1. Musallah at-Taqwa
Islamic College of Canberra
Saturday
May 30,
2009
‫ﺑﺴﻢ ﺍﷲ ﺍﻟﺮﲪﻦ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻴﻢ‬
Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles
Class Notes – Term 2, Week 3
‫ﺍﻋﻠﻢ ﹶﺃﺭﺷﺪﻙ ﺍﷲ ِﻟﻄﺎﻋﺘﻪ ﹶﺃ ﱠ ﺍﹾﻟﺤﻨﻴﻔﱠﺔ ﻣ ﱠﺔ ﹺﺇﺑﺮﺍﻫﻴﻢ ﹶﺃﻥ َﺗﻌﺒﺪ ﺍﷲ ﻭﺣﺪﻩ ﻣﺨﻠﺼﺎ ﹶﻟﻪ ﺍﻟ ﱢﻳﻦ ﻭﹺﺑﺬِﻟﻚ‬
َ ‫ﹶ ْ ْ َ َ َ ُ ﹶ َِ ِ ﻥ َ ِﻴ ﹶ ِﻠ ﹶ َ ِ َ ﹾ ُ َ َ َ ْ َ ُ ُ ْ ِ ً ُ ﺪ َ َ ﹶ‬
﴾ ‫ﹶﺃﻣﺮ ﺍﷲ ﺟﻤﻴﻊ ﺍﻟﱠﺎﺱ ﻭﺧﻠﻘﻬﻢ ﹶﻟﻬﺎ ﻛﻤﺎ ﻗﺎﻝ َﺗﻌﺎﹶﻟﻲ ﴿ ﻭﻣَﺎ ﺧﻠﻘ ُ ﺍﹾﻟﺠ ﱠ ﻭَﺍﹾﻟﺄْﻧﺲ ﹺﺇﱠﺎ ِﻟﻴﻌﺒ ُﻭﻥ‬
ِ ‫َ َ ﹶ ﹾﺖ ﹺﻦ ِ َ ﻟ َ ُْﺪ‬
َ ‫َ َ َ ِ َ ﻨ ﹺ َ َﹶ ﹶ ُ ْ َ ﹶ َ ﹶ ﹶ‬
Know, may Allah direct you to obedience to Him, that the true and straight Religion, the way
of Ibrahim, is that you worship Allah alone making the Religion purely and sincerely for Him.
This is what Allah commanded all of the people with, and it was for this that He created them.
Allah, the Most High, says: ”I did not create jinn and mankind except that they should worship
me [Adh‐Dhaariyaat; 51:56]”.
The third part of the introduction
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This is the third part, or the third principle, which the Sheikh (ra) included as part of the
introduction to his beneficial treatise.
We have already discussed al‐‘Ilm (knowledge) in the first part of the introduction. We discussed
the six levels of comprehension, the two categories of knowledge and the type of knowledge that
is implied by this statement.
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‫ – ﹶﺃﺭﺷﺪﻙ ﺍﷲ‬As for his statement ‘May Allah direct you’, this means may Allah (swt) direct you to
ُ َ ََ ْ
uprightness upon the way of truth.
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‫‘ – ِﻟﻄﹶﺎﻋﺘﻪ‬His obedience’. Obedience is to conform with that which is required by doing what is
ِ َِ
commanded, and avoiding that which is forbidden.
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Thus the statement in its entirety means ‘May Allah guide you to His straight path; the path of
truth and guidance’.
As Allah (swt) says in the Quran about the man who spoke out against Fir’awn while concealing
his faith:
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∩⊂∇∪ ÏŠ$x©§9$# Ÿ≅‹Î6y™ öΝà2ω÷δr& ÈβθãèÎ7¨?$# ÉΘöθs)≈tƒ š∅tΒ#u™ ü”Ï%©!$# tΑ$s%uρ
The man who believed said further: "O My people! follow Me: I will lead you to the path of
right. [Ghafir; 40:38]
•
This statement of the Sheikh is a beautiful dua which he makes for the one whom he is calling to
the truth. Previously he made dua that Allah (swt) showers His mercy upon the reader. In this
section he makes dua that Allah (swt) guides the reader to the siratul‐mustaqeem (straight path),
the path of guidance and truth.

2. The Millah (way) of Ibrahim (as)
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Ibrahim is one of the greatest prophets that Allah (swt) sent to humanity.
He was a pure haneef who turned fully towards Allah (swt) by heart and action, with full
submission and true gratitude.
Haneef means a person who abandons all false religions and leans towards the religion of truth,
i.e. Islam. Thus haneefiyah (adjective) is the true religion (Islam) which is free from both types of
shirk and is strongly founded upon purity and sincerity of intention to Allah (swt).
Al‐Millah, in this specific context, is the way Ibrahim (as) followed in religion as commanded by
Allah (swt). In its more general sense Allah (swt) says:
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Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with you unless you follow their form of
religion. [Al‐Baqara; 2:120]
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Meaning they will never be happy with you unless you follow their way, whatever it may
constitute from innovation, polytheism and thing which Allah (swt) did not send down.
Ibrahim (as) is the chosen and beloved friend (al‐khaleel) of Allah (swt). Allah (swt) says:
∩⊇⊄∈∪ WξŠÎ=yz zΟŠÏδ≡tö/Î) ª!$# x‹sƒªB$#uρ
... and Allah made Ibrahim a chosen and beloved friend. [An‐Nisaa; 4:125]
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The quality of Khullah (close friendship) with Allah (swt) was only granted to Ibrahim (as) and our
beloved Prophet (saw).
Allah (swt) made Ibrahim (as) a great example for the Prophet (saw) and for the Ummah of the
Prophet (saw). Allah (swt) describes the praiseworthy characteristics of Ibrahim:
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s
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Indeed, Ibrahim was an Ummah (a leader who equalled a nation), devoutly obedient to Allah, Hanifa
(inclined towards the truth), and he was not one of those who were Al‐Mushrikûn. He was thankful for
Allah's favours. He (Allah) chose him (as an intimate friend) and guided him to a straight path (Islamic
Monotheism). And we gave him good in this world, and in the Hereafter he shall be of the righteous.
Then, we revealed to you (O Muhammad): "Follow the Religion of Ibrahim, Hanifa, and he was not of the
Mushrikûn. [An‐Nahl; 16:120‐123]
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The word ‘ummah’ means nation, but since it is derived from the word ‘ammah’ which means to
lead, it also carries the meaning of leadership as in the above verse. Both meanings (nation and
leader) are true with regard to Ibrahim (as).
In the above verse, we can extract a number of descriptions which Allah (swt) gave Ibrahihim (as):
o He was an Ummah (a leader equalling a nation).
o He was a Qanut (devoutly obedient to Allah (swt).

3. o
o
o
o
o
o
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He was a hanif (inclined towards the true religion).
Clear of any manifestations of shirk (polytheism).
He was a shakir (grateful to Allah).
Chosen by Allah (swt) and guided to a straight path.
Granted good in this life and amongst the righteous in the Hereafter.
Worthy of being followed by the Prophet (saw).
Thus the last point indicates that Allah (swt) has commanded the Prophet (saw) to declare that he
is upon the pure religion of Ibrahim, and as such it is an honour for a person to be upon the way
that Ibrahim (as) was upon.
This is why the Sheikh makes mention of the ‘millah of Ibrahim’, as he is the father of the
Prophets, and the Prophet (saw) was upon his way.
Worshipping Allah (swt)
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The Sheikh (ra) summarises what the millah of Ibrahim (as) involves. It is purely that Allah (swt) be
worshipped alone. This is the reason why Allah (swt) created us, created Heaven and Hell, why the
messengers were sent and why the books were revealed.
General meaning of worship: Worship in its general sense is: “Submission to Allah (swt) with love
and humility by doing whatever he has commanded & refraining from His prohibitions in a manner
that has been prescribed through His Sharee’ah”.
