" Shirk "
?
ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab ^Najdi said:
[...]
“What comparison can there be between this concept, believing in what the Qur’aan states clearly, as well as the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): “O Faatimah bint Muhammad, I cannot help you before Allah in any way”, and the words of the author of al-Burdah:
“O Messenger of Allah, undoubtedly your high position will enable you to help me when al-Kareem [Allah] takes the name of al-Muntaqim [the Avenger - i.e., on the Day of Resurrection].
I have a connection with him because my name is Muhammad and he is the kindest of all creation in taking care of this connection.
If you do not take my hand out of kindness on the Day of Resurrection, then what great trouble I will be in.”
Let the one who is honest with himself and those who are infatuated with it and those who claim to be scholars but prefer to recite this rather than reciting the Qur'aan ponder the meanings and implications of these lines of verse.
“O Messenger of Allah, undoubtedly your high position will enable you to help me when al-Kareem [Allah] takes the name of al-Muntaqim [the Avenger - i.e., on the Day of Resurrection].
I have a connection with him because my name is Muhammad and he is the kindest of all creation in taking care of this connection.
If you do not take my hand out of kindness on the Day of Resurrection, then what great trouble I will be in.”
Let the one who is honest with himself and those who are infatuated with it and those who claim to be scholars but prefer to recite this rather than reciting the Qur'aan ponder the meanings and implications of these lines of verse.
Could any person believe in these lines of poetry and at the same time believe in the words of Allah (interpretation of the meaning): “(It will be) the Day when no person shall have power (to do anything) for another, and the Decision, that Day, will be (wholly) with Allaah” [al-Infitaar 82:17-19] and the words of the Prophet, “O Faatimah bint Muhammad, I cannot help you before Allah in any way”?
No, by Allah, no, by Allah, no by Allah, except if one may believe that Moosa was truthful and Pharaoh was truthful at the same time, or that Muhammad was following the path of truth and Abu Jahl was following the path of truth at the same time.
No, by Allah, they are not equal and will never meet until the head of the crow turns grey.
One who examines and understands this issue and knows al-Burdah and those who are infatuated with it, will understand that Islam has become a stranger once again.”
[Tafseer Soorat al-Faatihah, by Mu-hammed ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab, 5/13]
One who examines and understands this issue and knows al-Burdah and those who are infatuated with it, will understand that Islam has become a stranger once again.”
[Tafseer Soorat al-Faatihah, by Mu-hammed ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab, 5/13]
^ibn Baaz said:
“But al-Busayri made a mistake in his Burdah when he said:
“I have a connection to him because I am called Muhammad as he is, and he is the kindest of creation in taking care of this connection,” and he made an even bigger mistake when he said:
“O noblest of creation, I have no one to turn to except you when major calamity strikes.
If you do not take my hand out of kindness on the Day of Resurrection, then what great trouble I will be in.
This world and the Hereafter are part of what you control, and part of your knowledge is knowledge of al-Lawh al-Mahfooz and the Pen”
This poor man made his refuge in the Hereafter with the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and not with Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.
“O noblest of creation, I have no one to turn to except you when major calamity strikes.
If you do not take my hand out of kindness on the Day of Resurrection, then what great trouble I will be in.
This world and the Hereafter are part of what you control, and part of your knowledge is knowledge of al-Lawh al-Mahfooz and the Pen”
This poor man made his refuge in the Hereafter with the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and not with Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.
He said that he will be doomed if he (the Prophet) does not take him by the hand, and he forgot Allah, may He be glorified, in Whose hand is harm and benefit, giving and withholding; He is the One Who will save His close friends and those who obey Him.
The poet is making the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) the sovereign and controller of this world and the Hereafter. He described him as having knowledge of the unseen, part of which is knowledge of what is in al-Lawh al-Mahfooz and the Pen.
This is blatant kufr and ultimate exaggeration; we ask Allah to keep us safe and sound.
If he died believing that, and did not repent, then he died in the worst kind of kufr and misguidance.
If he died believing that, and did not repent, then he died in the worst kind of kufr and misguidance.
What every Muslim is required to do is to beware of this exaggeration and not be deceived by al-Burdah and its author.”
[Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 6/370, 371]
source: Islam Q&A
^ `Uthaymin echoed the claim of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab that Imam al-Busayri's (d. 694) verse masterpiece in praise of the Prophet (PBUH) titled Qasidat al-Burda "contains passages that constitute shirk."
