19- It is fard to perform Amr-i-bi-l-ma’rûf [advising piety] and
nahy-i-ani-l-munkar [admonishing against wrongdoing].
20- It is sunnat to marry more than one women in order to contribute to the increase of Muslim population.
21- Converting one person to Islam is more valuable to a Muslim than possessing the whole world.
22- The hadîth, “If a person opens an auspicious way, he will attain the thawâbs of people who follow that way as well as the thawâb for having attained it,” is well known among Muslims.
23- Muslims hold the Qur’ân and hadîths in very profound reverence. They believe that obeying these sources is the only way of attaining Paradise.
The book recommended to vitiate Muslims’ staunch spots and to popularize their weaknesses, and it prescribed the methods for accomplishing this.
It advised the following steps for popularizing their vulnerable spots:
1- Establish controversies by inducing animosity among disputing groups, inoculating mistrust, and by publishing literature to further incite controversies.
2- Obstruct schooling and publications, and burn literature whenever possible. Make sure that Muslim children remain ignorant by casting various aspersions on religious authorities and thus preventing Muslim parents from sending their children to religious schools. [This British method has been very harmful to Islam.]
3-4- Praise Paradise in their presence and convince them that they need not work for a worldly life. Enlarge the circles of Tasawwuf. Keep them in an unconscious state by encouraging them to read books advising Zuhd, such as Ihyâ-ul-’ulûm-id-dîn, by Ghazâlî, Mesnevî, by Mawlânâ, and various books written by Muhyiddîn Arabî*. *[Zuhd, which is commended by books of Tasawwuf, does not mean to cease from worldly labour. It means not to be fond of the world. In other words, working for the world, earning worldly needs, and using them compatibly with the Sharî’at will provide as much thawâb as other acts of worship will.]
5- Wheedle the emperors into cruelty and dictatorship by the following demagogic falsifications: You are Allah’s shadows on the earth. In fact, Abû Bakr, ’Umar, ’Uthmân, ’Alî, Umayyads and Abbasids came to seize power by sheer force and the sword, and each of them was a sovereign. For example, Abû Bakr assumed power with the help of ’Umar’s sword and by setting fire to the houses of those who would not obey him, such as Fâtima’s house*. *[There are indications in hadîth-i-sherîfs that Abû Bakr, ’Umar, ’Uthmân, and ‘Alî ’radiy-Allâhu anhum’ would become Khalîfas. Yet there is not a clear statement concerning their times. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ left this matter to his Sahâba’s choice. The Sahâba had three different kinds of ijtihâd in electing the Khalîfa. Caliphate was not a property to be inherited by one’s relatives. Abû Bakr, who had been the first person to become a Muslim, who had caused others to become Believers, behind whom our Prophet had performed namâz by telling him to be the imâm and conduct the namâz, and with whom the Prophet had migrated (to Medina), was the most suitable candidate. Some (of the Sahâba) went to hadrat ’Alî’s place. One of them, namely, Abû Sufyân, said, “Hold out your hand! I shall pay homage to you! If you like, I shall fill all the place with cavalrymen and infantrymen.” Hadrat ’Alî refused this, answering, “Are you trying to break the Muslims into groups? My staying home is not intended for being elected Khalîfa. Bereavement from Rasûlullah has shocked me. I feel demented.” He went to the mosque. He paid homage to Abû Bakr in the presence of all the others. Upon this Abû Bakr said, “I don’t want to be Khalîfa. I accept it willy-nilly to prevent confusion.” ’Alî replied, “You are more worthy of being Khalîfa.” The statements of praise hadrat ’Alî made of Abû Bakr that day are quoted in our (Turkish) book Se’âdet-i Ebediyye. Hadrat ’Umar accompanied hadrat ’Alî to his house. Hadrat ’Alî would say, “After Rasûlullah, Abû Bakr and ’Umar are the highest of this Ummat (Muslims).” People who believed the Shiite lies and slanders are responsible for the wretched state Muslims are in today. The British are still pushing on this instigation.] And ’Umar became Khalîfa upon Abû Bakr’s commendation. ’Uthmân, on the other hand, became the president with ’Umar’s order. As for ’Alî; he became head of the State by an election held among bandits. Muâwiya assumed power by the sword*. *[Hadrat Muâwiya became Khalîfa upon hadrat Hasan’s paying homage to him. Please read the book Documents of the Right Word.] Then, in the time of the Umayyads, sovereignty was turned into an inheritance transferred through paternal chain. So was the case with the Abbasids. These are the evidences for the fact that in Islam sovereignty is a form of dictatorship.
6- Delete death penalty for homicide from the penal code. [Death punishment is the only deterrent to homicide and banditry. Anarchy and banditry cannot be prevented without death penalty.] Hinder the administration in punishing highwaymen and robbers. Make sure that travelling is unsafe by supporting and arming them.
7- We can make them lead an unhealthy life with the following scheme: Everything is dependent on Allah’s foreordination. Medical treatment will have no role in restoring health. Does not Allah say in the Qur’ân, “My Rabb (Allah) makes me eat and drink. He cures me when I am ill. He alone will kill me and then resurrect me.”[25] Then, no one will recover from an illness or escape death outside Allah’s will*. *[British agents distort the meanings of âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs in order to mislead Muslims. It is sunnat (something done, advised, recommended, liked by the Prophet) to have medical treatment. Allâhu ta’âlâ has created a curing effect in medicine. Our Prophet commanded to take medicine. Allâhu ta’âlâ, the creator of everything, is the healer. Yet He has created a law of causation and commands us to obey this law by holding on to the causes. We must work hard, discover the causes, and use them. To say, “He cures me,” means to say, “He gives me the means that will cause healing.” It is a commandment (of Islam) to do research to discover the causes. Our Prophet stated, “It is farz both for men and for women to study and acquire knowledge.” At another time he stated, “Allâhu ta’âlâ likes those who work and earn.”]
8- Make the following statements for encouraging cruelty: Islam is a religion of worship. It has no interest in State matters. Therefore, Muhammad and his Khalîfas did not have any ministers or laws*. *[Worship does not only consist of namâz, fast and hajj. It is also worship to do worldly business because Allâhu ta’âlâ commands it but in a manner compatible with the Sharî’at. It is very thawâb (deserving reward in the Hereafter) to work for useful things.]
9- Economic decline is a natural consequence of the injurious activities advised so far. We can add to the atrophy by rotting the crops, sinking the trade ships, setting fire to the market places, destroying dams and barrages and thus leaving agricultural areas and industrial centers under water, and finally by contaminating their networks of drinking water*. *[See the savagery, the cruelty perpetrated by the British, who call themselves civilized and repeat the phrase ‘human rights’ so often!]
10- Accustom statesmen to such indulgences as [sex, sports,] alcohol, gambling, corruption which cause sedition and intriguing, and spending the State property for their personal advantages. Encourage the civil servants to do things of this sort and reward those who serve us in this way.
Then the book added the following advice: The British spies assigned this duty must be protected secretly or openly, and no expense must be spared to rescue the ones arrested by Muslims.
11- Popularize all sorts of interest. For interest not only ruins national economy, but also accustoms Muslims to disobeying the Koranic rules. Once a person has violated one article of law, it will be easy for him to violate the other articles, too. They must be told that “interest is harâm when in multiples, for it is stated in the Qur’ân, ‘Do not receive interest in multiples.’[26] Therefore, not every form of interest is harâm.” [The pay-off time of a loan must not be appointed in advance. Any extra payment agreed on (at the time of lending) is interest. This type of interest is a grave sin, be the extra payment stipulated worth only a dirham. If it is stipulated that the same amount (borrowed) must be repaid after a certain time, this is interest according to the Hanafî madh-hab. In sales on credit, time of repayment must be appointed; yet if the debtor cannot pay off at the appointed time and the time is protracted and an extra payment is stipulated, this kind of interest is called Mudâ’af. The âyat-i-karîma quoted above states this type of interest in trade.]
