Explanation of the author's statement: "And His saying: 'He alone has no partner.' And that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger"

The Shaykh : Yes, he said "He alone has no partner". This is an affirmation of what? "He alone" is for affirmation, and "no partner for Him" is for negation. And his saying: "no partner for Him", in what? In everything that is specific to Him, in everything that is specific to Him of lordship, divinity, names, and attributes. There is no partner for Him in anything that is specific to Him of lordship, divinity, names, and attributes. Yes, and with this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the other believers turn to whom? To Allah, because they know that He has no partner. The Bedouin who came while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was under a date palm with his sword hanging, took the sword and pierced him, saying, "O Muhammad, who will protect you from me?" All the Companions were with him; all the Companions were with him. He did not say, "My companions will protect me." What did he say? "Allah will protect me." He said, "Allah." This is the realization of lordship, that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the One who possesses harm and benefit, creation, management, and control over the kingdom. So, in what is there no partner for Him? In what is specific to Him of lordship, divinity, names, and attributes. And we say "in what is specific to Him" so that we are free from many doubts, including the doubts of those who deny the attributes. For those who deny the attributes claimed that affirming the attributes is associating partners with Allah (Mighty and Majestic), where they said that it necessitates likening Allah to creation. But we say, no, the attributes of the created are specific to them, and the attributes of the Creator are specific to Him.
Second: "And that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger" (peace and blessings be upon him). Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, the Qurayshi, the Hashimite, the Seal of the Prophets, the slave of Allah. Is he a partner with Allah? Yes or no? No partner?
The student: No partner

The Shaykh : Here, there is no god but Allah. Yes, he is not a partner with Allah, and His Messenger is not a liar against Allah. And Allah says to him: Say, declaring and conveying also . If Allah intended something for me, no one would protect me from it, and I would not find any refuge other than Him. Did you understand? So he is a slave, a created being, a human being. All the characteristics of humanity attach to him, except for one thing, which is what returns to base morals; he is prohibited from that. And Allah the Exalted says: . This is the realization of humanity by likeness: a human like you. But what is the distinction? This is the difference. So whoever says that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has no shadow and that he walks in the sun and his light extinguishes his shadow, that he has no shadow, this is undoubtedly a liar and has claimed what is false. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is not a light. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said, "I used to extend my leg in front of him and he would measure it, and she said, 'There were no lamps in the houses.' If the Messenger were like the electric light, he would shine and there would be no need for her to measure it. Yes, but exaggeration, and may Allah protect us, has corrupted religion and the world. Al-Busiri says in the famous Burdah that people sing:
"O noblest of creation, to whom shall I take refuge but you *** " I seek refuge in Allah " *** when the general calamity befalls
If you are not taking my hand on the Day of Resurrection *** Pardon me, or else say, 'O slip of the foot'
For from Your generosity is the world and its neighbor *** And from Your knowledge is the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen"
I seek refuge in Allah. Ibn Rajab and others said: "He did not leave anything for Allah". Here, as long as the world and the Hereafter are from the generosity of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and his generosity is not from Him, what remains for Allah? Here, I bear witness to Allah that the one who says this has not testified that Muhammad is the slave of Allah. He has testified that Muhammad is above Allah, and may Allah protect us. And how do they mean that their exaggeration reaches this limit?! The Christians said, "Jesus is the son of Allah," and they said, "Allah is the third of three." But these people said more than what the Christians said, even though he prohibited that, saying, "Do not exaggerate," as . They said more than that. Yes, they say that Allah says , and "I am with My slave when he remembers Me," and the Messenger is with us when we remember him. So on the night of the Mawlid, when ... the following was recited to them by the one who is deluded, "The Prophet was born," they all stood up, all of them standing as one man. Why, my brothers? ... My brothers, yes, they say because the Messenger was present, he was present in our gathering. Yes, he was present in person. Yes, so we stood out of respect for him, out of respect for him. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were more polite than them. Did they not stand up? And we also, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon them while he was alive and speaking to them, did they stand up or not?
The student: They did not stand up

