The Religion of Ibrahim and the Calling of the Messengers pdf

The Religion of Ibrahim and the Calling of the Messengers – Book Sample

THE RELIGION OF IBRAHIM AND THE CALLING OF THE MESSENGERS

We present to the English reader, Millat Ibrāhīm, by the noble Shaykh, Abū Muhammad Al-Maqdisī, may Allāh preserve him.

 This particular treatise has been an influential and significant book with many of the contemporary Islāmic groups intent upon forming an Islāmic state.

 Herein, the author draws several parallels between the form of idolatry in the time of the Messenger of Allāh ﺳﻠﻢ ﻭ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﺍﷲ ﺻﻠﻰ, and that which the apostate regimes have instituted from fabricated laws and methodologies of falsehood in the lands of the Muslims, which are the main obstacles to the formation of such a state.

In doing so, he touches upon the very basis of Tawhīd and the obligation of the slave not only to hold these false deities with contempt inwardly – be they idols made of stone, or trees, or stars or the man-made legislations – but outwardly as well. And while most Muslims are familiar with the concept of having enmity towards the polytheists (Mushrikīn) and their false deities, within their hearts,

 there seems to be a pervasive lack of awareness regarding the outward enmity and what is required to be demonstrated in terms of aggression and hostility and warfare.

And so, as the author points out, although most Muslims are aware of certain aspects of the events of Ibrāhīm’s life, may the blessings of Allāh be upon him, the various points of his Millah,

in terms of his enmity towards the people of Shirk and Kufr and his taking them and that which they worshipped as enemies, both inwardly and outwardly, remain unclear to most.

Therefore, the reader is encouraged to pay close attention, throughout the book, to the Shaykh’s points because, although there are many excellent books available in English regarding Tawhīd, this particular aspect has not been covered in the detail that it deserves for the English reader.

As the author mentions in his introduction, this edition of Millat Ibrāhīm was a follow-up to its initial publication.

And subsequently, the Shaykh has addressed some of the comments that had been made about the original book and then included his refutation upon these comments within the introduction to this second edition.

 This is a very valuable segment as it provides a revealing glance into the mindsets of those who have objected to this subject matter being put forth by the Shaykh, may Allāh preserve him.

So the reader is advised to pay close attention to the points, which the opposition has raised in relation to this book, as well as to the accompanying refutation upon these points.

And in this way, the reader will attain a more comprehensive view of the nature of the dispute between those who call for Millah of Ibrāhīm in its true form, and those who attempt to restrict its application in our time by means of diluting it and creating ambiguities and doubts concerning it. And to Allāh are the grievances.

As for the translation, we have attempted to be as precise as possible to the way in which the Shaykh has phrased many of his sentences and paragraphs.

However, there were instances wherein we rearranged the order of the words to reflect the continuity and fluidity of English sentence structures. For example, sentences such as: “And sufficient for us, in that, is the guidance of the Prophet ﺳﻠﻢ ﻭ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﺍﷲ ﺻﻠﻰ in Makkah and how he would make the gods of Quraysh (appear) foolish…”, which is the literal word-for-word translation of the Arabic text, have undergone a rearrangement of words, yet retaining the same meaning:

 “And the guidance of the Prophet ﺳﻠﻢ ﻭ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﺍﷲ ﺻﻠﻰ, in Makkah, is sufficient for us in the way he would make the gods of Quraysh (appear) foolish…”, in order to serve the fluidity of the sentence.

There are also several passages of poetry, which have been translated and arranged in English according to the Arabic method poetic prose. However, although there was a great effort in reproducing the meaning of each couplet, often the impact and style of the Arabic text was lost as was the rhythm and rhyme.

One other change was the addition our own translator footnotes, which we’ve denoted with “Trans. Note:” in order to differentiate ours from those of the author.

 These notes were added in order to further clarify some of the points of the Shaykh or to assist with lengthy explanations of translated words of phrases etc.

 Because the Shaykh writes at such an academic level, it is assumed that the reader is familiar with many of the texts and evidences for the points, which he touches upon.

So in those cases where the Shaykh has alluded to a Hadīth or a principle of Islāmic Jurisprudence (Fiqh), we have added various comments and references, which expand upon these points with the intent of further explaining them.

At times, these footnotes may seem distracting; however, we hope that they will assist the reader with some of the more ambiguous passages of the book. And finally, we’ve taken all of the references that were used by the Shaykh within and text of the book itself, and dropped them down into footnotes so that the reader could locate them by scanning the bottom of each page.

Finally, we would like to thank all those who had assisted, in the translation of this treatise. Indeed there were tireless efforts on some of their parts, which they patiently offered as well as time and energy in the completion of this project.

Again, I ask Allāh to reward them and protect them for their effort and sincerity for the sake of Allāh, the Most High.

And may Allāh, the Most High, give victory to His soldiers and callers who implement fully, and live their lives according to, the Millah of Ibrāhīm. And all praise is due to Allāh. At-Tibyân Publications