The Three Fundamental Principles - Part Three

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

Bismillah

The author now goes into explaining the three principles

So if it said to you:  What are the three principles which a person must know?  Then  say the servants knowledge of His Lord and His Deen and his Messenger Muhammad.

THE FIRST PRINCIPLE

So if it is said to you:  ‘Who is your Lord?’ Then say:  ‘My Lord is Allah, who has nurtured me and all of creation with His favours and blessings.  He is the one whom I worship, and there is no other whom I worship besides Him.’  The proof is the Saying of Allah, the Most High: 

“All praise is for Allah, the Lord of all creation.” [Surah al Fatiha: 1].

Everything besides Allah is a created being and I am one of the creations.

Here the author mentions ‘Al Hamd’ because it is used to describe Allah as ALL PRAISE belongs to Him. ‘Lillahi’: This laam is of two types. You have to note that this laam is not the laam of emphasis but the laam of belonging and it is this laam that is of two types.

1. The laam of possession
2. The laam of belonging.

Therefore we could say that ‘Al Hamd’ is either a right of Allah or it belongs to Allah. In this case, it is of the first type – The One who has THE RIGHT TO THESE PRAISES is none other than Allah.

‘Rabbil Alaameen’: Here, alaameen is everything, except for Allah. Since we’re part of the alaameen, He is our Lord.

So if it is said to you:  ‘How did you arrive at this knowledge of your Lord?’  Then say: 
‘Through His signs and those things which He has created; and from his signs are the night and the day, the sun and the moon; and from that which He has created are the seven heavens, and the seven earths, and all those within them, and whatever is between them.’  The proof is the Saying of Allah, the Most High:

 “And from His signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon.  Do not prostrate to the sun, nor the moon, but prostrate to Allah who created them, if you truly worship Him.” [Surah Fussilat: 37]

and His, the Most High’s Saying:

 “Your Lord is Allah who created the heavens and the earth to six days, then ascended upon the Throne.  He causes the night to cover the day which it follows with haste; and the sun, the moon and the stars are subservient and subject to His command.  Certainly creation and commandment are His alone.  Exalted is Allah the Lord of all creation.”[Surah al A’raf; 54]

The author says ‘Amongst His creations are the Heavens and the Earth and amongst His signs are Sun and the Moon.

 Are Sun and the Moon not Allah’s creations? Why did the author not say ‘We know Allah by what He has created?’

The reason for this is the distinction between the signs and the creation is something fine. The ayat (signs) that the author has mentioned are things that change, those that come and go. These are more apparent in being signs. As for the heavens and the earth, you see them all the time so it is not apparent as a sign. This is why when Ibrahim, alayhis salaam saw the star he thought it was his Lord and when it disappeared, he didn’t like it. That’s when he realised that it all must be creation.

In the first surah mentioned (Surah Fussilat), you notice that Allah uses His ruboobiyah to tell them to worship Him (uloohiyah). Thus explaining to mankind that to worship none other than Allah.

In the second surah mentioned (Surah al A’raf), Allah mentions that He created tremendous entities in 6 days. Why? It is from His wisdom that He connected the effect to their causes. When someone dies, there is wisdom behind it. We know from the Qadr of Allah that this has been predestined.

then ascended upon the Throne. This is done in a way that is befitting to His Majesty. This shows His perfection of His Sovereignty and Kingship.

The Lord is the one who is worshipped, and the proof is the Saying of Allah, the Most High,

“O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who created you and those who were before you so that you may be of those who seek to avoid Allah’s anger and punishment.  Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know.” [Surah al Baqarah: 21-22]

‘Rabb’ is Lord. The term ‘Tawheed Ar Ruboobiyah’ comes from this word. Once we realise Allah is the Rabb, as the author mentioned through the ayah in Surah al Fatiha, we now want to prove that the ‘Rabb’ is the also the ONLY One to be worshipped. The author uses the ayah mentioned above (Baqarah: 21-22) to explain why. Mankind generally affirms that Allah is their Lord - Just like the Christians know that Jesus is not their Lord but say that their worship has to be directed to him, similarly, the polytheist of Makkah, knew Allah was their Lord. What these polytheist of Makkah denied was that Allah was One who deserves ALL worship. We know this because they sought a waseelah through the idols. They said that the idols were an intermediary between them and Allah.

The cause why we worship Allah is, Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Allah has made a reason and He orders you to worship Your Lord. In response to those who want to worship others, Allah says Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know.

It is now the beginning of the treaty where the author mentions what 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 Islaam (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 (du’aa), 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]

When we are certain that the Lord is the one who deserves to be worshipped, it is appropriate to mention the various types of worship. Ibn Kathir mentions Islam, Imaan, and Ihsaan and then mentions supplication. The supplication (dua) mentioned here is dua mas’alah. From amongst different types of worship the author mentions, all of them have to be done EXCLUSIVELY for Allah. The proof is in the ayah mentioned (Surah al Jinn: 18). Anyone who directs this to anyone else is a mushrik (polytheist) or kaafir (disbeliever).

Ibn Taymiyyah gave a definition of ibaadah: ‘Ibadah is a general term for everything that Allah loves and is pleased with and from the statements and actions both inwards and outwards’

Anyone who directs any part of that to anything besides Allah, then he is a mushrik (pagan/polytheist), an unbeliever (kaafir), and the proof is the Saying of Him:

“And whoever worships along with Allah any other object of worship has no proof for that; his reckoning will be with his Lord.  Indeed the unbelievers will never prosper.” [Surah al Mu’minoon:117].

 In the hadeeth there occurs:  “Invocation is the core of worship.”  And the evidence for this is the Saying of Allah:

“And your Lord said: "Invoke Me, I will respond to your (invocation). Verily! Those who scorn My worship, they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!" [Surah Ghaafir: 60]

The first ayah calls the people disbelievers because the mere fact of worshipping other than Allah, is negating the statement of Allah ‘O Mankind, worship your Lord’ and this shirk.

Abu Abdisalam mentioned that the dua is of two categories – mas’alah and ibaadah. In Surah al Ghaafir, we have proof that the dua is worship. The point to note is that if you don’t have evidence to limit dua to one of the two categories then you have to take that both meanings are incorporated in the ayah. ASWJ say that both meanings are incorporated. You cannot give ‘dua’ (worship) to anyone other than Allah.

Now that we have affirmed that all worship is the right of Allah, the next first ayah mentioned (Mu’minoon:117) mentions major shirk, which leads them out of the fold of Islam. There are various taxonomy of shirk. The most common one is the following:

1. Shirk al Akbar – this leads you out of the fold of Islam
2. Shirk al Asgar – this is shirk by swearing by other than Allah
3. Shirk al Khafee – this is hidden shirk (Riya)

Then we look at why Allah should only be worshipped and we have the following:

1. The general ibaadah – This is the definition by Ibn Taymiyyah. We know that this ibaadah can only be directed to Allah.
2. The specific ibaadah – If the Qur’an and Sunnah actually say that if you don’t do it then it is shirk.

**It is upon the student of knowledge to use as many different proofs to the people so that the people don’t have any doubt in their heart that worship ONLY BELONGS TO ALLAH. This is a matter of Paradise and the Hell fire. How about saving someone from the eternal abode in the Hell-fire?

If we contemplate, we want people to come into the true Islam, to worship only Allah. Let us call people to Islam with wisdom and bring as much proof as we can. This is the fundamental of the religion of Islam.**