BÂTIL – باطل
Literally and Etymologically: False; unsound; vain; useless; absurd; worthless; ineffectual; null and void; a lie or falsehood. It encompasses any idle or absurd act, word, or thought. It derives from the root b-t-l (ب-ط-ل ), which etymologically signifies becoming void, vanishing, going to waste, or being falsified and rendered ineffectual. In classical Arabic lexicography, it carries the physical connotation of a thing losing its inner reality, dissolving, or its utility being entirely nullified.
As an Islamic Term: It stands as the absolute opposite of haqq. While haqq denotes everything — every action, word, knowledge, idea, or viewpoint — based on the sacred teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (asm) whose actions, words and states are entirely derived from the wahy of Allah; bâtil denotes all forms of beliefs, laws, lifestyles and understandings that arise solely from the human mind isolated from wahy and are not grounded in the truth of the Qur'an. This perspective is also named as ma’nâ al-ismî: viewing or evaluating existence by ignoring its Creator and the Books He sent, thereby transforming knowledge into absolute delusion and falsehood, which is the very essence of bâtil.
Excerpts from the Risale-i Nur that elucidate this haqiqah:
The second âyah of the Injîl اِنِّى اَطْلُبُ مِنْ رَبِّى فَارَقْلِيطًا يَكُونُ مَعَكُمْ اِلَى اْلاَبَدِThat is, “I ask my Rabb a prophet who will distinguish haqq from bâtil to abide with you for all eternity.” Fâraqlid is the name of the prophet (asm) in those scriptures, which means اَلْفَارِقُ بَيْنَ الْحَقِّ وَ الْبَاطِلِ 1.
…
Furthermore, in the Injîl, البارقليط (Al-Bâraqlit) or الفارقليط (Al-Fâraqlid) — in the tafsirs of Injîl, these words were interpreted as “the one who distinguishes between haqq and bâtil and is a worshipper of Haqq”; it is the name of a personage who will urge future mankind to the haqq.
In one part of the Injîl, ‘Îsâ ‘Alayhissalâm said, "I will depart so that the Supreme Leader of the world shall come." After Hazrat ‘Îsâ ‘Alayhissalâm, has anyone else come, other than Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm, who will be the Supreme Leader of the world, distinguish and separate haqq from bâtil, and guide mankind in place of Hazrat ‘Îsâ ‘Alayhissalâm? It indicates that Hazrat ‘Îsâ ‘Alayhissalâm was constantly delivering the good tidings to his ummah and informing them: “One will come, and there will be no further need for me. I am his precursor; I am the bearer of the glad tidings of him.”
The Nineteenth Letter-The Sixteenth Sign
And O shaytan! Through shaytanic wiles such as ghaflah, dhalâlah, sophistry, obstinacy, fallacy, arrogant denial, deception and blind custom — which depict bâtil as haqq and the impossible as possible — you dupe those wretched animals in human form into denial and kufr, inevitably breed countless impossibilities.
The Addendum to the Fifteenth Word
Haqq Prevails in Its Essence ( 2 اَلْحَقُّ يَعْلُو ); Moreover, The Ultimate Consequence is Intended
O friend! One time, a questioner asked: "Since اَلْحَقُّ يَعْلُو is haqq, why does the kâfir prevail over the Muslim and power over the haqq?"
I replied: Consider these four points! Your difficulty will be resolved.
The first point is this: Every means of every haqq is not always haqq. So too, every means of every bâtil is not always bâtil.
This result emerges: A means that is haqq prevails over a bâtil means. Therefore, haqq is defeated by a bâtil.
It occurs temporarily, through to the means; not in its essence, nor permanently.
However, in the ultimate end, victory always belongs to haqq. Power possesses a right (haqq); there is a mystery in its creation.
The second point is this: While it is wâjib that all attributes of all Muslims should be Muslim, outwardly, it is not always thus.
So too, all attributes of all kâfirs are not always kâfir, and do not arise from their kufr.
All the attributes of all fâsiqs are not always fâsiq, and do not arise from their fisq.
That is to say, a kâfir's Muslim attribute prevails over a Muslim's attribute that does not conform to the Sharî’ah. By means of that attribute, that kâfir prevails over the Muslim.
Furthermore, in this world, the right (haqq) of life is general and all-embracing. It is a meaningful manifestation of universal Rahmah; it has a mystery of hikmah, which kufr does not impede.
The third point is this: There are two distinct manifestations of Sharî’ah arising from two attributes of perfection belonging to the Zuljalâl One:
The determining through the execution of the attribute of Irâdah, and that is the Takwînî Sharî’ah; And the well-known Sharî’ah arising from the attribute of Kalâm.
Just as there are obedience and rebellion to the commands of the revealed Sharî’ah, so there are obedience and rebellion to the Takwînî commands.
The sawâb and punishment for the former are received mostly in the âkhirah, while the rewards and punishment of the latter are suffered mostly in the realm of this world.
For example, just as the reward of patience is victory. The punishment of laziness is poverty; So too, the reward of endeavour is wealth.
In steadfastness, triumph is the reward. The punishment of poison is illness; The reward of its antidote is health.
Sometimes, the commands of both Sharî’ahs are united in a single thing that has aspects looking to each.
That is to say, obedience to the Takwînî command is a haqq. That obedience prevails over the rebellion to that command, which is a manner of bâtil.
If a haqq becomes a means for a bâtil, when it is defeated by a bâtil that has become a means for a haqq. Then, indirectly, a haqq is defeated by a bâtil. However, this is not in its essence, But merely by the means.
That is to say, اَلْحَقُّ يَعْلُو means that it prevails in its essence. Moreover, the ultimate consequence is intended; and the aspectual qualification3 is intended.
The fourth point is this: A haqq has remained potential, or powerless, or it is blended and alloyed. It has become necessary to grant it an unfolding, or a fresh strength.
In order to refine and gild it, bâtil temporarily attacks it, so that the ingot of haqq may emerge pure and genuine, to the degree required.
Even if, in the beginning, bâtil prevails in this world, it cannot win the war. "وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ " 4 strikes a blow to it!
Thus bâtil is defeated. The mystery of اَلْحَقُّ يَعْلُو strikes it with punishment; thus haqq is victorious!
The Gleams
1 (Al-Fâriq Bayn al-Haqq wa’l Bâtil: The one who distinguishes between haqq and bâtil.) (Tr.)
2 [A quote from the hadith اَلْحَقُّ يَعْلُو وَلَا يُعْلَى عَلَيْهِ which means, “Haqq prevails, and it is not prevailed over.” Al-Bukhârî - Sahîh (Kitâb al-Janâ’iz, Chapter 80)] (Tr.)
3 (Note: The phrase “aspectual qualification” is the exact technical equivalent of the term “kayd-ı haysiyyet” (قَيْدُ حَيْثِيَّة ) in Islamic Logic (Mantıq). In classical Aristotelian and Islamic philosophical traditions, a proposition is accepted as true not according to possible accidental circumstances, but strictly in its essence (bizzât), as it holds true "in virtue of" or "in respect of" (qua/as such) its essential nature.
To clarify this with a classical logical example: When we state that "Man is a rational being," this proposition is true under the aspectual qualification of his essential definition. The accidental fact that a human being is currently asleep, unconscious, or in a coma — and thus not actively engaged in the act of reasoning — does not invalidate or negate the absolute truth of this essential definition.) (Tr.)