19 - It is written in the fifth asl (chapter) of the book Kimya-yi saadat: Rasulullah (Hadrat Muhammad [sallallahu alaihi wa sallam]) said, "The basis and the most dependable symptom of iman is to love Muslims and to dislike disbelievers." Allahu ta'ala declared to Hadrat Isa (Jesus ['alaihi's-salam]), "Even if you do acts of worship that equal those done by all creatures on the earth and in heavens, it will be of no value unless you love whom I love and unless you fell hostility towards My enemies." Every Muslim should dislike the enemies of Allahu ta'ala. He should love those who obey the Shariat. He should make it evident in his words and, if possible, in his actions. He should not be friends with those who are disobedient and sinful, and should utterly keep away from those who commit many sins. He should all the more avoid the cruel, and those who persecute muslims. Yet he should forgive those who only torment him and should endure their torments; this is very useful. Some of our superiors used to treat sinners and the cruel very severely. And others used to show them only mercy and respect and used to advise them. That is, thinking that everything happens according to qada and qadar [Their lexical meaning is fate, destiny. But these words will fall far too short of explaining qada and qadar. It is a very deep and important subject. It will be explained in detail on the final pages of our book.] they felt pity for sinners and cruel. Their thought is great and valuable but idiots or those who are ignorant cannot understand it and they may get the wrong idea. Those whose beliefs are weak and who are neglectful in following the Shariat, think that they are contented with Allahu ta'ala's qada and qadar. However, there is evidence and proof for this state of contentment. If they beat a person, snatch away his property and insult him and he still doesn't get angry, forgives them and pities them, it is understood that he is content with qada. But if he, while getting angry during such times, pities those who disobey Allahu ta'ala and says that it is their qadar (fate), he is irresponsible, a munafiq [A person who disbelieves one or more of what the Qur'an and the Prophet declare and who does not let others know of his disbelief.] and religiously ignorant. Thus, it is a symptom of not having strong iman for those who do not know qada and qadar to pity and love sinners and disbelievers. It is fard to dislike and to be hostile towards those who stand against Islam or who are hostile towards Muslims. As well, it is fard to feel hostility towards those who accept the jizya [The tax which disbelievers under Muslim control pay to a Muslim government. Allahu ta'ala commands the jizya in the Qur'an in order to disgrace disbelief.]. Allahu ta'ala declares in the Qur'an, in the last ayat of Surat- ul-Mujadala: "Those who believe in Allahu ta'ala and the Day of Resurrection do not like the enemies of Allahu ta'ala. Even if those disbelievers and munafiqs are the fathers, mothers, sons, brothers and other close relatives of Muslims; they do not like them. I will put such Mumins into Paradise."

To appoint disbelievers as presidents for Muslims, by trusting them, is to disgrace Muslims, and this is a great sin. It is necessary to dislike holders of bidat, that is, those who want to defile the Muslims' iman. A Muslim must feel hostility towards them, and even not acknowledge their greetings. He must also inform other Muslims about them. It is necessary not to talk to or make close friendships with those who, though having iman, worship and abstain from sins, hurt Muslims with their behaviors, words and writings by giving false witness, unjust judgments, or by way of lies, slander, and derision. Instead, they must be treated severely. We should mildly advise the sinners who, though having iman, do not worship, and who commit the haram, such as charging and paying interest, drinking alcoholic drinks, and gambling, but who do not hurt the Muslims. However, if they do not come to reason, we should not greet them or talk to them, but when they are sick we should visit them and return their greetings. [Those disbelievers who do not attack Muslims with their words, articles, or brute force must be addressed with kind words and smiling faces. We should not harm anybody.]

Disbelievers destroy and annihilate Muslims when they are able. Or, they mislead Muslims onto a path which they have made up.

As a matter of fact, it is written on the hundred and second page of the minutes of a meeting held by Masons in 1900, "It is not enough to overcome the pious and their temples. Our ultimate purpose is to annihilate religions."

