This letter is written to Mawlāna Abdulhāy. It is declared in many
parts of the Qurān al-kerīm that those who perform Amāl-i sālihā (pious
deeds) will enter Paradise. This letter explains this and also explains how to
thank Allahu taālā and describes the mysteries of namāz.
After thanking Allahu taālā and sending
my prayer to the soul of our Prophet, I ask a blessing on you so that you will
attain endless bliss. In many āyat-i-kerīmas, Allahu taālā declares that those
Believers who perform Āmāl-i sāliha will enter Paradise. I had been searching
for a long time to find out what these pious deeds might be. I had been
wondering if they were all pious deeds or only a few of them. If they were all
good deeds, no one could do them all. If there were only a few of them, what
good deeds were they? Eventually, Allahu taālā blessed me with understanding
the fact that these pious deeds were the five binding rules, the five basic
pillars of Islām. If a person does these five pillars of Islām thoroughly and perfectly,
he will most probably be saved from Hell. These are original pious deeds and
will protect man against sinning and from doing loathsome actions. As a matter
of fact, it is declared in the forty-fifth āyat of Sūrat-ul-Ankabūt of the Qurān al-kerīm: A prayer of
namāz performed perfectly will certainly protect man against doing fahshā (foul)
and munkar (loathsome
actions). If
it falls to a persons lot to carry out the five principles of Islām, he has
expressed gratitude for the blessings. If he thanks Allah, he will be protected
from the torment of Hell. He declares in the hundred and forty-sixth āyat of
Sūrat-un-Nisā: I will not torment you if you have īmān and thank Me. Then,
one should try most willingly to carry out these five principles of Islām.
Of these five, among the ones that have to
be done with the involvement of the body, namāz is the most important; it is
the basic pillar of the religion. One should try not to miss even one of the
adabs of namāz [see fn.
When beginning namāz, saying Allahu akbar means
to profess that Allahu taālā does not need the prayer of any of His
creatures; He does not need anything in any respect; mens
performing namāz does not give Him a
benefit. And the takbīrs (saying Allahu akbar) that are in namāz signify
that We are not capable of doing the worship worthy of Allahu taālā. Since
the tasbīhs in rukū (bowing when performing namāz) have this same meaning, we
are not commanded to say Allahu akbar when straightening up after rukū.
However, we are commanded to say it after the tasbīhs of sajda (prostrating),
for sajda is the lowest grade of humility, inferiority and degradation. By
doing this one may suppose that one has worshipped properly and perfectly. In
order to protect one against this supposition, it is not only a sunnat to say
the takbīr when prostrating and straightening up during these sajdas, but also
we are commanded to say alā in the tasbīhs of sajda. Because namāz is the
mirāj of a believer, we are commanded to say the words attahiyyātu... which
our Prophet was honoured with saying on the Night of Mirāj [see fn.
Our Prophet (alayhissalām) declared: The time when man
is closest to his Allah is the time when he performs namāz. A
person who performs namāz speaks to his Allah, entreats Him, and sees that
everything other than Him is equal to nothing. Therefore, because there will be
fear, terror and fright in namāz, it has been commanded that we give selāms
twice at the end of namāz so that we might be consoled and relieved. Our
Prophet commanded, in a hadīth, to recite: 33 tasbīh, 33 tahmīd, 33 takbīr and one tahlīl after every
fard namāz. [see fn.
We should learn how to perform namāz, the
omitted prayers of namāz, and all kinds of religious information from the books
of the Ahl-i sunnat savants; we should not believe the false writings and sweet
words of the insidious enemies or of the ignorant.
In Islāmic States there used to be
Shaikh-ul-Islāms, that is heads of religious affairs, and Islāmic muftīs. Also,
there were
times when there used to be State
officials called muftī. Islāmic muftīs and the officials called muftīs should
not be mistaken for one another. Islāmic muftīs were the savants who taught
Allahs commandments and prohibitions, that is, the Sharīat. But the State
official called muftīs did not know the Sharīat themselves. If laws commanded
something which Allahu taālā had prohibited, they would not say that it was
not permissible to do that thing. If laws prohibited something which Allahu
taālā had commanded, they could not say that it was necessary to do that
thing. They would either remain silent or say the opposite. Thus, they would
dissent from the religion and drive the Muslims into sins or disbelief. During
the times such as when the armies of Genghis invaded Muslims lands, or during
the times of the Fātimīds and the Rasūlīds, and
even during the time of the Abbāsids, such government officers
called muftīs said permissible about the harām (forbidden). They even said
that the Qurān was
a creature. During the times when those officials caused the religion to be
demolished by writing made-up fatwās, those who remained loyal to the books of
fiqh and to the books teaching the truth about the religion remained on the
right way. They thus were able to save their faith.
Fatwā means to communicate if something
conforms or not with the Sharīat. It is not a fatwā only to say, It
conforms, or, It is not permissible. It is necessary also to say from which
book of fiqh and from which writing this answer has been derived. The fatwās
that are not conformable with books of fiqh are wrong. It is not permissible to
depend on them. Those who read āyats and hadīths without learning or knowing
Islāmic knowledge and who give them meanings according to their own minds and
opinions are not called Islāmic savants. They can be translators with a
knowledge of Arabic like the priests in Beirut. No matter how ornamented and
bright their writings and words are, they are worth nothing. Allahu taālā does
not like or accept the writings and words that are not conformable with what
the Ahl-i sunnat savants understood or with the books of fiqh which they wrote.
Ibni Ābidin, while describing Qādis (judges),
says on the three hundred and first page of the fourth volume, It is not suitable
for a sinner to become the muftī because it is a religious matter to give a
fatwā. The sinners words cannot be accepted in religious affairs. The case is
the same according to the other madhhabs. It is not permissible to ask such
muftīs about anything. Also, according to the unanimity (of savants), it is an
essential condition
that the muftī must be a Muslim and sane.
The fatwā of a just and pious lady or of someone dumb (unable to speak) person
is acceptable. The muftī or the judge should give a fatwā according to the
words of Imām-i azām Abū Hanīfa. It he does not find it clearly in his words,
he should take Imām-i Shaybānīs words. After him, he should prefer Imām-i
Zufars words, and then Hasan bin Zayyāds. Those muftīs who are ashāb-i tarjīh
(mujtahids within a madhhab) choose the ones with sound documents from among
ijtihāds. Those who are not mujtahids follow the words which these have
preferred. The words of the muftīs and judges who do not do so are not
acceptable. This comes to mean that in the affairs which are not chosen by
ashāb-i tarjih it is necessary to prefer the word of Imām-ż azām. As it is
seen, the muftī has to be a mujtahid in a madhhab. He who is not so is not
called a muftī; he is called a narrator, that is, one who conveys the fatwā.
Conveyors derive the fatwās from well-known books. These books are called
mutawātir news.]
A namāz may be accaptable if it has been
performed in full observance of its suhurūt and ādāb (conditions and rules) and
if the mistakes in performing it have been compensated for covered by saying
the tasbīh, tahmīd and takbīr. Then one should extend thanks (shukr) to Allahu
taālā for enabling you to perform namāz. And lastly, with sincerity, one must
declare through ones heart the kalima-i tawhīd, which indicates that no one
other than Him deserves being worshipped. Such a performer becomes one of those
who performs namāz and who attains salvation. Oh my Allah! For the love of the
highest of your prophets (alaihi wa ālā ālihimussalawātu wattaslīmāt) make us
among those who perform namāz and attain salvation! Āmīn.