If an objection is raised such as, ‘It is not possible to categorize the Ihyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn,’ we would respond as follows: Among the acts mentioned by the jurist (faqīh), those closest to the acts of the Hereafter fall into three categories: 1. Islam, 2. Prayer and zakat, 3. The lawful and the unlawful. If you consider the ultimate conclusions reached by the jurist in these three areas, you will see that even in these matters, the jurist does not go beyond the boundaries of this world and does not enter the boundaries of the Hereafter. Once it is understood that the jurist’s position regarding these three topics is as such, it becomes easier to know his position on other matters. As for Islam, the jurist can only speak about what is valid (ṣaḥīḥ), invalid (fāsid), and the conditions thereof.
The jurist can look at nothing but the outward expression (lafẓ) in this matter. The qalb (the heart) is outside the scope of the jurist. For the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) distanced those with the sword and authority from knowing the heart by saying, ‘Did you split open his heart and look inside?’ The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said this to a Companion (ṣaḥābī) who had killed a man who had pronounced the testimony of faith (shahāda). That Companion claimed that the man only uttered the shahāda out of fear of the sword. It is the jurist’s duty to judge the iman (faith) of a person who has accepted faith under duress as valid. Yet the jurist knows very well that the iman of someone who has entered faith by force of the sword is not sound, and it is always possible for him to change his mind.
This is because he has not torn the veil of ignorance from his qalb. Rather, he has become Muslim out of fear of the sword descending upon his neck and the confiscation of his property. The shahāda he utters with his tongue protects his neck from the sword and his property from plunder. Provided that his neck has not been struck off and his property not looted before he utters the shahāda! Therefore, this ruling is only valid in this world. Indeed, to clarify this secret, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ^? ^ ı_^ ii lijiü ı& â.^ı dı Sı ı;^ J^ >ûı jıiîî Sı S>i 72) Muslim, (from Usāma b. Zayd)
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Part II
I have been commanded to fight the people until they say, ‘Lā ilāha illā Allāh.’ When they say this word, they protect their property and lives from me. The Messenger of God emphasized that the effect of this word is only upon life and property. It is well known to everyone that in the Hereafter, property and life have no value. In the Hereafter, only the light, secret, and ikhlas (sincerity) of the qalb will benefit a person. These, however, are outside the matters with which fiqh is concerned. If the jurist delves into such matters—just as if he were to delve into kalām (theology) or medicine—he would be stepping outside his own field. As for prayer, the jurist is obliged to judge every prayer performed as valid if its outward conditions are met. If the outward conditions are fulfilled, the jurist cannot avoid confirming the validity of that prayer.
Whether the person performing the prayer is preoccupied with business in the marketplace or thinking about personal matters during the prayer, the jurist is compelled to accept the validity of his prayer. According to the jurist, presence of qalb is required at the opening takbīr (taḥrīm takbīr). A prayer performed in heedlessness—just as the shahāda uttered only by the tongue does not benefit Islam—will not benefit the person in the Hereafter. Yet the jurist must accept as valid both the shahāda uttered only by the tongue and the prayer performed by observing only the outward conditions. For the one who utters the shahāda with his tongue is considered to have obeyed the command; the ruling of being killed or rebuked is lifted from him.
As for the tranquility and humility (khushūʿ) of the qalb, which are among the acts of the Hereafter and which alone make outward acts beneficial, the jurist is neither authorized to discuss nor to investigate their subtleties. If he attempts such an investigation, he steps outside his own field. As for zakat, the jurist considers only up to the limits of fulfilling the sultan’s demand. If a person avoids giving zakat and the sultan forcibly takes it from him, the jurist must rule that such a person is absolved of his zakat obligation. (Bukhārī, Muslim, from Abū Hurayra and ʿAmr b. ʿUmar)
Ihyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn It is narrated that Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf, at the end of the year, would gift his property to his wife and have her gift her property to him in order to reduce his zakat liability. When this was reported to Imām Abū Ḥanīfa, he said: ‘He is able to do this because of his knowledge of the subtleties of fiqh (the law).’ Indeed, Abū Ḥanīfa spoke the truth. For Abū Yūsuf was able to do this due to his mastery of the fiqh that is valid in this world. However, in the Hereafter, the burden of this is greater than that of other sins. Therefore, any knowledge that leaves the door open to such negative outcomes is considered among the harmful sciences. As for the lawful and the unlawful, abstaining from the unlawful is part of religion.
However, taqwa (God-consciousness) has four degrees. The first is the degree of taqwa required for bearing witness, which is the state of abstaining from manifestly unlawful things. Abandoning this taqwa causes a person to lose the right to bear witness, judge, or govern. The second is the taqwa of the righteous, which is to avoid matters that are doubtful. As the Messenger of God said: ‘Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt!’ .^piı ;ı> ^i Sin is that which clouds and dominates the qalb and causes anxiety due to doubts! The third is the taqwa of the muttaqīn (those who are truly God-conscious), which is to abandon even the purely lawful out of fear that it may be unlawful. As the Messenger of God said: 74) Abū Yūsuf’s kunya is Yaʿqūb b.
