One of the principles of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama`ah is that they offer the Friday prayer, the `id prayers, and the regular daily prayers, and never suspend them as do the proponents of bid’ah like the Rawafid and others. If the conduct of the imam is not known or his bid’ah or wickedness is not open, the Friday prayer and all daily prayers in assembly may be offered behind him. All the four imams of the Muslims as well as others are agreed on this point. None of them has ever said that salah is not valid except behind an imam whose private life is known. In fact, Muslims have been praying behind persons whose lives have not been known.

However, if salah is offered behind a person who is known to be guilty of bid `ah or an open sin (fajir) while an alternative imam is available, many scholars say that the salah of those who pray behind him will still be valid. This is the view of Ash-Shafi `I and Abu Hanifah, and this is also one of the two views ascribed to Malik and Ahmad. However, when there is no other alternative available and prayer has to be offered behind a heretic or a sinner (fdjir), as, for example when you do not get anyone other than a heretic or a sinner to lead the Friday prayer, and there is no other place where it is conducted, then you must offer the Friday prayer behind that heretic or sinner. This is the view of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jamd’ah in general. Abu Hanifah, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and all other imams of the Ahl as-Sunnah are agreed on this.

The Companions used to offer prayers behind those whose sins they were aware of. For example, `Abdullah Ibn Masud and other Companions prayed behind Al-Walid Ibn ‘Uqbah Ibn AbI Mu`It,788 who used to drink, and who once, while leading the Fajr prayer said four rak `dt, for which `Uthman Ibn `Affan punished him with lashes. `Abdullah Ibn `Umar and other Companions prayed behind Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf,’89 similarly, many Companions and Successors prayed behind Ibn Abi `Ubayd,790 who was charged with blasphemous views (ilhdd) and of preaching them.

No Muslim should be excommunicated on grounds of any sin or mistake in controversial issues which he commits. God has said, “The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believes in God, His angels, His books and His messengers. (They say): `We make no discrimination between one and another of His messengers.’ They say: `We hear and We obey. Your forgiveness, Lord (we seek), and to You is the end of our journey”‘ (2:285). A hadith in the Sahih collections says that in response to this prayer God forgives the mistakes of the faithful.791

The Prophet commanded fighting the Khawarij as they were renegades. Amir al-Mu’minin `Ali, one of the four rightly-guided caliphs, fought against them, and all the a ‘immah of the religion from among the Companions, the Successors and those that followed them were agreed upon fighting them, even then neither `Ali Ibn Abi Talib nor Sa’d Ibn Abi Waggas792 nor any other Companion declared them kafir. They waged war against them, but they treated them as Muslims. `Ali did not start war against them until they had shed the blood of Muslims and plundered their properties. He fought them only to save the Muslims from their atrocities and not because they were kafir. This is why he did not take their women captive or their properties as spoils. These were the people whom the Scripture and the consensus have declared wrong and mistaken, and whom God and His Messenger have commanded to fight. Even then they were not pronounced kafir. How then can those be pronounced kafir who could not see the truth on issues in which people more learned than they went wrong! How would anyone of these groups be justified in calling the others kafir, or killing them or confiscating their property, even if they were guilty of a real bid’ah! How could it be when those who pronounce others to be kafir are also committing bid’ah, which is even worse than the bid’ah of others! The fact is that all of them are equally ignorant of the truth in the matters they debate.

The fundamental principle is that the life, property and honor of a Muslim are inviolable and cannot be taken by anyone except by the leave of God and His Messenger. In his farewell address on the occasion of hajj the Prophet said, “Your blood, your property, your honor, everything is sacred just as this day of yours, this city of yours and this month of yours are sacred.”793 He pronounced, “The whole of a Muslim is inviolable for another Muslim: his blood, his property, and his honor. ,794 He declared, “Whoever prays like us, faces our qiblah and eats of the animals we slaughter, is a Muslim and is under the protection of God and His Messenger.”795 He warned, “When two Muslims take out swords against each other, both the killer and the killed go to Hell.” People asked him, “This is true of the killer, but why of the one who is killed, Messenger of God?” He said, “He was trying to kill his companion.”796 He also issued these warnings: “After me don’t turn kafir, one killing the other;”797 and, “When one Muslim calls a brother Muslim kafir, one of the two is kafir. ,798 All these ahadith have been recorded in collections.

But when a Muslim fights a Muslim or calls him kafir in the light of his interpretation of a text, he will not be kafir. We know that when `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab said with regard to Hatib Ibn Al-Balta`ah, “Messenger of God, let me kill this hypocrite,” the Prophet said, “He participated in the battle of Badr. You don’t know if God has looked at the people of Badr and said: `Do whatever you like; I have forgiven you. “’799 This hadith has been mentioned in both Sahih collections. It has also been reported in them that Usayd Ibn Khudayr,800 said to Sa’d Ibn `Ubadah,801 “You are a hypocrite, you are defending hypotcrites!” Then there was a quarrel between them and the Prophet had to intervene and make peace between them. All of them had participated in the battle of Badr, but one called the other a hypocrite. However, the Prophet pronounced neither one nor the other kafir; on the contrary, he gave both of them the glad tidings of Paradise.802 We also have in the Sahihayn that `Usamah Ibn Zayd803 killed a man after he had confessed that there was no god except Allah. When the Prophet came to know of it he was shocked. He asked, “`Usamah, did you kill him after he had said `There is no god except Allah’?” and repeated the words time and again, till `Usamah cried out, “I wish I had embraced Islam only today.”804 But in spite of that the Prophet did not prescribe vengeance, or order any ransom, or any expiation, because `Usamah only erred in his judgment. He killed him because he thought he had made the confession only to save himself from his sword.

The Elders fought each other at the battles of the Camel, Siffin and other occasions. They all were Muslims and men of faith, as God has said, “If two parties from among the Believers fall into a quarrel, make peace between them. But if one of them transgresses beyond bounds against the other, fight against the one that transgresses until it complies with the command of God. If it complies make peace between them with justice and be fair, for God loves those who are fair (and just)” (49:9). Thus God has made it very clear that in spite of the fact that they fought each other and wronged each other, they were brother Muslims. He has further asked them to restore peace and amity between themselves and to live together with justice. This is why the Elders made peace among themselves and helped each other even if they had fought among themselves earlier. They did not treat each other like enemies as they did the infidels. They accepted the testimony of one for another, learned knowledge from one another, married among themselves, inherited from one another, and treated one another as Muslims even though they had fought and cursed each other earlier.

In the Sahih collections we have a hadith that Prophet prayed to his Lord not to destroy his ummah through a widespread famine, and God granted that; then he prayed to Him not to place over them an enemy from another people, and He granted that, to; but when he prayed to Him not to punish them at the hands of their own men, He did not grant that.805 Thus he told the ummah that God will not put over them enemies from other nations to suppress them, but they will themselves be killing and suppressing each other. The Sahihayn have also the hadith that at the revelation of the words, “Say: He has power to send calamities on you from above,” as well as the words, “from under your feet,” the Prophet sought protection in God. But at the last part of the verse, “or to cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of mutual vengeance, each from the other” (6:65), the Prophet said, “These two are lighter (punishments).”806

This is true in spite of the fact that God has commanded maintaining unity and solidarity and has forbidden indulgence in innovations and schisms. “Those who divide their religion,” He has said,  and break up into sects, you have no part in them in the least” (6:159). And the Prophet said, “You must stick to the community (jams `ah) for God’s hand is on the community.”807 And, Satan is close to one, but away from two.”808 “Satan is to a single person as a wolf is to lambs, and you see that the wolf readily pounces on a solitary lamb removed from the flock.”"

So whenever a Muslim passes through a city of the Muslims he should offer with them all the daily prayers, as well as the congregational prayer on Fridays, meet them like friends, not like enemies even if he finds some of them mistaken. If possible he should show them the right path and call them to truth. If they do not listen to him he will not be held responsible, for God charges a soul only with what he can do. Let him put on them, if he can, the best among them to lead their prayers, and let him check the spread of bid `ah and shameful practices among them. But if that is not possible let him offer salah behind one who is more learned in the Quran and the Sunnah and more obedient to God and His Messenger. The Prophet said, “From among the people the one should lead the salah who knows the Book of God most; if they are equal in it, then the one who knows the Sunnah most; if they are equal in it, too, then the one who has migrated first; and if they are equal in that also, then the one who is older than others.s810 However, if one thinks that one would do a better service if one shunned those who are committing bid `ah or evil one may do so. The Prophet dissociated himself from those three men who stayed behind (at the time of the campaign of Tabuk) till God turned to them with His mercy. However, if someone else is made imam of whom one does not approve, and if one does not expect greater good by abstaining from the Friday prayer or the daily prayers in assembly one will only be doing something rash and silly if one abstains, and will be countering one bid’ah through another bid `ah..

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic: The purpose of government

Source: Book: [Majmu `at ar-Rasd'il wa al-Masa'il 5: 198-202] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”

The proof that the Companions did not declare the Khawarij kafir is that they offered salah behind them. `Abdullah Ibn `Umar and other Companions, for example, offered salah behind Najdah Al-Haruri.785 They discussed with them various issues, gave them their opinions on religious matters put to them, and addressed them as a Muslim addresses another Muslim. `Abdullah Ibn `Abbas, for example, would answer the questions which Najdah Al-Haruri sent to him. Al-Bukhari has recorded the hadith which Najdah has related. Similarly, Nafi` Ibn Al-Azrag786 answered many of his questions, and used to argue with him on different issues quoting from the Quran just as he did with any other Muslim. This was the practice of Muslims throughout the ages; they did not consider them apostates like those against whom Abu Bakr declared war. They did this even though the Prophet had commanded to fight them, as is reported in authentic ahadith. The hadith that they are the worst people under the sky to be killed and that the men whom they kill are the best men, which Abu Umamah has reported and At-Tirmidhi has recorded,787 only means that they are more harmful to the Muslims than others. And it is true that they have done greater harm to the Muslims than the Jews and the Christians. They were zealous to kill any Muslim who did not agree with them, since they believed that it was quite lawful for them to take his life and property or kill his children, for he was a kafir in their view. They considered it to be an act of devotion, as they were immersed in ignorance and heresy. But in spite of that the Companions or their righteous Successors did not declare them kafir or apostate (murtadd), nor did they cause them any wrong in word or deed. They feared God with regard to them and were never unfair to them.

This was their practice with all the other exponents of bid `ah, the Shi’ah, the Mu’tazilah, and others. Hence, if anyone declares kafir any of the seventy-two sects, he goes against the Quran, the Sunnah and the Consensus of the Companions and their righteous Successors. It may also be noted that the hadith which speaks of seventy-two sects does not occur in the Sahihayn. Ibn Hazm and others consider it to be a weak hadith, others rate it as hasan, still others like Al-Hakim rate it as sahih, though the compilers of the Sunan collections mention more than one channel through which it has been transmitted. Furthermore, the words of the Prophet, “seventy-two of them will go to Hell and only one will be saved” are not stronger than many words of God such as “Those who unjustly eat up the property of the orphans eat up a fire into their own bodies, they will soon be entering a blazing Fire” (4:10); or, “If any do that in rancor and injustice soon shall We cast them into the Fire, and easy it is for God” (4:30). There are many such verses that threaten with Fire those who commit evil deeds, but they do not do so with regard to any particular person, for it is possible that he may repent or that his good deeds may outweigh his evil deeds, or that God may wash out his sin by subjecting him to one or another tribulation.

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic: The purpose of government

Source: Book: [Minhaj as-Sunnah 3:62]  / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”

The remaining sects will expound strange views and heresies and will indulge in vain desires. But even taken together they will neither be equal to nor nearing the number of the people who will be saved. In fact, they will be very few; the common element between them that will distinguish them will be their deviation from the Quran, the Sunnah and the Consensus, for had they adhered to the Sunnah and Consensus, they would have been part of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah.

As for the identification of these sects, a number of people have written on the subject and mentioned their names in their works on views and doctrines (magalat). But the point that a particular sect named by them is one of those seventy two deviant sects has to be proved. Let.us recall that God has forbidden saying anything without knowledge, particularly in matters like this. He has said, “Say: The things that my Lord has instead forbidden are shameful deeds, whether open or secret, sins and trespasses against truth or reason, assigning of partners to God, for which he has given no authority, and saying things about God of which you have no knowledge” (7:33). And, “You people! Eat of what is on earth lawful and good; and do not follow the footsteps of the Evil One, for he is to you an avowed enemy. He commands you what is evil and shameful, and that you should say of God that of which you have no knowledge” (2:168). Pursue not that of which you have no knowledge” (17:306).

Many people talk about these sects merely on the basis of conjectures and predilections. The sect they belong to or the people that follow their leaders, they call Ahl as-Sunnah wa a 1-Jams` ah, and those who oppose them, they call heretics. This is plainly wrong. For the people of Truth and Sunnah will have no leader other than the Prophet (pbuh), of whom God says, “He does not say anything of (his own) desire, (and) what he says is inspiration (wahi) which is sent down to him- (53:3). What he says is to be believed and what he commands is to be obeyed. No one else enjoys this position, and no one else is to be followed in all that he says. The Prophet (pbuh) is the only exception…

It is clear from this that the people who will be saved are the people of hadith and Sunnah, who do not have any leader other than the Prophet. Of all the people they are those who know his life and words best, who are aware which reports about him are authentic and which are not. Their scholars have a better knowledge and understanding of these things and follow them best. More than anyone else they believe in the Sunnah of the Prophet and act upon it, love those who love him, and oppose those who oppose him. They think over the issues in the light of the Quran and the wisdom (hikmah of the Prophet) and do not raise anything to the status of a principle or advocate it unless it is derived from what has come down from the Prophet. In fact they base their ideas and doctrines on the Quran and the wisdom that the Prophet has given. They refer the issues which people have debated, such as Divine attributes, fore-ordainment (qadr), reward and punishment, the interpretation of terms, the duty of enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong… to God and His Prophet. The words that are ambiguous and have been interpreted in different ways by different people, they interpret in the sense which is closest to the Quran and Sunnah, and reject all the other senses which are opposed to them. They neither run after conjectures nor follow vain desires, for they believe that indulgence into conjecture is ignorance and pursuance of desires without any clear guidance from God is folly…

It may be noted, however, that those who follow one scholar or the other in matters regarding the principles of religion and theology (kalam) fall into different categories. Some oppose the Sunnah on major principles, others oppose the Sunnah on minor issues. Furthermore, it is possible that those who refute the views of others which are far more removed from the Sunnah than their own views may be right in what they say in refuting wrong doctrines or supporting the right ones, but they may have gone too far in their refutation and rejected some part of the truth and defended some untruth. That is to say, they may have a great heresy (bid `ah) through a lesser heresy and demolished a greater untruth through a lesser untruth. This is the condition of most of the theologians (ahl al-kalam) within the fold of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah.

If people like these do not severe their relations from the Muslim community (jamd `at al-Muslimin) on the basis of the heresies they expound, taking them as the criterion for friendship or enmity, they are only guilty of saying something wrong. We hope that God will forgive mistakes like this and pardon those who commit them… But if they take as friends those who agree with them and as enemies those who disagree with them, and divide the Muslim community into their supporters and opponents, and call the latter kafir orfasiq even though they differ from them in matters in which opinions may differ, and think that they should fight them, they will then be called schismatic and secessionist.

That is why the first group of people who seceded from the Muslim community were the Khawarij; they went out of the boundaries of Islam… The hadith which we have about them has come down to us through ten different channels all of which have been noted by Muslim in his Sahih. Some of them have also been noted by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih. The Companions of the Prophet fought them under the command of Amir al-Mu’minin `Ali Ibn Abi Talib, and were one with regard to them… When they seceded from the Muslim community and regarded its members as kafir and justified taking up the sword against them, the Prophet’s word about them proved true. He said, “You will look down upon your salah in comparison to their salah, your fasting in comparison to their fasting, and you reading the Quran in comparison to their reading. But they will read the Quran and their reading will not go down their throat. They will move out of Islam as an arrow moves out of the prey it kills. Kill them whenever you get them, you will be rewarded for killing them on the Day of judgment.i783

As for identifying those sects condemned to Hell, the first man who discussed the issue was YUsuf Ibn Asbat,784 then `Abdullah Ibn Al-Mubarak.809 Both are outstanding scholars and imams. They have said that all heresies have proceeded from four sects: Rawafid, Khawarij, Qadariyyah, and Murji’ah. “What about the Jahmiyyah?” Ibn Al-Mubarak was asked. He said, “They are not part of the ummah.” He used to say, “We do not quote the words of the Jews and the Christians, nor do we quote the words of the Jahmiyyah.” A number of scholars from the school of Ahmad agree with this assessment. They say that the Jahmiyyah are infidel; they cannot, therefore, be included in the seventy-two sects, just as the hypocrites who have no faith in their hearts, who only pay lip service to Islam and are nothing but zindiqs, are not included in them. Other Hanbali scholars, however, include them in the list; consequently they count the sources of heresy to be five.

The reason for this difference lies in the answer that these two group give to the question whether the people expounding heretical ideas (ahl al-bid `ah) may be excommunicated as kafirun. Those who exclude the Jahmiyyah from the list of seventy-two sects do excommunicate the expounders of heresies, for everyone who comes out with a heresy cannot be excommunicated. They rather categorize them with the people that deserve punishment in `ala (ahl al-wa `id) like the intransigent (fussaq) and the sinners (`usat). The words of the Prophet that “they will go to Hell,” they point out, should be understood in the same sense in which it is said about other sinners, such as those who misappropriate the property of orphans. God has said, “Those who unjustly eat the property of orphans, eat up a fire into their own bodies” (4:10). Those, on the other hand, who include the Jahmiyyah in the list are of two kinds, those who call no one kafir and those who call all of them kafir. The latter group is comprised of some scholars of later periods from among the followers of the a’immah or the theologians.

However, in case of the Murji’ah and the Shi’ah Mufaddilah (i.e. those who simply assert that `All was superior to the other three righteous caliphs) and others, the Elders and the a’immah are one that they cannot be called kafir. Ahmad’s statements with regard to them are quite clear that they cannot be called kafir. However, there are within his school scholars who have indiscriminately dubbed all heretical sects including these as kafir, some have also said that they are condemned to Hell forever. This is wrong, and certainly opposed to the principles of Ahmad as well as the Shari’ah.

Those who do not excommunicate any heretical sect do so because they put the heretics (ahl al-bid `ah) with the sinners. They say that just as the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jamd’ah do not call anyone kafir because of his sin, they would not like to call anyone kafir on account of his heresy (bid `ah)

The Elders and the a ‘ i m m a h  are  reported  to  have excommunicated only the Jahmiyyah, who deny God’s attributes, who say that God neither speaks nor sees, that He is not separate from the world, that He has no knowledge, no power, no hearing, no sight and no life, that the Quran is a created object, that the people of Paradise like the people of Hell will not see God, and so on. With regard to the Khawarij and the Rawafid there is no clear word from Ahmad and others that they are kafir. As for the Qadariyyah, who deny God’s fore-knowledge of (human actions) as well as their fore-ordainment and writing, they have called them kafir; however, with regard to those who affirm God’s foreknowledge but not His creation of human actions, they have abstained from this verdict.

I will state here two principles which, I hope, will clarify the issue. First, of those who offer salah no one would be kafir unless he is a hypocrite, for since the time Muhammad (pbuh) was sent as a messenger, given the Quran, and compelled to migrate to Madinah, people were divided into three groups, those who believed in him, those who rejected him and did so openly, and those who were hypocrites and concealed their rejection of him. When this is the case we may have among the heretical sects (ahl al-bid `ah) those who are hypocrites and enemies of Islam (zindiq); they are kafir. Such people are mostly found among the Rawafid and the Jahmiyyah. Their leaders were hypocrites and zindigs, just as the man who invented rafd was a hypocrite. The school of the Jahmiyyah, too, was raised on the basis of hypocrisy and zandaqah. This is the reason why zindiqs who come from the Karmathian esoterics and pose as philosophers incline towards the Rawafid and Jahmiyyah with whom they have great affinity.

Among the heretical sects we may also have people who have faith in their heart but are guilty of ignorance, wrongdoing, and mistakes with regard to the Sunnah. Such people are neither kafir nor hypocrites. They may be doing things that render them transgressors (fasiq) and sinners, (‘asi). Some of them may be doing so by mistake, erroneously interpreting the texts; such people will hopefully be forgiven. Some may also have faith and piety to a degree which earns for them a kind of God’s love and support (walayah) commensurate with their faith and piety. This is the first principle.

The second principle is that the doctrine that one expounds may be in itself a faithlessness. For example, one may deny that salah, zakah, fasting or hajj is obligatory, or assert that adultery, drinking wine, gambling or marrying within the prohibited circle is lawful. However, it is possible that the expounder of these doctrines may not have knowledge about them or may not have gotten the words of the Prophet regarding them. Such a person will not be called kafir. This may happen with a person who has embraced Islam new, or who is born and brought up in a place that Islam has not reached. He cannot, therefore, be called kafir on the grounds that he denies something revealed to the Prophet, for he does not know that it was revealed to him.

The doctrines of the Jahmiyyah belong to this category, because they negate the attributes with which God is qualified and which He has revealed to the Prophet. There are three reasons why they have been condemned so strongly. First, the texts which contradict their doctrines are in abundance in the Quran, hadith and the Consensus, and are well known, and they just reject them by misinterpreting them. Second, their doctrines amount to negation of the Creator; however, it is possible that some of them may not have realized that their doctrines negate the Creator. Just as the basis of faith is belief in God, the basis of unfaith (kufr) is the denial of God. Third, they contradict truths which are agreed upon in all religions and testified to by human nature.

In spite of this, many Muslims are not able to see the real import of their doctrines; some even think that the truth is with them since they put forth their objections quite forcefully. These Muslims do have faith in God and in His Messenger and sincerely believe in them in their hearts, but the argument which these heretics advance confuse them as they confuse themselves. Certainly these Muslims are not kafir at all; some of them may be transgressors and wrongdoers; some may be mistaken and God may hopefully forgive them; and some may even have, along with their erroneous ideas, the faith and piety which earns them God’s support, and love (walayah) commensurate with their faith and piety.

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic:  The purpose of government

Source: Book: [Fatawd 3:345-55] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”

God has introduced His Prophet in these words:  “He commands them what is just, and forbids them what is unjust, allows them as lawful what is good and prohibits them from what is bad” (9:157). This is the description of his mission. It is through him that God bids every good and forbids everything evil. The Prophet himself has described his mission in this way: “1 have been sent to perfect all the noble virtues.”755 In another liadith reported in both Sahih collections he has said, “I and other prophets form a house which was built by someone who completed the whole structure, but left just the place for a brick. Anyone who goes around the house is caught by its beauty, but wonders why one brick has not been placed. Know that I am that brick.”756 With him God completed His religion which commands all that is right and forbids all that is wrong, allows all that is good and pure, and prohibits all that is bad and foul…

God has introduced the ummah in a manner similar to how He introduced the Prophet. He has said, “You are the best of the peoples, evolved for mankind. You bid the right and forbid the wrong, and believe in God” (3:110); and, “The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another; they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil.” (9:71). Abu Hurayrah757 put it in his own way when he said, “You are the best of the peoples for mankind. You bind them up in chains and lead them into Paradise.” God has made it very clear that this ummah is the best ummah for mankind and their greatest benefactor because they tell them what is right and what is wrong for them, and ask them to act upon that. They also strive with all their power and resources to establish the rule of justice and virtue and do that for no purpose but to please their Lord. This is the best they can do for mankind…

When we say that the good should be enjoined and the evil should be forbidden, we do not mean that every individual in the world should be addressed. This was not the part of the duty of the Prophet; how could it be the duty of his followers! What is required is that conditions should be created that people receive the message. If they themselves do not try to know the message while those responsible to preach it have done their duty, it is the people who are guilty…

Furthermore, the duty to enjoin the right and forbid the wrong is not an individual duty, it is a collective duty, as the Quran has said, and since jihad is the completion of that duty, it is also a collective duty. Hence, if those who have the power and ability to perform that duty fail to render it, every individual who has the ability will be guilty to the extent of his ability, for it is a duty on every person according to his or her ability. The Prophet said, “Whoever sees an evil should remove it with his hand. If he cannot do that he should speak against it; if he cannot do that, he should hate it in his heart, and that is the lowest degree of faith.”758

So this duty is sometimes performed with the heart and sometimes with the tongue, and sometimes with the hands. As for the heart, it must render that duty in every situation, since it involves no harm at all. Hence, if anyone fails in that, too, he is not a Believer. The Prophet has said, “That is the lowest or the weakest degree of faith,” or “Beyond that there is not a particle of faith there.” Ibn Mas`ud759 was asked, “Who are the dead among the people who are living?” He answered, “Those who neither approve of the right nor condemn the wrong.”