Publicly and shamelessly they reveal their hostility in their books and speeches. Knowing nothing about knowledge and science, they say childish things. For example, they say, "Ancient people were ignorant; being defenseless and weak against natural forces, they believed in imaginary things. They exposed their inferiority by worshipping and begging things which they themselves had made. However, we are in the atomic age today. Dominating nature, we can do whatever we want. There is nothing other than natural powers. Paradise, Hell, genies and angels are things fabled by ancient people. Is there anyone who has gone and seen them? Can anyone believe things that are not seen or experienced?" These words of the irreligious show that they know nothing of history either. In the course of history, ignorant people in each century thought of themselves as wise and learned, and the people coming before them as ignorant. Since Hadrat Adam, they have changed and denied the religions revealed in every century by saying that they are the words of ignorant primitive people. Such assertions made by disbelievers are quoted, and answered in many parts of the Qur'an al-karim. For example, He says after the thirtieth ayat of Surat-ul-Muminun, "They didn't believe Hadrat Nuh (Noah), so We drowned them in water. For the people We had created after them, We sent a Prophet from amongst them and said, 'Worship Allahu ta'ala. There is nobody other than Him to be worshipped. Fear His torment!' Many of those who didn't obey, who didn't believe in the resurrection after death, and yet whom we had given plenty of worldly blessings, said to others, 'This Prophet eats and drinks like you. If you believe someone who needs many things like you, you will be deceived and suffer a loss. The Prophet tells you that after dying and after your bones have rotted and turned into dust and soil you will be resurrected and get up from your graves. Is that ever possible? Whatever exists is in this world. Paradise and Hell are all in this world. This is the way it has been and this is the way it goes. There is no resurrection after death." In communist countries, in order to demolish the faith and morals of the people, teachers in schools and officers in the army say to the boys, girls and soldiers, "If Allah existed, we would see Him. He would hear us and give us what we want. If you ask me for candy, I will immediately hear you and give you what you want. Ask Him, you see He doesn't respond. Then, He doesn't exist. Your parents are ignorant. They are backwards and old-fashioned. They are retrogressive. But, you are open-minded, modern youngsters. Never believe such superstitions! Paradise, Hell, angels and genies are fables." Through such lies, they try to annihilate youngsters' iman, manners and sense of shame, which they have acquired in their fathers' homes. Deceiving these poor children, they sacrifice youngsters for the sake of their base desires, pleasures and evil earnings. By saying, "Who on earth has seen Paradise and Hell? One simply shouldn't believe things that are not seen." They expose the fact that they follow their organs of perception. However, animals too follow their organs of perception. Imam-i Ghazali says, "Human beings follow reason. Human organs of perception are lower than those of animals. Man cannot smell as well as cats or dogs do. Neither can he see in the dark as well as they do. Moreover, how can one rely on one's eyes in everything while many times wisdom proves the eyes to be wrong? For example, the eyes, seeing the sun through the window, may consider it smaller than the window; but reason says it is larger than the earth." I wonder if these disbelievers do not believe reason by saying, "We believe what we see; is it possible that the sun is larger than the earth?" No! Here they also believe reason as Muslims do. It is seen that men differ from animals by conducting worldly affairs not according to their perception, but according to their reason. Instead of saying, "We don't believe in the things of the next world," and thus remaining dependent on the organs of perception, why don't they follow their reason and thus become exalted to the degree of being human here, too? Islam declares that human beings will be recreated in the next world and will live eternally, and animals, after having their accounts settled, will be annihilated. By promising human beings an eternal life, it differentiates them from animals. But these disbelievers want to be deprived of eternal life like animals. Today, thousands of medicines, household appliances, industrial and commercial goods, electronic instruments, and war vehicles are manufactured in factories. The majority of them are manufactured after sophisticated calculations and hundreds of experiences are done. Do they say even about one of them that it is self-created? On the one hand, they say all those above-mentioned things have been manufactured consciously and willingly by a certain manufacturer; on the other hand, they claim that so many millions of substances and phenomena that are seen on living and lifeless beings, and new and subtler ones of which are being explored in each century, so that we do not know the structures of most of them yet, are self-created. How can this hypocrisy be explained except as extreme obstinacy or explicit stupidity?

A communist teacher in Russia told his students during the lesson, "I can see you. You can see me, too. This means to say that we exist. The mountains over there exist because we can see them, too. Something non-existent cannot be seen. What we cannot see is not said to exist. My words come from our scientific knowledge. One who is educated and progressive depends on scientific knowledge. Reactionists claim that there is a creator of all the creatures. It is wrong to believe the existence of a creator. It is not compatible with science. It is reactionary to claim the existence of something which cannot be seen." Asking permission to respond, a Turkoman boy said, "Are you talking with your intellect? Since we cannot see the existence of your intellect, it would be incompatible with science to accept that you have an intellect and that you are talking with it." The teacher was unable to answer these statements and kicked him out of the class after beating him harshly with a hatred arising from defeat. The boy was never seen again.

Today, there are two kinds of disbelievers in the world. First there are disbelievers with a holy book (people of the book). They are Jews and Christians. They believe in Resurrection and in eternal life after death.

