Sharh-ul-Usool-ith-Thalaathah : Lesson 04 – Part A
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]
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Calling to the Knowledge
Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab (rahimahullaah) said:
الثَّالِثَةُ: الدَّعْوَةُ إِلَيْهِ
The third is calling to it.9
[9]:
His saying, “Calling to it”: meaning, it is not sufficient that a person learns knowledge and acts himself and does not call to Allaah the Mighty and Majestic. Rather he must call and invite others so that he benefits himself and benefits others, and because this knowledge is something he is entrusted with, it is not your personal property which you can hoard away and withhold from the people, when the people are in need of it. So what is obligatory upon you is to convey it and to explain it and to call the people to good. This knowledge, which Allaah has given you the task of carrying, is not an endowment for your benefit alone, rather it is for you and for others besides you, so do not keep it to yourself and prevent the people from benefiting from it. Rather it is essential that you convey it and you must clarify it to the people. He the Most High said:
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَكْتُمُونَهُ
And when Allaah took the solemn agreement from those who were given the scripture, you must make it clear to the people and not conceal it [3:187]
This is a solemn agreement which Allaah took from the ‘ulemaa (people of knowledge) that they would make clear to the people that which Allaah has taught them, in order that the good should spread, and to bring the people out from the depths of darkness into light, and this was the work of the Messengers and of those who followed them. He the Most High said:
قُلْ هَٰذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ ۚ عَلَىٰ بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي ۖ وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
Say: “This is my way, I call to Allaah upon clear knowledge, I and those who follow me, and Perfect is Allaah and I am not from the people of shirk (those who associate others with Allaah).” [12:108]
This is the way of Messenger sallallaahu’alaihiwasallam and the way of his followers: knowledge, and action and calling to Allaah the Mighty and Majestic. So whoever does not call, and he has the ability to call, and he has knowledge and he conceals it, then he will be given a bridle of fire on the Day of Resurrection as occurs in the hadeeth.[1]
[1] Reported by Aboo Daawood and At-Tirmidhee and Ibn Maajah from a hadeeth of Aboo Hurayrah who said: Allaah’s Messenger sallallaahu’alaihiwasallam said,
“Whoever is asked about knowledge and he conceals it, then Allaah will give him a bridle of fire on the Day of Resurrection”.
[Al-Albaanee declared this hadeeth hasan saheeh].
And Ibn Maajah reports a longer wording from Aboo Sa‘eed Al-Khudree … [declared very weak by Al-Albaanee].
Having patience upon harm which is encountered whilst carrying this out.
الرَّابِعَةُ: الصَّبْرُ عَلَى الأَذَى فِيهِ
The fourth is having patience upon any harm encountered whilst carrying it out.10
[10]:
His saying, “Having patience upon any harm encountered whilst carrying it out”: it is known that whoever calls the people, and commands the good and forbids the evil, then he will be exposed to harm from the evil-doers, because many of the people do not want good, rather they want desires and forbidden things and false whims, so when someone comes who calls them to Allaah and who deters them away from their desires, then there will certainly be a reaction from them either in speech or in action. So what is obligatory upon whoever calls to Allaah and desires the Face of Allaah is that he should have patience upon the harm, and he should persist in calling to Allaah, and his example in that regard will be the Messengers ‘alaihimussalaatu wassalaam, and the best of them and their seal is Muhammad sallallaahu ’alaihi wasallam.
What did he encounter from the people, how much harm did he suffer in sayings and actions? They said he was a sorcerer and a liar, and they said he was a madman. They said those sayings about him which Allaah the Mighty and Majestic has mentioned in the Qur’aan. And they harmed him with physical harm, they threw stones at him until his heels ran with blood sallallaahu ’alaihi wasallam when he called them to Allaah the Mighty and Majestic. And they threw the after-birth of camels on his back whilst he was making prostration by the Ka‘bah, and they threatened to kill him and they tried to intimidate him, and in the battle of Uhud, there occurred to him and to his Companions that which occurred ‘alaihissalaatu wassalaam – they broke his lateral incisor tooth and they wounded his head sallallaahu ’alaihi wasallam and he fell into a ditch, and he was the Prophet of Allaah – all of this was harm in calling to Allaah the Mighty and Majestic. However he had patience and he bore it and he was the most excellent one of the creation ‘alaihissalaatu wassalaam. So therefore whoever carries out this call will certainly face harm in accordance with the level of his eemaan and his call, however it is upon him to have patience as long as he is upon the truth, then he should have patience and bear it, for he is in Allaah’s cause, and whatever harm befalls him then it will be reward from Allaah the Perfect and Most High, upon the scale of his good deeds.
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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
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