Aqeedah alTahawiyyah - Explained

Guest

These are my lecture notes from the event. I tried to make them as comprehensive as possible, I think i may have succeeding in getting like 90-95% of all info. If there are any mistakes then I apologise in advance, because he was talking quite fast and i missed some Arabic words and titles of books/authors etc.
If you dont understand anything, then ask because intention is not to confuse anyone with serious doubts.

It was a really good lecture alhamdulillah and the Shaykh is a really good speaker too. The true beauty of Aqeedah alTahawiyyah is amazing, the Arabic is not too difficult to understand and even the English translation captures this love

Intro to Shaykh AbdurRahmaan ibn Yusuf: http://www.whitethreadpress.com/authors/shaykh_abdurrahman.htm

Intro to Aqeedah alTahawiyyah: http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/misc/tahawi.htm

Hope these are beneficial in any way inshaa'Allah.
I havent formatted them in any special way, because I dont know quite how to set it out....i've just typed up as i wrote things down, so sometimes the Shaykh went off on a tangent etc, ive tried to differentiate between topics and points.

Smile

Guest

- Imaam al-Tahawi was known as a Faqih, jurist, not a theologian.

- Shaykh Baaz accepts Aqeedah al-Tahawiyyah, but slight differences on certain points.

- The formatting of the text reflects the important points then comes back to them to reiterate their significance.

- This work on aqeedah is the individual ijtihad of Imaam al-Tahawi. Aqeedah = the creed which substantiates the fundamental beliefs of the Muslims. Rejection of some points which are the essential beliefs results in kufr.

- Instead of doing outright takfeer, due to its severity and caution as mentioned in ahadeeth, it is better to establish a person’s true belief by finding out if they have a corruption of understanding and whether they hold the specific kufr notions [so instead of declaring takfeer on certain groups and sects, criteria should be that if a certain kufr thought is held then that is an act of kufr].

- Aqeedah is the creed and articles of belief, they were not codified by Rasulullah SAW but done so later on to resolve fitnaa issues. For example, after Rasulullah SAW’s death, at the time of Caliphate of Abu Bakr RA, people began to apostate which carried on into the time of Umar RA, however this was not as much. From the time of Uthmaan RA, there were theological conflicts and when Ali RA’s Caliphate – problem of the Khawarij [explained further later]

- Aql is the intellect that every human has but how much should be used and when? At the time of Harun Rashid, Darul Hikmah was a translating establishment where the Greek philiosphy of the time was translated into Syriac and then into Arabic where it was preserved, as the Greeks were destroying their works. Although people did not accept all the works of the philiosophical thought, they were influenced by it and tried to reconcile it with Shariah, and due to their aql, they gave preference to these worldly ideas.

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Khawarij: comes from خروج - to secede, stop existing. Literalists who went to the extreme, for example if someone commits zinaa, which is a major sin, then this person is not a mu’min. If he did not do tawbah, then he is regarded as a kaafir and thus, should be persecuted. Hence the reason for the conflicts the Khawarij created. They declared Ali RA and Mu’awiyyah RA to be killed as during the Battle of Siffin, the Khawarij thought they had gone against Qur’aanic injunctions.

Mu’tazila: a group which held beliefs contrary to the majority Muslim opinion. They held extreme beliefs of Tawheed which arose from questions such as: ‘How can Allah be seen in the Hereafter? This compromises His Oneness.’

- Everything Allah gives/accepts from us if from His Grace, not because of our actions.

- المنزل بين منزلتين : this is when a Muslim commits a major sin, he is no longer pious, though he is not yet a disbeliever, he is in between and this will be reflected in a special stage in Hell for these people. This belief originated at the time of Hasan Basri.

- They also say that good and bad is decided by human aql and not by Allah, so if our aql says something is good or bad then Allah has also to go by the decision of it being good/bad.

- Dr Khalid of Los Angeles and Ziauddin Sardar consider themselves to be Mu’tazilite.

- The stepfather of Abul Hasan al-Ash’ari, Abu Ali al-Jubbaee was a great teacher of the Mu’tazilites. They lived in Basra, which was known as ‘fitnah kaa ghar’.-

- Imaam Abu Hanifah was said to have gone to Basra 20 times to settle conflicts of deen. Kufa was known as home to shirk and they are the people who betrayed Husayn RA.

- Al Ashari disappeared for a number of days and returned after 20 days, went to the front of the masjid and renounced any Mu’tazilite beliefs, by removing an outer garment and using it as a similtitude of removing Mu’tazilite beliefs. One of the main reasons for this was because of asking Jubbaee a question about the Mu;tazili concept of Allah having to do what is in the best interests of the people and Jubbaaee could not reply sufficiently. Ash’ari’s students expanded on his ideas, therefore they were not always his ideas.

- Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal had to deal with the Mu’tazili problems, alongside the son of Caliph Harun Rashid. This was because the beliefs of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah (ASWJ) was different to them.

- ASWJ believed that all of Allah’s Qualities exist beyond time and are eternal like Allah, such as His Kalaam (speech). However, Mu’tazili couldn’t fathom the fact that sifaat (attributes) exist separate to Allah and they said that the Allah created His Kalaam in a different place and is therefore, created. But ASWJ say the Kalaam is uncreated.

- Mu’tassim Billah, a later leader whipped Imaam Ahmed bin Hanbal to denounce this ‘uncreated’ belief. It was so severe that a surgeon was used to operate on his wounds and he reports that Imaam Ahmad continually made duaa for Mu’tassim as he was a descendent of Abbaas and he said he did not want this case to be brought up in the Great Court of Allah. Mu’tassim was not necessarily fully Mu’tazili but shared this belief of Kalaam being Created.

- This whole topic was known as ‘ilmul Kalaam’ and brought a lot of controversy due to the different opinions. It is when confusion is created that people delve into these matters. Some ulema have been noted as saying that it is better to meet Allah with shirk than with Kalaam [to have committed these sins by thinking/saying things about these matters], this is because people needlessly argued about the Kalaam issue.

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- Before the time of Eesa AS, philosophy was a hot topic. Plato was a student of Aristotle and these Greek philosophers concealed and destroyed many of their works to hide the knowledge. But the works of Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) helped to develop these works. However, they left it after a while and they were further developed by Jewish/Christian philosophers such as Thomas of Aquinas and Moses Memonites, thus originally Muslim philosophers contributed greatly.

- Neo-Platonism, this was where the ideas of Plato and Aristotle were reconciled by Plotinus.

- There are two ways through which people receive guidance: ‘aql, personal intellect and naql, revelation to the masses. Imaam Ghazali (date of death 505, known as the mujaddid of the 4th century) mentioned that revelation is not necessarily needed if individuals of ‘aql are present, hence the reason for philosophers being taken as prophet-like figures.

- Occasionalist theory: where a knife cannot cut without permission from Allah, fire doesn’t burn without permission from Allah. Allah gives individual permission to every single thing, but that does not mean you wait for the knife and say ‘Allah will make it chop the vegetables’, that is your action which Allah gives you ability to do. Allah SWT took away the knife’s ability when Ibraaheem AS was willing to sacrifice Ismaaeel AS, and stopped the fire’s burn when Ibraaheem AS was in the fire.

- Ghazali wrote books on this topic, Maqaasid al Filasaphiya and Tahaaful al Filasaphiya. He criticised 20 points of the phisophers with 3 being acts of kufr.

1) Emanationist Thoery (NeoPlato Theory), where they believed the world emanated from Allah. So ten aqls created, with the first = aql al-oola, and the tenth is the active intellect which governs the world and takes care of the affairs of world. A book which explains these is ‘muayn al falsa’,

2) Allah does not know the particulars.

3) Believing resurrection of souls and not physical resurrection.

- Philosophy is okay to study, like mantiq study = logic. However, the study of metaphysical concepts = dangerous territory. We need to know all this due to the current fitnah.

Intro to Imaam Tahawi: Great jurist and muhaddith of the Hanafi school of thought. From Tahaa in Egypt. He mentioned the names of Imaam Abu Hanifah and the Shaykhayn in his intro to this text due to their popularity at the time.

- He died. 933 or 321 AH (Ash’ari DOD is 324 and Maturidi DOD is 333, but Allahu Alam if they met or not)

- The reason for the Ash’ari and Maturidi schools of Aqeedah being created was to be counter-Mu’tazili, but it was codified and clarified with other issues as further fitnah arose. You do not have to one of them at all, and there is nothing wrong with assigning yourself to either too. There are slight differences between the two, but these are minor and nothing which constitutes declaring each other kufr.

The 3 concepts of Aqeedah study:

1) Ilaahiyyat – Divine aspects, constitutes 50% and this is the most complicated as it is to do with Allah and His Sifaat (attributes).

2) Nabuwwat – Prophets, miracles, awliyaa etc

3) Mughayyabah – Eschatology, Heaven, Hell, Day of Judgement, Hereafter, Angels etc.

- Imaam Abu Hanifah was interestingly an Imaam of Aqeedah before fiqh, therefore a theologian. He was said to have wrote five books but doubt as to whether he actually authored them all. He was of the Salaf, doubt as to whether he related from Anas ibn Malik but he did see him at a very young age. In his school of thought, there are 10/15 opinions which are not explicit to Imaam himself, but his students. Like the theologian and author of Fathul Qadeem and other Hanafi scholars allowed ta’weel of aayahs to take place, however Imaam Abu Hanifah did not agree with this personally.

- The Maaturidi school did not essentially start with Abul Mansur alMaaturidi, he took his fiqh and aqeedah from Imaam Abu Hanifah, thus it can be said that the original founder was Imaam Abu Hanifah and Maturidi simply codified the teachings. This school is also older than that of the Ash’aris. However, Ash’aris have more following as they were more developed and produced more literature. Abul Mu’een anNasafi, Tabseeratul Adillah is a great book/author representing the Maturidis.

- Maalikis = Most Ash’ari. Shaafiis = Most Ash’ari, some Maaturidi. Hanafis = Majority are Maaturidi, minority are Mu’tazili. Hanbalis = Asl, ie neither and use only Qur’aan and Sunnah, some turned to Anthropomorphism and some Hashawiyyah (not as extreme as anthropomorphists, but take aayahs as literal, aka Athari)

- Taqleed in aqeedah, the blind following of someone is not permissible. This is when you would give up beliefs if they gave them up etc. Following interpreations if no other means available would be permissible.

