. J '-Ɵ  (cont.)

Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi are, by Allah's leave, foremost in good deeds. That [inheritance of the Quran]- that is indeed a great Grace" (Faatir 32). Entering Paradise is Tied to Being a Believer Ibn Taimiya also points out that the promise of Paradise is always tied to being a believer or having faith. There are no verses, for example, that promise Paradise for the "Muslims". There are only promises given to the believers unconditionally or those who have faith and perform good deeds.1 For example, Allah has said, ¯-:i਄ Ji@;\J\ ঋif s_;..:; ;.;:. , Y' .!)._' ? _;:f=\ @I .._:_} u'஑ ƃJ y-'>' - ƌ ; i:.r:-" J - - J ., ,., , ,., 1 ࣎ / I I '· -=-ȅ I I ৏ J_r "Allah has promised to the believers, men and women, gardens through which rivers flow to dwell therein forever, and beautiful mansions in Gardens of Paradise. But the greatest bliss is the Good Pleasure of Allah. That is the supreme success" (al-Tauba 72). An example of the second type includes, , / -_,:.II I I I Tauheed al-Ruboobiyah Tauheed al-Uloohiyah Tauheed al-Asmaa wa al-Sifaat ..,,_,,)\ -'.,,>-j :;_,,._,JƉI .l.,,>-j ,;,\.. -j I I I This implies believing in all of the names and attributes of The belief in the oneness of This means that all acts of Allah as mentioned in the Allah concerning His actions, worship must be directed Quran and authentic hadith, as such as His being the sole toward Allah and Allah alone being unique to Him, without Creator and the only One as He is the only one worthy negating them, stripping them who nourishes and sustains of any meaning, distorting their the creation. and deserving of worship meaning, understanding them in an anthropomorphic sense or interpreting them figuratively Figure 2.2 Graphical Representation of the Division of Tauheed into Three Categories (1) Tauheed al-Ruboobiyah: In essence, this is belief in the uniqueness of Allah with respect to His actions. This is the belief in the Oneness of Allah with respect to His Lordship. He alone is the Lord (al-Rabb). He is One without Partner in His Dominion and His Actions. He is the Only Creator and true Owner of the creation. He is also the only One who nourishes, maintains1 and Sustains this creation. All creation has been created by Him and Him alone. According to ibn Uthaimin, all of mankind except the most arrogant and haughty accepts and recognizes this aspect of tauheed, namely, that there is no Lord and Creator but the One Lord and Creator.2 This is so because this belief is ingrained in the nature of mankind. Mankind recognizes and realizes that this creation must have had a Creator. Mankind also realizes that this Creator must only be One. It is clear from numerous verses of the Quran that even the polytheistic Arabs knew and recognized that the true and only Creator was above and beyond the idols that they used to worship. For example, Allah says in the Quran, 1 It is true that there can be other creators, owners and maintainers in this world. However, their abilities to create, own and maintain are limited and not absolute. Absoluteness in these realms belongs only to Allah. Cf., ibn Uthaimeen, Sharh Hadith, pp. 1 1-14. 2 Muhammad ibn Uthaimeen, Sharh Usool al-/maan (Fairfax, VA: Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, 1410 A.H.), p. 19. Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel (. J JJ Ղ o} ):/H உ ਗ਼;o/l;j ஈ uঈ T/-0 _;j &j¢-.J\ Ճ Ji / / ,, ,., ,,,,., .J. / ,., J .J. r / ,,.. Մ1 ֝_IJ1 y)j 21 ՅՆr 11 ..:;_,j _; J] Qi SJfaD Ƃi J. J. ,,.. ;:ii ,,.. ,,.. ,,..