This chapter deals with nine irreligious cults, which are actually disfigured forms of ancient heavenly religions:

1- SHAMANIS: Yafas (Japheth), third son of Nuh (Noah) "alaihis-salam", had settled in the central region of Asia with hundreds of his grandsons. Multiplying there, they had spread towards eastern Asia and over the Oceanic Islands traveling by the existing roads of that time. Many years after Yafas had died, people began to deviate from the right course and, having forgotten about Hadrat Nuh's and Yafas's din and preachings, they began to lead a bestial life. They began to worship stars, the moon, the sun, statues and genies. They parted into various paths.

One of the heretical paths that has been made up and brought forth in this manner is Shamanism. This corrupt religion, which Europeans call Chamanism, was made up by heathens in eastern Asia at one time, and it is today widespread amongst wild people in Siberia and Oceanic Islands. They worship a visionary god, who, they say, lives on the sun, and genies and angels. They call the greatest one "Satan." Their priest, whom they call Shaman, wears a horse's tail. They hang drums on their necks to dispel genies. They beat them from time to time. Magic is considered a miracle to them. Over the course of centuries, by the ignorant and cruel, this religion also, like Brahminism and Buddhism, has been formed by spoiling and changing the right din, which prophets had brought.

2- BAHAIS and BAHAISM: Another group that strives to demolish Islam is the Bahais. The chief of these irreligious people is Bahaullah. He was a pupil and the caliph of a Persian named Albab Ali Muhammad. Albab used to call himself mirror. He used to say, Allah is seen in this mirror. When he died, Bahaullah became their chief and began to spread his sophistries which he termed Bahaism. Before he died, they put his son Abdulbaha Abbas in this place. Abbas took the name Ghasniyyi Azam. Abbas, who went to Europe and America, gathered more than a hundred thousand Bahais and died in 1339 A.H. [1921]. He was succeeded by his son Shawqi. He also spread the religion of Bahaism. Bahaullah used to say that he was a prophet and the great savior of the latest time. It was this pretension whereby he first smeared himself with the ignominy of blasphemy. He also said that one more prophet would come two thousand years later. According to these disbelievers, who have no proximity to Islam, nineteen is a sacred number. Their fasting practice continues for nineteen days. Each Bahai has to invite nineteen Bahais after every nineteen days. Their irreligious cult is governed by nineteen people elected for their supreme assembly which they call The House of General Justice. Each Bahai has to give each year one fifth of his earnings to this assembly. It is necessary, so they say, to marry at the age of eleven. It is forbidden to live single. It is an act of worship, according to them, to assemble together with nude women; no other acts of worship are necessary. Every sort of immorality is considered an honor.

The Bahais have eighty-eight organizations all over the world. They deceive Christians, Jews, Magians, Sikhs, Zoroastrians and Buddhists and allure them towards themselves. Their relentless enemies are Islamic savants, whom they fear most and whom they cannot stand against. They have not been able to deceive any Muslims who know and understand their faith. Though they spend millions of dollars to translate their books and publications of propaganda into forty-eight languages and to disseminate them everywhere, they remain impotent against Islam and are gradually melting away. On the other hand, in Europe, America, Africa and Australia, seventy-seven local lodges have been registered officially. They have great temples in Turkistan [in 1902] and in Chicago [in 1920]. They do not regard race or nationality. Their purpose is, like communists, to spread all over the world and to be governed by the commands of a single dictating person. They do not think of the individuals' interest. They support state capitalism.

Their temples, their organizations, their duties are written in their books which they call Aqdes and on the Inscriptions of Wills. Their belief in Allahu ta'ala and much of their information have been derived from the Islamic din. They have also many invented aspects unconformable with Islam. Their worldly points of view, which are logical and the majority of which are social, are explained under the name of religion and divine wahy.

Their namaz (ritual prayer) is a matter of standing towards Haifa and thinking of Allah. Their hajj is to go to see Bab's house in Shiraz or Bahaullah's house in Baghdad, and to read ayats is to think of Allah through the heart.

Today, the enemies of Islam in the world, especially in our country, masquerade in any disguise and praise any evil which is against Islam with falsely-adorned words in order to demolish Islam. They do not value Bahaism at all. Yet, only because it is against Islam, they write and disseminate articles which praise and boost these irreligious people and laud them to the skies.

3- AHMADIYYA (QADIYANI): It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani in Punjab, India, in 1298 A.H. [1880]. He was born in 1835 and died in 1908. As it is known, he began to spread his heretical thoughts a year after the British had declared their invasion of India. It is clear that it was founded by the British and rapidly spread by British spies with British money in order to demolish Islam from within.

AbdurRashid Ibrahim Effendi states in the passage entitled "Hostility of the English Against Islam" in the second volume of the book Alam-i Islam printed in Istanbul in 1328 [1910 A.D.]: "It was the first aim of the British to abrogate the Caliphate of the Muslims as soon as possible. It was a plot arranged by them to encourage the Crimean Turks to revolt against the Ottoman state so that they could demolish the Caliphate. The treaty of Paris clearly divulges this plot of theirs. [They exposed the hostility within their hearts in the confidential articles of the Lausanne Treaty which was held in 1923.] Whatever the reason, all the disasters that the Turks experienced were always caused by the British. To destroy Islam has been the main political aim of British politicians, for they have always had the fear of Islam. They have been exploiting the venal aspect of the human nature to deceive Muslims. These deceivers and hypocritical men are presented by the British as Islamic scholars and heroes. In short, the worst enemies of Islam are the British." Bryan William Jennings, an American, and a man of law, and a man of politics as well, is famous for his books, lectures, and for his membership in the American congress from 1891 to 1895. He was a foreign minister between the years 1913 and 1915. He died in 1925. In his book entitled The British Sovereignty in India, he wrote in detail about the British hostility towards Islam, of their savageries and cruelties.

After the death of Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani, who was a poker in the hands of the Britons, Hakim Nureddin became his caliph. Bashiruddin-Mahmud, who succeeded him in 1914, was born in 1306 [1889] and died in 1385 [1965]. In the city of Qadiyan, India, Ahmad published his book Al-Wasiyyat in which he proclaimed that he was the promised Messiah (Hadrat Isa). His son, Bashi, transferred the center of the Ahmadis to Rabwah town, and began to spread the heretical beliefs of the way of Ahmadiyya under the name Real Islam. His two big books, which he published under the name Interpretation of the Qur'an, are full of heretical and corrupt writings contradicting Qur'an al-karim. He says that he has seen and written economical facts which had not been noticed by mufassirs for thirteen hundred years. He says, "I can claim confidently that Allah has given such information only to prophets and their caliphs." The hadith ash-Sharif, "He who interprets Qur'an al-karim according to his own point of view becomes a disbeliever," shows clearly that these people are on the way of heresy and that they are outside of Islam. They are even more corrupt and more harmful than those heretical people called Wahhabis. Furthermore, by taking excerpts from the book Kitab-ul-iza'a, by Muhammad Siddiq Hasan Khan, the Wahhabite book Fath-ul-majid writes on its two hundred and seventy-fifth page, "One of the impostors of our time is a foul person named Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani, a European type of impostor. May Allahu ta'ala make him more abominable! May He make everybody hear of his evil! May He make also those who have drifted into his way of disbelief as bad as he is! For he engendered a grave fitna. First he claimed to be the Messiah. Then he attempted to claim that he was a prophet. He made himself a means for the Christian states' policy of breaking up the Muslims." As Wahhabis claim that true Islam is Wahhabism only, so these people say that only Ahmadiyya is true Islam. They both have deviated from the right way of the Salaf-i salihin, who were praised in hadith ash-Sharifs, and they have been drifting people into the disaster of disbelief and heresy. This erroneous path, which spread rapidly among ignorant people in Punjab and Bombay, is settling in Europe and America now. Though they call themselves Muslims, they have left the realm of Islam because of their corrupt beliefs and rites. There are many things which cause their disbelief. Yet three of them are the most important:

1- According to those who call themselves Ahmadi and Qadiyani, Hadrat Isa (Jesus) wasn't meant to be killed. But he died of natural causes and was interred. Later he left his tomb and went to Kashmir in India. There he taught the Bible and died again, they say.

2- Also, they dissent from Islam concerning the appearing of the Mahdi and his inviting everybody to the Din. "The souls of Hadrat Isa and Hadrat Muhammad will appear in the guise of a man. And he is Mirza Ahmad. There is no other Mahdi," they say.

