Suhaib Webb – Uqud alJum’an of Sheikh alIslam, Selim alBishri (Lesson Eight)
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
After talking about the qualities
of
who Allah is and those qualities we have
to know and affirm.
The Sheikh now is going to talk about
those qualities that we have to deny. And
just like the previous qualities,
we're going to find support for this, of
course, in the sacred text, the Sharia, first
and foremost, as well as the scholarly consensus.
And then
anyone of any kind of sound reason,
if they were going to affirm
a creator, these would be the qualities of
that creator.
So he says
What that means is,
in opposition to the first qualities that he
talked about we're gonna find qualities which are,
we are not allowed to believe it. For
example,
Allah exists, we affirmed, Allah doesn't exist, we
would deny. Allah has no beginning, we affirm,
Allah was born, we would deny.
And he says
So these are going to run-in opposition to
those things that we have to affirm.
Means that something doesn't exist.
Something doesn't exist. And if
it comes into existence
after it didn't exist, this is called hadith.
That's
why Sheikh Dardir, he says
We say
that it is impossible for us to believe
that the creator of all things did not
exist. If he did not exist, then how
do we exist?
Which runs in
And it's impossible for us to believe that
Allah
did not exist and then existed. He he
that he is
like you and I.
The Quran says, there was a time when
none of us existed.
And we know that we're going to die.
In fact, the Quran
challenges us to think about this.
After saying
How could you reject Allah
when you were dead?
Adam brought to life,
then you will die again,
and then you'll be resurrected. The only thing
that people doubt in this is 25%
out of the 100 percent equation.
25% we didn't exist, we know that certainty.
25%
we know we exist. Another 25% we know
we're gonna die. The only 25% that people
have a problem with, subhanAllah,
is the hereafter.
And it's impossible for us to believe that
Allah
is going to not exist
or experience non existence which would run-in opposition
to Al Baqah,
everlasting.
Now the sheikh, what he's doing is
he's expanding our understanding of the obligations
by showing us their
opposites and then explaining how these 2
cannot how this can't work, how you can
affirm these
impossible ideas that are found about Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala in the Sharia
or in, of course, as we said earlier,
someone who just see ask him, who is
the creator? What are the qualities of the
creator? Do you think the creator can die?
No. Do you think the creator needs something?
No. Do you think the creator sleeps? No.
And so on and so forth. So here
he now expands.
He's doing something which is a clack classical
style of teaching. He affirms something, then you
he teaches you its opposite, and then he
fills in the middle
to give you like a broader understanding
of the
of the issue.
So pay attention to his style. It's a
classical style.
He says, That it is is impossible for
us to believe that Allah
resembles in any way, shape, or form,
the temporary
world and the creation which is all temporary
in this world. Things which are temporary, meaning
us.
In his essence. Then he explains what that
means.
So to say that Allah has like a
physical body.
Which is, you know,
organized in different parts
or that he is like existing in a
place.
Or specific to a time or place.
And here he means time and
that we describe Allah as being like physically
big or physically small, physically up, physically
down.
That there is anything similar to him
in creation.
And also in any anything like his attributes.
And and that would mean to say, like,
his life is like the life of the
created
world or created beings
or that his
any of his attributes are similar to them.
So maybe, like, when you read the Quran,
you come across these things like Allah lives,
Allah is all powerful, Allah knows. You think,
well, I'm powerful and I know, but
there is nothing like him.
So this
is
and he's explaining it subhanallah what comes in
the middle.
So he's saying here that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala we believe
and he's explaining all of it. That Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala is in opposition to all
created things in essence, in attribute, and actions.
And he's giving
and his actions
It's very important. It mean that Allah doesn't
have it he's not the one that impacts
all things.
As I just said. And this runs in
opposition to the idea that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is
not like creation and creation is not like
him.
And it's impossible for us to believe that
Allah would need something to bring him into
existence.
Or that Allah
is like a body part or a limb
or anything that needs to be described within
the physical material descriptions
because then he would need,
right. That's
because if he was broken into parts then
he would each part would need each other.
If there was more than one god there
would be and
as he said earlier, there would be chaos.
And also
if he needed someone to create him, he
would not be the creator.
And elaborating on this and he keeps saying
it over and over again because it's important
and he's not trying to be redundant but
he's trying to hit get something to stay
in our minds.
And that is, he says that it's impossible
for us to believe that Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala is his essence is broken into different
parts.
Like, one of 3, Allah says in Quran.
Like don't say that Allah
is one of 3. What would you there,
Tahu,
or there anything as similar
to him
in attribute?
Or that he has 2 lives, 2 powers,
2 wills, and so on and so forth.
It's impossible for us to believe
that Allah
is being divided into
different parts.
Because that would mean need and also division
as a measurement and measurement is material.
And there you see the arguments.
Or more than say 2, 3, or 4.
Or
that his attributes, the attributes of Allah
are found in any way, shape, and form
in his creation.
And now the sheikh is gonna touch on
something very important that will build upon when
we read Al Kharida. And now he's gonna
open up the idea of who is the
real mo'athir.
Who is the one that causes all things
to happen?
Who is the one that truly has impact?
And this is where we find the western
world, especially philosophically and even religiously, and now
hedonistically
has a problem with god.
Because we see this now with manifestation, Young
people like, can I manifest reality? No.
Right? There's this constant
need to be God. There's a hatred for
God, an envy of God instead of humility.
SubhanAllah.
So he says what
And this is where the tawhid of Islam
impacts our bravery,
impacts our ability to be truthful,
impacts
our iman to be very strong.
And the sheikh, he says that
it is impossible
for us to believe that anything else
can have an impact
or a cause
in reality,
in nature, in the world.
Nothing happens.
No impact can take place.
Whether it's from its nature, like people attribute
things to mother nature as though mother nature
is an independent force,
or the idea that Allah
has created something inside us and then he
left this dunya.
He abandoned this dunya and
our power manifest
itself independently of Allah
The idea that and so the sheikh he
says that's impossible. In fact, we believe that's
a form of kufr or even fisk as
we'll talk about in the future.
So he says like fire doesn't burn.
Because of its nature.
Or because of some kind of power that
Allah
has created in it.
But the one who causes and here you
have the fire and the burn. The fire
is called Saba. The burning is called Musabab.
So the idea here is that Allah is.
And And this is where sometimes we find
other beliefs and other systems people have a
problem with this. You know, someone made
the the the means, the causes, but the
outcomes are made by someone else. Or someone
created the means and the the the outcomes
are from the nature of those things. We
believe that
The sheikh, he gives a great example.
If all I wanted, he could create fire
without it burning.
The without
the
Sabbath.
Ibrahim and now you understand the and
why that's a problem. So if someone says
that, you know, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala only
creates the causes and not the outcomes, what
do you say about Moa Jazet? That's kufr.
To deny Moa Jazet is kufr.
The knife doesn't cut.
Or because of the Allah give giving an
independent power to cut.
This is very important
that we believe that
the thing and what we see it cause
are both from Allah. The Sabab
and the Mu'athir,
the Athar.
So
what do we mean by
And if you think about this, if we're
able to strengthen our iman in this, it
will bring us a sense of ease and
relief. It
will take a lot of pain from our
chest, a lot of anxiety,
a lot of things that bother us.
And whoever thinks that because of, for example,
mother nature,
things are happening, this is disbelief.
Or because of independent strength which god created
in it and then it's running on its
own, this is fisk. We don't say kufr.
We say this is fisk. And there's a
reason for that we'll talk about in the
future.
Whoever believes Allah is the one who has
created things, but there has to be with
or
with the most He can do whatever he
wants without anything.
Like, say, in Adam.
So we see Satan Adam is created without
the Saba.
So what really is the one causing all
things to happen?
Allahu And this is how the early Muslims
although Allah has commanded us to take as
much as Bab as we can.
Allah says
Allah
says
means that I take as many as I
can knowing that this is from the provisions
Allah has given me my risk,
but I know that nothing can happen
except by the will of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Is to know that,
the influencer.
And the influencer is the one who created
a asbab
and then causes,
the.
And that within his power, we can see
these things. They don't have to necessarily work
that way. The fire could be without
without heat. The heat could be without fire.
And to not affirm that Allah is the
the sole
the one and only who controls all things
creates the and the
and it can cause things to happen without
any of them.
To deny that is in opposition of
It's
impossible for us to believe that Allah will
die or faint or sleep or have any
kind of conscience
lapse because his his knowledge and his existence
is not like our physical conscience.
Impossible for anything to happen or for there
to It's impossible for anything to happen
or for there to be any will
independent of the will of Allah
Whether it's related to, like, nature running, oh,
nature just runs its own course or anything
of that kind of or science.
Right? Now people treat science as though it's
wahi.
All of that runs counter to Allah being
al Murid his
And it is impossible for us to believe
that Allah is weak
in doing something mumkin. I can be rich.
I can be bored. I can be short,
I could be tall, I could get to
this grad school, not that grad school, I
could have kids, no kids, whatever.
We're not gonna talk about
but
means
I don't know that I don't know.
And then I act like I know. So
that's 2.
Is I just don't
know. So as sheikh, he says,
It's impossible for us to believe that any
of that can be ascribed to
So
And this relates to things that exist and
don't exist. Allah knows all things.
Or any type of ignorance.
Like
presumption, shakdab, wahem, delusion,
negligence, and
forgetting.
Right? It means to,
it's a different types of for me is
to forget, like, while you're doing the act.
To, you know, lose
his senses sleeping
All of that runs in contradiction to the
attribute of knowledge
that Allah has.
Has.
To make sure that everything is very clear.
That's impossible for us to believe that Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala would lose
his ability to perceive and see all things
in the day or the night.
Nothing is hidden from Allah
It's impossible for us to believe that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't speak and communicate. We'll
talk about this in the future. There's a
difference amongst Ahlus Sunnah on this issue. Don't
need to open it up now because we
just wanna get the basics affirm and what
we deny. Then he says,
These are the things you have to know,
I have to know as a responsible Muslim.
