The Three Fundamental Principles - Part Two

Bismillah

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

This section of the talk starts with the following points:

Know, may Allah have mercy upon you, that it is obligatory upon every Muslim, male and female, to learn and act upon the following three matters:

The next three matters act as a follow on from the previous four and are a prelude to the next matters.

THE FIRST: That Allah created us and provided sustenance for us, and He did not leave us without a purpose rather He sent Messengers to us. So whoever obeys him will enter Paradise, and whoever rejects and disobeys him will enter the Fire, and the proof is the saying of the Most High:

Indeed, We have sent to you a Messenger as a witness upon you just as We sent to Pharaoh a messenger.

But Pharaoh disobeyed the messenger, so We seized him with a ruinous seizure. (Muzzammil: 16)

The first matter is Allah created us and didn’t leave us with any purpose. He created us to test us to see which one of us are best in conduct and behaviour. Allah is mocking the disbelievers. If He created us for no purpose, this would be a deficiency in His Hikmah (Wisdom). We have a purpose but now we need a guide to show us how to do it and that is why He sent the Messengers. Every nation had this warner or giver of glad tidings.
He sent a Messenger that actualises the tawheed of Allah. There is only one way to Allah:

Some of the Salaf use to say, ‘The goal is not that we love Allah but rather the goal is that we should obtain the love of Allah.’

How can we find out if we are being loved by Allah?

If you truly love Allah, follow the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam. Then, Inshaa’Allah, He will love you and forgive you of your sins. We also need to worship Allah the way He wants us to worship Him. There are some people who claim to love Allah but they worship Him in the way they want.

Ibn Al Qayyim said: For one, Be one, In one.

What is meant by this is the following:

For one: It is just for Allah

Be one: Be pure in your worship

In one: There is only one path to Allah.

Now, we know that Allah hasn’t left us without a purpose.

THE SECOND: Allah is not pleased that anyone should be made a sharer in worship along with Him, neither any angle brought near, nor any prophet sent as a messenger, and the proof is the saying of Allah, the Most High,

‘And the places of worship are for Allah alone, so do not invoke anyone along with Allah’ (Jinn: 18)

Here the author mentions two types of creation. 1. The Angel and 2. The Prophet

So Allah does not like that you commit shirk but that you actualise tawheed, the oneness of Allah. Whoever commits shirk has negated his purpose of creation, his purpose of existence, as mentioned in the first part. If a person associates partners with Allah, in worship, this is denying the very purpose of what he was created for. Shirk is the greatest form of injustice because it is to do with the Creator.

In this ayah, Allah is saying we can’t make dua to anyone else but Him.

What is dua?

There are two types of dua

Ø  Mas’alah (asking)

Ø  Ibadah (worship)

Mas’alah: This is where you ask Allah for things, the most common type of dua made.  An example of one is:

Our Lord! Grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the chastisement of the fire [2:201]

Here you are calling Allah in an asking manner.

Ibadah: Most people do not know of this but this includes all the various types of worship you do where you ask for the reward of what you have done.

Some people think that they can get closer to Allah by taking a waseelah. This why the Shaykh mentioned this ayah. You can’t EVEN ASK Jibreel as a waseelah to get close.

‘It is You we worship and You we ask for help’ (Fatiha: 5)

Why are Angels and Messengers mentioned?

This is because they are the best of creation! We should not make dua to these people let alone saints. Many scholars of Islam died and people began to take these scholars as people they’d worship.  A person should have no doubt that we are not allowed to invoke anyone but Allah.

Abu Abdisalam took a moment to explain the difference between Nabi (Prophet) and Rasul (Messenger)

Every Messenger is a Prophet but not every Prophet is a Messenger. This is why the Shaykh mentions the Messenger – they have a higher status than a Nabi. So, if you cannot make dua to a Messenger, you definitely cannot make dua to a Prophet.

THE THIRD: That whoever is obedient to the Messenger and singles out Allah with all worship, upon tawheed, then it is not permissible for him to have friendship and alliance with those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they are those most closely related to him, and the proof is the saying of Allah, the Most High:

You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred. Those - He has decreed within their hearts faith and supported them with spirit from Him. And We will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him - those are the party of Allah. Unquestionably, the party of Allah - they are the successful. (Mujadilah: 22)

One should hate shirk and its people. This is what is meant by Al Wara’a wal Bara’a. Islam is to submit to Allah with Tawheed and yield obediently to Him and disassociate shirk and people of shirk.

You are not allowed to befriend those who oppose Allah. The foundation of this deen is La illaha illalah with our hearts and our tongues. He loves this word and hates that which opposes this kalimah. How can someone have love for someone that doesn’t do the same?

Muwalaat is of two categories:

Ø  The general category (At Tawalli)

Ø  Specific (Muwalaat)

Tawalli – This is to love the people of shirk and kufr or help the people of shirk or kufr over the people of imaan and your intention in helping them is making kufr prevail over Islam. This is kufr al Akbar

Muwalaat – To love the mushrikeen or kuffar of what they posses of the dunya OR because they are related to you. This is haraam and prohibited in Islam BUT you do not leave the fold of Islam

The difference is that Muwalaat is not letting religion prevail against Muslims.

It is an obligation for us to have wala’a for Muslims and Bara’a for Non Muslims.

This is the end of this part and the next part will go into the three principles inshaa'Allah