The following is the translation from Persian of the eighty-fifth letter of the book Maktûbât by Hadrat Abdullah-i Dahlawî, a great Walî and Murshid-i kâmîl:
Hamd be to Allâhu ta’âlâ! Salât and salâm be over His beloved Prophet, Hadrat Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm’! This is the letter [written to the Muslims of India] by faqîr Abdullâh-i Qâdirî, Naqshibandî and Mujaddidî, who is well known for his name Ghulâm-i Alî. May Allâhu ta’âlâ forgive his sins!
BÎ’AT means to promise and to abide by this promise. It is a word frequently used on the way of tasawwuf. It is the sunnat of the Sahâba to use this. There are three kinds of bî’at. The first one is to promise before a great superior not to commit sins. This is called bî’at of tawba. When one grave sin is committed, this bî’at is broken, and a new bî’at is necessary. It has been doubted (by savants) on whether or not it is broken by backbiting. It is certainly a grave sin to backbite by abhorring, slandering a Muslim. It is not backbiting to let Muslims know and hear about those men of dîn who talk and write wrong and those men of tasawwuf who hold a belief which is bid’at. It is necessary to
speak against them so that Muslims will not be deceived by them.
The second kind of bî’at is to join, to do bî’at with a Walî or with his real members in order to get barakat. Thus, one gets blessed with the glad tidings they have been given, and with their intercession. For example, Ghawth-uth-thaqalayn Abdul-qâdir-i Geylânî said, “My murîds do not die without doing tawba.” [Tawba means to repent for one’s sins and to beg for Allah’s forgiveness.] In order to attain this glad tidings one must do bî’at with one of the great superiors of this path. It is not necessary to repeat this bî’at.
The third kind of bî’at is done in order to be blessed with the fayd of the Awliyâ and to get benefits from them. If a person does bî’at to one of the superiors of tasawwuf, carries out the duties, the dhikrs, the grades of ikhlâs prescribed by him, and yet cannot get benefits, it is permissible for him to join another path of tarîqat and to do bî’at with another murshid whether his former murshid consents to it or not. But he must not deny the former murshid. This means that he does not have an allotted share from him. If he sees that his murshid is slack in following the Sharî’at and the tarîqat or finds out that he tries to ingratiate himself with the rich or that he is fond of the world, he must look for Allah’s fayd, love and ma’rifat in another murshid. If one, as a child, did bî’at with
a murshid and finds out that he is a true murshid after reaching the age of puberty, he goes on with his bî’at and duties, or he does bî’at to another murshid whom he likes.
A murshid is a person who obeys, holds fast to the Sunnat (the Sharî’at) of Rasûlullah ‘sallallâhu alaihi wa sallam’, who avoids bid’ats whether they are zâhir or bâtin, and who holds the belief of the Salaf-i sâlihîn. He has the same correct belief as that of Ghawth-uth-thaqalayn Abdulqâdir-i Geylânî and Shaikh-ul-Islâm Farîdaddîn-i Ganj-i Shakar. He knows the knowledge of fiqh as much as is indispensably necessary. He frequently reads the hadîth book titled Mishkât-i sherîf and tafsîrs of the Qur’ân. He reads the books of morals written by men of tasawwuf, such as the books Minhâj-ul-’âbidin and Kimyâ-i sa’âdat by Hadrat Imâm-i Ghazâlî,
and other books describing the states and words of great men of tasawwuf. Reading these books is very useful in purifying and tranquillizing the heart. A murshid-i kâmil is not fond of the world, nor does he stay with those who are fond of the world. He likes loneliness. He does the good deeds that are taught by the Sharî’at and which he has learned from his murshids. He expects only from Allâhu ta’âlâ his labor’s reward in this world and the
next. He does not expect anything from anybody other than Him. He reads the Qur’ân very often. He has received a share from the fayds and ma’rifats coming to the hearts of those who perform dhikr very much. In everything he does he chooses the way of tawba, inâbat (to avoid sinning), zuhd (to cease from what is worldly), wara’, taqwâ, patience, contentment, tawakkul and Allah’s consent. Those who see him remember Allâhu ta’âlâ. Worldly thoughts escape from their heart. A devoted person who stays with a murshid of the tarîqat of Chashtiyya feels pleasure, enthusiasm, fervour, ease and loneliness, that is, desire to keep away from those who are fond of the world. Staying with a murshid of Qâdirî
gives the heart safâ (freedom of anxiety), an attachment with the world of souls and angels, and the heart is informed of a lot of past and future events. A person who stays with a murshid of the tarîqat of Naqshibandî is blessed with ease, togetherness, yâd-i dâsht, unawareness of the world, and the jadhbas (attractions) of Allâhu ta’âlâ. His heart and soul are blessed with many things. If the murshid is Mujaddidî, all his latîfas are blessed with kayfiyyats, hâls, safâ, latâfats, nûrs and mysteries. If these do not happen, the faithful devotee will be quite right however much sorry he becomes for not having found a true murshid.
