The Book of Faith-03a

The Reciter: Abu Khaythamah, Zuhayr ibn Harb, narrated to me: Waki' narrated to us from Kahmas from Abdullah ibn Buraydah from Yahya ibn Ya'mar. And 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'adh al-'Anbari narrated to us, and this is his hadith: My father narrated to us from Kahmas from Ibn Buraydah from Yahya ibn Ya'mar.

The Shaykh : What does the word mean? It means that he shifted from one chain of narration to another, but they are compelled to use these symbols for three reasons: to save time, to save ink, because this saves ink, and to save paper, because paper and ink were not easy for them to obtain; it may have been one of the most difficult things to get.
The Reciter: From Yahya ibn Ya'mar, he said: "The first person to speak about divine decree in Basra was Ma'bad al-Juhani. So I and Hamid ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Himari set out as pilgrims - or performing the lesser pilgrimage - and we said: If we were to meet one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we would ask him about what these people are saying regarding divine decree. So Allah guided us to Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab entering the mosque. I and my companion flanked him, one on his right and the other on his left. I thought my companion would leave the speaking to me, so I said: O Abu Abd al-Rahman, people have appeared before us who recite the Qur'an and seek knowledge, and I mentioned their condition to him, and that they claim there is no divine decree and that the matter is fresh. He said:

So when you meet those people, inform them that I am innocent of them, and that they are innocent of me. And by the One by whom 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar swears, if one of them had a mountain of Uhud in gold and spent it, Allah would not accept it from him until he believes in the divine decree. Then he said: My father, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, narrated to me: While we were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) one day, a man appeared to us with intensely white clothes and intensely black hair, with no trace of travel seen on him, and none of us recognized him, until he sat down with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), placing his knees on our knees and his hands on his thighs, and said: O Muhammad, inform me about Islam. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Islam is that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), establish the prayer, pay the zakah, fast Ramadan, and perform Hajj to the House if you are able to find a way to it. He said: You have spoken the truth. We were amazed that he asked him and then confirmed his answer. He said: Inform me about faith. He said: That you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and you believe in the divine decree, its good and its evil. He said: You have spoken the truth. He said: Inform me about excellence in worship. He said: That you worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, then He sees you. He said: Inform me about the Hour. He said: The one asked about it is not more knowledgeable than the one asking. He said: Inform me about its signs. He said: That a slave woman gives birth to her mistress, and that you see barefoot, naked, and destitute shepherds competing in the construction of buildings. Then he departed, and I remained for a while, then he said to me: O 'Umar, do you know who the questioner was? I said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: It was Jibril who came to you to teach you your religion.

فإذا لقيت أولئك فأخبرهم أنّي بريءٌ منهم ، وأنّهم برآء منّي والّذي يحلف به عبد الله بن عمر لو أنّ لأحدهم مثل أحدٍ ذهبًا ، فأنفقه ما قبل الله منه حتّى يؤمن بالقدر
ثمّ قال : حدّثني أبي عمر بن الخطّاب قال : بينما نحن عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ذات يومٍ ، إذ طلع علينا رجلٌ شديد بياض الثّياب ، شديد سواد الشّعر ، لا يرى عليه أثر السّفر ، ولا يعرفه منّا أحدٌ ، حتّى جلس إلى النّبيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ، فأسند ركبتيه إلى ركبتيه ، ووضع كفّيه على فخذيه ، وقال : يا محمّد أخبرني عن الإسلام ، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : الإسلام أن تشهد أن لا إله إلّا الله وأنّ محمّدًا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وتقيم الصّلاة ، وتؤتي الزّكاة ، وتصوم رمضان ، وتحجّ البيت إن استطعت إليه سبيلًا ، قال : صدقت ، قال : فعجبنا له يسأله ويصدّقه ، قال : فأخبرني عن الإيمان ، قال : أن تؤمن بالله ، وملائكته ، وكتبه ، ورسله ، واليوم الآخر ، وتؤمن بالقدر خيره وشرّه ، قال : صدقت ، قال : فأخبرني عن الإحسان ، قال : أن تعبد الله كأنّك تراه ، فإن لم تكن تراه فإنّه يراك ، قال : فأخبرني عن السّاعة ، قال : ما المسئول عنها بأعلم من السّائل قال : فأخبرني عن أمارتها ، قال : أن تلد الأمة ربّتها ، وأن ترى الحفاة العراة العالة رعاء الشّاء يتطاولون في البنيان ، قال : ثمّ انطلق فلبثت مليًّا ، ثمّ قال لي : يا عمر أتدري من السّائل ؟ قلت : الله ورسوله أعلم ، قال : فإنّه جبريل أتاكم يعلّمكم دينكم