3- They change the meaning of Qur'an al-karim by saying that there is jihad (holy war) in Islam, not with cannons or swords, but with preachings and invitations to Islam; there is no bloodshed or pain, but there is cold war. Thus they have denied the ayat al-karimas that are about jihad. Ghulam Ahmad's son, Bishr Ahmad, wrote a book, The Order of the New World, which radiates disbelief.

Shaikh Muhammad Anwar Shah Kashmiri, a savant of India, wrote the books 'Aqida-tul- Islam fi hayat-i Isa 'alaihis-salam, Ikfar-ul-mulhidin, and Khatam-un-nabiyyin with a view to refute the Qadiyanis.

The front pages of these books contain eulogies and appreciatory prefaces by various Islamic savants. For example, Hadrat Allama Sayyid Muhammad Yusuf Binuri, a professor at Madrasa-i-Islamiyya, in Karachi, wrote the life of Muhammad Anwar Shah, his righteousness and honesty in detail, with a wonderful way of expression. In this book, he informs us that Mustafa Sabri Bey, a profound savant of his time, last Shaikh-ul-Islam of the Ottoman Empire, wrote on the three hundred and twenty-seventh page of the third volume of his book Mawqiful'ilm wal'aql waddin that he had seen and admired Muhammad Anwar Shah, the great savant of India. Muhammad Anwar Shah passed away in 1352 [1933]. In these three books he says as follows about Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani:

He disbelieves the fact that Isa "alaihis-salam" will descend from Heaven. He says, "He was hanged, killed. He was not without a father. He was the son of Yusuf-i Najjar (Joseph the Carpenter)." Like Jews, he utters very ugly imprecations about this exalted prophet. He claims that he is a prophet and that he is bringing a new Shariat. "The word, "Isa will descend from Heaven,' predicted my coming," he says. He changes ayat al-karimas and hadith ash-Sharifs and denies Islamic facts that are to be believed absolutely. He disbelieves the fact that Muhammad "alaihis-salam" is the Last Prophet and is superior to all others. He claims that he has thousands of miracles and that his miracles are more numerous and higher than the miracles of all other prophets. He claims that many ayats predict his coming and that he is praised in Qur'an al-karim.

Ahmad Qadiyani is a Tatar, a member of the Mongol race. He was a zindiq in the Ismaili sect. He read many books. He was an implacable enemy of the Ahl as-sunnat. The British had been seeking the pincers that would put the plans into practice which they had prepared in order to demolish Islam from within. They picked him out. They bought him with plenty of money. First, he was made to appear as a Bahai. He said he was a mujaddid. Then, he professed to be the Mahdi. Then, he said that he was Isa Messiah, who, as it had been informed, will descend from the heaven. Eventually, he proclaimed that he was a prophet and had brought a new religion. He said that his masjid in Qadiyan was Masjid al-Aqsa and this city was Mecca, and Lahore city, where he settled afterwards, was Medina. He made a cemetery and named it Maqbara-tul-Janna. He said that he who was buried there would go to Paradise. He called his own wives Ummahat-ul-Muminin. He called those zindiqs whom he had deceived My Ummat. He said that his greatest miracle was the nikah which he called Muhammadi Baygum. He said that it was performed in heaven and was revealed to him through wahy. He declared his religion in 1305 [1888]. He went to Hell in 1326 [1908]. He used to call those who would not believe him disbelievers.

This zindiq states on the 148th page of his book Haqiqa-tul-wahy, "In this ummat, Allah has created a Messiah superior to Isa. If Isa (Jesus) were alive now, he could not do as I do. The miracles I have been performing would not be seen on him." He writes on the 107th page that the prophet mentioned in the ayat, "As I sent a Messenger to Pharaoh, so I send you a Messenger," was he himself. He says on the 68th page, "Allah sent me as a prophet. He said: "You are the promised Messiah.' He gave me three hundred thousand miracles." He writes on the fifty-sixth page of his book Barahim-ul-Ahmadiyya that his miracles were superior to Muhammad's "alaihis-salam" miracles.

There are one hundred and fifty hadith ash-Sharifs declaring that Hadrat Muhammad is the Last Prophet. Thirty of them are written in Kutub-i sitta. Also, it is absolutely declared that Isa "alaihis-salam" will descend from Heaven. They are disbelievers because they disbelieve these facts. They are not Muslims.

I have found a book corroborating that the corrupt sect called Qadiyyani or Ahmadi was established by the British in order to destroy Islam from within. This Arabic book, namely, Al-mutanabbi-ul-Qadiyani, was published by the Majlis-i tahaffuz-i khatm-innubuwwa in 1387 [1967] in Multan, Pakistan. Hakikat Kitabevi of Istanbul printed this book by offsett printing method in 1393 [1973], adding to it the valuable writings of Allama Muhammad Yusuf Bannori, which exist in the beginning of the book Ikfar-ul-mulhiddin by Anwar Shah- i Kashmiri, and the booklet Khawanat-ul-Islam.

4- MALAMIS and QALANDARS: In the 68th letter of the book Makatib-i Sharifa, it is stated, "Sufiyya-yi aliyya appeared towards the end of the second century." In the 79th letter of the book and in the beginning of the book Nafahat-ul-uns and also in the book Ar-riyad-ut-tasawwufiyya, by Sayyid Abdulhakim Arwasi, it is stated as follows:

Those who have reached the end on the way of tasawwuf "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain' are of two sorts: The first one is the murshid who, after having attained to perfection by following Rasulullah's "sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam' path, has condescended back to the people's level so that he may guide people to the right way.

The second one is the Wali who has been left in the grades he has attained and who is not in charge of people's training. He is called the qutb-i madar.

There are two groups of those who make progress on the way of tasawwuf: The first one consists of the murids who forget about everything other than Allahu ta'ala and who want Him only. The second group consists of the talibs who want the next world, Paradise.

There are two groups of those who wish and want Allahu ta'ala: One of them is the Sufis who have purified their selves and attained a few blessings of the end.

The others are Malamis. They try to acquire sidq and ikhlas. They conceal their worships and pious actions; they perform most of the sunnats and supererogatory worships. They abstain from exposing their worships. Though they are valuable, they cannot attain the grade of tawhid because they are busy with creatures. Malamis are mukhlis. And sufis are mukhlas.

There are four groups of those who demand the next world: zahid, faqir, huddam and 'abid. All these eight groups have imitators. Each group of these imitators is either true or mendacious. [We will explain only two types of imitators of the Malamis here.]

The true imitators of the Malamis do not care about the conspicuousness of their worships. They try to follow customs. They strive to please everybody by speaking sweetly and by smiling. They do not perform supererogatory worships. They pay much attention to fard actions. They do not care for what is worldly. They are called qalandars. Since they are not hypocritical or ostentatious, they are like Malamis. Hadrat Abdullah-i Dahlawi "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih' says in his seventy-ninth letter, "The qalandar strives to purify his batin and to annihilate his nafs. He does not pray much. But the sufi strives to do both. He does not perceive creatures. He is higher than the Qalandar." Today, many people who bear the name of qalandars do not perform these things which we have mentioned. These people have departed from the Din and it will be suitable to call them hashawi instead of qalandar. [Hashawi is a name attributed to disbelievers who liken Allahu ta'ala to creatures and who say that He is material. Most of those belonging to the mushabbiha and mujassima, who were one group out of the seventy-two groups of bidat, became hashawis later on.]

The false imitators of the malamis are a group of renegades who commit all kinds of sins and then say, "Our hearts are pure. We do everything for Allah's sake." They say, "We commit sins in order to escape from hypocrisy and ostentation and become true men of Allah. Allahu ta'ala does not need our acts of worship. If men commit sins, it will not harm Him. The real sin is to injure creatures and to hurt others. It is worship to do men favors." They are irreligious renegades. Today, malamis have one shaikh. They say, "If a person sits for a few minutes in his presence, his heart will say, "Allah'; he will immediately be intoxicated with the wine drunk through the heart; he will be a real human being by according himself to the harmony of his Allah; he will feel the existence of Allah, who is closer to him than his aorta is, and will live together with Him; he will not recognize an effect or a competence superior to his own essence; he will believe what he sees and hears in himself and he will not believe anything else; there is no being besides his own self and singularity." These words mean to deny Allahu ta'ala and are disbelief and atheism.

