Qawaid Al Arbaah

Third Principle

Qawaid Al Arbaah of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab ()

Explained by Dr Murtaza Ibn Bakhsh ( Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
AshabulHadith Study Circle
Dars 4 Third Principle

Third Principle: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab states that the third principle is that
Indeed when the Messenger of Allaah was sent to the people, he was sent to a

people with a varied set of beliefs who differed from each other in their worship. There
were some among them who worshipped Angels, there were others who worshipped
Prophets and pious people. There were still others who worshipped trees and stones and
those who worshipped the Sun and the Moon. Allaahs Messenger fought against them
all and did not differentiate between them
This is the third principle. Allaah sent His Messenger, Muhammad to a people, the polytheists of

Arabia, who lived in a strange society. They worshipped idols. And some people among them
were influenced by Eesa and worshipped him. It is quite well known that Abu Jahl
and Abu Lahab worshipped idols like Hubal, Laat, Uzza, Yaghuth, Yaooth, Nasr but there some
people who were Christians. An example is Waraqah ibn Nawfal. He had converted to Islam
and he is considered among the Companions. Najashee was also a Christian, however an
example of an Arab Christian is Adee ibn Haatim At Taee .

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When following ayah was revealed,

They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords besides Allah
(by obeying them in things which they made lawful or unlawful according to their own
desires without being ordered by Allah), and (they also took as their Lord) Messiah, son of
Maryam (Mary), while they (Jews and Christians) were commanded [in the Taurat (Torah)
and the Injeel (Gospel)) to worship none but One Ilah (God - Allah) La ilaha illa Huwa (none
has the right to be worshipped but He). Praise and glory be to Him, (far above is He) from
having the partners they associate (with Him)."
(Surah at Tawbah: 31)
Adee ibn Haatim At Taee was surprised to hear this ayah and he went to the
Messenger of Allaah and said to him that we (the Christians, and himself among them)
never worshipped our monks and priests whereas Allaah states that we took them as Lord
besides Him, so how is it that we took them as our Lord? Whereupon Allaahs Messenger
replied that did you not deem permissible those things which your monks and priests made
permissible for you whereas, in reality, they were impermissible? And did you not deem those
things impermissible which your monks and priests made impermissible for you whereas, in
reality, they were permissible? Did you not obey them when they turned an impermissible
thing to a permissible thing and turned a permissible thing into an impermissible thing? Adee
ibn Haatim replied in the affirmative. Allaahs Messenger informed him that this
is how you made them your Lord, this is how you worshipped your monks and priests. This is
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known as . So Adee ibn Haatim At Taee used to worship a Prophet (before

accepting Islam). The Christians worship Eesa alongside Allaah, they believe in the
Lordship of Allaah but they also believe in two other false notions:
1. Eesa is the son of Allaah
2. Eesa is himself Lord they call upon him and supplicate to him. Even today,
this is widely evident among the Christians that whenever they face any distress, they
call upon Jesus Christ. They believe that Allaah is the Father, they believe He exists but
they do not call upon Him in times of distress. One does not hear them calling upon
The Father during difficulty, rather they call upon a Prophet and this can be
commonly seen in the Christians around the world, in Europe, America etc.
This third principle signals towards people with these set of beliefs, those who would call
upon the Prophets of Allaah and worship them. In our times, we have a living example in the
present day Christians.
There were some people who would worship pious, elder people. It is a strange thing to
observe that how did a people, who were wise and respectable leaders of their time (the
Mushrikeen of Makkah), who had a standing in their own society and a respect and influence
within their people, how did they come about to prostrate before an idol (which contradicts
sound intellect and wisdom). Why did they perform sacrifices for the idols, why did they
supplicate to idols? This matter had been made clear by the noble companion, Abdullah ibn
Abbas . In Sahih Bukhari, in the tafseer of the following ayaat of Surah An Najm
wherein Allaah says

