Saturday, March 31, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
MPUBS Tele-Lecture: Beware! Callers to The Hellfire - Ash Shaykh Abu 'Abdullaah Uthman as-Saalimee
Bismillaah wa -Alhumdulillaah wa Salaatu wa Salaam 'alaa Rasulullaah 'amma ba'd
Our Shaykh Uthman as-Saalimee (May Allaah Preserve Him) will deliver a LIVE Telelink lecture to the brothers and sisters at Masjid Ibn 'Abbaas, Crown Point, Tobago, Masjid ul Khaleefah, Longdenville, Trinidad, Masjid us Sunnah, Barataria, Trinidad and Masjid Al-Bukhaari, Florida regarding recognizing and staying away from ignorant speakers and callers to falsehood, whether it be to shirk (associating partners with Allaah) or bida' (innovation) inshaaAllaah.
As Muslims striving to follow the Quraan and Sunnah upon the understanding of The Pious Predecessors, it is our duty to learn about falsehood so we can stay away from it and by extension we should know how to recognize the callers to falsehood who will ultimately end up in the hellfire and lead others there with them. May Allaah, Al-Khayrul Hafidheen protect us from falsehood and May He, Al-Hadi, guide us to the haqq.
Tune in via PalTalk in the Room: Muwahhideen Publications or WizIQ: www.wiziq.com/Mpubs
InshaaAllaah ta'alaa
Wa Billaahi Tawfeeq
Wa SallAllaahu wa Sallaama wa Barak 'alaa Nabiyanna Muhammad wa 'alaa 'Alyhi wa Sahbyhi wa Sallam
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Why Was Adam Considered the Last of Creatures?
The pen is considered the first thing to record the destiny of
man before his existence. However, Adam is the last of
creatures, due to several reasons:
One: Preparing the place before the dweller's arrival.
Two: Adam is the aim for which every other being is created,
like the heavens, the earth, the sun, the moon, and the sea.
Three: The most proficient Creator ended His work with the
best the same as He starts with its basis and origin.
Four: Souls usually aspire to the end and final stages, and that
is why Musa (Moses) told the sorcerers in the Qur'anic verse in
which Allah says,
which means, "Cast down what you want to cast!" (Yunus,
10:80)
So when the people saw the sorcerers' actions, they inclined to
the following one.
Five: Allah, the Exalted and Ever Majestic, adjourned the best
of books, prophets, and nations to the latest period of time. He
renders the Hereafter better than this worldly life, and the final
stages to be more perfect than the earlier ones, and that is
why there is a great difference between the Angel's saying,
"Read," to which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "I am
not a reader," and Allah's saying,
which means, "This day, I have perfected your religion for you."
(Al-Ma'idah, 5:3)
Six: Allah, the Exalted, gave the knowledge of all things to
Adam.
Seven: Adam is the essence and fruit of existence, so it is
correct that he is the last of all the entities.
Eight: Because Adam is honorable in the Sight of Allah, He
prepared all his interests, requirements, necessities and means
of life for him. As soon as he was created, he found the
universe ready for him.
Nine: Allah, the Exalted, willed that His honor and grace would
be manifested over other creatures, so He preceded their
creation, and that is why the Angels said, "Even if Allah creates
whatever He wills, no creatures will be more honorable to Him
than us." Thus, when He created Adam and He commanded
them to prostrate themselves before him, the honor and grace
of Allah were manifested thereon by His knowledge, however,
when Adam committed the sin, the Angels thought that the
honor (bestowed upon Adam) was annulled, disregarding the
fact that repentance is an act of worship. When Adam turned to
Allah in repentance, performing that act of worship, the Angels
knew that there is a secret in Allah's creation, which is known to
no one but Him, the Almighty.
Ten: When Allah, the Exalted, started the creation of the world
with the pen, it was magnificent to finalize His creation with the
human being. Verily, the pen is the tool of knowledge, and the
human is the knowledgeable entity. Accordingly, Allah manifested
the honor of Adam over the angels by virtue of the knowledge bestowed
upon him.
Ibnul Qayyim al Fawaa'id pgs 100-102
man before his existence. However, Adam is the last of
creatures, due to several reasons:
One: Preparing the place before the dweller's arrival.
Two: Adam is the aim for which every other being is created,
like the heavens, the earth, the sun, the moon, and the sea.
Three: The most proficient Creator ended His work with the
best the same as He starts with its basis and origin.
Four: Souls usually aspire to the end and final stages, and that
is why Musa (Moses) told the sorcerers in the Qur'anic verse in
which Allah says,
which means, "Cast down what you want to cast!" (Yunus,
10:80)
So when the people saw the sorcerers' actions, they inclined to
the following one.
Five: Allah, the Exalted and Ever Majestic, adjourned the best
of books, prophets, and nations to the latest period of time. He
renders the Hereafter better than this worldly life, and the final
stages to be more perfect than the earlier ones, and that is
why there is a great difference between the Angel's saying,
"Read," to which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "I am
not a reader," and Allah's saying,
which means, "This day, I have perfected your religion for you."
(Al-Ma'idah, 5:3)
Six: Allah, the Exalted, gave the knowledge of all things to
Adam.
Seven: Adam is the essence and fruit of existence, so it is
correct that he is the last of all the entities.
Eight: Because Adam is honorable in the Sight of Allah, He
prepared all his interests, requirements, necessities and means
of life for him. As soon as he was created, he found the
universe ready for him.
Nine: Allah, the Exalted, willed that His honor and grace would
be manifested over other creatures, so He preceded their
creation, and that is why the Angels said, "Even if Allah creates
whatever He wills, no creatures will be more honorable to Him
than us." Thus, when He created Adam and He commanded
them to prostrate themselves before him, the honor and grace
of Allah were manifested thereon by His knowledge, however,
when Adam committed the sin, the Angels thought that the
honor (bestowed upon Adam) was annulled, disregarding the
fact that repentance is an act of worship. When Adam turned to
Allah in repentance, performing that act of worship, the Angels
knew that there is a secret in Allah's creation, which is known to
no one but Him, the Almighty.
Ten: When Allah, the Exalted, started the creation of the world
with the pen, it was magnificent to finalize His creation with the
human being. Verily, the pen is the tool of knowledge, and the
human is the knowledgeable entity. Accordingly, Allah manifested
the honor of Adam over the angels by virtue of the knowledge bestowed
upon him.
Ibnul Qayyim al Fawaa'id pgs 100-102
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Corrupt Scholars
Corrupt scholars sit in front of the door to Paradise calling people to it through some words, while they are doing deeds that lead to Hellfire.
Whenever their words call people to Paradise, their deeds do not conform with their words.
If such words were true they would have been followed by them.
They seem to be leaders while they are really highwaymen.
If Allah alone is your aim, then all favor and honor will be yours but if you aim at what you will gain from Him, then favor may not come to you as it is in His Hands.
If your aim was favor, which you would gain from Allah, then it would not come to you.
This is because it is in His Hands and a Deed of His Deeds.
If you draw nearer from Allah, all favor would be yours.
If favor was your aim, it would not come to you.
If you knew Allah and tasted the pleasure of being near Him and then you degraded yourself to seeking favor, Allah would prevent you from gaining it as a punishment.
This way, you lost being near Allah and gaining favor.
Ibnul Qayyim's AL-FAWA'ID • pg.95
Whenever their words call people to Paradise, their deeds do not conform with their words.
If such words were true they would have been followed by them.
They seem to be leaders while they are really highwaymen.
If Allah alone is your aim, then all favor and honor will be yours but if you aim at what you will gain from Him, then favor may not come to you as it is in His Hands.
If your aim was favor, which you would gain from Allah, then it would not come to you.
This is because it is in His Hands and a Deed of His Deeds.
If you draw nearer from Allah, all favor would be yours.
If favor was your aim, it would not come to you.
If you knew Allah and tasted the pleasure of being near Him and then you degraded yourself to seeking favor, Allah would prevent you from gaining it as a punishment.
This way, you lost being near Allah and gaining favor.
Ibnul Qayyim's AL-FAWA'ID • pg.95
Thursday, March 15, 2012
A Biography of Shaykh Badee Uddin Shah ar-Rashidee as-Sindi (rahimahullaah Ta’ala)
Transcribed from a lecture given by his student Shaykh Abdullah Naasir Rehmani
Today, the topic of discussion that I have been given is the Seerah [biography] of our Shaykh, Allaamah Badee-ud-Deen Shah ar-Rashidee. It is a coincidence that in the past two days I was in the hometown, or rather in the library of my Shaykh. The Shaykh belonged to an area named Saeedabad, which is approximately at a distance of 70km from Hyderabad. Our annual conference was held there these past two days. This was the 20th year, the series of conferences having been initiated by Shah Sahib himself.
Whenever I visit the hometown of my Shaykh, I feel as if by the departure of one man the whole town has become desolate. It reminds me of the following verses:
Whenever I visit the city of my friend
I don’t find my friend, though the city is unchanged
Anyhow, this is a system ordained by Allaah, and it is by this system that the world moves on. Our Shaykh, Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah) was born on the 15th of July 1925. His birthplace is a town named Pir Chando which is at a distance of approximately 70 km from Hyderabad. When Shah Sahib's (sahib is a term of respect used in the Indo/Pak subcontinent) (rahimahullaah) sixth grandfather in the line of lineage, Syed Raashid Shah, passed away, he left a chanda (flag) and a pagree (turban) to each of his two sons. Shah Sahib's fifth grandfather in the line of lineage, Syed Yaseen Shah, inherited the chanda and the pagree was inherited by his brother. This is how the Rashidee family split into two different families, Pir Chanda and Pir Pagara. Pir Pagara, which has a great deal of importance in Pakistani politics, is from the extended family of Shah Sahib.
All of them are from the progeny of Rashid Shah. It can be said that the Pir Pagara family developed a leaning towards politics. Their history of Peeri Mureedi continues on to this day. Conversely, the family of Shah Sahib was more inclined towards religion and knowledge, and this legacy continues by the grace and blessings of Allaah.
Shah Sahib's father, Ehsanullah Shah, was also a scholar and Muhaddith [scholar of hadeeth]. He laid the foundation of a madrassah [institute of Islamic learning] in his hometown. It is here that Shah Sahib got his early religious education and was able to benefit from different teachers in various subjects. It is during his education here that he developed an interest in Uloom-ul-Hadeeth [knowledge of the sciences of Hadeeth]. He also travelled outside his hometown to nurture this interest and to learn hadeeth sciences from various scholars. Among them are:
Shaykh-ul-Islaam Maulana Thana ullah Amritsaree (rahimahullaah)
Muhaddith Abu Muhammad ‘Abdul-Haq Bahawalpuree al-Muhajir ul Makki (rahimahullaah)
Shaykh-ul-Hadeeth Allaamah Hafidh ‘Abdullaah Muhaddith Roparee (rahimahullaah)
Allaamah Abu Ishaaq Naik Muhammad (rahimahullaah)
Allaamah Abu Sa’eed Sharf-ud-Deen Dehlwee (rahimahullaah)
It is from Allaamah Abu Sa’eed Sharf-ud-Deen Dehlwee (rahimahullaah) that Shah Sahib received an ijazah [permission to narrate from a teacher] and sanad [chain of narration] in hadeeth. All of the above Mashaayikh were under the direct tutelage of Shaykh-ul-Qul Miyan Nazeer Hussain Muhaddith Dehlwee (rahimahullaah). This is one way in which our Shaykh, Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah) was a student of Shaykh-ul-Qul Miyan Sahib. The sanad of Shaykh-ul-Qul Miyan Sahib is famous as has been noted in various books. I have read and seen this sanad and after reading and doing some research I found out that this sanad can be traced to Imaam al-Bukhaaree in seventeen ways. And if we take one particular sanad of Imaam al-Bukhaaree which is from the tareekh of Imaam Makki, then the sanad of Shaykh Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah) can be traced back to the prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) in 20 ways.
After receiving ijazah from the scholars, Shah Sahib returned to his hometown and started da’wah and teaching in Sindh. This was a time when da’wah of Qur’aan and Sunnah was full of hardships, especially in Sindh. In those days almost everyone was associated with one peer or the other and it was their ‘Aqeedah [authentic belief system of al-Islam] that if they give presents to their peer in the form of animals etc. then this is enough for their salvation. They believed that by doing so, the peer would take care of their affairs of this world and the hereafter. This was a dangerous ignorance and Shah Sahib voiced out against this uncompromisingly. Initially, he busied himself with teaching and taught a lot of the scholars of Sindh especially in hadeeth alongside his work in the field of da’wah.
Shah Sahib had an astounding memory. He memorised the Qur’aan while an adult in 1948 in just 3 months. The fact that he memorised such a lengthy book in just 3 months can only be considered a miracle of a wali [Awliyaa of Allaah (Ally of Allaah one who aids and promotes the correct understanding of the religion of al-Islam]. Shah Sahib once told us that he was going for some event on a camel from Saeedabad, and it was while sitting on this camel that he memorised Soorah Noor.
Shah Sahib was in a way the first alim or mubbaligh [narrator of a message] to have done da’wah work in his area. As mentioned earlier, the Sindh province was and still is home to some of the worst forms of Jahiliyyah. In light of this, it was very difficult to do da’wah work there. However, Allaah gave him tawfeeq [ability] and even though he had to face many dangers, he went on with da’wah work.
There were assassination attempts, and many a times his opponents would complain to the governments and hence creating problems for him. He was banned from speaking in public and put under house arrest on several occasions. All of this was the propaganda of his opponents that made da’wah work difficult in its incipient stages. There were few people with proper ‘Aqeedah. Our Shaykh once told us that he was waiting at a train station so that he may go back to his town, when he saw a man praying at the station with his hands on his chest and also performing rafaulyadein [raising both hands level with the shoulders or level to the ears at the time of going into and coming out of Rukoo and at the time of getting up from the tashahud]. Shah Sahib was really pleased to see an Ahlul Hadeeth [The People of Hadeeth] and decided to meet him. At that very point, the train arrived. The train for his town came once a day. So he could either take the train and go back, or meet the man at the station in which case he would have to stay there for another day. But the Ahlul Hadeeth were so few that he decided to leave the train and meet his Ahlul Hadeeth companion. However, if you visit Sindh now you will see that the Ahlul Hadeeth are great in number, and that the da’wah of Tawheed is everywhere. Shah Sahib told us that when he began Salafi da’wah in Sindh, there was not a single Ahlul Hadeeth Masjid in the province apart from a couple in Karachi and Hyderabad. However, when our Shaykh passed away, there were about 700 mosques in the province. Now the total has increased to about 850 Alhamdulillaah. These are the blessings of Allaah, and the fruits of the work Allaah enabled him to do.
As mentioned earlier, on several occasions there were assassination attempts on our Shaykh’s life. Even though he had to face severe opposition at times, he demonstrated patience and steadfastness throughout. I'll now talk of one incident out of the many that occurred during his da’wah work. The Shaykh was invited to give a lecture at a village that only had a few Salafi’s in it. The Shaykh went to the village walking a long distance since there were not that many means to commute otherwise at the time. When the Shaykh arrived at the village, the Imaam of the local Masjid opposed his visit. The Imaam gathered the feudal leaders and popular personalities of the village on his side and arrived at the Masjid with sticks and shovels and told the Salafi’s that they will not let them proceed with their programme. Nonetheless, the Salafi’s had a firm resolve to go ahead with the schedule even if that entailed much sacrifice. However, Shah Sahib (rahimahullaah) forbid them from doing so since that would be detrimental to their da’wah. One of the attendees suggested that they to hold the lecture in his house. So the Shaykh proceeded to his house and sat on the rooftop with his two or three companions sitting in front of him. The Shaykh started his lecture and since Allaah had bestowed him with a loud voice, his lecture could be heard in the surrounding houses. The propaganda was that the Shaykh speaks out against the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). However, what they heard was completely different from the rumours that were spread about him. He was presenting the Qur’aan and ahaadeeth of the Nabi (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). So one person came from the surrounding area to listen to him, then another, and another, and people kept coming from wherever his voice could reach. Shah Sahib kept lecturing for hours and hours and as a result of that, almost the whole village became Ahlul Hadeeth. This event is a testimony of the patience of the Shaykh. In the initial stages of da’wah, one has to go through a lot of hardships and difficult situations. Allaah ta'aala gave the Shaykh taufeeq to remain steadfast.
Other than this, there were numerous instances in the life of the Shaykh where graves were flattened. He was often challenged and accepted to debate with people of various groups. A lot of people would become Ahlul Hadeeth at these debates and at times even scholars. A testimony to this is a debate that took place in Larkana during which Maulana Hayatullah Laashaaree (hafizahullah) turned Ahlul Hadeeth. He is still amongst us today and is 130 years old having turned Ahlul Hadeeth at the age of approximately 100 years. Before this he used to teach fiqh [Islamic Jurisprudence] for about 70 years in various Hanafi madaris but now is Ahlul Hadeeth with a very strong and deep grounding in ‘Aqeedah and is busy with da’wah work alhamdulillaah.
