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Ahmad
April 27, 2010 at 11:03 AM
This submission needs to be corrected and the video removed. I advise you out of care, not spite.
There is nothing mentioned in the Qur’an about Allah having a face. The Arabic term used is “وجه ” which has a number of meanings, and for sure the meanings of the word “face” in English differ from the meanings of the term “وجه” in Arabic.
Yes, of course, it is narrated in the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, that the people of Paradise will see Allah, BUT, they will see Allah, Exalted, without Allah having a form or encompassing any sort of dimension.
Allah revealed in Al-Qiyamah, ayahs 22-23,
(ÙˆÙجÙوهٌ يَوْمَئÙذ٠نَّاضÙرَةٌ . Ø¥ÙÙ„ÙŽÙ‰ رَبّÙهَا نَاظÙرَةٌ)
“Fresh faces which see their Lord” (Faces here refer to those of the believers)
Imam Abu Hanifah mentioned his book al-Fiqh al-Akbar: “Allah is seen in the Hereafter. The believers will see Allah while they are in Paradise. [They will see Allah] without any likeness, ascription, and quantity and there will not be any distance between Allah and his creations.”
This means that distance is inapplicable to Allah. For example, when one says Allah is Most High, one means that Allah is above in STATUS and NOT in location. Indeed, Allah is not dependent upon any of the worlds.
Abu Aaliyah
April 27, 2010 at 1:33 PM
Asalaamu Alaikum,
Bro. where in the post is it describing the Face of Allah or giving it a form or shape. It only quotes what our Prophet Al-Sadiq wal Masdooq informed us and poem by Ibn Qayyim. لَيۡسَ ÙƒÙŽÙ…ÙØ«Û¡Ù„ÙÙ‡ÙÛ¦ شَىۡءٌ۬‌ۖ ÙˆÙŽÙ‡ÙÙˆÙŽ ٱلسَّمÙيع٠ٱلۡبَصÙيرÙ
Abd- Allah
April 27, 2010 at 5:02 PM
Brother Ahmad, don’t speak about Allah and His attributes without knowledge, and don’t try to interpret the attributes of Allah! Allah have said in the Quran that He has a face, and that He is high above over His throne. Simply believe in what Allah says in the Quran and don’t try to interpret it or deny the attributes of Allah.
elham
April 27, 2010 at 5:41 PM
yes I agree with br Abd-Allah, its too much reading into the meanings of the words. Its simple and should be left at that without trying to imagine anything.
Ibn Mikdad
April 28, 2010 at 8:41 AM
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu,
There are several version of Fiqh al aqkbar. The statement “[They will see Allah] without any likeness, ascription, and quantity and there will not be any distance between Allah and his creations” is not found in all of them, as far as I am aware. It is also very probably a later addition to the text since the language used there is characteristic of later scholars, particularly those who were affected by the evil of kalam.
Wassalaam,
Mustafa
Muhammed
May 1, 2010 at 1:46 PM
I agree, remove this post immediately for there is no likeness to Jalla Wa’ala
Abd- Allah
May 1, 2010 at 2:02 PM
[لَيْسَ ÙƒÙŽÙ…ÙثْلÙه٠شَىْءٌ ÙˆÙŽÙ‡ÙÙˆÙŽ السَّمÙيع٠الْبَصÙيرÙ]
(There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.) [42:11] Indeed, we assert and affirm what the Imams said, such as Nu`aym bin Hammad Al-Khuza’i, the teacher of Imam Al-Bukhari, who said, “Whoever likens Allah with His creation, will have committed Kufr. Whoever denies what Allah has described Himself with, will have committed Kufr. Certainly, there is no resemblance (of Allah with the creation) in what Allah and His Messenger have described Him with. Whoever attests to Allah’s attributes that the plain Ayat and authentic Hadiths have mentioned, in the manner that suits Allah’s majesty, all the while rejecting all shortcomings from Him, will have taken the path of guidance.”
