Imâm Muhammad al-Ghazâlî
(rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) writes in his book Kimyâ-i Sa’âdat: “When someone becomes a
Muslim, it will primarily be fard for him to know and believe in the meaning of
the phrase Lâ ilâha ill-Allâh, Muhammadun Rasûl-Allâh. This phrase is called the
kalimat at-tawhîd. It is sufficient for every Muslim to believe without any
doubt what this phrase means. It is not fard for him to prove it with evidence
or to satisfy his mind. Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) did not
command the Arabs to know or to mention the relevant proofs or to search and
clarify any possible doubts. He commanded them to believe only and not to
doubt. It is enough for everybody also to believe superficially. Yet it is fard
kifâya that there should exist a few ’âlims in every town. It is wâjib for
these ’âlims to know the proofs, to remove the doubts and to answer the
questions. They are like shepherds for Muslims. On the one hand, they teach
them the knowledge of îmân, which is the knowledge of belief, and, on the other
hand, they answer the slanders of the enemies of Islam.
Qur’ân al-kerîm stated
the meaning of the kalimat at-tawhîd and Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam) explained what is declared in it. All the Sahâbat al-kirâm learned
these explanations and conveyed them to those who came after them. The exalted
scholars who conveyed to us what the Sahâbat al-kirâm had conveyed, by
committing them to their books without making any alterations in them, are
called the Ahl as-Sunna. Everybody has to learn the i’tiqâd of the Ahl as-Sunna and
to unite and love one another. The seed of happiness is in this i’tiqâd and in
this unification.
The ’ulamâ’ of the Âhl
as-Sunna explain the meaning of the kalimat at-tawhîd as follows: Men were
nonexistent. They were created later. They have one Creator. He is the One who
has created everything. The Creator is one. He does not have a partner or a
likeness. There is no second He. He has been ever-existent; His existence did
not have a beginning. He will be ever-existent; there is no end to His
existence. He will not cease to exist. His existence is always necessary. His
nonexistence is impossible. His existence is of Himself. He does not need any
means. There is nothing that will not need Him. He is the One who creates
everything and makes them go on existing. He is not material or a thing. He is
not at a place or in any substance. He
does not have a shape and
cannot be measured. It cannot be asked how He is; when we say ‘He,’ none of the
things which occur to the mind or which we can imagine is He. He is unlike
these. All of them are His creatures. He is not like His creatures. He is the
creator of everything that occurs to mind, every illusion and every delusion.
He is not above, below or at one side. He does not have a place. Every being is
below the ’Arsh. And the ’Arsh is under His Power, under His Omnipotence. He is
above the ’Arsh. Yet this does not mean that the ’Arsh carries Him. The ’arsh
exists with His Favour and in His Omnipotence. He is the same now as He was in
eternity, in eternal past. He will always be the same in the everlasting future
as He had been before creating the ’Arsh. No change occurs in Him. He has His
own attributes. His attributes called as-Sifât ath-Thubûtiyya are eight: Hayât (Life), ’Ilm (Omniscience), Sam’ (Hearing), Basar (Seeing), Qudra (Omnipotence), Irâda (Will), Kalâm (Speech, Word) and Takwîn (Creativeness). No change
ever occurs in these attributes of His. Change implies deficiency. He has no
deficiency or defect. Though He does not resemble any of His creatures, it is
possible to know Him in this world as much as He makes Himself known and to see
Him in the Hereafter. Here He is known without realizing how He is, and there
He will be seen in an incomprehensible way.
Allâhu ta’âlâ sent
prophets (’alaihim us-salâm) to His human creatures. Through these great
people, He showed His human creatures the deeds that bring happiness and those
which cause ruination. The most exalted prophet is Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm), the
Last Prophet. He was sent as the Prophet for every person, pious or
irreligious, for every place and for every nation on the earth. He is the
Prophet for all human beings, angels and genies. In every corner of the world,
everybody has to follow him and adapt himself to this exalted Prophet”.[1]
Sayyid ’Abdulhakîm-i
Arwâsî[2] (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) said:
---------------------------------
[1]
Kimyâ’ as-Sa’âda.
Muhammad al-Ghazâlî
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) was one of the greatest Islamic scholars. He wrote
hundreds of books. All his books are very valuable. He was born in 450 (
[2]
Sayyid
Abdulhakîm
Arwâsî was born in Baþkal’a in 1281 (
“Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam)
had three tasks. The first one was to communicate and make known (tabligh) the rules of Qur’ân
al-kerîm, that is, the knowledge of îmân and of ahkâm fiqhiyya, to all human
beings. Ahkâm fiqhiyya is composed of actions commanded and actions prohibited.
His second task was to transmit the spiritual rules of Qur’ân al-kerîm, the
knowledge about Allâhu ta’âlâ Himself and His Attributes into the hearts of
only the highest ones of his Umma. His first task, tabligh, should not be
confused with this second task. The lâ-madhhabî reject the second task. But,
Abû Huraira (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) said, ‘I learned two types of knowledge from
Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam). I have told you one of them. You
would kill me if I explained the second one.’ These words of Abû Huraira’s are
written in the books Bukhârî, Mishqât, Hadîqa, and in the letters of Maktûbât, numbers 267 and 268. The
third task was directed towards those Muslims who did not obey the advice and
sermons concerning carrying out the ahkâm fiqhiyya. Even force was employed to
get them to obey the ahkâm fiqhiyya.
“After Rasûlullah
(sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam), each of the four Khalîfas (radiy-Allâhu
’anhum) accomplished these three tasks perfectly. During the time of hadrat Hasan
(radiy-Allâhu ’anh), fitnas and bid’as increased. Islam had spread out over
three continents. The spiritual light of Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam) receded away from the earth. The Sahâbat al-kirâm (radiy-Allâhu ’anhum)
decreased in number. Later, no one was able to do all these three tasks
together by himself. Therefore, these tasks were undertaken by three groups of
people. The task of communicating îmân and ahkâm fiqhiyya was assigned to
religious leaders called mujtahids. Amongst these mujtahids, those who communicated
îmân were called mutakallimûn, and those who communicated fiqh were called fuqahâ’. The second task, that is,
making those willing Muslims attain the spiritual rules of Qur’ân al-kerîm, was
assigned to the Twelve Imâms of the Ahl al-Bait (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim)
and to great men of tasawwuf. Sirrî (Sarî) as-Saqatî (d. 251/876 in Baghdad)
and al-Junaid al-Baghdâdî (b. 207/821 and d. 298/911 in Baghdad) were two of
them (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihimâ).
“The third task, having
the rules of the religion implemented by force and authority, was assigned to
sultans, i.e. governments. Sections of the first class were called Madhhabs. Sections of the
second one were called tarîqas,[1] and the third one was
called huqûq (laws). Madhhabs that tell about îmân are called Madhhabs of
i’tiqâd. Our
Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) had explained that Muslims would part
into seventy-three groups in respect to îmân, and that only one of them would
be right and the others wrong. And happen it did. The group that was given the
good news of being on the right way is called the Ahl as-Sunnat
wa ’l-Jamâ’a. The remaining seventy-two
groups, which were declared to be wrong, are called the groups of
bid’a, that
is, heretics. None of them are disbelievers. All of them are Muslims. But, if a
Muslim who says he belongs to any of the seventy-two groups disbelieves any
information that has been declared clearly in Qur’ân al-kerîm, in Hadîth
ash-sherîf or that has spread among Muslims, he becomes a disbeliever. There
are many people today who, while carrying Muslim names, have already dissented
from the Madhhab of the Ahl as-Sunna and have become heretics or non-Muslims.”
Quotations from hadrat Abdulhakîm Efendi end here.
Muslims have to keep on
learning from the cradle to the grave. The knowledge which Muslims have to
learn is called al-’ulûm al-Islâmiyya (Islamic sciences), which consist of two parts:
I)
al-’ulûm an-naqliyya, II) al-’ulûm al-’aqliyya.
