The Three Fundamental Principles – Part Four

Bismillah

The Three Fundamental Principles - taught by Abu Abdisalam – Part Four

Ibn Kathir, rahimullah said:

 “The creator of these things is the One who deserves to be worshipped.”  All the types of worship which Allah commanded like Islam (submission and obedience to Allah), Imaan (true Belief comprising the belief of the heat, speech of the tongue and action of the limbs), and Ihsaan (perfection of worship), and from that is invocation/supplication (dua’a), reverential fear (khawf), hope and longing (rajaa), trust and reliance (tawakkul), fervent desire (raghbah), dread (rahbah), reverence and humility (khushoo’), awe (khashyah), turning repentantly (inaabah), appealing for aid and assistance (isti’aanah), seeking refuge (isti’aadhah), seeking deliverance and rescue (istighaathah), sacrificing (dhabh), vows (nadhr) and the rest of the types of worship commanded but proof for this is the Saying of Him, the Most High:

 “And the places of Prayer are for Allah alone, so do not invoke anyone along with Allah.” [Surah al Jinn: 18]

The author starts off by mentioning the proof for reverential fear (khawf). This should be directed to Allah alone. The evidence for reverential fear (khawf) is the Saying of Allah:

“So do not fear them, but fear Me and beware of disobeying Me, if you are truly Believers.” [Surah al ‘Imran: 175]

From this we can see that we are not allowed to direct this fear to anyone other than Allah. Why?
BECAUSE ALLAH HAS ORDERED THIS and if Allah has ordered something in the Qur’an, it is because He is pleased with it and loves it. This comes under the general definition of ibaadah that Ibn Taymiyyah defined: ‘Ibadah is a general term for everything that Allah loves and is pleased with and from the statements and actions both inwards and outwards’

In the second part of the surah Allah says ‘If you are truly Believers’. Allah has connected having fear of Allah with Imaan.

NOTE: Not every type of fear is shirk. Khawf is of three categories:

1. Khawf as Sirr – Hidden Fear
2. Khawf al Muharram – Prohibited fear
3. Khawf al Ja’iz – Natural fear

As for the first kind of fear, it is fear of Allah other than Allah in that which no one is capable of doing these things. No one has the capability of doing it. The second type of fear is the fear of creation such that it makes a person do something prohibited (haram) or leave out something that is compulsory (wajib). This generally is not major shirk (shirk al Akbar). On the Day of Judgement, friends will be enemies of one another so we should not fear any individual when it comes to the commands/prohibitions of Allah. The third kind of fear is permissible because it is instilled in us. For example: the fear of the fire. If you fear the fire, you will protect yourself from it.

After mentioning the evidence for fear, the author mentions hope and longing (rajaa)

The evidence for hope and longing (ar raja) is the Saying of Allah: 

“So whoever hopes to see His Lord and be rewarded by Him, then let him make his worship correct and make it purely and sincerely for Him; and let him not make any share of it for anyone other than Him” [Surah al Kahf: 110]

Ar Rajaa is hope and longing for something and it is also a worship of the heart (ibadatul qalbiyah). The reality of Rajaa is to desire or crave something in someone or something. For example, a person makes istighfar and hopes that Allah will forgive him. There are two types:

1. One hopes in someone for something that he is capable of doing. This is natural hope and it is not an act of worship therefore it is not shirk.
2. Hope in someone for something that none is capable of doing except for Allah. This is major shirk. For example, hope that you are cured of something by someone.

How do we know raja is a particular act of worship? We go back to our definition of ibaadah.
If we look at the ayah from surah al Kahf, this hope to meet one’s Lord is praiseworthy. The believers WILL ONLY see their Lord, just like you see the full moon. One tafsir of this ayah is about seeing Allah and the other says it is about Meeting Allah. To not see the Face of Allah is the biggest calamity for a disbeliever. Only Allah can let you see Him therefore it is something that Allah loves. This means that it is an act of worship so we cannot direct it to anyone other than Allah.

The author then continues to explain trust and reliance (tawakkul). The evidence for trust and reliance (at tawakkul) is the Saying of Allah:

 “And place your reliance and trust in Allah if you are true Believers” [Surah al Maa’idah: 23]

The ayah starts with a preposition – ‘It is ONLY ON ALLAH, have tawakkul’. Normally, you would say ‘Have tawakkul in Allah’. The scholars have said if a preposition begins in this type of sentence, it means something specific. It means to limit that it is only upon Allah, that you make tawakkul. You are emphasising this because it is an order and if Allah orders something, He loves it and is pleased with it. If this is the case, then we go back to the general definition of worship. If anyone relies on anyone other than Allah, is committing shirk. In this ayah, Allah links tawakkul to Imaan

and He said:

“And whoever places his reliance and trust in Allah then He will suffice him” [Surah at Talaq: 3].  

Tawakkul is also worship of the heart and it encompasses three things:

1. To act in accordance with the means of that thing. For example, if a person goes on a holiday, he should not leave his house door unlocked and JUST rely on Allah.
2. Leave the matter to Allah
3. Dont just rely on the means but rely on Allah. For example, if a person is unwell, they take medicine but also rely on Allah because they know that Allah is the curer, not the medicine.

