This letter, written for
Sayyid Muhibbullah Manqpûrî, expatiates on the meanings secreted in the
statement termed Kalima-i-tawhîd:
May hamd be to Allâhu ta’âlâ, and salâms and perfections be over His born slaves whom He has chosen and loves! Lâ ilâha illâ-Allah!’ This statement means: Allâhu ta’âlâ, alone, has the right of ulûhiyyat and ma’bûdiyyat. He does not have a partner, a co-owner, or a likeness. He is the Wâjib-ul-wujûd; His
existence is definitely indispensable. Attributes and symptoms of imperfection and creatableness do not exist in Him. Ma’bûd means ‘something
worshipped’. ’Ibâdat means ‘to serve as a qul’, ‘to worship’, i.e. khudhû’ and
tezellul. In other words, it means to humiliate oneself. A Being who possesses
all Attributes of Perfection, Highness, and Goodness, who does not have any
imperfection, who is needed by all beings so that they may exist and continue
existing, who does not need anything for anything, who, alone, can be of
benefit or cause harm to all, and nothing can be of benefit or cause harm to
anything else without His permission and order, and who always exists and the
only Being who always exists, all others being nonexistent both in the
beginning and in the end, is the only Being to be worshipped. Only such a
person is possessed of the right to be worshipped. And such a person is Allâhu
ta’âlâ, alone, and no one else; nor can another such person exist. If we should
say that another person also possesses these attributes of perfection, then
That other Person cannot be said to be ‘another person’. Being another person
will require being a different person. If we should think of such another
person as a person different from Him and other than Him, then that second
person will be short of fulfilling the conditions for ulûhiyyat and
ma’bûdiyyat. So he will not have the right of ulûhiyyat and ma’bûdiyyat. For,
in order for that second person to be different from the first one, the second
person will have to lack one of the attributes required for being a ma’bûd,
which in turn means imperfection on the part of the second one. If we should
suppose that the second one has all the attributes of perfection and yet let
him retain one of the attributes of imperfection so that it should be different
from the first one, this, again, will mean imperfection on his part. For
instance, supposing he is a being not needed by all, then why should those who
do not need him need to need him? Supposing he needs something in a certain
respect; this also will means imperfection.
Supposing
benefit or harm to all does not come from him, then why should he be needed, and why should he be worthy of being worshipped? Supposing another person is capable of being of benefit or causing harm to something without his permission or knowledge, in that case also he will
be a being not needed, and he will not be worthy of being worshipped. There has to be only one Being who is the sole possessor of all attributes of perfection,
only one, without a partner, and who is the only One Being who is worthy of being worshipped. And that one Being is
Allâhu ta’âlâ.
Question: Granted that there
cannot be a second ma’bûd different in the respects cited, can’t there be
another ma’bûd possessed of other attributes that we do not know? Thus that
other being will not be imperfect, either?
Answer: Those supposed
attributes of his that we do not know will have to be either attributes of
perfection or those of imperfection, in either of which cases a
contrary-to-fact situation will exist, and that other supposed being will have
to be imperfect. There is another point of view from which we would like to
explain that no one other than Allâhu ta’âlâ is worthy of being worshipped: Since Allâhu ta’âlâ is capable of meeting
the needs of all beings so that they survive and all sorts of benefit and harm
to everything come from Him, the other ma’bûd will have to stay aside, unemployed.
Nothing will need that other ma’bûd. Then, why should he have any right to be
worshipped? In other words, why should it be necessary to humiliate and debase
oneself before him? Unbelievers worship and entreat beings other than Allâhu ta’âlâ and expect them to
give them their needs. They worship idols and icons that they themselves make.
They say that those things will intercede for them and help them in the
Hereafter. They are so wrong. How do they know that those things will intercede
for them? How anomalous and ultimately suicidal a policy it is to attribute a
partner to
Allâhu ta’âlâ in one’s acts of worship, especially when one’s mere incentive
is personal surmise or misguidance on someone else’s part. Worship is not
something so simple or so unimportant as to be squandered by idolizing a dead
person, a rock-hewn statue, or an icon. One simply does not attach the right of
being worshipped on a weakling that is even more helpless than oneself. The
right of being worshipped cannot sustain absence of ulûhiyyat. Worship will be
offered only to a being possessed of the Attributes of Ulûhiyyat. A being that does
not have these attributes does not have the right to be worshipped. And the
primary condition for ulûhiyyat is being wâjib-ul-wujûd.
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In other words, it is essential to be an
indispensable existence, a being whose existence is definitely necessary. A
being whose existence is dispensable cannot be an ‘ilâh’ and will not be worthy
of being worshipped. How idiotic and eccentric they are to avow, on the one
hand, that no existence but that of Allâhu ta’âlâ is indispensable, and to worship others, on the other. They do
not know that being a ma’bûd, i.e. being worshipped, requires being an
indispensable, definitely necessary existence. Since there is no one but Allâhu ta’âlâ whose existence is
definitely necessary, it inexorably follows that no one but Allâhu ta’âlâ must be worthy of
being worshipped. To worship a being other than Him means to deem that being
also as indispensable.
Consequently, by
reiterating the kalima-i-tayyiba, Lâ ilâha illâ-Allah’, time and again, one avows that no one but Allâhu ta’âlâ is the wâjib-ul-wujûd
and that no one but Allâhu ta’âlâ has the right to be worshipped. Of these two facts, the one that
another being does not have the right to be worshipped yields the most benefit,
which is a fact that has been declared only by Prophets ‘’alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-teslîmât’. The fact that existence
of something other than Allâhu ta’âlâ is not necessary, and that there is only one wâjib-ul-wujûd, is
avowed also by non-followers of Prophets ‘’alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-tahiyyât’. Those people, however,
lose their way in the matter of being worthy of worship. Failing to realize
that there is no one but Allâhu ta’âlâ who deserves to be worshipped, they lapse into an unscrupulous
state of worshipping others. So they see no reason for not building churches
for this purpose. It is Prophets ‘’alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-tahiyyât’, alone, who annihilate
churches and prevent people from worshipping idols and icons or a human being
dead or alive. These blessed people, (i.e. Prophets,) have called those who worship beings other than Allâhu ta’âlâ mushriks (polytheists). They
have explained that mushriks are still mushriks even if they say, “Any
existence other than that of Allâhu ta’âlâ is dispensable. It makes no difference whether someone other
than Him is existent or non-existent. He, alone, is the Wâjib-ul-wujûd,” since
they worship others. For, what they, (i.e. Prophets,) have attributed paramount importance to is to not worship anyone but
Allâhu ta’âlâ. In other words, actions, and not words, have been of value in their view. For, when no one other than Him has the right to be worshipped, it
becomes manifest that no one but He is the Wâjib-ul-wujûd. Then, unless a person adapts himself to the religious teachings revealed to Prophets and thereby knows
that no one other than
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Allâhu ta’âlâ is worthy of being worshipped, he will not safeguard himself against polytheism and being a mushrik. He will not be
immune from the varieties of shirk (polytheism) or from worshipping the idols inside and outside the human nature. It is only the religious tenets taught by Prophets ‘’alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-teslîmât’ that will protect
mankind from that. And Prophets’ ‘’alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-teslîmât’ mission has been to
guide mankind to a way of life whereby to attain this great fortune and
blessing. It will not fall to one’s lot to be safe against polytheism unless
one adapts oneself to those superior people. Tawhîd will be impossible unless
one joins their followers. The forty-eighth and the hundred and sixteenth
âyat-i-kerîmas of Nisâ Sûra purport: “Allâhu ta’âlâ shall not forgive the mushrik.” ‘Mushrik’ in this
context means ‘unbeliever’. For, it is unbelief to deny (Prophet’s) religions. Shirk
(polytheism) is one of the varieties of that unbelief. It is a statement in
which the entire species is represented by one of its varieties. Therefore, as
polytheism shall not be forgiven, likewise a person who denies one of Islam’s
tenets shall not be forgiven, since he will become an unbeliever on account of
his denial. Then, it would be out of place to say, “Why does the âyat-i-kerîma
state only that polytheism shall not be forgiven?”
That no one other than Allâhu ta’âlâ is worthy of being
worshipped is a fact that can be seen writ large. In fact, it is intuitive.
That is, it will appear in one’s mind without the need for conscious reasoning.
If a person understands well what ‘worship’ means and ponders deeply on the
Attributes of
Allâhu ta’âlâ which we have explained above, he will immediately know that no
one other than Him is worthy of being worshipped. Arguments presented to show
this fact are, so to speak, efforts in labouring the obvious. It is out of the
question to refute or to reject or to dispute arguments of this sort. Seeing
this fact without the need for such arguments requires having attained the nûr
of îmân, the light of îmân. There is many an obvious and self-evident fact that
addle-brained and thick-headed idiots cannot see. And there is many a sickly
and neurotic person who cannot discern many obvious facts, conspicuous and
inconspicuous ones alike.
