Islam, religion, Faith, Quran, Hadith, Aqeeda, Creed

1. Musallah at-Taqwa
Saturday
November 14,
2009
Islamic College of Canberra
‫ﺑﺴﻢ ﺍﷲ ﺍﻟﺮﲪﻦ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻴﻢ‬
Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles
Class Notes – Term 4, Week 4
، ‫ﺍﻷﺻﻞ ﺍﻟﱠﺎﹺﻧﻲ: ﻣﻌﺮﻓﺔ ﺩﻳﻦ ﺍﻹﺳﻼﻡ ﹺﺑﺎﻷﺩﱠﺔ. ﻭﻫﻮ ﺍﻹﺳﺘﺴﻼﻡ ِﻟ ﱠﻪ ﹺﺑﺎﻟﱠﻮﺣﻴﺪ ، ﻭﺍﻹْﻧﻘﻴﺎﺩ ﹶﻟﻪ ﹺﺑﺎﻟ ﱠﺎﻋﺔ‬
ِ َ ‫َ ْ ﹸ ﺜ َ ْ ﹺ ﹶ ﹸ ِ ﹺ ِ ْ ﹺ َ ِﻟ ِ َ ُ َ ِ ٍ ِ ْ ُ ﻠ ِ ﺘ ْ ِ ِ َ ِ ِ َ ُ ُ ﻄ‬
.‫ﻭﺍﹾﻟﺒﺮَﺍﺀ ﹸ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟ ﱢﺮﻙ ﻭﹶﺃﻫﻠﻪ‬
ِ ِ ْ َ ِ ْ ‫َ َ َﺓ ِ َ ﺸ‬
THE SECOND PRINCIPLE: Knowledge of the Religion (deen) of Islam with the proofs. It is to submit to
Allah with tawheed, to yield obediently to Him, and to free and disassociate oneself from shirk and its
people.
The Second Principle
•
After the Sheikh (ra) finished discussing the first principle, he moves on to discuss the second principle
which is knowledge of the religion of Islam based on evidences and proofs. That is, to attain knowledge of
the religion of Islam, and to know the religion of Islam from its proofs in the Quran and Sunnah.
•
Knowledge and adherence to Islam is the biggest blessing a person may have. It is the only religion
acceptable to Allah (swt). Allah (swt) says:
ÞΟ≈n=ó™M}$# «!$# y‰ΨÏã š⎥⎪Ïe$!$# ¨βÎ)
Truly, the religion with Allah is Islam. [Aal‐Imran; 3:19]
•
What of the person who takes a deen other than Islam? Allah (swt) says about such people:
∩∇∈∪ z⎯ƒÌÅ¡≈y‚ø9$# z⎯ÏΒ ÍοtÅzFψ$# ’Îû uθèδuρ çμ÷ΨÏΒ Ÿ≅t6ø)ム⎯n=sù $YΨƒÏŠ ÄΝ≈n=ó™M}$# uöxî ÆtGö;tƒ ⎯tΒuρ
And whoever seeks a Religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he
will be one of the losers. [Aal‐Imran; 3:85]
•
The deen (religion) of Islam is comprised of three matters as mentioned and discussed by the Sheikh (ra).
They are: Submission to Allah with tawheed, yielding obediently to Him and to free and disassociate oneself
from shirk and its people. We will Inshallah discuss each of them in an easy to understand manner.

2. Knowledge of Islam with Evidence
•
•
The Sheikh (ra) mentions that knowledge of Islam must be established upon strong irrefutable evidences.
This is be way of warning, in that he is saying there is no room for blind following in Islam, otherwise a
person risks becoming an imma’ah (characterless, yes‐man).
•
A person must have solid evidences from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. It does not
make sense that a person blindly follows someone else in the matter for which they were created for (i.e.
worship).
•
When you have the evidences in your hands, you will Inshallah be upon light, guidance and understanding
of your religion.
•
The person who does not understand the reality of their religion, it is feared from them what they may do.
For example the one who innovates in his salaat by praying outside the allocated times or praying during
the forbidden times, does not have evidences for what they do. They either blindly follow others or
innovate in the religion. Even worse, is if someone sees what they are doing and chooses to imitate them.
This is the start of how ignorance, misguidance and innovation become normal and acceptable amongst the
people.
•
Knowledge with evidence makes us stand firm upon our religion, and not blindly follow and comply with
whatever environment we are placed in.
•
As for after their death (i.e. these who blindly followed) when the two angels ask the three questions in the
grave, it is feared that their answer will contain doubt and uncertainty and they will answer incorrectly.
That is they will say ‘Ha, ha, I do not know, I heard the people saying something, so I said it”.
•
This is the opposite of the one who knows their religion based on evidences from the Quran and Sunnah
and was confident with the questions in this world, then when the angels interrogate them, they will
answer with steadfastness and confidence.
•
The cause for steadfastness and confidence in answering the questions in the grave, is knowing your
religion with evidences and proofs. Knowledge based on evidences is not itself sufficient, but must be
accompanied with actions. These are the three matters which comprise Islam as mentioned by the Sheikh
(ra).
Submission to Allah with Tawheed
•
•
•
The first of the matters is submission to Allah (swt) with tawheed.
This is to submit to Allah (swt) in the manner prescribed in the Sharee’ah, and to do so upon tawheed.
Submitting to the will of Allah (swt) upon other than tawheed is shirk, and is unacceptable to Allah (swt). It
forms the very essence of our deen; we do not submit to Allah (swt), except that we acknowledge and
implement his tawheed in all three categories: Ruboobiyya, Uluhiyya & Asmaa’ was‐Siffaat.
•
You may recall in our discussion of inaabah when we discussed the verse used as evidence by the Sheikh
(ra), we touched upon the two types of submission:
i.
Submission of the creation to the decree of Allah (swt) and with regards to the laws of creation.
There is no reward attached to this since the person has no choice to escape that. This is evidenced
by the saying of Allah (swt):
∩∇⊂∪ šχθãèy_öムÏμø‹s9Î)uρ $δöŸ2uρ $YãöθsÛ Ä⇓ö‘F{$#uρ ÏN≡uθ≈yϑ¡¡9$# ’Îû ⎯tΒ zΝn=ó™r& ÿ…ã&s!uρ

