Sharh-ul-Usool-ith-Thalaathah : Lesson 17 Part B
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]
Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab (rahimahullaah) said:
فإذَا قيلَ لكَ بما عرفْتَ ربَّك؟ فقُل بآياتِه ومخلوقاتِه
So if it is said to you, “How did you come to know of your Lord”, then say, “through His Signs and those things which He has created” 5
[5]: Shaykh Fawzan’s Explanation:
You have said, “My Lord is Allaah”, or, “My Lord is Allaah Who nurtured me with His favours”. So what is the proof that Allaah is your Lord who nurtured you with His favours? So the Shaikh brought proofs from the revelation and from the intellect as will follow. So if it is said to you, “How did you come to know of your Lord?”, because whoever claims something, then he must establish proof upon his claim:
And claims if the people do not establish proof
For them, then their people are mere claimants
Everyone who makes a claim must establish the proof for his claim, otherwise his claim will not be correct. You have said, “My Lord is Allaah who nurtured me and nurtured the whole of the creation through His favours”. What is the proof? Then say, “The proof is His Signs and those things which He has created”.
Al-Aayaat is the plural of aayah and the word aayah in the language is a sign showing something and indicating something, just as he sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said:
آية المنافق ثلاث
“The aayah (sign) of the hypocrite is in three”[1]
[1] Reported by al-Bukhaaree (33) and by Muslim (59) from a hadeeth of Aboo Hurayrah radiy Allaahu ‘anhu
Meaning his sign.
His saying, “through His Signs”: meaning the Signs and the proofs which indicate Him, He the Perfect and Most High. So all of these created beings which you see, all of them were non-existent, and then Allaah produced them and created them by His Ability, He the Perfect and Most High. And from them are created beings which are constantly renewed such as plants and the newborn, and things which were not present and then they came about, and you look upon them – who is the one who created them? He is Allaah the Perfect and Most High. Do they create themselves?, did anyone from mankind create them? No-one can claim this, and no-one is able to claim it.
He the Most High said:
أَمْ خُلِقُوا مِنْ غَيْرِ شَيْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَالِقُونَ
أَمْ خَلَقُوا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۚ بَل لَّا يُوقِنُونَ
Or were they created without any creator, or are they themselves the creators, or did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather they do not have certain faith [52:35-36]
These things did not produce themselves, nor were they produced by others from the created beings at all, and no-one can ever create a tree or a gnat or a fly:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ لَن يَخْلُقُوا ذُبَابًا وَلَوِ اجْتَمَعُوا لَهُ
Those whom you call upon besides Allaah, they can never create even a fly, even if they gathered together to do it [22:73]
So this creation proves the Creator, He the Perfect and Most High, and therefore, when it was said unexpectedly to the bedouin man, “How did you come to know about your Lord?”. He responded, “The piece of camel dung proves that there is a camel, and the footprint proves that there is a man who is travelling. Does not this creation prove, the One Who is Subtle and Kind, the One Who is All-Aware?”
So when you see a footprint upon the ground, does it not prove to you that someone has walked upon this ground, if you see a piece of camel dung does it not prove to you that there are camels upon this land or that a camel has passed by? A piece of camel dung proves that there has been a camel, and a footprint prove that somebody has passed by.
Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab (rahimahullaah) said:
ومِنْ آياتِه الليلُ والنهارُ والشمسُ والقمرُ، ومِنْ مخلوقاتِه السمواتُ السَّبْعُ والأَرْضُونَ السَّبع ومَا فيهنَّ وما بينهما
And from His Signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon, and from that which He has created are the seven heavens and the seven earths and whatever is within them and whatever is between them.6
[6]: Shaykh Fawzan’s Explanation:
His saying, “And from His Signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon”: so the aayaat (Signs) are of two categories:
The first category: Ayaatun Kawniyyah, His Signs within the creation which we can see, such as the heavens and the earth and the stars and the sun and the moon and the mountains and the trees and the oceans. They are called Signs because they contain signs proving their Creator, He the Perfect and Most High, and therefore poet Abul-Ataahiyah said:
So how strange, how can the One deserving worship be disobeyed
Or how can the one who denies deny Him?
When everything contains a Sign for Him
Proving that He is One
And there is a witness for Allaah in every movement
And every stillness of the creation
How can anyone deny Allaah the Majestic and Most High and saying there is no Lord for this whole creation, and that these created beings came about without any creator. And if they did come about through a creator, then who is this creator besides Allaah the Majestic and Most High, explain to me. You will not find a creator besides Allaah the Perfect and Most High:
أَمْ جَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ خَلَقُوا كَخَلْقِهِ فَتَشَابَهَ الْخَلْقُ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ قُلِ اللَّهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ
Or do they set up partners for Allaah who create with the like of His creation so that the creation is obscured for them. Say: Allaah is the Creator of everything and He is the One, the Overwhelming Subduer [13:16]
The second category: al-Aayaat-ul-Qur’aaniyyah, aayahs of the Qur’aan which are recited from the revelation which has been sent down to the Messenger sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, all of these prove the existence of the Lord, the Perfect and Most High, and His Perfection and His Attributes and His Names, and that He is the One deserving of worship, He alone with no partner, all of them prove that, the creational Signs and the aayahs of the Qur’aan.
The creational Signs prove their Creator, and the One Who brought them into existence and the One Who controls them. And the aayahs of the Qur’aan contain the command to worship Allaah and they contain affirmation of tawheed of Lordship and using it as a proof for tawheed of worship. And the command to worship Allaah the Perfect and Most High, all of the Qur’aan is concentrated upon this meaning and it was sent down for this meaning.
And from His Signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon, these are from the greatest Signs of Allaah the Perfect and Most High, the dark night which covers this creation, and the bright day which brings light to this creation, so that they can go about for their work. He the Most High said:
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِن جَعَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمُ اللَّيْلَ سَرْمَدًا إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ مَنْ إِلَٰهٌ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ يَأْتِيكُم بِضِيَاءٍ ۖ أَفَلَا تَسْمَعُونَ
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِن جَعَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمُ النَّهَارَ سَرْمَدًا إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ مَنْ إِلَٰهٌ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ يَأْتِيكُم بِلَيْلٍ تَسْكُنُونَ فِيهِ ۖ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ
وَمِن رَّحْمَتِهِ جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ لِتَسْكُنُوا فِيهِ وَلِتَبْتَغُوا مِن فَضْلِهِ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
Say: Do you see if Allaah made the night continuous upon you until the Day of Resurrection, what deity besides Allaah could bring you light? Will you not then listen?
Say: Do you see if Allaah made the day continuous upon you until the Day of Resurrection, what deity besides Allaah could bring you night-time in which you could rest? Will you not see?
And from His Mercy upon you is that He has made the night and the day so that you may rest therein and seek of His bounty and that you should be thankful. [28:71-73]
This is from the greatest of the Signs of Allaah, this night and this day. The whole time is not night and the whole of time is not day, because if that were the case then the welfare of the people would be lost and they would become fatigued.
Allaah made the night and the day to follow each other in succession for them and then the night and the day are ordered, neither of them clashes nor do they alter, upon a single ordered system which proves the wisdom of the All-Wise One, He the Perfect and Most High.
The actions of the servants and that which they make end in destruction, and they clash with each other whatever they may be and they stop working.
As for the things created by Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, then they do not become destroyed, except at the time when Allaah permits their destruction. So the night and the day continue, neither of them ceases working, whereas things made by the creation stop working and come to destruction and perish no matter how strong they are and how large they are.
So how many abandoned cars do you see and planes and ships even though they were strong and had been taken care of, yet they end in destruction and they stop working. Does the night-time stop working or does the day-time stop working? No, because its maker has full Ability and is All-Wise, He the Majestic and Most High:
صُنْعَ اللَّهِ الَّذِي أَتْقَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ
The creation of Allaah who has made everything firmly and precisely. [27:88]
—
Sharh-ul-Usool-ith-Thalaathah. Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles of Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab by Shaykh Saalih ibn Fowzaan al-Fowzaan hafizahullaah. Translated by Daawood Burbank, rahimahullaah
Posted with kind permission from Dawud Burbank rahimahullaah
—
Listen to the Full Audio Series:
Sharh Usool-ith-Thalaathah – Shaykh Fawzan | Dawud Burbank
Book Study Resources – Three Fundamental Principles
Related Links: