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From :
"leon moosavi" <largeleon@hotmail.com>
To :
mustafa_abdul_kadir@hotmail.com
Subject :
A Comment On Your Islamic Artical
Date :
Sat, 01 Nov 2003 14:13:54 +0000
In The Name Of Allah the Most Merciful the Most Benefecient
May Allah's Peace and Blessings Be Upon The prophet Mohammed, the sealer of
Prophecy and the Descended Mercy onto the Worlds, and His Purified Progeny.
Peace be upon you all,
Allah (swt) gave the humans the bounty of utilizing resources by the aid of
their brains to facilitate things in life, and realize with every new discovery
and advance the greatness of Allah (swt), as Almighty said in his Noble Book:
[35.28] And of men and beasts and cattle are various species of it likewise;
those of His servants only who are possessed of knowledge fear Allah; surely
Allah is Mighty, Forgiving.
And so surely the more bounties we encounter in life should lead us to higher
status of Certainty in the belief of Allah (swt) -Yaqueen -.
Amongst the very powerful resources that we have nowadays is the presence of
this World Wide Web, and we can use it to learn more about our religion and gain
more understanding of things in Islamic perspective, and we should be thankful
to Allah for all his bounties.
The only problem is that, can we take for granted that everything in the World
Wide Web as to be true and correct? - Of course Not!
Unfortunately many people claim to have knowledge and understanding of Islam and
start uploading misleading and false information about Islamic concepts into
their websites and so fool the innocent researcher.
How can this problem be eliminated one may wonder, there is only one simple
solution that our holy prophet gave us for this, and that is to refer back to
the holy Quran, and the Practical guide of the Quran - The Household of the
Prophet. Now one may not agree about the latter but we shall see soon how
truthful this is, and for the meantime I will only refer to Quranic verses and
Hadiths from Sunni sources as for the sake of our Sunni brothers and sisters who
are researching.
Amongst the very mistaken concept that has been brought forward by the anti
Islamic-unity campaigners, is that which Accuse the followers of the household
of the prophet Mohammed peace be upon him and them all, of committing the sin of
"shirk", i.e. associating someone with Allah (swt).
I refer the reader to the following website, which was created solely to cause
dissociation amongst the Muslim nation, that was set up by a person who claims
to have knowledge about Islam, but as I will clearly show, this knowledge is
nothing but shallow lines taken from anti-Muslim websites!
The website is :
http://shirk_to_call_ali.tripod.com/index.html
And the editor of this website is: Mustafa Abdul Kadir who doesn't speak Arabic.
This website is claiming that intercession (Tawassul) is a form of
"shirk", i.e. association of a third party with Allah (swt) !
To make simple for the reader, I will commentate on each of the seven points he
mentioned, and we shall see by means of logical comparison and evidence from the
Quran who is correct!
But beforehand I would like to concisely define intercession and I shall bring
the references at the end of this research.
Lexically speaking, and according to the Arabic lexicon Lisan al-'Arab
Intercession (Tawassul) refers to:
Tawassul is 'nearness' or a 'means' through which to reach a certain goal. For
instance, when it is said wa wassala ila Allah, it means to perform a certain
act for gaining proximity to God. Accordingly wasil here means being 'desirous
of God'
The editor of the website, misleadingly defines intercession as : Calling or
invoking others besides Allah (Swt).
He is a non-Arabic speaking person and gives no reference as to where he gained
this definition.
Now I would like to encounter every single point he made using Quranic verses
first of all and then I will discuss the Hadiths he used.
The first point he refers to is:
1. Is the shaheed (martyr) alive?
The editor refers to the following verses from the Noble Quran:
2.154] And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead; nay,
(they are) alive, but you do not perceive
And
[3.169] And reckon not those who are killed in Allah's way as dead; nay, they
are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord
He then concludes from these two verses that :
This does NOT mean that they are physically alive, so they cannot hear us, nor
can they talk, nor can they walk, nor can they hold anything, rather they are
under the throne of Ar-Rahman and their souls live in the hearts of green birds.
let's have a look at an ayat and some hadeeth concerning this.