I) Al-’ulûm
an-naqliyya (also
called ‘religious sciences’):
---------------------------------
[1]
The ’ulamâ of
Ahl as-Sunna collected ’ilm at-tasawwuf by learning this second task of our
Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) from the Twelve Imâms (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’alaihim). Some people do not believe in Awliyâ’, karâmât or tasawwuf. This
shows that they have no connection with the Twelve Imâms. If they had followed
the Ahl al-Bait, they would have learned this second task of our Prophet from
the twelve Imâms and there would have been many scholars of tasawwuf and
Awliyâ’ among them. But there have not been any, and besides, they do not even
believe that such scholars could exist. It is obvious that the Twelve Imâms are
the Ahl as-Sunna’s imâms. It is the Ahl as-Sunna who love the Ahl al-Bait and
follow the Twelve Imâms. To become a scholar of Islam, one has to be an heir of
Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’s-salam) in these two tasks. That is, one has to be an
expert in these two branches of knowledge. ’Abd al-Ghanî an-Nabulusî
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), one of such scholars, quoted, on pages 233 and
These sciences are
acquired by reading the books of the ’ulamâ’ of the Ahl as-Sunna. The ’ulamâ’
of Islam derived these sciences from four main sources. These four sources are
called al-adillat ash-Shar’iyya. They are al-Qur’ân al-kerîm, al-Hadîth
ash-sherîf, ijmâ’ al-Umma and qiyâs al-fuqahâ’.
Religious sciences
consist of eight main branches:
1) ’ilm
at-tafsîr (the
science of interpretation of Qur’ân al-kerîm). A specialist in this branch is
called a mufassir; he is a profoundly learned scholar able to understand what
Allâhu ta’âlâ means in His Word.
2) ’ilm al-usûl
al-hadîth. This
branch deals with classification of hadîths. Different kinds of hadîths are
explained in Endless Bliss, second fascicle, sixth chapter.
3) ’ilm
al-hadîth. This
branch studies minutely the sayings (hadîth), behaviour (sunna), and manners
(hâls) of our Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam).
4) ’ilm
al-usûl al-kalâm. This branch studies the methods by which ’ilm al-kalâm is derived from
al-Qur’ân al-kerîm and al-Hadîth ash-sherîf.
5) ’ilm
al-kalâm. This
branch covers the study of the kalimat at-tawhîd and the kalimat ash-shahâda
and the six fundamentals of îmân, which depend on them. These are the teachings
to be believed by heart. Scholars of kalâm usually wrote ’ilm al-usûl al-kalâm
and ’ilm al-kalâm together. Therefore, the layman takes these two branches of
knowledge as one single branch.
6) ’ilm
al-usûl al-fiqh. This branch studies the derivation of the methods of fiqh from Qur’ân
al-kerîm and Hadîth ash-sherîf.
7) ’ilm
al-fiqh. This
branch studies af’âl al-mukallafîn, that is, it tells how those who are sane and
pubescent should act on matters concerning the body. This is the knowledge
necessary for the body. Af’âl al-mukallafîn has eight sections: fard, wâjib,
sunna, mustahâb, mubâh, harâm, makrûh and mufsid. However, they can be briefly
classified into three groups: actions commanded, actions prohibited and actions
permitted (mubâh).
8) ’ilm
at-tasawwuf. This branch is also called ’ilm al-akhlâq (ethics). It explains not
only the things we should do and we should not do with the heart but also helps
the belief to be heartfelt, makes it easy for Muslims to carry out their duties
as taught in ’ilm al-fiqh and helps one attain ma’rifa.
It is fard-i ’ain for
every Muslim, male or female, to learn
kalâm, fiqh and tasawwuf
as much as necessary out of these eight branches, and it is a guilt, a sin, not
to learn them.[1]
II) Al-’ulûm
al-’aqliyya (also
called ‘experimental sciences’): These sciences are divided into two groups:
technical sciences and literary sciences. It is fard kifâya for Muslims to
learn these sciences. As for Islamic sciences, it is fard ’ain to learn as much
as is necessary. To learn more than is necessary, that is, to become
specialized in Islamic sciences is fard kifâya. If there is no ’âlim who knows
these sciences in a town, all of its inhabitants and government authorities
will be sinful.
Religious teachings do
not change in process of time. Making a mistake or erring while commenting on
’ilm al-kalâm is not an excuse but a crime. In matters pertaining to fiqh, the
variations and facilities shown by Islam can be utilized when one has the
excuses shown by Islam. It is never permissible to make alterations or to make
reforms in religious matters with one’s own opinion or point of view. It causes
one to go out of Islam. Change, improvement and progress in al-’ulûm
al-’aqliyya are permissible. It is necessary to develop them by searching,
finding and even by learning them from non-Muslims, too.
The following article is
quoted from the book Al-majmû’at az-Zuhdiyya. It was compiled by an
ex-minister of education, Seyyid Ahmed Zühdü Pasha (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh):
The word ‘fiqh’, when used in the form of
‘faqiha yafqahu’, that is, in the fourth category, means ‘to know, to
understand.’ When it is used in the fifth category, it means ‘to know, to
understand Islam.’ A scholar in ’ilm al-fiqh is called a faqîh. ’Ilm al-fiqh deals with
the actions which people should do and those which they should not do. The
knowledge of fiqh is composed of Qur’ân al-kerîm, Hadîth ash-sherîf, ijmâ’ and
qiyâs. The consensus of the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm and the mujtahids who came
after them is called ijmâ’ al-Umma. The rules of the religion
derived from Qur’ân al-kerîm, Hadîth ash-sherîf and ijmâ’ al-Umma are called qiyâs
al-fuqahâ.’ If
it could not be understood from Qur’ân al-kerîm or Hadîth ash-sherîf whether an
action was halâl (permitted) or harâm (forbidden), then this action was
compared to another action which was known. This comparison was called qiyâs. Applying qiyâs required
the latter
---------------------------------
[1] Al-hadîqa, p.
323 and in preface to Radd al-muhtâr.
action to have the same
factor which made the former action permitted or forbidden. And this could be
judged only by those profound ’ulamâ’ who had attained the grade of ijtihâd.
’Ilm al-fiqh is very
extensive. It has four main divisions:
1) ’ibâdât, composed of five
subdivisions: salât (namâz), sawm (fast), zakât, hajj, jihâd. Each has many
sections. As it is seen, it is an ’ibâda to make preparations for jihâd. Our
Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) explained that jihâd against the
enemies of Islam was of two kinds: by actions and by words. It is fard to learn
how to make and use new weapons in preparation for jihâd by actions. Jihâd is
done by the State. It is fard for the people to join the jihâd by obeying the
State’s laws and orders concerning jihâd. Nowadays, enemy assault through
publications, motion pictures, radio broadcast and every means of propaganda
—the second kind of war— has tremendously increased; therefore it is also jihâd
to stand against the enemies in this field.
2) munâkahât, composed of subdivisions,
such as marriage, divorce, alimony and many others [written in detail in the
book Se’âdet-i Ebediyye].
3) mu’âmalât, composed of many
subdivisions, such as purchase, sale, rent, joint-ownership, interest,
inheritance, etc.
4) uqûbât (penal code), composed of
five main subdivisions: qisâs (lex talionis), sirqat (theft), zinâ (fornication
and adultery), qadhf (accusing a virtuous woman of incontinence) and ridda (the
case of becoming an apostate).
It is fard for every
Muslim to learn the ’ibâdât part of fiqh sufficiently. It is fard kifâya to
learn munâkahât and mu’âmalât; in other words, those who have anything to do
with them should learn them. After ’ilm at-tafsîr, ’ilm al-hadîth and ’ilm
al-kalâm, the most honourable ilm is ’ilm al-fiqh. The following six hadîths
will be enough to indicate the honour of fiqh and the faqîh: ‘rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ alaihim ajma’în’
‘If Allâhu ta’âlâ wants to bestow His blessing on a slave of His, He makes a faqîh of him.’
‘If a person
becomes a faqîh, Allâhu ta’âlâ sends what he wishes and his sustenance through
unexpected sources.’
