ÎMÂN AL-TAQLÎDÎ - ايمان التقليدي

 

Literally: Imitating. Imitation. Imitated. Imitative. A following closely or imitating the words or acts of another, especially in matters of religion, whether the person followed has the right to lead or not. Blind or implicit obedience and imitation in matters of faith.

Taqlîdî is that which arises out of blind or implicit obedience. Imitative.

The îmân which is gained by imitating and following the ‘ulamâ, awliyâ and other religious leaders without attaining knowledge. This kind of îmân easily may be defeated by doubts.

 

“Küçük Ali, small in name but great in rûh, a hero among the blessed who bears a resemblance to both Abdurrahmân and Lütfi and Hâfidh Ali the Elder, asks a question. Its answer, however, is written in a hundred places in the Risale-i Nur. He asks: “What is the reason for the great concentration of arguments concerning the pillars of îmân in the Risale-i Nur? Our former hojas taught us that a great walî’s îmân is similar to that of an ordinary mu’min.

The Answer: Both in Âyet-ül Kübra1 , in the discussion about the degrees of îmân, and near its end; is the statement of Imam Rabbani, the Mujaddid of the Second Millennium, which says: “The end and most important aim of all the tarîqahs is the unfolding of the haqiqahs of îmân. Clarity and certainty in a single matter of îmân is preferable to thousands of karâmât and kashf”. Also the part of the letter right at the end of Âyet-ül Kübra2 , taken from The Lahikas3 , and the explanations of all of it, answer the question, as does the Tenth Topic of The Fruits of Îmân, which is about repetition in the Qur’an, and the fact that the hikmah of the frequently repeated emphasis on Tawhîd and the pillars of îmân in the Qur’an is present in just the same way in the Risale-i Nur, which is a true tafsir of it.

Furthermore, all the sections of the Risale-i Nur which explain îmân al-tahqîqî, îmân al-taqlîdî, îmân al-ijmâlî, and îmân al-tâfsîlî and demonstrate that îmân will withstand and remain unshaken in the face of all assaults, waswasas, and doubts, form such an answer to Küçük Ali’s letter that no need remains for me to add to them.

Second Aspect: Îmân is not resricted to an ijmâlî and taqlîdî assent; it has degrees and unfolds from being seed-like to being a mighty date-palm, and from resembling the sun which appears in the mirror you hold in your hand to resembling its reflection on the surface of the sea, and even to the sun in the sky. Similarly, îmân is related to the above number of haqiqahs, to a thousand and one Ilahî Names, and to the haqiqahs of the universe pertaining to the pillars of îmân. It is for this reason the people of haqiqah have stated unanimously that the greatest of all ‘ilm, ma’rifat, and human attainments and perfections are îmân and the detailed sacred Ma’rifatullah based on proof which springs from îmân al-tahqîqî.

Îmân al-taqlîdî may be swiftly overcome by doubts. Being much more powerful and comprehensive, îmân al-tahqîqî contains numerous degrees. One of these is the degree of ‘ilm al-yaqîn4 , which may withstand thousands of doubts with the strength of its many proofs, whereas  îmân al-taqlîdî may sometimes be defeated by a single doubt.

There is also a degree of îmân al-tahqîqî known as the ‘ayn al-yaqîn, and that contains numerous degrees. Indeed, it contains degrees to the number of manifestations of the Ilahî Names; it reaches the degree to which the whole universe may be read as though it were a Qur’an.

Another of its degrees is haqq al-yaqîn, which also contains numerous degrees. If troops of doubts assail a person with such îmân they cannot provoke any confusion. The thousands of books written by the ‘Ulamâ of ‘ilm al-Kalâm, based on mind and logic have demonstrated only one way, based on proofs and reasoning, of that ma’rifat of îmân. And the hundred of books of the people of haqiqah, which based on kashf and zawq, have depicted another aspect of that ma’rifat of îmân. However, the haqiqahs of îmân and sacred ma’rifat which the miraculous highway of the Qur’an points out, far surpasses in strength and loftiness those ‘Ulamâ and awliyâ.

The Risale-i Nur, then does tafsir the latter all-embracing, universal, and elevated highway of ma’rifat, and replies in the name of the Qur’an and îmân to the general destructive currents which for a thousand years have acted against the Qur’an and to the detriment of Islam and humanity on account of al-‘âlams of non-existence. It defends against them. It therefore certainly needs to concentrate innumerable forces so that, through the nûr of the Qur’an, it may be the means of withstanding those innumerable enemies, and of preserving the îmân of the people of îmân.

It is written in a Hadith: “Should one person come to îmân through you, it is better for you than a plain-full of red sheep” and that, “Sometimes an hour’s tafakkur may be better than a year’s ‘ibâdah.” In fact, the great importance the Naqshbandi’s attach to inward dhikr is in order to attain to tafakkur of this kind.” Emirdağ Letters (112)

 

“My ‘Azîz, Siddîq Brothers!

[The reply to a question with two sides that I have been asked in a ma’nawî manner.]

The First: Why is it that apart from the service of the Risale-i Nur, you do not want to meet personally with people who have a good opinion of your person and look on you as holding a high rank, yet have powerful relations with the Risale-i Nur and whom you love dearly? Why do you prefer to meet with those who do not nurture such a good opinion of you and you pay more attention to them?

The Answer: As I said in the Second Letter of the Thirty-Third Word, at this time people sell their favours very expensively to those in need. For example, they suppose an unfortunate like myself to be sâlih or a walî and give me a loaf of bread, then they want an acceptable du’â in return. But rather than paying such a price, I do not accept the favour, Just as I cite this as a reason for not accepting gifts, so people other than the special students of the Risale-i Nur who display powerful relation and service thinking that I hold a high rank. In return, in this world they want luminous results like the people of walâyah. Then they give ma’nawî favours through their relation and service. But because I do not possess the price they want in return for favours of this sort, it makes me feel ashamed. Then they are disillusioned when they realise my unimportance and even become dispirited in their service. It is true that ambition and lack of contentment are acceptable in some aspects in matters pertaining to the âkhirah, but on our way and in our service -due to the certain faults- it causes to complaint with despair arising from disillusionment instead of shukr, and even to the abandonment of service. For this reason, because the contentment in our way always results to shukr, steadfastness and resoluteness, in the sphere of ikhlas, we are obliged to be content with the fruits and results of our service although we are ambitious and discontent in the performance of it.

For example, this result, which is ensuring for thousands of people of îmân in Isparta and its environs an extraordinary strength of îmân by the service of the Risale-i Nur, is sufficient for our extraordinary service. Even if someone were to appear who has the degree of ten Qutb and were to guide a thousand people to the degree of walâyah, still could not lower the degree of this result. The true students of the Risale-i Nur content themselves with results like this. In place of the heartfelt contentment of that lofty Qutb’s followers, ensured by his extraordinary rank and his rulings in matters, the Risale-i Nur’s unshakeable proofs satisfy its students to a far greater degree of that followers, and, moreover, this state and belief spreads to others and give benefits to them. The contentment of those followers, however, stays personal and particular to them.

In fact, what they call in logic “qadhiyah maqbûlah”, that is, accepting the great people’s words without proof, does not express certainty and surety in logic; it may give conviction by a probable assumption. The certain proofs of the ‘ilm of logic do not look to the good opinions of people and people who are accepted, they look to irrefutable evidence, all the proofs of the Risale-i Nur are of this type of certain proofs. For exactly like the haqiqahs which the people of walâyah experience through deed (‘amal), ‘ibâdah, ma’nawî journeying and riyâzah, and haqiqahs of îmân which they observe (mushahadah) behind veils, the Risale-i Nur has opened a way to haqiqah in ‘ilm in place of ‘ibâdah; it has opened up a way leading to the essence of haqiqah within logical proofs and scholarly arguments in place of ma’nawî journeying and awrâd; it has opened up a way of the greater walayah directly within the ‘ilm al-Kalâm, the ‘ilm al-aqîdah, and Usul ad-dîn, in place of the ‘ilm al-tasawwuf and the tarîqah. It has conquered the dhalâlah arising from philosophy, which this age has defeated the currents of haqiqah and tarîqah, as is clear for all to see. Let there be no mistake in the simile, just as the powerful, logical haqiqah of the Qur’an has delivered other religions from the assaults of naturalist philosophy and its overwhelming them, becoming a point of support and to an extent preserving their fundamental principles, which are taqlîdî and not based on reason; in the same way, the Risale-i Nur, a miracle and nûr of the Qur’an at this time, has saved the taqlîdî îmân of the ‘awâm people of îmân from the assaults of the ‘ilm arising from dhalâlah which arose from the materialist philosophy, and as a point of support for all the people of îmân, has become a unassailable citadel, for those near and far. In the face of today’s awesome, unprecedented dhalâlah, it preserves the ‘awâm mu’min’s îmân from doubts and their Islam from waswasas about Islam not being a haqiqah.

Just at the time the people of îmân everywhere, even in India and China, while they fall into doubt and waswasas “Is there any fault in Islam that is shaken by the predominance of the fearsome dhalâlah of this age?,” they suddenly hear and understand that a risale has appeared that proves conclusively all the haqiqahs of îmân, defeats philosophy and silences zandaqa. Together all of a sudden those doubts and waswasas disappear, and their îmân is saved and strengthened.” Emirdağ Letters (104-105)