Answering Daniel Majazi-tjou (As he does not seem to accept the Attributes of Allāh upon their Haqiqah)
Daniel has been refuted for his views previously by our elder Mashayikh Shaykh Abu Khadeejah and Shaykh Abu Iyaad. See here:
This series of articles is a refutation of part of his recent debate with Sam Shamoun and Jay Dyer, wherein he was not able to answer simple claims made by the Christians (which were effectively additions to a Jahmee argument previously espoused centuries before), and also similarly allowed Ash'ari claims regarding Attributes of Allāh to be portrayed as being legitimate.
The First Issue:
Daniel says, following the opening statement of the Christians:
"They had to bring up these unrelated issues like the uncreatedness of the Qur'ān, or that God, Allāh, has Hands for e.g.
This has nothing to do with Monotheism; maybe they don't undersand what tawhīd means, tawhīd means One God, it means Monotheism..."
This shows a severe lack of understanding of the basic tenet of which the religion is built upon: Tawhīd.
He mentions that tawhīd means One God, but this is not how it is explained, as even the polytheists believed in the Rubūbiyyah of Allāh, and that was never the point of contention between the Prophets and the people they were sent to.
Tawhīd has been categorised into three by the scholars of Islām through examination and deduction of the texts of the Qur'ān and Sunnah.
It was mentioned by Shaikh Sālih al-Fawzān, may Allāh preserve him, in his explanation of Muqaddamah al-Fatāwa al-Hamāwiyyah pg 35-36:
"Tawhīd has three categories: Tawhīd al-Rubūbiyyah, which is to single out Allāh alone with His actions like creating, providing, giving life and death and controlling the affairs. (Secondly) Tawhīd al-Ulūhiyyah and it is to single out Allāh with the actions of the slaves, which He legislated for them as a means to draw closer to him , like supplication, the prayer, sacrificing, vowing, and other than that. The third category is Tawhīd Al-Asmā Was-Sifāt and it is to affirm that which Allāh affirmed for Himself from His Names and Attributes and to free Allāh from that which He freed Himself of, by way of imperfections and defeciencies, as relayed in the Qur'ān and the Sunnah. And this (third) category in reality comes under the category of al-Rubūbiyyah and it is for that reason that some of the scholars say tawhīd has two General categories (as opposed to there).
1. Tawhīd ma'rifah wa al-ithbāt (knowledge and affirmation) and this is tawhīd al-Rubūbiyyah, which includes the Names and Attributes. (and it is also called tawhīd ilmi; to single Allāh out with one’s knowledge) .
2. Tawhid al-talab wa al-qasd (request and intent and action) and this is tawhīd al-Ulūhiyyah. And is called tawhīd al-amali (to single out Allāh alone with ones actions).
However, when there ocurred much delving and dabbling from the later comers in the names and attributes of Allāh, the scholars needed to separate tawhid al-Asmā Was-Sifāt and make it a third category of its own as a means to refute them and make clear the truth in regard to this category.
So in summary, Tawhīd is of two types
1) Tawhīd Ar-Rubūbiyyah (Lordship), which includes Allah's Names and Attributes
2) Tawhīd Al-Ulūhiyyah
These categories are derived from the Qur'ān and Sunnah. And are not from the terminology and sciences invented by the creation, like is said by the ignorant and those upon falsehood." End of Quote.
So, Tawhīd encompasses Rubūbiyyah, Ulūhiyyah and Al-Asmā Was-Sifāt. So, his statement that the Speech of Allāh being uncreated, and the Hands of Allāh having nothing to do with tawhīd, then this is falsehood, as it is from knowledge of the tawhīd of the Names & Attributes of Allāh.
Tawhīd comes from the verb Wahhada, which means to make something singular and unique. So we make Allāh singular and unique in His Actions of Lordship, e.g., creating, sustaining, giving life and causing death etc. We also make Allāh singular and unique in our actions, of worshipping Him alone, without any partner. We furthermore make Allāh singular and unique in His Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes, without ta'tīl (denying them), takyīf (asking how they are in reality, for that knowledge is only with Allāh), tahrīf (distorting them from their correct meanings) or tamthīl (likening them to the creation).
It is mentioned in by ibn al-Qayyim, may Allāh have mercy upon him, in Madārij as-Sālikīn 3/449-450:
"The Tawhīd to which the Messengers of Allāh called and for which His Books were revealed is of two types: Tawhīd of affirmation and knowledge, and Tawhid of seeking and intent.
