Ahlul Sunnah's Understanding of al-Qada'a wal Qadar 1:

A Reply to a Confused Aqida (Part I)

Wednesday, 30 June 2004 00:00 Dr. Tariq AbdelHaleem

Preface...

Recently, one of my students presented me with a set of documents by a person whose name is Shabir Ally after a student of Ilm in the Toronto area issued a fatwa forbidding people form praying behind him.

I was dismayed by the wrong information contained in these documents in the areas of Aqida (specifically about the attributes of Allah SWT)  and Qada'a & Qadar. It is clear that Shabir Ally has fallen into the line of thoughts of Mu'tazilah regarding Qada'a & Qadar, the attributes of Allah and criticism of Hadith.

Mr. Ally has nicely put a case for the simple understanding of Aqida, but it is good that Allah made him go the extra mile and talk about what is hidden in his heart and mind

وَاللّهُ مُخْرِجٌ مَّا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ

“but Allah was to bring forth what ye did hide.” Al-Baqarah (2:72)

Allah SWT guides whom He wills…

In the following sets of replies, I will refute his misguided concepts and uncover his corrupt sources. I sincerely hope he will consider coming back to the way of Ahlul Sunnah as Allah SWT will then make his work blessed and flourished instead of being refuted and rejected.

It is important to state here that any and all views of Bida'a are always presented to people in a mix of Batil (false/wrong) that is wrapped in some Haq (correct). Batil always carries a lot of make-up as Allah SWT mentioned in over 10 places of Quran:

أَفَمَن زُيِّنَ لَهُ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ فَرَآهُ حَسَنًا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَاء وَيَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء

"Is he, then, to whom the evil of his conduct is made alluring, so that he looks upon it as good, (equal to one who is rightly guided)? For Allah leaves to stray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills. So let not thy soul go out in (vainly) sighing after them: for Allah knows well all that they do!" Fatir (35:8)

Such tactics are normally used by advocates of Bida'a or shirk to penetrate the minds of the common Muslims who normally do not examine what they hear or read very carefully. As long as a person mentions Allah and the Prophet PBUH, then they automatically assume that they can trust what the person says. This is a huge mistake.

The Misconceptions

The Main point in the wrong Aqida of Shabir Ally, in short, is that:

1.      He advocates that Knowledge of Allah SWT is limited. He advocates the concept that Allah SWT (although He knows the past, present and the future), He SWT does not know which choices we are going to make before we make it! Mr. Ally sees this as the explanation for human's freedom of choice. He spends time and effort trying to prove that the knowledge of Allah does not include these choices, in other words he puts a cap on the knowledge of Allah, whether he admits or not and any way he wants to put it. He goes in giving examples extracted from our humanly settings for Allah SWT, ignorant of what Allah said about people who do that in Surat Al-Nahl 74:

فَلاَ تَضْرِبُواْ لِلّهِ الأَمْثَالَ إِنَّ اللّهَ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ

"Invent not similitudes for Allah: for Allah knoweth, and ye know not." Al-Nahl (16:74)
 

2.      He advocates that Allah SWT knowledge of everything is not the opinion of Ahlul Sunnah. He went further to make it look like there are two different opinions of the knowledge of Allah SWT: His opinion which is the one that conciliates the free will of humans! And the other opinion, that Allah SWT knows EVERYTHING, which as he claims is a compulsionists opinion!

As I will explain in this document, Ahlul Sunnah do not in any way jeopardize the free will of Man.  It is the weak understanding of Shabir Ally and his likes who cannot grasp the meaning of the comprehensive knowledge of Allah SWT, His Wisdom, His Just and His Will put together. He, like his fellow Ahlul Bida'a,  judge these concepts with their limited knowledge and logic.

يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعًا فَيَحْلِفُونَ لَهُ كَمَا يَحْلِفُونَ لَكُمْ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْكَاذِبُونَ

One Day will Allah raise them all up (for Judgment): then will they swear to Him as they swear to you: and they think that they have something (to stand upon). No, indeed! they are but liars! Al-Mujadala (58:18)
 

Challenging Bida’a

Bida'a concepts always carry their own controversial ideas and as stated by Ibn Taymiyah: it is good to study the two extreme points just to oppose each them and ultimately falsify both.

