Aqeedah
The Muslim is required to be aware, and learn about the plots and tricks of his enemy. Allah (subhaanahu wa-ta'aalaa) says in the Qur'aan:
إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا إِنَّمَا يَدْعُو حِزْبَهُ لِيَكُونُوا مِنْ أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ
Surely, Shaytaan [Satan] is an enemy to you, so treat him as an enemy. He only invites his hizb [followers] that they may become the dwellers of the blazing Fire. (EMQ Faatir, 35:6) This verse clearly informs us of who our enemy is: Shaytaan (the devil). Allah (SWT) strictly orders us to treat our enemy as our enemy – not as a friend or ally. Consequently, it is not allowed for a believer to have any sympathy, love, affection, compassion or respect for his enemy. Allah (SWT) says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ
O you who believe! Take not my enemies [the disbelievers] and your enemies as awliyaa' [friends, allies, supporters, assistants etc.], showing affection towards them… (EMQ al-Mumtahanah, 60:1)
In the time of the Ghuraba and fasad of the Deen, people are far way from the Wahie and the Sunnah. Every body will follow the majority and leave the Qur'an and Sunnah, few people will hold strong to the Deen.
The Messenger Muhammad (saw) said “Islam start as something strange will return back as something strange, paradise is for the strangers”. The Ghuraba (strangers) are those who reject to be from amongst the deviants.
Quba (shajarah) is a tree in paradise that’s width is like the heavens and the earth. That tree is for the believers.
Read more: Al-Hadeeth As-Saheeh Al-Ahad - The Authentic Single Report
The following are examples taken from the time of the prophet Muhammad s.a.w.
NOTE: In Islamic 'Aqeedah, we have a principle which states:
‘WE CONSIDER THE APPARENT ON THE MATTER OF IMAAN AND KUFR’
Evidence 1
Muslim Vol 2 p107, Nawawi Usama Ibn Zaid: was sent on an expedition by the Messenger Muhammad (saw). He said: ‘One of the Mushrikeen said laa ilaaha illalah and I killed him but I felt bad and I told the Messenger Muhammad’ The Messenger Muhammad (saw) said: ‘Did you kill him after he said laa ilaaha illalah?’ Usamah said 'Yes, but he only said it because he feared from my weapon.' Muhammad s.a.w. said ‘Did you check his heart?’ He kept repeating it until I felt that I wished I became Muslim on that day and not before.
In another narration it is reported: the Messenger Muhammad (saw) said ‘What will you do if he comes to you on the day of judgement with his Kalima’ and whenever I asked the Messenger Muhammad (saw) to ask forgiveness he repeated the same statement to me’
Hence the Messenger Muhammad (saw) eventually said to him: ‘Go and replace the la illaaha illalah with a kaafir’ [this was encouragement from the Prophet Muhammad (saw) to him] hence he always said ‘Do not delay the army of Usaama’ on his death bed because it was the expedition of his life.
Usama Ibn Zaid was dispraised strongly and made Inkaar on him powerfully because he judged by the inner and not outer.
Evidence 2
Bukhari and Muslim, Nawawi Vol 2 p106, Al-Mikdaad Ibn Aswad, was a fighter among the Sahabah: ‘He said O Rasoul Allah if I met someone and he was fighting with me and he hits one of my hands and cut it and then he went to the tree and I am in control, and he says laa ilaaha illalah shouldn’t I kill him?’ No, if you kill him he will take your position before (i.e. as a Muslim).
He was a Muslim before hence the positions will be changed afterwards. Even if the kalima is said in the battlefield we take it.
Imam Nawawi said that Malik and Shaafi both said that the hadith means that his life has sanctity after he says laa ilaaha illalah and his situation will be like yours after you kill him i.e. then your life will have no sanctity.
Evidence 3
Abu Saeed al-Khidri reported that a man came who was squinting, his forefront was quite big and he had a huge beard, his hair was completely long and had a high Izhaar. He shouted at the Prophet ‘fear Allah’ The Messenger Muhammad (saw) said: ‘dare you Allah trusts me from the 7th heaven and you do not trust me on distributing the booty’ After he left Khalid Bin Walid said ‘shouldn’t I strike his neck?’ ‘No because he prays’ Khalid said: ‘How many people pray just to be seen’ He said ‘Allah did not ask me to judge by the heart or to open their tummies to see what is inside’ He was seen walking far distance and the Messenger Muhammad (saw) said: ‘from this man will be people who will recite the Qur’an so nice and they will go out of the day like the arrow from the bow and if I meet them I will kill them like the people of Thamoud’ NB. Although the Prophet knew about him.
NB. Imam Ali killed 6,000 Khawaarij because they killed one Sahabah Abdullah Ibn Khabaab and opened his wife’s stomach and killed the child there as well.
NB. This Hadith says that Allah did not ask to check people’s heart.
Evidence 4
Even the Messenger Muhammad (saw) knew that Abdullah Ibn Salul was the head of the Munafiqeen and when it came to his Janazah, but Allah told him not to, he was going to ask forgiveness for him but Allah did not allow him to.
Evidence 5
Musaylama Al-Kathaab used to claim that he was a brother of the Messenger Muhammad (saw) and said that they are both Prophets.
Evidence 6
Mujaa’a went to the Prophet to embrace Islam and came to live near Yemen. Khalid Bin walid was sent with the army to deal with Musaylama. He reached the people of yamama. Among the group were 23. Mujaa’a as among them caught. ‘Mujaa’a said to Khalid salaam. He replied now you give me the salam’ He said ‘You know I went to the Prophet and I gave him the bayah of Islam and I still believe what I said in the past, if one man arose in my tribe do not account me for him’ Khalid: ‘You left what you used to be in the past and your acceptance to live under this Prophet and your silence is your consent.’ He said that you are the most noble man in Yamama and you know I am coming and yet you stay with him I cannot find any excuse for you, you heard what he and many other people said and you did not say a word. There were people much less than you and they spoke and many were also killed’ He said ‘I feared from my people’ He said: ‘why did you not send me a letter and tell me as much?’ He said: ‘I am not going to kill you but I am not going to free you, between releasing you from my sword and releasing you I will imprison you until Allah guides us. Later he consulted other Sahabah and killed him.
Here Imam Shaafi said: ‘Mujaa’a was considered a Kaafir because he was silent and left what he believed in the past’
Evidence 8
Nisai 3714, Nu’man Bin basher stated ‘we were with the Prophet and a man came and they said ‘kill him and take his property’ He asked ‘did he say laa ilaaha illalah?’ They said ‘yes but only because they are afraid’ He said: ‘do not kill them I have been ordered to fight until they say laa ilaaha illalah’ They said they were afraid of the sword, the Messenger replied: ‘I have ordered to judge the apparent’
Bukhari & Muslim: ‘I have been ordered to fight people until they say (both parts of the kalima) and pray and pay zakat and then their life and wealth will be protected except on the haq
Sufyan Al-Thawri: ‘This is so clear for people to see and hear’
Evidence 9
The prophet was informed about a woman that she committed adultery from the husband, he did not have 4 witnesses but wanted to make mulaa’ana. The Prophet said let us see the baby if it looks like so and so it is yours else it is his. When it was born it looked like the other man and yet she insisted, the Messenger Muhammad (saw) said ‘just because of her oath else it would be a different situation’
Evidence 10
Two men disputed about a piece of land and the Messenger Muhammad (saw) ‘you come to me to judge and some of you may be more articulate I will judge by what is apparent, if I judge something and it is not his it is a piece of hellfire for him’
Hadith: ‘Whoever prays our salat and faces our qibla and eats our slaughtered meat he is a Muslim’
NB. By the apparent actions he will become Muslim.
Evidence 11
Abu Dawoud: Two slaves left Hudaybiyyah from Mecca before the treaty and the masters of those slaves said: ‘The two slaves did not go to you because they love your deen but just to be free from slavery’ He became angry and said ‘you people of Quraish do not stop misbehaving until Allah sends over you someone who will strike your neck because of this. I will never send them back, they are people Allah freed.’
Evidence 12
Maoquf Abdullah Bin Utbah Bin Masoud in Bukhari said: ‘I heard 'Umar say ‘there were some people excused by the wahi because of Rasoul Allah’ A man Haatib Ibn Abi Balta’ah told the Quraish that the Messenger Muhammad (saw) is coming to kill them all even though he was making rumours about Taa’if. Allah (SWT) asked Jibraeel to tell the Nabi and he did. 'Umar said ‘let me kill him’ but he claimed that his niyyah was good.
'Umar said ‘there were some excused by the Wahi before but now we judge by the apparent, whoever shows us anything sou’ we will never believe him even if he says ‘my intention is good’
Haatib used to be a man who fought in Badr so his situation was unique and the Prophet praised him highly in that battle and he was also one of the first believers. So his Imaan was quite high and his Jihad the highest form. But his problem was that his family was in Mecca. Yet the Prophet did not defend or protect him when Omar (ra) called him Kaafir but when the Wahi came the Messenger Muhammad (saw) said: ‘I have been informed that Haatib did not say it out of muwalaat’
NB. The judge never looks at the motive but the action. Hadith: ‘the confession is the master of all evidences’
Imam Shaafi used to say: ‘The niyyah has its place in the heart’
Evidence 13
A Muslim chased a man because of his booty. The man said ‘assalamu aleikum’ but they killed him and took his booty. They came and the ayah was revealed: ‘Do not say for the one who says assalamu aleikum that you are not Muslim. Ibn Abbas (ra) said that they never stopped paying Kafarah from that day.
