Aqeedah – Shaykh Khaled al Muslih at Al Muntada Islami

Bismillah, Alhumdulilah was Salaatu was Salaam ala Rasoolilah.

The Shaykh spent a good few hours going through the hadith of Jibreel because it covers all aspects of the deen in a very concise manner.

The hadith (a longer version) is as follows:

It is narrated on the authority of Yahya b. Ya'mur that the first man who discussed about Qadr (Divine Decree) in Basra was Ma'bad al-Juhani. I along with Humaid b. 'Abdur-Rahman Himyari set out for prilgrimage or for 'Umrah and said: Should it so happen that we come into contact with one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (swt) (peace be upon him) we shall ask him a bout what is talked about Taqdir (Division Decree). Accidentally we came across Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab, while he was entering the mosque. My companion and I surrounded him. One of us (stood) on his right and the other stood on his left. I expected that my companion would authorize me to speak. I therefore said: Abu Abdur Rahman! there have appeared some people in our land who recite the Holy Qur'an and pursue knowledge. And then after talking about their affairs, added: They (such people) claim that there is no such thing as Divine Decree and events are not predestined. He (Abdullah ibn Umar) said: When you happen to meet such people tell them that I have nothing to do with them and they have nothing to do with me. And verily they are in no way responsible for my (belief). Abdullah ibn Umar swore by Him (the Lord) (and said): If any one of them (who does not believe in the Divine Decree) had with him gold equal to the bulk of (the mountain) Uhud and then, it (in the way of Allah (swt)), Allah (swt) would not accept it unless he affirmed his faith in Divine Decree. He further said: My father, Umar ibn al-Khattab, told me: One day we were sitting in the company of Allah (swt)'s Apostle (peace be upon him) when there appeared before us a man dressed in pure white clothes, his hair extraordinarily black. There were no signs of travel on him. None amongst us recognized him. At last he sat with the Apostle (peace be upon him) He knelt before him placed his palms on his thighs and said: Muhammad, inform me about al-Islam. The Messenger of Allah (swt) (peace be upon him) said: Al-Islam implies that you testify that there is no god but Allah (swt) and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah (swt), and you establish prayer, pay Zakat, observe the fast of Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the (House) if you are solvent enough (to bear the expense of) the journey. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (Umar ibn al-Khattab) said: It amazed us that he would put the question and then he would himself verify the truth. He (the inquirer) said: Inform me about Iman (faith). He (the Holy Prophet (pbuh)) replied: That you affirm your faith in Allah (swt), in His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (the inquirer) again said: Inform me about al-Ihsan (performance of good deeds). He (the Holy Prophet (pbuh)) said: That you worship Allah (swt) as if you are seeing Him, for though you don't see Him, He, verily, sees you. He (the enquirer) again said: Inform me about the hour (of the Doom). He (the Holy Prophet (pbuh)) remarked: One who is asked knows no more than the one who is inquiring (about it). He (the inquirer) said: Tell me some of its indications. He (the Holy Prophet (pbuh)) said: That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress and master, that you will find barefooted, destitute goat-herds vying with one another in the construction of magnificent buildings. He (the narrator, Umar ibn al-Khattab) said: Then he (the inquirer) went on his way but I stayed with him (the Holy Prophet (pbuh)) for a long while. He then, said to me: Umar, do you know who this inquirer was? I replied: Allah (swt) and His Apostle knows best. He (the Holy Prophet (pbuh)) remarked: He was Gabriel (the angel). He came to you in order to instruct you in matters of religion.  (Muslim)

The Shaykh began with the story behind this hadith and he went into the three elements (Islam, Imaan and Ihsan). The Shaykh said that this event happened during one of his sittings with the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam because his teachings would involve talking about benefit of deen and dunya. The Shaykh mentioned the beginning of the hadith of a man coming, with white clothing and black hair and sitting next to the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam. The companions all wondered who he was because he didn’t look like anyone they knew and he looked too immaculately dressed to be a traveller, yet they didn’t ask any questions. This man then sat next to the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam and asked him the first question.

        . Oh Muhammad, tell me, what is Islam? (Note that the questioner didn’t say ‘Oh Messenger of Allah’)
      The Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam, even though it was a strange action, he answered the question. There was no refusal on his behalf. He replied:

(Paraphrasing) ‘It is to testify that there is none worthy of worship besides Allah, to establish salah, give zakat, fast during Ramadan and perform Hajj’. These are called the pillars and if they fall then there will be a breakdown.

The Shaykh then went to say that Islam is not something complicated but Islam addresses all people and calls to all, even though people will differ in their understanding. The Shaykh then went through the first of the pillars of Islam – Testification of faith.

Shahadah: this is one statement made up of 2 things. The first of the two things is to know that ONLY ALLAH IS DESERVING OF WORSHIP. The way of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah (ASWJ) is that they stick to two single statements – What Allah says and what the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam says. One can reach a high level of imaan with this.

Imam Ahmad was one of the greatest people who understood hadith and if he didn’t know about a hadith, it  was almost like this hadith didn’t exist. He knew both the strong and the weak ahadith. The purpose of knowledge is not to know a lot of things but with whatever you, you fear Allah.

Ibn Mas’ud: It is not about lots of narrations but about fearing Allah.

The second part of the Shahadah is to testify that the Messenger of Allah, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam is the final Prophet, the seal of the Prophet. Everything he commands you with, you follow.

An important point the  Shaykh mentioned here was that the shahadah is not just a statement from the tongue but it begins from the heart and then comes to the tongue. We believe it is an action of the heart and also of one’s limbs.

After mentioning the first pillar of Islam, the Shaykh mentioned that the remaining four pillars (Salah, Zakat, Fasting and Hajj) are to do with physical actions of the limbs. From these four, some are purely for the sake of Allah (Salah and Fasting) and there are some that benefit others i.e. You give zakah to help others and you can perform Hajj for someone else.

The Shaykh said that when it comes to salah. It isn’t to just pray, but to ‘establish’ prayer.

What does ‘establishing prayer’ mean?

To establish prayer means that you will approach the prayer and do it in the best possible way. i.e. you will perform all the obligations of the prayer.

These pillars are open to actions, those that people can see.

The Shaykh then went back to the hadith and said that once the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam answered this first question, the stranger man replied, ‘You have told the truth’.

The stranger, then asked another question

      Tell me about Al-Imaan?
The Prophet, sallalahu alayi wa sallam answered by mentioning the 6 articles of faith. This is to believe in:

·         Allah

·         Angels

·         Books

·         Messengers

·         Last day

·         Divine Decree

The Shaykh said here that this all goes back to the foundation of Islam. When you believe in the foundation, you believe in the latter five.

When talking about al-Imaan, we are talking about the internal actions. When the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam spoke about al-Imaan, the 6 matters were mentioned. It is not just to believe but about settlement and firmness in the heart for Allah. The reality of Imaan is the actions of the heart. (Remember, Islam is the action of the limbs). By both, Islam and Imaan, you will complete the deen. There were no details concerning any of these matters but when we say we have Imaan, there is a general belief and a detailed belief. This is ‘Imaani Mujamal’ and ‘Imaani Muffasal’. The Shaykh briefly explained these with regards to the 6 articles of faith.

Ø  Belief in Allah – The general faith is that you believe in Allah and you know He exists. The detailed faith in Allah is that you know He is deserving  of ALL worship (Uloohiyah). You recognise and establish His Lordship (Ruboobiyah). Thus, you believe that He is the Only Creator, the Only Sustainer/Provider, The Owner of the Dominion and He Controls all the affairs of the Universe. You also have belief in Allah’s perfect and beautiful Names and Attributes (Asma was Sifaat). For example, In Ayatul Kursi, we know He is Al Hayy and that is He is the most perfect and no need for slumber/sleep.

Ø  Belief in the Angels – The general belief is you believe that Allah created the angels. The detailed belief is that you know the names and roles of some Angels i.e. Jibreel came with the revelation and that there are 70,000 angels.

Ø  Belief in the Books – You know that Allah sent down book but then the detailed belief would be that you know Musa, alayhis salaam, received the Torah and the Injeel was revealed to Isa, alayhi salaam

Ø  Belief in the Messengers – The general belief is that Allah sent messengers to guide people to the truth (haqq) and the detailed belief is that there are messengers that exist that we have not been told about.

Ø  Belief in the Last Day – The general belief is that you will all die and then live the life of the grave and then you will be resurrected before your Lord. You also believe in Jannah and Jahannam The more detailed belief is that you know what will happen in the life of the grave and the punishment of the grave and what will be accountable for.

Ø  Belief in the Divine Decree – There are four aspects in general that one should know

-          Knowledge of Allah

-          Preserved Tablet

-          Allah created everything

-          Will of Allah

The more knowledge you have of these articles, you’ll have more Imaan, but all is required is for you to have the BASIC knowledge. When we look at Divine Decree we know that Allah does not like kufr, yet there is kufr around us. There is wisdom behind this and that is why He decreed it.

Before the Shaykh moved onto the last question he explained the difference between Islam and Imaan

The difference between Islam and Imaan

The hadith is clear, but is this always the case? Do we use Islam and Imaan separately or do they encompass one another?

When Allah says in the Quran ‘Oh you who believe’ , is He only directing this towards the mu’minoon or the muslimoon too?

The Shaykh mentioned that individually, they have their own meaning but when they are used together, it encompasses everything. If Imaan is mentioned alone, it also encompasses Islam and vice versa.

For example: ‘Indeed the believers have been successful’ (Al Mu’minoon) Allah mentions their actions as well therefore this is an example of using Islam and Imaan in an encompassing way.

In Surah al Hujurat, Allah says ‘When we have believed, say we have surrendered’. Here Allah mentions Islam and Imaan in the same context but they have their own meaning.

Moving back to the hadith, the stranger then replied, ‘You have told the truth’. He then asks another question

      What is Ihsan?
The Shaykh said that you may translate this as protection or as the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam said (paraphrasing) ‘It is to worship Allah as though you see Him and if you don’t see Him, know that He sees you’. He gave such a concise answer and it has such a great meaning to it.
     The scholars says that ‘Ihsaan is the highest level a person can reach because it is the perfection of both Islam and Imaan’. This definition can be broken into two parts.

o   HIGHEST LEVEL – The Shaykh told us the story of Musa when Musa asked to see Allah and He said no but Musa still worshipped him.

o   SECOND LEVEL – Even though you cannot see Him, you know that He sees you. The Shaykh gave the example of doing a task for your manager. If the manager is in front of you, you’ll perform the task better than you would have if he wasn’t in front of you. Same applies here , but you should worship Allah even more, even though you cannot see Him.

Therefore worship Allah to the best of your ability and bear in mind all of Allah’s Names and Attributes.

The Shaykh said that as the hadith progressed, it started with the beginning (Islam) and ended it with the highest level (Ihsan). Moving back to the hadith, the strange man replied ‘ You have told the truth’. The strange man then went on to ask a fourth question

When is the hour?

The Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam answered (paraphrasing) ‘I have no more knowledge than the one who is asking’ – Only Allah knows the answer to this. Even, Jibreel, the highest of Angels doesn’t know. The stranger than replied ‘If you don’t know when, do you know the indicators?’

The Shaykh said that there are major and minor signs of the ‘Last Day’. One of the minor signs being our death and one of the major signs being, the sun rising from the west.

The Shaykh said that the end of the world will be the major sign, where we will be raised up in front of our Lord. He then mentioned some of the major and minor signs from the hadith.

Minor signs – The lack of knowledge, fornication, ignorance, haraam (to name a few)

 Major signs – Slave woman will give birth to her master, poor shepherds will compete in building big buildings.

After asking all these questions, the stranger left. The fact that the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam negated the last day, shows that he genuinely doesn’t have the knowledge of the unseen. If he knew the future, he would have increased in good actions. Therefore for us to say that the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam has knowledge of this is disrespectful to him and those who say that he has knowledge of the ‘hour’ have corrupted and distorted their beliefs. The Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam answered ALL the question besides this one therefore it truly shows that he didn’t know!

As the hadith continues, the sahaba then got asked if they knew who this man was and they replied, ‘Allah and the Prophet know’ The Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam said that it was Jibreel and he came to teach you your religion and made clear that the level of the deen are three and this constitutes the whole religion.

The Shaykh raised an important point with regards to the phrase ‘Allah and the Prophet know’. He said that it was something that the companions said during the life of the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam. If we are asked a particular matter, in modern day, how would we reply? You wouldn’t reply that Allah and the Prophet know because the Prophet is no longer amongst us therefore he doesn’t know.

The Shaykh concluded by saying that this hadith is the ‘Mother of the Sunnah’ and it encompasses the whole religion. Everything goes back to this hadith.

He then made dua and asked for forgiveness