Question:
Viral on social media that in the past several days there is an individual who stated that God is invisible and unseen, hence the individual concluded that God is one of the unseen creations. Hope for your comment on the matter.
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and gratitude to Allah SWT for His countless blessings for us all. Praise and salutations to our beloved Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his family, companions, and all those who follow his footsteps until the Final day.
We start with the statement of Allah SWT:
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” [1]
Imam Ibn Kathir stated in his commentary stated: “There is none like Allah who is the Creator of everything in pairs for Allah is the One and Only place to depend on of which non is comparable to Him.” [2]
Imam al-Syaukani said: “Whoever one truly understands and reflects on this revered verse, surely he’ll be on the pure and clear road at the crossroads and contradictions of people in the issue of the attributes of Allah. It is better when one reflects on the meaning of Allah’s words: “And He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” The reason is this establishment after the rejection of anything similar contains absolute certainty and is a cure for the heart. O seekers of the truth, hold unto this argument firmly, surely, you’ll be able to eradicate various types of bid’ah. [3]
Syeikh Ahmad bin Mustafa al-Maraghi in his commentary state: “There is none like Allah who is the Creator of every creation in pairs that is comparable with him. For He is the One and Only and the focus of all creations to ask for any needs or desires. It is possible that the meaning of the verse is that nothing is the same as Him in His management where His Sovereignty is All-Encompassing. He is the All-Knowing that transcends everything.” [4]
Syeikh al-Sya’rawi stated: Indeed, all of Allah’s attributes come with an example to give a similar meaning, but not with the purpose of depicting the reality of its meaning for there is nothing is the same or comparable with Allah SWT. [5]
The letter kaf in the verse “لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ” reinforces the argument, purifying and rejecting any similarities with Him with any creations with absolute rejection. In Arabic, kaf in certain words acts to emphasize (li al-tawkid) or compare (li al-tashbih).
If the kaf is accompanied with a noun (al-ism) that is different from itself, for instance, if it is said “You are like the moon (أنت كالبدر)” then it is a comparison. You (man) and the moon are two different things. Hence, the kaf here gives the meaning “You are like the moon in terms of its beauty.”
If the kaf is accompanied with a noun (al-ism) that is the same with itself, for example, in the above verse of the Quran, then it is a form of reinforcement or emphasis. As stated by Syeikh Ahmad Jabir Jubran, if it is stated لَيْسَ مِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ (without the kaf) denial of an equivalent similarity (al-mithl al-mukafi’).[6]
According to the above question, the statement made by the individual is very dangerous for it could affect his akidah (faith/belief) and lead him to shirk, even more so if he did it intentionally. Whilst the act of shirk is a major sin according to Allah SWT. Allah SWT states:
إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَىٰ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا
“Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.” [7]
Ibn Kathir stated in his commentary, it means Allah SWT forgives everyone who meets Him except when he associates Allah with others. [8]
However, Allah SWT forgives the sins of a musyrik when he repented to Allah SWT before he dies and meets Him while he is a believer.
The act that apparently shows a person associating Allah SWT with others is a sinful act. However, it doesn’t renounce a person from Islam for sure, for there is doubt whether he did so when he is ignorant of the fact, unintentionally and doesn’t intentioned as assumed.
Imam al-Sanusi in his book al-Muqaddimat[9] divided shirk into six types:
- Istiqdal shirk: State that there are two gods or more which differ from the belief of the Majus (fire-worshipper) such as Hormazd and Yazdan (Ahura Mazdan and Aingra Mainyu)
- Tab’id shirk: Combining God from several oknums such as the belief in Trinity in Christianity.
- Taqrib shirk: Worshipping other than Allah SWT with the intention of getting closer to Allah SWT. Such as worshipping the angels, moon, stars, sun and others.
- Taqlid shirk: Worshipping Allah just because he is following others as stated in surah al-Zukhruf verse 23.
- Asbab shirk: Believing that an effect of certain things is due to nature of the norm, such as believing that a person is full because he eats and not because Allah SWT is the one that makes him full. This is the same as shirk of the philosophers and naturalists.
- Aghrad shirk: Worshipping for other than Allah SWT for praise and commendation of people (pretend righteousness).
For istiqlal, tab’id and taqlid shirk, the person is considered to have disbelieved through ijmak. For aghrad shirk it is considered as a sin and it is not considered as disbelief through ijmak. While asbab shirk requires some detailing. If one believes that something happens solely due to certain reasons, then he is considered kufr through ijmak. If he believes that it is an effect through a force created by Allah to creation, then he is considered as fasiq and a person of bid’ah.
Allah as al-Khaliq
Al-Khaliq originates from the word khalaqa (خَلَقَ), which means measuring, creating, forming or detailing. Al-Khaliq is also a word describing a doer or a fa’il (فَاعِل) to the word khalaqa (خَلَقَ) which makes its balancing word Khaliq () which means “creating something new”, “creating from nothing” or “creating something new from something that has existed.”
According to al-Qamus al-Muhit, “Al-Khaliq” is an attribute of Allah SWT which means turning something into existence, or crating something without any example that has existed before, and making something from nothing. [10]
Stating that God is creation or something else created Allah SWT contradicts the attribute al-Khaliq (the Creator) that is an attribute of Allah SWT. Allah SWT states:
ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪُ ﺧَﺎﻟِﻖُ ﻛُﻞِّ ﺷَﻲْﺀٍ ۖ ﻭَﻫُﻮَ ﻋَﻠَﻰٰ ﻛُﻞِّ ﺷَﻲْﺀٍ ﻭَﻛِﻴﻞٌ
“Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is, over all things, Disposer of affairs.” [11]
Allah SWT further states:
هُوَ اللَّهُ الْخَالِقُ الْبَارِئُ الْمُصَوِّرُ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
“He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.” [12]
If the individual who stated, “God is an unseen creation” with the intention of likening Allah SWT with creation, then he should immediately repent to Allah SWT. Indeed, Allah SWT is الخَالِقُ (the Creator) that created everything in this universe. While everything except Allah is مَخْلُوق creations that Allah SWT created himself. Praise be to Allah from being attributed as an “unseen creation”.
Allah’s existence is not the same as anything in this world whether it is in terms of matter the characteristics of matter. Matter is further divided into two; kathif and latif matter. Kathif is seen matter such as humans, animals, the moon, rock and others. While Latif matter is an unseen matter that cannot be touched such as light, electric, soul, angel, jinn and others. Thus, the jinn is able to enter the bodies of a human without being felt and they enter into the hearts of men whispering doubts. Both these types of matter whether it is kathif or Latif is not the same as the attributes of Allah. Moreover, Allah as al-Khaliq is the One who created both the kathif and Latif matter.
To close, I’d like to take this opportunity to advise all who are sharing religious matters or matters that involve the honour of Allah SWT to always be careful with every word they say and to refer or consult those who are knowledgeable in this matter.
However, if the words are unintentional, indeed Allah SWT is the Most Forgiving. As humans, surely, we’ll make mistakes in our actions and speech. This is the truth and nature of men who are filled with weaknesses, deficiencies and imperfections. Remember that the best of sinners is those who repent to Allah SWT.
This is as stated in a hadith narrated by Abu Dzar Al-Ghifari RA, he said the Prophet PBUH said:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَجَاوَزَ عَنْ أُمَّتِي الْخَطَأَ وَالنِّسْيَانَ وَمَا اسْتُكْرِهُوا عَلَيْهِ
“Verily Allah has pardoned [or been lenient with] for me my ummah: their mistakes, their forgetfulness, and that which they have been forced to do under duress.” [13]
Likewise, it is also stated in a hadith narrated from Anas bin Malik RA, where the Messenger PBUH said:
كُلُّ بَنِي آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ وَخَيْرُ الْخَطَّائِينَ التَّوَّابُونَ
“All the sons of Adam are sinners, but the best of sinners is those who are given to repentance.” [14]
I close with a supplication and istighfar:
اَللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبُّنَا لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ، خَلَقْتَنَا وَنَحْنُ عَبِيْدُكَ، وَنَحْنُ عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْنَا، نَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْنَا، نَبُوْءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيْنَا، وَنَبُوْءُ بِذُنُوْبِنَا، فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوْبَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ
“O Allah, You are our Lord. None should be worshipped except You, You’re the one who created us and we are Your slaves. We are loyal to our promise to You and Your promise the best we can. WE seek Your protection from the evils that we commit. We acknowledged Your blessings for us and we confess our sins, please forgive us. Indeed, there is no one to forgive us except You.”
Wallahu a’lam.
[2] See Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 7/194
[4] See Tafsir al-Maraghi, 25/15
[5] See Tafsir al-Sya’rawi, 9/595
[6] See Ta’liqat al-Sunniah ‘ala Matn al-Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah, pg. 11
[8] See Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim, 1/86
[9] See al-Nasamat al-Quddusiyyah Syarh al-Muqaddimat al-Sanusiyyah, pg. 50-55
[10] See al-Qamus al-Muhit, pg. 380
[13] Narrated by Ibn Majah (2043)
[14] Narrated by al-Tirmidzi (2499), Ibn Majah (4251), and Ahmad (13049). Imam al-Suyuti in al-Jami’ al-Saghir (2674) stated this hadith is sahih