Islamic Creed — Tawhid of Lordship
Section 2: Explanation of the Meaning of the Word ar-Rabb in the Qur'an and Sunnah, the Conceptions of Misguided Nations Regarding ar-Rububiyyah and Their Refutation
English translation of the Arabic original. The Arabic text remains authoritative.
- The meaning of the word ar-Rabb in the Qur’an and Sunnah The origin of the word Rabb: The word Rabb has an origin that implies that which develops (or raises) a thing from one state to another state, till the perfect state. The word ar-Rabb cannot be used to refer to other than Allah, the Most High, the One with the responsibility to provide what benefits all things in existence, such as His..Your Lord and the Lord ofyour ancient fathers! ” (Qur ’an 26:26) It cannot be used to refer to other than Him except in a relative and limited sense; such as Rabb-ud-Dar (lit. Lord of the house), Rabb-ul-Fars (lit. Lord of the horse) i.e. its owner. An example of this is the statement of Allah while relating about “The Lord of the ‘AlamTn (mankind, jinns and all that exists). ” “...Mention me to your lord (i.e. your king, so as to get me out of prison). But Shaytdn (Satan) made him forget to mention it to his This is according to one of the interpretations of the verse.2 “[Yusuf (Joseph)] said: Return to your lord. ” (Qur’an 12: 50) Also, Allah - the Most High - said: “As for one of you, he (as a servant) will pour out wine for His lord (king or master) to drink. ” (Qur’an 12: 41) And he said regarding a lost camel: Therefore, it becomes clear that the word ar-Rabb (the Lord) can be used to refer to Allah, both in the definite and relative sense. So, it can be said, for example: ar- Rabb (The Lord) or Rabbul-’ Alamm (Lord of the mankind, jinns and all that exists), or Rabbun-Nas (Lord of mankind).’ However, the word ar-Rabb (the Lord) cannot be used to refer to other than Allah except in the relative sense (i.e. relative to something defined); for example: ‘lord (owner) of the house, lord (owner) of the building, or lord (owner) of the camel.’ The meaning of Rabbul- ’ Alamm (Lord of the mankind, jinns and all that exists) is that He is their Creator, their Owner, the One Who grants them good and nurtures them with His Favours; sending Messengers to them, revealing Books to them and the One to recompenses them for their deeds. Ibn Qayyim said: 2 Another interpretation is that the word ‘Lord’ in this verse, refers to Allah and thus Yusuf was requesting to be mentioned in supplication to Allah (TN) 1 Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim ‘The Rububiyyah of Allah necessitates ordering His servants and prohibiting them, rewarding the pious amongst them for his righteousness and punishing the evil one amongst them for his evil.'4 Also, Allah - the Most High - said: This is the true meaning of ar-Rubiibiyyah.
- The Conceptions of Misguided Nations Regarding ar-Rabb Allah created all creatures with the instinct consonant with Tawhid and the recognition of ar-Rabb, the Creator, glorified be He. Allah - the most High - said: “So set [O Muhammad Ml your face towards the religion of pure Islamic Monotheism hanifa (worship none but Allah Alone) Allah’s Fitrah (i.e. Allah’s Islamic Monotheism), with which He has created mankind. No change let there be in Khalq-illah (i.e. the Religion of Allah - Islamic Monotheism)....” (Qur’an 30: 30) Also, Allah - the Most High - said: (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam from their loins, their seed (or from Adam’s loin his 4 Madarijus Salikin v. 1 pg. 8 offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): ‘Am I not your Lord?' They said: ‘Yes! We testify...’” (Qur’an 7:172) Admission of the Rububiyvah of Allah and inclining towards it is a natural thing, while polytheism is a strange phenomenon. The Prophet has said: ‘Every child is bom upon the Fitrah (pure Monotheism); it is his parents who make him a Jew, Christian or Magian,’5 If a servant were left alone to his instinct, he would turn to Allah and accept the message with which the Messengers came, and that which was revealed in the Divine Books and which the signs of the universe point to. However, a deviant education and an apostate environment are the two factors which change the inclination of the child. Therefore, these children imitate their parents in their error and deviation. Allah - the Most High - said in the hadTth6 Q udsf: 7 created My slaves as monotheists, but the devils deviated them.’ Meaning that they turned them away (from the worship of Allah) to the worship of idols and taking them as lords besides Allah. So, they fell into misguidance, perdition, disunity and disagreement; each taking a lord different from the lord of the other. Since they had abandoned the True Lord, they were put to the tribulation of taking others as lord besides Allah, as the Most High said: 5 Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim 6 A report of the saying, action or tacit approval of the Prophet fe (TN) 1 A narration in which the Prophet narrates from his Lord (Allah) (TN) s Reported by Ahmad anf Muslim “Such is Allah, your Lord in truth. So after the truth, what else can there be, save error. ” (Qur'anlO: 32) Misguidance has no limit or end; it is unavoidable for whoever turns away from the Truth. Allah - the Most High - said: "... /(re many different lords (gods) better or Allah, the One, the Irresistible? You do not worship besides Him but only names which you have named (forged), you and your fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority...” (Qur’an 12:39- 40) Polytheism in Rububiyyah, with the implication that there are two creators similar in attributes and actions is impossible, only that some amongst the polytheists believe that their objects of worship have control over some of the regulations of the universe. The Shaytan has duped them into taking these things as objects of worship. So, he dupes every group according to their intelligence. Some, he invited to the worship of idols by making them over-exalt the dead in whose form they made those idols, such as the people of Nuh £'. Some others took idols in the form of celestial bodies, which they believed had influence upon the universe. So, they made for these idols, houses and shrines. They varied in their mode of worship of these celestial bodies; some worship the Sun, others the moon and some others still worship other celestial bodies, such that they build temples for them. For each celestial body, there is a separate temple. Some of them also worship fire, these are the Magians. Some others still worship the cow, as is common practice in India and some worship Angels. There are also those who worship trees and stones, and those who worship graves and tombs. All these occurred because these people conceived regarding these things, the peculiarities of Rububiyyah. There are amongst them, those who think that these idols represent some unseen things. Ibn Qayyim said: ‘Originally, the establishment of an idol takes the form o f representing an absent thing. So, they made the idol in its form and image in order that it may serve as representation for it and take its place. Otherwise, it is known, that no sane person would carve wood or stone with his own hands and then believe that it is his god and object of worship.'9 Likewise, the worshipper of graves, both ancient and recent, believe that these deceased persons intercede for them and act as intermediaries for them with regards to their needs before Allah. They say: “And they worship besides Allah things that hurt them not, nor profit them, and they say: ‘These are our intercessors with Allah Similarly, some of the pagan Arabs and the Christians, conceived that their objects of worship were the children of Allah; “...W e worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah...” 9 Ighathatu at-Luhfan Vol. 2 pg. 220
- Refutation of these False Conceptions Allah has refuted all these false conceptions with the following: He refuted the worshippers of idols with His statement: “Have you then considered al-Lat, and al-‘Uzza (two idols of the pagan Arabs) and Manat (another idol of the pagan Arabs), the The meaning of the verse as mentioned by al-Qurtubi is: ‘Have you not considered these idols? Have they brought benefit or caused harm, such that they become associates with Allah? Or did they defend themselves when the Messenger and his companions broke them and demolished them?' Also, Allah - the Most High - said: “And recite to them the story of Ibrahim (Abraham). When he said to his father and his people: ‘What do you worship?’ They said: ‘We worship idols, and to them we are ever devoted. ’ He said: ‘Do they hear you, when you call (on them)? Or do they benefit you or do they harm (you)?’ They said: ‘Nay, but we found our fathers doing They agreed that these idols did not hear their supplication, or benefit them, or cause them harm. They only worshipped them out of imitation of their fathers. However, blind imitation is not a valid proof. He - the Most High - also refuted the conception of those who worshipped the stars, the sun and the moon with His “T/ic sun, the moon, the stars are subjected to His Command.” Also, with His statement: “And from among His Signs are the night and day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate not to the sun nor the moon, but prostrate to Allah Who created them, if you (really) worship Him. ” Also, He refuted the conception of those who worshipped the Angels'bad [Jesus 3] believing that they are the children of Allah with His statement: “No son (or offspring or children) did Allah beget...” Also, He said: “...How can He have children when He has no wife?...’ Also, He said: “He begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him. ” (Qur’an 112: 3-4)
- Source pages
- 4
- Source work
- Aqidat al-Tawhid? Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan ibn Abdullah al-Fawzan
- Source
- Aqidat al-Tawhid — Arabic book supplied to the site
- Arabic original
- Read the Arabic section
English text aligned with the corresponding Arabic sections extracted from the user-provided Word source. The Arabic original remains authoritative.