(Tafseer Ibn Katheer)
Faraz Omar
April 28, 2010 at 1:21 AM
Is it permissible to recite any other text in the manner of reciting the Qur’an?
abu Abdullah
April 28, 2010 at 5:36 AM
i remember YB reciting bukhari hadith in a different style, but i am not aware if it matches with any of the known 7/10 qira’t. allahu alam.
wassalam.
Umm Ayyoub
May 18, 2010 at 7:28 AM
I too feel very uneasy that it is being recited like the Qur’an..
Anisa
April 29, 2010 at 11:23 PM
It’s funny how you just mentioned only wearing a hijab and growing a beard – as if doing just these 2 things related to appearance will land one in paradise. I know you probably just used these as random examples. Sadly, I have met many Muslims who actually believe that wearing hijaab and growing a beard will land you in heaven.
Abd- Allah
April 30, 2010 at 1:21 AM
You can’t say of any single good deed, even prayer, that doing it will definitely put you in heaven, except affirming the testimony of faith and sincerely believing in its true meaning (will eventually get you into heaven, even if the person gets punished in hell first for his sins and bad deeds). Similarly, you can’t say that any single bad deed, even the major sins, that doing it will definitely put you in hell, except committing shirk or kufr.
Therefore, these deeds, such as growing a beard and wearing hijab with the right intention, even though they won’t land you in heaven on their own, yet they are from among the deeds that bring you closer to heaven and closer to Allah. Similarly, even if none of the major sins (except shirk or kufr) will land you in hell on their own (they might, but not necessarily), yet they also do bring a person closer to hell fire and take the person farther away from Allah. Even if we can’t say for sure that such a good deed will land a person who does it in heaven, yet we know from several authentic hadiths that a person was forgiven of their sins and entered into heaven by Allah, because of that single good deed which he did. So you never know if Allah might forgive that brother who had a beard or that sister who wore hijab, just because of that one single good deed, and Allah forgives their sins and enters them into heaven because of that one good deed. So yes, the beard or the hijab do not constitute the entire deen of Islam, but they are still important parts of it.
As it was mentioned in some authentic hadiths, a woman entered hell because of mistreating a cat, and another woman (a prostitute) was forgiven her sins because of giving a thirsty dog a drink of water, so a person never knows which one of his good deeds will be the reason for him to be forgiven and entered into heaven, nor does a person knows which one of his bad deeds will lead him to be punished in hell fire. And that is why we should never belittle any sin, nor belittle any good deed that we do, because we never know what effect that small deed might have on our here-after. Our Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Do not think little of any act of good, even if it is greeting your brother with a cheerful countenance.â€
Abu Hurairra, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “A man passed by a fallen branch in the middle of the road and said, ‘By Allah, I will remove this from the path of the Muslims so that it does not inconvenience them’ so he was admitted into Paradise.”
Abu Dardaa, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Whoever removes from the road (path) of the Muslims something that might harm them, Allah will record it for him as a good deed, and whomever He records for a good deed with Him, He will enter him into Paradise with it.”
Therefore we grow our beards, wear hijab, and do any good deed that we are able to, for you never know when those few beard hairs, or that piece of clothing, might tip the scales of deeds in our favor, for indeed, Allah is the Most Merciful.
sister
April 30, 2010 at 6:04 AM
‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab ra wrote a letter to Aboo Moosa Al-‘Ash’aree ra in which he said:
“Whoever gets his intention purified, Allaah will suffice him in whatever is between him and people.â€.
‘Alee ra said:
“Do not be concerned with smallness of deed; rather be concerned with the acceptance of that deed.â€
Ismail Kamdar
May 1, 2010 at 8:55 AM
I only mentioned those as examples of things people find hard to do, because they lack motivation. I was hoping this article would motivate people to do the things they find hard, because Paradise is worth it.
Ismail Kamdar
May 1, 2010 at 8:53 AM
:-(
It is very sad that this post has only generated negative or theological discussions. Nobody commented on how this video inspired them or how they would love to meet Allah in Paradise.
Reminds me of when Shaykh Abu Aaliya came to Durban, he taught us an important point. He said that Aqeedah has become a dry and harsh subject when it was suppose to bring us closer to Allah.
This is a perfect example, the topic of meeting Allah in the Afterlife is one that is suppose to inspire people to do good, increase their love and desire for Allah, and make them cry out of yearning to meet Allah. Sadly for many of us, we are only interested in the theological debate and not the practical effect of this belief.
May Allah grant us all the true understanding of Islaam.
unknown
May 1, 2010 at 10:10 AM
jazakAllah khair for your post : )
sister
May 1, 2010 at 4:14 PM
Jazakallahu khairaan kaseera.Alhamdulillah That`s a very inspiring video .
Charles
May 1, 2010 at 12:53 PM
“Simply believe in what Allah says in the Quran and don’t try to interpret it.”
This type of statement creates problems for those would use the Quran as a guidance for their lives. As the Quran itself says in several places it was sent as guidance for humanity. To “interpret” means simply to explain and provide something’s meaning. If one doesn’t know the meaning of a particular verse, one should believe that Allah said it, of course, but one cannot use it as guidance for one’s life. Because the Quran was sent as a guidance, it is all believers’ duty to interpret it (or listen to the interpretations of those who know) to the best of their ability so that they can seek and follow the path of Islam.
Abd- Allah
May 1, 2010 at 1:00 PM
Brother Charles, this statement was in reference to misinterpreting the attributes of Allah by doing ta’weel, as is clear from the context of my words, and not a general statement to be applied to the entire Quran. The other thing is that interpreting is different than understanding. You can understand what Allah says in the Quran, but don’t misinterpret it according to your own perceptions, because that will only lead you to denying the attributes of Allah which He has described Himself with in the Quran.
Charles
May 1, 2010 at 1:54 PM
Brother Abd-Allah, thank you for the clarification. However, I’m afraid that your distinction between interpreting and understanding eludes me.
To interpret something means to “give its meaning,” and to understand something means to “perceive its meaning.” These words seem to be flip sides of the same coin. I’m guessing that you’re emphasizing “according to your own perceptions.” But you could misunderstand “according to your own perceptions” as well as interpret “according to your own perceptions. So, again, I’m guessing that the emphasis is on “own perceptions,” which to me means in some way to be substituting some sort of perverse reasoning in place of Allah’s guidance. Is that what you mean?
Abd- Allah
May 1, 2010 at 2:32 PM
Brother Charles, all what I am about to say is regarding the attributes of Allah only, and should not be generalized for everything which is mentioned in the Quran as guidance to us concerning the rest of our affairs.
I’ll give you and example of what I mean by “interpreting” or doing ta’weel of the attributes of Allah, this will make things clear inshAllah. Allah and His prophet peace be upon him have said that Allah has hands. Our duty as believers is to affirm and believe that Allah truly has hands, in the manner that suits Allah’s majesty, all the while rejecting all shortcomings from Him, and without trying to imagine or understand how His hands look like, and without trying to compare them to our hands or to the hands of His creatures. This is the correct thing to do, and the right path to follow concerning the attributes of Allah.
However, what some people do and misinterpret that Allah has hands, and deny that He has hands by saying that “hands” does not mean actual hands but it is a metaphor for the “power and authority” of Allah, then that is wrong, and incorrect to do, and that is what I mean by misinterpreting Allah’s attributes according to the person’s own perceptions, because that person only denied that attribute of Allah, that Allah has hands, only because he has tried to imagine and compare the hands of Allah to the hands of His creation, and thus that person has fell into likening Allah to His creation, and then because of that mistake of likening Allah to His creation, that person then tries to deny the attributes of Allah and that He has hands so as to not fall into anthropomorphism, which is also wrong itself. So all this was a result of setting out to try and understand how the attributes of Allah are and by comparing them to the attributes of His creation, and all this is incorrect to do, because as believers what we should do is believe in the attributes of Allah and affirm them, in the manner that suits Allah’s majesty, all the while rejecting all shortcomings from Him, and also without trying to compare His attributes to our attributes and without trying to give them a certain form based on our own perceptions, and this is the correct way and the path of guidance when it comes to understanding the attributes of Allah.
Charles
May 1, 2010 at 2:45 PM
Brother Abd-Allah, So, with respect to Allah’s attributes–because we cannot compare humans to Allah–we cannot understand these attributes. Is that right? If that’s wrong and we can understand them, could you give me an example of how we would go about understanding them?
Abd- Allah
May 1, 2010 at 2:56 PM
Brother Charles, you understand the meaning of the attribute, without trying to perceive or imagine the form or how it is. The meaning of the words in Arabic are known, so the meaning of the word “face” or “hands” or “istawa’ ” is known in the Arabic language. As to the issue of how, then that is what we don’t try to imagine, and we just believe in the attribute while knowing its meaning but not its form.
A man asked Imam Malik (d. 179): “How did Allah make istiwa’ on the throne?” Imam Malik inclined his head and was silent until the sweat of fever covered his brow, then he looked up and said: “Istiwa’ is not unknown (ghayru majhul), the modality of it is inconceivable in the mind (al-kayfu minhu ghayru ma`qul); but belief in it is obligatory, and inquiring about it is a heretical innovation. You are an innovator.” And he gave orders for him to be taken out.
Charles
May 1, 2010 at 3:14 PM
Brother Abd-Allah, This is not clear to me. When you say that you know the meaning of “hand” in Arabic, I’m assuming that you understand its meaning with respect to humans as you said that you can’t understand its meaning when applied to Allah. But because we cannot compare humans to Allah or human hands to Allah’s hands, it’s not clear to me what hand means when it refers to Allah. Can you make this clear for me?
Abd- Allah
May 1, 2010 at 3:36 PM
No brother Charles. I never said that we “can’t understand its meaning when applied to Allah.” Please don’t put words in my mouth and read what I say carefully. I said we can’t understand the form of the attributes of Allah, but we know their meaning.
One thing that should be understood is that the meaning of something is different than its form. Example, “hand” has a certain meaning, and even if it takes different forms as the hands of different creatures, it is still called a hand. Like our hands as humans are different (in form) than the hands of monkeys, which are also different than the hands of squirrels, which are also different than the hands of gorillas, with each creature having hands of a different form, yet they all have hands.
Allah has hands, in the manner that suits Allah’s majesty, without His hands being similar to the hands of any of His creation. The meaning of hands is simple and straight forward to understand, it is only when we try to perceive their form or compare them to our hands is when things start getting confusing, which is only natural and expected because we are trying to compare Allah (The Creator) to His creation, when (There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.) [42:11].
As you see, this verse (There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.) [42:11], the first part of the verse negates and rejects all notions of comparing Allah or likening His attributes to anything or anyone else of His creation, where as the latter part of the verse affirms His attributes and that He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer. So He hears, but not like we hear, because there is nothing like Him. And He sees, but not like we see, because there is nothing like Him.
Charles
May 1, 2010 at 4:31 PM
Brother Abd-Allah, It’s still not clear to me. The hands of animals are all similar. I can understand the hand of a monkey because it’s similar in form to my hand. If its form were utterly different from the form of my hand, then I would not be able to understand how it was a hand unless I had seen it being used. And that’s the problem for me. No one has seen Allah or his hand, so how can I understand the meaning of something that is not like the form of my hand and that I have never seen in use before? Perhaps you can give me a simple understanding of hand that applies to Allah.
Abd- Allah
May 1, 2010 at 4:50 PM
Brother Charles, I’ll try and simplify things more. The squirrel has a hand. You know its form because you have seen it, so you know that the hand of the squirrel is not the same as the hand of a human being. If I tell you that a certain animal X (which you have never seen) has a hand, but a hand that different than the hand of a human being, you would know what a hand means, but you can’t really know the form of that hand unless you see it or compare it to another creature’s hand. The hands of animals are not all the same and they all vary in form and have different shapes, sizes, etc. but you know that they all have hands and know the meaning of the word. You only know the form of each animal’s hands because you have seen it, so if I tell you that a certain animal which you have not seen has hands that are of a different form than out hands, you might not know how that animal’s hands look like, but you know what it means that this animal has hands.