- Taqleed in fiqh, Nawawi and Ibnu Hajar alAsqalani = Shaafi. Ibn Taymiyyah = Hanbali, although he did tafarrudaat where isolated opinions were given, but this is okay as he was at the level to do ijtihaad. Example given of Shaykh Yunus of Saharanpur who is also at the level of doing this.

Guest

Aqeedah alTahawiyyah

[Arabic and English. English Translation used was Zaytuna Institute and Hamza Yusuf’s. This was reproduced with permission from them especially for this class, therefore I have only included the text of the points which the Shaykh explained further and expanded upon. He gave the background info for a lot of the topic then read through many points, which made it easier to understand. The exact text when copied is inserted with speech marks. Shaykh preferred to use ‘Allah’ in place of ‘God’. The points are numbered as they are numbered throughout the text.]

1) “God is One, without partner”. Allah is One in His Dhaat (Essence). Complete Uniqueness in All Attributes. Allamah Raazi’s tafseer for the beginning of Suratul Hadeed is very good for this expansion)

2) “Nothing is like Him”. ‌ۚ لَيۡسَ كَمِثۡلِهِۦ شَىۡءٌ۬ (42:11)

5) “He is preexistent without origin, eternal without end” – if something has always been there then it also has to be there always without any end. Butlaan Tassalsul, infinite regress – this is when you go all the way back to prove where does Allah come from? But in the end, where does the first cause issue end? It doesn’t make sense otherwise giving Him temporal being. Like, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Therefore, Allah = first cause, always been there.
The use of a negated attribute (salbiyya) for Allah is better to use than an established attribute (thubutiyya) as easier to say all that Allah is not than to say He is from something when in reality He isn’t. The word قديم negates the fact that there was a beginning.

8 ) “Imaginations cannot attain Him; comprehensions cannot perceive Him”. الأوهام
= imaginations and الأفهام = comprehensions. People doing ta’weel from their faham and waham or doing mutashaabihaat, by delving into these matters.

9) “Creatures do not bear any similarity to Him”. Ash’aris say that things are made up of atoms, جوهرة . One jawhara joins another and collection of these make a جسم which is basically a body of a thing. It is characterised by عرض and cannot exist by themselves. Jawhara need aaraad for distinction like a red chair, you cannot extract the redness, or you cannot extract the anger from someone.

10) “Alive, He never dies; all-sustaining, He never sleeps”. Nothing tires Him out, All Aware at all times. حيّ is a condition for all the other sifaat.
What is the proof in the Qur’aan for Allah’s existence? There is none, this is because Qur’aan contains the issue of Tawheed and Allah. At any one given time, the majority of the world have at least one concept of a supreme being or God, like even in dire emergencies, when dying etc. However, only few staunch Athiests denounce completely. All it takes is Laa Illaaha Illallah…made up of three simple letters, it’s the key to Jannah. Imaan Fitriyy is the primordial nature. Imaan Kasbiyy is to reinforce or reaffirm the imaan. Where you are responsible for actions after buloogh (puberty)

11) “He is a creator without any need to create and a provider without any stores of provision”. Creation was made for us to recognise Him but there was no need for Allah to create us, he did not need to do so. He is able to just do anything, no stores for food and rizq, nothing will replenish.

12) “He seized life without fear and resurrects without effort”. From hadeeth, 50,000 years prior to the creation of the world, the qalam and tablet created. This world is Darul Ibtidaa, the abode of tests. No-one will get their state in the Afterlife without understanding and realising why, like a kaafir will understand why he got Hellfire. True reality opens up after death, and what the real truth about life actually is, instead of the confidence displayed on Earth, this was a ‘false’ confidence.

13) “Just as He was possessed of His attributes prior to His creation, so He remains with the same attributes without increasing in them as a result of His creation coming into being”. After developing or making something, that’s when people gain recognition for it and become famous, but this is not with Allah.

Guest

[break for nikaah khutbah, after this Shaykh talked a bit about nikaah and divorce and marriage]

Allamah Shaabaani recommends that every so often, couples should refresh their nikaah. This is because if you say something which takes you out of the fold of Islaam, then the next worship you do, like salaah, wudhu etc makes it all okay, your eemaan has been refreshed, but your nikaah has been broken.

Guest

Sifaat

There is a difference between الأسماء (names) and صفات (attributes). Attributes are a possession of certain qualities. In other religions, there is only the concept of God being One of Mercy, that’s why they cannot understand when there is ‘evil/destruction’ in the world. Like when the Archbishop of Canterbury said after the news of the Tsunami – ‘it shook my faith’. However, in Islam, Allah encompasses many more attributes.

- ASWJ say that Allah can only have names of qualities if He Possesses the attributes, but Mu’tazili and philosophers negated attributes.

- Mu’tazili: multitude of eternal attributes, but this means many and thus cannot be with Allah as He is Alone Eternal. They denied the attributes like Allah is All Hearing but he does not have the ability to hear (believing that which is in the Qur’aan only, only the Dhaat of Allah and nothing separate).

