9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
The articulated response treats each specious argument individually, refuting the evidence used and disproving the reasoning employed. The response is articulated (mufassal) in two ways:
First: its parts are separate from one another.
Second: each answer is detailed in its treatment of the evidence and definitions.
The First Aspect
Muhammad ibn Sulaymaan al-Tameemee (May Allah have mercy upon him) said in detailed response:
“As for the detailed response: The enemies of Allah raise many obstructions to the religion of the Messengers by which they divert people away from it.” (He mentioned their articulation of the first specious argument) then said:
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
Answer with what was previously mentioned, i.e. those whom the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) fought acknowledged what you mentioned. They accepted that the idols they worshipped did not control anything; they only intended [them] for their esteem and intercession. And recite for them what Allah mentioned and clarified in His Book. If they say, “These verses were revealed about those who worship idols. How can you equate the pious with idols? How can you turn the prophets into idols?” Answer him with what was previously mentioned. Verily, when he acknowledges that the disbelievers testify that all lordship belongs to Allah and that the only thing they want from those to whom they turn is their intercession; however, he wants to distinguish between their acts and His acts by what he mentioned, tell him that some disbelievers pray to idols and some pray to the pious about whom Allah said,
| [الإسراء:٥٧] |
(( |
أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ |
)) |
“Those to whom they pray seek the way of approach to their Lord, which of them will be the nearest.” [17:57]
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
Those pray to Jesus, the son of Mary, and his mother; as Allah, the Exalted, said:
| مَا الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ إِلا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ وَأُمُّهُ صِدِّيقَةٌ كَانَا يَأْكُلانِ الطَّعَامَ انْظُرْ كَيْفَ نُبَيِّنُ لَهُمُ |
)) |
| (( |
الآياتِ ثُمَّ انْظُرْ أَنَّى يُؤْفَكُونَ * قُلْ أَتَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لا يَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ ضَرّاً وَلا نَفْعاً وَاللَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ |
“The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat food. See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away! Say: Do you worship in place of Allah what possesses for you neither hurt nor benefit? Allah it is Who is the Hearer, the Knower.” [5:75-76]
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
And Allah said:
| وَإِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي |
)) |
| لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ إِنْ كُنْتُ قُلْتُهُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي وَلا أَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِكَ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ |
| [المائدة:١١٦] |
(( |
عَلامُ الْغُيُوبِ |
“And when Allah says, “O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say to mankind, ‘Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?’ he will say, ‘Glory be to You! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then You knew it. You know what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Your Mind. Indeed, You, only You, are the Knower of Things Hidden.’” [5:116]
Do you know that Allah declared those who turn to idols to be disbelievers, that He declared those who turn to the pious to be disbelievers, and that Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) fought them? He may say, “The disbelievers want (the solutions to their problems) from them directly, whereas I testify that Allah is the controller of benefit and the controller of harm, in fact, the controller of all things, and I don’t want (the solutions to my problems) except from Him. I know the pious control nothing, but I turn to them seeking from Allah (acceptance of) their intercession.”
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
The answer is that this is exactly the position of the disbelievers. Recite for him the statement of Allah, the Exalted:
| [الزمر:٣] |
(( |
وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى |
)) |
“And those who choose protecting friends beside Him (say), ‘We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah,’” [39:3]
and the statement of Allah, the Exalted:
| [يونس:١٨] |
(( |
وَيَقُولُونَ هَؤُلاءِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ |
)) |
“These are our intercessors with Allah.” [10:18]
Know that these three specious arguments are the strongest they have. If you know that Allah has made that clear for us and understood it well, then what comes after it is easier.
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
If he says, “I worship only Allah, and this resorting to the pious and calling upon them is not worship,” say to him, “Do you affirm that Allah has commanded you to purify your worship for Allah and that it is His right upon you?” If he says, “Yes,” say to him, “Explain to me this worship that Allah has ordered you to make pure for Him and which is His right upon you.” If he does not know about worship and its categories, explain them to him by saying, “Allah, the Exalted, said:
| [الأعراف:٥٥] |
(( |
ادْعُوا رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعاً وَخُفْيَةً إِنَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ |
)) |
‘Call upon your Lord humbly and in secret. Indeed, He loves not transgressors.’ ” [7:55]
When you have informed him of that, say to him, “Is this worship of Allah?” He will have no alternative but to say yes, for supplication is the very essence of worship. Say to him, “If you admit that it is worship and you called upon your Lord day and night, in fear and hope, and then called upon a prophet or someone else regarding that need, would you have made shirk with Allah?” He will have no choice but to say yes. Say to him, “When you know about the statement of Allah, the Exalted:
| [الكوثر:٢] |
(( |
فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ |
)) |
‘So pray to your Lord, and sacrifice,’ [108:2]
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
and you obeyed Allah and slaughtered to Him, would this be worship?” He will have to say yes. Ask him, “If you slaughtered an animal for a creature, a prophet or a jinn, have you associated someone with Allah in that act of worship?” He will have no choice but to agree and say yes. Ask him, “The mushriks about whom the Qur’an was revealed, did they worship the angels, the pious, Laat and others?” He will have to say yes. Say to him, “Was their worship of them by anything other than supplication, slaughtering animals for them and resorting to them (in difficulties), etc.? If not, then they acknowledge that they are His slaves and under His complete domination, and that Allah, He is the one who controls the entire affair; however, they called upon them and resorted to them due to their status and (seeking) their intercession.” And this is very clear.
The Second Specious Argument
When the mushrik says: “I don’t associate anything with Allah. God forbid! Never! But resorting to the pious is not shirk,” he should be told, “Do you acknowledge that Allah prohibited shirk with a prohibition more severe than His prohibition of zinaa (adultery and fornication)? Do you admit that Allah will not forgive it? What then is this act which Allah has prohibited and stated that He will not forgive?”
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
In fact, he doesn’t know. Tell him, “How can you free yourself from shirk when you don’t know what it is? And how is that Allah has prohibited you from it and that He will not forgive it, and yet you do not ask about it, and you don’t know what it is? Do you think Allah has prohibited it without making it clear to us what it is?” If he says, “Shirk is the worship of idols, and we do not worship idols,” ask him, “What is the meaning of worshipping idols? Do you think (the idol worshippers) believe that pieces of wood or stone create and provide sustenance and control the affairs of those who call upon them? The Qur’an puts lie to this.” If he says, “It is when someone turns to a piece of wood or stone or a structure upon a grave or something else, calling upon it and slaughtering to it, and they say, ‘It brings us closer to Allah, and Allah benefits us by (the force of) its spiritual grace (barakah) or harms us by its barakah.’” Say to him, “You spoke the truth, and this is what you do before stones and other structures upon graves and other places (you attend).”
This one has affirmed that what they do is worship of those idols, and that is the point. It should be said to him also: “Your statement that shirk is the worship of idols, do you mean that it is restricted to that and that depending upon the pious and calling upon them does not enter into it? This is refuted by what Allah mentioned in His Book regarding the disbelief of those who attach (their hopes) to the angels, to Jesus or the pious.” He will have no choice but to admit to you that anyone who associates any of the pious in the worship of Allah, (has committed) the shirk that is mentioned in the Qur’an; and that is the point.
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
The Second Aspect
Shaykh Taqiyyuddeen al-Maqreezee (may Allah have mercy upon him) said:
“The shirk of the (various) ummahs is all of two types: shirk with regard to divinity or shirk with regard to lordship. Shirk with regard to divinity and worship is the predominant manifestation among those who make shirk. It is the shirk of the worshippers of idols, the worshippers of angels, the worshippers of jinn, and the worshippers of scholars and the pious, both living and dead. They said,
| [الزمر:٣] |
(( |
مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى |
)) |
“We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah. [39:3]
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
They intercede for us with Him; and by virtue of their closeness to Allah and His honoring of them, we gain closeness and honor. This is a familiar feature of worldly life, that those who serve the aides, relatives or inner circle of a king attain proximity and honor.” The divine scriptures, from the first of them to the last of them, refute this school of thought, declare it false, treat its proponents as reprehensible and explicitly declare them to be the enemies of Allah.
How amazing that they disobey the Deity.
How could any denier reject Him?
When to Allah every movement
And stillness, for ever, bears witness;
And in everything there is a sign
To indicate He is One.
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
The Third Aspect
Al-Ameer al-San‘aanee said:
You have come to know from all of this that whoever holds a belief about a tree or a rock or a grave or an angel or jinn or a living or dead (person) that it/he benefits or harms or draws one closer to Allah or intercedes with Him for one of the needs of the world simply by one asking him to intercede or seeking an approach to Allah through it/him, he has associated a partner with Allah and has believed what is not lawful to believe. This is like the belief of the mushriks regarding their idols. So what about a person who makes vows with his wealth and his children to a living or dead person or asks from that dead person needs which one can only ask from Allah, such as restoring a sick person to health, or bringing a missing relative home safe and sound, or acquiring any desired goal?
