The Creed of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa - Mufti Ali Juma
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The Creed of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamaa
Creed
The word for creed in Arabic is aqida. Linguistically, it
means to bind firmly and tightly. And in the terminology of
the sciences, it is a belief held strongly and with
conviction in the hearts of humans, whether it be true or false. This strong
belief is a motivator to action, such as is the case with the belief of a Muslim in
the existence of God and the veracity of the Prophet.
History attests to the fact that all peoples at all times have had an ideology or
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religious creed to which they assent, which moves them to action and which has
an impact on their behavior and conduct.
The Islamic creed consists of a firm belief that God, Lord of the Worlds, is the
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth; that there is only one God Who can be
characterized by all perfections, Who transcends all deficiencies, and Who is
unlike any other being; that Muhammad is his Prophet and Messenger to theWorlds, and that he fulfilled this mission in the most perfect and complete
manner; that the Quran is His Book, truthful and untouched by any falsity; and
that what it conveys of matters unseen for example, angels, other prophets,
paradise, and hell is all true.
This set of beliefs moves he who possesses them to hold fast to the rules of
the sharia and the commands and prohibit ions of t he Quran and the Sunna.
Monotheism
Monotheism (tawhid) is to belief in the Oneness of God, worshipping Him alone,
and affirming this belief of His Essence, His Qualities, and His Actions. It is also
to affirm that there is no entity which resembles His Indivisible Essence; that
no qualities which resemble the Divine Qualities, in which plurality is not
possible such that one can say that God has two Wills or Knowledges, for
example; and that His Actions do not admit of any association there is, that
is to say, no action other than His, and any action of another is to be regardedas acquisitive (kasb).
What has been said by the theologians with regards to monotheism can be
simplified as follows:
It is the belief that God is other than anything that can be conceived by the
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imagination
It is the belief that His Essence in no way resembles other entities, nor does It
compromise his Qualities
Tawhid is in fact a developed science derived from certain and definitive proofs.
It enables one to establish religious beliefs via argumentation and repellingdoubts.
It is concerned with the Essence of God, and what is necessary, impossible, or
permissible to affirm of It. It is also concerned with the messengers, what they
brought affirming the existence of a Creator. Finally, it treats revelatory data,
and the necessity to belive in it.
The benefit of the science of tawhid is that it leads to a knowledge of God
through definitive proofs, and the attainment of eternal happiness as a result.
Because it is connected to the knowledge of God and His prophets, it is the
most noble of sciences. As the Arabic saying goes, things are ennobled by that
which they are connected to.
Learning this science is an individual obligation for every person, male or female,
as established by the verse which directs all to Know that there is no god but
Allah (al-Muhammad, 19). Technically, the obligation is to know the creed in a
general way; while a knowledge of the particulars and details is a communalobligation.
The science of tawhid discusses three matters:
Divinity that which has to do with God
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Prophecy that which has to do with prophets and messengers
Revelation that which treats matters which cannot be proven except through
revelatory reports
Types of P roofs
There are two types of proofs:
Purely rational, such as that which establishes the existence of a Creator
through the creation of the Heavens, the Earth and ourselves.
Revelatory, which is in fact a combination of rational and revelatory premises,
because the veracity of a report can be established only by reason. These
proofs may establish definitive certainty in sharia matters when they are mass-
transmitted or accompanied by empirical evidence. However, in cases where
they do not accord with a reason-based proof, the latter is given priority, for to
disregard reason would be to disregard both types of proofs (since the latter is
a hybrid).
Epistemology and Ontology
The philosophers say that that which may be known are either non-existent,
existent in the mind, or existent in the world. And that which has extra-mental
(i.e., worldly) existence is either necessarily existent , i.e., it is impossible that itnot exist, or it is contingently existent.
The theologians say that the existent is that which has a reality in the world,
and it is either eternal or created. The created is further divided into two: the
substance and the accident
The contingent (al-mumkin) is that which is necessarily in need of a cause. It
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may be either existent or non-existent, in equal probability. The contingent is
always created, never eternal.