- ASWJ: they say that you cannot hold the opinion of attributes being independent of Allah as that gives many entities as being eternal. And you cannot also say that they are Allah Himself as this rejects Allah as His Dhaat and attributes being another. They are ‘neither Him nor neither not Him’, this is a hypostatic existence. Therefore, ASWJ have a negative statement as a stance. We have to believe that Allah has Attributes and this is separate to His Dhaat. They are associated but not exactly the same. For example, is sight essential and needed to be a human being? No, it is not, thus it is associated but does not have to be there.

Sifaat Nafsiyyah, relating to وجود (existence).
Negated Attributes, Salbiyyah. [There are 5 but I only got down 4]

1) Does not have a beginning
2) Does not have an end
3) No other like Him
4) Absolute dissamiliraty to any other created beings.

Affirmative Attributes, Sifaat Thubutiyya/Dhaatiyyah

1) Life حياة
2) Knowledge علم
3) Will/intention إرادة
4) Power قدرة
5) Hearing سمع
6) Sight بصر
7) Speech كلام

Meanings of words which are used later on:

Cannot put into time units, eternal قديم

Created, originated, has time span حادث

Guest

More to follow inshaa'Allah.

Subject: Re: Aqeedah alTahawiyyah - Explained Tue Jun 22, 2010 9:00 am

There's no audio is there?

Quote :: Allamah Shaabaani recommends that every so often, couples should refresh their nikaah. This is because if you say something which takes you out of the fold of Islaam, then the next worship you do, like salaah, wudhu etc makes it all okay, your eemaan has been refreshed, but your nikaah has been broken.

With regards to this part about salaah making things better, what is meant is that in salaah the shahaadah is recited thus it renews your eemaan in case you had done something which canceled it.

Guest

Admin wrote:

There's no audio is there?

Quote :: Allamah Shaabaani recommends that every so often, couples should refresh their nikaah. This is because if you say something which takes you out of the fold of Islaam, then the next worship you do, like salaah, wudhu etc makes it all okay, your eemaan has been refreshed, but your nikaah has been broken.

With regards to this part about salaah making things better, what is meant is that in salaah the shahaadah is recited thus it renews your eemaan in case you had done something which canceled it.

not yet, it was recorded though and if i get it then will upload inshaa'Allah.

Guest

Next category = Sifaat Ma’nawiyyaah: ismul faa’il of the seven previous ones, the entitative attributes like Samee’, Baseer etc.
1) Hayyu, Allah being the EverLiving One.
2) Aalim, All Knowing
3) – [didn’t get this one]
4) Qadeer, All Powerful
5) Samee’, All Hearing
6) Baseer, All Seeing
7) Mutakallim, Speaker

Are these attributes temporal or eternal? Eternal, as Allah has nothing temporal associated with Him, no developments or updates. He is as He has always been.

- Additional attribute = takween, from kawn, to make something to be or bring something into being. This part is controversial as there is disagreement between the Asha’aris and Maaturidees. Asha’aris = consider it to be temporal. Maaturidi = consider it to be eternal.

- The athar of the sifah, Creating gives creation. Masmoo’aat = anything considered to be heard.

- The ma’lumaat of Allah, more than the maqduraat (Allamah Tafzani in Sharhul Aqaaid). Where and how far does Allah’s Qudrah extend? What comes under Allah’s Qudrah?

- There are 3 entities:

1) Waajibul Wujood: Necessary Existent One. Omission of this leads to the infinite regress. Allah and His Sifaat = Only Waajibul Wujood.

2) Mustaheel Wujood: Impossibly/ inconceivably existent. Another God is not conceivable.

3) Mumkinul Wujood: Possibly Existent. Creation, we were uniexistent, purely in the ma’lumaat of Allah and we had not been an athar of His Qudrah yet. Allah through His Will decided we would be created.

- Allah’s Qudrah is not over and does not cover the Mustaheel Wujoob: He cannot make a wall that He cannot break, or make another same God.

- Ibn Hazm alDhaahiri, from the Dhaahiri thought. Condemned for the following: Logically ‘wAllahu shay’in Qadeer’, therefore He can Create but chooses to not do so. However, ASWJ say that this is a self defying concept and it is self destructive. It goes against what Allah is, it eliminates the sifah of Qudrah, otherwise he’d become aajiz.

Ta’alluq – Association of the Sifah, of two types:

1) Saluhi: potential ta’alluq. He has Qudra/ability over it but hasn’t done so yet = Qadeem.

2) Tanjeezi: rough trans would be – do something in action. Maqduraat, after its been created, its made the association.

‘Ilm + Ma’loomaat --> Qadeem.

The setting of an alarm clock for Fajr:
- Saluhi is the ability it has to ring but it doesn’t until the actual time
- Tanjeezi is the ringing of it at Fajr.

Subject: Re: Aqeedah alTahawiyyah - Explained Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:26 am

Quote :: not yet, it was recorded though and if i get it then will upload inshaa'Allah.

Quote :: Additional attribute = taqween, from qawn, to make something to be or bring something into being.