Murîd
means a faithful devotee. He burns with the love of Allah, with the desire to attain His love. He is bewildered with a love which he does not know, which he does not understand. He cannot get to sleep, nor can he stop his tears. Ashamed of his past sins, he cannot lift up his face. In everything he does he trembles with the fear of Allah. He struggles to do the deeds that will make him attain the love of Allah. He is patient, forgiving in everything he does. In every incompatibility and trouble he finds the fault in himself. He thinks of his Allah in every breath he takes. He does not live in unawareness. He does not quarrel with anybody. He is afraid of hurting a heart. He deems hearts to be homes of Allâhu ta’âlâ. He bears a good opinion about all the Sahâba and says,
“Allâhu ta’âlâ loves them all,” about them. He says that they are all good. [Now, such a real murîd is not present.] Our Prophet commanded us not to talk about the events that happened among the Sahâba. A murîd does not talk, write or read about them. Thus, he protects himself from doing any irreverence against those great people. Loving those great people is a sign of loving Allah’s Messenger. A murîd does not differentiate between the Sahâba with his own point of view by saying that so and so is
superior to so and so. Who is superior or higher is understood from âyats, hadîths and the unanimous declaration of the Sahâba. Yet certainly, the intoxication caused by love is an exception. A lover is excusable.
Simâ’
means to listen to the poems, qasîdas, ilâhîs, mawlîds that are recited by one or more people and which strengthen the faith and îmân and beautify morals. The superiors of tasawwuf did simâ’ and listened to those that were recited without musical instruments and without men and women being together. No musical instrument was ever seen in the sohbats, gatherings of the Sultân-i Mashâyikh [Nizâmuddîn-i Dahlawî]. Those who were in those sohbats would weep inwardly and would be greatly grieved. The books Fawâid-ul-fuâd and Siyar-ul-Awliyâ inform of this fact in detail. Deviating from the path of the superiors of tasawwuf darkens the heart. Those superiors permitted simâ’ in order to turn the heart’s
constipation into relief and to increase the state of relief. They said that simâ’ would increase tenderness, love of Allah in the heart. Simâ’ is not permissible for the unaware, that is, for those who have no love of Allah in their hearts. Such gatherings of simâ’ become sinful gatherings. Every Muslim should avoid such meetings of simâ’. Some men of tasawwuf said that such musical instruments as reeds were permissible, yet they said so during an intoxication of love. Such words, which the Sharî’at has prohibited, must not be followed. [See page 174 of the book Merâq-il-falâh, an annotation to the book Tahtâwî].
They said that dhikr-i jahrî, that is, to perform the dhikr aloud, was medicine for heart illness. But dhikr-i hafî, that is, to do dhikr silently, is more useful. It is stated in a hadîth that it is better to do dhikr silently. Doing dhikr aloud may be permissible to increase the heart’s fervour and to remove slackness. Doing dhikr very much and suffering riyâdât will increase the love of Allah in the heart and cause the mysteries of wahdat-i wujûd to occur. Wahdat-i wujûd means to see the creatures as one being. It does not mean to deem the creatures as Allâhu ta’âlâ. It is not compatible with the Sharî’at, nor is it reasonable to speak so out of one’s own opinion and imagination
and to represent oneself as a man of wahdat-i wujûd by hearing the words about wahdat-i wujûd of those who experience this mysterious state called hâl, which is formed in the heart by love of Allah. Rukn-ud-dîn Alâuddawla-i Samnânî and Mujaddid-i Alf-i Thânî Ahmad Fârûqî ‘rahmatullâhi alaihimâ’ and those superiors who followed them have seen and found out the fact that besides the ma’rifat of
wahdat-i wujûd there is another kind of ma’rifat which came into being in all prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wassalâm’.
Being a dervish means being with Allâhu ta’âlâ, forming good habits and obeying the Sharî’at. It is dispelling all things other than Allâhu ta’âlâ from the heart and adapting all one’s limbs to Hadrat Muhammad Mustafâ ‘sallallâhu alaihi wa sallam’. Being with Allâhu ta’âlâ is called hudûr, which is the grade of ihsân informed of in the hadîth. A dervish’s heart must be in this grade. Any person who is given this lot must deem it as a great blessing!