We shall emphasize here that there are no two views of the future. There is the way of Ahlul Sunnah about the future and the whole concept of Qadar, and then there are many misconceptions of Ahlul Bida'a, such as the Mu'tazilah “freedomists” at one extreme of the continuum of Bida'a and the Jabriyah “compulsionists” on the other extreme. So, we should not perceive this as two conflicting legitimate views. This is a conflict between two different Aqidas.

Secondly, it is an “Aqidah” issue not a “Fiqh” issue where we can “agree to disagree” , as he mentioned in the beginning of his argument. We cannot disagree on this issue. We cannot allow Bida'a to sneak into our backyard unchallenged.

Mr. Ally quoted his predecessors of Mu'tazilah of the past and present through their current representatives, such as those who belong to the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Washington DC.

He Said:

"I believe that Allah does not decide the final place of a person before a person is born. There must be at least some deeds that a person freely chooses and based on which Allah will judge him. Before creating a person, Allah already knows in advance all the possible choices He will allow this person to ever make. In order to test a person Allah presents before him a range of live options. We are really free to choose any one of the options. The free choice we exercise is not an illusion. At every moment of decision a person is choosing something which was already in the foreknowledge of Allah as an open possibility. Therefore Allah already knew everything that his creatures could ever do before he created them."

In plain words that the common Muslim understands: "he believes that Allah SWT knows what possibilities a person can do, but He does not know which one the person will choose and undertake before the person actually does it!!! He thinks that this way the freedom of choice to man is guaranteed!

He also says: "Hence I came to understand that what is written can change. The fact that the ink has dried is not a problem. It is easy for Allah to change what he wants. He is the One who gave us the knowledge to invent erasable ink. Yet there are some ahadith which seem to indicate that everything is fully and finally fixed"

In plain words that the common Muslim understands: He believes that Allah SWT changes His mind according to the situation at hand! I would like to remind the readers that the person who first created this concept in history, at the time of Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan Al-Ummawi which was called the "Badaa" or "restart of opinion", was Al-Mukhtar Ibn Ubaid Al-Thaqafi Al-Kathab (a liar who was doomed a Kafir by all Ahlul Sunnah scholars.

About al-Bukhary and Muslim, Shabir states that: Based on these statements and many others, I concluded that if the text of a hadith does not meet the requirements set out by the great scholar Ibn al-Qayyim, then it may be regarded as less than authentic even if it is found in al-Bukhary or Muslim.

In plain words that the common Muslim understands: he believes, based on statement of two contemporary, unknown students of Orientals in the US, that he, and his like for that matter, can judge  Hadith that is reported in Bukhari and Muslim since both of them did not put enough understanding of the Hadith they reported, nor did all the Imams of Hadith that came after them, including Ibn al-Qayyim that he often uses as a shield for his nonsense!

His Contradictions

Mr. Ally doesn’t realize that he contradicts himself in his own document that presents his Aqida:

• What does it mean when he says: “I believe that Allah does not decide the final place of a person before a person is born”? Does Allah know the choice that the person will make out of the choices that are available to him before he was born?

o    If he says: Yes, He does, then he loses his ground, and we have no quarrel as we then agree that Allah has known all the possibilities among which the person will chose and he knew as well which one the person will chose.

o    If he says: No, then he is contradicting him self as he said on the other page: “I believe that nothing can happen unless Allah first knows about it and creates it, makes it happen or wills in into it”.

o    This person has to solve this paradigm with himself. The first statement cannot carry any meaning other than that Allah does not know the final choice a person will make before they actually happen.

The problem is that this person cannot comprehend the comprehensive knowledge of Allah or gives it the appropriate understanding. Even if one has choices which he will choose one of them under his own free will. Why can't this happen while at the same time Allah knows about it?

The person of Bida'a, as all the Mu'tazilah for that matter, are  rapped up in their own limited earthly logic.  They do not understand that knowing the choice of the person does not mean that Allah has made it compulsory on that person to do it.

• To prove his point, he quotes a shiekh (of Ahlul Sunnah) that gave a fatwa saying that “Although at the moment of decision a person chooses among various options, he could in fact choose only the one option which was already predetermined for him”.

o    I don’t know what that shiekh said, but he could not use the word Predetermined. It is wrong to use such a word in that context. It is simply not Predestination. This term signifies the inescapable destiny that is written on the person. Allah’s Qadar is not of that sort. It is the comprehensive and utter Knowledge that is so precise that nothing can happen in the past, present or future that is not identical to it. If something happens that is not identical to it, it means it is incomplete, which is against the assumption of Allah’s knowledge. However, again, it has nothing to do with being dictated on the person.

o    The example I am going to give here is of humanly nature and Allah Has the ultimate example: a man has been raising his kid all his life and he taught him every thing and watched him constantly growing up and behaving. One day he gives him money and asks him to go to the store at the corner of the street and buy an item. After the boy leaves, the man tells his wife that the boy will go play for a moment with his friend next door and he will then buy some candy. The fact that the father knew what is going to happen does mean that he actually made the boy do that. It means that he knows his kid very well and would easily predict what he will do in such situation.

أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ

"Should He not know, He that created? And He is the One that understands the finest mysteries (and) is well-acquainted (with them)." Al-Mulk (67:14)

Also, the fact that the father in this example could have forbidden the boy from going out indicates that what happened has happened with the will of the father. Of course, Allah SWT is much greater than whatever example we might make, but this is a way to make it easy for simple minds to comprehend.

Allah SWT knew what will happen exactly as it will happen with all the alternatives just at the time of creation, then he wrote it in the Preserved book, then he descended it to the Lower heavens, then it takes place according to that knowledge and His ultimate wisdom, that is concerned with “Why it happens” rather than “How it happens”. All that is in Sahih Hadith. But the person of Bida'a and his ancestors of Mu'tazilah found a way out of the Shahih Hadith. They rejected the Sahih Hadith if it does not go with what they think is ‘Logical” or comprehendible”. This way they can remove the unwanted evidence to prove their point. New but, still, very old and false tactic.

The Will of Allah SWT

In the above example, the fact that the father could have prevented his kid from doing what he does is what the scholars of Ahlul Sunnah call the “Universal Will” المشيئة الكونية which nothing can escape. It merely means that if Allah SWT (and I recall this person stating that he agrees with us on that) could have created things other than what they are and could have made us all one Ummah. But His universal will is not to do so. Allah Said:

لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ شِرْعَةً وَمِنْهَاجًا وَلَوْ شَاء اللّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلَـكِن لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِي مَا آتَاكُم فَاسْتَبِقُوا الخَيْرَاتِ

"To each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single People, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you; so strive as in a race in all virtues." Al-Maiedah (4:48)

This "Universal Will" المشيئة الكونية is manifested in the verse

وَمَا تَشَاؤُونَ إِلَّا أَن يَشَاء اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ

"But ye shall not will except as Allah wills; the Cherisher of the Worlds." Al-Takweer (81:29)

However, the other will of Allah is His “Shariah Will” المشيئة الشرعية where He expressed His will that He would like Man to obey and follow His commands if Man wants to live in grace on this Earth and the Hereafter. This will is the one that Man has a choice to follow or to disobey. It is manifested in the verse:

وَقُلِ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ فَمَن شَاء فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَاء فَلْيَكْفُرْ

"Say, "The Truth is from your Lord": Let him who will, believe, and let him who will, reject (it)" Al-Kahf (18:29)

This has always been the stand of Ahlul Sunnah as described and explained by Ibn Taymiyah and Ibn al-Qayyim; scholars that Shabir chooses some of their text to use and then goes against what they say in other matters.  This lack of consistency is known about Ahlul Bida'a in dealing with any texts.

Position of Qadariyyah & Mu'tazilah sects on Hadith

In the matter of Hadith, it is the exact stand of the Qadariyyah or the Mu'tazilah (freedomists as he called them). As I mentioned above, this was always the stand of Ahlul Bida'a to denounce Sahih Hadith, so they can get out of the proper understanding when they abide themselves with the Quran and the Sunnah together (read Al-Ietesam الإعتصام by Al-Shateby).

“Based on these statements and many other, I (Shabir Ally) concluded that if the text of a hadith does not meet the requirements set out by the great scholar Ibn al-Qayyim, then it may be regarded as less than authentic even if it is in al-Bukhary and Muslim”.

This person of Bida'a, based on two unknown Ph.D.s in the 20^st century decided to abolish the credibility of al-Bukhary and Muslim if they do not match what he or his like think! Subhank Allahum…سـبحانك اللهم . Sure Orientals will be so happy to publish such “ideas” to renew the science of critique of Hadith as the likes of Taha Elwani adopts, from whom Mr. Allay quotes:

Elwani said: “It is not my intention to cast doubts upon the works of al-Bukhary and Muslim (as if his words would have such effect!). Rather, what I am concerned with is serious scholarship and devoted academic attention to the matter of employing modern methods for the analysis and criticism of hadiths”.

What modern methods? Did Ahmad Shaker and Al-Albani and such great Hadith scholars, with hundreds of them before the present time, all failed to realize that Shabir and Elwani were pioneers of? What methods? He did not say! Do these methods allow individuals like this Bida'a person to criticize al-Bukhary and Muslim and reject their Hadith based on his own vision of Islam? Is this one of the methods Elwani means? The answer is yes, it is. He never said what methods he would like the scholars of Hadith to employ as it is only a tactic of casting doubts no more and no less.

He says: “if today’s scholars would apply as much energy to the study and and criticism of Hadith text as classical scholars (where did he get this categorization of scholars? Tactic to condemn scholars of Hadith as classical!) applied to the study of Isnads ..”

This is so bad. Classical scholars of Hadith! Starting with Malik and Ahmad and Yahya Ibn Maeen and Al-Nisaie and Al-termizie and Al-Boukari and Muslim, and Ibn Taymiyah and Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Katheer and Al-Shawkani and Ahmad shaker and Al-Albani and hundreds others....are bad people?!! Did they not realize such points? Did they fail to look into the Matn (text) of Hadith? I don’t know then what the science of “ailment of text” علة المتن means? This is what we call in Arabic “Poison rapped in Honey”, this sort of talk. As if Elwani is really anxious to develop the science of Hadith after 14 centuries of failure of by all these scholars to be smart enough to look into the matn. This is what you get when you live in USA and Canada. Now Dr Elwani, and his tails called followers, are bringing our scholars attention to that point? Such people Elwani and his follower should be ashamed of themselves.

First of all, the people he quoted are very well known as of Mu'tazilah background. They do not deny that. It is expressed in their books that the best sect of Islam were the Mu'tazilah! they appreciate the so-called “free stand” of the Mu'tazilah. They all belong to that International Institute of Islamic Thought of Virginia, USA. They try to dig into the words of Ibn Taymiyah and Ibn al-Qayyim and twist their words to match there opinions in a very sneaky way, as what Taha Jabir Elwani did in his book “Ibn Taymiyah and Islamiyat Al-Marifah”. This is exactly what these people did with the words of Ibn al-Qayyim in regards to the text of Hadith. They want to use Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyah to their advantage as they know how much the two are hard on Bida'a and how hard it would be to stand against them. They adopt the saying: If you cannot defeat him, get him on your side”. But, we ask, how come they didn’t mention what those two Ahlul Sunnah scholars say in regards to Sahih al-Bukhary and Muslim? The words this person used from the text by the Ibn al-Qayyim are to be understood in the following way:

1.      Any Sahih hadith, that is proven Sahih as in al-Bukhary and Muslim, will not contradict such principles.

2.      Those who can judge a text after they look into the chain and find out that the hadith does not go with such principles are the great Muhaditheen not even the normal scholars of hadith. This is called “the Hidden ailment of Hadith” العلل الخفية and it is considered by the people of Hadith critique as one of the most difficult and specialized sciences of terminology of Hadith sciences. Shabir can go back to any known books of Hadith to look that up, such as Introduction of Ibn Al-Salah, or Tadreeb Al-Rawi by Al-Suyooty, or Al-Baaeith Al-Hatheeth by Ahmad Shakir which is elaboration of Ibn Khatheer’s Mukhtasar Uloom Alhadith, or any other book of the terminology of hadith. So, the people who are allowed to look at the “ailment of text” علة المتن are only the greatest scholars of Hadith, not a Ph.D., only the great Hafiths.. such as Ibn al-Qayyim or Ibn Hajar.  I don’t think that the likes of Taha Jabir Elwani or this poor person can qualify amongst such scholars.

3.      It is only the Hawa of Nafs “desires of the self” that leads such people to attack the Sunnah and try to destroy the credibility of it by removing whatever stands against their pre-judgments. This is exactly what the so-called “the people of Quran” القرآنيون did, and what the Shiat did to disregard the companions' understanding of Quran & Sunnah altogether.  The totality of Shariah will not lead to what they are determined to adopt. This is exactly the way of Ahlul Bida'a.

4.      It is a false claim that the Hadith of the Prophet PBUH needs further critique of matn (text) to “clear it and make it match the understanding of the contemporary life”. Elwani claims that after 14 centuries of work on Hadith, now he discovered that they forgot to work on Matn of Hadith (as if the subject of “ailment of text” علة المتن was never discussed before). He wants to start it by declaring that al-Bukhary and Muslim need further work to remove whatever does not match their opinions? The result is poor people like this Shabir Ally fall into such traps and grab many behind them.

5.      Such claims have always been the path of the Orientals to penetrate our Aqida, such as:

o    D.S Margolioth: (1858-1940): Jewish from the UK.

o    H.A.D. Jibb (1895-1965)

o    Goldziher (1850-1921): A Jew, born Hungarian

o    Joseph Schacht

Such Orientals used what the Mu'tazilah ignorantly developed to attack Islam. This person is a humble ignorant student of such people.

Old Traits of Ahlul Bida'a

My Ally did not bring anything new to Muslims with such ideas. This Bida'a is Old. The claim that the knowledge of Allah is limited to the past and present has always been part of the claim of some sub-sects of Mu'tazilah, those who he claims to have great respect to. Many of Ahlul Sunnah scholars over the past ten centuries, including Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyah, have dismissed and exposed their Aqida. I have written a book (in Arabic) titled "The Mutazilah, between the past and the present" where the Bida'as of this sect is exposed including its the current followers.

We can detect the reasons of such twisted Aqida in the following reasons:

1. lack of knowledge in Shariah in general
2. Great lack of proper in depth reading in Shariah
3. Deep lack of understanding of the Arabic Language

This person should sincerely work on these two areas, and refrain from giving any guidance to any one until he is guided to the right pass. The Pharaoh of Egypt thought that he is leading his people to the right guidance, while he was actually leading them to hellfire. Paths of Shaytan are very fine and mysterious. Shaytan never leads a person to spread a 100% false Aqida. It is always a mixed bag so that the person himself is misguided by the truth that his words hold and encouraged to spread the poison imbedded in the rest.

قَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ مَا أُرِيكُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَرَى وَمَا أَهْدِيكُمْ إِلَّا سَبِيلَ الرَّشَادِ

"I but point out to you that which I see (myself); nor do I guide you but to the Path of Right!" Ghafer (40:29)

I advise this person not to be hasty in Dawa and try to study more. Every one he leads down this road will be a heavy stone tied around his neck into hellfire.

قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا

الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا

"Say: Shall we tell you of those who lose most in respect of their deeds? Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life. While they thought that they were acquiring good by their works?" Al-Kahf (18:104)

I would also ask Muslims to be aware of the astray points which that person is spreading and put him wherever he put himself, until and unless Allah puts him under His mercy and guide him to the right path.

To be continued with more details In Part II, InshaAllah.