Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir
To the Questions of the Visitors of his Facebook Page "Fiqhi"
Answer to a Question
To Nizar Steitieh
Question:
As-Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh,
In the book The Islamic Personality, Volume 3 (Usul al-Fiqh), under the chapter "No Ruling Prior to the Arrival of the Shari’ah," on page 28, I quote the following: "Accordingly, no action can be issued by a human, nor anything related to a human action, except that it has a place for a ruling in the Shari’ah. There is no ruling except after the existence of the evidence that indicates it specifically from the Address of the Legislator (khitab ash-shari’), for there is no ruling prior to the arrival of the Shari’ah. Thus, there is no ruling before the sending of the Messenger, and no ruling after his sending except with evidence from the Message he brought that indicates that specific ruling."
The question is: how do we reconcile this principle "No ruling prior to the arrival of the Shari’ah" with what was mentioned in Al-Qurtubi’s Tafsir regarding the following verse from Surah At-Tawba:
وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَىٰ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُم مَّاتَ أَبَداً وَلَا تَقُمْ عَلَىٰ قَبْرِهِ إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ
"And do not pray [the funeral prayer, O Muhammad], over any of them who has died - ever - or stand at his grave. Indeed, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died while they were defiantly disobedient." (Surah At-Tawba [9]: 84)
Where Al-Qurtubi mentioned the following:
"There are eleven issues regarding it:
First: It was narrated that this verse was revealed regarding Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul and the Prophet’s (saw) prayer over him. This is established in the Sahihayn and others. Reports have shown that the Prophet (saw) prayed over him, and the verse was revealed after that. It was narrated from Anas bin Malik that when the Prophet (saw) stepped forward to pray over him, Jibril came and pulled his garment and recited to him the verse: 'And do not pray over any of them who has died - ever.' So the Messenger of Allah (saw) left and did not pray over him. However, the established reports contradict this. In Al-Bukhari, Ibn Abbas narrated: 'The Messenger of Allah (saw) prayed over him then left, and he had only remained for a short while until the two verses of (Bara'ah) were revealed: "And do not pray over any of them who has died - ever."' Something similar was narrated by Ibn Umar and recorded by Muslim. Ibn Umar said: 'When Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul died, his son Abdullah came to the Messenger of Allah (saw) and asked him to give him his shirt to shroud his father in, so he gave it to him. Then he asked him to pray over him. The Messenger of Allah (saw) stood up to pray over him, but Umar stood up and grabbed the garment of the Messenger of Allah (saw) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, will you pray over him when Allah has forbidden you from praying over him?" The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: "Allah has given me a choice," for He said: "Ask forgiveness for them, [O Muhammad], or do not ask forgiveness for them. If you should ask forgiveness for them seventy times—never will Allah forgive them." And I will do more than seventy.' He (Umar) said: 'He is a hypocrite.' So the Messenger of Allah (saw) prayed over him, then Allah (swt) revealed: 'And do not pray over any of them who has died - ever - or stand at his grave.' So he stopped praying over them. Some scholars said: 'The Prophet (saw) only prayed over Abdullah bin Ubayy based on the outward appearance of his Islam, then he did not do so again after being forbidden.'" End of quotation from a part of Al-Qurtubi's Tafsir of verse 84 of Surah At-Tawba.
Was the action of the Messenger (saw) in praying over Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul abrogated by the noble verse? And was there an "existence of a ruling prior to the arrival of the Shari’ah" contrary to the general rule "No ruling prior to the arrival of the Shari’ah"?
I look forward to your clarification, thank you. As-Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh.
Answer:
Wa Alaykum As-Salam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh,
You are asking whether the Prophet's prayer over Ibn Ubayy was abrogated... and whether that prayer contradicts the rule "No ruling prior to the arrival of the Shari’ah"?
My brother, we addressed the issue of the Prophet’s (saw) prayer over Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul in the book The Islamic Personality, Volume 1, in the chapter "It is Not Permissible for the Messenger to be a Mujtahid." We clarified there that the Hadiths stating that the Prophet (saw) prayed over Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul are reports that are rejected based on dirayah (content analysis) because they contradict texts stronger than them from the Noble Quran... It was stated in the aforementioned section on pages 150-152:
"(As for His (swt) saying:
وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ مَاتَ أَبَداً وَلَا تَقُمْ عَلَى قَبْرِهِ إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ
'And do not pray [the funeral prayer, O Muhammad], over any of them who has died - ever - or stand at his grave. Indeed, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died while they were defiantly disobedient.' (Surah At-Tawba [9]: 84)
It came after His (swt) saying:
فَإِنْ رَجَعَكَ اللَّهُ إِلَى طَائِفَةٍ مِنْهُمْ فَاسْتَأْذَنُوكَ لِلْخُرُوجِ فَقُلْ لَنْ تَخْرُجُوا مَعِيَ أَبَداً وَلَنْ تُقَاتِلُوا مَعِيَ عَدُوّاً إِنَّكُمْ رَضِيتُمْ بِالْقُعُودِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ فَاقْعُدُوا مَعَ الْخَالِفِينَ * وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ
'If Allah should return you to a faction of them [after the expedition] and then they ask your permission to go out [to fight], say, "Never will you go out with me, ever, and never will you fight with me an enemy. Indeed, you were satisfied with sitting [at home] the first time, so sit [now] with those who stay behind." And do not pray over any of them...' (Surah At-Tawba [9]: 83-84).
