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

(Love and Hate for Allah's Sake)

by Muhammad Sa'eed Al Qahtani

~ Chapter 4 of the Book, entitled: 'Al Wala' wa'l Bara' Authored by: Muhammad Sa'eed Al Qahtani ~

According to Ibn al-Qayim, belief in Divine Unity is not simply saying that Allah is the sole Creator and that He is Lord and Master of all things. This was what the pagans used to say, while at the same time worshipping many gods. Belief in Divine Unity does not only mean love of Allah, but also submission to Him, humility before Him, complete obedience to Him, and devotion to Him in all our words and deeds, in what we hold on to and in what we give, in our love and in our hate. It can never be confused with the urge to disobey, or to do as you please in misguided self interest.

Whoever takes this to heart will understand the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Certainly Allah has forbidden the Fire from taking whoever says 'There is no god but Allah', and who says this for the pleasure of Allah.";(1) and in another hadith, "whoever says 'there is no god but Allah, shall not enter the Fire."

So what do these reports really mean? Many people have misunderstood them, going so far as to say that these statements were later abrogated, and that they were made before teh completion of the shari'ah, before we knew what we must and must not do. Others have said that the fire they refer to is the hell of the disbelievers, while others still interpret the actual entering of the fire to mean entering it for eternity; thus "..shall not enter the Fire (for eternity)." These are just a few of their baseless interpretations.

In fact, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not say that this would occur merely by pronouncing the declaration of faith; this would contradict our entire understanding of Islam. The hypocrites say these words with their tongues, but they are bound for the deepest pit of Hell, and will be punished even more severely than those who actively dispute the fact that there is no other god than He. What is being referred to is, of course, a matter of both the heart and the tongue.

While the heart must believe, it must also realise the truth: it must realise the meaning of the words of the declaration of faith, of what they deny and what they affirm; realise that there is no other divinity than Allah; and realise that the attribution of divinity to anything else is quite impossible. Thus its meaning must be taken to heart consciously and deliberately, with certainty and urgency. This is what protects you from the Fire.

This recalls the story of the man who had murdered a hudred men, and though faith arose in his heart he took no notice of it, pushing it out of his breast; but when he came to death's door it again entered his heart and so he was one of those who entered Paradise. (2)

And also the account about the prostitute whose heart was moved by the sight of a dog dying of thirst by the side of a well, eating the dust in desperation. With no higher purpose or hope of reward, she filled her shoe to the brim and gave it to the dog. Though people usually beat it she took it by the paw and stilled it until it had drunk, knowing that it could neither reward her nor even thank her in any way. Her supreme act of love wiped out all her previous sins and this is how she was forgiven. (3)

Imam Muslim reports a hadith in which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, says, "Whoever says, There is no god but Allah, and denies whatever he used to worship beside Allah, will find that his life and his property are protected, and his reward is with Allah." (4)

Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab points out that this is the greatest proof we have of the real meaning of the declaration of faith, since neither life nor property are protected simply by pronounicng these words; indeed thre is no significance at all in just saying them, nor in advocating them, nor in calling on Allah alone. Your life and your property are not protected until you actually deny whatever you used to worship beside Allah; and if you have any doubt or hesitation about that, then you are still outside Islam. (5)

This should make clear the error of the Murji'a sect (6), who said that faith was equivalent to knowledge, and disbelief to ignorance, and who in this way severed deeds from belief. Everyone knows that the pagans of Makkah understood what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, meant by saying, "There is no god but Allah". They understood it and they believed it, but they arrogantly refused to acknowledge it; so their faith in the One God, the Provider, the Bringer of Life and Death, did not benefit them at all. When the Prophet told them, "Say there is no god but Allah", they said: "Does he make the gods One God? Surely that is an astounding thing." [38:5]

The strange thing is that while the disbelievers know that the declaration of faith is more than just saying the words, some think that these reports mean that a simple utterance of the words 'there is no god but Allah', with none of their meaning entering the heart, is all that is required. But wiser people understand that it means that there is no creator other than Allah: no other provider, giver of life, bringer of death, and no other who holds all things in his hand. However, there is still no benefit to be gained by knowing what the declaration of faith means if you are without any belief. This throws new light on the meaning of those reports in which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentions the simple repitition of these words, such as, "I have been ordered to struggle against people until they say 'There is no god but Allah'." (7)