5- DARAZIZ: Duruz, that is, Druses are incorrectly called Durzu. Ibni Abidin, while explaining about renegades in the third volume, states:

"Darazis bear the name of Muslim. Some of them perform namaz. Yet their iman is corrupt. They believe in tanasukh (metempsychosis, reincarnation). They say that wine, alcoholic drinks and fornication are halal (permitted actions in the Din). They say that 'uluhiyyat (to be god) transmigrates from man to man. They do not believe in the Resurrection after death, in namaz, fasting or hajj. They say that their purpose is to regulate the ways of living in the world. They utter loathsome terms about our Prophet "sall-Allahu 'alaihi wasallam'. Allama Abdurrahman Imadi, the Mufti of Damascus, in his fatwa Imadi, communicates that their belief is similar to other mulhids, such as the Nusayriyya and Ismailiyya. The savants of the four Madhhabs said that it would not be halal to let them live in Muslim countries by receiving the jizya from them. It is not permissible to marry their daughters or to eat the animals which they have slaughtered. They are described in detail in Fatawa-i khayriyya. They are called zindiq, mulhid or munafiq. Since their creed is wrong, they are not considered as Muslims only because they express the word Shahadat. Unless they give up their beliefs that are incompatible with the Islamic faith, they will not be considered Muslims. They are more harmful than the disbelievers with holy books and those without holy books."

Nusayriyya is the tenth of the twenty groups of Shiites. They are the most excessive of the Rafidis. They say that Allah appeared in the guise of Hadrat Ali and his sons. They believe the loathsome tenets which were fabricated by Ibni Nusayr, who claimed to be one of the followers of Hasan bin Ali Askari, the eleventh imam. Today, in Syria they call themselves Alawi. There are no such Alawis in Turkey today.

The Fatimi (Fatimid) rulers of Egypt dissented from the Ahl as-sunnat. They deviated into corrupt paths. One of these, Hakim bi-amrillah also departed from Islam. A convert named Dirar deceived Hakim. He strove to demolish Islam. Hamza bin Ahmad, one of Dirar's pupils, invented corrupt beliefs and led Hakim and the Druses in Egypt onto this profane path. Having received these beliefs, the Druses imbued those in Syria and Lebanon with them. They say that they love Salman-i Farisi "radi-Allahu 'anh'. They conceal their beliefs. They are big, contumacious, pillaging and merciless people. They became subjects of Yavuz Sultan Salim. They revolted during the time of Sultan Murad III. Yet, Damad Ibrahim Pasha of Bosnia taught them their manners. From time to time, they fought the Christians in Syria also. Druses had come to Iraq from Arabia. After the Iranians had demolished the Hira state in Iraq, the Druses migrated to Egypt, Damascus and Aleppo (Haleb) together with the people of Hira. They helped Islamic soldiers in the conquest of Damascus. They went astray during the time of the Fatimis [Fatimids].

6- ISMAILIYYA: It is written in the book Milal wa Nihal that the Shiites parted into twenty groups. One of them is the Ismailiyya group. They have seven names. Their first name is Batiniyya, for they do not believe the overt meanings of Qur'an al-karim and derive different meanings according to their understanding. They say that Qur'an al-karim has zahir (apparent) and batin (inside, essential) meanings; the batin is necessary; not the shell, but the essence of walnut is necessary.

However, ayat al-karimas in Qur'an al-karim and hadith ash-Sharifs should be given their apparent meanings. If an ayat al-karima can be understood more apparently (from an ayat al-karima which you met with formerly), then the former ayat al-karima may be given a different meaning in a manner as to conform with the latter. Unless there is a strong necessity, it is disbelief and ilhad to disregard its apparent meaning and interpret different meanings, for, by doing so, some people are trying to change and spoil the Shariat.

Their second name is qaramita, for it is a person named Hamdan Qarmit who invented this sect. Hamdan is the name of a village near the city of Wasit in Basra.

Their third name is hurumiyya, for they say halal about many haram actions.

Their fourth name is sab'iyya, for they say that there are seven prophets who own Shariats; six of them, they say, are Hadrat Adam, Hadrat Nuh (Noah), Hadrat Ibrahim, Hadrat Musa (Moses), Hadrat Isa (Jesus) and Hadrat Muhammad; the seventh will be Mahdi. They say that there have been seven imams (religious leaders) between every two prophets, whom they call natiq. They say that there are seven religious leaders in every century.

Their most well-known name is Ismailiyya, for they say that after the death of Imam-i- Jafar Sadiq "radi-Allahu 'anh', his elder son, Ismail, became the leader of the Muslims. They appeared as follows:

Upon seeing that Islam was spreading rapidly over three continents, the magians, that is, the fire-worshipping heretics in India, said, "It is impossible to overcome the Muslims or to prevent their spreading by the sword. There is no way left except to demolish them from within. Let us lead astray the young and ignorant ones among them by giving their books meanings according to our own beliefs." Their chief, Hamdan Qarmit, established the following basic principles:

1- We will not speak to those who have religious knowledge. We will conceal ourselves when at a place where there is a religious savant.

2- We will (express solidarity with everybody and) speak according to the wish and pleasure of the one with whom we speak. For example, zahids will be praised when near a zahid. A fasiq (sinner) will be told that the sin to which he is addicted is not prohibited. [When in the presence of Sunni Muslims, they praise the Ahl as-sunnat. They say, We are brothers."]

3- Muslims will be imbued with suspicion and hesitation in the commands and prohibitions of the Shariat. For example, we will try to confuse their minds by asking such things as "While a woman has to perform the fast which she has missed at its proper time because she had an excuse, why mustn't she make up her ritual prayers?" (During menstruation, a woman shouldn't perform her fast or namaz. After her menstruation she has to perform the fast which she has omitted, but not the namaz.) "Since urine is dirtier than semen, why isn't it fard to perform a ghusl after urinating?" "Why do not all five ritual prayers (namaz) consist of two, three or four rakats?"

4- They pledge you to secrecy. They say that Allah commands secrecy in the Qur'an.

5- They say that religious and worldly celebrities like and praise them.

6- In order to deceive, first they defend the things which everybody believes.

7- To the youngsters they have hunted, they begin to slander the Ahl as-sunnat belief and say that it is retrogression. Lastly, they accustom them to committing haram actions. To do these, they give wrong meanings to ayat al-karimas and hadith ash-Sharifs. They say, "These are the inner meanings. Not every savant can understand these."

For example, they say, "Paradise means to escape worships and to do enjoyable things. Hell means to endure the burden of worships and to refrain from haram actions."

Formerly, they acquired much of their knowledge from Greek philosophers. For example, they said, "The Creator is neither existent nor non-existent. He is neither omniscient nor ignorant. He is neither powerful nor impotent. So are all His attributes. For, if they be said to exist, they will have been likened to creatures; if they be said not to exist, they would have been disgraced with nonexistence. The Creator is neither eternal nor of recent occurrence."

Hasan bin Muhammad Sabbah, one of them, realized that the path which they followed was wrong and forbade youngsters from learning knowledge of the Din and from reading the ancient books of savants. He violently prohibited discussions with the Ahl as-sunnat savants and reading the Ahl as-sunnat books. He said, "The increase of 'ilm-i-zahir (apparent knowledge) covers and extinguishes 'ilm-i-batin (concealed knowledge)." They flout the Shariat. They deny the Shariat's commandments and prohibitions. They have chosen a way of living irreligiously and lawlessly, like beasts. They have parted into various groups and branches. Today, Wahhabis, who have spread in Arabia, are one of these groups.

Sulaiman bin Hassan, the founder of the Sulaimaniyya branch of the Ismailis, died in 1005 [1597 A.D.] He explains in detail the secret philosophy of this corrupt group in his book Nuhab-ul-Multaqita.

7- YAZIDIS: As it is written briefly in the book Ta'rifat by Sayyid Sharif-i Jurjani and in detail in the book Milal wa Nihal, basically the Kharijis have seven groups. Of them the 'Ibadiyya group is the group which follows a person named Abdullah bin 'Ibad. This man left Hadrat Ali because Hadrat Ali had made an agreement with Hadrat Muawiya by the use of a mediator. He went to Tripoli in Africa. There, he founded the Ibadiyya sect. By following him, his men revolted against the Khalifa and captured Tripoli in 153 A.H. They called Muslims other than themselves "disbelievers." They said that it was permissible to take away Muslims' property while in a state of war. They said that those who committed grave sins were not Muslims. They considered Hadrat Ali and many of the Prophet's companions disbelievers. A man named Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim, who was born in 1129 (1717) and died in 1222 (1808), wrote a book entitled Kitab-un-Nil, thus causing the 'Ibadis in Algeria to increase in number. Also, they highly esteem the book Qawaid-ul- Islam by Ismail Jilati, who died in 749 (1349). It was printed in Egypt.

The 'Ibadiyya parted into four groups. Yazid bin Anisa's men were called Yazidi. They say, "A prophet will come from Persia. A book written in Heaven will be revealed to him, he will appear from Hadrat Muhammad's din, will join the Sabi'iyya group and will worship stars. He who commits any sin, grave or small, will become a disbeliever."

According to the Yazidi shaikh Amawi, who came to Anatolia from Iraq in March, 1385 (1966), the man who spread Yazidism was a Syrian named Adi. He had escaped the Abbasi (Abbasid) oppression, by taking refuge in the valley of Ladesh in the midst of the Sengal mountains north of Iraq and founded a religion called Adawiyya. This religion, which spread amongst Kurds and Arabs, was called Yazidism. In 550 [1154 A.D.], he died when he was eighty years old. Adi the Second, his brother's son, took his place. After him, his son Shaikh Hasan became the chief. They increased during his time; their number became eighty thousand. The belief of Yazidis is a mixture of the beliefs of Islam and Christianity. Their most important book, entitled Kitab-ul-jalwa, is in Arabic and Kurdish, which was translated into German by Maximillian Butner and was edited in 1331 A.H. [1913]. They worship Satan. They call the devil "angel" and "peacock." They will kill any person who swears at the devil. They say that the devil creates problems and calamities. They express the things which they have heard from Muslims and Christians under the name of Yazidism. None of the Muslims' beliefs and worships exists among them. They call it (hajj) to visit their dead in the village of Badir in the valley of Ladesh. They do it in the month of September. Every day, they stand towards the sun as it rises. In the morning, they kiss the soil where the first light falls. At sunset they beg it. They call these actions of theirs namaz and worship. During the month of January, they fast for three days. They explain these corrupt deeds of theirs under the name of namaz fasting, hajj, and worship. He who hears these words of theirs, supposes that they are Muslims. It is a great sin for Yazidis to learn how to read or write. For this reason, they are very backwards and ignorant. They know nothing about Islam. Also, it is a sin for them to shave their beard. Against this corrupt religion, which drifted men into suffering in this world and the next, Zangi Imadaddin, the Amir of Musul, was first to take action. He sent his commander Badraddin Lu'lu against Shaikh Hasan. He dispersed them. According to Amawi, their chief, there are ten million Yazidis today. They are in Iraq, in Syria, in Yaman, in Azarbaijan, in Turkey and in India. Since they are ignorant, they easily fall for the propaganda of communism. Amawi divulged that there were three million communist Yazidis in Russia and that there were Yazidis amongst the one thousand and two hundred communists whom Abdussalam"s government hanged in Iraq. Yazid, one of the Umayyad Khalifas, has no connection with them. Their present chief, Amawi, was born in Ladesh in 1930. Now he is an army general in Iraq. He partook in the wars which the Iraqi army waged against the Muslim Kurds in Iraq.

It is written in Bahjat-ul-fatawa, "In Baghdad there are many people who call themselves Muslims. Yet, they say halal about haram; they worship the sun and respect the devil. They revolt against the Ulul'amr and practice rites of disbelief together with others. The place they live in will be Dar-ul-harb. If their men become Muslims during their fight against Muslim soldiers, they will not be killed. If their women give up disbelief and become Muslims, it will be permissible to have sexual intercourse with them as jariyyas."

It is written in the books Bariqa and Hadiqa that Yazidis are disbelievers because they say, "A prophet will appear in Iran."

8- SURYANIS: They are the remnants of ancient Christians who spoke the Syriac language. They are a part of the Catholics and are in the Yaqubiyya sect (the Jacobites). They believe in monophysite and say that Chirst is a god. It was founded by Jacobus Baradaeus, the patriarch of Urfa. It was spread by Mihail-i Suryani, the patriarch of Antakya (Antioch). Mihail was born in 520 [1126 A.D.]; he died in 594 [1199 A.D.]. Jacobus Baradaeus had died in 578 A.D. The bidat of monophysite in Christianity had first been contrived by Utiha, the patriarch of Istanbul. Also, Dioscorus, the patriarch of Alexandria had followed him. In 451 A.D. the ideas of Dioscorus had been repudiated at a meeting in Kadikoy. Maronita Mara, who was a Catholic bishop who died in 405 A.D., had established the group called Maroni. Some of the Christians in Syria became Suryanis and some of them became Maronites. This is written in the book Kamus-ul-alam.

In Munjid, it is written that, "The group called Jehova's Witnesses, founded by an American, Charles Russel in 1289 [1872 A.D.], is a heretical group. He assigned new meanings to the Bible with his own interpretation." They are wrongly called Jehova's Witnesses. The headquarters of this missionary organization, which promises financial aid to the votaries of their sect, is located in Zurich, Switzerland.

9- SALAFIYYA: We will say at the very outset that the books of the Ahl as-Sunnat savants do not mention anything in the name of the salafiyya or of a salafiyya madhhab. These names, forged by the Wahhabis and by the la-madhhabi, have begun to spread among the Turks as a common concomitant of the books written by the la-madhhabi and translated from Arabic to Turkish by ignorant men of din. According to them, "Salafiyya is the name of the madhhab that had been followed by all the Sunnis before the madhhabs of Ashariyya and Maturidiyya were founded. They were the followers of the Sahaba and the Tabiin. The Salafiyya madhhab is the madhhab of the Sahaba, the Tabiin, and the Taba'at-Tabiin. The four great imams were affiliated with this madhhab. The first book to defend the Salafiyya madhhab was written by al-Imam al-azam and was entitled Fiqh al-akbar. Al-Imam al- Ghazali states in his book Iljamul-awam 'ani-l-kalam that the Salafiyya madhhab has seven essentials. The mutakh'khirin's 'ilm al-kalam begins with the appearance of al-Imam al- Ghazali. After studying the madhhabs of the earlier 'ulama' of kalam and the ideas of Islamic philosophers, al-Imam al-Ghazali made changes in the methods of ilm al-kalam. He inserted philosophical subjects into ilm al-kalam with a view to refuting them. Al-Radi and al-Amidi conjoined kalam and philosophy and made them one branch of knowledge. And al-Baidawi made kalam and philosophy inseparable. The mutakh'khirin's 'ilm al-kalam prevented the spreading of the Salafiyya madhhab. Ibni Taymiyya and his disciple, Ibn al- Qayyim al-Jawziyya, tried to enrich the Salafiyya madhhab. Later, the Salafiyya madhhab broke into two parts: the early Salafis did not go into details about the attributes of Allahu ta'ala or the nass of mutashabih; the later Salafis were interested in detailing them. This case becomes quite conspicuous with the later Salafis, such as Ibni Taymiyya and Ibni al- Qayyim al-Jawziyya. The former and the latter Salafis altogether are called the Ahl as- Sunnat al-khassa. The Ahl as-Sunnat 'ulama of kalam interpreted some of the nass, but the Salafiyya is opposed to it. By stating that Allah's face and His coming are unlike people's faces and their coming, the Salafiyya differs from the Mushabbiha."

