Iqamatul-Hujjah (Establishing the Proof)
Note! Please read the document, Al-Udhr Bil-Jahl (The Excuse of Ignorance) prior to reading this document. There are important details regarding ‘the one who is new in Islam’ and ‘the one who is in a place where there is little or no knowledge’ in the explanations of the “Dhat Anwat” and “the Man and his ashes” hadiths. These two hadiths are the basis for the ignorance of the one who is new in Islam and the one who is in a place where there is little or no knowledge and their respective details.
The topics of the excuse of ignorance and establishing the proof are applicable to all aspects asl al-deen (the foundation of the religion, i.e., the tawheed), the branches of tawheed (the names and attributes of Allah), and the rest of the shari’ah (law) regardless of the specific contexts and examples in these documents.
A person must teach the truth (from the Qur’an and sunnah) when it seems like someone is rejecting it. It is not rejecting the haq (truth) if a person rejects what you say rather it is rejecting what you say.
For example, the Muslims who generalise and say that there is an excuse of ignorance in laa ilaha ila Allah to the point of shirk have a basis such as ta’wil (interpretation) i.e., incorrectly understanding the evidence that we went through and looked at (refer to the evidences in the document, Al-‘Udhr Bil-Jahl (The excuse of ignorance)). These people who say that a Mushrik is a Muslim should be addressed and made to understand their mistakes, i.e., the hujjah (proof, evidence) should be established, ayat and ahadith should be presented, and if they reject, and only after rejecting, then and only then would they be kuffar. They would be rejecting ahkam (sing. hukm ruling, regulation) regarding those practising shirk. Therefore, one should first correct the incorrect understanding.
Iqamatul hujjah (establishing the proof/evidence) is when the one being debated with, the opponent, sees the daleel (evidence); the shari’ (legal) evidence. You take the person’s daleel, see the nass (text), talk about it, and refute it with ‘ilm (knowledge). The person will stop when they have seen it (the truth). If you give him your understanding, he can reject it, and it will not be kufr because it is your understanding he has rejected. However, to reject the Qur’an and the sunnah when he has nothing (i.e., ayah or hadith) to provide as a legitimate argument is kufr, not because he does not accept what you say, but because he rejects the Qur’an and the sunnah.
There are two points regarding the topic of al-‘udhr bil-jahl.
1 – What is being ignored, i.e., the matter/issue.
2 – The person himself, i.e., the person who did a certain act.
Regarding the person himself, the ‘ulama mention two types of people:
- the one who is brought up where there is little or no ‘ilm, and
- the one who is new in Islam.
People usually excuse those who are in a place where there is a lot of knowledge, du’at (sing. da’ee one who calls to Islam), ‘ulama or rulers, which is incorrect. The ‘ulama say that the one who is in the countryside (where there is little or no knowledge) striving to know the truth, tawheed (the oneness of Allah), the deen (religion), to keep away from shirk and making effort to learn, is the one who is excused.
The definition of accepted ignorance which is accepted as an excuse is the one where it is not possible for the mukallaf (accountable, responsible, obliged) to remove from himself. The one who can remove this ignorance from himself by learning, asking, etc., but he does not is not excused. This person has the ability to ask ‘ulama, travel to them to ask, learn from knowledge that is available, etc., but he is jahil (ignorant) and mu’arid (one turning away), so there is no excuse for him. A person is not excused when he lives in a place where there is knowledge that has spread which he can attain. He does not make the effort to remove the jahl (ignorance), and he will be judged as someone who knows because the means are there. This is his mistake because Allah asked him to remove this ignorance.
In the time of the prophet Muhammad, people who did not make effort to attain knowledge, they did not go to get knowledge, etc., were seen as those who had turned away from this, i.e., turning away from being a slave of Allah. They were regarded as turning away from worshipping Allah.
The knowledge of Allah is the hujjah. It is not what people shout about and decide themselves to be correct even if they bring ayat and ahadith. What is brought forward of ayat and ahadith must be correct.
Allah makes clear that the hujjah is the burhan (clear proof).
Allah says,
O mankind, there has come to you a burhan (conclusive proof) from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light. (4:174)
Mujahid said, “the hujjah is the message, and it is the kitab (Qur’an) and the sunnah”.
So, when the message has come, and the people are able to know about it, i.e., they are able to know about what is within it even if they have not read anything from it, that means the hujjah has reached them, i.e., the hujjah has been established.
Allah says,
[We sent] messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument (hujjah) against Allāh after the messengers. And ever is Allāh Exalted in Might and Wise. (4:165)
Allah says,
Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And never would We punish until We sent a messenger. (17:15)
Allah says,
And if We had destroyed them with a punishment before him, they would have said, “Our Lord, why did You not send to us a messenger so we could have followed Your verses [i.e., teachings] before we were humiliated and disgraced?” (20:134)
Allah says,
Say, “With Allāh is the far-reaching [i.e., conclusive] argument (hujjah). If He had willed, He would have guided you all.” (6:149)
Al-Qurtubi said (about the ayah above), “the hujjah is His clarifying that He is One and His sending of prophets and messengers.’”
Allah says,
It almost bursts with rage. Every time a company is thrown into it, its keepers ask them, “Did there not come to you a warner?”
They will say, “Yes, a warner had come to us, but we denied and said, ‘Allāh has not sent down anything. You are not but in great error.’” (67:8-9)
All of the ayat above show that the hujjah is the messenger, the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
The hujjah is prophet Muhammad and the wahy (revelation).
Allah says,
Those who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists were not to be parted [from misbelief] until there came to them clear evidence
A Messenger from Allāh, reciting purified scriptures
Within which are correct writings [i.e., rulings and laws]. (98:1-3)
Allah says,
Say, “What thing is greatest in testimony?” Say, “Allāh is witness between me and you. And this Qur’ān was revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches. Do you [truly] testify that with Allāh there are other deities?” Say, “I will not testify [with you].” Say, “Indeed, He is but one God, and indeed, I am free of what you associate [with Him].” (6:19)
Allah says,
Alif, Lām, Meem, Ṣād.
[This is] a Book revealed to you, [O Muḥammad] – so let there not be in your breast distress therefrom – that you may warn thereby and as a reminder to the believers. (7:1-2)
Allah says,
And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allāh [i.e., the Qur’ān]. Then deliver him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know. (9:6)
The verses above clearly highlight that the hujjah has already been established by the sending of the messengers.
Therefore, when it is said that the hujjah has reached (been established against) the people, it means they heard about the Qur’an, Islam, or the prophet, and they were able to access and hear the knowledge that Allah sent down.
So, there are three groups:
The first group – give the excuse of jahl in asl al-deen (the foundation of the religion, i.e., the tawheed) to the point of allowing shirk.
The second group – do not allow any excuse of jahl in asl al-deen.
The third group – know that there is an excuse if someone does not know one of the names or attributes of Allah (branches of tawheed).
Once again, there are two things about al-‘udhr bil-jahl:
1 – The matter/issue that is ignored.
2 – The person who did the act.
A judge will not treat the person who is new in Islam like the one who is not new in Islam. Also, the sane person who sits in halaqaat (sing. halaqah, study circle) where knowledge is available is treated differently to the mad person. This is because the mad person has a valid excuse for not learning the knowledge that he is surrounded by, and the person who is new in Islam cannot learn everything straight away.
To say that the hujjah has been established somewhere means there is a place where the message has spread. So, a person who lives in a place where the message has spread is said to have had the hujjah established upon him. The hujjah is the burhan (clear proof). The burhan is the kitab (Qur’an) and the sunnah. The burhan is the messengers. Therefore, if a person has heard of either the Qur’an or the prophet, the hujjah has been established.
Regarding the hujjah, the ‘ulama spoke on the following hadith related to this topic,
Narrated Anas:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Allah will say to that person of the (Hell) Fire who will receive the least punishment, ‘If you had everything on the earth, would you give it as a ransom to free yourself (i.e. save yourself from this Fire)?’ He will say, ‘Yes.’ Then Allah will say, ‘While you were in the backbone of Adam, I asked you much less than this, i.e., not to worship others besides Me, but you insisted on worshipping others besides me.’” (Bukhari, 3334)
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Allah will say to the person who will have the minimum punishment in the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, ‘If you had things equal to whatever is on the earth, would you ransom yourself (from the punishment) with it?’ He will reply, Yes. Allah will say, ‘I asked you a much easier thing than this while you were in the backbone of Adam, that is, not to worship others besides Me, but you refused and insisted to worship others besides Me.’” (Bukhari, 6557)
The ’ulama said about the hadith quoted above that it explains the following ayah in which Allah says,
And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.” [This] – lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were of this unaware.” (7:172)
This first covenant mentioned in the hadiths above is the first hujjah. After this hujjah where mankind testified to the oneness of their Lord, there is no excuse for not knowing and claiming ignorance about the right of Allah to be worshipped alone. If Allah wanted to punish people by their breaching the first covenant, it would be just. However, from the rahmah (mercy) of Allah, He decided not to punish the people until the sending of the messengers, i.e., the message reached them.
Allah says,
And if We had destroyed them with a punishment before him, they would have said, “Our Lord, why did You not send to us a messenger so we could have followed Your verses [i.e., teachings] before we were humiliated and disgraced?” (20:134)
Allah says,
It almost bursts with rage. Every time a company is thrown into it, its keepers ask them, “Did there not come to you a warner?”
They will say, “Yes, a warner had come to us, but we denied and said, ‘Allāh has not sent down anything. You are not but in great error.’” (67:8-9)
In the above verses, we see that the messengers are the burhan (proof), and it is due to Allah’s mercy that messengers have been sent to mankind.
Now, regarding some details about specifically establishing the hujjah in discussions and disagreements, the following verse clarifies that transmitting the message to someone is to make it clear. The job of a rasul (messenger) is to make the message clear, and this is with the tongue (i.e., in the language) of his people.
Allah says,
And We did not send any messenger except [speaking] in the language of his people to state clearly for them, and Allāh sends astray [thereby] whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (14:4)
The following verses are about people who listen to the message, but do not istijaabah (answer) the call.
Allah says,
Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allāh are the deaf and dumb who do not use reason [i.e., the disbelievers].
Had Allāh known any good in them, He would have made them hear. And if He had made them hear, they would [still] have turned away, while they were refusing. (8:22-23)
The following verse shows that the message must be explained clearly. It is not just the message reaching with no clarity or understanding.
Allah says,
And those who associate others with Allāh say, “If Allāh had willed, we would not have worshipped anything other than Him, neither we nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything through other than Him.” Thus did those do before them. So is there upon the messengers except [the duty of] clear notification? (16:35)
And true understanding is acting upon the message while there are people who understand but do not act/follow. This is highlighted in the following verse,
Allah says,
Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written [i.e., described] in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and prohibits them from what is wrong and makes lawful for them what is good and forbids them from what is evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him – it is those who will be the successful. (7:157)
Also, one must have knowledge before conveying and warning. A person needs to have knowledge of a matter to be able to convey it. This is made clear in the verse below.
Allah says,
And it is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once. For there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] to obtain understanding in the religion and warn [i.e., advise] their people when they return to them that they might be cautious. (9:122)
Also, the individual conveying the message must be just, and somebody who does not tell lies, but someone who is known as truthful.
Allah says,
Or did they not know their Messenger, so they are toward him disacknowledging? (23:69)
This is what Muhammad is described as in the ahadith.
The person conveying the message must have knowledge to convey what is correct and knowledge to refute what is wrong. This is shown in the verses below.
