Reality of the Holy Spirit (Part 2)

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

Salutations and peace upon you, my master, Apostle of Allah

A common notion among the Muslims is that the Holy Spirit, which is mentioned in the Holy Quran, is none other than the Archangel Gabriel. However, there isn't actually any Ayah of the Quran or an authentic Hadith from the Prophet صلوات الله والسلام عليه which explicitly states that the Holy Spirit is none other than Archangel Gabriel. In his discussion on the reality of the Holy Spirit, the great mufassir, Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, mentions four different views, one of which is that it is the Angel Gabriel, another that, with respect to the Holy Spirit that strengthened and helped Jesus it is the Gospel, and yet another view that it is a name through which Jesus raised the dead to life. However, I take the fourth view which is that the Holy Spirit is in fact the Spirit of Allah Himself and is one of His attributes:

حدثت عن عمار قال ثنا ابن أبي جعفر عن أبيه قال القدس هو الربّ تعالى ذكره حدثني يونس قال أخبرنا ابن وهب قال قال ابن زيد وأيّدْنَاهُ بِرُوحِ القُدُسِ قال الله القدس وأيّد عيسى بروحه قال نَعْتُ الله القدس وقرأ قول الله جل ثناؤه هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ قال القدس والقُدُّوس واحد حدثني يونس قال أخبرنا ابن وهب قال أخبرني عمرو بن الحرث عن سعيد بن أبي هلال بن أسامة عن عطاء بن يسار قال قال كعب نَعْتُ الله القدس

Ibn Zayd said (And We strengthened him with the Holy Spirit), "Allah is al-Qudus and He strengthened Jesus with His Spirit." He said, "Al-Qudus is the attribute of Allah," and recited the saying of Allah جل ثناؤه (He is Allah other than whom there is no god but He, the King, the Holy). He said, "Al-Qudus and Al-Quddus are one" (Tafsir al-Tabari, v.2, p.225)

I accept the view of Abd al-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam that the Holy Spirit refers to the personal Spirit of Allah, which is His attribute. 

Concerning the Holy Spirit, Allah says that through it He revealed the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad:

قُلۡ نَزَّلَہٗ رُوۡحُ الۡقُدُسِ مِنۡ رَّبِّکَ بِالۡحَقِّ لِیُـثَبِّتَ الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَہُدًی وَّبُشۡرٰی لِلۡمُسۡلِمِیۡنَ

Say, "The Holy Spirit has sent it down from your Lord in truth to make steadfast those who believe, and as a guidance and glad tidings for the Muslims."

(Surah 16:102)

This is the only instance in the Holy Quran where the term Holy Spirit occurs without mention of it as the means to strengthen Jesus. From this Ayah the view is derived that the Holy Spirit must be Archangel Gabriel, since its function mentioned here was to bring down the Quran upon Prophet Muhammad عليه السلام and that was likewise the function of Archangel Gabriel:

قُلۡ مَنۡ کَانَ عَدُوًّا لِّجِبۡرِیۡلَ فَاِنَّہٗ نَزَّلَہٗ عَلٰی قَلۡبِکَ بِاِذۡنِ اللّٰہِ

Say, "Who is an enemy of Gabriel—for He [Allah] caused him [Gabriel] to descend upon your heart by the authority of Allah"

(Surah 2:97)

I have taken the second meaning of the pronouns mentioned by al-Qurtubi and others in their tafasir with the result that Allah caused Gabriel to descend upon the heart of Muhammad عليه السلام instead of the meaning of Gabriel caused the Quran to descend upon the heart of Muhammad عليه السلام. But both meanings are correct since they are not mutually exclusive. This proves that the Angel Gabriel descended not only in the presence of the Prophet but also descended directly into his heart. As an Angel of Light he is a special being that is able to do so. The heart of a Prophet is enveloped by the Holy Spirit or by an Angel through which he receives divine inspiration and is able to prophesy. But because the Quran states that the Holy Spirit brought down the Quran to the Prophet and likewise that Angel Gabriel brought it down to him does not necessitate that the two are one and the same. It could mean that at times the Holy Spirit—the personal Spirit of God—came to the Prophet directly, and at times God used the Angel Gabriel to reveal the Quran to him. And it could mean that they came to him together. Allah and His Apostle know best!

The Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the Psalms of David: "take not thy holy spirit from me" (Psalm 51:11) and by the Prophet Isaiah: "Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?" (Isaiah 63:11).

The New Testament describes Jesus as being "filled" with the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1). In a sense, being filled or possessed by the Holy Spirit or an Angel is the opposite of demonic possession, but both are actual phenomena.

