The Meaning of the Word of Sincerity: "La ilaha illa Allah," and an Explanation of Its Conditions and the Disagreement Among People in Understanding It.
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The Shaykh: This, for example, relates to one of the pillars of faith. There is something dangerous, and very dangerous indeed, that relates to the first pillar of Islam, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih al-Bukhari 8 to the end of the hadith. How do the masses of Muslims today understand the testimony "La ilaha illa Allah"? They understand it in a general way; they have not digested its reality nor verified its meanings within themselves. In fact, some of them understand this beautiful word with a concept other than the correct concept that the first Arabs in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance understood, but they disbelieved in it. [As-Saffat 37:35] Why? The disbelieving Arabs were arrogant and refused to say: "La ilaha illa Allah"; even though Allah (Mighty and Majestic) narrated about them, saying: [Luqman 31:25] ? So are they believers in Allah? Then why do they not believe in "La ilaha illa Allah"? Because they distinguished between oneness of lordship and oneness of worship. With this distinction, they believed in oneness of lordship and disbelieved in oneness of worship. So He (the Exalted) says: [As-Saffat 37:35] ; because they understand that the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" is "There is no deity worthy of worship in existence except Allah." And they took other deities alongside Allah, as our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) also stated explicitly in the Noble Qur'an, saying: [Az-Zumar 39:3] ; so they worship other gods alongside Allah, but they do not make these gods partners with Allah in lordship. They do not believe that these gods they worship besides Allah create with Allah or provide sustenance with Allah. Rather, they state explicitly in their answer when asked: [An-Naml 27:60] ? .
So the polytheists believed in one aspect and disbelieved in another. They believed in oneness of lordship, "There is no Lord except Allah," and disbelieved in oneness of worship. So He (Blessed and Exalted is He) said:[As-Saffat 37:35] , and they said: ; so they do not understand from the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah": "There is no Lord except Allah" only. No, they understand "La ilaha illa Allah" to mean: "There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah." And they do not believe in this. From here arose the enmity between the Messenger (peace be upon him) and the polytheists. They believe that there is no Lord except Allah, but they do not believe that there is no deity except Allah. So they distinguish between the Lord and the deity. The deity is the one who is worshipped. So they worshipped others alongside Allah, and this is the shirk (associating partners with Allah) that is called shirk al-uluhiyyah (shirk of worship) by the scholars.
Many Muslims today, even some of the specialists, and I saw a treatise in our land in the Levant that was printed for one of the contemporaries who interpreted "La ilaha illa Allah" as: "There is no Lord except Allah." If a polytheist says this interpretation, he does not become a monotheist. Because the polytheists used to say: "There is no Lord except Allah," but they did not say: "La ilaha illa Allah." Because they distinguished, by their Arabic instinct, that the meaning of "Ilah" (deity) is the one who is worshipped, to whom the hearts submit alone, with no partner. And they used to associate other deities with Allah. Therefore, among their misguidance was that they stated explicitly in their tawaf (circumambulation) around the House of their Lord. Their poet would say: "At your service, O Allah, at your service. At your service, you have no partner, except a partner you own and what he owns." They gave the Lord of the worlds lordship in its entirety. So there is no creator with Him, and no provider with Him. But they worship other gods alongside Allah, who are like them, as He (the Exalted) said:[Al-A'raf 7:194] , [Fatir 35:14] "Your invocation" [Fatir 35:14] .
Yes?
Another questioner: Without your invocation.
The Shaykh:[Fatir 35:14] , [Al-A'raf 7:194] , so they know this, and Allah reminds them of what they know to establish their misguidance against them. So what is the position of Muslims regarding the testimony "La ilaha illa Allah"? They interpret it as: "There is no Lord except Allah." So they have deviated in their understanding of this testimony. And I heard one of the preachers there in our land, and a discussion took place between us and him regarding oneness of worship and oneness of lordship. I said to him: What do you say about one who calls upon other than Allah in times of distress? He seeks aid from "al-Jilani" among us and "al-Baz," and between him and the one he seeks aid from is about two thousand kilometers. Even if he were alive, he would not hear him? He said: This is a permissible matter!! And he calls it tawassul (seeking nearness to Allah through a means)! So I said to him: This person who seeks aid from that righteous man, if he believed that he does not hear him, would he call him? Would a sane person call out to this wall and say: "O wall, help me, aid me"?! Of course not.
So these Muslims, who may be more devoted to Allah than I am, who stand in night prayer and fast during the day, but Allah says in the explicit Qur'an:[Az-Zumar 39:65] ; what is the benefit of this worship if it is based on shirk (associating partners with Allah) (Mighty and Majestic)? These people call out to the distant one, a far distance as we said: even if he were alive, he would not be able to respond to them. If he did not believe that he hears what they call out to him, if he believed that he does not benefit or harm, he would not ask him for benefit or harm. He said: No, he does not believe that he benefits and harms. His belief is that the one who benefits and harms is Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So I formulated for him the following question—and here is the lesson, our brothers—I said to him: So if this one who seeks aid expressed what you say is in his heart. You say: he believes that he does not benefit or harm. So if he called out to him saying: "O so-and-so, O you who do not benefit or harm, help me"; is it permissible? He said: It is permissible!! Is this person an illiterate commoner?!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The most extreme contradiction, but this contradiction is in what? In a branch or in a root? In the root of roots, in the testimony "La ilaha illa Allah." And this, unfortunately, controls many.
The questioner :[Yusuf 12:106] .
The Shaykh: May Allah bless you. This is a text in the Noble Qur'an.
So how do we seek salvation from this humiliation while we have not yet verified the first testimony? The first pillar of Islam and the first pillar of faith. We understood "La ilaha illa Allah" in a reversed way, so we took equals besides Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And this is a long research, and very long indeed.
So then—O honorable Shaykh—we must agree on a common word. We must explain to Muslims their religion within the limits of the Book and the Sunnah. So when they agree on that intellectually and cooperate.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: I was in this research.
The questioner: ... the multiplicity in this topic. We explain the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic):[Yunus 10:31-32] , in the commentary on the hadith: Sunan an-Nasa'i 5001Sahih (Darussalam) May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh: Yes, may Allah preserve you. I believe that this is what the Islamic callers must work on. Because this is the foundation of Islam, and what comes after it is easier. So if faith and Islam are correct, what comes after them is correct. Otherwise, as you heard His saying (the Exalted):[Az-Zumar 39:65] .
Yes.
The questioner: Professor, there are those who believe that lordship for Allah is... if you permit; what is the meaning of lordship in its comprehensive sense, meaning...?
The Shaykh: Servitude to Allah is that a person does not approach Allah except with what Allah has legislated. And we interpret these two testimonies with other meanings, which may be an answer to what you are asking about. We have indicated that many Muslims do not verify the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" in themselves. So if we assume that a Muslim understood the meaning of this testimony and this beautiful word, and that it means "There is no deity worthy of worship in existence except Allah (Mighty and Majestic)," and he truly does not worship except Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but he follows in the religion of Allah one who did not come with what he holds to as evidence from the Book and the Sunnah, and he takes him as a follower, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says regarding the Jews and Christians, or rather the Christians:[At-Tawbah 9:31] , and a hadith came.
Those present: 'Adi ibn Hatim.
The Shaykh: 'Adi ibn Hatim, yes. He said when the verse was revealed: By Allah, O Messenger of Allah—in what he thought—we did not take them as lords besides Allah! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . He said: Yes. He (peace be upon him) said: .
The questioner : .
The Shaykh : Yes?
Eid Abbasi : .
The Shaykh : Yes, today, if I say to a Muslim— and I do not mean the common people, for the common people are not responsible; their responsibility lies with the specialists— if I say to him, "Allah said so, and His Messenger said so," he confronts you by saying, "The Imam said so," or "The school of jurisprudence said so." Is this not the case?
The questioner : Or he says... this...
The Shaykh : This is where the problem lies.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, this is clear, Professor, but the problem is...
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The problem revolves around sanctifying our Imams beyond the sanctity that is due to us from them. As for "Marx," "Lenin," "Stalin," and so on, the leaders of tyranny and disbelief, that is open disbelief. Therefore, realizing the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" is that one does not take the word of any of Allah's servants as a law for himself. For Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says:[Ash-Shuraa 42:21]; therefore, Al-Fakhr al-Razi says in his exegesis of the previous verse that this verse applies to those who follow scholars without knowing their evidence (mقلids) who took the school of jurisprudence as the principle and the Qur'an as the branch. So, whatever agreed with the school of jurisprudence from the Book and the Sunnah, they accepted it, and whatever did not, they interpreted it as stated by an Imam of the principles of jurisprudence; he said: If a verse or hadith contradicts the school of jurisprudence...
