Topic: A Beneficial Aid Toward Understanding Kitaab-ut Tawheed


yasin3683    -- 24-03-2010 @ 7:40 PM
 
Bismillaah Al-Hamdulillaah wa salatu wa salaamu 'ala rasulullaah
Amma ba'd

A Beneficial Aid Toward Understanding Kitaab-ut Tawheed by Kashif Khan, who began by praising Allaah (subhanahu wa ta'aala) and then asking Allaah to send His salawaat and salamaat upon the last and final Messenger Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam).

Know that, ya ikhwaan baarakAllaahu fikum (may Allaah bless you), that indeed the asal (origin) of banu Adam (children of Adam) is at-Tawheed, as indeed Allaah Jalla wa 'Alaa states in the Qur`an:

And I (Allaah) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me (Alone). (Adh-Dhariyat 51:56)

And Shaikhul-Islaam Muhammad ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab (rahimahullaah ta'aala) said regarding this statement of Allaah:  ya'budoon (Worship Me}

that it means:
quote:
except that they should single Me out with [all] worship.


So indeed the asal (origin) of the children of Adam is at-Tawheed. As indeed, ibnu 'Abbaas (radiallaahu ta'aala 'anhumma) said:
quote:
Between Adam and Noah ('alaihim i salatu wa sallam) were ten kuroon generations, and each one of those generations was upon Tawheed (monotheism).
  

And indeed, as is collected by Imam Bukhari (rahimahullaah ta'aala) in his Sahih, that Ibn 'Abbaas (radiallaahu ta'aala 'anhumma) said regarding the statement of Allaah (subhanahu wa ta'aala):
  
And they have said: 'You shall not leave your deities, nor shall you leave Wadd, nor Suwa', nor Yaghuth, nor Ya'uq, nor Nasra (names of the idols)/ (Nuh 71:23) These are the names of the righteous men from the people of Nuh ('alaihi salaam). When these righteous men died, Shaytan suggested to them [what seemed like a good suggestion] even though the intent behind the advice was evil. So shaytan advised them to build tamaatheel (pictures and statues) of them and put them [those pictures and statues] in the places where they used to sit. And to name them with their names. So they did that. But they were not worshipped. They made these statues and these pictures of righteous men, and they placed them in their majaalis (sitting places). But they did not worship them. But when those individuals died - those who made these tamaatheel - and knowledge was forgotten, 'ubidaat these idols [statues, pictures] began to be worshipped. In this manner did shirk (polytheism) first take place in the children of Adam ('alaihi salaatu wa salaam).  

When the people of Nuh began to do these acts - as is the Sunnah of Allaah Jalla wa 'Alaa that when man strays, He sends a reminder to them - so Allaah Jalla wa 'Alaa sent to them Nuh ('alaihi salaatu wa salaam), forbidding them from shirk, ordering them with the worship of Allaah alone and without any partners, advising them to remove themselves from this kufr. [The khateeb clarified: There is a difference of opinion - as Shaikh Salih al-'Uthaimeen (rahimahullaah ta'aala) mentioned in his explanation of Kitab at-Tawheed - whether these men lived before the time of Nuh or they lived in the lifetime of Nuh but early on. The most accepted statement is they lived before the time of Nuh ('alaihi salaatu wa salaam).]

When the people heard these statements of Nuh ('alaihi salaam), their statement was: You shall not leave your deities... (Nuh 71:23) [meaning] because of the statement of this man - Nuh ('alaihi salaat wa salaam).

...nor shall you leave Wadd, nor Suwa', nor Yaghuth, nor Ya'uq, nor Nasra (names of the idols) (Nuh 71:23) [meaning] do not leave off all of these deities that you have. Meaning: do not obey Nuh ('alaihi salaatu wa salaam). Do not leave off these deities and the worship of them only because of what Nuh ('alaihi salaam) was saying. And these names - Wadd, nor Suwa', nor Yaghuth, nor Ya'uq, nor Nasra - as Ibn 'Abbas (radiallaahu 'anhumma) said were the names of the righteous ones who lived in this time. So after Adam ('alaihi salaam), people remained upon the affair of Tawheed for 10 generations. And after the passing of these 10 generations did shirk take place in the children of Adam. When these people who had some knowledge died, the people began to worship them.

Shaikh Salih al-Fawzaan (hafidhahullaah) stated that it has been narrated that all these individuals died in the same year. Because of this, those people [who survived them] were greatly affected. Because all of these men were righteous. They were greatly affected, and they used to cry over their loss. So Shaytan (may Allaah curse him) came to them with his advice [whispers], the dhaahir (apparent) of which was that he desired good. But the intent of which was evil. And he advised them to make tamatheel (representations) of these individuals. Make pictures of them - idols - of each one of them and then to name them with the names of those righteous men and to place them in their sitting places. Why? So that it would be a push for them to worship Allaah (subhanahu wa ta'aala). That they may remember the worship of these individuals and because of that worship, they begin to worship Allaah.

