There are very many books teaching Islam. The book Maktûbât, written by Imâm Rabbânî and consisting of three volumes, is the most valuable. Next after that book is another book with the same title, Maktûbât, and consisting of three volumes, yet written by Muhammad Ma’thûm (Imâm Rabbânî’s third son and one of his most notable disciples). Hadrat Muhammad Ma’thûm states as follows in the sixteenth letter of the third volume of his Maktûbât: “Imân means to believe both of the facts stated in the (special expression of belief called) Kalima-i-tawhîd, which reads: Lâ ilâha il-l-Allah, Muhammadun Rasûlullah.” In other words, being a Muslim requires also belief in the fact that Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ is the Prophet. Allâhu ta’âlâ sent him the Qur’ân al-kerîm through the angel named Jebrâ’îl (Gabriel). This book, the Qur’ân al-kerîm, is the Word of Allah. It is not a compilation of Hadrat Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ personal views or of statements made by philosophers or historians. Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ made a tafsîr of the Qur’ân al-kerîm. In other words, he expounded it. His expoundings are called hadîth-i-sherîfs. Islam consists of the Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth-i-sherîfs. The millions of Islamic books worldover are the expoundings of the Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth-i-sherîfs. A statement not coming from the Qur’ân al-kerîm cannot be Islamic. The meaning of Îmân and Islam is to believe the Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth-i-sherîfs. A person who denies the facts stated in the Qur’ân al-kerîm has not had belief in the Word of Allah. Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ conveyed to his Sahâba the facts which Allâhu ta’âlâ had stated to him. And the Sahâba, in their turn, conveyed those facts to their disciples, who in their turn wrote them in their books. People who wrote those books are called scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. Belief in those books of Ahl as-Sunnat, therefore, means belief in the Word of Allah, and a person who holds that belief is a Muslim. Al-hamd-u-lillah, we are learning our faith, (Islam,) from books written by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, and not from fallacious books fabricated by reformers and freemasons.
Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated: “When fitna and fesâd become rife among my Ummat (Muslims), a person who adheres to my Sunnat will attain thawâb (blessings, rewards in the Hereafter) equal to the total sum of the thawâb that will be given to a hundred people who have attained martyrdom.” Adherence to the Sunnat is possible only by learning the books of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. The scholars affiliated in any one of the four Madhhabs of Muslims are scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. Imâm a’zam Abû Hanîfa Nu’mân bin Thâbit was the leader of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. The anti-Islamic campaigns which the British had been carrying on for centuries for the purpose of Christianizing at least one Muslim ended in outright failure. In their search for new methods to achieve their goal, they established the masonic lodges. Masons deny Hadrat Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ words as well as all heavenly religions, and such basic religious facts as Rising after death, and existence of Paradise and Hell.
Missionaries are striving to advertise Christianity, Jews areworking to widespread the concocted words of Jewish rabbis, Hakîkat Kitâbevi (Bookstore), in Istanbul, is struggling to publicize Islam, and freemasons are trying to annihilate religions. A person with wisdom, knowledge and conscience will understand and admit that which is the right one among these and will help to widespread that salvation among all humanity. There is no better way nor more valuable thing than to serve humanity in such a manner.
Let’s start the book with the name
of Allah!
Name of Allah is the best refuge,
His blessings can never be measured nor calculated,
He is the Lord most compassionate and forgiving
Allâhu ta’âlâ pities all human beings in the world. He creates and sends everyone the blessings they need. He also teaches them how to use these blessings to attain happiness of this world and the next. Imâm ar-Rabbânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ, in his 259th letter informs us that those disbelievers who never heard of Islam will not be punished in Hell. They will be annihilated along with the animals after their Judgement. People who hear about Islam and ponder about it, and then accept it will be blessed with Paradise. He gave a lifelong time-span for pondering. He forgives those who become believers after lapsing into disbelief and deviation, which are mostly consequent upon self-deceit, which in turn is exacerbated by evil company, seditious books and subversive radio (and television) broadcasts. He saves them from eternal disasters. He does not show the path of salvation to tyrants, wicked and depraved people. He lets them stay in the pit of denial that they have fallen into and which they like and desire. In the next world, He will forgive whom He wishes among the Believers who deserve to go to Hell, and will send them to Paradise after they are punished in Hell for their sins. He is the only One who creates all living beings, keeps them in existence every moment, and protects them against fear and horror.
If anyone thanks and praises anyone else at any time and at any place for any reason, these thanks and praise thus paid belongs to Allâhu ta’âlâ by rights, for He is the only One who creates and sends all kinds of blessings and goodness. If He would not remind, create, and give strength, no one could ever do any goodness or harm to anyone else. Only what He wills, comes into existence. No one can do anything against His Will.
May our prayers for and greetings be to His beloved Prophet Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam,’ who is the most beautiful and highest of all human beings in all respects, be also upon all of his progeny, relatives, and companions ‘ridwânullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în,’ who radiate good morals and knowledge.
Muslims are required to learn “Islamic Knowledge.” It is divided into two branches, “Religious knowledge” and “Scientific knowledge.” The scientific knowledge is called “Wisdom” (Hikmat). Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ said, “Wisdom is the lost property of a Muslim. He should pick it up wherever he may find it.” This hadîth commands us to learn scientific knowledge. “Religious knowledge” is made up of twenty sub-branches, eight of which contain teachings of a higher level and the remaining twelve consist of teachings of a subsidiary nature. One of the teachings of a higher level deals with ethics.
[A Muslim who has good morals and is advanced in the scientific knowledge of his time is called a civil or a progressive Muslim. Alternately, a person who is advanced in scientific knowledge and has established basic industries, and yet who has poor morals is called a tyrant, a regressive person, a bandit, or a dictator. Those who are lagging behind in the scientific knowledge and arts and have poor morals are called savages or vulgar people. Civilization means building cities and serving human beings. This can be accomplished through scientific knowledge, arts, and beautiful morals. In short, when the scientific knowledge and arts are accompanied with beautiful morals, it is called civilization. A civilized person uses scientific knowledge and arts for serving humanity. Alternately, tyrants use them for torturing. We can see that a true Muslim is a progressive person. Unbelievers are retrogressive, and miserable people. It is apparent that civilization means constructing buildings and developing cities. This is only possible through science and technology. Advancement in technology is due to addition of new ideas to the ideas of the previous generations. People’s living in peace and comfort is only possible through ethics of Islam.]
Learning Islamic knowledge as much as necessary is an obligatory duty (fard) for every Muslim. Islamic scholars have written numerous books on this subject. The following books on the subject of ethics are well known: Akhlâq-i-Nâsirî by Nasîruddîn-i Muhammad Tûsî, Akhlâq-i-Jalâlî by Jalâladdîn-i-Muhammad Dawânî, and Akhlâq-i-Muhsînî by Husayn Wâiz-i Kâshifî of Hirat. We translated the first chapter of this (last) book from the book Berîka written by Abû Sa’îd Muhammad Hâdimî ‘rahima hullâhu ta’âlâ’. In the first chapter of this book we will deal with unacceptable poor morals rejected by Islam and their prescribed cures. Poor morals are due to maladies of the spiritual heart. They cause infinite death and destruction of the heart (qalb) and the soul (rûh). In the second chapter of this book, we will describe the meaning of ethics (akhlâq) and its varieties, borrowing from the beginning chapters of the book Akhlâq-i-Alâî written in Turkish by Alî bin Amrullah ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ,’ who passed away in 979 Hijrî, 1572 A.D. in Edirne / Turkey.
The uncorrupt youngsters who read this book will understand and realize that their ancestors were healthy people with good morals. They were also industrious, civilized, and progressive people. By learning the truth about their ancestors they will not be misguided by the lies and slanders of their enemies.
The name of the author of the book Akhlâq an-Nâsirî was Nasîruddîn-i Muhammad Tûsî. He was born in Hijrî 597 in the city of Tus (Mashhad) and passed away in Hijrî 672 [1273 A.D.] in Baghdad. He belonged to the Shi’ite sect of Muslims. He was one of the people who were instrumental in Hulagu’s destruction of Baghdad and carnage of hundreds of thousands of Muslims. He became the prime minister of Hulagu. He founded a new library with the capacity of 400,000 books and a planetarium and an Academy. He wrote many books.
Jalâladdîn-i Muhammad Dawânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ,’ was born in 829 Hijrî and passed away 908 Hijrî [1503 A.D.] in Shiraz. He is one of the most profound among the Islamic scholars. He wrote many books. His book Akhlâq-i-Jalâlî is in Persian. Its eighth printing was accomplished in 1304 Hijrî, 1882 A.D. in India. It has been translated into English.
Husayn Wâiz-i Kâshifî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’, was a preacher in the city of Hirat. He passed away in Hijrî 910, 1505 A.D. in Hirat.
O you, virtuous youngsters! O you, noble and dear children of those martyrs who spent their lives for learning and spreading beautiful moral teachings of Islam and also sacrificed their lives for spreading the religion of Allah to all human beings! Do learn the Islamic religion and its beautiful ethics, which our honourable ancestors brought and entrusted in its pristine completeness and correctness to your protection. Protect this holy object of care (amânat) with all your might and power against the attacks of our enemies, that is, those who attack our lives, properties, religion, and ethics, and who are eyeing our beautiful country with rapacity! Strive hard to spread this correct religion everywhere and thereby to save all human beings from infinite disasters. Let it be known that our religion orders us to have beautiful morals, mutual love for each other, respect for the elders and compassion for younger people, and to be kind to everyone irrespective of their religious opinions. Pay everyone’s due rights and wages! Do not violate laws of the land and do not oppose orders of the government! Pay your taxes on their due times! Never forget that Allâhu ta’âlâ is the helper of the righteous people! Let us love and help each other so that Allâhu ta’âlâ in turn will help us.
Islamic scholars say: “Allâhu ta’âlâ created three things in humans: wisdom (’aql), spiritual heart (qalb), and nafs[1] We can see none of them. We can understand their existence by observing their effects or the things they do, or we know them because our religion teaches them to us. Wisdom and nafs are located in our brain and the spiritual heart is found over the biological heart, which is in the left side of our chest. They are not made of matter and do not occupy space. Their existence in these places is similar to the existence of electricity in a light bulb or that of the magnetic power in an induction bobbin. Wisdom tries to understand Islamic knowledge. It understands Islamic knowledge and its good and useful as well as evil and harmful variations or portions. The good and evil are discriminated in accordance with the divine law. Wisdom, which recognizes the divine law (Sharî’at) and wants to obey it, is called “correctly thinking wisdom,” (’aql-i-salîm). People who have little wisdom and always make mistakes are called idiots or fools. People who have no wisdom are called crazy. Correctly thinking wisdom conveys good things taught by the divine law to the spiritual heart. The spiritual heart decides to do these good things. It uses the action nerves, which come out of the brain and go to the organs, to give orders to the organs so that they carry out these good things. Assimilation of the desire of doing good or evil things into the spiritual heart is called ethics or morals (akhlâq). The nafs is excessively fond of worldly pleasures. It does not think whether these are good or evil, useful or harmful. Its desires are not compatible with the divine law. Doing things that are forbidden by the divine law strengthens the nafs. It tries to convince the spiritual heart to commit the worst things. It deceives the spiritual heart by showing the evil and harmful things as good things. It strives to attain its pleasures by convincing the spiritual heart to satisfy its desires. It is necessary to strengthen the spiritual heart and to