Imam-î Rabbânî (rahmat-Allahi ’alaih) who was born in the city of Sirhind, India, in 971 H. (Hijrî) (1564 A.D.) and passed away there in 1034 H. (Hijrî), 1625 A.D. Imam-î Rabbânî (rahmat-Allahi ’alaih) was mujaddid (strengthener and renewer of Islam after Hijrî 1000 year), great walî (loved and protected by Allah), master of fiqh (knowledge dealing with what Muslims actions) and master of tasawwuf (Sufism defined by Islam). He wrote letters to some of the famous great commanders, statesmen and his pupils. All of his letters collected in the book Maktûbât (Letters) which consists of three volumes (I, II, III) and they contain five hundred and thirty six letters.
The origine of the following letter were written to Shaikh Darwish, explains that the best medicine for clearing away the rust of loving others from the heart is to hold on to the Sunnat-i saniyya.
May Allahu ta’âlâ give you salvation! As long as a man remains attached to various things his heart cannot be purified. As long as it remains foul it will remain deprived of and far from happiness. Loving things other than Allahu ta’âlâ blackens, stains the heart, which is called Haqîqat-i-Jâmi’a (that which has accumulated everything within itself). This stain should be cleared away. The best cleaner is to follow, to obey, the Sunnat-i saniyya-i Mustafâwiyya (’alâ masdariha-ssalâtu was-salâmi wat-tahiyya). Following the Sunnat-i saniyya does away with the habits and the desires of the nafs that cause the heart to darken.
How lucky for those who are honoured with receiving this blessing! Shame upon those who are deprived of this high luck! May Allahu ta’âlâ give salvation to you and to those who follow the righteous way!
[The word “sunnat” has three meanings in our religion. When “the Book and Sunnat” is said together, “the Book” means “the Qur’ân” and “Sunnat” means “hadîths.” When referred to as “fard and sunnat” fard means “Allah’s commands” and “sunnat” means our “Prophet’s sunnat, that is, his commands”. When the word “sunnat” is used alone, it means “the sharî’at, that is, all the rules of Islâm”. Fiqh books say that this is so. For instance, it is written in the book Mukhtasar al-Qudûrî, “He who knows the sunnat the best becomes the imâm (when Muslims perform namâz in congregation (jamâ’at), one of them leads, conducts namâz. He is called the imâm).” In explaining this point, the book Jawhara says, “Here, ‘Sunnat’ means Islam’.”
It is understood that it is necessary to obey Islam for purifying the heart. Obeying the Sharî’at means doing the commandments and abstaining from prohibitions and bid’ats.
Bid’at means something that was invented afterwards. They are things that had not existed during the time of our Prophet and his four caliphs ‘radiy-Allâhu anhum’ which were fabricated and done in the name of worships. For example, since it is necessary to recite the (âyat called) Âyat-al-Kursî (verses in the Qur’ân are called âyats. There are 6236 âyats in the Qur’ân. “Âyat-ul-kursî” is one of them. It explains the greatness of Allah and that His power is infinite immediately after the (five daily prayers called) namâz, it is bid’at to recite the (prayer termed) ‘Salâtan Tunjînâ’ or to say other prayers. (The word salât means both namâz and prayer. Muslims send their prayers to Allah so that the Prophet’s grade will go up and he will be given more blessings. Such prayers are called salât, too. Allah loves those who pray so. He rescues them from trouble. Salâtan Tunjînâ means to ask a blessing on the Prophet in order to get rid of problems). These must be recited after Âyat-ul-Kursî and telling the tasbîhs (After namâz, it was the Prophet’s habit, so it is sunna, to recite “Âyat-ul-kursî”, once, to say “subhânallah” thirty-three times, which means, ‘there is no defect in Allah,’ “alhamdulillâh” thirty-three times, which means, ‘hamd, thanks done to anybody will have been done to Him, for He is the only One who sends every favour,’ “Allahu akbar” thirty-three times, which means, ‘Allah’s greatness cannot be comprehended through the mind, through knowledge or through thoughts.’ This procedure is called “telling one’s tasbîhs,” or counting beads on a rosary of 3×33=99 beads). It is bid’at to prostrate and then get up after finishing namâz and saying duâ (personal, individual prayer.) It is bid’at to call the azân through loudspeakers (At prescribed prayer times; morning, noon, afternoon, evening and night, a Muslim goes up the minaret and calls all Muslims to pray. This is called the “azân” or adhân).
Every kind of change and reform in the religion is bid’at. On the other hand, it is not bid’at to use forks and spoons, to wear ties, to drink coffee or tea, or to smoke cigarettes, for they are not worships, but habits, and they are mubâh. They are not harâm. Statements made by Islamic scholars about smoking are quoted and explained in detail in the (Turkish) book Se’âdet-i ebediyye. There are three types of bid’at:
1 – It is the worst bid’at to use things which Islam says are symbols of disbelief.
2 – Kinds of belief not conforming with what the Ahl-i sunnat scholars communicate are also bad bid’ats.
3 – Renovations and reforms done as worships are bid’ats and are grave sins.]
Ref: Maktûbât (The Letters) were written by Hadrat Imam-î Rabbânî (rahmat-Allahi ’alaih) were.in the Persian language in origine. Some of the Letters are translated in Turkish and published in the book “Tam İlmihal Seâdet-i Ebediye” written by Hüseyn Hilmi Işık ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ,’ who passed away in1422 A.H (2001 A.D.) in Istanbul / Turkey.
This paragraphes are quoted from the book “Endless Bliss” first fascicle page 95, which is the translation of the book “Tam İlmihal Seâdet-i Ebediye”. The book “Tam İlmihal Seâdet-i Ebediye” and “Endless Bliss” published by Hakikat Kitabevi, Istanbul.
You can find the whole book and the other valuable books in the web site www.hakikatkitabevi.com.tr and download in PDF format for Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB format for iPhone-iPad-Mac devices and MOBI format for Amazon Kindle device.
Turkey Tribune
