Saying the A’ûdhu (A’ûdhu billâhi min-ash-shaytânirrajîm)
and Basmala (Bismillâhirrahmânirrahîm),
I begin writting my book.
Al-hamd-u
lillâh! If any person thanks
another person in any manner for any reason at any place or time, all this hamd
and thanks will in fact have been said to Allahu ta’âlâ. For, Allahu ta’âlâ
alone creates and developes everything and renders every favour done. He,
alone, is the owner of might and power. Unless He reminds, no one can wish or
ever think of doing good or evil. Whatever happens is only what He wills.
May the best of prayers
and favours be upon Muhammad Mustafâ (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam), who is His
Prophet and most beloved slave, the most
beautiful, the most superior of mankind in every respect. Also, may Allah be
pleased with the Prophet’s family and
companions, and all those who love and follow them!
Every man, and even
every living being, wants to live in comfort, without sorrow and without
trouble or pain. Savants, scientists, and governments have all been trying to
establish these conditions for the world’s people. To attain this, various
ideas and methods have been developed, and everyone is defending the way he
thinks is better and more useful.
As unanimously declared
by hundreds of thousands of Islamic savants, who have lived throughout the last
fourteen centuries, and as well by all the correct religions which guided
people to the way of comfort and peace in all parts of the world before Islam,
there is one single way that will lead people to happiness and comfort. This unique
way is through Îmân, which means to believe in the existence of one single
creator, who created everything from nothing, who alone always makes
everything, and who is almighty, such that what He wishes happens. The name of
this single owner of power is Allah.
Every goodness, every superiority belongs to Him only. There is no weakness or
deficiency in Him. He has always existed. He never ceases to exist. He, alone,
keeps everything in existence every moment. If He ceased to exist for one
moment, everything would immediately cease to exist, too. To have belief in
Him, it is necessary to believe and accept all His declarations, commandments,
and prohibitions. Hence, there are a number of things to believe in. Islamic
savants have summarized
them into six groups. They are called Principles
of Îmân. To believe in these six principles means to believe in
everything that is necessary. The following are the six principles of îmân:
1 - To learn Allah’s
five Sifât-i dhâtiyya and His eight Sifât-i thubûtiyya and to believe in them.
2 - To learn and
believe in the teachings that are necessary to believe in about Angels.
3 - To learn the names
of the four heavenly books sent by Allahu ta’âlâ and to believe that they are
Allah’s word. Allahu ta’âlâ sent each book to a prophet
by way of an angel. He sent the Qur’ân to Hadrat Muhammad (sall-allâhu alaihi
wa sallam). It is permissible to translate or interpret the Qur’ân in any
language and to learn the meaning of the Qur’ân as well as possible by reading
such translations and interpretations. But reading the translations is not the
same as reading the Qur’ân. For, not only the meanings of the words of the
Qur’ân are called the Qur’ân, but also the words together with their meanings
represent the Qur’ân.
4 - To believe in prophets. The first of the prophets
was Hadrat Âdam (alaihis-salâm). The
last and the highest prophet was Hadrat Muhammad (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam). The
number of prophets who came between the two is
not known.
5 - To believe in the Last day. That day is Doomsday. That is when
every living thing will be annihilated. Afterwards they will all be
resurrected, men will rise from their graves and, after being called to
account, some of them will go to Paradise and others to Hell.
6 - To believe in Qadar. Allahu ta’âlâ knows in advance the things
He will create. This knowledge of Allahu ta’âlâ is called Qadar. Everything according to qadar is created
when the time comes. Men cannot change Allah’s qadar.
Today, the earth has
only one book sent down by Allah that has not undergone human interpolation.
