Being An Excerpt from the Translation of Al-Furqaan Bayna Auliyaa ar-Rahmaan Wa Auliyaa Ash-Shaytaan' of Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah - Rahimahullah - by Aboo Aamir Is'haaq AbdurRaheem

Shaukhul Islam - Allaah's mercy on him - wrote:

It is also from the ingredient of the belief in him that he is the intermediary between Allaah and His creation with respect to transmission of message of commandments and prohibitions from the former to the latter, so also the message of His promise of mercy and punishment; His message of what is permissible and what is not. The permissible thing is what is permitted by Allaah and His Messenger while the unlawful thing is what is described so by Allaah and His Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). The religion is what Allaah and His Messenger call the Deen. Whoever believes that any of the Auliyâ possesses another path to Allaah other than the path of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) such is a kaafir, and from the Allies of Shaytaan.

As for the fact that Allaah the Mighty created the beings and made provisions for them, and His granting their supplications as well as guiding their hearts and granting them victory over their enemies as well as other benefits from Him to them coupled with preventing evil befalling them, all these are from Allaah, only He does what He wishes with any means He wants that have nothing to do with the messengers.

In the same vein, if a man were to attain some level of piety, worship and knowledge and does not believe in everything brought by Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) such a person is not a believer neither is he a waliyy. Examples of those are the monks and rabbis in the religions of Christianity and Jews respectively, as well as those who follow them. Also, those who used to ascribe themselves to knowledge and worship from among the polytheists – of Arabia, or the Turks, India and other places; those who were the wise men of the Indians and the Turks who also possessed knowledge and had some worship in their religion, yet such a person does not believe in everything brought by Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), he is a kaafir and enemy of Allaah even if some people were to believe him a waliyy.

 

The wise men among the Persians, the Zoroastrians are disbelievers, so also the sages of the land of the Greek such as Aristotle and his likes; they are all polytheists who used to worship idols and the heavenly bodies.

Aristotle was in existence about three hundred years before the birth of Christ. He was the prime minister to Alexandra, the son of Philips, the Macedonian. He was the one that the calendar system of the Romans and the Greeks is ascribed to as well as that of the Jews and the Christians. This Alexandra was not Dhul-Qar’nayn mentioned by Allaah in His Book as thought by some people whereby they say Aristotle was the vizier to Dhul-Qar’nayn when they thought the name, Dhul-Qarnayn, was referring to Alexandra. This person (mentioned in the Qur’aan) was believed to be that Alexandra, this was the thought of Ibn Sina and those with him. However, this is not correct. This Alexandra whom Aristotle was his vizier was a polytheist who came very much after that person (mentioned in the Qur’aan). The other Alexandra never built any wall neither did he enter the city of Gog and Magog. It was that Alexandra whom Aristotle was his vizier that the well-known calendar of the Romans is ascribed to.     

There were among the different kinds of polytheists be they those of the Arabian peninsular or the Indian or Turkish or Greek or other than them who were very strong in knowledge, abstemiousness and worship but did not follow the Messengers and did not believe in what they brought, or in what they said, or followed them in what they commanded, so they were not believers nor Allies of Allaah. So, the devils were their cronies and upon them the devils used to descend such that they showed some matters to the people and some magical doings that made them fell in the categories of soothsayers and magicians whom the demons used to descend upon. Allaah the Mighty said:

﴿هَلۡ أُنَبِّئُكُمۡ عَلَىٰ مَن تَنَزَّلُ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينُ تَنَزَّلُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ أَفَّاكٍ أَثِيمٖ يُلۡقُونَ ٱلسَّمۡعَ وَأَكۡثَرُهُمۡ كَٰذِبُونَ﴾

«Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend? They descend upon every sinful liar. They pass on what is heard, and most of them are liars»

[Shua’raa: 221-223].

All these people used to lay claim to wonders and magic because they never in the first place followed the messengers so they had to tell lies and made liars by the demons. There must be heinous acts and transgressions such as acts of polytheism, oppressions, dirty acts, extremism, heresies in the religion, in their actions. This is the sole reason the demons used to descend upon them, and took them as cronies hence becoming his friends not the Allies of Allaah, as He the Mighty said:

﴿وَمَن يَعۡشُ عَن ذِكۡرِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ نُقَيِّضۡ لَهُۥ شَيۡطَٰنٗا فَهُوَ لَهُۥ قَرِينٞ﴾

«And whoever is blinded from remembrance of the Most Merciful - We appoint for him a devil, and he is to him a companion»

[Zukhruf: 36].

The Reminder of the Most Beneficent was the one He sent His Messenger with such as the Qur’aan. Thus, whoever does not believe in the Qur’aan, the reports in it and believes in its obligations, such has turned away from it and has taken Shaytaan as a friend.

Allaah the Mighty said:

﴿وَهَٰذَا ذِكۡرٞ مُّبَارَكٌ أَنزَلۡنَٰهُۚ أَفَأَنتُمۡ لَهُۥ مُنكِرُونَ﴾

«And this [Qur'an] is a blessed message which We have sent down. Then are you with it unacquainted?»

[Anbiyaa: 50].

He the Mighty also said:

﴿وَمَنۡ أَعۡرَضَ عَن ذِكۡرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُۥ مَعِيشَةٗ ضَنكٗا وَنَحۡشُرُهُۥ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ أَعۡمَىٰ قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرۡتَنِيٓ أَعۡمَىٰ وَقَدۡ كُنتُ بَصِيرٗا قَالَ كَذَٰلِكَ أَتَتۡكَ ءَايَٰتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَاۖ وَكَذَٰلِكَ ٱلۡيَوۡمَ تُنسَىٰ﴾

«And whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind." He will say, "My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?" [Allah] will say, "Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten."»

[Ta-Ha: 124-126];

All the foregoing indicates that His reminder are His Verses that He revealed. This is the reason if a man were to remember Allaah day and night in an utmost show of abstemiousness, and he worships Allaah to the maximum but does not follow the Reminder from Allaah which He revealed and which is the Qur’aan such is from the Allies of Shaytaan even if he were to be flying in the sky and could walk on water, it is Shaytaan carrying him about in the sky. This has been explained in other places.