Messianic Age is 40 Years

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

Salutations and peace upon you, my master, Apostle of Allah

My Master, the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلي الله عليه وآله وسلم said about the Messiah Jesus عليه السلام:

وَيُهْلِكُ الْمَسِيحَ الدَّجَّالَ فَيَمْكُثُ فِي الأَرْضِ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً ثُمَّ يُتَوَفَّى فَيُصَلِّي عَلَيْهِ الْمُسْلِمُونَ

"He will destroy the Antichrist [al-Masih al-Dajjal] and remain in the Earth forty years. Then he will die and the Muslims shall pray over him."

(Sunan Abi Dawud, #4324)

That the Messianic Age is forty years has been hinted at in the Psalms: "Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil." (Psalm 90:15, KJV)

This is an allusion to the "affliction" of forty years in which the Israelites wandered in the wilderness during the Exodus, as mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:3. According to the Talmud:

תניא ר' אליעזר אומר ימות המשיח ארבעים שנה

"Rabbi Eliezer says that the Messiah will live for forty years." (Sanhedrin 99a)

But according to another Hadith:

فَيَطْلُبُهُ فَيُهْلِكُهُ ثُمَّ يَمْكُثُ النَّاسُ سَبْعَ سِنِينَ لَيْسَ بَيْنَ اثْنَيْنِ عَدَاوَةٌ ثُمَّ يُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ رِيحًا بَارِدَةً مِنْ قِبَلِ الشَّأْمِ فَلاَ يَبْقَى عَلَى وَجْهِ الأَرْضِ أَحَدٌ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ مِنْ خَيْرٍ أَوْ إِيمَانٍ إِلاَّ قَبَضَتْهُ

"He [Jesus] will search for him [the Dajjal] and destroy him then the people will remain for seven years without any enmity between two. Then Allah will send a cool wind from the direction of the Levant so that none remains upon the face of the Earth in whose heart is a grain's measure of good or faith except that He will seize him." (Sahih Muslim)

Here the apparent contradiction with the former Hadith quoted from Abu Dawud is that the Messianic Age is being described as seven years instead of forty. However, upon deep reflection I conclude that the Hadith in Sahih Muslim does not explicitly say that the Messianic Age is a mere seven years, rather that for seven full years there will not be any rancor in the hearts of any two individuals for each other. But the figure of forty years appears to be more correct. King David is said to have reigned for forty years (2 Samuel 5:4; 1 Kings 2:11) and likewise his son King Solomon (1 Kings 11:42; 2 Chronicles 9:30). Forty years was the duration the land had peace during the time of various Judges (Judges 3:11; 5:31; 8:28). As for the figure of seven years, that is incidentally the duration of the Mahdi's rule:

يَمْلِكُ سَبْعَ سِنِينَ

"He will reign seven years" (Sunan Abi Dawud)

Min Dun Illah

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Heretical and misguided groups, like the Qadianis, which teach that the Messiah عليه السلام is dead, quote the proceeding verses of the Holy Quran:

وَالَّذِیۡنَ یَدۡعُوۡنَ مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰہِ لَا یَخۡلُقُوۡنَ شَیۡئًا وَّہُمۡ یُخۡلَقُوۡنَ

Those they call upon besides Allah do not create a thing but are themselves created

اَمۡوَاتٌ غَیۡرُ اَحۡیَآءٍ

They are dead, not alive

(Surah 16:20-21)

The argument goes that the words "min dun Illah" literally mean other than Allah and includes all the creation, including the Messiah. But as a term "min dun Illah" in many places throughout the Holy Quran refers only to the idols and false deities of the polytheists. For instance, Allah سبحانه وتعالي says:

وَمَا لَکُمۡ مِّنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰہِ مِنۡ وَّلِیٍّ وَّلَا نَصِیۡرٍ

There is not for you, besides Allah, a protector [wali] nor a helper

(Surah 2:107)

Yet elsewhere, He says:

اِنَّمَا وَلِیُّکُمُ اللّٰہُ وَرَسُوۡلُہٗ وَالَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوا الَّذِیۡنَ یُقِیۡمُوۡنَ الصَّلٰوۃَ وَیُؤۡتُوۡنَ الزَّکٰوۃَ وَہُمۡ رٰکِعُوۡنَ

Verily, your protector [wali] is none other than Allah, His Apostle and those who believe; those who establish the Salah and discharge the Zakah and are bowing

(Surah 5:55)

If the words "min dun Illah" as they occur in Surah 2:107 literally mean anything or anyone besides Allah, from His creation, then we have a problem, a serious contradiction! Yet Allah says:

اَفَلَا یَتَدَبَّرُوۡنَ الۡقُرۡاٰنَ ؕ وَلَوۡ کَانَ مِنۡ عِنۡدِ غَیۡرِ اللّٰہِ لَوَجَدُوۡا فِیۡہِ اخۡتِلَافًا کَثِیۡرًا 

Why do they not ponder the Quran? Had it been from other than Allah they would have found in it much discrepancy

(Surah 4:82)

Therefore, the words "min dun Illah" as they occur in the Holy Quran do not always literally mean anything or anyone besides Allah, but as a term refers to idols and false deities. And when Allah says that besides Him there is no protector or helper it means no protector or helper independent of Him. Allah says:

 لَیۡسَ لَہَا مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰہِ وَلِیٌّ وَّلَا شَفِیۡعٌ

There is not for it, besides Allah, a helper or intercessor

(Surah 6:70)

Can any Muslim understand from this that the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلي الله عليه وسلم is not the Intercessor on Judgment Day? "Min dun Illah" here again refers to idols and false deities, or that there is no protector nor intercessor independent of Allah. Is it not the meaning of the Prophet's praise and supplication of Allah:

وَأَنْـتَ الْبـاطِـنُ فَلَـيْسَ دونَـكَ شَيء

"You are Al-Batin [the Hidden], there is nothing independent of You"

(Sahih Muslim)

The Wahhabis and their various offshoots accuse mainstream, Sunni Muslims of polytheism and grave worship, and quote some of those Ayat with the words "min dun Illah" in a futile attempt to refute our doctrine.

Number of Months are Twelve in the Sight of Allah

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Salutations and Peace be upon You, My Master, Apostle of Allah

This year the Muslims will be celebrating Eid al-Fitr on three different days.

The governments of Afghanistan, Niger and Mali announced confirmation of crescent moon sightings in their respective countries on Wednesday night, therefore, Eid is on Thursday, March 19. Based on the method of global moon sighting, many Muslims in the West will observe Eid on Thursday.

The Saudi government announced that in their country there was no sighting of the crescent moon, therefore they will complete thirty days of Ramadan and observe Eid on Friday, March 20.

However, the Salafis and some other Muslims in the West, who are inconsistent, and had begun Ramadan according to the Saudi announcement despite no local moon sightings, are not following the announcement of Afghanistan, Niger and Mali and will complete thirty days of Ramadan in their blind following of the Saudis.

Other Muslim countries which did not accept the Saudi announcement for the beginning of Ramadan, doubting the scientific possibility of a moon sighting at that time, will also complete thirty days and observe Eid on Saturday, March 21.

It should be kept in mind that if one follows the method of global moon sighting (which many Muslims do) then that means one should accept the reliable testimony of Muslims of a crescent moon sighting anywhere in the world; it cannot be restricted to Arabia alone. So it makes no sense for Muslims in the West to begin Ramadan despite a lack of local moon sighting based on a Saudi announcement, but then to disregard an announcement from a country other than Saudi Arabia (like Afghanistan) that announces a crescent moon sighting for the beginning of Shawwal.

While we should respect the diversity of opinion and method with regard to moon sighting confirmation—local versus global—(but not the innovated method of astronomical calculation without visibly sighting the crescent), even if it results in the Ummah beginning and ending Ramadan on different days, we are right to call out the Salafis and other Muslims who blindly follow the Saudi government’s announcement while being outside of Arabia because they are inconsistent and apparently reject the announcement of other Muslim governments when they announce a crescent moon sighting.

The Salafi Masjid on Wright St., Small Heath (UK), considered the main Salafi center in the Anglosphere, had the first fast of Ramadan on Wednesday, February 18, despite no local moon sighting because they accepted the Saudi announcement of a moon sighting in Arabia. If they were consistent they should have said the last day of fasting in Ramadan would be Wednesday, March 18, since a sighting of the crescent moon for Shawwal was announced by the governments of Afghanistan, Niger and Mali. But because the Saudi government did not announce a moon sighting they observed Thursday, March 19 as the last day of fasting in Ramadan and will observe Eid tomorrow on Friday, March 20!

This is all part of a pattern from the Salafis in spreading fitnah among the Muslims, especially Muslim minority communities here in the West.

Jews originally determined the beginning of lunar months through witnessing the crescent moon, with witnesses brought to a special court of the Sanhedrin. Then in the 4th century CE, Hillel II introduced a fixed calendar based on calculations that the Jews have followed ever since. 

