Muhammad Mathum Faruqi [67] 'rahmatullahi alaih', who was one of the great 'Ulama of India and a Murshid-i-kamil, states as follows in the hundred and forty-seventh letter of the first volume of his book, (Maktubat):

May Allahu ta'ala bless you and us with the honor of adapting ourselves to Muhammad 'alaihis-salam', who is His beloved one and the highest of Prophets! O my merciful brother! Life in the world is very short. In the hereafter, where life will be eternal and everlasting, we shall be paid for what we have done in the world. The most fortunate person in this world is the person who spends his short lifetime doing things that will do him good in the hereafter and making preparations for his long trek to the world to come. Allahu ta'ala has bestowed on you a rank, a position whereby to meet people's needs and to make them attain justice and peace. Show much gratitude for this blessing! And showing gratitude in this sense means meeting the needs of the born servants of Allahu ta'ala. Serving the born servants will cause you to attain high grades in this world and the next. Therefore, try to do good to the born servants of Allahu ta'ala and to make things easy for them by treating them with a smiling face, soft words and mild behavior! This effort of yours shall make you attain love of Allahu ta'ala and high grades in the hereafter. It is stated in a hadith ash-Sharif, "People are household, born servants of Allahu ta'ala. He loves those who do good to His born servants." There are many hadith ash-Sharifs telling about the virtues of and the rewards for meeting Muslims' needs, pleasing them, and treating them tenderly, mildly, and with patience. I am writing some of them. Read carefully. If you have difficulty understanding them, ask people who are learned in Islam and truly devoted. It is declared in a hadith ash-Sharif: "(Every) Muslim is (another) Muslim's brother. He will not be cruel to him. He will not leave him in a difficult position. If a person helps his brother, Allahu ta'ala will help him. If a person saves his brother from a difficult position, Allahu ta'ala will save him from a difficult position on the Day of Judgement. If a person pleases his brother, Allahu ta'ala will please him on the day of Judgement:" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "He who helps his brother-in- Islam will be helped by Allahu ta'ala:" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "Allahu ta'ala has created some of His born servants for the purpose of meeting people's needs. These people are the refuge of the distressed. These people will be safe against the torture of the Day of Judgement:" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "Allahu ta'ala has bestowed many blessings on some of His born servants and made them means for relieving His distressed born servants. If they do not give these blessings to those who need them, He will take the blessings away from them and give them to others;" in another hadith-i- Sharif: "If a person helps his brother in need, he will be given thawab as if he performed i'tikaf [68] for ten years. And if a person performed i'tikaf during only one whole day for the sake of Allahu ta'ala, there would be a distance of three trenches between him and Hell. The distance between two trenches is as large as the distance between east and west;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "If a person relieves his brother-in-Islam from a position of privation, Allahu ta'ala will send down seventy-five thousand angels, who will pray for him from morning till evening. If it is evening time, they will pray for him till (the following) morning. For each step he takes, one of his sins will be forgiven and he will be given an extra promotion;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "If a person goes to help his believer brother in need, he will be given seventy thawabs for each of his steps and seventy of his sins will be pardoned. When he relieves his brother of distress, he will be purified of his sins (and will become as innocent) as he was when he was born. If he dies while helping his brother, he will enter Paradise without any interrogation; in another hadith ash-Sharif: "If a person goes to the court of justice in order to save him from a difficult position, he shall be one of those who will pass the Sirat Bridge without slipping;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "The most virtuous, the most valuable of deeds and worships is to please a believer, to give him clothes or to give him food if he is hungry or to give him something else he needs;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "After the fard (compulsory worships, such as namaz, fasting in Ramadan etc.), the most valuable deed is to please a Muslim;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "When a person pleases his Muslim brother, Allahu ta'ala will create an angel. (This angel) will pray until that person dies. When he is dead and is put into the grave, the angel will come to him and ask, 'Do you know me?' When the person says, 'No. Who are you?', the angel says, 'I am the pleasure you afforded to a Muslim. Today I have been sent to please you, to help you answer the angels of interrogation and testify to your answers. I shall intercede for you in the grave and on the Day of Rising. I shall show you your rank in