The necessary: The essentially necessary is God, Who is simple, not
compound. This is because to be compound means to be contingent, created
and admitting divisibility. This also means he does not admit association
because that would entail being compound. God transcends comparison andresemblance. His Qualities include Life, Knowledge and Power. These Qualities
are eternal, and do not compromise his necessity of being, nor do they render
him needy of anything, for His Qualities are not other than Him.
The createdness of t he world
To be created (huduth) means to be preceded by non-existence (adam). The
world is everything other than God, the Exalted. The world is made of
substances (jawahir) and accidents (araad). Substances are those entities
that are independent of place. Accidents are those qualities that are
connected to substance, such as color, tast e, smell, life, death, will, power,
and knowledge.
***
The createdness of the world is proven as follows: All existents can be
classified as either eternal (qadim) or created.The eternal is that which is preceded by nothing else. It is necessary of
existence. It is impossible for the eternal to not be, for eternality contradicts
non-existence.
The created is that existent which is preceded by another. It may both exist
and not exist. So, when it is distinguished by existence rather than non-
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existence, it is in need of something that performs that distinguishing for it.
This entity is a creator characterized by volition and power.
All that is not void of created entities is created. No body in the world is void of
created accidents and changeable states. The qualities of the bodies change,
and they move from one state to another. The reality of changeable entities is
that in fact one state is annihilated and another is created. This is known in
the case of the new state by observation, and in the case of the old statebecause, if it were eternal it would not have become non-existent.
Therefore, it is necessary to believe firmly that the world, all its bodies,
including all sorts of vegetation and animals; all actions; all utterances; and all
beliefs are created. They came to exist after non-existence.
The existence of the Creator
Belief in the existence of the Creator is the first pillar of Islamic doctrine. All
other doctrinal principles are built upon it. And believing in this existence is the
only path to attaining a correct understanding of creation, and the meaning of
existence in this world.
The world that we see is contingently existent (mumkin al-wujud), which means
that the mind precludes neither its existence nor non-existence. Therefore,
there must be some external cause which made it existence, and distanced it
from non-existence. In its default mode, the world and its entities are possible
of both states. And the Cause that made it existent (and not non-existent) iswhat we call God, the Exalted.
Every rational person, through observation, knows necessarily that creation
came into existence after non-existence, i.e., they were created. That which is
created is in need of a creator. An infinite regression of such creators is
impossible, as all rational people agree. Infinite regression means that a
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created entity has a creator, and that creator has its own creator, and on and
on with no end. This infinite regression, on whose impossibility all rational
people agree, cannot be avoided except by positing an Eternal Creator, Who is
in need of no other. His Existence needs No Originator.
This is God, the Necessarily Existent. The Necessary, i.e. God, is not a
compound being, nor multiple. It is truly One.
If all existences were simply contingent, and none of them were necessary, this
set of contingently existent entities which encompasses all existent entities
would be in need of an originator. This is because the set is itself contingent, a
compound entity made of a set of contingent entities.
However, the Necessary of Existence (God) is independent in His Existence. He
does not need any other entity for his existence. And He is outside of this set .
So He is the Creator.
The first obligation
Contemplating (al-nazar) knowing God is an obligation by consensus, whether it
is by revelatory means as the Asharis say, or by rational ones as the Mutazilis
say.
The primary obligation is to know God, and the means to achieving it isspeculation (al-nazar), so it is also an obligation. But speculation is not possible
without an intent to engage in it. Therefore, the intention is also an obligation,
indeed the first obligation.
By al-nazar is meant the tools and methodologies by which knowledge is
organized so as to lead from one piece of information to another. Alternatively,
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it is defined as abstracting the mind away from insignificant matters and
orienting it to the objects of reason. When this is done properly, what results is
necessary knowledge.
This is an obligation, because in matters of doctrine, following another based on
his or her authority is a sin for someone who is capable of engaging in
theoretical and rational thought. If he is not capable of this, it is not a sin. AbuMansur al-Maturidi says, Our companions are agreed that the masses believers
and knowers of God, and they will populate Heaven, as we are informed in
reports and as is agreed on by scholars. For their natural state leads them to
monotheism and belief in the Creators eternality and the createdness of all
else, even if they are unable to articulate this in the terminology of the
theologians. Al-Amidi reported agreement that those who attest to the correct
doctrine based on authority are not disbelievers.