This undefiled and perfect book is the Qur’ân
al-kerîm. He who believes in the six
principles of îmân as declared by the Qur’ân
al-kerîm becomes a Mu’min or Muslim. Only Hadrat Muhammad
(sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam) understood the meaning of the Qur’ân correctly,
and he explained it to those Muslims who were with him. Each of these
explanations of Hadrat Muhammad is called Hadîth-i-sherîf. Those Muslims who saw Hadrat Muhammad’s
beautiful face are called the Sahâba. Islamic savants who came later learned
the meanings of the Qur’ân from the Sahâba,
and they wrote them in their books. They are called the Savants of Ahl-as-sunnat. Hadrat Muhammad
(sall-allâhu
alaihi wa sallam) informed us that they were the true Islamic savants. Working day and night, the
higher ones of those savants learned the various methods of worshipping within
the context of what had newly happened and of what would arise later. They
always adapted their methods of worshipping in accordance with what they had
learned from the Sahaba, and they in turn taught them to their disciples. The
highest ones among the Ahl-as-sunnat are
called Mujtahid imâms. And some other
savants who preferred their own minds and opinions gave new meanings disagreeing
with the knowledge concerning the Qur’ân conveyed to them by the savants of the
Ahl-as-sunnat. Thus they deviated from the teachings of îmân communicated by
the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat. If this deviation of theirs does not involve
the clear declarations of the Qur’ân, those who hold that belief are still
Mu’mins, Muslims. But they are Bid’at holders (heretics).
If their deviation involves matters declared clearly, such misbelievers lose
their îmân and become disbelievers. They, and also those who believe as they
do, are called Mulhids. Their thinking
of themselves as muslims and declaring that they are on the right way will not
rescue them from being disbelievers. It is written in all the books of fiqh,
and especially in Ibni Abidin, under the chapters dealing with iman: “It has
been unanimously said (by savants) that if a person disbelieves in one of the
facts that are necessary for one to know to be a Muslim, he becomes a kâfir
(disbeliever), even if he is Ahl-i qibla,
that is, performs the prayers in congregation[1] and does all kinds of worship throughout his life.” If a belief
disagreeing with the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat is not a result of
interpreting the Qur’ân erroneously, but by following one’s own short mind,
understanding, opinion or the day’s scientific knowledge, one who believes so
becomes a kâfir. Such disbelievers are
called Religion reformers. For example,
a person who disbelieves in the torment in the grave and in the shafâ’at
(intercession) that will take place in the next world is either a heretical
Muslim who is Ahl-i bid’at, or a
disbeliever who is a religion reformer. A religon
reformer thinks of himself as a Muslim, too. An enemy of Islam who
is not a Muslim but who gives wrong meanings to the Qur’ân by pretending to be
a Muslim in order to defile and demolish Islam from within is called a zindîq. It is difficult for youngsters to
distinguish between these three types of disbelievers.
Each of Allah’s
commandments is called a Fard. His
prohibitions are called Harâm. The
mujtahid imâms, who were
---------------------------------
[1] See chapter 20 for prayers in jamâ’at.
the highest of the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat,
in their search for documents in order to decide about certain matters,
disagreed with one another in some matters. Thus, various Madhhabs emerged. Among them, the books of the
famous four madhhabs spread everywhere, and the other madhhabs were forgotten.
He who wants to attain
happiness in this world, in his grave, and in the next world must, after
adapting his îmân to the Ahl-as-sunnat, live in obedience to one of the four
madhhabs. In other words, all his worships and actions must be suited to one
madhhab. Of the four madhhabs, he must choose the one that is the easiest for
him to learn and follow; after learning it, he must act in accordance with it
in everything he does. Savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat declared unanimously that
when doing a certain matter it is not permissible to mix the four madhhabs with
one another. That is, it is never permissible to do one part of a matter or
worship according to one madhhab and another part according to another madhhab.
If one does so, one will have disobeyed the unanimity of the savants and will
have followed none of the madhhabs. To follow one madhhab means to learn it and
to intend to follow it. It is not acceptable to follow it without intending to
do so.