And he said as he detailed from these
attributes.
So the things that we have to know
in detail and then there are so what
we have to believe and what we have
to deny.
And what what's possible.
And their evidences.
Then he says, listen. At the end of
the day, what's an obligation upon a Muslim
to know generally is that all Kamal, perfection
and transcendence
belongs to Allah and that's we we affirm
to Allah and that's sufficient
And any type of deficiency or the domestication
of Allah's transcendence
is impossible for us to believe.
So Allah's
transcendence and perfection cannot be
quantified,
qualified, or limited.
And and for any type of shortcomings, it's
impossible for us to attribute that to Allah.
Which
it's in any any
any
attempt to reduce the creator to the creation
or find shortcomings in the creator.
Now he's talking about the
that you must know that it is possible
for Allah
to do or not do anything which is
bringing something into existence
or taking something out of existence
giving something life
causing something to die
guidance. Misguidance
rewarding somebody
or punishing someone else.
None of those things are obligatory for it
to be done by God. Even if we,
from our perspective, think, oh, this is what's
best for his creation.
Allah
this is the belief of the we don't
need to talk about it now, That Allah
only does, like, what we see as.
As we talk about in whatever
Allah does is from his blessings and from
his excellence.
And he says and also, you know,
it's not it's not improbable
for us to believe that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala can do things that harm us,
that he can decree things that harm us.
Pay attention here.
That's perfectly possible. It's from the because
a king can do whatever he wants with
his kingdom.
Allah creates good out of his benevolence.
And any type of evil
pain or sorrow that we see is from
his justice.
Allah creates what he wants and chooses what
he wants.
You read Allah does whatever he wants.
Allah is gonna ask about what he does.
Who he wills and guides who he wills.
And oftentimes people tell me, how could all
these people be astray? Allah let these worry
about your guidance. If we worried about our
guidance as much as we worried about other
people being
astray and trying to open up a door
which we can't understand, we would be better
off.
They say something that's not easy for people
to swallow, but the idea of good and
evil is from our perspective of what we
choose and the and and and what we
experience.
But when it comes to it originating from
Allah, everything is good.
Everything is good. That's why the prophet was
and evil is not to you. Right? Meaning,
through our cusp,
through our choice, what we achieve.
And it's an obligation for us to believe
in it and to be content
with it.
And he says this beautiful poem
mentioned by Sheikh Al Attar and Mariki from
Askandria who died
centuries ago.
He says, I I heard Allah
you know, you're saying that Allah
I heard Allah say like in my heart,
you know, in my thoughts and my inspirations.
This is what I believe Allah
is is here as a metaphor, is communicating
through the Quran and sunnah.
I am the king whose
kingdom will never perish.
And everything that comes from me is not
is not evil, not ugly.
And what people see as ugly or is
considered ugly if it's from me, actually, it's
beautiful.
It's possible that Allah
could reward
a sinner who is Muslim, who
dies
He
has
created It
doesn't hurt him
but he has the right to forgive or
punish who
he
wants. Allah doesn't wrong anyone. Maybe the person
repented, maybe there's in the heart that you
and I don't know about.
Or in the wisdom of Allah, something that
you and
I
Allah says that he does not wrong any
of his servants.
So he says, like, you know, Allah
can punish
a righteous person. We see someone doing good.
It's a lot of business if he wants
to punish him or her.
Here sorry.
From the point of the intellect, it's possible.
Allah can punish someone who obeys him for
whatever wisdom and and and knowledge Allah has.
May Allah make it easy for us.
Because that
person was created. We are created for
obedience and Allah doesn't take any benefit from
our obedience. The same thing for a sinner,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala could reward them and
forgive them and grant them Jannah
even though he doesn't need
in any way shape or form their obedience
or their sin and their sin doesn't hurt
him
And he says,
Allah
will not wrong anyone. So we believe all
this will happen without zum, all of this
will happen with
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And then he says, so because that was
the case, if Allah needed us to obey
him or our disobedience
hurt him, that would mean he needs this
or that. And he would need these things
to be complete. And again, you can see
I'm making a physical movement because Allah
is beyond that.
And it's possible that people will see Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
A how which we don't know.
Without it being some kind of exclusive or
restricted way.
That on that day, faces will be illuminated.
Those people of to
make us from them, and they will be
looking at the lord
And he says, you know, the process so
you will see the the the face of
your you will see your lord like you
see
the moon in the heavens.
Right? On a night when there's no clouds.
It's possible Allah
could send books and messengers. Of course, the
prophet Muhammad is the final prophet
means here in the past.
And also sent with you the Quran. We
do not send messengers except they bring good
news, and they warn
people.
We finished now the section on
Again, I'm really summarizing things, not trying to
make things too long or overly difficult,
and we're gonna build on them over
time. But next time, inshallah, we're gonna talk
about Anubuwet
prophethood, and then we're gonna talk about
the unseen.
And then we will be finished with this
text, and then we'll move on to
by Mohammed