Assalaamu Alaikum wa rahamatullaahi wa barakatuhu, Abu Yunus.
Alhamdulillaah, was salaatu was salaamu ‘ala Rasoolillaah.
From this we gather you are a Muslim, Alhamdulillah, may Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) always keep it this way. In the essence of time, we are to keep our response brief. We are not a debate team, and we are refusing to let shaytan get the better of us. We are also not going to let shaytan come between us and Mr Abu Yunus as well.
Mr. Abu Yunus continues: ‘The “imaam” has merely exposed himself to his own ignorance as usual.’
‘As usual?’ Have you corrected the ‘imaam’ previously? Can we see your file of corrections and the ‘imaam’s’ list of Shari’a-linked errors? Allah does not like liars, in fact Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and the angels curse liars. May Allah save us from His curses, Ameen. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) also save us from being negative, more so when we may be at a loss for words regarding a positive introduction to fellow Muslims. Such negativity leaves a sour taste and a terrible example towards our youth. Being Abu (a father) as your name indicates, this should be easy for you to understand, inshaAllah. Unless your name is merely Mr. Abu, and you are not actually an Abu (a father), in which case the matter would be different! Allah loves us to use good speech, positive speech. May we all aspire to such higher standards, Ameen.
Mr. Abu continues by saying, ‘Instead of answering the questioner’s question he has merely diverted the attention to a completely different issue…..’
Our link below proves that we answered the question according to the faculties of a rational, normal layperson, and in reality, you seemingly have chosen to misunderstand our loving response pertaining to Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). We are not apologetic that we view Allah as a magnificent encompassing force that words cannot describe. Also, your long-winded memo seems to allude that we are in opposition as to whether Allah is on His Throne or not. To us, that was never the question, nor are we debating as to the exact location of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). You can continue to pin-point the location of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) similar to a GPS system. We suggest that you keep your GPS system latched to your car and not attempt to link it to your understanding of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). Being man-made objects, I am sure they are prone to hardware and software malfunction. We wouldn’t want such a heinous fate to fall upon our understanding of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala).
We have clearly stated: the Mercy of Allah is everywhere. This is a statement that all Muslims agree upon, regardless of race, gender, or level of IQ. Mr. Abu Yunus, do you really disagree with the fact that the Mercy of Allah is everywhere? I am sure you also agree that Allah is not limited in any of His attributes. To be honest, I think all Muslims and majority non-Muslims also agree with this statement of ours. As an Abu (true father), do you really disagree with this line of ours? We honestly do not think so, but you are welcome to prove otherwise.
May Allah reward you for agreeing with us in majority of our thinking. Even when we perceptually disagree, we seem to have greater agreement. Alhamdulillah. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) always keep us united, Ameen. I am sure that upon reading our responses on various other issues, you had kindly noticed that an in-depth tafseer analysis is beyond the scope of this site. Had this slipped your knowledge, then we are glad to bring this to your notice as well. Seemingly you have done your research; thus, you should also be aware that ayaat from the Qur’an can be used to give an answer so long as the answer does not contradict the Shari’a. You are also aware that this falls under the category of what is called the making of istidlal (one of the methods of deriving a response) without violating aspects of deen.
Noting the above, the only part you can possibly disagree with regarding our response about the presence of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) is upon our claim: The Mercy of Allah is everywhere. Upon reflecting on what you have stated below, we seem to think that we are on the same wavelength. Here is how we derive our thinking.
Mr. Abu Yunus (May Allah shower him and all of us with His Mercy, Love and Compassion, Ameen) said: ‘we must understand the language that is used in the Qur’an.’
We wouldn’t accept this claim blindly in fear of the fact that only Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) knows the meaning of the Qur’an in its totality. Unfortunately, you seem to be implying that our understanding of the Qur’aan is equal to Allah’s (subhanahu wa ta’ala).
Mr. Abu continues, ‘when we say, “May Allaah be with you” do we mean that we are supplicating for Allaah to be with a person physically and in His essence? Of course not.’
Mr. Abu, does some self-talk by asking the question then answering it himself, perhaps fearing that if we are to answer it, we would force sense into this narrow yet long-winded opinion-making strategies. Thus, he brings perceptual self respect to himself while preventing a response from our side. We, too, do not want to embarrass him, thus we shall limit ourselves by only saying the following: we cannot limit Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) at all. It is not whether we agree with this claim of yours or not. But to be bold in limiting the essence of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) by saying ‘of course not’ is too daring for us folks who realize that someday we have meet up with an Allah Whom we have a limited opinion of. Thus, we would not say ‘of course not.’ We would prefer to either be silent with such a given comment, or respond in the affirmative, as Allah can certainly be with us in physicality or in essence if He so wishes. Our fear of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) sometimes overtakes us. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) always keep us that way, ameen.
In your attempt to play plastic mujtahid with the following Hadith, you do yourself and our audience a great injustice while simultaneously failing to understand the purpose behind this story:
As for the imam saying that the brother’s question was absurd, then he is ignorant of the fact or feigns ignorant of the fact that this very question came out of the mouth of the Messenger (Sallaahu alayhi wa sallam) when asked her slave-girl to test her faith: “WHERE IS ALLAH?”
The keywords in this Hadith are slave-girl and test. The point of this Hadith was to demonstrate that so long as the most simple-minded individual has an understanding of Allah’s Vastness, he/she will be sound in tawheed. The point was not to limit Allah’s Presence, the point was not to use ahaadith as rhetorical devices to fool with people’s understanding of Allah, and the point was not to lead anybody astray in their understanding. The question is a valid question, but it’s follow-up “Is He in the bathroom?” is filled with mockery and insincerity. These are not qualities befitting a Muslim attempting to do da’wah. May Allah guide that brother, you, and myself to more intellectually honest methods of inviting people to the deen. Ameen ya Rabb al ‘Alameen!
I am sorry to say that in your closing comment, you are certainly incorrect:
As for the question whether Allaah is in the bathroom, that is clearly a rhetorical question which is intended to have the individual reason a little. Of course, we all know that no rational person can accept the fact that Allaah can be in the bathroom. This fact alone refutes the widespread belief that Allaah is everywhere.
Whether or not the question is a rhetorical device to incite a person into “reasoning a little” is immaterial, for you have clearly failed to reason it through. This is evident in your conclusion: “This fact alone refutes the widespread belief that Allaah is everywhere.” This is absolute, abject false reasoning. Allah is where is He wishes to be, and certainly because He wishes to not be in the bathroom is not evidence of Him not being everywhere. You are implying that He cannot be everywhere. Allah is Omnipotent. He can be everywhere, and this is evident in the fact that His Mercy is with you at all times…where it not so, you would be unMercifully constipated and never able to step foot in a bathroom without considerable pain.
As for your tafseer comment, we are glad that you are also a possible teacher of tafseer. We need more brothers like you. If you can kindly send us your Islamic certification or Islamic institution from which you had nobly qualified from, we could help you offer your services to the appropriate students in our vicinity. Should your works or response be as a result of a neatly cut and paste task, then the matter would be different. Insha-Allah the latter would not be the case.
We also offer tafseer via the works of Ibn Katheer, Allahma Qurtubi, Jalalayn, etc. In these sessions, we do go into the various ayaat with more debt. They are lessons that are offered for those who are seeking true knowledge. Our teachings at the masjid are all free. Bothers and sisters are welcome to join us.
As much as you may want to differ with us Mr. Brother Abu Yunus, you are closer to us than you think. May Allah always keep us together on areas of commonality, Ameen.
Allah certainly knows best.
P.S. Link to the article in question, let us know if you can give it a look with an objective and balanced eye.
