Hamd and praise are merited by Allâhu ta’âlâ,
who is wâjib-ul-wujűd (whose existence is absolutely necessary), and belong to
Him alone. All the order and the beauties in the universe are the visible
lights of the works of His power. His infinite knowledge and power appear on
things depending on their various qualities. All existence is a drop of His
ocean of knowledge and power. He is one; He does not have a companion (partner,
likeness). He is Samad, that is, the being with whom all
creatures will take refuge. He is free from being a father or son. It is
purported in the twenty-third âyat of sűra Hashr: “Allâhu ta’âlâ does not have a companion, a partner in being
ilâh (God). He is the Ruler whose domain never ceases to exist. He is
free from any deficiency. He is far from defects or powerlessness. He has
secured Believers against the endless torment. He dominates over and preserves
everything. He is capable of enforcing His decree. [When man wants to do something, Allâhu ta’âlâ creates it if He,
too, wills it to be so. He alone is the Creator. No one other than He can
create anything. No one except He can be called Creator. He has shown the way
to salvation that will provide men’s living in peace and comfort in this world
and the next and attaining endless felicity, and commanded them to live in this
way. Greatness and highness belong to Him.] Allâhu ta’âlâ is free from the polytheism and calumny of
the polytheists.”
May salât and selâm be addressed with love via
the blessed grave, which is a Paradise garden, of the Messenger of Allâhu ta’âlâ,
Muhammad Mustafâ ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’, who is the highly honoured Prophet of the latest time. For, that Sarwar
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ was sent with Qur’ân al-kerîm for saving humanity from the darkness of ignorance and
establishing tawhîd and îmân. The sixty-fourth âyat of sűra Âl-i-’Imrân
purports the following declaration: “O My Habîb![1] Say unto the
---------------------------------
[1] Most
beloved one, darling.
Jews and Christians, who are ahl
al-kitâb: Concede to the word which is common between us and you without any
difference among the heavenly books and Prophets: ‘We worship none but Allâhu ta’âlâ and we do not attribute any
partner to Allâhu ta’âlâ.’ ” Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi
wasallam’ was commanded to adapt himself to the genuine meaning of this divine
call.
May selâm and benedictions be addressed via
the blessed graves of his ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ Âl and Ashâb. Each of
them is a star of hidâya guiding to the way of happiness and salvation approved
by Allâhu ta’âlâ. They each sacrificed their lives and property for the
spreading of the Islamic faith. They carried and taught the Kalima-i-tawhîd [the Arabic expression which reads ‘Esh-hadu anlâ-ilâha
il-l-Allah wa esh-hadu anna Muhammadan ’abduhu wa rasűluh,’ and which purports,
“I definitely believe and testify that Allâhu ta’âlâ exists and is one; and I
definitely believe and testify that Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ is His created
slave and Messenger”] all over the world.
As anyone with reason will see, when the
universe is observed with prudence, all the deeds and situations in this
universe are in an order dependent upon unchangeable laws. A discreet person
will conclude at once that a Khâliq (Creator), who is wâjib-ul-wujűd (necessary
existence) and who establishes these laws and preserves them as they are, is
necessary. Then, Jenâb-i Haqq (Allah) is the absolute Creator, Who is eternal
in the past and eternal in the future, Who is the original beginning of
everything, and how He is cannot be comprehended through mind. He has collected
all sorts of perfection and superiority in Himself. He is Ahad, that is, He is
One in His person, deeds and attributes. He does not have a likeness.
Allâhu ta’âlâ is one, He is azalî, abadî, and
qadîm. He is far from any sort of change. Everything other than He in the world
of beings becomes old, deteriorates, and changes in process of time. But Allâhu
ta’âlâ is far, free from any kind of change. He never changes. As time will not
change the expression “One plus one makes two”, so the oneness of Allâhu ta’âlâ
does not change with the elapse of centuries of time.
Man, who has been distinguished from other
creatures with such a gift as mind, has been cognizant of this fact since his
creation on the earth. This fact has been explained in different ways by
different religions and sects. However, since men’s mental and intellectual
capacities differ, each person searching for the Creator has imagined Him
within his own nature,
temperament, knowledge and cognitive capacity, and described Him
according to his own understanding and temperament. For, man has likened what
he cannot understand or know because of the incapability and shortcoming of his
mind to the things he knows. Most of those who claim to have discovered the
fact, have plunged into atrocities and aberrations such as magi, idolatry, and
polytheism.
Since man, with his imperfect mind, cannot
understand the absolute Creator; Allâhu ta’âlâ, the most merciful of the
merciful, sent Prophets to every nation in
every century. Thus He taught men the truth of the matter. The fortunate ones who
believed were saved, and attained happiness in this world and in the Hereafter.
The hapless, unlucky ones objected, denied, and remained in depression and
frustration.
Each Prophet lived in a different country in a different period, and was sent
to a nation with different customs and traditions. Every Prophet, while teaching the existence and oneness of
Allâhu ta’âlâ to people, stated some rules and worships that will bring about
man’s happiness in this world and the next. According to historians, approximately
sixteen hundred and fifty years before the accepted birth date of Îsâ
‘alaihis-salâm’, Allâhu ta’âlâ sent Műsâ (Moses) ‘alaihis-salâm’ as the Prophet. Műsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ taught the Sons of
Israel the belief in the existence and oneness of Allâhu ta’âlâ and some other
principles of îmân, as they had been taught by the other Prophets preceding him, such as Âdam, Nűh (Noah),
Idris, Ibrâhîm, Is-hâq, and Ya’qűb ‘alaihimus-salâm’, to their own tribes in
their own times. Spreading the information pertaining to compulsory worships
and principles of social relations far and near, he tried to make the Sons of
Israel refrain from polytheism. After Műsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ the Sons of Israel
(Benî Isrâîl) were afflicted with various disasters and tumults, because they
deviated from the essentials of îmân. Upon this, Allâhu ta’âlâ sent Îsâ
‘alaihis-salâm’ as the Prophet to the Sons
of Israel. Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ spread and taught the tawhîd, which means the
existence and oneness of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and other principles of îmân, thus
trying to bring the aberrant people back to the right course and reinforcing
the religion of Műsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’.
After Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, his adherents
deviated from the true faith taught by Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, as the Sons of
Israel had strayed from the right way before. Later, they wrote books called
Gospels and pamphlets about Christianity daily. Various councils
held at different places made completely contradictory decisions.
Thus, altogether different Christian sects appeared. They forsook the principle
of tawhîd[1] and the religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ thoroughly [and became
polytheists and disbelievers]. Upon this Allâhu ta’âlâ sent Muhammad
‘alaihis-salâm’, His most beloved, highest and last of the Prophets until the day of Judgement, unto the Earth.
Most of the religious commandments taught by
Műsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ pertained to zâhirî [physical, perceptible] deeds, and
most of the commandments of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ were on bâtinî matters of the
heart (morals, ethics, etc.). Finally, bringing zâhirî and bâtinî together,
Allâhu ta’âlâ revealed to Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ the most perfect, the most
superior religion, Islam, and the divine book of this religion, Qur’ân al-kerîm. Allâhu ta’âlâ, sending the angel with wah’y to our exalted Prophet, declared to all mankind the most perfect
religion, Islam, which is a comprehensive selection of the up-to-date zâhirî
deeds commanded by the religion of Műsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ and the bâtinî matters
commanded by the religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, in addition to numerous
zâhirî and bâtýnî essentials.
Tawhîd, that is, the principle of belief that
Allâhu ta’âlâ is one, is not different in any of the heavenly religions; they
are all based on the principle of tawhîd. The only difference betwen them is on
the knowledge of rules and worships. No disagreement or controversy took place
as to the principle of the existence and oneness of Allâhu ta’âlâ until two
hundred years after the ascension of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’. All the hawârîs
(apostles of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’) and their followers and the successors of
their followers lived and died up to the principle of the unity of Allâhu
ta’âlâ, which was stated clearly in the Injil. None of the three firstly
written Gospels [Matthew, Mark, Luke] contained even one letter denoting to
trinity, which means the creed of father-son-holy spirit, in (today’s)
Christianity. Then the fourth Gospel, which is ascribed to John, appeared in
Greek. This Gospel exhibited some terms indicating trinity [three real beings],
which was originally the Greek philosopher Plato’s theory. At that time
discussions and controversies on the two Greek philosophies, Rawâqiyyűn and
Ishrâqiyyűn, were going on in the schools of Alexandria. Rawâqiyyűn (Stoicism) is a school of philosophy founded at Athens in 308
B.C. by the Greek Philosopher Zeno.
---------------------------------
[1] Unity of
Allâhu ta’âlâ.
Ishrâqiyyűn (Pythagoreanism) is a school of philosophy founded by Pythagoras
(in 6th. century B.C.). These philosophies will be dealt with later on. The
fanatics of Plato wanted John’s Gospel to become popular. However, in the
religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, no statement implying three gods – may Allah
protect us against believing such a creed! – had been heard of, so the
believers of the religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ rejected and protested it
vehemently. Thus the believers of the religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ parted
into two groups, which meant number of debates and fights between them. In A.D.
325, during the reign of Constantine I, the Nicene council abandoned tawhîd
[the unity of Allâhu ta’âlâ], which was the essential principle of the religion
of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’. With the oppression of Constantine, who was a
Platonist, they adopted the creed of trinity, i.e. father-son-holy spirit. From
that time on, the creed of trinity began to spread far and near. Real believers
who believed in the religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ were scattered. So Plato’s
philosophy reappeared and the religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ was given up.
Real believers who believed in this religion hid themselves. Thus the dogma of
trinity that took the place of the religion of tawhîd became more and more
powerful, and the Nasârâ (Nazarenes) who believed in the unity of Allâhu ta’âlâ
were dispersed here and there, excommunicated, killed, and finally annihilated
by the trinitarian churches. Soon there was none of them left.
In 399 [A.D. 1054] the Patriarch of Istanbul,
Michael Kirolarius, revolted against the unbearable oppression of the western
church whose center was in Rome. He refused to accept the belief that the Pope in
Rome was the caliph of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ and the representative of St Peter,
(an apostle accepted as the first Pope). He opposed the Roman church in some
essential matters such as priests’ living in isolation from the people.
Each of the ecclesiastical assemblies, which
they called councils, made totally different decisions. They separated
themselves from those who would not agree with their decisions. Thus
seventy-two sects appeared. Nevertheless the Roman church abode by its course.
In those years the European rulers were entirely ignorant and oblivious to all
these events. They were practising all sorts of robbery and cruelty on their
subjects who were no different from flocks of sheep. Lest anyone would stand
against these robberies and cruelties, the rulers were exploiting the authority
which priests had over the ignorant people. It was as if they (the kings) were
under priests’ authority.
Priests, in their turn, well aware of the rulers’ ignorance,
intensions and weaknesses, exploited their sovereignty to their own advantages.
In appearance Europe was under the kings’ sovereignty, but the only, and
independent, domination belonged to priests. In fact, in the earlier years of
Christianity, execution of priests’ wishes and desires was dependent upon the
Italian kings’ sanction. Afterwards papal authority was augmented, to the
extent that enthronement and dethronement of kings became possible only when
priests wished so. The time’s ignorant populace, being totally unaware, were
crushed between their rulers’ oppression and cruelty and priests’ avarice and
greed. They endured all sorts of torment and trouble. They kept silent
patiently, (as if all those situations were Allah’s commandments). Thus the
darkness of ignorance and bigotry turned the whole continent into ruins and
disrepairs.
In the meantime, Islamic countries were under
administrations quite antonymous to those of the Christian Europe. Arabia,
Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Turkistan had made material and spiritual progress in all
areas under the Amawî (Umayyad) and Abbâsî (Abbasid) khalîfas. [At that time
Muslims were in welfare both spiritually and materially.] Under the reign of
Andalusian Amawî sultans, Muslims had improved Spain to greatness and to the
peak of civilization. Great care was given to science, arts, trade,
agriculture, and ethics. Spain, which had been a territory of savagery under
the Gothic invasion, was now like a garden of Paradise with the Islamic
administration. European businessmen and industrialists could never pay back
the debt they owe to Islam. They ought to be thanking Muslims forever. For, the
first spark of knowledge in Europe was thrown off from the Andalusian Muslims.
The brilliant civilization that had appeared
in Andalusia overflowed Andalusia and spread over Europe. Some talented
Europeans noticed the civilization in Andalusia and translated the books of
Islamic scholars into European languages. Owing to the books they translated,
compiled and published, European people began to rise from their sleep of
ignorance. Eventually, one Martin Luther of Germany came forward with a view to
being the renovator, the restorer of Christianity. Luther opposed the majority
of unreasonable ecclesiastical principles. [Martin Luther, a German priest,
founded the Protestantism, a sect of Christianity. Christians adherent to the
Pope are called Catholics. Luther was born in 888 [A.D. 1483], and died in 953
[A.D. 1546]. He wrote
numerous books. He was an adversary of the Pope and an unbridled
enemy of Islam. Catholics and Protestants are still hostile to each other.]
Then Calvin appeared. Joining Luther in his protestations, he disagreed with
him in some matters. Luther and Calvin refused the ways of worship prescribed
by the Roman church. They opposed the idea of the Pope’s being a deputy of
Peter and a successor of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’. The followers of Luther and
Calvin were called Protestants.
The Roman church had already lost one-third of
its adherents with the separation of the Eastern Church; and now the appearing
of Protestantism took away another third. This event exasperated the popes.
They resorted to an atrocious measure: victory, using the military powers of
the time’s Catholic kings, by putting all the Protestants to the sword. Since
belief and conscience can never be changed by force, this measure had the
opposite effect. It caused Protestantism to spread in England and America. Upon
this the Roman church took to the project of increasing their population by
Christianizing believers of other religions and savage tribes. They established
Catholic schools all over the world. In order to disseminate and propagate the
name Catholic, they educated and trained extremely fanatical priests that they
called missionaries. They sent them in groups to other countries such as America, Japan,
China, Abyssinia (Ethiopia), and to Islamic countries. It was only some
ignoramuses that missionaries were able to deceive by various promises and
advantages in the countries they arrived. In ignorant communities they provoked
daughters against mothers, sons against fathers, and made them hostile against
one another. They aroused various tumults and coups in the countries they were
stationed. Eventually, governments and peoples being fed up with missionaries’
mischief and instigation, they were deported from most of the countries they
were located in. In some countries they were punished even more severely; they
were executed. These missionaries, with the pretext of propagating
Christianity, inflicted so much damage to humanity that they caused the whole
world to hate Christianity. In fact, when a person reads the history books
written about the unprecedented barbarous measures and persecutions practised
by the Roman church with Catholic bigotry and materialistic desires, e.g. the
inquisition massacres on St. Bartholomew’s eve, his hair will stand on end with
horror.
No sooner had the Catholic church started
activity of training missionaries for spreading Catholicism than the
Protestants took
action. Establishing societies at various places, they collected a
wealth of capital. They sent books and missionaries teaching Protestantism to
all parts of the world, [under direction of the Ministry of Colonies, which was
established in England to annihilate Islam]. As is recorded in the book of
expenses, which was published afterwards, the British Protestant society named
the Bible House, which was founded in 1219 [A.D. 1804], had the Bible translated
into two hundred different languages. The number of books published by this
society by the end of 1287 [A.D. 1872] reached almost 70 million. This same
society spent two hundred five thousand three hundred and thirteen (205,313)
English golds for the propagation of Protestantism. [This society is still
carying on its activities; establishing infirmaries, hospitals, lecture halls,
libraries, schools, places of entertainment such as cinemas, sports
institutions. They are spending extraordinary efforts to coax those who attend
such places to becoming Protestants. Catholics are using the same methods. In
addition, they are procuring employment for youngsters and giving food to the
people in poor countries, thus alluring them to Christianity.] For all these
activities (of missionaries), Europeans are not so blind as they were; they
have already opened their eyes and realized how pernicious and how incendiary
these missionaries are, after numerous experiences. Therefore, missionaries are
not popular among Europeans. Missionaries send the books which they issue [in
enormous numbers] to other countries free of charge, instead of publicising
them among their own European compatriots. They have never had the courage to
approach another European country, let alone spreading their religion there,
unless that country is under the legislature of their own country. [Catholic
missionaries are not allowed to spread Catholicism in Protestant countries, and
Protestant missionaries are not allowed to spread Protestantism in Catholic
countries.] The moment such an act is noticed, they are deported by the police.
These missionaries are despised in all the European countries they go to.
Missionaries have been very successful in
exploiting the tolerance which the Ottoman state has always shown to non-Muslim
religions. For the last forty or fifty years, they infiltrated into countries
under the protection of the Ottoman state. Establishing schools at various
places and using the pretence of serving humanity by educating the people’s
children, they have deceived some illiterate people. Because ignorant people
are not
fully aware of their religious commandments and duties in every
country alike, and the wealth of the Protestant organization being specially
enormous, they have rationed those who have accepted Protestantism to monthy
and yearly salaries. In addition, through their embassies and consulates, they
have helped those who have obeyed them and become Protestants to acquire
distinguished positions at various bureaucratic echelons. They have
successfully coaxed the Anatolian and Thracian Christian Ottoman subjects to
become attached to them. However, because such people have been persuaded to
such an attachment by means of gold and money, they have not given the benefits
expected. Al-hamd-u-li-llâh (gratitude be to Allah), they have not been
successful in deceiving [coaxing to Christianity] even one well-known Muslim.
In 1282 [A.D. 1866] missionaries, in order to
deceive Muslims, published a Bible in Turkish in Istanbul and appended to it a
statement in Turkish which meant (in English): “This book is the revised
version of the former edition, which was translated by Ali Beg and published
with the help of Turâbî Efendi.” With this statement they divulged, so to
speak, that they had managed to deceive some Muslims. We know the person who
translated the Bible for a few hundred golds at that time. But it is not known
whether he accepted Protestantism. Moreover, since no one is known by the name
of Alî Beg and capable of doing this job, it is not unlikely at all that the
name was a sham. For, if he had been a well-known person, his popular title
would have been written. As for Turâbî Efendi; it is no surprise for this
person living in Egypt and married to a Protestant girl to have done them a
service such as this. But he was never seen to like or approve the Protestant
rites. On the contrary, since he disclosed all their abominations, he cannot be
believed to have changed his religion. Even if it had been so, Turâbî Efendi is
not a person known by everybody; as a boy he was sent to England by the
Egyptian government and learned English in a church school. And this in turn
means that ‘Turâbî Efendi inclined towards Protestantism before having learnt
Islam.’
It is not possible for any Christian to give
the example of a wise Muslim who knows Islam, who has been brought up with
Islamic education, who has fully learned the real essence of Islam, who has
tasted the spiritual flavour and smelled the sweet scent of kalima-i-tawhîd,
and who has, after all, converted to Protestantism. If so, then it should be
inquired whether the reason has been one of such things as money, protection,
and rank. It is
very difficult, even impossible to persuade a person who
expresses, “Allâhu ta’âlâ does not have a partner or likeness. I believe that
He is free from such defects,” to believe in the
dogma, “Allah is one but three” or “Allah is three but one.” If a Muslim who
knows the principles of îmân busies himself too much in philosophy, it may be
possible for him to tend towards philosophers’ course. But it is impossible for
him to become a Christian. For this reason, the real protector of Islamic
religion is Allâhu ta’âlâ, and the insidious and harmful activities of
missionaries bear no threat to Muslims. In fact, such a thought is no more than
a condescension on our part. However, priests stationed in our country, to
carry out the task they were assigned by their superiors in their missionary
organizations, began to write books misrepresenting Islam as being wrong and
Christianity as a superior religion (the fact is quite the other way round) and
distribute them free of charge. Always avoiding the truth, they have been
trying to misrepresent aberration as the true way. It is fard-i-kifâya (Islamic
command) for learned Muslims to refute missionaries’ lies and slanders. Their
real purpose is to arouse turmoil in the Islamic religion and to sow discord
among kinsfolk such as wife and husband, parents and children, etc., as they
have always done in every country. [For, these people think that today’s
Gospels are the words of Allah and say that they have been obeying the commandments
given in them.] It is written in the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth verses of
the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew that Îsâ alaihis-salâm said: (which
is never true) “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to
send peace, but a sword.” (Matt: 10-34, Authorized (King James) Version, 1978)
“For I am come to set a mat at variance against his father, and the daughter
against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.” (ibid:
10-35) Following these words, missionary priests deceived ignorant people and
incited them against the state. Their real purpose was, by means of these
stratagems, to endanger the Islamic religion and its protector, the Ottoman
Empire. Thus they threw the seeds of instigation and animosity among the
Christian minority who had been leading a peaceful life under the mercy and
protection of the Ottoman Empire. Since the time of the Ashâb-i-kirâm till now,
no Islamic state interfered in the religious affairs of their non-Muslim
subjects, nor did they ever hurt their religious sentiments. The Ottomans,
especially, provided all sorts of help and facility regarding the religious
practices of non-Muslims living
under their rule for six hundred years; let alone interfering in
their religious services, Islam commands this help and justice. Our Prophet’s commands in this respect are recorded in
Islamic books, [See our other English publications.] It was under the guarantee
of the Ottoman state, therefore, that no one, whatever his religion, would be
abused or maltreated on account of his or her creed. Being a person’s guest and
at the same time slandering and stamping on his sacred beliefs, is an event
unprecedented in the world annals. The important fact here is the false charges
directed to Islam by Islam’s enemies through destructive words, writings,
books, [television broadcasts, video cassettes]. (So the thing to be done) is
to call public attention to these lies and slanders, [to answer them], and to
exhibit to the whole world the sophisms on which they based their publications
under the cloak of truth. The Turkish book which I published with the title Ţems-ül-Hakîka (the Sun of Truth) gives very beautiful answers to missionary
aggressions directed to Islam. In that book of mine, a number of facts about
Christianity are explained in detail, and a lot of questions are propounded.
Nevertheless, Christian priests are still publishing new lying, fallacious
books, as if they saw neither these questions nor the splendid book titled Izhâr-ul-haqq, which was written in Arabic by Rahmatullah Efendi, one of the
great ’Ulamâ of India, and was later translated into Turkish. In these new
books they are repeating the same old calumnies of theirs. They have not been
able to answer even one of the questions we have directed to them in Ţems-ül-hakîka and Izhâr-ul-haqq.
It is stated as follows on the three hundred
and ninetieth page of the Persian book Maqâmât-i-akh-yâr: “Fander, a
Protestant priest, was very famous among Christians. The Protestant missionary
organization sent Fander and some other selected priests to India. They were
supposed to work for the propagation of Christianity. In 1270 [A.D. 1854],
sometime in the (lunar) month of Rebî’ul-âkhir and on the eleventh of Rajab
(another lunar month), debates umpired by some ’Ulamâ and other distinguished
personage were held between this missionary group and Rahmatullah Efendi, the
great ’âlim of Delhi. After long discussions, Fander and his colleagues were
defeated and silenced completely. Four years later, when British forces invaded
India [and subjected Muslims and men of religion and especially the Sultan to
terrifying torments], Rahmatullah Efendi migrated to Mekka-i-mukarrama (the
blessed city of Mecca). In 1295 [A.D.
1878] this missionary body came to Istanbul and began propagating
Christianity. The Grand Vizier Khayr-ud-dîn Pasha[1] invited Rahmatullah
Efendi to Istanbul. When confronted with Rahmatullah Efendi, the missionaries
were frightened. Being unable to answer the questions, they decided vanishing
would be best. The Pasha generously awarded this great Islamic ’âlim. He
requested him to write about how he had refuted and routed the Christians. So
he began writing his Arabic book Izhâr-ul-haqq on the sixteenth of Rajab and finished
it by the end of Zi’lhijja, and went to Mekka. Khayr-ud-dîn Pasha had it
translated into Turkish and had both of the books printed. They were translated
into European languages, and printed and published in every country. British
newspapers wrote, “If this book spreads, Christianity will be impaired badly.”
Sultan Abdulhamîd Khân ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’, who was the Khalîfa (caliph) of
all Muslims, invited him (Rahmatullah Efendi) again in 1304 [A.D. 1890], and
treated him with veneration and hospitality. Rahmatullah Efendi passed away in
Mekka-i-mukarrama in the month of Ramadhân in 1308 [1890].
With the help of Allâhu ta’âlâ we have now
begun to write this Turkish book, which we name Diyâ-ul-qulűb. Yet, it should be
known well that our purpose in writing this book is only to refute the books and
brochures published against Islam by Protestant missionaries, thus performing
our duty of resisting them. Our Christian citizens who want to preserve their
religion and peace are also weary of these missionaries and agree with us in
repelling their mischief.
Ishaq Efendi
of
HARPUT
---------------------------------
[1] Khayr-ud-dîn
Pasha passed away in 1307 [A.D. 1889].