weaken the nafs so that the nafs will not be able to deceive the spiritual heart and that the spiritual heart will not develop an evil nature. As wisdom is strengthened by reading and learning Islamic knowledge, likewise the heart is strengthened, or purified, by obeying the Sharî’at. Formation of ikhlâs in the heart can only be accomplished by the spiritual heart’s mentioning the name of Allâhu ta’âlâ often (making Dhikr of Allah through the qalb). Accomplishing “Dhikr of qalb” is possible only by learning it from a perfect Sufi master (Murshîd al-Kâmil-the Perfect Guide). It is also necessary to empty the spiritual heart from all worldly thoughts formed in the brain due to the sensory information coming via the organs. Once the heart is free from all sorts of worldly thoughts, it starts to do “Dhikr of Allah” automatically. It is similar to emptying the water from a bottle. When you pour the water out, the air automatically enters the bottle. Protecting the spiritual heart from worldly thoughts can be accomplished by the spiritual heart’s benefiting (receiving “Fayd” (Nur [light]) from the spiritual heart of the perfect Sufi master. The spiritual luminance (Fayd) flows from one spiritual heart to another by way of love. Death of the perfect spiritual guide or his being in a distant country does not stop the flow of spiritual luminance (Fayd). The perfect spiritual guide (Murshîd al-kâmîl) is an “Ahl as-sunnat” scholar (’âlim) who knows Islamic knowledge in depth and does all of his actions sincerely (with ikhlâs) in accordance with this knowledge. Obeying the Sharî’at and receiving spiritual luminance (Fayd) from the perfect guide (Murshîd al-kâmîl) strengthens the spiritual heart and conversely weakens the nafs. It is for this reason that the nafs does not want the spiritual heart’s obeying the divine law (Sharî’at) or communing (Sohbat) with the perfect spiritual guide (Murshîd al-kâmîl) or reading the books written by the perfect spiritual guide. It wants spiritual heart to be irreligious and beliefless. Therefore, those who do not follow their wisdom and instead follow their beliefless nafs, become irreligious. The nafs does not die but when it is weakened, it cannot deceive the spiritual heart any longer.
Mîlâdî - Hijrî Shamsî - Hijrî Qamarî
2001 – 1380 - 1422
Make thy heart a Garden of
Paradise with the fountain of tawhîd[2],
And thy soul’s garden, render a rosary with the bud of
tawhîd!
Both without place and without
time will experts of heart,
Traverse endless distances with the power of tawhîd.
Shameful as thou mayest feel on
account of thy wrongdoings,
The end will certainly be good with the rapture of
tawhîd.
O you, supplicant! The
’Ârif-i-billâh[3] will free
the heart from
Seventy thousand curtains with one flash of tawhîd.
The first chapter of the book explains forty of the most important vices and their remedies. All of the following information is translated from the first chapter of the famous Islamic book Berîqa written by Abû Sa’id Muhammad Hâdimî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’. This book, originally written in two volumes in Arabic, was published in 1284 Hijrî [1868 A.D.] in Istanbul and was reproduced in 1411 Hijrî [1991 A.D.] by Hakîkat Bookstore. Muhammad Hâdimî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’, passed away in 1176 Hijrî Qamarî [1762 A.D.] in his birth place Hâdim village of the city of Konya, Turkey.
VICES AND METHODS OF CLEANSING
ONE’S SELF FROM THEM
Things that harm men in this world and in the next are due to vices. The essence of man’s spiritual loss is his having vices. Man’s avoidance of vices is called taqwâ. Taqwâ is the most precious of all worships. Decorating something requires that the thing first should be cleansed from all dirt and stain. Similarly, neither any reward (thawâb) will be given nor any benefit will occur for the worships unless the man who does those worships cleanses himself from the sin. The worst of all vices is disbelief (kufr). The good deeds of a person who does not have belief will not bear any fruit for him in the Hereafter. [A disbeliever who is killed unjustly does not become a martyr and will not go to Paradise.] The foundation of all virtues is taqwâ. One should try hard to obtain taqwâ and advise others to do the same. Living in this world peacefully with others and obtaining the best of eternal blessings could only be accomplished by having taqwâ.
