بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ اَجْمَعِينَ

BID’AH-INNOVATION - 2

Contents:

1: The basis of the people of bid’ah’s corruption

2: The bid’ahs of this time

 

The basis of the people of bid’ah’s corruption

Bediüzzaman summarizes the basis of the movement of corruption used by the currents of bid’ah as follows:

“I myself have frequently observed that people of corruption, who form ten per cent, defeat the people of righteousness, who form ninety per cent. I used to be astonished and curious. Investigating, I understood certainly that their victory results not from power, qoudrah but from corruption, baseness, destruction, taking advantage of disagreement among the people of haqq, sowing conflict among them, from playing on their weak veins and grafting them, and exciting the feelings of the nafs and personal hatred, and through working the evil capacities in human nature which are like mines of corruption, and through hypocritically flattering the nafs' tyranny in the name of fame and glory, and through everyone fearing their merciless destruction. Through shaytanic machinations like these, they temporarily triumph over the people of haqq. But in accordance with the mystery of the âyah, وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ1 and the rule,اَلْحَقُّ يَعْلُو وَلاَ يُعْلَى عَلَيْه 2 in addition to its not yielding any significant benefit for them, their temporary triumph is the means of earning Jahannam for themselves and Jannah for the people of haqq.3 ” The Flashes (121-122 )

 

The bid’ahs of this time

“They also wrote that "a person is guilty of irtijâ’ if he calls bid’ah, dhalâlah, and ilhad, the reforms, such as the closure of the takkas4 and zaviyes5 and the madrasas; the acceptance of secularism; the establishment of nationalist principles instead of Islam; the wearing of the hat; the banning of tasattur; the enforced use of the Latin alphabet in place of the Qur'anic alphabet; the adhan and iqâmah being recited in Turkish; the prohibition of religious instruction in schools; the recognition of equal rights for women and in inheritance; and the abolition of polygamy."

Unfair committee! The Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition has every century been the sacred, samâwi guide of three hundred and fifty million people, the programme of all their happiness, and the sacred treasury of the life of this world and the âkhirah. If it is possible to deny numerous of its sarîh âyahs, which do not bear interpretation, about the tasattur, inheritance, polygamy, dhikr of Allah, instruction in ‘ilm of religion and its dissemination, and the preservation of the shaâ’er, and to make guilty the crimes of all the Islamic mujtahids and all the Shaykhs al-Islam, and if you can annul the passage of time, quash the numerous court acquittals, and the legal pardons, and abolish confidentiality and the private side of things, and freedom of conscience and freedom of thought, and intellectual and scholarly opposition, and remove them from this country and its governments, you can make me guilty of these things. Otherwise, in the court of haqiqah, haqq and justice, you will be awesomely guilty!” The Rays ( 428 )

 

The bid’ah of the establishment of nationalist principles instead of Islam

“By reason of its philosophy, present-day civilization accepts 'force' as the point of support in the life of society. It takes as its aim 'benefits,' and considers the principle of its life to be 'conflict.' It considers the bond between communities to be 'racialism and negative nationalism.' While its aim is to provide 'trifling amusements diversions' for gratifying the appetites of the nafs and increasing man's needs. However, the mark of force is aggression. And since the benefits are insufficient to meet all needs, their mark is that everyone tussles and jostles over them. The mark of conflict is contention, and the mark of racialism, aggression since it thrives on devouring others. Thus, it is because of these principles of civilization that despite all its goodness, it has provided a sort of superficial happiness for only twenty per cent of mankind and cast eighty per cent into distress and poverty.

The hikmah of the Qur'an, however, takes as its point of support 'Haqq' instead of force, and in place of benefit has 'fadhîlah and Allah's pleasure' as its aims. It considers 'the principle of mutual assistance' to be fundamental in life, rather than conflict. In the ties between communities, it accepts 'the bonds of religion, class, and country,' in place of racialism and nationalism. Its aims are to place a barrier before the illicit transgressions of the nafs' desires and to urge the rûh to sublime matters, to satisfy man's elevated feelings and encourage him towards the human perfections and make him “human”. And as for the Haqq, its mark is concord, the mark of fadhîlah is mutual support, and the mark of mutual assistance, hastening to help one another. The mark of religion is brotherhood and attraction. And the result of reining in and tethering the nafs and leaving the rûh free and urging it towards perfection is happiness in this world and the next. Thus, despite the virtues, present-day civilization has acquired from the guidance of the Qur'an in particular, and from the preceding samâwî religions, in point of haqiqah, it has thus suffered defeat before the Qur'an.” The Words (420-421 )

 

“The idea of nationalism has greatly advanced this century. The cunning European dhâlims, in particular, awaken this among Muslims in a negative fashion, so that they may divide them and devour them.

