He says in another question: What is the opinion of the religion regarding these things, and what is the evidence from the Book and the Sunnah? Poems that praise the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
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The questioner : He says in another question: What is the opinion of the religion regarding these things, and what is the evidence from the Book and the Sunnah? Poems that praise and glorify the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and reciting them in religious occasions, and keeping the nights alive with them?
The Shaykh : This phrasing—what is the opinion of the religion, or what is the opinion of Islam, or something similar—I do not like it to be presented in a question.
The questioner : Yes, in truth, we present the questions of our esteemed listeners as they come, so that we may also benefit from another advantage: if the question is far from the matters of Islam, it alerts our esteemed listeners.
The Shaykh : There is nothing wrong with this, and I am not directing criticism at you.
The questioner : Yes, please go ahead.
The Shaykh : It is directed at the one who submitted this question. First, the phrase "opinion of the religion": the religion is truly not an opinion, and the religion is not a thought. Rather, the religion is a creed and a law from Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The questioner : (Glorified and Exalted is He).
The Shaykh : There is no room for opinion in it, nor room for thought in it. For this reason, we criticize those who say, "This is Islamic thought," or something similar.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Islam is not a thought, nor an opinion, nor a product of thoughts and opinions. Rather, it is a law from the Wise, the Knowing (Glorified and Exalted is He).
The questioner : (Glorified and Exalted is He).
The Shaykh : Yes, we may say "the Muslim thinker" or something similar, because the man has a thought and thinks.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As Allah the Exalted commanded us to reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth and other things. But for us to describe the religion as a thought, or as an opinion, or something similar, this is an error.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : This is from one aspect.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : From another aspect, I do not like a question about what is the ruling of Islam to be directed at a person who is capable of error and correctness.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : A question about what is the ruling of Islam, asking, "What is the ruling of Islam in such-and-such," directed at an individual who errs and hits the mark.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because if the individual answers and it is wrong, that is not the ruling of Islam.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, what should be said, for example, is "What is the ruling?" or "What is your opinion in such-and-such?" or something similar. Then we answer, or he answers according to what he sees, relying on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : You have done well. May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Now, regarding the poems...
The Shaykh : Regarding the poems in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is praised: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—my father and mother are his ransom—is deserving of all praise and magnification that befits him.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : That which befits him, in that he is a prophet sent by Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and he is the Seal of the Prophets, the best of the messengers, and the master of all creation. So he is deserving of all description that befits him (peace and blessings be upon him), whether it is said in verse or in prose.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But the poems that take him beyond what he should be, with excessive exaggeration and excess, which we know that he (peace and blessings be upon him) dislikes and does not approve of,
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : as we have been forbidden from that, we see that it is not permissible for a person to recite them or to believe in them what is in them of this exaggeration.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And among that, by way of example, is what came in the Burdah poem of al-Busiri.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : In which he says, addressing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "For from Your generosity is the world and its sister, and from Your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen".
There is no doubt that this is shirk (associating partners with Allah), and it is among the greatest of shirk, if we do not say that he made what is specific to the Lord belong to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and deprived Allah of His right in it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So if from the generosity of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is the world and its sister, which is the Hereafter, then nothing remains for Allah the Exalted. And if from his knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen, then no knowledge remains for Allah the Exalted.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And such statements that reach this level, or below it, which are not befitting for a Muslim to say about his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), it is not permissible for anyone to speak them, neither in verse nor in prose. As for the poems that clarify his noble attributes and his complete Shari'ah, and the like, there is nothing wrong with them. Rather, we say that reciting them is an act of worship, because of the fact that they nourish the love of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the heart, and his magnification and his honoring, as Allah commanded with it:[Al-Fath 48:9] If we make the lam for command, otherwise it is for causation, and the meaning of that is that this is a matter intended by the Shari'ah if it is made for causation.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the meaning of "you honor him" is that you magnify him, but with what befits him.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And with the condition also that these poems are not made in a special occasion that recurs every year.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As those who do it do in the night of the Mawlid festival, which they innovated in the Shari'ah of Allah and in His religion, and it is a bid'ah (religious innovation) with no basis in the Shari'ah, I mean the night of the Mawlid festival.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And making it a festival that repeats every year, in which praises of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are recited, and attributes and forms of salutations upon him are innovated that did not come in his guidance, nor in his Shari'ah, nor in the guidance of his Companions. For this reason, this bid'ah, I mean the bid'ah of the Mawlid festival, is among the things that must be avoided by Muslims, and they must stay away from it. If there had been good in it, those who are more deserving of good than us, and to whom good is more beloved than what we love, would have preceded us to it, such as the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and those who followed them in goodness, and those who followed them. For they did not do this night, I mean the night of the Mawlid festival, they did not do it, and they did not refer to it, neither from near nor from far. And there is no doubt that those who legislate it and those who innovate it are, in truth, diminishing the Shari'ah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : O Allah, send blessings and peace upon him.
The Shaykh : Because they, without doubt, want with it to draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and drawing near to Allah the Exalted is worship. And the religion is complete in all aspects with its verbal and practical acts of worship, as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:3] So which man innovates in acts of worship what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions were not upon, whether that is in creed, or in speech, or in speech, or in action.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that in reality his matter and the language of his state say: "The religion was not complete, and I completed it with what I innovated of this act of worship by which I draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic)."
The questioner : (Glorified and Exalted is He).
The Shaykh : For this reason, it is obligatory upon everyone who innovates something by which he draws near to Allah, whether it is verbal or practical dhikr (remembrance of Allah), or praise of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) or others, that he must look at the matter a second time and know that by his innovation he has criticized the religion of Allah and considered it deficient, needing completion with what he innovated in it. And I ask Allah to make us and our Muslim brothers sincere to Allah and following to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : This phrasing—what is the opinion of the religion, or what is the opinion of Islam, or something similar—I do not like it to be presented in a question.
