AL WALA' WAL BARA' ACCORDING TO THE AQEEDAH OF THE SALAF

(Love and Hate for Allah's Sake)

by Muhammad Sa'eed Al Qahtani

THE DECLARATION OF FAITH

~ Chapter 1 of the Book, entitled: 'Al Wala' wa'l Bara' Authored by: Muhammad Sa'eed Al Qahtani ~

What the Declaration of Faith Confirms and What it Denies

The meaning of the first part of the declaration of faith, 'There is no god but Allah', is that nothing other than Allah is worthy of worship. This denies the attribution of divinity to all other things, and affirms it as a quality which belongs to Allah alone. (Shaykh Abdar-Rahman ibn Hassan, Fath al-Majid, p.36)

Ibn Taimiyah said: "The heart will not find complete happiness except by loving Allah and by striving towards what is dear to Him. It is not possible to achieve this love except by rejecting all things that compete with it. This is what the words, 'There is no god but Allah' mean; this is the spirit of the deen of Ibrahim and of that of every other prophet." (Ibn Taimiya, Majmu' al-Fatawa, vol 28, p.32, Riyadh)

When someone says, 'There is no god but Allah', he has denied one thing and affirmed another. With these words the believer first denies all those who reject faith, worship created things, obey the tyrant, rule by injustice or remain content under oppression; and then he affirms his allegiance to Allah, to His deen, to His Book, to His righteous servants, and to the Sunnah of His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace : "Whoever rejects false deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never break." [2:256]

As for the second part of the declaration, 'Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah', this means that we do what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has told us to do, and stop doing what he has told us not to do. According to Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, "No one truly believes until he rejects the forces of disbelief." This is supported by ayah 2 :256 just cited. The declaration of faith is a declaration of complete loyalty to the Shari'ah : "Follow that which is sent down to you from your Lord, and follow no protecting friends beside Him. Little do you recollect!" [7:3]; and : "So set your purpose (O Muhammad) for the deen as a man by nature upright - the natural way of Allah, in which He has created man." [30:30]

You must also denounce the rule of Ignorance: "Is it the judgement of the time of ignorance that they seek? And who is better than Allah for judgment for a people who have certainty (in their belief)?" [5:50] Indeed you must deny all other religions: "And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him, and he will be one of the losers in the Hereafter." [3:85]

The declaration of faith is thus a denial and an affirmation. In fact, it denies four things and affirms four others. It denies false deities, the tyrant, intermediaries, and ordained authorities, who are bogus. If you think a thing can help you or protect you from harm then you have taken it as a god. A tyrant demands that you worship and adore him. An intermediary, whether family, community or property, distracts you from faith: "And from among mankind are some who take for themselves (objects of worship as) rivals to Allah loving them as they should only love Allah." [2:156]

Bogus authority advises you to act against truth and to disobey Allah: "They have taken as lords beside Allah their rabbis and their monks." [9:31]

It also affirms four things: that the object of your worship is Allah; that glorification and love are for Allah alone; that hope and fear are due only to Allah; and that you are aware of Allah's power and might, this awareness is taqwa. The single and unique goal of the believer is to worship Allah and none other than Him. Thus, the believer's love is for Allah alone: "And those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah." [2:156] Hope, too, is exclusively in Allah and one fears nothing but Him: "If Allah afflicts you with some hurt, there is no one who can remove it except Him; and if He desires good for you, there is no one who can repel His bounty. He strikes with it whom He wishes of his servants. He is the Forgiving, the Compassionate." [10:107]

Lastly, the believer is conscious of Allah and aware of the danger of His displeasure and of His wrath. It is taqwa that causes a person abandon disbelief and disobedience, to devote himself entirely to Allah and to obey His law and His command. Ibn Mas'ud said: "When you act in obedience to Allah, in the light of Allah, you hope for Allah's reward. When you abandon disobedience of Allah, in the light of Allah, you fear Allah's punishment." (Majumu'at ar-Rasa'il wal-Masa'il al-Najdiyya, Muhammad Rashid Rida, eds. vol4, p.99)

