Explanation of the author's statement: "As for the deeds, some of them make them realities that everyone is commanded to perform
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The Shaykh :"As for the deeds, some of them make them realities that everyone is commanded to perform, and some of them make them illusions and symbols that the common people are commanded to perform, but not the elite".
He said, "The deed now. We understood that in your belief, there is no Lord and no recompense, but what about the deeds? Do you believe in prayer? They divided into two groups. Some said: Yes, we believe in prayer, zakah, fasting, and Hajj, and we say that these deeds are a benefit for the common people and the elite alike, and everyone is commanded to perform them. So we tell the common people, 'Pray,' and we tell the elite, 'Pray.' We tell the common people, 'Give zakah,' and we tell the elite, 'Give zakah.' We tell the common people, 'Fast,' and we tell the elite, 'Fast.' We tell the common people, 'Perform Hajj,' and we tell the elite, 'Perform Hajj.' Because these deeds have a specific impact on the person that corresponds to the virtues, so we command everyone to perform them."
And some of them say: No, even the deeds have no reality; rather, the common people are commanded to perform them, but not the elite. In their view, are the messengers from the common people or from the elite? From the common people, because they are the ones who pray, give zakah, fast, and perform Hajj. In their view, everyone in the world who worships Allah is from the common people who do not know the realities and do not know the matters.
As for the elite, they are not commanded to perform these prayers, nor fasting, nor zakah, nor anything else that is commanded, because they have reached a stage where the obligation is lifted. Because Allah says: And these people have reached the degree of certainty, so worship has ended for them, because even the goal, and what is beyond the goal contradicts what is before it.
If you travel to a country, your journey ends when you arrive there, and at that point you put down the stick and let the camel rest, and you do not perform any of the actions of travel. This is what these people say, may Allah protect us from them, that when a person reaches the goal, the means are lifted from him. And these acts of worship are means that lead you to certainty, and after that you do not perform them. So what are the acts of worship of the elite? Listen to them.
He says: "They interpret prayer as knowing their secrets, fasting as concealing them, and Hajj as traveling to their sheikhs, and the like".
He says: The fasting that the common people are commanded to perform is to abstain from food and drink from the appearance of dawn until the setting of the sun. And what the elite are commanded to do is to conceal their secrets, the secrets of the sect and the faction.
So, prayer is the connection between the servant and Allah, with bowing and prostration. Whose prayer is this? The common people's.
Their prayer is that you know their secrets. Therefore, these Batiniyyah sect and their like exist now. They do not allow anyone to enter with them until he trains, and they have ten ranks. They move the person from one rank to another, and it is not possible for him to be informed of the second rank until he masters the first. It is all built on great secrets, more severe than the secrets of war. Why? Because if people were to look into these secrets of theirs, they would kill them, leaving them no dwellings on the earth. But they conceal themselves, and they say: Prayer is not the connection between the person and Allah, because there is no deity.
Prayer is that there is a connection between you and their awliya (close friends of Allah), such that they inform you, yes? Of their secrets.
So, do you want to fast? Yes. How do I fast? He said, "Conceal this secret, because fasting in language is abstention, and fasting for us is abstention from revealing the secrets. Abstain, do not teach. So this fasting is by night and day, or only by day? By night and day, until he dies, because he must conceal the secrets, otherwise he has not fasted."
Hajj, he said: Hajj is not that you travel to the House of Allah, because there is no deity for whom there is a House. Hajj is that you travel to so-and-so the wali (close friend of Allah). Where is he? In Karbala, in Qom, in such-and-such a place, in such-and-such a place. Yes, this is Hajj. If you wanted to perform Hajj so that what has preceded of your sins and what has followed is forgiven, then go to so-and-so the wali (close friend of Allah). Yes, and submit before him and prostrate to him and walk to him bowing. This is Hajj. As for going to Makkah to intend the House of Allah, this is not Hajj. Look now, so what remains with us?
He says: "And these are the atheists from the Isma'iliyyah and the Batiniyyah and their like". And they exist now, or not? They exist now. The Isma'iliyyah exist, the Batiniyyah exist, the Nusayriyyah, and others. All these people are on this path, may Allah protect us from them.
Therefore, you will find the response of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and others from the people of knowledge to these people, a crushing and severe response, and the explanation of the invalidity of their doctrine will come, if Allah wills.
This first sect is called what? The people of illusion, because they see that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), that belief in Him is only illusions, it is not a reality. Yes? Here.
The student: The Isma'iliyyah.
The Shaykh : If you want to search for these people, refer to al-Milal wa al-Nihal by al-Shahrastani, because it is the best I have seen in collecting them.
The reader: ... what concerns belief in Allah and the Last Day.
The Shaykh : Page 52 for me, yes. Here? So.
He said, "The deed now. We understood that in your belief, there is no Lord and no recompense, but what about the deeds? Do you believe in prayer? They divided into two groups. Some said: Yes, we believe in prayer, zakah, fasting, and Hajj, and we say that these deeds are a benefit for the common people and the elite alike, and everyone is commanded to perform them. So we tell the common people, 'Pray,' and we tell the elite, 'Pray.' We tell the common people, 'Give zakah,' and we tell the elite, 'Give zakah.' We tell the common people, 'Fast,' and we tell the elite, 'Fast.' We tell the common people, 'Perform Hajj,' and we tell the elite, 'Perform Hajj.' Because these deeds have a specific impact on the person that corresponds to the virtues, so we command everyone to perform them."
And some of them say: No, even the deeds have no reality; rather, the common people are commanded to perform them, but not the elite. In their view, are the messengers from the common people or from the elite? From the common people, because they are the ones who pray, give zakah, fast, and perform Hajj. In their view, everyone in the world who worships Allah is from the common people who do not know the realities and do not know the matters.
As for the elite, they are not commanded to perform these prayers, nor fasting, nor zakah, nor anything else that is commanded, because they have reached a stage where the obligation is lifted. Because Allah says:
And worship your Lord until death comes to you.
واعبد ربك حتى يأتيك اليقينIf you travel to a country, your journey ends when you arrive there, and at that point you put down the stick and let the camel rest, and you do not perform any of the actions of travel. This is what these people say, may Allah protect us from them, that when a person reaches the goal, the means are lifted from him. And these acts of worship are means that lead you to certainty, and after that you do not perform them. So what are the acts of worship of the elite? Listen to them.
He says: "They interpret prayer as knowing their secrets, fasting as concealing them, and Hajj as traveling to their sheikhs, and the like".
He says: The fasting that the common people are commanded to perform is to abstain from food and drink from the appearance of dawn until the setting of the sun. And what the elite are commanded to do is to conceal their secrets, the secrets of the sect and the faction.
So, prayer is the connection between the servant and Allah, with bowing and prostration. Whose prayer is this? The common people's.
Their prayer is that you know their secrets. Therefore, these Batiniyyah sect and their like exist now. They do not allow anyone to enter with them until he trains, and they have ten ranks. They move the person from one rank to another, and it is not possible for him to be informed of the second rank until he masters the first. It is all built on great secrets, more severe than the secrets of war. Why? Because if people were to look into these secrets of theirs, they would kill them, leaving them no dwellings on the earth. But they conceal themselves, and they say: Prayer is not the connection between the person and Allah, because there is no deity.
Prayer is that there is a connection between you and their awliya (close friends of Allah), such that they inform you, yes? Of their secrets.
So, do you want to fast? Yes. How do I fast? He said, "Conceal this secret, because fasting in language is abstention, and fasting for us is abstention from revealing the secrets. Abstain, do not teach. So this fasting is by night and day, or only by day? By night and day, until he dies, because he must conceal the secrets, otherwise he has not fasted."
Hajj, he said: Hajj is not that you travel to the House of Allah, because there is no deity for whom there is a House. Hajj is that you travel to so-and-so the wali (close friend of Allah). Where is he? In Karbala, in Qom, in such-and-such a place, in such-and-such a place. Yes, this is Hajj. If you wanted to perform Hajj so that what has preceded of your sins and what has followed is forgiven, then go to so-and-so the wali (close friend of Allah). Yes, and submit before him and prostrate to him and walk to him bowing. This is Hajj. As for going to Makkah to intend the House of Allah, this is not Hajj. Look now, so what remains with us?
He says: "And these are the atheists from the Isma'iliyyah and the Batiniyyah and their like". And they exist now, or not? They exist now. The Isma'iliyyah exist, the Batiniyyah exist, the Nusayriyyah, and others. All these people are on this path, may Allah protect us from them.
Therefore, you will find the response of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and others from the people of knowledge to these people, a crushing and severe response, and the explanation of the invalidity of their doctrine will come, if Allah wills.
This first sect is called what? The people of illusion, because they see that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), that belief in Him is only illusions, it is not a reality. Yes? Here.
The student: The Isma'iliyyah.
The Shaykh : If you want to search for these people, refer to al-Milal wa al-Nihal by al-Shahrastani, because it is the best I have seen in collecting them.
The reader: ... what concerns belief in Allah and the Last Day.
The Shaykh : Page 52 for me, yes. Here? So.