12- Spread false charges of atrocity against scholars, cast sordid aspersions against them and thus alienate Muslims from them. We shall disguise some of our spies as them. Then we shall have them commit squalid deeds. Thus they will be confused with scholars and every scholar will be looked upon with suspicion. It is a must to infiltrate these spies into Al-Az-har, Istanbul, Najaf, and Kerbelâ. We shall open schools, colleges for estranging Muslims from scholars. In these schools we shall educate Byzantine, Greek and Armenian children and bring them up as the enemies of Muslims. As for Muslim children; we shall imbue them with the conviction that their ancestors were ignorant people. In order to make these children hostile towards Khalîfas, scholars, and statesmen, we shall tell them about their errors and convince them that they were busy with their sensuous pleasures, that Khalîfas spent their time having fun with concubines, that they misused the people’s property, that they did not obey the Prophet in anything they did.
13- In order to spread the calumniation that Islam abhors womankind, we shall quote the âyat, “Men are dominant over women,”[27] and the hadîth, “The woman is an evil altogether.*” *[It is stated in a hadîth-i-sharîf, “A woman (wife) who obeys the Sharî’at is one of the blessings of Paradise. A woman who follows her sensations and disobeys the Sharî’at is evil.” A poor single woman’s father has to subsist her, be her unmarried or widowed. If he does not, he is to be imprisoned. If she does not have a father, or if her father is (too) poor (to subsist her), her mahram relatives will (have to) care for her. In case she does not have such relatives, either, the government will have to allot a salary for her. A Muslim woman will never have to work for a living. The Islamic religion has burdened man with all the needs of his woman. In return for this heavy burden, man might as well have been made the only inheritor of his progenitors; yet, as another kindness toward womankind, Allâhu ta’âlâ has commanded that they should be given half the property inherited by their brothers. A husband cannot force his wife to work within or without the house. If a woman wants to work, she can do so with her husband’s permission, with the proviso that she should be covered and there should not be men at the place where she works; and in this case her earnings will belong to her. No one can force a woman to relinquish earnings of this sort or property she has inherited or the mehr (she has deserved through marriage agreement). Nor can she be forced to spend it for her or her children’s needs or for anything needed in the house. It is fard for the husband to provide all such needs. In today’s communist regimes, women as well as men are made to work in the heaviest jobs for food only, like animals. In Christian countries, said to be free world countries, and in some Arabic countries said to be Muslim countries, women work like men in factories, in fields, in trade businesses under the sophistry that “life is common.” As it frequently appears in daily newspapers, most of them regret having married, so that law courts teem with files of divorce suits. Utterances spoken by the blessed mouth of the Messenger of Allah are of three kinds: The first kind comprises utterances which come from Allâhu ta’âlâ both in tenor and in vehicle. These utterances are called âyat-i-kerîma, which make up the Qur’ân al-kerîm collectively. The utterance, “Every good and useful thing coming to you is willed and sent by Allâhu ta’âlâ. Every evil and harmful thing is wished by your nafs. All these things are created and sent by Allâhu ta’âlâ,” is the seventy-eighth âyat of Nisâ sûra. The second kind includes utterances whose words belong to our Prophet while their meanings are inspired by Allâhu ta’âlâ. These utterances are called hadîth-i-qudsî. The utterance, “Be inimical towards your nafs. For it is My enemy,”is a hadîth-i-qudsî. In the third kind are those utterances belonging to our Prophet both in wording and in meaning. They are called hadîth-i sherîf. The utterance, “A woman who obeys the Sharî’at is one of the blessings of Paradise. A woman who follows her nafs is evil,” is a hadîth-i-sherîf. Hadrat Muhyiddîn-i-Arabî explains this hadîth-i-sherîf in the first volume of his book Musâmarât. The British spy withholds the first half of the hadîth and reveals only the latter half. If women all over the world knew about the value, the comfort and peace, the freedom and the right to divorce Islam has conferred on them, they would immediately become Muslims and endeavour to disseminate Islam all over the world. It is a shame that they cannot realise these facts. May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless all humanity with the fortune of learning Islam’s luminous way correctly!]