Paradise.' When he (our Prophet 'sall-allahu alaihi wasallam') was asked what would cause many people to enter Paradise, he said, "Taqwa, (that is, avoiding the harams and being good mannered)." And when he was asked what would be the reason for which many people would enter Hell, he said, "The tongue, and the vulva, (that is, sex organ)." It is stated in a hadith ash-Sharif: "Of believers, the one with perfect iman is the one who has beautiful manners and who treats his wife mildly;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "A born servant will attain high grades and will be given many more thawabs (than he would otherwise attain) owing to his beautiful manners. Bad manners will drag a person down to the depths of Hell;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "The easiest and lightest worship is to talk little and to have beautiful manners." When a person stood in front of Rasulullah 'sall-allahu alaihi wasallam' and asked what the deed Allahu ta'ala liked best was, he said, "Having beautiful manners." When the person asked the same question once again, this time approaching from the Prophet's left hand side, the Prophet said, once again, "Having beautiful manners." Then the person walked behind him and repeated the same question from behind the Prophet, Rasulullah 'sall-allahu alaihi wasallam' turned his blessed face towards him and said, "Why don't you understand? Beautiful manners means to do one's best not to become angry." It is stated in a hadith ash-Sharif: "A person who does not quarrel even when he is right shall be given a villa at one side of Paradise. A person who does not lie even as a joke shall be given a villa in the middle of Paradise. A person with beautiful manners shall be given this villa at the highest place of Paradise." It was declared in a hadith-i-qudsi [69]: "Of all religions. I have chosen this religion (Islam), This religion is completed with generosity and beautiful manners. Complete this religion daily with these two!" It is stated in a hadith ash-Sharif: "Beautiful manners will melt sins, as lukewarm water melts ice. Bad manners will decompose worships, as vinegar decomposes honey;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "Allahu ta'ala is Rafiq. He loves a person who carries on his daily communications in a tender way;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "Allahu ta'ala likes mild behavior and always helps mild people. On the other hand. He does not help people with harsh manners;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "The person who shall not enter Hell and whom the fire of Hell will not burn, is the person who behaves mildly and who makes things easy for others;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "Allahu ta'ala likes a person who does not haste. Hastiness is caused by Shaitan (Satan). Allahu ta'ala likes hilm, that is, soft temper;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "A person with hilm shall attain the grade of a person who fasts during the day and performs namaz at night;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "Allahu ta'ala loves very much a person who behaves mildly when he is angry;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "If a person shows a mild reaction to someone who behaves harshly or forgives someone who has been cruel to him or reacts kindly to someone who has wronged him or visits people (this friends, relatives, etc.) who do not visit him, (call him or write to him), Allahu ta'ala shall make him attain high grades and bless him with villas in Paradise;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "The (real) hero is not the winner of a wrestling or speed contest. He is the person who controls his nafs at times of anger;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "He who greets with a smiling face will be given the thawab of alms;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: (Such acts as) smiling to your brother-in-Islam when you meet him, performing emr-i-maruf and nehy-i-anil-munkar [70], saving a person from heresy at a time when religious teachings have fallen into oblivion and heresy has become widespread, removing stones, thorns, bones, and other waste stuff from streets and squares, filling the bucket of a person who needs water, are all (equivalents for) alms;" in another hadith ash-Sharif: "In Paradise there are villas where one can see outside when one is inside, and inside when one is outside. These villas will be given to those who talk softly, to those who give food to hungry people, and to those who perform namaz when others are asleep." These hadith ash-Sharif have been derived from the book (Targhib-at-tarhib) [71], which is one of the valuable books of Hadith. May Allahu ta'ala bless us all with the fortune of following these hadith ash-Sharifs. A person whose manners and actions are compatible with (the advice given in) these hadith ash-Sharifs should be very thankful to Allahu ta'ala. Conversely, if a person's behaviors are not in agreement with them, he must supplicate to Allahu ta'ala for (the blessing of) concordance with these hadith ash-Sharifs. If a person with incompatible manners is conscious of this shortcoming of his, this is still a great blessing. If a person is unaware of his fault or who does not feel sorry for it, he is most probably slack in faith and iman.

