HÜSEYN HiLMi IŞIK
'Rahmat-allahi alaih’
Hüseyn Hilmi Işık, 'Rahmat-allahi alaih’, publisher of the Waqf Ikhlas Publications, was born in Eyyub Sultan, Istanbul in 1329 (A.D. 1911).
Of the one hundred and forty-four books he published, sixty are Arabic, twenty-five Persian, fourteen Turkish, and the remaining translated books consist of French, German, English, Russian and other languages.
Hüseyn Hilmi Işık, 'Rahmat-allahi alaih' (guided by Sayyid Abdulhakim Arvasi, ‘Rahmat-allahi alaih’, a profound scholar of the religion and was perfect in virtues of tasawwuf and capable to direct disciples in a fully mature manner; possessor of glories and wisdom), was a competent, great Islamic scholar able to pave the way for attaining happiness, passed away during the night between October 25, 2001 (8 Shaban 1422) and October 26, 2001 (9 Shaban 1422). He was buried at Eyyub Sultan, where he was born.
1- FIRST VOLUME, 266th LETTER
In the two hundred and sixty-sixth letter which Hadrat Imâm-i Rabbânî wrote to Khwâja Ubaydullah and Khwâja Abdullah, sons of his master Muhammed Bâqî Billah, he explains ’Ilm-i kalâm, that is belief, which was inspired to his blessed heart by ilhâm[1]and firâsat.[2]Although he did not have recourse to books or any mental contemplation for writing this information, it all concurs with the words of the savants of Ahl as-sunnat wa’l-jamâ’at. May Allâhu ta’âlâ reward those savants with the highest blessings, who worked ceaselessly by spending their lives and sacrificing their rest!
Imâm-i Rabbânî Mujaddid-i elf-i thânî Shaikh Ahmad Fârûqî had only newly dived into the ocean of knowledge, when he dreamt of Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam), who said to him, “You will become a mujtahid in the science of Kalâm.” He told his master about his dream. From that day on he had different ijtihâd and views on each matter of ’Ilm-i kalâm. Yet on the majority of matters he was in agreement with our leader of Mâ-Turîdiyya. Refuting the words of philosophers, which contradicted the Sharî’at, he proved that they were wrong, and he exposed the disgrace of those ignorant idiots who, being unable to recognize the great men of tasawwuf and to understand their words, deviated from the right way, and who, thinking of themselves as religious men, misled others as well. In this letter, he also communicates a few matters of fiqh concerning salât, the value and the high grade of tasawwuf, and conveys that great men who have made progress on this way are fully adherent to the Sharî’at and that the slanders of those who are unable to recognize them are untenable, [and advises not to listen to music, not to go dancing or playing], in addition to a few other things:
Praise be to Allâhu ta’âlâ. May all prayers and blessings be on Muhammad Mustafâ ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’, who is His Prophet and Beloved, and who is the most beautiful and the most superior of all people in every respect, and on all of those who love and follow him! May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless you, my dear master’s children, with endless bliss.
O you beloved children of my master, my dear teacher, who caused me to attain the blessings of this world and the next! Be it known that this poor brother of yours, who is needy in every respect, that is, I, am bathing from head to foot in the alms and favours given by that exalted father of yours. From him did I learn the alphabet of humanity. With him did I read the words revealing high grades. In his presence, under his supervision did I attain certain grades in a short time, which would take others years of labour. All merits that embellish men with virtues and superiorities were sprinkled on me as the prizes for my serving him. This poor person, who used to be good for nothing and who used to know nothing of humanity, matured under his luminous observation in two and a half months, thus joining the path of the superiors, and attaining the grades closer to Allâhu ta’âlâ, which were peculiar to them. In such a short time, the secret advantages, tasted by the men of tasawwuf, and which were expressed in such terms as tajallî, zuhûr, nûr, hâl and kayfiyyat, were scattered before me like drops from the ocean in your father’s brilliant heart. Which one of these shall I explain? He being so kind and so merciful to this poor person, none of the ma’rifats of subtle pieces of knowledge remained unlearned, which men of tasawwuf have tried to explain with such words as Tawhîd (to know as one), Qurb (closeness), Ma’iyyat (togetherness), Ihâtat (to surround everywhere), Sarayân (to exist in every mote). Nothing of their essence remained unfamiliar to me. To see the greatness of Allâhu ta’âlâ in everything-which they call Wahdat-i wujûd- and to find kathrat (plurality) in wahdat (unity) are the beginnings of these subtle pieces of knowledge. It would be ignorance and idiocy to attempt to explain the knowledge which Islamic superiors reach and know through the expression of words. The grades which they reach and attain are very high. The knowledge and the occult zeal which they enjoy and acquire are very subtle. Not every pedlar of knowledge or those who are considered as superiors and leaders reach or approach this level.