14- Dirtiness is the result of lack of water. Therefore, we must deter the increasing of the water supplies under various schemes.
The book advised the following steps for destroying Muslims’ strongholds:
1- Induce such chauvinistic devotions as racism and nationalism among Muslims so as to retract their attention towards their pre-Islamic heroisms. Rejuvenate the Pharaoh period in Egypt, the Magi period in Iran, the Babylonian period in Iraq, the Attila and Dzengiz era [tyrannisms] in the Ottomans. [They contained a long list on this subject.]
2- The following vices must be done secretly or publicly: Alcoholic spirits, gambling, fornication, pork, [and fights among sports clubs.] In doing this, Christians, Jews, Magians, and other non-Muslims living in Muslim countries should be utilized to a maximum, and those who work for this purpose should be awarded high salaries by the treasury tepartment of the Ministry of the Commonwealth.
3- Sow suspicion among them concerning Jihâd; convince them that Jihâd was a temporary commandment and that it has been outdated.
4- Dispel the notion that “disbelievers are foul” from the hearts of Shiites. Quote the Koranic verse, “As the food of those given a (heavenly) Book is halâl for you, so is your food halâl for them,”[28] and tell them that the Prophet had a Jewish wife named Sâfiyya and a Christian wife named Mâriya and that the Prophet’s wives were not foul at all*. *[Hadrat Sâfiyya, whom the British call a Jew, had already become a Muslim (when she married our Prophet). As for Mâriya, an Egyptian, she was not one of the blessed wives of the Messenger of Allah. She was a jâriya. She, too, was a Muslim. (When she passed away), ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’, who was the Khalîfa at that time, conductedthe ritual prayer (performed when a Muslim dies). According to the belief of Ahl as-sunna, a Christian woman can be a jâriya as well as a wife (for a Muslim man). Contrary to the Shiite credo (in this respect), disbelievers are not foul themselves. What is foul in them is the belief they hold.]
5- Imbue Muslims with the belief that “what the Prophet meant by ‘Islam’ was ‘a perfect religion’ and therefore this religion could be Judaism or Christianity as well as Islam.” Substantiate this with the following reasoning: The Qur’ân gives the name ‘Muslim’ to members of all religions. For instance, it quotes the Prophet Joseph (Yûsuf ‘alaihis-salâm’) as having invoked, “Kill me as a Muslim,”* and the Prophets Ibrâhîm and Ismâ’îl as having prayed, “O our Rabb (Allah)! Make us Muslims for Yourself and make a Muslim people for Yourself from among our offspring,”[29] and the Prophet Ya’qûb as having said to his sons, “Die only and only as Muslims.”[30] *[Belief in the information a Prophet has brought from Allâhu ta’âlâ is called Îmân. The information to be believed is of two sorts: (1) Information to be believed only; (2) Information both to be believed and to be practised. The first sort of information, which is the basis of îmân, comprises six tenets. All Prophets taught the same basic principles of îmân. Today, all the Jews, Christians, scientists, statesmen, commanders all over the world, and all these so-called modernists believe in the Hereafter, that is, in resurrection after death. Those who call themselves modern people have to believe, like these people. On the other hand, Prophets’ Sharî’ats, i.e. the commandments andprohibitions in their religions, are not the same. Having îmân and adapting oneself to the Sharî’at is called Islam. Since each Prophet has a different Sharî’at, the Islam of each Prophet is different from that of another. Each Messenger of Allah brought a new Islam, abrogating the Islam of the Prophet prior to him. The Islam brought by the last Prophet Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ shall remain valid till the end of the world. In the 19th and 85th âyats of surat Âl-i-’Imrân, Allâhu ta’âlâ commands Jews and Christians to give up their former Islams. He declares that those who do not adapt themselves to Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ shall not enter Paradise and that they shall suffer eternal burning in Hell. Each of the aforenamed Prophets, i.e. Ibrâhîm, Ismâ’îl, and Yûsuf, supplicated for the Islam that was valid in his time. Those Islams, going to church, for instance, are not valid today.]