Two groups of people have gone wrong in this regard. One group abstains from enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong. They try to find justification for their action in the verse, “You who believe! Guard your own souls. If you follow (right) guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who stray” (5:08). In his time, Abu Bakr As-Siddig760 found some people behaving in the same wrong manner. He addressed them and said, “You read this verse and interpret it in the wrong way. I have heard the Prophet saying, `When people see wrong being done and do not try to remove it God is likely to inflict punishment on them all. “’76′ The second group wants to enjoin the right and forbid the wrong but they do not know how to do it, nor do they have the patience and forbearance required, or the understanding of what should be done and what should not, or what is feasible and what is not. Abu Tha’labah says that he asked the Prophet concerning this, and he said, “You should work together and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, till you see people turning greedy, running after their desires, self-conceited, each defending his own whims, knowing nothing about the truth. At that time you should mind yourself, leave the people to themselves. You will be seeing days when to hold on to the right will be as difficult as to hold fire in the hand. Whoever does a right thing in those days shall have the reward of fifty people doing the same (in our days) .,,16′ This means that some people will be engaged in bidding the right and forbidding the wrong, believing all the while that they are serving God and obeying His Prophet but they will only be transgressing the limits He has set. A number of heretical sects like the Khawarij, the Mu`tazilah, the Rafidah and others do a lot of things wrong while performing the duty of bidding the right and forbidding the wrong; they do more evil than good. That is why the Prophet has advised the Believers to bear patiently the injustices which their rulers commit, and refrain from fighting them so long as they establish the salah. His words are, “Give them their due, and ask God for what is your due.”763

That is why one of the principles of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama `ah is that one should adhere to the body of Muslims (jama `ah) and refrain from fighting the rulers. Heretical sects such as the Mu’tazilah, on the other hand, believe that people should fight the rulers; they consider it one of their basic principles… I have discussed in detail elsewhere the issue of fighting against rulers. The guiding principle in this regard, as in other similar cases, is this: whenever there is a conflict between the good and the bad consequences or between the right and the wrong aspects of a course of action, one must choose the course which is the better of the two. Even though the right we enjoin or the wrong we forbid is only meant to secure some good or ward off some evil, we have to see what consequences follow otherwise. If the good one loses or the loss one incurs is greater, then such a course of action will not be desirable. In fact, if the evils of an action outweigh its good, it will be forbidden. However, both good and the evil consequences have to be measured by the standards of the Shari’ah. The best policy in the matter is: Follow the texts, and do not go beyond them; when you do not have texts, exercise your mind, and take help from instructions in similar cases. It rarely happens that texts fail a person if he is aware of them and is versed in inferring from them.

Hence, if a person or a group of people faces a situation that has both aspects, good and evil, and are not able to isolate one from the other, and have either to accept them together or leave them together, they will not be asked to do the good alone or avoid the evil alone; they will have to study the case thoroughly. If the good outweighs the evil they will be required to do it, even though it involves some evil; they will not be asked to refrain from it, for that would involve the loss of greater good. To ask them to refrain from it would be blocking the way to God, obstructing the fulfillment of His will or the will of His Prophet, and undermining the realization of so much good. But if the evil outweighs the good they must refrain from it, even though it will mean the loss of some good, for to ask one to accomplish a good that involves greater evil is to ask him to sin against God and His Prophet. If the good and the evil balance each other one will not be asked to do either. This means that situations differ. One time it may be better to bid an action, another time to forbid it, and a third time to refrain from both, that is to say in case the good and the evil balance each other…

It was a situation of the last kind in which the Prophet abstained from doing anything with `Abdullah Ibn Ubayy and other hypocrites who had a large number of supporters. Had he done anything to remove the evil they were causing he would have risked a greater good. Their peoples would have come out in their support and would have shouted that Muhammad (pbuh) was killing his own friends and supporters. That was why when he addressed people at the occasion of the slander (against his wife `A’ishah) he excused         `Abdullah Ibn Ubayy, and Sa’d Ibn Mu`adh761a spoke to him the good words that he said, and Sa’d Ibn . Ubaydah761b defended him even though Sa’d was a good Muslim.

The important thing here is that one’s love for the good and hatred for the evil and one’s willingness to do the former and eschew the latter should be subject to God’s likes and dislikes, love and aversion, which He has expressed in His revelations, and that he should work for the good and against the evil as much as he can. God does not require from a soul more than it can do. He has said, “Fear God as much as you can” (64:16). As for love or hate, desire or aversion, it should be perfect, and deficiency in it will mean deficiency in fait; but as for action, it should be according to one’s ability and power. If your love for the good or your hatred for the evil is perfect and you act as much as your powers allow, you will have the reward of a perfect worker.

Often the like or dislike, love or aversion of the people for a particular thing is determined by their natural love and aversion for the thing rather than by the love and aversion which God and His Prophet have for it. This may amount to self-indulgence, and if they proceed on that road they will only be pursuing their own desires. God has said, “And who is more astray than one who follows his own lusts, devoid of guidance from God?” (28:50). For lust in its essence is love of the self and aversion is only dependent upon it. Neither desire as such, which is the basis for love, nor aversion as such, which we have in ourselves, is something objectionable; people often do not have control over either. What may be objectionable is their translation into action. It is against them that God cautioned David when He said, “David! We did indeed make you a vicegerent on earth; so judge between men in truth (and justice) and never follow the lusts (of your heart) for they will mislead you from the Path of God” (38:26)…

Man’s duty, therefore, is to see whether his love and aversion are subject to God’s commands and the commands of His Prophet, and in the same measure as they would like. For it is `these commands which constitute God’s guidance, commands which He has revealed to His Prophet, and to which one should subject one’s likes and dislikes, and never ever exceed… Hence, one must acquire knowledge of the good and the bad, must be able to distinguish between them, and must know what things have been commanded and what have been forbidden… One must also be polite and considerate in calling men to them, and mind what the Prophet has said: “Politeness only adds to the beauty of a thing you do, and rudeness only adds to its ugliness.” He has also said, “God is lenient and loves leniency in everything, and gives to the lenient what He does not give to the harsh.”765

One must also be patient and forgiving of the wrongs one suffers; you just cannot escape them. If you cannot forbear and forgive, you will do more harm than good. Lugman taught that truth to his son when he said, “Enjoin what is just, and forbid what is wrong; and bear with patience whatever befalls you” (31:17). This is also the reason why God instructed His messengers, who were masters in this art to be patient and forgiving. To the Seal of the Prophets, for example, He has said, “Have patience with what they say, and leave them with noble (dignity)” (73:10), and “Patiently persevere, as did (all) messengers of inflexible purpose” (46:35).

To sum up: One must have knowledge and understanding, must be polite and lenient, and must be patient and persevering. Knowledge must be acquired before bidding the good and forbidding the evil, leniency must go along with it, and patience must follow it. All three must go together. This is stated in a tradition which has come down from the Elders, even believed to have emerged from the Prophet: “No one really bids the right and forbids the wrong except one who knows very well what he bids and what he forbids, who is polite and lenient in bidding as well as in forbidding, and who is forbearing and forgiving on both occasions.” Qadi Abu Ya`la has noted this tradition in his book,

Al-Mu `tamad.

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic: The purpose of government

Source: Book: [Fatawd 28:121-37] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”

The call to God is a call to believe in Him and in what His messengers have communicated, believe in what they have said, and to do what they have commanded, which involves testifying to the unity of God and the prophethood of Muhammad, establishing salah, paying zakah, fasting during Ramadan, and making pilgrimage to the House of God. It is a call to faith in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, in resurrection after death, and in the fact that everything good or bad is ordained by God. It is also a call to people to serve God as if they see Him. These are the three stages of the call: islam, iman, and ihsan. All of them are part of the religion (of Islam) as the Prophet said at the end of the famous hadith which records Gabriel’s questions about these things and his answers to them: “That was Gabriel, who came to you to teach you your religion (din).”‘

Din is an infinitive which is sometimes ascribed to the subject, and sometimes to the object. It is said, “A dana B,” that is, A submitted to B and obeyed him. It is also said, “X dana Y,” that is, X subdued Y. Hence al- `abd yadinu Allah means that man submits to God and obeys His commands. Here din is ascribed to man as its subject, on the grounds that he is the servant (of God) and under His command. But when it is ascribed to Allah it is because He is God and the Lord Who is to be obeyed. The Quran says, “Fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and din is exclusively for Allah” (2:193).

Hence the call to God is a call to follow His religion (din), which is to worship Him and serve Him without associating anyone with Him. This is the message of all the messengers God has sent and all the books He has revealed. He has said, “He has established for you the same religion which He enjoined on Noah, which We have sent by inspiration to you, and which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, namely that you should establish the religion and make no divisions therein” (42:13)… He has also said,  We assuredly sent among every people a messenger (with the command, `Serve God and eschew evil.’ Of them there were some whom God guided, and some on whom error became inevitably (established)” (16:36).

In the Sahih collections we have a hadith which Abu Hurayrah has reported, in which the Prophet said, “We prophets have a single religion. To be sure, prophets are sons of a common father by different mothers. Certainly the one who is closest to the son of Mary is I. There is no prophet between him and me.”752 Religion (of all the prophets) is therefore one; only their codes of law (shard ‘i ) and their ways (manahij) have been different. from each other. God has said, “To each among you We have prescribed a Law (shari ‘ah) and an open Way (minhdj)” (5:5 1). Thus the prophets are one in the matters of religion, in the basic principles of faith and practice: faith in God, His messengers, and the Last Day, and practices such as those which have been mentioned in the surahs Al-An`am (VI), Al-A`raf (VII) and Banu Isra’il (XVII). In Surat Al-An`am, for example, he says:

Say: Come, I will rehearse what God has      (really) prohibited you: join not anything as equal with me; be good to your parents; kill not your children on a plea of want – We provide sustenance for you and for them; come not nigh to shameful deeds, whether open or secret; take not life, which God has made sacred, except by way of justice and law. Thus does He command you that you may learn wisdom. And come not nigh to the orphan’s property, except to improve it until he attains the age of full strength; give measure and weight with full justice. No burden do We place on any soul but that which it can bear. Whenever you speak, speak justly even if a near relative is concerned; and fulfill the covenant of God. Thus does He command you that you may remember. Verily this is My way leading straight. Follow it; follow not (other) paths; they will scatter you about from His (great) path. Thus does He command you that you may be righteous (6:151-3).

In Surat Banu Isra’il, God has said:

Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be kind to your parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor, and out of kindness lower to them your wing of humility and say, `My Lord! Bestow on them Your mercy even as they cherished me in childhood.’ Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts. If you do deeds of righteousness, verily He is Most Forgiving to those who turn to Him again and again (in true penitence). And render to the kindred their due rights, as (also) to those in want, and to the wayfarer. But squander not (your wealth) in the manner of a spendthrift. Verily spendthrifts are brothers of evil ones; and the Evil One is to his Lord ungrateful. And even if you have to turn away from them in pursuit of the mercy from your Lord which you expect, speak to them a word of easy kindness. Make not your hand tied (like a niggard) to your neck, neither stretch it forth to its utmost reach so that you become blameworthy and destitute. Verily your Lord does provide sustenance in abundance for whom He pleases, as He provides in a just measure. For He does know and regard all His servants. Kill not your children for fear of want. We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin. Nor come nigh to adultery; for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil opening the road (to other evils). Nor take life which God has made sacred except for just cause. And if anyone is slain wrongfully We have given his heir authority (to demand qisas or to forgive); but let him not exceed bounds in the matter of taking life, for he is helped (by the Law). Come not nigh to the orphan’s property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength; and fulfill (every) engagement, for (every) engagement will be inquired into. Give full measure when you measure, and weigh with a balance that is straight. That is the most fitting and the most advantageous in the final determination. And pursue not that of which you have no knowledge, for every act of hearing or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be asked about. Nor walk on the earth with insolence, for you cannot rend the earth asunder, nor reach the mountains in height. Of all such things the evil is hateful in the sight of your Lord. These are among the (precepts of) wisdom which your Lord has revealed to you. Take not with God another object of worship, lest you should be thrown into Hell, blameworthy and rejected (17:3-39).

In Surat Al-A`raf He has said “Say: My Lord has commanded justice; and that you set your whole selves (to Him) at every time and place of prayer, and call upon Him, making your devotion as in His sight” (7:29); and, “Say: The things that my Lord has indeed forbidden are shameful deeds, whether open or secret, sins and trespasses against truth or reason, assigning of partners to God, for which He has given no authority, and saving things about God of which you have no knowledge” (7:33).

These things are part of the perennial religion, common to all the codes (shard ‘i ) which God has sent down to man. They have been stated in the Makkan surahs of the Quran which discuss basic principles every prophet has taught. They have been addressed to those who do not believe in any prophethood at all.

The Madinan surahs, on the other hand, address those who believe in one prophet or another, who have been given a book, but who only believe in one part of it and reject the other. Or they address the Believers who believe in all the books of God and in all His messengers. That is why He has given in these surahs the instructions which complete religious instructions about the qiblah, hajj, fasting, i `tikaf, jihad, marriage, divorce, and transactions which are based on justice such as trade and commerce, or on compassion like charity, or which are based on injustice such as usury and interest, and so on…

Hence the call to God involves also the call to all the commands He has issued enjoining or forbidding anything. It is a call to do all that is good and to eschew all that is evil. This was the call which the Prophet gave to the people; he commanded whatever God had commanded and forbade whatever He had forbidden. He enjoined everything good and prohibited everything evil. God has said, “My mercy extends to all things, and I will ordain it for those who do right and practice regular charity, and those who believe in Our signs – those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures), in the Torah and the Gospel – for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and forbids them from what is bad (and impure); he releases them from their heavy burden and from the yokes that are upon them.” (7:15)

The call to God should be in His name and according to His will; never should anyone say anything which is not authorized by Him. He has introduced the mission of the Prophet in these words: “Truly We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner, and as one who invites to God’s (grace) by His leave, and as a lamp spreading light” (33:45-6). Condemning the pagans He has said, “What! Have they partners (in godhead) who have established for them some religion without the permission of God?” (42:21); or, “Say: See you what things God has sent down to you for sustenance? Yet you hold forbidden something thereof and (something) lawful. Say: Has God indeed permitted you, or do you invent (things) to attribute to God?” (10:59).

The point I am making here is further supported by the fact that God has sometimes asked the Prophet to call men to God Himself and sometimes to His way, for example, “Invite (all) to the way of the Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching” (16:125). He knows that when a. preacher calls someone to something he calls to the thing itself, or to the way that leads to it. That is why God has described the preaching sometimes as a call to Himself and sometimes as a call to His way. However, in either case He is the one who is to be worshiped (al-ma `bud) the goal and the end of preaching.

`Ibadah is the name for perfect love and absolute submission with humility. Thus, if you submit to someone humbly but hate him, you do not worship him; on the other hand, if you love him but do not submit to him in humility, you do not worship him. God deserves perfect love; in fact, He is the only One Who is to be loved for Himself, and everything else is to be loved for His sake. He alone commands profoundest reverence and absolute submission, and nothing else is to be revered or submitted to except for His sake. If you associate anyone else with Him in one respect or another, you neither love Him truly nor adore Him truly.

Association means that your love is incomplete. God has said, “Yet there are men who take (for worship) others besides God, as equal (with God). They love them as they should love God. But those of faith are overflowing in their love for God” (2:165). In other words, they love God more than others love the deities they associate with God. Arrogance is opposed to humble submission to God; in fact, it is a great impediment to His love. Love at its perfection is submission and obedience; when you love someone you submit to him completely…

The person who calls people to God must call them to all of the things that are loved by God and His Messenger, whether obligatory or commendable, whether visible to the eyes or hidden in the heart. Similarly, things that are disliked by God and His Messenger, whether open or hidden, he must call people to eschew. The call to God will never be complete without calling people to do the things that He loves and eschew the things that He hates, whether they are beliefs or actions, or whether they are visible to the eyes or not. It applies to all that the Prophet has taught about the names and attributes of God, about resurrection and the life hereafter, or what he has said about created things such as the Throne, the Footstool, the angels, the prophets, the people who believed in them and those who opposed them. It also applies to what he has said about sincerely devoting oneself to God, loving Him and His Messenger more than anything else, trusting Him, hoping for His mercy, fearing His chastisement, carrying out His commands patiently, and other similar things, or what he has said about speaking truth, keeping trusts, fulfilling promises, kindness to kin, good behavior to neighbors, jihad in His way with the heart, tongue and hand.

The call to God is a duty on all those who believe in the Prophet and constitute his community. They should call people to God as the Prophet called them to God. They should enjoin upon them what he has enjoined, forbid them what he has forbidden, and expound to them the truths he has stated. Calling people (da `wah) to God implies enjoining (amr) upon them His commands, which amounts to charging them with doing all that is good and eschewing all that is bad. God has described this mission of the ummah at many places, for example, “You are the best of the peoples that have been evolved for mankind, you enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and believe in God” ((3:110); and, “The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another; they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil” (9:91).

This duty is a duty on the ummah as a whole, one which the `ulama’ call collective duty (fard al-kifayah), which is deemed fulfilled if some from among the ummah perform it. To be sure, the whole ummah is responsible for the task, but if a group accomplishes it others will not be called to account for it. God has said, “Let there arise out of you a band of people to invite to all that is good, enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong. They are the ones to attain felicity” (3:104). The ummah as a whole stands in place of the Prophet so far as da `wah is concerned. That is why the consensus of the ummah is an evidence sure and certain of truth. The ummah does not unite on anything wrong; and in case it differs on some issue it has to refer it to God and the Messenger. Every member of the ummah is required to carry on da `wah the best he can if others do not engage in it. If someone else performs the task, his responsibility is finished; he will not have to answer for not doing it himself. But if no one else does it, and he has the power and ability to do it, he must do it. This is also the reason why a part of da `wah is incumbent on one person, and another on another person, and to the extent one or the other performs his task the ummah is exonerated from its responsibility. Some may preach the faith which is necessary, others may call to actions of the body which are obligatory, and a third group may teach virtues of the heart. Hence different groups will be responsible for different parts of the mission and will be engaged in them.

It is now clear that da `wah means enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong. The da i preaches, persuades and demands of people what he calls them to. In other words, he enjoins (amr), for to enjoin something is to call people to it, to invite them to it, and ask them to do it. Calling to God, therefore, is calling to His Way which He has at times specifically mentioned, and His way is nothing other than believing in whatever He has revealed, and obeying Him in whatever He has commanded.

We have said that both things are incumbent on every individual Muslim as a collective duty, not as a personal duty like the five daily prayers, but as jihad. The performance of a duty, whether it is da `wah or anything else, depends upon certain conditions. A hadith says, “Whoever enjoins the right and forbids the wrong must have good knowledge and a clear understanding of what he enjoins and what he forbids; he must also be polite in expounding the things which he enjoins and which he forbids, and above all he has to be forbearing in enjoining and in forbidding.”753 You must understand the thing very well before you call to it, so that you can convince people with regard to what you enjoin or what you forbid. You should also know that politeness and leniency in this matter is the way to success. You have to be prepared to bear with patience the reactions of people that may be unpleasant. God has said, “Enjoin what is just and forbid what is unjust and bear with patience whatever betide you.” (31:17). To His Prophet He has issued this advice: “Await in patience the command of your Lord, for verily you are in Our eyes” (52:39); “The Messengers before you were (also) rejected, but they bore with patience and constancy their rejection and their wrongs until Our aid reached them” (6:34)… On many occasions He has also mentioned patience and piety together. For example, “If you are constant and do right that is certainly a great thing” (3:120). Joseph also combined the two in the words he said to his brethren: “Behold! He that is righteous and patient, never will God suffer the reward to be lost of those who do right” (12:90). This is because piety entails obedience to God, of which enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong is a part, and patience entails patience in troubles and calamities, of which patiently bearing the painful reactions of the people one preaches to and the troubles they cause is one.

However, the person who enjoins and forbids should defend himself against the harm that may befall him as he would defend himself against any attack. If, for example, anyone tries to beat him or take his property and he has the power to stop him, he may do so; but if he is harmed and turns to God in that situation, he exercises patience and forbearance. The perfect example in this regard is the Prophet himself. `A’ishah (raa) has this observation about him: “The Prophet,” she said, “did not beat anyone with his hand, whether a servant, a woman, an animal, or anything else, except when he was engaged in jihad for the cause of God. Nor did he take revenge on anybody for the harm he caused him. Only when someone indulged in things which God had forbidden would he get furious and would not rest until he had avenged him for the sake of God.”754 This shows that the Prophet never avenged any harm caused to his person, but he did so when God’s injunctions were violated, and no one could stop him from doing that.

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic: The purpose of government

Source: Book: [Fatawd 15:157-69] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”

A man in authority (wall al-amr) cannot dispense with consultation. God has commanded His Messenger, “Pass over (their faults) and ask for God’s forgiveness for them, and consult them in affairs. Then, when you have taken a decision put your trust in God, for God loves those who put their trust (in Him)” (3:159). Abu Hurayrah says that no one consulted his companions more than the Prophet did.79 Some people have said that God commanded His Prophet to hold consultation in order that he might win over his Companions and set an example for the people to come later. He asked him to do so in matters in which he was not given any specific instructions, such as matters concerning war or other worldly affairs.

God has praised the Believers who hold consultation. He has said, “That which is with God is better and more lasting for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord: those who avoid the greater crimes and shameful deeds, and when they are angry even then forgive; those who hearken to their Lord, and establish regular prayer; who conduct their affairs by mutual consultation; and who spend out of what We bestow on them for sustenance” (42:36-38). When the person in authority consults people and as a result comes to know the will of God’s Book or the Prophet’s Sunnah or the consensus of the Muslims, he should follow it and act upon it. No one can ask for obedience in things which are opposed to them, however great he may be in religion or in worldly affairs. God has said, “You who believe! Obey God, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you” (4:59). But if the matter is something in which Muslims differ, everyone should be asked to give his opinion and state the reasons for it, and whichever view is closest to the Book of God and the Sunnah of the Prophet should be adopted; for God has said, “If you differ in anything among yourselves refer it to God and His Messenger, if you do believe in God and the Last Day. This is best and most suitable for final determination” (4:59).

People who have authority (ulu al-amr) are of two kinds: rulers (umard) and scholars (`ulama’). “If they are right, the masses will also be right. Both should obey God and His Messenger and adhere strictly to His Book in all that they say and do. In the new issues that come up, they must consult the Quran and Sunnah and try to find out what they are required to do. It is only in cases where they are unable to form an opinion either because they do not have time for it or because they are not able to find out the will of God and His Prophet, or because arguments in favor or against are equally strong, they may follow the opinion of an earlier scholar in whose knowledge and piety they have confidence. This is the best view in this regard. However, some people say that they are not allowed to follow in any case anyone’s opinion without discussion. A third group says just the opposite – that they can follow in every case. All these three views have been held by different scholars in the school of Ahmad as well as other schools.

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic:  ISLAMIC SOCIETY

Source: Book: [Fatawa 28:386-7] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”

Those who say that angels and prophets attend whistling and clapping sessions and love them are certainly wrong and mistaken. In fact, it is the evil ones who attend these sessions, and it is they who descend upon those who participate in them and make them shout. At-Tabarani has recorded a hadith reported by Ibn `Abbas that the Prophet said, “Satan asked God for a house, and God said, `Your house is the bathroom (of the people).’ He then asked for a book to recite. God said, You shall recite poetry.’ He said `Lord, give me something to issue calls.’ God said the thing that will issue calls for you is the musical instrument (mizmdr).”’685 He has also told Satan in His Book, “Lead to destruction those whomsoever you can from among them with your (seductive) voice” (17:64). Commenting on this verse, a number of Elders have said that voice here means music. To me it means music as well as all other sounds which lead people away from God. In another hadith, the Prophet said, “I have been forbidden two evil and foolish sounds of seductive entertainments and musical instruments that are produced by Satan, and sounds of beating one’s face, rending clothes and saying, how unfortunate! how sad! how helpless.”686

Many people that have mystical revelations (kashf) have seen the evil ones attending unlawful sessions where people engage in whistling and clapping. They come upon them and lead them into rapture and satanic frenzy, till they indulge in dance under the very nose of the audience. Some mystics have also seen that the evil ones join people in their dancing and whistling but when they call them for help they just leave them and let them fall to the floor.

The truth about these experiences is known only to him who has faith and conviction. However, one who follows the Shari’ah and refrains from unjustified ventures (bid `ah) will be on the right path and attain the good of this world and the next, even though he may not know the truth about these experiences. He will be like one who takes a proper guide to Makkah and reaches there along with his water, food and other goods he has taken with him. But one who takes a guide who does not know the road or misleads him will either perish on the way or return to the place whence he started after experiencing a lot of suffering. The right guide is the Prophet, whom God sent as one who gives good tidings, issues warnings, acts as a lamp shedding light, guides people to the straight path of God, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and leads them to His grace by His leave.

Satan is active in un-Islamic poetry sessions. He causes people to foam and froth at the mouth, bray and scream and make fearful sounds. They come to feel within themselves an urge to shout, to do things that are wrong, such as bursting into anger, tearing clothes, beating one’s face, heaving and sighing and many other devilish acts as drunken and mad people do. The frenzy and intoxication which music generates is like the intoxication which people get by drinking wine. Both turn them from remembering God, offering prayers, reading the Quran, reflecting on its verses, and following its instructions. They act like those who spend money on frivolous songs and music which divert them from God and excite anger and enmity among them, setting one against the throat of another. You can see that when a sorcerer kills a man with his magic.

To the same category belong the champions of unbelief (kufr), heresy and evil, even though they may not be lacking in austerity, devotion and miracles, as you have among the pagans and the People of the Book. You may also have them among the Muslims, among the Khawarij for example, about whom the Prophet has said, You will find your prayers far inferior to their prayers, your fasting and reading the Quran far inferior to their fasting and reading. But they will read the Quran and it will hardly go down their throats; they will go out of Islam as an arrow goes out of the bow. Kill them wherever you find them; you will be rewarded for it on the Day of Judgment.”687

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic: RANKS OF THE BELIEVERS

Source: Book: [Fatawa 11:64104] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”

The word mu jizah refers to everything which causes a violation of the ordinary phenomena of nature. This is the meaning of the word in common language as well as in the language of the first a’immah, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and others. Usually they call them ayat, signs. However, most of the scholars in later ages have distinguished between mu jizah and karamah; the former, they reserve for the wonders of the prophets, and the latter for those of the awliya’. The common element between the two is their violation of the ordinary phenomena.

Perfection lies in knowledge, power or self-sufficiency. You may further reduce them to two, knowledge and power; for power is either power to do something or to avoid something, which is the same as self-sufficiency. In any case, these three qualities are found in their most perfect form only in God; He it is who knows all things, can do anything, and can dispense with everything. He has asked the Prophet (pbuh) to declare that he owns none of these things by himself, “Say: I tell you not that with me are the treasures of God, nor do I know what is hidden, nor do I tell you that 1 am an angel. I but follow what is revealed to me” (16:50)…Thus he has asked him to state that he does not know the hidden, that he does not have the treasures of God with him, that he is not an angel who needs no food, drink or money, that his duty is to follow what is revealed to him, which is what religion is, and to carry out God’s commands and adore Him, in knowledge and action, inside the heart and out in the external behavior. Of these three things he has only the part which God has given him: he only knows what God reveals to him, does what He empowers him to do, and dispenses with what He enables him to dispense with from among the things people usually or generally need.

Cognitive miracles are of various kinds. For example, one may hear what others may not hear; see in waking or in dream what others may not see; and know what others may not know. He may know through revelation (wahi), inspiration (ilham), extraordinary illumination, or true insight (flrasah) – ways which are usually called disclosure (kashj); vision (mushahadah); conversation (mukhatabah), audition (sima ), all together often called kashf or mukashafah since things are disclosed to the wali by these means. Efficient miracles produce something. They are called intention (himmah), strong will (sidq), and prayer which is granted (da `wah mujabah). They may also be a pure gift of God, with which the wali has nothing to do at all. For example, He may kill the enemy of His wali without his doing anything in the matter. The words in the sacred hadith are: “Whoever works against a friend of Mine declares war against Me, and I avenge for My friend as a lion attacks its prey. ,610 Or He may soften the hearts for him, create love in them for him, and so on. Again, things which are revealed to him may be revealed to him through someone else. “Good news,” the Prophet says, “may be revealed in dreams, which either the person himself sees or someone else sees for him.”681       The Prophet also referred to it when he said, “You are witnesses of God on earth. ,682 In short, miracles, cognitive or effective, may proceed either from the wall himself or from someone else in his place. God may also let others know about him or do things for him which he may not even imagine… However, when a miracle proceeds from someone else on his behalf, he will be one of its causes, and will be contributing to it…

If a miracle, cognitive or effective, accomplishes anything useful in the religion it is a righteous act commanded by the shay `as something obligatory or at least desirable. But if it produces something which is only permissible it will be one of the worldly goods for which the wall should be grateful to God. But if they produce or involve anything unlawful, whether forbidden or undesirable, they will call for God’s wrath and punishment. Bal’am Ibn Ba’ura’683 is a case in point. He was given miracles but, as the Quran says, “he passed them by; therefore Satan followed him and he went astray” (7:175). Sometimes the person is to be excused, since he may err in his judgment or may be influenced by someone, or does not reflect on the issue properly, or does not have sufficient knowledge, or is passing through an abnormal state of mind, or is an invalid, or cannot dispense with the thing. His case will then be like that of Barah Al-`Abid.684

A miracle is censured either on account of the cause which produces it or the purpose for which it is performed. An example of the former is if you pray to God in some way which is forbidden, transgressing the limits you should observe in calling upon God. He has said, “Call on your Lord with humility and in private. For God does not love those who trespass beyond bounds” (7:55). An example of the latter is if you pray to God against someone for what he does not deserve, or pray to Him to help one who is a wrongdoer, or help him with your own will (himmah). Some  intoxicated mystics,  for example,  assist and help wrongdoers. if they are mad or emotionally ill or insane they will not be taken to task for what they do. I have elsewhere discussed those things for which one may be excused and those things for which one may not. But if, on the other hand, they are sane and can exercise their will knowingly they will be acting like Bal`am. For whoever works a miracle in a wrong way or with a wrong purpose will be either forgiven like Barah or punished like Bal`am.

