Guide-to-Sound-Creed-A-Book-on-Muslim-Creed-and-Faith

76 <strong>Guide</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Sound</strong> <strong>Creed</strong>
<strong>to</strong>rture they will experience in the Hereafter as they assign rivals and
likes <strong>to</strong> Allah. Moreover, (They love them as they [should110ve Allah'
(Qur'an: Al-Baqarah: 165) i.e. they love and serve such rivals as they
love AUah."
The view maintained by Ibn Kathir is also favored by Shaykhul-Islftm Ibn
Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him). The Qur'an reports that their treatment
ofAllah is the same as their treatment ofsuch assigned rivals. Allah, Exalted and
Glorified be He, says:
((By Allah, we were indeed in manifest error when we equated you
with the Lord ofthe world:' (Qur'an: Ash-Shu' ara': 97-98)
And says:
(~ .. Then those who disbelieve equate [others 1with their Lord .••"
He, moreover, says:
(Qur'an: Al-An'am: 1)
((But those who believe are stronger in lovefor Allah••:'
(Qur'an: Al-Baqarah: 165)
The aforementioned Qur'anic verse may mean that the believers are more
attached <strong>to</strong> Allah than those who set rivals <strong>to</strong> Him. Another interpretation is that
the believers' attachment <strong>to</strong> Allah is greater than the polytheists' attachment <strong>to</strong>
the rivals they associate with Allah.
Sheikh Muhammad Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhah (may Allah have mercy on him)
says, "Whosoever sets up a rival and equally loves him as he loves Allah certainly
commits major shirk (polytheism)."
Accordingly, attachment <strong>to</strong> Allah should comprise surrender <strong>to</strong> Him and
should similarly be given precedence over love for parents, sons, spouses and
property, because Allah, Exalted be He, says:
((Say, [0 Muhammad1, (If your fathers, your sons, your brothers,
your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained,
commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you
are pleased are more beloved <strong>to</strong> you than Allah and His Messenger
andjihad [i.e•• striving] in His cause, then wait untilAllah executes
His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient
people:" (Qur'an: At-Tawbah: 24)