Could not Answer by Huseyin Hilmi Isik - HTML preview

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He gave Selmân ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ a gold that was the size of an egg and which had been gained in a Holy War. Selmân-i-Fârisî ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ said to Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’, “This is too small to weigh sixteen hundred dirhams.” He (Rasûlullah) took the gold in his blessed hands and gave it back, and said, “Take this to your owner.” When his owner weighed it, it was exactly the weight (decided upon); so Selmân-i-Fârisî ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ joined the free Muslims.

7 — The miracle of Teksîr-i-berekât. Abû Hurayra ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ relates: “We were starving in a Holy War. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ said, ‘Is there anything?” I said, ‘Yes, o Rasûlallah! I have some dates in my bag.” He said, “Bring them to me.” When I took them to him he put his blessed hand into my bag, took out a handful of dates, placed them on a handkerchief which he laid on the ground, and prayed for bereket (abundance). The As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihimur-ridwân’ being there came and ate dates. They were fully fed. Then he said to me: ‘O Abâ Hurayra! Take a handful of the dates on this handkerchief and put them in your foodbag.’ I took a handful and put them in my bag. The dates in my bag were never finished. We both ate and offered to others from them during the life-time of Rasûlullah ‘sall-allâhu alaihi wasallam’ and later, during the caliphates of Abû Bakr, ’Umar and ’Uthmân ‘radiy-Allâhu anhum’. They were still not finished. When ’Uthmân-i-Zinnûrayn was martyred during his caliphate, my foodbag was stolen.”

Many other similar miracles occurred through our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’. Books mention miracles like these about other Prophets, too. It is written in the fourteenth chapter of the second book of Kings of the Old Testament [and in the seventeenth chapter of the first book of Kings, beginning with the tenth verse] that some of these miracles occurred through Elijah ‘alaihis-salâm’. A similar miracle occurred through Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’; it is written in all the Gospels that he fed four or five thousand people with a few pieces of bread and fish. [Matthew, chapter 14, verse 15. Mark, chapter 6, verse 35 and onward.]

8 — The miracle of Selâm and Shahâdat-i-ashjâr. When a nomad Arab asked Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ for a miracle, he (Rasûlullah) summoned a tree by the road. The tree pulled up its roots and shuffled towards Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’; when it came in front of him it testified to his prophethood and then went back to its place.

And once a date tree also bore witness to the prophethood of our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ and resumed its place.

[There was a date-stump in the Masjîd-i-Nebewî in the blessed city of Medîna. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ made his hutbas (speeches) leaning on the stump. When a minber (pulpit used in a mosque) was made for him, he stopped going to the Hannâna.] This date stump began to moan with the loss of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’. That is, a voice of crying was coming from the stump. All the assembly heard it. When our Master the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ got down from the new minber and hugged Hannâna, the voice stopped. He (Rasûlullah) stated, “If I did not hug it, it would cry with the loss of me till the end of the world.”

9 — The idols in the Kâ’ba-i-muazzama fell face downwards when he made a signal with his blessed finger. There were three hundred and sixty idols (statues) erected in the Kâ’ba. When the blessed city of Mekka was conquered and Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ entered Harem-i-sherîf, he pointed to them one by one with a date branch in his blessed hand and at the same time recited the eighty-first âyat of Isrâ sûra, which purported: “When the right came, the wrong disappeared, it was gone.” The idols fell on their faces. [Most of the idols were tightly fixed to the ground by lead and tin poured into holes made in the rock.]

10 — The miracles of Ihyâ-i-Mewtâ, redd-i-ayn and keshf-i-basar. One day a nomad Arab came to Rasûlullah ‘sall-allâhu alaihi wasallam.’ Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ invited him to Islam. The nomad said that his neighbor’s daughter had died, that he loved her very much, and that he would become a Muslim if he (Rasûlullah) resuscitated her. [Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ said, “Show me the girl’s grave.” They went together to the grave.] When they were by the grave, Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ called the girl by her name. A voice said from the grave: “Yes, sir,” and the girl came out of the grave. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ asked her, “Would you like to come back to the world?” The girl answered, “No, o Rasûlallah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’. I swear by the name of Allah that I feel more comfortable here than I did when I was in my parents’ home. A Muslim will be better off in the next world than he is in this world. So I will not come back.” Then she went back into her grave.

