This letter, written to Nűr Muhammad Tahârî, informs that Allâhu ta’âlâ is not like anything and that He cannot be comprehended mentally:
Hamd be to Allâhu ta’âlâ. Salâm upon those slaves of His whom He has chosen! Your honourable letter has arrived here. You write that your states have always been changing. Know that Allâhu ta’âlâ is not within the âlam, nor is He outside the âlam. He is not apart from the âlam, nor is He united with the âlam. Allâhu ta’âlâ exists. But He is not within or outside, united with or apart from it. Allâhu ta’âlâ must be known as such, must be searched for as such, and found as such. If one has reached such an understanding [that is, contrary to the above definition], though it may be in a small scale, it will be understood that one has got stuck in shades and appearances. Allâhu ta’âlâ must be looked for as a being never like anything and never comprehensible.
One must struggle to reach that grade in an incomprehensible manner. This great blessing can be attained only through the sohbat of a murshid-i kâmil. It cannot be explained or comprehended through writings or words. Try to do your duty! Write about your states until we see each other!
This letter, written to Nűr Abdurrahmân, Mir Muhammad Nu’mân’s son, responds to those who disbelieve the fact that Allâhu ta’âlâ will be seen in Paradise:
Bism-illâh-ir-rahmân-ir-rahîm. People who disbelieve the fact that Allahu ta’âlâ will be seen, and those who say that Allâhu
ta’âlâ cannot be seen, strive to authenticate their argument with the syllogism that “Something seen must be opposite the one that sees it. Allâhu ta’âlâ cannot be opposite anything. For, He is without direction. Being with direction means having a limit, an end, a surrounding. And these, in their turn, would be defects, faults for Allâhu ta’âlâ. These defects cannot exist in Allâhu ta’âlâ.”
In response to them we say: Allah’s power is so much that, in this transient and weak worldly life, He has given two senseless, motionless and empty nerves the power to see the things opposite them. Cannot Almighty Allah, who has given the nerves this power, give the two nerves, which will be stronger and everlasting in the next world the power to see without direction things that are not oppossite them or things that are in every direction? For, He has endless power, and it is possible to see or perceive Him in the next world. At some places and times He has made it a condition of seeing that the two things will be opposite each other and will be in a certain direction, while at others He has given the power of seeing without this condition. Since these
two kinds of places are quite unlike each other, it is, indeed, utterly unreasonable to say that the conditions necessary in one are necessary in the other, too. It means to know creatures to be only in this âlam-i mulk, which can be seen and measured, and to disbelieve the astounding beings in the âlam-i malakűt.
Question: If Allâhu ta’âlâ is seen, this means that He has to have a surrounding and be comprehended through the eyes. And this means that He has an end, a limit. These defects cannot exist in Allâhu ta’âlâ.
Answer: It is possible for Allâhu ta’âlâ to be seen but He does not have a surrounding and cannot be comprehended through the eyes. The hundred and third âyat of An’âm Sűra purports, “The eyes cannot comprehend Him. But He knows, comprehends the eyes. He bestows and is omniscient.” Believers will see Allâhu ta’âlâ in the Hereafter and will say that they have seen Him. They will enjoy the pleasure, the flavour in seeing Him. But they will not comprehend what they have seen. They will get nothing of this seeing. They will realize the seeing, enjoy the taste of seeing but will not comprehend what they have seen.
A Persian couplet in English:
Phoenix cannot be hunted, undo your trap!
Sheer air is what this hunting will trap.
Allâhu ta’âlâ will be seen but will not be comprehended. There will be no deficiency in seeing. Kindly and generously, He will show Himself to His lovers. He will abundantly give them the flavour of seeing Him. No defect, no deficiency comes to Him from this. Nor does this mean that He is surrounded or directed. A Persian couplet in English:
His Highness is never reduced, in no manner.
One never gets tired of this great honour!