It's takween with a kaaf.

Quote :: Mustaheenul Wujood

It's mustaheel with a laam on the end.

Quote :: Allah’s Qudrah is not over and does not cover the Mustaheenul Wujoob: He cannot make a wall that He cannot break, or make another same God.

I don't know why he said this, some 'ulamaa have said that it's kufr to say as he's said because it's a kufr question to start with, hence why a person is not allowed to ask such a question.

Guest

jazakAllah thumbs up

he was talking about how some children think of Allah and then associate Him with the powerful things they know like the Power Rangers etc and then it was expanded into how Allah is the All Powerful and None like Him etc.

Guest

Takween:

- is a seperate sifah/collection of sifah according to Maaturidis.
- Ash’aris say there is a semantic difference: ta’alluq of the sifah of qudrah, ‘kun’ has to be used to create something thus it goes in to Kalaam category.
- Maaturidis say that this does not render it into Kalaam but only a metaphor or expression at the speed of at which Allah can Create. Although, some Maaturidis do say that there may be an indication in the Qur’aan that Allah uses it, He may or He may not thus best to leave it to Allah, however all do not deny the effects of Allah.
- Maaturidis and Ash’aris regard ta’alluqat to be haadith, but Maaturidis say takween is an additional attribute, whereas Ash’aris say just ta’alluqat.

Iraada:

-Associated with the Dhaat of Allah.
- Azliyyah: specifies every possible being and whether it will come into wujood or not and everything else to do with it.
The sifah of hayah explained further:
- Sifah azliyyah
- Eternal
- Associated to the Dhaat of Allah
- From which comes forth everything possible
- Keeps everything inexistent in inexistence.
Logically, knowledge comes before Iraada.

Ilm:

- Azliyyah
- Assiociated with the jamee’al waajibat, All Comprehensive.
- Knows all absolutue states without any preceding states of ignorance, there was not ignorance and then knowledge. It’s always been there.

Kalaam:

-Azliyyah
-Qaaimatun biDhaatihi ta’ala.
-Laysat biharf wabissawt, without letters or sounds. He is not in need of a language, thus speech without a language. His Eternal Speech is revealed in an Earthly or worldly language.
-Transcendent and pure, no need to construct a sentence to make sense when heard. He is not silent.
-Kalaam not afflicted by any restrictions or calamities.
-Free of all restrictions.
-In its original form, we cannot comprehend.
-Musa AS, the kaleem of Allah, special address was given to him where Allah spoke to him. There is a difference in opinion between the Ash’aris and Maaturidies as to how this took place.
-Ash’aris – not heard through the ears but the sound was absorbed through every pore of his body. This was an exceptional miracle only to Musa AS.
-Maaturidis – Allah spoke to other prophets, so why are they not also kaleem? (like Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

) It is indicated in the verse that ‘min as-shajarah’, heard from the tree, so Allah created speech was reflected in the tree and not direct Speech.
-The Qur’aan is a miracle revealed to Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

, it is a mu’jiza which cannot be challenged.
-Some isolated Hanbalis consider Allah to have Speech with huroof and sawt. Bukhaari also thought this but not as extreme in belief. These Hanbalis also believe/d that the ghilaaf/cover of the mus’haf is also Qadeem.
-Kalaam Lafthee = composed for this world and it is not Kalaam Nafseey.

Sam’a:

-Azliyyah
-Qaaimatun biDhaatihi Ta’ala
-Can See everything, even what we cannot and do not perceive to be seen. We cannot see angels, jinns etc. Like the issue of different wavelengths/frequencies.

Guest

18) “That is because He is Omnipotent. Everything is dependent upon Him, and every affair is effortless for Him. He needs nothing, and “There is nothing like Him, yet He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” (Qur’aan 42:11)”
Nothing like the like of Him. This distances from the possibility of anything being like Him and nothing like the like of him too.
“ليس كمثله شيء” Literal trans = Nothing like (the prefix of ‘ka’) the like of Him (mithlihi).
Shaykhul Akbar, Ibnu Arabi:
“Whoever really understands this aayah will never ponder over the state of Allah. No need to worry the mind/thoughts with these concepts. Too much to fathom for us.”

19) “He originated the creation with Omniscience”.
His Knowledge preceded everything. Eternal. Encompasses everything. Before we’re in creation, He Knows every detail/everything about us.
-Taqdeer: is the lawh mahfoudh just ‘amr or akhbaar? Its akhbaar because if it is ‘amr then we have no freewill. Allah knew what we were going to do and it was already written.
-Qadriyyah: the proponents of freewill.
-Jabriyyah: the compulsionists – man is like a feather in the wind, blown by Divine Decree, has no control. Therefore, they are Determinists.
-Human = kaasib of actions, he has the ability and is allowed to do so.
-Allah = Creator of actions.
-ASWJ: Ash’aris, Maaturidis, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Rushd all in the middle, freewill and taqdeer go together.
-Without freewill you don’t have any accountability.
-Abul Hasan al-Ash’ari gave little room for freewill, very similar to the Jabriyyah but later scholars redefined and made more similar to Maaturidis.
-Ibn Rushd – establishes freewill for humans. Internal factors such as tiredness and external factors such as the weather influence our actions, but Allah has overall control and is able to manipulate these.
-Ash’aris and early Maaturidis: Nothing Allah does is out of compulsion. To reconcile kasb and khalq. Partial choice in a man to free him from absolute compulsion. Its a compelling choice.
-Suicide does not always result in death, because death is written at a specific time. If they die, its not in their control but still Allah’s as this suicide was just a dhaahiri asbaab. However, Mu’tazili say life is cut short.
-You cannot complain about taqdeer and use it to justify your actions/sins because you have no way of knowing its in your qadr anyway.
-Mawjood = existent. Ghayr mawjood = non-existent.
-Abu Hashim Al-Jubbaee, the son of the teacher of the Mu’tazilis brought up ahwaal – states of existent but not existent, its between the two. The Maaturidis took this from them. Everything mawjood was created by Allah.
-Eeqaa is a haal between the two, this is a special position and free will belongs in this, this avoids criticism as it frees them and could be either state.
Is the human musayyar (under compulsion, driven) or mukhayyar (given free choice)? Both.
-We must not look/think of what Allah has willed/written for us. Concentrate on the ability of what is given.
-Missing sunnah muakkadah continuosly = blameworthy. Abul Hayy Luknowy has a risalah on this.
-Actions are according to intentions, yes, but its not just this. A hadeeth says something similar to hitting the target, not just getting close to it.
-Servant’s/human’s perception = have ikhtiyaar. Therefore, mukhayyar within the realm of being musayyar under the will of Allah. A human is ‘suratul mukhayyar’ but in reality musayyar.

26) “He Guides, Protects and Preserves whomever He Wills by grace. He Misguides, forsakes and afflicts whomever He Wills by justice”

Hidaayah is directing someone to the correct way, give guidance. Only Allah can guide and take a human to the correct path. Like Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

guiding Abu Taalib.

Shaykh’s point, maybe better translation would have been ‘He allows them to stray’ instead of ‘He Misguides’.

55) Some people would ask whether Allah loved Umar RA before he was a Muslim, but its “The judgement of one’s deeds lies in one’s final assertive act”.

57) “The essence of the divine decree is Allah’s secret within creation. No intimate angel or prophetic emissary has ever been privy to it.”

Some angels know some things from the Lawh Mahfoudh for their daily jobs but not the full ‘Ilm.

62) “Whatever misses a person could not have afflicted him. And whatever afflicts him could not have missed him”

It is all specific and direct for an individual.

65) “So woe to whomever on account of the decree becomes antagonistic with Allah, the Sublime and Exalted. In his desire to plumb its depths, he summons a morbid heart; in his delusion, he seeks a secret concealed in the unseen, only to end up, in whatever he says concerning it, a wicked forger of lies”.

The challenger of Allah, woe and destruction on him. He has a sick heart.

Guest

Istithnaa’ :

- Some Ash’aris say you should say ‘ana mu’min inshaa’Allah’.
- Maaturidis say you just say ‘ana mu’min’ because you are presently one and say inshaa’Allah only for tabarruk (blessing), be optimistic

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Don’t focus on the beard or niqaab being fardh/waajib, just consider it to be an emulation of the Prophet SAW/ Ummahaatul Mu’mineen and do it out of love of this.

Guest

بلا كيفيّة means Allahu Aalam with issues we cannot understand, without asking how.

31) “[We believe] Muhammad Sallallahu alayhi wa

is His chosen one, His preeminent prophet, and His messenger, with whom He is well pleased”.

Muhammad is a very special name, and lots of people had begun to name their sons this in hope of fulfilling the prophecy of Muhammad being a prophet. Maternal side called him Ahmad and paternal – Muhammad.

‘Abduhu = highest form of description for Allah’s servant.

Nabee = a free human from the Bani Adam who has a particular sharee’ah revealed to them. Universal relationship. Eg Haroon AS.

Rasool = commanded to propagate the faith, sometimes given scripture, sometimes not. Particular relationship. Eg Musa (nabee + rasool)

Just like all humans are creatures but not all creatures are humans.

32) “He is the finality of the prophets, the paragon of the pious, the master of the messengers and the beloved of the Lord of all the worlds”.
Habeeb = most closest to Allah.
There is nothing wrong in praising a prophet as long as it is not done in a disparaging way to the other prophets. Not go into excess like some did with Eesa AS.

Guest

37) “Whoever hears it and alleges it is human speech has disbelieved, for God has rebuked, censured and promised such a one an agonising punishment, stating, ‘I will roast him in the Hellfire (74:26)’. Because God threatened those who allege, ‘this is merely human speech’ (74:25) with an inferno of torment, we acknowledged and ascertained that it was the Word of the Creator of humanity and does not resemble human speech”.

- It is not human speech, but Divine, therefore warning of threat. Allamah Taftasani mentions from his shuyookh, that the Qur’aan Kalaam of Allah and is not created and is eternal, but to not say the Quraan = not created. Just so that this is not misunderstood and not confused from huroof and the mus’haf.

Some Hanbalia said the Kalaam of Allah is made up of huroof and aswaat.

Some ahadeeth mentioned qualities/aayahs like: His Face, Running, Hand etc. How do you look at all these? Al Jawzee. Hanbali scholar: “my hair stands on end when fellow Hanbali scholars say Allah has Dhaat but no head as it is not mentioned in the Qur’aan but has a face, hands etc”

Allah is Transcendent, we cannot comprehend Him, thus He gives us what we can fathom.

- Tafweed = concept of the Salaf, first 3 generations (incl Imaam AH), this says to leave it to Allah, consigning matters to Him is the safest option. Although certain anthro. (mujassimah) notions/ideas had sprung up within the people and become a fitnah thus the Ulema had to respond and it wasn’t enough to just leave it to Allah as people would be in serious doubt.

Ibnu Abbas did ta’weel of the aayah of Allah and Shin.
Face was taken to mean the entire form, as this word is such a distinct feature so used for whole.
Another group hold modified opinions of the Salaf but they are not from the quotes/opinions of the Salaf. They don’t say whether it is metaphorical or literal.

Ibn Taymiyyah didn’t believe in majaaz, his aqeedah was rejected at the time and he and student, al Qayyim were imprisoned for their opinion. Ibn Katheer was also a student but he didn’t share same opinion. However, you cannot deny the majaaz of the Qur’aan.

- Hashawiyyah = crypto-anthro say something but mean something else.
Tasleem of Haqeeqah is to take away the metaphorical aspect and adopt the literal. So Yaddillah, would first be insisted to be His Hand. But not going to describe any further, its not a human limb and thats it. This is detrimental as it is projected onto the Salaf but none of them said this kind of thing.

Guest

ArRahmaanu Ala AlArsh Istiwaa.

Istiwaa = established (but not a very good trans). Can also mean to rest, be settled, make a stop, to stand up/straighten as opposed to being crooked.

The Arsh is the Throne, elevated seat encircled by angels in Heaven, it can also mean dominion as in mulk.

Someone asked Imaam Maalik what Istiwaa was, he replied it is ma’loom (known), ghayr ma’kool (unknown)and the question is bid’ah. Dont as the ‘kayf’ of it and ordered the man to be taken away. So basically, don’t even question it.

The ta’weel of the aayah is ‘isttaqarra’ which means to take rest, but this is not right.

Lexically, this shouldn’t even apply to Allah as ‘ayna – where’ means ‘fee ayyi makaan – in which place’ and Allah is beyond this.

Answer if asked ‘where is Allah’, to quote aayahs: InnAllaha ma’as saabireen and closer than the jugular vein.

The Ulema have said that Allah Created the Arsh, it wasn’t always there thus Allah is where He Has always Been.

To say that Allah is everywhere:
- The Aayah in Suratul Hadeed: “He is with you wherever you are” “by His Hearing and His Sight”
- Allah is not physically in every place, otherwise is He in the bathroom, this room etc?
- The call of the Salaf is that Allah is where He has always been. Not that He is sitting on the Arsh.
- Don’t say literally istiwaaa or istaqarra.

“Everything will perish except His Face”, if you were to take this literally, it would mean that the face which they say is separate to the Dhaat of Allah is destroyed, this is blasphemy.

[Saeed Fodha is a leading figure for this topic]

The Ash’aris insist more on ta’weel than Maaturidees.

Ibnul Hummam, author of Fathul Qadeer, said to not ban ta’weel and to resort to it if need be (permissible).

39) “The Beatific Vision is a reality for the people of Paradise without enclosure or modality, just as the Book of God pronounces ‘Some faces will be aglow that day, gazing at their Lord’ (75:22-23). Its explanation is as Allah, the Sublime and Exalted, knows it to be and has He Intended.”

The Beatific Vision is seeing Allah in the Hereafter. Sighting will take place, but don’t go into the how of it, just believe it. The mu’tazila did not believe in this.

41) “No one is secure in his religion unless he resigns himself to Allah, the Sublime and Exalted, and His Messenger Sallallahu alayhi wa

and consigns whatever obscures his understanding to the One who knows its meaning”.

Another warning given for the people.

47) “He is Transcendent beyond limits, ends, supports, components or instruments. The six directions do not contain Him as they do created things”.

The six directions do not encompass Him.
There was the Salaf and the Khalaf with the third group who claimed to be Salaf. This group believe in the hadeeth of Muslim, where the slave girl pointed up when asked ‘aynaAllah?’. Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

was satisfied. However, Nawawi said that this was because she did not point to an idol thus proved she was a believer, not that Allah was up there, thus you cant take a whole aqeedah from this.
You cannot look at one hadeeth in a vacuum, look everywhere in hadeeth. It is said that you are most closest to Allah when in sujood, but if Allah is up there somewhere then how can this be true? Therefore, just leave it to Allah.

Guest

48) “The Ascension is true. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa

was taken by night and ascended in person and consciously taken to the heavenly realm, and from there to wherever God willed in the celestial heights. God honoured him with what He Willed and revealed to him that which He Revealed: ‘His mind did not imagine what he saw’ (53:11). May Allah bless him and grant him peace in this and the final abode”.

