Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar
Al-Fiqh al-akbar (attributed to Abu Hanifah, d. 767 CE)
Translated by Hamid Algar
Professor of Persian and Islamic Studies, University of
California, Berkeley
(published in the journal Al-Bayan ca. 1980)
From The Heritage of Islamic Literature
One of the most regrettable features of the contemporary
Muslim situation is an anarchy and confusion in the sphere of
belief that might lead one to suppose the foundations of Islam
to have been so obscured that the field is open to anyone to
redefine the religion. We begin with the Fiqh al-Akbar of Imam
al-A'zam Abu Hanifa, may God be pleased with him, a brief but
comprehensive statement of the irreducible dogmas (‘aqa’id -
sing.‘aqidah) of Islam.
In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful
The root of the affirmation of God's unity, and that which is
correct conviction, consists of this, that one says:
1. I believe in God, and His angels, and His books, and His
messengers, and resurrection after death, and that the good
and evil of destiny are from God Most High. I believe too in the
accounting and the scales, hell and paradise. All the foregoing
is reality.
2. God is One, not in a numerical sense, but in the sense that
He has no partner – "Say: He is God, One; God the Eternally
Subsistent and Besought; He begets not, nor was He begotten;
and there is none like unto Him." He resembles nothing among
His creation, nor does anything among His creation resemble
Him. He has been, unceasing, and He is, unceasing, with His
names and attributes, both those relating to His Essence and
those relating to His acts. As for those relating to His Essence,
they are life, power, knowledge, speech, hearing, sight, and
will. As for those relating to His acts, they are creativity,
sustenance, originating and fashioning ex nihilo, making, and
other active attributes.
He has been, unceasing, and He is, unceasing, with His
attributes and names; neither attribute nor name was created.
He has always and unceasingly been a knower, by virtue of His
knowledge, and His knowledge is a pre-eternal attribute. He
has always and unceasingly been powerful, by virtue of His
power, and His power is a pre-eternal attribute. He has always
and unceasingly been speaking by virtue of His speech and His
speech is a pre-eternal attribute. He has always and
unceasingly been a creator, by virtue of His creativity, and His
creativity is a pre-eternal attribute. He has always and
unceasingly been an agent, by virtue of His activity, and His
activity is a pre-eternal attribute; the object of His activity is
creation, and His activity is uncreated. His attributes existed in
pre-eternity, without being created or called into existence at a
particular moment. Whoever says that they are created or
summoned into existence at a particular moment, or is
uncertain about the attributes and doubts them, is an
unbeliever in God Almighty.
3. The Qur'an is the Word of God Almighty, written on
collections of leaves (masahif), preserved in men's hearts,
recited on men's tongues, and sent down to the Prophet, upon
whom be God's peace and blessings. Our uttering of the Qur'an
is created, and our recitation of the Qur'an is created, but the
Qur'an itself is uncreated.
That which God Almighty mentions in the Qur'an as a narration
from Moses and other of the prophets – peace and blessings be
upon them - and also from the Pharaoh and Iblis, all of it is
God's word, and constitutes a report concerning them. God's
word is uncreated. It is the Qur'an which as the word of God
Most High is uncreated, not their words, Moses, upon whom be
peace, heard the Word of God Almighty, as God Almighty says:
"God addressed Moses in speech." Thus God Almighty was the
speaker, and Moses, upon whom be peace, did not speak. God
Most High was a creator in pre-eternity, even without having
brought creation into existence: "there is naught like unto Him;
He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing." When God addressed Moses He
did so with His word that was, like all of His attributes, an
attribute existing from pre-eternity, unlike the attributes of
created beings.
4. God knows, but not as we know; He has power, but not as
we have power; He sees, but not as we see; He hears, but not
as we hear; and He speaks, but not as we speak. We speak by
means of the speech organs and sounds, whereas God Most
High speaks with neither organs nor sounds. Sounds are
created, and the word of God Most High is uncreated. He is a
thing, but unlike other things; by saying "thing," we intend
merely to affirm His reality. He has neither body nor
substance, neither accidental property nor limit, neither
opposite nor like nor similitude. He has a hand, a face, and a
self (nafs); the mention that God most High has made of these
in the Qur'an has the sense that these are among His
attributes, and no question can be raised concerning their
modality (bila kayf). It cannot be said that His hand represents
His power of His bestowal of bounty, because such an
interpretation would require a negation of an attribute. This is
the path taken by the Qadarites and the Mu'tazilites (two
theological sects in early Islam that deviated from the path of
Ahl as-Sunna - trans.) Rather, His hand is an attribute, of
unknowable modality, in the same way that His anger and
pleasure are two attributes of unknowable modality God Most
High created things out of nothing, and He had knowledge of
them in pre-eternity, before their creation.