To say that to see Allâhu ta’âlâ it is a condition that the one who sees Him will be opposite Him and in the same direction with Him, would mean to say that Allah’s seeing will require these conditions, too. For, the existence of these conditions in the one who is seen means their existence in the one who sees, too. Then, these conditions will be necessary in Allah’s seeing His creatures, too, and, as a conclusion, He must not be seeing them. Thus, Allah’s attribute of seeing will have been denied, and the Qur’ân will have been disbelieved. However, many sűras of the Qur’ân purport, “Allâhu ta’âlâ sees whatever you do,” and, “He is hearing and seeing,” and, “Allâhu ta’âlâ sees
your deeds.” Furthermore, it is a defect not to see. It means to be deprived of the attribute of being Allah.
Question: Doesn’t Allah’s seeing mean that He knows, that He is omniscient? So, would it be necessary to set another condition whereby Allâhu ta’âlâ would be supposed to have a direction, a limit?
Answer: Seeing is a beautiful attribute. The Qur’ân informs that Allâhu ta’âlâ has this attribute, too, besides His other attributes. It is contradictory with the Qur’ân to say that seeing is none else than knowledge. When we say ‘knowledge’ (instead of ‘seeing’), the one that knows will not be saved from the position of being opposite the one known. There are, as it were, two kinds of knowledge. In the first one, it is not a condition to be opposite the one that is known. But it is a condition in the second one. This (second kind of knowledge) is called ru’yat, that is, seeing. The most powerful, the highest grade of knowledge in creatures is seeing. By seeing only is the feeling of satisfaction and security formed in the heart. Man’s imagination can
deny things known and thought. But fancy cannot deny things that are perceived through the senses. Such things are free from this danger. For this reason, though Ibrahîm Khalîlurrahmân ‘alâ nabiyyinâ wa alaihissalâtu wassalâm’ believed with the heart and most
positively that Allâhu ta’âlâ would resurrect the dead, he wanted to see how the dead would be resurrected in order to form itmi’nân, that is, conviction in his heart.
If such a beautiful attribute as seeing should be said to be nonexistent in Allâhu ta’âlâ, we shall ask whence this beautiful attribute has come to creatures. For, every beauty existing in creatures is a reflection, a manifestation of a beauty existing in Allâhu ta’âlâ. It is something impossible for a beauty that exists in creatures not to exist in the Wâjib-ul-Wujűd (Allâhu ta’âlâ). For, creatures are nothing but evil and defects. Every perfection, every beauty seen in them has been lent to them for temporary use by the rank of Wujűb (Allâhu ta’âlâ). For, the rank of Wujűb is only perfection and beauty. A Persian distich in English:
I have nothing brought from home;
I and all I have are only, merely from Thee!
Another answer which we would give to the first question is that the reason which you assert is a dangerous way of thinking concerning Allah’s existence. To say that it is impossible to see Him means that His existence also is impossible. This is not a reasonable thought. For, according to this reasoning, when Allâhu ta’âlâ exists He must exist in one direction of this âlam. He must be above or beneath, before or behind, on the right or on the left. And this, in its turn, means His being surrounded, limited, which is a defect. But Allah must have no defects.
Question: Perhaps His existence is in every direction of the âlam. Does not this also mean His being surrounded, limited?
Answer: Being on every side of the âlam would not free Him from the position of being surrounded and limited. Accordingly, He would have to be outside the âlam. Something different must be outside. Being different means being at a different place. And this, in turn, would mean being surrounded, limited.
To get rid of such wrong, deceitful thoughts we must get rid of the illness of supposing that unknown things are like the things that are known. We must not compare the unknown to the known. A beautiful state in something seen can remove the beauty of one that is not seen. For, when the conditions are different the attributes and states are different, too. Especially, if the difference between the conditions is as much as to present a contrast; the difference between the states also will necessarily be contrastive. An Arabic line in English:
Does the dusty and soiled one ever look like the one that is clean?
May Allâhu ta’âlâ give them enough intellect and reason not to contradict the Nass, which are declared clearly in the Qur’ân, and not to deny the sahîh hadîths. Such facts and the like, which are declared clearly, must be believed. We must say that Allah knows how these will happen. Because we cannot comprehend, we should say that our mind cannot comprehend. It is quite wrong and utterly unjust to depend on our mind and to disbelieve what we cannot comprehend. There are lots of right things which mind cannot understand to be right and correct. If mind could comprehend everything correctly, Abű Alî Sînâ[1] and the like, leaders of those who relied on their minds, would have comprehended everything correctly and would have never gone wrong. In fact, he said, “Only one thing issues from one thing,” thus making such a great mistake that would take only an instant of thinking to realize. Imâm-i Fakhraddîn-i Râzî harshly castigates him for having said so, and says; “Though he had spent all his life on those branches of knowledge protecting man against thinking wrong, at that most valuable and most important point, he made such a great mistake that would make even children laugh.”
[It is written in the book Akhlâq-i Alâî, “Ibni Sînâ denied the rising after death in his book Mu’âd. He is said to have made a ghusl towards his death and made tawba for the cruelties which he had done while he had been a vizier, yet it has been stated (by savants) that the ghusl, the namâz, the prayer of a person with a wrong belief will not be accepted.” Also, scientists of the twentieth century say that such ancient Greek philosophers as Plato and Aristotle erred and thus caused the civilization to remain stranded throughout centuries. In Europe, French chemist Lavoisier, who is said to be the father of today’s modern chemistry, made such wrong statements that the harm that he inflicted on science of chemistry,
in which he was specialized, overshadowed his services. See 39th chapter in second fascicle!
Imâm-i Ghazâlî, in his book Al-munqîz, classifies those disbelievers who think of themselves as clever, unerring scientists in three groups: the first group are the Dahriyyűn and materialists, who existed centuries before Greek philosophers. [And today, some idiots who pass for scientists, communists, and freemasons are in this group.] They deny the existence of Allâhu
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[1] Avicenna
ta’âlâ and say that the âlam (all beings) came into being from itself, that it will exist forever, that it does not - may Allah protect us from saying - have a creator, that the living will multiply from one another and this will go on forever. An atheist who pretends to be a Muslim and tries to demolish Islam from within by undermining the beliefs of Muslims, is called a zindîq or bigoted scientist. The second group, naturalists, seeing the astounding order and delicacies in the living and the lifeless, had to confess that Allâhu ta’âlâ exists, but denied the Rising Day, the next world, Paradise and Hell. The third group maintained the philosophies of Socrates and Plato, his disciple, and Aristotle,
a disciple to the latter. In order to divulge how wrong and how base the Dahriyyűn and the naturalists were, they refuted them and said so many things about them that others need not add any more. But they could not escape disbelief, either. All these three groups, together with their followers, are disbelievers. To our astonishment, we have heard that some credulous people have been looking on these disbelievers as religious authorities and even holding them to be equal with prophets, so much so that they have fabricated hadîths about them. Disbelievers can say anything. But it is a pitious situation that those who seem to be Muslims cannot distinguish between îmân and disbelief.
It is written in Nabrâs and in its annotation by Barhurdâr ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ aleyh’: “The whole creation is called ’âlam. ’Âlam, that is, everything, was nonexistent. Allâhu ta’âlâ created everything from nothing. Democrates said, ‘ ’Âlam had been nonexistent. It became existent by itself.’ Most naturalists said the same. According to Aristotle, ’Âlam is made up of matter (hayűlâ). Matter which has taken a shape is called an object (jism), which is seen in three physical states [gas, liquid and solid], ’Âlam has come this way and it will go on as such. The four elements [fire, air, water and earth] have been eternally existent. Though objects originate from one another, these four elements, which are their origin,
are eternal.’ Plato said that ’âlam was nonexistent in the beginning and became existent later on, learning it from the books of ancient prophets. Pythagoras and his disciple Socrates said as Aristotle said. Democrates asserted that the matter was made up of tiny particles [atoms] which moved in a vacuum. Calinos, on the other hand, said that he could not understand whether the ’âlam was eternal (qadîm) or made up at a certain time (hâdith). According to both, ‘What an eternal creator creates must be eternal. Saying that He began creating
later means that His power was deficient earlier.’ We answer them: ‘He began creating when His Eternal Will wished to. It is like a thirsty man’s taking one of the glasses of water after choosing. This man cannot be said to have lacked will or power before. Today we observe that the Creator is still creating new things as He wishes.’ If it is claimed, ‘That the ’âlam had not existed in the past means that time had existed while the ’âlam was not existent. Time, too, is a part of the ’âlam. It is impossible to say that a part of the ’âlam had existed while the ’âlam itself had not,’ we respond that we do not say, ‘Time existed while the ‘âlam was nonexistent.’ There is extensive information on this subject in ’Aqâ’id-i Jalâliyya, and
it would be as nonsensical as saying that there were an endless length of time from this ’âlam to eternity.
The ’ulamâ of the Ahl as-sunnat ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ alaihim ajma’în’ said, ‘The ’âlam is made up of ’ayn (essence, matter) and araz (peculiarity). Matter is what occupies place in space, and peculiarity is what exists not by itself but with other things. [Energy and power are peculiarities.] Light is a peculiarity. If it were an object, it would not pass through glass and water, since two different objects cannot occupy the same place at the same time. It is the same for heat. Matter is made up of atoms (jawhar al-fard). Matter is either a simple substance (element) or a compound (combination of elements). Between the atoms that make up matter, there is very small space that cannot be seen. Every object [substance, atom] changes. Things that change are hâdith (become existent while having
been nonexistent). Then, the ’âlam is hâdith.’ The first two of the last three propositions are muqâddama (introductory). In the knowledge of logic, the first one is called ‘sughrâ’ (minor premiss), while the second ‘kubrâ’ (major premiss). The third one is natija (conclusion). If matter existed in the eternal past, it would have changed in the eternal past, too. ‘Eternal’ means ‘that before which nothing exists, no change exists.’ Then, matter cannot be eternal.”
Ahmed Âsım Efendi wrote in the annotation of Emâlî Kasîdesi, “Âlâm, with all its parts, is hâdith, that is, it came into being from nothing. Everything, the earth and sky, was nonexistent. Christians, Jews and Magians, too, believe as such. Aristotle, Fârâbî, and Ibn Sînâ (Avicenna) said that matter was eternal. The ’ulamâ of Islam said: Something eternal does not change. Physical and chemical properties of substances [elements] always change. If substances did not change in the eternal past,
they would not change now forever. It cannot be said, either, that there was no change in the past but changes took place later. For, in order for there to be a change, a power must take effect. If change took place later, it would be understood that the power became existent later and is not eternal.” This is the end of our quotation from Ahmed Âsım Efendi. As it is seen, saying that matter is eternal proves that natural forces are hâdith and not eternal.
Scholars of positive and natural sciences observe that many kinds of plants and animals have vanished and many other kinds have come into being. Everything, living or lifeless, has a life-span. Life-span, or period of life, of everything is different. There are beings whose life-span is measured by seconds, while there are those which exist for centuries. Beings with the longest period of life are the simple substances called elements. This very long life of theirs has puzzled naturalists much, and some said, “Objects disappear and matter changes. But, matter does not cease to exist.” However, to say that this changing of substances and objects is an eternal process and will go on like this, means to acknowledge the existence of the Eternal Being. It shows that even materialists and naturalists
cannot deny Allâhu ta’âlâ’s existence in the eternal past and eternal future. These idiots claim that everything living and lifeless, infinitely come about from one another while elements never cease to exist. However, elements are made up of atoms. They are piles of atoms. Allâhu ta’âlâ created atoms from nothing. If elements existed in the eternal past and everything came about from their various combinations in the eternal past, a tremendous energy and infinite power to combine them should have existed in the eternal past. For, atoms cannot unite without energy. And this power, which necessarily should have existed in the eternal past, is the Power of Allâhu ta’âlâ. Neither atoms nor elements existed in the eternal past. In the eternal past, solely Allâhu ta’âlâ existed. Muslims believe that Allah created everything
out of nothing. According to them, for the existence of everything, preexistence of the maker is necessary, and, for the existence of the latter, preexistence of its maker is necessary. ‘Eternal past’ means ‘without beginning.’ If something had not existed in the beginning, things that would ensue from it would not exist, either, that is, all of the things we see and know would necessarily be nonexistent. Then, it is obvious that everything ensues from only one thing which, having been nonexistent before, was made existent, created later.
Although the materialistic theory of ‘existence from the eternal past’ can never apply to substances and objects, it becomes a valid and indispensable fact when it comes to the Unique Creator, who created all substances but who is not a substance. Saying so, therefore, does not cause the contradiction stated above. As it is seen, there is the One Being who is eternal. This Being is, contrary to what materialists, naturalists or communists suppose, unlike the insensible, inert and short-lived objects that we know and which soon perish and rot. This Eternal Being is Allah, the One Who is not material, Who resembles nothing, knows, sees and dominates everything and in Whom Muslims believe. Everything was and is created by Him. Substances, objects, living beings and various
energies, which we call ‘nature’, are not creative as unbelievers suppose. Allâhu ta’âlâ created all of them, gave them the power of affecting one another and made the old ones to be causes and means for His creating new ones. Allâhu ta’âlâ does not need such causes or the effects of causes. He could create without any means, too. Yet He creates through causes and means. There is wisdom, benefits for His human slaves in His creating through causes. One of such benefits is that man, seeing or hearing from others the effects and properties given to these causes, uses material and non-material causes. On the one hand, by establishing new syntheses and analyses, he causes the creation of new materials and objects, and various industrial plants and factories; on the other hand, his heart and moral values are purified and
man thus resembles angels, becomes a Walî of Allah and attains ma’rifat-Allah. Man can obtain something by clinging to its cause. Applying, clinging to causes is a prophetic behaviour. The human mind or power, too, causes Allâhu ta’âlâ’s creation and forms a ring on the chain of causes. Naturalists’ and communists’ considering causes as creative resembles a child’s saying, “Dad created chocolate,” when its father brings chocolate to it. For, the child sees its father as giving the chocolate and knows nothing else.
Again Ahmed Âsım Efendi wrote: “If Allâhu ta’âlâ were hâdith but not qadîm (eternal), He would have been created by a creator, who, if qadîm, would have been Allah, or, if hâdith, should have been created by another creator. Thus, there would have been a chain of creators who were not qadîm. The existence of this chain, called tasalsul is impossible. That tasalsul is impossible is proved by burhân-i tatbîq (supra-application). Let’s arrange the infinite creators of one thing, beginning from the first
to infinity side by side. Let’s arrange a second row of creators beginning from the second creator. The second row, which is infinite on one end, is shorter than the first one since it lacks the first creator. The short row, then, cannot be said to be ‘infinite.’ Since the second row cannot be infinite, the first row, which is greater than the second only by one number, cannot be infinite, either. That is, a half line with one end at infinity can be assumed, yet such a thing cannot exist. There cannot be tasalsul. An infinite number of creators cannot exist. There can be one creator who exists infinitely. This One Creator is eternal in the past and eternal in the future, and exists endlessly. His existence depends on Himself, not on
someone else. If a person who has reached puberty and heard that Allâhu ta’âlâ exists eternally and that everything else was created from nothing does not use his reason and thought and denies, or uses his reason and thought but denies and says, ‘Reason does not accept it; it is not agreeable with science,’ he becomes a kâfir. He will suffer endless torture and burning in Hell.” On the other hand, a person who has not heard it and, therefore, does not use his thought and thus does not know or believe in Him becomes a kâfir, too, and he will not go to Paradise; yet, he will not go to Hell, either. He will not be subjected to the penalty inflicted on kâfirs; yet he will be made into soil and vanish after his questioning is completed. Allâhu ta’âlâ declared in the fifteenth âyat of Îsâ Sűra,
“We do not torment unless we have sent prophets.” It is understood from this âyat that it is only after prophets’ revelations and after learning these revelations by hearing or reading that it becomes fard to investigate the order in nature in order to understand Allâhu ta’âlâ’s existence and unity. Ibni Âbidîn says in its section dealing with the murtad (apostate), “Those scholars from the city of Bukhârâ said, ‘An injunction is not done before the appearing of a prophet and his teaching the religion.’ The Madhhab of Ash’ari says the same. This is the most preferred statement. These scholars said that the meaning of the statement, ‘A person wise enough cannot be exempted from (the liability of) knowing of the existence of a Creator inasmuch as he sees the sky, the earth, and himself,’
conveys the connotation that ‘he will not be exempted after learning the fact from prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’.’ ” Imâm-i Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ states the same fact in his letter number 266.
It is written in Burhân-i qâti’ that Plato lived during the time of ’Îsâ ‘alaihissalâm’. And in European books, it is written that he
died three hundred and forty-seven (347) years before the honourable birth of Îsâ (alaihissalâm). Since the teachings of this Greek philosopher are famous, his time of death is dependable. But, because Hadrat Îsâ ‘alaihissalâm’ was born secretly, taken up to heaven after a short life in the world and known only by his twelve apostles, and because the Îsâwîs (his followers) were few and they lived in seclusion for centuries, Christmas Eve, that is, his birthday, could not be determined correctly. Along with the fact that the birthday is estimated to be on December tewenty-fifth or January sixth or some other day, it is written in books in various languages, and for example, Hasîb Bey’s book Kozmografya [edited in
Imâm Muhammad Ghazâlî, Imâm Ahmad Rabbânî and many other Islamic superiors studied Greek philosophy, picked it into pieces and divulged how ignorant, stupid and agnostic those philosophers were. They wrote in many of their books that Muslims should not like or believe such disbelievers.
Then, it is quite out of place and wrong for disbelievers, renegades, enemies of Islam to say, “Islamic savants and men of tasawwuf were influenced by Greek philosophers, by the Roman mystics and by the school of Ptolemy.” These are slanders antagonistically intended to belittle Islamic savants by demoting them to the degree of their disciples and imitators. However, Islamic savants have refuted the Greek and Roman philosophy and law with their very subtle and strong knowledge, beaten them to the ground and announced that, of their statements on law, morals and medicine, the true ones were stolen from the books of ancient prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’. Statements of The Sôfiyya-i aliyya on tasawwuf, contrary to the supposition of the ignorant and hostile, were not made by reading
books, learning from others or imitating, but they were the ma’rifats flowing into their blessed hearts, pure souls, which is called kashf.
Many letters of Maktűbât explain these facts very well and explicitly.
Philosophers and today’s communists are people who attempt to comprehend everything through mind and to adapt it to mind and who believe only what mind approves. They have been able to find out the truth in things that mind can comprehend, yet have gone wrong and erred in facts that mind cannot grasp or reach. As a matter of fact, later ones have censured earlier ones, and they have reproved one another.
But Islamic savants ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în’, after studying the scientific knowledge up to their time and learning well the eighty main branches of knowledge, have opened their hearts and purified their nafses in the way shown by the Sharî’at, thus finding out the truth and reaching perfection in those branches of knowledge which mind cannot comprehend, too. To call Islamic savants philosophers means to downgrade them. Philosophers are people enslaved, imprisoned by the erring mind. When they say something through mind without experimentation, and when they are tricked by their imagination while explaining the experiments, they make mistakes and are harmful. For this reason and since they cannot exceed the limits of mind, they cannot be exalted like Islamic savants.
He who is without a mind is mad. He who does not use his mind is prodigal. It is prodigality not to act reasonably. He who has a little mind is an idiot. A person who follows and depends on mind only and who goes wrong in what mind cannot comprehend is a philosopher. And those exalted people who depend on mind on what mind can comprehend and who the guide mind to the right way under the light of the Qur’ân in matters that may confuse mind, are Islamic savants. Then, there is no philosophy in Islam. There is no Islamic philosophy, nor are there Islamic philosophers. There are the branches of Islamic knowledge, which are above philosophy, and Islamic savants, who are superior to philosophers.
Mind is like an eye, and the Sharî’at is like light. In other words, man’s mind is weak by creation, like his eyes. Our eyes cannot see objects in the dark. Allâhu ta’âlâ has created the sun, light, so that we might utilize our organ of sight. If it were not for the light of the sun and various sources of light, our eyes would be useless. We could not shun dangerous things or places, nor could we find useful things. Yes, he who does not open his eyes or whose eyes are out of order cannot utilize the sun. But such
people do not have the right to blame the sun.
Likewise, our mind cannot understand heavenly facts, useful and harmful things by itself. Allâhu ta’âlâ created prophets, the light of the Sharî’at so that we might utilize our mind. If prophets had not shown the way of being comfortable in this world and the next, our mind would be useless, for it could not find it. We could not avoid dangers and harms. Yes, people or peoples who do not adapt themselves to Islam and who have a little mind cannot appreciate prophets. They cannot elude dangers and the harms in this world and the next. No individual, no society can be prosperous unless they follow the way shown by prophets, no matter how many scientific means, how high posts and ranking positions, and how much money they have. Happy, pleased as they may look, they are in deep distress. Those
who live comfortably and happily both in this world and in the next are only those who adapt themselves to prophets. It should be known also that to attain comfort and happiness, claiming or pretending to be Muslim only is not sufficient. It is necessary to learn Islam well and to obey the commandments and prohibitions.]
The savants of Ahl as-sunnat proved the teachings of the Sharî’at, whether mind can comprehend them or not. May Allâhu ta’âlâ profusely reward them for their efforts! They never contradicted any of these teachings just because mind would not comprehend it. Thus, they immediately believed in torment in the grave, the fact that two angels named Munkar and Nakir will ask questions in the grave, the existence of the Bridge of Sirât and the scales of the Judgement Day. They did not say that these were impossible because mind could not comprehend them. For, these superior people adapted themselves to the Qur’ân and to hadîths. They made their minds dependent upon these two basic sources. They explained what they could understand.
And what they could not understand, they believed exactly as it was. About what they could not understand, they said they could not understand it because their minds could not grasp it. They did not do as philosophers did. Philosophers believed things that are within mind’s grasp and disbelieved those which their minds could not comprehend. They did not know that the sending of prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’ was because mind could not comprehend most of the things liked by Allâhu ta’âlâ. Mind is a document but not a perfect one. It has become a complete document with the sending of prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’. [In other words, mind has learned everything only
because those superior people were sent.] Allâhu ta’âlâ declares in the fifteenth âyat of Isrâ Sűra, “We do not torment unless we have sent prophets.”
Returning to the subject under discussion, we say that though seeing something opposite us requires being in the same direction, seeing something which is not near us does not require it. Something far away is not in one direction with respect to our position, nor is it seen at one side. Something which is not in one direction before being seen is not in any direction while it is being seen, either. Seeing something that cannot be understood happens in a manner which cannot be understood. A material being cannot understand someone beyond matter. An Arabic line in English:
The Sultan’s numerous presents can be carried only with His vehicles.
It is wrong, unreasonable to liken seeing the one that cannot be understood to seeing things which we understand. Allâhu ta’âlâ alone makes man attain to the right way.
I am a Muslim, the throne that I worship day and night is One.
Not for a minute did I cease from Unity; Allah is One.