".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
This is the Book of Faith. The author began it with what pertains to divine decree. The Muslim community has disputed over divine decree among three groups:
Two extreme groups and a third middle group. As for the two extreme ones, they are the Qadariyyah and the Jabriyyah. The Qadariyyah denied divine decree, meaning they said: Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, did not predestinate the actions of the servants. The first thing that appeared among them in this erroneous opinion was that they denied even knowledge, and said: Allah does not know what the servants do until it happens, and that the matter is fresh, meaning that the knowledge of Allah, the Exalted, regarding the actions of the servants is fresh; He does not know about it until they do it. They have a doubt, such as the saying of Allah, the Exalted: and similar verses. These are the extremists among them, but they have perished. Until the Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah: Those who deny knowledge today are few. Their opinion has settled on affirming knowledge and the writing, but they denied will and creation. They said: Allah does not will the actions of the servants, and Allah has no connection to their actions, and He is not their Creator. Rather, the human being is free in his will and his action. This is what their opinion has settled upon.
The second extreme group: the Jabriyyah. They said: The human being is compelled in his action; he has no connection to it at all. His movements and stillness are not up to him, but he is like a feather moving in a gap, and the like of that.
They have a doubt in that, among which is the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: The blindness, all the blindness, is in the people of innovation. They look at the Shari'ah from one angle or with one eye, meaning that they take some evidence and leave other evidence, and from that arises innovation, whether in this issue or in others. And this innovation, as you see, appeared in the late period of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). But there was an innovation before it, which is the innovation of the Rafidah and the Nawasib, who are the Khawarij. It was in the last era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was not killed except by those who rebelled against him, and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib was not killed except by those who rebelled against him. Rebellion against the rulers is not only rebellion with weapons, but rebellion with weapons and with the tongue. Until the man who said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Be just, was called a Khariji, because he rebelled against the judgment and denied the judgment openly, even though he was lying in that. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is the most just of creation. But in any case, when rebellion is mentioned, do not think that the meaning is that he rebels with weapons. But this is the extreme of rebellion. And everyone who rebels against the imam and the rulers is a Khariji, a Khariji, but qualified by what he rebelled with. Whether he objected to any of their rulings or actions, openly, because that embitters hearts and causes people to bear towards the rulers what they bear. Then after this, they turn back from the obedience they were commanded, unless they are commanded to disobey. If they are commanded to disobey, there is no obedience to them. So the Nawasib and the Rafidah had rebelled before the innovation of divine decree. What is the middle group of these three groups? It is the group of the Sunnah and the community, who said: We believe in the divine decree of Allah, and that He, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows everything the servants do, and He wrote it, willed it, and created it. And that the human being is not compelled, but he is a chooser. For this reason, if something happens to him by compulsion, he is not held accountable for what happened from him. The greatest of sins is disbelief, and yet if he is compelled to it, he is not held accountable for it. This middle school took the evidence of these and the evidence of those, and from these evidences gathered this refined and clarified opinion, which is that the human being has power and choice, and that he is the doer in reality, but all of this is with the knowledge of Allah, His writing, His will, and His creation. These people came out in Basra, and the reference of the people at that time were the remnants of the Companions. So this man and his companion, who is Hamid ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Himari, set out to Abdullah ibn 'Umar in the pilgrimage, and informed him of the news. He said: So Abdullah ibn 'Umar said: If you meet those people, inform them that I am disavowed of them and they are disavowed of me. Then he said: By the one by whom Abdullah ibn 'Umar swears, if one of them had the like of Mount Uhud in gold and spent it, Allah would not accept it from him until he believes in divine decree.
Why? Because the one who denies the divine decree, especially those like these who deny the knowledge of Allah, is a disbeliever, and the disbeliever’s financial support is not accepted from him. Then he mentioned the hadith of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and the coming of Jibril to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the form of a man with intensely white clothes and intensely black hair, with no trace of travel seen on him, and none of the Companions recognized him, so he sat down with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and so on.