Attributing Something to its Cause

27-3-2018 | IslamWeb

Question:

Salam. Is it correct for someone to say along the lines of "This family is being stable due to me. I stopped so and so from committing this action and I prevented so and so from doing this. If I did not stop them they would have continue on what they were doing. If I'm dead, the family might be unstable. So, everything is under my control in this house. If I'm not around the family will not be how it is today."

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

If this person was the reason for the stability of that family, and he did not say that because of pride or in order to show off, or to confer his favors upon them, or cause harm to them, then it appears –Allah knows best –that there is no harm on him in saying this.

Attributing something to the one who was the reason behind it while believing that it is Allah Who causes things to happen is permissible, as stated by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen who based his statement on the Hadeeth reported by Al-Bukhaari and Muslim that the Prophet said about his uncle Abu Taalib: “Were it not for me, he would be in the lowest depths of Hellfire.”

However, it is better to avoid such a statement if there is no need for it, because it may be a reason for falling into such diseases of the heart (showing off and the like) that ruin the reward of good deeds, or it could lead to other disadvantages.

We did not understand what is meant by his statement "So, everything is under my control in this house."; if he means that the good that he did to them entitles him to do as he pleases in that house, then this is not correct, because it is not permissible for anyone to act about the properties of others without their consent. [End of quote]

Allah knows best.