Is taking means considered reliance upon other than Allah the Exalted?
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The questioner : Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : One may rely on the cause, which is the cause, without... or there is a difference... It is as if he denied something.
The Shaykh : No, I did not deny what I denied. For this reason, the Messenger relied on the cause and said:Sahih al-Bukhari 6208 So, relying on the cause while being heedless of Allah does not mean that this cause acts by itself. However, if one believes that this cause acts by itself without Allah, it is known that this is not permissible. There is a difference between the one who says, "He believes in relying on the cause now, while not denying that the cause is from Allah, but he also does not have in his heart that he is relying on Allah in this matter." This is a type of shirk (associating partners with Allah), but it is not major shirk.
The questioner : Mere heedlessness of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He)...
The Shaykh : No, absolutely not, it is not correct at all. And for this reason, most people now are in this state. Most people now rely on the causes. If you were to ask them, for example, they buy and sell and seek sustenance, but not everyone brings to mind at that time that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) made that a cause and that he is relying on Allah in this matter. Most Muslims rely on the apparent, lawful causes, and this is a real matter, a matter that a person brings from himself. Even you, for example, I do not say "you" because I cannot judge you, but we find that at times you rely on this known cause and forget that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the one who caused it and the one who created it. You forget—I do not say that you feel that Allah has no connection to this cause—you do not feel that feeling, but you are heedless of the fact that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the one who caused it. Reflect on yourself and you will find this to be frequent.
The questioner : ... heedlessness means ...
The Shaykh : No, no, it does not happen. If you were to ask this man who performed the cause while being heedless of the cause’s effect and say, "Come, did you rely on this cause without Allah?" he would say to you, "No, absolutely not, but when I was practicing the cause, I was not at that moment relying on anything except that it was a lawful cause only."
The questioner : Some of them ... .
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that there is a difference in the state of people, such as the one who is sometimes heedless, who is not like the one who is always heedless. But we do not make this difference a reason for this one to be a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) and this one not to be a mushrik. Rather, we say this one is more complete than this one. But do we make it shirk (associating partners with Allah)? No, we do not say it is shirk. The shirk is that of the one who relies on the cause and believes that this cause is the actor, but he has a connection to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). As for the one who believes that this cause is merely a cause created by Allah, we do not say he is a mushrik, because no one can deny the effect of causes, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : One may rely on the cause, which is the cause, without... or there is a difference... It is as if he denied something.
The Shaykh : No, I did not deny what I denied. For this reason, the Messenger relied on the cause and said:
Were it not for me, he would have been in the bottom-most depth of the Fire.
لولا أنا لكان في الدرك الأسفل من النارThe questioner : Mere heedlessness of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He)...
The Shaykh : No, absolutely not, it is not correct at all. And for this reason, most people now are in this state. Most people now rely on the causes. If you were to ask them, for example, they buy and sell and seek sustenance, but not everyone brings to mind at that time that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) made that a cause and that he is relying on Allah in this matter. Most Muslims rely on the apparent, lawful causes, and this is a real matter, a matter that a person brings from himself. Even you, for example, I do not say "you" because I cannot judge you, but we find that at times you rely on this known cause and forget that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the one who caused it and the one who created it. You forget—I do not say that you feel that Allah has no connection to this cause—you do not feel that feeling, but you are heedless of the fact that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the one who caused it. Reflect on yourself and you will find this to be frequent.
The questioner : ... heedlessness means ...
The Shaykh : No, no, it does not happen. If you were to ask this man who performed the cause while being heedless of the cause’s effect and say, "Come, did you rely on this cause without Allah?" he would say to you, "No, absolutely not, but when I was practicing the cause, I was not at that moment relying on anything except that it was a lawful cause only."
The questioner : Some of them ... .
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that there is a difference in the state of people, such as the one who is sometimes heedless, who is not like the one who is always heedless. But we do not make this difference a reason for this one to be a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) and this one not to be a mushrik. Rather, we say this one is more complete than this one. But do we make it shirk (associating partners with Allah)? No, we do not say it is shirk. The shirk is that of the one who relies on the cause and believes that this cause is the actor, but he has a connection to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). As for the one who believes that this cause is merely a cause created by Allah, we do not say he is a mushrik, because no one can deny the effect of causes, yes.