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Kalima-i Tawhid

Since Prophet Adam (alaihi-salam), they changed and denied the religions revealed in every century by saying that they were the words of ignorant primitive people. Such assertions made by disbelievers are quoted, and answered in many parts of the Quran al-Karim. For example, Allahu Taala says after the thirtieth ayat of Muminun Sura: “They didn't believe Prophet Nuh (Noah ‘alaihi-salam'), so we drowned them in water. For the people we created after them, we sent a Prophet from amongst them and said, ‘Worship Allahu Taala. There is nobody other than Him to be worshipped. Fear His torment!' Many of those who didn't obey, who didn't believe in the rising after death, and yet whom We had given plenty of worldly blessings, said to others, ‘This Prophet eats and drinks like you. If you believe someone who needs many things like you, you will be deceived and suffer a loss. The Prophet tells you that after dying and after your bones have rotted and turned into dust and soil you will be resurrected and get up from your graves. Is that ever possible? Whatever exists is in this world. Paradise and Hell are all in this world. This is the way it has been and this is the way it goes. There is no rising after death.” Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 41

It is impossible to escape torment in the Hereafter for those who deviate as much as a hair's breadth from the creed and iman communicated by the Ahl as-Sunna scholars, the great and pious people. It is understood by the human mind, the Quran alKarim, all hadith sharifs and the great religious men's perceptions through the eye of their hearts. There is no possibility of this being wrong. Words and books of those who deviate as much as a hair's breadth from what these great people communicated in their books are poisons. Zindiqs who use the religion as a means in order to earn worldly possessions and who, after introducing themselves as men of religion, write whatever occurs to their minds, are thieves of faith. They steal the beliefs of those who read their books and magazines. Those who believe them think of themselves as Muslims and perform salat. However, because their iman has been stolen and lost, none of their prayers, worships or good deeds are accepted, nor will they be of any value in the next world. Concerning those who sell their religion for the world, Allahu Taala revealed the sixteenth ayat of Baqara Sura: “Those that are ignorant and idiots gave away their religion in order to get the pleasures and enjoyments of the world. Selling out their next world, they received the world and what their lusts desired. Abandoning the way to salvation, they ran after perdition. They earned nothing in this act of buying and selling of theirs. They didn't know the way of trading or earning. They lost a great deal.” Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 36

The first thing necessary for all people is to have iman and the creed of the Ahl as-Sunna scholars as communicated in their books. It is these scholars who have explained the way of our Prophet Muhammad (alaihi-salam), who have comprehended murad-i ilahi (the divine purpose) of the Quran al-Karim, and who have extracted the Prophet's purpose from the hadith sharifs. It is the way shown by them that will save us on the Day of Rising. It is the Ahl as-Sunna scholars who have transferred the way of Allah Taala's Prophet and his companions (radiy Allahu taala anhum ajmain) into books and who have protected them against being changed or defiled. 5 – Those scholars in the four Madhhabs who reached the grade of ijtihad and the great scholars educated by them are called the Ahl as- Sunna scholars. The leader and the founder of the Ahl as-Sunna is (Imam azam Abu Hanifa Numan bin Thabit ‘radiy Allahu taala anh). 6 – Sahl bin Abdullah Tusturi (rahmatullahi alaih), one of the great Awliya (plural for wali, one loved by Allahu Taala) who reached the grade of haqiqat (the highest grade in Tasawwuf), says: “If there had been a person like Imam Azam Abu Hanifa (rahmatullahi taala alaih) among the ummats of Prophet Musa and Isa (alaihimus-salatu was-salam), they wouldn't have turned into Jews or Christians.” 7 – Millions of books written by Imam Azam Abu Hanifa (rahmatullahi taala alaih) and by hundreds of his disciples and by the thousands of great people educated by them, correctly spread and promulgate our Prophet's way all over the world. Today, there is not a city, a village or a person left in the free world that has not heard about the Islam communicated by our Prophet. Now, Islam can be easily learned anywhere in the world through the internet. Upon hearing about Islam, if someone sincerely wants to learn it correctly, Allah Taala promises that He will grant them true knowledge. There are publications giving the names of the books on Islam that fill the world's libraries. Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 33-34

Allahu Taala declares in the Quran al-Karim, in the eightieth ayat of Nisa Sura that obedience to Prophet Muhammad (alaihi-salam) is obedience to Him. Then, unless His Messenger is obeyed, He will not be obeyed. In order to make it known that this is absolutely certain and clear, He declared in an ayat Karima: “Of course, it is certainly so.” Thus He gave no opportunity for some people who cannot think properly to see these two orders as obedience different from each other. Again, stating dissatisfaction with those who look on these two orders of obedience as two different things, in the 150th and 151st ayats of Nisa Sura of the Quran al-Karim, Allahu Taala declares: “The disbelievers want to differentiate Allahu Taala's commands from His Prophets' commands. They (Jews) say they believe in Musa (Prophet Moses ‘alaihi-salam), but they do not believe in others (Prophet Isa and Muhammed ‘alaihimus-salatu was-salam). They (Christians) say they believe in Jesus (Prophet Isa ‘alaihi-salam) and call him the son of Allah (may Allahu Taala protect us from such an aberrant belief). These beliefs are of no value. All of them are disbelievers. For all of them we have prepared Hell with very bitter torments.” Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 32

[Allahu Taala declares in many places of the Quran al-Karim that this is so. For example, He declares in the thirty-first ayat of Ali Imran Sura: “Oh my beloved Prophet (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam)! Tell them, ‘If you love Allahu Taala and if you want Allahu Taala to love you in turn, adapt yourselves to me! Allahu Taala loves those who adapt themselves to me'.”] Allahu Taala does not like any of the things that are incompatible with the Ahkam Islamiya. Is it possible that rewards will be given for the things that are disliked? Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 32

To have iman means to begin following Prophet Muhammad (alaihi-salam) and to enter through the door of bliss. Allahu Taala sent him to invite all the people of the world to bliss and declared in the twenty-eighth ayat of Saba Sura: “Oh my beloved Prophet! (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam) I sent you to humanity so that you should give the good news of endless bliss to all the people in the world and to guide them along this way to happiness.” Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 31

It is called ibadat (worship) to do the fard and sunna and to avoid the haram and makruh, that is, to observe the rules of Islam in order to attain Allahu Taala's love and receive thawab (rewards in the hereafter). There is no worship without an intention. In other words, it is necessary first to have iman and then to learn and observe the rules of Islam in order to follow Prophet Muhammad (alaihi-salam). Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 31

Then, the thing which is of the highest necessity, which is the most important fard for every Muslim, is to learn iman, the fard and the haram. There is no Islam unless these are learned. Iman cannot be maintained, the debts to Allahu Taala and to human beings cannot be paid, intentions and morals cannot be corrected and purified unless the basic principles of Islam are learned. Unless correctly intended, no fard will be accepted. It was declared in a hadith in ad-Durr-ul-Mukhtar: “Learning or teaching knowledge for one hour is more blessed than worshipping until morning.” The author of the book Hadarat-ul-quds states on the ninety-ninth page: “I studied the books Bukhari, Mishkat, Hidaya and Sherh-imawaqif under Hazrat Imam Rabbani's (rahmatullahi alaih) supervision. He would encourage young people to acquire knowledge. ‘Knowledge first, and tariqat next,' he would say. Noticing my shirking from knowledge and taking pleasure from tariqat, he pitied me and advised me, ‘Read books! Acquire knowledge! An ignorant pious muslim will be a plaything in the hands of the devil,' [that is, the rank of knowledge is the highest of all ranks.]” Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 30-31

It is written in the seventy-third page of the book Mir'at ulMaqasid concerning an intention for an abdast (ritual ablution, wudu) in Ibni Abiddin (rahmatullahi alaih) and in the fifty-fourth page in the translation of Milal-Nihal that there are three kinds of actions: The first is masiyyat, that is, sinful actions. These are the actions which Allahu Taala dislikes. It is masiyyat not to do what Allahu Taala has commanded to be done, or to do what He has prohibited. The second one is taat, those actions which Allahu Taala likes. They are also called Hasana. He has promised that He will give Ajr, that is, thawab (blessings in the Here-after) to a Muslim who performs taat. The third group of actions are called Mubah, which have not been declared to be sinful or taat. They are taat or sinful depending on the intention of the person who does them. Sins are not exempted from being sins if they are committed with or without a good intention. The hadith, “Actions are good or bad depending on the intention,” declares that the taat and mubah actions will be given rewards in accordance with the intention. If a person, in order to please someone, offends another person, or gives alms from someone else's property, or builds mosques or schools with haram money, they will not be given rewards. It will be ignorance to expect rewards for these efforts. Cruelty and sins are still sins even if they are committed with goodwill. What is blessed about such actions lies in not doing them. If one does them knowing that they are sins, it will become a grave sin. If one does them without knowing, it will be a sin also not to know or not to learn the things that are known by most Muslims. Even in Dar alharb (those countries not under Islamic rule) it is not an excuse, but a sin, not to know the Islamic rules which are widely known. When the taats are done without an intention or intended for Allahu Taala's sake, blessings are given. Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 28-29

Religion means the way prescribed by Allahu Taala in order to guide people to endless bliss. The unwholesome ways which people make up under the name of religion are not called religion; they are called irreligiousness and disbelief. Since the time of Prophet Adam (alaihi-salam), Allahu Taala has sent mankind a religion by means of a Prophet every thousand years. These Prophets (sall-Allahu alaihi ajmain) are called Rasul. On the other hand, in every century, by making the purest person the Prophet, He has strengthened the religion through him. These Prophets who followed the Rasuls are called Nabi. All the Prophets have taught the same iman; they have asked their umma (community of followers of a prophet) to believe in the same tenets. Yet, since their Sharias, that is, the things that are to be done and avoided through the heart and body, were different, they were different in being Muslims. Those who have iman and adapts themselves to the Ahkam Islamiya is a Muslim. Those who want to adapt the Ahkam Islamiya to their desires and pleasures are disbelievers. They don't understand that Allahu Taala has sent religion in order to break the desires and pleasures of the nafs (a force in people that is enemious to Allahu Taala) and to prevent their excessive indulgence. Every subsequent religion (religious system, devine order) has abolished or changed the religion previous to itself. The latest religion that has changed all the religions prior to it, which has assimilated all the previous Sharias within itself, and which will never change until the end of the world is Prophet Muhammad's (alaihi-salam) religion. Today, the religion which Allahu Taala likes and loves is the Islamic religion, which is based on these rules and essentials. To those who perform the fard and abstain from the haram, which this Sharia communicates, Allahu Taala will bestow blessings and favors in the Hereafter. That is, they will receive thawab (rewards in the Here-after). For those who do not perform the fard and do not abstain from the haram, there are punishments and suffering in the next world. Endless Blıss First Fasicle: 26/27

‘Malak' (angel) means ‘envoy', ‘messenger' or ‘power'. Then the Hamalat al-Arsh and then the four archangels will be annihilated. At the second sound all angels will come back to life. The Hamalat al-Arsh and the four archangels will rise before the second sound of the Sur. That is, these angels will be annihilated after all the living creatures, as they were created before all.

In Islam, iman means believing that Rasulullah (sall-Allahu Taala alaihi wa salam) is the Prophet sent by Allahu Taala; knowing to be the truth and saying with belief that he is the Nabi, the Messenger chosen by Allahu Taala, believing in brief what he conveyed briefly and in detail what he conveyed in detail from Allahu Taala, and saying the Kalimat ash-shahada with the mouth whenever possible. Strong iman is such that, as we know for certain that fire burns and serpents kill by poisoning and so try to avoid them, we should believe in Allahu Taala and His Attributes deeming them great, fully at heart, strive for His approval (rida), run to His beauty (jamal), escape from His wrath (ghadab) and torment (adhab), and place iman on the heart firmly like an inscription on marble.

Rasulullah (sall-Allahu Taala alaihi wa sallam) said that the first of the essentials of Islam was “to say the Kalimat ash-shahada”; that is, one should say, “Ash'hadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa ash'hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh.” In other words, a sane person who has reached the age of puberty and who can talk has to say, “On the earth or in the sky, there is nothing nor anyone but Allahu Taala who has the right to be worshipped and Who is worthy of deifying. The real Deity is Allahu Taala alone. He is the Wajib ul-wujud. Every kind of superiority exists in Him. No defect exists in Him. His name is Allah,” and to believe in this absolutely with all their heart. Also one should say and believe: “The most noble person named Muhammad ibn Abdullah who had a face that was rosy in appearance, white-reddish, bright and lovely, with black eyes and brows, a blessed wide forehead and beautiful manners, whose shadow never fell on the ground, who was soft-spoken and was called Arab because he had been born in Mecca of Hashemitedescent, is the human being and Messenger sent by Allahu Taala.” The Prophet's mother was Hazrat Amina bint (daughter of) Wahab. His birth in Mecca honored the world [at the dawn of Monday, April 20, in the (Gregorian) year 571]. When he was forty, he was informed that he was the Prophet [Monday, Ramadan 17, 610]. That was named the year of ‘Bi'tha' (a prophet's being sent for calling people to the right path). After this, he invited people to Islam, in Mecca, for thirteen years. Then he migrated (the Hijrat, Hegira) to Medina on the command of Allahu Taala. From there, he spread Islam everywhere. Ten years after the Hijrat, he passed away in Medina in July 632 (on Monday 12, Rabi al- Awwal) 5. Islam's fifth essential is “for the able person to perform the hajj (pilgrimage) once in their life.” For an able person who has money enough for going to and coming back from the city of Mecca including an amount sufficient for the subsistence of the family they leave behind until they come back, it is fard once in their lifetime to perform tawaf around the Kaaba and to perform Waqfa on the plain of Arafat, provided that the way is safe and their body is healthy.

The Quran al-Karim is the Kalam al-Ilahi (Divine Speech, Word of Allahu Taala). Allahu Taala sent the Quran al-Karim to Muhammad (alaihi-salam) through an angel named Jebrail (Gabriel, alaihi-salam). The words in the Quran al-Karim are in the Arabic language, and they descended in ayats (verses), letters and words arranged together by Allahu Taala. The meanings carried by these letters and words convey the Kalam al-Ilahi. These letters and words are called the Quran al-Karim. The meanings that disclose the Kalam al-Ilahi are the Quran al-Karim as well. This Quran al-Karim which is the Kalam al-Ilahi is not a creature. It is eternal and everlasting, like the other Attributes of Allahu Taala. Once every year Jebrail (alaihi-salam) would visit to recite, in the same order as they had been recorded in the Lawh almahfudh (where all matters have been inscribed, in Paradise), the part of the Quran al-Karim that had already been revealed, and our Prophet would repeat it. In the year when he was about to honor the Hereafter, Jebrail (alaihi-salam) visited twice, reciting the entire Quran al-Karim. Our blessed Prophet and most of the Sahaba had memorized the Quran al-Karim wholly. In the year when he honored the Hereafter with his blessed being, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, the Caliph, brought together those who had memorized the Quran al-Karim and having gathered those parts that had already been written, had a committee write down the entire Quran al-Karim. Thus a written copy called the mus'haf came about. Thirty-three thousand Sahabis reached a consensus that every letter of that copy of the mus'haf was in its right place.

What is initially necessary for every person to do is to say the kalimat at-tawhid and to believe its meaning. The kalimat attawhid is: “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadun Rasulullah,” and it means: “Allahu Taala exists and is One. Muhammad (alaihisalam) is His Prophet.” To believe this fact means to “have iman,” and to “become a Muslim.” A person who has iman is called a ‘Mumin (Believer)' and a ‘Muslim'. Iman has to be continuous. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid doing acts that cause disbelief and using things that symbolize disbelief.

The debt of gratitude and human duties to be performed and believed by human beings towards Allahu Taala with the heart, tongue and body were defined by Allahu Taala and communicated by His beloved Prophet (sall-Allahu Taala alaihi wa sallam)! The human duties which Allahu Taala showed and ordered are called Islam. One thanks Him by following the way His Prophet taught. Allahu Taala does not accept or like any thanks, any worship incompatible with or outside this way, because there are many things which men consider good or beautiful but which Islam disapproves of and regards as ugly. Hence, in thanking Allahu Taala, people who have reasoning should adapt themselves to Hazrat Muhammad (alaihi-salam). His way is called Islam. A person following Muhammad (alaihi-salam) is called a Muslim. Thanking Allahu Taala, that is, following Muhammad (alaihi-salam), is called ibada (worship).

Man has two kinds of heart. One of them is piece of flesh in his chest, which also we call ‘heart'. The other one is a force placed in that piece of flesh. Whenever we say, “heart,” we will mean the latter. Belief and unbelief, love and hostility all take place in this second heart. Man's limbs are under the command of this heart. An owner of a pure heart will follow reason and will always do useful things. A person with an unhealthy and wicked heart will follow the nafs and will always do whatsoever is harmful. Acts of worship performed with ikhlâs, and performing namâz, particularly, will purify the heart. Allâhu ta'âlâ has prohibited things that are deleterious to the heart and make it unhealthy, (that is, He has made them harâm.) Sinning is deleterious to the heart. The illness incurred by sinning will be light or heavy, depending on the gravity of the sin committed. When the heart becomes ill, worship will feel difficult. Primary medicine for an illness of heart is tawba and istighfâr. Acceptability of a tawba made requires ceasing from sinning and doing acts of worship. Performing namâz is the most useful act of worship for the acceptability of tawba, which in turn is a medicine for a heart illness. It is very easy to perform namâz once daily. To perform namâz five times daily will feel difficult to people whose hearts are unhealthy. On the other hand, if namâz is performed frequently, love of Allah will blossom in the heart. In process of time love of Allah will fill the entire heart. Once love of Allah has settled in the heart, the greatest fortune has been attained. [Love of Allah will leave the hearts of people who are preoccupied with worldly activities and whose concern is how to obtain the transient blessings and pleasures of this world. The most effective medicine to heal a person of this illness is to repeat the Kalima-i-tawhîd. Therefore, Allâhu ta'âlâ, owing to His infinite Mercy, has commanded to perform namâz five times, and not only once, daily. This command of Allâhu ta'âlâ is intended not to cause trouble for men, but to heal them of their heart illness.] Namâz is the pillar of Islam, performing it will strengthen one's faith. If a person does not perform namâz, he will be a person without faith. During the Ottoman times, young people would gather around a Walî in order to learn their faith and patriotism. Paths guided by great scholars were called tarîqa(t). Tarîqats spread far and near. Number of Muslims and that of young people learning patriotism increased. When freemasons who had obtained government positions saw this state of affairs, they helped irreligious and ignoble people to infiltrate the tarîqat organizations. As the number of true Muslims decreased and dwindled, the blessed organizations remained in the hands of irreligious and immoral people. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 298-299

ALLAH EXISTS Shaikh Muhammad Rebhâmî, one of the renowned Islamic scholars, relates in the fifteenth page of his book entitled Riyâdun-nâsikhîn, borrowing from the book entitled Zâd-ul-muqwîn: The Byzantine Kaiser sent an envoy to Me'mûn bin Hârûn, the seventh Abbasid Khalîfa. An awesome and arrogant man was with the envoy. The envoy said to the Khalîfa, “This man is an irreligious unbeliever. He does not believe in a creator. Byzantine priests failed to answer him. If the Islamic scholars manage to silence him, they will make millions of Christians and Muslims happy.” The scholars of Baghdâd said that there was only one scholar to answer that man, and he was Ahmad Nishâpûrî. The Khalîfa decided on a certain hour of a certain day and ordered all the scholars to convene at the palace. Nishâpûrî was rather late for the session, so he offered the following apology: “I saw something astonishing and quite unusual on my way. Watching it made me late. As I was waiting for the ship at the shore of the Tigris River, a huge tree came out of the earth. Then it fell down and broke into pieces, which presently turned into planks of wood. Then the planks came together to make a ship. Without a captain the ship began to sail.” When the Byzantine unbeliever heard these words he sprang to his feet and said, “This man must be crazy. Are those things ever possible? He who says so is a liar. One must be without a brain to believe him.” Nishâpûrî interrupted him and said, “When these things cannot take place on their own, how can so many astonishing things on the earth come into being on their own? Mustn't a person be even more idiotic and more lowly to deny the creator of all these things?” Thereupon the unbeliever said, “Now I realize and believe that the entire existence has a creator.” Expressing the statement LÂ ILÂHA IL-L-ALLAH, he became a Muslim. It is narrated that a similar event took place during the time of Imâm Ghazâlî. Khalîfa Me'mûn passed away in the hijrî year 218. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 297

Performing dhikr is done by repeating the name of Allâhu ta'âlâ or by seeing someone who is a Walî. If you cannot find a Walî, you can make râbita to a Walî whom you have heard of before. It is stated in a hadîth-i sherîf: “When they are seen, Allâhu ta'âlâ will be remembered.” In other words, seeing a Walî is dhikr of Allâhu ta'âlâ. This is one of the hadîth-i sherîfs quoted in Irshâd-ut-tâlibîn, in Ibni Mâja, in Edhkâr, in Râbita-i sherîfa of 'Abdulhâkîm Efendi, and in the eleventh letter of Dost Muhammad Kendihâr›. Râbita does not necessarily have to be made to the exact figure of a Walî. When a person sees a murshid or reads his books, he will love him as he loves himself, for the murshid is the person who has taught him Islam correctly, who has saved him from worldly disasters and perdition in the Hereafter, and who has guided him to everlasting felicity. When he sees him or, if he cannot see him, thinks of him lovingly, the fayds coming to the murshid from Rasûlullah will flow into his heart, too. It is stated in the seventy fourth page of Maqâmât-i-Mazhâriyya: “As Mukarram Khân was dying, they put Ubaydullâh-i-Ahrâr's skullcap on his head. ‘Take it off! Fetch my murshid's headgear, instead. For he is the person who caused me to attain happinesses,' he said.” The figure with which Râbita is made does not necessarily have to be exactly the murshid himself. If a person closes his eyes and makes râbita to the same image for five to ten minutes in the morning and in the evening every day, after a while the Walî's soul will appear in the same image and will begin to talk like in a dream, and will do him favours. As is understood from the hadîth-i-qudsî we have quoted in the thirty-fourth chapter of the second fascicle of Endless Bliss, if a Muslim mentions the name of a Walî whom he knows and loves upon attending his sohbats or reading his books and calls on him imploringly, Allâhu ta'âlâ will make that Walî hear him, even if the Walî is absent or dead. The Walî will come and help him. If a Walî wishes to know about something that has happened before or which will happen later, Allâhu ta'âlâ will make him know about it. Such favours and gifts which Allâhu ta'âlâ bestows upon Walîs are called karâmat. Bedr-ad-dîn Serhendî writes in his book Hadarat-ul-quds that he has seen and heard of thousands of Imâmi-Rabbânî's karâmats and relates more than a hundred of them. When the heart becomes fânî, that is, when (it attains a grade where) it remembers nothing, the brain, mind, memory, does not necessarily become oblivious of worldly matters. The heart, when it becomes fânî, still lets all the limbs, including the brain, mind, and memory, carry on all sorts of worldly activities, and a person in this state, like other people, goes on working for his worldly needs. He does all his human tasks and favours with the intention of obtaining the grace of Allâhu ta'âlâ. Whatever he does becomes dhikr. See the final part of the thirty-fourth chapter of the second fascicle of Endless Bliss! It fulfills all its human tasks and favours with the intention of obtaining the consent of Allâhu ta'âlâ. Whatever it does becomes dhikr. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 295-296

The source and even the best of pleasures here and in the Hereafter is to attain love and the grace of Allâhu ta'âlâ. To be close to Allâhu ta'âlâ means to attain His love. One's spiritual closeness to Allâhu ta'âlâ means to attain His love. He who has attained this happiness is called Walî or 'Ârif. It is necessary to perform the fards to become a Walî. The fards entail holding a belief compatible with the faith taught by the Ahl as-Sunna savants, avoiding the harâms, performing the worships that are fard to do, and having love for the Muslims who are sâlih (one who is on the right path). It will not be useful, that is, there will be no rewards (thawâbs) for the worships performed without ikhlâs. Ikhlâs means to act only for the sake of Allâhu ta'âlâ, that is, in such a way that you will forget everything. Ikhlâs is obtained automatically by having love for nothing but Allâhu ta'âlâ. The case of having love only for Him in one's heart is called tasfiya (purification in the heart), itmi'nân (ease of heart), or Fanâ-fillâh. The twenty-eighth âyat of Sûra Ra'd declares that it is possible for the heart to have itmi'nân only by dhikr (remembering Allâhu ta'âlâ) and by pondering over His greatness and blessings. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 294-295

We hear about some ignorant and idiotic people who are quite unaware of Islam's beautiful ethical principles and human rights. They are wasting their lives at sports fields, beaches during the days and at places of amusement, indulging in luxuries, debaucheries and indecencies with girls and boys, or in music, gambling and alcohol, at nights. They are obtaining the money they need for their pleasures, completely disignoring the legitimacy of their earnings. With this eccentric, fraudulent and outrageous conduct of theirs, they harm not only themselves but also society, people, their lives and chastities. In their terminology irreligiousness and atheism are ‘progressive attitudes' and ‘young people's modernism'. They say that theirs is a way of life that a wise person would normally prefer. They boast about their behaviour and suppose that they are imitating Europeans and Americans by doing so. They stigmatize true and honest Muslims, who possess faith, belief and pure morals and who observe others' rights, as bigots and fanatics. Thus they lull themselves into a false sense of self-complacency. Are all those Europeans and Americans unwise to be devoted to their religious beliefs and is being wise a characteristic peculiar to these people alone? They do not realize that they are heading for damnation and inuring themselves to a habitude that will eventually offer them everlasting torment in return for a few years' dissipation. Nor do they seem to take a lesson from history. Those who fall into their traps are only pitiable. People who have never heard of Islam will not go to Hell. Since they are not Muslims, they will not go to Paradise, either. They will cease to exist after the Day of Judgment, as will be the case with animals. A sound person, after learning science, biology, and astronomy, should study the religions and should select the Islamic religion, which corresponds with logic and science. Someone who fails to do so should still immediately become a Muslim as a result of fearing and trembling from the danger of being eternally burned in Hell, which is believed everywhere on the earth. If he still denies, then he does not follow logic. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 294

The only way to attain happiness here and in the Hereafter is to be a Muslim. And being a Muslim requires believing the facts such as that Allâhu ta'âlâ exists and is One, that He sees and knows everything, that He is the maker [creator] of everything, that Muhammad ‘'alaihis-salâm' is the Prophet, that after death there will be everlasting blessings and a sweet life in a place called Jannat (Paradise) and an everlasting burning in a place called Jahannam (Hell), that Muslims will go to Jannat and non-Muslims, i.e. those who deny Islam after hearing about it, will burn eternally in Jahannam. More than ninety-per-cent of the world's population, that is all Christians, all Jews, all politicians and statesmen in Europe and America, all scientists, commanders, brahmins, buddhists, fire-worshippers, and idolaters believe that we will rise after death and that there is everlasting torment in Hell. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 293-294

When we say that we love someone, it is understood that we have a figurative affection for him. All Muslims, regardless of whether they are ignorant Muslims, bid'at holders, or pure and faithful Muslims, love Rasûlullah in this manner. Affection that much will suffice for being a Muslim. To attain love that will facilitate the reception of fayd, one must learn and love his words, actions, behaviour and morals. Someone is obeyed when he is loved in the full sense; he will be followed in every matter. A person will forget everything else if the love he has is powerful. This type of forgetting is called (Fanâ-i qalb). He will even forget himself. The forgetting of the self is also called (Fanâi nafs). In Makâtîb-i Sherîfa, in the 90th letter, it is stated that “When Fanâ-i qalb is attained, the hâtira (thinking of creatures) will not stay in the heart. But they still stay in mind. When Fanâ-yi nafs is attained, they will leave mind, too. Only the ahl-i tasawwuf can understand this writing of ours. It is not learned by being educated in high schools or universities.” So, when Fanâ is attained, that is, when an 'ârif is loved very much, fayd, lights, and sacred blessings, which are coming to that 'ârif from Rasûlullah, ‘sall-Allâhu ta'âlâ 'alaihi wa sallam' flow toward the heart of these lovers and they attain real ikhlâs. Hence, they enjoy worshipping, and they obtain the grace of Allâhu ta'âlâ. After this stage, “Fanâfir-Rasûl” will be obtained; that is, by deeply loving Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta'âlâ 'alaihi wa sallam', a person receives fayd directly from his blessed heart. In this case, he no longer needs a murshid (a spiritual guide). Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 293

While fayds and blessings flow abundantly in sohbats, the second method will yield them only in drops. But, only a single drop of it is more valuable and delicious than all earthly earnings. Visiting his grave will cause an increase in the number of drops, but falling into the traps of lâ-madhhabîs, heretics, impostors, and false shaikhs causes a full stoppage of the drops. Connection between hearts and souls results from believing, loving, and desiring. If a Muslim attends the sohbat of a Walî, or establishes (râbita) with that Walî, that is, envisages his blessed figure and face with deep respect [before his heart's vision], or if he learns his life and words and loves him, and weeps and thinks of him, fayd and ma'rifas in the heart of the Walî will flow into that Muslim's heart. There are a lot of happy and lucky people who have matured in this way, by râbita only, and have become Walîs. They have informed us in hundreds of books about the blessings and high degrees they attained by this way. Allâhu ta'âlâ's mercy and blessings in this respect will continue until doomsday. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 292-293

Muhammad Ma'thûm Fârûqî ‘rahmatullâhi 'alaih' writes as follows in the hundred and forty-second letter of the third volume of his Maktûbât: “It is very good for you to come to the city of Serhend with the intention of making a visit to the qabr-i sherîf (honoured grave) of Imâm-i Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh'. You will obtain fayd and blessings here. You will profit from the lights and secrets coming from the source in Madîna-i Munawwara. Even though the darkness of kufr and wickedness in India blacken hearts and make souls sick; just as water in the darkness of the forest gives life to souls and cleans hearts, the city of Sarhand today is a place where fayds and lights, coming [through the blessed hearts of Awliyâ] from the source in Madîna-i munawwara, are emanating. You should not deem that place like the ones in India where there is kufr (disbelief) and oppression. This place is the door of [the way which leads someone to attain the grace of Allâhu ta'âlâ and whish is termed] Wilâyat. The lights and secrets coming from the blessed heart of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta'âlâ 'alaihi wa sallam' are now springing here. Those who want to attain the grace of Allâhu ta'âlâ will receive, at the rate of their love for him, fayd and blessings by believing and visiting his grave. Most people living close to this blessed place are deprived of this blessing because they do not believe its value and underestimate it. People who enter a room where there is musk will smell a nice perfume. Even if you put musk inside the nose of a man who has a cold, he will not sense its smell.” The book (Tuhfat-ul-Ushshaq) informs us that some things are written in the book (Muzakkin-nufûs) by Eshrefzâda 'Abdullah Rûmî. Tuhfa is appended to the book entitled al-Munqidh. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 291-292

Attaining the grace and love of Allâhu ta'âlâ requires havig ikhlâs and a qalb-i selîm. Purification of the heart is possible only by believing Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu 'alaihi wa sallam', by loving and being adherent to him. To do this, the shortest and easiest way is to know a Walî and to establish râbita with him, that is, to become attached to him by heart, provided that we learn the i'tiqâd (creed) of Ahl-i sunnat, the Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya, and manners of Tasawwuf from his words and books. A Walî is understood to be a Walî from a document given to him by his master in a written form, and from the conformity of all his words and actions to the Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya In times when such a Walî can not be seen, a person who establishes râbita with any Walî will become his Uwaysî. In the 286th letter of Maktûbat, it is stated: “Someone who has failed to attend the sohbats of an 'ârif may enjoy the luck of receiving fayd from the souls of the great men (of Tasawwuf). Allâhu ta'âlâ makes their souls a means for the progress of such people 'Ârifs and Walîs continue to give fayd to those who desire it even after they die, since they attained the good news declared in the hadîth-i qudsî, Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 291

Walî means ‘an Ahl-i sunnat scholar who has attained the love and the grace of Allâhu ta'âlâ; and ‘The Ahl-i sunnat Madhhab' means ‘the way shown by Qur'ân-al-kerîm and hadîths.' The savants of the Ahl-i sunnat learned this way from the Ashâb-i kirâm. They respected not what they understood, but what they heard from the Ashâb-i kirâm. ‘To dissent from the Ahl-i sunnat' means ‘to dissent from the right way of the Qur'ân and hadîths.' Of these people, the ones who dissent from the Ahl-i sunnat and who misunderstand occult indications in the Qur'ân and in well-known hadîths, do not become kâfirs; they become holders of bid'at. They misguide unlearned people by passing their wrong and heretical interpretations of those indications as ‘The way shown by the Qur'ân' and ‘The way guided by the Sahâba'. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 291

Let us mention also the fact that as each person has a different illness in his heart and soul, likewise everybody has a different property, a different tendency called “idiosyncracy: Uberempfindlickheit gegen bestimmte Reize.” Rasûlullah has not only communicated the diseases of the heart and its treatment, but he has also given hundreds of thousands of different kinds of facts regarding individuals, families, societies, wars, and problems of inheritance, that is, all kinds of matters pertaining to this world and the next. It is next to impossible for us, ignorant people, who do not know our own illness or its medicine, to pick out the one which is suitable for us of these hadîths. It is stated in the fifty-fourth letter of the second volume: “Hadîths have been forgotten by now. Bid'ats are widespread. True and false books have been mixed with one another. Murshid-i kâmils, being specialists of the heart and the soul, have picked out from these hadîths the spiritual medicines which are suitable for the nature of each individual, for his special illness, and for the time's zulmat and fesâd. Rasûlullah, being the chief doctor, prepared hundreds of thousands of medicines for the world's pharmaceutical store. Awliyâ are like his assistant doctors who distribute these ready made medicines in accordance with the illnesses of the patients. Since we do not know our own illness or understand its appropriate treatment, if we attempt to look for a medicine for ourselves among hundreds of thousands of hadîths, we may, having an allergy, suffer harm instead of getting better, thus having our nemesis for being ignorant. It is for this reason that it was stated in a hadîth: “He who interprets the Qur'ân in accordance with his own understanding becomes a disbeliever.” Since lâ-madhhabîs and the like cannot understand this subtlety, they say, “Everybody should understand his faith by himself by reading the Qur'ân and hadîths. He should not read the books of the four Madhhabs.” By saying so they prevent the books of the Ahl-i sunnat savants from being read. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 290

Knowledge of the body has been learned from the four sources and has reached us through Fiqh books. Those who want to obey Rasûlullah must worship as taught in Fiqh books. The knowledge of the heart, which purifies the heart, the soul, and the nafs, has come to us by means of the hearts of the Awliyâ. Those who want to adapt themselves to Rasûlullah in the knowledge of the heart and soul, should stay near a Walî and acquire this knowledge from his heart. A Walî is a means, a path between the heart of a man and the blessed heart of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta'âlâ 'alaihi wa sallam'. The knowledge of the heart is not obtained by reading books of Tasawwuf. The fountain and source of this knowledge is the hearts of 'ârifs. That this is the case is written also in the final part of the book entitled Themerât-ulfuâd. Each Sahâbî, in turn, conveyed the knowledge of the body and of the heart which he had obtained from Rasûlullah to those who requested for it. Muslims coming afterwards took the knowledge of the body from books of Fiqh and the knowledge of the heart from the hearts of murshids. Those who say, “I will learn the knowledge of the body directly from Rasûlullah's utterances, that is, from the hadîth-i sherîfs,” have fallen into the traps of the nafs and the devil as a result of misunderstanding the meanings of hadîth-i-sherîfs. Likewise, those who say, “I will receive the knowledge of the heart directly from the heart of Rasûlullah,” have fallen into the traps of the nafs and the devil. It is necessary to obtain knowledge of the body from the words or books of the Ahl-i sunnat savants, and knowledge of the heart from the hearts of savants who are alive or from their souls if they are dead. The experts of this knowledge, that is, the murshids and Walîs all expressed the same fact. The hadîth-i sherîfs contained in the book Kunûz-ud-deqâiq, such as, “A savant among his disciples is like a Prophet among his Ashâb” and “The superiority of a savant to his students is like the superiority of a Prophet to his ummat” and “Everything has a source. The source of taqwâ is the hearts of 'ârifs” and “To attend a class of Fiqh is better than worshipping for a year” and “Looking at the faces of savants is worshipping” are proofs for the facts we have written above. Allâhu ta'âlâ has promised that the Islamic religion will survive till the end of the world. He created the Ottoman Empire for the protection of the knowledge of the body and the Murshids for the perpetuation of the knowledge of the heart. The British State, Islam's bitterest enemy, annihilated these two guardians after striving for centuries. Allâhu ta'âlâ is creating new guardians and Islam is going along its way. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 289-290

The religious knowledge conveyed by Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta'âlâ 'alaihi wa sallam' falls into two categories: knowledge of the body and knowledge of the heart. It was his duty to teach his Ashâb the knowledge of the body, which included all the tenets of îmân and teachings pertaining to acts of worship that the heart has to believe and which have to be done and those which have to be practised with the body or avoided. He taught all of them personally and directly. The spiritual teachings that pertain to the heart and which are termed Ma'rifat and Tasawwuf, like the rays of the sun, emanated continuously from his blessed heart and spread out in all directions. Each Sahabî attained a certain portion of fayd coming [flowing] to his heart in proportion to his ability and talent. Because they had very strong affection for the Messenger of Allah, in no time they attained as much of the nûr radiated as their capacity allowed. And the nûrs which they attained, in their turn, hastened the formation of ikhlâs in them and enhanced the already existing amount. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 288-289

Imâm-i Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh', in his 260th letter says, “Fayds, nûrs, which are in the heart of a murshid, like sunlight, shine on everybody. They flow towards the hearts of those Muslims who love him and who adapt themselves to the Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya. They are unaware of the reception of these fayds. They don't understand that their hearts are purified. Like a watermelon maturing under the light of the sun, they reach maturity. The Ashâb-i kirâm ‘ridwânullâhi ta'âlâ 'alaihim ajma'în' matured and attained perfection during the sohbats of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu 'alaihi wa sallam'. The worst obstruction preventing Muslims from receiving fayd is being a bid'at holder.” In his 61st letter, he says: “The most harmful thing that destroys people's willingness to attain Ma'rifat of Allâhu ta'âlâ is religious leaders who are ignorant and mendacious. Their books and words blacken the heart. Those who fall into their traps are similar to invalids going to a sham and ignorant doctor.” The most apparent distinction between a real Walî and a counterfeit shaikh is that a real Walî has wara' and taqwâ. (Taqwâ) means believing in accordance with the Ahl-i sunnat i'tiqâd and abstaining from the harâms. Abstaining also from those things which are doubtful is called (wara'). Ahl-i sunnat savants were all owners of wara' and taqwâ. In a hadîth-i sherîf, quoted in the one hundred and twelfth letter of the book (Maktûbât) by Muhammad Ma'thûm ‘rahmatullahi 'alaih', it is declared: “It is an act of worship to sit with an owner of wara'.” Islamic savants wrote many books in which they explained things that cause kufr, those which are harâm and those which are doubtful. The book (al-Kabâir) by Ibni Nujaym-i Misrî is a famous book. Its Turkish translation was published in 1304 in Istanbul. In the book Küfr ve Kebâir (Disbelief and Grave Sins), written by Sayyid 'Abdulhakîm Arwâsî, three hundred and three grave sins and hundred and eleven acts of kufr are listed. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 287-288

Imâm-i Gazâlî ‘rahmatullâhi 'alaih', at the end of his book (Ayyuhal Walad), says: “Every Muslim is in need of an education from a murshid. A murshid, by training him, saves him from bad habits. He supplants good habits in the place of bad ones. Education is similar to a farmer's efforts to make the plantation on his land strong and improved by cleaning away harmful weeds. Allâhu ta'âlâ sent Prophets ‘'alaihim-us-salâm' to show his creatures the correct path. He created murshids to represent the Prophets after their death. The signs of a murshid is as follows...” The Arabic original of this book and its Turkish and French translations are published by Hakîkat Kitâbevi (bookstore). Since a Walî knows better and is strongly tied to Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta'âlâ 'alaihi wa sallam', he receives fayds from his blessed heart, and these fayds are directed towards the hearts of those adherent to that Walî. [Hearts receiving fayds become clean. They attain good morals.] Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 287

Question: Since no Murshid-i kâmil has been seen after the first half of the fourteenth century of the Hegira, why don't we attach our heart to the heart of Rasûlullah, and thereby receive his strong nûr, instead of attaching our heart to the hearts of past Walîs by reading their words and thus knowing them? Besides, isn't it an essential of îmân to be attached to him, that is, to believe and love him? Answer: No doubt it is better to follow Rasûlullah directly ‘sallAllâhu ta'âlâ 'alaihi wa sallam', and after his passing, to follow his holy soul. In fact, this is even necessary and wâjib. In the 81st letter of the book (Mekâtîb-i sherîfa), it states: “Thinking of a Walî as an eyeglass, we should look at Rasûlullah and Allâhu ta'âlâ through this eyeglass.” To find a Walî or his books, to know him, to do râbita with him is actually for the purpose of becoming attached to the sacred soul of Rasûlullah ‘sallAllâhu ta'âlâ 'alaihi wa sallam'. By merely reading or hearing about a person, it is difficult for one to dream of his figure or his physiognomy, since one has never seen him before. Not the desired one, but someone else may be seen in this case. That is why râbita is not practised with Rasûlullah. It would be kufr to believe someone else to be Rasûlullah. There is no such danger when practising râbita with the Awliyâ. A person who practises râbita with a murshid-i kâmil will have with the heart looked into his blessed heart. Therein, he will see the blessed heart of Rasûlullah. Thus, he will have practised râbita with Rasûlullah. This is the only way the ignorant, the heedless, like us, do râbita with Rasûlullah. Through this kind of râbita, after receiving fayd from Rasûlullah, it will be possible and easy to practise râbita directly with him, and to receive fayd from the graves of Awliya and from their souls. A person who practises râbita with Rasûlullah and receives fayd from him loves him very much. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 286-287

It is written in Irshâd-ut-tâlibîn: “When a Murshid-i kâmil dies, he does not stop giving fayd. He gives more. But, men's contact with the dead is unlike their contact with the living. For this reason, little fayd is received from the soul of a dead one. Those who have reached Fanâ and Baqâ have extensive relations with a dead one, almost as well as when he was alive. Therefore, they get much fayd; yet still they get more when the latter is alive. Murshids facilitate those in their company to adhere to the Ahkâm-i islâmiyya, and inspire them with love and respect through all their manners and words, thus causing them to receive more fayd.” As is seen, it is necessary to look for a murshid. Though a faithful and pure Muslim can receive fayd from the Awliyâ, dead or alive, the living Awliyâ will instruct him on the tasks that he has to do. He will correct his faults, thus it will become for him easy to receive much more fayd. On the contrary, the dead cannot say anything. They cannot show him the way. They cannot correct his faults. His receiving fayd dwindles and eventually comes to an end. He cannot be taught through inspiration or dreams by the dead. Delusion, fancy or the devil may interfere in the inspirations and dreams. And the inspirations and dreams in which they do not interfere may be connotative and in need of an explanation; the correct ones cannot be distinguished from the false ones. The gain may be very valuable, but the loss will be much more dangerous. Nevertheless, in case a person cannot find a true murshid, he should not fall into the traps of false and ignorant murshids. Rather, he should try to receive fayd from the souls of the dead ones. For attaining this, it is necessary to have the Ahl-i sunnat belief and to obey the Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya, to read books written by real scholars, and to make sohbat with those who read the books of true Islamic savants. A little child likes its mother best and trusts in her. When it becomes wise enough, it trusts its father more, relies on him and gets use from him. When it begins going to school or to work, it adheres to its teacher or master and gets use from him. Allah's divine way is so. Likewise, the earnings of the soul are acquired first through parents and then through the murshid and then through Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu 'alaihi wa sallam'. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 285-286

Hadrat Sayyid Sherîf Jurjânî, one of the great savants of the Hanafî Madhhab, writes at the end of Sharh-i mawâqif and at the beginning of Hâshiyatu Sharh-ul-matâlî' and in Berîqa, p.270, the figures of the Awliyâ show themselves to their murîds even after their death and give them fayd. To see them and receive fayd is not easy; it is necessary to hold the belief of Ahl as-sunnat by learning it from books, to obey the Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya, and to like and to respect the Awliyâ. It is written in the book Maraj-ul-bahrayn: “All great men of Tasawwuf were Sunnî Muslims, None of the holders of bid'at attained the Ma'rifat of Allâhu ta'âlâ. The nûr of Wilâyat did not enter their hearts. The darkness of bid'ats, in practices pertaining to worship as well as in tenets of belief, prevented the nûr of Wilâyat from entering their hearts. Unless the dirt of bid'at is removed from the heart, and if the heart is not ornamented with the Ahl-i sunnat belief, the rays of the sun of haqîqat will not enter the heart. Such a heart will not be illuminated by the nûr of yaqîn.” Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 285

A fortunate person who reads and understands the book Se'âdet-i Ebediyye[1] will both learn religious knowledge and get to [1] i.e. the six fascicles of Endless Bliss.know Imâm-i Rabbânî; thus, his heart becoming inclined, he will become attached to him. Receiving the nûr which he (Imâm-i Rabbânî) radiates over the world, he will, unknown to himself, begin to approach perfection. As an unripe watermelon ripens and sweetens under the rays of the sun, so will he mature, thus becoming a perfect person. He will note the changes in his views of the world and life. He will begin to experience some hâls, dhawqs and sweet dreams. He will begin to dream of Imâm-i Rabbânî and of the other Awliyâ, of the Ashâb-i kirâm and of Rasûlullah, to see their faces when awake, and even to talk with them. His nafs being freed from unawareness, he will begin to experience the taste of salât and to take pleasure from worshipping. He will now hate sins, things that are harâm and bad habits. He will form good habits. He will do favours to everybody. He will be useful for society, for people. He will attain, and will also make others attain, eternal felicity. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 284-285

Sultân Mahmûd Ghaznawî, the founder of the Ghaznawî Empire, which was a great Islamic empire, was born in 357 and died in 421 A.H. in Ghazna. One day, this great emperor of Asia visited Hadrat Abul-Hasan-i Kharqânî, one of the higher ones of the Awliyâ. In the course of their conversation, he asked him, “What kind of a person was your leader Bâyazîd-i Bistâmî?” Hadrat Shaikh answered him, “Bâyazîd was such a perfect Walî that those who saw him attained the right way. They joined people loved by Allâhu ta'âlâ.” Sultan Mahmûd did not like this answer. He said, “People such as Abû Jahl and Abû Lahab saw Rasûlullah, the Sayyid of the universe, many times. Despite this fact, they did not come round to the right course. How can you say that those who saw your shaikh came round to the right course?” He meant to say, “Was your shaikh higher than our Sayyid, Rasûlullah? Do you mean to say that those who saw your shaikh escaped disbelief, while those who saw Hadrat Muhammad, Sayyid of both worlds, the most superior of the superiors, Allah's beloved Prophet, did not escape it?” Hadrat Abul Hasan said, “The idiots Abû Jahl and Abû Lahab did not see Allah's beloved Prophet, our Master Muhammad, who is the highest of mankind. They saw Muhammad, who was the orphan of Abû Tâlib, and the son of 'Abdullah. They saw him from that point of view. If they had seen him as Abû Bakr Siddîq did, they would have escaped disbelief, thus attaining perfection like him. Allâhu ta'âlâ, to point out this subtlety, declared in the one hundred and ninety-seventh âyat of Sûrat-ul-A'râf: “You see them look at you. They cannot understand you. They do not see your superiority.” Sultân Mahmûd Khân ‘rahmatullâhi ta'âlâ 'alaih' liked this answer very much. His respect and love for religious savants increased. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 284

The Ashâb-i kirâm (the companions of the Prophet) and the Tâbi'în-i izâm (people who saw the Ashâb-i kiram) are called Salaf-i sâlihîn. The Ahl-as-Sunna savants who succeeded them and who lived until the end of the four hundredth year of the Hegira are called Halaf-i sâdiqîn. Halaf-i sâdiqîn always followed the Salaf-i sâlihîn in the knowledge pertaining to faith, deeds and heart; they never deviated from the way of the Salaf-i sâlihîn. It appeared to be impossible to see insân-i-kâmils (perfect guides) after the year fourteen hundred, just as was the fact that there had been no mutlaq mujtahids (absolute mujtahids) left after the year four hundred. Until Doomsday, however, there will be mujaddids ‘rahmatullâhi ta'âlâ 'alaihim ajma'în', who may not have attained the grades of Awliyâ or mujtahids, on the earth. These mujaddids will spread the books of the mujtahids all over the world and restore the teachings of the Ahl as-Sunna and the right way, which will have been forgotten by people. They will answer the slanders and lies of the people of bid'at (heretics), false men of Tasawwuf, zindîqs, and impostors of science and religion, with whom the entire world will be rife. People who find and read the books of the mujaddids will attain happiness in this world and in the Hereafter. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 283-284

He who does his best to attain love of Allâhu ta'âlâ is called a Sâlih. He who has already attained this love is called an 'Ârif or Walî. He who is a means for others to attain love of Allâhu ta'âlâ is called a Murshid. These three people are called Sâdiq. It is purported in the thirty-first âyat of Sûra-t-u-Âl-i-'Imrân: “Tell them!: ‘If you love Allâhu ta'âlâ, adapt yourselves to me! For, Allâhu ta'âlâ loves people who adapt themselves to me.' ” The symptom of loving Allâhu ta'âlâ is to adapt oneself to His Messenger. To adapt oneself (to His Messenger) means to obey His commandments and prohibitions. His commandments and prohibitions are called Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya. A person who claims to love Allâhu ta'âlâ has to adapt himself to Islam. A person who – 282 –has adapted himself to Islam is called a Muslim. Allâhu ta'âlâ has commanded Muslims to love one another, and not to love disbelievers, munâfiqs, and murtadds. Consequently, it has become an essential of îmân to love people who love Allâhu ta'âlâ, which is called hubb-i-fillah (love for the sake of Allah), and not to love enemies of Allâhu ta'âlâ, which is called bughd-i-fillah (hostility for the sake of Allah). A non-Muslim is called a kâfir (disbeliever, unbeliever). A person who reneges on Islam and becomes a non-Muslim is called a murtadd (renegade, apostate). An unbeliever who pretends to be a Muslim although he is a non Muslim is called a munâfiq. It is one of the essentials of îmân (being a Believer) to dislike these three people, all of them. It is purported in the hundred and twentieth âyat of the Sûrat-ut Tawba in the Qur'ân: “O Believers! Always, at all times be in company of Sâdiqs!” This âyat-i kerîma commands doing the râbita. It is declared in a hadîth: “All the blessings and nûr which Allâhu ta'âlâ poured into my heart, I have poured them into Abû Bakr's heart.” Because Abû Bekr ‘radiy-Allâhu ta'âlâ 'anh' was ahead of all others in taqwâ and worshipping and because he realized better than anyone else did how great Rasûlullah was so that he himself was a mere nothing when compared with the Messenger of Allah, and because he won Rasûlullah's love more than anyone else did, more fayds came to him than did to anyone else and he received all the fayds coming. As is understood from these and the like, our religion asks us to keep company with the Awliyâ, and to learn Rasûlullah's path from them. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 282-283

The heart is dependent both upon the nafs and upon the sense organs and is attached to things which the sense organs are preoccupied with. When man sees something lovely, hears a beautiful voice, or tastes something sweet, the heart becomes attached to them. Man cannot help this attachment. Also, when man reads something beautiful, the heart becomes attached to the author and its meaning. By ‘beautiful and sweet', ‘what comes beautiful and sweet to the heart' is meant. Most of the time, man cannot identify real beauty. He confuses what appears beautiful to the nafs with what appears beautiful to the rûh. If the heart is sound, it recognizes beauty and loves it. Valuable things such as âyats, hadîths, words of the Awliyâ, prayers, and tesbîhs are originally beautiful. They are very sweet. The heart, after its attachment to the nafs decreases and it is released from the bondage of the nafs, it will love them too. When a man reads or hears them, his heart becomes attached to them without his awareness of it. When this person reads the Qur'ân al-kerîm or listens to it being read or makes dhikr, his heart loves Allâhu ta'âlâ. To release the heart from the bondage, from the oppression of the nafs, it is necessary to oppress the nafs and strengthen the heart. This is possible only by obeying Rasûlullah. If a person who has released his heart from the paws of his nafs by following Muhammad ‘'alaihis-salâm' observes a Walî, he will realize that he is a beloved born slave of Allah and a (spiritual) heir to the Messenger of Allah. Since he loves Allah very much, he will also love very much whomever Allah loves. But loving is not easy. Many people have ended up in perdition as a result of confusing things loved by the nafs with real beauties loved by the soul (rûh). Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 282

Suppose we put a mirror against the sun, a second mirror against this, a third one against the second one, and a fourth one against it...; the sun will be seen in each of the thirty mirrors put in such an order. For, each mirror reflects the sun to the other. By the same token, the heart of each of the Ashâb-i kirâm ‘'alaihimurridwân' was brightened like a mirror by the nûr radiated by the blessed heart of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam'. Seeing his beautiful moral qualities, hearing his sweet words, witnessing his mu'jizas, and watching his luminous face, they loved him very much. They tried to be like him in everything they did. Each of them would have sacrificed his life upon one signal on his part. By spreading abundant nûr, which they thus received, to the young hearts attached to them, they purified these hearts. This nûr was passed from these hearts to those of other youngsters who were attached to them. Thus, for thirteen hundred years, being radiated by the hearts of the Awliyâ, his same nûr purified the hearts attached to these hearts and thereby brightened them like mirros. That is, the eyes of their hearts were opened. The fortunate people who were blessed with this lot were called Walî or Awliyâ (those whom Allah loves). Mazhar-i Jân-i Jânân, the ‘Qutb' of his time and a great Walî, says: “I attained all of what I gained by loving my murshids (religious teachers) very much. The key to all kinds of happiness is to love those whom Allah loves.” And Hadrat 'Alî Râmitenî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta'âlâ sirrahul'azîz' says: “The hearts of people who devoted themselves to Allah are nazarghâh-i-ilâhî, (i.e. place where Allâhu ta'âlâ turns His Attention to.) People who have managed to enter those hearts will get a share from that Attention.” Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 281-282

Electricity is conducted through copper wires. The sender and the receiving set of a radio are attached to each other through electromagnetic waves. It is written in the twentieth letter of the fourth volume of the book Maktûbât that what attaches hearts to one another is love. When a person sees a Walî and talks with him or reads his books, he loves him, seeing that he adheres to Islam perfectly, that his knowledge is like an ocean, that he has excellent morals, and that he does favours to everyone. Since he loves Rasûlullah, he also loves the person who is in his way. But, loving these good characteristics of his is not sufficient. He has to know very well and love the owner of these good characteristics. For, hypocrites, disbelievers, and freemasons can have the same good qualities, too. So, it is necessary to know that he is a murshid, to recognize his face, figure and physiognomy. It must be a pleasure for one to see and dream of him by heart. This is called performing râbita. By always performing râbita towards him, it will be as if he were seeing him. Everything that has an effect on sense organs has an effect on the heart, too. As seeing something beautiful has an effect on the heart, so thinking of it will have an effect on the heart and the heart will enjoy it. That is, performing râbîta will be like being with him. The more the love, the more light will he receive. Hadrat 'Ubeydullah-i Ahrâr said: “While attaching the heart to property, to goods and to every kind of worldly affairs is not considered a crime, why should it be a crime to attach the heart to a Mu'min (Muslim)?” Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 280-281

By “the heart,” we do not mean the piece of flesh on the left hand side of our chest, which also is called “heart,” and which animals have, too. The heart proper to man is different. The heart is an invisible force. It is noticed through its effects. An electric current is not seen, either. But, because it causes the resistance wire to radiate light by heating it up when it passes through the bulb, we understand that it exists in the bulb. However, electricity is not matter. It does not occupy a place. And the force which we call “the heart” is not matter, either. It does not occupy a place. Since its effects are seen in a piece of flesh, which also is called the “heart,” we say that its place is in the heart. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 280

As we now know, ultraviolet rays kill microbes. Tuberculous patients have their lungs cleaned through radio therapy in sanitariums. As ultraviolet rays clean the lungs, likewise, there are rays that clean the heart. These rays are called nûr and fayz. The heart's sickness is its following the nafs, liking and being fond of the harâms. The sun radiates ultraviolet rays. And the source that radiates nûr is the heart of a Walî. The hearts of the Awliyâ are like full moon. The moon reflects the rays which it receives from the sun. And the hearts of the Awliyâ radiate to the world the nûr which they receive from Rasûlullah's blessed heart, which radiates energy like the sun. The Awliyâ are dead. And the ones living today are not known. But, when man dies, his heart and soul do not die with him. In fact, they become stronger because they have gotten rid of the cage of the body. Today, there are electro-magnetic waves everywhere, in every room. But we do not perceive them. A receiver, e.g. a radio, is necessary to receive them. Also, there are rays of nûr everywhere. But we do not perceive them, either. Some force or some means is necessary to receive them and to make use of them. Again this receiver is the heart. The heart is like a substance with phosphorescent properties. Dispensing nûr it has received, to dark hearts, it causes them to shine. The longer a Believer lives and the better he becomes in worshipping and taqwâ, the more nûrs will his heart contain. However, receiving these nûrs and fayds abundantly requires loving a Walî. And if he brings himself into favour with him by attending his sohbat and keeping him company, he will receive even more fayd. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 279-280

Useful things providing men with a healthy, salutary, comfortable and cheerful life (in this world) and endless happiness in the Hereafter are called Ni'met (blessing). Allâhu ta'âlâ, being very compassionate, created all the blessings His born slaves would need. And through His heavenly books, which He revealed to His Prophets, He instructed us on how we should use and utilize them. These instructions are called Dîn. If any person, Muslim and disbeliever alike, leads a life in conformity with these books, he will enjoy comfort and peace in the world. A drugstore carries hundreds of medicines. And each of these medicines has a set of instructions packed with it. A person who uses the medicine as it is prescribed in the instructions will benefit from it. He who does not follow the instructions will suffer harm. Likewise, a person who lives compatibly with the Qur'ân al-kerîm will benefit from the blessings. It is necessary to be a Muslim so that you can attain happiness in this world and in the Hereafter, while living peacefully and joyfully. One who has faith and performs his acts of worship is called a Muslim. Having faith means to believe in six certain essentials and all of the commandments and prohibitions. Allâhu ta'âlâ is pleased with those who are true Muslims. A true Muslim is loved by Allâhu ta'âlâ. Being a true Muslim requires you to have the faith taught by the Ahl-as-Sunna savants, and to worship correctly and sincerely. Allâhu ta'âlâ has promised that He will love such people, that He will inspire fayds and nûrs into their hearts in the world and that in the Hereafter He will give thawâb (blessings) as a reward for the acts of worship performed correctly and sincerely. Worshipping means doing the commands (fards) and taqwâ means avoiding the prohibitions (harâms). Performing an act of worship correctly requires learning how it is to be done, and performing it by following the instructions you have learned. Ikhlâs means to do every act of worship for the grace of Allâhu ta'âlâ only. Worshipping Allâhu ta'âlâ is done by giving away one's property and by worshipping physically. For example, performing pious and charitable deeds, saving Muslims from trouble, remembering Allâhu ta'âlâ, and asking for forgiveness (tawba) are all forms of worship. There is no ikhlâs (sincerity) but riyâ (hypocrisy) in the worship which is done to obtain property, rank, respect or fame. Such worship is not rewarded with blessings. It will be a sin and a cause for being tormented. Dark stains develop in the hearts of those who commit harâms or bid'a (heresy), and also in the hearts of those who are the friends or neighbours of disbelievers or lâ-madhhabî individuals. Imâm-i Rabbânî ‘rahmatullâhi 'alaih' says in the fifty-ninth letter of the first volume of his book Maktûbât: “When beginning any worship, all Muslims must keep in their minds the intention of performing an act for Allâhu ta'âlâ's grace. Allâhu ta'âlâ has ordered them to do so, and He loves it. Hence, they will perform that act sincerely. However, all good deeds and favours should be done with sincerity (Ikhlâs), and this sincerity must come immediately from the heart. A good intention and ikhlâs are obtained with difficulty and by disciplining oneself, and the results are never permanent. Gradually the desires of the nafs settle in the heart. Owners of permanent ikhlâs are called Mukhlâs. Those who have inconstant ikhlâs and who strive to obtain ikhlâs are called Mukhlis. It is easy and sweet for a mukhlâs to worship. This is because there are no desires of the nafs or anxiety from the devil in their hearts. This kind of ikhlâs can only come into one's heart through the heart of a Walî.” While beginning to worship one can obtain inconstant ikhlâs by fighting against one's nafs and the devil. Doing worships with this ikhlâs causes the nafs to become weak in process of time... Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 278-279

