ESSENTIAL ISLAM
Contents
INTRODUCTION
IMAN (THE FAITH)
DECLARATION OF FAITH
(THE KALIMA)
BELIEF IN ALLAH'S
ATTRIBUTES
OTHER MATTERS OF
CONSIDERATION
WHO ARE THE AHL AL
SUNNA WAL JAMA' ?
THE SOUL (AL
RUH)
THE
DAY OF JUDGMENT
EXAMPLES OF HERESIES
(INNOVATIONS)
AWLYAA’
(SAINTS)
SHIRK (ASSOCIATION
WITH ALLAH)
GRAVE
WORSHIP
FORTUNE
TELLING
RELYING ON AMULETS
(TA'AWEEZ)
Iman is the Arabic term for faith. Within an Islamic context, this term refers to a set of beliefs (known as the Articles of Faith) that a Muslim must have to be confirmed as a believer.
‘Aqeeda’ refers to the way in which we understand our faith. For example the Muslims, the Jews and the Christians believe in God. The adherents of these three faiths differ on the understanding of a particular article of faith, i.e. belief in One God. The Muslims believe in one God who is not begotten, nor begets and nothing is unto like Him, the Jews believe that the same God bore resemblance to us (e.g. had a wrestling match with Jacob and lost as cited in the Old Testament). The Christians believe that God had a son, the third member of the Divine Trinity, and that the supposed Son of God lost the fight against the Jews (in compliance with the Jewish perspective), who used the Romans to crucify him.
The believers in one God differ in their understanding of an article of faith, thus it may be said that the followers of the three monotheist religions differ in their ‘Aqeeda’.
In this session the different aspects of the Aqeeda of the main stream Islam will be explained.
‘Iman’, is to believe in the following articles of faith:
DECLARATION OF FAITH (THE KALIMA)
There is no God but
Allah
And Mohammad is His
Messenger
1ST PART OF THE KALIMA There is no God but Allah
Here we negate godhead or deities of any thing or person and confirm the Supreme divinity of Allah alone. There is none worthy of worship other than the one and only God, Allah.
2ND PART OF THE KALIMA Mohammad Is His Messenger
Mohammad (Peace be upon him) is Allah’s messenger. It was through Him that we gained awareness of Allah, the world of the unseen, and how to worship and obey Allah.
The two testimonies are inseparable, the first declares the faith, and the second implies its application (beliefs, obedience and worship as practiced by the Messenger PBUH).
The Prophet (PBUH) said:
"Allah has 99 names, whoever remembers them will enter heaven"
So we believe that Allah has names and attributes, such as Al Rahman (The Ever Merciful), Al Aziz (The Dignified One), Al Qader (The Able One), Al Sameeh (The All Hearing), Al Baseer (The All Seeing) we also believe that Allah has Hands, Eyes and countenance.
This belief in the Names and Attributes is governed by the complete avoidance of the following:
Deviation: To give false meaning or interpretation to the Attributes. E.g. to claim that ‘Allah’s hand’ is in reference to His power.
Negation: To deny the attributes. E.g. to say that Allah has no hands, or face.
Description: To give physical description to the attributes,
Comparison: To compare Allah’s attributes with his creations.
Imam Ahmed Bin Hanbal said, "Allah can not be described other than what He described Himself or His Prophet (PBUH) described Him, nothing should exceed Quran and Hadith."
Examples of Allah describing Himself
"All that is on earth will Perish But will abide forever the Face of thy Lord, full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour" 55:27
"Allah said "O Iblis! What prevents you from prostrating to one whom I have created with My Hands…"" 38:75
"She floats under Our Eyes..." 54:14
"…There Is Nothing Like Unto Him, And He Is The All Hearer, All Seer" 42:11
As Muslims we acknowledge that Allah has a face, hands, and that He hears, but we can’t compare these attributes to anything that we know of, nor can we describe them or deny them.
"Say: He is Allah the One. Allah the eternal, absolute. he begetteth not, nor is he begotten. and there is none like untohim." (Surah 112)
There are three main themes in the quran:
Ayatul-Kursi (Al-Quran 2:255)
"Allah! None has the right to be worshipped but He, the Ever Living, the One who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumbers, nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His permission? He knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His knowledge except that which He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great."
Comments: Perfect in life Self Sustaining there is intercession but only by His permission the Kursi (chair) is not the throne of Allah (the chair compared to the throne is like a ring thrown into a desert). All is all-perfect and so His attributes are perfect and incomparable to those of His creation, thus we are all subservient to Him and nothing is greater than Him.
