In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious,
the Most Merciful
All believers are Allah’s friends and
He is their patron. He says: ‘Allah is
the patron of the believers.’ (2: 257).
He grants the highest status to those
of them who are most Allah-fearing:
‘Truly, the noblest of you in the sight
of Allah is the most genuinely Allahfearing.’
(49: 13). Whoever is Allahfearing
is a friend of Allah. This close
relationship is from the believer loving
and obeying Allah and by Allah’s love
and kindness to the believers.
Allah’s Friends
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One: Allah’s friend
Every Allah-fearing believer is close to
Allah. He says: ‘For certain, those who
are close to Allah have nothing to fear,
nor shall they grieve; for they do believe
and remain Allah-fearing.’ (10: 62–63).
Their standing in this close relationship
is dependent on their different grades
in faith and in their Allah-fearing, not
on any claim or ancestry. Allah says:
‘Truly, the noblest of you in the sight of
Allah is the one who is most genuinely
Allah-fearing. Allah is all-knowing, allaware.’
(49: 13).
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Two: Signs of honour
These are unusual or miraculous events
that Allah allows to be performed by
any one of His good servants, as a
sign of honour and in confirmation of
the truth of the prophet that person
followed. There are two types of signs:
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a Knowledge, including granting
unattainable information and
inspiration.
b Ability and influence.
Such signs of honour happened in
olden days to those who were close to
Allah, and to a number of the Prophet’s
companions and the generation that
followed them. They may continue
to happen to people in the Muslim
community in the present or in any
future generation.
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Sources of Rules and Evidence
One: The main sources
The Qur’an, the Sunnah and the
properly achieved unanimity of
scholars are the basic sources of
Islamic beliefs, laws and rulings, as
also are manners and behaviour. These
sources may not be contradicted by
anyone’s views, analogy, preference,
philosophy or order, regardless of their
position or status.
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Two: How to understand the
Qur’an and the Sunnah
The proper method of understanding
them is the one followed by the early
Muslims, the Muhajirin and the Ansar,
and those who did well in following
them. Other invented methods followed
by theologians and Sufis must be
abandoned. Allah says: ‘As for him who,
after guidance has been plainly conveyed
to him, puts himself in contention with
Allah’s Messenger and follows a path
other than that of the believers – him
shall We leave to that which he himself
has chosen, and shall cause him to endure
hell. How evil a journey’s end.’ (4: 115).
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Three: Sound logic
Sound reasoning that is not influenced
by doubt or desire cannot be in
conflict with authentic religious texts
that are free of flaws and defects in
their reporting. Texts may appear
paradoxical to some people, but they
never prove to be unacceptable to
sound reasoning. When anyone claims
to find contradiction between religious
texts and sound reasoning, the fault
is with his reasoning. He must give
preference to the text, not to his logic.
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Four: Deviation
This refers to any invented idea or
practice in religion. The Prophet says:
‘Whoever invents something in this
matter of ours that does not belong to
it will have it rejected’. Another version
is more emphatic: ‘Whoever does a
deed that is not in agreement with our
matter will have it rejected’. There are
several different types of deviation:
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a In faith: such as the beliefs of the
Shia, al-Khawarij, al-Qadariyyah and
al-Murji’ah.
b Practical: such as remaining
celibate in order to devote oneself
to worship, or to follow invented
methods of worship.
c CComplete invention: such as
commemorating the birthdays
of devout persons or inventing
glorifications of Allah.
d Supplementary: practices that are
added to acts of worship relating to
their causes, type, form, quantity,
time or place.
e Major: such as any type of
associating partners with Allah.
f Minor: such as group glorification
of Allah.
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g Deviation that takes a person into
disbelief: such as negating Allah’s
attributes.
h Deviation that leads to
transgression: such as listening to
what is forbidden.
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Complements to Faith
One: Enjoining what is right
and forbidding what is wrong
Allah says: ‘Let there become of you
a nation who invite to all that is good,
enjoin the doing of what is right and
forbid what is wrong. Such are they
who shall prosper.’ (3: 104). Abu
Saeed al-Khudri said: ‘I heard Allah’s
messenger (peace be upon him) say:
“Whoever of you sees a wrongful
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action should change it with his hand;
and if is unable to do so, then with his
tongue; and if he is unable to do that,
then with his heart. This [last one] is
the weakest degree of faith”.’
This should be based on clear prior
knowledge, a gentle approach and
patient acceptance of any adverse
consequences.
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Two: Commitment to unity
and steering away from
disunity
Allah says: ‘Hold fast, all of you together,
to the bond with Allah and do not be
disunited. And remember the blessings
Allah has bestowed on you: how, when
you were enemies [to one another.] He
united your hearts and, by His grace,
you have become brothers; and how,
when you were on the brink of an abyss
of fire, He saved you from it. Thus Allah
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makes clear His revelations to you, so
that you may be rightly guided. Let there
become of you a nation who invite to all
that is good, enjoin the doing of what is
right and forbid what is wrong. Such are
they who shall prosper. Do not follow
the example of those who became
divided and fell into conflict with one
another after clear proofs had come to
them. For these there will be grievous
suffering.’ (3: 103–105). ‘Steadfastly
uphold the faith and do not divide into
factions.’ (42: 13). The Prophet says: ‘To
one another, believers are like a solid
building: each part strengthens the rest’.
As he said this, he crossed his fingers.
He also says: ‘In their love, compassion
and mutual sympathy, believers are like
one body. When any part of it suffers a
complaint, the rest of the body shares
in sleeplessness and fever’.
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Three: Fine morality and kind
actions
The first includes perseverance,
generosity, bravery, forbearance,
forgiveness, and humility, etc. and
steering away from their opposites.
Kind actions include being dutiful
to parents, showing kindness to
relatives, being a good neighbour, and
kindness to orphans, poor people and
travellers in need. Allah says: ‘Make
due allowance for man’s nature, and
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enjoin the doing of what is right; and
turn away from those who choose to
remain ignorant.’ (7: 199).
Abu al-Darda’ reports that the Prophet
said: ‘Nothing is heavier in Allah’s
scales than good manners’. Abu
Hurayrah said:
Allah’s messenger (peace be upon him)
said: ‘Whoever removes a worldly grief
from a believer, Allah will remove from
him one of the griefs of the Day of
Judgement. Whoever alleviates the lot
of a needy person, Allah will alleviate
his lot in this world and the next.
Whoever shields a Muslim, Allah will
shield him in this life and in the life to
come. Allah will aid a servant of His so
long as such a servant aids his brother.
Whoever follows a path in pursuit of
knowledge, Allah will provide for him
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an easy path to Paradise. Whenever
people gather together in one of Allah’s
houses, reciting Allah’s book and
studying it together, [Allah’s] grace will
envelop them, the angels will surround
them and Allah will make a mention
of them to those who are with Him.
Whoever is slowed down [on the way
to Paradise] by his actions will not be
hastened forward by his lineage’.
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To download and read the complete book,
click on the picture here.
This is an excerpt
of a larger book titled
“The Islamic Faith,
A Simplified Presentation”
by Abd Ar-Rahman
bin Abd Al-Kareem Ash-Sheha.
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