Al Imam al-Qurtoobi (rahimahullaah ta'aala) said,
quote:
"Indeed they made these pictures so that they could remember them [the righteous men] and remember their righteous, good deeds, to be forthgoing in their righteous, good deeds as these individuals were forthgoing. And they used to worship Allaah by the graves of these righteous men, but their worship - baarakAllaahu fikum - was always for Allaah subhanahu wa ta'aala. So when these individuals died and, after them, came a people who were ignorant of the intent of those who preceeded them, then ash-shaytan approached them and he suggested to them [meaning he whispered to them] and said those who preceeded them used to worship these idols. They should worship these tamatheel."
  

So as we said, what was apparent from the advice of shaytan to the people of Nuh was khair (good). But the intent behind it was evil. But we learn a lesson, the shaikh [Fawzaan] said. This is proof that bid'ah is not allowed even if what is apparent from that bid'ah is righteousness, is good - even if the intent of those who do it is good. Even then innovations are not allowed. They made these pictures, but it was a bid'ah - it was not something legislated by Allaah. It was not something that Allaah had revealed; rather it was a bid'ah. They made these tamatheel and placed them in their majaalis (sitting places). Those who did this were upon knowledge. They were upon Tawheed. But when this group died off, and knowledge was forgotten - knowledge was taken away with the death of the 'ulemma (scholars) [as comes in the narration] - you found people falling into the worship of these idols.

Ibn 'Abbas said, "When these people died off and knowledge was forgotten - with the death of the 'ulemma - knowledge was forgotten, and shirk took place. These idols were then worshipped."

Because shaytan lied to them, and said to them "your forefathers made these tamatheel so that they may be worshipped. They worshipped these things.."

In this manner, the reason ash-Shirk took place in the children of Adam was because they went to the extremes regarding those who were righteous from amongst them. The reason why shirk took place in the children of Adam was because they worshipped Allaah upon other than the legislation of Allaahu subhanahu wa ta'aala.

Al Imam Ibnul-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (rahimahullaah ta'aala) said, "More than one from the Salaf said: when they [the righteous] died, they [those who survived after them] used to stay at their graves, then make tamaatheel [representations] of them, and then - as time progressed - they began to worship them."

This was the statement of Ibnul-Qayyim - of course, the famous Muhammad bin Abu Bakr bin Ayoob Az-Zar'ee ad-Dimisci, the great imam, the student of Shaikhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahumullaah ta'aala) - regarding what took place at that time.

Shaikh Fawzaan said that indeed these athaar (narrations) have in them great benefit.

The first benefit was the prohibition of going to extremes regarding the right of the righteous. Indeed, going to extremes regarding the righteous is what causes shirk.

As the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said regarding himself upon his deathbed, La tutrooni kama atrat an-nasaara ibna Mariam. Inna ma anna 'abdun fa qullu 'Abdullaahi wa rasulullu. (Do not go to extremes regarding me as the Christians went to extreme regarding [Jesus] the son of Mary. Verily, I am only a slave, so say [call me] the slave of Allaah and His Messenger.) This statement was made upon the deathbed of the Messenger (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam).

Also he (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said:
quote:
La'nat Allaahi 'alal yahoodi wa nasaara itaakhaadhu quboor anbiyaihim masaajid. Fala tatakhidhu. Fa inni anhaakum 'an dhaalik (The curse of Allaah be upon the Jews and Christians. They took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship. So do not take [my grave as a place of worship]. For verily, I am forbidding you from that.)
  

So the origin of shirk was going to extremes in the right of the righteous.

Shaikh Fawzaan said, "We gain proof from these narrations that going to extremes when it concerns those who are righteous is from the ways of the Jews and Christians. Allaahu subhanahu wa ta'aala says:

O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say of Allaah aught but the truth... (An-Nisa 4:171)

So this going to extremes is not the Sunnah of the Muslimoon (Muslims). The establishment of the birthdays of the Prophets or making du'aa to them or taking their graves as places of worship. All of this is from the ways of the Jews and Christians. It is not from the Sunnah of the Muslimoon. These people whom you find worshipping graves - and those who have traveled, baarakAllaahu fikum, [have seen] the abundance of this action whether in Egypt, or Pakistan or India or other than these places - you will see that these graves have a greater rush of people going there than do the masaajid of Allaah subhanahu wa ta'aala. [Aoodhoobillaah!]  

The Shaikh [Fawzaan] continued, "It is the Jews and Christians who have preceeded them - not the Muslims. This is a warning [against making] pictures, and spreading these pictures because it is indeed a wasila (means) to shirk.

Think about it: the first time shirk took place in the children of Adam was because of pictures. The first time shirk took place in the children of Adam was because of pictures! And their intentions with their pictures were not evil intentions. But rather they had good intentions.