[In al-Sirat al-Mustaqeem magazine published in the United States, Issue #46-47 (Rabee` al-akhira 1416 / September 1995, p. 7).]
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Wahhabis have leveled the same crass accusation against Imam al-Jazuli's (d. 870) Dala'il al-Khayrat and have succeeded in banning both books from entering Saudi Arabia.
Not only none of the Imams of Ahl al-Sunna ever condemned Qasidat al-Burda for "containing passages that constitute shirk," but it was obligatory reading and part of the syllabus taught by Ibn Hajar as well as both his students, al-Suyuti and al-Sakhawi.
[Respectively in Husn al-Muhadara (Cairo, 1293 ed. 1:260) and A.J. Arberry, Sakhawiana: A Study Based on the Chester Beatty Ms. Arab. 773 (London: Emery Walker Ltd., 1951, p. 5-9).]
^Al Albani, expressed hatred for those who read Imam al-Busiri's masterpiece, Qasidat al-Burda, and calls them cretins (mahâbîl)
[Introduction to al-San`ani's Raf` al-Astar (p. 24-25).]
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Qasida Burda:
Does it contain shirk with respect to the Prophet's knowledge and for swearing by other than Allah?
Answered by Shaykh Gibril F Haddad
There is no such thing as swearing by the moon where the question said, or anywhere else I know of in the Burda. I will address the first two issues in a way to show that those who see shirk in that great poem should repent from their wrong opinions of the Ulema and seek a remedy to their ignorance of the Arab language and Islamic `aqida.
In the verses of the Burda:
152. ya akrama al-khalqi ma li man aludhu bihi / siwaka `inda hululi al-hadithi al-`amami
O noblest one in creation, I have none [in creation] from whom to request protection other than you when the Universal Event befalls.
153. wa-lan yadiqa rasulallahi jahuka bi / idha al-karimu tajalla bi-ismi muntaqimi
Your great standing, O Messenger of Allah, will not diminish for advocating me, if the Generous One manifests Himself with His name of Avenger,
154. fa-inna min judika al-dunya wa-darrataha / wa-min `ulumika `ilma al-lawhi wal-qalami
For your generosity encompasses both this world and the one that comes next, and your sciences encompass the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen.
They claim that it is wrong to say "and your sciences encompass the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen," and that such encompassing knowledge belongs to Allah alone.
In the verses of the Burda:
152. ya akrama al-khalqi ma li man aludhu bihi / siwaka `inda hululi al-hadithi al-`amami
O noblest one in creation, I have none [in creation] from whom to request protection other than you when the Universal Event befalls.
153. wa-lan yadiqa rasulallahi jahuka bi / idha al-karimu tajalla bi-ismi muntaqimi
Your great standing, O Messenger of Allah, will not diminish for advocating me, if the Generous One manifests Himself with His name of Avenger,
154. fa-inna min judika al-dunya wa-darrataha / wa-min `ulumika `ilma al-lawhi wal-qalami
For your generosity encompasses both this world and the one that comes next, and your sciences encompass the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen.
They claim that it is wrong to say "and your sciences encompass the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen," and that such encompassing knowledge belongs to Allah alone.
However, their objections are needless and far-fetched, since one of the meanings of the Tablet in the Qur'an is the Qur'an itself: "A Glorious Qur'an in a Preserved Tablet" (85:21-22), which Allah has taught the Prophet salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Alihi wa-Sallam and the knowledge of which He has guaranteed for him when He said:
"Its gathering and recitation rest upon Us... Then verily upon Us rests its exposition." (75:16-19)
As for the Pen, the Prophet salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Alihi wa-Sallam said, as related by Bukhari and Muslim, that during the night of his Ascension he reached a level where he could hear the screeching of the pens writing the Decree, and this stands for his being granted its knowledge, and Allah knows best.
Furthermore, they are gravely wrong in their suggesting that Allah is unable to grant such knowledge to whomever He wills. We have already established beyond doubt that the Prophet salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Alihi wa-Sallam was granted the knowledge of all things except five matters.
This has been explained above in detail, in the section on `Ilm al-ghayb and there is no need to repeat it here.
Imam al-Kawthari said in his Maqalat (p. 404):
Furthermore, they are gravely wrong in their suggesting that Allah is unable to grant such knowledge to whomever He wills. We have already established beyond doubt that the Prophet salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Alihi wa-Sallam was granted the knowledge of all things except five matters.
This has been explained above in detail, in the section on `Ilm al-ghayb and there is no need to repeat it here.
Imam al-Kawthari said in his Maqalat (p. 404):
"Concerning [those] who criticize al-Busiri for saying that the Prophet salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Alihi wa-Sallam knows the science of the Tablet and the Pen: neither does all that is hidden, nor does all knowledge reside exclusively in the Tablet. Therefore the denial of the knowledge of the Unseen does not necessitate that of the knowledge of what is in the Preserved Tablet.
The denial mentioned in Allah's saying: fa la yuzhiru `ala ghaybihi ahadan "He discloses unto none His Secret" (72:26) presupposes exemption of all that is excluded from "His Secret," signifying the negation of universal disclosure [= no one knows all that Allah knows], not the universal application of such negation [= no one knows anything that Allah knows].
Therefore the meaning is the negation of the knowledge of ALL the Unseen; not the negation of the knowledge of SOME of the Unseen.
The denial mentioned in Allah's saying: fa la yuzhiru `ala ghaybihi ahadan "He discloses unto none His Secret" (72:26) presupposes exemption of all that is excluded from "His Secret," signifying the negation of universal disclosure [= no one knows all that Allah knows], not the universal application of such negation [= no one knows anything that Allah knows].
Therefore the meaning is the negation of the knowledge of ALL the Unseen; not the negation of the knowledge of SOME of the Unseen.
This was demonstrated by Sa`d al-Din al-Taftazani in Sharh al-maqasid."
As for the Prophet's generosity which "encompasses both this world and the one that comes next," it is clearly a reference to his abnegation on behalf of his Umma in this world, and his intercession on their behalf in the next world: to acknowledge both of these is a required article of belief for all Muslims. And it is established in the hadith narrated by Tirmidhi who declared it a fair narration (hasan), that Anas asked the Prophet salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Alihi wa-Sallam for his intercession in the next world, and he replied: ana fa`il, i.e. "I shall do it." This is a proof against those who claim that it is unlawful to ask for the Prophet's future intercession while still in this world.
The Umma is protected from error in its `Aqida and could not possibly have been propagating wrong for centuries from West to East.
As for the Prophet's generosity which "encompasses both this world and the one that comes next," it is clearly a reference to his abnegation on behalf of his Umma in this world, and his intercession on their behalf in the next world: to acknowledge both of these is a required article of belief for all Muslims. And it is established in the hadith narrated by Tirmidhi who declared it a fair narration (hasan), that Anas asked the Prophet salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Alihi wa-Sallam for his intercession in the next world, and he replied: ana fa`il, i.e. "I shall do it." This is a proof against those who claim that it is unlawful to ask for the Prophet's future intercession while still in this world.
The Umma is protected from error in its `Aqida and could not possibly have been propagating wrong for centuries from West to East.
Ibn Shama could not have been teaching the Burda to al-Nawawi in Syria, nor Ibn Hajar to al-Sakhawi in Cairo, nor al-Sakhawi to his students in the Haramayn, nor al-Haytami to al-Qari in Makka, if there were even the smell of shirk in one of its letters.
I will quote from various commentaries of the Burda, again al-hamdu lillah, which confirm one after another the soundness of the above, by the following:
1. Imam Muhammad Abu al-Su`ud al-Hanafi (d. 951),
2. Shaykh Muhyi al-Din Muhammad ibn Mustafa al-Hanafi, known as Shaykh Zadah (d. 951),
3. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami al-Shafi`i (d. 973),
4. Mulla `Ali al-Qari al-Hanafi (d. 1014) whose commentary is by far the most interesting,
5. `Allama Ibrahim al-Bajuri al-Shafi`i (d. 1277), and
6. Imam Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn `Ashur al-Maliki (d. 1284).
Some of the above excelled their respective contemporaries in the Arabic language and they excelled also in fiqh and usul, while Ibn `Ashur and Abu al-Su`ud were arguably the two greatest mufassirs of the last five hundred years.
1. Abu al-Su`ud: "Knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen (in the sense of what is written on the Tablet through the coursing of the Pen) is some of what your knowledge flows through / has thorough access to [ba`du mimma jara fihi `ilmuk]."
As quoted in Sayyid Hasan al-`Idwi al-Hamzawi al-Maliki's (d. 1303) al-Nafahat al-Shadhiliyya fi Sharhi al-Burdat al-Busiriyya (Damascus photocopy of the Cairene ed. of the Nafahat p. 204).
