8.4. THE WILL OF THE PREACHER OF GUIDANCE OR DEVIANCE
The caller (da’i) towards guidance (huda) or deviance (dallal) is fully seeking and wanting what he calls others to follow, but his ability is connected to the act of calling and commanding and the ability of the follower is connected to following and acceptance. For this reason, Allah, Most High, mentioned direct and indirect actions together:
“That is because they are not afflicted by thirst or fatigue or hunger in the cause of Allah , nor do they tread on any ground that enrages the disbelievers, nor do they inflict upon an enemy any infliction but that is registered for them as a righteous deed. Indeed, Allah does not allow to be lost the reward of the doers of good. Nor do they spend an expenditure, small or large, or cross a valley but that it is registered for them that Allah may reward them for the best of what they were doing.” (al-Tawbah (9): 120-121)
Here we see that in the first verse He mentions what happens as a result of their actions without their actual ability, namely the thirst, hunger, and weariness that afflicts them, the rage of the unbelievers, and what they inflict upon the enemy. About this He says:
“But that is registered for them as a righteous deed.” (al-Tawbah (9): 120)
He tells them that because of these things that occur and come to existence by their actions and also actions separate from them, righteous deeds are registered for them.
In the second verse He mentions their own actions that they were in direct contact with, namely their spending and travelling. About these, too, He says:
“But it is registered for them.” (al-Tawbah (9): 121)
These things were in and of themselves righteous deeds, and in both cases their will to achieve their goal of making all religion to Allah and making His word the highest was definite. The things that occurred as a result of this definite will that were partly caused by their ability were all written for them as righteous deeds.
The same applies to the preacher of guidance or misguidance. If he has absolute and certain will to guide or misguide his followers and does whatever he is able to accomplish, he is like someone who has done the deed (he calls others to do) completely. As such, he gets the same reward as all of his followers; the preacher who guides gets the reward of the guided and the preacher who leads astray gets the sins of those who go astray. A person who establishes a good or bad practice (that others follow) is like this as well because the Sunnah is that which is established so others follow for the establishment of a practice has complete will behind everything he does, and he does only what he is able to do.
Related to this is the agreed upon hadith of Ibn Mas(‘ud (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) where the Prophet says: “A person is never slain without right except that the first son of Adam has his share of responsibility for his blood. This is because he was the first to establish the practice of killing.” This share is like the share of the slayer, as explained in the other hadith. This (is because) the first son of Adam allowed himself the bloodshed of the inviolable; hence nothing could stop him from partaking in that action again, therefore he is considered a part in every slaying.
Similarly related to this are the words of Allah, Most High:
“Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption (done) in the land it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.” (al-Maidah (5): 32)
This is much like the rule that belying one of the Messengers entails belying all of them. The Qur’an refers to this in the following verses:
“The people of Nuh denied the messengers.” (al-Shu’ara’ (26): 105)
And
“And denied the messengers.” (al-Shu’ara’(26): 133)
Also related to this are the words of Allah, Most High:
“And those who disbelieve say to those who believe, ‘Follow our way, and we will carry your sins/ But they will not carry anything of their sins. Indeed, they are liars. But they will surely carry their (own) burdens and (other) burdens along with their burdens, and they will surely be questioned on the Day of Resurrection about what they used to invent/’ (al-’Ankabut (29): 12-13)
Here, Allah says that the leaders of misguidance do not bear the sins of their followers at all (as they offered to carry them in exchange for their apostasy), but do indeed carry their burdens, which is a refer- ence to their misdeeds (which they do as they follow these leaders), with no decrease in the sins of their followers. Their certain will and doing everything in their power earned them the reward of all their followers, for the reward of an action is earned by certain will and taking part in the action to the best of one’s ability.
It occurs in the Two Sahlhs, from Ibn ( Abbas (radhiyAllahu ‘anhuma) who narrates from Abu Sufyan, that the Prophet wrote to Heracles: “If you turn away, the sins of the Arisiyyun will be on your shoulders In this hadith, the Prophet explains that since Heracles was a religious leader, he would bear the sins of the Arisiyum, i.e. his followers. While it is said that this word was used to refer to the farmers and the tillers of land, like the word “Ta”’ in Turkish, it has a broader meaning. In any case, the message is clear as indicated by other texts of the Book and the Sunnah: shunning the Messenger would make Heracles bear the sins of his followers with no decrease in their sins. Among these texts are the following:
“Your god is one God. But those who do not believe in the Hereafter their hearts are disapproving, and they are arrogant. Assuredly, God knows what they conceal and what they declare. Indeed, He does not like the ar- rogant. And when it is said to them, “What has your Lord sent down?” They say, “Legends of the former peoples,” That they may bear their own burdens [i.e., sins] in full on the Day of Resurrection and some of the burdens of those whom they misguide without [i.e., by lack of) knowledge.” (al-Nahl (16): 22-25)
His words:
“and from the sins of those whom they misguide” (al-Nahl (16): 25)
refer to the sins of the misguided followers. These sins come to existence through both the one who commands them and the one who abides by the command, so the ability of both plays a part in the misguidance. This being the case, both bear a part of the sin, but each part is like the complete sin, as indicated by other texts like the hadith: “He who calls towards misguidance earns the sin of his followers with no decrease in their sin till the Day of Resurrection.”
Also related to this are His words:
“(God) will say, ‘Enter among nations which had passed on before you of jinn and mankind into the Fire/ Every time a nation enters, it will curse its sister until, when they have all overtaken one another therein, the last of them will say about the first of them, ‘Our Lord, these had misled us, so give them a double punishment of the Fire He will say, ‘For each is double, but you do not know/” (al-A’raf (7): 38)
Here, Allah, the Exalted and Most High, informs us that the followers invoked Him to double the punishment for the leaders of misguidance. The same also occurs in the ayah:
“And they will say, ‘Our Lord, indeed we obeyed our masters and our dignitaries, and they led us astray from the [right] way. Our Lord, give them double the punishment and curse them with a great curse.”’ (al-Ahzab (33): 67-68)
Then He says that both the followed and the follower get a double torment but the followers do not know that.
This is why the leaders of guidance are so greedy and praised and the leaders of deviance are so severely rebuked and cursed. It has even been narrated though I cannot recall the chain that there is no punishment in Hell but it starts from Iblis and then moves up to oth- ers, and no bliss in Paradise but it starts from the Prophet and then moves to others. This is because the Prophet is the ultimate leader of guidance for the first and the last of the sons of Adam. He himself says: ‘I am the noble leader of the children of Adam, and I say this without (any) pride.’’Adam and the rest are under my flag on the Day of Resurrection, and I say this without pride. He is the intercessor of the first and the last at the time of their reckoning, and he is the first to ask for the door of Paradise to be opened.
Allah took the covenant of believing in Him from all creation and also took a promise from every prophet to believe in all the prophets that were sent before them and to affirm the truthfulness of every prophet to come. Allah, Most High, says:
“And (recall, O People of the Scripture), when God took the covenant of the prophets, (saying), ‘Whatever I give you of the Scripture and wisdom and then there comes to you a messenger confirming what is with you, you (must) believe in him and support him.”’ (Al-’Imran (3): 81)
Here, Allah begins His speech with the letter Pam which signifies oath and is used when the sentence contains both an oath (‘qasarri) and a condition (shari). The Pam is then connected to the “ma of condition (ma al-shartijjya)” to indicate generality. Thus, the meaning is: no matter what I give you of the scripture and wisdom, you have to believe in it and help the Prophet who affirms the past revelations when he arrives. Ibn Abbas (radiyAllahu ‘anhuma) said: “Allah never sent a Prophet without making him pledge that should Muhammad be sent while he is alive, he would certainly believe in him and help him.”
Allah, Most High, raised his name and announced his name in the highest gathering between the creation of Adam’s body and the blowing of his soul in it. The hadith of Maysara al-Fajr says: “I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! When were you a Prophet?’ (And in another report: ‘When were you written as a Prophet?’ He said: “When Adam was between the soul and the body.” This was related by Ahmad.
It also occurs in the hasan hadith of (‘Irbad Ibn Sariyah (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) related by Ahmad that the Prophet said: “I was the seal of the Prophets before Allah while Adam was thrown down in his clay.” At that time and in that state, Allah wrote and decreed the matter of the leader of the offspring just as he wrote and decreed the states of Adam’s offspring between the creation of his body and the blowing of his soul in it. That has been reported in the Two Sahlhs in the hadith of Ibn Mas’ud (radiyAllahu ‘anhu).
Therefore, whoever of the first and the last believes in him is rewarded, even though the reward of those who believe in him and obey his specified laws is greater than the reward of mere general belief. This is because he is the absolute leader of Adam’s offspring and gets a share of every early and late believer’s faith, just like Iblis gets a share of all the deviancy of the Jinn and man. This affirms what has been reported and supports the expedient hadlth (which is either an expedient report of al-Zuhrl or a tabi’i after him) in the copy of Shuayb Ibn Abl Hamzah, from al-Zuhrl, from the Prophet: “I have been sent as a caller, but no guidance is in my hands, and lead , but no deviance is in and Iblis was sent to beautify astray his hands.”
Somewhat related to this is his statement in the hadith found in the Sunan: “I was weighed with the nation and proved heavier, then Abu Bakr was weighed with the nation and proved heavier, then ‘Umar was weighed with the nation and proved heavier. Then the scale was raised.’
The fact that the Prophet weighs more in the balance than the entire Muslim nation is clear because he gets the reward of the entire nation in addition to his own. As for Abu Bakr and (Umar (radhiyAllahu ‘anhuma), their weightiness is due to their support and certain will to make the entire nation believe, thought of the two Abu Bakr (radiyAllahu (anhu) was like this earlier and his will was more certain. They were the ones who supported the Prophet nation in both the big and the small matters before and after his passing.
Because of this, Abu Sufyan asked on the day of Uhud: “Is Muhammad among you? Is Ibn Abl Quhafah among you? Is Ibn al-Khattab among you?” Upon hearing this, the Prophet said: “Do not answer him.” Then he (Abu Sufyan) said: “You have been spared of these men!” At this point, ( Umar could not refrain from speaking and said: “You have lied, O enemy of Allah! Those whom you mentioned are alive and what you hate so much is still here for you!” This is a hadith of al-Bara? Ibn (Azib (radiyyAllah ‘anhu) related by Bukhari and Muslim. Abu Sufyan, who at that time was the head of unbelief, only asked about these three because they were the leaders of the believers.
It is also related in the Two Sahlhs that when Umar was laid to rest, Ai Ibn Abi Talib ( radiyAllahu ‘anhu) said: “By Allah, there is no one on the face of this earth with whose deeds I would like to meet Allah more than this one covered here. By Allah, I truly hope that Allah will resurrect you with your two companions, for i used to hear the Prophet frequently say: ‘I, Abu Bakr and Umar entered, i, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar left, I, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar went.’’
There are many reports like this which clarify the worthiness of these two if they get there ward of the entire nation.They had certain will and were able to act upon that will unlike others who provided assistance in some things only and had the aforementioned will in only some things.
If a person has certain will and does whatever he is able to do, he is like one who has done the action completely even if he is not an Imam or a preacher. Allah, exalted be his mention, says:
“Not equal are those believers remaining (at home) other than the disabled and the mujahidun, (who strive and fight) in the cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives. Allah has preferred the mujahidun through their wealth and their lives over those who remain (behind), by degrees. And to all (i.e., both) Allah has promised the best (reward). But Allah has preferred the mujahidun over those who remain (behind0 with a great reward Degrees [of high position] from Him and forgiveness and mercy. And Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.” (al-Nisa’ (4): 95-96)
By Shaykhu’l-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
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