Sharh-ul-Usool-ith-Thalaathah : Lesson 13 Part A
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]
Previous Class: Al-Haneefiyyah (The Straight and True Religion)
Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab (rahimahullaah) said:
وبذلك أَمَرَ اللهُ جميعَ الناس وخلَقهم لها
And that is what Allaah commanded the whole of mankind with and He created them for it.15
[15]: Shaykh Fawzan’s Explanation
His saying, “And that is what Allaah commanded”: the indication refers to his saying, “That you worship Allaah making the religion purely and sincerely for Him”. And Allaah commanded the whole of the creation with the worship of Allaah making the whole of the religion purely and sincerely for Him, Allaah commanded the whole of mankind the Arabs from them and the non-Arabs, the white and the black from them, all of mankind from the time of Aadam until the last of mankind in the world, Allaah commanded all of them to worship Him, along with making the worship purely and solely for Him. Allaah the most High said:
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 all those who came before you so that you may be from those who fear and are dutiful to Allaah (who avoid His punishment). He Who made the earth a resting-place for you and made the sky a ceiling and He sent down from the clouds rain and He brought out with it from the earth crops and fruits as provision for you. So do not set up rivals to Allaah whilst you know. [2:21-22]
That there is no rival for Him and there is no-one resembling Him, and there is no-one like Him, and there is no equal for Him. So this is a prohibition of major shirk and lesser shirk. Allaah commanded all of mankind with that from the first of them to the last of them.
His saying, “And He created them for it”: meaning to worship Him alone associating no partners with Him, He the one free of all imperfections, they were created for that purpose, that is just as occurs in His saying He the Most High:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except so that they should worship Me alone. [51:56]
And they were commanded with that in His saying, He the Most High:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
O mankind single out your Lord with all worship, the one who created you [2:21]
This is the meaning of the saying of the Shaikh, ‘He created them for it, and He commanded them with it’, he combined the two matters in his saying, “And Allaah commanded the whole of mankind with that and He created them for it”, just as He the Most High said:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except so that they should worship Me alone. [51:56]
So His saying, He the Most High:
.. وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ
And I did not create the Jinn and mankind .. [51:56]
So Allaah, He is the Creator, He is the one who created all things, and from that is that He created the Jinn and mankind, and He gave them intellect, and He gave them the duty of worshipping Him alone and not associating anything along with Him. He particularized them with the command to worship Him because Allaah gave them intellects, and He gave them that by means of which they can they can distinguish between what is harmful and what is of benefit, and between the truth and falsehood, and He created all things for their welfare and benefit.
He the Most High said:
وَسَخَّرَ لَكُم مَّا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا مِّنْهُ
And He has made subservient for you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is upon the earth all of it is a favour from Him. [45:13]
Everything has been made subservient for the descendants of Aadam in order that they should use it as an aid upon that which they were created for, and it is the worship of Allaah the Perfect and Most High:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except so that they should worship Me alone. [51:56]
The Jinn are a species of beings from the realms of the hidden and unseen, we do not see them, and they have the duty of performing worship and they are forbidden from committing shirk and from sin, just like the descendents of Aadam. However they differ from the descendents of Aadam in their created form.
As for with regard to commands and prohibitions, then they are just like the descendants of Aadam, they are bound by commands and prohibitions, and the Jinn are a species of beings from the world of the hidden and unseen, we do not see them, however they are present. And mankind, they are the descendants of Aadam. They are called Al-Ins because they are sociable with each other, they come together and they enjoy each others’ company.
And the Jinn are called Jinn from Al-Ijtinaan, which means the state of being hidden. And from it is Al-Janeen (the embryo) in the womb, because it is hidden, and it is said about a person jannahul-layl (the night covered him) when it covers him over, and it is also said Al-Mijann (a shield), that which is taken for protection in war for arrows and so on, so it covers the one who carries it. So Al-Ijtinaan and Al-Janaan, is something which is hidden and concealed. So the Jinn are hidden from us, we do not see them. And they are a species of beings who exist, whoever denies them then he is a disbeliever, since he is denying the truth of what Allaah and His Messenger have said, and denying the consensus of the Muslims, since Allaah the Mighty and Majestic has made clear that He did not create Jinn and mankind except to worship Him, not for anything else.
So He did not create them in order for them to benefit Him or to harm Him nor in order to feel powerful because of them and not feel lowly nor in order to seek increase through them in place of having little because He is Ghaniyy (Independent), having no need of the creation, and He did not create them because of any need for them, He did not create them in order that they should provide for Him or that they should earn wealth for Him:
مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ
إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ
I do not want provision from them, and I do not want that they should feed Me. Allaah, He is the Great Provider, the Possessor of Tremendous Power, the Strong. [51:57-58]
So Allaah is not in need of the creation rather He created the Jinn and mankind for one thing alone and it is that they should worship Him, and He is not in need of their worship, rather they are in need of it, since if they worship Allaah, then He honours them and enters them into Paradise. So the benefit of worship returns to them, and the harmful effect of sins is upon them, as for Allaah the Majestic and Most High, then He is not harmed by the obedience of the obedient one nor by the sin of the sinful one.
He the Perfect and Most High said:
إِن تَكْفُرُوا أَنتُمْ وَمَن فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ
If you people disbelieve, you and everyone upon the earth together, then Allaah is the Independent One, free of all needs, the One deserving of all praise. [14:8]
Allaah is not harmed by the sinning of the one who sins and He is not benefitted by the one who is obedient, rather this returns to the creation themselves. If they obey Him then they benefit, and if they disobey Him then they are harmed by sinning against Him.
Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab (rahimahullaah) said:
Just as He the Most High said:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me alone [51:56]
And the meaning of, “they should worship”, is, “they should single Me out with all worship.”16
[16]: Shaykh Fawzan’s Explanation
His saying, “And the meaning of ya‘budoon is yuwahhidoon”: meaning they single Me out with all worship. So worship and tawheed have one and the same meaning. Tawheed can be explained to mean worship, and worship can be explained to mean tawheed, and the meaning of these two is one. So this contains a refutation of those who explain tawheed to be affirming that Allaah is the Creator, the Provider, the One who gives life, the One who gives death, the One who is in control of affairs. This is not the tawheed for which the creation were created, rather the creation were created for the tawheed of worship which is Tawheed-ul-Uloohiyyah.
As for one who only affirms Tawheed-ur-Ruboobiyyah (Tawheed of Allaah’s Lordship), then he is not a muwahhid (person of tawheed) and he will not be from the people of Paradise, rather he will be from the people of the Hell-Fire, because he has not come with the tawheed which he was created for, and with worship.
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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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Sharh Usool-ith-Thalaathah – Shaykh Fawzan | Dawud Burbank
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