 of Sura The Heifer the necessity of the Day of Judgement is mentioned. In Sura Mominun in verse 100 about ‘Barzakh’ (purgatory) the Quran says: “After death people will be behind Barzakh until the day of their resurrection. (23:100). According to the Quran it will be a great blast and earthquake. On the Day of Judgment people will emerge from their graves and congregate. The unbelievers will be raised with black faces and the righteous one with bright faces. The virtuous will be given the book, result sheet in to their right hands and the evil doers will be given in to their left hands. It will be an eternal life. May Allah grant us guidance to do good deeds and abstain from evil deeds!

1Summary
Dear new Muslim,the answer to the previous three questions
Who created me?
Why created me?
What'sthe benefit of my business?

The answerconfirms thethreebasicprinciples of the Islamic faith
1 -faith in the existence of Allah
2 -faith worship in Islam
3-Belief in the Last Day

http://store2.up-00.com/Sep13/G9n96363.gif

The Six Pillars of Faith


The pillars of Faith, Iman, enumerated in many verses of the Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, are belief in God, in God's Angels, His Books, His Messengers, in the Hereafter and in Qadar (Destiny). These are familiar terms; but the non-Muslim reader would be mistaken if he thought that the Islamic concepts designated by them are the same as those of other religions and philosophies. It is hoped that the following exposition, which is itself made in the light of the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet, will make this point clear. It will also make clear the fact that the Islamic concept of faith itself is, in many ways, different from the popular Western one. In the West faith is usually contrasted to reason and knowledge. But according to the Qur'an true faith is that which is based on knowledge and supported by argument. Any belief which is not so based and supported is considered by the Qur'an to be mere caprice and whim which a thinking person must avoid. True faith can therefore be gained through reflection and the acquisition of knowledge, and not by blind and irrational commitment. A person armed with such an enlightened faith can enter with great confidence into rational discussion with people who do not share his beliefs with the hope of showing them their mistakes and weaknesses and winning them over to truth. If this paper helps to take the reader a step in that direction it will have achieved its purpose, and all praise is due to God.


http://www.ebnmaryam.com/vb/clientsc...es/extra97.gif

Thou shalt believe
1. Allah
2. His Angels
3. His revealed Books
4. His Messengers
5. The Day of Resurrection
6. Al-Qadr; Whatever Allah has ordained must come to pass (In other words, fate and destiny).

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NUOjldMubj...s400/-iman.JPG

Belief in Allah

Muhammad, peace be upon him, was sent to invite people to God and to teach them how to perform the task for which they were created, namely to worship Him. Many of the people whom he addressed had a hazy idea of God. Some did believe in Him, though they associated other lesser gods with Him, but a few of them were downright atheists, or materialists, whose creed was, 'we live and we die and nothing causes our death except


Before inviting such atheists to God one must first convince them that there is such being. "What reason do you have for believing that there is a God?" This, logically, is the first question which a theistic view of life should address itself to. The Qur'anic answer to it is given in the following words:


" . . were they created out of nothing? Or were they the creations (of themselves) or did they create the heavens and earth." [Tur, Lll: 36]

The Qur'an is here saying that for everything like man that has a beginning in time, there are only three ways of explaining how it came to be.

a.Either it is created, or made, or caused by nothing at all i.e. it came out of nothing. b.Or it is the creator of itself. c.c. Or it has a creator, cause, or maker, outside itself.

The third possibility is not mentioned in the quoted verse but it is understood because the verse is addressed to people who deny the existence of a creator and it is telling them that if there is no creator then only two possibilities remain. But the Qur'an does not go into the details of showing why the first two positions are untenable. Clarity of expression often convinces people of the truth or untruth of a statement. Mental seeing here, more than physical seeing, is believing (or rejecting). This is borne out in the case of these Qur'anic words by a historical event. Jubayr Ibn Mut`im, until then, a non-Muslim was sent by Quraysh on a mission to the Muslims at Madina. He says that when he arrived he heard the Prophet, who was leading the evening prayer, reading Surat al-Tur and when he reached the foregoing verses "my heart was almost rent asunder.''] Shortly after that Jubayr embraced Islam.

Why did this happen to him? Probably because the verse made things clear to him for the first time. It is inconceivable for something to come out of or be made by nothing at all, he realized, and it is even more inconceivable that it should bring itself into being. Hence the only conclusion is that it must have a creator outside itself.

A thesis is therefore untenable if it means the denial of any maker or cause whatsoever. But admitting that this is indeed so, one might still wonder why should that cause or maker or creator be the God to whom Muhammad was inviting people? Why shouldn't it be one of the many other gods in whom people believe or why shouldn't it even be the "matter" of the materialists? Almost the entire Qur'an deals with this question but we shall do our best to give a brief answer which would provide the reader with the basics of the Qur'anic position. In a nutshell the answer is as follows: to explain the coming into being of temporal things, the creator (or cause or maker) for which we are looking, must (logically must) have the attribute of the God to whom Muhammad invites us. How so?

The creator must be of a different nature from the things created because, if he is of the same nature as they are, he will have to be temporal and therefore need a maker. It follows that "nothing is like Him." [Shura, XLII: 11] If the maker is not temporal then he must be eternal. But if he is eternal, he cannot be caused, and if nothing causes him to come into existence, nothing causes him to continue to exist, which means that he must be self sufficient. And if he does not depend on anything for the continuance of his existence, then that existence can have no end. The creator is therefore eternal and everlasting: "He is the first and the last." [Hadid, LVII: 3] "All that dwells upon the earth is perishing, yet still abides the Face of thy Lord, majestic, splendid." [Rahman, LV: 26-27]

There are two ways in which causes produce their effects. Either they produce them naturally or intentionally. The maker that has the attributes we have enumerated cannot be a natural cause. Because if things of this world flow from Him naturally and spontaneously, they cannot be but of the same nature as He is. And if like all natural causes He causes only under certain conditions, then His power is limited. It follows that He must be a willful agent. But intention implies knowledge and both imply life. So, that maker must be a living all-knowing agent with a will that is absolutely free. Thus God according to the Qur'an does everything with intention and for a purpose.
"Surely We have created everything in (due) measure." [Qamar, LXIV: 49]

"What, did you think that We created you only for sport?" [Mu'minun, XXIII: 115]

He is absolutely free to do whatever he wills [Hud, Xl: 107] and is aware of every movement of His creation.
"He knows what is in land and sea; not a leaf falls, but He knows it. Not a grain in the earth's shadow, not a thing fresh or withered, but it is in a Book Manifest. It is He who recalls you by night, and He knows what you work by day."[An'am, Vl: 59-60]

God is living:

"There is no God but He, the living, the everlasting. Slumber seizes Him not, neither sleep; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Who is there that shall intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows what lies before them and what is after them, and they comprehend not anything of His knowledge save such as He wills. His throne comprises the heavens and earth; the preserving of them oppresses Him not; He is the All-high, the All-Glorious.[Baqara, II: 255]

God is not only willing and powerful, He is also Just in that He does not punish a sinner for more than his crime. He is merciful and His mercy, in the words of the Prophet "overcame his punishment." So He does not punish us for whatever we do, but forgives and erases our sins, and magnifies and multiplies our good deeds.

"The likeness of those who expend their wealth in the way of God is as the likeness of a grain of corn that sprouts seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains, so God multiplies unto whom He will; God is All-embracing, All-knowing."[Baqara, Il: 261]

These, and many others which can be arrived at in a similar way, are the attributes which the true creator must possess. Any other being or object which is alleged to be a god or an ultimate cause and which necessarily lacks some of them cannot in actual fact be what it is believed to be. Thus, having shown clearly what the true God should be like, the Qur'an goes on to show why there cannot be any god but He, and reveals the falsity of all alleged gods.

To the worshipers of man-made objects it says:

"Do you worship what you have carved out and God created you and what you make?"[Saffat, XXXVIl: 95]
and

"... have they taken unto themselves others beside Him who create nothing, who are themselves created, who cannot protect them, nor can they protect themselves."
[A`raf, Vll: 191-192]

To the worshipers of heavenly bodies it relates as a reminder the story of Abraham:

When night outspread over him he saw a star and said, 'This is my Lord.' But when it set he said, 'l love not the setters.' When he saw the moon rising, he said, 'This is my Lord.' But when it set he said, 'If my Lord does not guide me I shall surely be of the people gone astray.' when he saw the sun rising, he said, 'This is my Lord; this is greater!' But when it set he said, 'O my people, surely I am quit of what you associate with God. I have turned my face to Him who originated the heavens and the earth, a man of pure faith; I am not of the idolaters.' [An`am, Vl: 76-79]
And when, later on, the Prophet comes i nto contact with the Jews and Christians, the Qur'an condemns their belief in the divine nature of human-beings.

"The Jews say, 'Ezra is the son of God.' The Christians say, 'The Messiah is the son of God.' That is the utterance of their mouths, conforming with the unbelievers before them. God assail them! How they are perverted." [Tawba, IX: 30]

It tells them that if everything is created by God then it must be His servant and cannot, therefore be his son, [Maryam, XIX: 88-95].
It then goes on to explain to the Christians the real nature of Jesus.

"Truly, the likeness of Jesus in God's sight is as Adam's likeness; He created him of dust, then said He unto him 'Be!' and he was." [Aal `Imran, Ill: 59]

For someone to take something as a god, it is not necessary that he should acknowledge it as such or worship it in a ritualistic way; it is enough for him to follow its dictates obediently, or devote to it acts or have towards it feelings which should be devoted to or felt towards God only. There are many such unacknowledged gods.

"Hast thou seen him who has taken his caprice to be his God? Wilt thou be a guardian over him?" [Furqan,] XXV: 43]
"They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords apart from God, and the Messiah, Mary's son, and they were commanded to serve but one God."[Tawba, IX: 31]

Thus to be a Muslim - i.e.. to surrender oneself to God— it is necessary to believe in the unity of God in the sense of His being the only creator, preserver and nourisher. But this belief - later on called tawhid ar-rububiyya - is not enough. In fact many of the idolaters did know and believe that it is the supreme God alone who can do all this. But that was not enough to make them Muslims. To tawhid ar-rububiyya one must add tawhid al uluhiyya i.e. one must acknowledge the fact that it is this God alone who deserves to be worshiped, and therefore abstain from directing any of one's acts of worship to someone or someth ing else. In the Qur'an the argument for tawhid al-uluhiyya is based on tawhid ar-rububiyya i.e. if it is God alone who creates and controls everything why then and to what end do you worship others beside Him?

"O you men, serve your Lord who created you, and those that were before you; haply so you will be god-fearing; who assigned to you the earth for a couch, and heaven for an edifice, and sent down out of heaven water, wherewith He brought forth fruits for your provision; so set not up rivals to God wittingly." [al-Baqara, Il: 21-22]

Having known the true God, man is called upon to affirm what he knows i.e. to believe and have faith in God, and not allow any ulterior motives to induce him to deny a fact which he knows to be true.

"... that they who have been given knowledge may know it is the truth from thy Lord and so believe in it, and thus their hearts become humble unto him."[Hajj, XXII: 54]

"But when our signs came to them visibly, they said, "This is a manifest sorcery;' end they denied them, though their souls acknowledged them, wrongfully and out of pride." [Naml, XXVII: 14]

When faith enters a person's heart, it causes therein certain mental states, which result in certain apparent actions, both of which are the proof of true faith.
Foremost among those mental states is the feeling of gratitude towards God, which could be said to be the essence of ibada (worshiping or serving God).

This feeling of gratitude is so important that a nonbeliever is called kafir which means, 'one who denies a truth' and also 'one who is ungrateful.' One can understand why this is so when one reads in the Qur'an that the main motive for denying the existence of God is that of unjustified pride. Such a proud person feels that it does not become him to be created or governed by a being whom he must thus acknowledge to be greater than himself and to whom he must be grateful.
"Those who dispute concerning the signs of God without any authority come to them, in their hearts is only pride that they shall never attain."[Ghafir, XL: 56]

With the feeling of gratitude goes that of love.

"There are some people who take to themselves (for worship) others apart from God loving them as they should love God: But those who believe, love God more ardently than they love anything else."[Baqara, Il: 165]

A believer loves and is grateful to God for His bounties, but being aware of the fact that his good deeds, whether mental or physical, are far from being commensurate with Divine favors, he is always anxious lest because of his sins God should withhold from him some of these favors or punish him in the hereafter. He therefore fears Him, surrenders himself to Him, and serves Him with great humility.
"Your God is one God, so to Him surrender. And give thou good tidings unto the humble who, when God is mentioned, their hearts quake."[Anfal, Vll: 2]
One cannot be in such a mental state, without being almost all the time mindful of God. Remembering God is thus the life-force of faith, without which it fades and might even wither away. So,
"The faithful are those who remember God, standing and sitting, and on their sides."[Aal `Imran, Ill: 191]

The Qur'an therefore prescribes and describes, in great detail ways and means of helping man to remember God and keep his faith alive. All Qur'anic and Prophetic injunctions and prohibitions which extend to all aspects of human life acts of worship and personal matters, social relations, political order, etc., etc. - are designed to put man in a state which is conducive to God's remembrance. The details of this Islamic way of life were expounded in the Madina period, and we shall not therefore be concerned with them now. But the main principles of this new order were already laid down in the Makkan period, and will be summarized at the end of this chapter.

We shall now go on to deal with the other pillars of faith. These are belief in life after death, in God's angels, His books, His messengers and His qadar, the arguments for all of which are almost entirely based on the assumption that the audience believes in God.

Belief in the Angels

Allah says the following about angels in the Quran:

The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His Messengers (al-Bakara, 285).

The Fundamentals of belief are belief in Allah, belief in His Angels, belief in His Books, belief in His Prophets, belief in the hereafter, belief in the destiny respectively. Belief is only one of the realities emerging from these six fundamentals. It cannot be divided or separated. It cannot be divided into parts. It is not possible to believe in some of the fundamentals and not to believe in others. Each fundamental of belief proves the other fundamentals of belief with the evidences that prove themselves.

6. 1. THE EXISTENCE OF ANGELS

Allah is able to do all things. He can create a tree very easily and equip it with branches, knots, leaves, flowers and fruits; He can also create and creates a garden and even all the gardens on the earth as easily. Allah creates a cell easily with his endless power; he can also create and creates all of the cells, all animals from fish to lion and man as easily. We see them with our eyes.

Since Allahs power is endless, He can create and created man out of soil, angels out of light and jinns out of fire. Allah is able to create everything.
Jinns and angels are beings with souls and conscience like human beings. Men were created out of soil, angels out of light and jinn out of fire. Human beings and jinn were created to believe in Allah and to worship Him. However they were left free to carry out the duties of belief in Allah and worshipping Him. If they do it they will receive the reward if not the punishment. Angels were created only to worship Allah and carry out His orders. There is no disobedience by angels.

All of the angels obey the orders of Allah without any objection and worship Him. They have no gender like male or female. Jinn resemble man in one aspect. Some of them obey Allah and others disobey Him. They eat, drink and reproduce. The first evil jinni is Iblis (the devil). He disobeyed Allah because of his pride and went astray; he has been trying to tempt men since then.

The fact that our world, which is a small planet, has been filled with so many living beings with souls and conscience shows that the numerous stars and planets in the sky have been filled with living beings with souls and conscience. Otherwise the creation of the stars in the sky would be meaningless and without any reason or wisdom. However, Allah is Perfectly Wise; He wont do anything meaningless and nonsense.

Those residents of the sky that have various species are called angels and spiritual beings by the Quran. They were created in such a way to adapt to the conditions of the medium they live in. Therefore, an angel that lives in the sun can wander on the surface, in or through the layers of the sun like men wander in the vineyards and gardens.

The purpose of the creation of the beings with conscience is to believe in Allah and to worship Him. Angels, like men and jinn, believe and worship. They watch this palace of world. They contemplate on the beings in the universe and they proclaim it.

The duties of the angels are somewhat similar to those of men. The purpose of the creation of man and being sent to this world is also valid for angels and spiritual beings. Allah says the following in a divine hadith: I was a secret treasure; I created the creatures to make myself known. So, one of the most important reasons and wisdoms of the creation of the universe is the recognition and proclamation of the Lord by looking at the universe by the creatures with intelligence and conscience. Everything in the universe makes Allah, who created the universe, known with his beautiful nouns clearly as a pin makes its maker and a letter makes its writer known. No doubt, a simplest work of art cannot be without a master; similarly this universe and the creatures in it cannot be without a Creator; it is impossible.

Since Allah created the universe to make Himself known by the beings with intelligence and conscience, there wont be any places in the universe without beings with intelligence and conscience. They will know Him, worship Him in the moon and in the sun, in the stars and in the galaxies and in the worlds that we do not know.

The human body was created in accordance with the living conditions in the world. For instance, fish were created in accordance with the living conditions in water. Angels were created in accordance with the living conditions of the world they live in. Angels were created out of light. Therefore fire does not harm them; and their presence in the stars does not harm them either because they were created out of light. Angels wander on the sun and through all its layers watching the miracles of Allahs power, contemplating and worshipping as man wander in the vineyards and gardens contemplating.

The food of the angels is light or things similar to light. For instance, the recital of the Quran, beautiful words and meanings, even the beautiful scents are a kind of food for angels. Bad smells are things that they do not like. Therefore our Prophet (PBUH) wore nice scents and recommended it.

One of the clearest evidences for the existence of angels is the Quran. The Quran informs us that angels exist. Since the Quran is the word of Allah, all of its evidences are the evidences of the existence of angels.

Similarly, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) informs us about the existence of angels. The prophethood evidences of the Prophet are the evidences of the existence of angels. Works displayed in an exhibition want people that can understand those works. Similarly, the wonderful and adorned works of art and nice embroidery of Allah exhibited in the universe want people who will watch them. The watching by the human beings will not suffice. There should be other conscious beings too. They are angels.

Another piece of evidence from the universe is that various creatures are created out of things like soil around us. The being that creates creatures out of soil and decayed materials can create and created creatures from fire and light.

6. 2. THE TRUE NATURE OF ANGELS

Angels are conscious and intelligent beings like human beings; they were created out of light. Their food is worshipping Allah, glorifying and praising Allah, beautiful words and meanings, and nice scents.

The following is stated in a hadith:

"I see what you do not see and I hear what you do not hear. Now the sky hummed, it deserved to hum. There is not enough space in the sky for four fingers to occupy; there are angels everywhere prostrating to Allah." (Tirmizi, Zuhd 9, 2313).

Angels can be in many places at the same time with the permission of Allah, they may have different forms too. As people on television seem in a lot of places at the same time, angels can be in many places at the same time. For instance, Hazrat Azrael can appear in more than one place at the same time and take the souls of a lot of people.

Angels are the creatures and slaves of Allah that obtained His blessing and grants. They never disobey the orders of Allah. They do whatever they are ordered to do. They do not have human weaknesses like self-importance, pride and ambition. The number of the angels is too many to be calculated. The farthest corners of the sky and the space are full of angels. Each one of the stars and planets we see in the sky is like a mosque for angels.

6. 3. KINDS OF ANGELS AND THEIR DUTIES

There are many kinds of angels. Their duties are different. Some kinds and their duties are mentioned in the Quran. Angels are in charge of glorifying and worshipping Allah in accordance with their talents. Four of them are archangels. Their names are Jibril, Mikail, Israfel, Azrael.

Hazrat Jibril is in charge of conveying the orders of Allah to prophets by revelation. One of the continuous duties of Hazrat Jibril is to convey and explain the orders of Allah to human beings. This is his worshipping duty.

Hazrat Mikail is in charge of supervising all of the creatures in the world on behalf of Allah by His permission. Allahs mercy manifests itself as the food and drinks of these creatures in the largest sense and in the nicest way. It is necessary to thank Allah for His numerous grants and favors like those food and drinks. It is Hazrat Mikail who represents the thanks of the unconscious beings as a conscious being. He also worships continuously by supervising the grants of Allah.

Hazrat Israfel is in charge of blowing Soor (the trumpet) by the permission of Allah when it is due. In the first blowing all of the beings in the heavens and on the earth will die; in the second blowing all of the dead will be resurrected.

The most awesome and terrifying actions of Allah in the world of the living are reviving, giving life and sending beings to the other world by death. The duty of supervising these happenings was given to Hazrat Israfel and Hazrat Azrael. This duty is their worshipping of Allah. They are not the assistants of Allah.

Hazrat Azrael is in charge of taking the souls of people and keeping them by the permission of Allah.

OTHER ANGELS

Kiraman Katibin (Honorable Recorders). Two angels were appointed for each man by the permission of Allah; one to record the good deeds, the other to record the sins.

Angels guarding men. They are appointed to protect men from troubles and misfortunes by the permission of Allah.

Angels praying for men. Some angels were appointed to pray for believers by the permission of Allah.

Munkar-Nakir angels. They are appointed to interrogate people in the grave. Their attitude towards each person is different in accordance with their deeds. They expand the graves of believers, make them spacious, free believers from loneliness and become intimate friends with them in the grave.

6. 4. PLACE OF BELIEF IN
ANGELS IN
MAN'S LIFE

1. When man contemplates on the universe, he feels alone and needy in the endless space. If he knows the existence of angels, he will understand that he is not alone and that like the earth, the universe is full of conscious beings created in accordance with the living conditions of the universe and that glorify and worship Allah, and his soul will be freed from terror and wildness.

2. If man has good deeds he wants his good deeds to be saved and not to be lost. By believing in Kiraman Katibin (Honorable Recorders), he knows that his good deeds are saved and he tries to do more good deeds. Thinking the rewards of his good deeds in the hereafter, he feels kind of the pleasures of the hereafter and Paradise even in the world.

3. Believers who are inclined to do bad deeds refrain themselves from bad deeds, oppression and aggression thanks to belief in angels by saying, There are Allahs angels that record whatever I do.

4. The terrible face of death seems beautiful thanks to belief in Hazrat Azrael. Therefore he sees Azrael as a compassionate friend.

5. The pleasure that a worshipping believer takes from mentioning Allahs name and remembering him, from worship increases one thousand times because he knows that angels and spiritual beings listen to him.

6. 5. SOURCES

- The Quran
- Nursi,, B. Said. Sözler (Words). rnk Neriyat. Istanbul, 2006, p. 548 etc

Belief in the Books


A Muslim believes that the Qur'an is the word of God. But it is not the only word. God sent many prophets before Muhammad and He spoke to them as He spoke to him. So a Muslim also believes (in fact he would not be a Muslim if he did not believe) in these earlier books, like the Torah and the Gospel, since the true believers are those who "believe in what has been sent down to thee (Muhammad) and what has been sent down before thee" [al Baqara, IV: 4].

"Say: We believe in God, and that which has been sent down on us, and sent down on Abraham and Ishmael, Isaac and Jacob, and the Tribes, and in that which was given to Moses and Jesus, and the prophets, of their Lord; we make no division between any of them." [al Baqara, II: 136]


God created men so that they may serve Him. His being a serva nt of God constitutes the essence of man. Man ca nnot therefore attain to his true humanity and acquire peace of mind unless he realises this aim for which he was created. But how can he do this! God, being merciful and Just, has helped him in many ways. He granted him as we said before an

originally good nature that is inclined to know and serve its true Lord. He granted him a mind that possesses a moral sense and the ability to reason. He made the whole universe a natural book full of signs that lead a thinking person to God. But to make things more specific, to give him more detailed knowledge of his Lord, and to show him in a more detailed manner how to serve Him, God has been sending down verbal messages through His prophets chosen from among men, ever since the creation of man. Hence the description of these messages in the Qur'an as guidance, light, signs, reminders, etc.

All these books advocated basically the same message,
"And we sent never a Mesenger before thee except that we revealed to him, saying,'there is no God but I so serve Me.'" [Anbiya', XXI: 25]


And the religion which they all expounded is Islam i.e. surrender to God,

"The true religion with God is Islam." [Al-`Imran, III:19]
Thus Noah (X:72) Abraham (III: 67), Jacob and his sons (II: 133), the Apostles (V: 111), etc. were all Muslims.

Islam in this sense is in fact the religion of the universe.
"What! do they desire another religion than God's and to Him has surrendered (aslama = became a Muslim)

whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, anti to Him they shall be returned." [Al-`Imran, III:83]

If the religion of all prophets is the same in its essence and basic foundation, not so are the ways of life based upon it. [Ma'ida, V: 48]

One last important point about books is that with the exception of the Qur'an they have not been preserved intact, but have either been completely lost or else suffered distortion and corruption. As to the Qur'an God has decreed that it shall never be subjected to such distortion but shall be preserved by Him. [Hijr, XV: 9]

Belief in the Messengers

Messengers are human beings chosen by God who have the honor of conveying God's message to other men and women. Being such a Messenger is not a position that one attains by any consciously designed effort. It is a grace from God, but God grants this grace to those who are deserving of it. Messengers are not then, like the rank and file of us. True, they are men but they are men of an extremely high moral, spiritual and intelleaual standard that qualifies them--in the eyes of God--to be the bearers of His light to the world. When God chooses any of them, He supports the messenger with a clear 'sign' [Hadid, LVII: 25] that proves the truth of his claim, and distinguishes him from false prophets, sorcerers and soothsayers [Taghabun, LXIV:41-42], [Taha, XX: 69].

None of them betrays the message or falls short of being exemplary in practicing what he preaches. (Hud, XI: 88j.

Asked about prophet Muhammad's conduct his wife Ayesha said, "It was the Qur'an," meaning that he embodied all the ideals which the Qur'an presents.
Two related points about messengers which the Qur'an stresses, and which therefore deserve some elaboration are the humanity of prophets and the nature of their task.
Despite the vast spiritual, moral and intellectual difference between them and ordinary men, and despite the special relation with God that they enjoy, prophets are nonetheless humans with all that this term implies. They beget and are begotten; they eat and drink and go about in market plates [Furqan, XXV: 20]; they sleep and they die [Anbiya, XXI: 34]; they forget and they err [Taha, XX: 121), [Kahf, XVIII: 34].

Their knowledge is limited; and can therefore tell only that part of the future which God reveals to them [Jin, LXXII: 26-27]. They cannot intercede with God on behalf of any person except with His permission [Jin, LXXII: 26-27], and it is not left to them to cause people to go in the right path [Qasas, XXVIII: 56]. In short, they have no part to play in the running of the affairs of the universe [Al-'lmran, III:128]. Many early Muslim scholars have observed that to emphasize the humanity of the Prophet the Qur'an called him 'servant of God' on the three occasions on which he was honored.


"Blessed be He who has sent down the Salvation [Qur'an] upon His servant." [Furqan, XXV: 1]


"Glory be to Him, who carried His servant by night from the Holy Mosque to the Further Mosque the precints of which We have blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs." [Israa, XVII, 1]

"When the servant of God stood calling on Him, they were well-nigh upon him in swarms." [Jinn, LXII:119]

A Prophet whose humanity is specially emphasized is Jesus. He was created in the same manner as Adam was created, from soil [Al-'lmran: III, 59j; he is the son of Mary not of God [Nisa', IV: 157]; he and his mother used to eat food IMa'ida, V: 75]; he is indeed the word of God [Baqara, II: 45j but since he is a human being in the full sense of the word, this should not be interpreted to mean that there is a Divine element in him. He is the word of God only in the sense that God said 'Be' and he was. But in that sense everything is the word of God. Why then is he in particular called the word of God! Because, as many scholars have, rightly explained, he came more directly as a result of this word. Jesus is thus a loyal servant of God who never claimed that he was in any sense divine. [Ma'ida, V:116-117]


Messengers are entrusted, we said, with the task of conveying God's word to other people. But this is not as simple as it looks. It implies many things which are not at first sight clear, and which the Qur'an therefore expounds and elaborates.

The most important point of which all Messengers are reminded, and which is very easy to forget or be heedless of, is that since their duty is only to convey the message they are not responsible for peoples' reaction to it, once they have made it clear to them. God has given man the power to understand the difference between truth and falsehood, especially in matters religious, once this has been explained to him. God has also given him the ability, by reason of his free-will, either to accept or reject this truth. And since it is only God who

knows what goes on in people's minds, it is only He who can judge who is worthy of being guided and who deserves to be left groping in the dark; and it is God who according to this knowledge guides whom He will and withholds His guidance from Whom He will. A prophet has no such power, and cannot, therefore, guide whom he loves. [Qasas, XXVIII: 56].

"Then remind them thou are only one who reminds, thou art not charged to oversee them." [Gashiya, LXXXVIII: 21-22].

He should not, therefore feel sad if people turn away from him, or impute falsehoods to his message [An'am, VI: 33-34]. But this is a most difficult rule to abide by. We love to be accepted by the community in which we live; many of us must have experienced that strange feeling of sadness, loneliness, and being lost when we come to live as aliens in a new community. We undergo a similar but more intense feeling, when as a result of our intellectual convictions we come to hold about life views that are entirely different from those of our own community. One easy and usual escape from the psychological and other hardships of such a life is to live in seclusion from society. Those who, for some reason cannot afford such a withdrawal, more often than not, sacrifice intellectual honesty for conformity with their community. Prophets have of course to live in the midst of the people for whom they are sent and they do not of course go to the extent of betraying their message. To have to cling tenaciously to the word of God, and yet live in the midst of people, is perhaps the greatest difficulty they have to put up with. This is made evident by the fact that most of the few occasions on which the Qur'an expresses God's disapproval of a certain line of behaviour taken by the Prophet Muhammad are related to his being so keen to win adherents as to verge on exceeding the desirable limits.

"Yet perchance if they believe wilt consume thyself, following not in this tiding, thou alter them of grief." [Kahf, XVIII: 6].

"Indeed they were near to seducing thee from that We revealed to thee, that thou mightest, forge against Us another, and then they would surely have taken thee as a friend. hnd had We not confirmed thee, surely thou were near to inclining unto them a very little; then would We have let thee taste the double of life and the double of death; and then thou wouldst have found none to help thee against Us. [Isra', XVII: 73-74].

Belief in Qadar

The original meaning of the word Qadar is specified measure or amount whether of quantities or qualities. It has many other usages which branch out from this core. Thus yuqad-dir means, among other things, to measure or decide the quantity, quality, position, etc. of something before you actually make it. And it is this latter sense which interests us here.

"God is the creator of everything, but whatever He creates, He creates with qadnr. [Qamar, LIV: 49]


He knows before creating it, that He is going to create it and that it shall be of such and such magnitude, quality or nature etc. and specifies the time of its coming into being and passing away, and the place of its occurrence. If so, then one who believes in the true God should believe that there are no accidents in nature. If something disagreeable happens to him, he should say "God qad-dara (ordained), and He did what He willed" and not waste himself over wishing that it had not occurred, or worrying why it should occur. If on the other hand something agreeable happens to him he should not boast of it, but thank God for it.


"No affliction befalls in the earth or in yourselves, but it is in a Book, before We create it; that is easy for God; that you may not grieve for what escapes you, nor rejoice (vaingloriously) in what has been given to you, God loves not any man proud and boastful." [Hadid, LVII: 23].


If God yuqad-dir (predestines, predetermines etc.) everything, that includes our so called free actions. But if so in what way can they be said to be free, and how are we responsible for them? This question occasioned the appearance, at a very early history of Islam,of two extreme theological sects. One of them, called the Qadariya, asserted man's free will and responsibility to the extent of denying God's foreknowledge, and claiming that God knows our free made actions only after we have performed them. The other, called the Jabriyya, did just the opposite and claimed that there was no difference between the motions of inanimate things and our movements in performing so-called free actions, and that when we use intentional language we speak only metaphorically.

But there is no need to go to such extremes, since it is not difficult to reconcile Divine Qadar and human responsibility. God decided to create man as a free agent, but He knows (and how can He not know!) before creating every man how he is going to use his free will; what, for instance, his reaction would be when a Prophet clarifies God's message to him. This foreknowledge and its registering in a 'Book' is called Qadar.'But if we are free to use our will' a Qadari might say,'We may use it in ways that contradict God's will, and in that case we would not be right in claiming that everything is willed or decreed by God.' The Qur'an answers this question by reminding us that it was God who willed that we shall be wilful, and it is He who allows us to use our will.


"Surely, this is a Reminder; so he who will, takes unto his Lord a way, but you will not unless God wills." [lnsan, LXXVI: 29-30].

'If so', says a Qadari, 'He could have prevented us from doing evil.' Yes indeed He could.

"Had God willed, He would have brought them all together to the guidance; if thy Lord had willed whoever is in the earth would have believed, all of them, all together." [Yunus, X: 99].

"Had God willed, they were not idolaters; and we have not appointed thee a watcher over them neither art thou their guardian." [An'am, VI: 107]


But He had willed that men shall be free especially in regard to matters of belief and disbelief.


Say: "The truth is from your Lord; so let whosoever will believe, and let whosoever will disbelieve." [Kahf, XVIII: 29].


But men would not be so free if whenever any of them wills to do evil God prevents him from doing it and compels him to do good.

"II our actions are willed by Cod," someone might say, "then they are in fact His actions." This objection is based on a confusion God wills what we will in the sense of granting us the will to choose and enabling us to execute that will i.e. He creates all that makes it possible for us to do it. He does not will it in the sense of doing it, otherwise it would be quite in order to say, when we drink or eat or sleep for instance that God performed these actions. God creates them, He does not do or perform them. Another objection, based on another confusion, is that if God allows us to do evil, then He approves of it and likes it. But to will something in the sense of allowing a person to do it is one thing; and to approve of his action and commend it, is quite another Not everything that God wills He likes. He has, as we have just read in the Qur'an, granted man the choice betwen belief and disbelief, but He does not, of course, like men to disbelieve (to be thankless).


"If you art unthankful, God is independent of you. Yet He anpproves not unthankfulness in His servants; but if you are thankful, He will approve it in you." [Zumar, XXXIX: 7].

The Day of Resurrection

The Qur'anic arguments for the reality of another life after death are intended to prove that it is possible and also desirable that there should be such a life, and that without believing in it our belief in the true God cannot be complete.

i. Many of the people whom the Prophet addressed in Makka did believe - as we said before - in a supreme God, but many of them thought that it was impossible for their dead and disintegrated bodies to be resurrected. They therefore mocked and laughed at the Prophet when he told them about it. The Qur'anic reply was that there was no reason for such astonishment and mockery because resurrection is not only logically but physically possible for the following reasons:

a. If it is God who created man in the first place, why should it be impossible for him to recreate him when he dies? Resurrection should be easier than original creation.
"He it is He who originates creation, then brings it back again and this (the latter) is easier for Him." [Rum, XXX: 27]

b. If you think about it carefully, you will come to see that the bringing of life to the dead is a common natural phenomenon. To believe in the possibility of the resurrection of human beings, a thinking person does not need to see a person coming to life again. It is enough to see other dead bodies coming to life.

"And of His signs is that thou seest the earth humble; then, when we send down water upon it, it quivers and swells. Surely He who quickens it is He who quickens the dead;
surely He is powerful over everything." [Fussilat, XLI: 39]

"Was he not a sperm-drop ? Then he was a blood clot, and He created and formed and He made of him two kinds, male and female. What! is He not able to quicken the dead?" [Qiyama, LXXV: 37-40]

ii. Why is resurrection desirable? Simply because without it, God would not be the Just and Wise and merciful God He is. God created men and made them responsible for their actions; some behaved well but others did not. If there is no future life in which the virtuous are rewarded and the vicious are punished, there would be no justice and the creation of men in that way and the sending of Prophets to them would be to no purpose at all. But this kind of behaviour is not expected of a man known to be rational and just, let alone the Perfect Creator.

"What! does man reckon he shall be left to roam at will! What! did you think that we created you only for sport and that you would not be returned to Us? [Mu'minun, XXIII: 115]


"Surely for the God, fearing shall be gardens of bliss with their Lord. What! shall we make those who have surrendered like to the sinners? What ails you then, how you judge? [Qaf: LXVIII: 34-36]

We have not created the heavens and earth, and what is between them, for vanity; such is the thought of the unbelievers." [Sad, XXXVIII: 27]

iii. Is the real and only motive for denying the reality of a life after death that which is expressed by the arguments which the deniers put forward, and to which the Qur'an replies! By no means, says the Qur'an. The real motive is often a psychological one. Those who do evil do not wish to be punished and it is this wishful thinking that leads them to deny the reality of a time when such punishment shall take place.

"Does man reckon We shall not gather his bones! Nay, but man desires to continue on as a libertine, asking, 'When shall be the Day of Resurrection!" [Qiyama, LXXV: 3-6]

"And none cries lies to it (the day of judgement) but every guilty aggressor." [Mutaffifin, LXXXIII: 12]

A question that is often raised in connection with reward and punishment in the hereafter and which causes some people to doubt the desirability if not the truth of such a life is, 'Do we do what is good because it is good or for fear of punishment and expectation of reward! If we do it for the former, then what is the use of believing in the hereafter, and if we do it for the latter we will not be acting morally. 'The answer to this question depends on whether God enjoins us to do an act because it is good, or whether it is this Divine injunction which makes the action good. And it seems to me to be very clear that the goodness of an act is logically prior to its being an object of a Divine injunction. Otherwise it would be a tautology to say 'God enjoins what is good' because it would only mean God enjoins what He enjoins. But the Qur'an abounds in statements like the former, and it is very clear that they are not intended to be tautological.

The answer to our original question then is that we do what is good because it is good. But since to give good for good is itself good, there is no contradiction in saying that one does good because the God whom he loves and in Whom he puts his trust tells him to do it, and because he expects to be rewarded by Him for doing it.

According to the Qur'an God created man of an original nature--called fitra--which possesses what we might call a moral sense, which enables man to recognize without any external aid certain acts like telling the truth and being grateful as good, and by reason of which he is inclined to do good once he comes to know it. True religion is built on the basis of this original human nature. Religion strengthens nature and brings to fruition the seeds of virtue that reside in it. That is why Islam is said in the Qur'an to be fitrat-Allah and why the Prophet says that he was sent only to perfect good conduct. The Qur'an praises those in whom this moral sense is sharp and condemns those in whom it has become so blunt that the ugliness of vice becomes in their eyes the model of beauty:


"But God has endeared to you belief, decking it fair in your hearts, and He has made detestable to you unbelief and ungodliness and disobedience. Those they are the right minded, by God's favour and blessing, God is All-knowing, All-wise." [Hujurat, XLIX: 7-8]

"Say: 'Shall we tell you who will be the greatest losers in their works.' Those whose striving goes astray in the present life while they think that they are working good deeds." [Kahf, XVIII: 103-104]

"And when he turns his back, he hastens about the earth, to do corruption there, and to destroy the tillage and the stock; and God loves not corruption." [Baqara, 11: 205]


So a Muslim does good because he is endeared to it, and eschews vice because it is detestable to him. But since a Muslim surrenders himself to God and loves and fears Him, and since God loves virtue and enjoins it and hates vice and forbids it, he does the former and avoids the latter in obedience to his Lord. And since those who do good shall--in the hereafter--live a life of bliss, the highest type of which would be the state of being near to God and enjoying His sight, while those who lead an evil life shall suffer all kinds of chastisement the most terrible of which shall be the state of being deprived from that sight, a Muslim would be wise to always have that future and eternal life in mind and endeavour to do here all kinds of work that would help to elevate his position there.


"Say: Is there any of Your associates who guides to the truth? Say: God--He guides to the truth; and which is worthier to be followed--he who guides to the truth, or he who guides not unless he is guided? what then ails you, how you judge ? [Yunus, X: 35]

"Say. If you love God, follow me and God will love you, and forgive you, your sins;" [Al-`Imran, III:31]

"Surely the pious shall be in bliss, upon couches gazing (at their Lord); thou knowest in their faces the radiancy of bliss as they are given to drink of a wine sealed, whose seal is musk. So after that let the strivers strive." [Mutaffifun, LXXXIII: 22-26]

Why should one who did good live in such bliss, one might ask? and the Prompt Qur'anic answer is:
"Shall the recompense of goodness be other than goodness." [Rahman, LV: 60]

Summary 2


Some of the basic pillars of faith in Islam are:

1. Believe in Allah
There is one true eternal God.
He alone is worthy of our worship.
He does not beget,
neither has He been begotten.
He is the Creator of the universe.
His power has no limits.
He is sovereign over all. He knows all things.
No person or thing is beyond
His presence or influence.
He is perfect in all His attributes.

2. Believe in the angels

They are among His most honored creatures. Allah has assigned them
to fulfill specific tasks:
Some protect the believers
and keep a record of their actions.
Some are assigned to paradise,
and some are dedicated
to the worship of Allah.

3. Believe in all the Holy Books

Among these, the most important are:
The Tawrat, revealed to Moses
The Zabur, revealed to David
The Injil, revealed to Jesus
The Noble Qur’an,
revealed to Muhammad

4. Believe in all the prophets

Allah sent them with clear proofs,
so that no one will have an excuse
on the Day of Judgment.
Some of the prophets are:
Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac,
Jacob, Moses, Solomon, David,
Jesus the son of Mary,
and Muhammad.

5. Believe in the Last Day
There will be a final day of judgment.
Everyone will be resurrected
and each person will have to
give an account before God.
The pious will go to Paradise.
The evildoers will go to
the punishment of eternal fire.

6. Eternal Destiny

Allah is sovereign. He is in control.
He has complete
and perfect knowledge.
Whatever Allah wills,
will come to pass.
Whatever Allah does not will,
will never come to pass.

WHERE IS ALLAH?

Allaah, the Exalted, has described Himself in His Book, and by the tongue of His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam as Sublime, Supreme, and Lofty. The Qur'aan is full of proofs relevant to the Loftiness of Allaah.

Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah believe in and confirm all of the attributes of Allaah without distorting their meaning, and that Allaah is above His seven heavens, above His 'Arsh, and separated from His creatures, and His creatures are separated from Him.

This discourse will provide the Scriptural proofs of the Loftiness of Allaah is an indivisible part of the inherent faculty of knowing Allaah with which Allaah has created mankind. Although the aqeedah of Loftiness of Allaah is part of man's innate knowledge and cannot be subjected to hypothetical of philosophical argumentation, there are some deviated sects who follow their whims and deny this intuitive and self-evident fact. For this reason, they have twisted Scriptural proofs and distorted them, and manipulated the texts to conform with their deviant argument.

All of the divine attributes are intrinsically related to the attribute of divine Loftiness. Therefore, accepting or rejecting them must be based on accepting or rejecting the Loftiness of Allaah. Whoever believes that Allaah is above His 'Arsh [The Throne of Allaah] and separated from His creatures, also believes in the rest of the attributes of Allaah, and believes as well that the heavens and the earth submit to His will, and that He is the Great Rubb of the worlds. Allaah does whatever He wills and rules according to His Own wishes. Glory be to Him.

Denial of the divine Loftiness is one of the basic doctrinal heresy promoted by the Jahmites [Jahmites are the followers of Jahm bin Safan (d. 128-745), a radical heretic. Among other things, they deny that Allaah, the Exalted, is above His Arsh, and they allege that He is everywhere] and their off-shoots of today in order to confuse the Muslims' minds. Denying this divine attribute also leads by necessity to the denial of the attribute of the istiwaa of Allaah above His Arsh. There is no doubt that the denial of the attributes of Allaah clashes with the clear Qur'aanic verses in which the unique essential attributes and beautiful names of Allaah confirmed. These attributes must be affirmed as identical with Allaah.

The essential divine attributes of Allaah constitute an integral part of His essence and are not superadded to it. They are accepted literally by Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'h without questioning the 'how' of these attributes. To deny them is clear unbelief and heresy. It is for this reason this discourse has been prepared to deal with the creed of Loftiness of Allaah, or the question, 'Where is Allaah?' with the Scriptural evidences from the Qur'aan and the authentic prophetic traditions, as well as the traditions of those early Muslims, the pious predecessors.

THE QURANIC PROOFS

Allaah, the Exalted, commands the believers to refer their disputes and differences to His Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam saying: "And when you differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allaah and the Last Day." [6]

Therefore, the words of Allaah, the Exalted, as well as the words of His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam must be held as the ultimate and decisive judgment. No judgment or decision should take precedence over theirs whether in issues related to the divine attributes, or any other religious issue.

By their emphasis on reason in establishing religious truth, the rationalists, the modernists, and the Jahmites assert the preeminence of reason over the divine revelations. Whereas the Loftiness of Allaah which is clearly enunciated in the Qur'aan and the Sunnah, is beyond the reach of reason.

The true believers, contrary to the rationalists, believe that the 'Arsh of Allaah is above the seven heavens. They also believe that having created the seven heavens and the earth and what is in them, Allaah, the Exalted, has His great 'Arsh. Allaah says: "Declare your Rubb, the Supreme, to be far removed from every imperfection or impurity." [7]

The "Supreme", linguistically, is in the superlative signifying that Allaah is higher than everything and is above all things in essence, power, and invincibility. Commenting on this verse, Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah grant him His mercy, said: All Muslims in the past and in the present, when supplicating Allaah or imploring His help, they always raise their hands with palms towards the heaven. They do not lower their hands with palms towards the earth, nor do they turn them right or left, nor towards any other direction. They raise their hands up, knowing that Allaah is above them. The Muslims also say in prayer while prostrating, "I declare my Rubb, the Supreme, to be far removed from every imperfection or impurity."[8]

If Allaah is everywhere, as the deviated sects allege, why then the above verse does not read, 'Declare your Rubb, (around you), (below you), or (everywhere)?' Allaah says: "They fear their Rubb above them." [9]

This verse refers to the angels who are above us, and above them is our Rubb, the Blessed, the Exalted. Lest anyone be confused, Allaah confirms in this verse that He is above the angels who are the residents of the heavens: "The Compassionate has rose over the 'Arsh." [10]

And: "And verily, your Rubb is Allaah who created the heaven and earth in six days, and then rose over the 'Arsh." [11]

Allaah also says: "Are you sure that He Who is Above the heaven will not cleave the earth beneath you? Or are you sure that He Who is above the heaven will not send against you a stone-charged hurricane." [12]

The renowned exegetes and commentators are agreed that the One Who is above the heaven is none but Allaah Who has rose over His Arsh and is above it in the manner which suits His Majesty.

Those who believe that Allaah is everywhere base their argument on verses such as:"And He is Ilaah in the Heavens and He is Ilaah on the Earth!"

The term, 'Ilaah' is classical Arabic means, 'the worshipped'; thus the meaning of the above verse is, "It is He Who is worshipped in the heaven and worshipped on the earth". It would have been redundant were the verse to speak about the existence of Allaah in the heaven and on the earth, for the term Illah' is an adjective of Allaah, while the pronouns, 'He' in the verse is used in lieu of the name 'Allaah', therefor, when the name 'Allaah' replaces the pronoun 'He', we get the proper meaning of the verse: 'And it is Allaah Who is worshipped in the heaven and on the earth'. But according to the deviated sect who consider the term, 'Ilaah' as 'Allaah', we get the redundant meaning, 'And Allaah is Allaah in the heaven and Allaah is on the earth,' a sentence which is grammatically, linguistically and logically incorrect. Qatadah, a renowned exegete, interpreted this verse as: 'He is worshipped in the heaven and on the earth'.

Imaam al-Aajurri said: 'al-Ilaah, is the worshipped. He is worshipped in the heaven as He is worshipped on the earth.'

The Omnipresence of the Divine Knowledge

And He is Allaah above the heaven and on the earth He knows your private and public affairs. And He knows what you achieve. [13]

Those who deny that Allaah is above His 'Arsh, dubiously argue that this verse supports their argument. Their argument is refuted by realizing that this verse refers to the knowledge of Allaah, according to the renowned exegetes, not His essence. They further assert that this verse signifies that the knowledge of Allaah encompasses all things in the heavens and on the earth. The reference to the divine knowledge is made clearly by repeating the clause, 'He knows' twice in this verse, that is to say: "Allaah, the Exalted, knows the hidden and the open, and He knows what you achieve".

Had the verse ended with the word, 'earth', one might take their dubious argument into consideration, but Allaah, the Exalted, makes it abundantly clear that it is His knowledge, not His essence that encompasses all things. Another dubious argument is presented by those who deny the fact that Allaah, the Exalted, is above His 'Arsh, by alleging that the following verse supports their argument.

"Do you not see that Allaah knows all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth? There is no secret counsel of three, but He is their fourth, nor of five, but He is their sixth, nor of fewer than that, nor of more, but He is with them wherever they may be. Then on the Day of Resurrection He will inform them of what they did. Surely, Allaah knows all things full well." [14]

The above verse, they contend, signifies that Allaah is essentially everywhere. This argument is refuted by the prominent exegete, Ibn Katheer who says: "This means that Allaah is well acquainted with their utterances, and private talks and thoughts."

Al-Qurtubi commented on this verse saying: "He knows and hears their private counsel. This is evidenced by the fact that the opening and concluding clauses of this verse confirm the knowledge of Allaah."

Al-Qasimi says: "The scholars among the Prophet's companions, who transmitted the meaning of the Qur'aan to their successors, held this verse to mean that Allaah is above His 'Arsh, but His knowledge is everywhere."

The linguistic analysis of this verse proves the following points:

1. The opening words of the above verse speak of Allaah's knowledge, not His location.

2. Private counsel, or secret talk, is the theme of this verse. Allaah says, 'There is no secret counsel of three, but He is their fourth.' He does not say, 'There are not three, but He is their fourth'. Thus the meaning becomes quite clear that it is the knowledge of Allaah what encompasses all His creatures.

3. Allaah confirms that He will inform them of their secret talk on the Day of Resurrection.

4.The verse ends, therefore, confirming Allaah's knowledge.

5. Allaah begins the surah of al-Mujadilah (Chapter 58), of which the verse in question is part, with the following verse: "Allaah has indeed heard the speech of the woman who pleads with you concerning her husband and complains to Allaah. And Allaah has heard your dialogue. Verily, Allaah is All-Hearing and All-Seeing." [15] Allaah, the Exalted, states that He has heard the woman who was complaining to the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, and has certainly heard her arguing with her husband, but He did not state in the verse that He was their third.

6. In the subsequent verse, Allaah emphasizes that He is well acquainted with the deeds of His slaves. If one were to believe that Allaah is essentially everywhere, it would follow then that He also dwells in filthy places. Only an insane person would dare to impute to Allaah such an attribute. Far removed is Allaah of what they ascribe to Him. It would also follow that Allaah is mingling with His creatures in the heavens and on the earth. Such belief has paved the way for panatheism [16], and promoted the myth of god incarnate. Allaah is far removed from what they ascribe to Him. It should be clear in the minds of the true believers that there is nothing to surround Allaah, the Exalted, nor is there a place to contain Him. Things and places are creatures, and Allaah is above all His creatures. All creatures need Him, while He is separated from His creatures, and stands in need of none of them. The Heaven is the Qiblah of the Du'a Muslims supplicate Allaah with their palms upheld because they believe Allaah is above the heaven. When confronted with this fact, those who deny the Loftiness of Allaah allege that Muslims supplicate in this manner only because heaven is the qiblah of du'aa or supplication.

7. The above allegation, to begin with, has no proof in the Qur'aan or the Sunnah, and it cannot be related to any of the Companions of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam nor to any of the Tabi'een, who succeeded them. There is no mention of this statement in the Book of Allaah or the Sunnah of the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. The issue of the qiblah is central to the religion of Islam, so every Muslim must be aware of it and especially the scholars of the Muslim ummah should have known it.

8. It is an established fact, that the Ka'bah is the qiblah of formal prayer as well as the du'aa or supplication. To declare the heaven or anywhere else to be the qiblah of du'aa is a gross bid'ah (innovation) and a clear breach of the Qur'aan, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the ummah, because the Muslims have one single qiblah, the Ka'bah.

9.The qiblah is the direction to which Muslims turn or face in prayer, and to face something is to look toward it. If the heavens were the qiblah, the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam would have commanded his companions, with whom Allaah is pleased, to face the heavens in their prayer. On the contrary, the Muslims are forbidden to uphold their eyes while praying, but are to concentrate on the spot upon which their faces rest during prostration. The Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam warned: "Let those who uphold their eyes while praying stop doing so, lest they become blind." [17] The Qur'aanic verses allow no room for such opinions. Allaah, the Exalted, specifically commanded His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and his ummah to face the direction of the Ka'bah in their prayers, saying: "And from wherever you come forth, turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque." [18] Then Allaah addresses the Muslims: "And wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it." [19] The Loftiness of Allaah is also proven by the following verse: "To Him ascend the good words, and He exalts the righteous deeds." [20]

This verse contains the clear words of Allaah, in which the verb "ascend" is used to indicate that Allaah is above and separated from His creatures. The ascendance of deeds is also proven by the words of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam describing the excellence of the period of time that falls after zawal of zenith. He said, "This is a time when the gates of the heavens are opened, and I hope that a good deed of mine would ascend to Allaah." The verb "ascend" in the text signifies that the good deeds are raised up to reach Allaah, the Exalted. And Allaah says:"The angels and ar-Rooh [21] ascend to Allaah in a day which is fifth thousand years long." [22] The Loftiness of the Creator is made clear by the great distance that separates the angels who inhabit the heavens from their Rubb above them. And Allaah says:"He manages all affairs from the heaven unto the earth." [23]

It should be borne in mind that this verse is preceded by the words of Allaah: "He rose over the Throne." And Allaah also says:"O, Issa (Jesus)! I will take you, and raise you to Myself." [24] Since Allaah addressed Issa saying: "I will take you, and raise you to Myself", what would those who believe that Allaah is every where answer when they are asked: "Where is Issa now?" They would say either Issa is everywhere, or he is in heaven. If they claim that Issa is everywhere, they would apostatize as a result of their equating Issa with Allaah in accordance with their claim that Allaah is everywhere. A claim which resembles the Christians' myth of god incarnate. But if they say, "Issa is in the heaven," they would admit that Allaah did raise Issa up to the heaven, and that Allaah is above the heavens. Allaah says:"Surely, your Rubb is the One who created the heavens and the earth in six days; then He istawa[25] on the Throne." [26]

This is one of the seven Qur'aanic verses in which Allaah, the Exalted, refers to His istiwa' on His 'Arsh. Ahlus-Sunnah are certain that the great 'Arsh of Allaah is above the seven heavens. They also believe that Allaah, having created the earth and apportioned its provisions, ascended above His great 'Arsh. Only those who believe otherwise hold these verses to be allegorical. Allaah, they say, "is everywhere", denying that He is above the 'Arsh. Exalted is Allaah, and far is He removed from their ascription. Quoting all or even most of the verses signifying Allaah's attribute of Loftiness would only enlarge the volume of this issue. There are about 215 verses in the Qur'aan containing the verb sent down with reference to either the Qur'aan, the previous Scriptures, or the angels.

PROOFS FROM AUTHENTIC PROPHETIC TRADITIONS

Authentic Prophetic traditions, as well as traditions of the Prophet's companions, with whom Allaah is pleased, and works of the Four Imaama and of the rest of the pious predecessors contain many textual as well as inferential proofs of Allaah's Loftiness. Allaah, the Exalted, praises His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and confirms his veracity and truthfulness by saying: "Nor does he speak of his own desire. It is only revelation revealed (to him.)" [27] And Allaah says:

"And whatsoever the Messenger commands you, adhere to it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain from it."

1. And the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "I have been given the Qur'aan and similar to it therewith." [28]

2. The purified Sunnah is what the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam meant by saying: "and similar to it therewith". The Sunnah is the second source of the Shari'ah of Islamic laws. Many traditions deal with the attribute of Allaah's Loftiness. The following are selected authentic traditions to whose authenticity all scholars of the hadith at all times have testified.

3. The Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam reported his eventful journey from Makkah to Jerusalem (al-Mi'raj) [29] and from there up to the heavens as follows: Jibreel took me up to the lowest heaven and requested its guards to open its gate. He was asked, 'Who is this?' He answered, 'Jibreel.' 'Who is with you?' They inquired. 'Muhammed sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam' He answered. They inquired. 'Has he been invited?' 'Yes'. Jibreel replied. Then someone greeted saying, 'He is most welcome'. The Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam continued, when the gate was opened, I entered and met Adam there. Jibreel said to me, 'This is your father, greet him'. Adam greeted me back, saying: 'Welcome, pious son and pious Prophet'. Then Jibreel ascended to the second heaven and requested its guards to open its gate. The questioning that took place in the lowest heaven was repeated before the gate was opened. The Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam described what he saw in every heaven, until finally he was taken up to the seventh heaven where obligatory prayers were prescribed to him. This authentic mutawatir [30] hadith speaks clearly in plain words and straightforward manner which is not liable to misconstruction or farfetched interpretations. The Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam was taken up to his Rubb from one heaven above the other. The Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah believe that the Mi'raj was neither an illusion nor a vision, rather real and essential. Had Allaah been everywhere, why would the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam be taken all the way up to the seventh heaven? Allaah would have prescribed to him the Salaah on earth rather than in the seventh heaven.

4. Adullah bin Amr reported that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Be merciful to those on earth, so that the One above the heavens will be merciful to you." [31] Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "The angels of death usually attend the dying person. If he is pious, they would address his soul saying, 'O good soul! Come out of the good body, and rejoice in the annunciation of mercy and provision from the Rubb Who is well pleased with you'. The angels would keep coaxing it with these words until the soul emerges from the body. Then it would be taken up to the heaven where permission to open the gates of the heaven would be sought. The guards would inquire, 'Who is this?' 'So and so', the angels would answer. The guards would say: 'O good soul! You are welcome'. The soul would be flattered by such words and finally be taken up to heaven above which is Allaah." [32] It is quite evident that Allaah, the Exalted, is above the seven heavens. Otherwise, why would the souls and the believers deeds be taken up to the heavens to reach Allah?

5. Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "The angel of death used to appear to people whose souls he would collect. When he came to the Prophet of Allaah, Musa alayhis-salaam to collect his soul, Musa punched out his eye. The angel of death ascended to his Rubb, the Glorious, and said to Him, My Rubb! You have sent me down to Musa who punched out my eye. Had he not been honored by You, I would have given him hard time..." The angel of death descended to Musa from the heaven to collect his soul. He did not come to him from east, west, north, or south, nor did he emerge from the earth, and then he ascended to His Rubb Who is above the heavens.

6. Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "There are hundred levels in Jannah which Allaah has prepared for the Mujahideen who fight in His cause. Between on level and another is a distance which is equal to that between the earth and the heaven. When you ask Allaah, azza wajull, ask Him for Firdaws, because it is situated in the midst and Highest point of Jannah from where the rivers of Jannah spring, and above it is the 'Arsh of the Most Merciful." [33]

7. Mu'awiyah as-Sahmi reported: "I had some sheep which I kept between Uhud and Juwaniyyah with a slave-girl to look after them. One day, I went out to check on my sheep and discovered that a wolf had devoured one of them. Since I am just a human, (I became angry) and struck the girl. Later on, I came to the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and reported to him the incident. He terrified me with the gravity of my action. I said, 'Messenger of Allaah'! Shall I free her (as an expiation of my sin.) He said 'Call her over'. When I did, he asked her, 'Where is Allaah?' She said, 'Above the heavens'. Then he asked her, 'Who am I?' She said, 'The Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam'. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam ordered me, 'Free her. She is a believer'." [34] The above hadith, according to Shaikh Kahlil al-Harras, is a luminous proof of the Loftiness of Allaah, the Exalted. Here is a man who wronged his female slave by striking her, and wanted to expiate his sin by giving her freedom in return. The Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam chose one particular question, 'Where is Allaah?' Then the slave girl gave him the correct answer, 'Above the heaven'. The Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam declared her to be a believer. Does not the above the hadith stand as a solid proof that Allaah is above the heaven? Doubtlessly, that slave girl, the shepherdess, knew her Rubb more than those ignorantly claim that Allaah is everywhere!

8. Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Our Rubb, the Blessed, the Exalted, descends to the lowest heaven every night, during the last third of the night, and says: 'Anyone calls Me, I will respond to him? Is there anyone asking for anything? I will give it to him? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, I will forgive him?' " [35] The words of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam: 'Our Rubb, the Blessed, the Exalted, descends to the lowest heaven', clearly indicate the essential Highness or Loftiness of Allaah, the Exalted. Were Allaah to exist everywhere, there would be no need for the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam who knew Allaah best, to say, 'Allaah descends', nor would there be a reason to distinguish one portion of the night from another. There is only one answer to this: Allaah, the Blessed, the Exalted, is above the seven heavens, and above the great 'Arsh.

9. Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Allaah will descend to His slaves on the Day of Resurrection." [36] It is the Day when Allaah will come down to pass His judgment.

10. In another tradition, the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Allaah will gather the first and the last of His slaves for an appointed certain Day, when they will remain for forty years with their eyes uplifted towards heaven waiting for the decisive judgment. Allaah will then descend in coverings of clouds from His 'Arsh to the Kursi."

THE STANDPOINT OF THE COMPANIONS Radiallaahu 'anhum

1. Zainab, the wife of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, used to claim excellence over the rest of his wives by telling them, 'It is only your parents who gave you in marriage to the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, while it is Allaah Who gave me in marriage to him from above the seven heavens.' [37]

2. In another narration, she said to the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, 'It is the Rahmaan, the Merciful, Who married me to you from above His 'Arsh.'

3. Ibn Abbas, may Allaah be pleased with him, said to Aa'ishah, the wife of the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam when she was on her death bed: "Of all his wives you were the most beloved to the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, and he used to live only the pure. Allaah, the Exalted sent down your exoneration from above the seven heavens which was brought down by Jibreel. There is not a single masjid of the masajid of Allaah but the verses of your exoneration [38] are recited in it day and night." Aa'ishah, the wife of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam in this world and in the world to come, Mother of the Believers, whom the pervasive-minded sect tried to dishonor, but Allaah, the Exalted, exonerated her honor and condemned those who spread the lies against her.

4. In his speech subsequent to the death of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, Abu Bakr as-Saddiq said: "He who was worshipping Muhammed sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, (let him know that) Muhammed is dead, and he who was worshipping Allaah, (let him know that) Allaah is above the heaven Ever-Living, never dies'." [39]

5. Ibn Umar passed by a shepherd and asked him, 'Do you have a sheep fit for slaughter? 'Its owner is around', the shepherd answered. 'Tell him that the wolf devoured it'. Ibn Umar said to him. Thereupon, the shepherd uplifted his head towards the heaven and said, 'Then where is Allaah?' Ibn Umar responded, 'By Allaah. It is I who should have said, 'Where is Allaah.' He later on bought off the sheep and the shepherd and freed the latter and gave him the sheep. [40]

6. Abdurrahman al-Mahdi [41] said: "There is no one more evil among the people of whims than the followers of Jahm. All their deviant beliefs revolve around one theme; 'There is no one above the heaven.' I believe, by Allaah, that they should not be married from, nor to inherit Muslims nor to be inherited by Muslims." This opinion of Ibn Mahdi is shared by many among the pious predecessors.

7. Wahab b. Jareer said: "Beware of the opinions of Jahm's followers, for they try to convince people that there is nothing above the heavens. Their statements are only from Iblees's revelation, and it is only infidelity".

THE STANDPOINT OF THE FOUR RENOWNED IMAAMS

Imaam Abu Hanifah [43]

Abu Muti' Al-Balkhi reported:"I asked Imaam Abu Hanifah about a person who says, 'I do not know whether my Rubb is, above the heavens or on earth?' Abu Hanifah, may Allaah grant him His mercy, said: 'A person who makes such a statement becomes an apostate because Allaah, the Exalted says, 'The Merciful has ascended above the 'Arsh, and the 'Arsh of Allaah is above His heavens'. I further asked Abu Hanifah, 'What if such a person admits, Allaah is above His 'Arsh, but exclaims, I do not know whether His 'Arsh is above the heavens or on earth'. Abu Hanifah responded: 'If he denies that the 'Arsh is above the heavens, he is an apostate." [44] If the person apostatizes by saying that he did not know where is the 'Arsh of Allaah, then by right a person who denies the Loftiness of Allaah altogether is definitely worse than an apostate.

Imaam Maalik [45]

Abdullah bin Nafi' reported: Maalik bin Anas said:'Allaah is above the heavens, but His knowledge encompasses everything. Nothing escapes His knowledge.' [46]

Imaam Ash-Shafi'ee [47]

Imaam ash-Shafi'ee said:"The creed which I hold is the same creed the Muslims before me were holding, namely, the Testimony of Faith: "There is no god worthy of being worshipped except Allaah, that Muhammed is the Messenger of Allaah, and that Allaah is above His 'Arsh, above the heavens. He descends to the lowest heaven whenever He wishes." [48] Imaam ibn Khuzaimah, a Shafi'ite himself, said: "Whoever disacknowledges that Allaah is above His 'Arsh, above His seven heavens, and that He is separated from His creatures, is a Kafir, (unbeliever). Such person must be ordered to repent and disavow his belief, or else he must be beheaded and thrown on a garbage dump so that neither Ahlul-Qiblah [49] nor Ahludth-dthimmah [50] be annoyed by the foul odor of his carcass." [51] Abu Bakr Muhammad at-Tamimi, a Shafi'ite Imaam of Naisaboor, said:"I do not pray behind a person who denies the attributes of Allaah and does not recognize that Allaah is above His 'Arsh." [52]

Imaam Ahmad [53]

He was asked: "Is Allaah above His 'Arsh, above the seventh heaven, separate from His creatures, and is His knowledge and power encompassing everything everywhere? He replied: 'Certainly, He is above His 'Arsh and nothing escapes His knowledge." [54] All of the above show that the entire Muslim ummah, in the past and present, is in unison regarding the belief in the Loftiness and Supremacy of Allaah, the Exalted.

DUBIOUS ARGUMENTS

Adherents of certain deviant sects promote a false belief that Allaah is omnipresent Who inheres in His creation. Rational arguments are deadly available to refute the blasphemy of the Jahmites and those who try to revive their belief today. To prove that Allaah is above His 'Arsh, and above the seventh heaven in a manner that suits His Majesty, the Imaam of Ahlus-Sunnah, Ahmad bin Hanbal, may Allaah be pleased with him, refuted their belief more than one thousand years ago, when he wrote: "Where Allaah is and Where He is not - An exposition of the denial of the Jahmites that Allaah is above the 'Arsh."

We asked them "Why do you deny that Allaah is above the 'Arsh when He has said: 'The Merciful has the 'Arsh? [55] And again,' 'Who in six days created the Heavens and the earth then the 'Arsh,' [56] They replied: "He is under the seven earths as He is on the 'Arsh; He is in heaven, on earth and in every place; there is no place where He is not, nor is He is one place to the exclusion of any other." And they quoted the verse: "And He is Ilaah in the heavens and He is Ilaah on the Earth!" If you wish to prove the falsehood of the Jahmites who claim that Allaah exists everywhere, not in one particular place, ask them, 'Is it not true that Allaah was existent when there was nothing in existence?' The Jahmites' answer would be: "Certainly, there was nothing before Allaah." Then ask them, "Did Allaah create the creation within Himself or outside of Himself?" The Jahmites would be compelled to choose on of the following three answers:

1. If the Jahmites assert that Allaah created the creation within Himself, they would then become apostate instantly by claiming that the Jinn, humans and Satans are all dwelling within Allaah.

2. If the Jahmites assert that Allaah created the creation outside Himself but dwelled in them afterwards, they would also become apostate instantly by claiming that Allaah dwells in His creatures.

3. But if the Jahmites say that Allaah created the creation outside Himself and has never dwelled in them, they would by giving this answer, join the folds of Ahl-As Sunnah, for by giving this answer they denounce their own deviant beliefs.

Allaah, the Exalted, described Himself in the Torah too that He is above His creatures. Ka'bul-Ahbaar said: "Allaah, azza wajall, [57] said in the Torah, 'I, Allaah Am above My slaves, and My 'Arsh is above My creatures, and I am upon My 'Arsh running the affairs of My slaves. Nothing is hidden from Me neither in heaven nor on the earth." [58]

Finally, it may be worthwhile to say that even the enemy of Allaah, Fir'awn (Pharoah), who flagrantly claimed to be a god of his people, knew where Allaah is more than the followers of Jahm today. Allaah says: And Fir'awn said, 'O, Haman, build for me a tower that I may reach the ways; the ways to heavens so that I may have a look at the Ilaah of Musa.' [59] Now consider the words of Fir'awn who wanted Haman to build a tower for him that he might climb all the way to the heavens to see the Rubb of Musa, for Musa already told him that Allaah to Whom he is inviting him is above the heavens, and compare this with the groundless argument of the Jahmite off-shoots of today. A Muslim wonders how could those who believe that Allaah is Omnipresent rationalize such assertion knowing that Allaah, the Omnipotent, will collect the earth in His hand and fold the heavens in His right hand, as evidenced by the following divine stern warning. And they have not venerated Allaah with the veneration that is due Him, for on the Day of Resurrection, the earth will be collected in His hand and the heavens will be folded up in His right hand. [60] Were the above verse to be the only proof of Allaah's Loftiness, it would have been more than sufficient. It is certainly sufficient to those who fear Allaah and give Him the true veneration that is due to Him.