Subhanallah! Anyone who has a bit of common sense will know certainly that there
is nothing said in the two verses about green birds and the throne of Almighty.
There is nothing at all to say they cannot hear! In fact the reason Allah (swt)
emphasizes in both verses "nay" they are alive, is the fact that the
people used to think that when a person dies in the way of Allah swt, it will be
the end of their connection in life! And truly that is not the case because
reading on the following verse:
[3.169] And reckon not those who are killed in Allah's way as dead; nay, they
are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord;
[3.170] Rejoicing in what Allah has given them out of His grace and they rejoice
for the sake of those who, (being left) behind them, have not yet joined them,
that they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.
Note the underlined words of the holy verse, and think for a while about it. How
can they Rejoice for the sake of those left behind them in life, How do they
know about those who are left behind them? Is there any means of contact?
Indeed, there is and it's only us who can contact them and talk to them. And
that is why Almighty (swt) EMPHASIZED that the people who die in the way of
Allah (swt) are alive.
Also as believers in the Quran, we Muslims should refer to the stories mentioned
in the Quran when we encounter complexities since Allah swt give us a good
examples to facilitate understanding concepts. He almighty said:
[7.175] And recite to them the narrative of him to whom We give Our
communications, but he withdraws himself from them, so the Shaitan overtakes
him, so he is of those who go astray.
[7.176] And if We had pleased, We would certainly have exalted him thereby; but
he clung to the earth and followed his low desire, so his parable is as the
parable of the dog; if you attack him he lolls out his tongue; and if you leave
him alone he lolls out his tongue; this is the parable of the people who reject
Our communications; therefore relate the narrative that they may reflect.
And
[12.3] We narrate to you the best of narratives, by Our revealing to you this
Quran, though before this you were certainly one of those who did not know.
Therefore it is very important to look at examples in the Quran related to the
concept of the dead people hearing! Allah (swt) mention to us here about the
story of prophet Salih (PBUH):
[7.73] And to Thamood (We sent) their brother Salih. He said: O my people! serve
Allah, you have no god other than Him; clear proof indeed has come to you from
your Lord; this is (as) Allah's she-camel for you-- a sign, therefore leave her
alone to pasture on Allah's earth, and do not touch her with any harm, otherwise
painful chastisement will overtake you.
[7.74] And remember when He made you successors after Ad and settled you in the
land-- you make mansions on its plains and hew out houses in the mountains--
remember therefore Allah's benefits and do not act corruptly in the land, making
mischief.
[7.75] The chief of those who behaved proudly among his people said to those who
were considered weak, to those who believed from among them: Do you know that
Salih is sent by his Lord? They said: Surely we are believers in what he has
been sent with
[7.76] Those who were haughty said: Surely we are deniers of what you believe
in.
[7.77] So they slew the she-camel and revolted against their Lord's commandment,
and they said: O Salih! bring us what you threatened us with, if you are one of
the apostles.
[7.78] Then the earthquake overtook them, so they became motionless bodies in
their abode.
[7.79] Then he turned away from them and said: O my people I did certainly
deliver to you the message of my Lord, and I gave you good advice, but you do
not love those who give good advice.
Subhanallah! A great story and looking this last verse, the prophet Salih (PBUH)
is clearly addressing the dead people and talking to the dead people!
The other point I would like to tackle, is that how can the editor prove that
the dead person cannot hear? There is no evidence scientifically speaking that
have encountered what a dead person feels, and yes a dead person according to
Quran does actually feel! Because happiness and sadness are feelings, and so
when Allah (swt) says in his Noble Quran:
[3.170] Rejoicing in what Allah has given them out of His grace and they rejoice
for the sake of those who, (being left) behind them, have not yet joined them,
that they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.
Rejoicing is another word for being happy! And happiness is a feeling and this
verse is talking about dead people being happy and so this means dead people can
hear and can feel! However, there is no indication by what we say that it is the
BODIES of the dead people that hear, of course this is not the case because the
bodies die and decompose after time, and therefore it is the soul! Even
scientifically speaking and according to Tortora and Gabrawski principles of
physiology :
"It is now known that Hearing, the detection of tones, rhythms, and
harmonies are presumably functions of the brain. Like motion and patterns in
vision, they remain shrouded in mystery."
So even in science it is proven that hearing is not solely physical, and whoever
think this is a rather absurd idea then he will also think that the existence of
Jinn is absurd because science does not prove its existence but rather remains
in "shrouded mystery" while our mighty Lord states the Jinn existence
clearly in Quran in numerous verses.
The Next points the editor talks about are:
2. Who shall taste death?
3. Who is the ever-living who never dies?
4. What does Quran say about dying?
It seems that the editor is only making these points with NO knowledge at all
about the belief of the Path of Household of the prophet!
Of course everyone dies!
[55.26] Everyone on it must pass away.
[55.27] And there will endure for ever the person of your Lord, the Lord of
glory and honor.
There is no disagreement between Muslims as whether everyone will die or not and
who is to remain! The above 2 verses clearly states that everything will vanish
except for Allah (swt) and anyone who disbelieves in a verse of the Quran is by
no doubts a disbeliever and out of Islam!
Another daft aspect the editor mentions and really that shows how shallow he is,
is the fact he claims that interceding means denying the death of a person!
No one what-so-ever says so in the Shia Path of Islam and no one rejects that
Allah (swt) causes us to die and there is NO relevance between this and
intercession!
5. What does Quran say about those people who call or invoke others besides
Allah?
The editor claims now that intercession is actually associating someone with
Allah (swt) and this is a rather illogical conclusion, especially referring to
the verses he pasted:
[35.40] O Prophet, say: "Have you ever considered your associate gods to
whom you call upon besides Allah? Show me anything that they have created in the
earth! Or what is their share in the creation of the heavens? Or have We given
them a Book from which they derive a provision of shirk? Nay, in fact the
wrongdoers promise each other nothing but delusions.
Alongside with many other verses the editor of the website claims that these
verses forbid intercession. What is truly ironic is the fact the He himself
underlined the words "associate gods besides Allah" in all of the
verses he mentioned from the Holy Quran, without realizing that the Path of the
Prophet and his purified households NEVER believe in any GOD except for THE GOD
i.e. ALLAH (swt). So True, these verse FORBID associating a god with Allah (swt),
but whoever claims that the Shia worship anyone but Allah is nothing but a LIER!
Because:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
[112.1] Say: He, Allah, is One.
[112.2] Allah is He on Whom all depend.
[112.3] He begets not, nor is He begotten.
[112.4] And none is like Him.
--THE RESPONSE --
Bismillaheer Rahmaneer Raheem - Innal Hamdulillah, was salatu wa salam ala rasuulillah.
I have read through your reply to my website, and it seems interesting how you have taken some things out of context and in some cases have not mentioned my quranic proof at all.
First of all, i would like to remind you what Allah said in the Quran:
Verily this is My way, the Right Way; therefore follow it and do not follow other ways, for they will lead you away from Him. This is what He enjoined on you so that you may guard yourselves against evil. (6:153)
And also, in regards to following desires and not the truth Allah said:
So if they do not meet this demand, you should know that they only follow their own desires. And who is more misguided than the one who follows his own desires rather than the guidance from Allah? In fact, Allah does not guide such wrongdoing people. (28:50)
To proceed:
You have mentioned: "I will only refer to Quranic verses and Hadiths from Sunni sources as for the sake of our Sunni brothers and sisters who are researching."
However, throughout the article I didn't see a single hadeeth.
You mentioned: "The editor of the website, misleadingly defines intercession as Calling or invoking others besides Allah (Swt). He is a non-Arabic speaking person and gives no reference as to where he gained this definition."
Now where is such claim.. bring your proof if you are truthful. I have mentioned what the shia say in favor of their shirk that they commit by calling dead people. For example, I mentioned in the website "As for some people they say that intercession is allowed with Allah's permission, so Ali or Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them) is our intercessor with Allah"
In this sentence, I don't deny intercession but have rather mentioned what the shia say. Where is my definition in which you claim that i have said it ONLY means calling others besides Allah?
You mentioned: "Now I would like to encounter every single point he made using Quranic verses first of all and then I will discuss the Hadiths he used."
Now, my reply to this is that you haven't talked completely about all the ayats, and as a matter of fact, you haven't even mentioned a hadeeth.
You then later mentioned:
"He then concludes from these two verses that :
This does NOT mean that they are physically alive, so they cannot hear us, nor
can they talk, nor can they walk, nor can they hold anything, rather they are
under the throne of Ar-Rahman and their souls live in the hearts of green birds.
let's have a look at an ayat and some hadeeth concerning this. Subhanallah!
Anyone who has a bit of common sense will know certainly that there is nothing
said in the two verses about green birds and the throne of Almighty. There is
nothing at all to say they cannot hear! In fact the reason Allah (swt)
emphasizes in both verses "nay" they are alive, is the fact that the
people used to think that when a person dies in the way of Allah swt, it will be
the end of their connection in life!"
You see, the problem is - why don't you include everything that I have said and the proof I have given rather than taking bits and pieces out of context? As for the souls being in the hearts of green birds, then I have given hadeeth to back up my statement and as for them not being able to hear us and having NO contact with this life, my proof is clearly presented on the website which states the following:
"Even if they are spiritually alive, they still have no contact with this world, because there is a barrier between this life and the next. Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala tells us in Surat Al-Muminoon about death coming unto people and how their is a barrier between them and the world:"
These people will never refrain from wrongdoing until when death comes to anyone of them, he will say: "O Rabb! Send me back, so that I may do good deeds in the world that I have left behind." Never! This is just a statement which carries no value, it will be too late because there will be a barrier between them and the world they have just left till the Day they are raised to life again. (Surat Al-Muminoon 23:99-100)
It obviously seems that you are ignorant about that verse, and furthermore, Allah clearly says:
Nay they live finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord. (Surat Alee-e-Imran 3:169)
As for the verse: [7.79] Then he turned away from them and said: O my people I did certainly deliver to you the message of my Lord, and I gave you good advice, but you do not love those who give good advice.
Scholars of Islam have agreed that this was a miracle for prophet Salih from Allah when the people who perished heard him. There is another example recorded in two saheehs about the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhe wa salam, which was also a miracle. The proof for this is the verse which i mentioned before:
O Rabb! Send me back, so that I may do good deeds in the world that I have left behind." Never! This is just a statement which carries no value, it will be too late because there will be a barrier between them and the world they have just left till the Day they are raised to life again. (Surat Al-Muminoon 23:99-100)
You mentioned: "And happiness is a feeling and this verse is talking about dead people being happy and so this means dead people can hear and can feel! However, there is no indication by what we say that it is the BODIES of the dead people that hear, of course this is not the case because the bodies die and decompose after time, and therefore it is the soul! Even scientifically speaking and according to Tortora and Gabrawski principles of physiology"
It doesn't surprise me when you people talk about the unseen you have different views than we Muslim do in some cases, because one of your beliefs is that you claim that the imams have the knowledge of the unseen. The proof for this is:
Chapter: The Imams have knowledge of All that was given to the angels and the prophets. ( Al-Kafi vol.1 p.255 )
Chapter: The Imams have knowledge of the past and future; and nothing is hidden from them. ( Al-Kafi vol.1 p.260 )
So looking at the statement you made, it seems to me that either 1. You claim you have knowledge of the unseen or 2. you believe in someone who claims to have the knowledge of the unseen.
No doubt that these words are clear Kufr (Disbelief) and Shirk (Polytheism), because the knowledge of the unseen is only for Allah alone .. These words with no doubt contradict what Allah said in Surah Luqmaan "Verily, Allah With Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, He sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knower, All-Aware (of things)" [Quran 31:34]
Then later, you have mentioned the following:
"Another daft aspect the editor mentions and really that shows how shallow he is, is the fact he claims that interceding means denying the death of a person! No one what-so-ever says so in the Shia Path of Islam and no one rejects that Allah (swt) causes us to die and there is NO relevance between this and intercession!"
This is indeed a great lie because i have heard with my own ears and many others also, the claim that the imams are not died, therefore having the ability to hear and they further bring the following verse as proof:
Do not say about those who are slain in the cause of Allah (martyrs), that they are dead. Nay, they are alive, but you do not perceive it. (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:154)
However, i have discussed this verse along with Surat Alee-Imran 3:169.
You have also mentioned: "whoever claims that the Shia worship anyone but Allah is nothing but a LIER!"
A prominent shia scholar, mullah Baqir al-Majilisi says in his book:
"Ali is God." (Jila-ul-Ayoun, Vol. No. 2, Page No. 66)
"Imams are God." (Jila-ul-Ayoun, Vol. No. 2, Page No. 85)
Well the fact is that you are only deceiving yourself. Allah says in the Quran:
He is the Rabb of the heavens and the earth, and of all that lies in between, so worship Him, be steadfast in His worship. Do you know any other being with the qualities like Him?" (Surat Maryam 19:65)
This just goes on to proof that no one has qualities like Allah, therefore if Allah is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing, The Ever-Living, The Eternal, how is it possible that Ali radhi Allahu Anhu can hear the call of every invocation, from around the globe??????
Furthermore Allah subhana wa Ta'ala says:
And who could be more astray than the one who invokes those deities besides Allah who cannot answer him till the Day of Resurrection - which, in fact, are not even aware that they are being invoked? And when mankind shall be assembled on the Day of Judgement, they will become enemies of those who invoked them and deny their worship altogether. (Surat Al-Ahqaf 46:5-6)
and also Allah subhana wa Ta'ala said:
Beware! Sincere true obedience is due to Allah Alone! As for those who take other guardians (worship the saints) besides Him and justify their conduct, saying: "We worship them only that they may bring us nearer to Allah." Surely Allah will judge between them concerning all that in which they differ. Allah does not guide him who is a liar and a disbeliever. (Surat Az-Zumar 39:03)
Allah has commanded us to call upon Him ALONE without anyone intermediate. Further proof is given below:
"The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on Him by them…" (7: 180)
Allah Azza wa Jall did not say: "So call on Him by the names of the Imams, their shrines, sights or ranks." However, Allah Subhana wa Tala says in the Quran:
And your Lord says: "Call on Me, I will answer your (prayer.) (40: 60)
If the condition of getting our prayers accepted by Allah were to supplicate to Him through the names of the Imams, He would have said: "Call on Me by the names of the Imams, I will answer your prayer."
Sincerity in prayer and supplication is one of the conditions that lead to the acceptance of our entire acts of worship and devotion to Allah Subhana wa Tala. Allah, the Most High says in the Quran: "Call ye, then, upon Allah with sincere devotion to Him, even though the Unbelievers may detest it." (40: 14)
Allah Ta'ala also says: "… and call upon Him, making your devotion sincere as in His Sight." (7: 29)
As a matter of fact those Imams are humans like us they cannot bring about benefit or inflict harm on themselves. Allah says in the Quran: "Verily those whom you call upon besides Allah are servants like unto you. Call upon them, and let them listen to your prayers, if you are (indeed) truthful! (7: 194)
Allah Almighty did not distinguish in His worship, between His ordinary servants and saintly men or angels closest to Him or prophets who were sent. All in His worship are equal as His servants and creatures. Allah says in the Quran: "Christ disdaineth not to serve and worship Allah, nor do the angels, those nearest (to Allah)." (4: 172)
I conclude by mentioning the following verses from the Quran:
When it is said to them: "Follow what Allah has revealed." They reply: "Nay! We will follow what our forefathers practiced." Well! Even if their forefathers had no sense at all and lacked guidance? (2:170)
Say: "O people, follow what has been brought down to you from your Rabb and do not follow other patrons besides Him." Yet little do they take admonition. (7:3)
Wal hamdulillah, was salatu was salam alla rasuulillah.