Allâhu ta’âlâ has mercy
upon all people on the earth. He creates useful things and sends them to
everybody. He shows the way to Endless Bliss. He guides to the right path
whomever He wishes among those who left
the true way and followed the way to kufr (infidelity) and heresy as a result
of being deceived by their own nafs (human desires), bad friends, harmful
books, and the media. He saves them from eternal calamity. He does not bestow
this blessing upon those who are cruel and exceed the limits. He lets them stay
on the way of kufr, which they like and desire. In the next world, He will
forgive whomever He wants of those guilty Believers who are to go to Hell, and
He will admit them to Paradise. He alone creates every living creature, keeps
every being in existence every moment and protects all against fear and horror.
Trusting ourselves to the honourable name of Allâhu ta’âlâ, that is, expecting
help from Him we begin to write this book.
May hand[1] be to Allâhu ta’âlâ.
Peace and blessings be upon His beloved Prophet Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm).
May all auspicious prayers be on his Ahl al-Bait and on each of his just and
devoted Companions (as-Sahâbat al-kirâm).
Thousands of precious
books have been written on the tenets of the Islamic faith and its commands and
prohibitions, and many of them have been translated into foreign languages and
distributed to every country. On the other hand, ill-willed and short-sighted
people have continuously attacked the useful, bountiful and lightsome rules of
Islam and have striven to blemish and change it and to deceive Muslims.
It is still seen with
gratitude that in almost every country scholars of Islam are striving to
disseminate and defend this path. Unsuitable speeches and articles, however,
are still being witnessed, which are claimed to have been taken from – but out
of misunderstanding of – the Qur’ân al-karîm and the hadîth ash-sherîf by a few
people who have not read or understood the books by the ’ulamâ’ of Ahl
as-Sunna. Yet these speeches and articles are ineffective against the firm îmân
of Muslim brothers and have no influence, but indicate the ignorance of their
agents.
A person who claims to be
a Muslim and who has been seen
---------------------------------
[1] Praise and gratitude.
performing salât in
jamâ’a must be regarded as Muslim. If, later on, in his speech, writing or
behaviour something is seen disagreeing with the knowledge of îmân as conveyed
by the ’ulamâ’ of Ahl as-Sunna, he will be told that this is disbelief or
heresy. He will be told to cease from it and repent. If, with his short mind
and coarse reasoning, he answers that he will not, it will be understood that
he is a heretic or disbeliever. Even if he continues performing salât, performs
hajj and does all kinds of worship and good deeds, he will not escape this
disaster unless he gives up the things or acts which causes kufr and unless he
repents; he will not be a Muslim. By learning well the things that cause
disbelief, each Muslim should protect himself from becoming a disbeliever and
should know well the disbelievers and those liars who pretend to be Muslims and
keep away from their harm.
Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu
ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam) said in a hadîth-i-sherîf that wrong, false meanings
would be extracted from the Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth, and thus seventy-two
heretical groups would appear. This hadîth sherîf is explained in the books Berîqa and Al-hadîqa, which derived it from the
Sahîhain of al-Bukhârî and Muslim. We should not be taken in by the
books and lectures of the men of these groups who come forward under such names
as ‘great scholar of Islam’ or ‘professor of religion’, and we should be very
alert not to fall into the traps of these thieves of faith and belief. Besides
those insidious enemies, communists and freemasons, and also Christian
missionaries and Jewish zionists try to decieve the Muslim youth through
made-up and deceitful articles, motion pictures, theatre, and radio or
television broadcasts. They spend millions for this purpose. The ’ulamâ’ of
Islam (rahimahumullah) have given necessary responses to all of them and have
shown Allâhu ta’âlâ’s religion and the way to happiness and salvation.
From among them, we have
chosen the book I’tiqâd-nâma by Mawlânâ Diyâ’ ad-dîn Khâlid al-Baghdâdî
al-’Uthmânî (quddisa sirruh), who was a distinguished scholar of Islam. I’tiqâd-nâma was formerly translated
into Turkish by the late Hâji Faizullâh Effendi of Kemah, Erzincan, with the
title Farâ’id al-fawâ’id and was printed in Egypt in
Istanbul University
Library (Ýbnül Emin Mahmud Kemal Dept. F. 2639).
It is written at the end
of the subject about ‘disbeliever’s marriage’ in Durr
al-mukhtâr, “If
a Muslim girl with nikâh (marriage contract as prescribed by Islam)[1] does not know Islam when
she reaches puberty, her nikâh becomes void [she becomes a renegade]. The
attributes of Allâhu ta’âlâ must be told to her, and she must repeat them and
say, ‘I believe these.’ ” In explaining this, Ibn ’Âbidîn (rahimah-ullâhu
ta’âlâ) said, “If the girl is little, she belongs in her parents’ faith; she is
a Muslim. When she reaches puberty, she does not belong to her parents’ faith
any longer. When she reaches puberty, because of her unawareness of Islam, she
becomes a renegade. Unless she learns and believes the six tenets of Islam and
believes that it is necessary to live up to Islam, she will not continue to be
a Muslim even if she utters the Kalimat at-tawhîd, that is, says, ‘Lâ ilâha
illa’llah Muhammadun Rasûlullah.’ She has to believe the six tenets expressed
in ’Âmantu bi-’llâhi ...,’ and she has to say, ‘I accept the commands and
prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ.’ ” This explanation of Ibn ’Âbidîn shows that a
disbeliever becomes Muslim as soon as he says the Kalimat at-tawhîd and
believes its meaning. But, like any other Muslim, when he has the chance he has
to memorize the following words and learn their meaning precisely: “Âmantu
bi’llâhi wa Malâ’ikatihi wa Kutubihi wa Rusûlihi wal-yawm-il-âkhiri wa
bil-qadari khairihi wa sharrihi minallâhi ta’âlâ walbâ’thu ba’d-al-mawt haqqun
ash-hadu an lâ ilâha illallâh wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ’abduhu wa Rasûluhu.”
Also, if
a Muslim boy does not learn these six tenets and say that he believes them, he
becomes a renegade when he reaches puberty. This work, Belief and
Islam, contains
detailed information on these six tenets. Every Muslim should read this book
well and do his best to get his children and all his acquaintances to read it.
In the text, the meaning
of âyat-i karimas are given as ma’âl, which means ‘meaning as reported by the
scholars of tafsîr’; for, the meanings of âyat-i karimas were understood only
by Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam), who, in his turn taught these
meanings to his Sahâba. The scholars of tafsîr (science of interpretation of
the Qur’ân al-kerîm) differentiated these hadîths from those made up by
munâfiqs, mulhids and zindîqs, and, for
---------------------------------
[1] Please see chapter
those hadîth-i-sherifs
they could not find, they themselves gave meanings to those âyats by following
the (rules and principles of the) knowledge of tafsîr. What is understood by
those people who are unlearned in the Islamic scientces, who speak Arabic but
have no knowledge of tafsîr, is not called the tafsîr (interpretation) of the
Qur’ân. That is why a hadîth sharîf says, ‘One who gives meanings to the Qur’ân al-kerîm according to his own understanding becomes a disbeliever.’ A glossary of Arabic and
other non-English terms foreign to the English reader is appended.
May Allâhu ta’âlâ have us
all keep to the right path shown by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunna! May he
protect us from believing in the false, deceitful, insidious lies of the
enemies of Islam and of the non-madhhabî people using the name ‘great scholar
of Islam’!
Mîlâdî Hijrî Shamsî Hijrî Kamarî
2001 1380 1422