Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (Except those who believed and did righteous deeds.)
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Exegesis of His saying, the Exalted: (Except those who believed and did righteous deeds)
Then he said: [Al-Inshiqaq: 25] (Except) here means (but) and it is not valid to be a connected exception; because those who believed are not among the deniers in any way, rather they are believers who affirm the truth, and this is a disconnected exception, and (except) is estimated as (but) meaning: but those who believed and did righteous deeds have a reward that is not withheld; those who believed with their hearts, and their faith necessitated their standing in righteous action, so these are the ones who have no punishment and do not await punishment, rather they have a reward that is not withheld.
If it is said: What is the righteous deed? So
that righteous action is what combines two things: The first: Sincerity to Allah the Exalted, such that the one who motivates the deed is sincerity to Allah Mighty and Majestic, seeking His pleasure and His reward, and seeking safety from the Fire, -Meaning: The person does not want anything of this world with his deed-For this reason, the scholars said: As for deeds that are only worship, it is not valid to take a wage for them, like the adhan: -for example- it is not valid to call the adhan for a wage,and the imamate: It is not valid to lead the prayer for a wage,and reciting the Qur'an: It is not valid to recite for a wage, unlike teaching the Qur'an, which is valid for a wage; because it extends beyond the recitation, and the wage is for the work which is teaching, not for the recitation,if a person came and said: I want to recite the Qur'an for a wage, if that is the case, it is not valid and not permissible; because one of the conditions of the righteous deed is that it be sincere to Allah Mighty and Majestic, and whoever recites for a wage or worships for a wage; he has not made the deed sincere to Allah, so his deed is not accepted.
The second: That one follows in it the Shari'ah of Allah which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came with -Meaning: That the person follows the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in his deed, doing what he did, and leaving what he left- so whatever the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do while its cause existed, the Sunnah is to leave it.
Meaning: If the cause of the thing existed in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and he did not do it, then the Sunnah is to leave it.
And for this reason we say: What most Muslims do today of celebrating the birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the twelfth day of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal is a religious innovation that has no basis in the Sunnah; because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not celebrate his birthday, nor did the Rightly Guided Caliphs, although we know with certainty that if it had been prescribed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have left it without explanation to the Ummah; because conveying the message is his duty, so when he did not tell the Ummah that celebrating this occasion is prescribed, and when he did not do it himself, and the Rightly Guided Caliphs did not do it, it is known that it is a religious innovation that does not increase its doer in anything from Allah except distance, we ask Allah for safety.
And this religious innovation first occurred in the fourth century,Meaning: After more than three hundred years had passed for the Muslim Ummah, this religious innovation occurred and they claimed that they honor the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in it, and the truth is that every religious innovation does not contain honoring the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); because honoring the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is only by following his Sunnah,As Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Hujurat: 1] .
And let us look at this religious innovation! Does it have a basis in history? Does it have a basis in the Shari'ah?We say: It has no basis in history, and that is because the birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is disputed in more than five opinions, after agreeing that it was in Rabi', but they differ on which day it was, and some contemporary historians have preferred that it was on the ninth day and not the twelfth, so it is historically invalid that it was on the twelfth day,As for the legal aspect, it is invalid for several reasons: First: That it is a worship that Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not prescribe, nor the Rightly Guided Caliphs whom we were commanded to follow their Sunnah, so if a claimant claims that it is prescribed in the Qur'an and Sunnah, or in the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, or the Companions; he must provide evidence; because the burden of proof is on the claimant, and he will not be able to find a way to that -Meaning: He will not be able to bring a single piece of evidence from the Book and Sunnah, or the saying of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, or the Companions; that it is prescribed to celebrate the birthday of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Second: That we say: This celebration is either true or false, if it is true; it necessitates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is either ignorant of the truth, or knowledgeable of it and concealing it, and both matters are false, and it is absolutely impossible that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is ignorant of anything of the Shari'ah of Allah, or that he is knowledgeable of it but did not explain it to the Ummah;because the first possibility is: It necessitates that he is ignorant of the Shari'ah while he is the one who possesses the Shari'ah.
and the second possibility is: It necessitates that he is concealing what Allah revealed to him, and may he be far from that, and if he had concealed what Allah revealed to him, he would have concealed the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Ahzab: 37] .
Third: If it becomes clear that it is a religious innovation, then it is not permissible for anyone to establish it, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Beware of newly invented matters; for every newly invented matter is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire) .