Question: Great people of
Tasawwuf ‘qaddas-Allâhu ta’âlâ esrârahum’ say: “Your desires are your ma’bûd.”
What does that mean, and what is the truth behind it?
Answer: If a person’s
purpose and desire is something that they focus all their attention on, which
they yearn for, which they try to obtain as long as they live and at all costs
including all sorts of
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humiliation and debasement, and which they would never desist
from for anything, that desire of theirs becomes their ma’bûd (somethat they
worship), and the state they are in is (a glorification called) worship. For,
worship is the nadir of humiliation and self-effacement. Knowing no ma’bûd but Allâhu ta’âlâ requires having no other purpose or desire than
Allâhu ta’âlâ. Therefore, as one says, “Lâ ilâha illâ-Allah,” one should know that there is no other maqsûd (purpose, wish, desire) than
Allâhu ta’âlâ. They, (i.e. the aforesaid great people of Tasawwuf,) repeat this expression, (i.e. the statement, ‘Lâ
ilâha il-l-Allah’,) so many times with that meaning in their imagination that they no longer have any (other) maqsûd. (In that spiritual state) they wish for
nothing but Allâhu ta’âlâ. Thus, their statement, “We have no other ma’bûd.” becomes a truth, since they have rid themselves of
all other ilâhs (deities). To do away with all ones maqsûds other than Him and thereby attain a spiritual state wherein one no longer has any ma’bûd but Him is
an essential prerequisite of a perfect îmân, and that spiritual state is peculiar to (beloved slaves of Allâhu ta’âlâ whom we call) Awliyâ. It is dependent on one’s ridding oneself
of the ma’bûds inherent in one’s nature. This elevated spiritual state will not
be attained unless the (malignant being that is inherent in man’s nature and
which is called) nafs (-al-ammâra) attains (the spiritual purity and maturity
called) itmi’nân. And the itmi’nân of the nafs follows the attainment of the
spiritual grades called Fanâ and Baqâ. (Please see the thirty-eighth chapter of
the first fascicle, and also the twenty-fifth chaper of the fourth fascicle, of
Endless
Bliss for
the terms ‘Fanâ’ and ‘Baqâ’.) The essence of the brilliant religion of Islam
and the basis of its lightsome path leading to se’âdet-i-ebediyye (endless
bliss) is facility, simplicity, and deliverance of born slaves from hardships
and toilsome undertakings. For, men are weak and delicate by creation. So,
Islam says, “If a person goes out of Islam in order to attain his goal –may Allâhu ta’âlâ protect us from doing so–, [for instance if he ignores one of the (compulsory acts that are called)
farz or commits a (forbidden act called) harâm, i.e. if he neglects namâz or fast or drinks alcoholic beverages or goes about without properly covering his
body, that goal of his becomes his ma’bûd. If he does not go out of Islam for the sake of his maqsûd (goal), if, for instance, he does not commit a harâm in
order to obtain his maqsûd, Islam will not reject or interdict that maqsûd or deem it as his maqsûd and says that his maqsûd is
Allâhu ta’âlâ, alone, for he has been observing His religion, Islam. That maqsûd has
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appealed to that person’s nature and a desire has arisen for
that maqsûd. Yet that desire has been outshone by his desire for Islam.
Because teachings of Tasawwuf make îmân atain perfection, there should not be a maqsûd other than
Allâhu ta’âlâ. For, if there should be another maqsûd, that person’s desire, with the help of his nafs, may
sometimes tower over his maqsûd’s being Allâhu ta’âlâ. The desire to attain that goal may choke the desire to attain the grace of Allâhu
ta’âlâ and
cause eternal, endless perdition. Therefore, absolutely no other maqsûds should
be allowed to remain in the maturation of îmân. Thus îmân will be protected and
insured against diminishing and fading away. Yes. Some fortunate people are
given irâda (will) and ihtiyâr (option) again after they have been freed from
their own ihtiyâr and irâda. After their irâda-i-juz’iyya have gone away from
them, those blessed people are honoured with irâda-i-kulliya.
