Islamic Belief [in Allah]In the Light of the Qur’an and the Sunnah

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Session Seven

What applies to any applies to all Speaking about Allah’s attributes is like speaking about

His essence Same names not equal to same reality Allah cannot be described by negation alone Whose words are known to be true? Most denial originates from tashbeeh Verses about attributes are not ambiguous

(mutashaabih) Taking the apparent meaning does not equal tashbeeh Meaning of ta’weel

Followed the nine previous principles Say about Allah what He said about

Himself – both affirmation and negation Understood Allah unlike anything we know Allah ordered us to reject those who turn

away or deviate with regard to His Names Allah condemned anything attributed to

Him outside of the speech of the messengers

The Companions and those who followed them

The four imams of the madhahib Abul-Hassan Al-Ash’ari

Adhered completely to the above He stood up to the fitnah of the Mu’tazilah and the

destruction which philosophy had wrought But he utilized kalaam to refute those deviations Those after him strayed from the correct position

One and unique in His essence (dhaat) One and unique in all of His attributes

of perfection Theory must be reflected in action The irrationality of acknowledging the

Lord (Rabb) but failing to take Him as Deity (Ilaah)

A statement or declaration of action, not just a statement of fact

Know its meaning Be certain in declaring it Accept it verbally and in the heart Submit to what it implies (Islam) Sincerity Purity and freedom from shirk Allegiance

All acts dedicated to and pleasing to Allah Essentials: fear, hope and love – dangers

of imbalance in any of those Pillars of worship

Purity of intention to Allah Sincere resolve to obey allah Correctness and freedom from innovation

No worship can be accepted w/o all of these

Giving or attributing to other than Allah what is exclusively for Allah

Shirk Akbar (Major) Removes one from Islam Lord OR Deity instead of OR along with Not necessarily regarded as “equal” Most serious of sins Nullifies all other acts

Shirk Asghar (Minor) Mixed intention Mistakes

This is an extremely important issue Devolution, not evolution Incorrect understanding based on

stubborn atheism and weak historical record

Qur’an only source of this knowledge Allah’s promise to Adam Messengers to every nation

First community had tauhid, complete understanding of Allah

Deviation followed after many generations Deviation begins from excess in veneration of the righteous Nooh was the first messenger sent to call people BACK to

tauhid The weak followed him, the leaders were arrogant Great patience in da’wah Every time of need, Allah send messengers The prophets are one brotherhood The prophets will disown those who devolved their message