1st BOOK — 6th CHAPTER — PLACES WHERE THE NEAR (YAKIN) SHOULD BE SOUGHT
Paying attention to the states and conditions of the heart, and purifying them, is the custom of the scholars of the hereafter. Because it is the heart that ascends to the Divine Presence. This heart, however, has become strange and even lost. If a scholar speaks about the knowledge of the heart, the listeners say: «What incomprehensible and strange things is he saying?» and they are amazed. And they say about himself: «Here is a man who is giving a gilded sermon and selling words, where are the subtleties of struggle and debate?»
Abdul-Wahid b. Zayd said this verse beautifully:
There are many paths, but the true path is one. Those who enter the true path are few. They are also unknown and their intentions are not understood; they move slowly towards their goals. People are heedless of what is asked of them, and most of them are asleep on the true path.
In summary, most people incline towards what is easy and in accordance with their nature. The truth is difficult to attain, to understand it is arduous, and the path is steep. Especially knowing the qualities of the heart and purifying it from bad inclinations is difficult. Because this is always a matter of pulling the soul out of its prison.
The one who is sick, taking medicine out of hope for healing, is like the one who spends his life in fasting in order to break his fast with the news of an angel on the Day of Death. It was said about this that in Basra, although there were two hundred preachers, only three of them spoke about the knowledge of the near (YAKIN), the states of the heart, and the inner qualities. These were Abdullah Tustari, Subayh, and Abdurrahim. While the crowds gathered for the lessons of the others, very few came to these three, and never more than ten people. Because the value of a precious thing is only appreciated by certain people.
One of the signs of the scholars of the hereafter is that when acquiring knowledge, they rely on trust and the openness of the heart, and they understand everything with insight, without blindly imitating others. Only the Messenger of Allah, the Leader of the Prophets, is to be imitated in commands and prohibitions. Imitating the Companions implies that their deeds are based on what they heard from the Prophets. When we accept and imitate the words and deeds of the Messenger of Allah, it is also a desire to learn the subtleties of his words and deeds. The imitator says: «The Messenger did this, so I do this.» Indeed, every action of the Messenger has a wisdom, so it is necessary to investigate the secrets and wisdom in his actions and words.
One who merely memorizes what is said and done without understanding the wisdom and secrets is not a scholar, but a keeper of knowledge. For this reason, it is said that one who does not comprehend the wisdom and secrets of knowledge and merely memorizes it is not a scholar, but «a keeper of knowledge.» When the veil is lifted from the heart and it is illuminated by the light of Allah, others do not imitate him, but he is imitated and becomes the standard. For this reason, Ibn Abbas (RA) said:
«What is taken from the knowledge of anyone other than the Messenger of Allah is also taken, and what is left is also left.»
Ibn Abbas learned jurisprudence from Zayd b. Bābit and the science of recitation from Ubayy b. Ka’b. Later, he opposed both of them in certain matters. Indeed, some of the past scholars said: «We accept what comes to us from the Messenger of Allah (SAW) with the eye and the hand. What we receive from the Companions, we take and leave. As for the Successors, they are also human, and we are also human.»
The excellence of the Companions is that they saw the deeds and states of the Messenger of Allah — our Master — and they gave their hearts to the meanings that can be understood through the senses. Their condition led them to the truth without needing to be included in reports and narrations, because the prophethood that was bestowed upon them protected them from many errors.
Imitating others based on what is heard is not accepted, and is considered a form of imitation. Therefore, relying on books and writings is even further from being accepted. Because during the time of the Companions and the first Successors, there was no such thing as a book. These things began only after the death of Sa’id b. Musayyab, Hasan al-Basri, and others, who were all among the elders of the Successors, in the year 120 AH. The earlier ones, fearing that reciting the Qur’an and contemplating its meanings would prevent them from memorizing, did not approve of writing books or even Hadiths. They said: «Memorize what we have memorized, and you should also memorize it.» For this reason, some of the Companions, including the noble Abu Bakr, did not agree to compile the Qur’an together, fearing that people would become lazy and that the ambiguous verses of the Qur’an would be misread or cause disputes. They said: «Let us leave the Qur’an as it is, and let it be passed down from mouth to mouth through recitation and teaching.» Until the time when ‘Umar and other Companions (RA), fearing that people would become dull and that there would be no clear source for the ambiguous verses of the Qur’an or for disputes over a single word, pointed to the need to write the Qur’an. Upon the acceptance of this by Abu Bakr, the verses of the Qur’an were collected into a single manuscript. Ahmad b. Hanbal also did not consider it appropriate for Malik to write his book, and he said: «He did what the Companions did not do.»
