Today, there are two kinds of disbelievers in the world.
First there are disbelievers with a heavenly book (people of the book). They are Jews and Christians. They believe in Rising and in eternal life after death.
Second, there are disbelievers without a holy book, that is, mushriks who do not believe in one Allah, the Creator of all.Some of these disbelievers, by using State oppression, cruelty and torture, prohibit worshipping, and the teaching of religion. And some of them, through words that provoke feelings of goodness and humanity, cause others to fall into debauchery. They also cause them to be deprived of moral and religious knowledge. Putting forth false stories and mendacious examples, they deceive millions of people. They train them as religiously ignorant people. In other words, on the one hand, they talk about civilization, science and human rights, and, on the other hand, they animalize human beings. This is a policy followed by British spies. (Please see our books entitled Confessions of a British Spy and Documents of the Right Word.)
People of Europe and America have holy books. Copernicus, the founder of modern astronomy, was a priest in Freienburg. Bacon, the great physicist of England, was a priest belonging to the Franciscan Church. The famous French physicist Pascal was a priest and wrote religious books while exploring the laws of physics and geometry. The famous Richelieu, who was France’s greatest prime minister and the one who brought France to the leading position in Europe, was a high ranking clergyman. Also Schiller, the great German doctor and poet, was a priest. Bergson, the French thinker and a world-famous philosopher, in his books defended spirituality against the attacks of materialists. Those who read his books Matlère et Mèmomiera, Les deux Sources de la Morale et de la Religion and Essai sur les Données Immédiates de la Conscience will eagerly believe in religion and the next world.
William James, the great American philosopher, founded the sect of pragmatism; and in his book Religious Experiments and others, he praised being a believer. French doctor Pasteur, who had studied on infectious diseases, bacteria and various vaccinations, willed that his funeral be performed with a religious ceremony. Finally, F.D. Roosevelt, an American President, who administered the world in the Second World War, and the British Prime Minister Churchill were Christian believers. Many scientists and politicians, whose names we cannot remember, were all persons who believed in the Creator, the next world, and angels. Who can ever claim that those who disbelieve are wiser than these people? They would have been good Muslims if they had seen and read Islamic books. But reading, even touching, Islamic books was prohibited because it was deemed a grave sin by their priests. Those priests prevented people from attaining happiness both in the world and in the Hereafter. Please see the twenty-sixth chapter, about Social Justice, Socialism, and Capitalism, in the thirty-eighth chapter of the second fascicle of Endless Bliss.
Imâm-i ’Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ said: “Muslims believe in the next world. Disbelievers without a heavenly book deny it. If there weren’t a rising, disbelievers would not gain anything and Muslims would not suffer any harm. But since what disbelievers believe will not happen, they will suffer eternal torment.” Islamic scholars prove their words true and respond to the attacks of disbelievers through reason, knowledge and science. Could Rising be denied if Muslims did not prove their words to be true? Even if being under eternal torment were only a probability, whose wisdom would take the risk of it? Nevertheless, torment in the next world is not only a probability, but an obvious fact.Then, it is unwise not to believe.
On the other hand, some enemies of Islam, seeing that through reason and knowledge they won’t be able to vitiate the sound îmân of the people and that they only display their own disgrace, resort to tricks and lies. They pretend to be Muslims, write false articles that seem to like and praise Islam; but in these articles and statements of theirs, by disputing the essential and basic principles of Islam, they cast a bad light on them as if they were not a part of Islam. They try to alienate and estrange the readers and audience from them. Casting doubts on the times for, amounts of, and kinds of worship, which Allâhu ta’âlâ has dictated, they express a belief that it would be better if worships were done in another way. Knowing nothing of the delicacies, uses and values that are hidden in the inner soul of worships, they consider them as a medium for simple and primitive functions; and they act as if they were trying to correct them. It is a defect in men not to know something; it is all the more funny and pathetic to interfere with something that one doesn’t understand. And the Muslims who obey and believe such ignorant people and suppose them to be wise are even poorer and more stupid. And some of those insidious and ignorant disbelievers say, “Yes, Islam commands developing good habits, being healthy, working hard, and it prohibits evils and matures people. These are necessary for every nation. Yet there are also social rules, the rights of family and community in Islam. These were established in accordance with the circumstances of ancient times. Today, nations have grown larger, circumstances have changed and needs have increased. New rules and laws are necessary to meet today’s technical and social improvements. Rules in the Qur’ân cannot meet these needs.” Such words are the absurd and out-of-place thoughts of the ignorant who do not know of Islamic laws and Islamic knowledge. Islam has declared clearly what justice and cruelty are, what rights and duties people have towards one another, families and neighbors towards one another, people towards the government, and governments towards one another. Islam states what a crime is, and it has put basic rules upon these unchangeable concepts. It has not limited the practising of these unchangeable rules on all events and happenings, but has commanded them to be practised in accordance with common usage. In the book Durar-ul-Hukkâm, a commentary to Majalla,[1] from article 36 onward, it is written: “The rules depending upon a Nass (âyat-i kerîmas or hadîth-i sherîfs with open meanings) or a Dalîl (proof) does not change in the course of time; however, the rules depending upon customs and common usage may change with time. The Hukm-i Kullî (general rule) does not change, but its application to events may change in time. In worship, ‘common usage’ becomes dalîl in order to give clarity and to inform people of a rule which is not declared by a Nass. To classify a custom as ‘common usage’, it must originate from the time of the Sahâba-i kirâm, and it must be known that it has been used by the Mujtahîds and that it has continued to be used. In the rules of mu’âmalât (transactions), customs prevailing in a region which don’t contradict a Nass also become dalîl. These can be understood by scholars of Fiqh. Allâhu ta’âlâ has established the Islamic religion in such a manner that it addresses every new development and invention in every country. Showing toleration and latitude not only in social life, but also in worships, the Islamic religion has given men freedom and the right of ijtihâd when they confront with different conditions and necessities. During the times of Hadrat ’Umar, the Umayyads and such a big empire as the Ottoman Empire, large communities of various peoples, living over continents, were administered with these divine rules. Muslims’ accomplishments and glories have been famous throughout history. And in the future, every nation, big or small, will attain comfort, peace and happiness in proportion to the extent to which it obeys and practises these unchangeable divine rules. Nations and societies which deviate from the social and economic rules declared by Islam will not escape hardships, suffering and trouble. It is written in history that this has been so with nations in the past, and so will it certainly be in the future. History is repetitive.
Muslims should attach great importance to national unity and solidarity; they should be extremely active materially and morally in making their country stronger; they should learn the teachings of the Islamic religion very well; they should abstain from harâms; and they should pay their debts to Allâhu ta’âlâ and His born slaves. They should be embellished with the beautiful morals of Islam and should not cause harm to anybody. They should not be a means of agitation or anarchy, and they should pay their taxes. Our religion, Islam, wants us to behave in that manner. The first obligation of a Muslim is to avoid being guilty judicially and sinning, by not following the devil or one’s nafs, and by not believing bad, insidious, disobedientand rebelliouspeople. Allâhu ta’âlâ imposed three obligations on His human beings. The first one is a personal obligation. Every Muslim must be well trained, healthy, well mannered, and good tempered. He must perform his ’ibâdats and learn knowledge,high-morality, and he must work for halâl sustenance. The second obligation is to be fulfilledwithin the family. One must observe the rights of one’s parents, children, and siblings. The third obligation concerns those which must be performed within the context of the society. These are the obligations relating to a Muslim’s neighbours, teachers, family, the people he employs, the government, the state, and people belonging to different religions and nationalities. It is a must to help everyone, not to insult or hurt anyone, to be helpful towards everybody, not to revolt against the state, the government, the laws, to observe everybody’s rights, and to pay taxes in time. Allâhu ta’âlâ doesnot commandus to interfere with governmental and state affairs. Allâhu ta’âlâ commands us to help the government and to avoid provocation.]
[1] An extremely valuable book of Islamic jurisprudence written by Ahmad Jawdat (Cevdet) Pâsha ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, (1238 [1823 A.D.], Lowicz – 1312 [1894], Istanbul. Its commentary entitled Durar-ul-Hukkâm, by Alî Haydar Begh, (d. 1355 [1937 A.D.],) also is very valuable.
Source: Endless Bliss (Se’âdet-i Ebediyye) by Hüseyn Hilmi Işık, Nineteenth Edition, Hakikat Kitabevi, 20014