Hadrat Muhammad Mathum delivers the following discourse in the eighty-third letter of the second volume: If a person has had the following two blessings, he should not be sorry for not having any spiritual ecstacies and raptures. One of these two blessings is 'adapting oneself to Muhammad 'alaihis-salam', who is the owner of the Shariat.' The second one is 'loving one's master, one's murshid.' These two blessings will make one attain all sorts of happiness and fayd [72]. If a person lacks one of these two blessings, he will end up in a disaster. His knowledge, his piety, or his spiritual devotion and ability to display miracles, no matter to what extent, will not avert this disastrous termination from him. And what would most fatally damage these two blessings and put hem in jeopardy of vanishing is being in close contact with irreligious and heretical people, or with their books, [newspapers], and all sorts of publication. We should keep away from such depraved people like bewaring of a lion. We should read books written by the 'Ulama of Ahl-as-sunnat [or by those true Muslims who are correct both in iman and in their ways of worshipping]. For those who wish to read books written by these great people, we recommend that they read the book (Maktubat), by Imam-i Rabbani [73]. [The books published by Ikhlas Waqf are the translations of these true 'Ulama'. For those who wish to learn Islam correctly, we recommend that they read these books].

The knowledge of qada and qadar (fate, destiny) is extremely delicate, subtle, and difficult to understand. It has been forbidden through hadith ash-Sharifs to talk about it or to discuss it. Muslims' duty is to learn the commandments and prohibitions of Allahu ta'ala and to live up to them. We have been commanded to believe in qada and qadar, not to study them. We have to learn about them as much as the 'Ulama of Ahl al-sunnat have taught us and believe in them in such a manner as prescribed by the 'Ulama of Ahl as-sunnat. As these true scholars [and experts of Islamic teachings] state, Allahu ta'ala knew in the eternal past all the future good and evil deeds of mankind. When their time comes He wills their creation, and creates them. His creation is called Taqdir (Divine Dispensation). He, alone, is the Creator, the Inventor. There is no creator besides Him. No man can create anything. Ignorant and idiotic votaries of the sects of Mutazila and Qadariyya have denied qada and qadar. They have asserted that man creates his own deeds. Such heretics have been on the increase recently.

Man's will and option assumes a certain role in the creation of everything good or evil. When man wants to do something, Allahu ta'ala creates it if He, too, wishes it. Man's will and option is called kasb (acquisition). This means to say that every action, everything man does, is actuated by Allah's creation upon man's acquisition (option). The torment that will be inflicted on the murderer is a punishment of his acquisition (option). Sectarians called Jabriyya (necessarians or necessitarians) have denied man's will and acquisition. They have maintained that "Allah creates all of man's deeds, regardless of whether man wishes or not. Everything man does is like the swaying of trees and leaves with the wind. Every action is done under Allah's compulsion. Man cannot do anything." These statements are kufr (disbelief). And a person who holds such a belief will become a kafir (disbeliever). According to these people, "Those who perform good deeds shall be rewarded in the hereafter. Sinners shall not be tormented. Disbelievers, wrongdoers, sinners shall not be tormented because the (real) maker of their sins is Allahu ta'ala. So these people have had to commit these sins." Such misbelievers have been cursed by all Prophets. Could it ever be said that the (involuntary) trembling of the feet and moving them voluntarily were the same things? The ninety-second and ninety-third ayats of (Hijr) sura purport, "Allahu ta'ala will interrogate them for all of their deeds." The twenty-fourth ayat of (Waqi'a) sura purports, "They shall pay for what they have done." The twenty-ninth ayat of (Kahf) sura purports, "Let him who wishes, have iman; and let him who wills, deny. We have prepared Hell fire for those who deny." Some miscreants and heretics, in order to shirk the toil of obeying the commandments and prohibitions of Allahu ta'ala and to escape being tormented for their sins, deny the fact that man has a will and acquisition.

Allahu ta'ala is Karim, He has infinite mercy. He has always commanded men useful things and what they will be able to do. He has forbidden harmful things. The two hundred and eighty-sixth ayat of (Baqara) sura purports, "Allahu ta'ala has commanded men things that they will do easily." It is so surprising that there should be people who deny man's will. Then why will they be angry with those who vex them? Why will they try to educate their sons and daughters? Why would they be exasperated if they saw their wives in indecent positions? Why wouldn't they tolerate such things by saying that "man does not have will, so these people are compelled to do what they are doing"? They hold this belief in order to do all sorts of wicked acts in the world and then not to be tormented in the hereafter. Yet, the seventh ayat of (Tur) sura purports, "Verily, thine Rab (Allahu ta'ala) shall inflict torment. There shall be no escape from Him."