"Verily, His
command, when he intends a thing, is only that
He says, (to it) ‘ be’ and it is."
(36:82)
There is no difficulty or effort exhorted by Allah in order to create, be it an ant, a horse or heavens. His orders are created as soon as He wills them to be.
OTHER MATTERS OF CONSIDERATION
1. Seeing Allah
‘Some faces that day shall be radiant, looking at their Lord.’ (75:22-23)
No body can see Allah in this world, but the believers shall see him in the hereafter. There are many authentic Hadith in Bukhari and others about seeing Allah in the hereafter.
2. Allah is high in the sky
The following verses from the Quran tell us clearly that Allah is high in the Sky.
NB: Istawa is mentioned in 7 verses in the Quran 7:54 10:3 13:2 25:59 32:4 57:4. Also the Hadith explains Allah’s attributes in similar manners.
WHO ARE THE AHL AL SUNNA WAL JAMA' ?
(THE BODY OF THE MUSLIM NATION THAT FOLLOW THE TRADITIONS OF THE PROPHET PBUH)
Many Muslim sects and individual claim to be representative of the main body of Islam. They call themselves Ahl Al Sunna Wal Jamat.
The Prophet (PBUH) described the saved group of his Ummah (Nation of Islam) when they split up into many sects, as being the one which rightfully adheres to the example set by him and his companions.
"They ask you concerning the Ruh say : the Ruh, its knowledge is with my Lord. And of knowledge, (mankind) have been given only a little." (17:85)
A. four different meanings for the soul in the Quran:
1. Mercy: "..never give up hope of Allah’s Ruh.." (12:87)
2. Soul: "They ask you concerning the Ruh say: the Ruh, its knowledge is with my Lord. And of knowledge, (mankind) have been given only a little." (17:85)
3. Gabriel: "that day the Ruh (Gabriel) and the angels will stand forth in rows..." (78:38)
4. Inspiration: "...the owner of the throne, he sends inspiration by his commands to any of his slaves..." (4:15)
In the Quran Allah refers to Esa (Jesus) as being the Ruh of Allah. When Allah attributes any of his creation to himself He is only honouring them to declaring that they are part of Him.
Examples of Allah’s attributing creation to Himself:
Allah’s Sacred House (The mosque in Makkah)
Allah’s Camel (The one that was a sign for the people of Prophet Saleh)
Allah’s soul (The soul He created for prophets Adam and Esa)
B. Al Barzakh (The transient span between death and resurrection]
Consider the following verse:
"It is Allah who takes away the Souls at the time of their death and those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those (Souls) for which he has ordained death and sends the rest for a term appointed. Verily in this are signs for a people who think deeply." (39:42)
The soul joins and departs from the body at the following occasions:
It is worth mentioning here, that the life of the soul in Al Barzakh is similar to that when a person is in a state of dreaming while asleep. In both instances, the soul (which makes up all our senses) presumes that it’s still in the body, and hence the experiences that it goes through are felt as spiritual and physical.
The analogy between dreams and Al-Barzakh here is very important in such a manner that the soul believes that the dream experience (whether enjoyable or painful) is both physical and spiritual, so are the experience of the life during A-Barzakh (the status in the grave). The soul "thinks" the punishment or the rewards in the grave are a living experience.
The Events in the Day of Judgment
1. The blowing of the Trumpet (the beginning of the Day of Judgment)
"And the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and on the earth will swoon away, except those whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown a second time and behold, they will be standing looking on (waiting)." (39:68)
2. Resurrection of the dead. Bodies are resurrected, united again with their souls. Every body will be taken to his place in the standing area by two angles, one being a witness to his deeds and the other being a driver.
3. The period of Standing will last for 50,000 years. People will sweat according to their magnitude of sins. For the believers the time will pass as quickly as it takes to pray the Asr prayers. The best of the believers will be shadowed from the sun.
4. The Records are distributed. Those who carry them in their right hands are the saved ones, while those who carry them in their left hands are the doomed ones.
5. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) will intercede before Allah on behalf of his Ummah (The Muslims). A pond of fresh water will appear by the Prophet’s side, He will call his followers to drink from it. Angels will be guarding it and preventing the hypocrites and the innovators from approaching it.
6. The Scales are set up and people’s deeds will be weighed up. Those whose good deeds weigh out the bad will be the ones to enter Paradise.