Even if I rub my face on your servants’ feet till I die in return for the favours and gifts of that exalted father of yours to this faqîr, I would have done nothing towards you. Which one of my defects shall I expose? Which one of my humiliating and shameful traits shall I reveal? May Allâhu ta’âlâ reward Husâmaddîn Ahmad for taking our duty, our debt towards you upon himself, and for being honoured with taking service with you, thus causing us to breathe freely. A couplet translated into English:
Were all the hairs on me to begin speaking;
They would still fall short of due thanksgiving!
I was honoured three times with kissing the threshold of the door of that treasure of values, [who centuries could not educate once again, nor could the human mind assess]. At the third time he said, “I have become enfeebled. My hope for living has decreased. After me, watch over my children!” They brought you. You were children carried in arms then. He commanded me to pay tawajjuh on you. His command being obeyed then and there in his presence, you were paid so much tawajjuh that its effect soon showed itself. Then he said, “Now pay tawajjuh on their mother in her absence.” As she was absent, she too, was paid tawajjuh on. As it was done with his command and in his presence, I hope that the tawajjuh will bring many uses.
Do not worry that I may be forgetful or oblivious of your father’s commands, which must be done in any case, or of his advice, which has to be fulfilled no matter what it costs. Is that ever possible? I have been awaiting a small signal from you. For the time being I am writing a few lines of advice. Listen with rapt attention! May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless both of you with endless bliss.
Every Muslim must first correct his belief; that is, he must believe as the savants of Ahl as-sunnat wa’l-jamâ’at have described. May Allâhu ta’âlâ profusely reward those savants who worked incessantly, undauntedly! It is only they and their followers who shall escape the eternal, infinite torment of Hell. Of the tenets of belief which they taught I shall explain the ones that have been forgotten:
[The principles of îmân are six: The first one is to believe in Allâhu ta’âlâ]. Allâhu ta’âlâ exists with His own being. Everything other than He came into being as a result of His creating. He Himself, His attributes, and His deeds are unique. [That is, nothing resembles Allâhu ta’âlâ in any respect.] As He does not have a companion or partner in existing, He does not have any likeness in any respect. Resemblance is only in names and words. His attributes and deeds, like He Himself, cannot be comprehended mentally, nor can they be explained; they do not have any resemblance to or analogy with men’s attributes and deeds. [He has eight attributes, which are called Sifât-i thubûtiyya]. One of them is His attribute knowledge, i.e. He knows. This attribute of His is, like He Himself, eternal, that is, it is not hâdith (of recent occurence). It always exists and is elementary, [that is, in one state. It never changes, it is indivisible, it never increases]. The things which He knows change, and He knows every change. But there is no change in His knowledge or in the dependence of His knowledge upon these things. He knows [every change from eternity in the past to eternity in the future through only one knowledge. In other words, in one moment He knows everything in eternity,] both the largest and the tiniest motes, with their aspects similar and dissimilar to one another, each existing in its own time. For example, both a person’s existence and nonexistence, his states before existence, his childhood, youth, old age, his standing, sitting, leaning, lying, laughing and crying, his being in pleasures and blessings or in pain and sorrow, in honour and esteem or disgrace and degradation, in the grave, at the place of resurrection, at the place of judgement, and, let us say, among the blessings in Paradise; He knows all these at one time and in one state. There is no change, neither in His knowledge nor in the dependence of his knowledge upon these things. If there would be a change, there would be a change in the structure of time, too. However, at that rank there is an unbreakable moment from eternity in the past to eternity in the future. Or, rather, Allâhu ta’âlâ is free from time; there is not ‘being before’ or ‘being after.’ If we say that His knowledge reaches all things, He knows all things by knowing them as one and by one relation of His knowledge with them. This one knowledge and relation is above mind’s capacity. I find the following example appropriate for explaining this to the mind. Man can think of various cases of a word and its different forms at one moment. At one moment he can know one word in the nominal form, in the verbal form, as a mass of letters, in the past form, in the future form, in the imperative form, in the negative imperative form, with particles, without particles, in the affirmative form, in the negative form. He may say that he sees various forms of a word at the same moment. When it is possible for a man to gather various different cases together in his knowledge, and even in his seeing, why should it not be possible for Allâhu ta’âlâ? Moreover, in His knowledge, the state of two opposites at the same place together is only in apperance. In fact, there is no oppositeness there. For example, He knows a person both as existent and as nonexistent at the same moment. But, at that same moment He knows his existence, let us say a thousand years after the Hegira, and his first nonexistence before this existence, and his second nonexistence, for example a hundred years after this existence. Then, there is no oppositeness there. For, the time of the existence and that of the nonexistence are different. Therefore; though Allâhu ta’âlâ knows separate, different things at one moment, no change takes place in His knowledge. Contrary to what philosophers suppose, nothing happens in His attribute knowledge afterwards. For, the knowledge of something does not originate from the knowledge of something else that precedes it; why should there be change in the knowledge, then? Since He knows everything at the same one moment, no change or novelty takes place in His knowledge. Then, in explaining that there is no change in the knowledge, it would be unnecessary to say that the knowledge has been attached to things through various bonds and that these bonds change. As a matter of fact, to refute philosophers, some of our superiors said so. It would be pertinent to say that change occurs in the attachment of these bonds to things.
Another sifât-i thubûtiyya of Allâhu ta’âlâ is His attribute Kalâm. His attribute kalâm, that is, His word, is an elementary word; He is the speaker of that one word from eternity in the past to eternity in the future. All the commands, all the prohibitions, all that is communicated, all the questions, all the requests are in that one word. All the books and pages that He has sent are of that one elementary word. The Torah has originated from it. And the Qur’ân, too, has originated from it.
[Another sifât-i thubûtiyya of Allâhu ta’âlâ is His attribute Takwîn. That is, He is creative]. All that He created, all that He made are of one deed, of one making; all His creations, from His first creation to eternity, are created through that one deed. The âyat, “We made everything in the twinkling of an eye,” shows this fact. His giving life and taking life are through that one deed. His creating and annihilating, too, are of that one deed. There are not various attachments to His deed, either. Perhaps, with one attachment He creates all the things in the beginnings and in the ends, each coming about in its own time. Since mind cannot understand His deed, it cannot comprehend the attachments of the deed. The mind does not have access to that realm. Even Abul-Hasan Ash’arî, one of the savants of Ahl as-sunnat, being unable to understand the deed of Allâhu ta’âlâ, said that His attribute Takwîn, that is, His creating, was of a recent occurrence. That is, he said that His making each thing happens when He makes it. However, all the deeds that have been done in process of time are the works, appearances of that deed in the eternal past. They are not the deed itself. So, of the great men of tasawwuf, those who say, “We see His deeds, we have attained to the Tajallî-yi af’âl,” are wrong. They presume that they see the deed of Allâhu ta’âlâ in everything. However, those manifestations, appearances are not the deed itself, but they are its works. For, since Allâhu ta’âlâ cannot be seen, His deed cannot be seen, felt, thought of or understood by mind, either. His deed and all His attributes are eternal. They are not of a recent occurrence. With Him they always exist. His deed is called Takwîn; it does not go in the mirror of creatures, nor is it seen there. A Persian couplet translated into English:
How can meaning go into the shape and form of a cup,
which is Narrow? What is a Sultan’s business in a beggar’s cottage?
According to this faqîr (Hadrat Imâm-i Rabbânî), unless Allâhu ta’âlâ becomes manifest, His attributes and deeds cannot become manifest. How can His attributes and deeds ever become manifest without His own manifestation, in the light of the fact that they do not part from Him? What parts from Him are the shades, reflections and visions of His attributes and deeds. Not everybody can understand these. Only to those slaves of His whom He loves does Allâhu ta’âlâ impart this subtle knowledge. His blessings are multifarious.