Tawhîd-i af’âlî means to see all the deeds and actions of creatures to be of the deeds of One Single Maker.
Tawhîd-i sifâtî means to know the attributes, the properties of creatures as the appearances of Allah’s attributes, and to see every being as annihilated in Allah’s being. The blessed Awliyâ have always been so.
Ijâzat and khilâfat means to give permission to a mature person so that he will place dhikr into the hearts of tâlibs (seekers). The exalted person who has been given the permission is called khalîfa or murshid. The bâtin [that is, the heart and other four latîfas] of the exalted person who is given the permission must have attained the nisbat (closeness to Allâhu ta’âlâ) and hâls, and he must have been purified of bad habits and embellished with good habits, and he must have patience, tawakkul, contentment and resignation, and must not be fond of the world. This high grade can be obtained only by following the Salaf-i sâlihîn.
It is harâm to permit him to recommend dhikr unless these hâls and kayfiyyats are formed in his heart. It means to sabotage the path of the superiors of tasawwuf. It is both unreasonable and incompatible with the Sharî’at to make someone arrogant [to cause him to be self-deluded], to deprive a tâlib, a lover, by causing him to be seized by incompetent hands. [Today, there is no tarîqa, murshid, murîd or shaikh in Turkey. One should not believe anyone who says that there is one or that he himself is a shaikh. One should be vigilant in order not to fall in the trap of false murshids or of ignorant men of tarîqa.] May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless you and this old man who has wasted all his life on unnecessary, useless things, with His own love and with the love of His beloved Messenger, Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm’! May He burn our
hearts with the fervent desire of attaining to Him!
We have been ordered by Allah’s Prophet to perform namâz in jamâ’at, to perform it with tumânînat, to fulfil qawma after the rukû’ (bowing position during namâz) and jalsa between the two
sajdas (prostrations). There are savants who say that qawma and jalsa are fard. Qâdihân, one of the muftîs of the Hanafî Madhhab, has informed that these two are wâjib, that sajda-i sahw is wâjib when one forgets one of the two, that he who omits them on purpose has to perform the namâz again. Also, those who said that they were sunnat-i mu’akkada said that they were the sunnats that were close to wâjib. It is disbelief to neglect the sunnat by slighting it, deeming it unimportant. Various different kayfiyyats and hâls are enyojed during the qiyâm (standing position), the rukû’, the qawma, the jalsa, the sajdas, and the sitting positions in namâz. All kinds of worship have been accumulated in namâz.
Reading the Qur’ân, saying subhânallah [which means, “I deem Allah far from any defects whatsoever,”] saying salawât for Rasûlullah’s soul, saying the prayer of istighfâr (begging Allah for His forgiveness) for one’s sins, and asking for what one needs only from Allâhu ta’âlâ and praying to Him only have all been accumulated in namâz. Trees, plants stand upright like standing in namâz. Animals represent the position of rukû’, and the lifeless, spread out on the ground, represent the qa’da, sitting posture, in namâz. He who performs namâz does all these kinds of worship done by them. Performing namâz became fard on the night of Mi’râj. A Muslim who performs namâz with the intention of following Allah’s beloved Prophet, who was honoured with Mi’râj at that night, gets exalted to
high grades like the exalted Prophet. Those who perform namâz in serenity, having the adab due towards Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Messenger, realize that they have gone up to these grades. Having mercy upon this Ummat Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Prophet bestowed a great blessing upon them, and made it fard for them to perform namâz. Hamd and thanks be to our Allah for this! We send our salawât, tahiyyât (regards) and prayers to His beloved Prophet! The ease and serenity enjoyed when performing namâz is something transcendental. My murshid [Hadrat Mazhar-i Jânân] said, “Though it is impossible to see Allâhu ta’âlâ as one performs namâz, some hâl is felt like seeing.” The great superiors of tasawwuf have said unanimously that this hâl does happen. In the beginning of Islam namâz used to be performed towards Quds (Jerusalem). When
the Muslims were commanded to give up performing it towards the Bayt-ul-muqaddas and to turn towards the qibla of Hadrat Ibrâhîm, the Jews became mad and said derisively, “What will become of your prayers which you have performed towards the Bayt-ul-maqaddas?” The hundred and forty-third âyat was revealed to
declare: “Allâhu ta’âlâ will not lose your îmân!” So it was informed that namâz would not be left without rewards. Namâz was described with the word “îmân.” This means that not to perform namâz suitably with the Sunnat is to lose îmân. Our Master, Rasûlullah, stated, “The light and the flavour of my eyes are in namâz.” This hadîth means, “Allâhu ta’âlâ manifests and is perceived in namâz. Thus, my eyes feel comfortable.” Another hadîth stated, “O Bilâl! Soothe me!” which means, “O Bilâl, give me relief by reciting the adhân and saying the iqâmat of namâz.” A person who looks for relief in anything other than namâz is not a good one. He who wastes, misses namâz will lose other Islamic deeds all
the more.
Talking nonsense and backbiting Muslims remove the thawâb earned by fasting. Backbiting does away with the thawâb of worships. It is wâjib to avoid backbiting. What an idiocy it is to take pains and undergo difficulties worshipping and then destroy its thawâb. Worship is offered to Allâhu ta’âlâ. To present backbiting and talking nonsense to one’s Owner is impertinence against Him.
It is incompatible with being Muslim to listen to songs, musical instruments, to watch dances or to narrate and write the martyrdoms of Hadrat Hasan and Hadrat Husain ‘radiyallâhu anhumâ’ [the event of Kerbelâ]. The shaikhs of our time have turned the tarîqat into doing these things. Drawing pictures of religious leaders, they visit them. “Visiting them makes one attain Allah’s love,” they say. Such things do not exist in Islam. It is a slander to give the names of the great to the pictures drawn or painted without seeing them. May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless these people with the lot of repenting! Sayyid Ismâ’îl Bey, one of the great savants of the blessed city of Medina and an expert in the knowledge of hadîth, came from the blessed city of Medîna all the way to India to see this faqîr, in order
to get blessed with tarîqat-i mujaddidiyya. I sent this exalted person to the grand masjîd [to the mosque of Shâh Jihân in Delhi, which is the biggest mosque in Asia] so that he could visit the Âsâr-i sherîf [the sacred relics]. Coming back after a very short while, he said, “The nûrs of Rasûlullah exist there, but one can also feel the zulmat of idols.” I inquired of the men in charge of the mosque. I learned that a chest in the room contained pictures with the names of the great. Thus, I found out that Sayyid Ismâ’îl Bey had been affected by these pictures. When Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ was shown a picture of Hadrat Ibrâhîm, he tore the picture up with his
blessed hands. This fact is communicated in the hundred and sixth âyat of Yûsuf Sûra, “Most of them say that they have îmân in Allâhu ta’âlâ. But they have no îmân. They have become polytheists by worshipping other things.” Every kind of playing, such as cock-fight and playing with pigeons, is harâm. To dress a piece of stone [into the shape of a foot], to name it Qadam-i sherîf, and to say that it is the Prophet’s footprint, is like worshipping pictures and idols.
To celebrate the day of Nawruz [the Persian new year’s day, 22 March; and Christmas night] as Magians do is to become like disbelievers. When men of tarîqat and the shaikhs do these abominable deeds they will be bad examples and proofs for their murîds, who will be seized by this disastrous current. Being murshid and murîd is only by taqwâ, by avoiding polytheism and harâms. The formation of hâls in the heart, the kashf and the manifestation of some [unknown] things, and the performing of some astounding acts beyond the limits of scientific knowledge can be done by disbelievers, too. Suffering riyâdât, doing certain things as if they were worships, turning it into a profession to write amulets, to cure the sick and the spell-bound by breathing on them are not deeds prescribed by the dîn. They
are done in order to attract the ignorant and the stupid and to earn what is worldly. These have no value or importance in Islam. The only thing that is valuable and important in Islam and which takes man closer to Allâhu ta’âlâ is to obey and follow His Messenger, Prophet ‘sallallâhu alaihi wa sallam’. This is the way of the Sahâba and the Ahl-i Bayt-i izâm. The Qur’ân is sent in order to guide on this way. May Allâhu ta’âlâ keep us all in the true way of His beloved Prophet, of the Sahâba and the Ahl-i Bayt-i izâm! Âmîn.
[It is written on the 481st page of the fifth volume of Durr-ul-mukhtâr, “It is harâm to give presents on the days of Nawruz and Mihrgân while mentioning their names. It is kufr (disbelief) to give presents deeming those days as feast days. A person who gives an egg to a disbeliever out of reverence to those days becomes a disbeliever. So is the case with buying something on those days. If he buys what he buys everyday, he will not become a disbeliever.” It is written in the fatwâ of Bezzâziyya, “The Nawruz day is the Magians’ day of feast. It is kufr to join Magians and to imitate them on that day. If a Muslim celebrates that day, he will lose his îmân without even noticing it.” It is inferred from this fatwâ that
a person who imitates disbelievers’ festivals and feasts on Christmas day or night or on their Easter or other feast
days, will become a disbeliever.