Furthermore, in nationalism is a thrill of the nafs, a pleasure of ghaflah, an inauspicious power. For this reason, those occupied with social life at this time cannot be told to give up the idea of nationalism. However, nationalism is of two kinds. One is negative, inauspicious, and harmful; it is nourished by devouring others, persists through hostility to others, and is aware of what it is doing. It is the cause of enmity and disturbance. It is because of this that the Hadith states: اْلاِسْلاَمِيَّةُ جَبَّتِ الْعَصَبِيَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةَ6 And the Qur'an decrees:

اِذْ جَعَلَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِى قُلُوبِهِمُ الْحَمِيَّةَ حَمِيَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَاَنْزَلَ اللّٰهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَعَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَاَلْزَمَهُمْ كَلِمَةَ التَّقْوَى وَكَانُوا اَحَقَّ بِهَا وَاَهْلَهَا وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا7

This noble Hadith and âyah reject in definite terms any negative nationalism and racialism. For positive, sacred Islamic nationhood leave no need for them.

What race is there that has three hundred and fifty million members? And which racialism can gain for those who subscribe to it so many brothers -and eternal brothers- in place of Islam? Negative nationalism has caused untold harm in history….

…As for the present, when the nations and tribes of Islam are most in need of one another, and each is more oppressed and more poverty-stricken than the others, and they are crushed beneath foreigner domination, to regard one another as strangers due to the idea of nationalism and to consider one another to be enemies, is such a calamity that it cannot be described. It is quite simply a lunacy like turning one's back on dreadful serpents so as not to be bitten by a mosquito and struggling with the mosquito-due to the idea of nationalism-to attach no importance to the Europe, which are like huge dragons, at a time when with their insatiable greed their claws are open, indeed, to help them in a ma’nawî manner and to nurture enmity against fellow-citizens in the Eastern Provinces or brother Muslims to the South, and to take up positions opposed to them, is extremely detrimental and dangerous. In any event, there are no enemies among those to the South so that they should be confronted. What comes from the South is the nûr of the Qur'an; the light of Islam came from there; it is present among us, and is found everywhere.

Thus, to be hostile towards those fellow Muslims is indirectly harmful to Islam and the Qur'an. And hostility towards Islam and the Qur'an is the hostility of a sort towards the lives in this world and in the âkhirah of all those fellow-citizens. To think one can serve their social life in the name of patriotism while destroying the foundations of their two lives is not patriotism but stupidity!” The Letters (380-381 )

 

“The destructive ahl al-bid’ah are of two kinds:

The First Kind, as though on account of religion and in the name of loyalty to Islam, as though to strengthen religion with nationalism, says "We want to plant the luminous tree of religion, which has weak, in the earth nationalism, and so to strengthen it." They show themselves as supporting religion.

The Second Sort, in the name of the nation and on account of nationalism, in order to strengthen racialism, says "We want to graft Islam onto the nation," thus creating bid’ahs.

To the First Sort, we say “O unhappy ' ‘ulamâ as-sû’ ' who confirm the title 'loyal fools,' or majdhûb, unthinking, ignorant Sufis! The Tuba-tree of Islam, whose roots are founded in the haqiqah of the universe and branches spread throughout the haqiqah of the universe, cannot be planted in the earth of imaginary, temporary, partial, particular, negative, indeed, baseless, rancorous, tyrannical and dark racialism! To try to do so is to attempt something foolish, destructive and bid’ah.”

To the Second Sort of nationalists, we say this “O you drunken pseudo-patriots! Perhaps the previous century could have been the age of nationalism. This century is not the age of racialism! Communism and socialism occupy all matters, destroying the idea of racialism. The age of racialism is passing. Eternal and permanent Islamic nationalism cannot be bound onto temporarily unstable racialism and grafted onto it. And even if it is grafted,  it will not only corrupt the Islamic nation, but it can also not reform racialist nationalism. Yes, there appears to be a pleasure and temporary strength in a temporary graft, but it is very temporary and the consequence is dangerous.” The Letters (512-513 )

 

“In accordance with which principle is it to propose through a corrupt and bid’ah fatwa, "performing the iqâmah in Turkish," in a way completely contrary to Turkish nationalism, which is sincerely religious and sincerely respectful towards religion and has since early times blended and united with Islam, in the name of Turkism, which has the meaning of Europeanism, to those like me who belong to another nation? Yes, although I have friendly and brotherly relations with true Turks, I have in no respect any relation with the Turkism of imitators of Europe like you. How can you propose such a thing to me? Through which law? Perhaps, if you abolish the nationhood of the Kurds, of whom there are millions and who for thousands of years have not forgotten their nationhood and language, and are the true fellow-citizens and companions in jihâd of the Turks, and make them forget their language, then perhaps your proposal to those like me who are reckoned to be of a different race would be in accordance with some sort of savage principle. Otherwise, it is purely arbitrary. The arbitrary whims of individuals may not be followed, and we do not follow them!” The Letters (503-504 )

 

 

The bid’ahs of absolute equality, recognition of equal rights for women and inheritance and the abolition of polygamy

“It is said by ahl ad-dunyâ that: "Why have you become offended at us? You have kept silent and not once have you applied to us. You complain about us bitterly and say “you are oppressing me!”. Whereas we have a principle. We have our particular rules, as demanded by this age. You are not accepting these to be applied to you. Those implementing the law cannot be deemed as dhâlim.  One who does not accept the law is rebellious. For instance, in this age of freedom and new republican era which we have inaugurated, one of the rules of our legal foundation is to abolish oppression and ban the subjugation of others based on equality. Yet, it is understood from your apparent behaviour and your adventurous life in your earlier years, that whether by assuming the position of hoja or of being an ascetic, you try to draw the public gaze on yourself and attract attention, so to secure a power and social position outside the government's influence. This behaviour may have won favour within the despotic subjugation of –what is today called- the bourgeoisie. But since our principles of absolute socialism and bolshevism, which have emerged with the rising awareness and ascendancy of the common people, are more conformable with our interests, we have accepted them. Your position in spite of this is disagreeable to us; it opposes our principles. It is for this reason that you do not have the right to be offended and complain about the distress we cause you."

The Answer: If one who starts a movement in human social life does not act in conformity with the fitrah laws in the universe, he cannot be successful in beneficial and progressive works. All his actions become on account of sharr and destruction. Since there is an obligation to comply with the fitrah laws; surely, absolute equality can only be applied by changing human fitrah and removing the fundamental hikmah in mankind's creation. Yes, in terms of lineage and lifestyle, I am from the common class. I am one of those who by the method and intellectually have accepted the way of 'equality of rights.' Through compassion and the mystery of justice, which originates from Islam, I have always opposed and have been actively working against the despotism and oppression of the elite class called the bourgeoisie. For this reason, I work with all my strength in favour of absolute justice and struggle against dhulm, subjugation, oppression and despotism.

However, human fitrah and the mystery of its hikmah are contrary to the law of absolute equality. Because, in order to demonstrate His perfect qoudrah and hikmah, just as Al-Fâtir Who is Hakîm produces many crops from a few things, and writes many books on a single page, and causes many duties to be performed by a single thing; and in the same way, He causes the duties of thousands of species to be carried out by humankind.

It is due to this great mystery that Janâb-i Haqq has created humankind with a fitrah that would produce the shoots of thousands of species and display the levels of the thousands of other species of animals. No limit was placed on man's powers, subtle faculties, and senses like the other animals. They have been left unrestricted and have been given such a capacity to journey through endless ranks while being one species, mankind became like thousands of species. And for this reason, man is considered as the khalîfah on earth, the result of the universe, and sultan of all living beings.

Thus, the most important leaven and mechanism for the varying of degrees in humankind is the true fadhîlah arising from îmân, which is achieved through competition. Removing the fadhîlah can only be done so by corrupting the nature of humanity, by extinguishing the mind (aql), killing the heart (qalb), and destroying the rûh. Yes, while this age, which harbours an awesome tyranny beneath the veil of freedom, deserves to be struck in the face with it; the following mature words were said to a most important person, who did not deserve to be struck and who had them unfairly brandished in his face:

How impossible it is, to destroy freedom with dhulm and injustice;

If you are strong enough, work to remove perception from humankind.

In place of these words, I will say the following to strike the face of this age:

How impossible it is, to destroy haqiqah with dhulm and injustice;

If you are strong enough, work to remove the heart from humankind.

Or I will say,

How impossible it is, to destroy fadhîlah with dhulm and injustice;

If you are strong enough, work to remove the conscience from humankind.

Yes, just as the fadhîlah arising from îmân cannot become a means of oppression, neither can it be the cause of tyranny. Oppression and tyranny is the absence of fadhîlah. And the most important path for the people of fadhîlah, in particular, is to interfere in human social life with impotence, poverty, and humility.”  The Flashes ( 225-227 )

 

“Civilization does not accept polygamy, it considers the Qur'an's decree to be contrary to itself and opposed to humanity's benefits and hikmah. Indeed, if the hikmah of marriage was only to satisfy lust, polygamy would have been contrary to it. But as is testified to by all animals and corroborated by plants that 'marry', the hikmah and aim of marriage is reproduction. The pleasure of satisfying lust is a small wage given by rahmah to encourage the performance of the duty. Since according to haqiqah and hikmah, marriage is for reproduction and the perpetuation of the species, since women can give birth only once a year, and can be impregnated only half the month, and after the age of fifty falls into despair, and men can impregnate till a hundred years old, and thus one woman is insufficient for one man, civilization has been compelled to accept numerous houses of promiscuousness.

Third Principle: Unreasoning civilization criticizes the Qur'anic âyah which apportions to women one third [in inheritance]. However, most of the rulings concerning social life are in accordance with the majority, and mostly a woman finds someone to protect her. As for the man, she will be a burden on him and will have to combine efforts with someone else who will leave her her means of subsistence. Thus, in this form, if a woman takes half of the father's legacy, her husband makes up her deficiency. But if the man receives two parts from his father, one part he will give to maintaining the woman he has married, thus becoming equal with his sister. The justice of the Qur'an requires it to be thus. It has decreed it in this way. {This is part of my court defence, which was the supplement for the Appeal Court and which silenced the court. It is appropriate as a footnote for this passage. I told the court of law: Surely if there is any justice on the face of the earth, it will reject and quash an unjust decision which has convicted someone for expounding a most sacred, just Ilahî rule which governs in the social life of three hundred and fifty million people in the year one thousand three hundred and fifty, and in every century, relying on the confirmation and consensus of three hundred and fifty thousand tafsirs, and following the beliefs of our forefathers of one thousand three hundred and fifty years.}” The Twenty-Fifth Word/1st Light/3rd Ray/2nd Principle

 

The bid’ah of banning of tasattur

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

يَا اَيُّهَا النَّبِىُّ قُلْ ِلاَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلاَبِيبِهِنَّ8

to the end thereof... This âyah orders the tasattur. As for the dissolute civilization, it opposes this decree of the Qur'an. It does not consider the tasattur to be appropriate to fitrah; it says: “It is a slavery”. {Part of the defence that is written to the Appeal Court, which opposed the Court and silenced it: "I say to this court of law that if there is justice on the face of the earth, it will surely refute this unjust decision and overrule this judgement, which convicts a man who through relying on the confirmation and consensus of three hundred and fifty thousand tafsirs and following the beliefs of our ancestors in the space of one thousand three hundred and fifty years, has made the tafsir of a most sacred, true and right principle of Allah applied in the social life of three hundred and fifty million people, in every age, for one thousand three hundred and fifty years!..."}

The 24th Flash

 

The bid’ah of immodest pictures

Bediuzzaman describes one of the general destruction of the insidious current like this:

Just as the Qur'an severely prohibits the ‘ibâdah to idols, so it forbids the ‘ibâdah to images,  which is a sort of imitation of the ‘ibâdah to idols. Whereas considering the images as one of its virtues, civilization has wanted to contend with the Qur'an. But images, whether possessing shadow or not, are either petrified dhulm, or embodied riyâ, or embodied desires of the nafs; by whipping up the desires of the nafs, they encourage mankind to dhulm, riyâ and following the desires of the nafs. Moreover, the Qur'an compassionately commands women to wear the veil of hayâ so that they will be treated with respect and those mines of compassion will not be trodden under the feet of low desires, nor be like worthless goods for the excitement of lust. {The Twenty-Fourth Flash of the Thirty-First Letter about the tasattur has proved most decisively that Tasattur is appropriate for women’s fitrah, and abrogation of tasattur is contrary to fitrah.} Civilization, however, has drawn women out of their homes, rent their veils, and corrupted mankind. For family life continues through the mutual love and respect of man and wife. But immodest dress has destroyed sincere respect and affection and has poisoned family life. While ‘ibâdah of images has shaken morality in appalling fashion, causing the abasement of man's rûh. This may be understood from the following: to look lustfully and with desire at the corpse of a beautiful woman who is in need of pity and compassion destroys morality; so too, to look lasciviously at the representations of dead women, or of living women, for they are like little corpses, shakes to their very roots the elevated human feelings and destroys them

The Twenty-Fifth Word/3rd Ray/2nd Radiance/Fourth Principle

 

The bid’ah of women and men intermingling 

Disseminating immodest clothing and women and men intermingling in the social life destroys the ma’nawî life.

 

Women Left Their Homes and Led Mankind Astray, They Must Return To Their Homes

اِذَا تَاَنَّثَ الرِّجَالُ السُّفَهَاءُ بِالْهَوَسَاتِ ٭ اِذًا تَرَجَّلَ النِّسَاءُ النَّاشِزَاتُ بِالْوَقَاحَاتِ9

{*This is the basis of Risale on Tasattur. Twenty years later, a court of law that made that risale the cause of its author's conviction eternally shamed and convicted itself and its judges.}

Vile civilization made womankind fly from their homes; it destroyed their blessedness and respect towards them and made them common goods.

As a rahmah, the Sharî’ah of Islam invites them to their previous homes. It is there, they are respected, their comfort is in their homes, in family life.

Cleanliness is their adornment; goodness of character is their splendour; innocence is their grace and beauty; compassion is their perfection’s beauty; their children are their amusement.

Despite so many causes of corruption, she has to be as strong and firm as steel so that she can withstand them.

When a beautiful woman enters a gathering of brothers, riyâ, rivalry, envy and selfishness stir the veins. Sleeping desires of the nafs suddenly awaken.

Increased freedom of womankind has caused a sudden unfolding of bad morality in mankind.

Little corpses, the smiling deads, which are called images, have played a great role in the violent-tempered rûh of civilized mankind. {**Just as to look lustfully at a dead woman shows extreme despicability of nafs, in the same way, to look with carnal desires at a beautiful picture of a helpless female corpse needy of compassion extinguishes the elevated feelings of the rûh.}

The statues and images prohibited by the Sharî’ah are either petrified dhulm, embodied riyâ, or frozen desires of the nafs. Or it is a talisman attracting those evil rûhs.

 The Words-Gleams

 

“There is a riwâyât: "The fitnah of the âkhirzaman will be so terrible that no one will be able to restrain their nafs." It is because of this that for one thousand three hundred years, on the command of the Prophet (asm), all the Ummah has sought refuge with Allah from that fitnah, the phrase of مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الدَّجَّالِ وَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ10 became the wird of the Ummah after seeking refuge from the torments of the grave.

Allahu a'lam bissawab11 an interpretation of it is like this: the fitnahs will draw nufûs to itself, captivating them. People will join it voluntarily, indeed, eagerly. For example, in Russia, men and women bathe naked together in public baths. And because by fitrah women have a strong propensity to show off their beauty, they willingly throw themselves into that fitnah and are led astray. The men too, by their fitrah enamoured of beauty, are defeated by their nafs, and with drunken joy, fall into the fire and are burnt. Holding a fascination, the amusements, kabâir, and bid’ahs of the times such as dancing and the theatre, draw those who perform ‘ibâdah to their nafs around them like moths, intoxicating them. But if this occurs through absolute compulsion, the will is negated and it is not even a sin.” The Rays ( 105 )

 

هَدَينَا اللّٰهُ وَ اِيَّاكُمْ اِلَى الصِّرَاطِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا اِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