Ibrāhīm. He was a student of Abū Ḥanīfa. He served as judge in Baghdad during the time of al-Hādī and Hārūn al-Rashīd. He was born in the year 114 AH and died in Baghdad in 183 AH. (Tirmidhī, Nasāʾī, and Ibn Ḥibbān, from Ḥasan b. ʿAlī) 76) Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-Īmān, from Ibn Masʿūd
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Part II
*< ^î oUı3 «j ^b Sli ^JLf ûrî J^1 ûj^îSl A person cannot be among the muttaqīn unless he abandons harmless things out of fear of what is harmful. Always speaking of people’s good qualities to avoid backbiting, and not feeding the nafs (the lower self) what it desires so that the urge for blameworthy acts does not arise, are among the best examples of this. The taqwa of the ṣiddīqūn (the truthful) is to avoid wasting even a moment of one’s life on matters pertaining to anything other than Allah (mā siwā), so as not to be distant from acts that bring one closer to Allah, and to turn away from everything in the world. Even if such a person knows that engaging with mā siwā will not lead him to the unlawful, he should still withdraw from it. As for the taqwa required of witnesses and judges, all degrees other than the first—those that do not contradict outward justice but do not eliminate sins in the Hereafter—are outside the view of the jurist.
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Wābisa: .Üpl jlj Üyil ölj İJyil ûlj çXl Even if they give you a fatwa, even if they give you a fatwa, even if they give you a fatwa, still ask your own qalb for a fatwa! The jurist cannot speak about the states of the qalb (the doubts into which hearts fall and how they act upon those doubts). The jurist can only speak about the states and attributes that impair or nullify justice. Thus, the jurist’s duty is tied to resolving worldly matters, which are the place for preparing provisions for the Hereafter. If the jurist speaks about the attributes of the qalb and the rulings of the Hereafter, this is a secondary matter for him, and his words are of secondary importance. (Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, and Ḥākim) 78) This person is the son of Mābad al-Azdī.
He was among the leading Companions (ṣaḥāba). He was born in the 9th year of the Hijra and died in Riqqa. (Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Musnad)
In the Ihyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, such matters are therefore secondary for the jurist. Just as a jurist sometimes speaks about the sciences of medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and kalām, which are outside his profession, so too does he sometimes speak about the sciences of the qalb. Similarly, the science of wisdom (ḥikma) sometimes overlaps with grammar (naḥw) and poetry, but this is a secondary overlap. Sufyān al-Thawrī, the greatest of his age in the outward sciences, used to say, ‘The purpose of the science of fiqh is not to provide provisions for the Hereafter.’ How could it be? Did not the pious predecessors (salaf al-ṣāliḥīn) unanimously say that the honor of knowledge lies in acting upon it? Then how can knowledge about ẓihār, ḥān, salam, ijāra, and ṣarf be considered acts that are beneficial? Whoever studies these sciences to draw closer to Allah is truly deluded!
Action is only performed by the qalb and the limbs. Honor lies in these acts. If you say, ‘Why do you equate and consider on the same level the science of medicine, which is a worldly science beneficial for bodily health and thus related to the well-being of religion, and the science of fiqh? Your claim contradicts the consensus (ijmāʿ) of all Muslims,’ we reply: They need not be equal, and indeed they are not… There are great differences between them. The science of fiqh is more noble, more honorable, and superior to the other science in three respects. Fiqh is a revealed (sharʿī) science inherited from prophethood (nubuwwa). Medicine is not among the revealed sciences. Travelers on the path to the Hereafter need the science of fiqh whether they are ill or not.
As for medicine, only those who are physically ill need it. The science of fiqh is the neighbor of the science of the Hereafter. For fiqh means to look at the acts performed by the limbs. The source of the acts seen in the limbs is the qalb. That is, the outward movements of a person are manifestations of his qalb. Good acts, which will save a person in the Hereafter, arise from good character; bad acts arise from bad character. It is clear that the limbs are related to the qalb. As for the health or illness of the body, their source is the soundness or imbalance of temperament, which is among the natural properties of the body and not related to the qalb. Therefore, whenever medicine is compared to fiqh, it is clear that fiqh is superior to medicine.
When the science of the Hereafter is compared to fiqh, however, the science of the Hereafter is found to be superior to fiqh.
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Part II
If you wish to know the science of the path to the Hereafter—even though the details of this science are countless—know that the science of the Hereafter is of two kinds: 1. The science of unveiling (ʿilm al-mukāshafa), 2. The science of transactions (ʿilm al-muʿāmala). The science of unveiling is an inward science and is the ultimate point of all sciences. For this reason, some of the gnostics (ʿārifūn) have said: ‘One who has no share in this science, his end is to be feared. To have even a small share of this science is to affirm it and to submit to the states of the great ones who possess it.’ Another said: ‘Whoever possesses two traits, no door of the science of the Hereafter will be opened to him. These two traits are innovation (bidʿa) and arrogance (kibr).’ It is also said: ‘One who befriends the world or pursues the desires of his nafs cannot attain the science of the path to the Hereafter.’
