Kitaab At-Tawheed, Chapter: 40

Allah's Words: " And Do Not Ascribe Partners to Allah When You Know [the Truth]"

 

" Oh, you people! Worship your Lord, Who created you all and those before you that you may become righteous, Who has made the earth a couch for you and the heavens a canopy and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith fruits for your subsistence; so do not set up Andaad with Allah" (Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:21-22)

Allah , Most High, commands the people to worship Him Alone, in sincerity, because He is the One Who created them and those before them from nothing and then bestowed upon them innumerable blessings, such as the earth which He flattened and fixed, that they may dwell upon it and the rain which He sends down in abundance, and from which they derive countless blessings, such as food to eat, water to drink and trees for shade. Then Allah , Most Glorified, Most High, says that in spite of this, they set up partners and equals with Him, though in reality, they know that He is their Creator and Provider; and this is mere willfulness on their part to commit kufr, Shirk and acts of disobedience.

Benefits Derived From This Verse

 

1. Evidence of a number of Allah's Blessings bestowed upon His creatures.

2. Evidence of Tawheed Al-Uloohiyyah (Tawheed of Worship) through Tawheed Ar-Ruboobiyyah.

3. The obligation to worship Allah, Alone, without partners.

Relevance of This Verse to the Subject of the Chapter and to the Subject of Tawheed

That it proves the obligation to abstain from obvious Shirk and from hidden Shirk, the latter including the saying of a person, for example: "Had it not been for the guard, the burglars would have come to us.

..ooOOoo..

Ibn `Abbas (ra) said, concerning this verse: "Al-Andaad means Shirk which is less conspicuous than a black ant crawling on a black stone in the darkness of the night, such as the saying: "By Allah and by your life, oh so-and-so!" or: "By your life," or: "If it had not been for this little dog, the burglars would have come to us," or "Had it not been for the duck in the house, the burglars would have come," or like a man's saying to his companion: "By Allah's and your will..." or: "As Allah and you will," or the saying of a man: "Had it not been for Allah and so-and-so..." - Do not mention anyone with Allah , because all of this is Shirk." (Narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim)

That the narration proves that Ibn `Abbas (ra), one of the best and wisest of the Companions in understanding the Religion, held the view that hidden Shirk includes swearing by other than Allah , such as the saying of a person: "By your life!"; and that like wise, it includes attributing benefit to the deeds of one of Allah's creatures, such as the saying: "Had it not been for the guard, the burglars would have stolen from us;" and it also includes the attribution of benefit to the deeds of another alongside Allah , such as the saying of a man: "Had it not been for Allah and so-and-so, the house would have burnt down.

..ooOOoo..

On the authority of `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, it is reported that the Messenger of Allah (ra) said:

 

"Whoever swears by other than Allah has committed an act of kufr or Shirk." (Narrated by At-Tirmizi, who graded it as Hasan and by Al-Hakim, who graded it as Saheeh)

The Messenger of Allah informs us in this Hadith that swearing by other than Allah , Most Glorified, Most High, is tantamount to a denial of Allah , the One True God and equivalent to associating partners with Him. This is because the essence of swearing is glorification and it is not fitting that we should glorify any save Allah , the One True God and Rabb, for to do so is Shirk.

Benefits Derived From This Hadith

 

1. That swearing by other than Allah is an act of major Shirk - according to some scholars, it takes one out of the fold of Islam, while according to others, it is a sinful act of Shirk which however does not necessitate one's becoming a disbeliever. It has also been said that it is an act of minor Shirk - and Allah knows best.

2. That there is no recompense for swearing by other than Allah , since it is an act of Shirk; the culprit must instead turn in repentance to Allah and seek His Forgiveness.

Important Note

 

(a) There is no contradiction between this Hadith and the words of the Prophet : "By his father! he has succeeded," and other similar Hadith, for it has been explained by scholars that this and other similar Ahadith have been abrogated by the above Hadith.

(b) There is no recompense for swearing by other than Allah nor is it binding upon anyone to fulfill a promise made by swearing by other than Him. What is incumbent upon him is to declare: "Laa ilaaha illallaahu Wahdahu Laa Shareeka Lahu," (None is worthy of worship except Allah , Alone, without partners) then he should spit over his left shoulder three times and seek refuge with Allah and he should never repeat this act of Shirk.

..ooOOoo..

Ibn Mas'ood (ra) said: "That I should swear by Allah upon a lie is more preferable to me than that I should swear by another upon the truth."

Ibn Mas'ood (ra) informs us in this narration that every lie upon which Allah's Name is invoked and every truthful statement upon which the name of another is invoked is a sin, but that the sin of swearing by Allah upon a lie is lighter than the sin of swearing by another upon the truth, because to swear by Allah upon a lie is a major sin, while to swear by another is an act of Shirk.

Benefits Derived From This Narration

 

1. The forbiddance of swearing by Allah upon a lie.

2. The permissibility of swearing by Allah upon the truth.

3. The forbiddance of swearing by other than Allah, whether to the truth or to a lie.

4. That if one is forced by circumstances to choose one of two courses of action, against one's will, he should do that which is less harmful.

5. The precise understanding of Ibn Mas'ood.

6. That swearing by other than Allah is a greater sin than swearing by Allah upon a lie.

Relevance of This Narration to the Subject of the Chapter and to the Subject of Tawheed

That it proves that Ibn Mas'ood (ra) considered that swearing by other than Allah is forbidden, because swearing by one of Allah's creation entails glorification of that person or thing and glorification is a form of worship and directing an act of worship to other than Allah is Shirk.

..ooOOoo..

On the authority of Huzaifah (ra), it is reported that the Prophet said:

 

"Do not say: "As Allah wills and so-and-so wills," but (instead) say: "As Allah wills and then as so-and-so wills." (Narrated by Abu Dawood with an authentic sanad)

Huzaifah (ra) informs us in this Hadith that the Prophet ordered his Companions not to equate the will of man with the Will of Allah , but to mention Allah's Will first, then the will of others, as this makes it clear that the will of man is subservient to the Will of Allah ; and it is clear that if man wills something but Allah wills it not, it can never happen, while if Allah wills something, even if the whole of mankind united to oppose it, it will, without any shadow of doubt, take place.

Benefits Derived From This Hadith

 

1. The forbiddance of equating the will of Allah's creatures with the Will of Allah .

2. The permissibility of mentioning the will of man after the Will of Allah by saying then as opposed to end.

3. Confirmation of Allah's Divine Attribute of Will.

Relevance of This Hadith to the Subject of the Chapter and to the Subject of Tawheed

That the Hadith proves the prohibition of equating the will of man with the Will of Allah by saying: "As Allah wills and so-and-so wills," because using the word and suggests parity between the Will of Allah and the will of man, which amounts to Shirk in matters of Rabbship.

..ooOOoo..

It is reported on the authority of Ibraheem An-Nakha'i that he hated for anyone to say: "I seek refuge in Allah and in you," but he considered it permissible to say: "I seek refuge in Allah and then in you." Then he added: "A person should say: "If not for Allah , then so-and-so..." and he should not say: "If not for Allah and so-and-so."

Relevance of This Narration to the Subject of the Chapter and to the Subject of Tawheed

That the narration proves that Ibraheem An-Nakha'i held that it is forbidden to link seeking refuge in Allah with seeking refuge in one of His creatures. Likewise he considered it forbidden to link the Actions of Allah with those of His creation, for do so is to set up a partner with Allah .