The worst of all the evils is to
deny (the existence of) Allâhu ta’âlâ, i.e. to be an atheist. It is kufr (disbelief) to deny the prophethood of Muhammad
‘alaihis-salâm’. Angels, human beings and genies (jinnîs) are enjoined to have
belief in the
tenets of belief. Belief means to accept by heart all the
commandments revealed to Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ by Allâhu ta’âlâ and delivered by him to us, and
to state this belief with the tongue. Place for the belief is the spiritual
heart (qalb). The spiritual heart is a power which exists in the biological
heart. Situations beyond one’s control, such as duress, illness, dumbness, and
sudden death, whereas there is no time, absolve are from the compulsion of
stating their belief with their tongue. Imitative belief, which one has
developed without understanding, is acceptable. It is sinful not to understand,
and not to think of, the existence of Allâhu ta’âlâ. To deny any one of the tenets of belief means to deny all of
them. However, it is considered as îmân to express belief in them as an
ensemble without knowing all the tenets individually. One of the indispensable
components of îmân is to avoid things which Islam prescribes as signs of kufr.
Some signs of kufr are: to flout any one of Islam’s principles, i.e. commands
and prohibitions, and to make fun of the Qur’ân
al-kerîm or any angel or prophet ‘alaihis-salâm’. To have doubts about things that are necessary to
believe would also mean disbelief.
There are three types of
disbelief: 1) disbelief out of ignorance (jahlî), 2)
disbelief out of obstinacy (juhűdî), and 3)
disbelief by judgement (hukmî).
1– Disbelief out of ignorance (kufr-i jahlî): This is the disbelief of those who have not heard (about a
certain Islamic tenet) and do not think about it. “Jahl” means ignorance. There are two types of ignorance.
a) Simple ignorance. People with
this ignorance know that they are ignorant. They do not have wrong belief. They
are like animals because what differentiates humans from the animals is
knowledge and understanding. These people are even lower than animals because
every animal is advanced in the special field which it is created for and it
senses what is useful for itself and has propensity to it. It also senses what
is harmful for itself and keeps away from it. On the other hand, these ignorant
people know that they do not know but they do not take any step away from their
ignorance and towards knowledge.
[Imâm ar-Rabbânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ says
the following in the 259th letter of the first volume of his book Maktűbât:
“As I understand it, people who were raised in the mountains and never heard of
any religion and were idol worshippers will go
neither
to Hell nor to Paradise. After rising from death, they will be questioned about
their deeds and after paying necessary retribution and punishment for their
wrong doings, they will be annihilated along with other animals. They will not
stay in any station forever. It is very hard for me to say that Allâhu ta’âlâ will punish those people in Hell fire
eternally because they could not find the right path or the true religion with
their minds or intellect while we witness daily that most people make mistakes
even in their worldly affairs. Moreover, those children of disbelievers who die
before reaching puberty will be annihilated likewise.
Another group who will go
neither to Hell nor to Paradise are those people who lived in the places and
times of no Divine Guidance. Such is the case when a long period passes after
the life of a prophet and the religion brought by him is forgotten or changed by cruel
people so that people can not know about prophets or true religions. Lastly, people who live in disbelievers’
countries and have not heard of Islam will not go to Hell or to Paradise; they
will be annihilated.”]
It is farz[1] to learn the tenets of
belief and, of those Islamic teachings which pertain to farâid (commandments)
and harâms (prohibitions), the commonly known and necessary ones. It is harâm
(forbidden) not to learn them. In fact, it is kufr to trifle with learning them
after having heard about them. The antidote to ignorance is to study and learn.
b) The second type of ignorance
is compound ignorance (jahl al-murakkab), which
means to have a wrong and corrupt belief. The belief of ancient Greek
philosophers and the people among the seventy-two heretical groups of Muslims
who lose their îmân exemplify this type of ignorance. This type of ignorance is
worse than the first type. It is a disease that has no remedy. Jesus (Îsâ
‘alaihis-salâm’) said, “I have cured deaf and dumb people and resuscitated dead
bodies. Yet I have not found medicine for compound ignorance.” This group of people don’t consider themselves as ignorant.
Instead, they hold themselves and their knowledge superior to others. They are
not aware of their illness, so they do not seek remedy. Only those who are
given Divine Assistance can come to their senses so to understand their illness
and seek remedy for it.
