An Introduction to the Lord of the Worlds – Day 7
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Please excuse the bad editing. WordPress tends to behave like a drama queen sometimes.]
8. He is the One who has prohibited that any partners be attributed to Him in any way whatsoever and He will not forgive the one who dies attributing partners to Him.
Let’s go though this step by step:
1) Shirk is the worst sin and it is not forgiven if one dies whilst committing it.
Shirk (the opposite of tawheed) is attributing partners to Allah and it is the most hated act in the sight of Allah – even more than acts like murder and rape. The one who dies committing shirk will reside in the Hellfire – forever.
[Pay attention to the “in the Sight of Allah” part because I’ll come back to it later.]
Allah says:
إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَىٰ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا
“Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but but He forgives whom he pleases sins less than that, and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.” [Surah An-Nisaa (4) : 48]
إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا
“Verily! Allah forgives not (the sin of) setting up partners in worship with Him, but He forgives whom he pleases sins less than that, and whoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, has indeed strayed far away.” [Surah An-Nisaa (4) : 116]
وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَانُ لِابْنِهِ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّـهِ ۖ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ
“And (remember) when Luqman said to his son when he was advising him: “O my son! Join not in worship others with Allh. Verily! Joining others in worship with Allah is a great dhulm (wrong) indeed.”” [Surah Luqman (31) : 13]
إِنَّهُ مَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَأْوَاهُ النَّارُ ۖ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ
وَلَقَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ وَإِلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكَ لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
سألت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : أي الذنب أعظم عند الله ؟ قال : ( أن تجعل لله ندا وهو خلقك ) . قلت : إن ذلك لعظيم ، قلت : ثم أي ؟ قال : ( وأن تقتل ولدك تخاف أن يطعم معك ) . قلت : ثم أي ؟ قال : ( أن تزاني حليلة جارك )
2) If one were to repent sincerely from shirk before he dies, Allah would forgive Him.
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّـهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
وَأَنِيبُوا إِلَىٰ رَبِّكُمْ وَأَسْلِمُوا لَهُ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمُ الْعَذَابُ ثُمَّ لَا تُنصَرُونَ
“Say: “O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah. Verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islamic Monotheism) to your Lord and submit to Him, (in Islam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped.” [Surah Az-Zumar (39) : 53-54]
So, Allah forgives all sins including shirk – provided that the person repents from it and does not die on it.
If the person dies whilst not repenting from it, then this is what causes him to reside in Hell forever.
3) If Allah is the Most Merciful then why wouldn’t He forgive the person who dies on shirk?
I mentioned in the second part of this series that we cannot just focus on one attribute of Allah and ignore the rest.
Yes, He is the Most Merciful and He is also strong in punishment.
It is from His Justice that the people who die on shirk are not forgiven.
Would it be just that He tells us that shirk is not forgiven, causing us to work hard and apply tawheed, only to forgive those who did not bother to apply tawheed? No, of course not.
It would be like asking students to take an exam and then giving an ‘A’ to all of them regardless of whether they actually passed or failed.
Is that mercy? No, it is not. It is actually injustice.
So, Allah is Just and this is why the disbelievers will be punished for eternity.
4) Allah will forgive the one who dies on tawheed (i.e. does not die on shirk) and will cause him to enter Paradise eventually.
قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كلمة ، وقلت أخرى ، قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : ( من مات وهو يدعو من دون الله ندا دخل النار ) . وقلت أنا : من مات وهو لا يدعو لله ندا دخل الجنة
Narrated Abdullah (radiallahu anhu): The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said one statement and I said another. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said “Whoever dies while still invoking anything other than Allah as a rival to Allah, will enter the Fire. And I said, “Whoever dies without invoking anything as a rival to Allah, will enter Paradise.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume No. 6, Hadeeth No. 24]
عن مُعاذٍ رضيَ اللهُ عنه قال: «كنتُ رِدْفَ النبيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلّم على حمارٍ يقال له عُفَير، فقال: يا مُعاذُ، هل تَدري حقَّ اللهِ على عبادهِ وما حقُّ العبادِ على الله؟ قلتُ: الله ورسولهُ أعلمُ. قال: فإنَّ حقَّ اللهِ على العِبادِ أن يَعبُدوهُ ولا يُشرِكوا بهِ شيئاً، وحقُّ العبادِ على اللهِ أن لا يُعذَّبَ من لا يُشركُ بهِ شيئاً، فقلتُ: يا رسولَ الله أفلا أُبشِّرُ بهِ الناسَ؟ قال: لا تُبشِّرهم فيتَّكِلوا
Narrated Muadh (radiallahu anhu): I was a companion rider of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) on a donkey called Ufair. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) asked, “O Muadh! Do you know what Allah’s right on His slaves is, and what the right of His slaves on Him is?” I replied, “Allah and His Messenger know better.” He said, “Allah’s right on His slaves is that they should worship Him (Alone) and should not worship any besides Him. And slave’s right on Allah is that He should not punish him who worships none besides Him.” I said, “O Messenger of Allah! Should I not inform the people of this good news?” He said, “Do not inform them of it, lest they should depend on it (absolutely).” [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume No. 4, Hadeeth No. 108]
So, tawheed is the Right of Allah and whoever dies fulfilling this right will be forgiven.
عَنِ الْمَعْرُورِ بْنِ سُوَيْدٍ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ أَبَا ذَرَ ، يُحَدِّثُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ: «أَتَانِي جِبْرِيلُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ. فَبَشَّرَنِي أَنَّهُ مَنْ مَاتَ مِنْ أُمَّتِكَ لاَ يُشْرِكُ بِالله شَيْئا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ. قُلْتُ: وَإِنْ زَنَى وَإِنْ سَرَقَ؟ قَالَ: وَإِنْ زَنَى وَإِنْ سَرَقَ».
“I heard Abu Dharr (radiallahu anhu) narrating from the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) that he said: Jibreel (alaihissalaam) came to me and gave me the tidings: Verily he who died amongst your Ummah without associating anything with Allah would enter Paradise. I (i.e. Abu Dharr) said: Even if he committed adultery and theft? He (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: (Yes), even if he committed adultery and theft.” [Sahih Muslim, Hadeeth No. 171]
Look at what Allah has to say to His slaves:
عن أَنَسُ بنُ مالِكٍ ، قال سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ الله يَقُولُ: «قالَ الله تَبَارَكَ وتعَالى: يا ابنَ آدَمَ إِنَّكَ مَا دَعَوْتَنِي وَرَجَوْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ عَلَى ما كانَ فِيكَ وَلاَ أُبَالِي. يا ابنَ آدَمَ لَوْ بَلَغَت ذُنُوبُكَ عَنَانَ السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ اسْتَغْفَرْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ وَلاَ أُبَالِي. يا ابنَ آدَمَ إنَّكَ لَوْ أَتَيْتَنِي بِقُرَابِ الأرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتَنِي لاَ تُشْرِكُ بي شَيْئاً لأَتَيْتُكَ بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً»
Anas ibn Malik (radiallahu anhu) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: “Allah, Blessed is He and Most High said: ‘O son of Adam! Verily, as long as you called upon Me, and hoped in Me, I forgave you, despite whatever may have occurred from you, and I did not mind. O son of Adam! Were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky, then you sought forgiveness from Me, I would forgive you, and I would not mind. O son of Adam! If you came to me with sins nearly as great as the earth, and then you met Me not associating anything with Me, I would come to you with forgiveness, nearly as great as it is.’” [Sunan At-Tirmidhi, Hadeeth no. 3540. Classed “sahih” Al-Albani in Sahih Sunan At-Timidhi, Hadeeth no. 3540.]
[Read this article to see what the disbelievers will say when the sinful Muslims are pulled out of the Fire.]
So, we should always take care to apply tawheed and avoid shirk, and hope to attain Allah’s Mercy due to this.
5) The biggest regret for the disbelievers on the Last Day will be that they equated others to the Lord of the Worlds.
وَبُرِّزَتِ الْجَحِيمُ لِلْغَاوِينَ
“And the (Hell) Fire will be placed in full view of the erring.”
وَقِيلَ لَهُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْبُدُونَ
“And it will be said to them: “Where are those (the false gods whom you used to set up as rivals with Allah) that you used to worship,””
مِن دُونِ اللَّـهِ هَلْ يَنصُرُونَكُمْ أَوْ يَنتَصِرُونَ
“Instead of Allah? Can they help you or (even) help themselves?”
فَكُبْكِبُوا فِيهَا هُمْ وَالْغَاوُونَ
“Then they will be thrown on their faces into the (Fire), They and the Ghawoon (devils, and those who were in error).”
وَجُنُودُ إِبْلِيسَ أَجْمَعُونَ
“And the whole hosts of Iblees (Shaytaan i.e. the devil) together.”
قَالُوا وَهُمْ فِيهَا يَخْتَصِمُونَ
“They will say while contending therein,”
تَاللَّـهِ إِن كُنَّا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ
“By Allah, we were truly in a manifest error,”
إِذْ نُسَوِّيكُم بِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
“When We held you (false gods) as equals (in worship) with the Lord of the Alameen (mankind, jinns and all that exists);”
[Surah Ash-Shuara (26) : 91-98]
This is why we need to learn about Allah, His Rights over us and His Names and Attributes – so that we don’t unknowingly equate anything with Him.
With regards to His Names and Attributes (which are all derived from the Quran and the Sunnah), people tend to to make two mistakes:
a) They give human beings Allah’s Attributes e.g. the Christians did this to Isa (alaihisallam).
b) They give Allah the attributes of human beings e.g. when the People of the Book say that Allah got tired after creating the heavens and the earth and had to take a rest!
Insha-Allah, I’ll give some more examples of this in future posts.
6) Shirk goes against the fitrah (innate nature), and it goes against the covenant we made with Allah.
عنِ النبي صلى الله عليه وسلّم قال: يقولُ الله تعالى لأِهْوَنِ أهلِ النار عذاباً يومَ القيامة: لو أنَّ لكَ ما في الأرض من شيء أكنتَ تَفتَدي به؟ فيقول: نعم. فيقول: أردتُ منك أهْوَنَ من هذا وأنت في صُلب آدمَ: أن لا تُشرِكَ بي شيئاً، فأبيتَ إلا أَن تُشرِك بي
The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: “Allah will say to the person who will have the minimum punishment in the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, ‘If you had things equal to whatever is on the earth, would you ransom yourself (from the punishment) with it?’ He will reply, Yes. Allah will say, ‘I asked you a much easier thing than this while you were in the backbone of Adam, that is, not to worship others besides Me, but you refused and insisted on worshipping others besides Me.”‘ [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume No. 8, Hadeeth No. 562]
[Note: this person is Abu Taalib, the uncle of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) as is obvious from other ahadeeth.]
Backbone of Adam, you say?
Yes, we were all pulled out and we all testified to worship Allah alone.
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَا ۛ أَن تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَـٰذَا غَافِلِينَ
أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِّن بَعْدِهِمْ ۖ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ
“And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam’s loin, his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): “Am I not your Lord?” They said: “Yes! We testify,” lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: “Verily, we have been unaware of this.” Or lest you should say: “It was only our fathers aforetime who took others as partners in worship along with Allah, and we were (merely their) descendants after them; will You then destroy us because of the deeds of men who practised Al-Baatil (i.e. polytheism and committing crimes and sins, invoking and worshipping others besides Allah)?” [Surah Al-Araaf (7) : 172-173]
“I don’t remember!”
Don’t worry, your fitrah (innate nature) does. That’s why everyone knows deep down that tawheed is correct and that shirk is wrong.
Now, someone might say “Hey, does this all mean that a murderer who dies on tawheed will eventually enter Paradise but a kind, generous disbeliever who dies on shirk will spend the rest of his life in the Hellfire? I can’t believe it!”
Well, believe it because that’s the truth.
Insha-Allah, in tomorrow’s post, I’ll give you a few examples as to why it makes perfect sense and I’ll also talk more about shirk.
PS. I told you that this series was different. I’m not sure what your thoughts are about that though.
The Greatest Month 