The questioner : Yes, in truth, we present the questions of our esteemed listeners as they come, so that we may also benefit from another advantage: if the question is far from the matters of Islam, it alerts our esteemed listeners.
The Shaykh : There is nothing wrong with this, and I am not directing criticism at you.
The questioner : Yes, please go ahead.
The Shaykh : It is directed at the one who submitted this question. First, the phrase "opinion of the religion": the religion is truly not an opinion, and the religion is not a thought. Rather, the religion is a creed and a law from Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The questioner : (Glorified and Exalted is He).
The Shaykh : There is no room for opinion in it, nor room for thought in it. For this reason, we criticize those who say, "This is Islamic thought," or something similar.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Islam is not a thought, nor an opinion, nor a product of thoughts and opinions. Rather, it is a law from the Wise, the Knowing (Glorified and Exalted is He).
The questioner : (Glorified and Exalted is He).
The Shaykh : Yes, we may say "the Muslim thinker" or something similar, because the man has a thought and thinks.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As Allah the Exalted commanded us to reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth and other things. But for us to describe the religion as a thought, or as an opinion, or something similar, this is an error.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : This is from one aspect.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : From another aspect, I do not like a question about what is the ruling of Islam to be directed at a person who is capable of error and correctness.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : A question about what is the ruling of Islam, asking, "What is the ruling of Islam in such-and-such," directed at an individual who errs and hits the mark.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because if the individual answers and it is wrong, that is not the ruling of Islam.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, what should be said, for example, is "What is the ruling?" or "What is your opinion in such-and-such?" or something similar. Then we answer, or he answers according to what he sees, relying on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : You have done well. May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Now, regarding the poems...
The Shaykh : Regarding the poems in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is praised: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—my father and mother are his ransom—is deserving of all praise and magnification that befits him.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : That which befits him, in that he is a prophet sent by Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and he is the Seal of the Prophets, the best of the messengers, and the master of all creation. So he is deserving of all description that befits him (peace and blessings be upon him), whether it is said in verse or in prose.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But the poems that take him beyond what he should be, with excessive exaggeration and excess, which we know that he (peace and blessings be upon him) dislikes and does not approve of,
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : as we have been forbidden from that, we see that it is not permissible for a person to recite them or to believe in them what is in them of this exaggeration.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And among that, by way of example, is what came in the Burdah poem of al-Busiri.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : In which he says, addressing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "For from Your generosity is the world and its sister, and from Your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen".
There is no doubt that this is shirk (associating partners with Allah), and it is among the greatest of shirk, if we do not say that he made what is specific to the Lord belong to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and deprived Allah of His right in it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So if from the generosity of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is the world and its sister, which is the Hereafter, then nothing remains for Allah the Exalted. And if from his knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen, then no knowledge remains for Allah the Exalted.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And such statements that reach this level, or below it, which are not befitting for a Muslim to say about his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), it is not permissible for anyone to speak them, neither in verse nor in prose. As for the poems that clarify his noble attributes and his complete Shari'ah, and the like, there is nothing wrong with them. Rather, we say that reciting them is an act of worship, because of the fact that they nourish the love of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the heart, and his magnification and his honoring, as Allah commanded with it:
That you [people] may believe in Allah and His Messenger and honor him and respect the Prophet and exalt Allah
لتؤمنوا بالله ورسوله وتعزروه وتوقوره وتسبحوهThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the meaning of "you honor him" is that you magnify him, but with what befits him.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And with the condition also that these poems are not made in a special occasion that recurs every year.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As those who do it do in the night of the Mawlid festival, which they innovated in the Shari'ah of Allah and in His religion, and it is a bid'ah (religious innovation) with no basis in the Shari'ah, I mean the night of the Mawlid festival.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And making it a festival that repeats every year, in which praises of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are recited, and attributes and forms of salutations upon him are innovated that did not come in his guidance, nor in his Shari'ah, nor in the guidance of his Companions. For this reason, this bid'ah, I mean the bid'ah of the Mawlid festival, is among the things that must be avoided by Muslims, and they must stay away from it. If there had been good in it, those who are more deserving of good than us, and to whom good is more beloved than what we love, would have preceded us to it, such as the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and those who followed them in goodness, and those who followed them. For they did not do this night, I mean the night of the Mawlid festival, they did not do it, and they did not refer to it, neither from near nor from far. And there is no doubt that those who legislate it and those who innovate it are, in truth, diminishing the Shari'ah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : O Allah, send blessings and peace upon him.
The Shaykh : Because they, without doubt, want with it to draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and drawing near to Allah the Exalted is worship. And the religion is complete in all aspects with its verbal and practical acts of worship, as Allah the Exalted said:
This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
اليوم أكملت لكم دينكم وأتممت عليكم نعمتي ورضيت لكم الإسلام ديناThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that in reality his matter and the language of his state say: "The religion was not complete, and I completed it with what I innovated of this act of worship by which I draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic)."
The questioner : (Glorified and Exalted is He).
The Shaykh : For this reason, it is obligatory upon everyone who innovates something by which he draws near to Allah, whether it is verbal or practical dhikr (remembrance of Allah), or praise of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) or others, that he must look at the matter a second time and know that by his innovation he has criticized the religion of Allah and considered it deficient, needing completion with what he innovated in it. And I ask Allah to make us and our Muslim brothers sincere to Allah and following to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : May Allah reward you.