The Book of Faith-05b

The reciter: And Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Duqali narrated to me, saying: Mubashir ibn Isma'il narrated to us, from al-Awza'i, from 'Amir ibn Hani, in this chain of narration with the same wording, except that he said: , and he did not mention

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As you see, this hadith contains the statement that whoever testifies that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, and that 'Isa is the slave of Allah and the son of His female slave, and His word which He cast to Maryam, etc. In the second narration, it says: . Those who say that one who abandons prayer does not become a disbeliever have cited this hadith as evidence, because it says: "Allah admitted him to Paradise in the state he was in regarding his deeds." The answer is that there is no evidence in this that one who abandons prayer does not become a disbeliever, for two reasons. The first reason is that it says: , which means that he must have deeds. It is known that the intended meaning is deeds that do not invalidate Islam. If we were to say that "deeds" is general in "in the state he was in regarding his deeds," then one who denies something from the Qur'an, or insults the Companions, or does something similar, would fall under this hadith and be deserving of entering Paradise, and no one holds this view. The second reason is that even if we assume it is general, it is known that the Shari'ah came from one source, which is Allah, either in His Book or on the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So the specific specifies the general. If we assume that this hadith is general and includes even one who abandons prayer, we would say: but there are specific evidences regarding one who abandons prayer that indicate his disbelief, so it becomes a specification of these generalities. Therefore, it is not sound reasoning for a person to cite the general to prove the specific; rather, one cites the specific to prove the general, because the specific specifies the general. As for citing the general to prove the specific, this is not sound reasoning. And its saying: , this word or this expression is found in the Qur'an: . The Christians have cited this to claim that 'Isa is a god, because it says: , so he is part of the Lord. This is not strange for the Christians, first because they are misguided; they are the most misguided and most ignorant of people. The second thing is that they follow the ambiguous verses because there is a deviation in their hearts. And Allah the Exalted said: . If we were to accept their reasoning, we would also say that the heavens and the earth are part of Allah, because Allah said: , and they do not say this. So the meaning of "a spirit from Him" is a spirit from His side, and it is created like the other spirits. And likewise , meaning that he was by the word of Allah, not by the customary thing where a husband ejaculates semen into the womb of a woman and she gives birth, but rather he was by the word of Allah. And this is explained by His saying, the Exalted: . This is the word. But those in whose hearts is deviation follow the ambiguous, and they say that 'Isa is part of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and that Allah is the third of three, and similar to that from misguidance. And its saying: , "truth" means anything established by the truthful report from whom? From Allah and His Messenger. For Allah has informed that Paradise was prepared for the righteous, and the Fire was prepared for the disbelievers. And Paradise and the Fire were shown to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Indeed, some of the believers smelled the scent of Paradise while in this world: Anas ibn al-Nadr said: "I find the scent of Paradise beyond Uhud," and he fought until he was killed (may Allah be pleased with him). So this is a known matter, meaning: we testify to that more than we testify to what we see, because the report of Allah and His Messenger is truth and veracity, and what we see may be an error; a person may err with his sight, seeing the moving as stationary and the stationary as moving. And in this hadith—as is not hidden—there is evidence for the virtue of sincerity in the testimony, the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.