THE SUNNI PATH
FIFTEENTH EDITION
HAKIKAT KITABEVI
Darussefaka Cad. No: 57/A P.K. 35 34262
Tel: 90.212.523 4556 – 532 5843 Fax: 90.212.525 5979
http://www.hakikatkitabevi.com
e-mail: bilgi@hakikatkitabevi.com
Fatih-ISTANBUL/TURKEY
2001
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CONTENTS
The Sunni Path.................................................................1
Contents ...........................................................................2
The Sunni Path.................................................................3
Preface .............................................................................3
1 — Ma’lûmât-i Nâfi’a (Useful Information).......................6
2 — The Faith Of The Ahl As-Sunna..............................40
3 — Al-Imâm Al-A’zam Abû Hanîfa (Rahmatullâhi Ta’âlâ ’Aleyh)...49
4 — Wahhâbism And Its Refutation By The Ahl As-Sunna ...... 62
5 — Final Remarks.........................................................96
6 — Masjîd An-Nabî .......................................................98
What Is A True Muslim Like?..........................................98
Glossary .......................................................................105
Publisher’s Note:
Permission is granted to those who wish to print this book in
its original form or to translate it into another language. We pray
that Allâhu ta’âlâ will bless them for this beneficent deed of
theirs, and we thank them very much. However, permission is
granted with the proviso that the paper used in printing will be of
a good quality and that the design of the text and setting will be
properly and neatly done without mistakes.
TYPESET AND PRINTED IN TURKEY BY:
Ihlas Gazetecilik A.Ş. Istanbul Tel: 90.212.454 3000
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Bismi’llâhi ’r-rahmâni ’r-rahîm
THE SUNNI PATH
PREFACE
Let us begin the book in the name of Allah!
The best protection is the name of Allah!
His blessings are beyond all means of measure;
All Merey He is, forgiving His pleasure!
Allâhu ta’âlâ, having mercy upon all people on the earth,
creates useful things and sends them to us. In the Hereafter, He
will forgive those guilty Believers who are to go to Hell, and will
bring 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 honourable
name of Allâhu ta’âlâ we begin to write this book.
Hamd[1] be to Allâhu ta’âlâ. Peace and blessings be on
Rasûlullah, the Prophet Muhammad (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam). Benedictions be over his pure Ahl al-Bait and over all
his just and devoted companions (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum
ajma’în).
Islamic scholars, who are called Ahl as-Sunna, wrote
thousands of valuable books that state the beliefs, commands
and prohibitions of Islam correctly. Many of them have been
translated into foreign languages and circulated throughout the
world. On the other hand, malevolent, short-sighted people
have attacked Islam’s beneficial, bountiful and luminous way;
tried to blemish the scholars of the Ahl as-Sunna (radiy-Allâhu
ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în), and attempted to change Islam and
thereby deceive Muslims. This struggle between Muslims and
the irreligious has taken place in every century, and it will
continue till the end of the world. Allâhu ta’âlâ willed in eternity
that this be so.
Muslims consist of scholars (hawâs) and laymen (awâm).
The Turkish book Dürr-i Yektâ writes, “Laymen are those who
do not know the rules of Arabic grammar and literature. They
are unable to grasp the books of fatwâ. It is fard for them to look
[1] Praise and gratitude.
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for and learn the knowledge relating to Islamic belief and
’ibâdât. On the other hand, it is fard for scholars to teach, by
preaching and writing, first the belief and then the five tenets of
ibâdât, which make up the foundation of Islam. It is stated in the
books Zahîra and Tâtârhâniyya that teaching the
fundamentals of îmân and the belief of Ahl as-sunna is of
primary importance.” That is why the great scholar ’Abd-ulhakîm-
i-Arwâsî ‘rahmatullahi ’aleyh’, an expert in the religious
and experimental sciences, said towards the termination of his
blessed life, “For thirty years, I have endeavoured to explain the
Islamic belief, the i’tiqâd (credo, tenets) of Ahl as-sunna, and
Islam’s beautiful ethical teachings in Istanbul’s mosques.”
Therefore, in all our books, we too, have tried to explain the
i’tiqâd of the Ahl as-Sunna and the good morals of Islam,
stressing the importance of being kind to everybody and
obeying and helping the State. We do not approve of the
writings of some lâ-madhhabî people, who are unaware of the
religion and who provoke people against the State and set
brothers at loggerheads. Stating, “The religion is under the
shadow of swords,” Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam)
explained that Muslims could live in comfort under the
protection of the State and its laws. As the State becomes
stronger, the people enjoy more happiness and peace. Muslims
living happily and carrying out their religious duties with freedom
in non-Muslim countries, such as those in Europe and America,
should not revolt against the State and the laws which give
them freedom; they should not be tools for instigation (fitna) and
anarchy. This has been a commandment of scholars of Ahl as-
Sunna.
It has been observed with gratitude that, men of religious
authority in almost all Muslim countries strive to promulgate and
defend this right way of Ahl as-Sunna. However, some ignorant
people, who either have not read or have not understood the
books written by scholars of Ahl as-sunna, make some ignorant
oral and written statements, though without having any effect
except betraying their own ignorance and wretchedness against
Muslims’ firm îmân and the brotherly love they have for one
another.
Harmful separatist movements among Muslims attack books
of ’ilm-i-hâl and try to vilify the ’ulamâ’ of Ahl as-Sunna and
great men of tasawwuf (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în).
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’Ulamâ’ of Ahl as-Sunna wrote necessary answers against them
and protected the true meanings which Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam) derived from Qur’ân al-kerîm against their
attempts to change it. We entreat Allâhu ta’âlâ that, by studying
this book carefully with their common sense and pure
conscience, our valuable readers will judge it fairly and stick
together in the right and true way of the Ahl as-Sunna and avoid
lying, slanderous and heretical people. By doing this, they will
escape eternal damnation.
Explanations added afterwards to some parts of our book
are written in brackets [...]. All these explanations also have
been borrowed from authentic books.
_______________
A Warning: Missionaries are striving to advertise
Christianity, Jews are working to spread out the concocted
words of Jewish rabbis, Hakîkat Kitâbevi (Bookstore), in
Istanbul, is struggling to publicize Islam, and freemasons are
trying to annihilate religions. A person with wisdom, knowledge
and conscience will understand and admit the right one among
these and will help to spread out that for salvation of all
humanity. There is no better way and more valuable thing to
serve humanity than doing so.
Mîlâdî Hijrî Shamsî Hijrî Qamarî
2001 1380 1422
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1 — MA’LÛMÂT-I NÂFI’A
(USEFUL INFORMATION)
This booklet was written by Ahmed Cevdet Paşa
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), who rendered a great service to
Islam by putting the rules of Qur’ân al-kerîm into a code of law
in his valuable book Majalla. In addition, he wrote The
Ottoman History in twelve volumes, the most dependable book
in its field, and the famous Qisâs-i Anbiyâ’ (The History of
Prophets). He was born in Lofja in 1238 (1823 A.D.); he passed
away in 1312 (1894 A.D.) and was buried in the graveyard of
the Fâtih Mosque in Istanbul.
This ’alâm, that is, everything, was nonexistent. Allâhu ta’âlâ
created existence out of nothing. He wished to enrich this world
with human beings until the end of the world. Creating Âdam
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) out of soil, He ornamented the world with his
children. To show people the things necessary for them in this
world and the next, He honoured some of them by making them
prophets (’alaihimu ’s-salâm). He distinguished them from other
people by giving them high ranks. He conveyed His commands
to prophets through an angel named Jabrâ’îl (Jibrîl, Gabriel).
And they conveyed these commands to their ummas exactly as
Jabrâ’îl (’alaihi ’s-salâm) brought them to them. The first prophet
was Âdam (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and the last one was our master
Muhammed Mustafâ (’alaihi ’s-salâtu wa ’s-salâm). Many
prophets came between these two. Only Allâhu ta’âlâ knows
their number. The following are the ones whose names are
known:
Âdam, Shîs (or Shît), Idrîs, Nuh (Noah), Hûd, Sâlih,
Ibrâhîm, Ismâ’îl, Is’hâq (Isaac), Ya’qûb (Jacob), Yûsuf
(Joseph), Eyyûb, Lût, Shu’aib, Mûsâ (Moses), Hârûn (Aaron),
Dâwûd (David), Sulaimân, Yûnus (Jonah), Ilyâs (Elijah),
Alyasa’, Dhu’l-kifl, Zakariyyâ (Zechariah), Yahyâ (John), ’Îsâ
(Jesus), Muhammad Mustafâ (’alaihimu ’s-salâtu wa ’s-salâm).
Twenty-five of these Prophets, with the exception of Shîs
(’alaihis-salâm), are named in Qur’ân al-kerîm. The names of
’Uzair, Luqmân and Dhu ’l-qarnain are also mentioned in
Qur’ân al-kerîm. Some ’ulâmâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna said that
these three, and Tubba’ and Hidir, were prophets, while some
said they were Awliyâ’.
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Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm) is Habîb-Allah (Allah’s Most
Beloved). Ibrâhîm (’alaihi ’s-salâm) is Khalîl-Allah (the Beloved
of Allah). Mûsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) is Kalîm-Allah (one with whom
Allah spoke). ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) is Rûh-Allah (one whom
Allah created without a father). Âdam (’alaihi ’s-salâm) is Safî-
Allah (one whose fault was forgiven by Allah). Nûh (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
is Najî-Allah (one whom Allah saved from danger).
These six prophets are superior to other prophets. They are
called Ulu ’l-’azm. The most superior of all is Muhammad
(’alaihi ’s-salâm).
Allâhu ta’âlâ sent one hundred suhuf (pl. of sahîfa, booklet)
and four books down to the earth. All of them were brought by
Jabrâ’îl (’alaihi ’s-salâm). Ten suhuf descended to Âdam (’alaihi
’s-salâm), fifty suhuf to Shîs (’alaihi ’s-salâm), thirty suhuf to
Idrîs (’alaihi ’s-salâm), and ten suhuf to Ibrâhîm (’alaihi ’ssalâm).
[Sahîfa, (in this context), means ‘a small book’, ‘a
booklet’. It does not mean ‘one face of a sheet of paper’, which
we know]. Of the four books, the Tawrât esh-sherîf [Torah]
was sent to Mûsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm), the Zabûr esh-sherîf [the
original Psalms] to Dâwûd (’alaihi ’s-salâm), the Injîl esh-sherîf
[latin ‘Evangelium’] to ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and Qur’ân al-kerîm
to the Last Prophet, Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm).
During the time of Nûh (’alaihi ’s-salâm) the Flood took place
and water covered the entire world. All people and animals on
the earth were drowned. But the Believers who were on board
with him were rescued. Nûh (’alaihi ’s-salâm), when boarding
the ship, had taken one pair of every kind of animal, from which
today’s animals multiplied.
Nûh (’alaihi ’s-salâm) had his three sons on board the ship:
Sâm (Shem), Yâfas (Japheth) and Hâm (Ham). People on the
earth today are their descendants. For this reason, he is called
the Second Father.
Ibrâhîm (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was Ismâil’s and Is’hâq’s (alaihima
’s-salâm) father. Is’hâq (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was Ya’qûb’s father.
Ya’qûb (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was Yûsuf’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) father.
Ya’qûb (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was called “Isrâ’îl.” For this reason, his
sons and grandsons were called “Banî Isrâ’îl” (the Children of
Isrâ’îl). Banî Isrâ’îl increased in number and many of them
became prophets. Mûsâ, Hârûn, Dâwûd, Sulaimân, Zakariyyâ,
Yahyâ and ’Îsâ (alaihimu ’s-salâm) are among them. Sulaimân
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) was the son of Dâwûd (’alaihi ’s-salâm). Yahyâ
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(’alaihi ’s-salâm) was the son of Zakariyyâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm).
Hârûn (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was Mûsâ’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) brother.
The Arabs are the descendants of Ismâ’îl (’alaihi ’s-salâm), and
Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was an Arab.
Hûd (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was sent to the ’Âd tribe, Sâlih (’alaihi
’s-salâm) to the Thamûd tribe, and Mûsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was
sent to Banî Isrâ’îl. Also Hârûn, Dâwûd, Sulaimân, Zakariyyâ
and Yahyâ (’alaihimu ’s-salâm) were sent to Banî Isrâ’îl. Yet
none of them brought a new religion; they invited Banî Isrâ’îl to
Mûsâ’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) religion. Though the Zabûr was sent
down to Dâwûd (’alaihi ’s-salâm), it did not have
commandments, rules or ’ibâdât. It was full of sermons and
advice. Therefore, it did not abrogate or invalidate the Torah but
emphasized it, and this is why the religion of Mûsâ (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
lasted up to the time of ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm). When ’Îsâ
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) came, his religion abrogated that of Mûsâ
(’alaihi ’s-salâm); that is, the Torah became invalid. So it was no
longer permissible to follow Mûsâ’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) religion.
From then on it was necessary to follow ’Îsâ’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm)
religion until Muhammad’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) dispensation.
However, the majority of Banî Isrâ’îl did not believe ’Îsâ (’alaihi
’s-salâm) and persisted in following the Torah. Thus Jews and
Nasârâ separated. Those who believed ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm)
were called Nasârâ, who are today’s Christians. Those who
disbelieved ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and remained in disbelief and
heresy were called Yahûd (Jews). Jews still claim that they
follow Mûsâ’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) religion and read the Torah and
the Zabûr; the Nasârâ claim that they follow ’Îsâ’s (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
religion and read the Injîl. However, our master,
Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâtu wa ’s-salâm), the master of both
worlds and the prophet of all human beings and genies, was
sent as the prophet for all ’âlams (worlds of beings), and his
religion, Islam, invalidated all previous religions. Since this
religion will remain valid till the end of the world, it is not
permissible in any part of the world to be in any religion other
than his religion. No prophet will succeed him. We are, thanks
to Allâhu ta’âlâ, his Umma. Our religion is Islam.
Our Prophet, Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm), was born in
Mekka on the Monday morning of Rabî’ al-awwal 12, which
coincided with April 20, 571 (mîlâdî). He passed away in
Medina in the 11th year of the Hegira (m. 632). At the age 40,
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the angel called Jabrâ’il (’alaihi ’s-salâm) revealed to him his
prophethood. He emigrated (hijra) from Mekka to Medina in
622; his arrival at the Kubâ village near Medina on Monday,
September 20, marks the beginning of the Muslims’ Hijrî
Shamsî (solar) calendar,[1] while Muharram 1 of the same year
marks the beginning of the Qamarî (lunar) calendar.
We believe in all prophets. All of them were prophets sent by
Allâhu ta’âlâ. Yet, when Qur’ân al-kerîm descended, all other
religions were abrogated. Therefore, it is not permissible to
follow any of them. Christians also believe in all past prophets,
yet since they do not believe in the fact that Muhammad (’alaihi
’s-salâm) is the prophet for all mankind, they remain in disbelief
and diverge from the truth. As for Jews, since they do not
believe ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) either, they remain twice as far
from Islam.
Since Jews and Christians believe that their present
interpolated books are the same today as they were when they
were sent down from heaven, they are called ahl al-kitâb
(disbelievers with heavenly books). It is permissible [but
makrûh] to eat the animals they slaughter [if they mention the
name of Allâhu ta’âlâ as they slaughter them] and to marry their
daughters with nikâh.[2] Polytheists (mushriks) and apostates
(murtads) who do not believe in any prophet or book are called
“disbelievers without a heavenly book.” Mulhids, too, are said
to be in the same group. It is not permissible to marry their
daughters or to eat the animals they slaughter.
’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) chose twelve of his companions to
disseminate his religion after him; each of them was called a
hawârî [apostle, le Apôrte, Apostel]. They were Sham’ûn
[Simon], Peter, [Petros], Johanna [Johannes], the elder Ya’qûb,
Andreas [Andrew, Peter’s brother], Philippus, Thomas,
Bartholomew [Bartholomaus], Matiyyâ [Matthew], the younger
Ya’qûb, Barnabas, Yahûdâ [Judas] and Thaddaeus [Jakobi].
Yahûdâ became an apostate and Matyas [Matthias] took his
[1] The Persian Shamsî year begins six months before this, that is, on the
twentieth of March, which is the day of the Magian festival.
[2] It is not permissible for Muslim girls to marry them. If a girl intends to
marry a disbeliever, she will have slighted Allâhu ta’âlâ’s religion.
Those who slight Islam become proselytes. Therefore, such a marriage
will be one between two disbelievers.
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place. Petros was the chief of the apostles. These twelve
believers, after ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) had ascended to heaven at
the age of thirty-three, propagated his religion. Yet the true
teachings of the religion sent by Allâhu ta’âlâ could hold on only
for eighty years. Later, Paul’s fibbed doctrines spread out
everywhere. Paul was a Jew and did not believe in ’Îsâ (’alaihi
’s-salâm). Yet, pretending to be a believer of ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
and introducing himself as a religious scholar, he said
that ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was the son of Allah. He fibbed some
other things and said that wine and pork were halâl. He turned
Nasârâ’s qibla from the Ka’ba to the East where the sun rises.
He said that Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Person (Dhât) was one and His
Attributes were three. These attributes were called uqnûm
(hypostases). The words of this Jewish hypocrite were inserted
into the earliest four books of the Bible (the Gospels), especially
into Luke’s book, and the Nasârâ parted into groups. Seventytwo
conflicting sects and books appeared. In the course of time,
most of these sects were forgotten and now they have only
three major sects left.
[’Abdullah ibn ’Abdullah at-Tarjumân, who had been a priest
on Majorca, one of the Spanish Balearic Islands, and who
changed his name after embracing Islam in Tunisia, writes:
“The four Gospels were written by Matthew, Luke, Mark and
John [Johanna]. They were the first books to defile the Injîl.
Matthew, a Palestinian, had seen ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) only in
the year of his ascent to heaven. Eight years later he wrote the
first gospel in which he narrated the extraordinary events
witnessed in Palestine when ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was born and
how his mother Hadrat Mariam took him to Egypt when the
Jewish King Herod wanted to kill her child. Hadrat Mariam
passed away six years after her son had ascended to heaven
and was buried in Jerusalem. Luke, who was from Antioch
(Antakya), never saw ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm). He was converted
to the religion of ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) by the hypocrite Paul long
after ’Îsâ’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) ascent to heaven. After being
imbued with the poisonous ideas of Paul, he wrote his gospel,
changing Allâhu ta’âlâ’s book (the Injîl) altogether. Mark, too,
accepted the religion of ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) after the
Ascension and wrote in Rome what he had heard from Petros
under the name of the Injîl. John was the son of ’Îsâ’s (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
aunt. He had seen ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) several times. In
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these four Gospels there are many incongruous passages.”[1]
In the two books Diyâ’ al-qulûb and Shams al-haqîqa by
Is’hâk Efendi of Harput, who died in 1309 (1892 A.D.); in the
Arabic book As-sirât al-mustaqîm by Haydarî-zâda Ibrâhîm
Fasîh, who died in 1299; in the Persian book Mîzân almawâzîn,
by Najaf Alî Tabrîzî, which was printed in Istanbul in
1288, and in the Arabic book Ar-radd al-Jamîl by al-Imâm al-
Ghazâlî, which was printed in Beirut in 1959, it is proven that
the present copies of the Bible have been interpolated.[2]
A Gospel written by Barnabas, who wrote precisely what he
saw and heard from ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm), was found and
published in English in Pakistan in 1973. It is written in Qâmûs
al-a’lâm: “Barnabas was one of the earliest apostles. He was a
son of Mark’s uncle. He was a Cypriot. He believed in ’Îsâ
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) soon after Paul came forward, with whom he
travelled to Anatolia and Greece. He was martyred in Cyprus in
the year 63. He wrote a Gospel and some other booklets. He is
memorialized on the eleventh of June by Christians.”
Christian religious officials are called clergymen. The highest
ranking Orthodox clergyman is the Patriarch. Clergymen of an
intermediate grade are called pastors. Those who read the
Bible are called qissîs (gospellers). Above the qissîs are uskufs
(presbyters), who act as muftîs. Uskufs of higher grades are
bishops, above whom are archbishops or metropolitans, who
act as qâdîs (judges). Those who conduct the ritual prayers in
church are called jâselîk (cleric), below whom are the curés or
the shammâs (deacons), and those who serve in church are
called eremites (hermits) or shamâmisa (coenobites), who also
act as muezzins. Those who have devoted themselves to
worship are called monks. Head of Catholics is the Pope (father
of fathers) in Rome. His advisory prelates are called cardinals.
All these men of religious authority of the past forgot the
Oneness of Allâhu ta’âlâ. They invented the Trinity. After some
time, in the era of the Roman Emperor Claudius II (215-271),
[1] Tuhfat al-arîb fi ’r-raddi ’alâ ahli ’s-salîb, by ’Abdullah ibn ’Abdullah at-
Tarjumân. He wrote this Arabic work in 823 (1420 A.D.), which was
printed in London in 1290 (1872 A.D.) and in Istanbul in 1401 (1981
A.D.), and it was later translated into Turkish.
[2] A photostatic reproduction of the last three books was produced by
Hakîkat Kitâbevi in 1986.
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Yûnus Shammâs, the Patriarch of Antioch, declared the
Oneness of Allâhu ta’âlâ. He brought many people round to the
right course. Yet later priests succeeding him relapsed to
worshipping three gods. Constantine the Great (274-337)
introduced idolatry into the religion of ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm). In
325, he convened 318 priests in a spiritual council in Nicea
(Iznik) and made up a new Christian religion. In this council, a
presbyter named Arius said that Allâhu ta’âlâ is one and ’Îsâ
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) is His creature. Yet, Alexandrius, chief of the
council and the then Patriarch of Alexandria, dismissed him
from the church. Constantine the Great declared that Arius was
a disbeliever and established the principles of the Malakâiyya
(Melchite) sect; this fact is written in the book Al-milal wa ’nnihal
and in a history book by Jirjis Ibn al-’Amîd, a Byzantine
Greek historian who lived through 601-671 A.H. (1205-1273,
Damascus). In 381, a second council was held in
Constantinople (Istanbul), and Makdonius was accused of
blasphemy because he had said that ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) is not
the Rûh al-quds [the Holy Ghost] but he is a creature. In 395,
the Roman Empire split into two. In 421, a third council was
held in Constantinople to scrutinize a book by Nestorius, the
Patriarch of Constantinople, who said, “Îsâ was a man. He
cannot be worshipped. There exist only the two uqnûms. Allah
is one. Of His attributes Existence, Life and Knowledge, the
attribute ‘Life’ is the Rûh al-quds; the attribute ‘Knowledge’
penetrated into ’Îsâ and he became a god. Mariam was not the
mother of a god. She was the mother of a man. ’Îsâ was the son
of Allah.” These ideas of his were accepted. The sect of
Nestorius spread in oriental countries. Those who were in this
sect were called Nestûrîs (Nestorians). In 431, a fourth council
was held in Ephesus, where Dioscorus’s ideas were accepted
and Nestorius (d. 439, Egypt) was accused of blasphemy.
Twenty years later, 734 priests assembled at a fifth council in
Kadıköy in 451, and the writings of Dioscorus, the Patriarch of
Alexandria, were repudiated. Dioscorus’s ideas, which were
based on ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) being a god, formed the
Monophysite, which was also called the Ya’qûbiyya sect,
derived from the real name of Dioscorus, Ya’qûb (Jacob).
Mercianus, the Byzantine emperor of the time, announced the
decision of repudiation everywhere. Dioscorus fled and
preached his beliefs in Jerusalem and Egypt. His followers
- 13 -
worship ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm). Today’s Suryânîs (Syriac
speaking Christians) and Maronites in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon
belong to the Ya’qûbiyya sect.
The sect accepted in the Kadıköy council and ratified by
King Mercianus is called Malakâiya (Melchite). It is similar to the
sect accepted in the first ecumenical council held in Nicea.
Their chief is the Patriarch of Antioch. They term the attributes
Knowledge and Life as “Kalima” (Word) and “Rûh al-quds” (the
Holy Ghost), respectively, which are called ‘uqnûm’ when they
unite with man. They have three gods: ‘Father’, the uqnûm of
existence, is one of them; Jesus is the ‘Son’; Mary (Mariam) is a
goddess. They call ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) Jesus Christ.
The seventy-two Christian sects are described in detail in
the Arabic book Izhâr ul-haqq and in the Turkish book Diyâ’ ulqulûb.[
1]
All these sects were loyal to the Pope in Rome until 446
[1054 A.D.]. All of them were called Catholic. In 1054, Michael
Cirolarius, Patriarch of Constantinople, broke away from the
Pope and began to administer the Eastern churches
independently. These churches are called Orthodox. They
follow the Ya’qûbiyya sect. In 923 (1517 A.D.), the German
priest Luther revolted against the Pope in Rome and a number
of churches followed him. They are called Protestants.]
As it is seen, most Christians are baser than Jews, and they
will be punished more severely in the Hereafter because they
both disbelieve Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and trespass
against the subject of Ulûhiyya (Divinity); they believe in the
Trinity and worship ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and his mother Hadrat
[1] Izhâr al-haqq was printed in Arabic in Istanbul in 1280 (1864 A.D.). In
this book, Rahmatullah Efendi of India (rahmat-Allâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), who
passed away in Mekka in 1306 A.H., writes in detail about the
discussions he had with Christian priests in India in 1270 and in
Istanbul later, and tells how he silenced them. Comments on these
discussions were added in the Istanbul impression of the Persian book
Saif al-abrâr. Izhâr al-haqq has two parts: the first part, which was
translated into Turkish by Nüzhet Efendi, the Chief Secretary of the
Ministry of Education, was printed with the title Îzâh al-haqq in Istanbul;
the second part was translated into Turkish by Seyyid Ömer Fehmi bin
Hasan in 1292 A.H. and was printed with the title Ibrâz al-haqq in
Bosnia in 1293 (1876 A.D.). Diyâ’ al-qulûb by Is’haq Efendi of Harput
was translated into English with the title Could Not Answer (in Istanbul
in 1990).
- 14 -
Mariam and divinize them; they also eat maita flesh.[2] As for
Jews, they reject two prophets; but they know that Allâhu ta’âlâ
is one, and they do not eat maita flesh. Nevertheless, Jews are
more hostile towards Islam. Although a few Jews became
polytheists like Christians by saying, “’Uzair (Ezra) was Allah’s
son,” they are all called ahl al-kitâb. The Orthodox, Catholics
and Protestants read different versions of the Bible and claim
that they follow ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm). However, each sect has
many conflicting principles on creed and practice. All of them
are called Nasârâ, Christians or ahl al-kitâb. Jews think of
themselves as being in Mûsâ’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) religion.[1]
When our Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâtu wa sallam) honoured the
Hereafter with his presence in the eleventh year of the Hegira,
Abû Bakr as-Siddîq (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) became the Khalîfa,
who, 13 years after the Hegira, passed away at the age of sixtythree.
After him, ’Umar al-Fârûq (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) became the
Khalîfa. He was martyred at the age of sixty-three, in 23 of the
Hegira. After him, ’Uthmân Dhu’n-Nûrain (radiy-Allâhu ’anh)
became the Khalîfa. He was martyred at the age of eighty-two,
in the year 35 after the Hegira. Then, ’Alî (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ
’anh) became the Khalîfa. He was martyred in 40 A.H. when he
was sixty-three. These four Khalîfas are called al-Khulafâ’ arrâshidîn.
Exactly as in the ’Asr as-Sa’âdâ, the rules (ah’kâm) of
the Sharî’a were carried out and righteousness, justice and
freedom flourished everywhere during their caliphates. Rules of
the Sharî’a were carried out without any misapplications. These
four Khalîfas were the most exalted among all the as-Sahâbat
al-kirâm (’alaihimu ’r-ridwân) and their superiority to one another
was as in the order of the sequence of their caliphates.
In the time of Abû Bekr ‘radiy-allâhu anh’ Muslims went out
of the Arabian Peninsula. They suppressed the tumults that had
broken out in the peninsula, and struggled for the suppression
of proselytes. After our Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam)
honoured the Hereafter with his presence, rebellions broke out
[2] Islam prescribes who to kill an edible animal. When it is not killed in the
prescibed manner, its flesh becomes maita, i.e. not edible.
[1] In 1954, the population of the world was 2.444 billion. There were 322
million Muslims, 800 million Christians (128 million the Orthodox, 470
million Catholics and 202 million Protestants), 11 million Jews, and
1.311 billion polytheists and unbelievers, who did not believe in any
heavenly book or any prophet.
- 15 -
on the Arabian Peninsula. Abû Bakr (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) quelled
the rebellions and struggled to correct the apostates during his
caliphate and re-established Muslim unity as had been the case
during the ’Asr-as-Sa’âda. ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anh), when he
became the Khalîfa, delivered a speech:
“O Companions of the Messenger! ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ
’anhum ajma’în’. Arabia can supply only the barley for your
horses. Yet, Allâhu ta’âlâ has promised His Beloved (the
Prophet) that He would give Muhammad’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm)
Umma lands and homes in all parts of the world. Where are the
soldiers to conquer those countries promised and to attain
booties in this world and honours of ghâzî and martyr in the
Hereafter? Where are the ghâzîs who will sacrifice their lives
and heads and leave their homes to rescue the human slaves
of Allâhu ta’âlâ from the paws of the cruel for the sake of
Islam?”. With these words, he encouraged the Sahâbat al-kirâm
(’alaihimu ’r-ridwân) to go for jihâd and ghazâ. It was this
speech of ’Umar’s (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) that prompted the rapid
enlargement of Islamic countries on three continents and the
purification of millions of people from disbelief. Upon this
speech, the Sahâbat al-kirâm (’alaihimu ’r-ridwân) took a
unanimous oath to make jihâd and to fight for Islam until death.
With armed forces organized as the Khalîfa had commanded,
Muslims left their homes and went out of Arabia and settled
everywhere. Many of them did not come back and struggled till
death where they had gone. Thus many countries were
conquered in a short time. In those days, there were two great
empires: the Byzantine and the Persian. Muslims overcame
both. Especially, the Persian Empire collapsed altogether, and
all her lands came into Muslims’ possession. Inhabitants of
these countries, being blessed with the honour of becoming
Muslims, attained peace in this world and endless bliss in the
Hereafter. During the times of ’Uthmân and ’Alî (radiy-Allâhu
’anhumâ), too, Muslims dedicated themselves to ghazâ.
Nonetheless, during the caliphate of ’Uthmân (radiy-Allâhu ’anh)
some people rose against the Khalîfa and martyred him. During
the time of ’Alî (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) the Khârijî tumults arose.
Differences among the Muslims commenced. And, since the
greatest source of conquest and victory was unanimous unity,
during their caliphates not so much land was conquered as had
been the case during the time of ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anh).