---------------------------------
[1] Farz (or fard) means (any behaviour
or thought or belief which is) obligatory. Islam’s open commandments are called
fard (pl. farâid).
2– Disbelief out of obstinacy (kufr-i-juhűdî):
People who are in this group choose disbelief knowingly either because they are
fond of worldly ranks or they are haughty or they are afraid that people may
despise them when they convert to a new religion. For example, Pharaoh and his
companions had this type of disbelief. Although they witnessed the miracles of
Moses (Műsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’) they preferred to stay in disbelief and said that
they would not believe in someone who was a man like themselves. They did not
accept that a man like themselves could be a prophet.
They supposed that a prophet should be from
among angels. Paradoxically, however, they worshipped Pharaoh, who was a man
like themselves. Also, the Byzantine emperor Heracles preferred to stay in
disbelief knowingly because he loved his throne very much and thought that if
he would change his religion, he would lose his throne. Byzantine kings were
called Emperor or Caesar. Persian kings were called Chosroes. Ethiopian kings
were called Negus. Turkish kings were called Khan. Coptic or Gypsy kings were
called Pharaoh. Egyptian kings were called “Azîz.” Himyarite kings were called
Tubba. One of the companions of our Prophet,
Dihya ‘radiy-allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ delivered a
letter from Prophet Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sal-lam’ to the Byzantine emperor Heracles in Damascus. He was invited
to Islam with that letter. A business caravan of Meccan unbelievers had arrived
in Damascus the previous evening. Heracles invited their leader, Abű Sufyân to
his mansion and asked him: I have heard that someone in Medina claims to be a Prophet. Is he one of the nobles or one of a lower
class? Has anyone before him also claimed to be a Prophet?
Was any of his ancestors an Amir or Malik? {Titles given to a ruling person.}
Do the people who join his ranks belong to wealthy families or are they poor
and incompetent people? Is his call to the new religion making progress? Do any
of those who join his religion later renounce it? Has he ever been seen to tell
a lie or break his promise? Is he winning or losing his wars? When Abű Sufyân
answered all these questions, Heracles said that all these answers showed that
he was a true Prophet. Biassed and jealous, Abű
Sufyân contravened: “He told some lies, though. For instance, he said that he
had travelled from Mekka to al-Aqsâ in Jerusalem overnight.” Upon
hearing this, one of the people in the presence of Heracles joined the
conversation and
said
that he had been at al-Aqsâ in Jerusalem that night and told them everything
that he had witnessed that night. The following day, Heracles received the
Sahâbî Dihya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, had the letter read for him, professed his
belief in (the facts written in) the letter, and told Dihya that he believed
that Muhammed ‘alaihis-salâm’ was the Prophet.
However, he was afraid to let his people know about his conversion to Islam. He
told Dihya to take that letter to a certain priest and said that he was a very
knowledgeable person and that he thought that he also would believe what was in
the letter. As soon as the priest read the letter he accepted the message and
the invitation of the new faith, and also invited people around him to this new
faith. Yet the people killed him instead. Dihya went back to Heracles and
reported what had happened. Heracles answered that he had known that that would
happen and that was why he had not told anyone about his acceptance of the new
faith. He wrote a letter to Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sal-lam’ and reported his belief. Later, he went to the Capital city
Hamus and, where he received a letter from one of his servants informing the prophethood of Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sal-lam’ and his accomplishments. He gathered the leading personalities of his
community and had the letter read for them, and then he told them that he
believed in his prophethood. All the people who
gathered around him severely opposed and objected to that news. Upon seeing the
severity of the situation he understood that they would not believe, so, he
apologized to them and told them that he was testing the strength of their
attachment to their religion. People who were opposing him calmed down with his
answers and prostrated themselves before him and expressed their attachment to
him. Thus he preferred kufr to îmân lest he should lose his throne. Later, he
sent an army to the place known as Muta to fight with the Muslims. At that war
many Muslims were martyred. As a matter of fact, when Heracles’s letter of
affimation arrived and was read for the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sal-lam’, he said, “He is lying. He has not changed his faith of Christianity.”
A copy of the prophetic letter which was sent to
Heracles exists in the book of hadîth-i-sherîfs
entitled Sahîh al-Bukhârî, as well as in the
books Mawâhib
and Berîqa.
3– Disbelief by judgement (kufr-i-hukmî).
A person who says or does something which Islam dictates as a sign of
disbelief
will become a disbeliever even though he really believes by heart and professes
to be a Muslim. It is kufr to mock, to insult or to despise anything which
Islam holds valuable or precious. Anyone who says something which is not worthy
of Allâhu ta’âlâ becomes a disbeliever. Examples
of deeds which cause kufr are: To say, for instance, “Allâhu
ta’âlâ is observing us from the Arsh or from heaven,” or “Allâhu ta’âlâ is wronging you as you have wronged me,”
or to name a certain Muslim and say, “He seems like a Jew to me,” or to tell a
lie and then add, “Allah knows that it is true,” or to say something derogatory
to the Qur’ân al-kerîm or even to one of its
letters, or to make a snide comment on angels, or to deny even one of the
letters of the Qur’ân al-kerîm, or to read the Qur’ân al-kerîm in the company of musical instruments,
or to deny or denigrate the original versions of the Bible and the Torah, or to
read the Qur’ân al-kerîm with letters called shâz[1] and claim to have read the real
Qur’ân, or to make derogatory comments about prophets,
or to deny any one of the twenty-five prophets
‘alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-taslîmât’ whose names are mentioned in the Qur’ân al-kerîm, or to despise one of the commonly
known sunnats, or to say, for instance, “He is better than a prophet,” about a person known for his charitable
deeds. It is an act of kufr to say that prophets
‘alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-taslîmât’ were needy people, for prophets’ poverty was their own choice. If a person
claims to be a prophet, he and those who believe
him will become disbelievers. If a person hears the hadîth-i-sherîf,
“Between
my grave and my minbar is one of the Gardens of Paradise,”
and says, “I do not see anything but a grave, a mat, and a minbar,” he becomes
a disbeliever. It is kufr to make fun of the events that will take place in the
Hereafter. It is an act of kufr to deny the torment that will be inflicted in
the grave or in the Hereafter, [or to say that it is not reasonable,] to deny
that Believers will see Allâhu ta’âlâ in
Paradise or to say, for instance, “I don’t want Paradise. I want to see Allah.”
Words that are symptomatic of denying Islam are: To say, for instance,
Scientific knowledge is better than Islamic knowledge,” or to say, “It makes no
difference whether I perform (the daily prayers termed) namâz,” or to say, “I
will not
---------------------------------
[1] Please see our other publications for
this term as well as for the other Islamic terms used in the text.
pay (Islam’s obligatory alms called) zakât,” or to say, “I wish
ribâ (interest) were halâl,” or to say, “Zulm (cruelty) should be halâl.” It is
an act of disbelief to expect thawâb (reward in the Hereafter) from an act of
almsgiving realized from property which has been earned through ways which
Islam prohibits and calls harâm, or for the poor person to ask a blessing on
the almsgiver although the alms he has been given comes from property earned
through such an illegal way and he knows it, or to claim that the qiyas
performed by Imâm a’zam Abű Hanîfa ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ is not valid. The
fifty-seventh âyat-i-kerîma of Sűra A’râf purports: “It is He (Allâhu ta’âlâ) Who sendeth the Winds
like heralds of glad tidings, going before His Mercy: when they have carried
the heavy-laden clouds, We drive them to a land that is dead, make rain to
descend thereon, and produce every kind of harvest therewith: thus shall We
raise up the dead: perchance ye may remember.”
(7-57) This âyat-i-kerîma proves that qiyâs is valid (haqq). In this âyat-i-kerîma
a controversial subject is compared with a subject which is unanimously known.
Since everyone knows that Allâhu ta’âlâ makes the rain and raises the grass from the soil, this
âyat-i-kerîma proves by way of analogy that resurrection of dead bodies resembles
the raising of green grass out of dead soil.
It is kufr-i-juhűdî (disbelief
out of obstinacy) to deny Islam’s teachings or to despise these teachings or
Islamic scholars.
Anyone who desires to become a
disbeliever will become one as soon as he intends to become a disbeliever.
Anyone who wishes others to become disbelievers will himself become a
disbeliever if he wants them to become disbelievers because he himself likes
disbelief. He will not become a disbeliever if he wants them to become disbelievers
because they are evil, oppressive people and he wants them to be punished in
Hell fire because of their oppressive behavior. A person will become a
disbeliever if he says the words that cause disbelief intentionally and
wilfully. If he says these words by mistake, e.g., because he does not know
that saying these words will cause disbelief he will still become a
disbeliever. If a person utters a word which causes disbelief, by mistake,
although he did not mean to do so, he will not become a disbeliever.
A deliberate practice of any deed which is
known to be a cause of kufr, results in kufr. There are many scholars who say
that
it will also cause disbelief even when one does not know that doing that deed
will cause disbelief. To wear a rope-like belt (zunnâr) round
waist or to wear anything which is a sign of disbelief will cause one to become
a disbeliever.[1] So is the case with
using or wearing other signs of disbelief. It is not disbelief (kufr), however,
to use or wear such things in warfare as tricks to dupe the enemy or in
peace-time for the purpose of disguise to protect yourself against the possible
harms of an oppressive administration. But, if a businessman uses these to
disguise himself in the disbelievers’ country, he will become a disbeliever.
Using these things to make jokes or to make others laugh will cause one to
become a disbeliever, even though one might have correct belief. When
disbelievers are celebrating their holy days, doing religious things that are
practiced by them for that special day will cause disbelief. Also, giving those
things, which are special for the religious holy day, to them as gifts will
cause disbelief. {For example, during the Easter holy day of Christians,
painting eggs and giving them as gifts to Christian children will cause
disbelief.} It is not a requirement for the nafs to believe in order to become
a Muslim. A Muslim may experience in his heart certain feelings like things
that cause disbelief. These things come to his heart from his nafs. If he does
not say those things through his tongue, it will show the strength of his
belief. We should not call those who use things that cause disbelief
‘disbelievers’. If something done or said by a certain Muslim bears ninety-nine
symptoms of kufr (disbelief) and only one symptom of îmân (belief), this person
cannot be called a disbeliever. We are enjoined to have a good opinion (husn-i-zân)
about other Muslims.
Statements which are made to
show that one is a man of literature or a knowledgeable and wise person, or
only to amaze others or to make others laugh or to please others, may cause
disbelief by judgement (kufr al-hukmî). Saying
certain things while one is in a fury may also cause disbelief by judgement.
For this reason, Every Muslim should think of the consequences before he opens
his mouth or before he does some action. In anything he does, his faith should
take priority over other considerations. He should never take any sin lightly.
For example, upon committing a venial sin, if he is reminded by
---------------------------------
[1] Zunnâr is a rope girdle worn by
Christian priests.
others that he should repent for that venial sin and if he replies
that he did not do anything which would require repentance, or if he says, for
instance, “Why should I repent?” or makes other similar retorts, his response
will cause disbelief. If a girl, who was married (by her parents) to a Muslim
with (the Islamic marriage contract termed) nikâh[1] as she was a child,
does not know Islam and its credal tenets, or cannot answer questions asked on
them, after reaching the age of discretion and puberty, her nikâh (marriage
bond as recognized by Islam) becomes null and void. For, validity and
maintenance of nikâh require holding a belief as prescribed by Islam, (which in
turn entails knowing Islam’s tenets of belief [îmân, i’tiqâd]). A Muslim child
is theoretically a Muslim, for its faith depends on its parents’ faith. Once it
reaches puberty, its credal status will no longer depend on its parents’. The
same rule applies to a male child as well. When a person murders a Muslim or
someone orders another to kill a Muslim, if a person witnesses this and utters
words of approval, such as, “Well done!” he becomes a disbeliever. Saying that
so and so should be killed would cause disbelief if according to Islam’s penal
code that person should not be killed. If a person beats or kills another
unjustly, it is kufr (disbelief) to approve of his cruel act by saying, for
instance, “You ’ve done a very good job. He deserved it!” To lie in the name of
Allah by saying, for instance, “As Allah knows, I love you more than I do my
own children,” is kufr. If a person occupying a high rank sneezes and someone
in his presence says to him, “Yarhamukallah,” it
is kufr to remonstrate with that person by saying, for instance, “You shouldn’t
talk to a dignitary like that!”[2] It is kufr also not to take Islam’s commandments seriously. For
instance, not to pray, not to perform the obligatory almsgiving (zakât) because
one does not consider them important things causes disbelief. To become
hopeless of the mercy of Allâhu ta’âlâ also causes disbelief.