3. And to Him submitted all creatures in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to
Him shall they all be returned. [Aal‐Imran; 3:83]
ii.
Submission to the laws and prescriptions of Islam, and this is to submit with obedience. This is
particular to those who are obedient to Allah (swt).
•
The submission mentioned by the Sheikh (ra) in his text is the second one and is the one praised by Allah
(swt). It should be done freely and willingly.
•
Submission unwillingly and with no conviction is of no benefit in matters of religion. A person cannot be
forced to submit to Allah (swt), rather the willingness to do so must come from the heart.
Yielding Obediently to Allah (Swt)
•
The second of the three matters is to yield obediently to Allah (swt). Put simply, this is implementing what
Allah (swt) has ordained and commanded and leaving that which He has forbidden and is evil. This is from
the inherent meaning of obedience, and cannot be achieved any other way.
•
The issue of al‐hawaa (desires) may become involved in a person’s obedience to Allah (swt). This is in the
form of reluctance to perform what Allah (swt) has ordained and to be tempted by that which Allah (swt)
has forbidden. The prescribed and praiseworthy course of action in such situations is as Allah (swt) has said:
∩⊆⊃∪ 3“uθoλù;$# Ç⎯tã }§ø¨Ζ9$# ‘yγtΡuρ ⎯ÏμÎn/u‘ tΠ$s)tΒ t∃%s{ ô⎯tΒ $¨Βr&uρ
And for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from evil desires, and
lusts. [An‐Naziaat; 79:40]
•
It is better to be patient upon obedience to Allah (swt) and patient upon the abstinence of what He (swt)
has forbidden than to follow your desires which will more than likely lead to destruction. If you recall, these
are two of the three types of patience we discussed previously.
•
Such a person who perseveres with these two types of patience and does not submit to his desires, Allah
(swt) has promised them Paradise! Allah (swt) says:
∩⊆⊇∪ 3“uρù'yϑø9$# }‘Ïδ sπ¨Ψpgø:$# ¨βÎ*sù
Indeed, Paradise will be his abode. [An‐Naziaat; 79:41]
Disassociation from Shirk and its People
•
•
The third of the three matters is to disassociate from shirk and its people.
This is to absolve and remove oneself from it. This necessitates separation and disassociation from it. This is
evidenced in the verse in the textbook (Surat Al‐Mumtahana) where Allah (swt) described Ibrahim (as) as
being an example for us in this matter. That is, Ibrahim (as) and his people rejected and hated the beliefs of
the polytheists and separated from them.
•
This is incumbent upon the believer to disassociate from shirk and its practitioners in both belief and action,
and to have strong enmity towards them and their beliefs. From amongst this disassociation is that we
must not imitate them in matters specific to them.

4. •
We discussed this in detail when we took our class on al‐walaa wal‐baraa’ and it is repeated here again
because he who does not practice al‐baraa’, then their tawheed is corrupted! Rather, the correction of
tawheed is with the belief and implementation of al‐baraa’.
•
The disassociation from shirk and its practitioners is from the correctness of Islam and a person’s Islam
remains incorrect so long as al‐baraa’ is absent. This is why the Sheikh (ra) mentions it here.
•
Disassociation from shirk and its people must be done through both beliefs and actions. Shunning shirk with
your actions may depend upon your capacity to do so, but there is no excuse in your belief. If your belief is
corrupted it must be corrected because the heart cannot be controlled and subjugated against its will in
this matter!
Review questions
There are no review questions this week. Instead go over the hadith below regarding the three levels of
Islam which we will Inshallah discuss this week.