The difference of opinion obtains when we turn to the judgement in the
Hereafter. In matters of this world, there is no disagreement that we are to
judge based on apparent attest at ions alone. So, he who attests to the
doctrine of Islam is to be treated as a Muslim, and not pronounced a
disbeliever. So, he may marry other Muslims; he may lead the prayer; his
slaughtered meat may be consumed; Muslims may inherit from him, and he from
them; and he is to be buried in their cemeteries.
Belief (Iman)
Belief (iman) is to attest to all that is brought by the Prophet (peace be upon
him) and is known necessarily to be of the religion, both in generalities and
particulars. That which the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) brought
is al-Islam, outside of which there is no salvation. As Allah says, Say: Truly, my
prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for God, the
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Cherisher of the Worlds. No partner hath He: this am I commanded, and I am
the first of those who submit (muslimin). (al-Anam: 162-163).
It is necessary that one submit to this, for there is no salvation in the eyes of
God except by entering into Islam: Say: We believe in God, and in what has
been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob,
and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets,from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them,
and to God do we bow our will (in Islam). If anyone desires a religion other
than Islam (submission to God), never will it be accepted of him; and in the
Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (All spiritual good).
(Aal Imran: 84-85).
Islam is the religion of God with which all other messengers had been sent:
Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christ ian but he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim,
and he was not one of t he polytheists. (Aal Imran: 67)
The formula of testification is: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,
and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. For one who is
capable of uttering it, it is obligatory for the validity of his faith. It may be
uttered in a language other than Arabic, though it is better to use the Arabic
wording. Simply uttering the words is not sufficient if the speaker does not
understand the meaning of what he is reciting.
Articulating the formula of testification is a condition of one being considered a
Muslim in legal matters, such as inheritance, marriage, leading prayer, being
eligible for the funeral prayer, burial in Muslim cemeteries, and being subject to
the demand to pray and pay the zakat. This is because silent affirmation in
ones heart, though it constitutes belief, is hidden, and we are in need of a
visible sign of ones Islam.
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He who attests with his tongue, but not his heart, is a hypocrite. Though he is
not a Muslim in the eyes of God, he is to be regarded as a Muslim in this world,
provided he does not betray any visible indication of his disbelief, such as
prostrating to an idol or abusing a copy of the Quran.
The rejecter is one who refuses to utter the formula of testification. He is adisbeliever both in the eyes of God and in the consideration of people in this
world. An affirmation of the heart is of no consequence.
He who is confronted by doubts must seek to dispel them either through
rational speculation or by asking someone of knowledge. He who is confronted
by temptations should seek refuge in Allah, and say I believe in God and His
Messenger. The children of Muslims are considered believers, and are to be
treated as such in this world even if they never articulate the formula of
testification their whole lives.
Divine Attributes
What may not be attributed to God: There are some things that cannot be
affirmed of God. In short, He is transcendent, and free of anything that
indicates createdness or deficiency of any sort. Therefore, one may not
attribute to Him accidental attributes like taste, color, smell, or pain. Nor is he
restricted to directionality. Nor can we ascribe to him adjacency, for he is notbound by area. Neither the earth nor the heavens surround Him. He has neither
limits nor measure.
Anything that is distinguished by directionality is restricted a space, and
therefore is capable of being joined to substances and separate from them.
Anything that admits such a joining and separation with substance is connected
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to substance, and not void of it. Anything that is not void of substance is
created like the substance it is connected to. In contrast, God transcends
space, and connection to bodies.
We believe that the Creator of the world cannot be restricted by space, nor
can He have an end. For a thing may not be so restricted except by something
else, nor can he have an endpoint except by imposing a limitation on him byanother entity. But the Creator is neither created, nor restricted, nor limited in
any way. As Allah says, Do you not see that Allah knows whatever is in the
heavens and whatever is in the earth? Nowhere is there a secret counsel
between three persons but He is the fourth of them, nor (between) five but He
is the sixth of them, nor less than that nor more but He is with them
wheresoever they are; then He will inform them of what they did on the day of
resurrect ion: surely Allah is Cognizant of all t hings. (al-Mujadala: 7).
It is impermissible to attribute to God movement or rest, going and coming,
being in a place, connectedness and disconnectedness, physical proximity and
distance, size, body, form, measure, direct ions, or sides.
The Attributes of the Divine Essence: These are the att ributes which subsist in
the Divine Essence. They number seven or eight, the difference in number being
due to scholarly disagreement.
These attributes are eternal like His Names. If they had been created, thiswould mean affirming something created of the Divine Essence. It would also
mean that God was once without them, i.e., before their creation. Finally, it
would indicate the need for something to endow the Divine Essence with this
quality, which contradicts His Absolute Self-Sufficiency, i.e., His lack of need of
anything other than Him.
These are in contrast to the attributes of action which are not eternal
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according to the Asharis.
The attributes of the Divine Essence are of neither the essence, nor of other
than it. The former is obvious, for it is well known that the reality of the
essence is not the same as that of its attributes, otherwise they would be
identical. As for the latter, what is meant is that they are not of a separable
other. For these attributes are not separable from the essence, even thoughtheir reality is not that of the essence itself.
Whoever directs his worship to the attributes alone has committed disbelief.
And whoever connects his worship to the Essence alone has sinned. The correct
path is to worship the Divine Essence characterized by Its Att ributes.
These attributes are:
Existence: This means the existence of His Essence, uncaused by any other. It
is impossible that He did not exist. This sort of perfect existence is affirmed
only of God. All others partake in a subordinate mode of existence, both
preceded and succeeded by non-existence. This is an affirmative attribute,
affirmed of the Essence itself.
Eternality: This is a negative attribute, which is to say that it negates that
which is not worthy of God in this case, createdness, and so previous non-
existence. What is meant is t he eternality of the Essence t hat It never cameinto existence. For if It were not eternal, It would be created, and thus in
need of a creator, which creator would itself be in need of a creator. This would
regress infinitely. As such, He must be Eternal. We believe that God has always
been. A report in the Sahih of Ibn Hibban has it that, There was Allah, and
there was none other than Him.
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Everlastingness: This is also a negative attribute intended to exclude non-
existence from His Essence. Just as we may not contemplate a cause for the
generation of the Necessary Existent, we may not admit a cause for Its
destruction. If we were to admit such a cause, there would be no Necessary
Existent. The proof that Gods existence has no end is that It would then not
be Eternal, because eternality contradicts non-existence. The existence of all
other creation has both a beginning and end, except for Paradise and Hell,
which had a beginning but no end. We know this through revelation and not
reason.
Opposition to all Created Things: This is also a negative attribute indicating a
lack of resemblance between God and creation. For He is neither a body nor an
accident, neither a universal nor a particular. He similarly transcends all states
and attributions that, for example, can be said of humans and other entities,
such as sleep, heedlessness, hunger, thirst, and need. The proof of this
attribute is that if God were not opposed to all created things in all qualities,
He would resemble them in their createdness, or they would resemble Him in
His eternality. That is impossible.
We believe that God cannot be characterized by those qualities which
characterize creation. These latter are the essence of createdness, such as
being restricted to a place or time, having bodily or mental needs, or weakness
or incapacity. God is completely Transcendent. Nothing even remotely resembles
him. He has neither ancestors nor descendants. Nor does he have friends andenemies in the manner commonly spoken of, though we may use these words to
mean sincere devotees, on the one hand, and those who transgress his
commands, on the other.
However, it is true that we may describe humanity by some qualities we
attribute to God, such as knowledge, power, will, and perception. But we
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distinguish by saying that these are essential attributes of God, but not
essential attributes of humans. In the case of the latter, they are divine
blessings.
Subsistence in Himself: This means that he has no need for other. We believe
that God subsists in Himself. He has no need for an entity to generate Him, nor
for a space to encompass him. He has been God since before the generation of
anything else, and before the generation of time and space itself. Nor does he
have directionality, though some anthropomorphists have said that He is
characterized by aboveness. This is invalid. As Qadi Iyad has said, There is
no disagreement among the Muslim jurists, hadith scholars, theologians,
thinkers, and lay people that the apparent meaning of verses that mention God
being in the Heavens, such as Do ye feel secure that He Who is in heaven will
not cause you to be swallowed up by the earth when it shakes (as in an
earthquake)? are not to be taken literally, but rather are to be interpreted.
Oneness: This is also a negative attribute in that it denies something that is
not appropriate to attribute to God, that is, multiplicity or quantity. God is
neither composed of parts, nor made up of particulars (subsumed under a
universal). He does not have two knowledges or wills that complement one
another, nor does He have a knowledge or will that partakes in the knowledge
or will of others.
Power: This is an eternal attribute of the Divine Essence, through which allthings come to be and come to an end in accordance with His Will. What is
necessary for every Muslim to know and believe is that God is capable of all
things. The proof that God is characterized by power is that if He were not All-
Powerful, He would be charact erized by incapacity. This is impossible.
Will: This is also an eternal attribute of the Divine Essence, which has to do
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with realizing some of the potentialities of contingent beings. Gods Will is one.
It originates and annihilates some things.
Other Eternal Attributes: There are also other attributes. These include
Knowledge, Life, Speech, Hearing, and Sight.
The Beautiful Names of God: Allah says, The most beautiful names belong to
God: so call on Him by them (al-Araaf: 180). The names of God are eternal
like His essential attributes. This eternality is taken to mean that either that
they were suitable of God from pre-eternality, or that they always indicated the
meaning of those names. Some like Ibn Arabi took them to be equal in that
they all pertain to one essence (Gods), even though they may differ in the
world. Others took them to be of varying degrees of importance.
Allah is itself the Greatest Name, above all others. Ninet y-nine have been
enumerated in a hadith in Tirmidhi on the authority of Abu Hurayra, but al-
Nawawi has said that the scholars have agreed that the names listed there do
not exhaust the names of God. The position of ahl al-sunna is that His Names
and Attributes are taught to us, for this is what indicates Gods permission.
This may take the form of either being in the Quran and sunna, or it may be
established by consensus of use, such as the Fabricator, the Existent, the
Necessary, the Eternal.
Prophecy
In Arabic, the word prophet (nabi) is taken from the word for news, or
report for he reports about God. He is also the one who is reported to, in the
first instance, since Gabriel brings him news.
Terminologically, the word prophet refers to a pure human who is inspired by a
revelatory code of conduct on which he himself acts, even though he may not
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be called on to propagate it. If he is in fact called upon to propagate, he is a
messenger (rasul). All messengers are prophet s, but not all prophet s are
messengers. The sending of messengers is a great bounty from God. It is a
rational possibility, but He is under no obligation to send messengers.
Allah has named 25 prophets in t he Quran. Their prophethood must be believed
in. It is not permissible for a Muslim to be ignorant of them. There are yet
others not mentioned by name or in detail in the Quran. We know of them only
generally, and so must believe in them in that general manner. That is to say,
we must believe that God sent many prophets and messengers, to every nation
and group, in a variety of places and times. It is ignorant to think that God
specified only the Arabian peninsula and it s surrounding areas for prophecy.
There are five necessary requirements for prophethood:
Prophets only arise among humans, not among jinns or angels.
Prophets must be characterized by trustworthiness and honesty, and innocence
from sin. This is so that their testimony may be believed, and held to a high
standard.
Prophets must be characterized by a perfect rationality, precision, and
uprightness.
They must have propagated to the people everything they had been ordered to
propagate. They did not conceal anything.
There is disagreement on whether a prophet must be male. Those who said he
must be a male rely on the verse, And We did not send before you any but men
to whom We sent revelation, so ask the followers of the reminder if you do not
(al-Anbiya: 7). Those who say it is not a condition that a prophet be made point
to verses which say that the mother of Moses was inspired (al-Qasas: 7) and
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that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was listed in a context where many other
prophets were listed (Maryam : 58).
The greatest of Prophets is the final Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Muslims are duty bound to love him, as we learn from a number of hadith.
Miracles
Miracles are actions of God in which the conventional laws of nature are broken
at the hands of his messengers, so that the messengers truthfulness, and the
veracity of his message, may be affirmed. It may be speech, like the Quran; or
an action, such as the gushing forth of water between his fingers; or an
absence, such as the inability of the fire to burn Abraham.
The conditions for a miracle are that:
1) It be from God himself.
2) It be a breaking of the conventional laws of nature.
3) It be inexplicable.
4) It be at the hands of someone who claims prophecy, so that his prophethood
may be established.
5) It be in accordance with what is being claimed.
6) What is claimed not be disproven by the miracle itself.
7) It not precede the claim, but be made in conjunction with it.
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Therefore, Prophet Jesuss speech in his infancy, wet dates falling on lady Mary
from a dry palm tree, cutting the chest of Prophet Muhammad and washing his
heart, clouds forming a shadow over him to protect him from the sun along with
the peace greetings that he used to hear from stones before his prophecy are
considered miracles.
The Prophets greatest miracle was the Quran itself. He also had material
sensible miracles, such as the splitting of the moon, the greetings offered to
him by stones, trees speaking to him, the gushing forth of water between his
noble fingers, and others.
Causality and Intermediaries
It is obligatory for a Muslim to believe firmly that there is no Cause in the world
other than God, and that all the apparent causes we see in the world of
phenomena are deputized by God Himself. There is however no harm in using
language that indicates causality of things other than God if ones beliefs are
sound on this matter. For example, one might say, This medicine was of benefit
to me, or This doctor cured me, or The rain this year caused there to be a
good crop.
This is why there is no harm in a Muslim seeking intercession with God via the
relics of prophets, as long as he believes that the only Cause is Allah. This fits
with the language used with respect to the apparent causality of the world.The most obvious instance of such is the Quranic verse, We have not sent you
(O Messenger) except as a mercy to the worlds. If Allah has said of the
Prophet (peace be upon him) that he is the cause of mercy to his servants,
there is no harm in invoking this honor He has granted the Prophet.
There is also no difference between invoking him during his life and after his
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death. This is because his bodily life was never the reason for invoking him in
this manner, such t hat we may say this is no longer possible.
Revelation
The word used here, samiyyat, refers to all that which can be known only
through reports that partake in certainty. One may not be a believer in Allah in
his heart, mind and soul without believing in both the seen and the unseen. The
unseen we believe in is that which is not visible, which may not be perceived
purely through rationality.
Believing in the unseen is the first pillar of piety. This means believing in God;
the reality of angels; divine scriptures and messengers, and that they are from
God; the Last Day, and that it will undoubtedly come; in Fate, good and bad;
and that there is nothing in the world except it was willed by God.
The unseen includes also
jinns, whose existence is proven by definit ive texts. God says in the Quran And
He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire. 55:15. So the jinns are
created from fire and are asked to worship God Almighty and follow the
prophets and messengers as God says And I did not create the jinn and
mankind except to worship Me. 51:56. Also the jinns are divided into believersand non believers as God says in the Quran And among us are Muslims [in
submission to Allah ], and among us are the unjust. And whoever has become
Muslim - those have sought out the right course. 72:41 Satan is one of the
jinns but was expelled away from Gods mercy and earned Gods wrath on him
because of his disobedience of Gods direct command to prostrate to Adam as
was narrated in the Quran And [mention] when We said to the angels,
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"Prostrate to Adam," and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was of the jinn
and departed from the command of his Lord. 18:50. Gods eternal wrath on
Satan deems him to enter hellfire but his punishment is postponed t ill Judgment
Day where he will be sentenced to excruciating pain along with those who were
seduced by Satan and followed his path of evil. The jinns are inhabitants of
earth and are able to see humans unlike humans who are unable to see jinn as
God explained in the Quran saying Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from
where you do not see them.. 7:27
The Throne, which is the greatest of creation, and where Allah will present
Himself on the Day of Judgment. This throne will be carried by eight angels in
the Day of Judgment but we are unable to attribute any sort of a defined or
detailed description of this throne due to a lack of knowledge about it. We also
believe in the divine stool but similarly we have no available date describing it.
What we know for sure though is that neither the throne nor the stool are
dwellings of God. in other words, God did not create the throne out of need for
elevation or superiority and did not create the stool out of a need for sitting
down. Same goes for creating the pen, He did not create it for writing a non
previously known knowledge nor asked angels to write down and document the
deeds of humans out of fear of forgetfulness.
Paradise and Hell, which are two created entities, the first an eternal abode of
reward, and the latter an eternal abode of punishment and fire. They are oflevels, and each person will occupy the level in accordance with his deeds. Some
people might assume that the eternality of heaven and hell comes in opposition
to Gods saying in the Quran Everything will be destroyed except His Face. His
is the judgement, and to Him you will be returned. 28:88 but the correct
interpretation of this verse is that everything in its own right amounts to
nothingness (adam) because of its inability of independent self existence.
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The reservoir from which the Prophet will serve the believers of his nation in the
hereafter and we believe that whoever drinks from it will not be subjected to
thirst.
The Hour and its signs: there are some obvious signs like the appearance of
Gog and Magog, the emergence of the Beast, the rising of the sun from the
west and the appearance of smoke. These signs- especially the ones that are
backed by definitive proofs from the Quran- whoever denies its veracity deemed
to be a liar and a disbeliever. These signs are part of revelation which the mind
does not have much say in as they are believed in through revelatory reports.
For example, God says in the Quran Until when [the dam of] Gog and Magog
has been opened and they, from every elevation, descend 21:96.
The questioning in the grave is authenticated by numerous prophetic reports. It
is believed that the soul returns back to the body with all its five senses intact
and its intellectual ability persevered to be questioned in the grave and
receives its due punishment or enjoy its grace. After the burial of the dead and
the dismissal of people attending his or her funeral, two angels called Munkar
and Nakir are responsible for asking the deceased three questions with the
language that is comprehendible to the deceased. The angels ask the dead
about the two parts of the testimony of faith namely the oneness of God and
the prophecy of Prophet Muhammad. Prophets are exempted from thesequestions as well as martyrs who died for the sake of God along with children
because they were not eligible to understand commands and prohibitions
ordained by God. God the Almighty has the power to gather back the scattered
particles and atoms of the body resided in a grave or spread in a desert or kept
in the belly of an animal and form the human body again to be asked about his
or her life on earth. The scholars of the Asharite theology reached a consensus
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that both the body and the soul combined either suffer from the ailments or
enjoy the grace in the grave.
The return of the body to the spirit on the Day of Judgment is believed in as all
the particles of the body is gathered again to return it to its original state to
form the full human body. God Almight possesses t he ability to reorganize these
particles because of his unlimited power and divine knowledge.
The resurrection of the dead and taking them out of their graves for the
Reckoning. In this day all human beings, jinns, angels are resurrected along
with beast s and animals.
The Reckoning
The Intercession of t he Prophet. The belief in the intercession of Prophet
Muhammad to all people in the day of Judgement is obligatory and this noble
status of waseelah is the supplication or prayer which the Prophet saved for his
people until Dooms Day. The meaning of intercession entails forgiveness for
whoever attested to the Oneness of God and the prophecy of Prophet
Muhammad even if t his person committed grave s ins.
Prophets as well have an intercession in the Day of Judgement along with the
angels, the Gnostics and the martyrs. The first intercessor among all these is
Prophet Muhammad. As for the intercession of others, it occurs only afterreckoning and punishment over small and grave sins which were not forgiven by
God. The importance of intercession lies in honouring the intercessor in this day
and showing his great position in the sight of God. Therefore, the forgiveness
of sins other than polytheism is possible both through logic and revelation as
intercession deems forgiveness possible. As for polytheism is it deemed
impossible through revelation for a polytheist to be forgiven.
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The Asharite creed refuses to make a judgement of disbelief on any sinful
believer in this world and it is similarly impermissible to pass a verdict of his or
her eternal stay in hellfire for sins whether minor or major. The correct
approach is to delegate the whole issue to God.
The Judgment of all the deeds of peoples lives
The crossing of the path that stretches over Hell. All will have to pass over it
as a t est and among the passers are the prophets, the Gnostics and those who
enter paradise without previous subjection to reckoning and judgement over
their deeds. The description of the path is that it is thinner than a hair and
sharper than a blade. Whoever is deemed to enter paradise will succeed in
crossing his way over to heaven and whoever is deemed to enter Hell will fall
over the bridge straight down to Hell.
Ali Gomaa - Grand Mufti of Egypt - 2013 Developed by Helool & designed by Noha Rost om
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