Ibn Khuzaymah House Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 16 | Size: 3.5 MB
What is invocation? What are the means of invoking Allah?
Allah has revealed the means of invoking Him in the Holy Qur’an:
“O you who believe! Do your duty to Allah and fear Him. And seek the
means of approach to Him, and strive hard in His Cause (as much as you
can), so that you may be successful”[Al-Ma’idah 5:35]
Transliteration: Ya ayyuha allatheena
amanoo ittaqoo Allaha waibtaghoo ilayhi alwaseelata wajahidoo fee
sabeelihi laAAallakum tuflihoona
Al-Hafiz Ibn Katheer, may Allah bless his
soul, in his book (Interpreting the Holy Qur’an), explained this verse
saying: Allah commanded His faithful slaves to fear Him, which if
connected to obedience, was intended to stop committing sins and abandon
the forbidden.
Allah said afterwards “And seek the means of approach to Him” [Al-Ma’ida 5:35]
وَٱبۡتَغُوٓاْ إِلَيۡهِ ٱلۡوَسِيلَةَ
Transliteration: waibtaghoo ilayhi alwaseelata
Ibn Abbas said: this means draw near to
Him by acts of worship” and so said Mujahid and Qatadah: “this means
draw nearer to Him by obeying Him and by doing whatever leads to His
satisfaction”. There is no dispute among the interpreters of Qur’an in
interpreting this verse.
In interpreting His words: “Those
whom they invoke seek means of access to their Lord, [striving as to]
which of them would be nearest, and they hope for His mercy and fear His
punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is ever feared.” [Al-Isra’ 17:57]
Transliteration: Olaika allatheena
yadAAoona yabtaghoona ila rabbihimu alwaseelata ayyuhum aqrabu
wayarjoona rahmatahu wayakhafoona AAathabahu inna AAathaba rabbika kana
mahthooran
Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih that
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said that this verse
was revealed by Allah about a group of Arabs who were worshiping jinn,
the jinn embraced Islam but the Arabs did not know that, so the verse
” Those whom they invoke seek means of access to their Lord, “[Al-‘Isra’ 17:57]
Transliteration: Olaika allatheena yadAAoona yabtaghoona ila rabbihimu alwaseelata
was revealed” [Sharh Sahih Muslim, and Al-Nawawi].
Bukhari stated the same about the
interpretation of this verse in his Sahih (see Fath al-Bari in
Explaining Sahih Al-Bukhari). Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar Al-‘Askalani elaborated
that the jinn embraced Islam, but the people who were worshipping them
continued to worship the jinn, however, the jinn did not accept that
because they converted to Islam, and they (jinn) have become those who
desire means of access to their Lord .. This is the adopted
interpretation of this verse “.
From the previous it is clear that the
means of invoking Allah is whatever that brings him nearer to Allah, and
Allah says: {desire means} that is to say they seek His closeness by
good deeds, as explained by Qatada in the interpretation of the first
verse: “this means draw nearer to Him by obeying Him and by doing
whatever leads to His satisfaction”.
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