This letter, sent to Khwâja Sharafaddîn Huseyn, discusses avoiding
the harâm and adhering to the Sharî’at.
O our Allah! Make us know the world as it
is and place in our hearts the greatness, the importance of the next world! O
my clever son! Do not ever fall for the decoration, the ornaments of the
harâms; do not get deceived by their transient, exhaustible flavours! Be extra
careful so that all your actions, thoughts and behaviour are compatible with
the Sharî’at! Try to live under its lights! First of all, it is necessary to
learn the belief which the Ahl-i-sunnat savants – may Allahu ta’âlâ give them
many blessings for their ceaseless efforts – communicate and write in books,
and to correct the îmân in accordance with it. Then we should learn the rules
of fiqh (the commands and prohibitions of the Sharî’at). We should adhere to
doing the fard and be careful about the halâl (permitted) and harâm
(forbidden). Supererogatory worships are worth nothing when compared to the
fard. The Muslims of our time abandon the fard and give their utmost to
supererogatory worships; they value doing supererogatory worships [e.g. reading
mawlîd, sitting together with men and women, building mosques, giving alms and
doing favours], while they deem it unnecessary and unimportant to do the fard
[e.g. performing the five times of namâz each day; fasting in the month of
Ramadân; giving zakât; giving ’ushr[1];
paying one’s debts, learning what halâl and harâm is; girls and women covering
up their heads, hair, arms, and legs; not listening to the words of those men
on the radio or television who are the enemies of our religion and who try to
corrupt our beliefs and good morals.]
[Gerard, the major of a town called
Charvieu in the providence of Lyon in France, upon seeing that the number of
Muslims going to the mosque was increasing every day but that the number of
Frenchmen going to church was decreasing became rabid as a dog and had the
mosque destroyed with a bulldozer. Newspapers dated 8-18-89 reported this madness,
this abomination. Neither books, radios, nor televisions of this type of
ignorant, stupid, inferior, dirty disbeliever, who attacks Islam, who is
unaware of Islam’s brilliant way, and who has never read Islam’s books, should
be put into our houses, and we must protect our women and innocent children
from lies and slander. We should
------------------------------------
[1] A kind of zakât. Ushur is given from the
things that grow on a field watered by rains or by streams. It is explained in
detail towards the end of the first part.
not be deceived by gilded lies which
praise freedom of religion, human rights and mutual support!]
Nevertheless, they do not understand that
to give one cent of zakât to the proper people (declared in the Qur’ân) is more
blessed than giving thousands of dollars as alms. To give zakât is to do
Allah’s command. But alms and favours are mostly intended to earn fame,
reverence and the sensual desires of the nafs. When one does the fard,
hypocrisy or ostentation do not get mixed with the action. But there is a lot
of ostentation in supererogatory worships. It is for this reason that zakât
should be given publicly. In this way one will be safe from being slandered.
The supererogatory alms should be given secretly, which will increase the
probability that it will be accepted [by Allah]. In short, to be safe from the
harm of the world, there is no other way than doing the rules of the Sharî’at.
Those who cannot cease from worldly pleasures completely should relinquish them
at least supposedly, that is, they should think of themselves as having
forsaken the world. And for doing this, one should adapt one’s every action and
each word to the Sharî’at.
[Disbelievers and murtads’[1], performing deeds compatible with the
Sharî’at in order to get some of their desires may be useful for them and cause
them to live happily in comfort in the world, yet it will not give them any
benefit in the Hereaffer, for they have not been honoured with îmân. It is
necessary to have îmân so that one’s worships may be accepted and one may earn
rewards for one’s good deeds. It is said in Ifsâh, “The most valuable of worships
are those that are farz-i ayn. After the fard the most valuable ones are the
Sunnat salât in the Shafi’î madhhab, jihâd in the Hanbalî madhhab, learning and
teaching knowledge and then jihâd in the Hanefî and Mâlikî madhhabs.”]
------------------------------------
[1] These persons who were born as Muslims
because their parents were Muslims but who then turned disbelievers.