Shaykh Fawzaan’s Explanation of
‘The Creed of Muhammad bin ‘Abdil
Wahhaab, the Imaam, the Revivalist’
Translated by Umm ‘AbdirRahmaan Tara Hashim
Section 3 (Part
1) Belief in the Names and Attributes of
Allaah
(without
tahreef or ta’teel)
Text:
From the
belief in Allaah is the belief in what He has described Himself with in His
Book and upon the tongue of His Messenger (r) without distortion (tahreef) or denial (ta’teel).
Explanation:
When the
Shaykh mentioned the pillars of faith, he clarified an aspect that
belongs to the first pillar of belief in Allaah which is belief in His Names
and Attributes. Whoever denies the Names and Attributes is not a believer with
correct faith in Allaah. This is a refutation of the Mu’attilah who deny Allaah’s Names and Attributes because
they do not believe in them.
So from
Belief in Allaah, is belief in the Names and Attributes of Allaah which are
found in the Book and Sunnah ‘without distortion (tahreef) or denial (ta’teel).’ ‘Distortion’ means ‘changing’, i.e changing the words or the
meanings.Words are changed when they are added to or have had something taken
away. For example, they changed ‘rose over’ (istawaa) by saying ‘conquered’ (istawlaa). This is
changing a word where they have added a letter.
Examples
of changing meanings are explaining ‘rising over’ (al-istawaa) by saying ‘conquering’ (al-isteelaa) or explaining ‘Hand’ as ‘Power’, or ‘Face’ as ‘Self’.
This is changing Allaah’s Speech. Allaah (U) said,
)مِّنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُوا يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ(
Among those who are
Jews, there are some who
displace words from (their) right places.
[an Nisaa 4:46]
His
saying, ‘or denial (ta’teel)’ means to deny the Names and Attributes of Allaah and to take them away from
Allaah.
**********
Section 4 (Part
2) Belief in the Names and Attributes of Allaah (Ilhaad)
Text:
Indeed, I
believe about Allaah (I) that,
)لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ(
There is nothing like Him, and He is
the All-Hearer, the All-Seer. [ash Shooraa 42:11]
So I do
not deny what He has described Himself with, I do not change words out of their
places and I do not deny, distort or add (ilhaad) to His Names or verses.
Explanation:
The
author (may Allaah have mercy on him) believes in what this aayah indicates because it is the measure regarding
all of Allaah’s Names and Attributes. ‘There is
nothing like Him,’ in His Names or Attributes. Even though His
Names share the same words and meanings as the names of the creation, they do
not share anything in terms of reality and nature of how they are. So sharing
the same name and the origin of the meaning does not mean sharing the reality
and nature of how they are. As Allaah said, ‘There is nothing like Him,
and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.’ [ash Shooraa 42:11] There is a
refutation of the Mu’attilah (those who deny Allaah’s Names and Attributes – ta’teel) in this aayah. Allaah negated anything
being like Himself and He affirmed His Names and Attributes of Hearing and
Seeing for Himself. So He indicated that affirming the Names and Attributes
does not necessitate likening Himself to the creation (tashbeeh). Allaah’s Saying, ‘There is nothing
like Him’ contains negation and ‘He is the All-Hearer, the
All-Seer’ contains affirmation. He negated anything being like Himself
and He affirmed the Names and Attributes for Himself.
The author says, ‘I do not deny what He has
described Himself with’ which is what the Mu’attilah did.
The author’s saying, ‘and I do not deny, distort
or add (ilhaad).’ ‘Ilhaad’ linguistically means ‘leaning’. ‘Ilhaad’
in Allaah’s Names and Attributes is diverting them from their meaning to a
false meaning, such as interpreting the ‘Face’ as ‘Self’ and ‘Hand’ as ‘Power’
or ‘Blessing, etc. This is distorting the words from their places (tahreef).
Allaah (I) says,
)إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي آيَاتِنَا لَا يَخْفَوْنَ عَلَيْنَا(
Verily, those who
turn away from Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs,
revelations, etc. by attacking, distorting and denying them) are not hidden
from Us. [Fussilat 41:40]
‘…turn away’ (yulhidoona – verb derived from ‘ilhaad’)
means they deviate regarding them either by denying them like the Mu’attilah did, by likening them to the attributes of the
creation as the Mumaththilah (a sect who
liken Allaah to the creation) did or by adding something that Allaah or His
Messenger (r) did not affirm, such as making them names for their
idols like ‘al Laat’ and ‘al
Uzza’ and so on.
