Fleeing from Allāh unto Him

“From” and “To”

The heart’s hijrah requires migrating “from” one state “to” another. A person migrates with his heart:

from loving other than Allāh to loving Him;

from offering servitude to other than Allāh to offering it to Him;

from fearing other than Allāh to fearing Him;

from having hope in other than Allāh to having hope in Him;

from relying on other than Allāh to relying on Him;

from asking and deploring other than Allāh to asking and deploring Him;

from surrendering and submitting to other than Allāh to surrendering and submitting to Him.

This is precisely the meaning of “fleeing unto Allāh”, as Allāh (subhanahu wa ta’ala) says:

فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ

…Flee then unto Allāh…

[Adh-Dhāriyāt 51:50]

And indeed, the tawheed required from a person is to flee from Allāh unto Him!

Under this heading of “from” and “to” falls a great reality of tawheed.

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Be a Servant of Allāh

Allāh has also called the obedience of Shaytān in disobedience to Him, worship of him,

أَلَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يَا بَنِي آدَمَ أَن لَّا تَعْبُدُوا الشَّيْطَانَ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ

Did I not make a contract with you, tribe of Adam, not to worship Shaytān, who truly is an outright enemy to you. [Ya Sin 36:60]

Allāh, Exalted is He, quotes His beloved Ibrahim as saying to his father,

يَا أَبَتِ لَا تَعْبُدِ الشَّيْطَانَ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ عَصِيًّا

Father, do not worship Shaytān. Shaytān was disobedient to the All-Merciful. [Maryam 19:44]

Whoever has not actualized the worship of the All-Merciful and His obedience will worship Shaytān through obeying him. A person cannot free himself of the worship of Shaytān except by making his worship sincere and wholly for the All-Merciful. The latter are the people about whom He said,

You have no authority over any of My slaves except for the misled who follow you. [al-Hijr 15:42]

These are the people who have actualized, ‘None has the right to be worshipped save Allāh’: those who were sincere in articulating it and their deeds testified to the truth of their words. These are people who have not turned to any other besides Allāh in their love, hope, fear, obedience, and reliance. These are people who remained true to their testification: these are the true servants of Allāh.

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Such is the Qur’aan

One who reads the Qur’aan, and ponders and reflects over its aayaat, finds within it such knowledge and learning, which strengthens, increases and develops his eemaan.

This is because he will come across within the discourse of the Qur’aan, a King, who possesses all dominion, for whom alone, is all praise. The reign of all affairs are in His Hand alone, they emanate from Him and return to Him. He has ascended above His throne and not a single secret in the regions of His dominion escapes Him.

He is aware of what is in the souls of His slaves, fully cognizant of their hidden and public deeds. Solely, He disposes of the affairs of the Kingdom.

He hears and sees, gives and withholds, rewards and punishes, and honours and abases. He creates and sustains, and gives life and causes death. He decrees, executes and disposes.

He invites His servants and directs them towards what constitutes their happiness and success. He entices them towards this, and warns them of what will cause their ruin.

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A Fly

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ضُرِبَ مَثَلٌ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ لَن يَخْلُقُوا ذُبَابًا وَلَوِ اجْتَمَعُوا لَهُ وَإِن يَسْلُبْهُمُ الذُّبَابُ شَيْئًا لَّا يَسْتَنقِذُوهُ مِنْهُ ضَعُفَ الطَّالِبُ وَالْمَطْلُوبُ

“O mankind! A similitude has been coined, so listen to it (carefully): Verily those on whom you call besides Allāh, cannot create (even) a fly, even though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly snatches away a thing from them, they will have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought.” (Hajj 22:73)

Shaykh Abdur Rahmaan as-Sa’dee said:

This is a parable which Allaah has given to show the vileness of worshipping idols, and to explain the deficiency of the intellect of those who worship them, and the weakness of all of them. So He said:

“O mankind!”

Which is an address to the Believers and the Unbelievers. So the Believers will increase in knowledge and clarity, whereas the Unbelievers will have the proof established against them.

“A similitude has been coined, so listen to it (carefully) …”

Meaning: listen attentively to it and understand what it comprises. Do not meet it with inattentive hearts, nor with hearing that is turning away. Rather pay attention to it with your hearts and your hearing; and it is this:

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Consider a King

The scholars agree that Allāh (subhanahu wa ta’ala) did not send from the heavens to the earth a better reminder or a stronger admonition than contemplation and knowledge. The human being should contemplate that Allāh (subhanahu wa ta’ala), the All-Mighty, the All-High is watching him, and that – praise be to Him (subhanahu wa ta’ala) – He knows everything that is hidden and which is disclosed. The scholars demonstrated that great admonition by an example which makes the conceivable as tangible – Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) has the Most Superior example – they said:

If we suppose there is a king who never spares anybody from being killed, a king who is strong and firm, his executioner under his command, with blood shed on the floor, and the king has his daughters and wives around, can anybody think of seducing them or commit a crime at that moment while the king is looking at him? No, of course not. Every one of those present would be full of fright, with their eyes silently gazing, waiting for the moment to be far away from this place to safety.

No doubt Allāh (subhanahu wa ta’ala) who is the Most Superior example is most highly Informed and All-Knowing, than that king. He would be more severe in punishment. His sacred boundaries on the earth are His Commands. If the residents of a village know that their governor would know in the morning of every single deed they committed during the night, they would be fearful and would commit no sins.

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The Names and Attributes of Allaah

Q: What is the belief of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah regarding the Names and Attributes of Allaah? And what is the difference between a Name and an Attribute? And does confirming the Name necessitate confirming the Attribute? And does confirming the Attribute necessitate confirming the Name?