Vices cause disease in the heart or soul. Any increase in this disease will cause the death of the soul, i.e. it will cause kufr. Disbelief (shirk), which is the worst of all vices, is a fatal poison of the soul. Some people who do not have belief claim: “My heart (spiritual) is clean. You should look at my heart.” Their claim is no more than empty words. A dead heart cannot be clean.
There are many types of disbelief. The worst of all is polytheism. Any variety of a certain vice is mostly specified with its most outstanding characteristic. For that matter, the word shirk used in âyat-i-kerîmas[4] and in (our blessed Prophet’s utterances termed)hadîth-i-sherîfs represents all sorts of kufr (disbelief). Allâhu ta’âlâ, in the 48th and 116th âyats of the Sûra Nisâ of the Qur’ân states that He will never forgive the polytheists (mushriks). These verses point out that disbelievers will burn forever in the Hell fire.
[“Shirk” means to attribute partners to Allâhu ta’âlâ. A person who does the attributing is called a polytheist and the thing which is attributed is called partner (sharîk). To believe that someone possesses one of the attributes of Divinity means to make him a partner (sharîk). The attributes possessed exclusively by Allâhu ta’âlâ are called “Attributes of Divinity.”Some Divine Attributes are the following: Existing eternally, creating, all-knowing, and healing the sick. To believe that a human being or the sun or a cow or any other creature possesses a divine attribute, and thus to respect or beg that being or creature, is called to worship them. Those things become an idol. To say words that mean deification of such people or to speak respectfully before statues, pictures or graves of disbelievers assumed to be possessing divine attributes means to worship them and therefore it is polytheism. If one believes that a person does not possess a divine attribute but instead he is a person loved by Allâhu ta’âlâ or alternately if one believes that that person has served his nation much and therefore deserves respect, paying respect to his statues or pictures is not disbelief or polytheism. Nevertheless, since paying respect to any person’s picture is forbidden (harâm), anyone doing so becomes a sinner (fâsiq). If he slights the fact that it is forbidden, he will become an apostate (murtad), and so will those who flout a prohibited action (harâm). Since those Jews and Christians who are not “mushriks” do not believe in the prophethood of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salam’, they are disbelievers. They are called “Disbelievers with a heavenly book.” Presently, most Christians are polytheists because theyattribute divinity to prophet “Îsâ”, that is, Jesus ‘alaihis-salam’. Christians belonging to the sects of Barnabas and Arius (Arians) were among the People of the Book. However, they have not survived to the present time.
The second worst disease of the soul after shirk is to hold and practise (heretical beliefs which are called) bid’at, which is followed by looseness in abstaining from sins, in the order of evil. A person who dies without making tawba[5] for venial or grave sins other than disbelief may be forgiven by Allâhu ta’âlâ either through intercession (shafâ’at) or directly by His Mercy. If a venial sin is not forgiven then there will be punishment in Hell. Sins that involve violating rights of other human beings will not be forgiven easily. Most likely, people who commit them will be punished more severely. For example, not giving wife’s due money (mahr) regarding the marriage contract or prohibiting human beings from learning their correct religion, which is their right (haqq), is the gravest gross violation of human rights. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’ stated as follows: “A time will come when people will not care whether they earn the money by permissible (halâl) means or not,” and “A time will come when practicing Islam will be as difficult as holding a fire ball with bare hands.” Therefore, to avoid committing all prohibited actions (harâms) and those actions that are called makrûh tahrîmî (because they are quite close to harâms) is (taqwâ). Not to perform obligatory duties (fards) and strongly recommended actions (wâjibs) is forbidden (harâm). According to some information, not peforming “muakkad Sunnats,” i.e., acts of worship which our blessed Prophet practised regularly, without an excuse, is strongly disliked (makrûh tahrîmî). People who do not carry out commandments of Islam with respect to belief (i’tiqâd), ethics (akhlâq), and deeds (’amal) will be punished. Logically, one must avoid doing things that will cause punishment. For example, not performing five daily “salâts” and women’s and girls’ not covering themselves is a grave sin. It would be a strong requirement for one to abstain from the grave sin by performing the five daily “salâts.” Nevertheless, in this book, we will not deal with the subject matter regarding the things that must not be omitted; instead, we will communicate the things that should be avoided, i.e., prohibited actions and vices.
The things we should not do (prohibited actions) are committed either with a particular organ or with the entire body. The following eight organs are very well known for committing sins: spiritual heart, ears, eyes, tongue, hands, stomach, sexual organs, and feet. The spiritual heart (qalb) is a spiritual grace blown upon the material heart of human beings. It is incorporeal, not made of matter, like the soul. These organs themselves do not commit the sin. The sensing power of these organs commits the sin. Anyone who wants to attain happiness in this world and the next must prevent these organs from committing sins. The spiritual heart has to be developed into a state wherein not committing sins will be its natural habit (malaka). Anyone who can achieve this state is called Allah-fearing (muttaqî) or pious (sâlih) person. He has now attained Allâhu ta’âlâ’s love and approval and become Walî[6] to Him. It would also be piety [taqwâ] to avoid sins by exerting yourself without its becoming the heart’s natural habit. Yet being a Walî reguires its being a natural habit not to commit sins, which in turn requires purifying the heart. And to purify the heart requires obedience to the rules of Islam. Islam consists of three parts: knowledge (’ilm), practice (’amal), and sincerity (ikhlâs). (1) To learn the knowledge teaching the commandments, i.e., Fards, Wâjibs, Sunnats, and forbidden actions (harâms and makrûhs), (2) To practise them in accordance with this knowledge, and (3) To do them only for the sake of Allâhu ta’âlâ. The Qur’ân al-kerîmcommands and praises all these three parts. In this book, we will only communicate those sins that are to be abstained from in order to cleanse the heart. They are called vices, unethical behavior, or immoral acts.
UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR OR IMMORALITY AND ITS REMEDY
A Muslim as a first priority should strive to cleanse his (spiritual) heart because heart is the leader of the body and all organs are under its command. Our Prophet Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’ once said: “There is a piece of flesh in the human body. If this is good, all the organs will be good. If this is evil, all the organs will be evil. This piece of flesh is the heart.” What is described in this hadîth is not the physical heart but the spiritual heart which is located in the physical heart. The goodness of the flesh, as explained above, means its being cleansed from vices and its assimilation of good morals (virtues). The physical appearance of a human being is called (khalq). The power or state that exists in the heart is called habits (khulq). Vices in the heart are called “maladies of the heart” or unacceptable morals (akhlâq al-zamîma). Their cure is a very difficult task. Correct treatment requires extremely sophisticated knowledge about the maladies and correct methodology to apply this knowledge. Habits are the faculties (malakas) or states or desires in the heart. It is this power in the spiritual heart which generates man’s belief, words, actions. His optional behaviour also is the work of (this power which is called his) khulq.
Changing or transforming the state of the heart from undesirable, unwanted, unacceptable morals or habits to desirable, good habits is possible. Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’ once said, “Improve your morals (habits or character).” Islam does not contain commandments that cannot be accomplished. Experiences also show that this is the case. [Experience is only one of the three true-knowledge-acquirement methods. The other two true-knowledge-acquirement-methods are understanding through calculation and information passed to us by our Prophet.] Human beings do not share equal abilities to correct their unacceptable, deficient morals.
Origin or source or fountain of morals is three powers inherent in the human soul. The first one is the power of understanding (comprehension) of the soul. This is also called “nutq” or wisdom (’aql). The first and second powers of “nutq” are theoretical knowledge (hikmat al-nazarî) and practical knowledge (hikmat al-’amalî) r