The first type is the affirmation of the reality of the Essence of the Lord, the Most High, His Attributes, Actions, and Names, in which nothing is like unto Him in any respect, as He has informed about Himself and as His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has informed. The Qur'ān has made this type of Tawhīd clear in many places, such as the beginning of Surah al-Hadīd, Surah Tā-Hā, the end of Surah al-Hashr, the beginning of Surah Alif-Lām-Mīm Sajda, the beginning of Surah Āli-Imrān, the entirety of Surah al-Ikhlās, and other places.
The second type is Tawhīd of request and intent, as is contained in Surah al-Kāfirūn, "Say, O disbelievers," [al-Kāfirūn: 1], and in the verse, "Say, O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you," [Āli-Imrān: 64], as well as the beginning, middle, and end of Surah Yūnus, the beginning and end of Surah al-A'rāf, and the entirety of Surah al-An'ām." End of Quote
So, as mentioned here, the tawhīd of the Names and Attributes were from that which was called to by the Prophets and Messengers.
And this categorisation of tawhīd is not something new; it is commonplace amongst the writings of the Salaf:
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh have mercy on him, said (Refer to: "At-Tanbīhāt as-Sunniyyah ʿalā al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah" by Shaykh ʿAbdul-ʿAzīz ibn Nāṣir ar-Rashīd, page 9. The quote from Shaykh al-Islām is taken from this work):
"The testimony that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allāh includes the theological aspects, which are the three fundamentals: Tawhīd of Lordship, Tawhīd of Divinity, and Tawhīd of Names and Attributes. These three fundamentals are the core around which the religions of the Messengers revolve and what was revealed to them. These are the major principles that are evident and testified by intellect and natural disposition."
As for how this great statement indicates the three categories of Tawhīd, it is completely clear to anyone who reflects upon it. It signifies the affirmation of worship for Allāh and the negation of it for anyone besides Him. It also indicates the Tawhīd of Lordship because one who is incapable cannot be a deity. Additionally, it indicates the Tawhīd of Names and Attributes because one who is devoid of names and attributes is nothing but pure non-existence. As some scholars have said, the one who likens Allāh to His creation worships an idol, and the one who negates His Attributes worships nothingness, while the monotheist worships the Lord of the heavens and the earth."' - End of Quote
Imām Abu Hanīfah (d. 150 AH) said in al-Fiqh al-Absat pg. 51:
"Allāh is invoked from above, not from below, because 'below' is not an Attribute of Rubūbiyyah or Ulūhiyyah..."
Abu Hātim Muḥammad ibn Ḥibbān al-Bustī (d. 354 AH), in the introduction to his book "Rawdat al-ʿUqalāʾ wa Nuzhat al-Fuḍalāʾ", says:
"All praise is due to Allāh, the One who is unique in the oneness of Divinity, exalted in the grandeur of Lordship, the One who governs the souls of the world according to their appointed times, who is aware of their transformations and conditions, who bestows upon them the continuity of His favors and who graces them with the abundance of His blessings. He brought creation into existence when He willed without any assistant or advisor, and He created mankind as He willed without any peer or equal. His decree passed over them by His power, and His will was carried out upon them by His might..." End of Quote.
Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī al-Mālikī (d. 386 AH), who said in the introduction to his book "Ar-Risālah":
"Part of that faith is belief in the heart and declaration with the tongue that Allāh is the one deity that is worthy of worship, and that there is no deity worthy of worship besides Him. He has no equal, no likeness, no child, no parent, no spouse, and no partner. His eternality has no beginning, and His perpetuity has no end. No describer can grasp the full extent of His Attributes, and no thinker can comprehend His Essence. The thinkers contemplate His signs, but they do not ponder the nature of His being. They encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills...
He is exalted from having anything in His dominion that He does not will, or from anyone being independent of Him, or from there being any creator besides Him. He is the Lord of the slaves and the Lord of their deeds, the one who decrees their movements and their appointed times, and the one who sends Messengers to them to establish the proof against them." End of Quote.
Hours can be spent explaining the belief of tawhīd, and hundreds of books have been written down by the scholars of this ummah doing so. To say, tawhīd is tawhīd no where near does justice to the Islamic position.
Where he says "this has nothing to do with tawhīd" shows his complete ignorance. If he does not understand what tawhīd is and what it encompasses, then how can he 'debate' on the issue. It is clear this individual is not upon the way of the Salaf as-Sālih, nor can he justify the claim that he is atharī. It shows the level of these youtube and social media personalities that have masqueraded themselves as people of knowledge for too long, yet do not even understand the basics!
More to follow...
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