2. Shaykh Zadah: "It may be that Allah Most High showed him, upon him blessings and peace, all that is in the Tablet, and increased him on top of that also, because the Tablet and the Pen are created, so what is in them has a limit, and it is possible for the limited to encompass the limited. This is according to your understanding [O reader]. As for him whose heart's eye has beed dyed with the kohl of Divine light, he witnesses through spiritual taste that the sciences of the Tablet and the Pen are a portion (juz') of his sciences, upon him blessings and peace, just as they are a portion of the knowledge of Allah Most High."
2. Shaykh Zadah: "It may be that Allah Most High showed him, upon him blessings and peace, all that is in the Tablet, and increased him on top of that also, because the Tablet and the Pen are created, so what is in them has a limit, and it is possible for the limited to encompass the limited. This is according to your understanding [O reader]. As for him whose heart's eye has beed dyed with the kohl of Divine light, he witnesses through spiritual taste that the sciences of the Tablet and the Pen are a portion (juz') of his sciences, upon him blessings and peace, just as they are a portion of the knowledge of Allah Most High."
Shaykh Zadah's Hashiyat al-Burda in the margin of al-Kharputi's `Asidat al-Shuhda Sharh Qasidat al-Burda (Ottoman 1320 ed. p. 219).
3. Al-Haytami: "AND OF YOUR SCIENCES IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TABLET AND THE PEN, that is: Of some of your vast learning (ay: ba`di ma`arifika) which Allah Most High gifted you. [...] And the sense in which knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen is part of some of his sciences, upon him blessings and peace, is that on the night of Isra', Allah Most High showed him everything that is in the Preserved Tablet and added to that other types of knowledge, such as the secrets which pertain to His Essence and Attributes, may He be exalted!"
Al-Haytami, al-`Umda fi Sharh al-Burda, ed. Bassam Muhammad Barud (UAE: Dar al-Faqih, 2003, p.666-669).
4. Al-Qari: "Min is tab`idiyya [...]. The commentators have said conflicting things on the second hemistich of the verse. It was said that 'al-`ilm' is a substantive which is in construct with its subject (masdar mudaf ila fa`ilihi), that is: the Tablet and the Pen's knowledge of things, but then we need to say that they possess perception and feelings toward what was attributed to them. It was also said that 'al-`ilm' is in construct with its object, that is: the people's knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen, but then we need to say that there are different positions here. It was also said that Allah Most High showed him, upon him blessings and peace, what the Pen had written in the Preserved Tablet, which is the knowledge of the first and the last, and this is the preponderant explanation (wa-huwa al-az.har). To clarify further, what is meant by the knowledge of the Tablet is what was entered into it among other transcendent writs and shrouded images (al-nuqush al-qudsiyya wal-suwar al-ghaybiyya). What is meant by the knowledge of the Pen is what was entered with it into the Tablet as Allah Most High wished, so the construct implies the nearest connection (al-idafatu li-adna mulabasa). The fact that the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen is part of his sciences consists in that his sciences are multifarious, including universals and particulars, hidden matters and minutiae, subtle wisdoms and arcane sciences pertaining to the Essence and the Attributes, whereas the science of the Tablet and the Pen are only a few lines (sut.ur) among the lines of his knowledge and a mere river from the seas of his knowledge.
4. Al-Qari: "Min is tab`idiyya [...]. The commentators have said conflicting things on the second hemistich of the verse. It was said that 'al-`ilm' is a substantive which is in construct with its subject (masdar mudaf ila fa`ilihi), that is: the Tablet and the Pen's knowledge of things, but then we need to say that they possess perception and feelings toward what was attributed to them. It was also said that 'al-`ilm' is in construct with its object, that is: the people's knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen, but then we need to say that there are different positions here. It was also said that Allah Most High showed him, upon him blessings and peace, what the Pen had written in the Preserved Tablet, which is the knowledge of the first and the last, and this is the preponderant explanation (wa-huwa al-az.har). To clarify further, what is meant by the knowledge of the Tablet is what was entered into it among other transcendent writs and shrouded images (al-nuqush al-qudsiyya wal-suwar al-ghaybiyya). What is meant by the knowledge of the Pen is what was entered with it into the Tablet as Allah Most High wished, so the construct implies the nearest connection (al-idafatu li-adna mulabasa). The fact that the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen is part of his sciences consists in that his sciences are multifarious, including universals and particulars, hidden matters and minutiae, subtle wisdoms and arcane sciences pertaining to the Essence and the Attributes, whereas the science of the Tablet and the Pen are only a few lines (sut.ur) among the lines of his knowledge and a mere river from the seas of his knowledge.