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Have you then considered Al-Lat, and Al-'Uzza (two idols of the pagan Arabs). And Manat
(another idol of the pagan Arabs), the other third?
This ayah implores us to consider what really these idols were. What were visible then (to the
Mushrikeen of Makkah) as idols, were in fact pious people. Abdullah Ibn Abbas
tells us in the tafseer of this ayah that Laat was a pious man who would offer drinks on his
own expense to the pilgrims that would come to Makkah. So when he died, the people
remembered him as a kind, pious man and started visiting his grave, and subsequently made
an idol representing him. So Laat was originally not a stone idol, rather he was a pious man in
by gone days who was later worshipped by the Polytheists of Makkah. So in reality, those wise
people of Arabia, they did not begin idol worship in stupidity, rather they initially began it as
a remembrance of that pious man (Laat) which later turned to the grave sin of idol worship
and shirk due to the evil whisperings of Shaytaan. In the tafseer of Surah Nuh in Sahih Bukhari,
Abdullah ibn Abbas states that the idols of the time of Nuh , namely
Yaghoot, Yaooth, Nasr, these idols were originally pious, righteous saints. However, when
they died, the evil whisperings of Shaytaan led the people to grave reverence and visiting
initially, then establishing stones on those graves, then placing those stones in places of
worship; subsequently when knowledge began to disappear, the later generations began to
worship the stone idols. This shows that elderly saints were worshipped.
This strange environment in the Arabian Peninsula, in terms of religious beliefs, made this
place the worst place on the face of the earth. This is because, the other people of that time,
namely the Christians, were the People of the Book and had some religious knowledge left

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with them. Even though they distorted that knowledge, yet they had with them some light of
religious knowledge (which made them stand apart from the polytheists of Arabia). They were
still considered disbelievers, no doubt about it, but they were a people with some intellect
and reasoning left in them. Whereas in the Arabian Peninsula, the scenario was quite
different. The people were sunk into the darkness of disbelief, polytheism, innovations and
oppression.
Allaah sent His Messenger to such an abominable place which was rooted in darkness with
the light of Tawheed (singling out Allaah in all forms of worship) and this light illuminated not
just the Arabian Peninsula, but the entire world from its East to the West.

Allaahs Messenger observed that the environment of this region is very strange; there
are people who worship idols, there are those who worship stones and trees, there are even
people who worship prophets, angels and righteous predecessors. Therefore, Allaahs
Messenger acted with justice. He did not differentiate between different people in
fighting those who worshipped idols (like Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab) and those who worshipped
Eesa i.e. the Christians (meaning he fought all such parties without any discrimination
and differentiation, no one was spared and they were all dealt with equally).

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Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab presents the following ayah of Surah Anfaal as
evidence for the fact that Allaahs Messenger fought with all the disbelievers equally
without any bias or discrimination or differentiation against any party;

And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping
others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone [in the whole of
the world] [Surah Al Anfaal: 39]
The Mufassireen (the exegetes of the Quran) have stated that the word Fitnah in this ayah
means Shirk. So the Messenger of Allaah was ordered to fight the people until Shirk is
completely wiped out from this world. When Shirk will be eradicated, the remainder that will
be left will be the pure religion and this is Tawheed. And with Allaah, this religion is what is
called Islam. Truly the religion with Allaah is Islam (Surah Aal Imran:
19). Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism etc. are not religions with Allaah, they are in fact created
by the people. There is only one religion accepted by Allaah and that is the religion of Islam,
the religion of Tawheed.
This was the evidence that Allaahs Messenger fought against all disbelievers and
polytheists equally and a student of knowledge can present the preceding ayah as proof when
asked by someone regarding it. This is because the fitnah mentioned in the ayah refers to
Shirk and Shirk was done by all the people in that era (regardless of their objects of Shirk), be
it Jews, Christians, the Polytheists; all forms of Shirk was fitnah and Allaah ordered His
Messenger to fight until this fitnah is eradicated and Shirk is wiped out.

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Now we shall study the evidences that Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab presents to
support his claim that the people of the era of the Messenger of Allaah worshipped all the
aforementioned objects (stones, trees, idols, prophets, angels, righteous people, the sun and
the moon).
1. The evidence for the fact that people took the sun and the moon as deities besides Allaah

And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate
not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate to Allah Who created them, if you (really)
worship Him.
(Surah Al Fussilat: 37)
In this ayah,

is a command, it is called

This ayah exhorts us to

contemplate that the night and the day, the sun and the moon, all of these are signs
from among the signs of Allaah. These are the indicators that there is an entity that
has created them. Ayah can also refer to miracles but the most appropriate word is
Ayah. Allaah has never used the word miracle in the Quran. He has always used the
word Ayah. There are two types of ayaah.
a.

The universal signs; namely the sun, the moon, night and day,

animals and plants, water and sky etc.

b.

: The ayaah of the Quran. And the Torah and the Injeel, all the books
revealed by Allaah which contain legislations from Allaah.

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The third kind of ayaah are miracles. Another kind of ayaah refers to indication, that
which gives the indication of the presence of something. The sun and the moon, the
night and day, all these are indications that there is a Creator Who has created them.
And if people are awed by the greatness of the sun and this compels them to prostrate
to it, then why do they forget how Great is the Lord who created the Sun. This is due
to a lack of sound intellect. This is due to the fact that people were obsessed with their
own intellect and reasoning and used it to derive their modes of worship. This led
them to being astray. Even today, people are being misled by such individuals who are
obsessed with giving precedence to reasoning and logic over the clear texts and ayaah
of Allaah. The people are innocent, they easily fall into the traps of those who pose to
be pious and righteous. The people get influenced by these traits and start following
them without knowing and realizing that the individuals they are following are in fact
relying on their deficient logic and intellect and ignoring the ayaah of Allaah. If the sun
and moon are awe-aspiring objects, then Allaah exhorts us to contemplate on the
greatness of the Creator who created such huge things and to prostrate to Allaah, not
to those objects.
This ayah also contains the evidence that prostration is worship and prostrating to
anything besides Allaah is Shirk. This is an answer that puts all doubts to rest. A few
opponents come and argue that they do not recite subhana rabbi al alaa while
prostrating to the graves so how can they be accused of committing shirk? This ayah
puts this doubt to rest because it does not specify any recitation in prostration but
denotes prostration in general. And prostration in the Arabic language refers to
bowing ones head to the ground. If this prostration is done to other than Allaah, this

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entails Shirk and there is consensus on this issue. Those who claim that prostration is
Shirk only if they recite subhana rabbi al alaa are ignorant because this ayah says
prostrate to Allaah (alone) who created them and then in the end of the ayah comes
if you indeed worship Him. So the correct form of worship here is linked to
prostrating to Allaah alone. And since the sun, the moon, the prophets and angels, the
saints etc. are not worthy of prostration, then how can the graves be worthy of
prostration? And the words denote generality, it should not be mistaken that
this ayah only forbids people to prostrate to the sun and the moon only. Rather this
ayah contains the negation that do not prostrate to the sun and the moon and the
affirmation that prostrate to Allaah alone and the general prohibition of not
prostrating to anything besides Allaah is entailed in this ayah.
2. The evidence for the fact that angels were worshipped
The evidence lies in the following statement of Allaah

Nor would he order you to take angels and Prophets for lords (gods). Would he order
you to disbelieve after you have submitted to Allah's Will?
(Surah Aal Imraan: 80)
The first part of this ayah says that Allaah has not ordered us to take angels and
prophets as lords besides Him, rather this is the order of the Shaytaan and ones own
deficient intellect. On the contrary, Allaah sent Messengers and revealed books and
ordered all of them with one command -

" Worship Allah

(Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Taghut (all false deities, etc. i.e. do not worship
Taghut besides Allah)" [Surah An Nahl: 36]. Furthermore Allaah says in Surah
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Muminoon, ayah 23

Third Principle

" Worship Allah! You have no other

Ilah (God) but Him.

When Allaah ordered the people with these above commands, then how does logic
permit an individual to believe that worship of angels is permissible? That the angels
can also provide help in dire need, that sacrifice and vows could be dedicated to them?
If the Muslims of today contemplate on this ayah, it would greatly benefit to cleanse
their heart and mind and they would never again raise their hands (to supplicate) to a
prophet or angel. It is quite unfortunate though, that people read the Quran only to
gain blessings from recitation but seldom contemplate on its great meanings and
message. Our countries abound with those who have memorized the entire Quran
(Huffaz). Do they not read these ayaah?

You (Alone) do we

worship and You (Alone) do we ask for help. Every Muslim from a small child to an
old man reads this ayah in his Salah and makes a promise to Allaah that whenever he
would worship, it would be of Allaah alone and whenever he would ask for help, it
would be from Allaah alone. In Sahih Muslim, in a Hadith Qudsi, that Allaah informs us
that this is a promise between Me and My slave. My slave what is it that you require

. Once the slave fulfills his above promise of worshipping Allaah
alone and asking help from Him alone, then guidance shall be bestowed upon him.
Allaah has promised to open all doors of guidance for His slave, this is His promise. But
the condition is that the slave should fulfill his promise first. But we do not see the
Muslims fulfilling this promise to Allaah even though they recite it daily. For the
people, the angels, Prophets and saints are lords. If all these are lords, then towards
whom is that promise directed? The people reply by saying that we do not consider
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them our lord, rather we only consider them to be pious elders, we do not even
consider Prophets to be lords. The reply is that even though you SAY that you do not
consider them your lord, but Allaah Himself rebuts your claim and informs us in the
above ayah of Surah Aal Imraan that you indeed consider them your lord. And the
manner of taking angels and Prophets as lords besides Allaah was by directing various
forms of worship to these false deities. As the discussion of the next principle will
clarify, the Mushrikeen of those times did not call upon these deities in times of
difficulty. They would only call upon their false deities in times of ease and joy
alongside Allaah. The incident of Ikrimah ibn Abu Jahl is famous in this
context. After the conquest of Makkah, Ikrimah ibn Abu Jahl boarded on a
boat to leave Makkah. His boat got caught in a severe storm so the people started to
panic. One of the men stood up and started to call upon Laat, Hubal, Uzza etc. for help.
An elderly man from amongst them admonished him saying that at this moment of
extreme difficulty, these deities are not going to benefit you people as these are
deities of ease only. At this moment, the only One who can help is Allaah The Almighty.
Upon hearing this, Ikrimah Ibn Abu Jahl began to ponder as to why did he
keep fighting the Muslims all these years? What he heard from that elderly man was
precisely what Allaahs Messenger was preaching all along, that the only deity that
can help in any situation is Allaah alone. Upon this realization, Ikrimah ibn Abu Jahl

made a vow to Allaah that if he came out of this storm alive, he would return
to Makkah and accept Islam at the feet of the Messenger of Allaah . And this is what
took place, he accepted Islam and is counted amongst the famous generals among the
Sahaba. So anyone who dedicated any form of worship for anyone other than Allaah,

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then he has taken him as a lord besides Allaah. This is also true for righteous saints. A
widespread misconception among the Soofis is that sainthood has a higher status than
prophethood and this is a wrong notion. Some of the Soofis themselves differ in this
concept. Since Allaah has forbidden the worship of angels and prophets, then who has
permitted people today to dedicate any form of worship to righteous people/saints?
3. The evidence that Prophets were taken as deities besides Allaah
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab states that the evidence for the fact that prophets
were taken as deities besides Allaah is the statement of Allaah

And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection): "O 'Iesa (Jesus),
son of Maryam (Mary)! Did you say unto men: 'Worship me and my mother as two
gods besides Allah?' " He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I
had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You
know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only
You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden and unseen.
(Surah Al Maidah: 116)
The word

here carries the same weight as and means the One who has

knowledge of everything. In this great ayah, Allaah has informed us of a conversation

between Him and Eesa and this is to admonish and warn the Christians. The
Christians believe that Eesa is worthy of worship so Allaah is warning them
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by conversing with His Prophet. Allaah has already clarified in the preceding evidence
that He did not command anyone to take angels and prophets as lords. In this ayah,
He is questioning the people by way of questioning His Prophet Eesa that is
he the one who ordered the people to worship him. This is a very great and thoughtprovoking conversation. Allaah begins by asking him if he was the one to command
the people to worship him and his mother. Eesa with utmost humility begins
his reply by proclaiming the Glory of Allaah and testifying that He is Glorified above all
that people associate with Him. He further denies that he did not say such a thing and
humbly asserts that how can he say such a thing which he has no right and permission
to say it. And if he indeed say such a thing, then Allaah has better knowledge about it.
And at this juncture, he defines knowledge by saying that Allaah knows what is inside
of him but he does not know what is inside of Allaah. There is affirmation of one type
of knowledge and negation of another type of knowledge. The affirmation is for the
knowledge of Allaah, that Allaahs knowledge is infinite. The negation is for the
beloved prophet of Allaah, that he does not know what Allaah knows. The knowledge
of the unseen is with Allaah alone. This is asserted at the end of this ayah. carries
the weight of and this is referred to doing an act in excess. So in summary, Allaah
alone knows all of the Unseen. Even the Prophets of Allaah are aware of only that
portion of the Unseen which has been revealed to them by Allaah.

knowledge of what preceded, what is now and what is to come; this is for Allaah alone.
Allaah has knowledge of when a person will be born, how long will he live, what his
provisions will be, where he will travel and when and where he will die. Allaah had
knowledge of all these matters 50,000 years before the creation of this Universe.
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Allaah had knowledge of whatever is to occur in this Universe 50,000 years before
creating it and this is known as . This is specific for Allaah alone and no one
except Him has knowledge of this, not even a prophet or a saint. Some people have
alleged that a certain saint has his eyes fixed on the Preserved Tablet. This is a very
sad state of affairs as Allaah has admonished His prophet in very strong terms that
one must not speak about that which he has no knowledge of.
In a book called Baagh e Firdaws by Ahmad Raza Khan, he narrates an incident about
Seherwardiyyah. This is one of the orders of the Soofis and Shihabuddin Seherwardi is
the founder of this order. In the Indian Subcontinent, there exist four orders of Soofis,
namely the Qadri order, the Naqshbandi order, the Chishti order and the Seherwardi
order. The Seherwardiyyah are the followers of Shihabuddin Seherwardi. Ahmad Raza
Khan states in Baagh e Firdaws that when the mother of Shihabuddin Seherwardi was
pregnant, she went to the house of Ghaus (ghaus is usually referred to Abdul Qadir
Jeelani, may Allaah have mercy upon him) but she did not find him there. Instead his
father was present in the house and he asked her what the matter is. Whereupon she
replied that she desires to talk to Ghaus but the father informed her that he is not
present. So she questioned the father instead, informing him that she is pregnant and
desires that Allaah grant her a son. So the father peeped into the Preserved Tablet and
found that the lady is destined to bear only daughters. The lady left the house dejected
and heartbroken. As she reached outside, she met Ghaus at the door and asked her
the reason for her crying so she narrated the preceding conversation with his father
to him. Thereupon, Ghaus gave her the glad tidings that she will bear a son. So a
command from Ghaus converted her sorrow to happiness. Their belief is that their

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saints can even change the destiny which is written in the Preserved Tablet. When
the time for delivery came, she delivered a girl and she immediately went to the house
of Ghaus and told him that I had asked for a son but I have been granted a daughter.
He asked her to present the daughter and she did so. He removed the cover from the
babys face and just glanced at her once and the baby was converted from a girl to a
boy. So when Shihabuddin Seherwardi grew up, he was known to have the features of
a woman, he was even known to have breasts like a woman and he was known to
strap them back (we seek refuge from Allaah)! This is how they mention their own
saints and believe that this sort of mentioning is respectful and praiseworthy. In
reality, they have only made a joke of the religion. The aforementioned book is a
famous book among the Bareilviyyoon. The Deobandis have a similar book called
Tadhkiratur Rasheed which contains the biography of Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi. In this
book is an incident wherein an opponent of Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi questions an
elderly man about him and says that people talk such and such about him. The elderly
man says that by Allaah, I can see the pen of Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi working over
the Arsh. The Preserved Tablet lies above the Arsh so from whom is this Tablet
preserved? It is neither preserved/protected from the father of Ghaus, from Ghaus
and nor from Gangohi. Then why did Allaah refer to this Tablet as the Preserved
Tablet. We read about it in the Quran. It is preserved by Allaah from every creation.
Only Allaah knows what is contained in it. Even if a single person knew about its
contents, then one could not call it preserved.

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4. The evidence that righteous people were worshipped

The evidence lies in the statement of Allaah

Those whom they call upon [like 'Iesa (Jesus) - son of Maryam (Mary), 'Uzair (Ezra), angel,
etc.] desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord (Allah), as to which of them
should be the nearest and they ['Iesa (Jesus), 'Uzair (Ezra), angels, etc.] hope for His Mercy
and fear His Torment. Verily, the Torment of your Lord is something to be afraid of!
(Surah Al Israa: 57)
In the explanation of this ayah, Imam Ibn Katheer states that some humans would worship
the Jinns but it was from the wisdom of Allaah that the Jinns accepted Islam. The humans
continued to worship them and then Allaah revealed this ayah. The Jinns accepted Islam and
they are amongst the two Mukallaf creations of Allaah (Mukallaf refers to a mature being with
sound intellect aaqil and baaligh). Animals, plants and other creatures are not included in
this category and these will not be held accountable on the Day of Judgment. Paradise and
Hell-fire are only for the humans and Jinns. After the Jinns accepted Islam, people continued
to worship them instead of taking heed and becoming believers themselves. The Jinns desired
to achieve nearness to Allaah in worship, in Tawheed and in manners and worldly issues. This
ayah contains the negation of worship for any righteous living or dead person. This ayah
contains the benefit that informs us of the reasons for which we worship Allaah and these
are:
a. To seek closeness to Allaah
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b. Hoping for the rewards of Allaah

c. Fearing the punishment of Allaah
This was the way of the Messengers as well as informed by Allaah in Surah Al Anbiyaa, ayah
90

they used to call on Us with hope and fear. And this was also the

way of the righteous people as mentioned in the evidence for righteous people above.
However, the present day Soofis say that they worship Allaah not hoping for Paradise (the
ultimate reward) or fearing the Hell-fire (the ultimate punishment). Rather they worship
Allaah just out of love. However, even at this point they make a mistake of using a vile form
of love to denote love for Allaah and His Messenger and that word is Ishq ( translators note:
this is a grave mistake as in the Arabic language, this word carries a sexual connotation and is
used for the kind of love between spouses. The word Mahabbah is the right word to use).
Here it is appropriate to mention that there are three pillars of worship and the absence of
even one of the pillars makes worship deficient and unacceptable. These pillars are:
a. Love - some people only use this pillar as a basis for their worship and neglect the
other two. This includes the Soofis. They are misguided.
b. Hope some people hold fast to this pillar alone and ignore love and fear and they
are misguided. This includes the Murjiah. They believe that once a person becomes
a believer, then he is free to do as he wishes. Only testifying from the tongue is
enough and deeds do not matter.
c. Fear the Khawarij and Waeediyyah only worship Allaah out of fear and did not
keep any hopes from Him. They deem a person who commits a major sin to be a

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disbeliever who cannot hope for the Mercy of Allaah and His pardon and hence
will abide in the Hell-fire forever.
The Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah hold fast to all three pillar while worshipping Allaah. Arwaah
e Thalaatha is a book written by Ashraf Ali Thanvi (a deobandi elder) and he narrates that an
elderly man would say to the people that when I will enter Paradise and the virgins (Hoors)
will be presented to me, I will say to them that if they are interested in reciting the Quran to
me then they are welcome otherwise they must leave me alone. This entails that he does
not desire the pleasures of Paradise. Raab E Adawiyyah states that Paradise is a toy like the
toy of kids and I do not crave or require Paradise. Paradise is the great reward of Allaah for
the lifetime that His slave spent in His worship and seeking His pleasure. However, these
people want to be deprived of it.
5. The evidence that trees and stones were taken as deities besides Allaah
The evidence lies in the statement of Allaah

Have you then considered Al-Lat, and Al-'Uzza (two idols of the pagan Arabs). And Manat
(another idol of the pagan Arabs), the other third?
(Surah An Najm: 19,20)
The Mufassireen of the Quran have informed us about these deities. Laat was a pious,
righteous man who lived in Makkah and his account has preceded in this lesson. A stone was

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erected in his memory and the stone was even named after him. Manaat was also an idol
whereas Uzza was a tree that the polytheists worshipped.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab mentions a hadith in this context. The hadith is
present in Jami Tirmidhi and is a great hadith. Abu Waaqid Al Laithee narrates that

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we set out on the expedition of Hunain with the Messenger of Allaah and we had recently
accepted Islam. The polytheists of Arabia would visit and revere a tree and would also hang
their weapons on that tree to receive blessings from it. It was called Dhat Anwaat. So while
travelling along, we remarked to the Messenger of Allaah that make for us a Dhat Anwaat.
Allaahs Messenger said Allaah is the Greatest, these are misguided paths. By Him in
Whose Hand is my soul, you have said to me as Bani Israeel said to Musa Make
for us a deity just like those people, and he said indeed you are a misguided race. You will
tread the path of those before you. (Narrated by Tirmidhi and he classed it Saheeh)
The people had committed two mistakes here:
a. The mistake of visiting the tree (itikaaf is also a form of worship and is done for
Allaah alone; if done for anyone else, it entails Shirk)

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b. The mistake of seeking blessings from it (as mentioned in the first lesson,
blessings can be sought only from those things which are proven by evidence;
seeking blessings from anything not supported by evidence is impermissible).
The polytheists believed that when they would hang their weapons on that
tree, the strokes of their weapons would become more powerful and fatal
In the above hadith, Allaahs Messenger informed us that we would follow the ways of the
people who came before us, i.e. the Jews and Christians and it is evident today how their
ideologies are widespread among the Muslims. In this hadith, the Sahaba questioned the
Messenger of Allaah due to their lack of knowledge regarding that matter as they were new
Muslims and had recently accepted Islam. In fact they did not even hang the weapons, they
had simply questioned and they were strictly forbidden by the Messenger of Allaah and
they did refrained from doing so.
This hadith also contains the benefit that a person cannot be deemed a polytheist or
disbeliever simply because of the words that come out of his mouth. It is imperative to make
Hujjah (establish proof) against an individual before declaring him to be a disbeliever and even
this has its own conditions and causes. In the Sahabas case, the cause was ignorance. When
they were informed of its prohibition, they refrained from doing the act. If they had
committed the act after acquiring knowledge, then it would entail Shirk.

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Benefits of the Third Principle

1. This principle tells us that Shirk means worshipping anything besides Allaah no matter
how great the associated deity seems to be
2. This principle contains a clear answer to those who say that Shirk means idol worship
only. This definition of idol worship that they use is baseless because Allaahs
Messenger did not fight only idolaters during his lifetime, rather he fought various
people who worshipped many different deities.
3. This principle teaches us that Shirk is that curse which leads people to division and
disunity. This is because when Shirk came into existence, people differed with one
another in worshipping deities. Some of them took prophets and angels, others took
celestial bodies and still others took trees and stones as deities. On the contrary,
Tawheed is that light (of guidance) which leads to unity
4. Shirk is the greatest sin and also the greatest trial
5. A clear answer to those who claim that they do not worship the saints, rather only
take them as intermediaries. Allaah rebutted the people who worshipped the Jinns as
mentioned in this principle and in the ayah which has been given as evidence
6. Ignorance is a gravely dangerous thing which should be wiped away by the light of
knowledge. Knowledge is that light by which a person continues to be illuminated for
his entire lifetime. Furthermore, knowledge is that weapon which does not require
much toil to bear, and when an opponent is attacked with knowledge, then he is
inflicted with an injury which he cannot escape. And it is such a wealth which always
remains with a person, it cannot be stolen by anyone.

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7. To consider a thing blessed (or to derive blessings from something) without evidence
is Shirk
8. It is a Sunnah to say Allahu Akbar when a person is amazed.
9. Changing the name of something does not change its reality. (this refers to changing
the name of Shirk to respect of saints and intercession, yet Shirk remains shirk and it
can never be proven to be intercession merely because people have called it so)
10. Blind following is a big evil which distances a person from truth
11. Prostration is worship and prostrating to someone other than Allaah is Shirk
12. Some people took Prophets and righteous people and angels as lords
13. Allaah has always been strict with regards to Shirk. The proof is in the statement of
Allaah

" If you join others in worship with Allah, (then) surely

(all) your deeds will be in vain, (Surah Az Zumar: 65). Allaah is addressing His most
beloved creation, His noble Messenger with these stern words. This indicates the
gravity of Shirk
14. With regards to Shirk, it is not considered what or who is associated with Allaah in
worship and who is the one doing Shirk. The reason for the disbelief of the Christians
is not just that they belied the Messenger of Allaah rather the reason is that they
took a Prophet as their lord besides belying the Messenger of Allaah . There is logical
proof for this as well as the Christians worshipped a Prophet even before the advent
of the Messenger of Allaah
15. The Prophets did not have complete knowledge of the Unseen
16. The proof for the legislated form of intermediation. The various types have been
described previously
17. Hope and fear are the pillars of worship. The third pillar is Love
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18. It is important to know the reality of Laat, Uzza and Manat

19. It is permissible to take an oath without being asked to do so. This is proven from the
hadith mentioned above
20. The proof of the Hand of Allaah
21. Allaahs Messenger is not the owner of Kun Fa Yakoon (be and it was). The proof is
in the hadith as he says In Whose Hand is my soul
22. This principle tells us the reality of the reason as to why people took angels and
Prophets as lord
23. Anyone who gives the right of Allaah to any of His creation, then he has made that
thing His associate
24. A person who testified the Shahadah can also be a polytheist
25. The proof that Allaahs Nafs is also among one of His attributes

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