Our Shaykh also lived in Saudi Arabia for about 5 years giving duroos at the Haram in Makkah Mukkarramah. His duroos were on Tafsir ibn Kathir and Saheeh al-Bukhaaree. Other than those, he also gave a dars in al-Muhallah by Ibn Hazm. For some time after that he gave dars at Daar al-Hadeeth, Makkah, after which he lectured for 2 years at Mahd-ul-Haram al-Makki for which Shaykh ‘Abdullaah bin Humaid specially requested him. It was his duroos there that earned him worldwide acclaim. Some of his lectures there were in Arabic and some in Urdu. These were extremely popular among the taalib-ul-‘ilm [student of Islamic knowledge] and they would travel for far and wide to attend these. They had an ilmi environment that cannot be described in words. There are two duroos that he delivered at the Islaamic University of Madeenah that became very popular among the masses. One of them was against tasawwuf [soofism] and the other on the virtues of the people of Hadeeth. Both of these were presided by Shaykh bin Baaz (rahimahullaah), as a matter of fact, it was he who invited Shah Sahib to give the duroos. Shaykh Naasir-ud-Deen al-Albaanee (rahimahullaah) was also present and praised the duroos given by Shah Sahib. The Ulamaa there were surprised at his religious acumen and especially by his command over hadeeth sciences. They were also impressed by the number ahaadeeth he had memorised with isnaad and references.
The Shaykh also holds a special position in ‘ilm-ul-rijaal [knowledge of the narrators]. The greatest attestation to this are the words of Shaykh Thana ullah Amritsaree (rahimahullaah) at a conference before the independence of Pakistan. This conference was attended by many of the famous Mashaayikh of the Indian subcontinent and was presided by our Shaykh Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah). At the beginning a speech given by Maulana Thana ullah Amritsaree (rahimahullaah), He said: “I feel privileged to be speaking at an event presided by the Imaam of ‘ilm-ul-rijaal.” Being given such a tazkiyah [in this case a personal character reference] from your teacher (who is one of the foremost scholars of the subcontinent) is indeed an attestation to the abilities of the Shaykh. He was indeed the flag holder of Tawheed and Sunnah in the province and we think that Allaah brought him to this world for this purpose.
Throughout his time in Sindh there were very few days that he would actually spend at home. He used to give duroos [regular classes] almost every day in some village or city. At times he would be away from home for more than a week, giving a lecture in one village and then straight away proceeding to another to do likewise. He used to give each of these duroos with zeal and zest and made sure he paid due attention to the aspects which required him to do so. His da’wah sessions especially gained widespread acclaim in the desert area of Thar. Most of his travelling there involved extreme exhaustion and even those who go there today and with ample resources will not deny this. However, the Shaykh sometimes used to spend about a month in a go in these regions calling people towards Tawheed and Sunnah. Resultantly, there are literally hundreds of villages in the Thar area which are completely Ahlul Hadeeth.
I have been fortunate enough to study under the Shaykh since 1982 till his passing away in 1996. When I returned from Imam Muhammad bin Saud University in 1982, I contacted the Shaykh straight away and have often had the chance to stay in his company till his death. What did I see during this time? I saw that Shah Sahib was a Muhaddith, memorizer of hadeeth with asaneed and at the very least he used to know in which book and chapter you could find a particular hadeeth. It was the habit of Shah Sahib not to let go of a new book till having read it from cover to cover. And since he had a tenacious memory, he memorised everything he read. He always corroborated his stance by using evidences from the Qur’aan and Sunnah. I remember vividly that at a dars in Hyderabad, a Hanafi stood up and asked him to prove the manner of his prayer using evidences only from Saheeh al-Bukhaaree and Saheeh Muslim. So at that time Shah Sahib explained each and every step of Salaah, from takbeer-e-tahreema [opening takbeer] to Salaam, using evidences only from the aforementioned books and that also by memory.
While travelling, Shah Sahib either answered questions that were posed to him or when he saw that his companions are silent, he busied himself with the recitation of the Qur’aan. At times I saw that when he left his house for a journey which was to last 3, 4 or 5 days, he used to begin reciting the Qur’aan, and when he would be returning we used to hear him reciting some of the last Soorah’s, i.e. he used to finish reciting the Qur’aan on a journey which lasted just 3 or 4 days. He used to establish Qiyaam-ul-Layl [Night prayer performed in Ramadaan] throughout his life; no matter how late he came back from an event, he used to make sure that he got up for tahajjud. At times if he feared that he would not be able to wake up, he would pray Qiyaam-ul-Layl and then go to bed. When on a journey, he used to pray Qiyaam-ul-Layl on whatever he was riding on, as is proven from the Sunnah.
The Shaykh travelled to various countries such as the US and some European states. I feel honoured to have accompanied the Shaykh on some of his overseas trips especially the one to Kuwait. During the time that he time spent there, the Shaykh would be fully occupied with knowledge-based activities. After Fajr, he would give a dars on Bukhaaree after which he used to rest for a while. Dars-e-Mustallah from 11 in the morning till Dhuhr, and then duroos after Dhuhr, ‘Asr and Maghrib. And the people who used to drive him from one place to another in between these duroos used to read books from Shah Sahib during these journeys. Many of the major scholars of the region took ijaazah in hadeeth from him. When the news that Shah Sahib was in Kuwait reached Saudi Arabia, a lot of the scholars and students from there travelled to Kuwait so as to meet him and benefit from him. All throughout this month, Shah Sahib only used to rest a couple hours a day, the rest of this time was either spent giving duroos or answering questions. We used to be amazed at how Allaah enabled him to do so much work for Islaam. This is the blessing of Allaah that he bestows upon whomsoever He wills.
All of this is because Shah Sahib blessed by Allaah with an ocean of knowledge. Whenever we used to read from the Shaykh or listen to his lectures, we used to see the characteristics of the ‘Aaimah [scholars] in him. Amongst others, we saw in him the reasoning skills of Hafiz Ibn Hazm (rahimahullaah), the descriptive skills of Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) and the power of proof of Imaam ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah). When we used to study hadeeth or talk about asaaneed we used to see in him the likeness of major scholars in the field of Jarh wa Ta’deel [Praise and Disparagement of narrators in chains of narration]. Allaah blessed him with all these qualities and hence people all throughout the world would benefit from his ‘ilm. Because of the efforts of the Shaykh, the zeal and fervour with which people learn ‘Aqeedah, hadeeth and Sunnah, we do not see it anywhere else in Pakistan.
Shah Sahib's library is indeed an exemplary one. There are between fifteen and twenty thousand books in this private library that include manuscripts and books some that run into several volumes. In his heart he had a special place for books; if he came across a new book he would try to buy it despite limited financial means. Some books people would give him gratuitously; he used to be very pleased when he received these gifts. If you open up a book from his library you will often see that it is filled with notes in the margin area and at other places. At times these notes would criticise or corroborate what was written and at other times it would just be an elaboration of the points mentioned. There are about 150 of our Shaykh’s own books and publications. Most of these are in Arabic while the rest are in Urdu and Sindee. Shah Sahib (rahimahullaah) had an equal command over all three of these languages. Furthermore, Allaah had also blessed him with some proficiency in understanding and speaking Persian. Some of his books are in such esoteric Arabic such that even Arabs are unable to understand them unless they have a dictionary with them. For example, his book al-Ujool which mentions 80 meanings of kalimah al-Ujoos; understanding this book is not an easy endeavour. A lot of Arab Ulamaa have been astounded by the book, and found it hard to believe that an ajmee [non-Arab] Alim could write such a book. There is another book which he wrote on ‘Aqeedah, only using words which do not have any dots in them. It is about 80 pages long and there are words in it that are even difficult to find in Arabic dictionaries.
Other than this there are a lot of other books that he authored, the most important one being in the area of Tafsir. He started writing this Tafsir in Sindhi because there was no Salafi Tafsir written in it. He went ahead despite a lot of people requesting him to write it in Arabic since it will have a worldwide market. The Shaykh said I am not looking for fame; rather I want to write a Tafsir from which people of this area can benefit. The Shaykh was only able to write this Tafsir till Soorah Yoosuf after which he passed away. Nine volumes of this Tafsir have already been published, the first one being the preamble; the Tafsir of Soorah Fathiha is over 600 pages. It is expected that the rest of the Tafsir will be completed and published in 15 volumes inshaa’Allaah. This Tafsir has been written according to the Salafi Manhaj. It is free from dh'aeef [weaknesses], ghareeb [being rare wordings] or Israelite traditions. What is special about this Tafsir is that it has been attempted to explain each ayah with ahaadeeth and that each explanation highlights the Salafi creed.
Once Shah Sahib received a letter with 5 questions from Multan inquiring about tawassul [the legislated forms of seeking nearness to Allaah] and the Sufi concept of wahdatul wajood [The concept of Allaah and His creation being one as promoted by Mohiyuddin ibn al-Arabi {the sufi)]. Shah Sahib began writing the answer to these five questions and this answer took the shape of a 600 page book which got published by the name of Tawheed-e-Khaalis.
When Shah Sahib (rahimahullaah) was told about its publication, he expressed a desire for it to be translated into Arabic. I have translated about 300 pages; may Allah give me the taufeeq [ability] to complete its translation. This book will be inshaa’Allaah a gem in ‘Aqeedah and these two issues in particular.
