Lesson 27 : Point [105]
ونُؤْمِنُ باللَّوْحِ والقلمِ وبجميعِ مَا فيه قَدْ رُقِمَ
And we have eemaan in the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh) and in the Pen (Al-Qalam), and in everything which has been inscribed in it.
The Explanation – Point [105]
This follows on from what preceded from the speech about Pre-ordainment and Pre-decree. And it has already preceded that from the levels of having eemaan (true faith) in Pre-ordainment and Pre-decree is having eemaan (true faith) in whatever He wrote in Al-Lawh Al-Mahfooz (the Inscribed or Preserved Tablet). And that is, that Allaah created the creation and the first thing that He created was the Pen (Qalam) and He said to it, “Write!” So it replied, “What should I write?” So He said, “Write whatever is going to happen until the Day of Resurrection.” So the Pen wrote down, by the command of Allaah for it to write down, whatever was going to happen until the Day of Resurrection, as occurs in the hadeeth.[1]
And no one knows how the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh) is, and how the Pen is, except Allaah. And they are two created things from the things which Allaah the Mighty and Majestic has created; we have eemaan in that. And so, therefore, the author said: “We have eemaan (true faith) in the Preserved Record and in the Pen, and in whatever has been inscribed in it.” Meaning: Al-Lawh Al-Mahfooz (The Preserved Tablet) and the writing that is in it.
And this is the second level from the levels of eemaan in Pre-ordainment and Pre-decree, and it is: eemaan in the writing in the Preserved Tablet.
End of explanation of point [105][2][3]
Footnotes
[1] This is a hadeeth reported by Aboo Daawood and At-Tirmidhee and Aboo Ya`laa from the statement of the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam, and it is also reported by Al-Bayhaqee as a statement of the Companion, which carries the ruling of being from the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam. It was declared Saheeh by Shaykh Al-Albaanee rahimahullaah.
[2] Translator’s Side Point: Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Abdul `Azeez ibn Manee`, made a note on this point: We have eemaan in the Preserved Tablet; he said:
“Allaah, the Most High said,
Indeed, it is a Praiseworthy Qur·aan contained in a Preserved Tablet.
(Sooratul-Burooj (85), aayaat 21-22)So, the Noble Qur·aan is written down in the Preserved Tablet, just as Allaah, the Perfect, mentioned. And Jibreel `alayhis-salaam heard it from Allaah and conveyed it to our Prophet Muhammad `alayhis salaatu was-salaam. So it was sent down from your Lord in truth, and He did not say ‘from the Preserved Tablet’. And there is no contradiction between its being in the Preserved Tablet and between its being sent down from Allaah, as was clarified by Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah. And Shaykhul-Islaam said also, that the Preserved Tablet is above the heavens and there occurs in a hadeeth that no one looks into it except Allaah, the Mighty and the Majestic.
I say: So this shows the misguidance of those who state that the soul of a person can see what is contained in the Preserved Tablet. This is just a statement from the philosophers and from the people of superstitious stories from the worshippers – whether righteous or unrighteous, as is their firm belief. So beware of it because it is a lie.
As for the Pen which is mentioned, then it is what Allaah created; and it wrote the measure of everything in the Preserved Tablet just as occurs in the hadeeth of `Ubaadah ibn As–Saamit reported by Aboo Daawood from the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam that he said,
‘The first thing that Allaah created was the Pen and He said to it, “Write!” So it said, “O my Lord, and what shall I write?” He said, “Write down the decreed measure of everything right until the Hour is established.”’
And the scholars disagree – was the Pen the very first thing that was created or was it the `Arsh (Allaah’s Throne)? They have two sayings in that regard. Ibn Al-Qayyim mentions both of them in his Nooniyyah and he preferred the view that the Pen was created after the `Arsh (Throne).”
[3] Translator’s Side Point: Shaykh Al-Albaanee rahimahullaah, he said on this point:
“I say, with regard to the Preserved Tablet, it is what is mentioned in the saying of Allaah, the Most High,
Indeed, it is a Praiseworthy Qur·aan contained in a Preserved Tablet.
(Sooratul-Burooj (85), aayaat 21-22)And that is from the Ghayb (Hidden and Unseen) which it is obligatory that we have eemaan (truly believe) in it. And its true reality is not known except to Allaah. And the belief that some righteous people can look into what’s contained in it – this belief is kufr (unbelief) in the aayaat and ahaadeeth which clearly state that no one knows the Ghayb (Hidden and Unseen) except Allaah, the Most High.”
Translator’s Side Point: With regard to the point about which was created first: the Pen or the Throne, Shaykh Al-Albaanee (rahimahullaah), he said:
“The explainer (Ibn Abil-`Izz in his explanation of At–Tahaawiyyah), he explained here, that the scholars differed whether the Pen was the very first thing created or the Throne (`Arsh). The scholars had two sayings in that regard and there is no third (saying). (Some of the scholars of the Sunnah said that Allaah’s Throne was first and then the Pen was created and some said that the Pen was created and then after that, Allaah’s Throne was created, and there is no third saying).”
Shaykh Al-Albaanee said:
“And in my view the most preferable one is the first (that the Pen was the very first thing created) as is clearly stated in my note (that he made for At–Tahaawiyyah). And I say now, whether what is most correct is this or that, then this difference shows that the scholars are agreed that there was a first created thing. And the idea that created things came into creation and there is always something before it, they are contrary to this agreement (of the scholars).”
At-Ta`leeqaat Al-Mukhtasarah `alaa Matn Al-`Aqeedah At-Tahaawiyyah
By Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan hafizahullaah
Pages 113-117 (Points 98-105)
Translated by Aboo Talhah Daawood Burbank, rahimahullaah, in 1426AH
Transcribed by Sideeqa Ali
Posted with kind permission from Dawud Burbank rahimahullaah
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