Aqeedah al Wasitiyah (by Sh. Ibn Taymiyyah - rahimah'Allah) - Part 2.1

Subject: Aqeedah al Wasitiyah (by Sh. Ibn Taymiyyah - rahimah'Allah) - Part 2.1

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

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Allah's Names and Attributes in the Qur'anChapter One

The following is included in this idea of how Allah describes Himself in Surat al-Ikhlas, (chapter 112) which equals a third of the Qur'an [11], where He says:

"Say He is Allah The One, Allah The Eternal. He never begot, nor was begotten. There is none comparable to Him."

And He described Himself in the greatest Ayah (verse) in His Book (i.e., Ayat al-Kursi):

"Allah, there is no god save Him, The Living, The Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtake Him. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. Who is he who intercedes with Him except by His permission? He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His Knowledge except what He wills. His seat (kursi) contains the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is The Sublime, The Great."

(al-Baqarah 2/255)

Therefore, Allah protects whoever reads this Ayah at night and no devil can get close to him until morning. Allah has also said:

"Depend on The Living One, He Who will never die."

(al-Furqan 25/58)

And He, the Glorified, has said:

"He is The First (al-Awwal) and The Last (al-Akhir), The Outward (as-Zahir) and The Inward (al-Batin) [12]; He is The Knower of All Things."

(al-Hadid 57/3)

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FOOTNOTES:

11. This Surah (chapter) is given special status because it contains what no other chapters of the Qur'an contain, therefore, it has been called al- Ikhlas (the purity of faith) because it purified the faith from the blemish of paganism.

Al-Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal reported in his Musnad from 'Ubayy Ibn Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him), the reason for its revelation was that the non-believers said: "Muhammad tell us the genealogy of your God, so, Allah, The Blessed, The Exalted revealed: 'Say: He is Allah The One, Allah The Eternal..." It has been confirmed in the Sahih (the Sound Book of Hadith) that it is equal to a third of the Qur'an, but the scholars disputed over the interpretation of this saying, the most acceptable interpretation is what Sheikh al-Islam (i.e.,Ibn Taimiyah) narrated from Abu al- 'Abbas which is summed up as follows:

The Qur'an contains three basic objectives:

A. The ordinance which include the rules and the practical regulations which are the subject of Fiqh and Morality.

B. The stories and the accounts which contain the situation of the Messengers (peace be upon them all) with their nations, and the kinds of punishments which are inflicted on the non-believers; and the reward and the threat, and the details of the reward and the punishment in the Hereafter.

C. The Tawhid (the Oneness of God), and what people should know of Allah and His Names and Attributes, and this is considered the noblest of the three kinds. Since Surat al-Ikhlas contained the essence of this kind of knowledge, generally speaking, it is proper to say it is equal to a third of the Qur'an. The same could be said about Ayat al-Kursi in which Allah informed us about Himself, that He is the One in His Lordship, which means no other deity should be worshiped beside Him.

12. These four names deal with encompassment; His Name "The First" indicates His infinitely pre-existence and eternity; and His Name "The Last" indicates His immortality and everlastingness; and His Name "The Outward" indicates His highness and greatness by the fact that He encompasses everything; and His Name "The Inward" indicates His closeness and being with and within everything.

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