The Difference Between Acceptance and Submission Among the Conditions of La ilaha illa Allah
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Question:
May Allah reward you with good. Many, many questions have come in, but we will take those relevant to the lecture, and also those that can be combined into a single question. This questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, we have learned that among the conditions of La ilaha illa Allah are acceptance and submission. What is the difference between them? May Allah reward you with good, with attention to that point?
Answer:
Acceptance of its substance. The scholars say that La ilaha illa Allah does not benefit its reciter except with seven conditions. The poet mentioned seven conditions in his verse: "Knowledge, certainty, and sincerity, along with love, submission, and acceptance; these are its seven conditions: knowledge, certainty, sincerity, love, acceptance, and submission." And submission is the seventh. The eighth is disbelief in what is worshipped other than Allah the Exalted. There are eight conditions. Acceptance is that a person accepts what has come from Allah and His Messenger; he accepts and does not refuse what has come in the Book and the Sunnah from Allah and His Messenger. He accepts this and does not reject anything that is authentic in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because he is a servant, and a servant accepts what his Lord commands him, or what His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commands him. As for the one who does not accept except what agrees with his desire, and rejects what contradicts his desire, this person is not a servant of Allah nor a follower of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
And likewise submission. Submission is that the servant submits and surrenders. A person may accept something; he accepts it but does not submit, meaning there is some hesitation in his self. A person may submit outwardly; he submits outwardly, he may accept outwardly, he accepts the thing outwardly, but he does not submit in his heart. There may be some discomfort in his heart, or some doubts and illusions. The Muslim is always to have a heart pure from doubts, and to have complete submission, as Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:65] Submission means surrender, surrender. And acceptance means that a person does not hesitate about anything authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whether it agrees with his desire or contradicts his desire. This is submission. Yes. So submission, the questioner asks comprehensively about it. Submission is in the outward appearance, and acceptance is in the heart. Submission is in the outward appearance; the Muslim and the hypocrite, all of them submit outwardly, but acceptance is only for the believer. The hypocrite does not accept in his heart, even if he submits outwardly. Yes.
May Allah reward you with good. Many, many questions have come in, but we will take those relevant to the lecture, and also those that can be combined into a single question. This questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, we have learned that among the conditions of La ilaha illa Allah are acceptance and submission. What is the difference between them? May Allah reward you with good, with attention to that point?
Answer:
Acceptance of its substance. The scholars say that La ilaha illa Allah does not benefit its reciter except with seven conditions. The poet mentioned seven conditions in his verse: "Knowledge, certainty, and sincerity, along with love, submission, and acceptance; these are its seven conditions: knowledge, certainty, sincerity, love, acceptance, and submission." And submission is the seventh. The eighth is disbelief in what is worshipped other than Allah the Exalted. There are eight conditions. Acceptance is that a person accepts what has come from Allah and His Messenger; he accepts and does not refuse what has come in the Book and the Sunnah from Allah and His Messenger. He accepts this and does not reject anything that is authentic in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because he is a servant, and a servant accepts what his Lord commands him, or what His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commands him. As for the one who does not accept except what agrees with his desire, and rejects what contradicts his desire, this person is not a servant of Allah nor a follower of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
And likewise submission. Submission is that the servant submits and surrenders. A person may accept something; he accepts it but does not submit, meaning there is some hesitation in his self. A person may submit outwardly; he submits outwardly, he may accept outwardly, he accepts the thing outwardly, but he does not submit in his heart. There may be some discomfort in his heart, or some doubts and illusions. The Muslim is always to have a heart pure from doubts, and to have complete submission, as Allah the Exalted said:
But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.
فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّىٰ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Source
الفرق بين القبول والانقياد — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.