Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "They took their rabbis and their monks as lords besides Allah"
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Question:
May Allah reward you. The questioner says: I would like an explanation of this verse, which is the saying of Allah the Exalted:[At-Tawbah 9:31]
Answer:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained this when 'Adi ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) asked him about it. He was a Christian, and this verse was difficult for him to understand. He said, "O Messenger of Allah, we do not worship them." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:
Whoever obeys a created being in making lawful what Allah has forbidden or making forbidden what Allah has made lawful has worshipped him. This is called shirk (associating partners with Allah) of obedience. This is shirk of obedience.[At-Tawbah 9:31] and their monks, who are the worshippers, [Ali 'Imran 3:64] who make things lawful and forbidden, and they obey them in that. This is worship of them. This is worship. Today, among journalists and the ignorant, there are those who say: As long as the scholars have disagreed on an issue, whichever of their opinions you follow, you are correct. You are correct.
We say this is like the saying of the Christians, like the taking of the Christians:[At-Tawbah 9:31]. You have taken the opinions of the scholars as legislation, and that it is permissible to follow them even if they contradict the evidence. If they contradict the evidence, they say, "It is not our concern." The important thing is that this is an opinion we adopt. If it aligns with their desires and wishes, they say, "We adopt it."
This is either misguidance or ignorance, may Allah protect us from it. We follow the evidence. If you differ over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger; that is better and more beautiful in interpretation. We do not take the opinions of the scholars merely because they are their opinions; rather, we take what of them agrees with the evidence. And this is obedience to Allah, not to them, not obedience to the scholars, but obedience to Allah.
And what contradicts the evidence, we leave it, so we do not take it. We excuse them; we excuse the scholars if they exerted their judgment and erred. We excuse them and pray for them, but we do not take their opinions. And they do not approve of this; they warn against this. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
May Allah reward you. The questioner says: I would like an explanation of this verse, which is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah
اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِAnswer:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained this when 'Adi ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) asked him about it. He was a Christian, and this verse was difficult for him to understand. He said, "O Messenger of Allah, we do not worship them." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:
"Do they not make lawful what Allah has forbidden, and you make it lawful?" He said, "Yes." He said, "Do they not make forbidden what Allah has made lawful, and you make it forbidden?" He said, "Yes." He said, "That is their worship."
أليسوا يحلون ما حرم الله فتحلونه؟ قال بلى، قال أليس يحرمون ما أحل الله فتحرمونه؟ قال بلى، قال فتلك عبادتهم.Whoever obeys a created being in making lawful what Allah has forbidden or making forbidden what Allah has made lawful has worshipped him. This is called shirk (associating partners with Allah) of obedience. This is shirk of obedience.
They have taken their scholars and monks
اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْlords instead of Allah
أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِWe say this is like the saying of the Christians, like the taking of the Christians:
their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah
أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِThis is either misguidance or ignorance, may Allah protect us from it. We follow the evidence. If you differ over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger; that is better and more beautiful in interpretation. We do not take the opinions of the scholars merely because they are their opinions; rather, we take what of them agrees with the evidence. And this is obedience to Allah, not to them, not obedience to the scholars, but obedience to Allah.
And what contradicts the evidence, we leave it, so we do not take it. We excuse them; we excuse the scholars if they exerted their judgment and erred. We excuse them and pray for them, but we do not take their opinions. And they do not approve of this; they warn against this. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
شرح كتاب التوحيد [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب ما جاء من التغليظ فيمن عبد الله عند قبر رجل صالح، فكيف إذا عبده ؟ — islamhouse.com (42:54)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.