Jâbir bin Abdullah ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ cooked a sheep. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ and the As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihimur-ridwân’ ate it together. He said, “Do not break the bones.” He put the bones together, put his blessed hands on them and prayed. Allâhu ta’âlâ resuscitated the sheep. And the sheep went away wagging its tail. [These and other miracles of our Prophet are written in detail in Mawâhib-i-ledunniyya by Imâm-i-Qastalânî; in Shifâ-i-sherîf by Qâdî Iyâd; in Hasâis-un-nabî, by Imâm-i-Suyûtî; and in Shawâhid-un-nubuwwa by Mawlânâ Abdurrahmân Jâmî[35] ‘rahmatullahi alaihim ajmaîn’.]

In the Holy War of Uhud one of the eyes of Abû Qatâda ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ came out and fell on his cheek. They took him to Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’. He placed his eye in its socket with his blessed hand and said: “O my Allah! Make his eye beautiful!” This eye was now more beautiful and keener in sight than the other. [One of Abû Qatâda’s grandsons came to the caliph ’Umar bin Abd-ul-azîz. When he asked who he was, he recited a couplet saying that he was the grandson of the person whose eye Rasûlullah had restored with his blessed hand. Upon hearing the couplet, the caliph respected him highly and gave him presents.]

One day a man whose both eyes were blind came up and said: “O Rasûlallah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’. Pray for me so that my eyes will open.” Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ said to him: “Make a faultless ablution. Then say this prayer: O my Allah! I beg Thee. I ask of Thee through Thine beloved Prophet Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. O my most beloved Prophet, hadrat Muhammad! I beg my Allah through you. I want Him to accept my prayer for your sake. Make this exalted Prophet my intercessor! Accept my prayer for his sake.” This person made an ablution and said this prayer for the opening of his eyes. His eyes were immediately opened. [Muslims have always said this prayer and obtained their wishes.]

There was an old man whose eyes had become too white to see clearly. When he (Rasûlullah) breathed to his eyes with his blessed breath, his eyes immediately healed, so that he could see for himself.

Iyâs bin Seleme says: in the Holy War of Hayber Rasûlullah sent me to call Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’. Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ had an eye sore. Holding his hand, I took him with difficulty. He (Rasûlullah) spat on his blessed finger and put it on Alî’s ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ eyes. Handing him the flag, he sent him to fight at the gate of Hayber. Hadrat Alî unhinged the door, which they had not been able to open for a long time, and the As-hâb-i-kirâm entered the fortress. Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ never had an eye sore again the rest of his life.

They brought him (Rasûlullah) a child that was dumb and insane. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ made an ablution, and they made the child drink the remaining water. The child immediately healed, began to talk, and became sane.

Muhammad bin Hâtib says: When I was a small boy boiling water was poured on me. My body was scalded. My father took me to Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’. He put his spittle on the scalded parts with his blessed hands and prayed. The scalds immediately healed.

The inner part of Shurahbil-il-Ju’fî’s ‘radiy-Allahu anh’ hand was swollen, and this case hindered him from holding his sword or the halter of his animal. He petitioned to Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’. Rasûlullah massaged his palm with his blessed hand. He raised his hand, and there was not a sign of the swelling left.

Enes bin Mâlik ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ is reported to have related the following event: My mother said to Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’: “O Rasûlallah! Enes is your servant. Ask a blessing on him.” Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ supplicated: “O my Allah! Make his property plentiful and his children numerous. Make his lifetime long. Forgive him his sins.” In the process of time there was an increase in his property. His trees and vines yielded fruits every year. He had more than a hundred children. He lived a hundred and ten years. [Towards the end of his life he said: O my Allah! You have accepted and given me three of the blessings which Your Most Beloved One asked for me! I wonder what will become of the fourth one, the forgiving of my sins? Upon this he heard a voice that said: “I have accepted the fourth one, too. Do not worry about it.”]

He (Rasûlullah) sent a letter of invitation to Islam to Husraw, the Persian King. Husraw tore the letter to pieces and martyred the messenger. When the Messenger of Allah ‘alaihis-salâm’ heard this he was very sorry, and prayed as follows: “O my Allah! Tear his sovereignty to pieces as he has torn my letter!” Rasûlullah was still living when Husraw was stabbed to pieces by his son Shîrawayh. During the caliphate of ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’, Muslims conquered all the Persian land, and Husraw’s descendants and sovereignty perished completely.

[Esma binti Abû Bekr ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ stated: “Whenever we washed the blessed robe worn by Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’, we gave the water left to ailing people, and they recovered.”]

If the priestly author of the book Ghadâ-ul-mulâhazât meant some wonderful events that were seen on Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ as he was only a child and which have not been transmitted through sahîh (technically acceptable) narrations, we might be silent. [For, one of the stipulations for a mu’jiza (miracle of a Prophet) is that it must happen after the Prophet has disclosed his prophethood. Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ spoke in the cradle; when he asked for dates from a dry tree, dates came into his hand; as Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ was a child, his chest was incised and his heart was taken out, washed and purified; there was always a cloud over his blessed head for shade; stones and trees saluted him: these and other such extraordinary events, which happened before his prophethood and was publicized, were not mu’jizas. They were karâmats (miracles that happen on people who are loved by Allâhu ta’âlâ and yet who are not prophets). They are called Irhâs (beginnings). They are intended to confirm the prophethood. These miracles may happen on the Awliyâ (people loved by Allâhu ta’âlâ), too. Prophets are never inferior to the Awliyâ, nor even before they are informed with their prophethood. Karâmats are seen on them. The mu’jiza takes place a short time after the declaration of prophethood. For instance, if (the Prophet) says such and such an event will happen in a month and if the event does happen, it is a mu’jiza. But it is not necessary to believe his prophethood before the happening of the event. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’, showed thousands of mu’jizas after the declaration of his prophethood.]

Some of his miracles of this kind, such as the pouring of water from his blessed fingers, the moaning of the date-stump in the mosque, the idols’ falling down on the floor upon his beckoning, his curing the blind, his curing many kinds of illnesses, took place in the presence of thousands of Sahâbîs, were transmitted from generation to generation, were spread and heard everywhere, and their veracity was taken for certain. These miracles of Rasûlullah’s ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ have reached the highest degree of tawâtur. [Tawâtur is a narrative that is told unanimously by those who are the most reliable people of their times and who can by no means agree on a lie, and which therefore forms a piece of absolute knowledge.] For instance, such facts as the bravery of Alî bin Ebî Talîb ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ and the generosity of Hâtem-i-Tâî have become widespread and known in the forms of tawâtur; no one, therefore, could deny them. Christianity, on the other hand, has been founded on a narrative told by only one person, i.e. it is the personal account of either Matthew, or Mark, or Luke, or John. The pieces of information which they gave about themselves and the times they lived in teem with suppositions and doubts, and they mostly contradict one another. None of the four Gospels would be accepted as documentary knowledge if they were scrutinized according to the rules of the knowledge of Usûl-i-hadîth which the scholars of Hadîth have laid as conditions to be fulfilled by every individual hadîth-i-sherîf narrated for being accepted. [The conditions which Muslims observe in narrating Rasûlullah’s ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ hadîths are very stringent. Since there is no authenticity of narration in the existing Gospels, they cannot be compared with hadîths with respect to authenticity. Christian priests also have virtually admitted this fact by publishing a number of books proving that the Bible has been defiled by way of implantation, mutilation or miscopying.] As a matter of fact, if such miracles as curing the born blind, healing the skin disease called leprosy, and enlivening the dead, which occurred through Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, were not verified by Qur’ân al-kerîm, no Christian would ever be able to prove that they actually occurred.