The groups of Qadariyya (libertarians) and Jabriyya (necessitarians) have deviated from the right way, because the former have denied qada and qadar and the latter have denied (man's) will. They are holders of bidat (heresy). The right way is the belief as held by the group called Ahl-i-sunnat wal-jamat (Ahl as-sunnat or, briefly, the sunni way), which occupies an intermediate position between these two extremes. Those who follow in this true way are called (Sunni). Imam-i-Abu Hanifa, who was the leader of the group of Ahl as-sunnat, asked Imam-i-Jafar Sadiq, "O you, grandson of Rasulullah! Has Allahu ta'ala left men's deeds to their wills, or does He compel them to perform their deeds?" He answered, "Allahu ta'ala will not leave His right to His born servants, and it would not be compatible with His justice to compel them and then torment them." Disbelievers say, "Allahu ta'ala wished us to be disbelievers, polytheists. So His wish came true." The hundred and forty-eighth ayat of (En'am) sura purports, "Polytheists say, 'If Allah did not wish us and our fathers to be polytheists...". We tormented their predecessors because they, too, were unbelievers." Polytheists do not make these statements as an excuse (for their polytheism). They do not say so in order to escape torment. These people do not know that their polytheism or disbelief is something bad. They say, "Whatever Allahu ta'ala wills, is good, and He approves all the things He has willed. He would not have willed them if He had not approved them. Then, He must approve our polytheism and not torment us." Nevertheless, Allahu ta'ala has announced through His Prophets that He will not approve polytheism. He has declared that disbelief is a guilt, that disbelievers are accursed, and that He shall torment them eternally. Something willed is not necessarily approved. Allahu ta'ala wills and creates disbelief and disobedience. Yet He does not approve them. He declares plainly in Qur'an al-karim that He does not approve them. Perhaps, those statements of polytheists were intended to provoke derision against Prophets.

Question: In the eternal past Allahu ta'ala knew (all the) good and evil things (that would happen). He wills and creates in accordance with this knowledge of His. Consequently, man's will becomes defunct. Does this not come to mean that men are compelled to do what they are doing, good and evil alike?

Answer: Allahu ta'ala knew in the eternal past that man would perform his deeds by using his own will. This knowledge of Allahu ta'ala does not indicate that the born servant does not have a will and option. Likewise. Allahu ta'ala creates many things outside man in accordance with His preordination in the eternal past. If man were compelled to do what he is doing, then Allahu ta'ala would be compelled to create what He is creating. So, as Allahu ta'ala is autonomous, that is, not compelled (in His creations), so is man autonomous (in his actions).

We have heard some strange news recently. Some people have been persistently talking about the marifat [74] of (Wahdat-i-wujud), regardless of whether they know the subject or not. They say, "Everything is He. The name Allah is a word which shows the universe, that is, all beings collectively. For instance, the name Zayd shows all the parts of a person. However, each part has a different name. None of the parts is named Zayd. Yet the name Zayd stands for all the parts. Likewise, Allahu ta'ala is seen everywhere. It is permissible to call the universe Allah." On the contrary, these statements mean to deny Wahdat-i-wujud (Unity of Allahu ta'ala). They point out the existence of creatures. According to them, the existence of Allahu ta'ala is within the existence of creatures. There is no being except creatures. It is as obvious as the sun that these statements of theirs are wrong.

In actual fact, the existence of Allahu ta'ala is different from that of creatures. Allahu ta'ala should be known to be disparate from creatures. The two existences are different from and dissimilar to each other. In fact, those superior men of tasawwuf who told about (Wahdat-i-wujud) were not successful in expressing what they meant. For it would have been disbelief if they had explained it in a way similar to the statements we have quoted above. On the other hand, if they words Wahdat (Unity) and Tawhid (Oneness) would have lost their significance. If creatures existed separately, the knowledge of Wahdat and Tawhid would be wrong. However, if they had said, "The universe does not exist separately. Its existence, [i.e. beings collectively], is only an illusion, a fancy, [like the images seen on the screen of television or cinema]," this time the word Wahdat [Unity] and the statement "Everything is He" would have been senseless. For an entity which actually exists by itself could not be said to have united with something which exists only in imagination. If they mean, "He, alone, exists. Nothing exists except Him," by their statement, "Everything is He," their statement will be correct. Yet in this case their statement. "Everything is He," will be a metonymy. It will not convey the literal meanings of the words used in it. For instance, when we see a person's image on the mirror we say, "I see him," or "I see him in the mirror," metonymically. It has become a daily figure of speech to refer to the image of something as if it were that thing itself, although it is known that thing, which actually exists, is quite different from its image. [Likewise, the voice of a person calling the adhan (ezan) or reading Qur'an al-karim which we hear on television, on the radio, or from a loud-speaker, would not be the voice of the person actually producing this voice. If would be some other sound similar to the voice of that person. It would be symbolically true to say that the voice belongs to so and so. Yet is would be wrong literally. Therefore, it would not be permissible (in worships) to follow an imam whose voice you hear only from a loud-speaker [75].] To assert that these things (the actual thing and its image) are the same, would be like saying that a lion and an ass are identical. These two animals are completely different. They could not be the same only because (some) people said so. According to some superiors of Tasawwuf, saying that 'Everything is He" does not mean to say that "Allahu ta'ala has shown Himself in the guise of creatures. He exists separately." It means to say that "Allahu ta'ala exists. Creatures are the images, visions of That Being." On the other hand, the statements that we have quoted (in the first paragraph) imply that creatures are eternal, which means to deny the fact that they are of recent occurrence. And this denial, in its turn, is kufr (disbelief).

Another report we have heard is that what some people say about Rising after death and about the hereafter "Every substance, every object we see originates from soil. And they change back into soil again. For instance, vegetables and oats originate from soil. Animals eat them, thus changing them into meat. And human beings eat these vegetables and crops, thus changing them into human beings. These human beings, in their turn, reproduce other human beings. This is what we call 'Resurrection.' These statements mean to deny Resurrection, that is, Rising Again After Death. This denial is called (Ilhad) or being (Zindiq) in the Islamic nomenclature, which means to gainsay hadith ash-Sharifs and Qur'an al-karim.

Again, we have heard that there are people who allege that "The prayers called namaz which we see (being performed by some people around us) are a commandment intended for ignorant people. Men and all beings are worshipping. All creatures are worshipping consciously or unconsciously. Muhammad 'alaihis-salam' enjoined the namaz in order to restrain an uncivilized tribe from felonies such as brigandage, etc.". Be it known very well that those who make these statements are ignorant and half-witted. Our Prophet 'sall-allahu alaihi wasallam' stated, "The namaz is the pillar of the religion. Person who performs the namaz has constructed his religion. And he who neglects the namaz has demolished his religion;" and, "The namaz is the believer's Mi'raj; [76]" in other words, it is the occasion on which the believer is closest to Allahu ta'ala; and, "The namaz is the apple of my eye;" and, "The curtains between man and his Rab (Allahu ta'ala) are raised as he performs the namaz." All sorts of virtues and blessings are contained in the commandments and prohibitions of the Shariat. The thirty-second ayat of Yunus sura purports, "Everything beyond this periphery is aberration." Qur'an al-karim and hadith ash-Sharifs command us to adapt ourselves to the Shariat. This is the way called (Sirat al-musteqim). People who stray from this way are followers of the devils. Abdullah bin Masud 'radi-allahu anh' reports: Rasulullah 'sall-allahu alaihi wasallam' drew a straight line on the sands, and said, "This is the way that will lead man to the love of Allahu ta'ala." Then he drew lines diverging from this line like on a fishbone, and said, "These are the ways to affliction led by the devils." The information given by all Prophets and written in the books of the 'Ulama of Ahl as-sunnat should not be mistaken for imaginary stories. A statement alleging that the Shariat is intended for reactionary, idiotic people would be irreligious, heretical, and therefore idiotic.

Please do not be shocked by the statement, "Creatures are not Allahu ta'ala Himself. Nor are they disparate from Him." Do not ask, "Then what are they?" To say that "Creatures are the images of the Names of Allahu ta'ala; they are not He or beings other than He," means to say that "They are not beings distinct from and dissimilar to Him." For the Names and Attributes of Allahu ta'ala exist with Him. They are not disparate from Him. They do not exist by themselves. In a way, the statement made above is like saying that a person's image in the mirror is neither he, nor another being disparate from him.

