Sharh-ul-Usool-ith-Thalaathah : Lesson 20 Part A
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]
Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab (rahimahullaah) said:
And Ar-Rabb (the Lord) is the One Who is worshipped, and the proof is His saying, He the Most High:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَّكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
O mankind, single out your Lord with all worship, He Who created you and those who came before you so that you may be dutiful to Him, seeking to avoid His anger and His punishment. He Who made the earth a resting place for you and the sky a canopy, and He sent down from the clouds rain, and He brought out with it crops and fruits from the earth as provision for you, so do not set up rivals for Allaah whilst you know that you have no Lord besides Him. [2:21-22] 9
[9]: Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzan’s Explanation :
His saying, “And Ar-Rabb (the Lord) is the One Who is worshipped”: meaning, He is the One Who deserves to be worshipped, as for other than Him, then it does not deserve worship, because it is not a Lord. This is the intent of the speech of the Shaikh rahimahullaah in his saying, “Ar-Rabb (the Lord) is the One Who is worshipped”, meaning He is the One Who deserves worship.
Then also it is not sufficient that a person just affirms Ar-Ruboobiyyah (Lordship), rather he must affirm Al-‘Uboodiyyah (Allaah’s deserving all worship), He the Perfect and Most High, and he must carry it out making it purely and sincerely for Him, the Perfect and Most High. So since he has affirmed that He is Ar-Rabb (the Lord) then it is binding upon him to affirm that he is Al-Ma‘bood (the One Who therefore deserves to be worshipped), and that others besides Him do not deserve anything from worship.
And the proof that worship is particular to the Lord is His saying, He the Most High:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَّكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
O mankind, single out your Lord with all worship, He Who created you and those who came before you so that you may be dutiful to Him, seeking to avoid His anger and His punishment. He Who made the earth a resting place for you and the sky a canopy, and He sent down from the clouds rain, and He brought out with it crops and fruits from the earth as provision for you, so do not set up rivals for Allaah whilst you know that you have no Lord besides Him. [2:21-22]
“O mankind” يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ : this is a call from Allaah to the whole of mankind, the believers and the unbelievers, for Allaah has mentioned in this soorah, soorat-ul-Baqarah, that mankind is divided into three categories:
The first category: are the believers, those who truly believe in the hidden and unseen and who truly believe in the Last Day. And He has described them as being the ones who are successful in His saying:
أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَىٰ هُدًى مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
They (the believers) are upon guidance from their Lord and they are the ones who are the successful ones [2:5]
The second category: are the unbelievers, those who openly display disbelief and obstinate rejection. He the Most High said:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَأَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
Indeed those who obstinately disbelieve, it is the same whether you warn them or you do not warn them, they will not believe. [2:6]
The third category: the Hypocrites, who are not with the disbelievers, and they are not with the believers:
مُّذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ لَا إِلَىٰ هَٰؤُلَاءِ وَلَا إِلَىٰ هَٰؤُلَاءِ
Wavering in between, being neither fully with these nor fully with those [4:143]
So they are believers outwardly, however they are disbelievers inwardly, and they are worse than the disbelievers who openly display their unbelief, and therefore He sent down ten and more aayahs with regard to them, whereas regarding the believers He sent down just a few aayahs, and regarding the disbelievers two aayahs. As for the Hypocrites, then He began mentioning them from His saying:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ آمَنَّا
And from the people are those who say, “We believe” [2:8]
up to His saying:
يَكَادُ الْبَرْقُ يَخْطَفُ أَبْصَارَهُمْ
The lightening almost snatches their sight away [2:20]
All of this is regarding the Hypocrites because of the severity of their danger and of the foulness of their action. And having mentioned these three types, He then said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ
O mankind [2:21]
This is a call to all of the types, the believers and the disbelievers and the Hypocrites. The scholars have said: the first call occuring in the Mus-haf (written copy of the Qur’aan) is this:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ
O mankind, worship your Lord [2:21]
“Worship!”: this is a command, meaning make all worship purely and sincerely for Him. Why? Because He is your Lord, and worship is not correct except for the Lord, the Perfect and Most High. Then He mentioned the proof for that, and it His saying:
الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ
He Who created you [2:21]
“And those who came before you”: from the nations, all of them. Allaah the Perfect and Most High created the angels and the jinn and mankind and all of the created beings.
“So that you should have taqwaa (be dutiful to Allaah seeking to avoid His anger and punishment)”: if you reflect upon this, so then perhaps this will result for you in taqwaa (dutifulness to Allaah), if you reflect that He is the One Who created you and created those who were before you, perhaps you will seek then to protect yourselves from Him, He the Perfect and Most High in worshipping Him, because nothing can protect from His punishment except obedience to Him, He the Perfect and Most High. Perhaps you will seek to protect yourselves from His Punishment and seek to protect yourselves from the Fire, because nothing will protect from it except the worship of your Lord Who created you and those who came before you.
And then He continued the mention of evidence for His Lordship and His right to worship, He the Perfect and Most High with His saying:
جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا
“He Who made for you the earth as a resting place” [2:22]
Meaning like a carpet:
وَاللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ بِسَاطًا
And Allaah has made the earth as a carpet laid out for you [71:19]
Meaning laid out and, “as a carpet”, meaning which you use as a carpet, you sleep upon it and you build upon it, and you cultivate crops upon its surface and you travel about upon it on your journeys to wherever you want to go. So the earth is a carpet and a resting place:
وَالْأَرْضَ فَرَشْنَاهَا فَنِعْمَ الْمَاهِدُونَ
And We have laid out the earth as a carpet for you and what an excellent spreader of it We are. [51:48]
For your welfare.
“And the sky as a canopy / ceiling”: so the sky is a ceiling for the earth and it contains things which result in the welfare of the servants.
وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَّكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
And He sent down from the clouds in the sky rainwater and He brought out with it crops and fruits from the earth as provision for you so do not set up rivals for Allaah whilst you know that there is no Lord besides Him [2:22]
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Sharh-ul-Usool-ith-Thalaathah. Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles of Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab by Shaykh Saalih ibn Fowzaan al-Fowzaan hafizahullaah. Translated by Daawood Burbank, rahimahullaah
Posted with kind permission from Dawud Burbank rahimahullaah
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Listen to the Full Audio Series:
Sharh Usool-ith-Thalaathah – Shaykh Fawzan | Dawud Burbank
Book Study Resources – Three Fundamental Principles
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