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Essential Reading for all Muslims
BELIEF AND ISLAM
Forward
Introduction
Iman and Islam
Fundamentals of Islam
Belief in Allah Ta'ala
Belief in Books
Belief in the Prophets
Belief in the Last Day
Belief in Qadar (Destiny)
Two Letters by Yahya Muniri
Allah Exists and is ONE
Salafiyya
BELIEF AND ISLAM
Forward
Introduction
Iman and Islam
Fundamentals of Islam
Belief in Allah Ta'ala
Belief in Books
Belief in the Prophets
Belief in the Last Day
Belief in Qadar (Destiny)
Two Letters by Yahya Muniri
Allah Exists and is ONE
Salafiyya
ITHIBAT an-NUBUWWATHE PROOF OF PROPHETHOOD
Part One
Foreward
Meaning of Prophethood and Miracle
The sending of Prophets and its Necessity
The Proof of Muhammads' (s.a.w.) Prophethood
Meaning of Prophethood and Miracle
The sending of Prophets and its Necessity
The Proof of Muhammads' (s.a.w.) Prophethood
Part Two
(Other Topics)
(Other Topics)
Answer to a Religiously Ignorant Person
Communists' enmity against Religion
What is a True Muslim like ?
Answer to a University Student
More excellent reading material will be added soon
Communists' enmity against Religion
What is a True Muslim like ?
Answer to a University Student
More excellent reading material will be added soon
Courtesy of Hizmet Books
Foreward
Belief and Islam
F O R E W O R D
Allahu ta'ala has mercy upon all people on the earth. He creates useful things and sends them to everybody. He shows the way to Endless Bliss. He guides to the right path whomever He wishes among those who left the true way and followed the way to kufr (infidelity) and heresy as a result of being deceived by their own nafs (human desires), bad friends, harmful books, and the media. He saves them from eternal calamity. He does not bestow this blessing upon those who are cruel and exceed the limits. He lets them stay on the way of kufr, which they like and desire. In the next world, He will forgive whomever He wants of those guilty believers who are to go to Hell, and He will admit them to Paradise. He alone creates every living creature, keeps every being in existence every moment and protects all against fear and horror. Trusting ourselves to the honorable name of Allahu ta'ala, that is, expecting help from Him we begin to write this book.
May glory be to Allahu ta'ala. Peace and blessings be upon His beloved Prophet Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam). May all auspicious prayers be on his Ahl al-Bait and on each of his just and devoted Companions (as-Sahabat al-kiram).
Thousands of precious books have been written on the tenets of the Islamic faith and its commands and prohibitions, and many of them have been translated
into foreign languages and distributed to every country. On the other hand, ill-willed and short-sighted people have continuously attacked the useful, bountiful and lightsome rules of Islam and have striven to blemish and change it and to deceive Muslims.
It is still seen with gratitude that in almost every country scholars of Islam are striving to disseminate and defend this path. Unsuitable speeches and articles, however, are still being witnessed, which claimed to be taken from but out of misunderstanding of - the Qur'an al-karim and the hadith ash-Sharif by a few people who have not read or understood the books by the 'ulama' of Ahl as-Sunnat. Yet these speeches and articles are ineffective in front of the firm iman of Muslim brothers and have no influence, but indicate the ignorance of their agents.
A person who claims to be a Muslim and who has been seen performing salat in jamaat must be regarded as Muslim. If, later on, in his speech, writing or behavior something is seen disagreeing with the knowledge of iman as conveyed by the 'ulama' of Ahl as-Sunnat, he will be told that this is disbelief or heresy. He will be told to cease from it and repent. If, with his short mind and coarse reasoning, he answers that he will not, it will be understood that he is a heretic or disbeliever. Even if he continues performing salat, performs hajj and does all kinds of worship and good deeds, he will not escape this disaster unless he gives up the things or acts which causes kufr and unless he repents; he will not be a Muslim. By learning well the things that cause disbelief, each Muslim should protect himself from becoming a disbeliever and should know well the disbelievers and those liars who pretend to be Muslims and keep away from their harm.
Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) said in a hadith ash-Sharif that wrong, false meanings would be extracted from the Qur'an al-karim and hadith, and thus seventy-two heretical groups would appear. This hadith ash-Sharif is explained in the books Bariqa and Al-Hadiqa, which derived it from the Sahihain of al-Bukhari and Muslim. We should not be taken in by the books and lectures of the men of these groups who come forward under such names as 'great scholar of Islam' or 'professor of religion,' and we should be very alert not to fall into the traps of these thieves of faith and belief. Besides those insidious enemies, communists and freemasons, and also Christian missionaries and Jewish Zionists try to deceive the Muslim youth through made-up and deceitful articles, motion pictures, theater, and radio or television broadcasts. They spend millions for this purpose. The 'ulama' of Islam (rahimahumullah) have given necessary responses to all of them and have shown Allahu ta'ala's religion and the way to happiness and salvation.
From among them, we have chosen the book Itiqad-nama by Mawlana Diya' ad-din Khalid al-Baghdadi al-'Osmani (quddisa sirruh), who was a distinguished scholar of Islam. Itiqad-nama was formerly translated into Turkish by the late Haji Faizullah Effendi of Kemah, Erzincan, with the title Fara'id al-fawa'id and was printed in Egypt in 1312 A.H. This translation is simplified under the title Belief and Islam. The translators' own explanations are given in blocked brackets. We thank Allahu ta'ala for vouchsafing the lot of publishing this book for the 14th time in English. The original of this book, Itiqad-nama, is in Persian and exists in the Istanbul University Library (Ibnul Emin Mahmud Kamal Dept. F. 2639).
It is written at the end of the subject about 'disbeliever's marriage' in Durr al-mukhtar, "If a Muslim girl with nikah (marriage contract as prescribed by Islam) does not know Islam when she reaches puberty, her nikah becomes void [she becomes a renegade]. The attributes of Allahu ta'ala must be told to her, and she must repeat them and say, 'I believe these.' " In explaining this, Ibn 'Abidin (rahimah- Allahu ta'ala) said, "As the girl is little, she belongs in her parents' faith; she is Muslim. When she reaches puberty, she does not belong to her parents' faith any longer. When she reaches puberty, because of her unawareness of Islam, she becomes a renegade. Unless she learns and believes the six tenets of Islam and believes that it is necessary to live up to Islam, she will not continue to be Muslim even if she utters the Kalimat at-tawhid, that is, says, 'La ilaha illa'llah Muhammadun Rasul-Allah.' She has to believe the six tenets expressed in 'Amantu bi-'llahi..,' and she has to say, 'I accept the commands and prohibitions of Allahu ta'ala.' "This explanation of Ibn 'Abidin shows that a disbeliever becomes Muslim as soon as he says the Kalimat at-tawhid and believes its meaning. But, like any other Muslim, when he has the chance he has to memorize the following words and learn their meaning precisely: "Amantu bi'llahi wa Mala'ikatihi wa Kutubihi wa Rasuluhi wal-yawm-il-akhiri wa bil-qadari khayrihi wa sharrihi minallahi ta'ala walba'su ba'd-al-mawti haqqun ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa Rasuluhu."
Also, if a Muslim boy does not learn these six tenets and say that he believes them, he becomes a renegade when he reaches puberty. This work, Belief and Islam, contains detailed information on these six tenets. Every Muslim should read this book well and do his best to get his children and all his acquaintances to read it.
In the text, the meaning of ayat-i karimas are given as ma'al, which means 'meaning as reported by the scholars of tafsir'; because, the meaning of ayat-i karimas had been understood only by Rasulullah (Salla Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) and were revealed to his Sahaba by him. The scholars of tafsir (science of interpretation of the Qur'an al-Karim) differentiated these hadiths from those made up by munafiqs, mulhids and zindiqs, and, for those hadith ash-Sharifs they could not find, they themselves gave meanings to those ayats by following tafsirs. What is understood by the ignorant in religion, who speak Arabic but have no knowledge of tafsir, is not called the tafsir (interpretation) of the Qur'an. That is why a Hadith ash-Sharif says, 'One who gives meaning to the Qur'an al-karim according to his own understanding becomes a disbeliever.' A glossary of Arabic and other non-English terms foreign to the English reader is appended.
May Allahu ta'ala have us all keep to the right path shown by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat! May he protect us from believing in the false, deceitful, insidious lies of the enemies of Islam and of the non-Madhhabite using the name 'great scholar of Islam'!
Miladi (1992) Hijri Shamsi (1370) Hijri Kamari (1412)
Introduction
I N T R O D U C T I O N
I begin my letter with the Basmala. Infinite glory and thanks be to Allahu ta'ala who bestowed upon us all kinds of favors and honored us by making us Muslims and valued us by making us the Umma of Rasulullah Muhammad (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam), which is the highest blessing.
We should meditate and realize that Allahu ta'ala alone blesses every favor upon everybody. He alone creates everything. He alone is the One who keeps every being in existence. Superior and good qualities of men are all His blessings and favors. Our life, reason, knowledge, strength, sense of hearing and speech are all from Him. He always is the One who sends innumerable blessings and favors. He is the One who rescues human beings from trouble and distress, who accepts prayers and keeps away grief and disaster. Only He creates sustenance and causes them to reach us. His blessing is so bountiful that He does not cut off the sustenance of those who commit sins. His covering sins is so great that He does not disgrace or hold up to scorn or tear the honesty veil of those who do not obey His commands or abstain from His prohibitions. He is so forgiving, so merciful that He does not hurry in punishing those who deserve punishment and torture ('adhab). He scatters His blessings and favors upon both those whom He likes and His enemies. He does not spare anything from anybody. And as the highest, the most precious of His benefactions, He points out the right path to happiness and salvation. He encourages us not to go astray, so that we go to Paradise. And He orders us to adapt ourselves to His beloved Prophet (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) in order that we may attain all the infinite blessings, endless and inexhaustible pleasures in Paradise, and His own consent and love. Thus, Allahu ta'ala's blessings are as obvious as the sun. The favors which come from others, in fact, come from Him. He, again, is the One who makes others intermediaries and gives wish, power and strength to do favors. For this reason, He is always the One who sends all the blessings that come through all places and all people. To expect favors from anybody but Him is like asking for something from the custodian or asking for alms from the poor. The ignorant as well as the educated, and blockheads as well as the intelligent and the keen know that what we say here is right and to the point, for, everything said is obvious facts. It is not necessary even to think them over.
He who does favors is to be thanked and respected. Therefore, it is a human duty for every man to thank Allahu ta'ala, who has bestowed these favors. It is a debt, a duty which wisdom commands. But it is not easy to carry out this thanksgiving due to Him, for men, having been originally created out of nothing, are weak, indigent, faulty and defective. As for Allahu ta'ala, He always and eternally exists. He is quite removed from defectiveness. Every kind of superiority belongs to Him only. Men have by no means any similarity or proximity to Allahu ta'ala. Can men, who are so inferior, thank such a high being as Allahu ta'ala in a manner fit for His Dignity? There are so many things that men consider beautiful and precious, but He knows that they are evil and dislikes them. Things which we consider to be reverence or thanks may be common things not liked at all. For this reason, men, with their own defective minds and short sights, cannot discern the things that express thanks and veneration to Allahu ta'ala. Unless the ways of thanking and respecting Allahu ta'ala are shown by Him, acts that are considered as praising may be slander.
"So, the gratitude to be shown and the human duties to be done for Allahu ta'ala with the heart, tongue and body had been defined by Allahu ta'ala and communicated by His beloved Prophet (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam)! The human duties which Allahu ta'ala showed and ordered are called Islam. One thanks Him by following the way His Prophet revealed. Allahu ta'ala does not accept or like any thanks, any worship incompatible with or outside this way, because there are many things which men consider beautiful but which Islam disapproves of and regards as ugly.
"Hence, in thanking Allahu ta'ala, people who have reason should adapt themselves to Hadrat Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam). His path is called Islam. The person following Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is called a Muslim. Thanking Allahu ta'ala, that is, following Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), is called 'ibada (worship). Teachings of Islam are of two parts: religious and scientific. The former has two branches:
1) Teachings that must be believed through the heart and are called the teachings of usul ad-din or iman; 2) Teachings of 'ibadat that are to be done through the body or the heart and are called the teachings of furu' ad-din, ah'kam al-Islamiyya or the Sharia.
[The religious teachings revealed by Islam are the teachings that are written in the books of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. One becomes a kafir (disbeliever) if he does not believe, among the teachings of iman and the Sharia that have been reported by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, one of the nasses (ayats or hadiths) with explicit meaning. If he keeps his disbelief secret, he is called a munafiq. If not only he keeps it secret but also he tries to deceive Muslims by passing himself off as a Muslim, he is called a zindiq. If he makes tawil of the nasses with explicit meaning without knowing, that is, gives wrong meaning to them and believes wrongly, he again becomes a disbeliever and is called a mulhid. If he believes wrongly by making tawil of the nasses with inexplicit meaning, he does not become a disbeliever but, because he has departed from the right path of the Ahl as-Sunnat, will go to Hell. Since he believes in the nasses with explicit meaning, he will not remain in Hell eternally but will be taken into Paradise. Such people are called ahl al-bidat or heretical groups. There are seventy-two heretical groups. None of their 'ibadat is acceptable. Muslims whose faith is correct are called Ahl as-Sunnat wal-Jamaat or Sunnis. In relation to 'ibadat, the Sunnis belong to four different madhhabs. Those who follow one of these madhhabs acknowledge that the followers of the other three also belong to Ahl as-Sunnat, and they love one another. A person who does not follow any of these madhhabs does not belong to Ahl as-Sunnat. Further, "He who does not belong to Ahl as-Sunnat is either a disbeliever or a man of bidat." (2)
If a person who carries out his 'ibadat according to one of the four madhhabs commits sins, or if he makes any mistake in his 'ibadat, Allahu ta'ala will forgive him and will never put him into Hell, if He wishes. He will torture him as much as his sins, if He wishes, but later he will be released from torture. Those who do not believe even one of the clear facts that must be believed in Islam, that is, that are heard even by ignoramuses, are called kafirs (disbelievers) and will be subject to eternal torture in Hell. There are two types of kafirs: The kafir with a holy book, and the kafir without a holy book. If a Muslim abandons his religion, he is called a "murtadd" (renegade, apostate). Ibn 'Abidin (rahimah- Allahu ta'ala) wrote in the subject on 'people not to be married due to polytheism': "Renegades, mulhids, zindiqs, fire-worshippers, those members of one of the seventy-two groups who are as excessive as to become disbelievers, people called [Brahmins, Buddhists,] Batinis, Ibahatis and Durzis (Druzes), idolaters, the ancient Greek philosophers and munafiqs are all disbelievers without holy books." Communists and the freemasons also are disbelievers without holy books. Christians and Jews, who believe in revealed books which were later interpolated, are disbelievers with books.
If a disbeliever, with a holy book or without one, embraces Islam, he will escape going to Hell. He will become a sinless, innocent Muslim. But he has to become a Sunni Muslim, that is, to read and learn the book of one of the 'ulama' of Ahl as-Sunnat and adapt his iman, acts and words to what he thus learns. In the world it is understood from a person's clear words and actions said and done without darura (strong necessity or compulsion) if he is Muslim or not. It becomes definite at a person's last breath if he has gone to the next world with iman. If a Muslim with grave sins repents for them, he or she will surely be forgiven and become a sinless, pure Muslim. It is explained in detail in 'ilm al-hal books, for example, the book Endless Bliss, what repentance is and how it will be done.]
FOOTNOTES
(1) Imam-i Rabbani passed away in 1034 [1624 A.D.].
(2) In the letters of Imam-i Rabbani, especially in the 286 th letter of the first volume and in at-Tahtawi's commentary to Durr al-mukhtar (in section "Zabayih") and Mawlana Hamd-Allah ad-Dajwi's Al-Basa'ir li-munkiri't-tawassuli bi ahl al-maqabir. Both books are in Arabic. The latter was written and printed in India and was reproduced in Istanbul in 1395 (1975).
Iman
Belief and Islam
IMAN AND ISLAM
IMAN AND ISLAM
In this book, Itiqad-nama, the Prophet's (sall- Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) hadith telling of iman and Islam will be explained. I hope that, through the blessing of this hadith ash-Sharif, the faith of Muslims will be perfected, and thus they will attain salvation and happiness. And I hope again that it will cause me, Khalid, whose sins are a lot, to be saved. May Allahu ta'ala, in whom I have the beautiful belief that He needs nothing and that His favors and blessings are so plentiful and who pities His servants much, forgive this poor Khalid, whose stock is so little and heart so black, for his unsuitable words, and accept his defective 'ibadat. May He protect us against the evils of the deceitful, lying Satan [and against being deceived by false, erroneous words and writings of the enemies of Islam] and make us happy! He is the Most Merciful of the merciful and the Most Generous of the generous.
The 'ulama' of Islam said that every discreet male or female Muslim, who has reached the age of puberty, ought to know and believe in the as-Sifat adh-Dhatiyya (3) and as-Sifat ath-Thubutiyya (4) of Allahu ta'ala correctly. It is this which is primarily obligatory (fard) for everybody. Not to know is not an excuse but a sin. Khalid ibn Ahmad al-Baghdadi wrote this book not to make a show of superiority and knowledge to others or to become famous, but to leave a reminder, a service behind. May Allahu ta'ala help humble Khalid (5) with His Power and through His Prophet's blessed soul! Amin.
Everything other than Allahu ta'ala is called the ma'siwa or 'alam (the creation, the universe), which is called "nature" now. All creatures were nonexistent. Allahu ta'ala is the One who has created them all. They all are mumkin (that may come into existence out of nonexistence) and hadith (that came into being out of nothing); that is, they may come into existence while they are nonexistent, and they came into existence while they had been nonexistent. The hadith ash-Sharif, 'Allahu ta'ala was existent, anything else did not exist,' shows that this is true. ` A second evidence showing that the whole universe and all creatures are hadith is the fact that creatures are transforming and changing into one another all the time; whereas, anything Qadim (without a beginning) should never change. Allahu ta'ala's Dhat (Person, Essence) and Attributes are Qadim and never change.(6) The changes in creatures cannot be coming from the eternal past. They should have a beginning and come into existence from elements or substances, which must have been created out of nonexistence.
Another evidence for the fact that the universe is mumkin, that is, it may come into being out of nonexistence, is that creatures, as we see, are hadith; that is, they come into existence out of nothing.
There are two beings: the mumkin and the Wajib.(7) If only the mumkin existed, or if Wajib al-wujud did not exist, nothing would exist.(8) For this reason, the mumkin could not come into existence or go on being by itself. If some power had not affected it, it would have always remained in nonexistence and could not have come into existence. Since a mumkin could not create itself; it could not, of course, create other mumkins, either. That which has created the mumkin has to be Wajib al-wujud. The existence of the 'alam shows that a creator who created it out of nothing exists. So, the Unique Creator of all that are mumkin, the creatures, is the only Wajib al-wujud without being hadith or mumkin, but always existent and Qadim (eternal). 'Wajib al-wujud' means that its existence is not from something else but from itself, that is, it is always self-existent and is not created by someone else. If this were not so, then it would have to be a creature (mumkin and hadith) created by someone else. And this is contrary to what is deduced above. Persian 'Khuda' (used as a name for Allah) means 'always self-existent, eternal.(9)'
We see that the classes of beings are in an astounding order, and science finds out new laws of this order each year. The Creator of this order must be Hayy (Ever- living), Alim (All-knowing), Qadir (Almighty), Murid (All-willing), Sami (All-hearing), Basir (All-seeing), Mutakallim (All-speaking) and Khaliq (All-creating) (10), because, death, ignorance, incapability or being disposed under others' compulsion, deafness, blindness and dumbness are all defects, imperfections. It is impossible that such defective attributes be in Him who has created this 'alam or ka'inat (all beings) in such an order and who protects them against annihilation (11). Moreover, we see the above attributes of perfection also in creatures. He has created them in His creatures. If these attributes did not exist in Him, how could He create them in His creatures, and would not His creatures be superior to Him?
We should also add that in Him who has created all these worlds of beings there should exist all the attributes of perfection and superiority and none of the attributes of deficiency, for, one defective cannot be creative.
Let alone these reasonable evidences, ayat-i karimas and hadith ash-Sharifs explain clearly that Allahu ta'ala has the attributes of perfection. Therefore, it is not permissible to doubt it. Doubt causes disbelief. The above-given eight attributes of perfection are called as-Sifat ath-Thubutiyya. Allahu ta'ala has all the eight attributes of perfection. There is no defect, disorder or change in His Person, Essence, Attributes or Deeds.
FOOTNOTES
(3) As-Sifat adh-Dhatiyya of Allahu ta'ala are six: al-Wujud, existence; al-Qidam, being without beginning, and eternal in the past; al-Baqa', being without end, and eternal in the future; al-Wahdaniyya, having no partner or match; al-Mukhalafatu li 'l-hawadith, being dissimilar to every creature in every respect; al-Qiyamu bi nafsihi, self-existence or being unneedy of anything for His existence. No creature has any of these six attributes, nor any relation with them. They belong to Allahu ta'ala exclusively. Some 'ulama' said that al-Mukhalafatu li 'l-hawadith and al-Wahdaniyya were the same and that as-Sifat adh-Dhatiyya are five.
(4) See pages 13 and 24.
(5) Khalid-i Bagdadi passed away in Damascus in 1247 [1826 A.D.].
(6) However, in the universe the state of substances changes in physical events. In chemical reactions, the essence or structure of substances changes. We see objects or substances cease to exist and change into other substances. Today, in atomic changes and nuclear reactions, which have been discovered recently, the matter or element, too, ceases existing and turns into energy.
(7) " 'Wujud' means 'existence, being.' There are three kinds of existence. The first one is Wajib al-wujud, the Necessary Existence. He always exists. He has never been nonexistent before, nor will stop existing in the everlasting future. Only Allahu ta'ala is Wajib al-wujud. The second one is mumtani' al-wujud, that cannot exist. It should never exist. Such is sharik al-Bari' (partner to Allahu ta'ala). Another god partner to Allahu ta'ala or likeness to Him can never exist. The third one is mumkin al-wujud, that may or may not exist. So are the universe, all creatures without any exception. The opposite of wujud is 'adam (non-existence). All creatures were in 'adam, were nonexistent, before they came into existence.
(8) For, it is a change, an event, to come into existence out of nonexistence, and, according to our knowledge in physics, in order for a change to take place in a substance, the substance has to be acted upon by an exterior power, the source of which has to precede the substance.
(9) There is more detailed information in the chapter on page 79.
(10) These are the eight Sifat ath-Thubitiyya of Allahu ta'ala.
(11) Every being, from atom to stars, has been created with some calculations and laws. The regularity in the known laws of physics, chemistry, astronomy and biology bewilders the human mind. Even Darwin had to say that when he thought of the order and delicacy in the structure of the eye, he felt as if he would go crazy. Is it possible that He who has created all the laws, delicate calculations and formulas taught as scientific knowledge be defective?
Fundamentals
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ISLAM
Our beloved superior Hadrat 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), who was a gallant leader of Muslims, one of the highest of the Prophet's Companions, and was famous for his truthfulness, said:
"It was such a day that a few of us, the Companions, were in the presence and service of Rasulullah (sall- Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam)." That day, that hour was so blessed, so precious a day that he would hardly live it once again. On that day, it fell to his lot to be honored with being in the Prophet's company, near him, and to see his beautiful face, which was food for spirits and pleasure and comfort to souls. To emphasize the value, the honor of that day, he said, "It was such a day..." Could there be another time as honorable and precious as the one at which it fell to his lot to see Jabrail (Jibril, Archangel Gabriel, 'alaihi 's-salam) in the guise of a human being, to hear his voice and to hear the knowledge men needed as beautifully and clearly as possible through the blessed mouth of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam)?
"That hour, a man came near us like the rising of the moon. His clothes were extremely white and his hair was very black. Signs of travel, such as dust or perspiration were not seen on him. None of us, the Companions of the Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam), recognized him, that is, he was not one of the people we have seen or known before. He sat down in the Presence of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam). He placed his knees near the Prophet's blessed knees." This person, in the guise of a human figure, was the angel called Jabrail. Though his way of sitting seems to be incompatible with manners (adab), it showed us a very important fact that, in learning religious knowledge, there is no such thing as shyness, nor does pride or arrogance become a master. Hadrat Jabrail wanted to show the Prophet's Companions that everybody should ask what he wanted to know about Islam freely from teachers without feeling shy, for there should not be shyness in learning the religion or embarrassment in paying, teaching or learning one's debt to Allahu ta'ala.
"That noble person put his hands on Rasulullah's (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) blessed knees. He asked Rasulullah, 'O Rasul-Allah! Tell me what Islam is and how to be a Muslim.' "
The literal meaning of 'Islam' is 'to yield and submit.' Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) explained that the word 'islam' was the name of the five basic pillars in Islam, as follows:
1. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala alaihi wa sallam) said that the first of the five fundamentals of Islam was "to say the kalimat ash-shahada"; that is, one should say, "Ash'hadu an la ilaha illa'llah wa ash'hadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa Rasuluhu." In other words, a discreet person who has reached the age of puberty and who can talk has to say vocally, "On the earth or in the sky, there is no one but Allahu ta'ala worthy of worship. The real being to be worshipped is Allahu ta'ala alone. He is the Wajib al-wujud. Every kind of superiority exists in Him. No defect exists in Him. His name is Allah," and to believe in this absolutely with all his heart. And also one should say and believe: "The exalted person who had a rose-pink skin, a white-reddish, bright and lovely face, black eyes and eye-brows; who had a blessed wide forehead, with a good temper; who shed no shadow on the ground, was soft-spoken and was called Arab because he was born in Mecca of Hashemite-descent, named Muhammad ibn Abdullah, is Allahu ta'ala's human servant (abd) and messenger (Rasul)." The Prophet's mother was Hadrat Amina bint Wahab. He was born in Mecca [at the dawn of Monday, 20th of April, 571]. When he was forty, in the year called the 'Bi'that' year, he was informed that he was the Prophet. After this, he invited people to Islam for thirteen years in Mecca. Then he emigrated to Medina on the command of Allahu ta'ala. There he spread Islam everywhere. Ten years later, he passed away in Medina on Monday 12, Rabi' al-Awwal (July, 632)(12).
2. The second fundamental of Islam is "to perform the ritual prayer (namaz, salat) [five times a day in accordance with its conditions and fards] when the time for prayer comes." It is fard for every Muslim to perform salat five times every day after each time of salat starts and to know that he or she performs it in due time. Performing it before its time by adapting wrong calendars prepared by ignoramuses or non-madhhabite people is a grave sin and such a salat is not sahih. Such calendars also cause one to perform the initial sunnat salat of noon prayer and the fard salat of evening prayer in a makruh time. The ritual prayer has to be performed paying attention to its fards, wajibs and sunnas, submitting the heart to Allahu ta'ala and before the due time is over. In the Qur'an al-karim the ritual prayer is called 'salat'. Salat means man's praying, angel's doing istighfar, and Allahu ta'ala's having compassion and pitying. In Islam, salat means to do certain actions, to recite certain things as shown in 'ilm al-hal books. Salat is started with the words 'Allahu akbar,' called the 'takbir al-iftitah,' and said after raising the hands up to the ears till putting the hands under the navel (for men). It ends with the salam by turning the head to the right and left shoulders at the end of the last sitting posture.
3. The third fundamental of Islam is "to give the zakat of one's property." The literal meaning of zakat is 'purity, to praise, and become good and beautiful.' In Islam, zakat means 'for a person who has property of zakat more than he needs and at a certain amount called nisab to separate a certain amount of his property and to give it to Muslims named in the Qur'an al-karim without reproaching them.' Zakat is given to seven kinds of persons. There are four types of zakat in all of the four madhhabs: the zakat of gold and silver, the zakat of commercial goods, the zakat of the stock animals [sheep, goats and cattle] that graze in the fields for more than half a year, and the zakat of all kinds of substances of necessity issuing from the earth. This fourth type of zakat, called 'ushr, is given as soon as the crop is harvested. The other three are given one year after they reach the amount of nisab.
4. The fourth fundamental of Islam is "to fast every day of the month of Ramadan." Fasting is called 'sawm.' Sawm means to protect something against something else. In Islam, sawm means to protect oneself against three things [during the days] of the month of Ramadan, as they were commanded by Allahu ta'ala: eating, drinking and sexual intercourse. The month of Ramadan begins upon seeing the new moon in the sky. It may not begin at the time calculated in calendars.
5. The fifth fundamental of Islam is "for the able person to perform the hajj (pilgrimage) once in his life." For an able person who has money enough to go to and come back from the city of Mecca besides the property sufficient for the subsistence of his family he leaves behind until he comes back, it is fard to perform tawaf around the Kaba and to perform waqfa on the plain of 'Arafat, provided that the way will be safe and the body healthy, once in his lifetime.
"The person, upon hearing these answers from Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam), said, 'O Rasul-Allah! You told the truth.' Hadrat 'Umar (radi-Allahu 'anh) said that of the Prophet's Companions, the ones who were there were astonished at the behavior of this person who asked a question and confirmed that the answer was correct. One asks with a view to learn what one does not know, but to say, "You told the truth," indicates that one already knows it.
The highest of the five fundamentals listed above is to say the Kalimat ash-shahada and believe its meaning. The next highest is to perform salat. Next to this is to fast. Then comes the pilgrimage. The last one is to give zakat. It is unanimously certain that kalimat ash- shahada is the highest. About the sequence of the other four, most 'ulama' said the same as we said above. Kalimat ash-shahada became fard first, at the beginning of Islam. Salat five times a day became fard on the Miraj Night in the twelfth year of Bi'that, a year and some months before the Hegira. Fasting during Ramadan became fard in the month of Shaban, the second year of the Hegira. Giving zakat became fard in the month of Ramadan, in the same year when fasting became fard. And pilgrimage became fard in the ninth year of the Hegira.
If a person denies, disbelieves, refuses, makes fun of or if he does not respect one of these five fundamentals of Islam, he becomes a disbeliever, may Allah protect us! Similarly, he who does not accept any of the things which are unanimously and clearly declared as halal (permitted) or haram (forbidden), or he who says halal for haram or haram for halal becomes a disbeliever. If a person denies or dislikes one of the teachings known to be indispensable to Islam, that is, those that are heard and known even by the common people, he becomes a disbeliever. (13) If an ordinary person does not know the teachings that are not so commonly spread or indispensable so as to be known by him, he is not in disbelief (kufr) but sinful (fisq).
FOOTNOTES
(12) According to historians, the Prophet entered the cave at the Sawr Mountain towards evening on Thursday, 27 of Safar, 622 A.C., on his emigration from al-Makkat al-Mukarrama to al-Madinat al-Munawwara. He left the cave on Monday night and entered Quba, a quarter near Medina, on Monday, 8 of Rabi'al-awwal (20 of September, 622). The beginning of the Hijri Shamsi calendar adopted by the Shiites is six months before this. That is, the Nawruz festival of the Majusi disbelievers (fire worshippers) begins on March 20. This happy day became the beginning of Muslims' Hijri Shamsi calendar. On Thursday, day and night were equal, and he left Quba and entered Medina on Friday. The outset of the month of Muharram in the same year (Friday, 16th of June) was accepted as the beginning of Hijri Kamari calendar. The Hijri Shamsi year coinciding with any Western new year's day is 622 years less than that Western new year. And the Western year coinciding with any Hijri Shamsi year's day is 621 more than that Hijri Shamsi new year.
(13) For example, to eat pork, to have alcoholic drinks, to gamble; for a woman or girl to show herself to others with nothing to cover her head, hairs, arms and legs and; for a man to show himself to others without covering the part between the knees and the navel, are all haram. That is, Allahu ta'ala has forbidden these. The four madhhabs, which explain of the commands and prohibitions of Allahu ta'ala, drew separately the boundary of the private body surface, which man is forbidden to look at or to display, differently from one another. It is fard for every Muslim to cover those parts of the body as described by the madhhab he belongs to. Also, it is haram for others to look at those who have not covered these parts of their bodies. It is written in Kimya-yi Saadat that it is haram for women and girls to go out without covering their heads, hair, arms, legs, and it is also harem to go out with thin, ornamented, tight and perfume scented dresses. Their mothers, fathers, husbands and brothers who permit them to go out as such and who think that it is appropriate and who appreciate them will share their sins and torments; that is, they will burn in the Hell altogether. If they repent, they will be forgiven and will not be burned. Allahu-ta'ala likes those who repent. In the third year of the Hegira, girls and women who have reached the age of puberty were ordered not to be seen by namahram men, but to cover themselves.
One should not be deceived by the false assertions of the British spies and of those ignoramuses who have been trapped by them who say that there was no covering before the coming of the ayat of hijab and who say that fiqh scholars have fabricated the order for covering later.
Lying, gossip, backbiting, slander, theft, cheating, treachery, hurting someone's feelings, mischief-making, using someone's property without permission, not paying a laborer or porter's due, rebellion, that is, opposing the laws and the government's orders, and not paying taxes are sins, too. Committing them against disbelievers or in non-Muslim countries is also haram.
Iman and Islam are the same. In both, one is to believe the meaning of the Kalimat ash-shahada. Though they differ in general and in particular, and have different literal meanings, there is no difference between them in Islam.
Is iman one thing, or is it a combination of parts? If it is a combination, how many parts is it made of? Are deeds or 'ibadat included in iman or not? While saying, "I have iman," is it right to add "insha- Allah" or not? Is there littleness or muchness in iman? Is iman a creature? Is it within one's power to believe, or have the believers believed under compulsion? If there is force or compulsion in believing, why was everybody ordered to believe? It would take a long time to explain all these one by one. Therefore, I will not answer them separately here. But it should be known thus far that, according to the Ashari madhhab and the Mutazila, it is not jaiz (probable) for Allahu ta'ala to command us to do something that is not possible. And according to the Mutazila, it is not jaiz for Allahu ta'ala to order something which is possible but which is not within man's power. According to the Ashari, it is jaiz, yet He has not ordered it. To order people to fly in the air is of this sort. Neither in iman nor in 'ibadat did Allahu ta'ala order His creatures to do what they would not be able to do. For this reason, a person who goes mad or becomes ghafil (forgetful, oblivious), or sleeps or dies while he is Muslim is still Muslim, though he is not in a state of confirmation.
We should not think of the literal meaning of 'iman' in this hadith ash-Sharif, for, there was not one ordinary man in Arabia who did not know its literal meaning: 'considering truthful, belief.' Certainly the Sahabat al-kiram (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum ajmain) knew it, too, but Jabrail ('alaihi 's-salam) wanted to teach the meaning of iman to the Sahabat al-kiram by asking what iman meant in Islam. And Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) said that iman was to believe in six certain facts:
Allah Ta'ala
BELIEF IN ALLAH (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala)
The first of these six facts is that Allahu ta'ala is the Wajib al-wujud and the Real Mabud (the One Worshipped) and the Creator of all creatures. It should be believed for certain that He alone creates everything [every substance, atoms, elements, molecules, compounds, organic substances, cells, life, death, every event, every reaction, all kinds of power and sorts of energy, movements, laws, spirits, angels and every being living or lifeless out of nothing, and He makes them all survive] in both this and the next worlds without material, time or similarity out of nonexistence. As He created all creatures in the universe [in one moment while they had been nonexistent], so He [creates some of them from one another, and, when the time for Doomsday comes, in one moment He] will annihilate everything. He is the Creator, Owner, Absolute Ruler of all creatures. It has to be believed and acknowledged that there is nobody to dominate Him, to command Him or to be superior to Him. Every type of superiority, every attribute of perfection, belongs to Him only. No defect, no deficient attribute exists in Him. He is able to do what He wills. What he does is not intended to be useful to Him or to others. He does not do something for a reward. In everything He does, however, there are hidden causes (hikma), uses, blessings and favors.
Allahu ta'ala does not have to do what is good and useful for His creatures, nor does He have to reward some people or torture some others. It would befit His superiority and benevolence if He would bring all the sinners to Paradise. And it would become His justice if He would put all of those who obey and worship Him into Hell. Yet He decreed and declared that He would put Muslims, those who worship Him, into Paradise and grant them favors, and that He would eternally torture disbelievers in Hell. He does not go back on His word. It would be of no use for Him if all the living creatures believed and worshipped Him, nor would it give Him any harm if all creatures became disbelievers, became excessive or disobeyed Him. If man wishes to do something, He creates it if He wills, too. He alone is the One who creates every action of His human creatures and all things. If He does not will or create, nothing can move. If He does not wish, no one can become a disbeliever or can revolt. He creates disbelief and sins, yet He does not like them. No one can interfere with His works. No one has the strength or the right to ask the reason why He has done this or that or to comment on how He must do. He will forgive, if He wills, a person who has committed any great sin and has died without repentance, except if it is polytheism or disbelief. He will torture him, if He wills, for just a little sin. He declared that he would never forgive disbelievers and apostates and that He would torture them eternally.
He will torture in Hell those Muslims who worship Him yet whose faith (itiqad) is not compatible with the faith of the Ahl as-Sunnat and who die without repentance. Yet such Muslim people of heresy (bidat) will not remain in Hell eternally.
It is possible (jaiz) to see Allahu ta'ala with the eyes in this world, but no one ever has. On the Day of Judgement He will be seen by disbelievers and sinful Muslims in His Wrath and Glory, and by pious Muslims in His Kindness and Beauty. Angels and women, too, will see Him. Disbelievers will be deprived of this. There is a sound report conveying that genies also will be deprived of this. According to the majority of the 'ulama', "Muslims whom Allahu ta'ala loves will be honored with seeing His Beauty every morning and every evening; Muslims of low degree will be honored every Friday, and women a few times in a year, like festivals in this world."(14) It should be believed that Allahu ta'ala will be seen. Yet we should not wonder how this will happen; His works cannot be comprehended through intellect ('aql). They are not like worldly affairs. [They cannot be measured with physical or chemical criteria.] Such concepts as direction, being opposite or being toward something have no connection with Allahu ta'ala. He is not material. He is not an object, [nor is He an element, an alloy or a compound]. He is not countable, He cannot be measured, nor can he be calculated. No change takes place in Him. He is not at a place. He is not with time. He does not have a past or a future, front or back, bottom or top, right or left. Therefore, nothing of Him can human reasoning comprehend, nor does human intellect or knowledge suffice to do this. So, man cannot comprehend how He will be seen. Though such words as hand, foot, direction, place and the like, which are not suitable for Allahu ta'ala, exist in ayats and hadiths, they are not used in the sense that we know and use today. Such ayats and hadiths are called muttashabihat. We have to believe them, but we should not attempt to understand what or how they are. Or they can be explained away (tawil) briefly or in detail; that is, they can be given the meanings suitable for Allahu ta'ala. For example, the word hand may be interpreted as power or energy.
Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) saw Allahu ta'ala during the Miraj. But this seeing was not with the eyes, like seeing in this world. A person who says that he has seen Allahu ta'ala in this world is a zindiq. The observation of awliya' is unlike seeing in this world or seeing in the next world. In other words, it is not ru'ya (seeing) but Shuhud that occurs on them [that is, they see the examples (mithals) through the eyes of their hearts]. Some awliya' said that they saw. However, they mistook the Shuhud they experienced while in sakr, that is, when they were unconscious, for ru'ya. Or these words of theirs are to be explained away.
Question: "It is said above that it is possible (jaiz) to see Allahu ta'ala with the eyes in this world. Then why should a person who says something happened which is possible be a zindiq? If a person who says so becomes a disbeliever, can it be said to be possible?"
Answer: In its literal meaning 'jaiz' means 'possible to happen or not.' But to the madhhab of al-Ashari [Abu 'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Ismail, passed away in Baghdad in 330 (941 A.D.)] the possibility of ru'ya means that Allahu ta'ala is capable of creating in man quite a different sense for seeing in this world, different from seeing closely or face to face with Him, and different from seeing through the physical laws He created in this world. For example, He is able, so it is possible, to show a mosquito in Andalusia to a blind man in China, and anything on the moon or on a star to a man on the earth. Such a power is peculiar to Allahu ta'ala only. Furthermore, to say, "I saw in this world," is incompatible with the ayat al-karima and with the consensus of the 'ulama'. Therefore, he who says such a word is a mulhid or a zindiq. Thirdly, the phrase "it is possible to see Allahu ta'ala in this world" does not mean "it is possible to see Him on the earth within the physical laws." Whereas, a person who says he saw Allahu ta'ala means that he saw Him as he sees other things; this is a seeing which is not possible (jaiz). A person who says words that cause disbelief is called a mulhid or a zindiq.(15) [After these answers, Hadrat Mawlana Khalid stated, "Be careful!" Thus he directs attention to the soundness of the second answer.]
The elapse of time, day or night, cannot be related to Allahu ta'ala. There can be no change in Him in any respect, nor can it be said that He was in this manner in the past or He will be like that in the future. He does not penetrate (hulul) into anything. He does not unite with anything. He never has an opposite, reverse, likeness, partner, assistant or guide. He does not have a father, mother, son, daughter or wife. He is always present with everybody, surrounds and overlooks everything. To everyone He is closer than the big artery in one's neck. However, His surrounding us, His presence or togetherness or closeness, is not like what we understand from these words. His closeness cannot be comprehended with the knowledge of 'ulama', with the intellect of scientists or with the kashf or Shuhud of awliya'. Human reason cannot understand their inner meanings. Allahu ta'ala is unique in His Person and in His Attributes. No change or differentiation takes place in any of them.
Allahu ta'ala's Names are tawqifi, that is, it is permissible to use His Names shown by Islam and not permissible to use other words.(16) Allahu ta'ala's Names are infinite. It is well-known that He has one thousand and one names; that is, He revealed one thousand and one names of His to human beings. In the religion of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), ninety-nine of them, called "al-Asma' al-husna," were revealed.
The Sifat ath-Thubutiyya of Allahu ta'ala (17) are eight in the Maturidiyya madhhab and seven in the Ashariyya madhhab. These attributes of His are eternal and everlasting like His Person; that is, they exist eternally. They are sacred. They are not like the attributes of creatures. They cannot be comprehended through reasoning or assumption or by comparing them with the things in the world. Allahu ta'ala has endowed upon human beings an example of each of His Attributes. Seeing these examples, the Attributes of Allahu ta'ala can be understood to a small extent.
Since man cannot comprehend Allahu ta'ala it is not permissible to think of or to attempt to comprehend Allahu ta'ala. The eight attributes of Allahu ta'ala are neither the same as nor other than His Person; that is, His Attributes do not make up His Person, nor are they other than He. These eight attributes are: Hayat (Life), Ilm (Omniscience), Sam (Hearing), Basar (Seeing), Qudra (Omnipotence), Kalam (Speech, Word), Irada (Will) and Takwin (Creativeness). In the Ashariyya madhhab, Takwin and Qudra make up the same attribute. Mashiyya and Irada are synonymous.
Each of the eight attributes of Allahu ta'ala is unique and in a uniform state. No change occurs in any of them. But each of them varies in its related quality in creatures. That an attribute of His varies in its relation to creatures and in affecting them does not harm its uniqueness. Similarly, even though Allahu ta'ala has created so many kinds of creatures and is protecting all of them against annihilation, He is still one. No change ever occurs in Him. Every creature needs Him every moment in every respect. He does not need anybody in any respect.
FOOTNOTES
(14) Hadrat Shaikh 'Abd al-Haqq ad-Dahlawi [Passed away in Delhi in 1052 (1642 A.D.)] wrote in his Persian work Takmil al-iman: "A hadith ash-Sharif says, 'You will see your Rabb on the Day of Judgement as you see the [full] moon on the fourteenth [of the month].' As Allahu ta'ala is known incomprehensibly in this world, so He will be seen incomprehensibly in the hereafter. Great scholars such as Abul-Hasan al-Ashari and al-Imam as-Suyuti and al-Imam al-Baihaki said that also angels were going to see Allahu ta'ala in Paradise. Al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa and some other scholars said that genies did not earn thawab and would not enter Paradise and that only faithful genies would escape Hell. Women will see Allahu ta'ala a few times in a year like festivals in this world. Perfect (kamil) believers will see Him every morning and evening while other believers will see Him on Fridays. To this humble person myself, this good news covers the faithful women and angels and genies, too; it would be proper that the perfect and 'arif women such as Fatima az-Zahra, Khadijat al-Kubra, Aisha as-Siddiqa and other Pure Wives [of the Prophet] and Hadrat Mariam and Hadrat Asiya be given special treatment. Al-Imam as-Suyuti, too, meant this."
(15) The mulhid or zindiq says that he is Muslim. The mulhid is sincere in his words; he believes that he is Muslim and is on the right path. However, the zindiq is an enemy of Islam. He feigns being Muslim in order to harm Islam from within and to deceive Muslims.
(16) For instance, Allahu ta'ala may be called "Alim" (the 'Omniscient'), but we cannot use 'faqih' which also means 'Alim' (scholar, one trained in Islamic sciences), for Islam does not use 'faqih' for Allahu ta'ala. Likewise, it is not permissible to say 'God' instead of Allah, because 'god' means 'idol'; "Ox is the god of Hindus," is said, for example. It is permissible to say, "Allah is one; there is no god but He." Words like Dieu (French) and Gott (German) can be used for god or idol, but not for Allah.
(17) See the footnote on page 11 for the Sifat adh-Dhatiyya, which are six.
Angels
Belief in angels has to be as follows: angels are the creatures of Allahu ta'ala. They are not His partners, nor are they His daughters as disbelievers and polytheists supposed. Allahu ta'ala loves all angels. They obey His commands and never commit sins or disobey the commands. They are neither male nor female. They do not get married. They do not have children. They have life; that is, they are alive. Though, according to a narration traced back to Hadrat 'Abdullah ibn Masud (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), some angels had children among which the Satan and genies were counted; the tawil of it has been written in books in detail. When Allahu ta'ala announced that He was going to create human beings, angels asked, "Oh Allah! Are You going to create those creatures who will corrupt the world and shed blood?" Such questions, called dhalla, from angels do not harm their impeccability.
Of all creatures, angels are the most plentiful. No one but Allahu ta'ala knows their number. There is no empty space in the skies where angels do not worship. Every place in the skies is occupied by angels in ruku' (bowing during salat) or in sajda (prostrating). In the skies, on the earth, in grass, on stars, in every living and lifeless creature, in every rain-drop, plant leaf, atom, molecule, in every reaction, motion, in everything, angels have duties. They carry out Allahu ta'ala's commands everywhere. They are intermediaries between Allahu ta'ala and creatures. Some of them are the commanders of other angels. Some of them brought messages to the prophets among human beings. Some angels bring good thoughts, called "ilham" (inspiration), to the human heart. Some others are unaware of all human beings and creatures and have lost consciousness upon feeling Allahu ta'ala's Beauty. Each of these angels stays in a certain place and cannot leave its place. Some angels have two wings and some four or more.(18) Angels belonging in Paradise stay in Paradise. Their superior is Ridwan. Angels of Hell, zabanis, carry out in Hell what they are commanded. The fire of Hell does not harm them, as the sea is not harmful to fish. There are nineteen leading zabanis. Their chief is Malik.
For each human being, there are four angels who record all the good and bad actions. Two of them come at night and the other two come during the day. They are called "kiraman katibin" or angels of "hafaza". It was also said that the angels of hafaza were different from the kiraman katibin. The angel on one's right side is superior to the one on the left and records the good deeds. The one on the left writes down the evil deeds. There are angels who will torture disbelievers and disobedient Muslims in their graves, and angels who will ask questions in graves. The questioning angels are called "munkar" and "nakir". Those who will question Muslims are also called "mubashshir" and "bashhir". Angels have superiority to one another. The most superior angels are the four archangels. The first of them is Jabrail ('alaihi 's-salam). His duty was to bring wahi to prophets, to inform them of the orders and prohibitions. The second one is Israfil ('alaihi 's-salam), who will sound the last trump called 'Sur'. He will sound the Sur twice. At the first sound every living being but Allahu ta'ala will die. At the second sound all will be resuscitated. The third one is Mikail ('alaihi 's- salam). It is his duty to make up cheapness, expensiveness, scarcity, abundance [economic order, to bring comfort and ease] and to move every object. The fourth one is 'Azrail ('alaihi 's-salam), who takes the souls [jan, Persian for Arabic 'ruh'] of human beings. After these four, there are four superior classes of angels: four angels of hamalat al-'Arsh, who will be eight on the Resurrection; angels in Divine Presence, called muqarrabun; leaders of torturing angels, called karubiyun; and angels of Mercy, named ruhaniyun. All these higher angels are also higher than all human beings except prophets ('alaihimu 's-salawatu wa 't-taslimat). The sulaha' and awliya' among Muslims are higher than common or lower angels. And common angels are superior to common, that is, disobedient, sinful Muslims. Disbelievers, however, are lower than all creatures.
At the first sound of the Sur, all angels except hamalat al-'Arsh and the four archangels will be annihilated. Then hamalat al-'Arsh and then the four archangels will be annihilated. At the second sound all angels will come back to life. Hamalat al-'Arsh and the four angels will rise just before the second sound of the Sur. That is, these angels will be annihilated after all the living creatures, as they had been created before all.
FOOTNOTE
(18) As the wings of each kind of fowl, or those of an aeroplane, are of their own structure and are different from the wings of each other kind, so angels' wings have their own structure. When we hear the name of something which we have not seen or do not know, we presume that it is like the things we know and thus we are mistaken. We believe angels have wings, but we do not know how they are. Pictures of winged women in churches, publications or movies, which are regarded as angels, are all false. Muslims do not make such pictures. We should not regard these unrealistic pictures drawn by non-Muslims as true, and we should not believe our enemies.
Books
All the books sent down by Allahu ta'ala are just and right. There is no lie or fault in them. Though He said He would punish and torture, it was said that it was possible (jaiz) that He would forgive; this depends on His Will or on conditions which man could not know, or it is meant that He would forgive the punishment which Muslims deserve. Since the words 'punishment' and 'torture' do not narrate an event, it would not be a lie if He forgives. Or, though it is not jaiz that He would not give the rewards which He promised, it is jaiz that He would forgive the punishments. Reason, laws of human beings and ayats prove us right.
It is necessary to interpret ayats and hadiths in their literal meanings, unless there is a risk or an inconvenience. It is not permissible to give other meanings similar to their literal meanings.(19) The ayats called muttashabihat have unintelligible, occult meanings. Only Allahu ta'ala knows and very few distinguished superiors who have been granted al-'ilm al-ladunni understand their meanings as far as they are allowed. No one else can understand them. For this reason, we should believe that ayats of mutashabihat are of the Word of Allahu ta'ala, and we should not investigate their meanings. The scholars in the Ashari madhhab said that is was permissible to explain away (tawil) such ayats briefly or in detail. 'Tawil' means 'choosing, from among the several meanings of a word, the one which is not common.' For example, about the ayat, "The Hand of Allah is superior to theirs," which is the Word of Allahu ta'ala, we should say, "I believe whatever Allahu ta'ala means by this." It is the best to say, "I cannot understand its meaning. Only Allahu ta'ala knows." Or we must say, "Allahu ta'ala's knowledge is unlike our knowledge. His Will is not like our will. Similarly, Allahu ta'ala's Hand is not like the hands of His human creatures."
