Thursday, March 25, 2010

Aqeedah al Wasitiyah (by Sh. Ibn Taymiyyah - rahimah'Allah) - Part 1.1

Subject: Aqeedah al Wasitiyah (by Sh. Ibn Taymiyyah - rahimah'Allah) - Part 1.1
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

as Salam alaykum wa Rahmat'Allahi wa Barakatuhu dear member,

Due to the need to seek knowledge of Islam upon solid foundations, insha'Allah, you shall be receiving certain excerpts from the very well-known book by Shaykh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimah'Allah). Understanding the fundamentals described within this book enable the seeker of knowledge to enhance his or her understand of the Religion of Islam, of its foundations, and other related texts and issues such as Hadith compilations (Al Bukhari, Muslim, an Nasa'i) or fiqh (Islamic legislation and legal verdicts).

May Allah grant us success in understanding His Religion and sincerely seeking His Face in all our deeds, and especially in the one of seeking knowledge of His Religion. Ameen

Introduction

In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful [1]

The praise belongs to Allah [2] Who sent His Messenger [3] with guidance and the religion of truth (i.e., Islam) making it incumbent on all religions. Allah is the best of witnesses [4], and I testify that there is no god but Allah alone and that He has no partner [5]; I admit and believe in the oneness of Allah. And I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger [6]; May Allah greatly bless him, his family, and his companions.This is the belief of the saved group [7], the victorious ones to the Day of Judgment, the people of the Sunnah and the Jama'ah [8] (i.e., The belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the resurrection after death, the belief in Divine Decree (qadar), be it good or bad) [9].

Part of the belief in Allah is the belief in how He has described Himself in His Book (the Qur'an) and in how His Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) has described Him. Believe without distorting or denying and without questioning or shaping; Rather, believe in Allah, The Exalted:

"There is none like Him; He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer."
(ash-Shura 42/11)


1. The scholars differed in regard to the "Basmalah"; is it a verse (ayah) of each chapter (Surah) it opens?, or is it a separate verse which was revealed to separate between the chapters?, and to be blessed by starting the reading with it; the second opinion is the preferable one. And they agreed that it is a part of a verse in Surat an-Naml (27/30), and to abandon it at the beginning of Surat Bara'ah or (at-Tawbah/9), because it is considered as one chapter with Surat al-Anfal/8.


2. Al-Hamdu Lil-Lahi (all the praise belongs to Allah): It was reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said:

"Every talk which does not open with praising Allah and asking mercy for me is incomplete and has no blessing." (ar-Rahawi) The same thing was reported about the Basmalah. (Ibn Hibban)

3. The Messenger is a man who received a Revelation of Shari'ah (religion and law), and was ordered by God to announce it, however, if he received a revelation and wasn't ordered to announce it, then he is only a prophet and not a messenger.

4. The (Shahadah) of Allah, the Exalted, is implemented by His Word and His Action, and His Support for His Messenger by victory, miracles, and various proofs that what he brought forth is the Pure Truth.

5. La ilaha illa Allah (There is no god but Allah) is the formula of Tawhid (Oneness) which all Messengers (peace be upon them all) agreed upon, rather it is the essence of their messages, and every Messenger made it the opening of his message and its pillar, as our Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

"I was ordered to fight people until they say La ilaha illa Allah, and if they say it, then they protect their blood and their property from me except for its dues, and Allah, The Almighty, The Supreme, will judge them." (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

6. And making the shahadah (testimony) for the Messenger (peace be upon him) of the Risalah (Message) and the 'Ubudiyah (Servitude to Allah and worshiping Him) connected with the Testimony of the Oneness of Allah, to indicate that both of them must be mentioned together, and no one of them takes the place of the other, for this they were connected in adhan (the call for prayers) and at-tashahhud (the testimony). Some people interpreted the verse,

"And We exalted your name." (al-Inshirah 94/4)

as: "Whenever I am mentioned you will be mentioned with Me."
And He combined for him (the Prophet) the two tides, namely that of the Messenger-ship and the Servitude, because they are the highest of which any human being could be described. The Servitude or the worship is the reason for which Allah made the creations, as He said:

"I created the jinn and humankind only that they should worship Me."
(adh-Dhariyat, 51/56)

So the perfection of the creature is in accomplishing that goal, and the more the human being increases his accomplishment of the servitude, the more he increases his perfection and makes his status higher, for this Allah mentioned His Prophet with the title 'Abd (slave, servant, worshipper) during his highest and noblest situations like al-Isra' (the night journey from Makkah to al-Quds). Also, in the sound hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

"Do not praise me as the Christians praised The Son of Mary (Jesus), indeed, I am only a human being, so, say; 'The 'Abd of Allah and His Messenger'."

7. The Saved Group is the victorious one according to the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him):

"A band of my 'Ummah shall stick to truth and will stay victorious, and will not be harmed by whoever betrays them until the Day of Judgment" (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

And his saying:

"This 'Ummah will be divided into 73 divisions, all of them will go to Hell except one, which follows what I and my Companions are today." (at-Tirmidhi)

8. The Sunnah means the way which the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Companions lived and behaved before the rise of the heretical innovations.

9. These six articles are the pillars of the faith, and every true believer must accept all of them according to the guidance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and whoever rejects any article of them is not considered a true believer. Those pillars are mentioned in the story of Gabriel when he came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) as a bedouin to ask him about Islam and Iman (faith) and Ihsan (worshiping Allah as if we see Him, since we do not see Him, He sees us): the Prophet said:

"To believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and to believe in the Resurrection after death, and the Qadar (Divine Decree) whether it is good or bad. The Books are the revealed ones from the heavens to the Messengers, of which are known to us are: The Scrolls of Abraham (Suhuf Ibrahim), The Old Testament (at-Tawrah), The New Qur'an Testament (al-Injil, the Zabur (the Psalms of David), and the Qur'an, the Last Revelation. "

The Messengers: only twenty-five of them are mentioned in the Qur'an, as for the rest, we should believe in them without bothering ourselves in counting them, or knowing their names, because this is what Allah kept for Himself as He said in the Qur'an

"Verily We sent Messengers before you, among them those of whom We have told you, and some of whom We have not told you."
(Ghafir or al-Mu'min 40/78)

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