This is precisely the shirk which the worshippers of idols used to and still practice. Making a vow to dedicate wealth to the dead and the like thereof, slaughtering an animal before a grave, and seeking to have one’s needs solved by such intermediaries is precisely what they used to do in the Era of Ignorance; only they used to do it to what they called idols, while grave worshippers do it with those whom they call walees, graves and mash-hads; but names have no effect in altering realities known of necessity in the language, the intellect, rhetoric and the Sharee‘ah. If someone drinks wine and calls it water, he has drunk nothing but wine, and his punishment will be the punishment of one who drinks wine. In fact, he may get an added punishment for his attempted deception and his lying in the name he gave it, as anyone would know who has smelled the fragrance of the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
All of that is taken from Iblees when he named the tree which had been prohibited the Tree of Immortality. Likewise, calling a grave a mash-had (a place of witnessing) and the one about whom they have (those) beliefs a walee will not remove it from the (limits of) the name “idol” when they treat it in the same way the mushriks treated their idols. They walk around them the way the pilgrims make tawaaf around the Sacred House of Allah. They touch them the way the pilgrims on Hajj touch the corners of the House. They address the dead with words of disbelief such as: “It is up to Allah and up to you.”
They cry out their names in crises and difficulties. Every people have a man they call upon. The people of Iraq and India call out to ‘Abdul-Qaadir al-Jeelaanee. The people of Tahaa’im, each town has a particular individual whose name they cry out. They say: “O Zayla‘ee!” “O Son of ‘Ajeel!” The people of Makkah and Taa’if: “O Ibn ‘Abbaas!” The people of Egypt: “O Rifaa‘ee!” “O Badawee!” The esteemed Bakriyyah and the people of the mountains: “O Aboo Tayr!” The people of Yemen: “O Ibn ‘Ulwaan!” In every village there are dead people to whom they cry out, call upon, and place their hopes in to bring benefit and remove harm. This is exactly what the mushriks used to do with their idols.
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
If one of them said, “I only slaughtered the animal for Allah, and I mentioned His name over it,” say, “If the slaughter was for Allah, then what was it you sought to approach?”
Tell him, “This slaughter was for other than Allah. In fact, you have associated another with Allah. Moreover, the same is true about your supplication to them.”
If you say that these grave-worshippers say, “We do not associate anyone with Allah, and we do not place anyone on a par with Him, and resorting to the awliyaa’ is not shirk,” say, “Yes,
| [آل عمران:١٦٧] |
(( |
يَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ مَا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ |
)) |
They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts.” [3:167]
This is ignorance on their parts regarding the meaning of
shirk, for their magnification of the
awliyaa’ and their slaughtering animals to them is
shirk. What they do with their
awliyaa’ is exactly what the
mushriks used to do that made them
mushriks. Their statement “We associate none with Allah,” will not avail them at all, for their actions have put lie to their words.
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
The Fourth Aspect
It should be said to the proponents of this misconception: Allah has equated those who worship idols and those who worship the prophets, the pious and the angels; for some disbelievers used to make supplication to the idols, some of them made supplication to the prophets, some of them made supplication to the pious, and some of them made supplication to the angels. The indication of that is in the statement of Allah, the Exalted:
| [الزمر:٣] |
(( |
مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى |
)) |
“We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah.” [39:3]
Imam Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy upon him) said in his tafseer of it: “The Exalted informed that the worshippers of idols among the mushriks say,
| [الزمر:٣] |
(( |
مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى |
)) |
“We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah.” [39:3]
i.e. the only thing that caused them to worship them was that they turned to idols which they had fashioned in the forms of angels to seek their intercession with Allah on their behalf for victory, provision and the vicissitudes of this life.”
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
Shaykh ‘Abdul-Lateef ibn ‘Abdul-Rahmaan Aal al-Shaykh, in refuting the specious arguments of Daawood ibn Jarjees, said:
Moreover, what al-Iraaqee said is a return to the worship of angels, the stars and departed souls. It is in reality the view of the Sabaeans. What caused al-Iraaqee to fall into it was his supposition that worship is not really worship or shirk unless one believes that something beside Allah has the ability to affect (matters). This condition is what caused him to fall into what he fell into of permitting the worship of angels, the stars and departed souls.