Money, property or belongings
that are not normally prohibited (harâm) but become
prohibited later due to an
---------------------------------
[1] Please see the twelfth chapter of the
fifth fascicle of Endless Bliss for ‘nikâh’.
[2] When a Muslim sneezes, it is an act
of sunnat for him to say. “Al-hamd-u-lillah”. And it is an act of farz for (any
one of) those who hear him to say, “Yarhamukallah.”
external
cause or reason are called “harâm li-gayrihi”, e.g., stolen things or
things that are obtained by forbidden means. Calling them permissible (halâl)
does not cause disbelief. Things such as carcass, pork, and wine, which are
forbidden in essence are called “harâm li-’aynihi”.
Calling them permissible causes disbelief. Calling any of the certainly known
sins permissible causes disbelief. Belittling or making mockery of things that
are held respectable by Islam, i.e., “azân”, mosque, fiqh-books, also causes
disbelief. [The call to prayer (azân) which is heard from the
radio or from the loud speaker is not the real “azân.” It is a facsimile of the
real “azân.” A facsimile of something is different from the real one.]
Performing prayers under the following conditions causes disbelief: while one
knows that one does not have ablution (wudű) or one knows that the
time of “salât” has not come yet or while one knows that one is praying in a
direction other than the direction of Mecca (Qibla).
Calling a Muslim a disbeliever to show his evil character will not cause
disbelief. As is written above, it would cause disbelief if calling him so was
intended to express one’s wish that that Muslim were a disbeliever. Committing
a sin would not cause disbelief; yet it would cause disbelief to slight it or
to be inattentive to whether it is a sin or not, causes disbelief. Not
believing that worship is necessary or that abstaining from sins is necessary,
causes disbelief. Believing that the tax collected from the people becomes
property of the ruler (Sultan), causes disbelief. According to “Sadr ul-Islâm”
it is permissible (jâiz) to say that Walî of
Allâhu ta’âlâ can be seen on the same day and at the same hour at
different places of the earth simultaneously. “Fiqh” books report that a man
and a woman who live far apart, e.g., man lives in the West, (for example in
Spain) and woman lives in the East (in India) may have children. According to
the great scholar Umar Nasafî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’, it is permissible {It can
happen} that Allâhu ta’âlâ gives wonders (karâmat)
to His beloved Awliyâ by suspending His law of causation, and this statement is
true. Questions like “What is Islam” or “What is belief” should not be directed
to ignorant people. Instead, answers to these questions should be explained
first and then they should be asked if it is so. This procedure should be
applied to a couple about to marry each other, before (the marriage contract
termed) nikâh, in order to see if they have
îmân
(belief). When we see a person do or say something symptomatic of disbelief, we
should not call him a disbeliever; we should not have sű-i-zân (a bad opinion)
about him unless we are sure that he chooses disbelief and that he flouts the
Sharî’at.
If a Muslim willingly does some action or
says something which is unanimously reported to cause disbelief, he becomes a
disbeliever, i.e., he becomes an apostate (murtad).
All his previous worships, good deeds and earned rewards (thawâbs) perish.
If he becomes a Muslim again, if he is rich, he has to renew the pilgrimage (hajj).
But he does not have to reperform his previous acts of worship such as namâz,
fast, and hajj (if he performed them before his apostasy). However, those
prayers which he omitted before apostasy will have to be performed. A person’s
apostasy will not absolve him from the sins he committed before apostasy. Yet
it will annul his nikâh. The children he has had during the time between his
apostasy and his renewing his îmân and his nikâh, will be illegitimate. If he
kills an animal (during the period of apostasy), the animal he has killed becomes
a mere carcass and cannot be consumed. A person who becomes an apostate cannot
become a Muslim again only by saying the (special expression termed) Kalima-i-shahâdat
or by performing namâz, unless he repents and renounces the deed which caused
his apostasy. His denial of the deed which caused his apostasy should be
construed as repentance. If he dies before making repentance, he will be
punished in Hell-fire forever. For all these reasons, we should be very much
afraid of disbelief and therefore talk very little. It is reported in a hadîth-i-sherîf, “Always say useful things or else keep
silent!” One should have a serious character and
should not be a person who plays or jokes all the time. One should not do
things that are not compatible with religion, reason or humanity. One should
pray much and seek refuge in Allâhu ta’âlâ so
that one may be protected from disbelief. It is stated as follows in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “Be mindful and avoid ‘shirk’. ‘Shirk’
is more sneaky than the sound produced by an ant walking.”