- 16 -
The era of al-Khulafâ ar-râshidîn lasted thirty years. These
thirty years, like the time of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm),
passed in prosperity. After them, many bid’as and wrong paths
appeared among Muslims and many people dissented from the
right way. Only those who believed and adapted themselves to
the Sharî’a exactly as the Sahâbat al-kirâm (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ
’anhum ajma’în) had done were saved. Their way is that of Ahl
as-Sunnat wa’l-Jamâ’a. This is the only correct way. The way
which our Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and his companions
followed was the way which is shown by the scholars of the Ahl
as-Sunna (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în). The wrong ways
were forgotten in the course of time, and most Muslim countries
today follow this correct way. Of those which were not
compatible with the Ahl as-Sunnat wa ’l-Jamâ’a, there is only
the Shî’ite group left. The Shî’ites claim, “The Caliphate was
’Alî’s (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) right and Abu Bakr and ’Umar (radiy-
Allâhu ta’âlâ anhumâ) deprived him of his right by force,” and
they slander most of the Sahâbat al-kirâm. [Today, those who
are called Muslims and are known as the al-Ummat al-
Muhammadiyya are almost entirely composed of the Ahl as-
Sunna, the Shî’ites and the Wahhâbîs].[1]
The Ahl as-Sunna, with respect to fiqh (actions, ’ibâdât),
consists of four Madhhabs. The first one, the Hanafî Madhhab,
was founded by al-Imâm al-a’zam Abu Hanîfa Nu’mân ibn
Thâbit (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh). ‘Hanîf’ means ‘a person who
believes correctly, who clings to Islam.’ ‘Abu Hanîfa’ means ‘the
father of true Muslims.’ Al-Imâm al-a’zam did not have a
daughter named ‘Hanîfa.’ The second of the four Madhhabs of
the Ahl as-Sunna is the Mâlikî Madhhab of Imâm Mâlik ibn
Anas (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh). The third one is the Shâfi’î
Madhhab of Imâm Muhammed ibn Idrîs ash-Shâfi’î
(rahmatullâhi ’aleyh). Hadrat Shâfî’, a Sahâbî, was the
grandfather of the Imâm’s grandfather. That was why he and his
Madhhab were called Shâfi’î. The fourth one is the Hanbalî
Madhhab of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh). [As is
written in the preface of Radd al-mukhtâr by Ibn ’Âbidîn, these
four imâms were born in the hijrî years 80, 90, 150 (767 mîlâdî)
and 164 and passed away in 150, 179, 204 and 241,
[1] Those zindîqs who are called Ahmadiyya (Qâdiyânîs) and Bahâ’îs have
no connection with Islam. Both groups are disbelievers.
- 17 -
respectively.]
With respect to i’tiqâd (beliefs), these four Madhhabs are not
different from one another. All of them belong to the Ahl as-
Sunna and their beliefs and the basis of their religion are the
same. These four Imâms of the Muslims were great mujtahids
recognized and believed by everybody. Yet they disagreed with
one another in some small affairs with respect to actions (the
Sharî’a).
Because Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Prophet (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ
’alaihi wa-salam) pitied Muslims, it was not declared clearly in
Qur’ân al-kerîm and Hadîth ash-sherîf how some actions should
be done.[1] These actions had to be done by comparing them to
those declared clearly. Among religious scholars, those who are
capable of understanding how such actions are to be done after
comparing them were called mujtahid. It was wâjib, that is, it
was commanded in Qur’ân al-kerîm and Hadîth ash-sherîf for a
mujtahid to strive with his utmost energy to find out how an
action is to be done and, for him and for those who follow him,
to perform it in accordance with his deduction or choice
(ijtihâd), which, he thought, was most probably the right
solution. A mujtahid’s mistake in exploring the way of doing an
action will not be regarded as a sin, and he will be rewarded in
the Hereafter for his efforts, for man is commanded to work as
much as he can. If he erred, he will be given one reward for his
efforts. If he discovered what was correct, he will be rewarded
ten times as much. All the Sahâbat al-kirâm (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ
’anhum ajma’în) were great scholars, that is, mujtahids. Among
those who lived immediately after them, there were many great
scholars capable of ijtihâd, and each of them was followed by
very many people. With the passage of time, most of them were
forgotten, and among the Ahl as-Sunna, only the four
Madhhabs survived. Afterwards, lest someone might come forth
and pretend to be a mujtahid and make up a heretical group,
the Ahl as-Sunna did not follow any Madhhab other than these
four. Millions of people among the Ahl as-Sunna followed one of
these four Madhhabs. Since the beliefs of these four Madhhabs
[1] If they had been declared clearly, it would have been fard or sunna to do
them exactly as they were declared. Those who would not do the fard
would be sinful and those who would slight them would become non-
Muslims; life would be very difficult for Muslims.
- 18 -
are the same, they do not consider one another wrong, nor do
they regard one another as holders of bid’at or heretics. After
saying that the right way is the way of these four Madhhabs, a
Muslim thinks that his own Madhhab is more likely to be correct.
Since Islam does not reveal clearly how the actions that are to
be determined through ijtihâd should be done, it is possible for
one’s own Madhhab to be wrong and the remaining three
Madhhabs to be right, and it is better for everyone to say, “The
Madhhab I follow is right, but it may be wrong as well; the other
three Madhhabs are wrong, but they may be right as well.”
Thus, if there is no kharâj (compelling necessity), it is not
permissible to mix the four Madhhabs with one another by doing
one thing according to one Madhhab and another thing
according to another. A person has to adapt himself in every
respect to the Madhhab he follows by learning its teachings
when there is no haraj.[1]
Most scholars said that the Hanafî Madhhab was closer to
being right. Therefore, this Madhhab settled in most Muslim
countries. Almost all Muslims in Turkistan, India and Anatolia
are Hanafîs. Western Africa is wholely Mâlikî. There are Mâlikîs
in some coastal regions of India. Among the Kurds and in
Egypt, Arabia and Daghistan, Shafi’îs are numerous. Hanbalîs
are few; at one time there were many in Damascus and
Baghdad.
The Al-adillat ash-Shar’iyya (documents, sources of Islam)
consists of four parts: Qur’ân al-kerîm, al-Hadîth ash-sherîf,
ijmâ’ al-Umma and qiyâs al-fuqahâ’.
When mujtahids could not see in Qur’ân al-kerîm clearly how
an action is to be done, they would resort to Hadîth ash-sherîf.
If they could not find it clearly in Hadîth ash-sherîf, either, they
would declare that the action should be done in accordance
with the ijmâ’ on that action, if there had been any.[2]
[1] Yet, in case of haraj (utter difficulty, impossibility of doing an action in
accordance with his own Madhhab), it is permissible for him to follow
another Madhhab in this matter. And this brings about some conditions.
He has to observe the conditions of the latter Madhhab concerning the
affair when making use of this option. It is written in Ibni Âbidîn, in the
chapter headlined Nikâh-i-rij’î, that the scholars of Hanafî Madhhab
have issued a fatwâ permitting to imitate Mâlikî Madhhab in such
cases.
[2] Ijmâ’ means ‘unanimity, consensus; all of the Sahâbat al-kirâm’s
- 19 -
If the way of doing an action could not be found through the
ijmâ’, either, then it would be necessary to follow the qiyâs of
mujtahids. Imâm Mâlik (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) said that, besides
these four documents, the unanimity of the inhabitants of al-
Madînat al-munawwara of that time was a document. He said,
“Their tradition [unanimity] was handed down from their fathers,
from their grandfathers, and originally from Rasûlullah (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam).” He said that this document was more
dependable than qiyâs. Yet, the imâms of the other there
Madhhabs did not consider the inhabitants of Medina a source
for documentation.
There were two methods for ijtihâd. One was the method
of the ’ulamâ’ of Iraq, called the way of ra’y (choice) or the way
of qiyâs (comparison): if it was not declared clearly in Qur’ân alkerîm
or Hadîth ash-sherîf how to do an action, another action
that was clearly expressed in Qur’ân al-kerîm or Hadîth ashsherîf
and which was similar to the action in question would be
searched for. When it was found, the action in question would
be compared to it and done in a similar way. After the Sahâbat
al-kirâm, the leader of the mujtahids of this way was Imâm ala’zam
Abu Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh).
The second way was the way of the ’ulamâ’ of Hidjâz, called
the way of riwâya (tradition). They considered the traditions of
the inhabitants of al-Madînat al-munawwara superior to qiyâs.
The greatest of the mujtahids of this way was Imâm Mâlik
(rahmatullâhi ’aleyh), who lived in al-Madînat al-munawwara. Al-
Imâm ash-Shâfi’î and Imâm Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’alaihimâ) attended his sohbats. Al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î, after
learning the way of Imâm Mâlik, went to Baghdad and learned
the way of al-Imâm al-a’zam (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) from his
disciples and united these two methods. He established a new
approach for ijtihâd. Becasue he was a very eloquent and
literary man, he understood the context of âyats and hadîths
and decided on each action in accordance with an alternative
he found more emphatic. When he could not find an alternative
strong enough, he himself employed ijtihâd according to the
commenting on or doing an action in the same manner.’ The ijmâ’ of
the Tâbi’ûn, who succeeded the Sahâbat al-kirâm, also is a document.
What the people who succeeded them did or said is not ijmâ’,
especially if they are today’s people or religion reformers or religiously
ignorant people.
- 20 -
way of qiyâs. Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh),
too, went to Baghdad after learning the way of Imâm Mâlik
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh). There, he acquired a method of
qiyâs from the disciples of al-Imâm al-a’zam (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh). Yet, because he had memorized a great many hadîths,
he employed ijtihâd first by examining the way whereby hadîths
corroborated one another. Thus, he disagreed with the other
three Madhhabs on many points concerning the rules of the
Sharî’a.
The case of these four Madhhabs is similar to that of the
inhabitants of a town, the notables of which, when they
encounter a new problem they cannot find in the law, assemble
together and solve it by comparing it to a conformable
paragraph of the law. Sometimes they cannot come to a mutual
agreement. Some of them say that the purpose of the State is
maintenance of towns for the comfort of the people. By
reasoning and observing, they solve a problem by using the
analogy between that case and a similar case which is defined
directly in an article of the law. This procedure is like the Hanafî
Madhhab. Others observe the behaviour of the officials coming
from the capital and imitate them in this respect. They say that
their behavior indicates the intention of the State. This method
is like the Mâlikî Madhhab. Some others find out the way of
doing an affair by studying the expressions and context of the
law. They are similar to the Shâfi’î Madhhab. And some decide
the way of doing an affair correctly by gathering the other
articles of the law and comparing them with one another. They
are like the Hanbalî Madhhab. Thus, each of the notables of the
town finds a solution and says that his solution is correct and
compatible with the law. But what the law approves of is only
one of the four, and the other three are wrong. Yet their
disagreement with the law is not out of their intention to oppose
the law; they strive to carry out the orders of the State.
Therefore, none of them is to be regarded guilty. They are likely
to be appreciated for striving hard. But those who find out what
is right will be appreciated more, and they will be rewarded. The
case of the four Madhhabs is of this sort. The way Allâhu ta’âlâ
likes is certainly only one of them. In an affair on which the four
Madhhabs disagree with one another, one of them must be
right and the other three wrong. But, since each imâm almadhhab
endeavoured to find out the right way, those who
- 21 -
were wrong will be forgiven. They will even be rewarded,
because our Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) said, “There
is no punishment for my Umma due to mistakes or
forgetfulness.” These differences among them only concern
some insignificant affairs. Since there was complete agreement
among them concerning beliefs and on most of the ’ibâdât, that
is, the rules that are openly stated in Qur’ân al-kerîm and
Hadîth ash-sherîf, they did not criticize one another.
[Question: “Wahhâbîs and those who read their books say.
‘The Madhhabs appeared in the second century of the Hegira.
To which Madhhab did the Sahâba and the Tâbi’ûn belong?’ ”
Answer: An ‘imâm al-madhhab’ was a great scholar who
collected religious knowledge that he acquired from the
Sahâba-t-al-kirâm and which was clearly stated in Qur’ân alkerîm
and Hadîth ash-sherîf, and committed it to books. As for
the teachings that were not declared clearly, he would examine
them by comparing them to the ones declared clearly. “There
were also many other imâms each having his own Madhhab
during the time of the well-known four imâms. But those who
followed them decreased in number over the centuries, and, as
a result, none are left today.”[1] Each Sahabî was a mujtahîd, a
profound ’âlim, and an imâm al-madhhab. Each had his own
Madhhab and was more exalted and learned than the four
a’immat al-madhâhib. Their Madhhabs could have been more
correct and superior. Yet, because they did not write books,
their Madhhabs were forgotten. It soon became no longer
possible to follow any Madhhab other than the four. Saying, “To
which Madhhab did the Sahâba belong?” is like saying, “To
which squadron does the colonel belong?” or, “To which class
of the school does the physics master belong?”]
It is written in many books that four hundred years after the
Hegira there were no longer any scholars capable of performing
mutlaq (absolute) ijtihâd. The hadîth ash-sherîf on the 318th
page of Al-hadîqa states that false, heretical men of religious
post will increase in number. For this reason, every Sunnî
Muslim today has to follow (taqlîd) one of the known four
Madhhabs. That is, he has to read and adopt the ’ilm al-hâl
books of one of these four Madhhabs and have îmân and do all
his actions in accordance with these books. Thus, he will
[1] Al-hadîqa, p. 318
- 22 -
become a member of one of these Madhhabs. A person who
does not follow one of them cannot be a Sunnî but a lâmadhhabî
person, who either belongs to one of the seventytwo
heretical groups or has become a non-Muslim.[2]
The author of the book Mîzân-ul kubrâ (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh) writes in its preface: “All the forgotten Madhhabs and the
present four are sahîh and valid. None of them is superior to
any other, because they all depend on the same sources of
Islam. Each Madhhab has those things which are easy to do
(rukhsa) as well as difficult ones (’azîma). If a person, though
he can do the ’azîma, tries to do the rukhsa instead, he will
have made a game of Islam. He who has an excuse [unable to
do the ’azîma] may do the rukhsa. His doing the rukhsa
deserves as much thawâb as would be the case if he had done
the ’azîma. It is wâjib for an able person to do the ’azîma
instead of the rukhsa of his own Madhhab. Furthermore, if some
action which has an easy way only in his own Madhhab has
also a difficult way in another Madhhab, it will be wâjib for him
to do the latter. One should very much avoid disliking the words
of any of the a’immat al-madhâhib or hold one’s own opinion
superior to theirs. Others’ knowledge and comprehension are
next to nothing when compared with those of mujtahids.”[1]
Since it is not permissible for a person who has no excuse to
act in accordance with the rukhsa of his own Madhhab, it is
understood that it is never permissible to search for the rukhsas
of other Madhhabs, which is called the talfîq of Madhhabs.
The author of the book Durr-ul-mukhtâr (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh) says in its preface and also it is said in Radd-ulmukhtâr,
an annotation book to Durr-ul-mukhtâr, “It is not sahîh
to look for the rukhsas of the Madhhabs and to do an ’ibâda in
accordance with them. For example, if the skin of a Shâfi’’î with
an ablution bleeds, his ablution does not break, while bleeding
breaks the ablution of a Hanafî; on the other hand, a Shâfi’î’s
ablution breaks if a nâ-mahram woman’s skin touches his skin,
though it does not break according to the Hanafî Madhhab.
[2] This fact is written in Bahr, Hindiyya, in the section on “Zabâyih” of at-
Tahtâwî and in the section on “Bâghîs” of Radd al-mukhtâr.
Furthermore, it is written on page 52 of Al-basâ’ir that the tafsîr by
Ahmad Sâwî states that the same is written in the Sûrat al-Kahf.
[1] Al-mîzân al-kubrâ, preface.
- 23 -
Therefore, if a person’s skin bleeds and touches a nâ-mahram
woman’s skin after he has made an ablution, the salât he
performs with such an ablution is not sahîh. Likewise, it is bâtil
(invalid, wrong) to follow another Madhhab while doing
something according to a Madhhab. For example, if a dog
touches a Shâfi’î who, according to his Madhhab, rubs lightly
his wet hands on a small area of the hairy part of his own head
when performing an ablution, it will not be sahîh for him to
perform salât [without washing the surface the dog has
touched] by also following the Mâlikî Madhhab. The salât of a
person whom a dog has touched will not be sahîh according to
the Shâfi’î Madhhab. However, according to the Mâlikî
Madhhab, a dog is not religiously impure (najs), but one has to
rub his wet hands on the entire hairy part of his head (when
making ablution). Similarly, divorce given under duress is sahîh
in the Hanafî Madhhab, but it is not sahîh in the other three
Madhhabs. Therefore, it is not permissible for this person to
follow the Shâfi’î Madhhab and go on being married with the
woman whom he has divorced while remaining married at the
same time to her sister by following the Hanafî Madhhab. It is
not sahîh, according to the unanimity of the ’ulamâ’ to make
talfiq in doing an act, that is, to search for the rukhsas of the
Madhhabs and to act in accordance with them. It is not
permissible to do something without following one of the four
Madhhabs.”[1] Furthermore, “It is permissible in the Shâfi’î
Madhhab to perform the early and late afternoon prayers
together and the night and evening prayers together when there
is an excuse, such as travelling and hard rain. It is not
permissible in the Hanafî Madhhab. It is harâm if a Hanafî,
when he is travelling, performs the early afternoon prayer in the
time of the late afternoon prayer without any pressing
circumstance or difficulty to do so; it is never sahîh for him to
perform the late afternoon prayer in the time of the early
afternoon prayer. But both cases are sahîh in the Shâfi’î
Madhhab. When there is a great difficulty (haraj, mashaqqa) in
doing something (e.g. an ’ibâda) according to one’s own
Madhhab, it is permissible for him to choose the easy way
(rukhsa) of doing that thing in his own Madhhab. If there is
difficulty in doing the rukhsa, too, it will be permissible to follow
[1] Durr al-mukhtâr, preface, and Radd al-muhtâr, annotation to it.
- 24 -
another Madhhab for that particular ’ibâda. But then he will
have to perform the fard and wâjib actions pertaining to that
’ibâda in the second Madhhab.”[2] A person who imitates
another Madhhab when doing an act or ’ibâda does not go out
of his Madhhab; he has not changed his Madhhab. Only, while
doing that act, he has to observe the principles of the other
Madhhab, too.
Ibn ’Abidîn (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) writes: “If a Hanafî
who has performed an ablution without formally intending to
perform an ablution performs the early afternoon prayer with
this ablution, it will be permissible; if he becomes a Shâfi’î after
the arrival of the time for the late afternoon prayer and performs
the late afternoon prayer with this ablution, it will not be sahîh.
He has to intend formally to perform an ablution and perform an
ablution again.[3]
“If a person changes his Madhhab for worldly considerations
without any religious necessity or without a necessity pertaining
to knowledge, he makes a game of Islam. He must be
punished. It is feared that he may die without îmân. Allâhu
ta’âlâ declared: ‘Ask those who know.’ For this reason, it
became wâjib to ask a mujtahid, that is, to follow a Madhhab.
Following a Madhhab is possible either by saying what one’s
Madhhab is or, without saying, by intending to be in it with one’s
heart. To follow a Madhhab means to read, learn and act
according to the teachings of the imâm al-madhhab. One
cannot join a Madhhab by saying, ‘I am Hanafî,’ or ‘I am Shâfi’î,’
without learning or knowing it. Such people should learn how to
perform ’ibâdât from religious masters and from ’ilm al-hâl
books.[1]
“A person who despises the Madhhabs and changes his
Madhhab in order to choose the easy ways of doing something
[that is, who unites the Madhhabs and selects and gathers their
rukhsas] will not be accepted as a witness.”[2]
Ibn ’Âbidîn states in his preface that Hârûn ar-Rashîd, the
Khalîfa, said to Imâm Mâlik, “I want to spread your books all
[2] ibid, section on times of salât.
[3] Radd al-muhtâr, v. II. p. 542. A formal intention is farz in the Shâfi’î
Madhhab, whereas it is not fard in the Hanafî.
[1] Radd ul-mukhtâr, section on ta’zîr.
[2] ibid, section on witness.
- 25 -
over Muslim countries and order everybody to follow only these
books.” Imâm Mâlik replied, “O Khalîfa! Don’t do that! Scholars’
differing into Madhhabs is Allâhu ta’âlâ’s compassion upon the
Umma. Everyone follows the Madhhab he likes. All the
Madhhabs are correct.”
A ‘Mu’min’ or ‘Muslim’ or ‘Muslimân’ is one who believes
and accepts the Islamic teachings that were communicated to
humanity through Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm) by Allâhu ta’âlâ
and which have spread over Muslim countries. These teachings
were declared in Qur’ân al-kerîm and in thousands of hadîths.
The as-Sahâbat al-kirâm heard them from the Prophet (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam). The Salaf as-sâlihîn, that is, the
’ulamâ’ of Islam, who came after the Sahâbat al-kirâm in the
second and third centuries, wrote them in their books as they
heard them directly or through those who had heard them from
the Sahâbat al-kirâm. Islamic scholars who succeeded them
interpreted the knowledge reported by the Salaf as-sâlihîn
differently and differed from one another; thus, seventy-three
groups differing in the teachings pertaining to beliefs came into
being. Only one of these groups did not follow their own
thoughts and opinions or change or add anything in their
interpretation. This group with correct credo is called the Ahl
as-Sunna or Sunnî. The remaining seventy-two groups who
dissented as a result of wrong interpretation and explanation of
unclear ayâts and hadîths are called groups of bid’a (or dalâla,
deviation, heresy) or the lâ-madhhabî; they are Muslims, too,
but they are in heresy.
Some people, instead of deriving the knowledge of belief
from the books of the Salaf as-sâlihîn ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
alaihim ajma’în’, interpret Qur’ân al-kerîm and Hadîth ash-sherîf
in accordance with only their own minds and opinions; thus their
creed deviates completely and they become disbelievers called
mulhids. The mulhid thinks of himself as a sincere Muslim and
of the Umma of Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm). The munâfiq
introduces himself as a Muslim but is in another religion. The
zindîq is an atheist and does not believe in any religion, but
pretends to be a Muslim in order to make Muslims irreligious,
atheistic. He strives to make reforms in Islam and to annihilate
Islam by changing and defiling it. He is hostile to Islam. They
are much more harmful than Jews and Christians. And so are
freemasons.
- 26 -
The teachings that must be believed in order to be a Muslim
are not only the six tenets of îmân. To be a Muslim, it is also
obligatory to ‘believe’ that it is necessary to do the well-known
fards and to avoid and not to do the harâms. A person who
disbelieves the fact that it is one’s primary duty to do the fards
and to avoid the harâms loses his faith and becomes a
murtadd (renegade, apostate, proselyte). A person who
believes it but does not do one or more of the fards or commits
one or more of the harâms is a Muslim, but he is a guilty, sinful
Muslim. Such a Muslim is called a fâsiq. Doing the fards and
abstaining from the harâms are called “performing ’ibâdâ.” A
Muslim who tries to do the ’ibâdât and who repents immediately
when he has a fault is called sâlih.
Today, it is not excusable for a person who lives in the free
world not to know the six tenets of îmân and the well-known
fards and harâms. It is a grave sin not to learn them. It is
necessary to learn them briefly and to teach them to one’s
children. If one neglects to learn them as a result of flippancy,
one becomes a kâfir (disbeliever). Any non-Muslim who only
says, “’Ashhadu an lâ ilâha ill’Allâh wa ashhadu anna
Muhammadan ’abduhu wa Rasûluh,” and knows and
believes its meaning becomes a Muslim immediately. Yet, later
on he has to learn gradually the six tenets of îmân and the wellknown
fards and harâms for every Muslim, and Muslims who
know them should teach him. If he does not learn them he goes
out of Islam and becomes a murtadd. It is necessary to learn
them from genuine ’ilm al-hâl books written by the Ahl as-
Sunna scholars.
The i’tiqâd or îmân of the four true, correct Madhhabs is the
same. There is no difference between them in Islam. All of them
hold the beliefs of the Ahl as-Sunna. Those who do not believe
in the beliefs of the Ahl as-Sunna are called the people of bid’a,
i.e. the “lâ madhhabî.” They call themselves “members of the
fifth madhhab.” These words of theirs are not true. There is no
such thing as a “fifth madhhab.” Today there is no way other
than learning the knowledge pertaining to religion from the ’ilm
al-hâl books of one of these four Madhhabs. Everyone chooses
the Madhhab that is easy for him to follow. He reads its books
and learns it. He does everything compatibly with it, follows it,
and becomes a member of it (taqlîd). Because it is easy for a
person to learn what he hears and sees from his parents, a
- 27 -
Muslim usually belongs to the Madhhab of his parents. The
Madhhabs being not one but four is a facility for Muslims. It is
permissible to leave one Madhhab and join another, yet it will
take years to study and learn the new one, and the work done
for learning the former one will be of no use and may even
cause confusion while doing many things. It is by no means
permissible to leave one Madhhab because one dislikes it, for
Islamic scholars said that it will be disbelief (kufr) to dislike the
Salaf as-sâlihîn or to say that they were ignorant.
Recently some people like Maudoodi of Pakistan and Sayyid
Qutb and Rashîd Ridâ of Egypt have appeared. They and those
who have been deceived by reading their books say that the
four Madhhabs should be united and that Islam should be made
easy by selecting and gathering the rukhsas of the four
Madhhabs. They defend this idea with their short minds and
deficient knowledge. A glance over their books will show at
once the fact that they know nothing about tafsîr, hadîth, usûl or
fiqh, and that they reveal their ignorance through their unsound
logic and false writings. Consider the following:
1) The ’ulamâ’ of the four madhhabs say, “The mulfiq’s
deduction is incorrect,” that is, an ’ibâda performed by following
more than one Madhhab at the same time will be bâtil (invalid),
not sahîh, when this performance is not sahîh in any one of the
Madhhabs. A person who does not obey the unanimity of the
’ulamâ’ of the four Madhhabs (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim
ajma’în) will not be in any Madhhab. He will be a lâ madhhabî.
Deeds of such a lâ-madhhabî person will not be compatible with
Islam. They will be worthless. He will have made a game of
Islam.
2) Confining Muslims and their ’ibâdât to a single way will
make Islam more difficult. Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Prophet (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) would have declared everything clearly
if they wished it so and everything would be done by following
only that one way. But, pitying human creatures, Allâhu ta’âlâ
and His Messenger (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) did not
declare everything clearly. Various Madhhabs came out as a
result of the interpretations of the ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în). When a person
encounters some difficulty, he chooses an easy way in his own
Madhhab. In case of greater difficulty, he follows another
Madhhab and does that action easily. There would be no such
- 28 -
facility in case there were only one Madhhab. The lâ-madhhabî
who think that they are collecting the rukhsas to establish a
single system of easy ways are, in actual fact, inventing
difficulties for Muslims, probably without being aware of what
they are doing.
3) An attempt to do one part of an ’ibâda according to one
Madhhab and another part according to another Madhhab will
mean to mistrust the knowledge of the imâm of the former
Madhhab. As is written above, it will be kufr to say that the Salaf
as-sâlihîn (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în) were ignorant.
History has witnessed many people who wanted to make
changes in ’ibâdât and who insulted the ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-
Sunna (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în). It is obvious that
the people who say it is necessary to select the rukhsas of the
Madhhabs and to abolish the four Madhhabs cannot even
correctly read or understand one page of the a’immat almadhâhib’s
books. For, understanding the Madhhabs and the
superiority of the a’imma requires being deeply learned. A
person who is profoundly learned will not lead people to
ruination by opening an ignorant, stupid path. Believing the
ignorant and heretical people, who have appeared in the course
of history, leads one to perdition. Following the ’ulamâ’ of the
Ahl as-Sunna, who have come in every century for fourteen
hundred years and who have been praised in hadîths, guides to
happiness. We, too, should hold fast to the right way of our
ancestors, of those pious, pure Muslims, of those martyrs who
sacrificed their lives for the Name of Allâhu ta’âlâ and for the
promulgation of Islam. And we should not be deceived by the
poisonous, harmful articles of upstart reformers!
Unfortunately, the poisonous ideas of ’Abduh, the chief of
the Cairo Masonic Lodge, have recently spread in Jâmi’ al-
Azhar in Egypt; thus, in Egypt there have appeared religion
reformers such as Rashîd Ridâ; Mustafâ al-Marâghî, rector of
the Jâmi’ al-Azhar; ’Abd al-Majîd as-Salîm, muftî of Cairo;
Mahmûd ash-Shaltut; Tantawî al-Jawharî; ’Abd ar-Râziq Pasha;
Zakî al-Mubârak; Farîd al-Wajdî; ’Abbâs ’Aqqâd; Ahmad Amîn;
Doctor Tahâ Husain Pasha; Qâsim Amîn; and Hasan al-Bannâ.
Even more unfortunately, as was done to their master ’Abduh,
these have been regarded as “modern Muslim scholars,” and
their books have been translated into many languages. They
have caused many ignorant religious men and young Muslims
- 29 -
to slip out of the right way.
The Great Muslim scholar Sayyid ’Abdulhakîm-i Arwâsî
(rahmatullâhi ’aleyh), the mujaddid of the fourteenth century of
the Hegira, said: “’Abduh, Muftî of Cairo, could not understand
the greatness of the ’ulamâ’ of Islam. He sold himself to the
enemies of Islam and at last became a freemason and one of
the ferocious disbelievers who have been demolishing Islam
insidiously.”
Those who rolled down into disbelief or bid’a or heresy, like
’Abduh, always competed with one another in misleading also
those young religious men who succeeded them. They
pioneered the disasters which were prophesied in hadîth ashsherîf,
“Ruination of my Umma will come through the fâjir
(heretical) men of religious authority.”
After ’Abduh’s death in Egypt in 1323 (1905 A.D.), the
novices whom he trained in Egypt did not stay idle; they
published numerous harmful books which incurred
manifestation of a Divine Curse and Wrath. One of them is the
book Muhâwarât by Rashîd Ridâ. In this book, he attacked, like
his master, the four Madhhabs of the Ahl as-Sunna and,
thinking of the Madhhabs as idealistic differences and
misrepresenting the methods and conditions of ijtihad as
reactionary controversies, went so far into heresy as to say that
they had broken Islamic unity. He simply made fun of millions of
true Muslims who have been following one of the four
Madhhabs for a thousand years. He journeyed as far away from
Islam as to search for the ways of meeting contemporary needs
in changing of Islam. The only thing that is common among
religion reformers is that each of them introduces himself as a
real Muslim and an Islamic scholar of extensive knowledge who
has comprehended real Islam and modern needs. They
describe as “imitators who think vulgarly” those true, pious
Muslims who have read and understood Islamic books and who
have been following in the footsteps of the ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-
Sunna, who were given the good news that they were
Rasûlullah’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) inheritors and who were praised
in the hadîth ash-sherîf: “Their time is the best of times.” The
reformers’ declamations and articles show clearly that they
know nothing of the rules of Islam or the teachings of fiqh; that
is, they are devoid of religious knowledge and are grossly
ignorant. In the hadîths, “The highest people are the scholars
- 30 -
who have îmân”; “The ’ulamâ’ of the religion are the
prophets’ inheritors”; “The heart’s knowledge is a secret of
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s mysteries”; “The âlim’s sleep is an ’ibâda”;
“Revere the ’ulamâ’ of my Umma! They are the stars on the
earth”; “The ’ulamâ’ will intercede on the Day of
Judgement”; “The fuqâhâ’ are inestimable. It is an ’ibâda to
be in their company,” and “An ’âlim among his disciples is
like a Prophet among his Umma,” does our Prophet (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) praise the Ahl as-Sunna scholars of
thirteen hundred years or ’Abduh and his novices, the upstarts
who sprang up later? The question is answered by our master
Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) again: “Each century
will be worse than the century prior to it. Thus it will go on
worsening till Doomsday!” and “As Doomsday draws near,
men of religious post will be more rotten, more putrid than
putrefied donkey flesh.” These hadîths are written in
Mukhtasaru Tadhkirat al-Qurtubî. All Islamic scholars and
thousands of Awliyâ’, whom Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam) praised and lauded, unanimously say that the way
which has been given the good news of salvation from Hell is
the way of those ’ulamâ’ who are called the Ahl as-Sunnat wa
’l-Jamâ’a, and that those who are not Sunnî will go to Hell.
They also say unanimously that talfîq (unification), that is,
selecting and gathering the rukhsas of the four Madhhabs and
making up a single false Madhhab, is wrong and absurd.
