English
TürkçeThe Religious Sects In Islam And Ascending
THE RELIGIOUS SECTS IN ISLAM AND ASCENDING
PREFACE 1
SUFISM IS THE ESSENCE - KERNEL- OF RELIGION
As it is known, every scholar has interpreted religion according to himself, from his point of view. The problem is to choose the most proper one for the essence of religion. Religious interpretation of the Sufis is the most appropriate for Islam because Sufism is the teaching of the essence of religion. It is not interested in the exterior aspects, rules and canonical laws, shortly in details. Sufism tries to teach Allah, Nature, Man and the realities of them. The beauty, order and wisdom in nature are the reflections of Allah on the nature. Nature is the work of Allah and Man is the greatest work of Him, because he is consisted of a body and Spirit (Mind). He is the most superior of all the worlds because he is the synthesis of the inner and outer worlds. Sufis try to live this knowledge, order, wisdom and beauties in nature and see the physical and spiritual beauties in human and learn the divine realities of them.
“He who knows himself (his essence) knows God.”
Briefly, Sufism is the Knowledge of Allah, Wisdom and Love. Sufis know that Allah is the essence of Man (Human) and nature. This is infinite knowledge and wisdom. To know the Absolute Existence is to fall in love with this Absolute Beauty. Sufism does not deal with the Canonical Law and Jurisprudence. It does not care about the Catechism except enough knowledge for performing the worship. Shariat (Law) and Tariqat (Way) are not his aims or objectives and they are not the essential but only the details, symbols and ways.
“A Sufi looks for Allah, who has encompassed both the Earth and the Heavens and who is the infinite knowledge, beauty and energy, in human and in his heart.”
Again, a Sufi would like to learn wisdom (True Knowledge) and divine reality through deep contemplation and to love the Divine Beauty (the Absolute Beauty) through the beauties of human and nature, that is to say, he tries to acquire real love by metaphorical love.
The result of this is good moral qualities and honesty, which means to consider the benefits of the society more than his own benefits and to be realistic and sincere by abstaining completely from hypocrisy. It is to struggle against his own carnal self and desires but not of the others’, leaving all kinds of fights, arguments, temptations, corruption and intrigue. It is to be merciful, generous and be pleased with the little in this life and also to oppose violence and terror.
A real Sufi is against formal (disguise) Islam. He does not pay any importance to Madrasa, Tekke (convent) and Mascid (places of worship). He finds reality in himself and seeks Allah in his heart. His place of worship is his heart because the real tekke and mascid (mosque) is the Heart. The most important thing for the heart is the Remembrance (Ziqr) and the Love of Allah (the Remembrance of the heart and the love of the heart). This is not an external remembrance or physical love.
It is deep contemplation (thinking), remembrance (to remember Allah and never forget Him) and more importantly, to love God, the Perfect Man (Adam), who is the great and mysterious work of Him, his children and nature.
It is to become mature while being immature and to reach divine perfection. All the Sufis have explained it in this way. This humble servant (fakir) has already explained Sufism in details in the books we have written so far, such as: “Varlık (Existence), İslâm’ da Mezhepler ve Yükseliş (The Religious Sects in Islam and Ascending)”, “Muhammed-İsa-Adem (Muhammad-Jesus-Adam)” and in others. Yunus Emre and Sayyid Ahmed er Rufai Hz. also summarized Sufism, which is a divine sea, as follows:
Yunus: “Shariat and Tariqat is a way for the one who reaches them.
Marifat (Divine Wisdom) and Hakiqat (Divine Reality) are in the heart.”
And Sayyid Ahmed er Rufai Hz. said:
“The heart of a Sufi is lighted with love,
His spiritual heart is broad (comforted).
With the Divine Light of Gnosis”
(His bosom is not depressive)
We believe in these two precepts and try to find them.
See what the Sufi Poet Neyzen Tevfik said about this subject:
“Sufism stands up to ignorance in Islam
Forget about Rafizi, Alawi, Sunni, all of them
Take offence at all of them,
Mecca, Medina, Karbala, Jerusalem
Their meaning in appearance is ornamentation
I do not care for Masjid, Madrasa, Monastery, and Church, Vatican…”
(*) Poet Neyzen Tevfik meant to say that the striking appearance of these rituals is ornamentation. However, he indicates that he is respectful to the real meanings of these places.
March 10th, 2000 Alanya
KAZIM YARDIMCI (1936-Adıyaman)
Sources: “Yunus Divanı”, “Onların Alemi” by Sayyid Ahmed er Rufai, 25th hadith
PREFACE 2
It would actually be more proper to say, “I am a Muslim, I am a Mohammedan and I am attached to the Koran, the Sunnat, Ahl al Bayt, the Four Caliphs and to the great personalities of the Companions of the Prophet (A.S.) instead of saying I am a Shii, a Sunni, a Hanafi or a Shafii.
Using these words sincerely - not intentionally to cause separations- is not harmful.
The aim of all of them is MOHAMMEDISM and to follow the Glorious Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet (a.s.v.). It is the same both in the Jurisprudence and in Sufism.
It is more proper especially in this era as people understand realities more easily by means of books and by means of communication.
Eight hundred million people are all Muslims from the East to the West. They are Mohammedan.
Alawis are Mohammedan, Baqris, Hanafis, Shafiis, and Sunnis are Mohammedan.
It is better to support the unity instead of causing the dissensions of Religious sects and Tariqats. Isn’t it?
The answers of these questions and of the similar questions that occur to the minds of millions of Muslims are given in this book.
KAZIM YARDIMCI
WHAT IS RELIGION, AND RELIGIOUS SECTS IN ISLAM?
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
“Innedine indallahi’l Islam” According to this glorious verse: “The religion before Allah is Islam.” (The Imrans, 19)
Islam means peace and submission. There are some scholars that call Islam as “safety”. However, the word ‘submission’ contents the meanings “I submitted, I obeyed” to something or to a force. You may submit to Allah, to the Prophet, to a King or to a power. A person submits for either his belief in him or his fear of him.
Submission in Islam is because of belief. If he submits because of his fear, he is not called a real Muslim. In other words, he cannot be a believer.
Another meaning of submission is “to accept”. What do you accept? You accept the Truth (God). You accept the existence and the unity of Allah, the Prophecy of the Prophet, the Apostleship of the Prophet and to accept that the Glorious Koran is the Eternal Word of Allah. This is the real meaning of it.
Here, we accept the existence of Allah, the truth. We accept His Prophet and what he reports; the Koran and what it reports; Gabriel, the revelation and metaphysical realities: the Paradise, the Hell, the abstract beings such as the Spirit, Angels and Genies etc. (1)
I submitted. I accepted the truth. Our God, who is the Lord of the Universe, says: “Surely, the religion before Allah is Islam.” In other words, surely, the religion before Allah is to submit to the truth. He who submits to the truth is a Muslim and real believer.
Therefore, Religion equals Islam; Islam equals Religion.
The religion has already been Islam from Hz. Adam until the Holy Prophet. Let us explain it here: The religion of Allah is only one and it is Islam from Adam until our Master Holy Prophet (a.s.v.).
The religion of Allah is to be one. The Koran, the Torah, the Bible are not separate or different. All of them are the Speech of Allah and four of them are Divine Light.
(1) For instance, the Devil (Satan) is also a genie. It is from the genies because it was created from the fire. God says: “Kane minel cinn - He became from the genies.” (Al-Kahf, 50) We believe this is true.
The aim of these Four Books and the Glorious Prophets is, “Allah exists, Allah is one and the next world or metaphysics exist.”
The main purpose of the Prophets is to make others believe in Allah and the next world. None of the Prophets says that this is my religion and it belongs to me; the other religions belong to others because religion belongs to Allah. In addition to this, none of the Prophets made others worship himself.
What we really mean is; the belief in the Prophets is the belief in Allah and the metaphysical realities. Those who believe in Allah and the next world are believers. However, he must have this faith by means of a Prophet so that he will belong to the People of the Book. (The position of the unbelievers is different)
The people of the Koran, of the Torah, of the Psalms of David and of the Bible are all the People of the Book. In the Koran, Allah does not call the other people of the Book as unbelievers directly. He calls them as the People of the Book, the polytheists, the cruel or the unbelievers of the People of the Book. Our God reports us in the verses of the Koran that some of them believe in Allah and the next world. He also says, “I will judge them Myself.” There are some verses in the Koran about it. (2)
(2) Al-Zumar, 3 / Al-Baqarah, 113 / Al-Insan, 24 and so on
After explaining this, let us touch on the subjects of Religion and Religious Sects. The religion in Islam is consisted of the Book of Allah and the Sunnat of the Prophet. The religion of Allah was existent during the Prophet (a.s.v.). This religion was the Glorious Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet. The religion was completed. Allah says that He had already completed our Religion: “I completed your religion.” (Al- Maidah, 3)
As for the Book, the Book is the revelation of Allah. It was revealed to the heart of the Prophet (a.s.v.) by means of Gabriel. It was revealed to his Spirit. The Word or the speech of Allah is eternal: “The eternal speech”. The Book is directly the discourse of Allah and it is a definite and indisputable proof. He who disputes on even one glorious verse cannot be considered as a Muslim no matter what religious sect he is from. All the religious Sects accepted the Holy Koran.
Wherever you go, they read the same Koran. All of them have the same Koran; Shiites, Sunnis, Zaydis have the same Koran. However, there are some barbaric people; they even deny the Koran. They are denials. Those that deny or dispute the Koran are not in Islam. They cannot be called Muslims.
The essence of Sunnat is actually the Prophet’s (A.S.V.) practice and the application of the Koran and of the revelation of Allah. We can express it using today’s terms (to make the young people to understand it): the Koran (the Book-the revelation of Allah) is the theory of Islam and the Sunnat is the practice of it. In other words: theory and practice.
However, this Sunnat is a compulsory Sunnat. He who abandons this Sunnat has not liked the practice of the Prophet (a.s.v.) and it is very dangerous. He who does not like our Prophet’s application of the revelation becomes to be deprived of his intercession. For example, Allah commands to perform Tawaf (to turn around the Kaaba-circumambulation). How will it be circumambulated; will they turn round from the right to the left or from the left to the right? How many times will it be circumambulated; what will be recited from the Koran? We will perform the Tawaf same as our Prophet (a.s.v.), who interpreted the Koran, had done. This is the compulsory Sunnat.
Allah commands to perform ritual prayer and to stand up for the prayer. How will the prayer be performed? We will perform it in the same way as our Prophet (a.s.v.) had done. Allah tells us to fast. We fast in the same way as our Prophet (a.s.v.) had fasted, obeying the times of breaking it and starting it etc.
In all the matters, the application and the practice of the commands of Allah are called Sunnat: His actions and his sacred hadiths (His Honorable Sayings). The Hadiths are also included into Sunnat. He was very silent sometimes and they are also Sunnat. They are the compulsory Sunnat. Whoever leaves them is deprived of the intercession of the Prophet (a.s.v.) because, here, there is a problem of disliking the practice of our Prophet (a.s.v.).
If a person performs them in another way, it means that our Prophet (a.s.v.) had done them wrongly and he is correcting them. This cannot be accepted. Nobody has come to this world to interpret the Koran better than our Prophet (a.s.v.). The person who does it with this intention goes astray. He regards himself better than the Prophet (A.S.).
There are also voluntary Sunnats -the Sunnats the Prophet (a.s.v.) - performed besides the obligatory Sunnats. For example, he fasted, performed ritual prayers and did extra worshipping etc. voluntarily. Our Prophet (a.s.v.) has many Sunnats. Obeying them brings rewards. A person’s rewards increase by voluntary acts and he approaches Allah.
However, if he does not do them, he is not blamed for neglecting them. For, when he performs ritual prayer, he performs it like the Prophet (a.s.v.), when he fasts, he does it like the Prophet (a.s.v.), when he takes ablution, he does it like him, when he gives alms, he gives like the Prophet (a.s.v.) and when he performs pilgrimage he does it like the Prophet (a.s.v.). In other words, he obeys and follows the Prophet (a.s.v.) in all the matters of the application of the revelation and of obligatory worshipping.
For instance, there are 12 imperative prerequisites (fard) of the ritual prayer (salat). There are 34 Sunnats (traditional practice) in a fard salat of two or four ra’kats. These or similar sunnats are compulsory and obligatory. They cannot be omitted. If one omits them, he is accepted as if he does not like the Prophet and it is very dangerous. It may lead to unbelief as he considers himself beyond the Prophet (a.s.v.). He is forgiven if he does them unintentionally and if he is a good-intentioned person.
For example, in our country, in Turkey, it is believed that Wahhabis do not perform the Sunnats. This is not true. Wahhabis act according to the Hanbali Religious Sect. They did not leave the Sunnats entirely in action. The reason why they are not included into the people of Sunnat is based on their leaving the Sunnat in belief. For instance, they do not believe the Spirituality of our Master (a.s.v.). They say that our Master died and became earth. When they pronounce the formula calling God’s benediction on the Prophet (salawat), they ask whether he hears or not. They exceed the limit that much. They deny the divine Speech and the Sufism. They are Zahiriye Branch. (3)
However, the People of Sunnat, Shia believe that the Spirit of the Prophet (a.s.v.) is alive. They recite the salawat as if he is alive and they believe that he hears them. The extreme Wahhabis do not believe this. Now that, the intellectual Wahhabis of today may believe the spirituality of our Master. It is confirmed with the Book and Sunnat that the spirit of our Prophet (a.s.v.) is alive. There is also an ijma (consensus) of the Awliya (Muslim Saints) and Muslim community because the Spirit, which is the command of Allah, does not die; what dies is the physical body.
The Book and Sunnat consists the religion of Allah. If a person says that he has faith in the Book of Allah and in the beautiful practices of our Prophet, he is a Believer and a Muslim. If he obeys and practices them, he is a pious believer. He is deserved praising.
(3) They accepted the views of Ibni Taymiyya. See Mezhepler Tarihi, Vahhabilik Bahsi, p. 568 (M. Ebu Zehra, Mezhepler Tarihi, Turkish version by Abdulkadir Şener, Hisar Yayın. İstanbul, 1978
Concerning the Religious Sects (Madhhabs);
There were not any religious sects (Madhhabs, early law centers or schools) during the Prophet’s (a.s.v.) time and his exalted Companions’ time. This is reported by History and known by all the scholars. The scholars of Shia and of the people of Sunnat know this. There were some discussions concerning Jurisprudence after the Companions during Tabiin among them; however, they cannot be called as Religious Sects (Madhhabs). The idea of religious sect emerged during Jafar al Mansur from Abbasids, a little after Tabiin (Followers).
They did not get any permission from anywhere. They started an ijtihad (independent or individual judgement) without getting permission from the Prophet (a.s.), from Ahl al Bayt and from the Companions but according to their knowledge by depending on the Koran, Hadiths and the Prophet’s Sunnat. There is no evidence that any of them was permitted neither in Shia nor in Sunni. This is definite.
Ijtihad with “Rey” (opinion or personal judgment in interpreting law, speculation) was permitted. If they do not say their Ray, the dynamism of religion ends. Rey is a different matter, the ijtihad by deduction or analogical reasoning is another matter. The theologians of Islamic Jurisprudence know this. Rey was accepted as deduction afterwards. Rey was existent during the Companions and the Four Caliphs. When the great personalities of the Companion that know the Islamic Law could not find a solution to some matters in the Book and Sunnat, they would use their personal opinions saying “Let it be in this way.”
Meanwhile, there is a very important point. When our Masters, Hz. Abubaqir Sıddıq, Omar Faruk, Osman Zinnureyn would make a decision out of the Book and Sunnat, they absolutely consulted Shah-ı Walayat Aliyyel Murtaza. They asked his opinion for sure because our Prophet taught the explanation and the interpretation of the Book and Sunnat to Ahl al Bayt. This matter has already been confirmed with a hadith:
“Ene medinetül ilmi ve Ali’yyün babuha - I am the city of knowledge and Ali is the door of it.” He even said: “Ye’tiyel bab-Therefore, come to me through that door!” The hadith continues like this. This is definite. (4)
Holy Hz. Abubaqr asked the Ray of Hz. Aliyyel Murtaza when he would make a decision, although he was Amir al Muminin. He accepted that his knowledge, his opinion was certainly correct. He even consulted Shah-ı Walaya Hz. Ali when some clergymen of the people of the Book asked him hard questions concerning spiritual, metaphysical and mystical matters. Hz. Omar did the same thing and Hz. Osman did the same thing as well. All of them asked Hz. Ali’s Rey and they generally decided in the direction of his opinion.
Especially, our Masters Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Omar entirely obeyed him. It is said that Hz. Osman asked the ray of Shah-ı Walayat in a couple of matters, however he did not follow them. He acted in this way for a good cause in the political affairs of that time; but not for his refusal, dislike or opposition against Hz. Imam’s opinion. That is to say, we cannot say that Hz. Osman refused Hz. Ali’s Rey. We consider Hz. Osman free from this.
(4) From Ibn-i Abbas; Thirmizi, sahih, vol 2, p. 399
Suyuti, Camiussağir, vol 1, p. 108
Nishaburi, Munavi, Taberi, Hatibi Baghdadi narrated it.
Then, this knowledge was given to Ahl al Bayt. The knowledge of the Book and Sunnat, the knowledge of Sufism, the knowledge of Faith as well as the knowledge of Jurisprudence-Shariat- were given to them. This knowledge was continued spiritually in Al-i Aba, in the Ahl al Bayt Imams and in the descendants of the Prophet. This is a spiritual matter and very important. Especially, the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams are very important.
However, our Masters 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams could not declare their imamates during Jafari Mansur from Abbasids because of the tyranny of the Umayyad; they kept it secret. For, if they declared their imamates, the Umayyad and Jafari Mansur would kill them.
As a matter of fact, everybody knows what the Umayyad had done to Imam Husayn, Zaynal Abidin, Zayd bin Zaynal Abidin, the holy son of Zaynal Abidin and to the elder brother of Muhammad Baqir. They were murdered by the Umayyad.
Jafari Mansur, the second caliph of the Abbasids (We do not actually call them as a caliph because our Prophet had a hadith “The caliphate will last 30 years then tyranny, monarchy starts”) also murdered the descendants of the Prophet. He murdered Muhammad Nefsi Zeki (the holy son of Imam Ali, Imam Husayn). The reason why Hz. Abu Hanafi was offended to the Abbasids afterwards and the reason why he did not swear fealty to them and died for this aim was that he saw that the Abbasids murdered the descendants of the Prophet same as the Umayyad had done.
For, Abu Hanifa had always been a partisan of the sons of Ali. This is definite. It is written in all the Islamic Jurisprudence books. The people of Sunnat and Shia know this. There is a matter of the hiding of Ahl al Bayt -they had hidden themselves- because if they had come up and spoken they would have been killed by the Kings of the Umayyad and the Abbasids.
Meanwhile, there was an absence due to the disappearance of Ahl al Bayt, and the protection of them by their supporters. At that time, the scholars from Tabiin considered themselves authorized and they made ijtihads of their own.
There may be wrongs or rights in ijtihads. This is accepted by all the mujtahids and religious sects.
We cannot say that a religious sect is a hundred percent correct. This is the opinion of Abu Hanifa as well. The Shafii also agrees with it. In other words, a person may accept or refuse an ijtihad in his own will on condition that he will say, “I believe in the Book and Sunnat.” Apart from this is not the Shariat revealed to man from God anyway. It is not a command revealed from God either. The Book and the Sunnat were descended from the Heaven.
The religious sects are also called as the explained Shariat. That is to say, a person puts forwards his ijtihad as it is in accordance with the Book and Sunnat. Mujtahids may make mistakes in ijtihad. Therefore, none of the ijtihads is a hundred percent correct. And, none of the religious sects can be a hundred percent correct.
Therefore, the Truth (Haq) is hidden in all the religious sects. However, our opinion is, the truth exists more in the religious sects of the People of Sunnat: Abu Hanifa, Shafii, Maliki, Zaydi (we also belong to the Hanafi religious sect). This is what we think! They are more appropriate for the Book and Sunnat. Yet, they may have some mistakes. This is possible because it is not an ijtihad if there is no mistake. It would be a statement of a Prophet then, however they are not a prophet. They themselves confess it as well.
Are the others not appropriate for the Book and Sunnat? There is some suitability in them. We say there are four religious sects; however, there are actually 19 religious sects in the People of the Sunnat. Yavuz Sultan Selim reduced them to four. He abolished the religious sects by his command at that time. There have been four religious sects since Yavuz. There were many religious sects of the people of Sunnat before him. (5)
Shia also accepts the Book and the Sunnat as the proof; they do not accept “deduction by analogy”. They prefer the words of Ahl al Bayt to Deduction. Our conflict with Shia is not because of their preference of the words of Ahl al Bayt. We prefer the words of Ahl al Bayt as well because Ahl al Bayt are the people that know and practice the Koran (the Book) and the Sunnat the best.
(5) Tacu’t Tevarih, Hodja Sadeddin Efendi, vol. 4, p. 171, 254, 299
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs Publications, İstanbul, 1979
Our conflict with Shia starts here: “You say that they are the words of Ahl al Bayt, however, you cannot prove it.” They really cannot prove it; but not all of them. There are some words that they can prove. We also accept them. For instance, they attribute their words to our Master Jafar al Sadıq. Our Master Jafar al Sadıq did not set up a belief. The great scholars of Iran know this.
A person may support any religious sect he likes; however, he must not deny other sects. All of them are based on the Book and Sunnat. The source of all of them is actually the Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet.
A Muslim should not be a fanatic of a sect; he must be broad minded in religious matters.
In fact, if a believer discloses his religious sect or if he does not accept any of the sects, nothing happens to him because he who accepts the Book and the Sunnat is a believer. The religion of Allah consists of the Book and Sunnat. The rest of it is ijtihad or interpretation; therefore, he must not be a fanatic of a certain religious sect. Truth exists in all the religious sects. Ghazzali Hazretleri also agrees with it saying “I witnessed the truth more or less in every religious sect.” All of them are not false. The Mujtahids are not a Prophet so they may not find the Absolute Truth. (6)
There is Rey actually after the Book and Sunnat. The highest of the Rey is in Shah-ı Walaya (Hz. Ali) and in his descendants. We accept their explanation on the Book and Sunnat.
We must accept it because it was commanded by the Prophet. Our Prophet gave the knowledge to Ahl al Bayt.
My brothers! As we explained above, Ijtihads (Madhhabs) are the scientific discussions between Arab and Iran Theologians because they started due to the tyranny of the Umayyad and Abbasids and although their explanations belonged to Ahl al Bayt, they could not do it because of the vital dangers of that time as well as their statements were not declared. In other words, the reason of the Ijtihad besides the Book and Sunnat is the scientific discussions between Arab (Baghdad, Basra, Damascus, Medina, Cairo) Theologians and Iranian (Teheran, Tabriz and Shiraz) Theologians.
Our Ahl al Bayt Masters did not set up a religious sect (Madhhab). 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, especially Jafar al Sadıq Hazretleri did not set up a religious sect; for, they do not surpass the Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet. Their religious sect is the Book and the Sunnat. The religious sect of all of us is in fact the Book of Allah and Sunnat.
(6) In Islam, the State does not have an official Religious Sect. It recognizes right to every religious sect that accepts the Book and Sunna. State gets benefits from the ijtihads of every madhhab that is for the advantage of the society.
Although the Iranian theologians claim that their religious sect was established by Jafar al Sadıq depending on Jafar al Sadıq and 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, they cannot prove it. Today’s intellectuals of Iran also accept that they cannot prove it.
Whether or not it is an ijtihad, a madhhab or a similar concept, they are the scientific discussions, interpretations of the theologians among them. In other words, they are interpretations and one can interpret it as he likes. No fight or argument is needed for this.
All of us believe in the Book and Sunnat, Allah and the Prophet. We are the religious fraternity. We need not argue for this.
Islam is a religion of Oneness-Unity. We must understand this in this way and act in the way of the scholar we believe. One takes ablution, performs his ritual way according to that on condition that we unite in the obligatory duties and Sunnat. We unite in the word of Unity. Everyone who says “Lâilahe illallah, Muhammedun Resullullah” and “the Koran is the book of Allah” is a Muslim. 8 million people from the East to the West are all Muslims if they do not deny the Book and Sunnat; we do not interfere them and it is none of our business.
One of the main reasons of Ijtihads, mentioned above, is: The Book of Allah was written during our Prophet’s (A.S.V.) time. That is to say, our Prophet wrote the revelation of Allah. He even said: “Take down the knowledge in writing.” (7)
It was written on leathers, on some big bones and on the flat surface of rocks. It was collected after dividing sections during our Master Hz. Abu Baqir. Our Master, Hz. Ali took part in this task as well.
Our Master Hz. Ali confirmed twice that the Koran consisted of 30 sections. All the religious sects accept this. The Christians do not object to it either. It is known by everybody that this Koran is the same Koran that Hz. Muhammad had it written. During Hz. Osman’s time, 30 sections were collected together and sewn as a cloth case in which the Koran was kept.
The Koran is definite. You cannot argue upon the Koran. It is a definite proof. It is absolute.
As for the Sunnat, the Sunnat was also absolute during the Prophet (A.S.V.). Sunnat was also a definite proof like the Koran during our Prophet’s time (A.S.V.). For, the Companions-believers saw the Prophet themselves and they would perform in the same way our Prophet did.
(7) Kırk Mevzuda Kırk hadis, Mehmet Emre, p. 196, Osmanlı Yayınları, Feyzu’l Kadir, v. 4 p. 530
However, when the Companions died after our Prophet (A.S.V.), there were some rumors on the Sunnat because the Sunnat of the Prophet was not written. The Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.V.) did not come to us in writing like the Koran. The Companions told them to their sons and to the Muslims that saw them, such as how they perform their ritual prayers or how they fast, the way they worship.
Sunnat was transmitted to us orally. Ijtihad, Madhhab emerged mostly due to this. For, a scholar says he heard from the Companions in this way, our Prophet used to take ablution like this; another says he heard in another way. There were not any written documents either.
In the transmission of Sunnat, there is a little bit conjecture or supposition. It is not a hundred percent definite like the Koran. However, it was a hundred percent definite during The Prophet’s time (A.S.W.).
In the Sunnat that was reported, there is no conjecture (Tevatür). (8)
As for the Sacred Hadiths; The hadiths did not come from the Prophet (A.S.) in writing. They came from the Companions in narration. A hundred years after the Companions, holy hadiths started to be collected. The science of “Usul- u Hadis” was established.
(8) Tevatür: A narration or tradition of a congregation whose agreement upon lies is impossible rationally.
There were fake hadiths, weak hadiths, missing hadiths and false hadiths besides genuine hadiths.
The hadith matter is very important. We do not want to say much in this matter. However, we would like to point out as much as follows: For example: Our Master Hz. Ali would not accept the hadith that was not told or approved by two Companions. He even would make any Companion apart from Hz. Abu Baqir Sıddıq (because Hz. Abu Baqir Sıddıq would never tell a lie) swear on the Koran when he told a hadith although he was a Companion of the Prophet (a.s.v.). The Sacred Hadith matter is that much important because he says: “The Prophet said so”. When the Prophet said something, it is like the word of Allah. It is not the word of Allah but it is close to it.
The hadiths cannot be contrary to the Koran. There were such hadiths that they would abolish the verses of the Koran. Some hadiths were missing, some had additions and some were contrary to the mind and science. In this matter, Hz Omar had said: “How should I know? Did you memorize this hadith well? Did you keep all of it in mind? You are an old person, you may tell missing hadiths and I cannot accept them!” He was angry with Abu Hurayra concerning this and it is written in the Jurisprudence books as well. He blamed him for narrating too many hadiths and Abu Hurayra Hazretleri had not narrated any more hadiths until Hz. Omar died.
Hadith is a wide subject. There are hadith books called “Usul u Hadis”. We would shortly say in hadith matter:
Hadiths must be accurate. It must not be contrary to the Koran, to the intellect and to the nature and to the laws of the Universe because our Prophet (A.S.) never says such a hadith contrary to them.
We accept the accurate or strong hadiths when they are told or narrated by the two Companions that know Jurisprudence Science well. You can issue a decision with them and you can give fatwa with them (either concerning faith or action).
There are also weak ahadis. You cannot issue a decision with them. The weak hadiths are the “Habir-i Vahid”. (9)
The weak hadiths cannot be denied, they can be benefited. However, you cannot issue decision and give fatwa with them.
Fatwa can be given with the Glorious Koran, glorious verses, traditions and with the strong hadith narrated by the companions or disciples of the Prophet. Those who have concerns in this matter can consult Usul u Hadith science books.
(9) Haber-i Vahid: The hadith or message that does not have the qualities of a well-known hadith. The hadith that has not reached the degree of a tradition.
Sunnat is very close to the definite proof. However, it is not as definite as the Koran. (10)
The conflicts, ijtihads emerged due to the traditions in the confirmation of the Sunnat. We respect the cordial ones. Ijtihad is also necessary. Interpretation is also necessary. As the poet Fuzuli says:
“The aim of everybody is one,
The traditions are various.”
The aim is the Unity: “La ilahe illallah, Muhammadün Resullullah.”
There is no Madhhab actually. None of the Mujtahids said, “I established a Madhhab.” They said: “I made my independent interpretation in this way. I understood this much. There can be errors in ijtihads. You are free to follow ours or theirs.” Abu Hanifa Hazretleri even said: “I found this much; if anyone brings stronger proofs, I will not insist on my opinion, I will give it up.”
Religious sects became widespread afterwards especially during Jafar al Mansur and Harun Rashid from the Abbasids. There are not religious sects in Islam; however, there are interpretations, independent reasoning (ijtihads), personal opinions (rey) and commentaries.
The interpretations rose when deduction by analogy, consensus of the community and the oppositions in the narration of the Sunnat started after the Companions. Some ijtihads were made due to them.
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(10) Lack of confidence is not towards the Sunnat itself but towards to narrators.
According to the people of Sunnat, everybody, a mujtahid that has confidence in his knowledge and knows the Book and Sunnat and Arabic very well can perform ijtihads. Our contemporary scholars say that the gate of ijtihad is not closed and it actually continues. It also continues in Iran. However, the people of Sunnat somehow followed those four religious sects after Yavuz. There were not anymore mujtahids afterwards. It may be more beneficial in this way. It was good or bad, we cannot know this. We leave this to the experts of this matter.
There are not only four religious sects in Ahl al Sunnat. As we mentioned above, 19-20 religious sects were established. Interpretations continue. The interpretation in accordance with the Book and Sunnat continue. They are the Ahl al Sunnat Madhhabs. They have proofs.
Ahl al Sunnat says that they depend on the Book and Sunnat. We consult the opinion of the Umma if any thing is not written in the Book and Sunnat.
However, some scholars of Ahl al Sunnat do not accept the consensus of the community. They say that the consensus of the community is impossible. They say that it is not seen until now that the mujtahid scholars all over the world will come together and they will agree on a matter. Now that all the scholars may come together as they can travel by airplanes and the transportation has become easier. Ahl al Sunnat did not close the ijtihad. However, they say ijtihad is closed (There is no longer any room for innovation in establishing a religious precedent). There are some people who explain or interpret depending on them.
There is also deduction by analogy among the proofs of Ahl al Bayt. As it is known, deduction method came from Greece. It has come to Philosophy, Theology and Jurisprudence. It is the deduction that emerged from the Aristotle Logic: from either deduction to induction or from induction to deduction. They are the methods of Aristotle Logic. This is the deductive reasoning and it is applied in the jurisprudence as well.
Some of the Ahl al Sunnat accepted deductive reasoning. However, Hz. Ahmed b. Hanbel does not accept deduction. He says that he prefers deduction if he really needs it so long as there is the Book and Sunnat. He does not accept the consensus of the community either.
Shia does not accept deductive reasoning. They accept the Book and Sunnat. They say that they do not accept deduction because deduction means to establish Sharia using mind. They also say that Shariat, Jurisprudence and Religion are revealed from the Heaven and religion has been completed. They say they prefer the words of Ahl al Bayt, who knows the Book and Sunnat the best, when they cannot find something in the Book and Sunnat. They say this, however, the Shii scholars continue ijtihads.
Abu Hanifa Hazretleri did not insist on this deduction matter. Imam Muhammad Baqır told Hz. Imam Jafar al Sadıq: “I have not used the method of deduction.” He even said that he would have said such and such if he had made deduction by analogy.
Although Hanafiya knows this, he keeps on considering deduction by analogy as a proof. The arguments between Abu Hanifa and Jafar al Sadıq and Muhammad Baqir are written in the books as well. (11)
Hz. Malik had taken 18-20 proofs as a source while he is making ijtihads. He does not have only the Book, Sunnat, Ijma, Kiyas but he has many proofs such as Seddi Zerai, Mesaili-i Mürsele. He accepted the actions of the people of Medina as a proof. He calls them as the sons of the Companions. He says that their father had seen the Prophet acting in this way. What can we say to Hz. Malik? The source is not only one; there are many sources.
Ijtihads apart from Ahl al Sunnat -we generally call them as Shia-: Shia brought about five or six interpretations among themselves. In other words, there are about five or six Madhabs in Shia. Shia is not consisted only of Jafaris. It is actually Imamiya. Imamiya is also divided to two: The people who support the 12 Imams (The Twelvers) and Ismailies.
There is also Zaydi sect in Yemen region. They are also Shia. Their source is also the Book and Sunnat. They are based on the Book and Sunnat. Zaydiya Jurisprudence is very close to Hanafi Jurisprudence.
(11) Especially, the book called “Ebu Hanife” by Muhammed Ebu Zehra can be consulted for this. (Ebu Hanife, M. Ebu Zehra. Turkish version by Osman Keskinoğlu, Üçdal Neşriyat, İstanbul, Istanbul, 1966)
Shia is Muslim and supports the Unity as they had taken the Book and Sunnat as a basis. We cannot say anything for them, as they are our brothers of the same religion.
He who believes in the Book and Sunnat is a believer. The proofs besides them are not that much important.
The proofs of Shia are three. They say that they accept the Book of Allah, the Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet as a proof. They also say that they prefer the words of Hz. Ali and of the 12 Imams, generally the words of Jafar al Sadıq to deduction by analogy, to the consensus of the community and to the other proofs as well. They mostly accept the words of Jafar al Sadıq as a proof. They believe in his interpretations of the Book and Sunnat and they accept his personal judgments.
However, as we mentioned above, there is a problem in the confirmation of the words of the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams. If they definitely confirm them, we also follow the words of Ahl al Bayt because the interpretation and personal judgments of Ahl al Bayt concerning the Book and Sunnat are superior to all of them. Other mujtahids are weaker than they are. This is definite. We do not object to this. However, Ahl al Bayt Imams were hidden because of the danger of their lives.
Why did the scholars make interpretations? When Ahl al Bayt did not speak, they spoke. Ahl al Bayt kept their Imamates secret for the fear of their death and they (perhaps) kept their identities and residences secret. They were threatened by death.
However, this does not mean that 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams said nothing. They spoke. Some of their words were proved and we prefer the ones that were proved.
CAN THERE BE RELIGIOUS SECTS IN BELIEF? WHEN DID SUFISM, PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY APPEAR IN ISLAM?
Firstly, we would like to mention “belief”. Belief is concerned with “faith. It is not concerned with deeds, with practical ijtihads and religious sects. For example, Abu Hanifa, Shafii Hazretleri and other mujtahids were not interested in “belief.” They were only interested in the science of Jurisprudence or the science of Shariat.
Belief is related with faith. The belief in faith cannot be as one- two- three- five. It should not be like that because belief is only one. There cannot be conflict or disagreement in belief. The conflict in belief is corruption.
Belief is the basis of Islam. It can be called as “Usul-u Din”. It is concerned with “Amentü- the Articles of faith”. It is related with metaphysical realities such as the existence of Allah, the Unity of Allah, His attributes, His deeds, His works; also with the Apostleship, Sainthood, Prophethood, the subjects of Angels, Spirit, Destiny, Divine Books and Divine Speech. Therefore, the Religious sect (Madhhab) in belief is only one.
Belief means to have faith, which means: whatever is told about the belief by the Glorious Koran and by the Prophet (a.s.v.) is true.
Accepting another belief of faith besides them means to oppose the Book and Sunnat. The belief of all the Prophets from Adam until our Prophet (A.S.) is the same. It does not change.
There is no duality in faith because something is either “truth” or falsehood” in faith. There cannot be errors in the matters concerning the faith because the truth is unchangeable.
The realities about faith are written in the Glorious Koran of Allah. Sufism is also in the Koran. It can only be interpreted by the Prophet (A.S.). After the Prophet (A.S.), the authorities in Science: firstly Imam Aliyyel Murtaza, Shah-ı Walayat, Ahl al Bayt, the great personalities of the Companions, the great Friends of Allah,…the Gnostics know this.
There were arguments of Jurisprudence and Logic matters that passed from Greece after our master Prophet (A.S.V.) and the Companions. It was the Aristotle Logic and Greek Philosophy. The books about these subjects were translated into Arabic during the Umayyad and Abbasids’ times. As it is known, great schools at which Philosophy and Theology were studied and various ideas took place had been opened at that time.
What is this science of Theology? The science of Theology is also Philosophy because the principle of it was also based on Aristotle Logic. In other words, belief was set up depending on Logic rationally. They attempted to prove the oneness, the eternity, the attributes, the Essence, the works and the deeds of Allah rationally.
Islam Philosophers say the truth cannot be known beforehand. It is learnt afterwards. In other words, mind-reason looks for the truth, finds it and proves it. Philosophy starts directly from the unknown and tries to find the truth. The truth cannot be known beforehand. The reason (mind) learns it afterwards. Reason will look for the truth and will find it rationally
According to the principles of Logic under the influence of Greek Philosophy (they must have liked it very much at that time as if it is a very important thing).
We can name Farabi, Ibni Sina, Ibni Rushd etc. among Islam Philosophers. Their aim was to prove Allah, the Oneness of Allah, the eternity of Allah and also to prove that the Universe was created afterwards. Meanwhile Dehris (Materialists) emerged. This was the situation of Philosophy.
As for Theology, the point that theologians diverged from Philosophers is: Theologians say that the truth can be known beforehand (in advance). For instance, they say the Prophets reported the truth in advance. However, we will prove these realities according to Logic within these principles rationally. This is the point that they cannot agree on.
Theologians start this subject using Logic same as Philosophers. They attempt to prove the Existence of Allah, His attributes, His eternity, His deeds, the destiny subject by using mind.
They have a specialty: They do not deny revelation. Moreover, they say that revelation is true and truth is reported by revelation. However, they say that they want to prove this using mind. They are also philosophers because their principles are Philosophy and Logic.
It is said that some theologians accept revelation. They accept that the truth is reported before. If they had accepted revelation, why had they attempted to prove it using mind, rationally again.
All the realities of faith: the essence of Allah, His attributes, His actions, His works, faith matters and metaphysical realities such as: spirit, Angels, Apostleship, Sainthood are all written in the Glorious Koran. Their explanations are also written in the Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.V.), in the Sacred Hadiths. Shah-i Walayat, Ahl al Bayt, Abu Baqir Hazretleri had also explained them. The Companions and the Sufis have explanations as well.
Why are they trying to prove them using mind although there are above explanations?
Whatever was the belief of the Companion, it was the belief of the Prophet (A.S.).
There is an important point here: Theologians actually had not accepted divine revelation. They said it was reported before but they would prove it using mind. Their principles were the same with the principles of Philosophy. They are not different.
They want to show as if theologians are different from Philosophers. No! They are also philosophers as they start with Logic, using reason and according to the Aristotle Logic.
Now, we will stress on an important matter about Philosophy and Theology. They were divided into various branches. If we take Mutazila as an example, some of them are philosophers, some are theologians. As a matter of fact, Hasan Ashary was Mutazila before. He was a student of Ali Jubai, a great theological scholar from Mutazila. He diverged from him afterwards in some matters. Now, Ahl al Sunnat says: Ashary established the belief of Ahl al Sunnat (Madhhab). How did he establish it? He established it using mind. In other words, he attempted to prove the realities of the Koran rationally, according to the principles of Aristotle Logic.
However, this is wrong according to the People of Sufism. One cannot explain the metaphysical realities with the principles of Philosophy. You reach a wrong result then.
We see a conflict between Philosophers and Theologians. Where does this conflict emerge? It emerges from their starting point of rationalism and their using the principles of Logic. (12)
They say that they can prove the realities using practical mind. However, we see that one starts using the same rule according to Aristotle Logic and he reaches a decision and he says that it is like this.
Another theologian starts with the same principles but he reaches a different judgment at the end. The principles are the same but the decisions or judgments are the opposite of each other. They try to disprove their judgments.
Another theologian or philosopher comes up and starts with the same rule of Theology and Philosophy according to the Aristotle Logic (because the Aristotle Logic is the basis for them and they cannot do without it). He reaches a third judgment. He also disproves the other one. They keep on disproving their judgments. This contradiction does not change.
How shall we explain the mystery of divine revelation using partial intellect, with the rationalism, which is the principle of Philosophy and Theology?
If we try to prove the metaphysical realities such as, “Spirit, What is spirit? What is Angel? , What is Allah? , What is the Being? What does the necessity of the Existence mean? What is the probability of the Existence? Eternity, Being Created afterwards”, with practical mind, according to the Aristotle’s Logic, we cannot reach a decision because they disprove each other. And Philosophy continues. They keep on disproving each other’s opinions and judgments.
(12) Logic was studied in all the Islamic Madrasas.
If the Logic rules of Aristotle, in other words, proving the deduction from induction and from induction the deduction had been a strong rule, the judgment that all of them had reached would have been the same.
Why are they reaching different judgments? Their principle is the same, their judgements or decisions are different. What they call as “A”, others prove it as “B”. Others prove what the others call as “B” as “C”.
The principle is one; the judgements are various. The conflicts, the plurality in belief starts here.
However, there is also an opinion of Sufis- of Selef-i Salihin. Selef
(Sufis are the great personalities such as the Gnostics, the Friends of God).
They say: Partial intellect cannot solve the concerning reality of divine revelation about divinity unless it makes a contact with the Holy Spirit without learning the realities from Him or unless he learns them personally from the Prophet himself (if he is alive) from His Spirit or from a great person like Hz. Ali, Hz. Abu Baqir, whom he trained. (13)
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(13) Ghazzali Hazretleri also thinks like this.
The realities of faith are known only by “Universal Intellect”.
We are obliged to believe them. People are bound to believe in the realities of the Koran and the Prophet (A.S.) reported. The Wise know this. Those who enter this path learn them through the conversation of the Prophet or when their Spirit becomes holy; when they reach the Prophet (A.S.).
There is also “Fenafi Resul-Annihilation in the Spirit of the Prophet”: If the spirit of a person is annihilated in the Spirit of the Prophet (A.S.), his mind and spirit start to receive knowledge and wisdom from the Prophet (A.S.). For example, when you dig a well deeply, you find the level of the sea. The water that comes from the well is now the water of the sea. It does not look like other waters.
The belief of Mutazila and Ahl al Sunnat: Mutazila is a Theologian. He is a rationalist and logician. There is an argument among the scholars of Theology about the Essence and Attributions of Allah. The majority of Mutazila says that Allah has no attributes. Allah is exempt from attributes.
However, some theologians come up and prove the attributes of Allah. They say Allah has attributes and they exaggerate it.
Theologians are divided into two groups as the supporters of the Essence (the person) of Allah and the supporters of the Attributes of Allah.
The supporters of His Person deny the Attribute of Allah. The supporters of His Attribute say such attributes that they replace the Attribute of Allah with His person and they do excessive comparison, for, there is comparison or likening in the attribute but when they do it extremely, they represent Allah as a human or in the form of a human being. They are called as “Müteshebbihe”.
The supporters of the Person of Allah deny the Attribute of Allah. They deny the Speech attribute of Allah as well. They say: “the word of Allah is a creature (Allah created His word)”. As they do not accept the attribute of Allah, they do not accept the Divine speech as an attribute and they say: “Allah has no attributes; therefore Allah does not have an attribute of Speech.”
The supporters of His attributes said:
“No! Allah has attributes and the speech of Allah is eternal.”
The conflict or argument starts at this point. Theological matters especially start at this point.
As for the Ashary and Maturidy: Asharies proved both the Person and the attribute of Allah. They found a way between the supporters of His Person and His Attributes. They chose a moderate way or staked a middle ground. When some accepted the Attribute of Allah and as if they abolished the Person of Allah and when others denied the Speech of Allah by abstracting His essence from His Attribute (such as they say nobody can ever make contact with Allah. Allah cannot be seen, heard or spoken. They are naturally nonsense.) Ashary wanted to choose the middle way.
Ashary believes in Attributes. They say: “The divine speech of Allah is eternal. Allah has a name ‘the One that speaks (Mutakallim)’, Allah is the One who sees, who hears and who speaks.” He also said about His Attributes: “Allah has attributes. However, the Attribute of Allah is neither His Person nor it is apart from His person.” This is disputable but most of the Madrasa scholars generally accepted this.
Maturidy accepts the Attribute; however, he says the Attribute is same as the Person of Allah.
Sufis also accepts the Attribute of Allah but they say:
“The Attribute of Allah is personally same as the Person of Allah.”
In other words, whatever is called with a beautiful name is Allah. There are not two separate beings as Allah and His Attributes. The eternal One is sole. The eternal Being who is the sole Existence is the Absolute Existence. The Attribute of Allah is also Allah Himself because the Attribute of Allah is Divine Light; Allah is Divine Light as well.
“Allahu nurussemavati ve’l ard- The Divine Light of the Heavens and earth is Allah.” (Al-Nur, 35) (14)
Then, Divine Light is One. There cannot be two divine Lights.
(14) See Sırrül Esrar, Sayyid Abdulkadir Geylani Hazretleri. (Translated by Abdulkadir Akçiçek, İstanbul-1968)
The source of Divine Light is Allah. The Gnostics of Sufi separate from Ashary here.
Maturidy came 50 years later than Ashary. The scholars of Hanafiya supported Maturidy and established Maturidiye belief. The Madhhab was actually founded by the Scholars of Hanafi. They are the theologians of Hanafi Scholars. It may be called as “Hanafiye Belief” as well.
Maturidiye is also close to Ashary in some respect. However, there is one difference.
Hasan al Ashari said the Absolute Truth cannot be known by reason. He said Allah reports good and evil beforehand; however, reason cannot determine good and evil. However, Maturidies say reason (mind, intellect) knows good and evil beforehand, but this is an extremity, for; Maturidies are more rationalist than Ashary. He pays more importance to Partial Intellect. They mean to say “the Absolute Truth is known by reason”.
Let us indicate here, are the Sufis not rationalist? Sufis also believe in reason-mind- but they say the realities of faith cannot be solved by partial mind.
“That is Allah’s promise; Allah will never break His promise (in other words, His promise of metaphysical life, the life of the next world is true). Yet most men do not know it. They know the outward show of this life (in other words, they know physical sciences), but of the life to come they are heedless (they do not know the qualities of Allah, the world of Decree, Spirit, Angels, Genies, Satan, Melekut, Paradise, the Hell).” (Rum, 6-7)
The majority of people refer to the people who have partial-normal intellect. If metaphysical realities; the reality and the qualities of Allah, the realities of the world of Decree had been known by the partial intellect, our Most High Lord Allah would not have reported these realities by sending the Prophets. Everybody would know these realities using partial intellect and through deduction by analogy. There would be no need for the Prophet, for the Divine Knowledge and revelation then.
The above glorious verse clearly shows that Religion-Islam- is not absolutely contrary to intellect-mind. However, it has drawn the border, the limit of mind. You can know the physical realities-knowledge by using the partial intellect (by imperfect mind). Yet, He assigned the metaphysical realities to the Prophet and his spiritual heirs (Gnostics), who have the Universal-Perfect Mind. He did not give the metaphysical knowledge (about the next world) to the partial intellect.
Allah did a favor in order not to deprive people from these metaphysical knowledge (the knowledge concerning the next world) and showed honor by sending His revelation, His Prophet, His Gnostics. For, Allah is very courteous and very Just.
He enabled the people that really believe in His prophets and Books to benefit from the hidden spiritual Knowledge (Sciences) and from metaphysical realities. We must thank Him very much.
As a matter of fact, Ghazzali wanted to say this. Ghazzali Hazretleri is rationalist in physical sciences. He attached importance to mind in the matters concerning Jurisprudence. He did not reject the role of mind, Ray and Ijtihad in Jurisprudence (Law).
Ghazzali said that metaphysical realities could not be entirely known by partial intellect. They are known only by great Islam Mystics (Sufis); and he also entered their religious path.
His opponents are changing this subject and spread that Ghazzali has rejected mind-reason. These slanderers are materialists. They are also the fathers of ideas of the strayed fractions that consider the Book and Sunnat as the only proof in metaphysical (belief) matters and deny Sufis and the Friends of God who claim that the reality of it can only be learnt by the help of the teaching of the supreme spirit. Religious officials (official expounders of Mohammedan Law-Muftis and Preachers), majority of whom are Hanafi and a few of whom are Shafii, have generally accepted the Maturidiye and Ashariya beliefs and they continue this traditionally. They do not support Ghazzali though they do not deny Ghazzali and his religious path. However, our people know Ghazzali mostly and they have preferred the mystical path of Ghazzali. Our Ahl al Sunnat people have accepted the belief of Ghazzali and his precedents.
Yet, there is a contradiction. Our materialist writers and artists blame our religious officials by being dogmatic and not being rationalist. Just on the contrary, Ashary and Maturidies are rationalists and logical. They accepted Theological Doctrines that depend on Philosophy and Logic, a kind of Philosophy. They support Logic and rationalism in the matters concerning belief. Logic lessons take the first place in Madrasas and it is continuing in Theology.
Although materialists criticize Ghazzali and Sufis, they may be right to their own part because they do not believe in the Holy Books, the Prophets and the Friends of Allah anyway. They do not believe in spirituality. There is no such a thing as metaphysical life for them. They want the explanations of everything through mind, reason and logic.
Asharies, Maturidies and Mutazila establish belief according to Theoretical Mind (according to the principles of Logic) by deduction. (15)
(15) Therefore, we say materialist should not pick a quarrel with rationalist religious officials in Islam. These materialists may either be the ones who do not have Islamic Knowledge or the intellectuals who declare themselves as an intellectual.
Sufis say that the truth of realities of belief can only be understood by the perfect Mind that Allah bestowed on His Prophets. “The truth of the Articles of Faith” cannot be known by ordinary mind that everybody has. The Prophets, the Wise and the Friends of God understand them and others accept them same as they say to them.
In other words, we all will believe in the six articles of faith: “Amentü billahi ve Melaiketihi ve Kütibihi ve Resulihi ve’l yevm’il Ahiri vebi’l Kaderi- I believe in Allah, in His Angels, in His books, in His Prophets, in the day of Judgement and in fate.”
However, the explanation (the interpretation) of it is made by some people according to Ashary, by some according to Maturidy, by some Jubai, some Mutazila, by some Ismaili, by some Batiniye and by others according to Zahiriye. The Religious sects of belief emerged due to this.
As we said before, they are the schools (religious sects, early law centres, interpretations) of belief established 100-150 years after the Prophet (A.S.). They are the interpretations of these people.
Some of the people of Sunnat accepted the opinions of Ashary and Maturidy. Most of the scholars of Hanafiye and Shafiiye accepted this.
Ordinary people have no idea about this. People do not know Maturidy and Ashary. If they are told to people, they get confused and go astray.
The belief of Religious sects is a subject among the scholars of Madrasa. It is the religious sect of the scholars. People do not know them.
The community-people- of Muhammad are not obliged to learn this. They read the articles of Faith and they confirm them. They say they believe in the same way as Allah, His Prophet (A.S.) and the Friends of Allah. That is all. They say Allah is One and the Prophet is true.
Most of the Ahl al Sunnat Scholars made the doctrines of rationalist Ashary and Maturidy, which are originally theological and philosophical and depend on Aristotle Logic, a religious sect (Madhhab). However, Ashariya and Maturidiye are a little close to Sufism. They are rationalist but not mystics although they do not deny mysticism. They are not interested in spiritualism. They are not a Friend of God (protégés) either. They are rationalist, logician scholars of Theology (Theologians have not followed the path of Sufis).
However, Ahl al Sunnat has accepted another sect in faith: Selefiyyun Madhhab.
Selefiye: The belief of the Companions and of their followers. The path of Sufism.
What we call as Selef or Selefiye is not the Selefiye Madhhab that Ibni Taymiyya established.
What we call as Selef is the belief of the Prophet’s Companions even before the Religious sects were established. Our Four Mujtahids are also from them. It is the teaching of Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir, the teaching of the Companions. It is the branch of belief that comes by way of Hasan al Basri. They are the branches of Sufism that come from them.
However, Ibni Taymiyya denies not only the Philosophy and Theology but also Sufism and the system of spiritual journey of the Friends of God. They do not accept the hidden meanings of the Koran and of the hadiths. They belong to Zahiriye Branch and they say the Koran cannot be explained.
Yet, the spiritual knowledge-to know God, to make the remembrance of God, contemplation, following the people that are close to Allah, Wisdom, Love, metaphysical realities and the reality of them- can be known by the learned men in Spiritual Knowledge and this is confirmed with the Koran.
Those that follow Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir (Firstly, Hasan al Basri Hazretleri) are great Sufi scholars; all of them are the Friends of God. Twelve Ahl al Bayt Imams and Four Madhhab Imams are included in them.
Hazrat Ghazzali had not accepted Philosophical, Theological belief. However, he accepted the Ijtihad with Rey- deduction by analogy.
He accepted the method of Sufis in belief. Sufis are in the path of Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Abu Baqir and Hasan al Basri. In other words, they follow the Companions, Tabiin and Imam Hasan in belief.
The Selefis who went astray appeared in the years 400 (1000 A.D.). Ghazzali Hazretleri refuted their rejection of the Path of Mysticism by only supporting the Book and Sunnat. Ghazzali refused the methods of Philosophers and Theologians as well.
Ghazzali had refuted by rejecting the opinion of the wrong Selefis “The Koran cannot be explained”. He did not follow Ashary and Maturidy either. (16)
In 700 in the Muslim Calender (1300 A.D.), Ibni Taymiyya wanted to liven up the wrong Selefi opinion that emerged in 400 and that was refuted by Ghazzali. Ibni Taymiyya refused the expounders of Jurisprudence, Philosophers and Theologians that lived before him for 700 years. He claimed that he only knew the reality by opposing the spiritual path of Sufis who were real Selefi Salihin. He was the arrogant person who claimed that he was the only person who knew reality in spite of all these scholars and he overrated himself enormously and wanted to monopolize knowledge. He denied thousands of Islam scholars of 700 years and their methods.
This means he claims that only he knows the Truth. This is the greatest error. If a scholar claims that only he knows the Truth and if he rejects thousands of scholars and their methods, it means that he knows himself a kind of a Prophet.
(16) M. Abu Zehra, Mezhepler Tarihi, pp. 210, 211, 243, 244, 245
Nobody can monopolize the Truth (the knowledge of Haq) after our Prophet (A.S.)
Every scholar of Islam can bring opinions. People accept or reject whatever they like. The person who rejects all of them is the greatest wrongdoer. It means to hinder the development of Religion and to destroy the dynamism of Religion.
In fact, Ibni Taymiyya is accepted as an adherent of the Religious Sect of Ibni Hazm, who was of Umayyad origin, an opponent of Ahl al Bayt and the founder of Zahiriye Madhhab because he liked his opinions and he separated from Ahmed Bin Hanbel Hazretleri due to this.
Ahmed bin Hanbel Hazretleri is a lover of Ahl al Bayt. He wrote the hadith that Ahl al Bayt was Hazrat Ali, Fatimatüzzehra, Hasan and Husayn, in his book called Musned. Many other hadiths about the superiority of Hz. Ali and Ahl al Bayt are written in his book. This great person did not reject the consensus of community but he only said that it was impossible. Today there are airplanes and the meeting of the mujtahids is possible. He did not reject deduction by analogy completely but he did not accept it unless he is in difficulty. Actually, the Mujtahids of Ahl al Sunnat do not regard deduction by analogy if they are not in difficulty. They prefer hadiths and ray.
Ahmed bin Hanbel also accepts the assertions of Ahl al Bayt and the Companions. In this situation, how can Ibn Taymiyya and his followers, who reject and deny the deduction in Jurisprudence, Ray, the assertions of Ahl al Bayt and the Companions, the consensus of community, Islam Philosophy, Theology and all their judgments and Sufism, which is a path of real Selefi Salihin, be Hanbaly?
All of them are the followers of pervert Ibni Hazım, who is the founder of Zahiriye Sect.
Ibni Taymiyya, who is the continuation of Ibni Hazım, not only denied the methods and beliefs of all the former Islam philosophers (Islam Philosophers, Theologians and Sufis) in Usul u Din, but also he denied the methods, proofs and ijtihads of all the former Islam Mujtahids in the matters concerning Islamic Law , which is Füruu Din.
This causes such a situation that it prevents the improvement of religion. It puts Islam in a fridge and freezes ijtihads and opinions. A very conservative circumstance rises. All kinds of development and improvement are hindered then. Any kind of resolution, however much it is good and compulsory is prevented.
When the development is prevented, the opinion and law that develop on the other side refutes the theory of Islam religion and the Islamic Jurisprudence, or the value and the meaning of Islam religion decreases at the sight of humanity, in the opinions of people. They regard Islam as reactionary attitudes and Muslims as dangerous fanatics then.
It will not be possible to defend the religion again and it will not be effective however much it is defended. (17)
The path of Sufism involves the teachings of the Prophet’s Companions, Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir. In other words, they are the realities of faith that they teach and this is called as Wisdom and reality in Sufism.
Selef: They are the Mystics, the Wise and all the Friends of God. They are the great personalities of Religion even before Mutazila, Ashary and Maturidy Religious sects were established. They had seen the Companions of the Prophet and had received the mystical knowledge and education. They are generally the followers of Hasan al Basri. Sufism comes from him.
We would like to explain here that Ashary and Maturidy had come after Imam Hanafi and Imam Shafii.
(17) As a result of this, Muslims get weaken. They lose their state and countries. If a nation loses their state and country, its religion is also annihilated (like the Islamic nations in Russia.) Therefore, the British and
American governments and Christians support the conservative followers of Ibni Taymiyya and Zahiris fiercely.
Their aim is to annihilate Islam Religion. Then, the Church completes its duty of annihilating Islam Religion of 1400 years. We only remind this!
For example, Abu Hanifa says, “If I had not seen Jafar al Sadıq, I would have been perished.” In other words, he says he had learnt the realities of faith from him.
All the founders of Four Madhhabs are the supporters of Ahl al Bayt. They love Ahl al Bayt very much. They suffered from the Umayyad and Abbasid very much for this reason. This is true! They are the students of them in the science of Jurisprudence.
As we have already said at the beginning, the matters concerning belief and faith have no relations with Jurisprudence, worships and Four Madhhabs.
Selefiyyun-the Sufis, Wise Friends of God do not accept to explain the belief and faith matters using abstract (partial) intellect according to the Aristotle logic. This was done by Muslim theologians and philosophers. During Abbasids, 100 years after our Prophet, The Madhhabs of belief were re-established.
Selef (the Wise) explain and interpret the realities of faith reported by glorious verses and hadiths. They do not attempt to establish belief like theologians rationally using partial intellect and Logic. (18)
There are also Batinites from Ismailiye Religious sect. They say the Koran has esoteric, hidden, inner meanings. This is wrong too. The Batinite Branch of Ismailiye does extreme comparisons while interpreting verses interiorly and He becomes like a solid body (personification rises) and they embody Him.
This is also formalism and it is paganism on account of this.
The Koran and the hadiths have both exoteric (literal) and esoteric (inner) meanings. There are interpretations and interpreters of both the literal and inner (spiritual) meanings.
For example, Allah talks about His face, eyes and His hands in the Koran, and He says He sat on the throne.
(18) Nowadays, the New Zahiriye (the supporters of Taymiyya) say they are Selefis. They deny all the Madhhabs of Jurisprudence, the Madhhabs of Theology, Philosophy and Sufism. They say the Koran, Hadiths and Sacred hadiths do not have hidden or spiritual meanings. They are not Selef but a kind of externalists.
According to Ibni Taymiyya, the Koran cannot be explained. Its Arabic can be read or translated. That is all! They deny the expounders of it saying this. However, they explain it themselves. In other words, it is permitted to them but not permitted for others. They try to monopolize the knowledge themselves.
“Errahmanü arşisteva - The Merciful has encompassed the Throne.” (Ta Ha, 5)
There are similar metaphorical verses like this. If these verses are not explained or interpreted, they embody Allah.
Embodying Allah is paganism. Therefore, Sufis, Ghazzali and the great scholars of Religion agree that the Koran must certainly be interpreted and it has hidden, spiritual meanings. The only scholar that objects to this agreement is Ibni Taymiyya.
This is what the Sufis, the Friends of God, who are the real Selef, the Ahl al Sunnat and Shia accept. This is what is true!
Batinities and externalists are the minorities that went excess in both ways.
The proof of the Selef, who are the Wise, and of their followers is the verses and sacred hadiths. The great expounders of it are our Prophet (A.S.) and his exalted Companions and those who learnt from them. They are the interpreters and expounders of belief. They do not attempt to establish belief.
In other words, in belief whatever the Koran and the Sacred hadiths report is true. All these matters of belief have already been written in the Koran and in the hadiths. They can be explained only by our Prophet (A.S.), by the Gnostics, who are the spiritual inheritors of the Prophet, whose mind and spirit developed by means of contacting partial intellect with the Universal Intellect (the highest or first cosmic intellect -aql al kulli-), by the help of the Supreme Spirit (the Spirit of Muhammad (A.S.). We can learn this knowledge from them.
The belief was established by Allah and His apostle. Others cannot establish it!
Theologians had not explained the verses and the hadiths. They reached judgments on the matters concerning the Eternal, Muhdes (recently made, not ancient), the Essence, the Attributes and Fate rationally according to Aristotle Logic using abstract mind. They re-established belief.
The proof of theologians is not the Verses and the Glorious sayings of the Prophet (A.S.) but it is “reason and logic”. They do not explain the belief according to the verses and hadiths.
Sufis (the Wise Friends of God who are Selef) say, “We do not accept a belief that is not sourced from the verses and hadiths.”
Anyone who buys and reads a book on “Usul-u Kelam” see that Islamic theologians do not act according to the verses and hadiths, but they act with reason. He sees that they are not interested in the verses and hadiths that report the realities of faith and belief and they do not explain them.
Their subject is always the Being “Existence, Essence”. The necessity of the Existence, the possibility of the Existence, nothingness, the Existent, the First, the beings created afterwards, the obvious, the apparent, non-essential attribute not formed spontaneously but occupies a place in the space, atom, the beings imagined in the mind, the Person, the Attribute, the events and matters concerning fate etc. All of them attempted to explain and prove these using partial intellect within the Aristotle Logic (from deduction to induction, from induction to deduction, to reach a result by deducing -deducing depending on a proof). Various religious sects emerged due to this.
These subjects existed in the ancient Greek Philosophy even before Jesus Christ. They and the principle of Aristotle Logic passed to Islam scholars during Umayyad and Abbasid eras. They have no relation with the Book (the Koran) and the Sunnat.
All kinds of realities of faith and metaphysical realities exist in the Glorious Koran and in the Sunnat of the Prophet. There is no need to seek them in Theology and Philosophy.
The danger of this is: Although it was necessary to enable the accordance of the theological rational judgments with the Koran and hadiths by Mutazila scholars (mostly Shiites), Ahl al Sunnat scholars (mostly Asharies and Maturidies), the Madrasa scholars, who were their supporters, tried to fit the verses and hadiths on belief methods to the opinions of theological and rational founders of Madhhabs.
The most dangerous of it is they attempted to regard the verses that did not fit these beliefs as abolished. They pretended not to see the Sacred hadiths.
They accused the Wise that did not explain the verses and hadiths concerning belief according to Ashary, Maturidy and Jubai (Mutazila) as going astray very scholastically.
Whereas, the Verses and Sacred Hadiths existed even 150 years before Theology, Ashary, Maturidy, Jubai (Mutazila) and similar Logical Imams of belief.
Unfortunately, the belief confirmed with the Koran and hadith was left, the opinions of rationalist scholars, whose names are mentioned above, were accepted as belief. This was done by both Shii Madrasa Imams and Sunni Madrasa Imams.
Yet, Sufis do not object to the defending of Philosopher and Theologians about the existence of Spirit and metaphysical realities using rational proofs. On the contrary, they support this and do this if necessary. They support whoever struggles for it.
But, they are against to the opinions about Allah, His Person, His attributes, His actions and His qualities (to philosophical and theological doctrines).
Defending the existence of God is a different thing; putting forward ideas about the qualities of God is a different thing.
The opinion about God and the truth of God, His qualities are reported by verses and hadiths.
Allah and His Prophet established the faith.
The greatest expounders of it is our great Prophet, the honor of the world, Ahl al Bayt and the scholars of the Companions and the Wise Friends of God. In other words, Sufis: Selefi Salihin.
Farabi, Ibni Sina, Ibni Rushd, Mutazila Theologians: Ashary, Maturidy whosoever that form a belief with rational proofs put themselves in the place of Allah and His Prophet. For, the realities of faith were reported by the Koran verses, hadiths and sayings of the Prophet (A.S.V.).
Sufis even support the philosophers who defend Allah and religion in West besides the Islam Philosophers and Theologians mentioned above. They support Dehri, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Hugo, Goethe and Hegel who strive against materialist Philosophy.
Supporting is a different matter! Defending God in all the ways is a duty of each faithful person. However, accepting a belief that they form (such as Mutazila, Ashary, Maturidy) is a different matter!
The wise Friends of God explained the realities concerning belief reported by the Book and Sunnat. Therefore, a belief apart from the belief of Selef who are Selefi, is not the belief of Muslims, it does not matter if he is a Shii or Ahl al Sunnat.
However, the scholars of Madrasa accepted Selefiye Madhhab in belief. For instance, we regard Ashary and Maturidy sympathetically, but we do not accept their tenets. We have accepted Selefi belief but not the belief formed through partial intellect. We believe in the same way as Selefi Salihin believed.
We had faith in the same way as the experts of Sufis did.
The religious leader (Sheikh, Master) of Sufis is Hz. Imam Hasan al Basri. He learnt Sufism from our master Hz. Ali (k.v.), who is the Imam of the path of Guidance. Sufis, who are Selefi Salihin and their supporter Hz. Ghazzali reject the rational methods of Maturidiye and Ashary. They do not reject their judgments that are in accordance with the Koran and Sunnat, and with the belief of Selefi Salihin.
They defend that forming a belief using rational and logical methods and their judgments will be contrary to the Book and Sunnat.
The great Gnostics that chose the path of Selefi Salihin belief do not reject every word of Maturidy and Ashary. We also agree with this opinion.
Naturally, there are Shii and Sunni scholars that accepted the path of Selef and became an adherent of the path of Wise Sufis. I bow down before them with exalted respect and love and keep them free from this.
As for Shia, they generally accepted the theological scholars of Mutazila.
Mutazila does not accept the attribute of Allah. They say that Allah has no attributes. Therefore, most of them do not know “Kelam” (Speech) as “Kadim (eternal).” They say Allah can be seen neither in this world nor in the next world. It is because they are against His attributes.
Ashariya says He is seen in the next world. Sufis say He is seen even in this world with the eye of the heart.
Some of Mutazila support His attributes. They give or attribute a solid body to Allah. They are usually among İsmailiye Branch; wrong Batinites.
There are some people in Shia who are in the path of Selef. In other words, they are the people that follow the great persons of Ahl al Bayt- The friends of God, Sufis.
They accept the belief of Selef (We cannot say anything for them.)
In spite of all these, Shia also supports Theologians. They believe in theological beliefs.
Shortly, the scholars of Ahl al Sunnat and Shia are generally the supporters of Theology. The discussions of belief in Theology are still continuing between them.
Meanwhile, we would like to mention about Imam Ghazzali. Imam Ghazzali was a great theologian, lawyer, and at the same time, a philosopher of his time. He was such a scholar that he studied theological and philosophical doctrines and religious cults thoroughly. He made an academic study and became a great university himself. He said that he learnt Latin especially by searching its source, as he did not trust translation books or compilations.
Hz. Imam Ghazzali has certain phases. He was such a great scholar of Philosophy and Theology and at the same time a scholar of Jurisprudence. He had a confession:
This personality said: “I investigated and examined all the Madhhabs of belief closely. I saw that there is truth more or less in all of them. They are not false completely or wholly. However, nobody has found the truth among them. All of them were lacking something. (For, I learnt that these realities could not be known using partial intellect or Logic. This is a conflict in all of them. They refute each other with the same principles but with different judgements. Finally, I understood that the true path is the path of Sufis, in other words, the path of Selef of the Gnostics.
They are the wise people who explain the realities of the Koran, of revelation, the verses and the hadiths by contacting with spiritual Supreme Intellect not by partial intellect and by receiving help from the Spirit of the Prophet (A.S.). Sufis found the real, correct way!)
They are also the real Ahl al Sunnat.
They would not become a Friend of God if it were not like this anyway. Since all the Sufis and Gnostics are the Friends of God, I left all the other paths; I abandoned Theology and Philosophy and became an adherent of the path of Sufis, the Friends of God and wise. I also entered their religious way.” (19) This is what he meant to say or what is understood from his books!
Imam Ghazzali was a great scholar. The confession of this scholar is so important that a second Ghazzali has not come after Imam Ghazzali. He rejected all of the Theology and Philosophy. Only one person objected to this: Ibni Rushd. People who read Ibni Rushd know that he is directly rational. According to him, the Absolute Truth, the reality of Allah and Prophethood can be known with reason, mind. He even sees the Prophets rationalist. He exaggerated this very much and went to excess.
Ghazzali did not follow Ashary and Maturidy in belief. He did not accept the methods of founding belief through rational proofs.
(19) a) El Minkuzi Min ed Dalal, Ghazzali Cağaloğlu Yayın. İst. 1970
b) Mezhebler Tarihi, Muhammed Abu Zehra, Gazali Bahsi pp. 210, 211, 212
SUFISM (MYSTICISM)
As it is known and thoroughly explained above, Sufism is the branch that deals with the realities of faith. It is to learn the Koran by contacting with the Spirit of Muhammad (A.S.). It is not the jurisprudence side of the Koran but the belief side of the Koran. It is to learn Divine wisdom, Divine person, Divine attribute, His deeds, His works, faith, Spirit, Angels and spiritual Journey (the passing of the spirit from condensed dark world to the bright beautiful world).
Our Master the Prophet Muhammad (A.S.) has given mysticism to Hz. Ali and to Hz. Abubaqir Siddiq. The history of Sufism is the witness of it.
There is also wisdom and love matters in Sufism. Masters enable the aspirants to meet their Lord again through love and wisdom by shining their hearts. They enable them to acquire the secrets of Fenafi Resul, Fenafillah and Bekabillah. They teach them the realities of faith.
They teach them “Men Araf”.
“Men arafe nefsehu, kad arefe Rabbehu- He who knows his self knows his Lord.” (20)
Sufism exists in the Prophet (A.S.) Himself and in the Glorious Koran because Sufism is the subject concerning belief and wisdom. The entire task of the Prophet (A.S.) is to increase the belief and wisdom towards Allah.
The Prophet (A.S.) is the greatest wise person. He is the scholar of the Universe. This exists in the other Prophets as well. The reality of Angels, the reality of Spirit, Apostleship, sainthood, Prophethood, the reality of Revelation, the Reality of Speech, the pure Person, the eternity of Allah, the Speech of Allah, the attributes of Allah, the beautiful names of Allah… This is Sufism!
Sufism did not emerge afterwards. Our Prophet (A.S.) taught this to the King of Sainthood Hz. Ali and to Hz. Abu Baqir Siddiq. He trained and educated them in Sufism.
These two great persons are the two gates of our Prophet (A.S.). He taught this to other Companions who had ability.
If there are other branches coming from other Companions, they were either forgotten or stopped. However, Sufism in Hz. Ali and Hz. Abu Baqir is still continuing because Divine knowledge does not have an end.
Some people say that Sufism is divine revelation of mysteries; Sufism is not a state only. In Sufism, when the spirit encounters the Prophet (A.S.) and Allah, he is taught knowledge by Allah and the Prophet. He is taught realities of faith and the true faith. He is taught firm belief.
When the works of Abdulkadir Geylani, Rufai Hazretleri, Muhyiddini Arabi, Maktul Suhreverdi, Mawlana, Hadji Bektash, Yunus, Sheikh Hasan-ı Shazili, Bedevi, Dusuki Hazretleri, Ahmed Yesevi, Muhammad Bahaeddin, Ahmed Faruk u Serhindi, Hazretleri, Ghazzali Hazretleri and of the similar personalities are read, it is seen that Sufism specially exists in the Prophet (A.S.), in Al-i Aba, in the Four Caliphs, in the Twelve Imams and in other great persons such as Hasan al Basri, Junayd al Baghdad, Marufi Kerhi and Sırri Saqati.
Hz. Hasan al Basri was the student of Hz. Ali. He personally acquired spiritual Caliphate from Him. Sufism is the knowledge of Allah and the love of Allah. It has two manifestations: he is reached Allah either through divine love or through divine knowledge according to the ability of the aspirant. One of our Sufi Poets says:
“Do not think that your task is over by only fasting and praying, the Union for the aspirant is the remembrance of Him and wisdom.”
Allah says. “Remember Me often!” (Al-Ahzab, 41)
Sufism means making the remembrance of Allah abundantly. Dhiqir is love and it causes love.
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim:
“Ya eyyühellezine amenüzkürullahe zikren kesira - O Believers, Remember Allah abundantly!” (Al-Ahzab, 41)
“Vezkürullahe kesiren lealleküm tüflihun - Remember Allah abundantly so that you are saved.” (Al-Juma, 10)
“Ela bizikrillahi tatmeinnil külub - Be awake! The remembrance of Allah comforts the hearts.” (Al-Rad, 28)
“See! What comforts the heart? The remembrance of Allah! What happened to the heart that was not comforted? It is not happy.
“Fezküruni ezkürküm- Remember Me so that I will remember you.” (Al-Baqarah, 152) It means, “Remember Me, Call me meaningfully, not unconsciously but consciously!”
The Prophet (A.S.) already says:
“Efdeli zikri La ilahe illallah - The most superior dhiqir is La ilahe illallah (There is no god but Allah)” (21)
Allah the Almighty says,
“Fezkür isme rabbike - Remember the name of your Lord!” (Muzammil, 8)
“O Muhammad praise Allah!” (Al-Ahzab, 42)
This is commanded to all the Prophets, to our Prophet and to Believers.
(21) From Jabir (r.a.); Thirmizi, Riyazü’s salihin, Diy, İşl. Bşk, Ya. 1976, volume 3, page 39
See also Ibni Mace, Sunen, vol.2, p.1249
“Vele zikrullahe ekber - The remembrance of Allah is the greatest. Your foremost duty is to remember (the dhiqir of) Allah.” (Al-Anqabut, 45)
Selat ritual prayer means to implore Allah, to pray, to beg. There are also verses concerning worshipping, Bowing down, Prostration. What does Allah says on this matter?
“Ve akimüsselate innesselate tenha ani’l fehşai ve’l münker - Be steadfast in prayer. Prayer fends away indecency and evil.” (Al-Anqabut, 45)
What does He say at the end of the Verse? “Vele zikrullahi ekber - The remembrance of Allah is the greatest.” Remembrance will make the heart comforted.
Our Lord Allah says that the foremost duty is the remembrance of Allah by separating remembrance (dhiqir) from ritual prayer (selat) saying: “but the remembrance…”
Remembrance is related with Faith. First “Allah” will be recited then “ritual prayer” can be performed. Ritual prayer is not possible without the remembrance of Allah.
“Allahü ekber means Allah is the Most great.” It means to exalt Allah.
“Muhammad, remember Me morning and evening!” (Ta Ha-130)
“Remember Me abundantly!” (Ahzab, 41)
“Remember the name of your Lord!” (Al-Insan, 25 Al-Muzammil,8)
There are several verses concerning this subject. There are more than 100 verse of Allah commanding “Remember Me!” Our Prophet reported the remembrance of Allah, Calling Allah, the name of His Person, the beautiful names of Allah (such as the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Alive, the Eternal, the Most Holy and so on), 99 of the names that were written in the Koran. (22)
“Kulid’ullahe evid’urrahman eyyen ma ted’u felehu’l esma-ul husna - It is the same whether you call on Allah or on the Merciful: His are the most gracious names.” (Al-Isra, 110)
“Allahu lailahe illa hu lehu’l esma ul husna - He is Allah. There is no god but Him. His are the most gracious names.” (Ta Ha, 8)
“Felillahi’l esma il husna - The gracious names belong to Allah.” (Al-Araf, 180)
Firstly, “ALLAH”, what we call the Name of His person, the name of Jalal, the greatest name.
(22) Hz. Muhammad ve Islamiyet, M. Asım Köksal, vol. 11, p. 365-367, İst. 1982
According to the verse “Vezkürisme Rabbike-Remember the name of your Lord!” the name of our Lord that we remember first means Allah Hu-He. The subject of Allah, who is the Pure person, is Himself. You will call Allah with His beautiful names so that the heart will be comforted.
A poet says:
“You are a mirror to the heart, O Sufi
If you make it pure,
A door is opened to you, and
The beautiful face of Allah becomes apparent to you!”
For, this heart beats with the remembrance of Allah. It remembers Allah. The most important matter is to descend this remembrance to the heart. This is not the dhiqr of this palate and lips. It is also proper to make the dhiqr of Allah secretly. However, the heart must approve it and the heart will shiver or tremble. Allah says:
Bismillah
“İza zikrullahi vecilet kulubuhüm - The hearts of believers tremble, beat at the mention of Allah (Their hearts also says Allah).” (Al-Anfal, 2 / Al-Hajj, 35)
“They plunge into the dhiqr of Allah.” (Al-Hadid, 16)
He also says that the hearts of those whose hearts are hardened to the remembrance of Allah are ill.
As for Satan, He says: “Satan keeps you from your prayers and from the remembrance of Allah by means of wine and gambling.” (Al-Maidah, 90-91)
This is important! Why does he make you drink wine and make you gamble? Because he wants to stir up enmity and hatred among you and prevent you from worshipping Allah and performing prayers. In this verse: “An zikrillahi ve ikamisselate…. - He keeps you from the remembrance of Allah and from performing your prayers.”
There is one thing that Satan does not like: making the remembrance of Allah. When somebody starts to make the remembrance of Allah and His beautiful names, saying “Allah! Allah! La ilahe illallah”, Satan runs away. He does not like The Prophet (A.S.), Adam, the Prophets and those who pronounce the formula calling God’s benediction on the Prophet (salawat) either because he is the enemy of the Spirit of Hz. Muhammad (A.S.) and Adam.Allah says in the Koran clearly: “Satan is your foe. Seek refuge in Allah from Satan.” (Al-A’raf, 22 / Fussilat, 36)
The Prophet (A.S.) left this path to his Ummat (People) under the names Tariqat, Sanctity, Spiritual Journey. We have already explained the reason of it in the above subjects. It did not exist during the Prophets, for, it existed but it belonged to the Companions of the Prophet of that time. Yet, when he died, Allah was able to create another Prophet but He did not, as our Prophet (A.S.) was the last Prophet. There is a verse concerning this subject:
“Velakin Resullahi ve hatemennebiyyin - But, he is the Apostle of Allah and the last (seal) of the Prophets.” (Al-Ahzab, 40)
What will happen after him? Was the path of spirituality closed? No it was not. The spirit of Muhammad is alive. It is the Supreme Spirit. It is the father of the Spirits.
Our Master is the Sun of both worlds. Now this light will continue. The Spirit of Allah does not die. It will continue until the Resurrection Day so that His Sufism and His people will not be deprived of it. He had opened this path of Sanctity, as there would not be any other Prophets after him. There is actually a sacred saying about this:
“I bear the Sanctity (Sainthood) of Allah and Ali bears my Sanctity.” (23)
It means that I bear the sanctity of Allah and Imam Ali (k.v.) bears the Sanctity of Muhammad. Hz. Abu Baqir Siddiq, the Four Caliphs and the great personalities of the Companion benefited from the Sanctity of Muhammad. They were also honored to see the Prophet. There were some illiterate among the Companions and there were also some who made spiritual journey among the Wise. There were advanced and beginning students among them. For instance, the first Companion and the last Companion were not the same. However, sometimes the latter passed the former ones.
(23) Binbir Hadis by Şemseddin Yeşil, p. 181, İst. 1983
Although our master Veysel Karani had not seen the Prophet, he made a spiritual connection to his spirit and he was rightly guided. The spirit of our Prophet (A.S.) guided him.
There is also “Veysilik” besides the paths of our Master Hz. Ali and Hz. Abu Baqir. We have explained this.
Wisdom, Divine Knowledge of Allah, metaphysical realities such as Spirit, Angels, the next world, Apostleship, Sainthood, the person of Allah, the attributes of Allah, His actions, His Beautiful names and to study them, in other words, to learn all of them. How will they be learnt? They will not be learnt using mind (Intellect or mind is also a branch of Spirit). When we say mind we mean to say partial mind. They can be learnt by contacting the partial intellect with a Holy Spirit, the Spirits of a Prophet or a Saint (if he has a share in Divine Knowledge). The main truth of faith is to learn the realities of faith. This is what the Wise, the Prophets and the Friends of God say.
Sufism means Divine Knowledge. The real wisdom is to acquire the knowledge of the realities of faith, which are the Articles of faith. The field which Wisdom, the Knowledge of Allah, the realities of Faith are summarized is called as Sufism.
Sufism exists in the Glorious Koran and in the Sunnat of the Prophet. Both Sufism and Jurisprudence exist and the person who knows them best is Shah-ı Walayat Hz. Ali. After him, the great personalities of the Companions of the Prophet and the Four Caliphs, the Ten Personalities who were given the good news of the Paradise, 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, Hasan al Basri and the other Wise people who were trained in both paths and Veysilik. They are firstly the great Sufis Abdulqadir Geylani and Rufai Hazretleri. We can also name some personalities like Muhyiddini Arabi, Ahmed Faruku Serhindi, Hadji Bektash, Yunus Emre, Aşık Paşa, Sheikh Cemali Halvati.
The reality of Anatolian Islam Turkish Sufism is very important. When the works and poems of Niyazi Mısri, Sayyid Nasimi, Sayyid Nizamoğlu, Eşrefoğlu are read, many realities are learnt.
In other words, Sufism and Jurisprudence exist in the Glorious Koran and in the Sunnat of the Prophet. The explanation of it is left to Ahl al Bayt. When we say Ahl al Bayt we especially mean Hz. Ali, who is the King of Sainthood. The Prophet exalts him saying “He is the gate to the Knowledge.” (24) He is the one who knows most of the spiritual knowledge.
There are also some people among the Companions who know this knowledge taught by the Prophet, by Hz. Ali and by Hz Abu Baqir. For instance, Selman-ı Farisi acquired his spiritual permission (diploma) from Hz. Abu Baqir. Hasan al Basri acquired it from Hz. Ali. We can say only this much about this subject.
(24) From Ibni Abbas; Thirmizi, sahih vol.2, p. 399
Suyuti, Camiussağir vol. 1, p. 108
Also Nişaburi, Münavi, Taberi, Hatibi Bagdadi narrated it
Sufism means spiritual Knowledge. It is the way of learning the realities of faith. Spirit reaches Allah and learns the realities of faith and loves Allah as well.
Love…
There are some people who relate Sufism with “Ashab-ı Suffa- the Companions of Suffa” because they wear woolen dresses. Sufism is defined in various descriptions in the History of Sufism however, the most beautiful, the most correct and true definition is made by Sayyid Abdulkadir Geylani Hazretleri (It is written in his book called “Sırrül Esrar” and anyone can see it there if they like). (125)
Sufism (Tasavvuf) does not have a meaning as a word. Tasavvuf is a cipher among Muslim Friends of God and Gnostics. It is a word that consisted of the letters: Ta, Sad, Vav and Fa. Ta-Sa-Vav-Fa = Tasavvuf.
T Tawba (Repentance)
The letter “T” of Tawba
The beginning of the reality of the Prophet (A.S.), his Spirituality and the path of Wisdom is “repentance” as the Wise say. Repentance is not only made verbally. It is not just saying “Estağfirullah”. Estağfirullah means, “I ask the pardon of Allah, forgive me, remove my sins.”
(25) Sırrül Esrar by Abdulkadir Geylani, trans. By Abdülkadir Akçiçek. P. 60-61, İst 1968
Repentance is a kind of conversion.
“Tubu ilallah- Turn to God in repentance.” (Al-Nur, 31)
“O Lord! I turned to you. I abandoned Satan. I left everything and I inclined to you. I obey you now that. This allegiance must be done to a person like Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir in the person of the Prophet (A.S.) and to the people who were trained in their paths because: Bismillah:
“Kul in küntüm tuhibbunellahe fettebiuni - Say O Muhammad! If you love Allah (if they love Allah or those who love Allah), follow me (submit me, swear fealty to me, surrender yourself to me).” (The Imrans, 31)
Here, it is not obedience because obedience and swearing fealty are different things. For example:
“Men yutiurresule fekad ataallah - He that obeys the Apostle obeys Allah.” (Al-Nisa, 80)
But there is also the following verse: “Those that swear fealty to the Prophet swear fealty to Allah Himself.” (Al-Fath, 10) Bismillah,
“İnnellezine yübaiyuneke innema yübayiunallah, yedullahi fevka eydihim - Those that swear fealty to you O Muhammad swear fealty to Allah Himself.” (They interpret it as follows: They directly swear fealty to Me because you are My Prophet and My Holy Spirit is in You. You are My man on the earth. You are My messenger, My Apostle, My beloved, the One I trust, a man whose loyalty I believe, however you are My prophet. There is a very exalted Spirit of Allah in You.
The same verse continues: “Yedullahi fevka eydihim - And the hand of Allah is above their hands.”
See this is very important. May Allah enable us to have this! Whoever swears fealty to the Prophet, swears fealty to Allah and the hand of Allah “Yedullah”, which is Divine Light and not a physical hand but a hand of power, is above their hands “Fevka eydihim”. It means “I held their hands and they held My hand and our hands are connected with Truth.”
Some people only obey. Everybody can obey. They sometimes obey for their fear but swearing fealty is related with the heart. However, this must be shaking hands as well. Actually, when the verse about swearing fealty was reveled during the Companions of the Prophet, the Companions of the Prophet swore fealty to the Prophet (A.S.) again one by one.
Now we will repeat this allegiance again. When we find the Perfect Man, we swear fealty to him, as he is the heir of Allah and on behalf of the Prophet of Allah.
Swearing fealty is explained as is due. As for the obedience: Obedience means to obey the commands. A hypocrite may also obey the commands. Marwan used to obey the commands. For instance, if a Muslim goes to France, to Belgium, to England, to Germany, will he not obey the laws there? He must obey them. If he does not, he is either dismissed, sent away or imprisoned but, does he swear fealty to the President, to the King or to the Statesman cordially? He does not. According to the Islamic belief, it is not proper for him to swear fealty.
Swearing fealty and obedience are different. It is the same for Islamic community. One is obeying, performing his ritual prayer, fasting but I wonder if he is sincere or not? Swearing fealty determines his sincerity. The Lord of the Universe knows who swears fealty or not. We are not interested in the hearts of anybody. This does not concern us. We only indicate the reality of the existence of the verses about obedience and swearing fealty. We wanted to clarify this subject.
May Allah not make anybody an atheist, an unbeliever and a hypocrite, and May He protect us from hypocrisy! We have good opinions about everyone. We do not care about other side if he says “La ilahe illallah, Muhammadün Resululllah”. We only talk about the realities and the commands of Allah. We explain His message as well as we can. To explain is the duty of every person who knows because Allah the Most High says:
“You are responsible of the Koran all.” (Al-Zukhruf, 44)
In other words, we will be questioned. They will ask us why we did not tell the truth, why we did not defend the Koran, why we did not tell the truth of the Koran and why we did not protect it etc.
May Allah enable us to protect the Koran sincerely and to speak about the Koran sincerely!
Sayyid AbdulKadir Geylani Hazretleri continues the explanation of Tasavvuf (Sufism) saying then “Sad” comes.
“Sad” means purity among the Friends of Allah.
A slave remembers Allah after he repents. He performs his prayers and his worshipping. He fasts and he struggles against his carnal desires (self). He also helps other people, he gives alms, money, sacrifices sheep. He keeps on racing in charity. Allah says: “Vie with each other in good works!” (Al-Maidah, 48)
He sacrifices himself to Allah, and his heart and mind are purified at the end of these worshipping. His heart becomes like a bright mirror and Allah manifests there. Realities manifest to his heart. Tranquility-peace- is revealed into his heart as well. Bismillah,
“Hüvellezi enzele sekinete fi kukubi’l mü’minine liyezdadu imanen mae imanihim - He Allah sent down tranquility into the hearts of believers.” (Al-Fath, 4)
Then, there is something revealed into the hearts of the believers. Divine Revelation comes to the Prophet and tranquility comes to him as well. His tranquility comes to us.
“Tranquility-Sakinah” is a kind of Divine Light that gives peace, calmness, comfort and relief to the hearts.
If Divine Light does not come, there is no relief or confidence.
And the glorious verse continues as “so that their faith might grow stronger”. Then, if a divine light, a manifestation, a revelation, a
tranquility or peace and spirit comes to a person’s heart, his heart grows stronger.
Some people say that faith does not increase. Faith increases. Can the faith of an ignorant person and a wise person be the same? He is more perfect than he is. There is also a verse: “Liyezdadu imanen maa imanihim- Their faith increase with a faith.” (Same verse)
The divine light in each tranquility increases the Divine Light because faith is Divine Light. He believes without doubt and certainly. One can ask whether he is doubtful. He is not doubtful but Satan gives him secret fear and anxiety. Anxiety does nothing to the Perfect Man. His heart becomes like a sea.
It becomes pure.
The holy person says: then comes “Vav”.
“Vav (V)” means Valayat - Sainthood or sanctity.
These tranquilities and divine lights manifest into the hearts of the persons whose heart is pure. He starts to perceive the divine realities of Allah with the eye of the heart-spirit. The spirit becomes holy. He approaches Allah. When he approaches Allah, he becomes the friend of Allah.
He becomes a Wali-Saint.
“Vav” comes after “Sad” and “Ta”. Vav” is sanctity-Valayet. Now that he is the Friend of Allah. He is His saint. The advanced believers are the Friends of Allah anyway. Allah is our friend. We hope, if we try hard, we become the Friend of Allah too, and we gain His friendship.
He says “Fa” “to become perished” comes after that. The end (perfection) of sanctity is to become perished.
It is to annihilate, to melt down and to be perished in the Essence of Allah. It is to change his personality, to perish his ego completely.
Now:
“Feeynema tüvellu fesemma Vechullah - Whichever way you turn, there is the face of God.” (Al-Baqarah, 115)
This Friend of Allah is in such a state that he sees the face of Allah wherever he looks at. He sees with the eye of the Spirit, not with physical eyes. The only person who saw with the physical eyes is our Prophet (A.S.) Even the Apostles had not seen Him with physical eyes.
Allah showed His face to our Prophet (A.S.) during Meraj (Ascending to Heaven). We all absolutely believe in this. This is explained in Chapter Najm. (26) However, the Prophets and the Friends of Allah see Him with the eye of the heart-spirit. Our Prophet (A.S.) says concerning this subject: “We and those who follow us are on discernment. In other words, we see for sure (without fail).”
Now, the definition of Tasavvuf is completed.
“Ta” Tawba-Repentance: First of all, repentance. You cannot continue other steps without repenting. Firstly, you will repent and turn to God.
“Sad”-Safiyet-Purity: The purity of the heart, of the spirit and of ideas. The good works that are done with faith. This is possible with Dhiqir.
“Vav” Valayat-Sanctity: He gains the friendship of Allah.
“Fa” Fana-Annihilation: The perfection of sanctity is Fana. He becomes completely- one hundred percent- annihilated.
“Baqabillah” comes after fanafillah. This is also one of the matters of Sufism. What happens to a piece of ice after it melts down in the sea. There is no ice now that. There cannot be duality in Unity anyway. One can understand what we mean here. For example, we threw a block of ice into the hot sea (Let us say in Mersin). You cannot find it five minutes later. This is such annihilation that it becomes permanent in the sea. In other words, it has become Hu. Here is a secret. This is the real Union.
(26) Chapter Najm, Verses 1-18
There are not two things in Union with the beloved. There is one thing: Allah
The slave becomes annihilated and it becomes as if he is not created. Our Prophet (A.S.) knows beyond this. Although there are some wise personalities who know this secret, he gave the whole truth of it to our Prophet (A.S.) because our Prophet is the Supreme Spirit. His spirit is the father of all the Spirits. He is powerful. That is to say, he is the Sun. Only the Sun can comprehend that Divine Light. Stars, the Moon and others are not able to comprehend it.
The people who know this after him are Hz. Ali, His sons, Hz. Abubaqir, Hz. Omar ul Faruk, Osman-ı Zinnureyn, Ashara-i Mubasshara, the Twelve Ahla-l Bayt Imams, the Spiritual Teachers and all the Friends of Allah at different ranks.
“Ütul ilme derecat - They are given knowledge at different ranks.” (Al- Mujadala, 11)
Again, in this verse, He says:
“Yerfeillahüllezine amenu minkum - I raised some of the believers to high ranks among you.”
For instance, He bestowed knowledge to Hz. Ali and exalted Him. He guided Hz. Abu Baqir in a cave and He exalted him. He said “There are some among you that are in exalted ranks.”
“Verefana leke zikrek - I have given you high renown.” (Inshirah, 4)
Actually, Tasavvuf (Sufism) has no meaning as a word. The Companions of Suffa of the Prophet are divine. They wear a kind of coarse, woolen garment called “suffa”. They gave all their time to Allah. They always remember Allah, praise Him, they eat less, drink less, sleep less and speak less. They are the divine people who know far-away events and become present wherever they wish. The Companions, the Four Caliphs and the advanced ones are openly spiritual-divine.
We said Sufism has no meaning as a word. The saints, the wise (those who know Allah perfectly) used a cipher. Sufism is a path of repentance and becoming pure through remembering Allah and performing worshipping. After that, it is the path of sanctity after gaining the friendship of Allah. Then, it is to be annihilated and to reach the secrecy of Unity by overcoming the self and leaving duality. (This is also called “retreat-Sırru Vahdet-a devotee’s withdrawing for mediation) (27)
May Allah enable this to all of us! May He make us drink this wine of Unity. He made us drink at the day of the creation of mankind and May He save us after making us drink it again. Brothers! Sufism is a vast sea. It never ends. Sufism did not emerge afterwards either. It exists in the Glorious Koran. In the Koran, all the matters concerning repentance, purity, sanctity, annihilation, wisdom, love and remembrance are written. They are written in the Sunnat as well.
(27) For further information, see VARLIK-EXISTENCE by Kazim Yardımcı, Bilmen Publ. İstanbul, 1974
Sufism is based on an excess love of Allah. The Glorious Koran has explained this:
“Kül in küntüm tuhibbunallahe fettebiuni- Say: If you love Allah, swear fealty to me.” And also “Yuhbibkumullah - Allah will love you then.” And: “Veyeğfirleküm zünubekum- Follow me so that Allah will forgive your sins.” (The Imrans, 31)
Therefore, love is compulsory. A slave will love Allah so that Allah will love him. Allah says: “Küntü kenzen mahfiyyen fe ahbebtü li yüraf - I was a hidden treasure, I liked to be known.” (Sacred Hadith)
Then, the reason of creation is Allah’s attributes or names of Love: “Muhabbet, Meveddet, Muhib, Vedud” that exist in the Person of the Lord of the Universe. “Muhib” means “the One who loves”, “Habib-Mahbub” means “the One who is loved” and “Vedud” means “the One who loves, who is loved and the One who gives love”. All of them are in the meaning of the Beautiful names of Allah. This love is based on the love of the Prophet, the love of Ahl al Bayt and is based on the swearing allegiance.
May Allah make us an object to His names: “Alim, Hakim, Vedud, Muhib, Hadi, Rahman and Mustakim”!
This is the belief of real Sufis, whether or not they are the People of Sunnat or Shia. This is an unchangeable truth! There are some differences among the Friends of Allah but they are nuance differences. The content of what all the Sufis say is the same.
May Allah not separate us from these Friends of Allah, from Ahl al Bayt, from the Companions, from the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, from Four Great Gaws and from the path of the Wise and the Friends of Allah.
We believed in them and we swore fealty to them. We are Muslims and we believe in the Spirituality. We believe in metaphysics, Spirit, Angels, and the reality of Allah. If these that we counted had not existed, the Prophets would have been only a scholar of Jurisprudence.
However, it is not like that, for, “religion is metaphysics and the belief in the unknown”.
Those who do not know the metaphysical realities and who do not believe in them are not a believer. They are only a Muslim.
In other words, such a person surrendered himself to the exterior power of Islam. We use the word “Muslim” here as the one who surrendered.
The Last Word: Both the belief (we call it as Sufism) and the Jurisprudence exist in the Glorious Koran and in the Sunnat of the Prophet.
The Prophet (A.S.) is the person who explains it the best. He is the greatest expounder of it. He is the most exalted Wise person. After him, Ahl al Bayt, the Four Caliphs, the great personalities of the Companion, the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, the Friends of God and the wise know it. Those who follow their path learn this as well. We have to believe in the way they believed. This is the real Selefi Belief! The Path of Selef-i Salihin (R.A.)!
Sallu ala Resulina Muhammed, Sallu ala Habibina Muhammed, Sallu ala Şefiina Muhammed, Sad salli Mürşidina Shah-ı Velayet. Allahümme Salli ala Seyyidina Muhammedin ve ala Alihi ve sellim…
“La feta illa Ali, la seyfe illa Zulfiqar-There is no soldier like Ali and no sword like Zulfiqar!” (28) Sadaka Resululllah
May our great Lord Allah protect us and our Religion with Shahi Merdan and Zulfiqar and May He give all the Muslims from the East to the West the real faith and the real love among Islam Brothers!
O Lord! Protect us from separations, mischief, ignorance, heedlessness and fighting against each other!
“O Lord! Help us against disbelievers!” (Al-Baqarah, 286)
(28) Islam Tarihi, Hz. Muhammed ve Islamiyet by M. Asım Köksal vol. 3, p. 117. Sources: Ibni Ishak, Ibni Hisham-Sire vol. 3-4, p. 100 Taberi Tarih vol. 3, p. 17 Ibni Esir, El Kamil vol.2, p. 74
“Allahu maana- Allah is with us: with the believers.” (Al-Tawba, 40)
Allah is our Friend. The Prophet of Allah is also our Friend, Hz. Ali is also our Friend and Hz. Abu Baqir, the Companions, the Friends of Allah, the believers are also our Friends. May Allah be pleased with all of them!
SOME IMPORTANT BELIEF MATTERS BRIEFLY
THE BELIEF OF SUFIS, WHICH IS BUT THE PATH OF SALAF ABOUT THE PERSON-THE ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH, ETERNAL, INNOVATION, ACTION, ACTOR, OBJECT AND IMMAMATE
Sufis believe in the attributes of Allah, however, they say the attributes of Allah is not apart from the person of Allah. Both the person and the attributes of Allah are the eternal Allah the Most High, who is the sole and infinite Divine Light. (29) This is also the opinion of Maturidies.
The eternal, the One who is exempt from the worlds is the Purest Person, who is eternal in the past and eternal in the future, and the constant being. The worlds were created afterwards, in other words, they came to being afterwards. They support the opinion that Allah created them from His own Divine Light but they do not agree with the opinions of the Theologians that they were existed from non-existence. That is to say, yes, the Creation (the worlds, things) came to being afterwards not from non-existence, from the Creator’s own Divine Light by taking shapes and forms same as the foam bubbles had not existed before, they came to being afterwards from the sea.
(29) Sayyid Abdulqadir Geylani Hazretleri “Sırrül Esrar”: (Allah is Divine Light and the Attributes of Allah are Divine Light too.)
Foam bubbles had not existed before they existed afterwards but they did not exist from absence, they existed from the sea itself. The bubbles are not the sea itself. However, they are not another being apart from the sea. They are the mysteries of sea. They are the manifestations or appearances of the sea.
The Existence is one Being-Entity in reality.
It is both correct to call the sunlight as the sun or the light that comes from the Sun.
You can call the sunlight as the Sun or the light from the Sun. The person who separates them says it is from the Sun “Heme ezost-Everything is from Him.” The person who unites says “Heme O’st-All is He”. Both of them are correct. One can speak according to circumstances because the content of what all the Sufis say is the same. There is no conflict among them. Those who make conflicts are their supporters who are not wise. It is the explanations of their followers. Those that create contradictions and exaggerate them are expounders and their aspirants or adherents.
Sufis believe in Destiny and the Partial Will. Yet, Jabris blame Allah for the bad deeds and they deny the partial Will.
The supporters of Destiny accept human free and they deny the preordination of Allah, and they deny Destiny indirectly.
Maturidies and Asharies say “a servant of Allah is not the creator of his action”. However, human has a partial freedom. He becomes responsible, as he is free to use his will. Maturidies accept “gain”, but Asharies do not accept it.
Allah is the Universal Absolute Will, Absolute Power and Absolute Actor.
Allah the Most High has given man both the inordinate appetite (carnal desires) and the Holy Spirit.
“Self command wickedness!” (Joseph, 53)
“I breathed man from My spirit.” (Sad, 72)
“Evil is committed by the self (physical body); good is committed by Spirit. No evil can come to being from spirit. Spirit is the command of Allah and it is His pure breath.
Common sense is also from Spirit. Common sense and Spirit are Divine Light. Since Spirit and Mind are from the World of Decree, evil cannot come to being from them. Therefore, good deeds are especially from Allah.
“Whatever good befalls you, it is from Allah; and whatever ill from yourself.” (Al-Nisa, 79)
However, it is Allah who created the self -physical body- or the sources of evil.
“Allah creates everything by His will.” (Hud, 107)
“It is He who brings into being of his own will.” (Al-Buruj, 16)
For instance, fire and its heat can be given as the example of this. It is Allah who created fire. The heat that comes from the fire does not come from Allah, it comes from the fire. For this reason, it cannot be said that evil comes from Allah. Evil-wickedness is from the self that orders bad deeds.
There is no justice in evil. Evil is of tyranny (wickedness). Allah does not tyrannize but Allah created the self that commands wickedness.
“Feelmeha fucureha ve takvaha-Allah inspired the self the knowledge of sin and piety.” (Al-Shams, 8)
The former verse refutes the claim of Mutazila: “Allah does not will evil”. The correct explanation is: Allah willed to create evil same as He created satan and the self that command evil, by His will. However, Allah does not command evil or wickedness by His speech. He commands goodness and good deeds. The evil is created by the will of His Pure Person according to divine reason for the existence of all creation. However, He does not like it and He called the Prophets and believers not to like them and to struggle severely against them. Satan, self and wild creatures that are evil beings are the manifestations of His Wrathful Attributes.