Some Muslims today who likewise follow a fixed lunar calendar based on astronomical calculations are following the innovation of the Jews. 

The Holy Prophet صلي الله عليه وسلم warned against this when he said:

لَتَتَّبِعُنَّ سَنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ شِبْرًا بِشِبْرٍ وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ حَتَّى لَوْ دَخَلُوا فِي جُحْرِ ضَبٍّ لاَتَّبَعْتُمُوهُمْ

“You will tread the same path as was trodden by those before you inch by inch and cubit by cubit so much so that if they had entered into the hole of the lizard, you would follow them in this also.” (Sahih Muslim)

Interestingly, a dissident Jewish sect—the Qumran community of Essenes associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls—rejected the practice of visible moon sighting to determine the beginning and end of the months. That was one of the reasons for their separation from the mainstream Jews of Jerusalem who accepted the validity of the priesthood serving at the Temple and continued to determine the beginning and end of the months based on visible sighting of the crescent moon.

Specifically rebuking the innovation of reckoning the lunar months based on astronomical calculations, the Prophet صلي الله عليه وسلم said:

إِنَّا أُمَّةٌ أُمِّيَّةٌ لاَ نَكْتُبُ وَلاَ نَحْسُبُ

We are an unlettered Ummah; we do not write nor count (ibid)

He صلي الله عليه وسلم then displayed all ten fingers of his hand three times, indicating the month could be thirty days, and then displayed the fingers of his hand another three times except he folded one of his thumbs the third time to indicate that the month could be twenty-nine days.

It is crucial that Muslims do not deviate from their established methods that we have been adhering to for centuries since the time of the Prophet Muhammad صلي الله عليه وسلم and the early Muslims.

In our time, some of the Christians have radically departed from the established norms and conventions, including with regard to the calendar. They have innovated the concept of a lunar Sabbath, in which the Sabbath—the Seventh Day—is not based on a fixed week of seven days, but based on phases of the moon.

We Muslims obviously reject the notion that the week is anything but a fixed cycle of seven days, with the sixth day being Yawm al-Jumu’ah (Friday) and the seventh day being Yawm al-Sabt (the Sabbath).

Although the names of the seven days of the week in English are based on Norse paganism, the days of the week are, remarkably, in sync globally, across every human culture, with the notable exception of modern-day fringe Christian churches that have innovated the Lunar Sabbath.

Allah عز وجل says:

اِنَّ عِدَّۃَ الشُّہُوۡرِ عِنۡدَ اللّٰہِ اثۡنَا عَشَرَ شَہۡرًا فِیۡ کِتٰبِ اللّٰہِ یَوۡمَ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضَ مِنۡہَاۤ اَرۡبَعَۃٌ حُرُمٌ

Verily, the number of months in the sight of Allah are twelve months in the Book of Allah (since) the day He created the Heavens and the Earth. Of them four are sacred

(Surah 9, Ayah 36)

Based on this I say that even in the Shari’ah of the earlier Prophets, like Moses, the people were instructed to follow a purely lunar calendar consisting of twelve months. The Jews innovated the introduction of an intercalary month on a “leap year” so that the months remain aligned with their seasons and so that the Passover is always in spring. Otherwise, there is no explicit commandment in the Torah to have a thirteenth (intercalary) month in seven out of every nineteen years. This innovation of the intercalary month seems to have started in the 5th century BCE, after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon, probably due to the pagan Babylonian influence they were exposed to.

Muqbil b. Hadi: Removal of the Green Dome and Prophet's Tomb

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Salutations and Peace be upon You, My Master, Apostle of Allah

The extremist Salafi from Yemen, Muqbil bin Hadi (d. 2001) said:

وبعد هذا لا اخالك تتردد في انه يجب علي المسلمين اعادة المسجد النبوي كما كان في عصر النبوة من الجهة الشرقية حتي لا يكون القبر داخلا في المسجد وانه يجب عليهم ازالة تلك القبة التي اصبح كثير من القبوريين يحتجون بها

“After this, I don’t think you would hesitate to say that Muslims must restore the Prophet’s Mosque to its state during the time of the Prophet, from the eastern side, so that the grave is not enclosed within the Mosque, and that they must remove that dome which many grave-worshippers now use as an excuse.” (The Ruling on the Dome Built Over the Grave of the Messenger of Allah)