Second, there are disbelievers without a holy book, that is, mushriks who do not believe in one Allah, who makes everything. Some of these disbelievers, by using State oppression, cruelty and torture, prohibit worshipping, and the teaching of religion. And some of them, through words that provoke feelings of goodness and humanity, cause others to fall into debauchery. They also cause them to be deprived of moral and religious knowledge. Putting forth false stories and mendacious examples, they deceive millions of people. They train them as religiously ignorant people. In other words, on the one hand, they talk about civilization, science and human rights, and, on the other hand, they animalize human beings.

The people of Europe and America have holy books. Copernicus, the founder of modern astronomy, was a priest in Freienburg. Bacon, the great physicist of England, was a priest belonging to the Franciscan Church. The famous French physicist Pascal was a priest and wrote religious books while exploring the laws of physics and geometry. The famous Richelieu, who was France's greatest prime minister and the one who brought France to the leading position in Europe, was a high ranking clergyman. Also Schiller, the great German doctor and poet, was a priest. Bergson, the French thinker and a world-famous philosopher, in his books defended spirituality against the attacks of materialists. Those who read his books MatlÅre et MÅmomiera, Les deux Sources de la Morale et de la Religion and Essai sur les DonnÄes ImmÄdiates de la Conscience will eagerly believe in religion and the next world.

William James, the great American philosopher, founded the sect of pragmatism; and in his book Religious Experiments and others, he praised being a believer. French doctor Pasteur, who had studied on infectious diseases, bacteria and various vaccinations, willed that his funeral be performed with a religious ceremony. Finally, F.D. Roosevelt, an American President, who administered the world in the Second World War, and the British Prime Minister Churchill were Christian believers. Many scientists and politicians, whose names we cannot remember, were all persons who believed in the Creator, the next world, and angels. Who can ever claim that those who disbelieve are wiser than these people? They would have been good Muslims if they had seen and read Islamic books. But reading, even touching, Islamic books was prohibited and even deemed a grave sin by their priests. Those priests prevented people from attaining happiness both in the world and in the Hereafter. Please see the twenty-sixth chapter, about Social Justice, Socialism, and Capitalism, in the Second Part (of the Turkish version).

Imam-i Ali (radi-Allahu 'anh), said "Muslims believe in the next world. Disbelievers without a holy book deny it. If there weren't a resurrection, disbelievers would not gain anything and Muslims would not suffer any harm. But since what disbelievers believe will not happen, they will suffer eternal torment." Islamic scholars prove their words true and respond to the attacks of disbelievers through reason, knowledge and science. Could Resurrection be denied if Muslims did not prove their words to be true? Even if being under eternal torment were only a probability, whichever wisdom would risk it? Nevertheless, torments in the next world are not only a probability, but an obvious fact. Then, it is unwise not to believe.