“Shirk” in this hadîth-i-sherîf means disbelief.
When they asked how one could avoid such a secret disbelief the Best of Mankind
explained: “Read the following prayer: Allâhumma innâ na’űzu bika
an-nushrika-bika shay’an na’lamuhu wa nastaghfiruka lima lâ-na’lamuhu.”
One
should
repeat this prayer often during the mornings and evenings. It is reported
unanimously that disbelievers will never enter Paradise and will be punished in
Hell-fire forever. If a disbeliever would live in the world forever, he would
intend to live as a disbeliever forever. Therefore, he deserves punishment
forever. Allâhu ta’âlâ is the Creator and Owner
of everything. He has a right to do anything He wishes. No one has a right to
question Him why He does this or that. The owner of something can use that
thing anyway he wishes and the method of using that thing cannot be called
oppression. Allâhu ta’âlâ declares in the Qur’ân al-kerîm that He is not an oppressor and He
does not oppress any of His creatures.
[Allâhu
ta’âlâ has Names (Asmâ al-husnâ), which are eternal like His Self. One of these ninety-nine Names
is “Muntaqim” and another one is “Shadîd ul-iqâb” and due to these two Names He created the seven pits of Hell. He
also has Names like “Rahmân”, “Rahîm”, “Gaffâr”, “Latîf”, and “Raűf”. He created the eight Gardens
of Paradise due to these Names. He discriminated those things that will be
causes to go to Paradise or Hell, in eternity. Owing to His infinite Mercy, He
communicated these to His slaves. He repeatedly warned them by saying, “Do not commit actions
which will take you to Hell! Its fire is very strong. You cannot bear that
fire!” He invited people to do the actions which will cause
them to live in peace and happiness in this world and in the next and lead them
to the eternal fruits of Paradise. He gave wisdom, freedom of choice and will
power to his human creatures so that they may use these to accept or reject His
invitation. Allâhu ta’âlâ did not
decree in the eternal past that anyone should go to Hell or that anyone should
do such and such actions which would take them to Hell. But, He knew in
eternity who in their earthly lives would choose a way of life which would take
them into Paradise and who would take a path which would lead them to Hell. His
destiny (“Qadâ” and “Qadar”) is eternal as well as His
knowledge (’Ilm). In the Qur’ân al-kerîm, He communicates that
Abű Lahab will go to Hell. This communication is not due to His Decree in the
eternal past but it is because He knew in eternity that he would choose the
path of Hell.]
Having belief is very easy. It
is necessary (wâjib) for everyone to think, observe
and ponder about the existing order, balance and harmony among the created
things and beings.
The order that exists in an atom or in the solar system or
everything in between and their relationships to each other clearly shows that
these things do not exist by chance. They were created by an all-knowing,
all-wise and all-powerful Being. A person who possesses the ability to think
clearly can see, when he studies the subjects like astronomy, science, biology
and medicine taught in high schools and universities, that the created things
have a creator. It is impossible for such a creator to have any kind of defect.
Prophet Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sal-lam’ is His Messenger. Whatever he communicated was revealed to
him by the Creator. This reasoning engenders belief in Him. When a person wise
enough learns that disbelievers or people who die as disbelievers will stay in
Hell forever and Believers will live among the blessings of Paradise forever,
he becomes a Muslim willingly and lovingly. [Ibrâhîm Haqqi, ‘rahimahullâhu
ta’âlâ’ of Erzurum/Turkey, (died 1195 A.D., 1781 Hijrî at Si’rid/Turkey) states
the following in the ninth chapter of his book Ma’rifatnâma:
“Knowledge of science and astronomy and machinery and factories are based on experiments and intellectual activity. Therefore, by the passage of time new information proves that the old information was wrong. Old or new, wrong or right all scientific knowledge points out that the universe was created out of nothing and that it is a necessity to believe in a Creator who has infinite knowledge and power.” Anyone who reads the beautiful moral character and miracles of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ understands that he is the Prophet.]