THE FIRST WRITTEN BOOKS IN ISLAM
It is said that the first person in Islam to write a book was Ibn Jurayj; his work is related to Hadith (Asar). (He died in the year 146 AH). In Mecca, Mujahid, Ata, and Ibn Abbas also wrote a work on interpretation (Huruf al-Tafsir), based on their narration. In Yemen, Marwan b. Rashid San’ani wrote a book about the biography of the Messenger of Allah. Later, in Medina, Malik b. Anas wrote a book called Muvatta’, and Buwaydah al-Sawri classified a book called Jam’i’.
THE FIRST WRITTEN BOOKS ON KALAM
Later, in the fourth century, writings on Kalam began. The scholars and their treatises became immersed in refutations and arguments. Later, people began to desire to give sermons on these topics and to speak in short and concise ways. After that, the knowledge of the near (YAKIN) began to disappear. The knowledge of the heart, the qualities of the soul, and the science of searching for the tricks of Satan became strange. Again, few people turned to these sciences, while most of them turned away from them. People who engaged in Kalam debates were called «flame», and those who spoke in a fluent and eloquent manner with gilded sentences were called «scholars». The main reason for this was that the audience was not capable of distinguishing the truth, and they could not understand the difference between the knowledge and the morality of the Companions. In this way, these people were called «scholars», and the name passed from the predecessors to the successors. The knowledge of the hereafter was obscured. There was no difference left between knowledge and Kalam (debate). People other than the scholars could not distinguish between speaking and knowledge. Only the true scholars could say, when asked who was more learned, «So-and-so is a scholar, and so-and-so is a speaker», and they could distinguish between the two. Thus, in the past centuries, religion began to weaken.
1st BOOK — 6th CHAPTER — THE MEASURE OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE | 201
If you ask, «What is the condition of this age?» I would say that things have reached such a state that those who wish to correct these errors have gone so far that they will say it is permissible. In this age, the best thing for a person is to remain silent and be occupied with their own soul.
One of the signs of the scholars of the hereafter is to avoid things that are accepted by the people’s consensus, without giving them any value. The condition of the Companions should be about their morality and knowledge. Were all their efforts to teach, write books, debate, be judges, hold positions of authority, manage endowments, eat the food of orphans, mix with the people of the tribe, and maintain good relations with them? Or was it about fearing Allah Almighty, showing mercy to oneself, reflecting on the blessings of Allah, struggling against the soul, observing both inner and outer vigilance, avoiding both small and great sins, searching for the hidden desires of the soul, the tricks of Satan, and other inner sciences? Indeed, the true Muslim’s condition is to be occupied with the deeds of the noble Companions, and to be aware of what they did.
THE MEASURE OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
Indeed, know that the greatest scholar of the age and the one who is closest to Allah Almighty is the one who most resembles the Companions in every aspect, knows the path of the predecessors best, and takes the rulings of religion from them. For this reason, when someone said to Hazret-i Ali (RA): «You opposed so-and-so,» he replied: «The best of us is the one who makes this religion conform to us.» It is not correct to follow the people of the Messenger’s time and to fear the people of one’s own time. Unfortunately, because of the nature of people, they see their virtues in their own times, but they cannot admit that their actions have distanced them from Paradise. On the contrary, they say: «This is the way to Paradise.»
Hasan al-Basri says: «In Islam, there are two kinds of people who follow the path of innovation:
1— A person who, despite having a thought of annihilation, believes that those who think like him will enter Paradise, and
2— A person who has attained wealth and honor in this world, but whose devotion is to worldly matters, whose satisfaction is with worldly matters, and whose pursuit is also worldly matters. Both of them are the opposite. Because their destination is Hell. One of them is such that, even though he is surrounded by a rich man who invites him to worldly matters and a person possessed by desires who invites him to the desires of the soul, Allah Almighty protects him from the evils of both and turns him towards the good, investigates their affairs, and warns them. Indeed, this man is ready for a great reward.
202 , Ihyau ‘Ulumid-Din — Volume 1 — The Fourth Part of Worship
Therefore, strive to be like him,» he said.
It is reported from Masud as a narration and a hadith. He says:
«They are only two: one is speech, and the other is the path. The best of you is the speech of Allah, and the best path is the path of the Messenger. Beware of approaching what is later innovated, for those who innovate later are the ones who perish. Every innovation is a bid’ah, and every bid’ah is a deviation. Do not let time seem long to you — do not delay in performing deeds, lest your hearts become hardened. Know well that every coming thing is near. Be aware that what is not near will not come.»
The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said in one of his sermons:
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