And some enemies of Islam, seeing that through reason and knowledge they won't be able to vitiate the sound iman of the people and that they only display their own disgrace, resort to tricks and lies. They pretend to be Muslims, write false articles that seem to like and praise Islam; but in these articles and words of theirs, by disputing the essential and basic principles of Islam, they cast a bad light on them as if they were not a part of Islam. They try to alienate and estrange the readers and audience from them. Thinking of the times for, amounts of, and kinds of worships, which Allahu ta'ala has commanded as inappropriate, they believe it would be better if worships were done in another way. Knowing nothing of the delicacies, uses and values that are hidden in the inner soul of worships, they consider them as a medium for simple and primitive functions; and they act as if they are trying to correct them. It is a defect in men not to know something; it is all the more funny and pathetic to interfere with something that one doesn't understand. And the Muslims who obey and believe such ignorant people, supposing them to be wise are even poorer and more stupid. And some of these insidious and ignorant disbelievers say, "Yes, Islam commands developing good habits, being healthy, working hard, and it prohibits evils and matures people. These are necessary for every nation. Yet there are also social rules, the rights of family and community in Islam. These were established in accordance with the circumstances of ancient times. Today, nations have grown larger, circumstances have changed and needs have increased. New rules and laws are necessary to meet today's technical and social improvements. Rules in the Qur'an cannot meet these needs." Such words are the absurd and out-of-place thoughts of the ignorant who do not know of Islamic laws and Islamic knowledge. Islam has declared clearly what justice and cruelty are, what rights and duties people have towards one another, families and neighbors towards one another, people towards the government, and governments towards one another. Islam states what a crime is, and it has put basic rules upon these unchangeable concepts. It has not limited the practicing of these unchangeable rules on all events and happenings, but has commanded them to be practiced according to common usage. In the book Durar-ul- Hukkam, an explanation of Majalla, from article 36 onward, it is written: "The rules depending upon a Nass (Ayat-i karimas or Hadith ash-Sharifs with clear meanings) or a Dalil (proof) do not change in the course of time; however, the rules depending upon customs and common usage may change with time. The Hukm-i Kulli (general rule) does not change, but its application to events may change in time. In worship, 'common usage' becomes dalil in order to give clarity and to inform people of a rule which is not declared by a Nass. To classify a custom as 'common usage', it must originate from the time of the Sahaba-i Kiram, and it must be known that it has been used by the Mujtahids and that it has continued to be used. In the rules of Muamalat (transactions), the customs prevailing in a region which don't contradict a Nass also become dalil. These can be understood by the 'alims of fiqh. Allahu ta'ala has established the Islamic religion in such a manner that it addresses every new development and invention in every country. Showing toleration and indulgence not only in social life, but also in worships, the Islamic religion has given men freedom and the right of ijtihad when confronted with different conditions and necessities. During the times of Hadrat 'Umar, the Umayyads and in such a big empire as the Ottoman Empire, large communities of various peoples, spread over continents, were administered with these divine rules. Muslim accomplishments and glories have been famous throughout history. And in the future, every nation, big or small, will attain comfort, peace and happiness in proportion to the extent to which it obeys and practices these unchangeable divine rules. Nations and societies which deviate from the social and economic rules declared by Islam will not escape hardships, suffering and calamity. It is written in history that this has been so with nations in the past, and so will it certainly be in the future. History is repetitive.

Muslims should attach great importance to national unity and solidarity; they should be extremely active materially and morally in making their country stronger; they should learn the teachings of the Islamic religion very well; they should abstain from the harams; and they should pay their debts to Allahu ta'ala and His born servants. They should be ornamented with the beautiful morals of Islam and should not cause harm to anybody. They should not be a means of agitation or anarchy, and they should pay their taxes. Our religion, Islam, wants us to behave in such a manner. The first obligation of a Muslim is to abstain from being guilty according to the law and from sinning by not following Satan or one's nafs, and by not believing bad, insidious, disobeying and revolting people. Allahu ta'ala imposed three obligations on His human beings. The first one is a personal obligation. Every Muslim must be well trained, healthy, well mannered, and good tempered. He must perform his ibadats and learn ilm, high-morality, and he must work for halal sustenance. The second obligation is to be carried out within the family. One must observe the rights of his father, mother, children, brothers and sisters. The third obligation concerns those which must be performed within the context of the society. These are the obligations relating to a Muslim's neighbors, teachers, family, the persons employed by him, the government, the state, and the people belonging to different religions and nationalities. It is a must to help everyone, not to insult anybody by saying something evil, not to hurt anyone, to be helpful towards everybody, not to revolt against the state, the government, the laws, to observe everybody's rights, and to pay taxes promptly. Allahu ta'ala did not order us to interfere with governmental and state affairs. Allahu ta'ala ordered us to help the government, not to incite trouble.]

Then, Muslims should feel haya (bashful) towards Allahu ta'ala. Haya is from iman. The bashfulness peculiar to a Muslim is indispensably necessary. It is a must to abhor and believe as wrong and harmful the disbelievers and disbelief and everything outside of Islam, no matter what theory or ideology it is. Allahu ta'ala has commanded us to take jizya from disbelievers; that is, they must pay taxes. The purpose of this is to insult them. This type of insulting is so effective that they cannot wear valuable suits, nor can they adorn themselves out of the fear of having to pay more jizya. They lead a despicable and miserable life. The purpose of jizya is to offend and disgrace disbelievers. The jizya shows the glory and honor of Islam. If the zimmi converted to Islam, he would no longer have to pay jizya. The symptom of iman's existence in a heart is that it dislikes disbelievers. [Disliking is done by the heart. We should live in harmony with disbelievers or any others; we should not cause harm to anybody.]

[Temporary co-operation with disbelievers can be formed only politically and when necessity requires it. Yet this shouldn't go as far as to unite with them, and it should end when the necessity is over.

Question: "We should not distrust or have a bad opinion of anybody; we should not look at his words and actions exposing his disbelief, but those indicating his iman. Iman exists in the heart. Allah knows if there is iman in a heart. No one else knows it. He who says 'disbeliever' about a person with iman in his heart becomes a disbeliever himself. We should regard everybody as a Muslim and love everybody who does not openly speak ill of Islam," is said. Is this point of view correct?

Answer: It is wrong to say we shouldn't distrust anybody. Its correct form is "We shouldn't distrust a Muslim." In other words, when a person, who says that he is Muslim and does not express a word or does not do an action rendering him a disbeliever, says or does something which may mean belief as well as disbelief, we should understand it as belief, and we should not say that he has dissented from the religion. But when a person strives to demolish the religion and to make youngsters kafir, or if he, saying "good" about one of the harams, tries to make it popular so that everybody commits it, or if he says that one of Allahu ta'ala's commands is retrogressive and harmful, he is called "kafir"." Even if he says that he is a Muslim, performs namaz (ritual prayer) and goes on a hajj (pilgrimage), he is still called a Zindiq. It would be stupidity to regard such hypocritical persons, who deceive Muslims, as Muslims.]

Allahu ta'ala in the twenty-eighth ayat of Surat-ut-Tawba of the Qur'an al-karim says, "Najas and rijs," that is, "foul," about disbelievers. Then, disbelief should be foul and base in the eyes of Muslims. Allahu ta'ala declares in the fourteenth ayat of Surat-ur Rad and in the fiftieth ayat of surat-ul Mumin, "The prayers of these enemies are without a result. There is no possibility of them being accepted."

Allahu ta'ala and His Prophet are pleased with Muslims. There cannot be a greater blessing than attaining Allah's consent and love.

As iman and kufr are opposite one another, so are this world and the next. This world and the next world cannot stay together. In order to earn the next world it is necessary to abandon this world, that is, the harams. Abandoning this world can be done in two ways. Firstly, it is to abandon the mubah, that is, many of the activities that are not sins, together with all the things that are haram, and to use as many of the mubahs as is only necessary to live. [In other words, it is to abandon the habits of being lazy or idle and/or diving into pleasures, dissipations and amusements of the world. Instead, we must spend our time worshipping, while making and using the most advanced forms of technology that are necessary for the protection and comfort of Muslims. And we must work so that non- Muslims may come to reason. Working for these purposes must be our hobby in this world. All the Ashab of our Prophet and many of our superiors worked in this way. It is very meritorious and very useful to abandon the world in such a way. We say once more that the purpose of this path is to sacrifice all comforts and pleasures in order to do the things which the Islamic religion commands.]

Secondly, it is to abstain from the things that are haram and dubious in this world without abandoning the mubah. Even this kind of abandoning of the world is of value in light of the present world's condition.

Then, it is positively necessary for each Muslim to abstain from the things which the Islamic religion prohibits.

[He who slights the fact that these are haram, that is, he who does not think it is necessary to abstain from them, or, he who does not pay attention to Allahu ta'ala's prohibitions and instead likes them and says 'How nice,' becomes a disbeliever. They will remain in Hell eternally. Those who admit and respect the prohibitions of Allahu ta'ala yet are overcome and deceived by their nafs and commit them but later come to their senses and repent do not become kafir; they do not lose their iman. Such people are called Asi (disobedient) or Fasiq (sinner). Though perhaps they will go to Hell and will be punished because of their sins, they will not remain in Hell eternally but will get out and enter Paradise.]

There are a lot of things which Allahu ta'ala has made mubah, which He has permitted. The value in these is more than that in the haram. Allahu ta'ala likes those who use the mubah. He dislikes those who use the haram. Does a wise and reasonable person spurn the love of his owner and creator for only a temporary pleasure? Besides, the number of things that are haram is very small. The flavors in the haram, exist in the mubahs, too.

[Dunya (world) is the feminine form of adna, i.e., ism-i tafdil (adjective in the superlative degree). Its masdar (infinitive) is either dunuwwun or danatun. When it is derived from the former, it means 'the nearest'. The word dunya in the ayat, 'We have adorned the lowest (nearest to the Earth) heaven with stars giving lights like lamps' is so. It has been used with the second meaning in some places. For instance, it bears the second meaning in the hadith, "Things that are dani, base, are mal'un." That is, the world is mal'un. Despicable things are the nahy-i iqtiza-i and nahy-i gayr-i-iqtizai of Allahu ta'ala, that is, they are haram and makruh. Property was not spoken ill of because Allahu ta'ala considers property a blessing. The evidence for our position is the property of Hadrat Ibrahim Khalil-ur-Rahman ('alaihi's-salam), who is the second most valuable creation of all creatures and humanity. His livestock included half a million heads of cattle that filled up plains and valleys.]