Explanation of the author's statement: "And it is faith in Allah"
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The Shaykh : He said: "And it is faith in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the resurrection after death, and faith in the divine decree, its good and its evil".
This creed was established for us by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his answer to Jibril, the best of the angels. He told the people, "This is Jibril; he has come to you to teach you your religion," because Jibril asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): What is Islam? What is faith? What is excellence in worship? When is the Hour?
Regarding faith, he said to him:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2610Sahih (Darussalam).
Faith in Allah: In language, many people say that faith means affirmation. So "I affirmed" and "I believed" have the same linguistic meaning. We have previously mentioned, while discussing what? The Tafsir or the Nuniyyah, that it is not correct to say that faith in language means affirmation. Rather, faith in language is what? It is acknowledging a thing based on affirmation of it. The evidence is that you say: "I believed in such-and-such," meaning "I acknowledged such-and-such," or "I affirmed so-and-so," but you do not say: "I believed so-and-so," no, that is not right.
So faith includes a meaning that goes beyond mere affirmation; it is acknowledgment and confession that necessitates acceptance of the news and submission to the rulings. This faith is not faith if it is merely believing that Allah exists, until this faith necessitates acceptance of the news and submission to the rulings; otherwise, it is not faith.
Faith in Allah includes four matters:
Faith in His existence (Glorified and Exalted is He).
And faith in His Lordship, meaning: His uniqueness in Lordship.
And faith in His uniqueness in worship.
And faith in His names and attributes.
Faith cannot be realized except through these. So whoever does not believe in the existence of Allah is not a believer. And whoever believes in the existence of Allah but not in His uniqueness in Lordship is not a believer. And whoever believes in Allah and His uniqueness in Lordship but not in His uniqueness in worship is not a believer. And whoever believes in Allah and His uniqueness in Lordship and worship, but does not believe in His names and attributes, is not a believer. As for the last one, some people deny faith entirely, while others deny the perfection of faith.
Now, regarding faith in His existence, if someone asks: What is the evidence for the existence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? What is the evidence for the existence of Allah?
We said: The evidence for the existence of Allah is reason, the senses, and the Shari'ah. All three indicate the existence of Allah. If you wish, you can add the innate disposition, making the evidence for the existence of Allah four: reason, the senses, the innate disposition, and the Shari'ah. We postponed the Shari'ah not because it does not deserve to be mentioned first, but because we are addressing those who do not believe in the Shari'ah. Let us assume we are speaking to someone who does not believe in the Shari'ah, so we first explain to him by reason. We say to him, for example: Did these beings come into existence by themselves, or by a Creator, or did they come into existence by chance? Now, a fourth possibility is not possible. Either they came into existence by themselves, meaning they created themselves, or they came into existence by chance, meaning they just sprang up, or by a Creator who created them. Is it rationally impossible or not impossible for them to have created themselves? It is rationally impossible. How did they create themselves? It is rationally impossible. Think, my brothers. Suppose you are facing an atheist. It is rationally impossible. How so, O 'Abd al-Rahman?
The student: That which does not exist cannot bring into existence anything other than itself.
The Shaykh : Correct. It cannot bring into existence anything other than itself, nor itself, as long as it is now non-existent. How can it be existent when it is non-existent? The non-existent is nothing until it exists. So it is not possible for it to come into existence by itself. Now, did it come into existence by chance like this? Is it impossible or not impossible? A devil from Russia comes to you and says it is not impossible. We say: It is impossible. You, O Russian, may Allah guide your head to Islam or cut it off. We say: You, these planes, missiles, and bombs that you and others have, did they come into existence by chance or not? He says: No, it is not possible except by a Maker. We say: The sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, the mountains, the rivers, the trees, the seas, the insects, the deserts, and others, what brought them into existence? Chance? That is absolutely not possible and not reasonable.
It is said that a group of Hindus came to Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him) from India to debate him on establishing the existence of the Creator (Mighty and Majestic). Abu Hanifa was one of the most intelligent scholars, so he thought carefully, or I think he promised them to come back after a day or two. They came and said: What did you say? He said: By Allah, I was thinking about a ship full of cargo and provisions that came cutting through the water until it docked at the port, and the cargo was unloaded, and it left, and it had no captain and no porters.
They said: How are you thinking about this?! He said: I am thinking. They said: If you have a reasonable mind, a ship comes without a captain, unloads, and leaves?! This is not reasonable! He said: Well, how do you not reason this, but you reason that these heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the animals, and the people are all without a Maker? How do you reason this? So they realized that the man was addressing them with their own reason.