[We have said that
teachings of Tasawwuf make îmân attain perfection. Tasawwuf means to follow the
way guided by Muhammad ‘’alaihis-salâm’, to follow in his footsteps. In other
words, it means to adhere to Islam in all one’s words and actions, in
everything. It is a shame, however, that for quite a long time a number of
ignorant and fâsiq people, with the ignoble purpose of obtaining their base
wishes, established various guilds by exploiting the names of our valuable
sholars and caused the Islamic religion to degenerate and collapse. Especially
in recent years all the tekkas (convents of Tasawwuf) were already awash with
bid’ats and harâms and the name of ‘tarîqa’ was being manipulated as a most
effective means for destroying Islam. Music was inserted into the tekkas.
Ferocious revels and dances in the accompaniment of musical instruments and
wild chantings were being called worship. Bid’ats such as ‘Turkish religious
music’, etc. were invented. That all these things are bid’ats is written and
explained in detail in Qâdi-Zâda’s commentary to the Turkish book Birgivî Vasiyyetnâmesi.
We have been hearing
about some people masquerading as shaikhs and men of tarîqa and performing
feats such as putting fire into their mouths, blowing flames out of their
mouths, sprawling in the middle of a street and letting lorries run over them
without them being hurt a bit, as the eye-witnesses relate. Simpletons who
watch them believe their lies that their feats are karâmât. Allâhu ta’âlâ informs that such
people existed in the time of Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, too, and calls their feats
‘magic’, not ‘karâmât’. Such sleights of hand are explained in the hundred and
nineteenth page
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of the book entitled Fatâwâ-i-hadîthiyya, as well as in the final section of the two hundred and
sixty-sixth letter of Maktûbât and in its third volume, and a fatwâ declaring that they are
among acts of harâm has been issued. (Please scan the last eight paragraphs of
the first chapter of the second fascicle of Endless Bliss!) Also the books
entitled Hadîqa
and Berîqa contain lengthy
explanations that magicians, false shaikhs, and impostors in the name of men of
‘tarîqa’ are abject liars. Those two books explain the bitter fact that such
people are not men of religion, but they are fiends whose real purpose is to
misguide Muslims. Their shows are not religious acts; on the contrary, they are
irreligious stratagems. The non-Muslim clowns, acrobats, and jugglers in the
European and Japanese fairs and circuses accomplish legerdemains far more
skilful and astounding than the ones performed by these false shaikhs. Islam is
not a religion of plays, comedies, buffoonery, music, magic, rope-walking, or
artful trickery. Islam is a religion from which to learn facts to be believed;
acts and deeds to be practised as well as those to be avoided; behavioral
habits and manners that are beautiful as well as those which are unsightly;
ways and manners of practising its commandments; and how to be obedient Muslims
and individuals good and useful to mankind. Shaik-ul-islâm Ahmad ibni Kemâl
Efendi ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’[1] states in his book al-Munîra: What is primarily wâjib for a Muslim is to adapt himself to
the Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya, i.e. commandments and prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Messenger
‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated: “If you see a person fly
in the air and/or walk on the surface of the sea and/or put fire into his mouth and swallow it, and yet if he does something
that Islam disapproves of, you should know that he is a magician, a liar,
a heretic, and a person who misguides others from the right way, even if he
says that he is a man with karâmât!” Here we end our translation from al-Munîra. This hadîth-i-sherîf
draws a clear-cut demarcation line between a true man of Tasawwuf who is in the
right way and heretics who pass themselves as men of Tarîqa. In the decaying
years of the Ottomans ignorant and fâsiq men of Tarîqa informed about in the
hadîth-i-sherîf appeared in the
---------------------------------
[1] The
ninth Ottoman Shaikh-ul-islâm, who was in office from 932 [1526 A.D.]
until 940 [1534], during the reign of Sultân Suleymân Khan the Magnificent
and the Lawgiver. He was noted for his giving fatwâ to genies;
hence the nickname Muftiy-yus-seqaleyn. He passed away in 940 [1534 A.D.].
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country. Thanks be to Allâhu ta’âlâ, He prevented them, thus protecting the blessed names of great people such as ’Abû Bakr as-Siddîq and ’Alî bin Abî Tâlib ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’
and Sayyid Ahmad Rifâ’î and Sayyid Sherîf Ahmad Bedevî and Abu-l-Hasan bin ’Alî bin ’Abdullah Shâdilî and Sayyid ’Abd-ul-Qâdir Geylânî and Mawlânâ Jelâl-ad-dîn
Rûmî and Muhammad Behâ-ad-dîn Bukhârî and Hâdji Bayrâm Walî and Ziyâ-ad-din Khâlid Baghdâdî from being playthings in the hands and tongues of those ignoramuses,
who were qâti’i tarîq-i-ilâhî, (i.e. people who barricaded the paths leading to the grace of
Allâhu ta’âlâ.) As of today, we do not know whether a Murshîd-i-kâmil or an ’Ârif-i-mukammil exists in our country or elsewhere the worldover. Yes. There
always is a Qutb-i-medâr. There is one now,
too. And there was one also in the time of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’. Those people are also called Qutb-ul-aqtâb. Yet seclusion is essential for those people. No one knows who
they are. In fact, sometimes they themselves are unaware of their own status.
As for the Qutb-i-irshâd; he is the Qayyûm-i-’âlam. It is through him that all other
people receive rushd (guidance to the right path) and îmân. He protects Islam.
The Islamic religion is never left unattended. Enemies of religion cannot
attack undeterred to change and defile the religion. Imâm Rabbânî
‘qaddas-Allâhu sirrah-ul’azîz’ states in the fifteenth ma’rifat in his book Ma’ârif-i-ladunniyya: The Qutb-i-abdâl, [i.e. Qutb-i-medâr,]
serves as a medium for the fayz (or faydh) that are sent and through which all
beings in the universe come into existence and stay in existence, whereas the
Qutb-i-irshâd is the means through whom fayz are sent for the enlightenment and
guidance of all beings. It is by way of the fayz emanating through the
Qutb-i-ebdâl that all beings are created, sustenances (rizq) are sent,
disasters and catastrophes are eliminated, invalids are cured, and bodies are
given health. The fayz coming through the Qutb-i-irshâd, on the other hand, are
sent so that people should have îmân, attain guidance (hidâyat), and make tawba
for their sins. The Qutb-i-ebdâl has to exist in all times and ages, always. No
time can exist without him. For, it is through him that the entire existence
attains order. When the existent one dies, another one is appointed for his
place. Yet the Qutb-i-irshâd does not necessarily exist always. There are such
long times throughout which the entire universe is totally devoid of îmân and
hidâya (guidance). Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ was the
Qutb-i-irshâd of his time. And the time’s Qutb-i-ebdâl was ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu
ta’âlâ sirrah-ul’azîz’. Through the Qutb-ul-
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irshâd the entire humanity receives îmân and hidâya. The fayz
coming to wicked-hearted people degenerates into dalâla (heresy, deviation from
the right path) and wickedness. It is like the degeneration of valuable
nutriments given to a diabetic into poison in his blood, or, like sweet things’
tasting bitter to a bilious person. This is the end of the passage translated
from Ma’ârif-i-ladunniyya.
It is stated in the three
hundred and eighty-fifth page of Berîqa: “Most of the great people of Tasawwuf were profoundly learned
scholars, mujtahids. And so were all the Qutb-i-irshâds. A hadîth-i-sherîf
quoted in the blessed book of Hadîth entitled Sahîh-i-Bukhârî reads:
‘’Ilm (knowledge) is
learned for an ustâd (master, profoundly learned scholar and
teacher).’ As for ma’rifa; it is aquired by way of kashf and ilhâm
(inspiration). ’Ilm (knowledge) is not acquired by way of kashf and ilhâm. The
source of ’ilm is the Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth-i-sherîfs.” It is stated in its three hundred and
seventy-seventh page: “Most of the great people of Tasawwuf were mujtahids.
Imâm Ghazâlî and Sufyân Sawrî and Ibrâhîm bin Adham (or Ed-hem) were so. And so
were the Qutb-i-irshâds.” It is stated in the three hundred and seventy-eighth
page of Hadîqa: “(Spiritual) pieces
of information called ma’ârif-i-ilâhiyya and haqâiq-i-rabbâniyya are acquired
by way of kashf and ilhâm. They are not learned from a religious teacher.
Teachings of how the acts of worship are to be performed, as well all the other
Islamic teachings are learned from an ustâd. If the Islamic teachings were
acquirable by way of kashf and ilhâm, there would have been no reason for Allâhu ta’âlâ to send Prophets and Heavenly Books.”
From today onwards, great care should be taken lest we should fall for the
sequinned statements that one of those ignorant strays plagiarized and
memorized from books written by great Islamic celebrities; otherwise we may be
lured into the traps set by unlearned men of Tarîqa and deviate from the path
of Ahl as-sunnat!
Yâ Rabbî (O our Rabb,
Allah)! Enhance the nûr (light) of îmân and yaqîn that Thou hast bestowed upon
us. Bless us with the fortune of being enlightened with the light of Islam.
Cover up our faults. Forgive us our sins!