Sharhu Sunnah : Lesson 19 : Point 20
Shaykh Fawzan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]
The author Imam Barbahaaree rahimahullaah said,
And to have eemaan in the Prophets and in the Angels.
Transcribed Audio:
From that fundamentals of eemaan and the pillars of eemaan is to have eemaan in the malaa·ikah (Angels) and in the anbiyaa (Prophets). And this is as occurs in the hadeeth of Jibreel `alayhis-salaam, when he said to the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam, “Inform me about eemaan (true faith). So he said,
“(It) is that you truly believe in Allaah and His Angels and in His Books and in His Messengers and in the Last Day and that you truly believe in pre decree, the good of it and the bad of it.” [01]
And there occurs in the Qur’aan,
Righteousness is not that you turn your faces either to the east or to the west. But rather righteousness is the righteousness of the one who truly believes in Allaah and in the Last Day and in the Angels and in the Book and in the Prophets. (Sooratul-Baqarah (2), aayah 177)
And in His saying, He the Most High:
The Messenger believes in that which was sent down to him from his Lord and also the believers. All of them believe truly in Allaah and in His Angels and in His Books and in His Messengers. They say, we do not make any distinction in believing between any of His Messengers. And they say we hear and we obey. (Sooratul-Baqarah (2), aayah 285)
Say, we truly believe in Allaah and in what was send down to us and in what was send down to Ibraaheem and Ismaa`eel and Is’haaq and Ya`qoob and to the Tribes and what Moosaa and `Eesaa were given and what the Prophets were given from their Lord. We do not make any distinction (with regard to believing) between any of them. And we submit as Muslims to Him. (Sooratul-Baqarah (2), aayah 136)
So it is obligatory to have eemaan in the Angels, all of them. Those whom Allaah has named from them and those whom He has not named. And the malaa’ikah (the Angels) is the plural of malak. And they are species of being from the world of the hidden and the unseen. Allaah created them from light. Then as for the Jinn, then Allaah created them from fire. And as for mankind then Allaah created them from teen (clay) and then from a feeble fluid, just as Allaah the Perfect and Most High mentioned. So a person must have eemaan in the Angels all of them, those whom Allaah has named from them and those He has not named. We believe in all of them. As for one who believes in some of them and disbelieves in others, then he is a disbeliever in all of them (a kaafir). He the Most High said:
Say, whoever is an enemy to Jibreel, then he (Jibreel) brought it (the Qur’aan) down to your heart by the permission of Allaah, confirming that which came before it and a guidance and glad tidings for the believers. Whoever is an enemy to Allaah and to his Angels and to His Messengers and to Jibreel and to Meekaal then Allaah is an enemy to the disbelievers. (Sooratul-Baqarah (2), aayahs 97 – 98)
So the person who disbelieves in a single Angel from the Angels, he is a disbeliever in all of the Angels. Such as the Jews, those who say, “Jibreel is an enemy to us. If the one who came down to Muhammad had been other than Jibreel, we would have obeyed him. However Jibreel came down to him and he is our enemy. So we will not believe in him.” [02] So therefore Allaah sent down this aayah. [03]
Say, whoever is an enemy to Jibreel, then he brought it down to your heart by the permission of Allaah (Sooratul-Baqarah (2), aayah 97)
So it (the Revelation) is not from Jibreel. Rather it is from Allaah, the Majestic and Most High. And Jibreel was only a messenger from Allaah entrusted with bringing the Revelation.
And amongst the deviant sects who ascribe themselves to Islaam are those who say that Jibreel betrayed his trust, because Messengership should have gone to `Alee. However, (they say) Jibreel betrayed his trust and gave it instead to Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam. Their poet said, “The trustworthy one was treacherous (Jibreel) and he withheld it from Haydar,” meaning from `Alee.
The author said, “That we have eemaan in the Messengers (rusul) and in the Prophets (anbiyaa·).”
A Prophet (nabeey) is one who had a Revealed Way sent to him, but he was not commanded to convey it to others. Whereas a Messenger (rasool) was one who had a Revealed Way sent to him by Revelation and he was commanded to convey it.[04]
Whoever is an enemy to Jibreel, then he brought it down to your heart by the permission of Allaah (Sooratul-Baqarah (2), aayah 97)
So the difference between an-nabeey (Prophet) and ar-rasool (Messenger) is that a Messenger (rasool) is sent with a Revealed Way, sent down to him. Contrary to a Prophet (nabeey), for he is sent with a Revealed Way sent down to Messengers who came before him, like the Prophets of the Banoo Israa·eel (Children of Israa’eel); because they were sent with the message of Moosaa `alayhis-salaam, with the Towraat.
We sent down the Towraat which contained Guidance and Light by which the Prophets, those who submitted to Allaah, judged for the Jews and the rabbis and also the priests (Sooratul-Maa·ida (5), aayah 44)
So they judged by the Towraat which had been sent down to Moosaa `alayhis-salaam and they did not come with an independent Legislation. Contrary to a Messenger (rasool), for he comes with an independent Legislation and he is commanded to convey it. But as for a Prophet (nabeey), he is commanded to convey the Message from someone before him, and Revelation might be sent to him with regard to a specific matter. This is the difference.
Shaykh Muhammad Amaan al-Jaami` rahimahullaah said in his explanation of the Three Principles, “They disagree with regard to the difference between a Prophet (nabeey) and a Messenger (rasool). So some of them define it and say: a Prophet is one who is sent with a Message to act upon it, but he was not given the duty of calling to it. However the second definition is that a Prophet (nabeey) is one who was sent with a Message of someone who was before him and he does not have his own independent Message, as was the case with many Prophets from the Banoo Israa·eel. And the second definition is more befitting whereas the first one is what is famous.” (He goes on to mention that it is not befitting to say a nabeey is one who has Revelation but he does not have to convey it to anyone).
And whoever disbelieves in a single Prophet, then he is a disbeliever in all of them. He is a disbeliever even in the Prophet who he claims that he believes in, because the Prophets were all brothers. He sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam said,
The Prophets were brothers with different mothers. [05]
They were a single chain. Their way was one. So whoever denies a single one of them, then he is denying all of them, because what this one had, the other one had. All of them were Messengers from Allaah. So the person who claims that he believes in Moosaa, such as the Jews, but then disbelieves in `Eesaa and in Muhammad `alayhimus-salaatu was-salaam then those people are disbelievers (kaafiroon) in all of the Prophets, even in the Prophet who they claim they are believing in. And he was Moosaa `alayhis-salaam. Because the book which Moosaa came with contained a mention of Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam. He, the Most High said:
The one (the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam) whom they find written down with them in the Towraat and in the Injeel. He commands them with the good and he forbids them from the evil. And he declares lawful for them the good and pure things. And he forbids the filthy and evil things for them. And he releases them from the burdens and the fetters that were upon them. So those who believe in him and honour him and aid him and who follow the Light which came down with him, then they will be the successful ones. (Sooratul-A`raaf (7), aayah 157)
Those to whom we gave the Scripture they know him (the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam) just as they recognize their own sons. (Sooratul- Baqarah (2), aayah 146)
However envy (hasad) led them to disbelieve in Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam because they wanted that Prophethood should not depart from the Banoo Israa’eel. So therefore they sought to monopolize the bounty of Allaah.
Or do they envy the people for that which Allaah gave to them from His bounty. (Sooratun-Nisaa· (4), aayah 54)
So what led them do this was al-hasad (envy) and transgression. Otherwise they knew that he was indeed the Messenger of Allaah because they found him written in the Towraat and in the Injeel. Likewise `Eesaa `alayhis-salaam he foretold of the good news of the coming of Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam. He, the Most High said:
And remember when `Eesaa ibn Maryam said, O Children of Israa·eel, I am Allaah’s Messenger to you, confirming what came before me from the Towraat and giving news of the coming of a Messenger who will come after me whose name will be Ahmad. (Sooratus-Saff (61), aayah 6)
And who is this Messenger who came after `Eesaa? No Messenger came after `Eesaa, except for Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam and his name was Ahmad and his name was Muhammad. He had many names. So the person who disbelieves in `Eesaa he is a disbeliever in all of them. And the one who disbelieves in Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam is a disbeliever in all of them. And therefore He, the Majestic and Most High, said:
The people of Nooh denied the Messengers
(Sooratush-Shu`araa· (26), aayah 105)
Even though the first of the Messengers was Nooh and they denied Nooh. However He said that they denied the Messengers, meaning those who came after him, because whoever denies one Messenger then he has denied all of the Messengers.
The people of `Aad denied the Messengers
(Sooratush-Shu`araa· (26), aayah 123)
Thamood denied the Messengers
(Sooratush-Shu`araa· (26), aayah 141)
The people of al-Aykah (people of Madyan) denied the Messengers (Sooratush-Shu`araa· (26), aayah 176)
So a person who disbelieves in one, he is a disbeliever in all of them.
Those who disbelieve in Allaah and in His Messengers and they wish to make a difference between believing in Allaah and in His Messengers and they say, we will believe in some and disbelieve in others. They want to take a way in between. They are the disbelievers in truth. (Sooratun-Nisaa· (4), aayahs 150 – 151)
Even though they believed in some of them, however believing in some is not sufficient. There must be eemaan in all of them, because they are all Messengers from Allaah. All of them came from Allaah the Perfect and Most High. The earlier ones of them foretold the later ones. And the later ones of them believed in the first ones `alayhimus-salaatu was-salaam. This is the position of the Muslims and of the Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa`ah.
Footnotes:
[01] Reported by Muslim in his Saheeh (no. 8) as hadeeth of Umar ibnul-Khattaab radiyAllaahu`anh.
[02] The like of this story was reported by Imaam Ahmad in his Musnad, volume 1 page 274.
[03] Reported by al-Bukhaaree as a hadeeth of `Abdullaah ibn Salaam that he said about Jibreel, “That is the enemy to the Jews from the Angels.” So therefore he sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam recited this aayah.
[04] Translator’s side point: Some of the other scholars mention a slightly different definition, amongst them Shaykhul-Islaam ibn Taymeeyah in his book an-Nuboowaat, where he said:
“A Prophet (nabeey) is one whom Allaah the Most High has sent with a Revealed Way (Legislation) which Allaah commands him to convey to his own followers, but not to the opponents. Whereas a Messenger is one whom Allaah the Most High sent with Revelation (a Revealed Way) to call all of the people in his time to, whether they are opponents or those who agree with him, whether it is a new Revealed Way or one from before.”
[05] Reported by al-Bukhaaree in his Saheeh (no. 3443) and reported by Muslim (no. 2365) as a hadeeth of Aboo Hurayrah radiyAllaahu`anh. And the wording of al-Bukhaaree is: “The Prophets are [lit. paternal] brothers, their mothers are different, but their Religion is one.”
Transcribed by Fawad Abu Zaid Al Afghaani.
Download PDF of Lesson 19
Ithaaful-Qaaree bit-Ta`leeqaat `alaa Sharhis-Sunnah
by Shaykh Saalih ibn Fowzaan al-Fowzaan hafizahullaah
Translated by Aboo Talhah Daawood Burbank, rahimahullaah
Posted with kind permission from Dawud Burbank rahimahullaah
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