The first advice is to
correct the belief in accordance with those which the Ahl-i sunnat savants
communicate in their books. For, it is this madhhab only that will be saved
from Hell. May Allâhu ta’âlâ give plenty of rewards for the work of those great
people! Those scholars of the four madhhabs, who reached up the grade of
ijtihâd, and the great scholars educated by them are called Ahl as-sunna scholars. After
correcting the belief (îmân), it is necessary to perform the worship informed
in the knowledge of fiqh, i.e. to do the commands of the Sharî’at and to
abstain from what it prohibits. One should perform the namâz five times each
day without reluctance and slackness, and being careful about its conditions
and ta’dîl-i arkân. He who has as much money as nisâb should give zakât. Imâm-i
a’zâm Abű Hanîfa says, “Also, it is necessary to give the zakât of gold and
silver which women use as ornaments.”
One should not waste
one’s precious life even on unnecessary mubâhs. It is certainly necessary not
to waste it on harâm. We should not busy ourselves with taghannî, singing,
musical instruments, or songs. We should not be deceived by the pleasure they
give our nafses. These are poisons mixed with honey and covered with sugar.
One should not commit giybat. Giybat is harâm. [Giybat
means to talk about a Muslim’s or a Zimmî’s secret fault behind his back. It is
necessary to tell Muslims about the faults of the Harbîs, about the sins of
those who commit these sins in public, about the evils of those who torment
Muslims and who deceive Muslims in buying and selling, thus causing Muslims to
beware their harms, and to tell about the slanders of those who talk and write
about Islam wrongfully; these are not giybat. [Radd-ul-Muhtâr:
5-263)].
One should not spread
gossip (carry words) among Muslims. It has been declared that various kinds of
torments would be done to those who commit these two kinds of sins. Also, it is
harâm to lie and slander, and must be abstained from. These two evils were
harâm in every religion. Their punishments are very heavy. It brings plenty of
thawâb to conceal Muslims’ defects, not to spread their secret sins and to
forgive them their faults. One should pity one’s inferiors, those under one’s
command [such as wives, children, students, soldiers] and the poor. One should
not
reproach them for their
faults. One should not hurt or heat or swear at those poor persons for trivial
reasons. One should attack nobody’s property, life, honour, or chastity. Debts
to others and to the government must be paid. Bribery, accepting or giving, is
harâm. However, it would not be bribery to give it in order to get rid of the
oppressions of a cruel person, or to get rid of some other disgusting
situation. However, even in such cases, it is harâm to accept the bribe
offered. Everybody should see his own defects, and should every hour think of
the faults which he has committed towards Allâhu ta’âlâ. He should always bear
in mind that Allâhu ta’âlâ does not hurry in punishing him, nor does He cut off
his sustenance. The words of command from one’s parents, or from the
government, compatible with the Sharî’a, must be obeyed, but the ones,
incompatible with the Sharî’a, should not be resisted against so that we should
not cause fitna. [See the 123rd letter in the second volume of the book Maktűbât-i
Ma’thűmiyya.]
After correcting the
belief and doing the commands of fiqh, one should spend all one’s time
remembering Allâhu ta’âlâ. One should continue remembering, mentioning Allâhu
ta’âlâ as the great men of religion have communicated. One should feel
hostility towards all the things that will prevent the heart from remembering
Allâhu ta’âlâ. The more you adhere to the Sharî’at, the more delicious it will
be to remember Him. As indolence, laziness increase in obeying the Sharî’at,
that flavour will gradually decrase, being thoroughly gone at last.
It is harâm for Muslims,
women and men alike, to go out or to engage in outdoor activities such as ball
games and swimming without properly covering (those parts of their body which
Islam prohibits one to expose to others and which it terms as) their awrat
parts. As well, it is harâm to attend places occupied by people with awrat
parts exposed. [Ýslâm Ahlâký (Islamic Moral Values), p. 331.] If, while
committing something harâm, one also dawdles away the time allotted for one of
the five daily prayers of namâz (without having performed it within its
prescribed period of time), this not only will add to the sin, but also may
induce one to a state of disbelief. It is harâm to play any sort of musical
instrument, as well as to perform any religious recital, e.g. reading or
reciting (passages from the) Qur’ân al-kerîm, reciting (an eulogy to the
Messenger of Allah, Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, termed the) mawlid, or reciting
(the prescribed invitation to prayer of namâz, termed the) azân (or adhân),
melodiously. Also,
it is harâm to use
musical instruments such as flutes, or loudspeakers in the performance of such
religious performances. Saying something melodiously means elongation of some
vowels, which may spoil the wording. Wahhâbîs are trying to prohibit the
performance of mawlid with casuistries such as, “The Prophet is dead; he will
not hear you. Besides, it is polytheism to eulogize anyone other than Allah.”
It is this belief of theirs which is disbelief. Using a loudspeaker is like
using the telephone. If something is harâm to say, it is not permissible to
listen to it through a loudspeaker. It is permissible to use loudspeakers for
educational purposes, e.g. in teaching science, arts, economics, religious
knowledge, ethics and martial lessons. It is not permissible to use
loudspeakers to announce corrupt publications fabricated so as to impair moral
and religious comportments or to amplify the sound during the performance of
adhân or public prayer of namâz, or to listen to such performances. The voice
heard from a loudspeaker installed on a minaret is not the voice of the
muadh-dhin (person calling the adhân). It is the voice produced by the
instrument, despite its close similarity to the human voice. When we hear this
voice, we should say, “It’s prayer time (time for namâz),” instead of saying,
“The adhân is being called.” For, the sound produced by the loudspeaker is not
originally the voice of (the person saying the) adhân. It is a reproduced copy
of adhân.
It is stated as follows
in some hadîth-i-sherîfs: “Towards the end of the world, the Qur’ân
al-kerîm will be being read through (instruments called) mizmârs.”
“There is such a time to come that the Qur’ân al-kerîm will be read through
mizmârs. It will be read not to please Allâhu ta’âlâ, but only for pleasure.”
“There are many people who read (or recite) the Qur’ân al-kerîm and the Qur’ân
al-kerîm utters a curse against them.” “There will come such a time when the
most dissolute people will be (among) muadh-dhins.” “There will be a time when the
Qur’ân al-kerîm will be read through mizmârs.” “Allâhu ta’âlâ will pronounce a
curse on them.” Mizmâr means a musical instrument of any sort, such as a whistle. A
loudspeaker also is a mizmâr. Muadh-dhins should dread these hadîth-i-sherîfs
and avoid calling the adhân calling through loudspeakers. Some people who are
ignorant in religious matters assert that loudspeakers are useful appliances
because they convey sound to long distances. Our Prophet admonished, “Perform the
acts of worship as you saw me and my As-hâb (companions) do them! Those who make changes in the
acts of
worship are called “ahl-i-bid’at” (people of bid’at, heretics). People of
bid’at will certainly go to Hell. None of their acts of worship shall be
accepted.” It
is not something right to claim to make useful amendments to religious
practices. Claims of this sort are lies fibbed by enemies of religion. It is
the Islamic scholars’ business to judge whether a certain change is useful.
These profound scholars are called mujtahids. Mujtahids do not make
changes at will. They know whether an amendment or a change will be (an act of)
bid’at. They were unanimous in the fact that calling the adhân through a
loudspeaker (mizmâr) is an act of bid’at. The path that will lead to the love
of Allâhu ta’âlâ is through the human heart. By creation, the heart is pure
like a mirror. Acts of worship will add to the heart’s purity and lustre. Sins
will darken the heart, so that it will no longer receive the fayds (subtle
pieces of spiritual information) and nűrs (lights, haloes) conveyed by
(invisible rays of) love. Sâlih (pious) Muslims will sense this absence and will
feel sad about it. They are disinclined to commit sins, but eager to perform
more and more acts of worship. Instead of performing only the five daily
prayers of namâz, for instance, they wish to perform other prayers of namâz as
well. Committing sins feels sweet and sounds useful to the human nafs. All
sorts of bid’at and sins are nutritive to the nafs, which is an enemy of Allâhu
ta’âlâ, and they will fortify its strongholds. An example of them is to call
the adhân through a loudspeaker.
Childhood is the age to
acquire knowledge, and if this flowering period of time is frittered away,
Muslims’ children will be left ignorant, which in turn means an irreligious
generation ahead. Having watched this catastrophic process in heedless silence,
religious authorities will be the biggest shareholders in the grave sin. If a
person does not learn the halâl and the harâm, or if he flouts them though he
may have learned them, he will become a disbeliever. He is no different from
church-goers or from those disbelievers who worship idols or icons. Man’s arch
enemy is his own nafs. It always wishes to do what is harmful to him. Desires
of the nafs are called shahwa (lust). Doing these carnal desires of the nafs
gives it great pleasure. It is not sinful to do them as much as necessary. Yet
it will be harmful and sinful to do them to excess. In order to distract Muslim
children from acquiring religious knowledge, enemies of Islam have enticed them
into ball games in the name of sports activities and physical training. Since exposing
the parts of (the body called) awrat and looking at
others’ awrat parts are the nafs’s favourite enjoyments, craze for ball games has spread rapidly among the children. Muslim parents should see to that their young sons and daughters enter into a (suitable) marriage as early as possible, they should prevent them from going out in groups of mixed sexes and from joining ball games where they would inevitably expose their awrat parts, and they should send them to a sâlih (true) Muslim teacher so that they will learn their religion and faith.
---------------------------------
HÜSEYN HiLMi IŢIK
'Rahmat-allahi alaih’
Hüseyn Hilmi Iţýk, 'Rahmat-allahi alaih’, publisher of the Waqf Ikhlas Publications, was born in Eyyub Sultan, Istanbul in 1329 (A.D. 1911).
Of the one hundred and forty-four books he published, sixty are Arabic, twenty-five Persian, fourteen Turkish, and the remaining translated books consist of French, German, English, Russian and other languages.
Hüseyn Hilmi Iţýk, 'Rahmat-allahi alaih' (guided by Sayyid Abdulhakim Arvasi, ‘Rahmat-allahi alaih’, a profound scholar of the religion and was perfect in virtues of tasawwuf and capable to direct disciples in a fully mature manner; possessor of glories and wisdom), was a competent, great Islamic scholar able to pave the way for attaining happiness, passed away during the night between October 25, 2001 (8 Shaban 1422) and October 26, 2001 (9 Shaban 1422). He was buried at Eyyub Sultan, where he was born.
Dear Brothers in Islam.
Assalamu alaikum wa
rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
All
praise to Allahu ta’âlâ. Peace be upon the holy Prophet of Islam (sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam). May Allah be well pleased with you!
I have written this
letter to thank you and praise your good deeds in the straight path you have
taken to redeem Islam and Muslims in this modern, blind world.
I have received your
worthy and valuable books - ENDLESS BLISS IV, BELIEF AND ISLAM, and THE SUNNI PATH. The
books arrived just six days after I wrote a letter asking questions on Qada and
Qadar with music. However, I do not know how to thank you as no word, phrase
nor letter could convey my feeling to you. In fact, I will never deem of
limiting my thanksgiving through words and letters and I hope you will bear
with the poor and weak mind of mine.
In the first instande, I
had written to express my thanks on Edless Bliss III and also requested for its
price and those of other books published by Hakikat Kitâbevi. What a great
person you are! You did not ask me to pay for the book. Yet, you sent another
without demanding anything. I don’t just know what to say as you are pleasing
my heart, making me to realise myself as a Muslim and protecting me against the
enemies of Islam. There is not much to say than may Allah be pleased with you,
favour you, provide for you in aboundance and rewards you with everlasting
bliss.
As I am focusing my
attention on the just received Endless Bliss IV with others, I could deduce
that you are presenting Islam in its absolute purity and I am very happy to say
in good authority that it has provided answers to most of my questions. This
book is a unique book teaching the practical faith and duty of Muslims. It has
become my friend when going out, my companion when alone, my teacher when
learning and my quidance when praying. All the books are simply too great. With
them, I have come to realise that one must not resign himself to luxury,
prosperity and the good life but should strive hard and be profoundly learned
in Islamic knowledge and to communicate the message of true religion to the
people of all ages.
However, I am very sorry
and bitterly touched to inform you that my father is not a practising Muslim.
This has served as hindrance towards my learning the religion of Islam many
years ago. I have remain the victim of the oppressed for years and there is no
peace everywhere in the house. All the times, days and years, I have been full
of thinking and supplication sorting things with my best ability and planning a
way out of this situation. It was during this time that a young man of my age
came to my life. We are so intimate that we usually discuss our private affairs
with each other. After discussing about my problem, he advised me to write to
your publication. For
many years, I have sat
desperately to contemplate what makes me a Muslim. I scrutinised to discover
how to be a Muslim to truly and unambiguously accept the Holy Quran and its
injunctions and to put them into practice; sincerely, in its entirety.
Here in this part of the
world, people are very corrupt, there are many heretical groups who make game
of religion, trade in religion and converts religion into business in order to
fulfil their sensudus desires. Some of those who claim to be Muslim leaders
have strayed away and defected from Islam. Many have turned religion into a
lucrative business from which they realize millions of Naira (Nigerian currency
note). In fact one cannot be too careful. Religion leaders have reduced faith
to mere words of mouth which can be decorated with beautiful rhetorics just to
attract applause.
After attaching myself to
your publication, I have now realised that I need nobody else and I need
nothing else in this world except Hadrat
HILMI IŢIK. I have come to understand that I have much to regret in the
hereafter if I failed to search for true and correct knowledge. And what do I
have to tell my Allah to justify my case if I do not learn, practise and serve
Islam.
Dear brothers in Islam, I
have made up my mind and ready to learn the only religion. I don’t want to sit
down arms folded watching helplessly as they lead people to ruination. I would
therefore will be very pleased if you favourably consider my request of coming
to Turkey.I would like to be with you in all spheres of your activities and
struggles for Islam since it is my activities and struggles as well. I want to
learn the correct dîn and adapt myself to the Hanafî Madhhab under your
guidance and by your courtesy.
If my request is
accepted, I would like you to give me detail information on how I will make my
transport arrangements.
Meanwhile, as I have no
provision yet, I will want to work for few years in order to earn my
transportation fare.
I would like to say again
that I had enclosed a copy of my photograph and asked few questions on Qada and
Qadar in my last letter. Happily, Endless Bliss IV has provided an answer to my
puzzles on Music.
I will want you to
continue sending me more of your valuable books. I seek your support in
combating and safeguiding myself against the corrupt actions and books of the
enemies of Islam.
May Allah provide good
for you wherever you may be! Âmin.
Wassalam.
Your brother in Islam,
Alabi c/o
Muhammad Shaikh,
P. O. Box 1071
Ogbomoso, Oyo State
Nigeria