Topic
Misconceptions
29 entries
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What do Muslims believe about Jesus, and was he crucified?
Eesa (Jesus) is accepted in Islam as a Messenger and slave of Allah, born of a virgin, without a father. Muslims do not believe in the Trinity, and Islam rejects any idea of his being a son of God, a hypostasis of God or incarnate. He did not die on the cross; Allah raised him up to the heavens instead, and someone else was crucified.
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Were the Prophets only human, and did they know the unseen?
None of Allah's Messengers or Prophets claimed to be god or semi-god. They were all human and possessed no Divine qualities; Allah distinguished them by commissioning them and supported them with miracles. They had no knowledge of the unseen, the invisible world, except what Allah revealed to them, no power to benefit or harm others, and no share in the Dominion of Allah.
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What does belief in the names and attributes of Allah mean, and does He have only 99 names?
The names of Allah are not limited to a certain number: a hadith mentions that Allah has 99 names, but this does not mean He has no other names, and there are names of Allah that He has not mentioned in the Qur'an nor taught to any of His creatures. Believing in His names and attributes is one of the articles of faith, and it entails believing in Allah Himself. The names are not subject to opinion: no one may give Allah a name that neither He nor His Messenger gave Him. The names and attributes should not be suspended or distorted.
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What did Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal think of the Sufis?
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal gave great importance to the Sufis and honoured them, and Shaykh Abdul Hafiz al-Makki discusses his positive opinion of Tasawwuf and Sufism in a book dedicated to him. Asked about the seeker who takes the path of Tasawwuf, Imam Ahmad replied that the seeker should remain with Allah as Allah wishes and leave all which he himself desires for what Allah desires.
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What was Imam Abu Hanifa’s connection to Sufism?
Imam Abu Hanifa was the master of many great Sufi Mashaikh, among them Ibrahim ibn Adham, Fudayl ibn 'Iyad, Dawud Ta'i and Bishr Hafi. At first he wished to go into seclusion, but a dream was interpreted to mean that he would attain a high rank in knowledge of the Prophet and in preserving his Sunnah, and he spent all his life compiling Hadith.
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What did Ibn Khaldun say about the origin of Sufism?
In his Muqaddimah the historian Ibn Khaldun writes that Sufism is based on the assumption that the method of the people later called Sufis had always been considered, by the men around the Prophet, the men of the second generation and those who came after them, the path of truth and right guidance. Constant application to Divine worship, complete devotion to Allah and aversion to the false splendour of the world were general among the early Muslims, and when worldly aspirations increased, the special name of Sufis was given to those who aspired to Divine worship.
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Does being a great shaykh’s disciple save a person?
Some so-called pirs proclaim that they are disciples of the great masters and deem themselves above the Shariah, yet no one is above the law: the Prophet told his daughter Fatimah to save herself from the Hellfire, because he did not have the power to save her from Allah. When Kirkirah, who was in charge of the Prophet's baggage, died, the Prophet said that he had gone to the Fire, and the Companions found among his possessions a cloak he had misappropriated from the spoils of war.
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Must a shaykh renounce the world and live as an ascetic?
It is the way of the Prophet to have a family and earn the living while keeping worldly desires at bay, and a shaykh is not required to have denounced and abandoned the world. His heart should be void of worldly affairs and firmly attached to Allah and His Last Prophet, and among the few attributes the scholars describe, a true shaykh does not seek this world by his religious learning and declines luxury in worldly affairs. The Prophet told the believers to stay close to a person endowed with abstinence in this world and the trait of speaking less.
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Is bay’ah an innovation (bid’ah)?
Critics call the pledge taken by Sufis a blameworthy innovation, not supported by the Qur'an or Hadith, and recognise only the pledge for conversion to Islam or for jihad. Mowlana Ashraf Ali answers from a hadith in which Companions who had already pledged to Islam gave a pledge that was neither for Islam nor for jihad, but to obey certain injunctions and to perform certain practices. So the bay'ah in Tasawwuf does have its precedent in the Sunnah.
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Can you learn Tasawwuf from the internet or YouTube?
Information gathered over the internet on matters relating to Iman can be incorrect and unreliable, and thus misguiding. A person would not perform heart surgery on himself from a YouTube video; he would seek a medical specialist. Commitment to someone who has been through the process and holds the criteria of a true guide is how Tasawwuf is realised, and its true state needs a connection with a living teacher over a prolonged period of time.