Question:
In the book 'Kithab-At-tawhid' by Muhammadh bin Abdhul Wahhaab, it states that a slave cannot ask for God other than the paradise. Can you please testify on this.
Nihadh
Answer:
In the book Kitab al-Tohid, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahab has narrated in section 56, a Hadith as follows:
لا يسأل بوجه الله إلا الجنة
"Do not ask by God's Countenance except for paradise"
The Hadith can be found in Sunane Abi Dawud, number 1671.
A few points needs to be considered:
1. The Hadith does not say "don't ask God but paradise". It says don't ask by God's Countenance but for paradise. Countenance here seems to be referring to Zaat (essence) of God. Asking some one for the sake of something precious is simply a manner of requesting something when one wants to express his long lasting and deep passion to achive his demand. For example, one may say to his friend, "I ask you, for the sake of your kids, please do this for me". The meaning of asking God by His Countenance is also the same, that is, when we want something so dearly that we ask God by His Countenance to give it to us.
2. It seems like the Hadith implies that because of the super and high level concept of Countenance (essence) of God, it is not appropriate to ask Him by His Countenance anything (like worldly things) other than what it deserves to be asked by His Countenance and that is paradise. This means when one says for example "Oh God I ask You by Your Countenance ...", what follows need to be nothing less than paradise.
3. There have been some concerns among scholars about the degree of reliability of this Hadith. While there are those who consider it to be Saheeh (correct) Hadith, there are some who do not approve it. Among them, Zahabi in al-Muhazzab (3:1566) reports from ibn Muin that Suleman ibn Qaram ibn Mu'az, one of the narrators of the Hadith, is not a creditable one. Ibn al-Qattan in al-Wahm wa al-Iham (5:519) says the Hadith is not correct. Al-Albani in Zayeef Abi Dawud (1671) considers it as a weak Hadith.
So firstly the Hadith is not that reliable and secondly, it has a specific meaning as explained above.
Abdullah Rahim
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