In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Shaikh Shamsuddeen Al-Afghaanee [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said:

Allaah [The Most High] guided mankind though Muhammad [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] and though that which he brought of manifest evidences and guidance-a guidance that could not be described by those who were proficient in giving descriptions and surpassed the knowledge of those with great perception. So, though this guidance that was given to Allaah’s Messenger, Allaah [The Most High] opened the eyes of the blind ones, the ears of the deaf ones and the hearts of the heedless ones. Allaah [The Most High] united them upon one religion- the religion of Islamic monotheism; Ibraaheem’s religion of pure monotheism]-after they had been in a state of complete disunity, enmity towards one another, and upon destructive and corrupt creeds. Allaah united their hearts and they became true brothers in Islam by way of this great blessing. And thereafter everything that was worshiped besides Allaah-such as graves, trees, stones, images, idols etc- ceased to exist and all worship was devoted to Allaah (alone).

The people followed the true Religion of Islamic monotheism, worshipped Allaah alone and established worship sincerely for Allaah, except those whom Allaah willed that they were to remain as people of polytheism, hypocrisy and followers of the altered and distorted previous scriptures. The darkness of shirk was dispelled and the banner of Tawheed was raised in the lands-amongst the Arabs and non-Arabs. Allaah [The Most High] took the soul of His Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him], whilst Islam was established and in authority- superseding all other ways of life and creeds. Then the rightly guided khulafaa of the Messenger continued upon this path until the two powerful and great nations at the time-Rome and Persia- were humiliated, degraded and [found themswlves] in a state of fear after they had been in a state of security, and thus Caesar was restricted and besieged, and khosrau was subdued and destroyed.

When the enemies of Islam saw that they were unable to do away with this religion, they implanted their disbelieving agents within Islam, who pretended to be Muslims in order to foment confusion, trials and tribulations; and in order to spread shirk by exaggerating the status of the pious people and exalting their graves with [beliefs and practices] that were not ordained by Allaah. So, this Ummah was put to trial through the plots of the [atheist, heretic and hypocrite] Abdullaah Bin Saba, who claimed that Ali Ibn Abee Taalib [may Allaah be pleased with him] was one to be worshipped. Abdullaah Bin As-Sabah’s followers were known as the Saaba’iyyah, and later on they were known as the rawaafid (shiites), the ismaaliyyah (shittes), the nusayriyah (shiites) and other than them amongst the Baatiniyyah. They used to worship the graves and the dead, and built places of worship and domed [shaped] shrines upon these graves. So, they revived the practices of the Jews, the Christians [i.e. those amongst them who deviated after the departure of their Prophets] and the idol worshippers, and thus the practices of the worshippers of graves in this Muslim Ummah manifested itself in deeds of the rawaafid (shiites).

Secondly: The books of Greek philosophy that contained the ideas of grave and idol worship were translated into Arabic, and many of those who attributed themselves to Islam busied themselves with these books, such as the likes of Al- Faraabee (1) Ibn Sinaa Al-Hanafi (2) Naseer At- Toosee the advocator of disbelief and shirk (3) and other than them amongst those who played tricks with Islaam, just as Paul played tricks with Christianity. They were influenced by the ideas of the Greek Philosophers, such as the creed of grave worship, so they became callers to grave worship through Greek Philosophy. The practices of these people was rife within the ranks of the people of rhetoric amongst the Hanafi Maatooreediyyah (4) and the Ash-ariyyah Kullaabiyyah due to busying themselves with the Books of the Philosophers. They became callers to grave worship and callers to the creed of the Jahmiyyah at the same time, such as the likes of Taftaazaanee Al-Hanafi [The Philosopher of the Maatooreediyyah and Grave worshipers] and Jurjaanee Al-Hanafi [a caller to superstition]

Thirdly: A people appeared among the Muslims manifesting asceticism. These people were more dangerous to the masses and more severe in misguidance. They were a people who appeared in the garb of the righteous, with tearful eyes smeared with kohl, long flowing beards, elevated turbans, carrying rosary beads and pretending to be calling to the sunnah of the leader of Humankind [Muhammad], whilst secretly practicing the disgraceful acts inherited from the false religions. And from their plots was that they used to mix manifest lies with the authentic explanations of the Qur’aan and the authentic narrations in order to corrupt the clear proofs of the qur’aan and the sunnah. These deviant heretics were known as the holooliyyah, ittihaadiyyah Grave worshippers [5], such as the likes of al-hallaaj (309ah), ibnul faarid (632ah), ibn arabi (638ah), ibn sina (669ah) etc [Excerpt from Juhoodu Ulamaa Al-Hanafiyyah Fee Ibtaal Aqaa’id Al-Qubooriyyeen. Vol 1. Page 19-25]