7. Everybody will be asked to march towards Paradise, they will reach a bridge constructed over hell. Only those destined for heaven will cross it. All the others will fall over into hell.
8. Those who enter Heaven will reside in various levels of luxury, each according to his deeds. The Life in heaven is eternal.
Those who enter hell are placed in levels of torture according to their sins. Only the sinners among Muslims will be saved from hell and transferred to heaven after spending their time in Hell. Non-Muslims will never enter Heaven and their life in hell will also be permanent.
In Heaven people will marry and have an enjoyable and duty free life. Their greatest reward in heaven for the believers will be seeing the Face of Allah.
EXAMPLES OF HERESIES (INNOVATIONS)
1. Celebration of The Prophet’s Birthday
It is an imitation of the Christian festivals. "Beware of exceeding the limits of religion, since earlier nations perished because of this" (Hadith Al-Bukhari).
Neither the Prophet (PBUH) nor his family celebrated anybody’s birthday, although he did fast on Mondays because he was born on it. Those who celebrate his birthday, make it an annual anniversary like Christmas.
2. 15th Sha’baan is called Shabe-Bara’
Celebrating the night of the 15th of Shaban by performing prayers (or other acts of ‘Ibadah), and fasting during the daytime is a reprehensible heresy according to most scholars, since it has no origin in our immaculate Religion. In fact it was introduced into Islam long after the era of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).
3. 27th Rajab
Also known as the night of the Isra and Mi’raj. This night has not been mentioned as a blessed night nor night were prayers will be more rewarded in any authentic Hadith.
In Islam we have no saints, or holy men. The Islamic terms are: a believer (Mu’min), a pious man (Taqi)., and an Alim (Scholar). There is neither clergy nor hierarchy in the Islam as is the case with all other religions.
Some Muslims who insist on imitating the Hindus and the Christians appoint saints and call them Awlyaa’ (plural of Walee). They call their heroes Saints, Peers, Walee, etc.
The word Walee and Awlyaa’ are used in the Quran, but as we shall see from the following verses it definitely has nothing to do with sainthood.
The following verses give full explanation of the term Walee.
"Allah is the Walee (The Protector) of those who believe and takes them from darkness into light." (2:257)
"Whoever takes Satan as a Walee (Friend) instead of Allah, has clearly lost all." (4:119)
"We have given authority to the Walee (The Heir) of whoever is killed." (17:33)
"The believers should not take disbelievers as Awliaa (Allies) instead of other believers." (3:28)
"Verily it’s (The Sacred Mosque) Awlyaa (Guardians) are those with Taqwa (Piety), but most people do not realize that" (8:34)
It is very clear that all Muslims who are practicing Islam are considered as the Awlyaa’ of Allah, and not merely the self-appointed few.
SHIRK (ASSOCIATION WITH ALLAH)
"Surely Allah will not forgive the association of partners (shirk) with Him, but He Forgives sins less than that of whomever He wishes." (4:48)
Shirk is the Association with Allah, either directly (by acts of worship), or indirectly (by considering others as equal to Him in any way). This also includes believing that others can reward you, or have ideas that are equivalent or better than Allah’s orders.
"What! Have they partners in (godhood), who have established for them some religion without the permission of Allah"
Showing off is called minor shirk (Ash shirk Al Asghar). Showing off is seeking reward or even praise from people, hence the intention of carrying out a certain deed is not aimed at pleasing or obeying Allah.
Examples of various forms of Shirk among Muslims:
Many ignorant Muslims travel vast distances in order to worship around tombs. They believe that the dwellers of the graves are righteous people who could intercede before Allah on their behalf and hence get their prayers accepted.
Allah commanded the Prophet (PBUH) to say:
"Say: I have no power to bring good or avert harm from myself, It is only as Allah wills. If I had knowledge of the unseen, I would surely have accumulated only good and no harm would have befallen me. But I am only a Warner and a bringer of glad tidings for those who believe." (7:188)
The Prophet (PBUH) said:
"Do not praise me excessively as the Christians did to the son of Mary. Verily I am merely a slave, so refer to me as the slave of Allah and His messenger."
"May Allah’s curse be on the Jews and Christians for taking the graves of their Prophets as places of worship."
The Prophet (PBUH) said,
"Whoever approaches a fortune-teller and believe what he says, has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad." (Ahmed)
The Prophet (PBUH) said,
"May Allah cause failure and unrest to whoever wear a talisman or puts it on others." (Ahmed)