Hadrat Muhammad Ma’thûm delivers the following
discourse in the eighty-third letter of the second volume: If a person has had
the following two blessings, he should not be sorry for not having any
spiritual ecstasies and raptures. One of these two blessings is “adapting
oneself to Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, who is the owner of the Sharî’at.” The
second one is “loving one’s master, one’s murshid.” These two blessings will
make one attain all sorts of happiness and fayz.[1] If a person lacks one of these two blessings, he will end up in a
disaster. His knowledge, his piety, or his spiritual devotion and ability to
display miracles, no matter to what extent, will not avert this disastrous
termination from him. And what would most fatally damage these two blessings
and put them in jeopardy of vanishing is being in close contact with
irreligious and heretical people, or with their books, [newspapers], and all sorts
of publication. We should keep away from such depraved people like bewaring of
a lion. We should read books written by the ’Ulamâ of Ahl-as-sunna [or by those
true Muslims who are correct both in îmân and in their ways of worshipping].
For those who wish to read books written by these great people, we recommend
that they read the book (Mektûbât), by Imâm-i Rabbânî.[2] [The books published by Ikhlâs Waqf are the translations of these
true ’Ulamâ. For those who wish to learn Islam correctly, we recommend that
they read these books.]
The knowledge of qadâ and qader (fate,
destiny) is extremely delicate, subtle, and difficult to understand. It has
been forbidden through hadîth-i-sherîfs to talk about it or to discuss it. Muslims’ duty is to learn the
commandments and prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ and to live up to them. We have
been commanded to
---------------------------------
[1] After a Muslim has adapted himself completely to the Sharî’at of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm, inexplicable pieces of knowledge begin to pour into his heart. This occult, esoteric and subtle kind of knowledge is called fayz, pronounced /feiz/.
[2] Imâm-i-Rabbânî Ahmad Fârûqî is one of the greatest ’Ulamâ of Ahl as-sunna and Awliyâ brought up and educated in India. He passed away in Sirhind city in 1034 [A.D. 1624].
believe in qadâ and qader, not to study them. We have to learn
about them as much as the ’Ulamâ of Ahl as-sunna have taught us and believe in
them in such a manner as prescribed by the ’Ulamâ of Ahl as-sunna. As these
true scholars [and experts of Islamic teachings] state, Allâhu ta’âlâ knew in
the eternal past all the future good and evil deeds of mankind. When their time
comes He wills their creation, and creates them. His creation is called Taqdîr (Divine
Dispensation). He, alone, is the Creator, the Inventor. There is no creator
besides Him. No man can create anything. Ignorant and idiotic votaries of the
sects of Mu’tazila and Qaderiyya have denied qadâ and qader. They have
asserted that man creates his own deeds. Such heretics have been on the
increase recently.
Man’s will and option assumes a certain role
in the creation of everything good or evil. When man wants to do something,
Allâhu ta’âlâ creates it if He, too, wishes it. Man’s will and option is called kasb (acquisition). This means to say that every action, everything
man does, is actuated by Allah’s creation upon man’s acquisition (option). The
torment that will be inflicted on the murderer is a punishment of his
acquisition (option). Sectarians called Jabriyya (necessarians or
necessitarians) have denied man’s will and acquisition. They have maintained
that “Allah creates all of man’s deeds, regardless of whether man wishes or
not. Everything man does is like the swaying of trees and leaves with the wind.
Every action is done under Allah’s compulsion. Man cannot do anything.” These
statements are kufr (disbelief). And a person who holds such a belief will
become a kâfir (disbeliever). According to these people, “Those who perform
good deeds shall be rewarded in the hereafter. Sinners shall not be tormented.
Disbelievers, wrongdoers, sinners shall not be tormented because the (real)
maker of their sins is Allâhu ta’âlâ. So these people have had to commit these
sins.” Such misbelievers have been cursed by all Prophets. Could it ever be said that the (involuntary) trembling of the
feet and moving them voluntarily were the same things? The ninety-second and
ninety-third âyats of (Hijr) sûra purport, “Allâhu ta’âlâ will interrogate them for
all of their deeds.” The twenty-fourth âyat of (Wâqi’a) sûra
purports, “They shall
pay for what they have done.” The twenty-ninth âyat of (Kahf) sûra
purports, “Let him who
wishes, have îmân; and let him who wills, deny. We have prepared Hell fire for
those who deny.” Some miscreants and heretics, in order
to shirk the toil of obeying the commandments and prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ
and
-409-
to escape being tormented for their sins, deny the fact that man
has a will and acquisition.
Allâhu ta’âlâ is Kerîm, He has infinite mercy.
He has always commanded men useful things and what they will be able to do. He
has forbidden harmful things. The two hundred and eighty-sixth âyat of (Baqara) sûra
purports, “Allâhu
ta’âlâ has commanded men things that they will do easily.” It is so surprising that there should be people who deny man’s
will. Then why will they be angry with those who vex them? Why will they try to
educate their sons and daughters? Why would they be exasperated if they saw
their wives in indecent positions? Why wouldn’t they tolerate such things by
saying that “man does not have will, so these people are compelled to do what
they are doing”? They hold this belief in order to do all sorts of wicked acts
in the world and then not to be tormented in the hereafter. Yet, the seventh
âyat of (Tûr) sûra purports, “Verily, thine Rab (Allâhu ta’âlâ) shall inflict torment. There shall be no
escape from Him.”
The groups of Qaderiyya (libertarians) and
Jabriyya (necessitarians) have deviated from the right way, because the former
have denied qadâ and qader and the latter have denied (man’s) will. They are
holders of bid’at (heresy). The right way is the belief as held by the group
called Ahl-i-sunnat
wa’l-jamâat (Ahl as-sunna or, briefly, the sunnî way),
which occupies an intermediate position between these two extremes. Those who
follow in this true way are called (Sunnî). Imâm-i-Abû Hanîfa, who was the
leader of the group of Ahl as-sunna, asked Imâm-i-Ja’fer Sâdiq, “O you, grandson
of Rasûlullah! Has Allâhu ta’âlâ left men’s deeds to their wills, or does He
compel them to perform their deeds?” He answered, “Allâhu ta’âlâ will not leave
His right to His born slaves, and it would not be compatible with His justice
to compel them and then torment them.” Disbelievers say, “Allâhu ta’âlâ wished
us to be disbelievers, polytheists. So His wish came true.” The hundred and
forty-eighth âyat of (En’âm) sûra purports, “Polytheists say, ‘If Allah did not wish us and our fathers
to be polytheists... .” We tormented their predecessors because they, too, were
unbelievers.” Polytheists do not make these statements as an
excuse (for their polytheism). They do not say so in order to escape torment.
These people do not know that their polytheism or disbelief is something bad.
They say, “Whatever Allâhu ta’âlâ wills, is good, and He approves all the
things He has willed. He would not have willed them if He
-410-
had not approved them. Then, He must approve our polytheism and
not torment us.” Nevertheless, Allâhu ta’âlâ has announced through His Prophets that He will not approve polytheism. He has
declared that disbelief is a guilt, that disbelievers are accursed, and that He
shall torment them eternally. Something willed is not necessarily approved. Allâhu
ta’âlâ wills and creates disbelief and disobedience. Yet He does not approve
them. He declares plainly in Qur’ân al-kerîm that He does not approve them. Perhaps, those statements of
polytheists were intended to provoke derision against Prophets.
Question: In the eternal past Allâhu ta’âlâ knew
(all the) good and evil things (that would happen). He wills and creates in
accordance with this knowledge of His. Consequently, man’s will becomes
defunct. Does this not come to mean that men are compelled to do what they are
doing, good and evil alike?
Answer: Allâhu ta’âlâ knew in the eternal past
that man would perform his deeds by using his own will. This knowledge of
Allâhu ta’âlâ does not indicate that the born slave does not have a will and
option. Likewise, Allâhu ta’âlâ creates many things outside of man in
accordance with His preordination in the eternal past. If man were compelled to
do what he is doing, then Allâhu ta’âlâ would be compelled to create what He is
creating. So, as Allâhu ta’âlâ is autonomous, that is, not compelled (in His
creations), so is man autonomous (in his options).