One of the primary beliefs of Muslims is that Allah is All-Powerful. This often leads to some rather confusing questions about the reality of Allah’s power. Can Allah cease to exist? Can Allah have a son? Can Allah create another ‘god’? How are we as Muslims to answer such questions? Shaykh Abdullah bin Hamid Ali provides an explanation and a clear response.

Question: My question is, are the people who believe Allah can have a son but will never have one (or they believe He can create another god but he won’t actually do it) are these people still Muslims?

2. Is a person allowed to have either opinion and still be an actual Muslim? Either opinion meaning they believe Allah is able to do everything possible or believing he can do everything including creating another god, etc.

Shaykh Abdullah’s response:

Allah’s power pertains to things that are actual “possibilities” not “impossibilities.” The existence of another God, a son for God, or similar things are all impossibilities. While the creation of such things can be said to be impossible for God to do, out of adab with the Creator we say that His power pertains only to things that are possible. So when someone asks such questions, we do better to inform them that the questions/scenarios are illogical and unrealistic. Let them ask us a realistic question, and then we can venture to answer it. It’s like the question of can Allah destroy Himself? It is unreasonable, unrealistic, and impossible, since only what has been brought into existence can be taken out of existence. The same goes for having a son. Every son resembles his father or mother in the most essential way. The very fact that a son is born immediately makes it impossible for him to be attributed to Allah, since God is uncreated and the son would be created thereby negating any sound ascription or affinity between the two of them. The same is to be said of the idea of creating another God or one that is even more powerful than Himself. They are all incoherent propositions, so we don’t waste time entertaining their answers.
As for those who believe that such things are possible, they are not kuffar. They just need some good lessons in logic, and sound reasoning within the context of what is actually possible, impossible, and necessary. Likewise, those who say that such things are impossible for Allah. They are not kuffar, but they do speak with an inappropriate amount of adab with Allah. Allah’s power does not pertain to things that are impossible, only those that are possible. That’s the better way to answer these questions.

Was Salam

Dont miss this special session with Shaykh Muhammad Mendes! Please click the banner below for more details…

Course Title: Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio’s-’Advice for the Followers of the Four Schools’

Instructor: Shaykh Muhammad Adeyinka Mendes
Click the name above for a bio of Shaykh Muhammad.

Date(s): Sundays, June 3 & 10

Time: 9:00-10:00 AM (PST); 12:00 noon – 1:00 PM (EST) USA

Live Q&A June 10, 2012 (12 noon EST)

Cost: $20.00

To Register Now-Click ‘Register Online Now’ button below!’

Description

One of the most contentious issues confronting Muslims today revolves around taqlid and the following of a school of Islamic thought (madhab)! Taqlīd is an Arabic word used to describe a non-scholar’s uncritical adoption of the opinion of a qualified scholar. For many Muslims, there is an inseparable connection between the practice of clinging to the rulings passed down in a single school of law (madhhab) and the preservation of the prophetic legacy (Sunna), while for many others this understanding constitutes one of the greatest collective misgivings and delusions ever communicated to the unlearned masses. Are we as Muslims obligated to follow one of the four schools of Islamic thought? Is it permissible to follow the rulings of another school outside of one’s own? Are we allowed space to pose legal queries to any given mufti regardless of his parochial affiliation?
The 18th Century, Fulani scholar-Shaykh ‘Uthmān Dan Fodio is undoubtedly one of the greatest scholars in the history of the West African Islamic tradition. Shaykh ‘Uthmān offers a fascinating look at the above questions in his rare and small treatise, Hidayat At Tullab (The Guidance of the Students). Register for the course and receive an English translation of this text.
Join us as Shaykh Muhammad Mendes explores this rare work with us in his two-part webinar at Lamppost Productions. In the first session, Shaykh Muhammad will take us through a detailed look at Shaykh ‘Uthmān’s Hidayat at-Tullab. The second session will be a live Q&A session where students will be able to ask Shaykh Muhammad detailed questions about this rare and fascinating text!

Course Details and Instructions: The first session of this course will be pre-recorded and will be emailed to registered students on June 3rd, 2012 at 12 Noon EST. Students will also receive a translated copy of ‘Hidayat at-Tullab’ along with the pre-recorded session. The second session on June 10th, 2012 will be a Live Question and Answer session. Registered students will be emailed a link that will enable them to access and participate in the live session. Students will be able to download both sessions in an Mp3 recording and a flash presentation. If you have any questions about the course please email us at thelight@lamppostproductions.com

Brief Bio of Shaykh ‘Uthmān Dan Fodio:
Shaykh ‘Uthmān Dan Fodio, also known as the ‘Shehu’ was a scholar, teacher, and political leader. He was born on 15th December 1754 in Maratta, a town in the West African-Hausa state of Gobir. He was of the Turude Fulani tribe. He began studying the Qur’an with his father, Muhammad Fodio who also was a learned scholar. The Shehu memorized the Qur’an and began a life devoted to study. He studied quite a variety of subjects, starting with the Arabic language, tafsir, Hadith, and Sirah, through Fiqh to astronomy, arithmetic and tasawwuf. ‘Uthmān’s teachers, as his brother Abdullah Dan Fodio reported, were too many to be recorded. This reflects the intellectual background and scholarship prevalent in the Hausaland. Among many of his teachers, after his father were Shaykh Abd al-Rahman b. Hammada, Muhammad Sambo and Uthman Binduri who was in fact Shaykh’s uncle and influenced him remarkably. Others were Hajj Muhammad b. Raji, Ahmad b. Muhammad, both Shaykh’s uncles, and Shaykh Jibril b. ‘Umar, a scholar of high learning and revolutionary zeal who also influenced the Shaykh tremendously.
When he reached the age of 25, he began teaching and preaching, and his reputation and appeal to the common people grew. Known for a sober and balanced approach, Shaykh ‘Uthmān emphasized the abandonment of fault worthy innovation while affirming a spirit of brotherhood and tolerance for the common Muslim.
The Shehu also spoke out against oppression. He criticized the Hausa ruling elite for their heavy taxation and other practices that violated Islamic law. His call for Islamic reform (and tax reduction) earned him a wide following in the 1780s and 1790s, when he became a political threat to the ruling elite of Gobir. They began to crackdown on the followers of Shaykh ‘Uthmān.
In 1802, the repression of Shaykh ‘Uthmān and his followers worsened. Following the example of the prophet Muhammad, Shaykh ‘Uthmān went on a hijrah (spiritual migration), was elected Imam (leader), and launched the jihad that would bring down the Hausa royalty. In the conquered areas, he set up emirates whose leaders acknowledged his religious sovereignty, and in October 1808 the Gobir capital, Alkalawa, fell. In former Gobir, Shaykh ‘Uthmān established a new capital, Sokoto, from which he ruled virtually all of Hausaland.
Soon after Shaykh ‘Uthmān gained and established political power, he withdrew into private life, writing many works on the proper conduct of the pious Islamic community. After his death in 1817, his son Muhammad Bello succeeded him as the ruler of the Sokoto Caliphate, then the largest state in Africa south of the Sahara.

Dont Miss this special session on one of the works of Shaykh ‘Uthmān dan Fodio with Shaykh Muhammad Mendes! Scroll up and register for this special session today by clicking the registration button above!

Shaykh Abdullah bin Hamid Ali talks about some of the muqatta’at of the Qur’an.

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

“Saving Our Children” is a discourse from renowned scholar and academic Dr. Sherman Jackson. Dr. Jackson discusses how if the values of Islam being presented to our children, contribute nothing to what it means to be cool, what it means to be accepted, to be held in high esteem… then Islam will begin to not only lose its meaning, but will become an impediment to the very social lifeblood of what children in a particular environment need.”

Taking from the Ta’leef Collection

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

In this fascinating, open discourse, Shaykh Abdullah bin Hamid Ali answers questions about Islam from a largely white, non-Muslim audience in West Virginia. Christian and Muslim relations, anti-shari’a provisions, and more.

The killing of Trayvon Martin has unleashed a storm of protest and opposition to racial injustice in America! Where do we as Muslims stand? Imam Suhaib Webb provides a timely khutbah in relation to this momentous event!

“We have to abandon the ‘plantation mentality…” Dr Sherman Jackson

Dr Sherman Abdul-Hakim Jackson delivers a powerful address at the recent CAIR banquet in Philadelphia, Pa