Eight Types of People in Belief

The following is the written will prepared by Hüseyin Hilmi Işık on 24 Rabi-ul-awwal, 1410, which coincides with 24 Tashrini awwal, 1989, Tuesday:

There are eight kinds of people in the world:

1- Believer who is Sâlih (pious, good). He says that he is a Muslim. He holds the belief of Ahl as-sunna. A person who holds the belief of Ahl as-sunna is called Sunnî (Sunnite). He adapts himself to one of the four Madh-habs of the Ahl as-sunna. Thus in everything he does he is in a state of obedience to the Sharî’at. He performs his acts of worship in accordance with his Madh-hab. He avoids harâms (acts forbidden by Islam). If he makes an inadvertent mistake in this respect, he makes tawba by observing its conditions. Before sending his children to elementary school, he sends them to a Sâlih imâm or to a teacher of Qur’ân al-kerîm. He strives for their learning how to read Qur’ân al-kerîm, memorizing the sûras of Qur’ân to be recited in the namâz, and learning Ilmihâl. He sends them to elementary school after they have learned these things. He sends his sons to high school, to a university for education. It is a must that they learn religious knowledge and begin performing daily prayers of namâz regularly before elementary schooling. A father who does not bring up his children accordingly cannot be a Sâlih Muslim. He and his children will go to Hell. The worships he has done, e.g. pilgrimages, will not save him from going to Hell. The Muslim who is Sâlih will never enter Hell.

2- A Believer who is Aberrant. He says he is a Muslim, and he is a Muslim, too. Yet he is not Sunnî. He is without a Madh-hab. In other words, his belief does not agree with the belief taught by scholars of Ahl-sunna. Therefore none of his worships will be accepted. He will not escape Hell. If he does not perform the worships and commits harâms, he will remain in Hell additionally for these sins. Because his aberrant belief does not cause unbelief, he will not remain eternally in Hell. An example of such people is the Shiite group called Imâmiyya.

3- The Sinful Believer says he is a Muslim, and he is so. He is Sunnî, too. That is, he holds the belief of Ahl as-sunna. Yet he neglects some or all of the worships. He commits harâms. The sinful Believer will suffer Hell fire if he does not make tawba or attain Shafâ’at (intercession of the Prophet, one of the Awliyâ, or a Sâlih Muslim) or forgiveness of Allâhu ta’âlâ. Yet even in this case he will not remain in Hell eternally.

4- A disbeliever from birth is a person with parents who are (or were) disbelievers. He has been brought up as a disbeliever. He does not believe in the fact that Muhammad ’alaihi-salâm’ is the Prophet. Jews and Christians are disbelievers with (heavenly) books. Communists and freemasons are disbelievers without a book. They do not believe in rising after death, either. People who worship idols and icons are called Mushrik (polytheist). Disbelievers will go to Hell and will be subjected to eternal fire. None of the goodnesses they have done in the world will be of any use, nor will they save them form Hell. If a disbeliever becomes a Muslim before death, he will be pardoned and will become a Sâlih Muslim.

5- A Murtad (renegade) is a person who abandons Islam and becomes a disbeliever. All the worships and pious acts he did as a Muslim will be deleted and, therefore, will be of no value after death. If he becomes a Muslim again, he will be pardoned and will become an extremely pure Believer.

6- A Munâfiq says that he is a Muslim. Yet he is not a Muslim. He is in another religion. He is a disbeliever. He pretends to be a Muslim in order to deceive Muslims. A munâfiq is worse than an (undisguised) disbeliever. He is more harmful to Muslims. Formerly, the number of munâfiqs was rather great. There are next to none today.

7- A Zindîq also says that he is a Muslim. Yet he is not a member of any religion. He does not believe in rising after death. He is an insidious disbeliever. In order to mislead Muslims out of Islam and to demolish their religion from within, he presents his disbelief in the name of Islam. Qâdiyânîs, Bahâîs and Bektâshîs are in this group.

8- A Mulhid also claims to be a Muslim and thinks he is a Muslim. He performs Islam’s worships and avoids the harâms. Yet he has greatly digressed from the belief held by the Sunnites in his interpretation of Qur’ân al-kerîm, to the extent that some beliefs he holds abrogates his îmân and causes disbelief. In this group are Nusayrîs and Ismâîlîs, two Shiite sects, and Wahhabis. They try to present themselves as Believers and the Sunnîs, who are actually people with correct belief, as disbelievers. Since a person who calls a Believer a disbeliever will become a disbeliever himself, these people are worse and more harmful to Muslims than disbelievers are.

Any wise person would like to live in comfort and peace in the world and to avoid torment and attain infinite blessings in the Hereafter. Attaining comfort in the world and eternal blessings in the Hereafter requires being a Sâlih Muslim. And being a Sâlih Muslim, in its turn, requires learning the Islamic teachings from books written by scholars of the Ahl assuna. An ignorant person cannot even be a Muslim, let alone be a Sâlih one. How a Sâlih Muslim should be. In short:

1- He should believe as is taught by scholars of Ahl as-sunna. In other words, he must be a Sunnî.

2- Reading a book of fiqh belonging to one of the four Madh-habs, he should learn the teachings of the Sharî’at correctly, perform his acts of worship accordingly, and keep away from the harâms. A person who does not adapt himself to one of the four Madhhabs or selects the facilities in the four Madh-habs and thus makes a mixture of the Madh-habs, is called a ‘Madh-hab’less person. A Madh-habless person has abandoned the way of the Ahl as-sunna. And a person who is not a Sunnî must be either a heretic or a disbeliever.

3- He should work to make a living. He should earn his living through halâl means, carrying on his dealings in a manner compatible with the commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ. We live in such an age that a poor person can hardly protect his faith and chastity, not even his personal rights. To protect these values and serve Islam, he should utilize the latest scientific renovations and facilities. Earning through halâl ways is a great act of worship. Any way of earning that will not hinder the daily prayers of namâz and which will not cause one to commit harâms is good and blessed.

For worships and worldly dealings; being useful and blessed is dependent upon doing them only for Allah’s sake, earning only for Allah’s sake, and giving only for Allah’s sake; and in short having Ikhlâs. Ikhlâs means to love Allâhu ta’âlâ only and to love for the sake of Allâhu ta’âlâ only.