Purification of the Soul between Sunnah and Innovation
Part 5
Transcribed from a lecture by Muhammad AlShareef and Ali At Tamimi
The following is Part 5:Ali At Tamimi
Part 1: 5 Symptoms of the Weakness of Īmān
Part 2: 5 Reasons for the Weakness of Īmān
Part 3: 5 Solutions for the Weakness of Īmān
Part 4: Intro to Innovations in Purification of Soul
Part 5: Innovations in Purification of Soul in Beliefs
Part 6: Innovations in Purification of Soul in Acts of Worship
Innovation in Purification of the Soul in Aspects of Beliefs
First we will look into eemaan and the belief in Allah. When we look in the Qur’aan there is a certain reality about Allah that is mentioned which is explicit. The reality mentioned in the Qur’aan is so explicit that even disbelievers can recognize this. One of these realities is that Allah, the Creator, is distinct from his creatures or the creation.
…لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ…
“There is none like unto Him”
Surah ashShoorah (42) v. 11
و لم يكن له كفوا أحد
“And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.”
Surah alIkhlaas (112) V. 4
Allah creates the creation that have the duty to obey Allah and fulfill the role or duty they were created to fulfill. For us human beings and the Jinn it is our duty to obey and worship Him. Yet you find under those people who have been influenced by these thoughts, they have this notion called Wahdat al Wujood, where they believe everything is Allah and there is no distinction between the Creator and creation. That is why a famous personality of theirs, a man by the name of alHallaj went through the streets of Baghdad saying “I am the Truth” meaning that he is Allah. So what did the ulemaa’ of Iraaq do? They gave him the opportunity to repent and his insisting upon that, they executed him and curified him. The city of Baghdad is divided by the Tigris thus there is the Eastern side and the Western side. And they put his body there to crucify on the Western side of the city so that the people on the Eastern side of the city can see the example set for people who espouse such beliefs. The people who followed alHallaj had this notion called Wahdatul Wujood or Oneness of Existence. Some others have this notion of Ittihaad and Hulool. The idea here is that you become or reach a certain spiritual state where you unite with Allah (azz wa ja’al). There is no difference between you and Allah (azz wa ja’al).
As far as we Muslims are concerned we believe that the reason we are created is to worship Allah (Azz wa ja’al), and this is found in the Verses “I have not created the men and the jinn except that they worship me” . They say that you reach this state or status of spiritual ranking called yaqeen or certitude that you are no longer required to worship Allah (Azz wa ja’al). One of them said that “Why should I stand up and perform my prayer, when the Ka’bah comes to me and goes around me.”
We have eemaan concerning the Prophet (SAW). Our belief is that He (SAW) is the messenger of Allah and he is honored with Allah’s revelation but still he is a man. As Allah says in the concluding ayaat of Surah alKahf –
…قل إنما أنا بشر مثلكم…
“Say “I am only a man like you!””
Surah alKahf (18) V. 110
Therefore we see that the Prophet (SAW) used to fall ill, he used to tire, sleep, statiate his hunger and he died (SAW). There are some who believe that the Prophet (SAW) was created from the light of Allah (SWT) and that is why some of them refer to him as the Shadowless Prophet. They say that he is not a human being rather he is light incarnated.
Regarding the righteous people , we believe that every Muslim has a degree of righteousness towards his faith. And as Allah has explained to us in the Qur’aan about the people who are righteous and he has also mentioned people referred to as awliyaa’. The word awliyaa’ comes from yali which means to be near to something. Awliyaa’ are those who are near to Allah (Azz wa ja’al), therefore every believer has a degree of nearness to Allah (Azz wa ja’al). That is why Allah when He describes the Awliyaa’, He says that they are those who have no fear from the hereafter nor do they have sadness from leaving this world. All believers have this faith and taqwa to a certain degree, thus all believer who have this faith and taqwaa are the awliyaa’. They aren’t a special class of people with superpowers. Some of them believe that the awliyaa have this system of power where at the top is the Gawth or the Qutub of the system, who is at the apex of the system. And he is to be prayed to and underneath him are 4 other awliyaa’ who represent the four corners of the earth. They haven’t proved their gepgraphy of the world, the earth being round and so forth. And under these four are seven and under the seven are forty and each village having one. And all of these awliyaa’ meet yearly at Ghaar al Hira, the Cave of Hira, and they have their meeting and talk about the affairs of the muslims. This is their superstitious belief of the awliyaa. One time at the Masjid an Nabwee we across some farmers from Sa’eed in Upper Egypt and these are simple people but as many of the rural people in the Islamic world they had beliefs and practices that oppose the Islamic Beliefs. And one of them made du’aa to the Prophet (SAW) asking for a need. And one of the Brothers with us started talking to this man and told him that you should always direct all your acts of worship towards Allah. And the man got really mad and he said that the world is divided into four parts, and each part has an Imam and since we are in the Hijaz where there is Makkah and Medina, we make du’aa to the Prophet (SAW), when we are in Egypt it is Badawi, and in Shaam it is Ibn ‘Arabi, and in Iraaq it is Abdul Qadir al Jeelaanee. So I asked him I am from America who is responsible for my part of the world and he didn’t know the answer, but the point is these are corruptions in beliefs. And another time a similar incident occurred where the brothers in Medina after our Halaqa at the Masjid anNabwee we were walking towards the grave of the Prophet (SAW) to send salaam upon Him (SAW) and we met a Turkish brother who inquired about us because we were wearing Arab clothes and speaking in English. We talked to the Brother and told him that we are students at the University and he asked about what they were learning, and he asked about this book I was carrying. I explained to him that it was a book of beliefs of a muslim that he should make du’aa to only Allah. And the man was shocked and said that he just came from the Grave of the Prophet (SAW) and asked him for forgiveness. So I said to them that these brothers with me used to be Christians and I asked them who did you used to pray to before you become muslim, and they said they prayed to Jesus, and I asked the man what is the difference between you and them. So these are examples of corruption in the belief.
Likewise concerning Paradise and Hell, we are taught in the Qur’aan and the du’aas of the Prophet (SAW) to seek Paradise and seek protection from the Fire of Hell. And once a Bedouin comes to the Prophet (SAW) and tells him that I can not say these big du’aas which you and Mu’aadh say. So the Prophet (SAW) asked him what he makes du’aa or and he tells the Prophet (SAW) that he asks for Jannah and protection from fire, and the Prophet (SAW) said to him that this is what all their du’aas are regarding.
We believe that Shaytaan is an unbeliever and Firawn as well. Some of them say that Firawn was a true believer because he said ”I am your Lord most High” . This is because they say that Firawn understood the concept of Wahdatul Wujood or the Oneness of Existence. They even went as far as to say that Firawn understood tawheed better than Moosa (AS).
Part 1: 5 Symptoms of the Weakness of Īmān
Part 2: 5 Reasons for the Weakness of Īmān
Part 3: 5 Solutions for the Weakness of Īmān
Part 4: Intro to Innovations in Purification of Soul
Part 5: Innovations in Purification of Soul in Beliefs
Part 6: Innovations in Purification of Soul in Acts of Worship
IBN AL HYDERABADEE 