36- REJECTION OF EXCUSE

Rejecting an excuse shown by a Muslim is disliked (Makruh.) Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "It is a sin not to accept an excuse shown by a Muslim." Accepting excuses and forgiving shortcomings are attributes of Allahu ta'ala. Allahu ta'ala will be angry with and punish a person who does not act as such. There are three ways of showing excuses. In the first case, one may say, "Why did I do that thing?" or "I did that thing for this reason." In the second case, one might say, "I shouldn't do that thing," or "I did it but I will not do it again." In the third case, one might say, "I did not do that thing" in order to deny it. Saying "I did it but I will not do it again." would be repentance. A believer will wait for an excuse to be shown in order to forgive him. Hypocrites want others' shortcomings to be exposed. In the following hadiths, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "You should be chaste. Do not commit ugly things. Also, let your wives be chaste." And "If you yourselves are chaste, your wives would also be chaste. If you give gifts to your parents, your children will also give gifts to you. A person who does not accept an excuse of another Muslim will not drink water from the Kawsar lake in the next world 'Akhirat'." This hadith applies to the Muslim who does not know that his Muslim brother committed an evil action and also he doesn't know that his excuse is a lie. Because, refusing his excuse would amount to "Su-i zan." Accepting his excuse while knowing that he is lying comes to mean forgiving him. Forgiving in such circumstance is not necessary (Wajib) but "Mustahab."

37- MAKING WRONG INTERPRETATION OF THE QUR'AN

"Tafsir" means informing and discovering. It is the process of informing and explaining. "Tawil" means pulling back or escaping. "Tafsir " comes to mean giving a meaning. "Tawil" is selection of one of the meaning among many meanings. It is not permissible (Jaiz) to make "Tafsir" according to one's own opinion. "Tafsir" is performed according to the rules of transmission ("Riwayat" or "Nakl"). On the other hand, "Tawil" is done according to one's knowledge and capabilities. In one hadith, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "A person who interprets the Qur'an according to his own opinion is in clear error even if he is right." It is not correct to say such and such is the meaning of the speech (Kalam) of Allahu ta'ala without investigating first whether that such and such is in any way commented by Rasulullah, peace be upon him, or by his companions or that whether it conforms to the interpretations (Tafsirs) of the previous scholars or to the methodology of the knowledge of interpretation, or without knowing the Arabic language that was spoken at the time of Rasulullah, peace be upon him, i.e., the "Quraish" dialect, or without thinking about reality (Haqiqat) and metaphoric (Majaz) aspects of it, or without being able to differentiate whether it is general, personal, concise (Mujmal), or detailed (Mufassal), and without investigating the reason of why that such and such verse (Ayat) was revealed, or whether it is "Nasih" or "Mansuh." "Tafsir" means one's being able to understand from the sayings of Allahu ta'ala what Allahu ta'ala meant with that saying. Even if one's interpretation according to his own opinion is correct, since it is not derived by following the proper methodology, it is a mistake. If one's interpretation according to his own opinion is not correct then, it would cause disbelief. Similarly, transmitting hadiths without knowing whether they are correct (Sahih) or corrupt, whether it be they are correct (Sahih) or not, would be a sin. It is not permissible (Jaiz) for such a person to read hadiths. It is necessary to get a diploma (Ijazat) from hadith scholars in order to make hadith-transmission from the hadith books. In one hadith, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "A person who invents a phrase and says that it is hadith, will be punished in hell." It is permissible (Jaiz) for those who do not have diplomas (Ijazat) from the interpretation (Tafsir) scholars to talk or write about verses of the Qur'an by looking at the interpretation books written by interpretation scholars. The people who possess above written conditions can make transmission (Nakl) of interpretation and hadith without having a written diploma. It is not permissible (Jaiz) to receive money in order to give diplomas. It is necessary (Wajib) to give the diploma to a person who demonstrates the necessary qualifications. It is forbidden to give the diploma to those who do not possess the necessary qualifications.

In the following hadiths Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "Those who give meaning to the Qur'an without having the necessary qualifications will be punished in hell," and "Those who say something as hadith without knowing it, will be punished in hell," and "Those who give meaning to the Qur'an according to their own opinion will be punished in hell." The corrupt persons (Ahl al-bidat) who recite or quote hadiths or verses of the Qur'an in order to prove their corrupt paths are of this kind.

[Shiis, Wahhabis, followers of the Tablig al-Jamaat, Mawdudi, and Sayyid Qutb are of this kind. Yusuf an-Nabhani, may Allahu ta'ala be pleased with him, expalins these corrupt tafsirs at length in his book Shawahid-ul-hak. Those who assert that Qur'an has an inner meaning as well as a literal meaning in order to give meanings according to their own opinions are also of the type which are mentioned in above hadiths. Those who make interpretations by using the meaning of the words that are prevalent in their current time are also among the above-mentioned types.

One of the Ottoman scholars Nuh bin Mustafa Konawi, may Allahu ta'ala be pleased with him, who passed away in 1070 Hijri, 1660 A.D. at Cairo, Egypt says the following in his translation of the book Milal wa Nihal which is written by Muhammad Shihristani, may Allahu ta'ala be pleased with him: the people who are in "Isma'iliyya" group are called as such because they say that they are the followers of Isma'il, may Allahu ta'ala be well pleased with him, who was the elder son of the Ja'far as-Sadik, may Allahu ta'ala be well pleased with him. They are also called "Batiniyya" group. Because they said that Qur'an has an inner meaning (Batin) as well as a literal meaning. They said that the literal meanings of the Qur'an are the limited meanings which are cast by the "Fiqh" scholars and the inner meaning of the Qur'an is like an endless ocean. They believed in the inner meanings that are fabricated by themselves instead of following the literal meanings of the Qur'an. Rasulullah, peace be upon him, transmitted the literal meanings of the Qur'an to his companions, may Allahu ta'ala be well pleased with them. Leaving the literal meanings aside and following fabricated inner meanings causes disbelief. They tried to destroy Islam from within by this kind of tricks. Fire worshipers (Majusi), especially, their leader Hamdan Kurmut, in order to stop the spreading of Islam, invented these tricks and established Karamuta State. He killed the persons who were making pilgrimage (Hajj) to "Ka'ba" and moved the "Hajar al-aswad" from "Ka'ba" to the Basra. They fabricated such sayings as, "Jannat is following the worldly pleasures and hell is following the rules of the religion." They named prohibited actions (Harams) as fine arts. They lead the youngsters to hedonistic, pleasure-filled life style by deceiving them and saying to them that those things that are decreed as prohibited actions and sins (Fuhush) by Islam are moral-exercises. Their state perpetrated much harm to Islam. They were destroyed in 372 Hijri 983 A.D. by the Divine wrath.]

Interpretation (Tafsir) should be done according to the principles of transmission (Nakl). In order to perform interpretation, one should be knowledgeable about the following fifteen kinds of knowledge (Ilm): language, dialect or words (Lugat), syntax (Nahv), grammar (Sarf), etymology (Ishtikak), meaning (Ma'ani), explanation (Bayan), ornament of speech (Badi'), reading (Kira'at), methodology of religion or bases of religion (Usul-i din), Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), reason or cause of the revelation of the verses of the Qur'an (Asbab-i nuzul), the one which cancels a previous verse (Nasih) and canceled verse (Mansuh), methodology of Islamic jurisprudence (Usul-i fiqh), Hadith, and knowldege of spiritual heart (Ilm al-qalb.) It is not permissible (Jaiz) for one who does not know these subjects to make interpretation of the Qur'an. The knowledge of spiritual heart (Qalb)" or "Mawhiba" is a kind of knowledge which Allahu ta'ala sends without an intermediary to pious scholars who follow Islam minutely. In one hadith, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "Allahu ta'ala teaches the secret things if one practices the things one knows." It is not permissible (Jaiz) for anyone who does not know above-mentioned fifteen subjects to make interpretation. If one performs interpretation without knowing them then one will be doing it according to one's own opinion and will be deserving to be punished in hell. In one hadith, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "A person's heart will be filled with wisdom (Hikmat) by Allahu ta'ala and he will start to tell them if he practices Islam with sincerity 'Ikhlas' for forty days." Anyone who gives meanings to the metaphoric (Mutashabih) verses of the Qur'an will be considered as one of those who performed interpretation according to his own opinion. The interpretation of corrupt persons (Ahl al-bidat) who deviated from the right path is of this kind.

There are three types of knowledge (Ilm) in the Qur'an. Allahu ta'ala did not inform anyone about the first type. The reality of His Person (Zat) and His attributes and telling about unknown are in this category. The second type is the secret knowledge He revealed to His prophets. Prophets may reveal these to those whom Allahu ta'ala chooses. He taught the third type of knowledge to His prophets, peace be upon them, and ordered them to teach this knowledge to all of their followers (Ummat). The third type is also divided into two sections. The first one is learned only by hearing. Knowledge about the Doomsday (Qiyamat) is of this kind. The second one is learned by observing, examining, reading and understanding its meaning. Knowledge which pertains to belief and Islam is in this category. Even, "Mujtahid" Imams could not be able to understand with certainty Islamic knowledge which are not informed through the "Nass" clearly and had different opinions. Thus, various schools of thought (Madhhabs) came into being with respect to practice (Amal). The activity of those who derive meanings by following the fifteen subjects mentioned above is not called interpretation (Tafsir) but instead it is called "Tawil" because, these meanings include his own understanding. In other words, he selects one among the many meanings that are apparent to him. If the one he selects does not conform to the literal and clear meanings of the verses of the Qur'an and hadiths or to the unanimity (Ijma), then, it is invalid (Fasid). The book Barika, while explaining that the dancing is forbidden (Haram), includes the following, "We are not ordered to practice our religion according to the interpretation books. We are ordered to follow the Fiqh books."

38- INSISTENCE ON COMMITTING FORBIDDEN (HARAM) ACTIONS

Forming strong intention (Kasd) for committing a sin, then committing the sin for a little amount will be insistence. Having "Kasd" will be through forming intention, through willing and through deciding. If one decides and carries out the act then it will be insistence. If he steadily forms intentions and steadily decides but never carries out the act then it will not be insistence. If he continuously decides to do and commits the sin once and then repents and does not do it again then it will not be insistence. If he does it one more time and then repents again still will not be insistence. Doing many times during a day and repenting after each occurrence will not be insistence. While one is repenting, one should feel sorry and discontinue sinning immediately as well as intent not to do it again. Without doing these three conditions, just saying certain words is no more than lying. Insisting on committing small sins is a grave sin. It is a greater sin than committing a grave sin once. When he repents, the grave sin will also be forgiven. Considering small sin as a small act is grave sin. Bragging about committing a small sin is grave sin. It would also be grave sin if one presumes a person as a scholar (Alim) or pious (Salih) while that person commits small sin. When one commits a small sin, one should be afraid of Allahu ta'ala and His punishment. It is grave sin if one is not ashamed of Allahu ta'ala and does not think that He will punish.