The Book of Faith-08b
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The reciter: Yahya ibn Yahya narrated to us, saying: I read to Malik from Salih ibn Kaysan from 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Utbah from Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani, who said: Mishkat al-Masabih 4596.
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
This hadith clarifies the application of the term disbelief to one who attributes a thing to a cause other than the lawful one, or to a physical cause, as in their saying: meaning: by its cause. It is well known that the constellation is not a cause for rain; rather, the cause of rain is that Allah sends winds that stir up clouds, which He spreads across the sky as He wills, and He makes them into pieces, so you see the rain coming out of them. As for the constellation, which is a star, it is not a cause for rain.
For this reason, we find that sometimes the rain is abundant in this constellation, and sometimes it is scarce in the same constellation. So the preposition "by" in his saying: indicates causality.
Then, if one attributes the rain to the constellation believing that the constellation is the agent in itself, that is disbelief that expels one from the religion, because he has attributed the creation of some of the created things to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And if he attributed it to the constellation as a cause, it is disbelief less than disbelief.
As for the one who said: on the understanding that the preposition "by" indicates temporal or spatial context, there is nothing wrong with it, but it is contrary to the apparent meaning of the wording, because the preposition "by" is apparent in causality, not in context. Otherwise, it has been used for context, as in the saying of the Exalted: [As-Saffat 37:137-138] meaning: and in the night.
So now, the one who said:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3295Da’if (Darussalam) has three states:
The first state: Disbelief that expels one from the religion, which is when he attributes the rain to the constellation as the agent in itself.
The second: That he is a disbeliever with disbelief less than disbelief, which is when he attributes the rain to the constellation as a cause.
The third: That his attribution to the constellation is permissible, which is when he believes that the constellation is a context and not a cause.
And if someone says: Does the third state have a precedent in the Arabic language?
We say: Yes, for it came in the Noble Qur'an: And from it is the saying of the common people now; the common people among us speak in this way, saying for example: "We were rained upon by al-Mardhaniyyah, by al-Shat, by al-'Aqarib, by such-and-such" They mean by this context, and it does not occur to them that the constellation is a cause.
Zaid b. Khalid al-Juhani said: God’s messenger led us in the morning prayer at al-Hudaibiya after rain which had fallen during the night, and when he finished he turned to the people and said, “Do you know what your Lord has said?” On their replying that God and His messsenger knew best he told them that He had said, “This morning there were among my servants one who believes in me and one who disbelieves. The one who said, ‘We have been given rain by God’s grace and mercy' is the one who believes in me and disbelieves in the star, but the one who said, ‘We have been given rain by such and such a rainy star’ is the one who disbelieves in me and believes in the star.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)
صلى بنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم صلاة الصبح بالحديبية في إثر السماء كانت من الليل، فلما انصرف أقبل على الناس فقال : هل تدرون ماذا قال ربكم؟ قالوا : الله ورسوله أعلم ، قال : قال : أصبح من عبادي مؤمن بي وكافر ، فأما من قال : مطرنا بفضل الله ورحمته فذلك مؤمن بي كافر بالكوكب، وأما من قال: مطرنا بنوء كذا وكذا فذلك كافر بي مؤمن بالكوكبThe Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
This hadith clarifies the application of the term disbelief to one who attributes a thing to a cause other than the lawful one, or to a physical cause, as in their saying:
We have been rained upon by such-and-such a constellation
مطرنا بنوء كذاFor this reason, we find that sometimes the rain is abundant in this constellation, and sometimes it is scarce in the same constellation. So the preposition "by" in his saying:
by such-and-such a constellation
بنوء كذاThen, if one attributes the rain to the constellation believing that the constellation is the agent in itself, that is disbelief that expels one from the religion, because he has attributed the creation of some of the created things to other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And if he attributed it to the constellation as a cause, it is disbelief less than disbelief.
As for the one who said:
We have been rained upon by such-and-such a constellation
مطرنا بنوء كذا(137) And indeed, you pass by them in the morning (138) And at night. Then will you not use reason?
وإنكم لتمرون عليهم مصبحين وبالليلSo now, the one who said:
We received rain because of this and that celestial position
مطرنا بنوء كذا وكذاThe first state: Disbelief that expels one from the religion, which is when he attributes the rain to the constellation as the agent in itself.
The second: That he is a disbeliever with disbelief less than disbelief, which is when he attributes the rain to the constellation as a cause.
The third: That his attribution to the constellation is permissible, which is when he believes that the constellation is a context and not a cause.
And if someone says: Does the third state have a precedent in the Arabic language?
We say: Yes, for it came in the Noble Qur'an: