Al-Nahl
(The Bee)
Chapter 16: Verse 51
 Fallacy
of Dualism
“And Allah said, "Take
not (for worship) two gods. He is the One and only God. So, stand in awe
of Me, Me alone.”
This verse renounces 'dualism' in all its forms and shades, especially
the Zoroastrian doctrine of two gods or two ultimate principles, Ahriman
and Ormazd: 'At the beginning of things there existed the two spirits
who represented good and evil. Both spirits possess creative power, which
manifests itself positively in the one and negatively in the other.' (Ebr.
XXII, p. 98)
Dualism, however, is not confined to the Zoroastrian religion. Its rudimentary
forms, the rivalry of a Good and Evil deity, are well known among the
earlier ages of mankind. Good and evil, as we know them in experience,
mind and matter, the world of moral purpose and the world of material
things, are not the product of two separate original forces. They are
knit into one another as phases in one whole, results of one force, one
system of interconnected law. (Gore, Belief in God, p. 53)
In the same vein, one might add that the physicists are now of opinion
that the four forces of nature, the electro-magnetic, the gravitational,
the weak and the strong nuclear forces, are manifestations of a single,
Super force. They believe a theory of physics is possible (called as Grand
Unification Theory, or GUT) which will express the various forces in one
formula. Some advances have already been made. Weinberg-Salam theory demonstrates
that electromagnetic and the weak force are in fact two parts of a single
force. Thus, we will arrive at the "oneness" of physical laws
that rule the world.
Compiled From:
"Tafsir Ishraq Al-Ma'ani" - Syed Iqbal Zaheer, Vol. 6, pp. 230-231 |
Allah Has Pardoned
On the authority of ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them):
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's blessing and peace be upon him)
said, "On my behalf, Allah has pardoned
for my Nation [what is done] mistakenly, out of forgetfulness or under
duress." [Ibn Majag, al-Baihaqi]
Pardoning those aspects [that is, the sin of unintentional acts, acts
done out of forgetfulness or coercion] is the requirement of wisdom,
even though if Allah were to hold one to account for those acts He would
be just [since they are the person's acts]. However, the benefit of
responsibility and its goal is to distinguish between the obedient one
and the sinner. Any act of obedience or disobedience needs an intention
for it to be tied to reward and punishment. The Three cases described
in this hadith are devoid of such intention. The first two cases are
clear. As for the third case, the intention is from the one doing the
coercing and not the coerced himself.
Compiled From:
"Fath" - Al-Haitami, pp. 274-275
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Tahajjud (The
Night Prayer)
Its excellence and merit from the Quran:
Allah praised and complemented the deeds of those who perform the
late-night prayers. "The slaves
of the Beneficent are they … who spend the night prostrating
before their Lord and standing" [al-Furqan:
63-64].
Hadith regarding Tahajjud:
Abdullah ibn as-Salam reports: "When the Prophet, peace be
upon him, came to Madinah, the people gathered around him and I
was one of them. I looked at his face and understood that it was
not the face of a liar. The first words I heard him say were: 'O
people, spread the salutations, feed the people, keep the ties of
kinship, and pray during the night while the others sleep and you
will enter paradise in peace."' This is related
by al-Hakim, Ibn Majah, and at-Tirmizhi.
Sahl ibn Sad reports: "Gabriel came to the Prophet sallallahu
alehi wasallam and said: 'The honour
of the believer is in the night prayer."'
Compiled From:
"Fiqh-us-Sunnah" - Sayyid Saabiq, Vol. 2
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