In an attempt to deny the miracles of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’, priests put forward the ninetieth and ninety-first âyats of Isrâ sûra as a proof, which purport:

We shall not believe you unless you make a spring well up for us in this place [Mekka]. Or you should have date orchards and vineyards amidst which you make rivers flow, [said the inimical polytheists when they were thwarted by the eloquence and grandeur of Qur’ân al-kerîm and the miracles that they saw clearly].” While this proof foils their own purpose, they still claim to prove that Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ did not show any miracles. And this, in its turn, is never compatible with reason or justice. [In fact, in the âyats that we mention and which the (priests) offer as documents, the polytheists ask for more and more miracles because they have felt amazed, disqualified and incapacitated upon seeing the various miracles, especially that of Qur’ân al-kerîm. This case reveals the priests’ mendacity, let alone supporting their thesis.] It is so strange that while there is no certain or even dependable information as to the real authors or dates of the epistles appended to the four Gospels, and despite the apparent oddities and contradictions in the narratives written in the Biblical copies kept by Christians, they still accept each of their verses as a principle of creed. On the other hand, not even a single letter of Qur’ân al-kerîm has been smeared with interpolation for twelve hundred [now fourteen hundred] years; the da’îf hadîths, and the fabled ones have been distinguished from one another by way of scientific and authentic documentation; each of the narratives in the Islamic religion has been proved through numerous evidences; and yet they (the priests mentioned above) insist on protesting the believers (of Qur’ân al-kerîm).

[Those who wish to become informed on the miracles of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’; we recommend that they read the (Turkish) book Herkese Lâzım Olan Îmân and also the (English) book Why Did They Become Muslims?]

8 —
QUR’ÂN AL-KERÎM
and
TODAY’S GOSPELS

Protestants are trying to prove that the Biblical commandments and injunctions are superior to the commandments and injunctions of the religion of Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ (Mosaic Laws) by comparing them from their own unilateral viewpoints. Then, attempting to test whether the commandments in Qur’ân al-kerîm are superior to the Biblical commandments and injunctions, they say: “The value and the significance of any cause is proportional to the soundness and the convincing power of the evidences put forward [to prove the cause]. All the owners of wisdom have adapted their daily matters to these rules. For instance, if an expert claims that he has invented a new weapon which is stronger and has a longer range than the old ones, a country that must improve its weaponry will not accept the weapon without testing it. The assertion that Islam is superior to Christianity is exactly like this. It is unreasonable, unwise to accept Islam blindly in haste without giving it a test on a weighing apparatus. Therefore, it is necessary to subject the commandments in Qur’ân al-kerîm to accurate experimentation to see whether they are superior to and better than those declared in the Bible. If the result is that Qur’ân al-kerîm is greater as has been presumed, it will be necessary to abandon the Bible and to embrace Qur’ân al-kerîm.”

ANSWER: If we knew that the person who wrote these statements wrote them with the sheer purpose of revealing the truth instead of carrying out the duty assigned to him by the Protestant missionary organization, we would thank him for his final words, which are rather reasonable. But, as everyone knows, and as he himself admits, we must warn him not to add any dissimulation to his real motive, which is to earn a living by working for the Protestant missionary society. Nevertheless, since the gauge he propounds is true, it is a pleasure for us to agree with him. Yet some âyats in Qur’ân al-kerîm must be collated with their counterparts in the Bible in such a manner as their comparison will indicate the following evidences.