The Wahhabis and Salafis misunderstand many matters relating to the rulings about graves. Yes, the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلوات الله والسلام عليه prohibited building high structures over graves. This means a structure directly on the surface of a grave, it is not a prohibition on enclosing a grave inside a building with a ceiling. The Holy Prophet Muhammad صلوات الله والسلام عليه was buried by his Companions in the apartment of his wife, Umm al-Mu’minin A’ishah رضي الله عنها which was not only attached to the Mosque but had four walls and a ceiling. So there is consensus in this Ummah about the validity of the location of the Prophet’s grave, and anyone who comes along and argues that it should be relocated, or that, God forbid, the Prophet صلوات الله والسلام عليه should be exhumed from his grave, is a mischief maker spreading fitnah. Muqbil bin Hadi wrote this dissertation while a student at Medina University arguing for not only the removal of the Green Dome upon the Prophet’s Mosque (God forbid), but also that the Prophet’s Mosque be rebuilt in such a way so that the Rawdah of the Prophet صلوات الله والسلام عليه is no longer within its confines!

This is the same extremist, Muqbil bin Hadi, who wrote an entire book, Nashr al-Sahifah, criticizing and attacking the Great Imam Abu Hanifah رضي الله عنه

Roshani Movement and Pashtun Nationalism

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Salutations and Peace be upon You, My Master, Apostle of Allah

As the Prophet Daniel عليه السلام was hurled into the den of lions for refusing to pray to King Darius, likewise Mujaddid Alf Thani, Imam Rabbani, Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi رحمة الله عليه was imprisoned at the Gwalior Fort by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1619 for refusing to prostrate to him. 

King Darius, witnessing the miracle of Prophet Daniel being unharmed by the lions, released him and not only honored him but decreed that the people should worship the God of Daniel. Likewise, Emperor Jahangir had Mujaddid Alf Thani, Shaikh Ahmad released from imprisonment and in fact became his disciple and fell under his charismatic influence.

The zeal for the oneness of God, and willingness to endure persecution and even death for its sake often moves the heart of many an unbeliever and evildoer to repent and later honor the Believer for his uncompromising attitude.

The way of the people of Sunnah and the Jama’ah is therefore not to raise the sword against tyrants and evil rulers, but rather to speak truth to power and firmly invite them to amend their ways and subordinate themselves to the divine law of Allah سبحانه وتعالي

The tendency to revolt against the government is something far from the prophetic methodology and the way of the saints and mystics of Islam who follow in the footsteps of the Prophets. Rebellion is from the madhhab of the Kharijites and Shi’ites.

Apparently motivated by a desire for social justice and egalitarianism, some misguided individuals and groups from this Ummah rose up in rebellion against the government of their day. 

Consider the movement of Bayazid Ansari, so-called Pir Roshan of Jalandhar, a 16th century Pashtun tribesman who rose up in revolt against the Mughals. Bayazid and his Roshani movement were accused of holding heterodox doctrines too, such as pantheism and the transmigration of souls. They were characterized as antinomian, seeking to replace the Islamic Shari’ah with the code of Pashtunwali.

In many ways, the Roshani movement resembled the earlier heresy of the Qaramitah, and the ideology behind the Zanj rebellion. Its anti-feudal and egalitarian character was the basis for a last ditch nativist and ethnic revolt against orthodox Islam.

Indeed, there are echoes of the Roshani movement today in the terrorist insurgency of the TTP in northwestern Pakistan, and of Marxist Baluch and Kurdish separatist factions elsewhere. Well, the TTP insurgency matches closer the legacy of the Roshani movement not merely because it too is based in Pashtun ethno-nationalism, but also because it presents a religious coloring unlike the secularist Baluch and Kurdish separatists.

The Roshani movement could be considered in the line of earlier nativist Iranian false prophets and heretics who rose up in revolt against Arab Muslim rule.

It has come to my attention that some elements within Pashtun ethno-nationalism view Bayazid Jalandhari positively and take inspiration from him and his heretical movement.

The Mughals established themselves in the Subcontinent after overthrowing the Lodi dynasty, which was Afghan, and taking possession of Delhi. This is partly what sparked the Roshani movement’s uprising, for it could not stomach the rule of Mughals, non-Afghans. Likewise, the TTP and other Pashtun nationalist anti-State activity is largely animated by an unwillingness to accept the apparent ascendancy and domination of an Indic people—the Punjabis—identified as the power behind the modern state of Pakistan.

Prioritizing their narrow ethnic interests and sense of honor over and above the glory of Islam and the rise of a new and mighty Islamic power is certainly what unites the 16th century Roshani movement with the 20th and 21st century Pashtun nationalist sentiment against Pakistan. Pakistan is essentially the heir of the Mughal legacy, representing a shift from the palaces of Delhi to General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.