THE FAITH OF THE AHL-AS-SUNNA BY BABA ALI MUSTAPHA

THE FAITH OF THE AHL-AS-SUNNA

BY BABA ALI MUSTAPHA

Imam Muhammed al-Ghazili (R.A) writes in his book ‘Kimya-al Sa’adat’ “when someone becomes a Muslim, it will primarily be fard for him to know and believe in the meaning of the phrase “La ilaha ill-Allah, Muhammad Rasul-Allah”. This phrase is called the Kalimat –at-tawhid. It is sufficient for every Muslim to believe without any doubt what this phrase means. It is not fard for him to prove it with evidence or to satisfy his mind. Rasulullah (S.A.W) did not command the Arabs to know or to mention the relevant proofs or to search and clarify any possible doubts. He commanded them to believe only and not to doubt. It is enough for everybody also to believe superficially. Yet it is fard Kifaya that there should exist a few alims in every town. It is wajib for those alims to know the proofs, to remove the doubts and to answer the questions. They are like shepherds for Muslims. On the one hand, they teach them the knowledge of Iman, which is the knowledge of belief, and on the other hand, they answer the slanders of the enemies of Islam.

Qur’an al-Karim stated the meaning of the Kalimat al-tawhid and Rasulullah (S.A.W) explained what is declared in it. All the Sahaba al-Kiram learned these explanations and conveyed them to those who come after them. The exalted scholars who conveyed to us what the Sahabat al-Kiram had conveyed by committing them to their books without making any alterations in them, are called the Ahl as-Sunna. Everybody has to learn the I’tiqad of the Ahl-as-Sunna and to unite and love one another. The seed of happiness is in this I’tiqad and in this unification.

The Ulama of the Ahl-as-Sunna explained the meaning of the Kalimat at-tawhid as follows: Men were non existent. They were created later. They have one Creator. He is the One who created everything.  The creator is One. He does not have a partner or a likeness. There is no second He. He has been ever existent; His existence did not have a beginning. He will be ever existent; there is no end to His existence. He will not cease to exist. His existence is always necessary. His non-existence is impossible. His existence is of Himself. He does not need any means. There is nothing that will not need Him. He is the one who creates everything and makes them go on existing. He is not material or a thing. He is not a place or in any substance. He does not have a shape and cannot be measured. It cannot be asked how He is; when we say ‘He’, none of the things which occur to the mind or which we can imagine is He. He is unlike those. All of them are His creatures. He is not like His creatures. He is the Creator of everything that occurs to mind, every illusion and every delusion. He is not above, below or at one side. He does not have a place. Every being is below the Arsh. And the Arsh is under His power, under His omnipotence. He is above the Arsh. Yet this does not mean that the Arsh carries Him. The arsh exists with His favour and in His Omnipotence. He is the same now as He was in eternity, in eternal past. He will always be the same in the everlasting future as He had been before cerating the Arsh. No change occur in Him. He had his own attributes. His attributes called as-Sifat ath-thubutiyya are eight: Hayat (life), Ilm (Omniscience), Sam (hearing), Basar (seeing), Qudra (Omnipotence), Irada (will), Kalam (speech, word) and Takwin (creativeness). No change ever occurs in those attributes of His. Change implies deficiency. He has no deficiency or defect. Though He does not resemble any of His creatures, it is possible to know Him in this world as much as He makes Himself known and to see Him in the Here After. Here He is known without realizing how He is, and there He will be seen in an incomprehensive way.

Allahu ta’ala sent Prophets (AS) to His human creatures. Through these great people, He showed His human creatures the deeds that bring happiness and those which cause ruination. The most exalted Prophet is Muhammad (AS), the last Prophet. He was sent as the Prophet for every person, pious or irreligious, for every place and for every nation on the earth. He is the Prophet for all human beings, angels and genies. In every corner of the world, everybody has to follow him and adapt to this exalted Prophet.

Sayyid Abdulhakim Arrwasi (RA) said; Rasulullah (S.A.W) had three tasks. The first one to communicate and make known (tabligh) the rules of Qur’an al-Karim, that is the knowledge of Iman and of ahkam fighyya, to all human beings. Ahkam fighyya is composed of actions commanded and actions prohibited. His second task was to transmit the spiritual rules of the Qur’an al Karima,the knowledge about Allahu ta’ala Himself and His attributes into the hearts of only the highest one of his Umma. His first task tabligh should not be confused with the second task. The La-Madhabi (Wahabiya or Izla in Nigeria) reject the second task. But, Abu Hurraira (RA) said, ‘ I learned two type of knowledge from Rasulullah (S.A.W.). I have told you one of them. You would kill me if I explained the second one. Those words of Abu Hurraira’s are written in the books of Bukhari, Mishqat, Hadiqa, and in the letters of Maktubat, numbers 267 and 268. The third task was directed towards those Muslims who did not obey the advice and sermons concerning carrying out the ahkarim fighyya. Even force was employed to get them to obey the ahkarim fighyya.

After Muhammad (S.A.W), each of the four Khalifa (RA) accomplished these three tasks perfectly. During the time of Hadrat Hassan (RA), fitnas and bid’as increased. Islam had spread out over three continents. The spiritual light of Muhammad (S.A.W) receded away from the earth. The Sahabat al-Kiram (RA) decreased in number. Later, no one was able to do all these three tasks together by himself. Therefore, those tasks were undertaken by three groups of people. The task of communicating Iman and ahkam fighiyya was assigned to religious leaders called Mujtahids. Among these Mujtahids, those who communicated iman are called Mutakallimun, and those who communicated figh were called Fuqaha. The second task that is making those willing Muslims attain the spiritual rules of Qur’an al-Karim, was assigned to the twelve Imams of the Ah al-Bait (R.T.A) and to great men of tasawwuf. Sirri as siqati (d. 251/876 in Baghdad) and al-Junaid al Baghdadi (b. 207/821 and d. 298/911 in Baghdad) were two of them (R.A.).

The third task, having the rules of the religious implemented by force and authority was assigned to Shehus, Sultans and Emirs i.e. government (in the present days Prime Ministers and Presidents of the Muslim world). Section of the first class were called Mudhabs. Section of the second were called tariqas. The Ulama of Ahl-as-Sunna collected Ilm at-tasawwuf by learning the second task of our Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W) from the twelve imams (rta). Some people like the Wahabiyya do not believe in Awliya, Karamat or tasawwuf. This shows that they have no connection with twelve Imams. If they have followed the Ahl al-bait, they would have learned this second task of our Prophet from the twelve Imams and there would have many scholars of tasawwuf and Awliya among them. But there have not been any and besides, they do not even believe that such scholars could exist. It is obvious that the twelve Imams are the Ahl-as-Sunna’s Imams. It is the Ahl-as-Sunna who love the ahl al-Bait and follow the twelve Imams. To become a scholar of Islam, one has to be an heir of Rasulullah  (S.A.W) in those two tasks. That is one has to be expert in those two branches of knowledge. Abdul-Ghani an-Nabulisi one of such scholars, quoted on page 233 and 649 in his work Al-hadiqat an nadiya, the hadith describing the spiritual rules of Qur’an al-Karim and pointed out that disbelieving those rules indicate ignorance and wretchedness. The third task was called huquq (laws). Mudhabs  that tells about iman are called Mudhabs of itiqad. Our Prophet (S.A.W) had explained that Muslims would part into seventy-three groups in respect to Iman, and that only one of them would be right and the others wrong. And happen it did. The group that was given the good news of being on the right way is called Ahl-as-Sunna waal jama’a. the remaining seventy two groups, which were declared to be wrong are called the groups of bid’a, that is heretics. None of them are disbelievers. All of them are Muslims. But if a Muslim who says he belongs to any of the seventy two groups disbelieve any information that has been declared clearly in Qur’an al-Karim, in Hadith ash-sherif or that has spread among Muslims, he become a disbeliever. There are many people today who, while carrying Muslim names, have already dissented from the Madhab of the Ahl-as-Sunna and have become heretic or non-Muslims’. Quotation from Hadrat Abdulhakim Efendi end here.

Muslims have to keep on learning from the cradle to the grave. The knowledge which Muslims have to learn is called al um al-Islamiya (Islamic Sciences) which consist of two part (a) al-ulum an-nagliyya and (b) al-ulum a-aqliyya.

A. Al-Ulum an-nagliyya (also called religious sciences). Those are science acquired by reading the books of Ulama of the Ahl-as-Sunnah. The Ulama of Islam derived those sciences from four main sources. These four sources are called al-adilat ash-shariyya. They are Qur’an al-Karim, al-Hadith ash-sheriff, Ijma al-Umma and qiyas-al-fuqaha. ‘

Religious science consists of eight main branches:

1. Ilm at-tafsir – (the science of interpretation of Qur’an al-Karim). A specialist in this branch is called Mufassir. He is a profoundly learned scholar able to understand what Allahu ta’ala means in his word.

2. Ilm al-usul- al-hadith: This branch deals with classification of hadiths. There are different kinds of hadiths.

3. Ilm al-hadith: this branch studies the minutely sayings (hadith), behavior (sunnah) and manners (hals) of our Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W).

4. Ilm al-Usul al-Kalam . This branch studies the method by which ilm al-Kalam is derived from al-Qur’an al-Karim and al-Hadith ash-sheriff.

5. Ilm al-Kalam: this cover the study of Kalimat at-tawhid and the Kalima ash shahada and the six fundamentals of Iman, which depend on them. These are the teaching to be believed by heart. Scholars of Kalam usually wrote Ilm al usual al Kalam and Ilm al-kalam together. Therefore, the layman takes those two branches of knowledge as one single branch.

6. Ilm al-usual al figh: This branch studies the derivation of the methods of figh from Qur’an al-karim and hadith as-sheriff.

7. Ilm al fighg: This branch studies al-mukallafin, that is it tells how those who are sane and pubescent should act on matter concerning the body. This is the knowledge necessary for the body. Afal al-mukallafin has eight sections. Fard, Wajib, Sunna, Mustahab, Qubah, Haram, Makrub and Mufsid. However, they can briefly classified into three groups: actions commanded, actions prohibited and actions permitted (Muhab).