Shah Sahib did not pay much attention to matters of this world, he owned land which ran over hundreds of acres but did not oversee the work on these fields since that would mean distancing himself from ‘ilm [seeking beneficial knowledge]. So he would sublet that land and receive a percentage of the earnings from the land, but never allowed himself to be detracted from his mission. Those who have met him are well aware of his high standing in ‘ilm. Shaykh al-Albaanee once told the people of America to invite the Shaykh and benefit from his ‘ilm. Other Shuyookh who have also praised him include Shaykh bin Baaz and Shaykh Rabee’.
Allaah enabled him to work in the fields of da’wah, research, teaching and other fields with which one can serve Islaam. I would say his life was a reflection of the hadeeth: “In every age, there will be people who will uphold this Deen.” Hence there will be people who will continue to learn, teach and spread the correct understanding of this Deen and oppose those who go against it. Allaah blessed Shah Sahib with these characteristics; all throughout his life he presented the concept of Tawheed in its pure form. I pray that Allaah make the Shaykh a manifestation of the du’aa made by the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) at Mina: “Ya Allaah brighten the face of the believer who listens to my hadeeth, memorises it and spreads it.” I advise myself and all of you to form a relationship with hadeeth; it is the basis of fahm-e-Deen [correct understanding of the religion]], fahm-e-’Aqeedah [correct understanding of the belief system contained within al-Islam] and fahm-e-Manhaj [correct understanding of the Methodology of understanding al-Islam]. May Allaah give us all tawfeeq.
The Shaykh passed away in Karachi on 8th January 1996 and was laid to rest in his ancestral hometown of Pir Chanda. A multitude of people arrived from various parts of the country for his funeral in Saeedabad, as a matter of fact, after we finished the funeral prayer, another one had to be arranged because another crowd had arrived.
May Allaah enable to us to follow this path as well, and make us one of those who uphold the Qur’aan and Sunnah and act upon it.
Post courtesy of Aboo Bilal Nahim
Today, the topic of discussion that I have been given is the Seerah [biography] of our Shaykh, Allaamah Badee-ud-Deen Shah ar-Rashidee. It is a coincidence that in the past two days I was in the hometown, or rather in the library of my Shaykh. The Shaykh belonged to an area named Saeedabad, which is approximately at a distance of 70km from Hyderabad. Our annual conference was held there these past two days. This was the 20th year, the series of conferences having been initiated by Shah Sahib himself.
Whenever I visit the hometown of my Shaykh, I feel as if by the departure of one man the whole town has become desolate. It reminds me of the following verses:
Whenever I visit the city of my friend
I don’t find my friend, though the city is unchanged
Anyhow, this is a system ordained by Allaah, and it is by this system that the world moves on. Our Shaykh, Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah) was born on the 15th of July 1925. His birthplace is a town named Pir Chando which is at a distance of approximately 70 km from Hyderabad. When Shah Sahib's (sahib is a term of respect used in the Indo/Pak subcontinent) (rahimahullaah) sixth grandfather in the line of lineage, Syed Raashid Shah, passed away, he left a chanda (flag) and a pagree (turban) to each of his two sons. Shah Sahib's fifth grandfather in the line of lineage, Syed Yaseen Shah, inherited the chanda and the pagree was inherited by his brother. This is how the Rashidee family split into two different families, Pir Chanda and Pir Pagara. Pir Pagara, which has a great deal of importance in Pakistani politics, is from the extended family of Shah Sahib.
All of them are from the progeny of Rashid Shah. It can be said that the Pir Pagara family developed a leaning towards politics. Their history of Peeri Mureedi continues on to this day. Conversely, the family of Shah Sahib was more inclined towards religion and knowledge, and this legacy continues by the grace and blessings of Allaah.
Shah Sahib's father, Ehsanullah Shah, was also a scholar and Muhaddith [scholar of hadeeth]. He laid the foundation of a madrassah [institute of Islamic learning] in his hometown. It is here that Shah Sahib got his early religious education and was able to benefit from different teachers in various subjects. It is during his education here that he developed an interest in Uloom-ul-Hadeeth [knowledge of the sciences of Hadeeth]. He also travelled outside his hometown to nurture this interest and to learn hadeeth sciences from various scholars. Among them are:
Shaykh-ul-Islaam Maulana Thana ullah Amritsaree (rahimahullaah)
Muhaddith Abu Muhammad ‘Abdul-Haq Bahawalpuree al-Muhajir ul Makki (rahimahullaah)
Shaykh-ul-Hadeeth Allaamah Hafidh ‘Abdullaah Muhaddith Roparee (rahimahullaah)
Allaamah Abu Ishaaq Naik Muhammad (rahimahullaah)
Allaamah Abu Sa’eed Sharf-ud-Deen Dehlwee (rahimahullaah)
It is from Allaamah Abu Sa’eed Sharf-ud-Deen Dehlwee (rahimahullaah) that Shah Sahib received an ijazah [permission to narrate from a teacher] and sanad [chain of narration] in hadeeth. All of the above Mashaayikh were under the direct tutelage of Shaykh-ul-Qul Miyan Nazeer Hussain Muhaddith Dehlwee (rahimahullaah). This is one way in which our Shaykh, Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah) was a student of Shaykh-ul-Qul Miyan Sahib. The sanad of Shaykh-ul-Qul Miyan Sahib is famous as has been noted in various books. I have read and seen this sanad and after reading and doing some research I found out that this sanad can be traced to Imaam al-Bukhaaree in seventeen ways. And if we take one particular sanad of Imaam al-Bukhaaree which is from the tareekh of Imaam Makki, then the sanad of Shaykh Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah) can be traced back to the prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) in 20 ways.
After receiving ijazah from the scholars, Shah Sahib returned to his hometown and started da’wah and teaching in Sindh. This was a time when da’wah of Qur’aan and Sunnah was full of hardships, especially in Sindh. In those days almost everyone was associated with one peer or the other and it was their ‘Aqeedah [authentic belief system of al-Islam] that if they give presents to their peer in the form of animals etc. then this is enough for their salvation. They believed that by doing so, the peer would take care of their affairs of this world and the hereafter. This was a dangerous ignorance and Shah Sahib voiced out against this uncompromisingly. Initially, he busied himself with teaching and taught a lot of the scholars of Sindh especially in hadeeth alongside his work in the field of da’wah.
Shah Sahib had an astounding memory. He memorised the Qur’aan while an adult in 1948 in just 3 months. The fact that he memorised such a lengthy book in just 3 months can only be considered a miracle of a wali [Awliyaa of Allaah (Ally of Allaah one who aids and promotes the correct understanding of the religion of al-Islam]. Shah Sahib once told us that he was going for some event on a camel from Saeedabad, and it was while sitting on this camel that he memorised Soorah Noor.
Shah Sahib was in a way the first alim or mubbaligh [narrator of a message] to have done da’wah work in his area. As mentioned earlier, the Sindh province was and still is home to some of the worst forms of Jahiliyyah. In light of this, it was very difficult to do da’wah work there. However, Allaah gave him tawfeeq [ability] and even though he had to face many dangers, he went on with da’wah work.
There were assassination attempts, and many a times his opponents would complain to the governments and hence creating problems for him. He was banned from speaking in public and put under house arrest on several occasions. All of this was the propaganda of his opponents that made da’wah work difficult in its incipient stages. There were few people with proper ‘Aqeedah. Our Shaykh once told us that he was waiting at a train station so that he may go back to his town, when he saw a man praying at the station with his hands on his chest and also performing rafaulyadein [raising both hands level with the shoulders or level to the ears at the time of going into and coming out of Rukoo and at the time of getting up from the tashahud]. Shah Sahib was really pleased to see an Ahlul Hadeeth [The People of Hadeeth] and decided to meet him. At that very point, the train arrived. The train for his town came once a day. So he could either take the train and go back, or meet the man at the station in which case he would have to stay there for another day. But the Ahlul Hadeeth were so few that he decided to leave the train and meet his Ahlul Hadeeth companion. However, if you visit Sindh now you will see that the Ahlul Hadeeth are great in number, and that the da’wah of Tawheed is everywhere. Shah Sahib told us that when he began Salafi da’wah in Sindh, there was not a single Ahlul Hadeeth Masjid in the province apart from a couple in Karachi and Hyderabad. However, when our Shaykh passed away, there were about 700 mosques in the province. Now the total has increased to about 850 Alhamdulillaah. These are the blessings of Allaah, and the fruits of the work Allaah enabled him to do.
As mentioned earlier, on several occasions there were assassination attempts on our Shaykh’s life. Even though he had to face severe opposition at times, he demonstrated patience and steadfastness throughout. I'll now talk of one incident out of the many that occurred during his da’wah work. The Shaykh was invited to give a lecture at a village that only had a few Salafi’s in it. The Shaykh went to the village walking a long distance since there were not that many means to commute otherwise at the time. When the Shaykh arrived at the village, the Imaam of the local Masjid opposed his visit. The Imaam gathered the feudal leaders and popular personalities of the village on his side and arrived at the Masjid with sticks and shovels and told the Salafi’s that they will not let them proceed with their programme. Nonetheless, the Salafi’s had a firm resolve to go ahead with the schedule even if that entailed much sacrifice. However, Shah Sahib (rahimahullaah) forbid them from doing so since that would be detrimental to their da’wah. One of the attendees suggested that they to hold the lecture in his house. So the Shaykh proceeded to his house and sat on the rooftop with his two or three companions sitting in front of him. The Shaykh started his lecture and since Allaah had bestowed him with a loud voice, his lecture could be heard in the surrounding houses. The propaganda was that the Shaykh speaks out against the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). However, what they heard was completely different from the rumours that were spread about him. He was presenting the Qur’aan and ahaadeeth of the Nabi (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). So one person came from the surrounding area to listen to him, then another, and another, and people kept coming from wherever his voice could reach. Shah Sahib kept lecturing for hours and hours and as a result of that, almost the whole village became Ahlul Hadeeth. This event is a testimony of the patience of the Shaykh. In the initial stages of da’wah, one has to go through a lot of hardships and difficult situations. Allaah ta'aala gave the Shaykh taufeeq to remain steadfast.
Other than this, there were numerous instances in the life of the Shaykh where graves were flattened. He was often challenged and accepted to debate with people of various groups. A lot of people would become Ahlul Hadeeth at these debates and at times even scholars. A testimony to this is a debate that took place in Larkana during which Maulana Hayatullah Laashaaree (hafizahullah) turned Ahlul Hadeeth. He is still amongst us today and is 130 years old having turned Ahlul Hadeeth at the age of approximately 100 years. Before this he used to teach fiqh [Islamic Jurisprudence] for about 70 years in various Hanafi madaris but now is Ahlul Hadeeth with a very strong and deep grounding in ‘Aqeedah and is busy with da’wah work alhamdulillaah.
Our Shaykh also lived in Saudi Arabia for about 5 years giving duroos at the Haram in Makkah Mukkarramah. His duroos were on Tafsir ibn Kathir and Saheeh al-Bukhaaree. Other than those, he also gave a dars in al-Muhallah by Ibn Hazm. For some time after that he gave dars at Daar al-Hadeeth, Makkah, after which he lectured for 2 years at Mahd-ul-Haram al-Makki for which Shaykh ‘Abdullaah bin Humaid specially requested him. It was his duroos there that earned him worldwide acclaim. Some of his lectures there were in Arabic and some in Urdu. These were extremely popular among the taalib-ul-‘ilm [student of Islamic knowledge] and they would travel for far and wide to attend these. They had an ilmi environment that cannot be described in words. There are two duroos that he delivered at the Islaamic University of Madeenah that became very popular among the masses. One of them was against tasawwuf [soofism] and the other on the virtues of the people of Hadeeth. Both of these were presided by Shaykh bin Baaz (rahimahullaah), as a matter of fact, it was he who invited Shah Sahib to give the duroos. Shaykh Naasir-ud-Deen al-Albaanee (rahimahullaah) was also present and praised the duroos given by Shah Sahib. The Ulamaa there were surprised at his religious acumen and especially by his command over hadeeth sciences. They were also impressed by the number ahaadeeth he had memorised with isnaad and references.
The Shaykh also holds a special position in ‘ilm-ul-rijaal [knowledge of the narrators]. The greatest attestation to this are the words of Shaykh Thana ullah Amritsaree (rahimahullaah) at a conference before the independence of Pakistan. This conference was attended by many of the famous Mashaayikh of the Indian subcontinent and was presided by our Shaykh Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah). At the beginning a speech given by Maulana Thana ullah Amritsaree (rahimahullaah), He said: “I feel privileged to be speaking at an event presided by the Imaam of ‘ilm-ul-rijaal.” Being given such a tazkiyah [in this case a personal character reference] from your teacher (who is one of the foremost scholars of the subcontinent) is indeed an attestation to the abilities of the Shaykh. He was indeed the flag holder of Tawheed and Sunnah in the province and we think that Allaah brought him to this world for this purpose.
Throughout his time in Sindh there were very few days that he would actually spend at home. He used to give duroos [regular classes] almost every day in some village or city. At times he would be away from home for more than a week, giving a lecture in one village and then straight away proceeding to another to do likewise. He used to give each of these duroos with zeal and zest and made sure he paid due attention to the aspects which required him to do so. His da’wah sessions especially gained widespread acclaim in the desert area of Thar. Most of his travelling there involved extreme exhaustion and even those who go there today and with ample resources will not deny this. However, the Shaykh sometimes used to spend about a month in a go in these regions calling people towards Tawheed and Sunnah. Resultantly, there are literally hundreds of villages in the Thar area which are completely Ahlul Hadeeth.
I have been fortunate enough to study under the Shaykh since 1982 till his passing away in 1996. When I returned from Imam Muhammad bin Saud University in 1982, I contacted the Shaykh straight away and have often had the chance to stay in his company till his death. What did I see during this time? I saw that Shah Sahib was a Muhaddith, memorizer of hadeeth with asaneed and at the very least he used to know in which book and chapter you could find a particular hadeeth. It was the habit of Shah Sahib not to let go of a new book till having read it from cover to cover. And since he had a tenacious memory, he memorised everything he read. He always corroborated his stance by using evidences from the Qur’aan and Sunnah. I remember vividly that at a dars in Hyderabad, a Hanafi stood up and asked him to prove the manner of his prayer using evidences only from Saheeh al-Bukhaaree and Saheeh Muslim. So at that time Shah Sahib explained each and every step of Salaah, from takbeer-e-tahreema [opening takbeer] to Salaam, using evidences only from the aforementioned books and that also by memory.
While travelling, Shah Sahib either answered questions that were posed to him or when he saw that his companions are silent, he busied himself with the recitation of the Qur’aan. At times I saw that when he left his house for a journey which was to last 3, 4 or 5 days, he used to begin reciting the Qur’aan, and when he would be returning we used to hear him reciting some of the last Soorah’s, i.e. he used to finish reciting the Qur’aan on a journey which lasted just 3 or 4 days. He used to establish Qiyaam-ul-Layl [Night prayer performed in Ramadaan] throughout his life; no matter how late he came back from an event, he used to make sure that he got up for tahajjud. At times if he feared that he would not be able to wake up, he would pray Qiyaam-ul-Layl and then go to bed. When on a journey, he used to pray Qiyaam-ul-Layl on whatever he was riding on, as is proven from the Sunnah.
The Shaykh travelled to various countries such as the US and some European states. I feel honoured to have accompanied the Shaykh on some of his overseas trips especially the one to Kuwait. During the time that he time spent there, the Shaykh would be fully occupied with knowledge-based activities. After Fajr, he would give a dars on Bukhaaree after which he used to rest for a while. Dars-e-Mustallah from 11 in the morning till Dhuhr, and then duroos after Dhuhr, ‘Asr and Maghrib. And the people who used to drive him from one place to another in between these duroos used to read books from Shah Sahib during these journeys. Many of the major scholars of the region took ijaazah in hadeeth from him. When the news that Shah Sahib was in Kuwait reached Saudi Arabia, a lot of the scholars and students from there travelled to Kuwait so as to meet him and benefit from him. All throughout this month, Shah Sahib only used to rest a couple hours a day, the rest of this time was either spent giving duroos or answering questions. We used to be amazed at how Allaah enabled him to do so much work for Islaam. This is the blessing of Allaah that he bestows upon whomsoever He wills.
All of this is because Shah Sahib blessed by Allaah with an ocean of knowledge. Whenever we used to read from the Shaykh or listen to his lectures, we used to see the characteristics of the ‘Aaimah [scholars] in him. Amongst others, we saw in him the reasoning skills of Hafiz Ibn Hazm (rahimahullaah), the descriptive skills of Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) and the power of proof of Imaam ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah). When we used to study hadeeth or talk about asaaneed we used to see in him the likeness of major scholars in the field of Jarh wa Ta’deel [Praise and Disparagement of narrators in chains of narration]. Allaah blessed him with all these qualities and hence people all throughout the world would benefit from his ‘ilm. Because of the efforts of the Shaykh, the zeal and fervour with which people learn ‘Aqeedah, hadeeth and Sunnah, we do not see it anywhere else in Pakistan.
Shah Sahib's library is indeed an exemplary one. There are between fifteen and twenty thousand books in this private library that include manuscripts and books some that run into several volumes. In his heart he had a special place for books; if he came across a new book he would try to buy it despite limited financial means. Some books people would give him gratuitously; he used to be very pleased when he received these gifts. If you open up a book from his library you will often see that it is filled with notes in the margin area and at other places. At times these notes would criticise or corroborate what was written and at other times it would just be an elaboration of the points mentioned. There are about 150 of our Shaykh’s own books and publications. Most of these are in Arabic while the rest are in Urdu and Sindee. Shah Sahib (rahimahullaah) had an equal command over all three of these languages. Furthermore, Allaah had also blessed him with some proficiency in understanding and speaking Persian. Some of his books are in such esoteric Arabic such that even Arabs are unable to understand them unless they have a dictionary with them. For example, his book al-Ujool which mentions 80 meanings of kalimah al-Ujoos; understanding this book is not an easy endeavour. A lot of Arab Ulamaa have been astounded by the book, and found it hard to believe that an ajmee [non-Arab] Alim could write such a book. There is another book which he wrote on ‘Aqeedah, only using words which do not have any dots in them. It is about 80 pages long and there are words in it that are even difficult to find in Arabic dictionaries.
Other than this there are a lot of other books that he authored, the most important one being in the area of Tafsir. He started writing this Tafsir in Sindhi because there was no Salafi Tafsir written in it. He went ahead despite a lot of people requesting him to write it in Arabic since it will have a worldwide market. The Shaykh said I am not looking for fame; rather I want to write a Tafsir from which people of this area can benefit. The Shaykh was only able to write this Tafsir till Soorah Yoosuf after which he passed away. Nine volumes of this Tafsir have already been published, the first one being the preamble; the Tafsir of Soorah Fathiha is over 600 pages. It is expected that the rest of the Tafsir will be completed and published in 15 volumes inshaa’Allaah. This Tafsir has been written according to the Salafi Manhaj. It is free from dh'aeef [weaknesses], ghareeb [being rare wordings] or Israelite traditions. What is special about this Tafsir is that it has been attempted to explain each ayah with ahaadeeth and that each explanation highlights the Salafi creed.
Once Shah Sahib received a letter with 5 questions from Multan inquiring about tawassul [the legislated forms of seeking nearness to Allaah] and the Sufi concept of wahdatul wajood [The concept of Allaah and His creation being one as promoted by Mohiyuddin ibn al-Arabi {the sufi)]. Shah Sahib began writing the answer to these five questions and this answer took the shape of a 600 page book which got published by the name of Tawheed-e-Khaalis.
When Shah Sahib (rahimahullaah) was told about its publication, he expressed a desire for it to be translated into Arabic. I have translated about 300 pages; may Allah give me the taufeeq [ability] to complete its translation. This book will be inshaa’Allaah a gem in ‘Aqeedah and these two issues in particular.
Shah Sahib did not pay much attention to matters of this world, he owned land which ran over hundreds of acres but did not oversee the work on these fields since that would mean distancing himself from ‘ilm [seeking beneficial knowledge]. So he would sublet that land and receive a percentage of the earnings from the land, but never allowed himself to be detracted from his mission. Those who have met him are well aware of his high standing in ‘ilm. Shaykh al-Albaanee once told the people of America to invite the Shaykh and benefit from his ‘ilm. Other Shuyookh who have also praised him include Shaykh bin Baaz and Shaykh Rabee’.
Allaah enabled him to work in the fields of da’wah, research, teaching and other fields with which one can serve Islaam. I would say his life was a reflection of the hadeeth: “In every age, there will be people who will uphold this Deen.” Hence there will be people who will continue to learn, teach and spread the correct understanding of this Deen and oppose those who go against it. Allaah blessed Shah Sahib with these characteristics; all throughout his life he presented the concept of Tawheed in its pure form. I pray that Allaah make the Shaykh a manifestation of the du’aa made by the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) at Mina: “Ya Allaah brighten the face of the believer who listens to my hadeeth, memorises it and spreads it.” I advise myself and all of you to form a relationship with hadeeth; it is the basis of fahm-e-Deen [correct understanding of the religion]], fahm-e-’Aqeedah [correct understanding of the belief system contained within al-Islam] and fahm-e-Manhaj [correct understanding of the Methodology of understanding al-Islam]. May Allaah give us all tawfeeq.
The Shaykh passed away in Karachi on 8th January 1996 and was laid to rest in his ancestral hometown of Pir Chanda. A multitude of people arrived from various parts of the country for his funeral in Saeedabad, as a matter of fact, after we finished the funeral prayer, another one had to be arranged because another crowd had arrived.
May Allaah enable to us to follow this path as well, and make us one of those who uphold the Qur’aan and Sunnah and act upon it.
Post courtesy of Aboo Bilal Nahim
Shaykh Al Albaanee on Giving Glad Tidings of the Fire to the Dead Kufar
[Silsilah Ahadeeth As-Saheehah #18]: 'When ever you pass by the grave of a kaffir then give him the glad tidings of the Hellfire.'
The Origin Of the hadeeth
'A Bedouin came to the Prophet and said: ‘My father used to keep good relations with his relatives and he used to do such and such good deeds so where is he?” He -sall'Allaahu alayhi wa sallam- said 'in the fire':
It was as if the Bedouin was upset due to this, so he said, “O Messenger of Allaah, then where is your father?”
He said: 'Whenever you pass by the grave of a kaffir then give him the glad tidings of the Hellfire.'
The Bedouin accepted Islaam and he said; the Messenger of Allaah -sall'Allaahu alayhi wa sallam- gave me the responsibility of a task; I did not pass by a grave of a kaffir except that I gave him the glad tidings of the Hellfire.'
With certainty we know that many of the Muslims come to the lands of the kuffar to take care of some of their general or specific interests.
However, they do not suffice themselves with just this, rather they intend to visit some of the graves of those who are called great men from amongst the kuffar.
They place flowers and wreaths and they stand in front of those graves with humility and sadness which indicates being pleased with those in the graves and not having a detest for them.
They do this even though the best example i.e. that of the Prophets - alayhim assalam - dictates the opposite of what they do, as is mentioned in this authentic hadeeth.
Listen to the statement of Allaah Azza wa Jal:
<< Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibraheem and those with him, when they said to their people: Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allaah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred for ever >> the Ayaah.
This is their stance against those who were alive, so what about those are dead!!
From the understanding of the hadeeth
There is a great benefit in this hadeeth which many of the general books of fiqh have neglected which is none other than the legislation of giving the kaffir the glad tidings of the Hellfire if you pass by his grave.
What is in this legislation is not hidden, since it contains that which awakens the believer and reminds him of the danger of the sin of the kaffir, who has committed a great sin which would make all of the sins of the world facing him seem like nothing if they were all gathered together.
The sin is disbelief in Allaah Azza wa Jal and committing shirk with him, which Allaah Ta'ala explained His severe hatred of such that He excludes shirk from His forgiveness.
He says
<< Verily, Allaah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases >>
This is why the Messenger - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - said; 'That the biggest of the major sins is that you associate a partner to Allaah while He is the One who created you.'
Agreed upon.
Without doubt ignorance about this benefit is what leads some Muslims to fall into that which is contrary to what Allaah, the Most Wise, intends by this benefit.
extracted from "The Ahadeeth of Tawheed from the Silsilah Ahadeeth As-Saheehah #18
of Shaykh Al-Albaani"
Translated by
Abbas Abu Yahya (hafidthhullah)
Chapters of Tawheed and the Shahadtayn Part 14
The Origin Of the hadeeth
'A Bedouin came to the Prophet and said: ‘My father used to keep good relations with his relatives and he used to do such and such good deeds so where is he?” He -sall'Allaahu alayhi wa sallam- said 'in the fire':
It was as if the Bedouin was upset due to this, so he said, “O Messenger of Allaah, then where is your father?”
He said: 'Whenever you pass by the grave of a kaffir then give him the glad tidings of the Hellfire.'
The Bedouin accepted Islaam and he said; the Messenger of Allaah -sall'Allaahu alayhi wa sallam- gave me the responsibility of a task; I did not pass by a grave of a kaffir except that I gave him the glad tidings of the Hellfire.'
With certainty we know that many of the Muslims come to the lands of the kuffar to take care of some of their general or specific interests.
However, they do not suffice themselves with just this, rather they intend to visit some of the graves of those who are called great men from amongst the kuffar.
They place flowers and wreaths and they stand in front of those graves with humility and sadness which indicates being pleased with those in the graves and not having a detest for them.
They do this even though the best example i.e. that of the Prophets - alayhim assalam - dictates the opposite of what they do, as is mentioned in this authentic hadeeth.
Listen to the statement of Allaah Azza wa Jal:
<< Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibraheem and those with him, when they said to their people: Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allaah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred for ever >> the Ayaah.
This is their stance against those who were alive, so what about those are dead!!
From the understanding of the hadeeth
There is a great benefit in this hadeeth which many of the general books of fiqh have neglected which is none other than the legislation of giving the kaffir the glad tidings of the Hellfire if you pass by his grave.
