The Categories of Divine Presence and the Meaning of Allah’s Saying: “No! Indeed, my Lord is with me; He will guide me”
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The questioner:
This is Abu Abdullah saying: I hope the Shaykh will clarify for us the categories of divine presence (mu'ayyah). I read in the noble verse[Ash-Shu'ara 26:62] what is its meaning?
The Shaykh:
The categories of divine presence are two: a general presence for all creation, which means encompassing them, and a special presence for the believers, which means Allah’s victory and support for them. When Musa (peace be upon him) said to his people, who told him, “We are being pursued; the sea is before us and the enemy is behind us,” he said, “No, we will not be overtaken. Indeed, my Lord is with me; He will guide me.” This is the special presence. So Allah revealed to him to strike the sea with your staff. The raging sea—strike it with your staff, the staff of Musa (peace be upon him). So he struck it, and it solidified and became paths equal in number to the tribes of the Children of Israel, and they went out. When they had all gone out, Pharaoh and his people entered behind them. Pharaoh and his people entered behind them to attack them. When Pharaoh and his people had all entered, Allah closed it over them and drowned them all. Yes.
The questioner:
There is a difference between this verse, O Shaykh,[Ash-Shu'ara 26:62] and the saying of the Messenger in the verse [At-Tawbah 9:40] in the cave.
The Shaykh:
No, this is a special presence for His messengers and His believing servants,[At-Tawbah 9:40], when Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him while they were in the cave, “If any of them looked at the place of his foot, he would have found us” Musnad Ahmad 11Sahih (Darussalam)? Allah is the third of them, meaning by victory and support. Therefore, Allah blinded the insight of the disbelievers so they did not see them, even though they were at their feet. Yes.
This is Abu Abdullah saying: I hope the Shaykh will clarify for us the categories of divine presence (mu'ayyah). I read in the noble verse
No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me."
كَلَّا إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِThe Shaykh:
The categories of divine presence are two: a general presence for all creation, which means encompassing them, and a special presence for the believers, which means Allah’s victory and support for them. When Musa (peace be upon him) said to his people, who told him, “We are being pursued; the sea is before us and the enemy is behind us,” he said, “No, we will not be overtaken. Indeed, my Lord is with me; He will guide me.” This is the special presence. So Allah revealed to him to strike the sea with your staff. The raging sea—strike it with your staff, the staff of Musa (peace be upon him). So he struck it, and it solidified and became paths equal in number to the tribes of the Children of Israel, and they went out. When they had all gone out, Pharaoh and his people entered behind them. Pharaoh and his people entered behind them to attack them. When Pharaoh and his people had all entered, Allah closed it over them and drowned them all. Yes.
The questioner:
There is a difference between this verse, O Shaykh,
No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me."
كَلَّا إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِindeed Allah is with us
إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَاThe Shaykh:
No, this is a special presence for His messengers and His believing servants,
indeed Allah is with us
إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا`O Abu Bakr, what do you think of two, of whom Allah is the third?`
قال يا أبا بكر ما ظنك باثنين الله ثالثهما
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، برنامج (فتاوى) (188) لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان بتاريخ [1440-07-28] - كبار العلماء — youtube.com (8:34)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.