Erroneous Attitude that Leads to Excess and Exaggeration

Taken from: http://ilmpoint.wordpress.com

Excessive attitude towards the Prophets and righteous slaves of Allaah occurs amongst leaders and followers of various heretical groups. Within Soofiyah, some of their beliefs have been mixed with pagan concepts like the trinity as well as pantheist ideals - and this attitude is from what causes the worst type of errors in beliefs and action. Allaah Said:

They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords besides Allaah and (they also took as their Lord) Messiah, son of Maryam (Mary)... [Surat at-Tawbah, 31] From the benefits and guidance contained in this Ayah is a reminder of humankinds tendency to exaggerate and show excessive love to fellow creation, while it is the Creator alone that deserves such praise. By obeying their rabis and monks in everything they commanded or prohibited, the Jews and Christians made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires without any sanction from Allaah. In the hadeeth recorded by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad (4/378) and At-Tirmidhi (3094), the Prophet explained the meaning of this Ayah to 'Adi ibn Haatim when he said to the Prophet , "We did not use to worship them (i.e. the rabbis and monks).":

"Indeed (you did). Do they not forbid what was permitted for them and do they not permit what was made forbidden for them - That is your worship of them. Therefore, whatever Allaah had permitted for them, they forbid it for themselves and whatever Allaah had made forbidden, they made it permissible for themselves. This was explained to be a type of worship of them. Allaah further Mentions the behaviour of such people in Surat al-Hadeed, 27:

...But the monasticism which they invented for themselves, We did not prescribe for them, but (they sought it) only to please Allaah therewith, but they did not observe it with the right observance. So We gave those among them who believed their (due) reward; but many of them are Fasiqoon (rebellious, disobedient to Allaah).
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We find most of the teachings of those who claim to be Christians to be reflected through various forms of worship, which they devised for themselves. Whether it is through singing or beautified pictures and imagery, they have no recourse back to the origins of their religion and religious sources to verify the authenticity or the establishment of such forms of worship. And it is from the sad state of affairs and deprivation that some Muslims began to imitate such behaviour and then attempt to justify their non-Islamic actions through proclaiming that they are seeking to please Allaah based on their own desires and innovations. In Surat al-Baqarah, 113 Allaah Said:

The Jews said that the Christians follow nothing (i.e. are not on the right religion); and the Christians said that the Jews follow nothing (i.e. are not on the right religion); though they both recite the Scripture... It is ironic how this Ayah explains the denial of the truth that the Jews and the Christians have for each other, yet we find some Muslims taking hold of their subsequent denial and incorporating it into their own practises and methods. How true the saying of the Prophet is when he said:

You will surely follow in the ways of those before you, span by span and cubit by cubit, so much so that if they were to enter a lizard's hole, you would follow after them." We said, "O Messenger of Allaah, do you mean the Jews and the Christians?" He replied, "Who else?" [Saheeh al-Bukhari, 3222 and Muslim, 4829 and others] What the Prophet spoke of has indeed come to pass and has become widespread in recent times and across many of the Muslim countries. Many of the Muslims follow the enemies of Allaah in many of their customs and ways of behaving - they imitate them in some of their rituals and in celebrating their holidays. In many Ayaat of the Quran and in many Ahadeeth, Allaah and His Messenger have ordered the Muslims to be different from the kuffar, especially in their acts of worship. Most of the learned and righteous Imams and scholars of Islam see such practices of the Soofis and their leaders as invalid and consider them as nothing except a class of ignorant and misguided people. It is the duty of every learned Muslim to explain the Deen of Islam to people and instil the correct belief in their midst - that everything mentioned in the Qur'an and proven Sunnah is the truth, while all opposition to them is a lie and false vanity. Ibn Majah records the following hadeeth on the authority of Ziyad bin Labeed the Prophet said: who narrated that

, :
"This is the time-period (season) when knowledge will be taken away. (Ziyad) said, O Messenger of Allaah, and how will the knowledge be taken away when we read the Quran and read to our children and our children will read to their children until the Day of Judgement? He said: May your mother be bereaved (of you) Ziyad. I see you as a man of understanding (from the people) of Madinah. Don't the Jews and Christians read the Torah and the Injeel, yet they do not act according to them (i.e. how has it benefited them)." [Ibn Majah, 4048 - with good isnad]
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It is from the signs of the Day of Judgement that knowledge will be reduced and taken away. Rampant ignorance will prevail (even) while many people continue to read from the books that are available. This increase in reading of knowledge does not indicate understanding and wisdom; rather it is lack of understanding and benefit despite the abundance of knowledge. People may read but neither do they understand nor do they benefit from it. On one occasion, Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan stood up and delivered a khutbah and in it he narrated:

The Prophet arose and gave a speech in it he said, This millah (religion) will be divided into 73 sects, all will be in hellfire, (only) one is in Jannah, this will be the Jamaah, the Jamaah. And from my Ummah will come people who will follow their desires the way the dog follows his master, until this desire will leave no organ, flesh, vein nor bone, except that it will enter (it).
[Abu Dawud, 3981; Ad-Daarimi, 2406 and others]

In another version found in Musnad Ahmad, it is recorded that the Prophet

said:

...And there will come from my Ummah, people who will follow their desires, just as the dog follows his master, until this desire will leave no organ except that it will enter (it). O Arabs, by Allaah! If you do not follow what your Prophet said (i.e. brought), then other people are more likely not to adhere to it. [Musnad Ahmad, 16329 [authenticated by Ahmad Shakir in Umdah al-Tafseer, 1/400] The extremists amongst the Soofiyah also have their theological roots in Gnosticism whence rose pantheist mystic ideas like fana and they introduced other similar things like music and singing and dancing, along with shirk-filled poetry to invigorate their atmosphere of worship. In other words, they have made their desires a means to achieve false sense of salvation. How poignant is the hadeeth that Abu Hurayrah narrated of the Prophet when he said:

In the last part of my Ummah, there will come a people who will tell of you things that neither you, nor your fathers heard (of before), so beware of them.
[Saheeh Muslim in his Muqadimah, 7; Al-Hakim in his Mustadrak, 357; also recorded by Imam Ahmad in his 'Musnad'; Imam alBukhari in his Tareekh with very slight variation (see also Ibn Hibban, 6766)]

This hadeeth is profound and vast in meaning. It provides a general guideline by which wretched speech is recognised. A speech that is a lie and leads to innovated rulings and false beliefs. To the contrary, the Messenger of Allaah said:

None of you believes until his desires are in accordance with what I have brought.
[Ibn Abi Aasim 'As-Sunnah', 15; Al-Baghawi, 'Sharh as-Sunnah', 1/212; Khateeb al-Baghdadi 'Tareekh' 4/469; Bayhaqi, 'Al-Madkhal' 209; Ibn Battah, 'Al-Ibanah', 291; Ad-Daylami, Tabarani and others graded as saheeh by Ahmad Shakir in Umdah al-Tafseer, 1/533; Hakami in Maarij al-Qubool, 422/2; An-Nawawi in Arabeen, 41 and Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Baari, 13/302. Al-Albani graded the isnad as daeef; Ibn Uthaymeen commented (despite being daeef), its meaning is saheeh]

Another astonishing characteristic of Muslim heretical groups is that they hold the Shariah in contempt, while raising the status of their various tareeqahs and using them as a means of reaching salvation. It is from such corrupted principles that they embrace innovations and redefine their faith and practises. They do not regard their Deen at all and neither care much for knowledge and guidance it provides. A Muslim must examine his acts in light of the Quran and Sunnah, suspending his own inclinations and following what the Prophet brought. As ones faith increases and ones love for Allaah and His Messenger increases, the Shariah (in all its aspect) becomes unburdening and provides complete relief. One finds happiness and contentment in living by it; and is thankful to Allaah for revealing the complete guidance and a blueprint for a successful life; whereas before mankind was in darkness. May Allaah make us amongst those who are satisfied with the Sunnah of the Messenger do not contend his speech with the speech of others from the creation. and

May Allaah rectify the affairs of the Ummah and guide the Muslims back to the Siraat al-Mustaqeem

For more on this topic, please refer to Iqtida' as-Siraat al-Mustaqeem of Shaykh al-Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah