Islam's Reformers .pdf

called al-Lât and al-Uzza and angels, which, they believed,were worth worshipping and could have Allâhu ta’âlâ doeverything they wished. With this belief, they prostratedthemselves before them, made sacrifices to them and vowed tothem. As for Muslims, they do not make sacrifices to Rasûlullah(’alaihi ’s-salâm) or to the souls of Awliyâ’. They make sacrificesonly to Allâhu ta’âlâ and send its thawâb as a gift to the souls ofAwliyâ.’ “Shafâ’at yâ Rasûl-Allâh!” (’alaihi ’s-salâm) means “Othe Prophet of Allah! I love you much, for He commands us tolove you. Because I love you, may He have me attain thineintercession!” This is said briefly like the âyat, “Ask thevillage,” in the Qur’ân. ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anh), during a visitto the Ka’ba, said before the Hajar al-aswad, “You cannot doanything! But I kiss you in order to follow Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’ssalâm).”’Alî (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) said upon hearing this,“Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’s-salâm) said, ‘On the Day of Judgment,the Hajar al-aswad will intercede for people.’ ” [1] And ’Umarthanked ’Alî (radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ) for his advice. While a stonecan be helpful, is it possible that prophets and others who areloved by Allâhu ta’âlâ cannot be helpful? Allâhu ta’âlâ declaredthat He would admit the prayers and intercession of thosewhom He loved. [2]Hadrad Mawlânâ Khâlid al-Baghdâdî, a profound scholarand a treasure of miracles, wrote in his work Ar-risâlat al-Khâlidiyya, “Muslims, when holding on to a means, think that itwill be a means through which Allâhu ta’âlâ will create whatthey wish; they do not believe that the means will be the maker.As for polytheists, they believe that their idols will create or haveAllâhu ta’âlâ create it. Those who cannot distinguish betweenthese two beliefs perish by falling into the whirlpool of denial.”Yûsuf an-Nabhânî, citing from the book Khulâsat al-kalâm [3]by Sayyid Ahmad Dahlân, writes: “Some say that a person whoregards Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) or anotherProphet or a Walî as an intermediary or visits his grave and[1]This hadîth is reported by at-Tirmidhî, an-Nasâ’î, al-Baihakî, at-Tabarânî and al-Bukhârî in his History.[2] The forgoing ten paragraphs were paraphrased from the seventhvolume of Jevdet Pasha’s History[3] Second part of this book is reproduced by Hakîkat Kitâbevi, Fâtih,Istanbul, Turkey, 1395 (1975).- 150 -