In these days and times, we see many of the brothers and sisters attributing many of Allah’s blessings to other than Him. Many times we find when we talk to one another, that its something that is done out of simply not paying close attention. The problem with this though, is the fact that our not seeing and recognizing Allah as the point of origin of all of our blessings, it is hard to truly be thankful to him for what He has given us and saved us from. This is the reason I wanted to share with you the statement of Sheikh Uthaimeen when he was asked about this issue.
The Sheikh was asked:
What is the ruling of attaching ones self and blessings to their causes?
The Sheikh replied:
Attaching ones self to the causes are of three types:
The First Type: That which negates tawheed in its foundations.. This is that someone ties themselves to something that is is not possible that it can have any effect, and that they depend on it completely, and turn away from Allah. And example of this is the way that people tie themselves to the graves and the people in them when some problems arise. This is major shirk that takes a person outside of the fold of Islam. The ruling of the one that does this is exactly what Allah mentions, when he said {Verily, whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire will be his abode. And for the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers) there are no helpers.} [5:72].
The Second Type: This is to depend of a legislated cause while being negligent of the real cause behind everything which is Allah. This too is a type of shirt, but it does not cause one to leave the fold of Islam, because he depended on the cause and forgot about Allah, the one that brings about the effect of the cause.
The Third Type: This is to attach oneself to the cause simply because it is a cause, while fully depending on Allah (the one that brings about the effect of the cause). This person knows that the real reason for everything is Allah. They have a firm belief that if Allah wanted He could stop it, and if He wanted to He could make it continue. This person knows that this cause has no effect upon the will of Allah. This type does not in any way negate tawheed, not in its foundation or any other manner.
Even though there are correct legislated reasons for things , it is not correct that mankind should tie themselves to depending on these causes, rather they should tie themselves to depending on Allah. So the worker that is solely dependent on his paycheck while being negligent about remember the real reason for his previsions (Allah), then this is a type of shirk. As for the one that believes that his paycheck is a cause, but the real reason behind his previsions is Allah, then this does not negate his reliance upon Allah. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to take the legislated causes, but at the same time used to depend solely on Allah to bring out the outcome.
[Taken from Fatawa Arkan il Islam by Sheikh Uthaimeen]
[Translated By Abu Abdillah Abdul Lateef]