Then, in addition to this, it is from the blessing of his existence according to the report that was said to be transmitted: 'The first thing Allah created is my light,' that is, He looked at it with a gaze of majesty, so it cleaved in two, and from its two halves were created the two worlds. This [light] is what is meant by the Pen, hence the transmitted report: 'The first thing Allah created is the Pen,' so there is no contradiction. The upshot is: this world and the next are aftereffects (aathaar) of your existence and generosity, and whatever appeared out of the Pen and onto the Tablet is from the secrets of your wisdoms and the lights of your sciences."
Al-Qari, al-Zubda fi Sharh al-Burda, ms. from the Damascus library of the Musnid Sayyid Muhammad Salih al-Khatib (also containing al-Qari's two treatises on the Mawlid), folios 54b-55a.
5. Al-Bajuri: "His saying 'fa-inna min judika al-dunya etc.' [...] min is for tab`eed. [...] 'Wa-min' in his saying 'wa-min `ulumika' is for tab`eed also [...] meaning the informations Allah Most High showed him, for He, Most High, showed him the sciences of the first and the last. [...] {The problem was raised that part of 'the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen' are the five things mentioned at the end of Surat Luqman although the Prophet, salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Sallam, does not know them for Allah Most High reserved their knowledge for Himself alone, so the aforementioned tab`eed is incomplete?
It was replied that it is not granted that those five things are among what the Pen wrote on the Tablet, or else whoever is entitled to look into the Tablet, such as some of the muqarrabin angels, would have seen them; and even if it were granted that they are part of what the Pen wrote into the Tablet, what would be meant is that some of his sciences, upon him blessings and peace, are the science of the Pen and the Tablet which a creature may look upon, thus excluding those five matters} [curly-bracketed material is largely from al-Qastallani], although the Prophet, salla Allahu `alayhi wa-Sallam, did not leave this world except after Allah Most High did inform him of those matters.
If it is asked: Since the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen are some of his sciences, upon him blessings and peace, then what is the rest?
The reply is, the rest is [to say the least] what Allah Most High informed him of with regard to the states of the hereafter, because the Pen only wrote into the Tablet what was going to happen until the Day of Resurrection and nothing more, as already mentioned in the hadith ['The first thing Allah created was the Pen, and He told it to write, so it said, What shall I write? He said: Write the apportionments of every living thing until the Hour rises' al-Tirmidhi (sahih) and Ahmad]."
Al-Bajuri, Sharh al-Burda (`Abd al-Rahman Mahmud Cairo ed. p. 132-133).
6. Ibn `Ashur: "The meaning is: how could your great standing diminish for advocating me, whereas you are the noblest of all creatures in the sight of your Lord Who gave you exclusively the magnificent special attributes that show your rank before Him, among which, that He created this world and the next for your sake, and also among which, that He taught you what no one else encompasses by their knowledge, to the point that what is in the Tablet and the Pen is some (ba`d) of your sciences."
6. Ibn `Ashur: "The meaning is: how could your great standing diminish for advocating me, whereas you are the noblest of all creatures in the sight of your Lord Who gave you exclusively the magnificent special attributes that show your rank before Him, among which, that He created this world and the next for your sake, and also among which, that He taught you what no one else encompasses by their knowledge, to the point that what is in the Tablet and the Pen is some (ba`d) of your sciences."
Ibn `Ashur in `Umar `Abd Allah Kamil's al-Balsam al-Murih min Shifa' al-Qalb al-Jarih, the epitome of Ibn `Ashur's Shifa' al-Qalb al-Jarih fi Sharhi Burdati al-Madih (Beirut: Bisan, 2004, p. 164-165).
Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and all his Companions.
Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and all his Companions.
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QASIDAT AL-BURDA
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Quote:
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz said, in his footnotes to the book Fath al-Majeed, commenting on the poem Burdat al-Busayri from which these words are taken:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) warned us, according to the report narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim, ‘Do not praise me as the Christians praised ‘Eesa ibn Maryam, I am the slave of Allaah and His Messenger.’ Rather the way to venerate him and love him is by following his Sunnah and establishing his religion and rejecting all the myths that the ignorant attribute to him. But most of the people do not do this, and they occupy themselves with this exaggeration and praise which leads them to commit major shirk.”
Fath al-Majeed, p. 155
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Refutation of the false views of the Salafis
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