It is not right to say that the Madhhabs of al-Ashari and al-Maturidi were founded later. These two great imams explained the knowledge of itiqad and iman as it was communicated by the Salaf as-salihin. They arranged it in classes, and published it after making it comprehensible for youngsters. Imam al-Ashari is in al-Imam ash-Shafi'i's chain of disciples. And Imam al-Maturidi is a great link in al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa's chain of disciples. Al-Ashari and al-Maturidi did not go out of their masters' common Madhhab; they did not found new madhhabs. These two and their teachers and the imams of the four Madhhabs had one common Madhhab; the Madhhab well-known with the name of the Ahl as-Sunnat wal-Jamaat. It would be more correct to call it a firqa (group). The beliefs of the people of this group are the beliefs of the Sahaba, the Tabiin and the Taba'at-Tabiin. The book Fiqh al-akbar, written by al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa, defends the Madhhab of the Ahl as-Sunnat. The word salafiyya does not exist in that book or in Imam al-Ghazali's book, Iljam al-awam 'ani-l-kalam. We have read those two books many times. Qawl al- fasl, one of the explanations of the book Fiqh al-akbar, has more than four hundred pages, and teaches the Madhhab of the Ahl as-Sunnat and answers the heretical groups and philosophers. Thinking that the books Qawl al-fasl and Iljam would be very useful, we reproduced them by offset. Hakikat Kitabevi has printed them by offsett printing method a second time by using the same films. Imam al-Ghazali states in his book Iljam-al-awam: "In this book I shall explain that the Madhhab of the Salaf is right and correct. I shall explain that those who dissent from this Madhhab are holders of bidat. The Madhhab of the Salaf means the Madhhab held by the Sahaba and the Tabiin. There are seven essentials in this Madhhab." As it can be observed, the book Iljam imparts the seven essentials of the Madhhab of the Salaf. To say that they are the essentials of the Salafiyya is to distort the text and to slander Imam al-Ghazali. As in all the books of the Ahl as-sunnat, it is written after the words "Salaf' and "Khalaf' in the section dealing with witnessing in the book Durr-ul-Mukhtar, a very valuable book of fiqh: " "Salaf' is an epithet for the Sahaba and the Tabiin. They are also called the Salaf as-salihin. And those 'ulama' of the Ahl as-Sunnat succeeding the Salaf as-salihin are called the "Khalaf'." The Taba' at-Tabiin, too, are included in the Salaf as-salihin. Imam al-Ghazali, Imam ar-Radi, and Imam al-Baidawi, who were loved and honored above all by the 'ulama' of tafsir, were all in the Madhhab of the Salaf as-salihin. Groups of bidat that appeared in their time mixed 'ilm al-kalam with philosophy. In fact, they founded their belief on philosophy. The book Al-milal wa-n-nihal gives detailed information on the beliefs held by those corrupt groups. While defending the Madhhab of the Ahl as-sunnat against those corrupt groups and rebutting their heretical ideas, these three imams gave extensive answers to their philosophy. But supplying these answers does not mean mixing philosophy with the Madhhab of the Ahl as-sunnat. On the contrary, they purged the knowledge of kalam from the philosophical thoughts interpolated into it. There is not one philosophical thought or philosophical method in al-Baidawi's work or in the tafsir of Shaikh-zada, which is the most valuable of tafsirs. It is a very nefarious calumny to say that these exalted imams took to philosophy. This stigma was first attached to the 'ulama of the Ahl as-Sunnat by Ibni Taymiyya, in his book Wasita. Furthermore, to state that Ibni Taymiyya and his disciple Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya tried to enrich the Salafiyya madhhab is to divulge a very important crux where those who are on the right way and those who have deviated into the wrong path differ from each other. Before those two people there was no Salafiyya madhhab, nor even the word "Salafiyya"; how could they be said to have tried to enrich it? Before those two, there was only one true Madhhab, the Madhhab of the Salaf as-salihin, which was called the Ahl as-sunnat wal- Jamaat. Ibni Taymiyya corrupted this true Madhhab, concocted many bidat's, and caused the appearing of the nuisance of Wahhabism. The source of the books, the words, the heretical and corrupt thoughts of today's Wahhabis, la-madhhabis and religion reformers are only the bidats concocted by Ibni Taymiyya. In order to deceive Muslims and to convince the youth that they are on the right way, these heretics devised a horrible stratagem; they forged the name "Salafiyya" from the "Salaf as-salihin" so as to justify Ibni Taymiyya's bidats and corrupt ideas and drift the youth into his wake; they attached the stigmas of philosophy and bidat to the Islamic 'ulama', who are the successors of the Salaf as-salihin, and they blamed them for dissenting from their invented name, Salafiyya; they put forward Ibni Taymiyya as a mujtahid, as a hero that resuscitated the Salafiyya. Actually the 'ulama' of the Ahl as-Sunnat, who are the successors of the Salaf as-salihin, defended the teachings of the itiqad of the Ahl as-sunnat, which was the Madhhab of the Salaf as- salihin. They also reported in the books which they have written up to our time and which they are still writing today that Ibni Taymiyya, ash-Shawkani and the like and also Wahhabis have dissented from the way of the Salaf as-salihin and have been drifting Muslims towards perdition and Hell.

Those who read the books At-tawassuli bi-n-Nabi wa jahalatu-l-Wahhabiyyin and 'Ulama' al-muslimin wal-wahhabiyyun and the book Shifa' as-suqam and its preface, Tathir al-fu'ad min danis-il-itiqad, will realize that the people who invented the corrupt beliefs called the New Salafiyya are leading Muslims towards perdition and demolishing Islam from within.

Recently some mouths have been re-sounding with the appelation "Salafiyya'. Every Muslim should know very well that Islam does not contain a path called the Salafiyya madhhab. There is only the Madhhab of the Salaf as-salihin in Islam. The Salaf as-salihin are the Muslims of the first two Islamic centuries, who were lauded in hadith ash-Sharifs. The Madhhab of these honorable people is called the Madhhab of the Ahl as-Sunnat wal- Jamaat. This Madhhab is the Madhhab of iman, the tenets of faith. The iman held by the Sahaba and by the Tabiin was the same. There was no difference between their beliefs. Today most Muslims on the earth are in the Madhhab of the Ahl as-sunnat. All the seventy- two heretical groups of bidat appeared after the second century of Islam. Founders of some of them lived before them, but it was after the Tabiin that their books were written, they appeared in groups and defied the Ahl as-sunnat.

Rasulullah "sallallahu alaihi wa sallam' preached the beliefs of the Ahl as-Sunnat. The Sahaba derived these teachings of iman from this source. And the Tabiin, in their turn, learned these teachings from the Sahaba. And from them their successors learned them. Thus the teachings of the Ahl as-Sunnat reached us by way of transmission and tawatur. These teachings cannot be explored by way of reasoning. The mind cannot change them. The mind can only help understand them. That is, the mind is necessary for understanding them, for realizing that the are right, and for knowing their value. All the savants of hadith held the beliefs of the Ahl as-sunnat. The imams of the four Madhhabs of deeds were in this Madhhab, too. Also, al-Maturidi and al-Ashari, the two imams of our Madhhab of belief, were in the Madhhab of the Ahl as-sunnat. Both these imams promulgated this Madhhab. They always defended this Madhhab against heretics and against materialists, who had been stuck in the bogs of ancient Greek philosophy. They lived in different times, and since the ways of thinking and behaving of the offenders they had met were different, the methods of defense used and the answers given by these two great savants of the Ahl as-sunnat were different. But this does not mean that they belonged in different Madhhabs. Hundreds of thousands of profoundly learned 'ulama and Awliya coming after these two exalted imams studied their books and stated in consensus that they both belonged to the Madhhab of the Ahl as-sunnat. The savants of the Ahl as-sunnat took the Nass (ayats and hadiths with clear meanings) with their obvious meanings. That is, they gave the ayat al-karimas and hadith ash-Sharifs their apparent meanings, and did not change these meanings unless it was necessary. And they never made any changes according to their personal knowledge or opinions. But those who belonged to heretical groups and the la-madhhabi did not hesitate to change the teachings of iman and worships as they had learned from Greek philosophers and from sham scientists, who were Islam's adversaries.

When the Ottoman state, Islam's guardian and the servant of the Ahl as-Sunnat, collapsed, succumbing to centuries of contrivances carried on by freemasons, missionaries and the nefarious policy waged by the British Empire, who mobilized all their material forces, the la-madhhabi leaped at the opportunity. With fiendish lies and stratagems, they began to attack the Ahl as-sunnat and to demolish Islam from within, especially in those countries where the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat are not allowed to talk freely, e.g. Saudi Arabia. The innumerable gold coins dispensed in Saudi Arabia helped this aggression spread all over the world. As it is understood from the news coming from Pakistan, from India, and from African countries, some men of the Din with little knowledge of the Din and no fear of Allah were given posts and apartment houses in return for their buttressing up these aggressors. Especially, their treachery of deceiving youngsters and estranging them from the Ahl as-sunnat Madhhab procured them these abominable advantages. They wrote books in order to mislead students in the madrasas and the children of Muslims.

In one such book, the author states, "I have written this book with a view to eliminating the elements of bigotry in the madhhabs and helping everybody to live peacefully in their madhhabs." This man writes that he considers eliminating the bigotry of the madhhabs to mean attacking the Ahl as-sunnat and belittling the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat. He thrusts a dagger into Islam, and then says he does this so that Muslims will live in peace. At another place in the book he writes, "If a thinking person hits the point in his thinking, he will be rewarded tenfold. If he misses, he will get one reward." According to him, everybody, whether he is a Christian or a polytheist, will be rewarded for his every thought, and he will get ten thawabs for his correct thoughts! See how he changes our Prophet's "sall- Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam' hadith ash-Sharif, and how he plays tricks! The hadith ash- Sharif declares: "If a mujtahid hits the point as he extracts rules from an ayat al-karima or from a hadith ash-Sharif, he will be given ten thawabs. If he errs he will be given one thawab." The hadith ash-Sharif shows that these thawabs will be given not to everybody who thinks, but to an Islamic savant who has attained the grade of ijtihad. It also indicates that he will be given them not for his every thought but for his work in extracting rules from the nass. For, his work is an act of worship. Like any other worship, it will be given thawab.

During the time of the Salaf as-salihin, and of the mujtahid imams, who were their khalaf, that is, until the end of the four hundredth Islamic year, whenever a new situation came about as a result of changing life standards and conditions, the mujtahid savants worked day and night and derived how the situation must be dealt with from the four sources called al-adillat ash-Shariyya, and all Muslims handled their religious businesses exemplified in that situation by following the deduction of the imam of their Madhhab. And those who did so were given ten thawabs or one. After the four hundredth year people went on following these mujtahids' deductions. In the course of this long period not one Muslim has been at a loss or in a dilemma as to how to act. Ever since, no savants or Muftis have been educated even for the seventh grade of ijtihad; therefore, today we have to learn from a Muslim who can read and understand the books of the savants of one of the four Madhhabs, and from the books translated by him, and adapt our worships and daily lives to them. Allahu ta'ala declared the rules of everything in Qur'an al-karim. His exalted Prophet Muhammad explained all of them. And savants of the Ahl as-sunnat learned them from the Sahaba and wrote them in their books. These books exist all over the world now. The handling of any new situation that will come about in any part of the world till Doomsday can be exemplified by one of the teachings in these books. This practicability is a mujiza of Qur'an al-karim and a karamat of Islamic savants. But it is essentially important to learn by asking a true Sunni Muslim. If you ask a la-madhhabi man of the Din, he will mislead you by giving you an answer repugnant to books of fiqh.

I have previously explained how the youth are deceived by those la-madhhabi ignoramuses who stay in Arabic countries for a few years, learn how to speak Arabic, fritter away their times leading a life of amusement, pleasures and boudoir, and then, getting a sealed paper from a la-madhhabi, from an enemy of the Ahl as-sunnat, go back to Pakistan or to India. Youngsters who see their counterfeit diplomas and hear them speak Arabic think that they are Islamic savants. But, in fact, they cannot even read a book of fiqh. And they know nothing of the teachings of fiqh in a book. In fact, they do not believe these Islamic teachings; they call them bigotry. Of old, Islamic savants looked up the answers to the inquiries made to them in books of fiqh, and gave the inquirers the answers they found. But the la-madhhabi man of the Din being incapable of reading or understanding a book of fiqh, will mislead the questioner by saying whatever occurs to his addled head and defective mind, and will cause them to go to Hell. It is to this effect that our Prophet "sall- Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam' declared: "The good alim is the best of mankind. The bad alim is the worst of mankind." This hadith ash-Sharif shows that the Ahl as-sunnat savants are the best of mankind, and the la-madhhabis are the worst of mankind. For, the former guide people to following Rasulullah, viz, to Paradise, and the latter lead them to their heretical thoughts, viz, to Hell.

Ustad Ibn Khalafa Aliwi, a graduate of the Islamic University of Jami' al-Azhar, states in his book Aqidat as-salafi wal-khalaf: "As Allama Abu Zuhra writes in his book Tariqh al- madhahibi-l-Islamiyya, some people, who dissented from the Hanbali Madhhab called themselves Salafiyyin. Abu-l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi and other savants, who were in the Hanbali Madhhab too, proclaimed that those Salafis were not the followers of the Salaf as- salihin, that they were holders of bidat, that they belonged to the Mujassima group, and thus they prevented this fitna from spreading. In the seventh century Ibni Taymiyya incited this fitna again." The book writes the various bidats held by the Salafis and Wahhabis and the aspersions they cast upon the Ahl as-sunnat in detail, and answers them. The book was printed in Damascus in 1398 A.H. [1978]. It has 340 pages. La-madhhabis called themselves Salafiyya. They say that Ibni Taymiyya is the greatest imam of the Salafiyya. Their assertion is correct in one respect; the word salaf did not exist before Ibni Taymiyya. The existing word was salaf-i salihin, and their itiqads were of the Ahl as-sunnat Madhhab. The corrupt ideas of Ibni Taymiyya became a reference source for Wahhabis and other la-madhhabis. Ibni Taymiyya was trained in the Hanbali Madhhab. That is, he was Sunni. But, as he increased his knowledge and reached the grade of fatwa, he took to self- sufficiency and began to assume superiority over the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat. The increase in his knowledge brought about his heresy. He no longer remained in the Hanbali Madhhab. For, being in one of the four Madhhabs requires having the belief of the Ahl as- sunnat. A person who does not have the belief of the Ahl as-sunnat cannot be said to be in the Hanbali Madhhab.

The la-madhhabis take every opportunity to vilify Sunni men of the Din in their own country. They have recourse to all kinds of stratagem to prevent people from reading their books and learning the teachings of the Ahl as-sunnat. For example, a la-madhhabi person mentioned this faqir's name and said, "What business does a pharmacist or a chemist have with religious knowledge? He must work in his own branch and not meddle with our business." What an ignorant and idiotic assertion! He thinks that a scientist will not have knowledge of the Din. He is unaware of the fact that a Muslim scientist observes the Divine Creation every moment, realizes the Creator's perfect Attributes that are exhibited in the book of Creation, and, seeing the creatures' incapability versus His infinite power, continuously perceives that He is not like anything and that He is far from all defects. Max Planck, a scholar in atomic science, explains this in his book Der Storm very well. But this la-madhhabi ignoramus relying on the document which he got from a heretic like himself and on the chair provided by him, and perhaps enraptured with the fancy of the gold coins dispensed in Saudi Arabia, presumes that knowledge of the Din is his own monopoly. May Allahu ta'ala help this poor man and all of us! May He save those pure youngsters who have fallen into the traps of licensed thieves of faith! Amin.

Yes, that noble person served his nation humbly for more than thirty years in the field of pharmacy and chemical engineering. But at the same time, by receiving an education concerning the Din and by working day and night for seven years, he was honored with the 'ijazat given by a great Islamic savant. Crushed under the grandeur of scientific knowledge and knowledge of the Din, he has fully seen his incapability. With this realization he has been trying to be a servant in the proper sense. The greatest of his fears and worries is to fall for the charms of his diplomas and 'ijazat and to presume that he is an authority in these subjects. The greatness of his fear is conspicuous in all his books. He has not had the courage to write his own ideas or opinions in any of his books. He has always tried to offer his young brothers the valuable writings of the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat that are admired by those who understand them by translating them from Arabic or Persian. His fear being great, he did not think of writing books for many years. When he saw the hadith written on the first page of the book Savaik-ul-muhrika, "When fitna becomes widespread, he who knows the truth must inform others. Should he not do so, may he be accursed by Allah and by all people!" he began to ponder. On the one hand, as he learned of the superiority of the Ahl as-Sunnat savants' understanding and mental capacity in the knowledge of the Din and in the scientific knowledge of their time and their perseverance in worship and taqwa, he saw his inferiority; with the ocean of knowledge that those great savants had, he deemed his own knowledge only a drop. On the other hand, seeing that fewer and fewer pious people could read and understand the books of the Ahl as-sunnat savants and that ignorant heretics mixed themselves with men of religion and wrote mischievous and heretical books, he felt grieved; the threat of execration declared in the hadith dismayed him. Also the mercy and compassion he felt for his dear young brothers compelled him to serve them, he began to translate and publish selections from the books of the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat. Alongside the innumerable letters of congratulation and appreciation that he has received, now and then he has heard of rebukes and vilifications on the part of the la-madhhabi. Because he has no doubts about his ikhlas and trueness to Allah and his conscience, trusting himself to Allah and receiving tawassul from the blessed soul of His Messenger and those of His devoted slaves, he goes on with his service. May Allahu ta'ala keep all of us on the path with which He is pleased.

The great Hanafi savant Muhammad Bahit al-Muti'i, a professor at Jami' al-Azhar University in Egypt, states in his book Tat'hir-ul-fu'ad min danas-il-itiqad:

"Of all people, prophets "alaihimussalatu wassalam" have the most exalted and the maturest of souls. They are immune from such things as being wrong, erring, unawareness, perfidy, bigotry, obstinacy, following the nafs, grudge and hatred. Prophets "alaihimussalatu wassalam" communicate and explain the things intimated to them by Allahu ta'ala. The teachings of the Shariat, commands and prohibitions communicated by them are all true. Not one of them is wrong or corrupt. After prophets "salawatullahi ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain' the highest and the maturest people are their Sahaba. For, they were trained, matured and purified in the suhbat of prophets. They always said and explained what they heard from prophets. All that they communicated and explained are also true. They are also immune from the above mentioned vices. They did not contradict one another out of bigotry or obstinacy, nor did they follow their nafs. Their explanations of the ayat al- karimas and hadith ash-Sharifs, and their employing ijtihad for communicating Allah's Shariat to His slaves, are a great blessing of Allah's upon this Ummat and is His compassion for His beloved Prophet, Muhammad "alaihis-salam". Qur'an al-karim declares that the Sahaba were stern towards disbelievers but tender and endearing with one another, that they performed salat diligently, and that they expected everything, including Paradise, from Allahu ta'ala. All their ijtihads on which there has been an ijma' (consensus) are correct. All of them were given thawab. For there can only be one correct way.

"The highest people after the Sahaba are those Muslims who saw the Sahaba and were trained in their suhbat. They are called the Tabiin. They had received all the knowledge they had through the Ashab-i kiram. The most valuable after the Tabiin are those who had seen the Tabiin and attained their sohbat (teachings). They are called the Taba'ut-Tabiin. Of the people coming in the centuries after them until Doomsday, the highest and the best ones are those who adapt themselves to them, learn their teachings and follow them. Of the men of the Din coming after the Salaf as-salihin, an intelligent and wise person whose words and deeds agree with the teachings of Rasulullah and the Salaf as-salihin, who never diverges from their way in beliefs and deeds, and who does not exceed the limits of the Shariat, will not fear others' denigrations. He will not succumb to their misguidance. He will not listen to the words of the ignorant. He will use his mind and will not go out of the four Madhhabs of the mujtahid imams. Muslims must find such a savant, ask him and learn what they do not know, and follow his advice in everything they do. For, a savant in this capacity will know and let people know the spiritual medicines which Allahu ta'ala created to protect His slaves from erring and to make them act always correctly; that is, he will know the curatives for the soul. He will cure psychopaths and the unintelligent. This savant will follow the Shariat in his every word, every action and every belief. His understanding will always be correct. He will answer every question correctly. Allahu ta'ala will like his every action. Allahu ta'ala will give guidance to those who seek the paths He likes. Allahu ta'ala will protect those who have iman and who fulfill the requirements of iman despite oppressions and troubles. He will enable them to attain nur, happiness and salvation. In everything they do there will be ease and comfort. On the day of Resurrection, they will be with prophets, Siddiqs, martyrs and salih (devoted) Muslims.

"No matter in what century, if a man of the Din does not follow the Prophet and his Sahaba's declarations, if his words, deeds and beliefs do not agree with their teachings, if he follows his own thoughts and exceeds the limits of the Shariat, if he oversteps the four Madhhabs in those fields of study which he could not understand, he will be judged to be a corrupt man of the Din; Allahu ta'ala has sealed off his heart. His eyes cannot see the right way. His ears cannot hear the right word. There will be great torment for him in the Hereafter. Allahu ta'ala does not like him. People of this sort are the enemies of prophets. They think that they are on the right path. They like their own behavior. However, they are Shaitan's followers. Very few of them come to their senses and resume the right course. Everything they say will be charming and falsely-adorned, and may seem to be useful. But all the things they consider and like are evil. They will coax idiots into heresy and perdition. Their words will look bright and spotless like snow. But, exposed to the sun of truth, they will melt away. These evil men of the Din, whose hearts have been blackened and sealed off by Allahu ta'ala, are called ahl al-bidat, or la-madhhabi men of the Din. They are the people whose beliefs and deeds are not compatible with Qur'an al-karim, with hadith ash-Sharifs or with the ijma' al-ummat. Having diverged from the right way themselves, they mislead Muslims into perdition, too. Those who follow them will go to Hell. There were many such heretics during the time of the Salaf as-salihin and among the men of Din that came after them. Their existence among Muslims is like gangrene [or cancer] in one of the parts of the body. Unless the disease is done away with, the healthy parts will not escape the disaster. They are like people affected with a contagious disease. Those who have contact with them will suffer harm. We must keep away from them so that we should not be harmed by them."

Of the corrupt and heretical men of the Din, Ibni Taymiyya is the most harmful one. In his books, particularly in his Al-wasita, he disagrees with the Ijma' al-muslimin, contradicts the clear declarations in Qur'an al-karim and hadith ash-Sharifs, and does not follow the way of the Salaf as-salihin. Following his defective mind and corrupt thoughts, he deviated into heresy. He had much knowledge. Allahu ta'ala made his knowledge the cause of his heresy and perdition. He followed the desires of his nafs. He tried to spread his wrong and heretical ideas in the name of truth.

The great savant Ibni Hajar al-Makki "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih', an author of many beneficial books, states in his book Fatawal-hadithiyya:

"Allahu ta'ala made Ibni Taymiyya lapse into heresy and perdition. He made him blind and deaf. Many savants reported that his deeds were corrupt and his words were false, and they proved it with documents. Those who read the books of the great Islamic savant Abu Hasan as-Subki and his son Taj ad-din as-Subki and the books of Imam al-'Izz ibni Jamaat, and those who study the statements made in response to him by the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanafi 'ulama' living during his time, will easily see that we are right."

In the same way, Ibni Taymiyya slandered and cast nefarious aspersions upon the great savants of tasawwuf. Furthermore, he did not hesitate to attack Hadrat 'Umar and Hadrat Ali, Islam's archstones. His words overflowed the measure of the rules of decorum, and he threw arrows even at steep cliffs. He stigmatized the savants of the right path as bidat holders, heretics and ignoramuses.