It was said to a Bedouin Arab, and he was asked: How did you know your Lord? He said: The trace indicates the traveler, and the dung indicates the camel. So does not a sky with constellations, a land with valleys, and seas with waves indicate the All-Hearing, All-Seeing? Look, glory to Allah the Great, a Bedouin speaks with these words because he reasoned this. Everyone knows this. Therefore, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said:[At-Tur 52:35] So it is impossible for them to have come into existence by chance. So they must have a Creator. Who is the Creator? Allah. No one said the Creator is my grandfather, my grandfather is the one who created them. We say to him: Who created your grandfather? And it is not correct either that your grandfather created them like this. So they must have a Creator, and no one claims to have created them except by saying that the one who created them is Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Then, reason indicates with absolute certainty the existence of Allah.
Now, we have reason and the senses. Yes, the senses indicate the existence of Allah. The indication of the senses to the existence of Allah is that a person calls upon Allah (Mighty and Majestic), saying: O Lord, and he calls for something, and it is answered for him. This is a sensory indication. He himself did not call upon anyone but Allah, and Allah answered him. He sees that with his own eyes. And we also hear from those who came before us and those in our time that Allah answered.
The Bedouin who entered while the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was preaching to the people on Friday said: The wealth has perished and the paths have been cut off, so call upon Allah to relieve us. Anas said:Sahih Muslim 897a Sunan an-Nasa'i 1518Sahih (Darussalam) Sal' is a mountain in Medina from whose direction the clouds come. After the supplication of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), immediately a cloud came out like a shield, rose in the sky, spread, and there was thunder and lightning, and rain fell. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not descend from the pulpit until the rain was dripping from his beard (peace and blessings be upon him). This is something witnessed. So this indicates the existence of the Creator with a sensory indication.
And in the Qur'an there is much of this:[Al-Anbya 21:76] [Al-Anbya 21:83-84] and other verses.
As for the indication of the innate disposition, many people whose innate disposition has not been corrupted believe in the existence of Allah, even the dumb animals. And the story of the ant narrated from Sulayman (peace be upon him): "He went out seeking rain and found an ant lying on its back, raising its legs toward the sky, saying: O Allah, we are a creation of Your creation, so do not withhold Your rain from us. He said: Return, for you have been watered by the supplication of others". So the innate dispositions are created to know Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His oneness. And Allah (the Exalted) alluded to that in His saying:[Al-A'raf 7:172-173] This verse indicates that man is created with his innate disposition to testify to the existence of Allah and His Lordship, whether we say that Allah brought them out from the back of Adam and questioned them, or we say that this is what Allah (the Exalted) placed in their innate dispositions of acknowledgment of Him. In any case, the verse indicates that man knows his Lord by his innate disposition.
These are four pieces of evidence for the existence of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).
And whoever has a question, ask now.
This creed was established for us by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his answer to Jibril, the best of the angels. He told the people, "This is Jibril; he has come to you to teach you your religion," because Jibril asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): What is Islam? What is faith? What is excellence in worship? When is the Hour?
Regarding faith, he said to him:
To believe in Allah, His Angels, His, Books, His Messengers, the Day of Judgement, and Al-Qadar, the good of it and the bad of it.
أن تؤمن بالله، وملائكته، وكتبه، ورسله، واليوم الآخر، والقدر خيره وشرهFaith in Allah: In language, many people say that faith means affirmation. So "I affirmed" and "I believed" have the same linguistic meaning. We have previously mentioned, while discussing what? The Tafsir or the Nuniyyah, that it is not correct to say that faith in language means affirmation. Rather, faith in language is what? It is acknowledging a thing based on affirmation of it. The evidence is that you say: "I believed in such-and-such," meaning "I acknowledged such-and-such," or "I affirmed so-and-so," but you do not say: "I believed so-and-so," no, that is not right.
So faith includes a meaning that goes beyond mere affirmation; it is acknowledgment and confession that necessitates acceptance of the news and submission to the rulings. This faith is not faith if it is merely believing that Allah exists, until this faith necessitates acceptance of the news and submission to the rulings; otherwise, it is not faith.
Faith in Allah includes four matters:
Faith in His existence (Glorified and Exalted is He).
And faith in His Lordship, meaning: His uniqueness in Lordship.
And faith in His uniqueness in worship.
And faith in His names and attributes.
Faith cannot be realized except through these. So whoever does not believe in the existence of Allah is not a believer. And whoever believes in the existence of Allah but not in His uniqueness in Lordship is not a believer. And whoever believes in Allah and His uniqueness in Lordship but not in His uniqueness in worship is not a believer. And whoever believes in Allah and His uniqueness in Lordship and worship, but does not believe in His names and attributes, is not a believer. As for the last one, some people deny faith entirely, while others deny the perfection of faith.
Now, regarding faith in His existence, if someone asks: What is the evidence for the existence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? What is the evidence for the existence of Allah?