We are not required to try and understand or imagine the form of the hands of Allah nor compare them to our hands to be able to perceive them, and we are only required to believe in the attributes of Allah and that He has hands, in the manner that suits Allah’s majesty, without His hands being similar to the hands of any of His creation. It is that simple, and that is really why this is belief. We believe in Allah although we have not seen Him, because this is all part of faith and belief. We should have the same approach when understanding in the attributes of Allah. We believe in them and affirm them and their meanings even though we might not be able to see them or perceive their actual form.
A person should not try and perceive or imagine Allah nor His attributes, but rather only believe in Allah and in His attributes and affirm them in the manner that suits Allah’s majesty.
Mohamed Al-Jazaeri
May 1, 2010 at 4:47 PM
Accepting what Allah the Most High said about himself as having a face or hand does not mean that we are saying Allah has a face like humans. SubhanAllah I wonder why asharites do not understand this concept. We say Allah has a face (as He stated) that suits his Majesty and Honour. However this does not neccessitate attributing human likeness to Him. Humans can be merciful, but definetly uncomparable to Allah’s mercy. Its like saying Allah does not hear or see, because we humans hear and see. Not logical and definetly not according to the evidence from the Quran and Sunnah of our Prophet (peace be upon him).
Abd- Allah
May 1, 2010 at 4:58 PM
What is weird brother Mohamed, is that asharites affirm some of the attributes of Allah, while denying many others. Weird indeed, and definitely not consistent.
Charles
May 1, 2010 at 5:07 PM
Brother Abd-Allah, I do not need to understand to believe. If Allah has said something in his Quran, that’s enough for me. But believing is not the same as understanding. When I understand something, I can define it or explain it to others. For instance, in the case of animal hands, without having see a particular animal’s hand previously, I can imagine that it’s an extreme part of a limb that is used for grasping. And if I were to explain a hand to someone who hadn’t seen it, I would use the experience and knowledge that they already had and generalize from that to the specific hand. That’s based on a generalization of all the hands that I have experienced or read about.
In the case of Allah, I have no experience or sight, and the Quran tells me that I cannot generalize from the creation to the creator. So, it’s not clear to me why anyone would say that they can understand what is meant by the hand of Allah. And no one has yet stated a definition or explanation of the hand of Allah. If it’s not possible to define or explain it, that’s okay. However, meaning and understanding are tied to experience and perception. So, what is not clear to me is why anyone would say that the meaning of Allah’s hand is clear simply because they understand the meaning of hand as applied to themselves.
elham
May 1, 2010 at 5:08 PM
Im sorry but seems like charles too here is a troll. I believe he is trying to ”confuse” people, its impossible someone could be that obsessed about how Allah (swt) Hand is even after being answered, seriously.
”Perhaps you can give me a simple understanding of hand that applies to Allah.”
No you dont need it. Just stop thinking about it and ask about the understanding of paradise,hellfire,deeds …this is what Allah wants us to be reminded of.
Next he will say ‘help me understand face”,etc.
Amad
May 2, 2010 at 12:37 AM
Elham, easy on the “troll-rating” :)
It’s not a nice thing to say. There are people genuinely confused and as long as it is polite, we try to help. If it starts going in circles, we can hold off, and let admins make a call on who’s a troll. Even in this case, we won’t make that conclusion, instead preferring to put on automod and approving comments that are ok.
elham
May 2, 2010 at 3:37 AM
ok br amad, its just that there was this other person called”palmienka” who just ”apostated” on us in another post, saying we helped them do it, then I saw these comments the next day questioning Allah’s Hand endlessly.
I’ll leave you guys to make those decisions next time.
Charles
May 1, 2010 at 5:19 PM
Elham, I am not a troll. As my last sentence stated, “So, what is not clear to me is why anyone would say that the meaning of Allah’s hand is clear simply because they understand the meaning of hand as applied to themselves.”
Again, I don’t need to understand to believe. And I do not feel there is anything wrong with saying we cannot understand the word “hand” as it applies to Allah.
But (1) if people say something is clear and simple to understand, then I want an explanation that is clear to me and that I can understand. (2) If people say, We do not understand what hand means when applied to Allah but we accept what Allah has said, I am satisfied with that answer. I have kept returning to the same issue because I haven’t seen someone say either (1) or (2). Allah knows best.
Abd- Allah
May 1, 2010 at 5:34 PM
Brother Charles, do you understand the meaning that Allah is “merciful” and the concept of “mercy” as applied to Allah ? Even if you can’t completely understand and encompass the meaning (which includes knowledge of form) of “mercy” as it applies to Allah, yet you know the basic meaning of it. So even if we can not fully comprehend the attributes of Allah, but we have part of that knowledge and know the basic meaning that Allah has a hand. Similarly, we do not know everything about Allah, yet we still believe in His existence. So we believe that Allah has hands, even if we don’t know everything about them or their actual form.
Charles
May 1, 2010 at 5:50 PM
Brother Abd- Allah, Your example of “mercy” is one that has given me pause and is leading me to think about this issue from another perspective. Thank you.
Abd- Allah
May 1, 2010 at 8:10 PM
Alhamdulillah, all praise is due to Allah, for all good is from Allah, and may Allah forgive me for any of my shortcomings or mistakes.
Brother
May 1, 2010 at 9:07 PM
Are there accusations of shirk going on in here? It sounds like a normal husband/wife conversation gone south for vague reasons.
Personally, I am most eager to meet Allah and I know there exists nothing like him and pray he grants me that highest honor. There is no comparison of him to his creation. We’ll find out how he looks when we meet him inshallah, but for now we need to try to get khusho in our prayers.
shahidah
May 6, 2010 at 8:17 AM
Assalamualaikum Brother Ismail Kamdar,
May Allah Reward you in abundance times infinity! I cried throughout the video. It has indeed touched me in many ways. I can read the Quran but not able to understand the beautiful language is, sad. While listening to Ibn Al Qayyim’s reciting and reading the translation at the same time, i now realised why some Imaams would cry in their prayers! The thought of meeting and seeing Allah Azza wa Jalla is, the ULTIMATE GIFT!
Im currently learning Arabic at home. Please make dua for me that one day i am able to, not only speak, but also able to read Arabic – fluently!
Again, brother Ismail, may ALLAH Reward you in abundance times infinity!
Aisha Durvesh
August 24, 2010 at 10:22 AM
Dear Shahida, assalaamualaikum,
i would just like to clarify that the above ‘recitition’ was not verses of the Quran. Ibn Al Qayyimah is a famous author. This was a poem by him which was being recited by someone.
As the poem was in Arabic, the song-like recitation made it sound very much like the Quranic verses.
I really hope you read this post and i have gottn my point accross.
I can, inshaAllah, help you with understanding the Quran inshaAllah. 3-4 years ago i was also totally blank!
You can get in touch with me at aishaDurvesh@gmail.com
Take care, salaam
ukt
May 11, 2010 at 9:12 PM
Jazak Allah hu khairan fid duniyah wal akhirah…..MashaaAllah TabarakAllah ….an excellent reminder for the reason we try to get hassanat….InshaaAllah Allah azza wa jal increase us all in eman wa ‘ilm and keep us on the seeratul mustaqeem.Ameen Ya Rabb ul Alamin.
youngmuslimah
May 14, 2010 at 10:16 AM
salaam bro!!!
jazkhallah khayr!!!!! may Allah(azza wa jall) unite us in His paradise….make us among d inhabitants of His Paradise… ameen ya rabbal- alameeeeeen!
subhanallah!!!!!! itz such a beautiful video!
may Allah hav mercy on ibn al-qayyim!
include me in ur duas plz
youngmuslimah
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Izna
December 19, 2010 at 9:41 PM
A meaningful and mesmerizing message Thank you for sharing this.
Saboohi
January 11, 2011 at 10:11 AM
Very touching message.Jazakallah for sharing,may Allah bless us all.