The Book and Sunnah - Imam al-Haddad
بسم الله والحمد الله
والصلاة واسلام على رسول الله
By Ruh
You must hold fast to the Book and the sunna. Take refuge in them, for they are the upright religion of Allah, and His straight path. Those who adhere to them find safety, profit, guidance and protection, while those who deviate from them go astray, grieve, lose, and are broken. Let them govern you and control what you do, and consult them in your every affair, in obedience to the counsel of Allah and that of His Messenger;
O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you! If you have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and of fairer consequence.
- [Q 4:59]
Refer it to Allah and the Messenger means, 'refer it to the Book and sunna.' The Messenger of Allah, may blessings and peace be upon him, has said:
'I bid you take care of that with which, if you hold to it firmly, you will never err: the Book of Allah and my sunna.'
- [Malik, al-Muwatta - Hasan]
If it pleases you to be well-guided along the white road in which there is neither crookedness nor curvature, then measure all your intentions, traits, acts, and words against the Book and sunna, then retain whatever conforms to them and abandon whatever does not. And always be cautious and follow the better alternative. Never innovate in religion, nor follow the ways of the non-believers, or else you will lose both this world and the hereafter, which thing is the manifest loss. Beware of novel things and invented opinions, for he has said, may blessings and peace be upon him:
'Every addition is an innovation, and every innovation is an error.'
- [Sunan al-Nasā’ī - Sahih]
'Anyone who adds to this affair of ours what does not belong to it is to be rejected.
- [Sunan Ibn Majah - Sahih]
There are three kinds of innovations:
1. The first is a 'good innovation' which is that which the well-guided leaders have opined in conformity with the Book and sunna, intending to choose that which is more beneficial, more useful, and finer, for example, Abu Bakr's collection of the whole Qur'an into one volume, 'Umar's institution of military pensions and of the Tarawih prayers, 'Uthman's arrangement of the Qur'an and institution of a first call to prayer on Friday, and 'Ali's rules for fighting heretical rebels. May Allah bestow His good pleasure upon the four Caliphs!
2. The second kind of innovation is one that is 'blameworthy only from the point of view of renunciation and contentment, such as the excessive use of licit clothes, foodstuffs, and houses.
3. The third kind is the 'absolutely blameworthy innovation', which contradicts the provisions of the Book and sunna, or the consensus of the nation.
Innovators have fallen into this very frequently with regard to the principles, but infrequently with regard to the branches.
The one who does not adhere exceedingly to the Book and sunna, and does not do his utmost to emulate the Messenger, and then pretends that he has a certain degree before Allah the Exalted, should not be paid attention to, nor attended, even if he be able to fly in the air and walk on water, have distances folded up, and the laws of nature broken for him. This happens frequently to demons, magicians, soothsayers, talisman makers, astrologers, and others who are similarly in error. These can only be considered charismata [karamat] and confirmation, and not enticements and delusion when rectitude [istiqama] is present in the one in whom they appear. Such deceivers can only deceive the rabble and the base people who worship Allah while harbouring doubts. As for those endowed with reason and intelligence, they know full well that believers differ in their nearness to Allah according to the differences between them in following the Messenger, and the more complete the emulation, the more perfect the nearness to Allah, and the greater the gnosis of Him.
Abu Yazid al-Bistami once went to visit a man who was said to be a saint. He sat down waiting for him in a mosque until the man came out and spat on the wall of the mosque, at which Abu Yazid went away without speaking to him. He said: 'How can someone be entrusted with Allah's secrets when he isa not careful to maintain the courtesies of the Law?'
Al-Junayd, may Allah have mercy on him, has said: 'All roads are blocked except to him who follows in the footsteps of the Messenger, may blessings and peace be upon him.'
And Sahl ibn 'Abd-Allah [al-Tustari], may Allah have mercy on him, has said: 'There is no helper but Allah, no guide but the Messenger of Allah, no provision but taqwa, and no work but to have fortitude in these things.'
Know that not everyone is capable of independently evaluating all his affairs, outward and inward, against the Book and sunna, for only erudite scholars can do this. Should you ever find difficulty doing so, go to one of those to whom Allah commanded you have recourse in His saying (Exalted is He):
So ask the people of remembrance if you do not know.
- [Q 16: 43]
The people of remembrance are those who have knowledge of Allah and His religion, practice what they know for His sake, have no desire for the world, and are not distracted by commerce from His remembrance:
by men who are not distracted—either by buying or selling—from Allah’s remembrance, or performing prayer, or paying alms-tax. They fear a Day when hearts and eyes will tremble,
- [Q 24:37]
and summon to Him clear-sightedly, and to whom His secrets are unveiled:
Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “This is my way. I invite to Allah with insight—I and those who follow me. Glory be to Allah, and I am not one of the polytheists.”
- [Q 12:108]
The presence of one such on the face of the earth has become so rare that some great men have even said that they no longer exist. The truth is that they do exist, but because of the unawareness of the elite and the turning away of the commonality, Allah has hidden them under the cloak of His possessiveness and surrounded them with veils of obscurity. However, those who seek them with sincerity and zeal will not, by Allah's Will, fail to find one of them. Sincerity is a sword that is never used against anything without cutting it. The earth is never without those who uphold the matter for Allah. And the Prophet has said, may blessings and peace be upon him:
'A group in my nation will always exist, victoriously defending the truth, unharmed by those who oppose them, until the command of Allah arrives.'
- [Sahih Muslim]
i.e. those who oppose them will never be able to stamp out the light of Islam of which they are the custodians. As to harm coming to them personally, that has been a fairly frequent occurrence as evidenced by what happened to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah be pleased with him, and many others. These are the stars of the earth, the carriers of the Trust, the deputies of the Chosen One, and the heirs of the Prophets;
Allah is well-pleased with them, and they are well-pleased with Him. Those are the faction of Allah; indeed, the faction of Allah are those who will succeed.
- [Q 58:22]
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