A: The belief of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah regarding the Names and Attributes of Allaah is to confirm the Names and Attributes which Allaah has confirmed for Himself, without distorting the meaning, without negating it, without explaining how and without comparison.

The difference between a Name and an Attribute is that a Name is something by which Allaah has named Himself, and an Attribute is something by which Allaah has described Himself and there is a clear difference between them.

A Name is considered to be an appellation by which Allaah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful is known, and which implies an Attribute; and confirming a Name entails confirming the Attribute, for example:

“Verily, Allaah is Ghafoor (the Most Forgiving), Raheem (the Most Merciful).”

and the Name:

“Ghafoor”

necessitates confirming the Attribute of Forgiveness, while the Name:

“Raheem”

necessitates confirming the Attribute of Mercy.

But confirming an Attribute does not necessitate confirming a Name, for example, the Attribute of Al-Kalam (speech) does not necessitate that we confirm for Allaah the name: Al-Mutakallim (the Speaker); and based upon this, the Attributes are greater in number, because every Name necessitates an Attribute, but not every Attribute necessitates a Name.

• Transcribed from: Fatawa Arkaan-ul-Islam, Islamic Verdicts on the Pillars of Islam, Volume 1, Creed and Prayer – Shaykh ‘Uthaymeen

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Hajj Contemplations | Part II

8. While in sa’yi, contemplate on Haajar, the mother of Ismaa’eel, when she asked her husband Ibraaheem ‘alayhi salaam: “Did Allah order you to do this (leaving her and her baby Ismaa’eel in Makkah)? He said: “Yes.” Her great response was: “Then He (Allaah) will not neglect us!” Think about this great dependence upon Allaah when you are in the sa’yi walking the same path which Haajar took in search for water and for means of life around the mounts of Safa and Marwah. Think about her endurance, perseverance and trust in Allaah. The sa’yi exemplifies the strong belief that we are in need of One Who Sustains and Provides – Allaah, the Exalted.

Think about Ibraaheem’s invocation on his way homeward to Palestine:

O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in an uncultivable valley by Your Sacred House (the Ka’bah at Makkah); in order, O our Lord, that they may perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), so fill some hearts among men with love towards them, and (O Allah) provide them with fruits so that they may give thanks.

(Ibrahim 14:37)

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Hajj Contemplations | Part I

1. This is a journey that was taken by Prophets and Messengers before you. Those who take the path of the Prophets magnify the tawheed of Allah and His House. There are those, however, who come to perform hajj and their hearts are attached to other than Allaah. They invoke the dead and the righteous, whether present or absent. This is the opposite of tawheed, it is shirk no matter what they call it because it is setting up rivals besides Allaah. So, free your intention from any kind of devotion to other than Allaah. Repent and come with a sincere heart submitting to Allaah remembering what Ibraheem and his son Ismaa’eel said when they were raising the foundations of Allah’s House, the ka’bah:

“Our Lord! And make us submissive unto You and of our offspring a nation submissive unto You, and show us our Manasik (all the ceremonies of pilgrimage – Hajj and ‘Umrah, etc.), and accept our repentance. Truly, You are the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.”

(Baqarah 2:128)

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All Types of Tawheed in the Testimony

Q. How does the testimony La Ilaha Illallah (None has the right to be worshipped except Allah) include all types of Tawheed?

 

A. It includes all types of Tawheed either by implication or as a requirement. This is because when a person says: I testify that none is worthy of worship except Allah, it comes immediately to mind that what is intended by it is affirming Allah’s sole right to be worshipped, which is known as Tawheed Al-Uloohiyyah and this implies Tawheed Ar-Ruboobeeyyah, because every person who worships Allah Alone would not do so unless he acknowledged His Oneness in matters of Lordship. Likewise, it implies Tawheed Al-Asmaa was-Sifaat, because a person does not worship except One Whom he knows has the right to be worshipped because of the Names and Attributes which belong to Him. Ibrahim said to his father: 

 

يَا أَبَتِ لِمَ تَعْبُدُ مَا لَا يَسْمَعُ وَلَا يُبْصِرُ وَلَا يُغْنِي عَنكَ شَيْئًا

 

“O my father! Why do you worship that which hears not, sees not and cannot avail you in anything? (Maryam 19:42)

 

So affirming Allah’s sole right to be worshipped implies Tawheed Ar-Ruboobeeyyah and Tawheed Al-Asma’ was-Sifat.

 

• Transcribed from: Fatawa Arkaan-ul-Islam| Islamic Verdicts on the Pillars of Islam | Volume 1 | Shaykh Al Uthaymeen

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The Importance of Tawheed

The Importance of Tawheed
and the Evil Result of Neglecting it
Shaykh Saalih ibn ‘Abdillaah Al-Fawzaan
From his book Duroos min Al-Qur’aan Al-Kareem (p.5-11)
Translated exclusively for www.bakkah.net

[In the Name of Allaah, the All-Merciful, may His Salaah and Salaam be upon His final Messenger, to proceed… ]

Someone may say, and it actually has been said, “What is it with you that you always focus on tawheed and you talk so much about it?! And you don’t take into consideration the condition of the Muslims in our day and time, those who are being killed and caused to flee all over the earth, those being persecuted by the empires of disbelief in every place?!”

So we say, and with Allaah lies success:

Tawheed is the foundation upon which this upright religion has been built, so focusing on it means to focus on the very core itself. For if we were to reflect over the Noble Qur’aan we would find that it expounds on issues of tawheed repetitively, so much so that there does not exist a single soorah in the Qur’aan that does not mention tawheed, clarifying it and prohibiting what opposes it. It was Al-Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim who pointed out that the entire Qur’aan is about tawheed, since it is only made up of the following:

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