In the books which Allahu ta'ala revealed, either the pronunciations or the meanings of some ayats, or both, were changed (naskh) by Him. The Qur'an al-karim replaced all the books and abolished the validity of their rules. There will never be any mistakes, additions, forgotten or missing points in Qur'an al-karim until the end of the world, nor will it be forgotten. All knowledge of the past and the future exist in the Qur'an al-karim. For this reason, it is higher and more valuable than all the Books. The greatest mujiza of Rasulullah (sall- Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) is the Qur'an al- karim. If all human beings and genies would assemble and try to say something similar to the shortest sura of the Qur'an al-karim, they would not be able to do it. In fact, the eloquent, literary poets of Arabia assembled and strove very hard, but they could not say something like three short ayats. They could not stand against the Qur'an al-karim. They were stupefied. Allahu ta'ala makes the enemies of Islam incapable and defeated in front of the Qur'an al-karim. The eloquence of the Qur'an al-karim is above human power. Human beings are incapable of saying as it says. The ayats in the Qur'an al-karim are unlike the poetry, prose or rhymed verse of human beings. Nevertheless, it was said in the letters of the language spoken by the literary, eloquent men of Arabia.
One hundred and four of the heavenly books were revealed to us: it is well-known that ten suhuf (pl. of sahifa, little book) were revealed to Adam ('alaihi 's-salam), fifty suhuf to Shis (Sheet) ('alaihi's- salam), thirty suhuf to Idris ('alaihi 's-salam) and ten suhuf to Ibrahim ('alaihi 's-salam); the Tawrat (Torah) was revealed to Musa (Moses) ('alaihi 's- salam), the Zabur (the original Psalms) to Dawud ('alaihi 's-salam), the Injil (Latin 'Evangelium') to 'Isa (Jesus) ('alaihi 's-salam) and the Qur'an al-karim to Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam).
When a person wants to give an order, to forbid something, to ask something or to give some news, first he thinks about and prepares it in his mind. These meanings in mind are called "kalam nafsi," which cannot be said to be Arabic, Persian or English. Their being expressed in various languages does not cause these meanings to change. Words expressing these meanings are called "kalam Lafzi." Kalam Lafzi can be said in different languages. So, kalam nafsi of a person is a pure, unchangeable, distinct attribute that exists in its possessor like other attributes such as knowledge, will, discernment, etc., and kalam Lafzi is a group of letters that express kalam nafsi and that come out of the mouth of the person uttering them and that come to the ear. Thus, the Word of Allahu ta'ala is the eternal, everlasting, non-silent and non-creature Word existent with His Person. It is an attribute distinct from the as-Sifat adh-Dhatiyya and from as-Sifat ath-Thubutiyya of Allahu ta'ala, such as Knowledge and Will.
The attribute Kalam (Speech, Word) never changes and is pure. It is not in letters or sounds. It cannot be differentiated or classified as command, prohibition, narration or as Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Turkish or Syriac. It does not take such forms. It cannot be written. It does not need such apparatuses or media as intelligence, ear or tongue. Nevertheless, it can be understood through them as a being distinct from all beings we know; it can be told in any language wished. Thus, if it is told in Arabic it is called the Qur'an al-karim. If it is told in Hebrew it is the Tawrat. If it is told in Syriac it is the Injil. [The book Sharh al-maqasid (20) writes that if it is told in Greek it is the Injil and if it is told in Syriac it is the Zabur.]
Al-Kalam al-ilahiyya (the Divine Word) tells various subjects; if it narrates the events that happened or that will happen, it is called khabar (narration); if not so, it is called insha.' If it points out the things that should be done, it is called amr (command). If it points out prohibitions, it is nahi (prohibition). But no change or increase occurs in al-Kalam al-ilahiyya. Each book or each page revealed is a sheet of the Word of Allahu ta'ala; that is, they are of al-Kalam an-nafsi of His. When it is in Arabic it is called the Qur'an al-karim. The wahi revealed in poetry and that can be written and said and heard and kept in mind is called al-Kalam al-Lafzi or the Qur'an al-karim. Since al-Kalam al-Lafzi denotes al-Kalam an-nafsi, it is permissible to call it al-Kalam al-ilahiyya or the Divine Attribute. Though this Word is of one sort, it can be divided and broken into parts with respect to persons. As the whole of it is called the Qur'an al-karim, so its parts are called the Qur'an al-karim.
The 'ulama' of the right path unanimously say that al-Kalam an-nafsi is not a creature but it is Qadim (eternal). There is no unanimity on whether al-Kalam al-Lafzi is hadith or Qadim. Some who regarded al-Kalam al-Lafzi as hadith said that it was better not to say that it is hadith for it might be misunderstood and come to mean that al-Kalam an-nafsi is hadith. This is the best comment about it. When the human mind hears something that denotes something else, it simultaneously remembers the denoted thing. When one of the 'ulama' of the right path is heard to have said that the Qur'an al-karim was hadith, we must understand that he referred to sounds and words which we read with our mouth. The 'ulama' of the right path have unanimously said that both al-Kalam an-nafsi and al-Kalam al-Lafzi are the Word of Allahu ta'ala. Though some 'ulama' considered this word metaphoric, they all agreed that it was the Divine Word. That al-Kalam an-nafsi is the Word of Allahu ta'ala means that it is Allahu ta'ala's Attribute of Speech, and that al-Kalam al-Lafzi is the Word of Allahu ta'ala means that it is created by Allahu ta'ala.
Question: "From the preceding writing it is understood that the eternal Word of Allahu ta'ala cannot be heard. The one who says, 'I heard the Word of Allah,' means 'I heard the sounds and words uttered' or 'I understood the eternal al-Kalam an-nafsi through these words.' All prophets, even everybody, can hear it in both of these two manners. What is the reason for distinguishing Musa ('alaihi 's-salam) as Kalim-Allah (one to whom Allahu ta'ala spoke)?"
Answer: Musa ('alaihi 's-salam) heard the Eternal Word without letters or sounds, in a way different from al-'Adat al-ilahiyya (the Divine Custom; the law of causation). He heard it in a manner that cannot be explained, as Allahu ta'ala will be seen in Paradise in an unintelligible and unexplainable manner. Nobody else heard it in this manner. Or, he heard the Word of Allahu ta'ala in sounds not only through his ears but also through every particle of his body, from every direction. Or, he heard it only from the direction of the tree, yet not in sounds or with the vibration of air or with other means. Because he heard it in one of these three conditions, he was honored with the name 'Kalim-Allah'. Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) also heard the Divine Word in this manner on the Miraj Night. So was the hearing of Jabrail ('alaihi 's-salam) as he received wahi.
FOOTNOTES
(19) The Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif are in the Quraish language and dialect. But the words should be given the meanings used in the Hijaz thirteen hundred years ago. It is not correct to translate them by giving them contemporary meanings, which are the results of the changes over centuries.
(20) By Sad ad-din at-Taftazani, who passed away in Samarqand in 792 A.H.. (1389).
Prophets
BELIEF IN PROPHETS
4. The fourth of the six fundamentals of iman is "to believe in Allahu ta'ala's prophets," who were sent to make people attain the way He likes and to guide them to the right path. Literally 'rusul' (pl. of Rasul) were the 'people sent, messengers.' In Islam, 'Rasul' means 'noble, respectable person whose nature, character, knowledge and intellect are higher than those of all the people of his time, having no bad trait in his character and no disliked manner.' Prophets had the quality 'Isma, that is, they did not commit any grave or small sin before or after they were informed of their nubuwwa (prophethood, prophetship).(21) After they were informed of their nubuwwa and until their nubuwwa was known and spread out, they did not have such defects as blindness, deafness or the like. It has to be believed that every prophet had seven peculiarities: Amana (trustworthiness), Sidq (devotion), Tabligh (communication), Adala (justness), 'Isma (purity), Fatana (super-intelligence) and Amn al-'azl (security against dismissal from nubuwwa).
A prophet who brought a new faith is called a "Rasul" (messenger). A prophet who did not bring a new faith but invited people to the previous faith is called a "nabi" (prophet).(22) In the communication (tabligh) of commands and in calling the people to Allahu ta'ala's religion, there is no difference between a Rasul and a nabi. We have to believe that all prophets, without exception, were devoted and truthful. He who does not believe in one of them is regarded as not believing in any.
Nubuwwa cannot be attained by working hard, by suffering hunger or discomfort, or by praying very much. It is possessed only with Allahu ta'ala's favor and selection. Religions were sent through the mediation of prophets in order that people's affairs might be useful in this world and the next, and in order to prevent them from harmful acts and make them attain salvation, guidance, ease and happiness. Though they had many enemies and were mocked and treated harshly, prophets did not fear the enemies and showed no hesitation in communicating to people Allahu ta'ala's commands about the facts to be believed and the things to be done. Allahu ta'ala strengthened His prophets with mujizas to show that they were devoted and truthful. No one could stand against their mujizas. The community of a prophet is called his umma. On the Day of Judgement, prophets will be permitted to intercede for their ummas, especially for the ones who are gravely sinful, and their intercession will be accepted. Allahu ta'ala will permit also the 'ulama', sulaha' and awliya' among their ummas to intercede, and their intercession will be accepted. Prophets ('alaihimu 's-salawatu wa 't-taslimat) are alive in their graves in a life we cannot know; earth does not cause their blessed bodies to rot. For this reason, it was said in a hadith ash-Sharif, "Prophets perform salat and hajj in their graves."(23)
While the blessed eyes of a prophet slept, the eyes of this heart did not sleep. All prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam) were equal in doing their duties as prophets and in possessing the excellences of nubuwwa. The above-mentioned seven peculiarities existed in all of them. Prophets were never dismissed from nubuwwa. The awliya', however, may be deprived of wilaya. Prophets were human beings but not genies or angels, who could never be prophets for human beings or attain the degree of a prophet. Prophets had superiority to and honors above one another. For example, because his umma and the countries he was sent to were larger and because his knowledge and marifa spread in a vaster area and because his miracles were more plentiful and continual and because there were special blessings and favors for him, the Prophet of the Last Age, Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), was higher than all other prophets. The prophets called Ulu'l'azm were higher than the others. The Rasuls were higher than the nabis who were not Rasuls.
The number of prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam) is not known. It is well known that they were more than 124,000. Among them, 313 or 315 were Rasuls; the six higher Rasuls among them, called Ulu'l'azm, were: Adam, Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), 'Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad Mustafa ('alaihimu 's- salatu wa 's-salam).
The following thirty-three prophets are well-known: Adam, Idris, Sheet (or Shis), Nuh, hud, Salih, Ibrahim, Lut, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub, Yusuf, Ayyub, Shu'aib, Musa, Harun, Khidir, Yusha' ibn noon, Ilyas, Alyasa', Dhu 'l-kifl, Sham'un, Ishmoil, Yunus ibn Mata, Dawud, Sulaiman, Luqman, Zakariyya, Yahya, 'Uzair, 'Isa ibn Mariam, Dhu 'l-qarnain and Muhammad ('alaihimu 's-salatu wa 's-salam).
Only the names of twenty-eight of them are written in the Qur'an al-karim. Sheet, Khidir, Yusha', Sham'un and Ishmoil are not written. Among the twenty-eight, it is not certain whether Dhu 'l-qarnain, Luqman and 'Uzair were prophets or not. Dhu 'l-kifl ('alaihi 's-salam) was also called Harqil, who was also said to be Ilyas, Idris or Zakariyya. Ibrahim ('alaihi 's-salam) was Khalil- Allah, because there was no love for creature but only for Allahu ta'ala in his heart. Musa ('alaihi 's-salam) was Kalim-Allah, because he spoke with Allahu ta'ala. Isa ('alaihi 's-salam) was Kalimat- Allah, for he did not have a father and was born only upon al-Kalimat al-ilahiyya (the Divine Word) 'Be!' Furthermore, he preached Allahu ta'ala's words, which were full of Divine Wisdom, and communicated them to the ears of people. Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), who was the reason for the creation of all creatures and the highest, the most prominent, the most honorable of mankind, was and is Habib-Allah (Allahu ta'ala's Darling). There were many evidences proving his greatness and superiority and that he was Habib-Allah. For this reason, such words as 'was overcome' or 'was defeated' cannot be said about him. At Resurrection, he will get up from his grave before everybody. He will go to the place of Judgement first. He will go to Paradise before everybody. Though the beautiful traits in his character cannot be concluded by counting, nor would human energy suffice to count them, we will ornament our book by writing down some of them:
One of his miracles was his ascent to the Miraj: while he was in bed in al-Makkat al-Mukarrama, he was awaken and his blessed body was taken to the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (Quds), thence to the heavens, and after the seventh heaven, to the places which Allahu ta'ala determined. We have to believe in the Miraj in this manner.(24) How the Miraj happened is written in detail in many valuable books, particularly in Shifa'-i Sharif.(25) He went with Jabrail ('alaihi's-salam) from Mecca to Sidrat al-muntaha, a tree in the sixth and seventh heavens. No knowledge, no ascent could go further than there. In Sidra, Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) saw Jabrail ('alaihi 's-salam) in his own shape with his six hundred wings. Jabrail ('alaihi 's-salam) remained in Sidra. From Mecca to Jerusalem, or to the seventh heaven, Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) was taken on Buraq, which was a white, very fast, sexless and unworldly animal of Paradise and which is smaller than a mule and bigger than an ass. It stepped beyond eyeshot. At the Aqsa Mosque, Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) became the imam for prophets in the night or morning prayer. Prophets' souls were present there in their own human figures. From Jerusalem up to the seventh sky, he was made to ascend in a moment with an unknown ladder named Miraj. On the way, angels lined up on the right and on the left, praised and lauded him. At each heaven, Jabrail ('alaihi 's-salam) announced the good news of Rasulullah's ('alaihi 's-salam) arrival. In each heaven he saw a prophet and greeted him. In Sidra, he saw many astonishing things, the blessings of Paradise and the tortures of Hell. He looked at none of the blessings of Paradise out of the desire for and the pleasure of seeing Allahu ta'ala's Jamal. Beyond Sidra, he went ahead alone, among nurs (lights). He heard the sounds of the angels' pens. He went through seventy thousand curtains. The distance between two curtains was like a way of five hundred years. After this, on a bed named Rafraf, which was brighter than the sun, he went through the Kursi and reached the 'Arsh. He went out of the 'Arsh, out of the worlds of time, space and matter. He reached the stage to hear Allahu ta'ala's Speech. He saw Allahu ta'ala in a manner that cannot be understood or explained, like Allahu ta'ala will be seen in the next world without time and space. He spoke with Allahu ta'ala without letters and sounds. He glorified, praised and lauded Him. He was given innumerable gifts and honors. Fifty times of performance of salat in a day were made fard for him and for his umma, but this was gradually reduced to five times a day with the mediation of Musa ('alaihi 's-salam). Before this, salat had been performed only in the mornings and in the afternoons or at nights. After such a long journey, having attained gifts and blessings and having seen and heard so many bewildering things, he came back to his bed, which had not become cold yet. What we have written above was understood partly from ayats and partly from hadiths. It is not wajib to believe all. Yet, since the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat communicated them, those who deny these facts will be separated from Ahl as-sunnat. And he who does not believe an ayat or a hadith becomes a disbeliever.
Let us cite some of the innumerable evidences showing that Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is the Most Superior (Sayyid al-Anbiya') of prophets ('alaihimu 's- salawatu wa 't-taslimat).
On the Day of Judgement all prophets will shelter in the shade of his banner. Allahu ta'ala commanded all prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam) that, if they would remain alive till the time of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), who, among creatures, was His Darling Elect, they should believe him and be his assistant. Also, all prophets ordered their ummas the same in their last requests.
Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) was the Khatam al- anbiya' (the Last Prophet), that is, no prophet will succeed him. His blessed soul was created before all prophets.' The status of nubuwwa was given first to him. Nubuwwa was completed with his honoring the world. Towards the end of the world, during the time of Hadrat al-Mahdi, 'Isa (alaihi 's-salam) will descend from the sky to Damascus and belong to Muhammad's ('alaihi 's-salam) umma and preach Islam on the earth.(26)
Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is the highest of prophets and is Allahu ta'ala's compassion for all creatures. 18,000 'alams (worlds of beings) received benefit from his ocean of blessings. By the consensus [of the 'ulama'], he is the Prophet for all human beings and genies. Many [scholars] said he was the Prophet for angels, plants, animals and for every substance. While other prophets had been sent to certain tribes in certain countries, Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) was and is the Prophet of all worlds and all the living and lifeless creatures. Allahu ta'ala had addressed other prophets by their names. As for Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), He favored him by addressing him, "Oh My Prophet (Rasul)!" The like of every miracle that had been granted to every prophet was presented to him.
Allahu ta'ala bestowed upon His Beloved Prophet more gifts and granted him more miracles than He had done to any other prophet of His. He was made superior to all prophets with countless honors and excellences: the moon split into two when he made a sign with his blessed finger; the stones in his palm uttered the Name of Allah; trees greeted him by saying, "O Rasulullah"; the dry log named Hannana cried because Rasulullah ('alaihi 's- salam) departed from its side and left it alone; pure water flowed down through his blessed fingers; the high grades of al-Maqam al-Mahmud, ash-Shafaat al-kubra, al-Hawd al-Kawthar, al-Wasila and al-Fadila were said to be given to him in the next world; he had the honor of seeing Allahu ta'ala's Jamal before entering Paradise; he had the greatest moral quality in the world, the most perfect faith, knowledge, gentleness, patience, gratitude, zuhd (devotion, asceticism), chastity, justness, heroism, bashfulness, bravery, modesty, wisdom, beautiful manners, helpfulness, mercy and inexhaustible honors and honorable traits. No one but Allahu ta'ala knows the number of miracles given to him. His religion abrogated all other religions. His religion was the best and highest of all the religions. His umma is higher than all other ummas. The awliya' of his umma are more honorable than the awliya' of other ummas.
Among the awliya' of the umma of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), the one who deserved to be his Khalifa (caliph) was Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (radi- Allahu ta'ala 'anh), who was loved most by the awliya' and imams and was more suited for the caliphate than others. After prophets, he is the highest and the most auspicious of all human beings that have come and that will come. He was the first to attain the status and honor of caliphate. With the favors and blessings of Allahu ta'ala, he had not worshipped idols before Islam commenced. He had been protected against the defects of disbelief and heresy.(27)
After him, the highest of human beings is the second Khalifa 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), whom Allahu ta'ala chose as a friend to His Beloved Prophet.
After him the highest of human beings is the third Khalifa of Rasulullah ('alaihi's-salam), Dhu'n- Nurain 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), the treasure of favors and blessings and the source of modesty, faith and spiritual knowledge.
After him, the most auspicious of human beings is the fourth Khalifa of Rasulullah ('alaihi's -salam), 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), the possessor of astonishing superiorities and the Lion of Allahu ta'ala.
Hadrat Hasan ibn 'Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum)(28) became the Khalifa after him. The thirty years of caliphate mentioned in the hadith ash-Sharif was completed with him. After him, the highest human being is Hadrat Husain ibn 'Ali(radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum), the light of Rasulullah's ('alaihi's-salam) eyes.
These superiorities were based on their having earned more thawab; abandoned their country and their beloved ones for the sake of Islam; being Muslims before others; adapted themselves to Rasulullah ('alaihi's-salam) to the highest extent; given themselves up to his sunnat; struggled in spreading his religion; and prevented disbelief, fitna and corruption.
Hadrat Ali (radi-Allahu 'anh) embraced Islam before everybody with the exception of Hadrat Abu Bakr (radi- Allahu 'anh). Yet he was a child and had no property and lived in Rasulullah's ('alaihi 's-salam) house and served him. Therefore, his embracing Islam did not cause disbelievers to become Muslim, to take warning or to be defeated. Whereas, the embracement of the other three Khalifas strengthened Islam. Because Hadrat 'Ali and his sons (radiAllahu ta'ala 'anhum) were the closest relatives of Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) and of Rasulullah's blessed blood, they might be said to have been higher than Hadrat Abu Bakr and Hadrat 'Umar, but their superiority was not a superiority in every respect and did not help them surpass these great persons in every way. It was similar to Khidir's ('alaihi 's-salam) having taught something to Musa ('alaihi 's-salam)(29). Hadrat Fatima was higher than Hadrat Khadija and Hadrat Aisha (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhunna) because she was closer to the Prophet in respect of blood. But one type of superiority should not show a superiority in every respect. The 'ulama' remarked differently on which of these was the highest. As it is understood from the hadith ash-Sharif, these three, Hadrat Mariam and the Pharaoh's wife, Hadrat Asiya, were the five highest of all the worldly women. The hadith ash-Sharif, "Fatima is superior to the women of Paradise, and Hasan and Husain are the highest youths of Paradise," referred to a superiority only in one respect.
The next highest ones of the Sahabat al-kiram (Companions of the Prophet) were al-'Asharat al-Mubashshara, the ten people blessed with the good news of [going to] Paradise. After them, the highest Muslims were the 313 Muslims who took part in the Holy Battle of Badr. The next were the 700 brave Muslims who took part in the Holy Battle of Uhud. Next to them were the Bi'at ar-Ridwan, the 1400 Muslims who took the oath of allegiance to Rasulullah under the tree.
As-Sahabat al-kiram (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum ajmain) sacrificed their lives and property for the sake of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) and assisted him. It is incumbent (wajib) upon us to mention the name of any of them with veneration and love. It is never permissible to say words unbecoming their greatness. It is a heresy to mention their names disrespectfully.
One who loves Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) has to love all of his Companions. A hadith ash-Sharif says, "He who loves my companions loves them because he loves me. He who does not love them does not love me. He who hurts them hurts me. And he who hurts me hurts Allahu ta'ala. A person who hurts Allahu ta'ala will certainly suffer torture." In another hadith ash-Sharif he declared, "When Allahu ta'ala wants to favor one of my umma, He places in his heart the love of my Companions, and he loves them dearly."
For this reason, it should not be supposed that as-Sahabat al-kiram fought each other for becoming the Khalifa or satisfying their evil thoughts or their sensual desires. It is hypocrisy which leads one to ruination to speak ill of them out of such a supposition, since jealousy and desire for position and addiction to the world had been completely cleared away from their hearts by sitting in the presence of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) and hearing his blessed words. They were corrected and became free from greed, ambition, grudge and evil nature; they were wholly purified. Considering the fact that a person who stays for a few days in the presence of one of the walis of the umma of the Exalted Prophet benefits from the wali's beautiful morals and excellences and gets clean of worldly ambitions, how could it ever be presumed that the Prophet's Companions, our masters, who loved Rasulullah more than anybody else and sacrificed their possessions and lives for him and abandoned their country for him and were fond of his company, which was nourishment for spirits, were not free from bad morals, that their nafses were not clean and that they fought for the carrion of this temporary world? Those great people were certainly cleaner than everybody. It is unbecoming to liken the disagreements and combats between them to those between us, an ill-willed people, or to say that they fought to satisfy their evil, sensual and worldly desires. It is not permissible to bear such improper thoughts against as-Sahabat al-kiram. A person who would say something against them should know that to be hostile towards as-Sahabat al-kiram is to be hostile towards Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam), and to speak ill of them means to speak ill of him, who educated and trained them. For this reason, the great men of Islam say that he who does not respect and have a high opinion of as-Sahabat al-kiram is in disbelief in Rasulullah. The battles of "Jamal" (Camel) and Siffin cannot be taken as grounds for slandering them. Because of some religious reasons, none of those who stood against Hadrat 'Ali in these battles was evil; in fact, they all deserved to be rewarded on the Day of Judgement. A hadith ash-Sharif says, "One reward will be given to the mujtahid who is mistaken, and two or ten to him who finds out what is right. One of the two rewards is for employing ijtihad. The other is for finding the truth." The disputes and combats among those great people of Islam were not out of obstinacy or hostility but because of their [different] ijtihads and out of their wish to carry out what Islam ordered. Each of as-Sahabat al-kiram was a mujtahid.(30)
It was fard for every mujtahid to act in accordance with the conclusion he had found by his own ijtihad, even if his ijtihad might not be in agreement with that of a mujtahid much higher than he. It was not permissible for him to follow another's ijtihad. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ash-Shaibani, the disciples of al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa Numan ibn Thabit [d. Baghdad, 150 A.H. (767)], and Abu Sawr and Ismail al-Muzani, the disciples of Imam Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi'i, [d. Egypt, 204 A.H. (820)], disagreed with their masters on many aspects, and about some of the things which their masters said 'haram' (forbidden) they said 'halal' (permitted), and about some of the things which their masters said 'halal' they said 'haram.' They cannot be said to be sinful or evil on that account. No one has said so, for they were mujtahids like their masters.
It is true that Hadrat 'Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) was more exalted and learned than Hadrat Muawiya and Hadrat 'Amr ibn al-'As (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhuma). He had many superior qualities to distinguish him from them, and his ijtihad was stronger and sharper than their ijtihads. However, since all as-Sahabat al-kiram were mujtahids, it was not permissible for those two to follow the ijtihad of that great religious leader. It was necessary for them to act upon their own ijtihads.
Question: "In the battles of 'Jamal' and Siffin, a great many of the Muhajirun and Ansar among as-Sahabat al-kiram took part with, obeyed and followed Hadrat 'Ali. Though all of them were mujtahids, they considered it was wajib to follow him. This shows that it was wajib also for mujtahids to follow Hadrat 'Ali. They had to follow him even if their ijtihads did not agree with his, did they not?"
Answer: Those who followed Hadrat 'Ali and fought on his side joined him not with the view of following his ijtihad but because their ijtihads were in agreement with his ijtihad and showed that it was wajib to follow Imam 'Ali. Similarly, the ijtihads of many prominent Companions of the Prophet did not agree with that of Hadrat 'Ali, and it became wajib for them to fight against him. The ijtihads of as-Sahabat al-kiram happened in three different ways then: some of them understood that Hadrat 'Ali was right, and it became necessary for them to follow Hadrat 'Ali; another side saw that the ijtihad of those who fought Hadrat 'Ali was right, and it became wajib for them to follow those who fought Hadrat 'Ali and to fight against him; the third group said it would be necessary not to follow either side and not to fight, and their ijtihad required them not to enter into the war. All these three sides were certainly right and deserved to be rewarded in the next word.
Question: "The [above] answer shows that those who fought against Hadrat 'Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) were also right. Whereas, the scholars of Ahl
as-Sunnat have said that Hadrat 'Ali was right, that his opponents were wrong, that they were forgivable because they had an excuse, and that they even gained thawab. What can be said about that?"
Answer: Al-Imam ash-Shafi'i and 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, two great men of Islam, said that it was not permissible to use the word 'wrong' about any of as-Sahabat al-kiram. For this reason, it was said, "It is wrong to say 'wrong' about the superiors." It is not permissible for inferiors to say such words as, "He did right," "He did wrong," We approve," or "We disapprove," about the superiors. As Allahu ta'ala did not dirty our hands with the blood of these great people, so we should protect our tongues against uttering such words as 'just' and 'unjust.' Those profound scholars who studied the evidences and events and said that Imam 'Ali was right and his opponents were mistaken, in fact, meant that if Hadrat 'Ali had the opportunity to talk with those on the other side, he would have led them to employ ijtihad in conformity with his ijtihad. As a matter of fact, Hadrat Zubair ibn Awwam was against Hadrat 'Ali in the Battle of "Jamal" but, after studying the facts more deeply, he changed his ijtihad and gave up fighting. The words of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat who consider the mistake as permissible should be taken as such. And it is not permissible to say that Hadrat 'Ali and those who were with him were on the just way and the other Companions of the Prophet, who were on the other side with our mother Aisha as-Siddiqa, were on the corrupt way.
These combats among as-Sahabat al-kiram were out of the differences of ijtihad in the branches of the Ahkam ash-Shariyya (the rules of Islam). They did not have any disagreements on the fundamentals of Islam. Today, some people speak ill and disrespectfully of the great men of Islam such as Hadrat Muawiya and 'Amr ibn al-As (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhuma). They cannot realize that they in reality defame and belittle Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) by defaming as-Sahabat al-kiram. It is written in Shifa' ash-Sharif that Imam Malik ibn Anas said, "A person who swears at and slanders Muawiya(31) and 'Amr ibn al-As(32) deserves the words he says against them. It is necessary to punish severely those who talk and write against and do not show respect for them." May Allahu ta'ala fill our hearts with the love for His Beloved's companions! Not hypocrites or sinful people but pious and Allah-fearing Muslims love those superiors.
Those who realize the value and greatness of Rasulullah's (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) Companions and who love and respect all of them and follow them are called Ahl as-Sunnat. Those who claim to love some of them and don't love others thus slander most of them, and those who do not follow any of them, are called Shiites. There are many Shiites in Iran, India and Iraq. There are none in Turkey. Some of them, in order to deceive the pure Muslim 'Alawis in Turkey, call themselves 'Alawi, which means 'Muslim who loves Hadrat 'Ali'. Loving someone necessitates following in his footsteps and loving those whom he loves; if they loved Hadrat 'Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) they would follow in his footsteps. He loved all of the Prophet's companions. He was a counsellor to the Khalifa Hadrat 'Umar, who confided his woes to him. He married his and Hadrat Fatima's daughter Umm Ghulsum to Hadrat 'Umar. In a khutba, he said about Hadrat Muawiya, "Our brethren disagreed with us. Yet they are not disbelievers or sinners. Their ijtihad occurred in that manner." When Hadrat Talha (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), who was fighting against him, died a martyr, he himself cleaned the dust from his face and became the imam in the salat performed for his death. Allahu ta'ala declared, "believers are brothers." In the last ayat karima of the Surat al-Fat'h He reports, "The Prophet's Companions loved one another." Not to love even one of the Prophet's Companions, or the worst of it, to bear hostility towards him, is to disbelieve the Qur'an al-karim. The scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat understood the superiority of as-Sahabat al-kiram (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum ajmain) correctly and ordered Muslims to love all of them and thus rescued Muslims from the danger.
Those who disliked and bore hostility towards our superiors Hadrat Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) and his sons and descendants, the apples of the eyes of Ahl as-Sunnat, were called Kharijis (Khawarij). Now they are called Yazidis. Their faith is so corrupt that they hardly have any relation with Islam.
The Wahhabis, while claiming to love all as-Sahabat al-kiram, follow not their path but their own heretical path which they ascribe to as-Sahaba. They do not like the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, great sufis and Alawis and slander all of them. They suppose that they alone are Muslims. They regard those who are not like them as "polytheists" and consent to taking their lives and property. Therefore, they become Ibahatis. They draw wrong, heretical meanings from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif and think that Islam consists merely of those meanings. They deny the adilat ash- Shariyya and most hadiths. The notables of the four madhhabs have written many books proving with documents that those who depart from Ahl as-Sunnat have gone astray and do much harm to Islam(33).
Ayyub Sabri Pasha (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) said, "Wahhabism came out with a bloody, torturous rebellion on the Arabian Peninsula in 1205 (1791)." Muhammad 'Abduh of Egypt was one of the people who tried to spread anti- madhhabism through his books around the world. In the time of the Union and Progress Party, 'Abduh's books were translated into Turkish and were presented to the youth as the "work of the great scholar of Islam, the enlightened man of ideas, the eminent reformer 'Abduh." Whereas, 'Abduh had openly written that he admired Jamal ad-din al-Afghani [d. 1314 A.H. (1897)], who was a freemason and chief of the Cairo Masonic Lodge. The enemies of Islam, who were in ambush to abolish Ahl as-Sunnat and to annihilate Islam by words falsely praising Islam, insidiously incited this fitna by disguising themselves as religious men. 'Abduh was lauded to the skies. Great scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, the aimmat al-madhahib, were announced to have been ignorant people. Their names were no longer mentioned. But the pure and noble descendants of our ancestors, who had sacrificed their lives for the sake of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) and Islam, the sons of honorable martyrs, would not succumb to propaganda and advertisements, for which millions of pounds had been spent. They would not even listen to or acknowledge these false "heroes of Islam." Allahu ta'ala protected the children of martyrs against these heinous attacks. Today, translated books of the anti-madhhabites like Mawdudi (34), Sayyid Qutb(35) and Hamidullah are presented to the youth. They contain heretical ideas unconforming with what the scholars of ahl as-Sunnat said and are extolled extravagantly through gigantic advertisements. We must be always alert and careful. May Allahu ta'ala wake up Muslims from unawareness for the sake of His Beloved Prophet Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam)! May He protect us against being taken in by the lies and slanders of the enemies! Amin. Let us not deceive ourselves by praying only! To pray without clinging to al-Adat al-ilahiyya (Divine Law) of Allahu ta'ala, without working or holding on to the means, would be to ask miracles of Allahu ta'ala. A Muslim should both work and pray. We should first hold on to the means and then pray. The first means for escaping disbelief is to learn and teach Islam. As a matter of fact, it is obligatory (fard) and the primary duty for everybody, man or woman, to learn the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat, the commands and prohibitions.
Those who do not learn the faith and teachings ('ilm al-hal) of Ahl as-Sunnat or teach them to their children are exposed to the danger of deviating rom Islam and falling into the abyss of disbelief. The prayers of such people are not acceptable. Then, how can they protect themselves against disbelief? Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) said, "There is Islam where there is knowledge. There is no Islam where there is no knowledge." As it is necessary to eat and drink in order not to die of hunger, so it is necessary to learn our religion in order not to be deceived by disbelievers and not to become non-Muslims. Our ancestors frequently assembled and read 'ilm al-hal books and thus remained Muslim and enjoyed Islam. They communicated this light of bliss correctly to us. So, for remaining Muslim and not letting our children be captured by the enemies inside or outside, the first and the most necessary preventive measure is to read and digest the 'ilm al-hal books prepared by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. Parents who
want their child to be a Muslim should send it to a teacher and make certain that it shall learn how to read the Qur'an al-karim. Let us read, learn and teach our children and those we are responsible for while we have the chance. It will be difficult or even impossible for them when they go to school. It will be useless to lament after the degeneration takes place. We should not believe the enemies of Islam, their deceptive and false books, newspapers, magazines, television and radio programs, and motion pictures. Ibn Abidin (rahimah- Allahu ta'ala) wrote in the third volume [of Radd al-mukhtar ] that those insidious disbelievers who, though they do not believe in any religion, pretend to be Muslims and teach things that cause disbelief as if they were Islamic, and who strive to cause Muslims to go out of Islam, are called "zindiqs."
Question: "A person who has read translations of their corrupt books says:
'We should read interpretations (tafsir) of the Qur'an al-karim. To entrust the job of comprehending our religion and the Qur'an al-karim to religious scholars is a dangerous and horrible thought. The Qur'an al-karim says not "Oh Religious Scholars" but "Oh Muslims" and "Oh Mankind." For this reason, every Muslim should understand the Qur'an al-karim himself and should not expect this job from anybody else.'
"He wants everybody to read tafsir and hadith books. He does not recommend reading the books of kalam, fiqh and 'ilm al-hal written by Islamic scholars and great men of Ahl as-Sunnat. The publication of Rashid Rida's (36) book Islamda Birlik ve Fikh Mezhebleri by the Chief Office of Religious Affairs (publication no. 157; 1394/1974) has all the more confused readers. On its many pages, particularly in the "Sixth Dialogue," the book states:
'They [muqallids, followers of one of the four madhhabs] extolled the mujtahid imams to the degree of prophethood. They even preferred a mujtahid's word which disagreed with the Prophet's hadith to the hadith. They said that the hadith could have been annulled (naskh) or there could have been another hadith in their imam's view. By acting upon the words of those people who might have been wrong in their judging and who might have not known the matter, and by relinquishing the hadith of the Prophet, who was free from error, these muqallids also contradict mujtahids. They even contradict the Qur'an by doing so. They say that no one but a mujtahid imam could understand the Qur'an. Such words of faqihs and other muqallids show that they have adopted them from Jews and Christians. On the contrary, it is easier to understand the Qur'an and the Hadith than understanding the books written by the men of fiqh. Those who have digested Arabic words and grammar will not have difficulty in understanding the Qur'an and the Hadith. Who on earth could deny the fact that Allah is capable of explaining His own religion explicitly? Who could object to the fact that Rasulullah was more able than anybody else to understand what Allah meant and could explain it better than others? To say that the Prophet's explanations were insufficient for Muslims is to claim that he was not able to carry out his duty of communication (tabligh) precisely. If the majority of people had not been able to understand the Qur'an and the Sunnat, Allah would not have charged all people with the rules in the Book and the Sunnat. One should know what one believes together with its documentary evidences. Allah disapproves of taqlid (adapting oneself to a madhhab) and says that their [muqallids'] imitating their fathers and grandfathers would not be deemed excusable. Ayats show that taqlid is never approved by Allah. It is easier to understand that part of the religion concerning the furu' from its dalil (document, source) than it is to understand the part pertaining to faith (usul, iman). While charging with the difficult one, would not He charge with the easy one? It will be difficult to draw rules from some rare matters, yet then it will be deemed as an excuse not to know or do them. The men of fiqh invented a number of masala (problems, matters) by themselves. They produced rules for them. They attempted to introduce such things as ra'y, qiyas jali and qiyas khafi as documents for them. These were made to overflow into the field of 'ibadat, on which it is impossible to acquire knowledge through reasoning. Thus they expanded the religion several times. They drove Muslims into trouble. I do not deny qiyas; I say that there is no qiyas in the field of 'ibadat. Iman and 'ibadat were completed in the time of the Prophet. No one can add anything to them. The mujtahid imams prohibited people from imitating (taqlid) and made taqlid a prohibition.'
"This passage, which is taken from the book published by the Chief Office of Religious Affairs, like all anti- maddhabite books, prohibits following the imams of the four madhhabs. It commands that everybody should learn tafsir and hadith. What would you say about it?"
Answer: If the passages written by the non-madhhabite are read with attention, one will easily see that they try to deceive Muslims by embellishing their heretical thoughts and separatist views with an unsound series of reasoning and false statements. The ignorant, thinking that the writing is based upon knowledge within the framework of logic and reason, may fall for it, yet the learned, keen-sighted people will never be caught in their traps.
In order to warn the youth against the danger of non-madhhabism or anti-Sunnism, which has been driving Muslims towards eternal perdition, the 'ulama' of Islam (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) have written thousands of valuable books for fourteen centuries. The following is the translation of some passages from the book Hujjat- Allahi 'ala 'l-'alamin by Yusuf an-Nabhani [d. Beirut, 1350 A.H. (1932)] as an answer to the question above:
"Not everybody can draw ahkam (rules, conclusions) from the Qur'an al-karim. Since even the mujtahid imams would not be able to draw from all the rules in the Qur'an al-karim, Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) explained the rules in the Qur'an al-karim in his hadiths. As the Qur'an al-karim was explained by him only, so the hadiths could be understood and explained by as-Sahabat al-kiram and the mujtahid imams only. In order that they could understand them, Allahu ta'ala endowed upon His mujtahid imams scientific and religious knowledge, strong comprehension, keen sight, superfluous mind, and many more virtues. Ahead of all these virtues was taqwa. Next came the Divine Light in their hearts. With the help of these virtues, our mujtahid imams understood what Allahu ta'ala and Rasulullah meant in their words, and, as for those they could not understand, they showed [solutions for] them through qiyas. Each of the four aimmat al-madhahib informed that he did not speak out of his own opinion and said to his disciples, 'If you find a sahih hadith, leave my word aside and follow Rasulullah's hadith!' Whom our aimmat al-madhahib told this were profound scholars who were mujtahids like them. These scholars were the mujtahids of tarjih (ability to distinguish between) who knew the documentation of the four madhhabs. They studied the documents and the transmitters of the hadith on which the madhhab imam had based his ijtihad and those of the newly encountered sahih hadith, and examined which was said later and many other conditions, and thus understood which was to be preferred (tarjih). Or, the mujtahid imam [the imam al-madhhab] decided about a problem (masala) through qiyas because he did not know the hadith which would document [or solve] it, and his disciples, finding that hadith, decided differently. But, while employing such an ijtihad, the disciples did not go beyond the rules of the imam. Those mujtahid Muftis who succeeded them gave fatwa in this manner, too. As it is understood from all that has been written here, those Muslims who have been following the four aimmat al-madhhahib, and the mujtahids who were educated in their madhhabs, have been following the rules of Allahu ta'ala and His Messenger. These mujtahids understood the rules in the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif, which nobody else could understand, and conveyed what they understood. Muslims have been living up to what mujtahids understood and communicated from the Nass, that is, the Book and the Sunnat. Because Allahu ta'ala declares in the 43 rd ayat karima of surat al-Nahl, "If you do not know, ask those who know."(37)
"Only upon the Umma of His Beloved Prophet (sall- Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) did Allahu ta'ala bestow the fortune that the aimmat al-madhahib would perform ijtihad and establish their madhhabs, and that all Muslims would come together in these madhhabs. Allahu ta'ala, on the one hand, created the imams of itiqad 38) and prevented heretics, zindiqs, mulhids and Satan- like men from defiling the knowledge of itiqad, and, on the other, protected His religion from being defiled by creating the imams of madhhabs. Since this blessing did not exist in Christianity and Judaism, their religions were defiled and were turned into playthings."
"By consensus of the scholars of Islam, there came no deep scholar capable of employing ijtihad after the four hundred years following Rasulullah's (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) death. A person who says that it is necessary to employ ijtihad now must be mad or ignorant of the religion. When the great scholar Jalal ad-din as-Suyuti 'Abd ar-Rahman [rahimah-Allahu ta'ala, d. Egypt, 911 A.H. (1505)] said he had reached the grade of ijtihad, other contemporary scholars asked him about a question to which two different answers had been given and inquired of him to tell which answer was more dependable. He could not answer them. He said he was too busy to spare any time for it. Whereas, what he was asked to do was to employ ijtihad on a fatwa, which was the lowest degree of ijtihad. Seeing that such a deep scholar as as-Suyuti evaded employing ijtihad on a fatwa, what shall we call those who force people to employ absolute (mutlaq) ijtihad, if we should not call them mad or spiritually ignorant? Al-Imam al-Ghazali (39) (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) reported in his book Ihya' 'Ulum ad-Din that there was no mujtahid in his time."
"If a non-mujtahid Muslim learns a sahih hadith and if it becomes hard for him to do the way (that disagrees with the hadith) of the imam of his madhhab, he has to search and find within the four madhhabs another mujtahid whose ijtihad was based on that hadith and do that affair of his in accordance with the madhhab that mujtahid belonged to. Great scholar al-Imam Yahya an-Nawawi [rahimah-Allahu ta'ala, d. Damascus, 676 A.H. (1277)] explained this in detail in his Rawdat at-talibin. For, it is not permissible for those who have not reached the grade of ijtihad to draw rules from the Nass, that is, the Book and the Sunnat. Now some ignoramuses claim that they have reached the grade of absolute ijtihad, that they can draw rules from the Nass and that they no longer need to follow one of the four madhhabs, and they abandon the madhhab they have followed for years. They attempt to refute the madhhabs with their unsound thoughts. They say such ignorant, stupid statements as, 'We will not follow the opinion of a religious man who was as ignorant as we are.' Deluded by Satan and provoked by the nafs, they claim superiority. They cannot realize that by saying so they reveal not their superiority but their stupidity and ignominy. Among these, we see also those heretical ignoramuses who say and write that everybody should read and derive rules from tafsir books and [the Sahih of] al-Bukhari. Oh My Muslim Brother! Completely avoid making friends with such idiots or supposing that they are religious men! Hold fast to the madhhab of your imam! You are free to choose whichever you like of the four madhhabs. But it is not permissible to collect the facilities (rukhsas) of the madhhabs, that is, to unify the madhhabs, which is called 'talfiq'.(40)
"A Muslim who can read and understand hadiths well should learn the hadiths that are his madhhab's documents, then do the actions praised and shun those prohibited by the hadiths and learn the greatness and value of the Islamic religion, the perfection of Allahu ta'ala's and Rasulullah's (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) names and attributes, Rasulullah's life, his virtues and miracles, the order of this and the next worlds, of the Resurrection, of the Judgement and Paradise and Hell, angels, genies, ancient ummas, prophets and their books, the superiorities peculiar to Rasulullah and to the Qur'an al-karim, the lives of his Al (immediate relatives) and those of his Companions, the harbingers of the Last Day and many more items of information pertaining to this world and the next. All the information pertaining to this world and the next has been accumulated in Rasulullah's hadiths."
"When what we have written here is understood, it will become apparent how ignorant are those who say that those rules of Islam which were not derived from hadiths are useless. Among the innumerous items of information given in hadiths, those hadiths teaching 'ibadat and muamalat are very few. According to some scholars, there are about five hundred [including the repetitive ones, there are no more than three thousand]. It is not presumable that any one of the four aimmat al-madhahib might not have heard one sahih hadith among so few hadiths. Each sahih hadith was used as a document by at least one of the four aimmat al-madhahib. A Muslim who sees that some affair in his own madhhab is unsuitable with a sahih hadith should do the affair by following another madhhab which based its ijtihad on that hadith. Perhaps the imam of his own madhhab also heard of the hadith, but, following another hadith which he understood was more sahih or was [said by the Prophet] later in date and annulled the former, or, for some other reasons known to mujtahids, he did not take the former hadith as a document. It is good for a Muslim who understands that the former hadith is sahih to give up his own madhhab's ijtihad which is not suitable with the hadith and to follow the hadith, yet, in this case he has to follow another madhhab which used that hadith in its ijtihad for this matter. For, the imam of that second madhhab, knowing those documents of the rules (ahkam) which he did not know, found out that there was nothing to deter acting upon that hadith. Nevertheless, it is as well permissible for him to carry out that affair in accordance with his own madhhab, for it is doubtless that the imam of his own madhhab relied upon a sound document in his ijtihad. Islam deems it excusable for a muqallid not to know that document. For, none of the imams of the four madhhabs overflowed the Book and the Sunnat in ijtihad. Their madhhabs are the explanations of the Book and the Sunnat. They explained the meanings and rules in the Book and the Sunnat for Muslims. They explained them in a way that Muslims can understand
them, and wrote them down in books. This work of the aimmat al-madhahib (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) was such a tremendous service to Islam that human power would not have sufficed for doing it if Allahu ta'ala had not helped them. [Existence of] these madhhabs is one of the most perfect evidences of the fact that Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) is the True Prophet and Islam is the True Religion."
"The difference in the ijtihads of our aimmat al-madhahib were only in matters pertaining to furu' ad-din, that is, in matters of fiqh. There was no disagreement among them in respect to usul ad-din, that is, in the knowledge of itiqad or iman. Nor did they differ from one another in those teachings of furu' which are known to be essential in the religion and which were taken from those hadiths whose documents were reported by tawatur. They differed only in some aspects of knowledge concerning furu' ad-din. This arose from the difference in their understanding the soundness of the documents of these matters. And this little difference among them is [Allahu ta'ala's] compassion over the umma; it is permissible (jaiz) for Muslims to follow any madhhab they like and find easy. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) foretold this difference as glad tidings, and it has happened as he foretold."
"It is not permissible to employ ijtihad in the knowledge of itiqad, that is, in the facts to be believed. It gives way to deviation and heresy. It is a grave sin. There is only one correct path in matters pertaining to itiqad: ahl as-Sunnat wal-Jamaat. The difference which was declared to be [Allahu ta'ala's] compassion in the hadith ash-Sharif was the difference in furu' or ahkam."
"In a matter on which the judgements of the four madhhabs differ from one another, only one of the judgements is correct. Those who do this correct way will be given two thawabs, and those who act according to one of the incorrect judgements will be given one thawab. That the madhhabs are compassion shows the fact that it is permissible to give up one madhhab and follow another. But it is not permissible to follow any madhhab - other than the four- that belongs to Ahl as-Sunnat, nor even as-Sahabat al-kiram, since their madhhabs were not put into written form and have been forgotten. There is now no possibility for following any madhhab other than the known four. Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ar-Razi [rahimah-Allahu ta'ala, d. 370 A.H. (980)], too, reported that it had been declared unanimously by the 'ulama' of Islam that it was not permissible to follow [directly] as-Sahabat al-kiram. I recommend that those who want to understand well the superiority of the madhhabs, of mujtahids, especially of the four aimmat al-madhhahib, the fact that their madhhabs did not go beyond the Book and the Sunnat and that the rules which they conveyed through ijma' and qiyas were not their own opinions but were taken from the Book and the Sunnat, should read the books Al-mizan al-kubra and Al-mizan al-Khidriyya by Imam 'Abd al-Wahhab ash-Sharani (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala)."(41)
It is not correct to say, "Qur'an al-karim does not say 'religious scholars.' " Various ayats in praise of scholars ('ulama') and knowledge ('ilm). Hadrat 'Abd al-Ghani an-Nabulusi [d. 1143 A.H. (1731)] wrote in his Al-Hadiqa: "The 7th ayat of surat al-Anbiya says, 'Ask the men of dhikr what you do not know.' 'Dhikr' means 'knowledge'. This ayat karima commands those who know little to find scholars and learn from them." It is declared in the seventh ayat karima of surat Al 'Imran, "Only possessors of knowledge understand the meaning of inexplicit ayats"; in the 18th ayat karima of the same sura, "That Allahu ta'ala is existent and unique is understood and reported by possessors of knowledge"; in the 81st ayat karima of surat al-Qasas, "Possessors of knowledge said to them, 'Shame on you! The rewards Allahu ta'ala will give to those who believe and do good deeds are better than worldly favors'"; in the 56 th ayat karima of surat Rum, "Possessors of knowledge and belief will say, 'Well, this is the Day of Resurrection which you denied in the world'"; in the 108th ayat karima of surat Isra, "Possessors of knowledge, upon hearing al-Qur'an al-karim, will prostrate and say, 'There is no defect in our Owner, who does not break His Word'"; in the 54th ayat of surat Hajj, "Possessors of knowledge understand that al-Qur'an al-karim is the Word of Allah"; in the 50th ayat karima of surat Ankabut, "Al-Qur'an al-karim has settled in the hearts of possessors of knowledge"; in the sixth ayat karima of 'surat Saba', "Possessors of knowledge know that al-Qur'an al-karim is the Word of Allah and renders attaining to Allahu ta'ala's consent"; in the eleventh ayat karima of surat al-Mujadala, "High ranks will be granted to possessors of knowledge in Paradise"; in the 27th ayat karima of surat al-Fatir, "Only possessors of knowledge fear Allahu ta'ala"; in the 14th ayat karima of surat al-Hujurat, "Most valuable among you is the one who fears Allahu ta'ala much." It is declared in the hadiths quoted on the 365th page of the same book, "'Allahu ta'ala and angels and all creatures pray for him who teaches people what is good'; 'On the Day of Judgement, first prophets, then scholars and then martyrs will intercede'; 'Oh Men! Be it known that knowledge can be acquired by listening to the scholar'; 'Learn knowledge! Learning knowledge is an 'ibada. The teacher and the learner of knowledge will be given the reward of jihad. Teaching knowledge is like giving alms. Learning knowledge from the scholar is like performing midnight salat.' "Tahir Buhari(42), the author of the fatwa book Khulasa, states: "Reading fiqh books is more thawab than performing salat at nights. For, it is fard to learn the fards and harams from ['alims or their] books. To read fiqh books in order to carry out what is learned or to teach others is better than performing salat at-tasbih. It is declared in a hadith ash-Sharif, 'Learning knowledge is more thawab than all supererogatory 'ibadat, for it is useful both for oneself and for those whom one will teach'; 'The person who learns in order to teach others will be rewarded like Siddiqs.' The knowledge of Islam can be learned only from a master and from books. Those who say that the books of Islam and guides are unnecessary are liars or zindiqs. They deceive Muslims and lead them to ruination. The knowledge in religious books is derived from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif." The translation from Hadiqa(43) ends here."
Allahu ta'ala sent His Messenger ('alaihi's-salam) so that he would communicate and teach the Qur'an al-karim. As-Sahabat al-kiram learned the knowledge in the Qur'an al-karim from Rasulullah. The scholars of Islam learned it from as-Sahabat al-kiram, and all Muslims learned it from the scholars of Islam and their books. It is declared in a hadith ash-Sharif, "Knowledge is a treasury. Its key is to ask and learn"; "Learn and teach knowledge!" "Everything has a source. The source of taqwa is the hearts of 'arifs." "Teaching knowledge is an atonement for sins."
Al-Imam ar-Rabbani (rahmat-Allahu ta'ala 'alaih) wrote in the 193 rd letter of the first volume of his work Maktubat:
"A responsible person [one at the age of puberty] first has to correct his iman, his faith. That is, to learn and believe faith as taught by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat wal-Jamaat. May Allahu ta'ala give much thawabs to those great men for their endeavors. Amin. Escape from torture in the next world depends only upon learning and believing the knowledge which these great people deduced correctly. [Those who follow their path are called Sunni.] It is declared in a hadith ash-Sharif that one group will be saved from Hell, and they are those Muslims who follow in the footsteps of these scholars. The real Muslims who follow the path of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) and his Companions (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum) are only these Muslims. The right and valuable knowledge derived from the Qur'an al-karim and the hadith ash-Sharifs, is the knowledge which the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat deduced from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharifs. For, every heretical man of religion carrying a Muslim name claims that his own heretical beliefs have been taken from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif. Every person with wrong ideas and heresies says that he adapts himself to the Book and the Sunnat. It is seen that not what everybody understands and deduces from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharifs is right.
For learning the precise faith of Ahl as-Sunnat, the Persian book Al-mu'tamad, written by Hadrat Tur Pushti(44), the great Islamic scholar, which explains the true faith transmitted by the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars, is very estimable. The meaning in the book is very clear. It is easy to understand. The book was printed by Hakikat Kitabevi (Bookstore) in 1410 [1989 A.D.].
"After correcting 'aqa'id, the teachings to be believed, we should learn and obey halals, harams, fards, wajibs, sunnas, mandubs and makruhs from books of fiqh written by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. We should not read the heretical books published by ignorant people who could not understand these great scholars. Those Muslims who have a belief unconformable to the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat will not escape going to Hell in the next world may Allahu ta'ala protect s! If a Muslim whose faith is correct is slack in 'ibadat, he may be forgiven even if he does not make tawba. Even if he would not be forgiven, he will be saved from Hell after torture. The main thing is to correct one's faith. Khwaja 'Ubaid- Allah al-Ahrar [qaddas-Allahu ta'ala sirrahu 'l-aziz, d. Samarqand, 895 A.H. (1490)] said, 'If I were given all the kashfs and all the karamat, yet were deprived of the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat, I would consider myself ruined. If I did not have any kashf or karama but had lots of faults, and if [only] the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat were bestowed on me, I wouldn't feel sorry.'
"Today, Muslims in India are very desolate. The enemies of Islam attack from every direction. One coin given for serving Islam today is more thawab than thousands of coins given some other time. The greatest service to be done for Islam is to get the books of Ahl as-Sunnat, which teach iman and Islam, and to distribute them to villagers and young people. A person who is vouchsafed this lot shall feel pleasure; he shall thank Allahu ta'ala profusely; he is so lucky, so fortunate. It is always a good deed to serve Islam. But at such a time as this, when Islam is weakened, when many efforts are made to annihilate Islam through lies and slanders, it is a much better deed to strive to disseminate the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) said to his companions, 'You live at such a time that if you obey nine-tenths of Allahu ta'ala's commands and prohibitions but disobey one, you will perish. You will be tortured! After you, there will come such a time that those who then obey only one tenth of the commands and prohibitions will be saved.' [These are written in Mishkat-ul mesabih, vol. 1, 179 th article and in Tirmizi, Kitab-al Fitan, 79 th article.] It is the present time that the hadith ash-Sharif points out. It is necessary to struggle against disbelievers, to know those who attack Islam and to dislike them.(45) For disseminating the books and words of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, one does not have to be a man of karama or a scholar. Every Muslim should struggle to do it. The opportunity should not be missed. On the Day of Judgement, every Muslim will be questioned on this and will be asked why they did not serve Islam. Those who do not strive to distribute the books teaching Islam and those who do not help people and institutions promulgating Islamic knowledge will be tortured very much. Excuse or pretext will not be accepted. Though prophets ('alaihimu 's- salam) were the highest and the most superior human beings, they never looked after their own comfort. In disseminating Allahu ta'ala's religion, the way to endless bliss, they strove day and night. To those who asked for miracles they replied that Allahu ta'ala created miracles, and their duty was to communicate Allahu ta'ala's religion. As they worked for this purpose, Allahu ta'ala helped them and created miracles. We, too, should disseminate the books and the sayings of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) and tell the youth and our friends the baseness of disbelievers and expose the lies of the enemies and of those who slander and persecute Muslims.(46) Those who do not work for this purpose through wealth, power or profession will not escape torture. While working for this purpose, suffering distress and persecution must be deemed as a great happiness and a big profit. Prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam), while communicating Allahu ta'ala's orders to people, underwent the attacks of ignorant and ignoble people. They suffered very much. Muhammad ('alaihi 's- salam), Allahu ta'ala's Beloved, who was chosen to be the greatest of those great men said, 'No prophet suffered so much ill-treatment as I did.'"
Ahl as-sunnat scholars who showed the right path to all Muslims on the earth and guided us to learn the religion of Muhammad ('alaihi's-salam) without any change or interpolation are the scholars of the four madhhabs who reached the grade of ijtihad. The most prominent ones of them are four. The first of them was al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa Numan ibn Thabit (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala). He was one of the greatest 'ulama' of Islam. He became the leader of Ahl as-Sunnat. His biography is written in the Turkish books Seadet-i Ebediyye and Faideli Bilgiler. He was born in Kufa in 80 A.H. [699] and was martyred in Baghdad in 150 [767].
The second one was the great scholar Imam Malik ibn Anas (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala). The book Ibni Abidin says that he lived eighty-nine years. His grandfather was Malik bin Abi Amir.
The third one was Imam Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi'i (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), who is the apple of the eyes of Islamic scholars. He was born in 150 [767] in Ghazza, Palestine, and passed away in Egypt in 204 [820].
The fourth one was Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahimah- Allahu ta'ala), who was born in Baghdad in 164 [100%] and passed away there in 241 [855]. He is the archstone of the Islamic building.
Today, he who does not follow one of these four great imams is in great danger. He is in heresy. Besides them there were many other Ahl as-sunnat scholars who had righteous madhhabs, too. But in the course of time their madhhabs were forgotten and could not be committed to books. For instance, the seven great Medinan scholars who were called al-Fuqaha' as-saba and 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, Sufyan ibn 'Uyayna,(47) Ishaq ibn Rahawah, Dawud at-Tai, Amir ibn Sharahil ash-Shabi, Laith ibn Sad, 'A'mash, Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari, Sufyan ath-Thawri [d. Basra, 161 A.H. (778)] and 'Abd ar-Rahman Awzai (rahimahum- Allahu ta'ala) were among them.
All the Sahabat al-kiram (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum ajmain) were rightfully the "stars" for guidance. Any of them would have sufficed to guide the whole world to the right path. They were mujtahids, each belonging in his own madhhab. Most of their madhhabs were alike. Yet, since their madhhabs were not written into books, it is not possible for us to follow them. The madhhabs of the four imams, that is, what they communicated about the things to be believed and about the things to be done, were gathered together and explained by their disciples. They were committed to books. Today every Muslim must belong to the madhhab of one of the above mentioned four imams and live up to and perform 'ibadat in accordance with that madhhab.(48)
Among the disciples of these four imams, two scholars reached very high grades in spreading the teachings of iman. Thus, there became two madhhabs in itiqad or iman. The right faith in accord with the Qur'an-al- karim and the Hadith ash-Sharifs, is only the faith shown by these two imams, who spread on the earth the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat, which is the Group of Salvation. One of them was Abu 'l-Hasan 'Ali al-Ashari (rahimah- Allahu ta'ala), who was born in Basra in 226 A.H. [879] and died in Baghdad in 330 [941]. The other was Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), who died in Samarqand in 333 [944]. In iman, every Muslim has to follow one of these two great imams.
The paths (turuq) of the awliya' are right. Not to a smallest degree have they separated from Islam.(49) The awliya' do possess karamat. All their karamat are right and true. Al-Imam 'Abdullah al-Yafii [d. Mecca, 768 A.H. (1367)] said, "Ghawth ath-Thaqalain Mawlana 'Abd al-Qadir al-Geilani 's (qaddas-Allahu ta'ala sirrahu'l- aziz)(50) karamat have been so widely known that one cannot doubt or disbelieve them since tawatur (the state of being widespread) is a sanad (documentary evidence) for authenticity."
It is not permissible to call, by imitating others, a person who performs salat "disbeliever" unless his disbelief is understood from his saying, openly and without darura (strong necessity or compulsion), a word or his using something causing him to become a disbeliever. We cannot call down curses upon him unless it is certainly known that he has died as a disbeliever. It is not permissible to curse even a disbeliever. For this reason, it is better not to curse Yazid.
FOOTNOTES
(21) Those disbelievers who insidiously try to abolish Islam say, "Before becoming the Prophet, Muhammad ('alaihi-'s-salam) had sacrificed victims to idols," and give reference to non-madhhabite books as documents. The lines above prove that this statement is a lie.
(22) 'Rasul' is also translated as 'prophet' in the text.
(23) Today, in Arabia there are people called Wahhabis. They do not believe such hadiths. They call true Muslims who believe these hadiths "disbelievers." Though they, on account of explaining wrongly the inexplicit or dubious nasses away, do not become disbelievers, they become people of bidat. They greatly harm Muslims. Wahhabism originated from the heretical ideas of Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya [d. Damascus, 728 A.H. (1328)]. It spread out among the Turks and everywhere through the books of an Egyptian named Muhammad 'Abduh [d. Egypt, 1323 A.H. (1905)]. The scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat pointed out in hundreds of their books that the Wahhabis were not the followers of a fifth madhhab, but those who are in heresy and on a wrong path. Also detailed information is given in Endless Bliss and Advice for the Muslim. May Allahu ta'ala protect young men with religious duty from falling into the path of Wahhabism, and may He not disconnect us from the right path of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, who are praised greatly in many hadiths! Amin.
(24) The Ismaili heretics and the enemies of faith disguised as Islamic scholars try to deceive the youth by saying and writing that the Miraj was not a bodily ascent but a spiritual state (hal). We should not buy such corrupt books; we should not be deceived by them.
(25) See also our Endless Bliss, Third Fascicle. Qadi 'Iyad al-Maliki, author of Shifa', passed away in Morocco in 544 A.H. (1150).
(26) The heretical people called Qadianis, or Ahmadis, who were organized by the British in India in the lunar Hijri year 1296 (1880), tell slanderous lies about 'Isa ('alaihi 's-salam), too. Though they claim to be Muslims, they strive to abolish Islam from within. A fatwa has been issued on that they are not Muslims.
(27) It can now be understood by this statement about Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) how poor and how ignorant are those who think and write that RasulAllah ('alaihi's-salam) worshipped idols before his nubuwwa.
(28) Hasan bin Ali passed away because of being poisoned in Madina-i Munawwara in [669 A.D.].
(29) If blood relationship were the only criterion for superiority, Hadrat 'Abbas should have been regarded superior to Hadrat 'Ali. Moreover, Abu Talib and Abu Lahab, who were very close in respect of blood, did not even have the honor and superiority existing in the lowest believer.
(30) For example, it is declared in the hadith as-Sharif on the 298 th page of Al-Hadiqa that 'Amr ibn al-As (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) was a mujtahid.
(31) Hadrat Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan passed away in Damascus in 60 [680 A.D.].
(32) 'Amr Ibni al-As passed away in Egypt in 43 [663 A.D.].
(33) For more detailed information, please read the English books Advice for the Muslim and Endless Bliss, and also the Arabic Al-minhat al-wahbiyya fi 'r-raddi 'l-Wahhabiyya, At-tawassuli bi 'n-Nabi wa jahalat 'l-Wahhabiyyin and Sabil an-najat and the Persian Saif al-abrar. These works and the valuable books written in refutation to ahl al-bidat are published by Hakikat Bookstore in Istanbul. Both in Radd al-mukhtar, (written by Muhammad Emin Ibni Abidin who passed away in Damascus in 1252 [1836 A.D.] (volume III, the chapter on "Baghi") and in the Turkish Nimat-i Islam (the chapter on "Nikah"), it is clearly written that the Wahhabis are Ibahatis. Ayyub Sabri Pasha [d. 1308 A.H. (1890)], Rear-Admiral during the time of Sultan 'Abd al-Hamid Khan II, in his Turkish works Mirat al-Haramain and Ta'rikh-i Wahhabiyyan, and Ahmad Jawdat Pasha, in the seventh volume of his Turkish Ottoman History, explained in detail about the Wahhabis. Also Yusuf an-Nabhani, in his Arabic work Shawahid al-haqq (3rd ed. Cairo, 1385/1965), refuted the Wahhabis and Ibn Taymiyya at length. Fifty pages of his work have been reproduced in the Arabic book 'Ulama' al-Muslimin wa Wahhabiyyun (Istanbul, 1972).
(34) Mawdudi is the founder of the association in India named Jamaatul-islamiyya. He died in 1399.
(35) Sayyid Qutb was put to death in Egypt in 1386 [1966 A.D.]
(36) Rashid Rida is the disciple of Muhammad Abduh. He died in 1354 [1935 A.D.].
(37) This ayat shows that not everybody can understand the Book and the Sunnat correctly. It commands those who cannot understand them not to try personally to understand the Qur'an al-karim or the Hadith ash-Sharif but to learn them by asking those who have understood them. If everybody had understood the meanings in the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif correctly, the seventy-two heretical groups would not have appeared. All of those who started these groups were deeply learned, but none was able to understand the meanings in the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif correctly. Misunderstanding them, they deviated from the right path and caused millions of Muslims to end up in perdition. Some of them have been very excessive in giving wrong meanings to ayats and hadiths so much so that they have become as heretical as to call Muslims of the right path 'disbelievers' and 'polytheists'. In the book titled Kashf ash-shubuhat, which has been translated into Turkish and slipped into Turkey in a clandestine way, it is said that it is mubah (permitted) to kill and confiscate the property of those Muslims who hold the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat.
(38) See page 59.
(39) Imam-i Muhammad Ghazali passed away in the city of Tus is 505 [1111 A.D.].
(40) 'Talfiq' means 'performance of an act by unifying or mixing the easy ways of madhhabs and in a way which is not compatible with any of them'. After one carries out an act according to one of the four madhhabs, that is, after his performance is sahih (valid, suitable) in that madhhab, his observing additionally as many as possible of the conditions that are put in the other three madhhabs with the view that the act shall be sahih and acceptable also in these madhhabs is called 'taqwa', which is very reward-deserving.
(41) Yusuf an-Nabhani, Hujjat-Allahi 'ala 'l-'alamin, p. 771-. The above quotation, which is translated from the Arabic original, does not contain
any words added by the translators, who, as done in all our books, has put additions from other books in blocked brackets here, too, to prevent confusing them with the translated text. The Arabic original of the above passage from Hujjat-Allahi 'ala 'l-alamin was reproduced by offset in Istanbul in 1394 (1974).
(42) Tahir Buhari passed away in 542 [1147 A.D.].
(43) The author of the book Hadiqa passed away in 1143 [1731 A.D.].
(44) Fadlullah bin Hasen Tur Pushti, a Hanafi fiqh scholar, passed away in 661 A.H. (1263).
(45) Jihad through force (jihad qatli) is made by the State, by its army. Muslims' making jihad is their undertaking as soldiers, the duty given to them by the State. That jihad qawli, that is made through speech and writing, is better than jihad qatli is also written in the 65 th letter.
(46) Telling them will not be gossip but al-amru bi'l-maruf. Every Muslim has to learn the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat and teach it to people whom he can influence. Books, magazines and papers explaining the words of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat should be bought and sent to young brothers and acquaintances. We should strive hard in order that they read them. Also, books exposing the real purposes of the enemies of Islam should be distributed.
(47) Sufyan bin 'Uyayna passed away in the city of Mecca in 198 [813 A.D.].
(48) A person who does not want to follow one of these four madhhabs does not belong to Ahl as-Sunnat. See page 9.
(49) In every century there have been liars and heretics who made the religion a means for their worldly advantages and who came forward in disguise of walis, murshids or men of religious authority. Still there are evil people in every profession, in every branch of crafts and in every official post today. Seeing those who look for their advantages and pleasures in others' harm, it would be injustice or ignorance to blemish all crafts and people with whom they are mixed. It would help factious people. For this reason, the existence of heretical men of religion and ignorant, false men of turuq should not cause us to speak ill of the 'ulama' of Islam or great men of tasawwuf whose services have filled up honorable pages in history. We should realize that those who slander them are unjust.
4. The fourth of the six fundamentals of iman is "to believe in Allahu ta'ala's prophets," who were sent to make people attain the way He likes and to guide them to the right path. Literally 'rusul' (pl. of Rasul) were the 'people sent, messengers.' In Islam, 'Rasul' means 'noble, respectable person whose nature, character, knowledge and intellect are higher than those of all the people of his time, having no bad trait in his character and no disliked manner.' Prophets had the quality 'Isma, that is, they did not commit any grave or small sin before or after they were informed of their nubuwwa (prophethood, prophetship).(21) After they were informed of their nubuwwa and until their nubuwwa was known and spread out, they did not have such defects as blindness, deafness or the like. It has to be believed that every prophet had seven peculiarities: Amana (trustworthiness), Sidq (devotion), Tabligh (communication), Adala (justness), 'Isma (purity), Fatana (super-intelligence) and Amn al-'azl (security against dismissal from nubuwwa).
A prophet who brought a new faith is called a "Rasul" (messenger). A prophet who did not bring a new faith but invited people to the previous faith is called a "nabi" (prophet).(22) In the communication (tabligh) of commands and in calling the people to Allahu ta'ala's religion, there is no difference between a Rasul and a nabi. We have to believe that all prophets, without exception, were devoted and truthful. He who does not believe in one of them is regarded as not believing in any.
Nubuwwa cannot be attained by working hard, by suffering hunger or discomfort, or by praying very much. It is possessed only with Allahu ta'ala's favor and selection. Religions were sent through the mediation of prophets in order that people's affairs might be useful in this world and the next, and in order to prevent them from harmful acts and make them attain salvation, guidance, ease and happiness. Though they had many enemies and were mocked and treated harshly, prophets did not fear the enemies and showed no hesitation in communicating to people Allahu ta'ala's commands about the facts to be believed and the things to be done. Allahu ta'ala strengthened His prophets with mujizas to show that they were devoted and truthful. No one could stand against their mujizas. The community of a prophet is called his umma. On the Day of Judgement, prophets will be permitted to intercede for their ummas, especially for the ones who are gravely sinful, and their intercession will be accepted. Allahu ta'ala will permit also the 'ulama', sulaha' and awliya' among their ummas to intercede, and their intercession will be accepted. Prophets ('alaihimu 's-salawatu wa 't-taslimat) are alive in their graves in a life we cannot know; earth does not cause their blessed bodies to rot. For this reason, it was said in a hadith ash-Sharif, "Prophets perform salat and hajj in their graves."(23)
While the blessed eyes of a prophet slept, the eyes of this heart did not sleep. All prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam) were equal in doing their duties as prophets and in possessing the excellences of nubuwwa. The above-mentioned seven peculiarities existed in all of them. Prophets were never dismissed from nubuwwa. The awliya', however, may be deprived of wilaya. Prophets were human beings but not genies or angels, who could never be prophets for human beings or attain the degree of a prophet. Prophets had superiority to and honors above one another. For example, because his umma and the countries he was sent to were larger and because his knowledge and marifa spread in a vaster area and because his miracles were more plentiful and continual and because there were special blessings and favors for him, the Prophet of the Last Age, Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), was higher than all other prophets. The prophets called Ulu'l'azm were higher than the others. The Rasuls were higher than the nabis who were not Rasuls.
The number of prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam) is not known. It is well known that they were more than 124,000. Among them, 313 or 315 were Rasuls; the six higher Rasuls among them, called Ulu'l'azm, were: Adam, Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), 'Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad Mustafa ('alaihimu 's- salatu wa 's-salam).
The following thirty-three prophets are well-known: Adam, Idris, Sheet (or Shis), Nuh, hud, Salih, Ibrahim, Lut, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub, Yusuf, Ayyub, Shu'aib, Musa, Harun, Khidir, Yusha' ibn noon, Ilyas, Alyasa', Dhu 'l-kifl, Sham'un, Ishmoil, Yunus ibn Mata, Dawud, Sulaiman, Luqman, Zakariyya, Yahya, 'Uzair, 'Isa ibn Mariam, Dhu 'l-qarnain and Muhammad ('alaihimu 's-salatu wa 's-salam).
Only the names of twenty-eight of them are written in the Qur'an al-karim. Sheet, Khidir, Yusha', Sham'un and Ishmoil are not written. Among the twenty-eight, it is not certain whether Dhu 'l-qarnain, Luqman and 'Uzair were prophets or not. Dhu 'l-kifl ('alaihi 's-salam) was also called Harqil, who was also said to be Ilyas, Idris or Zakariyya. Ibrahim ('alaihi 's-salam) was Khalil- Allah, because there was no love for creature but only for Allahu ta'ala in his heart. Musa ('alaihi 's-salam) was Kalim-Allah, because he spoke with Allahu ta'ala. Isa ('alaihi 's-salam) was Kalimat- Allah, for he did not have a father and was born only upon al-Kalimat al-ilahiyya (the Divine Word) 'Be!' Furthermore, he preached Allahu ta'ala's words, which were full of Divine Wisdom, and communicated them to the ears of people. Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), who was the reason for the creation of all creatures and the highest, the most prominent, the most honorable of mankind, was and is Habib-Allah (Allahu ta'ala's Darling). There were many evidences proving his greatness and superiority and that he was Habib-Allah. For this reason, such words as 'was overcome' or 'was defeated' cannot be said about him. At Resurrection, he will get up from his grave before everybody. He will go to the place of Judgement first. He will go to Paradise before everybody. Though the beautiful traits in his character cannot be concluded by counting, nor would human energy suffice to count them, we will ornament our book by writing down some of them:
One of his miracles was his ascent to the Miraj: while he was in bed in al-Makkat al-Mukarrama, he was awaken and his blessed body was taken to the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (Quds), thence to the heavens, and after the seventh heaven, to the places which Allahu ta'ala determined. We have to believe in the Miraj in this manner.(24) How the Miraj happened is written in detail in many valuable books, particularly in Shifa'-i Sharif.(25) He went with Jabrail ('alaihi's-salam) from Mecca to Sidrat al-muntaha, a tree in the sixth and seventh heavens. No knowledge, no ascent could go further than there. In Sidra, Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) saw Jabrail ('alaihi 's-salam) in his own shape with his six hundred wings. Jabrail ('alaihi 's-salam) remained in Sidra. From Mecca to Jerusalem, or to the seventh heaven, Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) was taken on Buraq, which was a white, very fast, sexless and unworldly animal of Paradise and which is smaller than a mule and bigger than an ass. It stepped beyond eyeshot. At the Aqsa Mosque, Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) became the imam for prophets in the night or morning prayer. Prophets' souls were present there in their own human figures. From Jerusalem up to the seventh sky, he was made to ascend in a moment with an unknown ladder named Miraj. On the way, angels lined up on the right and on the left, praised and lauded him. At each heaven, Jabrail ('alaihi 's-salam) announced the good news of Rasulullah's ('alaihi 's-salam) arrival. In each heaven he saw a prophet and greeted him. In Sidra, he saw many astonishing things, the blessings of Paradise and the tortures of Hell. He looked at none of the blessings of Paradise out of the desire for and the pleasure of seeing Allahu ta'ala's Jamal. Beyond Sidra, he went ahead alone, among nurs (lights). He heard the sounds of the angels' pens. He went through seventy thousand curtains. The distance between two curtains was like a way of five hundred years. After this, on a bed named Rafraf, which was brighter than the sun, he went through the Kursi and reached the 'Arsh. He went out of the 'Arsh, out of the worlds of time, space and matter. He reached the stage to hear Allahu ta'ala's Speech. He saw Allahu ta'ala in a manner that cannot be understood or explained, like Allahu ta'ala will be seen in the next world without time and space. He spoke with Allahu ta'ala without letters and sounds. He glorified, praised and lauded Him. He was given innumerable gifts and honors. Fifty times of performance of salat in a day were made fard for him and for his umma, but this was gradually reduced to five times a day with the mediation of Musa ('alaihi 's-salam). Before this, salat had been performed only in the mornings and in the afternoons or at nights. After such a long journey, having attained gifts and blessings and having seen and heard so many bewildering things, he came back to his bed, which had not become cold yet. What we have written above was understood partly from ayats and partly from hadiths. It is not wajib to believe all. Yet, since the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat communicated them, those who deny these facts will be separated from Ahl as-sunnat. And he who does not believe an ayat or a hadith becomes a disbeliever.
Let us cite some of the innumerable evidences showing that Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is the Most Superior (Sayyid al-Anbiya') of prophets ('alaihimu 's- salawatu wa 't-taslimat).
On the Day of Judgement all prophets will shelter in the shade of his banner. Allahu ta'ala commanded all prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam) that, if they would remain alive till the time of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), who, among creatures, was His Darling Elect, they should believe him and be his assistant. Also, all prophets ordered their ummas the same in their last requests.
Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) was the Khatam al- anbiya' (the Last Prophet), that is, no prophet will succeed him. His blessed soul was created before all prophets.' The status of nubuwwa was given first to him. Nubuwwa was completed with his honoring the world. Towards the end of the world, during the time of Hadrat al-Mahdi, 'Isa (alaihi 's-salam) will descend from the sky to Damascus and belong to Muhammad's ('alaihi 's-salam) umma and preach Islam on the earth.(26)
Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is the highest of prophets and is Allahu ta'ala's compassion for all creatures. 18,000 'alams (worlds of beings) received benefit from his ocean of blessings. By the consensus [of the 'ulama'], he is the Prophet for all human beings and genies. Many [scholars] said he was the Prophet for angels, plants, animals and for every substance. While other prophets had been sent to certain tribes in certain countries, Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) was and is the Prophet of all worlds and all the living and lifeless creatures. Allahu ta'ala had addressed other prophets by their names. As for Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), He favored him by addressing him, "Oh My Prophet (Rasul)!" The like of every miracle that had been granted to every prophet was presented to him.
Allahu ta'ala bestowed upon His Beloved Prophet more gifts and granted him more miracles than He had done to any other prophet of His. He was made superior to all prophets with countless honors and excellences: the moon split into two when he made a sign with his blessed finger; the stones in his palm uttered the Name of Allah; trees greeted him by saying, "O Rasulullah"; the dry log named Hannana cried because Rasulullah ('alaihi 's- salam) departed from its side and left it alone; pure water flowed down through his blessed fingers; the high grades of al-Maqam al-Mahmud, ash-Shafaat al-kubra, al-Hawd al-Kawthar, al-Wasila and al-Fadila were said to be given to him in the next world; he had the honor of seeing Allahu ta'ala's Jamal before entering Paradise; he had the greatest moral quality in the world, the most perfect faith, knowledge, gentleness, patience, gratitude, zuhd (devotion, asceticism), chastity, justness, heroism, bashfulness, bravery, modesty, wisdom, beautiful manners, helpfulness, mercy and inexhaustible honors and honorable traits. No one but Allahu ta'ala knows the number of miracles given to him. His religion abrogated all other religions. His religion was the best and highest of all the religions. His umma is higher than all other ummas. The awliya' of his umma are more honorable than the awliya' of other ummas.
Among the awliya' of the umma of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), the one who deserved to be his Khalifa (caliph) was Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (radi- Allahu ta'ala 'anh), who was loved most by the awliya' and imams and was more suited for the caliphate than others. After prophets, he is the highest and the most auspicious of all human beings that have come and that will come. He was the first to attain the status and honor of caliphate. With the favors and blessings of Allahu ta'ala, he had not worshipped idols before Islam commenced. He had been protected against the defects of disbelief and heresy.(27)
After him, the highest of human beings is the second Khalifa 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), whom Allahu ta'ala chose as a friend to His Beloved Prophet.
After him the highest of human beings is the third Khalifa of Rasulullah ('alaihi's-salam), Dhu'n- Nurain 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), the treasure of favors and blessings and the source of modesty, faith and spiritual knowledge.
After him, the most auspicious of human beings is the fourth Khalifa of Rasulullah ('alaihi's -salam), 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), the possessor of astonishing superiorities and the Lion of Allahu ta'ala.
Hadrat Hasan ibn 'Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum)(28) became the Khalifa after him. The thirty years of caliphate mentioned in the hadith ash-Sharif was completed with him. After him, the highest human being is Hadrat Husain ibn 'Ali(radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum), the light of Rasulullah's ('alaihi's-salam) eyes.
These superiorities were based on their having earned more thawab; abandoned their country and their beloved ones for the sake of Islam; being Muslims before others; adapted themselves to Rasulullah ('alaihi's-salam) to the highest extent; given themselves up to his sunnat; struggled in spreading his religion; and prevented disbelief, fitna and corruption.
Hadrat Ali (radi-Allahu 'anh) embraced Islam before everybody with the exception of Hadrat Abu Bakr (radi- Allahu 'anh). Yet he was a child and had no property and lived in Rasulullah's ('alaihi 's-salam) house and served him. Therefore, his embracing Islam did not cause disbelievers to become Muslim, to take warning or to be defeated. Whereas, the embracement of the other three Khalifas strengthened Islam. Because Hadrat 'Ali and his sons (radiAllahu ta'ala 'anhum) were the closest relatives of Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) and of Rasulullah's blessed blood, they might be said to have been higher than Hadrat Abu Bakr and Hadrat 'Umar, but their superiority was not a superiority in every respect and did not help them surpass these great persons in every way. It was similar to Khidir's ('alaihi 's-salam) having taught something to Musa ('alaihi 's-salam)(29). Hadrat Fatima was higher than Hadrat Khadija and Hadrat Aisha (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhunna) because she was closer to the Prophet in respect of blood. But one type of superiority should not show a superiority in every respect. The 'ulama' remarked differently on which of these was the highest. As it is understood from the hadith ash-Sharif, these three, Hadrat Mariam and the Pharaoh's wife, Hadrat Asiya, were the five highest of all the worldly women. The hadith ash-Sharif, "Fatima is superior to the women of Paradise, and Hasan and Husain are the highest youths of Paradise," referred to a superiority only in one respect.
The next highest ones of the Sahabat al-kiram (Companions of the Prophet) were al-'Asharat al-Mubashshara, the ten people blessed with the good news of [going to] Paradise. After them, the highest Muslims were the 313 Muslims who took part in the Holy Battle of Badr. The next were the 700 brave Muslims who took part in the Holy Battle of Uhud. Next to them were the Bi'at ar-Ridwan, the 1400 Muslims who took the oath of allegiance to Rasulullah under the tree.
As-Sahabat al-kiram (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum ajmain) sacrificed their lives and property for the sake of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) and assisted him. It is incumbent (wajib) upon us to mention the name of any of them with veneration and love. It is never permissible to say words unbecoming their greatness. It is a heresy to mention their names disrespectfully.
One who loves Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) has to love all of his Companions. A hadith ash-Sharif says, "He who loves my companions loves them because he loves me. He who does not love them does not love me. He who hurts them hurts me. And he who hurts me hurts Allahu ta'ala. A person who hurts Allahu ta'ala will certainly suffer torture." In another hadith ash-Sharif he declared, "When Allahu ta'ala wants to favor one of my umma, He places in his heart the love of my Companions, and he loves them dearly."
For this reason, it should not be supposed that as-Sahabat al-kiram fought each other for becoming the Khalifa or satisfying their evil thoughts or their sensual desires. It is hypocrisy which leads one to ruination to speak ill of them out of such a supposition, since jealousy and desire for position and addiction to the world had been completely cleared away from their hearts by sitting in the presence of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) and hearing his blessed words. They were corrected and became free from greed, ambition, grudge and evil nature; they were wholly purified. Considering the fact that a person who stays for a few days in the presence of one of the walis of the umma of the Exalted Prophet benefits from the wali's beautiful morals and excellences and gets clean of worldly ambitions, how could it ever be presumed that the Prophet's Companions, our masters, who loved Rasulullah more than anybody else and sacrificed their possessions and lives for him and abandoned their country for him and were fond of his company, which was nourishment for spirits, were not free from bad morals, that their nafses were not clean and that they fought for the carrion of this temporary world? Those great people were certainly cleaner than everybody. It is unbecoming to liken the disagreements and combats between them to those between us, an ill-willed people, or to say that they fought to satisfy their evil, sensual and worldly desires. It is not permissible to bear such improper thoughts against as-Sahabat al-kiram. A person who would say something against them should know that to be hostile towards as-Sahabat al-kiram is to be hostile towards Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam), and to speak ill of them means to speak ill of him, who educated and trained them. For this reason, the great men of Islam say that he who does not respect and have a high opinion of as-Sahabat al-kiram is in disbelief in Rasulullah. The battles of "Jamal" (Camel) and Siffin cannot be taken as grounds for slandering them. Because of some religious reasons, none of those who stood against Hadrat 'Ali in these battles was evil; in fact, they all deserved to be rewarded on the Day of Judgement. A hadith ash-Sharif says, "One reward will be given to the mujtahid who is mistaken, and two or ten to him who finds out what is right. One of the two rewards is for employing ijtihad. The other is for finding the truth." The disputes and combats among those great people of Islam were not out of obstinacy or hostility but because of their [different] ijtihads and out of their wish to carry out what Islam ordered. Each of as-Sahabat al-kiram was a mujtahid.(30)
It was fard for every mujtahid to act in accordance with the conclusion he had found by his own ijtihad, even if his ijtihad might not be in agreement with that of a mujtahid much higher than he. It was not permissible for him to follow another's ijtihad. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ash-Shaibani, the disciples of al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa Numan ibn Thabit [d. Baghdad, 150 A.H. (767)], and Abu Sawr and Ismail al-Muzani, the disciples of Imam Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi'i, [d. Egypt, 204 A.H. (820)], disagreed with their masters on many aspects, and about some of the things which their masters said 'haram' (forbidden) they said 'halal' (permitted), and about some of the things which their masters said 'halal' they said 'haram.' They cannot be said to be sinful or evil on that account. No one has said so, for they were mujtahids like their masters.
It is true that Hadrat 'Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) was more exalted and learned than Hadrat Muawiya and Hadrat 'Amr ibn al-'As (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhuma). He had many superior qualities to distinguish him from them, and his ijtihad was stronger and sharper than their ijtihads. However, since all as-Sahabat al-kiram were mujtahids, it was not permissible for those two to follow the ijtihad of that great religious leader. It was necessary for them to act upon their own ijtihads.
Question: "In the battles of 'Jamal' and Siffin, a great many of the Muhajirun and Ansar among as-Sahabat al-kiram took part with, obeyed and followed Hadrat 'Ali. Though all of them were mujtahids, they considered it was wajib to follow him. This shows that it was wajib also for mujtahids to follow Hadrat 'Ali. They had to follow him even if their ijtihads did not agree with his, did they not?"
Answer: Those who followed Hadrat 'Ali and fought on his side joined him not with the view of following his ijtihad but because their ijtihads were in agreement with his ijtihad and showed that it was wajib to follow Imam 'Ali. Similarly, the ijtihads of many prominent Companions of the Prophet did not agree with that of Hadrat 'Ali, and it became wajib for them to fight against him. The ijtihads of as-Sahabat al-kiram happened in three different ways then: some of them understood that Hadrat 'Ali was right, and it became necessary for them to follow Hadrat 'Ali; another side saw that the ijtihad of those who fought Hadrat 'Ali was right, and it became wajib for them to follow those who fought Hadrat 'Ali and to fight against him; the third group said it would be necessary not to follow either side and not to fight, and their ijtihad required them not to enter into the war. All these three sides were certainly right and deserved to be rewarded in the next word.
Question: "The [above] answer shows that those who fought against Hadrat 'Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) were also right. Whereas, the scholars of Ahl
as-Sunnat have said that Hadrat 'Ali was right, that his opponents were wrong, that they were forgivable because they had an excuse, and that they even gained thawab. What can be said about that?"
Answer: Al-Imam ash-Shafi'i and 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, two great men of Islam, said that it was not permissible to use the word 'wrong' about any of as-Sahabat al-kiram. For this reason, it was said, "It is wrong to say 'wrong' about the superiors." It is not permissible for inferiors to say such words as, "He did right," "He did wrong," We approve," or "We disapprove," about the superiors. As Allahu ta'ala did not dirty our hands with the blood of these great people, so we should protect our tongues against uttering such words as 'just' and 'unjust.' Those profound scholars who studied the evidences and events and said that Imam 'Ali was right and his opponents were mistaken, in fact, meant that if Hadrat 'Ali had the opportunity to talk with those on the other side, he would have led them to employ ijtihad in conformity with his ijtihad. As a matter of fact, Hadrat Zubair ibn Awwam was against Hadrat 'Ali in the Battle of "Jamal" but, after studying the facts more deeply, he changed his ijtihad and gave up fighting. The words of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat who consider the mistake as permissible should be taken as such. And it is not permissible to say that Hadrat 'Ali and those who were with him were on the just way and the other Companions of the Prophet, who were on the other side with our mother Aisha as-Siddiqa, were on the corrupt way.
These combats among as-Sahabat al-kiram were out of the differences of ijtihad in the branches of the Ahkam ash-Shariyya (the rules of Islam). They did not have any disagreements on the fundamentals of Islam. Today, some people speak ill and disrespectfully of the great men of Islam such as Hadrat Muawiya and 'Amr ibn al-As (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhuma). They cannot realize that they in reality defame and belittle Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) by defaming as-Sahabat al-kiram. It is written in Shifa' ash-Sharif that Imam Malik ibn Anas said, "A person who swears at and slanders Muawiya(31) and 'Amr ibn al-As(32) deserves the words he says against them. It is necessary to punish severely those who talk and write against and do not show respect for them." May Allahu ta'ala fill our hearts with the love for His Beloved's companions! Not hypocrites or sinful people but pious and Allah-fearing Muslims love those superiors.
Those who realize the value and greatness of Rasulullah's (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) Companions and who love and respect all of them and follow them are called Ahl as-Sunnat. Those who claim to love some of them and don't love others thus slander most of them, and those who do not follow any of them, are called Shiites. There are many Shiites in Iran, India and Iraq. There are none in Turkey. Some of them, in order to deceive the pure Muslim 'Alawis in Turkey, call themselves 'Alawi, which means 'Muslim who loves Hadrat 'Ali'. Loving someone necessitates following in his footsteps and loving those whom he loves; if they loved Hadrat 'Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) they would follow in his footsteps. He loved all of the Prophet's companions. He was a counsellor to the Khalifa Hadrat 'Umar, who confided his woes to him. He married his and Hadrat Fatima's daughter Umm Ghulsum to Hadrat 'Umar. In a khutba, he said about Hadrat Muawiya, "Our brethren disagreed with us. Yet they are not disbelievers or sinners. Their ijtihad occurred in that manner." When Hadrat Talha (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh), who was fighting against him, died a martyr, he himself cleaned the dust from his face and became the imam in the salat performed for his death. Allahu ta'ala declared, "believers are brothers." In the last ayat karima of the Surat al-Fat'h He reports, "The Prophet's Companions loved one another." Not to love even one of the Prophet's Companions, or the worst of it, to bear hostility towards him, is to disbelieve the Qur'an al-karim. The scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat understood the superiority of as-Sahabat al-kiram (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum ajmain) correctly and ordered Muslims to love all of them and thus rescued Muslims from the danger.
Those who disliked and bore hostility towards our superiors Hadrat Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) and his sons and descendants, the apples of the eyes of Ahl as-Sunnat, were called Kharijis (Khawarij). Now they are called Yazidis. Their faith is so corrupt that they hardly have any relation with Islam.
The Wahhabis, while claiming to love all as-Sahabat al-kiram, follow not their path but their own heretical path which they ascribe to as-Sahaba. They do not like the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, great sufis and Alawis and slander all of them. They suppose that they alone are Muslims. They regard those who are not like them as "polytheists" and consent to taking their lives and property. Therefore, they become Ibahatis. They draw wrong, heretical meanings from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif and think that Islam consists merely of those meanings. They deny the adilat ash- Shariyya and most hadiths. The notables of the four madhhabs have written many books proving with documents that those who depart from Ahl as-Sunnat have gone astray and do much harm to Islam(33).
Ayyub Sabri Pasha (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) said, "Wahhabism came out with a bloody, torturous rebellion on the Arabian Peninsula in 1205 (1791)." Muhammad 'Abduh of Egypt was one of the people who tried to spread anti- madhhabism through his books around the world. In the time of the Union and Progress Party, 'Abduh's books were translated into Turkish and were presented to the youth as the "work of the great scholar of Islam, the enlightened man of ideas, the eminent reformer 'Abduh." Whereas, 'Abduh had openly written that he admired Jamal ad-din al-Afghani [d. 1314 A.H. (1897)], who was a freemason and chief of the Cairo Masonic Lodge. The enemies of Islam, who were in ambush to abolish Ahl as-Sunnat and to annihilate Islam by words falsely praising Islam, insidiously incited this fitna by disguising themselves as religious men. 'Abduh was lauded to the skies. Great scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, the aimmat al-madhahib, were announced to have been ignorant people. Their names were no longer mentioned. But the pure and noble descendants of our ancestors, who had sacrificed their lives for the sake of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) and Islam, the sons of honorable martyrs, would not succumb to propaganda and advertisements, for which millions of pounds had been spent. They would not even listen to or acknowledge these false "heroes of Islam." Allahu ta'ala protected the children of martyrs against these heinous attacks. Today, translated books of the anti-madhhabites like Mawdudi (34), Sayyid Qutb(35) and Hamidullah are presented to the youth. They contain heretical ideas unconforming with what the scholars of ahl as-Sunnat said and are extolled extravagantly through gigantic advertisements. We must be always alert and careful. May Allahu ta'ala wake up Muslims from unawareness for the sake of His Beloved Prophet Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam)! May He protect us against being taken in by the lies and slanders of the enemies! Amin. Let us not deceive ourselves by praying only! To pray without clinging to al-Adat al-ilahiyya (Divine Law) of Allahu ta'ala, without working or holding on to the means, would be to ask miracles of Allahu ta'ala. A Muslim should both work and pray. We should first hold on to the means and then pray. The first means for escaping disbelief is to learn and teach Islam. As a matter of fact, it is obligatory (fard) and the primary duty for everybody, man or woman, to learn the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat, the commands and prohibitions.
Those who do not learn the faith and teachings ('ilm al-hal) of Ahl as-Sunnat or teach them to their children are exposed to the danger of deviating rom Islam and falling into the abyss of disbelief. The prayers of such people are not acceptable. Then, how can they protect themselves against disbelief? Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) said, "There is Islam where there is knowledge. There is no Islam where there is no knowledge." As it is necessary to eat and drink in order not to die of hunger, so it is necessary to learn our religion in order not to be deceived by disbelievers and not to become non-Muslims. Our ancestors frequently assembled and read 'ilm al-hal books and thus remained Muslim and enjoyed Islam. They communicated this light of bliss correctly to us. So, for remaining Muslim and not letting our children be captured by the enemies inside or outside, the first and the most necessary preventive measure is to read and digest the 'ilm al-hal books prepared by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. Parents who
want their child to be a Muslim should send it to a teacher and make certain that it shall learn how to read the Qur'an al-karim. Let us read, learn and teach our children and those we are responsible for while we have the chance. It will be difficult or even impossible for them when they go to school. It will be useless to lament after the degeneration takes place. We should not believe the enemies of Islam, their deceptive and false books, newspapers, magazines, television and radio programs, and motion pictures. Ibn Abidin (rahimah- Allahu ta'ala) wrote in the third volume [of Radd al-mukhtar ] that those insidious disbelievers who, though they do not believe in any religion, pretend to be Muslims and teach things that cause disbelief as if they were Islamic, and who strive to cause Muslims to go out of Islam, are called "zindiqs."
Question: "A person who has read translations of their corrupt books says:
'We should read interpretations (tafsir) of the Qur'an al-karim. To entrust the job of comprehending our religion and the Qur'an al-karim to religious scholars is a dangerous and horrible thought. The Qur'an al-karim says not "Oh Religious Scholars" but "Oh Muslims" and "Oh Mankind." For this reason, every Muslim should understand the Qur'an al-karim himself and should not expect this job from anybody else.'
"He wants everybody to read tafsir and hadith books. He does not recommend reading the books of kalam, fiqh and 'ilm al-hal written by Islamic scholars and great men of Ahl as-Sunnat. The publication of Rashid Rida's (36) book Islamda Birlik ve Fikh Mezhebleri by the Chief Office of Religious Affairs (publication no. 157; 1394/1974) has all the more confused readers. On its many pages, particularly in the "Sixth Dialogue," the book states:
'They [muqallids, followers of one of the four madhhabs] extolled the mujtahid imams to the degree of prophethood. They even preferred a mujtahid's word which disagreed with the Prophet's hadith to the hadith. They said that the hadith could have been annulled (naskh) or there could have been another hadith in their imam's view. By acting upon the words of those people who might have been wrong in their judging and who might have not known the matter, and by relinquishing the hadith of the Prophet, who was free from error, these muqallids also contradict mujtahids. They even contradict the Qur'an by doing so. They say that no one but a mujtahid imam could understand the Qur'an. Such words of faqihs and other muqallids show that they have adopted them from Jews and Christians. On the contrary, it is easier to understand the Qur'an and the Hadith than understanding the books written by the men of fiqh. Those who have digested Arabic words and grammar will not have difficulty in understanding the Qur'an and the Hadith. Who on earth could deny the fact that Allah is capable of explaining His own religion explicitly? Who could object to the fact that Rasulullah was more able than anybody else to understand what Allah meant and could explain it better than others? To say that the Prophet's explanations were insufficient for Muslims is to claim that he was not able to carry out his duty of communication (tabligh) precisely. If the majority of people had not been able to understand the Qur'an and the Sunnat, Allah would not have charged all people with the rules in the Book and the Sunnat. One should know what one believes together with its documentary evidences. Allah disapproves of taqlid (adapting oneself to a madhhab) and says that their [muqallids'] imitating their fathers and grandfathers would not be deemed excusable. Ayats show that taqlid is never approved by Allah. It is easier to understand that part of the religion concerning the furu' from its dalil (document, source) than it is to understand the part pertaining to faith (usul, iman). While charging with the difficult one, would not He charge with the easy one? It will be difficult to draw rules from some rare matters, yet then it will be deemed as an excuse not to know or do them. The men of fiqh invented a number of masala (problems, matters) by themselves. They produced rules for them. They attempted to introduce such things as ra'y, qiyas jali and qiyas khafi as documents for them. These were made to overflow into the field of 'ibadat, on which it is impossible to acquire knowledge through reasoning. Thus they expanded the religion several times. They drove Muslims into trouble. I do not deny qiyas; I say that there is no qiyas in the field of 'ibadat. Iman and 'ibadat were completed in the time of the Prophet. No one can add anything to them. The mujtahid imams prohibited people from imitating (taqlid) and made taqlid a prohibition.'
"This passage, which is taken from the book published by the Chief Office of Religious Affairs, like all anti- maddhabite books, prohibits following the imams of the four madhhabs. It commands that everybody should learn tafsir and hadith. What would you say about it?"
Answer: If the passages written by the non-madhhabite are read with attention, one will easily see that they try to deceive Muslims by embellishing their heretical thoughts and separatist views with an unsound series of reasoning and false statements. The ignorant, thinking that the writing is based upon knowledge within the framework of logic and reason, may fall for it, yet the learned, keen-sighted people will never be caught in their traps.
In order to warn the youth against the danger of non-madhhabism or anti-Sunnism, which has been driving Muslims towards eternal perdition, the 'ulama' of Islam (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) have written thousands of valuable books for fourteen centuries. The following is the translation of some passages from the book Hujjat- Allahi 'ala 'l-'alamin by Yusuf an-Nabhani [d. Beirut, 1350 A.H. (1932)] as an answer to the question above:
"Not everybody can draw ahkam (rules, conclusions) from the Qur'an al-karim. Since even the mujtahid imams would not be able to draw from all the rules in the Qur'an al-karim, Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) explained the rules in the Qur'an al-karim in his hadiths. As the Qur'an al-karim was explained by him only, so the hadiths could be understood and explained by as-Sahabat al-kiram and the mujtahid imams only. In order that they could understand them, Allahu ta'ala endowed upon His mujtahid imams scientific and religious knowledge, strong comprehension, keen sight, superfluous mind, and many more virtues. Ahead of all these virtues was taqwa. Next came the Divine Light in their hearts. With the help of these virtues, our mujtahid imams understood what Allahu ta'ala and Rasulullah meant in their words, and, as for those they could not understand, they showed [solutions for] them through qiyas. Each of the four aimmat al-madhahib informed that he did not speak out of his own opinion and said to his disciples, 'If you find a sahih hadith, leave my word aside and follow Rasulullah's hadith!' Whom our aimmat al-madhahib told this were profound scholars who were mujtahids like them. These scholars were the mujtahids of tarjih (ability to distinguish between) who knew the documentation of the four madhhabs. They studied the documents and the transmitters of the hadith on which the madhhab imam had based his ijtihad and those of the newly encountered sahih hadith, and examined which was said later and many other conditions, and thus understood which was to be preferred (tarjih). Or, the mujtahid imam [the imam al-madhhab] decided about a problem (masala) through qiyas because he did not know the hadith which would document [or solve] it, and his disciples, finding that hadith, decided differently. But, while employing such an ijtihad, the disciples did not go beyond the rules of the imam. Those mujtahid Muftis who succeeded them gave fatwa in this manner, too. As it is understood from all that has been written here, those Muslims who have been following the four aimmat al-madhhahib, and the mujtahids who were educated in their madhhabs, have been following the rules of Allahu ta'ala and His Messenger. These mujtahids understood the rules in the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif, which nobody else could understand, and conveyed what they understood. Muslims have been living up to what mujtahids understood and communicated from the Nass, that is, the Book and the Sunnat. Because Allahu ta'ala declares in the 43 rd ayat karima of surat al-Nahl, "If you do not know, ask those who know."(37)
"Only upon the Umma of His Beloved Prophet (sall- Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) did Allahu ta'ala bestow the fortune that the aimmat al-madhahib would perform ijtihad and establish their madhhabs, and that all Muslims would come together in these madhhabs. Allahu ta'ala, on the one hand, created the imams of itiqad 38) and prevented heretics, zindiqs, mulhids and Satan- like men from defiling the knowledge of itiqad, and, on the other, protected His religion from being defiled by creating the imams of madhhabs. Since this blessing did not exist in Christianity and Judaism, their religions were defiled and were turned into playthings."
"By consensus of the scholars of Islam, there came no deep scholar capable of employing ijtihad after the four hundred years following Rasulullah's (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) death. A person who says that it is necessary to employ ijtihad now must be mad or ignorant of the religion. When the great scholar Jalal ad-din as-Suyuti 'Abd ar-Rahman [rahimah-Allahu ta'ala, d. Egypt, 911 A.H. (1505)] said he had reached the grade of ijtihad, other contemporary scholars asked him about a question to which two different answers had been given and inquired of him to tell which answer was more dependable. He could not answer them. He said he was too busy to spare any time for it. Whereas, what he was asked to do was to employ ijtihad on a fatwa, which was the lowest degree of ijtihad. Seeing that such a deep scholar as as-Suyuti evaded employing ijtihad on a fatwa, what shall we call those who force people to employ absolute (mutlaq) ijtihad, if we should not call them mad or spiritually ignorant? Al-Imam al-Ghazali (39) (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) reported in his book Ihya' 'Ulum ad-Din that there was no mujtahid in his time."
"If a non-mujtahid Muslim learns a sahih hadith and if it becomes hard for him to do the way (that disagrees with the hadith) of the imam of his madhhab, he has to search and find within the four madhhabs another mujtahid whose ijtihad was based on that hadith and do that affair of his in accordance with the madhhab that mujtahid belonged to. Great scholar al-Imam Yahya an-Nawawi [rahimah-Allahu ta'ala, d. Damascus, 676 A.H. (1277)] explained this in detail in his Rawdat at-talibin. For, it is not permissible for those who have not reached the grade of ijtihad to draw rules from the Nass, that is, the Book and the Sunnat. Now some ignoramuses claim that they have reached the grade of absolute ijtihad, that they can draw rules from the Nass and that they no longer need to follow one of the four madhhabs, and they abandon the madhhab they have followed for years. They attempt to refute the madhhabs with their unsound thoughts. They say such ignorant, stupid statements as, 'We will not follow the opinion of a religious man who was as ignorant as we are.' Deluded by Satan and provoked by the nafs, they claim superiority. They cannot realize that by saying so they reveal not their superiority but their stupidity and ignominy. Among these, we see also those heretical ignoramuses who say and write that everybody should read and derive rules from tafsir books and [the Sahih of] al-Bukhari. Oh My Muslim Brother! Completely avoid making friends with such idiots or supposing that they are religious men! Hold fast to the madhhab of your imam! You are free to choose whichever you like of the four madhhabs. But it is not permissible to collect the facilities (rukhsas) of the madhhabs, that is, to unify the madhhabs, which is called 'talfiq'.(40)
"A Muslim who can read and understand hadiths well should learn the hadiths that are his madhhab's documents, then do the actions praised and shun those prohibited by the hadiths and learn the greatness and value of the Islamic religion, the perfection of Allahu ta'ala's and Rasulullah's (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) names and attributes, Rasulullah's life, his virtues and miracles, the order of this and the next worlds, of the Resurrection, of the Judgement and Paradise and Hell, angels, genies, ancient ummas, prophets and their books, the superiorities peculiar to Rasulullah and to the Qur'an al-karim, the lives of his Al (immediate relatives) and those of his Companions, the harbingers of the Last Day and many more items of information pertaining to this world and the next. All the information pertaining to this world and the next has been accumulated in Rasulullah's hadiths."
"When what we have written here is understood, it will become apparent how ignorant are those who say that those rules of Islam which were not derived from hadiths are useless. Among the innumerous items of information given in hadiths, those hadiths teaching 'ibadat and muamalat are very few. According to some scholars, there are about five hundred [including the repetitive ones, there are no more than three thousand]. It is not presumable that any one of the four aimmat al-madhahib might not have heard one sahih hadith among so few hadiths. Each sahih hadith was used as a document by at least one of the four aimmat al-madhahib. A Muslim who sees that some affair in his own madhhab is unsuitable with a sahih hadith should do the affair by following another madhhab which based its ijtihad on that hadith. Perhaps the imam of his own madhhab also heard of the hadith, but, following another hadith which he understood was more sahih or was [said by the Prophet] later in date and annulled the former, or, for some other reasons known to mujtahids, he did not take the former hadith as a document. It is good for a Muslim who understands that the former hadith is sahih to give up his own madhhab's ijtihad which is not suitable with the hadith and to follow the hadith, yet, in this case he has to follow another madhhab which used that hadith in its ijtihad for this matter. For, the imam of that second madhhab, knowing those documents of the rules (ahkam) which he did not know, found out that there was nothing to deter acting upon that hadith. Nevertheless, it is as well permissible for him to carry out that affair in accordance with his own madhhab, for it is doubtless that the imam of his own madhhab relied upon a sound document in his ijtihad. Islam deems it excusable for a muqallid not to know that document. For, none of the imams of the four madhhabs overflowed the Book and the Sunnat in ijtihad. Their madhhabs are the explanations of the Book and the Sunnat. They explained the meanings and rules in the Book and the Sunnat for Muslims. They explained them in a way that Muslims can understand
them, and wrote them down in books. This work of the aimmat al-madhahib (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) was such a tremendous service to Islam that human power would not have sufficed for doing it if Allahu ta'ala had not helped them. [Existence of] these madhhabs is one of the most perfect evidences of the fact that Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) is the True Prophet and Islam is the True Religion."
"The difference in the ijtihads of our aimmat al-madhahib were only in matters pertaining to furu' ad-din, that is, in matters of fiqh. There was no disagreement among them in respect to usul ad-din, that is, in the knowledge of itiqad or iman. Nor did they differ from one another in those teachings of furu' which are known to be essential in the religion and which were taken from those hadiths whose documents were reported by tawatur. They differed only in some aspects of knowledge concerning furu' ad-din. This arose from the difference in their understanding the soundness of the documents of these matters. And this little difference among them is [Allahu ta'ala's] compassion over the umma; it is permissible (jaiz) for Muslims to follow any madhhab they like and find easy. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) foretold this difference as glad tidings, and it has happened as he foretold."
"It is not permissible to employ ijtihad in the knowledge of itiqad, that is, in the facts to be believed. It gives way to deviation and heresy. It is a grave sin. There is only one correct path in matters pertaining to itiqad: ahl as-Sunnat wal-Jamaat. The difference which was declared to be [Allahu ta'ala's] compassion in the hadith ash-Sharif was the difference in furu' or ahkam."
"In a matter on which the judgements of the four madhhabs differ from one another, only one of the judgements is correct. Those who do this correct way will be given two thawabs, and those who act according to one of the incorrect judgements will be given one thawab. That the madhhabs are compassion shows the fact that it is permissible to give up one madhhab and follow another. But it is not permissible to follow any madhhab - other than the four- that belongs to Ahl as-Sunnat, nor even as-Sahabat al-kiram, since their madhhabs were not put into written form and have been forgotten. There is now no possibility for following any madhhab other than the known four. Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ar-Razi [rahimah-Allahu ta'ala, d. 370 A.H. (980)], too, reported that it had been declared unanimously by the 'ulama' of Islam that it was not permissible to follow [directly] as-Sahabat al-kiram. I recommend that those who want to understand well the superiority of the madhhabs, of mujtahids, especially of the four aimmat al-madhhahib, the fact that their madhhabs did not go beyond the Book and the Sunnat and that the rules which they conveyed through ijma' and qiyas were not their own opinions but were taken from the Book and the Sunnat, should read the books Al-mizan al-kubra and Al-mizan al-Khidriyya by Imam 'Abd al-Wahhab ash-Sharani (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala)."(41)
It is not correct to say, "Qur'an al-karim does not say 'religious scholars.' " Various ayats in praise of scholars ('ulama') and knowledge ('ilm). Hadrat 'Abd al-Ghani an-Nabulusi [d. 1143 A.H. (1731)] wrote in his Al-Hadiqa: "The 7th ayat of surat al-Anbiya says, 'Ask the men of dhikr what you do not know.' 'Dhikr' means 'knowledge'. This ayat karima commands those who know little to find scholars and learn from them." It is declared in the seventh ayat karima of surat Al 'Imran, "Only possessors of knowledge understand the meaning of inexplicit ayats"; in the 18th ayat karima of the same sura, "That Allahu ta'ala is existent and unique is understood and reported by possessors of knowledge"; in the 81st ayat karima of surat al-Qasas, "Possessors of knowledge said to them, 'Shame on you! The rewards Allahu ta'ala will give to those who believe and do good deeds are better than worldly favors'"; in the 56 th ayat karima of surat Rum, "Possessors of knowledge and belief will say, 'Well, this is the Day of Resurrection which you denied in the world'"; in the 108th ayat karima of surat Isra, "Possessors of knowledge, upon hearing al-Qur'an al-karim, will prostrate and say, 'There is no defect in our Owner, who does not break His Word'"; in the 54th ayat of surat Hajj, "Possessors of knowledge understand that al-Qur'an al-karim is the Word of Allah"; in the 50th ayat karima of surat Ankabut, "Al-Qur'an al-karim has settled in the hearts of possessors of knowledge"; in the sixth ayat karima of 'surat Saba', "Possessors of knowledge know that al-Qur'an al-karim is the Word of Allah and renders attaining to Allahu ta'ala's consent"; in the eleventh ayat karima of surat al-Mujadala, "High ranks will be granted to possessors of knowledge in Paradise"; in the 27th ayat karima of surat al-Fatir, "Only possessors of knowledge fear Allahu ta'ala"; in the 14th ayat karima of surat al-Hujurat, "Most valuable among you is the one who fears Allahu ta'ala much." It is declared in the hadiths quoted on the 365th page of the same book, "'Allahu ta'ala and angels and all creatures pray for him who teaches people what is good'; 'On the Day of Judgement, first prophets, then scholars and then martyrs will intercede'; 'Oh Men! Be it known that knowledge can be acquired by listening to the scholar'; 'Learn knowledge! Learning knowledge is an 'ibada. The teacher and the learner of knowledge will be given the reward of jihad. Teaching knowledge is like giving alms. Learning knowledge from the scholar is like performing midnight salat.' "Tahir Buhari(42), the author of the fatwa book Khulasa, states: "Reading fiqh books is more thawab than performing salat at nights. For, it is fard to learn the fards and harams from ['alims or their] books. To read fiqh books in order to carry out what is learned or to teach others is better than performing salat at-tasbih. It is declared in a hadith ash-Sharif, 'Learning knowledge is more thawab than all supererogatory 'ibadat, for it is useful both for oneself and for those whom one will teach'; 'The person who learns in order to teach others will be rewarded like Siddiqs.' The knowledge of Islam can be learned only from a master and from books. Those who say that the books of Islam and guides are unnecessary are liars or zindiqs. They deceive Muslims and lead them to ruination. The knowledge in religious books is derived from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif." The translation from Hadiqa(43) ends here."
Allahu ta'ala sent His Messenger ('alaihi's-salam) so that he would communicate and teach the Qur'an al-karim. As-Sahabat al-kiram learned the knowledge in the Qur'an al-karim from Rasulullah. The scholars of Islam learned it from as-Sahabat al-kiram, and all Muslims learned it from the scholars of Islam and their books. It is declared in a hadith ash-Sharif, "Knowledge is a treasury. Its key is to ask and learn"; "Learn and teach knowledge!" "Everything has a source. The source of taqwa is the hearts of 'arifs." "Teaching knowledge is an atonement for sins."
Al-Imam ar-Rabbani (rahmat-Allahu ta'ala 'alaih) wrote in the 193 rd letter of the first volume of his work Maktubat:
"A responsible person [one at the age of puberty] first has to correct his iman, his faith. That is, to learn and believe faith as taught by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat wal-Jamaat. May Allahu ta'ala give much thawabs to those great men for their endeavors. Amin. Escape from torture in the next world depends only upon learning and believing the knowledge which these great people deduced correctly. [Those who follow their path are called Sunni.] It is declared in a hadith ash-Sharif that one group will be saved from Hell, and they are those Muslims who follow in the footsteps of these scholars. The real Muslims who follow the path of Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) and his Companions (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum) are only these Muslims. The right and valuable knowledge derived from the Qur'an al-karim and the hadith ash-Sharifs, is the knowledge which the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat deduced from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharifs. For, every heretical man of religion carrying a Muslim name claims that his own heretical beliefs have been taken from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif. Every person with wrong ideas and heresies says that he adapts himself to the Book and the Sunnat. It is seen that not what everybody understands and deduces from the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharifs is right.
For learning the precise faith of Ahl as-Sunnat, the Persian book Al-mu'tamad, written by Hadrat Tur Pushti(44), the great Islamic scholar, which explains the true faith transmitted by the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars, is very estimable. The meaning in the book is very clear. It is easy to understand. The book was printed by Hakikat Kitabevi (Bookstore) in 1410 [1989 A.D.].
"After correcting 'aqa'id, the teachings to be believed, we should learn and obey halals, harams, fards, wajibs, sunnas, mandubs and makruhs from books of fiqh written by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. We should not read the heretical books published by ignorant people who could not understand these great scholars. Those Muslims who have a belief unconformable to the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat will not escape going to Hell in the next world may Allahu ta'ala protect s! If a Muslim whose faith is correct is slack in 'ibadat, he may be forgiven even if he does not make tawba. Even if he would not be forgiven, he will be saved from Hell after torture. The main thing is to correct one's faith. Khwaja 'Ubaid- Allah al-Ahrar [qaddas-Allahu ta'ala sirrahu 'l-aziz, d. Samarqand, 895 A.H. (1490)] said, 'If I were given all the kashfs and all the karamat, yet were deprived of the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat, I would consider myself ruined. If I did not have any kashf or karama but had lots of faults, and if [only] the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat were bestowed on me, I wouldn't feel sorry.'
"Today, Muslims in India are very desolate. The enemies of Islam attack from every direction. One coin given for serving Islam today is more thawab than thousands of coins given some other time. The greatest service to be done for Islam is to get the books of Ahl as-Sunnat, which teach iman and Islam, and to distribute them to villagers and young people. A person who is vouchsafed this lot shall feel pleasure; he shall thank Allahu ta'ala profusely; he is so lucky, so fortunate. It is always a good deed to serve Islam. But at such a time as this, when Islam is weakened, when many efforts are made to annihilate Islam through lies and slanders, it is a much better deed to strive to disseminate the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) said to his companions, 'You live at such a time that if you obey nine-tenths of Allahu ta'ala's commands and prohibitions but disobey one, you will perish. You will be tortured! After you, there will come such a time that those who then obey only one tenth of the commands and prohibitions will be saved.' [These are written in Mishkat-ul mesabih, vol. 1, 179 th article and in Tirmizi, Kitab-al Fitan, 79 th article.] It is the present time that the hadith ash-Sharif points out. It is necessary to struggle against disbelievers, to know those who attack Islam and to dislike them.(45) For disseminating the books and words of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, one does not have to be a man of karama or a scholar. Every Muslim should struggle to do it. The opportunity should not be missed. On the Day of Judgement, every Muslim will be questioned on this and will be asked why they did not serve Islam. Those who do not strive to distribute the books teaching Islam and those who do not help people and institutions promulgating Islamic knowledge will be tortured very much. Excuse or pretext will not be accepted. Though prophets ('alaihimu 's- salam) were the highest and the most superior human beings, they never looked after their own comfort. In disseminating Allahu ta'ala's religion, the way to endless bliss, they strove day and night. To those who asked for miracles they replied that Allahu ta'ala created miracles, and their duty was to communicate Allahu ta'ala's religion. As they worked for this purpose, Allahu ta'ala helped them and created miracles. We, too, should disseminate the books and the sayings of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) and tell the youth and our friends the baseness of disbelievers and expose the lies of the enemies and of those who slander and persecute Muslims.(46) Those who do not work for this purpose through wealth, power or profession will not escape torture. While working for this purpose, suffering distress and persecution must be deemed as a great happiness and a big profit. Prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam), while communicating Allahu ta'ala's orders to people, underwent the attacks of ignorant and ignoble people. They suffered very much. Muhammad ('alaihi 's- salam), Allahu ta'ala's Beloved, who was chosen to be the greatest of those great men said, 'No prophet suffered so much ill-treatment as I did.'"
Ahl as-sunnat scholars who showed the right path to all Muslims on the earth and guided us to learn the religion of Muhammad ('alaihi's-salam) without any change or interpolation are the scholars of the four madhhabs who reached the grade of ijtihad. The most prominent ones of them are four. The first of them was al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa Numan ibn Thabit (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala). He was one of the greatest 'ulama' of Islam. He became the leader of Ahl as-Sunnat. His biography is written in the Turkish books Seadet-i Ebediyye and Faideli Bilgiler. He was born in Kufa in 80 A.H. [699] and was martyred in Baghdad in 150 [767].
The second one was the great scholar Imam Malik ibn Anas (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala). The book Ibni Abidin says that he lived eighty-nine years. His grandfather was Malik bin Abi Amir.
The third one was Imam Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi'i (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), who is the apple of the eyes of Islamic scholars. He was born in 150 [767] in Ghazza, Palestine, and passed away in Egypt in 204 [820].
The fourth one was Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahimah- Allahu ta'ala), who was born in Baghdad in 164 [100%] and passed away there in 241 [855]. He is the archstone of the Islamic building.
Today, he who does not follow one of these four great imams is in great danger. He is in heresy. Besides them there were many other Ahl as-sunnat scholars who had righteous madhhabs, too. But in the course of time their madhhabs were forgotten and could not be committed to books. For instance, the seven great Medinan scholars who were called al-Fuqaha' as-saba and 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, Sufyan ibn 'Uyayna,(47) Ishaq ibn Rahawah, Dawud at-Tai, Amir ibn Sharahil ash-Shabi, Laith ibn Sad, 'A'mash, Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari, Sufyan ath-Thawri [d. Basra, 161 A.H. (778)] and 'Abd ar-Rahman Awzai (rahimahum- Allahu ta'ala) were among them.
All the Sahabat al-kiram (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum ajmain) were rightfully the "stars" for guidance. Any of them would have sufficed to guide the whole world to the right path. They were mujtahids, each belonging in his own madhhab. Most of their madhhabs were alike. Yet, since their madhhabs were not written into books, it is not possible for us to follow them. The madhhabs of the four imams, that is, what they communicated about the things to be believed and about the things to be done, were gathered together and explained by their disciples. They were committed to books. Today every Muslim must belong to the madhhab of one of the above mentioned four imams and live up to and perform 'ibadat in accordance with that madhhab.(48)
Among the disciples of these four imams, two scholars reached very high grades in spreading the teachings of iman. Thus, there became two madhhabs in itiqad or iman. The right faith in accord with the Qur'an-al- karim and the Hadith ash-Sharifs, is only the faith shown by these two imams, who spread on the earth the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat, which is the Group of Salvation. One of them was Abu 'l-Hasan 'Ali al-Ashari (rahimah- Allahu ta'ala), who was born in Basra in 226 A.H. [879] and died in Baghdad in 330 [941]. The other was Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), who died in Samarqand in 333 [944]. In iman, every Muslim has to follow one of these two great imams.
The paths (turuq) of the awliya' are right. Not to a smallest degree have they separated from Islam.(49) The awliya' do possess karamat. All their karamat are right and true. Al-Imam 'Abdullah al-Yafii [d. Mecca, 768 A.H. (1367)] said, "Ghawth ath-Thaqalain Mawlana 'Abd al-Qadir al-Geilani 's (qaddas-Allahu ta'ala sirrahu'l- aziz)(50) karamat have been so widely known that one cannot doubt or disbelieve them since tawatur (the state of being widespread) is a sanad (documentary evidence) for authenticity."
It is not permissible to call, by imitating others, a person who performs salat "disbeliever" unless his disbelief is understood from his saying, openly and without darura (strong necessity or compulsion), a word or his using something causing him to become a disbeliever. We cannot call down curses upon him unless it is certainly known that he has died as a disbeliever. It is not permissible to curse even a disbeliever. For this reason, it is better not to curse Yazid.
FOOTNOTES
(21) Those disbelievers who insidiously try to abolish Islam say, "Before becoming the Prophet, Muhammad ('alaihi-'s-salam) had sacrificed victims to idols," and give reference to non-madhhabite books as documents. The lines above prove that this statement is a lie.
(22) 'Rasul' is also translated as 'prophet' in the text.
(23) Today, in Arabia there are people called Wahhabis. They do not believe such hadiths. They call true Muslims who believe these hadiths "disbelievers." Though they, on account of explaining wrongly the inexplicit or dubious nasses away, do not become disbelievers, they become people of bidat. They greatly harm Muslims. Wahhabism originated from the heretical ideas of Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya [d. Damascus, 728 A.H. (1328)]. It spread out among the Turks and everywhere through the books of an Egyptian named Muhammad 'Abduh [d. Egypt, 1323 A.H. (1905)]. The scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat pointed out in hundreds of their books that the Wahhabis were not the followers of a fifth madhhab, but those who are in heresy and on a wrong path. Also detailed information is given in Endless Bliss and Advice for the Muslim. May Allahu ta'ala protect young men with religious duty from falling into the path of Wahhabism, and may He not disconnect us from the right path of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, who are praised greatly in many hadiths! Amin.
(24) The Ismaili heretics and the enemies of faith disguised as Islamic scholars try to deceive the youth by saying and writing that the Miraj was not a bodily ascent but a spiritual state (hal). We should not buy such corrupt books; we should not be deceived by them.
(25) See also our Endless Bliss, Third Fascicle. Qadi 'Iyad al-Maliki, author of Shifa', passed away in Morocco in 544 A.H. (1150).
(26) The heretical people called Qadianis, or Ahmadis, who were organized by the British in India in the lunar Hijri year 1296 (1880), tell slanderous lies about 'Isa ('alaihi 's-salam), too. Though they claim to be Muslims, they strive to abolish Islam from within. A fatwa has been issued on that they are not Muslims.
(27) It can now be understood by this statement about Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) how poor and how ignorant are those who think and write that RasulAllah ('alaihi's-salam) worshipped idols before his nubuwwa.
(28) Hasan bin Ali passed away because of being poisoned in Madina-i Munawwara in [669 A.D.].
(29) If blood relationship were the only criterion for superiority, Hadrat 'Abbas should have been regarded superior to Hadrat 'Ali. Moreover, Abu Talib and Abu Lahab, who were very close in respect of blood, did not even have the honor and superiority existing in the lowest believer.
(30) For example, it is declared in the hadith as-Sharif on the 298 th page of Al-Hadiqa that 'Amr ibn al-As (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) was a mujtahid.
(31) Hadrat Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan passed away in Damascus in 60 [680 A.D.].
(32) 'Amr Ibni al-As passed away in Egypt in 43 [663 A.D.].
(33) For more detailed information, please read the English books Advice for the Muslim and Endless Bliss, and also the Arabic Al-minhat al-wahbiyya fi 'r-raddi 'l-Wahhabiyya, At-tawassuli bi 'n-Nabi wa jahalat 'l-Wahhabiyyin and Sabil an-najat and the Persian Saif al-abrar. These works and the valuable books written in refutation to ahl al-bidat are published by Hakikat Bookstore in Istanbul. Both in Radd al-mukhtar, (written by Muhammad Emin Ibni Abidin who passed away in Damascus in 1252 [1836 A.D.] (volume III, the chapter on "Baghi") and in the Turkish Nimat-i Islam (the chapter on "Nikah"), it is clearly written that the Wahhabis are Ibahatis. Ayyub Sabri Pasha [d. 1308 A.H. (1890)], Rear-Admiral during the time of Sultan 'Abd al-Hamid Khan II, in his Turkish works Mirat al-Haramain and Ta'rikh-i Wahhabiyyan, and Ahmad Jawdat Pasha, in the seventh volume of his Turkish Ottoman History, explained in detail about the Wahhabis. Also Yusuf an-Nabhani, in his Arabic work Shawahid al-haqq (3rd ed. Cairo, 1385/1965), refuted the Wahhabis and Ibn Taymiyya at length. Fifty pages of his work have been reproduced in the Arabic book 'Ulama' al-Muslimin wa Wahhabiyyun (Istanbul, 1972).
(34) Mawdudi is the founder of the association in India named Jamaatul-islamiyya. He died in 1399.
(35) Sayyid Qutb was put to death in Egypt in 1386 [1966 A.D.]
(36) Rashid Rida is the disciple of Muhammad Abduh. He died in 1354 [1935 A.D.].
(37) This ayat shows that not everybody can understand the Book and the Sunnat correctly. It commands those who cannot understand them not to try personally to understand the Qur'an al-karim or the Hadith ash-Sharif but to learn them by asking those who have understood them. If everybody had understood the meanings in the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif correctly, the seventy-two heretical groups would not have appeared. All of those who started these groups were deeply learned, but none was able to understand the meanings in the Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif correctly. Misunderstanding them, they deviated from the right path and caused millions of Muslims to end up in perdition. Some of them have been very excessive in giving wrong meanings to ayats and hadiths so much so that they have become as heretical as to call Muslims of the right path 'disbelievers' and 'polytheists'. In the book titled Kashf ash-shubuhat, which has been translated into Turkish and slipped into Turkey in a clandestine way, it is said that it is mubah (permitted) to kill and confiscate the property of those Muslims who hold the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat.
(38) See page 59.
(39) Imam-i Muhammad Ghazali passed away in the city of Tus is 505 [1111 A.D.].
(40) 'Talfiq' means 'performance of an act by unifying or mixing the easy ways of madhhabs and in a way which is not compatible with any of them'. After one carries out an act according to one of the four madhhabs, that is, after his performance is sahih (valid, suitable) in that madhhab, his observing additionally as many as possible of the conditions that are put in the other three madhhabs with the view that the act shall be sahih and acceptable also in these madhhabs is called 'taqwa', which is very reward-deserving.
(41) Yusuf an-Nabhani, Hujjat-Allahi 'ala 'l-'alamin, p. 771-. The above quotation, which is translated from the Arabic original, does not contain
any words added by the translators, who, as done in all our books, has put additions from other books in blocked brackets here, too, to prevent confusing them with the translated text. The Arabic original of the above passage from Hujjat-Allahi 'ala 'l-alamin was reproduced by offset in Istanbul in 1394 (1974).
(42) Tahir Buhari passed away in 542 [1147 A.D.].
(43) The author of the book Hadiqa passed away in 1143 [1731 A.D.].
(44) Fadlullah bin Hasen Tur Pushti, a Hanafi fiqh scholar, passed away in 661 A.H. (1263).
(45) Jihad through force (jihad qatli) is made by the State, by its army. Muslims' making jihad is their undertaking as soldiers, the duty given to them by the State. That jihad qawli, that is made through speech and writing, is better than jihad qatli is also written in the 65 th letter.
(46) Telling them will not be gossip but al-amru bi'l-maruf. Every Muslim has to learn the faith of Ahl as-Sunnat and teach it to people whom he can influence. Books, magazines and papers explaining the words of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat should be bought and sent to young brothers and acquaintances. We should strive hard in order that they read them. Also, books exposing the real purposes of the enemies of Islam should be distributed.
(47) Sufyan bin 'Uyayna passed away in the city of Mecca in 198 [813 A.D.].
(48) A person who does not want to follow one of these four madhhabs does not belong to Ahl as-Sunnat. See page 9.
(49) In every century there have been liars and heretics who made the religion a means for their worldly advantages and who came forward in disguise of walis, murshids or men of religious authority. Still there are evil people in every profession, in every branch of crafts and in every official post today. Seeing those who look for their advantages and pleasures in others' harm, it would be injustice or ignorance to blemish all crafts and people with whom they are mixed. It would help factious people. For this reason, the existence of heretical men of religion and ignorant, false men of turuq should not cause us to speak ill of the 'ulama' of Islam or great men of tasawwuf whose services have filled up honorable pages in history. We should realize that those who slander them are unjust.
The Last Day
A Muslim who does sinful acts is called fasiq. Fasiqs and all disbelievers will be tortured ('adhab) in their graves. These are certainly to be believed. After interment, the deceased will return to an unknown life and will be either at ease or in torture. As it was declared in hadith ash-Sharifs, two angels named munkar and nakir, in the guise of two unknown horrible people, will come to his grave and question him. Questions in the grave will be on some fundamentals of iman according to some scholars or on the whole of iman to some others. For this reason, we should teach our children the answers to the following questions: Who is your rabb (Allah)? What is your religion? Whose umma (which prophet's community) do you belong to? What is [the name of] your Holy Book? What is your qibla? What are your madhhabs in iman and in 'ibadat (or 'amal)? It is written in Tazkirat al-Qurtubi (54) that those who are not Ahl as-Sunnat will not be able to answer correctly. The graves of those who will give precise answers will enlarge and a window will be opened to Paradise. Every morning and every evening they will see their places in Paradise, and angels will do them favors and give them good news. He who cannot answer precisely will be beaten with iron mallets so severely that every creature but mankind and genies will hear him cry out. His grave will become so tight that he will feel as if his bones would intertwine. A hole will be opened to Hell. In the morning and in the evening he will see his place in Hell. He will be tortured bitterly in his grave till the Resurrection.
It is necessary to believe in [the other] life after death. After the flesh and bones rot and turn into earth and gas, they will come together again; the souls will enter the bodies they belong to, and everybody will rise up from his grave. Therefore, this time is called the Day of Qiyama (Resurrection).(55)
All living creatures will gather at the place of Mahshar. The deed-books will fly to their owners. Almighty Allah, the creator of the earth, heavens, stars and all particles, will make all these happen. Allahu ta'ala's Messenger (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) reported that these will happen. It is for certain that what he said is true. All will certainly happen.
The deed-books of the pious (salih), the good people, will be given from their right, and those of the sinful (fasiq), the bad people will be given from their back or left. Every action, good or evil, big or little, done secretly or openly, will be in that book. Even those deeds unknown to the kiram katibin angels will be revealed by the human organs' witnessing and by Allahu ta'ala, who knows everything, and there will be questioning and settlement of accounts on every action. During the Day of Judgement, every secret action will be revealed if Allahu ta'ala will it so. Angels will be questioned on what they have done on the earth and in the heavens, prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam) on how they communicated Allahu ta'ala's commands and His religion to men, and people on how they adapted themselves to prophets, how they lived up to the duties revealed to them, and on how they took care of one another's rights. On the Day of Judgement, those who have iman and whose actions and morals are beautiful will be rewarded and blessed, and people with a bad temper and wrong deeds will be punished severely.
Allahu ta'ala, with His Justice, will torture some Muslims for their small sins and He will, with His Mercy, forgive grave and small sins of some other Muslims whom He wills. Except disbelief (kufr) and polytheism (shirk), He will forgive every sin if He wills, and He will torture for a small sin if He wills. He declares that He will never forgive disbelief and polytheism. Disbelievers with or without a heavenly Book, that is, those who do not believe that Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is the Prophet for all human beings and who disapprove even one of the rules [orders and prohibitions] he communicated, will certainly be put into Hell and tortured eternally.
On the Day of Judgement, there will be a Mizan ('balance'), different from those we know, for weighing deeds and conduct. It will be so large that one of its scales can hold the earth and the sky. The scale for good deeds will be bright and to the right of the 'Arsh where Paradise is, and the scale for sins will be dark and to the left of the 'Arsh where Hell is. Actions, words, thoughts and looks that are done in the world will take shapes there, and the good deeds in bright figures and the evils in dark and ugly figures will be weighed on this balance, which does not resemble worldly balances; it was said that the scale carrying the heavier load will go up and the one carrying the lighter load will go down. According to some scholars, there will be various balances. And many others said, "It was not shown clearly in Islam how and how many the balances will be, so it would be better not to think of it."
There will be a bridge called Sirat, which will be built over Hell upon Allahu ta'ala's command. Everybody will be ordered to cross that bridge. That day, all prophets will entreat as, "Oh Allah! Give safety!" Those who are to go to Paradise will cross the bridge easily and reach Paradise. Some of them will pass with the speed of lightning, some with that of wind, and some others like a galloping horse. The Sirat Bridge will be thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword. Adapting yourself to Islam in this world has a similar aspect; adapting yourself precisely to Islam is like crossing the Sirat. Those who withstand the difficulty of struggling with their sensual desires (the nafs) here will cross the Sirat easily there. Those who do not follow Islam because of the nafs will cross the Sirat with difficulty. For this reason, Allahu ta'ala called the right path, pointed out by Islam, the "Sirat al- Mustaqim." This similarity in names shows that staying within Islam's path is like crossing the Sirat. Those who deserve Hell will fall off the Sirat down into Hell.
There will be a body of water called Hawd al-Kawthar reserved for our master Muhammad Mustafa (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam). It will be vast like a journey of one month. Its water will be whiter than milk, and its scent will be more pleasant than musk. The drinking glasses around it are more plentiful than stars. A person who drinks its water would never get thirsty again even if he were in Hell.
It must be believed that there will be shafa'a (intercession). Prophets, walis, pious Muslims, angels and those who are allowed by Allah will intercede for the forgiveness of the small and grave sins of those Muslims who die without having repented, and their intercession will be accepted. [Our Prophet (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) declared, "I will make shafa'a (intercession) for those who commit grave sins of my umma." In the next world, shafa'a will be of five sorts:
Firstly, the sinful, getting tired of the crowd and of waiting so long at the place of Judgement, will wail and ask that the Judgement commence as soon as possible. There will be shafa'a for this.
Secondly, there will be shafa'a so that the questioning will be done easily and quickly.
Thirdly, there will be shafa'a for the sinful Muslims so that they shall not fall off the Sirat into Hell and so that they shall be saved from Hell's torture.
Fourthly, there will be shafa'a for taking gravely sinful Muslims out of Hell.
Fifthly, there will be shafa'a for the promotion of Muslims to a higher grade in the Paradise where, though there will be innumerable favors and an eternal stay, there will be eight grades and every person's grade will be in proportion to the degree of his iman and deeds.
Paradise and Hell exist now. Paradise is above the seven heavens. Hell is below everything. There are eight paradises and seven hells. Paradise is larger than the earth, the sun and the heavens, and Hell is much larger than the sun.
FOOTNOTES
(50) Abd'al-Qadir Geilani passed away in Baghdad in 561 [1161 A.D.].
(51) Hadrat al-Mahdi will be a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam). His name will be Muhammad and his father's name will be 'Abdullah. He will preside over Muslims, strengthen Islam and spread it everywhere. He will meet 'Isa ('alaihi 's-salam), and together they will fight and kill ad-Dajjal. During his time, Muslims will settle everywhere and live in comfort and ease.
(52) Ad-Dajjal (who is called Antichrist by Christians, and who will also be called Masih because his fame will spread over the word) will be a son of a Jew of Khurasan, northern Iran, and an enemy of Islam commanding innumerable soldiers. He will kill Muslims and bring discomfort and disorder to the Middle East. After shedding much blood, he will be killed by Hadrat al-Mahdi. It is written with references in Mukhtasaru Tazkirat al-Qurtubi by 'Abd al-Wahhab ash-Sharani (2nd ed., Istanbul, 1302) that ad-Dajjal's name will be Ibn as-Sayyad.
(53) It is written in the Qur'an al-karim that Yajuj and Majuj are two evil peoples, who, at a very ancient time, were left behind a wall, and that they will spread on the earth towards the end of the world. Considering that archaeological research finds cities buried under the ground and sea fossils on the peaks of mountains, that wall does not have to have been found yet, nor do those peoples have to be so numerous that we see or know them today; it can be thought that, as thousands of millions of today's
people originated out of two people, those two people will spread on the earth multiplying out of a few people, whose place may not be known today.
(54) Muhammad Qurtubi Maliki, the author of the book Tazkirat al-Qurtubi passed away in 671 [1272 A.D.].
(55) Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and water and salts (mineral substances) from the soil and unite them with one another and form organic substances, the living matter of our organs. It is known today that a chemical reaction taking years happens in less than a second when a catalyst is used. Similarly, Allahu ta'ala will unite water, carbon dioxide and mineral substances in graves and create organic substances and the living organs in a moment. Mukhbir-i sadiq (the Truth Reporter, the Prophet) reported that we would come to the other life in this manner. And science shows that this is being done in the world.
Destiny
For example, fire burns. In reality, Allahu ta'ala is the One who creates burning. Fire does not have anything to do with burning. But His Custom (Adat) is such that unless fire touches something He does not create burning.(56) Allahu ta'ala alone is the One who burns. He can burn without fire as well, but it is His Custom to burn with fire. If He wills not to burn, He prevents burning even in fire. He did not burn Ibrahim ('alaihi 's-salam)) in fire; because He loved him very much, He suspended His Custom. (57)
If Allahu ta'ala had willed, He could have created everything without means, burning without fire, nourish us without us eating and make us fly without an airplane, and hear from a long distance without a radio. But He did men the favor of creating everything through some intermediaries. He willed to create certain things through certain intermediaries. He did His works under intermediaries. He concealed His Power behind intermediaries. He who wants Him to create something holds on to its means and thus obtains it. (58)
If Allahu ta'ala did not create His works through intermediaries, no one would need anybody else; everybody would ask everything directly from Allahu ta'ala and would have recourse to nothing; there would not be social relations between people such as the superior and the subordinate, foreman and workman, pupil and teacher and so forth, and thus this and the next world would be in disorder and there would not be any difference between the beautiful and the loathsome, good and evil, the obedient and the disobedient.
If Allahu ta'ala had willed, He would have created His Custom in some other way and He would have created everything according to it. For example, if He had willed, He would have put disbelievers, those who are addicted to pleasures in the world, those who hurt others and the deceitful into Paradise, and He would have put the faithful, worshippers and the benevolent into Hell. But ayats and hadiths show that He did not will so.
He is the One who creates all optional or voluntary and involuntary actions and movements of human beings. He created ikhtiyar (option) and irada (will) in born servants for His creating their optional, voluntary actions, and made this option and will a means for creating their actions. When man wants to do something, Allahu ta'ala creates this action if He wills, too. If man does not want or will and if Allahu ta'ala does not will, either, He does not create. Allahu ta'ala creates upon not only man's wish; He creates if He wills, too. Allahu ta'ala's creating man's optional actions is similar to when fire touches something, He creates burning of that thing, and if fire does not touch it, He does not create burning. When a knife touches something, He creates cutting. It is not the knife but He who cuts. He has made the knife a means for cutting. In other words, He creates man's optional actions for the reason (sabab) that he opts, prefers and wills these actions. However, the movements in nature do not depend on man's option, but are created through some other causes when only Allahu ta'ala wills. There is no creator besides Him, who alone creates every motion of everything, of suns, particles, drops, cells, germs and atoms, their substances and properties. Yet there is a difference between the movements of the lifeless substances and the optional, voluntary actions of man and animal: when a man or an animal opts, prefers and wills an action and if He wills, too, He makes him or it act, and He creates his or its action. Man's action is not in man's power. He does not even know he acts. (59) There is no option in the movements of the lifeless. Allahu ta'ala creates burning when fire touches something, and it is not through fire's preferring or opting to burn (60).
Man's optional actions happen after two circumstances. First, his heart's option, will and power are involved. For this reason, man's actions are called kasb (acquirement), which is an attribute of man. Second, Allahu ta'ala's creation takes place. Allahu ta'ala's orders, prohibitions, rewards and tortures are all because kasb has been given to man. In the ninety- sixth ayat of the surat as-Saffat, He says, "Allah created you and He created your actions." This ayat not only shows the existence of kasb, or the heart's option and iradat juz'iyya (partial free will) in the actions of man and the nonexistence of any compulsion -for this reason, [actions may be attributed to man and] it may be said "man's actions" as we say, "Ali hit and broke"- but also points out that everything is created with qada' and qadar.
For the creation of man's actions, first his heart has to opt and will it. Man wills actions which are within his power. This will or wish is called kasb (acquirement). The late Amidi said that the kasb caused and had effect in the creation of actions. But it is not wrong to say that kasb does not have any effect in the creation of an optional action since the action wished by man and the one created are not different from each other. Then, man cannot do whatever he wants; things which he does not want may happen, too. If man did everything he wanted and if anything he did not wish would not happen, then he would not be a man but one who would claim divinity. Allahu ta'ala pitied and favored His human creatures and gave them power and energy just as much as they needed to observe His commands and prohibitions. For example, a person who is healthy and rich enough can perform hajj once in his life; he can fast [during the days of] one month a year when he sees the Ramadan moon in the sky; he can perform the five-times-a-day, fard salat; he who has as much money or property as the amount of nisab can give one-fortieth of it in gold or silver to Muslims as zakat one Hijri year after his money or property surpasses nisab. So, man does his optional actions if he wants and he does not if he does not want to. Allahu ta'ala's greatness is understood here, too. Because the ignorant and idiots cannot comprehend the knowledge of qada' and qadar, they do not believe what the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat said and doubt the power and option in man. They think that man is incapable and compelled in his optional actions. Seeing that man cannot act optionally in some cases, they speak ill of Ahl as-Sunnat. This wrong conduct of theirs shows that they do have will and option.
Ability to do or not to do an action is a matter of qudra (power). Preferring, wanting to do or not to do an action is called ikhtiyar (option). Wishing to do what is opted is called irada (will). [The inclination] to accept something or not to disapprove of it is called rida' (consent). When power and will come together where 'will' is effective in the occurrence of something, Khalq (Creation) takes place. If they come together without being effective, it is called kasb (acquirement). Anyone who opts is not necessarily a creator. Similarly, it is not necessary to give consent to everything willed. Allahu ta'ala is called Khaliq (Creator) and Mukhtar (One having Option), and man is called kasib (possessor of acquirement) and mukhtar (one having option).
Allahu ta'ala wills and creates the 'ibadat and sins of His servants. Yet He likes 'ibadat and dislikes sins. Everything comes into existence by His Will and Creation. In the 102 nd ayat of the surat al-Anam, He declares: "There is no god but Him. He alone is the Creator of everything."
The Mutazila, being unable to see the difference between will and consent, were confused and said, "Man himself creates the action he wishes." They denied qada' and qadar. The Jabriyya were altogether confused; they could not understand that there might be option without creation. Thinking that there was no option in man, they likened him to stone and wood. They said may Allahu ta'ala forfend! "Men are not sinners. It is Allah who makes all sins committed." If there were not will and option in men and if Allahu ta'ala caused evils and sins to be done by force as the members of the Jabriyya said, there would not be any difference between the movements of a man who is thrown down from the mountain with fastened hands and feet and those of a man who walks down looking around. Whereas, the former is compelled to roll down by force and the latter descends with his will and option. Those who cannot see the difference between them are the short-sighted people who also disbelieve the ayats. They consider Allahu ta'ala's orders and prohibitions unnecessary and out of place. To presume that man himself creates what he wishes, as this group called the Mutazila or Qadariyya believed, is to disbelieve the ayat karima, "Allahu ta'ala alone is the Creator of everything," as well as to ascribe man a partner to Allahu ta'ala.
The Shiites, like the Mutazila, say that man himself creates what he wants. As a support they say that the ass does not cross the rill though it is thrashed. They do not ever think that if a man wills to do something and if Allahu ta'ala does not will it to be done, these two wills cannot happen at the same time: if what Allahu ta'ala wills happens, then what the Mutazila say is wrong, that is, a man can neither create nor do everything he wants; if whatever man willed happened, like they say, then Allahu ta'ala would have been incapable and unsuccessful. Allahu ta'ala is far from being incapable. Only what He wills happens. He is the only One who creates everything. And such is Allahu ta'ala. It is very loathsome to say and write words like, "Man created this," "We created that," or "They created that." (61) It is rudeness towards Allahu ta'ala. It causes disbelief (62).
FOOTNOTES
(56) Fire does nothing except to heat up to the ignition temperature. It is not fire that unites carbon and hydrogen with oxygen in organic substances or that supplies electron movements. Those who cannot realize the truth presume that fire does these. It is neither fire, nor oxygen, nor heat, nor the electron movement that burns or makes this reaction of burning. Only Allahu ta'ala is the One who burns it. He created each of these as means for burning. A person lacking knowledge thinks that fire burns. A boy who finishes elementary school disapproves of the statement "fire burns." He says, "The air burns," instead. A person who finishes junior high school does not accept this. He says, "The oxygen in the air burns." A person who finishes high school says that burning is not peculiar to oxygen, but any element attracting electron burns. A university student takes into consideration energy as well as matter. It is seen that the more a person knows the closer he gets to the inside of a matter and realizes that there are many causes behind the things regarded as causes. Prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam), who were in the highest degree of knowledge and science and who could see the reality of everything, and the 'ulama' of Islam, who, following in their footsteps, attained drops from their oceans of knowledge, pointed out that each of the things supposed to be combustive or constructive today was an incapable and poor causal means put as an intermediary by the Real Creator.
(57) As a matter of fact, Allahu ta'ala created substances to prevent the burning of fire. Chemists discover these substances.
(58) He who wants to light a lamp uses matches; he who wants to extract oil from olive uses crushing tools; he who has a headache takes an aspirin; he who wants to go to Paradise and attain infinite favors adapts himself to Islam; he who shoots himself with a pistol or who drinks poison will die; he who drinks water when in a sweat will get sick; he who commits sins and loses his iman will go to Hell. Whichever intermediary a person applies, he will get the thing for which that intermediary has been made a means. He who reads Islamic books learns Islam, likes it, and becomes a Muslim. He who lives amongst the irreligious and listens to what they say becomes ignorant of Islam. Most of those who are ignorant of Islam become disbelievers. When a person gets on a vehicle, he goes to the place it has been assigned to go.
(59) His each action is a result of so many physical and chemical events.
(60) Allahu ta'ala, too, wishes and creates the good, useful wishes of those servants of His whom He loves and pities. He does not wish or create the realization of their evil and harmful wishes. Always good, useful deeds are done by those beloved servants. They regret having been unable to do many things, but if they thought and knew that those deeds were not created because otherwise they would have been harmful, they would not be sorry at all. Instead, they would be pleased with it and would thank Allah, who willed in eternity that He would create men's optional, voluntary actions after their hearts' opting and willing them; He willed it so. If He had not willed it so in eternity, He would always create even our optional actions by force, involuntarily, without our wishing them. His creating our optional actions after we wish them is because He willed it so in eternity. Then, the only dominant factor is His Will.
(61) As explained above, man's optional actions happen through many physical, chemical and physiological events, which do not depend on his will and which he is not even conscious of. A reasonable scientist who has realized this subtlety would be ashamed to say, "I have done," let alone saying, "I have created," about his optional actions. He would feel modest in front of Allahu ta'ala. A person with little knowledge, understanding and modesty, however, does not feel ashamed to say anything at any place. Allahu ta'ala has mercy upon all people on the earth. He creates whatever they need and sends them to everybody. Obviously He notifies them of what they should do so that they can live in this world in peace and happiness, and attain the endless bliss of the next world. He guides to the right path whomever He wishes among those who left the true way and followed the way to kufr (infidelity) and heresy as a result of being deceived by their own nafs (human desires), bad friends, harmful books, and media. He pulls them towards the right path. He does not bestow this blessing upon those who are cruel, and exceed the limits. He lets them stay in the swamp of disbelief where they dropped in and liked and desired.
(62) The translation of the book Itiqad-nama is completed here. Haji Faydullah Effendi, who did this translation, was from Kamah, a town of Erzincan. He lectured as a professor in the town of Soke [in Turkey] for many years, and passed away in 1323 [1905 A.D.]. Mawlana Halid-i Baghdadi Osmani (Quddisa sirruh), the author of the book, was born in the hegira year 1192 in the city of Shahrazur, in the north of Baghdad, and passed away in Damascus in 1242 [1826 A.D.]. He is called Osmani because he comes from the family tree of Hadrat Uthman-i Zinnurain (radi-Allahu 'anh). While teaching his brother Mawlana Mahmud Sahib about the second hadith in the book Hadith-i Arbain by Imam-i Nawawi, the well-known Hadith-i Jibril, Mawlana Mahmud-i Sahib requested his elder brother to write an explanation of this hadith ash-Sharif. Mawlana Khalid, (rahmatullahi 'alaih) accepted this request in order to please the bright heart of his brother and explained this hadith ash-Sharif in Persian.
Yahya Muniri
Sharaf ad-din Ahmad ibn Yahya Muniri (d. in 782 A.H./1380), one of the great Islamic scholars educated in India, wrote in the 18 th letter of his Persian book Maktubat (63):
"Most people go wrong by acting upon doubts and illusions. Some of such ill-thinking people say, 'Allahu ta'ala does not need our 'ibadat. Our 'ibadat do Him no good. It is indifferent to His Greatness whether people worship Him or disobey Him. Those who perform 'ibadat suffer trouble and bother themselves in vain.' This reasoning is wrong; those who do not know Islam say so because they think that 'ibadat are commanded because they are useful to Allahu ta'ala. This is a very wrong supposition that makes one mistake impossible for possible. Any 'ibada done by anybody is useful to himself only. Allahu ta'ala declares clearly in the eighteenth ayat of the surat Fatir that this is so. A person who bears this wrong thought is like a sick person whom the doctor recommends to diet but who does not diet and says, 'It won't harm the doctor if I don't diet.' He is right to say that it will not harm the doctor. But it will harm him. The doctor recommends him to diet not because it will be useful to the doctor himself but to cure the patient's disease. If he follows the doctor's advice he will recover. If he does not, he will die, and this will not harm the doctor at all."
"Some other wrong-thinking people never perform any 'ibada nor stop committing prohibitions (harams). That is, they do not obey Islam. They say, 'Allah is Karim and Merciful. He pities His human servants very much. His Forgiveness is endless. He will not torture anybody.' Yes, they are right in their first statement, but wrong in their last statement. The Devil deceives and misleads them to disobedience. A reasonable person will not be deceived by the Devil. Allahu ta'ala is not only Karim and Merciful, but also He will torture very vehemently, very bitterly. We witness that He makes many people live in poverty and trouble in this world. He makes, without hesitation, many of His servants live in torment. Though He is very Merciful and the Razzaq (Sustainer), He will not give even one morsel of bread unless one undertakes the trouble of agriculture and farming. Though He is the One who keeps everybody alive, He will not let a person survive without eating and drinking. He will not cure a sick person who does not take medicine. He created means for all the worldly blessings such as living, not becoming sick and owning property, and showed no mercy in depriving those who would not hold fast to the means of the worldly blessings. So is the case with attaining the blessings of the next world. He made disbelief and ignorance poisons fatal to the soul. And laziness makes the soul sick. If medicine is not used, the soul will become sick and die. The one and only medicine for disbelief and ignorance is knowledge and marifa. And the medicine for laziness is to perform salat and all kinds of 'ibadat. In this world, if a person takes poison and then says, 'Allah is Merciful, and He will protect me against the harm of poison,' he will get sick and die. If a person with diarrhoea drinks castor oil [or if a diabetic eats sugar or starchy food], he will get worse. To follow one's lust (shahwa), that is, to do the desires of the nafs, makes his heart sick. If a person believes that following his lust is a sin and is harmful, his following the lust will not kill his heart. If he disbelieves its harm, it will kill his heart, because he who disbelieves becomes a disbeliever. And disbelief is a poison for the heart and soul."
