Kitaab At-Tawheed, Chapter: 57
What Has Been Said About Those Who Deny Allah's Qadr
Ibn `Umar (ra) said: "By Him in Whose Hand is the soul of Ibn `Umar, if anyone possessed gold as much as the mountain of Uhud and spent it in Allah's cause, Allah would not accept it from him unless he believed in Allah's Qadr." Then he cited as evidence the words of the Prophet : "Eemaan (faith) is to believe in (i) Allah , (ii) His angels, (iii) His revealed Books, (iv) His Messengers, (v) the Day of Resurrection and (vi) Al-Qadr, both the good and bad of it."
In this narration, `Abdullah Ibn `Umar (ra) swears by Allah, that no matter how much wealth a person may spend in Allah's cause, no matter how many righteous deeds he may perform, it will benefit him nothing and Allah will not accept it from him if he does not believe in Allah's Qadr; this is because belief in, it is one of the six pillars of faith as expounded by the Messenger of Allah in a well known authentic Hadith, known as the Hadith of Jibreel (as ) in which he visited the Prophet in human form in front of a number of the Companions and questioned him about Islam in order to teach the Muslims their faith. This Hadith, Ibn `Umar (ra) cited as proof for what he had said concerning the obligation of belief in Allah's Qadr.
Benefits Derived From This Narration
1. That faith consists of six pillars without all of which, faith is invalid.
2. That good and evil are by Allah's Decree (Qadr) and His Decision (Qadhaa`).
3. The permissibility of swearing to something which is beneficial to the community.
4. The virtue of confirming the truth of important juristic rulings by swearing to them.
Relevance of This Narration to the Subject of the Chapter
That it proves that those who reject Allah's Qadr are disbelievers.
Relevance of This Narration to the Subject of Tawheed
That it proves that whoever rejects Allah's Qadr is a disbeliever, because denial of Al-Qadr is a form of Shirk in Rabbship.
Important Note
(a) Al-Qadr consists of four levels: (i) Allah's Knowledge of events before they take place; (ii) His having written them before the creation of all things; (iii) His irresistable Will, which none in creation can evade, nor can they evade His Deeds (iv) His creation of all things, in which He has no partners - and all besides Him is created.
(b) The Prophet said, in the above-mentioned Hadith that faith is to believe in His Qadr, both the good and the bad of it, while in another Hadith, he said: "...and evil is not from You." There is no contradiction here, for what is meant by the latter Hadith is that, while Allah created evil and ordained it, He does not do evil. It may be said that when Allah ordains evil for a person, it is only evil from the point of view of that person, for it is an affliction sent to him because of some sins he has committed; however, in Allah's Sight, it is not an evil, for it represents Allah's Wisdom, Justice and Knowledge.
..ooOOoo..
It is reported on the authority of `Ubadah Ibn As-Samit (ra) that he said to his son: "Oh, son! You will never taste true faith until you know that whatever afflicts you would not have missed you, and whatever has missed you would never have come to you. I heard the Messenger of Allah say: "The first thing Allah created was the pen; He commanded it to write. It said: "My Rabb! What shall I write?" He said: "Write down what has been ordained for all things until the establishment of the Hour." Oh, my son! I heard Allah's Messenger say: "Whoever dies believing something other than this does not belong to me." In another narration by Imam Ahmad, it was reported: "Verily, the first thing which Allah , Most High, created was the pen, and He said to it: "Write;" and in that very hour all what was to occur (was written) up to the Day of Resurrection." In another version from Ibn Wahab, it was said: "Allah's Messenger said: "Whoever disbelieved in Al-Qadr, the good and the bad of it, will be burnt in the Hell-fire."
In this Hadith, `Ubadah Ibn As-Samit (ra) advised his son that faith has a taste and that none shall savour it except one who believes in Allah's Qadhaa` (Decision) and His Qadr, the good and the bad of it. As proof, he cited the Hadith of the Prophet in which he informed us that Allah commanded the pen to write the destiny of all things up to the Day of Resurrection and that whoever died without believing in Allah's Qadaa` and His Qadr would be outside the fold of Islam and that his eternal abode would be the Hell-fire where he would burn forever - a wretched end.
Benefits Derived From This Hadith
1. The lawfulness of a father advising and teaching his sons.
2. The precise understanding of the Companions of matters pertaining to Allah's Qadr and their faith in it.
3. That the first of all created things was the pen.
4. Confirmation of Allah's Divine Attribute of Speech, in a manner befitting His Majesty.
5. That whoever rejected Allah's Qadr is a disbeliever.
6. That it is the last acts in a person's life which are important.
7. Confirmation of Allah's Promise of punishment for those who deny His Qadr.
Relevance of This Hadith to the Subject of the Chapter
That the Hadith proves that whoever rejected Allah's Qadr is a disbeliever.
Relevance of This Hadith to the Subject of Tawheed
That the Hadith proves that whoever denied Allah's Qadr is a disbeliever because this is Shirk in Rabbship.
Important Note
Which was created first, the Throne or the pen? It has been said that it was the Throne by some and by others it was said the pen. Those who said the pen cited as proof the above Hadith, understanding the word `pen' to be the object of the verb `created,' while those who said that the Throne was created first cited as evidence a number of authentic Ahadith which support this view. The latter group would therefore understand the first Hadith to say: "Verily, directly after creating the pen, Allah commanded it to write..."
..ooOOoo..
In Imam Ahmad's Musnad and in the Sunan of Abu Dawood, it is reported that Ibn Ad-Dailami said: "I went to Ubayy Ibn Ka'ab and said to him: "There is some doubt within me concerning Al-Qadr; please tell me of something by which Allah might take it (the doubt) from my heart." He said: "Even were you to spend gold equivalent in weight to the mountain of Uhud, Allah would not accept it from you until you believe in Al-Qadr. And know that what has afflicted you could not be avoided and what did not come to you could never be attained; and if you die believing other than this, then you are one of the people of the Hell-fire."
I then went to `Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood, Huzaifah Ibn Al-Yaman, Zaid Ibn Thaabit (ra) and all of them told me something similar from the Prophet ." (Narrated by Al-Hakim, who graded it authentic)
Ibn Ad-Dailami informs us in this narration that he was afflicted by doubts concerning Allah's Qadr, and so he went to Ubayy Ibn Ka'ab (ra) to seek counsel and guidance from him in the hope that he might teach him something which would assuage his doubts. Ubayy (ra) then narrated to him a Hadith of the Prophet which explained in simple terms what belief in Allah's Qadr entails: That whatever was written for us will happen and whatever was not written will never happen and that whoever disbelieves in Al-Qadr is a disbeliever in Allah who will never taste the fruits of success, even if he were to perform innumerable good deeds. Then, in order to make assurance doubly sure, Ibn Ad-Dailami went to a number of other Companions and asked them the same question, only to receive a similar answer from all of them.
Benefits Derived From This Narration
1. The obligation to seek guidance from the people of knowledge in matters of which one is ignorant.
2. The breadth of the Companions' knowledge and understanding of Islamic beliefs and jurisprudence.
3. That those who deny Al-Qadr are disbelievers.
4. That the most important deeds are those performed before a person dies.
Relevance of This Narration to the Subject of the Chapter
That it proves that whoever denied Al-Qadr is a disbeliever.
Relevance of This Narration to the Subject of Tawheed
That it proves that whoever rejected Allah's Qadr is guilty of disbelief because this constitutes Shirk in Rabbship.