Al-^Aqidah An-Nasafiyyah
The astute Hanafi
scholar and authority of Hadith Abu Hafs
Najmuddin ^Umar Bin Ahmad Bin Luqman An-Nasafiyy
(461AH-537AH) said:
The people of truth said: The
realities of things exist firmly and knowing them-- contrary[1] to what the Sophists[2] say-- is established.
The reasons of knowledge for the creations are
three the sound senses, the truthful news and the mind. The senses are the
hearing, the sight, the olfaction (smell), the taste and the touch. With each
of these senses one encounters that which it was created for.[3]
The truthful news is of two kinds: one of them
is the confirmed news that is transmitted by Tawatur[4] by people whom the mind
does not perceive their collaboration to tell a lie, and it establishes the
necessary knowledge[5]
such as the knowledge of the previous kings of the ancient times and the
knowledge of the far countries. The second kind is the news of the Prophet
which is supported by a miracle[6] and it establishes the
indicative knowledge[7]. The confirmed knowledge
of it is equivalent to the necessarily confirmed knowledge in certainty and
confirmation and it is also a reason for knowledge.[8]
As to the mind[9] it is also a reason for
knowledge. What is inherently confirmed of it is a necessary knowledge such as
knowing that everything is larger than its part and what is indicatively
confirmed of it is an acquired knowledge. To the people of truth inspiration[10] is not among the reasons that
establish knowing the truthfulness of a certain thing.
The Universe with all its
parts is created since it is composed of entities and qualities[11]. The entities are the
things that have a standing of their own and they are either compounded such as
the body or not compounded such as the jawhar-atom
which is the indivisible part[12]. The quality is the thing
that does not have a standing of its own but rather exists in bodies and jawhar-atoms
such as colors, manner of status (attached, detached, mobile, and immobile),
tastes and odors.
The creator of the universe
is Allah who is attributed by being One[13], without a beginning,
Alive, Powerful, Knowledgeable, Hearing, Seeing, Willing. He is not a quality
or a body or a jawhar-atom or pictured or limited or counted or has
parts or composed of parts or ends at a limit. He is not attributed with a kind
or resemblance to the creation or being established in a place or being subject
to time. Nothing is like Him and nothing escapes His Knowledge and Power. He is
attributed with Eternal and Everlasting Attributes[14] that are confirmed to
Him. His Attributes are neither His Reality nor other than His Reality[15]. They are Knowledge,
Power, Life, Quwwah-Power, Hearing, Sight, Will, Doing, Creating,
Sustaining, and Speech. He Speaks with an Eternal and Everlasting Speech which
is not of the kind of letters and sounds and it is an attribute that negates
silence and defect. With it Allah Speaks, Orders, Prohibits and
Informs.
The Qur'an—the Speech of Allah
the Exalted—is not created, it is written in our books of Qur'an, retained in our hearts,
recited with our tongues, heard with our ears and is not incarnated in them.
Creating[16] is an Eternal and
Everlasting Attribute of Allah and it entails creating the
universe and every part of its parts at the time of their existence and, to us[17], it is other than what is
created.
The Will is an Eternal and Everlasting
Attribute that is confirmed to Him. And seeing Allah the Exalted
is permissible in the judgment of the mind and must occur as per the conveyed
texts and the existent textual proofs establishing that the believers must see Allah
the exalted in the Hereafter. Hence, He will be seen without a place or
direction or facing or ray connection or a distance between the seer and Allah
the Exalted.
Allah the Exalted is the Creator of the actions of the slaves be
it blasphemy, belief, obedience and disobedience all of which are by His Will,
Ruling, Creating and Destining. The slaves do voluntary action
The unlawful is called sustenance and everyone
collects his sustenance whether lawful or unlawful. It is not perceived that a
person does not consume his sustenance or that other than him consumes it.
Allah the Exalted makes whomever
He Willed misguided and guides whomever He Willed. What is best for the slave
is not obligatory upon Allah the Exalted[20].
The torture of the grave for the blasphemers
and some of the sinful believers and the enjoyments therein for the obedient
people and the questioning by Munkar and Nakir are
confirmed by the indications of the conveyed texts. Resurrection is true,
Weighing is true, the Book is true, the Questioning is true, the Basin is true,
the Bridge is true, Paradise is true, the Fire is true and both are now created
and exist and will remain and will not annihilate and their occupants will not
annihilate. The enormous sin does not take the slave out of belief and does not
make him engaged in blasphemy. Allah the Exalted does not forgive that one
associates partners with Him and forgives what is less than that among small
and enormous sins to whomever He Wills. It is permissible to punish for the
small sin and forgive the enormous sin so long one does not legitimize them and
legitimizing them is blasphemy. The intercession for the enormous sinners by
the Messengers and the choicest ones is confirmed in abundant reports. The
enormous sinners among the believers do not stay forever in the Fire even if
they die without repentance.