"Another group of wrong-thinkers undergo riyada by suffering hunger, with the view of eradicating their lust (shahwa), wrath (ghadab) and sensual desires, which are disapproved by Islam. They think that Islam commands them to be eradicated. After suffering hunger for a long time, they see that these evil desires of theirs have not perished, and conclude that Islam commands something which cannot be done. They say, 'This command of Islam cannot be done. Man cannot get rid of the habits existing in his nature. To try to get rid of them is like striving to make a colored person white. To try to do something impossible is to waste one's life.' They think and act in the wrong direction. Especially, their claim that Islam commands so is sheer ignorance and idiocy, for Islam does not command eradication of the human attributes like wrath and lust. Such a claim is a slander against Islam. If Islam had commanded so, Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), the master of Islam, would not have had these attributes. Whereas, he would say, 'I am a human being, too. Like anybody, I will get angry, too.' From time to time, he would be seen angry. His anger was always for the sake of Allahu ta'ala. Allahu ta'ala praises the people 'who can overcome their wrath' in the Qur'an al-karim. He does not praise those who do not get angry. The wrong-thinker's saying that one should eradicate one's lust is quite groundless. The fact that Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) married nine women (radi- Allahu ta'ala 'anhunna) clearly shows that his statement is wrong. If a person loses his lust, he will have to regain it by taking medicine. So is the case with wrath; a man can protect his wife and children with his attribute of wrath. He fights (jihad) against the enemies of Islam with the aid of this attribute. It is owing to lust that one has children and is talked of with honor and fame after his death. These are things liked and praised by Islam."
"Islam commands not to eradicate lust and wrath but to control both of them and to use them as prescribed by Islam. It is similar in that it is necessary for a horseman or a hunter not to do away with his horse or dog but to tame it in such a manner as to utilize it. In other words, lust and wrath are like the dog of a hunter and the horse of a horseman. Without these two, the blessings of the next world cannot be hunted. But utilizing them requires training them and using them suitably with Islam. If they are not trained but become excessive and overflow Islam's limits, they will lead one to ruination. Riyada is intended not to eradicate these two attributes but to train them and make them obey Islam. And this is possible for everybody."
"As for the fourth group of wrong-thinkers, they deceive themselves saying, 'Everything was predestined in the eternal past. Before a child is born, it is determined if it is going to be Said (one who deserves Paradise) or shaqi (one who deserves Hell). This will not change afterwards. For this reason, it is no good to worship.' So said the as-Sahabat al-kiram when Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) stated that qada' and qadar would not change and that everything had been predestined in eternity: 'Let us rely on the eternal predestination and not perform 'ibadat.' But Rasulullah replied, 'Do worship! It is easy for everybody to do what was predestined for him in eternity!' That is, he who was determined to be Said in eternity will be made to do what the Said do. From this, it is understood that the fact that those who were determined to be Said in eternity perform 'ibadat and those who were determined to be shaqi disobey Him is similar to the fact that those who were predestined to live healthfully in eternity take food and medicine and those who were predestined to become sick and die do not take food or medicine. Those whose destiny is to die of hunger or sickness are unable to benefit from food or medicine. The ways of earning are open for a person whose predestination is to become rich. A person whose destiny is to die in the east finds the ways leading to the west closed. As reported, when [Archangel] 'Azrail ('alaihi 's-salam) visited [the Prophet] Sulaiman ('alaihi 's-salam), he looked intently at one of those who were sitting there. The man was frightened by the angel's stern looks. When 'Azrail ('alaihi 's-salam) was gone, he begged Sulaiman ('alaihi 's-salam) to command the wind to take him to a western country so that he would escape 'Azrail ('alaihi 's-salam). When 'Azrail ('alaihi 's-salam) came back, Sulaiman ('alaihi 's-salam) asked why he had looked intently on the man's face. 'Azrail ('alaihi 's-salam) said, 'I had been commanded to take away his soul in a western town in an hour. But when I saw him in your company, I could not help looking at him with astonishment. Later I went to the west to carry out the command and saw him there and took his life.'(64) As it is seen, the man feared 'Azrail ('alaihi 's-salam) so that the eternal predestination would take place, and Sulaiman ('alaihi 's-salam) complied; the predestination in eternity was effected through a chain of means. Likewise, a person who was determined to be Said in eternity will get the lot of having iman and correcting his bad habits by undergoing riyada. The 125th ayat of the surat al-Anam declares, 'Allahu ta'ala places Islam into the heart of a servant of His whom He wishes to guide to the right path.' A person who was shaqi in eternity, that is, who was predestined to go to Hell, is given the thought, 'There is no need to perform 'ibadat. It was predestined in eternity whether a person would be Said or shaqi.' He does not perform 'ibadat because of this thought. His not performing 'ibadat because of this thought shows that he was determined to be shaqi in eternity. Likewise, the one whose ignorance was predestined in eternity is given the thought, 'Everything was predestined in eternity. Reading or learning will be of no benefit to a person if he was predestined to be ignorant.' Thus he does not study or learn anything. He remains ignorant. If it was predestined for a person to farm and get crops abundantly, he is given the lot of ploughing his field and sowing seeds. So is the case with those who were preordained as Said in eternity to have iman and to worship and those who were preordained as shaqi to disbelieve and disobey. Idiots, unable to understand this, say, 'What do iman and 'ibadat have to do with being Said in eternity, or disbelief and disobedience with being shaqi?' With their short reason, they try to comprehend this relation and to solve everything with their own intellect. But the human reason is limited, and it is stupidity or idiocy to attempt to understand the things beyond reason's comprehension with reason. Those who think so should be judged to be stupid. 'Isa ('alaihi s-salam) said, 'It was not difficult for me to make the congenital blind see, nor even to resuscitate the dead. But I could not explain the truth to any idiot.' Allahu ta'ala, with His Infinite Knowledge and Wisdom (Hikma), promotes some of His servants to the grade equal to that of angels, even to a higher grade than that. And some others He demotes to the grade of dogs or swines."
Hadrat Sharaf ad-din Ahmad ibn Yahya Muniri wrote in his 76 th letter: "'Saada' means 'deserving Paradise.' and 'shaqawa' means 'deserving Hell.' Saada and shaqawa are like Allahu ta'ala's two warehouses. The key to the first warehouse is obedience and 'ibada. The key to the second warehouse is sinfulness. Allahu ta'ala destined in eternity whether a person would be Said or shaqi. [We call it destiny.] A person who was called Said in eternity is given the key to saada in this world, and he obeys Allahu ta'ala. And a person who was shaqi in eternity is given the key to shaqawa in this world, and he always commit sins. In this world, everyone can understand whether he is Said or shaqi by looking at the key in his hand. The religious scholars who think of the next world understand from this whether a person is shaqi or Said. But a man of religious post who is addicted to this world does not know it. Every honor or blessing is in obeying and worshipping Allahu ta'ala. And every evil or trouble originates from sinning. Trouble and misfortune come to everybody through sinning. And comfort and ease come through obedience. (65) There was a man who had spent his life praying and performing 'ibadat for many years in the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem; when he neglected one sajda (prostration), he lost so much that he was utterly destroyed. However, because the Ashab al-kahf's dog, walked for a few steps behind the Siddiqs, it was promoted so high that it was not demoted back though it was dirty. This fact is very astonishing; men of knowledge have not solved this riddle for centuries. The human reason cannot comprehend the Divine Wisdom hidden in it. Allahu ta'ala told Adam ('alaihi 's-salam) not to eat wheat, but He let him eat it; He commanded Satan to prostrate in front of Adam ('alaihi's- salam), but He willed him not to prostrate; He said we should look for Him, but He did not will that attainment: [on these matters] the pilgrims on the Divine Way said nothing but that they were never able to understand. Then, how can we say anything? He does not need the belief or worships of human beings, whose disbelief or sinning never harms Him. He never needs His creatures. He made knowledge a means for clearing away disbelief and created ignorance as a means for sinning. Belief and obedience originate from knowledge, while disbelief and sin from ignorance. Obedience should not be forsaken even if it may seem very menial! And sinning should be avoided even if it may seem quite venial! The 'ulama' of Islam declared that three things would cause three other things: obedience causes Allahu ta'ala's Rida' (Consent); sinning causes His Wrath (Ghadab); iman causes one to earn honor and dignity. For this reason, we should strictly avoid committing even a venial sin; Allahu ta'ala's Wrath might be in that sin. We should regard every believer as better than we are. He may be a servant whom Allahu ta'ala loves very much. Each person's destiny, which was determined in eternity, can never be changed. If Allahu ta'ala wishes, He may forgive a person who always sins and does not observe His orders. When angels asked, 'Oh Allah! Are You going to create those creatures who will corrupt the world and shed blood?' He did not say that they would not corrupt but He said, 'I know what you do not know.' He meant, 'I make the unworthy worthy. I make those who are far off come near. I make the low exalted. You judge them by their conduct, but I look at their hearts. You take your sinlessness into account; they trust themselves to My Mercy. As I like your impeccability, so I like to forgive their sins. You cannot know what I know. I make them attain My eternal blessings and fondle them all with My everlasting favor.' "
Sharafuddin Ahmad bin Yahya Muniri (rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih) passed away in 732 [1380 A.D.]. He lived in the city of Bihar, India. His grave is there, too. Munir is one of the names of the villages in the region of the city of Bihar. His biography is written in details in the book Akhbar-ul akhyar, by Shah Abdulhaq Dahlawi (rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih). This book is in Persian, and it was printed in the city of Diobend, India, in 1332 [1914 A.D.], and later in Lahor, Pakistan. Those books, Irshad-us-salikin, Ma'din-ul-ma'ani, and Maktubat are very estimable. Gulam Ali Abdullah-i Dahlawi (rahmatullahi ta'ala alaih) (66), one of the great Ahl as-Sunnat scholars recommends reading Ahmad bin Yahya Muniri's book Maktubat and reports in his 99th letter that it is very effectual in purifying the heart.
FOOTNOTES
(63) There are 100 letters in this letters collection (Maktubat). It was compiled in 741 A.H. (1339) and printed in India in 1329 (1911). There is a manuscript copy in the Sulaimaniyya Library in Istanbul. Irshad as-salikin and Ma'din al-ma'ani are his two other valuable works. Ghulam 'Ali 'Abdullah ad-Dahlawi (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), a great scholar of Ahl as-Sunnat who died in 1240 A.H. (1824), recommended, in his 99 th letter, Ahmad ibn Yahya Muniri's Maktubat and wrote that it was very helpful in purifying the nafs. Sharaf ad-din Ahmad ibn Yahya Muniri (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) lived in Bihar, India, where his grave is. Munir is a village in Bihar. His detailed biography is written in Shah 'Abd al-Haqq ad-Dahlawi's (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) Persian work Akhbar al-akhyar, which was published in Deoband, India, in 1332 (1914) and was later reproduced in Lahore, Pakistan.
(64) This story is told in detail in Mathnawi by Jalal ad-din Rumi, who passed away in Konya in 672 A.H. (1273).
(65) This is Allahu ta'ala's Divine Law. No one can change this. We should not consider something that seems easy and sweet to our nafs as saada. Nor should we think of those things that look difficult and bitter to the nafs as shaqawa or perdition.
(66) Abdullah-i Dahlawi passed away in Delhi in 1240 A.H. (1824).
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Allah Exists
THEY WILL BECOME NONEXISTENT
We recognize the things around us through our sense- organs. Things that affect our sense-organs are called beings or creatures. Beings' effects on our five senses are called properties or attributes, by which, they are distinguished from one another. Light, sound, water, air and glass material are all beings; they all exist. Beings that have size, weight and volume, in other words, that occupy a place in space are called substances or matter. Substances are distinguished from one another by their properties or qualities. Air, water, stone and glass are each a substance. Light and sound are not substances because they neither occupy space nor have weight. Every being carries energy or power, that is, it can do work. Every substance can be in three states: solid, liquid and gas. Solid substances have shapes. Liquid and gaseous substances take the shape of the container they are in, and they do not have specific shapes. A substance having a shape is called an object. Substances are always objects. For instance, key, pin, tongs, shovel and nail are different objects having different shapes. But they all may be made of the same matter, i.e. iron. Substances are of two kinds: elements and compounds.
Changes always take place in every object. For instance, it may move and change its place or become bigger or smaller. Its color may change. It may become sick or die if it is a living being. These changes are called events. No change occurs in matter unless there is an exterior effect. An event that does not make any change in the essence of matter is called a physical event. Tearing a piece of paper is a physical event. Some power must affect a substance so that a physical event may happen to that substance. Events that change the composition or essence of substances are called chemical events. When a piece of paper burns and turns into ashes, a chemical event takes place. A substance has to be affected by another substance so that a chemical event may happen in that substance. When two or more substances interact and a chemical event takes place in each, it is called a chemical reaction.
Chemical reaction between substances, that is, their affecting one another, occurs between their tiniest units (which can take part in a chemical change) called atoms. Every object is made of a mass of atoms. Though the structures of atoms are alike, their sizes and weights are different. Therefore, we know of a hundred and five kinds of atoms today. Even the biggest atom is so tiny that it cannot be seen through the most powerful microscope. When similar atoms come together they form an element. Since there are a hundred and five kinds of atoms, there are a hundred and five elements. Iron, sulphur, mercury, oxygen and carbon are each an element. When different atoms come together they form a compound. There are hundreds of thousands of compounds. Water, alcohol, salt and lime are compounds. Compounds form by the compacting of two or more elements or atoms.
All objects, e.g. mountains, seas, all kinds of plants and animals are composed of the hundred and five elements. The building stones of all living and lifeless substances are the hundred and five elements. All substances are formed by the combination of the atoms of one or more of these hundred and five elements. Air, soil, water, heat, light, electricity and germs dissociate the compounds or cause substances to combine with one another. No change happens without a cause. In these changes, atoms, the units of elements, migrate from one substance to another or leave one substance and become free. We see objects disappear but, because we judge by their outlook, we are mistaken, for this outward "disappearing" or "appearing" is nothing but a transformation into other substances; the disappearing of an object, for example, that of a corpse in the grave, is a change into new substances such as water, gases and earthen substances. If the new substances that come into being through a change do not affect our sense-organs, we cannot realize that they come into being. For this reason, we say that the former object disappeared, though it only underwent a change. We see also that the nature of each of the hundred and five elements changes and that there happen physical and chemical events in each element. When an element combines with another (or others) in a compound, it ionizes, that is, its atoms lose or gain electron(s), and thus the element's various physical and chemical properties change. The atom of each element is made up of a nucleus and varying number of small particles called electrons. The nucleus is at the center of the atom. The nuclei of atoms of all elements except hydrogen are made up of particles called protons, which are charged with positive electricity, and neutrons, which carry no electric charge. The electron is the negative-electric-laden particle which moves round the nucleus. The electrons do not revolve in their orbits every moment, but they change their orbits.
It is evidenced in the radioactive elements that there are changes called fissions taking place in the nuclei of atoms, too. Further, in these nuclear fissions one element turns into another; and some mass of matter ceases to exist and turns into energy, and this change has even been formulated by the Jewish physicist Einstein (d. 1375 A.H. (1955)]. So, like compounds, elements change and may turn from one into another.
Every substance, living or lifeless, changes, that is, the old one disappears and a new one comes into being. Every living being, plant or animal that exists today used to be nonexistent, and there were other living beings. And in the future, none of the present living beings will remain, and some other living beings will come into existence. So is the case with all lifeless beings. All living and lifeless beings, for example, the element iron and the compounds stone and bone, and all particles always change, that is, the old ones disappear, and others come into being. When the peculiarities of the substance that comes into being and those of the substance that disappears are a like, man, being unable to notice this change, supposes that the substance is always existent. An example of this is seen in a movie, where a different picture comes in front of the eye at certain short intervals, yet, being unable to notice this, the watchers suppose that the same picture moves on the screen. When a piece of paper burns and becomes ashes, we say that the paper disappeared and ashes came into being, because we notice this change. When ice melts, we say that ice disappeared and water came into being.
It is written at the beginning of the book Sharh al-Aqa'id, "Because all beings signify Allahu ta'ala existence, all creatures are called the 'alam. Also, each class of beings of the same kind is called an 'alam, for example, the 'alam of human beings, the 'alam of angles, the 'alam of animals, the 'alam of the lifeless. Or each object is called an 'alam." It is written on the 441 st page of the book Sharh al-Mawaqif, (67) "The 'alam is hadith, i.e. everything is a creature. In other words, it came into being later while it had been nonexistent. [And we have explained above that creatures always come into being from one another.] Both matter and peculiarities of substances are hadith. On this subject, there have been four different beliefs: 1) According to Muslims, Jews, Christians and fire worshippers (Magians), both matter and peculiarities of substances are hadith. 2) According to Aristotle and the philosophers following him, both matter and peculiarities of substances are eternal. They said that they had not come into being out of nothing and that they always existed. Modern chemistry positively proves that this statement is wrong. A person who believes or says so goes out of Islam and becomes a disbeliever. Also, Ibn Sina (68) (Avicenna) and Muhammad Farabi [d. Damascus, 339 A.H. (950)] said so. 3) According to the philosophers preceding Aristotle, matter is eternal but the peculiarities are hadith. Today most scientists have this wrong belief. 4) No one has said that the matter is hadith and that the peculiarities are eternal. Calinos was unable to decide on any of these four types."
Muslims prove in several ways that matter and its peculiarities are hadith. The first way is based on the fact that matter and all its particles are always changing. Something that changes cannot be eternal, but has to be hadith, since the process of each substance's coming into being from the one that precedes it cannot go as far back as to the eternal past. These changes should have a beginning, that is, some initial substances should have been created out of nothing. If there were not an initial substance created out of nothing, that is, if the process of succeeding a substance originating from the substance preceding it went far back to the endless past, there would not be a beginning for substances coming into being from one another, and no substance would exist today. The present existence of substances and their originating from one another shows the fact that they have multiplied from the initial substances which were created from nothing.
Furthermore, a stone that falls from the sky cannot be said to have come from infinitude, infinite space (infinity) or time (eternity), since these words denote 'having no beginning or bound.' Coming from infinitude, then, comes to mean coming from nonexistence, and something which is said to have come from infinitude should have not come at all. It would be ignorant and preposterous to say, "It comes from infinitude." Likewise, men multiplying from one another cannot be coming from eternity. They must have multiplied beginning with the first man who was created out of nothing. If there had not been a first man created out of nothing and men's multiplying from one another had come from eternity, no man would have existed today. The case is the same with every being. It would be ignorant and incompatible with reason and science to say, "So has it come and so will it go. There was no initial substance created out of nothing," on the substances' or beings' originating from one another. Change does not indicate being eternal, but is shows being created out of nothing, that is, it shows not the quality of being Wajib al-wujud but being mumkin al-wujud.
Question: "The Creator of the 'alam Himself and His Attributes are eternal. Since His Attribute 'Creativeness' is eternal, does not the 'alam have to be eternal, too?"
Answer: We always witness the fact that the Creator, who is eternal, changes substances and particles through various means or causes, that is, He annihilates them and creates others in place of them. The Eternal Creator creates whenever He wills, that is, He always creates substances from one another. As He creates every 'alam, every substance and every particle through some means or causes, so He can create them without any cause or means whenever He wills.
A person who believes that the classes of beings are hadith will also believe that they will be annihilated again. It is obvious that the beings that were created at one time while having been nonexistent can become nonexistent again. We see now that many beings cease to exist or change into a state making them incapable of affecting our sense-organs.
Being Muslim requires believing the fact that substances and objects and all beings were created from nothing, and that they will cease to exist again. We have been seeing that substances have been coming into existence while having been nonexistent and ceasing to exist again; that is, their shapes and properties have been disappearing. When objects cease to exist their substances remain, but, as we have explained above, these substances are not eternal, either; they were created a very long time ago by Allahu ta'ala, and He will annihilate them again when the end of the world comes. Today's scientific knowledge does not deter us from believing this fact. Not to believe it means to denigrate science, and signifies hostility against Islam. Islam does not reject scientific knowledge. It rejects omission of learning religious knowledge and of the duties of worshipping. Nor does scientific knowledge deny Islam. Moreover, it confirms and verifies it.
Because the 'alam is hadith, it must have a creator who created it from nothing, since, as we have explained above, no event can take place by itself. Today, thousands of medicines, household appliances, industrial and commercial goods, electronic equipments, and weaponry are manufactured in factories. Most of them are produced through sophisticated calculations and after hundreds of tests. Do they say that even one of them became existent by themselves? No, they say that these are made consciously and with discretion and all of them requires a maker; yet they claimed that millions of substances related to the living and lifeless and the newly found things and events, the structures of which are still unknown; were self-produced, accidentally. What could this be, if not hypocrisy, strong obstinacy or clear stupidity? It is evident that there is only one Creator who makes the existence of every substance and motion possible. This creator is Wajib al-wujud, that is, He did not come into being after being nonexistent; He must necessarily be eternally existent. He does not need anything for His existence. If He had not necessarily existed eternally, He would have been of mumkin al-wujud, or hadith, a creature as the 'alam is; like a creature, He would have been created out of nothing or, through changes, out of another creature which, too, had to be created by another creator, thus an infinite number of creators being necessary; if we think in the same way as we have explained above that changes in creatures cannot be infinite, it will be understood that there cannot be an infinite number of creators and that creation was begun by a first and only creator. Because, if creators' creating one another one after the other had gone back to eternity, there would have been no creator to begin with, and no creator would have to exist. Therefore, the first non-created creator is the Unique Creator of all creatures. There is no creator before or after Him. The Creator is not created. He always exists. If He ceased to exist for a moment, all creatures would also cease to exist. Wajib al-wujud does not need anything in any respect. He who has created the earth, the heavens, atoms and the living in such a regular and calculated order should be omnipotent, omniscient, able to create at once whatever He wishes, and should be one, but there should be no change in Him. If His power were not infinite, if He were not omniscient, He would not have been able to create creatures in such a regular and calculated order. If there were more than one creator, and when their wishes for creating something would not concur, the one's whose wishes were left undone would not be creators and the things that would have been created would be all mixed up. For further information, please read the Arabic and Turkish commentaries to 'Ali Ushi's [d. 575 A.H. (1180)] Qasidat al-Amali.
No change occurs in the Creator. Before creating the universe He was the same as He is now. As He created everything out of nothing, so He always and still creates everything; otherwise, any change would indicate being a creature and having been created from nothing. We have explained above that He always exists and will never cease to exist. Therefore, no change occurs in Him. As creatures needed Him in their creation initially, so they need Him every moment. He alone creates everything, makes every change. He creates everything through a means so that men can survive and be civilized, so that everything will be in order. As He creates causes, so He creates the power, the effect in causes. Man cannot create anything. Man's work is just to be a medium in causes affecting substances.
To eat when hungry, to take medicine when sick, to strike a match for lighting a candle, to pour some acid on zinc for obtaining hydrogen, to mix lime with clay and to heat the mixture up for making cement, to feed the cow for getting milk, to build a hydro-electric power-station for generating electricity and to construct any kind of factory are all examples of acting as mediums, using the causes, so that Allahu ta'ala will create new things. Man's will and power, too, are the means created by Him. And men are means for Allahu ta'ala's creating. Allahu ta'ala wants to create in this manner. As it is seen, it would be an ignorant, absurd word incompatible with reason and science to say, "So and so created," or "We created."
Men have to love the unique Creator, who creates them, makes them survive and creates and sends the things they need. They should be His servants and slaves. That is, every creature has to worship and obey and respect Him. This is written at length in the letter on page 7. He Himself declared that the name of this Wajib al-wujud, of this deity, of this god, who is one, is Allah. Men have no right to change His Name which He Himself made known. An act which would be done unjustly would be a very wrong, loathsome deed.
FOOTNOTES
(67) Sayyid Sharif Ali Jurjani, the author of the book Sharh-i mawaqif passed away in Shiraz in 816 [1413 A.D.].
(68) Ibni Sina Husain died in 428 [1037 A.D.].
Salafiyya
S A L A F I Y Y A
"Salafiyya is the name of the madhhab which had been followed by all the Sunnis before the madhhabs of Ashariyya and Maturidiyya were founded. They were the followers of the Sahaba and the Tabiin. The Salafiyya madhhab is the madhhab of the Sahaba, the Tabiin and Taba at-Tabiin. The four great imams belonged to this madhhab. The first book to defend the Salafiyya madhhab was Fiqh al-akbar written by al-Imam al-azam. Al-Imam al-Ghazali wrote in his book Iljam Al-awam 'ani 'l-kalam that the Salafiyya madhhab had seven essentials. The 'ilm al-kalam of the mutakhirin (those who came later) began with al-Imam al-Ghazali. Having studied the madhhabs of the early 'ulama' of kalam and the ideas of Islamic philosophers, al-Imam al-Ghazali made changes in the methods of 'ilm al-kalam. He inserted philosophical subjects into 'ilm al-kalam with a view to refuting them. Ar-Radi and al-Amidi conjoined kalam and philosophy and made them a branch of knowledge. And al-Baidawi made kalam and philosophy inseparable. The 'ilm al-kalam of the mutakhirin prevented the spreading of the Salafiyya madhhab. Ibn Taymiyya and his disciple Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya tried to enrich the Salafiyya madhhab which later broke into two parts; the early Salafis did not go into details about the attributes of Allahu ta'ala or the nass of mutashabih. The later Salafis were interested in detailing about them. This case becomes quite conspicuous with the later Salafis such as Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya. The early and the later Salafis altogether are called Ahl as-Sunnat al-khassa. The men of kalam who belong to Ahl as-Sunnat interpreted some of the nass, but the Salafiyya opposed it. Saying that Allah's face and His coming are unlike people's faces and their coming, the Salafiyya differs from the Mushabbiha."
It is not right to say that the madhhabs of al-Ashari and al-Maturidi were founded later. These two great imams explained the knowledge of itiqad and iman communicated by Salaf as-salihin, arranged it in classes and published it making it comprehensible for youngsters. Al-Imam al-Ashari was in al-Imam ash-Shafi'i's chain of disciples. And al-Imam al-Maturidi was a great link in al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa's chain of disciples. Al-Ashari and al-Maturidi did not go out of their masters' common madhhab; they did not found new madhhabs. These two and their teachers and the imams of the four madhhabs had one common madhhab: the madhhab in belief well-known with the name Ahl as-Sunnat wal-Jamaat. The beliefs of the people of this group are the beliefs of the Sahabat al-kiram, the Tabiin and Taba' at-Tabiin. The book, Fiqh al-akbar, written by al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa, defends the madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnat. The word 'Salafiyya' does not exist in that book or in al-Imam al-Ghazali's Iljam Al-awam 'ani 'l-kalam. These two books and Qawl al-fasl(69), one of the explanations of the book Fiqh al-akbar, teaches the madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnat and answers the heretical groups and philosophers. Al-Imam al-Ghazali wrote in his book Iljam al-awam: "In this book I shall inform that the madhhab of the Salaf is right and correct. I shall explain that those who dissent from this madhhab are the holders of bidat. The madhhab of the Salaf means the madhhab held by the Sahabat al-kiram and the Tabiin. The essentials of this madhhab are seven." As it is seen, the book Iljam writes the seven essentials of the madhhab of the 'Salaf.' To say that they are the essentials of the "Salafiyya' is to distort the writing of the book and to slander al-Imam al-Ghazali. As in all the books of Ahl as-Sunnat, it is written after the words 'Salaf' and 'Khalaf' in the section on "Witnessing" in the book Durr al-mukhtar, a very valuable book of fiqh: "Salaf is an epithet for the Sahaba and the Tabiin. They are also called the Salaf as-salihin. And those 'ulama' of Ahl as-Sunnat succeeding Salaf as-salihin are called 'Khalaf.'" Al-Imam al-Ghazali, al-Imam ar-Radi and al-Imam al-Baidawi, who was loved and honored above all by the 'ulama' of tafsir, were all in the madhhab of Salaf as-salihin. Groups of bidat that appeared in their time mixed 'ilm al-kalam with philosophy. In fact, they founded their iman on philosophy. The book Al-milal wa 'n-nihal gives detailed information on the beliefs held by those heretical groups. While defending the madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnat against those corrupt groups and rebutting their heretical ideas, these three imams gave extensive answers to their philosophy. Giving these answers does not mean mixing philosophy with the madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnat. On the contrary, they purged the knowledge of kalam from the philosophical thoughts interpolated into it. There is no philosophical thought or philosophical method in al-Baidawi's work, or in the tafsir of Shaikh-zada, the most valuable of its annotations. It is a very nefarious calumny to say that these exalted imams took to philosophy. This stigma was first attached to the 'ulama' of Ahl as-Sunnat by Ibn Taymiyya in his book Al-wasita. Further, to state that Ibn Taymiyya and his disciple Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya tried to enrich the Salafiyya madhhab is to divulge a very important crux where those who are on the right path and those who have deviated into error differ from each other. Before those two people there was not a madhhab called "Salafiyya," nor even the word 'Salafiyya'; how could they be said to have tried to enrich it? Before those two, there was only one right madhhab, the madhhab of Salaf as-salihin, which was named Ahl as-Sunnat wal-Jamaat. Ibn Taymiyya tried to distort this right madhhab and invented many bidats. The source of the books, words and heretical, corrupt thoughts of today's la-madhhabi people and religion reformers is only the bidats invented by Ibn Taymiyya. In order to deceive Muslims and to convince the youth that their heretical path was the right path, these heretics devised a horrible stratagem; they forged the name "Salafiyya" from the term "Salaf as-salihin" so that they might justify Ibn Taymiyya's bidats and corrupt ideas and drift the youth into his wake; they attached the stigmas of philosophy and bidat to Islamic 'ulama', who are the successors of Salaf as-salihin, and blamed them for dissenting from their invented name Salafiyya; they put forward Ibn Taymiyya as a mujtahid, as a hero that resuscitated Salafiyya. Actually, the 'ulama' of Ahl as-Sunnat (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain), who are the successors of Salaf as-salihin, defend the teachings of itiqad of Ahl as-Sunnat, which was the madhhab of the Salaf as-salihin, and, in the books which they have written up to our time and which they are still writing today, they inform that Ibn Taymiyya, ash-Shawkani and the like have dissented from the way of Salaf as-salihin and have been drifting Muslims towards perdition and Hell.
Those who read the books At-tawassuli bi 'n-Nabi wa bi's-salihin, Ulama' al-muslimin wal-mukhalifun, Shifa' as-siqam and its preface, Tathir al-fu'ad min danasi 'l-itiqad, will realize that the people who invented the corrupt beliefs called "New Salafiyya" are leading Muslims towards perdition and demolishing Islam from within.
Nowadays, some mouths frequently use the name of 'Salafiyya.' Every Muslim should know very well that in Islam there is nothing in the name of the madhhab of Salafiyya but there is only the madhhab of Salaf as-salihin, who were the Muslims of the first two Islamic centuries which were lauded in a hadith ash-Sharif. The 'ulama' of Islam who came in the third and fourth centuries are called Khalaf as-sadiqin. The itiqad of these honorable people is called the madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnat wal-Jamaat. This is the madhhab of iman, tenets of faith. The iman held by the Sahabat al-kiram and by the Tabiin was the same. There was no difference between their beliefs. Today most Muslims on the earth are in the madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnat. All the seventy-two heretical groups of bidat appeared after the second century of Islam. Founders of some of them lived earlier, but it was after the Tabiin that their books were written and that they appeared in groups and defied Ahl as-Sunnat.
Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) brought the beliefs of Ahl as-Sunnat. The Sahabat al-kiram derived these teachings of iman from the source. And the Tabiin Izam, in their turn, learned these teachings from the Sahabat al-kiram. And from them their successors learned, thus the teachings of Ahl as-Sunnat reached us by way of transmission and tawatur. These teachings cannot be explored by way of reasoning. Intellect cannot change them and will only help to understand them. That is, intellect is necessary for understanding them, for realizing that they are right and for knowing their value. All the scholars of hadith held the beliefs of Ahl as-Sunnat. The imams of the four madhhabs in deeds, too, were in this madhhab. Also, al-Maturidi and al-Ashari, the two imams of our madhhab in beliefs, were in the madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnat. Both these imams promulgated this madhhab. They always defended this madhhab against heretics and against materialists, who had been stuck in the bogs of ancient Greek philosophy. Though they were contemporaries, they lived at different places and the ways of thinking and behaving of the offenders they had to meet were different, so the methods of defense used and the answers given by these two great scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat were different. But this does not mean that they belonged to different madhhabs. Hundreds of thousands of profoundly learned 'ulama' and awliya' coming after these two exalted imams studied their books and stated in consensus that they both belonged to the madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnat. The scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat took the nass with their outward meanings. That is, they gave the ayats and hadiths their outward meanings, and did not explain away (tawil) the nass or change these meanings unless there was a darura to do so. And they never made any changes with their personal knowledge or opinions. But those who belonged in heretical groups and the la-madhhabi did not hesitate to change the teachings of iman and 'ibadat as they had learned from Greek philosophers and from sham scientists, who were Islam's adversaries.
When the state of the Ottomans, who were Islam's guardians and the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars' servants, dissolved, succumbing to the centuries' contrivances carried on by freemasons, missionaries and the nefarious policy waged by the British Empire, who mobilized all their material forces, the la-madhhabi took the opportunity. With devilish lies and stratagems, they began to attack Ahl as-Sunnat and demolish Islam from within, especially in those countries, for example in Saudi Arabia, where the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat are not allowed to talk freely. The immeasurable gold dispensed by the Wahhabis helped this aggression spread all over the world. As it is understood from the reports from Pakistan, India and African countries, some men of religion with little religious knowledge and no fear of Allah were given posts and apartment houses in return for their buttressing up these aggressors. Especially, their treachery of deceiving youngsters and estranging them from the madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnat procured them those abominable advantages. In one of the books they wrote in order to mislead the students in the madrasas and Muslims' children, it is written, "I have written this book with a view of eliminating the bigotry of madhhabs and helping everybody to live peacefully in their madhhabs." This man means that the solution to eliminating the bigotry of madhhabs is in attacking Ahl as-Sunnat and belittling the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. He thrusts a dagger into Islam, and then says he does this so that Muslims will live in peace. At another place in the book, it is written, "If a thinking person hits the point in his thinking, he will be rewarded tenfold. If he misses, he will get one reward." Accordingly, everybody, no matter if he is a Christian or a polytheist, will be rewarded for his every thought; and he will get ten thawabs for his correct thoughts! See how he changes the hadith ash-Sharif of our Prophet (sall- Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam), and how he plays tricks! The hadith ash-Sharif declares: "If a mujtahid hits the point as he extracts rules from an ayat karima or from a hadith ash-Sharif, he will be given ten thawabs. If he is wrong he will be given one thawab." The hadith ash-Sharif shows that these thawabs will be given not to everybody who thinks but to an Islamic scholar who has reached the grade of ijtihad, and that they will be given to him not for his every thought but for his work in extracting rules from the Nass. For, his work is an 'ibada. Like any other 'ibada, it will be given thawab.
In the time of Salaf as-salihin and of the mujtahid 'alims, who were their successors, i.e., until the end of the fourth century of Islam, whenever a new affair came about as a result of changing life standards and conditions, the mujtahid scholars worked day and night and derived how the affair must be done from the four sources called al-adillat ash-Shariyya, and all Muslims did the affair by following the deduction of the imam of their madhhab. And those who did so were given ten thawabs or one. After the fourth century, people went on following these mujtahids' deductions. In the course of all this long time not one Muslim was at a loss or in a dilemma as to how to act. By and by no scholars or Muftis had even been educated for the seventh grade of ijtihad; therefore, today we have to learn from a Muslim who can read and understand the books of the scholars of one of the four madhhabs, and from the books translated by him, and adapt our 'ibadat and daily life to them. Allahu ta'ala declared the rules of everything in the Qur'an al-karim. His exalted prophet Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) explained all of them. And the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, learning them from the Sahabat al-kiram, wrote them in their books. These books exist all over the world now. The usage of any new thing that will come about in any part of the world till Doomsday can be exemplified in one of the teachings in these books. This possibility is a mujiza of the Qur'an al-karim and a karama of Islamic scholars. But it is essentially important to learn by asking a true Sunni Muslim. If you ask a la-madhhabi man of religion, he will mislead you by giving you an answer inconsistent with books of fiqh. We have previously explained how the youth are deceived by those la-madhhabi ignoramuses who have stayed in Arab countries for a few years, learned how to speak Arabic, frittered away their times by leading a life of amusement, pleasures and sinning, and then, getting a sealed paper from a la- madhhabi, from an enemy of Ahl as-Sunnat, went back to Pakistan or to India. Youngsters who see their counterfeit diplomas and hear them speak Arabic think that they are religious scholars. Whereas, they cannot even understand a book of fiqh. And they know nothing of the teachings of fiqh in books. In fact, they do not believe these religious teachings; they call them bigotry. Of old, Islamic scholars looked up the answers to the inquires made to them in the books of fiqh, and gave the inquirers the answers they found. But the la- madhhabi man of religion, being incapable of reading or understanding a book of fiqh, will mislead the questioner by saying whatever occurs to his ignorant head and defective mind, and will cause him to go to Hell. It is to this effect that our Prophet (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) declared: "The good alim is the best of mankind. The bad alim is the worst of mankind." This hadith ash-Sharif shows that the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat are the best of mankind, and the la-madhhabi are the worst of mankind, because the former guide people to following Rasulullah, viz. to Paradise, and the latter lead them to their heretical thoughts, viz. to Hell.
Ustad Ibn Khalifa Aliwi, a graduate of the Islamic University of Jami' al-Azhar, wrote in his book Aqidat as-Salafi wal-khalaf: "As 'Allama Abu Zuhra writes in his book Tarikh al-madhahibi 'l-Islamiyya, some people, who dissented from the Hanbali madhhab in the fourth century after Hegira, called themselves Salafiyyin. Abu 'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi and other scholars in the Hanbali madhhab, too, by proclaiming that those Salafis were not the followers of Salaf as-salihin but were the owners of bidat, belonging to the group of Mujassima, prevented this fitna from spreading. In the seventh century Ibn Taymiyya waged this fitna again."(70)
The la-madhhabi have adopted the name 'Salafiyya' and say "great imam of Salafis" for Ibn Taymiyya. This word is true in one respect since the term 'Salafi 'had not existed before him. There had existed Salaf as-salihin whose madhhab was Ahl as-Sunnat. Ibn Taymiyya's heretical beliefs became the source for the Wahhabis and other la-madhhabi people. Ibn Taymiyya had been trained in the Hanbali madhhab, that is, he had been Sunni. But, as he increased his knowledge and reached the grade of fatwa, he took to self-sufficiency and began to assume superiority to the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. The increase in his knowledge brought about his heresy. He was no longer in the Hanbali madhhab, because being in one of the four madhhabs requires having the beliefs of Ahl as-Sunnat. A person who does not have the beliefs of Ahl as-Sunnat cannot be said to be in the Hanbali madhhab.
The la-madhhabi take every opportunity to vilify the Sunni men of religious duty in their own country. They have recourse to all kinds of stratagem to impede their books from being read and the teachings of Ahl as-Sunnat from being learned. For example, a la-madhhabi person, mentioning a true scholar's name said, "What's a pharmacist's or a chemist's business in religious knowledge? He must work in his own branch and not meddle with our business." What an ignorant and idiotic assertion! He thinks that a scientist will not have religious knowledge. He is unaware of the fact that the Muslim scientists observe the Divine Creation every moment, realize the Creator's Perfect Attributes that are exhibited in the book of Creation, and, seeing the creatures' incapability compared to Allahu ta'ala's Infinite Power, continuously perceive that Allahu ta'ala is not like anything and is far from all defects. Max Planck, a famous German nuclear physicist, expressed this very well in his work Der Strom. But this la-madhhabi ignoramus, relying on the document which he got from a heretic like himself and on the chair provided by him, and perhaps enraptured with the fancy of the gold supplied from abroad, presumes that religious knowledge is in his own monopoly. May Allahu ta'ala upgrade this wretched person and all of us. May he also protect the innocent youngsters from the traps of these certified thieves of religion. Amin.
In fact, the said scholar served his nation humbly for more than thirty years in the field of pharmacy and chemical engineering. But at the same time, getting religious education and working day and night for seven years, he was honored with the 'ijaza given by a great Islamic scholar. Crushed under the grandeur of scientific and religious knowledge, he fully saw his incapability. In this realization he tried to be a servant in its due sense. The greatest of his fears and worries was to presume, by falling for the charms of his diplomas and 'ijaza, that he is an authority on these subjects. The greatness of his fear was conspicuous in all his books. He did not have the courage to write his own ideas or opinions in any of his books. He always tried to offer his young brothers the valuable writings of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat that were admired by those who understand them by translating them from Arabic or Persian. His fear being great, he had not thought of writing books for many years. When he saw the hadith ash-Sharif, the first page of Sawaiq-ul Muhriqa, "When fitna becomes widespread, he who knows the truth must inform others. Should he not do so, may he be accursed by Allah and by all people!" he began to ponder. On the one hand, as he learned the superiority of the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars' understanding and mental capacity in religious knowledge and in the scientific knowledge of their time and their perseverance in 'ibadat and taqwa, he saw his humbleness: with the ocean of knowledge that those great scholars had, he deemed his own knowledge just a drop. On the other hand, seeing that fewer and fewer pious people could read and understand the books written by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat and that the ignorant heretics had mixed themselves with men of religious duty and had written corrupt and heretical books, he felt grieved; the threat of damnation declared in the hadith ash-Sharif dismayed him. Also the mercy and compassion he felt for his dear young brothers, compelling him to serve them, he began to translate and publish his selections from the books of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. Alongside the innumerable letters of congratulation and appreciation that he had received, now and then he came across criticism and vilification on the part of the la-madhhabi. Because he had no doubt about his ikhlas and trueness to his Rabb and to his conscience, trusting himself to Allahu ta'ala and making tawassul to the blessed soul of His Messenger (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) and those of His devoted servants, he went on with his service. May Allahu ta'ala keep all of us on the True Path He is pleased with! Amin.
The great Hanafi scholar Muhammad Bahit al-Muti'i, a professor at Jami' al-Azhar University in Egypt,wrote in his book Tathir al-fu'ad min danisi'l-itiqad:
"Of all people, prophets ('alaihimu 's-salatu wa 's-salam) had the most exalted and maturest souls. They were immune from such things as being wrong, erring, unawareness, perfidy, bigotry, obstinacy, following the nafs, grudge and hatred.
Prophets communicated and explained the things intimated to them by Allahu ta'ala. The teachings of Islam, commands and prohibitions communicated by them, are all true. Not one of them is wrong or corrupt. After prophets, the highest and maturest people were their sahabas since they were trained, matured and purified in the sohbat of prophets. They always said and explained what they heard from prophets. All the things they conveyed are true and they are far from the above-mentioned vices. They did not contradict one another out of bigotry or obstinacy, nor did they follow their nafs. The as-Sahabat al-kiram's explaining the ayats and hadiths and employing ijtihad for communicating Allahu ta'ala's religion to His servants is His great blessing upon his umma and His compassion for His beloved prophet, Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam). The Qur'an al-karim declares that the Sahabat al-kiram were stern towards disbelievers but tender and endearing with one another, that they performed salat diligently, and that they expected everything and Paradise from Allahu ta'ala. All their ijtihads, on which ijma' was formed, are right. All of them were given thawab since the reality is only one.
"The highest people after the Sahabat al-kiram are those Muslims who saw them and were trained in their sohbat. They are called the Tabiin. They acquired their religious knowledge from the Sahabat al-kiram. The highest people next to the Tabiin are those Muslims who saw the Tabiin and were trained in their sohbat. They are called Taba' at-Tabiin. Among the people coming in the centuries after them until Doomsday, the highest and the best ones are those who adapt themselves to them, learn their teachings and follow them. Among the men with a religious authority coming after the Salaf as-salihin, an intelligent and wise person whose words and deeds agree with the teachings of Rasulullah and the Salaf as-salihin, who never diverges from their path in beliefs and deeds, and who does not exceed the limits of Islam, will not fear others' denigrations. He will not succumb to their misguidance. He will not listen to the words of the ignorant. He will use his mind and will not go out of the four madhhabs of the mujtahid imams. Muslims must find such a scholar, ask him and learn what they do not know and should follow his advice in everything they do, because a scholar in this capacity will know and let people know the spiritual medicines which Allahu ta'ala created to protect His servants from erring and to make them always act correctly; that is, he will know the curatives for the soul. He will cure psychopaths and the unintelligent. This scholar will follow Islam in his every word, every action and every belief. His understanding will always be correct. He will answer every question correctly. Allahu ta'ala will like his every action. Allahu ta'ala will give guidance to those who seek the ways to His consent. Allahu ta'ala will protect those who have iman and who fulfill the requirements of iman, against oppression and trouble. He will make them attain nur, happiness and salvation. In everything they do they will be in ease and comfort. On the Day of Resurrection, they will be with prophets, Siddiqs, martyrs and salih (devoted) Muslims.
"No matter in what century, if a man with a religious position does not follow the declarations of the Prophet and his Sahaba, if his words, deeds and beliefs do not agree with their teachings, if he follows his own thoughts and exceeds the limits of Islam, if he oversteps the four madhhabs in those sciences which he could not understand, he will be judged to be a corrupt man with religious positions. Allahu ta'ala has sealed off his heart. His eyes cannot see the right path. His ears cannot hear the right word. There will be great torture for him in the hereafter. Allahu ta'ala does not like him. People of this sort are prophets' enemies. They think that they are on the right path. They like their own behavior. Whereas, they are of Satan's followers. Very few of them come to their senses and resume the right path. Everything they say seems kind, delightful or useful, but all of what they think and like are evil. They deceive idiots and lead to heresy and perdition. Their words look bright and spotless like snow, but, exposed to the sun of truth, they melt away. These evil men with religious positions, whose hearts have been blackened and sealed off by Allahu ta'ala, are called ahl al-bidat or la-madhhabi men with religious positions. They are the people whose beliefs and deeds are not compatible with the Qur'an al-karim, with the hadith ash-Sharif or with the ijma' al-Umma. Having diverged from the right path themselves, they mislead Muslims into perdition, too. Those who follow them will go to Hell. There were many such heretics in the time of Salaf as-salihin and among the men of religious authority that came after them. Their existence among Muslims is like gangrene [or cancer] in one of the parts of the body. Unless the disease is done away with, the healthy parts cannot escape the disaster. They are like people affected with a contagious disease. Those who have contact with them suffer harm. We must keep away from them so that we should not be harmed by them."
Of the corrupt, heretical men of religious position, Ibn Taymiyya has been the most harmful. In his books, particularly in Al-wasita, he disagreed with the ijma' al-Muslimin, contradicted the clear declarations in the Qur'an al-karim and Hadith ash-Sharif, and did not follow the path of Salaf as-salihin. Following his defective mind and corrupt thoughts, he deviated into heresy. He had much knowledge. Allahu ta'ala made his knowledge the cause of his heresy and perdition. He followed the desires of his nafs. He tried to spread his wrong and heretical ideas in the name of truth.
The great scholar Ibn Hajar al-Makki (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaih) wrote in his book Fatawa al-hadithiyya:
"Allahu ta'ala made Ibn Taymiyya lapse into heresy and perdition. He made him blind and deaf. Many scholars informed that his deeds were corrupt and his words were false, and they proved it with documents. Those who read the books of the great Islamic scholars Abu Hasan as-Subki, his son Taj ad-din as-Subki and Imam al-'Izz ibn Jamaat, and those who study the statements said and written in response to him by the Shafii, Maliki and Hanafi 'ulama' living in his time, will see well that we are right.
"Ibn Taymiyya slandered and cast nefarious aspersions upon the scholars of tasawwuf. Furthermore, he did not hesitate to attack Hadrat 'Umar and Hadrat 'Ali, who were he archstones of Islam. His words overflowed the measure and rules of decorum, and he threw arrows even at steep cliffs. He stigmatized the scholars of the right path as holders of bidat, heretics and ignoramuses.
"He said, 'Corrupt ideas of Greek philosophers disagreeable with Islam were placed in the books of the great men of tasawwuf,' and strove to prove it with his wrong, heretical thoughts. Young men who do not know the truth may be misled by his ardent, deceitful words. For example, he said:
'Men of tasawwuf say that they see the Lawh al-mahfuz (71). Some philosophers, such as Ibn Sina, call it an-nafs al-falakiyya. They say that when man's soul reaches perfection, the soul unites with an-nafs al-falakiyya or al-'aql al-fa'al while awake or asleep, and when a person's soul unites with these two, which cause everything to happen in the world, he becomes informed of the things existing in them. These were not said by Greek philosophers. They were said by Ibn Sina and the like, who came later. Also, Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Muhyiddin ibn al-'Arabi and the Andalusian philosopher Qutb ad-din Muhammad ibn Sa'bin said statements of this sort. These are the statements of philosophers. Such things do not exist in Islam. With these words they diverged from the right path. They became mulhids like those mulhids called the Shia, Ismailiyya, Qaramitis and Batinis. They left the right path followed by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat and of the hadith and by those Sunni men of tasawwuf like Fudail ibn 'Iyad. While diving into philosophy on the one hand, they struggled against such groups as the Mutazila and Kuramiyya on the other hand. There are three groups of men of tasawwuf: the first group are adherent to the Hadith and the Sunnat. The second group are the heretics like the Kuramiyya. The third group are the followers of the books of Ikhwan as-safa and the words of Abu 'l-Hayyan. Ibn al-'Agwbi and Ibn Sa'bin and the like adopted philosophers' statements and made them statements of men of tasawwuf. Ibn Sina's book Akhir al-isharat 'ala maqami 'l-arifin contains many such statements. Also, al-Imam al-Ghazali said such things in some of his books, such as Al-kitab al-madnun and Mishkat al-anwar. If fact, his friend, Abu Bakr ibn al-'Arabi, tried to save him from it by saying that he had taken to philosophy, but he could not. On the other hand, al-Imam al-Ghazali said that philosophers were disbelievers. Towards the end of his life he read [the Sahih of] al-Bukhari. Some said that this made him give up the ideas he had written. Some others said that those statements were ascribed to al-Imam al-Ghazali to defame him. There are various reports about al-Imam al-Ghazali in this respect. Muhammad Mazari, a Maliki scholar educated in Sicily, Turtushi, an Andalusian scholar, Ibn al-Jawi, Ibn 'Uqail and others said many things.'
"The assertions quoted above from Ibn Taymiyya show his ill thoughts about the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat clearly. He cast such aspersions upon even the greatest ones of the Sahabat al-kiram. He stigmatized most of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat as heretics. Meanwhile, as he heavily denigrated the great wali and the qutb al-'arifin Hadrat Abu 'l-Hasan ash-Shadhili on account of his books Hizb al-kabir and Hizb al-bakhr and cast squalid aspersions upon the great men of tasawwuf such as Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabi, 'Umar ibn al-Farid, Ibn Sab'in and Hallaj Husain ibn Mansur, the scholars in his time, declared unanimously that he was a sinner and a heretic. In fact, there were those who issued fatwa stating that he was a disbeliever.(72)
A letter written to Ibn Taymiyya in 705 A.H. (1305) reads: 'Oh my Muslim brother, who considers himself a great scholar and the imam of this time! I loved you for Allah's sake. I disapproved the scholars who were against you. But hearing your words, unbecoming to love, has puzzled me. Does a wise person doubt that the night begins when the sun sets? You said that you were on the right path and that you were doing al-amru bi 'l-maruf wa 'n-nahyi 'ani 'l-munkar. Allahu ta'ala knows what your purposes and intentions are. But one's ikhlas is understood from his deeds. Your deeds have torn off the cover from your words. Deceived by those who follow their nafs and whose words are unreliable, you have not only defamed those living in your time but also stigmatized the diseased as disbelievers. Dissatisfied with attacking the successors of Salaf as-salihin, you have slandered the Sahabat al-kiram, especially the greatest ones. Can't you imagine in what a situation you will be when those great people ask for their rights on the Day of Resurrection? On the minbar of Jami' al-jabal in the Salihiyya city, you said that Hadrat 'Umar (radi- Allahu ta'ala 'anh) had some wrong statements and disasters. What were the disasters? Which of such disasters were reported to you by Salaf as-salihin? You say that Hadrat 'Ali (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) had more than three hundred errors. If it had been true for Hadrat 'Ali, would you have one right word then? Now I am beginning to act against you. I shall try to protect Muslims against your villainy, because, you have overflowed the measure. Your torture has reached all the living and the dead. believers must shun your evil.'
"Taj ad-din as-Subki listed the matters on which Ibn Taymiyya disagreed with Salaf as-salihin as in the following:
1 - He said, 'Talaq (divorce as prescribed by Islam) does not become actual; [in case it happens,] it is necessary to pay kaffara (equal to that which is paid) for an oath.' None of the Islamic scholars that came before him had said that kaffara might be paid.
2 - He said, 'Talaq given to a haid (menstruating) woman does not become actual, nor does the talaq given to her during the time of her purity become actual.'
3 - He said, 'It is not necessary to make qada for a salat omitted deliberately.'
4 - He said, 'It is mubah (permissible) for a haid woman to perform tawaf of the Kaba. [If she does] she will not have to pay kaffara.'
5 - He said, 'One talaq given in the name of three talaqs is still one talaq.' Whereas, before saying so, he repeatedly said for many years that ijma' al-Muslimin was not so.
6 - He said, 'Taxes incompatible with Islam are halal for those who demand them.'
7 - 'When taxes are collected from tradesmen, they stand for zakat even if they do not intend [for zakat],' he said.
8 - He said, 'Water does not become najs when a mouse or the like dies in it.'
9 - He said, 'It is permissible for a person who is junub to perform supererogatory salat without making a ghusl at night.'
10 - He said, 'Conditions stipulated by the waqif (person who devotes property to a pious foundation) are not taken into consideration.
11 - He said, 'A person who disagrees with ijma' al-umma does not become a disbeliever or a sinner.'
12 - He said, 'Allahu ta'ala is mahall-i hawadith and is made up of particles coming together.'
13 - He said, 'The Qur'an al-karim was created in the Dhat (essence, person) of Allahu ta'ala.'
14 - He said, 'The 'alam, that is, all creatures are eternal with their kinds.'
15 - He said, 'Allahu ta'ala has to create good things.'
16 - He said, 'Allahu ta'ala has a body and directions; He changes His place'.
17 - He said, 'Hell is not eternal; it will go out at last.'
18 - He denied the fact that prophets are impeccable.
19 - He said, 'Rasulullah [sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam] is no different from other people. It is not permissible to pray through his intercession.'
20 - He said, 'It is sinful to go to Medina with the intention of visiting Rasulullah.'
21 - He also said, 'It is haram to go there to ask for shafa'a (intercession).'
22 - He said, 'The books Tawra and al-Injil did not change in vocabulary. They changed in meaning.'
"Some scholars said that most of the above-quoted statements did not belong to Ibn Taymiyya, but there
has been none who denied his saying that Allahu ta'ala had directions and that He was made of particles coming together. However, it was declared by consensus that he was rich in 'ilm, in jalala and in diyana. A person who has fiqh, knowledge, justice and reason must first observe a matter and then decide about it with prudence. Especially, judging Muslim's disbelief or apostasy or heresy or that he must be killed requires very minute observations and utter circumspection."
Recently it has become a fashionable to imitate Ibn Taymiyya. They defend his heretical writings and reproduce his books, particularly his Al-wasita. From beginning to end, this books is full with his ideas unconformable to the Qur'an al-karim, the Hadith ash-Sharif and ijma' al-Muslimin. It rouses great fitna and faction among the readers and causes hostility between brothers. The Wahhabis in India and those ignorant men of religion who were caught in their traps in other Muslim countries have made Ibn Taymiyya a banner for themselves and have given him such names as 'Great Mujtahid' and 'Shaikh al-Islam.' They embrace his heretical thoughts and corrupt writings in the name of faith and iman. For stopping this terrible current, which brings about faction among Muslims and demolishes Islam from within, we must read the valuable books written by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat which refute and rebut these heretics with documents. Among this literature, the Arabic book Shifa as-siqam fi ziyar ti khayri 'l-anam written by the great imam and the profoundly learned scholar Taqi ad-din as-Subki (rahmat-Allahu ta'ala 'alaih) destroys Ibn Taymiyya's heretical ideas, eliminates his faction and exposes his obstinacy. It prevents the spreading of his evil intentions and wrong beliefs.
F O O T N O T E S
(69) The books Fikh al-akbar, Iljam and Qawl al-fasl have been reproduced by Hakikat Kitabevi in Istanbul.
(70) In this book of 340 pages, several bidat' of the
Salafis and the Wahhabis, their slanders about Ahl as-Sunnat and the replies to them are written in detail. It was printed in Damascus in 1398 A.H. (1978).
(71) For detailed information about Lawh al-mahfuz, see chapter 36 in Endless Bliss, III.
(72) The profound Islamic scholar 'Abd al-Ghani an-Nabulusi wrote the names of these superiors of tasawwuf on the 363 rd and 373 rd pages of his book Al-Hadiqat an-nadiyya and added that they were awliya' and that those who would speak ill of them were ignorant and unaware.
Forward
ITHIBAT an-NUBUWWA
PROOF OF PROPHETHOOD
PROOF OF PROPHETHOOD
Allahu ta'ala, pitying all the people on the earth, creates and sends useful things to them. In the next world, He will forgive whomever He chooses of those disobedient believers who are to go to Hell and will bless them with direct access to Paradise. He, alone, is the One who creates every living being, keeps all beings in existence every moment and protects all against fear and horror. Trusting ourselves to the honorable name of Allahu ta'ala, we begin to translate this book.
Infinite thanks be to Allahu ta'ala! Peace and blessings be upon His most beloved Messenger, Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam)! Beneficent prayers be upon the pure Ahl al-Bayt and upon all the just and devoted companions (as-Sahabat al-kiram) of this exalted Prophet!
Allahu ta'ala has had great mercy upon His human servants and wishes them to live in comfort and peace in the world and to attain eternal felicity in the hereafter. To this end, He has made the most superior and best of mankind into prophets and, by revealing holy books to them, has shown the way to peace and happiness. He has declared that attaining happiness requires first believing in Him and His prophets and then obeying the commandments in His holy books. One who possesses this belief and accepts the commandments is termed a Mumin (believer) and Muslim.
To explain the Existence and Oneness of Allahu ta'ala and the way to believe in prophets, Islamic scholars wrote many books in almost every language. Among the ones that have been written in a compendious, explicit and comprehensible style so as to remove doubts and misgivings, the Arabic book Ithbat an nubuwwa is very useful. The great Islamic scholar al- Imam ar-Rabbani Ahmad al-Faruqi (quddisa sirruh) wrote this book when he was eighteen years old. It contains selections made by him and their explanations from the last part of the book Sharh-i Mawaqif. It was first published together with its Urdu translation in Pakistan. Al-Imam ar-Rabbani was born in the city of Sirhind, India, in 971 H. (Hijri) (1564 A.D.) and passed away there in 1034 H. (1625 A.D.).
We humbly pray so that all people, by avoiding the misleading effects of devouring and deceptive articles, will read this book with concern and common sense, and thereby attain comfort and peace in this world and eternal felicity in the Hereafter.
In the text, the translated ayats of the Qur'an al-karim are given as ma'al Sharif (meanings concluded by the mufassirs), which may or may not be the same as what Allahu ta'ala meant in the ayat. A glossary of Arabic and other non-English terms foreign to the English reader is appended.
Miladi (1993) Hijri Shamsi (1372) Hijri Qamari (1414)
HAKIKAT BOOKSTORE
P R E F A C E
Infinite thanks be to Allahu ta'ala, who has sent Prophets to guide people to the way of salvation and who has revealed four of His major Books to them; these Books contain no aberration or abnormality. The Book He has revealed to His Last Prophet, Muhammad ('alaihi 's- salam), is Qur'an al-karim; in which everything necessary for His human servants has been revealed, unbelievers have been warned of Hell's torment while believers who carry out the requirements of Islam have been given the good news of Paradise. By sending Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), Allahu ta'ala has completed the faith (din) of His human servants. He has declared that He will be pleased with those who are in the Islamic religion (ad-Din). For His servants of earlier times, too, He sent prophets with clear revelations and great miracles. He has declared in the Qur'an al-karim that no Prophet will succeed Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam). He has decreed that, as a blind person entrusts himself to those who will lead him or as a helplessly ill person commits himself to the care of compassionate doctors, people must submit themselves to Prophets He has sent so that they will attain benefits beyond the mind's grasp and escape calamities. He has made Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) the highest, the most merciful of Prophets, and his Umma the most equitable people. He has made his Umma the most perfect of all. He has announced through ayats in His Book that his conduct has no excess or defect, that his grade is very high and that he is the Prophet for all creatures. For His servants, He has sent him as the Last Prophet to communicate the fact that Allahu ta'ala is One to His servants, and to treat their sick hearts. May abundant prayers and good wishes, from us, be upon him, his household ('Al), and companions (as-Sahaba) day and night! They are the stars guiding to the right way and the sources of light illuminating darkness.
Let it be known that this servant, that is, [al-Imam ar-Rabbani Mujaddid al-Alf ath-Thani] Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Ahad, who is greatly in need of Allahu ta'ala's compassion and the first of them to invoke Him to protect him, his ancestry, masters and disciples against the troubles of the Rising Day, has seen with regret that the people of our time have become increasingly slack in believing in the necessity of Prophets' coming, in the twenty-five Prophets whose names are given in the Qur'an al-karim, and in obeying the religion brought by the Last Prophet. Moreover, some powerful people with authoritative positions in India have been torturing pious Muslims who diligently follow Islam. There have appeared people who mock the blessed name of the Last Prophet and substitute the blessed names given to them by their parents with absurd names. Sacrificing a cow, which is wajib for a Muslim to butcher during 'Iyd al-Adha, has been prohibited in India. Mosques are either being demolished or turned into museums or stores. Islamic cemeteries are being made into playgrounds or places for rubbish. Disbelievers' churches are being restored in the name of monuments. Their rituals and festivals are being celebrated by Muslims, too. In short, Islam's requirements and Islamic customs are being abhorred or totally abandoned. They are being called "retrogressive." Disbelievers' and atheists' customs, false religions, immoral and shameless acts are being praised. Efforts are being made to spread them. Depraved and squalid books, novels and songs of the Indian disbelievers are being translated into the languages of Muslims and sold. In this way efforts to annihilate Islam and Islam's beautiful ethics, which result in Muslims' iman weakening, are being carried on while unbelievers and rejecters are increasing. Moreover, even men of religion, who must be healers for the disease of disbelief, are falling for this disaster and drifting into calamity.
I have studied the causes for this corruption in Muslim children's belief and have scrutinized the origin of their doubts. I have come to the conclusion that there is only one reason for the slackness in their iman. And the reason is that much time has elapsed since Rasulullah ('alaihi 's- salam), while at the same time some fanatical, short-sighted, religiously nescient politicians and some ignoramuses, who pass themselves off as scientists, talk on religious matters and have their words accepted as true. I have spoken with people who read and believe the articles of such fanatics of science and who therefore describe themselves as enlightened, modern people. I have seen that they err mostly in comprehending the rank of prophethood (nubuwwa). I have had many of them say, "Prophets endeavored so that people should get along well with one another and form beautiful habits. This has nothing to do with life in the next world. Books of philosophy, too, provide ways of getting along well and forming good habits. Imam Muhammad al-Ghazali divides his book Ihya Ulum ad-din into four sections. In the first section he explains beautiful habits, which he terms Munjiyyat (things that save). In the other three sections, he writes about salat, fasting and other 'ibadat. This book of his resembles books of philosophy. And this shows that 'ibadat are not Munji (able to save) and that salvation depends upon beautiful habits. Others say, "One who has heard of the Prophet, is ayats and miracles but who disbelieves this information because centuries have passed ever since, is like a person who lives in the mountains or in a desert and has not heard about the Prophet at all. Like the latter, the former may not have iman, either."
In response to them, we say that to perfect people and to cure the diseases in their hearts, Allahu ta'ala pitied them in the eternal past and willed to send Prophets. In order to fulfill these duties of theirs, Prophets must threaten the disobedient and give good news to the obedient. They must inform the former of the torment and the latter of the rewards in the Hereafter. Man desires to attain things that come sweet to him. In order to attain them, he goes astray, sins and harms others. The sending of Prophets was necessary for protecting men from doing evil and for providing them with a peaceful and comfortable life in this and the next worlds. Life in this world is short. Life in the next world is endless. For this reason, attaining happiness in the next world takes precedence. Some ancient philosophers, in order to sell more of the books they had prepared with their own views and imagination, embellished them with ways of beautifying one's morals and doing useful acts, which they had read in heavenly books or heard from those who believed in these books. Concerning Hujjat al-Islam Imam Muhammad Ghazali's (rahmat- Allahi 'alaih) explaining 'ibadat in his books, scholars of fiqh explained how to carry out 'ibadat, but they did not describe their subtle particulars because their purpose was to state the conditions for and manners of performing 'ibadat properly. They did not look to men's souls and hearts. The task of describing them belonged to scholars of tasawwuf. Al-Imam al-Ghazali combined the knowledge of religion that provided for the betterment of bodies and outward deeds with the knowledge of tasawwuf, which enables one to attain inner cleanliness. He explained both of them in his book. He named the latter Munjiyyat, that is, teachings that prevent calamity, yet he said that 'ibadat, too, were Munji. The way of making 'ibadat a means of salvation can be learned from books of fiqh. Those teachings of salvation which pertain to the heart cannot be learned from books of fiqh. They can be understood better by reading the explanations from that exalted imam.
We have not seen the medical scientist Calinos or the grammarian 'Amr Sibawaih. How do we know that they were experts in those branches of knowledge? We know what the science of medicine means. We read Calinos's books and hear some of his statements. We learn that he gave medicine to the ill and cured them. Hence we believe that he was a doctor. Likewise, when a person who knows the science of grammar reads Sibawaih's books or hears some words of his, he knows and believes that he was a grammarian. By the same token, if a person knows well what prophethood is and studies Qur'an al-karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif, he will understand thoroughly that Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) was in the highest grade of prophethood. As one's belief in the above-mentioned scholars would never be upset, so the slanders and vilifications of the ignorant and deviated will never undermine one's iman in Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), since all the sayings and actions of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) guide people to perfection, make their beliefs and actions correct and useful, and illuminate their hearts so as to cure them of diseases and disencumber them of bad habits. And this is what prophethood (nubuwwa) means.
One who lives in mountains or in a desert [or a communist country] and has not heard of Prophets is called shahiq al-jabal. It is impossible for such people to believe in prophethood or that Prophets were sent. It is as if no Prophet has come for them. They are excusable. [After their accounts are settled following death, they, like animals, will be eternally annihilated without entering Paradise or Hell. The same is the case for disbelievers' non-adolescent children.] They are not commanded to believe in Prophets. Concerning them, Surat al-Isra declares: "We do not torment unless We send a Prophet before!"
With the intention of removing the doubts and suspicions of those who acquired their religious knowledge from the books of religiously ignorant people and from the venomous pens of the enemies of the religion, I have thought of writing what I know. In fact, I have deemed this a task, a debt which I owe to humanity. By writing this book, I have tried to explain what prophethood means, to verify that Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) was in full possession of prophethood, to eliminate the doubts of the unbelievers concerning this fact, and to display the wickedness and harms of a few fanatics of science who attempt to suppress this fact with their own thoughts and opinions. Citing documents from the books of Islamic scholars and adding my humble thoughts, I have tried to rebut their thoughts. The book consists of an introduction and two articles. And the introduction is divided into two topics. Trusting myself to Allahu ta'ala, I begin writing.
Hijri Kamari (990)
Miladi (1582)
AHMAD IBN 'ABD AL-AHAD AS-SIRHINDI
What does it mean ?
It is written at the end of the book Sharh-i Mawaqif by Sayyid Sharif al-Jurjani that, according to the scholars of Kalam, a person to whom Allahu ta'ala says, I have sent thee to the people in such and such a country or to the whole of mankind," or "Reveal [My will] to my servants!" or gives a similar command is called a "nabi" or "payghambar" (Messenger or Prophet). Being a Prophet does not require having certain conditions like riyada or mujahada or having been born with qualities suitable for prophethood. Allahu ta'ala can bestow this gift upon anyone He chooses. He knows everything and does what is best. He does whatever He wills to do. He is the Almighty. According to the scholars of Kalam, it is not necessary for a Prophet to display a mujiza (miracle), either. It was said that he had to display miracles so that people would know that he was a Prophet, but this still is not a condition for him to be a Prophet. According to ancient Greek philosophers, to be a Prophet requires three conditions; firstly, to reveal the ghaib (unknown, mystery), that is, to explain past and future events when required; secondly, to do extraordinary things, that is, things that are mentally and scientifically impossible; thirdly, to see an angel in object and body and to hear Allahu ta'ala's wahy from the angel.
Neither for us nor for them [philosophers], is it necessary for a Prophet to know all of the unknown. And knowing some of it is not peculiar only to Prophets. It is admitted also by philosophers that these who undergo riyada, that is, those who isolate themselves in a room and eat just enough so as not to die, some sick people who have lost consciousness, and some people while asleep disclose some mysteries. In this respect such people are not different from Prophets. Perhaps, what philosophers call the "ghaib" are the extraordinary and, unusual things which are rarely seen. However, these are not the real unknown. Knowing them or reporting them once or twice does not mean to transcend the ordinary. This point keeps Prophets and others distinct. Scholars of Kalam also report that Prophets will know the real mysteries revealed to them by Allahu ta'ala, but they say that knowing mysteries is not a requirement for being a Prophet. Also, the above said grounds which philosophers put forward with respect to knowing the unknown are not correct. They are incompatible with Islam's fundamentals. Furthermore, knowing the unknown on such grounds is quite a different subject. They are extraordinary wonders. There is no use in particularly dwelling on this.
Extraordinary events, such as, affecting objects and substances as one wishes; effecting the wind, earthquakes and fires when one likes or a ship's sinking; a man's dying or a tyrant's going to his doom upon one's wish are the human soul's influence on matter. In fact Allahu ta'ala, alone, is the One who affects matter. Allahu ta'ala creates this effect on whomever He wills, whenever He wills. For this reason, it cannot be said that extraordinary things or wonders are peculiar to Prophets only. This is admitted by philosophers, too. Therefore, how could this ever be the distinction between Prophets and others?
Although ancient Greek philosophers said that wonders could also happen through non-prophets, they did not accept the frequency or the degree of wonders reaching the capacity of ijaz (miracle). They said that because such extraordinary things happen through Prophets a Prophet is distinguishable from others.
Philosophers' stating that an angel manifesting itself to Prophets and revealing Allahu ta'ala's wahi as a condition for prophethood contradicts their own philosophy. Their saying such things are intended to mislead holders of iman, for, according to them, angels are immaterial and speechless. To produce sounds requires being material, they say. Sound is produced through waves of air. We can say that these conditions put forward by philosophers might come to mean that angels can show themselves and talk by taking material forms.
To us, a mujiza is the thing proved the truthfulness of a person who said he was a Prophet. There were conditions for a mujiza:
1. Allahu ta'ala made it in the absence of ordinary means, and in this way He would help His Prophet be confirmed.
2. It had to be extraordinary. Ordinary things, such as the sun's rising in the East every day or flowers blooming in the spring, could not be mujizas.
3. Others had to be incapable of doing it.
4. It had to happen whenever the person who announced his prophethood wished it to.
5. It had to agree with his wish. For example, if he said that he would enliven a certain dead person and if some other marvel took place, for example, if a mountain was broken into two, it would not be a mujiza.
6. The mujiza happening upon his wish should not belie him. For example, while he was miraculously talking with a certain beast, if the beast said, "This man is a liar," it would not be a mujiza.
7. The mujiza should not happen before he said he was a Prophet. Wonders that happened before [the announcement of his prophethood], such as 'Isa's[1] ('alaihi 's-salam) talking when he was in a cradle, his being handed dates when he asked for dates from a withered-up tree, and in Muhammad's (alaihi 's-salam) childhood, the cleavage of his chest and his heart being cleansed by washing, there being a cloud over his head continuously and his being greeted by trees and stones were not mujizas, but karamas. They are called irhasat (preparatory signs of a prophet). They emphasized prophethood. It is possible for such karamas to happen through awliya' as well. Before Prophets were informed of their prophethood, their status was not lower than that of the awliya'. Karamas were seen from them. A mujiza could happen immediately after a Prophet is informed of his prophethood. For example, if he had said that such and such an event would take place a month later, the event would become a mujiza when it took place. But it would not be necessary to believe in his prophethood before it took place.
A mujiza demonstrating that a Prophet is telling the truth is not only a requirement of the intellect. That is, it is unlike the case of some work denoting the existence of its agent. For the intellect's realizing that something is the proof of something else requires some relationship between the two things. When the proof is seen, the existence of the related thing, not the existence of something else, is realized. The case is not so with a mujiza. For example, heavens being broken into pieces, stars being scattered and mountains being pulverized will take place when the end of the world comes, at the time of Doomsday. This will not be the time for the coming of a Prophet. These are the mujizas foretold by every Prophet. But, it is not necessary for those who hear about them to know that they are mujizas. So is the case with a wali's karama being the mujiza of a Prophet, though it does not have any connection with that Prophet. What we have stated so far is explained in detail in the book Sharh-i mawaqif by Sayyid Sharif al-Jurjani.
According to most 'ulama', though open tahaddee (challenge), that is, saying, "Go ahead and do the same! But you can't!" is not a condition for a mujiza, the meaning of a mujiza contains tahaddee. Because a tahaddi is not a matter of question in the reports made about the states of the Rising Day and future events, these are not mujizas against disbelievers. The believers believe that these reports are mujizas. The karamas of awliya' are not mujizas because they do not claim prophethood and because there is no tahaddee in them. The fact that such non-challenging wonders do not prove the truthfulness of a person claiming prophethood does not necessarily show that mujizas do not prove it. On the contrary, this is what is expected from a mujiza.
Question: "Mujizas prove the truthfulness of the person claiming prophethood because they are wonders. Does a mujiza have a special effect on proving [prophethood]?"
Answer: Such is not the actual case. A mujiza's proving the validity of a claim of prophethood is due to the fact that others cannot do it, which means a mujiza has a special effect. In fact, this is the real proof.
Question: "In Sharh-i Mawaqif, Sayyid Sharif al-Jurjani says, 'Naql (narration) cannot be a proof by itself because it is necessary also to believe in the truthfulness of the person who says that he is a Prophet, and this takes place by the intellect's admitting it. Upon seeing a mujiza, the intellect believes that a Prophet has told the truth.' This passage from al-Jurjani says that a mujiza demonstrating a Prophet's truthfulness is judged through the intellect, whereas a while before he said that it would not be judged through the intellect. Don't these two statements of his contradict each other?"
Answer: The above passage says that the intellect studies the mujiza that proves the truthfulness of a Prophet. It does not say whether or not the intellect has an effect on the mujiza's proving his truthfulness. Even if we were to admit that it says that it has some effect, it still does not say that this is judged only through the intellect. Since there is no one saying that the intellect has no effect in this affair, such a contradiction is out of place. Sayyid al-Jurjani's statement was made while explaining a narrated (naqli) mujiza, for which such a statement is most appropriate.
A mujiza's denoting a Prophet's truthfulness is not a belief resulting out of hearing, either. It is natural indication. That is, when a mujiza is seen, Allahu ta'ala creates in the person who sees it the knowledge that the person announcing his prophethood is telling the truth. Such is Allahu ta'ala's divine law. This is so because, though it is possible for a liar to display a mujiza, it has never happened. If the person announcing his prophethood lifts up a mountain and says, "If you believe me, this mountain shall go back to its place. If you don't believe me, it will fall on your heads," and if they see that the mountain moves back towards its place when they want to believe and towards them when they think of not believing, it will be understood, through divine law, that he is telling the truth. Yes, it is possible - in view of the intellect- for such an absolute mujiza to happen from a liar, but it is not the divine law of Allahu ta'ala. That is, it has never been seen.[2]. This is exemplified as follows: A man claimed to be a ruler's messenger and said, "If you don't believe me, take my letter to the ruler." The letter read: "If it is true that I am your messenger, get down from your throne and sit on the floor!" They took the letter to the ruler who read it and did as it was written. Those who saw this believed definitely that he told the truth. This belief is unlike the case of "likening the unknown to the witnessed," that is, understanding [the existence of] something not seen by seeing something else. The reason being, a mujiza definitely proves truthfulness. According to the Mutazila, it is not possible for a liar to display a mujiza.
Magic and similar things are the occurrence of certain events by doing the things that are their causes, or, sometimes, they are illusions which figure up in one's imagination though they do not really exist. They are not wonders.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Jesus
[2] The intellect admits a liar's displaying mujizas and says, "Since Allahu ta'ala is Almighty, He can do this, too." This conclusion, which is not compatible with divine law, or even the rare occurrence of events suitable with this conclusion, does not harm our knowledge of events that are compatible with the divine law of Allahu ta'ala. For example, killing or revivifying by the ad- Dajjal, the liar who will come towards Doomsday, does not change our knowledge about his being a liar. The fact Nimrod's fire did not burn Ibrahim ('alaih 's-salam) does not change Allahu ta'ala's law that gives a burning capacity to fire. However, the occurrence of events contradicting information acquired by the intellect though proofs gives harm to this information.
BI'THAT
BI'THAT: THE SENDING OF PROPHETS AND ITS NECESSITY
Man is aware of nothing at the time of his creation. The creation around him, however, is so vast that only Allahu ta'ala knows its extent. This is reported in the thirty-first ayat of Surat al- Muddaththir. A child begins to perceive classes of beings through its sense organs. Each class of beings is termed an 'alam. "The sense organ created first in man is the tactile organ; with the ability of touch, man perceives cold, hot, wet, dry, soft, hard and the like. The tactile organ cannot perceive colors or sounds, and these are thought to be nonexistent. Then his organ of sight is created, and with it colors and shapes are perceived. The world perceived by this organ has more variety and more numerous beings than the tactile world. Next his organ of hearing functions. With this sense organ sounds and tunes are perceived. Afterwards, his ability to taste and then his ability to smell are created. Thus the five senses which reflect the world of perception are completed. Towards the seventh year of life, his power of discretion (tamyiz) is created by which things that cannot be comprehended through the sense organs are realized. This power differentiates things that are perceived by the sense organs from one another. Then his intellect or wisdom is created. What is useful, harmful, good or bad is ascertained by the power of discretion; wisdom distinguishes the necessary, permissible, possible or impossible from one another. Wisdom comprehends things that cannot be grasped by the powers of perception and discretion. Besides wisdom, Allahu ta'ala creates one more power in some of His chosen servants. With this, things that cannot be understood or learnt through wisdom and things that will happen in the future are known. This is called the power of prophethood (nubuwwa). Because the power of discretion cannot comprehend the things comprehended by wisdom, it just discounts them. And because wisdom cannot understand the things comprehended by the power of prophethood, it disbelieves, and denies them. Denial of what cannot be comprehended is the result of not comprehending, not knowing. Likewise, a person born blind will know nothing of colors or shapes if he does not hear about them. He will not believe in their existence. To reveal to His servants that the power of nubuwwa also exists, Allahu ta'ala created dreams in men similar to this power. In dreams, man might see what will happen in the future clearly or in its vision in the alam-i mithal. If a person who does not know what dreams are is told, "When man's consciousness is suspended and thoughts and senses are gone like that of a dead person, he sees unknown things that are beyond the mind's grasp," he will deny it. He will even attempt to prove that such a thing is impossible, saying, "Man perceives his surroundings by his sense organs. With these organs out of order, especially when they do not function at all, he will perceive nothing." He will reason rather coarsely. As sense organs cannot comprehend things that are known by wisdom, likewise, wisdom cannot perceive the things that are known by the power of prophethood.
Those who doubt the existence of the power of prophethood doubt its possibility or, if its possibility is accepted, its occurrence. Its existence or occurrence shows that it is possible. And its existence is demonstrated by Prophets' giving information beyond the intellect's ability. This information, which cannot be acquired through the intellect, calculation or experimentation, was acquired only from Allahu ta'ala's ilham (inspiration placed upon the heart by Allahu ta'ala or His angels, that is, through the power of prophethood). The power of prophethood has also other peculiarities. Since dreams, which resemble one of its peculiarities, exist in men, we have given it as an example. Its other peculiarities are revealed through dhawq (tasting, sensitivity) to those who strive on the way of tasawwuf. The peculiarity we have given must suffice as proof to make one believe in prophethood. Imam Muhammad al-Ghazali, too, wrote this peculiarity as a proof for believing in prophethood in his book Al-munqidh min ad-dalal.
According to ancient Greek philosophers, it is useful to believe in prophethood. They said, "To believe in prophethood helps wisdom. Meditating over the existence, power and knowledge of Allah is similar to this. Also, many useful things beyond the intellect's ability are learned from Prophets. Examples of this are the Rising Day, teachings pertaining to the next world, revelation of what things are good and what others are bad, and knowing whether some foods and medicines are harmful or not."
Those who do not believe in prophethood say:
1. "A person sent as a Prophet should have known that the one who said, 'I have sent thee as a prophet. Communicate my message!' was Allah. And knowing Allah, in its turn, has no way. It may be a genie who uttered these words. All religious people believe in genies."
Answer: The person who was sent (as a prophet) proved by mujizas that he was sent as such. Allahu ta'ala is the One who creates the mujiza. Genies cannot perform it. Nor can any other creature.
2. "If the angel who brought wahi to the Prophet was an object, it must have been seen by all those who were present there. You, too, say that it was not seen. If it wasn't an object but a spirit, it would have been impossible for it to speak or to be heard. If your answer is: 'The angel that brought wahi from Allahu ta'ala to the Prophet was an object. Allahu ta'ala willed that it would not be seen, which is within His power,' then we would necessarily not see a mountain in front of us or hear a drum played near us, which is ridiculous."
Answer: The one who brought the wahi was an angel. An angel is a fine, transparent object. It is not Allahu ta'ala's law for colorless and transparent things to be seen. Air is a substance. But because it is transparent and colorless, it is not seen. It would be ridiculous if we said that solid things are not seen. It is possible for a spirit to take a visible shape, to speak and to be heard, which has happened many times.
3. "To believe in a Prophet, it is necessary to understand that he is a Prophet. And this is possible only after long observation. The obligation to confirm him on the spot is nonsensical."
Answer: After seeing a Prophet's wonders and mujizas, it becomes impossible not to acknowledge that he is telling the truth. Those who see or hear about them must acknowledge and believe the fact immediately.
4. "It is a Prophet's task to command useful things and to prohibit harmful things. And this, in its turn, would be unfair for it means enforcement or compulsion upon mankind. You say, 'Allahu ta'ala creates man's actions; man has no role in these actions.' Therefore, it means to compel the human servant to do what he could not do."
Answer: The servant's power has no effect on the creation of his actions, but he may wish their creation and prepare their causes. This is called "kasb" (acquirement). The human servant is encumbered to use his capacity called kasb. It is just that he is commanded to do so.
5. "Doing the command will tire the human servant, and he shall be tormented if otherwise. Both choices are harmful to the servant. Allah is Hakim (All-Wise), He does not do harmful things." Answer: Our response to this is that all the commandments are useful both in this world and in the Hereafter. Their usefulness surpasses multiple times over the exhaustion they cause. It is unwise to miss so many benefits by trying to avoid so little labor.
6. "If there is no advantage in the recompense for the exhaustion caused by doing the command, it is nonsensical to give the command. If there are benefits in it and if all of them are useful for Allah, this means that He needs His servants, which is contrary to fact. If they are beneficial to men, it is unreasonable to command something useful and then to punish those who do not do it. In other words, this command means 'Either do what is useful to yourself or I shall torture you eternally!'"
Answer: The intellect's finding something beautiful, ugly or nonsensical is not always valid. Nor is it correct to say that all the creations of Allahu ta'ala must be useful. We shall prove this later on. Eternal punishment will be given not because something useful is not acquired, but because the servant did not carry out the command of his Owner and Creator. Not doing His command is infidelity, sacrilege and flippancy towards Him.
7. "Even though Allah knows that His servant cannot do it or that he will not want to do something useful for himself, why does He command it? Wouldn't such a command be ugly and harmful to His servant?"
Answer: As we have stated above, even if we were to admit that such a command might be harmful to His servant, attaining great rewards necessitates putting up with insignificant difficulties. According to the Mutazila, one of the seventy-two heretical groups in Islam, there is also some value in proposing [Allahu ta'ala's] commands and prohibitions to a disbeliever. Encouraging him to earn thawab is valuable. Thawabs are blessings resulting from the performance of the commandments by the one who is propositioned. They are not blessings arising from the proposition. [For example,] a person invites someone to dinner though he is certain that he will not come. Thus, he wants to show his generosity and kindness. If he does not invite him, he will not be able to express his intentions. At this point I find it useful to report the statements of Muslim thinkers:
Allahu ta'ala has created men weak and needy. They need clothes, food, lodging, protection against their enemies, and many other things. A person cannot procure his needs by himself. His life is too short for this. Men have to cooperate and live together. One man gives an implement he has made to another, who in return gives him something else he needs. This need for cooperation is expressed as "Man has been created civilized." Living in civilization, that is, in societies, requires justice. Everyone desires to get what he needs. This desire is called shahwa. He becomes indignant with anyone who takes his advantages away. Quarrels, cruelties and torture between them ensue. Society disintegrates. To regulate all kinds of business transactions and to establish justice in a society, many principles have to be known, each of which becomes a law. They must be made known in the most equitable manner. If men cannot come to a mutual agreement in preparing them, chaos starts again. Therefore, they must be prepared by One who is equitable and above mankind. In order for his decisions to be accepted, He has to be powerful, and it must be understood that the decisions came from Him. Mujizas are the means by which this is proven. Those who run after their own pleasures and shahwa and behave arrogantly do not like the rules of Islam. They do not want to obey these rules. They violate others' rights and commit sins. By declaring that those who obey Islam shall be given thawab and those who do not obey them shall be tormented, the system of Islam becomes stronger. Therefore, the One who has ordained these rules and who will inflict the punishment must be known. For this end, worship ('ibada) has been commanded. By worshipping every day, He is remembered. Worship begins with confirming, believing in His existence, His Prophet and the blessings and torments of the next world.
Three things arise from believing in them and performing 'ibadat: Firstly, one gets disencumbered from following one's lust; the heart and soul get purified, and one does not get angry any more; lust and anger are hindrances against remembering the Creator. Secondly, one enjoys different information and pleasures that are unrelated with those obtained through the sense organs or through experiments with the matter. Thirdly, as it is meditated upon that the good shall be given blessings and the evil-doers shall be tormented, justice gets established among men. These statements of Muslim thinkers are similar to the statement of Mutazilas: "It is reasonable that proposals are useful."
8. "If the performance of the duty enjoined by Allah was predestined in the eternal past, such an injunction would be unbecoming, nonsensical and unreasonable. It would be a useless injunction to propose the enjoin of a duty which is absolutely inevitable. On the other hand, it would be torture to enjoin the performance of a duty which has not been predestined in the eternal past. It would mean to imply, 'Do the impossible!'"
Answer: Since man has the power to carry out the duty, it would not be torture to command it. All of Allahu ta'ala's commandments are within man's ability. Our answer to this question concerning the commandments will be the same as the answer given to the question asked about Allahu ta'ala creating. That is, it cannot be said that Allahu ta'ala has to create something which has been predestined in the eternal past. Nor can it be said that He is incapable of creating something which has not been predestined.
9. "Injunctions that are difficult for the body will deter man from considering and realizing Allah's existence. And it will not leave time for doing many other things."
Answer: The benefits in the injunctions induce meditation and an understanding of Allahu ta'ala's existence and regulation of life. We have explained this in detail in the answer to the seventh quotation above.[3]
10. "The intellect does the thing it finds useful and does not do the thing it thinks is harmful. When it cannot understand whether something is useful or harmful, it does it when there is need to do it. In view of this function of the intellect, sending Prophets is unnecessary."
Answer: There are many things which are misunderstood or which cannot be understood by the intellect, and they have to be taught by Prophets. A Prophet is like a specialized doctor. He knows the effects of medicines well. The effects of some medicines might be found by laymen through the intellect after long experiences, but men of intellect might face risks and harms before learning them, and it would require a great deal of time and work. They would have no time left for using their intellect in doing other necessary jobs. By giving the doctor a little recompense, however, they attain the benefits of medicines and rid themselves of their illnesses. To say that Prophets are unnecessary is like saying that doctors are unnecessary. Since the commandments taught by a Prophet are wahi revealed by Allahu ta'ala, they are all true and beneficial. The doctor's knowledge, although being the result of thought and experience, cannot be said to be wholly true.
11. "The mujiza's existence is not admissible. Since it is a wonder outside of normal events, it is not something which the intellect can accept. For this reason, prophethood is not something reasonable, either."
Answer: Creation of earths and heavens from nothing has much more wonder in it than a mujiza does. If it is impossible for certain things to happen outside of the laws of nature, this does not mean that wonders cannot happen outside of these laws. Wonders have happened through Prophets and Awliya' for centuries. A man of intellect cannot deny these events. A mujiza is intended to demonstrate that a Prophet has told the truth. It has to be a wonder; something done within the laws of nature cannot be a mujiza.
12. "A mujiza cannot prove that a Prophet is telling the truth. It is not certain whether a mujiza is created by Allah or made by a Prophet himself. Magic is a wonder, too. You also believe in magic and incantation."
Answer: The intellect putting forward various possibilities, i.e. hypothesis and theories, does not refute the knowledge acquired by the sense organs or experimentation. The occurrence of a certain thing does not prevent us from thinking of its nonexistence. Allahu ta'ala, alone, is the One who effects everything's coming into existence, as explained above. In other words, a mujiza is created by Allahu ta'ala, not by a Prophet. Even though everybody cannot perform magic and incantation, they do not resemble the wonders of [a Prophet's] splitting the sea, bringing a dead person back to life, restoring sight to a blind person, or curing a person whose illness has become hopeless from the medical point of view. Therefore, they are not confused with mujizas, which are wonders.
13. "Occurrence of a mujiza is known either by seeing or by hearing reports which are tawatur.[4] A report cannot be considered factual even if it is tawatur. Therefore, those who have not seen a mujiza will not know of a Prophet, for there may be liars among those who report it as tawatur: that is, commonly known.
Answer: In most worldly affairs, reports that are communicated through tawatur are believed. For example, such facts as there being a city named Delhi, that the earth is larger than the moon and smaller than the sun, that Muhammad the Conqueror conquered Istanbul from the Byzantine Greeks are believed by hearing them from others.
14. "We have studied religions. We have found things that are contradictory to reason and science. Thus, we have concluded that they have not been revealed by Allah. Examples of these are the permission given to cause pain to an animal for the purpose of eating; fasting at certain times; the prohibition of eating and drinking some delicious foods and drinks; the commandment imposing troublesome journeys for the purpose of visiting certain places; performing sa'y and tawaf like insane people or children, throwing pebbles without any certain target, kissing a valueless stone, the prohibition of looking at a free but ugly woman, and the permission to look at pretty jariyas."
Answer: Even if the intellect could distinguish good from bad and if we were to admit that Allahu ta'ala must command His human servants to do useful things, it is obvious that the intellect could not have the ability to grasp the benefit of the things mentioned in this question. This inability of the intellect does not show the absence of their value. Allahu ta'ala has given these commandments because He knows their worth. As we have explained before, there are many things which cannot be comprehended by the intellect but which are comprehended by the power of prophethood. We shall explain this with more detail at the beginning of the second article
FOOTNOTES
[3] It is essential in iman to accept the commandments, that is, to believe that is necessary to do the commands and to abstain from the prohibitions. One who believes most of the commandments but disbelieves only one of them and does not want to obey it will have disbelieved Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam). He will become an unbeliever. Being a Muslim requires, believing in all the commandments. If a Muslim, though he believes the commandments, disobeys them, e.g. does not perform salat out of laziness, or, following his bad friend or nafs, has alcoholic drinks, or, in case of a woman or girl, goes out with her arms and/or head uncovered, he or she does not lose their iman or become an unbeliever. A person of this sort is a sinful, disobedient Muslim. If he does not want to obey even one of the commandments, that is, if he disapproves it, does not esteem it as a duty or slights it, he loses his iman and becomes a murtadd (renegade). Such statements as, "What if I do not perform salat and go out with a bare head living and doing favors to people have precedence over sala mean to approve some of the commandments and disapprove others. Every Muslim must pay attention to this subtle point, and those who disobey the commandments must be vigilant lest they should lose their iman. Neglecting the commandments is different from wishing not to obey them. These two should not be confused.
[4] Tawatur is the state of being widespread or being reported by most people, which is a document for authenticity and makes denial impossible.
Proof of Prophethood
ARTICLE II The Proof of Muhammad's ('alaihi 's-salam) Prophethood
Question: "Useful things reported by philosophers, materialists and doctors, are believed because they have been discovered by experience. 'Ibadat are not believed in because their usefulness has not been experienced."
Answer: Scientists' experimentation are believed when they are heard of. The things reported and experienced by Awliya' are communicated in the same manner. Also, the benefits of most things enjoined by Islam have been seen and experienced.[6]
Even if the advantages within the rules of Islam were not revealed by experimentation, it would still be reasonable to believe in them and to fulfill their requirements. Let us say that a physician's wise son, who does not know anything about drugs, becomes ill. He has heard from many people and has even read in newspapers about his father's achievements and knows that his father loves him very much. His father gives him some medicine and says that if he takes it he will recover immediately, for he has tried it many times. But when he sees that the medicine will be injected and hurt him, would it be reasonable for him to react to his father by saying, "I have never tried this medicine. I don't know if it is good for me. I can't believe if your words are correct." Who in the world would approve such an answer?
Question: "How can it be known that the Prophet loves his umma as much as a father loves his son and that his commands and prohibitions are useful?"
Answer: How can a father's love for his son be known? This love itself is not something visible or tactual. It can be known only from his behavior, attitude and words towards his son. If a wise and fair person pays due attention to Rasulullah's (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) utterances and studies the reports describing his efforts to guide men to the right course, his strictness in protecting everybody's rights, and his magnanimous and compassionate efforts for the establishment of beautiful morals, he will clearly see that his love for his umma is much more than that of a father for his son. A person who realizes his astounding accomplishments, the astonishing reports in the Qur'an al-karim, which were revealed through his tongue, and his utterances foretelling the bewildering events that will happen at the end of the world, will certainly see that he attained high grades above the intellect's capacity and comprehended facts beyond the intellect's limit of comprehension and realization. Thus, it will be apparent to him that his words are all true. A reasonable person who learns and meditates over the knowledge revealed in the Qur'an al- karim and who studies his life will see this fact clearly. Imam Muhammad al-Ghazali (rahmat-Allahi 'alaih) said, "A person who doubts whether or not someone is a Prophet should either see his life or study objectively the reports about his life. A person who knows the science of medicine or fiqh acquires information about a scholar of medicine or fiqh by studying the reports about his life. For example, knowing whether or not al-Imam ash-Shafi'i (rahmat- Allahi 'alaih) was a scholar of fiqh or whether or not Calinos was a physician requires learning the concerned branches of knowledge well and then studying their books in these branches. Likewise, a person who acquires knowledge of prophethood and then studies the Qur'an al- karim and the Hadith ash-Sharif will completely understand that Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is the Prophet and occupies the highest degree of prophethood. And if he learns of the effectiveness of his words in purifying the heart and then obeys his revelations, by which his own heart begins to see the truth, his belief in his prophethood will become absolutely certain (yaqin). He will gain continuous realization of the truth in the hadiths, "If a person lives up to his knowledge, Allahu ta'ala teaches him what he does not know'; 'He who helps a cruel person will suffer harm from him,' and, 'The person who only thinks of attaining Allahu ta'ala's love every morning will be given his wishes for this world and the Hereafter by Allahu ta'ala.' Thus his knowledge and iman will be strengthened. For the iman to become dhawqi, that is, to improve it up to a state wherein one feels as if one sees the reality, requires endeavoring in a path of tasawwuf.
The scholars of Islam have proven by various methods that Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is Allahu ta'ala's Prophet. We will explain some of them:
Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) proclaimed that he was the Prophet and displayed mujizas to prove his word. This fact has been transmitted up to the present time with tawatur, that is, unanimity. The greatest mujiza is the Qur'an al-karim.
The Qur'an al-karim is mujiz, that is, no one can produce its equivalent. He challenged: "Go ahead and say the like!" Famous poets of Arabia did their best, but could not say the like. The 34 th ayat of Surat at-Tur declared: "Then, say the like of it". The 13 th ayat of Surat al-hud declared: "Tell them: 'Now you try and say ten suras like the suras of the Qur'an, which you suppose I said by myself!' " The 23 rd ayat of Surat al-Baqara declared: "If you have any doubts about [what We have stated in] the Qur'an, which We have revealed to Our servant [Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), you, too, try and say one sura like it! For doing this, ask for from all those you trust. You will not be able to say one sura like it!" In those days, the Arabs used to have a special interest in poetry. There were many poets among them. They used to organize poetry contests and were proud of the winners. They all co-operated to compose a short sura that would resemble those of the Qur'an al-karim. They strove hard. Before taking these poems to Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), they compared them with a sura in the Qur'an al-karim. Because they could see the eloquence in the sura, they were ashamed of their own poetry and could not take them to Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam). Nonetheless, they could not find a solution other than giving up opposition through knowledge and taking up coercive measures. They drew swords and attacked Muslims. They decided to kill Rasulullah ('alaihi 's`salam). They attempted to fulfill the plot they had prepared to this end, but, as everybody reads in history, they suffered an ignominious defeat. If after being challenged so defiantly by Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) and after striving collectively they had been able to say something as laconic and as eloquent as one of the suras, they would have read it to him and made a clamor. That inordinate action of theirs would have become a general topic of conversation and would have been recorded in history. It would have become as famous as an orator's being killed on a platform. Their failure openly shows that the Qur'an al-karim is mujiz and that it is not human words.
Question: "The poets outside of Mecca might not have heard of the ayats declaring: "You, too, try and say the like of it,' or a similar challenge of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam). Or, perhaps, they kept themselves aloof in return for some advantage or for the realization of some other agreement or goal we do not know of. For example, they might have fallen for a promise of being given some privileges in the state he was going to establish. Or, at the outset they paid little heed to his proclamations and did not deign to answer him; but later, seeing that he was gaining power and his followers were increasing in number, they did not dare to answer him. Or, competent poets might have had problems in earning their livelihood and they therefore found no time to answer him. It is also probable that due answers were given, but their success was forgotten or could not be passed on to later generations for some reasons. For example, after increasing in number, getting stronger and spreading over three continents, Muslims might have annihilated the reports of such accomplishments. Or, such reports might have been lost, being forgotten in the long course of time." Answer: Answers to these various doubts have been given briefly in the previous article. I have stated that if the things created by Allahu ta'ala within His laws [of causation], that is, some of the teachings acquired through the sense organs and by experience, are contrary to reason, this does not prevent them from being taught. I have said that the teachings acquired through the sense organs are as such. Now we will give answers to each of the above-quoted doubts separately. First of all, it must be concluded that the person who said he was a Prophet spoke the truth if he displayed a mujiza demonstrating his prophethood and challenged others to do the same, but no one could stand against him. That is, it is necessary to believe him. Anything said later against him is nonsensical, invalid and worthless. It is also inappropriate to say that they did not respond to him since they had slighted him at the outset and feared afterwards. Because it would have been a great honor and a dignifying act of superiority acceptable to everybody to counter someone's challenge and excellent work; everyone would have praised, loved and followed such a person. Who on earth would not have liked it? If a person who could do it had not wanted to do it, this would have shown that his opponent was right and truthful. As for the third doubt, it is known well that a person who has competence needs not only to answer him but also to demonstrate it; it is only by demonstration that the purpose will be attained. The existence of conditions limiting some people at some place and at some time does not necessarily show that the same conditions always existed everywhere. In fact, this is openly witnessed. It is impossible for a written answer to remain secret. Therefore, the doubts stated in the question are groundless.
Islamic authorities gave different explanations concerning the ý'jaz of the Qur'an al-karim. Many said that the poetry of the Qur'an al-karim was very astonishing (gharib) and its style was very wonderful ('ajib); it was mujiz because its poetry and style did not resemble those of the poets of Arabia. It is also the case with the prose in the beginning and closing sections as well as in the narrations in the suras. The openings between the ayats are like the saj's in them.[7] These literary elements existing in the Qur'an al-karim are unlike those in the Arab poets' utterances, who could not use them as exhibited in the Qur'an al-karim. A person who knows Arabic well sees its ijaz clearly. Qadi Baqillani[8] said that its ijaz stemmed both from its lofty eloquence and from its astounding poetry. In other words, its poetry was quite unusual. Some said that its ijaz originated from its giving information about the unknown. For example, the third ayat of Surat ar-Rum, "Though they have won, they shall be defeated in ten years," foretold that the Byzantine emperor Heraclius[9] would defeat the army of the Iranian Shah Husraw Perwiz within ten years. And it happened as it was foretold. According to some 'ulama', the ijaz of the Qur'an al-karim is in its possessing no contradictions or inconsistency, though it is very long and repetitive. It is for this reason that the 81 st ayat of Surat an-Nisa declares in brief: "Were this Qur'an al-karim the world of someone other than Allahu ta'ala, it would contain many incongruities." According to some others, the ijaz of the Qur'an al-karim lies in its meaning. Before our Prophet ('alaihi 's-salam), the Arabs could compose statements similar to those of the Qur'an al-karim, but Allahu ta'ala prevented them from writing the like of the Qur'an al-karim. How He prevented them has been explained in various ways. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim el-Isfaraini[10], a master among the Ahl as-Sunnat, and Abu Ishaq Nizam al- Basri of the Mutazila say that the fear of losing worldly advantages prevented them. [The author of the book Husniyya] Ali Murtada, a Shiite scholar, says that Allahu ta'ala made them forget their knowledge which would have enabled them to compete with the Qur'an al-karim.]
Those who do not accept that the Qur'an al-karim is mujiz say, "Ijaz must be obvious. The fact that there are various explanations of ijaz shows that its meaning not known for certain. In answer to this, scholars have said that the explanations in some respects does not show that the whole Qur'an al-karim is not a mujiz. Eloquence of the Qur'an al-karim, its unequalled poetry, the information describing the unknown and the wisdom it contains about knowledge and practices and many other elements of ijaz, like those mentioned above, are quite manifest. Differing explanations, which originate from the differences in men's views and understandings, should not indicate that is not mujiz. If one of the qualities we have mentioned above is not found by someone, to be a cause for it being mujiz, this should not come to mean that all of them are not causes for it being mujiz. Many a poet can produce extremely eloquent prose and verse, but cannot do it at another given time. That is, achieving it once does not mean that one can do it every time. A group does not necessarily have to have the properties of each of the units within it. This answer implies that the Qur'an al-karim is mujiz as a whole but its short suras may not be mujiz. But this is not true; as we have previously explained, its shortest sura is also mujiz. It might be said that the answer means that the whole Qur'an al-karim is mujiz in every respect but its suras are mujiz only in some respects. However, this would not be the answer to the question above. The question demands a clear explanation of the cause of the ijaz. So, such interpretation of the answer would not uncover the cause of the ijaz.
Their second antithesis states: "The Sahaba were in doubt about some parts of the Qur'an al- karim. 'Abdullah ibn Masud [radi-Allahu 'anh] said that surat al-Fatiha and the suras of Mu'awwizatain[11] did not belong in the Qur'an. However, these three suras are the most renowned suras of the Qur'an. If the eloquence in them were in a degree of ijaz, they would not so manifestly resemble texts other than that of the Qur'an, and no one would doubt that they belonged to the Qur'an."
Answer: The Sahabat al-kiram's doubt about some suras' belonging to the Qur'an al-karim was not because of their eloquence or ijaz; it was because each of these suras was only reported by one person. According to the principles of usul al-hadith, information transmitted by one reporter is not certain, but doubtful. Something transmitted by tawatur becomes certain information. The Qur'an al-karim was corroborated entirely by tawatur, that is, with unanimity. For this reason, it is known with certainty that the Qur'an al-karim is the Word of Allahu ta'ala. It is known with certainty also that those suras transmitted by only one reporter were revealed by Allahu ta'ala to Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) and had eloquence within a degree of ijaz. However, there was disagreement as to whether or not they belonged to the Qur'an al-karim, which brings no harm against our cause.
Their third antithesis states: "While the Qur'an al-karim was being compiled [after Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) passed away and while Hadrat Abu Bakr as- Siddiq (radi-Allahu 'anh) was the caliph], if a person not known well reported an ayat, he would be required either to take an oath or to bring two witnesses since his integrity was uncertain; therefore, only after it was understood that it belonged to the Qur'an al-karim, would it be included in the Qur'an al-karim. If the eloquence in an ayat were in a degree of ijaz, it would be concluded from its eloquence that it was an ayat and this would confirm the integrity of the person who reported it; an oath or two witnesses would not be needed."
Answer: These conditions were put in order to determine the places of the ayats in the Qur'an al-karim and to know if an ayat preceded or followed others. They were not intended to indicate whether or not they belonged to the Qur'an al-karim. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) used to recite the Qur'an al-karim and listen to those who recited it. It was definitely known that each ayat revealed was from the Qur'an al-karim. An oath or witnesses were required for ascertaining the eloquence of ayats. Furthermore, their eloquence being in a degree of ijaz showed that they were ayats. If the eloquence of one or two ayats are not in a degree of ijaz, it is not important. Since the shortest sura contains three ayats, all the suras of the Qur'an al-karim are mujiz.
Their fourth antithesis states: "Every branch of art has a boundary, a limit. It cannot be exceeded. There always exists a master surpassing his colleagues in his art. So Muhammad ('alaihi 's- salam) might have been the most eloquent of the poets of his time. He might have uttered things that could not be expressed by the poets of his time. If this were supposed to be mujiz, anything that was done by a pre-eminent master of any branch at any time but which could not be done by his colleagues, would necessarily be said to be mujiz, which, in its turn, this would be an absurd statement."
Answer: Mujiz means that which happens at one time and bears a great value because it cannot be done by most people of that time and which has been done at the highest level by those who have been able to do it and which is unanimously admitted will not be surpassed by human power and which could be surpassed, if ever, only by a person who is believed to manage it by Allahu ta'ala's Will. Something without these qualities cannot be called a mujiza. Magic was known as such during the time of the Prophet Musa[12] ('alaihi 's-salam); in those days, those who practiced sorcery knew that the highest degree of magic was to conjure up unreal, nonexistent things or illusions in [others'] imagination as if they were existent. When they saw that the rod of Musa ('alaihi 's-salam) became a large serpent and ate the snakes which were of their own witchery, they saw that it was beyond the boundaries of magic and above human power. Thus they believed [in the prophethood of] Musa ('alaihi 's-salam). Pharaoh, being unaware of this reality, had the wrong impression that Musa ('alaihi 's-salam) was the leader of the wizards and taught them magic. The same was the case with medicine during the time of 'Isa ('alaihi 's- salam); it was at a very advanced level. Doctors took pride in their achievements. Famous specialists said that their medical knowledge would not suffice to revivify the dead or to open the eyes of congenital blind persons. They believed that such people could be cured only by Allahu ta'ala. During the time of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) the arts of poetry and eloquence had reached the highest levels. Poets boasted to one another about the eloquence in their poetry. In fact, the seven odes with the best prosody won the admiration of poets and were hung on the door of the Kaba. No one could write the like of them. This is written in detail in history books. When Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) brought the Qur'an al-karim, conflicts arose among the people. Some denied the fact that it was the Word of Allahu ta'ala and died as unbelievers. Some poets, seeing the ijaz in Qur'an al-karim's eloquence, realized that it was the Word of Allah and became Muslims. Some others had to follow their example and became Muslims unwillingly, and they were called munafiqs (hypocrites). Some attempted to deny the truth by giving some vague responses; they only brought derision upon themselves in the eyes of those who reasoned. For example, as a rejoinder to the ayat, "Wazzariyat-i zar'an," they said, "Fal-hasilat-i hasdan wattahinat-i tahnan wattabikhat-i tabkhan fal- akilat-i aklan."[13] And the remaining people took to fighting. In vengeful effort to kill Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), they risked their properties, lives, wives and children. Thus it was understood with certainty that the Qur'an al-karim was revealed by Allahu ta'ala.[14]
Their fifth antithesis states: "There have been disagreements concerning both the recitation and the meaning of the Qur'an al-karim among the scholars of Islam. On the other hand, Allahu ta'ala intimates that the Qur'an al-karim contains no points open to disagreements. For example, He declares in the eighty-first ayat of the Surat an-Nisa: 'Were this Qur'an al- karim the word of someone other than Allahu ta'ala, it would contain many incongruities.' The phrase 'kal'ihni 'i-man-fush' in the fifth ayat of Surat al-Qari'a was read as 'Kassafi'l- manfush' by some. In the ninth ayat of Surat al-Juma, 'Fas'aw ila dhikri' llah' was said as 'Famdu ila dhikrillah.' The 74 th ayat of Surat al-Baqara says, 'Fa-hiya kalhijarati'; there were those who said it as 'fa-kanat kalhijarati.' The 61 st ayat of Surat al-Baqara says, 'alaihimu 'dh-dhillata wal-maskanata'; there were those who read it as 'alaihimu'l- mas-kanata wa'dh-dhillata.' The disagreements pertaining to meanings in the Qur'an al-karim can be exemplified as follows; the 19th ayat of Surat Saba' states, 'Rabbana ba'id baina asfarina.' It means, 'O our Rabb! Take our books away from us.' It is an invocation to Allah. Some read it as 'Rabbuna ba'ada baina asfarina' which means, 'Our Rabb has taken our books away from us.' The 115 th ayat of Surat Ma'ida says, 'Hal yastati'u Rabbuka,' which means, 'Will your Rabb accept your prayer?' Some read this ayat as 'Hal tastati'u Rabbaka,' which means 'Will you pray to your Rabb?' "
Answer: The above-cited disagreements were caused by one person each. The scholars of tafsir and qira'a refused the forms of reading of those who caused these disagreements. They accepted the form of reading on which there was consensus. Our Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said, "The Qur'an al-karim was revealed on seven harfs,[15] each of which is curative and sufficient." For this reason, the disagreements arising from the readings and the meanings of the Qur'an al-karim do not undermine its beings mujiz.
Their sixth antithesis states: "The Qur'an contains useless melodies and iterations. For example, 'Inna hazani la-sahirani' is such a melody. An example of an iterative reading is Surat ar- Rahman. An example of iterations in meaning are the stories about Musa and 'Isa ('alaihi ma's-salam)."
Answer: [16] As for the iterations, the fact that their repetition serves to fix the meaning into the mind is indisputable. The value of the art of explaining some meaning through various expressions is known by those who are cognizant of the knowledge of eloquence. Even in a single story covering various events, its repetition at various places lays stress on different facts. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) had many mujizas; such as, the moon's splitting into two parts when he made a sign with his blessed finger, stones and trees talking and moving with him, his making beasts speak, satiating many people with a small amount of food, water flowing from between his fingers, his describing past and future facts not known by anyone, and many others. Although not all of the mujizas of his were reported by consensus, he had many mujizas that were reported by consensus. They have been general topics of conversations just as the bravery of Hadrat 'Ali and the generosity of Khatami Tai [and the cruelties and tortures of Nero, the fifth Roman emperor] have. We would be contended with this much evidence to believe in his prophethood.
The second way of proving the prophethood of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is to study his manners, beautiful moral qualities and utterances that were full of wisdom before he was declared a Prophet, when he announced his prophethood and after his prophethood was known. For example, he never lied, neither for worldly affairs nor concerning matters of the hereafter. If he had lied once in his lifetime, his furious enemies would have raced with one another in spreading it far and wide. Before or during his prophethood, he was never seen doing something unseemly. Though he was ummi, [that is, he had never received an education from anybody], his speech was fluent and sweet. For this reason he said, "I am gifted with jawami' al-kalim (ability to give much information in a few words)." He put up with many inconveniences for communicating Allahu ta'ala's religion. In fact, it was for this reason that he said,"No other Prophet suffered the tortures I have suffered." He suffered them all. He never gave up his duties. After his enemies were subdued and everyone accepted his commandments, no change took place in his beautiful morality, compassion or modesty. Throughout his lifetime, he pleased everyone. He never felt superior to anybody. To all his umma, he was as compassionate as a father [to his children]. It was on account of his extraordinary compassion that he was commanded, "Do not feel sorry about their wrong acts!" in the eighth ayat of the Surat al-Fatir, and, "Should you destroy yourself by sorrowing over their wrong deeds?" in the sixth ayat of the Surat al-Kahf. His generosity was beyond limit. To brake this, the twenty-ninth ayat of the Surat al-Isra was revealed to him: "Do not be so open-handed as to give away all your property!" He never looked at the world's temporary and deceptive beauties. During the days when he first announced his prophethood, the notables of Quarish said to him, "We shall give you as much property as you like. We shall marry you to the girl of your choice. We shall give you any position of authority you want. But give up this sort of thing." He did not even pay attention to them. He was merciful and modest towards the poor and the destitute, and dignified and serious towards those who owned much property and land. He never attempted to turn back even during the most horrifying moments of such desperate battles as Uhud, Ahzab (Trench) and Hunain. This shows the strength of his blessed heart and the degree of his courage. If he had not had full trust in Allahu ta'ala's Protection, for example, in His promise in the seventieth ayat of Maida sura, "Allahu ta'ala protects you against men's harms!", it would have been impossible for him to show such extraordinary courage. Changing circumstances and conditions did not make any change in his beautiful morality or behavior towards others in the smallest degree. Those who read true and objective history books written by competent hands will understand our statements better. One of these attributes, alone, could not be documentary evidence for prophethood, that is, a person's differing from others by having one of these superiorities would not indicate his prophethood, yet only Prophets could have an accumulation of all of these superiorities.
Muhammad's ('alaihi 's-salam) having an accumulation of all of these superiorities is one of the strongest evidences demonstrating the fact that he is Allahu ta'ala's Prophet.[17]
The third proof verifying that Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) is Allahu ta'ala's Prophet is the one that was reported by Imam Fakhr ad-din ar-Razi. Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) became the Prophet among a community that was quite unaware of heavenly books and stranded in knowledge and science. It was such a community that, having dissented from the true path, the polytheists were worshipping idols [statues and human figures they had made from stones or metals]; some of them had been deceived by Jews and had adopted their false, superstitious stories as a religion; magians, a minor group, worshipped two gods and married their own daughters and immediate relatives; and the others, Christians, believed that 'Isa ('alaihi 's-salam) was the "Son of God" and worshipped three gods. Among such deranged people, Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) became a Prophet. A book entitled the Qur'an al-karim was revealed to him by Allahu ta'ala. Her sorted out the beautiful habits from the ugly ones and the good deeds leading to felicity from the bad ones leading to calamity. He taught true iman and 'ibadat. Those who believed him were enlightened by this iman and 'ibadat. He rescued humanity from distorted, made-up religions. He attained the victory promised by Allahu ta'ala. All his enemies soon perished. Depraved, factious, provocative words and actions came to an end. People were rescued from dictators, usurpers and the cruel. Every place became illuminated with the sacred lights of the sun of tawhid and the moon of tanzih. This is what prophethood implies, for 'Prophet' means the superior person who beautifies people's morals and offers medicine for illnesses of hearts and souls. Most people are the slaves of their nafses. Their souls are sick. A specialist of the soul and ethics is necessary to cure them. The religion brought by Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) became a medicine for these illnesses. It eradicated the evils and malignancies in hearts. This case absolutely demonstrates that he is Allahu ta'ala's Prophet and is the Highest of Prophets (sall- Allahu 'alaihi wa 'alaihim wa 'ala ali wa Ashabi kullin ajmain). Hadrat Imam Fakhr ad- din ar-Razi explains in his book al-Matalib al-'aliyya that this case is the most obvious evidence proving his prophethood.
At the beginning of my book, I have explained what prophethood means and proved that it did not happen to anyone as it did to Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam). Thus, it has been understood that he is superior to the others. This superiority can also be proven by studying his mujizas. But this approach is more similar to the way chosen by thinkers for proving prophethood. Their way can be summarized to mean that men need a code of law sent by Allahu ta'ala for attaining comfort and peace in this and the next worlds.
This is the end of the second article of my book. Hence it has become clear that the ancient Greek philosophers were on the wrong way and that those who read the harmful books which they have written with their personal points of view on religion and prophethood will acquire wrong religious information and will drift towards calamity.
Hijri (989
Miladi (1581)
AHMAD IBN 'ABD AL-AHAD AS-SIRHINDI
FOOTNOTES
[5] Examples of these are given in the book Endless Bliss, refer to 'idiosyncrasy' and 'allergy'.
[6] Furthermore, some medicinal preparations which have been found useful by scientists and doctors by means of experimentation and bought eagerly for considerable sums of money by everybody are frequently found out to be harmful afterwards. Lists of such preparations, each concluded with a sentence banning their sale, are regularly dispatched by health authorities to drugstores. Factories manufacturing such drugs are closed down by goverments. It has become a usual subject for daily newspapers that some much-sought-after medicines have proven to be harmful afterwards. It has appeared again in daily newspapers repeatedly in recent years that hundreds of popular medicines that are called antibiotics cause heart disease and cancer and that some detergents are harmful to the health.
[7] Saj' means the continuous cooing of the dove. In prose, it means the ryming that occurs at the end of sentences.
[8] Abu Bakr Baqillani, died in 400 A.H.
[9] Heraclius died in 20 A.H.
[10] Ibrahim Nishaburi passed away in 400 After Hijra.
[11] The two suras beginning with "Qul-a'udhu."
[12] Moses.
[13] They themselves did not like this, so they could not read it in the presence of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam).
[14] As it is seen in the previous passage, a mujiza is created by Allahu ta'ala. Everything is created by Allahu ta'ala. There is no creator other than Allahu ta'ala. Only, in order for there to be order in the world and in worldly affairs, He has made the creation of everything dependent upon some causes. A person who wishes something to be created applies the cause related to that thing. Most causes are things that can be found by thinking, experience or calculation. When the cause of something is applied, Allahu ta'ala creates it if He wills to. The case is not so with a mujiza or karama, Allahu ta'ala creates these in an extraordinary way, without causes. Holding fast to the causes means to follow His law of causation. When He creates something without causes, He suspends His law and creates it exraordinarily. A mujiza happens only through Prophets. It does not happen through other people. Saying, "He performed a miracle," or "He was saved miraculously", which are said to praise someone, is the same as saying that the person in question is a Prophet. In this matter, not the intention but the expression should be considered. It causes disbelief to ascribe prophethood to someone. He who does so loses his iman. So is the case with calling anyone other than Allahu ta'ala "Creator" or saying that somebody has created such and such a thing. Muslims must avoid uttering such dangerous words.
[15] The word 'harf', as it is written in the book Riyad an-nasihin, means dialect, reading. The copy of the Qur'an al-karim compiled by Hadrat Abu Bakr contained all of the seven different kinds of readings. When Hadrat 'Uthman became the Khalifa, he convened the Sahabat al-kiram and it was unanimously decided that the new copies of the Qur'an would be written as Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam) had recited it in the last year of his life. It is wajib to read the Qur'an as such. It is also permissible to read it in the other six ways.
[16] Here, al-Imam ar-Rabbani (quddisa sirruh), referring to the book Sharh-i mawaqif, wrote in detail that, according to a branch of knowledge called balaghat (rhetorics), the ayat "Hazani la-sahirani» is in a degree of ijaz. We have not translated that part.
[17] For those who wish to know about the beautiful life of Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam), we recommend the Turkish books Qisas-i Anbiya and Mawahib-i ladunniyya. Also, there is detailed information in the first part of the Turkish original, and in the first fascicle of the English version (Chapter 56) of Endless Bliss, under the heading Hilye-i Se'adet.
Answer to ignorant persons
ANSWER TO A RELIGIOUSLY IGNORANT PERSON
Our Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) declared: "Every child comes to the world with a pure soul suitable for becoming a Muslim. Later their parents make them irreligious." This implies that it is necessary to teach Islam to children. Their pure souls are suitable for Islam. A child who has not learned Islam will misunderstand Islam by falling for the lies and slanders of the enemies of religion. He will think that it is retrogressive or vicious. If a person who is religiously unlearned and who has never received any religious instruction or notion of Islam falls into the traps of the enemies of Islam, he will learn quite a different, altogether contrary system instead of Islam. He will fall victim to the poisonous inoculations and shamelessly fabled writings directed to him. He will not find peace in this world. And he will be drifted towards endless calamities and tortures in the next world.
Every Muslim, even every person, must know how low, how base the slanders which are fabled by the enemies of Islam in order to deceive the youth are. And in order not to drift into calamity by believing these lies, we should comprehend the sublimity of Islam, realize that it helps knowledge, science, morals and health, and that it commands working, advancement, cooperation and mutual love. A wise, vigilant and cultured person, who has understood Islam correctly and well, will not believe in the lies of the enemies of Islam. Seeing that they are religiously ignorant, uneducated, deceived and wretched people, he will pity them. He will wish that they could get rid of that disastrous state and come round to the right course.
We have come across a pamphlet of several pages scribbled shamelessly by such a deceived ignoramus of the religion with a view to spreading the poisonous slanders he had been taught in order to inoculate healthy souls with the spiritual disease that drags him to endless calamity; he wants to corrupt and degenerate good people. Confusing the title of a writer with competence, those who see its content, which slanders truth, goodness and virtue, may think that it is based upon observation on knowledge and that it contains value. To eliminate the sorrow it causes, it has been deemed necessary to write the truth as an answer to the squalid slanders quoted in the following 12 paragraphs. The innocent youth, seeing these base, made-up lies and the truth of the matter, will see clearly the tactics and tricks of the enemies of Islam and will easily identify those block- headed, corrupt-souled disbelievers, who claim to be progressive:
1. "The religious thought and method that have interfered in social life are like chains restricting progress in society," he says.
Answer: Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) declared: "Work for your worldly advantages as if you would never die!" A hadith quoted by al-Imam al-Manawi says, "Al- hikmatu dallat al-Mumin." (Scientific knowledge is the lost property of the believer. He should get it wherever he finds it!). All men of science, enemies and friends alike, unanimously state that the Islamic religion supports social progress and sheds light on the way to civilization. For example. British Lord John Davenport stated, "No people have ever appeared who respect knowledge and culture more deeply than Muslims do,"[18] and explained with detailed examples and documents that Islam guided societies to progress and prosperity.
In a speech to a very large audience in 1972 Dr. Kris Traglor, an American professor of history at the Technical University of Texas, stated that the source of inspiration and development for the European Renaissance was Islam; that Muslims, coming to Spain and Sicily, had laid the foundations for modern techniques and developments and had taught that scientific progress would be possible only through improvement in chemistry, medicine, astronomy, navigation, geography, cartography and mathematics; and that these branches of knowledge had been brought to Europe from North Africa and Spain by Muslims. He also stressed the contribution of written Islamic knowledge on valuable parchments and papyri as an important link in the development of the modern press.[19] The lies of an immoral, vicious enemy of Islam, who has no share in knowledge except a title, certainly cannot cover up this fact. The sun cannot be plastered with sticky mud.
2. "It is necessary," he says, "to rescue the State from the fetter of religion. To catch up with contemporary Western civilization, establishment of a real secular system is required."
Answer: In Islam, completely liberal, democratic States based upon knowledge, morals, righteousness and justice have been established. It protects the State against being a plaything in the hands of political swindlers. Capitalists, dictators and servants of communism deem such a free regime as a chain, a fetter, impeding their own acts of cruelty, torture and immorality. Murderers, thieves and dishonest people see justice and criminal codes as chains upon themselves. There is no need to describe the ignorance and idiocy of a disbeliever who uses secularism as a means for expressing his enmity against the religion and who tries to demolish Islam under the camouflage of secularism. What this man wants is not the separation of the religion from the State, but the destruction of the religion. It is obvious that a blockhead who expects the nations or the States' progress not from knowledge, science, hard work and morals, but instead from the destruction of Islam, which represents all these virtues, and who longs for the West's immorality, obscenity and egoism, is devoid of not only wisdom and knowledge but also of morals.
3. He says, "By anaesthetizing people with Islam's philosophy of contentment, they expect to turn individuals into a passive state of not demanding their own rights. With the pretext that they will prevent communism, they defend the concepts of slavery and the next world believed in by the people. Contentment is a euphemism for exploitation. Followers of Islam propagate this exploitation."
Answer: There could be few phrases as absurd as the phrase "Islam's philosophy of contentment." We have explained what philosophy means in Endless Bliss and clarified that there is no philosophy in Islam. Such an incorrect phrase shows that the person who uses it knows nothing of Islam or philosophy and that he, by memorizing a number of phrases without being aware of their meanings, makes up many words in order to spread his enmity towards Islam. For centuries the enemies of Islam have been disguising themselves as religious men and have been perpetrating their attacks behind such a mask. But today they attack under the guise of being the master of a profession or art after obtaining a title of position. Those liars who, in order to deceive Muslims, disguise themselves as scientists and present their non-scientific statements as facts are called "impostors of science." Not only Islam, but also the ethical books possessed by every nation praise contentment. Contrary to what this impostor of science fables, contentment does not mean giving up one's rights and being idle. Contentment means being content with one's rights, with what one earns, and not violating others' rights. Moreover, this does not make people idle, but encourages them to work and make progress. Islam, contrary to this impostor's falsification, does not defend slavery but commands the emancipation of slaves. Slavery exists not in Islam, but in the regime of a dictatorship and in communism. Heavenly books and Prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam), whose miracles were seen, reported the existence of the next world and wisdom; knowledge and science cannot deny it. The words of this deviated ignoramus, however, is merely emotional and obstinate sophistry. He provides neither a reference nor a scientific basis. Belief in the next world causes order, justice, mutual love and unity in societies and countries. Disbelief in it leads to vagabondage, inactivity, loss of the feeling of responsibility, egoism, discord and hostility. It is certainly good to believe in something useful. It is reasonable and necessary to avoid something unsubstantiated, baseless and vain. Islam rejects exploitation and negligence of human rights. Just as exploitation is a sin, so it is not permissible to approve being harmed. In Islam, ignorance, laziness, neglecting one's rights and being deceived are not excuses; they are crimes. There is a famous saying that goes, "He who is content with being harmed is not to be pitied." How can exploitation ever exist in Islam? How can a person with knowledge and reason ever say so? Hasn't the ignorant person who said so ever heard about the ayats and the various hadiths defending human rights? Not knowing or not having heard of them is not an excuse for him!
4. "The East, absorbed in and intoxicated with religion, has become ill. Having iman means slavery," he says.
Answer: Any reader of history will clearly see the superiorities of the Sahabat al-kiram ('alahimu 'r-ridwan) and the fact that Islam has formed active, studious, equitable and courageous nations. Thousands of examples and millions of books exposing this fact are available. It is a pity that a blind person does not see the sun. Is it the sun's fault that he does not see it? What is the value of an ignorant, deceived person's calumniation of this exalted religion, this source of happiness and civilization, which is admired by all wise and cultured men whether friends or enemies? What is said and written reflects its owner. Many people, when they get angry with their enemies, impute their own evil behavior to them. Every container leaks what it contains. So the words of a base person are like him. The object to which these abhorrent imputations are directed is like a diamond that has fallen into the dirt. An evil person's attacking Islam is not surprising. What is surprising is that some people take these groundless, absurd vilifications as true, believe them and fall into calamity. These slanders are not worth answering. It is useless to try to tell a blind person about the sun's existence or to tell a person with a sick bile or liver how sweet sugar is. Perfection and superior things cannot be described to sick, dirty souls. Answering them is intended to prevent others from believing them. Medicine is for protecting the patient against death, not for enlivening the dead.
Let us quote two of the millions of passages praising how Islam illuminated the way of civilization. We will select them not from the East, which he slanders and dislikes, but from the West, which he admires. Mocheim [20] said, "It is an absolute fact that scientific knowledge, physics, chemistry, astronomy and mathematics that has spread over Europe since the tenth century was adopted from Islamic schools, especially from Muslims in Andalusia (Spain), who were Europe's masters. The Romans and the Goths had struggled for two hundred years in order to capture Andalusia; on the other hand, the Muslims conquered the peninsula in twenty years. Going beyond the Pyrenees, they advanced up into France. Muslims' superiority with respect to knowledge, wisdom and morals was no less effective than their arms." Lord Davenport said, "Europe is indebted to Muslims today, too. Hadrat Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) said, "Dignity, honor and superiority are measured not by property, but by knowledge and wisdom.' Islamic States have been administered by the most powerful hands for centuries. Muslims' spreading over three continents has become the most honorable victory in history."
While an ignorant psychopathic person writes in his pamphlet that the East was absorbed in and intoxicated with religion, these non-Muslim but impartial writers, such as John Davenport, the British Lord, wrote with their reason: "As the Muslims in Andalusia were sowing seeds of knowledge and science in the West, Mahmud al-Ghaznawi was spreading knowledge and wisdom in the East, and his country had become a center for scientists. The Islamic Ruler increased production, and the wealth he had gathered from his resources was used for doing good deeds and for developing the country. As prosperity and civilization made progress in the East, Louis VII of France captured the town of Vitri, set it on fire and burned thirteen hundred people. In those days, civil wars sprinkled death in England, where the land was not cultivated, and everything was destroyed. In the fourteenth century, Anglo-French wars were so tragic, so destructive that history has not seen its like. But in the East, in Muslim countries, Firuz Shah Tughluq III, who became the Emperor of Delhi in 752 A.H. (1351), built fifty barrages and canals, forty mosques, thirty schools, a hundred public lodgings, a hundred hospitals, a hundred public baths, and a hundred and fifty bridges until his death in 790. In India, prosperity and happiness reigned in the country of Shah Jihan. He had 'Ali Murad Khan, an engineer, build the Delhi Canal. Marble fountains with water jets and public marble baths were built in every part of the city. Each house was supplied with water. The whole country enjoyed security."
5. "Religion is an expression of fatalism and contentment. It is an idea pertaining to the next world, which benumbed the oppressed and the hungry. It teaches that, in order to attain the blessings of the next world, it is necessary not to be very desirous of things in this world. The joy and need to live have broken fatalism and contentment and engendered a struggle to earn a better living. Religions are afraid of those who are against the systems that are dependent upon frozen and molded customs. The opium of religion renders a man insignificant, subordinate and without a means to earn a living," he says.
Answer: Such lies and abominable slanders are not worth answering, for a wise person who knows the truth does not believe them. Yet, though the enemies of Islam are not wise, they are cunning. In order to deceive the youth, they busy them with vain and useless things, give them the drugs that are pleasant for the nafs and suitable for their lust. In this way, they prevent them form learning religious knowledge. To protect the innocent youth, who are preoccupied and benumbed, from believing these lies and from drifting into calamity, it has become necessary to briefly write the truth. A fortunate young person who reads our book Endless Bliss well, will learn Islam correctly and precisely; he will not believe falsifications. Our Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam), by stating, "He who has knowledge becomes a Muslim. He who is ignorant will get deceived by the enemies of the religion," advises us to become well-informed.
It is correct to say that religion is the belief in fate and contentment. But fate, contrary to what this poor ignoramus thinks, does not mean not to work or not to aspire. Qadar means that Allahu ta'ala knows beforehand what people will do, Allahu ta'ala commands men to work. He praises those who work. He declares in the ninety-fourth ayat of the Surat an-Nisa: "Those who perform jihad, work and struggle are higher and more valuable than those who sit and worship instead of performing jihad." Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said, "Allahu ta'ala likes those who earn a living by working." As it is understood well from historical studies and from the chapter entitled Earning and Trade in the Turkish version of Endless Bliss, Islam is the religion of work and development. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) commanded progress and improvement each day, by saying. "He who has remained in the same grade on two [successive] days or has not made progress has deceived himself." He also declared, "Do not postpone your work until tomorrow, or else you will perish!" and "Learn foreign languages. Thus you will be safe against the malice of the enemy!"
It is very unfair and base to say that thinking of the blessings of the next world prevents working. The hadiths, "He who earns by working will be shining like the full moon on the Day of Resurrection"; "The scholars' sleep is worship"; "Earn what is halal and spend it for useful purposes"; "The sins of the person who lends money to his brother-in-Islam will be forgiven," and "There exists a way which leads to everything. The way leading to Paradise is knowledge," commands us to earn by working and states that those who earn a living by legitimate methods and spend their earnings on useful things in the world will earn the next world. "Religion prevents people from revolting. Therefore, it is opium," he says. This nonsense of the author very well explains his lack of understanding concerning religion and civilization. It is obvious that these words are not expressions of knowledge or research. They are nothing but a form of exploitation which is intended to flatter communist leaders in order to obtain a post by means of blind enmity against religion. Those who give their faith away in order to obtain what is worldly are called "impostors of religion." They have always been wrong and drifted into calamity. Their chiefs, with whom they have tried to ingratiate themselves, have fallen from their positions. Like every mortal being, these chiefs, being judged in the just presence of Allahu ta'ala, whom they disbelieved and resisted obstinately, have rolled down into endless torture. Their flatterers have forgotten about them and, transferring to other parties for their personal advantages, they have begun to worship other mortals.
6. "In Arab countries, where the laws of the desert have been dominant, they have been attacking materialism and materialistic philosophy," he says.
Answer: Formerly, enemies of religion used to memorize a few valuable words from the great men of tasawwuf, write and say them recklessly without understanding their meanings, and pretend to be men of Tariqa to entrap the youth. But now, by memorizing a few of the words of Western men of science and ideas, by holding overcoats and filling the wine glasses of their masters, and by toadying, they get a diploma and seize a post. Playing the part of cultured and learned men of knowledge, they vomit forth their enmity against Islam by means of the words which they have memorized, present them to the youth and attempt to deceive Muslim children by displaying them as the attractive offerings of masons and communists.
Those ignoble people who lack scientific knowledge but have obtained diplomas through unlawful means and who have attacked Islam under the mask of a "scientist" are called "impostors of science." At one time, one such fake scientist became the authority of a district with the help of his dubious diploma. Seeing that the people did not regard him as a person of consequence, he held a meeting, gathered the villagers and the men of religion, and spewed out such terms as 'materialistic philosophy,' 'modern,' and 'illuminated men.' Seeing that everybody respected men of religion but took no notice of him, he fell into a fit. He uttered base terms exposing his dirty character and evil thoughts. Meanwhile, alluding to men of religion, he said. "He who has not been to Europe is an ass." The Mufti Effendi, running out of patience, said, "Has your exalted father ever honored Europe with his presence?" When the other deigned to give the reply "No" with a coarse voice, the Mufti Effendi concluded, "Then, your exalted person is an ass through your father," thus making this authority figure fall into his own trap. The "progressive" and "illuminated" but block-headed and ignorant people, who do not know of the greatness of Islamic scholars or of the famous and honored superiority of the Islamic civilization that fills libraries worldwide, have attacked Islam's steel fortress with popguns, so to speak, and they have all disgraced and routed themselves.
7. "Those who caused the decline in the economy took advantage of the circumstances by suggesting that everyone be content with a fatalist morsel and only a coat. This demonstrates the intoxicating affect of the religion. Civilization means to aspire for more economic prosperity and to struggle for this. But religion broke and benumbed these movements for the development of society with such expressions as contentment with fate, the next world and spirituality," he says.
Answer: Here is another living picture of toadying, which we have portrayed in the preceding paragraph! What a great lie it is to say that Islamic fighters, who immigrated over three continents in thirty years, defeated the armies of Persia and Rome (the two greatest empires of that time and especially brought the whole Persian Empire to an end), and who won the love of every nation owing to their justice and beautiful morals, were benumbed, drowsy people who were given opium! One who knows even a little history will only sneer and become disgusted at this ignoble, base slander. Islam commands people to work and make progress and promises Paradise to those who become rich and help the poor. If this writer had seen the works of Islamic art, which Europeans and Americans marvel at, and their articles praising Muslim accomplishments in knowledge and science, he would have perhaps been ashamed to scribble these lines. We say 'perhaps' for it is a virtue to bear the feeling of shame, and it is out of place to expect shamefulness from a non-virtuous person.
Islam commands Muslims to work and to develop. Contentment does not mean to be content with "only a coat" and sit idly. Muslims are not this way at all. Contentment means to be content with one's own earnings and not to cast covetous eyes on others' earnings. It was Islam which brought civilization to Europe, for Islam shows the way to economic prosperity and commands people to work to attain it. The following hadiths, as well as many others, show that the above quoted words are gross fabrications: "The benevolent, the highest of people are those who are more useful to others"; "The best of favors is to give alms"; "The most benevolent of you is the one who supplies people with much nourishment," and "The most benevolent among you is the one who does not expect anything from others but works and earns his living."
8. "What has handicapped efforts to reach a common civilization in the course of history is the imperative power of religion. The imperative authority of religion, which hinders the purposes of revolutions, should be annihilated," he says.
Answer: This fake scientist repeats "civilization" and strives to hypnotize young brains with this magical word. He thinks it is civilization to establish enormous, heavy industries and to make electronic machines and nuclear-powered factories as a means to facilitate fornication and using women as diversions. He also wants to become a boss by smuggling foreign exchange, lying, deceit and speculation, or to satisfy bestial desires by living at the expense of the working class. The civilization that the scholars of Islam described and commanded Muslims to attain is "Ta'mir-i bilad wa tarfih-i 'ibad", that is, it is to develop countries by constructing buildings, machines and factories and to utilize technology and all kinds of revenues for the people's freedom, welfare and peace. In the twentieth century, only the first of these two aspects of civilization exists. Though the improvements in technology are dazzling, economic and technical discoveries are being used to enslave people, to perpetrate cruelty and torture. Communist states and dictatorial regimes exemplify this. The twentieth century is a century of technology. It is far from being a century of civilization.
This socialist writer is very serious about his desire to annihilate the religion, for Islam prohibits immorality, dishonesty, exploitation, hypocrisy, dictatorship, condemnation and, in short, every kind of bad behavior that gnaws at humanity. A malicious person with a corrupt character certainly does not wish for goodness be done. Lowlife defeatists certainly fear the constructiveness of Islam. This dishonest disbeliever calls history to perjure itself in order to make it believable that Islam has handicapped civilization. If he had a little knowledge of history, perhaps he would refrain himself a little. Even non-Muslim historians admit the fact that Islam has served civilization and has shed light upon modern development in Europe and America.
It is clear that this ignorant impostor of science is not so intelligent or literate as to fable these lies by himself. He strives to belittle Islam by quoting the attacks that have been rightfully directed against Christianity in Europe. But, because he is wrong and because his seeing and understanding as well as his knowledge are inadequate, he makes a mess of it.
It will be pertinent here to write about those who are hostile towards Christianity and why they attack it and to explain that these attacks cannot be directed towards Islam.
Christianity, which lost its divine value altogether during the time of Constantine the Great, became a means for political advantages. The clergy opened bloody wars against non-Christians. They forced everybody to become a Christian blindly. Luther went to extremes in these crazy attacks. He was furiously angry with any religion, any nation that was not Protestant. Missionary organizations, on the other hand, tried to confuse everyone, mislead everyone's conscience and then propagandized Christianity through new articles each day. Christian attacks, which were compatible neither with knowledge nor with science and which were perpetrated sometimes with bloodshed and sometimes through decent, incurred great hatred towards Christianity in Europe in the eighteenth century. It has been written that priests were deceiving the people, forcing them to believe in superstitions and striving to enslave everybody to their ideas. But this enmity did not remain directed against the Christian religion only. There appeared those who attacked every religion. Instead of seeing that the priests' evil deeds originated from the defilement and alternation in the religion, they thought it originated from religion. Without studying religions, they attributed the evils inherent in Christianity to religion and attacked religions. One of those who went the furthest in his enmity towards religion was Voltaire. Like Luther, he, too, slandered Islam and, thinking that our Master Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) was as Luther described him, he spoke ill of him. Without studying Islam, these too, like Christians in general, attacked all religions.
For the first time in the nineteenth century. Von Herder, a German, said that bearing enmity against religions blindly was as wrong as Christianization by force. He put forward the necessity to study religions, particularly Islam. Thus, people in Europe began to understand Muhammad's ('alaihi 's-salam) life and the astonishing superiorities of the lightsome way shown by Islam for the administration of individuals, families and societies. Carlyle, a British thinker, praised Muhammad's (alaihi 's-salam) life, moral qualities and accomplishments under the heading A Hero Who is the Prophet in his book The Heroes, which he wrote in 1841. In this book he wrote, "An exalted person who administered hundreds of millions of people for twelve centuries and who caused the establishment of civilized States in the East and in the West could never be a counterfeiter as Luther and Voltaire wrote. A low person cannot realize Hadrat Muhammad's (alaihi 's-salam) accomplishments. Only a perfect person who possesses faith and morals can give faith to others. Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) was born to exalt mankind. If it had not been so, no one would have followed him. Muhammad's (alaihi 's-salam) words are true, for a liar cannot establish even a home, let alone a religion." During the time of Carlyle, there was no reliable Islamic books in Europe. But, with the help of his keen insight and studying, which took many years, he did not believe the lies of the Christians nor of the enemies of religion and was able to see the historical truth. Today, many Islamic books are being translated into European languages, and the misunderstandings, and uncertainties in Carlyle's historical writings are being clarified.
If Luther's abominable articles against the Qur'an al-karim and the horrible story fabled by Voltaire about Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam) are compared with the article A Hero Who is the Prophet by Carlyle, one will understand well how differently Islam is viewed by fanatical Christians or ignorant enemies of religion and men of knowledge and observation. After Carlyle, the British scholar Lord Davenport in detail explained the beauty of Muhammad's ('alaihi 's- salam) life and moral character and the fact that the Qur'an al-karim is a source of knowledge that guides people to happiness. He gave responses that silenced those who slandered the Qur'an al-karim and Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam).
As it is seen, today, enemies of Islam, for inciting the fire of slander, receive poison from three sources: the Christian missionaries, those who attack religions blindly like Voltaire, and communists who use people like animals and machines by eliminating every kind of truth and goodness.
9. "Religion means to put up with what one has, to accept contentment, sufferings and inequalities. It is to fix the existing limits on a society. It prevents the attainment of a better life that decreases differences between [social] classes and hinders exploitation. This oppression is accomplished with the fear of Hell. Those who suffer are consoled with Paradise. It has killed the personalities of individuals," he says.
Answer: He wants to inoculate Muslim children with the poisons he has received from the above-mentioned three sources, but he cannot manage it. Today, young people read Islamic books and learn their faith correctly. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) declared: "A person with equal earnings on two [successive] days has suffered a loss. A Muslim must make progress every day." A wise youth who has heard of this command and carefully reads the command "Forward!" by Hadrat 'Umar, the Caliph of Rasulullah ('alaihi 's-salam), will certainly not believe the lies of this ignorant person, who passes himself of for a "progressive" man. Islam does not command the approval of inequalities, but justice and their eradication. The hadith ash- Sharif, "I came during the time of a just ruler," praises even the justice of disbelievers without holy books. The hadith ash-Sharif written in Al-Manawi and Ad-Dailami declares: "Those who will be the first to enter Paradise are the just judges and the just statesmen." Does this hadith ash-Sharif command and promote suffering and inequalities or avoiding suffering and inequalities? Our readers' conscience will certainly answer this correctly, and it will be understood very well how deviated the disbelieving author is and whom he is striving to serve.
Islam commands zakat, lending and mutual help. It informs us that those who do these commands, which abolishes the differences between social classes, will go to Paradise. Not those who suffer pain, but those who resign themselves to the Giver of pain, the Creator, will enter Paradise. Islam is a progressive, dynamic religion that guides everyone to the best life. Islam does not "fix existing limits" but gives freedom to statesmen to keep in step with contemporary conditions of trade, industry, agriculture and war technology, and in applying every kind of scientific discovery for making progress. Allahu ta'ala ordered even His Beloved Prophet ('alaihi 's-salam), the highest and wisest human being in every respect, to "Consult with the Sahabat al-kiram! Hold counsel with them!" Each caliph of Islam had counsellors, councils and men of knowledge. It was not permissible for them to do anything without consulting. There should be no changes or reforms in 'ibadat, but advancement and progress in technology and worldly affairs are commanded. It was for this reason that Islamic States, established anywhere in the East or West, became advanced in every respect. Islam is a religion that facilitates individuality and freedom of idea. Each Muslim is more valuable than the whole world.
10. "The religion resulted in internal and external exploitation. Contentment and putting up with fate caused indolence and exploitation. The resources of production were accumulated in certain hands. The great masses were not considered deserving of worldly happiness. The philosophy of 'a morsel and only a coat' did away with the strength to live and struggle. Hope for the next world caused suffering and inconvenience," he says.
Answer: Talking about religion requires at least having a little religious knowledge. By likening Islam to today's capitalist and communist exploiters, his attacks upon the religion indicate his enmity against Islam, an enmity which is so excessive that it blinds the eyes and covers the intellect with anger. While saying nothing against Western capitalists and cruel communists, who accumulate the means of production in certain hands and exploit the people, his attacking Islam, which commands social equality, is sheer hatred towards Islam and open servility to Russia. Because he does not have any Islamic knowledge, time and again he attacks contentment and belief in qadar. In the name of civilization he talks only about economics and earning money. He does not understand that contentment is a factor that prevents psychiatric diseases, removes incompatibility and hostility, and maintains order in societies. Contentment has expedited Islam's spreading all over the world and the erecting of monuments of knowledge and science. Do the ayats, "He who works will earn", and, "Everybody will find [the recompense for] what he does," and also many hadiths, such as, "Allahu ta'ala likes those who earn by working," and "Allahu ta'ala absolutely dislikes those young people who do not work," which are written in Al-Munawi, command Muslims to work and make progress or to be lazy? Are the Umayyad, Abbasid, Ghaznawi, Indian Tamburlains, Andalusian and Ottoman civilizations, which were established by Muslims, indicators of studiousness or indolence? Can a Darwish's uttering the words "a morsel and only a coat" change the commands of the Qur'an al-karim and the hadiths? The utterance of a Darwish in an ecstatic state is suitable and appropriate for his own state, but it is not the whole of Islam. Belief in the next world engenders not suffering but order and ease for individuals, families and society. History shows clearly that this is so. Islam commands not self-infliction, but the ending of material and spiritual sufferings and the avoiding of inconveniences and sorrows.
11. "These countries are still being administered with the laws of the desert," he says.
Answer: The commands and teachings that are stated in the Qur'an al-karim, which was revealed by Allahu ta'ala and in hundreds of thousands of hadiths arouse admiration within men of knowledge and wisdom from all over the world. In order to explain the superiority and value of these teachings and commands, scholars of Islam have written thousands of books, some of which are cited in this book. Even non-Muslim men of knowledge readily express this truth. Goethe said, "He who reads the Qur'an al-karim for the first time does not derive pleasure, but it attracts the reader to itself afterwards. Later on, it conquers him with its beauty." Gibbon said, "The Qur'an al-karim reveals not only a belief in Allahu ta'ala and in the next world but also civil laws and criminal codes. It has brought the unchangeable commands of Allahu ta'ala and the laws that govern all the affairs and states of human beings."
Davenport said, "The Qur'an al-karim regulates religious duties, daily affairs, the soul's purity, the body's health, men's duties and rights upon one another and upon the society, the things that are useful to people and to societies, and the knowledge of morals and punishment. The Qur'an al-karim is a political system. Every state of the living and of the lifeless is regulated. On morals, it is very tidy and very strong. The Qur'an al-karim commands to always be helpful. It strengthens social equality. It exerts a favorable effect on civilization. There can be no behavior as unfair and as ridiculous as to confront, out of stubbornness and hostility, the Qur'an al-karim with ignorant criticism; it is the most valuable book sent by Allahu ta'ala for the benefit and happiness of mankind."
As it is seen, every wise and reasonable person gets attached to the Qur'an al-karim and respects it as much as he understands it. No immorality, baseness or idiocy can be worse than saying "the laws of the desert" about this holy book.
12. "Other Eastern countries have been directing themselves towards a national, Western ideology by throwing away the laws of the desert, and they are becoming conscientious by abandoning the opium of religion," he says.
Answer: Even non-Muslims express their admiration for Islam, which this ignorant, eccentric writer calls opium. Mocheim said, "No time can be thought to be worse than those black days which obscured Europe during the tenth century. Even the Latin nations, the most advanced of the age, had nothing other than logic in the name of knowledge and science. Logic was thought to be superior to all other branches of knowledge. At that time, Muslims built schools in Spain and Italy. Young European men assembled at these places to learn knowledge. After learning the teaching methods of Islamic scholars, they opened Christian schools."
The dazzling Islamic civilization, which is written and praised unanimously by the world's history books, was established by those who followed the Qur'an al-karim. Today, science has progressed and gigantic industries have been established in Europe, America and Russia. Space travel has begun, but in none of these countries has peace of mind been provided. Employers' prodigality and dissipation and workers' poverty have not been removed. In communism, the State exploits the people; millions of people work for their food only, hungry and naked as they are; and a cruel, blood-shedding minority live at their expense. They lead a pleasurable life in palaces and commit every atrocity. Since they do not obey the Qur'an al-karim, they cannot attain comfort and peace. To be civilized, it is necessary to imitate them in science and technology, to work and accomplish things as they do, since the Qur'an al-karim and hadiths command us to make progress in science and arts. For example, the hadith reported by Ibn Adi and al-Munawi (rahmat-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihima) declares: "Allahu ta'ala certainly likes His servant who makes progress and has a craft," and the hadith written in Hakim at-Tirmidi and al-Munawi declares: "Allahu ta'ala certainly likes to see that His servant has a craft."
Accomplishing solely this, however, does not suffice for being civilized. The blessings that are earned should be shared equitably, and the worker should get the equivalent of his labor. And this justice can be obtained only by following the Qur'an al-karim. Today, Europe, America and Russia are successful in those areas wherein they work in conformity with Islam. However, since the advantages are not distributed in accordance with the principles of justice in the Qur'an al- karim, the people cannot attain comfort and peace, and class conflicts cannot be avoided. Those who do not obey the Qur'an al-karim can never become happy. Those who obey it with or without belief in it, that is, whether they are Muslims or not, get as much benefit from it in this world as the extent of their obedience to it. Those who believe in and obey it get benefit from it both in this and the next worlds; they live in comfort and prosperity in this world and will attain endless felicity, infinite blessings in the next. Both history and daily events show clearly that this word is true. As for those who do not follow the way shown by the Qur'an al-karim, no matter whether they are Muslims or not; the farther away they get from the way it prescribes the worse harm they will suffer and the more disastrous their future will be.
Sakip Sabanci, a well-known Turkish businessman, has revealed that when he was in America for an important heart operation, a Protestant priest employed in that hospital visited him before the operation and said, "Tomorrow, an important operation will be carried out on you. You do not belong to my religion; you are a Muslim. But all of us believe in the same Creator. All of us are His human servants. It is a duty for all of His servants to take refuge in Him at such a delicate time as this. Therefore, I will pray for you tonight." Sakip Sabanci's reaction to this was: "I cannot express how much these words of the priest's moved me and encouraged me." The following is his article published in a daily on March 8, 1981, with the title "Turning Towards Spiritual Values".
"It is seen that there are no limits for improvement in science and technology. However, another apparent reality is that improvements in science and technology, increases in material power, and the daily improvements in the standards of living are not sufficient to provide men with happiness.
And above all, after a certain stage is reached, improvements in science and technology and the success in increasing material wealth are perfected by 'gaining spiritual and moral virtues.'
Now the development called the 'Japanese Model' is an open example of this. The aspiration of 'the Japanese type of export' and 'the Japanese type of industry' is frequently repeated in everyday life in Turkey nowadays.
The Japanese learned how to manufacture cars at giant establishments in the United States of America. In a short time, however, they were able to compete with these establishments in international, and even American markets. They could manage to sell products in a more successful way.
To my belief, there are three reasons for this achievement:
1. Technology; 2. Working in a disciplined manner;
3. Adherence to traditions and spiritual values.
The transfer of technology from one country to another is possible despite its certain costs or hardships.
But disciplined work, adherence to traditions and spiritual values can never be transferred as soon as they are paid for. Unfortunately, these factors have fallen into a situation of being neglected and slighted in our country.
When we attentively observe our past and compare it with Japan, we see that the Turks have been one of the rare nations of the world in respect to adhering to traditions, maintaining discipline while working and observing spiritual values.
There exists a strong family structure. The members gather around the old one in the family. There is high regard for him, and he is responsible for protecting the young.
The Turk is in a struggle for the sake of his country, flag, religion and chastity. This is a holy fight for him.
In war, he fights 'in the Name of Allah.' When starting a new job, he begins with His Name. He entrusts his beloved ones to Allah.