Will a reasonable person follow the way of the Ahl as-Sunna,
which has been praised unanimously by the ’ulamâ’ of Islam
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în), who have come during the
period of a millennium, or will he believe the so-called “cultured,
progressive” people who are unaware of Islam and who have
sprung up within the last hundred years?
Eminent and talkative ones of the seventy-two heretical
groups, who the Hadîth ash-sherîf states will go to Hell, have
always attacked the ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna (rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în) and attempted to censure these blessed
Muslims; yet they have been disgraced with answers
corroborated with âyats and hadîths. Seeing that they were
unsuccessful with knowledge against the Ahl as-Sunna, they
embarked on raid and murder, killing thousands of Muslims in
every century. On the other hand, members of the four
Madhhabs of the Ahl as-Sunna have always loved one another
- 31 -
and lived brotherly.
Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) declared:
“Muslims’ parting into Madhhabs in matters of daily life is
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s compassion [for them].” But such religion
reformers as Rashîd Ridâ, who was born in 1282 (1865 A.D.)
and died suddenly in Cairo in 1354 (1935 A.D.), said that they
would establish Islamic unity by uniting the four Madhhabs. But
our Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) commanded all
Muslims throughout the world to unite on one single way of
îmân, on the right way of his four Khalîfas. By working together,
the ’ulamâ’ of Islam (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în)
searched and studied the four Khalîfas’ way of îmân and
transferred it into books. They named this unique way, which
our Prophet had commanded, Ahl as-Sunnat wa ’l-Jamâ’a.
Muslims all over the world have to unite on this single way of
the Ahl as-Sunna. Those who wish for unity in Islam, if they are
sincere in their words, should join this established union. But
unfortunately, freemasons and zindîqs, who have been trying to
demolish Islam insidiously, have always deceived Muslims with
such false words as ‘unity’ and, under the mask of their slogan,
“We shall bring cooperation,” have broken the “unity of îmân”
into pieces.
Enemies of Islam have been trying to annihilate Islam since
the time of our Prophet. Today, freemasons, communists, Jews
and Christians attack with various plans. Also, those heretical
Muslims, who, as it was declared, will go to Hell, play tricks and
slander the Ahl as-Sunna, the followers of the right way, and
mislead Muslims off the true way. Thus they cooperate with the
enemies of Islam in order to demolish the Ahl as-Sunna. These
attacks also have been pioneered by the British, who have
employed all their imperial resources, treasuries, armed forces,
fleets, technology, politicians and writers in this base war of
theirs. So they have demolished the world’s two greatest
Muslim states that had been protectors of the Ahl as-Sunna,
namely the Gurgâniyya State in India and the Ottoman Islamic
Empire, which had extended over three continents. They have
annihilated Islam’s valuable books in all countries and swept
away Islamic teachings from many countries. In the Second
World War, communists were about to perish altogether, when
they received a last-ditch British succor, which helped them to
regain their strength and spread all over the world. In 1917,
- 32 -
British Prime Minister (1902-5) James Balfour established the
Zionist organization, which worked for the reestablishment of a
Jewish state in Palestine, a holy place for Muslims, and the
continuous support given to this organization by the British
Government resulted in the establishment of the State of Israel
in 1366 (1947 A.D.). It is the British Government, again, that
caused the establishment of the Wahhâbite State in 1351 (1932
A.D.) by delivering to the Sons of Sa’ûd the Arabian Peninsula
they had grasped from the Ottomans. Thus they dealt the
biggest blow to Islam.
Abdurrashîd Ibrahim Efendi says in a passage entitled “The
Hostility of the British Towards Islam” in the second volume of
the Turkish book Âlam-i Islâm printed in Istanbul in 1328 (1910
A.D.): “It was the first aim of the British to abrogate the
Caliphate of Muslims as soon as possible. It was a plot
arranged by them to encourage Crimean Turks to revolt against
the Ottoman State so that they could demolish the Caliphate.
Their secret and tricky intention was seen clearly through the
Treaty of Paris. They exposed the hostility in their hearts in the
propositions which they made in the Lozan Treaty, which was
held in 1923. Whatever the disguise, all the disasters that fell
upon the Turks were always caused by the British. To destroy
Islam has ever been the main political aim of British politicians,
for they have always feared Islam. They have been using
mercenary consciences to deceive Muslims. These treacherous
and hypocritical people are presented by the British as Islamic
scholars. In short, the greatest enemy of Islam are the British.”
Not only were Muslim countries stained with blood by the
British for hundreds of years, but also Scotch freemasons
deceived thousands of Muslims and religious men, made them
freemasons, and through such empty words as “helping
humanity, brotherhood,” caused them to dissent from Islam and
become apostates willingly. In order to annihilate Islam
throughly, they used these apostate masons as tools. Thus,
freemasons such as Mustafâ Rashîd Pasha, ’Âlî Pasha, Fuad
Pasha, Midhat Pasha and Tal’at Pasha were used to demolish
Islamic states. Freemasons such as Jamâl ad-dîn al-Afghânî,
Muhammad ’Abduh and novices trained by them were the cat’s
paws in defiling and annihilating Islamic knowledge. Of the
hundreds of destructive and subversive books written by these
masons, who occupied religious posts, the book Muhâwarât by
- 33 -
the Egyptian Rashîd Ridâ has been translated into many
languages and distributed in Islamic countries; with this method,
they have been trying to defile Muslims’ religion and faith. And it
is seen that those young religious men who have not read or
understood the books of the ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în) have been seized by this
current and pushed into perdition and have also brought
perdition to others.
The book Muhâwarât attacks the four Madhhabs of the Ahl
as-Sunna, denies ijmâ’ al-Umma, one of the four sources of
Islamic knowledge, and says that everybody should act upon
what he deduces from the Book (Qur’ân al-Kerîm) and the
Sunna (Hadîth ash-sherîf); thus, it attempts to exterminate
Islamic teachings.[1]
It is said at the end of the book Hulâsat-ut-tahqîq that a
Muslim either has become a mujtahid or has not reached the
grade of ijtihâd. A mujtahid is either mutlaq (absolute) or
muqayyad (belonging to a Madhhab). It is not permissible for a
mujtahid mutlaq to follow another mujtahid; he has to follow his
own ijtihâd. However, it is wâjib for a mujtahid muqayyad to
follow the methods of the Madhhab of a mujtahid mutlaq; and
he acts upon his own ijtihâd which he employs in accordance
with these methods.
A person who is not a mujtahid should follow whichever one
he likes of the four Madhhabs. However, when doing an act in
accordance with a certain Madhhab, he has to observe all the
conditions required by that Madhhab for it to be sahîh. If he
does not observe even one of the conditions, his act will not be
sahîh; it has been stated unanimously that such an act will be in
vain (bâtil). Though it is not a must for him to believe that his
Madhhab is superior, it will be good if he believes so. Talfîq,
[1] In order to inform Muslim brothers of the tricks and harms of this book,
we prepared our Answer to an Enemy of Islam in 1394 (1974 A.D.)
and published it in Turkish and English. Also, seeing that the book
Khulâsat at-tahqîq fî bayâni hukmi ’t-taqlîd wa ’t-talfîq by the great
Muslim scholar ’Abd al-Ghanî an-Nabulusî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh)
and the book Hujjat-Allâhi ’ala ’l-âlamîn by Yûsuf an-Nabhânî
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) and Saif al-abrâr by Muhammad ’Abd ar-
Rahmân as-Silhatî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ aleyh’, one of the ’ulamâ’ of
India, were the exact refutations to this harmful book, we reproduced
these books by offset process and published them.
- 34 -
that is, to do any ’ibâda or any act in accordance with the rules
of more than one Madhhab that disagree with one another or, to
put it more clearly, to select eclectically those rules of these
Madhhabs which disagree with one another in performing that
’ibâda, means to go out of the four Madhhabs and to make up a
fifth Madhhab. This ’ibâda will not be sahîh in any of the
Madhhabs mixed with one another; it will be in vain and will
mean to make a game of Islam. For example, if some najâsa
has been dropped into a certain amount of water of less than
hawd kabîr and more than qullatain[1] and if the colour, taste or
odor of the water has not changed and if a person performs
ablution with this water without intending formally (niyya) to
perform an ablution and if he does not wash certain parts of his
body in the prescribed succession and if he does not rub his
hands against them and if he does not wash them one right
after another and if he begins his ablution without saying the
Basmala, his ablution will not be sahîh according to any of the
four a’immat al-madhhâhib. He who says that it is sahîh will
have made up a fifth Madhhab. Even a mujtahid cannot give a
fifth opinion disagreeing with the unanimity of the four
Madhhabs. [The amount of water equaling a qullatain was
explained in detail in the seventh chapter of the fourth fascicle
of the book Endless Bliss.] Sadr ash-Sharî’a writes in his book
Tawdîh, “When two different views concerning something were
transmitted from the Sahâbat al-kirâm, the posterior ’ulamâ’
were not permitted to propose a third one according to
unanimity. There are also those (scholars) who said that the
’ulamâ’ of every century would be like the Sahâbat al-kirâm.”
Molla Khusraw (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) wrote in his work
Mir’ât al-usûl, “When two different views about doing
something were transmitted from the scholars of the first
century, it was not permissible, according to ijmâ’, to give a third
view. It is sahîh to say that the ’ulamâ’ of every century were
like the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm.” Jalâl ad-dîn al-mihâllî, the first
author of the tafsîr book al-Jalâlain, says in the commentary to
Jam’ al-Jawâmi’ by as-Suyûtî, “It is harâm to disagree with
ijmâ’. It is prohibited in Qur’ân al-kerîm. For this reason, it is
harâm to express a third opinion about something on which the
[1] Hawd kabîr, ‘great pool’ of at least 25 square meters; qullatain, 217.75
kg.
- 35 -
Salaf as-shalihîn disagreed.”
“One’s doing an ’ibâda by following rules of the two, three or
four Madhhabs disagreeing with one another is disobedience to
the ijmâ’ of these Madhhabs; such an ’ibâda will not be sahîh in
any of these Madhhabs. That is, talfîq is not permissible. Qâsim
ibn Qatlûbagha writes in At-tas’hîh, “It is unanimously stated
that it is not sahîh to do an ’ibâda by following two different
ijtihâds. For this reason, if a person, while performing an
ablution, does not rub his wet hands over all his head and if
then a dog touches him and then he performs salât, his salât
will not be sahîh. It is also written in the book Tawqîf alhukkâm
by Shihâb ab-dîn Ahmad ibn al-’Imâd (rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’aleyh), a Shâfi’î scholar, that such a salât will be wrong
according to the unanimity.” According to Imâm Mâlik and al-
Imâm ash-Shâfi’î (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihimâ), the ablution
and salât of such a person will not be sahîh because, according
to the former imâm, he did not rub his wet hands on his whole
head and, according to the latter imâm, he touched a dog.
Muhammad al-Baghdâdî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), a
Hanafî scholar, writes in his booklet Taqlîd, “There are three
stipulations for imitating another Madhhab. The first one, which
is also written by Ibn Humâm in his work, Tahrîr, is that a
person cannot finish in another Madhhab an ’ibâda which he
began in accordance with his own Madhhab. For example, he
cannot perform salât in accordance with the Shâfi’î Madhhab
with an ablution which he performed in accordance with the
Hanafî Madhhab. The second stipulation, as quoted by Ibn
Humâm in his Tahrîr from Ahmad ibn Idrîs al-Qarâfî, is that the
’ibâdat he is doing should not be considered invalid by both of
the Madhhabs he is following; if he, while performing an
ablution, follows the Shâfi’î Madhhab and does not rub his hand
on those parts of his body he has to wash in an ablution, and
then if he touches a woman [he is permitted to marry] thinking
his ablution will not break by doing so according to the Mâlikî
Madhhab, the salât he performs with this ablution will not be
sahîh according to either Madhhab. The third stipulation is that
one should not seek after the rukhsas of the Madhhabs.” Imâm
an-Nawawî and many other ’ulamâ’ emphasized the importance
of this stipulation. Ibn Humâm did not state this stipulation.
Hasan ash-Sharnblâlî writes in his Al-’iqd al-farîd, “The nikâh
performed without the presence of the walî (guardian of either
- 36 -
of the intended couple who is not yet pubescent) by following
the Hanafî Madhhab or that which is performed without the
presence of eye-witnesses by following the Mâlikî Madhhab, will
be sahîh. However, the nikâh performed with the absence of
both the guardian and the eye-witnesses will not be sahîh.
Because it would be very difficult for the common people to
observe this third stipulation they have been prohibited to
imitate another Madhhab unless there is a pressing necessity
(darûra) to do so. It has been said that it will not be sahîh to
imitate another Madhhab without consulting an ’âlim.”
Ismâ’îl an-Nablusî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), in his
annotation to the commentary for Ad-durar, refers to Al-’iqd alfarîd
and says, “One does not have to remain attached to a
Madhhab. He can do an ’ibâda of his by imitating another
Madhhab as well. But then he has to observe all the conditions
required in that Madhhab for that ’ibâda. He can perform two
ibâdas not related to each other in two different ways by
following two different Madhhabs.” The necessity of observing
all of the conditions when imitating another Madhhab exposes
the fact that unification (talfîq) of the Madhhabs is not sahîh.
’Abd ar-Rahmân al-’Imâdî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), a
Hanafî scholar, says in his book Al-muqaddima, “A person can
imitate any of the three Madhhabs other than his when there is
a pressing necessity. Yet, he has to observe all the conditions
required in that Madhhab for that ’ibâda. For example, a Hanafî
who performs an ablution from a qullatain amount of water
stained with najâsa by imitating the Shâfi’î Madhhab, has to
intend formally for performing the ablution, has to rub his hand
on those parts of his body that have to be washed in ablution,
has to recite al-Fâtiha when performing the salât behind the
imâm [in congregation], and must certainly observe ta’dîl alarkân.
It has been stated unanimously that his salât will not be
sahîh if he does not do all of these.” His remark ‘pressing
necessity’ for imitating another madhhab was superfluous. By
‘necessity’ he must have meant the ‘need’ for imitating; for,
according to the majority of the ‘ulamâ’, one does not have to
follow continuously the same Madhhab. One can follow another
Madhhab if a difficulty (haraj) appears while following one’s
Madhhab. All of what has been written so far shows that
unification (talfîq) of the Madhhabs is not sahîh.
Ibn Humâm’s work Tahrîr does not contain any statements
- 37 -
indicating that talfîq is sahîh. Muhammad al-Baghdâdî and al-
Imâm al-Manâwî write that Ibn Humâm says in the book Fath
al-qadîr: “It is a sin to transfer oneself to another Madhhab by
using an ijtihâd or a document as a proof. Ta’zîr (chastisement)
should be inflicted on such a person. It is even worse to transfer
without an ijtihâd, a support. To transfer (in this context) means
to act and perform an ’ibâdât in accordance with another
Madhhab. One cannot transfer by only saying that one has
transferred. This is called a promise, not a transfer. Even if one
says so, one does not have to follow that Madhhab. The âyat
al-kerîma, ‘Ask those who know about what you do not
know,’ commands us to ask a person who is known [strongly
thought] to be an ’âlim about a (religious) rule. Scholars’
prohibition against changing one’s Madhhab is intended to
prevent an attempt at collecting the rukhsas of the Madhhabs.
To many scholars, every Muslim can follow the ijtihâd which
comes easier to him in different matters.” If an ignoramus says
that Ibn Humâm’s last statement shows that unification of the
Madhhabs is sahîh, this reasoning of his is wrong; for, the
statement shows that one action shall be done entirely in
accordance with a single Madhhab, not by following more than
one Madhhab. Those who do not belong to a Madhhab and
religion reformers who cannot understand this put forward Ibn
Humâm as a false witness for themselves. On the contrary, Ibn
Humâm writes clearly in his work Tahrîr that unification of the
Madhhabs is not permissible.
Religion reformers point to Ibn Nujaim’s (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh) writing as an example for permission for talfîq, which
says, “It is written in a fatwâ issued by Qâdî-Khân that if a piece
of land area devoted to a waqf is sold at a ghaban fâhish price,
it will be unlawful, according to Abû Yûsuf (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh), because of the ghaban fâhish price. On the other hand,
according to Abû Hanîfa, it is permissible for the deputy to sell it
at ghaban fâhish (exorbitant) price; so the two ijtihâds are
unified to make the sale sahîh.” However, the talfîq in this
example takes place within the same one Madhhab. Both
judgements are the results of the same Usûl. Not so is the case
with the talfîq of two Madhhabs. Another evidence showing that
Ibni Nujaym does not say that talfîq is permissible is his own
statement, “A person who becomes imâm for a jamâ’at whose
members are in another Madhhab (and conducts the namâz in
- 38 -
jamâ’at) has to observe the principles of that Madhhab, too,”
which exists in Bahr-ur-râiq, a commentary he prepared for the
book Kanz.[1] At this point we end our translation from the final
part of the book Khulâsa-t-ut-tahqîq.
Muhammad ’Abd ar-Rahmân as-Silhatî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh), a scholar of India, wrote in his Persian book Saif alabrâr
al-maslûl ’ala ’l-fujjâr, “While explaining the hadîth ashsherîf,
‘Make it easy! Do not make it difficult!’ in his
explanation of Mishkât, ’Allâma Hâfiz Hasan ibn Muhammad
at-Tayyibî**[2] (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) says, “A person who
gathers the easy ways of the Madhhabs becomes a zindîq.” In
summary:
1) Every Muslim has to follow one of the four Madhhabs
when he performs an ’ibâda or an act. It is not permissible to
follow any ’âlim who is not in one of the four Sunnî Madhhabs.
2) Every Muslim may follow any of the four Madhhabs which
he likes and which comes easier to him. He may carry out an
’ibâda (or an act) in accordance with one Madhhab and another
ibâda in accordance with another Madhhab.
3) As for carrying out an ’ibâda in accordance with more
than one Madhhab, it will be necessary to observe all the
requirements of one of these Madhhabs for the soundness of
that ’ibâda, and for that i’bâda to be sahîh in that Madhhab. This
is called taqwâ, and is very good. One would have followed
(taqlîd) that Madhhab and would have observed the conditions
in the other Madhhabs. Following a Madhhab is permissible
provided one will observe all its conditions. If one’s ’ibâda is not
sahîh according to any of the Madhhabs he follows, this is
called talfîq, which is never permissible.
4) One does not have to always remain attached to the
Madhhab one has chosen. One can transfer oneself to another
Madhhab any time one likes. Adapting oneself to any Madhhab
requires learning well the teachings of fiqh in that Madhhab,
which can be learned from ’ilm al-hâl books. Therefore, it will be
easier to remain attached to one madhhab all the time. It is
difficult to transfer oneself to or, for an affair, to imitate another
Madhhab. It can be done only in case of a necessity, that is,
[1] Khulâsat at-tahqîq, final part.
[2] At-Tayyîbî passed away in Damascus in 743 (1343 A.D.). First edition of
his book was published in India in 1300 (1882 A.D.).
- 39 -
when there is haraj, and on condition that one shall observe all
its conditions.
Because it is also very difficult to learn the knowledge of fiqh
in another Madhhab, scholars of fiqh prohibited the ignorant,
that is, those who do not have knowledge of fiqh, to imitate
another Madhhab. For example, it is written in Bahr al-fatâwâ,
“If a person in the Hanafî Madhhab has a wound bleeding
continuously and if it is difficult for him to make an ablution at
every prayer time, it is not permissible for him to perform salât
as prescribed in the Shâfi’î Madhhab without observing the
conditions of this Madhhab.” Ibn ’Âbidîn explains this in detail in
the chapter about “Ta’zîr.” In order to protect the ignorant’s
’ibâdât against corruption, scholars of the Ahl as-Sunna
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în) did not permit them to
imitate another Madhhab except in case of haraj.
At-Tahtâwî writes: “Some scholars of tafsîr say that the
103rd âyat of Sûrat Âl-i ’Imrân, ‘Hold fast to Allâhu ta’âlâ’s
rope,’ means, ‘Hold fast to what the fuqahâ say.’ People who
do not follow books of fiqh will fall into heresy, be deprived of
the aid of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and be burned in the fire of Hell. O
Believers! Meditate over this âyat-i kerîma and cling to the
group of the Ahl as-Sunnat wa l’-Jamâ’a, who have been
given the glad tidings that they shall be saved from Hell. Allâhu
ta’âlâ’s approval and help are only for those who are in this
group. Allâhu ta’âlâ will treat those who are not in this group
with wrath and torment in Hell. Today, belonging to the Ahl as-
Sunna requires following one of the four Madhhabs; one who
does not follow one of the four Madhhabs is a man of bid’a and
will go to Hell.”[1] A person who has gathered the easy ways of
the four Madhhabs will not have followed any of the four
Madhhabs. As it is seen, one who does not follow any of the
four Madhhabs is a lâ-madhhabî. One who makes talfîq of the
four Madhhabs, that is, by mixing the four, acts according to any
Madhhab that comes easy to him, is a lâ-madhhabî, too. Also,
one who follows one of the four Madhhabs but holds a belief
unconformable to the Ahl as-Sunna is a lâ-madhhabî. These
three are not Sunnîs, they are people of bid’a who follow heresy
(dalâla). True Muslims, however, follow one of the four
Madhhabs, that is, the ‘true way.’
[1] At-Tahtâwî’s commentary to Durr al-mukhtâr, section on ‘Zabâyih’.
- 40 -
2 — THE FAITH OF THE AHL AS-SUNNA
Imâm Muhammad al-Ghazâlî (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) writes in
his book Kimyâ-i Sa’âdat: “When someone becomes a Muslim,
it will primarily be fard for him to know and believe in the
meaning of the phrase Lâ ilâha ill-Allâh, Muhammadun
Rasûl-Allâh. This phrase is called the kalimat at-tawhîd. It is
sufficient for every Muslim to believe without any doubt what
this phrase means. It is not fard for him to prove it with evidence
or to satisfy his mind. Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam)
did not command the Arabs to know or to mention the relevant
proofs or to search and clarify any possible doubts. He
commanded them to believe only and not to doubt. It is enough
for everybody also to believe superficially. Yet it is fard kifâya
that there should exist a few ’âlims in every town. It is wâjib for
these ’âlims to know the proofs, to remove the doubts and to
answer the questions. They are like shepherds for Muslims. On
the one hand, they teach them the knowledge of îmân, which is
the knowledge of belief, and, on the other hand, they answer
the slanders of the enemies of Islam.
Qur’ân al-kerîm stated the meaning of the kalimat at-tawhîd
and Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) explained what is
declared in it. All the Sahâbat al-kirâm learned these
explanations and conveyed them to those who came after
them. The exalted scholars who conveyed to us what the
Sahâbat al-kirâm had conveyed, by committing them to their
books without making any alterations in them, are called the
Ahl as-Sunna. Everybody has to learn the i’tiqâd of the Ahl as-
Sunna and to unite and love one another. The seed of
happiness is in this i’tiqâd and in this unification.
The ’ulamâ’ of the Âhl as-Sunna explain the meaning of the
kalimat at-tawhîd as follows: Men were nonexistent. They were
created later. They have one Creator. He is the One who has
created everything. The Creator is one. He does not have a
partner or a likeness. There is no second He. He has been
ever-existent; His existence did not have a beginning. He will be
ever-existent; there is no end to His existence. He will not cease
to exist. His existence is always necessary. His nonexistence is
impossible. His existence is of Himself. He does not need any
means. There is nothing that will not need Him. He is the One
who creates everything and makes them go on existing. He is
not material or a thing. He is not at a place or in any substance.
- 41 -
He does not have a shape and cannot be measured. It cannot
be asked how He is; when we say ‘He,’ none of the things
which occur to the mind or which we can imagine is He. He is
unlike these. All of them are His creatures. He is not like His
creatures. He is the creator of everything that occurs to mind,
every illusion and every delusion. He is not above, below or at
one side. He does not have a place. Every being is below the
’Arsh. And the ’Arsh is under His Power, under His
Omnipotence. He is above the ’Arsh. Yet this does not mean
that the ’Arsh carries Him. The ’arsh exists with His Favour and
in His Omnipotence. He is the same now as He was in eternity,
in eternal past. He will always be the same in the everlasting
future as He had been before creating the ’Arsh. No change
occurs in Him. He has His own attributes. His attributes called
as-Sifât ath-Thubûtiyya are eight: Hayât (Life), ’Ilm
(Omniscience), Sam’ (Hearing), Basar (Seeing), Qudra
(Omnipotence), Irâda (Will), Kalâm (Speech, Word) and
Takwîn (Creativeness). No change ever occurs in these
attributes of His. Change implies deficiency. He has no
deficiency or defect. Though He does not resemble any of His
creatures, it is possible to know Him in this world as much as
He makes Himself known and to see Him in the Hereafter. Here
He is known without realizing how He is, and there He will be
seen in an incomprehensible way.
Allâhu ta’âlâ sent prophets (’alaihim us-salâm) to His human
creatures. Through these great people, He showed His human
creatures the deeds that bring happiness and those which
cause ruination. The most exalted prophet is Muhammad
(’alaihi ’s-salâm), the Last Prophet. He was sent as the Prophet
for every person, pious or irreligious, for every place and for
every nation on the earth. He is the Prophet for all human
beings, angels and genies. In every corner of the world,
everybody has to follow him and adapt himself to this exalted
Prophet”.[1]
Sayyid ’Abdulhakîm-i Arwâsî[2] (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) said:
[1] Kimyâ’ as-Sa’âda. Muhammad al-Ghazâlî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh)
was one of the greatest Islamic scholars. He wrote hundreds of books.
All his books are very valuable. He was born in 450 (1068 A.D.) in Tûs,
i.e. Meshed, Persia, and passed away there in 505 (1111 A.D.).
[2] Sayyid Abdulhakîm Arwâsî was born in Başkal’a in 1281 (1864 A.D.)
- 42 -
“Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) had three tasks. The
first one was to communicate and make known (tabligh) the
rules of Qur’ân al-kerîm, that is, the knowledge of îmân and of
ahkâm fiqhiyya, to all human beings. Ahkâm fiqhiyya is
composed of actions commanded and actions prohibited. His
second task was to transmit the spiritual rules of Qur’ân alkerîm,
the knowledge about Allâhu ta’âlâ Himself and His
Attributes into the hearts of only the highest ones of his Umma.
His first task, tabligh, should not be confused with this second
task. The lâ-madhhabî reject the second task. But, Abû Huraira
(radiy-Allâhu ’anh) said, ‘I learned two types of knowledge from
Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam). I have told you one of
them. You would kill me if I explained the second one.’ These
words of Abû Huraira’s are written in the books Bukhârî,
Mishqât, Hadîqa, and in the letters of Maktûbât, numbers 267
and 268. The third task was directed towards those Muslims
who did not obey the advice and sermons concerning carrying
out the ahkâm fiqhiyya. Even force was employed to get them
to obey the ahkâm fiqhiyya.
“After Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam), each of the
four Khalîfas (radiy-Allâhu ’anhum) accomplished these three
tasks perfectly. During the time of hadrat Hasan (radiy-Allâhu
’anh), fitnas and bid’as increased. Islam had spread out over
three continents. The spiritual light of Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam) receded away from the earth. The Sahâbat alkirâm
(radiy-Allâhu ’anhum) decreased in number. Later, no one
was able to do all these three tasks together by himself.
Therefore, these tasks were undertaken by three groups of
people. The task of communicating îmân and ahkâm fiqhiyya
was assigned to religious leaders called mujtahids. Amongst
these mujtahids, those who communicated îmân were called
mutakallimûn, and those who communicated fiqh were called
fuqahâ’. The second task, that is, making those willing Muslims
attain the spiritual rules of Qur’ân al-kerîm, was assigned to the
Twelve Imâms of the Ahl al-Bait (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim)
and to great men of tasawwuf. Sirrî (Sarî) as-Saqatî (d. 251/876
in Baghdad) and al-Junaid al-Baghdâdî (b. 207/821 and d.
298/911 in Baghdad) were two of them (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’alaihimâ).
and passed away in Ankara in 1362 (1943 A.D.).
- 43 -
“The third task, having the rules of the religion implemented
by force and authority, was assigned to sultans, i.e.
governments. Sections of the first class were called Madhhabs.
Sections of the second one were called tarîqas,[1] and the third
one was called huqûq (laws). Madhhabs that tell about îmân
are called Madhhabs of i’tiqâd. Our Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sallam) had explained that Muslims would part into seventythree
groups in respect to îmân, and that only one of them
would be right and the others wrong. And happen it did. The
group that was given the good news of being on the right way is
called the Ahl as-Sunnat wa ’l-Jamâ’a. The remaining
seventy-two groups, which were declared to be wrong, are
called the groups of bid’a, that is, heretics. None of them are
disbelievers. All of them are Muslims. But, if a Muslim who says
he belongs to any of the seventy-two groups disbelieves any
information that has been declared clearly in Qur’ân al-kerîm, in
Hadîth ash-sherîf or that has spread among Muslims, he
becomes a disbeliever. There are many people today who,
while carrying Muslim names, have already dissented from the
Madhhab of the Ahl as-Sunna and have become heretics or
non-Muslims.” Quotations from hadrat Abdulhakîm Efendi end
here.
Muslims have to keep on learning from the cradle to the
grave. The knowledge which Muslims have to learn is called al-
’ulûm al-Islâmiyya (Islamic sciences), which consist of two
[1] The ’ulamâ of Ahl as-Sunna collected ’ilm at-tasawwuf by learning this
second task of our Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) from the Twelve Imâms
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim). Some people do not believe in Awliyâ’,
karâmât or tasawwuf. This shows that they have no connection with the
Twelve Imâms. If they had followed the Ahl al-Bait, they would have
learned this second task of our Prophet from the twelve Imâms and
there would have been many scholars of tasawwuf and Awliyâ’ among
them. But there have not been any, and besides, they do not even
believe that such scholars could exist. It is obvious that the Twelve
Imâms are the Ahl as-Sunna’s imâms. It is the Ahl as-Sunna who love
the Ahl al-Bait and follow the Twelve Imâms. To become a scholar of
Islam, one has to be an heir of Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’s-salam) in these two
tasks. That is, one has to be an expert in these two branches of
knowledge. ’Abd al-Ghanî an-Nabulusî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), one
of such scholars, quoted, on pages 233 and 649 in his work Al-hadîqat
an-nadiyya, the hadîths describing the spiritual rules of Qur’ân al-kerîm
and pointed out that disbelieving these rules indicates ignorance and
wretchedness.
- 44 -
parts: I) al-’ulûm an-naqliyya, II) al-’ulûm al-’aqliyya.
I) Al-’ulûm an-naqliyya (also called ‘religious sciences’):
These sciences are acquired by reading the books of the
’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna. The ’ulamâ’ of Islam derived these
sciences from four main sources. These four sources are called
al-adillat ash-Shar’iyya. They are al-Qur’ân al-kerîm, al-
Hadîth ash-sherîf, ijmâ’ al-Umma and qiyâs al-fuqahâ’.
Religious sciences consist of eight main branches:
1) ’ilm at-tafsîr (the science of interpretation of Qur’ân alkerîm).
A specialist in this branch is called a mufassir; he is a
profoundly learned scholar able to understand what Allâhu
ta’âlâ means in His Word.
2) ’ilm al-usûl al-hadîth. This branch deals with
classification of hadîths. Different kinds of hadîths are explained
in Endless Bliss, second fascicle, sixth chapter.
3) ’ilm al-hadîth. This branch studies minutely the sayings
(hadîth), behaviour (sunna), and manners (hâls) of our Prophet
(sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam).