Some people hope to imply by this that whoever recites the declaration of faith is not a disbeliever, and that we should not oppose him, regardless of whatever else he does. These people should recall that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, fought the Jews and cursed them even though they said, 'There is no god but Allah'. Not only this, but also the Companions of the Prophet fought the Bani Hanifa who not only said, "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah", but also prayed and claimed to be Muslims; this was the same for the people whom Ali ibn Abi Talib burned alive for saying that he was an incarnation of Allah.

However, when you ask these people about the case of someone who denies the rising of the dead, they say that he has disbelieved and that we should fight him, even he says, 'there is no god but Allah'. They agree that whoever disputes any of the five pillars of Islam has disbelieved and should be opposed with the pen and the sword, even though he may pronounce the declaration of faith.

The contradiction here is that none of these denials involve the central tenet of Islam, which is the affirmation of Divine Unity, and yet these people are prepared to go to war over them; but when it is a matter of someone who denies the very essence of belief, the Diving Unity of God, then they provide him with an excuse for its denial, even though it is the very source and foundation of the deen.

So it becomes clear that these people are the enemies of Allah, and that they have not understood at all the meaning of what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has said: It is well known that when a man declares himself to be a Muslim we should act prudently towards him until he does something that clearly contradicts his claim. Allah says: "O you who believe! When you go out (to fight) in the way of Allah, be careful, and do not say to one who offers you peace: 'Your are not a believer', seeking the chance profits of this life (so that you may despoil him). With Allah are plenteous spoils. You too were like this once, and Allah gave you hope, so be careful; surely Allah is well aware of what you do." [4:94]

This verse indicates the necessity of restraint until such time as you are sure about the situation, since Allah says: "be careful". If it becomes clear that someone is at odds with Islam, then fight him. If this were not the case, then the command to verify the situation before fighting would meaningless.

Similarly the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said of the Kharijites, "Wherever you find them fight them, for were I to discover them I would destroy them utterly, as the people of Ad were destroyed." (8) He said this even though they were meticulously observant in their dedication and in their worship, so much so that the companions, with whom they studied, felt humbled before them. Their declaration of faith, however, did not benefit them, and neither did the fullness of their worship, nor indeed their service to Islam, once they had abandoned the Shari'ah.(9)

Any intelligence person knows that if this whole matter hinged upon a single word, a mere word, then it would have been a simple thing for the Quraish to say it. They would have said, 'There is no god but Allah', saving both themselves a lot of trouble and their gods from ridicule. But they knew that the declaration of faith also involved a commitment, and it was this commitment that threatened their power and status in the land.

The point here is that Islam is a force that liberates all people from the unjust slavery of one to another, and places mankind at the service of the One, the Victorious. The degree of their fear of Allah became the measure of their worth and excellence among people. Thus the habits and customs of the jahiliyyah, inherited from parents and grandparents, had no place. Every good hearted, sincere Muslim must strive towards the full realisation of the declaration of faith, in order that each and every one of us may worship Allah with insight, knowledge, and certainty. This is the real challenge of Islam.

				Notes

1)      Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Masajid, 1/356.
2)      See Sahih Bukhari, Kitab al-Anbia', 6/512, (3470); and Sahih Muslim,
	Kitab at-Tawba, 4/2118 (2766)
3)      Ibn al-Qayim, Madarij as-Salikin, 1/330-332.
4)      Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Iman, 1/53, (23).
5)      Ibn Abdul Wahhab, Kitab at-Tawhid, p.115.
6)      The Murji'a sect believed that belief is all that is needed to reach
	the Garden
7)      Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Iman, 1/51, (20)
8)      Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Zakat, 2/742, (1064)
9)      Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab, Kashaf ash-Shubuhat, p.40. The Kharijites
	believed that committing major wrong actions turns a Muslim into an
	unbeliever.