Wednesday, May 11, 2005

AQEEDAH (Post 3)

60. We hope that Allah will pardon the people of right action among the believers and grant them entrance into the Garden through His mercy, but we cannot be certain of this, and we cannot bear witness that it will definitely happen and that they will be in the Garden. We ask forgiveness for the people of wrong action among the believers and, although we are afraid for them, we are not in despair about them.

61. Certainty and despair both remove one from the religion, but the path of truth for the People of the Qibla lies between the two.


The Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam has told us that we shall not enter Jannah through the rewards of our deeds, instead, it shall be through the mercy of Allah Ta'ala. Therefore, a person can not say, without any doubt, that such and such a pious person will enter Jannah. Nevertheless, we should keep a good hope about their entrance into Jannah. Similarly, any signs that indicate their acceptance should be taken as a good sign but not a definite sign.

Similarly, we cannot say with certainty that a believer who committed sins will be punished and made to go to Hell. It is the will of Allah Ta'ala to accept and forgive whom he wishes as well as reject and punish whom He wishes.

We should pray for the forgiveness of the deceased and ask Allah Ta'ala to forgive them whether they seem to be pious or sinful.

To be certain about a matter is disbelief as we believe that nothing is possible until Allah Ta'ala will, and despair also removes one from belief as nothing is impossible for Allah Ta'ala. The best path is the path of the believers, the middle path.

62. A person does not step out of belief except by disavowing what brought him into it.

63. Belief consists of affirmation by the tongue and acceptance by the heart.

64. And the whole of what is proven from the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam regarding the Shari'ah and the explanation of the Qur'an and of Islam is true.

65. Belief consists of belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and belief that the Decree, the good, the evil, the sweet and the bitter of it, is all from Allah Ta'ala.

66. We believe in all these things. We do not make any distinction between any of the messengers, we accept as true what all of them brought.


One does not leave the fold of Islam except by rejecting those vows that he took to enter the fold of Islam. This point rules out the theory of man leaving the fold of Islam by committing major sins. If a person rejects the oneness of Allah Ta'ala, the existence of the angels, the books of Allah Ta'ala, the Prophets of Allah Ta'ala etc he will leave the fold of Islam. Furthermore, to reject anything that the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam has brought or anything that has been mentioned in the Qur'an is a sin that will take one out of the fold of Islam.

Belief is not only proclaiming with the tongue, but it is also connected to the acceptance of the heart of that which the tongue proclaims. This is what separated the Munaafiqs (hypocrites) from the Mu'mins (believers). Both parties proclaimed the belief of Allah Ta'ala but only the Mu'mins accepted what they proclaimed with their hearts.

67. Belief is, at base, the same for everyone, but the superiority of some over others in it is due to their fear and awareness of Allah, their opposition to their desires, and their choosing what is more pleasing to Allah.

68. All the believers are Friends of Allah and the noblest of them in the sight of Allah are those who are the most obedient and who most closely follow the Qur'an.


Belief is belief, despite of how weak or strong it may be. However, Allah Ta'ala gives superiority of one over another due to their closeness and fear of Allah Ta'ala; the more fear one has for Allah Ta'ala the more superior he will be in the eyes of Allah Ta'ala.

69. Those of the Community of Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam who have committed grave sins will be in the Fire, but not forever, provided they die and meet Allah as believers affirming His unity even if they have not repented. They are subject to His will and judgement.

If He wants, He will forgive them and pardon them out of His generosity, as is mentioned in the Qur'an when He says:

"And He forgives anything less than that (shirk) to whomever He wills"
[al-Nisa' 4:116]

If He wants, He will punish them in the Fire out of His justice, and then bring them out of the Fire through His mercy, and for the intercession of those who were obedient to Him, and send them to the Garden.

This is because Allah is the Protector of those who recognize Him and will not treat them in the hereafter in the same way as He treats those who deny Him, who are bereft of His guidance and have failed to obtain His protection. O Allah, You are the Protector of Islam and its people; make us firm in Islam until the day we meet You. Aameen.


A believer's abode is Jannah and a disbeliever's abode is Jahannam, there they shall stay eternally. However, those who have brought Faith and commit sins, they will be subjected to Allah Ta'ala's will. If He forgives them and has mercy on them then they shall enter paradise; and if He chooses to punish them for their sins they shall enter Hell for a limited period of time. The scholars have mentioned that the sending of a believer into Hell is not a form of punishment but more of a form of cleansing so that the believer may be pure and clean enough to enter paradise.

70. We do not agree with killing any of the Community of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, unless it is obligatory by Shari`a to do so.

The killing of any soul unjustly is a grave sin. One cannot kill any of the creation of Allah Ta'ala unless it is enforced upon us by the Shari'ah; for example, the order of stoning to death an adulterer or taking a life for a life.

71. We agree with doing the prayer behind any of the People of the Qibla whether rightful or wrongful, and doing the funeral prayer over any of them when they die.

72. We do not say that any of them will categorically go to either the Garden or the Fire, and we do not accuse any of them of kufr (disbelief), shirk (associating partners with Allah), or nifaq (hypocrisy), as long as they have not openly demonstrated any of those things. We leave their secrets to Allah.

73. We do not accept rebellion against our Imam or those in charge of our affairs even if they are unjust, nor do we wish evil on them, nor do we withdraw from following them. We hold that obedience to them is part of obedience to Allah, the Glorified, and therefore obligatory as long as they do not order to commit sins. We pray for their right guidance and ask for pardon for their wrongs.

74. We follow the Sunna of the Prophet and the Congregation of the Muslims, and avoid deviation, differences and divisions.

75. We agree that holding together is the true and right path and that separation is deviation and torment.


The Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam left behind him two sources of guidance, the first being the Qur'an and the second being his Sunnah. We follow these without any doubt and take them to be our source of guidance. In the Hadeeth of the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, which is our source of guidance, it has come that the Sahaaba Radhi Allahu Anhum are rightly guided, thus we should hold on to them firmly. Therefore, we also follow the Sahaaba also. In the say manner we follow the congregation of Muslims and do not become the cause of deviation and differences.

It is for this reason (avoiding deviation and differences) that we are asked to follow the Imaan and the leaders of the country, whether they be rightful or wrongful. It is our duty of the people to appoint the rightful person as an Imaan or leader. However, if an unjust person is in the position of a leader or Imaam then we do not oppose him and cause division within the Ummah. Instead, we pray to Allah Ta'ala for their guidance and if they do not come upon the right path we pray to Allah Ta'ala to remove them from that position.

In conclusion, we believe in holding together and remaining united, and refraining from deviation and torment.

76. We love the people of justice and trustworthiness, and hate the people of injustice and treachery.

Justice is mandatory in Islam. Allah Ta'ala Himself is just and orders justice. We love the people of justice and we hate injustice.

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