Have You Made Me Equal To Allaah?
للعلم والحذر
For Information And Warning!
حكم كتابة ( الله ... محمد ) في ورقة أو لوحة ونحوها
Ruling Of Writing ( الله ... محمد ) (on equal level) On a paper, board etc
فتوى اللجنة الدائمة
Fatwa Al-lajnah Ad-daimah
All praises belong to Allaah Alone, Peace and blessings to the one who, there is no Prophet after him.
Amma ba’ad,
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daaimah lil-Buhuuth al-'Ilmiyyah wal-Iftaa analyzed what has reached the main Mufti from the questioner ‘Abdul-Aziz As-Sayigh, of reference no 6860 9/11/1421H whereby the questioner asked regarding the matter and here are the details of his query: (May Allaah Protect you). Due to the fear of what is occurring in this Religion and putting effort to stop what is causing the corruption of ‘Aqeedah whereby the bid’ah (innovation) has spread in this Ummah from the enemies of Allaah and His Religion, and the fact that people are easily following matters which they assume are minor, rather they are major, to the extent that removing its harm has become hard. This is similar to the case of the people of Nuwh and their images [when they started keeping the images of the pious slaves of Allaah and devoted themselves to them which subsequently became the basic reason of the worship of idols]. We are clearly demonstrating to you various images which were arranged side by side to each other; the right-hand side is the Name of Allaah ‘Azza wa Jalla and the other side the name of the Prophet (Swalla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam). And I do not know what will come next! And some of the brothers have written to the Fatwa Committee regarding this request so as to follow up with the evil of ‘Aqeedah whilst hoping that you give your opinion which may be the solution and cure of removing this evil. May Allaah Grant you steadfastness and Reward you for benefiting His Slaves in his obedience. Aamiyn
After the research by the Fatwa Committee, the response is:
“It is not befitting to write the Name of Allaah the Most High [Allaah] together with the name of the Prophet [Muhammad] on equal level in a paper or board [or materials] or to hang on the walls in any form. This is crossing the limits of the rights of the Prophet (Swalla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) and to make him equal to Allaah. This is among the matters the shirk which he prohibited himself in his statement:
((Do not extol me as the Christians extolled the son of Maryam [as]; I am no more than a slave [of Allah] and so [instead], say: Allaah's Slave and His Messenger))
Therefore it is obligatory to remove such pictures, images hanged on walls or written on papers erase them away wherever they may be, so that we protect the ‘Aqeeda and to follow the wasiya [advice] of the Prophet (Swalla Allahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam). Wa biLlaahi tawfiyq wa Swalla-Allaahu ‘alaa Nabiyyina wa ‘alaa aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daaimah lil-Buhuuth al-'Ilmiyyah wal-Iftaa
‘Abdullaah bin ‘Abdir-Rahmaan Al-‘Adh-baan
‘Abdul-Aziyz bin ‘Abdillaah bin Muhammad Aal Shaykh
Saalih bin Fawzaan Aal Fawzaan
فتوى الشيخ ابن عثيمين رحمه الله رحمه الله
Fatwa Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymin (Rahimahu Allaah)
Verily writing the Name of Allaah (الله) one side and the name of (محمد) on another side on equal level e.g. (الله) *** (محمد) makes the one who looks at them think that they are of the same rank whilst the Prophet (Swalla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) corrected the one who praised the Prophet by telling him:
“It is what Allaah wills and you will” So he replied to him: ((Are you making me equal to Allaah? Say it is what Allaah Alone Wills!))
And if such writings are kept in front of those who pray, it shall be the cause of their distraction from their prayers. And the Greater Scholars’ hated [and prohibited] the writing of anything in front of the Qiblah so that it doesn’t distract the one who prays. Thus it is not right to be written like that, I mean
(الله) *** (محمد). Wherever it is seen written like that, it must be erased. [or removed and destroyed].
And in his explanation of the Book of Prayer in ‘Bulughul-Maraam’ in the chapter regarding the Masjid, No. 16 on second side, the Shaykh said that, in brief, this kind of writing is small shirk.
Written by: Muhammad As-Saalih Al-‘Uthaymin 9/1/1420
حكم كتابة ( الله ... محمد ) في ورقة أو لوحة ونحوها
Ruling Of Writing ( الله ... محمد ) (on equal level) On a paper, board etc
All praises belong to Allaah Alone, Peace and Blessings upon His Messenger
Ama ba’ad,
Narrated by Ibn ‘Abbaas (Radhwiya Allaahu ‘anhumaa) that a man asked the Prophet (Swalla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam): “However Allaah and You Will” He replied: ((Have you made me equal to Allaah? Rather say: If Allaah Alone Wills)) [Ahmad]
O you Muslim who is enthusiastic about his religion! O you who has the love of Allaah and His Messenger! Verily Allaah warned us in His Noble Book not to follow the footsteps of the satan:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ
O you who believe! Do not follow the footsteps of the satan… [An-Nuwr: 21]
And the most evil footsteps of the satan is leading the people into shirk by them overstepping the limits of praising the Prophets and the righteous slaves of Allaah. And the Prophet (Swalla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) warned:
((Beware of exceeding the limits [of Din by exaggerated praise], for it was only this which led those before you to destruction [Ahmad, An-Nasaaiy, Ibn Maajah]
And verily, what has occurred increasingly among the people these days is hanging pictures of various forms and shapes which is actually of the same nature; i.e. making equality between the Creator Allaah and His Prophet Muhammad (Swalla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam). And that is to write the name of Allaah (الله) on the right-hand side and the name of the our (محمد) on the left-hand side on the same level. Note the pictures below.
There is no doubt that what is mentioned before regarding such matter means making equal the Creator [Allaah] and the creation [the Prophet (Swalla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam)]. And this is exceeding the limits of religion which the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) warned us as he said:
((Do not extol me as the Christians extolled the son of Maryam (as ); I am no more than a slave (of Allah) and so (instead), say: Allah's Slave and His Messenger)) [Al-Bukhaariy and Muslim]
And from Anas (Radhwiya Allaahu ‘anhu) that some people said: "Oh, Messenger of Allaah! Oh, the best of us and the son of the best of us! Our Master and the son of our Master!" He (Swalla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) replied: ((Oh, you people! Say what you have to say and do not allow yourselves to be seduced by Satan. I am Muhammad, the slave of Allah and His Messenger. I do not like you to raise me above the status assigned to me by Allaah, Almighty All-powerful)) [Narrated by Ahmad].
So the Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) hated to be faced with exaggeration of praise by people which led to exceeding the limits. And so with this Hadith, the Prophet exerted to close all means which lead to shirk.
Verily the right of Prophet Muhammad (Swalla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) is to believe [his statements] and to comply to them openly and secretly. And our love for him should be greater than the love of our parents, children and all people, but this love should not reach to be equal in state with the love of Allaah [by rasing his rank equally to Allaah].