Prophet's Entire Ummah Protected From Shirk Or His Immediate Fallowers?

[MuhammedAli]

Introduction:

The Wahhabi's accuse the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah of committing Shirk Al Akbar. They distort various verses of Qur’an and numerous ahadith to misguide themselves as well as others who lend them a ear. When Sunni's explain to them that Shirk in Ummah of beloved Prophet (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) is not possible because beloved Prophet (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) has explicitly stated: “By Allah, I am not afraid that you will worship others besides Allah after me, but I am afraid that you will compete with each other for (the pleasures of) this world." They counter with argument this statement does not refer to Ummah as whole but to beloved Prophet's (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) immediate followers.[1] Where as the position of Ahlus Sunnah is that this hadith is pertaining to Ummah as whole and not just immediate followers of beloved Prophet (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam).

Witnessing Of Prophet (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam):

Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) states that He has sent Messenger (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) as a witness: "O Prophet! Truly We have sent thee as a Witness, a Bearer of Glad Tidings, and Warner." [Ref: 33:45] in another verse same is stated:"We have truly sent thee as a witness, as a bringer of Glad Tidings, and as a Warner:" [Ref: 48:8] Prophet (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) is witness upon his entire Ummah:"Thus, have We made of you an Ummat (i.e. Um'matan) justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the people [of past Prophets], and the Messenger a witness over yourselves; …" [Ref:2:143]

Hadith Of Beloved Prophet (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam):

It has been reported that Prophet (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) has reported to have said:

"I am your predecessor before you, and I am a witness upon you, and I am looking at my Tank just now, and I have been given the keys of the treasures of the world (or the keys of the world). By Allah, I am not afraid that you will worship others besides Allah after me, but I am afraid that you will compete with each other for (the pleasures of) this world." [Ref: Bukhari, Book 59, Hadith 411]

The statement: "I am your predecessor before you, ...” is in general meaning (i.e. that it refers to all of his Ummah) because Messenger (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) is indeed a predecessor to majority of his immediate followers and will remain as a predecessor to all those who come till the day of judgment. And the statement: “... and I am a witness upon you, ...” has to be understood in general meaning (i.e. that it refers to all of Ummah) because Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) states: "Thus, have We made of you an Ummat (i.e. Um'matan) justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the people [of past Prophets], and the Messenger a witness over yourselves; …" [Ref:2:143] The statement: “... but I am afraid that you will compete with each other for (the pleasures of) this world." can also be understood in general meaning (i.e. that it refers to all of Ummah) because Prophet's (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) some immediate followers maybe were competing in wordily gain or maybe none. But his later fallowers and current followers are striving hard in the worldily gain competition. Finally coming to the part: “By Allah, I am not afraid that you will worship others besides Allah after me,...” has to be understood in light of: "... I heard Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: Verily, the Satan has lost all hopes that the worshipers would ever worship {him} in the peninsula of Arabia, …"[2] because it means that in Arabia there will not be any Idol worship.

Conclusion:

Based on the fact that Prophet's (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) said he has been given the ability to express vast meanings in few statements as well as on the fact that the statements: "I am your predecessor before you, ...”, “... and I am a witness upon you, ...”, and “... but I am afraid that you will compete with each other for (the pleasures of) this world." are equally referring to the entire Muslim Ummah. Hence we can conclude that entire Hadith is for Ummah as whole not just his immediate followers. Therefore the statement: “By Allah, I am not afraid that you [the entire Ummah] will worship others besides Allah after me, ..." refers to the entire Ummah of beloved Prophet (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) meaning that entire Ummah will not worship besides Allah (subhana wa ta'ala). If the meaning of the statement is restricted in the light of: “Verily, the Satan has lost all hopes that the worshipers would ever worship {him} in the peninsula of Arabia, …"to mean: “By Allah, I am not afraid that you [Arabs] will worship others besides Allah after me, …" even then the this hadiths implications are pertaining for entire Ummah because the creed[3] of Ahlus Sunnah was dominant creed in Arabian peninsula before the advent of Wahhabism.[4]

Undeniable evidence is Prophet (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) is witness over all of his Ummah on day of judgment; therefore the witnessing he mentioned in the hadith was for all of the Ummah. Which leads to logical conclusion that if in one part of the hadith is pertaining to entire Ummah and thereafter no specific word is used which restricts its meaning to a particular group, era or time, then it can be deduced that all of it refers to same group (i.e. in this context Ummah as whole).

Had the creed of Ahlus Sunnah be polytheistic then it would not have existed in Arabia, nor reigned supreme for centuries because Prophet had himself declared shaytaan will not be worshiped by which he meant idolatry will not be practiced in Arabia. Therefore a creed which exists in Arabian peninsula can not be polytheistic and if the creed of Ahlus Sunnah is not polytheistic in Arabian peninsula it can not be polytheistic any where else in the world.

Wama alayna ilal balaghul mubeen.
Muhammed Ali Razavi

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Footnotes:

- [1] Wahhabis are restricting mutliq (i.e. general) text of hadith in muqayyid (i.e. specific) meaning. Their rejection of possibility of general meaning of text of hadith, in which the hadith would be pertaining to entire Ummah indicates their disbelief in the jawami al kalim nature of Prophet's (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) speech. Also Ali Hassan Khan cited Imam Nawavi's (rahimullah alayhi ta'ala) Sharh Sahih Muslim, and Ibn Hajr's (rahimullah alayhi ta'ala) Fath ul Bari to support Wahhabi position.

- [2] Ref: Muslim, Book 39, Hadith 6752 - In terminology of Qur’an idol worship is same as Satan worship: “(The Mushrikeen) leaving Him (i.e. Allah) call but upon (i.e. yad'una) goddesses: They call but upon Satan the persistent rebel!” [Ref: 4:117] in another verse Ahzar the uncle of Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) is advised not to worship: "O my father! Worship not Satan: for Satan is a rebel against Ar'Rahman (i.e. Allah the most Gracious).” [Ref: 19:44] yet fact is that he took Idols as gods besides Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) and worshiped them. Therefore to warn him Ibrahim (alayhis salam) informs him that Ahzars idolatry is nothing but Satan worship.

- [3] I have deliberately not specified any particular aspect of creed of Ahlus Sunnah in this article because there is not one aspect of aqeedah of Ahlus Sunnah which the Wahhabi's consider polytheistic. There are numerous issues on which the Wahhabi's make takfir of Ahlus Sunnah by calling them Mushrikeen. Just to give example of few issues, Wahhabi's say: 'Miladun'nabi is shirk.', 'Using of taweez is shirk.', 'Tawassul is shirk.', 'Istighasa is shirk.' , 'Kissing a grave is shirk.', 'Kissing Prophet's (sallalahu alayhi was'sallam) blessed grave is shirk.', 'Belief that dead can hear is shirk.' and the list goes on. The thumb rule is if a part of creed of Ahlus Sunnah is declared polytheistic by a Wahhabi and this belief was held by Ahlus Sunnah of Arabia then the error of Wahhabi is obvious.

- [4] According to Sunni's who live in Saudi Arabia report that Ahlus Sunnah is still dominant creed in Arabia but due to oppressive Wahhabi regime the Sunni's are forced to conceal their religious affiliations.