Allah says,
Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord, as Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, “My Lord is the One Who gives life and causes death.” He said, “I give life and cause death.” Abraham said, “It is Allah Who brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west.” Thus, the disbeliever was dumbfounded, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. (2:258)
Allah says,
Pharaoh said, “So who is the Lord of you two, O Moses?”
He said, “Our Lord is the One Who gave everything its form then guided it.”
Pharaoh said, “Then what about the former [disbelieving] nations?”
He said, “Its knowledge is with my Lord in a Record. My Lord never errs, nor does He forget.”
It is He Who spread out the earth for you and made therein pathways for you, and sent down rain from the sky; and We brought forth thereby various types of plants.
Eat and graze your livestock. Indeed, there are signs in this for people of sound intellect.
From this [earth] We created you, and to it We will return you, and from it We will raise you once again.
We showed Pharaoh all Our signs, but he rejected them and refused to believe. (20:56)
The following verse clarifies that everyone who enters hell will answer the angels by saying that a messenger had come to them.
Allah says,
And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups until, when they reach it, its gates are opened and its keepers will say, “Did there not come to you messengers from yourselves, reciting to you the verses of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?” They will say, “Yes, but the word [i.e., decree] of punishment has come into effect upon the disbelievers.” (39:71)
Allah says,
When they are thrown into it, they hear from it a [dreadful] inhaling while it boils up.
It almost bursts with rage. Every time a company is thrown into it, its keepers ask them, “Did there not come to you a warner?” (67:7-8)
Allah says,
And for those who disbelieve will be the fire of Hell. [Death] is not decreed for them so they may die, nor will its torment be lightened for them. Thus, do We recompense every ungrateful one.
And they will cry out therein, “Our Lord, remove us; we will do righteousness – other than what we were doing!” But did We not grant you life enough for whoever would remember therein to remember, and the warner had come to you? So taste [the punishment], for there is not for the wrongdoers any helper. (35:36-37)
Allah says,
And those in the Fire will say to the keepers of Hell, “Supplicate your Lord to lighten for us a day from the punishment.”
They will say, “Did there not come to you your messengers with clear proofs?” They will say, “Yes.” They will reply, “Then supplicate [yourselves], but the supplication of the disbelievers is not except in error [i.e., futility].” (40:49-50)
From the verses above, we can see that all the people (kuffar) in hellfire will say they received the hujjah.
In the following verses, Allah is clearly saying in the Qur’an that those who die as kuffar will enter Jahannam (hellfire) not to come out.
Allah says,
But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, “Indeed, I have repented now,” or of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment. (4:18)
Allah says,
Indeed, those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers – never would the [whole] capacity of the earth in gold be accepted from one of them if he would [seek to] ransom himself with it. For those there will be a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers. (3:91)
Allah says,
They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allāh is the Messiah, the son of Mary” while the Messiah has said, “O Children of Israel, worship Allāh, my Lord and your Lord.” Indeed, he who associates others with Allāh – Allāh has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers. (5:72)
The following hadith is used by some people to say that there is evidence that the hujjah was not established upon some people.
Al-Aswad ibn Sari’ reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “There are four kinds of people on the Day of Resurrection: a deaf man who cannot hear anything, a mad man, a senile man, and a man who died in the period before Islam. The deaf man will say: O Lord, Islam came and I could not hear anything. The mad man will say: O Lord, Islam came and the children threw filth at me. The senile man will say: O Lord, Islam came and I could not understand anything. The man who died before Islam will say: O Lord, there was no messenger from you who came to me. Allah will make them promise to obey Him. Then, he will command them to enter the fire. By the one in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, if they enter the fire, it will become cool and peaceful.” (Musnad Ahmad, Al-Bayhaqi)
Imam Ahmad and Al-Bayhaqi narrated this hadith about a deaf person, the fool, a very old person (senile), and someone who died between two prophets (ahlul-fatrah, i.e., people whom the first (previous) prophet did not reach them, and they died before the sending of the second (next) prophet). The deaf man (who could not hear anything) will say that Islam came but he could not hear anything. The fool will say Islam came while there were children throwing the dirt of camels on him. The senile man will say that Islam came but he did not understand anything. The man of al-fatra (interval of time, pause; period (of time) i.e., where there was no prophet/the time between two prophets) will say that no messenger came to him.
Nevertheless, there is ijma’ among the ‘ulama that those who enter jahannam had the message reach him.
Anas reported:
Verily, a person said: Messenger of Allah, where is my father? He said: (He) is in the Fire. When he turned away, he (the Holy Prophet) called him and said: Verily my father and your father are in the Fire. (Sahih Muslim 203)
Prophet Muhammad said that his father is in the fire. Prophet Muhammad’s father died between the time of prophet Ibrahim and prophet Muhammad. Muhammad said that his father is in jahannam which could only mean that the da’wah of Ibrahim had reached him. The da’wah had reached Makkah and it would have had to because Allah does not punish anyone until a messenger has been sent. So, the da’wah reached him, but he rejected it, and we understand this because Muhammad said that his father is in jahannam.
The same was the case with Ibn Jud’an. The message reached him, but he did not believe in the oneness of Allah, the resurrection, or the accounting of deeds.
‘Aishah reported:
I said: Messenger of Allah, the son of Jud’an established ties of relationship, fed the poor. Would that be of any avail to him? He said: It would be of no avail to him as he did not ever say: O my Lord, pardon my sins on the Day of Resurrection. (Sahih Muslim, 214)
There were mushrikeen in the time of Muhammad before he was assigned prophethood. They were called mushrikeen. They knew about Allah and even some of His names. They knew about Ibrahim and who he was. There used to be pure tawheed there where the people were worshipping Allah alone. This was for many many years. It was ‘Amr ibn Luhay al-Khaza’i who changed the deen. Tawheed was present for many years from the time of Ibrahim before this change occurred. The forefathers of the mushrikeen changed the deen, but they knew about Islam and had heard about it. Yes, there was no prophet or revealed book between Ibrahim and Muhammad. However, this period was not free of the knowledge of Allah, Islam and the prophets, so the people were not excused.
Nowadays, people have a prophet, the Qur’an, they know Allah, say they love Allah and every other detail of the deen is present. The only thing the mushrikeen of this era do not know is that the act they are doing is shirk which takes them out of Islam. People say that those committing shirk these days follow their forefathers and that they are ignorant. Well, the mushrikeen from long before in the time of prophet Muhammad gave the same excuse, but they were not excused. The prophet called them kuffar. If people think and believe that others are worthy of worship, they are not Muslim in the first place. Nevertheless, the people these days make shirk knowing that only Allah should be worshipped. They direct to others acts that are indisputably clear actions of shirk as shown in the Qur’an like du’a, offering sacrifices, etc.
Regarding the hadith quoted earlier about some people who did not have the hujjah established upon them, some of the ‘ulama hold the opinion that these four people will be tested on yawmul-qiyaamah (the day of resurrection). Allah will send these four types of people a messenger in the hereafter who will command them to enter the fire. If they enter it, they will find it cool and peaceful. This is how Allah will test these people on yawmul-qiyaamah because Allah does not punish anyone until the sending of a messenger.
Some ‘ulama said that the matn (text) of the hadith about the four people who will be tested on yawmul-qiyamah is da’if (weak). They said that there will not be a test on yawmul-qiyamah, but the accounting of deeds. They said that there will not be a command or an order as a way of testing anyone. On the other hand, the ‘ulama who said there will be a test said that there will be a command on yawmul-qiyamah. Some of the ‘ulama say that the narration is sahih and others say it is da’eef.
Nevertheless, what is clear from the Qur’an and sunnah is that whoever has the message reach them and then dies as a kafir in this world will go to hell for the kufr he did here in this world and not because of a test in al-akhirah.