It is written in the explanation of the forty-fourth âyat of Mâida Sûra in Tafsîr-i Mazharî, “A hadîth-i sherîf states, ‘I am ahead of all others in doing as Îsâ ‘aleihissalâm’ did. Prophets ‘alaihimussalâm’ are like brothers of the same father. They have different mothers. Their faith is the same.’ Following this hadîth, Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa ‘rahmatullâhi alaih’ said that it is wâjib for us to practise those rules of previous Sharî’ats that have not been changed by Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm’. In other words, we are to practise those rules that have been stated by âyats and hadîths to have existed in past Sharî’ats and which have not been stated to have been changed.” Our savants of fiqh found out and determined all such rules which we have to practise. It is not permissible for us to practise any worship of the Ahl-i kitâb
(People of the Book), except those that have been permitted by the savants of fiqh. For, most of the worships Jews and Christians do now have been made up afterwards by them. It will be kufr or harâm or makrûh for us to practise them. We must learn what is right and what is wrong from books of fiqh! Further, Hadrat Imâm-i Shâfi’î said that none of the previous Sharî’ats’ rules can be documents for us.]
On pages 115 and 202, the annotation book Birgivî Vasiyyetnâmesi says, “It will be kufr (disbelief) to wrap round the waist a rope girdle that is called zunnar and which is worn by priests; to worship the cross, that is, two lines intersecting each other making right angles, and to worship statues; to show reverence to the cross and statues; to insult any book which teaches the Sharî’at; to make fun of any Islamic scholar; to utter or write a word which causes disbelief; to insult what we have been ordered to show reverence to, and to show reverence to what we have been ordered to despise. If one does any of them one’s îmân (faith) will leave one and one will be a disbeliever. But, in case of committing a grave sin, one does not lose one’s îmân; one never
becomes a disbeliever on condition that one will admit that what one has committed is an evil deed; one will repent for and be sorry about it; and one will be ashamed before Allâhu ta’âlâ. If one with a true belief commits a grave sin which is not a sign of infidelity, one will not become a disbeliever. If one repents for the sin and prays to Allâhu ta’âlâ for forgiveness, one will be forgiven. In case of passing away without repentance, He will forgive one if He wishes. Yet, if He (Allâhu ta’âlâ) wishes, the sinner will be tortured as much as his sins, then he will be put into
Paradise. But a holder of bid’at and a disbeliever dying without îmân will never be forgiven in the Hereafter; they will certainly be burned in Hell. A disbeliever will never be taken out of Hell, but the holder of bid’at will.”]
Our Master, the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’, informed that a person without îmân will burn eternally in the fire of Hell. This information is definitely true. Believing this is as essential as believing in the fact that Allâhu ta’âlâ exists and is One. What does it mean to burn eternally in a fire? Imagining being burned eternally in a fire could drive anyone mad with fear. And he would look for a way to secure himself against this horrifying disaster. The way to do this, in its turn, is very simple. What will secure one against this everlasting disaster is merely “to believe that Allâhu ta’âlâ exists and is One, that Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ is His final Messenger, and that all the facts he has informed of are true.” If a person says that he does not believe in the threat of burning
eternally, that he does not fear such a disaster, that he is not looking for a way to escape that disaster, our challenge is: “Do you have an evidence, a document to base your disbelief on? What knowledge or science keeps you from believing?” Certainly, he will not be able to adduce an evidence. Can a statement not based on documentary facts be said to be knowledge or science? It may be called a supposition or assumption. Would it not be necessary to secure oneself against the horrendous calamity of “burning in everlasting fire” even if it were one to a billion probability? Wouldn’t a judicious person avoid such a misadventure? Wouldn’t he look for safety precautions against the possible danger of burning eternally in fire? As it is seen, îmân is the only choice for any person who has wisdom. Having îmân does not require
enduring hardships such as paying taxes, donating property, carrying loads, putting up with the onerous duty of worshipping and the deprivation of abstaining from pleasant, sweet tastes. A heartfelt, devoted, sincere belief will do. Nor is it necessary to inform unbelievers about one’s belief. Imâm-i-Rabbânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ states in his seventy-third letter, “Even if a person does not believe in the fact that there will be eternal burning (for unbelievers), he should at least surmise for prudence’ sake.” Supposing timeless burning in a fire were a mere possibility, would it not be idiocy, a very grave eccentricity to refrain from the blessing of ÎMÂN, which is its only and definite remedy?]