If a person says to another, “Your provision gives me life and death,” what is your ruling on this statement?

Eid Abbasi : I say: If a person says to another, “Your provision gives me life and death,” what is your ruling on this statement? Is it true that the Arabs used to use it?

Another questioner : ... .

Eid Abbasi : Yes?

Another questioner : ... .

Eid Abbasi : Now, if a person says to another, “Your provision gives me life and death,” what is your ruling on this statement? Is it true that the Arabs used to use it, intending a meaning other than the literal meaning? This is the first question.

The Shaykh : What I believe regarding this phrase is that it has two aspects:
The first aspect is that it is interpreted by looking at the source from which this statement came. If the person who made this statement is known for his correct understanding of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), and that this tawhid contradicts addressing the righteous as we mentioned earlier, and asking them for what is asked of Allah; if this speaker of the phrase is a monotheist, and yet this statement came from him, then his statement is a mistake in terms of the Shari'ah, not clear disbelief. Because the assumption in the Islamic Shari'ah is that when we hear from a Muslim whose Islam and tawhid we know, a word that contradicts tawhid, we disapprove of it to him and do not endorse it for him, but at the same time we do not declare him a disbeliever on account of it, nor do we hold him to it; that is, we do not declare him a disbeliever on account of it; because he said a word that is a mistake. Unless he persists in it and intends the apparent meaning of the phrase, which—as you hear—involves attributing the giving of life to a thing that is itself dead. This is undoubtedly, in its apparent meaning, disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah) that is complete, or rather, it is more eloquent in shirk than being complete, just as I mentioned the word of that Companion who said to the Messenger (peace be upon him) in a sermon he delivered: “What Allah wills and what you will, O Messenger of Allah.” So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said nothing but: . And in another narration: .
So we adopt this etiquette, and this is a valid example of how it is obligatory for us, always and forever, to train ourselves on the Shari'ah of our Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him). We find that here he corrected the one who addressed him with the words “What Allah wills and what you will.” Why? Because it is a mistaken statement. He corrected his speech and said to him: and do not associate anyone with Him in His will. But at the same time, he did not declare him a disbeliever, nor did he say to him: “You have committed disbelief and apostatized from your religion, so renew your repentance, renew your marriage contract, and the like of what usually follows in the legal rulings when a person falls into apostasy.” The Messenger (peace be upon him) did not burden him with any of that. So we understand that at the time he said to him: “This is disbelief,” he did not declare him a disbeliever. Why? Because he knew that this Companion did not believe in him (peace be upon him) as a Prophet and Messenger except to escape from shirk and misguidance. So he intended one thing and made a mistake... with his tongue. The Messenger (peace be upon him) knew this from him, so he was content with correcting the verbal mistake. As for the mistake of the heart, it did not appear to the Messenger (peace be upon him) that there was any heart-mistake from that person.
By this analogy and this standard, we handle all the words of disbelief. I give you an example: If we open the book *Al-Fusus* and the book *Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah* by Shaykh Ibn Arabi, then every word there is disbelief, and we do not interpret it for him at all. Because his book, or rather his books, from beginning to end, from A to Z, are all shirk, disbelief, and misguidance. So we are not in need of interpreting a phrase for him. What do you want to interpret to interpret? Unless you compose a second book and attribute it to Ibn Arabi, and another book will appear! But if it is a person from whom we do not know this serious deviation in tawhid and in Islamic creed, and we hear such a statement, we conclude that it is a mistaken statement, and its weight is the weight of that Companion’s mistake. And if we compare it to that Companion, may our good be multiplied. But we do not declare him a disbeliever unless it becomes clear to us that this apparent meaning of this word has settled in his heart. In that case, it is according to his intention. This is my answer to the previous question.
Other than that?
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