Exhortations from the Book and the Sunnah

From: MSN NicknameUmm_Amatillaah (Original Message) Sent: 8/31/2006 1:54 AM
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Exhortations from the Book and the Sunnah
The First Exhortation: The Prohibition of Associating partners with Allah

Written by Dr. ‘Alee bin Muhammad bin Naasir al-Faqihee (hafithahullah)
Professor of the Department of Higher Studies in the Islamic University of Madeenah, K.S.A, College of Da’wah and Usool-ud-Deen

Translated by Aboo ‘Imraan al-Mekseekee

All the praise is for Allah, Lord of all the worlds, and the peace & blessings of Allah be upon the noblest of the Prophets and Messengers, Our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all of his companions. To Proceed:

We pointed out in the introduction that we would be speaking more in depth and in detail about the first exhortation from the ten exhortations that were revealed in the Book of Allah, the Mighty & Majestic, which is the prohibition of associating partners with Allah Most High. This is due to its importance in the life of the Muslim and because associating partners with Allah renders the actions null as the Most High says:

{It has been revealed to you just as it was to those before you that if you were to join others in worship along with Allah, then surely all your deeds will be in vain, and you will be among the losers.} Soorat-uz-Zumar: 65

Due to this Allah the Most High begins the First Exhortation with:

{Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited you from: Do not join anything in worship with Him.} Soorat-ul-An’aam: 151-152

Allah Most High is addressing His Prophet and Messenger Muhammad (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) saying: O Muhammad say to these polytheists who worship other than Allah and who prohibit what He provides them and who made rules concerning the Baheerah and the Saaibah[1]:

{And they say these cattle and crops are forbidden, not to be eaten except those whom they allow. And the cattle are forbidden to be used for burden or any other work, and cattle on which the Name of Allah is not pronounced; lying against Him. He will recompense them for what they used to fabricate. And they say: What is in the bellies of such and such cattle is for our males alone, and forbidden to our females, but if it is born dead, then all have shares therein. He will punish them for their attribution (of such false orders to Allah). Verily, He is All­-Wise, All­-Knowing.} Soorat-ul-An'aam 6:138-139

They killed their children fearing poverty and impoverishment foolishly and without knowledge:

{Indeed lost are they who have killed their children, foolishly, without knowledge, and have forbidden that which Allah has provided for them, inventing a lie against Allah. They have indeed gone astray and were not from those who were guided.} Soorat-ul-An'aam:140

{Likewise the partners of many of the polytheists beautified the killing of their children, in order to lead them to their destruction and cause confusion in their religion. And if Allah had willed, they would not have done so. So leave them alone with their fabrications.} Soorat-ul-An’aam:137

In this manner the polytheists have made the forbidden permissible and the permissible forbidden, by way of their opinions and by being enticed by the Devil so Allah says to His Prophet, Say to them come and pay attention to what I recite to you which means: what I narrate to you and inform you of what your Lord has really forbidden you, not by way of fabrication or by conjecture rather by way of the Divine Revelation from Allah and by way of what He Commands:

{Do not join anything in worship with Him.} Soorat-ul-An’aam: 151-152

All the way to the end of the two verses of Soorat-ul-An’aam that contain these exhortations mentioned in the beginning of the introduction, the first part of it is the prohibition of associating partners with Allah which coincides with all of the Divine Legislations, there was not one messenger sent except that he called his people to worship Allah Alone, the Most High says:

{And We sent a messenger to every nation to worship Allah and to denounce the Taaghoot (the false deities).} Soorat-un-Nahl: 36

So the foundation of the Religion that the Prophets were upon is one and it is to worship Allah sincerely even if the Divine Laws differed:

{To every single one of you We made a Shar’ah (a legislation) and a Manhaaj (a methodology).}

As for ‘Ibaadah (worship) and Tawheed (singling out Allah in worship) then He says:

{And the decree of your Lord is that you worship none except for Him.}

And in the two Saheehs from Aboo Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) said: (Gabriel came to me and gave me the glad tidings that whoever from my Ummah (nation) dies not associating any partners with Allah will enter the Paradise.) I (Aboo Dharr) mentioned, “Even if he commits adultery or steals?” to which he responded: (Even if he commits adultery or steals.) and he said this three times and on the fourth he said: (and even in spite of Aboo Dharr’s dislike.)

Thus whenever Aboo Dharr used to mention this narration he would say, “And even in spite of Aboo Dharr’s dislike.”

The meaning of this narration indicates that the disobedient servant who commits the major sins will not reside in the hellfire when entered into it, rather he will be punished based on the extent of his sin but will he have the ability and capacity to take its extreme heat when thrown in it for only a few moments? We cannot even stand the heat of this life and it is only one portion from the seventy sections of the hellfire so it is obligatory for the Muslim to abstain from the disobedience that will cause him to enter it.

This narration refutes the Khawaarij who say, “The one who commits the major sins is a disbeliever in this life, he does not bequeath nor does he receive inheritance, he has expelled himself from the religion and will reside infinitely in the hellfire on the Day of Resurrection.”

It also refutes the Mu’tazilah who say, “The one who commits the major sins is between two abodes in this life he is treated like the rest of the Muslims but in the Hereafter he will reside in the hellfire.”

As for Ahl-us-Sunnah wal-Jama’aah then they say: He is considered a sinful Muslim under the will of Allah, if He wishes He will punish him based on the extent of his sin and if He wishes He will pardon him at once because His Mercy exceeds everything.

