Saying "Were it not for Allah, then so-and-so" and saying "Were it not for me, he would have been in the lowest depth of the Fire"
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. One of them says that saying "Were it not for Allah, then so-and-so" is not the preferred course, and that it is better to say "Were it not for Allah" only. Does his statement have a basis?
The Shaykh:
No. "Were it not for Allah and so-and-so" is not it, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said? As for saying "Were it not for Allah, then so-and-so," this is tawhid (the oneness of Allah), meaning you know that the will of the created being is ranked after the will of the Creator. If Allah did not will it, how much would the created being ask? How much would Allah ask? That is the original. How much would the created being ask? It is derived from that. What is the question?
The questioner:
And does the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding his uncle Abu Talib, "Were it not for me, he would have been in the lowest depth of the Fire," indicate the permissibility of a Muslim saying "Were it not for me, such and such would have happened"? I hope you will kindly grant a positive response.
The Shaykh:
This phrase is problematic. This phrase, "Were it not for me," is problematic. It comes to verification in any case. It is specific to Abu Talib and specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The intercession of the Prophet for Abu Talib to alleviate the punishment from him is specific to the Prophet and specific to Abu Talib. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. One of them says that saying "Were it not for Allah, then so-and-so" is not the preferred course, and that it is better to say "Were it not for Allah" only. Does his statement have a basis?
The Shaykh:
No. "Were it not for Allah and so-and-so" is not it, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said? As for saying "Were it not for Allah, then so-and-so," this is tawhid (the oneness of Allah), meaning you know that the will of the created being is ranked after the will of the Creator. If Allah did not will it, how much would the created being ask? How much would Allah ask? That is the original. How much would the created being ask? It is derived from that. What is the question?
The questioner:
And does the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding his uncle Abu Talib, "Were it not for me, he would have been in the lowest depth of the Fire," indicate the permissibility of a Muslim saying "Were it not for me, such and such would have happened"? I hope you will kindly grant a positive response.
The Shaykh:
This phrase is problematic. This phrase, "Were it not for me," is problematic. It comes to verification in any case. It is specific to Abu Talib and specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The intercession of the Prophet for Abu Talib to alleviate the punishment from him is specific to the Prophet and specific to Abu Talib. Yes.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب قول الله - تعالى - : { إِنَّكَ لا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ } — islamhouse.com (1:06:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.