Shaykh al-Islām Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-‘Abbās Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halīm ibn ‘Abd al-Salām ibn Abī al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad ibn Taymiyyah al-Harrānī—may Allah be pleased with him and illuminate his grave—said:

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all worlds.

A Beneficial Principle

On the obligation to hold fast to the message, explaining that happiness and guidance lie in following the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—while misguidance and misery lie in opposing him; that all good that exists, whether general or particular, comes by way of the Messenger; that every evil in the world affecting an individual servant is caused by opposing the Messenger or being ignorant of what he brought; and that the happiness of Allah’s servants, in this life and the Hereafter, lies in following the message.

The message is indispensable to Allah’s servants: they cannot do without it, and their need for it exceeds their need for anything else. The message is the spirit, light and life of the world. How can the world be set right if it is deprived of spirit, life and light? The world is dark and accursed except where the sun of the message has risen. Likewise, unless the sun of the message shines in a servant’s heart and he receives something of its life and spirit, he remains in darkness and is among the dead. Allah says: