SELECTIONS FROM THE REVITALISATION OF THE SCIENCES OF RELIGION

Al-Ghazalis Ihya Ulum al-Din

Int !"u#ti!n t! Ihya Ulum al-Din

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Th% &!!' !( )n!*l%"+% ,)ita- al-Ilm.

/ 0123 ***4Allah4#!m Th% M!s5u% !( th% Int% n%t IN THE NAME OF ALLAH6 THE MERCIFUL6 THE MOST MERCIFUL All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace be upon Muhammad, His worshipper and Messenger. INTRODUCTION Imam Ghazali opened his boo with the instruction of the !reator to His worshipers in the following "erse# $Whate"er the Messenger %&rophet Muhammad' gi"es you, accept it, and whate"er he forbids you, abstain.( %)oran !h. *+ "erse ,' Ghazali then drew attention to the fact that e"en the most de"out person, try as hard and continuously as he-she may, can ne"er do .ustice to the Glory of the !reator Allah and praise Him as He should be praised. Ghazali continued by as ing Allah to bless, praise and "enerate &rophet Muhammad and all the prophets and messengers, and sought the help of Allah in writing this boo . Imam Ghazali sought and achie"ed a balance between the spiritual and material aspect of life. His search began for his own personal sal"ation but later on became the sound ad"ice for all societies. /o achie"e this balance the imam de"ised a methodology that ept the spiritual and material domains intact in their richness by remo"ing contamination, manipulation and ignorance by demonstrating both e0ample and reason, which was inherited from the prophets and the Words of the !reator.

Imam Ghazali was, and has remained to this day, one of the world1s greatest theologians that e"er li"ed and attracted a tremendous number of followers from each sector of society who sought to learn the success of his balancing through their multiple 2uestions. /he nature of these 2uestions reached the point where the imam became greatly disturbed and as he detected the hand of satan deluding people into thin ing that what they were doing was good with religious support and for which they might e0pect a reward from the !reator. It was for this reason that Ghazali recognized there was an obligation upon him to write this boo , $/he 3e"i"al of 3eligious 4cience(. /his boo diagnoses the sic ness of society and pro"ides it with the much needed cure through which he pro"ides the remedy for the ailing society. /his diagnose ma es this worldly life successful and leads to the e"en greater success in the life of the Hereafter. It was through these 2uestions the imam tries to stri e the balance between the spiritual and material aspects of his life and that of society. 5n this account he de"oted his life to the best methodology while eeping both the spiritual and material inta e of their richness thereby rendering them uncontaminated, spoiled or manipulated so that people might start to attach themsel"es to him and as him many 2uestions since this is the cure for e"eryone. With this in mind he made the decision to write this boo and no longer remain silent, because of the responsibility to spea , as well as warn, had been imposed upon him through the persistent straying from the clear truth, and by the insistence of people fostering e"il, flattering ignorance, and stirring up opposition to the truth. 6y writing this boo , Al Ghazali fulfills the prescription of Allah that not only guides one to the purification of the self, but reforms the heart that has become dissipated in despair of pre"ention and remedy, thereby distancing one1s self from the company of the Law7gi"er %Muhammad, may Allah praise and "enerate him' who said# $/he most se"erely punished of all men on the 8ay of 3esurrection will be a learned man whom Allah has not blessed with His nowledge.( He said, $6y my life, there is no reason for your continuing arrogance e0cept the sic ness which has become an epidemic among the masses. /hat sic ness consists of not discerning the importance of this matter, the gra"ity of the problem, and the seriousness of the crisis in not seeing that life is waning and that what is to come is close at hand, that death is imminent but that the .ourney is still long, that pro"isions are scanty, dangers great, and the road bloc ed. /he percepti"e now that only nowledge and wor s de"oted to Allah a"ail. /o tread the crowded and dangerous path of the Hereafter with neither guide nor a companion is difficult, tiring, and strenuous. /he guides for the road are the

learned men who are the heirs of the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 but the times are now "oid of them and only the superficial are left, most of whom ha"e been lured by ini2uity and o"ercome by satan. 9"eryone of them was so wrapped up in his immediate fortune that he came to see good as e"il and e"il as good, so that the science of the religion disappeared and the torch of the true faith was e0tinguished all o"er the world. /hey duped the people into belie"ing that there was no nowledge e0cept such ordinances of go"ernment as the .udges sue to settle disputes when the mob riots. 5r, the type of argument, which the proud display in order to confuse and refute: or the elaborate and flowery language with which the preacher see s to lure the common people. /hey did this because, apart from these three, they could find no other way to snare illegal profit and the riches of the world. 5n the other hand, the science of the path of the Hereafter, which our fore7fathers trod and which includes what Allah called in His 6oo , law, wisdom, nowledge, enlightenment, light, guidance and righteousness, has "anished from among man ind and been completely forgotten. 4ince this is a calamity afflicting religion and a gra"e crisis o"ershadowing it, I ha"e therefore deemed it important to engage in the writing of this boo : to re"i"e the science of religion, to bring to light the e0emplary li"es of the departed Imans, and to show what branches of nowledge the prophets and "irtuous fathers regarded as useful. I ha"e di"ided the wor into four parts or 2uarters. /hese are# the ;Acts of Worship1, ;!ustoms of Life1, ;8estructi"e Matters in Life1, and the ;4a"ing Matters in Life.1 I begin this wor with the ;6oo of )nowledge1 because it is of the utmost importance first of all to determine the nowledge, which Allah has, through His Messenger, ordered the elite to see . /his is demonstrated by the words of the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, when he said# $4ee ing nowledge is an ordinance obligatory upon e"ery Muslim.( <urthermore, I began with ;6oo of )nowledge1 in order to distinguish between useful and harmful nowledge, as the &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, said# $We see refuge in Allah from useless nowledge.( It is also to show the de"iation of the people of this age from right conduct, their delusion by a glistening mirage, and their satisfaction with the hus s of nowledge rather than the path. Al Ghazali says# In the 2uarter on the A#ts !( 7! shi8 I shall mention some of the hidden elements of its meanings. /hese, the acti"e learned person badly needs, without their nowledge no one will be "ersed in the science of the Hereafter. Most of this information has been neglected in theological studies. In the 2uarter on the Cust!ms !( Li(% I shall deal with the rules of the practical religion current among men, its deep mysteries, intricate techni2ue, and the piety concealed in its rules of conduct, which no religious person can do without.

In the 2uarter on the D%st u#ti9% Matt% !( Li(% I shall enumerate e"ery abhorred trait whose e0posure the )oran has ordered, as well as dealing with the purification of the soul and cleansing of the heart from them. =nder e"ery one of these straits I shall gi"e its definition, the truth about it, its origin, its e"il conse2uences, its symptoms, and finally its treatment. /o all this will be added illustrations from the )oran, tradition, and anti2uity. In the 2uarter on the Sa9in+ Matt% s !( Li(%6 I shall enumerate e"ery praiseworthy trait and e"ery one of the desirable 2ualities of the fa"orites of Allah %al7mu2arrabun' and the awlia %those close to Allah', by means of, which the worshipper see s to draw near to the Lord of the =ni"erse. 4imilarly, under e"ery 2uality I shall gi"e its definition, the truth about it, its origin, its fruit, the sign by, which it is nown, its e0cellence, which renders it desirable, together with e0amples to illustrate it from the fields of law and reason. It is true that men ha"e written se"eral wor s on some of these aspects, but this one differs from them in fi"e ways# <irst# by clarifying what they ha"e obscured and elucidating what they treated casually. 4econd# by arranging what they ha"e disarranged, and organizing what they ha"e scattered. /hird# by ensuring what they ha"e elaborated, and correcting what they ha"e appro"ed. <ourth# by deleting what they ha"e repeated then "erifying what they ha"e set down. <ifth# by determining ambiguous matters, which ha"e hitherto been unintelligible and ne"er dealt with in any wor . Although all ha"e followed one course, there is no reason why one should not proceed independently and bring to light something un nown, paying special attention to what his-her colleagues ha"e forgotten. It is possible that such obscure things are noticed, but mention of them in writing is o"erloo ed. 5r, again, it may not be a case of o"erloo ing them, but rather one of being pre"ented from e0posing them. /hese, therefore, are the characteristics of this wor , which comprises the aggregate of the pre"iously enumerated sciences. /wo things ha"e induced me to di"ide the wor into four 2uarters. /he first and original moti"e is that such an arrangement in research and e0position is imperati"e because the science by which we approach the Hereafter is di"ided into the science of 3e"elation and the science practical religion. 6y the science of 3e"elation I mean nowledge and only nowledge. 6y

the science of practical religion I mean nowledge as well as action in accordance with that nowledge. /his wor will deal only with the science of practical religion, and not with 3e"elation, which one is not permitted to record in writing, although it is the ultimate aim of the awlia %those close to Allah' and the desire of the eyes of the sincere. /he science of practical religion is merely a path, which leads to 3e"elation and only through that path did the &rophets of Allah communicate with the people and lead them to Him. !oncerning 3e"elation itself, the &rophets spo e only figurati"ely and briefly through signs and symbols, because they realized the inability of man1s mind to comprehend. /herefore since the learned men are heirs of the &rophets, they cannot but follow in their footsteps and emulate their way. <urthermore, the science of practical religion is di"ided into outward science by which is meant that of the functions of the senses, and inward science by which is meant that of the functions of the heart. /he bodily organs perform either acts of worship or usages of life, while the heart, because it is remo"ed from the senses and belongs to the world of dominion, is sub.ect to either praiseworthy or blameworthy %influences'. Ine"itably, therefore, this science di"ides itself into two parts > outward and inward. /he outward, which pertains to the senses, is subdi"ided into acts of worship and customs of life: the inward, which relates to the conditions of the heart and the 2ualities of the soul, is subdi"ided into things that are praiseworthy and things, which are ob.ectionable. /ogether these constitute the four parts of the science of practical religion, a classification ob.ected to by none. My second moti"e for adopting this di"ision is that I ha"e noticed that the interests of students in .urisprudence, which has, for the sa e of boasting and e0ploiting its influence and prestige in arguments, become popular among those who do not fear Allah, is genuine. It is also di"ided into 2uarters, and since he who dresses as the belo"ed will also be belo"ed, I am not far wrong in deeming that the modeling of this boo after boo s of .urisprudence will pro"e to be a cle"er mo"e in creating interest in it. <or this same reason, one of those who wanted to attract the attention of the authorities to the science of medicine, modeled it after astronomical lists, arranging it in tables and numbers, and called his boo /ables of Health. He did this in order that their interest in that latter type of study might help in drawing them to read it. Ingenuity in drawing hearts to the science, which is good for spiritual life is, howe"er, more important than that of interesting them in medicine, which benefits nothing but physical health. /he fruit of this science is the treatment of the hearts and souls through, which is obtained a life that will persist of souls through which is obtained a life that will persist fore"er and e"er. How inferior then is the medicine of the body, which is of necessity destined to decay before long. /herefore, we beg Allah for help to lead us to the right path and the way of truth, indeed He is the Generous, the all 6ounteous.

Th% &!!' !( )n!*l%"+% ,)ita- al-Ilm.

Chapter One The Value of Knowledge, Instruction, and Learning together with its evidence in tradition and from reason The Excellence of Knowledge /he e"idence of the e0cellence of nowledge in the )oran is re"ealed to us by Allah, the Almighty# Allah bears witness that there is no god e0cept He, and so do the angels and the nowledgeable. He upholds .ustice there is no god e0cept He, the Mighty, the Wise. %)oran !h.? "erse @A' We see how Allah, the Almighty begins by bearing witness for Himself, secondly for the angels and thirdly for those who possess nowledge. In this it is clear that the nowledgeable people are emphasized as holding high ran in the sight of Allah. As Allah, the Almighty said# Allah will raise up in ran those who belie"ed among you and who ha"e been gi"en nowledgeB%)oran !h, *A "erse @@' Allah, the Exalted said 4ay# CAre they e2ual, those who now and those who do not nowDC %)oran !h. ?+ "erse +' Allah, the Exalted also said 6ut it is only those amongst His worshippers that fear Allah who ha"e nowledge. %)oran !h. ?* "erse EA' And Allah, the Exalted said 4ay, CAllah is a 4ufficient witness between me and you, and whosoe"er possess nowledge of the 6oo .C %)oran !h. @? Ferse G?' Allah, the Exalted also said 6ut he who had nowledge of the 6oo said# ;I will bring it to you before your glance comes bac to you.( %)oran !h. E, Ferse GH'. Indicating that he was enabled by the power of nowledge. As for the e"idence of the "alue of nowledge in tradition %al7a hbar' the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 said# $If Allah wants good for a person He ma es him understand the 3eligion, and nowledge is attained by learning.( )n!*l%"+%#

/he &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, also said, $/he learned persons are the heirs of the prophets.( It is well nown that there is no ran higher than that of prophecy, nor is there any honor higher than its inheritance. And the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 said# $Whate"er is in the hea"ens and the earth intercedes for the learned person.( Who could be in a more ele"ated position than the one for whom the angels of the hea"ens and earth see forgi"enessD /he &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 said# $/he best of all people is the learned belie"er who, if he is needed, will be useful: and if dispensed with will be self7sufficient.( He also said# $&eople are li e mines of gold and sil"er, the best of them in the times of ignorance %Iahiliyah' before Islam, are the best in the times Islam, pro"ided they see the light.( And he also said# $/he superior ran the learned person holds o"er the worshiper is similar to the superiority of the moon when it is full o"er the other stars.( As the e"idence of the "alue of nowledge in the saying of the !ompanions %al7 Athar', Ali, the son of Abi /alib, may Allah be pleased with him, said to )umail $5 )umail nowledge is better than wealth, you safeguard wealth but nowledge safeguards you. )nowledge is so"ereign but wealth is ser"ile, wealth is diminished by e0pending while nowledge is increased in its e0pending.( Abu Al Aswad said# $Jothing is more precious than nowledge, while ings are so"ereign o"er the people, they are ruled by the learned.( Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said# $4olomon, son of 8a"id, peace be upon them, was offered to choose between nowledge, wealth or power, and he chose nowledge, then he was blessed with wealth and power as well.( Ibn Al Mubara was as ed# $Who constitutes humanityD( He answered# $/he learned.( It was then said to him# $And who are the ingsD( He answered# $/he ascetics.( He was as ed# $Who are the ignoble people thenD( He answered# $/hose who in the name of religion, grow fat in the world.( Ibn Al Mubara only regarded the learned as belonging to man ind, because it is nowledge, which distinguishes man from the animals. <urthermore, man is a human being, not because of his physical prowess, because physically the camel is his superior: not because of his size because the elephant is larger: nor for his courage because the lion is more courageous than he, not because of his appetite for the o0 has the greater. Al Hassan 7 may Allah ha"e mercy upon him 7 said# $/he in of the learned will be li ened to the blood of the martyrs, and the former will pro"e superior.(

4alem, Abi Al Ia1d1s son said# $My master bought me for ?HH 8irhams and later set me free. /hen I said what shall I do to support myselfD 4o finally I too up learning and no sooner than a year had passed the Amir of Madinah called upon me, but I would not recei"e him.( Al Kuhari 7 may Allah ha"e mercy upon him 7 said# $)nowledge is glorious and is not treasured e0cept by the glorious.( The Excellence of Learning /he e0cellence of learning is attested to in the )oran by Allah, the Almighty# Allah, the Exalted said $B rather, a party from each of section should go forth to become well "ersed in the religion B %)oran !h. + "erse @EE' As for the e"idence of the e0cellence of learning the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 said# $Whoe"er follows a path in search of nowledge, Allah will guide him into a path leading into &aradise.( &rophet Muhammad 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 said# $/ruly the angels will bow low to the one who see s nowledge in appro"al of what he does.( As for the e"idence of the e0cellence of learning the son of Abbas, a companion of the &rophet > may Allah praise and "enerate him > said# $I was humbled when I sought nowledge, then I was ele"ated when the people sought nowledge from me.( He also said# $I would rather spend a part of the night in learned discussion than in continual prayer.( Abu 9l 8arda1a said# $/o learn something is more fa"orable to me than to stand all night in prayer.( And he also said# $6e among the learned or one who learns, or one who listens, and do not be the e0ception or you will be lost.( He said# $Whoe"er sees that stri"ing for nowledge is not a Iihad, his mind and opinion are lac ing.( The Excellence of Teaching /he e0cellence of teaching is witnessed in the )oran, Allah, the Almighty said# $Band when they return to their people warn them in order that they may beware.( %)oran !h. + "erse @EE' The o!"ect is teaching and advice,

