The Nullifiers of Islamic Monotheism -I

In the Arabic language, Tawheed literally means"unification" (making
something one) or"asserting oneness", and it comes from the Arabic
verb (Wahhada) which itself means to unite, unify or consolidate.
However, when the term Tawheed is used in reference to Allaah, it
means the realizing and maintaining of Allaah's Unity in all of man's
actions which directly or indirectly relate to Him. Itis the belief
that Allaah is One, without partner in His Dominion and His actions
(Ruboobiyyah), One without similitude inHis Essence and
Attributes(Asmaa' Was-Sifaat), and One without rival in His Divinity
and in Worship (Uloohiyyah).
Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism) can be invalidated by some actions of the
heart, tongue or the body. Some scholars have counted these nullifiers
to be ninety, and some others up to four hundred, but the theme of all
of them is based on the following ten:
1- Shirk (polytheism):
Shirk can be simply defined as: "Associating others with Allaah in
worship". Allaah AlmightySays (what means): "Verily, Allaah forgives
not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship), but He
forgives except that (anything else) to whom He wills." [Quran 4:48]
The Messenger of Allaah, Muhammad said:"Avoid the seven destructing
sins." It was said (by the listeners),"What are they, O Messenger of
Allaah?" He replied by mentioningseven things, the first of which was:
"Associating anything with Allaah…" [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
· Shirk can be committed regarding each category of Tawheed.
Thus, Shirk of Uloohiyyah is by praying to others, supplicating to
them, prostrating before them, slaughtering in their name, seeking
theirhelp in things which onlyAllaah Almighty can do, calling on them
or devoting any type of worship to other than Allaah.
A noteworthy point to highlight is that seeking people's help in
matters that are not exclusive to Allaah is permissible, suchas
seeking someone's help to carry something.
· Shirk of Ruboobiyyah is by ascribing, to any of the creation,
management orcontrol of the universe. For example: believing that
someone or something can create, resurrect, give sustenance, move the
clouds, bring down rain, move the wind, etc, of the things which only
Allaah Almighty can do .
· Shirk of Names is by calling someone by any of the Names of
Allaah, such as naming someone Allaah, Ar-Rahmaan (The Most Merciful)
or Al-Khaaliq (The Creator). Shirk of Attributes is to equate the
creation with The Creator in His Attributes, such as believing that a
certain person or Jinn knows thefuture, etc.
· Shirk of Love: This is another type of Shirk which means to
love a creation as you love Allaah, or even more so. Allaah Says in
the Quran (what means): "And of mankind are some who take [for
worship] others besides Allaah asrivals [to Him]. They love them as
they love Allaah. But those who believe, love Allaah more [than
anything else]." [Quran 2:165].
Ibn Taymiyyah said:"Whosoever loves a creation equal to his loveto
Allaah, is a Mushrik (polytheist) …"
The different types of love:
Firstly: loving for the sake of Allaah and loving whatAllaah and His
Messenger love. This is how a Muslim should be. Ibn Al-Qayyim said
about this type of love: "There are four types of love where one must
differentiate between…They are:
A: Loving Allaah only. Thisis not enough for surviving Allaah's
punishment and winningHis reward. Indeed, the polytheists, the
Christians, the Jews and others love the Creator (each according to
their definition).
B: Loving what Allaah loves. This leads one to enter Islam and depart
infidelity. The most beloved ones by Allaah are those who posses much
of this type of love.
C: Loving for the sake of Allaah. This is a requirement of loving what
Allaah loves.
D: Loving with Allaah. This is the Shirk of Love. Everyone who loves
something with the love of Allaah, not for the sakeof Allaah, then he
has associated a partner withHim.
Secondly: loving lawful things, such as food, clothes or drinks. This
love is normal.
Thirdly: sympathetic loving,such as loving your children or wife. This
love is normal.
Fourthly: loving others equal or more than the love of Allaah. This is
major Shirk."
2- Rendering mediators between one and Allaah to supplicate them,
request from them intercession or depend on them:
This constitutes apostasy as it is unanimously agreed upon by the
Muslim scholars : Many people who claim to be Muslims practice this
false action. They believe that one must take mediators between them
and Allaah to answer their calls, grant them their requests or remove
hardships off them. Allaah Says (what means): "Say [O, Muhammad to the
pagans] call upon those whom you assert [to be associategods] besides
Allaah; they possess not even an atom's weight either in the heavens
or on the earth, nor have they any share in either, nor there is for
Him any supporter from among them. Intercession with Him profits not
except for him whom He permits." [Quran 34:22-23]
Intermediation is of two kinds:
1. Intermediation informing on behalf of Allaah:
This is the duty of the Prophets may Allaah exalttheir mention because
noone has knowledge of what has come from Allaah except through the
Prophets who were sent by Allaah. Allaah Says(what means): "Allaah
chooses Messengers from angels and from men. Verily, Allaah is
All-Hearer, All-Seer." [Quran 22:75]
2. Intermediation requesting help, intercession, dependenceand
relief. This type consists of five sections:
- Waajib (Obligatory): Seeking help from Allaah alone at times of
hardship and trusting Him in every aspect of your life.
- Mustahabb (preferred): Invoking Allaah more frequently as this
increases one's sincerity to Him.
- Halaal (permissible): Seeking help from the creation or requesting
their intermediation to Allaah by supplicating Allaah to help or
relieve the person.
- Makrooh (disliked, but not forbidden): Asking people for favors
more often. Ibn Taymiyyah said: "Asking favors from the creation is
originally forbidden, but it was made legal for necessity and avoiding
requesting favors from others while depending on Allaah is better..."
- Muharram (forbidden): Ascribing mediators between Allaah and oneself
by supplicating tothem or seeking their help in things only Allaah can
do.

He lives in a city where there are no other Muslims; how should he pray Jumu‘ah?.

I live in a city where there are no other Muslims and no Mosques.I
need to peform my friday Jumuah, unfortunately I am not knowledgeable
enough to peform the prayer myself, may I use a audiorecording to lead
me? Also may I use earphonessince I don't want to disturb those in the
next room and it blocks out distracting noises. I'm studying so that I
may peform my own prayers confidently, in the meantime may I use these
measures?.
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
In order to establish Jumu'ah prayer it is sufficient for there to be
three men who are residents. Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on
him) said:
The most correct scholarly opinion is that the number that is
sufficient for Jumu'ah is three: an imam to deliver the khutbah, a
mu'adhdhin to give the call to prayer, and a worshipper to answer the
call.
End quote from Majmoo'Fataawa wa Rasaa'il Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 13/831
Please see also the answer to question no. 7718
Secondly:
The Muslims who are resident in non-Muslim countries are obliged to
offer Jumu'ah if the conditions are met, in accordance with the
general meaning of the texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah which indicate
that it is an individual obligation upon the Muslims if the
conditionsstipulated in sharee'ah are met.
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 8/186
Thirdly:
It is not stipulated that Jumu'ah prayers should be held in a masjid
(mosque) or jaami' (main mosque), according to the majority of Hanafi,
Shaafa'i and Hanbali fuqaha'; the Maalikis hold a different view.
Please see the answer to question no. 153872
Based on that, if there are three Muslim permanent residents in the
city where you live, then you have to establish Jumu'ah prayer, even
if that is not in a mosque.
Fourthly:
If there is no mosque in the city where you live or in a neighbouring
town from which the callto prayer can be heard and you are able to go
there, and there are no Muslims who could pray Jumu'ah with you, then
you are not obliged to pray Jumu'ah; rather youshould pray Zuhr when
the time for it begins; you should not pray following the radio
broadcast.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
I am on my own in Cyprus and I cannot find any Muslims with whom to
pray; there is no mosque but I can hear the adhaan from one of the
Arab countries on the radio, and I pray Jumu'ah following the
broadcast from one of the Arab countries. Is this prayer of mine
regarded as prayer in congregation?
He replied:
Undoubtedly Jumu'ah prayer is obligatory upon the Muslims, but you
should not pray following the radio broadcast; rather what isrequired
of you is to look for Muslims who could establish Jumu'ah prayer, and
you have to put some effort into doing that. If you are able to find a
congregation of Muslimsin any mosque, you should pray Jumu'ah with
them, even if they are only two and you are the third one, because the
correct opinion is that Jumu'ah prayer may be held with three people,
if they are settled and resident in a city and are not travellers. If
they are residents and are settled, then you should all pray Jumu'ah.
But if you are not able tofind anyone, then you should pray Zuhr, with
four rak'ahs, after the sun has passed the zenith and the time for the
prayer has begun; you should not pray Jumu'ah unless there aretwo or
more other people with you who are residents in the city. This is what
has been stated by the scholars.
End quote from Fataawa Noor 'ala ad-Darb, 13/182-184
He was also asked (may Allah have mercy on him):
We live in a town where there is no mosque; are we obliged to go to a
mosque in the town thatis 2 km away in order to pray Jumu'ah? Is that
required of someone who finds it difficult to reach the mosque in
thattown because the route is mountainous and rugged? What is the
ruling on one who praysZuhr instead in his house?
He replied:
This matter is subject to further discussion. If the mosque is far
away and they cannot hear the callto prayer and it is difficult for
them to go to the mosque, then theyare not obliged to do that, but
they have to pray Zuhr in their places if they are not able to
establish Jumu'ah. If they are able to establishJumu'ah then they
should establish it in their town, and they have no need to go to the
other town. If they are three or more, then it is obligatory for them,
according to the most correct scholarly opinion, to establish Jumu'ah;
one of them should deliver a khutbah(sermon) to the others and lead
them in prayer;he may say in his khutbah whatever he can of words of
exhortation and reminder to those who are present, and he should
praise Allah and send blessings upon the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him), and he should recite the Shahaadatayn (twin
declaration of faith), and exhort and remind his brothers in whatever
ways he can. Then he should sit down,then stand up again and give the
second khutbah, reminding his brothers as he did in the first. Then he
should lead them in praying two rak'ahs in which he recites out loud,
as is well known, and they donot have to go to the distant mosque.
But if it is possible to go there with other brothers and increase
their numbers, and that does not entail any hardship for them, then
going to join their brothers and pray with them is preferable. But
they do not have to do that in the situation mentioned; they can
establish Jumu'ah in their own place and pray in their own place.
End quote from Fataawa Noor 'ala ad-Darb, 13/138-140
See also the answer the question no. 45611
To sum up: no one should pray following the radio broadcast; rather if
you can find someone with whom to pray Jumu'ah in the place where you
are staying, you should do so; if that is not possible,then pray Zuhr,
as you do every day, and you do not have to pray Jumu'ah in that case.
We ask Allah to help you to do that which He loves and which pleases Him.

Which takes priority: calling non-Muslims to Islam or calling non-committed Muslims to become religiously committed?.,Dought & clear, -

I have a question regarding dawah. I am tring to convince my muslim
brothers to do dawah to non muslims but hey said that we should fix
the muslims first because muslims dont pray etc and so there argument
was thatis it better to halve a thousand workers in a company and
improve them or to get a thousand more, So is dawah fard .
Praise be to Allah.
What appears to be the case based on the general meaning of the shar'i
evidence concerning that is that calling people to Allah, may He be
exalted, is a communal obligation (fard kifaayah) upon theummah and it
is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) upon every Muslim, according
to his level of ability and knowledge. The Prophet(blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: "Convey from me, even ifit is only one
verse."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari,3461
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said,in his commentary on
the first in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of
the meaning): "Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting
to all that is good (Islam), enjoining Al-Ma'roof (i.e.Islamic
Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do) and forbidding
Al-Munkar (polytheism and disbelief and all thatIslam has forbidden).
And it is they who are the successful" [Aal 'Imraan 3:104]:
What is meant by this verse is that there should be a group of
thisummah who carry out this mission; however, that is also obligatory
upon every individual ofthe ummah according tohis means, as it is
provenin Saheeh Muslim that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever among you
sees an evil action, then let him change it with his hand [by taking
action]; if he cannot, then with his tongue [byspeaking out]; and if
he cannot, then with his heart – and that is the weakest of faith."
According to another version: "Beyond that there is not even a mustard
seed's worth of faith."
End quote from Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 2/78
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah havemercy on him) said:
The evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah indicates that it is
obligatory to call people to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted,
and that this is one of the obligatory duties. The evidence for that
is abundant, such as the verses in which Allah, may He be glorified,
says(interpretation of the meaning):
"Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is
good (Islam), enjoining Al-Ma'roof (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all
that Islam orders one to do) and forbidding Al-Munkar (polytheism and
disbelief and all thatIslam has forbidden). And it is they who are the
successful"
[Aal 'Imraan 3:104]
"Invite (mankind, O Muhammad SAW) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam)
with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Quran) and fair
preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better"
[an-Nahl 16:125]
"and invite (men) to (believe in) your Lord, and be not of
Al-Mushrikoon (those who associate partners with Allah"
[al-Qasas 28:87]
"Say (O Muhammad SAW): "This is my way; I invite unto Allah (i.e. to
the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism) with sure knowledge, I and
whosoever follows me (also must invite others to Allah i.e., to
theOneness of Allah - IslamicMonotheism) with sure knowledge"
[Yoosuf 12:108].
So Allah, may He be glorified, has explained that the followers of the
Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) are those who
call people to Allah; they are the people of insight. What is
required, as is well known, is to follow him and adhere to his way, as
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad SAW) you have a good
example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and
the Last Day and remembers Allah much"
[al-Ahzaab 33:21].
The scholars have clearlystated that calling people to Allah, may He
be exalted, is a communal obligation (fard kifaayah) with regard to
the regions in which the callers live, forevery region and area needs
the da'wah (call) and needs people who are active in this field. Soit
is a communal obligation; if sufficient numbers of people undertake
it, the duty is waived from the others and for the others da'wah
becomes a confirmed Sunnah (Sunnah mu'akkadah) and a great righteous
deed.
But if the people of a specific area or region do not undertake
da'wah, the burden of sin is incurred by all of them, and it becomes
obligatory for all of them; each person must undertake to call people
to Islam, according to hisability. However, generally speaking,
withregard to every country, what is required is for there to be a
group that is devoted to the missionof calling people to Allah, may He
be glorified and exalted, throughout the world, to convey the message
of Allah and to explain the command of Allah byall possible means,
because the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sent
out callers, and he sent letters to people and to kings and rulers,
calling them to Allah, may He beglorified and exalted.
See: Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 1/330
Secondly:
There is no need at all for differences as to which work should take
precedence: calling Muslims or calling non-Muslims. The one whom Allah
enables to do any of that should go ahead with it. There are some
Muslims who are good at calling non-Muslims, because Allah has given
them the ability to explain things clearly or to convince people
easily, or He has enabled him to learn thelanguage of the non-Muslims
whom he iscalling, or because of thenature of his work, as there are
many non-Muslims with him, or because he travels to their country or
because he has a neighbour who is a non-Muslim, and so on.
In such cases we say to the individual: Go ahead and call these people
with wisdom and beautiful preaching, with clear proof, and with
patience in dealing with them.
See also the answer to question no. 99976 for information on how to
call these people.
And there are some Muslims who are good atcalling their fellow
Muslims, because of some of the things that have been mentioned above;
or because he does not have the patience to call non-Muslims; or
because he has skills in convincing and debatingin various issues and
establishing clear proof; or because he is well versed in some
branchesof Islamic knowledge that may be needed more by one who calls
Muslims than one who calls non-Muslims.
The point of all this is to say that there is no needfor disputes or
arguments, let alone division, around this issue. Both are
necessaryaccording to sharee'ah, and each person will be enabled to do
that for which he was created. The one who finds that he has an
interest and is able to work in either of the two fields should
notdenounce anyone who works in the other field, because both of them
are good and are necessary, and neither takes precedence over the
other at all. We do not know of any one among the early daa'iyahs
(callers) who said: We are going to refrain from calling the
non-believers until we have set straight the Muslims' affairs. When
will that ever happen?!
Moreover, we do not know of anyone who says that we should refrain
from calling Muslims, teaching them and setting their affairs straight
in order to focuson calling the non-Muslims and bringing them to
Islam.
There is no room for conflict in da'wah; rather it is the task of
every Muslim, each according to what he is able to do and what Allah
has given him of knowledge, forbearance, wealth andso on.

The two wolves inside of us, Islamic Stories,-

An old Indian Grandfather said to his grandson who came to him with
anger at a friend who had done him an injustice........
"Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for
those thathave taken so much, with no sorrow for whatthey do. But hate
wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy.
It is like taking poison and wishing your enemywould die. I have
struggled with these feelings many times."
He continued......
"It is as if there are two wolves inside me;
One is good and does noharm. He lives in harmony with all round him
and does not take offense when no offensewas intended. He will only
fight when it is right to do so, and in theright way. He saves all his
energy for the right fight.
But the other wolf, ahhh!
He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of
temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason.
He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is
helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.
Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both
of them try to dominate my spirit."
The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked...
"Which one wins, Grandfather?"
The Grandfather smiled and quietly said......
"The one I feed."