May 27, 2021

Salahuddin was an Ash'ari...

Salahuddin was an Ash'ari ... soooooo ...

So what?! Let us say he, رحمه الله, was an Ash'ari, what does that have to do with his effort to unite the Ummah under one banner to successfully defeat the internal enemy, the Fatimid Shia, and to liberate الأقصى from the external enemy, the crusaders? Muslims in both cases, on the political front, are fighting a common enemy.

Salahuddin was a Muslim ruler in his own capacity, when the Muslims unite under a Muslim ruler, regardless his Aqeedah, as long as it does not take the ruler out of Islam, then he is to be obeyed in what is good.

Besides, being Ash'ari is not just about deviance in Allaah's names & attributes, it has to do with a deficiency in the understanding of faith and restricting it, in its foundation, to be belief in the heart and excluding statements and actions, and thus having a foundation based on الإرجاء, it has to do with Jabriyyah with regards belief in Qadar, it has to do with the position of not taking عقيدة from so-called آحاد narrations, it even has to do with a modified belief from the Mu'tazilah about the Qur'an being created as opposed to Allaah's words being a necessary attribute that is a part of His Essence, Allaah speaks when He wants to speak.

So this is also a response to those who try to use this as evidence to prove that the Ash'ari Aqeedah is the true Aqeedah, which in reality is a mix of Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, and Greek logic principles in understanding Allaah. It is not the the Aqeedah with which our Messenger, Allaah's praise and peace be upon him, came with, nor what all of the other the prophets, peace be upon them, came with.

On the other hand, did not the Abbasids adopt the Mu'tazilah beliefs for a while, notably, the "createdness" of the Qur'an, a statement which, in and of itself, is Kufr, as documented by the likes of Imam Al-Bukhari. What did the scholars like Imam Ahmad do, call for rebellion and chaos and thus, reject the leadership of the Abbasids? Did the scholars of the Sunnah not write in countless works the obligation on the Muslims to unite under their respective ruler(s), to pray behind them and do Jihad with them?

Salahuddin was a Muslim ruler in his own capacity, when the Muslims unite under a Muslim ruler, regardless his Aqeedah, as long as it does not take the ruler out of Islam, then he is to be obeyed in what is good.

It is mentalities like this that have turned a methodology upon the Sunnah into an exclusive group. Let us fear Allaah and not mix up matters of politics, an arena in which the people of power and influence would unite the Muslims against a common enemy, and matters of correcting the beliefs of the Muslim masses to be upon the beliefs of our predecessors. There is no doubt that the two are related to each other, that is, political power and success and upholding proper Tawheed, but that does not mean that the entire Ummah, that is, the Sunnis, on a political front, those who accept the successorship of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, have to be upon the same Aqeedah to unite in defending the Muslim Ummah from its clear enemies.

Finally, let us remember that it is Allaah who grants dominion to whom He wills. Islam is always the winner when it comes to the truth in the correct belief, but that does mean that Muslims will always have the upper hand on a political level. What does Allaah say in Noble Qur'an 3:26?

"Say, "O Allaah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent."

So being upon the true Aqeedah does not necessitate that sovereignty will be given to those who uphold it all the time, otherwise, the disbelievers would never have been given any sovereignty whatsoever, and the Muslims would have always been on top politically. We know that is not the case.

Again, this does not take away from the necessity to learn the correct Aqeedah and do away with Shirk which exists among the Muslim masses. But do not throw your Muslims brothers under the bus and abandon them by saying that they all must somehow be upon the correct Aqeedah. That is the aim, but do not mix that up with politics, Islam's teachings are comprehensive.

و الله أعلم