NB: Why do we want to judge a person as Muslim by one action but not Kufr, rather Kufr and Imaan are opposite to each other. Hence Irjaa is quite dangerous.
Ibn Taymiyyah said regarding the Tartars that ‘kill them even if you see them praying’ because they were still; referring to the book of al-Yaasir.
Evidence 14
Al-Abbas Ibn Abi Mu’talib, during the second pledge of ‘Aqabah he came and asked for the pledge to the Prophet but at that time he was not yet Muslim. He embraced Islam later and reported information from within. Suddenly he was captured by the Muslims in the battle of Badr because he came with the Mushriks. The Messenger Muhammad (saw) said: ‘Ya Abbas free yourself by some fidya and free Uqail (brother of Imam Ali, the son of your brother) and Nawfal and Utbah Bin Amru your alliance, you are a man rich’ He said: ‘I embraced Islam Ya Rasoul Allah but my people put duress upon me’ The Prophet said: ‘Allah knows better about your Islam, if its true Allah will reward you for this, your apparent action is that you were fighting against us so free yourself’
NB. Abbas was rich and noble so you cannot swallow that he was under duress, after all he did not come walking but on a camel.
The Arabic word ‘taghout’ is used numerous times in the Quran. It has been defined in the The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic(1976) as, “an idol, a false god; seducer, tempter (to error).” Muhsin Khan has defined the term as, “anything worshipped other than the Real God (Allah), i.e. all the false idols.” And he includes, “saints, graves, RULERS AND LEADERS WHO ARE FALSELY WORSHIPPED OR WRONGLY FOLLOWED [and] A FALSE JUDGE WHO GIVES FALSE JUDGEMENT.” And so where Allah (SWT) mentions the ‘taghout’ in the Quran, He is speaking of more than the idols that were worshipped by the Pagans and Polytheists in Makkah. He(SWT) was addressing the systems and the establishment , the Laws and Orders, the Customs and the Traditions and the social-infrastructure( Way Of Life) at that time and was associating those that do not work against the establishment of false systems AS HYPOCRITES AND DISBELIEVERS (blind, deaf, dumb, etc.). And so it is clear, IF ONE REFERS TO ISLAM HE/SHE IS DOING IBADAH (submission, obedience, following and worshipping) TO ALLAH(SWT) AND IF HE/SHE REFERS TO ANYTHING AT ALL OTHER THAN ISLAM HE/SHE IS DOING IBADAH(submission, obedience, following and worshipping) TAGHOUT.
Verily Tawheed is the first obligation that all the Messengers called to which formed the foundation of their call and their invitation to the people. Allah (swt) says: ‘We sent to every Ummah a messenger to command the people to submit to Allah exclusively and to reject Taghoot’. [EMQ 16:36]. Tawheed is the greatest Haq of Almighty Allah (swt) over his servant. It has been reported in Bukhari and Muslim, in a hadith narrated by Muadth Ibn Jabal (ra), that the Messenger Muhammad (saw) said: ‘The right of Allah over his servant is to submit to him exclusively and not to associate anything with him’. Whoever establishes the Tawheed enters Jannah and whoever negates the Tawheed they are from the people of hellfire. Establishing Tawheed is the path to happiness in this life and in the hereafter, whereas violating the Tawheed is the path of the miserable that will be doomed in this life and in the hereafter. Verily Tawheed is the only way for the unity of the Muslim Ummah and the Muslim world, for failure to establish the Tawheed amongst Muslims will be the cause of their failure, divisions and sectarian disputes.
There has never been in the history of mankind a greater or more controversial statement as the Kalimah: “LAA ILAAHA ILL-ALLAH” (there is no one worthy of worship except Allah). These divinely revealed words divided the world into two camps: the camp of falsehood and the camp of truth. The callers of Tawheed throughout history had to endure severe testing and persecution because of the Kalimah. Moreover, they were the most vilified amongst their people:
“Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: ‘We believe’, and will not be tested. And We indeed tested those who were before them. And Allah will certainly make (it) known (the truth of) those who are true, and will certainly make (it) known (the falsehood of) those who are liars.” [EMQ 29:2-3]
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said in a famous hadeeth narrated by 'Imraan bin Husayn (RA):
إن خيركم قرني ثم الذين يلونهم ثم الذين يلونهم ثم الذين يلونهم
"Verily the best among you (to follow) is my generation (the Messenger Muhammad (SAW) and his Companions (RA)), then those who follow, and then those who follow them…" (Saheeh Muslim, Book: the Virtues of the Sahaabah, chapter 52 hadeeth #2535)
Tawheed is the mother of all obligations. Without it, you cannot be a Muslim and all of your good deeds are fruitless. It is vital for one to understand the pillars and conditions of tawheed in order to ensure that he/she is a real Muslim. Failure to fulfil any condition or pillar of tawheed will nullify a person’s Eemaan and Islam, and hence will either be a mushrik or murtad (apostate). The conditions of tawheed are as follows: