2 thoughts on “Quiz: Points 7-40 of al-‘Aqeedah al-Waasitiyyah”
[Note : I tried to find the best place to ask this question, I chose here given it’s somewhat related to Aqidah Wasitiya point 18 : Allah’s majestic arrival on Day of Judgement]
Salam alaykoum Usted, I have a question related to the Hadith of the 7 under the shadow on Judgement Day. The Prophet ﷺ said : “Seven, Allah will shade them the Day there will be no shadow except His shadow” (Riyad as-Salihin #449). The Arabic reads : سبعة يظلّهم الله في ظلّه يوم لا ظلّ إلاّ ظلّه. When speaking, are we allowed to replace the pronoun “ه” in “ظلّه” by the name it refers to, ie. saying “the Shadow of Allah”, or is it discourage because leads to ambiguousity ?
I am enclined to say it’s Ok and not discouraged, for the reason the Prophete spoke ‘His shadow’, we are just technicaly replacing a pronoun by the name it refers to, even though speaking with the exact initial wording is better. But when starting a new sentence, saying upfront “His shadow” lacks sense, we need a meaningful name instead of “His”. My point is the Prophete ‘almost’ spoke that way.
Then, what about when someone quotes this Hadith, and others intervene from the angle of correcting and say “the Shadow of His Throne”. I am enclined to think that intervening in the angle of providing additional information is good, but from the angle of correcting, is exageration. Or is this question itself a form of exageration.
Thank you for reading. I attach to this question the two annexes below.
1) Shaykh ibn Othaymine in his explanation of this Hadith says : “And what is meant by the shade here is: a shade which Allah, Exalted is He, creates on the Day of Resurrection, in which He shelters whomever of His servants He wills. The intended meaning is not His own shade — exalted and glorified is He — because Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth, and it is impossible that Allah should be a shade from the sun. Attributing shade directly to Him as if the sun were above Him and He were between it and the creation is a distortion of realities. Rather, what is meant is: it is impossible that Allah, Exalted is He, could be under any of His created things. He is the Most High, the Exalted, and He is the Light of the heavens and the earth.” [Sharh Riyad Salihin #449]
2) Narrated Abu Hurairah. That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever grants respite to an indigent or alleviates it for him, Allah will shade him on the Day of Judgement under His Throne, a Day in which there is no shade except His shade.” [Tirmidhi 1306 : Hassan].
Here the Prophete ﷺ used the two expressions :
– تَحْتَ ظِلِّ عَرْشِهِ : under the shadow of His Throne
– اَ ظِلَّ إِلاَّ ظِلُّهُ : no shadow except His shadow
Wa ‘alaykum as-Salaamu wa rahmatullah. Quite simply, “under His shade” is a translation of an actual text (تحت ظله أو في ظلي يوم لا ظل إلا ظلي), while “under the shade of His throne” is another text, which can be used to explain the first text as well (تحت ظل عرشه). To say that you cannot say, “under Allah’s shade,” because it is actually the shade of His throne, is actually to forbid people from speaking with the same words spoken by the Messenger of Allah (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace), so it is not correct. Yes, we explain the meanings, but we do not forbid people from speaking with the words of the Prophet either. And Allah knows best.
As for the opinion of Shaykh ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have Mercy on him) on this topic, that the shade of Allah referred to is actually some other shade that he will create on that Day (other than the shade of His throne), then I do not know any evidence for this opinion. If you do know some evidence for it, please share it with us here. Jazaak Allahu khayran.
[Note : I tried to find the best place to ask this question, I chose here given it’s somewhat related to Aqidah Wasitiya point 18 : Allah’s majestic arrival on Day of Judgement]
Salam alaykoum Usted, I have a question related to the Hadith of the 7 under the shadow on Judgement Day. The Prophet ﷺ said : “Seven, Allah will shade them the Day there will be no shadow except His shadow” (Riyad as-Salihin #449). The Arabic reads : سبعة يظلّهم الله في ظلّه يوم لا ظلّ إلاّ ظلّه. When speaking, are we allowed to replace the pronoun “ه” in “ظلّه” by the name it refers to, ie. saying “the Shadow of Allah”, or is it discourage because leads to ambiguousity ?
I am enclined to say it’s Ok and not discouraged, for the reason the Prophete spoke ‘His shadow’, we are just technicaly replacing a pronoun by the name it refers to, even though speaking with the exact initial wording is better. But when starting a new sentence, saying upfront “His shadow” lacks sense, we need a meaningful name instead of “His”. My point is the Prophete ‘almost’ spoke that way.
Then, what about when someone quotes this Hadith, and others intervene from the angle of correcting and say “the Shadow of His Throne”. I am enclined to think that intervening in the angle of providing additional information is good, but from the angle of correcting, is exageration. Or is this question itself a form of exageration.
Thank you for reading. I attach to this question the two annexes below.
1) Shaykh ibn Othaymine in his explanation of this Hadith says : “And what is meant by the shade here is: a shade which Allah, Exalted is He, creates on the Day of Resurrection, in which He shelters whomever of His servants He wills. The intended meaning is not His own shade — exalted and glorified is He — because Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth, and it is impossible that Allah should be a shade from the sun. Attributing shade directly to Him as if the sun were above Him and He were between it and the creation is a distortion of realities. Rather, what is meant is: it is impossible that Allah, Exalted is He, could be under any of His created things. He is the Most High, the Exalted, and He is the Light of the heavens and the earth.” [Sharh Riyad Salihin #449]
2) Narrated Abu Hurairah. That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever grants respite to an indigent or alleviates it for him, Allah will shade him on the Day of Judgement under His Throne, a Day in which there is no shade except His shade.” [Tirmidhi 1306 : Hassan].
The Arabic : “ مَنْ أَنْظَرَ مُعْسِرًا أَوْ وَضَعَ لَهُ أَظَلَّهُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ تَحْتَ ظِلِّ عَرْشِهِ يَوْمَ لاَ ظِلَّ إِلاَّ ظِلُّهُ ”
Here the Prophete ﷺ used the two expressions :
– تَحْتَ ظِلِّ عَرْشِهِ : under the shadow of His Throne
– اَ ظِلَّ إِلاَّ ظِلُّهُ : no shadow except His shadow
Wa ‘alaykum as-Salaamu wa rahmatullah. Quite simply, “under His shade” is a translation of an actual text (تحت ظله أو في ظلي يوم لا ظل إلا ظلي), while “under the shade of His throne” is another text, which can be used to explain the first text as well (تحت ظل عرشه). To say that you cannot say, “under Allah’s shade,” because it is actually the shade of His throne, is actually to forbid people from speaking with the same words spoken by the Messenger of Allah (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace), so it is not correct. Yes, we explain the meanings, but we do not forbid people from speaking with the words of the Prophet either. And Allah knows best.
As for the opinion of Shaykh ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have Mercy on him) on this topic, that the shade of Allah referred to is actually some other shade that he will create on that Day (other than the shade of His throne), then I do not know any evidence for this opinion. If you do know some evidence for it, please share it with us here. Jazaak Allahu khayran.