Sharhu Sunnah : Lesson 31 : Point 39
Shaykh Fawzan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]
Imaam Barbahaaree rahimahullaah said:
واعلم بأن الدنيا دار إيمان وإسلام وأمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم فيها مؤمنون مسلمون في أحكامهم ومواريثهم وذبائحهم والصلاة عليهم ولا نشهد لأحد بحقيقة الإيمان حتى يأتي بجميع شرائع الإسلام فإن قصر في شيء من ذلك كان ناقص الإيمان حتى يتوب واعلم أن إيمانه إلى الله تعالى تام الإيمان أو ناقص الإيمان إلا ما أظهر لك من تضييع شرائع الإسلام
And know that this world is an abode of eemaan (true faith) and Islaam and the nation of Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam in it are believers and Muslims with regard to rulings, inheritance, slaughtering animals and with regard to praying the funeral prayer over them. And we do not bear witness for any of them that he is a true believer unless he fulfils all of the duties of Islaam. So if he neglects any of that then he will be deficient in eemaan until he repents and you should know that his eemaan is left to Allaah, the Most High, to judge whether he is complete in eemaan or incomplete in eemaan unless he manifests to you neglect of the Islaamic duties.
Transcribed Audio:
His saying, “And you should know that this world is an abode of eemaan (true faith) and Islaam”, meaning Islaam and eemaan (true faith) are in this world; duniya, which is the abode of action. As for the aakhirah (Hereafter) and it is the abode of jazaa (recompense). So Islaam and eemaan are to be found in this world. As for one who dies on other than Islaam and eemaan then he is a kaafir, a disbeliever and it will not benefit him, that on the Day of Resurrection when he witnesses that which he disbelieved in, that he then believes in it or that he wishes to return and seeks from his Lord that he can return in order to believe.
He the Most High said:
وَلَوْ تَرَىٰ إِذْ وُقِفُوا عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُوا يَا لَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
And if only you could see when they are held in the Fire and they will say, woe to us, would that we could be sent back into the world and then do not deny the signs of our Lord and so that we could be from the believers. (Sooratul-An’aam (6), aayah 27)
And there is a distinction between Islaam and eemaan (true faith) because the deen (religion) is of three levels:
- Islaam
- Al-eemaan (true faith)
- Al-ihsaan (perfection of worship). – highest level
As occurs in the hadeeth of Jibreel and the broadest and widest of these three levels is the level of Islaam because Islaam is al-Istislaam bid-dhaahir (to surrender outwardly) and he may be a believer inwardly or he may be a hypocrite who is just submitting outwardly but a disbeliever inwardly.
As for eemaan, it is not applied to the hypocrite; munaafiq, for the believer who is complete in his eemaan enters into it and the believer who is deficient in his eemaan enters into it.
And when they Islaam and eemaan are mentioned together then in that case Islaam means the outward rulings and what is meant by eemaan are the inner rulings.[1]
As occurs in the hadeeth of Jibreel that:
“Islaam is that you testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah and that you establish the prayer and that you give the zakaah and that you fast ramadaan and that you perform Hajj to the house.”
These are the outward actions; actions of the tongue and the limbs.
Jibreel 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 in His angels and in His books and in His Messengers, in the Last Day and that you truly believe in Al-Qadr (predecree), the good of it and the bad of it.[2]
These are the inward actions, in other words, the actions of the heart.
And Islaam and eemaan must be combined so if only one of them is mentioned then the other one enters within it. So if eemaan alone is mentioned then Islaam enters within it and if Islaam is mentioned then eemaan enters within it. And therefore, the People of Knowledge say Islaam and eemaan if they come together then they separate in meaning, when they are found separate then they come together, each one of them will have the meaning of both, meaning, in meaning just like the case of faqeer (the poor person) and al-miskeen (the destitute person), if they are mentioned together meaning in a text then the faqeer (the poor person) has a certain meaning and the word al-miskeen (the destitute person) has a separate meaning. When only one of them is mentioned then the other one enters within it.[3]
His saying, “and the nation of Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam in it are believers and Muslims with regard to their rulings and with regard to their inheritance and with regard to the animals that they slaughter and with regard to the funeral prayer over them”, the nation of Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam are Muslims and believers (mu`minoon) because whoever is a believer (a mu`min) then he will be a Muslim automatically. Whereas whoever is a Muslim then he may be a believer; a mu`min but he may be a hypocrite (munaafiq). However, as for correct Islaam then it must have eemaan along with it even if it is a small amount.
He the Most High said:
قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا ۖ قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَٰكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا
The desert Arabs, bedouins said, “we have believed.” Say, “you are not believers but rather you should say aslamnaa (we have submitted).” (Sooratul-Hujuraat (49), aayah 14)
His saying, “and the nation of Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam in it are believers and Muslims with regard to their rulings and with regard to their inheritance”, the Muslim even if he is only such outwardly then he will have the ruling of the Muslims. They should ally themselves to him and if he dies, they should wash him and shroud him and pray the funeral prayer over him and bury him in the graveyard of the Muslims and whilst he is alive, they should love him and ally themselves with him and they have mercy amongst themselves and they behave as brothers between themselves. This is the nation of Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam who said:
“The likeness of the believers with regard to the mutual love and mutual mercy and mutual compassion is the likeness of a single body. If one part of it has a complaint then the rest of the body suffers sleeplessness and feverishness on account of it.”[4]
And he `alayhis-salaatu was-salaam said:
“The believer to the believer is just like a solid structure each part of which supports the rest (and he interlaced his fingers).”[5]
So the believers are brothers; ikhwaa.
He the Most High said:
ِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا
“The believers are but brothers.” (Sooratul-Hujuraat (49) aayah 10)
Brothers with regard to eemaan not in lineage.