For, Allah is one and His hands are two. Two hands mean two attributes of Allah as Wrathful and Merciful attributes. All is from Him in reality, but there are ranks and manifestations that come to being in condescension and becoming existent. (30)
Pure Spirit, Common Sense, Angels are on one side; satan, wicked self and wild animals are on another side. All the contradictions such as night and day, positive-negative come to being due to the contradiction of jamal (merciful) and jalal (wrathful) attributes. In this way, the unity of the pure person Allah and His attributes are known completely not only from one side.
“Know that Allah is stern in retribution, and that God is forgiving and merciful.” (Al-Maidah, 98)
Spirit and Mind are not created. They are from the Decree of Allah. However, physical body and low attributes are created. Man has these two conflicts.
Holy: Spirit and common sense. Low: physical body and the self that commands evil.
Since physical body is created, the deeds that the physical body commit are also created.
“The following verse reports us this reality:
“Allahu haliku külli şey - Allah is the Creator of all things.” (Al-Zumar, 62)
(30) For further information, see “Existence” by Kazım Yardımcı, Yeni Alanya Matbaası, Alanya, 1998)
Man is under the influence of Spirit and Mind-and his helper Allah who commands good- and also under the influence of his physical body and its carnal desires-the self that commands evil and satan that incites it.
His deeds-actions- are committed by man’s physical body. He commits them under the lofty and low influences mentioned above and with the power that Allah has given him.
He either obeys his spirit and his mind or his carnal desires and satan. He is influenced by either of them.
He sometimes acts being influenced by one of them or other one.
Spirit, Mind, Power and Will are from the World of Decree. They are not created. Allah the Most High has given them to him although partially. They are Lofty. Physical body and its carnal desires are created and they are low, common.
Good deeds are from the lofty side and bad deeds are from the low, common side.
Yet, as the physical body is created, the qualities of physical body are also created. The action or operation of a servant of Allah is the quality or attribute of physical body. Allah has created both the physical body and its qualities. The action of created physical body is again created.
Therefore, a servant is not the creator of his action. Allah says:
“God created you and all that you have made.” (Al-Saffat, 96)
The action of a servant is created. Why? Because the quality of what is created is also created. However, the actor of it is the servant himself.
Creating an action is different from who commits that action.
The reason why action is created is due to the fact that servant is a creature himself. Therefore, the quality of what is created (physical body) is committing or operating a deed. The attribute of operation naturally becomes a creature.
However, the action of Allah’s Person, who is the Creator of all things is not a creature, it is the quality or attribute of Allah. The attribute of the Creator cannot be created but the attribute of what is created becomes created.
Then, the action of Allah is not creature; the action of the servant that is committed by him is creature. The Creator is sole and He is Allah, who is the sole God.
However, man is under the influence of his created body and its fleshly desires (they are the qualities of the created physical body) and of His spirit and Mind (they are from the decree of Allah).
Decree is not creature.
“Ela lehül halkü ve’l emr - Know that His is the Creation, His is the Command.” (Al-A’raf, 54)
Man commits a deed of what each of them desires by being influenced Command and Creation. Action is done by physical body. A servant of God is not the creator of his action but he is the actor of it. Therefore, what he gains is his. This gain may be good or bad because everybody will meet or see what he commits. Allah the Most High explained this in the following verse:
“You shall be questioned about all your actions.” (Nahl, 93 / Al-Anbiyah, 23)
He will be either punished or rewarded.
The Wise men had decided that the Glorious Koran is “Eternal” depending on the verse “Know that His is the Creation, His is the Command.” What Ahmed bin Hanbel emphasized was this verse because there is a difference between the Creation and Command in this verse. The Koran is the Command of Allah. Therefore, Mutazila’s saying: “the Koran is created” is wrong. As the command is not created, it cannot be called creation. Since it is not created, it is eternal.
Spirit is also from Command.
“Kulirruhu min emir Rabbi - Say the Spirit is from my Lord’s Command.” (Al-Isra, 85)
Therefore, Spirit is not created either. It is a divine command. Due to this, it is said that the Koran is eternal. What really eternal is the one who speaks, he that gives orders, the superior. Command, Speech, Spirit and the Koran were emanated from Allah. However, they are never creatures. They are the pure breath of Allah. The breath of merciful is also Divine Light.
There had been a manifestation from Allah but each manifestation (that came to being afterwards) is not a creature. It is like the dawn. Dawn is from the Sun. It is a manifestation of the Sun. It happened afterwards but it does not separate from the Sun. It is not the Sun itself either. The Koran and the Spirit are the Speech and Command attributes of Allah. Allah is Divine Light. The attribute of Allah is also Divine Light. Divine Light is sole in reality but in the reality of realities. The pure person Allah is the Divine Light of Divine Lights. Allah is not in need of the Divine Lights manifested from Himself. For, each manifestation occurs from Himself. However, manifestation is in need of the One who manifests, but the Person of the One who manifests is not in need of manifestation. Either He manifests or not, it is same as if Allah had not existed, the creation would not have existed.
If there had not been a speaker or a superior that gives orders there would not have been a speech or a Command. Although the Koran and the Spirit are Divine light and not created each Speech and each Command are in need of a speaker and a superior. Even if Allah has an attribute of Speech, Allah is not in need of speaking. If He wishes, He speaks and commands, if he does not want, He does not speak and does not command.
Then, there will be no manifestation and divine knowledge. This is called as “Oneness, Invisibility by the Wise person.
“Ela lehu’l halkü ve’l emr - Know that His is the Command, His is the Creation.” (Al-A’raf 54)
Yes, both the Command and the Creation belong to Allah. In this verse, the Command and Creation were definitely separated. The difference between them is clear. However, it is never the Person of Allah. The eternal person of Allah is not in need of Creation. In reality, Command and Creation are the manifestations or appearances of Allah. In each appearance, there is a state of being created afterwards. Yet, Decree is called as emanation and creation is called as recently made and by this Command and Speech are sanctified.
For, Command and Speech are Divine, lofty but creature or what is created is lower, it is common.
In fact, the Creation (things, the essence of objects) are also from the World of Decree. The essence of all things is also divine Light. Matter is consisted of condensed power. Power (energy) is divine light. If all the atoms are split into pieces, only one thing is left and it is Divine Light. Things are also manifestation of God. Allah, Decree-Creation; the true nature of Creation is Decree, the true nature of Decree is Allah.
In reality, there is no other existence-entity except Allah. However, the true nature of the Pure Person is His Person, Allah.
In other words, everything has an essence, an origin, but the essence of Allah is also His existence. Allah exists by Himself.
The real existence, the real eternal is the infinite divine Light Allah, who has no limits, no boundaries.
“He is the First and the Last, the Visible and the Unseen. He has knowledge of all things.” (Al-Hadid, 3)
Allah has no sides. He is borderless, sole existence. Two borderless, infinite beings cannot exist.
“Indeed, in no way does God wrong mankind, but men wrong themselves.” (Yunis, 44)
As it is Allah who created self (the instincts)-the physical body-, evil is not directly from Allah like good deeds, it is indirectly from Allah.
“Feelhemeha fücureha ve takvaha - Allah inspired self with knowledge of sin and piety.” (Al-Shams, 8)
“Say: ‘All is from God.’ ” (Al-Nisa, 78)
For, the Spirit in Man, Mind, Will, Choice, Action and Power belong to Allah in reality. Therefore, destiny cannot be denied.
Allah has created the self-the physical body- as well. Therefore, what is from the self-physical body- is again indirectly from Allah. Since it is from the self-side that commands evil, a slave of Allah cannot blame Him after he commits evil. Hasan al Basri Hazretleri accepts the person who denies destiny and who blames Allah after he commits evil deeds as a disbeliever because there is nothing except from the divine knowledge of Allah. Allah had not ordered evil deeds by His command. However, Allah created evil such as satan and self by His Will and Divine Reason.
What we understand from the explanations of Sufis on this subject is as follows:
Good deeds or favors are from Allah and evil-wickedness is from our self. (31)
The correct thing to do to know good deeds (favors) from Allah and evil from our self, and to consider glorious Allah, who is our Lord, free from defect and to sanctify Him.
The Subject of Action (Deeds)
In addition to this, Allah has given His slaves a small amount of power as well as a Spirit, Mind and will. A servant of Allah commits His deeds with this power. If there is no power, there will not be any actions or deeds.
For example, a person needs power in order to take a piece of stone and throws it to a man. If he does not have power, he cannot do it. Then, a servant of Allah acts or works with the power Allah has given him.
The action-operation is done by the servant or slave of Allah. We cannot say Allah has taken that piece of stone and hit the man.
The expression, “A servant is not the Creator of his action” means: A servant of Allah is created. The attributes, the qualities of the servant and also the operation attribute of the servant is also creature. As Allah is eternal (eternal in the past and He was not created), His attributions are eternal too. The operation attribute of Allah is eternal as well. Allah, who is the Creator, is eternal and all His attributes including His operation attribute are also eternal because the attributes of the Eternal becomes eternal too. The qualities of what is created also become created.
Moreover, in the process of a person’s operation with the power given to him, there is no event of creating because in the process of taking a stone and hitting a person with it, there is no creating process but there is an action and it happens with some power.
(31) “Sırr’ul Esrar” by Sayyid Abdulqadir Geylani Hazretleri
Creating process means creating from non-existence. However, it is observed that a piece of stone is taken and thrown to a man. What man does is not Creation.
“Creation” means producing from what exists.
There is also another point: In reality, Action also belongs to Allah same as all things of man belong to Allah. He is the real Actor. This is another matter. In reality, all is Him (Heme O’st).
For instance, Allah the Most High has given the Prophets and Believers from His own greatness-strength attribute.
“Strength (Glory) belongs to Allah and to His Apostle and to the faithful.” (Al-Munafiqun, 8)
In another verse, He said:
“Felillahi’l izzetü cemia-The Glory is Allah’s alone.” (Al-Fatir, 10)
He gathered all the glory, excellence in His Pure Person in the above verse.
Just like this, Allah has given man Spirit, Mind, Will, Power, Action but in reality, all these things belong to Allah. All of them belong to Himself. Yet, He has given them to His slaves even if not much and exalted them.
AS FOR IMAMATE
The belief of Sufis who are Selef is as follows: Let us start this subject by reporting the opinion of Ashary:
According to Hasan al Ashary: The Companions of the Prophet had come together in the courtyard (open place) of Beni Saad and had chosen Hz. Abu Baqir, Hz. Omar, Hz. Osman and Hz. Ali as Caliphs. The Caliphate of four of them is true. Their ranks are according to their order.
He said that Hz. Zubayr, Hz.Talha, Hz. Aisha were unfair to Hz. Ali but they returned from their fault.
However, Muawiyah and Amr ibni As rebelled against the True Imam. He said that he was such a true Imam that God (the Truth) never separated from him. (32)
This is also what Shafii Hazretleri thinks.
(32) “Kelam İlminin Belli Başlı Meseleleri” by Prof. Dr. Ebu’l Vefa el Taftazani, translated by Assistant Professor Şerafettin Gölcük, p.87 Kayıhan Publ. İstanbul
Shehristani, el Milel, Mezhebler Tarihi
(33) M. Abu Zehra, Mezhebler Tarihi, p. 334
However, Shia says, “Imamate cannot be held by election. Our Prophet (A.S.) had already said the qualities of an Imam and Hz. Ali owns these qualities perfectly.” And they also accept the Twelve Imams.
Hz. Zayd, the grandson of Hz. Husayn and Hz. Zaynal Abidin’s son said: My ancestor Ali is superior (preferable) and the other Imams are virtuous. However, the Caliphate of the virtuous are also accepted though there is superior one for a good cause. Therefore, the Caliphate of the former three caliphs is also true.” (34)
Abu Hanifa thinks the Caliphate belongs to the descendants of Ali-Ahl-al Bayt. Shafii says that Muawiyah was a rebel. (34)
Sufis accept the last two opinions of Ashary on this subject concerning Camel and Sıffin. That is what they already think. Camel is an ijtihad battle but in Siffin battle, Muawiyah and Amr are rebels. In other words, their drawing sword against Hz. Ali is a rebellion directly towards our Master Aliyel Murtaza, who is the True imam and the Chief of Believers, and also indirectly to Islam religion and to God. There cannot be an ijtihad in the rebellion towards God.
Sufis know the Four Caliphs true. They love them and respect them very much and they know them as Great Muslim Saints.
However, the Shahi Walayat is Hz. Imamı Ali (k.v. and r.a.).
They also accept the 12 imams until Mahdi Hazretleri. They know them true Imams. No Sufi, who do not accept 12 Imams, can be shown,. (36)
In Asharite and Maturidy Branches, they do not mention the 12 Imams. They know our masters “Hz. Ali, Hz. Fatima, Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn” as Ahl al Bayt.
All the Sufis accept and confirm that the quality (Divine Light) of Imamate that belonged to our Prophet had passed to Hz. Ali and his 11 holy sons. This Imamate is the Imamate of the Divine Path of Guidance, of Knowledge and of the Imamate of Initiation.
They love, respect and exalt them. May He be pleased with those who love them, who respect them who accept and confirm them and with the Muslims and faithful Brothers that walk in their paths!
(34) Shehristani: El Milel, vol.1
(35) See M. Abu Zahra, Mezhebler Tarihi, p. 334
(36) See “Mektubat-i Rabbani” by Ahmed Serhindi
Our masters 12 Imams are:
Hz. Aliyyül Mürteza (k.v), Hz. Hasan, Hz. Hüseyin, Hz. Zeynel Abidin Ali, Hz. Muhammad Bakır, Hz. Cafer-i Sadık, Hz. Musa-i Kâzım, Hz. Ali Rıza, Hz. Muhammad Taki, Hz. Ali Naki, Hz. Hasan al Askari, Hz. Muhammad Mehdi, (Mehdii Al-i Resul) (A.S., R.A., R.A., K.S.)
GRAVE SINS
On this subject, Mutazila says: “The person who commits grave sins is neither a disbeliever nor a believer.”
The Murjia sect says: “Whatever sins a believer commits, it does not harm his faith” and he leaves the punishment of the sinner to Allah. They also accept the rule “a cruel king should be obeyed” and they open the path of Ibahiye by this.
Murjia sect says that good deeds do nothing to disbeliever and bad deeds do not harm his faith. In other words, they say no matter how much wickedness a believer commits it does not harm (faith). By this way, committing all kinds of sins becomes tolerated and permissible and a very bad situation rises which pleases rebels and sinners. It incites them to commit more sins and makes them worse.
Imam Hasan al Basri Hazretleri says: “He who commits grave sins is a hypocrite.” Imam Ghazzali Hazretleri seemed to explain the opinion of Hasan al Basri saying: “Insistence on grave sins is denial.”
We accept the opinions of Hasan al Basri Hazretleri and Ghazzali Hazretleri, who clarifies his opinions. We agree with them because we have the faith of Salafi Salihin and of Sufis who defend their way and accept the belief of Ghazzali.
ASSEMBLING FOR JUDGEMENT (Hashr) AND GRAVE (Kabir)
Assembling for judgment is of two kinds:
a) Small assembly for judgement
b) Big assembly for judgement
It starts with death agony-drunkenness and continues with his death and the next life. It is reported clearly in Chapter Qaf. (37)
When a man dies, a witness and the one who will drive it on take his Spirit to the presence of God. Allah questions him and makes his decision about him and he tells them to take him to the Hell (about disbeliever). The Koran has already reported that the spirits of believers are in paradise. This is written in the beginning verses of Chapter Muminun and in various other verses. (38)
There will be a big judgment day and it is called as “the Resurrection Day”.
It is the day (when the return of all the dead people to life at the end of the world) after this world will be annihilated and a general account will be held. The Great God will show everybody who everybody is and He will declare His justice and His forgiveness. The spirits of believers will be placed in the Paradise again as they are bright and the spirits of disbelievers will be placed in the Hell as they are dark.
The Will belongs to our Lord. He forgives whomever He wants and He tortures whomever He wills. May Allah the Most High enable us, believers, to meet our master the Prophet (A.S.V.) with His glory and mercy! May He forgive us and pity us and may He enable us to have the intercession of our Master!
Resurrection- Judgment is for the Spirit.
However, the spirit has an abstract state and it sometimes takes a form. Spirit is divine Light without shape as an abstract being (Pure Spirit).
“Say: Spirit is from my Lord’s Command.” (Al-Isra, 85)
It is not created, it is Command. Command is Divine Light.
This divine light takes a shape, a form with the permission and decree of God so that it will attain a personality, an identity and the spirit of each person will be recognized.
This spirit appears in the form and shape of each person’s physical body. It is just like him. His body, his mouth, eyes, face, head, feet, hands, hair and even his finger tips are the same. He appears in the same form of the person in whom it entered. You can never distinguish him from himself. If he remained as believer, he is bright divine light and pure and his clothes are of silk. He is destined for paradise.
(37) See Chapter Kaf 19-35
(38) Al-Baqarah, 25, Al-Nisa 57,122 Al-Tawbah, 72,100, Abraham, 23, Hajj 23, 56, Talaq-11, Kalam, 34
The sinner who strayed to infidelity looks like an animal, who does not look like a human anymore. He appears in an image of dark black and terrible looking. He is deserving hell. Whomever it enters in this world, he is recognized by this.
“You cannot make those who are in their graves hear you.” (Al-Fatir, 22)
The above verse is about the infidels of Mecca and about all the infidels. Here, the grave refers to the physical body of a person. It means that “their spirit died in their physical bodies. Their spiritual ears do not hear”. Allah reports that they are like those in the graveyards. This is a likening.
In the Chapter Ya Sin, “They will rise from their graves and hasten to their Lord” (Ya Sin, 51) and in A’raf, 172, in “Elestü” verse, it is reported that the spirits gathered in the presence of their Lord before they entered these physical bodies and spoke to their Lord.
Therefore, spirit can be present before the Lord without a physical body and he can speak.
Resurrection and assembling for judging (Hashr) is spiritual but not physical. Each spirit will resurrect and assemble in the shape of the physical body of the person to whom spirit is breathed.
He will eat and drink either from the divine side or from the low or common side.
There are Spirits in the Paradise that eat and drink and some of them only drink but not eat. Those who are very close to Allah do not like to eat. They like and drink the wine of divine love and the more they drink the more they burn with love.
There are not any organs of generations in paradise. There are not any sexual affairs there. They do not reproduce there. There are many beautiful ones: Allah-the Prophet of Allah, the Prophets, Saints, Angels, the houris, beautiful men and women.
Love is for beauty there.
Satisfaction is held by the beauty and divine love for Him, by remembrance and salawat, because in the inner world, takbir (to pronounce the formula ‘Allahu Ekber’) prostration, remembrance and gratitude as well as Selat (Ritual prayer) and Selam (salutations to our Prophet) and to the great personalities. They are the eternal.
The torture or pleasures of grave are in this physical body. If the spirit is a believer and he is pious, he will have pleasure. If he is a sinner and he is guilty, he is in torture. One can feel this in his heart.
Although the believer is sorrowful in this world, “his heart is joyful”. Although the infidel is in material pleasures and delight in this world, “his heart is in distress and affliction”.
If an infidel or grave sinner stops for a moment and listens to his heart, he gets crazy of stress and grief. If whoever does not believe this, let him try it!
For this reason, the infidel or the grave sinner escapes from himself, from his origin. He looks for entertainment and occupation or else he is very bored. He feels that his ego, his own self is being decayed and he feels himself very sad. His sorrow increases.
He may repent and he moans with pain and understands that Allah is torturing him. He gives up denying and repents what he has committed and he does not object to God anymore because Allah is just and does not torture the person who believes in Him and thanks Him. This is reported in Chapter Nisa:
“Why should God punish you if you render thanks to Him and truly believe Him?” (Nisa, 147)
In the graveyards, there are only corps, the spirit leaves the body and he is either in Paradise and in the Hell or in Barzah (intermediate stateor world). If an expert of revelation: a Prophet or a Saint looks at a grave with the eye of the heart, the state of the person in the Hell, in the Paradise or Barzah is seen to him. It is the condition of the spirit, which is seen to him. Here the grave is a symbol, a reflection for that person who is the expert of revelation. This is also the meaning of the sacred hadith about graveyard. The questioning or cross-examination after death is particularly done by Allah the Most High. The angels do not ask questions. They speak with believers and give glad tidings to them. They say “Greetings! Greetings! And they pray for believers. They are our Friends and Guardians.
“Nahnü evliyaüküm - We are your guardians.” (Fussilat, 31)
The demons of Hell speak with those in the Hell they say as they moan:
“Did there not come to you Apostles of your own who proclaimed to you the revelations of your Lord?” “Yes” they will answer.” (Al-Zumar, 71)
There are many verses concerning this meaning, those who recite the Turkish version of the Koran meet these sayings very often. (39)
There are no angels who do the questioning. Allah Himself questions His slaves. This is such a right that Allah does not give it to anybody.
There are “Recording Angels”. They stay near a person until he dies. They write or record their good deeds and bad deeds. They know, see and witness what we do. The meaning of the saying: “When your head touches the wall of your tomb, you come to sense” is when you die everything becomes apparent just like “let’s go and see”.
The dead are not suggested faith. Advice or suggestion is made to the person who is alive. When man dies, his accounts are settled.
Forgiveness and compassion is implored from God for the dead person. He is remembered with good wills. It is permitted to implore intercession, help, praise and divine blessing from the holy spirits of the Great Personalities. However, it should be said with the permission of Allah” believing that he will be benefited from this.
Alms given on behalf of the dead as compensation for their neglected duties and the confession of sins are not related with Islam. These things are made by monks. Their aim is to squeeze money out of the family of the dead person. Religious meetings should be held in memory of the dead person and some money should be given to poor people. You must do some charitable works. They may be helpful if dead person is faithful.
Paradise and Hell are in the inner world. Allah the Most High says: “The earth is changed into a different earth and the heavens into new heavens.” (Abraham, 48)
It means that the earth and the heavens will be completely changed and they will not be in their former state anymore.
“Never think that these who were slain in the cause of God are dead. They are alive and well-provided for by their Lord.” (Imrans, 169)
For this verse, we call them “martyrs”.
The spirits of whom Allah defines as martyrs are all alive. Real believers are martyrs and witnesses of God. Prophets, the Friends of God and true pious believers are included in this.
(39) An’am-130, Mulk-8, 9 and other verses
Martyr-Witness means the person who sees God. A faithful spirit sees God.
“The Koran is an advice for those who have a heart and can hear and see. Those who hear it are martyrs.” (Kaf, 37)
Hence, unbelievers have no heart. Their heart is sick (it is decayed and lost its original form; their sense of hearing has become deaf).
“Fehüm la yübsirun - They will never see.” (Ya Sin, 9)
He says for the infidels:
“He shall burn in the gigantic Fire, where he shall neither die nor live.” (A’la, 13)
Therefore, their state in the Hell is half-dead and half alive.
WHAT DO SHII, SUNNI AND ALAWI MEAN?
The words Shii, Sunni and Alawi were not used during the Prophet’s (A.S.) time. They are the expressions that were formed after the Prophet (A.S.).
These words have a meaning as a word and their meanings as a word are innocent or fine. They also refer to the meaning as forming groups in religious sects.
Shii means friend, supporter and sympathizer.
Sunni means the person or those who support Sunnat. In other words those that follow the practice of the Prophet (A.S.) and obey the jurisprudence and hadiths.
Alawi means the person who accepts Hz. Ali as a friend or guardian.
Shii is generally said for the partisans of Ahla-l Bayt, who are Hz. Ali and his sons.
In this situation, are Sunnis not Alawis? Such a question comes to mind. Do Sunnis not support Hz. Ali? Sunnis also support Hz. Ali and his descendants. When the books are searched, it is seen that Abu Hanifa is personally the supporter of Hz. Ali. He was even murdered by the Abbasids due to this. It is definite that he is the supporter of Hz. Ali and his descendants.
In this situation, a Sunni is also a Shii. The People of Sunnat (Sunnis) know the Caliphate of Hz. Ali Haqq (True). Nobody says that the Caliphate of Muawiyah is Haqq; they say the Caliphate of Hz. Ali is Haqq. The names written at the mosques are the names of the Four Caliphs anyway. The names preached at the pulpit are also these!
There are not any Muslims in the world that do not like, support Hz. Ali and speak against Him. It is impossible!
Hz. Ali is more important. He is the gate of the Divine Knowledge.
Shiis are also the People of Sunnat. They support the Book and Sunnat. Their canonical jurisprudence depends on the Book and Sunnat. They are also Sunnis as they support the Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.).
Therefore, people who support the Sunnat of the Prophet are called as Sunnis; those who love Ahl al Bayt are called as Shiis besides their innocent meanings as word and sectarian arguments.
Sunnis also love Ahl al Bayt; Shiis also support the Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.)!
Then, Shiis are Sunnis; Sunnis are Shiis.
See what happened in this case: two of them are united as “one”. However; the situation changes when it is brought to sectarianism and provocation. This is a different matter. They happened afterwards.
We think that we have explained this matter clearly. Today, in Iran, there are Isna Ashariya, Jafariya, Imamiya and Ismailiya sects; in Yemen, there is Zeydiye Sect. All of them accepted Sunnat as the evidence or proof. They all obey the practice of the Prophet of Allah. Therefore, they are Sunnis. We all love Ahl al Bayt. Let our life be sacrificed to Ahl al Bayt (The immediate members of the Prophet (A.S.)). A person who does not love Ahl al Bayt (the family of the Prophet (A.S.)) can never be a Muslim anyway! Then, we are also Shiis.
Hence, Sunnis are Shiis; Shiis are Sunnis. We emphasize on this repeatedly! This is definite! They are Muslims and we are Muslims as well.
Then, we say “Muslim” instead of saying Shiis or Sunnis.
These words emerged afterwards anyway. When the Sacred Companions of the Prophet (A.S.), our faithful brothers, were asked who they were, they would say that they were Muslims-Mohammedans. Our Masters Hz. Ali and Hz. Omar are also Mohammedans. We are all Mohammedans.
We believe that, in this century, we had better not use these words but just say that we are Mohammedans and Muslims.
Actually, this kind of matters causes “separations” in the future. If Islamic History is searched (studied), they caused bloody fights and murders. Not only Shiis and Sunnis, but also Hanafis and Shafiis killed each other. There had been bloody murders among the People of Sunnat in the past actually.
They are not necessary in this era anymore. For, they happened as a result of political forming of the Kings of that time.
As for the word of “Alawism”;
Alawism is not related with the religious sects, Shia and Sunni!
Alawism is concerned with Sufism.
That is to say, it is related with Divinity or spirituality (Tariqat, Guardianship, the matters of spiritual journey). Our Prophet (A.S.), the Pride of the Universe, honored our Master Hz. Ali, the King of Sanctity, both as the Door of Divine Knowledge and he bestowed on him divine Knowledge. He gave him the Imamate and the Caliphate and said that he was “his heir and his deputy”.
However, our master Hz. Abu Baqir was given divine caliphate in Sawr Cave. Our Master Hz. AbuBaqir became a little sad when Abu Sufyan had come and leant to the cave’s entrance during Emigration. For this reason, he acquired the divine guidance of our Prophet due to the compliments of our Prophet (A.S.). He opened the eye of his heart. The verses of Allah were revealed to him and the tranquility of Allah was descended to him. He was initiated there and acquired a divine Caliphate there. His caliphate is also true. We know this in this way and accept it like this. He became a Caliph outwardly afterwards as well.
This is written in the in the Chapter Tawba in the Koran too. (Al-Tawba, 40)
Allah also says: “I am pleased with the muhajirin (Meccans who followed the Prophet Mohammad in settling in Madina)” (Hashr, 80)
Our master Hz. Abubaqir is also a muhajir. Our Master Hz. Ali is also a muhajir. Hz. Omar and Hz. Osman are also muhajirs. Let us say it again: Allah says that he is pleased with Muhajirs and Ansar (the inhabitants of Medina who invited Hz. Muhammad (A.S.) and his adherents to their city) and these personalities cannot be insulted and told rude words!
There had been some conflicts among them about Ray matters due to human nature as they were struggling for Islam; however, they were among them and we cannot interfere them. They did not go to infidelity although there were conflicts. They were only ijtihad matters because they are human beings. After the Prophet (A.S.), they are but the sins, as they are humans. Allah forgives them in this respect. Our master the Prophet (A.S.) forgives them, they forgive each other; we cannot comment on this.
There are such extremist Shias that they say: “Our Master Hz. Osman did not keep that word of our master Hz. Ali.” According to them as if, our master Hz. Osman had become an infidel! It is wrong because our master Hz. Ali is not a Prophet. He is a Friend of God, a believer.
As it is explained above, it was because of the circumstances of that time (it was the right thing to do in that affair). If he had kept his word, Marwan would not have played those tricks and those events would not have happened.
Here, let us explain Sufism and the situation of the former Sufis.
The spiritual, metaphysical matters that are included in the Divine Gnosis of Allah: spirit’s reaching Allah or spiritual journey, which was started by the Prophet (A.S.) was the most important duty of our Prophet: It was to initiate the spirit.
It also involved teaching “Men Araf” (he who knows himself, knows his Lord; remembering Allah, praising Allah and approaching Allah by performing excessive worship, which is the ascension of the spirit, n other words, annihilation in Allah, abiding in Allah and reaching Allah.
Our Prophet wanted to continue this path because it did not exist during the former Prophets before our Prophet (A.S.). Sanctity, Tariqat, Sufism were not present at that time. There was but it was during that Prophet. When that Prophet died, another prophet would come.
Since no Prophet would come after the Prophet Muhammad (A.S.), our Prophet did not leave this to only Islamic Canonical Jurisprudence. Divine, spiritual sciences would continue as well because belief or faith matters are more important.
Those who followed Hz. Ali were called “Turuk-u Alawiya”, those who followed Hz. Abu Baqir were called as “Turuk-u Bekriye”, or the divine paths of Hz. Ali and Hz. Abu Baqir. Both of them are true.
There were many branches after our masters Hz. Ali and Hz. Abu Baqir.
Various paths were opened using the names of these exalted Perfect Men such as: Kadiriye, Rufaiye, Bedeviye, Dusukiye, Mevleviye, Sümbüliye, Bayramiye, Halvetiye, Chesdiye, Shaziliye, Kubreverdiye, Suhreverdiye. All of them are the divine paths that come from our Master Hz. Ali. They are great Sufis, wise and scholar personalities.
The branch of Hz. Abubaqir extended to Ahmed Yesevi by means of Beyazidi Bistami, Hasan al Hırkani and Yusufu Hamedani after it had come to Jafari Sadıq. After that, it reached Muhammad Baba Sammasi and Muhammad Bahaeddin. They were also divided into branches.
For example Hz. Mawlana is one of the descendants of our Master Hz. Abubaqir but he is from the branch of Hz. Ali. He is in his mystical path; he is in his sanctity path.
Hz. Baqtashi Veli is one of the descendants of Musai Kazim; he is the descendant of Hz. Ali but he is from the branch of Hz. Abubaqir. This is definite. Most people do not notice this. It is a conflict between Sunnis and Shiis. He is an adherent of Hz. Abubaqir because Hz. Bektashi Veli is an adherent of Ahmed Yesevi and he is from the path of Hz. Abubaqir.
Therefore, Sufism is concerned with Tariqat. Sufism is not a subject of Shariat or Jurisprudence.
The word “Alawi” comes from here. In the past, one of them was called “Alawis, Haydaris”; the other one was called as “Baqris and Sıddıqis”.
Other names were used for the personalities that had come afterwards such as: Bektashis, Yesevis, Naqshis. There are many branches around Khorasan and Turkistan. Hz. Abubaqir had also many branches.
What we want to emphasize here is they are the words that were started to be used after the Prophet (A.S.).
In fact, the meaning of saying I am an Alawi, a Haydari, Baqri, Sıddıqi, Kadiri, Rufai, Bedevi, Mawlawi, Naqsi, Bektashi, Yesevi and Halveti is “I am a Muhammadi”. What are the aims of other branches? Both Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Ali are Muhammadi.
Hence, it is more correct to say “I am a Muslim, I am a Muhammadi”. The other words can also be used sincerely. However, they should not be used intentionally for causing disputes. If there are disputes, then they cause mischief and it becomes harmful instead of being beneficial.
Actually, it will be better to say I am a Muhammadi, a Muslim a believer, a follower of the Koran and I believe in and I am attached to the Koran-the Book, to the Sunnat, to Ahla-l Bayt and to the Four Caliphs as well as to the great personalities of the Companion of the Prophet and to the dignitaries instead of saying I am Shii, a Sunni, Hanafi, Shafii.
The aim of all of them is “the belief of Muhammad”. It is more proper to say “I am a Muhammadi” especially in this age because people understand realities more easily. There are more books and the main point of everything is understood by means of television and radio. The essence of everything is Muhammadism, Islam and the belief of Believer and to obey the Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.). It is the same both in the Islamic Canonical Jurisprudence and in Sufism.
Anything concerning religious sects and Sufism that is not based on the Book and Sunnat and on Allah and Muhammad (A.S.) is wrong.
Anything that is sourced from Allah and the Prophet; and the Book and Sunnat is haq (true).
An Alawi is a Muhammadi, a Baqri is a Muhammadi, a Hanafi is a Muhammadi, a Shafii, a Shii and a Sunni is also Muhammadi.
This is the truth my brothers! Beware of causing sects and tariqat fights because the intention of all of them is “MUHAMMADISM”.
La ilahe illallah, Muhammeden Resulullah, Allahümme salli ala Seyyidina Muhammad ve ala Ali Seyyidina Muhammad.
WHAT IS THE REAL OPINION ABOUT THE FOUR CALIPHS?
The subject of Imamate, Caliphate, in other words, the right of representing the Prophet (A.S.) had become a subject matter of Faith after the Prophet Muhammad (A.S.). Although it has as if no concern with the Faith, it has become a subject of Faith, as it is a historical event. “The Imamate subject” has been discussed among philosophers and theologians rather than among the experts of Muslim Canonical Jurisprudence.
There is a conflict among the scholars or Muslim community about Imamate. The people of Sunnat and Shia have different views concerning Imamate.
There were differences between the opinions of Persian Ulama and Abbasid Ulama at that time. We say “at that time” because theological matters occurred mostly during Abbasid’s time.
Imamate means “leadership”. Here, Imamate does not mean the leadership in ritual prayer but it means the leader of that society or the president of that country.
The greatest, the most exalted Imam is Hz. Muhammad (A.S.V.).
Imam means the person who has the authority of commands and orders in that community. Namely, he is the leader or the administrator of Believers and Muslims.
Caliph means the successor of the Prophet and the one who becomes the leader of that community on behalf of him after the Prophet (A.S.). The meaning of this is again Commandership.
The people of Sunnat accept the subject of Imamate and Caliphate as follows:
“Caliphate is held by election after the Prophet (A.S.).” Whoever Muslim community wants, they choose him. However, this person must be a believer and fair.
The people of Sunnat have also accepted the hadith “the Imams are from the Quraysh”. (60)
Imams would be from the Quraysh so the Caliph would be chosen from the Quraysh. Therefore, he was not from Ansar, he was chosen from Muhajirs because Muhajirs were from Mecca.
As for Shia, they say “an imam should be appointed”. That is to say, “Imams are appointed by Allah and His Prophet and the Koran and Sunnat command it in this way.”
The dispute or conflict starts at this point.
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir was chosen a Caliph through election. The Companions of the Prophet gathered in the open place of Beni Sad and swore fealty to Hz. Abubaqir. However, our Prophet (A.S.) had already made him an imam for the ritual prayer. This was a sign of him.
Whereas, our Master Hz. Abubaqir was not chosen, he was appointed by our Master Hz. Abu Baqir. He left him for his place, however, nobody swore fealty to him by force. That is to say, the Muslim community was free. He said: “Hz. Omar deserves for this. Let him be the Caliph!” and the Companions swore fealty to him using their free will.
Nobody can be forced to swear fealty. If there is a compulsion in allegiance, it causes disgust or loathing. It is wrong. His allegiance becomes false then. Although it is said that Hz. Omar was appointed, the Companions swore fealty to him as well. Everybody made his oath of allegiance willingly.
Hz. Osman became a Caliph by a “Council”. Our master Hz. Omar pointed out six people including our master Hz. Ali.
The Companions left this task to Abdurrahman b. Avf. He also swore fealty to Hz. Osman. Hz. Ali also swore fealty to him.
Our Master Hz. Ali became a Caliph through election but our Prophet (A.S.) had many signs about him.
After Hz. Osman was martyred, all the Companions of the Prophet gathered and swore fealty to Hz. Ali without any objection. Only Hz. Zubayr broke his allegiance although he had sworn fealty to him. Afterwards, while he was being martyred during Camel Battle, he repented and said “Hz. Ali is the Caliph and I swear fealty to him again”. He also showed witnesses for this event.
The caliphate subject is an important matter. Shiis say:
(40) Ahmed b. Hanbal, Musned, vol. 5 p. 90-92
From Jabir b. Samura; Tac Translation, Bekir Sadak, vol.3, p.79 Ist. 1973
“Our master Hz. Ali possessed all the qualities of Imamate after the Prophet (A.S.). There are the verses of the Koran and the hadiths of the Prophet about this. And they use the following verse as a proof:
Bismillahirrrahmanirrahim,
“Innema yüridullahu liyüzhibe ankümürricse Ehlel Beyt’i ve yütehhireküm tethira.”
It means:
“Ahl al Bayt is pure, clean. Allah has willed them to be purified.” (Al-Ahzab, 33)
“When Allah decrees a thing. He need only say: “Be” and it is.” (Yasin, 82)
According to a hadith sourced from Ahl al Bayt: “There will be 12 Imams after me.” (41) “Imam” here means “caliph”.
There is also another hadith: “The imams are from Quraysh.”
There are many hadiths about our master Hz. Ali. There are also some hadiths about the other Companions of the Prophet but the hadiths about Hz. Ali are more. Our Prophet (A.S.) mentioned about him with praises. Hz. Ali was the brother of our Prophet (When everybody engaged a brother, our Prophet engaged him as his brother). (42) He was his heir (He made decisions on behalf of him). (43)
He gave his dearest daughter Mother Fatima to him. He said: If Ali had not been born, Fatima would not have married.” (44)
He also said, Bismillah, “Ene medinetü’l ilmi ve Ali’yyün babüha - I am the city of divine knowledge and Ali is the gate to it.” (45)
Again Bismillah “Küntü men Mevlahü fe Aliyyen Mevlah-Whoever I am the master of Ali is also his Master.” (46)
(41) Also “There are Twelve Caliphs in this community” from Hz. Jabir; Ahmed b. Hanbel, Müsned, vol.5, p.106
Sahihi Buhari, vol. 4, p.501
(42) From Ibni Omar; Thirmizi, Tac translation, Bekir Sadak, vol. 3, p. 624
See also Islam Tarihi, Hz. Muhammad ve İslamiyet, M. Asım Köksal, vol.1, p. 104
(43) From Habashi b. Junade; Thirmizi, Tac trans. Vol.3, p.624
(44) Binbir Hadis by Shemseddin Yeşil, p.180 İst. 1983
(45) From Ibni Abbas; Thirmizi, Sahih, vol.2, p.399
Suyuti, Camiussağir, vol.1, p.108 and others
(46) From Zayd b. Erkam, Thirmizi Tac trans. Vol.3 p.619
Ahmed b. Hanbel, Musned, vol. 4 p. 281
He also said “I am leaving and I am entrusting you two things: One of them is the Book of Allah and the other is my Ahl al Bayt. If you hold fast them, you shall never be misled.” (47)
Most of Sunni Theologians extracted “Ahl al Bayt” from this hadith and they say “I have entrusted you my Sunnat”; however, there is a hadith and this hadith is definite. (48)
The hadiths about Ahl al Bayt are a great many. Although they pretend not to notice them, there are numerous hadiths about Hz. Ali and Ahl al Bayt. They say the Imamate of Hz. Ali was appointed by the Koran and Sunnat. Although Allah and His Prophet did not pronounce his name, though he did not say “Hz. Ali is my Caliph and he will take my place after me”; what is concluded from many hadiths is: “The qualities of an Imam exist in him perfectly basing on the Koran verses and hadiths.” This is also correct. The qualities of Imamate exist in the King of Sanctity. He deserves for Imamate and he is the most virtuous.
Yet, our Master Hz. Abubaqir was chosen for the Imamate!
In this matter, Hz. Abubaqir was chosen, as it fitted the circumstances in order to prevent conflicts. Hz. Abubaqir was an old man, he was 60 years old. Our Prophet (A.S.) also said very praiseworthy hadiths about Hz. Abubaqir. For example: “Obey Abubaqir and Omar after my death and enter the path of guidance that Ammar follows.” (49)
Ammar supported Hz. Ali. His path was the path of divine guidance. This is a different matter and it happened afterwards. It was a sign of the situation when the rebels against Hz. Ali appeared.
(47) From Zayd. b. Sabit; Ahmed b. Hanbel, Musned, vol.3 p.17 Thirmizi vol.2 p.308
Suyuti, Camiüssağir, trans. By Abdullah Aydın, vol. 2, p.59
Also from Abu Hurayra; Suyuti, Camiüssağir, vol.2, p.297
Also Tebarani and others
(48) Saidi Nursi Efendi accepted this hadith as it was. He wrote in his book “Hakikat Nurları”: Our Prophet said: I am entrusting you two things: “One of them is the Koran (The literal word of Allah) and the other is my Ahl al Bayt. Saidi Nursi Hazretleri had put it in his book.”
(49) Onların Alemi by Sayyid Ahmed ar Rufai, translated by Abdulkadir Akçiçek, p.83 İst. 1964
From Ibni Mesud and Huzayfa b. El Yeman; Musnad, Abu Hanife, Aliyyül Kari Şerhi, p.217
There is also another hadith about Hz. Ammar:
“İnne Ammaren taktüluhu fieti’l bağiye - Ammar will certainly be murdered by the rebels.” (50)
Ammar was really murdered by Sufyanis (by the supporters of Muawiyah) in Siffin.
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir was an old man. One day, our Prophet (A.S.) had sent him to lead the ritual worship in place of him. This was also a sign. He was our Prophet’s father-in-low. He was the first Muslim among men. His daughter was married to our Prophet as a gift by him. His loyalty to our Prophet (A.S.) was never in question, his loyalty lasted forever. He was a very virtuous, exalted, great Friend of God.
In addition to this, in Mecca, Umayyads and Abu Sufyan, whose heart had not turned is confirmed by the hadith, was still alive. He did not give up presidency and he did not accept Hashimids because of his antagonism to them.
Our Master Hz. Ali had already killed some important unbelievers from the notables of Umayyads. Therefore, Abubaqir was elected for fear that Umayyads might revolt again, Mecca might be conquered or some people might return.
In other words, Islam was recently established and it was not strong enough. Hz. Abubaqir was chosen in order to prevent the possibility of fighting but not because Hz. Ali was not deserving it.
Hz. Abubaqir was the second Muhajir (muhajir: those who fled with Muhammad to Madina).
“May Allah be pleased with the Muhajirins.” (Al-Hashr, 8)
When our Master Hz. Abubaqir was chosen, our Master Hz. Ali swore fealty with his own free will, sincerely. Hz. Abubaqir was elected as he deserved it and in order to enable the unity.
As Hz. Ali knew the virtuous quality of him and in order to prevent conflicts, he showed modesty and swore fealty to our Master Hz. Abubaqir although it was his own right. His allegiance was true. This is accepted by the Shiis and say, “Yes, Hz. Ali eventually swore fealty to him.”
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir had also said something, which is very important because Hz. Abubaqir never told lies, as he was a truthful man.
(50) Thirmizi, Muslim, Tac trans. Vol.3, p.688
He said: “Although there is a more virtuous, (more favorable and greater person than me) among you, you have chosen me.” Who was that person he described as more virtuous than me? He was our Master Shahi Walayat (The King of Sanctity) Hz. Ali (K.V.) Hazretleri.
He also said: “If I obey Allah and His Prophet, obey me. If I don’t do, disobey me.”
By this way, he gave the Muslims the right of making an oath and taking it back, the right of resistance. In other words, Hz. Abubaqir was the person who opened the door of Republic, real democracy and freedom. Nobody can deny it. The sound judgment of the Muslim Community of Muhammad was regarded.
However, Shia does not accept this. They say the Imamate of the Prophet belongs to Imam Ali and Ahl al Bayt, and after them to the 12 Imams until Hz. Mahdi. Since the 12th Ahl al Bayt Imam was disappeared
(hidden) Imamate ended. What will happen now? They say there is a substitute Mahdi (the representative of the Imam), they formed something like this among them. That is to say, Imamate ended but there are great personalities who will represent the Imam, who deserves him. They are not Imams but the representatives of him: Ayatollahs.
For, Imamate is very important in Shia. Imam is innocent and pure. (This matter was explained in the chapter about Ahl al Bayt.)
Our Master Imam Ali was 33 years old when our Prophet (A.S.) died. Hz. Abubaqir was 60 years old. There was a tradition, a custom in Arabs: respecting the elders and gathering around the old person.
There were some people who felt different reactions towards Hz. Ali (such as offence, jealousy or hatred) among those who became Muslims afterwards although they were believers. For example, especially among Umayyads and Sufyanis, the Meccan infidels and polytheists, whose head Hz. Ali hit with Zulfiqar by the command of Allah and His Prophet, had some relatives. This was also taken into consideration those days.
The Caliphate of Hz. Abubaqir was true. He was virtuous and deserving for Caliphate.
Hz. Omar had become a Caliph after Hz. Abubaqir any way. Hz. Ali swore fealty to him on the same day, Hz. Osman swore fealty to him on the same day too.
Our master Hz. Ali (k.v.) had never had an argument with them. They also had respected our Master Hz. Ali very greatly. They stood up when he entered into the room and they asked and used his opinion, knowledge and virtue in the matters that would be solved.
They used to give “humus” as well.
Humus is based on the 7th verse of Chapter Hashr, “Kurba….” which was the command of Allah. It was the one fifth of the war spoils or the taxes of the government, which is given to Ahl al Bayt, firstly to Hashimids.
It was applied during the Four Caliphs’ time. Later, Muawiyah abolished “humus”. He did not give the right of Ahl al Bayt though it was confirmed by the Koran (a verse in the chapter Hashr).
Now, the Ulama of Iran are objecting. How are they objecting? They say “their Caliphate was not the caliphate, they had taken the right of Hz. Ali from him and seized it by force in a way”.
However, the Shiites of Iran do not say any bad words to Hz. Abubaqir, Hz. Omar and Hz. Osman. They say “they are also virtuous people. However, Hz. Ali is the most virtuous and while there is the most virtuous- the superior-, the virtuous is not preferred”. They insist that their Caliphate was not right or true and they are still lasting it.
There is also a matter about Zayd.
Hz. Zayd was the son of Imam Zaynal Abidin, the elder brother of Imam Muhammad Baqır. He rebelled or revolted against Umayyads. Our Master Abu Hanifa said: “Whoever helps Zayd acquires the merit of the martyrs of Badir Battle in God’s sight.” He also helped this action by giving 10 thousand dinars. He said: “Badir Battle has started.” Unfortunately, our master Hz. Zayd was martyred. He was murdered by the Yazidi infidels, by the cruel.
Hz. Zayd also had an opinion about Imamate. Hz. Zayd was a great scholar. He said:
“As far as I heard from my father Zaynal Abidin, Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Osman are very great personalities. They are virtuous persons. However, my ancestor Ali is superior to them. My ancestor, the King of Sanctity Aliyyel Murtaza Hazretleri is the Imam and the most virtuous.” He also said: “Yet, according to circumstances, while there is a superior person, a virtuous person can be selected for that rank as well. This is the explanation of the matter.” He says my ancestor is superior, however, Hz. Abubaqir, Hz. Omar and Hz. Osman are also gracious, virtuous personalities.
When there is a superior person, can a virtuous person sit at that position? According Hz. Zayd, he can sit if he fits the requirements or in accordance with the circumstances.
However, the Twelver Shiis, Jafaris and Ismailis do not accept this. They say while there is superior, the virtuous cannot be chosen.
Whereas Hz. Zayd was from Ahl al Bayt. He was the descendant of Hz. Husayn. He was a holy martyr of Allah. May Allah be pleased with Him!
Hz. Zayd said: “Although my ancestor Aliyyel Murtaza is more virtuous, more knowledgeable, Hz. Abubaqir and Omar are also virtuous people. Their caliphate is true or right. This is the explanation of the matter.” Shiis should consider these words of Hz. Zayd! The great scholars of Ahl al Sunnat like Isfahani and Fahr-i Rıza Hazretleri exalt all the Ahl al Bayt and Shahi Walayat. They say the Caliphate of the Four of them are true. They do not prefer any of them or they do not give any of them any special ranks.
However, according to Asharis, four of them were true and they were selected by the Companion at Bani Sad. Their ranks were arranged to their succession order. This is according to Ashary belief.
As we have mentioned above, this has become the topic of Theology. It is the view of Ashari, those who believe in Ashary accept it in that way.
Fahri Razi considered Ahl al Bayt superior. Those who read his commentaries know this. The entire of Beni Hashim knows Hz. Ali superior.
Most of the Friends of Allah and most of the Ulamas are like this. Some of them accept Hz. Ali and some of them accept Hz. Abubaqir.
There are many sacred hadiths about Hz. Abubaqir. In the Chapter Tawba (Repentance), there are various hadiths praising him (such as he was one of the close friends of the Prophet, they set out to the death journey together etc.)
However, when they came to kill our Prophet (A.S.) on the night of Emigration, our Master Hz. Ali lay down in the Prophet’s bed to die. When Abu Sufyan came, he saw Hz. Ali. He also covered him with woolen cloth on the bed. Our Prophet did not tell him to cover him. Hz. Ali covered himself with the woolen cloth in order to give the impression that the Prophet (A.S.) was sleeping when Sufyanis arrived there.
In other words, one of them lay down in his deathbed and sacrificed himself for the prophet, the other one set out his death journey. These personalities are important we cannot make any distinction between them. Both of them are very great.
Yet, it is up to that person to exalt either Hz. Ali or Hz. Abubaqir. What is important is both of them are great. Both of them are really great and both of them are the same. However, because of the sacred hadiths and love for them, one can exalt the one who likes and this does not harm the religion or the faith of that person. This is only for Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir. Shafii regards Hz. Ali superior after Hz. Abubaqir. (51)
(51) M. Abu Zehra, Mezhepler Tarihi, p.334
Yet, Hz. Ali is certainly much greater than Hz. Omar and Osman. There are many definite Hadiths about the superiority of Shahi Walayat. Hz. Omar and Osman were also very great Friends of God. They are also very virtuous. May Allah be pleased with all of them! This is the subject of the Four Caliphs. At that time, there was a matter concerning them. They had never fought against each other and four of them maintained the Caliphate of the Prophet (A.S.) for 30 years. There is already hadiths about this and there is a divine reason (inner meaning) in it too.
Our Prophet said: “The Caliphate will last 30 years after me and then the Kingdom will start and a cruel monster will take over.” 30 years later Muawiyah came. Therefore, our Prophet (A.S.) had known that it would happen in this way. Since our prophet was the Apostle of God, he naturally knew this. There are some other hadiths about this on this subject.
Before we conclude this topic, we would like to mention another point: It is the situation of Jafar al Sadıq, who was the sixth of the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams. Hz. Jafar al Sadıq was the descendant of Hz. Abubaqir maternally. His father was the descendant of Hz. Imam Husayn, Imam Ali, his mother was the descendant of Hz. Abubaqir. She was born from him. Jafar al Sadıq was the descendant of Hz. Abubaqır from his mother’s side.
Therefore, everybody must be careful on this matter. And our Master Jafar al Sadıq also said: “Do not insult my ancestor Abubaqir. I do not let anyone to tell bad words (or to defame) about my ancestor.” Our heart did not accept not to tell this truth. We must tell this for the sake of Allah. We are telling this and many people must take a lesson from this.
Those who say that they love Hz. Jafar should accept the highness of Hz. Abubaqir and love him because he is the ancestor of Jafar al Sadıq from her mother’s side.
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir was also Hashimid. He was a relative of Hashimids. Their ancestors are from the family line of the Prophet (A.S.) and he is truthful.
(52) From Said b. Cunhan, Abu Davud, Thirmizi, Nesei, Tac Transl. vol.3, p. 79 Bekir Sadak, İst. İst. 1973 See also Sahih-i Buhari and Tecrid-i Sarih Terc. Diy. İşl. Bşk. Yayınları
May Allah be pleased with four of them! We believe in four of them and the Caliphate of the Four is true. We love four of them. However, our love towards Ahl al Bayt is more because to love Ahl al Bayt is from faith. There is also another hadith: “Whoever loves Ahl al Bayt loves the Prophet, whoever hates the Ahl al Bayt hates the Prophet (A.S.).” (53)
If we had written the hadiths about the superiority of Ahl al Bayt and the love towards them, this book would become a big hadith Book then.
To love Ahl al Bayt is one of special features of Faith. He who does not like Ahl al Bayt has no faith.
For, Ahl al Bayt carries directly the blood of the Prophet (A.S.). Each of the great personalities is like this but Ahl al Bayt is exceptional.
Ahl al Bayt is distinguished-select. No alms are given to Ahl al Bayt. All the Companions can receive alms, even the greatest Companion can receive alms, (if he is poor) but Ahl al Bayt does not receive.
Only “humus” can be given to Ahl al Bayt. Allah has a command on this matter. (Al-Hashr, 7) They have a share in public treasury.
Alm cannot be given to Ahlal Bayt because “a Master is not given alms or charity”. There is a sacred Hadith concerning this:
“Ahl al Bayt cannot eat (receive) alms and charity.” (54)
They do not eat alms because it is also a kind of charity. They have a privilege here. This is obvious. All the scholars know this. No alms are given to Ahl al Bayt. If they give anything, it is a present or a gift. This is important. For example, If Hz. Omar had been poor, he could have received alms or charity but Hz. Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn and Hashimids cannot receive it. Revealing this truth is the command of our conscience.
Ahl al Bayt has superiority. We cannot deny the superiority of Ahl al Bayt. “The following “salawat” is confirming this, isn’t it?
“Allahumme Salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad’in ve ala Alihi ve Ashabihi”.
(53) Ahmed b. Hanbel, Musnad. Vol. 2, p.288
Ibni Mace, Sunen, Vol. 1, p.51
Camiüssağir, Vol.2, p.58 Translated by Abdullah Aydın, İst. 1997
(54) From Hz. Husayn b. Ali, Ahmed b. Hanbel, Suyuti, Camiüssağir, vol.2,p. 56 From Abu Hurayra, the same source, p. 59
See also Buhari and others
Allah, Muhammad, Ahl al Bayt (the immediate family of the Prophet) and his Companions. The order is actually like this. Ahl al Bayt is pure. In Ahzab, 33:
“İnnema yüridullahi liyüzhibe ankümürricse Ehl elBeyti veyütehhireküm tethira- Ahl al Bayt is pure, clean.”
In this verse, Allah the Most High says “ankümürricse”. Some people say that it was about the wives of the Prophet. No! If it had been about the wives of the Prophet (A.S.), then he would not have said “anküm”. When it is “anküm”, it refers to men and they are Ali Aba. Ahl al Sunnat has an agreement that Ahl al Bayt consists of Hz. Ali, Hz. Fatima, Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn. Imam Hanbel told this hadith in his book Musnad just like this.
There is also a tradition from our Mother Salama and another hadith from our Mother Aisha:
“The Prophet of Allah said: Ahl al Bayt are Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn. They are My Ahl al Bayt O Lord!” (55)
This hadith is certain and none of the scholars had denied it. Naturally, the wives of the Prophet (A.S.) are also the Family of the Prophet.
Al-i Aba ,we call as “Hamse-i Al-i Aba”, consists of five people together with the Prophet (A.S.): Hz. Muhammad, Hz. Ali, Hz. Fatima, Hz. Hasan, Hz. Husayn (Aleyhümüsselam). They are Ahl al Bayt. They are Al-i Aba.
May Allah not take us away from them!
He forgave Adam for the sake of them and May He forgive us for their sake with His grace!
(55) From our Mother Aisha, Muslim, Sahih, Vol. 7, p.130
From our Mother Ummu Salama, Thirmizi, Sünen, Vol.5, p.663
Camiussağir, Vol.2, p.58, trans. by Abdullah Aydın, İst. 1977
THE EVENT OF CAMEL OCCURRED BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE OF IJTIHAD. WAS SIFFIN ALSO THE BATTLE OF IJTIHAD?
The Event of Camel started as follows:
When our Master Hz. Osman was elected as a Caliph, the Companions of the Prophet had given this duty to Hz. Abdurrahman b. Avf. They said whoever he obeyed they would accept him and Hz. Osman b. Avf had chosen Hz. Osman as a Caliph.
Some Companions came to our Master Hz. Osman and said: “Osman! Hz. Abubaqir’s son Muhammad is a great personality and he is the son of Hz. Abubaqir, he is also one of the prominent Companions of the Prophet. He is a scholar and virtuous man. You should give Muhammad a governorship as he deserves this duty.”
Hz. Osman said:
“Certainly! He is the son of Hz. Abubaqir, the Companion of the Prophet and the brother of Aisha so I can give him this duty.”
He immediately wrote an order addressing the Governorship of Egypt and said that he appointed Muhammad b. Abubaqir, the son of Hz. Abubaqir as a governor to Egypt and stamped it with a seal.
Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir (R.A.) received the order and left for Egypt taking his friends and his family together with him. Egypt was a province then and states used to be ruled as provinces. For example, we say the province of Damascus, but Damascus was Syria. Yemen was a province and Mecca was a province etc. It was like this. The governors of that time were accepted as the Rulers of that place after the Caliphs. They were responsible to only the Caliph, the Commander of the Believers and to Madina. While Muhammad b. Abubaqir were going forward to Egypt, a cavalry on camel or on horse was seen passing by quickly. They suspected him and so his supporters caught that person right away. When they searched in his pocket, they found a letter. It was written to the governor of Egypt and said.
“Muhammad, the son of Abubaqir, is coming there. Kill him as soon as he arrives.” There was the seal of Hz. Osman under the letter.
Muhammad b. Abubaqir was confused in this situation. He said: “What a contrast? He appointed me as a governor and then he wants me to be killed! He was naturally annoyed by this. He took the letter (meanwhile they defused him) and they returned to Madina.
They went directly to Hz. Osman. They talked, consulted and discussed this matter among them and they said that it was not true.
Our Master Hz. Osman swore that he had not written it but Marwan might have written it by stealing his seal.
Hz. Osman was an old man. He was gentle and good-tempered. Therefore, Marwan used to take the seal from time to time. He understood that Marwan had done it.
Where was Marwan? He was not there. Marwan incited the mischief and then he disappeared because Marwan was a hypocrite.
Some people say that our Prophet banished him, Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Osman banished him but why did Hz. Osman bring him back? There was again a kind of the necessity of the circumstances in this matter because wherever Marwan went, he incited mischief there. He wanted to raise a rebellion. His heart was evil-minded. They were the Chiefs of tribes and the notables, leaders and wealthy people of Mecca.
The family of the Prophet (A.S.) was poor. When the Prophecy suddenly came to him and all the people gathered around him, they became envious. There was objection in their hearts and there is a sacred hadith confirming this. They did not believe in him.
Hz. Osman put him under his control by bringing him; but not that he liked him or he wanted to give him a rank. He brought him to Madina so that he would be under the inspection of himself, Ahl al Bayt, our Master Hz. Ali and the Companions and that he would not incite mischief.
However, Marwan was a wicked man and he would commit wickedness.
Hz. Osman denied that he had done it but there were some other intrigues and actions in Damascus supporting Marwan.
When we go through the plan in order to explain this matter, it was prepared like this: “Hz. Osman would be killed and the blame would be laid on Hz. Ali.” It was the main plot. The rebels had planned it secretly.
The discussion was continuing and even Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir spoke to Hz. Osman sharply. He used some hard words. Meanwhile, the rebels, whose number was about 500-1000, started to besiege around the house.
Our Master Hz. Ali even sent his holy son Hz. Hasan to stand at the door of Hz. Osman, the caliphate and told him to kill whoever wanted to enter into the house. In other words, he protected Hz. Osman.
Our Master Hz. Ali protected the Caliphate of Hz. Osman, his person and his life.
However, the rebels drilled a hole behind the wall and when they went through it they found that Hz. Osman, Abdurrahman b. Avf and others were disputing among them angrily. They were discussing rather annoyingly because there was a plan of killing the son of Hz. Abubaqir in this matter.
Although Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir had told harsh words to Hz. Osman, he did not even touch him. He did not raise his hand to Hz. Osman. Hz. Osman warned him saying: “If Hz. Abubaqir would have been alive, he would have been angry with what you said to me. I swore that I had not written it”.
Meanwhile, the treacherous, rebels and hypocrite mischief-makers hit Holy Hz. Osman on his head and eyes. They hit him with the objects such as mace and daggers and so he was martyred. The finger of the Prophet’s daughter was chopped off during these attacks.
After Hz. Osman was martyred, while the event continued like this, they went out and started the propaganda that Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir killed Hz. Osman.
Since Hz. Osman had been martyred, our master Hz. Ali was elected as the Caliph.
The propaganda or gossip started in this way and those who made this propaganda came to Hz. Ali and said: “Muhammad, the son of Hz. Abubaqir, killed Hz. Osman”. Our master Hz. Ali held a trial.
Hz. Ali went to Hz. Osman’s wife and called the propagandists and Muhammad b. Abubaqir. He himself started to ask:
He firstly asked Muhammad:
-Were you there?
-Yes, I was.
He asked Hz. Osman’s wife:
-Did Hz. Abubaqir’s son Muhammad kill Hz. Osman? Did he take his sword? Did he shoot him?
She said that he did not. Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir did not even attempt to kill him. He did not hit him. He did not kill him.
He asked who had killed him.
-They killed him from behind. However, he had some hard discussions between them. They had severe arguments but they did not hit him.
Hz. Osman’s wife herself had witnessed this.
Eventually, our Master Hz. Ali said: “Muhammad says he did not kill him. There is not anybody who has seen that Muhammad killed him. There are no witnesses.
Yet, propagandists said that everybody said so that Muhammad had killed him.
Hz. Ali said: “He cannot be punished by the rumor ‘everybody says so’. Bring two witnesses and if they say that Muhammad killed Hz. Osman, I am going to apply Qasas. I will not listen to anybody but practice the command of Allah.”
For, Hz. Omar and Hz. Ali never leave the truth and they obey the Book and Sunnat.
They said that there were not any witnesses and Hz. Ali said that if there were no witnesses, retaliation could not be applied because retaliation was practiced only when there were witnesses. There should be at least two witnesses according to the command of Allah.
The mischief-makers made propagandas at homes and streets. Such a moment came that they said Hz. Ali made him killed.
Afterwards it seemed as if it lessened but after a certain time, the mischief-makers started their propagandas again because Hz. Ali had some opponents. There were some people who envied his Caliphate.
What is more, our Mother Aisha had interfered into this matter. Hz. Zubayr and Hz. Talha interfered into it as well. The mischief-makers were making very intensive propagandas saying: “Muhammad killed him. Hz. Ali made him killed. Hz. Osman’s murder was not solved exactly, etc.”
Our Mother Aisha was never an antagonist of Hz. Ali. Those who made up this were slandering him.
Muhammad was the brother of Hz. Aisha. What she said was “O Ali, everybody says that Hz. Osman was murdered by Muhammad. Apply this Qasas! If you do this, you will get rid of this matter and these gossips will be over.” She told this with good intention and she even wanted his own brother to be killed for this sake.
Now, does anybody want her brother to be killed? Therefore, it is understood that our Mother Aisha was affected by some of these propagandists. That is to say, she was confused by others.
Our Master Shahi Walayat said:
“You speak like this but Allah orders to bring two witnesses. I will practice retaliation if you bring two witnesses. I fear Allah to do this without witnesses. Nobody says that he seen it. The propagandists are making propagandas outside but this cannot be with propagandas.”
Hz. Aisha saw that our Master Hz. Ali was telling the truth. Hz. Ali would never change canonical rules according to the propagandas of others. Whatever propaganda they were making, witnesses were required.
Those intensive propagandas were continuing without stopping. Then such a moment came that Hz. Aisha, Zubayr and Talha opposed against Hz. Ali.
Namely, both sides met each other armed at the place called “Camel”. Now that, the battle started. In this war, Hz. Zubayr and Talha were martyred.
Such a moment came that Hz. Talha and Zubayr remembered many hadiths about the Caliphate of Hz. Ali and his Commandership. They had also some revelation of mysteries. They felt some “spiritual states”. They understood that they were wrong and gave up fighting. When they gave up fighting, this time the other party (not the party of Hz. Ali) killed them saying: “Are you giving up fighting?” They were not killed by the supporters of Hz. Ali, but by their own supporters, by the hypocrites that started that mischief.
Our Mother Aisha lost the war, she could not win it. Our Master Hz. Ali won the battle. Her brother Muhammad brought Mother Aisha near Hz. Ali.
She told Hz. Ali she was wrong and Hz. Ali was right. She accepted that his Caliphate was true and he was right. She swore fealty to him and apologized to him.
And our Master Shahi Walayat said: “You are our Mother and you are the Mother of Believers; you are one of the pure wives of the Prophet. I wish you had not dealt with these things but you did. Now I will send you to Medina. Go to the Prophet’s Tomb and occupy yourself with worship there. Do not interfere into such things again! Look! They caused arguments among us-Ahl al Bayt- (because Hz. Mother Aisha was also Ahl al Bayt)”.
Sunni Muslims say that Hz. Ali was right and Hz. Aisha was wrong. However, Hz. Aisha did not do this for her antagonism towards Hz. Ali. She did this for religion. She also wanted the mischief to be over. She sacrificed her brother in order to comfort Hz. Ali. Yet, she was wrong. She could not hit the mark in her ijtihad. She made a mistake and it was a great mistake because hundreds and thousands of Companions died because of this mistake and the blood was shed.
Therefore, Hz. Ali was right. Hz. Aisha and her supporters were wrong but this was an injustice of an “ijtihad”. It was not hatred or antagonism. They also did not insist on their fault but they apologized for this and returned from their mistake. Therefore, it was accepted as an ijtihad error. Both sides were respected. However, Hz. Ali was right and Mother Aisha was wrong. All the theologians accept this. This is definite! She did not insist on her fault.
There are some people who speak incorrectly. For instance: Sunni Muslims say that they follow Ashary and Maturidy; however, some mullahs say wrong things over this matter.
The opinion of Hasan al Ashary on this matter is: “Hz. Talha, Zubayr and Aisha made a mistake but they returned from their mistake.” (56) He said exactly like this. We are going to explain his opinion about Hz. Ali afterwards.
The event of Camel is as explained above. Shortly, it was a battle of ijtihad.
(56) “Kelam İlminin Belli Başlı Meseleleri” by Taftazani, p. 86 and others, trans. by Ş.Gölcük, Kayıhan Yayın. İst.
As for Siffin; Siffin was a battle. There was not a matter of ijtihad in Sıffin.
Our master Hz. Ali came to Kufa after the event of Camel was over. He wanted to change some of the governors 6 months later. Was he not the Commander of believers? Had Hz. Omar not changed them? Had Hz. Osman not changed them? He wanted to change some of the governors and meanwhile he was thinking of discharging Muawiya b. Abu Sufyan. However, he cancelled it for a while. There were some reasons for this. He knew that he was preparing some mischief there. When the situation of Bani Umayya -the Umayyad- was examined, it is seen that they had done whatever they could to Hz. Prophet (A.S.) before Islam. Bani Umayya was the enemy of Hashimids. This is certain! It is said that they became Muslims, but how did they become Muslim? When Mecca was going to be conquered, when they stood against each other, the Prophet (A.S.) had 10 thousand equestrians or 10 thousand soldiers and they had only 900 soldiers. The Prophet (A.S.) sent him the news that if they did not fight, they could make peace and would not kill them. Abu Sufyan surrendered for his fear because he saw that he was not strong enough to fight against them. Everybody knows this. And so our Prophet made peace.
Our Prophet (A.S.) wanted to conquer Mecca without shedding blood. For, if the blood had been shed, some other events might have occurred. Our Prophet was a mercy- a blessing- for mankind.
“Rahmeten li’l alemin - He is the mercy for all people.” (Al-Anbiyah, 107)
If it were possible to solve it with peace, he would prefer peace.
What is more, there might have been martyrs from his Companions and Ahl al Bayt, whom he loved very much. For example, provided that 500 people had died from Sufyanis, 100 people might have died from his Companions. Even our Master Hz. Ali might have died or some other great personalities such as Hz. Omar, Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Osman might have died. The reason why the Umayyad accepted Islam was their surrender to our Prophet’s external power, but not that they had faith.
There is a verse concerning this matter:
“They come to you and declare, O Muhammad, we believed in Allah and the Prophet of Allah. No! They were not true believers and I did not guide them rightly either. They would rather say: “We professed Islam”. (Al-Hujurat, 14)
Some interpreters translate it as “Say! We became Muslims.”
Therefore, they surrendered themselves to the Prophet’s external power but not to his spiritual power.
The verses of Chapter Mumtahinne must also be considered carefully. This chapter gives news about the Conquest of Mecca. It was revealed in Medina before the Conquest. Allah the Most High says in the 7th, 8th, 9th verses:
“It is expected that you will make friends with those who are from the other side, from unbelievers. (Allah says) If you make friends with those who have fought against you on account of your religion, that is to say, who fight against you in order to abolish the Glorious Koran by protecting the stone idols, as they did not accept the Unity of Allah, and who have driven you from your homes, you become wrongdoers then”.
Who fought against our Prophet (A.S.)? Abu Sufyan, his family and his helpers did. In other words, the Sufyanis, the Umayyad fought against him.
If you read the above verse carefully, it is written: “If you make friends with those who have driven you from your homes (those who have driven you away from Mecca), you will become wrongdoers or cruel.”
The reason of the Emigration of the Prophet (A.S.) is, as mentioned above, that they intended to kill the Prophet (A.S.). When cruel Abu Sufyan came that night, he saw Hz. Ali in his bed because our Prophet (A.S.) had already left with Hz. Abubaqir.
They drove away the Muslims, took their properties and burned their houses. What other things shall we tell? They did whatever they could: they did not give them bread and food. Some of them went to Abyssinia and some others went to other places.
The Holy Prophet (A.S.), himself, went to Medina. After him, Hz. Abubaqir, Hz. Ali, Hz. Omar, Hz. Osman, the Hashimids and the true believers were driven away. We call them as “Muhajirin”. They did not go willingly but they were driven away by their force or else they would be murdered, they would even murder the Prophet. Eventually, they murdered many Companions of the Prophet (A.S.). Those who were able to do left Mecca and those who stayed there were killed by them. The children or the mothers of some of them remained there.
These events occurred in this way. There are some more important Verses at the end of Chapter Sajda (28th, 29th, 30th verses). The 28 th Verse says: Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
“Veyekulüne meta haze’l fethü inküntüm sadikin- They ask, O Muhammad! When will this Conquest Day happen? (You always say “Conquest, Conquest, We will come and conquer Mecca.) If what you say be true?” (They are making fun of Muslims and say you say this by yourselves. Who will come and where will they come and take Mecca from Abu Sufyan, from the Umayyad tribe and break the stone idols of the Kaaba?)”.
God the Most High says at the end of the verse: Bismillah,
“Kül yevme’l fethi la yenfeullezine keferu imanihüm velahüm yünzerun - Say! O Muhammad! On the Day of the Conquest, the faith of unbelievers shall not avail them nor shall they be reprieved!”
It means that they will not have faith afterwards either: I sealed their hearts.
This is the verse of the Koran, which is very important. Allah does not accept the faith of those who believed on the Conquest day.
Who are they? The Prophet (A.S.) said, “They are the people who have objections in their hearts.”
In the last verse of the mentioned Chapter Sajda (30):
“Fea’rid anhüm-Give no heed to them (to those who believed on the Conquest Day untruly)!
“Fentezir innehüm müntezirun - Keep them under your control!”
It means they are hypocrites and they do not have faith. Their faith shall not avail them.
“They are also watching you.”
Always keep them under your inspection and be cautious against them!
Some say that they had faith. They did not have faith! They surrendered! Faith is very important.
Faith means to surrender directly to the “Spirituality” of the Prophet (A.S.).
They surrendered to the “external power” of the Prophet (A.S.), to his sword and to his external sovereignty.
The Umayyad had already been the enemies of Hz. Hashim, Abdulmuttalib, Abdullah, Hz. Muhammad, Abu Talib, Hz. Hamza, Hz. Abbas and Hz. Ali ever since. They had not liked Hashimids because the Umayyads were very rich. They held the entire trade of Mecca that brought them any profit. They knew themselves honorable and holy. They used to feed everybody to show off but not to please Allah. They did this in order to be famous and to continue their fame.
When Gabriel came to Hz. Muhammad (Thanks God!), to the House of Hashimids, everybody started to love and demand him and his family. The Umayyad could not bear this, that is to say, they had also family antagonism.
The family and the supporters of our Master the Prophet (A.S.) were generally poor or not very rich. Among them, only Abu Leheb was rich. Others, like our Masters Hamza and Abu Talib, were of moderate means. They could be regarded as poor. Their honor was because of undertaking the service of the Kaaba. They were a Holy Family - a Religious Family. They were from the family of Abraham and very pious people.
We would like to clarify the matter of Abu Talib by the way.
“You cannot guide whomever you please; it is God who guides whom He will.” (Qasas, 56)
The above verse is not about our Master Abu Talib. It is about his other uncle or about some of his old friends whom he loved.
Abu Leheb did not have faith. Therefore, he did not wash Abu Leheb and did not attend his burial; whereas, Hz. Prophet (A.S.) washed his uncle Abu Talib and attended his burial.
Our Master (A.S.) does not wash the unbelievers and does not attend their burial. He does not pray for them.
Allah has a commandment concerning this:
“You shall not pray for any of their dead nor shall you attend their burial.” (Al-Tawba, 85)
Our Master (A.S.) does not do what Allah forbids.
Abu Leheb was also his uncle. He neither washed him nor attended his burial and prayed for him.
Shortly, Bani Umayya was the opponent of Hashimids.
Before and after the Conquest of Mecca, what they had done to the Prophet (A.S.), to the first believers was done by neither any infidel, any atheist, any Jews and any Christians.
The reason why Hz. Abubaqir was the first Caliph was the antagonism of Abu Sufyan, Sufyanis and the Umayyad towards Hz. Ali and the Hashim Family. If anybody had been the Caliph, they might have rebelled against him.
Especially after our Prophet (A.S.), they had not behaved well.
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir knew that Sufyan had not been behaving well (that he would have ruined Islam, whenever he had that opportunity). For this reason, he did not send Muawiyah to Damascus, he sent Yezid there, the elder son of Sufyan, who was a bit close to Islam. He either died or was killed there and Muawiyah took the seal and authority of the office of the Governorship himself. Muawiyah was not officially a governor. Nothing was said to this because of the circumstances.
There was a tribe called Bani Huzza in Mecca. The Tribe of Bani Huzza had not fought against the Prophet (A.S.). They did not believe in our Prophet (A.S.) when he was in Mecca. They had not fought against him either. They did not take any part in the discharge of the Prophet (A.S) and they did not cause the discharging or the Emigration of the Believers, the first Muslims who believed in the Prophet (A.S.). Although they did not believe, they did not have any fights with the Prophet and insult him. The faith of Bani Huzayya after the Conquest of Mecca was accepted.
Some Ulamas even say that the verse in Chapter Mumtahinnah: “If you make friends with them, you will be wrongdoers” involves all the Meccan polytheists, except the sister of Hz. Abubaqir, and this verse was revealed for all of them.
Some of them say that this verse did not come for Bani Huzayya. That is to say, it came directly for Sufyanis because Abu Sufyan was the leader of all these movements.
That night, he came to kill the Prophet (A.S.) himself and he had some helpers who were paid money by him to support him.
There are many supporters of that Muawiyah. There are also some supporters of Sufyanis. They bring up this matter and then they do not mention about discharging matter because they know that those who caused his discharge were Sufyanis and the Umayyad.
They say: “Had Hz. Halid b. Velid not fought? If he had fought, Allah says: “If you make friends with those who fight against you for religion, you will be wrongdoers.” The verse does not change even it is Halid b. Velid.
However, Hz. Halid b. Velid had a special situation. Now we are going to explain it:
Hz. Halid b. Velid was employed by Abu Sufyan during “Uhud Battle”. Hz. Halit b. Velid did not fight against the Prophet (A.S.) because he was a Prophet.
Hz. Halid b. Velid was a warrior and he was for war. He had 30, 40 men. He was a bandit in deserts. He spent his life by banditry. There had been disputes, riots between tribes before Islam. They used to attack and sack villages and committed bad things there.
Halid b. Velid had not fought against Hz. Muhammad (A.S.) for religion. Abu Sufyan employed him giving him money, as he had known the art of fighting. He wanted to use his skill of fighting. If our Master Hz. Hamza- our party- had given him money, we might have employed him but Muslims never deign to do such a thing.
Shortly, Hz. Halid b. Velid was an important warrior. His aim was money. He did not fight blaming, “Why are you saying that Allah is one? Why are you destroying the stone idols?” He was kept by money.
Allah says “Those who fight with you for religion”. Our Master Hz. Halid b. Velid had not fought for religion.
Later, he came to our Prophet (A.S.) and said: O, the Prophet of Allah! I had not known! This tyrant Abu Sufyan deceived me. He apologized to him saying, “I had not known that you were a Prophet. If I had known, I would have not fought”. Our Prophet accepted his oath of allegiance then.
Let us say again: Our Master Halid b. Velid had not fought with our Prophet (A.S.) for Religion. The Sufyanis, Umayyads, shortly, the Meccan polytheists hired him to fight. That is to say, he fought for money. The intention is important. He did not draw his sword to the Prophet (A.S.) asking him “Why are you saying “Allah is One”? He used to be a warrior. Whoever gave him money he fought for them. His life was like that. He was a great fighter.
He became Muslim afterwards. He became a great Friend of God and conquered many places. He who invaded Syria and its surrounding was Halit b. Velid. (R.A.).
Let us go back to the beginning of this matter.
The Umayyad were the enemies of Bani Hashim. They were “Müellefetü’l kulub”.
Before Siffin, our master Hz. Ali decided to dismiss Muawiyah from the office of Governorship and he wrote him a letter saying: “I dismissed you from being a Governor”. Thereupon, see what Muawiyah did:
He said: “I do not accept your Caliphate and I am the Governor of this place.”
What is understood here is: The Commander of Believers used his own authority and it was his right. The Ruler of the State can appoint or dismiss whomever governor he wants.
Nobody could ask him why he dismissed Muawiyah. Hz.Osman and Hz. Omar would also do the same thing. Hz. Ali saw him being there would be dangerous. He had already known what sort of people they were. What is understood from his answer that he would have continued to obey Hz. Ali if he had not dismissed him from the governorship. His aim was governorship. He did not want to lose the sovereignty of Damascus. He also had not interfered into the Event of Camel. In other words, he did not come and look for the right of Hz. Osman. Yet, our Mother Aisha was looking for and insisting on a right. Though she made a mistake, she was demanding a right.
There was an ijtihad in the Event of Camel.
What did Muawiyah want? Governorship.
He had not refused the Caliphate of Hz. Ali until the letter of discharge came to him. When he was discharged from his office, it touched his personality and his sovereignty and he rebelled.
It is directly a Battle of Rebellion but not a Battle of Ijtihad.
Those who confuse it with the Event of Camel do wrong. In that case, Muawiya is considered as in the place of Mother Aisha, Hz. Zubayr, Talha and Ashere-i Mubashara (ten people who were given the good news of the Paradise). His Battle was the Battle of Rebellion. (57)
(57) “Kelam İlminin Belli Başlı Meseleleri” by Taftazani, trans. by S. Gölcük, p. 86 and others. Kayıhan Pubilc. Ist.
We have explained this matter as much as we could. We did this for the sake of Allah. We are devoted to the Four Caliphs, to Ashere-i Mubasshere and to our Mother Aisha. We do not say anything about the Event of Camel. However, the situation of Bani Umayya is different. Bani Umayya were tyrant.
Our master Hz. Ali went to Damascus himself due to Muawiyah’s rebellious answer.
In the Event of Camel, the party of our Mother Aisha opposed to Hz. Ali. However, in this event, a governor revolted against him saying that he would not give up governorship. When a governor rebelled against the Ruler, the Head of the State, a true Guide, the Caliph of the Prophet, he would certainly attack him gathering his army and he would remove him.
Our Master Hz. Ali is Haq. He is such a true Imam that the truth never leaves him. There is a hadith concerning this: “Ali does not separate from the Truth and the Truth does not separate from Hz. Ali.” (58)
That is to say, the truth does not leave him even for a second. Hz. Ali commits nothing unjustly and he had not done either. Nobody can blame Hz. Ali. Our master Shahi Walayat is right. What the Governor of Damascus did was a rebellion.
There are some ignorant mullahs. They defend those Muawiyah and Abu Sufyan and attempt to claim that they were Muslims. They also tell people not to talk against them.
In the past, during the time of the Emperors who prevented people talking against them because of the Caliphate of Yavuz said: “You may not love them but do not talk against them either!” It was a political matter.
There are also some people who defend them, as they love them truly. They fall to the position of the opponents of our Master Hz. Ali in that situation.
Sunni Muslims say that they are Asharis and Maturidis. Now let us quote the opinion of Hasan al Ashary on this matter.
This quotation was written in the book called “El Milel” written by Shehristani, and Taftazani had taken this opinion of Ashary exactly as it is. Taftazani was one of the great Ulamas of Ahl al Sunnat.
Shehristani was also an Ulama of Sunni Muslims. He was a great supporter of Ashari. He had known the science of Theology as well as being one of the people who spread Ashary Doctrine. Hasan al Ashary said:
(58) Thirmizi, Tac Trans. vol. 3, p. 627
(59) Shehristani, El Milel, vol. 1, p.103
“Hz. Aisha, Hz. Talha and Hz. Zubair had made a mistake. However, they returned from their mistake. Whereas, Muawiyah and Amr Ibn As rebelled against the true Imam.” This was the opinion of Ashari. It is written in “Kelam Meseleleri,” by Taftazani. This book is translated in Turkey so you can read it if you wish. (60)
They say they are Asharis but they do not keep his word. According to Ashary, Muawiyah and Amr ibni As revolted directly to the True Imam.
Ashary also says, “Our Master Hz. Aliyyel Murtaza, who defeated Kharijis, is such a true Imam that the Truth never leaves him. They rebelled against such a true Imam.”
In the above hadith, our Prophet (A.S.) had already said:
“İnni Ammaren taktülü fieti’l bağiye - Ammar will certainly be killed by the rebels.” (61)
Our master Ammar b. Yasir was murdered by the Umayyad in Siffin. He was the fifth or the sixth Muslims of the first Muslims. He was on the side of our Master Hz. Ali.
“Join the path of Guidance that Ammar follows.”
In addition to these, we explained the opinion of Ashari. They are written in the books called “Kelam Meseleleri” by Taftazani and in “El Milel, page 103” by Shehristani.
Great scholars have already explained it in this way. This matter is written even in the book called “Abu Hanife” by Muhammad Abu Zehra.
It is written that Muawiyah made people curse Hz. Ali and those who loved him (God Forbid!) and our Mother Ummu Salama (Our Prophet’s Holy Wife), thereupon, wrote a letter to Muawiyah and said:
“You are making people curse the Prophet of Allah! For, I know very well and I am a witness that Allah and His Prophet love Hz. Ali and those who love Hz. Ali. Stop (Remove) this!” (63)
(60) “Kelam İlminin Belli Başlı Meseleleri “by Prof. Dr. Abul Vefa al Taftazani, translated by Şerafettin Gölcük, Kayıhan Publc. Ist. P. 86 and others.
(61) Thirmizi, Muslim, Tac Translation, vol.3, p.688
(62) “Onların Alemi” by Sayyid Ahmed ar Rufai, translated by A. Akçiçek, p. 83, İst. 1964
From Ibni Mesud and Huzayfa al Yemen, “Musned” by Abu Hanifa, Aliyyü’l Kari Şerhi, p. 217, Şamil Publ. Ist.
(63) “Abu Hanifa, M. Abu Zehra, Turkish version by Osman Keskioğlu, Üçdal Publ. İst. 1966
However, Muawiya had not stopped it until that great person “Omar b. Abdülaziz (R.A.) came.
This personality had abolished it. This unbelievable wickedness had continued for 70 years in the mosques. All the scholars know this!
This is especially in Turkey. The Arabs and Pakistanis do not like Muawiyah at all. They do not accept him and they say that he was a rebel. They do not like Sufyanis. (64)
It is in Turkey because of Yavuz Selim’s bringing the Caliphate to Turkey. It is political.
“Caliphate is held by election!”
Caliphate is not applied by force, by sword or like Muawiyah’s making himself a false Caliph of his own. He made all the holy Companions of the Prophet swear fealty to Yezid using sword even before he died. He cut off the heads of those who did not swear fealty to him.
What did Yavuz Sultan Selim do? He went to Cairo and took the Caliphate by force. That Caliphate was false. The Caliphates of the Abbasids, the Umayyad of the Ottomans were actually false.
In the Muslim Community of Muhammad, they will choose the Caliphate with their own free will. It cannot be transferred from father to son either because if the Caliphate is transferred from father to son, then the principal of “Republic” is corrupted. The personal opinion, election, freedom and the personality of human beings are taken from them and tyranny starts.
If it is noticed, Seljuklus and Fatih Mehmed had not done this.
Seljuklus had not longed to possess the caliphate. Even the Abbasid Caliph wrote a letter to M. Alparslan and said: “I am a Caliph, you will come and swear fealty to me and be under my command!”
Alparslan sent him a letter and said “You are not a Caliph. You took it over by force and became a Caliph by force. If you are the Sultan, the Ruler of Arabs, I am the Sultan and the Ruler of Turks!”
“If you need help to fight with the non-Muslims, I can come and help you. But apart from these, I am the Ruler of Turks and you are the Sultan of Arabs.”
Our Prophet (A.S.) said about the Caliphate: “Caliphate is for 30 years.” (65)
(64) Imam Shafii said: “Muawiyah is a rebel” by M. Abu Zehra, Mezhebler Tarihi p. 334
According to the above hadith, the Caliphate after the Four Caliphs is sovereignty and it is false.
The Sons of Osman were sultans, emperors and rulers. They helped Islam as well, but it is another subject. We are going through the caliphate subject. Fatih and his ancestors (Murat I, Yıldırım Beyazid and their descendants) had not insisted on the Caliphate. For, the Ottoman Turks and Sejuklus knew the essence of Religion. They did not interfere into such Caliphate despotism. However, Selim was involved in it. How would the Caliphate be defended then? It was Muawiyah who invented such a Caliphate-the transferring from father to son-. As a matter of fact, he made Muslims swear fealty to Yezid (his son) by force. This method was left from him. It passed to Abbasids from them and then to Memelukes and from them to Ottomans.
If Muawiyah had been insulted and talked against as wicked, infidel and hypocrite person, the way he established would have also been said bad.
Such a Caliphate was introduced by Muawiyah, it is written neither in a Verse, nor in a Hadith and Sunnat.
In the Caliphate, there is no heir to the throne (the son who will be successor to the throne of the King). However, there is heir in the Sultanate.
When it is asked “What is the condition of the heir?” It is answered: “In the decisions of Ahl al Sunnat, there is no law concerning the (heir) successor.”
In Islamic Canonical Jurisprudence, there is no expression as: “What qualifications will the successor (heir) have?”
Our Religion does not depend on family. At the very most, it is depended on Ahl al Bayt -Hz. Ali and his sons-. Abu Hanifa also agreed with this.
They had not given any comfort to Ahl al Bayt. They killed them wherever they found them. Abu Hanifa was also murdered by the Abbasids in this cause.
He did not accept the Kadı’s (Judge’s) rank of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Now, there are not any Kings. The Republic was proclaimed in our Turkey. Why are they still continuing to defend it meaninglessly? For, if the Caliphate of Selim had been refused, there would have been a conflict and the power of the Sultanate would have been weakened and it would have been difficult to maintain the agreement.
(65) From Said b. Cumhan, Abu Davud, Thirmizi, Nesei, Tac Trans. vol.3, p. 79 Bekir Sadak, İst, 1973
See also Sahihi Buhari and Tecridi Sarih. Diy. İşl. Bşk. Publ.
Moreover, the letter of Rabbani was altered in words. The old translations used to be confirmed by the approval of Sheihk ul Islams. They would change or add anything, which was necessary. Then, it was permitted to be published.
In “Mektubat”, Hz. Serhindi had not regarded or accepted Muawiyah as the Companion of the Prophet.
He had defended the Four Caliphs. A Scholar does not mention Yezid after he has defended Hz. Osman. If he would defend, he defends Muawiya ibni Sufyan after Hz. Osman, and he talks about his son afterwards.
Yet, in “Mektubat”, after the subject about Hz. Osman, it is written: “But Yezid was not a Companion. His wickedness, tyranny and infidelity are told. By means of this, his father is defended indirectly.
When a scientist or scholar reads that chapter, he notices this point, this indirect defense. He understands immediately that those who translated “Mektubat” from Urdu Language changed it and made a confusion of concepts. That is to say, after Hz. Osman’s subject, Muawiyah’s son cannot be mentioned omitting the subject of Muawiyah. This does not suit such a scholar and Friend of God like Ahmed Faruk Serhindi.
The fact is: After Rabbani had defended Hz. Osman, it was Muawiyah’s turn and he said that Muawiyah was not a Companion of the Prophet (A.S.).
The Compiler or the Office of Sheikh ul Islam changed this true sentence as “Yezid is not the Companion.”
“Mektubat-i Rabbani” was translated and offered to Sheikh ul Islam after the printing press had been accepted in Turkey. There are not any handwriting translations of “Mektubat”. It was printed in old Turkish language.
You can never find a person whose name is Muawiyah in the entire Sunni World.
Therefore, it is said that such and such scholars had written it; Omar Nasuhi Bilmen had written it. Omar Nasuhi was a theologian. He was a scholar of Islamic Canonical Jurisprudence. However, he made a mistake. There were some people who had written “refutations” to him. (66)
M. Raif Ogan, Şemseddin Yeşil had written it.
(66) Refutation: the article written to refute some thought or doctrine.
Omar Nasuhi had confessed before he died saying: “I wish I had not written this book, I wish I had not defended Muawiyah. I am ashamed of Ahl la Bayt.” He confessed this! However, once the book had been published. He also had admitted other things. There are witnesses of this in Istanbul. He was regretted to have written this book.
For, if that book were considered, he even defended Yezid. However, Yezid was a disbeliever. All the Sunni Muslims know Yezid as a disbeliever, infidel and impious. Then it becomes the opinion of Murjia sect. It is not the opinion of Sunnis.
“What does “Murjia” mean? There is a religious sect called as “Murjia sect”. They say about this matter:
“Allah gives the commands and decisions. We obey whoever the leader is, though he is a tyrant or disbeliever.”
No! It is not correct! The Imam in Islam should be just. The Emperor should be just and pious.
That is the opinion of Murjia sect but not the opinion of Ashari, Maturidy and the people of Sunnat.
According to this opinion of Murjia sect, one should swear fealty to even a tyrant person. It does not matter who he is if he is a leader.
In addition to this, Said-i Nursi Efendi (May Allah be pleased with him!) agrees with us. Said-i Nursi was a great scholar indeed. They say different things about him but he is, in fact, a Republican and in favour of freedom. He has some confessions. He also said:
“Jamel was a Battle of Ijtihad but Siffin was not a Battle of Ijtihad. In Siffin Battle Our Master Shah-i Walayat Hz. Imam Ali fought for the Caliphate -Religion (to protect the Religion and the Caliphate)-.
However, Muawiya and his supporters fought for sovereignty (for worldly benefits). He said that Hz. Ammar had been killed by the Muawiyas, by the rebels. (See “Sözler Hakikat Nurları”, 1953)
Said-i Nursi Efendi gives so much importance to Shahi Walayat Hz. Ali. He says: “He had gained the title of “Shah-i Walayat” (the high rank). He is the Pious Imam”. Said-i Nursi was also a scholar.
The matter consists of this.
“Siffin was never a Battle of Ijtihad. It was a rebellion to the True Imam to the Religion of Allah.”
That tyrant brought his son by force after him. He poisoned Imam Hasan and the reason of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn was again Muawiyah.
It was he who set up sovereignty and changed the name of Islamic State.
He even advised cursed Yezid: “As long as Husayin b. Ali is alive you can never be at comfort, so kill him!” And he killed him and our Master Imam Husayn (A.S.) was martyred. The reason of it is cruel Abu Sufyan.
Nobody can give a fatwa for the murder of Ahl al Bayt. Whoever accepts their murder is impious, infidel and disbeliever. Nobody can consider religion as much as Ahl al Bayt. Firstly, they consider it because it is their Ancestors’ Religion.
May peace be with our Prophet, with his Ahl al Bayt and with his true Companions! (Aleyhümüsselam)
18th January 1986
Kazım YARDIMCI
ADIYAMAN
APPENDIXES
MORAL INSTRUCTIONS
1- Not to tell lies
2- Struggle against carnal self (Inner struggle)
3-The divine manifestation acquired by of the remembrance of Allah (Dhiqr) that beats carnal self.
4- The World and Spirituality: To give all the importance to divine values and not to consider the world very much.
5- Not to be proud but to be modest and respectful.
6- To sit down well-behaved and good mannered and to be careful as Allah the Almighty has encompassed all things.
7- Not to make fun of anybody and not to look down on others
8- To treat believers kindly and compassionately
9- To be very gentle and to speak less and listen more
10- Not to obey carnal desires and to abstain especially from this
11- Not to gamble and not to watch gamblers
12- Not to attend the parties of alcoholic drinks and to stay away from such entertainments
13- To be careful about politeness and to be very polite
14- Not to speak against believers
15- To abstain from hypocrisy
16- To be patient and tolerable
17- To be contented
18- To oppose self by obeying Allah
19- Not to envy others, abstaining from enmity, hostility
20- Not to behave selfishly (abstaining from egotism), for egotism belongs to Allah. We should try to say “We” instead of “I”, as much as we can, during conversations.
21- God’s decree overrides man’s plans. Only % 1 precaution is taken.
22- Man should despise himself more then all the creatures thus the self dies and man obeys Allah completely
23- Man should prove his slavery by accepting all the commandments of God. Everything is over after the slavery is proved.
24- Ambition and anger: They are due to pride and egotism. One should be calm and repent.
25- Not to slander anybody
26- Not to plot mischief
27- Not to be a hypocrite
28- Not to cause suffering. Every suffering is paid. He is punished eventually. Man should not go away from his family leaving his family behind. He should not blunt the future of his children before they reach the adolescence age. He should pay careful attention to bring up them in the best way.
29- Not to treat your parents badly
30- Not to commit treachery against what is entrusted
31- Not to commit open and secret theft
32- Not to inform against a person
33- Not to use swearwords
34- To be faithful
35- To treat domestic animals kindly
36- To pay attention to trees
37- When a Muslim earns wealth, he will always know that it is from Allah.
38- To thank and to praise Allah
39- Not to give false testimony
40- Not to hear and see what Allah has forbidden but to learn what he commands
41- To show dislike to wrongdoers and infidels in your heart and not be friendly with them
42- To respect the Glorious Koran
43- A patient poor person is more valuable than a thankful rich in God’s sight, but it is not good if the poor rebels against God.
44- Not to take offence at believers
45- To concerns the right of neighbors
46- Not to become pretentious
47- To be tight-lipped
48- Not to reveal spiritual divine secrets
49- To do favor to wickedness
50- The rights of the poor should be guarded
BİSMİLLAHİRRAHMANİRRAHİM
GOOD MANNERS IN THE TARIQAT OF ALIYYEL MURTAZA
1- The aspirant (the adherent, the traveler or follower of God) should be contented physically and spiritually. However, he should not be mean. He must thank for what Allah gives him because it is the same whether it is less or more.
2- The aspirant should perform his lesson, his litanies of praise to God consciously.
3- The aspirant should perform his lesson -his dhiqr- punctually and regularly. When there is an interval, the self monster becomes active again.
4- The aspirant should be faithful and respectful towards the Spiritual Guide (Sheikh-Pir- Sufi Master) and the path he is following (Tariqat). If he directs his opinion to another path, he is harmed.
5- The aspirant should know the “Sacred Dot”.
6- The aspirant should attend the gatherings of conversation made by the Wise people because he is in need of this.
7- The aspirant should talk to believers. He should stay away from the infidels and hypocrites.
8- The aspirant should be in conscious of which path he is following, the value of the holy journey and of what he is doing
9- The aspirant should learn the interpretation of his dreams secretly from his own Sufi Master he follows. (The dream of the aspirant is according to his own stage or rank.)
10- The aspirant should sometimes perform whirling dance (Sama) sufficiently and he should know what Sama is.
11- The aspirant should obey all kinds of spiritual and physical commandments of Allah and consent to them.
12- The aspirant should know that everything happens from Allah.
13- The aspirant should leave anxiety and doubts and he should think the Unity of Allah.
14- The aspirant should be resigned, good mannered and well intentioned. Allah is the guardian of such believers.
15- The aspirant should not be ungrateful. He should always be grateful to Allah, to our Masters the Prophet (a.s.v.) and to Shahi Walayat and to the Masters of the Path as he is accepted to the exalted path of Alawiya (because it is the first good news).
16- The aspirant should think about the beautiful names of Allah: “The Clement, the All-Compassionate, the Merciful, the Wise and the One who gives peace and he should be thankful.
17- The aspirant should not be a close friend with greedy rich people and he should stay way from them.
18- The aspirant should have soft words and pleasant manners but he should not burst out laughter.
19- When satan gives the aspirant doubts or tempts, he should pronounce the formula “Allahu Ekber” three times and think about the existence of Allah. (Allahu Ekber Allahu Ekber La ilahe illallahu vallahu ekber)
20- The aspirant should not dance (except Sama).
21- The aspirant should not dye his or her hair and wear make up (it is very dangerous).
22- The aspirant should feel happy and be cheerful to have been in the Holy path in order not to be plunged in thought.
23- The aspirant should help orphans and fatherless children and he should love them.
24- The aspirant should be respectful towards faithful old people and compassionate to small children.
25- The aspirant should not speak contrary to good morality and he should also prevent his friends.
26- The aspirant should personally help the disabled and the handicapped he meets on his way without discriminating between rich and poor.
27- The aspirant should attend the funeral prayer of believers whether he is rich or poor and he should actually help the poor ones.
28- The aspirant should request % 90 of his needs from God and % 1 of them from people.
29- The aspirant should not commit any deeds unjustly. He will not separate from the truth and he should try to warn his friends.
30- The aspirant should be upright and fair in dealing divisions.
31- The aspirant should learn the poems composed and recited in praise of our Prophet (A.S.V.) and he should sometimes recite them.
32- When the aspirant finds a lost article, though it is very valuable, he should look for the person who has lost it and deliver it to him. This behavior is rewarded greatly in this world and in the hereafter. He gets the consent of God.
33-The aspirant should learn divine knowledge. (Learning divine knowledge is an Obligatory Duty.)
34- The heart of the aspirant should be rich.
35- The aspirant should not cry in an ecstatic state for show. It is a great sin.
36- Joining the Path of God in youth is more beneficial. (It has a wide explanation.)
37- The aspirant should know that the Glorious Koran is always fresh, new and it is the Perfect Guide.)
38- The aspirant should be clean. He should wear scents.
39- The aspirant should know that Allah creates time in time. (This is based on the mystery “unity in plurality, plurality in unity”.
40- The aspirant should imagine the face of his Spiritual Master in front of him during his spiritual connection while remembering Allah, in case of fear and excitement and he should implore help.
41- The aspirant should know that the beginning of the Universe was vapor and the end of it will be vapor too. (It is due to the secrecy of returning to origin.)
42- The aspirant should believe very firmly that Allah is “One”. He should never doubt about it.
43- The aspirant should know that Allah created the Universe for our Prophet (a.s.v.) and he is created for worshipping Allah.
44- The aspirant should love Ahl al Bayt (The immediate family of the Prophet (a.s.v.).
45- The aspirant whose spirit was exposed to Divine Light recognizes the dervish who has Divine Light.
46- The aspirant should not tell what he feels and comprehends to anybody rather than his close friend.
47- The aspirant should visit the faithful patients and he should look after them.
48- The aspirant should know that hypocrisy is a greater sin than adultery.
49- The aspirant should not reveal the secrets of his faithful friends.
50- The aspirant should try to obey all the commandments of Allah.
51- The aspirant should often recite the “Fatiha” (the opening chapter of the Koran) for his Masters. He should implore help from them during spiritual connection.
52- The aspirant should not envy believers.
53- The aspirant should not be barbarous or brutal.
54- The aspirant should say “La feta illa Ali, la seyfe illa Zülfikar” after he finishes his remembrance or lesson.
55- The aspirant should not do bird-hunt.
56- The aspirant should not torture weak people whom he is powerful to harm.
57- The aspirant should show kindness to wickedness.
58- When the aspirant starts his lesson, he should recite Chapter Fatiha firstly for our Master Hz. Prophet (A.S.V.), our Master the King of Sanctity Aliyyel Murtaza (k.v.), or masters Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn and for our masters Ten People deserved for Heaven, the Sufi Masters called as Hırka-i Piran, for Four Great Qutbs and for also his own Master and he will donate it to their holy and pure spirits.
59- While the aspirant is making his remembrance, he should keep Hz. Prophet (A.S.) and Hz. Ali (K.V.) in his mind.
60- The aspirant should imagine the face of his own Master in front him during his remembrance.
61- The aspirant should do his lesson as much as he is assigned.
62-The aspirant should know that our Master Imam Husayn is “the Path of Divine Knowledge” and our Master Imam-ı Ali is “the Gate to Divine Knowledge”.
63- The aspirant should serve his spiritual master physically and spiritually for the sake of Allah. He should do all his works if necessary (because he is his father, his Guide and his master).
64- The aspirant should not do worship while the sun is rising and setting (because meanwhile the Majusis who worship the Sun are holding a ceremony).
65- The aspirant should know the Spiritual Teachers (Holy Masters) who belong to his Path; he should recite them Fatiha and implore help from them (as it is a shame and a fault for him not to know their names).
66- The aspirant should be chaste.
67- The aspirant should not disturb Believers.
68- The aspirant should not break the hearts of Believers.
69- The aspirant should not give false testimony under influence.
70- The aspirant should not have alcoholic drinks and should abstain from them.
71- The aspirant should not gamble and he should stay away gambling.
72- The aspirant should not go after lust
73- The aspirant should try to keep his carnal desires (his self) under control.