Allah, the Almighty said# $When Allah too a co"enant with those to whom the 6oo was gi"en, %saying'# ;Lou shall ma e it clear to the people, and not conceal it. B( %)oran !h. ? "erse @A,' It is an o!ligation to teach Allah, the High 90alted said# $!all to the &ath of your Lord with wisdom and fine admonition. 8ispute with them in the best mannerB.( %)oran !h.@M "erse @E*' As for the e"idence of the e0cellence of teaching &rophet Muhammad > may Allah praise and "enerate him > said to Mo1az before he sent him to Lemen# $If Allah guides one person through you, it is better for you than the world and all that is in it.( The #rophet $ ma% Allah praise and venerate him $ said $Allah does not ta e away nowledge, by ta ing it away from the people, but He ta es it away by the death of the religious learned men until none of them remain. /hen people will ta e as their leaders ignorant persons who, when consulted, will gi"e their "erdict without nowledge. 4o they will go astray and will lead the people astray.( /he &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 said# $!oncerning the guidance and nowledge with which I ha"e been endowed, it can be compared to rain, which falls upon the land. &art of the land is good and fertile: the dry grass turns green and an abundance of fresh new grass is produced. Another part is dry but stores water and with it Allah benefits people, they drin from it and use it for culti"ation. Another part is a barren plain that neither retains water, nor yet produces fresh grass. 4uch are the cases of those who understand the religion sent down by Allah and benefit from that with which Allah has sent to me, studying and teaching it. /hen, there are those who do not raise their heads to gain religious nowledge nor do they accept the guidance with which I ha"e been sent.( As for the e"idence of the e0cellence of teaching in the sayings of the !ompanions %al7athar'# =mar 7 may Allah be pleased with him 7 said# $Whoe"er relates a saying of &rophet Muhammad and thereby induces someone to act according to it, will be rewarded and also rewarded with a reward e2ui"alent to those who acted according to that saying.( Ibn Abbas 7 may Allah be pleased with him 7 said# $All the creation see s forgi"eness for the one who teaches people good, e"en the whales in the sea.(

Ata1a 7 may Allah be pleased with him 7 said# $I came upon 4aeed, 9l7Musayyab1s son and found him crying, I as ed him why he was crying.( He answered# 6ecause no one see s any nowledge from me.( It has also been said that the learned are the shining luminaries of all time. 9ach is the luminary of his time, which illuminates his generation. Cha8t% T*! On #raiseworth% and &lameworth% &ranches of Knowledge, their classifications, and the rules, which govern them @. /he e0planation of $those branches of nowledge whose ac2uisition is deemed an indi"idual duty( %<ard ayn'. E. /he e0planation of $those whose ac2uisition is deemed collecti"e duty( %<ard ifaya'. Which are the determining position of theology and .urisprudence in Islam %fi2h' in relation to the science of 3eligion: and, finally show the superiority of the science of the Hereafter. On 'nowledge whose ac(uisition is deemed Individual )ut% *+ard A%n, /he Messenger of Allah > may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 said# $4ee ing nowledge is an ordinance obligatory on e"ery Muslim,( and also, $4ee nowledge e"en if it is from !hina.( &eople, howe"er, disagree as to what branch of nowledge man is obliged to ac2uire, and as a result ha"e split into appro0imately twenty groups. We shall not go into details but simply summarize the matter by saying that each group insisted on the necessity of ac2uiring that branch of nowledge, which happened to be its own specialty. /he scholastic theologians insisted on scholastic theology because the 5neness of Allah, as well as His 9ssence and Attributes is nown through it. /he .urists held out for .urisprudence because the acts of worship, the lawful and the unlawful as well as the forbidden and the permissible in daily conduct, are determined through it. <urthermore, the commentators and traditionalists, hold that through it all sciences are attained, stood for the science of the )oran and &rophetic 2uotations. /he 4ufis pointed to 4ufism as the branch of nowledge, which was intended, some saying that it is the science whereby man ind, realizing his position in relation to the 8i"ine, has a mystical e0perience. 5ther 4ufis said that it comprises the nowledge of the meaning of sincerity and the afflictions of the soul, as well as being able to distinguish between the followers of Allah and the followers of satan. 5thers again said that it was the esoteric science whose ac2uisition was re2uired only of the 2ualified, select few, and

accordingly they dismissed the accepted meaning of the word in fa"or of its esoteric connotation. According to Abu /alib al7Ma i, the meaning of the pre"iously mentioned &rophetic sayings is nowledge of the contents of tradition, which embodies the foundations of Islam, referred to in the following words of the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 $Islam is built upon fi"e pillars.( 4ince these fi"e pillars are ordinances imposed by Allah, it is necessary to now how to fulfill them. /he student therefore, should be absolutely certain that nowledge, as we ha"e already shown in the introduction to this boo , is di"ided into the science of practical religion and the science of re"elations. /he scope of this discussion is confined to the science of practical religion. /he principals of practical religion, which a sane adult is obliged to obser"e deals with three things# beliefs, wor s and prohibitions. <or e0ample, when a sane indi"idual attains puberty and comes of age, his first obligation is learning the two phrases of the witnessing of faith %al shahadah' and understanding their meaning. /hese two phrases are# ;/here is no god e0cept Allah: Muhammad is the &rophet of Allah.1 He-she is not re2uired to fully penetrate their significance through scrutiny, in"estigation and research, but only to belie"e and une2ui"ocally bear witness to them without the least doubt or hesitation. /he latter is obtained by accepting on authority without any in"estigation or proof, since the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 re2uired only the acceptance and witnessing from the uneducated Arabs without their learning any e"idence. /hus in accepting and witnessing the two phrases, the person fulfills an obligation, which is binding at that time. Accordingly, at that time, the branch of nowledge, whose ac2uisition is 8i"inely ordained and binding upon e"ery Muslim, would consist in the learning and understanding the two phrases of the witnessing of faith and at that stage it is sufficient for them. /his is demonstrated by considering that if a Muslim dies upon accepting and bearing testimony the two phrases of the witnessing of faith, he would die obedient to Allah and not be guilty of rebellion. With the rise of new de"elopments, howe"er, there would be other obligations, but they would not necessarily be binding on e"ery indi"idual. 5n the contrary, it would be 2uite possible %for some' to be free of them. The new developments that ma% affect o!ligations regarding wor's, prohi!itions or !eliefs3egarding wor s, for e0ample, if a person1s life span were to e0tend from dawn until noon, he-she would be re2uired to learn how to perform his-her ablutions and pray because of the approaching noon hour. In such a case it would be wrong to say that it is ob"ious that he should persist in his study. If he-she finds that his life will e0tend beyond noon' and thin s that he might not be able to finish in time, he should still persist and perform his ablutions and pray before e"ening, howe"er long this may be after the appointed hour. In short he-she should gi"e study primary consideration regardless of the time re2uired. In addition it can be said that the obligation to ac2uire nowledge, which is the prere2uisite for wor s,

is deri"ed from the obligation to perform wor s, in, which case it might not e"en be obligatory before sunset. /his is also true of the other prayers. <urther, should a person li"e until the beginning of 3amadan, he-she would be obliged to learn all about fasting, i.e., that it lasts from morning until sunset, that obser"ing it re2uires resol"e, abstinence from food, drin and se0ual intercourse as well as either personally sighting the new moon, or accepting the word of two eye witnesses. 4imilarly, should a person come into some wealth, or on coming of age, inherit wealth, he should learn all about payment of the obligatory charity %za at'. <or, although fulfilling the obligation is not immediately incumbent upon him, it would become so at the end of the first year after his acceptance of Islam. 4hould he possess nothing but camels, he would not need to learn the za at of sheep, and the same is true of other "arieties of wealth. When the months of pilgrimage begin, it is unnecessary for the person to immediately start to learn how to ma e the &ilgrimage, it can be learned at one1s con"enience. /he scholars of Islam should encourage and ma e nown the fact that the pilgrimage is a 8i"ine ordinance and is to be obser"ed by all Muslims who ha"e both the pro"isions and means of transportation and that it can be made at leisure and con"enience. 5nce the intended pilgrim has made the intention to ma e the pilgrimage, it would then become necessary for him-her to learn the essential elements of how to perform the pilgrimage but not the "oluntary acts connected with the pilgrimage as they are not part of the 8i"ine ordinance that are obligatory upon all Muslims. /he same reasoning applies to the nowledge of the other wor s, which are 8i"inely ordained and binding on all Muslims. 3egarding the obligatory ac2uisition of nowledge of that which is prohibited, the obligation is conditioned by the rise of new de"elopments and changed circumstances rele"ant to it, and "aries with the conditions of the indi"idual. <or e0ample, the mute is not obliged to now what is unlawful in speech nor the blind to now what things are unlawful to see. 4imilarly, the 6edouin is not obliged to now the houses in, which it is unlawful to sit. All these obligations only apply within the limits of circumstance, and need not be learned when it is certain that the 2uestion of their applicability will not arise. 6ut whate"er situations resemble these and may, therefore, be confused with them must be distinguished from them > as, for e0ample, the case where a man who, at the time of embracing Islam, was in the habit of wearing sil garments, or possessed something illegally, or loo ed at a woman whom he could not legally marry. In such a case, he should be warned. 5n the other hand, whate"er does not resemble these things and is, therefore, not confusing but to which one may be e0posed through contact > such as food and drin > instruction concerning it is obligatory. Hence if an indi"idual happens to be in a town where it is customary to drin wine and eat por , it is imperati"e that he be instructed of their prohibition and warned against using them. Moreo"er, of all things in which instruction is obligatory, ac2uiring a nowledge of them is also obligatory.

In respect of belief and actions of the heart, nowledge of them is obligatory according to the state of the mind. Accordingly, if one should feel any passing thought % hatir' as to the meaning of the two phrases of the testimony of faith mean, it would be obligatory to ac2uire the nowledge of whate"er would remo"e that doubt. If, on the other hand, there was no such passing thought but the person died before he-she belie"ed that the word of Allah > the )oran > is eternal, "isible and not a substratum for originated properties, as well as other often repeated articles of faith, he-she would ha"e died a professing Muslim. /hese feelings of doubt, which render the nowledge of the articles of faith obligatory arise in the mind either naturally or as a result of hearing things in one1s own community. <or e0ample, in a town where rumors ha"e spread and the people tal heresy, the indi"idual should, in the early years of his maturity, be protected against such influence by being instructed in the elements of truth. If on the other hand, he were e0posed to falsehood, it would become necessary to remo"e it from his heart, a tas that might pro"e difficult. Again, if this particular Muslim were a merchant li"ing in the midst of a town where the practice of usury was pre"alent, it would be obligatory to warn him against usury. /his, then, is the truth concerning the nowledge whose ac2uisition is deemed an ordinance of Allah binding on e"eryone and no less binding on some because of its obser"ance by others. /he gist of it all is nowledge of how to perform wor s whose discharge is obligatory. Whoe"er, therefore, nows what wor s are obligatory together with the time of their discharge, the same possesses the nowledge who ac2uisition if far ayn. <urthermore, what the 4ufis hold relati"e to the understanding of the thoughts of the enemy and those of the company of hea"en %lummat al7mul ' is also true, though only to those who apply themsel"es to it. If, howe"er, man does not for the most part refrain from the impulses of e"il, hypocrisy and en"y, he should see to ac2uire whate"er nowledge he may feel he needs from the ;Nuarter of the 8estructi"e Matters of Life1. How can he neglect this obligation when the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said# $/hree things in life are destructi"e# sordid a"arice, "ehement passion and self conceit.( And no man can refrain from these. /he rest of what we shall mention of the reprehensible conditions of the heart such as pride, conceit, etc., all follow from these three aforementioned destructi"e matters of life. /heir eradication is a fard ayn. It is, howe"er, not possible e0cept through a nowledge of the nature of these destructi"e matters of life, as well as their causes, symptoms and cure: as the one who does not now e"il falls into it. A cure is, in reality, confronting a cause with its opposite. How could such a thing be possible without nowledge of both cause and effectD Most of the things we ha"e mentioned in the Nuarter on the 8estructi"e Matters of Life belong to the fard ayn class, which ha"e been totally neglected by the people in fa"or of pursuing things, which do not matter.

Among these things about, which %we' should proceed to inform the indi"idual, in case they ha"e not yet been transmitted from one people to another, are belief in &aradise, Hell, the 8ay of 3esurrection, and the 8ay of Iudgment in order that he-she may belie"e and accept them, as they are the continuation of the words of the confession of faith. /his is re2uired because after the acceptance of Muhammad1s &rophethood, the Message, which he con"eyed, namely, that whoe"er should obey Allah and His Messenger would enter &aradise, and whoe"er should disobey them would enter Hell fire, should be understood. If, therefore, you would pay attention to this reasoning you would now that this is the true way of life. Lou would also find out that e"ery worshiper suffers, in the course of his life, both during the day and the night, from enduring thoughts %wa2ai' of doubt, which befall him in the performance of his acts of worship and daily transactions. /hese thoughts re2uire new obligations and conse2uently it becomes necessary for him to in2uire concerning e"ery unusual occurrence, which may happen to him as well as to proceed to learn what may be generally e0pected to occur in the near future. <inally, if it should become clear that what the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 meant by his words# $4ee ing nowledge is an ordinance obligatory upon e"ery Muslim(, is nowledge with the definite article, namely, the nowledge of only those wor s, which are well nown to be obligatory on e"ery Muslim, the line of this reasoning would become apparent as would also the time in, which these obligations should be discharged. Allah, howe"er, nows best. On Knowledge whose ac(uisition is deemed +ard 'ifa%ah *Collective )ut%, It should be nown that a necessary duty is not distinguished from other duties, e0cept when the different sciences are enumerated. /hese are di"ided in relation to the ind of duties we are now considering, into the science of .urisprudence and secular %ghayr shariyah' sciences. 6y the science of .urisprudence I mean those that ha"e been ac2uired from the prophets and are not arri"ed at either by reason, li e arithmetic, or by e0perimentation, li e medicine or by hearing, li e language. 4ecular sciences are di"ided into praiseworthy %mahmud', blameworthy %madhmum', and permissible %mubah'. &raiseworthy sciences are those on whose nowledge the acti"ities of this life depend such as medicine arithmetic. /hey are di"ided into sciences, which are a collecti"e duty and into sciences, which are meritorious though not obligatory. 4ciences whose nowledge is deemed collecti"e duty comprise e"ery science, which is indispensable for the welfare of the world such as# medicine, which is necessary for the life of the body, arithmetic for daily transactions and the di"ision of legacies and in inheritances, as well as others besides. /hese are the sciences, which, through of their absence, a community would be reduced to narrow straits. 6ut should one who can practice them rise in that community, it would suffice, and the

obligation to ac2uire their nowledge would cease to be binding upon the rest of the community. Jo one should be astonished when we say that medicine as well as arithmetic are of the sciences, which are a collecti"e duty, because the fundamental industries are also the same, such as agriculture, wea"ing, politics, e"en tailoring. Has He Who sent down the sic ness not also sent down the remedy, gi"en guidance for its use, and prepared the means for administering itD It is not, therefore, permissible to e0pose oneself to destruction by neglecting the remedy. /o go deep into the details of arithmetic and the nature of medicine as well as such details, which, while not indispensable, are helpful in reinforcing the efficacy of whate"er is necessary, is howe"er, considered meritorious, not obligatory. /he blameworthy %madhmum' sciences are magic, talismanic science, .uggling, tric ery and the li e. /he sciences of .urisprudence, which are intended in the study are all praiseworthy. 4ometimes, howe"er, they may be confused with what may be ta en for praiseworthy but, in fact, are blameworthy. <or this reason .urisprudence is di"ided into praiseworthy and blameworthy sciences. /he praiseworthy sciences comprise sources %usul', branches %furu', au0iliary %mu2addimat', and supplementary %mutammimat'. /here are therefore, four inds. <irst come the sources %usul', which are four in number. /he 6oo of Allah %/he )oran', the usage %sunnah' of His &rophet, the Agreement %i.ma' of all Muslims, and the /raditions relating to the !ompanions %athar al sahabah'. Agreement, in so far as it e"inces usage, is a source. Li e traditions relating to the !ompanions, howe"er, which also e"ince usage, agreement is a secondary source. /his is because the !ompanions ha"e witnessed the 3e"elations and ha"e, through their close association with the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 , comprehended what others ha"e failed to see. 4ince, howe"er, it is possible that words will not fully e0press what has been comprehended the learned men ha"e deemed it fit to follow the e0ample of the !ompanions and hold fast to their traditions though on certain condition and in a special manner as the one concerned may see. It is, howe"er, not appropriate to discuss it in this chapter. 4econd are the branches. /hey are what has been drawn from the sources, not according to the literal meaning but through meanings, which are adduced by the mind thereby widening the understanding until a meaning differing from the literal is indicated, as is, for e0ample, indicated by the words of the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 # $/he .udge should not sit in .udgment while angry,( namely, that he should not sit in .udgment while constipated or hungry or suffering from a painful disease. /his last thing may be of two inds# the first

pertains to the acti"ities of this world and is contained in the boo s of law and entrusted to the lawyers, the learned men of this world# the second pertains to the acti"ities of the Hereafter. It is the science of the conditions of the heart, it1s praiseworthy and blameworthy characteristics, what is acceptable before Allah and what is reprehensible to Him. All these are treated in the last part of this boo , i.e., the whole boo of /he 3e"i"al of the 4ciences of 3eligion. It includes the nowledge of what issues from the heart and affects the senses in their acts of worship and usages of life, all of, which are treated in the first part of this boo . /hird are the au0iliary %mu2addimat'. /hese act as the instrument for the sciences of .urisprudence. /hus linguistic science and synta0 are but instruments for the nowledge of the 6oo of Allah and the usage %sunnah' of His &rophet. In themsel"es linguistic science and synta0 are not .urisprudence sciences, but it has become necessary to engage in their study because of the law since this law has come in the language of Arabs. And whereas e"ery law is re"ealed through the medium of a particular language, the learning of that language becomes an instrument wherewith to learn the law. Among these instruments, also, is the science of writing. It is howe"er, not a necessary instrument because the Messenger of Allah was himself unlettered %ummi'. And if it were concei"able that retention of e"erything that is heard was at all possible, man ind might ha"e dispensed with writing. 6ut, because of the impossibility of such a thing, it has become, on the whole, necessary. <ourth are the supplementary %mutammimat', which, in relation to the science of the )oran, are di"ided into what pertains to pronunciation such as learning the different readings and the enunciation of the different letters, and into what pertains to e0position, which also rests on authoritati"e transmission. /his is because language alone cannot treat e0position or its technicalities such as the nowledge of the abrogating %nasi h' and the abrogated %mansu h', the general %amm' and the particular % hass', the e0press laws of the )oran as well as its manifest meaning, and finally the manner of their application, i.e. the science, which is called the principles of .urisprudence %usul al7fi2h', which also includes the sunnah. In connection with tradition and history, the supplementary sciences are biography, dealing mainly with the li"es of illustrious men and of the !ompanions, nowledge of the trustworthy transmitters of traditions and their peculiarities, in order to distinguish between wea %daif' and strong %2awi' traditions, and of their ages in order to differentiate between those traditions whose chain of authorities is incomplete or lac ing %mursal' and those whose chain of authorities is incomplete goes bac to the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 %musnad', as well as nowledge of whate"er is connected with it.

/hese then are the sciences of .urisprudence. Jot only are they all praiseworthy, but they also belong to the category of the collecti"e duty. 6ut should one in2uire saying# $Why ha"e you appended .urisprudence to secular sciences and grouped .urists among secular scholarsD( Let me tell you that Allah made Adam from earth and his offspring from clay and running water. He brought them out from loins to the womb, then to life, and finally to the gra"e: from the gra"e He raised them to .udgment and from there to &aradise or to Hell <ire. 4uch was, therefore, their beginning, such their end, and such their abodes. <urthermore, Allah created this world in preparation for the Hereafter in order to gather suitable pro"isions there from. If these pro"isions were gathered .ustly, dissensions would ha"e ceased and the .urists would ha"e become idle, but since men ha"e with greed gathered their pro"isions, dissensions ensued and conse2uently the need for a magistrate to rule them arose. In turn the magistrate felt the need for a canon with which to go"ern the people. It is the .urist, though, who has the nowledge of the rules of go"ernment and the methods of mediation between the people whene"er, because of their greed, they contend. He thus becomes the teacher of the magistrates and their guide in go"ernment and control, that through their righteousness the affairs of men in this world may be set in order. =pon my life I declare that .urisprudence is also connected with religion, not directly but indirectly through the affairs of this world, because this world is the preparation for the Hereafter, and there is no religion without it. <urthermore, the state and religion are twins. 3eligion is the foundation while the state is the guard. /hat, which has no foundation will certainly crumble and that, which has no guard is lost. Without the magistrates there is neither go"ernment nor control, and the correct way to settle dissensions is through law. And as go"ernment by magistrates does not belong primarily to the science of religion but is an ad.unct to that without, which there is not religion, so is the nowledge of the manner of go"ernment. /hus it is well nown that it is not possible to carry out the pilgrimage without the protection of an escort of 6edouins along the route. 6ut the pilgrimage itself is one thing, setting out on the road to pilgrimage is another, policing the route without, which it is not possible to perform the pilgrimage is still another, and nowledge of the manner of policing the route with all its rules and regulations is again another. /he result of .urisprudence is nowledge of the methods of go"ernment and control. /his is attested by a /radition whose chain of authorities goes bac to the &rophet 7 may Allah praise and "enerate him 7 , namely# $&eople will not be .udged e0cept by three# a go"ernor, a deputy and an intruder.( /he go"ernor is the Imam %the Imams ha"e always been the .udges': the deputy is his lieutenant, while anyone else is an intruder who underta es that responsibility without there being any need for him to do so. As a matter of fact it was the custom of the !ompanions to a"oid gi"ing legal opinions to the e0tent that each was in the habit of referring %the 2uestion' to his colleague, although they did not a"oid answering 2uestions relati"e to the science of the )oran and the &ath to the Hereafter. In some recensions %the word' hypocrite %appears' instead of the word intruder, %and rightly so' because anyone who, without any

special need, underta es the responsibility of gi"ing legal opinions does so for the sa e of ac2uiring position and wealth. If you agree to this, the same will hold true in connection with the rules of in"alidating testimonies, restricti"e ordinances, indemnities and settling feuds: but it will not hold true in respect to what falls under the Nuarter of the Acts of Worship such as fasting and prayer, nor in respect to what the !ustoms of Life entail of ci"il and legal matters such as determining the lawful and the unlawful. Lou should, therefore, now that what the .urist comes nearest discussing under wor s, which pertain to the Hereafter are four# Islam, prayer, charity, %doing' what is lawful and abstaining %from' what is unlawful. 6ut when you e0amine how far the .urist1s speculation goes into these four you will find that it does not go beyond the limits of this world into the ne0t. If then you realize this limitation in respect to these four it becomes to you more e"ident in others besides. !oncerning Islam the .urist discourses on what renders it sound or unsound as well as on its conditions, but only pays attention to outward confession. /he heart, howe"er, is remo"ed from his domain because the Messenger set apart from the .urist those who wield the sword and those in whose hand the reins of temporal power lie. /his the Messenger did when he said to the man who had illed another because the latter had recited the confession of faith gi"ing for a reason his fear of the sword, $Ha"e you e0amined his heartD( /he .urist also determines with the aid of the sword the soundness of %one1s' Islam, although he nows that the sword can neither re"eal to him the intentions %of the indi"idual' nor remo"e from his heart the "eil of ignorance and bewilderment. He is, howe"er, a counselor to him who wields the sword. 4ince the sword can reach the %indi"idual1s' nec and the hand his possessions, repeating the confession of faith with the tongue protects his life and possessions as long as he has either in this world. <or this reason the &rophet said: $I was ordered to fight people until they say, $/here is no god e0cept Allah.1 When they say this they render their li"es and possessions immune against my hand.( He thus confined the efficacy %of "erbal confession' to life and possessions: but in the Hereafter mere words do not a"ail > only the illumination of the hearts %by the 8i"ine light', their secret thoughts, and their sincerity do a"ail. /hese, howe"er, do not fall within the field of .urisprudence, although the .urist may del"e into them as he might also del"e into theology and medicine, both of, which are outside his field. !oncerning prayer, the .urist is entitled to gi"e his opinion as to whether or not it has been correctly performed in accordance with the prescribed regulations, regardless of the fact that %the worship', from the beginning to the end, might not ha"e paid attention to any part of his prayer e0cept the magnificent %ta bir', but has instead busied himself in going o"er his mar et transactions. 4uch a prayer is of no use for the Hereafter .ust as "erbal confession of Islam is also of no use. Je"ertheless, the .urist does not pass .udgment regarding its soundness, namely, whether or not the worshiper has, in what he has performed, fulfilled the re2uirements of the law and has thereby rendered himself immune to

punishment. /o %the sub.ect of' submitting and presenting the heart to Allah, howe"er, both of, which are wor s pertaining to the Hereafter and through, which wor s are rendered efficacious, the .urist does not address himself: and in case he does, he o"ersteps his bounds. !oncerning charity, the .urist e0amines what satisfies the demand of the magistrate so that, in the e"ent that the payment of the alms is withheld and, conse2uently, the magistrate e0acts it by force, the .urist then rules that the responsibility of the magistrate has been fulfilled. It is related that Abu Lusef, the .udge, was in the habit of gi"ing away all his income to his wife at the end of each year and in turn ma ing her gi"e away hers to him in order to a"oid the payment of alms. 5n being informed of it, Abu Hanifah declared that this was the result of Abu Lusef1s %"ersatility in' .urisprudence: and Abu Hanifah was right because such a thing is the result of worldly wisdom. Je"ertheless, its harm in the Hereafter outweighs e"ery benefit %it may yield in this world'. Moreo"er, such nowledge is harmful. !oncerning the lawful and the unlawful, abstinence from the latter is a part of religion. &iety, moreo"er, has four grades. /he first is that piety, which is re2uired for .ust testimony and the relin2uishing of that, which dis2ualifies man to bear witness before a court, or to be a .udge or to act as go"ernor. It consists, in other words, in a"oiding all that is clearly unlawful. /he second is the piety of honest men, which guards against dubiosities , which engender ambiguous and misleading interpretations. /hus the &rophet said# $8iscard that, which is dubious for that, which is indubious.( He also said# $4in is heart alluring.( /he third is the piety of the cautious, which entails desisting from perfectly lawful deeds for fear that may lead to deeds, which are unlawful. In this connection the &rophet said# $Jo man will be numbered among the cautious unless he is inclined to a"oid what is harmless for fear of what is harmful.( 5f such is the reluctance to discuss the affairs of people lest one be drawn into bac biting, and the abstinence from eating and drin ing of things, which when the appetite lest that should stimulate passion and lust, which lead a man to commit that, which is forbidden. /he fourth is the piety of the awlia %those close to Allah', which shuns all things but Allah for fear of e0pending one single hour of life in things, which, although it is clear and certain that they lead to nothing unlawful, do not help to bring the indi"idual nearer to Allah. All these grades %of piety', e0cept the first, namely the piety of witnesses and .udges as well as what militates against .ustice, are outside the domain of the .urist. <urthermore, to comply with the re2uirements of this first grade of piety

does not preclude sin being punished in the Hereafter. /he &rophet said to Wabisah# $!onsult your own heart although you ha"e been gi"en a dispensation once, twice or thrice.( /he .urist does not, and should not, e0press an opinion regarding the things, which allure and perple0 the heart, or how to deal with them, but confines his opinion to those things, which militate against .ustice. Hence the entire scope of the .urist1s domain is limited to the affairs of this world, which pa"e the road to the Hereafter. 4hould he then tough upon the attributes of the heart and the rules of the Hereafter, he does so as an intruder .ust as he would be whene"er anything relati"e to medicine, arithmetic, astronomy and theology confront him. /he same is true of philosophy in relation to synta0 or poetry. 4ufyan al7/hawri, an authority in esoteric nowledge, used to say that the study of this %science' is not among the pro"isions for the Hereafter. How could it be when it is agreed that the "alue of nowledge is acting according to its preceptsD Is it possible, therefore, to hold as pro"isions for the Hereafter the nowledge of the forms that di"orce might ta e, either zihar or by li1an, of contracts in"ol"ing immediate payment of the price and admitting delay in the deli"ery of the article purchased %salam' of hire, rental, and lease %i.arah', and of money changing %sarf'D Anyone who ac2uires the nowledge of these things, hoping to draw nearer to Allah, would certainly be mad. Indeed, nothing but engaging body and soul in the ser"ice of Allah and His worship would draw people nearer to Allah: and nobility lies in nowing how to accomplish these deeds. If you should say: $Why ha"e you regarded medicine and .urisprudence in the same way when medicine pertains to the affairs of this world, namely, the welfare of the body, while upon .urisprudence in the same way when medicine pertains to the affairs of this world, namely, the welfare of the body, while upon .urisprudence depends the welfare of religion: and furthermore does not this e2ual regard of the two "iolate the public consensus of opinion among all MuslimsD( /hen now that such a treatment is not necessary and in fact the two sciences differ. Iurisprudence is superior to medicine on three counts# first, because it is sacred nowledge, and, unli e medicine, which is not sacred nowledge, .urisprudence is deri"ed from prophecy: second, it is superior to medicine because no one of those who are treading the road to the Hereafter can do without it, neither the healthy nor the sic : while on the other hand only the sic , who are a minority, need medicine: thirdly, because .urisprudence is a in to the science of the road of the Hereafter, being a study of the wor s or the senses. /he origin of these wor s as well as their source lies in the attributes of the heart. /hus praiseworthy wor s are the result of praiseworthy characters %endowed with' sa"ing %grace' in the Hereafter: similarly, the blameworthy wor s are the result of blameworthy characters. /he connection between the senses and the heart is thus clear. Health and disease, howe"er, result from certain 2ualities in the humuors characteristic of the body, not of the heart. Jo matter how often .urisprudence is compared with medicine, the superiority of the former is e"ident. 4imilarly,

whene"er the science of the road to the Hereafter is compared with .urisprudence, the superiority of the former is e"ident. if you should say# $90plain to me the science of the road to the Hereafter in such a manner as will bring out its outline if the en2uiry into its details is not possible(, now, then, that it is di"ided into two parts# the science of re"elation and the science of practical religion. /he first part, namely the science of re"elation is the science of esoterics, which is the goal of all sciences. 5ne of the Gnostics said# $I fear that whoe"er should lac a portion of that science would come to an e"il end.( /he least portion of the science of re"elation is belie"ing in it and placing it in the hands of those worthy of it. Another said# $Whoe"er has these two characteristics, heresy and pride, will ne"er be blessed with any of this science.( It was also said# $Whoe"er %lo"es Allah succeeds, but' whoe"er lo"es this world and persists in his desires will not attain the science of re"elation, though he might attain the other sciences.( /he least punishment, which the person who denies re"elations will suffer is that he will not be blessed with any of its gifts. <urthermore, the science of re"elation is the science concerned with the awlia %those close to Allah' and the fa"orites of Allah. It stands for a light, which shines in the heart when it is cleansed and purified of its blameworthy 2ualities. /hrough this light is re"ealed the truth of se"eral things, whose names ha"e hitherto often been heard, and to, which ambiguous and obscure meanings ha"e been attached. /hrough it, these truths are clarified until the true nowledge of the essence of Allah is attained together with that of His eternal and perfect attributes, His wor s and wisdom in the creation of this world and the Hereafter as well as the reason for His e0alting the latter o"er the former. /hrough it also is obtained the nowledge of the meaning of prophecy and prophet and the import of re"elation. /hrough it is obtained the nowledge of the meaning of prophecy and prophet and the import of re"elation. /hrough it is obtained the truth about satan, the meaning of the words angels and de"ils, and the cause of the enmity between satan and man. /hrough it is nown how the Angel appeared to the prophets and how they recei"ed the 8i"ine re"elation. /hrough it is achie"ed the nowledge of the ingdom of hea"en and earth, as well as the nowledge of the heart and how the angelic hosts ha"e confronted the de"ils. /hrough it is gained the nowledge of how to distinguish between the company of hea"en and the company of the de"il, a nowledge of the Hereafter, &aradise, and Hell <ire, the punishment of the gra"e, the bridge %al sirat' across the infernal <ire, the 6alance of the Iudgment 8ay, and nowledge of the 8ay of 3ec oning. /hrough it also is comprehended the meaning of the following words of Allah# $3ead your boo . Lour self suffices you this 8ay as a rec oner against you.( )oran !h. @, "erse @G and# $BIndeed, the 9"erlasting 3esidence is the 9ternal lifeB( )oran !h. E+ "erse MG. /hrough this same light is re"ealed the meanings of meeting Allah and seeing His gracious face: the meaning of being close to Him and of occupying a place in His gracious face: the meaning of being close to Him and of occupying a

place in His pro0imity: the meaning of attaining happiness through communion with the hea"enly hosts and association with the angels and the prophets. /hrough it also the distinction between the ran s of the people in the different hea"ens is determined until they see one another in the same way as the planet Fenus is seen in the midst of the hea"ens. Many other things, which would re2uire a great deal of time to e0plain because people, once they accept they accept them in principle ta e different stands with regard to their significations, are also determined through this light. /hus, some would regard all these as mere e0amples holding that the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man that, which Allah has prepared for His righteous worshipers, and that man nows nothing of &aradise e0cept its attributes and names: others hold that some are mere patterns and some are identical with the realities, which their names signify. Li ewise others hold that the limit to, which our nowledge of Allah can reach is to admit the inability to now Him. /here are some also who claim great things on %the sub.ect' of nowing Allah while others say that we cannot go beyond what all the common people ha"e reached, namely, that Allah is, that He is omniscient and omnipotent, that He sees and hears, and that He spea s. We, therefore, mean by the science of re"elation %that science whereby' the co"er is remo"ed so that the truth regarding these things becomes as clear as if it were seen by the eye, lea"ing thereby no room for any doubt. Man would, by himself, be capable of such a thing had not the rust and rot resulting from the filth of this world accumulated o"er the surface of the mirror of his heart. 6y the science of the road of the Hereafter we mean the nowledge of how to remo"e from the surface of this mirror that filth, which bars the nowing of Allah, His attributes, and His wor s. /he mirror is cleansed and purified by desisting from lust and emulating the prophets in all their states. /hus to whate"er e0tent the heart is cleansed and made to face the truth, to that same e0tent will reflect His reality. 6ut there is no way to this e0cept through discipline %which will be discussed in its proper places', learning, and instruction. /hese sciences are not recorded in boo s and are not discussed by him whom Allah has blessed with any of them e0cept among his own circle of intimates who parta e with him of them through discourses and secret communication. /his last method is nothing but the occult science, which the &rophet had in mind when he said# $Indeed of nowledge is a branch that resembles a hidden thing# no one grasps it e0cept those who now Allah# whene"er they declare it no one fails to recognize it e0cept those who do not now Allah. 8espise not, therefore, a learned man whom Allah has blessed with this nowledge because Allah Himself does not despise that man once He has imparted to him that nowledge.( /he second part, namely, the science of practical religion, is the science of the states of the heart, of, which the praiseworthy are fortitude, gratitude, fear, hope, resignation, de"otion, piety, contentment, generosity, recognition of one1s obligation to Allah under all circumstances, charity, good faith, morality, fellowship, truthfulness and sincerity. /o now the truth concerning these states