The Shaykh : They did not stand up. And these people stand up when they imagine, meaning when Satan comes to them. But Satan does not take the form of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). But a phantom came to them; if they saw something, they said, "This is the Messenger." Look, minds weaken to this extent. Did these people testify that Muhammad is the slave of Allah and His Messenger? They did not testify that Muhammad is the slave of Allah and His Messenger, ever. And so, in reality, these deluded people are pitiable. We look at them with the eye of divine decree, so we have mercy on them and ask Allah for their safety. And when we look at them with the eye of the Shari'ah, we must fight them until they return to the fold of Islam. We ask Allah for well-being and safety.
So, that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most devoted of people to Allah, the most fearful of them of Allah, and the most mindful of them of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He stood to pray until his feet swelled, and it was said to him about that, and he said: . And he had been forgiven what came before of his sin and what came after. This is the realization of the great worship. Yes, as for the message, yes, he is the Messenger of Allah. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sent him with the greatest Shari'ah to all of creation. Yes, and he conveyed the message, is that not so? He conveyed it to the utmost extent of conveyance, even though he was opposed and harmed until they brought the skins of camels and he was prostrating at the Ka'bah, and they placed them on his back. All of that was out of hatred for him and for what he brought. And the people were praying in the Sacred Mosque, and they did not say anything to them. But why did this one come with this truth? Look, did he have patience or not?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : They threw filth and stench and dirt on the threshold of his door, even though Quraysh were known for good neighborliness. But this noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as a trial from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) so that the greatness of his patience (peace and blessings be upon him) would become clear, but he did not ... He would preach and say, "What kind of neighborliness is this, O sons of 'Abd Manaf?" So he is a Messenger. He did not tire, nor did he become weary, nor did he lag behind, nor did he despair. Rather, he struggled (peace and blessings be upon him) until Allah opened for him. Yes, and he warned al-Makkah al-Mukarramah and those around it. Then, and praise be to Allah, when he purified the Shari'ah, he carried it with the most trustworthy of people and the strongest of them in ... (may Allah be pleased with them), and they delivered it to the community intact and pure, praise be to Allah. This is the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). This is the right of the Messenger upon us: we believe that he is the Messenger of Allah, and we love him for our love of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If he had not come, there would have been no difference between him and the sons of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, is that not so? But he came with this message from Allah, so we loved him for Allah and in Allah. Yes, and our love for him is not an independent love. But those who exaggerate about him make their love for him an independent love, prioritized over the love of the One who sent him. So some of them die of grief if they miss visiting the city, and they do not die of grief if they miss performing Hajj to the Sacred House. And I witnessed people, and we were talking with him during the days of the Hajj season. He came on the fourth day of Dhul-Hijjah, and the planes were prevented from going to the city. I saw him crying. Why? He said, "I did not manage to go to the city. My brother, go to the Ka'bah; the Ka'bah is better than the city." He said, "My brother, we missed the lights, we missed the lights..." Meaning, he was affected, greatly affected, to this extent. They do not see that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is loved as part of the love of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and that it is because he is the Messenger of Allah that we love him (peace and blessings be upon him), and we prioritize him over ourselves, our children, our families, and all of mankind. This is the Messenger whom Allah sent. And from the realization of the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah is what we mentioned a little while ago: that we believe that with our hearts, we acknowledge it with our tongues, and we apply it by following him (peace and blessings be upon him). By following him, not by working for him, but we work by it, not for him. We work for whom?
The student: For Allah

The Shaykh : For Allah, but it is through the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that we are guided and we follow him (peace and blessings be upon him). This is part of establishing the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Therefore, nothing diminishes the establishment of this testimony except sin. If you disobey Allah, the establishment of the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah is diminished. Is that so? Yes, because by this path, you have departed from following him. If you innovate in his religion what is not part of it, the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah is diminished. Why? Because by this innovation, you have departed from the Shari'ah. You worship Allah and seek nearness to Him by what He has not prescribed, even though this worship is rejected and not accepted. It is rejected. How can you seek nearness to Allah by something by which Allah has not prescribed seeking nearness to Him? This is like a man who reads a royal decree stating that whoever brings me a plate of bread with eggs on it, I will accept it from him. So that man went and brought a handful of dirt with pebbles on it and sought nearness to the king with it. What would be said about him? Would the nearness be accepted? No, he would be thrown out and struck with it, and it would be returned to him. Every person who worships Allah by what does not bring him near to Allah, his deed is returned to him and not accepted. And this is, in reality, mocking Allah (Mighty and Majestic). How can you seek nearness to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) by something by which Allah has not prescribed seeking nearness to Him? This is, in reality, making your Lord a mockery; you have made Him a mockery. One might say, "By Allah, I intend, I intend to seek nearness to Allah." But we say, you took the wrong path. We excuse you for your intention, but we do not excuse you for deviating from the path, once you have known that it is contrary to the truth. In reality, a person must speak the truth. These common people who follow these misleading imams—what is our position with them?
The student : Clarification

The Shaykh : Our position with them. Yes, we clarify to them, but regarding the ruling. Our position in ruling on them is to say that they have an intention of love for good, and perhaps they will be rewarded for it. But they have an incorrect path; an incorrect path. A man wants to head to Makkah and loves Makkah and wishes to go to Makkah, but from where did he start? He started from the east. He started from the east. Will he reach Makkah or not?
The student : He will not reach it

The Shaykh : We say this is a good man who wants Makkah, but we say he is a man who made a mistake; he went off the path. He wants to go to Riyadh, yes. Similarly, regarding the innovators, we may say that they are rewarded for their good intentions if they do not know the truth, but we point out their error in what they have gone to. As for their imams who knew the truth but wanted to preserve their status, we say to you: You are like Abu Jahl, 'Uqbah ibn Rabi'ah, and others, and al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, who met the message of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) with rejection and denial, in order to preserve their leadership and status. And so are you. And your likeness is also like the likeness of the Jews who knew the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) as they know their own sons, but they remained in their Judaism and defied him in order to preserve their status and out of envy for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So, if any of these imams who call to innovations knows the truth but defies it, we say: You are in the position of Abu Jahl and al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah and others, and we do not excuse him for that. We do not excuse him. A person must speak the word of truth. So, this, and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.