Indeed Allah has forbidden Shirk (associating partners with Allah) because it is a great oppression; He has explained in His Clear Book that He forgives all sins except for Shirk (associating partners with Allah), He will not forgive it:

{Verily Allah does not forgive that partners are associated with Him but He forgives anything else to whom He wishes.} Soorat-un-Nisaa: 48

And in the sacred narration where Allah says: (O son of Adam if you came to Me with sins covering the earth and then you came to Me not having associated anything with Me (in worship) I will give you the covering of mercy.) Related by Muslim in the Book of Dhikr and Duaa’ 4 / 2068.

Due to the danger of Shirk (associating partners with Allah) and the vagueness of some of its categories which have occurred amongst many of the people thinking that it is not Shirk (associating partners with Allah), it is necessary that we clarify for the reader some of these issues so the Muslim can avoid them while protecting his Religion, so we say:

The ‘Ulamaa (the Major Scholars of Islam) have explained that Shirk (associating partners with Allah) committed in worship is divided into two parts, Shirk Akbar (the Major level of associating partners with Allah) which mandates that the one who commits it will remain in the hellfire, may Allah protect us from it, and Shirk Asghar (the minor level of associating partners with Allah) which does not cause the one who commits it to remain in the hellfire, rather it nullifies the good deeds when the person falls into committing it (Shirk Asghar).

As for Shirk Akbar (the Major level of associating partners with Allah) then it is that which causes the one who commits it to dwell eternally in the hellfire and it is when the servant places a partner with Allah, supplicating to him as if he were supplicating to Allah, asking him for intercession and alleviation from sickness just as he would ask Allah, he hopes from him as he would hope from Allah, he loves him as he would love Allah, and fears him as he would fear Allah, generally speaking it is to place a partner alongside Allah worshipping him as if he were worshipping Allah, because these categories of worship, and I mean by that fearing, hoping, loving and supplicating, are all for acts of worship, and worship is only for Allah Alone it is not permissible to divert anything to other than Allah so whoever does so then he has committed Shirk Akbar (the Major level of associating partners with Allah) in which Allah has said of it:

{Verily Allah does not forgive that partners are associated with Him.} Soorat-un-Nisaa: 48

And this is what He specifies in His Statement:

{They worship other than Allah, that which will not harm them or benefit them and they say that those (they worship) will intercede to Allah (on their behalf), Say: Do you all inform Allah of what He knows neither in the heaven nor upon the earth? Glorified is He and Exalted above what they associate with Him!} Soorah Yunoos: 18

That is because whoever associates between Allah Most High and between the created being what is specifically for the Creator from the categories of worship or otherwise, then he is a Mushrik (one who associates partners when worshipping Allah), and Allah says:

{Verily Allah does not forgive that partners are associated with Him but He forgives anything else to whom He wishes.} Soorat-un-Nisaa: 48

As for the second category from the distinctive categories of Shirk (associating partners with Allah), then they site an example as small as ar-Riyaa (showing off) and making one’s actions look good for the created being such as the person who prolongs his standing and his bowing in his prayer so that an individual with prestige can see him, and not being completely sincere when worshipping Allah, so he performs the good deeds for a portion of his soul at times and then another time he does it to seek the worldly things seeking status and rank with the created being so he will have from his deeds a share and for the other (the one he did the act for) will be another share but Allah is self-sufficient of the deed done by the one who associates another with Him as in the sacred prophetic narration:

(I am self-sufficient from those who associate partners with Me, whoever does an action for someone else as well as for Me then I will renounce him and his act of Shirk.) Related by Muslim in the Book of Zuhd Vol. 4 #2289.

Just as it is connected to this category of Shirk with Allah regarding statements like swearing to someone else instead of Allah, taking an oath of loyalty and the saying of a person: “I have nothing except for Allah and You” or “I am in the reckoning of Allah and of you” and other similar statements. Yet despite this being Shirk Asghar, it reaches the level of Shirk Akbar based solely on ones statement and intention. Thus if one believes in the exaltedness of these (statements) and that (the person or thing they call on), besides Allah, benefits and harms him then the statement is based on the intention and belief and is considered to be from the first category (Shirk Akbar).

So it is obligatory for the Muslim to safeguard his Religion and to be aware of everything that could lead him to commit Shirk with Allah Most High because Allah has demanded His Servants to worship Him Alone, rather He created mankind and jinn only to worship Him as the Most High says:

{And I did not create jinn and mankind except to worship Me.} Soorat-udh-Dhaareeyaat: 56

‘Ibadaah (worship) is a general word regarding everything that Allah loves and is pleased with from those various statements and actions whether they be done outwardly or inwardly. Allah Most High is displeased with the statements that the created being makes to someone other than Him in addition to the actions where the created being directs (an act of worship) to other than Him, because worship of Allah consists of obeying Him with the actions He commanded and leaving the prohibited with love and obedience with the utmost humility and submissiveness to Allah the Glorified, the Most High, fearing His Punishment while still hoping for His Pardon and Reward, that is the true Islam.

And since Allah the Mighty & Majestic compared His Right with the right of the parents in showing kindness and being good to them, then the following discussion will surround the exhortation of being good to ones parents.


[1] The Baheerah and the Saaibah were types of cattle that the Arabs in the Days of Ignorance would slit their ears and derive omens regarding their flesh when they would die.

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