‘The person about whom Allâhu ta’âlâ says “most superior” is a faqîh in the religion.’
‘Against
Satan, a faqîh is more stoic than one thousand ’âbids (those who worship
much).’
‘Everything has a pillar to base itself upon. The basic pillar of the religion is the knowledge of fiqh.’
‘The best and
most valuable ’ibâda is to learn and teach fiqh.’
Superiority of al-Imâm
al-a’zam Abu Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) is also understood from these
hadîths.
Rules of Islam in the
Hanafî Madhhab were transmitted through a chain beginning with ’Abdullâh ibn
Mas’ûd (radiy-Allâhu ’anh), who was a Sahâbî. Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), the founder of the Madhhab, acquired the
knowledge of fiqh from Hammâd, and Hammâd from Ibrâhîm an-Nakhâ’î. Ibrahim
an-Nakhâ’î was taught by Alkama, and Alkama studied under Abdullah ibn Mas’ud,
who was educated by Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam).
Abu Yûsuf, Imâm Muhammad
ash-Shaibânî, Zufar ibn Hudhail and Hasan ibn Ziyâd were al-Imâm al-a’zam’s
disciples (rahimahum-Allah). Of these, Imâm Muhammad wrote about one thousand
books on Islamic teachings. He was born in
Al-Imâm al-a’zâm Abu
Hanîfa (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) compiled the knowledge of fiqh, classified it into
branches and sub-branches, and set usûls (methods) for it. He also collected
the knowledge of i’tiqâd as Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) and the
as-Sahâbat al-kirâm (ridwânullâhi ’alaihim ajma’în) had preached, and taught
them to hundreds of his disciples. Some of his disciples became specialists in
’ilm al-kalâm, that is, in the teachings of îmân. Of them, Abu Bakr al-Jurjânî,
one of Imâm Muhammad ash-Shaibânî’s disciples, became famous. And Abû Nasr
al-’Iyâd, one of his pupils, educated Abû Mansûr al-Mâturîdî in ’ilm al-kalâm.
Abû Mansûr
wrote in his books the
knowledge of kalâm as it came from al-Imâm al-a’zam (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh). By contending against heretics, he consolidated the i’tiqâd of the Ahl
as-Sunna. He disseminated it out far and wide. He passed away in Samarqand in
333 (
The fiqh scholars are
grouped in seven grades. Kemâl Pasha Zhada Ahmad ibn Sulaimân Effendi
(rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh), in his work Waqf an-niyyât, explained these seven
grades as follows:
1. The mujtahids of
Islam, who constructed the methods and principles of deriving tenets from the
four sources of the religion (Adilla-i arba’a), and derived tenets in
accordance with the principles they established. The four a’immat
al-madhâhib were
of these.
2. The mujtahids in a
Madhhab, who, following the principles formulated by the imâm of the Madhhab,
derived rules from the four sources. They were Imâm Abû Yûsuf, Imâm Muhammad,
etc. (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în).
3. The mujtahids on
matters (mas’ala), who for the matters that were not dealt with by the founder
of the Madhhab, derived rules using the methods and principles of the Madhhab.
Yet in doing this, they had to follow the imâm. They were at-Tahâwî (238-
4. As’hâb at-takhrîj, who
were not able to employ ijtihâd. They were scholars who briefly explained in
brief unclear rules derived by mujtahids. Husâm ad-dîn ar-Râzî ’Alî ibn Ahmad
(d.
5. Arbâb at-tarjîh, who
preferred one of the several riwâyas (narrations or opinions of the mujtahids
as narrated) coming from mujtahids. They were Abu l’Hasan al-Qudûrî (362-
6. Those who wrote
various riwâyas about a matter in an order with respect to their reliability
were called muqallids. They did not include any refused riwâya in their books.
Abû ’l-Barakât ’Abdullâh ibn Ahmad an-Nasafî (d.
7. They are also muqallids[1] incapable of distinguishing weak riwâyas from genuine ones.
---------------------------------
[1] These were counted among fiqh scholars because they could understand what they read, and explained them to the muqallids who could not understand them.