Who is Islam’s Real Savior? Pt. 3b

IT IS GOD who has created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six aeons, and is established on the throne of His almightiness. You have none to protect you from God, and NONE to intercede for you [on Judgment Day]: will you not, then, bethink yourselves? S. 32:4 Muhammad Asad

Have they taken others as intercessors besides Allah? Say: "Even if they have power over nothing whatever and have no intelligence?" Say: "To Allah belongs all intercession. His is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, then to Him you shall be brought back." S. 39:43-44 Hilali-Khan

Say (O Muhammad): "Tell me if Allah's Torment comes upon you, or the Hour comes upon you, would you then call upon any one other than Allah? (Reply) if you are truthful!" Nay! To Him Alone you call, and, if He will, He would remove that (distress) for which you call upon Him, and you forget at that time whatever partners you joined with Him (in worship)! S. 6:40-41 Hilali-Khan

Moses prayed: "O my Lord! forgive me and my brother! admit us to Thy mercy! for Thou art the Most Merciful of those who show mercy!" S. 7:151 Y. Ali – cf. Q. 12:64, 92; 21:83

2. Comparing the Creator to the created. An example of this is the comparison that extreme Sufi groups give when justifying their shirk. They state, “Just like an average person cannot approach a mighty king except through a minister or person of power, so too it is not possible for a sinful person’s du’a to be answered until he goes through a prophet or saint.” Thus, they compare Allah to a king. Ibn Taymiyyah, in a lengthy discussion, shows the fallacy of this comparison by pointing out that such intermediaries between laymen and a king perform one of three functions. Firstly, they can act as informers, informing a just and pious king of the needs of the people, since such laymen would not typically have access to the king. And of course this function is not needed for Allah, since He is aware of the most secret of secrets. Secondly, such intermediaries might act as helpers, for a king cannot personally take care of all the affairs of his people. So these ministers and intermediaries can be assistants in the execution of the king’s affairs. Once again, this analogy does not apply to Allah, since Allah does not need any help, nor can any object ‘help’ Allah in any matter. Thirdly, it is possible that a king will not fulfill a request except to please a particular person. Thus, if a person of no status were to ask such a king, he would not be responded to unless a person of status interceded his behalf. And such a king, by all standards, is an unjust and tyrannical monarch, for he does not respond to requests except for personal benefit. Therefore, this too cannot be applied to Allah, for He is the Most Merciful, and His Justness encompasses all matters. So Ibn Taymiyyah proves that, in reality, this analogy is a proof against those who seek to use it, even though at first glance it might seem to represent proof for them. (An Explanation of Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul Wahhab’s Kashf al-Shubuhat - Critical Study of Shirk, translation and commentary by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi [Al-Hidaayah Publishing & Distribution, Birmingham, UK], 7. The Causes of Shirk, Incorrect Comparisons, p. 50; bold emphasis ours)

3828. It was narrated from Nu‘man bin Bashir that the Messenger of Allah said: “Indeed the supplication is the worship.” Then he recited: “And your Lord said: Invoke Me, I will respond to you.”^[1] (Sahih) (English Translation of Sunan Ibn Majah - Compiled by Imam Muhammad Bin Yazeed Ibn Majah Al-Qazwini, From Hadith No. 3657 to 4341, Ahadith edited and referenced by Hafiz Abu Tahir Zubair 'Ali Za'i, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (Canada), final review by Abu Khaliyl (USA) [Darussalam Publications and Distributors, First Edition: June 2007], Volume 5, 34. The Chapter On Supplication, Chapter 1. The Virtue of Supplication, p. 95)

^[1] Ghafir 40:60. (Ibid.)

AND IF My servants ask thee about Me - behold, I am near; I respond to the call of him who calls, whenever he calls unto Me: let them, then, respond unto Me, and believe in Me, so that they might follow the right way. S. 2:186 Asad 

And [know] that all worship is due to God [alone]: hence, do not invoke anyone side by side with God! S. 72:18 Asad

Ibn Taymiyyah explains: “Whoever affirms intermediaries between creation and Allah, similar to the intermediaries that exist between kings and their peoples, is a mushrik. Rather this is the essence of the religions of the pagans and the idol-worshippers. They would justify (their shirk) by saying: ‘These are the figures of prophets and pious people, and these are only means that we use to come closer to Allah.’ And this was the shirk that Allah rejected from the Christians as well.” 

The last point in the initial argument (that these objects enjoy high status with Allah) is not explicitly refuted by the author here. This argument can, however, be refuted in a number of ways:

1. The status does not give them the right that Allah respond to their requests. No object, no matter how noble, has a right over the Creator on any regards. Such a right, if it existed, would contradict the total Rububiyyah of Allah over the creation. How can someone whom Allah created demand something, and expect a response, from Allah Himself? In fact, even the Prophet, who by consensus is the most noble of all the creation, does not have this right over Allah. In one hadith, he said: 

So if even the du‘a of the Prophet does not carry the guarantee of an answer, then what is the status of the du‘a of someone less than he?

2. Even on the supposition that this right existed, the Qur’an explicitly mentions that calling out to other than Allah is shirk. Therefore, even if we hypothetically accepted the adversary’s premise that these prophets and saints have a right over Allah that their requests be answered, we can respond by stating that Allah labelled asking dead prophets and saints as a sin that He will not forgive. (Qadhi, An Explanation of Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul Wahhab’s Kashf al-Shubuhat, 13. An Explanation of Kashf al-Shubuhat, The Clearing of Doubts, p. 120; bold emphasis ours)

135. Reported by Muslim (# 2890) and others. (Ibid.; bold emphasis ours)

And they worship besides Allah things that hurt them not, nor profit them, and they say: "These are our intercessors with Allah." Say: "Do you inform Allah of that which He knows not in the heavens and on the earth?" Glorified and Exalted be He above all that which they associate as partners with Him! S. 10:18 Hilali-Khan

27 Thus, belief in the efficacy of anyone's unqualified intercession with God, or mediation between man and Him, is here equated with a denial of God's omniscience, which takes all the circumstances of the sinner and his sinning a priori into consideration. (As regards God's symbolic grant of permission to His prophets to “intercede” for their followers on the Day of Judgment, see note 7 above.) (Q. 10:18; bold and underline emphasis ours)

7 Lit., "there is no intercessor whatever, save after His leave [has been granted]". Cf. 2:255 – "Who is there that could intercede with Him, unless it be by His leave?" Thus, the Qur'an rejects the popular belief in unqualified "intercession" by living or dead saints or prophets. As is shown elsewhere in the Qur'an (e.g., in 20:109, 21:28 or 34:23), God will grant to His prophets on Judgment Day the permission to "intercede", symbolically, for such of the sinners as will have already achieved His redemptive acceptance (rida') by virtue of their repentance or basic goodness (see 19:87 and the corresponding note 74): in other words, the right of "intercession" thus granted to the prophets will be but an expression of God's approval of the latter. Furthermore, the above denial of the possibility of unqualified intercession stresses, indirectly, not only God's omniscience – which requires no "mediator" – but also the immutability of His will: and thus it connects with the preceding mention of His almightiness. (See also note 27 below.) (Q. 10:3)

Say (O Muhammad): “I possess no power of benefit or hurt to myself except as Allah wills. If I had the knowledge of the Ghaib (unseen), I should have secured for myself an abundance of wealth, and no evil should have touched me. I am but a warner, and a bringer of glad tidings unto people who believe.” S. 7:188 Hilali-Khan 

Say (O Muhammad): “I am not a new thing among the Messengers (of Allah) (i.e. I am not the first Messenger) nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am but a plain warner.” S. 46:9 Hilali-Khan – cf. Q. 4:106-107; 9:43; 17:93; 18:110; 40:55; 41:6; 47:19; 48:1-2; 72:20-22; 80:1-10; 110:3

“And who could be more wicked than they who attribute their own lying inventions to God or give the lie to His messages? Verily, those who are lost in sin will never attain to a happy state – and [neither will] they [who] worship, side by side with God, things or beings that can neither harm nor benefit them, saying [to themselves], “These are our intercessors with God!” S. 10:17-18 Asad

He calls besides Allah unto that which hurts him not, nor profits him. That is a straying far away. S. 22:12 Hilali-Khan 

Abu Hurayrah related that the Messenger of God said, “On the Day of Resurrection, a caller will cry out, ‘Let every people follow what they worshiped!’ They will be asked, ‘Is there a sign between you and Him that will let you know Him?’ They will say, ‘Yes!’ So their legs will be uncovered and Allah will give permission to all those who used to prostrate to Him by their own free will to prostrate. And Allah will make those who used to prostrate only to be seen by others or to ward off criticism unable to prostrate. Their backs will be made as a stiff single part, so whenever they try to prostrate, they topple on their backsides.

Then they will come upon the bridge over Hell AND INTERCESSION WILL BEGIN. They will murmur, “O Allah, bring them to safety! Bring them safety!’ And the faithful ones will pass over the bridge in a wink of an eye. Others will pass like lightening, others like the wind, others like birds, others like strong horses. Some will cross over whole and safe, others will be sent across bruised, while others will be flung into the fire of Gehenna. By the One who holds my soul in His hand, none of you will be more vehement in pleading for justice than the faithful ones will at that time for their brothers who are in the fire. They will say, ‘Our Lord, they fasted with us! They prayed with us! They made pilgrimage with us!’ He will say to them, ‘Bring out of it all the ones that you know.’ So their forms will be forbidden to the fire as they enter it and they will bring out many people, until they say, ‘Our Sustainer none are left of those You have commanded us to extract.’ Then He will say to them, “Go back and bring out whoever you find that has a dinar’s worth of goodness in them.’ And they will bring out many people. And He will say to them, ‘Go back and bring out whoever you find that has half a dinar’s worth of goodness in them.’ And they will bring out many people. Then He will say o them, ‘Go back again and bring out whoever you find who has an atom’s weight of goodness in them.’ And they will bring out many people. And this will go on till they say to Him, ‘Our Lord, we have left no one in it who has any trace of goodness in them.’

Allah will then declare, ‘THE ANGELS HAVE INTERCEDED, AND THE PROPHETS HAVE INTERCEDED, AND THE FAITHFUL HAVE INTERCEDED. Only the Most Merciful of those who show mercy (Arhamur-Rahimin) is left to intercede!’ And He will bring out with His grasp the people who have never done any good and He will throw them into a river at the mouth of Paradise called the River of Life and they will emerge from it like pearls. When the people of Paradise see them, they will know them, ‘These are Emancipated of God. He has made them enter Paradise without any of their own actions, and without any goodness that they offered!’ And God will say to them, ‘Enter Paradise! What you have seen is yours.’ They will say, ‘Our Sustainer, You have given us what You have not given anyone of the worlds!’ He will say ‘I have for you what is even better then this.’ They will ask, ‘O Our Sustainer, what could be better than this?’ He will say, ‘My contentment with you, for I shall not be displeased with you after this ever again.’”

(Bukhari & Muslim) (Bold, capital and italic emphasis ours)

“They will be asked, ‘Is there a sign between you and Him that will let you know Him?’ They will say, ‘Yes!’ So THEIR LEGS will be uncovered.” 

7001… There will remain those who worshipped Allah, pious or impious. They will be asked, “What keeps you when all of the people have gone?” They will answer, "We parted from them (in the world) in spite of having greater need of them then. We heard an announcer proclaiming, 'Let every nation join what they used to worship.' We are waiting for our Lord." Then the Compeller will come to them in a form other than His form which they saw the first time and will say, "I am your Lord." they will answer, "You are not our Lord." None will speak to Him except for the Prophets. He will say, "Is there a sign between you and Him by which you can recognise Him?" "The shin," they will answer. He will bare HIS SHIN and every believer will prostrate to Him. There will remain those who used to prostrate to Allah in order to show off and for the sake of reputation. They will go to prostrate and their backs will become like a single surface. Then the bridge will be brought and placed over the Fire.' (Aisha Bewley, The Sahih Collection of al-Bukhari, 100. Book of Tawhid (the belief that Allah is One in His Essence, Attributes and Actions); *; bold, capital and italic emphasis ours)

“… Then the Almighty will come to them in a shape other than the one which they saw the first time, and He will say, 'I am your Lord,' and they will say, 'You are not our Lord.' And none will speak: to Him then but the Prophets, and then it will be said to them, 'Do you know any sign by which you can recognize Him?' They will say. 'The Shin,' AND SO ALLAH WILL UNCOVER HIS SHIN whereupon every believer will prostrate before Him and there will remain those who used to prostrate before Him just for showing off and for gaining good reputation. These people will try to prostrate but their backs will be rigid like one piece of a wood (and they will not be able to prostrate). Then the bridge will be laid across Hell…” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 93, Number 532s; *)