THE LIST OF THE BOOKS WRITTEN BY THE WRITER AND PUBLISHED IN TURKEY
1- Varlık (translated into English)1974 İstanbul
2- İslâm'da Mezhepler ve Yükseliş1988 İzmir
3- Günahsızlar 1992 Malatya
4-İnsanda Yükselme (translated into English)1992 Malatya
5- Muhammad -İsa -Adem (translated into English1993 Malatya
6-İslâm'da Şeriat ve Tarikat (translated into English)1996 Alanya
7-İslâm Ekonomisi (translated into English)1997 Malatya
WRITTEN BY KAZIM YARDIMCI
TRANSLATED BY H. NALAN ŞEHİRLİOĞLU
THE RELIGIOUS SECTS IN ISLAM AND ASCENDING
PREFACE 1
SUFISM IS THE ESSENCE - KERNEL- OF RELIGION
As it is known, every scholar has interpreted religion according to himself, from his point of view. The problem is to choose the most proper one for the essence of religion. Religious interpretation of the Sufis is the most appropriate for Islam because Sufism is the teaching of the essence of religion. It is not interested in the exterior aspects, rules and canonical laws, shortly in details. Sufism tries to teach Allah, Nature, Man and the realities of them. The beauty, order and wisdom in nature are the reflections of Allah on the nature. Nature is the work of Allah and Man is the greatest work of Him, because he is consisted of a body and Spirit (Mind). He is the most superior of all the worlds because he is the synthesis of the inner and outer worlds. Sufis try to live this knowledge, order, wisdom and beauties in nature and see the physical and spiritual beauties in human and learn the divine realities of them.
“He who knows himself (his essence) knows God.”
Briefly, Sufism is the Knowledge of Allah, Wisdom and Love. Sufis know that Allah is the essence of Man (Human) and nature. This is infinite knowledge and wisdom. To know the Absolute Existence is to fall in love with this Absolute Beauty. Sufism does not deal with the Canonical Law and Jurisprudence. It does not care about the Catechism except enough knowledge for performing the worship. Shariat (Law) and Tariqat (Way) are not his aims or objectives and they are not the essential but only the details, symbols and ways.
“A Sufi looks for Allah, who has encompassed both the Earth and the Heavens and who is the infinite knowledge, beauty and energy, in human and in his heart.”
Again, a Sufi would like to learn wisdom (True Knowledge) and divine reality through deep contemplation and to love the Divine Beauty (the Absolute Beauty) through the beauties of human and nature, that is to say, he tries to acquire real love by metaphorical love.
The result of this is good moral qualities and honesty, which means to consider the benefits of the society more than his own benefits and to be realistic and sincere by abstaining completely from hypocrisy. It is to struggle against his own carnal self and desires but not of the others’, leaving all kinds of fights, arguments, temptations, corruption and intrigue. It is to be merciful, generous and be pleased with the little in this life and also to oppose violence and terror.
A real Sufi is against formal (disguise) Islam. He does not pay any importance to Madrasa, Tekke (convent) and Mascid (places of worship). He finds reality in himself and seeks Allah in his heart. His place of worship is his heart because the real tekke and mascid (mosque) is the Heart. The most important thing for the heart is the Remembrance (Ziqr) and the Love of Allah (the Remembrance of the heart and the love of the heart). This is not an external remembrance or physical love.
It is deep contemplation (thinking), remembrance (to remember Allah and never forget Him) and more importantly, to love God, the Perfect Man (Adam), who is the great and mysterious work of Him, his children and nature.
It is to become mature while being immature and to reach divine perfection. All the Sufis have explained it in this way. This humble servant (fakir) has already explained Sufism in details in the books we have written so far, such as: “Varlık (Existence), İslâm’ da Mezhepler ve Yükseliş (The Religious Sects in Islam and Ascending)”, “Muhammed-İsa-Adem (Muhammad-Jesus-Adam)” and in others. Yunus Emre and Sayyid Ahmed er Rufai Hz. also summarized Sufism, which is a divine sea, as follows:
Yunus: “Shariat and Tariqat is a way for the one who reaches them.
Marifat (Divine Wisdom) and Hakiqat (Divine Reality) are in the heart.”
And Sayyid Ahmed er Rufai Hz. said:
“The heart of a Sufi is lighted with love,
His spiritual heart is broad (comforted).
With the Divine Light of Gnosis”
(His bosom is not depressive)
We believe in these two precepts and try to find them.
See what the Sufi Poet Neyzen Tevfik said about this subject:
“Sufism stands up to ignorance in Islam
Forget about Rafizi, Alawi, Sunni, all of them
Take offence at all of them,
Mecca, Medina, Karbala, Jerusalem
Their meaning in appearance is ornamentation
I do not care for Masjid, Madrasa, Monastery, and Church, Vatican…”
(*) Poet Neyzen Tevfik meant to say that the striking appearance of these rituals is ornamentation. However, he indicates that he is respectful to the real meanings of these places.
March 10th, 2000 Alanya
KAZIM YARDIMCI (1936-Adıyaman)
Sources: “Yunus Divanı”, “Onların Alemi” by Sayyid Ahmed er Rufai, 25th hadith
PREFACE 2
It would actually be more proper to say, “I am a Muslim, I am a Mohammedan and I am attached to the Koran, the Sunnat, Ahl al Bayt, the Four Caliphs and to the great personalities of the Companions of the Prophet (A.S.) instead of saying I am a Shii, a Sunni, a Hanafi or a Shafii.
Using these words sincerely - not intentionally to cause separations- is not harmful.
The aim of all of them is MOHAMMEDISM and to follow the Glorious Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet (a.s.v.). It is the same both in the Jurisprudence and in Sufism.
It is more proper especially in this era as people understand realities more easily by means of books and by means of communication.
Eight hundred million people are all Muslims from the East to the West. They are Mohammedan.
Alawis are Mohammedan, Baqris, Hanafis, Shafiis, and Sunnis are Mohammedan.
It is better to support the unity instead of causing the dissensions of Religious sects and Tariqats. Isn’t it?
The answers of these questions and of the similar questions that occur to the minds of millions of Muslims are given in this book.
KAZIM YARDIMCI
WHAT IS RELIGION, AND RELIGIOUS SECTS IN ISLAM?
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
“Innedine indallahi’l Islam” According to this glorious verse: “The religion before Allah is Islam.” (The Imrans, 19)
Islam means peace and submission. There are some scholars that call Islam as “safety”. However, the word ‘submission’ contents the meanings “I submitted, I obeyed” to something or to a force. You may submit to Allah, to the Prophet, to a King or to a power. A person submits for either his belief in him or his fear of him.
Submission in Islam is because of belief. If he submits because of his fear, he is not called a real Muslim. In other words, he cannot be a believer.
Another meaning of submission is “to accept”. What do you accept? You accept the Truth (God). You accept the existence and the unity of Allah, the Prophecy of the Prophet, the Apostleship of the Prophet and to accept that the Glorious Koran is the Eternal Word of Allah. This is the real meaning of it.
Here, we accept the existence of Allah, the truth. We accept His Prophet and what he reports; the Koran and what it reports; Gabriel, the revelation and metaphysical realities: the Paradise, the Hell, the abstract beings such as the Spirit, Angels and Genies etc. (1)
I submitted. I accepted the truth. Our God, who is the Lord of the Universe, says: “Surely, the religion before Allah is Islam.” In other words, surely, the religion before Allah is to submit to the truth. He who submits to the truth is a Muslim and real believer.
Therefore, Religion equals Islam; Islam equals Religion.
The religion has already been Islam from Hz. Adam until the Holy Prophet. Let us explain it here: The religion of Allah is only one and it is Islam from Adam until our Master Holy Prophet (a.s.v.).
The religion of Allah is to be one. The Koran, the Torah, the Bible are not separate or different. All of them are the Speech of Allah and four of them are Divine Light.
(1) For instance, the Devil (Satan) is also a genie. It is from the genies because it was created from the fire. God says: “Kane minel cinn - He became from the genies.” (Al-Kahf, 50) We believe this is true.
The aim of these Four Books and the Glorious Prophets is, “Allah exists, Allah is one and the next world or metaphysics exist.”
The main purpose of the Prophets is to make others believe in Allah and the next world. None of the Prophets says that this is my religion and it belongs to me; the other religions belong to others because religion belongs to Allah. In addition to this, none of the Prophets made others worship himself.
What we really mean is; the belief in the Prophets is the belief in Allah and the metaphysical realities. Those who believe in Allah and the next world are believers. However, he must have this faith by means of a Prophet so that he will belong to the People of the Book. (The position of the unbelievers is different)
The people of the Koran, of the Torah, of the Psalms of David and of the Bible are all the People of the Book. In the Koran, Allah does not call the other people of the Book as unbelievers directly. He calls them as the People of the Book, the polytheists, the cruel or the unbelievers of the People of the Book. Our God reports us in the verses of the Koran that some of them believe in Allah and the next world. He also says, “I will judge them Myself.” There are some verses in the Koran about it. (2)
(2) Al-Zumar, 3 / Al-Baqarah, 113 / Al-Insan, 24 and so on
After explaining this, let us touch on the subjects of Religion and Religious Sects. The religion in Islam is consisted of the Book of Allah and the Sunnat of the Prophet. The religion of Allah was existent during the Prophet (a.s.v.). This religion was the Glorious Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet. The religion was completed. Allah says that He had already completed our Religion: “I completed your religion.” (Al- Maidah, 3)
As for the Book, the Book is the revelation of Allah. It was revealed to the heart of the Prophet (a.s.v.) by means of Gabriel. It was revealed to his Spirit. The Word or the speech of Allah is eternal: “The eternal speech”. The Book is directly the discourse of Allah and it is a definite and indisputable proof. He who disputes on even one glorious verse cannot be considered as a Muslim no matter what religious sect he is from. All the religious Sects accepted the Holy Koran.
Wherever you go, they read the same Koran. All of them have the same Koran; Shiites, Sunnis, Zaydis have the same Koran. However, there are some barbaric people; they even deny the Koran. They are denials. Those that deny or dispute the Koran are not in Islam. They cannot be called Muslims.
The essence of Sunnat is actually the Prophet’s (A.S.V.) practice and the application of the Koran and of the revelation of Allah. We can express it using today’s terms (to make the young people to understand it): the Koran (the Book-the revelation of Allah) is the theory of Islam and the Sunnat is the practice of it. In other words: theory and practice.
However, this Sunnat is a compulsory Sunnat. He who abandons this Sunnat has not liked the practice of the Prophet (a.s.v.) and it is very dangerous. He who does not like our Prophet’s application of the revelation becomes to be deprived of his intercession. For example, Allah commands to perform Tawaf (to turn around the Kaaba-circumambulation). How will it be circumambulated; will they turn round from the right to the left or from the left to the right? How many times will it be circumambulated; what will be recited from the Koran? We will perform the Tawaf same as our Prophet (a.s.v.), who interpreted the Koran, had done. This is the compulsory Sunnat.
Allah commands to perform ritual prayer and to stand up for the prayer. How will the prayer be performed? We will perform it in the same way as our Prophet (a.s.v.) had done. Allah tells us to fast. We fast in the same way as our Prophet (a.s.v.) had fasted, obeying the times of breaking it and starting it etc.
In all the matters, the application and the practice of the commands of Allah are called Sunnat: His actions and his sacred hadiths (His Honorable Sayings). The Hadiths are also included into Sunnat. He was very silent sometimes and they are also Sunnat. They are the compulsory Sunnat. Whoever leaves them is deprived of the intercession of the Prophet (a.s.v.) because, here, there is a problem of disliking the practice of our Prophet (a.s.v.).
If a person performs them in another way, it means that our Prophet (a.s.v.) had done them wrongly and he is correcting them. This cannot be accepted. Nobody has come to this world to interpret the Koran better than our Prophet (a.s.v.). The person who does it with this intention goes astray. He regards himself better than the Prophet (A.S.).
There are also voluntary Sunnats -the Sunnats the Prophet (a.s.v.) - performed besides the obligatory Sunnats. For example, he fasted, performed ritual prayers and did extra worshipping etc. voluntarily. Our Prophet (a.s.v.) has many Sunnats. Obeying them brings rewards. A person’s rewards increase by voluntary acts and he approaches Allah.
However, if he does not do them, he is not blamed for neglecting them. For, when he performs ritual prayer, he performs it like the Prophet (a.s.v.), when he fasts, he does it like the Prophet (a.s.v.), when he takes ablution, he does it like him, when he gives alms, he gives like the Prophet (a.s.v.) and when he performs pilgrimage he does it like the Prophet (a.s.v.). In other words, he obeys and follows the Prophet (a.s.v.) in all the matters of the application of the revelation and of obligatory worshipping.
For instance, there are 12 imperative prerequisites (fard) of the ritual prayer (salat). There are 34 Sunnats (traditional practice) in a fard salat of two or four ra’kats. These or similar sunnats are compulsory and obligatory. They cannot be omitted. If one omits them, he is accepted as if he does not like the Prophet and it is very dangerous. It may lead to unbelief as he considers himself beyond the Prophet (a.s.v.). He is forgiven if he does them unintentionally and if he is a good-intentioned person.
For example, in our country, in Turkey, it is believed that Wahhabis do not perform the Sunnats. This is not true. Wahhabis act according to the Hanbali Religious Sect. They did not leave the Sunnats entirely in action. The reason why they are not included into the people of Sunnat is based on their leaving the Sunnat in belief. For instance, they do not believe the Spirituality of our Master (a.s.v.). They say that our Master died and became earth. When they pronounce the formula calling God’s benediction on the Prophet (salawat), they ask whether he hears or not. They exceed the limit that much. They deny the divine Speech and the Sufism. They are Zahiriye Branch. (3)
However, the People of Sunnat, Shia believe that the Spirit of the Prophet (a.s.v.) is alive. They recite the salawat as if he is alive and they believe that he hears them. The extreme Wahhabis do not believe this. Now that, the intellectual Wahhabis of today may believe the spirituality of our Master. It is confirmed with the Book and Sunnat that the spirit of our Prophet (a.s.v.) is alive. There is also an ijma (consensus) of the Awliya (Muslim Saints) and Muslim community because the Spirit, which is the command of Allah, does not die; what dies is the physical body.
The Book and Sunnat consists the religion of Allah. If a person says that he has faith in the Book of Allah and in the beautiful practices of our Prophet, he is a Believer and a Muslim. If he obeys and practices them, he is a pious believer. He is deserved praising.
(3) They accepted the views of Ibni Taymiyya. See Mezhepler Tarihi, Vahhabilik Bahsi, p. 568 (M. Ebu Zehra, Mezhepler Tarihi, Turkish version by Abdulkadir Şener, Hisar Yayın. İstanbul, 1978
Concerning the Religious Sects (Madhhabs);
There were not any religious sects (Madhhabs, early law centers or schools) during the Prophet’s (a.s.v.) time and his exalted Companions’ time. This is reported by History and known by all the scholars. The scholars of Shia and of the people of Sunnat know this. There were some discussions concerning Jurisprudence after the Companions during Tabiin among them; however, they cannot be called as Religious Sects (Madhhabs). The idea of religious sect emerged during Jafar al Mansur from Abbasids, a little after Tabiin (Followers).
They did not get any permission from anywhere. They started an ijtihad (independent or individual judgement) without getting permission from the Prophet (a.s.), from Ahl al Bayt and from the Companions but according to their knowledge by depending on the Koran, Hadiths and the Prophet’s Sunnat. There is no evidence that any of them was permitted neither in Shia nor in Sunni. This is definite.
Ijtihad with “Rey” (opinion or personal judgment in interpreting law, speculation) was permitted. If they do not say their Ray, the dynamism of religion ends. Rey is a different matter, the ijtihad by deduction or analogical reasoning is another matter. The theologians of Islamic Jurisprudence know this. Rey was accepted as deduction afterwards. Rey was existent during the Companions and the Four Caliphs. When the great personalities of the Companion that know the Islamic Law could not find a solution to some matters in the Book and Sunnat, they would use their personal opinions saying “Let it be in this way.”
Meanwhile, there is a very important point. When our Masters, Hz. Abubaqir Sıddıq, Omar Faruk, Osman Zinnureyn would make a decision out of the Book and Sunnat, they absolutely consulted Shah-ı Walayat Aliyyel Murtaza. They asked his opinion for sure because our Prophet taught the explanation and the interpretation of the Book and Sunnat to Ahl al Bayt. This matter has already been confirmed with a hadith:
“Ene medinetül ilmi ve Ali’yyün babuha - I am the city of knowledge and Ali is the door of it.” He even said: “Ye’tiyel bab-Therefore, come to me through that door!” The hadith continues like this. This is definite. (4)
Holy Hz. Abubaqr asked the Ray of Hz. Aliyyel Murtaza when he would make a decision, although he was Amir al Muminin. He accepted that his knowledge, his opinion was certainly correct. He even consulted Shah-ı Walaya Hz. Ali when some clergymen of the people of the Book asked him hard questions concerning spiritual, metaphysical and mystical matters. Hz. Omar did the same thing and Hz. Osman did the same thing as well. All of them asked Hz. Ali’s Rey and they generally decided in the direction of his opinion.
Especially, our Masters Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Omar entirely obeyed him. It is said that Hz. Osman asked the ray of Shah-ı Walayat in a couple of matters, however he did not follow them. He acted in this way for a good cause in the political affairs of that time; but not for his refusal, dislike or opposition against Hz. Imam’s opinion. That is to say, we cannot say that Hz. Osman refused Hz. Ali’s Rey. We consider Hz. Osman free from this.
(4) From Ibn-i Abbas; Thirmizi, sahih, vol 2, p. 399
Suyuti, Camiussağir, vol 1, p. 108
Nishaburi, Munavi, Taberi, Hatibi Baghdadi narrated it.
Then, this knowledge was given to Ahl al Bayt. The knowledge of the Book and Sunnat, the knowledge of Sufism, the knowledge of Faith as well as the knowledge of Jurisprudence-Shariat- were given to them. This knowledge was continued spiritually in Al-i Aba, in the Ahl al Bayt Imams and in the descendants of the Prophet. This is a spiritual matter and very important. Especially, the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams are very important.
However, our Masters 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams could not declare their imamates during Jafari Mansur from Abbasids because of the tyranny of the Umayyad; they kept it secret. For, if they declared their imamates, the Umayyad and Jafari Mansur would kill them.
As a matter of fact, everybody knows what the Umayyad had done to Imam Husayn, Zaynal Abidin, Zayd bin Zaynal Abidin, the holy son of Zaynal Abidin and to the elder brother of Muhammad Baqir. They were murdered by the Umayyad.
Jafari Mansur, the second caliph of the Abbasids (We do not actually call them as a caliph because our Prophet had a hadith “The caliphate will last 30 years then tyranny, monarchy starts”) also murdered the descendants of the Prophet. He murdered Muhammad Nefsi Zeki (the holy son of Imam Ali, Imam Husayn). The reason why Hz. Abu Hanafi was offended to the Abbasids afterwards and the reason why he did not swear fealty to them and died for this aim was that he saw that the Abbasids murdered the descendants of the Prophet same as the Umayyad had done.
For, Abu Hanifa had always been a partisan of the sons of Ali. This is definite. It is written in all the Islamic Jurisprudence books. The people of Sunnat and Shia know this. There is a matter of the hiding of Ahl al Bayt -they had hidden themselves- because if they had come up and spoken they would have been killed by the Kings of the Umayyad and the Abbasids.
Meanwhile, there was an absence due to the disappearance of Ahl al Bayt, and the protection of them by their supporters. At that time, the scholars from Tabiin considered themselves authorized and they made ijtihads of their own.
There may be wrongs or rights in ijtihads. This is accepted by all the mujtahids and religious sects.
We cannot say that a religious sect is a hundred percent correct. This is the opinion of Abu Hanifa as well. The Shafii also agrees with it. In other words, a person may accept or refuse an ijtihad in his own will on condition that he will say, “I believe in the Book and Sunnat.” Apart from this is not the Shariat revealed to man from God anyway. It is not a command revealed from God either. The Book and the Sunnat were descended from the Heaven.
The religious sects are also called as the explained Shariat. That is to say, a person puts forwards his ijtihad as it is in accordance with the Book and Sunnat. Mujtahids may make mistakes in ijtihad. Therefore, none of the ijtihads is a hundred percent correct. And, none of the religious sects can be a hundred percent correct.
Therefore, the Truth (Haq) is hidden in all the religious sects. However, our opinion is, the truth exists more in the religious sects of the People of Sunnat: Abu Hanifa, Shafii, Maliki, Zaydi (we also belong to the Hanafi religious sect). This is what we think! They are more appropriate for the Book and Sunnat. Yet, they may have some mistakes. This is possible because it is not an ijtihad if there is no mistake. It would be a statement of a Prophet then, however they are not a prophet. They themselves confess it as well.
Are the others not appropriate for the Book and Sunnat? There is some suitability in them. We say there are four religious sects; however, there are actually 19 religious sects in the People of the Sunnat. Yavuz Sultan Selim reduced them to four. He abolished the religious sects by his command at that time. There have been four religious sects since Yavuz. There were many religious sects of the people of Sunnat before him. (5)
Shia also accepts the Book and the Sunnat as the proof; they do not accept “deduction by analogy”. They prefer the words of Ahl al Bayt to Deduction. Our conflict with Shia is not because of their preference of the words of Ahl al Bayt. We prefer the words of Ahl al Bayt as well because Ahl al Bayt are the people that know and practice the Koran (the Book) and the Sunnat the best.
(5) Tacu’t Tevarih, Hodja Sadeddin Efendi, vol. 4, p. 171, 254, 299
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs Publications, İstanbul, 1979
Our conflict with Shia starts here: “You say that they are the words of Ahl al Bayt, however, you cannot prove it.” They really cannot prove it; but not all of them. There are some words that they can prove. We also accept them. For instance, they attribute their words to our Master Jafar al Sadıq. Our Master Jafar al Sadıq did not set up a belief. The great scholars of Iran know this.
A person may support any religious sect he likes; however, he must not deny other sects. All of them are based on the Book and Sunnat. The source of all of them is actually the Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet.
A Muslim should not be a fanatic of a sect; he must be broad minded in religious matters.
In fact, if a believer discloses his religious sect or if he does not accept any of the sects, nothing happens to him because he who accepts the Book and the Sunnat is a believer. The religion of Allah consists of the Book and Sunnat. The rest of it is ijtihad or interpretation; therefore, he must not be a fanatic of a certain religious sect. Truth exists in all the religious sects. Ghazzali Hazretleri also agrees with it saying “I witnessed the truth more or less in every religious sect.” All of them are not false. The Mujtahids are not a Prophet so they may not find the Absolute Truth. (6)
There is Rey actually after the Book and Sunnat. The highest of the Rey is in Shah-ı Walaya (Hz. Ali) and in his descendants. We accept their explanation on the Book and Sunnat.
We must accept it because it was commanded by the Prophet. Our Prophet gave the knowledge to Ahl al Bayt.
My brothers! As we explained above, Ijtihads (Madhhabs) are the scientific discussions between Arab and Iran Theologians because they started due to the tyranny of the Umayyad and Abbasids and although their explanations belonged to Ahl al Bayt, they could not do it because of the vital dangers of that time as well as their statements were not declared. In other words, the reason of the Ijtihad besides the Book and Sunnat is the scientific discussions between Arab (Baghdad, Basra, Damascus, Medina, Cairo) Theologians and Iranian (Teheran, Tabriz and Shiraz) Theologians.
Our Ahl al Bayt Masters did not set up a religious sect (Madhhab). 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, especially Jafar al Sadıq Hazretleri did not set up a religious sect; for, they do not surpass the Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet. Their religious sect is the Book and the Sunnat. The religious sect of all of us is in fact the Book of Allah and Sunnat.
(6) In Islam, the State does not have an official Religious Sect. It recognizes right to every religious sect that accepts the Book and Sunna. State gets benefits from the ijtihads of every madhhab that is for the advantage of the society.
Although the Iranian theologians claim that their religious sect was established by Jafar al Sadıq depending on Jafar al Sadıq and 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, they cannot prove it. Today’s intellectuals of Iran also accept that they cannot prove it.
Whether or not it is an ijtihad, a madhhab or a similar concept, they are the scientific discussions, interpretations of the theologians among them. In other words, they are interpretations and one can interpret it as he likes. No fight or argument is needed for this.
All of us believe in the Book and Sunnat, Allah and the Prophet. We are the religious fraternity. We need not argue for this.
Islam is a religion of Oneness-Unity. We must understand this in this way and act in the way of the scholar we believe. One takes ablution, performs his ritual way according to that on condition that we unite in the obligatory duties and Sunnat. We unite in the word of Unity. Everyone who says “Lâilahe illallah, Muhammedun Resullullah” and “the Koran is the book of Allah” is a Muslim. 8 million people from the East to the West are all Muslims if they do not deny the Book and Sunnat; we do not interfere them and it is none of our business.
One of the main reasons of Ijtihads, mentioned above, is: The Book of Allah was written during our Prophet’s (A.S.V.) time. That is to say, our Prophet wrote the revelation of Allah. He even said: “Take down the knowledge in writing.” (7)
It was written on leathers, on some big bones and on the flat surface of rocks. It was collected after dividing sections during our Master Hz. Abu Baqir. Our Master, Hz. Ali took part in this task as well.
Our Master Hz. Ali confirmed twice that the Koran consisted of 30 sections. All the religious sects accept this. The Christians do not object to it either. It is known by everybody that this Koran is the same Koran that Hz. Muhammad had it written. During Hz. Osman’s time, 30 sections were collected together and sewn as a cloth case in which the Koran was kept.
The Koran is definite. You cannot argue upon the Koran. It is a definite proof. It is absolute.
As for the Sunnat, the Sunnat was also absolute during the Prophet (A.S.V.). Sunnat was also a definite proof like the Koran during our Prophet’s time (A.S.V.). For, the Companions-believers saw the Prophet themselves and they would perform in the same way our Prophet did.
(7) Kırk Mevzuda Kırk hadis, Mehmet Emre, p. 196, Osmanlı Yayınları, Feyzu’l Kadir, v. 4 p. 530
However, when the Companions died after our Prophet (A.S.V.), there were some rumors on the Sunnat because the Sunnat of the Prophet was not written. The Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.V.) did not come to us in writing like the Koran. The Companions told them to their sons and to the Muslims that saw them, such as how they perform their ritual prayers or how they fast, the way they worship.
Sunnat was transmitted to us orally. Ijtihad, Madhhab emerged mostly due to this. For, a scholar says he heard from the Companions in this way, our Prophet used to take ablution like this; another says he heard in another way. There were not any written documents either.
In the transmission of Sunnat, there is a little bit conjecture or supposition. It is not a hundred percent definite like the Koran. However, it was a hundred percent definite during The Prophet’s time (A.S.W.).
In the Sunnat that was reported, there is no conjecture (Tevatür). (8)
As for the Sacred Hadiths; The hadiths did not come from the Prophet (A.S.) in writing. They came from the Companions in narration. A hundred years after the Companions, holy hadiths started to be collected. The science of “Usul- u Hadis” was established.
(8) Tevatür: A narration or tradition of a congregation whose agreement upon lies is impossible rationally.
There were fake hadiths, weak hadiths, missing hadiths and false hadiths besides genuine hadiths.
The hadith matter is very important. We do not want to say much in this matter. However, we would like to point out as much as follows: For example: Our Master Hz. Ali would not accept the hadith that was not told or approved by two Companions. He even would make any Companion apart from Hz. Abu Baqir Sıddıq (because Hz. Abu Baqir Sıddıq would never tell a lie) swear on the Koran when he told a hadith although he was a Companion of the Prophet (a.s.v.). The Sacred Hadith matter is that much important because he says: “The Prophet said so”. When the Prophet said something, it is like the word of Allah. It is not the word of Allah but it is close to it.
The hadiths cannot be contrary to the Koran. There were such hadiths that they would abolish the verses of the Koran. Some hadiths were missing, some had additions and some were contrary to the mind and science. In this matter, Hz Omar had said: “How should I know? Did you memorize this hadith well? Did you keep all of it in mind? You are an old person, you may tell missing hadiths and I cannot accept them!” He was angry with Abu Hurayra concerning this and it is written in the Jurisprudence books as well. He blamed him for narrating too many hadiths and Abu Hurayra Hazretleri had not narrated any more hadiths until Hz. Omar died.
Hadith is a wide subject. There are hadith books called “Usul u Hadis”. We would shortly say in hadith matter:
Hadiths must be accurate. It must not be contrary to the Koran, to the intellect and to the nature and to the laws of the Universe because our Prophet (A.S.) never says such a hadith contrary to them.
We accept the accurate or strong hadiths when they are told or narrated by the two Companions that know Jurisprudence Science well. You can issue a decision with them and you can give fatwa with them (either concerning faith or action).
There are also weak ahadis. You cannot issue a decision with them. The weak hadiths are the “Habir-i Vahid”. (9)
The weak hadiths cannot be denied, they can be benefited. However, you cannot issue decision and give fatwa with them.
Fatwa can be given with the Glorious Koran, glorious verses, traditions and with the strong hadith narrated by the companions or disciples of the Prophet. Those who have concerns in this matter can consult Usul u Hadith science books.
(9) Haber-i Vahid: The hadith or message that does not have the qualities of a well-known hadith. The hadith that has not reached the degree of a tradition.
Sunnat is very close to the definite proof. However, it is not as definite as the Koran. (10)
The conflicts, ijtihads emerged due to the traditions in the confirmation of the Sunnat. We respect the cordial ones. Ijtihad is also necessary. Interpretation is also necessary. As the poet Fuzuli says:
“The aim of everybody is one,
The traditions are various.”
The aim is the Unity: “La ilahe illallah, Muhammadün Resullullah.”
There is no Madhhab actually. None of the Mujtahids said, “I established a Madhhab.” They said: “I made my independent interpretation in this way. I understood this much. There can be errors in ijtihads. You are free to follow ours or theirs.” Abu Hanifa Hazretleri even said: “I found this much; if anyone brings stronger proofs, I will not insist on my opinion, I will give it up.”
Religious sects became widespread afterwards especially during Jafar al Mansur and Harun Rashid from the Abbasids. There are not religious sects in Islam; however, there are interpretations, independent reasoning (ijtihads), personal opinions (rey) and commentaries.
The interpretations rose when deduction by analogy, consensus of the community and the oppositions in the narration of the Sunnat started after the Companions. Some ijtihads were made due to them.
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(10) Lack of confidence is not towards the Sunnat itself but towards to narrators.
According to the people of Sunnat, everybody, a mujtahid that has confidence in his knowledge and knows the Book and Sunnat and Arabic very well can perform ijtihads. Our contemporary scholars say that the gate of ijtihad is not closed and it actually continues. It also continues in Iran. However, the people of Sunnat somehow followed those four religious sects after Yavuz. There were not anymore mujtahids afterwards. It may be more beneficial in this way. It was good or bad, we cannot know this. We leave this to the experts of this matter.
There are not only four religious sects in Ahl al Sunnat. As we mentioned above, 19-20 religious sects were established. Interpretations continue. The interpretation in accordance with the Book and Sunnat continue. They are the Ahl al Sunnat Madhhabs. They have proofs.
Ahl al Sunnat says that they depend on the Book and Sunnat. We consult the opinion of the Umma if any thing is not written in the Book and Sunnat.
However, some scholars of Ahl al Sunnat do not accept the consensus of the community. They say that the consensus of the community is impossible. They say that it is not seen until now that the mujtahid scholars all over the world will come together and they will agree on a matter. Now that all the scholars may come together as they can travel by airplanes and the transportation has become easier. Ahl al Sunnat did not close the ijtihad. However, they say ijtihad is closed (There is no longer any room for innovation in establishing a religious precedent). There are some people who explain or interpret depending on them.
There is also deduction by analogy among the proofs of Ahl al Bayt. As it is known, deduction method came from Greece. It has come to Philosophy, Theology and Jurisprudence. It is the deduction that emerged from the Aristotle Logic: from either deduction to induction or from induction to deduction. They are the methods of Aristotle Logic. This is the deductive reasoning and it is applied in the jurisprudence as well.
Some of the Ahl al Sunnat accepted deductive reasoning. However, Hz. Ahmed b. Hanbel does not accept deduction. He says that he prefers deduction if he really needs it so long as there is the Book and Sunnat. He does not accept the consensus of the community either.
Shia does not accept deductive reasoning. They accept the Book and Sunnat. They say that they do not accept deduction because deduction means to establish Sharia using mind. They also say that Shariat, Jurisprudence and Religion are revealed from the Heaven and religion has been completed. They say they prefer the words of Ahl al Bayt, who knows the Book and Sunnat the best, when they cannot find something in the Book and Sunnat. They say this, however, the Shii scholars continue ijtihads.
Abu Hanifa Hazretleri did not insist on this deduction matter. Imam Muhammad Baqır told Hz. Imam Jafar al Sadıq: “I have not used the method of deduction.” He even said that he would have said such and such if he had made deduction by analogy.
Although Hanafiya knows this, he keeps on considering deduction by analogy as a proof. The arguments between Abu Hanifa and Jafar al Sadıq and Muhammad Baqir are written in the books as well. (11)
Hz. Malik had taken 18-20 proofs as a source while he is making ijtihads. He does not have only the Book, Sunnat, Ijma, Kiyas but he has many proofs such as Seddi Zerai, Mesaili-i Mürsele. He accepted the actions of the people of Medina as a proof. He calls them as the sons of the Companions. He says that their father had seen the Prophet acting in this way. What can we say to Hz. Malik? The source is not only one; there are many sources.
Ijtihads apart from Ahl al Sunnat -we generally call them as Shia-: Shia brought about five or six interpretations among themselves. In other words, there are about five or six Madhabs in Shia. Shia is not consisted only of Jafaris. It is actually Imamiya. Imamiya is also divided to two: The people who support the 12 Imams (The Twelvers) and Ismailies.
There is also Zaydi sect in Yemen region. They are also Shia. Their source is also the Book and Sunnat. They are based on the Book and Sunnat. Zaydiya Jurisprudence is very close to Hanafi Jurisprudence.
(11) Especially, the book called “Ebu Hanife” by Muhammed Ebu Zehra can be consulted for this. (Ebu Hanife, M. Ebu Zehra. Turkish version by Osman Keskinoğlu, Üçdal Neşriyat, İstanbul, Istanbul, 1966)
Shia is Muslim and supports the Unity as they had taken the Book and Sunnat as a basis. We cannot say anything for them, as they are our brothers of the same religion.
He who believes in the Book and Sunnat is a believer. The proofs besides them are not that much important.
The proofs of Shia are three. They say that they accept the Book of Allah, the Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet as a proof. They also say that they prefer the words of Hz. Ali and of the 12 Imams, generally the words of Jafar al Sadıq to deduction by analogy, to the consensus of the community and to the other proofs as well. They mostly accept the words of Jafar al Sadıq as a proof. They believe in his interpretations of the Book and Sunnat and they accept his personal judgments.
However, as we mentioned above, there is a problem in the confirmation of the words of the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams. If they definitely confirm them, we also follow the words of Ahl al Bayt because the interpretation and personal judgments of Ahl al Bayt concerning the Book and Sunnat are superior to all of them. Other mujtahids are weaker than they are. This is definite. We do not object to this. However, Ahl al Bayt Imams were hidden because of the danger of their lives.
Why did the scholars make interpretations? When Ahl al Bayt did not speak, they spoke. Ahl al Bayt kept their Imamates secret for the fear of their death and they (perhaps) kept their identities and residences secret. They were threatened by death.
However, this does not mean that 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams said nothing. They spoke. Some of their words were proved and we prefer the ones that were proved.
CAN THERE BE RELIGIOUS SECTS IN BELIEF? WHEN DID SUFISM, PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY APPEAR IN ISLAM?
Firstly, we would like to mention “belief”. Belief is concerned with “faith. It is not concerned with deeds, with practical ijtihads and religious sects. For example, Abu Hanifa, Shafii Hazretleri and other mujtahids were not interested in “belief.” They were only interested in the science of Jurisprudence or the science of Shariat.
Belief is related with faith. The belief in faith cannot be as one- two- three- five. It should not be like that because belief is only one. There cannot be conflict or disagreement in belief. The conflict in belief is corruption.
Belief is the basis of Islam. It can be called as “Usul-u Din”. It is concerned with “Amentü- the Articles of faith”. It is related with metaphysical realities such as the existence of Allah, the Unity of Allah, His attributes, His deeds, His works; also with the Apostleship, Sainthood, Prophethood, the subjects of Angels, Spirit, Destiny, Divine Books and Divine Speech. Therefore, the Religious sect (Madhhab) in belief is only one.
Belief means to have faith, which means: whatever is told about the belief by the Glorious Koran and by the Prophet (a.s.v.) is true.
Accepting another belief of faith besides them means to oppose the Book and Sunnat. The belief of all the Prophets from Adam until our Prophet (A.S.) is the same. It does not change.
There is no duality in faith because something is either “truth” or falsehood” in faith. There cannot be errors in the matters concerning the faith because the truth is unchangeable.
The realities about faith are written in the Glorious Koran of Allah. Sufism is also in the Koran. It can only be interpreted by the Prophet (A.S.). After the Prophet (A.S.), the authorities in Science: firstly Imam Aliyyel Murtaza, Shah-ı Walayat, Ahl al Bayt, the great personalities of the Companions, the great Friends of Allah,…the Gnostics know this.
There were arguments of Jurisprudence and Logic matters that passed from Greece after our master Prophet (A.S.V.) and the Companions. It was the Aristotle Logic and Greek Philosophy. The books about these subjects were translated into Arabic during the Umayyad and Abbasids’ times. As it is known, great schools at which Philosophy and Theology were studied and various ideas took place had been opened at that time.
What is this science of Theology? The science of Theology is also Philosophy because the principle of it was also based on Aristotle Logic. In other words, belief was set up depending on Logic rationally. They attempted to prove the oneness, the eternity, the attributes, the Essence, the works and the deeds of Allah rationally.
Islam Philosophers say the truth cannot be known beforehand. It is learnt afterwards. In other words, mind-reason looks for the truth, finds it and proves it. Philosophy starts directly from the unknown and tries to find the truth. The truth cannot be known beforehand. The reason (mind) learns it afterwards. Reason will look for the truth and will find it rationally
According to the principles of Logic under the influence of Greek Philosophy (they must have liked it very much at that time as if it is a very important thing).
We can name Farabi, Ibni Sina, Ibni Rushd etc. among Islam Philosophers. Their aim was to prove Allah, the Oneness of Allah, the eternity of Allah and also to prove that the Universe was created afterwards. Meanwhile Dehris (Materialists) emerged. This was the situation of Philosophy.
As for Theology, the point that theologians diverged from Philosophers is: Theologians say that the truth can be known beforehand (in advance). For instance, they say the Prophets reported the truth in advance. However, we will prove these realities according to Logic within these principles rationally. This is the point that they cannot agree on.
Theologians start this subject using Logic same as Philosophers. They attempt to prove the Existence of Allah, His attributes, His eternity, His deeds, the destiny subject by using mind.
They have a specialty: They do not deny revelation. Moreover, they say that revelation is true and truth is reported by revelation. However, they say that they want to prove this using mind. They are also philosophers because their principles are Philosophy and Logic.
It is said that some theologians accept revelation. They accept that the truth is reported before. If they had accepted revelation, why had they attempted to prove it using mind, rationally again.
All the realities of faith: the essence of Allah, His attributes, His actions, His works, faith matters and metaphysical realities such as: spirit, Angels, Apostleship, Sainthood are all written in the Glorious Koran. Their explanations are also written in the Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.V.), in the Sacred Hadiths. Shah-i Walayat, Ahl al Bayt, Abu Baqir Hazretleri had also explained them. The Companions and the Sufis have explanations as well.
Why are they trying to prove them using mind although there are above explanations?
Whatever was the belief of the Companion, it was the belief of the Prophet (A.S.).
There is an important point here: Theologians actually had not accepted divine revelation. They said it was reported before but they would prove it using mind. Their principles were the same with the principles of Philosophy. They are not different.
They want to show as if theologians are different from Philosophers. No! They are also philosophers as they start with Logic, using reason and according to the Aristotle Logic.
Now, we will stress on an important matter about Philosophy and Theology. They were divided into various branches. If we take Mutazila as an example, some of them are philosophers, some are theologians. As a matter of fact, Hasan Ashary was Mutazila before. He was a student of Ali Jubai, a great theological scholar from Mutazila. He diverged from him afterwards in some matters. Now, Ahl al Sunnat says: Ashary established the belief of Ahl al Sunnat (Madhhab). How did he establish it? He established it using mind. In other words, he attempted to prove the realities of the Koran rationally, according to the principles of Aristotle Logic.
However, this is wrong according to the People of Sufism. One cannot explain the metaphysical realities with the principles of Philosophy. You reach a wrong result then.
We see a conflict between Philosophers and Theologians. Where does this conflict emerge? It emerges from their starting point of rationalism and their using the principles of Logic. (12)
They say that they can prove the realities using practical mind. However, we see that one starts using the same rule according to Aristotle Logic and he reaches a decision and he says that it is like this.
Another theologian starts with the same principles but he reaches a different judgment at the end. The principles are the same but the decisions or judgments are the opposite of each other. They try to disprove their judgments.
Another theologian or philosopher comes up and starts with the same rule of Theology and Philosophy according to the Aristotle Logic (because the Aristotle Logic is the basis for them and they cannot do without it). He reaches a third judgment. He also disproves the other one. They keep on disproving their judgments. This contradiction does not change.
How shall we explain the mystery of divine revelation using partial intellect, with the rationalism, which is the principle of Philosophy and Theology?
If we try to prove the metaphysical realities such as, “Spirit, What is spirit? What is Angel? , What is Allah? , What is the Being? What does the necessity of the Existence mean? What is the probability of the Existence? Eternity, Being Created afterwards”, with practical mind, according to the Aristotle’s Logic, we cannot reach a decision because they disprove each other. And Philosophy continues. They keep on disproving each other’s opinions and judgments.
(12) Logic was studied in all the Islamic Madrasas.
If the Logic rules of Aristotle, in other words, proving the deduction from induction and from induction the deduction had been a strong rule, the judgment that all of them had reached would have been the same.
Why are they reaching different judgments? Their principle is the same, their judgements or decisions are different. What they call as “A”, others prove it as “B”. Others prove what the others call as “B” as “C”.
The principle is one; the judgements are various. The conflicts, the plurality in belief starts here.
However, there is also an opinion of Sufis- of Selef-i Salihin. Selef
(Sufis are the great personalities such as the Gnostics, the Friends of God).
They say: Partial intellect cannot solve the concerning reality of divine revelation about divinity unless it makes a contact with the Holy Spirit without learning the realities from Him or unless he learns them personally from the Prophet himself (if he is alive) from His Spirit or from a great person like Hz. Ali, Hz. Abu Baqir, whom he trained. (13)
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(13) Ghazzali Hazretleri also thinks like this.
The realities of faith are known only by “Universal Intellect”.
We are obliged to believe them. People are bound to believe in the realities of the Koran and the Prophet (A.S.) reported. The Wise know this. Those who enter this path learn them through the conversation of the Prophet or when their Spirit becomes holy; when they reach the Prophet (A.S.).
There is also “Fenafi Resul-Annihilation in the Spirit of the Prophet”: If the spirit of a person is annihilated in the Spirit of the Prophet (A.S.), his mind and spirit start to receive knowledge and wisdom from the Prophet (A.S.). For example, when you dig a well deeply, you find the level of the sea. The water that comes from the well is now the water of the sea. It does not look like other waters.
The belief of Mutazila and Ahl al Sunnat: Mutazila is a Theologian. He is a rationalist and logician. There is an argument among the scholars of Theology about the Essence and Attributions of Allah. The majority of Mutazila says that Allah has no attributes. Allah is exempt from attributes.
However, some theologians come up and prove the attributes of Allah. They say Allah has attributes and they exaggerate it.
Theologians are divided into two groups as the supporters of the Essence (the person) of Allah and the supporters of the Attributes of Allah.
The supporters of His Person deny the Attribute of Allah. The supporters of His Attribute say such attributes that they replace the Attribute of Allah with His person and they do excessive comparison, for, there is comparison or likening in the attribute but when they do it extremely, they represent Allah as a human or in the form of a human being. They are called as “Müteshebbihe”.
The supporters of the Person of Allah deny the Attribute of Allah. They deny the Speech attribute of Allah as well. They say: “the word of Allah is a creature (Allah created His word)”. As they do not accept the attribute of Allah, they do not accept the Divine speech as an attribute and they say: “Allah has no attributes; therefore Allah does not have an attribute of Speech.”
The supporters of His attributes said:
“No! Allah has attributes and the speech of Allah is eternal.”
The conflict or argument starts at this point. Theological matters especially start at this point.
As for the Ashary and Maturidy: Asharies proved both the Person and the attribute of Allah. They found a way between the supporters of His Person and His Attributes. They chose a moderate way or staked a middle ground. When some accepted the Attribute of Allah and as if they abolished the Person of Allah and when others denied the Speech of Allah by abstracting His essence from His Attribute (such as they say nobody can ever make contact with Allah. Allah cannot be seen, heard or spoken. They are naturally nonsense.) Ashary wanted to choose the middle way.
Ashary believes in Attributes. They say: “The divine speech of Allah is eternal. Allah has a name ‘the One that speaks (Mutakallim)’, Allah is the One who sees, who hears and who speaks.” He also said about His Attributes: “Allah has attributes. However, the Attribute of Allah is neither His Person nor it is apart from His person.” This is disputable but most of the Madrasa scholars generally accepted this.
Maturidy accepts the Attribute; however, he says the Attribute is same as the Person of Allah.
Sufis also accepts the Attribute of Allah but they say:
“The Attribute of Allah is personally same as the Person of Allah.”
In other words, whatever is called with a beautiful name is Allah. There are not two separate beings as Allah and His Attributes. The eternal One is sole. The eternal Being who is the sole Existence is the Absolute Existence. The Attribute of Allah is also Allah Himself because the Attribute of Allah is Divine Light; Allah is Divine Light as well.
“Allahu nurussemavati ve’l ard- The Divine Light of the Heavens and earth is Allah.” (Al-Nur, 35) (14)
Then, Divine Light is One. There cannot be two divine Lights.
(14) See Sırrül Esrar, Sayyid Abdulkadir Geylani Hazretleri. (Translated by Abdulkadir Akçiçek, İstanbul-1968)
The source of Divine Light is Allah. The Gnostics of Sufi separate from Ashary here.
Maturidy came 50 years later than Ashary. The scholars of Hanafiya supported Maturidy and established Maturidiye belief. The Madhhab was actually founded by the Scholars of Hanafi. They are the theologians of Hanafi Scholars. It may be called as “Hanafiye Belief” as well.
Maturidiye is also close to Ashary in some respect. However, there is one difference.
Hasan al Ashari said the Absolute Truth cannot be known by reason. He said Allah reports good and evil beforehand; however, reason cannot determine good and evil. However, Maturidies say reason (mind, intellect) knows good and evil beforehand, but this is an extremity, for; Maturidies are more rationalist than Ashary. He pays more importance to Partial Intellect. They mean to say “the Absolute Truth is known by reason”.
Let us indicate here, are the Sufis not rationalist? Sufis also believe in reason-mind- but they say the realities of faith cannot be solved by partial mind.
“That is Allah’s promise; Allah will never break His promise (in other words, His promise of metaphysical life, the life of the next world is true). Yet most men do not know it. They know the outward show of this life (in other words, they know physical sciences), but of the life to come they are heedless (they do not know the qualities of Allah, the world of Decree, Spirit, Angels, Genies, Satan, Melekut, Paradise, the Hell).” (Rum, 6-7)
The majority of people refer to the people who have partial-normal intellect. If metaphysical realities; the reality and the qualities of Allah, the realities of the world of Decree had been known by the partial intellect, our Most High Lord Allah would not have reported these realities by sending the Prophets. Everybody would know these realities using partial intellect and through deduction by analogy. There would be no need for the Prophet, for the Divine Knowledge and revelation then.
The above glorious verse clearly shows that Religion-Islam- is not absolutely contrary to intellect-mind. However, it has drawn the border, the limit of mind. You can know the physical realities-knowledge by using the partial intellect (by imperfect mind). Yet, He assigned the metaphysical realities to the Prophet and his spiritual heirs (Gnostics), who have the Universal-Perfect Mind. He did not give the metaphysical knowledge (about the next world) to the partial intellect.
Allah did a favor in order not to deprive people from these metaphysical knowledge (the knowledge concerning the next world) and showed honor by sending His revelation, His Prophet, His Gnostics. For, Allah is very courteous and very Just.
He enabled the people that really believe in His prophets and Books to benefit from the hidden spiritual Knowledge (Sciences) and from metaphysical realities. We must thank Him very much.
As a matter of fact, Ghazzali wanted to say this. Ghazzali Hazretleri is rationalist in physical sciences. He attached importance to mind in the matters concerning Jurisprudence. He did not reject the role of mind, Ray and Ijtihad in Jurisprudence (Law).
Ghazzali said that metaphysical realities could not be entirely known by partial intellect. They are known only by great Islam Mystics (Sufis); and he also entered their religious path.
His opponents are changing this subject and spread that Ghazzali has rejected mind-reason. These slanderers are materialists. They are also the fathers of ideas of the strayed fractions that consider the Book and Sunnat as the only proof in metaphysical (belief) matters and deny Sufis and the Friends of God who claim that the reality of it can only be learnt by the help of the teaching of the supreme spirit. Religious officials (official expounders of Mohammedan Law-Muftis and Preachers), majority of whom are Hanafi and a few of whom are Shafii, have generally accepted the Maturidiye and Ashariya beliefs and they continue this traditionally. They do not support Ghazzali though they do not deny Ghazzali and his religious path. However, our people know Ghazzali mostly and they have preferred the mystical path of Ghazzali. Our Ahl al Sunnat people have accepted the belief of Ghazzali and his precedents.
Yet, there is a contradiction. Our materialist writers and artists blame our religious officials by being dogmatic and not being rationalist. Just on the contrary, Ashary and Maturidies are rationalists and logical. They accepted Theological Doctrines that depend on Philosophy and Logic, a kind of Philosophy. They support Logic and rationalism in the matters concerning belief. Logic lessons take the first place in Madrasas and it is continuing in Theology.
Although materialists criticize Ghazzali and Sufis, they may be right to their own part because they do not believe in the Holy Books, the Prophets and the Friends of Allah anyway. They do not believe in spirituality. There is no such a thing as metaphysical life for them. They want the explanations of everything through mind, reason and logic.
Asharies, Maturidies and Mutazila establish belief according to Theoretical Mind (according to the principles of Logic) by deduction. (15)
(15) Therefore, we say materialist should not pick a quarrel with rationalist religious officials in Islam. These materialists may either be the ones who do not have Islamic Knowledge or the intellectuals who declare themselves as an intellectual.
Sufis say that the truth of realities of belief can only be understood by the perfect Mind that Allah bestowed on His Prophets. “The truth of the Articles of Faith” cannot be known by ordinary mind that everybody has. The Prophets, the Wise and the Friends of God understand them and others accept them same as they say to them.
In other words, we all will believe in the six articles of faith: “Amentü billahi ve Melaiketihi ve Kütibihi ve Resulihi ve’l yevm’il Ahiri vebi’l Kaderi- I believe in Allah, in His Angels, in His books, in His Prophets, in the day of Judgement and in fate.”
However, the explanation (the interpretation) of it is made by some people according to Ashary, by some according to Maturidy, by some Jubai, some Mutazila, by some Ismaili, by some Batiniye and by others according to Zahiriye. The Religious sects of belief emerged due to this.
As we said before, they are the schools (religious sects, early law centres, interpretations) of belief established 100-150 years after the Prophet (A.S.). They are the interpretations of these people.
Some of the people of Sunnat accepted the opinions of Ashary and Maturidy. Most of the scholars of Hanafiye and Shafiiye accepted this.
Ordinary people have no idea about this. People do not know Maturidy and Ashary. If they are told to people, they get confused and go astray.
The belief of Religious sects is a subject among the scholars of Madrasa. It is the religious sect of the scholars. People do not know them.
The community-people- of Muhammad are not obliged to learn this. They read the articles of Faith and they confirm them. They say they believe in the same way as Allah, His Prophet (A.S.) and the Friends of Allah. That is all. They say Allah is One and the Prophet is true.
Most of the Ahl al Sunnat Scholars made the doctrines of rationalist Ashary and Maturidy, which are originally theological and philosophical and depend on Aristotle Logic, a religious sect (Madhhab). However, Ashariya and Maturidiye are a little close to Sufism. They are rationalist but not mystics although they do not deny mysticism. They are not interested in spiritualism. They are not a Friend of God (protégés) either. They are rationalist, logician scholars of Theology (Theologians have not followed the path of Sufis).
However, Ahl al Sunnat has accepted another sect in faith: Selefiyyun Madhhab.
Selefiye: The belief of the Companions and of their followers. The path of Sufism.
What we call as Selef or Selefiye is not the Selefiye Madhhab that Ibni Taymiyya established.
What we call as Selef is the belief of the Prophet’s Companions even before the Religious sects were established. Our Four Mujtahids are also from them. It is the teaching of Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir, the teaching of the Companions. It is the branch of belief that comes by way of Hasan al Basri. They are the branches of Sufism that come from them.
However, Ibni Taymiyya denies not only the Philosophy and Theology but also Sufism and the system of spiritual journey of the Friends of God. They do not accept the hidden meanings of the Koran and of the hadiths. They belong to Zahiriye Branch and they say the Koran cannot be explained.
Yet, the spiritual knowledge-to know God, to make the remembrance of God, contemplation, following the people that are close to Allah, Wisdom, Love, metaphysical realities and the reality of them- can be known by the learned men in Spiritual Knowledge and this is confirmed with the Koran.
Those that follow Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir (Firstly, Hasan al Basri Hazretleri) are great Sufi scholars; all of them are the Friends of God. Twelve Ahl al Bayt Imams and Four Madhhab Imams are included in them.
Hazrat Ghazzali had not accepted Philosophical, Theological belief. However, he accepted the Ijtihad with Rey- deduction by analogy.
He accepted the method of Sufis in belief. Sufis are in the path of Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Abu Baqir and Hasan al Basri. In other words, they follow the Companions, Tabiin and Imam Hasan in belief.
The Selefis who went astray appeared in the years 400 (1000 A.D.). Ghazzali Hazretleri refuted their rejection of the Path of Mysticism by only supporting the Book and Sunnat. Ghazzali refused the methods of Philosophers and Theologians as well.
Ghazzali had refuted by rejecting the opinion of the wrong Selefis “The Koran cannot be explained”. He did not follow Ashary and Maturidy either. (16)
In 700 in the Muslim Calender (1300 A.D.), Ibni Taymiyya wanted to liven up the wrong Selefi opinion that emerged in 400 and that was refuted by Ghazzali. Ibni Taymiyya refused the expounders of Jurisprudence, Philosophers and Theologians that lived before him for 700 years. He claimed that he only knew the reality by opposing the spiritual path of Sufis who were real Selefi Salihin. He was the arrogant person who claimed that he was the only person who knew reality in spite of all these scholars and he overrated himself enormously and wanted to monopolize knowledge. He denied thousands of Islam scholars of 700 years and their methods.
This means he claims that only he knows the Truth. This is the greatest error. If a scholar claims that only he knows the Truth and if he rejects thousands of scholars and their methods, it means that he knows himself a kind of a Prophet.
(16) M. Abu Zehra, Mezhepler Tarihi, pp. 210, 211, 243, 244, 245
Nobody can monopolize the Truth (the knowledge of Haq) after our Prophet (A.S.)
Every scholar of Islam can bring opinions. People accept or reject whatever they like. The person who rejects all of them is the greatest wrongdoer. It means to hinder the development of Religion and to destroy the dynamism of Religion.
In fact, Ibni Taymiyya is accepted as an adherent of the Religious Sect of Ibni Hazm, who was of Umayyad origin, an opponent of Ahl al Bayt and the founder of Zahiriye Madhhab because he liked his opinions and he separated from Ahmed Bin Hanbel Hazretleri due to this.
Ahmed bin Hanbel Hazretleri is a lover of Ahl al Bayt. He wrote the hadith that Ahl al Bayt was Hazrat Ali, Fatimatüzzehra, Hasan and Husayn, in his book called Musned. Many other hadiths about the superiority of Hz. Ali and Ahl al Bayt are written in his book. This great person did not reject the consensus of community but he only said that it was impossible. Today there are airplanes and the meeting of the mujtahids is possible. He did not reject deduction by analogy completely but he did not accept it unless he is in difficulty. Actually, the Mujtahids of Ahl al Sunnat do not regard deduction by analogy if they are not in difficulty. They prefer hadiths and ray.
Ahmed bin Hanbel also accepts the assertions of Ahl al Bayt and the Companions. In this situation, how can Ibn Taymiyya and his followers, who reject and deny the deduction in Jurisprudence, Ray, the assertions of Ahl al Bayt and the Companions, the consensus of community, Islam Philosophy, Theology and all their judgments and Sufism, which is a path of real Selefi Salihin, be Hanbaly?
All of them are the followers of pervert Ibni Hazım, who is the founder of Zahiriye Sect.
Ibni Taymiyya, who is the continuation of Ibni Hazım, not only denied the methods and beliefs of all the former Islam philosophers (Islam Philosophers, Theologians and Sufis) in Usul u Din, but also he denied the methods, proofs and ijtihads of all the former Islam Mujtahids in the matters concerning Islamic Law , which is Füruu Din.
This causes such a situation that it prevents the improvement of religion. It puts Islam in a fridge and freezes ijtihads and opinions. A very conservative circumstance rises. All kinds of development and improvement are hindered then. Any kind of resolution, however much it is good and compulsory is prevented.
When the development is prevented, the opinion and law that develop on the other side refutes the theory of Islam religion and the Islamic Jurisprudence, or the value and the meaning of Islam religion decreases at the sight of humanity, in the opinions of people. They regard Islam as reactionary attitudes and Muslims as dangerous fanatics then.
It will not be possible to defend the religion again and it will not be effective however much it is defended. (17)
The path of Sufism involves the teachings of the Prophet’s Companions, Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir. In other words, they are the realities of faith that they teach and this is called as Wisdom and reality in Sufism.
Selef: They are the Mystics, the Wise and all the Friends of God. They are the great personalities of Religion even before Mutazila, Ashary and Maturidy Religious sects were established. They had seen the Companions of the Prophet and had received the mystical knowledge and education. They are generally the followers of Hasan al Basri. Sufism comes from him.
We would like to explain here that Ashary and Maturidy had come after Imam Hanafi and Imam Shafii.
(17) As a result of this, Muslims get weaken. They lose their state and countries. If a nation loses their state and country, its religion is also annihilated (like the Islamic nations in Russia.) Therefore, the British and
American governments and Christians support the conservative followers of Ibni Taymiyya and Zahiris fiercely.
Their aim is to annihilate Islam Religion. Then, the Church completes its duty of annihilating Islam Religion of 1400 years. We only remind this!
For example, Abu Hanifa says, “If I had not seen Jafar al Sadıq, I would have been perished.” In other words, he says he had learnt the realities of faith from him.
All the founders of Four Madhhabs are the supporters of Ahl al Bayt. They love Ahl al Bayt very much. They suffered from the Umayyad and Abbasid very much for this reason. This is true! They are the students of them in the science of Jurisprudence.
As we have already said at the beginning, the matters concerning belief and faith have no relations with Jurisprudence, worships and Four Madhhabs.
Selefiyyun-the Sufis, Wise Friends of God do not accept to explain the belief and faith matters using abstract (partial) intellect according to the Aristotle logic. This was done by Muslim theologians and philosophers. During Abbasids, 100 years after our Prophet, The Madhhabs of belief were re-established.
Selef (the Wise) explain and interpret the realities of faith reported by glorious verses and hadiths. They do not attempt to establish belief like theologians rationally using partial intellect and Logic. (18)
There are also Batinites from Ismailiye Religious sect. They say the Koran has esoteric, hidden, inner meanings. This is wrong too. The Batinite Branch of Ismailiye does extreme comparisons while interpreting verses interiorly and He becomes like a solid body (personification rises) and they embody Him.
This is also formalism and it is paganism on account of this.
The Koran and the hadiths have both exoteric (literal) and esoteric (inner) meanings. There are interpretations and interpreters of both the literal and inner (spiritual) meanings.
For example, Allah talks about His face, eyes and His hands in the Koran, and He says He sat on the throne.
(18) Nowadays, the New Zahiriye (the supporters of Taymiyya) say they are Selefis. They deny all the Madhhabs of Jurisprudence, the Madhhabs of Theology, Philosophy and Sufism. They say the Koran, Hadiths and Sacred hadiths do not have hidden or spiritual meanings. They are not Selef but a kind of externalists.
According to Ibni Taymiyya, the Koran cannot be explained. Its Arabic can be read or translated. That is all! They deny the expounders of it saying this. However, they explain it themselves. In other words, it is permitted to them but not permitted for others. They try to monopolize the knowledge themselves.
“Errahmanü arşisteva - The Merciful has encompassed the Throne.” (Ta Ha, 5)
There are similar metaphorical verses like this. If these verses are not explained or interpreted, they embody Allah.
Embodying Allah is paganism. Therefore, Sufis, Ghazzali and the great scholars of Religion agree that the Koran must certainly be interpreted and it has hidden, spiritual meanings. The only scholar that objects to this agreement is Ibni Taymiyya.
This is what the Sufis, the Friends of God, who are the real Selef, the Ahl al Sunnat and Shia accept. This is what is true!
Batinities and externalists are the minorities that went excess in both ways.
The proof of the Selef, who are the Wise, and of their followers is the verses and sacred hadiths. The great expounders of it are our Prophet (A.S.) and his exalted Companions and those who learnt from them. They are the interpreters and expounders of belief. They do not attempt to establish belief.
In other words, in belief whatever the Koran and the Sacred hadiths report is true. All these matters of belief have already been written in the Koran and in the hadiths. They can be explained only by our Prophet (A.S.), by the Gnostics, who are the spiritual inheritors of the Prophet, whose mind and spirit developed by means of contacting partial intellect with the Universal Intellect (the highest or first cosmic intellect -aql al kulli-), by the help of the Supreme Spirit (the Spirit of Muhammad (A.S.). We can learn this knowledge from them.
The belief was established by Allah and His apostle. Others cannot establish it!
Theologians had not explained the verses and the hadiths. They reached judgments on the matters concerning the Eternal, Muhdes (recently made, not ancient), the Essence, the Attributes and Fate rationally according to Aristotle Logic using abstract mind. They re-established belief.
The proof of theologians is not the Verses and the Glorious sayings of the Prophet (A.S.) but it is “reason and logic”. They do not explain the belief according to the verses and hadiths.
Sufis (the Wise Friends of God who are Selef) say, “We do not accept a belief that is not sourced from the verses and hadiths.”
Anyone who buys and reads a book on “Usul-u Kelam” see that Islamic theologians do not act according to the verses and hadiths, but they act with reason. He sees that they are not interested in the verses and hadiths that report the realities of faith and belief and they do not explain them.
Their subject is always the Being “Existence, Essence”. The necessity of the Existence, the possibility of the Existence, nothingness, the Existent, the First, the beings created afterwards, the obvious, the apparent, non-essential attribute not formed spontaneously but occupies a place in the space, atom, the beings imagined in the mind, the Person, the Attribute, the events and matters concerning fate etc. All of them attempted to explain and prove these using partial intellect within the Aristotle Logic (from deduction to induction, from induction to deduction, to reach a result by deducing -deducing depending on a proof). Various religious sects emerged due to this.
These subjects existed in the ancient Greek Philosophy even before Jesus Christ. They and the principle of Aristotle Logic passed to Islam scholars during Umayyad and Abbasid eras. They have no relation with the Book (the Koran) and the Sunnat.
All kinds of realities of faith and metaphysical realities exist in the Glorious Koran and in the Sunnat of the Prophet. There is no need to seek them in Theology and Philosophy.
The danger of this is: Although it was necessary to enable the accordance of the theological rational judgments with the Koran and hadiths by Mutazila scholars (mostly Shiites), Ahl al Sunnat scholars (mostly Asharies and Maturidies), the Madrasa scholars, who were their supporters, tried to fit the verses and hadiths on belief methods to the opinions of theological and rational founders of Madhhabs.
The most dangerous of it is they attempted to regard the verses that did not fit these beliefs as abolished. They pretended not to see the Sacred hadiths.
They accused the Wise that did not explain the verses and hadiths concerning belief according to Ashary, Maturidy and Jubai (Mutazila) as going astray very scholastically.
Whereas, the Verses and Sacred Hadiths existed even 150 years before Theology, Ashary, Maturidy, Jubai (Mutazila) and similar Logical Imams of belief.
Unfortunately, the belief confirmed with the Koran and hadith was left, the opinions of rationalist scholars, whose names are mentioned above, were accepted as belief. This was done by both Shii Madrasa Imams and Sunni Madrasa Imams.
Yet, Sufis do not object to the defending of Philosopher and Theologians about the existence of Spirit and metaphysical realities using rational proofs. On the contrary, they support this and do this if necessary. They support whoever struggles for it.
But, they are against to the opinions about Allah, His Person, His attributes, His actions and His qualities (to philosophical and theological doctrines).
Defending the existence of God is a different thing; putting forward ideas about the qualities of God is a different thing.
The opinion about God and the truth of God, His qualities are reported by verses and hadiths.
Allah and His Prophet established the faith.
The greatest expounders of it is our great Prophet, the honor of the world, Ahl al Bayt and the scholars of the Companions and the Wise Friends of God. In other words, Sufis: Selefi Salihin.
Farabi, Ibni Sina, Ibni Rushd, Mutazila Theologians: Ashary, Maturidy whosoever that form a belief with rational proofs put themselves in the place of Allah and His Prophet. For, the realities of faith were reported by the Koran verses, hadiths and sayings of the Prophet (A.S.V.).
Sufis even support the philosophers who defend Allah and religion in West besides the Islam Philosophers and Theologians mentioned above. They support Dehri, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Hugo, Goethe and Hegel who strive against materialist Philosophy.
Supporting is a different matter! Defending God in all the ways is a duty of each faithful person. However, accepting a belief that they form (such as Mutazila, Ashary, Maturidy) is a different matter!
The wise Friends of God explained the realities concerning belief reported by the Book and Sunnat. Therefore, a belief apart from the belief of Selef who are Selefi, is not the belief of Muslims, it does not matter if he is a Shii or Ahl al Sunnat.
However, the scholars of Madrasa accepted Selefiye Madhhab in belief. For instance, we regard Ashary and Maturidy sympathetically, but we do not accept their tenets. We have accepted Selefi belief but not the belief formed through partial intellect. We believe in the same way as Selefi Salihin believed.
We had faith in the same way as the experts of Sufis did.
The religious leader (Sheikh, Master) of Sufis is Hz. Imam Hasan al Basri. He learnt Sufism from our master Hz. Ali (k.v.), who is the Imam of the path of Guidance. Sufis, who are Selefi Salihin and their supporter Hz. Ghazzali reject the rational methods of Maturidiye and Ashary. They do not reject their judgments that are in accordance with the Koran and Sunnat, and with the belief of Selefi Salihin.
They defend that forming a belief using rational and logical methods and their judgments will be contrary to the Book and Sunnat.
The great Gnostics that chose the path of Selefi Salihin belief do not reject every word of Maturidy and Ashary. We also agree with this opinion.
Naturally, there are Shii and Sunni scholars that accepted the path of Selef and became an adherent of the path of Wise Sufis. I bow down before them with exalted respect and love and keep them free from this.
As for Shia, they generally accepted the theological scholars of Mutazila.
Mutazila does not accept the attribute of Allah. They say that Allah has no attributes. Therefore, most of them do not know “Kelam” (Speech) as “Kadim (eternal).” They say Allah can be seen neither in this world nor in the next world. It is because they are against His attributes.
Ashariya says He is seen in the next world. Sufis say He is seen even in this world with the eye of the heart.
Some of Mutazila support His attributes. They give or attribute a solid body to Allah. They are usually among İsmailiye Branch; wrong Batinites.
There are some people in Shia who are in the path of Selef. In other words, they are the people that follow the great persons of Ahl al Bayt- The friends of God, Sufis.
They accept the belief of Selef (We cannot say anything for them.)
In spite of all these, Shia also supports Theologians. They believe in theological beliefs.
Shortly, the scholars of Ahl al Sunnat and Shia are generally the supporters of Theology. The discussions of belief in Theology are still continuing between them.
Meanwhile, we would like to mention about Imam Ghazzali. Imam Ghazzali was a great theologian, lawyer, and at the same time, a philosopher of his time. He was such a scholar that he studied theological and philosophical doctrines and religious cults thoroughly. He made an academic study and became a great university himself. He said that he learnt Latin especially by searching its source, as he did not trust translation books or compilations.
Hz. Imam Ghazzali has certain phases. He was such a great scholar of Philosophy and Theology and at the same time a scholar of Jurisprudence. He had a confession:
This personality said: “I investigated and examined all the Madhhabs of belief closely. I saw that there is truth more or less in all of them. They are not false completely or wholly. However, nobody has found the truth among them. All of them were lacking something. (For, I learnt that these realities could not be known using partial intellect or Logic. This is a conflict in all of them. They refute each other with the same principles but with different judgements. Finally, I understood that the true path is the path of Sufis, in other words, the path of Selef of the Gnostics.
They are the wise people who explain the realities of the Koran, of revelation, the verses and the hadiths by contacting with spiritual Supreme Intellect not by partial intellect and by receiving help from the Spirit of the Prophet (A.S.). Sufis found the real, correct way!)
They are also the real Ahl al Sunnat.
They would not become a Friend of God if it were not like this anyway. Since all the Sufis and Gnostics are the Friends of God, I left all the other paths; I abandoned Theology and Philosophy and became an adherent of the path of Sufis, the Friends of God and wise. I also entered their religious way.” (19) This is what he meant to say or what is understood from his books!
Imam Ghazzali was a great scholar. The confession of this scholar is so important that a second Ghazzali has not come after Imam Ghazzali. He rejected all of the Theology and Philosophy. Only one person objected to this: Ibni Rushd. People who read Ibni Rushd know that he is directly rational. According to him, the Absolute Truth, the reality of Allah and Prophethood can be known with reason, mind. He even sees the Prophets rationalist. He exaggerated this very much and went to excess.
Ghazzali did not follow Ashary and Maturidy in belief. He did not accept the methods of founding belief through rational proofs.
(19) a) El Minkuzi Min ed Dalal, Ghazzali Cağaloğlu Yayın. İst. 1970
b) Mezhebler Tarihi, Muhammed Abu Zehra, Gazali Bahsi pp. 210, 211, 212
SUFISM (MYSTICISM)
As it is known and thoroughly explained above, Sufism is the branch that deals with the realities of faith. It is to learn the Koran by contacting with the Spirit of Muhammad (A.S.). It is not the jurisprudence side of the Koran but the belief side of the Koran. It is to learn Divine wisdom, Divine person, Divine attribute, His deeds, His works, faith, Spirit, Angels and spiritual Journey (the passing of the spirit from condensed dark world to the bright beautiful world).
Our Master the Prophet Muhammad (A.S.) has given mysticism to Hz. Ali and to Hz. Abubaqir Siddiq. The history of Sufism is the witness of it.
There is also wisdom and love matters in Sufism. Masters enable the aspirants to meet their Lord again through love and wisdom by shining their hearts. They enable them to acquire the secrets of Fenafi Resul, Fenafillah and Bekabillah. They teach them the realities of faith.
They teach them “Men Araf”.
“Men arafe nefsehu, kad arefe Rabbehu- He who knows his self knows his Lord.” (20)
Sufism exists in the Prophet (A.S.) Himself and in the Glorious Koran because Sufism is the subject concerning belief and wisdom. The entire task of the Prophet (A.S.) is to increase the belief and wisdom towards Allah.
The Prophet (A.S.) is the greatest wise person. He is the scholar of the Universe. This exists in the other Prophets as well. The reality of Angels, the reality of Spirit, Apostleship, sainthood, Prophethood, the reality of Revelation, the Reality of Speech, the pure Person, the eternity of Allah, the Speech of Allah, the attributes of Allah, the beautiful names of Allah… This is Sufism!
Sufism did not emerge afterwards. Our Prophet (A.S.) taught this to the King of Sainthood Hz. Ali and to Hz. Abu Baqir Siddiq. He trained and educated them in Sufism.
These two great persons are the two gates of our Prophet (A.S.). He taught this to other Companions who had ability.
If there are other branches coming from other Companions, they were either forgotten or stopped. However, Sufism in Hz. Ali and Hz. Abu Baqir is still continuing because Divine knowledge does not have an end.
Some people say that Sufism is divine revelation of mysteries; Sufism is not a state only. In Sufism, when the spirit encounters the Prophet (A.S.) and Allah, he is taught knowledge by Allah and the Prophet. He is taught realities of faith and the true faith. He is taught firm belief.
When the works of Abdulkadir Geylani, Rufai Hazretleri, Muhyiddini Arabi, Maktul Suhreverdi, Mawlana, Hadji Bektash, Yunus, Sheikh Hasan-ı Shazili, Bedevi, Dusuki Hazretleri, Ahmed Yesevi, Muhammad Bahaeddin, Ahmed Faruk u Serhindi, Hazretleri, Ghazzali Hazretleri and of the similar personalities are read, it is seen that Sufism specially exists in the Prophet (A.S.), in Al-i Aba, in the Four Caliphs, in the Twelve Imams and in other great persons such as Hasan al Basri, Junayd al Baghdad, Marufi Kerhi and Sırri Saqati.
Hz. Hasan al Basri was the student of Hz. Ali. He personally acquired spiritual Caliphate from Him. Sufism is the knowledge of Allah and the love of Allah. It has two manifestations: he is reached Allah either through divine love or through divine knowledge according to the ability of the aspirant. One of our Sufi Poets says:
“Do not think that your task is over by only fasting and praying, the Union for the aspirant is the remembrance of Him and wisdom.”
Allah says. “Remember Me often!” (Al-Ahzab, 41)
Sufism means making the remembrance of Allah abundantly. Dhiqir is love and it causes love.
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim:
“Ya eyyühellezine amenüzkürullahe zikren kesira - O Believers, Remember Allah abundantly!” (Al-Ahzab, 41)
“Vezkürullahe kesiren lealleküm tüflihun - Remember Allah abundantly so that you are saved.” (Al-Juma, 10)
“Ela bizikrillahi tatmeinnil külub - Be awake! The remembrance of Allah comforts the hearts.” (Al-Rad, 28)
“See! What comforts the heart? The remembrance of Allah! What happened to the heart that was not comforted? It is not happy.
“Fezküruni ezkürküm- Remember Me so that I will remember you.” (Al-Baqarah, 152) It means, “Remember Me, Call me meaningfully, not unconsciously but consciously!”
The Prophet (A.S.) already says:
“Efdeli zikri La ilahe illallah - The most superior dhiqir is La ilahe illallah (There is no god but Allah)” (21)
Allah the Almighty says,
“Fezkür isme rabbike - Remember the name of your Lord!” (Muzammil, 8)
“O Muhammad praise Allah!” (Al-Ahzab, 42)
This is commanded to all the Prophets, to our Prophet and to Believers.
(21) From Jabir (r.a.); Thirmizi, Riyazü’s salihin, Diy, İşl. Bşk, Ya. 1976, volume 3, page 39
See also Ibni Mace, Sunen, vol.2, p.1249
“Vele zikrullahe ekber - The remembrance of Allah is the greatest. Your foremost duty is to remember (the dhiqir of) Allah.” (Al-Anqabut, 45)
Selat ritual prayer means to implore Allah, to pray, to beg. There are also verses concerning worshipping, Bowing down, Prostration. What does Allah says on this matter?
“Ve akimüsselate innesselate tenha ani’l fehşai ve’l münker - Be steadfast in prayer. Prayer fends away indecency and evil.” (Al-Anqabut, 45)
What does He say at the end of the Verse? “Vele zikrullahi ekber - The remembrance of Allah is the greatest.” Remembrance will make the heart comforted.
Our Lord Allah says that the foremost duty is the remembrance of Allah by separating remembrance (dhiqir) from ritual prayer (selat) saying: “but the remembrance…”
Remembrance is related with Faith. First “Allah” will be recited then “ritual prayer” can be performed. Ritual prayer is not possible without the remembrance of Allah.
“Allahü ekber means Allah is the Most great.” It means to exalt Allah.
“Muhammad, remember Me morning and evening!” (Ta Ha-130)
“Remember Me abundantly!” (Ahzab, 41)
“Remember the name of your Lord!” (Al-Insan, 25 Al-Muzammil,8)
There are several verses concerning this subject. There are more than 100 verse of Allah commanding “Remember Me!” Our Prophet reported the remembrance of Allah, Calling Allah, the name of His Person, the beautiful names of Allah (such as the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Alive, the Eternal, the Most Holy and so on), 99 of the names that were written in the Koran. (22)
“Kulid’ullahe evid’urrahman eyyen ma ted’u felehu’l esma-ul husna - It is the same whether you call on Allah or on the Merciful: His are the most gracious names.” (Al-Isra, 110)
“Allahu lailahe illa hu lehu’l esma ul husna - He is Allah. There is no god but Him. His are the most gracious names.” (Ta Ha, 8)
“Felillahi’l esma il husna - The gracious names belong to Allah.” (Al-Araf, 180)
Firstly, “ALLAH”, what we call the Name of His person, the name of Jalal, the greatest name.
(22) Hz. Muhammad ve Islamiyet, M. Asım Köksal, vol. 11, p. 365-367, İst. 1982
According to the verse “Vezkürisme Rabbike-Remember the name of your Lord!” the name of our Lord that we remember first means Allah Hu-He. The subject of Allah, who is the Pure person, is Himself. You will call Allah with His beautiful names so that the heart will be comforted.
A poet says:
“You are a mirror to the heart, O Sufi
If you make it pure,
A door is opened to you, and
The beautiful face of Allah becomes apparent to you!”
For, this heart beats with the remembrance of Allah. It remembers Allah. The most important matter is to descend this remembrance to the heart. This is not the dhiqr of this palate and lips. It is also proper to make the dhiqr of Allah secretly. However, the heart must approve it and the heart will shiver or tremble. Allah says:
Bismillah
“İza zikrullahi vecilet kulubuhüm - The hearts of believers tremble, beat at the mention of Allah (Their hearts also says Allah).” (Al-Anfal, 2 / Al-Hajj, 35)
“They plunge into the dhiqr of Allah.” (Al-Hadid, 16)
He also says that the hearts of those whose hearts are hardened to the remembrance of Allah are ill.
As for Satan, He says: “Satan keeps you from your prayers and from the remembrance of Allah by means of wine and gambling.” (Al-Maidah, 90-91)
This is important! Why does he make you drink wine and make you gamble? Because he wants to stir up enmity and hatred among you and prevent you from worshipping Allah and performing prayers. In this verse: “An zikrillahi ve ikamisselate…. - He keeps you from the remembrance of Allah and from performing your prayers.”
There is one thing that Satan does not like: making the remembrance of Allah. When somebody starts to make the remembrance of Allah and His beautiful names, saying “Allah! Allah! La ilahe illallah”, Satan runs away. He does not like The Prophet (A.S.), Adam, the Prophets and those who pronounce the formula calling God’s benediction on the Prophet (salawat) either because he is the enemy of the Spirit of Hz. Muhammad (A.S.) and Adam.Allah says in the Koran clearly: “Satan is your foe. Seek refuge in Allah from Satan.” (Al-A’raf, 22 / Fussilat, 36)
The Prophet (A.S.) left this path to his Ummat (People) under the names Tariqat, Sanctity, Spiritual Journey. We have already explained the reason of it in the above subjects. It did not exist during the Prophets, for, it existed but it belonged to the Companions of the Prophet of that time. Yet, when he died, Allah was able to create another Prophet but He did not, as our Prophet (A.S.) was the last Prophet. There is a verse concerning this subject:
“Velakin Resullahi ve hatemennebiyyin - But, he is the Apostle of Allah and the last (seal) of the Prophets.” (Al-Ahzab, 40)
What will happen after him? Was the path of spirituality closed? No it was not. The spirit of Muhammad is alive. It is the Supreme Spirit. It is the father of the Spirits.
Our Master is the Sun of both worlds. Now this light will continue. The Spirit of Allah does not die. It will continue until the Resurrection Day so that His Sufism and His people will not be deprived of it. He had opened this path of Sanctity, as there would not be any other Prophets after him. There is actually a sacred saying about this:
“I bear the Sanctity (Sainthood) of Allah and Ali bears my Sanctity.” (23)
It means that I bear the sanctity of Allah and Imam Ali (k.v.) bears the Sanctity of Muhammad. Hz. Abu Baqir Siddiq, the Four Caliphs and the great personalities of the Companion benefited from the Sanctity of Muhammad. They were also honored to see the Prophet. There were some illiterate among the Companions and there were also some who made spiritual journey among the Wise. There were advanced and beginning students among them. For instance, the first Companion and the last Companion were not the same. However, sometimes the latter passed the former ones.
(23) Binbir Hadis by Şemseddin Yeşil, p. 181, İst. 1983
Although our master Veysel Karani had not seen the Prophet, he made a spiritual connection to his spirit and he was rightly guided. The spirit of our Prophet (A.S.) guided him.
There is also “Veysilik” besides the paths of our Master Hz. Ali and Hz. Abu Baqir. We have explained this.
Wisdom, Divine Knowledge of Allah, metaphysical realities such as Spirit, Angels, the next world, Apostleship, Sainthood, the person of Allah, the attributes of Allah, His actions, His Beautiful names and to study them, in other words, to learn all of them. How will they be learnt? They will not be learnt using mind (Intellect or mind is also a branch of Spirit). When we say mind we mean to say partial mind. They can be learnt by contacting the partial intellect with a Holy Spirit, the Spirits of a Prophet or a Saint (if he has a share in Divine Knowledge). The main truth of faith is to learn the realities of faith. This is what the Wise, the Prophets and the Friends of God say.
Sufism means Divine Knowledge. The real wisdom is to acquire the knowledge of the realities of faith, which are the Articles of faith. The field which Wisdom, the Knowledge of Allah, the realities of Faith are summarized is called as Sufism.
Sufism exists in the Glorious Koran and in the Sunnat of the Prophet. Both Sufism and Jurisprudence exist and the person who knows them best is Shah-ı Walayat Hz. Ali. After him, the great personalities of the Companions of the Prophet and the Four Caliphs, the Ten Personalities who were given the good news of the Paradise, 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, Hasan al Basri and the other Wise people who were trained in both paths and Veysilik. They are firstly the great Sufis Abdulqadir Geylani and Rufai Hazretleri. We can also name some personalities like Muhyiddini Arabi, Ahmed Faruku Serhindi, Hadji Bektash, Yunus Emre, Aşık Paşa, Sheikh Cemali Halvati.
The reality of Anatolian Islam Turkish Sufism is very important. When the works and poems of Niyazi Mısri, Sayyid Nasimi, Sayyid Nizamoğlu, Eşrefoğlu are read, many realities are learnt.
In other words, Sufism and Jurisprudence exist in the Glorious Koran and in the Sunnat of the Prophet. The explanation of it is left to Ahl al Bayt. When we say Ahl al Bayt we especially mean Hz. Ali, who is the King of Sainthood. The Prophet exalts him saying “He is the gate to the Knowledge.” (24) He is the one who knows most of the spiritual knowledge.
There are also some people among the Companions who know this knowledge taught by the Prophet, by Hz. Ali and by Hz Abu Baqir. For instance, Selman-ı Farisi acquired his spiritual permission (diploma) from Hz. Abu Baqir. Hasan al Basri acquired it from Hz. Ali. We can say only this much about this subject.
(24) From Ibni Abbas; Thirmizi, sahih vol.2, p. 399
Suyuti, Camiussağir vol. 1, p. 108
Also Nişaburi, Münavi, Taberi, Hatibi Bagdadi narrated it
Sufism means spiritual Knowledge. It is the way of learning the realities of faith. Spirit reaches Allah and learns the realities of faith and loves Allah as well.
Love…
There are some people who relate Sufism with “Ashab-ı Suffa- the Companions of Suffa” because they wear woolen dresses. Sufism is defined in various descriptions in the History of Sufism however, the most beautiful, the most correct and true definition is made by Sayyid Abdulkadir Geylani Hazretleri (It is written in his book called “Sırrül Esrar” and anyone can see it there if they like). (125)
Sufism (Tasavvuf) does not have a meaning as a word. Tasavvuf is a cipher among Muslim Friends of God and Gnostics. It is a word that consisted of the letters: Ta, Sad, Vav and Fa. Ta-Sa-Vav-Fa = Tasavvuf.
T Tawba (Repentance)
The letter “T” of Tawba
The beginning of the reality of the Prophet (A.S.), his Spirituality and the path of Wisdom is “repentance” as the Wise say. Repentance is not only made verbally. It is not just saying “Estağfirullah”. Estağfirullah means, “I ask the pardon of Allah, forgive me, remove my sins.”
(25) Sırrül Esrar by Abdulkadir Geylani, trans. By Abdülkadir Akçiçek. P. 60-61, İst 1968
Repentance is a kind of conversion.
“Tubu ilallah- Turn to God in repentance.” (Al-Nur, 31)
“O Lord! I turned to you. I abandoned Satan. I left everything and I inclined to you. I obey you now that. This allegiance must be done to a person like Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir in the person of the Prophet (A.S.) and to the people who were trained in their paths because: Bismillah:
“Kul in küntüm tuhibbunellahe fettebiuni - Say O Muhammad! If you love Allah (if they love Allah or those who love Allah), follow me (submit me, swear fealty to me, surrender yourself to me).” (The Imrans, 31)
Here, it is not obedience because obedience and swearing fealty are different things. For example:
“Men yutiurresule fekad ataallah - He that obeys the Apostle obeys Allah.” (Al-Nisa, 80)
But there is also the following verse: “Those that swear fealty to the Prophet swear fealty to Allah Himself.” (Al-Fath, 10) Bismillah,
“İnnellezine yübaiyuneke innema yübayiunallah, yedullahi fevka eydihim - Those that swear fealty to you O Muhammad swear fealty to Allah Himself.” (They interpret it as follows: They directly swear fealty to Me because you are My Prophet and My Holy Spirit is in You. You are My man on the earth. You are My messenger, My Apostle, My beloved, the One I trust, a man whose loyalty I believe, however you are My prophet. There is a very exalted Spirit of Allah in You.
The same verse continues: “Yedullahi fevka eydihim - And the hand of Allah is above their hands.”
See this is very important. May Allah enable us to have this! Whoever swears fealty to the Prophet, swears fealty to Allah and the hand of Allah “Yedullah”, which is Divine Light and not a physical hand but a hand of power, is above their hands “Fevka eydihim”. It means “I held their hands and they held My hand and our hands are connected with Truth.”
Some people only obey. Everybody can obey. They sometimes obey for their fear but swearing fealty is related with the heart. However, this must be shaking hands as well. Actually, when the verse about swearing fealty was reveled during the Companions of the Prophet, the Companions of the Prophet swore fealty to the Prophet (A.S.) again one by one.
Now we will repeat this allegiance again. When we find the Perfect Man, we swear fealty to him, as he is the heir of Allah and on behalf of the Prophet of Allah.
Swearing fealty is explained as is due. As for the obedience: Obedience means to obey the commands. A hypocrite may also obey the commands. Marwan used to obey the commands. For instance, if a Muslim goes to France, to Belgium, to England, to Germany, will he not obey the laws there? He must obey them. If he does not, he is either dismissed, sent away or imprisoned but, does he swear fealty to the President, to the King or to the Statesman cordially? He does not. According to the Islamic belief, it is not proper for him to swear fealty.
Swearing fealty and obedience are different. It is the same for Islamic community. One is obeying, performing his ritual prayer, fasting but I wonder if he is sincere or not? Swearing fealty determines his sincerity. The Lord of the Universe knows who swears fealty or not. We are not interested in the hearts of anybody. This does not concern us. We only indicate the reality of the existence of the verses about obedience and swearing fealty. We wanted to clarify this subject.
May Allah not make anybody an atheist, an unbeliever and a hypocrite, and May He protect us from hypocrisy! We have good opinions about everyone. We do not care about other side if he says “La ilahe illallah, Muhammadün Resululllah”. We only talk about the realities and the commands of Allah. We explain His message as well as we can. To explain is the duty of every person who knows because Allah the Most High says:
“You are responsible of the Koran all.” (Al-Zukhruf, 44)
In other words, we will be questioned. They will ask us why we did not tell the truth, why we did not defend the Koran, why we did not tell the truth of the Koran and why we did not protect it etc.
May Allah enable us to protect the Koran sincerely and to speak about the Koran sincerely!
Sayyid AbdulKadir Geylani Hazretleri continues the explanation of Tasavvuf (Sufism) saying then “Sad” comes.
“Sad” means purity among the Friends of Allah.
A slave remembers Allah after he repents. He performs his prayers and his worshipping. He fasts and he struggles against his carnal desires (self). He also helps other people, he gives alms, money, sacrifices sheep. He keeps on racing in charity. Allah says: “Vie with each other in good works!” (Al-Maidah, 48)
He sacrifices himself to Allah, and his heart and mind are purified at the end of these worshipping. His heart becomes like a bright mirror and Allah manifests there. Realities manifest to his heart. Tranquility-peace- is revealed into his heart as well. Bismillah,
“Hüvellezi enzele sekinete fi kukubi’l mü’minine liyezdadu imanen mae imanihim - He Allah sent down tranquility into the hearts of believers.” (Al-Fath, 4)
Then, there is something revealed into the hearts of the believers. Divine Revelation comes to the Prophet and tranquility comes to him as well. His tranquility comes to us.
“Tranquility-Sakinah” is a kind of Divine Light that gives peace, calmness, comfort and relief to the hearts.
If Divine Light does not come, there is no relief or confidence.
And the glorious verse continues as “so that their faith might grow stronger”. Then, if a divine light, a manifestation, a revelation, a
tranquility or peace and spirit comes to a person’s heart, his heart grows stronger.
Some people say that faith does not increase. Faith increases. Can the faith of an ignorant person and a wise person be the same? He is more perfect than he is. There is also a verse: “Liyezdadu imanen maa imanihim- Their faith increase with a faith.” (Same verse)
The divine light in each tranquility increases the Divine Light because faith is Divine Light. He believes without doubt and certainly. One can ask whether he is doubtful. He is not doubtful but Satan gives him secret fear and anxiety. Anxiety does nothing to the Perfect Man. His heart becomes like a sea.
It becomes pure.
The holy person says: then comes “Vav”.
“Vav (V)” means Valayat - Sainthood or sanctity.
These tranquilities and divine lights manifest into the hearts of the persons whose heart is pure. He starts to perceive the divine realities of Allah with the eye of the heart-spirit. The spirit becomes holy. He approaches Allah. When he approaches Allah, he becomes the friend of Allah.
He becomes a Wali-Saint.
“Vav” comes after “Sad” and “Ta”. Vav” is sanctity-Valayet. Now that he is the Friend of Allah. He is His saint. The advanced believers are the Friends of Allah anyway. Allah is our friend. We hope, if we try hard, we become the Friend of Allah too, and we gain His friendship.
He says “Fa” “to become perished” comes after that. The end (perfection) of sanctity is to become perished.
It is to annihilate, to melt down and to be perished in the Essence of Allah. It is to change his personality, to perish his ego completely.
Now:
“Feeynema tüvellu fesemma Vechullah - Whichever way you turn, there is the face of God.” (Al-Baqarah, 115)
This Friend of Allah is in such a state that he sees the face of Allah wherever he looks at. He sees with the eye of the Spirit, not with physical eyes. The only person who saw with the physical eyes is our Prophet (A.S.) Even the Apostles had not seen Him with physical eyes.
Allah showed His face to our Prophet (A.S.) during Meraj (Ascending to Heaven). We all absolutely believe in this. This is explained in Chapter Najm. (26) However, the Prophets and the Friends of Allah see Him with the eye of the heart-spirit. Our Prophet (A.S.) says concerning this subject: “We and those who follow us are on discernment. In other words, we see for sure (without fail).”
Now, the definition of Tasavvuf is completed.
“Ta” Tawba-Repentance: First of all, repentance. You cannot continue other steps without repenting. Firstly, you will repent and turn to God.
“Sad”-Safiyet-Purity: The purity of the heart, of the spirit and of ideas. The good works that are done with faith. This is possible with Dhiqir.
“Vav” Valayat-Sanctity: He gains the friendship of Allah.
“Fa” Fana-Annihilation: The perfection of sanctity is Fana. He becomes completely- one hundred percent- annihilated.
“Baqabillah” comes after fanafillah. This is also one of the matters of Sufism. What happens to a piece of ice after it melts down in the sea. There is no ice now that. There cannot be duality in Unity anyway. One can understand what we mean here. For example, we threw a block of ice into the hot sea (Let us say in Mersin). You cannot find it five minutes later. This is such annihilation that it becomes permanent in the sea. In other words, it has become Hu. Here is a secret. This is the real Union.
(26) Chapter Najm, Verses 1-18
There are not two things in Union with the beloved. There is one thing: Allah
The slave becomes annihilated and it becomes as if he is not created. Our Prophet (A.S.) knows beyond this. Although there are some wise personalities who know this secret, he gave the whole truth of it to our Prophet (A.S.) because our Prophet is the Supreme Spirit. His spirit is the father of all the Spirits. He is powerful. That is to say, he is the Sun. Only the Sun can comprehend that Divine Light. Stars, the Moon and others are not able to comprehend it.
The people who know this after him are Hz. Ali, His sons, Hz. Abubaqir, Hz. Omar ul Faruk, Osman-ı Zinnureyn, Ashara-i Mubasshara, the Twelve Ahla-l Bayt Imams, the Spiritual Teachers and all the Friends of Allah at different ranks.
“Ütul ilme derecat - They are given knowledge at different ranks.” (Al- Mujadala, 11)
Again, in this verse, He says:
“Yerfeillahüllezine amenu minkum - I raised some of the believers to high ranks among you.”
For instance, He bestowed knowledge to Hz. Ali and exalted Him. He guided Hz. Abu Baqir in a cave and He exalted him. He said “There are some among you that are in exalted ranks.”
“Verefana leke zikrek - I have given you high renown.” (Inshirah, 4)
Actually, Tasavvuf (Sufism) has no meaning as a word. The Companions of Suffa of the Prophet are divine. They wear a kind of coarse, woolen garment called “suffa”. They gave all their time to Allah. They always remember Allah, praise Him, they eat less, drink less, sleep less and speak less. They are the divine people who know far-away events and become present wherever they wish. The Companions, the Four Caliphs and the advanced ones are openly spiritual-divine.
We said Sufism has no meaning as a word. The saints, the wise (those who know Allah perfectly) used a cipher. Sufism is a path of repentance and becoming pure through remembering Allah and performing worshipping. After that, it is the path of sanctity after gaining the friendship of Allah. Then, it is to be annihilated and to reach the secrecy of Unity by overcoming the self and leaving duality. (This is also called “retreat-Sırru Vahdet-a devotee’s withdrawing for mediation) (27)
May Allah enable this to all of us! May He make us drink this wine of Unity. He made us drink at the day of the creation of mankind and May He save us after making us drink it again. Brothers! Sufism is a vast sea. It never ends. Sufism did not emerge afterwards either. It exists in the Glorious Koran. In the Koran, all the matters concerning repentance, purity, sanctity, annihilation, wisdom, love and remembrance are written. They are written in the Sunnat as well.
(27) For further information, see VARLIK-EXISTENCE by Kazim Yardımcı, Bilmen Publ. İstanbul, 1974
Sufism is based on an excess love of Allah. The Glorious Koran has explained this:
“Kül in küntüm tuhibbunallahe fettebiuni- Say: If you love Allah, swear fealty to me.” And also “Yuhbibkumullah - Allah will love you then.” And: “Veyeğfirleküm zünubekum- Follow me so that Allah will forgive your sins.” (The Imrans, 31)
Therefore, love is compulsory. A slave will love Allah so that Allah will love him. Allah says: “Küntü kenzen mahfiyyen fe ahbebtü li yüraf - I was a hidden treasure, I liked to be known.” (Sacred Hadith)
Then, the reason of creation is Allah’s attributes or names of Love: “Muhabbet, Meveddet, Muhib, Vedud” that exist in the Person of the Lord of the Universe. “Muhib” means “the One who loves”, “Habib-Mahbub” means “the One who is loved” and “Vedud” means “the One who loves, who is loved and the One who gives love”. All of them are in the meaning of the Beautiful names of Allah. This love is based on the love of the Prophet, the love of Ahl al Bayt and is based on the swearing allegiance.
May Allah make us an object to His names: “Alim, Hakim, Vedud, Muhib, Hadi, Rahman and Mustakim”!
This is the belief of real Sufis, whether or not they are the People of Sunnat or Shia. This is an unchangeable truth! There are some differences among the Friends of Allah but they are nuance differences. The content of what all the Sufis say is the same.
May Allah not separate us from these Friends of Allah, from Ahl al Bayt, from the Companions, from the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, from Four Great Gaws and from the path of the Wise and the Friends of Allah.
We believed in them and we swore fealty to them. We are Muslims and we believe in the Spirituality. We believe in metaphysics, Spirit, Angels, and the reality of Allah. If these that we counted had not existed, the Prophets would have been only a scholar of Jurisprudence.
However, it is not like that, for, “religion is metaphysics and the belief in the unknown”.
Those who do not know the metaphysical realities and who do not believe in them are not a believer. They are only a Muslim.
In other words, such a person surrendered himself to the exterior power of Islam. We use the word “Muslim” here as the one who surrendered.
The Last Word: Both the belief (we call it as Sufism) and the Jurisprudence exist in the Glorious Koran and in the Sunnat of the Prophet.
The Prophet (A.S.) is the person who explains it the best. He is the greatest expounder of it. He is the most exalted Wise person. After him, Ahl al Bayt, the Four Caliphs, the great personalities of the Companion, the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams, the Friends of God and the wise know it. Those who follow their path learn this as well. We have to believe in the way they believed. This is the real Selefi Belief! The Path of Selef-i Salihin (R.A.)!
Sallu ala Resulina Muhammed, Sallu ala Habibina Muhammed, Sallu ala Şefiina Muhammed, Sad salli Mürşidina Shah-ı Velayet. Allahümme Salli ala Seyyidina Muhammedin ve ala Alihi ve sellim…
“La feta illa Ali, la seyfe illa Zulfiqar-There is no soldier like Ali and no sword like Zulfiqar!” (28) Sadaka Resululllah
May our great Lord Allah protect us and our Religion with Shahi Merdan and Zulfiqar and May He give all the Muslims from the East to the West the real faith and the real love among Islam Brothers!
O Lord! Protect us from separations, mischief, ignorance, heedlessness and fighting against each other!
“O Lord! Help us against disbelievers!” (Al-Baqarah, 286)
(28) Islam Tarihi, Hz. Muhammed ve Islamiyet by M. Asım Köksal vol. 3, p. 117. Sources: Ibni Ishak, Ibni Hisham-Sire vol. 3-4, p. 100 Taberi Tarih vol. 3, p. 17 Ibni Esir, El Kamil vol.2, p. 74
“Allahu maana- Allah is with us: with the believers.” (Al-Tawba, 40)
Allah is our Friend. The Prophet of Allah is also our Friend, Hz. Ali is also our Friend and Hz. Abu Baqir, the Companions, the Friends of Allah, the believers are also our Friends. May Allah be pleased with all of them!
SOME IMPORTANT BELIEF MATTERS BRIEFLY
THE BELIEF OF SUFIS, WHICH IS BUT THE PATH OF SALAF ABOUT THE PERSON-THE ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH, ETERNAL, INNOVATION, ACTION, ACTOR, OBJECT AND IMMAMATE
Sufis believe in the attributes of Allah, however, they say the attributes of Allah is not apart from the person of Allah. Both the person and the attributes of Allah are the eternal Allah the Most High, who is the sole and infinite Divine Light. (29) This is also the opinion of Maturidies.
The eternal, the One who is exempt from the worlds is the Purest Person, who is eternal in the past and eternal in the future, and the constant being. The worlds were created afterwards, in other words, they came to being afterwards. They support the opinion that Allah created them from His own Divine Light but they do not agree with the opinions of the Theologians that they were existed from non-existence. That is to say, yes, the Creation (the worlds, things) came to being afterwards not from non-existence, from the Creator’s own Divine Light by taking shapes and forms same as the foam bubbles had not existed before, they came to being afterwards from the sea.
(29) Sayyid Abdulqadir Geylani Hazretleri “Sırrül Esrar”: (Allah is Divine Light and the Attributes of Allah are Divine Light too.)
Foam bubbles had not existed before they existed afterwards but they did not exist from absence, they existed from the sea itself. The bubbles are not the sea itself. However, they are not another being apart from the sea. They are the mysteries of sea. They are the manifestations or appearances of the sea.
The Existence is one Being-Entity in reality.
It is both correct to call the sunlight as the sun or the light that comes from the Sun.
You can call the sunlight as the Sun or the light from the Sun. The person who separates them says it is from the Sun “Heme ezost-Everything is from Him.” The person who unites says “Heme O’st-All is He”. Both of them are correct. One can speak according to circumstances because the content of what all the Sufis say is the same. There is no conflict among them. Those who make conflicts are their supporters who are not wise. It is the explanations of their followers. Those that create contradictions and exaggerate them are expounders and their aspirants or adherents.
Sufis believe in Destiny and the Partial Will. Yet, Jabris blame Allah for the bad deeds and they deny the partial Will.
The supporters of Destiny accept human free and they deny the preordination of Allah, and they deny Destiny indirectly.
Maturidies and Asharies say “a servant of Allah is not the creator of his action”. However, human has a partial freedom. He becomes responsible, as he is free to use his will. Maturidies accept “gain”, but Asharies do not accept it.
Allah is the Universal Absolute Will, Absolute Power and Absolute Actor.
Allah the Most High has given man both the inordinate appetite (carnal desires) and the Holy Spirit.
“Self command wickedness!” (Joseph, 53)
“I breathed man from My spirit.” (Sad, 72)
“Evil is committed by the self (physical body); good is committed by Spirit. No evil can come to being from spirit. Spirit is the command of Allah and it is His pure breath.
Common sense is also from Spirit. Common sense and Spirit are Divine Light. Since Spirit and Mind are from the World of Decree, evil cannot come to being from them. Therefore, good deeds are especially from Allah.
“Whatever good befalls you, it is from Allah; and whatever ill from yourself.” (Al-Nisa, 79)
However, it is Allah who created the self -physical body- or the sources of evil.
“Allah creates everything by His will.” (Hud, 107)
“It is He who brings into being of his own will.” (Al-Buruj, 16)
For instance, fire and its heat can be given as the example of this. It is Allah who created fire. The heat that comes from the fire does not come from Allah, it comes from the fire. For this reason, it cannot be said that evil comes from Allah. Evil-wickedness is from the self that orders bad deeds.
There is no justice in evil. Evil is of tyranny (wickedness). Allah does not tyrannize but Allah created the self that commands wickedness.
“Feelmeha fucureha ve takvaha-Allah inspired the self the knowledge of sin and piety.” (Al-Shams, 8)
The former verse refutes the claim of Mutazila: “Allah does not will evil”. The correct explanation is: Allah willed to create evil same as He created satan and the self that command evil, by His will. However, Allah does not command evil or wickedness by His speech. He commands goodness and good deeds. The evil is created by the will of His Pure Person according to divine reason for the existence of all creation. However, He does not like it and He called the Prophets and believers not to like them and to struggle severely against them. Satan, self and wild creatures that are evil beings are the manifestations of His Wrathful Attributes.
For, Allah is one and His hands are two. Two hands mean two attributes of Allah as Wrathful and Merciful attributes. All is from Him in reality, but there are ranks and manifestations that come to being in condescension and becoming existent. (30)
Pure Spirit, Common Sense, Angels are on one side; satan, wicked self and wild animals are on another side. All the contradictions such as night and day, positive-negative come to being due to the contradiction of jamal (merciful) and jalal (wrathful) attributes. In this way, the unity of the pure person Allah and His attributes are known completely not only from one side.
“Know that Allah is stern in retribution, and that God is forgiving and merciful.” (Al-Maidah, 98)
Spirit and Mind are not created. They are from the Decree of Allah. However, physical body and low attributes are created. Man has these two conflicts.
Holy: Spirit and common sense. Low: physical body and the self that commands evil.
Since physical body is created, the deeds that the physical body commit are also created.
“The following verse reports us this reality:
“Allahu haliku külli şey - Allah is the Creator of all things.” (Al-Zumar, 62)
(30) For further information, see “Existence” by Kazım Yardımcı, Yeni Alanya Matbaası, Alanya, 1998)
Man is under the influence of Spirit and Mind-and his helper Allah who commands good- and also under the influence of his physical body and its carnal desires-the self that commands evil and satan that incites it.
His deeds-actions- are committed by man’s physical body. He commits them under the lofty and low influences mentioned above and with the power that Allah has given him.
He either obeys his spirit and his mind or his carnal desires and satan. He is influenced by either of them.
He sometimes acts being influenced by one of them or other one.
Spirit, Mind, Power and Will are from the World of Decree. They are not created. Allah the Most High has given them to him although partially. They are Lofty. Physical body and its carnal desires are created and they are low, common.
Good deeds are from the lofty side and bad deeds are from the low, common side.
Yet, as the physical body is created, the qualities of physical body are also created. The action or operation of a servant of Allah is the quality or attribute of physical body. Allah has created both the physical body and its qualities. The action of created physical body is again created.
Therefore, a servant is not the creator of his action. Allah says:
“God created you and all that you have made.” (Al-Saffat, 96)
The action of a servant is created. Why? Because the quality of what is created is also created. However, the actor of it is the servant himself.
Creating an action is different from who commits that action.
The reason why action is created is due to the fact that servant is a creature himself. Therefore, the quality of what is created (physical body) is committing or operating a deed. The attribute of operation naturally becomes a creature.
However, the action of Allah’s Person, who is the Creator of all things is not a creature, it is the quality or attribute of Allah. The attribute of the Creator cannot be created but the attribute of what is created becomes created.
Then, the action of Allah is not creature; the action of the servant that is committed by him is creature. The Creator is sole and He is Allah, who is the sole God.
However, man is under the influence of his created body and its fleshly desires (they are the qualities of the created physical body) and of His spirit and Mind (they are from the decree of Allah).
Decree is not creature.
“Ela lehül halkü ve’l emr - Know that His is the Creation, His is the Command.” (Al-A’raf, 54)
Man commits a deed of what each of them desires by being influenced Command and Creation. Action is done by physical body. A servant of God is not the creator of his action but he is the actor of it. Therefore, what he gains is his. This gain may be good or bad because everybody will meet or see what he commits. Allah the Most High explained this in the following verse:
“You shall be questioned about all your actions.” (Nahl, 93 / Al-Anbiyah, 23)
He will be either punished or rewarded.
The Wise men had decided that the Glorious Koran is “Eternal” depending on the verse “Know that His is the Creation, His is the Command.” What Ahmed bin Hanbel emphasized was this verse because there is a difference between the Creation and Command in this verse. The Koran is the Command of Allah. Therefore, Mutazila’s saying: “the Koran is created” is wrong. As the command is not created, it cannot be called creation. Since it is not created, it is eternal.
Spirit is also from Command.
“Kulirruhu min emir Rabbi - Say the Spirit is from my Lord’s Command.” (Al-Isra, 85)
Therefore, Spirit is not created either. It is a divine command. Due to this, it is said that the Koran is eternal. What really eternal is the one who speaks, he that gives orders, the superior. Command, Speech, Spirit and the Koran were emanated from Allah. However, they are never creatures. They are the pure breath of Allah. The breath of merciful is also Divine Light.
There had been a manifestation from Allah but each manifestation (that came to being afterwards) is not a creature. It is like the dawn. Dawn is from the Sun. It is a manifestation of the Sun. It happened afterwards but it does not separate from the Sun. It is not the Sun itself either. The Koran and the Spirit are the Speech and Command attributes of Allah. Allah is Divine Light. The attribute of Allah is also Divine Light. Divine Light is sole in reality but in the reality of realities. The pure person Allah is the Divine Light of Divine Lights. Allah is not in need of the Divine Lights manifested from Himself. For, each manifestation occurs from Himself. However, manifestation is in need of the One who manifests, but the Person of the One who manifests is not in need of manifestation. Either He manifests or not, it is same as if Allah had not existed, the creation would not have existed.
If there had not been a speaker or a superior that gives orders there would not have been a speech or a Command. Although the Koran and the Spirit are Divine light and not created each Speech and each Command are in need of a speaker and a superior. Even if Allah has an attribute of Speech, Allah is not in need of speaking. If He wishes, He speaks and commands, if he does not want, He does not speak and does not command.
Then, there will be no manifestation and divine knowledge. This is called as “Oneness, Invisibility by the Wise person.
“Ela lehu’l halkü ve’l emr - Know that His is the Command, His is the Creation.” (Al-A’raf 54)
Yes, both the Command and the Creation belong to Allah. In this verse, the Command and Creation were definitely separated. The difference between them is clear. However, it is never the Person of Allah. The eternal person of Allah is not in need of Creation. In reality, Command and Creation are the manifestations or appearances of Allah. In each appearance, there is a state of being created afterwards. Yet, Decree is called as emanation and creation is called as recently made and by this Command and Speech are sanctified.
For, Command and Speech are Divine, lofty but creature or what is created is lower, it is common.
In fact, the Creation (things, the essence of objects) are also from the World of Decree. The essence of all things is also divine Light. Matter is consisted of condensed power. Power (energy) is divine light. If all the atoms are split into pieces, only one thing is left and it is Divine Light. Things are also manifestation of God. Allah, Decree-Creation; the true nature of Creation is Decree, the true nature of Decree is Allah.
In reality, there is no other existence-entity except Allah. However, the true nature of the Pure Person is His Person, Allah.
In other words, everything has an essence, an origin, but the essence of Allah is also His existence. Allah exists by Himself.
The real existence, the real eternal is the infinite divine Light Allah, who has no limits, no boundaries.
“He is the First and the Last, the Visible and the Unseen. He has knowledge of all things.” (Al-Hadid, 3)
Allah has no sides. He is borderless, sole existence. Two borderless, infinite beings cannot exist.
“Indeed, in no way does God wrong mankind, but men wrong themselves.” (Yunis, 44)
As it is Allah who created self (the instincts)-the physical body-, evil is not directly from Allah like good deeds, it is indirectly from Allah.
“Feelhemeha fücureha ve takvaha - Allah inspired self with knowledge of sin and piety.” (Al-Shams, 8)
“Say: ‘All is from God.’ ” (Al-Nisa, 78)
For, the Spirit in Man, Mind, Will, Choice, Action and Power belong to Allah in reality. Therefore, destiny cannot be denied.
Allah has created the self-the physical body- as well. Therefore, what is from the self-physical body- is again indirectly from Allah. Since it is from the self-side that commands evil, a slave of Allah cannot blame Him after he commits evil. Hasan al Basri Hazretleri accepts the person who denies destiny and who blames Allah after he commits evil deeds as a disbeliever because there is nothing except from the divine knowledge of Allah. Allah had not ordered evil deeds by His command. However, Allah created evil such as satan and self by His Will and Divine Reason.
What we understand from the explanations of Sufis on this subject is as follows:
Good deeds or favors are from Allah and evil-wickedness is from our self. (31)
The correct thing to do to know good deeds (favors) from Allah and evil from our self, and to consider glorious Allah, who is our Lord, free from defect and to sanctify Him.
The Subject of Action (Deeds)
In addition to this, Allah has given His slaves a small amount of power as well as a Spirit, Mind and will. A servant of Allah commits His deeds with this power. If there is no power, there will not be any actions or deeds.
For example, a person needs power in order to take a piece of stone and throws it to a man. If he does not have power, he cannot do it. Then, a servant of Allah acts or works with the power Allah has given him.
The action-operation is done by the servant or slave of Allah. We cannot say Allah has taken that piece of stone and hit the man.
The expression, “A servant is not the Creator of his action” means: A servant of Allah is created. The attributes, the qualities of the servant and also the operation attribute of the servant is also creature. As Allah is eternal (eternal in the past and He was not created), His attributions are eternal too. The operation attribute of Allah is eternal as well. Allah, who is the Creator, is eternal and all His attributes including His operation attribute are also eternal because the attributes of the Eternal becomes eternal too. The qualities of what is created also become created.
Moreover, in the process of a person’s operation with the power given to him, there is no event of creating because in the process of taking a stone and hitting a person with it, there is no creating process but there is an action and it happens with some power.
(31) “Sırr’ul Esrar” by Sayyid Abdulqadir Geylani Hazretleri
Creating process means creating from non-existence. However, it is observed that a piece of stone is taken and thrown to a man. What man does is not Creation.
“Creation” means producing from what exists.
There is also another point: In reality, Action also belongs to Allah same as all things of man belong to Allah. He is the real Actor. This is another matter. In reality, all is Him (Heme O’st).
For instance, Allah the Most High has given the Prophets and Believers from His own greatness-strength attribute.
“Strength (Glory) belongs to Allah and to His Apostle and to the faithful.” (Al-Munafiqun, 8)
In another verse, He said:
“Felillahi’l izzetü cemia-The Glory is Allah’s alone.” (Al-Fatir, 10)
He gathered all the glory, excellence in His Pure Person in the above verse.
Just like this, Allah has given man Spirit, Mind, Will, Power, Action but in reality, all these things belong to Allah. All of them belong to Himself. Yet, He has given them to His slaves even if not much and exalted them.
AS FOR IMAMATE
The belief of Sufis who are Selef is as follows: Let us start this subject by reporting the opinion of Ashary:
According to Hasan al Ashary: The Companions of the Prophet had come together in the courtyard (open place) of Beni Saad and had chosen Hz. Abu Baqir, Hz. Omar, Hz. Osman and Hz. Ali as Caliphs. The Caliphate of four of them is true. Their ranks are according to their order.
He said that Hz. Zubayr, Hz.Talha, Hz. Aisha were unfair to Hz. Ali but they returned from their fault.
However, Muawiyah and Amr ibni As rebelled against the True Imam. He said that he was such a true Imam that God (the Truth) never separated from him. (32)
This is also what Shafii Hazretleri thinks.
(32) “Kelam İlminin Belli Başlı Meseleleri” by Prof. Dr. Ebu’l Vefa el Taftazani, translated by Assistant Professor Şerafettin Gölcük, p.87 Kayıhan Publ. İstanbul
Shehristani, el Milel, Mezhebler Tarihi
(33) M. Abu Zehra, Mezhebler Tarihi, p. 334
However, Shia says, “Imamate cannot be held by election. Our Prophet (A.S.) had already said the qualities of an Imam and Hz. Ali owns these qualities perfectly.” And they also accept the Twelve Imams.
Hz. Zayd, the grandson of Hz. Husayn and Hz. Zaynal Abidin’s son said: My ancestor Ali is superior (preferable) and the other Imams are virtuous. However, the Caliphate of the virtuous are also accepted though there is superior one for a good cause. Therefore, the Caliphate of the former three caliphs is also true.” (34)
Abu Hanifa thinks the Caliphate belongs to the descendants of Ali-Ahl-al Bayt. Shafii says that Muawiyah was a rebel. (34)
Sufis accept the last two opinions of Ashary on this subject concerning Camel and Sıffin. That is what they already think. Camel is an ijtihad battle but in Siffin battle, Muawiyah and Amr are rebels. In other words, their drawing sword against Hz. Ali is a rebellion directly towards our Master Aliyel Murtaza, who is the True imam and the Chief of Believers, and also indirectly to Islam religion and to God. There cannot be an ijtihad in the rebellion towards God.
Sufis know the Four Caliphs true. They love them and respect them very much and they know them as Great Muslim Saints.
However, the Shahi Walayat is Hz. Imamı Ali (k.v. and r.a.).
They also accept the 12 imams until Mahdi Hazretleri. They know them true Imams. No Sufi, who do not accept 12 Imams, can be shown,. (36)
In Asharite and Maturidy Branches, they do not mention the 12 Imams. They know our masters “Hz. Ali, Hz. Fatima, Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn” as Ahl al Bayt.
All the Sufis accept and confirm that the quality (Divine Light) of Imamate that belonged to our Prophet had passed to Hz. Ali and his 11 holy sons. This Imamate is the Imamate of the Divine Path of Guidance, of Knowledge and of the Imamate of Initiation.
They love, respect and exalt them. May He be pleased with those who love them, who respect them who accept and confirm them and with the Muslims and faithful Brothers that walk in their paths!
(34) Shehristani: El Milel, vol.1
(35) See M. Abu Zahra, Mezhebler Tarihi, p. 334
(36) See “Mektubat-i Rabbani” by Ahmed Serhindi
Our masters 12 Imams are:
Hz. Aliyyül Mürteza (k.v), Hz. Hasan, Hz. Hüseyin, Hz. Zeynel Abidin Ali, Hz. Muhammad Bakır, Hz. Cafer-i Sadık, Hz. Musa-i Kâzım, Hz. Ali Rıza, Hz. Muhammad Taki, Hz. Ali Naki, Hz. Hasan al Askari, Hz. Muhammad Mehdi, (Mehdii Al-i Resul) (A.S., R.A., R.A., K.S.)
GRAVE SINS
On this subject, Mutazila says: “The person who commits grave sins is neither a disbeliever nor a believer.”
The Murjia sect says: “Whatever sins a believer commits, it does not harm his faith” and he leaves the punishment of the sinner to Allah. They also accept the rule “a cruel king should be obeyed” and they open the path of Ibahiye by this.
Murjia sect says that good deeds do nothing to disbeliever and bad deeds do not harm his faith. In other words, they say no matter how much wickedness a believer commits it does not harm (faith). By this way, committing all kinds of sins becomes tolerated and permissible and a very bad situation rises which pleases rebels and sinners. It incites them to commit more sins and makes them worse.
Imam Hasan al Basri Hazretleri says: “He who commits grave sins is a hypocrite.” Imam Ghazzali Hazretleri seemed to explain the opinion of Hasan al Basri saying: “Insistence on grave sins is denial.”
We accept the opinions of Hasan al Basri Hazretleri and Ghazzali Hazretleri, who clarifies his opinions. We agree with them because we have the faith of Salafi Salihin and of Sufis who defend their way and accept the belief of Ghazzali.
ASSEMBLING FOR JUDGEMENT (Hashr) AND GRAVE (Kabir)
Assembling for judgment is of two kinds:
a) Small assembly for judgement
b) Big assembly for judgement
It starts with death agony-drunkenness and continues with his death and the next life. It is reported clearly in Chapter Qaf. (37)
When a man dies, a witness and the one who will drive it on take his Spirit to the presence of God. Allah questions him and makes his decision about him and he tells them to take him to the Hell (about disbeliever). The Koran has already reported that the spirits of believers are in paradise. This is written in the beginning verses of Chapter Muminun and in various other verses. (38)
There will be a big judgment day and it is called as “the Resurrection Day”.
It is the day (when the return of all the dead people to life at the end of the world) after this world will be annihilated and a general account will be held. The Great God will show everybody who everybody is and He will declare His justice and His forgiveness. The spirits of believers will be placed in the Paradise again as they are bright and the spirits of disbelievers will be placed in the Hell as they are dark.
The Will belongs to our Lord. He forgives whomever He wants and He tortures whomever He wills. May Allah the Most High enable us, believers, to meet our master the Prophet (A.S.V.) with His glory and mercy! May He forgive us and pity us and may He enable us to have the intercession of our Master!
Resurrection- Judgment is for the Spirit.
However, the spirit has an abstract state and it sometimes takes a form. Spirit is divine Light without shape as an abstract being (Pure Spirit).
“Say: Spirit is from my Lord’s Command.” (Al-Isra, 85)
It is not created, it is Command. Command is Divine Light.
This divine light takes a shape, a form with the permission and decree of God so that it will attain a personality, an identity and the spirit of each person will be recognized.
This spirit appears in the form and shape of each person’s physical body. It is just like him. His body, his mouth, eyes, face, head, feet, hands, hair and even his finger tips are the same. He appears in the same form of the person in whom it entered. You can never distinguish him from himself. If he remained as believer, he is bright divine light and pure and his clothes are of silk. He is destined for paradise.
(37) See Chapter Kaf 19-35
(38) Al-Baqarah, 25, Al-Nisa 57,122 Al-Tawbah, 72,100, Abraham, 23, Hajj 23, 56, Talaq-11, Kalam, 34
The sinner who strayed to infidelity looks like an animal, who does not look like a human anymore. He appears in an image of dark black and terrible looking. He is deserving hell. Whomever it enters in this world, he is recognized by this.
“You cannot make those who are in their graves hear you.” (Al-Fatir, 22)
The above verse is about the infidels of Mecca and about all the infidels. Here, the grave refers to the physical body of a person. It means that “their spirit died in their physical bodies. Their spiritual ears do not hear”. Allah reports that they are like those in the graveyards. This is a likening.
In the Chapter Ya Sin, “They will rise from their graves and hasten to their Lord” (Ya Sin, 51) and in A’raf, 172, in “Elestü” verse, it is reported that the spirits gathered in the presence of their Lord before they entered these physical bodies and spoke to their Lord.
Therefore, spirit can be present before the Lord without a physical body and he can speak.
Resurrection and assembling for judging (Hashr) is spiritual but not physical. Each spirit will resurrect and assemble in the shape of the physical body of the person to whom spirit is breathed.
He will eat and drink either from the divine side or from the low or common side.
There are Spirits in the Paradise that eat and drink and some of them only drink but not eat. Those who are very close to Allah do not like to eat. They like and drink the wine of divine love and the more they drink the more they burn with love.
There are not any organs of generations in paradise. There are not any sexual affairs there. They do not reproduce there. There are many beautiful ones: Allah-the Prophet of Allah, the Prophets, Saints, Angels, the houris, beautiful men and women.
Love is for beauty there.
Satisfaction is held by the beauty and divine love for Him, by remembrance and salawat, because in the inner world, takbir (to pronounce the formula ‘Allahu Ekber’) prostration, remembrance and gratitude as well as Selat (Ritual prayer) and Selam (salutations to our Prophet) and to the great personalities. They are the eternal.
The torture or pleasures of grave are in this physical body. If the spirit is a believer and he is pious, he will have pleasure. If he is a sinner and he is guilty, he is in torture. One can feel this in his heart.
Although the believer is sorrowful in this world, “his heart is joyful”. Although the infidel is in material pleasures and delight in this world, “his heart is in distress and affliction”.
If an infidel or grave sinner stops for a moment and listens to his heart, he gets crazy of stress and grief. If whoever does not believe this, let him try it!
For this reason, the infidel or the grave sinner escapes from himself, from his origin. He looks for entertainment and occupation or else he is very bored. He feels that his ego, his own self is being decayed and he feels himself very sad. His sorrow increases.
He may repent and he moans with pain and understands that Allah is torturing him. He gives up denying and repents what he has committed and he does not object to God anymore because Allah is just and does not torture the person who believes in Him and thanks Him. This is reported in Chapter Nisa:
“Why should God punish you if you render thanks to Him and truly believe Him?” (Nisa, 147)
In the graveyards, there are only corps, the spirit leaves the body and he is either in Paradise and in the Hell or in Barzah (intermediate stateor world). If an expert of revelation: a Prophet or a Saint looks at a grave with the eye of the heart, the state of the person in the Hell, in the Paradise or Barzah is seen to him. It is the condition of the spirit, which is seen to him. Here the grave is a symbol, a reflection for that person who is the expert of revelation. This is also the meaning of the sacred hadith about graveyard. The questioning or cross-examination after death is particularly done by Allah the Most High. The angels do not ask questions. They speak with believers and give glad tidings to them. They say “Greetings! Greetings! And they pray for believers. They are our Friends and Guardians.
“Nahnü evliyaüküm - We are your guardians.” (Fussilat, 31)
The demons of Hell speak with those in the Hell they say as they moan:
“Did there not come to you Apostles of your own who proclaimed to you the revelations of your Lord?” “Yes” they will answer.” (Al-Zumar, 71)
There are many verses concerning this meaning, those who recite the Turkish version of the Koran meet these sayings very often. (39)
There are no angels who do the questioning. Allah Himself questions His slaves. This is such a right that Allah does not give it to anybody.
There are “Recording Angels”. They stay near a person until he dies. They write or record their good deeds and bad deeds. They know, see and witness what we do. The meaning of the saying: “When your head touches the wall of your tomb, you come to sense” is when you die everything becomes apparent just like “let’s go and see”.
The dead are not suggested faith. Advice or suggestion is made to the person who is alive. When man dies, his accounts are settled.
Forgiveness and compassion is implored from God for the dead person. He is remembered with good wills. It is permitted to implore intercession, help, praise and divine blessing from the holy spirits of the Great Personalities. However, it should be said with the permission of Allah” believing that he will be benefited from this.
Alms given on behalf of the dead as compensation for their neglected duties and the confession of sins are not related with Islam. These things are made by monks. Their aim is to squeeze money out of the family of the dead person. Religious meetings should be held in memory of the dead person and some money should be given to poor people. You must do some charitable works. They may be helpful if dead person is faithful.
Paradise and Hell are in the inner world. Allah the Most High says: “The earth is changed into a different earth and the heavens into new heavens.” (Abraham, 48)
It means that the earth and the heavens will be completely changed and they will not be in their former state anymore.
“Never think that these who were slain in the cause of God are dead. They are alive and well-provided for by their Lord.” (Imrans, 169)
For this verse, we call them “martyrs”.
The spirits of whom Allah defines as martyrs are all alive. Real believers are martyrs and witnesses of God. Prophets, the Friends of God and true pious believers are included in this.
(39) An’am-130, Mulk-8, 9 and other verses
Martyr-Witness means the person who sees God. A faithful spirit sees God.
“The Koran is an advice for those who have a heart and can hear and see. Those who hear it are martyrs.” (Kaf, 37)
Hence, unbelievers have no heart. Their heart is sick (it is decayed and lost its original form; their sense of hearing has become deaf).
“Fehüm la yübsirun - They will never see.” (Ya Sin, 9)
He says for the infidels:
“He shall burn in the gigantic Fire, where he shall neither die nor live.” (A’la, 13)
Therefore, their state in the Hell is half-dead and half alive.
WHAT DO SHII, SUNNI AND ALAWI MEAN?
The words Shii, Sunni and Alawi were not used during the Prophet’s (A.S.) time. They are the expressions that were formed after the Prophet (A.S.).
These words have a meaning as a word and their meanings as a word are innocent or fine. They also refer to the meaning as forming groups in religious sects.
Shii means friend, supporter and sympathizer.
Sunni means the person or those who support Sunnat. In other words those that follow the practice of the Prophet (A.S.) and obey the jurisprudence and hadiths.
Alawi means the person who accepts Hz. Ali as a friend or guardian.
Shii is generally said for the partisans of Ahla-l Bayt, who are Hz. Ali and his sons.
In this situation, are Sunnis not Alawis? Such a question comes to mind. Do Sunnis not support Hz. Ali? Sunnis also support Hz. Ali and his descendants. When the books are searched, it is seen that Abu Hanifa is personally the supporter of Hz. Ali. He was even murdered by the Abbasids due to this. It is definite that he is the supporter of Hz. Ali and his descendants.
In this situation, a Sunni is also a Shii. The People of Sunnat (Sunnis) know the Caliphate of Hz. Ali Haqq (True). Nobody says that the Caliphate of Muawiyah is Haqq; they say the Caliphate of Hz. Ali is Haqq. The names written at the mosques are the names of the Four Caliphs anyway. The names preached at the pulpit are also these!
There are not any Muslims in the world that do not like, support Hz. Ali and speak against Him. It is impossible!
Hz. Ali is more important. He is the gate of the Divine Knowledge.
Shiis are also the People of Sunnat. They support the Book and Sunnat. Their canonical jurisprudence depends on the Book and Sunnat. They are also Sunnis as they support the Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.).
Therefore, people who support the Sunnat of the Prophet are called as Sunnis; those who love Ahl al Bayt are called as Shiis besides their innocent meanings as word and sectarian arguments.
Sunnis also love Ahl al Bayt; Shiis also support the Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.)!
Then, Shiis are Sunnis; Sunnis are Shiis.
See what happened in this case: two of them are united as “one”. However; the situation changes when it is brought to sectarianism and provocation. This is a different matter. They happened afterwards.
We think that we have explained this matter clearly. Today, in Iran, there are Isna Ashariya, Jafariya, Imamiya and Ismailiya sects; in Yemen, there is Zeydiye Sect. All of them accepted Sunnat as the evidence or proof. They all obey the practice of the Prophet of Allah. Therefore, they are Sunnis. We all love Ahl al Bayt. Let our life be sacrificed to Ahl al Bayt (The immediate members of the Prophet (A.S.)). A person who does not love Ahl al Bayt (the family of the Prophet (A.S.)) can never be a Muslim anyway! Then, we are also Shiis.
Hence, Sunnis are Shiis; Shiis are Sunnis. We emphasize on this repeatedly! This is definite! They are Muslims and we are Muslims as well.
Then, we say “Muslim” instead of saying Shiis or Sunnis.
These words emerged afterwards anyway. When the Sacred Companions of the Prophet (A.S.), our faithful brothers, were asked who they were, they would say that they were Muslims-Mohammedans. Our Masters Hz. Ali and Hz. Omar are also Mohammedans. We are all Mohammedans.
We believe that, in this century, we had better not use these words but just say that we are Mohammedans and Muslims.
Actually, this kind of matters causes “separations” in the future. If Islamic History is searched (studied), they caused bloody fights and murders. Not only Shiis and Sunnis, but also Hanafis and Shafiis killed each other. There had been bloody murders among the People of Sunnat in the past actually.
They are not necessary in this era anymore. For, they happened as a result of political forming of the Kings of that time.
As for the word of “Alawism”;
Alawism is not related with the religious sects, Shia and Sunni!
Alawism is concerned with Sufism.
That is to say, it is related with Divinity or spirituality (Tariqat, Guardianship, the matters of spiritual journey). Our Prophet (A.S.), the Pride of the Universe, honored our Master Hz. Ali, the King of Sanctity, both as the Door of Divine Knowledge and he bestowed on him divine Knowledge. He gave him the Imamate and the Caliphate and said that he was “his heir and his deputy”.
However, our master Hz. Abu Baqir was given divine caliphate in Sawr Cave. Our Master Hz. AbuBaqir became a little sad when Abu Sufyan had come and leant to the cave’s entrance during Emigration. For this reason, he acquired the divine guidance of our Prophet due to the compliments of our Prophet (A.S.). He opened the eye of his heart. The verses of Allah were revealed to him and the tranquility of Allah was descended to him. He was initiated there and acquired a divine Caliphate there. His caliphate is also true. We know this in this way and accept it like this. He became a Caliph outwardly afterwards as well.
This is written in the in the Chapter Tawba in the Koran too. (Al-Tawba, 40)
Allah also says: “I am pleased with the muhajirin (Meccans who followed the Prophet Mohammad in settling in Madina)” (Hashr, 80)
Our master Hz. Abubaqir is also a muhajir. Our Master Hz. Ali is also a muhajir. Hz. Omar and Hz. Osman are also muhajirs. Let us say it again: Allah says that he is pleased with Muhajirs and Ansar (the inhabitants of Medina who invited Hz. Muhammad (A.S.) and his adherents to their city) and these personalities cannot be insulted and told rude words!
There had been some conflicts among them about Ray matters due to human nature as they were struggling for Islam; however, they were among them and we cannot interfere them. They did not go to infidelity although there were conflicts. They were only ijtihad matters because they are human beings. After the Prophet (A.S.), they are but the sins, as they are humans. Allah forgives them in this respect. Our master the Prophet (A.S.) forgives them, they forgive each other; we cannot comment on this.
There are such extremist Shias that they say: “Our Master Hz. Osman did not keep that word of our master Hz. Ali.” According to them as if, our master Hz. Osman had become an infidel! It is wrong because our master Hz. Ali is not a Prophet. He is a Friend of God, a believer.
As it is explained above, it was because of the circumstances of that time (it was the right thing to do in that affair). If he had kept his word, Marwan would not have played those tricks and those events would not have happened.
Here, let us explain Sufism and the situation of the former Sufis.
The spiritual, metaphysical matters that are included in the Divine Gnosis of Allah: spirit’s reaching Allah or spiritual journey, which was started by the Prophet (A.S.) was the most important duty of our Prophet: It was to initiate the spirit.
It also involved teaching “Men Araf” (he who knows himself, knows his Lord; remembering Allah, praising Allah and approaching Allah by performing excessive worship, which is the ascension of the spirit, n other words, annihilation in Allah, abiding in Allah and reaching Allah.
Our Prophet wanted to continue this path because it did not exist during the former Prophets before our Prophet (A.S.). Sanctity, Tariqat, Sufism were not present at that time. There was but it was during that Prophet. When that Prophet died, another prophet would come.
Since no Prophet would come after the Prophet Muhammad (A.S.), our Prophet did not leave this to only Islamic Canonical Jurisprudence. Divine, spiritual sciences would continue as well because belief or faith matters are more important.
Those who followed Hz. Ali were called “Turuk-u Alawiya”, those who followed Hz. Abu Baqir were called as “Turuk-u Bekriye”, or the divine paths of Hz. Ali and Hz. Abu Baqir. Both of them are true.
There were many branches after our masters Hz. Ali and Hz. Abu Baqir.
Various paths were opened using the names of these exalted Perfect Men such as: Kadiriye, Rufaiye, Bedeviye, Dusukiye, Mevleviye, Sümbüliye, Bayramiye, Halvetiye, Chesdiye, Shaziliye, Kubreverdiye, Suhreverdiye. All of them are the divine paths that come from our Master Hz. Ali. They are great Sufis, wise and scholar personalities.
The branch of Hz. Abubaqir extended to Ahmed Yesevi by means of Beyazidi Bistami, Hasan al Hırkani and Yusufu Hamedani after it had come to Jafari Sadıq. After that, it reached Muhammad Baba Sammasi and Muhammad Bahaeddin. They were also divided into branches.
For example Hz. Mawlana is one of the descendants of our Master Hz. Abubaqir but he is from the branch of Hz. Ali. He is in his mystical path; he is in his sanctity path.
Hz. Baqtashi Veli is one of the descendants of Musai Kazim; he is the descendant of Hz. Ali but he is from the branch of Hz. Abubaqir. This is definite. Most people do not notice this. It is a conflict between Sunnis and Shiis. He is an adherent of Hz. Abubaqir because Hz. Bektashi Veli is an adherent of Ahmed Yesevi and he is from the path of Hz. Abubaqir.
Therefore, Sufism is concerned with Tariqat. Sufism is not a subject of Shariat or Jurisprudence.
The word “Alawi” comes from here. In the past, one of them was called “Alawis, Haydaris”; the other one was called as “Baqris and Sıddıqis”.
Other names were used for the personalities that had come afterwards such as: Bektashis, Yesevis, Naqshis. There are many branches around Khorasan and Turkistan. Hz. Abubaqir had also many branches.
What we want to emphasize here is they are the words that were started to be used after the Prophet (A.S.).
In fact, the meaning of saying I am an Alawi, a Haydari, Baqri, Sıddıqi, Kadiri, Rufai, Bedevi, Mawlawi, Naqsi, Bektashi, Yesevi and Halveti is “I am a Muhammadi”. What are the aims of other branches? Both Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Ali are Muhammadi.
Hence, it is more correct to say “I am a Muslim, I am a Muhammadi”. The other words can also be used sincerely. However, they should not be used intentionally for causing disputes. If there are disputes, then they cause mischief and it becomes harmful instead of being beneficial.
Actually, it will be better to say I am a Muhammadi, a Muslim a believer, a follower of the Koran and I believe in and I am attached to the Koran-the Book, to the Sunnat, to Ahla-l Bayt and to the Four Caliphs as well as to the great personalities of the Companion of the Prophet and to the dignitaries instead of saying I am Shii, a Sunni, Hanafi, Shafii.
The aim of all of them is “the belief of Muhammad”. It is more proper to say “I am a Muhammadi” especially in this age because people understand realities more easily. There are more books and the main point of everything is understood by means of television and radio. The essence of everything is Muhammadism, Islam and the belief of Believer and to obey the Koran and the Sunnat of the Prophet (A.S.). It is the same both in the Islamic Canonical Jurisprudence and in Sufism.
Anything concerning religious sects and Sufism that is not based on the Book and Sunnat and on Allah and Muhammad (A.S.) is wrong.
Anything that is sourced from Allah and the Prophet; and the Book and Sunnat is haq (true).
An Alawi is a Muhammadi, a Baqri is a Muhammadi, a Hanafi is a Muhammadi, a Shafii, a Shii and a Sunni is also Muhammadi.
This is the truth my brothers! Beware of causing sects and tariqat fights because the intention of all of them is “MUHAMMADISM”.
La ilahe illallah, Muhammeden Resulullah, Allahümme salli ala Seyyidina Muhammad ve ala Ali Seyyidina Muhammad.
WHAT IS THE REAL OPINION ABOUT THE FOUR CALIPHS?
The subject of Imamate, Caliphate, in other words, the right of representing the Prophet (A.S.) had become a subject matter of Faith after the Prophet Muhammad (A.S.). Although it has as if no concern with the Faith, it has become a subject of Faith, as it is a historical event. “The Imamate subject” has been discussed among philosophers and theologians rather than among the experts of Muslim Canonical Jurisprudence.
There is a conflict among the scholars or Muslim community about Imamate. The people of Sunnat and Shia have different views concerning Imamate.
There were differences between the opinions of Persian Ulama and Abbasid Ulama at that time. We say “at that time” because theological matters occurred mostly during Abbasid’s time.
Imamate means “leadership”. Here, Imamate does not mean the leadership in ritual prayer but it means the leader of that society or the president of that country.
The greatest, the most exalted Imam is Hz. Muhammad (A.S.V.).
Imam means the person who has the authority of commands and orders in that community. Namely, he is the leader or the administrator of Believers and Muslims.
Caliph means the successor of the Prophet and the one who becomes the leader of that community on behalf of him after the Prophet (A.S.). The meaning of this is again Commandership.
The people of Sunnat accept the subject of Imamate and Caliphate as follows:
“Caliphate is held by election after the Prophet (A.S.).” Whoever Muslim community wants, they choose him. However, this person must be a believer and fair.
The people of Sunnat have also accepted the hadith “the Imams are from the Quraysh”. (60)
Imams would be from the Quraysh so the Caliph would be chosen from the Quraysh. Therefore, he was not from Ansar, he was chosen from Muhajirs because Muhajirs were from Mecca.
As for Shia, they say “an imam should be appointed”. That is to say, “Imams are appointed by Allah and His Prophet and the Koran and Sunnat command it in this way.”
The dispute or conflict starts at this point.
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir was chosen a Caliph through election. The Companions of the Prophet gathered in the open place of Beni Sad and swore fealty to Hz. Abubaqir. However, our Prophet (A.S.) had already made him an imam for the ritual prayer. This was a sign of him.
Whereas, our Master Hz. Abubaqir was not chosen, he was appointed by our Master Hz. Abu Baqir. He left him for his place, however, nobody swore fealty to him by force. That is to say, the Muslim community was free. He said: “Hz. Omar deserves for this. Let him be the Caliph!” and the Companions swore fealty to him using their free will.
Nobody can be forced to swear fealty. If there is a compulsion in allegiance, it causes disgust or loathing. It is wrong. His allegiance becomes false then. Although it is said that Hz. Omar was appointed, the Companions swore fealty to him as well. Everybody made his oath of allegiance willingly.
Hz. Osman became a Caliph by a “Council”. Our master Hz. Omar pointed out six people including our master Hz. Ali.
The Companions left this task to Abdurrahman b. Avf. He also swore fealty to Hz. Osman. Hz. Ali also swore fealty to him.
Our Master Hz. Ali became a Caliph through election but our Prophet (A.S.) had many signs about him.
After Hz. Osman was martyred, all the Companions of the Prophet gathered and swore fealty to Hz. Ali without any objection. Only Hz. Zubayr broke his allegiance although he had sworn fealty to him. Afterwards, while he was being martyred during Camel Battle, he repented and said “Hz. Ali is the Caliph and I swear fealty to him again”. He also showed witnesses for this event.
The caliphate subject is an important matter. Shiis say:
(40) Ahmed b. Hanbal, Musned, vol. 5 p. 90-92
From Jabir b. Samura; Tac Translation, Bekir Sadak, vol.3, p.79 Ist. 1973
“Our master Hz. Ali possessed all the qualities of Imamate after the Prophet (A.S.). There are the verses of the Koran and the hadiths of the Prophet about this. And they use the following verse as a proof:
Bismillahirrrahmanirrahim,
“Innema yüridullahu liyüzhibe ankümürricse Ehlel Beyt’i ve yütehhireküm tethira.”
It means:
“Ahl al Bayt is pure, clean. Allah has willed them to be purified.” (Al-Ahzab, 33)
“When Allah decrees a thing. He need only say: “Be” and it is.” (Yasin, 82)
According to a hadith sourced from Ahl al Bayt: “There will be 12 Imams after me.” (41) “Imam” here means “caliph”.
There is also another hadith: “The imams are from Quraysh.”
There are many hadiths about our master Hz. Ali. There are also some hadiths about the other Companions of the Prophet but the hadiths about Hz. Ali are more. Our Prophet (A.S.) mentioned about him with praises. Hz. Ali was the brother of our Prophet (When everybody engaged a brother, our Prophet engaged him as his brother). (42) He was his heir (He made decisions on behalf of him). (43)
He gave his dearest daughter Mother Fatima to him. He said: If Ali had not been born, Fatima would not have married.” (44)
He also said, Bismillah, “Ene medinetü’l ilmi ve Ali’yyün babüha - I am the city of divine knowledge and Ali is the gate to it.” (45)
Again Bismillah “Küntü men Mevlahü fe Aliyyen Mevlah-Whoever I am the master of Ali is also his Master.” (46)
(41) Also “There are Twelve Caliphs in this community” from Hz. Jabir; Ahmed b. Hanbel, Müsned, vol.5, p.106
Sahihi Buhari, vol. 4, p.501
(42) From Ibni Omar; Thirmizi, Tac translation, Bekir Sadak, vol. 3, p. 624
See also Islam Tarihi, Hz. Muhammad ve İslamiyet, M. Asım Köksal, vol.1, p. 104
(43) From Habashi b. Junade; Thirmizi, Tac trans. Vol.3, p.624
(44) Binbir Hadis by Shemseddin Yeşil, p.180 İst. 1983
(45) From Ibni Abbas; Thirmizi, Sahih, vol.2, p.399
Suyuti, Camiussağir, vol.1, p.108 and others
(46) From Zayd b. Erkam, Thirmizi Tac trans. Vol.3 p.619
Ahmed b. Hanbel, Musned, vol. 4 p. 281
He also said “I am leaving and I am entrusting you two things: One of them is the Book of Allah and the other is my Ahl al Bayt. If you hold fast them, you shall never be misled.” (47)
Most of Sunni Theologians extracted “Ahl al Bayt” from this hadith and they say “I have entrusted you my Sunnat”; however, there is a hadith and this hadith is definite. (48)
The hadiths about Ahl al Bayt are a great many. Although they pretend not to notice them, there are numerous hadiths about Hz. Ali and Ahl al Bayt. They say the Imamate of Hz. Ali was appointed by the Koran and Sunnat. Although Allah and His Prophet did not pronounce his name, though he did not say “Hz. Ali is my Caliph and he will take my place after me”; what is concluded from many hadiths is: “The qualities of an Imam exist in him perfectly basing on the Koran verses and hadiths.” This is also correct. The qualities of Imamate exist in the King of Sanctity. He deserves for Imamate and he is the most virtuous.
Yet, our Master Hz. Abubaqir was chosen for the Imamate!
In this matter, Hz. Abubaqir was chosen, as it fitted the circumstances in order to prevent conflicts. Hz. Abubaqir was an old man, he was 60 years old. Our Prophet (A.S.) also said very praiseworthy hadiths about Hz. Abubaqir. For example: “Obey Abubaqir and Omar after my death and enter the path of guidance that Ammar follows.” (49)
Ammar supported Hz. Ali. His path was the path of divine guidance. This is a different matter and it happened afterwards. It was a sign of the situation when the rebels against Hz. Ali appeared.
(47) From Zayd. b. Sabit; Ahmed b. Hanbel, Musned, vol.3 p.17 Thirmizi vol.2 p.308
Suyuti, Camiüssağir, trans. By Abdullah Aydın, vol. 2, p.59
Also from Abu Hurayra; Suyuti, Camiüssağir, vol.2, p.297
Also Tebarani and others
(48) Saidi Nursi Efendi accepted this hadith as it was. He wrote in his book “Hakikat Nurları”: Our Prophet said: I am entrusting you two things: “One of them is the Koran (The literal word of Allah) and the other is my Ahl al Bayt. Saidi Nursi Hazretleri had put it in his book.”
(49) Onların Alemi by Sayyid Ahmed ar Rufai, translated by Abdulkadir Akçiçek, p.83 İst. 1964
From Ibni Mesud and Huzayfa b. El Yeman; Musnad, Abu Hanife, Aliyyül Kari Şerhi, p.217
There is also another hadith about Hz. Ammar:
“İnne Ammaren taktüluhu fieti’l bağiye - Ammar will certainly be murdered by the rebels.” (50)
Ammar was really murdered by Sufyanis (by the supporters of Muawiyah) in Siffin.
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir was an old man. One day, our Prophet (A.S.) had sent him to lead the ritual worship in place of him. This was also a sign. He was our Prophet’s father-in-low. He was the first Muslim among men. His daughter was married to our Prophet as a gift by him. His loyalty to our Prophet (A.S.) was never in question, his loyalty lasted forever. He was a very virtuous, exalted, great Friend of God.
In addition to this, in Mecca, Umayyads and Abu Sufyan, whose heart had not turned is confirmed by the hadith, was still alive. He did not give up presidency and he did not accept Hashimids because of his antagonism to them.
Our Master Hz. Ali had already killed some important unbelievers from the notables of Umayyads. Therefore, Abubaqir was elected for fear that Umayyads might revolt again, Mecca might be conquered or some people might return.
In other words, Islam was recently established and it was not strong enough. Hz. Abubaqir was chosen in order to prevent the possibility of fighting but not because Hz. Ali was not deserving it.
Hz. Abubaqir was the second Muhajir (muhajir: those who fled with Muhammad to Madina).
“May Allah be pleased with the Muhajirins.” (Al-Hashr, 8)
When our Master Hz. Abubaqir was chosen, our Master Hz. Ali swore fealty with his own free will, sincerely. Hz. Abubaqir was elected as he deserved it and in order to enable the unity.
As Hz. Ali knew the virtuous quality of him and in order to prevent conflicts, he showed modesty and swore fealty to our Master Hz. Abubaqir although it was his own right. His allegiance was true. This is accepted by the Shiis and say, “Yes, Hz. Ali eventually swore fealty to him.”
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir had also said something, which is very important because Hz. Abubaqir never told lies, as he was a truthful man.
(50) Thirmizi, Muslim, Tac trans. Vol.3, p.688
He said: “Although there is a more virtuous, (more favorable and greater person than me) among you, you have chosen me.” Who was that person he described as more virtuous than me? He was our Master Shahi Walayat (The King of Sanctity) Hz. Ali (K.V.) Hazretleri.
He also said: “If I obey Allah and His Prophet, obey me. If I don’t do, disobey me.”
By this way, he gave the Muslims the right of making an oath and taking it back, the right of resistance. In other words, Hz. Abubaqir was the person who opened the door of Republic, real democracy and freedom. Nobody can deny it. The sound judgment of the Muslim Community of Muhammad was regarded.
However, Shia does not accept this. They say the Imamate of the Prophet belongs to Imam Ali and Ahl al Bayt, and after them to the 12 Imams until Hz. Mahdi. Since the 12th Ahl al Bayt Imam was disappeared
(hidden) Imamate ended. What will happen now? They say there is a substitute Mahdi (the representative of the Imam), they formed something like this among them. That is to say, Imamate ended but there are great personalities who will represent the Imam, who deserves him. They are not Imams but the representatives of him: Ayatollahs.
For, Imamate is very important in Shia. Imam is innocent and pure. (This matter was explained in the chapter about Ahl al Bayt.)
Our Master Imam Ali was 33 years old when our Prophet (A.S.) died. Hz. Abubaqir was 60 years old. There was a tradition, a custom in Arabs: respecting the elders and gathering around the old person.
There were some people who felt different reactions towards Hz. Ali (such as offence, jealousy or hatred) among those who became Muslims afterwards although they were believers. For example, especially among Umayyads and Sufyanis, the Meccan infidels and polytheists, whose head Hz. Ali hit with Zulfiqar by the command of Allah and His Prophet, had some relatives. This was also taken into consideration those days.
The Caliphate of Hz. Abubaqir was true. He was virtuous and deserving for Caliphate.
Hz. Omar had become a Caliph after Hz. Abubaqir any way. Hz. Ali swore fealty to him on the same day, Hz. Osman swore fealty to him on the same day too.
Our master Hz. Ali (k.v.) had never had an argument with them. They also had respected our Master Hz. Ali very greatly. They stood up when he entered into the room and they asked and used his opinion, knowledge and virtue in the matters that would be solved.
They used to give “humus” as well.
Humus is based on the 7th verse of Chapter Hashr, “Kurba….” which was the command of Allah. It was the one fifth of the war spoils or the taxes of the government, which is given to Ahl al Bayt, firstly to Hashimids.
It was applied during the Four Caliphs’ time. Later, Muawiyah abolished “humus”. He did not give the right of Ahl al Bayt though it was confirmed by the Koran (a verse in the chapter Hashr).
Now, the Ulama of Iran are objecting. How are they objecting? They say “their Caliphate was not the caliphate, they had taken the right of Hz. Ali from him and seized it by force in a way”.
However, the Shiites of Iran do not say any bad words to Hz. Abubaqir, Hz. Omar and Hz. Osman. They say “they are also virtuous people. However, Hz. Ali is the most virtuous and while there is the most virtuous- the superior-, the virtuous is not preferred”. They insist that their Caliphate was not right or true and they are still lasting it.
There is also a matter about Zayd.
Hz. Zayd was the son of Imam Zaynal Abidin, the elder brother of Imam Muhammad Baqır. He rebelled or revolted against Umayyads. Our Master Abu Hanifa said: “Whoever helps Zayd acquires the merit of the martyrs of Badir Battle in God’s sight.” He also helped this action by giving 10 thousand dinars. He said: “Badir Battle has started.” Unfortunately, our master Hz. Zayd was martyred. He was murdered by the Yazidi infidels, by the cruel.
Hz. Zayd also had an opinion about Imamate. Hz. Zayd was a great scholar. He said:
“As far as I heard from my father Zaynal Abidin, Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Osman are very great personalities. They are virtuous persons. However, my ancestor Ali is superior to them. My ancestor, the King of Sanctity Aliyyel Murtaza Hazretleri is the Imam and the most virtuous.” He also said: “Yet, according to circumstances, while there is a superior person, a virtuous person can be selected for that rank as well. This is the explanation of the matter.” He says my ancestor is superior, however, Hz. Abubaqir, Hz. Omar and Hz. Osman are also gracious, virtuous personalities.
When there is a superior person, can a virtuous person sit at that position? According Hz. Zayd, he can sit if he fits the requirements or in accordance with the circumstances.
However, the Twelver Shiis, Jafaris and Ismailis do not accept this. They say while there is superior, the virtuous cannot be chosen.
Whereas Hz. Zayd was from Ahl al Bayt. He was the descendant of Hz. Husayn. He was a holy martyr of Allah. May Allah be pleased with Him!
Hz. Zayd said: “Although my ancestor Aliyyel Murtaza is more virtuous, more knowledgeable, Hz. Abubaqir and Omar are also virtuous people. Their caliphate is true or right. This is the explanation of the matter.” Shiis should consider these words of Hz. Zayd! The great scholars of Ahl al Sunnat like Isfahani and Fahr-i Rıza Hazretleri exalt all the Ahl al Bayt and Shahi Walayat. They say the Caliphate of the Four of them are true. They do not prefer any of them or they do not give any of them any special ranks.
However, according to Asharis, four of them were true and they were selected by the Companion at Bani Sad. Their ranks were arranged to their succession order. This is according to Ashary belief.
As we have mentioned above, this has become the topic of Theology. It is the view of Ashari, those who believe in Ashary accept it in that way.
Fahri Razi considered Ahl al Bayt superior. Those who read his commentaries know this. The entire of Beni Hashim knows Hz. Ali superior.
Most of the Friends of Allah and most of the Ulamas are like this. Some of them accept Hz. Ali and some of them accept Hz. Abubaqir.
There are many sacred hadiths about Hz. Abubaqir. In the Chapter Tawba (Repentance), there are various hadiths praising him (such as he was one of the close friends of the Prophet, they set out to the death journey together etc.)
However, when they came to kill our Prophet (A.S.) on the night of Emigration, our Master Hz. Ali lay down in the Prophet’s bed to die. When Abu Sufyan came, he saw Hz. Ali. He also covered him with woolen cloth on the bed. Our Prophet did not tell him to cover him. Hz. Ali covered himself with the woolen cloth in order to give the impression that the Prophet (A.S.) was sleeping when Sufyanis arrived there.
In other words, one of them lay down in his deathbed and sacrificed himself for the prophet, the other one set out his death journey. These personalities are important we cannot make any distinction between them. Both of them are very great.
Yet, it is up to that person to exalt either Hz. Ali or Hz. Abubaqir. What is important is both of them are great. Both of them are really great and both of them are the same. However, because of the sacred hadiths and love for them, one can exalt the one who likes and this does not harm the religion or the faith of that person. This is only for Hz. Ali and Hz. Abubaqir. Shafii regards Hz. Ali superior after Hz. Abubaqir. (51)
(51) M. Abu Zehra, Mezhepler Tarihi, p.334
Yet, Hz. Ali is certainly much greater than Hz. Omar and Osman. There are many definite Hadiths about the superiority of Shahi Walayat. Hz. Omar and Osman were also very great Friends of God. They are also very virtuous. May Allah be pleased with all of them! This is the subject of the Four Caliphs. At that time, there was a matter concerning them. They had never fought against each other and four of them maintained the Caliphate of the Prophet (A.S.) for 30 years. There is already hadiths about this and there is a divine reason (inner meaning) in it too.
Our Prophet said: “The Caliphate will last 30 years after me and then the Kingdom will start and a cruel monster will take over.” 30 years later Muawiyah came. Therefore, our Prophet (A.S.) had known that it would happen in this way. Since our prophet was the Apostle of God, he naturally knew this. There are some other hadiths about this on this subject.
Before we conclude this topic, we would like to mention another point: It is the situation of Jafar al Sadıq, who was the sixth of the 12 Ahl al Bayt Imams. Hz. Jafar al Sadıq was the descendant of Hz. Abubaqir maternally. His father was the descendant of Hz. Imam Husayn, Imam Ali, his mother was the descendant of Hz. Abubaqir. She was born from him. Jafar al Sadıq was the descendant of Hz. Abubaqır from his mother’s side.
Therefore, everybody must be careful on this matter. And our Master Jafar al Sadıq also said: “Do not insult my ancestor Abubaqir. I do not let anyone to tell bad words (or to defame) about my ancestor.” Our heart did not accept not to tell this truth. We must tell this for the sake of Allah. We are telling this and many people must take a lesson from this.
Those who say that they love Hz. Jafar should accept the highness of Hz. Abubaqir and love him because he is the ancestor of Jafar al Sadıq from her mother’s side.
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir was also Hashimid. He was a relative of Hashimids. Their ancestors are from the family line of the Prophet (A.S.) and he is truthful.
(52) From Said b. Cunhan, Abu Davud, Thirmizi, Nesei, Tac Transl. vol.3, p. 79 Bekir Sadak, İst. İst. 1973 See also Sahih-i Buhari and Tecrid-i Sarih Terc. Diy. İşl. Bşk. Yayınları
May Allah be pleased with four of them! We believe in four of them and the Caliphate of the Four is true. We love four of them. However, our love towards Ahl al Bayt is more because to love Ahl al Bayt is from faith. There is also another hadith: “Whoever loves Ahl al Bayt loves the Prophet, whoever hates the Ahl al Bayt hates the Prophet (A.S.).” (53)
If we had written the hadiths about the superiority of Ahl al Bayt and the love towards them, this book would become a big hadith Book then.
To love Ahl al Bayt is one of special features of Faith. He who does not like Ahl al Bayt has no faith.
For, Ahl al Bayt carries directly the blood of the Prophet (A.S.). Each of the great personalities is like this but Ahl al Bayt is exceptional.
Ahl al Bayt is distinguished-select. No alms are given to Ahl al Bayt. All the Companions can receive alms, even the greatest Companion can receive alms, (if he is poor) but Ahl al Bayt does not receive.
Only “humus” can be given to Ahl al Bayt. Allah has a command on this matter. (Al-Hashr, 7) They have a share in public treasury.
Alm cannot be given to Ahlal Bayt because “a Master is not given alms or charity”. There is a sacred Hadith concerning this:
“Ahl al Bayt cannot eat (receive) alms and charity.” (54)
They do not eat alms because it is also a kind of charity. They have a privilege here. This is obvious. All the scholars know this. No alms are given to Ahl al Bayt. If they give anything, it is a present or a gift. This is important. For example, If Hz. Omar had been poor, he could have received alms or charity but Hz. Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn and Hashimids cannot receive it. Revealing this truth is the command of our conscience.
Ahl al Bayt has superiority. We cannot deny the superiority of Ahl al Bayt. “The following “salawat” is confirming this, isn’t it?
“Allahumme Salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad’in ve ala Alihi ve Ashabihi”.
(53) Ahmed b. Hanbel, Musnad. Vol. 2, p.288
Ibni Mace, Sunen, Vol. 1, p.51
Camiüssağir, Vol.2, p.58 Translated by Abdullah Aydın, İst. 1997
(54) From Hz. Husayn b. Ali, Ahmed b. Hanbel, Suyuti, Camiüssağir, vol.2,p. 56 From Abu Hurayra, the same source, p. 59
See also Buhari and others
Allah, Muhammad, Ahl al Bayt (the immediate family of the Prophet) and his Companions. The order is actually like this. Ahl al Bayt is pure. In Ahzab, 33:
“İnnema yüridullahi liyüzhibe ankümürricse Ehl elBeyti veyütehhireküm tethira- Ahl al Bayt is pure, clean.”
In this verse, Allah the Most High says “ankümürricse”. Some people say that it was about the wives of the Prophet. No! If it had been about the wives of the Prophet (A.S.), then he would not have said “anküm”. When it is “anküm”, it refers to men and they are Ali Aba. Ahl al Sunnat has an agreement that Ahl al Bayt consists of Hz. Ali, Hz. Fatima, Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn. Imam Hanbel told this hadith in his book Musnad just like this.
There is also a tradition from our Mother Salama and another hadith from our Mother Aisha:
“The Prophet of Allah said: Ahl al Bayt are Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn. They are My Ahl al Bayt O Lord!” (55)
This hadith is certain and none of the scholars had denied it. Naturally, the wives of the Prophet (A.S.) are also the Family of the Prophet.
Al-i Aba ,we call as “Hamse-i Al-i Aba”, consists of five people together with the Prophet (A.S.): Hz. Muhammad, Hz. Ali, Hz. Fatima, Hz. Hasan, Hz. Husayn (Aleyhümüsselam). They are Ahl al Bayt. They are Al-i Aba.
May Allah not take us away from them!
He forgave Adam for the sake of them and May He forgive us for their sake with His grace!
(55) From our Mother Aisha, Muslim, Sahih, Vol. 7, p.130
From our Mother Ummu Salama, Thirmizi, Sünen, Vol.5, p.663
Camiussağir, Vol.2, p.58, trans. by Abdullah Aydın, İst. 1977
THE EVENT OF CAMEL OCCURRED BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE OF IJTIHAD. WAS SIFFIN ALSO THE BATTLE OF IJTIHAD?
The Event of Camel started as follows:
When our Master Hz. Osman was elected as a Caliph, the Companions of the Prophet had given this duty to Hz. Abdurrahman b. Avf. They said whoever he obeyed they would accept him and Hz. Osman b. Avf had chosen Hz. Osman as a Caliph.
Some Companions came to our Master Hz. Osman and said: “Osman! Hz. Abubaqir’s son Muhammad is a great personality and he is the son of Hz. Abubaqir, he is also one of the prominent Companions of the Prophet. He is a scholar and virtuous man. You should give Muhammad a governorship as he deserves this duty.”
Hz. Osman said:
“Certainly! He is the son of Hz. Abubaqir, the Companion of the Prophet and the brother of Aisha so I can give him this duty.”
He immediately wrote an order addressing the Governorship of Egypt and said that he appointed Muhammad b. Abubaqir, the son of Hz. Abubaqir as a governor to Egypt and stamped it with a seal.
Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir (R.A.) received the order and left for Egypt taking his friends and his family together with him. Egypt was a province then and states used to be ruled as provinces. For example, we say the province of Damascus, but Damascus was Syria. Yemen was a province and Mecca was a province etc. It was like this. The governors of that time were accepted as the Rulers of that place after the Caliphs. They were responsible to only the Caliph, the Commander of the Believers and to Madina. While Muhammad b. Abubaqir were going forward to Egypt, a cavalry on camel or on horse was seen passing by quickly. They suspected him and so his supporters caught that person right away. When they searched in his pocket, they found a letter. It was written to the governor of Egypt and said.
“Muhammad, the son of Abubaqir, is coming there. Kill him as soon as he arrives.” There was the seal of Hz. Osman under the letter.
Muhammad b. Abubaqir was confused in this situation. He said: “What a contrast? He appointed me as a governor and then he wants me to be killed! He was naturally annoyed by this. He took the letter (meanwhile they defused him) and they returned to Madina.
They went directly to Hz. Osman. They talked, consulted and discussed this matter among them and they said that it was not true.
Our Master Hz. Osman swore that he had not written it but Marwan might have written it by stealing his seal.
Hz. Osman was an old man. He was gentle and good-tempered. Therefore, Marwan used to take the seal from time to time. He understood that Marwan had done it.
Where was Marwan? He was not there. Marwan incited the mischief and then he disappeared because Marwan was a hypocrite.
Some people say that our Prophet banished him, Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Osman banished him but why did Hz. Osman bring him back? There was again a kind of the necessity of the circumstances in this matter because wherever Marwan went, he incited mischief there. He wanted to raise a rebellion. His heart was evil-minded. They were the Chiefs of tribes and the notables, leaders and wealthy people of Mecca.
The family of the Prophet (A.S.) was poor. When the Prophecy suddenly came to him and all the people gathered around him, they became envious. There was objection in their hearts and there is a sacred hadith confirming this. They did not believe in him.
Hz. Osman put him under his control by bringing him; but not that he liked him or he wanted to give him a rank. He brought him to Madina so that he would be under the inspection of himself, Ahl al Bayt, our Master Hz. Ali and the Companions and that he would not incite mischief.
However, Marwan was a wicked man and he would commit wickedness.
Hz. Osman denied that he had done it but there were some other intrigues and actions in Damascus supporting Marwan.
When we go through the plan in order to explain this matter, it was prepared like this: “Hz. Osman would be killed and the blame would be laid on Hz. Ali.” It was the main plot. The rebels had planned it secretly.
The discussion was continuing and even Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir spoke to Hz. Osman sharply. He used some hard words. Meanwhile, the rebels, whose number was about 500-1000, started to besiege around the house.
Our Master Hz. Ali even sent his holy son Hz. Hasan to stand at the door of Hz. Osman, the caliphate and told him to kill whoever wanted to enter into the house. In other words, he protected Hz. Osman.
Our Master Hz. Ali protected the Caliphate of Hz. Osman, his person and his life.
However, the rebels drilled a hole behind the wall and when they went through it they found that Hz. Osman, Abdurrahman b. Avf and others were disputing among them angrily. They were discussing rather annoyingly because there was a plan of killing the son of Hz. Abubaqir in this matter.
Although Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir had told harsh words to Hz. Osman, he did not even touch him. He did not raise his hand to Hz. Osman. Hz. Osman warned him saying: “If Hz. Abubaqir would have been alive, he would have been angry with what you said to me. I swore that I had not written it”.
Meanwhile, the treacherous, rebels and hypocrite mischief-makers hit Holy Hz. Osman on his head and eyes. They hit him with the objects such as mace and daggers and so he was martyred. The finger of the Prophet’s daughter was chopped off during these attacks.
After Hz. Osman was martyred, while the event continued like this, they went out and started the propaganda that Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir killed Hz. Osman.
Since Hz. Osman had been martyred, our master Hz. Ali was elected as the Caliph.
The propaganda or gossip started in this way and those who made this propaganda came to Hz. Ali and said: “Muhammad, the son of Hz. Abubaqir, killed Hz. Osman”. Our master Hz. Ali held a trial.
Hz. Ali went to Hz. Osman’s wife and called the propagandists and Muhammad b. Abubaqir. He himself started to ask:
He firstly asked Muhammad:
-Were you there?
-Yes, I was.
He asked Hz. Osman’s wife:
-Did Hz. Abubaqir’s son Muhammad kill Hz. Osman? Did he take his sword? Did he shoot him?
She said that he did not. Hz. Muhammad b. Abubaqir did not even attempt to kill him. He did not hit him. He did not kill him.
He asked who had killed him.
-They killed him from behind. However, he had some hard discussions between them. They had severe arguments but they did not hit him.
Hz. Osman’s wife herself had witnessed this.
Eventually, our Master Hz. Ali said: “Muhammad says he did not kill him. There is not anybody who has seen that Muhammad killed him. There are no witnesses.
Yet, propagandists said that everybody said so that Muhammad had killed him.
Hz. Ali said: “He cannot be punished by the rumor ‘everybody says so’. Bring two witnesses and if they say that Muhammad killed Hz. Osman, I am going to apply Qasas. I will not listen to anybody but practice the command of Allah.”
For, Hz. Omar and Hz. Ali never leave the truth and they obey the Book and Sunnat.
They said that there were not any witnesses and Hz. Ali said that if there were no witnesses, retaliation could not be applied because retaliation was practiced only when there were witnesses. There should be at least two witnesses according to the command of Allah.
The mischief-makers made propagandas at homes and streets. Such a moment came that they said Hz. Ali made him killed.
Afterwards it seemed as if it lessened but after a certain time, the mischief-makers started their propagandas again because Hz. Ali had some opponents. There were some people who envied his Caliphate.
What is more, our Mother Aisha had interfered into this matter. Hz. Zubayr and Hz. Talha interfered into it as well. The mischief-makers were making very intensive propagandas saying: “Muhammad killed him. Hz. Ali made him killed. Hz. Osman’s murder was not solved exactly, etc.”
Our Mother Aisha was never an antagonist of Hz. Ali. Those who made up this were slandering him.
Muhammad was the brother of Hz. Aisha. What she said was “O Ali, everybody says that Hz. Osman was murdered by Muhammad. Apply this Qasas! If you do this, you will get rid of this matter and these gossips will be over.” She told this with good intention and she even wanted his own brother to be killed for this sake.
Now, does anybody want her brother to be killed? Therefore, it is understood that our Mother Aisha was affected by some of these propagandists. That is to say, she was confused by others.
Our Master Shahi Walayat said:
“You speak like this but Allah orders to bring two witnesses. I will practice retaliation if you bring two witnesses. I fear Allah to do this without witnesses. Nobody says that he seen it. The propagandists are making propagandas outside but this cannot be with propagandas.”
Hz. Aisha saw that our Master Hz. Ali was telling the truth. Hz. Ali would never change canonical rules according to the propagandas of others. Whatever propaganda they were making, witnesses were required.
Those intensive propagandas were continuing without stopping. Then such a moment came that Hz. Aisha, Zubayr and Talha opposed against Hz. Ali.
Namely, both sides met each other armed at the place called “Camel”. Now that, the battle started. In this war, Hz. Zubayr and Talha were martyred.
Such a moment came that Hz. Talha and Zubayr remembered many hadiths about the Caliphate of Hz. Ali and his Commandership. They had also some revelation of mysteries. They felt some “spiritual states”. They understood that they were wrong and gave up fighting. When they gave up fighting, this time the other party (not the party of Hz. Ali) killed them saying: “Are you giving up fighting?” They were not killed by the supporters of Hz. Ali, but by their own supporters, by the hypocrites that started that mischief.
Our Mother Aisha lost the war, she could not win it. Our Master Hz. Ali won the battle. Her brother Muhammad brought Mother Aisha near Hz. Ali.
She told Hz. Ali she was wrong and Hz. Ali was right. She accepted that his Caliphate was true and he was right. She swore fealty to him and apologized to him.
And our Master Shahi Walayat said: “You are our Mother and you are the Mother of Believers; you are one of the pure wives of the Prophet. I wish you had not dealt with these things but you did. Now I will send you to Medina. Go to the Prophet’s Tomb and occupy yourself with worship there. Do not interfere into such things again! Look! They caused arguments among us-Ahl al Bayt- (because Hz. Mother Aisha was also Ahl al Bayt)”.
Sunni Muslims say that Hz. Ali was right and Hz. Aisha was wrong. However, Hz. Aisha did not do this for her antagonism towards Hz. Ali. She did this for religion. She also wanted the mischief to be over. She sacrificed her brother in order to comfort Hz. Ali. Yet, she was wrong. She could not hit the mark in her ijtihad. She made a mistake and it was a great mistake because hundreds and thousands of Companions died because of this mistake and the blood was shed.
Therefore, Hz. Ali was right. Hz. Aisha and her supporters were wrong but this was an injustice of an “ijtihad”. It was not hatred or antagonism. They also did not insist on their fault but they apologized for this and returned from their mistake. Therefore, it was accepted as an ijtihad error. Both sides were respected. However, Hz. Ali was right and Mother Aisha was wrong. All the theologians accept this. This is definite! She did not insist on her fault.
There are some people who speak incorrectly. For instance: Sunni Muslims say that they follow Ashary and Maturidy; however, some mullahs say wrong things over this matter.
The opinion of Hasan al Ashary on this matter is: “Hz. Talha, Zubayr and Aisha made a mistake but they returned from their mistake.” (56) He said exactly like this. We are going to explain his opinion about Hz. Ali afterwards.
The event of Camel is as explained above. Shortly, it was a battle of ijtihad.
(56) “Kelam İlminin Belli Başlı Meseleleri” by Taftazani, p. 86 and others, trans. by Ş.Gölcük, Kayıhan Yayın. İst.
As for Siffin; Siffin was a battle. There was not a matter of ijtihad in Sıffin.
Our master Hz. Ali came to Kufa after the event of Camel was over. He wanted to change some of the governors 6 months later. Was he not the Commander of believers? Had Hz. Omar not changed them? Had Hz. Osman not changed them? He wanted to change some of the governors and meanwhile he was thinking of discharging Muawiya b. Abu Sufyan. However, he cancelled it for a while. There were some reasons for this. He knew that he was preparing some mischief there. When the situation of Bani Umayya -the Umayyad- was examined, it is seen that they had done whatever they could to Hz. Prophet (A.S.) before Islam. Bani Umayya was the enemy of Hashimids. This is certain! It is said that they became Muslims, but how did they become Muslim? When Mecca was going to be conquered, when they stood against each other, the Prophet (A.S.) had 10 thousand equestrians or 10 thousand soldiers and they had only 900 soldiers. The Prophet (A.S.) sent him the news that if they did not fight, they could make peace and would not kill them. Abu Sufyan surrendered for his fear because he saw that he was not strong enough to fight against them. Everybody knows this. And so our Prophet made peace.
Our Prophet (A.S.) wanted to conquer Mecca without shedding blood. For, if the blood had been shed, some other events might have occurred. Our Prophet was a mercy- a blessing- for mankind.
“Rahmeten li’l alemin - He is the mercy for all people.” (Al-Anbiyah, 107)
If it were possible to solve it with peace, he would prefer peace.
What is more, there might have been martyrs from his Companions and Ahl al Bayt, whom he loved very much. For example, provided that 500 people had died from Sufyanis, 100 people might have died from his Companions. Even our Master Hz. Ali might have died or some other great personalities such as Hz. Omar, Hz. Abubaqir and Hz. Osman might have died. The reason why the Umayyad accepted Islam was their surrender to our Prophet’s external power, but not that they had faith.
There is a verse concerning this matter:
“They come to you and declare, O Muhammad, we believed in Allah and the Prophet of Allah. No! They were not true believers and I did not guide them rightly either. They would rather say: “We professed Islam”. (Al-Hujurat, 14)
Some interpreters translate it as “Say! We became Muslims.”
Therefore, they surrendered themselves to the Prophet’s external power but not to his spiritual power.
The verses of Chapter Mumtahinne must also be considered carefully. This chapter gives news about the Conquest of Mecca. It was revealed in Medina before the Conquest. Allah the Most High says in the 7th, 8th, 9th verses:
“It is expected that you will make friends with those who are from the other side, from unbelievers. (Allah says) If you make friends with those who have fought against you on account of your religion, that is to say, who fight against you in order to abolish the Glorious Koran by protecting the stone idols, as they did not accept the Unity of Allah, and who have driven you from your homes, you become wrongdoers then”.
Who fought against our Prophet (A.S.)? Abu Sufyan, his family and his helpers did. In other words, the Sufyanis, the Umayyad fought against him.
If you read the above verse carefully, it is written: “If you make friends with those who have driven you from your homes (those who have driven you away from Mecca), you will become wrongdoers or cruel.”
The reason of the Emigration of the Prophet (A.S.) is, as mentioned above, that they intended to kill the Prophet (A.S.). When cruel Abu Sufyan came that night, he saw Hz. Ali in his bed because our Prophet (A.S.) had already left with Hz. Abubaqir.
They drove away the Muslims, took their properties and burned their houses. What other things shall we tell? They did whatever they could: they did not give them bread and food. Some of them went to Abyssinia and some others went to other places.
The Holy Prophet (A.S.), himself, went to Medina. After him, Hz. Abubaqir, Hz. Ali, Hz. Omar, Hz. Osman, the Hashimids and the true believers were driven away. We call them as “Muhajirin”. They did not go willingly but they were driven away by their force or else they would be murdered, they would even murder the Prophet. Eventually, they murdered many Companions of the Prophet (A.S.). Those who were able to do left Mecca and those who stayed there were killed by them. The children or the mothers of some of them remained there.
These events occurred in this way. There are some more important Verses at the end of Chapter Sajda (28th, 29th, 30th verses). The 28 th Verse says: Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
“Veyekulüne meta haze’l fethü inküntüm sadikin- They ask, O Muhammad! When will this Conquest Day happen? (You always say “Conquest, Conquest, We will come and conquer Mecca.) If what you say be true?” (They are making fun of Muslims and say you say this by yourselves. Who will come and where will they come and take Mecca from Abu Sufyan, from the Umayyad tribe and break the stone idols of the Kaaba?)”.
God the Most High says at the end of the verse: Bismillah,
“Kül yevme’l fethi la yenfeullezine keferu imanihüm velahüm yünzerun - Say! O Muhammad! On the Day of the Conquest, the faith of unbelievers shall not avail them nor shall they be reprieved!”
It means that they will not have faith afterwards either: I sealed their hearts.
This is the verse of the Koran, which is very important. Allah does not accept the faith of those who believed on the Conquest day.
Who are they? The Prophet (A.S.) said, “They are the people who have objections in their hearts.”
In the last verse of the mentioned Chapter Sajda (30):
“Fea’rid anhüm-Give no heed to them (to those who believed on the Conquest Day untruly)!
“Fentezir innehüm müntezirun - Keep them under your control!”
It means they are hypocrites and they do not have faith. Their faith shall not avail them.
“They are also watching you.”
Always keep them under your inspection and be cautious against them!
Some say that they had faith. They did not have faith! They surrendered! Faith is very important.
Faith means to surrender directly to the “Spirituality” of the Prophet (A.S.).
They surrendered to the “external power” of the Prophet (A.S.), to his sword and to his external sovereignty.
The Umayyad had already been the enemies of Hz. Hashim, Abdulmuttalib, Abdullah, Hz. Muhammad, Abu Talib, Hz. Hamza, Hz. Abbas and Hz. Ali ever since. They had not liked Hashimids because the Umayyads were very rich. They held the entire trade of Mecca that brought them any profit. They knew themselves honorable and holy. They used to feed everybody to show off but not to please Allah. They did this in order to be famous and to continue their fame.
When Gabriel came to Hz. Muhammad (Thanks God!), to the House of Hashimids, everybody started to love and demand him and his family. The Umayyad could not bear this, that is to say, they had also family antagonism.
The family and the supporters of our Master the Prophet (A.S.) were generally poor or not very rich. Among them, only Abu Leheb was rich. Others, like our Masters Hamza and Abu Talib, were of moderate means. They could be regarded as poor. Their honor was because of undertaking the service of the Kaaba. They were a Holy Family - a Religious Family. They were from the family of Abraham and very pious people.
We would like to clarify the matter of Abu Talib by the way.
“You cannot guide whomever you please; it is God who guides whom He will.” (Qasas, 56)
The above verse is not about our Master Abu Talib. It is about his other uncle or about some of his old friends whom he loved.
Abu Leheb did not have faith. Therefore, he did not wash Abu Leheb and did not attend his burial; whereas, Hz. Prophet (A.S.) washed his uncle Abu Talib and attended his burial.
Our Master (A.S.) does not wash the unbelievers and does not attend their burial. He does not pray for them.
Allah has a commandment concerning this:
“You shall not pray for any of their dead nor shall you attend their burial.” (Al-Tawba, 85)
Our Master (A.S.) does not do what Allah forbids.
Abu Leheb was also his uncle. He neither washed him nor attended his burial and prayed for him.
Shortly, Bani Umayya was the opponent of Hashimids.
Before and after the Conquest of Mecca, what they had done to the Prophet (A.S.), to the first believers was done by neither any infidel, any atheist, any Jews and any Christians.
The reason why Hz. Abubaqir was the first Caliph was the antagonism of Abu Sufyan, Sufyanis and the Umayyad towards Hz. Ali and the Hashim Family. If anybody had been the Caliph, they might have rebelled against him.
Especially after our Prophet (A.S.), they had not behaved well.
Our Master Hz. Abubaqir knew that Sufyan had not been behaving well (that he would have ruined Islam, whenever he had that opportunity). For this reason, he did not send Muawiyah to Damascus, he sent Yezid there, the elder son of Sufyan, who was a bit close to Islam. He either died or was killed there and Muawiyah took the seal and authority of the office of the Governorship himself. Muawiyah was not officially a governor. Nothing was said to this because of the circumstances.
There was a tribe called Bani Huzza in Mecca. The Tribe of Bani Huzza had not fought against the Prophet (A.S.). They did not believe in our Prophet (A.S.) when he was in Mecca. They had not fought against him either. They did not take any part in the discharge of the Prophet (A.S) and they did not cause the discharging or the Emigration of the Believers, the first Muslims who believed in the Prophet (A.S.). Although they did not believe, they did not have any fights with the Prophet and insult him. The faith of Bani Huzayya after the Conquest of Mecca was accepted.
Some Ulamas even say that the verse in Chapter Mumtahinnah: “If you make friends with them, you will be wrongdoers” involves all the Meccan polytheists, except the sister of Hz. Abubaqir, and this verse was revealed for all of them.
Some of them say that this verse did not come for Bani Huzayya. That is to say, it came directly for Sufyanis because Abu Sufyan was the leader of all these movements.
That night, he came to kill the Prophet (A.S.) himself and he had some helpers who were paid money by him to support him.
There are many supporters of that Muawiyah. There are also some supporters of Sufyanis. They bring up this matter and then they do not mention about discharging matter because they know that those who caused his discharge were Sufyanis and the Umayyad.
They say: “Had Hz. Halid b. Velid not fought? If he had fought, Allah says: “If you make friends with those who fight against you for religion, you will be wrongdoers.” The verse does not change even it is Halid b. Velid.
However, Hz. Halid b. Velid had a special situation. Now we are going to explain it:
Hz. Halid b. Velid was employed by Abu Sufyan during “Uhud Battle”. Hz. Halit b. Velid did not fight against the Prophet (A.S.) because he was a Prophet.
Hz. Halid b. Velid was a warrior and he was for war. He had 30, 40 men. He was a bandit in deserts. He spent his life by banditry. There had been disputes, riots between tribes before Islam. They used to attack and sack villages and committed bad things there.
Halid b. Velid had not fought against Hz. Muhammad (A.S.) for religion. Abu Sufyan employed him giving him money, as he had known the art of fighting. He wanted to use his skill of fighting. If our Master Hz. Hamza- our party- had given him money, we might have employed him but Muslims never deign to do such a thing.
Shortly, Hz. Halid b. Velid was an important warrior. His aim was money. He did not fight blaming, “Why are you saying that Allah is one? Why are you destroying the stone idols?” He was kept by money.
Allah says “Those who fight with you for religion”. Our Master Hz. Halid b. Velid had not fought for religion.
Later, he came to our Prophet (A.S.) and said: O, the Prophet of Allah! I had not known! This tyrant Abu Sufyan deceived me. He apologized to him saying, “I had not known that you were a Prophet. If I had known, I would have not fought”. Our Prophet accepted his oath of allegiance then.
Let us say again: Our Master Halid b. Velid had not fought with our Prophet (A.S.) for Religion. The Sufyanis, Umayyads, shortly, the Meccan polytheists hired him to fight. That is to say, he fought for money. The intention is important. He did not draw his sword to the Prophet (A.S.) asking him “Why are you saying “Allah is One”? He used to be a warrior. Whoever gave him money he fought for them. His life was like that. He was a great fighter.
He became Muslim afterwards. He became a great Friend of God and conquered many places. He who invaded Syria and its surrounding was Halit b. Velid. (R.A.).
Let us go back to the beginning of this matter.
The Umayyad were the enemies of Bani Hashim. They were “Müellefetü’l kulub”.
Before Siffin, our master Hz. Ali decided to dismiss Muawiyah from the office of Governorship and he wrote him a letter saying: “I dismissed you from being a Governor”. Thereupon, see what Muawiyah did:
He said: “I do not accept your Caliphate and I am the Governor of this place.”
What is understood here is: The Commander of Believers used his own authority and it was his right. The Ruler of the State can appoint or dismiss whomever governor he wants.
Nobody could ask him why he dismissed Muawiyah. Hz.Osman and Hz. Omar would also do the same thing. Hz. Ali saw him being there would be dangerous. He had already known what sort of people they were. What is understood from his answer that he would have continued to obey Hz. Ali if he had not dismissed him from the governorship. His aim was governorship. He did not want to lose the sovereignty of Damascus. He also had not interfered into the Event of Camel. In other words, he did not come and look for the right of Hz. Osman. Yet, our Mother Aisha was looking for and insisting on a right. Though she made a mistake, she was demanding a right.
There was an ijtihad in the Event of Camel.
What did Muawiyah want? Governorship.
He had not refused the Caliphate of Hz. Ali until the letter of discharge came to him. When he was discharged from his office, it touched his personality and his sovereignty and he rebelled.
It is directly a Battle of Rebellion but not a Battle of Ijtihad.
Those who confuse it with the Event of Camel do wrong. In that case, Muawiya is considered as in the place of Mother Aisha, Hz. Zubayr, Talha and Ashere-i Mubashara (ten people who were given the good news of the Paradise). His Battle was the Battle of Rebellion. (57)
(57) “Kelam İlminin Belli Başlı Meseleleri” by Taftazani, trans. by S. Gölcük, p. 86 and others. Kayıhan Pubilc. Ist.
We have explained this matter as much as we could. We did this for the sake of Allah. We are devoted to the Four Caliphs, to Ashere-i Mubasshere and to our Mother Aisha. We do not say anything about the Event of Camel. However, the situation of Bani Umayya is different. Bani Umayya were tyrant.
Our master Hz. Ali went to Damascus himself due to Muawiyah’s rebellious answer.
In the Event of Camel, the party of our Mother Aisha opposed to Hz. Ali. However, in this event, a governor revolted against him saying that he would not give up governorship. When a governor rebelled against the Ruler, the Head of the State, a true Guide, the Caliph of the Prophet, he would certainly attack him gathering his army and he would remove him.
Our Master Hz. Ali is Haq. He is such a true Imam that the truth never leaves him. There is a hadith concerning this: “Ali does not separate from the Truth and the Truth does not separate from Hz. Ali.” (58)
That is to say, the truth does not leave him even for a second. Hz. Ali commits nothing unjustly and he had not done either. Nobody can blame Hz. Ali. Our master Shahi Walayat is right. What the Governor of Damascus did was a rebellion.
There are some ignorant mullahs. They defend those Muawiyah and Abu Sufyan and attempt to claim that they were Muslims. They also tell people not to talk against them.
In the past, during the time of the Emperors who prevented people talking against them because of the Caliphate of Yavuz said: “You may not love them but do not talk against them either!” It was a political matter.
There are also some people who defend them, as they love them truly. They fall to the position of the opponents of our Master Hz. Ali in that situation.
Sunni Muslims say that they are Asharis and Maturidis. Now let us quote the opinion of Hasan al Ashary on this matter.
This quotation was written in the book called “El Milel” written by Shehristani, and Taftazani had taken this opinion of Ashary exactly as it is. Taftazani was one of the great Ulamas of Ahl al Sunnat.
Shehristani was also an Ulama of Sunni Muslims. He was a great supporter of Ashari. He had known the science of Theology as well as being one of the people who spread Ashary Doctrine. Hasan al Ashary said:
(58) Thirmizi, Tac Trans. vol. 3, p. 627
(59) Shehristani, El Milel, vol. 1, p.103
“Hz. Aisha, Hz. Talha and Hz. Zubair had made a mistake. However, they returned from their mistake. Whereas, Muawiyah and Amr Ibn As rebelled against the true Imam.” This was the opinion of Ashari. It is written in “Kelam Meseleleri,” by Taftazani. This book is translated in Turkey so you can read it if you wish. (60)
They say they are Asharis but they do not keep his word. According to Ashary, Muawiyah and Amr ibni As revolted directly to the True Imam.
Ashary also says, “Our Master Hz. Aliyyel Murtaza, who defeated Kharijis, is such a true Imam that the Truth never leaves him. They rebelled against such a true Imam.”
In the above hadith, our Prophet (A.S.) had already said:
“İnni Ammaren taktülü fieti’l bağiye - Ammar will certainly be killed by the rebels.” (61)
Our master Ammar b. Yasir was murdered by the Umayyad in Siffin. He was the fifth or the sixth Muslims of the first Muslims. He was on the side of our Master Hz. Ali.
“Join the path of Guidance that Ammar follows.”
In addition to these, we explained the opinion of Ashari. They are written in the books called “Kelam Meseleleri” by Taftazani and in “El Milel, page 103” by Shehristani.
Great scholars have already explained it in this way. This matter is written even in the book called “Abu Hanife” by Muhammad Abu Zehra.
It is written that Muawiyah made people curse Hz. Ali and those who loved him (God Forbid!) and our Mother Ummu Salama (Our Prophet’s Holy Wife), thereupon, wrote a letter to Muawiyah and said:
“You are making people curse the Prophet of Allah! For, I know very well and I am a witness that Allah and His Prophet love Hz. Ali and those who love Hz. Ali. Stop (Remove) this!” (63)
(60) “Kelam İlminin Belli Başlı Meseleleri “by Prof. Dr. Abul Vefa al Taftazani, translated by Şerafettin Gölcük, Kayıhan Publc. Ist. P. 86 and others.
(61) Thirmizi, Muslim, Tac Translation, vol.3, p.688
(62) “Onların Alemi” by Sayyid Ahmed ar Rufai, translated by A. Akçiçek, p. 83, İst. 1964
From Ibni Mesud and Huzayfa al Yemen, “Musned” by Abu Hanifa, Aliyyü’l Kari Şerhi, p. 217, Şamil Publ. Ist.
(63) “Abu Hanifa, M. Abu Zehra, Turkish version by Osman Keskioğlu, Üçdal Publ. İst. 1966
However, Muawiya had not stopped it until that great person “Omar b. Abdülaziz (R.A.) came.
This personality had abolished it. This unbelievable wickedness had continued for 70 years in the mosques. All the scholars know this!
This is especially in Turkey. The Arabs and Pakistanis do not like Muawiyah at all. They do not accept him and they say that he was a rebel. They do not like Sufyanis. (64)
It is in Turkey because of Yavuz Selim’s bringing the Caliphate to Turkey. It is political.
“Caliphate is held by election!”
Caliphate is not applied by force, by sword or like Muawiyah’s making himself a false Caliph of his own. He made all the holy Companions of the Prophet swear fealty to Yezid using sword even before he died. He cut off the heads of those who did not swear fealty to him.
What did Yavuz Sultan Selim do? He went to Cairo and took the Caliphate by force. That Caliphate was false. The Caliphates of the Abbasids, the Umayyad of the Ottomans were actually false.
In the Muslim Community of Muhammad, they will choose the Caliphate with their own free will. It cannot be transferred from father to son either because if the Caliphate is transferred from father to son, then the principal of “Republic” is corrupted. The personal opinion, election, freedom and the personality of human beings are taken from them and tyranny starts.
If it is noticed, Seljuklus and Fatih Mehmed had not done this.
Seljuklus had not longed to possess the caliphate. Even the Abbasid Caliph wrote a letter to M. Alparslan and said: “I am a Caliph, you will come and swear fealty to me and be under my command!”
Alparslan sent him a letter and said “You are not a Caliph. You took it over by force and became a Caliph by force. If you are the Sultan, the Ruler of Arabs, I am the Sultan and the Ruler of Turks!”
“If you need help to fight with the non-Muslims, I can come and help you. But apart from these, I am the Ruler of Turks and you are the Sultan of Arabs.”
Our Prophet (A.S.) said about the Caliphate: “Caliphate is for 30 years.” (65)
(64) Imam Shafii said: “Muawiyah is a rebel” by M. Abu Zehra, Mezhebler Tarihi p. 334
According to the above hadith, the Caliphate after the Four Caliphs is sovereignty and it is false.
The Sons of Osman were sultans, emperors and rulers. They helped Islam as well, but it is another subject. We are going through the caliphate subject. Fatih and his ancestors (Murat I, Yıldırım Beyazid and their descendants) had not insisted on the Caliphate. For, the Ottoman Turks and Sejuklus knew the essence of Religion. They did not interfere into such Caliphate despotism. However, Selim was involved in it. How would the Caliphate be defended then? It was Muawiyah who invented such a Caliphate-the transferring from father to son-. As a matter of fact, he made Muslims swear fealty to Yezid (his son) by force. This method was left from him. It passed to Abbasids from them and then to Memelukes and from them to Ottomans.
If Muawiyah had been insulted and talked against as wicked, infidel and hypocrite person, the way he established would have also been said bad.
Such a Caliphate was introduced by Muawiyah, it is written neither in a Verse, nor in a Hadith and Sunnat.
In the Caliphate, there is no heir to the throne (the son who will be successor to the throne of the King). However, there is heir in the Sultanate.
When it is asked “What is the condition of the heir?” It is answered: “In the decisions of Ahl al Sunnat, there is no law concerning the (heir) successor.”
In Islamic Canonical Jurisprudence, there is no expression as: “What qualifications will the successor (heir) have?”
Our Religion does not depend on family. At the very most, it is depended on Ahl al Bayt -Hz. Ali and his sons-. Abu Hanifa also agreed with this.
They had not given any comfort to Ahl al Bayt. They killed them wherever they found them. Abu Hanifa was also murdered by the Abbasids in this cause.
He did not accept the Kadı’s (Judge’s) rank of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Now, there are not any Kings. The Republic was proclaimed in our Turkey. Why are they still continuing to defend it meaninglessly? For, if the Caliphate of Selim had been refused, there would have been a conflict and the power of the Sultanate would have been weakened and it would have been difficult to maintain the agreement.
(65) From Said b. Cumhan, Abu Davud, Thirmizi, Nesei, Tac Trans. vol.3, p. 79 Bekir Sadak, İst, 1973
See also Sahihi Buhari and Tecridi Sarih. Diy. İşl. Bşk. Publ.
Moreover, the letter of Rabbani was altered in words. The old translations used to be confirmed by the approval of Sheihk ul Islams. They would change or add anything, which was necessary. Then, it was permitted to be published.
In “Mektubat”, Hz. Serhindi had not regarded or accepted Muawiyah as the Companion of the Prophet.
He had defended the Four Caliphs. A Scholar does not mention Yezid after he has defended Hz. Osman. If he would defend, he defends Muawiya ibni Sufyan after Hz. Osman, and he talks about his son afterwards.
Yet, in “Mektubat”, after the subject about Hz. Osman, it is written: “But Yezid was not a Companion. His wickedness, tyranny and infidelity are told. By means of this, his father is defended indirectly.
When a scientist or scholar reads that chapter, he notices this point, this indirect defense. He understands immediately that those who translated “Mektubat” from Urdu Language changed it and made a confusion of concepts. That is to say, after Hz. Osman’s subject, Muawiyah’s son cannot be mentioned omitting the subject of Muawiyah. This does not suit such a scholar and Friend of God like Ahmed Faruk Serhindi.
The fact is: After Rabbani had defended Hz. Osman, it was Muawiyah’s turn and he said that Muawiyah was not a Companion of the Prophet (A.S.).
The Compiler or the Office of Sheikh ul Islam changed this true sentence as “Yezid is not the Companion.”
“Mektubat-i Rabbani” was translated and offered to Sheikh ul Islam after the printing press had been accepted in Turkey. There are not any handwriting translations of “Mektubat”. It was printed in old Turkish language.
You can never find a person whose name is Muawiyah in the entire Sunni World.
Therefore, it is said that such and such scholars had written it; Omar Nasuhi Bilmen had written it. Omar Nasuhi was a theologian. He was a scholar of Islamic Canonical Jurisprudence. However, he made a mistake. There were some people who had written “refutations” to him. (66)
M. Raif Ogan, Şemseddin Yeşil had written it.
(66) Refutation: the article written to refute some thought or doctrine.
Omar Nasuhi had confessed before he died saying: “I wish I had not written this book, I wish I had not defended Muawiyah. I am ashamed of Ahl la Bayt.” He confessed this! However, once the book had been published. He also had admitted other things. There are witnesses of this in Istanbul. He was regretted to have written this book.
For, if that book were considered, he even defended Yezid. However, Yezid was a disbeliever. All the Sunni Muslims know Yezid as a disbeliever, infidel and impious. Then it becomes the opinion of Murjia sect. It is not the opinion of Sunnis.
“What does “Murjia” mean? There is a religious sect called as “Murjia sect”. They say about this matter:
“Allah gives the commands and decisions. We obey whoever the leader is, though he is a tyrant or disbeliever.”
No! It is not correct! The Imam in Islam should be just. The Emperor should be just and pious.
That is the opinion of Murjia sect but not the opinion of Ashari, Maturidy and the people of Sunnat.
According to this opinion of Murjia sect, one should swear fealty to even a tyrant person. It does not matter who he is if he is a leader.
In addition to this, Said-i Nursi Efendi (May Allah be pleased with him!) agrees with us. Said-i Nursi was a great scholar indeed. They say different things about him but he is, in fact, a Republican and in favour of freedom. He has some confessions. He also said:
“Jamel was a Battle of Ijtihad but Siffin was not a Battle of Ijtihad. In Siffin Battle Our Master Shah-i Walayat Hz. Imam Ali fought for the Caliphate -Religion (to protect the Religion and the Caliphate)-.
However, Muawiya and his supporters fought for sovereignty (for worldly benefits). He said that Hz. Ammar had been killed by the Muawiyas, by the rebels. (See “Sözler Hakikat Nurları”, 1953)
Said-i Nursi Efendi gives so much importance to Shahi Walayat Hz. Ali. He says: “He had gained the title of “Shah-i Walayat” (the high rank). He is the Pious Imam”. Said-i Nursi was also a scholar.
The matter consists of this.
“Siffin was never a Battle of Ijtihad. It was a rebellion to the True Imam to the Religion of Allah.”
That tyrant brought his son by force after him. He poisoned Imam Hasan and the reason of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn was again Muawiyah.
It was he who set up sovereignty and changed the name of Islamic State.
He even advised cursed Yezid: “As long as Husayin b. Ali is alive you can never be at comfort, so kill him!” And he killed him and our Master Imam Husayn (A.S.) was martyred. The reason of it is cruel Abu Sufyan.
Nobody can give a fatwa for the murder of Ahl al Bayt. Whoever accepts their murder is impious, infidel and disbeliever. Nobody can consider religion as much as Ahl al Bayt. Firstly, they consider it because it is their Ancestors’ Religion.
May peace be with our Prophet, with his Ahl al Bayt and with his true Companions! (Aleyhümüsselam)
18th January 1986
Kazım YARDIMCI
ADIYAMAN
APPENDIXES
MORAL INSTRUCTIONS
1- Not to tell lies
2- Struggle against carnal self (Inner struggle)
3-The divine manifestation acquired by of the remembrance of Allah (Dhiqr) that beats carnal self.
4- The World and Spirituality: To give all the importance to divine values and not to consider the world very much.
5- Not to be proud but to be modest and respectful.
6- To sit down well-behaved and good mannered and to be careful as Allah the Almighty has encompassed all things.
7- Not to make fun of anybody and not to look down on others
8- To treat believers kindly and compassionately
9- To be very gentle and to speak less and listen more
10- Not to obey carnal desires and to abstain especially from this
11- Not to gamble and not to watch gamblers
12- Not to attend the parties of alcoholic drinks and to stay away from such entertainments
13- To be careful about politeness and to be very polite
14- Not to speak against believers
15- To abstain from hypocrisy
16- To be patient and tolerable
17- To be contented
18- To oppose self by obeying Allah
19- Not to envy others, abstaining from enmity, hostility
20- Not to behave selfishly (abstaining from egotism), for egotism belongs to Allah. We should try to say “We” instead of “I”, as much as we can, during conversations.
21- God’s decree overrides man’s plans. Only % 1 precaution is taken.
22- Man should despise himself more then all the creatures thus the self dies and man obeys Allah completely
23- Man should prove his slavery by accepting all the commandments of God. Everything is over after the slavery is proved.
24- Ambition and anger: They are due to pride and egotism. One should be calm and repent.
25- Not to slander anybody
26- Not to plot mischief
27- Not to be a hypocrite
28- Not to cause suffering. Every suffering is paid. He is punished eventually. Man should not go away from his family leaving his family behind. He should not blunt the future of his children before they reach the adolescence age. He should pay careful attention to bring up them in the best way.
29- Not to treat your parents badly
30- Not to commit treachery against what is entrusted
31- Not to commit open and secret theft
32- Not to inform against a person
33- Not to use swearwords
34- To be faithful
35- To treat domestic animals kindly
36- To pay attention to trees
37- When a Muslim earns wealth, he will always know that it is from Allah.
38- To thank and to praise Allah
39- Not to give false testimony
40- Not to hear and see what Allah has forbidden but to learn what he commands
41- To show dislike to wrongdoers and infidels in your heart and not be friendly with them
42- To respect the Glorious Koran
43- A patient poor person is more valuable than a thankful rich in God’s sight, but it is not good if the poor rebels against God.
44- Not to take offence at believers
45- To concerns the right of neighbors
46- Not to become pretentious
47- To be tight-lipped
48- Not to reveal spiritual divine secrets
49- To do favor to wickedness
50- The rights of the poor should be guarded
BİSMİLLAHİRRAHMANİRRAHİM
GOOD MANNERS IN THE TARIQAT OF ALIYYEL MURTAZA
1- The aspirant (the adherent, the traveler or follower of God) should be contented physically and spiritually. However, he should not be mean. He must thank for what Allah gives him because it is the same whether it is less or more.
2- The aspirant should perform his lesson, his litanies of praise to God consciously.
3- The aspirant should perform his lesson -his dhiqr- punctually and regularly. When there is an interval, the self monster becomes active again.
4- The aspirant should be faithful and respectful towards the Spiritual Guide (Sheikh-Pir- Sufi Master) and the path he is following (Tariqat). If he directs his opinion to another path, he is harmed.
5- The aspirant should know the “Sacred Dot”.
6- The aspirant should attend the gatherings of conversation made by the Wise people because he is in need of this.
7- The aspirant should talk to believers. He should stay away from the infidels and hypocrites.
8- The aspirant should be in conscious of which path he is following, the value of the holy journey and of what he is doing
9- The aspirant should learn the interpretation of his dreams secretly from his own Sufi Master he follows. (The dream of the aspirant is according to his own stage or rank.)
10- The aspirant should sometimes perform whirling dance (Sama) sufficiently and he should know what Sama is.
11- The aspirant should obey all kinds of spiritual and physical commandments of Allah and consent to them.
12- The aspirant should know that everything happens from Allah.
13- The aspirant should leave anxiety and doubts and he should think the Unity of Allah.
14- The aspirant should be resigned, good mannered and well intentioned. Allah is the guardian of such believers.
15- The aspirant should not be ungrateful. He should always be grateful to Allah, to our Masters the Prophet (a.s.v.) and to Shahi Walayat and to the Masters of the Path as he is accepted to the exalted path of Alawiya (because it is the first good news).
16- The aspirant should think about the beautiful names of Allah: “The Clement, the All-Compassionate, the Merciful, the Wise and the One who gives peace and he should be thankful.
17- The aspirant should not be a close friend with greedy rich people and he should stay way from them.
18- The aspirant should have soft words and pleasant manners but he should not burst out laughter.
19- When satan gives the aspirant doubts or tempts, he should pronounce the formula “Allahu Ekber” three times and think about the existence of Allah. (Allahu Ekber Allahu Ekber La ilahe illallahu vallahu ekber)
20- The aspirant should not dance (except Sama).
21- The aspirant should not dye his or her hair and wear make up (it is very dangerous).
22- The aspirant should feel happy and be cheerful to have been in the Holy path in order not to be plunged in thought.
23- The aspirant should help orphans and fatherless children and he should love them.
24- The aspirant should be respectful towards faithful old people and compassionate to small children.
25- The aspirant should not speak contrary to good morality and he should also prevent his friends.
26- The aspirant should personally help the disabled and the handicapped he meets on his way without discriminating between rich and poor.
27- The aspirant should attend the funeral prayer of believers whether he is rich or poor and he should actually help the poor ones.
28- The aspirant should request % 90 of his needs from God and % 1 of them from people.
29- The aspirant should not commit any deeds unjustly. He will not separate from the truth and he should try to warn his friends.
30- The aspirant should be upright and fair in dealing divisions.
31- The aspirant should learn the poems composed and recited in praise of our Prophet (A.S.V.) and he should sometimes recite them.
32- When the aspirant finds a lost article, though it is very valuable, he should look for the person who has lost it and deliver it to him. This behavior is rewarded greatly in this world and in the hereafter. He gets the consent of God.
33-The aspirant should learn divine knowledge. (Learning divine knowledge is an Obligatory Duty.)
34- The heart of the aspirant should be rich.
35- The aspirant should not cry in an ecstatic state for show. It is a great sin.
36- Joining the Path of God in youth is more beneficial. (It has a wide explanation.)
37- The aspirant should know that the Glorious Koran is always fresh, new and it is the Perfect Guide.)
38- The aspirant should be clean. He should wear scents.
39- The aspirant should know that Allah creates time in time. (This is based on the mystery “unity in plurality, plurality in unity”.
40- The aspirant should imagine the face of his Spiritual Master in front of him during his spiritual connection while remembering Allah, in case of fear and excitement and he should implore help.
41- The aspirant should know that the beginning of the Universe was vapor and the end of it will be vapor too. (It is due to the secrecy of returning to origin.)
42- The aspirant should believe very firmly that Allah is “One”. He should never doubt about it.
43- The aspirant should know that Allah created the Universe for our Prophet (a.s.v.) and he is created for worshipping Allah.
44- The aspirant should love Ahl al Bayt (The immediate family of the Prophet (a.s.v.).
45- The aspirant whose spirit was exposed to Divine Light recognizes the dervish who has Divine Light.
46- The aspirant should not tell what he feels and comprehends to anybody rather than his close friend.
47- The aspirant should visit the faithful patients and he should look after them.
48- The aspirant should know that hypocrisy is a greater sin than adultery.
49- The aspirant should not reveal the secrets of his faithful friends.
50- The aspirant should try to obey all the commandments of Allah.
51- The aspirant should often recite the “Fatiha” (the opening chapter of the Koran) for his Masters. He should implore help from them during spiritual connection.
52- The aspirant should not envy believers.
53- The aspirant should not be barbarous or brutal.
54- The aspirant should say “La feta illa Ali, la seyfe illa Zülfikar” after he finishes his remembrance or lesson.
55- The aspirant should not do bird-hunt.
56- The aspirant should not torture weak people whom he is powerful to harm.
57- The aspirant should show kindness to wickedness.
58- When the aspirant starts his lesson, he should recite Chapter Fatiha firstly for our Master Hz. Prophet (A.S.V.), our Master the King of Sanctity Aliyyel Murtaza (k.v.), or masters Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn and for our masters Ten People deserved for Heaven, the Sufi Masters called as Hırka-i Piran, for Four Great Qutbs and for also his own Master and he will donate it to their holy and pure spirits.
59- While the aspirant is making his remembrance, he should keep Hz. Prophet (A.S.) and Hz. Ali (K.V.) in his mind.
60- The aspirant should imagine the face of his own Master in front him during his remembrance.
61- The aspirant should do his lesson as much as he is assigned.
62-The aspirant should know that our Master Imam Husayn is “the Path of Divine Knowledge” and our Master Imam-ı Ali is “the Gate to Divine Knowledge”.
63- The aspirant should serve his spiritual master physically and spiritually for the sake of Allah. He should do all his works if necessary (because he is his father, his Guide and his master).
64- The aspirant should not do worship while the sun is rising and setting (because meanwhile the Majusis who worship the Sun are holding a ceremony).
65- The aspirant should know the Spiritual Teachers (Holy Masters) who belong to his Path; he should recite them Fatiha and implore help from them (as it is a shame and a fault for him not to know their names).
66- The aspirant should be chaste.
67- The aspirant should not disturb Believers.
68- The aspirant should not break the hearts of Believers.
69- The aspirant should not give false testimony under influence.
70- The aspirant should not have alcoholic drinks and should abstain from them.
71- The aspirant should not gamble and he should stay away gambling.
72- The aspirant should not go after lust
73- The aspirant should try to keep his carnal desires (his self) under control.
THE LIST OF THE BOOKS WRITTEN BY THE WRITER AND PUBLISHED IN TURKEY
1- Varlık (translated into English)1974 İstanbul
2- İslâm'da Mezhepler ve Yükseliş1988 İzmir
3- Günahsızlar 1992 Malatya
4-İnsanda Yükselme (translated into English)1992 Malatya
5- Muhammad -İsa -Adem (translated into English1993 Malatya
6-İslâm'da Şeriat ve Tarikat (translated into English)1996 Alanya
7-İslâm Ekonomisi (translated into English)1997 Malatya
WRITTEN BY KAZIM YARDIMCI
TRANSLATED BY H. NALAN ŞEHİRLİOĞLU