We said: The evidence for the existence of Allah is reason, the senses, and the Shari'ah. All three indicate the existence of Allah. If you wish, you can add the innate disposition, making the evidence for the existence of Allah four: reason, the senses, the innate disposition, and the Shari'ah. We postponed the Shari'ah not because it does not deserve to be mentioned first, but because we are addressing those who do not believe in the Shari'ah. Let us assume we are speaking to someone who does not believe in the Shari'ah, so we first explain to him by reason. We say to him, for example: Did these beings come into existence by themselves, or by a Creator, or did they come into existence by chance? Now, a fourth possibility is not possible. Either they came into existence by themselves, meaning they created themselves, or they came into existence by chance, meaning they just sprang up, or by a Creator who created them. Is it rationally impossible or not impossible for them to have created themselves? It is rationally impossible. How did they create themselves? It is rationally impossible. Think, my brothers. Suppose you are facing an atheist. It is rationally impossible. How so, O 'Abd al-Rahman?
The student: That which does not exist cannot bring into existence anything other than itself.
The Shaykh : Correct. It cannot bring into existence anything other than itself, nor itself, as long as it is now non-existent. How can it be existent when it is non-existent? The non-existent is nothing until it exists. So it is not possible for it to come into existence by itself. Now, did it come into existence by chance like this? Is it impossible or not impossible? A devil from Russia comes to you and says it is not impossible. We say: It is impossible. You, O Russian, may Allah guide your head to Islam or cut it off. We say: You, these planes, missiles, and bombs that you and others have, did they come into existence by chance or not? He says: No, it is not possible except by a Maker. We say: The sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, the mountains, the rivers, the trees, the seas, the insects, the deserts, and others, what brought them into existence? Chance? That is absolutely not possible and not reasonable.
It is said that a group of Hindus came to Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him) from India to debate him on establishing the existence of the Creator (Mighty and Majestic). Abu Hanifa was one of the most intelligent scholars, so he thought carefully, or I think he promised them to come back after a day or two. They came and said: What did you say? He said: By Allah, I was thinking about a ship full of cargo and provisions that came cutting through the water until it docked at the port, and the cargo was unloaded, and it left, and it had no captain and no porters.
They said: How are you thinking about this?! He said: I am thinking. They said: If you have a reasonable mind, a ship comes without a captain, unloads, and leaves?! This is not reasonable! He said: Well, how do you not reason this, but you reason that these heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the animals, and the people are all without a Maker? How do you reason this? So they realized that the man was addressing them with their own reason.
It was said to a Bedouin Arab, and he was asked: How did you know your Lord? He said: The trace indicates the traveler, and the dung indicates the camel. So does not a sky with constellations, a land with valleys, and seas with waves indicate the All-Hearing, All-Seeing? Look, glory to Allah the Great, a Bedouin speaks with these words because he reasoned this. Everyone knows this. Therefore, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said:
Or were they created by nothing, or were they the creators [of themselves]?
أَمْ خُلِقُوا مِنْ غَيْرِ شَيْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَالِقُونَNow, we have reason and the senses. Yes, the senses indicate the existence of Allah. The indication of the senses to the existence of Allah is that a person calls upon Allah (Mighty and Majestic), saying: O Lord, and he calls for something, and it is answered for him. This is a sensory indication. He himself did not call upon anyone but Allah, and Allah answered him. He sees that with his own eyes. And we also hear from those who came before us and those in our time that Allah answered.
The Bedouin who entered while the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was preaching to the people on Friday said: The wealth has perished and the paths have been cut off, so call upon Allah to relieve us. Anas said:
we did not see any cloud or any patch of it
والله، ما في السماء من سحاب ولا قزعةthere were no houses or buildings between us and (the mountain of ) Sal'
وما بيننا وبين سلع من بيت ولا دارAnd in the Qur'an there is much of this:
And [mention] Noah, when he called [to Allah] before [that time], so We responded to him
وَنُوحًا إِذْ نَادَى مِنْ قَبْلُ فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ(83) And [mention] Job, when he called to his Lord, "Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful." (84) So We responded to him
وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَى رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُAs for the indication of the innate disposition, many people whose innate disposition has not been corrupted believe in the existence of Allah, even the dumb animals. And the story of the ant narrated from Sulayman (peace be upon him): "He went out seeking rain and found an ant lying on its back, raising its legs toward the sky, saying: O Allah, we are a creation of Your creation, so do not withhold Your rain from us. He said: Return, for you have been watered by the supplication of others". So the innate dispositions are created to know Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His oneness. And Allah (the Exalted) alluded to that in His saying:
(172) And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we have testified." [This] - lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, "Indeed, we were of this unaware." (173) Or [lest] you say, "It was only that our fathers associated [others in worship] with Allah before, and we were but descendants after them.
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَى شَهِدْنَا أَنْ تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا غَافِلِينَ أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْThese are four pieces of evidence for the existence of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).
And whoever has a question, ask now.