4) ’ilm al-usûl al-kalâm. This branch studies the methods
by which ’ilm al-kalâm is derived from al-Qur’ân al-kerîm and al-
Hadîth ash-sherîf.
5) ’ilm al-kalâm. This branch covers the study of the kalimat
at-tawhîd and the kalimat ash-shahâda and the six
fundamentals of îmân, which depend on them. These are the
teachings to be believed by heart. Scholars of kalâm usually
wrote ’ilm al-usûl al-kalâm and ’ilm al-kalâm together.
Therefore, the layman takes these two branches of knowledge
as one single branch.
6) ’ilm al-usûl al-fiqh. This branch studies the derivation of
the methods of fiqh from Qur’ân al-kerîm and Hadîth ash-sherîf.
7) ’ilm al-fiqh. This branch studies af’âl al-mukallafîn, that
is, it tells how those who are sane and pubescent should act on
matters concerning the body. This is the knowledge necessary
for the body. Af’âl al-mukallafîn has eight sections: fard, wâjib,
sunna, mustahâb, mubâh, harâm, makrûh and mufsid.
However, they can be briefly classified into three groups:
actions commanded, actions prohibited and actions permitted
(mubâh).
8) ’ilm at-tasawwuf. This branch is also called ’ilm alakhlâq
(ethics). It explains not only the things we should do and
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we should not do with the heart but also helps the belief to be
heartfelt, makes it easy for Muslims to carry out their duties as
taught in ’ilm al-fiqh and helps one attain ma’rifa.
It is fard-i ’ain for every Muslim, male or female, to learn
kalâm, fiqh and tasawwuf as much as necessary out of these
eight branches, and it is a guilt, a sin, not to learn them.[1]
II) Al-’ulûm al-’aqliyya (also called ‘experimental sciences’):
These sciences are divided into two groups: technical sciences
and literary sciences. It is fard kifâya for Muslims to learn these
sciences. As for Islamic sciences, it is fard ’ain to learn as much
as is necessary. To learn more than is necessary, that is, to
become specialized in Islamic sciences is fard kifâya. If there is
no ’âlim who knows these sciences in a town, all of its
inhabitants and government authorities will be sinful.
Religious teachings do not change in process of time.
Making a mistake or erring while commenting on ’ilm al-kalâm is
not an excuse but a crime. In matters pertaining to fiqh, the
variations and facilities shown by Islam can be utilized when
one has the excuses shown by Islam. It is never permissible to
make alterations or to make reforms in religious matters with
one’s own opinion or point of view. It causes one to go out of
Islam. Change, improvement and progress in al-’ulûm al-
’aqliyya are permissible. It is necessary to develop them by
searching, finding and even by learning them from non-
Muslims, too.
The following article is quoted from the book Al-majmû’at
az-Zuhdiyya. It was compiled by an ex-minister of education,
Seyyid Ahmed Zühdü Pasha (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh):
The word ‘fiqh’, when used in the form of ‘faqiha yafqahu’,
that is, in the fourth category, means ‘to know, to understand.’
When it is used in the fifth category, it means ‘to know, to
understand Islam.’ A scholar in ’ilm al-fiqh is called a faqîh. ’Ilm
al-fiqh deals with the actions which people should do and those
which they should not do. The knowledge of fiqh is composed
of Qur’ân al-kerîm, Hadîth ash-sherîf, ijmâ’ and qiyâs. The
consensus of the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm and the mujtahids who
came after them is called ijmâ’ al-Umma. The rules of the
religion derived from Qur’ân al-kerîm, Hadîth ash-sherîf and
[1] Al-hadîqa, p. 323 and in preface to Radd al-muhtâr.
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ijmâ’ al-Umma are called qiyâs al-fuqahâ.’ If it could not be
understood from Qur’ân al-kerîm or Hadîth ash-sherîf whether
an action was halâl (permitted) or harâm (forbidden), then this
action was compared to another action which was known. This
comparison was called qiyâs. Applying qiyâs required the latter
action to have the same factor which made the former action
permitted or forbidden. And this could be judged only by those
profound ’ulamâ’ who had attained the grade of ijtihâd.
’Ilm al-fiqh is very extensive. It has four main divisions:
1) ’ibâdât, composed of five subdivisions: salât (namâz),
sawm (fast), zakât, hajj, jihâd. Each has many sections. As it is
seen, it is an ’ibâda to make preparations for jihâd. Our Prophet
(sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) explained that jihâd against the
enemies of Islam was of two kinds: by actions and by words. It
is fard to learn how to make and use new weapons in
preparation for jihâd by actions. Jihâd is done by the State. It is
fard for the people to join the jihâd by obeying the State’s laws
and orders concerning jihâd. Nowadays, enemy assault through
publications, motion pictures, radio broadcast and every means
of propaganda —the second kind of war— has tremendously
increased; therefore it is also jihâd to stand against the enemies
in this field.
2) munâkahât, composed of subdivisions, such as
marriage, divorce, alimony and many others [written in detail in
the book Se’âdet-i Ebediyye].
3) mu’âmalât, composed of many subdivisions, such as
purchase, sale, rent, joint-ownership, interest, inheritance, etc.
4) uqûbât (penal code), composed of five main subdivisions:
qisâs (lex talionis), sirqat (theft), zinâ (fornication and adultery),
qadhf (accusing a virtuous woman of incontinence) and ridda
(the case of becoming an apostate).
It is fard for every Muslim to learn the ’ibâdât part of fiqh
sufficiently. It is fard kifâya to learn munâkahât and mu’âmalât;
in other words, those who have anything to do with them should
learn them. After ’ilm at-tafsîr, ’ilm al-hadîth and ’ilm al-kalâm,
the most honourable ilm is ’ilm al-fiqh. The following six hadîths
will be enough to indicate the honour of fiqh and the faqîh:
‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ alaihim ajma’în’
‘If Allâhu ta’âlâ wants to bestow His blessing on a slave
of His, He makes a faqîh of him.’
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‘If a person becomes a faqîh, Allâhu ta’âlâ sends what
he wishes and his sustenance through unexpected
sources.’
‘The person about whom Allâhu ta’âlâ says “most
superior” is a faqîh in the religion.’
‘Against Satan, a faqîh is more stoic than one thousand
’âbids (those who worship much).’
‘Everything has a pillar to base itself upon. The basic
pillar of the religion is the knowledge of fiqh.’
‘The best and most valuable ’ibâda is to learn and teach
fiqh.’
Superiority of al-Imâm al-a’zam Abu Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’aleyh) is also understood from these hadîths.
Rules of Islam in the Hanafî Madhhab were transmitted
through a chain beginning with ’Abdullâh ibn Mas’ûd (radiy-
Allâhu ’anh), who was a Sahâbî. Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), the founder of the Madhhab,
acquired the knowledge of fiqh from Hammâd, and Hammâd
from Ibrâhîm an-Nakhâ’î. Ibrahim an-Nakhâ’î was taught by
Alkama, and Alkama studied under Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, who
was educated by Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam).
Abu Yûsuf, Imâm Muhammad ash-Shaibânî, Zufar ibn
Hudhail and Hasan ibn Ziyâd were al-Imâm al-a’zam’s disciples
(rahimahum-Allah). Of these, Imâm Muhammad wrote about
one thousand books on Islamic teachings. He was born in 135
A.H. and passed away in Rayy, Iran, in 189 (805 A.D.).
Because he was married to the mother of al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î,
one of his disciples, all his books were left to Shafi’î upon his
death, thus Shafi’î’s knowledge increased. For this reason, al-
Imâm ash-Shâfi’î (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) said, ‘I swear that
my knowledge of fiqh increased by reading Imâm Muhammad’s
books. Those who want to deepen their knowledge of fiqh
should be in the company of the disciples of Abu Hanîfa.’ And
once he said, ‘All Muslims are like the household, children, of
al-Imâm al-a’zam.’ That is, as a man earns a living for his wife
and children, al-Imâm al-a’zam took it upon himself to find out
the religious knowledge which people needed in their matters.
Thus, he spared Muslims of a lot of hard work.
Al-Imâm al-a’zâm Abu Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) compiled
the knowledge of fiqh, classified it into branches and sub-
48 -
branches, and set usûls (methods) for it. He also collected the
knowledge of i’tiqâd as Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam)
and the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm (ridwânullâhi ’alaihim ajma’în) had
preached, and taught them to hundreds of his disciples. Some
of his disciples became specialists in ’ilm al-kalâm, that is, in the
teachings of îmân. Of them, Abu Bakr al-Jurjânî, one of Imâm
Muhammad ash-Shaibânî’s disciples, became famous. And Abû
Nasr al-’Iyâd, one of his pupils, educated Abû Mansûr al-
Mâturîdî in ’ilm al-kalâm. Abû Mansûr wrote in his books the
knowledge of kalâm as it came from al-Imâm al-a’zam
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh). By contending against heretics, he
consolidated the i’tiqâd of the Ahl as-Sunna. He disseminated it
out far and wide. He passed away in Samarqand in 333 (944
A.D.). This great ’âlim and another ’âlim, Abu ’l-Hasan al-
Ash’arî, are called the imâms of the Madhhabs of i’tiqâd of
the Ahl as-Sunna.
The fiqh scholars are grouped in seven grades. Kemâl
Pasha Zhada Ahmad ibn Sulaimân Effendi (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh), in his work Waqf an-niyyât, explained these seven
grades as follows:
1. The mujtahids of Islam, who constructed the methods and
principles of deriving tenets from the four sources of the religion
(Adilla-i arba’a), and derived tenets in accordance with the
principles they established. The four a’immat al-madhâhib
were of these.
2. The mujtahids in a Madhhab, who, following the principles
formulated by the imâm of the Madhhab, derived rules from the
four sources. They were Imâm Abû Yûsuf, Imâm Muhammad,
etc. (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în).
3. The mujtahids on matters (mas’ala), who for the matters
that were not dealt with by the founder of the Madhhab, derived
rules using the methods and principles of the Madhhab. Yet in
doing this, they had to follow the imâm. They were at-Tahâwî
(238-321 A.H., in Egypt), Hassâf Ahmad ibn ’Umar (d. 261, in
Baghdad), ’Abdullâh ibn Husain al-Karkhî (340), Shams ala’imma
al-Halwânî (456, in Bukhârâ), Shams al-a’imma as-
Sarahsî (483), Fakhr-ul Islâm ’Alî ibn Muhammad al-Pazdawî
(400-482, in Samarqand), Qâdî-Khân Hasan ibn Mansûr al-
Farghânî (592), etc. (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în).
4. As’hâb at-takhrîj, who were not able to employ ijtihâd.
They were scholars who briefly explained in brief unclear rules
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derived by mujtahids. Husâm ad-dîn ar-Râzî ’Alî ibn Ahmad (d.
593 A.H., in Damascus) was one of them. He (rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’aleyh) wrote a commentary to Al-Qudûrî.
5. Arbâb at-tarjîh, who preferred one of the several riwâyas
(narrations or opinions of the mujtahids as narrated) coming
from mujtahids. They were Abu l’Hasan al-Qudûrî (362-428
A.H., in Baghdad) and Burhân ad-dîn ’Alî al-Marghinânî the
author of Al-hidâya, who was martyred by the soldiers of
Jenghiz in the Bukhârâ Massacre of 593 A.H. [1198 A.D.].
6. Those who wrote various riwâyas about a matter in an
order with respect to their reliability were called muqallids. They
did not include any refused riwâya in their books. Abû ’l-Barakât
’Abdullâh ibn Ahmad an-Nasafî (d. 710 A.H.), the author of
Kanz ad-daqâiq; ’Abdullâh ibn Mahmûd al-Musûlî (d. 683), the
author of Mukhtâr; Burhân ash-Sharî’a Mahmûd ibn Sadr ash-
Sharî’a ’Ubaid-Allâh (d. 673), the author of Al-wiqâya; and Ibn
as-Sâ’âtî Ahmad ibn ’Alî al-Baghdâdî (d. 694), the author of
Majmâ’ al-bahrain, are a few of them. (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’alaihim ajma’în).
7. They are also muqallids[1] incapable of distinguishing
weak riwâyas from genuine ones.
3 — AL-IMÂM AL-A’ZAM ABÛ HANÎFA
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh)
The book Qâmûs al-a’lâm states:
Al-Imâm al-a’zâm Abû Hanîfa’s name was Nu’mân. His
father’s name was Thâbit. His grandfather’s name was Nu’man,
too. He was the first of the four great imâms of the Ahl as-
Sunna. ‘Imâm’ means ‘profoundly learned scholar.’ He was one
of the main pillars of the brilliant religion of Muhammad (‘alaihi
’s-salâm). He was a descendant of a Persian notable. His
grandfather had embraced Islam. He was born in Kûfa in 80
(698 A.D.). He was born early enough to see Anas ibn Mâlik,
’Abdullah ibn Abî Awfâ, Sahl ibn Sa’d as-Sâ’idî and Abû al-Fadl
Âmir ibn Wâsila, four Sahâbîs (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhum). He
learned ’ilm al-fiqh from Hammâd ibn Abî Sulaimân. He enjoyed
the companionship of many notables of the Tâbi’în, and of
[1] These were counted among fiqh scholars because they could
understand what they read, and explained them to the muqallids who
could not understand them.
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Imâm Ja’far as-Sâdiq (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh). He
memorized innumerable hadîths. He was brought up so as to
become a great judge, but he became an imâm al-madhhab.
He had a superior, and amazingly keen intellect. In ’ilm al-fiqh,
he attained an unequalled grade in a short time. His name and
fame became world-wide.
Yazîd ibn ’Amr, Governor of Iraq during the time of Marwân
ibn Muhammad, the fourteenth and last Umayyad Khalîfa, who
was a grandson of Marwân ibn Hakam (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh) and was killed five years after assuming the caliphate in
Egypt in 132 (750 A.D.), proposed to Abû Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’aleyh) to become a judge for the law-court of Kûfa. But,
since he had as much zuhd, taqwâ and wara’ as he had
knowledge and intellect, he refused it. He was afraid of not
being able to safequard human rights because of human
weaknesses. With a command from Yazîd, he was given a
whipping, hundred and ten blows to the head. His blessed face
and head swelled. The next day, Yazîd took the Imâm out and
oppressed him by repeating his offer. The Imâm said, “Let me
consult,” and obtained permission to leave. He went to the
blessed city of Mekka and stayed there for five or six years.
The ’Abbâsid Khalîfa Abû Ja’far Mansûr (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh) commanded him to be the chief of the Supreme Court of
Appeal in 150 A.H. [767 A.D.]. He refused it and was put into
jail. He was subjected to whipping, ten blows more every
following day. When the number of whippings reached one
hundred, he attained martyrdom. Abû Sa’d Muhammad ibn
Mansûr al-Hârizmî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), one of the viziers
of Melikshâh (447-485 A.H., the third Seljuqî Sultan and the son
of Sultan Alparslan), had a wonderful dome built over his grave.
Afterwards, Ottoman emperors embellished and had his tomb
restored several times.
Abu Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) was the first who
compiled and classified ’ilm al-fiqh, and he gathered information
for each branch of knowledge. He wrote the books Farâ’id and
Shurût. There are innumerable books describing his extensive
knowledge on fiqh; his extraordinary ability in qiyâs; and his
dumbfounding superiority in zuhd, taqwâ, mildness and
righteousness. He had many disciples, some of whom became
great mujtahids.
The Hanafî Madhhab spread far and wide during the time of
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the Ottoman Empire. It almost became the official Madhhab of
the State. Today, more than half of the Muslims on the earth
and most of the Ahl as-Sunna perform their ’ibâda according to
the Hanafî Madhhab. Citation from the book Kâmûs-ul a’lâm
ends here.
The book Mîr’ât al-kâ’inât states:
The ancestors of al-Imâm al-â’zam (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh) come from the province of Fâris, Iran. His father, Thâbit,
had met Imâm ’Alî (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) in Kûfa and Hadrat ’Alî
had pronounced a benediction over him and his descendants.
Al-Imâm al-a’zam was one of the greatest among the Tâbi’ûn
and saw Anas ibn Mâlik (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) and three or seven
more of the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm. He learned hadîth-i sherifs
from them.
A hadîth sherîf, which al-Imâm al-Hârizmî reported from Abû
Huraira (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) through isnâd muttasil (an
uninterrupted chain of reporters), states: “Among my Umma,
there will come a man called Abû Hanîfa. On the Day of
Resurrection, he will be the light of my Umma.” Another
hadîth sherîf states: “A man named Nu’mân ibn Thâbit and
called Abû Hanîfa will appear and will revive Allâhu ta’âlâ’s
Religion and my Sunna.” And another one states: “In every
century, a number of my Umma will attain to high grades.
Abû Hanîfa will be the highest of his time.” These three
hadîths are written in the book Mawdû’ât al-’ulûm and in Durr
al-mukhtâr. This hadîth sherîf is also well-known: “Among my
Umma, a man called Abû Hanîfa will appear. There is a
beauty-spot between his two shoulder blades. Allâhu ta’âlâ
will revive His Religion through his hand.”
[Preface to Durr al-mukhtâr writes: “A hadîth sherîf states:
‘As Âdam (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was proud of me so I am proud
of a man of my Umma named Nu’mân and called Abû
Hanîfa. He is the light of my Umma.’ ” Another hadîth sherîf
states: “Prophets (’alaihimu ’s-salâm) are proud of me. And I
am proud of Abû Hanîfa. He who loves him will have loved
me. He who feels hostility towards him will have felt
hostility towards me.” These hadîths are also written in the
book Al-muqaddima by the profound scholar Hadrat Abû ’l-
Laith as-Samarqandî and in Taqadduma, which is a
commentary to the former. In the preface to the fiqh book Almuqaddima
by al-Ghaznawî hadîths praising him are quoted.
- 52 -
In Diyâ’ al-ma’nawî, a commentary on it, Qâdî Abî ’l-Baqâ said,
’Abû’l-Faraj ’Abd ar-Rahmân ibn al-Jawzî, based on the words
of al-Khatîb al-Baghdâdî, said that these hadîths were mawdû’.
Yet this remark of his is bigotry, for these hadîths were reported
by several chains of transmitters. Ibn ’Âbidîn, in his commentary
on Durr al-mukhtâr, proved that these hadîths were not
mawdû’ and quoted the following hadîth sherîf from the book
Al-khairât al-hisân by Ibn Hajar al-Makkî: “The ornament of
the world will be taken away in the year 150.” He went on,
“The great fiqh scholar Shams al-a’imma ’Abd al-Ghaffâr al-
Kardarî (d. 562/1166 A.D.) said, “It is obvious that this hadîth
sherîf refers to al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa, since he passed
away in 150.” A hadîth sherîf given by al-Bukhârî and Muslim
says, “If îmân went to the planet Venus, a man of Fâris
(Persian) descent would bring it back.” Imâm as-Suyûtî, a
Shâfi’î ’âlim, remarked, “It has been communicated
unanimously that this hadîth sherîf refers to al-Imâm al-a’zam.”
Nu’mân Alûsî writes in the book Ghâliyya that this hadîth-i
sherîf refers to Abû Hanîfa and that his grandfather descended
from a Fâris family. ’Allâma Yûsuf, a Hanbalî scholar, quoted in
his work Tanwîr as-sahîfa from Hâfiz ’Allâma Yûsuf ibn ’Abd al-
Barr (b. 368/978 and d. 463/1071 in Shâtiba), Qadî of Lisbon,
Portugal, “Do not slander Abû Hanîfa and do not believe those
who slander him! I swear by Allâhu ta’âlâ that I know not a
person superior to him, having more wara’ or being more
learned than he. Do not believe what al-Khatîb al-Baghdâdî
said! He was antipathetic towards the ’ulamâ’. He slandered
Abû Hanîfa, Imâm Ahmad and their disciples. The ’ulamâ’ of
Islam refuted al-Khatîb and censured him. Ibn al-Jawzî’s
grandson, ’Allâma Yûsuf Shams ad-dîn al-Baghdâdî, wrote in
his forty-volumed book Mir’ât az-zamân that he was astonished
to know that his grandfather had followed al-Khatîb. Imâm al-
Ghazâlî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), in his Ihyâ’, praises al-
Imâm al-a’zam with such words as ‘’âbid’, ‘zâhid’ and ‘al-’ârifu
bi’llâh’. If the Sahâbat al-Kirâm and the ’ulamâ’ of Islam had
different points of view from one another, it was not because
they did not approve of each other’s words or because they
were unsociable to one another or because they disliked one
another; mujtahids (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în)
- 53 -
disagred with one another concerning ijtihâd for Allâhu ta’âlâ’s
sake and to serve Islam.”][1]
An ’âlim dreamt of Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam)
and asked him, “What would you say about Abû Hanîfa’s
knowledge?” He answered, “Everybody needs his knowledge.”
Another ’âlim asked in his dream, “O Rasûl-Allah! What would
you say about the knowledge Nu’mân ibn Thâbit has, who lives
in Kûfa?” He answered, “Learn from him and do as he says. He
is a very good person.” Imâm ’Alî (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) said, “Let
me inform you of a person called Abû Hanîfa, who will live in
Kûfa. His heart will be full of knowledge and hikma (wisdom).
Towards the end of the world, many people will perish because
of not appreciating him, just as the Shî’ites will perish because
of not having appreciated Abû Bakr and ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu
’anhumâ).” Imâm Muhammad al-Bâqir ibn Zain al-’Âbidîn ’Alî
ibn Husain (rahmatullâhi ’alaihim, b. 57 A.H. in Medina and d.
113, buried in the shrine of Hadrat ’Abbâs (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) in
Medina) looked at Abû Hanîfa and said, “When those who
destroy the religion of my ancestors increase in number, you
will revive it. You will be the saviour of those who fear and the
shelter of those who are confused! You will lead the heretics to
the right way! Allâhu ta’âlâ will help you!” When he was young,
al-Imâm al-a’zâm (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) studied ’ilm alkalâm
and ma’rifa and became very competent. Then after
serving Imâm Hammâd for twenty-eight years, he attained
maturity. When Hammâd passed away, he took his place as a
mujtahid and muftî. His knowledge and superiority became
known far and wide. His virtue, intelligence, sagacity, zuhd,
taqwâ, trustworthiness, readiness of wit, devotion to Islam,
righteousness and his perfection in every respect as a human
being were above those of all others of his time. All the
mujtahids and those who succeeded him and noble people —
even Christians— praised him. Al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) said, “All men of fiqh are Abû
Hanîfa’s children.” He said once, “I get blessings (tabarruk) from
Abû Hanîfa[’s soul]. I visit his tomb every day. When I am in
difficulty, I go to his tomb and perform two rak’as of salât. I
invoke Allâhu ta’âlâ, and He gives me what I wish.” Al-Imâm
[1] It is explained in the second fascicle of Endless Bliss that a mawdû’
hadîth does not mean ‘false, made-up hadîth’ in ’ilm al-usûl al-hadîth.
- 54 -
ash-Shafi’î was a disciple of Imâm Muhammad.[1] He remarked,
“Allâhu ta’âlâ bestowed knowledge upon me through two
persons. I learned the Hadîth ash-sherîf from Sufyân ibn
’Uyaina and fiqh from Muhammad ash-Shaibânî.” He said once,
“In the field of religious knowledge and in worldly affairs, there is
one person to whom I am grateful. He is Imâm Muhammad.”
And again, al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î said, “With what I learned from
Imâm Muhammad I have written a pack-animal-load of books. I
would not have acquired anything of knowledge had he not
been my teacher. All men of knowledge are the children of the
’ulamâ’ of Iraq, who were the disciples of the ’ulamâ’ of Kûfa.
And they were the disciples of Abû Hanîfa.”
Al-Imâm al-a’zam acquired knowledge from four thousand
people.
The ’ulamâ’ of every century wrote many books describing
the greatness of al-Imâm al-a’zam.
In the Hanafî Madhhab, five hundred thousand religious
problems were solved and all of them were answered.
Al-Hâfiz al-kebîr Abû Bakr Ahmad al-Hârizmî wrote in his
book Musnad, “Saif al-a’imma reports that when al-Imâm ala’zam
Abû Hanîfa derived a matter from Qur’ân al-kerîm and
Hadîth ash-sherîf, he would propound it to his masters. He
would not give the answer to the inquirer unless all of them
confirmed it.” One thousand of his disciples attended all his
classes when he taught in the mosque of Kûfa city. Forty of
them were mujtahids. When he found the answer for a matter
he would propound it to his disciples. They would study it
together and, when they were all in agreement that it was
consistent with Qur’ân al-kerîm and Hadîth ash-sherîf and with
the words of the Sahâbat al-kirâm, he would be delighted and
say, “Al-hamdu li’llâh wa’llâhu akbar,” and all those who were
present would repeat his words. Then he would tell them to
write it down.
[It is written in the book Radd al-Wahhâbî:[1] “Being a
mujtahid requires first being specialized in the Arabic language
[1]. Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa’s two leading disciples were Imâm
Muhammad ash-Shaibânî and Imâm Abû Yûsuf (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’alaihim)
[1] First published in India in 1264 (1848 A.D.); reprinted in Persian in
Istanbul in 1401 (1981 A.D.).
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and in the various linguistic sciences such as awdâ’, sahîh,
marwî, mutawâtir; ways of radd; mawdû’ vocabulary; fasîh, radî
and mazmûn forms; mufrad, shâdh, nâdir, musta’mal, muhmal,
mu’rab, ma’rifa, ishtiqaq, haqîqa, majâz, mushtarak, izdâd,
mutlaq, muqayyad, ibdâl and qalb. Next you must be
specialized in sarf, nahw, ma’ânî, bayân, badî’, balâghât, ’ilm alusûl
al-fiqh, ’ilm al-usûl al-hadîth, ’ilm al-usûl at-tafsîr, and have
memorized the words of the imâms of jarh and ta’dîl. Being a
faqîh requires, in addition to these, knowing the proof for every
matter and studying the meaning, the murâd and ta’wîl of the
proof. Being a muhaddith, that is, a scholar of hadîth, requires
only memorizing the hadîths as one heard them; it is not
compulsory to know the meanings, murâds, ta’wîls, or to
understand the proofs for the rules of Islam. If a faqîh and a
muhaddith disagree with each other about a hadîth sherîf, e.g. if
the former says that it is sahîh and the latter says that it is da’îf,
the faqîh’s word will be valid. Therefore, al-Imâm al-a’zâm’s
word or decision is more valuable than all the others because
he was the first mujtahid and the highest faqîh due to his having
heard many hadîths directly from the Sahâbat al-kirâm without
any intervention. A hadîth sherîf that was said to be sahîh by
this exalted imâm was said to be sahîh by all Islamic scholars.
A muhaddith cannot be in the grade of a faqîh. And he can
never reach the grade of an imâm al-madhhab.
’Abdulhaq ad-Dahlawî, a scholar of hadîth, wrote in his book
Sirât-i mustaqîm, “Some hadîths which al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î
took as documents were not taken as documents by al-Imâm ala’zam
Abu Hanîfa. Seeing this, the lâ-madhhabî used it as an
opportunity for traducing al-Imâm al-a’zam and claimed that
Abû Hanîfa had not followed the hadîth ash-sherîf. However,
Hadrat al-Imâm al-a’zâm Abû Hanîfa found and took other
hadîths which were more sahîh and dependable in
documenting the matter.”
A hadîth sherîf states: “The most beneficial ones of my
Umma are those who live in my time. The next most
beneficial ones are those who succeed them. And the next
most beneficial ones are those who will come after them.”
This hadîth sherîf shows that the Tâbi’ûn were more beneficial
than Taba’ at-Tâbi’în. The Islamic ’ulamâ’ all agree that al-Imâm
al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa saw some of the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm,
heard hadîths from them, and, therefore, was one of the
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Tâbi’ûn. For example, al-Imâm al-a’zam heard the hadîth, “A
person who builds a mosque for Allâhu ta’âlâ’s sake will be
given a villa in Paradise,” from ’Abdullah ibn Awfâ, who was a
Sahâbî. Jalâl ad-dîn as-Suyûtî, a Shâfi’î scholar, wrote in his
book Tabyîd as-sahîfa that al-Imâm ’Abdulkarîm, one of the
Shâfi’î scholars, wrote a complete book describing the Sahâbis
whom al-Imâm al-a’zam had seen. It is written in Durr almukhtâr
that al-Imâm al-a’zam saw seven Sahâbîs. Among the
four a’immat al-madhâhib, only al-Imâm al-a’zam was honoured
with being one of the Tâbi’ûn. It is a rule in ’ilm al-usûl that the
view of those who admit something is preferred to the view of
those who refuse it. It is obvious that al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû
Hanîfa, being one of the Tâbi’ûn, is the highest of the a’immat
al-madhâhib. The lâ-madhhabîs’ denying al-Imam al-a’zam’s
superiority or their trying to vilify this exalted Imâm by saying
that he was weak in the knowledge of hadîth, is similar to their
denying the superiority of Hadrat Abû Bakr and Hadrat ’Umar
(radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ). This perverse negation of theirs is not a
sort of illness that can be cured by preaching or advice. May
Allâhu ta’âlâ cure them! The Muslims’ Khalîfa ’Umar (radiy-
Allâhu ’anh) said during his khutba: “O Muslims! As I tell you
now, Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) told us during his
khutba: “The most beneficial people are my Sahâba. The
most beneficial after them are their successors. And the
next most beneficial are those who will come after them.
There will be liars among those who will come after these.’
” The four Madhhabs which Muslims have been following and
imitating today are the Madhhabs of those beneficial people
whose goodness was affirmed by Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sallam). The Islamic ’ulamâ’ declare in consensus that it is
not permissible to adopt a Madhhab other than these four
Madhhabs.
Ibn Nujaim al-Misrî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), author of the
book Bahr ar-râ’iq, wrote in his work Ashbâh, “Hadrat al-Imâm
ash-Shâfi’î said that a person who wanted to be a specialist in
the knowledge of fiqh should read Abû Hanîfa’s books.”
Abdullah Ibn Mubârak said, “I have not seen another specialist
as learned as Abû Hanîfa in the knowledge of fiqh. The great
’âlim Mis’ar used to kneel in front of Abû Hanîfa and learn what
he did not know by asking him. I have studied under a thousand
’ulamâ’. Yet, had I not seen Abû Hanîfa, I would have slipped
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into the bog of Greek philosophy.” Abû Yûsuf said, “I have not
seen another person as profoundly learned as Abû Hanîfa in
the knowledge of hadîth. There is not another ’âlim who can
expound hadîths as competently as he did.” The great ’âlim and
mujtahid Sufyân ath-Thawrî said, “In comparison with Abû
Hanîfa, we were like sparrows versus a falcon. Abû Hanîfa is
the leader of the ’ulamâ’.” ’Alî ibn Âsim said, “If Abû Hanîfa’s
knowledge were to be measured with the total knowledge of all
the ’ulamâ’ contemporary with him, Abû Hanîfa’s knowledge
would prove to be greater.” Yazîd ibn Hârûn said, “I studied
under a thousand ’ulamâ’. Among them I did not see anyone
who had as much wara’ as Abû Hanîfa did or who was as wise
as Abû Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh).” Muhammad ibn
Yûsuf ash-Shâfi’î, one of the Damascene ’ulamâ’, praises al-
Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa much, explains his superiority in
detail, and says that he is the leader of all mujtahids in his book
Uqûd al-jamân fî manâqibi’n-Nu’mân. Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû
Hanîfa said, “We esteem and love Rasûlullâh’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm)
hadîths above all. We search for the words of the Sahâbat alkirâm,
choose and adopt them. As for the words of the Tâbi’ûn,
they are like our words. Translation from the book Radd-i
Wahhâbî ends here. This book was printed in India and in
Istanbul, in 1264 (1848 A.D.) and in 1401 (1981 A.D.),
respectively.
In the book Sayf-ul-muqallidîn alâ a’nâk-il-munkirîn,
Mawlânâ Muhammad ’Abd al-Jalîl wrote in Persian: “The lâmadhhabî
say that Abû Hanîfa was weak in the knowledge of
hadîth. This assertion of theirs shows that they are ignorant or
jealous. Al-Imâm az-Zahabî and Ibn Hajar al-Makkî say that al-
Imâm al-a’zam was an ’âlim of hadîth. He learned hadîths from
four thousand ’ulamâ’. Three hundred of them were among the
Tâbi’ûn and were ’ulamâ’ of hadîth. Al-Imâm ash-Sha’rânî says
in the first volume of al-Mîzân, ‘I have studied three of al-Imâm
al-a’zam’s Musnads. All of them transmit information from the
well-known ’ulamâ’ of the Tâbi’ûn.’ Hostility which the lâmadhhabî
people bear against the Salaf as-sâlihîn and their
jealousy towards the mujtahid imâms, particularly towards their
leader al-Imâm al-Muslimîn Abû Hanîfa, must have obstructed
their perception and conscience to the extent that they deny the
beauty and superiority of these Islamic ’ulamâ’. They are
intolerant of the fact that pious people have what they do not
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have. It is for this reason that they deny the superiority of the
imâms of Islam and thus venture into the shirk (polytheism) of
jealousy. It is written in the book Hadâ’iq: ‘When al-Imâm ala’zam
Abû Hanîfa memorized hadîths he wrote them down. He
kept the hadîth books he wrote in wooden boxes, some of
which he always kept at hand wherever he went. His quoting
only a few hadîths does not show that the number of hadîths he
memorized was small. Only bigotted enemies of Islam may say
so. This bigotry of theirs proves al-Imâm al-a’zam’s perfection;
an inept person’s slandering the learned indicates the latter’s
perfection.’ Founding a great Madhhab and answering
hundreds of thousands of questions by documenting them with
âyats and hadîths could not have been done by a person who
was not deeply specialized in the sciences of tafsîr and hadîth.
In fact, bringing forth a new, unique Madhhab without a model
or an example is an excellent proof for al-Imâm al-a’zam’s
expertise in the sciences of tafsîr and hadîth. Because he
worked with extraordinary energy and brought forth this
Madhhab, he did not have time to quote the hadîths or to cite
their transmitters one by one; this cannot be grounds for
denigrating that exalted imâm by jealously casting aspersions
on him by saying that he was weak in the knowledge of hadîth.
It is a known fact that riwâya (transmitting) without dirâya
(ability, intelligence) has no value. For example, Ibn Abd al-Barr
said, ‘If riwâya without dirâya were valuable, a dustman’s
quoting a hadîth would be superior to Luqmân’s intelligence.’
Ibn Hajar al-Makkî was one of the ’ulamâ’ in the Shâfi’î
Madhhab, but he wrote in his book Qalâ’id: ‘The great âlim of
hadîth A’mash asked al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa many
questions. Al-Imâm al-a’zam answered each of his questions by
quoting hadîths. After seeing al-Imâm al-a’zam’s profound
knowledge in hadîth, A’mash said, “O, you, the ’ulamâ’ of fiqh!
You are like specialized doctors, and we the ’ulamâ’ of hadîth
are like pharmacists. We cite hadîths and their transmitters, but
you are the ones who understand their meanings.” ’ It is written
in the book ’Uqûd al-jawâhiri ’l-munîfa: ‘While ’Ubaidullah ibn
’Amr was in the company of the great ’âlim of hadîth A’mash,
someone came up and asked a question. As A’mash thought
about the answer, al-Imâm al-a’zam joined in. A’mash repeated
the question to the Imâm and requested an answer. Al-Imâm ala’zam
immediately answered it in detail. Admiring the answer,
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A’mash said, “O Imâm! From which hadîth do you derive this?”
Al-Imâm al-a’zam quoted the hadîth ash-sherîf from which he
derived the answer and added, “I heard this from you.” ’ Al-
Imâm al-Bukhârî knew three hundred thousand hadîths by
heart. He wrote only twelve thousand of them in his books
because he feared very much the threat in the hadîth ashsherîf,
“If a person quotes, in the name of hadîth, what I
have not uttered, he will be tormanted very bitterly in Hell.”
Having much wara’ and taqwâ, al-Imâm al-a’zam imposed very
heavy conditions for the transmitting of hadîths. He would quote
only those hadîths fulfilling these conditions. Some ’ulamâ’ of
hadîth transmitted numerous hadîths because their branch was
wider and their conditions were lighter. The ’ulamâ’ of hadîth
never belittled one another on account of differing conditions.
Had this not been so, Imâm Muslim would have said something
to offend al-Imâm al-Bukhârî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihimâ). Al-
Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa’s transmitting only a few hadîths
because of his circumspection and taqwâ could only be a good
reason for praising and lauding him.”[1]]
The book Mir’ât al-kâ’inât goes on: “Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû
Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) performed morning prayer in
a mosque and answered his disciples’ questions until noon
every day. After early afternoon prayer, he taught his disciples
again until night prayer. Then he would go home and, after
resting for a while, return to the mosque and worship until
morning prayer. Mis’ar ibn Kadâm al-Kûfî, one of the Salaf assâlihîn,
who passed away in 115 (733 A.D.), and many other
great people reported this fact.
“He earned his living in a halâl way by trading. He sent
goods to other places and with his earnings he met the needs
of his disciples. He spent much for his household and gave an
equal amount as alms to the poor. Moreover, every Friday he
distributed twenty gold coins to the poor for his parents’ souls.
He did not stretch his legs towards his teacher Hammâd’s
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) house, though he lived at a distance
of seven streets away. Once he found out that one of his
partners had sold a large amount of goods incompatibly with
Islam. He distributed all the ninety thousand aqchas earned to
the poor, not taking one penny of it. After brigands had raided
[1] Saif al-muqallidîn ’alâ a’nâqi ’l-munkirîn.
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the villages of Kûfa and had stolen sheep, he, thinking that
these stolen sheep might be slaughtered and sold in the town,
did not eat mutton for seven years, for he knew that a sheep
lived seven years at the longest. He abstained from the harâm
to that degree. He observed Islam in his every action.
“For forty years al-Imâm al-a’zam (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh)
performed the morning prayer with the ablution he had made for
the night prayer [that is, he did not sleep after the night prayer.]
He performed hajj fifty-five times. During the last one, he went
into the Ka’ba, performed a prayer of two rak’as and recited the
whole Qur’ân al-kerîm during the prayer. Then, weeping, he
invoked, ‘O my Allâhu ta’âlâ! I have not been able to worship
Thee in a manner worthy of Thee. Yet I have understood very
well that Thou cannot be comprehended through intelligence.
For this understanding of mine, please forgive the defects in my
service!’ At that moment a voice was heard, ‘O Abû Hanîfa! You
have acknowledged Me very well and have served Me
beautifully. I have forgiven you and those who will be in your
Madhhab and follow you until the end of the world.’ He read
Qur’ân al-kerîm from the beginning to the end once every day
and once every night.
“Al-Imâm al-a’zam had so much taqwâ that for thirty years
he fasted every day [except the five days of a year on which it is
harâm to fast]. He often read the entire Qur’ân al-kerîm in one
rak’a or two. And sometimes, during sâlât or outside it, he read
an âyat describing Heaven and Hell over and over again and
sobbed and lamented.[1] Those who heard him pitied him.
Among the Umma of Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm), reciting the
entire Qur’ân al-kerîm in a single rak’a of salât fell to the lot of
only ’Uthmân ibn ’Affân, Tamîm ad-Dârî, Sa’d ibn Jubair and al-
Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa. He did not accept any presents
from anyone. He wore clothes like those of the poor. Yet at
times, in order to exhibit the blessings of Allâhu ta’âlâ, he wore
very valuable clothes. He performed hajj fifty-five times and
stayed in Mekka for several years. Only at the place where his
soul was taken, he had read the entire Qur’ân al-kerîm seven
thousand times. He said, “I laughed once in my life, and I regret
it.” He talked little and thought much. He discussed some
[1] Crying out of love for Allâh ta’âlâ in salât does not break the salât in the
Hanafî Madhhab.
- 61 -
religious matters with his disciples. One night, while leaving the
mosque immediately after performing the night prayer in jamâ’a,
he began to talk with his disciple Zufar on some subject. One of
his feet was inside the mosque and the other was outside. The
conversation continued until the morning adhân. Then, without
taking the other step out, he went back in for the morning
prayer. Because ’Alî (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) had said, ‘It is
permissible to have a personal allowance of up to four thousand
dirhams,’ he distributed to the poor what was more than four
thousand dirhams of his earnings.
“The Khalîfa Mansûr revered the Imâm very much. He
presented him ten thousand aqchas and a jâriya. The Imâm did
not accept them. At that time one aqcha was worth one dirham
of silver. In 145 A.H., Ibrâhîm ibn ’Abdullâh ibn Hasan ibn ’Alî
was recruiting men in order to help his brother Muhammad
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în), who had proclaimed
himself the Khalîfa in al-Madînat al-munawwara. When he came
to Kûfa, it was rumoured that Abû Hanîfa was helping him.
Mansûr heard this and had the Imâm taken from Kûfa to
Baghdad. He told him to tell everybody that Mansûr was
rightfully the Khalîfa. He offered him the presidency of the
Supreme Court of Appeal as a recompense. He imposed on
him very much. The Imâm did not accept it. Mansûr imprisoned
him and had him thrashed with a stick thirty strokes. His
blessed feet bled. Mansûr repented and sent him thirty
thousand aqchas, only to be refused again. He was imprisoned
again and thrashed ten strokes more every day. [According to
some report] on the eleventh day, for fear that the people might
rebel, he was forced to lie down on his back and poisonous
sherbet (a sweet fruit drink) was poured into his mouth. As he
was about to die, he prostrated (sajda). Some fifty thousand
people performed janâza salât for him. Because of the
enormous crowd, it was performed with difficulty and finished
not before the late afternoon prayer. For twenty days many
people came to his tomb and performed janâza salât for him
near his tomb.
“He had seven hundred and thirty disciples. Each of them
was famed for his virtue and pious deeds. Many of them
became qâdîs or muftîs. His son Hammâd (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
aleyh) was one of his notable disciples.” Passages from the
book Mir’ât-ul-kâinât end here.
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They have been leaders guiding the ahl-i dîn,
rahmatullâhi ’alaihim ajma’în.
There were some disagreements between al-Imâm al-a’zam
and his disciples on the information that was to be deduced
through ijtihâd. The following hadîth ash-sherîf declares that
these disagreements were useful: “Disagreement (on the
’âmâl, practices) among my Umma is [Allâhu ta’âlâ’s]
compassion.” He feared Allâhu ta’âlâ very much and was very
careful in following Qur’ân al-kerîm. He said to his disciples, “If
you come across a document (sanad) inconsistent with my
words on a subject, ignore my words and follow that document.”
All his disciples swore, “Even our words inconsistent with his
words surely depend on a proof (dalîl, sanad) we had heard
from him.”
Hanafî muftîs have to issue fatwâs agreeable with what al-
Imâm al-a’zam said. If they cannot find his word, they should
follow Imâm Abû Yûsuf. After him, Imâm Muhammad should be
followed. If the words of Imâm Abû Yûsuf and Imâm
Muhammad are on one side and those of al-Imâm al-a’zam on
the other, a muftî may issue a fatwâ according to either side.
When there is darûra (a pressing difficulty), he may issue a
fatwâ suitable with the words of the mujtahid who showed the
easiest way. He cannot issue a fatwâ that does not depend on
the words of any of the mujtahids; such an issue cannot be
called a fatwâ.
4 — WAHHÂBISM AND ITS REFUTATION
BY THE AHL AS-SUNNA
Although they say they are Muslims, Wahhâbîs, also called
Najdîs, are one of the groups who have departed from the Ahl
as-Sunna.
Ahmed Cevdet Paşa, a statesman, and Eyyûb Sabrî
Paşa [d. 1308 (1890 A.D.)], Rear-Admiral during the time of
the thirty-fourth Ottoman sultan ’Abd al-Hamîd Khân II
[1258-1336 (1842-1918), buried in the shrine of Sultan
Mahmûd in Istanbul] (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim), each
wrote a history book, in which they explained Wahhâbism
in full detail.[1] The following is derived, for the most part,
[1] The seventh volume of the former’s 12-volume Târîkh-i Othmânî and
the third volume of the latter’s 5-volume Mir’ât al-Haramain (p. 99.
- 63 -
from the latter’s book, who translated this information form
Ahmad Zaynî Dahlân’s[2] book “Fitnat al-Wahhâbiyya.” He
passed away in 1308 (1890 A.D.).
Wahhâbism was established by Muhammad ibn ’Abd al-
Wahhâb. He was born in Huraimila in Najd in 1111 (1699 A.D.)
and died in 1206 (1791 A.D.). Formerly, he had been to Basra,
Baghdad, Iran, India and Damascus with a view to travelling
and trade. He was in Basra when, in 1125 [1713 A.D.], he
succumbed to a snare set by Hempher, who was only one of
the numerous British spies, and served as a tool in the British
plans to (destroy Islam). He published the absurdities prepared
by the spy in the name of Wahhabism. Our book Confessions
of A British Spy gives detailed information on the
establishment of Wahhabism. There he found and read books
written by Ahmad Ibn Taimiyya of Harrân [661-728 (1263-1328),
d. in Damascus], the contents of which were incompatible with
the Ahl as-Sunna. Being a very cunning person, he became
known as ash-Shaikh an-Najdî. His book Kitâb at-tawhîd,[3]
which he prepared in cooperation with the British spy, was
annotated by his grandson, ’Abd ar-Rahmân, and was
interpolated and published in Egypt with the title Fat’h al-majîd
by a Wahhâbî called Muhammad Hamîd. Muhammad ibn ’Abd
al-Wahhâb’s ideas spread among villagers, the inhabitants of
Dar’iyya and their chief, Muhammad ibn Su’ûd. Those who
accepted his ideas, which he termed Wahhâbiyya, are called
Wahhâbîs or Najdîs. They increased in number, and he
imposed himself as the qâdî and Muhammad ibn Su’ûd as the
amîr (ruler). He declared it as a law that only their own
descendants should succeed them.
Muhammad’s father, ’Abd al-Wahhâb, who was a pious
Muslim and a scholar of Medina, apprehended from Ibn ’Abd al-
Wahhâb’s words that he would start a perverted movement and
advised everybody not to talk with him. But he proclaimed
Wahhâbism in 1150 (1737 A.D.). He spoke ill of the ijtihâds of
Turkish, the Library of Süleymâniyye).
[2] Ahmad Dahlân ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’, (1231 [1816], Mekka-1304 [1886],
Medina), Mufti of Mekka.
[3] Meccan scholars wrote very beautiful answers to Kitâb at-tawhîd and
refuted it with sound documents in 1221. The collection of their
refutations, titled Saif al-Jabbâr, which was later printed in Pakistan,
was reproduced in Istanbul in 1395 [1975 A.D.].
- 64 -
the ’ulamâ’ of Islam. He went so far as to call the Ahl as-Sunna
“disbelievers.” He said that he who visited the shrine of a
Prophet or of a Walî and addressed him as “Yâ Nabî-Allâh!” (O
Allah’s Prophet) or as, “Yâ ’Abd al-Qâdir!” would become a
polytheist (mushrik).
The Wahhâbî point of view is that he who says that anybody
besides Allâhu ta’âlâ did something becomes a polytheist, a
disbeliever. For example, he who says, “Such and such
medicine relieved the pain,” or “Allâhu ta’âlâ accepted my
prayers near the tomb of such and such a Prophet or Walî,”
becomes a polytheist. To prove these ideas, he puts forth as
documents the âyat al-kerîma: “Iyyâka nasta’în” (Only Thy
help we ask) of the Sûrat al-Fatiha and the âyats expounding
tawakkul.[1]
The book Al-Usûl-ul-arba’a fî-terdîd-il-wahhâbiyya, at the
end of its second part, says in Persian:
The Wahhâbîs and other lâ-madhhâbî people cannot
comprehend the meanings of majâz[2] and isti’âra’ (metaphor).
Whenever somebody says that he did something, they call him
a polytheist or a disbeliever though his expression is a majâz.
However, Allâhu ta’âlâ declares in many âyats of Qur’ân alkerîm
that He is the Real Maker of every act and that man is the
majâzî maker. In the 57th âyat of Sûrat al-An’âm and in Sûrat
[1] The correct meanings of these âyats by the ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna
and the matters of tawhîd and tawakkul are written in detail in Endless
Bliss, Third Fascicle, Chapter 35. Those who know the correct
meaning of ‘tawhîd’ will understand that the Wahhâbîs, who consider
themselves muwahhids, are not muwahhids (believers in tawhîd Majâz
is the use of a word not in its usual or obvious literal meaning but in a
sense connected to its meaning. When a word special to Allâhu ta’âlâ
is used for men in a majâzî (figurative, symbolic) sense, the Wahhâbîs
take it in its literal meaning and call the one who uses it symbolically a
polytheist and disbeliever; they are unaware that such words are used
for men in symbolical senses in Qur’ân al-kerîm and Hadîth ashsherîf.).
[2] Majâz is the use of a word not in its usual or obvious literal meaning but
in a sense connected to its meaning. When a word special to Allâhu
ta’âlâ is used for men in a majâzî (figurative, symbolic) sense, the
Wahhâbîs take it in its literal meaning and call the one who uses it
symbolically a polytheist and disbeliever; they are unaware that such
words are used for men in symbolical senses in Qur’ân al-kerîm and
Hadîth ash-sherîf.
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Yûsuf, He says: “The decision (hukm) is Allâhu ta’âlâ’s
alone,” that is, Allâhu ta’âlâ is the only Decider (Hâkim). In the
64th âyat of the Sûrat an-Nisâ’, He says: “They will not be
Believers unless they make thee (the Prophet) judge
(yuhakkimûnaka) of what is in dispute between them.” The
former âyat states that Allâhu ta’âlâ is the only Real Hâkim, and
the latter states that man can be metaphorically referred to as a
hâkim.
Every Muslim knows that Allâhu ta’âlâ alone is the One who
gives life and takes life away, for He declares: “He alone gives
and takes life,” in the 56th âyat of the Sûrat Yûnus, and,
“Allâhu ta’âlâ is the One who makes man dead at the time
of his death,” in the 42nd âyat of the Sûrat az-Zumar. In the
11th âyat of the Sûrat as-Sajda, He says as a majâz: “The
angel who is appointed as the deputy to take life takes your
life.”
Allâhu ta’âlâ alone is the One who gives health to the sick,
for the 80th âyat of Sûrat ash-Shu’arâ states: “When I become
sick, only He gives me recovery.” He quotes ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
in the 49th âyat of the Âl-i ’Imrân sûra as saying: “I heal
him who is blind and baras,[1] and I bring the dead back to
life by Allâhu ta’âlâ’s permission.” The One who gives a child
to man is actually He; the 18th âyat of the Sûrat Mariam states
[the Archangel] Jabrâ’îl’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) majâzî words, “I will
give you a pure son.”
The real owner of man is Allâhu ta’âlâ. The 257th âyat of the
Sûrat al-Baqara states this openly: “Allâhu ta’âlâ is the Walî
(Protector, Guardian) of those who believe.” And by saying,
“Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) are your
walîs,” and “The Prophet protects the Believers more than
they protect themselves,” in the 56th and 6th âyats of Sûras
al-Mâ’ida and al-Ahzâb, respectively, He means that man, too,
though symbolically, is a walî. Similarly, the real helper is Allâhu
ta’âlâ, and He also calls men ‘mu’în’ (helper) metaphorically. He
says in the third âyat of the Sûrat al-Mâ’ida: “Help one another
in goodness and piety (taqwâ).” Wahhâbîs use the word
‘mushrik’ (polytheist) for those Muslims who call somebody an
’abd (servant, slave) of someone other than Allâhu ta’âlâ, for
[1] A skin-diseased person, albion or vitiligo, with complete or partial
whiteness, respectively, of the skin.
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example, ‘’Abd an-Nabî’ or ‘’Abd ar-Rasûl’; however, in the
32nd âyat of Sûrat an-Nûr, it is declared: “Give in marriage
your unmarried women and those pious ones among your
slaves and female slaves.” The Real Rabb (Trainer) of men is
Allâhu ta’âlâ, but someone else can also be called ‘rabb’
metaphorically; in the 42nd âyat of the Sûrat Yûsuf is said,
“Mention me in the presence of your rabb.”
‘Istighâtha’ is what the Wahhâbîs oppose most: ‘to ask help
or protection of someone other than Allâhu ta’âlâ,’ which they
call polytheism. In fact, as all Muslims know, true istighâtha is
only for Allâhu ta’âlâ. However, it is permissible to say
metaphorically that one can do istighâtha for someone, for, it is
declared in the 15th âyat of Sûrat al-Qassass: “People of his
tribe did istighâtha for him against the enemy.” A hadîth
sherîf says, “They will do istighâtha for Âdam (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
at the place of the Mahshar.” A hadîth sherîf written in
Al-hisn al-hasîn, says, “He who needs help should say, ‘O
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s slaves!Help me!’ ” This hadîth sherîf
commands one to call for help from someone not near him.”[1]
Translation from the book Al-Usûl-ul-arba’a ends here.
[Every word has a distinguishable meaning, which is called
the real meaning of that word. The word will be called majâz
when it is not used in its real meaning but in any other meaning
which can be related to it. When a word special to Allâhu ta’âlâ
is used as majâz for human beings, Wahhâbî people will think
that the word is being used with its real meaning. So, they will
call a person who uses the word mushriq, or kâfir. But they
should pay attention to the fact that these words are used as
majâz in âyats and hadîth-i sherîfs for human beings.]
To ask for shafâ’a (intercession) and help from Rasûlullah
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) and the Awliyâ’ does not mean to turn away
from Allâhu ta’âlâ or to forget that He is the Creator. It is like
expecting rain from Him through the cause or means (wâsita) of
[1] Al-usûl al-arba’a fî tardîd al-Wahhâbiyya (in Persian), end of the
second part, India, 1346 (1928 A.D.); photographic reproduction,
Istanbul, 1395 (1975 A.D.). This book was written by Muhammad
Hasan Jân Sâhib, one of the grandsons of hadrat Imâm Rabbânî
‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ alaihimâ’. The author, Jân Sâhib, refutes the
Wahhâbîs and other lâ-madhhabî people also in his Arabic work Tarîq
an-najât, India, 1350 (with Urdu translation); photographic
reproduction, Istanbul, 1396 (1976 A.D.).
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clouds; expecting cure from Him by taking medicine; expecting
victory from Him by using cannons, bombs, rockets and
aeroplanes. These are causes. Allâhu ta’âlâ creates everything
through causes. It is not polytheism (shirk) to stick to these
causes. Prophets ’alaihim-us-salâm always clung to causes. As
we go to a fountain to drink water, which Allâhu ta’âlâ created,
and to the bakery to get bread, which again He created, and as
we make armaments and drill and train our troops so that Allâhu
ta’âlâ will give us victory, so we set our hearts on the soul of a
Prophet or a Walî in order that Allâhu ta’âlâ will accept our
prayers. To use a radio in order to hear a sound which Allâhu
ta’âlâ creates through the means of electro-magnetic waves
does not mean to forget about Him and have recourse to a box,
for He is the One who gives this peculiarity, this power, to the
apparatus in the radio box. Allâhu ta’âlâ has concealed His
Omnipotence in everything. A polytheist worships idols but does
not think of Allâhu ta’âlâ. A Muslim, when he uses causes and
means, thinks of Allâhu ta’âlâ, who gives effectiveness and
peculiarities to the causes and creatures. Whatever he wishes,
he expects it from Allâhu ta’âlâ. He knows that whatever he
gets comes from Allâhu ta’âlâ. The meaning of the abovementioned
âyat shows that this is true. That is, when saying the
Sûrat al-Fâtiha in each salât, the Believer says, ‘O my Rabb! I
hold on to material and scientific causes in order to get my
worldly desires and needs, and beg Thine beloved slaves to
help me. As I do so, and always, I believe that Thou alone is the
Giver, the Creator of wishes. From Thee alone I expect!’
Believers who say this every day can not be said to be
polytheists. To ask for help from the souls of Prophets and
Awliyâ’ is to hold on to these causes, which were created by
Allâhu ta’âlâ. This âyat of Sûrat al-Fâtiha states clearly that
they are not polytheists but true Believers. Wahhâbîs also stick
to material and scientific means. They satisfy their sensual
desires by any means. But they call it “polytheism” to have
recourse to Prophets and Awliyâ’ as mediators.
Since the words of Muhammad ibn ’Abd al-Wahhâb were all
in accordance with sensual desires, those who did not have
religious knowledge believed them easily. They asserted that
the ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna and Muslims of the right way
were disbelievers. Amîrs (leaders) found Wahhâbism consistent
with their desires to increase their power and to extend their
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lands and territories. They forced the Arab tribes to become
Wahhâbî. They killed those who did not believe them. Villagers,
from fear of death, obeyed the amîr of Dar’iyya, Muhammad ibn
Sa’ûd. Becoming soldiers of the amîr suited their desires to
attack the property, life and chastity of non-Wahhâbîs.
Shaikh Sulaimân, Muhammad ibn ’Abd al-Wahhâb’s brother,
was an ’alîm of the Ahl as-Sunna. This blessed person refuted
Wahhâbism in his book As-sawâ’iq al-ilâhiyya fî ’r-raddi ’alâ
’l-Wahhâbiyya and deterred the dissemination of its heretical
tenets. This valuable book was printed in the year 1306. It was
also printed in offset process in Istanbul in 1395 [1975 A.D.].
Muhammad’s teachers, who realized that he had opened a way
leading to evil, refuted his corrupt books. They announced that
he had deviated from the right way. They proved that Wahhâbîs
gave wrong meanings to âyats and hadîths. Yet all these
increased the villagers’ resentment and hostility against the
Believers.
Wahhâbism was spread not through knowledge but through
cruelty and bloodshed by ignorant people. Of the cruel who
soaked their hands with blood in this way, the amîr or Dar’iyya,
Muhammad ibn Sa’ûd, was the most stone-hearted. This man
was of the Banî Hanîfa tribe and was one of the descendants of
those idiots who had believed Musailamat al-kadhdhâb as a
prophet. He died in 1178 [1765 A.D.] and was succeeded by his
son ’Abd-ul-’azîz, who, in his turn, was slain by a Shiite in 1217.
He was succeeded by his son Sa’ûd, who died in 1231. His son
Abdullah took his place, only to be executed in Istanbul in 1240.
His place was taken by Tarkî bin Abdullah, a grandson of ’Abdul-’
azîz’s. The person to succeed him, in 1254, was his son
Faisal, who in his turn was succeeded by his son Abdullah in
1282. His brother ’Abd-ur-rahmân and his son ’Abd-ul-’azîz
settled in Kuwait. In 1319 [1901 A.D.] ’Abd-ul-’azîz moved to
Riyâd and became the Emîr. In 1918 he attacked Mekka in
cooperation with the British. In 1351 [1932 A.D.] he established
the State of Sa’udi Arabia. We read in newspapers issued in
1991 that Fahd, the Emîr of Su’ûd, had sent four billion dollars
as an aid to the Russian disbelievers who had been fighting the
Mujahideen in Afghanistan.
Wahhâbîs claim that they are on the way of being sincere in
believing in the Oneness of Allâhu ta’âlâ and in escaping
disbelief, that all Muslims have been polytheists for six hundred
- 69 -
years, and that they have been trying to save them from
disbelief. To prove themselves right, they put forward the fifth
âyat kerîma of Sûrat al-Ahqâf and the 106th âyat kerîma of the
Sûrat Yûnus. However, all the commentaries of Qur’ân al-kerîm
unanimously write that these two âyats and many others have
all been sent down for polytheists. The first of these âyats is:
“No one is more heretical than the one who turns away
from Allâhu ta’âlâ and prays to things which will never hear
till the end of the world.’ And the other is: “Tell the Meccan
polytheists, ‘I was commanded not to pray to things, which
are neither useful nor harmful, other than Allâhu ta’âlâ. If
you pray to anyone but Allâhu ta’âlâ, you will be torturing
and doing harm to yourselves!”
The book Kashf ash-shubuhât deals with the third âyat
kerîma of Sûrat az-Zumar, which declares: “Those who accept
things other than Alâhu ta’âlâ as guardians say, ‘If we
worship them, we worship them so that they might help us
approach Allâhu ta’âlâ and intercede for us.’ ” This âyat
kerîma quotes the words of polytheists who worship idols. The
book likens Muslims who ask for shafâ’a to such polytheists and
intentionally says that polytheists also believed that their idols
were not creative but that Allâhu ta’âlâ alone was the Creator.
In an interpretation of this âyat kerîma, the book Rûh al-bayân
says, “Human creatures are created with the ability to
acknowledge the Creator, who created them and everything.
Every human creature feels the desire to worship his Creator
and to be drawn towards Him. Yet this ability and desire are
worthless, for the nafs, Satan or bad companions might deceive
man, [and as a result, this innate desire will be destroyed,] and
man will become [either an unbeliever in the Creator and the
Last Day like communists and freemasons or] a polytheist. A
polytheist cannot approach Allâhu ta’âlâ, nor can he know Him.
The valuable thing is the ma’rifa, the knowledge, which ensues
after eliminating polytheism and embracing tawhîd. Its sign is to
believe in prophets (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and their books and to
follow them. This is the only way of being drawn towards Allâhu
ta’âlâ. The merit of prostrating oneself was naturally given to
Satan, but he refused to prostrate in a manner unsuitable for his
nafs. Ancient Greek philosophers became disbelievers because
they wanted to approach Allâhu ta’âlâ not by following prophets
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) but by their own reasons and nafses. Muslims,
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to approach Allâhu ta’âlâ, adapt themselves to Islam, thus their
hearts get filled with spiritual light. The attribute ‘Jamâl’ (Beauty)
of Allâhu ta’âlâ manifests itself to their spirits. Polytheists, to
approach Allâhu ta’âlâ, follow not the Prophet or Islam but their
nafses, their defective minds and bid’as, and thus their hearts
get darkened and their spirits get obscured. Allâhu ta’âlâ, at the
end of this âyat kerîma, states that they lie in their statement,
“We worship idols so that they shall intercede for us.” As it is
seen, it is very unjust to take the 25th âyat kerîma of Sûrat al-
Luqmân, which says, “If you ask disbelievers, ‘Who created
the earth and the skies?’ they will say, ‘certainly Allâhu
ta’âlâ created them,’ ” and the 87th âyat kerîma of Sûrat az-
Zukhruf, which says, “If you ask those who worship things
other than Allâhu ta’âlâ, ‘Who created these?’ they will say,
‘Certainly Allâhu ta’âlâ created them,’ ” as documents and to
say, “Polytheists, too, knew that the Creator was Allah alone.
They worshipped idols so that they would intercede for them on
the Day of Judgement. For this reason they became polytheists
and disbelievers.”[1]
We, Muslims, do not worship prophets (’alaihi ’s-salâm) or
Awliyâ’ (rahimahum-Allâhu ta’âlâ) and say that they are not
companions or partners of Allâhu ta’âlâ. We believe that they
were creatures and human beings and that they are not worth
worshipping. We believe that they are the beloved slaves of
Allâhu ta’âlâ, and He will pity His slaves for the sake of His
beloved ones. Allâhu ta’âlâ alone creates loss and profit. He
alone is worth worshipping. We say that He pities His slaves for
the sake of His beloved ones. As for polytheists; though they,
owing to the knowledge inherent in their creation, say that their
idols are not creative, and because they have not developed
this latent knowledge by following prophets (’alaihimu ’s-salâm),
believe that their idols are worth worshipping, and so they
worship them. Because they say idols are worth worshipping,
they become polytheists. Otherwise, they would not become
[1] Jamîl Sidqî az-Zahâwî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) an ’âlim of Iraq, in his
work Al-fajr as-Sâdiq fi ’r-raddi ’ala ’l-munkiri ’t-tawassuli wa ’lkarâmati
wa ’l-hawâriq, [published in Egypt in 1323 (1905 A.D.),
photographic second reproduction, Istanbul, 1396 (1976 A.D.)],
explained this âyat-i kerîma and proved that it had been misinterpreted.
Jamîl Sidqî taught ’ilm al-kalâm at the University of Istanbul. He died in
1355 (1936 A.D.). The 1956 edition of Al-munjid gives a picture of him.
- 71 -
polytheists for saying that they wanted intercession. As it is
seen, likening the Ahl as-Sunna to idolatrous disbelievers is
completely wrong. All these âyats were sent for idolatrous
disbelievers and polytheists. The book Kashf ash-shubuhât
gives wrong meanings to the âyats, uses sophism and says that
the Muslims of the Ahl as-Sunna are polytheists. It also
recommends that non-Wahhâbite Muslims should be killed and
that their property should be confiscated.
Two hadîths reported by ’Abdullah ibn ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu
’anhumâ) state: “They have left the right course. They have
imputed to Muslims the [meanings of the] âyats that
descended for disbelievers,” and “Of all my fears on behalf
of the Umma, the most horrible thing is their interpretation
of Qur’ân al-kerîm according to their own opinions and
their fallacious translations.” These two hadîths foretold that
the lâ-madhhabî would appear and by misinterpreting the âyats
that had descended for disbelievers they would use them
against the Muslims.
Another person who realized that Muhammad ibn ’Abd al-
Wahhâb had wrong ideas and would be harmful later on and
who gave advice to him was Shaikh Muhammad ibn Sulaimân
al-Madanî (d. in Medina in 1194/1780, rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ),
one of the great ’ulamâ’ of Medina. He was a Shâfi’î scholar of
fiqh and wrote many books. His annotation on Ibn Hajar al-
Makkî’s (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) At-tuhfat al-muhtâj, a
commentary to the book Minhâj, has gained great fame. In his
two-volume book, which is entitled Al-fatâwâ, he says, “O
Muhammad ibn ’Abd al-Wahhâb! Don’t slander Muslims! I
advice you for Allâhu ta’âlâ’s sake. Yes, if someone says that
someone other than Allâhu ta’âlâ creates actions, tell him the
truth! But those who cling to causes (wasîla) and who believe
that both causes and the effective power in them are created by
Allâhu ta’âlâ cannot be called disbelievers. You are a Muslim,
too. It would be more correct to call one Muslim a ‘heretic’ than
calling all Muslims as such. He who leaves the community is
more likely to go astray. The 114th âyat kerîma of Sûrat an-
Nisâ’ proves my word right: ‘If a person who, after learning
the way to guidance, opposes the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm)
and deviates from the Believers’ beliefs and ’ibâdât, in the
next world We shall resurrect him in disbelief and
apostasy, with which he has been so intimate, and We shall
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hurl him into Hell.’ ”
Though Wahhâbîs have innumerable wrong tenets, they are
based on three principles:
1— They say that a’mâl or ’ibâdât are included in îmân and
that he who does not perform a fard though he believes that it is
fard, for example, salât because of laziness or zakât because of
stinginess, becomes a disbeliever and he must be killed and his
possessions must be distributed among Wahhâbîs.
Ash-Shihristânî states: “The ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna
have unanimously said that ’ibâdât are not included in îmân.
One who, though he believes it to be a fard, does not perform a
fard because of laziness does not become a disbeliever. There
has not been unanimity concerning those who do not perform
salât; according to Hanbalî Madhhab, one who does not
perform salât because of laziness becomes a disbeliever.”[1]
[Thenâ-ullah Pâni-pûtî ‘rahmatullâhi aleyh’ states at the
beginning of his book Mâ-lâ budda, “A Muslim does not
become a disbeliever by committing a grave sin. If he is put into
Hell, he will be taken out of Hell sooner or later and will be put
into Paradise. He will stay eternally in Paradise.” This book is in
Persian and was printed in Delhi in 1376 [1956 A.D.] and was
reproduced by Hakîkat Kitâbevi in Istanbul in 1410 [1990 A.D.].
In Hanbali Madhhab, it was said that only he who did not
perform salât would become a disbeliever. The same was not
said for other kinds of ’ibâdât. Therefore, it would be wrong to
consider Wahhâbîs as Hanbalî in this respect. As explained
above, those who do not belong to the Ahl as-Sunna cannot be
Hanbalî, either.[2] Those who do not belong to any of the four
Madhhabs do not belong to the Ahl as-Sunna.
2— They say that one who asks for shafâ’a from the souls of
prophets (’alaihimu ’s-salâm) or Awliyâ’ (rahimahum-Allâhu
ta’âlâ) or who visits their tombs and prays while considering
them mediators becomes a disbeliever. They also believe that
the dead do not have any sense.
If a person who talked to a dead person in a grave had been
a disbeliever, our Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam), great
’ulamâ’ and the Awliyâ’ would not have prayed in this manner. It
[1] Al-milal wa ’n-nihal (Turkish), p. 63, Cairo, 1070 A.H.
[2] See pp. 18 and 31 above. See also our Advice for the Muslim for
details on the same subject.
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was our Prophet’s (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) habit to visit the
Bakî Cemetery in Medina and the martyrs of Uhud. In fact, it is
written on the 485th page of the Wahhâbite book Fath al-majîd
that he greeted and talked to them.
Our Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) always said in his
prayers, “Allâhumma innî as-aluka bi-haqqi ’s-sâ’ilîna
’alaika,” (O my Allâhu ta’âlâ! I ask Thee for the sake of those
people whom Thou hast given whatever they asked) and
recommended to pray so. When he interred Fâtima, the mother
of Hadrat ’Alî (radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ), with his own blessed
hands, he said, “Ighfir li-ummî Fâtimata binti Asad wa wassi’
’alaihâ madkhalahâ bi-haqqi nabiyyika wa ’l-anbiyâ’
illadhîna min qablî innaka arhamu ’r-râhimîn.” (O Allâhu
ta’âlâ! Forgive Mother Fâtimat binti Asad, her sins! Widen the
place she is in! Accept this prayer of mine for the right [love] of
Thy Prophet and of the prophets who came before me! Thou art
the Most Merciful of the merciful!) In a hadîth sherîf reported by
’Uthmân ibn Hunaif (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) one of the greatest of the
Ansâr, it is told how the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) ordered a
blind man, who asked him to pray for his healing, to perform an
ablution and a salât of two rak’as and then to say, “Allâhumma
innî as’aluka wa atawajjahu ilaika bi-nabiyyika Muhammadi
’n-nabiyyi ’r-Rahma, yâ Muhammad innî atawajjahu bika ilâ
Rabbî fî hâjatî hâdhihî li-takdiya lî, Allâhumma shaffi’hu
fiyya.” In this prayer the blind man was commanded to have
recourse to Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm) as a mediator so that
his prayer would be accepted. The Sahâbat al-kirâm often
recited this prayer, which is quoted in the second volume of
Ashi’at al-lama’ât and also in Al-hisn al-hasîn with its
references and, in its explanation, interpretation as, “I turn
towards Thee through Thine Prophet.”
These prayers show that it is permissible to put those whom
Allâhu ta’âlâ loves as mediators and to pray to Him by saying
“for their sake.”
Shaikh ’Alî Mahfûz, who died in 1361 (1942 A.D.), one of the
great ’ulamâ’ of Jâmi’ al-Azhar, praises Ibn Taimiyya and
’Abduh very much in his book Al-ibdâ’. Nevertheless, he says
in the two hundred and thirteenth page of the same book: “It is
not right to say that the great Awliyâ’ (rahimahum-Allâhu ta’âlâ)
dispose worldly affairs after death, such as curing the ill,
rescuing those who are about to be drowned, helping those
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who are against the enemy and having lost things found. It is
wrong to say that, because the Awliyâ are very great, Allâhu
ta’âlâ has left these tasks to them or they do what they wish or
that one who clings to them will not go wrong. But whether they
are alive or dead, Allâhu ta’âlâ blesses, among His Awliyâ’, the
ones whom He wills, and, through their karâmât, He cures the
ill, rescues those who are about to be drowned, helps those
who are fighting an enemy and recovers lost things. This is
logical. Also Qur’ân al-kerîm reveals these facts.”[1]
’Abd al-Ghanî an-Nablusî (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) writes: “A
hadîth qudsî, which al-Bukhârî reported from Abû Huraira
(radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh), says: Allâhu ta’âlâ declared: ‘My
slaves cannot approach Me through anything as close as
they approach me by means of the fard. If My slaves do the
supererogatory ’ibâdât, I like them so much that they hear
with Me, see with Me, hold everything with Me, walk with
Me, and I give them whatever they ask of Me. If they trust in
Me, I protect them.’ ” The supererogatory ’ibâdât mentioned
here are, [as clearly written in Marâq al-falâh and at-Tahtâwî’s
annotation. Please see page 428,] the sunna and
supererogatory ’ibâdât done by those who do the ’ibâdât which
are fard. This hadîth sherîf shows that one who, after doing the
’ibâdât which are fard, does the supererogatory worships will
earn Allâhu ta’âlâ’s love and his prayers will be accepted.”[2]
Whether alive or dead, when such people pray for others,
people for whom they pray get what they wish. Such people
hear even when they are dead. As they did not when they were
alive, they do not turn down those who ask empty-handed, and
they pray for them. For this reason, a hadîth sherîf states:
“When you are in trouble in your affairs, ask for help from
those who are in graves!” The meaning of this hadîth sherîf is
clear, and its ta’wîl (interpretation in a different way) is not
permitted. Alûsî’s ta’wîl is false.
In actual fact, “Muslims are still Muslims when they are dead
just as is the case when they are asleep. Prophets are still
[1] Shaikh ’Alî Mahfûz, Al-ibdâ’, p. 213, Cairo, 1375 (1956 A.D.); ’Abdullah
ad-Dasûqî and Yûsuf ad-Dajwî, professors at Jâmî’ al-Azhar, wrote
eulogies praising the book at the end of Al-ibdâ’.
[2] ’Abd al-Ghanî an-Nabulusî, Al-hadîqat an-nadiyya, p. 182, Istanbul,
1290.
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prophets (’alaihi ’s-salâm) after death just as is the case when
they are asleep; for, it is the soul who is a Muslim or a prophet.
When a man dies, his soul does not change. This fact is written
in the book ’Umdat al-’aqâ’id by Imâm ’Abdullah an-Nasafî
[printed in London in 1259 (1843 A.D.)]. Likewise, Awliyâ’ are
still Awliyâ’ (rahimahum-Allâhu ta’âlâ) when they are dead just
as they are when asleep. He who does not believe this is
ignorant and stubborn. I have proven in another book that the
Awliyâ’ possess karâmât after they die, too.”[1] The Hanafî
scholar Ahmad ibn Sayyid Muhammad al-Makkî al-Hamawî and
the Shâfi’î scholars Ahmad ibn Ahmad as-Sujâ’î and
Muhammad ash-Shawbarî al-Misrî wrote booklets in which they
proved with evidence that Awliyâ’ possessed karâmât, that their
karâmât continued after their death, and that tawassul or
istighâtha [see below] at their graves was permitted (jâ’iz).[2]
Muhammad Hâdimî Efendi (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) of Konya
(d. 1176/1762 in Konya) wrote: “The Karâmât of Awliyâ’ are
true. A Walî is a Muslim who is al-’ârifu bi’llâh (one who knows
Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Attributes as much as is possible). He
performs many ’ibâdât and tâ’at. He very carefully avoids sins
and the sensual desires of his nafs. Things created by Allâhu
ta’âlâ outside of His Law of Causation and scientific laws are
called ‘khâriq-ul ’âda’ (extraordinary things), which are of eight
kinds: mu’jiza, karâma, i’âna, ihâna, sihr, ibtilâ, isâbat al-ayn
(effect caused by the evil eye) and irhâs. Karâma is an
extraordinary occurrence that happens through a devoted
Believer who is al-’ârifu bi’llâh. He is a Walî, not a prophet. Abû
Is’hâq Ibrâhîm al-Isfarâinî, a Shâfi’î scholar, denied some of the
karâma, and all Mu’tazila denied karâma. They said that it can
be confused with mu’jiza and, therefore, belief in prophets might
become difficult. However, a Walî through whom a karâma
happened does not claim prophethood, nor does he want a
karâma to happen. It is permissible to pray to Allâhu ta’âlâ
through prophets and Awliyâ’ even after their death because
their mu’jiza and karâma do not cease after death. This type of
prayer is called ‘tawassul’ or ‘istighâtha.’ Ar-Ramlî, too, said
[1] Al-hadîqa an-nadiyya, p. 290.
[2] These three booklets were published together with Ahmad Zainî
Dahlân’s (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’aleyh) Ad-durar as-saniyya fi ’r-raddi
’alâ ’l-Wahhâbiyya in Cairo in 1319 (1901 A.D.); photographic
reproduction, Istanbul, 1396 (1976 A.D.).
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the same. Al-Imâm al-Haramain said, ‘Only the Shî’ites deny
the continuity of karâma after death.’ ’Alî Ajhurî, a prominent
Mâlikî scholar of Egypt, said, ‘The Walî, when he is alive, is like
a sword in its sheath. After his death, his influence becomes
stronger like that of a sword out of its sheath.’ This statement is
also quoted by Abû ’Alî Sanjî in his book Nûr al-hidâya. It is
certified in the light of the Book (Qur’ân al-kerîm), the Sunna
and ijmâ’ al-Umma that karâma is true. Hundreds of thousands
of the karâmât of the Awliyâ’ have been reported in many
valuable books.”[1] The translation from the book Barîqa ends
here.
And, a sahîh hadîth conveyed by the hadîth scholars Ibn
Hudhaima, ad-Dâra Qutnî and at-Tabarânî on the authority of
’Abdullah ibn ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhumâ) states: “It has
become wâjib for me to intercede for those who will visit
my grave.” Imâm al-Manâwî, too, quoted this hadîth in Kunûz
ad-daqâ’iq. In addition, he wrote the hadîth ash-sherîf, “After
my death, visiting my shrine is like visiting me when I am
alive,” from Ibn Hibbân; and the hadîth ash-sherîf, “I will
intercede for the one who visits my grave,” from at-
Tabarânî. The following two hadîths, which are marfû’, the first
one quoted by Imâm al-Bazzâr and the second one written in
the Sahîh of Muslim and both on the authority of ’Abdullâh ibn
’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhumâ), are known by almost every
Muslim: “It has become halâl for me to intercede for those
who will visit by grave’; ‘On the Day of Judgement I shall
intercede for those who come to al-Madînat al-munawwara
to visit my grave.”[2]
It is great news that is quoted in the hadîth ash-sherîf, “A
person who performs hajj and then visits my grave will
have visited me when I was alive,” which was quoted by at-
Tabarânî, ad-dâra Qutnî and [’Abd ar-Rahmân] Ibn al-Jawzî.
The hadîth ash-sherîf, “A person who does not visit me after
carrying out the hajj will have hurt me,” which ad-Dâra Qutnî
quotes, alludes to those who neglect to visit the Prophet’s
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) grave after hajj though they do not have an
excuse (not to do so).
’Abd al-’Azîz, Rector of the Islamic University of al-Madînat
[1] Berîqâ, p. 269.
[2] Mir’ât al-Madîna (Mir’ât al-Haramain) p. 106.
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al-munawwara, wrote in his Tahqîq wa Îdhâh, “None of the
[above] hadîths [recommending the visit] has any support or
document. Shaikh al-Islâm Ibn Taimiyya said that all of them
were mawdû’.” However, their sanads (documents) are written
in detail in the eighth volume of az-Zarkânî’s commentary to Almawâhib
and at the end of the fourth volume of as-Samûdî’s
Wafâ’ al-wafâ’. In these books, it is also written that these
hadîths were hasan[1] and that Ibn Taimiyya’s comment was
groundless. The rector and instructors of Medina university try
to calumniate the writings of the ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna
and in their place spread the Wahhâbî tenets all over the world
with their books. In order to convince Muslim and non-Muslim
nations that they are true Muslims, they follow a new policy;
they have founded an Islamic centre called Râbitat al-Âlam al-
Islâmî in Mekka and have gathered ignorant and bribable men
with religious education that they have chosen from every
country and to whom they pay salaries, which amount to
hundreds of gold coins. These ignorant men with religious
posts, having no knowledge about the books of the scholars of
the Ahl as-Sunna, are used like puppets. From this centre they
disseminate their tenets, which they call “fatwâs of world
Muslim unity,” to the entire world. In the fallacious fatwâ
issued during the Ramadân of 1395 (1975 A.D.), they said, “It is
fard for women to perform the salât of Jum’a. The Khutba of
Jum’a and ’Iyd can be delivered in the native language of every
country.” A heretic named Sabri from among the followers of
Maudoodi, a member of this center of fitna and fasâd in Mekka,
immediately took that fatwâ to India, whereupon salaried,
wealthy, and ignorant men being there forced women into
mosques, and initiated the khutba to be read in various
languages. To prevent this movement, scholars of the Ahl as-
Sunna and true men of religion in India (rahimahum-Allahu
ta’âlâ) prepared fatwâs from valuable sources and spread them.
Wahhâbis could not refute these fatwâs —the truth. Hundreds
of men with religious educations from Kerala, in southern India,
realizing that they had been deceived, repented and returned to
the line of the Ahl as-Sunna. Four of those fatwâs which are
based on reliable sources, were printed in offset process and
[1] Please see the sixth chapter in the second fascicle of Endless Bliss for
kinds of hadîth.
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posted to all Islamic countries. Real men of religious authority in
every country call the attention of Muslims to, and try to
extinguish, the agitation which divides Islam from within. Thanks
to Allâhu ta’âlâ, the innocent and vigilant youth in every corner
of the world can distinguish the truth from falsehood.
While explaining the subjects concerning the khutba of
Jum’a, takbîr iftitâh and prayers in salât, Ibn ’Âbidîn (rahimah-
Allâhu ta’âlâ) wrote in his work Radd al-muhtâr: “Delivering the
khutba in a language other than Arabic would be like saying the
takbîr iftitâh (“Allâhu akbar”) in another language when
beginning salât. The takbîr iftitâh is like the dhikrs of salât, and it
is makrûh tahrîma to recite the dhikrs and prayers of salât in a
language other than Arabic, as was forbidden by Hadrat ’Umar
(radiy-Allâhu ’anh).” In the chapter on the wâjibs of salât, he
wrote: “To commit a makrûh tahrîma is a minor sin. If one
continues to commit it, one loses one’s ’adâla.”[1] It is written in
at-Tahtâwî that a person who continually commits a minor sin
becomes a fâsiq and that one should go to another mosque in
order not to perform salât [in congregation] behind an imâm
who is a fâsiq or a committer of bid’a. Because it was a makrûh
and a bid’a, which is a grave sin, to read the whole or a part of
the khutba in another language, the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm and
the Tâbi’ûn (rahimahum-Allâhu ta’âlâ) always delivered the
entire khutba in Arabic in Asia and Africa, even though the
listeners had no knowledge of Arabic and could not understand
the khutba. Though religious knowledge had not spread and
had to be taught to them, they read the entire khutba in Arabic.
And it was for this reason that for six hundred years the
Ottoman Shaikh al-Islâms and world-wide famous great Muslim
scholars, though they seriously wanted the khutba to be read in
Turkish so that the congregation could understand its contents,
could not permit it —for they knew it was not permissible for the
khutba to be delivered in Turkish.
A hadîth sherîf, reported by Imâm al-Bayhakî on the
authority of Abû Huraira (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) states: “When a
person greets me, Allâhu ta’âlâ gives my soul to my body
and I hear his greeting.” Relying on this hadîth sherîf, Imâm
al-Bayhakî (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) said that prophets (’alaihi ’s-
[1] ‘Justness’; he will become unreliable on religious matters; he will not be
accepted as a witness.
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salâm) were alive in their graves in a life unknown to us.
And ’Abdal-’Azîz ibn ’Abdullah of Medina quotes this hadîth
on the 66th page of his Al-hajj wa ’l-umra and comments that it
expresses the death of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm). Yet, on
the same page, he states that he is alive in his grave in a life
unknown to us. His statements contradict each other. In actual
fact, this hadîth sherîf indicates that his blessed soul is given to
his body and he responds to greetings. Furthermore, the two
hadîths quoted on the 73rd page of the same book report the
command that one should say, “As-salâmu ’alaikum ahl addiyâri
min al-Mu’minîn,” while visiting graves. The hadîths
order us to greet the graves of all Muslims. Someone who hears
can be greeted or spoken to; although the la-madhhabî quote
these hadîths, they claim that the dead cannot hear, and they
say ‘polytheist’ about those who believe that the dead can hear.
They misinterpret âyats and hadîths!
There are many hadîths revealing that Rasûlullah (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) is alive in his tomb in an unknown life.
There being so many of them signifies that they are sound. Of
these hadîths, the following two are written in six famous books
of hadîths: “I will hear the salawât recited at my grave, I will
be informed of the salawât recited at a distance”; “If a
person recites salawât at my grave, Allâhu ta’âlâ sends an
angel and informs me of this salawât. I will intercede for
him on the Day of Judgement.”
If a Muslim goes to the grave of a dead Muslim whom he
knew when he was alive and greets him the dead Muslim will
recognize him and reply to him. A hadîth sherîf reported by Ibn
Abî’d-dunyâ declares that a dead Muslim recognizes and
answers the one who greets him and becomes happy. If a
person greets dead people whom he did not know, they
become pleased and acknowledge the greeting (salâm). While
good Muslims and martyrs (rahimahum-Allâhu ta’âlâ) recognize
and answer those who greet them, is it possible that Rasûlullah
(sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) will not? As the sun in the sky
illuminates the entire world, so he answers all simultaneous
greetings simultaneously.
A hadîth sherîf says, “After my death, I will hear as I do
when I am alive.” Another hadîth sherîf reported by Abu Ya’lâ
says, “Prophets (’alaihimu ’s-salâm) are alive in their graves.
They perform salât.” Ibrâhîm ibn Bishar and Sayyid Ahmad ar-
80 -
Rifâ’î and many other Awliyâ (rahimahum-Allâhu ta’âlâ) said
that they had heard a reply after they had greeted Rasûlullah
(sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam).
The great Muslim scholar Hadrat Jalâl ad-dîn as-Suyûtî
wrote the book Sharaf al-muhkam as an answer to the
question asked of him: “Is it true that Sayyid Ahmad ar-Rifâ’î
kissed Rasûlullah’s blessed hand?” In this book, he proved with
reasonable and traditional evidence that Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam) was alive in his grave in an incomprehensible
life and that he heard and answered greetings. He also
explained in this book that on the Mi’râj Night Rasûlullah saw
Mûsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) performing salât in his grave.
A hadîth sherîf, which our mother ’Â’ishat as-Siddîqa (radiy-
Allâhu ’anhâ) related, says, “I suffer the pain of the
poisonous meat I ate at Khaibar. Because of that poison
my aorta almost fails to function now.” This hadîth sherîf
shows that, in addition to prophethood, Allâhu ta’âlâ has given
the status of martyrdom to Muhammad, the Highest of Mankind
(’alaihi ’s-salâm). Allâhu ta’âlâ declares in the 169th âyat of
Sûrat âl ’Imrân: “Never regard those who have been killed in
the way of Allâhu ta’âlâ as dead! They are alive in His view.
They are nourished.” No doubt this great Prophet (’alaihi ’ssalâm),
who has been poisoned in the way of Allâhu ta’âlâ, is
the highest of those honored with the status defined in this âyat
kerîma.
A hadîth sherîf reported by Ibn Hibbân says, “Prophets’
(’alaihimu-’s-salâm) blessed bodies never rot. If a Muslim
recites the salawât for me, an angel conveys that salawât to
me and says, ‘So and so’s son so and so has recited a
salawât and greeted you.’ ”
A hadîth sherîf reported by Ibn Mâja says, “On Fridays
recite the salawât for me repeatedly! The salawât will be
communicated to me as soon as it is recited.” Abu ’d-dardâ’
(radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh), one of those who were in the
company of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) at that moment,
asked, “Will it be communicated to you after death, too?” The
Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) said, “Yes, I will be informed of it
after my death, too, for, it is harâm for the earth to
decompose prophets (’alaihi ’s-salâm). They are alive after
death, and they are nourished.” [This hadîth-i sherîf is written
also in the final section of the book Mawtâ-wal-qubûr, by
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Thenâ-ullâhi Pâni-pûtî. This book is in Persian and was printed
in Delhi in 1310 [1892 A.D.] and reproduced by Hakîkat Kitâbevi
in Istanbul in 1990].
Hadrat ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anh), after the conquest of Quds
(Jerusalem), went into the Prophet’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) Blessed
Grave (al-Qabr as-Sa’âda) and visited his grave and greeted
him. Hadrat ’Umar ibn Abd al-’Azîz, who was a great Walî,
usually sent officials from Damascus to Medina and had them
recite a salawât at the Blessed Grave and greet him. Hadrat
’Abdullah ibn ’Umar, after returning from each journey, would go
directly to the Hujrat as-Sa’âda; first he would visit Rasûlullah
(’alaihi ’s-salâm), then Abu Bakr as-Siddîq (radiy-Allâhu ’anh)
and then his father and greet them. Imâm Nâfi’ said, “More than
a hundred times I saw Hadrat ’Abdullah ibn ’Umar go into the
Blessed Grave and say, ‘As-salâmu ’alaika yâ Rasûl-Allah!’ One
day Hadrat ’Alî (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) went into Masjid ash-Sherîf
and he wept when he saw the grave of Hadrat Fâtima (radiy-
Allâhu ’anh) and he wept all the more when he went to the
Hujrat as-Sa’âda. Then, saying, ‘As-salâmu ’alaika yâ Rasûl-
Allah’ and ‘As-sâlâmu ’alaikumâ, O Two Brothers of Mine!’ he
greeted the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm), Hadrat Abû Bakr and
Hadrat ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhumâ).”
According to al-Imâm al-a’zam Abu Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi
’aleyh), one should perform hajj first and then go to al-Madînat
al-munawwara and visit Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’s-salâm). The same
is written in the fatwâ of Abu ’l-Laith as-Samarqandî.
Qâdî ’Iyâd, author of the book Shifâ’; Imâm an-Nawawî, a
Shâfi’î ’âlim; and Ibn Humâm, a Hanafî ’âlim (rahimahum-Allâhu
ta’âlâ), said that there had been ijmâ’ al-Umma on it being
necessary to visit the Blessed Grave. Some ’âlims said that it is
wâjib.’ As a matter of fact, it is sunnat to visit graves, a fact
which is also written in the Wahhâbite book Fat’h al-majîd.
The 63rd âyat al-kerîma of Sûrat an-Nisâ’ purports: “If they,
after tormenting their nafses, come to you (My Messenger)
and beg for Allâhu ta’âlâ’s (My) pardon, and if My
Messenger apologizes on behalf of them, they will certainly
find Allâhu ta’âlâ as the Receiver of Repentance and
Compassionate.” This âyat kerîma indicates that Rasûlullah
(sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) will intercede and his intercession
(shafâ’a) will be accepted. Also, it commands us to visit his
blessed grave and to ask for his intercession by coming from
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distant places.
A hadîth sherîf states: “It is suitable to set off on a long
journey only for visiting three mosques.” This hadîth points
out that it is thawâb to go on a long journey for the purpose of
visiting Masjid al-Harâm in Mekka, Masjid an-Nabî in Medina
and the Masjid al-Aqsâ in Jerusalem. For this reason, those
who go for hajj but do not visit the Blessed Grave in Masjid an-
Nabî will be deprived of this reward.
Imâm Mâlik (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) said that it is makrûh for
those who visit the Blessed Shrine to stay too long near the
Hujrat as-Sa’âda. Imâm Zain al-’Âbidîn (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh),
while visiting, stood near the pillar which stood in the direction
of the Rawdat al-Mutahhara and he approached no further.
Until Hadrat ’Âisha (radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ) died, the visit was done
by standing, facing the qibla, at the outer side of the door of the
Hujrat as-Sa’âda.
A hadîth sherîf says, “Do not make my grave a [place of]
festival.” Hadrat ’Abd al-’Azîm al-Munzirî, a hadîth scholar,
explained this hadîth sherîf as: “Do not consider it enough to
visit my grave only once a year, like on ’Iyd days. Try to visit me
frequently!” And the hadîth ash-sherîf, “Do not make a
cemetery of your houses,” means that we should not make
our houses look like a cemetery by not performing salât. Thus it
is seen that Hadrat al-Munzirî’s explanation is correct. As a
matter of fact, it is not permitted to perform salât in a cemetery.
It was said that this hadîth sherîf might come to mean, “Do not
fix a certain day like a feast for visiting my shrine?” Jews and
Christians, during their visit to their prophets, habitually
assembled together, played instruments, sang songs and held
ceremonies. These hadîths imply that we should not behave
like them; that is, we should not make merry with forbidden
things on feast days, nor play reeds or drums or gather to hold
ceremonies during our visit. We should visit and greet, pray and
then leave silently without staying long.
Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abu Hanîfa (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) said
that visiting the Blessed Grave is a most valuable sunna, and
there are some scholars who said that it is wâjib. For this
reason, visiting the Blessed Grave is allowed as a vow in the
Shâfi’î Madhhab.
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In fact, “Allâhu ta’âlâ, in His Word, ‘If I had not created you,
I would not have created anything!’[1] points out that
Muhammad (‘alaihi ’s-salâm) is the Habîb-Allah (Allâhu ta’âlâ’s
Most Beloved). Even an ordinary person will not refuse
something asked for the sake of his beloved. It is easy to have
a lover do something for the sake of his beloved. If a person
says, ‘O my Allâhu ta’âlâ! For the sake of Thine Muhammad
(’alaihi ’s-salâm), I ask of Thee,’ this wish of his will not be
refused. Trivial worldly affairs, however, are not worth putting
Rasûlullah’s (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) sake as a
mediator.”[2]
Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abu Hanîfa (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) said, “I
was in Medina. Shaikh Ayyûb as-Sahtiânî, one of the sulahâ’,
went into Masjîd ash-Sherîf. I followed him. Hadrat Shaikh
faced the Blessed Grave and stood with his back to the qibla.
Then he went out.” Hadrat Ibn Jamâ’a wrote in his book Almansak
al-kabîr, “While visiting, after performing a salât of two
rak’as and praying near the minbar (pulpit), you should come to
the qibla side of the Hujrat as-Sa’âda and, with the Prophet’s
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) blessed head on your left, you should stay two
metres away from the wall of the al-Marqad ash-Sherîf (the
Prophet’s shrine), then, leaving the qibla wall behind and
turning slowly till you face the Muwâjahat as-Sa’âda, you
should greet him. This is so in all the Madhhabs.”
’Abd al-Ghanî an-Nabulusî (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ), while
explaining the twenty-third of the “Disasters incurred by the
tongue,” writes: “It is makrûh tahrîma to say, while praying, ‘for
the right of the prophets’ or ‘for the right of [such and such living
or dead] Walî’ or to ask Allâhu ta’âlâ for something by saying
so, for, it has been said that no creature has any rights on
Allâhu ta’âlâ; that is, he does not have to grant anyone’s wish.
This is true, yet He promised His beloved slaves and
recognized a right for them on Himself; that is, He will accept
their wish. He declared in Qur’ân al-kerîm that He placed a right
of His slaves on Himself, for example, ‘It has become a right
on Us to help Believers.’ ”[1] It is declared in Al-fatâwâ al-
[1] This hadîth qudsî is quoted also in al-Imâm ar-Rabbanî’s (rahimah-
Allâhu ta’âlâ) Maktûbât, vol III, 122nd letter.
[2] Mir’ât al-Madîna, p. 1282.
[1] Al-hadîqa.
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Bazzâziyya, “It is permitted to ask for something for the sake of
a prophet or a dead or living Walî by mentioning his name.” The
commentary on Shir’a states: “One must pray [to Allâhu ta’âlâ]
by making intermediaries of His prophets (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and
sâlih Believers. This is also written in Al-hisn al-hasîn.” As it is
seen, Muslim scholars said that it is permissible to pray to
Allâhu ta’âlâ through the right and love which He has given to
His beloved ones. And no scholar said that it would be
polytheism to pray with the idea that men have rights on Allâhu
ta’âlâ. Only Wahhâbîs say so.
Though they praise Al-fatâwâ al-Bazzâziyya in the book
Fat’h al-majîd and put forward his fatwâs as documents, they
oppose him in this respect. Also Hâdimî, while explaining the
“Disasters caused by the tongue,” wrote: “ ‘For the right of Thy
Prophet or Walî’ means ‘his prophethood or wilâya is right.’ Our
Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm), too, with this intention said, ‘For the
right of Thy Prophet Muhammad,’ and, during the wars he
asked for Allâhu ta’âlâ’s help for the right of the poor among the
Muhâjirûn. Also there were many Muslim ’ulamâ’ who prayed,
‘For the sake of those people whom Thou hast given whatever
they asked from Thee,’ and, ‘For the right of Muhammad al-
Ghazâlî,’ and who wrote these prayers in their books.”[1] The
book Al-hisn al-hasîn is full of such prayers. The tafsîr Rûh albayân
says in an explanation of the eighteenth âyat of Sûrat al-
Mâida: A hadîth reported by ’Umar al-Fârûq (radiy-Allâhu ’anh)
states: “When Âdam (’alaihi ’s-salâm) made a mistake, he
said, ‘O my Rabb! Forgive me for the sake of Muhammad
(’alaihi ’s-salâm).’ And Allâhu ta’âlâ said, ‘I have not created
Muhammad yet. How do you know him?’ He said, ‘O my
Rabb! When Thou created me and gave me of Thine soul, I
looked up and saw the phrase “Lâ ilâha illa’llâh
Muhammadun Rasûlullâh” written on the skirts of the
’Arsh. Thou would only write the name of Thine most
beloved by Thine Name. Considering this, I knew that Thou
loved him very much.’ Upon this Allâhu ta’âlâ said, ‘O
Adam, you tell the truth. Of Mine creatures, he is the one I
love most; so I have forgiven you for his sake. If
Muhammad had not existed, I would not have created you.’
” This hadîth sherîf is quoted in Imâm al-Bayhakî’s Dalâ’il and
[1] Hâdimî, Berîqa, Istanbul, 1284.
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in Âlûsî’s Ghâliyya.
The Wahhâbî writes: “Imâm Zain al-’Âbidîn ’Alî (rahimah-
Allâhu ta’âlâ) saw a man praying by the Prophet’s (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
grave and interrupted him by telling him the hadîth,
‘Recite a salawât for me. Wherever you are, your greeting
will be communicated to me.’ ” It narrates the event
incorrectly and goes on, “Hence, it is forbidden to go near a
grave for praying and reciting salawât, which is similar to
making graves places of festival. It is forbidden for those who
go to perform salât in Masjîd an-Nabî to approach the tomb for
greeting. None of the Sahâba did so, and they prevented those
who wanted to do so. No other deed but the prayers and
greetings said by his Umma will be communicated to the
Prophet.”[2] He also writes that the Sa’ûdî government placed
soldiers near the Prophet’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) shrine in Masjid an-
Nabî to prevent Muslims from doing so.[3]
Hadrat Yûsuf an-Nabhânî refuted these lies at many places
in his book: “Imâm Zain al-’Âbidîn (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) did
not forbid visitation to the Blessed Grave of the Prophet (’alaihi
’s-salâm). But he forbade non-Islamic, disrespectful behaviour
during a visit. His grandson, Imâm Ja’far as-Sâdiq, used to visit
the Hujrat as-Sa’âda, and, standing near the pillar which stood
in the direction of the Rawdat al-Mutahhara, greet and say, ‘His
blessed head is on this side.’ ‘Do not make my grave [a place
of] festival’, means ‘Do not visit my grave on certain days like
feast days. Visit me usually.’ ”[1] “Abû ’Abdullah al-Qurtubî
writes in his At-tadhkira that the deeds of the Prophet’s (’alaihi
’s-salâm) Umma are communicated to him every morning and
every evening.” (pp. 88, 106) “Khalîfa Mansûr, during his visit to
[the shrine of] the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm), asked Imâm Mâlik,
‘Shall I face the tomb or the qibla?’ Imâm Mâlik (rahimah-Allâhu
ta’âlâ) said, ‘How could you turn your face away from
Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam)? He is the cause of
your and your father Âdam’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) forgiveness!’ ”
(pp. 89, 116) “The hadîth ash-sherîf, ‘Visit graves!’ is a
command. If a harâm is committed during the visit, not the visit
[2] Fat’h al-Majîd, p. 259; see above p. 53 for this book.
[3] ibid, p. 234.
[1] Shawâhid al-haqq, p. 80. 3rd. ed., Cairo, 1385 /(1965 A.D.). The next
six quotations with page numbers refer to this book, too.
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itself, but the harâm should be forbidden.” (p. 92) “Imâm annawawî
says in his Adhkâr, ‘It is a sunna to visit frequently the
shrines of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and of pious Muslims
and to stay for some time near such places of visitation.’ ” (p.98)
“Ibn Humâm, in his Fat’h al-qadîr, quotes the hadîth ash-sherîf
transmitted by ad-Dâra Qutnî and al-Bazzâr which says, ‘If
someone visits me [at my shrine] only with a view to visiting
me and not to do anything else, he will have the right to be
interceded for by me on the Day of Judgement.’ ” (p. 100)
“Allâhu ta’âlâ favoured the Awliyâ’ with karâmât. Their karâmât
are witnessed frequently even after their death. They are able
to be helpful after death, too. It is permitted to have them
intercede with Allâhu ta’âlâ. But one should ask help from them
in a manner compatible with Islam. It is not permitted to say, ‘I
will give that much... for you if you give me what I request,’ or ‘If
you cure my sick relative,’ which is often uttered by the ignorant.
However, this cannot be regarded as an act causing disbelief or
polytheism, for, even an utterly ignorant person will not expect a
Walî to create. He wants the Walî to be the cause in Allâhu
ta’âlâ’s creating. He thinks that the Walî is a human creature
whom Allâhu ta’âlâ loves, and says, ‘Please ask Allâhu ta’âlâ to
favour me with what I wish; He will not reject your prayer.’ As a
matter of fact, Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said,
‘There are many people who are considered low and
worthless but who are Allâhu ta’âlâ’s beloved slaves. When
they want to do something, Allâhu ta’âlâ certainly creates
it.’[1] Obeying such hadîths, Muslims ask the Awliyâ’ to
intercede. Imâm Ahmad, al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î, Imâm Mâlik and
al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa (rahimahum-Allâhu ta’âlâ) said
that it is jâ’iz (possible, permissible) to attain baraka (blessing)
through the graves of the pious. Those who say that they are of
the Ahl as-Sunna or that they belong to one of the Madhhabs of
the Ahl as-Sunna must say as these imâms said. Otherwise, we
would rather take them as liars than Sunnîs.” (p. 118)
It is written in the subject concerning the performance of hajj
on behalf of someone else in the book Al-fatwâ al-Hindiyya, “It
is permissible to devote the thawâb of an ’ibâda to someone
else. Therefore, the thawâb of salât; fast; alms; pilgrimage;
recitation of Qur’ân al-kerîm; dhikr; visitation of the tombs of
[1] This hadîth is also quoted on the 381st page of the book Fat’h al-majîd.
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prophets, martyrs, Awliyâ’ and sâlih Muslims; giving a shroud
for a corpse; and the thawâb of all gifts and good deeds can be
devoted.” It is understood from this passage, too, that visiting
the graves of the Awliyâ’ does bring thawâb.
Documents of what has been written so far are written at
length in our Arabic and English books. Allâhu ta’âlâ orders
Muslims to unite. Therefore, all Muslims should learn the i’tiqâd
of the Ahl as-Sunnat wa ’l-Jamâ’a and come together on the
right way of Truth by believing as reported in the books of these
great scholars of the Ahl as-Sunna. The Prophet (sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam) said that the only right way will be the way of
the Ahl as-Sunna. We must be very careful not to stray from the
unity of the Ahl as-Sunna and not to be taken in by the deceitful
writings of ignorant men with religious post who trade in
religious books and the writings of heretics who want to deceive
Muslims. Allâhu ta’âlâ declares clearly in the 114th âyat of Sûrat
an-Nisâ that those who dissent from the Muslims’ unity will go to
Hell. It is clear by documents and references that a person who
does not join in one of the four Madhhabs has separated
himself from the unity of the Ahl as-Sunna and that such a lâmadhhabî
person will become a heretic or a non-Muslim.[1]
The book At-tawassulu bi’n-Nabî wa jahâlat al-
Wahhâbiyyîn proves with examples and documents that Ibn
Taimiyya had departed from the way of the Ahl as-Sunnat
wa’l-Jamâ’a. Wahhâbîsm is a mixture of Ibni Taymiyya’s
heresies and the British spy Hempher’s lias and slanders.
3— Wahhâbîs say, “It causes kufr (disbelief) and shirk
(polytheism) to build a dome over a grave, to light oil-lamps for
those who worship and serve in shrines, and to vow alms for
the souls of the dead! The inhabitants of al-Haramain (Mekka
and Medina) have worshipped domes and walls up to now.”
Building a dome over a grave is harâm if it is for ostentation
or ornamentation. If it is for protecting the grave from
destruction, it is makrûh. If it is intended lest a thief or an animal
should break in, it is permissible. But it should not be made a
place for visiting; that is, one should not say that it should be
visited at certain times.
[1] Hâshiyatu Durr al-mukhtâr by the great scholar Ahmad at-Tahtâwî and
Al-basâ’ir ’ala ’l-munkiri ’t-tawassuli bi ’l-maqâbir, which was written
in Pakistan as a refutation to fat’h al-majîd and reprinted in Istanbul.
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It is not makrûh to bury corpses in a building that has been
built before. The As-Sahâbat al-kirâm buried Rasûlullah (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) and his two Khalîfas in a building.
None of them was against it. The Hadîth ash-sherîf states that
their unanimity cannot have been based on heresy. The great
Islamic scholar Ibn ’Âbidîn wrote: “Some scholars said that it
was makrûh to put a covering cloth, a skullcap or a turban over
the graves of pious Muslims or Awliyâ’. The book Al-fatâwâ alhujja
says that it is makrûh to cover a grave with cloth. But, to
us, it is not makrûh if it is intended to show everybody the
greatness of the one in the grave or to prevent him from being
insulted or to remind those who visit him to be respectful and
behave well. Acts that are not prohibited in the al-adillat ash-
Shar’iyya should be judged in view of the intention involved.
Yes, it is true that during the time of the Sahâbat al-kirâm
neither domes were built over graves nor sarcophagi or clothes
were put on graves. But none of them was against the interment
of Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) and the Shaikhain
(his two immediate Khalîfas) in a room. For this reason and for
carrying out the commands, ‘Do not step on graves!’ and ‘Do
not be disrespectful to your dead!’ and because they were
not prohibited, they cannot be bid’as only because they were
practices observed by later generations. All fiqh books state that
right after the farewell tawâf it is necessary to leave Masjid al-
Harâm as an act of respect towards the Ka’ba al-mu’azzama.
However, the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm did not have to do so
because they were always respectful towards the Ka’ba. But
since succeeding generations were unable to show due
reverence, our ’ulamâ’ declared that it was necessary to show
respect by leaving the Masjid by walking backwards. Thus, they
made it possible for us to be respectful like the as-Sahâbat alkirâm.
Likewise, it became permissible to cover the graves of
the sulahâ’ and Awliyâ with cloth or to build domes over them in
order to be respectful as the Sahâbat al-kirâm were. The great
scholar Hadrat ’Abd al-Ghanî an-Nabulusî explains this in detail
in his book Kashf an-nûr.”[1] In Arabia, shrines are called
[1] Ibn ’Âbidîn, Hâshiyatu Durr al-mukhtâr (Radd al-muhtâr) p. 232, vol.
V, Bulaq, 1272; Kashf an-nûr and Jalâl ad-dîn as-Suyûtî’s (rahimah-
Allâhu ta’âlâ) Tanwîr al-khalak fî imkâni ru’yati ’n-Nabî jihâran wa ’lmalak
were published together with the title Al-minhat al-wahbiyya,
Istanbul, 1393 (1973 A.D.).
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“mashhad.” In al-Madînat al-munawwara, there were many
mashhads in the Bakî’ Cemetery. The lâ-madhhabî destroyed
all of them. No Islamic scholar has ever said that it would be
polytheism or disbelief to build domed tombs or to visit tombs.
No one has ever been seen demolishing tombs.
Ibrâhîm al-Halabî (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) wrote at the end of
the book Al-Halabî al-kabîr, “If a person decides that his land
will be a cemetery and if there is an empty space in it, it is
permissible for one to build a domed tomb in it with an intention
of burying a corpse. When there is no empty space left, this
tomb shall be demolished and graves shall be dug [in its place].
This is so because it is a place belonging to a waqf, devoted to
be a cemetery.” If building domed tombs had been known to be
polytheistic, or if domed tombs had been considered idols, it
would always have been necessary to demolish them.
The first of the Islamic tombs to exist on the earth was the
Hujrat al-mu’attara, where Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam) is buried. Our master Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam) passed away in the room belonging to his beloved wife,
our mother ’Â’isha (radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ), before noon on
Monday, the twelfth of Rabî al-awwal, 11 A.H. On Wednesday
night he was buried in that room. Hadrat Abû Bakr and Hadrat
’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhumâ) were buried in the same
room. No Sahâbî was opposed to this. Now, this unanimity of
the Sahâbat al-kirâm is being opposed to. Even though denial
of ijmâ’ al-Umma by ministerpretation (ta’wîl) of a dubious
document (dalîl) does not result in disbelief, it causes bid’a.
Hadrat ’Â’isha’s (’radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ) room was three metres
high, somewhat more than three metres long and wide, and
was made of sun-dried bricks. It had two doors, one facing the
west and the other facing the north. Hadrat ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu
ta’âlâ ’anh), when he was Khalîfa, enclosed the Hujrat as-
Sa’âda with a low stone wall. ’Abdullah ibn Zubair (radiy-Allâhu
ta’alâ ’anhumâ), when he became Khalîfa, demolished this wall
and rebuilt it with black stones and had it plastered beautifully.
This wall was not roofed at the top and there was a door on the
north. When Hadrat Hasan (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh) passed
away in 49 A.H., his brother Hadrat Husain (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ
’anh), as required by his last will, had his corpse brought to the
door of the Hujrat as-Sa’âda and wanted to take his corpse into
the shrine to pray and ask for intercession; there were some
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people who opposed it, thinking that the corpse would be buried
in the shrine. Therefore, to prevent the clamour, the corpse was
not taken into the shrine and was buried at the Bakî’ Cemetery.
Lest such unsuitable events should happen again, the doors of
the room and the one outside were walled up.
Walîd, the sixth Umayyad Khalîfa, when he was the
governor of Medina, raised the wall round the room and had it
covered over with a small dome. When he became Khalîfa, he
ordered ’Umar ibn ’Abd al-’Azîz, his successor as the governor
of Medina, to enlarge the Masjid ash-Sherîf in 88 (707 A.D.);
hence, the room was surrounded with a second wall. This was
pentagonal in shape and roofed; and with no doors.[1]
The book Fat’h al-majîd says: “A person who intends to get
blessed (tabarruk) with a tree, stone, grave or the like becomes
a polytheist. Graves have been idolized by building domes over
them. The people of the Jâhiliyya Ages, too, worshipped pious
persons and statues. Today, all such and even more excessive
acts are committed at shrines and graves. To attempt to get
blessed with the graves of pious persons is similar to
worshipping the idol al-Lât.[1] These polytheists suppose that
Awliyâ’ hear and answer their prayers. They say that they
approach the dead by making vows and giving alms for the
graves. All these acts are major forms of polytheism. A
polytheist is still a polytheist even if he calls himself something
else. Praying to the dead respectfully and affectionately,
slaughtering animals, making vows and other similar acts are all
polytheistic whatever they call them. Today’s polytheists, using
the words ‘ta’zîm’ (respect, honour) and ‘tabarruk,’ say that
what they do is permissible. This supposition of theirs is
fallacious.”[2]
We have already translated the answers given by Muslim
scholars to such offensive lampoons against the Muslims of the
Ahl as-Sunna, and have written them down in our various
books. In the following, a passage from the first chapter of the
book Al-usûl al-arba’a fî tardîd al-Wahhâbiyya is translated to
show the vigilant reader that the Wahhâbîs have deceived
[1] See article 15 in Advice for the Muslim for more detail.
[1] One of the chief idols worshipped by the Arabs during the pre-Islamic
era called the Jâhiliyya Ages.
[2] Fat’h al-majîd, p. 133.
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themselves and will lead Muslims to ruination:
“Qur’ân al-kerîm, Hadîth ash-sherîf, statements and acts of
the Salaf as-sâlihîn, and most of the ’ulamâ’ document that it is
permissible to show ta’zîm to somebody other than Allâhu
ta’âlâ. The 32nd âyat of Sûrat al-Hajj states: ‘When one shows
honour (yu’azzim) to Allâhu ta’âlâ’s sha’â’ir, this behaviour
is out of the heart’s taqwâ.’ So it became wâjib to show
honour to Allâhu ta’âlâ’s sha’â’ir.’ ‘Sha’â’ir’ means ‘signs
and indications.’ Abdulhaqq ad-Dahlawî (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ)
said, ‘Sha’â’ir is the plural of sha’îra, which means indication
(’alâma). Anything that reminds one of Allâhu ta’âlâ is a sha’îra
of Allâhu ta’âlâ.’ The 158th âyat of Sûrat al-Baqara says: ‘As-
Safâ and al-Marwa are among the sha’â’ir of Allâhu ta’âlâ.’
As understood from this âyat kerîma, not only the hills as-Safâ
and al-Marwa are the sha’â’ir of Allâhu ta’âlâ, but there are
other sha’â’ir as well. And not only the places called ’Arafât,
Muzdalifa and Minâ can be cited as sha’â’ir. Shâh Walî-Allâh
ad-Dahlawî (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) says on the 69th page of his
work Hujjat Allâhi ’l-bâligha, ‘The greatest sha’âir of Allâhu
ta’âlâ are Qur’ân al-kerîm, Ka’bat al-mu’azzama, the Prophet
(’alaihi ’s-salâtu wa ’s-salâm) and the ritual salât.’ And on the
30th page of his book Altâf al-Quds, Shah Walî-Allâh ad-
Dahlawî (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) says, ‘To love the sha’â’ir of
Allâhu ta’âlâ means to love Qur’ân al-kerîm, the Prophet (’alaihi
’s-salâtu wa sallam) and the Ka’ba, or, to love anything that
reminds one of Allâhu ta’âlâ. To love the Awliyâ’ of Allâhu ta’âlâ
is the same.’[1] While the two hills near Masjid al-Harâm in
Mekka, namely as-Safâ and al-Marwa, between which the
Prophet Ismâ’îl’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) mother Hadrat Hajar walked,
are among the sha’â’ir of Allâhu ta’âlâ and can cause one to
remember that blessed mother, why should not the places
where the Prophet Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm), who is the
most superior of all creatures and the Beloved One of Allâhu
ta’âlâ, was born and brought up and the places where he
worshipped, migrated, performed salât and passed away and
[1] Because the Prophet said, ‘When Awliyâ’ are seen Allâhu ta’âlâ is
remembered,’ which is quoted in Ibn Abî Shaiba’s Musnad, in Irshâd
at-Tâlibîn, and in Kunûz ad-daqâiq, this hadîth sherîf shows that
Awliyâ’, too, are among the sha’âir. It is written in Jâmî’ ul-fatâwâ that
it is permissible to build domes over the graves of Awliyâ and ’Ulamâ in
order to show them honour.
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his blessed shrine and the places of his Âl (his blessed wives
and Ahl al-Bait) and companions be counted among the
sha’â’îr? Why do they destroy these places?
When Qur’ân al-kerîm is read attentively and objectively, it
will be easily seen that many âyats express ‘ta’zîm’ for
Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’s-salâm). The Sûrat al-Hujurât declares: ‘O
those who believe! Do not go ahead of Allâhu ta’âlâ and His
Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam)! Fear Allâhu ta’âlâ! O
those who believe! Do not speak louder than the Prophet’s
voice! Do not call him as you call one another! The reward
for the deeds of those who do so will vanish! Allâhu ta’âlâ
fills with taqwâ the hearts of those who lower their voices
in the presence of Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Prophet; He forgives their
sins and gives many rewards. Those who shout at him
from the outside are thoughtless; it is better for them to
wait till he comes out.’ It is apparent to a person who reads
and thinks over these five âyats impartially how much Allâhu
ta’âlâ praises the ta’zîm that will be shown to His beloved
Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and how seriously He commands the
Umma to be respectful and modest towards him. The degree of
its importance can be judged by the fact that all the deeds of
those who speak louder than him will come to naught. These
âyats came as a penalty for the seventy people of the Banî
Tamîm tribe who had called the Prophet by shouting
disrespectfully in Medina. Today some people say that they are
the descendants of the Banî Tamîm tribe. It must have been for
them that Rasûlullah said, ‘A violent and torturous people are
in the East,’ and ‘Satan will arouse disunion from there,’
pointing to a direction towards the Najd territory [on the Arabian
Peninsula] with his blessed hand. Some of the lâ-madhhabî are
‘Najdîs,’ who have spread out from the Najd. The disunion
predicted in the hadîth quoted above appeared twelve hundred
years later: they came from the Najd to the Hijâz, plundering
Muslims’ possessions, killing the men and enslaving the women
and children. They committed baser evils than disbelievers.
“WHAT IS MORE: In the above âyats, the repetitive phrase
‘O those who believe,’ shows that all Muslims of all centuries
till the Last Day are commanded to be respectful towards
Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam). If the command had
been only for the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm, ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ
anhum ajma’în’, ‘O as-Sahâba,’ would have been said. As a
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matter of fact, the phrases, ‘O wives of the Prophet!’ and ‘O
people of Medina!’ are Qur’ânic. The same phrase, ‘O those
who believe!’ is used in the âyats stating that salât, fast,
pilgrimage, zakât and other ’ibâdas are fard for all Muslims of all
times till the Last Day. So the Wahhâbîs’ idea that ‘the Prophet
(sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) was to be respected when he was
alive; he must not be respected or asked for help after his
death,’ is groundless in view of these âyats.
“The above âyats indicate that ta’zîm towards others besides
Allâhu ta’âlâ is also necessary. The 104th âyat of Sûrat al-
Baqara states: ‘O those who believe! Do not say “Râ’inâ” [to
the Prophet], but say, “Look upon us.” You, be listeners to
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s commands.’ Believers used to say ‘Râ’inâ’
(watch over, protect us) to the Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam). ’Râ’inâ’ also meant ‘to swear, to blemish’ in the Jewish
language, and the Jews used this word for the Prophet (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) in this sense. Because it also had this
bad meaning, Allâhu ta’âlâ forbade the Believers to use this
word.
“The 33rd âyat of Sûrat al-Anfâl purports, ‘Allâhu ta’âlâ will
not punish them while you are with them,’ and promises not
to punish them until the end of the world. This âyat refutes the
Wahhâbîs’ claim that the Prophet went away and became soil.
“The 34th âyat of Sûrat al-Baqara purports: ‘When We said
to the angels, “Prostrate yourselves before Âdam,” they all
fell prostrate, except the Satan (Iblîs).’ This âyat kerîma
commands that Âdam (’alaihi ’s-salâm) should be shown ta’zîm.
Satan refused to respect somebody other than Allâhu ta’âlâ and
slandered prophets, and thus disobeyed this command.
Wahhâbîs are in the footsteps of Satan. Yûsuf’s (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
parents and brothers, too, showed honour to him by
prostrating themselves before him. If it caused polytheism or
disbelief to show honour or respect to somebody other than
Allâhu ta’âlâ, He would not have praised His beloved slaves
with the word ‘sajda’ (prostration) when describing them.
According to the Ahl as-Sunna, prostration before somebody
other than Allâhu ta’âlâ is harâm because it resembles the
prostration in ’ibâda, not because it is a sign of respect!
“Satan always appeared in the figure of an old man of the
Najd to Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam). When the
disbelievers assembled at a place called Dâr an-Nadwa in
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Mekka and decided to kill the Prophet, Satan appeared in the
figure of an old man of the Najd and taught them how to carry
out the murder, and they agreed to do as the Najdî old man
said. Since that day, Satan has been called Shaikh an-Najdî.
Hadrat Muhyiddîn Ibn al-’Arabî writes in his work Almusâmarât:
‘When the Qouraish disbelievers were repairing
the Ka’ba, each of the heads of the tribes said that he was
going to replace the valuable stone called al-Hajar al-aswad.
Later they agreed that the person who came [to the Ka’ba] first
the following morning would be the referee to choose one from
among them to place the stone. Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sallam) was the first who came. He was twenty-five then,
and they said they were going to obey what he would say
because he was trustworthy (amîn). He said, “Bring a carpet
and put the stone on it. You all hold the carpet at its sides and
raise it to the level where the stone will be placed.” After it was
raised, he took the stone from the carpet with his blessed hands
and set it at its place in the wall. At that moment. Satan
appeared in the figure of the Shaikh an-Najdî and, pointing to a
stone, said, “Put this beside it to support it.” His real purpose
was for the foul stone he pointed to to fall in the future, so that
the Hajar al-aswad would lose its steadiness and, consequently,
people would consider Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam)
inauspicious. Seeing this, Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam) said, “A’ûdhu bi’llâhi min ash-shaitâni ’r-rajîm,” and
Satan immediately ran away, disappeared.’ Because Muhyiddîn
ibn al-’Arabî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), with this writing, made
known to the world that the Shaikh an-Najdî was Satan, the lâmadhhabî
hate this great Walî. They even call him a
disbeliever. It is understood also from this passage that their
leader was a satan. For this reason, they destroy the blessed
places inherited from Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam).
They say that these places make people polytheists. If it were
polytheism to pray to Allâhu a’âlâ in sacred places, Allâhu ta’âlâ
would not have ordered us to go for hajj; Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam) would not have kissed the Hajar al-aswad
while he was performing tawâf; nobody would pray at ’Arafât
and Muzdalifa; stones would not be thrown at Minâ, and
Muslims would not walk between as-Safâ and al-Marwa. These
sacred places would not have been respected that much.
“When Sa’d ibn Mu’âdh (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh), the head
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of the Ansâr, came to where they assembled, Rasûlullah (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) said, ‘Stand up for your leader!’ This
command was intended for all of them to honour Sa’d. It is
wrong to say, ‘Sa’d was ill. It was intended that he should be
helped off his riding-animal,’ because the order was for all of
them. If it were intended for helping him, the order would have
been for one or two persons only, and ‘for Sa’d’ would have
been said, and there would have been no need to say ‘for your
leader.’
“Every time he went from Medina to Mekka for hajj,
’Abdullah ibn ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ) stopped and
performed salât and prayed at the sacred places where
Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) had sat. He would
become blessed by these places. He would put his hands on
Rasûlullah’s (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) minbar (pulpit) and
then rub them on his face. Imâm Ahmad ibn Hanbal
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) would kiss the Hujrat as-Sa’âda and
the pulpit to become blessed by them. The lâ-madhhabî, on the
one hand say that they belong to the Hanbalî Madhhab, and, on
the other, regard as ‘polytheism’ what the imâm of this
Madhhab did. Then, it is understood that their claim to be
Hanbalî is false. Imâm Ahmad ibn Hanbal put al-Imâm ash-
Shâfi’î’s (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) shirt into water and drank
the water to get blessings. Khâlid ibn Zaid Abû Ayyûb al-Ansârî
(radiy-Allâhu ’anh) rubbed his face against Rasûlullah’s (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) blessed grave and, when someone
wanted to lift him up, he said: ‘Leave me! I came not for the
stones or soil but for the audience of Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam).’
The as-Sahâbat al-kirâm (’alaihimu ’r-ridwân) used to get
blessed with the things that belonged to Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam). They received blessings from the water he
used in ablution and from his blessed sweat, shirt, sceptre,
sword, shoes, glass, ring, in short, from anything he used.
Umm-i-Salama (radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ) the mother of the Faithful,
kept a hair from his blessed beard. When ill people came, she
would dip the hair into water and have them drink the water.
With his blessed glass, they used to drink the water for health.
Imâm al-Bukhârî’s (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) grave emanated
the smell of musk, and people took soil from the grave to get
blessed with it. No ’âlim or muftî disapproved of it. The ’ulamâ’
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of hadîth and fiqh permitted such actions.”[1] Translation from
the book Usûl-ul-arba’a ends here.
[During the times of the Sahâbat al-kirâm and the Tâbi’ûn,
and even until the end of the first millenium, there were many
Awliyâ’ and sulahâ’. People used to visit and receive blessings
from them as well as obtain their prayers. There was no need to
make the dead intermediaries (tawassul) or to get blessed
(tabarruk) with lifeless things. The fact that these events were
rare in those days does not mean that they were forbidden. If
they had been forbidden, there would have been those who
would prevent them. No ’âlim prevented them.
As the Last Age has set in, however, bid’as and symptoms
of disbelief have increased. The youth have been deceived by
the enemies of Islam in the disguise of religious authorities and
scientists,[2] and, because irreligiousness or apostasy has
suited their purposes, dictators and the cruel, the slaves of their
nafses, have given great support to this movement. The number
of’âlims and Walîs has decreased, there even has not appeared
any in the last decades, and, therefore, it has become a must to
be blessed by the graves of and the things inherited from the
Awliyâ’. But, some things, which are harâm to do, have been
inserted into these too, as if it was done in every affair and
worship.
With unanimity of the ’ulamâ’[3] of Islam, not this lawful
practice itself should be prevented, even though prohibited
behaviours (harâms) have been introduced into it, but instead
the bid’as introduced into it should be removed].
5 — FINAL REMARKS
All the attributes of Allâhu ta’âlâ manifest themselves in
every creature, in the tiniest vestiges. For instance, as His
attributes of mercy and kindness manifest themselves, so do
His attributes of wrath, dudgeon and tormenting appear. He
[1] Al-usûl al-arba’a, part one.
[2] Those who are in the disguise of scientists are called ‘sham scientists’,
while those in the disguise of religious men are called ‘zindîqs’.