The questioner : ...it is abrogated.
...
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly. What is the text of his statement?
Eid Abbasi : "Every verse that contradicts the opinion of our scholars is either interpreted figuratively or abrogated, and every hadith is likewise either interpreted figuratively or abrogated."
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : They made the school of jurisprudence the principle, and this Qur'an followed the principle...
Islam is based on (the following) five (principles): 1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Messenger (ﷺ).
بُنِيَ الإسلام على خمس : شهادة أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدًا رسول اللهwhen it was said to them, "There is no deity but Allah," were arrogant
إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَAnd if you asked them, "Who created the heavens and earth?" they would surely say, "Allah."
وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُwhen it was said to them, "There is no deity but Allah," were arrogant
إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّه يَسْتَكْبِرُونَAnd those who take protectors besides Him [say], "We only worship them that they may bring us nearer to Allah in position."
وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَىwho created the heavens and the earth
مَنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَThey will surely say, "Allah"
لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُSo the polytheists believed in one aspect and disbelieved in another. They believed in oneness of lordship, "There is no Lord except Allah," and disbelieved in oneness of worship. So He (Blessed and Exalted is He) said:
when it was said to them, "There is no deity but Allah," were arrogant
إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَHas He made the gods one God? Indeed, this is something extraordinary.
أَجَعَلَ الْآلِهَةَ إِلَهًا وَاحِدًا إِنَّ هَذَا لَشَيْءٌ عُجَابٌMany Muslims today, even some of the specialists, and I saw a treatise in our land in the Levant that was printed for one of the contemporaries who interpreted "La ilaha illa Allah" as: "There is no Lord except Allah." If a polytheist says this interpretation, he does not become a monotheist. Because the polytheists used to say: "There is no Lord except Allah," but they did not say: "La ilaha illa Allah." Because they distinguished, by their Arabic instinct, that the meaning of "Ilah" (deity) is the one who is worshipped, to whom the hearts submit alone, with no partner. And they used to associate other deities with Allah. Therefore, among their misguidance was that they stated explicitly in their tawaf (circumambulation) around the House of their Lord. Their poet would say: "At your service, O Allah, at your service. At your service, you have no partner, except a partner you own and what he owns." They gave the Lord of the worlds lordship in its entirety. So there is no creator with Him, and no provider with Him. But they worship other gods alongside Allah, who are like them, as He (the Exalted) said:
Indeed, those you [polytheists] call upon besides Allah are servants like you
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ عِبَادٌ أَمْثَالُكُمْIf you invoke them, they do not hear your supplication; and if they heard
إِنْ تَدْعُوهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُوا دُعَاءَكُمْ وَلَوْ سَمِعُواthey would not respond to you
مَا اسْتَجَابُوا لَكُمْYes?
Another questioner: Without your invocation.
The Shaykh:
and if they heard, they would not respond to you
وَلَوْ سَمِعُوا مَا اسْتَجَابُوا لَكُمْIndeed, those you [polytheists] call upon besides Allah are servants like you
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ عِبَادٌ أَمْثَالُكُمْSo these Muslims, who may be more devoted to Allah than I am, who stand in night prayer and fast during the day, but Allah says in the explicit Qur'an:
that if you should associate [anything] with Allah, your work would surely become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers."
لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The most extreme contradiction, but this contradiction is in what? In a branch or in a root? In the root of roots, in the testimony "La ilaha illa Allah." And this, unfortunately, controls many.
The questioner :
And most of them believe not in Allah except while they associate others with Him.
وَمَا يُؤْمِنُ أَكْثَرُهُمْ بِاللَّهِ إِلَّا وَهُمْ مُشْرِكُونَThe Shaykh: May Allah bless you. This is a text in the Noble Qur'an.
So how do we seek salvation from this humiliation while we have not yet verified the first testimony? The first pillar of Islam and the first pillar of faith. We understood "La ilaha illa Allah" in a reversed way, so we took equals besides Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And this is a long research, and very long indeed.
