EXPLANATION OF SCIENCES WHOSE MEANINGS HAVE BEEN ALTERED BY THEIR EXPRESSIONS
Admit that the sources of the highest sciences, in relation to the sciences of the sharia (sharia—the sacred law), have, with ill intentions, distorted their praiseworthy names and transferred them in contradiction to the meanings intended by the righteous people of the first generation. These are five praiseworthy names: fiqh (understanding of religion), ʿilm (knowledge), tawhid (the oneness of God), tadhkīr (reminding), and ḥikma (wisdom). Those adorned with these are people of rank in religion. Alas, these terms are no longer transmitted with the meanings they once held, and since the attribution of these names has become widespread, hearts are averse to criticizing those characterized by these meanings.
THE FIRST TERM: Fiqh. This word was not transferred or changed to another meaning. However, it was restricted to knowing the intricate issues of the branches of fiqh (furūʿ al-fiqh), understanding the subtleties of their causes, elaborating on these matters, and memorizing the related treatises. Whoever knows the subtleties of the branches of fiqh and is much occupied with them, is called more of a faqih (jurist). Yet, in the first generation, fiqh referred to knowledge of the path to the Hereafter, understanding the subtleties of the calamities of the nafs (the lower self), knowing what corrupts deeds, not valuing the world, being attached to the blessings of the Hereafter, and having the qalb (the heart) enveloped in fear of Allah.
Indeed, the following noble verse of Allah Most High clearly demonstrates this:
"...that they may gain understanding in religion and warn their people when they return to them, so that they may beware." (Qur'an, 9:122)
What is meant by warning is precisely this fiqh. It is not knowing the issues of divorce, manumission, liʿān, salam, and leasing. For with these issues, neither warning nor instilling fear is achieved. Rather, being occupied solely with these diminishes the fear in the heart and darkens it, as is seen in those who are so occupied. Regarding such people, Allah Most High has said:
"They have hearts with which they do not understand." (Qur'an, 7:179)
Here, from the word yafqahūn, what is meant is not "they do not understand legal rulings," but rather "they do not understand what iman (faith) is." By my life, both the words fiqh and fahm have the same meaning in language. Among the Arabs, in both old and new dialects, they are used synonymously. Allah Most High says:
"Indeed, they fear you more than Allah. That is because they are a people who do not understand." (Qur'an, 59:13)
Their lack of fear of Allah and their magnification of the attacks of people is attributed to their lack of fiqh. See whether their not being faqih is because they do not know the varieties of legal rulings, or because they do not know what we have explained. The Messenger of God (peace be upon him), regarding a group who came to visit him, did not ask them about legal issues, but about the fundamentals of iman, deeds, and character, and upon their explanation of their good qualities, he said:
"They are learned, wise, and faqih." (79)
(Yet none of them knew fiqh issues in the other sense.) When Bādʾa ibn Ibrāhīm from the Zuhri tribe was asked, "Which city's people are more faqih?" he replied, "Those who fear Allah Most High more," thus indicating the result of fiqh. For the inner fruit of knowledge is not legal rulings and verdicts, but taqwa (God-consciousness). The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said in a hadith:
"The Prophet said: 'Shall I inform you who the true faqih is?' When they replied, 'Yes, O Messenger of Allah,' he said: 'Those who do not cause people to despair of Allah's mercy, nor make them feel secure from His wrath, nor abandon the Qur'an in favor of something else.'" (80)
He also said: "To sit with those who remember Allah from the first light of dawn until sunrise is more beloved to me than freeing four slaves." (81)
When he narrated this blessed saying, he turned to Zayd ar-Raqqāshī and Ziyād an-Numayrī and said: "The gatherings of dhikr (remembrance of God) are not like your gatherings, where you constantly read hadiths and preach. We used to sit, discuss iman, reflect on the Qur'an, strive to gain fiqh in religion, count and understand the blessings Allah had given us, and considered reflecting on the meanings of the Qur'an as fiqh." Thus, he called reflecting on the meanings of the Qur'an and counting Allah's blessings with understanding as "fiqh." The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said:
"A person is not a true faqih until he refrains from disputing with people for Allah's sake and accepts that the Qur'an has many aspects." (82)
Similarly, in a mawqūf (Companion-stopped) narration from Abū'd-Dardāʾ, it is added:
"Then he turns to himself and is more severe with his own soul regarding the Essence of the Creator than with anyone else."
Farkad as-Sanjī asked Hasan al-Basrī a question and, after receiving the answer, said, "Why do the fuqahāʾ (jurists) object to your verdicts?" Hasan replied:
— May your mother lose you, O little Farkad! Have you ever seen a faqih with your own eyes? A faqih is one who turns his back on the world and faces the Hereafter, protects his religion, sees his own faults, continues in worship of Allah Most High, is so cautious as to protect himself from all doubts and from coveting the honor of Muslims (and indeed all people), refrains from greed for people's wealth, and gives sincere advice to the people. In describing the faqih in this way, I do not mean that the science of fiqh has no connection to legal verdicts. It does have a connection, but only in a general and comprehensive way, or in that it is subordinate to the knowledge of the Hereafter. Indeed, the ancients used to call this science more often the knowledge of the Hereafter. Because of the confusion arising from restricting this science to legal verdicts alone, the knowledge of the Hereafter and the states of the qalb were neglected. (Because this is easy), but the inner knowledge is hidden, difficult to understand, and hard to practice. Through inner knowledge, it is difficult to attain worldly positions such as judgeship, leadership, rank, and wealth. By means of the name of "fiqh," which is accepted in the sharia, Satan found a way to make this science appear attractive to them.
(82) Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, from Seddād b. Aws.
THE SECOND TERM: ʿIlm (Knowledge). Originally, ʿilm referred to knowing the signs (āyāt) of Allah Most High's essence and His dealings with His creation. Even when ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said at the death of ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him), "Nine-tenths of knowledge has died," he used the word ʿilm in the definite form (al-ʿilm) and explained this knowledge as knowing Allah Most High. However, they also changed this word by using it in a specific sense. Often, the word ʿilm was used to mean disputation in fiqh and other issues, and those who excelled in this were called true scholars, the elite of the scholars.
Those who could not engage in such disputation were not considered among the true scholars, but remained among the ordinary. This is a change in the word ʿilm and its use in a specific sense. Yet, in the Qur'an and hadith, the knowledge and scholars whose virtues are mentioned are those who know Allah Most High, His rulings, actions, and attributes. Now, this name is given to those who have not comprehended the sciences of the sharia in detail, but only engage in disputation through logic and try to defeat their opponents. Even if they are ignorant in tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), hadith, and the sciences of the schools of law, such people are counted as the elite of the scholars, and this has led to the destruction of many seekers of knowledge.
THE THIRD TERM: Tawhid (the oneness of God). (Tawhid, originally, is to know the oneness of Allah Most High with all His perfect attributes.) Now, however, it is thought to consist of knowing the science of kalām (theology), the methods of disputation, understanding well how to refute the arguments of opponents, being able to answer many questions that raise doubts, and arranging proofs to defeat the opponent. Indeed, some of those who engage in these (the Muʿtazila) have called themselves "the people of justice and tawhid," and their theologians are called "scholars of tawhid." Yet, in the earliest generations (the time of the Companions and Followers), none of the characteristics of the science of kalām were known. In fact, those who tried to open such topics of disputation were strongly rejected. However, the Qur'anic verses expressing the oneness of Allah Most High, which are easily understood at first hearing, were known to all. To know the Qur'an was to know everything. For the first generation, tawhid was something else, which most theologians could not understand, and even if they did, they could not be characterized by it. That is: to know everything as coming from Allah Most High, without turning to intermediaries and causes. The people of tawhid know both good and evil as only from Allah Most High. This is such an exalted station that one of its fruits is tawakkul (reliance upon God), which will be explained in its own section. One of its results is not complaining about people, not being angry with them, and submitting to Allah Most High in every matter, showing riḍā (contentment with God's decree).
A fruit of tawhid in this sense is seen in the response of Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) when, during his illness, people said, "Let us bring a doctor":
— The one who made me ill is the doctor, he replied. On another occasion (again Abū Bakr), when he was ill and was asked, "What did the doctor say about your illness?" he replied:
— He said, "I do as I will." All these evidences will be explained in the chapters on tawhid and tawakkul.
Tawhid is a precious jewel with two layers of covering. People have completely forgotten the essence and have called the outer shell and its protection by the name of tawhid. The first, that is, the outer shell or covering: is to say with the tongue, LĀ ILĀHA ILLĀ ALLAH (There is no god but Allah), which is called tawhid that negates the trinity explicitly stated by the Christians. However, this tawhid can also be uttered by a hypocrite whose inner state does not match his outward words. The second covering: is that the heart does not deny the tawhid uttered by the tongue, but rather believes and affirms it. This is the tawhid of the common people. The theologians can protect this inner shell of the jewel of tawhid from the confusion of innovators. The third, which is the essence, is to know everything as coming from Allah Most High in such a way as to prevent turning to intermediaries and causes, and to devote worship solely to Him, not worshipping anything else. Those who follow their desires and whims, considering their nafs as their deity, fall outside this tawhid. As Allah Most High says about such people:
"Have you seen the one who takes as his god his own desire?" (Qur'an, 45:23)
— He has said. The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) also said about such people:
"Of all the gods worshipped on earth, the one Allah Most High hates most is the caprice of the nafs." (88)
Indeed, one who thinks deeply will realize that the idolater also worships his own desire, for the heart inclines to the religion of his ancestors, and thus he follows the inclination of his nafs. In fact, one meaning of the word "hawā" is the inclination toward what the nafs is accustomed to. Being angry with people and turning to them also falls outside this tawhid.
— For one who knows that everything is from Allah Most High neither gets angry with others nor turns to them in hope. This is the meaning of tawhid. (See also the narration from Umm Umāmah.)
THE FOURTH TERM: Dhikr and tadhkīr (remembrance and reminding). About dhikr, Allah Most High says:
"And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers." (Qur'an, 51:55)
There are many hadiths extolling the gatherings of dhikr. As the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said in a hadith...