If we leave aside the episodes and statements in the four Gospels, their teachings on ethics, on wordly affairs [muâmalât], on the knowledge pertaining to the heart and to next world consist in the following:

Turning completely away from the world, being contented with poverty and destitution. Loving Allâhu ta’âlâ with all your heart and more than your own life and wishes. Loving your neighbor as well as your own self and sympathizing with him in times of sorrow and trouble. Pitying the oppressed. Sympathizing with children. Repelling evil thoughts from the heart. Reconciling two estranged believers to each other. Putting up with troubles patiently for the sake of your faith. Not committing homicide. Not stealing. Not becoming angry. Not saying bad words. Not uttering expletives or profanities. Being aware of your own faults, even if they may seem venial, and tolerating others’ faults, even if they are grave; not blaming others. Being patient when you are pelted by others because you give them advice. Not defiling or changing the commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ; not hurting your brother in religion; not committing fornication; not looking at women [except your spouse] lustfully; not divorcing your wife without any reason; not swearing; not resisting evil (Matt.: 5-39); when you are smitten on one cheek, offering your other cheek (to be slapped) (ibid); when you are asked to give your shirt, giving your coat, too; uttering benedictions on people who utter maledictions on you; in short, doing favours to everyone who bears malice against you; avoiding hypocrisy in alming, fasting and praying; not praying too long; not saving money so much as to keep your heart busy with it; not worrying about your subsistence or clothing. Whatever you ask sincerely from Allâhu ta’âlâ He will give you. He who obeys the commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ will enter Paradise.” The Gospels contain the following pieces of advice, too: “Do not take money for teaching others their religious commandments. When you enter someone’s place greet (people being there). Do not stay where you are not wanted. When teaching a commandment, (remember that) the commandment is given by Allâhu ta’âlâ, not by you. Do not fear anyone when you teach the (religious) rules; do not try anyone or pass judgement on anyone. Forgive any fault and be modest. I have come to make peace among people; I have not brought faction or sword; I have not come to make dissension or war. He who loves his parents more than me is not with me. In the next world good deeds will be rewarded and bad deeds will be punished with torment. He who obeys Allâhu ta’âlâ is my brother. He who admits the true word upon hearing it shall be rewarded in the next world, and he who denies it shall be tormented. Be good to your parents. A person will not become foul or dirty with the dirty words he utters. But he will be dirty if he actually does the dirty acts he utters, i.e. if he kills someone or commits adultery or bears false witness. Do not refuse to pay tax when you are asked to. He who is modest will be exalted by Allâhu ta’âlâ. The conceited one will be downgraded. Give alms from your property, and you will be paid back by Allâhu ta’âlâ; entering Paradise will be difficult for those rich people who hoard property. We have come not to be served, but to serve.”

All the commandments, prohibitions, and the rules of good and bad conduct in the Gospels consist in the matters written above.

Qur’ân al-kerîm, the highest, the most superior of the heavenly books sent down by Allâhu ta’âlâ, also covers all the teachings in the Bible in the most immaculate style. If we were to collate all the commandments, prohibitions, and the rules pertaining to worldly matters and ethics with those in Qur’ân al-kerîm, we would need to mention and explain only a minority of the rules in Qur’ân al-kerîm. We will therefore exemplify only a few of them:

1 — It is written in the Gospel of Matthew: “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” [Matt: 5-3. Here good news is given to those who do not esteem the world and it is stated that the world is worthless.]

In Qur’ân al-kerîm, on the other hand, this fact is expressed in the best and the most compendious style and in such a choice of vocabulary as will be understood by anyone:

The twentieth âyat of Hadîd sûra purports: “Know ye (all), that the life in this world is but play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting and multiplying, (in rivalry) among yourselves, riches and children....” (57-20)

The thirty-second âyat of En’âm sûra purports: “What is the life of this world but play and amusement? But best is the Home in the Hereafter, for those who are righteous. Will ye not then understand?” (6-32)

The forty-sixth âyat of Kahf sûra purports: “Wealth and sons are amusements of the life of this world: But the things that endure, Good Deeds, are best In the sight of thy Rabb (Allâhu ta’âlâ), as rewards, and best as (the foundation for) hopes.” (18-46)

It is purported in the thirty-ninth and fortieth âyats of Mu’min sûra: “O My people! This life of the present is nothing but (temporary) convenience: It is the Hereafter that is the Home that will last.” “He that works evil will be requited but by the like thereof: And he that works a righteous deed – whether man or woman – and is a Believer – such will enter the Garden (of Bliss): therein will they have abundance without measure.” (40-39, 40)

