One of the Believers of Mûsâ (Moses) ‘alaihis-salâm’ prayed for thirty years. The shadow of an overhanging cloud was protecting him against the sun. One day the cloud did not show up, so that he had to stay under the sun. When he asked his mother what the reason could be, she said that he probably committed a sin. When he said that he had not committed any sins, his mother inquired, “Didn’t you look at the skies, or at flowers? When you saw them, didn’t you think of the greatness of the Creator?” “I did look at them,” he replied, “but I was remiss in the business of pondering.” There upon she said, “Is there any other sin bigger than this? Make tawba right away.”
A sensible person should not forget about the duty of pondering. Is there anyone who has any guaranty that he will not die tomorrow? Allâhu ta’âlâ did not create anything without any use. The uses which men have so far been able to discern are by far more numerous than those which they have not.
Pondering can be done in four ways, according to (Islamic) scholars.
- Pondering about the beautiful arts of Allâhu ta’âlâ which manifest on human
beings causes one to believe Him and love Him.
- Pondering about the rewards promised by Him for the worships causes one to perform those worships.
- Pondering about the punishments informed by Him causes one to be afraid of Him and thereby inhibits one from wronging others.
- Pondering about one’s having enslaved oneself to one’s nafs and committing sins and living in a state of heedlessness regardless of all the blessings bestowed by Him causes one to have shame towards Allâhu ta’âlâ.
Allâhu ta’âlâ loves those who observe the terrestrial and celestial creatures and take lessons from them. It is stated as follows in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “No other act of worship is so valuable as meditation.” And another hadîth-i-sherîf reads: “A momentary meditation is more useful than sixty years’ worship.”
The book Kimyâ-i-sa’âdat, in Persian, by Imâm Ghazâlî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ contains a lengthy discourse on tafakkur (meditation, pondering).
Vices cause disease in the heart or soul. Any increase in this disease will cause the death of the soul, i.e. it will cause kufr.
Disbelief (shirk), which is the worst of all vices, is a fatal poison of the soul. Some people who do not have belief claim: “My heart (spiritual) is clean. You should look at my heart.” Their claim is no more than empty words. A dead heart cannot be clean.
There are many types of disbelief. The worst of all is polytheism. Any variety of a certain vice is mostly specified with its most outstanding characteristic. For that matter, the word shirk used in âyat-i-kerîmas and in (our blessed Prophet’s utterances termed) hadîth-i-sherîfs represents all sorts of kufr (disbelief). Allâhu ta’âlâ, in the 48th and 116th âyats of the Sûra Nisâ of the Qur’ân states that He will never forgive the polytheists (mushriks). These verses point out that disbelievers will burn forever in the Hell fire.
>>“Shirk” means to attribute partners to Allâhu ta’âlâ. A person who does the attributing is called a polytheist and the thing which is attributed is called partner (sharîk). To believe that someone possesses one of the attributes of Divinity means to make him a partner (sharîk). The attributes possessed exclusively by Allâhu ta’âlâ are called “Attributes of Divinity.” Some Divine Attributes are the following: Existing eternally, creating, allknowing, and healing the sick. To believe that a human being or the sun or a cow or any other creature possesses a divine attribute, and thus to respect or beg that being or creature, is called to worship them. Those things become an idol. To say words that mean deification of such people or to speak respectfully before statues, pictures or graves of disbelievers assumed to be possessing divine attributes means to worship them and therefore it is polytheism. If one believes that a person does not possess a divine attribute but instead he is a person loved by Allâhu ta’âlâ or alternately if one believes that that person has served his nation much and therefore deserves respect, paying respect to his statues or pictures is not disbelief or polytheism. Nevertheless, since paying respect to any person’s picture is forbidden (harâm), anyone doing so becomes a sinner (fâsiq). If he slights the fact that it is forbidden, he will become an apostate (murtad), and so will those who flout a prohibited action (harâm).
Since those Jews and Christians who are not “mushriks” do not believe in the prophethood of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salam’, they are disbelievers. They are called “Disbelievers with a heavenly book.” Presently, most Christians are polytheists because they attribute divinity to prophet “Îsâ”, that is, Jesus ‘alaihis-salam’. Christians belonging to the sects of Barnabas and Arius (Arians) were among the People of the Book. However, they have not survived to the present time.
The following excerpt has been translated from the book entitled el-Fiqh-u-’ala-l-madhâhib-ül-erbe’a:
Namâz is the most important one of the basic essentials of the Islamic religion. Allâhu ta’âlâ has commanded people who want to worship Him and thank Him for His blessings to do so by performing namâz. He has made it farz for them to perform namâz five times daily. A hadîth-i-sherîf reads: “Allâhu ta’âlâ has commanded His slaves to perform namâz five times daily. He has promised that He will put people who deem this command their prime duty and perform namâz into Paradise.” There is quite a number of hadîth-i-sherîfs stating the honour and high value of namâz and recommending to perform namâz. It has been declared that there is very bitter torment awaiting people who do not attach importance to namâz and people who are remiss in performing namâz. Performing namâz purifies hearts. It causes forgiveness of sins. However, a namâz performed in thoughts centred around worldly advantages and without thinking that it is one’s duty as a slave (of Allâhu ta’âlâ) will not yield any benefit, worldly and next worldly alike, even if it is sahîh because it has been performed in a way compatible with its rules. As you perform a namâz, you must ponder over the greatness of Allâhu ta’âlâ and be aware of that you are performing a command of Allâhu ta’âlâ. It is only a namâz performed so as to satisfy these criteria that will purify your heart and which will protect you from doing evil. Allâhu ta’âlâ will judge people by their hearts, not by their appearances and actions. That is, He will accept good deeds performed with a good heart and fear of Allah. The first thing to be done when performing a namâz is to put your niyyat right; the next important thing is to observe the farzes and the principles of the namâz being performed, and next comes covering your awrat parts. A namâz must be performed - both physically and spiritually. As you perform a namâz, you should never forget that Allâhu ta’âlâ sees you, that He hears the prayers you have been saying, and that He knows what you are thinking of. A slave possessed of such qualities will not harm anybody. They will always be good to others. They will be useful to their country and nation.
Lexical meaning of ‘namâz’ is to ask for goodness and to invoke a blessing on someone. In Islam ‘namâz’ means to do commanded actions and say commanded things in the meantime. Namâz is started by saying the Takbîr Iftitâh, and ends when the Salâm is made.
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O, SON
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