GLOSSARY

Entries related to Tasawwuf can be learned best from Hadrat Ahmad al-Fārūqī as-Sirhindī’s Maktūbāt.

adhān: the Muslim call to prayer.

adilla (ash-Shar’iyya): the sources from which Islamic rules were derived: the Book, (i.e. the Qur’ān al-kerīm,) the Sunna, qiyās al-fuqahā’ and ijmā’ al-Umma.

ahl: people

Ahl al-Bayt: immediate relatives of the Prophet.

Ahl as-Sunna (wa’l-Jamā’a): the true pious Muslims who follow as-Sahābat al-kirām. These are called Sunnī Muslims. A Sunnī Muslim adapts himself to one of the four Madhhabs. These madhhabs are Hanafī, Mālikī, Shāfi’ī and Hanbalī.

Ahd-i atīk: the Old Testament.

Ahd-i jadīd: the New Testament.

ahkām: rules, conclusions.

Ahkām ash- Shar’iyya: the rules of Islam.

Allāhu ta’ālā: Allah the Most High.

amru bi’l-ma’rūf (wa ’n-nahyu ’ani’l-munkar): duty to teach Allāhu ta’ālā’s commands and prohibitions.

Arsh: the end of matter bordering the seven skies and the Kursī, which is outside the seventh sky and inside the ’Arsh.

As’hāb-i kirām: (as-Sahābat al-kirām); the Companions of Rasūlullah.

Awliyā: pl. of Walī which means a person loved by Allāhu ta’ālā.

Awāmir-i ashara: the ten commandments which Allāhu ta’ālā gave Mūsā (alaihi ’s-salām) on the Mount Tur.

āyat: a verse of al-Qur’ān al-kerīm; al-āyat al-kerīma.

Azrā’īl: one of the four archangels, who takes the souls of human beings.

Basmala: the Arabic phrase “Bismi’ Ilāhi ’r-Rahmāni ’r-Rahīm” (In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful).

Bani Israil: Sons of Israel; Israelites; Jews.

bid’a: (pl. bida’) heresy; false, disliked belief or practice that did not exist in the four sources of Islam but which has been introduced later as an Islamic belief or ’ibāda in expectation of

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thawāb (blessings).

Bi’that: the year in which Hadrat Muhammad (sall-Allāhu alaihi wa sallam) was informed that he was the Prophet.

Burāq: the animal of Paradise which took Rasūlullah from Mecca to Jerusalem during the Mi’rāj event. It was white, very fast, sexless, smaller than a mule and bigger than an ass.

dalāla: deviation from the true path of Ahl as-Sunna.

dirham: weight unit of three grams.

effendi: title given by the Ottoman state to a statesmen and especially to religious scholars; a form of address, meaning “Your Great Personage.”

emān: pardon; protection; guarantee.

fard: an act or thing that is commanded by Allāhu ta’ālā in the Qur’ān al-kerīm.

Fard ’ain: obligation for every Muslim.

Fard kifāya: fard that must be done at least by one Muslim in a community.

fatwā: ijtihād (of a mujtahid); conclusion (of a muftī) from books of fiqh whether something not shown in them is permitted or not; answer to religious questions by Islamic scholars; rukhsa.

farmān: command, especially given by the Ottoman Sultans.

fiqh: knowledge dealing with what Muslims should do and should not do; actions, ’ibādāt.

ghazā: battle against non-Muslims.

hamd: gratitude and praise.

hadīth: a saying of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salām) al-Hadīth ash-sherīf: all the hadīths collectively.

hadrat: title of respect used before the names of great people like prophets and Islamic scholars.

hajj: fard pilgrimage to Mecca.

harām: not permitted in Islam.

Hegira: the emigration of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salām) from mecca to Medina.

’ilm al-hāl: books of Islamic teachings (of one madhhab) used to teach Muslims their religion.

’ibāda: worship, rite; act for which blessings will be given in the next world.

’ibādāt: (pl. of ’ibāda).

