Qawaa'id al Al-Qawaa'id al-Muthlaa

by Shaykh Saalih al-`Uthaymeen Saali Ustaadh Moosaa Richardson Class 03

Notes by Umm Sufyaan Fatimah

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THE FIFTH PRINCIPLE CONCERNING ALLAAH'S NAMES

1.5 - THE NAMES OF ALLAAH ARE T AWQEEFIYYAH - THERE IS NO PLACE FOR INTELLECTUAL FREE-THINKING REGARDING THEM Tawqeefiyyah is the opposite of tawfeeqiyyah. Tawqeefiyyah is an issue which you have no right to speak about except with evidences. Nothing can be legislated except with evidences. Tawfeeqiyyah is something open to opinions, assessments and personal judgments. It is something open to free thinking, etc. For example, the issue of Salaah is tawqeefiyyah. As soon as you make the takbeer and enter into Salaah, you are in the realm of Tawqeef (from the same verb that establishes qif (stop)). So, you cannot do anything here except with evidences. The Salaah itself is tawqeefiyyah; you need a proof to establish your action before you can ask someone to prove that you cannot do it. However, if I said that I do not know of a hadeeth where the Messenger (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) wore the exact color of the thobe you are wearing, or that I am not sure if it is even halaal for you to even wear it, do you have to prove you can wear that color? Do you have to have a text in order to wear that color? No. Why is that? In the affairs of clothing, eating, interactions between people, etc, everything is halaal until you have a text proving it is haraam. Every sitting posture that you all have is halaal except when there is a hadeeth prohibiting it. This is because the affair of sitting and dressing, etc is tawfeeqiyyah; it is left up to you, your opinion, and what you like to do, until there is a text. If I say: Akhee, you are wearing silk (this is not halaal), can he say, no, clothes are tawfeeqiyyah? I can wear whatever I want, it is halaal? He cannot because we have a text that prohibits the wearing of silk. So a specific exemption is made here. Silk is not halaal for the men, it is haraam, and it is exempted from the general permissibility of clothing. First scenario: Wearing a Buddhist's orange robe, wrapping it around oneself, and shaving your head bald, is this halaal or not? Clothes are permissible, but there is a text that says 'Whoever imitates a people is one of them.' Now, this is imitating the religious custom of a people, and this is absolutely prohibited. We have a text against it. Second scenario: You should not lean back on your left hand. All sitting postures are permissible, but do you know anything from the Prophet (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) saying this particular position is not permissible? There is an authenticated hadeeth by Shaykh Al-Albaanee (rahimahullaah) mentioned in the Prophet's Prayer Described that this sitting posture is not permissible within the Salaah nor permissible outside the Salaah. The Prophet (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) came to the masjid and saw a man reclining back on his left hand, so he said: You are going to sit with the posture of those who have earned His Anger? (i.e. the Jews)? So if the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) described this sitting posture as the sitting posture of those who earned Allaah's anger, then it is an indication that it is not permissible. Therefore, we exempt it from the general permissibility of sitting postures, etc. So tawqeef means stop, and do not do anything until you have a text. So do not fast, because fasting is an `ibaadah, until you learn how to start fasting according to the Messenger (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) and when to stop fasting, what you do when you fast and what you refrain from when you fast; you learn all of that from the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam). You cannot say I am going to fast tomorrow, but I am going to avoid water only and drink Pepsi. So my fasting will just be from water. You're sawm is tawqeefi, it is only to be done according to the way that the Messenger (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) taught.
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Tawfeeqi is that you are free to do it however you like. For example, you are free to wear shoes. Which kind of shoes are you allowed to wear in Islaam? You are allowed to wear any shoe, but you are prohibited from wearing one shoe. It is not permissible to wear one shoe. If there was no text you would have the right to say, I can wear one shoe if I want to; it is a dunyaa (worldly) thing, and it is not the worship of Allaah, it is mere clothing. Yet there is a prohibition of wearing one shoe, the Messenger (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) told us to remove the other shoe or put the second one on. So either walk barefoot or walk with two shoes. Do not walk with one shoe only, give your body its balance. Some of the scholars mentioned that this was the knowledge of chiropractic medicine from the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam). Chiropractors say that if you one of your legs is longer than the other, or if you have some imbalance in your walk, overtime it will lead to major back problems for you. So if the person is walking with one shoe consistently, this would definitely affect his back. There is something harmful in what the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) forbade us from. So this is an exemption from the generality of the permissibility of shoes. How does this relate to Allaah's Names and Attributes? Can we say that one of Allaah's Names is Vishnu? (Vishnu is regarded by some people as being a deity that is powerful). No. We cannot. Why not? There is no text showing that Allaah's Name is Vishu. Allaah's Names are tawqeefiyyah. You cannot say Allaah is the Great Architect. If Allaah's Names and Attributes were tawfeeqi, you can call Him whatever you wanted to call Him. But if Allaah's Names are tawqeefi, you cannot call Him anything except with a text. You cannot refer to Allaah with a Name that He has except with a text. You cannot say Allaah is Al-Muhandass Al-Kawn (the Architect of the Universe) as some people say. As a khabr, it is true, Allaah designed the universe, and Allaah's design of the universe is an amazing design. We can talk about Allaah with a khabr. Meaning, you can describe Him with descriptions, but you cannot establish a Name from that description. You can say Allaah designed the universe in the most beautiful and intriguing way, with all kinds of wisdom and knowledge. But can we bring a Name from that? Allaah (`Azza wa Jall), from the authentic descriptions of Allaah, is that He descends to the lowest heaven every last third of the night. Can we call Him an-Naazil (the Descendor)? No. We cannot call Him the Descendor. Why not? Because the Names of Allaah are tawqeefiyyah. We cannot establish any Name we want from a description. Allaah's Names are tawqeefiyyah ( ), meaning a kind of knowledge that is restricted to textual evidence;

