A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ At various times,  Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah  ( r.a. ) had declared himself a follower of the Shafi’i madzhab , which was the practice of many Hanbalis in Damascus at that time.   Surprisingly, he also claimed he was an Ash’ari, not an Atsari, as would be expected.   Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) wrote, in Durar al-Kaminah fi A’ayan al-Mi’at ats-Tsaminah , about the scholars of Cairo who investigated Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah’s ( r.a. ) theological positions, and clarified them with him.   He wrote, “An investigation was conducted with several scholars and a written statement was drawn in which he said, ‘I am Ash’ari.’   His handwriting is found with what he wrote verbatim, namely: ‘I believe that the Qur’an is a meaning which Exists in the Divine Essence, and that it is an Attribute from the Pre-Eternal Attributes of His Essence, and that it...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) wrote, in Tahdzib at-Tahdzib , that Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah al-Hakim an-Nishaburi ( r.a. ) said that he heard Shaykh Abu ‘Ali Hasan ibn ‘Ali ad-Daqqaq ( r.a. ) say, “I was in extreme depression, then I saw Prophet ( s.a.w. ) in my dream.   He said, ‘Go to grave of Yahya ibn Yahya, recite istighfar , and ask for help through his intercession.   Your problem will be solved.’   I did that and my problem was solved in the morning.”   Here, Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (r.a.) showed that visiting the tombs of the awliya’ , and seeking their intercession is a meritorious and approved act.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) said, “The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) meant that we should be kind to those who are close to becoming Muslim, and to not make things difficult on them at the beginning.  The same is true for discouraging people from sins, it should be done gradually, for when something is easy at the beginning, it will become beloved to those entering it, and they will easily take it to heart, and it often leads to an increase in devotion rather than a decrease.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) wrote, in Fath al-Bari , “Truly, Allah ( s.w.t. ) does not remove Sacred Knowledge by taking it out of servants, but rather by taking back the souls of Islamic scholars, until, when He has not left a single scholar, the people take the ignorant as leaders, who are asked for and who give Islamic legal opinion without knowledge, misguided and misguiding.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) wrote:   “By the gate of your generosity stands a sinner, who is mad with love, O Best of Mankind in radiance of face and countenance! Through you, he seeks a means, Hoping for Allah’s Forgiveness of slips; From fear of Him, his eyelid is wet with pouring tears. Although his genealogy attributes him to a stone, How often tears have flowed, sweet, pure and fresh! Praise of you does not do you justice, but perhaps, In eternity, its verses will be transformed into mansions. My praise of you shall continue for as long as I live, For I see nothing that could ever deflect me from your praise.”   In this poem, the line, “Although his genealogy attributes him to a stone,” is a double entendre since “stone”, in Arabic, is “ hajr ”.

‎ بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ It is recorded, in Swahih al-Bukhari , as narrated by Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik ( r.a. ), “Whenever drought threatened them, ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab, used to ask ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muththalib to invoke Allah for rain.  He used to say, ‘O Allah!  We used to ask our Prophet to invoke You for rain, and You would Bless us with rain, and now we ask his uncle to invoke You for rain.  O Allah!  Bless us with rain.’  And so, it would rain.”   Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) wrote, in Fath al-Bari , “The episode involving ‘Abbas makes it clear that to seek intercession from the virtuous, the pious and members of the Prophet’s ( s.a.w. ) family is a desirable act.  In addition, this event proves the high status of ‘Abbas as well as reveals ‘Umar’s respect for him and the acknowledgement of his status.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Regarding Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) istiwa’ , Establishment, on the Throne, Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad adz-Dzahabi ( r.a. ) disavowed the term “ bi dzatihi ”, “in person”, saying, “There is no need for this expression, and it disturbs the soul.”  Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani, ( r.a. ) also rejected the statement that Allah ( s.w.t. ) is on the Throne “ bi dzatihi ”, “in person”, as equally preposterous as saying that He is everywhere.   Some of the Mu’tazilah have claimed that Allah ( s.w.t. ) was everywhere on the basis of the hadits , “If one of you stands in prayer, let him not spit in front of him for Allah ( s.w.t. ) is in front of him.”  This is evident ignorance, because the hadits then states that he should spit under his foot, which invalidates their principle.  The hadits also constitutes a refutation of those who say that Allah ( s.w.t. ) is on the Throne “...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The Wahhabi sect believes that istiwa’ , Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) Establishment on the Throne, means He literally sits on it.  This is shirk , since the act of sitting implies a body.  In contrast, Sayyidatina Umm Salamah Hind bint Suhayl ( r.a. ), the wife of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), said the following about istiwa’ , as quoted by Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) in Fath al-Bari : “The establishment is not unknown, and its modality is inconceivable in the mind; one does not ask ‘how’ about Him; ‘how’ is inapplicable to Him.”

Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani wrote, in al-Imta’ bi al-Arba’in , on Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah, “Loving and glorifying him is not done except by a heretic who has void belief because he had such characteristics that his lover deserves to be faithless, because to love and hate just for the sake of God is a sign of faith.” And yet, in this age, we have people like Zakir ‘Abd al-Karim Nayk, and others of the Wahhabi sect, who are on record praising and making excuses for this kafir .  The scholars of Sunni Islam have no good to say of him.  The heretics of the Wahhabi sect do. The Weight of This Verdict Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani is not a marginal figure whose opinion can be waved away.  He is the author of Fath al-Bari , the definitive commentary on Swahih al-Bukhari , a text that has anchored Sunni ahadits scholarship for six centuries.  When a scholar of this stature states that loving Yazid is not merely a moral failing but a marker ...

Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Nur ad-Din ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani wrote, in his Fath al-Bari , “Those who praise Yazid have no faith,” referring directly to Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah.  This is not a minor scholarly aside.  It is one of the most severe judgements a hadits authority can pronounce, embedded inside the single most authoritative commentary on Swahih al-Bukhari that Sunni scholarship has ever produced. Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani served as Chief Qadhi of Egypt under the Mamluk Sultanate, and spent roughly twenty-five years compiling Fath al-Bari , a commentary that runs to well over a dozen printed volumes depending on the edition, and that subsequent generations of Sunni scholars have treated as effectively indispensable to serious ahadits study.  This is not marginal commentary tucked into a footnote by a fringe writer.  It is a considered statement, placed deliberately inside the definitive explanation of the most authoritative ahadits colle...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) wrote, in Tahdzib at-Tahdzib , that Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah al-Hakim an-Nishaburi ( r.a. ) said that he heard Shaykh Abu ‘Ali Hasan ibn ‘Ali ad-Daqqaq ( r.a. ) say, “I was in extreme depression, then I saw Prophet ( s.a.w. ) in my dream.  He said, ‘Go to the grave of Yahya ibn Yahya, recite istighfar , and ask for help through his intercession.  Your problem will be solved.’  I did that, and my problem was solved in the morning.”  Here, Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) showed that visiting the tombs of the awliya’ and seeking their intercession is a meritorious and approved act.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The proof which Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) derived for the observance of the Mawlid is that which is recorded in the Shaykhayn .  When the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) entered into Madina, he found the Jews fasting on the day of ‘Ashura’.  He asked them regarding this and they said, “This is the day Allah ( s.w.t. ) Drowned Fir’awn and Saved Musa.  Hence, we fast out of gratitude to Allah ( s.w.t. ).”   Imam ibn Hajr ( r.a. ) mentioned, “It can be derived from this that the action of thankfulness to Allah ( s.w.t. ) for that which He has Blessed us with upon a particular day, in the Bestowal of a Blessing or Removal of a calamity and to observe this upon the same day every year is allowed.  This can be achieved through a number of varied ways of worshipping such as prayer, fasting, charity, and recitation.  Which blessing can be greater than the appearance of the Prophet ( s....

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ) said, “If there was no miracle except the sirah of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), then it would suffice as the greatest miracle.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani ( r.a. ), Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi ( r.a. ), and Imam Abu Musa Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-Asfahani ( r.a. ), amongst others, all agree that no one possessed of a heart and mind can object to standing for the sake of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), and that this is desirable and recommended, not only in the time of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), but until the end of time.   Imam Abu Musa al-Asfahani ( r.a. ) passed away in 581 AH, more than five centuries after the time of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), and yet stood for him in the present tense and mentioned seeing him.