as well as their definitions and the means whereby they are attained, together with their fruits and signs, and tending whate"er state has been wea ened until it becomes strong again and whate"er has disappeared until it reappears, belongs to the science of the Hereafter. 5n the other hand, the blameworthy, such as the fear of po"erty, discontent with one1s lot, bitterness, such, rancour, en"y, deceit, ambition, the desire to be praised, the passion to li"e long in this life for the sa e of indulgence, pride, hypocrisy, anger, scorn, enmity, hatred, greed, niggardliness, lust, e0tra"agance, fri"olity, insolence, e0alting the rich and despising the poor, haughtiness, "anity, "aunting, boasting, holding oneself abo"e truth, meddling in things not of one1s concern, lo2uacity, obstinacy, currying fa"or, adulation, conceit, being occupied with other people1s shortcomings, the "anishing of grief from the heart and the departure of fear of Allah from it, e0treme self pity whene"er in affliction, lu ewarm support for truth, outwardly professing friendship and secretly fostering enmity, ta ing ad"antage of the patience of Allah and long suffering and persisting in ta ing away %from people' what Allah has gi"en them, trusting only in obedience, tric ery, dishonesty and fraud, %"ain' optimism, cruelty, rudeness, satisfaction in worldly pleasures and de.ection at their loss, delight in the company of people and loneliness when they depart, harshness, le"ity, haste, lac of shame and lac of mercy > these and many similar 2ualities of the heart are the seed beds of immoralities and the nursery gardens of turpitudes. /he opposite of these, namely the praiseworthy traits, are the fountainhead of all good wor s. /o now the definitions of these traits, the truth concerning each, the means whereby they are attained as well as their fruits and cures comprises the sciences of the Hereafter whose ac2uisition, according to the legal opinion of the learned men of that science is fard ayn. Whoe"er should turn away from this nowledge, would, in the Hereafter, be destroyed by the wrath of the )ing of )ings, .ust as he who fail to perform the ci"il duties would, according to the legal opinion of the .urists of this world, be cut down by the sword of the temporal rulers of this world. /he .udgment of the .urists concerning obligatory ordinances %furud ayn' relates to the welfare of the life in this world, while the .udgment of the learned men of the science of the Hereafter relates to the welfare of life in the Hereafter. /hus if a .urist were as ed concerning the meaning of any of these terms, as for e0ample# sincerity, or dependence, or precaution against hypocrisy, he would hesitate to e0press an opinion although e"ery one of these is an obligatory ordinance in whose neglect lies his own destruction in the Hereafter. 6ut should you in2uire from him concerning the li1an form of di"orce or the zihar form, or concerning wager %saba2' and target shooting he would recite to you "olumes of minute details, which would ne"er be used or needed: and in the e"ent a need might arise for some of them the community would not lac for someone who could render this ser"ice and spare the .urist the trouble and labor of his studies. He thus persists laboring day and night on these details tying to memorize and learn them, but the things, which are of real importance in religion, he o"erloo s. 4hould he, then, be 2uestioned about it, he would say that he had pursued it because it was the science of religion and also a collecti"e duty,

confusing thereby, himself and others by these e0cuses. /he intelligent person nows that if, in performing the collecti"e duty, the aim of the .urist has been to do the right thing, he should ha"e gi"en precedence to the fard ayn and to se"eral others of the collecti"e duty. How many a town has no physician e0cept from among the followers of protected religions %dhimmah' whose testimony, according to the laws of .urisprudence, especially in contro"ersy and polemics. <urthermore, the town is crowded with .urists employed in gi"ing legal opinions and defending cases. Would that I new why the learned men of religion permit wor in acti"ities, which are collecti"e duty and, which ha"e been performed by 2uite a number of people to the neglect of other collecti"e duty acti"ities, which ha"e not yet been performed. !ould there be any reason for this e0cept that medicine does not lead to management of religious endowments %aw2af', %e0ecution of' wills, possession of the money of orphans, and appointment to .udicial and go"ernmental positions through, which one e0alts himself abo"e his fellow men and fastens his yo e upon his enemiesD Indeed the science of religion has been destroyed because the learned men ha"e espoused e"il. Allah is, therefore, our help and refuge. May Allah protect us refuge. May Allah protect us from this delusion, displeasing to Him and pleasing to the de"il. /he pious among the learned men in esoteric nowledge used to ac nowledge the e0cellence of the learned men in esoteric nowledge %ilm al7batin' and the ad"ocates of the inward nowledge of the heart. /he Imam Al 4hafi1i was in the habit of sitting before 4hayban al 3a1I .ust as a boy would sit in the school, and would as concerning one thing or another, to, which 4hayban would reply# $Would one li e you as the ad"ice of this 6edouinD1 Al 4hafi1i would say: $/his agrees with what we already now.( Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Lahya ibn Ma1in used to call upon Ma1ruf al )har hi who, in esoteric nowledge %ilm al7zahir' was not their e2ual: ne"ertheless, they used to see his ad"ice. And why should they not ha"e done soD Had not the &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, when he was as ed# $What shall we do when we are confronted by something, which we cannot find in either the )oran or in the /raditionD( said# $As the honest men among you and guide your affairs by consultation.( <or that reason it has been said that the learned men of esoteric nowledge are the ornament of the earth and the state, while the learned men of esoteric nowledge are the ornament of hea"en and its ingdom. Al Iudayd said# $5nce upon a time my teacher al 4ari as ed me saying# ;When you lea"e my place whose company do you eepD1 I said# ;Al muhasibi1s.1 /o, which he replied# ;Well ha"e you chosenO <ollow his learning and culture, but a"oid his affectation in speech and his refutation of the theologians.1 =pon lea"ing I o"erheard him say# ;May Allah ma e you first a traditionist and then a 4ufi rather than a 4ufi first and then a traditionist.1( /his is a reference to the fact that he who first ac2uires "ersatility in tradition and learning and then turns to 4ufism comes off well, he who ta es to 4ufism before learning e0poses himself to danger.

4hould you say# $Why did you in your classification of the sciences ma e no mention of theology and philosophy and not show whether they are blameworthy or praiseworthyD( /hey now all that theology offers in the way of useful e"idence is contained in the )oran and 4unnah %traditions'. Whate"er e"idence is not contained therein is either reprehensible argumentation %which, as will be seen, is an inno"ation', or mere wrangling by dwelling on distinctions or amplification through the array of different opinions, most of, which are dri"el and nonsense, despised by the mind and re.ected by the ears, while others are rumbling into things unrelated to 3eligion and not customary during the first period of Islam. /o enter into such discussions at all was then regarded heresy, but things ha"e now changed. Inno"ations, which turn people from the dictates of the )oran and the tradition ha"e arisen and a group has emerged who made imitations of the 6oo and the Hadith and based upon it false speculation, so that certain dangerous things ha"e necessarily become permissible: they ha"e e"en become as binding as the collecti"e duty. /o such an e0tent would an inno"ator go whene"er he purposes to preach a heresy. As to philosophy, it is not in itself a single branch of science but comprises four# /he first# /his includes geometry and arithmetic, both of, which are, as has already been said, permissible and no one is barred from them e0cept the person who might be held by their study to blameworthy sciences, for most of those who practice them ha"e stepped o"er to inno"ations. /hus the wea are barred from the study of geometry and arithmetic .ust as the boy is barred from the ban of the ri"er lest he should fall into the water, and as the newly con"erted Muslim is ept away from company of unbelie"ers for fear he might be influenced by them. In this last case not e"en the strong is called upon to mi0 with the unbelie"ers. /he second# /his is logic, which is the study of the nature of e"idence and its conditions as well as the nature of a definition and its conditions. 6oth of these are included under theology. /he third# /his is 8i"inity, which is the science of the begin and attributes of Allah. /his is also included under theology. <urthermore, the philosophers ha"e not, in their philosophy, de"eloped another type of science, but ha"e branched out into se"eral schools, of, which some are systems of unbelief and others of inno"ation. /hus .ust as the Mu1tazilite system does not in itself represent a branch of science, but its protagonists, as a group of theologians and specialists in the art of philosophical disputation, ha"e been distinguished by their erroneous "iews, so are the philosophers. /he fourth# /his is physics of, which some parts contradict the law and the true 3eligion, and are therefore folly. /hese are not science that they may be classified under sciences. 5thers are a study of the 2ualities of the different substances, their properties, transmutation and change. /his part resembles the

