PREFACE
Saying the A’ûdhu (A’ûdhu billâhi min-ash-shaytânirrajîm) and Basmala(Bismillâhirrahmânirrahîm), I begin writting my book.
Al-hamd-u lillâh! If any person thanks another person in any manner for any reason at any place or time, all this hamd and thanks will in fact have been said to Allahu ta’âlâ. For, Allahu ta’âlâ alone creates and developes everything and renders every favour done. He, alone, is the owner of might and power. Unless He reminds, no one can wish or ever think of doing good or evil. Whatever happens is only what He wills.
May the best of prayers and favours be upon Muhammad Mustafâ (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam), who is His Prophet and most beloved slave, the most beautiful, the most superior of mankind in every respect. Also, may Allah be pleased with the Prophet’s family and companions, and all those who love and follow them!
Every man, and even every living being, wants to live in comfort, without sorrow and without trouble or pain. Savants, scientists, and governments have all been trying to establish these conditions for the world’s people. To attain this, various ideas and methods have been developed, and everyone is defending the way he thinks is better and more useful.
As unanimously declared by hundreds of thousands of Islamic savants, who have lived throughout the last fourteen centuries, and as well by all the correct religions which guided people to the way of comfort and peace in all parts of the world before Islam, there is one single way that will lead people to happiness and comfort. This unique way is through Îmân, which means to believe in the existence of one single creator, who created everything from nothing, who alone always makes everything, and who is almighty, such that what He wishes happens. The name of this single owner of power is Allah. Every goodness, every superiority belongs to Him only. There is no weakness or deficiency in Him. He has always existed. He never ceases to exist. He, alone, keeps everything in existence every moment. If He ceased to exist for one moment, everything would immediately cease to exist, too. To have belief in Him, it is necessary to believe and accept all His declarations, commandments, and prohibitions. Hence, there are a number of things to believe in. Islamic savants have summarized them into six groups. They are called Principles of Îmân. To believe in these six principles means to believe in everything that is necessary. The following are the six principles of îmân:
1 - To learn Allah’s five Sifât-i dhâtiyya and His eight Sifât-i thubûtiyya and to believe in them.
2 - To learn and believe in the teachings that are necessary to believe in about Angels.
3 - To learn the names of the four heavenly books sent by Allahu ta’âlâ and to believe that they are Allah’s word. Allahu ta’âlâ sent each book to a prophet by way of an angel. He sent the Qur’ân to Hadrat Muhammad (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam). It is permissible to translate or interpret the Qur’ân in any language and to learn the meaning of the Qur’ân as well as possible by reading such translations and interpretations. But reading the translations is not the same as reading the Qur’ân. For, not only the meanings of the words of the Qur’ân are called the Qur’ân, but also the words together with their meanings represent the Qur’ân.
4 - To believe in prophets. The first of the prophets was Hadrat Âdam (alaihis-salâm). The last and the highest prophet was Hadrat Muhammad (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam). The number of prophets who came between the two is not known.
5 - To believe in the Last day. That day is Doomsday. That is when every living thing will be annihilated. Afterwards they will all be resurrected, men will rise from their graves and, after being called to account, some of them will go to Paradise and others to Hell.
6 - To believe in Qadar. Allahu ta’âlâ knows in advance the things He will create. This knowledge of Allahu ta’âlâ is called Qadar. Everything according to qadar is created when the time comes. Men cannot change Allah’s qadar.
Today, the earth has only one book sent down by Allah that has not undergone human interpolation. This undefiled and perfect book is the Qur’ân al-kerîm. He who believes in the six principles of îmân as declared by the Qur’ân al-kerîm becomes a Mu’min or Muslim. Only Hadrat Muhammad (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam) understood the meaning of the Qur’ân correctly, and he explained it to those Muslims who were with him. Each of these explanations of Hadrat Muhammad is called Hadîth-i-sherîf. Those Muslims who saw Hadrat Muhammad’s beautiful face are called the Sahâba. Islamic savants who came later learned the meanings of the Qur’ân from the Sahâba, and they wrote them in their books. They are called the Savants of Ahl-as-sunnat. Hadrat Muhammad (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam) informed us that they were the true Islamic savants. Working day and night, the higher ones of those savants learned the various methods of worshipping within the context of what had newly happened and of what would arise later. They always adapted their methods of worshipping in accordance with what they had learned from the Sahaba, and they in turn taught them to their disciples. The highest ones among the Ahl-as-sunnat are called Mujtahid imâms. And some other savants who preferred their own minds and opinions gave new meanings disagreeing with the knowledge concerning the Qur’ân conveyed to them by the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat. Thus they deviated from the teachings of îmân communicated by the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat. If this deviation of theirs does not involve the clear declarations of the Qur’ân, those who hold that belief are still Mu’mins, Muslims. But they are Bid’at holders (heretics). If their deviation involves matters declared clearly, such misbelievers lose their îmân and become disbelievers. They, and also those who believe as they do, are called Mulhids. Their thinking of themselves as muslims and declaring that they are on the right way will not rescue them from being disbelievers. It is written in all the books of fiqh, and especially in Ibni Abidin, under the chapters dealing with iman: “It has been unanimously said (by savants) that if a person disbelieves in one of the facts that are necessary for one to know to be a Muslim, he becomes a kâfir (disbeliever), even if he is Ahl-i qibla, that is, performs the prayers in congregation[1] and does all kinds of worship throughout his life.” If a belief disagreeing with the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat is not a result of interpreting the Qur’ân erroneously, but by following one’s own short mind, understanding, opinion or the day’s scientific knowledge, one who believes so becomes a kâfir. Such disbelievers are called Religion reformers. For example, a person who disbelieves in the torment in the grave and in the shafâ’at (intercession) that will take place in the next world is either a heretical Muslim who is Ahl-i bid’at, or a disbeliever who is a religion reformer. A religon reformer thinks of himself as a Muslim, too. An enemy of Islam who is not a Muslim but who gives wrong meanings to the Qur’ân by pretending to be a Muslim in order to defile and demolish Islam from within is called a zindîq. It is difficult for youngsters to distinguish between these three types of disbelievers.
Each of Allah’s commandments is called a Fard. His prohibitions are called Harâm. The mujtahid imâms, who were the highest of the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat, in their search for documents in order to decide about certain matters, disagreed with one another in some matters. Thus, various Madhhabs emerged. Among them, the books of the famous four madhhabs spread everywhere, and the other madhhabs were forgotten.
He who wants to attain happiness in this world, in his grave, and in the next world must, after adapting his îmân to the Ahl-as-sunnat, live in obedience to one of the four madhhabs. In other words, all his worships and actions must be suited to one madhhab. Of the four madhhabs, he must choose the one that is the easiest for him to learn and follow; after learning it, he must act in accordance with it in everything he does. Savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat declared unanimously that when doing a certain matter it is not permissible to mix the four madhhabs with one another. That is, it is never permissible to do one part of a matter or worship according to one madhhab and another part according to another madhhab. If one does so, one will have disobeyed the unanimity of the savants and will have followed none of the madhhabs. To follow one madhhab means to learn it and to intend to follow it. It is not acceptable to follow it without intending to do so.
Hadrat Abdulghanî Nablusî wrote in his book Khulâsat-ut-tahqîq fî-bayân-i hukm-it-taqlîd wat-talfîq: “Admitting someone else’s word or proof without understanding it is called Taqlîd (imitation, following). A Muslim who is not a mujtahid has to do his every act of worship and everything by imitating a mujtahid. It is permissible for him to imitate one mujtahid when doing one thing and to follow another mujtahid when doing another thing for the first time. But, after having done one thing according to one madhhab, he has to do that thing by imitating continuously the same madhhab, except when there is a darûrat (strong necessity)[2] not to do so. During the times of the Sahâba and the Tâbi’în, the newly converted Muslims would do so. Likewise, he who imitates only one madhhab in everything he does, cannot imitate another madhhab unless there is a strong necessity.” As it is seen, when there is a strong necessity, it is permissible to do worships and everything else according to another madhhab. But, in this case, it will be necessary to learn that madhhab well and to observe its conditions.
A person who does not follow a madhhab is called a lâ-madhhabî. A lâ-madhhabî person cannot be Ahl-as-sunnat[3] His worships are not sahîh (correct, valid). It is harâm to change one’s madhhab for worldly advantages in order to obtain the desires of one’s nafs[4] . Each Muslim must learn at least one madhhab and to adapt his daily life to it.
To annihilate Islam, the enemies of Islam attacked the Ahl-as-sunnat by state and financial forces. In all parts of the world they prevented the educating of Islamic savants. They annihilated the schools of the Ahl-as-sunnat and the books of the Ahl-as-sunnat. This aggression was led by the British. Today, as it can be seen, there are no books of the Ahl-as-sunnat, nor any savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat left in many countries. Brought up ignorant, the youth are easily being deceived, misled, and swept into perdition by mulhids, la-madhhabîs, and religion reformers. I have deemed it necessary to spread all over the world in English the teachings of fiqh by way of my Turkish bookSe’âdet-i Ebediyye. I prepared this book as a service to innocent youngsters. Thus, the fourth fascicle of my book Endless Bliss has been formed. I have prepared this book by translating fiqh books of the Hanafî madhhab. If those youngsters who are in another madhhab or who have not been able to learn the teachings of dîn (religion) read this book and do all their matters and worships accordingly, they will have imitated the great Islamic savant Hadrat Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa Nu’mân bin Thâbit, the leader of the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat, the great imâm and mutlaq mujtahid. Thus, their worships will be sahîh, they will escape the calamity of having deviated from the Ahl-as-sunnat.
May Allahu ta’âlâ protect us all from being deceived by the insidious enemies of Islam, from being trapped by lâ-madhhabî people and by religion reformers who bear Muslim names! Âmin.
Husayn Hilmi bin Sa'îd Ishiq (Işık) 'rahmatullâhi ta'âlâ 'alaih', (1329 [1911 A.D.], Vezîr Tekkesi, Eyyûb Sultân, Istanbul-1422 [2001], Istanbul.)
ISLAM
[Allahu ta’âlâ created all creatures. Everything except Allahu ta’âlâ was nonexistent. He always exists. He is not a recent occurrence. If He had been nonexistent, a power already existing before Him would have been necessary to create Him. To have something come into being requires work. And it is a fact being taught in all high schools and faculties of science that doing work requires having power. If there is no power to create something previously nonexistent, that thing remains nonexistent and never exists. If the owner of power always existed, Allah is this powerful eternal being. But if it is determined that this owner of creative power is also a recent occurrence, then it must have a creator, too. If it is not accepted that one creator has existed since eternity, then an infinite number of creators will be necessary. And this, in turn, means that these creators do not have a beginning. The nonexistence of the first eternal creator means the nonexistence of other creators it could have created. If there is no creator, this universe of matter and spirits, which has been created from nothing, cannot exist, either. Since substances and souls exist, they must also have only one creator, and this creator must have existed eternally.
Allahu ta’âlâ created simple substances, which are the constructive materials for everything, and souls and angels first. Simple substances are called elements now. Today’s knowledge reveals the existence of one hundred and five different elements. Allahu ta’âlâ created and is still creating everything from these one hundred and five elements. Iron, sulphur, carbon, oxygen gas, and chlorine gas are all elements. Allahu ta’âlâ has not informed us of how many millions of years ago He created these elements. Nor has He declared the time He began to create the earths, the heavens, and the living things which came into being from these. Living or lifeless, everything has a life cycle. When the time comes, He creates it, and when its time is up, He annihilates it. He creates things not only from nothing, but also from other things, gradually or suddenly, and as one being ceases to exist a new one comes into being.
Allahu ta’âlâ made up the first man from lifeless substances and a soul. There had been no man before him. Animals, plants, genies and angels had been created before that first man. That first man’s name was Âdam (alaihis-salâtu was-salâm). Later He created a woman named Hawwâ (Eve) from him. The earth’s population finds its source from these two. And from each animal its own species multiplied.
Today, the enemies of Islam disguise themselves as scientists in order to deceive Muslim children. “Men were created from monkeys,” they say. “A British doctor named Darwin said so,” they say. But they are liars. Darwin did not say such a thing. He related the struggle for survival among the living. In his book Origin of the Species, he wrote that the living adapted themselves to their surroundings, and, in doing this, underwent some insignificant changes. He did not say that one species changed into another. In a conference organized in Salford in 1980 by the British Unity of Science, Prof. John Durant, a member of the teaching staff in the University of Swansea, made the following speech, in summary: “Darwin’s views on the the origin of man has become a modern legend. The contribution this legend has made to our scientific and social progress has been sheer harm, and no more. The tales of evolution have had a destructive effect on scientific research. They have given rise to distortions, unnecessary disputes and serious scientific abuses. Now Darwin’s theory has come apart at the seams, leaving behind itself ruins of erroneous conceptions.” These statements, which Prof. Durant made about his compatriot, are the most interesting answers given in the name of science to Darwinists. Today’s attempts to imbue people of various cultural backgrounds with the theory of evolution originate from ideological determinations. They have nothing to do with science. The theory has been exploited as a means for the inculcation of materialistic philosophy. It is not scientific to say that man has originated from the monkey. It is never a scientific word, either. Nor is it Darwin’s saying. It is a lie of the ignorant enemies of Islam who know nothing of knowledge or science. A man of knowledge or a scientist simply could not say such an ignorant, absurd thing. If a person who has received a university diploma begins to indulge in useless things, does not study his branch of knowledge, even forgets what he has learned, that person cannot be a man of knowledge or a scientist. If in addition he becomes an enemy of Islam and attempts to sow and broadcast his mendacious and wrong words and writings in the name of science and knowledge, he becomes a harmful, base and treacherous microbe in society. His diploma, status, and rank become an ostentation, a trap to hunt the youth. But the most pathetic people are those who are swept into endless perdition by the deception of these fraudulent and fanatical scientists who sow and broadcast their lies and slanders in the name of knowledge and science.
Allahu ta’âlâ wants people to live in comfort and peace in the world and to attain endless happiness in the next world. It is for this reason that He has commanded useful things that cause happiness and forbidden harmful things which cause calamity. Whether a person is religious or irreligious, whether he is a Believer or a disbeliever, the better he adapts himself to the rules taught in Qur’ân al-kerîm and obeys the commandments and prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ, regardless of whether he does so on purpose or by chance, the more peace and comfort will he attain in his worldly life. It is like a person’s taking medicine, which will cure him anyway. The reason why many irreligious and atheistic people and nations achieve success in most of their enterprises today is their working compatibly with the principles taught in Qur’ân al-kerîm. However, attaining eternal felicity by following Qur’ân al-kerîm requires first of all believing in it and following its rules intentionally.
