This letter, written in Arabic to Khân-i Khânân ‘rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ aleyh’ a governor of India, explains tawba (repentance), inâbat, warâ’ and taqwâ.
I begin my letter with the Basmala. That
is, to be able to write this letter, I trust myself to Allahu ta’âlâ, who is so
merciful and bounteous, and I depend on Him. Every hamd, every thanks, belongs
to Him by right. I send my salâm to the good people whom He chooses and loves.
Our valuable lives are elapsing into committing sins, making mistakes, and
doing what is wrong. Therefore, it will be pleasant for us to converse on
repentance, on hanging the head in shame towards Allahu ta’âlâ, and to talk
about warâ’ and taqwâ. Allahu ta’âlâ declares in the thirty-first âyat of
Sűrat-un-Nűr: “O Believers! You all repent and ask Allah’s pardon! You can be
saved only by repenting.” He declares in the eighth âyat of
Sűrat-ut-Tahrîm, which is at the end of the twenty-eighth chapter of the Qur’ân
[the Qur’ân consists of thirty chapters equal in page numbers], “O elite, who have
îmân! Return to Allahu ta’âlâ! Repent sincerely! That is, do not break your repentance!
If you repent in this manner, maybe your Allah will forgive you and will put
you into Paradise, where there are trees and villas under which water flows.” He
declares in the hundred and twentieth âyat of Sűrat-ul-An’âm, “Abstain from sins,
whether they are evident or secret.” It is fard-i ayn[1] for everybody to repent for his sins.
Nobody can escape repentance. How can anyone ever escape it, despite the fact
that all Prophets (alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât) used to repent? Muhammad
(’alaihi wa alaihimussalawât), who was the final and the greatest of all,
stated: “A curtain
[that prevents divine lights from coming] gets drawn across my heart.
Therefore, I say istighfâr[2] seventy times each day.” If there are no human
rights in the sin which is committed, if it is only bettween Allah and oneself,
e.g. committing adultery, having alcoholic drinks, listening to musical
instruments, looking at nâ-mahram women, holding the Qur’ân without
having an abdast (ritual ablution), getting stuck in corrupt beliefs, such as
Râfidî, Wahhabi, and others, one can repent by
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[1] Actions, words, and thoughts which
Allahu ta’âlâ clearly commands in the Qur’ân are called farz (or fard).
Farz-i-ayn means a farz which is obligatory for every Muslim. Every Muslims has
to carry out the farz-i-ayn. Compare: fn (90) on page 205.
[2] To ask Allah’s pardon. To entreat Him
for His forgiveness.
regretting [what one has done], by saying
istighfâr, and by being ashamed, embarrassed towards Allahu ta’âlâ and begging
His pardon. If one has omitted one of the fard without an excuse, for
repenting, one has to perform that fard together with all of these.
[It is said in the book Targîbussalât: “In
a hadîth-i sharîf it was declared: ‘If a
person, without any excuse, performs a salât after its due time, he will be
burned in Hell for as long as eighty huqba. One huqba is eighty years. One year
in the Hereafter is three hundred and sixty days. One day is as long as eighty
years of this world.’ As the amount of time necessary for one to perform one’s
omitted prayers of namâz elapses, the sin of that one namâz gets bigger and
bigger. Well then, if there are two or more omitted namâz, it will be all the
more difficult. Omitted salâts, no matter what their costs, must be performed
as soon as possible, and one must invoke and feel repentance so much so that
one will be forgiven. He who does not perform namâz should tremble and melt
after seeing the greatness of Allahu ta’âlâ.]
If human rights are involved in a sin, for
repenting, one should pay back his rights immediately, ask his forgiveness, do
him favours and send prayers for him. If the one who has been deprived of his
rights is dead, one should say prayers and istighfâr for him, pay his rights
back to his inheritors, and do them favours. If his children or other
inheritors are not known, one should distribute money equaling the property or
indemnity (against loss of life) to the poor and to the miskins[1] as alms, and intending that its reward be
given to the claimant of the rights, who has been tormented. Hadrat Alî
‘radî-Allâhu anh’ said, “Hadrat Abű Bekr ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ always told the
truth. I heard him say that Rasűlullah declared: “If a person who has committed a sin repents and performs
abdast and then performs namâz and then says istighfâr for that sin of his,
Allahu ta’âlâ will certainly forgive him; Allahu ta’âlâ declares in the hundred
and ninth âyat of Sűrat-un-Nisâ: ‘If a person commits a sin or torments himself and then
repents and says istighfâr, he will find Allahu ta’âlâ very merciful and
forgiving’.” Rasűlullah said in a hadîth, “If a person
commits a sin and then repents, this repentance of his becomes an atonement for
his sin. That is, it causes him to be forgiven.” He
declared in a hadîth: “If the sinful person says istighfâr and repents, then does that
sin again, then says istighfâr and repents
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[1] They are people who do not have more
possessions than what they need for one day. It means ‘very poor.’
again, and then does it a third time and repents again, it will be
written down as a grave sin when he commits it the fourth time.” He
declared in a hadîth: “Musawwifs perished.” That is, those who put
off repentance by saying, “I will repent later on,” suffered a loss. Loqman
Hakîm ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ was a walî or a prophet. He advised his son by saying,
“Sonny, do not put off repentance until tomorrow. For death catches one
abruptly.” Imâm-i Mujâhid says, “The person who does not say tawba every
morning and every evening torments himself.” Abdullah Ibni Mubârak said, “To
return one cent that has been obtained through harâm means to its owner is more
blessed than giving ten cents as alms.” Our savants declare: “To return one cent
that has been taken unjustly to its owner is more blessed than six hundred
times of supererogatory Hajj (pilgrimage) that have been accepted.” O our
Allah! We have tormented ourselves. If you do not pity us, if you do not
forgive us, we will fall into a very bad situation!
Our Prophet said, “Allahu ta’âlâ
declares: ‘O My born servant! Do the fard I command; you will be the most
devoted of human beings. Avoid the harâm which I prohibit; you will be a man of
warâ’. Be contented with the sustenance that I give you; you will be the
wealthiest of human beings; you will not need anybody.” Our
Prophet said to Abű Hurayra ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’: “Be a man of warâ’ so that you may be the most âbid (devoted)
of human
beings.” Hadrat Hasan-i Basrî ‘rahmatullâhi aleyh’ says,
“Ataining warâ’ as much as a mote is more useful than a thousand superogatory
fasts and namâz.” Abű Hurayra ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ said, “On the Day of
Resurrection, those who are valuable in the presence of Allahu ta’âlâ are
people of warâ’ and of zuhd.” Allahu ta’âlâ said to Hadrat Műsâ
‘alaihis-salâm’: “Among those who approach Me and who attain My love, there will not
be anyone who approaches as close as people of warâ do.” Some
great savants said, “If a person does not know the following ten things as fard
for himself, he will not be a man of perfect warâ’: he should not backbite; he
should not feel sű’i-zân for Muslims, which means to distrust them and to think
of them as bad persons; he should not make fun of anybody; he should not look
at women and girls (that are forbidden for him by Islâm); he should tell the
truth; he should think of the gifts and blessings which Allahu ta’âlâ has
endowed upon him so that he will not be self-conceited; he should spend his
possessions on the halâl; he should not spend them for the harâm; he should
desire rank and
posts not for his nafs nor for his
comfort, but because he knows them as positions for serving Muslims; he should
know it as his firt duty to perform the five times of namâz in their due time;
he should learn well îmân and the deeds communicated by the Ahl-i sunnat
savants and adapt himself to them. O Allah! Increase the light of the right way
which you have endowed upon us! Forgive us! You can do everything!”
My dear, mercy-worthy sir! If one is granted
the lot of repenting for all of one’s sins and having warâ’ and taqwâ [that is,
abstaining from all the harâm and dubious], the great blessing, the exalted
good luck will have been obtained. If this cannot be obtained, it will be a
blessing as well to repent for some sins and to abstain from some of the
harâms. Maybe, the blessings and lights of some of them will spread among all
and will open the way to repenting for all the sins and for being a man of
perfect warâ’. It was said, “If one thing cannot be obtained as a whole, one
should not lose it all.” O Allah! Grant us the lot of doing the things which
Thou like! As alms for Muhammad Mustafâ ‘alaihi wa alaihim wa ’alâ âli kullin
min-as-salawâti afdâluhâ wa min-at-taslîmâti akmaluhâ’ who is the highest and
master of prophets, the head of the travellers on the way of greatness and
honour, do not make us cease from being in Thine religion and from obeying
Thee!
[Billions of people have lived in this
world. They have lived for a certain time period; afterwards, they have died.
Some of them were rich, some were poor. Some of them were beautiful, some ugly.
Some of them were cruel and some of them were kind. All of their
characteristics are now non-existent and forgotten. Some were Believers –
Muslims. The remaining ones were disbelievers – kâfirs. All of them will either
be non-existent eternally or after Doomsday those who do not believe will be
tormented eternally. But there will be no torment for those who are Believers.
Disbelievers will experience an everlasting and extremely severe punishment.
Those who will pass away as Believers are now at ease, and they are
experiencing inner happiness. As for disbelievers, they are afraid of the
prospects of burning in fire eternally. O, human beings, think carefully! After
a few years, you will be one of them. At that time, all of your life,
activities and painstaking efforts will be an image or dream, as is the case
with the years that have passed. Therefore, which party do you want to belong
in? You cannot say that you do not want to belong to neither party. This is
impossible. You will be among either one at
any rate. Even if it is merely a
probability, do you want to be burned eternally in a fire? Wisdom, knowledge,
and science prevent the rejection of the existence of Allah and a belief
regarding Paradise and Hell. Objective individuals are unable to assert that
such things cannot happen. Those who do not believe are unable to show any
documents or evidence supporting their rejection. However, the evidences that
prove belief to be unavoidable is innumerable. World libraries are full of
books which spell out these proofs. Deceived by their nafs and pleasures, they
reject. They think of nothing except their pleasures. However, Islâm does not
prohibit pleasure itself. It prohibits the hazardous effects of certain
pleasures. Therefore, the one who has wisdom obtains his pleasure through the
means shown by Allâhu ta’âlâ. He is adorned with the superior morality of
Islâm. He is helpful to everyone. He retaliates with goodness to those who act
maliciously towards him. If he is unable to be benevolent at least, he should
act with patience. He should not be destructive; he should be constructive.
Thus, he will attain his pleasures, comfort and peace of mind. Besides, he will
be spared the eternal torments of the next world. It is a proven fact that to
be a Muslim and to have îmân are prerequisite for peace of mind and happiness.
To have îmân is very easy. It is not necessary to give money to a certain
place, to give goods, to do hard work, to receive permission from someone.
Additionally, it is not necessary to declare it openly and to inform someone
about your îmân. Îmân consists of learning six things and believing in them
through the heart in a secret way. The one who has îmân becomes submissive to
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s commandments. In other words, he willingly practices without
any compulsion. Thus, he becomes a Muslim. In short, every Believer (Mu’min) is
a Muslim. Every Muslim is a Believer (Mu’min)].