And if the truth followed their desires and every person who thought that there is a prescription in a certain matter prescribed it; the Ummah would differ, and the religion would be torn apart, and every group would have a specific religion, and this is contrary to what the Islamic Shari'ah came with of the obligation to agree on the word of Allah, and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
Fourth: We say: This is a religious innovation that did not stop at mere gathering, and sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and mentioning his virtues, and his noble deeds, and his Shari'ah, but it deviated from this to poems of praise that reach the extreme of exaggeration, rather exceeding the nature of humans to the rights of Allah Mighty and Majestic, for those who gathered would sing the poem of al-Busiri, who used to say in it addressing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
O most noble of creation, I have no one to take refuge in But you, when the general calamity befalls
If you are not taking my hand on the Day of Resurrection in forgiveness, then say: O slip of the foot
For from your generosity is the world and its neighbor, and from your knowledge is the knowledge of the Preserved Tablet and the Pen
Some scholars said: If the matter is like this, nothing remains for Allah, and Allah the Exalted is not the refuge in times of hardship and fear, rather the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who does not possess benefit or harm for himself except what Allah wills, is the refuge, and this is the extreme of the exaggeration that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, so those who claim that they draw near to Allah with such celebrations, and that they are the lovers of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), have in reality become those who distance themselves from Allah Mighty and Majestic by associating with Him what He has not sent down authority for.
And there is no doubt that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) does not accept such a thing at all,If they say: The origin of this is the love of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and in order to show the Christians that we care for the Messenger of Allah as they cared for their messenger, so they made his birth a festival,We said: If you are truthful in your love of Allah and His Messenger, here is a just scale, which is His saying: [Al-Imran: 31] And therefore, the more a person loves Allah, the more he follows the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the less he loves Allah, the less he follows the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so if you see a man claiming the love of Allah and His Messenger but he does not adhere to the Shari'ah, know that he is a liar; because the love of Allah and His Messenger necessarily produces the following of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
So the result is that it is obligatory for the students of knowledge here in this land and in other Islamic lands to explain to the general public and non-public that this celebration has no basis in the Sunnah, and that it is a religious innovation that does not increase a person in anything except distance from Allah Mighty and Majestic; because he legislated in the religion of Allah what is not from it,If someone were to say: Is not sending blessings upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prescribed at all times?So the answer is: Yes.
The more you send blessings upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the more Allah increases your reward in it, and whoever sends blessings upon him once, Allah sends blessings upon him ten times, but arranging it on a specific night and gathering for it and mentioning the praises and poems that reach the extreme of exaggeration, this is what is forbidden,And we do not say: Do not send blessings upon the Messenger,Rather, we say: Increase in sending blessings upon him (peace and blessings be upon him),And we do not say: Do not love the Messenger,But we say: Love the Messenger more than you love yourselves, and your faith is not complete except with that, but do not innovate in his religion what is not from it.
It is obligatory for students of knowledge to make clear to people,and that they say to them: that they should engage in the correct, prescribed acts of worship, remember Allah, send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at all times, establish the prayer, pay the alms, and treat the Muslims well at all times. As for making a specific festival in the year that Allah has not established, Allah the Exalted has established in the year only three festivals: the festival of sacrifice, the festival at the end of Ramadan, and the weekly festival, which is Friday. As for you inventing other festivals, you are inventing in the religion of Allah what He has not prescribed.
Then he said:
Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds. For them is a reward uninterrupted.
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍIf it is said: What is the righteous deed? So
that righteous action is what combines two things: The first: Sincerity to Allah the Exalted, such that the one who motivates the deed is sincerity to Allah Mighty and Majestic, seeking His pleasure and His reward, and seeking safety from the Fire, -Meaning: The person does not want anything of this world with his deed-For this reason, the scholars said: As for deeds that are only worship, it is not valid to take a wage for them, like the adhan: -for example- it is not valid to call the adhan for a wage,and the imamate: It is not valid to lead the prayer for a wage,and reciting the Qur'an: It is not valid to recite for a wage, unlike teaching the Qur'an, which is valid for a wage; because it extends beyond the recitation, and the wage is for the work which is teaching, not for the recitation,if a person came and said: I want to recite the Qur'an for a wage, if that is the case, it is not valid and not permissible; because one of the conditions of the righteous deed is that it be sincere to Allah Mighty and Majestic, and whoever recites for a wage or worships for a wage; he has not made the deed sincere to Allah, so his deed is not accepted.
The second: That one follows in it the Shari'ah of Allah which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came with -Meaning: That the person follows the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in his deed, doing what he did, and leaving what he left- so whatever the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do while its cause existed, the Sunnah is to leave it.
Meaning: If the cause of the thing existed in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and he did not do it, then the Sunnah is to leave it.
And for this reason we say: What most Muslims do today of celebrating the birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the twelfth day of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal is a religious innovation that has no basis in the Sunnah; because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not celebrate his birthday, nor did the Rightly Guided Caliphs, although we know with certainty that if it had been prescribed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have left it without explanation to the Ummah; because conveying the message is his duty, so when he did not tell the Ummah that celebrating this occasion is prescribed, and when he did not do it himself, and the Rightly Guided Caliphs did not do it, it is known that it is a religious innovation that does not increase its doer in anything from Allah except distance, we ask Allah for safety.
And this religious innovation first occurred in the fourth century,Meaning: After more than three hundred years had passed for the Muslim Ummah, this religious innovation occurred and they claimed that they honor the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in it, and the truth is that every religious innovation does not contain honoring the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); because honoring the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is only by following his Sunnah,As Allah the Exalted said:
O you who have believed, do not put [yourselves] before Allah and His Messenger but fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌAnd let us look at this religious innovation! Does it have a basis in history? Does it have a basis in the Shari'ah?We say: It has no basis in history, and that is because the birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is disputed in more than five opinions, after agreeing that it was in Rabi', but they differ on which day it was, and some contemporary historians have preferred that it was on the ninth day and not the twelfth, so it is historically invalid that it was on the twelfth day,As for the legal aspect, it is invalid for several reasons: First: That it is a worship that Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not prescribe, nor the Rightly Guided Caliphs whom we were commanded to follow their Sunnah, so if a claimant claims that it is prescribed in the Qur'an and Sunnah, or in the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, or the Companions; he must provide evidence; because the burden of proof is on the claimant, and he will not be able to find a way to that -Meaning: He will not be able to bring a single piece of evidence from the Book and Sunnah, or the saying of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, or the Companions; that it is prescribed to celebrate the birthday of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Second: That we say: This celebration is either true or false, if it is true; it necessitates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is either ignorant of the truth, or knowledgeable of it and concealing it, and both matters are false, and it is absolutely impossible that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is ignorant of anything of the Shari'ah of Allah, or that he is knowledgeable of it but did not explain it to the Ummah;because the first possibility is: It necessitates that he is ignorant of the Shari'ah while he is the one who possesses the Shari'ah.
and the second possibility is: It necessitates that he is concealing what Allah revealed to him, and may he be far from that, and if he had concealed what Allah revealed to him, he would have concealed the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and fear Allah," while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him.
وَاتَّقِ اللَّهَ وَتُخْفِي فِي نَفْسِكَ مَا اللَّهُ مُبْدِيهِ وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ وَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَخْشَاهُThird: If it becomes clear that it is a religious innovation, then it is not permissible for anyone to establish it, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Beware of newly invented matters; for every newly invented matter is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire) .
And if the truth followed their desires and every person who thought that there is a prescription in a certain matter prescribed it; the Ummah would differ, and the religion would be torn apart, and every group would have a specific religion, and this is contrary to what the Islamic Shari'ah came with of the obligation to agree on the word of Allah, and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
Fourth: We say: This is a religious innovation that did not stop at mere gathering, and sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and mentioning his virtues, and his noble deeds, and his Shari'ah, but it deviated from this to poems of praise that reach the extreme of exaggeration, rather exceeding the nature of humans to the rights of Allah Mighty and Majestic, for those who gathered would sing the poem of al-Busiri, who used to say in it addressing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
O most noble of creation, I have no one to take refuge in But you, when the general calamity befalls
If you are not taking my hand on the Day of Resurrection in forgiveness, then say: O slip of the foot
For from your generosity is the world and its neighbor, and from your knowledge is the knowledge of the Preserved Tablet and the Pen
Some scholars said: If the matter is like this, nothing remains for Allah, and Allah the Exalted is not the refuge in times of hardship and fear, rather the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who does not possess benefit or harm for himself except what Allah wills, is the refuge, and this is the extreme of the exaggeration that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, so those who claim that they draw near to Allah with such celebrations, and that they are the lovers of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), have in reality become those who distance themselves from Allah Mighty and Majestic by associating with Him what He has not sent down authority for.
And there is no doubt that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) does not accept such a thing at all,If they say: The origin of this is the love of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and in order to show the Christians that we care for the Messenger of Allah as they cared for their messenger, so they made his birth a festival,We said: If you are truthful in your love of Allah and His Messenger, here is a just scale, which is His saying:
Say, [O Muhammad], "If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you
قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُSo the result is that it is obligatory for the students of knowledge here in this land and in other Islamic lands to explain to the general public and non-public that this celebration has no basis in the Sunnah, and that it is a religious innovation that does not increase a person in anything except distance from Allah Mighty and Majestic; because he legislated in the religion of Allah what is not from it,If someone were to say: Is not sending blessings upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prescribed at all times?So the answer is: Yes.
The more you send blessings upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the more Allah increases your reward in it, and whoever sends blessings upon him once, Allah sends blessings upon him ten times, but arranging it on a specific night and gathering for it and mentioning the praises and poems that reach the extreme of exaggeration, this is what is forbidden,And we do not say: Do not send blessings upon the Messenger,Rather, we say: Increase in sending blessings upon him (peace and blessings be upon him),And we do not say: Do not love the Messenger,But we say: Love the Messenger more than you love yourselves, and your faith is not complete except with that, but do not innovate in his religion what is not from it.
It is obligatory for students of knowledge to make clear to people,and that they say to them: that they should engage in the correct, prescribed acts of worship, remember Allah, send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at all times, establish the prayer, pay the alms, and treat the Muslims well at all times. As for making a specific festival in the year that Allah has not established, Allah the Exalted has established in the year only three festivals: the festival of sacrifice, the festival at the end of Ramadan, and the weekly festival, which is Friday. As for you inventing other festivals, you are inventing in the religion of Allah what He has not prescribed.