In the Hijrî year
I set out on a voyage to Istanbul, the center of
the Islamic caliphate. Besides my primary duty, I was to learn Turkish very
well, the native language of the Muslims there. I had already learned in London
a considerable amount of Turkish, Arabic (the language of the Qur’ân) and
Persian, the language of Iranians. Yet learning a language was quite different
from speaking that language like its native speakers. While the former skill can
be acquired in a matter of a few years, the latter requires a duration of time
several times as long as this. I had to learn Turkish with all its subtleties
lest the people should suspect me.
I was not anxious that they should suspect me. For
Muslims are tolerant, open-hearted, benevolent, as they have learnt from their Prophet Muhammad ‘alai-his-salâm’. They are not
sceptical like us. After all, at that time the Turkish government did not have
an organization to arrest spies.
After a very tiresome voyage I arrived in
Istanbul. I said my name was Muhammad and began to go to the mosque, Muslims’
temple. I liked the way Muslims observed discipline, cleanliness and obedience.
For a moment I said to myself: Why are we fighting these innocent people? Is
this what our Lord Jesus Christ
advised us? But I at once recovered from this
diabolical [!] thought, and decided to carry out my duty in the best manner.
In Istanbul I met an old scholar named “Ahmed
Efendi.” With his elegant manners, open-heartedness, spiritual limpidity, and
benevolence, none of our religious men I had seen could have equalled him. This
person endeavoured day and night to make himself like the Prophet Muhammad. According to him, Muhammed was
the most perfect, the highest man. Whenever he mentioned his name his eyes
would become wet. I must have been very lucky, for he did not even ask who I
was or where I was from. He would address me as “Muhammad Efendi.” He would
answer my questions and treat me with tenderness and with compassion. For he
considered me a guest who had come to Istanbul to work in Turkey and to live in
the shadow of the Khalîfa, the representative of the Prophet Muhammad. Indeed, this was the pretext I
used to stay in Istanbul
One day I said to Ahmed Efendi: “My parents are
dead. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, and I haven’t inherited any
property. I came to the center of Islam to work for a living and to learn Qur’ân al-kerîm and the Sunnat, that is, to
earn both my worldly needs and my life in the Hereafter.” He was very delighted
with these words of mine, and said, “You deserve to be respected for these
three reasons.” I am writing down exactly what he said:
“1- You are a Muslim. All Muslims are brothers.
2- You are a guest. Rasûlullah
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ declared: ‘Offer kind
hospitality to your guests!’
3- You want to work. There is a hadîth-i sherîf stating that ‘a person who works is beloved to Allah.’ ”
These words pleased me very much. I said to
myself, “Would that there were such bright truths in Christianity, too! It’s a
shame there aren’t any.” What surprised me was the fact that Islam, such a
noble religion as it was, was being degenerated in the hands of these conceited
people who were quite unaware of what was going on in life.
I said to Ahmed Efendi that I wanted to learn Qur’ân al-kerîm. He replied that he would
teach me with pleasure, and began to teach me (Fâtiha
sûra). He would explain the meanings as we read. I had
great difficulty pronouncing some words. In two years’ time I read through the
whole Qur’ân al-kerîm.
Before each lesson he would make an ablution and also command me to
make an ablution. He would sit towards the qibla
(Ka’ba) and then begin teaching.
What Muslims call ablution consisted of a series
of washings, as follows:
1) Washing the face;
2) Washing the right arm from fingers to elbows;
3) Washing the left arm from fingers to elbows;
4) Making masah of (moistening both hands and
rubbing them gently on) the head, backs of the ears, (back of) neck;
5) Washing both feet.
Having to use the miswâk vexed me very much.
“Miswâk” is a twig with which they (Muslims) clean their mouth and teeth. I
thought this piece of wood was harmful for the mouth and teeth. Sometimes it
would hurt my mouth and cause bleeding. Yet I had to use it. For, according to
them, using the “miswâk” was a muakkad sunnat of the Prophet. They said this wood was very useful.
Indeed, the bleeding of my teeth came to an end. And the foul breath that I had
had till that time, and which most British people have, was gone.
During my stay in Istanbul I spent the nights in a
room I had rented from a man responsible for the service in a mosque. This
servant’s name was “Marwân Efendi”. Marwân is the name of one of the Sahâba
(Companions) of the Prophet
Muhammad. The servant was a very nervous man. He would boast about his name and
tell me that if I should have a son in the future I should “name him Marwân,
because Marwân is one of Islam’s greatest warriors.”
“Marwân Efendi” would prepare the evening dinner.
I would not go to work on Friday, a holiday for Muslims. On the other days of
the week I worked for a carpenter named Khâlid, being paid on a weekly basis.
Because I worked part time, i.e. from morning till noon, he would give me half
the wage he gave the other employees. This carpenter would spend much of his
free time telling about the virtues of “Khâlid bin Walîd”. Khâlid bin Walîd,
one of the Sahâba of the Prophet
Muhammad, is a great mujâhid (a warrior for Islam). He accomplished various
Islamic conquests. Yet his (Khâlid bin Walîd’s) dismissal from office by ’Umar
bin Hattâb during the latter’s caliphate chafed the carpenter’s heart.[1]
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[1] When Ebû Ubayda bin Jerrâh, who was appointed
in Khâlid bin Walîd’s place, continued the conquests, it was realized that the
reason for the conquests was the help of Allâhu ta’âlâ, not Khâlid himself.
“Khâlid”, the carpenter for whom I worked, was an
immoral and extremely neurotic person. He somehow trusted me very much. I do
not know why, but perhaps it was because I always obeyed him. He ignored the
Sharî’at (Islam’s commandments) in his secret manners. Yet when he was with his
friends he would display obedience to the commandments of the Sharî’at. He
would attend the Friday prayers, but I am not sure about the other (daily)
prayers.
I would have breakfast in the shop. After work I
would go to the mosque for early afternoon prayer and would stay there till
late afternoon prayer. After late afternoon prayer I would go to Ahmed Efendi’s
place, where he would teach me such lessons as (reading) Qur’ân al-kerîm, Arabic and Turkish languages
for two hours. Every Friday I would give him my weekly earnings because he
taught me very well. Indeed, he taught me how to read Qur’ân al-kerîm very well, requirements of
the Islamic religion and the subtleties of Arabic and Turkish languages.
When “Ahmed Efendi” knew that I was single, he
wanted to marry me to one of his daughters. I refused his offer. But he
insisted, saying that marriage is a sunnat of the Prophet’s and that the Prophet had stated that “A person who turns away from my sunnat is not of me.” Apprehending
that this event might put an end to our personal dealings, I had to lie to him,
saying that I lacked sexual power. Thus I ensured the continuance of our
acquaintance and friendship.
When my two-year stay in Istanbul was over, I told
“Ahmed Efendi” I wanted to go back home. He said, “No, don’t go. Why are you
going? You can find anything you might look for in Istanbul. Allâhu ta’âlâ has placed both the religion
and the world at the same time in this city. You say that your parents are dead
and you have no brothers or sisters. Why don’t you settle down in Istanbul?...”
“Ahmed Efendi” had formed a compulsive dependence upon my company. For this
reason he did not want to part company with me and insisted that I should make
my home in Istanbul. But my patriotic sense of duty compelled me to go back to
London, to deliver a detailed report concerning the center of the caliphate, and
to take new orders.
Throughout my stay in Istanbul I sent reports of
my observations monthly to the Ministry of the Commonwealth. I remember asking
in one of my reports what I was to do should the person I was working for ask
me to practice sodomy with him. The reply was: You can do it if it will help
you attain your goal. I
was very much indignant over this answer. I felt
as if the whole world had fallen down on my head. I already knew that this
vicious deed was very common in England. Yet it had never occurred to me that
my superiors would command me to commit it. What could I do? I had no other way
than to empty the drug to the dregs. So I kept quiet and went on with my duty.
As I said farewell to “Ahmed Efendi”, his eyes
became wet and he said to me, “My son! May Allâhu
ta’âlâ be with you! If you should come back to Istanbul
and see that I am dead, remember me. Say the (sûra) Fâtiha for my soul! We will meet on
the Judgement Day before ‘Rasûlullah’.”
Indeed, I felt very sad, too; so much so that I shed warm tears. However, my
sense of duty was naturally stronger.