(2) To direct any act of worship to other than Allaah - such as invocation, seeking help, seeking aid, vowing, slaughtering, reliance and trust, fear, hope, love, and similar acts - is shirk (idolatry) no matter to whom that worship is directed to - be he an angel, a sent prophet, a righteous slave of Allaah or any other.
(3) Among the fundamentals upon which worship (ibadah) is based is that Allaah is to be worshipped out of love, fear and hope. To worship Allaah out of any single aspect of these in exclusion to the other aspects is a deviation. Indeed some scholars have said, "Whoever worships Allaah by his love of Allaah alone is a hypocrite (zindiq); whoever worships Allaah out of fear of His Punishment alone is a Haruri[1]; and whoever worships Allaah out of hope of His Mercy alone is a Murji'i[2].
(4) Submission to, pleasure with,
and absolute obedience are to be given only to Allaah and His Messenger.
Faith that Allaah is alone Judge is
part of faith that He alone is Lord and He alone is to be worshipped. He
has no partner in His Judgment or His Command. To legislate by what Allaah
has not permitted, to judge by laws devised by men and men who rule by
such laws (taghut), to follow other than the shariah of Muhammad
(peace be upon him) or to replace any of the shariah is all disbelief.
(5) To judge by other than what Allaah has sent down is greater kufr (kufr akbar), and at times is a kufr less than actual kufr (kufr duna kufr). An example of the former is to adhere to or permit judgment by a shariah other than Allaah's. An example of the latter is to turn away from Allaah's shariah in a specific incident due to one's desires, yet with one's overall adherence to the shariah.
(6) To divide the religion into
an esoteric reality (haqiqah) to which the select distinguish themselves
by adhering to in exclusion to the general body of Muslims and an esoteric
shariah
to which the general body of Muslims must adhere to in exclusion to the
elite or to divorce politics or other matters from the religion is all
falsehood.
Indeed whatever opposes the shariah,
be it an esoteric reality, politics or other than that, is either disbelief
(kufr)
or deviation depending upon the extent to which it is at variance with
the shariah.
(7) None knows the Unseen but Allaah. The belief that anyone but Allaah knows the Unseen constitutes disbelief - with our faith that Allaah has manifested some matters of the Unseen to His Messengers.
(8) To believe in the truthfulness of the predictions of an astrologer or soothsayer is disbelief (kufr). To merely approach and question him concerning the future is a grave sin.
(9) The means of approach to Allaah
(al-wasilah), which we have been ordered in the Qur'aan to seek,
is to draw close to Allaah by the various acts of obedience legislated
by the shariah. Drawing near to Allaah
(al-tawassul) is of
three types:
(a). A manner legislated by the shariah: Namely, to invoke Allaah by calling upon His Names and mentioning His attributes, or by mentioning one's righteous deeds, or by mentioning the invocation of a righteous living person on one's behalf.(b). A manner which constitutes heresy (bida'h): Namely to draw near to Allaah by any means not mentioned in the shariah, like invoking Allaah by the persons of the Prophets and righteous, their positions with Him, their right upon Him, or any manner similar to this.
(c). A manner which constitutes shirk: Namely, to take the dead as intermediaries between oneself and Allaah in worship, by praying to them, calling upon them in seeking the resolution of ones need's, seeking their assistance and similar acts.
(10) The existence of barakah
(the affirmation, increase, and continuance of much good) in an object
occurs from Allaah. He selects whom He wants among His creatures with what
He wants from that. One may not, therefore, affirm the existence of barakah
[in some object or person] except with an evidence confirming that. It
is found at certain times (like "The Night of Power"), places (like the
three mosques), objects (like the Zamzam well), actions (every righteous
action is blessed) and individuals (like the persons of the Prophets).
It is impermissible to seek the barakah
of any individual, by their bodies or relics, except that of the Prophet
for there exists no evidence to the existence of barakah with any
specific individual in this nation besides him. To seek barakah
through him has ceased after his death (peace be upon him) and the disappearance
of his relics.
(11) Seeking barakah is among the matters established by the shariah alone (tawqif). It is therefore impermissible to seek barakah except in that which the evidence is mentioned.
(12) Three types of actions occur
by the visitors to graves:
(a). Actions which are legislated by the shariah: Namely, to visit the graves with the intent of remembering the Hereafter, greeting and praying for the dead.(b). Actions which constitute heresy (bida'h): Namely any action which negates the perfection of (tawheed) and is in and of itself a means leading to shirk. For example, to seek to worship and draw near to Allaah at the graves of the righteous, to seek the barakah of the dead, to offer the rewards of one's good deeds to the dead, to set out and journey to the graves of the righteous or any similar act which its prohibition is confirmed or has no basis in the shariah.
(c). Actions which constitute shirk and negate one's tawheed: Namely, to direct any act of worship to the dead, by praying to them, seeking their assistance, circumambulating their graves, slaughtering and vowing to them, etc.
(13) Means carry the ruling
of their aims. It is therefore required to forbid any means which leads
to shirk in the worship of Allaah or to a heresy in the religion.
For every innovation is a heresy (bida'h) and every heresy is a
deviation.
1. A group of Khwawaarij who were extremists.
2. A heretical group
that believed that a person's actions could not harm him once he had faith.