The belief is to believe in what came from Allah
the Exalted and to consent to it. As to the doings they inherently increase and
the belief does not increase or decrease[21]. Belief and Islam are one
and the same and if found in the slave that he believes and consents to it then
it is valid for one to say I am a true believer and one ought not to say, 'I
am, God willing, a believer'[22].
The one who appears to have a sound standing
may turn and have a bad standing and the one who appears to have a bad standing
may turn and have a good standing. The change pertains to having a good and a
bad standing, however, Decreeing one to die as a believer or as a blasphemer is
an Attribute of Allah and Allah and His Attributes
do not change.[23]
There is a wisdom in sending Messengers and Allah the Exalted did send Messengers among humans
to humans giving good tidings and warning and elucidating to the people that which
they need among the worldly and religious matters and supported the Messengers
with miracles that revoke the ordinary course of events.
The first of the Prophets was Adam,
peace be upon him, and the last was Mohammad, sallallahu
^alayhi wa sallam. Their numbers were narrated in some sayings attributed
to the Prophet; however, it is better to not limit them to a number since Allah
the Exalted said in Surah Ghafir, Ayah 78:
æóáóÞóÏú ÃóÑúÓóáúäóÇ ÑõÓõáÇð
ãøöä ÞóÈúáößó ãöäúåõã ãøóä ÞóÕóÕúäóÇ Úóáóíúßó æóãöäúåõã ãøóä áøóãú äóÞúÕõÕú
Úóáóíúßó
The Ayah
means: we did aforetime send Messengers before you: of them there are some
whose story We have related to you, and some whose story We have not related to
you.
With specifying a number one
is not safe from including with them one who is not among them or excluding
from them one who is among them and all of them have been conveying from Allah
the Exalted and giving advice.
The best of the Prophets is
Mohammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam. The Angels who
are the slaves of Allah and function by His orders are not
attributed with masculinity and femininity. Allah the Exalted has
books that He sent down unto His Prophets in which He elucidated His orders,
prohibitions, promises and threats.
The Ascension of the Messenger of Allah,
sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, while awake and in person,
to the sky and to wherever heights of the upper dominion Allah
willed is true.
The karamahs
of the Alwaya' [24]is true, hence, Allah
reveals the karamah for the waliyy by revoking the
ordinary course of events such as crossing a far distance in a short time and
the appearance of food, drink and clothing whenever needed and walking on water
and flying in the air and the talking of inanimate bodies and animals and other
than that. This happening of the karamah stand as a miracle for
the Messenger to whom the karamah has appeared for a member of
his nation revealing that he is a waliyy--who will not be a waliyy
unless he is truthful in his religiosity and his religiosity pertains to
consenting to the message of his Messenger.
The best of the humans after our Prophet, sallallahu
^alayhi wa sallam, is Abu Bakr as-Siddiq
then ^Umar al-Faruq then ^Uthman Dhun-Nurayn
then ^Aliyy the one who is accepted, may Allah accept the deeds
of all of them. Their Caliphate in the aforementioned order is confirmed. The
Caliphate[25]
lasted thirty years after which came reigns and emirates.
The Muslims must have an Imam to execute their
judgments and enforce their punishments and fortify their borderline cities and
equip their armies and collect their Zakat and defeat the invaders, the
thieves and the way layers, and to carry out the Friday congregations and
feasts and to stop the disputes that occur between the slaves and to accept the
testimonies that establish the rights and to conduct the marriage of the young
and less privileged who have no guardians and to distribute the spoils and
other than that.
The Imam ought to be apparently present and
not be absent in a concealed manner and not
be expected to yet appear and must be from the tribe of Quraysh and
impermissible to be from others. He is not exclusive to the offspring of Hashim
and the sons of ^Aliyy may Allah accept his deeds. It is
not conditional that he would be impeccable[26] or the best of the people
of his time. It is conditional that he would be attributed with absolute and
complete uprightness and management. He should be capable of leading, and
executing the judgments, and protecting the borderlines of the abode of Islam, and
giving justice to one who suffered injustice from another. The Imam is not
removed due to committing iniquities or injustice[27].
It is permissible to pray behind every
meritorious and doer of iniquities and the prayer is offered to every
meritorious and doer of iniquities who dies. Generally due is the abstinence
from mentioning the companions except for what is good[28].
We profess the earning of paradise to the Ten
to whom the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, gave
the good tidings of having earned paradise. We believe in wiping over the khuff-footgear
while traveling and in the city of dwelling. We do not deem unlawful to drink
the date-soaked water[29].
Categorically, no waliyy attains to the
status of the Prophets and the slave does not reach a stage whereby he will be
relieved of obligations and prohibitions. The texts of the Book and the sayings
of the Prophet are to be taken as per their apparent meanings[30] and reverting to other
meanings claimed by the people of al-Batin[31]is an act of atheism and rejecting
the texts is blasphemous. Deeming a sin lawful is blasphemous and being
negligent of its proper judgment[32] is blasphemous and
mocking the rules of the religion is blasphemous and despairing of the Mercy of
Allah the Exalted is
blasphemous and consenting to safety from the punishment of Allah[33] is blasphemous and believing a Soothsayer who
tells one about the unforeseen is blasphemous.