there is no place for intellectual free-thinking regarding them. Based on this, we must suffice ourselves with what is found in the Book and the Sunnah, without adding or taking anything away. This is because the intellect will not be able to grasp the understanding of Allaah's Names that He rightfully deserves, so then we must suffice ourselves with textual evidences only. This is due to Allaah's Statement

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And do not follow what you have no knowledge of. Verily the hearing, the sight, and the heart, (you) will all be questioned (about each of them). [17:36]

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Say: Verily, my Lord has prohibited (all forms of) lewdness, whether committed openly or in secret, sinning (in general), oppressing without any due right, that you associate partners with Allaah with no authority sent down from Him, and that you speak about Allaah with what you do not know. [7:33] Some of the scholars said that Allaah mentioned speech about Him without knowledge in the order of the severity of the crime, meaning it gets more severe with each crime mentioned in the aayah. Allaah mentions speech about Him without knowledge, after shirk. If making shirk with Allaah is the greatest crime that a person can commit, and it is that which will borrow him from Paradise forever and keep him from being able to receive the Mercy of Allah, then how could there be something mentioned after that? The scholars of tafseer say, the one who makes shirk, mentioned in the fourth position (of the aayah) makes shirk by himself, however, the one who speaks about Allaah with no knowledge leads other people into shirk. Not only does he make shirk with the speech about Allaah without knowledge, i.e. Allaah has a son, Allah has a partner, but he conveys this to other people. He speaks about Allaah like this and it affects other people, and it leads other people into shirk. So the severity of the crime is even more so, because he is not restricted by his own action of committing shirk, he has lead other people into that great crime as well. Furthermore, to Attribute a Name to Allaah, the Exalted, that He did not Attribute to Himself or to deny something He has Named Himself would be a serious crime against Him. We must behave in the appropriate manner in this affair and stick to what is found in established textual evidences only. A number of scholars throughout history such as Ibnul Qayyim, Al-Khattaabee, Ja`far As-Saadiq, Ibn Hubayrah, As-Sa`dee, Ibn Al-`Uthaymeen, Siddeeq Hassan Khaan strove to extract the 99 Names of Allaah and they attempted to list and gather them. They wrote books, making ijtihaad trying gather the 99 Names of Allaah that they believed was intended by that text (whoever enumerates the 99 Names of Allaah will enter Paradise).' The scholars throughout history, though they differed in some branches of how they approached the text, they all understood that it is the text that established the Names of Allaah. They all began with the easiest and clearest affirmations like Ar-Rahmaan, Ar-Raheem, Al-Qudoos, etc. Then, you get issues of ijtihaad whether it is an issue of differing between the scholars and some of them affirmed some Names and others did not. For example, some affirmed Ar-Rasheed, and some didn't. Some of them said: Thul-Jalaali wal-Ikraam is one of His Names and others said Maaliki Yawmi Deen is a name, because idaafah is allowed when it comes to the name of Allaah and others said no, there's no idaafah in the Names of Allaah. But there is no proof for or against either positions, so their efforts that they made or make to list the Names was something that we hope Allaah will reward them for, and give them the Promise in the hadeeth. The whole point is that all of them based their ijtihaad on evidences, and none of them said I'm going to think and come up with 99 Names, so therefore, Allaah is Al-Muhandiss, and they begin to come up with names from their minds. You find some people today who say Vishnu is one of Allaah's names! Or that we can say that Allaah is referred to as Vishnu or by other pagan names. Rather Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta'aala) is only referred to with the Names that He has Named Himself with or the Names His Messenger (salallahu `alayhi wa sallam) named him.

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