CONCLUSION

The first three Muslim generations whose righteousness the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam testified for, and whose merits surpassed the merits of all succeeding generation. They are the Companions of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and the two generations that followed them. They all believed in the apparent meaning of the Qur'aanic ayaat that deal with the divine attributes without giving them farfetched interpretations based on Greek philosophies.

The Believer must believe that there is none like unto Allaah, the Exalted, in His essence, attributes, nor His actions. He must also believe that Allaah stands in need of none of His creatures. Neither a thing nor a place encompasses Him. He is above His 'Arsh, above the seventh heaven, and above all His creature essentially and realistically not allegorically.

There is none of His creatures that touches Him. Based on this it is not permissible to say that Allaah is everywhere, or He inheres in any of His creatures, for Allaah was when there was nothing. He who asserts that Allaah is not outside the universe, not only denies the existence of Allaah, but he worships a non-existent god. We ask Allaah to keep us on the straight path of His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and his Companions and to make us join their company on the Day when neither wealth nor offspring would avail. Walhamdu lillahi Rabbil-aalameen.

This discourse has been based mainly on two books: Ithbat Uluwil-Lah, by Usamah bin Yusuf al-Qassas, may Allaah grant him His mercy, and Ar-Rahman alal Arsh Istawa, by Dr. Awad Mansoor

Where does evil come from

Is God Pure, Good, Loving and Fair?

If so, then where does evil, hatred and injustice
come from?

Allah tells us He is Pure, Loving, and absolutely Just in every respect. He says He is the Best of Judges. He also tells us the life we are in here is a test. He has created everything existing and He created whatever happens as well. There is nothing in this existence except what He has created. He also says in the Quran He created evil (although He is not evil). He is using this as one of the many tests for us.

Consider people who do so much evil in the earth and then live to a ripe old age in the splendor and wealth of their ill-gotten gains and die without ever being taken to task for their deeds. Where is the justice or fairness in this? Allah provides a clear answer for us in Quran as to what is in store for these most evil of people:

A brief enjoyment in this world! - and then unto Us will be their return, then We shall make them taste the severest torment because they used to disbelieve [in Allah, belie His Messengers, deny and challenge His proofs, signs, verses, etc.] [Noble Quran 10:70]

That Day mankind will proceed in scattered groups that they may be shown their deeds.
So whoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it.
And whoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it. [Noble Quran 99:6-8]

Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: "We believe," and will not be tested.
And We indeed tested those who were before them. And Allah will certainly make (it) known (the truth of) those who are true, and will certainly make (it) known (the falsehood of) those who are liars, (although Allah knows all that before putting them to test).
Or those who do evil deeds think that they can outstrip Us (i.e. escape Our Punishment)? Evil is that which they judge!
Whoever hopes for the Meeting with Allah, then Allah's Term is surely coming. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.
And whosoever strives, he strives only for himself. Verily, Allah is free of all wants from the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns, and all that exists).
Those who believe [in the Oneness of Allah (Monotheism) and in Messenger Muhammad peace be upon him , and do not apostate because of the harm they receive from the polytheists], and do righteous good deeds, surely, We shall remit from them their evil deeds and shall reward them according to the best of that which they used to do.
And We have enjoined on man to be good and dutiful to his parents, but if they strive to make you join with Me (in worship) anything (as a partner) of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not. Unto Me is your return, and I shall tell you what you used to do.
And for those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah and other items of Faith) and do righteous good deeds, surely, We shall make them enter in (the entrance of) the righteous (i.e. in Paradise).
Of mankind are some who say: "We believe in Allah," but if they are made to suffer for the sake of Allah, they consider the trial of mankind as Allah's punishment, and if victory comes from your Lord, (the hypocrites) will say: "Verily! We were with you (helping you)." Is not Allah Best Aware of what is in the breast of the 'Alamin (mankind and jinns)?
Verily, Allah knows those who believe, and verily, He knows the hypocrites [i.e. Allah will test the people with good and hard days to discriminate the good from the wicked (although Allah knows all that before putting them to test)].
[Noble Quran 29:2-11]

Reward and punishment are definitely a part of the Next Life on a very permanent basis. Those who suffer in this life and seemly have nothing to show for all their hard works, good deeds and sacrifices and maintaining the faith can look forward to a far greater reward in a place where these things will not be temporary but rather they will be for eternity. Those who corrupt, violate, injure and do evil and destruction seem to escape any justice here, yet in the Next Life they too will see the fruits of their labors, and certainly they will be paid according to what they have done as well.

As regards oppression, this is something Allah forbids for Himself to do to anyone and He hates it when anyone oppresses someone else. He does have absolute power over everything. He allows sickness, disease, death and even oppression so we can all be tested in what we do.

Is man’s fate predestined or does he have freedom of will?

Does man has freedom of choice or is he following a course set by Allaah?.


Praise be to Allaah.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked this question and said: The questioner should ask himself whether anyone forced him to ask this question, and does he choose the kind of car that he drives? And other such questions. Then the answer as to whether he is following a course set by Allaah or has freedom of choice will become clear to him.

Then he should ask himself whether accidents happen to him by his choice? Or whether he falls sick by his choice? Or will he die by his choice?

And other similar questions. Then the answer as to whether he is following a course set by Allaah or has freedom of choice will become clear to him.

The answer is that the things that the wise person does, he undoubtedly does by his choice. Listen to the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):

“So, whosoever wills, let him seek a place with (or a way to) His Lord (by obeying Him in this worldly life)!”

[al-Naba’ 78:39]

“Among you are some that desire this world and some that desire the Hereafter”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:152]

“And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it (i.e. does righteous deeds of Allaah’s obedience) while he is a believer (in the Oneness of Allaah — Islamic Monotheism) — then such are the ones whose striving shall be appreciated, (thanked and rewarded by Allaah)”

[al-Isra’ 17:19]

“he must pay a Fidyah (ransom) of either observing Sawm (fasts) (three days) or giving Sadaqah (charity — feeding six poor persons) or offering sacrifice (one sheep)”

[al-Baqarah 2:196]

But if a person wants to do something and he does it, we know that Allaah has willed it. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“To whomsoever among you who wills to walk straight.

And you cannot will unless (it be) that Allaah wills — the Lord of the ‘Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists)”

[al-Takweer 81:28-29]

Because His Lordship (ruboobiyyah) is complete and perfect, nothing can happen in the heavens or on earth except by His will.

With regard to things that happen to a person or that he does without choosing or willing them, such as sickness, death and accidents, they are purely divine will (al-qadar) and the person has no choice or will with regard to them.

And Allaah is the Source of strength.

Majmoo Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, vol. 2.

SHIRK

Shirk - associating partners with Allaah

This is the most serious of all prohibitions, according to the hadeeth narrated by Abu Bakrah, who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Shall I not tell you of the most serious of the major sins?’ three times. We said, ‘Of course, O Messenger of Allaah!’ He said, ‘Associating anything in worship with Allaah . . .’”


(Agreed upon; see al-Bukhaari, no. 2511, al-Bagha edition).

Every other sin may be forgiven by Allaah, apart from shirk, which requires specific repentance, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, Allaah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases . . .” [al-Nisaa’ 4:48]

One of the forms of shirk which is particularly widespread in Muslim countries is:

Grave-worship,the belief that dead awliyaa’ (“saints”) can fulfil one’s needs or help at times of distress, and calling upon them for aid. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him . . .” [al-Israa’ 17:23]

Similarly, they call upon dead Prophets, righteous people and others to intercede for them or to rescue them from some calamity, but Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Is not He (better than your gods) Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations? Is there any ilaah (god) with Allaah? . . .” [al-Naml 27:62]

Some of them have adopted the habit of mentioning the name of a shaykh or wali (“saint”) when they stand up, or sit down, or stumble, or encounter problems or distress, so they might say “O Muhammad!” or “O ‘Ali!” or “O Husayn!” or “O Badawi!” or “O Jeelaani!” or “O Shaadhili!” or “O Rifaa’i!” - or they may call upon al-’Aydaroos or Sayyidah Zaynab or Ibn ‘Alwaan. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily those whom you call upon besides Allaah are slaves like you . . .” [al-A’raf 7:194]

Some of those who worship graves walk around them as if in Tawaaf, and acknowledge their corners, or touch them, kiss them, wipe their faces with their dust, prostrate towards them when they see them, or stand before them in fear and humility, praying for whatever they need of healing from some disease, or for a child, or for help with some difficulty. Sometimes they call upon the occupant of the grave, saying “O my master, I have come to you from far away, so do not let me down.” But Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And who is more astray than one who calls (invokes) besides Allaah such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls (invocations) to them?” [al-Ahqaaf 46:5]

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever dies calling on someone else as a rival to Allaah, will enter Hell.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 8/176).

Some of them shave their heads at the graves, and some have books with titles like Manaasik Hajj al-Mashaahid (“The Rituals of Pilgrimage to Shrines”), mashaahid or shrines referring to graves or tombs of awliyaa’. Some of them believe that the awliyaa’ are running the affairs of the universe and that they have the power to benefit or harm. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And if Allaah touches you with hurt, there is none who can remove it but He; and if He intends any good for you, there is no one who can repel His Favour . . .” [Yoonus 10:107]

It is also shirk to make a vow to any other than Allaah, as is done by those who vow to bring candles or lights for the occupants of the graves.

Another manifestation of al-shirk al-akbar is

sacrificing to anything other than Allaah.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord, and sacrifice (to Him only)” [al-Kawthar 108:2]

- i.e., sacrifice to Allaah and in the name of Allaah. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Allaah will curse the one who sacrifices to anything other than Allaah.” (Reported by Imaam Muslim, may Allaah have mercy on him, in his Saheeh, no. 1978, ‘Abd al-Baaqi edition). This sin combines two haraam deeds, that of sacrificing to anything other than Allaah and that of sacrificing in the name of anything other than Allaah, both of which make the meat of the animal slaughtered haraam. One of the forms of sacrificing to anything other than Allaah which was known during the first Jaahiliyyah and is still widespread nowadays is the practice of “offering a sacrifice to the jinn,” whereby upon buying or constructing a house, or digging a well, people slaughter an animal at its entrance, out of fear of harm from the resident jinn. (See Tayseer al-’Azeez al-Hameed, al-Iftaa’ edition, p. 158)

Another widespread form of al-shirk al-akbar is the sin of

allowing what Allaah has forbidden and forbidding what Allaah has allowed, or believing that anyone has the right to do so except Allaah, or referring matters for judgement to jaahili (non-Islamic) courts freely and by choice, and believing that this is permissible. Allaah has mentioned this form of major kufr in the Qur’aan (interpretation of the meaning):

“They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to their lords besides Allaah (by obeying them in things which they made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires without being ordered by Allaah). . .” [al-Tawbah 9:31]

When ‘Adiyy ibn Haatim heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) recite this aayah, he said, “But they were not worshipping them.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) replied, “Yes, but they permitted things that Allaah had forbidden, and the people accepted this, and they forbade things that Allaah had allowed, and the people accepted this too, and this is a form of worshipping them.” (Reported by al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubraa, 10/116. See also al-Tirmidhi, no. 3095. Al-Albaani classified it as hasan in Ghaayat al-Maraam, p. 19).

Allaah described the mushrikeen as (interpretation of the meaning): “. . . [those who do not] forbid that which has been forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth . . .” [al-Tawbah 9:29]

And Allaah said (interpretation of the meaning): “Say: ‘Tell me, what provision Allaah has sent down to you, and you have made of it lawful and unlawful.’ Say: ‘Has Allaah permitted you (to do so), or do you invent a lie against Allaah?’” [Yoonus 10:59]

Other widespread forms of shirk are:

magic, fortune-telling and divination. Magic (sihr) is an act of kufr, and one of the seven sins which doom a person to Hell. It causes harm but no benefit. Allaah says of the one who learns it (interpretation of the meaning):

“. . . And they learn that which harms them and profits them not . . .” [al-Baqarah 2:102]

“. . . and the magician will never be successful, no matter what amount (of skill) he may attain).” [Ta-Ha 20:69]

The one who deals in magic is a kaafir, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“. . . Sulayman did not disbelieve, but the shayaateen (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things as came down at Babylon to the two angels, Haaroot and Maaroot, but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) things till they had said, ‘We are only for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).’ . . .” [al-Baqarah 2:102]

The prescribed punishment for the one who practices magic is death, and his income is haraam and impure. But people who are ignorant wrongdoers and weak in faith go to magicians to help them harm someone or take revenge on someone. Some people commit the sin of going to a magician to ask his help in undoing the magic of someone else, when they should turn to Allaah to help them and heal them, by reciting His words, such as the soorahs that offer protection (al-Falaq and al-Naas), and so on.

Fortune-tellers and their ilk are kaafirs who disbelieve in Allaah, because they claim knowledge of the Unseen, but no one has knowledge of the Unseen except Allaah. Many of these fortune-tellers take advantage of simple-minded people and take their money. They use many methods such as drawing lines in the sand, throwing sea-shells, reading palms, teacups (or coffee cups), crystal balls and mirrors, and so on. If they get it right one time, they get it wrong ninety-nine times, but ignorant people remember only the one time when these liars get something right. They go to them to find out about the future, whether they will be successful in marriage or business, or to help them find something they have lost, and so on. The ruling concerning the person who visits a fortune-teller is: if he believes what he says, he is a kaafir who has left Islaam, on the basis of the hadeeth in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever goes to a fortune-teller or a soothsayer and believes in what he says has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad.” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 2/429; see also Saheeh al-Jaami’, 5939). If a person does not believe that they have knowledge of the Unseen, but he goes out of curiosity or whatever, he is not a kaafir, but his prayers will not be accepted for forty days, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever goes to a fortune-teller and asks him about something, his prayers will not be accepted for forty nights” (Saheeh Muslim, 4/1751) - even though it is still obligatory to pray and to repent for this sin.


Astrology, or believing that the stars and planets have an influence on people’s lives and events.

Zayd ibn Khaalid al-Juhani reported: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led us in the morning prayer at al-Hudaybiyah after rain had fallen during the night. When he had finished, he turned around to face the people and said: ‘Do you know what your Lord says?’ They said, ‘Allaah and His Messenger know best.’ He said: ‘[Allaah says]: This morning one of My slaves became a believer in Me and one became a disbeliever. As for the one who said, “We have been given rain by the grace and mercy of Allaah,” he is a believer in Me and a disbeliever in the stars; as for the one who said, “We have been given rain by such-and-such a star,” he is a disbeliever in Me and a believer in the stars.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari; see Fath al-Baari, 2/333)

Similarly, the one who reads the horoscopes in newspapers and magazines and believes what they say about the influence of the stars and planets is a mushrik, and the one who reads them for entertainment is a sinner, because it is not permitted to entertain oneself by reading things that contain shirk, because Shaytaan will try to lead him to shirk through this.

Yet another form of shirk is believing that certain things can bring benefit when the Creator has not made them so. For example. some people believe in amulets and spells, or wearing certain types of pearls or seashells or metal earrings and so on, on the advice of fortune-tellers or magicians or in accordance with inherited customs. So they hang them around their own or their children’s necks to ward off the evil eye - or so they claim; or they tie them onto their bodies or hang them in their cars and homes, or wear rings with special stones, thinking that these things can relieve or ward off distress. This without a doubt is contrary to the idea of relying on Allaah, and will only result in making a person even more weak, like seeking medicine in a haraam way. These amulets obviously contain much shirk, such as seeking the help of some jinns and devils, or vague drawings and illegible writing. Some of these liars even write aayaat from the Qur’aan, or mix them with words of shirk, or write them with impure substances such as menstrual blood. Hanging up these amulets or tying them to one’s body is haraam because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever hangs up an amulet is guilty of shirk.” (Reported by Ahmad, 4/156; see also Silsilat al-Saheehah, no. 492).

If the one who does this believes that these things can cause benefit or harm instead of Allaah, he is a mushrik who is guilty of al-shirk al-akbar. If he believes that they are a means of causing benefit or harm, then he is a mushrik who is guilty of al-shirk al-asghar, which includes shirk that consists of attributing causes to things other than Allaah.


Showing off in worship: among the conditions for any good deed to be acceptable are that it should be free of any kind of showing off and within the framework of the Sunnah. The person who performs acts of worship, like praying, in order to be seen by other people is a mushrik and his deed is unacceptable. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allaah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for prayer, they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allaah but little.” [al-Nisaa’ 4:142]

Similarly, the person who does a good deed so that news of it will reach other people has also fallen into the sin of shirk. The threat of punishment for the one who does this was reported in the hadeeth narrated by Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father), in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does things to be seen and heard by others, Allaah will cause him to be seen and heard as an example to others.” (Reported by Muslim, 4/2289). Whoever does any act of worship for the sake of Allaah and other people, his deeds will be unacceptable, as is stated in the hadeeth qudsi: “I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he who does a deed for someone else’s sake as well as Mine will have that deed renounced by Me to him who he associated with Me.” (Reported by Muslim, no. 2985).

It may happen that a person starts to do a deed for the sake of Allaah, then the urge to show off comes over him. If he resists that impulse his deed will still be acceptable, but if he submits willingly to it, then in the opinion of most of the scholars his deed will be unacceptable.



Superstitious belief in omens: this is a form of pessimism, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“But whenever good came to them, they said, ‘Ours is this.’ And if evil afflicted them, they ascribed it to evil omens connected with Musa and those with him . . .” [al-A’raaf 7:131]

Before Islam, if one of the Arabs wanted to do something like travelling, he would take hold of a bird and release it: if it flew to the right, he would take this as a good omen and proceed with his plans, but if it flew to the left, he would take it as a bad omen and cancel his plans. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gave his verdict on this practice when he said: “Al-Tiyarah (observing birds for omens) is shirk.” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 1/389; see also Saheeh al-Jaami’, 3955).

This kind of haraam belief that goes against Tawheed also includes the practice of regarding certain times etc., as inauspicious, such as not holding a wedding in Safar, or regarding the last Wednesday of every month as a day of evil omen and ongoing calamity, or believing that numbers such as 13, or certain names, are “unlucky.” It is also haraam to believe that handicapped people are bad omens, such as going to open one’s store but turning back upon seeing a one-eyed man. All of this is haraam and is part of the shirk for which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) disowned people. ‘Imraan ibn Husayn reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “He is not one of us who observes birds for omens or has someone else do this for him, or who predicts the future or asks someone else to do it for him, (and I think he said) or who practices magic or asks someone else to do it for him.” (Reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer, 18/162; see also Saheeh al-Jaami’ 5435).

The expiation required from the person who commits any of these sins is reported in the hadeeth reported by Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Whoever was turned away from doing something because of a bad omen is guilty of shirk.’ The people asked, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, what expiation is there for doing that?’ He said, ‘That he should say: “O Allaah, there is no goodness except Your goodness and no omen except your omen and there is no god but You.”’” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 2/220; al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 1065).

Pessimism is a part of everyone’s nature, to a greater or lesser extent; the best cure for it is reliance upon Allaah (tawakkul), as Ibn Mas’ood said: “There is no one among us (who will not feel pessimistic sometimes), but when we rely on Allaah, He makes that feeling go away.” (Reported by Abu Dawud, no. 3910; see also al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 430).

Swearing by something other than Allaah: Allaah may swear by whatever of His creatures He wills, but His creatures are not permitted to swear by anything other than Allaah. Many people swear all kinds of oaths by things other than Allaah, but swearing by something is like glorifying it, and it is not right to glorify anything or anyone other than Allaah. Ibn ‘Umar reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has prohibited that you should swear by your fathers. If anyone swears, let him swear by Allaah, or else remain silent.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari; see al-Fath, 11/530). Ibn ‘Umar also reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever swears by something other than Allaah is guilty of shirk.” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 2/125; see Saheeh al-Jaami’, 6204). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever swears by trustworthiness is not one of us.” (Reported by Abu Dawud 3253; see also al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, no. 94).

It is not permitted to swear by the Ka’bah, by trustworthiness, by honour, by help, by the blessing of so-and-so, by the life of so-and-so, by the virtue of the Prophet, by the virtue of a wali, by one’s father and mother, by the heads of one’s children, etc. All of that is haraam, and the expiation for doing it is to say La ilaaha ill-Allaah, as is stated in the saheeh hadeeth: “Whoever swears and says ‘By al-Laat’ or ‘By al-’Uzza,’ let him say ‘La ilaaha ill-Allaah (there is no god except Allaah).’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 11/536). There are other phrases that similarly involve shirk and are therefore forbidden, but that are often spoken by Muslims, such as: “I seek refuge with Allaah and with you,” “I am depending on Allaah and on you,” “This is from Allaah and from you,” “I have no-one but Allaah and you,” “I have Allaah in heaven and I have you on earth,” “If it were not for Allaah and so-and-so,” “I disown Islaam,” “Time has let me down” (and every other expression which involves cursing time, like saying, “This is a bad time,” “This is an unlucky time,” “Time is a betrayer,” etc., because cursing time is an insult to Allaah Who has created time), references to “Nature’s way.” Names that imply being a slave of anyone other than Allaah, such as ‘Abd ‘al-Maseeh, ‘Abd al-Nabi, ‘Abd al-Rasool and ‘Abd al-Husayn, are also forbidden.

There are also modern expressions which are contrary to Tawheed and are therefore haraam, such as “Islamic socialism,” “Islamic democracy,” “The will of the people is the will of Allaah,” “Religion is for Allaah and the land is for the people,” “In the name of Arabism,” “In the name of the revolution,” etc.

It is also haraam to use titles such as “King of kings” or “Judge of judges” for human beings; to address munafiqeen or kuffaar with titles like “Sayyid (master)” (whether speaking Arabic or other languages), to use the words “If only...” - which imply discontent and regret, and open the way for Shaytaan, and to say “O Allaah, forgive me if You want to.” (For more information, see Mu’jam al-Manahi al-Lafziyyah, Bakr or Zayd)

(from sheik Saleh Munajjid's book FORBIDDEN)

References
godallah.com
muslimconverts.com
islamqa.com
Pillars of Faith
By Dr. Ja`far Sheikh Idris
onislam.net
missionislam.com

http://www.ebnmaryam.com/vb/clientsc...es/extra12.gif

Allah Bless you and the writers.... Great efforts

A very important essay, it is about all that is important in Islam specially the Oneness of Allah. Everything is explained in clear terms with logical evidences and rational proofs , and now the disbelievers have no more doubts about Allah and Islam, if they read these expensive pages.
The example of protein molecule is very scientific.

وجه هذا البحث للمسلمين الجدد الذين دخولوا الى الاسلام بعد الالحاد

حيث يعالج مسالة الايمان والاعتقاد من خلال زاوية المنطق والعلم

نرجو ان يساعد تلك الفئة الموجه لها وكل المسلمين في بقاع الارض

العز والتمكين للاسلام والمسلمين

http://www.ebnmaryam.com/vb/clientsc...es/extra11.gif

Level One
AQEEDAH
Teacher’s Manual
Prepared by Moosaa Richardson

http://islamicline.com/islamicbooks/...ine.com%29.pdf