5. He it is Who determined and predestined all things. Nothing
exists in this world or hereafter except by His will, His
knowledge, His determining and predestining, and except it be
written on the Preserved Tablet (al-Lauh al-Mahfuz). He
inscribed everything there in the sense of description, not that
of foreordaining. Determining, predestining and will are preeternal
attributes of unknowable modality. God Most High
knows the non-existent, while in its state of non-existence, to
be non-existent, and He knows too how it will be when He
brings it forth into being. God Most High knows the existent,
while in its state of existence, to be existent, and He knows too
how will be its evanescence. God knows the one who is
standing, and when he sits then God knows him to be sitting,
without any change being produced thereby in God's
knowledge, or any new knowledge accruing to Him. For change
and alteration occur only in created beings.
6. God Most High created creation free of both belief and
unbelief, and then He addressed His creation with commands
and prohibitions. Some men disbelieved through active denial
and rejection of the truth by virtue of being abandoned by God
Most High. Others believed through active assent and
affirmation, by virtue of the succor of God Most High. He
brought forth the progeny of Adam, upon whom be peace,
from his loins in the form of particles, and appointed for them
an intelligence. He then addressed them and commanded them
unto belief and forbade them disbelief. They assented to His
dominicality, this being a form of belief appropriate to them,
and thus it is that they are born in the possession of a
primordial nature disposed to belief.
Whoever disbelieves thereafter is therefore changing and
altering that primordial nature, and whoever believes and
assents is conforming and strengthening it. None of His
creation has been constrained either to disbelieve or to
believe; God created men not as believers or non-believers,
but rather as persons. Belief and disbelief are acts of God's
worshippers. God Most High knows the unbeliever, in his state
of unbelief, to be an unbeliever, and if he thereafter becomes a
believer, then God knows him to be a believer in a state of
belief, without any change occurring thereby in His knowledge
or attributes.
All deeds of God's servants, both of commission and omission,
are in truth acquired by them; God Most High is their creator.
All of them take place by His will, knowledge, determining and
predestining. Obligatory acts of obedience and worship take
place by the command, love, satisfaction, knowledge, will,
determining and predestining of God Most High, and all facts of
sinful rebellion take place by His knowledge, determining, and
predestining and will, but not by His love, satisfaction and
command.
7. The Prophets, peace and blessings be upon them, are free
of all sins, major and minor, of unbelief, and of all that is
repugnant. It may be, however, that they commit insignificant
lapses and errors. Muhammad the Messenger of God -- may
God's peace and blessings be upon him! -- is His Prophet, His
Bondsman, His Messenger and His Chosen One. He never
worshipped idols, he never assigned partner to God, even for
an instant, and he never committed a sin, major or minor.
8. The most virtuous of all men after the Messenger of God, --
may God's peace and blessings be upon him! -- are Abu Bakr
as-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him; then 'Umar ibn al-
Khattab; then 'Uthman ibn 'Affan; the 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may
they all enjoy the pleasure of God Most High. They were all
steadfast in the truth, with the truth, and we proclaim our
allegiance to all of them. We make only good mention of all of
the Companions of the Messenger of God, may God's peace
and blessings be upon him!
9. We do not proclaim any Muslim an unbeliever on account of
any sin, however great, unless it be that he regards his sin as
permissible. Nor does he forfeit the name of belief; we
continue to call him a believer in essence. It is possible to be a
sinful believer without being an unbeliever.
The wiping of the feet when covered, by way of ablution, is a
sunna (under conditions specified by the fuqaha). Tarawih
prayer in the month of Ramadan is similarly a sunna. It is
permissible to pray behind any believer, pious or sinful. We say
neither that sins do not harm the believer, nor that they cause
him to remain indefinitely in hell, even if he leaves the world in
a state of sin.
