Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
The Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa’ah believe that the knowledge of Allah Ta‘ala is absolute and perfect. Just as Allah Ta‘ala has complete knowledge of the past, He has complete knowledge of the present and future. His divine knowledge encompasses all things and all times, and nothing is hidden from Him. Allah Ta‘ala says in the Qur’aan Majeed:
وَعِندَهُ مَفاتِحُ الغَيبِ لا يَعلَمُها إِلّا هُوَ وَيَعلَمُ ما فِى البَرِّ وَالبَحرِ وَما تَسقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعلَمُهَا وَلا حَبَّةٍ فى ظُلُمـٰتِ الأَرضِ وَلَا رَطْبٍ وَّلَا يَابِسٍ إِلَّا فِى كِتـٰبٍ مُبينٍ (الأنعام: 59)
By Him are the keys of the Unseen. No one knows them but He. He knows what is in the land and the sea. And no leaf ever falls but that He knows about it, and there is no grain in the dark layers of the earth, or anything fresh or dry that is not recorded in a manifest book (i.e. the lohw-e-mahfooz which is by Him).
This aayat emphatically expresses the greatness of Allah Ta‘ala as well as His absolute and perfect knowledge. Everything which Allah Ta‘ala mentioned in the Qur’aan Majeed is true and we bring complete faith upon it. In regard to the illustrious Sahaabah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), Allah Ta‘ala declared His perpetual happiness for them in the Qur’aan Majeed and gave them the glad tidings of Jannah while they were still alive in this world. Allah Ta‘ala says:
وَالسّٰـبِقونَ الْأَوَّلُوْنَ مِنَ الْمُهٰـجِريْنَ وَالْأَنْصَارِ وَالَّذْيْنَ اتَّبَعُوْهُمْ بِإِحْسانٍ رَضِىَ اللّٰـهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوْا عَنْهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ جَنّٰـتٍ تَجْرِىْ تَحْتَهَا الْأَنْهٰـرُ خٰـلِدِيْنَ فِيْهَا أَبَدًا ذٰلِكَ الفَوْزُ الْعَظِيْمُ (التوبة: 100)
And the first forerunners (in Deen) among the Muhaajireen and the Ansaar and those who followed them in goodness, Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will live forever. That is the supreme achievement.
From this aayat, we understand that Allah Ta‘ala has declared His perpetual happiness for the illustrious Sahaabah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).
On the contrary, the belief of the shia in regard to the knowledge of Allah Ta‘ala is that Allah Ta‘ala’s knowledge is not perfect and absolute – May Allah Ta‘ala forbid!
The shia believe that there were many things which Allah Ta‘ala was initially unaware of and only came to know later on, due to which He changed His decree recorded in the Qur’aan Majeed. This belief of the Shia is famously known as Bada, as recorded in the kitaabs of the shia (Usoolul Kaafi pg. 40). Among the things which they claim that Allah Ta‘ala was not aware of at the time of revealing these verses was that the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) would renege after Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)’s demise -May Allah Ta‘ala forbid!
Therefore, in regard to the Sahaabah, the shia hold the belief that they had turned apostate after the demise of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). However, this belief is totally false and opposes the Qur’aan Majeed. The Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah love the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) and regard them as the greatest of this ummah. The Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) are our link to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and to Deen. If we have to remove the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) from the equation then there will be no Qur’aan, no Hadith and no Deen, as the entire structure of Islam rests on the foundation of the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) who gave us Deen and transmitted the Qur’aan and Hadith to us.