The author then mentions the evidence for fervent desire (raghbah), dread (rahbah), reverence and humility (khushoo’)

The evidence for the fervent desire (ar raghbah), dread (ar rahbah) and reverence and humility (al khushoo’) is the Saying of Allah:

 “They used to hasten to acts of devotion and obedience to Allah, and they used to worship Allah upon love and desire, and upon fear, and were reverent and humble before Allah.” [Surah al Anbiya: 90]

Raghbah is a specific type of hope, like an extreme kind of hope and rahbah is an extreme kind of fear. The mushriks show these qualities in front of their idols, their ‘ilahs’. When a person recites surah al Fatiha in salah it instils the raghbah in him and he fears the punishment of Allah because he knows that Allah is the Owner of the Day of Judgement. A person in salah also has khushoo in his salah. In this ayah, Allah is talking about the Anbiya (Prophets), which must mean Allah likes it and is pleased with it therefore it must be an act of worship. Being humble is seen as something praiseworthy. The preposition ‘Lana’ shows that ‘they were BEFORE US having Khushoo’

The author mentions the evidence for awe (khashyah). The evidence for awe/dread (al khashyah) is the Saying of Allah:  “So do not have awe of them, but have awe of Me” [Surah al Maa’idah: 3]

The author mentions the evidence for turning repentantly (al inaabah) is the Saying of Allah:

  “So turn, O you people, repentantly and obediently to your Lord, and submit obediently to Him” [Surah az Zumar: 54] 

The reality of inaabah is a type of repentance. It is to return from other than Allah, to Allah. Inaabah is ordered in the ayah mentioned, which means he love this therefore it is an act of worship. If this is not done to ONLY Allah, it is shirk.

The author mentions the evidence for appealing for aid and assistance (isti’aanah)

The evidence for appealing for aid and assistance (al isti’aanah) is the Saying of Allah:

 “O Allah You alone we worship, and to You alone we appeal for aid” [Surah al Fatiha: 5] and in the hadith there occurs:  “If you seek help, then seek the help of Allah.” [Reported by at Tirmidhi and declared Sahih by Shaykh al Albani in al Mishkaat # 5302]

Isti’aanah is seeking Help in Allah. Allah is mentioning this as a way of praise and praise is something that Allah loves. This ayah is specific proof because Allah precedes the preposition therefore this seeking of help is ONLY specific to Allah.

The author mentions evidence for seeking refuge (isti’aadhah). The evidence for seeking refuge (al isti’aadhah) is the Saying of Allah:

 “Say:  I seek refuge with the Lord of dawn” [Surah al Falaq: 1] and “Say: 

I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind” [Surah an Naas: 1]

These ayat are proof that we only seek refuge from Allah. This is from the worship of the heart and it is not allowed for anyone other than Allah.

The author then mentions the evidence for seeking deliverance and rescue (istighaathah).

The evidence for seeking deliverance and rescue (al istighaathah) is the Saying of Allah:

 “When you sought aid and deliverance of your Lord and He responded to you” [Surah al Anfaal: 9]

Allah is reminding them that you should only seek deliverance in Allah and He has linked His response to it. It is a specific type of seeking help. It is only for Allah as it is something He is pleased with. Istighaathah is an outward action, not something specific to the heart. It is allowed for you to make istighaathah of people if they fulfil the four conditions

1. They are alive
2. They are present
3. They are capable
4. They are able to listen to you

If these conditions are not met, this is shirk.

The author then mentions evidence for sacrificing (dhabh). The evidence for sacrificing (adh dhabh) is the Saying of Allah:

 “Say:  Indeed my prayers, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are all purely and solely of Allah, Lord of all creation.  There is no share of any of that for other than him” [Surah al An ‘am: 162-163].  Also the Prophet said “Allah has cursed anyone who sacrifices for other than Allah.” [Reported by Muslim]

The angle of extraction here is ‘my sacrifice... purely of Allah’. Allah has connected prayer to sacrifice because we know that salah is for Allah alone so here it means that sacrifice is for Allah alone too. These are the RIGHT of Allah. Allah says ‘my living and my dying’. Previously we mentioned what the laam meant. In this case, the laam is of belonging as Allah is the owner of life and death. This is from the ruboobiyyah of Allah and sacrifice is from the uloohiyah of Allah. He has connected worship to His Lordship. The act that Allah is the Owner of your life, then you should direct your worship to Him.

The reality of slaughtering combines actions of the heart, for example you seek barakah in it.

The author then mentions the evidence for vows (nadhr). The evidence for vows (an nadhr) is the Saying of Allah:

 “They fulfil their vows and they fear a day whose evil is widespread” [Surah al Insan: 7].

How is this praiseworthy?

Allah is praising it and is pleased with. Vowing is to make something obligatory upon oneself. There are two types

1. The absolute vow
2. The conditional vow e.g. ‘Oh Allah if you forgive me, I will pay 10 rakaat’. This is makrooh.

With regards to the second vow, even though it is makrooh, if the person makes this vow then it still becomes obligatory on him to fulfil it.

If this vow is makrooh then how can it be ibaadah?

The point is that we are talking about when a person gives the absolute vow. Allah loves it; therefore it falls under the general term of ibaadah. Especially because Allah says ‘They fulfil their vows’.

With this we end the first of the three principles. May Allah forgive my shortcomings and anything beneficial you take from this is all from Allah, the Most High and all mistakes are from myself.

Barakallah Feekum