To sum up, from the point of view of religion miracles are of three kinds: commendable, reprehensible and permissible, neither to be praised nor to be condemned. Of the permissible, those that serve a good purpose will be considered a blessing, but those that do not will be like any permissible thing which serves no serious purpose, like a game or play… It should also be noted that if a Muslim works no miracles, cognitive or effective, it will not cause any harm to his religion. If he is not given the knowledge of something hidden or not given power over some object of nature, it is no dishonor to him. It may even prove better for his religion unless he were asked to perform it as a duty or as something commended. On the other hand, if he fails to do something of the religion, obligatory or commended, he will be imperfect and will be liable to blame and punishment or will be deprived of a reward. By acquiring knowledge of the religion or imparting it to others, or enjoining its learning upon people, one wins the pleasure of God, His reward and blessing; but by acquiring knowledge of nature or gaining power over it one does not secure God’s pleasure or reward except when it is part of the religion. One should be thankful to God for it and should see that it does not involve him in any sin.

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic: RANKS OF THE BELIEVERS

Source: Book: [Majmu `at ar-Rasa'il wa al-Masa'il 5:2-9] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”

Leading personalities of the religion who have a deep insight into the religion and follow sincerely its straight path, whether Sufis or non-Sufis, advise everyone engaging in austerity, devotion and pursuing gnosis and illumination to abide by the Quran and the Sunnah. Al-Junayd Ibn Muhammad674 said, “This knowledge of ours is governed by the Quran and the Sunnah. Whoever does not read the Quran or cite the hadith, should not talk of our ideas.” Abu Sulayman Ad-Darani 75 said, “When an idea of our people comes to my mind, I do not accept it unless it is supported by two witnesses, the Quran and the Sunnah. He has also said, “One who receives inspiration to do something should not act upon it unless he has a tradition in that regard.” Abu `Uthman An-Nishapuri676 said, “Whoever gives the Quran and the Sunnah full control over his words and actions speaks wisdom, but whoever gives himself to his desires speaks only heresy (bid `ah), for God has said of His eternal speech, `If you follow it you will be on the right path”‘ (24:54). Another $ufi said, “Whoever does not examine his ideas every moment is not to be counted among the Sufis.”

When Abu Yazid Al-Bistami 77 was told that a certain Sufi was visiting the town, he went to see him. But when he saw him spitting in the direction of the qiblah, he said to his companion, “Let us go back. This man cannot be trusted in the external manners of the Shari`ah; how can he be trusted in its internal matters.” What Abu Yazid did may be supported from a hadith reported in the Sunan of Abu Dawud and other collections. There was an imam one of the mosques of the Ansar (of Madinah), and every Ansari tribe had its own mosque. One day the Prophet visited the mosque of that imam, and found that the wall towards the qiblah had some sputum on it. He asked who had spit there, and was told that it had been done by the imam. On hearing that, he asked the people not to pray behind him. When the imam came and went to lead the prayer, people stopped him and said that the Prophet had advised them not to pray behind him. He then went to the Prophet and asked about it. The Prophet said, “Yes, they are right. You annoyed God and His Messenger.”678

A number of Sufi shaykhs and `ulama’ have said, “If You see a person flying in the air or walking on water, do not be deceived. You have to ascertain whether he follows the commands of the Shari’ah. Many more sayings of the Sufi shaykhs and a’immah of the religion can be cited. In the eyes of all the greatest wali of God is the one who follows the Prophet best. That is the reason why Abu Bakr As-Siddig679 is regarded the greatest wali after the Prophet. To be sure, the sun has never seen a man greater than Abu Bakr except the prophets and the messengers of God. This is because he followed the Prophet more truly than anyone else. There is also full agreement on the point that there is no way for people to approach God except through following the Prophet, who is the link between them and God.

However, in the tariqah of these great Sufis there entered in later times many people along with their innovations, heresies and undesirable practices. To be sure, they are condemnable in the sight of God, His Messenger, and His awliya’ who are pious. They put forward the idea that the friends (awliyd’) of God have a way to God in which following the way of the Prophet is not required, that a wali may be equal to a prophet even greater than he, that someone of them may be the “seal of the saints” and greater than all the preceding awliya’, even more knowledgeable than the Seal of the Prophets. These and like ideas have been uttered by heretics who entered the fold of the Sufis. It is these mistaken Sufis who became theosophists and came up with mystical philosophies.

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic: RANKS OF THE BELIEVERS

Source: Book: [Ar-Radd `ala al-Mantigiyyin 514-516] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”

A wall does not have to be infallible, above error or mistake. He may not be aware of some truths of the religion, or be clear about them; he may even imagine some things to be commanded by God or forbidden by Him whereas they are not commanded or forbidden. He may also consider some miracles to be a grace from God whereas they are actually the tricks which Satan plays against imperfect people. It is not necessary that he know that they are the tricks of Satan. However, this does not prove that he is not a wali, for one of the graces of God which have been bestowed on this ummah is that He will overlook the errors which its members inadvertently commit, the things they forget, or the wrongs they are compelled to do…

Since a wali may commit errors, people are not required to believe in all that he says, for that would be making him a prophet. The wali himself should not rely upon what comes into his mind unless he ascertains that it is in agreement with the shay’. This is true of all the ideas that he considers to be inspired, communicated, or spoken by God. He should test all these ideas with the touchstone of what has been given to Muhammad (pbuh). If it agrees with the latter, he may accept it; if not, he must reject it; and in case he is not clear whether it agrees or does not agree he should suspend judgment.

On this issue people are divided into three groups; two of them are on either extreme, and the third group steers a middle course between them. One group of people thinks that when they have believed a particular person to be a wali they are to accept whatever they think that person receives in inspiration from God, and justify whatever he does. The second group, when they find something a person says or does to be contradicting the shar `, rules out the possibility that he may be a wall and refuses to consider that he may be a mujtahid who has committed a error in judgment. The third group, which steers a course between these two and which is correct, says that we should not believe anyone to be infallible or innocent when he acts as a mujtahid. He is not to be followed in each and every thing he says, nor is he to be charged with unfaith (kufr) or transgression (ftsq) if he errs or sins.

What is necessary is that one follow what God has revealed to His Messenger. If someone’s view agrees with it and another’s view does not agree, one should not plead for the view which does not agree, and should have the courage to say that it is against the shar’. It is only the prerogative of a prophet that we should believe in whatever he says of God and obey whatever he commands. As for other friends (awliya ) of God, we are not required to obey them in everything they prescribe or to believe in everything they say. Their prescriptions and statements will be examined in light of the Quran and the Sunnah, and whatever agrees with them should be accepted and what does not should be rejected even if its author is a friend (waft) of God. If he is a mujtahid he will be forgiven for his mistakes and rewarded by God for the effort that he has put in. But his view which is opposed to the Quran and Sunnah will be called error, though it will be an error which will be forgiven provided he tried his best to find out the will of God…

The points I have made here are that all the awliya’ must abide by the Quran and the Sunnah, that none of them is infallible, that neither they nor anyone else should follow whatever comes into their mind without referring it to the Quran and the Sunnah. This is agreed upon by all the awliya’ of God and whoever disagrees with it is certainly not a wali whom God would like us to follow. Either he is an infidel or he is utterly ignorant. This has been clearly endorsed by a number of great Sufis. Abu Sulayman Ad-Darani,67° for example, says, “When some idea of our people comes into my mind I do not accept it unless it is supported by two witnesses: the Quran and the Sunnah.” Abu Al-Qasim Al-Junayd671 (raa) said, “This knowledge of ours is governed by the Quran and the Sunnah. Whoever does not read the Quran or write hadith should not talk of our ideas;” or, according to another version, “should not be obeyed.” Abu `Uthman An-Nishapu-672 said, “Whoever puts his words and actions under the control of the Quran and the Sunnah speaks wisdom, and whoever puts his words and actions in the control of his desires only, speaks heresy, for God has said in His eternal speech, “If you follow it you shall be on the right path. Abu `Amr Ibn Nujayd673 said, “All ecstatic experiences which are not supported by the Quran and the Sunnah are vain.”

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Islamic Topic: RANKS OF THE BELIEVERS

Source: Book: [Fatawa 9:201-210] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”