Fourth objection: There is no helper except Allāh
They make the
Qur’ānic verses which negate the attainment of power and victory through not-Allāh
as the basis of their negation of seeking help through any person other than
Allāh. It is said that all power and victory flow from Allāh alone and to
transfer what belongs only to Allāh to someone else is nothing but disbelief as
Allāh has repeatedly declared in the holy Qur’ān:
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And except Allāh you have neither a friend nor a helper.[30]
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And they shall not find any friend or helper besides Allāh.[31]
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And He is the Protector, worthy of all praise.[32]
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For you there shall be neither any friend nor any helper to guard you against Allāh.[33]
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And Allāh is sufficient (as) Protector and Allāh is sufficient (as) Helper.[34]
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And (in reality) there is no help from any (other) place except from Allāh.[35]
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And grant me victory and power from Your Own side to aid me.[36]
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And your Lord is sufficient to guide and help you.[37]
In
all the Qur’ānic verses they give preference to the figurative meaning over the
real meaning, and basing their argument on the figurative meaning they assert
that in these verses the words walī (friend), sultān (power),
hādī (guide) and nasīr (helper) have been used for Allāh, and to
ascribe these attributes to anyone besides Allāh is to commit disbelief.
Fallacious reasoning
If a few
words are expressly related to Allāh in the Qur’ān, it does not imply that they
cannot be related to anyone else as such a relation will amount to disbelief. A
battery of examples can be produced to support this view. So, in the Qur’ān
where the words walī and nasīr have been used for Allāh, there
Allāh has used these words figuratively for His servants. In order to
short-circuit the debate, we will base our argument on the verses in which the
words walī and nasīr are used, while in addition to these, a
number of other divine qualities have been jointly used for Allāh and His
creature. The Qur'ān states:
-
And raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise for us from You one who will help.[38]
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Indeed, your (helper) friend is only Allāh and His Messenger and (with them) are the believers.[39]
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And if you back up each other against the Messenger (if you both behave in a manner that annoys the Prophet) then (remember that) Allāh is his Protector (Helper) and Jibrīl and the righteous believers and after that even the angels will assist him.[40]
-
And the men who believe and the women who believe are each other’s protectors and helpers.[41]
These Qur’ānic verses make it clear as daylight that walī, nasīr
and other similar words which portray the attributes of Allāh, are used not only
for His creatures with identical semantic shade but is also the divine practice
and to equate Allāh’s practice with disbelief is a deviation from the cardinal
principles of Islamic teaching and Islam does not permit it.
.
[30]. Qur’ān (al-Baqarah, the Cow) 2:107.
[31]. Qur’ān (al-Ahzāb, the Confederates) 33:17.
[32]. Qur’ān (ash-Shūrā, Consultation) 42:28.
[33]. Qur’ān (al-Baqarah, the Cow) 2:120.
[34]. Qur’ān (an-Nisā’, Women) 4:45.
[35]. Qur’ān (al-Anfāl, Spoils of war) 8:10.
[36]. Qur’ān (al-Isrā’, the Night journey) 17:80.
[37]. Qur’ān (al-Furqān, the Criterion) 25:31.
[38]. Qur’ān (an-Nisā’, Women) 4:75.
[39]. Qur’ān (al-Mā’idah, the Feast) 5:55.
[40]. Qur’ān (at-Tahrīm, Prohibition) 66:4.
[41]. Qur’ān (at-Tawbah, Repentance) 9:71.
