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The Sealed Nectar

 The Sealed Nectar by Shaykh Safi ur-Rahman

Among those who explained this matter was Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him), who said:
"The message is essential for mankind; they cannot do without it. They need it above all other things. The message is the soul, light and life of the world. How could there be any prosperity or guidance for the world without its soul, life and light? This world is cursed with darkness, unless the sun of the message shines upon it. If the sun of the message does not shine in a person's heart and fill it with life, then he too is in darkness and he is dead. Allah says:
"Is he who was dead (without faith by ignorance and disbelief) and we gave him life (by knowledge and faith) and set for him a light (of belief) whereby he can walk amongst men – like him who is in the darkness (of disbelief, polytheism and hypocrisy) from which he can never come out?..." (Qur'an 6:122)

This is the description of the believer who was dead in the darkness of ignorance, then Allah revived him with the spirit of the message and the light of faith, gave him light by which to walk among people. But the kaafir is dead at heart, walking in darkness.

And he explained: "Allah called his message rooh (soul), and if the rooh is absent then there is no life. Allah says:
"And thus we have sent you (O' Muhammad) Rooh (a revelation and a mercy) of our command. You knew not what is the book, nor what is faith? But we have made it (this Qur'an) a light wherewith we guide whoever of our slaves we will..." (Qur'an 42:52)

Here he mentions two elements, rooh and light. Rooh means life and light means light.
And he explains: "Allah gives an allegory of the revelation which he sent down, likening it to life and light in the heart, to the water which he sends down from the sky to revive the earth, and to fire which produces light. This is as he says:
"He sends down water (rain) from the sky, and the valleys flow according to their measure, but the flood bears away the foam that mounts up to the surface – and (also) from that (ore) which they heat in the fire in order to make ornaments or utensils, rises a foam like unto it, thus does Allah (by parables) show forth truth and falsehood. Then, as for the foam it passes away as scum upon the banks, while that which is for the good of mankind remains in the earth. Thus does Allah set forth parables (for the truth and falsehood, i.e. belief and disbelief)." (Qur'an 13:17)

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah says, commenting on this aayah (verse): "knowledge is likened to the rain that comes from the sky, because it brings life to the heart just as the water sustains life and revives bodies. Hearts are likened to valleys because they are the places where knowledge resides, just as the valleys are the places where water resides. The heart may contain a great amount of knowledge just as a valley may contain a great amount of water; or the heart may contain a little knowledge just as a valley may contain a little water. Allah tells us that foam or scum rises to the surface of the water and is carried away, and that which benefits people stays in the land and settles there.

Similarly, the heart is filled with doubts and desires, then they are thrown away, and faith and the Qur'an remain there, which benefits the person and others too. Allah says:
"…and (also) from that (ore) which they heat in the fire in order to make ornaments or utensils, rises a foam like unto it, thus does Allah (by parables) show forth truth and falsehood…" (Qur'an 13:17)

This is another allegory, related to fire. The first referred to life and the second to light. He explains that something similar to these two examples is mentioned elsewhere: "These are the two examples mentioned in Soorah al-Baqarah (the second chapter of the Qur'an), where Allah says:
"Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; then, when it lighted all around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness. (So) they could not see. They are deaf, dumb and blind, so they return not (to the right path). Or like a rainstorm from the sky, wherein is darkness, thunder and lightning. They thrust their fingers in their ears to keep out the stunning thunderclap for fear of death. But Allah ever encompasses the disbelievers (i.e. Allah will gather them all together)." (Qur'an 2:17-19)

After explaining how the disbeliever is described, the Shaykh said: "And as for the kaafir (disbeliever), he is in darkness, kufr and shirk, and is not alive. If he is alive, then his is a bestial life. He has no sublime spiritual life which is brought about by faith and which brings a person happiness and success in this world and in the hereafter. Allah has made his messengers mediators between him and his slaves, to tell them what will benefit them and what will harm them, and to complete their knowledge of what is good for them in this world and in the hereafter. He sent them all to call people to Allah and to show them the way to him, and to tell them what will happen to them in the hereafter."

Then he explained these basic principles which are referred to here:
"The first principle is affirming the divine attributes, Tawheed (oneness of deity) and the divine decree, referring to the days of Allah when he will recompense his friends and his enemies. These are the stories which Allah tells to all his slaves and the parables which he sets forth to them.
The second principle is giving details of the laws, commands, prohibitions and permissions, explaining what Allah likes and what he hates. The third principle is belief in the last day, paradise and hell, and reward and punishment."

He then explains that:
"These three principles are the focal point of creation and commandment, and happiness and success depends on them. There is no way of knowing them except through the messengers, for reason alone cannot guide a person to their details or knowledge of their realities, even though the mind may realize the necessity of these principles in general, just as a sick person may realize that he needs medicine and someone who can treat him, but he does not know the details of his sickness or how it is to be treated."

Source: Al-Ashqar, Umar S., The Messengers and the Messages, IIPH, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2003, p. 57-61.

 

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