IMKAN AL-KADHIB :TĀJUSH SHARI’AH, MUFTĪ AKHTAR RIDHA KHAN AL-BAREILWI

TĀJUSH SHARI’AH, MUFTĪ AKHTAR RIDHA KHAN AL-BAREILWI

RELEASED BY Gatewaytomadina www.gatewaytomadina.org 

CATEGORY: 'AQA'ID _TOPIC: IMKAN AL-KADHIB_RELEASE DATE: 1 RABĪ AL-THĀNĪ 1431 (19TH MARCH 2010)

TRANSLATION SUPPLIED BY: SAYYID AHMAD-FAIZ & JUNAID YASĪN

QUESTION: A new Muslim1 scholar, impressed by some Deobandi, has claimed that it is not impossible for Allāh to lie, though Allāh will not. What do the scholars of ’Islām say with regards to this statement? Can the claimant be regarded as a Sunni or is he misguided?

ANSWER: He cannot be a Sunni. He is certainly misguided. This belief of the Deobandis is a resulting combination [murakab] of many infidelities [kufr] and it is, consequently, for this reason that several instances of the necessitation of infidelity [al Kufr al Luzūmi] fall upon the Deobandis and the Wahhābīs. Those who put forth

such beliefs are infidels [kuffār]; this is the judgement of the Fuqāha. It is the fixed belief of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah and even some misguided[bātil] schools of thought – such as the Mu`tazilah2 – thatAllāh’s Divine Entity is free  [muhal bil Dhāt] from all types of imperfection and decrement. To be a liar is a defect.

Though there are millions of people in the world who lie day and night, it is a defect of such proportionality that even these people will be offended if they are considered to be liars! And regardless of how low a person [in social standing] may be; he shall certainly not abide with being termed a liar. The understanding of the Deobandis and the Wahhābīs is strange as they are prepared to use such terms of offense in relation to Allāh by claiming that it is

possible for Allāh to lie. Firstly, Allah’s Divine Entity is necessary in Itself [Wajib bil-Dhat]. The Divine Entity [Dhāt] of Allāh and His Divine Attributes [Siffāt] are preexistent without end [Qadīm], eternal [Abadi] and pre-eternally existent [Azali]. And there is no Attribute that was inexistent in a point in time and thereafter attained (at a later point in time) and similarly, the Supreme and Divine Lord cannot be divested of any of His Divine Attributes.

Thus, if one claims that Allāh can lie, then he has accepted the possibility in Allāh attaining an Attribute formerly inexistent and subsequently attained. Not only does this belief assume the Divine Entity to be a setting of occurrence, it furthermore deems all of the Divine Attributes to be Hādith. This accordingly becomes a negation of His Divine Entity [Dhāt].And whosoever claims that the Attributes of Allāh are created or transient, or even doubts therein, is a disbeliever in Allāh, the Almighty; this is the verdict of Imām Abū Hanīfah, may Allāh be pleased with him.

 The belief of the Mu`tazilah is that the Kalām of Allāh [Most High] – the Qur’ān – is created. This is the rationale for the consensus [Ijmā'] of the Influential Companions [Sahabah], the Successors [Tābī`īn] and the Guiding Leaders of the Religion [A’imma al Mujtahidīn] in classifying them as infidels.

The Deobandis have not only accepted the Attributes of Allāh [Most High] to be Hādith but they have moreover attributed to Him the marred potentiality to lie. This is indeed an enormous transgression against Allāh [Most High] and it is one that deems the Shari’ah to be wholly uncertain; for it would be possible to say that Allāh  [Most High] lied about Jannah, Jahannam and it even places doubt upon theKalimah. If we were to accept the possibility in Allāh the Almighty, lying then, in effect, there would no longer be any Shari’a, Imān or Tawhīd. So, it is quite remarkable for the Wahhābīs, claiming to hold onto Tawhīd, to make such claims.

Imām Ahmad Ridha, the Imām of the Ahl as-Sunnah, may Allāh be pleased with him, has refuted these incorrect views in a very enlightening manner in his manuscripts, Sub’ĥān as-Subbūĥ án Kadhibi Áybin Maqbūĥ and Al-Qamú’l Mubīn li Āmāli’l Mukadh’dhibīn.Herein, he has elucidated in detail the grounds for infidelity in the view of the Fuqāha. If a new Muslim who is unaware, comes out of this belief of the Deobandis and repents then he is Sunni, else he is worthy of dissociation.