The worship which Allah (swt) has commanded us with must be comprised of both humility and
love. It is not possible for something to be an act of worship if it does not have these two pillars. It
is to show love for Allah (swt) with humility to Him.
Specific meaning of worship: Worship in its specific sense as explained by Shaikhul Islam Ibn
Taymiya: “Worship (al‐Ibadah) is a comprehensive noun for everything that Allah (swt) loves and is
pleased with from statements and actions, whether they are done outwardly or inwardly such as
khawf (fear), khashya (awe), tawakkul (reliance), salaat, zakaat and other than that from the
prescribed duties of Islam.
Thus there are actions of the heart, tongue and limbs all which constitute ibadaah’.
Types of worship
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There are two types of worship; ibaadah kawniyya and ibaadah shar’iyah.
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‫ – ﻋﺒﺎﺩﺓ ﻛﻮﹺﻧﱠﺔ‬This is worship of the creation. It is the submission to the universal commands of
‫َِ َ ﹶ ﻴ‬
Allah (swt). This includes all of the creation and no one is able to escape it due to the statement
of Allah (swt):
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There is none in the heavens and the earth, except that he comes to the Most Merciful (Allah)
as a servant. [Maryam; 19:93]
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‫ – ﻋﺒﺎﺩﺓ ﺷَﺮﻋﱠﺔ‬This is worship as prescribed by the Sharee’ah. It is to submit to the command of
‫ِﻴ‬
َ َِ
Allah (swt), which has been prescribed by the Sharee’ah. This is specific to those who obey Allah
(swt) and His messengers.
A person is not praised or rewarded for the first type of worship since it is not due to any actions
of his own. This is contrary to the second type since a person is rewarded for that.

4. Al‐Ikhlaas (purity of intention)
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Al‐Ikhlaas means to purify. What is meant by the statement of the Sheikh ‘making the religion
purely for Him’, is that a person by his worship intends and desires nothing but the Face of Allah
(swt), and with this sincerity Allah (swt) gives him the honour of Paradise.
Like we mentioned previously, the person does not worship anything along with Him, neither an
angel brought near, nor any Prophet sent as a messenger.
Sincerity in intention is implied in the meaning of ibaadah (one of the two pre‐conditions), yet the
Sheikh explicitly mentions it with this statement for the purpose of emphasis.
The command for worship
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This is what Allah (swt) commanded the people with, i.e. with the true religion, which is to
worship Allah, making the religion purely for Him as Ibrahim (as) did and as the Prophet (saw) did
following in the footsteps of Ibrahim (as).
The evidence for this is Allah’s (swt) statement:
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We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad ) except that we revealed to him
(saying): Lâ ilâha illa Ana [none has the Right to be worshipped but I (Allâh)], so Worship Me
(Alone and no one else)." [Al Anbiyaa; 21:25]
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The Sheikh (ra) also mentions that Allah (swt) also made clear in His Book that both Jinn and
Mankind were not created other than for worship. He used the verse in Surat Adh‐Dhaariyaat as
evidence for this statement:
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I did not create Jinn and Mankind except they should worship Me (alone). [Adh‐Dhariyaat; 51:56]
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As indicated in the tafseer of this verse, the ibaadah which is mentioned is tawheed as the Sheikh
will clarify. We will Inshallah cover this in next week’s lesson.
Review questions
(i) What was the dua the Sheikh made in this part of the introduction? In your explanation give
the full meaning of the dua.
(ii) Explain the meanings of millah and haneefiya and how they relate to Ibrahim (as).
(iii) List three characteristics of Ibrahim (as) as contained in verses 120‐123 of Surat An‐Nahl.
Write down the part of the verse corresponding to each characteristic (in Arabic) and explain
its meaning.
(iv) In your own words explain the two types of worship.
(v) What is the meaning of the Sheikh’s statement ‘... making the Religion purely and sincerely for
Him’.