Grand Ayatullah Nasir Makarim al-Shirazi, in his great work, Zubdatul Ahkam, summarizes the Shi’a concept of Tawheed in these words:
“We declare the Oneness (Tawheed) of Allah and we reject any partner for Him; any personification (of Him) and any son (for Him). Every type of deviation from the principle of Tawheed, we condemn emphatically to destruction, like attributing partners to Allah (Shirk); idolatry and the worship of man by man.
As such, we believe that Allah is Unique. He is the Creator of all existence. Due to this, we believe that only good and righteousness is created in the universe and it is man, who, at times, misuses these means and potential. Therefore, man is the cause of evil and source of deviation.
We believe that Allah is without a body or matter, rather, He is far elevated above matter and material. According to this, He has no need for a place or locality. Surely, He is in every place and cognizant of everything. He is closer to us than our jugular vein. He sees everything and hears every sound. In addition to that, there is no place for Him nor any habitat. He sees things and hears sounds not with the extremities of the eye nor the ear as we see or hear.
We believe that the past and the future, the near and the remote are the same for Him; that everything is present in His knowledge without exception. The apparent and known are before Him without exception, therefore, He even knows our thoughts and intentions. He encompasses (the knowledge) of that which troubles our hearts, (that which) passes through our minds and hearts, absolutely.
We believe that He is Unique in all of these perspectives. He has no compositional parts, even His Attributes, like capability and knowledge, are the same as His Essence.
There is no beginning for His Existence nor any end. He is eternally existing, therefore, His Existence is Infinite from all perspectives. His Attributes never resemble the attributes of creation because man’s attributes, like ability and knowledge, are limited. He is ever far Exalted in His Unlimited Attributes.
In His Power, (and in) none other besides Him, is forgiveness of the sins of His servants. There is no intercession of anyone for anyone, even the Messenger of Allah, the Blessings of Allah be upon him and his family, the Infallible (the ma’soomeen), peace be upon them, except by His Permission. As for the respect of their graves or the plea through them, then, it is not considered worship of them at all”.
Zubdatul Ahkam, English trans, Preface, pp. I-II.
VERDICTS FROM THE PURE HOUSEHOLD
Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (as) establishes the huge importance of knowing Allah (swt) in the correct manner before worshipping Him:
“Truly, the most excellent and the most necessary obligation incumbent upon man is knowledge of the Lord, and acknowledgement of one’s servitude to Him”.
Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 4, p. 55
Equally, Shaykh Saduq records this hadith:
“Ibn Abbas reported that a man went to the Holy Prophet and asked him: ‘O Prophet of Allah, what is the submit of knowledge”? The Holy Prophet replied: ‘To know Allah as He ought to be known’”.
Tawheed al-Saduq, ch. 40, hadith No. 5.
Then, The Holy Prophet (pbuh) explains further:
“He who likens Allah to His creatures does not know Him and he who ascribes His worshippers’ sins to Him does not recognize Him as just”.
Tawheed al-Saduq, p. 47
Likening Allah (swt) to His creatures basically involves giving Him the characteristics of matter – substance, particles or materials – such as seeability, motion, weight and physical restriction within a location. Anyway, as we have shown, likening involves much more than these four. What matters however is that any deity that possesses ANY of the attributes of matter is NOT Allah (swt). Therefore, whoever worships him is only a doomed polytheist! Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (as) submits:
“He who likens Allah to His creatures is a polytheist”.
Tawheed al-Saduq, p. 47
A SUNNI FATWA:
Allamah ‘Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi (d. 429/1037) wrote:
Anyone who considers his Lord to resemble the form of a person—as do the Bayaniyya [the followers of Bayan Ibn Sam‘an al-Tamimi (d. 119/737)], the Mughiriyya [followers of al-Mughira Ibn Sa‘id al-‘Ajali (d. 119/737)], the Jawaribiyya [followers of Dawud al-Jawaribi, (d. 2nd Hijra century)], and the Hishamiyya [followers of Hisham Ibn Salim al-Jawaliqi, the teacher of al-Jawaribi in anthropomorphism]—is only worshipping a person like himself. As for the permissibility of eating the meat he slaughters or of marriage with him, his ruling is that of an idol-worshipper. . . . Regarding the anthropomorphists of Khurasan, of the Karramiyya, it is obligatory to consider them unbelievers because they affirm that Allah has a physical limit and boundary from underneath, from whence He is contact with His Throne
Baghdadi, Usul al-din [Istanbul: Matba‘a al-Dawla, 1346/1929], 337
JUDGMENT OF THE QUR’AN
The Holy Qur’an identifies the “Shaykh al-Islam” of Salafis:
O men! Eat the lawful and good things out of what is in the earth, and do not follow the footsteps of the Shaitan; surely he is your open enemy. He only enjoins you evil and indecency, and that you may speak against Allah what you do not know.
Qur’an 2:168-169
For saying things with ignorance, the Qur’an has also described them as the greatest oppressors (sinners):
Who is then more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah or rejects His communications?
Qur’an 7:37
Their abode is Hellfire:
And on the day of resurrection you shall see those who lied against Allah; their faces shall be blackened. Is there not in hell an abode for the proud?
Qur’an 39:60
A Salafi may feel offended and ask how, in spite of his anthropomorphism, he has spoken out of ignorance about Allah (swt) or attributed lies to him, we therefore ask: is it really true that Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw) never speak in metaphors?
A FINAL KNOCK ON SALAFI CONSCIENCE
Salafis love to cite this verse to prove that Allah (swt) will be seen on the Day of Resurrection:
“You were heedless of this. Now We have removed your veil, and sharp is your vision this Day”.
Qur’an 50: 22
This is surprising, however, since the verse is addressed exclusively at unbelievers and hypocrites! Does it mean these people too will see the Salafi god? Of course, Salafis reject that. So they are left dumbfounded. But, the real meaning of that verse is in another:
“Nay, in their own (eyes) will become manifest what before they concealed”.
Qur’an 6: 28
Simply put, unbelievers and hypocrites will see everything they have concealed – all their sins and their consequences.
But, why are you looking up to seeing Him when, according to your creed, you are already doing so?
“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth”.
Qur’an 24: 35
Since Salafism rejects any possibility of metaphor in the Qur’an and hadith, and confirms that EVERYTHING is literal and superficial, we are left with no choice but to conclude that –
(a) any light you see in the heavens is part of the Salafi god,
(b) and any light you see on the earth is part of him
In his Tafseer, Ibn Jareer, while commenting on the verse cites Ibn-Abbas and Anas Ibn Malik, two prominent Companions, who claimed that the “Light” means “source of guidance”. In their view, the verse means that Allah (swt) is the source of guidance for all in the heavens and earth, and everything between, below and above them, and both of them themselves – in short, the entirety of creation. That means that the verse is not referring, in reality to just our galaxy system and the heavens. But, in the literal sense, all the other planets are excluded!
This is a clear case of representation. The heavens and the earth have been used metaphorically to refer to all creation. There are thousands of similar examples in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Obviously, literalism, in this case, will limit Allah’s (swt) Omnipotence. The opinions of the two companions also shows clearly that blind literalism is not the Sunnah of Allah (swt), His Prophets (as) and righteous people (ra), contrary to Salafi claims. In fact, Ibn Jareer himself makes this bold submission on the verse:
“No single individual from the righteous Salafi did refer to that light reflecting on walls and wide spreading in air, as the intended in the verse. Imams and scholars of Tafseer are far away from taking in such a literal, odd meaning”.
Does it mean, after all, that the Qur’an is not all-literal as the founders and Imams of Salafism claim? If they are wrong, then Salafism collapses completely from the foundation. That exposes it to the allegation that it has always stood upon the platform of falsehood. But, we expect Salafis to maintain that the entire Qur’an is literal, along with the entirety of hadith literature; that Allah (swt), His Prophets (as), all Companions and all righteous people used to interpret all verses and hadiths literally. The validity of their creed stands on those claims. So, we will never be surprised. However, does a literal interpretation of that verse not make Allah (swt) Omnipresent?
If He is not fully everywhere, at least He is everywhere in the heavens and on the earth! This is not talking about His knowledge. It is referring to Allah (swt) Himself. We call on Salafis to stand by their own creed, and rules. Apply the three golden rules. Give the verse an unconditional literal meaning, without asking how, and tell us if your creed is still standing!
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