It is stated in a hadith ash-Sharif, "Allahu ta'ala created Adam in His own guise." It means, "As Allahu ta'ala does not have a likeness, so He created Adam 'alaihis-salam' in a guise quite unlike in those of other creatures." We have to believe directly in the facts stated clearly in hadith ash-Sharifs such as this and many others. Many words had different meanings in those days than they have now. We should not endanger our iman by taking them in their present meanings. Allahu ta'ala created in Adam 'alaihis-salam' superiorities similar to His own perfection. The hadith ash-Sharif quoted above points out that these superiorities are not the same, but similar to His superiorities. So is the case with His attributes Knowledge and Power. They are similar (to man's attributes) only in name. Essentially, they are quite different.

Qur'an al-karim is a mujiza (miracle). To say that "This mujiza is only with respect to literary standards of textuality such as rhetoric and conciseness; the commandments, prohibitions and reports it contains are not mujiza," would mean to deny Qur'an al-karim and to mock ayat al-karimas.

It is purported in Qur'an al-karim, in the fifty-fourth ayat of (Fussilat) sura, (Be it known that He contains everything." Contain means 'embody', 'include'. According to the 'Ulama of Ahl as-sunnat, the knowledge of Allahu ta'ala contains everything, that is, He knows everything. If we should say that Allahu ta'ala Himself contains everything, then (we will have to bear in mind that) this containing is unlike an object's containing another object. We believe that Allahu ta'ala contains everything and that He is together with everything. Yet we do not try to know how these things happen. These things are not comparable to things that are within the scope of man's mind and imagination.

As we pronounce the word (La ilaha il-l'allah), we should bear in mind that (by doing so) we are rejecting polytheists' calling their idols 'gods'. Polytheists call their idols 'gods' because they consider the idols to be worthy of being worshipped and worship them. They do not all them so to mean that (they consider) they are creators or indispensable beings. It other words, most disbelievers are polytheists in worships. For becoming a Muslim, one must add the expression (Muhammadun rasulullah) (to one's pronunciation of the expression "la ilaha il-l'allah"). One will not have had iman unless one utters this expression. Perfection of iman depends on the renunciation of the desires of the nafs, too. When the words (La ilaha) are pronounced, these desires are renounced, too. The twenty-third ayat of (Jasiya) sura purports, "Have you seen the person who has made a god of his sensuous desires?" The 'Ulama of Ahl as-sunnat state that one's desires and aspirations will become one's mabud (that which one worships). These desires are rejected by saying, (La ilaha). When a person utters this word very frequently, he will rid himself from the desires of his nafs and the misgivings infused by the Satan and acknowledge that he is a born servant only to Allahu ta'ala. Repeating the name of Allahu ta'ala frequently will take one closer to Allahu ta'ala. In other words, it will augment the reciprocal love (between Allahu ta'ala and the born servant). Thus one will become fani, (that is, one's self, which is the most diehard obstacle between one and Allahu ta'ala, will perish). One's heart will no longer have any love except for Allahu ta'ala. And frequent repetition of the Kalima-i-Tawhid, (that is, saying, "la ilaha il'l'allah"), will completely nullify one's attachment to creatures. Thus all the curtains between Allahu ta'ala and the born servant will disappear. Shah-i-Nakshiband Muhammad Bahaaddin Bukhari [77] stated, "None of the things you see and hear is He. All of these things should be renounced, when saying, 'La'." Abu Ishaq Qazruni [78] saw our Prophet 'sall-allahu alaihi wasallam' in his dream and asked him what Tawhid was. The answer was: "When you say Allah, none of the things that come to your heart, to your mind, to your imagination, is Allah."

People who name themselves Shaikhs or Murshids (religious guides) and spoil Muslims' iman by making statements contradictory to the Shariat, are not religious people. They are thieves of religion. They are disbelievers. We should shun from them. Talking to them or reading their books will spoil one's iman and drive one into the eternal affliction. We should avoid these people and reading their books with the same dread as we would feel in avoiding as lion. Should a person ever be misled by these people, let him make tawba immediately (upon realizing that he has been misled). The gates of tawba are (always) open. One's tawba will be acceptable until one takes one's final breath.

It is necessary to look for an Islamic savant, to find and read the books of the 'Ulama of Ahl as-sunnat. Each day going by is very valuable. There is no return to the world. The greatest blessing is Sohbat (or Sohbat), which means to keep company with an 'Alim of Ahl as-sunnat and thus to be blessed with his words [and breath]. Uways-i-Qarni loved Rasulullah very much and worshipped continuously day and night. Yet he could not attain the grade of any of the Ashab al-kiram, who (had attained their high grades because they) had been blessed with the honor of attaining Rasulullah's company. If a wise and vigilant person loves any one of the passed Murshids very much and turns his heart towards him, certainly some of the fayd and barakat abounding in the Murshid's heart will flow into his heart. He will attain abundant marifat. However, attaining high grades of Wilayat requires Sohbat. Lucky for those who attain endless felicity (in the hereafter) by receiving fayd from a Murshid-i-kamil and making much dhikr (uttering the name of Allahu ta'ala) in their sojourn in this life!

Serve your brother(s), your sisters(s), your wife, your mother, and all your brothers in Islam! Hold fast to the Sunnat, [that is, to the Shariat], of our beloved Prophet Muhammad Mustafa 'sall-allahu alaihi wasallam'! [Learn this Shariat, not from the untruthful books reflecting the personal views of people who falsely assume to be religious authorities, but from books through which lovers of Allahu ta'ala convey the information coming from the 'Ulama of Ahl as-sunnat! It would be a great fortune to have been blessed with the ability of distinguishing these books from the sham books, thus being secure against the harm and mischief of those misleading books. Lucky for those who have attained this blessing!].

Disasters that befall people are the will and foreordination of Allahu ta'ala. We should be contented with and submissive to His foreordination. We should recite the Fatiha (sura), say prayers, give alms, and present their thawab to the souls of the dead (parents, relatives, friends, martyrs, religious scholars, teachers, etc.). We should visit the graves of the Awliya, and ask, beg for their help. Serving their living children and grandchildren will cause one to receive fayd from them. We should bring up our children under Islamic education! We should train them to cover themselves, (that is, to dress in a manner prescribed by Islam), teach them religious knowledge, e.g. how to perform the namaz, etc., beginning when they are very young! We should be punctual in performing the five daily prayers of namaz and perform them behind a Sunni imam! We should learn how to read Qur'an al-karim correctly, without making errors, and we should read it every day!

A distich:

So grieved is my soul for separation from m'dearest ones,
That my bones ache to the core. Oh, I miss them so much!

FOOTNOTES

[67] Muhammad Mathum passed away in Sirhind city in 1079 [A.D. 1668].
[68] Secluding one's self for one or more whole days for fasting or prayer.
[69] The blessed statements of our beloved Prophet 'sall-allahu alaihi wasallam' are called (Hadith). When these statements of our Prophet's are inspired by Allahu ta'ala they are called (Hadith-i-qudsi)
[70] Teaching, promulgating, spreading the commandments of Allahu ta'ala and admonishing people about His prohibitions.
[71] Author of the book, Abd-ul-azim Munziri Qayrawani Shafii, passed away in 656 [A.D. 1258].
[72] After a Muslim has adapted himself completely to she Shariat of Muhammad 'alaihis-salam', inexplicable pieces of knowledge begin to flow into his heart. This occult, esoteric and subtle kind of knowledge is called fayd, pronounced [faiz].
[73] Imam-i-Rabbani Ahmad Faruqi is one of the greatest 'Ulama of Ahl as-sunnat and Awliya brought up and educated in India. He passed away in Sirhind city in 1034 [A.D. 1624].
[74] After a person has completely adapted himself to the Shariat of Muhammad 'alaihis-salam' and made a certain progress in the guidance of a Murshid-i-kamil in the spiritual way called Tasawwuf, pieces of inexplicable, subtle knowledge begin to trickle into his heart. Sometimes this trickling improves into flowing. These pieces of knowledge are called Marifat.
[75] These technicalities pertaining to Islamic worships are explained in detail in the Turkish book (Se'adet-i Ebediyye), which has been partly translated into English in fascicles titled (Endless Bliss). Imam, in this context, means the person who conducts the prayer of namaz when it is performed in jamaat (congregation of Muslims). It has other meanings, such as, 'religious leader', 'religious savant', etc.
[76] Our Prophet's Ascent to heaven. On Mi'raj our Prophet saw Allahu ta'ala, talked to Him, and heard Him in a manner that could not be comprehended or explained on the human standards. The night of Mi'raj is celebrated yearly by all Muslims
[77] Muhammad Bahaaddin passed away in Bukhara in 791 [A.D. 1389].
[78] Qazruni passed away in 426 [A.D. 1034].