6- Repeat frequently that it is not harâm to build churches, that the Prophet and his Khalîfas did not demolish them, that on the contrary they respected them, that the Qur’ân states, “If Allah had not dispelled some people by means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques wherein Allah’s name is mentioned very much would have been annihilated (by now),”[31] that Islam respects temples, that it does not demolish them, and that it prevents those who would otherwise demolish them.
7- Confuse Muslims about the hadîths, “Deport the Jews from the Arabic Peninsula,” and, “Two religions cannot coexist on the Arabic peninsula.” Say that “If these two hadîths were true, the Prophet would not have had a Jewish wife and a Christian one. Nor would he have made an agreement with the Najran Christians.*” *[Hadrat Sâfiyya, whom the British call a Jew, had already become a Muslim (when she married our Prophet). As for Mâriya, an Egyptian, she was not one of the blessed wives of the Messenger of Allah. She was a jâriya. She, too, was a Muslim. (When she passed away), ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’, who was the Khalîfa at that time, conductedthe ritual prayer (performed when a Muslim dies). According to the belief of Ahl as-sunna, a Christian woman can be a jâriya as well as a wife (for a Muslim man). Contrary to the Shiite credo (in this respect), disbelievers are not foul themselves. What is foul in them is the belief they hold.]
8- Try to hamper Muslims in their worships and make them falter about the usefulness of worships by saying that “Allah does not need men’s worships.*” *[Worships are performed because Allâhu ta’âlâ has commanded them. Yes, Allâhu ta’âlâ does not need His born slaves’ worships. Yet the born slaves themselves need worshipping. These people (Christians) go to church in crowds. On the other hand they prevent Muslims from going to mosques.] Prevent them from their worship of hajj as well as from any sort of worship that will bring them together. Likewise, try to obstruct construction of mosques, mausoleums and madrasas and the restoration of Ka’ba.
9- Mystify the Shiites about the rule that one-fifth of the ghanîma property taken from the enemy in combat is to be given to the ’Ulamâ and explain that this one-fifth belongs to the ghanîma property taken from (Dâr-ul-harb) and that it has nothing to do with commercial earnings. Then add that “Humus (the one-fifth mentioned above) is to be given to the Prophet or to the Khalîfa, not to the ’Ulamâ. For the ’Ulamâ are given houses, palaces, animals, and orchards. Therefore, it is not permissible to give them the (Humus).”
10- Insert heresies into Muslims’ credal tenets and then criticize Islam for being a religion of terror. Assert that Muslim countries are retrogressive and that they have undergone shocks, thus impairing their adherence to Islam. [On the other hand, Muslims established the greatest and the most civilized empire of the world. They declined as their adherence to Islam deteriorated.]
11- Very important! Alienate children from their fathers, thus depriving them of their elders’ education. We shall educate them. Consequently, the moment children have parted from their fathers’ education, there will no longer be any possibility for them to maintain contact with their belief, faith, or religious scholars.
12- Provoke the womenfolk to get rid of their traditional covers. Fabricate such falsifications as “Covering is not a genuine Islamic commandment. It is a tradition established in the time of the Abbasids. Formerly, other people would see the Prophet’s wives and women would join all sorts of social activities.” After stripping the woman of her traditional cover, tempt the youth towards her and cause indecencies between them! This is a very effective method for annihilating Islam. First use non-Muslim women for this purpose. In the course of time the Muslim woman will automatically degenerate and will begin to follow their example*. *[Before the revelation of the âyat of Hijâb (veiling), women would not cover themselves; they would come to the Messenger of Allah, ask him questions, and learn from him what they did not know. Whenever the Messenger of Allah visited one of them in her home, other women would go there, too, sitting, listening, and learning. Six years after the Hijrat Nûr sûra was revealed to prohibit women from sitting or talking with men (other than spouse or other close relatives). From then on, the Messenger of Allah commanded women to learn what they did not know by asking his blessed wives. These disbelievers are misleading Muslims by withholding the fact that women covered themselves after the revelation of the âyat of Hijâb.
Umm-i Salama ‘radiy-Allâhu anha’, blessed wife of Rasulullah, narrates: Maymûna ‘radiy-Allâhu anha’, another wife of Rasulullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ and I were with the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’, when Ibn-i-Umm-i-Maktûm ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ .asked for permission and entered. When the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ saw him he said to us, “Withdraw behind the curtain!” When I said, “Isn’t he blind? He won’t see us,” the Messenger of Allah answered, “Are you blind, too? Don’t you see him?” That is, he meant, “He may be blind, but you aren’t.” This hadîth-i-sherîfwas quoted by Imâm-i-Ahmad and Tirmuzî and Abû Dâwûd ‘rahimahumullâhi ta’âlâ.’ According to this hadîth-i-sherîf, as it is harâm for a man to look at a woman who is not his spouse or a close relative, so is it harâm for a woman to look at a man who is not her spouse or a close relative. Our madh-hab îmâms took other hadîth-i-sherîfs into consideration as well, and said that “It is harâm for a woman to look at a nâ-mahram man’s awrat parts. It is easy to do this. These easy commandments and prohibitions are called (Rukhsat). It is Azimat for a woman not to look at a nâ-mahram man’s head and hair. A man’s awrat part for a woman (the part which is forbidden for a woman to look at) is between his knee and navel. And (obeying) this (rule only, without paying attention to the Azîmat), is (called) Rukhsât. As is seen, the Azwâj-i-tâhirat (the pure wives of the Messenger of Allah) ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhunna’ and the As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu anhum’ would always act on the Azîmat and they would refrain from the Rukhsât. The Zindiqs who try to destroy Islam from within put forward the fact that women did not cover themselves before the revelation of the âyat of Hijâb and say that “Women did not cover themselves in the Prophet’s time. Women’s veiling themselves like ogres, a practice which is so common today, did not exist at that time. Hadrat Âisha, for one, would go out bare headed. Today’s practice of veiling was invented by the bigoted men of fiqh afterwards.” The hadîth-i-sherîfs quoted above show clearly that these statements of theirs are lies and slanders.
The four right Madh-habs, which are the explanations of the commandments and prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ, give different accounts pertaining to men’s awrat parts, that is, parts of their body which are forbidden (for others) to look at or (for them) to show to others. It is fard for every man to cover those parts of his body which the Madh-hab he is in prescribes to be harâm. It is harâm to look at someone else’s parts of awrat. The following hadîth-i-sherîfs are written in the book Eshi’at-ul-leme’at:
“Let men and women not look at the awrat parts of people of their own sex.”In the Hanafî Madh-hab, a man’s parts of awrat for other men are the same as those of a woman for other women: the area between the knees and the navel. A woman’s parts of awrat for men nâ-mahram to her, on the other hand, are all her body with the exception of the hands and face. (Any member of the opposite sex who is not one of a person’s close relatives called mahram is called nâ-mahram. Islam names one’s mahram relatives. They are eighteen). A woman’s hair is within her parts of awrat. It is harâm to look at someone’s parts of awrat even without any feeling of lust.
“If you see a woman, turn your face away from her! Although it is not sinful to see one unexpectedly, it is sinful to look at her again.”
O ’Alî! Do not open your thigh! Do not look at someone else’s thigh, be it a corpse or a person who is alive.”
“May Allah curse those who open their parts and those who look at them!”
“A person who makes himself like a community will become one of them.” This hadîth-i-sherîf shows that