Introduction
All Praise is due to Allaah, we praise Him, seek His aid and His Forgiveness.
We seek
refuge in Allaah from the evils of our souls and the evils of our actions.
Whomsoever
Allaah guides there is none to misguide and whomsoever Allaah misguides there is
none
to guide. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah,
alone, without
any partners and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.
To proceed: This is Imaan Builder 3: Ibn Battah’s Explanation of the Concept of
al-
Istithnaa Affirmed by the  Salaf – And Its Role in Assisting the Maintenance and
Increase
of Imaan.
Ibn Battah al-‘Akbari (rahimahullaah) wrote:
Chapter: Al-Istithnaa1 In One’s Imaan
The Shaikh said: Know, may Allaah have mercy upon us and you, that it is from
the affair
of the Believers and from their characteristics, that Imaan is found with them,
and they
are in constant fear for their Imaan, and are severely cautious about their
devotional
actions. Hence, their hearts are in awe of the fear of losing this Imaan. This
awe has
encompassed them, they do not know what Allaah will do with them for the
remainder of
their lives, and so they are cautious of (false) self-praise, and they follow
what they have
been commanded by their Noble Master, when He says, “So do not purify
yourselves,
rather He is most aware of who truly has Taqwaa (piety)” (An-Najm 53:32), so
they fear being overcome by the plot of Allaah in dying upon an evil condition (soo’
ulkhaatimah).
They do not known in what condition they will be in the morning and nor the
evening. What He, the Blessed and Almighty, has cautioned them from has made
them
inherit this awe in every step that they take, “And no soul knows what it will
earn
tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die” (Luqmaan 31:34). Hence,
they are in the state that He, the Mighty and Majestic, has described them with,
when He
said, “And those who give what they give (in charity) while their hearts are in
awe, in that they will be returning to their Lord” (Al-Mu’minoon 23:60).
Hence, they work righteous deeds, and fear losing these deeds. They also
avoid the
shameful and evil deeds, having great awe and fear of falling into them, and it
is precisely
this (i.e. this condition of the hearts of the believers) that the Sunnah has
portrayed, from
al-Mustafaa (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam).
1175. [Isnaad ommitted] – from Aa’ishah (radiallaahu anhaa) who said, “I
said, “O
Messenger of Allaah, “Those who give what they give (in charity) while their
hearts are in awe…”, this is a man who steals, fornicates and drinks alcohol?”
He said,
“No O daughter of as-Siddeeq. But it is a man who fast, prays and gives in
charity, but
fears that it will not be accepted from him”.”
The Shaikh said: So when this fear was bound to their hearts, it also made
binding upon
them to make the Istithnaa in their words, concerning the future of their deeds,
hence it is
from the characteristics of the people of knowledge and intellect that a man
say, “I am a
believer, if Allaah wills”. And this is not from the angle of being doubtful (in
the basis of
one’s Imaan), and we seek refuge in Allaah from having doubt in al-Imaan, since
Imaan
(faith) is affirmation (iqraar) of Allaah’s Ruboobiyyah, submission to Him in
Uboodiyyah
(subservience, enslavement), and believing in everything He says or commands or
forbids.
But the one who doubts in any of that is a disbeliever no doubt. However,
making the
Istithnaa is correct and justified from two angles:
The first: To negate self-purification and praise (Tazkiyah), such that a
person does not
testify for his own soul the realities of Imaan, and those matters which make up
its
perfection. For whoever declared these characteristics for himself, then he has
testified
Paradise for himself, and Allaah’s pleasure and happiness with him, and whoever
made
this testimony for himself, then he is actually deserving of it’s exact
opposite…
The second: And Istithnaa is also correct and justified from the perspective
of what is yet
to occur of one’s actions and of one’s condition at death, and of the remainder
of one’s life.
And what is meant is that, “I am a believer if Allaah seals my life with the
actions of the
believers, and if I remain firm and amongst the people of Imaan, in Allaah’s
view, and if
the condition I am currently in of performing the actions of the believers,
lasts and
continues until I meet Allaah. And I do not know will I actually wake up or
enter the
evening upon Imaan or not?”
And this is precisely how Allaah has actually conditioned His Prophet and the
Believers
from amongst His Servants, when He the Most High, “And do not say about a
matter,
that I will do such and such tomorrow. Except by saying ‘If Allaah wills’.” (Al-
Kahf 18:23-24). Hence, it is not permissible for you, if you are one who
believes in Allaah
and whose knows that his heart is in the Hand of Allaah, who turns it in
whatever
direction He wills, that you say, with firm resolution, and absolution, “I will
enter the
morning as a Believer”… except while adding the Istithnaa to your words, so you
say, “If
Allaah wills”. This is the from the characteristics of the sensible believers…
1181. [Isnaad omitted] – from Abu Waa’il who said, “A man came to Abdullaah
(bin
Mas’ood) and said, “O Abu Abdur-Rahman, I met a group of people and said to
them,
“Who are you?”, and they replied, “We are believers”.” So Abdullaah said, “Why
did they
not say, “We are the people of Paradise?”.
1182. [Isnaad omitted] – that a man said in the presence of Abdullaah bin
Mas’ood, “I am
a believer”. So it was said to Ibn Mas’ood, “This person thinks he is a
believer”. He said,
“Ask him if he is in Paradise or Hellfire”. So they asked him and he said,
“Allaah knows
best”. So Abdullaah said to him, “If only you had entrusted the (judgement) in
this life, as
you have entrusted it for the next life.”
1187. [Isnaad omitted] – from Ali bin Bahr who said, “Al-A’mash, Mansoor,
Mugheerah,
Laith, ‘Ataa bin as-Saa’ib, Ismaa’eel bin Abi Khaalid, ‘Ammaarah bin al-Qa’qaa’,
al-Alaa
bin al-Musayyib, Ibn Shabrimah, Sufyaan ath-Thawree, Abu Yahyaa, the companion
of al-
Hasan (al-Basri), and Hamzah az-Ziyaat used to say, “We are believers, if Allaah
wills”,
and they used to criticise those who would not make this istithnaa (exception).
1188. Al-Marwadhi said, “And I heard one of the Mashaayikh say: Have you
heard Abdur-
Rahmaan bin Mahdee say, “Abandoning the Istithnaa is the foundation of al-Irjaa”.”
1189. [Isnaad omitted] – al-Fadal bin Ziyaad narrated to us, “I heard Abu
Abdullaah
(Ahmad bin Hanbal) say: I never met any of our associates except that they would
make
al-Istithnaa (i.e. except themselves from having perfect, complete Imaan), and
Yahyaa
said, “Sufyaan use to hate to say “I am a believer”.”
1190. [Isnaad omitted] - as-Sufyaan said, “The people are considered
believers to us (i.e.
outwardly) with respect to legal rulings and the laws of inheritance2, and we
hope that it is
actually like that with Allaah, and we do not know what is (the reality of) our
condition in
the sight of Allaah.”
The Shaikh said: So this is the way of the Believers, and the way of the
intelligent ones
from amongst the Scholars, that they adhere to al-Istithnaa, and Khawf (fear)
and Rajaa
(hope). They do not know their state is with Allaah, and nor the status of their
actions,
whether they are accepted or rejected. Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic said,
“Indeed,
Allaah accepts from the Muttaqeen (the pious)” (al-Maa’idah 5:27). And He
informed
about His righteous servant, Sulaiman (alaihis-Salaam) concerning his own
matter, “And
he said, “So he [Sulaimân (Solomon)] smiled, amused at her speech and said:
“My Lord! Inspire and bestow upon me the power and ability that I may be
grateful for Your Favours which You have bestowed on me and on my
parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You, and
admit me by Your Mercy among Your righteous slaves.” (an-Naml 27:19).
So have you not observed how he asked Allaah to be pleased with him on
account of
righteous action, since he knew that actions, in and of themselves are not
beneficial, even
if they appear to be righteous, unless Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, is
pleased with
them and accepts them. So is it then permissible for anyone who believes in
Allaah and the
Last Day to be resolute that his righteous actions are actually from good and
commendable actions, in their entirety and that they are all actions that Allaah
is pleased
with, and are pure, and are accepted by Him?
There is no one who is able to be resolute and certain about this, except an
ignoramus who
is deceived concerning Allaah, and we seek refuge in Allaah from being deceived
concerning Allaah, and in persisting upon disobedience of Allaah. Do you not
see, may
Allaah have mercy upon you, at a man from amongst the Muslims, who has just
performed
prayer, has completed and perfected it, and he may even have performed it in
Jamaa’ah,
and upon its proper time, and had perfected his ablution for it, and then when
it is said to
him, “Have you prayed?”, he says, “I have prayed, if Allaah accepts it”. And
likewise, a
people who fast the month of Ramadan, and then they say at its end, “We have
fasted, if
Allaah has accepted it from us”.
And likewise a people who departs from Hajj, after having completed it and
Umrah, and
also having completed all of the rituals of Hajj, so when you ask him about his
Hajj, he
says, “We have indeed performed Hajj, and nothing has been left out, except
Allaah’s
acceptance of it from us”… and similarly, the people meet each other at the end
of the
month of Ramadan, and they say to each other, “May Allaah accept from us and
you”.
This is how the Sunnah of the Muslims passed by, and this is how their habits
remained,
and those who came after them took it from those before them. And no one opposes
this
Istithnaa in Imaan and refuses to accept it, except a vile, straying Murji’
whose heart
Shaytaan has deceived, and we seek refuge in Allaah from him.
1191. [Isnaad omitted] – Abu Nasr Asmah narrated to us, “I heard Abu
Abdullaah saying,
“Sulaimaan bin Harb used to carry this – meaning the Istithnaa – upon [Allaah’s]
acceptance. They used to say, “We act, but we do not know whether it is accepted
or not”.”
1196. [Isnaad omitted] – Hammad bin Zaid informed us, saying, “I heard Hishaam
mentioning, “Al-Hasan (al-Basree) and Muhammad (Ibn Seereen) use to be extremely
fearful of saying “Mu’min (Believer)” and would instead say “Muslim”.”
1199. [Isnaad omitted] – Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Haani al-Athram
said, “I
heard Abu Abdullaah (Ahmad bin Hanbal) being asked about al-Istithnaa when he
would
say, “Imaan is speech and action, it increases and decreases”, so he would make
Istithnaa
out of fear and out of caution, and it was not as they would say due to doubt,
but it was
action for which he would make Istithnaa (i.e. the exception).”
End quote from Ibn Battah. Al-Ibaanah, 2/862-876 (with abridgement).
Supplementary Notes
1. Imaan in the view of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah consists of the speech of
the heart
and tongue, and the actions of the heart and limbs. All of the actions of
goodness enter
into Imaan and are from its reality. Imaan also has an asl (base or foundation),
on account
of which one enters into Islaam, and thereafter, there is increase and decrease
based upon
the level and extent of actions – that is the actions of the heart, tied to the
actions of the
limbs. Because of this, the Salaf permitted the making of Istithnaa, in other
words, that a
person does not resolutely say “I am a believer”, since it is not known him
whether he has
brought all of the actions of goodness, and whether his actions will be accepted
by Allaah,
or whether he will actually die upon Imaan, or remain upon good deeds. Hence,
they
allowed the addition of “If Allaah wills” and they were in fact severe in that
and would
detest if a person merely said, “I am a believer”, without excepting himself
from having
complete Imaan.
2. As for the Murji’ah then they expelled actions from Imaan. Hence,
according to them,
Imaan was a single entity, and was either the speech of the heart only, or the
speech of the
tongue, or both – but actions did not enter into Imaan. For this reason, they
would make it
forbidden for a person to say “I am a believer, if Allaah wills” since making
this exception,
in their view, is tantamount to doubting in the basis of Imaan, which to them is
only one
entity, devoid of any actions. So since Imaan could not increase or decrease
according to
them, it followed that everyone’s Imaan was exactly the same, and could not be
subject to
increase or decrease.
3. The way Ibn Battah has dealt with the issue of al-Istithnaa is excellent
and illustrates
the depth of understanding of the Salaf. The context of making al-Istithnaa, is
the great
fear of having one’s deeds rendered null and void, and the great fear of not
knowing what
lies ahead, in what remains of one’s life. Thus, al-Istithnaa is justified and
appropriate
from two angles: a) fearing the false self-praise or self-purification of
oneself by saying
with certainty, “I am a believer” – meaning, that “I have brought all of the
requirements of
Imaan and acted upon all of its branches, and all of it is accepted by Allaah
and He is
pleased with it” and b) due to not knowing w hat will happen for the rest of
one’s life, and
what types of actions he will commit and whether he will actually remain upon
Imaan or
not. So on account of this the Salaf would refrain from saying “I am a believer”
without
accompanying that with “If Allaah wills”.
4. And this is the trodden path of the Salaf, then their come the
newly-arisen, foolish
minded ones, born of the Awakening of Qutubism, and in their futile bid to
accuse the
innocent from Ahl us-Sunnah of the Irjaa’ of Jahm Ibn Safwaan, wallow in their
extremist
practical neo-Irjaa’ and state with such resolution and certainty that so and so
is “ash-
Shaheed” and they do not make the exception, showing the greatness of their
ignorance
and the severity of their straying in action, and the deception in their hearts
brought about
by Shaytaan, and we seek refuge in Allaah from such ones. For their saying, that
the
Mockers of the Messengers of Allaah, the Revilers of the Companions, those who
utter Kufr
and words of apostasy, and call for the abolition of parts of the Sharee’ah, and
that Islam is
no more than a cocktail of Christianity and Socialism, and refrain from the
Jumu’ah prayer, and shave off their beards, and speak with the sayings of the
Jahmiyyah,
Ash’ariyyah, Mu’tazilah, the Rafidah, and Hulooliyyah, – that the likes of these
are
“Shuhudaa”, then this is but pure unadulterated misguidance, we seek refuge in
Allaah
from such straying filth, and from being deceived by Shaytaan and from being
abandoned
by Allaah…
5. So the Muslim takes caution about declaring himself and others to be
“Believers” (or
Martyrs) for fear of praising himself or others, above and beyond their true
condition, and
for fear of presuming over Allaah in matters that they have no knowledge of.
6. And all of this makes them inherit the great and constant fear and awe for
their actions,
in all of their actions, in all of their steps and movement, at all times.
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