Hayya wa Qayyam (Daniel 6:26)

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

One of the most powerful names of Allah Most High is

al-Hayy ul-Qayyûm

The Living, the Enduring

This most holy name occurs thrice in the text of the holy Quran, including in Ayat al-Kursi. Interestingly, it is also found in the Book of Daniel:

חַיָּ֗א וְקַיָּם֙

Hayyâ wa Qayyâm

I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever [Hû Elâhâ Hayyâ wa Qayyâm] and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end (Daniel 6:26, KJV)

Incidentally, this is an implicit proof that Daniel is one of the true Prophets and the Scripture of Daniel is from divine inspiration. Jesus testified to the fact that Daniel was a Prophet (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14).

Ibn Taymiyah: Meaning of Seal of Apostles

 

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

On this blog I have quoted several scholastic authorities in Islam who correctly interpret sayyidina Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم being خاتم النبيين ‘Seal of the Prophets’ to mean that there can be no prophet after him who shall abrogate his Shari’ah. Among them is Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, particularly regarded by Salafis, who wrote:

وَهَذَا صِفَةُ خَاتَمِ الرُّسُلِ الَّذِي لَا يَأْتِي بَعْدَهُ نَبِيٌّ ‌يَنْسَخُ ‌شَرْعَهُ

“And this is a characteristic of the Seal of Apostles, the one after who there will not come a prophet to abrogate his Shari’ah” (al-Jawab al-Sahih; v.3, p.407)

Adam Dwelled in an Earthly Paradise (Part 2)

 

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In an article I wrote on this blog some four years ago I made the case for the Paradise in which Allah placed Adam and his wife in, the Garden of Eden, being a location on this planet Earth, in this mortal realm.

The story of Adam and Eve being deceived by Satan and thereafter, as a consequence, being expelled from the Garden of Eden, is repeated throughout the holy Quran because there is great significance in the moral lesson it contains for mankind. Allah Most High created Adam and ordered the Angels, the category of His creation blessed to be in His Presence and constantly glorifying and praising Him, to make obeissance to Adam. Apparently a person named Iblis was likewise included in this order to make obeissance to Adam. For this reason, some Muslim scholastic authorities have opined that Iblis is a “fallen Angel” whose original name was Azazel. However, Allah says in the Quran concerning the Angels:

لَّا یَعۡصُوۡنَ اللّٰہَ مَاۤ اَمَرَہُمۡ وَیَفۡعَلُوۡنَ مَا یُؤۡمَرُوۡنَ

They do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but they do as they are commanded

(Juz 28, Surah 66, Ayah 6)

In fact, it is made clear in the Quran that Iblis is a Jinn:

کَانَ مِنَ الۡجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنۡ اَمۡرِ رَبِّہٖ

He was of the Jinn; and he disobeyed the command of his Lord

(Juz 15, Surah 18, Ayah 50)

When Iblis obstinately refused to prostrate before Adam, due to his arrogance, his jealousy, his hatred for man, and his feeling of superiority, Allah Most High at that instant expelled him from His Presence:

قَالَ فَاہۡبِطۡ مِنۡہَا فَمَا یَکُوۡنُ لَکَ اَنۡ تَتَکَبَّرَ فِیۡہَا فَاخۡرُجۡ اِنَّکَ مِنَ الصّٰغِرِیۡنَ

Allah said: Depart hence. It behoves you not to be arrogant here. Get out, you are surely of those abased

(Juz 8, Surah 7, Ayah 13)

قَالَ فَاخۡرُجۡ مِنۡہَا فَاِنَّکَ رَجِیۡمٌ

Thereupon Allah commanded: Get out hence, for you are rejected

(Juz 14, Surah 15, Ayah 34; Juz 23, Surah 38, Ayah 77)

Since the Quran makes clear that Iblis was expelled from Allah’s Presence when he refused to prostrate to Adam, the question arises how was Iblis able to return to Paradise and deceive Adam and Eve, after which they were all expelled from Paradise? (Juz 8, Surah 7, Ayah 24) An ignorant person argued that when Iblis was ordered to leave Paradise, he asked for respite and Allah granted his request, therefore, he remained a little longer in Paradise in order to beguile Adam and Eve and then was at last expelled with them thereafter!

But this absurd theory is easily refuted by the Quran:

لَئِنۡ اَخَّرۡتَنِ اِلٰی یَوۡمِ الۡقِیٰمَۃِ لَاَحۡتَنِکَنَّ ذُرِّیَّتَہٗۤ اِلَّا قَلِیۡلًا

[Iblis said]: If You will grant me respite till the Day of Resurrection, I will most surely reduce his posterity to subjection except a few

قَالَ اذۡہَبۡ فَمَنۡ تَبِعَکَ مِنۡہُمۡ فَاِنَّ جَہَنَّمَ جَزَآؤُکُمۡ جَزَآءً مَّوۡفُوۡرًا

[Allah] said: Get out. Hell shall be the recompense of you all, you and those who follow you from among them: an adequate recompense

وَاسۡتَفۡزِزۡ مَنِ اسۡتَطَعۡتَ مِنۡہُمۡ بِصَوۡتِکَ وَاَجۡلِبۡ عَلَیۡہِمۡ بِخَیۡلِکَ وَرَجِلِکَ وَشَارِکۡہُمۡ فِی الۡاَمۡوَالِ وَالۡاَوۡلَادِ وَعِدۡہُمۡ ؕ وَمَا یَعِدُہُمُ الشَّیۡطٰنُ اِلَّا غُرُوۡرًا

Go ahead and entice whomsoever of them you can, with your voice, and mount assaults against them with your horse and your foot and be their partner in wealth and offspring, and make promises to them. And Satan promises them naught but deceit

(Juz 15, Surah 17, Ayat 62-64)

This passage makes clear that despite granting Iblis respite, Allah ordered his immediate expulsion from His Presence. So it could not have been there where Adam and Eve were dwelling and somehow Satan sneaked back in to beguile them.

*Interestingly, the last Ayah quoted mentions Satan’s voice, horse and foot as the means for him to entice and misguide mankind. The voice of Satan is a reference to his and the ability of the other devils and demons to whisper evil suggestions into the hearts of humans, and it may also be a reference to the evil lyrics and sounds of music, poetry and the recited scriptures of pagan religions. The horse of Satan is a reference to the Satanic cavalry, the generals and ranking officers of his army, while his foot is a reference to the Satanic infantry of lesser foot soldiers who likewise do his bidding in waging spiritual warfare against Islam.

Those who insist the Paradise from which Adam and Eve were banished as a consequence of their disobedience in eating from the forbidden Tree is the everlasting Paradise of the Afterlife should know that Allah says no one will ever be expelled from that Paradise:

وَّمَا ہُمۡ مِّنۡہَا بِمُخۡرَجِیۡنَ

Nor shall they be ejected therefrom

(Juz 14, Surah 15, Ayah 48)

Furthermore, Allah says, according to a Hadith Qudsi, concerning Paradise:

أَعْدَدْتُ لِعِبَادِي الصَّالِحِينَ مَا لاَ عَيْنٌ رَأَتْ وَلاَ أُذُنٌ سَمِعَتْ وَلاَ خَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِ بَشَرٍ

I have prepared for my righteous servants what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human heart can imagine

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

Yet this Hadith Qudsi will apparently be falsified if it is admitted that Adam and Eve were present in that Paradise.

In his monumental Tafsir of the Quran, Imam Fakhruddin al-Razi quotes the opinion of two Mu’tazilite theologians, Abul-Qasim al-Balkhi and Abu Muslim al-Isfahani, who argued that the Paradise in which Allah made Adam and Eve dwell was a Garden of the Earth and not the eternal Paradise of the Hereafter:

الْمَسْأَلَةُ الرَّابِعَةُ اخْتَلَفُوا فِي الْجَنَّةِ الْمَذْكُورَةِ فِي هَذِهِ الْآيَةِ هَلْ كَانَتْ فِي الْأَرْضِ أَوْ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَبِتَقْدِيرِ أَنَّهَا كَانَتْ فِي السَّمَاءِ فَهَلْ هِيَ الْجَنَّةُ الَّتِي هِيَ دَارُ الثَّوَابِ أَوْ جَنَّةُ الْخُلْدِ أَوْ جَنَّةٌ أُخْرَى فَقَالَ أَبُو الْقَاسِمِ الْبَلْخِيُّ وَأَبُو مُسْلِمٍ الْأَصْفَهَانِيُّ هَذِهِ الْجَنَّةُ كَانَتْ فِي الْأَرْضِ

(Tafsir al-Kabir; v.3, p.3)

One of the objections to the idea that the Garden which Adam and Eve dwelt in was in the Earth is that Allah says:

قَالَ اہۡبِطُوۡا بَعۡضُکُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوٌّ ۚ وَلَکُمۡ فِی الۡاَرۡضِ مُسۡتَقَرٌّ وَّمَتَاعٌ اِلٰی حِیۡنٍ

[Allah] said: Go forth, some of you will be enemies of others. And for you there is an abode on the Earth and a provision for a time

(Juz 8, Surah 7, Ayah 23)

The objection is that how could Adam and Eve be expelled from a place that was on Earth only to be told that the Earth is their abode. Imam al-Razi has quoted the response of the Mu’tazilite theologians:

وَحَمَلَا الْإِهْبَاطَ عَلَى الِانْتِقَالِ مِنْ بُقْعَةٍ إِلَى بُقْعَةٍ كَمَا فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى اهْبِطُوا مِصْراً

The meaning of the going forth is movement from one place to another like how the Most High says ‘Go into a settlement’ (Surah 2, Ayah 61)

(Tafsir al-Kabir; v.3, p.3)

In other words there is no problem in the idea that Adam and Eve were expelled from one part of the Earth and told to live anywhere else in the rest of the Earth, just as the Prophet Moses told some of his people who were complaining about having to be limited to eating one kind of food that they should therefore go into some settlement and find the food they want. Being told to go into a settlement does not imply that they were not already present in a settlement.

Another argument quoted from the Mu’tazilite theologians who argued that the Paradise from which Adam and Eve were banished was on Earth is that Satan tempted them to eat from the Tree by saying that if they did so they would attain immortality:

وَقَالَ مَا نَہٰکُمَا رَبُّکُمَا عَنۡ ہٰذِہِ الشَّجَرَۃِ اِلَّاۤ اَنۡ تَکُوۡنَا مَلَکَیۡنِ اَوۡ تَکُوۡنَا مِنَ الۡخٰلِدِیۡنَ

[Satan] said: Your Lord has forbidden you this Tree only lest you become two Angels or that you should live forever

(Juz 8, Surah 7, Ayah 20)

فَوَسۡوَسَ اِلَیۡہِ الشَّیۡطٰنُ قَالَ یٰۤـاٰدَمُ ہَلۡ اَدُلُّکَ عَلٰی شَجَرَۃِ الۡخُلۡدِ وَمُلۡکٍ لَّا یَبۡلٰی

But Satan tried to entice him away and said: Adam, shall I lead you to the tree of eternity and to a kingdom that never declines?

(Juz 16, Surah 20, Ayah 120)

If the Paradise in which Adam and Eve were dwelling in was the Paradise of eternity into which the Believers shall enter in the Afterlife, then how could Satan be successful in tempting Adam and Eve to disobey Allah with a promise of immortality?

Now it should be strongly established that the Jannah in which Adam and Eve dwelt was the Garden of Eden, a paradise on Earth. Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1845-1901), a poet and mystic from south Punjab, is quoted as saying:

یہ جو مشہور ہے کہ حضرت آدم اور بی بی حوا کو بہشت سے نکالا گیا اور یہ کہا جاتا ہے کہ آسمان سے زمین پر پھینک دیے گۓ یہ بالکل صحیح نہیں ہے بلکہ حقیقت یہ ہے کہ ملک یمن کے قریب ایک باغ تھا جو بہشت کی طرح نہایت ہی دل آویز اور دلکشا تھا حضرت آدم اور بی بی حوا اس باغ میں رہتے تھے اور یہی ان کی بہشت اور جنت تھی

The popular view that Adam and Eve were banished from Heaven and thrown down to the Earth is totally incorrect. Rather, the fact is that there was a garden near the country of Yemen which was extremely delightful like Heaven. Adam and Eve used to reside in that garden which was their Heaven and Paradise (Maqabis ul-Majalis, p.799)

Dietary Restrictions of Islam

 الحمد لله وكفى وسلام على عباده الذين اصطفى وسلام على النبي المصطفى

Allah Most High says concerning the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم

وَیُحِلُّ لَہُمُ الطَّیِّبٰتِ وَیُحَرِّمُ عَلَیۡہِمُ الۡخَبٰٓئِثَ

[He] allows for them the wholesome and forbids upon them the filth

(Juz 9, Surah 7, Ayah 157)

This statement in the holy Quran is the basis for the entire dietary code of the Islamic Shari’ah. While in the text of the Quran the only animal that has been explicitly named as forbidden to eat is the pig, it is well known that there are many animals that are forbidden to eat in the Shari’ah based on the principle of it being forbidden to eat al-khabā’ith. From the various traditions reported from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم we know that apart from pork, the meat of carnivorous animals with sharp teeth, birds of prey with talons, and animals that feed on filth known as al-jallālah are all totally forbidden to eat, and it is also forbidden to drink their milk. Vermin and bugs, which are called hisharat al-ard are likewise forbidden to eat because they clearly fall under the category of filthy things. The Quran declares al-maytah forbidden too. This term encompasses any meat from an animal that was not properly slaughtered, and therefore necessarily the meat of all those creatures which are not possible to slaughter in the Islamic method. Insects and all sea creatures fall under the category of al-maytah. Fish is also technically maytah, but it being an exception to the general prohibition is established from both the Quran and the Hadith. Locust is the only exception to the general prohibition of eating insects and bugs, for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

أُحِلَّتْ لَنَا مَيْتَتَانِ الْحُوتُ وَالْجَرَادُ

“For us two dead meats have been permitted: the fish and the locust” (Sunan Ibn Majah)

The implication is that all other maytah are forbidden from among the sea creatures and insects of the Earth.

Although the camel is permissible to eat in our Shari’ah, because it was forbidden in the Torah and in the Mosaic Law for the children of Israel, it is narrated that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم enjoined ablution upon a person who ate camel meat or drank its milk, perhaps as an acknowledgment of its earlier prohibition.

However, the meat of the donkey is totally forbidden in the Shari’ah, a prohibition that was announced during the expedition of Khaybar. Concerning the horse and the mule, the narration of Khalid bin Walid رضى الله عنه indicates that they are prohibited too:

عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ الْوَلِيدِ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم نَهَى عَنْ أَكْلِ لُحُومِ الْخَيْلِ وَالْبِغَالِ وَالْحَمِيرِ

Khalid bin Walid narrates that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم forbade eating the meat of the horse, the mule and the donkey (Sunan Abi Dawud)

Because this particular narration is considered weak, many Fuqaha don't consider horse meat forbidden but only disliked. Concerning the lizard, although initially the Prophet عليه السلام permitted it for Khalid bin Walid رضى الله عنه it appears that he later prohibited it altogether:

عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ شِبْلٍ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم نَهَى عَنْ أَكْلِ لَحْمِ الضَّبِّ

Abdir-Rahman bin Shibl narrates that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم prohibited eating the meat of the lizard (Sunan Abi Dawud)

It therefore appears that essentially all reptiles are forbidden. They fall in the category of carnivores with sharp teeth, or maytah or the filthy things of the Earth hisharat al-ard.

Concerning the animals which are permissible to eat, is the entire body permissible, with all its various organs, or are something forbidden to eat from even a halal animal? It appears that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم hated seven things from even the halal animal and therefore they must not be consumed:

عَنْ مُجَاهِدٍ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَرِهَ مِنَ ‌الشَّاةِ ‌سَبْعًا الْمَثَانَةَ وَالْمَرَارَةَ وَالْغُدَّةَ وَالذَّكَرَ وَالْحَيَاءَ وَالْأُنْثَيَيْنِ

Mujahid narrates that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم hated seven things of the sheep: the bladder, the gallbladder, the glands, the penis, the vulva and the testicles (al-Marasil lil-Imam Abi Dawud; p.226)

This narration is supported by another narrated by Ibn Umar رضى الله عنهما

كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَكْرَهُ مِنَ ‌الشَّاةِ ‌سَبْعًا الْمَرَارَةَ وَالْمَثَانَةَ والمحياة وَالذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنْثَيَيْنِ وَالْغُدَّةَ وَالدَّمَ

The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم hated seven things from the sheep: the gallbladder, the bladder, the vulva, the penis, the testicles, the glands, and the blood (Mu’jam al-Awsat, #9480)

These seven parts of the halal animal, because they are in the category of al-khabā’ith are therefore forbidden to eat according to the Hanafi school. However, this particular narration from Ibn Umar is considered weak due to the weakness of the narration Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam.