TASBÎH – تسبيح

TASBÎHÂT - تسبيحات

 

The word ‘tasbîh’ is derived from the root س ب ح  . Praising Allah, Who is Subhân, with the expressions that are worthy of His glory. The glorification of Allah, which is to proclaim that He is purified and free from all faults in His essence, attributes and actions. Particularly, this word expresses the dhikr of Subhânallah.

Tasbîhât is the plural of ‘tasbîh’. Particularly, the dhikr of 33 ‘Subhânallah’, 33 ‘Alhamdulillah’, 33 ‘Allahu Akbar’, 33 ‘Lâ Ilâha Illallah’ and ‘salâwât’, the performance of which is Sunnah after the salâh.

 

 

First Subtle Point: The meaning of salâh is tasbîh and ta’dhîm and shukr. It means that in front of the glory and grandeur (Jalâl) of Janâb-i Haqq, it is to offer taqdîs by saying “Subhânallah” through word and action. Also, in front of His perfection (Kamâl), it is to offer ta’dhîm by saying “Allahu Akbar” verbally and through action. Also, in front of His beauty, grace and favour (Jamâl), it is to offer shukr by saying “Alhamdulillah” through the heart, tongue and body.

That is to say, tasbîh, takbîr and hamd are the seeds of salâh. Because of this, these three things are present in all the actions and words of salâh, in every part of it. Also, because of this reason, these blessed words (kalimât al-mubârakah) are repeated thirty-three times after salâh in order to strengthen and reiterate the meaning of salâh. The meaning of salâh is strengthened through these concise summaries.

Second Subtle Point:

The meaning of ‘ibâdah is this: at the Court of Allah, the ‘abd performs sajda with wonder and love before the perfection of rubûbiyah, the qoudrah of As-Samad and the rahmah of Allah by seeing his own faults, impotence and poverty. It means that just as the sovereignty of rubûbiyyah demands ‘ubûdiyyah and obedience, so do the sacredness and purity of rubûbiyyah demand that, by seeing his own faults, with istighfâr, tasbîh and “Subhânallah”, the ‘abd should declare that his Rabb is pure and free of all deficiencies, free of and exalted from the false (bâtil) ideas of the people of dhalâlah and pure and exempt from all the faults of the universe.

Also, the perfect Qoudrah of rubûbiyyah demands that, by seeing his own weakness and the impotence of the creatures, within admiration and wonder, in front of the indescribable greatness of the works of As-Samad’s Qoudrah, the ‘abd should say “Allahu Akbar”, bow into rukû’ with submission, seek refuge and do tawakkul on Him.

Also, the infinite treasury of rubûbiyyah’s rahmah demands that the ‘abd should display his own need and the poverty and needs of all creatures through the language of beseeching and du'â and should proclaim the favours and ni’mahs of his Rabb through shukr, praise and “Alhamdulillah”.

It means that the acts and words of salâh comprise these meanings, and for these meanings, they have been established by Allah.

The Ninth Word-2nd Subtle Point

 

One time, it came to my heart, why can wondrous individuals like Muhyiddîn Bin 'Arabî not reach the Sahabah? Then, while saying سُبْحَانَ رَبِّىَ اْلاَعْلٰى during the salâh, the meaning of the phrase was unfolded to me. Not in its complete meaning, but part of its haqiqah appeared. I said in my heart: "If only Allah granted me success in one salâh as He granted it with this phrase, it would be better than a year's ‘ibâdah." After the salâh, I understood that that thought and state were a guidance indicating that the Sahabah’s degree in ‘ibâdah could not be reached. Yes, while opposites were separated from one another in that mighty social revolution that occurred as a result of the nûrs of Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm, at a time when sharr together with all its darkness, consequences and details and khayr and perfections together with all their nûrs and results came face to face, in such a state and exciting time, all dhikr and tasbîh expressed all the levels of their meanings freshly and newly, in a young fashion, and awoke all the feelings and ma’nawî subtle faculties of the people, who were amid the turmoil of that mighty revolution; even feelings like wahm, imagination and sirr, in an awakened and aware way, received and absorbed the numerous meanings within those dhikr and tasbîh according to their own tastes.

Thus, as a consequence of this hikmah, when the Sahabah, whose senses, feelings and subtle faculties were awakened, said those blessed words comprising the nûrs of îmân and tasbîh, they were saying those blessed words with all their meaning and receiving a share from them with all their subtle faculties. Whereas after that revolution and division, the subtle faculties have gradually sunk into sleep and the senses and feelings have fallen into ghaflah in point of those haqiqahs; like fruits, those blessed words have gradually lost their subtlety and freshness due to the veil of familiarity. It is as though they dry up due to the air of superficiality; only a little freshness remains that it can only be restored to its former state through a strong surgery of tafakkur. Thus, it is because of this that other can only reach in forty years the fadhîlah and rank of the Sahabah which they achieved in forty minutes.

Addendum to The Twenty-Seventh Word

 

It was 'Eid Al-Adha while this 'station' was being written:

I imagined, felt and certainly believed that Allah making one-fifth of mankind — three hundred million people — recite "Allahu Akbar", "Allahu Akbar", "Allahu Akbar" at the same time and the simultaneous recitation of "Allahu Akbar" by more than twenty thousand Hajjis at Arafat and during ‘Eid — it is as if the huge globe of the Earth, in proportion to its size, makes its fellow planets in the samâwât hear the sacred phrase "Allahu Akbar" — is the echo of the phrase "Allahu Akbar" that Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm recited with his Family (Âl) and Sahabah one thousand three hundred years ago and commanded to his ummah to recite. And it is a response with a broad and universal ‘ubûdiyyah to the universal manifestation of rubûbiyyah of Allah through magnificent titles

1 رب الأرض

and

رب العالمين2

Then, it occurred to me: does this sacred phrase have any relevance to our matter? I was suddenly informed that first of all this phrase and many other phrases, such as “Subhânallah”, “Alhamdulillah” and “Lâ Ilâha Illallah”, which are among Shaâ’er and entitled "al-bâqîyât as-sâlihât", serve as reminders and proofs of our matter in general, or in particular. For example, one aspect of the meaning of "Allahu Akbar" is that Janâb-i Haqq’s qoudrah and ‘ilm surpass all things; nothing can go out from the boundaries of His ‘ilm, nor can anything escape or be saved from the disposals of His qoudrah. He is greater than the things we fear most. It means that He is greater than bringing about the rising from the dead and assembling for judgment, saving us from non-existence and granting us eternal happiness. He is greater than any strange or unimaginable thing; therefore, through the absolute clarity of the âyah

مَا خَلْقُكُمْ وَلاَ بَعْثُكُمْ اِلاَّ كَنَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ3

mankind’s rising from the dead and assembling for judgment is as easy for His qoudrah as the creation of a single nafs. It is in this sense that, in the form of a proverb, when faced with grievous calamities or great aspirations, everyone says, "Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great", making this phrase a source of consolation and strength and a point of support for themselves.

The Eleventh Ray-A Summary of the Eighth Topic

 

I wonder, would a man who calls himself a Muslim not fall lower than an animal if he fails to learn sacred words, such as 'Subhânallah', 'Alhamdulillah', 'Lâ ilaha Illallah' and 'Allahu Akbar', which he repeats fifty times a day for fifty years even though he learns fifty words from the French language in a single day for the sake of worldly gain? These sacred words cannot be translated, distorted, or replaced for those kinds of animals! To replace and change them is to erase all the gravestones; it is to turn all the dead in the graveyards, who tremble at this insult, against themselves.

The Twenty-Ninth Letter/Seventh Section

 

My ‘azîz, siddîq, sincere and devoted brothers, and my serious, genuine companions in the Quranic service!

Recently, a severe warning came to my heart regarding the dissemination of the Flashes on Ikhlas from the Risale-i Nur, both in Isparta and in this area, following one or two minor incidents. Three points will be written about riyâ:

The First: Riyâ cannot penetrate the practice of fardh, wâjib and Shaâ’er of Islam and the following of Sunnah as-Saniyyah and abandoning of harams. Displaying them openly cannot be riyâ unless one has riyâ in his fitrah due to having a very weak îmân. In fact, personages, such as Hujjat al-Islam Imam Ghazâlî (ra), stated that displaying openly the ‘ibâdah related to Shaâ’er of Islam is far more rewarding than performing them privately. Although it is far more rewarding to perform nawâfil privately; especially during this age of bid’ah, to display openly the Shaâ’er of Islam, which shows the honour of following the Sunnah, and to display taqwâ in abandoning the haram amidst such great kabâir are not riyâ but rather far more rewarding and sincere than performing them privately.

The Second Point: Of the reasons that lead people to riyâ,

The first is the weakness of îmân. Those who do not think of Allah worship the causes and pose in a way that promotes themselves, filled with riyâ to the people. The Risale-i Nur students, with the powerful lessons of tahqiqî îmân they receive from the Risale-i Nur, do not give any value or importance to the causes and people’s attention in their ‘ubûdiyyah. Therefore, they would not fall into riyâ by showing off in their ‘ubûdiyyah.

The second reason: Greed and ambition lead a person — because of his impotence and poverty — to take up a state of riyâ to attract the attention of the people. The dignity arising from îmân that the Risale-i Nur students receive from the lessons of Risale-i Nur, such as the lessons on frugality (iqtisâd), contentment, tawakkul and acceptance of the allocation in life ordained by Allah, will, inshâAllah, prevent them from riyâ and self-promotion for worldly benefits.

The third reason: One falls into riyâ due to emotions, such as the ambition for fame, the love for rank, the pursuit of status and the urge to surpass one's peers, and due to adopting the attitude of presenting oneself favourably to others, striving to gain more importance than one truly deserves and appearing in high positions that one is not worthy of through pretence. Since the Risale-i Nur students transform ‘Ana4’ into ‘Nahnu5’, that is, they abandon the ananiyyah, work on behalf of the ma’nawî collective personality of the Risale-i Nur circle and say, "We," instead of "I," and since they act according to the principle ‘fana fil-ikhwan6’, that is, they dissolve their personality in the ma’nawî collective personality of their brothers, which is one of the means in this age that saves one from riyâ, similar to the means that are used by the people of tarîqah, such as ‘fana fish-shaykh7,’ ‘fana fir-rasûl8’ and ‘killing the nafs al-ammarah’, inshâAllah, just as the people of haqiqah have been saved from riyâ, they too will be saved by this mystery.

The Third Point: Regarding religious duty, working to gain the acceptance of people and adopting the high manners and states required of that rank are not considered and should not be considered riyâ and self-promotion unless that person uses and exploits that duty for his ananiyyah.

Yes, an Imam makes the tasbîhât openly and audibly while leading the salâh; this can in no way be a riyâ. However, outside his duty, making tasbîhât heard openly could lead to riyâ; it is more rewarding to perform it privately.

With regard to their ‘ibâdah concerning following the Sunnah and their taqwâ in avoiding kabâir and in the dissemination of religion, the true Risale-i Nur students are considered to be on duty on behalf of the Qur’an. InshâAllah, it will not be a riyâ unless they have entered the Risale-i Nur for some worldly intention.

More was going to be written, but a state of stoppage has cut it short.

Kastamonu Addendum (184-185)