Hadrat Abdulghanî
Nablusî wrote in his book Khulâsat-ut-tahqîq
fî-bayân-i hukm-it-taqlîd wat-talfîq: “Admitting someone else’s word
or proof without understanding it is called Taqlîd
(imitation, following). A Muslim who is not a mujtahid has to do his every act
of worship and everything by imitating a mujtahid. It is permissible for him to
imitate one mujtahid when doing one thing and to follow another mujtahid when
doing another thing for the first time. But, after having done one thing according
to one madhhab, he has to do that thing by imitating continuously the same
madhhab, except when there is a darûrat (strong
necessity)[1] not to do so. During
the times of the Sahâba and the Tâbi’în, the newly converted Muslims would do
so. Likewise, he who imitates only one madhhab in everything he does, cannot
imitate another madhhab unless there is a strong necessity.” As it is seen,
when there is a strong necessity, it is permissible to do worships and
everything else according to another madhhab. But, in this case, it will be
necessary to learn that madhhab well and to observe its conditions.
A person who does not
follow a madhhab is called a lâ-madhhabî. A lâ-madhhabî
---------------------------------
[1] The meaning of darûrat is
explained in the fourth chapter.
person cannot be Ahl-as-sunnat[1] His worships are not sahîh (correct, valid). It is harâm to change
one’s madhhab for worldly advantages in order to obtain the desires of one’s
nafs[2] . Each Muslim must learn at least one madhhab and to adapt his daily
life to it.
To annihilate Islam,
the enemies of Islam attacked the Ahl-as-sunnat
by state and financial forces. In all parts of the world they prevented the
educating of Islamic savants. They annihilated the schools of the Ahl-as-sunnat and the books of the Ahl-as-sunnat. This aggression was led by the
British. Today, as it can be seen, there are no books of the Ahl-as-sunnat, nor any savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat left in many countries. Brought up
ignorant, the youth are easily being deceived, misled, and swept into perdition
by mulhids, la-madhhabîs, and religion reformers. I have deemed it necessary to
spread all over the world in English the teachings of fiqh by way of my Turkish
book Se’âdet-i Ebediyye. I prepared this
book as a service to innocent youngsters. Thus, the fourth fascicle of my book Endless Bliss has been formed. I have prepared
this book by translating fiqh books of the Hanafî madhhab. If those youngsters
who are in another madhhab or who have not been able to learn the teachings of dîn (religion) read this book and do all their
matters and worships accordingly, they will have imitated the great Islamic
savant Hadrat Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa Nu’mân bin Thâbit, the leader of the
savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat, the great
imâm and mutlaq mujtahid. Thus, their worships will be sahîh, they will escape
the calamity of having deviated from the Ahl-as-sunnat.
May Allahu ta’âlâ
protect us all from being deceived by the insidious enemies of Islam, from
being trapped by lâ-madhhabî people and by religion reformers who bear Muslim
names! Âmin.
Husayn Hilmi bin Sa'îd Ishiq (Iþýk) 'rahmatullâhi ta'âlâ
'alaih', (1329 [1911 A.D.],
Vezîr Tekkesi, Eyyûb Sultân, Istanbul-1422 [2001], Istanbul.)
---------------------------------
[1] Our Prophet 'sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam' stated: "My Ummat (Muslims)
will part into seventy-three groups (in matters of creed). Only one of these groups will be in the correct
path." This single correct group of Muslims is termed 'Ahl
as-sunnat wa'l jamâ'at', and a
Muslim who is in this group is called 'Sunnî Muslim'.
[2] A malignant power in the
human nature which urges the human being against the commandments and
prohibitions of Allahu ta’âlâ. Husayn Hilmi bin Sa'îd Ishiq (Iþýk),
'quddîsa sirruh', a great Islamic scholar and a Walî, stated:
"The Nafs is the most idiotic creature', for everything it
wishes is something against it and harmful to it, (and everything it
detests is something for its own good.)