Al-Allaamah Rabee Bin Haadi Al-Madkhali said: Ibnul Jawzi said, “Abul Wafaa Ibn Aqeel Al-Faqee said, ‘Our Shaikh Abul Fadl Al-Hamdaani said, ‘The proponents of innovations in Islam and the fabricators of Hadeeth are worse than the heretics, because the heretics aim to corrupt Islam from the outside, whilst these (people) want to corrupt it from within. They are similar to the people of a country who try to corrupt its state of affairs and the heretics are similar to those who lay a siege from the outside; so the ones from within open the fortress. Therefore, they are more harmful to Islam than those who do not [attribute] themselves to it outwardly'”. (a)

Imaam Ahmad said, ‘There is none more harmful on the people of Islaam than the Jahmiyyah; they do not desire except to nullify the Qur’aan and the ahaadeeth of the Messenger”. (b)

Al-Haafifh Abdul Ghaniyy Al-Maqdisee said, “Know-may Allaah have mercy upon you-that Islam and its people are undermined by three groups; and the group that rejects the [authentic] ahaadeeth about the Attributes [of Allaah] and belie its narrators are more harmful to Islam and its adherents than the disbelievers”. (c)

Ibn Aqeel said, “There is none more harmful on the sharee’ah than the innovators of the people of kalaam [i.e. the people of philosophical rhetoric] and the ignorant soofees”. (d)

Abu khaythama narrated to us, (saying): Jareer related to us from Mansoor from Abu Ad-Duhaa from Masrooq, (who) said, “Once we were sitting with Abdullaah (Ibn Mas’ood) whilst he was reclining; then a man came to him and said: “O Abu Abdir-Rahmaan! Verily there is a storyteller at the doors of Kinda claiming that the portent of the Smoke will come along and snatch the breaths of the disbelievers (i.e. take their souls away) and the believers will get something like a cold from it.” So Abdullaah said while sitting up and he was angry, “O people fear Allaah! Whoever amongst you has knowledge of something, then he should speak with what he knows; and whoever does not know, then he should say, “Allaah knows best”; because it the best of knowledge for one of you to say, “Allaah knows best” with regards to things he has no knowledge of. Indeed, Allaah (The Most High) said to His Prophet (alayhis-salaam): ”Say (O Muhammad): [قُلْ مَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ وَمَا أَنَا مِنْ الْمُتَكَلِّفِينَ – No wage do I ask of you for this (the Qur’aan), not am I one of the Mutakallifun (those who pretend and fabricate things which do not exist)]”. [Surah Saad. Ayah: 86] (e)

Imaam Ibnul Jawzi stated: When it is the case that addressing the (people) through exhortations is mostly (directed at) the common people, the ignorant story tellers found a way of reaching their goals. Their bidah did not cease until the affair reached alarming proportions, so they brought about evil [through their] deeds, statements and goals. (f)

Footnotes

[1] Al-Faraabee: Al-Faraabee said that Philosophy is more perfect than Prophet hood. Shaikhul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) said about him: ‘’Misguided; a disbeliever’’ Ibn Sinaa adopted his books and ideas of disbelief. [For further details concerning Al- Faraabee, See Majmoo Al-Fataawaa 2/67—86] [Dar At-Ta’aarud 1/10] [Ighaathatul Luhfaan 2/372-373].

[2] Ibn Sinaa: Imaam Ibnu Salaah said about him: ‘’He was a devil amongst the human devils.’’ [See Fataawaa Ibn Salaah 1/209] [Also see: ‘Ar-Radd Alal Mantaqiyyeen’ of Shaikhul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah 278-279] [‘Ighaathatul Luhfaan’ of Imaam Ibnul Qayyim 2/373-380] [Bidaayah Wan-Nihaayah’ of Imaam Ibn Katheer 12/43]

[3] Naasir At-Toosee: He was a magician and a minister of the Tartars. He rejected the ‘resurrection’. For further details, see: As-Sawaa-iq Al-Mursalah of Imaam Ibnul Qayyim (rahimahullaah) 2/790; 3/1077-1078
[4]Followers of the Jahmi Abu Mansoor Al- Maatooreedi Al-Hanafi [For further details, see the Book of Shaikh Shamsud-deen al-Afghaanee titled: ‘Al-Maatooreediyyah’ 1/205—376] [d] Juhoodu Ulamaa Al-Hanafiyyah Fee Ibtaal Aqaa- id Al-Qubooriyyah Vol 1 pages 23-24

[5] Hulooliyyah and ittihaadiyyah: Hulool- Lit. “Entering” – Divine indwelling. The belief that Allaah dwells within a particular human. i.e. That Allaah dwells in a particular Soofi shaykh, a pious person, a Prophet – This belief is shared by Christians, certain Soofies, certain Shiites, Sikhs and others.

Wahdaatul Wujood – Lit – Unity of Existence. The belief that all existence is a single existence and everything we see are only aspects of the Essence of Allaah. This belief is also held by certain Soofies, Hindus and others.

Those who believe in hulool say that Allaah dwells and is incarnate in human beings, High is Allaah above and far removed from that. This was openly called to by some of the extreme Sufis, such as al-Husayn ibn Mansoor al-Hallaaj who was declared to be an unbeliever by the scholars. They ordered that he be executed and he was crucified in the year 309H. The following saying is attributed to him: “Glory to Him who manifested His human nature, Hiding the piercing brightness of His divinity: Till His creation saw Him openly, In the form of one eating and drinking” Attributed by al-Wakeel to the book at Tawaaseen of al Hallaaj (p. 130).

And his saying: “I am the one who loves and the One who is loved is me, We are two spirits who dwell in a single body. So when you see me you see Him, and when you see Him you see us both.”So al-Hallaaj was a believer in hulool and believed in the duality of the divine nature and that the Deity had both a divine and a human nature. Thus the divine becomes incarnate within the human so that the human spirit is the divine nature of the Deity and the body is its human form. Despite the fact that he was killed for his evil apostasy and although some of the Sufis declare themselves free of him, yet others count him as a Sufi, hold that his beliefs were correct, and write down his words. From them is Abdul-‘Abbaas ibn ‘Ataa al-Baghdaadee, Muhammad ibn Khaleef ash? Sheeraazee and Ibraheem an-Nasraabaadhee, as is reported by al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadee.

Wahdatul-Wujood, i.e. that all in existence is a single reality, and that everything we see is only aspects of the Essence of Allaah. The chief claimant of this belief was Ibn ‘Arabee al-Haatimee at-Taa’ee, who was buried in Damascus having died in the year 638H. He himself says about this belief in his book al-Fatoohaat-ul-Makkiyyah: “The slave is the Lord and the Lord is a slave, I wish that I knew which was the one required to carry out the required duties. If I were to say the servant then that is true, or if I were to say the Lord, then how can that be required for Him.” Al-Fatoohaat-ul-Makkiyyah as it is attributed by Dr. Taqiyyuddeen al-Hilaalee in his book al-Hadiyyatul-Haadiyah (p.43).

He also says in al-Fatoohaat: “Those who worshipped the calf worshipped nothing except Allaah.” Quoted as Ibn ‘Arabee’s saying by Ibn Tayrniyyah in al-Fataawaa (vol.11), who attributes it to the book al-Fatoohaat. Ibn ‘Arabee is called ‘al-‘Aarif billaah’ (The one having great knowledge of Allaah) by the Sufis, and also ‘al-Qutubul Akbar’ (The great pivot), ‘al-Miskul-Adhfar’ (the sweetest smelling musk), “al-Kibreetul-Ahmar’ (the reddest brimstone), despite his belief in wahdatul-wujood and other calamitous sayings. Indeed he praised Fir’awn (Pharaoh) and declared that he died upon Eemaan! Furthermore he speaks against Haroon for his criticism of his peoples worship of the calf, thus directly opposing the text of the Qur’aan. He also held that the Christians were Unbelievers only because they made divinity particular to ‘Eesaa, whereas if they had made it general to all then they would not have been unbelievers. [Despite all the gross deviation of Ibn ‘Arabee and the fact that the scholars declared him to be an Unbeliever, yet he is revered by the Sufis and others who do not distinguish between the truth and falsehood, and those who turn away from accepting the truth even when it is as clear as the sun. But his books, which are filled with clear apostasy, such as al-Fatoohaatul-Makkiyyah and Fusoosul-Hikam are still circulated. He even has a tafseer, which he called at-Tafseerul-Baatin since he holds that there is an apparent and a hidden meaning for every Aayah, so the outer meaning is for the people of Ta’weel. From this group came Ibn Basheesh who said: “O Allaah rescue me from the mire of Tawheed, and drown me in the centre of the sea of unity, and mix me into the state of unity and oneness until I do not see, nor hear, nor sense except through it.” http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=8&Topic=3528

To be continued InShaaAllaah

[a]Al-Mahajjah Al-Baydaa Fee Himaayati As-Sunnati Al-Gharraa’i Min Zallaati Alhlil Akh’taa Wa Zayghi Ahlil Ahwaa’ page: 47]

[b]: Tabaqaat Al-Hanaabilah 1/47

[c]: Al-Iqtisaad Fil I’tiqaad page: 223

[d]: As-Sawaa-iq Al-Mursalah Alal Jahmiyyah Wal-Mu-attilah 4/1346

[e]: Kitaabul Ilm of Abu Khaythama with the checking of Imaam Al Albaanee, page19. Narration number 67]

[f] كتاب القصاص والمذكرين- page 290]