Abu Mughira
02-07-06, 04:21 PM
Refutation of Wahdat al-Wajood in light of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah
__________________________________________
The clear belief of Allah’s being upon his Throne is itself a refutation of Wahdat al-Wajood and those who say, ‘Allah is everywhere.’
(A) Numerous Qur’aanic verses state that Allah, the Exalted is above His Arsh (Throne) in a manner that befits His Majesty and Glory. Allah says:
“Your Rabb (Lord) is Allah, Who created the Heavens and the earth in six days and then rose above His Arsh (Throne), He manages all things.”[1]
Additional six similar verses are found in the Qur’aan. Numerous verses in every Soorah also indicate the same, from amongst them are,
“He is irresistible, above His slaves, and He is the All-Wise, Well-Acquainted with all things.”[2]
“To Him ascend (all) the good words, and the righteous deeds exalt them.”[3]
(B) Numerous Ahaadeeth of Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) clearly prove that Allah, the Exalted, is above his Throne and not among His creation in essence.
1. Muawiyah Ibn al-Hakam (radhi allahu anhu) said:
“I had a servant girl, who used to tend my sheep in the area of mount Uhud…. One day, I came to see them only to find out that a wolf had made off with a sheep from her flock… (for which) …I gave her a terrible slap in her face. When I came to Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) with the story, he considered it to be a grave thing for me to have done so. I said: “O Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam), couldn’t I free her?” He replied: “Bring her to me.” So I brought her. He (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) then asked her:
“Where is Allah?” She replied: “Above the Sky.” He (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) then asked her: “Who am I?” and she replied: “You are Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam).” So, the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said: “Free her for she is a true believer.”[4]
2. Abu Saeed al-Khudree (radhi allahu anhu) reports that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said:
“Do you not trust me, and I am the trustworthy servant of Him, Who is above the sky. The news of the Heaven comes to me in the morning and in the evening.”[5]
3. Abu Hurayrah (radhi allahu anhu) reported:
“The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said:
“When Allah completed the creation, He Wrote in a Book (which He kept) with Him above His Throne: “Verily, My Mercy precedes My Anger.”[6]
4. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said:
“Every night when it is the last third of the night, our Lord, the Superior, the Blessed, descends to the nearest Heaven and says: ‘Is there anyone to invoke Me so that I may respond to his invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone asking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?’”[7]
5. It is mentioned in Saheeh al-Bukharee, the wife of Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam), Zaynab bint Jaysh (radhi allahu anha) used to boast to the other wives of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) that their families gave them away in marriage to the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam), while Allah from above the Seven Heavens gave her away in marriage.”[8]
(C) The Fitrah (Natural Inclination)
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said:
“Every child is born in the state of Fitrah (i.e. a Muslim). Then his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian.”[9]
It is against the conviction of natural pure Fitrah to believe that all creation is Allah, which also includes filth and dirty places. No sane Muslim would ever accept such corrupt and immoral belief about His Lord, except him who has lost his senses or his Fitrah has been corrupted, as the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) stated:
“…Then his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian.”
Even a simple-minded Hindu in India remember the Lord as, “Uper-wala” or ‘the One Who is above’. The disbelieving Pharaoh too was naturally inclined to this belief,
“…The Pharaoh said, ‘O Haamaan, build a lofty place for me so that I may attain the ways of (reaching the) Heavens for me to behold the God of Moosa…”[10]
(D) Isra wal-Meraj
Another manifest proof that Allah is above the Seven Heavens is the miraculous event of Isra wal-Meraj, during which Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) was taken above the Seven Heavens to meet Allah, the Exalted. If Allah is present everywhere and in everything, (Na’oodho billah); the virtues and wisdoms behind the journey of Meraj would prove to be insignificant and worthless!
===========
Footnotes
===========
[1] Soorah Yunus (10): 3-4.
[2] Soorah al-An’aam (6): 18.
[3] Soorah Faatir (35): 10.
[4] Saheeh Muslim (Eng. Trans.) vol. 1, p.271-272, no.1094.
[5] Saheeh al-Bukharee (Eng. Trans.) vol. 8, no: 67, and Saheeh Muslim (Eng. Trans.) vol. 2, no: 742.
[6] Saheeh al-Bukharee (Eng. Trans.) vol.9, p.382-383, no.518) and Saheeh Muslim (Eng. Trans.) vol.4, p.1437, no.6628)
[7] Saheeh al-Bukharee vol: 9, no: 586 and Muwatta no: 15/30. Transmitted in Sharh as-Sunnah at-Tirmidhee no: 2601.
[8] Saheeh al-Bukharee (Eng. Trans.) vol. 9, p.382, no: 517.
[9] Saheeh al-Bukharee, vol. 8, no: 597, and Saheeh Muslim, vol. 4, no: 6423.
[10] Soorah Ghaafir (40): 36-37.
Abu Mughira
02-07-06, 04:22 PM
Additional Proofs from the Sayings of our Pious Predecessors (as-Salaf as-Salih)
_________________________________________________
Abu Bakr (radhi allahu anhu): Abdullah Ibn Umar (radhi allahu anhu) reported:
“When the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) was taken (passed away). Abu Bakr (radhi allahu anhu) entered and kissed his (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) forehead and said: “May my father and mother be sacrificed on you! You were good in life and in death.” Then he remarked:
“He who worshiped Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam), then Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) is dead. (But) he, who worships Allah, then Allah is above the sky, He lives and does not die.”[1]
Imam Malik (d.179H): Abdullah Ibn Naafi reported that Malik Ibn Anas (rahimahullah) said:
“Allah is above the sky and His Knowledge is in every place, not being absent from anything.”[2]
Shaikh al-Islam Abdullah Ibn Mubarak (d. 181H):
Alee Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Shaqeeq reports, I asked Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak:
“How are we to know our Lord?” He replied:
“He is above the seventh Heaven above His Throne. We do not say as the Jahmiyyah[3] say, He is here on the earth.”
This was mentioned to Ahmad Ibn Hambal (rahimahullah), he stated: “That is how it is with us (i.e. how we believe).”[4]
Imam Muhammad Ibn Idrees ash-Shafi’ee (d. 204H):
Abu Thawr and Abu Shuaib both reported that ash-Shafi’ee said:
“The saying which I found and hold regarding the Sunnah, those which I have seen Sufyan, Malik and others believing in are; ‘the testification, ‘None has the right to be worshiped but Allah and Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) is the Messenger of Allah’, Allah is above His Throne over the Heavens, He draws near to His creation as He wishes and descends to the lowest Heaven as He wishes….”[5]
Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal (d. 241H):
It was said to Abu Abdullah (Imam Ahmad):
“Allah is above the seventh Heaven, over His Throne, separate from His creation. His Power and Knowledge are in every place.”
He said, “Yes, He is above the Throne and His Knowledge is in every place.”[6]
Shaikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah writes, ‘the early generations of Muslims and their Imams were in complete and unanimous agreement that the Lord is separate and distinct from His creation.’[7]
These are few sayings of the scholars, Adh-Dhahabee has collected more than two hundred sayings of the early scholars in this regard in his book al-’Uluw.[8]
Misconception Cleared
_______________________________________________
A number of Qur’aanic verses indicate the nearness of Allah to His creations, one among them is “He is with you, wherever you are…”[9]
The nearness of Allah to His slaves refers to His Absolute Knowledge, as is also explained by Imam Ibn Katheer (rahimahullah) in his Tafseer of the above mentioned verse.
He says, “meaning, He is Watching over you and Witnessing your deeds wherever you may be, on land or on sea, during the night or the day, at home or in open areas or deserts. All of that is the same before His Knowledge and all of it is under His Sight and Hearing. He hears your speech and sees wherever you are…”
Thus, the nearness in the Qur’aanic verses is not by the Essence of Allah, but in Knowledge. Allah is As-Sameeh (the All-Hearer), Al-Baseer (the All-Seer) and al-Aleem (the All-Knower). He does not need to be among His creation to know their actions and conditions.
Imam Ibn Katheer (rahimahullah) writes in the Tafseer of the verse,
“and Indeed, We have created man, and We know what his self whispers to him. And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.”
Means, His Angels are nearer to man than his jugular vein. Those who explained ‘We’ in the verse to mean, ‘Our Knowledge,’ have done so to avoid falling into the idea of incarnation or indwelling; but these two creeds are false according to the consensus of Muslims. Allah is praised and glorified, He is far hallowed beyond what they ascribe to Him. The words of this verse do not need this explanation (that ‘We’ refers to ‘Allah’s Knowledge’), for Allah did not say, ‘and I am closer to him than his jugular vein.’ Rather, He said, “And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.’ Just as He said in the case of dying person, “But We are nearer to him than you, but you see not.”[10]
==========
Footnotes
==========
[1] Reported by ad-Daarimee in ar-Radd ‘alal Jahmiyyah, with a hasan isnaad.
[2] Reported by Abdullah Ibn Ahmad in As-Sunnah (p.5), Aboo Dawood in al-Masaa’il (p.263), Al-Aajuree in ash-Sharee’ah (p. 289) and al-Laalikaa’ee (1/92/2).
[3] Jahmiyyah are the followers of Jahm Ibn Safwan, who was the first one to publicly declare the denial of Allah’s Attributes. Before long he denied the Attributes of Allah, he was killed and crucified by Khalid Ibn Abdullah Al-Khusari, Prince of Iraq. This took place during the era of the Tabioon, (students of the Companion). All the scholars at his time called him a Kafir on account of plainly denying the Attributes of Allah.
[4] Reported by ad-Daarimee in ar-Radd ‘alal-Mareesee (p.24 and 103) and ar-Radd ‘alal-Jahmiyyah (p. 50) and Abdullaah Ibn Ahmad in as-Sunnah (p.7, 25, 35 and 72).
[5] Mukhtasar al-’Uluww (l96).
[6] Reported by al-Khallaal in al-Mukhtasar.
[7] ‘Al-Furqaan bayna Awliya ar-Rahmaan wa-Awliya ash-Shaytaan’ by Shaikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah on p.111.
[8] ‘The Ever-Merciful Istiwa Over the Throne’ by Shaikh Abdullah as-Sabt deals with this subject in details.
[9] Soorah al-Hadid (57): 4.
[10] Soorah al-Waqi’ah (56): 85.
osmanisnin 