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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
him) then said, “Fulfill your vow. But there is no fulfilling of vows in
what constitutes disobedience to Allah nor concerning something that
a human does not possess.” 1
On another occasion, the Muslim army was heading out to
Hunain and passed by the tree on which the polytheists would hang
their weapons for the sake of blessings. This tree was called dhaat alanwaat.
The Muslims said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him), “Appoint for us a tree like they have
dhaat al-anwaat.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) replied,
ﻲِﺴـﹾﻔ�ﻧ ﻱ�ﺬﱠﻟﺍ�ﻭ ﹲﺔ�ﻬ�ﻟﺁ �ﻢ�ﻬﹶﻟ ﺎ�ﻤﹶﻛ ﺎ�ﻬﹶﻟﹺﺇ ﺎ�ﻨﹶﻟ ﹾﻞ�ﻌ�ﺟﺍ ﻰ�ﺳﻮ�ﻣ �ﻡ�ﻮﹶﻗ ﹶﻝﺎﹶﻗ ﺎ�ﻤﹶﻛ ﺍﹶﺬ�ﻫ �ﻪﱠﻠﻟﺍ ﹶﻥﺎ�ﺤ�ﺒ�ﺳ
�ﻢﹸﻜﹶﻠ�ﺒﹶﻗ ﹶﻥﺎﹶﻛ �ﻦ�ﻣ ﹶﺔ�ﻨ�ﺳ �ﻦ�ﺒﹶﻛ�ﺮ�ﺘﹶﻟ �ﻩ�ﺪ�ﻴﹺﺑ
“Exalted and perfect be Allah. This is just like what the people of
Moses said [to Moses,] ‘Make for us a god like they have gods.’ By
the One in whose hand is my soul, you shall certainly follow the ways
of the people before you.” 2 Commenting on this hadith, ibn Ghannaam
wrote,
Contemplate and think about this hadith. Consider how the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave
the ruling, and swore to this ruling, that this action was similar to
the statement of the Tribe of Israel to Moses, ‘Make for us a god
like they have gods.’ Even though they did not express that in
words, they said it in meaning. Even though they were using their
intelligence in that matter, they did not recognize that what they
said was similar to what the Tribe of Israel said. Thus, they went to
the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
saying that out of ignorance. Even with all of that, the honest one,
the one who is to be believed, informed them, and swore to what he
1 Recorded by Abu Dawood. According to ibn Hajar and al-Albaani, this hadith is
sahih. Cf., Ahmad ibn Hajar, Talkhees al-Habeer fi Takhreej Ahaadeeth al-
Rafi’ee al-Kabeer (Madinah: al-Sayyid Abdullah al-Madani, 1964), vol. 4, p.
180; Muhammad Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani, Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, vol. 2,
p. 328.
2 Recorded by al-Tirmidhi and Ahmad. In another narration in Ahmad, the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied by saying, “You
have said exactly as the people of Moses said…” According to al-Albaani and
Shuaib al-Arnaaoot, et al., this hadith is sahih. See al-Albaani, Saheeh Sunan
al-Tirmidhi, vol. 2, p. 235; Shuaib al-Arnaaoot, et al., footnotes to Musnad, vol.
36, pp. 225-227.