Spiritual Disease & Its Cure Ibn Qayyim Muhammad bin Hazm said: “I have witnessed some of those saying in supplication: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from infallibility.” Some people are deceived by their adherence to the doctrine of jabr (predestination and in the inescapability of fate); they are fatalists. They claim that man has no control over his actions and has no free will. He is therefore under compulsion to commit sins. Some of them are deceived by the notion of Irja’, a doctrine which defines faith as a state of belief in the heart, without any importance in one’s actions (religious obligations). The true definition of Faith is defined by “Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama’ah” as: the testimony of faith declared by the tongue, the belief in the heart, and actions by the limbs (i.e. one testifies that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, believing in this testimony with his heart, and manifesting this belief in actions, by performing Salah, giving Zakat and Sadaqah, fasting Ramadan, performing Hajj if one is able, etc) The Murji’ah (those who adopt the doctrine of Irja’) claim that the only testimony of faith is enough to enter Paradise, and so they consider that the faith of the most corrupted person is like the faith of the angels, Jibreel (Gabriel) and Michael (‘alayhi salam). Some people are deceived by their love for the poor, the scholars and pious people. They often visit their graves, seeking their intercession, asking Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) for the rights over them… Some people are deceived into believing that their fathers and ancestors have a special, elevated status in Allah’s Sight, and that they could help in securing Allah’s Mercy for them. This is witnessed in royal circles, where the closest people to the king/queen always intervene to seek mercy for their relatives, if they were involved in any bad incidents. Some people are deceived by considering the idea that Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala)’s Punishment would not add anything to His Sovereignty, and His Mercy would not reduce anything from His Kingship. So, these type of people say: I am in need of Allah’s Mercy, and Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) is the Richest of all. If any destitute person were in need of drinking water from a well, the owner of the well would not deny him so, and Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) is the Most Generous of all His Creation. His Forgiveness would not decrease His sovereignty, while His Punishment would not add anything to it. Some people are deceived by their corrupt understanding of some Verses in the Qur’an. They rely on the Mercy of Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala), while wrongly interpreting the Verse: “Verily, Allah forgives all sins.”1 Certainly, polytheism is the basis of all sins, and there is no argument that this Verse is directed to the repentant; for Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) forgives the sin of any person who repents from that sin. If the Verse were directed to the non-repentant then all the texts declaring the punishment for sinners would become abrogated. This is due to the lack of knowledge of these people, for Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has used a general expression which conveys that He (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) meant repentant people. In Surah an Nisa’, He (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) restricted the meaning by saying: “Verily Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship), but He forgives, except for that, whom He wills.”2 So Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) informed that He (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) does not forgive associating partners besides Him, but forgives anything else. Some people are deceived by their wrong interpretation of the Verse: “O man! What has deluded you in respect of your Noble Lord”3. They say that Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) may grant the argument a deceived person; which is pure ignorance of the meaning of the Qur’an. This Verse considers how man could be deceived by the deceiver (i.e. the Satan) and by the self, which always commands evil. Some people are deceived by their intention for fasting the day of Ashura (the tenth day of Muharraam) or the day of Arafah (the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah). Some of them say: fasting the day of Ashura expiates for all sins of the year, while fasting the day of Arafah is an additional compensation. Such deceived people do not know that performing the five prescribed prayers and fasting the month of Ramadan is greater in compensation than fasting the day of Arafah and the day of Ashura. Fasting the last two days expiates the minor sins committed in between, if major sins have already been avoided. Fasting the month of Ramadan with good faith can expiate minor sins, only if one avoids committing any major sin. Therefore, how could fasting one voluntary day (Ashura) expiate for all major sins, committed by a person who did not repent for them? This is undoubtedly impossible, for Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) said: “If you avoid the great sins which you are forbidden to do, We shall expiate from you your (small) sins.”4 Some people rely on the Hadith of the Prophet (salAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) who reported that Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) said: “I am as My Servant thinks good of Me. So he may think of Me whatever he likes.”5 This means that whatever was in his thought, Allah would do that to him/her. There is no doubt that good opinion relates to Ihsan (perfection in worshipping Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala), for the Muhsin (the one who exerts perfection in his worship of Allah) has a good opinion of his Lord and believes that He would compensate him for his trying to perfect his worship, and therefore accept his repentance. As for the wrongdoer, who persists in committing sins and infractions, his loneliness in the world of sins and unlawfulness denies him of having a good opinion of His Lord. Al-Hasan Al Basri (radiAllahu anh) said: “A believer has a good opinion of His Lord, so he perfects his work. A wrongdoer has a poor opinion of his Lord, so he goes about his work in an evil manner.” Those who have a poor opinion of their Lord are distant from Him (azzawajal); they are under His Curse, for they think little of His Commands and Prohibitions. How could such people have good opinion of their Lord when they have shown enmity to His Supporters (the supporters of Allah) and allied with His Enemies? They deny Allah’s Attributes (claiming that He (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) does not talk, command, forbid, etc) which he (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has already affirmed to Himself. He (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) said about them: “That thought of yours which you thought about your Lord, has brought you to destruction; and you have become of those utterly lost.”6; their thinking that Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) does not know much about their deeds is their poor opinion of Him (azzawajal), which would lead to their destruction. This is the fate of everyone who denies Allah’s Attributes, but describes Him in a different way from what He (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has described Himself. Reflect on this situation and one’s firm need for Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala): How could it be that a person’s heart is certain of his meeting with His Lord, and that Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) hears his words, sees where he is, and knows his secrets, and that he will stand before Him (on the Day of Judgment) to be asked about all his deeds, yet he insists on committing misdeeds, ignoring the Lord’s Commands and Prohibitions, and pretends to think of his Lord in a good way. This is simply self-deception and self-delusion. Abu Umamah Sahl bin Haneef (radiAllahu anh) said: “During the illness of the Messenger of Allah (salAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), Aishah (radiAllahu anha) had six or seven dinars on him which he ordered to her to distribute, but shekept busy ministering to his suffering. He asked her what had happened to the six or seven dinars, and when she replied she had done nothing about them, because she had been kept busy ministering to his suffering, he called for them, and placing them in his hand, said, “What would Allah’s Prophet think if he were to meet Allah, who is Great and Glorious while possessing these?”7 What will oppressors and great sinners think of Allah (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) when they meet Him with all their acts of injustice? Ibrahim (Abraham) (‘alayhi salam) said to his people: “Is it a falsehood (gods other than Allah – that you desire? Then what do you think of the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinn, and all that exists)?” i.e what do you think He (subhanahu wa Ta’ala) would do to you when you meet Him, after having worshipped others besides Him (azzawajal)? Whoever ponders well over this matter knows that thinking good of the Lord is the way to perfect one’s deeds. Indeed, one commits himself to perfect his actions, because one has a good opinion of one’s Lord; that He would accept these and compensate for them, accordingly. To have a good opinion of the Lord while following one’s desires is a sign of inability, as highlighted in the Hadith reported by Shaddad bin Aws (radiAllahu anh), that the Prophet (salAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) said: “A wise person is one who keeps a watch over his bodily desires and passions, abstaining from that which is harmful, and striving for that which will benefit him after death; while a foolish person is one who subordinates himself to his cravings and desires, and then expects Allah to fulfil his futile desires.”9 1 – Surat az-Zumar, Verse 93. 2 – Surat an-Nisa’, Verse 48. 3 – Surat Al-Infitar, Verse 2. 4 – Surat an Nisa’, Verse 31. 5 – Recorded by Al-Bukhari in the “Book of Tawheed”, (chapter 15, 35), Muslim in the “Book of Tawbah”, (Hadith 1), At-Tirmidhi in the book, “Az-Zuhd”, (chapter 51), and Ahmad in his Musnad (2/251, 315). 6 – Surat Fussilat, Verse 23. 7 – Recorded by At-Tirmidhi and Ahmad. 8 – Surat as Saffat, Verse 86 9 – Recorded by At-Tirmidhi in the book, “Al-Qiyamah”, (chapter 25), Ibn Maajah in the book, “Az-Zuhd”, (chapter 31) and Ahmad in his Musnad (4/124)
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 17:22:45 +0000
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