Whoever recognises these things must sever all links to anything other than Allah and free his heart from falsehood. Thus Allah tells us that Ibrahim, as well as our own Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be on them, smashed the idols that their people tood as gods and rejected all who worshipped them: "There is a good example for you in Ibrahim and those with him, when they told their people: Surely we disassociate ourselves from you and all that you worship beside Allah. We have done with you. And there has arisen between us and you enmity and hate forever until you believe in Allah only." [60:4]

>From beginning to end the Qur'an is a clarification of the meaning of the words, 'There is no god but Allah'. This statement is both a denial of shirk and of those who commit it, and an approval of sincerity and of those who strive for it. Every word and every deed that is dear to Allah is in some way connected to this declaration. It is the source of all noble action, its definition and its guide. This is why Allah has called it the 'declaration of fear'.

The Prophet's Companions and the Declaration of Faith

The following account illustrates the Companions' understanding and experience of the Kalima. In 170 AH someone asked Imam Sufiyan ibn Uyaynah al-Hillali * about faith. He said:

"It is in both speech and action." "But does it increase of decrease?" asked the man. "It increases as Allah wishes, and it decreases as He wishes until no more of it than this remains," and held out his hand. The man said,"So what should be our attitude towards those among us who assert that is is speech and not action?"

"This is what people used to say before the nature and limits of faith had been made clear. Of course Allah, Glorious and Mighty is He, sent his Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to all of humanity to tell them that there is no god but Allah and that he is the Messenger of Allah. Once they had accepted this, the security of their money and their lives was assured and they became accountable to Allah alone."

"When Allah was satisfied with their sincerity, He commanded His Prophet to order them to pray. He ordered them to do this and they did it. By Allah, had they not done this their first act would not have helped them."

"When Allah was satisfied with the sincerity of their prayers, He told His Prophet to order them to migrate to Madinah. By Allah, had they not done this neither their first act nor their prayers would have helped them."

"When Allah was satisfied with the sincerity of their hearts in this, He commanded them to return to Makkah to fight their fathers and their brothers until these said the Word which they had said, established the same prayer and joined the same migration. He commanded them to do this and they did it. One of them even came with the head of his father and said,'O Messenger of Allah, here is the head of a leader of the disbelievers.' By Allah, had they not done this their first act, their prayers and their migration would not have helped them."

"When Allah was satisfied with the sincerity of their hearts in this, He told His Messenger to order them to complete the rite of tawaf and to shave their heads in humility, which they did. By Allah, had they not done this their first act, their prayers, their migration and their combat with their fathers would not have helped them."

"When Allah was satisfied with the sincerity of their hearts in this He told the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to take a part of their money by which to purify themselves. He commanded them to do this and they did, giving much and giving little. By Allah, had they not done this their first act, their prayers, their migration, their combat with their fathers and their tawaf would not have helped them."

"When Allah was satisfied withe the sincerity of their hearts which were now in harmony with the nature and limits of faith, He said to them: "This day I have perfected your deen for you and have completed My blessings to you, and have chosen for you as your deen al-Islam [5:3]."

Imam Sufiyan continued: "Whoever abandons any part of faith is a disbeliever as far as wer are concerned. If this from neglect we would correct him, but he would be lacking in our eyes. This is the Sunnah. Relate it on my behalf to whoever may ask about it." (Al-Shar'a, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hussain al-Ajari, p.104)

* Imam Sufiyan ibn Uyaynah al-Hillali (107-198 AH): Imam Shafi'i said of him: "Were it not for Imams Malik and ibn Uyaynah, the learning of the Hijaz would have been lost." Imam Ahmad said, "I have not seen anyone more knowledgeable in the Sunnah than ibn Uyaynah."