8. Ilm at-tasawwuf: This branch is also called ilm al-akhlaq (ethics). It explains not only the things we should do and we should not do with heart but also help the belief to be heartfelt, makes it easy for Muslims to carryout their duties as taught in Ilm al-figh and helps one attain ma’rifa.

It is fard-I’ain for every Muslim, male or female to learn Kalam, figh and tasawwuf as much as necessary out of those eight branches and it is a guilt, a sin not to learn them.

B. Al-Ulum al-aqliyya (also called experimental sciences). These sciences are divided into two groups: technical sciences and literary sciences. It is fard kifaya for Muslims to learn those sciences. As for Islamic sciences, it is fard ain to learn as much as necessary. To learn more than is necessary, that is, to become specialized in Islamic is fard kifaya. If there is no alim who knows these sciences in a town, all of its inhabitants and government authorities will be sinful.

Religious teachings do not change in process of time. Making a mistake or erring while commenting on ilm al-kalam is not an excuse but a crime. In matters pertaining to figh, the variations and facilities shown by Islam can be utilized when one has the excuses shown by Islam. It is never permissible to make alteration or to make reforms in religious matters with one’s own opinion or point of view. It causes one to go out of Islam. Change, improvement and progress in al-ulum al-agliyya are permissible. It is necessary to develop them by searching, finding and even by learning them from non-Muslims too.

The following article is quoted from the book Al-Majmu’at az-zuhdiyya. It was compiled by Turkey’s ex-minister of Education, Sayyid Ahmed Zuhdu Pasha.

The word ‘figh’ when used in the form of ‘faqiha yafqahu, that is in fourth category means ‘to know , to understand’. When it is used in the fifth category, it means ‘to know , to understand  Islam’. A scholar in ilm al-figh is called faqih. Ilm al-figh deals with the actions which people should do and those which they should not do. The knowledge of figh is composed of Qur’an al-Karim, Hadith ash-sheriff, ijma and qiyas. The consensus of the as-Sahabat al-Kiram and the Mujtahids who came after them is called ijma al-umma. The rules of the religion derived from Qur’an al- karim, hadith ash-sheriff and Ijma al-umma are called qiyal al-fuqaha. If it could not be understood from Qur’an al-Karim or hadith al-sheriff whether an action was halal (permitted) or forbidden (haram), then this action was compared to another action which was known. This comparison was called qiyas. Applying qiyas required the later action to have the same factor which made the former action permissible or forbidden. And this could be judged only by those profound ‘Ulama’ who had attained the grade of Ijtihad.

Ilm al-figh is extensive. It has four main divisions:

1. Ibadat: composed of five subdivisions; Salat (namaz), Sawn (fast), zakat, hajj, Jihad. Each has many sections. As it is seen, it is an Ibada to make preparations for Jihad. Our Prophet (S.A.W) explained that Jihad against the enemies of Islam was of two kinds; by actions and by words. It is fard to learn how to make and use new weapons in preparation for Jihad by actions. Jihad is done by state. It is fard for the people to join the Jihad by obeying the state’s laws and orders concerning Jihad. Nowadays, enemy assault through publications, motion pictures, radio broadcast and every means of propaganda. The second kind of war has tremendously increased, therefore, it is also Jihad to stand against the enemies in this field.

2. Munakaht, composed of subdivisions, such as marriage, divorce, alimony and many others (written in details) book Se’adet-I’Ebadiyye.

3. Mu’amalat: composed of subdivisions, such as purchase, sales, rent, joint-ownership, interest, inheritance, etc

4. Uqubat (penal code), composed of five main subdivisions: qisas (lextalionis) sirqat (theft) and zina (fornication and adultery), qadhf (accusing a virtuous woman of incontinence) and ridda (the case of becoming an apostate).

It is fard for every Muslim to learn the ibadat part of figh sufficiently. It is fard kifaya to learn munakahat and mu’amalat, in other words, those who have anything to do with them should learn them. After ilm at-tafsir, ilm al-hadith and il al-karam, the most honourable ilm is ilm al-figh. The following six hadiths will be enough to indicate the honour of figh and the faqih:

‘If Allahu ta’ala want to bestow His blessing on a slave of His, He makes a faqih of him’.

If a person becomes a faqih, Allahu ta’ala sends what he wishes and his sustenance through unexpected sources”.

The person about whom Allahu ta’ala says “Most superior is faqih in the religion’.

Against satan, a faqih is more stoic than one thousand abids (those who worship much)

Everything has a pillar to base itself upon. The basic pillar of the religion is the knowledge of figh.

The best and most valuable Ibada is to learn and teach fiqh.

Baba Ali Mustapha is of Ngrannam ward, near former 7 up Depot, Bolori II, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.

Email: Babaalimustapha3@gmail.com

Reference:

1. Kimyat sa’adat, by Imam Mohammad Ghazali

2. The Sunni path by Ahmed Cevdet Pasa, published by Hakikat Kitaberi, Publication, Istanbul, Turkey, October, 2007