The Meaning of Al-Mu'ayyah (Divine Accompaniment) and Its Categories?

The Shaykh : Al-Mu'ayyah (Divine Accompaniment) is divided into categories. The first is general accompaniment, intended to indicate comprehensive knowledge, such as His saying, the Exalted: This is general. And such as His saying, the Exalted: This type of accompaniment includes the believer and the disbeliever, the righteous and the wicked. The second category is a specific accompaniment for threat; it is specific, but it is for the purpose of threat, such as His saying, the Exalted: This is specific to those who hide from people but do not hide from Allah, while He is with them as they plot in the nights what is not pleasing of speech. The intent here is threat.
The third category is a specific accompaniment for certain people based on their descriptions, for the purpose of support and firmness, such as His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: And there are many similar verses. The fourth is specific to certain people for support, such as His saying, the Exalted: This is specific to those addressed at that time, specifically, otherwise it is general, specific to the mujahideen. "And you are the superior, and Allah is with you" with victory, support, and firmness. The fifth is specific to certain individuals for support, victory, and defense, such as His saying, the Exalted, regarding Musa and Harun when Musa said: The accompaniment here is for a specific person, for support, strengthening, and firmness. And among that is His saying, the Exalted, regarding our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when Abu Bakr said to him while they were in the cave of Thawr: Meaning thereby the Quraysh who were seeking the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Bakr. They stood at the entrance of the cave, with nothing between them and Abu Bakr and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), not even a nest of birds or a tree with birds on it or anything else. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He informed and explained the ruling. This is the support, firmness, and defense. What is the opinion? What did Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) think of two, when Allah is the third of them? He thought that no one would harm them and that no one would be able to find them. And this is the reality. They stood at the cave and did not see anyone; Allah blinded their eyes, and they left. This accompaniment from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, for the Messenger and Abu Bakr is like the accompaniment that was with Musa and Harun. Therefore, it was more emphatic than the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to Ali ibn Abi Talib when he left him with his family in the expedition of Tabuk. It seemed to Ali that something was wrong: how did you leave me with the women and children? So he said: In what? That you are in the position of Harun and Musa, in that you are my successor over my family, just as Musa left Harun over his people. But Abu Bakr and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were like the accompaniment of Allah to Musa and Harun. So this was more emphatic than the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to Ali ibn Abi Talib: There is a difference between the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) saying to Abu Bakr: Two, as Allah said to Musa, "Indeed, I am with you, hearing and seeing." Is this accompaniment specific to the person or to the description? To the person. If someone asks, is this accompaniment real, or is the intent its implications? We say it is real, and the implications follow the original meaning, like other meanings. The implications, such as hearing, knowledge, sight, and defense, follow the original meaning indicated by the word in a direct sense. If someone asks, how do you make it real when you reject the Mu'tazilah who say that Allah is with us truly by His essence? We say, yes, we reject them because these people say that Allah is with us in the same place. They say that Allah is with the Messenger and Abu Bakr in the same place in the cave, with the believers in their own selves. The general accompaniment is with all people wherever they are. And we reject this most strongly. If someone asks, how can you affirm a real accompaniment while you believe that Allah, the Exalted, is above His Throne, above the seven heavens? This is a contradiction. How can the accompaniment be real, and then you say: We believe that Allah is above the Throne, above His seven heavens? This is a contradiction. The answer to this is from three angles. The first angle is that Allah combined in what He described Himself with, both accompaniment and elevation, is that not so? He said, "And He is with you," and He said, "And He is the Most High, the Magnificent." Indeed, in the very verses of al-Hadid: So His rising above the Throne is not a barrier to His being with you. If that is the case, if Allah combined in what He described Himself with, both elevation and accompaniment, then we know with certainty that there is no contradiction between them, because if there were a contradiction between them, it would necessitate that one of the reports be a lie, and that is impossible. This is one point. The second angle is that there is no contradiction between elevation and accompaniment, because the original meaning of accompaniment is absolute companionship and proximity. And this absolute meaning varies according to what it is attributed to and according to the circumstances. For example, a man says, "My wife is with me," while he is in the mosque and the woman is in the house, and this statement is true and not false. So there is absolute proximity and companionship, but it does not mean that she is with him in the same mosque. And the soldiers in the field of battle say, "The commander is with us," because they are following his directives. This accompaniment, or proximity, or companionship, has a meaning. Where is the commander? In the operations room, and they are in the field of battle, and they say, "The commander is with us." If the meaning changes according to the context, the Arabs say, "We are still traveling, and the moon is with us." Is the moon with them in their hands or on their mounts? No, it is in the sky. And they say in clear, eloquent Arabic, "The moon is with us," and no one denies them or says, "We are still traveling, and the Pole Star is with us," or "The Goat is with us." And all this is eloquent, correct Arabic. Is there now a contradiction between the elevation of the moon, the Pole Star, or the Goat in the sky and their being with us? Answer: No. If this is possible for the created, then it is more so for the Creator. And for this reason, Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said in *Al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah*: "Rather, the moon is in the sky, and it is one of the smallest of created things, and it is with the traveler and others wherever they are" It is placed in the sky, and it is one of the smallest of created things, and yet it is with the traveler and others in every place. So how about the One who encompasses everything? How about the One for whom the seven heavens and the seven earths are in His hand like a mustard seed in one of your hands? Is it not correct for us to say, "He is with us," while He is in the sky? It is correct. So this is from two angles. The third angle is that we say, suppose that there is a contradiction between the real meaning of accompaniment and essential elevation in the case of the created. Then what is necessary in the case of the created is not necessary in the case of the Creator, and what is impossible in the case of the created may be permissible or obligatory in the case of the Creator. And with this, the difficulty is removed: the doubt and hesitation that occurs in the heart between our affirmation of a real accompaniment and a real essential elevation. And the most important thing is the first angle, which is that Allah, the Exalted, cannot combine in what He described Himself with, two contradictory things. But the matter requires acumen and intelligence so that a person can reconcile what appears to be contradictory, and He grants favor to whom He wills. This is what we spoke about regarding his saying: The accompaniment in this hadith is from which category? From the specific categories. So, my brother, remember Allah always. Remember Allah always so that Allah is with you always. This is the point of the hadith. The point is his saying: "Mal'a" means the group. He mentioned him in a better gathering. Who are they? The angels brought near. He mentions him in a better gathering than them. And what a great honor it is! If you sit in a gathering, how easy it is to remind people of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Even if you did not say anything but "La ilaha illa Allah," how great is Allah! How did the children of Adam manage to be this light from a nail that ties and extinguishes the light, or does not extinguish it? Is this a remembrance of Allah or not? This is a remembrance of Allah. So if you remember Allah in this gathering, He will remember you in a better gathering than them, and they are the angels brought near to Allah.