Yet the way to attain all sciences is first to learn the path of the science of the Hereafter. The lightest punishment for denying the science of the Hereafter is that the denier will have no share in that science at all.’ This poem supports this statement: Be content with the loss of what is lost from you! For this is a sin whose punishment is contained within itself. This science, that is, the science of unveiling, is the science of the truthful (ṣiddīqūn) and those near to Allah. This science is attained when the qalb is purified, stripped of all bad traits, and turned to light. From that luminous state, many realities are disclosed. A person, having previously heard the names of these things, may guess their meanings in general, but when his qalb becomes luminous, he comprehends all these meanings, understands perfectly the essence of Allah’s divinity, His attributes, His acts, the wisdom behind the creation of this world and the Hereafter, and the reasons for preferring the Hereafter over this world.
At the same time, he truly knows the meaning of prophethood, the prophet, revelation, the term ‘shayṭān,’ the term ‘angel,’ and the phrase ‘shayāṭīn’ (devils). He also understands in detail how the angel appeared to the prophets, how revelation descended upon them, and the nature of these events. He becomes aware of the secrets of the heavens and the earth. He sees with complete clarity the states of the qalb and the struggle between angels and shayāṭīn within the qalb.
Ihyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn He acquires the faculty to distinguish between inspiration from the angel and the whispering of the shayṭān. He also knows with certainty the reality of the Hereafter, Paradise, Hell, the torment of the grave, the bridge (ṣirāṭ), the balance (mīzān), and what will occur on the Day of Reckoning. ‘Read your book! Your own nafs is sufficient this day as a reckoner against you.’ (Qur’an, 17:14) and ‘The life of this world is nothing but play and amusement. But the home of the Hereafter is the true life, if only they knew…’ (Qur’an, 29:64)—he truly understands the meaning of these verses. He also understands what it means to meet Allah, to gaze upon His Divine Beauty (jamāl-i ilāhī), and to draw near to Him spiritually. He comprehends the happiness that comes from the companionship of the highest assembly, and the meaning of being with the angels and the prophets.
He knows the difference in the degrees of the people of Paradise—such that the difference between some of the people of Paradise is so great that, just as we look at the stars shining in the sky, some of the people of Paradise will gaze in wonder at the states of those at higher levels. There are many more things that would take too long to enumerate… For after people affirm the essence of these realities, they hold various opinions about their meanings. Some people believe that all these realities are metaphors, and that the blessings Allah has prepared for His righteous servants are things that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no one has even imagined. According to them, people only know the attributes and names of Paradise, but are completely unaware of its realities.
Some people accept some of these realities as metaphors, while others believe they are realities understood from their literal expressions. Others hold that the highest point of knowing Allah is for the servant to acknowledge his own incapacity and confess that he knows nothing about Him. Some claim that there are great matters in knowing Allah. Others say that the point people have reached is only a descriptive knowledge (maʿrifatullāh). The belief of the people is as follows: Allah exists, knows everything, is powerful over everything, hears, speaks… What we mean by the science of unveiling is the removal of the veil and the clear, doubtless witnessing of the truth in all these matters.
This
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Part II
is a state possible according to human nature. But only if the mirror of the qalb has been cleansed and purified from the rust of worldly filth… What we mean by the science of the Hereafter is the knowledge that informs us of the cleansing of the mirror of the qalb from filth. The stains that cover that mirror are veils over Allah’s essence, attributes, and acts. The cleansing of this mirror is only possible by guarding against desires and following the prophets in all states. The more the mirror is cleansed and becomes the mirror of the truth, the more it reflects realities. To reach this level, one must follow, learn, and teach the path of spiritual discipline (riyāḍa), which will be shown in later sections. These are the sciences not written in books but only disclosed to those who are worthy. This knowledge can only be opened to those who are worthy through mutual discussion.
As the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ILA^' p ijîtl blî JU; 4Jb li^Jl jii ^ IILlS jyO Û^ (JLİi ^' 3* j^j y İl 3li o 11L jbJ & iûi UJU ij^! ^ < JuJ 451 J^i jji 3'1 There is a portion of knowledge that is like hidden jewels. Only those who know Allah (ʿārifūn) know it. When those who know Allah speak of this knowledge, only those heedless of Allah fail to understand them. Never belittle a servant to whom Allah has granted this knowledge; for Allah has not belittled him. The proof that He has not belittled him is that He has given him this knowledge.
The second section pertains to the science of transactions (ʿilm al-muʿāmala). This science consists of knowing the states of the qalb, such as sabr (patient endurance), shukr (gratitude), fear, hope, riḍā (contentment with God’s decree), zuhd (asceticism), taqwa, contentment, generosity, and knowing that one is always grateful to Allah in all these states; as well as ihsan (spiritual excellence), good opinion (ḥusn al-ẓann), good character, good social conduct, truthfulness, and ikhlas (sincerity). Knowing the realities of all these states, understanding their limits, perceiving their means, reaping their fruits, and treating and strengthening their weak and frail aspects are all considered part of the science of the Hereafter. (Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad b. Ḥusayn al-Sulamī, Arbaʿīn, from Abū Hurayra; see Targīb wa Tarhīb, Bāb al-ʿIlm)