***********
Section 5 (Part 3) Belief in the Names and
Attributes of Allaah
(without
tamtheel or tashbeeh)
Text:
And I do
not ask ‘how?’ and I do not liken His, the Exalted’s attributes, to the attributes
of His creation; because no-one is similar to Allaah (U) neither is anyone equal to Him nor does He
have a Partner. Analogy is not made between Him and His Creation. Indeed,
Allaah is most Knowing about Himself and about others. He is the Most Truthful
and Best in Speech.
Explanation:
The Mumaththilah is the
second category of people who are astray regarding Allaah’s Names and
Attributes. They overstepped the bounds and went to an extreme in affirming
them. They did not make a distinction between the Attributes of Allaah and the
attributes of the creation, nor between His Names and the names of the
creation. These people are called Mushabbihah (they
make ‘tashbeeh’/ ‘tamtheel’), and Allaah’s refuge is sought!
Due to this, the scholars
have said that, ‘The person who denies (mu’attil) (the
Names and Attributes) worships nothingness and the person who likens Allaah to
His creation (Mumaththil)
worships an idol’ [1] So when they say, ‘the mu’attil’ worships
nothingness, this is because the one who has no names nor attributes is
nothing, and the ‘Mumaththil’ worships a human idol because he has made
Allaah like a human; Exalted be Allaah from this.
So the author’s saying, ‘And I do not ask ‘how?’ and I do
not liken His Attributes (U) to the attributes of His
creation,’ means that ‘I do not
know the nature of how they are nor what they are like. This is from Allaah’s
Knowledge. No-one knows the true nature of His Attributes except Him and no-one
knows the true nature of His Self except Him.
يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِهِ
عِلْمًا
He (Allâh) knows what happens to them
(His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them (in the Hereafter)
but they will never encompass anything of His Knowledge. [Taha 20:110]
The believers know their
Lord and that He is their Lord and their Creator. They know that He exists and
that He is perfect. However, they cannot encompass the reality of Him.
The author’s saying, ‘Because no-one is similar to Allaah
(U)’ means that no-one deserves His Name with its true reality. And the meaning of ‘Because no-one is similar to Allaah
(U)’ is not that no-one has the same name as His. This is because the creation
can have the names: al Azeez (the
great) and al Malik (the king). The
creation can be named with what corresponds to the Name of the Creator by way
of letters and meaning, but it does not correspond to the true nature of
Allaah’s Name. So the meaning of ‘no-one is similar to Him’ is that
no-one deserves to be named with the true nature of His Name.
As Allaah (I) said,
)فَاعْبُدْهُ وَاصْطَبِرْ لِعِبَادَتِهِ ۚ هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُ سَمِيًّا(
So worship Him (Alone) and be constant
and patient in His worship. Do you know of any who is similar to Him? (of
course none is similar or co-equal or comparable to Him, and He has none as
partner with Him.) (There is nothing like Him and He is the All-Hearer, the
All-Seer.) [Maryam 19:65]
This means that no-one is equal to Allaah regarding
His Names and Attributes.
And the author’s saying that ‘neither is anyone
equal to Him.’ is like the saying of Allaah,
)وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ(
And there is none coequal or comparable
to Him." [al Ikhlaas 112:4]
This means that no-one matches or is equal to
Allaah.
And the author’s saying, ‘nor does He have a
Partner.’ ‘partner’ can also mean ‘equal’.
)وَجَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا لِّيُضِلُّوا عَن سَبِيلِهِ ۗ قُلْ
تَمَتَّعُوا فَإِنَّ مَصِيرَكُمْ إِلَى النَّارِ(
And they set up rivals to Allâh, to
mislead (men) from His path! Say: "Enjoy (your brief life)! But certainly,
your destination is the (Hell) Fire!" [Ibraaheem 14:30]
‘Rivals’ (andaad) is the plural of rival
(nidd) or partner and it means equals. So those who worshipped idols made them
into Allaah’s partners and made them like Him. If this were not the case, why
did they worship them alongside Allaah? For this reason they will say on the
Day of Resurrection,
)تَاللَّهِ إِن كُنَّا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍإِذْ نُسَوِّيكُم بِرَبِّ
الْعَالَمِينَ(
By Allâh, we were truly in a manifest
error,
When we held you (false gods) as equals (in worship) with the Lord of the 'Âlamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists); [ash Shu’araa 26:97-98]
When we held you (false gods) as equals (in worship) with the Lord of the 'Âlamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists); [ash Shu’araa 26:97-98]
They will admit
that they made them equals to the Lord of the worlds in this life. So they
deserve the Fire on the Day of Resurrection. This is said out of regret. Allaah (I) said,
)ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ(
those who disbelieve hold others as
equal with their Lord. [al An’aam 6:1]
يعدلون means they make equals with Allaah from among
the creation.
And the author’s
saying, ‘Analogy
is not made between Him and His Creation’ means that He (I) is not
compared to His creation with regards to His Names and Attributes. Even though
the Names and Attributes share the same word and general meaning, they differ
in their true nature and reality.
And the author’s saying, ‘Indeed, Allaah is most
Knowing about Himself and about others.’ He Knows most about Himself, as
for others, they only know what Allaah (U) has taught them. The angels say,
)قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ
أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ(
They (angels) said:
"Glorified are You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us”.
[al Baqarah 2:32]
Allaah (U) says to His Prophet (r),
)وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا(
and say: "My Lord! Increase me in
knowledge." [Taha 20:114]
and Allaah (U) says,
)وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ(
but over all those endowed with
knowledge is the All-Knowing (Allâh). [Yusuf 12:76]
and He says,
)وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا(
And of knowledge, you (mankind) have
been given only a little." [al Israa 17:85]
So He (I) Knows most about Himself and about others. As for anyone besides Him,
he does not know the true nature of Allaah (U) or the true nature of Allaah. Only Allaah (I) Knows it.
And the author’s saying,
‘He is the
Most Truthful and Best in Speech.’ This is like what is
found in the Qur’aan,
)وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ قِيلًا(
and whose words can be truer than those
of Allâh? (Of course, none.) [an Nisaa 4:122]
)وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ حَدِيثًا(
And who is truer in statement than
Allâh? [an Nisaa 4:87]
No-one is better than
Allaah or more truthful than Allaah (in Speech). Allaah said in His Book that
He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing, All-Wise, All-Knowing and that He has a Face and
Two Hands. Allaah said this about Himself and He is most knowing about Himself.
Then these Mu’attilah come along and say, ‘It does not befit Allaah
that it is said, “He has a Face” or that “He has a Hand” or that “He is
All-Hearing” or “All-Seeing” because these attributes are found in the creation
and if we affirm them then we have likened Allaah to His creation!!’
***********
Section 6 (Part 4) Belief in the Names and Attributes of Allaah
(Deviant sects)
Text:
For He
has distanced Himself from what the opposors have described Him with, those
people who ask ‘how?’ (takyeef) and liken Allaah to His creation (tamtheel).
And He
has distanced Himself from what the negators have negated about Him, from the
people of distortion (tahreef) and
denial (ta’teel).
Allaah
says,
)سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَوَسَلَامٌ عَلَى
الْمُرْسَلِينَوَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ(
Glorified is your Lord, the Lord of
honour and power! (He is free) from what they attribute to Him! And peace be on the Messengers! And all
praise and thanks are Allâh's, the Lord of the 'Âlamîn (mankind, jinn and all
that exists).
[as Saafaat 37:180-182]
Explanation:
Allaah
frees Himself from both the Mumaththilah Sect and the Mu’attilah Sect and He affirms the Names and Attributes
for Himself in a manner befitting His Majesty (I). Due to this He (I) said,
)سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ(
Glorified is Allâh! (He is free) from
what they attribute to Him! [as Saafaat 37:159]
And He
said,
)سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ(
Glorified is Allâh from all that they
ascribe as partners (to Him) [at Toor 52:43]
Allaah
frees Himself from this.
This is the
true Methodology and the one that Ahlus
Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah are upon and the one that the Shaykh (may
Allaah have mercy upon him) said was his Creed and what he believed in.
Allaah (I) said,
)سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ(
Glorified is your
Lord, the Lord of honour and power! (He is free) from what they attribute to
Him!
[as Saafaat 37:180]
[as Saafaat 37:180]
Allaah frees
Himself from what the people who deny (His Names and Attributes) describe Him
with (ta’teel) and from what the people who liken Him to
the creation describe Him with (tamtheel). Then He said,
)وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى
الْمُرْسَلِينَ(
And peace be on the Messengers! [as
Saafaat 37:181]
Allaah sends peace
upon them because they did not err in what they said about Allaah. They
described Him free from shortcomings and imperfections. The Messengers
described Allaah with what Allaah described Himself with. So for this reason He
sent peace upon them. He concluded the aayaat by
Saying,
)وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ(
And all praise and thanks are Allâh's,
the Lord of the 'Âlamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists). [as Saafaat 37: 182]
He
deserves all appreciation and all praise, no-one else except Him deserves it.
After
this clarification, can anyone think that the Shaykh believes in something
contrary to the scholars which is what his opponents accuse him of? The answer
is no! This is his Creed, clear and pure from the doubts that they accuse him
of.
*************
[1] See ‘Al Jawaab as Saheeh’ (4/406)
by Shaykh al Islaam ibn Taymiyyah; ‘Minhaaj as Sunnah an Nabawiyyah’ (2/526) and ‘Majmoo’ al Fataawa’
(5/196) and ‘as Sawaa’iq al Mursilah’ (1/148) by Ibn al Qayyim.