This night was not just mi’raaj but israa wal mi’raaj. Not unconsciously, as ascensions has previously taken place in dreams. [Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi’s Seerah, has one of the best sections on the Me’raj]

Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

was taken to the Lote Tree, whose branches extend beyond the Seven Heavens.

The last person out of Hellfire, worst of the people/sinners but he still has imaan in his heart. He gets in Paradise, an abode 100x the size of this duniya (hadeeth).

First heaven: Allahu Alam as to where it begins.
Topmost paradise = Jannatul Firdaws, roof of that is the Arsh (hadeeth). Most strongest opinion is that this is the seventh heaven too.

Arsh = throne and the kursee = foot pedestal part of the throne.

As Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

was going to meet Allah, beyond the Lote tree, when Jibreel couldn’t go any further, he felt lonely and strange and he Sallallahu alayhi wa

was made to hear the voice of Abu Bakr to provide comfort to him Sallallahu alayhi wa

then met Allah.

The Lake of Kawthar is in Jannah and it is a pool which feeds the hawdh kawthar outside of Jannah.

50) “The [Prophet’s] Intercession that God deferred for them is true, as narrated in the traditions.”
The main intercession on the DOJ – oothmaa.
Mu’tazila reject intercession as it goes against the Justice of Allah, they say that Allah has to give punishment if someone deserves it, otherwise He is UnJust.

Bayhaqi and Nawawi list 5 types of intercession:
1) Oothmaa
2) Entering people into Jannah without his aab (this is specific only to Allah, however Asqalani says it is not specific)
3) Those destined for Hellfire, this is specific only to Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

(Nawawi unsure about this).
4) Those already in the Hellfire, the sinful believers, not just specific to Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

.
5) To move up a stage in Jannah.

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Guest

All Q/A

- Shiaa are not considered part of the ASWJ as they don’t take some of the Sahaba, thus no ‘jama’ah’
Saheeh Hadeeth from Tirmidhi = Christian 72 groups, Jews 70 groups and the Muslims 73.
The 73 refers to different groups of the Shiaa, Mu’tazila etc not the difference of the Madhaahib.
Shiaas don’t do maasaah of khuffayn.

- Neo-murjiates call themselves Muslim but have opinions like you don’t have to do hijaab or pray etc, just to have a clean heart is enough.

- There are different opinions as to whether dead babies/miscarried of believers/non believers are in Jannah or Hellfire. Nawawi said all are in Jannah. Some say the disbelievers ones are in Hellfire. Imaam AH said best to abstain from commenting.

- Dont think too much into the Dhaat of Allah, concentrate on His Sifaat, His Attributes and His Actions.

- Imaam AH in his Fiqhul Akbar says that you should ask about any questions you have pertaining to this topic as they may create further doubt.

- Faasiq is a major sinner, but not a kaafir.

- Doing takfeer is a quality of the Khawaarij.

- When doing duaa, you put your hands up because humans need a focus, it is an appropriate place as contains the heavens and angels etc come down from there. If you say Allah is above us then that is wrong as Allah is free from the six directions. Ulema also say that you shouldn’t say Allah is inside the Universe nor outside it.

- ASWJ say that the prophets are alive in their graves, but Allahu Alam as to whether they were all present physically in alAqsa when israa wal mi’raaj. Mentioned by Shaykh Yusuf Motala, about an incident in a Bukhari ending gathering in Rander, India. Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

was seen in person, not in a dream state. Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi says that it is established for this to take place in a state of awakedness and not in a dream. Shaykh AbdurRahmaan ibn Yusuf mentioned that he narrated this incident in a previous event of this same topic, 2 years ago, and an attendee must have been sceptical of this incident having taken place (although many people are initially). Shaykh later found out that this person had a dream later where Rasoolullah Sallallahu alayhi wa

came to him and said ‘you doubted me, I can surely be seen in a state of awakedness’.

- Hamza Tzortsis, good for debates with atheists.

- With children, to teach aqeedah, talk about Allah and teach them duaas with meanings and trans.

- Qur’aan as Kalaam of Allah = not created. Quraan as mus’haf = created.

- According to Ash’aris, the rooh is jismun lateef, made up of atoms.

- It is better to say to children that Allah is Most Powerful, the Greatest, Mighty etc than big.

- Two types of qadr, firm and mu’allaq. Like if you are good to kin, Allah will give you barakah but He Always Knows. In Hisnul Haseen, theres a hadeeth which mentions that when someone makes duaa about something that was going to happen, the qadr and duaa lock into battler until DOJ.

- Prophets can make small mistakes but not sins.

- Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa

inspired by Noor of Allah, came through the loins from Adam until Muhammad Sallallahu alayhi wa

, it comes from a hadeeth as quoted by Thanwi. It doesn’t mean he Sallallahu alayhi wa

is light like that of the angels.

- ‘We’ in Qur’aan is like the royal we

- Better to avoid the commentary of Aqeedah Tahawiyyah by: Ibnul Izz AlHanafi and Abdul Fattah alGhuddah. The commentaries by Maydani, Ghaznavi and Qari Tayyab are recommended. Also, Bahjuri’s Tuhfatul Mureed is very good.

- Zam Zam site for previous duroos recordings.

- Al Farq baynal Firaaq, is good for historical groups.

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