[3] The writings of the ’ulamâ’ on this subject are quoted in Ahmad bin Zainî
Dahlân’s Ad-durar as-saniyya fi ’r-raddi ’alâ ’l-Wahhâbiyya, Egypt,
1319 and 1347; photographic reproduction, Istanbul, 1395 (1975 A.D.).
Those who read them will have no doubts left.
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creates uses and harms in every substance, in everything. Man
presumes luscious, pleasurable things to be useful at the same
time, and this presumtion misleads him. Allâhu ta’âlâ, who is
very compassionate, has sent Prophets, announced the uses
and the harms in everything, commanded doing what is useful
and prohibited doing what is harmful. He has termed these
commandments Fard (Farz) and the prohibitions Harâm or
Dunyâ (World). These commandments and prohibitions as a
whole are expressed with the term Sharî’at. The meaning of the
interdiction, “Avoid the world!” is, “Avoid (committing) harâms!”
Another meaning of the word “Dunyâ” is “Life before death”.
None of the worldly pleasures and flavours is harâm
(forbidden). What is prohibited is using them in a harmful way. It
is either farz or sunnat to use them in a useful way. Different
organs of the body enjoy and take pleasure from different
things, and so is the case with the heart and the nafs.
All man’s limbs are under the heart’s command. This heart,
which we term ‘qalb’, is not something visible. It is a sort of
power embodied in the piece of flesh that we (also) call ‘heart’.
The nafs enjoys committing harâms. The devil and the nasf
on the one hand and the evil company on the other, which
subsumes not only misleading words and writings by harmful
friends but also deluding radio and television broadcast, are
prone to beguile man and tempt the heart to committing
harâms.
A person who has Îmân in his heart, i.e. who believes in the
fact that Muhammed ‘alaihis-salâm’ is the Prophet, is called a
Muslim. A Muslim has to adapt all his actions to the Sharî’at of
Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ and learn this Sharî’at from books
written by those true scholars whom we call Ahl as-sunna. He
should not read religious books written by people without a
Madh-hab. As he adapts himself to the Sharî’at, he will
gradually take a dislike to the world , that is, to harâms. Once
the heart is emptied of the desire to commit harâms, love of
Allah will pour into it. It is like that when a bottle is emptied of
the water it has been containing air will immediately take the
water’s place. Senses unknown to us will develop in such a
heart. It will begin to perceive the entire world, even life in the
grave. It will hear a sound wherever it is. Wherever there is a
sound it will hear it. All his worships and prayers will be
accepted. He will lead a peaceful and happy life.
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6 — MASJÎD an-NABÎ
The four different stages
of enlarging Masjid an-Nabî:
1. Bâb as-salâm
2. Bâb al-Jibrîl
3. Bâb an-Nisâ
4. Bâb ar-rahma
5. Bâb at-tawassul
6. Shabakat as-Sa’âda
7. Hujrat as-Sa’âda
8. Muwâjahat ash-Sherîfa
9. Mihrâb an-Nabî
10. Mihrâb al-’Uthmânî
11. Part covered with sand
WHAT IS A TRUE MUSLIM LIKE?
The first advice is to correct the belief in accordance with
those which the Ahl-i sunnat savants communicate in their
books. For, it is this madhhab only that will be saved from Hell.
May Allâhu ta’âlâ give plenty of rewards for the work of those
great people! Those scholars of the four madhhabs, who
reached up the grade of ijtihâd, and the great scholars
educated by them are called Ahl as-sunna scholars. After
correcting the belief (îmân), it is necessary to perform the
worship informed in the knowledge of fiqh, i.e. to do the
commands of the Sharî’at and to abstain from what it prohibits.
One should perform the namâz five times each day without
reluctance and slackness, and being careful about its conditions
and ta’dîl-i arkân. He who has as much money as nisâb should
give zakât. Imâm-i a’zâm Abû Hanîfa says, “Also, it is
necessary to give the zakât of gold and silver which women use
as ornaments.”
One should not waste one’s precious life even on
unnecessary mubâhs. It is certainly necessary not to waste it on
harâm. We should not busy ourselves with taghannî, singing,
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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 harâm. [Giybat
means to talk about a Muslim’s or a Zimmî’s secret fault behind
his back. It is necessary to tell Muslims about the faults of the
Harbîs, 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 causing Muslims to beware
their harms, and to tell about the slanders of those who talk and
write about Islam wrongfully; these are not giybat. [Radd-ul-
Muhtâr: 5-263)].
One should not spread gossip (carry words) among
Muslims. It has been declared that various kinds of torments
would be done to those who commit these two kinds of sins.
Also, it is harâm to lie and slander, and must be abstained from.
These two evils were harâm in every religion. Their
punishments are very heavy. It brings plenty of thawâb to
conceal Muslims’ defects, not to spread their secret sins and to
forgive them 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 heat or swear at those poor
persons for trivial reasons. One should attack nobody’s
property, life, honour, or chastity. Debts to others and to the
government must be paid. Bribery, accepting or giving, is
harâm. However, it would not be bribery to give it in order to get
rid of the oppressions of a cruel person, or to get rid of some
other disgusting situation. However, even in such cases, it is
harâm to accept the bribe offered. Everybody should see his
own defects, and should every hour think of the faults which he
has committed towards Allâhu ta’âlâ. He should always bear in
mind that Allâhu ta’âlâ does not hurry in punishing him, nor
does He cut off his sustenance. The words of command from
one’s parents, or from the government, compatible with the
Sharî’a, must be obeyed, but the ones, incompatible with the
Sharî’a, should not be resisted against so that we should not
cause fitna. [See the 123rd letter in the second volume of the
book Maktûbât-i Ma’thûmiyya.]
After correcting the belief and doing the commands of fiqh,
one should spend all one’s time remembering Allâhu ta’âlâ.
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One should continue remembering, mentioning Allâhu ta’âlâ as
the great men of religion have communicated. One should feel
hostility towards all the things that will prevent the heart from
remembering Allâhu ta’âlâ. The more you adhere to the
Sharî’at, the more delicious it will be to remember Him. As
indolence, laziness increase in obeying the Sharî’at, that flavour
will gradually decrase, being thoroughly gone at last.
It is harâm for Muslims, women and men alike, to go out or
to engage in outdoor activities such as ball games and
swimming without properly covering (those parts of their body
which Islam prohibits one to expose to others and which it terms
as) their awrat parts. As well, it is harâm to attend places
occupied by people with awrat parts exposed. [İslâm Ahlâkı
(Islamic Moral Values), p. 331.] If, while committing something
harâm, one also dawdles away the time allotted for one of the
five daily prayers of namâz (without having performed it within
its prescribed period of time), this not only will add to the sin,
but also may induce one to a state of disbelief. It is harâm to
play any sort of musical instrument, as well as to perform any
religious recital, e.g. reading or reciting (passages from the)
Qur’ân al-kerîm, reciting (an eulogy to the Messenger of Allah,
Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, termed the) mawlid, or reciting (the
prescribed invitation to prayer of namâz, termed the) azân (or
adhân), melodiously. Also, it is harâm to use musical
instruments such as flutes, or loudspeakers in the performance
of such religious performances. Saying something melodiously
means elongation of some vowels, which may spoil the
wording. Wahhâbîs are trying to prohibit the performance of
mawlid with casuistries such as, “The Prophet is dead; he will
not hear you. Besides, it is polytheism to eulogize anyone other
than Allah.” It is this belief of theirs which is disbelief. Using a
loudspeaker is like using the telephone. If something is harâm
to say, it is not permissible to listen to it through a loudspeaker.
It is permissible to use loudspeakers for educational purposes,
e.g. in teaching science, arts, economics, religious knowledge,
ethics and martial lessons. It is not permissible to use
loudspeakers to announce corrupt publications fabricated so as
to impair moral and religious comportments or to amplify the
sound during the performance of adhân or public prayer of
namâz, or to listen to such performances. The voice heard from
a loudspeaker installed on a minaret is not the voice of the
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muadh-dhin (person calling the adhân). It is the voice produced
by the instrument, despite its close similarity to the human
voice. When we hear this voice, we should say, “It’s prayer time
(time for namâz),” instead of saying, “The adhân is being
called.” For, the sound produced by the loudspeaker is not
originally the voice of (the person saying the) adhân. It is a
reproduced copy of adhân.
It is stated as follows in some hadîth-i-sherîfs: “Towards the
end of the world, the Qur’ân al-kerîm will be being read
through (instruments called) mizmârs.” “There is such a time
to come that the Qur’ân al-kerîm will be read through
mizmârs. It will be read not to please Allâhu ta’âlâ, but only
for pleasure.” “There are many people who read (or recite)
the Qur’ân al-kerîm and the Qur’ân al-kerîm utters a curse
against them.” “There will come such a time when the most
dissolute people will be (among) muadh-dhins.” “There will
be a time when the Qur’ân al-kerîm will be read through
mizmârs.” “Allâhu ta’âlâ will pronounce a curse on them.”
Mizmâr means a musical instrument of any sort, such as a
whistle. A loudspeaker also is a mizmâr. Muadh-dhins should
dread these hadîth-i-sherîfs and avoid calling the adhân calling
through loudspeakers. Some people who are ignorant in
religious matters assert that loudspeakers are useful appliances
because they convey sound to long distances. Our Prophet
admonished, “Perform the acts of worship as you saw me
and my As-hâb (companions) do them! Those who make
changes in the acts of worship are called “ahl-i-bid’at”
(people of bid’at, heretics). People of bid’at will certainly go
to Hell. None of their acts of worship shall be accepted.” It
is not something right to claim to make useful amendments to
religious practices. Claims of this sort are lies fibbed by
enemies of religion. It is the Islamic scholars’ business to judge
whether a certain change is useful. These profound scholars
are called mujtahids. Mujtahids do not make changes at will.
They know whether an amendment or a change will be (an act
of) bid’at. They were unanimous in the fact that calling the
adhân through a loudspeaker (mizmâr) is an act of bid’at. The
path that will lead to the love of Allâhu ta’âlâ is through the
human heart. By creation, the heart is pure like a mirror. Acts of
worship will add to the heart’s purity and lustre. Sins will darken
the heart, so that it will no longer receive the fayds (subtle
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pieces of spiritual information) and nûrs (lights, haloes)
conveyed by (invisible rays of) love. Sâlih (pious) Muslims will
sense this absence and will feel sad about it. They are
disinclined to commit sins, but eager to perform more and more
acts of worship. Instead of performing only the five daily prayers
of namâz, for instance, they wish to perform other prayers of
namâz as well. Committing sins feels sweet and sounds useful
to the human nafs. All sorts of bid’at and sins are nutritive to the
nafs, which is an enemy of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and they will fortify its
strongholds. An example of them is to call the adhân through a
loudspeaker.
Childhood is the age to acquire knowledge, and if this
flowering period of time is frittered away, Muslims’ children will
be left ignorant, which in turn means an irreligious generation
ahead. Having watched this catastrophic process in heedless
silence, religious authorities will be the biggest shareholders in
the grave sin. If a person does not learn the halâl and the
harâm, or if he flouts them though he may have learned them,
he will become a disbeliever. He is no different from churchgoers
or from those disbelievers who worship idols or icons.
Man’s arch enemy is his own nafs. It always wishes to do what
is harmful to him. Desires of the nafs are called shahwa (lust).
Doing these carnal desires of the nafs gives it great pleasure. It
is not sinful to do them as much as necessary. Yet it will be
harmful and sinful to do them to excess. In order to distract
Muslim children from acquiring religious knowledge, enemies of
Islam have enticed them into ball games in the name of sports
activities and physical training. Since exposing the parts of (the
body called) awrat and looking at others’ awrat parts are the
nafs’s favourite enjoyments, craze for ball games has spread
rapidly among the children. Muslim parents should see to that
their young sons and daughters enter into a (suitable) marriage
as early as possible, they should prevent them from going out in
groups of mixed sexes and from joining ball games where they
would inevitably expose their awrat parts, and they should send
them to a sâlih (true) Muslim teacher so that they will learn their
religion and faith.
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To: Hakîkat Bookstore
Dear Brothers in Islam.
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
All praise to Allahu ta’âlâ. Peace be upon the holy Prophet of Islam
(sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). May Allah be well pleased with you!
I have written this letter to thank you and praise your good deeds in
the straight path you have taken to redeem Islam and Muslims in this
modern, blind world.
I have received your worthy and valuable books - ENDLESS BLISS
IV, BELIEF AND ISLAM, and THE SUNNI PATH. The books arrived
just six days after I wrote a letter asking questions on Qada and Qadar
with music. However, I do not know how to thank you as no word,
phrase nor letter could convey my feeling to you. In fact, I will never
deem of limiting my thanksgiving through words and letters and I hope
you will bear with the poor and weak mind of mine.
In the first instande, I had written to express my thanks on Edless
Bliss III and also requested for its price and those of other books
published by Hakikat Kitâbevi. What a great person you are! You did
not ask me to pay for the book. Yet, you sent another without
demanding anything. I don’t just know what to say as you are pleasing
my heart, making me to realise myself as a Muslim and protecting me
against the enemies of Islam. There is not much to say than may Allah
be pleased with you, favour you, provide for you in aboundance and
rewards you with everlasting bliss.
As I am focusing my attention on the just received Endless Bliss IV
with others, I could deduce that you are presenting Islam in its absolute
purity and I am very happy to say in good authority that it has provided
answers to most of my questions. This book is a unique book teaching
the practical faith and duty of Muslims. It has become my friend when
going out, my companion when alone, my teacher when learning and
my quidance when praying. All the books are simply too great. With
them, I have come to realise that one must not resign himself to luxury,
prosperity and the good life but should strive hard and be profoundly
learned in Islamic knowledge and to communicate the message of true
religion to the people of all ages.
However, I am very sorry and bitterly touched to inform you that my
father is not a practising Muslim. This has served as hindrance towards
my learning the religion of Islam many years ago. I have remain the
victim of the oppressed for years and there is no peace everywhere in
the house. All the times, days and years, I have been full of thinking
and supplication sorting things with my best ability and planning a way
out of this situation. It was during this time that a young man of my age
came to my life. We are so intimate that we usually discuss our private
affairs with each other. After discussing about my problem, he advised
me to write to your publication. For many years, I have sat desperately
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to contemplate what makes me a Muslim. I scrutinised to discover how
to be a Muslim to truly and unambiguously accept the Holy Quran and
its injunctions and to put them into practice; sincerely, in its entirety.
Here in this part of the world, people are very corrupt, there are
many heretical groups who make game of religion, trade in religion and
converts religion into business in order to fulfil their sensudus desires.
Some of those who claim to be Muslim leaders have strayed away and
defected from Islam. Many have turned religion into a lucrative
business from which they realize millions of Naira (Nigerian currency
note). In fact one cannot be too careful. Religion leaders have reduced
faith to mere words of mouth which can be decorated with beautiful
rhetorics just to attract applause.
After attaching myself to your publication, I have now realised that I
need nobody else and I need nothing else in this world except Hadrat
HILMI IŞIK. I have come to understand that I have much to regret in
the hereafter if I failed to search for true and correct knowledge. And
what do I have to tell my Allah to justify my case if I do not learn,
practise and serve Islam.
Dear brothers in Islam, I have made up my mind and ready to learn
the only religion. I don’t want to sit down arms folded watching
helplessly as they lead people to ruination. I would therefore will be
very pleased if you favourably consider my request of coming to
Turkey.I would like to be with you in all spheres of your activities and
struggles for Islam since it is my activities and struggles as well. I want
to learn the correct dîn and adapt myself to the Hanafî Madhhab under
your guidance and by your courtesy.
If my request is accepted, I would like you to give me detail
information on how I will make my transport arrangements.
Meanwhile, as I have no provision yet, I will want to work for few
years in order to earn my transportation fare.
I would like to say again that I had enclosed a copy of my
photograph and asked few questions on Qada and Qadar in my last
letter. Happily, Endless Bliss IV has provided an answer to my puzzles
on Music.
I will want you to continue sending me more of your valuable
books. I seek your support in combating and safeguiding myself
against the corrupt actions and books of the enemies of Islam.
May Allah provide good for you wherever you may be! Âmin.
Wassalam.
Your brother in Islam,
Alabi
c/o Muhammad Shaikh,
P. O. Box 1071
Ogbomoso, Oyo State
Nigeria
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GLOSSARY
Entries related to tasawwuf can be learned best from Ahmad
al-Farûqî as-Sirhindî’s (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) Maktûbât.
’âbid: one who performs much ’ibâda.
Ahl al-Bait: immediate relatives of the Prophet (’alaihi ’ssalâm):
(according to most ’ulamâ’) ’Ali, first cousin and son-inlaw;
Fâtima, daughter; Hasan and Husain, grandsons (radiy-
Allâhu ta’’âlâ ’anhum).
a’immat al-madhâhib: pl. of imâm al-madhhab.
’âlim: (pl. ’ulamâ)’) a Muslim scholar of Islam.
Allâhu ta’âlâ: Allah to Whom all kinds of superiority belong.
-Ansâr: Those Medinans who embraced Islam before the
conquest of Mekka.
aqcha: a coin, unit of money.
’Arafât: open space located 24 kilometers north of Mekka.
-’Arsh: end of matter bordering the seven skies and the
Kursî, which is outside the seventh sky and inside the ’Arsh.
-’Asr as-Sa’âda: the ‘Era of prosperity’, time of the Prophet
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) and the Four Khalîfas (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ
’anhum).
Awliyâ: pl. of Walî.
awqâf: (pl. of waqf) pious foundations.
âyat (kerîma): a verse of al-Qur’an al-kerîm.
’azîma: difficult way of doing a religious act or affair.
-Basmala: the Arabic phrase “Bismillâhi ’r-rahmâni ’r-rahîm”
(in the Name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful.)
bid’a(t): An act, a belief, an utterance which does not
originally exist in Islam and which was invented later.
bâtil: invalid, wrong, vain.
dhikr: (phrase of) remembering, keeping in mind, Allâhu
ta’âlâ every moment.
dirham: weight unit of three grams.
Efendi: title given by the Ottoman State to statesmen and
especially to religious scholars; a form of address, meaning
“Your Great Personage”.
faqîh: (pl. fuqahâ’).
Fard: (an act or thing) that is commanded by Allâhu ta’âla in
Qur’ân al-kerîm.
Fard ’ain: fard for every Muslim. fard kifâya: fard that must
be done at least by one Muslim.
-Fâtiha: First of the 114 sûras of Qur’an al-kerîm, containing
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seven âyats.
fatwâ: i) ijtihâd (of a mujtahid); ii) conclusion (of a muftî)
from books of fiqh whether something not shown in them is
permitted or not; answer given to religious questions by Islamic
scholars; iii) rukhsa.
fiqh: knowledge dealing with what Muslims should do and
should not do; actions, ’ibâdât.
fitna, fasâd: widespreading of statements and actions that
harm Muslims and Islam.
fuqahâ: (pl. of faqîh).
ghaban fâhish: (being cheated much by buying at a) price
higher than the current prices; an exorbitant price.
ghazâ: battle against non-Muslims, to convert them to Islam;
jihâd.
ghâzî: Muslim engaged in ghazâ.
hadîth (sherif): i) a saying of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm);
al-Hadîth ash-sherîf: all the hadîths as a whole; ii) ’ilm alhadîth;
iii) Books of the hadîth ash-sherîf. iv) Al-hadîth alqudsî,
as-sahîh, al-hasan: kinds of hadîths (for which, see
Endlees Bliss, II).
Hadrat: title of respect used before the names of Islamic
scholars.
hajj: fard pilgrimage to Mekka.
halâl: (act, thing) permitted in Islam.
Hanafî: (a member) of Hanafî Madhhab.
Hanbalî: (a member) of Hanbalî Madhhab.
harâm: (act, thing) forbidden in Islam.
hasan: (see hadîth).
Hegira: emigration of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) from
Mekka to Medina; al-Hijra.
-Hijâz: the region on the Arabian Peninsula on the Red Sea
coast where Mekka and Medina are situated.
hijrî: of the Hegira.
-Hujrat at-Sa’âda (al-Mu’attara): the room where the
graves of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and of his two
immediate Khalîfas are.
’ibâda: (pl. -ât) worship, rite; act for which thawâb (rewards)
will be given in the Hereafter.
’îd: one of the two Islamic festivals.
ijtihâd: (meaning or conclusion drawn by a mujtahid
through) endeavouring to understand the hidden meaning in an
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âyat or a hadîth.
’ilm: knowledge, science; ’ilm al-hâl: (books of) Islamic
teachings (of one Madhhab) ordered to be learned by every
Muslim; ’ilm al-usûl: methodologic sciences, esp. those of fiqh
and kalâm.
imâm: i) profound ’âlim; ii) leader in jamâ’a; iii) the Caliph
(Khalîfa).
îmân: faith, beliefs of Islam; kalâm, i’tiqâd.
i’tiqâd: îmân.
Jâhiliyya: era of nescience, that is, pre-Islamic Arabia.
jamâ’a: community; body of Muslims (except the imâm) in a
mosque; companions; union.
jâriya: non-Muslim female slave captivated in war and
treated like a sister.
jihâd: war against non-Muslims (or the nafs) to convert them
(it) to Islam.
Jum’a: (salât of) Friday
-Ka’ba(t al-mu’azzama): the big room in the great mosque
in Mekka.
kalâm: knowledge of îmân; ’ilm al-kalâm.
kalimat ash-shahâda: the phrase beginning with
“Ashhadu...” The first of the five fundamentals of Islam;
declaring one’s belief in Islam.
karâma: (pl. -ât).
khalîfa: (pl. khulafâ’) the Caliph.
Khârijî: (of) those heretical Muslims hostile to Ahl al-Bait
and to their posterity.
Khutba: the homily delivered at the pulpit by the imâm at
Jum’a and ’îd prayers, which must be read in Arabic all over the
world (sinful if made in another language).
madhhab: (pl. madhhâhib) all of what an imâm of
(especially) fiqh or i’tiqâd communicated.
-Madînat al-munawwara: the illuminated city of Medina.
-Mahshar: the Last Judgement.
-Makkat al-mukarrama: the honoured city of Mekka.
makrûh: (act, thing) improper, disliked and abstained by the
Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm); makrûh tahrîma: prohibited with much
stress.
Mâlikî: (a member) of the Mâlikî Madhhab.
Ma’rifa: knowledge about Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Dhât (Essence,
Person) and Sifât (Attributes), inspired to the hearts of Awliyâ’.
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-Marva (Marwa): one of the two hills near the Masjid al-
Harâm.
masjid: mosque; al-Masjid al-Harâm: the great mosque in
Mekka; al-Masjid ash-sherîf (as-Sa’âda, an-Nabî): the mosque
in Medina, built in the time of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and
later enlarged several times, in which his grave is.
mawdû’: (kind of hadîth) lacking one of the conditions (for a
hadîth to be sahîh) laid down by an ’alim of hadîth.
Mîlâdî: of the Christian era; of the Gregorian calendar.
Minâ: a village six kilometers north of Mekka.
mubâh: (act, thing) neither ordered nor prohibited;
permitted.
mufsid: act, thing that nullifies (especially, salât).
muftî: great ’âlim authorized to issue fatwâ.
-Muhâjirûn: Those Mekkan people who embraced Islam
before the conquest of Mekka.
mujaddid: strengthener, renewer, of Islam.
mu’jiza: miracle peculiar to prophets, alone, and worked by
Allâhu ta’âlâ.
muqallid: Muslim who practices taqlîd; a follower of an
imâm al-madhhab.
mustahab: (act, thing) deserving thawâb if done but no sin if
omitted, nor disbelief if disliked.
-Mu’tazila: one of the 72 heretical groups in Islam.
-Muwâjahat as-Sa’âda: the space in front of the qibla wall
[to which the Prophet’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) blessed head
corresponds] of his shrine, where the visitor stands facing the
shrine.
Muzdalifa: the area between the city of Mekka and ’Arafât.
nafs: a force in man which wants him to harm himself
religiously.
najâsa: religiously impure thing.
nâ-mahram: (a relative of the opposite sex) not within
forbidden (harâm) degrees of relationship for marriage.
nikâh: (act of engagement for) marriage in Islam.
Pâsha: title given by the Ottoman State to statesmen,
governors and especially officers of high rank (now general or
admiral).
qâdî: Muslim judge; qadi.
qibla: the direction turned towards during worshipping (in
Islam, toward the Ka’bat al-mu’azzama).
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Qouraish: Arab community of Qouraish, an ancestor of the
Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm).
-Qur’an al-kerîm: the Holy Koran.
rak’a: the series of reciting and the acts of standing, bowing
and prostration (and sitting) in salât, which consists of at least
two and at most (for fard salâts) four rak’as.
Ramadân: the Sacred Month in Muslim Calendar.
Rasûlullah (Rasûl-Allah): Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm), the
‘Prophet of Allâhu ta’âlâ’; the Messenger of Allah.
-Rawdat al-Mutahhara: the space between the Prophet’s
(’alaihi ’s-salâm) shrine and the pulpit of the Masjid ash-Sherîf.
rukhsa: to permit; easy way of doing a religious act or affair.
-Safâ: one of the two hills near the Masjid al-Harâm.
Sahâbî: (pl. as-Sahâbat al-kirâm) Muslim who saw the
Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) at least once; the Companion(s).
sahîh: i) religiously lawful, valid; congruous to Islam; ii) (of a
hadîth) soundly transmitted, authentic according to the
conditions laid by the scholars of hadîth.
salât: i) prayer; (with salâm)= salawât; ii) ritual prayer of at
least two rak’as; namâz, in Persian; salât janâza: funeral prayer.
salawât: (pl. of salât) special prayers in which blessings and
high ranks are asked on the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm).
sâlih: (pl. sulahâ’) one who is pious and abstains from sins,
(opposite: fâsiq); see Walî.
Shafi’î: (a member) of Shâfi’î Madhhab.
Shaikh al-Islam: Head of the Religious Affairs Office in an
Islamic State.
Shî’ites: one of the 72 non-Sunnî groups in Islam.
shirk: (statement, action, causing) polytheism; ascribing a
partner to Allâhu ta’âlâ.
sulahâ: pl. of sâlih.
sunna: (act, thing) that was, though not commanded by
Allâhu ta’âlâ, done and liked by the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) as
an ’ibâda (there is thawâb if done, but no sin if omitted, yet it
causes sin if continually omitted and disbelief if disliked; the
Sunna; i) (with fard) all the sunnas as a whole; ii) (with the Book
or Qur’an al-kerîm) the Hadîth ash-sherîf; iii) (alone) fiqh, Islam.
sûra: a chapter of Qur’ân al-kerîm.
Taba’ at-Tâbi’în: those ’âlims who had seen neither the
Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) nor a Sahâbî but saw (one of) the
Tâbi’ûn; so their successors.
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tâ’a: those acts that are liked by Allâhu ta’âlâ but might be
done without the need of knowing that they are liked by Him.
-Tâbi’ûn (al-i’zâm): most of those Muslims who had not
seen the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) but saw (one of) as-Sahabat
al-kirâm; so their successors.
ta’dîl al-arkân: keeping the body motionless for a while after
becoming calm during and between the various acts in salât
(see Endless Bliss, III, Chapters 14-16).
tafsîr: i) book of, ii) science of (’ilm at-tafsîr), iii)
interpretation of Qur’ân al-kerîm.
taqlîd: living up to, following, being a member of one of the
four Madhhabs.
taqwâ: fearing Allâhu ta’âlâ; abstention from harâms;
practising ’azimas (See wara’ and zuhd).
tasawwuf: (Islamic mysticism of sufism as defined by Islam)
knowledge and (after adapting oneself to fiqh) practice of the
manners of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) which strengthens
îmân, makes the practice of fiqh easy and provides one to attain
ma’rifa; ’ilm at-tasawwuf.
tawâf: the ’ibâda of going round the Ka’bat al-mu’azzama
during hajj.
tawakkul: trusting in, expecting everything from Allâhu ta’âlâ
exclusively; expecting from Allâhu ta’âlâ the effectiveness of the
cause after working or holding on to the cause – before which
tawakkul is unadvised.
tawhîd: (belief in) the Oneness, Unity of Allâhu ta’âlâ.
ta’zîr: a kind of penalty as described in Islam; chastisement.
thawâb: (unit of) reward promised and will be given in the
Hereafter by Allâhu ta’âlâ as a recompence for doing and
saying what He likes.
’ulamâ: pl. of ’âlim.
Umma: the community, body of Believers, of a prophet; the
Umma(t al-Muhammadiyya): the Muslim Umma.
usûl: i) methodology or fundamentals of an Islamic science;
ii) methodologies of basic Islamic sciences, ’ilm al-usûl; iii)
îmân, kalâm.
wâjib: (act or thing) never omitted by the Prophet (’alaihi ’ssalâm),
so almost as compulsory as fard and not to be omitted.
Walî: (pl. Awliyâ’) one who is loved and protected by Allâhu
ta’âlâ; a sâlih who has also corrected his nafs.
wara’: (after avoiding harâms) abstention from doubtful
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things (mushtabihât).
zâhid: a man of zuhd; ascetic.
zakât: (fard duty of giving annually) certain amount of
certain kinds of property to certain kinds of people, by which the
remaining property becomes purified and blessed and the
Muslim who gives it protects himself against being (called) a
miser.
zuhd: not setting one’s heart on worldly things; abstention
(even) from mubâhs.
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A’ûdhu billah-imin-esh-shaytân-ir-rajîm
Bi-s-mi-llâh-ir-Rahmân-ir-Rahîm
Resûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’
stated: “When fasâd (mischief, instigation,
disunion, tumult) runs rife among my Ummat
(Muslims), a person who abides by my
Sunnat will acquire blessings equal to the
amount deserved by a hundred martyrs.”
Scholars affiliated with any one of the four
Madhhabs, (which are, namely, Hanafî, Mâlikî,
Shâfi’î and Hanbalî,) are called Scholars of
Ahl as-Sunna. The leader of the scholars of
Ahl as-Sunna is al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa.
These scholars recorded what they had heard
from the Sahâba-i-kirâm, who, in their turn,
had told them what they had heard from the
Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’.
The earth is populated by three groups of
people today:
1– Disbelievers. These people say that
they are not Muslims. Jews and Christians are
in this group.
2– The Sunnî Muslims. These people exist
with an ever-increasing population in every
country.
3– (Hypocrites called) Munâfiqs. They say
that they are Muslims. With respect to îmân
and some acts of worship, they are not
comparable to the Ahl as-Sunnat. They are
not true Muslims.
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Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’ stated, “A person whom
Allâhu ta’âlâ loves very much is one
who learns his religion and teaches
it to others. Learn your religion from
the mouths of Islamic scholars!”
A person who cannot find a true scholar must
learn by reading books written by the scholars of
Ahl as-sunna, and try hard to spread these books.
A Muslim who has ’ilm (knowledge), ’amal
(practising what one knows; obeying Islam’s
commandments and prohibitions), and ikhlâs
(doing everything only to please Allâhu ta’âlâ) is
called an Islamic scholar. A person who
represents himself as an Islamic scholar though he
lacks any one of these qualifications is called an
‘evil religious scholar’, or an ‘impostor’. An Islamic
scholar is a guard who protects Islam. An impostor
is Satan’s accomplice.[1]
______________
[1] Knowledge that is acquired not for the purpose
of practising it with ikhlâs, will not be beneficial.
Please see the 366 th and 367 th pages of the
first volume of Hadîqa, and also the 36th and
the 40 th and the 59 th letters in the first volume
of Maktûbât. (The English versions of these
letters exist in the 16th and the 25 th and the 28 th
chapters, respectively, of the second fascicle of
Endless Bliss).