The first commandment of Allahu ta’âlâ is to have Îmân. And His first prohibition is kufr. Îmân means to believe the fact that Hadrat Muhammad (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam) is Allah’s last prophet. Allahu ta’âlâ has given Wahy (divine revelation) concerning His commandments and prohibitions to him in Arabic. That is, He has declared them to him by means of an angel. And the Prophet, in turn, has communicated them to mankind. What Allahu ta’âlâ has declared in Arabic is called the Qur’ân al-kerîm. The book in which the entire Qur’ân al-kerîm is written is called a Mus’haf. The Qur’ân al-kerîm is not the word of Muhammad (alaihis-salâm). It is the word of Allah. No human being could have managed such an immaculate wording. Everything that is declared in the Qur’ân al-kerîm is called Islam. A person who believes in all of it is called a Mu’min (Believer) and Muslim. Denying even one of the facts in it is called disbelief, that is, Kufr. It is only the business of the heart to believe in the facts concerning the happenings in the next world, the existence of genies and angels, and the Prophet Âdam’s (alaihis-salâm) fatherhood over all people, and the fact that he is the first prophet. These are called knowledge of I’tiqâd (belief) and Aqâid (tenets). Both the commandments and the prohibitions pertaining to the heart and body must be accepted and observed. This is called knowledge of A’mal or Sharî’at (Islamic law). It is Îmân to believe in them, too. And it is Worship to do them. As it is understood, he who disbelieves or ignores the fact that worships are duties becomes a kâfir (disbeliever). He who believes them but does not do them, does not become a kâfir. He is called a fâsiq (sinner). A believer who has îmân in the knowledge of Islam and observes it as well as he can is called a Pious Muslim. A Muslim who strives to earn the love and the consent of Allahu ta’âlâ is called Sâlih. One who has earned the love and the consent of Allahu ta’âlâ is called Ârif or Walî. A walî who is instrumental in other’s attaining this love is called Murshid. All these distinguished ones are called Sâdiq. All of them are Sâlih. A pious Mu’min will never go to Hell. A kâfir will certainly go to Hell. Never leaving Hell, he will suffer eternal torment. If a kâfir becomes a Believer, all his or her sins will be pardoned. If a fâsiq repents of his sins and starts doing ’ibâdat (and begs Allahu ta’âlâ for forgiveness), he will never go to Hell, but he will go to Paradise directly like a pious believer. If he does not do his Tawba (begging Allahu ta’âlâ for forgiveness), he will be forgiven through shafâ’at (intercession) or without any mediation and go directly to Paradise, or, after burning in Hell to the extent determined by his sins, caused by his sins, he will then go to Paradise.
The Qur’ân al-kerîm descended in a language suitable with the Arabic grammar spoken by the people of that time, and it is in poetic form. That is, like poetry, it is harmonious. It is replete with the subtleties of the Arabic language. It has all the subtleties of the bedî, bayân, me’ânî and belâghat sciences. It is, therefore, very difficult to understand. A person who does not know the subtleties of the Arabic language cannot understand the Qur’ân al-kerîm well even if he reads and writes Arabic. Even those who knew these subtleties could not understand it. As a result, our Prophet explained most of its parts. These explanations of our Prophet (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam) are calledHadîth-i sherîf. The Sahâbat al-kirâm (rıdwân-ullâhi ta’âlâ alaihim ajma’în) communicated to younger generations what they had heard and learned from our master the Prophet. As time elapsed, hearts became darker and darker, and Muslims, especially the newly converted ones, attempted to interpret the Qur’ân with their deficient minds and short sights, and inferred meanings that contradicted those which our Prophet (sall-allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) had communicated. The enemies of Islam incited this faction and gave birth to seventy-two different, wrong, and heretical beliefs. Those people who bear such heretical beliefs are called the Ahl-i bid’at or Ahl-i dalâla. All of those who belong to the seventy-two groups of bid’at will certainly go to Hell, but, being Believers, they will not remain in Hell eternally. They will eventually be allowed out and enter Paradise. If the belief of a person belonging to one of these seventy-two heretical groups disagrees with something clearly declared in the Qur’ân al-kerîm or in the hadîth sherîfs, he will lose his Îmân. Such a person is called a Mulhid. A mulhid thinks of himself as a Muslim. But his îmân has left, and he has become a disbeliever.
Those Islamic savants who learned correctly the teachings of i’tiqâd, that is, the teachings of Islam that must be believed in, from the Sahâba (rıdwân-ullâhi ta’âlâ alaihim ajma’în) and who wrote them in books are called savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat ‘rahmat-ullâhi ta’âlâ alaihim ajma’în’. These people are scholars who have attained to the grade called Ijtihâd in one of the four Madh-habs. The savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat did not attempt to understand the meaning of the Qur’ân al-kerîm with their own minds, but they believed what they learned from the Sahâba. They did not follow what they themselves understood. Thus, they wrote down and taught the right way declared by ourProphet (sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam). The Ottoman Empire was a Muslim state, and had the belief of the Ahl-as-sunnat.
As it is understood from the information above and as it is written in many valuable books, escaping disasters in this world and the next and living in peace and happiness first requires having îmân, that is, to learn and believe everything as communicated by the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat (rahmat-ullâhi ta’âlâ alaihim ajma’în). A person who does not have the belief of the Ahl-as-sunnat has become either an Ahl-i bid’at, a heretical Muslim, or a mulhid, a disbeliever. The second duty of a Believer with correct îmân, i’tiqâd, is to become sâlih (pious), that is, to learn the teachings of the Sharî’at (Islamic law), that is, to do ’ibâda. In explaining the teachings of how to worship, the savants of the Ahl-as-sunnat (rahimahum-allâhu ta’âlâ) parted into four groups. Hence, the four Madhhab sappeared. They disagreed on a few insignificant matters, but they agreed with one another on îmân; they loved and respected one another. Each Muslim has to worship as shown by one of these four madhhabs. The fact that a person who does not adapt himself to one of these four madhhabs has deviated from the Ahl-as-sunnat, is written in the Zabayih section of Durr-ul-Mukhtâr, an explanation of Tahtâwî. If a disbeliever captured in war, or during the time of peace, says that he has become a Muslim, he is to be believed. But he has to learn and believe in the six principles of îmân immediately. Gradually, when he has the opportunity, he should learn the fards (obligations) and the harâms (prohibitions) and obey what he has learned. If he does not learn them, he will have slighted Allahu ta’âlâ’s sharî’at and his îmân perishes. A person who has lost his îmân in such a way is called a murtad. It is written in the hundred and sixteenth page of the translation of Sherh-i-Siyar-i-Kebîr and at the end of the chapter about a disbeliever’s marriage in the book Durr-ul-mukhtâr that if a person who is wise enough to earn his living and to pursue his advantages successfully reaches the age of puberty without knowing Islam, he is a murtad (renegade, apostate) (according to Islam’s evaluations). It is stated at the end of the chapter about a disbeliever’s marriage in the book Durr-ul-mukhtâr: If a married Muslim girl does not know Islam when she reaches the age of puberty, her nikâh (marriage contract made in accordance with Islam) becomes null and void; [she becomes a murtad]. She must be taught the Attributes of Allâhu ta’âlâ. She must repeat and confirm what she hears. Explaining this, Ibni Âbidîn (rahima-h-ullâhi ta’âlâ) says, “A small girl is a Muslim because her parents are Muslims. When she reaches the age of puberty, the rule of her being in the same religion as her parents lapses. So when she reaches the age of puberty without knowing Islam she becomes a murtad. If she heard the tenets of belief and did not believe them, she will not become a Muslim by saying the Kelima-i-tawhîd, that is, when she says the word ‘Lâ ilâha il-l-Allah Muhammadun Rasûlullah’. A person who believes the six tenets in the credo ‘Âmentu billâhi...’ and says that he accepts the commandments and prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ, becomes a Muslim.” It follows from what has been said so far that every Muslim has to have his children memorize this credo and teach them its meaning well: “Amentu billâhi wa Melâikatihi wa Kutubihi wa Rusulihi wa’l Yawm-il-âkhiri wa bi’l Qaderî khayrihi wa sher-rihi min-allâhi ta’âlâ wa’l ba’su ba’dal mawt haqqun Esh-hadu an lâ ilâha il-l-allah wa esh-hadu anna Muhammadan ’abduhu wa Rasûluhu.” If a child does not learn these six tenets and does not say that he or she believes them, he or she does not become a Muslim when he or she reaches the age of puberty; he or she becomes a murtad. There is detailed information on these six tenets in the (Turkish) book Herkese Lâzım Olan Îmân, (and also in the English book Belief and Islam.) Every Muslim has to read this book and have his children read it and do his best that all his acquaintances read it, too. We must spare no effort in doing this lest our children should grow up as renegades. We must teach them Îmân, Islam, ablution, ghusl, namâz before sending