Ahlul-Bidah Wal Hawa

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever Merciful…

Controversial American preacher, Yusuf Estes, explains another one of his own unique interpretations of Islamic teachings on Huda TV, that a man’s wife in Paradise will be so beautiful and “divine” that he will think she is his Lord and prostrate in front of her. Here are his exact words:

In the Paradise, there will be one who will come in to wherever the man is, and he will see it [his wife], and he will think its God, so beautiful, so divine, that he will literally fall to the ground in front of this wonderul, wonderful thing that he is seeing. Then, it says to him, “Get up! What are you doing? Don’t you know who I am? I was your wife in the earth. On the earth, I was your wife.” What? Yeah.

Source: “Face Islam” on Huda TV (not dated), uploaded to YouTube on Jan. 15, 2013:YouTube / Safeshare

Important Commentary:

This is a baseless lie about the affairs of the Unseen. The detailed affairs of the Hereafter are only known from the revelation given to the Prophets. No one has the right to speak about them however he wishes.

Aside from being a baseless lie, it contradicts the authentic teachings of Islam from a number of angles:

Clarity of View of Allah in the Hereafter

Firstly, one of the basic beliefs in Islam is to believe that the people will see Allah on the Day of Judgment, and the believers in Paradise will enjoy looking at their Majestic Lord as their greatest reward. As the Prophet (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) described in detail, believers will see Allah as clearly as we can see the full moon on a clear night. (Bukhari and Muslim)

With this kind of clarity, to believe that someone in Paradise would not know what Allah looks like and thus confuse the Almighty Lord of all that exists with a woman in Paradise is sheer stupidity and shameful ignorance of the affairs of the Hereafter.

Allah is Uniquely and Incomparably Beautiful

Secondly, it further shows a severe weakness in understanding the uniqueness of Allah’s Attributes. Muslims who have taken the time to learn their Religion know that Allah’s Attributes are incomparable to that of His creation. His Beauty is unlike the beauty of the best and most beautiful things He has created. How could any Muslim of intellect believe that people in Paradise who know Allah and enjoy looking at Him all the time could think that a created thing could be comparable to Him or resemble Him in any way?! Absolute foolishness.

Allah is Above His Creation

Thirdly, Allah is above His Creation. He always has been above His creation, and He will always be. He is al-’Aliyy (the Lofty One), al-A’laa (the Most High), above all things. Since He has only described Himself with Loftiness and Highness above His creation, we may not ever consider Him to be within the created realm. Paradise is something Allah created. Allah will be seen by the people of Paradise, yet this does not necessitate that Allah will be inside of Paradise. He is, has always been, and will always be above His Creation. While the deviants of this worldly life seek to confuse people regarding this issue, claiming Allah is “everywhere” or He is “without a place”, the people of Paradise will not be confused in this issue.

Thus, how could a man in Paradise think that Allah is there in front of him, as he comes in to the place described by Yusuf Estes: ”Wherever the man is”? Sadly, Yusuf Estes has expressed in other views that the Quran is “with Allah in Paradise.” [click here] He clearly does not have the basic foundations of Muslim beliefs, to say the least.

Shirk (Polytheism) in Paradise

Fourthly, in the deviant “Yusuf Estes” version of the Hereafter, people will prostrate to their wives, effectively committing shirk (polytheism), worshipping other than Allah (by mistake).

Confusion, Mistakes, and Rebuke in Paradise

Furthermore, Yusuf Estes believes and teaches that Paradise will be a place of severe confusion, grave mistakes, and spousal rebuke. He thinks a man will be confused about the most important matters, like who Allah actually is. A man will be so confused – not knowing his wife from his Lord – that he will actually attempt to worship someone other than His Lord. This confused man will be erroneous and then rebuked by his wife, who says to him, “What are you doing?” We seek refuge with Allah from this distorted version of Paradise introduced by Yusuf Estes.

Shame on the Muslims who Promote and Defend Yusuf Estes!

With no qualifications to teach Islam in the first place, and these kinds of teachings, Muslims need to accept responsibility for the corruption they have been involved in. Promoting and defending Yusuf Estes, someone described by the scholars of Islam as astray, leading others astray, and someone who does not know anything about Islam [click here and here], is an inexcusable act of severe negligence as it relates to our duty of embodying Islamic teachings and conveying them. Instead of explaining away his horrible mistakes, one by one, it is time for the Muslims to wake up and stop promoting a shameless, ignorant liar as a scholar of Islam, or even a qualified preacher for that matter.

Shame on the Muslims who Vilify and Demonize Estes’ Critics!

When faced with these kinds of clarifications, we have witnessed amazing reactions from some of Yusuf Estes’ dedicated followers. Some of them acknowledge the mistakes, but make baseless claims that Yusuf Estes has retracted them. Others defend the horrific violations with all kinds of acrobatic explanations of his intended meanings. Often, those who are working to spread clarity and correct Islamic beliefs in opposition to his deviant teachings are attacked personally, slandered, vilified, and demonized, in the name of “justice” or “defending the oppressed”. The scales of justice have become corrupted when the people who teach the correct beliefs in Islam are demonized, and the people spreading falsehood are pure and untouchable. Allah warns us of such hypocritical behavior in His Book:

الْمُنافِقُونَ وَالْمُنافِقاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ مِنْ بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمُنْكَرِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمَعْرُوفِ

The hypocrites, men and women alike, are (allies) of each other. They command evil, and forbid good. [9:67]

وَإِذا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ قالُوا إِنَّما نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ أَلا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُونَ وَلكِنْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ

And when it is said to them, “Do not spread corruption on earth,” they say, “Verily, we are merely rectifying.” Nay, they are the ones who spread corruption, yet they do not realize it. [2:11-12]

May Allah distance us from hypocrisy and all its manifestations. May He make us those who work to spread clarity and correct beliefs in Islam. May He make us those who reject falsehood and warn others from it.

Take the time to read about the severe violations of basic Muslim beliefs spread by Yusuf Estes on Huda TV and elsewhere. Read the following publication, seeking refuge with Allah from His Anger, and asking His Guidance alone:

Yusuf Estes and the Quran (PDF)

http://yusufestesquran.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/yusuf-estes-and-the-quran-2-0.pdf

Post Courtesy: Moosa Richardson (hafidhahullaah) on his blog http://yusufestesquran.com