10. We do not say, like Murji’ites (an early theological school -
trans.), that our good deeds are accepted by God, and our evil
deeds forgiven by Him. Rather we say that the matter is to be
clarified and expounded as follows: whoever performs a good
deed in accordance with all requisite conditions, free of all
corrupting deficiencies and nullifying concerns, and does not
then cancel his deed with unbelief or apostasy at any time
before his death, God Almighty will not cause his deed to be
wasted; rather He will accept it and bestow reward for it. As for
evil deeds – other than the assigning of partners to God and
unbelief – for which the believer does not offer repentance
before his death, the will of God Almighty may elect either to
chastise their author or to forgive him, without chastising him
in Hellfire. Hypocrisy and arrogance in any deed annul its
reward.
11. Miraculous signs (mu’ jizat) bestowed on the Prophets are
established as true, and so too ennobling wonders (karamat)
made manifest through the saints (auliya). As for apparently
miraculous and wondrous deeds performed by God’s enemies,
like Iblis, the Pharaoh and the Dajjal, whatever is mentioned in
tradition as having been performed by them in future, is
neither miraculous nor wondrous. Rather it is a question of
their needs being fulfilled by God Most High; this he does in
order to lead them toward destruction and to chastise them,
but they are deceived. They increase in rebelliousness and
unbelief. All of the foregoing is possible and contingent on
God’s will.
12. God Most High was a Creator before He created, and a
Provider before He bestowed provision. God Most High will be
seen in the Hereafter, visible to the believers in Paradise with
their corporeal vision. This we say without any implication of
anthropomorphism, or any notion of quality or quantity, for
there is not a fixed distance between Him and His creation (to
permit any comparison).
13. Belief means assent and affirmation. There is no increase
of decrease with respect to the content of belief, whether for
angels or men, but only with respect to degrees of certainty
and affirmation. The believers are equal in what they believe
and in their assertion of the divine unity, but enjoy differing
degrees of excellence with respect to their deeds.
Islam is surrender and submission to the commands of God
Most High. There is a lexical distinction between belief (iman)
and Islam, but there is no belief without Islam, and Islam
cannot be conceived of without belief. They are like the outer
and inner aspect of a thing (that is inseparable). Religion (din)
is a name applied to both belief and Islam, and indeed to all
divine codes.
We know God as it is fitting for us to know Him through His
description of himself in His Book, with all His attributes; but
none is able to worship God Most High as He deserves to be
worshipped and as is fitting for Him. Rather man worships God
Most High in accordance with His Command, as promulgated in
His Book and the Sunna of His Messenger. Although believers
are equal insofar as they believe, they differ with respect to
knowledge, certainty, reliance, love satisfaction, fear, hope.
14. God Most High is both generous and just toward His
bondsmen, bestowing on them in his liberality a reward far in
excess of what they deserve. He requites them for their sins
because of His justice, and forgives them because of His
generosity. The intercession of the Prophets, upon whom be
blessings and peace, is a reality, and in particular that of our
Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him! -- for sinful
believers and for those who have committed major sins and
are deserving of requital is a firmly established reality. The
weighing of deeds in the balance on the Day of Resurrection is
similarly a reality; the pool of the Prophet, upon whom be
peace and blessings, is a reality; retribution among enemies on
the Day of Resurrection through the redistribution of good
deeds is a reality. If they have no good deeds, then the burden
of evil deeds is redistributed; this too is a reality.
Paradise and Hell are created and existing today, and shall
never vanish. The houris shall never vanish, and the requital
exacted by God Almighty and the reward bestowed by Him
shall never cease.
God Most High guides whomsoever he wills out of His
generosity, and he leads astray whomsoever He wills out of His
justice. God’s leading man astray consists of His abandoning
him, and the meaning of God’s abandoning man is not
impelling him to do that which is pleasing to Him. All this is
determined by His justice.
It is not permissible for us to say: "Satan steals belief from
man with violence and coercion." Rather we say: "Man himself
abandons belief, and when he has abandoned it, then Satan
snatches it from him."
The interrogation by Munkir and Nakir is a reality; the return of
the spirit to the body in the tomb is a reality; the pressing in
upon man of the tomb is a reality; God’s punishment of all
unbelievers and some Muslims is a reality.