Now we come back to the point under discussion: Allâhu ta’âlâ does not enter anything. He does not penetrate any substance. Nothing penetrates Him. However, Allâhu ta’âlâ surrounds everything, is close to everything and is together with everything. Yet these are not like the surrounding and the closeness and the togetherness which we understand and with which we are familiar. They are not worthy of Him. Nor is the surrounding, the closeness or the togetherness, which the Awliyâ sense through kashf, worthy of Him. For, none of these poor creatures can understand His attributes and deeds. They must be believed without understanding. A Persian couplet in English:
The phoenix cannot be hunted, undo
your trap!
Air, only, this hunting is going to trap.
It will be pertinent to quote the following distich from my exalted murshîd’s ‘qaddas-Allâhu sirrah-ul’azîz’ Persian Mathnawî by translating it into English:
The destination is far away;
“I’ve attained,” would be wrong to say.
We believe that Allâhu ta’âlâ surrounds everything, that He is close to everything and that He is together with everything. But we cannot know what this surrounding, this closeness, this togetherness mean. To say that His knowledge surrounds, or that His knowledge is close, would mean to translate the outward meanings in Qur’ân al-kerîm. We do not approve of such translations.
Allâhu ta’âlâ does not unite with anything. Nor does anything unite with Him. Great men of tasawwuf uttered some words which we would interpret as uniting. But they meant something else. For example, by their statement, “When faqr is completed, one becomes Allâhu ta’âlâ,” they meant: “Nothing exists. Allâhu ta’âlâ exists only.” They did not mean to say that the faqîr unites with Allâhu ta’âlâ. It would be disbelief, zindiqness to say so. Allâhu ta’âlâ is unlike what disbelievers suppose Him to be. My master said: The meaning of Hallâj-i Mansûr’s word, “I am Haqq,” is, “I am not. Only Allah is.” [Such statements said by those who obey the Sharî’at must be judged with a good opinion and with ta’wîl.]
Allâhu ta’âlâ Himself does not change; nor do His attributes and deeds. No change takes place in Him, in His attributes or in His deeds when actions, movements take place, or when He creates things. Those who maintain that there is wahdat-i wujûd say that Allâhu ta’âlâ created beings in five grades, which they call Tanazzulât-i khams; yet this does not have a meaning so as to indicate a change in Him. If a person expresses it in this meaning, he diverges from the right way and becomes a disbeliever. These great people say that there have been five grades downwards in the manifestation of Allah’s attributes, which means that there is no change in Allâhu ta’âlâ’s attributes and deeds.
Allâhu ta’âlâ is Ghaniyy-i mutlaq. That is, He does not need anything for anything. Nothing is necessary for Him, for His attributes, for His deeds, in any respect. As they do not have a need in existence, they do not have a need in appearing, or in being known. Those words of the great ones of the Sôfiyya-i ’aliyya which imply meanings such as, “Allâhu ta’âlâ needs us in order to display His names and attributes” seem very humiliating to me, the faqîr. Being created, we have been valued, honoured. Nothing has increased in Allâhu ta’âlâ. Such words are quite impertinent and very loathsome. He declares, “I created genies and human beings only so that they should worship Me.” This means to say that the creation of genies and human beings is intended for them to know Allâhu ta’âlâ; this is an honour, a fortune for them. It is not intended for Him to gain something. Allâhu ta’âlâ declares in a hadîth-i qudsî, [that is, through the Prophet’s blessed tongue,] “I created everything to be known,” which means, “...so that they may be honoured by knowing me.” It does not mean, “.....so that I may be known and through their recognition reach perfection.” This meaning is not worthy of Allâhu ta’âlâ.
Allâhu ta’âlâ does not have the attributes of imperfection or the peculiarities and symptoms of creatures. He is not matter. He is not a substance. He is free from place; [that is, He does not occupy a place]. He is free from time; [as He does not have a place, so He does not have time]. The attributes of perfection and the indeficiencies only exist in Him. He has declared that He has eight attributes of perfection, which are: Hayât (being alive), ’Ilm (knowing), Qudrat (being powerful), Irâdat (will), Sam’ (hearing), Basar (seeing), Kalâm (saying), Takwîn (creating). These attributes of His exist separately from Himself. Their existence is not in knowledge only. That is, they are not only said to exist theoretically, but they exist separately and actually. As He Himself exists, so these attributes of His exist separately. What those sôfiyya-i aliyya who believe in wahdat-i wujûd suppose, and their words, such as,
In mind and thought the attributes are separate;
But in reality they are all nothing but Himself,
mean is: to deny, to disbelieve the attributes. Of Muslims, the Mu’tazila group, who deny the attributes, and of unbelievers, the ancient philosophers say that though His attributes are theoretically separate from Himself, only He exists in reality. [That is,] they do not deny that His attributes are [theoretically] separate from Himself. For example, they do not say that the meaning of the attribute knowledge is the same as that of His own Self. Nor do they say that His attributes Qudrat and Irâdat are the same in meaning. But they say that their existences individually are one and the same. Then, for safety from the denial of attributes, it is necessary to believe that each one of them exists separately and actually. It is not good to believe of them as separate theoretically.
Allâhu ta’âlâ is Qadîm. [That is, His existence does not have a beginning. He was never nonexistent before His existence; He always existed.] He is Azalî. [That is, He was never nonexistent.] No being other than He is qadîm or azalî. Owners of faith, owners of heavenly books have always held this belief and have said that those who deem anybody besides Allâhu ta’âlâ as qadîm and azalî are polytheists. For this reason, the Hujjat-ul islâm Imâm-i Muhammad Ghazâlî ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ has said that Ibni Sînâ and Fârâbî and a few others were disbelievers; for they believed that the Primordial matter, [which they said was the initial state of mind, soul and matter], was eternal, and that the heavens, together with their contents, were eternal.
[It is written in the book Akhlâq-i-’alâ’î, “Ibni Sînâ (Avicenna) denied the rising after death in his book Mu’âd. Though it is rumoured that towards his death he performed a ghusl ablution and did penance for the cruelties he had done when he had been a vizier, it is said (by savants) that the ghusl, the namâz and the prayers of a person with the wrong belief will not be accepted.”]
My master said, “Shaikh-i akbar Muhyiddîn-i ’Arabî’s statement, ‘The souls of great people are eternal,’ should be adapted to the unanimous beliefs and statements of savants: its outward meaning should not be considered.”
Allâhu ta’âlâ is Qâdîr-i mukhtâr. [That is, He can do whatever He wills to. Unlike natural forces, He is not compelled [to do things]. Ancient Greek philosophers, being unable to comprehend the matter, presumed that it would be perfection, greatness, to have to act, create, thus denying the choice of Allâhu ta’âlâ. They said that He had to act. These idiots said that Allâhu ta’âlâ had to create one thing, and that he had not created anything else. They called that fabulous thing the constant actor and said that it was making everything.
What they call ’Aql-i fa’âl (constant actor) is only a fancy that exists in their imagination. According to their profane belief, “Allâhu ta’âlâ does not do anything. When man is in trouble, he invokes ’Aql-i fa’âl. He does not ask anything of Allâhu ta’âlâ. For Allâhu ta’âlâ is not interested in what is going on on earth. Everything is made, created by ’Aql-i fa’âl.” In fact, they do not invoke ’Aql-i fa’âl, either. For, they do not consider it to have a will or option for freeing them from trouble. These unfortunate people are the lowest of all the heretical groups in idiocy and stupidity. Disbelievers trust themselves to Allâhu ta’âlâ in everything they do. They supplicate to Him for the elimination of disasters. But these base people do not do so. Two evils exist in these unfortunate people in a greater degree than in any other group of heresy and idiocy. First, they do not believe the messages sent by Allâhu ta’âlâ; they show an obstinate and hostile attitude towards Prophets’ ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’ communications. Second, they advance profane theories. Putting forward groundless, untenable proofs and documents, they attempt to prove their null and heretical ideas. In their attempts to prove their heretical thoughts, they make so many mistakes that no other ignoble individuals have done a thing so wrongly and unsoundly. They say that everything done on earth is done by the changing motions and states of the heavens and stars, which move and turn ceaselessly. They cannot see the One Who created the heavens, Who designed the stars, and Who makes them move and regulates their motions. They suppose that He does not meddle with anything; they are so stolid, so base! And those who consider them to be wise and who believe their words are even baser. One of their mentally contrived and arranged sciences is geometry, which is good neither for worldly prosperity nor for eternal salvation. What use will humanity get from saying and proving that the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles? [Unless scientific knowledge, modern machines, electronic apparatuses and other new discoveries are made and used by believing people whose hearts have been purified and whose morals have been beautified by obeying Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Prophet, they will render no great advantage; they will not provide for human rights, ease and peace; they will not be used for eliminating wars and destitution. Instead, they will be a means for cruelty and torment].
[Imâm-i Ghazâlî ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ divided the irreligious people, who think of themselves as intelligent and unerring men of knowledge, into three groups. The first group are the Dahriyyûn and the materialists, who existed centuries before Greek philosophers. Some idiots who pass for scientists today are in this group. Denying the existence of Allâhu ta’âlâ, they say that beings came into existence by themselves and will go on so, that they [May Allah forbid!] do not have a creator, that the living multiply from one another and this will go on everlastingly. The second group are the naturalists, who, seeing the stupefying order and delicacies in living and non-living beings, had to confirm the existence of Allâhu ta’âlâ; yet they denied the Resurrection, the next world, Paradise and Hell. The third group are Greek philosophers, who date later, and who include Socrates and his disciple Plato, and Aristotle, who was a disciple of the latter, and both their philosophies. Refuting the Dahriyyûn and the naturalists, they said so many things about them that in describing their wrong and base way, others do not have to say anything any more. But they didn’t escape disbelief, either. These three groups and their followers are all disbelievers. It is appalling to hear that some credulous people think of them as religious men and even laud them to the grade of prophethood by fabling hadîths about them. Disbelievers may say anything. But it is a pitious fact that some people who seem to be Muslims cannot distinguish imân from kufr].
All these three groups of disbelievers [and also the Renaissance leaders such as Luther Martin, Calvin, Voltaire, Auguste Comte, Karl Marx and Durcheim, who are today called men of knowledge and praised as the founders of modern philosophy and sociology but who in actual fact have nothing in their stocks of religious knowledge except the Christianity that was born from the desecration of the Injil by Jews and priests and a few made-up books written by Islam’s enemies], excelled all others in idiocy and ignominy, thus leaving all the other classes of disbelievers behind. All these people both disbelieve religions and bear obstinacy and hostility against Prophets (’alaihimussalawâtu wassalâm) and adduce untenable proofs and documents for deceiving one another and others with their concocted sayings about family, society and religion. They say wrong, ludicrous things, so much so that no other ignoramus, no other idiot has shown such baseness. They are so stupid, so poor; and those who consider them to be clever are even more wretched and more unfortunate than they are. They stole much of their valuable information from Prophets’ ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’ books, in which they interpolated other things.
Imâm-i Ghazâlî ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ explains these in detail in his book Al munqidh ’an-id-dalâl. If holders of faith, those who follow Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’, make mistakes while proving that something is true, they will not be in harm or jeopardy, for they follow them in all their teachings and deeds and try to prove their words true. Their following Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wassalâm’ suffices to indicate that they are true. But those wretched people call it retrogression to follow Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’, and try to adapt their statements to mind. No doubt, they go wrong in facts that are beyond mind’s grasp. When Plato, who is considered to be the greatest of them, heard about the teachings of hadrat ’Îsâ (Jesus), who was the Prophet of Allâhu ta’âlâ, he said, “We are pure, mature and modern people. We do not need anyone to guide us to the right way.” However, he should have gone to see and observe a person whom he had heard to have enlivened the dead, opened the eyes of the blind and cured leprosy, which their own science and experiments had fallen short of doing. But he answered so without seeing or finding out. His statements disclose that he was a blithering idiot.
[As it is seen, Plato lived in the time of ’Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ (Jesus). It is stated in book