. J (cont.)

- "lost, astray, misguided" ๎ - "I have guided him" ..,..;Ƣu - "therefore, seek guidance from Me", the u represents, "therefore, then"; the " gives the inference of seeking something; the i.; at the end, in this case, implies, "from Me" Ɇ4- ..u..a.J.I .)i ...:;_,..s u_,:..l..;.:i J!lll-! _;4J]I y_,;j.ll ํ - "hungry" - "I fed him" - "naked" - "I clothed him" - "you (plural) commit sins" - "by, during the night" - "the day" - "the sins" - "all" ..,..; Jɇ\.L "therefore, seek forgiveness from Me" l_,il,U - "reach, attain" i.;fa - "harming Me" ೹ - "benefiting Me" ೼:,I - "first of you" r-SY...i - "last of you" ._.i:il - "most pious," having the most taqwa .llj .fa.. ·1 _r.i-9 l_,..li ..,.;)Li ๔u ๓I ധI - "added" - "My dominion" - "most wicked, most impious" - "decreased" - "stand," plural - "then ask of Me" - "then I gave" - "the needle" - "entered" - "the ocean" - J j:. .r.- ..r. - r-' ็ ..__,fl )--"' - "Or is he not informed of what is in the pages [scripture] of Moses and of Abraham who fulfilled all that [Allah ordered him]: That no soul shall bear the burden of another and that man can have nothing but what he strives for and that his deeds will be seen. Then he will be recompensed with a full and best recompense" (al-Najm 36-41). The matter is not simply a denial of zulm. It is also and more importantly, according to ibn Taimiya, an affirmation of its opposite, justice, on the part of Allah. Even when Allah punishes a people, it is solely based on what is just, according to their deeds. When He rewards a people, however, it is a grace and mercy from Allah. Hence, as ibn Uthaimeen points out, all of Allah's acts are either acts of justice or grace. There is no third category of zulm.3 Such has been stated by the Prophet (peace be upon him) who said, 1 That would obviously be unjust. However, this is a common Christian conception concerning God. They claim that Adam committed a sin that tainted all of mankind-- even though it was only Adam who committed that sin and not the rest of mankind. In any case, that sin could only be forgiven by God sending His son as a sacrifice. This seems to be another form of injustice: no human could remove that sin from himself but only an act by another, the supposed son of God, could remove that sin. 2 Cf., lbn Taimiya, Majmoo, vol. 1 8, p. 1 3 1 . 3 lbn Uthaimeen, Sharh Riyaadh, vol. 3 , p. 1 38. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi "If Allah were to punish the inhabitants of His heavens and the inhabitants of His earth, He would punish them and He would not be doing injustice to them. If He were to show mercy to them, His mercy would be better than [what they deserve from] their deeds."1 Indeed, Allah multiplies the reward for every good deed out of His grace and reckons every evil deed as one deed, without multiplication, out of His justice. Then ibn Taimiya argues that if zulm were not possible for Allah, as some people argue, then this statement of Allah's would not be a complementary one nor would it make much sense. If a person avoids a blameworthy act, such avoidance is only praiseworthy if he had the ability to do the act in the first place. For example, one does not praise a blind person because he does not look at what is forbidden.2 Similarly, Allah is to be praised for His justice because He has determined that for Himself while he could have decreed otherwise. Additionally, it does not make any sense for Allah to say, "I have forbidden for Myself," concerning a matter that He is not able to do. Again, a blind person would not be making any sense ifhe were to say, "I have forbidden for myself the looking at forbidden sights." Ibn Taimiya continues by noting that zulm includes placing something in a place it does not belong. It is known that Allah acts justly and He does not put anything in any place where it does not belong. But this is not because He could not have done so. This is because He has willed not to do so and, in fact, it is because He dislikes such acts. Therefore, He has forbidden such acts upon Himself. 3 Ibn Taimiya summarizes his interpretation of this phrase by saying, This makes clear the middle approach. In other words: The zulm that Allah has forbidden for Himself includes things like not rewarding the doer of good for his good deeds, punishing an innocent person for sins he did not commit, punishing a person for sins that another committed, not judging justly among mankind and so forth. These are the types of actions that the Lord is free of due to His equity and justice, although He has the ability to do them.