All of the attributes of God Most High – may His name be
glorified and his attributes be exalted! -- may be mentioned by
the ‘ ulama in languages other than Arabic (here Persian in
particular is mentioned, but the meaning is any non-Arabic
tongue - trans.), with the exception of yad (hand). Thus we
may say "the face of God," may He be exalted and glorified,
without any implication of anthropomorphism or of a particular
modality.
Closeness to God Most High and remoteness from Him do not
refer to any spatial distance, great or small, nor do they refer
to the nobility or humility or man in His sight. Rather the one
obedient to Him is close to him, in indefinable fashion.
Closeness, remoteness approaching all in fact refer to God’s
action towards man (i.e., it is not man who in the strict sense
defines relation to God; it is rather God who determines that
relation). Proximity to God in Paradise and standing before Him
are similarly realities of indefinable modality.
The Qur’an was sent down to His Messenger, upon whom be
blessings and peace, and it is that which is now inscribed on
collections of leaves. The verses of the Qur’an, insofar as they
are all the Word of God, are equal in excellence and
magnificence; some, however, enjoy a special excellence by
virtue what they mention, or the fashion in which they mention
it. The Throne Verse, for example, enjoys excellence on both
counts: what it mentions – splendor, magnificence and other
attributes of God – and the way in which it mentions it. Other
verses have no excellence on account of what they mention –
for example, those containing narratives of unbelievers – but
only on account of the way in which they mention it. Similarly,
all the names and attributes are equal in their magnificence
and excellence; there is no difference among them.
If someone experiences difficulty with the subtleties of the
science of divine unity, it is incumbent upon him to believe
(without further investigation) what is correct in the sight of
God Most High until he finds a scholar to consult. He should not
delay in seeking such a scholar, for hesitation and suspension
of judgment may result in unbelief.
The narration of the Mi’raj (by the Prophet, upon him be peace
and blessings) is true, and whoever rejects it is misguided and
an innovator.
The emergence of the Dajjal and of Gog and Magog is a reality;
the rising of the sun in the West is a reality; the descent of
Jesus (‘Isa), upon whom be peace, from the heavens is a
reality; and all the other signs of the Day of Resurrection, as
contained in authentic traditions, are also established reality.
And God guides to his Path whomsoever He wills.
(Translated from the text published in Hama, 1392/1972. All
phrases between brackets were added by the translator.)
Al-Fiqh al-akbar (attributed to Abu Hanifah, d. 767 CE)
Translated by Hamid Algar
Professor of Persian and Islamic Studies, University of
California, Berkeley
(published in the journal Al-Bayan ca. 1980)
From The Heritage of Islamic Literature
One of the most regrettable features of the contemporary
Muslim situation is an anarchy and confusion in the sphere of
belief that might lead one to suppose the foundations of Islam
to have been so obscured that the field is open to anyone to
redefine the religion. We begin with the Fiqh al-Akbar of Imam
al-A'zam Abu Hanifa, may God be pleased with him, a brief but
comprehensive statement of the irreducible dogmas (‘aqa’id -
sing.‘aqidah) of Islam.
In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful
The root of the affirmation of God's unity, and that which is
correct conviction, consists of this, that one says:
1. I believe in God, and His angels, and His books, and His
messengers, and resurrection after death, and that the good
and evil of destiny are from God Most High. I believe too in the
accounting and the scales, hell and paradise. All the foregoing
is reality.
2. God is One, not in a numerical sense, but in the sense that
He has no partner – "Say: He is God, One; God the Eternally
Subsistent and Besought; He begets not, nor was He begotten;
and there is none like unto Him." He resembles nothing among
His creation, nor does anything among His creation resemble
Him. He has been, unceasing, and He is, unceasing, with His
names and attributes, both those relating to His Essence and
those relating to His acts. As for those relating to His Essence,
they are life, power, knowledge, speech, hearing, sight, and
will. As for those relating to His acts, they are creativity,
sustenance, originating and fashioning ex nihilo, making, and
other active attributes.
He has been, unceasing, and He is, unceasing, with His
attributes and names; neither attribute nor name was created.
He has always and unceasingly been a knower, by virtue of His
knowledge, and His knowledge is a pre-eternal attribute. He
has always and unceasingly been powerful, by virtue of His
power, and His power is a pre-eternal attribute. He has always
and unceasingly been speaking by virtue of His speech and His
speech is a pre-eternal attribute. He has always and
unceasingly been a creator, by virtue of His creativity, and His
creativity is a pre-eternal attribute. He has always and
unceasingly been an agent, by virtue of His activity, and His
activity is a pre-eternal attribute; the object of His activity is
creation, and His activity is uncreated. His attributes existed in
pre-eternity, without being created or called into existence at a
particular moment. Whoever says that they are created or
summoned into existence at a particular moment, or is
uncertain about the attributes and doubts them, is an
unbeliever in God Almighty.
3. The Qur'an is the Word of God Almighty, written on
collections of leaves (masahif), preserved in men's hearts,
recited on men's tongues, and sent down to the Prophet, upon
whom be God's peace and blessings. Our uttering of the Qur'an
is created, and our recitation of the Qur'an is created, but the
Qur'an itself is uncreated.
That which God Almighty mentions in the Qur'an as a narration
from Moses and other of the prophets – peace and blessings be
upon them - and also from the Pharaoh and Iblis, all of it is
God's word, and constitutes a report concerning them. God's
word is uncreated. It is the Qur'an which as the word of God
Most High is uncreated, not their words, Moses, upon whom be
peace, heard the Word of God Almighty, as God Almighty says:
"God addressed Moses in speech." Thus God Almighty was the
speaker, and Moses, upon whom be peace, did not speak. God
Most High was a creator in pre-eternity, even without having
brought creation into existence: "there is naught like unto Him;
He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing." When God addressed Moses He
did so with His word that was, like all of His attributes, an
attribute existing from pre-eternity, unlike the attributes of
created beings.
4. God knows, but not as we know; He has power, but not as
we have power; He sees, but not as we see; He hears, but not
as we hear; and He speaks, but not as we speak. We speak by
means of the speech organs and sounds, whereas God Most
High speaks with neither organs nor sounds. Sounds are
created, and the word of God Most High is uncreated. He is a
thing, but unlike other things; by saying "thing," we intend
merely to affirm His reality. He has neither body nor
substance, neither accidental property nor limit, neither
opposite nor like nor similitude. He has a hand, a face, and a
self (nafs); the mention that God most High has made of these
in the Qur'an has the sense that these are among His
attributes, and no question can be raised concerning their
modality (bila kayf). It cannot be said that His hand represents
His power of His bestowal of bounty, because such an
interpretation would require a negation of an attribute. This is
the path taken by the Qadarites and the Mu'tazilites (two
theological sects in early Islam that deviated from the path of
Ahl as-Sunna - trans.) Rather, His hand is an attribute, of
unknowable modality, in the same way that His anger and
pleasure are two attributes of unknowable modality God Most
High created things out of nothing, and He had knowledge of
them in pre-eternity, before their creation.
5. He it is Who determined and predestined all things. Nothing
exists in this world or hereafter except by His will, His
knowledge, His determining and predestining, and except it be
written on the Preserved Tablet (al-Lauh al-Mahfuz). He
inscribed everything there in the sense of description, not that
of foreordaining. Determining, predestining and will are preeternal
attributes of unknowable modality. God Most High
knows the non-existent, while in its state of non-existence, to
be non-existent, and He knows too how it will be when He
brings it forth into being. God Most High knows the existent,
while in its state of existence, to be existent, and He knows too
how will be its evanescence. God knows the one who is
standing, and when he sits then God knows him to be sitting,
without any change being produced thereby in God's
knowledge, or any new knowledge accruing to Him. For change
and alteration occur only in created beings.
6. God Most High created creation free of both belief and
unbelief, and then He addressed His creation with commands
and prohibitions. Some men disbelieved through active denial
and rejection of the truth by virtue of being abandoned by God
Most High. Others believed through active assent and
affirmation, by virtue of the succor of God Most High. He
brought forth the progeny of Adam, upon whom be peace,
from his loins in the form of particles, and appointed for them
an intelligence. He then addressed them and commanded them
unto belief and forbade them disbelief. They assented to His
dominicality, this being a form of belief appropriate to them,
and thus it is that they are born in the possession of a
primordial nature disposed to belief.
Whoever disbelieves thereafter is therefore changing and
altering that primordial nature, and whoever believes and
assents is conforming and strengthening it. None of His
creation has been constrained either to disbelieve or to
believe; God created men not as believers or non-believers,
but rather as persons. Belief and disbelief are acts of God's
worshippers. God Most High knows the unbeliever, in his state
of unbelief, to be an unbeliever, and if he thereafter becomes a
believer, then God knows him to be a believer in a state of
belief, without any change occurring thereby in His knowledge
or attributes.