So it was not even intention that...were neither evil nor were they good as many of the people say today. [They say:] "We take pictures not because we want to fall into shirk, not because they would aid us upon the worship of Allaah; we just want to remember certain times. This is not haram. This has nothing to do with religion."

But rather the intent of those at first dwelled in these actions were good intentions, and even then it led them to committing shirk with Allaahu subhanahu wa ta'aala. And one does not know what Allaah has written for him. So you find many who hold onto the pictures of their parents who have deceased. Or they will hold onto pictures of their children who may have passed away. So much so that you see these people looking at these pictures on a daily basis. Sometimes, they may kiss these pictures on a daily basis. Allaahu subhanahu wa ta'aala knows best what type of fitnah they may fall into.

quote:
It may occur that one day they do not look at the picture and do not kiss the picture and something bad happens to them, while the next day when they do look at the picture or kiss the picture or speak to the picture, something good happens to them and instead of attributing it to Allaah, they attribute it to the action that took place between them and this picture.
  

So indeed, ya ikhwaan, the shaikh warned us against falling into picture-taking.

The shaikh said, "In this is a proof that just having good intentions is not sufficient. Rather, all actions must be in accordance with the sharee'ah of Allaahu subhanahu wa ta'aala. In it is a lesson of the importance of knowledge and the importance of the 'ulemma (scholars), and how they help remove harm from the masses. So when the 'ulemma died, the people fell into shirk. In it is a lesson. In any affair, you look at the benefits of it and the harms of it. So even though the making of these pictures (tamaatheel) may have had some benefit in it, the harm greatly outweighed the benefit. So Nuh ('alaihi salaam) was sent to these people to eradicate these actions of shirk, and they were eradicated. The actions were eradicated, and the people who fell into them and did not accept the Prophet and Messenger of Allaah [Nuh], they were removed from the face of the earth.

Then man strayed once again.

So for example, Banu Israil (Children of Israel) strayed when they took the cow as a deity along with Allaahu subhanahu wa ta'aala. The people of Musa and his brother Haroon ('alaihim i salaam) - and the story is mentioned in the Qur`an - and the Christians fell into shirk after al-Masih 'Eesa ibnu Mariam ('alaihi salaam) was taken to the heavens. And shirk took place in the Children of Isma'eel upon the hands of 'Amar ibni Lahi al-Khaza'ee, who changed the religion of Ibrahim and who made idols and brought these idols to the land of al-Hijaaz. And he ordered the people to worship them.

And then came the Messenger of Allaahu (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) returning the people - bi idhnillaah - back to the Tawheed of Allaahu subhanahu wa ta'aala. But even after the passing of the Messenger (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) - the last and final Messenger - shirk (polytheism) took place.  It took place in the Ummah of Muhammad (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) on the hands of the Shee'ah, who began to build shrines in the fourth century (Hijri) upon graves, and brought the bid'ah of the Mawlid (celebration of Prophet's birthday) to al-Islam, and went to extremes regarding those who were righteous.

Wal-Hamdulillaahi ta'aala - even after the coming of the Messenger (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) as the last and final Messenger (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) -   Allaah's Messenger (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said, "La tazaalu taifatun min ummati dhaahireena 'alal haqq ya`muroona bil ma'ruf wa yanhawna 'anil munkar." (There will always remain a group from this Ummah that will be apparent upon the truth. They will order the good and forbid the evil.)

So Allaah (subhanahu wa ta'aala) upon the end of every 100 years sent someone to revive the religion of al-Islam. Allaah's Messenger said regarding this group, "La tazaalu taifatun min ummati 'alal haqqi dhaahireen La yadhuruhum min khadalahum wala man khalafahum hata ya`ti amrullaah tabaraka wa ta'aala wa huma 'ala dhalik." (There will always remain a group from this Ummah that will be apparent upon the truth. Those who oppose them will not harm them in any way until the order of Allaah tabaraka wa ta'aala will come while they are in that state.)

Al Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahimahullaah ta'aala) said in the introduction of his book "Ar-Rad 'alal Jahmiyyah" (The Refutation upon the Jahmiyyah):
quote:
All praise is for Allaah, Who leaves a group after the Messengers from amongst the people of knowledge who negate the changes, distortions of those who go to the extreme. And the changes of those who are ignorant. [This group] is those who call people from misguidance to guidance, and are patient upon harm. How many are they who have gone astray whom they helped bring back to guidance? How many are those [whose eeman] have been killed by Iblees whom they have helped give life to again? How beautiful is their affect upon the people, and how ugly is the affect of the people upon them?


Shaikh Salih al-Fawzaan stated that without a doubt from amongst this group that Shaikh ul-Islaam Ahmad ibni Hanbal (rahimahullaah ta'aala) is speaking of is The Mujaadid (Reviver) Shaikh Muhammad ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab (rahimahullaah). For indeed, he has a great status amongst them that he revived the 'aqidah of al-Islam, and he removed the acts of Jahiliyyah from the bedouins. He fought against shirk in 'ibaada (worship). He fought against those who distorted the sharee'ah. He ordered that which is good and forbade that which is evil. He was the imam, al-'Allaamah, Al-Mujaahid, as-sabir, the caller to Allaah upon baseerah (knowledge), The Mujsadid, Shaikh Muhammad ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab bin Sulaiman al-Musharafi, at-Tameemee, An-Najdi. He was born in the year 1,115 Hijri in the city of 'Uyayna, in a house of knowledge. His father 'Abdul-Wahhab was a Judge and a faqi. His grandfather Sulaiman was a Mufti of Najd, and the leader of its 'ulemma. His uncles and the sons of his uncles (his cousins) - all of them - were people of knowledge. His city was filled with 'ulemma. And upon their hands did he learn this religion of al-Islam.

He memorized the Qur`an by a young age. He read the books of fiqh, and tafsir and hadith to his father and to the scholars of his country. So much so that he benefited from them all that which he could benefit by a young age. But he wanted more. He wanted to gain more in knowledge. He traveled to Makkah. He traveled to al-Madinah, and to Baghdad, and he continued to gain knowledge. And in his travels, he came upon the books of ash-shakhain: Shaikh ul-Islaam ibnu Taymiyyah and Imam Ibnul-Qayyim (rahimahumullaah ta'aala). And many of these books, he would copy with his own hands. So he would write out the books with his own hands, and built a library of their books that were copied with his own hands. When he saw the condition of the people of his time, and saw how it opposed the Qur`an and the Sunnah and what the Salafu-Saleh [Prophet, companions] were upon in 'aqidah and manhaj, he began to give da'wah.

He continued to give da'wah, going from place to place, and then he found aid in the city of Dhur'eeyah. He found aid upon the hand of its ameer Muhammad ibni Sa'ud (rahimahullaah ta'aala). And indeed Allaahu subhanahu wa ta'aala said:

...And whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allaah, then He will suffice him... (At-Talaq 65:2-3)  

Shaikhul-Islaam, with his allegiance to the ameer Muhammad ibni Sa'ud, spread the message of at-Tawheed from one corner of the Arabian Peninsula to the next. He wrote books, he answered the doubts of those who presented them. From his famous books, ya ikhwaan, was the book Kitab at-Tawheed.

And we want to [narrate] baarakAllaahu feekum (may Allaah bless you) - because of the importance of this topic of at-Tawheed - a story which is mentioned regarding this book.

Shaikhul-Islaam would teach this book from cover to cover. And once he would finish the book, he would go back to the beginning and he would start it all over again. And when this happened on a number of occasions, his students asked that another book be started, that they had learned this affair of at-Tawheed. They wanted to continue on to another affair. The shaikh, willing to test them and their understanding, set up a test for them. And he said to them that on such and such day there will be no dars (lesson) because he had to travel to see someone who had fornicated with his own mother. And his students were astonished and surprised. That was clear by the voices they made.

When [the shaikh] returned, the students asked as to what happened to this individual. Shaikhul-Islaam said it was not as he had explained - that he had commited fornication with his own mother - but rather a man was commiting shirk by slaughtering a small animal in the name of other than Allaah. When he explained this, the astonishment from his students left them. They were no longer astonished. So the astonishment that was present when they heard a man was commiting fornication with his own mother was great. But when they heard of someone commiting shirk with a small animal, the astonishment was absent, as though this action [shirk] was less serious than the former action [fornication with his mother].      

Shaikhul-Islaam, through this test, knew that his students did not understand this affair of at-Tawheed, and he began the book all over again. So we want to choose, ya ikhwaan, between today and tomorrow some small chapters that speak of, firstly, what the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) put forth to eradicate shirk from this earth. And, secondly, the fear of shirk. We will be discussing these two chapters, in sha` Allaah. The majority of what we will share will come from the explanation of Shaikh Salih al-Fawzaan (hafidhahullaah) from his book E'anat ul Mustafeed bi sharhee Kitabu Tawheed (A Beneficial Aid Toward Understanding Kitaab-ut Tawheed). And we will make some additions from the explanations of Shaikh Saalih al-'Uthaimeen and from Fathul Majeed, and some other books bi idhnillaahi ta'aala.

[The khateeb ended by asking Allaah to send the salaam upon the Prophet, his family, and his companions, and by asking Allaah to bless the attendees.]


Subhanak Allaahuma wa bihamdika ash-hadu anlaa illaaha illa anta astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk  

If I said anything correct, then it is from Allaah (subhanahu wa taa'ala), and if I erred, then that is from me and shaytan.


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