There is a system of manners and traditions regulating the crafts and trades among Turks. Old societies of tradesmen, the guilds, the protecting masters of every craft and master-assistant master-apprentice relations are the examples of discipline established by Turks in the field of trades and crafts.
And for centuries the religion of Islam has been one of the fundamental spiritual values facilitating an attachment among millions of Turks scattered throughout every corner of the world.
While evaluating a profile of our Turkey towards the second half of 1981, there are many advantages in remembering these 'spiritual values' we possessed in the past but have neglected in recent times.
We cannot attribute our serious social and political disorder, which we are now trying to get out of, solely to economic reasons.
For our population, which exceeds 50 million and increases by a million every year, we are obliged to provide a country 'developed according to contemporary civilization' and 'a quality of life conformable with human honor.' However successful we will become, it is apparent that it will be hard to keep the 50 million people happy all the time by only increasing the material means.
It is our most important duty to seek and to put forth spiritual values common to all, values which will bring 50 million together and give a greater sense of determination to work more peacefully, together. To realize unity among 50 million we must apply this training.
Belief in Allah, fearing Him and the religion of Islam are the essentials that will give hope and determination to work for those who have remained helpless concerning material problems.
It has been understood that spiritual development is needed in order for economic development to be useful.
Please remember that the astronaut who landed on the moon had a book of his religion in his pocket.
THIS IS WHAT OUR OBJECTIVE SHOULD BE: To possess technology and the ability to travel to the moon... but, if we do possess this technology and means, we must continue to seek Allah's Power and Support...
We must maintain our search to make use of the great strength of the Islamic religion by encouraging our new generations to have spiritual values. We are obliged to lay stress on religious education as a spiritual support in schools. Before much more time is lost, we should start a sufficient religious educational program in our schools.
Adherence to traditions will result in greater mutual tolerance about thoughts and actions and produce greater mutual love and respect, which we greatly need. It will minimize and calm mutual opposition and help in the establishment of internal peace. Thus, a more authentic and stronger social establishment will result.
Otherwise, it is very hard to make happy and govern masses of men who are devoid of spiritual values and traditions. Social order will not be easily established in such a society.
In the Qur'an al-karim, it is stated: 'Do not get slack; do not worry. If your belief is firm, you will certainly succeed.'
Today we hear and read that people all over the world are trying to know one another more closely and now look from a different point of view at many of the things they used to refuse. Let me give you a simple example: Americans used to claim that there were many cruel rules in Islam and put forth the thief's hands being cut off as the principal one from among them. We were astonished and could not help smiling at the recent proposal of Douglas Huff, an American Senator from the State of Illinois, who, upon the rapid increase in cases of robbery in his State, said that it shall be passed as a law that the hands of the thieves should be cut off as it is done in Muslim countries. The Senator wrote in his proposal, 'This might strike you as cruel. But I cannot think of another solution. I think God imposes upon His servants a from of punishment that is appropriate. Those who commit a crime should fear Him.' As you see, men get closer to the rules of Islam day by day. There is every reason for the Islamic religion, the latest from of the religions calling upon One Creator, to be the world religion.
We repeat that religion is a treasure of energy that protects us from doing harmful and evil actions, blocks our ambitions, nourishes and purifies our souls, makes us -by disclosing our good habits- kind and helpful human beings who obey our elders, prohibits us from rebelling and disobeying the laws, gives hope and encouragement to us to achieve our goals, consoles us when we fail, lessens our sufferings, fills us with strength and hope to live, opens and leads us to the way of Allah by making us exact and perfect men, in summary, enables us to attain peace in this world and endless bliss in the next.
We must embrace our religion, obey its commands and prohibitions, and realize its value. But we must strictly avoid using it in simple, worldly affairs or for base, personal advantages. This blessed country and this holy religion were harmed much on account of impostors who deceived the people for the sake of their own personal ambitions and ugly purposes by saying. 'The religion is being lost.' They forced everyone to rebel.
Religious and scientific impostors have caused much damage to the happiness of this country, of our nation. Impostors of religion, using the religion as a means for their personal benefits and political purposes, pushed forward nonreligious things as if they belonged to the religion. At the same time, impostors of science, again for their own personal and political purposes, endeavored to destroy the youth's belief in the religion and, for this end, put forth their non-scientific, destructive and divisive words to be accepted as scientific knowledge by the youth. Impostors of religion, pretending to be religious men, exploited the people's adherence to their religion, while impostors of science, pretending to be scientists and showing off their diplomas in science, exploited the people's confidence in scientific knowledge. We must be fully aware of the tricks of these impostors of religion and science.
In recent times, too, there have appeared some hypocrites who want to use the religion and science as a tool for politics. It has been discovered that most of the anarchists and bandits, who have been caught with their bombs, telescopic guns, antitank rockets and transmitting and receiving radio-sets have turned out to be the impostors of science at universities. The rest are workers, male or female students deceived by them. As we read in newspapers about the treacheries and murders put into practice or will be practiced by these tens of thousands of impostors of science, we understand in horror and consternation what a terrible calamity or doom they were leading our country towards. We do not know how to thank the commanders who, responding to the nation's call for help, stopped this terrible course and rescued us from this catastrophe. Day and night we pray for the good of the Pashas who protected us. We will not have expressed thanks enough for the great blessing we have attained, even if for every moment we performed a prostration of thanksgiving towards our Rabb, who sent them to preside over us! May endless thanks be expressed to our Rabb for this very great blessing!
The religion and science are two very necessary, very useful aids for men. Scientific knowledge prepares the means and causes that are necessary for peace, prosperity and civilization. The religion facilitates the usage of these means for peace, prosperity and civilization. Communists have founded giant industries, enormous factories, dazzling rockets, and satellites with the help of the scientific knowledge they stole from Germany and America. Yet, only science exists in them; there is no religious component. That is why they use scientific products to torture their people, to attack others, and to raise rebellions and revolutions in other parts of the world. They are turning every place into dungeons. Their advancement in science results not in civilization but in savagery. Peace, prosperity and human rights are violated. Millions of people are put into destitution for the sake of a minority's pleasure. For this reason, we must endeavor to learn the real religion and to be true Muslims.
See what the Qur'an al-karim says about true Muslims:
'Know well! There is no fear for the friends of Allahu ta'ala. They will not be troubled!' (Sura Yunus, 62 nd ayat)
Let us believe in the rules of Islam, that is, the commandments and prohibitions of Allahu ta'ala. By obeying these rules, our dear readers, we shall be able to help one another, help our country attain peace, prosperity and happiness.
FOOTNOTES
[18] Hadrat Muhammad and the Qur'an, Part 2, Chapter 2; London.
[19] Weekly periodical, The Muslim World, Pakistan, August 26, 1972
[20] Jean Mocheim, German theologian and historian, died in 1169 (1755)
Communism
COMMUNISM AND COMMUNISTS' ENMITY AGAINST RELIGION
Social justice is a concept that has been considered since ancient times and has been advocated and promised by all religions, regimes and social sects. Only with social justice is it possible to establish a well-organized and systematic society without any hatred or grudge among its individuals and classes.
Social justice means that everyone gets his due in proportion to his work, knowledge, talents and success, and no one is misused or exploited. Social justice means to recognize the right to live, even for a person who does the least amount of work. It is a primary requirement of social justice that each working individual shall reach a minimum living standard.
Social justice does not mean social equality. It would not be justice but injustice for everybody to have the same income, just as it is for all the students in a class, whether successful or not, to pass their courses. Neither in nature nor in society, nor elsewhere, does absolute equality exists.
Judicial equality means to apply the same treatment to people in the same cases and conditions. It is both unnecessary and impracticable to look for or to desire social and especially economic equality, since it does not conform to the concept of justice. The point under consideration is not how to divide and distribute the existing stock according to the number of heads, but how to provide the conditions for working and earning for everyone equally and to ensure that everybody shall get the equivalent of his labor and shall receive his due.
Social justice secures the most appropriate distribution of the national income and eliminates exploitation and violation. It prevents the accumulation of capital in the hands of only a certain and very small group. It gives every one the right to lead a life according to his own standards. It establishes a society with no hostility among its classes and communities. Individuals of such a society feel secure concerning their present and future.
Social justice can be realized through a nationalistic view and a system of a mixed economy with a greater emphasis on its liberalistic component.
Nationalism is the zeal used to improve a nation. Nationalism means to love the nation one belongs to, to work for its progress, to defend and maintain its national values, institutions, religion and traditions. The system that produces the best and the most fruitful form of social justice is the religion of Islam. Muslims believe that they are brothers to one another and love one another as such. They do not even attack non-Muslims' property, life and chastity. The religion of Islam provides mutual love and help among people, prevents disunion, commands working and earning money in a halal way, gives every working person his due and protects everybody's property. Every Muslim, being contented with his earnings, lives in comfort and peace. Nobody harms others' property and lands. Those who know what social justice is and who are sincere in their cause must revere and support Islam.
Socialism does not mean social justice. Despite their common nomenclature, they are different and even quite opposite. They are like iman and kufr (unbelief), that is, one of them cannot exist where the other is.
Socialism defends enmity against individual ownership, centralized state control of all the means of production and trade, establishment of a dictatorship, enmity against religion, turning all the working people into laborers, and annihilating the ideas of religion, history, nation, country and state. Except for very little food, clothing, essentials of a home life and one or two rooms, which can only keep a person alive, all the income and earnings of an individual are taken away from him. Thus, people are deprived of every kind of enterprise, competition, exploration, belief and improvement. All their talents and personalities are done away with. Like slaves or robots controlled with severe oppression and torture by a single, cruel and merciless center, they are employed until exhausted of all their energy.
Today, socialism has become a mask and a tool for the dictatorship of red and yellow imperialism. If one or more of the above-mentioned principles of socialism are applied mildly or not applied at all, it is called national socialism. If all of them are applied with torture and murder, it is called revolutionary socialism or communism. The terms socialism and communism are, so to speak, the first and last names of the philosophy of nihilism. Both of them make man worship matter and sensuous desires. Making him unaware of Allahu ta'ala and of his own soul and conscience, they let him live only for food, like beasts. And the governing, dictatorial minority, like mad dogs, attack and murder the people and one another insidiously, perfidiously. Thus, millions of people are murdered in Russia and China every year.
Communism is not only cruel and barbarous but also insidious, beguiling and contagious. With cunning methods and devilish persistence, it works relentlessly and without getting exhausted. It not only can assume various guises but also knows how to dart across on the weak, loose points of its target area. Taking advantage of distress and poverty and spoiling the social order through provocative methods, it brings about class conflicts. It spins network of espionage and propaganda like a spider's web. Distributing money, it easily entraps base, mean, ignoble people in its red net. Then, threatening them with death, it makes them commit every evil. It plays well its devilish, fine trick of getting the utmost use out of them in disintegrating and destroying its target from within.
Once a country falls under its terrible talons, there is no hope for salvation. Communism is a political catastrophe as dangerous and as fatal to a country and its people as cancer is to individual life.
One should not deceive oneself by supposing communism to be a system of one of those political parties that are founded on democracy and, under the roof of freedom with its future destiny completely dependent upon the people's will, will come to power and fall by their votes and, as observed in the free world, follow a civilized and humanitarian approach. By believing its attractive and alluring words, one should not get placed in the position of a poor frog seized by the venomous teeth of a big snake.
What communists try to show as a brilliant "Garden of Paradise" to credulous people at a distance is the pitfall of murder concealed with the cover of propaganda, but full of the bones from millions of innocent people.
Those who take too much and become intoxicated out of their curiosity to taste the doses of propaganda scattered on the lands of the free world by red enchanters, who fall in love with communism under the influence of the illusions and fancies caused by this intoxication, turn away in remorse and regret when they recover.
In 1952, Masentso, a communist leader in Italy, was sentenced to three years of imprisonment by an Italian court for his destructive activities. Somehow he managed to escape from prison and fled to Czechoslovakia, which had already attained the "Garden of Paradise." Upon waking up in the midst of his dream and seeing the bitter, naked truth, he could not stay there long. For a while, he tried to conceal his regret and disillusionment, but at last he fled to a free country, Austria, where he asked to be handed over to Italy with a view to completing the three years of imprisonment he had been rightfully sentenced to. He said, "Life in Italian prisons is more comfortable and better than living in communist countries, which we have assumed to be Paradise." A number of the names of those who, with the same regret and disillusionment, have escaped from that red pitfall of murder are known by the free world: Kravchenko, Sakharov, Kasyanova, and many others. It is a well-known fact that nearly one and a half million distressed people, most of whom were villagers and workers, fled to the West and took refuge in various free countries by taking their chance when the Second World War tore a gap in the iron curtain. Then, how will those eccentric leftists explain the lamentations of these doomed people who managed to escape from the red world, which they try to misrepresent as "Paradise"?
The masked big red serpent promises factories and other industrial lines to the workers, vast land areas to the peasants, and peace, freedom and prosperity to the people of the countries it aims to swallow. Let us now see what it has bestowed upon the Russian people and upon Caucasus, Turkistan, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and its other satellites. Instead of the factories and lands it had promised to the workers and peasants, it offered not only the vast, blank Siberia, which is covered with its perpetual snow and ornamented with its fifty-degrees-below-zero temperatures, it also gave them the chance of easily dying by felling trees in wild forests, with a hungry belly, in that unaccustomed cold. Instead of the freedom promised, there was handcuffing and gagging slavery; instead of welfare, it gave tearful destitution, wretchedness and hunger. And it has made countries into prison camps surrounded by walls of shame and isolated behind iron curtains. From 1927 to 1939, seventeen million innocent people were annihilated in Russia, alone, where freedom, peace and prosperity were promised. These are no stories, but naked facts.
Before the revolution and civil war in Russia, many socialist parties appeared all of a sudden. Laborer Democrats, Peasant Democrats, Bolsheviki, Mensheviki, Rightist and Leftist Liberals, and the Kadet Party were amongst them. Each of them came forward with different ideas and propaganda. They made speeches before every gathering whether big or small. These activities were persistent in villages, factories, small workshops, squares and even on narrow streets. Explaining their programs with attractive words and with all kinds of promises to the people, these parties deceived and gathered well-to-do people as well as the unemployed. This turmoil went on for months. The unending speeches and noise amazed the people, who became too stupefied to distinguish between right and wrong. The people were next to being unconscious and intoxicated.
The most powerful of these parties was the one that made the most promises was the Bolshevik Communist Party. They addressed only the workers and peasants. They said that the workers and peasants would take the places of their employers and become equal shareholders in businesses and lands, that there would no longer be slavery to the rich, that they would live in the apartments where the rich lived, that the rich would clean and sweep up the streets, that the peasants would be made landowners, and that the lands of the farmers would be distributed to the working peasants.
What was common in the propaganda of the Bolshevik Party and the Laborers Party was the promise of ending their servility and slavery to the rich. They forecasted that the day of salvation was near at hand.
These socialist and communist parties repeatedly said that they struggled to protect the rights of the workers and peasants so as to provide them with a high standard of life. If the workers and peasants followed them, they would share the honor of being saviors.
"O you workers and peasants! If you wish to be saved from claws of the bourgeoisie, capitalists, lords and all other exploiters, vote for the Communist Party and gather around it," they said.
Especially ignorant workers and peasants could not differentiate between what would be good and what would be bad for themselves, and they fell victim to the lies even more. The wretched and disastrous situation of today's Russian workers is, sad to say, the consequence of their inattentiveness and stupidity.
At the beginning of the revolution, the communist authorities pushed around many gullible people like mad dogs and had everything ruined. They butchered innocent people without interrogation. Most communist leaders were Jewish, who revengefully made great efforts in setting the Russian people against one another. Lenin (d. in 1342/1924) and Trotsky (sent by Stalin into exile in Mexico where he died in 1358/1940), following in the footsteps of Karl Marx (d. in 1300/1883), carried on his policy of massacre under the banner of communism. The murders they committed were so unsightly that people with a conscience could not admit or even believe them. First social classes were made hostile to one another. Then it became hard to differentiate the friends from the enemies all over Russia, so much so that it was not known who was with whom. This gave birth to civil war, which made fathers fight against their sons and brothers against brothers, and Russia was thoroughly covered with blood. The civil war lasted for years, and millions of people died. The country was burned and ruined everywhere. All public works stopped, and unemployment, destitution and illnesses destroyed people.
Before the revolution, however, communists, with the view of dominating the whole of Russia, had founded a cruel administration and established a dictatorship that had given so many promises to the workers and peasants that their ignorant heads had assumed that they would attain a paradise life. It took the workers and peasants a few years to realize that they had obtained nothing, that they had been fooled, trapped and plundered from head to foot. Yet it was too late. Now the dictatorial state was preventing them from even sympathizing with one another and was organizing massacres from time to time.
Soviet Russian President K. Vocoshilov described the following event to American Ambassador William C. Bulitt during a feast given in Russia in 1934: "In 1919, I persuaded ten thousand officers of the Czar to surrender together with their spouses, promising that they would not be harmed if they would surrender. They believed me and surrendered. I had all ten thousand officers executed together with their sons. And I sent their wives and daughters to brothels so that they would be used by Russian troops." He also added that the destitute women could not endure the horrible treatment they had been subjected to and died within three months.
Shortly after the 1917 revolution, Czar Nikola and all his household, including his children in cradles, were killed in the forests of Bryansk. The number of people who were killed or died of hunger and destitution, as a result of the bloody revolution that reigned over Russia from 1917 until 1947, was 63,800,000. The following figures and documents are given to demonstrate manifestly what an irreligious regime, founded on blood and bones, will bring to the countries it invades. These documents are collected from very reliable sources. How unfortunate those are who do not wake up!
Fourteen thousand large and small mosques in Turkistan, 8,000 in Caucasus and Crimea, and 4,000 in Tataristan and Main Kurdistan were destroyed. In Bukhara city alone, 360 mosques were destroyed. Only one madrasa (school) was left and it is now used as a museum of atheism. And in Semerkand city, the Ulugh Bey madrasa survives as a museum of atheism, and two churches are used for indoor basketball and volleyball.
More than 270,000 Muslim religious scholars were killed. Others were exiled to camps in Siberia, where a cold temperature of 650C below zero reigns. As for religious people, more than three million people were martyred on account of their religious beliefs in Turkistan, alone. When they entered Afghanistan in December 1979, the Russians immediately attacked the villages. They confiscated all sorts of food, clothing, household utensils and jewelry. They killed the Muslims they came across, women or children alike. For example, when they entered the town of Kunday with tanks, they bombarded the great mosque with artillery and martyred hundreds of Muslims while they were praying.
The above-given figures on the communists' terrible massacre or banishment to Siberian camps of those who opposed the revolution and paganism portray an alarming scene of savagery that should be a lesson for all humanity.
In the cities of Bukhara, Semerkand, Kakant, Kazan, Khiva, Ufa, Baku, Tashkent, Bakhchisarai, Derbent, Timirhan, Kashgar, Almasta, Tirmi, etc., which had been ornamented with monuments by the Turks after their embracing Islam and had been turned into masterpieces of the East by Islamic architecture, the communists seized all religious works, mainly copies of Qur'an al-karim and books of Hadith-i-Sharif, and shamelessly and mercilessly tore, trampled, and burned them in the streets. Also, after ordering the people to give the religious, national and historical books they had been keeping to the State, they confiscated these books and likewise destroyed them. Meanwhile, some Muslims ran the risk of life and, instead of giving their books to this murderous and villainous gang, buried them in chests. In the process of these events, thousands of religious people who would not hand over their books were martyred.
The pagan communist State, established on the corpses of millions of innocent people after a heavy blow to religion and the massacre of men of religion, carried on mainly the following oppression and propaganda against religion:
1- Teaching religion in schools was prohibited.
2- Praying in mosques and in all kinds of temples was prohibited.
3- Men of religion were given no place in State affairs.
4- Religious or national education of youngsters in their homes was strictly prohibited.
5- Systematic propaganda against religion was carried on through newspapers, magazines, TV and radio broadcasts, and slanderous plays have been performed.
6- It was constantly explained that Allahu ta'ala - may He protect us from saying so! - does not exist and that holy books are superstitious fables.
7- Conferences were held in cities and villages by organizations called The Godless Society and The Association of the Young Godless. Religions, Allahu ta'ala and Prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam) were mocked, and regular night courses were arranged for inoculating people with atheism.
8- At places of entertainment, such as theaters and cinemas, Allahu ta'ala, Islam, Qur'an al- karim, Prophets, men of religion and pious people were continuously made an object of derision; thus, young brains were being poisoned.
9- The main religious duties of Muslims, such as salat, fast, hajj and zakat were prohibited definitely; it was considered a crime even to utter the Kalimat ash-shahada or to mention the name of Allahu ta'ala. Pious people were under relentless prosecution from the secret police of the above-mentioned duties and, being accused especially of "propagating superstitions", "opposition to the State," and "opposing the regime and revolutions," were driven to death camps.
1- Performing the namaz of janaza and washing corpses were thoroughly prohibited.
2- One who died was simply thrown into a ditch and covered first with lime and then with earth.
3- Human bones unearthed from cemeteries in the cities and rubble from monuments were used to fill depressed areas of the city.
4- Human bones unearthed from village cemeteries were used in manuring the fields.
Dear Readers! With all their persecutions, massacres, banishments and oppression, communists have not been able to expunge the divine love that exists in human beings; they have not been able to break that sacred bond. Of the present 140 million Muslim brothers under communist regime, the number of those whom they have managed to bring to their side and make irreligious does not exceed 5 per cent, despite all their systematic efforts and tortures. Then no material power will be able to annihilate the religion or iman, which are innate. They can be prohibited, but not annihilated. A Muslim gives his life away, but he never sacrifices his religion and chastity. This was very well understood by the Russians in the Afghan tragedy of 1986; hundreds of thousands of red troops attacked with rockets and aircraft and killed villagers, including women. Muslim children were taken to Moscow to be made irreligious. Mosques, schools, houses and foodstuffs were burnt. The number of Muslims killed from 1979 through 1986 was over one million. But the Muslim warriors, though thousands of them fell martyrs, did not surrender to the irreligious. In order to conceal this vulgarity of theirs from Muslim nations, Russians have prepared and distributed, in Muslim countries freely, books explaining that there is freedom of religion, Islamic sciences and rituals in Russia. Muslims in Russia are unaware of these books since they are only distributed outside Russia. Their distribution in Russia is prohibited; otherwise, it would be treachery against communism. Some of these books, distributed among the people of Algeria in 1986, were sent to us. High quality paper and gilded bindings were used in these offset-processed Arabic books on which "1400 A.H., Tashkent" is written. In them, some communists wearing a Muslim turban and robe are portrayed in pictures as if they are Muftis, imams or heads of a religious office. This communist propaganda contradicts the cruelty done to Muslims by Russians in Afghanistan. It was prepared so cunningly that one who does not know of the Islamic religion and the inner aspects of communism will get deceived by these tricks and lies easily and, thinking that this excessive enemy of Islam is a friend, will fall into endless calamity.
Whether it be called socialism, republic, democracy or even guised in the furcoat of a kingdom, or however sweet and deceitful its propaganda is, communism is a regime that proves itself to be the opposite of freedom at all times and everywhere. It is a dictatorship of an irreligious, merciless and cruel minority. That is why it is the merciless enemy of Islam. In fact, the name of Russia was "The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics," which did not contain the word 'communism.' The name of communist East Germany was "The German Democratic Republic," and that of Yugoslavia was "The Federal Republic." Poland and all other communist countries carry some sort of republic in their names. Communism conjures up a dangerous meaning to the world's humanity and those who have fallen into its trap hate it so much that even communists themselves abstain from using this name and consider it necessary to camouflage the title of their own states by attaching the titles of free states to them.
Whatever fur communism puts on itself, the red and cruel regime reveals itself as soon as the guise opens a little. What is the mark that represents communism at first sight? Despite its various titles, namely Democratic, Republic, People's or Kingdom, how is it that communism is recognized at first sight? Let us explain: The single distinctive characteristic of communism is its policy of centralized state control and enmity towards religion. A country wherein everything is controlled by the State, where Muslims are called retrogressive and fanatical, and where non-communists are marked as "fascists" is a communist country whatever its name is. The further away from the policy of state control and the more respectful a country is to Allahu ta'ala and the Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam), the further away will it be from communism. State control with enmity towards religion is the real name of communism.
The purpose of those who support the excessive policy of state control and who try to remove religious lessons from schools is to establish communism. The technical definition of communism is to "bring everything under state control, by means of collectivization and enmity towards religion." Once everything has been brought under state control, the Godless Society is established within hours.
To the comrades bought by communism beforehand, the World Communism Organization gives 18 directives with the purpose of introducing and settling communism in free countries. Ten of them are as follows:
1. "Try to encourage the establishment of communist or socialist parties in your countries. If they are already present, cooperate with them."
2. "Divide your nation into as many classes and communities as possible."
3. "Always try to establish disagreements between the employee and the employer."
4. "Fight and endeavour until the communist regime is established. Make everybody believe that there is no such a threat in your country by the time the communist regime becomes deep rooted. Accuse those who notice your intention and objectives and those who attempt to reveal the facts, of being illusive and provocative."
5. "Instigate madhhab and Tariqa conflicts. Practice enmity towards religion, openly and secretly."
6. "Make banners for yourselves of the heroes who are loved much by the people. Show them to be on your side."
7. "Through novels, poetry, articles, and cartoons write systematically using exaggerations that the laborers and villagers are in poverty."
8. "Maintain an antagonistic attitude towards free countries and promulgate enmity against the West."
9. "Get control over labor unions, youth organizations, and art establishments."
10. "Search for reasons for discomfort and find them; try to popularize them."
In order not to be caught up in the calamity of communism, even the slightest opportunity must be made use of in rendering these seeds of communism harmless.
It is necessary to cooperate, to get organized and to be on the alert against communist instigation. Greeting communists, smiling at them, buying, exhibiting in shop windows or selling their books, newspapers and magazines, or supporting their magazines and newspapers through advertisements, will sharpen the knife of communism.
The Czar used to invite insidious Russian communists to his palace, compliment them, admit them to dinner, and listen to their ideas. But when the revolution took place, it was those same friends who butchered the Czar, the Czarina, their children and grandchildren, including the infants.
Communism does not have understanding, fidelity, human values, mercy, faith or reason.
Air raids on Afghan villages carried by Russians in 1980 are a new and terrible proof of communist atrocities and barbarism.
The communist is hostile to those who believe in Allahu ta'ala, conscience and morals. He considers these humane feelings as an illness, idiocy and treachery against his regime and principles. His password is "Divide and rule!"
There is a single formula for defending ourselves against the evils of communism:
To counter-attack it with the same method it uses, that is, by force, to spit in its face, to maintain severe control over it, to keep it away from honest people, and to leave it alone with its red-stained face.
The Russian revolution slaughtered 52 million people, 40 million of whom were agricultural and industrial workers. It came forth with the promise that it would "give peasants land and make workers shareholders in businesses", but it even grabbed the few acres of land belonging to poor peasants and the cottages owned by penniless workers and killed those who had faith and belief or who said Allah.
The red revolution is a greedy monster that eats workers under the guise of workers' power! It produces such massacre and plunder that even those who practice this massacre and plunder cannot escape its massacre and plunder.
With communism, the grudge which was at the outset held against life, property, chastity, religion and faith, turned into a sadism borne against humanity and began to work for the plans of a handful of cruel chiefs. At that point is was realized how great a lie it was, yet it was too late.
The following is the fourth paragraph of the constitution of the secret communist party:
"The Communist Party is the irreconcilable enemy of the native servants of imperialism, of the owners of land, factories and buildings of the bourgeois artisans and tradesmen, of all pious people and their priests and scholars, of all working and retired military officers, policemen and civil servants, and, in short, of those who are outside the lines of the revolution."
Lenin's password for the revolution was: "Kill the active personnel as soon and in as great a number as possible so that there will be little work left for us to do."
As it can be concluded, excluding those who were to be butchered, only the red leaders themselves remained in one hundred per cent safety.
According to Lenin, "Maintenance of Red dominance is dependent upon the continuation of the Red revolution." This is the reason for the unending massacre of workers by the regime. In Red China, with the order of communist dictator Mao, 300,000 laborers were shot dead during each liquidation movement. These murders were committed by a minority hostile to religion and belief in the next world.
What level has Russia reached today? To what degree are the people happy? Without clarifying these things, it will be narrow-mindedness to evade the question by simply saying, "They are traveling in space," or to admire the luxurious, excellent, delightful and pleasing life of a cruel minority. The Pyramids in Egypt, too, were masterpieces at one time. Can we point out signs of social welfare in the factories and rockets, which were built on the blood and corpses of millions of people and with the money grabbed from hungry, wretched workers and laborers with the view of satisfying the desires of a despotic minority? Displaying the means as the aim of life is treacherous to life itself.
We wonder if some writers or others could even utter one per cent of what they write or say now, were they in a communist country?
O, Youth! Your pure hearts and green souls are quite susceptible to the enchantment of such illusive promises. But you will repent for it later.
The only remedy for protecting humanity against the calamity of communism is not to fall for its sweet poisons and varnished filth. And this, in turn, requires people to have a firm faith, an unbending trust in Allahu ta'ala, a peaceful heart, and to live in justice and freedom. But this can come about only by following a divine, unyielding and unchangeable book, and by purifying the morals and intentions. This purity can be provided by Islam, which is free from all sorts of prejudices and oppression. Islam supplies perfect social justice, a strong shield to protect people against the claws of the dragon of communism. Destruction of communism can be achieved by serving Islam. Islam and communism cannot stay together. It is a known fact that some dictators, who have appropriated power and preside over Muslim nations, have given their states such names as "The Socialist Islamic Republic." The word "Socialism," used as such, is a term not for Muslims, but for communists. Their putting this word and Islam side by side is one of the traps devised for deceiving Muslims, for Islam and socialism cannot stay together. A Muslim cannot be a socialist. It is for this reason that communist barbarians, in order to make the people of the Muslim countries they capture communists, first attack Islam, laying much stress on it. The same reason lies under communists' enmity towards the religion.
In every nation, there exist ignoble, irreligious, immoral, and base people who may be tempted, deceived and cajoled into becoming communists. Through the tricks prepared by red and yellow centers, they may plot a communist revolution. Protection of the nation against the bursting and spreading of such a dark and bloody revolution can be accomplished by instructing the youth with religious knowledge and with Islamic ethics. Every father must teach his children how to read Qur'an al-karim; send them to religious courses; teach them how to perform wudu', ghusl and salat; how to fast; what is halal and what is haram; and have them practice them. Communists cannot mislead a person who is brought up to be such a Muslim. Apparent examples of this are the millions of Muslims moaning under Russian and Chinese persecution and savagery. They endure all kinds of oppression, torture and even death, but do not become communists. They either die or escape.
Seeing that they will never be able to deceive Muslims or bring revolution to Islamic countries, cruel communists try to improve heavy industry and means of war to use it for invading Islamic countries. They make preparations to attack with weapons, rockets, fusion bombs, new jet-fighters and chemicals to destroy all Muslims on the earth. Therefore, Muslims all over the world must cooperate, do away with sectarian differences, and become united under the Ahl as-Sunnat, the only way to salvation. They must use all their energy to make new weapons in order to surpass communists.
When unity in faith, unity in morals, and unity in justice are established and sophisticated weapons are made, communist raid will no longer be a threat.
Through the gate opened in 1982 by Roger Garaudy, a famous man of letters in Europe, Cousteau, Captain of the Oceans, turned the course of his ship towards Islam. Bejart, one of the well-known figures of the ballet world, stepped into Muslim community. The great scholar and writer Roger Garaudy said in a Conference Hall of Garyunes University in Benghazi on April 8, 1983:
"It is true that I have embraced Islam. You ask why I chose Islam; by choosing Islam, I chose the modern age."
This was the same Roger Garaudy, aged 70, who had fervently defended the communist system for France for decades. At universities and political platforms, he had repeatedly explained Marxism to Frenchmen and to the West, thinking that salvation of men lay in that unique system. He had been known as the 'Spiritual Architect' of modern French communism. Where there was a meeting, conference or seminar organized by communists, there was Garaudy. He carried on a serious struggle against Catholicism and Christianity with his ideas, pen and rhetoric.
One day a bomb exploded in the midst of the West's world of arts, letters and politics: "Roger Garaudy embraces Islam!" With the spread of this news to the whole world through telexes of news agencies, the Kremlin was terribly shocked, since the Kremlin was losing its greatest master of French communists; Garaudy was a well-known scholar, with whose pen Marxism had been disseminated for years.
This great man was now telling the truth: "Islam is the religion that drags the ages behind itself. Other religions, however, were dragged behind the ages. That is, all religions except Islam were altered according to the time and reformed, and their holy books were distorted to conform to the conditions of the time. However, Qur'an al-karim has dominated over the ages ever since its descent. Not Qur'an al-karim, but time followed behind. As time got older, it became younger. This is an event that occurs beyond the ages. This is an event much greater than all the terrible social, political and economic disasters that followed so many wars in history. Islam prevails against not only materialism or positivism, but also existentialism. However, none of them prevailed over Islam.
"The Great Prophet of Islam ('alaihi 's-salam) explained everything by saying, 'Work for the next world as if you were to die tomorrow, and work for this world as if you would never die!' Islam has control over not only the material but also the spiritual. Therefore, these two cannot be separated from each other. How can they be separated since Islam states: 'Learn knowledge even if it is in China,' and 'Scientific knowledge is the lost property of the believer; he should get it wherever he finds it!' Knowledge and working are not limited in Islam. Possessing no limits concerning these two facts, which bewilder the world, Islam has bewildered the world.
"By defining man to be 'the superior and the most honorable creature,' Islam means that he should not be exploited. It is a conglomerate of systems that disapproves extravagance, ostentation and luxury, defines income as earnings obtained through the sweat of one's brow, transfers growing capital to the poor by means of a well-balanced and moral rule, prohibits interest, a cause of laziness, and thereby destroys unlawful wealth. Islam has made it obligatory that the Caliph and the slave shall share the same rights. There was the case of the 'camel' which is a reality sharper than a king's sword: Hadrat 'Umar and his slave rode a camel by taking turns as they traveled from one town to another, the halter being held by the Caliph and by the slave alternately... Here is the revolution of Islam in the field of justice and law.
"Both Marxism and capitalism are systems that exploit man. In contrast to them, Islam is a heavenly religion that restores human prestige to humanity."
True Muslim
The first thing is to correct the belief in accordance with those which the Ahl as-sunnat savants communicate in their books. It is only this Madhhab that will be saved from Hell. May Allahu ta'ala give plenty of rewards for the efforts of those great people! Scholars of the four Madhhabs, who reached the grade of ijtihad and the great scholars educated by them are called Ahl as-sunnat scholars. After correcting the belief (iman), it is necessary to perform the worships conveyed in the knowledge of fiqh, i.e. to do the commands of the Shariat and to abstain from what it prohibits. One should perform namaz five times each day without reluctance or slackness, and should be careful about its conditions and tadil-i arkan. He who has as much money or property as nisab should give zakat. Imam-i azam Abu Hanifa says, "Also, it is necessary to give the zakat of gold and silver which women use as ornaments."
One should not waste his precious life on trivialities even if they are permitted (mubah). It is certainly necessary not to waste time on the haram. We should not busy ourselves with taghanni, singing, musical instruments, or songs. We should not be deceived by the pleasure they give our nafses. These are poisons mixed with honey and covered with sugar.
One should not commit giybat. Giybat is haram. [Giybat means to talk about a Muslim's or a Zimmi's secret faults behind his back. It is necessary to tell a Muslim about the faults of the Harbis, about the sins of those who commit these sins in public, about the evils of those who torment Muslims and who deceive Muslims in buying and selling. Thus, Muslims will be aware of their harms. To expose the slander of those who talk and write about Islam wrongfully is not giybat. (Radd-ul-Mukhtar: 5-263)]
One should not spread gossip (carry words) among Muslims. It has been declared that various kinds of torments will be inflicted on those who commit these two kinds of sins. Also, it is haram to lie and slander; these must be abstained from. These two evils were haram in every religion. Their punishments are very heavy. It is very thawab to conceal Muslims' defects, not to spread their secret sins and to forgive them for their faults. One should pity one's inferiors, those under one's command [such as wives, children, students, soldiers] and the poor. One should not reproach them for their faults. One should not hurt or beat or swear at those who are weak for trivial reasons. One should not attack another's property, life, honor, or chastity. Debts to anyone or to the government must be paid. Bribery, accepting or giving, is haram. However, it will not be bribery to give it in order to get rid of the suffering caused by a tyrant. But accepting this would be haram, too. Everybody should see his own defects, and should every hour think of the faults which he has committed towards Allahu ta'ala. He should always bear in mind that Allahu ta'ala does not hurry in punishing him, nor does He cut off his sustenance. The orders from one's parents, or from the government, compatible with the Sharia must be obeyed, but those incompatible with the Sharia should not be resisted in a way that will provoke fitna. [See the 123 rd letter in the second volume of the book Maktubat-i Mathumiyya.]
After correcting the belief and doing the commands of fiqh, one should spend all one's time remembering Allahu ta'ala. One should continue remembering and mentioning Allahu ta'ala as the great men of religion have prescribed. One should feel hostility towards all the things that will prevent the heart from remembering Allahu ta'ala. The more you adhere to the Shariat, the more delicious it will be to remember Him. As indolence and laziness increase in obeying the Shariat, that flavor will gradually decrease, eventually disappearing at last. What can I write more than what I have written already? It will be enough for a reasonable person. We should not fall into the traps of the enemies of Islam by falling for their lies and slanders.
Student
ANSWER TO A UNIVERSITY STUDENT
The following is the simplified translation of a letter written as an answer to a university student by 'Abdulhakim-i Arwasi (quddisa sirruh) when he was the senior professor of Tasawwuf at the Madrasat al-mutahassisin, the Faculty of Theology, which was located in the Sultan Salim Mosque in Istanbul during the declining years of the Ottoman Empire.
Go out of the area of the Omnipotence of Allahu ta'ala with all your strength, if you can! But you cannot. Outside this universe is the place of nonexistence. And this place of nonexistence is also under His Omnipotence!
On an occasion, somebody asked [the great wali] Ibrahim ibn Adham (quddisa sirruh) for advice. He said:
If you accept six things, nothing you do will harm you. These six things are:
1) When you intend to commit a sin, do not eat the food He gives! Does it befit you to eat His food and to disobey Him?
2) When you want to rebel against Him, go out of His Domain! Does it befit you to be in His Domain and to be in rebellion against Him?
3) When you want to disobey Him, do not sin where He sees you! Sin where He does not see you! It simply is unbecoming to he in His Domain, to eat His food and then to sin where He sees you!
4) When the Angel of Death comes to take away your soul, ask him to wait till you repent! You cannot turn that angel back! Repent before he comes, while you have the chance at this very hour, for the Angel of Death comes unexpectedly!
5) When the two angels Munkar and Nakir come to question you in the grave, turn them back! Do not let them test you! "
It is impossible," said the person who asked for his advice.
Shaykh Ibrahim said, "Then prepare your answers now!"
6) On the Day of Resurrection, when Allahu ta'ala declares: "Sinners, go to Hell!" say that you will not!
The person said, "Nobody will listen to me," and then repented; he did not disavow his sense of penitence up until death. There is a Divine Effect in the words of Awliya.
Ibrahim ibn Adham (quddisa sirruh) was asked, "Allahu ta'ala declares: 'O My human creatures! Ask Me! I will accept, I will give! Nonetheless, we ask but He does not give?" Hadrat Ibrahim said:
"You entreat Allahu ta'ala, but you do not obey Him. You know His Most Beloved Prophet (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam), but you do not follow him. You read the Qur'an al-Karim, but you do not follow the way it prescribes. You utilize Allahu ta'ala's blessings, but you do not thank Him. You know that Paradise is for those who worship, but you do not make preparations for it. You know that He has created Hell for the disobedient, but you do not fear it. You see what happened to your fathers and grandfathers, but you do not take a warning. You do not see your own defects, and you search for defects in others. Such people must be thankful, since it does not rain stones on them, since they do not sink into the earth, and since it does not rain fire from the sky! What else could they want?" Would not this suffice as a recompense for their prayers?"
[Allahu ta'ala declares in the sixtieth ayat of Mumin Sura, "Make dua to Me, I accept (ask for, I give)". There are five conditions for the dua being acceptable. The one who makes dua, must be Muslim; should have Ahl-as sunnat belief; should not commit haram; particularly abstaining from eating and drinking haram things; should make fards; should perform five times of Namaaz; should fast during Ramadan; should give Zakaat; should know and adhere himself to the causes of what he wants from Allahu ta'ala. Allahu ta'ala creates everything through a certain means. When asked for a certain thing, He sends the cause of that thing and makes that thing effective. Man adheres himself to this cause and obtains that thing. For the sake of His Awliya, apart from His usual means, when they make dua or when dua is made for sake of Awliya, the things wished are given directly to those as (Karamat) without adhering to any cause.]
As you have not come from nonexistence to this world of existence by yourself, so you cannot go there by yourself. The eyes with which you see, the ears with which you hear, the organs with which you perceive, the intellect with which you think, the hands and feet you use, all the roads you will pass, all the places you will go, in short, all the members and systems connected with your body and soul, all of them, are Allahu ta'ala's possessions and creatures. You cannot misappropriate anything from Him! He is Hayy and Qayyum, that is, He sees, knows and hears, and He for every moment keeps in existence everything that exists. Even for a moment, He is not unaware of the state of all and controlling all. He does not let anybody steal His property. He is never incapable of punishing those who disobey His commands. It would not make any difference, if, for instance, He had not created any human beings on this globe, as He had not on the moon, on Mars or on other planets; His greatness would not have diminished for this reason.
A hadith qudsi states: "If [every one of] your ancestors and descendants, the young and the old, the alive and the dead, human beings and genies, were like My Most Devoted, Most Obedient Human Creature ('alaihi 's-salam), My Greatness would not be increased. Conversely, if you all were like My enemy, who opposes Me and despises My Prophets, My Greatness would never decrease. Allahu ta'ala is free from needing you; He needs none of you. As for you, in order that you might exist and keep on existing and in everything you do, you always need Him."
He sends light and heat by means of the sun. He makes waves of light reflect from the moon. Out of black soil, He creates many vivid-colored, sweet-scented flowers and beautiful appearances. From a breeze, He pours out the breath which gives relief to hearts. From the stars that are a distance of many years, He makes it rain haloes on the earth, out of which you came about and under which you will be buried in the end. Through many a vibration, He creates effectivity in particles. [On the one hand, by turning dirt, which you dislike and are disgusted with, into soil by means of His smallest, most trifling creatures (germs), He turns this soil, which you tread on, into a white-of-egg-like substance, protein, the constructive matter of your body, from the factory of plants. On the other hand, by combining the water in the earth with a suffocating gas in air, again in the factory of plants and by stocking in them the energy which He sends from the sky, He creates starchy and sugary substances and oils, the sources of energy that will operate the machine of your body.] Thus, in plants, which He causes to grow in fields and deserts, on mountains and in rills and in animals that He enables to live on the earth and under the seas, He prepares food which will go into your stomach and nourish you. By placing chemistry laboratories in your lungs. He isolates the poison from your blood and puts useful oxygen in its place. By implanting physics laboratories in your brain, the information coming from your organs of perception through your nerves are taken there and, as He has placed a magnetic power into the stone of iron, so with the effect of intelligence, which He has placed into your brain with other immaterial powers, He can put into your heart various plans, commands and actions that are prepared simultaneously. By making your heart work through very complex mechanisms, which you consider very extraordinary, He makes rivers of blood flow in your blood vessels. He weaves many a dumbfounded net of roads through your nerves. He conceals stocks in your muscles. With many, many other phenomena. He equips and completes your body. He establishes and fits all of these in an order and harmony to which you give such names as laws of physics, chemical reactions or biological events. He places centers of power inside you. He projects the necessary precautions into your soul and consciousness. He also, gifts a treasure called the intellect, a gauge named reason, a means named thought, and a key which you call will. In order that you might use each of these correctly, He gives you sweet and bitter warnings, hints, inclinations and ambitions. And as a greater blessing, He openly sends instructions through faithful and dependable Prophets ('alaihim as-salam). In conclusion, operating the machine of your body and instructing you with its experiments, He hands it over to you so that you may use and utilize it in objective affairs. He does all of these not because He needs you, your will or help, but to make you happy by giving you a distinguished position and authority among, His creatures. If, instead of leaving it to your hands, your feet and all of your limbs that you can use as you wish, He used them without you knowing it, like the beating of your heart, the expansion of your lungs and the circulation of your blood, if He rolled you by force, with reflex actions, with paralyzed hands and feet, if each of your actions was a vibration and every movement was a twitch, could you claim to possess yourself and the things He has lent you? If He made you move under the influence of external and internal powers, like the lifeless, or unreasonable and unconscious powers of animals, and if He put in your mouth, like pack animals, a morsel of the blessings -which you take in large amounts to your houses now- could you take and eat that morsel?
Do you think of your state before and when you were born? Where were you, in what were you, during the creation of this globe on which you live, eat and drink, go about, amuse and divert yourself, discover the means that are remedies for your diseases, and the means to protect yourself from the attacks of wild and poisonous animals and enemies? Where were you while the stones and soil of this globe were being baked on fires in the ovens of creation and while its water and air were being distilled in the chemistry laboratories of the Omnipotence? Have you ever thought? Where were you while the lands, which you claim to be yours today, were gliding away from the seas, while mountains, rivers, plateaus and hills were being laid down? Where and how were you while, by means of Allahu ta'ala's Omnipotence, the salty waters of seas evaporated and formed clouds in the sky, and while rains, falling from those clouds, took substances [for nourishment prepared by lightning and waves of power and energy in the sky] into the motes of burnt, dried soil, and while these substances, stirred [by the influence from rays of height and heat], vibrated and nourished the cells of life?
Today, they say that you are of monkey descent, and you believe it. When they say that Allahu ta'ala has created you, enables you to live, causes you to die and that He alone makes everything, you don't want to believe.
O man! What are you? What were you in the veins of your father? At one time, in the veins of your father, whom you insult with such terms as imbecile, old-fashioned and retrogressive, you used to make him feel uncomfortable. Who made you move then, and why did you disturb him? If he had wished, he could have thrown you into a rubbish-heap, but he did not. He hid you like a deposit. While he was so kind as to have entrusted you to a chaste woman, where you would be nourished unsparingly and struggled to protect you for a long time, why do you insult your father by holding him responsible for your inconveniences, instead of expressing thanks to him and your Creator for the blessings you have been given? Moreover, why do you throw your deposit into rubbish-heaps dirtied by everybody?
When people around you follow your wishes and desires, you believe that you are doing everything by creating with your intellect, knowledge, science, power, strength and by inventing all accomplishments. You forget about the task which Allahu ta'ala has assigned to you; you have resigned from that high official duty and have attempted to claim ownership of the deposit. You want to regard and introduce yourself as an owner and ruler.
On the other hand, when those around you do not follow your desires, when external forces seem to overcome you, you can see within yourself nothing but regret and frustration, incapacity and despair. Then you claim that you own no will or option, that you are under the slavery of everything, that you are like a machine, automatic but with a broken spring. You understand qadar not as al-'ilm al-mutaqaddim (eternal knowledge) but as al-jabr al-mutahakkim (despotic compulsion). While saying this, you are not unaware of the fact that your mouth is not like a record-player.
When your favorite meals do not come to your table, you hold out your hand and tongue and eat the dry bread you can reach, though you are free to eat or not and die of hunger; the dry morsels are not crammed into your mouth by force! You eat, but also think that you are deprived of doing under your control, and it has not been due to involuntary movements. But, though you possess your self- control even at such times as this when you have to, you deem yourself compelled, enslaved, in short, a nothing against exterior forces.
O man! Which of these are you? You claim to be 'all' when you thrive and when success and victory are with you, and 'nothing' under the forces of fate when affairs turn out bad or contrary to your wishes. Are you 'all' or are you 'nothing'?
O mankind! O man who is floating on deficiency and eccentricity! You are neither 'all' nor 'nothing'! At any rate, you are something in between these two. Yes, you are far from being inventive, dominant and victorious over everything. But, you have an irrefutable freedom and option and a wish and choice rendering you authoritative. Each of you is an official, undertaking individual and collective duties under the command of Allahu ta'ala, who is the Unequalled Authority, Absolute and Unconditional Owner without a partner! You can do your duties under the rules and regulations established by Him, within the limits of your ranks assigned by Him, within the responsibilities and means which He has created and entrusted to you as deposits. He alone is the Sole Commander, the Unique Ruler and the Single Owner. There is no other commander besides Him, nor a ruler resembling Him, nor an owner-partner with Him. Unless the aims and purposes which you lay claim to and rush upon so zealously, the struggles which you set about, the glories which you take pride in and your accomplishments are for Him, they are all false, vain. Then, why do you accept lies within your hearts and turn off into polytheism? Why don't you obey the commands of Allahu ta'ala, the Unequalled Ruler, and know Him as the Creator? Instead you run after thousands of imaginary idols and get drowned in distress? Whatever you run towards, isn't it an ideal, an option or a belief that drags you on? Why do you look for that ideal in someone other than Allahu ta'ala? Why don't you direct that belief to Allahu ta'ala and spend your alternatives in this belief and in the deeds which are the results of this belief?
When you know Allahu ta'ala as the Absolute Ruler and work without violating His regulations and laws, how much better you will love one another and be attached brothers! What won't the Mercy of Allahu ta'ala create from this brotherhood? Every favor you gain is the result of this brotherhood produced by a belief in Allahu ta'ala, His Mercy and Benevolence. Every problem or calamity you experience is the result of the fury, resentment and hostility which you are filled with as a retribution for not paying attention to Allahu ta'ala, for cruelty and injustice. And this is also the result of attempting to make laws by yourselves and by following others who want to compete with Allahu ta'ala, in short, of not believing only in Allahu ta'ala with a real belief in His Unity.
In short, the chief cause of the problems among humanity is the crime of polytheism committed against Allahu ta'ala. The obscurity of corruption that has surrounded the horizons of humanity, despite the improvements in knowledge and science, is the result of polytheism, disbelief, lack of belief in Allahu ta'ala's Unity and lack of mutual love. However hard human beings will try, they will not escape sufferings and disasters unless they love one another. And, unless they know Allahu ta'ala, unless they love Him, unless they regard Him as the Absolute Ruler and worship Him, men cannot love one another. Whatever might be thought of besides Allahu ta'ala and the way of Allahu ta'ala, all of them are ways leading to disunity and wretchedness. Don't you see that those who attend the mosque love one another and those who haunt the tavern fight?
Whatever you give your heart to, or to whomever you worship besides Allahu ta'ala, each of them can be opposed and equated. And all of them are under the Omnipotence and Will of Allahu ta'ala. He is the Single Ruler who does not have a partner, match, like, opposite or equivalent, and He alone is the one whose equivalent is non-valid and false, a nonexistent equivalent, the existence of which is impossible.
Whatever you follow, worship, love or regard as the absolute ruler besides Allahu ta'ala, be it known that it will burn together with you.
Markaz-i da'ira-i iflas wa bi nawai
Sar shar-i sahhay-i khodgami wa na ashinai
As-Sayyad AbdulHakim Arwasi
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