All deeds of God's servants, both of commission and omission,
are in truth acquired by them; God Most High is their creator.
All of them take place by His will, knowledge, determining and
predestining. Obligatory acts of obedience and worship take
place by the command, love, satisfaction, knowledge, will,
determining and predestining of God Most High, and all facts of
sinful rebellion take place by His knowledge, determining, and
predestining and will, but not by His love, satisfaction and
command.
7. The Prophets, peace and blessings be upon them, are free
of all sins, major and minor, of unbelief, and of all that is
repugnant. It may be, however, that they commit insignificant
lapses and errors. Muhammad the Messenger of God -- may
God's peace and blessings be upon him! -- is His Prophet, His
Bondsman, His Messenger and His Chosen One. He never
worshipped idols, he never assigned partner to God, even for
an instant, and he never committed a sin, major or minor.
8. The most virtuous of all men after the Messenger of God, --
may God's peace and blessings be upon him! -- are Abu Bakr
as-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him; then 'Umar ibn al-
Khattab; then 'Uthman ibn 'Affan; the 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may
they all enjoy the pleasure of God Most High. They were all
steadfast in the truth, with the truth, and we proclaim our
allegiance to all of them. We make only good mention of all of
the Companions of the Messenger of God, may God's peace
and blessings be upon him!
9. We do not proclaim any Muslim an unbeliever on account of
any sin, however great, unless it be that he regards his sin as
permissible. Nor does he forfeit the name of belief; we
continue to call him a believer in essence. It is possible to be a
sinful believer without being an unbeliever.
The wiping of the feet when covered, by way of ablution, is a
sunna (under conditions specified by the fuqaha). Tarawih
prayer in the month of Ramadan is similarly a sunna. It is
permissible to pray behind any believer, pious or sinful. We say
neither that sins do not harm the believer, nor that they cause
him to remain indefinitely in hell, even if he leaves the world in
a state of sin.
10. We do not say, like Murji’ites (an early theological school -
trans.), that our good deeds are accepted by God, and our evil
deeds forgiven by Him. Rather we say that the matter is to be
clarified and expounded as follows: whoever performs a good
deed in accordance with all requisite conditions, free of all
corrupting deficiencies and nullifying concerns, and does not
then cancel his deed with unbelief or apostasy at any time
before his death, God Almighty will not cause his deed to be
wasted; rather He will accept it and bestow reward for it. As for
evil deeds – other than the assigning of partners to God and
unbelief – for which the believer does not offer repentance
before his death, the will of God Almighty may elect either to
chastise their author or to forgive him, without chastising him
in Hellfire. Hypocrisy and arrogance in any deed annul its
reward.
11. Miraculous signs (mu’ jizat) bestowed on the Prophets are
established as true, and so too ennobling wonders (karamat)
made manifest through the saints (auliya). As for apparently
miraculous and wondrous deeds performed by God’s enemies,
like Iblis, the Pharaoh and the Dajjal, whatever is mentioned in
tradition as having been performed by them in future, is
neither miraculous nor wondrous. Rather it is a question of
their needs being fulfilled by God Most High; this he does in
order to lead them toward destruction and to chastise them,
but they are deceived. They increase in rebelliousness and
unbelief. All of the foregoing is possible and contingent on
God’s will.
12. God Most High was a Creator before He created, and a
Provider before He bestowed provision. God Most High will be
seen in the Hereafter, visible to the believers in Paradise with
their corporeal vision. This we say without any implication of
anthropomorphism, or any notion of quality or quantity, for
there is not a fixed distance between Him and His creation (to
permit any comparison).
13. Belief means assent and affirmation. There is no increase
of decrease with respect to the content of belief, whether for
angels or men, but only with respect to degrees of certainty
and affirmation. The believers are equal in what they believe
and in their assertion of the divine unity, but enjoy differing
degrees of excellence with respect to their deeds.
Islam is surrender and submission to the commands of God
Most High. There is a lexical distinction between belief (iman)
and Islam, but there is no belief without Islam, and Islam
cannot be conceived of without belief. They are like the outer
and inner aspect of a thing (that is inseparable). Religion (din)
is a name applied to both belief and Islam, and indeed to all
divine codes.
We know God as it is fitting for us to know Him through His
description of himself in His Book, with all His attributes; but
none is able to worship God Most High as He deserves to be
worshipped and as is fitting for Him. Rather man worships God
Most High in accordance with His Command, as promulgated in
His Book and the Sunna of His Messenger. Although believers
are equal insofar as they believe, they differ with respect to
knowledge, certainty, reliance, love satisfaction, fear, hope.
14. God Most High is both generous and just toward His
bondsmen, bestowing on them in his liberality a reward far in
excess of what they deserve. He requites them for their sins
because of His justice, and forgives them because of His
generosity. The intercession of the Prophets, upon whom be
blessings and peace, is a reality, and in particular that of our
Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him! -- for sinful
believers and for those who have committed major sins and
are deserving of requital is a firmly established reality. The
weighing of deeds in the balance on the Day of Resurrection is
similarly a reality; the pool of the Prophet, upon whom be
peace and blessings, is a reality; retribution among enemies on
the Day of Resurrection through the redistribution of good
deeds is a reality. If they have no good deeds, then the burden
of evil deeds is redistributed; this too is a reality.
Paradise and Hell are created and existing today, and shall
never vanish. The houris shall never vanish, and the requital
exacted by God Almighty and the reward bestowed by Him
shall never cease.
God Most High guides whomsoever he wills out of His
generosity, and he leads astray whomsoever He wills out of His
justice. God’s leading man astray consists of His abandoning
him, and the meaning of God’s abandoning man is not
impelling him to do that which is pleasing to Him. All this is
determined by His justice.
It is not permissible for us to say: "Satan steals belief from
man with violence and coercion." Rather we say: "Man himself
abandons belief, and when he has abandoned it, then Satan
snatches it from him."
The interrogation by Munkir and Nakir is a reality; the return of
the spirit to the body in the tomb is a reality; the pressing in
upon man of the tomb is a reality; God’s punishment of all
unbelievers and some Muslims is a reality.
All of the attributes of God Most High – may His name be
glorified and his attributes be exalted! -- may be mentioned by
the ‘ ulama in languages other than Arabic (here Persian in
particular is mentioned, but the meaning is any non-Arabic
tongue - trans.), with the exception of yad (hand). Thus we
may say "the face of God," may He be exalted and glorified,
without any implication of anthropomorphism or of a particular
modality.
Closeness to God Most High and remoteness from Him do not
refer to any spatial distance, great or small, nor do they refer
to the nobility or humility or man in His sight. Rather the one
obedient to Him is close to him, in indefinable fashion.
Closeness, remoteness approaching all in fact refer to God’s
action towards man (i.e., it is not man who in the strict sense
defines relation to God; it is rather God who determines that
relation). Proximity to God in Paradise and standing before Him
are similarly realities of indefinable modality.
The Qur’an was sent down to His Messenger, upon whom be
blessings and peace, and it is that which is now inscribed on
collections of leaves. The verses of the Qur’an, insofar as they
are all the Word of God, are equal in excellence and
magnificence; some, however, enjoy a special excellence by
virtue what they mention, or the fashion in which they mention
it. The Throne Verse, for example, enjoys excellence on both
counts: what it mentions – splendor, magnificence and other
attributes of God – and the way in which it mentions it. Other
verses have no excellence on account of what they mention –
for example, those containing narratives of unbelievers – but
only on account of the way in which they mention it. Similarly,
all the names and attributes are equal in their magnificence
and excellence; there is no difference among them.
If someone experiences difficulty with the subtleties of the
science of divine unity, it is incumbent upon him to believe
(without further investigation) what is correct in the sight of
God Most High until he finds a scholar to consult. He should not
delay in seeking such a scholar, for hesitation and suspension
of judgment may result in unbelief.
The narration of the Mi’raj (by the Prophet, upon him be peace
and blessings) is true, and whoever rejects it is misguided and
an innovator.
The emergence of the Dajjal and of Gog and Magog is a reality;
the rising of the sun in the West is a reality; the descent of
Jesus (‘Isa), upon whom be peace, from the heavens is a
reality; and all the other signs of the Day of Resurrection, as
contained in authentic traditions, are also established reality.
And God guides to his Path whomsoever He wills.
(Translated from the text published in Hama, 1392/1972. All
phrases between brackets were added by the translator.)
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