Europeans have derived most of their scientific knowledge and its basis from Islamic books. While Europeans assumed that the earth was flat like a tray surrounded by a wall, Muslims had known that the earth was spherical and was rotating. This fact is written in detail in the books Sharh-i Mawâqif and Ma'rifatnâma. They measured the length of the meridian in the open plain of Sinjar between Mûsul and Diyâr-i Bekr, finding the result as it is found today. Nûr-ud-dîn Batrûjî, who passed away in 581 [1185 A.D.], was a professor of astronomy at the Islamic University of Andalusia. He wrote today's astronomy in his book al-Hayât. When Galileo, Copernicus and Newton said that the earth rotated after learning this fact from Islamic books, they were deemed guilty for their words. Galileo was judged and imprisoned by priests. Until the Tanzîmât (reforms of 'Abdulmejîd in 1839), scientific lessons had been being taught in madrasas. Enlightened men of religion had been being educated. They had been guiding the world. When scientific lessons were abrogated, explorations and inventions stopped. The West began to gain on the East. Today, we will learn our religion from the books of those great savants. Religious knowledge can be learned from the Ahl-i Sunnat savants or from their books. It cannot be acquired through kashf or inspiration. He who reads their books will both learn knowledge, and his heart will be purified. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 277-278

Another Islamic savant was Imâm-i Rabbânî Ahmad-i Fârûqî. It has been unanimously stated by religious authorities that his depth in religious knowledge, his high grade in ijtihâd, and especially his perfection in Tasawwuf were above mind's ability to comprehend. The books that have appeared recently in the United States have begun to be illuminated by the rays of this sun of happiness. Imâm-i Rabbânî ‘rahmatullâhi 'alaih' was specialized in the scientific knowledge of his time, too. In the two hundred and sixty-sixth letter of the first volume of his book Maktûbat, he writes: “My son Muhammad Ma'thûm has recently completed reading the book Sharh-i Mawâqif. During his lessons, he has understood well the errors and the defects of the Greek philosophers. He has learned many facts.” This is a scientific book and has been taught until recently in the high (university) division of Islamic madrasas. Mawâqif was written by Qâdî 'Adûd and this, (that is, the book mentioned above by Imâm-i-Rabbânî), is the revision of it by Sayyid Sherîf Alî Jurjânî [740-816 A.H. (1336-1413 A.D.)]. A great Arabic work of about a thousand pages, it explains all the scientific knowledge of that time. The book is divided into six parts, each of which contains different sections. In the second paragraph of the third chapter of the first section of the fourth part, it proves that the earth is spherical, and in the sixth paragraph, it proves that it rotates from west to east. It also gives valuable information about atoms, various states of matter, forces and psychological events. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 276-277

Religiously ignorant people cannot attack Islam through cleanliness, either. When some youngsters among the Tâbi'în asked the Ashâb-i kirâm ‘ridwânullâhi ta'âlâ 'alaihim ajma'în', “Allâhu ta'âlâ loves you. He praises you in the Qur'ân al-kerîm. What is the reason for this love? Tell us, and we will be like you, so that He will love us, too,” they answered, “He loves us because we have been extra careful about being clean.” Allâhu ta'âlâ declares at various parts of the Qur'ân al-kerîm: “I like cleanly people.” A person who has seen the beautiful and luminous face of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu 'alaihi wa sallam' is called a “Sahâbî.” When there are more than one of them, they are called “Ashâb.” Those who did not see the Most Beautiful but who saw a Sahâbî are called “Tâbi'în. Muslims do not enter mosques or houses with their shoes on. Therefore, the floors and carpets are clean and dustless. Every Muslim has a bath in his home. His body, his underwears, and his food are always clean. Therefore, they don't have microbes or diseases. There is no bath in the palace of Versaille, which the French boast about to the world. Disbelievers are dirty. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 274

The enemies cannot attack through medical science, either. Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu 'alaihi wa sallam' praised medical science in various ways. For example, he stated: “Knowledge is of two kinds: physical knowledge and religious knowledge.” That is, by saying that the most necessary kinds of knowledge are religious knowledge, which will protect the soul, and knowledge of health, which will protect the body, he declared that first of all it is necessary to try to keep the soul and the body healthy. This hadîthi-sherîf is written in the three hundred and eighty-first page of the book Riyâd-un-nâsihîn, which also writes that it has been quoted from the book Zubda-tul-akhbâr. There are also scholars who say that these are the words of Imâm-i Shâfi'î ‘rahmatullâhi ta'âlâ 'alaih'. Every word of this great imâm is an explanation of âyat-i kerîmas and hadîth-i sherîfs. Islam commands us to learn physical knowledge before religious knowledge. For, all kinds of virtuous deeds can be done with a healthy body. As is taught in all universities today, medical science is of two sections: the first one is hygiene, that is, the protection of health; the second one is therapeutics, the treatment of diseases. The first one is of primary importance. It is the first task of medical science to protect people against diseases, to safeguard their health. For the most part, a diseased person remains damaged and unhealthy, even if he is cured. Islam has guaranteed and ensured hygiene, the first task of medical science. In the second part of Mawâhib-i ladunniyya, it is proved through âyat-i-kerîmas that the Qur'ân-al-kerîm recommends both sections of medical science. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu 'alaihi wa sallam' used to correspond with Heraclius, the Greek Byzantine emperor. They used to exchange messages. We can read the words and the letters of both parties in books. The originals of the letters exist in the two hundred and thirty eighth page of the Turkish translation of Mawâhib-i ladunniyya. As the names of the ambassadors, together with their biographies and many events are obvious, who on earth, both learned and considerate, will say that these are lies, thirteen hundred years later? Their hostility towards the religion, their grudge against our Sayyid Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu 'alaihi wa sallam' must have covered their minds and ravaged their discernment to the extent that they cannot see the events, proofs or documents; so they do not hesitate to openly lie in order to deceive youngsters. Lying and slandering will disgrace, dishonour one in front of everybody! O our Allah! Your justice is very correct. Those who attack Islam, and thereby attack the comfort and peace of others, deserve eternal torment! Once, Heraclius sent a few presents. One of these presents was a doctor. The doctor came to Rasûlullah and said, “Sir, His Excellency sent me to serve you. I will examine your patients free of charge.” Rasûlullah accepted him. He ordered the Muslims to give him a home, and it was carried out. Every day they brought him delicious food and drinks. Days, months passed, but no Muslim visited the doctor. Ashamed, the doctor came to Rasûlullah and said, “Sir, I came here to serve you. Up to now, no patient has visited me. I have just sat idly, eating and drinking. Let me go back now.” Upon his request, Rasûlullah smiled and said, “It is up to you! If you would like to stay longer, it is the first duty of a Muslim to serve a guest, to show honour to him. If you would like to go, good luck! Only, let it be known that nobody will visit you if you stay here for years, since my Ashâb do not become ill! The Islamic religion has shown the way of how not to become sick. My Ashâb are extra careful about cleanliness They do not eat anything before getting hungry, and they leave the meal table before becoming satiated with food.” Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 272-274

religiously ignorant people cannot attack Islam through knowledge, medical science, cleanliness, or morals, they assault by means of base and cowardly lies and slanders. How could Islam ever be defied through knowledge? Islam is the very essence of knowledge. Many parts of the Qur'ân al-kerîm command knowledge and praise men of knowledge. For example, it is purported in the ninth âyat of Sûrat-uz-Zum'ar: “Is it possible that he who knows and he who does not know be the same? He who knows is certainly valuable!” Rasûlullah's ‘sall-Allâhu 'alaihi wa sallam' statements praising and recommending knowledge are so numerous and so famous that even our enemies know about them. For example, in the books Ihyâ-ul-'ulûm and Mawdû'ât-ul- 'ulûm, the following hadîth is written in a section stating the value of knowledge: “Acquire knowledge even if it is in China!” That is, “Go and learn knowledge, even if it is at the farthest place in the world and in the possession of disbelievers! Do not say, ‘I don't want it; it is invented by disbelievers'.” And it is stated in another hadîth-i-sherîf: “Study and learn knowledge from cradle to grave!” That is, an old man of eighty, one of whose feet is already in the grave, should sudy. It is an act of worship for him to learn. And once he stated: “Work for the next world as if you were to die tomorrow, and work for the world as if you would never die.” He stated in a hadîh-i-sherîf: “Little worship done with knowledge is better than much worship done without understanding.” Once he stated: “The devil is more afraid of a savant than of thousands of ignorant worshippers.” A Muslim woman cannot go on supererogatory hajj without taking her husband's leave; she cannot set out on a journey or pay a visit, either. However, she can go out for the purpose of learning without his permission, if he does not teach her or allow her to learn. As is seen, though it is sinful for her to go on hajj without permission, which is a great act of worship liked by Allâhu ta'âlâ, it is not sinful to go out to learn without permission. Then how can disbelievers ever attack Islam through knowledge? Will knowledge blame knowledge? Of course not; it will like, praise it. He who attacks Islam on the knowledge front will suffer a defeat. They cannot attack through science, either. ‘Science' means ‘to see creatures and events, to observe and understand them, and to experiment and make the like.' These three are commanded by the Qur'ân al-kerîm. It is fard-i kifâya to study scientific knowledge, arts, and to try to make the most up-to-date arms of war. Our religion commands us to work more than our enemies do. We quoted one of Rasûlullah's very vivid statements commanding us to study science in one of the initial pages of our book. Then, Islam is a dynamic religion commanding us to study science, experiment, and to do positive work. Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 271-272