What is in this legislation is not hidden, since it contains that which awakens the believer and reminds him of the danger of the sin of the kaffir, who has committed a great sin which would make all of the sins of the world facing him seem like nothing if they were all gathered together.
The sin is disbelief in Allaah Azza wa Jal and committing shirk with him, which Allaah Ta'ala explained His severe hatred of such that He excludes shirk from His forgiveness.
He says
<< Verily, Allaah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases >>
This is why the Messenger - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - said; 'That the biggest of the major sins is that you associate a partner to Allaah while He is the One who created you.'
Agreed upon.
Without doubt ignorance about this benefit is what leads some Muslims to fall into that which is contrary to what Allaah, the Most Wise, intends by this benefit.
extracted from "The Ahadeeth of Tawheed from the Silsilah Ahadeeth As-Saheehah #18
of Shaykh Al-Albaani"
Translated by
Abbas Abu Yahya (hafidthhullah)
Chapters of Tawheed and the Shahadtayn Part 14
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Ibn al Qayyim: Meetings Between Friends
There are two kinds of meetings between friends:
The first kind is a meeting based on sociability and spending
time, in which there are more disadvantages than
advantages, the least of which is corruption of the heart,
and wasting time.
The second kind is a meeting for the sake of supporting one
another, and recommending one another to the truth and to
patience. This is the best kind, yet there are still three
disadvantages therein,
1) Flattering each other.
2) Being excessively talkative.
3) That such meetings become a habit or routine and they
fail to achieve their aims.
In general, the result of social meetings will be derived from
the source, which is either for the soul inclined to evil, or for
the heart and the peaceful soul. If the source is good,
surely the fruit will also be good. Pure souls derive their
nature from their Lord, while evil ones derive their nature
from the devil. Hence, Allah, the Exalted and Ever Majestic,
renders good women for good men and bad men for bad
women.
Ibn al Qayyim
AL-FAWA'ID: A Collection of Wise Sayings pgs 79-80
The first kind is a meeting based on sociability and spending
time, in which there are more disadvantages than
advantages, the least of which is corruption of the heart,
and wasting time.
The second kind is a meeting for the sake of supporting one
another, and recommending one another to the truth and to
patience. This is the best kind, yet there are still three
disadvantages therein,
1) Flattering each other.
2) Being excessively talkative.
3) That such meetings become a habit or routine and they
fail to achieve their aims.
In general, the result of social meetings will be derived from
the source, which is either for the soul inclined to evil, or for
the heart and the peaceful soul. If the source is good,
surely the fruit will also be good. Pure souls derive their
nature from their Lord, while evil ones derive their nature
from the devil. Hence, Allah, the Exalted and Ever Majestic,
renders good women for good men and bad men for bad
women.
Ibn al Qayyim
AL-FAWA'ID: A Collection of Wise Sayings pgs 79-80
Tidings of the Fire
The Messenger of Allaah, sallAllaahu 'alayhe wa sallam said (what means in english):
"Whenever you pass by the grave of a disbeliever, give him glad tidings of
the Fire"
-aSilsilah aSaheehah (of Al-Albanee) # 18
the correct way to say it is "abshiroo binnaar"
http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=6&Topic=11541
"Whenever you pass by the grave of a disbeliever, give him glad tidings of
the Fire"
-aSilsilah aSaheehah (of Al-Albanee) # 18
the correct way to say it is "abshiroo binnaar"
http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=6&Topic=11541
Friday, March 9, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
The most hated speech to Allaah is when a man says to another man, 'Fear Allaah!' and he replies, 'Worry about your own self!' "
On the authority of 'Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood (radhiyallaahu 'anhu), the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said:
"Verily the most beloved speech to Allaah is the servant's saying, 'Subhaanak Allaahumma wa bihamdika wa tabaarakasmuka wa ta'aalaa jad-duka wa laa ilaaha ghayruk.' (Glorified are you, O Allaah, and to you is the praise, Blessed is Your Name and Lofty is your Majesty, there is none worthy of worship other than you.) The most hated speech to Allaah is when a man says to another man, 'Fear Allaah!' and he replies, 'Worry about your own self!' "
It was reported by Al-Asbahaanee in At-Targheeb (739), and Al-Albaanee authenticated it in Silsilatul-Ahaadeethis-Saheehah (2598).
"Verily the most beloved speech to Allaah is the servant's saying, 'Subhaanak Allaahumma wa bihamdika wa tabaarakasmuka wa ta'aalaa jad-duka wa laa ilaaha ghayruk.' (Glorified are you, O Allaah, and to you is the praise, Blessed is Your Name and Lofty is your Majesty, there is none worthy of worship other than you.) The most hated speech to Allaah is when a man says to another man, 'Fear Allaah!' and he replies, 'Worry about your own self!' "
It was reported by Al-Asbahaanee in At-Targheeb (739), and Al-Albaanee authenticated it in Silsilatul-Ahaadeethis-Saheehah (2598).
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Shaykh Rabee' : Accepting Advice and Submitting to the Truth is from the Great Obligations on all the Muslims
Translation, footnotes by Moosaa Richardson
In the Name of Allaah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful…
All praise belongs to Allaah, and may raise the rank of Messenger of Allaah, his family, companions, and those who follow his guidance, and grant them peace.
To proceed:
Verily I have come across what has been spread on some websites, speech attributed to me, that I said in one of my lectures, "When the Messenger of Allaah has freed himself from you upon the tongue of our Lord..." I said this after mentioning a Verse that proves the prohibition of division, the Statement of Allaah, the Blessed and Exalted:
"Verily those who split up their religion and became sects,
you have nothing at all to do with them." [1]
After this, I said, "How can we not be afraid, O brothers, and choose this division and live in it for ages and ages…"
I seek Allaah's Forgiveness from this filthy statement of falsehood, hundreds of times.
And I request that it be erased from every cassette it is found on, and I stress this to everyone who has a tape that has this statement on it, that they erase it.
And I say: Verily this speech is filthy and false, and exalted be Allaah and exonerated from it, for He, the Exalted One, is exonerated from being similar to the created beings, as He, the Exalted One, has said:
"There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." [2]
And as He, the Mighty and Majestic, has said:
"Say: He is Allaah, One, (He is) Allaah, the Eternal, He does not beget,
nor was He begotten, and there is none comparable to Him." [3]
And He, the Exalted One, has said:
"Do you know of something similar to Him?" [4]
In these Noble Verses is an establishment of the Attributes of His Perfection, Descriptions of His Majesty, and an exoneration from attributes and descriptions of deficiency or similarity to the created beings. So no one is similar to him, and no one is comparable to Him, not with regards to His actual Presence, nor with regards to any of his Great Attributes.
And Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah affirm every Attribute found in the Book and the Sunnah, without tash-beeh (partially likening them to the attributes of others) or ta'teel (denying them), and without takyeef (seeking after their details) or tamtheel (likening them in totality to the attributes of others) regarding any one of His Attributes, like His Ascension above His Throne, above all of His creation, and His Loftiness, Descending, Hearing, Seeing, Capability, Iraadah (wanting), Knowledge, Speech, Wisdom, His being the Creator, Sustainer, the One who brings life and Death, and the rest of what has been established of His Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes. Ahlus-Sunnah affirm them without takyeef, tamtheel, tash-beeh, or ta'teel, in doing so opposing the people of desires from the Jahmiyyah, Khawaarij, Mu'tazilah, Rawaafidh, and Ash'ariyyah.
And I, and the praise belongs to Allaah, am from those whom Allaah has honored with this methodology, I believe in it within my self, teach it, call to it, and defend it as a student, teacher, and caller with all my ability. I have befriended (people and groups) based on it, and I have had enmity for others based on it since the beginning of my life.
And this statement that I hate came from me during a lecture in which I was inviting to this methodology, inviting those who oppose it to return to it.
And this filthy statement was merely a slip of the tongue. Had anyone notified me about it at the time I said it, I would have rejected it and freed myself from it. And no one who has come across it has the right to be silent about it.
And it is like the statement of that man in the parable set forth by the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam), the one who said out of extreme happiness, "O Allaah! You are my servant and I am your lord!" The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said,
"He erred due to extreme happiness." [5]
Even this being the case, I am severely anguished because of it and I severely detest it coming from myself or anyone else.
I ask Allaah, the Generous One, the Lord of the Great Throne, to forgive all of my sins, what I have done in private and what I have done openly, and to forgive my slips and mistakes, the slips of the tongue, the pen, the body parts, and the heart.
And "every son of Aadam is constantly mistaken, and the best of those constantly mistaken ones are those who constantly repent." [6] I ask Allaah to make me from the tawwaabeen (those who constantly repent) and from those who purify themselves.
And accepting advice and following the truth is from the most binding of obligations on all of the Muslims, no matter where it came from. And it is not permissible for the Muslim to belittle the advisor or disrespect him, no matter what his case is.
And I seek refuge in Allaah from rejecting advice or defending any mistake or falsehood that originated from me, for verily this evil manner is from the ways of the people of corruption, arrogance, and stubbornness. And it is from the affair of those who do not take heed when reminded. I seek refuge in Allaah from these filthy characteristics.
And I ask Allaah to make me from those whom He has spoken of:
"And those who, when reminded with the Verses of their Lord, they do not become deaf and blind." [7]
And I advise myself and all the Muslims to follow this methodology and to be firm upon it, to take the advice of the advisors, to traverse the path of the upright Salaf in mutual advice and exhortations with the truth, and to accept the advice, as taken from the Statement of Allaah, the Exalted:
"By the (passing of) time, verily mankind is in loss, except those who have believed, done righteous deeds, mutually advise each other with the truth, and mutually advise each other to have patience." [8]
Also, as taken from His Statement:
"And the believing men and believing women are the allies of one another, they command what is good and forbid what is evil." [9]
And from the signs of being upon guidance, uprightness, firmness, and happiness in both the worldly life and in the Hereafter is being firm upon the Book and the Sunnah and traversing upon this methodology, in affairs of beliefs, manners, ordering righteousness, forbidding vice, and making reparations with wisdom and in honorable ways.
And I call upon Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, to grant success to this ummah, especially Ahlus-Sunnah, in promoting this great methodology, to unite their speech upon it, to grant them authority, honor, and dignity in the worldly life, and to grant them, due to following this methodology, salvation and happiness in the Hereafter. Verily, my Lord hears the Supplication.
And may Allaah raise the rank of our Prophet, and that of his family and companions, and may He grant them peace. [10]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] a translation of the meaning of Soorah al-An'aam (6):159
[2] a translation of the meaning of Soorah ash-Shooraa (42):11
[3] a translation of the meaning of Soorah al-Ikhlaas (112):1-4
[4] a translation of the meaning of Soorah Maryam (19):65
[5] from an authentic hadeeth collected by Muslim in his Saheeh (#6895) on the authority of Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him)
[6] As stated by the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) in an authentic hadeeth collected by at-Tirmithee (#2499) and Ibn Maajah (#4251) on the authority of Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him). Al-Albaanee graded the hadeeth: hasan.
[7] a translation of the meaning of Soorah al-Furqaan (25):73
[8] a translation of the meaning of Soorah al-'Asr (103):1-3
[9] a translation of the meaning of Soorah at-Tawbah (9):71
[10] Dated 1425/7/9, from a post on sahab.net:
In the Name of Allaah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful…
All praise belongs to Allaah, and may raise the rank of Messenger of Allaah, his family, companions, and those who follow his guidance, and grant them peace.
To proceed:
Verily I have come across what has been spread on some websites, speech attributed to me, that I said in one of my lectures, "When the Messenger of Allaah has freed himself from you upon the tongue of our Lord..." I said this after mentioning a Verse that proves the prohibition of division, the Statement of Allaah, the Blessed and Exalted:
"Verily those who split up their religion and became sects,
you have nothing at all to do with them." [1]
After this, I said, "How can we not be afraid, O brothers, and choose this division and live in it for ages and ages…"
I seek Allaah's Forgiveness from this filthy statement of falsehood, hundreds of times.
And I request that it be erased from every cassette it is found on, and I stress this to everyone who has a tape that has this statement on it, that they erase it.
And I say: Verily this speech is filthy and false, and exalted be Allaah and exonerated from it, for He, the Exalted One, is exonerated from being similar to the created beings, as He, the Exalted One, has said:
"There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." [2]
And as He, the Mighty and Majestic, has said:
"Say: He is Allaah, One, (He is) Allaah, the Eternal, He does not beget,
nor was He begotten, and there is none comparable to Him." [3]
And He, the Exalted One, has said:
"Do you know of something similar to Him?" [4]
In these Noble Verses is an establishment of the Attributes of His Perfection, Descriptions of His Majesty, and an exoneration from attributes and descriptions of deficiency or similarity to the created beings. So no one is similar to him, and no one is comparable to Him, not with regards to His actual Presence, nor with regards to any of his Great Attributes.
And Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah affirm every Attribute found in the Book and the Sunnah, without tash-beeh (partially likening them to the attributes of others) or ta'teel (denying them), and without takyeef (seeking after their details) or tamtheel (likening them in totality to the attributes of others) regarding any one of His Attributes, like His Ascension above His Throne, above all of His creation, and His Loftiness, Descending, Hearing, Seeing, Capability, Iraadah (wanting), Knowledge, Speech, Wisdom, His being the Creator, Sustainer, the One who brings life and Death, and the rest of what has been established of His Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes. Ahlus-Sunnah affirm them without takyeef, tamtheel, tash-beeh, or ta'teel, in doing so opposing the people of desires from the Jahmiyyah, Khawaarij, Mu'tazilah, Rawaafidh, and Ash'ariyyah.
And I, and the praise belongs to Allaah, am from those whom Allaah has honored with this methodology, I believe in it within my self, teach it, call to it, and defend it as a student, teacher, and caller with all my ability. I have befriended (people and groups) based on it, and I have had enmity for others based on it since the beginning of my life.
And this statement that I hate came from me during a lecture in which I was inviting to this methodology, inviting those who oppose it to return to it.
And this filthy statement was merely a slip of the tongue. Had anyone notified me about it at the time I said it, I would have rejected it and freed myself from it. And no one who has come across it has the right to be silent about it.
And it is like the statement of that man in the parable set forth by the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam), the one who said out of extreme happiness, "O Allaah! You are my servant and I am your lord!" The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said,
"He erred due to extreme happiness." [5]
Even this being the case, I am severely anguished because of it and I severely detest it coming from myself or anyone else.
I ask Allaah, the Generous One, the Lord of the Great Throne, to forgive all of my sins, what I have done in private and what I have done openly, and to forgive my slips and mistakes, the slips of the tongue, the pen, the body parts, and the heart.
And "every son of Aadam is constantly mistaken, and the best of those constantly mistaken ones are those who constantly repent." [6] I ask Allaah to make me from the tawwaabeen (those who constantly repent) and from those who purify themselves.
And accepting advice and following the truth is from the most binding of obligations on all of the Muslims, no matter where it came from. And it is not permissible for the Muslim to belittle the advisor or disrespect him, no matter what his case is.
And I seek refuge in Allaah from rejecting advice or defending any mistake or falsehood that originated from me, for verily this evil manner is from the ways of the people of corruption, arrogance, and stubbornness. And it is from the affair of those who do not take heed when reminded. I seek refuge in Allaah from these filthy characteristics.
And I ask Allaah to make me from those whom He has spoken of:
"And those who, when reminded with the Verses of their Lord, they do not become deaf and blind." [7]
And I advise myself and all the Muslims to follow this methodology and to be firm upon it, to take the advice of the advisors, to traverse the path of the upright Salaf in mutual advice and exhortations with the truth, and to accept the advice, as taken from the Statement of Allaah, the Exalted:
"By the (passing of) time, verily mankind is in loss, except those who have believed, done righteous deeds, mutually advise each other with the truth, and mutually advise each other to have patience." [8]
Also, as taken from His Statement:
"And the believing men and believing women are the allies of one another, they command what is good and forbid what is evil." [9]
And from the signs of being upon guidance, uprightness, firmness, and happiness in both the worldly life and in the Hereafter is being firm upon the Book and the Sunnah and traversing upon this methodology, in affairs of beliefs, manners, ordering righteousness, forbidding vice, and making reparations with wisdom and in honorable ways.
And I call upon Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, to grant success to this ummah, especially Ahlus-Sunnah, in promoting this great methodology, to unite their speech upon it, to grant them authority, honor, and dignity in the worldly life, and to grant them, due to following this methodology, salvation and happiness in the Hereafter. Verily, my Lord hears the Supplication.
And may Allaah raise the rank of our Prophet, and that of his family and companions, and may He grant them peace. [10]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] a translation of the meaning of Soorah al-An'aam (6):159
[2] a translation of the meaning of Soorah ash-Shooraa (42):11
[3] a translation of the meaning of Soorah al-Ikhlaas (112):1-4
[4] a translation of the meaning of Soorah Maryam (19):65
[5] from an authentic hadeeth collected by Muslim in his Saheeh (#6895) on the authority of Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him)
[6] As stated by the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) in an authentic hadeeth collected by at-Tirmithee (#2499) and Ibn Maajah (#4251) on the authority of Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him). Al-Albaanee graded the hadeeth: hasan.
[7] a translation of the meaning of Soorah al-Furqaan (25):73
[8] a translation of the meaning of Soorah al-'Asr (103):1-3
[9] a translation of the meaning of Soorah at-Tawbah (9):71
[10] Dated 1425/7/9, from a post on sahab.net:
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
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