Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Command to shun Shirk and lying -Ibn Kathir

Quran 22:30 That and whoever honors the sacred things of Allah, then that is better for him with his Lord. The cattle are lawful to you, except those (that will be) mentioned to you. So shun the Rijs of the idols, and shun false speech.

The Command to shun Shirk and Lying
Allah says:

So shun the Rijis of the idols, and shun false speech.
From this it is clear what Ar-Rijs means, i.e., avoid the abomination, which means idols. Shirk is mentioned in conjunction with false speech, as in the Ayah:

Say: "(But) the things that my Lord has indeed forbidden are;
  • Al-Fawahish (immoral sins) whether committed openly or secretly,
  • sins (of all kinds),
  • unrighteous oppression,
  • joining partners with Allah for which He has given no authority, and
  • saying things about Allah of which you have no knowledge''. (7:33)
This includes bearing false witness.
In the Two Sahihs it was reported from Abu Bakrah that the Messenger of Allah said:
أَ
Shall I not tell you about the worst of major sins?
We said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah.''
He said: Associating others with Allah, disobeying one's parents.
He was reclining, then he sat up and said: and indeed giving false statements, and indeed bearing false witness...
and he kept on repeating it until we wished that he would stop.''
Imam Ahmad recorded that Khuraym bin Fatik Al-Asadi said,
"The Messenger of Allah prayed As-Subh (Al-Fajr), and when he had finished, he stood up and said:

Bearing false witness is on a par with the association of others with Allah.
Then he recited this Ayah: ...
So shun the Rijs of the idols, and shun lying speech. Hunafa' Lillah, not associating partners unto Him;
Allah says:

Hunafa' Lillah,
means, sincerely submitting to Him Alone, shunning falsehood and seeking the truth.
Allah says: not associating partners unto Him;
Then Allah gives a likeness of the idolator in his misguidance and being doomed and being far away from true guidance, and says: and whoever assigns partners to Allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky,
meaning, the birds caught him in midair,for the wind had thrown him to a far off place.
means, remote and desolate, dangerous for anyone who lands there.

Hence it says in the Hadith of Al-Bara':
When the angels of death take the soul of the disbeliever in death, they take his soul up to the heaven, but the gates of heaven are not opened for him; on the contrary, his soul is thrown down from there.
Then he recited this Ayah.
The Hadith has already been quoted in our explanation of Surah Ibrahim.
Allah gives another parable of the idolators in Surah Al-An`am, where He says:

Say:
"Shall we invoke others besides Allah, that can do us neither good nor can harm us, and shall we turn back on our heels after Allah has guided us -- like one whom the Shayatin have made to go astray in the land in confusion, his companions calling him to guidance (saying): `Come to us.'''
Say: "Verily, Allah's guidance is the only guidance.'' (6:71)

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