Sunday 18th Nov 2018
Lesson 9: Belief in the Angels, Books and Messengers
- We are currently on Hadith 2 (which we started in lesson 4);
- Also on the authority of `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: “While we were one day sitting with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) there appeared before us a man dressed in extremely white clothes and with very black hair. No traces of journeying were visible on him, and none of us knew him. He sat down close by the Prophet (ﷺ) rested his knees against the knees of the Prophet (ﷺ) and placed his palms over his thighs, and said: “O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied: “Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger (ﷺ), that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah, fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka`bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it).” He said: “You have spoken the truth.” We were astonished at his thus questioning him (ﷺ) and then telling him that he was right, but he went on to say, “Inform me about Iman (faith).” He (the Prophet) answered, “It is that you believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in the Last Day, and in fate (qadar), both in its good and in its evil aspects.” He said, “You have spoken the truth.” Then he (the man) said, “Inform me about Ihsan.” He (the Prophet) answered, “It is that you should serve Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him yet He sees you.” He said, “Inform me about the Hour.” He (the Prophet) said, “About that the one questioned knows no more than the questioner.” So he said, “Then, inform me about its signs.” He said, “They are that the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress and that you will see the barefooted ones, the naked, the destitute, the herdsmen of the sheep (competing with each other) in raising lofty buildings.” Thereupon the man went off. I waited a while, and then he (the Prophet) said, “O `Umar, do you know who that questioner was?” I replied, “Allah and His Messenger know better.” He said, “That was Jibreel. He came to teach you your religion.” [Muslim]
Recap of Lesson 8: Belief in Allah
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- Belief in Allah consists of 4 matters:
- 1. Belief in his existence, We can know this by:
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- our Fitrah (natural disposition),
- our intellect,
- our senses and
- our religion
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- 2. Belief in Allah’s unique Lordship and actions, This itself can be related to 3 matters,:
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- 1. Allah is unique in his ability to create from nothing, whereas mankind does not create but rather transforms one matter into another
- 2. He is the sustainer and controller of all that exists
- 3. He is the sole owner of all that exists and no one has a share with him in any of these things
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- 3. Worshipping Allah alone
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- Belief in Allah’s sole right to be worshipped naturally follows on from 1 and 2
- Allah has given us ability and free will, therefore we are responsible for what we do and Allah has obligated upon Mankind and Jinn that they worship him alone
- Allah has sent Prophets and Messengers (may peace be upon them all) to provide us with information about what he has obligated upon us and how to be grateful to him. The Prophets and Messengers have also brought us information and details about our creator, our purpose and our ultime end (Paradise or Hell). We could not have obtained these details just by basic observation or thought since they are from the unseen.
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- 4. Belief in his perfect names and attributes
- There are principles which we must follow:
- 1. That we believe in every name and attribute that Allah has mentioned in his book (the Qur’an) or upon the tongue of his Messenger (ﷺ) (the Sunnah)
- 2. Every name and attribute that Allah has negated from himself in the Qur’an and Sunnah then we negate this also
- 3. We do the above without falling into 4 things:
- 1. We do not deny any name or attribute of Allah
- 2. We do not distort their meanings
- 3. We do not liken them to creation
- 4. We do not ask “how” about the nature of Allah’s names and attributes
- There are principles which we must follow:
Second pillar of Faith: Believing in the Angels
- It is a pillar of faith to believe in the Angels
- Angels are from among the creation of Allah
- Angles are created from Light
- ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Angels were created from light, Jinns were created from a smokeless flame of fire, and Adam was created from that which you have been told (i.e., sounding clay like the clay of pottery).”[Muslim]
- NOTE: How many wings does angel Jibra’eel (Gabriel) have?
- We believe the angels are great in number
- Anas b. Malik reported on the authority of Malik b. Sa sa’, perhaps a person of his tribe, that the Prophet of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: “I was near the House (i. e. Ka’bah) in a state between sleep and wakefulness when I heard someone say: He is the third among the two persons. Then he came to me and took me with him. Then a golden basin containing the water of Zamzam was brought to me and my heart was opened up to such and such (part). Qatada said: I asked him who was with me (i e. the narrator) and what he meant by such and such (part). He replied: (It means that it was opened) up to the lower part of his abdomen (Then the hadith continues): My heart was extracted and it was washed with the water of Zamzam and then it was restored in its original position, after which it was filled with faith and wisdom. I was then brought a white beast which is called al-Buraq, bigger than a donkey and smaller than a mule. Its stride was as long as the eye could reach. I was mounted on it, and then we went forth till we reached the lowest heaven. Gabriel asked for the (gate) to be opened, and it was said: Who is he? He replied: Gabriel. It was again said: Who is with thee? He replied: Muhammad (may peace be upon him). It was said: Has he been sent for? He (Gabriel) said: Yes. He (the Prophet) said: Then (the gate) was opened for us (and it was said): Welcome unto him! His is a blessed arrival. Then we came to Adam (peace be upon him). And he (the narrator) narrated the whole account of the hadith. (The Holy Prophet) observed that he met Jesus in the second heaven, Yahya (peace be on both of them) in the third heaven, Yusuf in the third, Idris in the fourth, Harun in the fifth (peace and blessings of Allah be upon them). Then we travelled on till we reached the sixth heaven and came to Moses (peace be upon him) and I greeted him and he said: Welcome unto righteous brother and righteous prophet. And when I passed (by him) he wept, and a voice was heard saying: What makes thee weep? He said: My Lord, he is a young man whom Thou hast sent after me (as a prophet) and his followers will enter Paradise in greater numbers than my followers. Then we travelled on till we reached the seventh heaven and I came to Ibrahim. He (the narrator) narrated in this hadith that the Prophet of Allah (may peace be upon him) told that he saw four rivers which flowed from (the root of the lote-tree of the farthest limits): two manifest rivers and two hidden rivers. I said: ‘ Gabriel! what are these rivers? He replied: The two hidden rivers are the rivers of Paradise, and as regards the two manifest ones, they are the Nile and the Euphrates. Then the Bait-ul-Ma’mur was raised up to me. I said: O Gabriel! what is this? He replied: It is the Bait-ul-Ma’mur. Seventy thousand angels enter into it daily and, after they come out, they never return again. Two vessels were then brought to me. The first one contained wine and the second one contained milk, and both of them were placed before me. I chose milk. It was said: You did right. Allah will guide rightly through you your Ummah on the natural course. Then fifty prayers daily were made obligatory for me. And then he narrated the rest of the hadith to the end.” [Sahih Muslim]
- Abdullah b. Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: “Hell would be brought on that day (the Day of Judgment) with seventy thousand ropes, and seventy thousand angels dragging each rope.” [Sahih Muslim]
- Angels have different duties with which they are tasked
- For example: Narrated `Abdullah: “Allah’s Apostle, the truthful and truly-inspired, said, “Each one of you collected in the womb of his mother for forty days, and then turns into a clot for an equal period (of forty days) and turns into a piece of flesh for a similar period (of forty days) and then Allah sends an angel and orders him to write four things, i.e., his provision, his age, and whether he will be of the wretched or the blessed (in the Hereafter). Then the soul is breathed into him. And by Allah, a person among you (or a man) may do deeds of the people of the Fire till there is only a cubit or an arm-breadth distance between him and the Fire, but then that writing (which Allah has ordered the angel to write) precedes, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it; and a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is only a cubit or two between him and Paradise, and then that writing precedes and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]
- There are angles whose names and duties have been mentioned to us such as angel Jibra’eel who brings down the revelation by the command of Allah, Mika’eel who is tasked with the rain and vegetation of the earth, and angel Israa’feel who is tasked with blowing the horn on the day of Judgement
- However there are also angels whose names and duties we have not been informed of and we believe in all of them
Third pillar of Faith: Believing in the Books
- Allah has sent Messengers and revealed books throughout time, we believe in all of them. Some of them we have been given specific knowledge of and some we have not been informed of
- Some of these books we have been given knowledge of such as:
- The Zabur (Psalms) of Dawud (David), may peace be upon him
- The Taurah (Torah) of Musaa (Moses), may peace be upon him
- The Ingeel (Gospel) of Eesaa (Jesus), may peace be upon him
- The Scrolls of Ibrahim (Abraham) and Muusaa (Moses), may peace be upon them
- Question: do we as muslims believe in the above books as they are today?
- Question: What is the difference between the Quran and the previous books?
- The miracle of the Qur’an in that it has been preserved for well over a thousand years and not even one vowel has changed
- Allah says:”Verily We: It is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Quran) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption).” [Surah Al-Hijr (The Rocky Tract) verse 9]
- Shaykh Abdelmuhsin Al-Abbād mentions that the Taurah and Musaa (may peace be upon him) have been mentioned greatly within the Qur’an, why is this?
- The miracle of the Qur’an in that it was revealed over a period of 23 years
Fourth pillar of Faith: Believing in the Messengers
- Allah has sent Prophets and Messengers throughout time to warn the people from evil and call towards good
- Mankind and Jinn both have free will and they both will be questioned, however Allah has selected humankind for sending the Prophets and Messengers, and for the Jinn there are warners sent
- Allah says: “And (remember) when We sent towards you (Muhammad (ﷺ)) Nafran (three to ten persons) of the jinns, (quietly) listening to the Quran, when they stood in the presence thereof, they said: “Listen in silence!” And when it was finished, they returned to their people, as warners. They said: “O our people! Verily! We have heard a Book (this Quran) sent down after Musa (Moses), confirming what came before it, it guides to the truth and to a Straight Path (i.e. Islam).” [Surah Al-Ahqaaf (The Curved Sand-Hills) verse 29-30]
- Note: why did the Jinn warner mention “after Musaa”?
- Note: why did they mentioned the Taurah but they did not mention the Injeel?
- Question: what is the difference between a prophet and a messenger?
- Many thousands of Prophets and Messengers were sent t various peoples. We have specific belief in the 25 prophets and messengers which have been mentioned in the Qur’an, and we have general belief in all of the prophets and messengers of Allah even if not directly mentioned
- Question: What is someone says for example Budha was a prophet?
- Question: Why is Prophet Adam not classed as a Messenger?
- Question: Nūh (Noah) may peace be upon him was the first Messenger, what is the proof of this?
- Question: What if someone disbelieves in one messenger? Is he still muslim even if he believes in all of the others?