The twelfth âyat of Shûrâ sûra purports: “To him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth: He enlarges and restricts the sustenance to whom He will: for He knows full well all things.” (42-12)

The thirty-sixth âyat of Shûrâ sûra purports: “Whatever ye are given (here) is (but) a convenience of this life: but that which is with Allâhu ta’âlâ is better and more lasting: it is for those who believe and put their trust in their Rabb;” (42-36) Besides these âyats and many other similar âyats stating that the world is evil, there are quite a number of hadîth-i-sherîfs uttered by our Prophet, Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. [The (Arabic) words dunyâ (world) and adnâ, which are written in (the original versions of) the âyats that we have quoted above and the hadîths that we shall quote below, mean harmful, evil things. In other words, Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth-i-sherîfs (the blessed utterances of our Prophet, Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’) prohibit from harmful and evil things. People who have ’aql-i-selîm (real common sense) recognize harmful and evil things. People with imperfect wisdom, especially if they are short-sighted, cannot distinguish harmful and evil things from useful and good ones. They confuse them with one another. Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’, being extremely merciful upon human beings, have also explained what the world they have prohibited from is, that is, they have stated clearly what the harmful and evil things are. Accordingly, world (dunyâ) means things that are prohibited by Allâhu ta’âlâ and which are said to be makrûh by our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’. As it is seen, those worldly matters that are not prohibited by Allâhu ta’âlâ, and some of which are even commanded by Him, are different from the world that is harmful and evil. Hence, it is not worldly to work and earn as much as you can, to learn and utilize science, medicine, arithmetics, geometry, architecture, means of war and, in short, to make and earn all sorts of means of civilization that will provide ease, peace and happiness for mankind. It is an act of worship to make and use all these things in manners, ways and conditions prescribed by Allâhu ta’âlâ. Allâhu ta’âlâ likes Muslims who do so. He will give them endless blessings and felicities in the Hereafter.] The following are some of the hadîths (mentioned above):

Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ states in a hadîth-i-sherîf, which is narrated by Abdullah Ibn ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’: “If a person is given a small worldly thing[which is more than he needs], he will lose some of his esteem before Allâhu ta’âlâ, even if he is a valuable person according to Allâhu ta’âlâ.”

Another hadîth-i-sherîf declares: “Setting one’s heart to the world is the origin of all sins.”

Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wasallam’ invokes in a hadîth-i-sherîf, which is narrated by Abû Hurayra ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’: “Yâ Rabbî (O my Allah). Send the subsistence of Muhammad’s household as much as will suffice for them.”

Another hadîth-i-sherîf declares: “Be like a destitute person or a wayfarer in the world; consider yourself dead.”

There are other hadîth-i-sherîfs, as follows:

The fortunate is the person who has forsaken the world, that is, dismissed its love out of his heart, before the world has forsaken him.”

If a person wishes the next world and works for the next world, Allâhu ta’âlâ makes this world his servant.”

If a person believes that the next world is eternal, it will be extremely consternating if he sets his heart to this world.”

The world has been created for you, and you have been created for the next world! In the next world there is Paradise and Hell fire, and no other place.”

Curse the person who worships money and food!”

I am not anxious about your becoming poor. But I fear that, as was the case with your predecessors, taking possession of plenty of the world, you will disobey Allâhu ta’âlâ and become hostile to one another.”

The damage of greed for wealth and fame to a person is more than the harm of two wolves attacking a flock of sheep.”

Do not be inclined to the world so that Allâhu ta’âlâ will love you. Do not envy others’ property so that people will love you.”

Life in this world is like a bridge to be crossed. Do not try to adorn this bridge. Cross it fast and go on your way!”

Work for this world as much as is necessary for your stay here; and work for the next world as much as will be necessary for your stay there!”

Beside those âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs which prohibit from setting the heart on the world and advise sparing more energy for the Hereafter, the Islamic religion contains numbers of commandments, âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs promoting knowledge, science, techniqu