īmān: faith, beliefs of Islam; kalām, i’tiqād.

ijtihād: (meaning or conclusion drawn by a mujtahid by)

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endeavouring to understand the hidden meaning in an āyat or a hadīth.

irshād: enlightenment; guiding; inspiring.

iqāmat: the words recited while standing just before beginning one of the five daily fard prayers.

i’tikāf: retreat, religious seclusion during Ramadān.

Jannat: Paradise.

jāriya: non-Muslim female slave captured in war.

jihād: war against non-Muslims (or the nafs) to convert them (it) to Islam.

jizya: tax imposed on the non-Muslim citizens living in an Islamic country (Dār al-Islām).

Ka’ba (t-al-mu’azzama): in the great mosque of Mecca.

kalām: the knowledge of īmān (belief).

kāfir: disbeliever, non-Muslim.

karāma: miracle worked by Allāhu ta’ālā through a Walī.

karāmāt: (pl. of karāma).

Khutba: the homily delivered at the pulpit by the imām at the prayers of Friday and of Islamic festivals, which must be read in Arabic all over the world (it is sinful to read it in another language).

Karīm: Gracious.

kufr: being in disbelief. (Intention, statement or action) causing disbelief.

lā-madhhabī: a person without a madhhab.

madhhab: all of what a profound ’ālim of (especially) Fiqh (usually one of the four —Hanafī, Shafi’ī, Mālikī, Hanbalī) or īmān (one of the two, namely Ash-arī, Māturidī) communicated.

Madrasa: School where Islamic knowledge is taught.

Masjid: mosque.

makrūh: (an act) improper, disliked or abstained by the Prophet.

makrūh-tahrīma: prohibited with much stress.

makrūh-tanzīhī: makrūh of a lesser degree.

mawlid: the Prophet’s birthday; writings that tell of the superiorities and excellences of the Prophet.

mimbar: the high pulpit in a mosque climbed with stairs, where the Khutba is read.

Mi’rāj: the Prophet’s ascension from Jerusalem to heaven.

masah: rubbing one’s wet hands (on one’s mests, which are

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soft, soleless, waterproof shoes, covering the feet) while performing ablution.

mu’jiza: miracle peculiar to prophets alone.

murshid: guide, director.

murshid al-kāmil: great guide who has attained to perfection and is able to assist others.

munāfiq: hypocrite; one who disguises himself as a Muslim though he believes in another religion.

mustahab: (an act) for which there is thawāb and not sinful if omitted.

mubāh: an act neither ordered nor prohibited.

nāfila: the supererogatory, additional; in the sharī’at non-fard and non-wājib ’ibādāt; the sunnat salāts accompanying the daily five salāts or any ’ibādāt one can perform whenever one wishes.

nafs: a negative force within man prompting him to do evil.

nass: (general term form) an āyat or a hadīth; an āyat or a hadīth that openly states whether something is ordered or prohibited.

nisāb: minimum quantity of specified wealth making one liable to do certain duties.

pasha: title given by the Ottoman State to a statesmen, governor and especially officers of high rank (now general or admiral).

qādi: Muslim judge.

Qur’ān al-kerīm: the Holy Koran.

Ramadān: a Sacred Month in the Muslim Calendar.

Rasūlullah: (Rasūl-Allah); Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salām), the Messenger of Allāhu ta’ālā.

Sahābī: (pl.as-Sahābat al-kirām; a Muslim who saw the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salām) at least once; one of the companions.

Salaf (as-Sālihīn): as-Sahāba and the distinguished ones among the Tabi’ūn and Taba’ at-Tābi’īn.

Shafā’at: intercession.

Shaikh: an ālim of high rank; expert in zāhirī or bātinī knowledge; master, murshid; amīr, head.

Shaikh al-Islām: Head of the Religious Affairs Office in an Islamic State.

Sunna: act, thing, though not commanded by Allāhu ta’ālā, done and liked by the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salām) as an ’ibāda; there is thawāb if done, but not sinful to omit, yet it is a sin Żf 

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continually omitted and disbelief if disliked.

sūra: a chapter of the Qur’ān al-kerīm.

suhba: companionship.

Sirāt: the bridge in the hereafter.

tafsīr: a book of the science of interpretating the Qur’ān.

taqwā: fearing Allāhu ta’ālā; abstention from harāms; practising azīmas.

Tasawwuf: Islamic mysticism or sufism as defined by Islam; [See the book Maktūbāt by Ahmad al-Farūqī as-Sirhindī (rahmatullāhi ta’ālā ’alaih)].

tawakkul: trust in, expectation of everything from Allāhu ta’ālā exclusively; expecting from Allāhu ta’ālā the effectiveness of the cause (sabab) after working or holding on to the cause —before which tawakkul is unadvised.

tawhīd: (belief in) the Oneness, unity, of Allāhu ta’ālā.

tekke: (Turkish) a place, building, where a murshid trains his murīds or sāliks; dergāh or khānagāh (Persian), zāwiya (Arabic).

thawāb: the (unit of) reward which has been promised and will be given in the next world by Allāhu ta’ālā as a recompense for doing and saying what He likes.

umma: the community, the body of Believers, of a Prophet.

Umma (al-Muhammadiyya): the Muslim umma; followers of Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salām).

Wahhābī: people in Arabia whose beliefs originate from the heresies of Ibn Taymiyya. (See the books Endless Bliss and Advice for the Muslim.)

wājib: (a belief or act) almost as compulsory as a fard and not to be omitted; something never omitted by the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salām).

Walī: (pl. Awliyā’) one who is loved and protected (by Allāhu ta’ālā).

wara’: (after avoiding harāms) abstention from doubtful things (mushtabihāt).

zakāt: (fard duty of giving annually) certain amount of certain kinds of property given to certain kinds of people by which the remaining property becomes purified and blessed, and the Muslim who gives it protects himself against being (called) a miser.

zindīq: an enemy of Islam who pretends to be a Muslim.

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1 - Our Prophet 'sall-Allāhu 'alaihi wa sallam' stated: "A person whom Allāhu ta'ālā loves very much is one who learns his religion and teaches it to others. Learn your religion from the mouths of Islamic scholars!"

A person who cannot find a true scholar must learn by reading books written by the scholars of Ahl as-sunna, and try hard to spread these books. A Müslim who has 'ilm (knowledge), 'amal (practising what one knows; obeying Islam's commandments and prohibitions), and ikhlās (doing everything only to please Allāhu ta'ālā) is called an Islamic scholar. A person who represents himself as an Islamic scholar though he lacks any one of these qualifications is called an 'evil religious scholar', or an 'impostor'. The Islamic scholar will guide you to causes which in turn will open the gates to happiness; he is the protector of faith. The impostor will mislead you into such causes as will make you end up in perdition; he is the Satan's accomplice.[1] (There is a certain) prayer (called) Istighfār (which), whenever you say, (recite or read) it, will make you attain causes which will shield you against afflictions and troubles.

2 - The Nejāt-ul-musallī was written in Turkish in the year 1217 (A.H.) by Ahmed Ževki Efendi, and was printed in Żstanbul in 1305. Żt consists of a hundred and ninety-seven (197) pages. Żt is stated as follows on its final page: Ibni Jezerī, (751 [1350 A.D.], Damascus - 833 [1429], Shīrāz,) states as follows in his book Hisn ul-hasīn: A hadīth-i-sherīf reads as follows: "If an invalid person says Lā ilāha illā anta subhānaka innī kuntu min-az-zālimīn,' forty times, he will die as a martyr (if his predetermined life-span is over). If he recovers, all his sins will be pardoned." This prayer is the eighty-seventh āyat-i- kerīma of Anbiyā sūra. Please see the final parts of the thirteenth and the fifteenth chapters of the current book!

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[1] Knowledge that is acquired not for the purpose of practising it with ikhlās, will not be beneficial. Please see the 366th and 367th pages of the first volume of Hadīqa, and also the 36th and the 40th and the 59th letters in the first volume of Maktūbāt. (The English versions of these letters exist in the 16th and the 25th and the 28th chapters, respectively, of the second fascicle of Endless Bliss).