This is an issue in which a great number of those who have gone astray made their error, even though Allah, the Exalted, made it perfectly clear in His Book. So whenever (someone) associates another with Allah in any of that, he is a mushrik who associates partners with his Lord. He has placed others on a par with Him and set up rivals with Him from among His creation. It is not a condition for that (judgment) that he believe that partner shares with Him in Lordship or that he is independent in any (aspect) of it. What is so amazing is that these people recite the Book of Allah and think of their recitation as an act of worship, and they may know some of the rules of Arabic grammar, yet on this issue they are the most astray of Allah’s creatures and the furthest away from understanding His revelation.
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
The Fifth Aspect
Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab laid bare the specious nature of this argument in a chapter of Kitaab al-Tawheed (The Book of Monotheism that is Allah’s Right upon His Slaves) entitled “Evidence That Some of This Ummah Will Worship Idols.” He intended by this title to refute the grave-worshippers who engage in shirk and say that shirk will never occur among the Ummah of Muhammad when they say, “None is worthy of worship but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”
He made it clear in this chapter by means of statements of Allah and statements of His Messenger (peace be upon him) that indicate there will be many different manifestations of shirk in this Ummah and many of them will go back to worshipping idols, even though a portion of them will remain upon the truth; no one who abandons them will harm them until the command of Allah (to end the world) comes-blessed and exalted is He. The Shaykh says about the statement of Allah, the Exalted:
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
| قُلْ أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَأْمُرُونِّي أَعْبُدُ أَيُّهَا الْجَاهِلُونَ * وَلَقَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ وَإِلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ |
)) |
| [الزمر:٤٦-٥٦] |
(( |
عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ |
“Say (O Muhammad, to the disbelievers): Do you bid me to worship other than Allah? O you fools! And verily it has been revealed to you as to those before you: If you ascribe a partner to Allah your work will fail and you indeed will be among the losers.” [39:64-65]
“It contains a number of issues, a variety of ways of showing the falsehood and ugliness of
shirk:
First: a response to the statement of the mushriks that this is about idols and not about the pious. The statement,
| [الزمر:٤٦] |
(( |
قُلْ أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهَِ |
)) |
“other than Allah” [39:64] is comprehensive; it covers everything except Allah, whether that entity is pious or not.
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
Second: If a Muslim were to obey (the mushriks) in what they suggested by manifest acts he would become a disbeliever, even if his internal beliefs are in accord with Islam; for they did not care if the Prophet (PBUH) changed his internal beliefs. In it is a clarification of what occurs frequently from those affiliated with Islam, that they manifest acquiescence to the mushriks out of fear of them, believing that they do not become disbelievers as long as their hearts dislike it.
Among the transmitted proofs that refute this misconception are the statement of Allah, the Exalted:
| أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا نَصِيباً مِنَ الْكِتَابِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْجِبْتِ وَالطَّاغُوتِ وَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا هَؤُلاءِ أَهْدَى |
)) |
| [النساء:٥١] |
(( |
مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا سَبِيلاً |
“Have you not seen those to whom a portion of the Scripture has been given, how they believe in idols and false deities, and how they say of those (idolaters) who disbelieve: ‘These are more rightly guided than those who believe’?” [4:51]
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
| قُلْ هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِشَرٍّ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مَثُوبَةً عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مَنْ لَعَنَهُ اللَّهُ وَغَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهُمُ الْقِرَدَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيرَ |
)) |
| [المائدة:٦٠] |
(( |
وَعَبَدَ الطَّاغُوتَ |
“Should I tell you of a worse (case) than theirs for retribution with Allah? (Those) whom Allah has cursed, on whom His wrath has fallen and of whose sort Allah has turned some to apes and swine, and who serve idols” [5:60]
and His statement:
| [الكهف:٢١] |
(( |
قَالَ الَّذِينَ غَلَبُوا عَلَى أَمْرِهِمْ لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيْهِمْ مَسْجِداً |
)) |
“Those who won their point said, ‘We verily will build a place of worship over them.’” [18:21]
9.3 The Detailed Answer to These Two Specious Arguments
| لتتبعن سَنَنَ من كان قبلكم حذو القُذَّة بالقذة حتى لو دخلوا جحر ضب لدخلتموه. قالوا: يا رسول الله: اليهود |
)) |
| رواه البخاري ومسلم |
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والنصارى؟ قال: فمن؟َ |
“You will follow the ways of those before you inch by inch and foot by foot, to the extent that if they were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would follow them.” Those present asked, “Messenger of Allah, do you mean the Jews and the Christians?” He responded, “Who else?” Collected by Bukhaaree and Muslim.