Allah clarified in the verse: 'If Allah should return you to a faction of them' that the Messenger should not let them accompany him in his military expeditions, and that is to discourage and humiliate them so they do not attain the honor of Jihad and going out with the Messenger. Immediately following it is the verse: 'And do not pray over any of them,' which clarifies something else regarding their humiliation. This was during the campaign against the hypocrites to eliminate them. This verse, the one before it, and the one after it clarify the rulings concerning the hypocrites and the manner in which they must be treated—with contempt, humiliation, and lowering them from the rank of the believers. There is nothing in the verse indicating that the Messenger performed ijtihad in a ruling and then the verse came indicating the opposite. Rather, it is a primary legislation regarding the hypocrites, and it is consistent with the verses about the hypocrites repeated in the same Surah. It does not appear, either explicitly (sarahatan), through its linguistic indication (dalalatan), its literal meaning (mantuq), or its implied meaning (mafhum), nor does it raise the slightest suspicion that it was a correction of ijtihad or a notification of an error. As for the reports mentioned regarding the revelation of this verse, they are ahad reports (solitary narrations) and are not suitable as evidence for creeds (aqa’id), nor do they contradict the definitive (qat'i) text which restricts the Messenger's communication of rulings to what was brought by Revelation and nothing else, and that he follows nothing but Revelation. Furthermore, these Hadiths depict Umar bin Al-Khattab attempting to prevent the Messenger from praying over a funeral; he either wants to prevent him from an act by which he (the Prophet) is legislating a ruling, or he is preventing the Messenger from performing an act of worship according to an established Shari’ah ruling, and the Messenger remains silent about it and then reverts to his (Umar's) opinion after the verse is revealed. This is not permissible for the Messenger. Thus, acting upon this Hadith contradicts the Messenger’s status as a Prophet, so the Hadith is rejected based on dirayah. The Hadith also indicates that the Messenger gave his shirt to Abdullah bin Ubayy and wanted to pray over him while he was the head of the hypocrites. Allah had already exposed Abdullah bin Ubayy after the Battle of Banu Mustaliq, and his son came to the Messenger to know if the Messenger had decided to kill him so that he himself could undertake the killing of his father. Allah (swt) revealed Surah Al-Munafiqun after the Battle of Banu Mustaliq and said to the Messenger therein:
هُمُ الْعَدُوُّ فَاحْذَرْهُمْ قَاتَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَنَّى يُؤْفَكُونَ
'They are the enemy, so beware of them. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?' (Surah Al-Munafiqun [63]: 4)
And He said:
فَطُبِعَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ
'So their hearts were sealed.' (Surah Al-Munafiqun [63]: 3)
And He said:
وَاللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَكَاذِبُونَ
'And Allah testifies that the hypocrites are liars.' (Surah Al-Munafiqun [63]: 1)
Is it then possible that the Messenger would later give his shirt to the head of the hypocrites and try to pray over him while Umar prevents him? This contradicts the verses. The verse of At-Tawba was revealed in the ninth year, several years after Surah Al-Munafiqun. Therefore, the Hadiths about Umar, the shirt, and other such Hadiths contradict the reality of how the hypocrites were treated after the Battle of Banu Mustaliq, and they contradict the verses revealed before them regarding the hypocrites; thus, they are also rejected from this aspect based on dirayah.)" End Quote.
As long as these Hadiths are rejected based on dirayah, there is no meaning to talking about the abrogation of these Hadiths by the noble verse: "And do not pray [the funeral prayer, O Muhammad], over any of them who has died - ever - or stand at his grave. Indeed, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died while they were defiantly disobedient." This is because by rejecting these Hadiths based on dirayah, nothing remains to prove that the Prophet (saw) prayed over the hypocrites (over Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, the head of the hypocrites) and then the noble verse came to forbid him from that, which would make it an abrogation of the ruling of the permissibility of praying over the hypocrites indicated by the mentioned Hadiths.
In light of what we mentioned above, there was no prayer over Ibn Ubayy, and accordingly, there was no ruling before the arrival of the Shari’ah, and also no abrogation.
This is the answer to your question, and Allah knows best and is most Wise.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
12 Safar 1441 AH Corresponding to 11/10/2019 CE
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