What is annihilated is not a thing that
exists.
The supplication of the living for the dead
and giving charity on their behalf contain a benefit for them. Allah
the Exalted answers the supplications and satisfies the needs.
What the Prophet, sallallahu
^alayhi wa sallam, informed about among the conditions of the happening of
the Day of Judgment such as the appearance of the false Messiah and the Animal
of the Earth and Gog and Magog and the descent of ^Isa,
peace be upon him, from the sky and the rising of the sun from where it sets is
true.
The Mujtahid[34] might be wrong and might
be correct.
The Messengers among the humans are better
than the Messengers among the Angels and the Messengers among the Angels are
better than the general people (who are Awliya') and the general
people (who are Awliya') are better than the general Angels.
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[1] All faiths and groups consent to the true existence of things except the Sophists.
2 Sophists, a Greek faction of the 5th century BCE, believe that things do not exist in reality but are only true for the person whose appearance or belief they are.
[3] What we hear, see, smell, taste and touch definitely and certainly exist. The custom is that what we experience with one sense we do not experience with another; however, the judgment of the mind allows experiencing it with another sense if Allah willed.
[4] The news transmitted in the first place by a large number of people to a large number of people and so on in a manner that the mind does not accept that they all collaborate to fabricate the news in concern. The news of the crucifixion of Jesus, peace be upon him, is not by Tawatur.
[5] This knowledge does
not rely on a process of deduction and indicators and it establishes certain
knowledge such as the existence of
[6] The Miracle is an extraordinary matter intended to reveal the truthfulness of the one who claims the status of Prophethood. It cannot be imitated by others on the grounds of refuting the claim. This knowledge is also definite like the knowledge provided by the news transmitted by Tawatur that rely on hearing or sighting the event.
[7] This knowledge is established through the process of deduction and indicators and soundly exploring the proofs therein. This knowledge is also definite like the knowledge provided by the news transmitted by Tawatur that rely on hearing or sighting the event.
[8] This knowledge is also definite like the knowledge provided by the news transmitted by Tawatur that rely on hearing or sighting the event.
[9] Refers to the sound judgments of the mind applied to the matter at hand.
[10] The inspiration received by a waliyy (a highly upright person) is not among the reasons that establish a definite knowledge and the dream is even less so.
[11] Entities and Qualities are referred to in Arabic as A^yan and A^rad respectively.
[12] Jawhar-atom is referred to in Arabic as Jawhar or Al-Jawhar Al-fard and it is the smallest part of the body after which it is indivisible.
[13] One means Allah has no partners.
[14] The Attributes of Allah are without beginning or ending, do not change or develop and not similar to the attributes of the creation. Hence, His Life is not with a body and soul and He Hears and Sees without an ear or a pupil.
[15] His Attributes are neither attached to Him nor detached from Him, rather they are confirmed to Him and the mind does not perceive the existence of His Reality without His Attributes. We know Allah by knowing His Attributes and no one knows the Reality of Allah but Allah.
[16] The Arabic term used in the text is At-Takwin which means creating everything the way it is.
[17] Refers to the Maturidiyys.
[18] The soundness of the instruments is created before the action rendering the person accountable.
[19] Contrary to the saying of Al-Ka^biyy of the Mu^tazilites who said the killed person has two death times death and being killed.
[20] This statement refutes the Mu^tazilites who claim that Allah is obligated to do what is best for the slave.
[21] Refers to the fundamental belief and that it does not increase or decrease.
[22] This statement reflects either doubt in ones belief which is blasphemous or portrays a delusion of doubt in the case when said to be polite with Allah and in such an event it is better for one to not say.
[23] If Allah Willed for one to die as a believer or a blasphemer he will die as such and will not change.
[24] Plural of waliyy
who is a highly upright Muslim who performs all the obligations and refrain
[25] Refers to the Rightly Guided Caliphate which ended by the Caliphate of Al-Hasan bin ^Ali.
[26] The Imam may commit sins.
[27] Contrary to Sayyid Qutb
who call
[28] It is permissible though to mention a due warning against one of them as the Prophet did.
[29] It is permissible to drink Nabidh at-Tamr before it becomes intoxicating.
[30] This means it is not permissible to ascribe meanings to the religious texts of Qur'an and Hadith different from the apparent without intellectual or textual proofs that necessitate inferring a different meaning.
[31] The people of al-Batin claim there are concealed esoteric and intrinsic meanings to the texts.
[32] That is to deem the sins not punishable or judge a commonly well known enormous sin as minor.
[33] To believe Allah does not forgive sins for any one and does not punish any one.
[34] An advanced caliber of a scholar who possesses the necessary qualifications to deduce judgments.