So then—O honorable Shaykh—we must agree on a common word. We must explain to Muslims their religion within the limits of the Book and the Sunnah. So when they agree on that intellectually and cooperate.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: I was in this research.
The questioner: ... the multiplicity in this topic. We explain the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic):
(31) Say, "Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? Or who controls hearing and sight and who brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living and who arranges [every] matter?" They will say, "Allah," so say, "Then will you not fear Him?" (32) For that is Allah, your Lord, the Truth. And what can be beyond truth except error? So how are you averted?
قُلْ مَنْ يَرْزُقُكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَمَّنْ يَمْلِكُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَمَنْ يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَمَنْ يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ فَسَيَقُولُونَ اللَّهُ فَقُلْ أَفَلَا تَتَّقُونَ * فَذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمُ الْحَقُّ فَمَاذَا بَعْدَ الْحَقِّ إِلَّا الضَّلَالُ فَأَنَّى تُصْرَفُونَIslam is built on five (pillars): Testimony that there is none worthy of worship except Allah
بُنِيَ الإسلام على خمس : شهادة أن لا إله إلا اللهThe Shaykh: Yes, may Allah preserve you. I believe that this is what the Islamic callers must work on. Because this is the foundation of Islam, and what comes after it is easier. So if faith and Islam are correct, what comes after them is correct. Otherwise, as you heard His saying (the Exalted):
if you should associate [anything] with Allah, your work would surely become worthless
لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَYes.
The questioner: Professor, there are those who believe that lordship for Allah is... if you permit; what is the meaning of lordship in its comprehensive sense, meaning...?
The Shaykh: Servitude to Allah is that a person does not approach Allah except with what Allah has legislated. And we interpret these two testimonies with other meanings, which may be an answer to what you are asking about. We have indicated that many Muslims do not verify the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" in themselves. So if we assume that a Muslim understood the meaning of this testimony and this beautiful word, and that it means "There is no deity worthy of worship in existence except Allah (Mighty and Majestic)," and he truly does not worship except Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but he follows in the religion of Allah one who did not come with what he holds to as evidence from the Book and the Sunnah, and he takes him as a follower, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says regarding the Jews and Christians, or rather the Christians:
They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah
اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِThose present: 'Adi ibn Hatim.
The Shaykh: 'Adi ibn Hatim, yes. He said when the verse was revealed: By Allah, O Messenger of Allah—in what he thought—we did not take them as lords besides Allah! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Were you not such that when they forbade you what was lawful, you forbade it? And when they made lawful for you what was forbidden, you made it lawful?
أَلَسْتُم كنتم إذا حرَّموا لكم حلالًا حرَّمتموه ؟! وإذا حلَّلوا لكم حرامًا حلَّلتموه ؟َThat is your taking them as lords besides Allah.
فذاك اتِّخاذكم إياهم أربابًا من دون اللهThe questioner :
That is their worship
تلك عبادتهمThe Shaykh : Yes?
Eid Abbasi :
That is their worship
تلك عبادتهمThe Shaykh : Yes, today, if I say to a Muslim— and I do not mean the common people, for the common people are not responsible; their responsibility lies with the specialists— if I say to him, "Allah said so, and His Messenger said so," he confronts you by saying, "The Imam said so," or "The school of jurisprudence said so." Is this not the case?
The questioner : Or he says... this...
The Shaykh : This is where the problem lies.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, this is clear, Professor, but the problem is...
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The problem revolves around sanctifying our Imams beyond the sanctity that is due to us from them. As for "Marx," "Lenin," "Stalin," and so on, the leaders of tyranny and disbelief, that is open disbelief. Therefore, realizing the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" is that one does not take the word of any of Allah's servants as a law for himself. For Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says:
Or have they other deities who have ordained for them a religion to which Allah has not consented?
أَمْ لَهُمْ شُرَكَاءُ شَرَعُوا لَهُمْ مِنَ الدِّينِ مَا لَمْ يَأْذَنْ بِهِ اللَّهُThe questioner : ...it is abrogated.
...
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly. What is the text of his statement?
Eid Abbasi : "Every verse that contradicts the opinion of our scholars is either interpreted figuratively or abrogated, and every hadith is likewise either interpreted figuratively or abrogated."
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : They made the school of jurisprudence the principle, and this Qur'an followed the principle...
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.