His saying, “nation of Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam are believers and Muslims with regard to their slaughtered animals”, the meat sacrificed by a Muslim is halaal (lawful) even if he is a faasiq (sinner) as long as he has not exited from Islaam then the meat that he has slaughtered is halaal (permissible) and the hypocrite if he slaughters also, then we will eat it based upon his being judged to be a Muslim as long as it does not become clear that he is a hypocrite; munaafiq.
He the Most High said:
إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ
Except for that which you (plural) slaughter. (Sooratul-Maa`idah(5), aayah 3)
This is an address to the Muslims and He made permissible the sacrifices of Ahl ul-Kitaab (People of the Book).
He the Most High said:
وَطَعَامُ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حِلٌّ لَّكُمْ
And the meat of those who were given the scripture is lawful for you. (Sooratul-Maa`idah(5), aayah 5)
Meaning the sacrificed animals because they sacrifice upon the legislated manner in accordance with what they have from the scripture. As for the animals sacrificed by the idol worshippers and the kuffaar (disbelievers) and the atheists and the apostates then we do not eat that because it is a sacrifice of a disbeliever (kaafir) and it is impure because the sacrifice of a disbeliever is dead meat. So it is impure on account of the disbelief since it is affected by the one who sacrifices it so it will be foul because the one who slaughters it is foul and it is affected by him and the fact that Allaah, the Majestic and Most High has permitted for us the slaughtered meat of the People of the Book specifically. This is a proof that the slaughtered meat of other than them is forbidden.
His saying, “and with regard to the funeral prayer over them”, the prayer is performed over every Muslim even if he was a sinner and a disobedient one or a hypocrite who did not make his hypocrisy apparent as long as he did not exit from Islaam then the prayer is performed for him and supplication is made for him and forgiveness is sought for him and he inherits from his close Muslim relative and his close Muslim relative inherits from him.
His saying, “And we do not bear witness for any of them that he is a true believer unless he fulfils all of the duties of Islaam”, meaning we do not declare anyone pure such that we say so and so is a mu`min (believer) because bearing witness for him that he is a believer (mu`min) is a witness that he may not be deserving of and therefore when a man said to the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam:
“Give something to so and so because he is a believer.”
Then he sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam said:
“Our Muslim (or he is a Muslim).”
Then the person said:
“Give to so and so because he is a believer (from the booty).”
So he sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam said:
“Our Muslim (or he is a Muslim).”[6]
So the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam intended by this that the person should not declare someone to be pure and perfect by saying he’s a believer. Rather, he should apply the general term to him and say he is a Muslim and he may be a Muslim who is firm upon Islaam and he may be a Muslim who has sins and acts of disobedience and deficiencies and he may be a hypocrite so you should not bear witness for him with completeness.[7]
His saying, “So if he neglects anything from that then he will be deficient in eemaan unless and until he repents”, the `aqeedah (creed and belief) of the Ahl ul-Sunnah W`al Jamaa`ah is that sins even if they are major sins (kabaa’ir) as long as they are less than shirk then they do not cause the Muslim to exit from Islaam or they do not exit him from the domain of eemaan. Rather, he will be a believer (mu`min) in accordance with his eemaan, a sinner in accordance with the level of his major sin or you say “he is a believer who is deficient in eemaan”.
His saying, “and know that his eemaan is left to Allaah, the Most High whether he is complete in eemaan or deficient in eemaan”, meaning we accept from him what is apparent and we entrust his hidden state to Allaah.
His saying, “unless he manifests to you neglect of the duties of Islaam”, meaning unless he commits something, which nullifies a person’s Islaam and from them is to neglect or abandon the religious duties of Islaam so then you will judge that he is guilty of apostasy just as if he abandoned the prayer deliberately or if he spoke with a word of disbelief such as abusing Allaah or abusing the Messenger sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam or abusing the religion of Islaam for then you would judge that he is guilty of riddaa (apostasy) in accordance with what has become apparent. So whoever manifests something, which nullifies Islaam along with removal of any valid excuse and removal of any preventing factors and is he misinterpreting something or is he just blindly following someone else or is he jaahil (one who is totally ignorant), was he angry. For in that case, he will not be judged to be an apostate along with these preventing factors.
Footnotes:
[1] Side point: As occurs here in the text, “this world is a place of eemaan and Islaam”, when the two are mentioned together they separate in meaning. Islaam means the outward duties of Islaam; the prayers, the zakaat and so on and so forth whereas eemaan in that case refers to the inner actions and beliefs of the heart.
[2] Reported by Muslim (1), hadeeth of Umar Ibn al-Khattaab radiyAllaahu `anhu.
[3] Majmoo` Al Fataawa of Shaykh ul-Islaam ibn Taymiyyah Volume 7, page 551.
[4] Reported by Al-Bukhaariyy (6,001) and reported by Muslim (2,586) as a hadeeth of Nu’maan ibn Basheer radiyAllaahu `anhuma.
[5] Reported by Al-Bukhaariyy (481) and reported by Muslim (2,585) from a hadeeth of Aboo Moosaa al-Ash`ariyy radiyAllaahu `anh.
[6] Reported by Al-Bukhaariyy (27) and Muslim (150) as hadeeth of Sa`ad ibn Abee Waqqaas radiyAllaahu `anh.
[7] Side point: With regard to “We do not bear witness for anyone with the full reality of eemaan”, Shaykh Saalih ibn Sa`ad As-Suhaymee hafizahullaah said: “What he means here by haqqeeqatul eemaan (true reality of eemaan), you shouldn’t bear witness for anyone that he has complete eemaan.”
Transcribed by Saima Zaher.
Ithaaful-Qaaree bit-Ta`leeqaat `alaa Sharhis-Sunnah
(A Gift To The Reader In Annotation Of Sharh As-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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