In defense of Tawhid
and Ahl
at-Tawhid
Part 1
by al-murid Zubeir Ashari-Maturidi
After praising Allah, Lord of the worlds, and sending blessings and peace upon the noblest among His Prophets, I just read 3 chapters of the book bearing the inadequate title “The Fundamentals of Tawhid,” by Abu Aminah Bilal Philips, the grand wahhabi of Jamaica and my colleague in University. Below is a list of heretic statements by him. Imagine how many more wrong statements I would’ve gotten if I had read the entire book. Insha Allah Ta'ala, this is the beginning of a serious refutation of Bilal Philips. This book alone will take at least a few weeks or more to refute with sahih dalail. I intend to add his other popular books to the refutation like “Evolution of Fiqh.” If any of you have any other sources besides web-sites, please let me know. If any of you can ask specific questions to Ahl al-Sunna shuyukh in your area, I’ll quote them in the refutation.
Assalam-u-‘alaykum wa rahmat-Ullahi wa barakatuH.
A Collection of Heretic Statements by Bilal Philips, Implying Anthropomorphism, Wrong Theories about Tasawwuf and Slanders against Shaykh Muhiddin Ibn al-‘Arabi
Abu Aminah Bilal Philips’ heresy is
expressed in the following propositions:
- Undued “tri-categorization” of Tawhid.
- His words: “An example of this form of Shirk among some Muslims is that of many Sufis like
Ibn ‘Arabi who claim that only Allah exists (All is Allah, and Allah is all).”
- His words: “Claims of Sufis (muslim mystics) like al-Hallaj that they have become one with God and as such exist as manifestations of the
Creator within His creation may also be included in this aspect of Shirk in al-Asma'
was-sifat.”
- His words: “These designations have led the masses to either seek intercession through them or to worship them as gods. Consequently, these religious traditions have lists of saints to whom the masses fervently pray. Islam, on the other hand, opposes even the excessive praise of Prophet Muhammad (saws).”
- His words: “Among the ignorant masses, the main criterion for
Wilayah (“Sainthood”) is the performance of miracles which are commonly
called Karamat to distinguish them from the miracles Mu’jizat of the prophets.”
- His words: “ However, nowhere has Allah made the working of miracles a stipulation for being His
Wali. Therefore, as earlier stated, all
believers who have Iman and Taqwa are Walis of Allah and He is their Wali...”.
- His words: “Consequently, Muslims are not allowed to designate certain believers as being
Awliya' of Allah and not others.”
- His words: “This body of mythology has been borrowed from Christianity, just as Dhikr beads were adopted from the Christian rosary, and
Mawlid from the Christian celebration of Christmas.”
- His words: “A group of Muslims who were not satisfied with what the Shari’ah (Islamic Law) had to offer, developed a parallel system which
they named the Tariqah (the way). Just as the ultimate goal of the Hindu was unity with the world soul and of the Christian mystic
union with God; the ultimate goal of this movement became Fana', the dissolution of the ego, and Wusool the meeting and
unification of the human soul with Allah in this life. A series of preliminary stages and states which had to be attained were defined.
They were called Maqamat (stations) and Halat (states). A system of spiritual exercises was also designed for the initiate in
order to bring about this “meeting.” These exercises of Dhikr 133 often involved head and body movements and sometimes even
dance, as in the case of whirling dervishes. All of these practises were attributed to the Prophet (saws) through chains of narration in order to validate them, but there does not exist any authentic support for them in any of the classical books of
Hadith. A
multiplicity of systems evolved, and orders, similar to those among Christian monks, appeared named after their founders, like the
Qadiri, Chishti, Nakhshabandi, and Tijani orders. Along with that, volumes of legends and fairy tales were spun around the
founders and the outstanding personalities of these orders. And, just as Christian and Hindu monks chose special isolated structures
(i.e. monasteries) in which to house their communities, the Sufi orders developed similar housing schemes called
Zawiyahs (lit.
corners).”
- His words: “The Shari’ah came to be looked at as the outer path designed for the ignorant masses, while the
Tariqah was the inner path of
an elite enlightened few. Opinionated Tafsir (Qur’anic commentary) appeared in which the meanings of the Qur’anic verses were
bent and twisted to support the heretical ideas of the mystic movement.”
- His words: “The early generation of pious individuals, like ‘Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani, and others to whom some orders were attributed, clearly
understood the importance of distinguishing between the Creator and the created. The two could never become one, as One was
Divine and Eternal, while the other was human and finite.”
- His words: “He has neither corporeal body nor is He a formless spirit. He has a form befitting His majesty, the like of which no man has ever
seen or conceived, and which will only be seen (to the degree of man’s finite limitations) by the people of paradise.”
- His words: “ When verses are taken out of context, the meanings of the Qur’an can easily be distorted.”
[funny coming from a wahhabi]
- His words: “As for using the Qur’an like a charm or amulet by wearing or carrying Qur’anic verses on chains or in pouches to ward off evil or
to bring good fortune, there is little difference between such practices and those of the pagans. Neither the Prophet (saws) nor his
Companions used the Qur’an in this fashion, and the Prophet (saws) said, “Whoever innovates in
Islam something which does not
belong to it will have it rejected.”
- His words: “He did not write them down [Quranic ayat] and hang them around his neck, tie them on his arm or around his waist, nor did he tell others to do
so.”
- His words: “Furthermore, there is no need for any form of intercessor or intermediary between man and God.”
- His words: “If someone prays to the Prophet (saws), to so-called saints, Jinns or angels asking for help or asking them to request help from
Allah for them, they have also committed Shirk.” [Subhan-Allahi 'amma
yasifun, such a declaration cna lead to the loss of Iman and irtidad].
- His words: “According to the Qur’an, when the Makkans were questioned about directing their prayers to their idols, they answered,
“We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah.” The idols were only used as intermediaries yet
Allah called them pagans for their practice. Those among Muslims who insist on praying to other than
Allah would do well to reflect on this fact.”