He states, "The corrupt ideas of Greek philosophers disagreeable with Islam were incorporated into the books of the great men of tasawwuf," and strives to prove it with his wrong and heretical thoughts. Young people who do not know the truth may be misled by his ardent and falsely-adorned words. For example, he states: "Men of tasawwuf say that they see the Lawh al-Mahfuz. Some philosophers, such as Ibni Sina (Avicenna), call this an-nafs al-falakiyya. They say that when men's souls reach perfection they unite with one another through an-nafs al-falakiyya or al-'aql al-fa'al when they are awake or asleep, and when a person's soul unites with these two he becomes aware of the things existing in them. These were not said by Greek philosophers. They were said by Ibni Sina and the like, who came later. Also, Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali and Muhyiddin ibn al-'Arabi and the Andalusian philosopher Qutbad-din Muhammad Ibni Sab'in made statements of this sort. These are philosophers' statements. Such things do not exist in Islam. With these words they diverged from the right path. They became mulhids called Shia, Ismailiyya, Qaramitis and Batinis. They left the right way followed by the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat and Hadith and by those Sunni men of tasawwuf like Fudail ibn 'Iyad. While diving into philosophy on the one hand, they struggled against such groups as the Mutazila and Kuramiyya on the other hand. There are three groups of tasawwuf: the first group are adherent to the Hadith and Sunnat. The second group are heretics like the Kuramiyya. The third group are the followers of the books of Ikhwan as-safa and the words of Abu'I-Hayyan. Ibn al-'Arabi and Ibni Sab'in and the like adopted philosophers' statements, and made them statements for the men of tasawwuf. Ibni Sina's book, Akhir al-isharat 'ala maqami-l'arifin, contains many such statements. Also, Imam al-Ghazali said such things in some of his books, such as in his Al-kitab al-madnun and Mishkat al-anwar. In fact, when his friend, Abu Bakr ibn al'Arabi, warned him that he had taken to philosophy, he tried to save himself from it, but he could not. On the other hand, Imam al-Ghazali said that philosophers were disbelievers. Towards the end of his life he read al-Bukhari. Some said that this made him give up the ideas he had written. Others said that those statements were written for defaming Imam al- Ghazali. There are various rumors about Imam al-Ghazali in this respect. Muhammad Mazari, a Maliki savant educated on the island of Sicily, Turtushi, an Andalusian savant, and Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibni 'Uqail and others said many things." The assertions quoted above from Ibni Taymiyya reveals his ill will about the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat clearly. He cast such aspersions upon even the greatest ones of the Sahaba. He stigmatized most of the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat as heretics. Meanwhile, as he heavily denigrated the great Wali and the qutb al-'arifin Hadrat Abul-Hasan ash-Shadhili on account of his books Hizb al-kabir and Hizb al-bahr and cast squalid aspersions upon the great men of tasawwuf, such as Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabi and 'Umar ibn al-Farid and Ibni Sab'in and Hallaj Husain ibni Mansur, the savants during his time declared unanimously that he was a sinner and a heretic. In fact, some of them issued the fatwa that he was a disbeliever. [The profound Islamic savant 'Abd al-Ghani an Nabulusi gives the names of these superiors of tasawwuf on the 363rd and 373rd pages of his book Al-Hadiqat an-nadiyya, says that they are Awliya' and that those who speak negatively about them are ignorant and unaware.] A letter written to Ibni Taymiyya in 705 [1305 A.D.] stated: "O my Muslim brother, who considers himself a great savant and the imam of his time! I loved you for Allah's sake. I disapproved of the savants who were against you. But hearing your words that are incompatible with my loving you has consternated me. Does a wise person doubt that the night begins when the sun sets? You said that you were on the right way and that you were carrying out al-amru bi-l-maruf wa-n-nahyi 'ani-l-munkar. Allahu ta'ala knows what your purposes and intentions are. But ikhlas will be seen in a person's deeds. Your deeds have torn off the cover from over your words. In the wake of those who follow their nafs and whose words are unreliable, you have not only defamed those living in your time but also stigmatized the deceased as disbelievers. In addition to attacking the successors of the Salaf as-salihin, you have slandered the Sahaba, especially the greatest ones. Can't you imagine in what a situation you will be when those great people ask for their rights on the Day of Resurrection? On the minbar of Jami' al-jabal in Salihiyya city you said that Hadrat 'Umar "radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh' made some wrong statements and incurred disasters. What were these disasters? Which of these disasters did the Salaf as-salihin tell you about? You say that Hadrat 'Ali "radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh' had more than there hundred errors. Supposing the case had been so with Hadrat 'Ali, could you have one right word then? Now I am beginning to act against you. I shall try to protect the Muslims against your villainy for you have overflowed the measure. Your torture has provoked all the living and the dead. Believers must shun your evil."

Tajad-din us-Subki states that Ibni Taymiyya disagrees with the Salaf as-salihin in the following matters:

1- He says, "Talaq (divorce as prescribed by Islam) is not binding. But it becomes necessary to pay kaffarat (equal to that which is paid) for an oath." None of the Islamic savants that came before him said that kaffarat must be paid.

2- He says, "Talaq given to a haid (menstruating) woman is not binding."

3- He says, "It is not necessary to make qada for a salat omitted deliberately."

4- He says, "It is mubah (permissible) for a haid woman to make tawaf of Kaba. [If she does so] she will not have to pay kaffarat."

5- He says, "One talaq given in the name of three talaqs is still one talaq." However, before saying so, he said for many years that the ijma'al-Muslimin was not so.

6- He says, "Taxes incompatible with the Shariat are halal to those who demand them."

7- "When they are collected from a tradesman, they stand for zakat even if he does not intend [for zakat]," he says.

8- He says, "Water does not become najs when a mouse or the like dies in it."

9- He says, "It is permissible for a person who is junub to perform supererogatory salat without making a ghusl at night."

10- He says, "Conditions stipulated by the waqif (a person who devotes property to a pious foundation) are not taken into consideration."

11- He says, "A person who disagrees with the Ijma' al-ummat does not become a disbeliever or a sinner."

12- He says, "Allahu ta'ala is mahall-i hawadith, and He is made up of particles."

13- He says, "Qur'an al-karim was created in the Dhat (essence, person) of Allahu ta'ala."

14- He says, "The 'alam, that is, all creatures are eternal with their kinds."

15- He says "Allahu ta'ala has to create good things."

16- He says, "Allahu ta'ala has a body and directions, He changes His place."

17- He says, "Hell is not eternal; it will go out at last."

18- He denies the fact that prophets are sinless.

19- He says, "Rasulullah "sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wasallam' is no different from other people, it is not permissible to pray through his intercession."

20- He says, "It is sinful to go to Medina with the intention of visiting Rasulullah "sall- Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wasallam'."

21- "Also, it is haram to go there to ask for shafaat (intercession)," he says.

22- He says, "The books Tawrat and Injil did not differ in vocabulary. They differed in meaning."

Some savants said that all the statements quoted above did not belong to Ibni Taymiyya, but none of them denied that he said that "Allahu ta'ala has directions and is a composition of particles that came together." However, it was declared by consensus that he was rich in 'ilm, in jalalat, and in diyanat. A person who has fiqh, knowledge, justice and reason must first observe a matter and then decide about it with prudence. Especially, judging a Muslim's disbelief or apostasy or heresy or deciding that he must be killed requires very minute observations and utter circumspection. Quotations from the book Fatawal- hadithiyya by Ibni Hajar-i Makki "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih' end here.

Recently, it has become a fashion to imitate Ibni Taymiyya. They defend his heretical writings and reproduce his books, particularly his Al-wasita. This book, from beginning to end is full with his ideas that are disagreeable with Qur'an al-karim, with hadith ash- Sharifs and with the Ijma' al-Muslimin. It causes great fitna and faction among the readers and causes hostility between brothers. The Saudi Arabian Wahhabis, and those ignorant men of the Din who were caught in their traps in other Muslim countries, have made Ibni Taymiyya a banner for themselves; they give him such names as "The Great Mujtahid' and "Shaikh al-Islam.' They embrace his heretical thoughts and corrupt writings in the name of faith and iman. For stopping this terrible current, which brings about faction among Muslims and demolishes Islam from within, we must read the Ahl as-sunnat savants' valuable literature refuting and rebutting them with proofs. Among this literature, the book Shifa us-siqam fi-ziyarati-khayril-anam, written by the great imam and the profoundly learned savant Taqi ad-din as-Subki, destroys Ibni Taymiyya's heretical ideas, eliminates his faction, and exposes his obstinacy. It prevents the spreading of his evil intentions and wrong beliefs.

10- AL-JAMAAT-UL-ISLAMIYYA: This group of bidat was founded in India in 1360 [1941 A.D.] by a man without a madhhab named Mawdudi. In the book Ash-shakikan printed in 1988, there are articles by him praising Humaini. The group named Al-Jamaatut- tablighiyya was founded by Muhammad Ilyas Dahlawi in 1345 [1926 A.D.]. This man died in 1363 [1944 A.D.]. His son Muhammad Yusuf, who succeeded him, praised the Sahaba in his Arabic book entitled Hayat-us-sahaba very much; hence, he could deceive Muslim youngsters. The book Asr-i se'adet tarihi, translated from English to Turkish by Omer Riza Dogrul, is not the translation of Hayat-us-sahaba. It is the translation of the book Es- siratunnabawiyya by Shibli Numani, from India, who is also the author of the book Al- Faruq. Yusuf died in 1394 [1974 A.D.]. See the books The Sunni Path, Answer to an Enemy of Islam, The Religion Reformers in Islam. Shibli Numani died in 1332 [1914 A.D.]. There is detailed information about the book Al-Faruq in the books Belief and Islam, and Islam and Christianity.

Those who deviated from the way of the Ahl as-sunnat represent themselves as Muslims using the abovementioned names as camouflage. They ardently try to teach Islam to disbelievers by saying that Islam is the true religion, and it is the only way to happiness. Some people who listen to them and understand the reality convert to Islam immediately. But, they attract them, the unlucky ones, to their heretical way. The Physicist Abdussalam, who was given the Nobel prize, is a Qadiyani. Ahmad Deedad, who argued with Christians in South Africa and attracted them to Islam in 1980, is not a man of the Ahl as-sunnat, either. These la-madhhabi people prevent the ones who have recently become Muslims from joining the way of the Ahl as-sunnat and attaining endless bliss.