researches of physicians, e0cept the physician studies the human body, particularly the cause of its diseases and cure, while the physicists study all substances from the standpoint of change and motion. Medicine howe"er, is superior to physics because the former is needed while the latter is not needed. Th% Vi tu%s !( th% S#h!la s !( Islami# :u is8 u"%n#% /he Iurists who are the spo esmen of the science of .urisprudence and the leaders of men, namely, those whose school claims the greatest following, are fi"e# Al 4hafi1i, Mali , Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Hanifah and 4ufyan Al /hawri, %may Allah ha"e mercy upon them' each one of them was a worshiper of Allah, an ascetic, a learned man "ersed in the science of the Hereafter, a .urist well informed in the affairs of men in this world, and a de"otee to the nowledge of the <ace of Allah. /he Imam Al 4hafi1i 7 may Allah ha"e mercy upon him 7 was a de"out worshiper of Allah is shown by what has been related concerning him, namely that he di"ided the night into three parts# one part for study, one part for prayer and one part for sleeping. Al 3abi1a said# $Al 4hafi1i used to complete reading the )oran in 3amadan MH times while standing to pray.( With regard to his asceticism, Al 4hafi1i said, $Whoe"er should claim that he has in his heart the lo"e of this world as well as the lo"e of his !reator, the same has lied.( Al7Humaydi related that one day Al 4hafi1i set out for al7Laman in the company of some of the go"ernors. With @H,HHH 8irhams he made his way to Ma ah where a tent was pitched for him .ust outside the city and the people came out to see him. He did not lea"e until he had distributed all among his "isitors.( <urthermore the strength of Al 4hafi1i1s ascetism, the intensity of his fear of Allah, and the concentration of his efforts on the Hereafter are manifest from a report that when 4ufyan ibn 5uyena narrated a Hadith about mystical sciences %al7ra2a1i2' in his presence he fell unconscious and those present thought that he had died. 4ufyan thereupon said if he should die, the most e0cellent man of the age would ha"e passed away. /hat Al 4hafi1i was familiar with the secrets of the hearts and learned in the sciences of the Hereafter would be made nown to you through the wise sayings ascribed to him. It has been reported that once he was as ed about hypocrisy, he responded intuiti"ely# $Hypocrisy is a golden apple, which passion has placed before the eyes of the learned who, through the poor .udgment of their impulsi"e hearts, cast co"etous eyes upon it, and thereby their wor s were frustrated.( Al

4hafi1I 7 may Allah ha"e mercy upon him 7 said# $If you fear the people praising your goods deeds, then see the pleasure of Allah and the reward you desire, the punishment you fear and the strength you would be grateful for, and the trial you would remember, so when you thin about any one of these you would see how small your deeds really are.( /hat through .urisprudence in particular, and debates centering around the same sub.ect in general, Al 4hafi1i had sought nothing but the face of Allah is re"ealed by the following, which it has been reported that he said# $I had hoped that men would benefit by this science and that none of the benefits would be attributed to me.( It can be seen how he realized what a curse it was to see nowledge in order to obtain prestige and how he had been completely abo"e such considerations. As to Al Imam Mali 7 may Allah be pleased with him 7 he was too adorned with those fi"e characteristics. It is reported that he was once as ed, $5 Mali , what do you say of see ing nowledgeD( He replied# $It is fair and beautiful, but find what you need from the time you open your eyes in the morning to the time you close them in the e"ening and confine yourself to it.( He was so emphatic in e0alting the science of religion that whene"er he sat down to discourse on tradition, he would first perform his ablutions, sit on his bed, comb his hair, perfume himself, settle down with stateliness and dignity, and then proceed with the discourse. When as ed about it, he answered# $I li e to e0alt the traditions of the Messenger of Allah.( With regard to his asceticism, it is attested by the report that al Mahdi the prince of the belie"ers, had once as ed Mali saying# $Ha"e you any home of your ownD( Mali replied# $JoO 6ut listen and I shall relate to you. I heard 3abiah ibn abi Abd al 3ahman say, ;Man1s home is his ancestry1.( At another time al 3ashid as ed him the same 2uestion and on his answering, $Jo.( /he !aliph ga"e him three thousand 8inars and said# $Go buy with this a home.( Mali too the money but did not spend it. When later al 3ashid was preparing to return to 6aghdad he said to Mali # $Lou should come along with us because we ha"e decided to ma e the people follow the Muwatta %Mali 1s tradition' as =thman made the people follow the )oran.( Mali replied# $/here is no way to ma e the people follow the Muwatta because of the death of the Messenger of Allah praise and peace be upon him, his !ompanions were dispersed around the different countries and in each place they related the traditions, %which they new' and conse2uently among the people of each indi"idual country different Hadiths pre"ail. <urthermore the &rophet praise and peace be upon him, said# $Jon7conformity among my people is a gift of mercy.( It is also not possible to go along with you because the Messenger of Allah said# ;If they would only understand they would now that Al Madinah is best for them.1 And again ;Al Madinah does away with its corruption .ust as the furnace does away with the dross of the iron.1 /herefore here are your 8inars .ust as you ha"e gi"en them to me: you may ta e them and

if you wish you may lea"e them. 8oes this mean that you re2uire me to lea"e Al Madinah in return for what you ha"e gi"en meD )now that I prefer nothing to the !ity of the Messenger of Allah, not e"en the whole world.( /hat through his nowledge he sought the face of Allah and that he despised this world are attested by the following report. He said# $5nce upon a time as I entered upon Harun al 3ashid, the !aliph told me, ;5 Abu Abd AllahO Lou should fre2uent our place so that our sons may learn from you the Muwatta.1 /o, which I replied# $May Allah e0alt my lord the princeO Lou my lord are the source of this nowledge. If you honor it, it will be e0alted, and if you dishonor it, it will be despised. <urthermore, nowledge is something you achie"e, not something you recei"e.1 /hereupon Harun al 3ashid said, ;Lou are right.1 And turning to his son added, ;Go out to the mos2ue and .oin the audience with the people1.( As to about Hanifah, he too was a worshiper of Allah and an ascetic who new Allah, had His fear in his heart and sought through his nowledge the <ace of Allah. /hat he was a worshiper of Allah is e"idenced by a report transmitted on the authority of Ibn al Mubara who said that two things were characteristic of Abu Hanifah, manliness and much prayer. Hammad ibn abi 4ulayman reported that he was in the habit of spending the whole night in prayer. According to another report it was his custom to spend half the night in prayer until one day, as he was wal ing through a street, a certain person pointed to him and said to a companion, ;/his is he who spend the whole of the night in prayer.1 <rom that day on, he spent the whole night in prayer and said# $I will be ashamed before Allah to be described with something I do not possess in connection with my worship of Him.( As to his ascetism, it has been reported that al 3abi ibn Asim once said, $I was sent by Lazid ibn =mar ibn Hubayrah to summon Abu Hanifah before him. 5n his appearing, Lazid offered him the position of go"ernor of the treasury, but Abu Hanifah declined the offer and conse2uently Lazid had him scourged with twenty lashes. It can be seen how he had run away from the office of go"ernor of the treasury and bore the torture instead. Al Ha am ibn Hisham al /ha2afi said that he had once, while in 8amascus, related a tradition to the effect that Abu Hanifah was one of the most honest men and that the go"ernor had wanted him to ta e charge of the eys of the treasury or be scourged if he refused, but Abu Hanifah would ha"e nothing of that, preferring torture at the hands of the go"ernor to torture at the hands of Allah. It was also reported on the authority of Muhammad ibn 4hu.a, on the authority of one of his companions, that Abu Hanifah was once told# $/he &rince of 6elie"ers, Abu Iafar al Mansur, has ordered that the sum of ten thousand 8irhams be paid to you.( Abu Hanifah, howe"er, would not consent to it and on the day on, which the sum was e0pected to be deli"ered, he performed the morning prayer, wrapped himself with his cloa and sat in silence. &resently the messenger of Al

Hasan ibn Nahtabah arri"ed with the money and appeared before Abu Hanifah, but the latter would not spea to him. /hen some of those present e0plained to Al Hasan that it was Abu Hanifah1s custom to act li e that. /hereupon Al Hasan ordered that the bag containing the money be placed in one of the corners of the house, and left. Abu Hanifah then willed the contents of his house and told his son that, upon his death, his son should ta e the bag, which contained the money to Al Hasan ibn Natabah and tell him to ta e bac his money, which he had deposited with Abu Hanifah. When his son deli"ered the money to Al Hasan, the latter e0claimed# $May the mercy of Allah be upon your father, indeed he has been zealous o"er his religion.( It was also related that Abu Hanifah had also been in"ited to fill the position of chief .udge but he declined saying# $I am not 2ualified for this post.( As ed why he thought so, he replied, $If I were to be honest %about it I would now and say that' I am not 2ualified for the .ob: if on the other hand I were to lie, I might say I was 2ualified: but a liar is not fit for the .udgeship.( Abu Hanifah1s nowledge of the things of the Hereafter and his concern with the weighty matters of religion as well as nowing Allah are attested to by his deep fear of Allah and by his ascetism. In this connection Ibn Iuray. had said# $It was reported to me that this )ufian friend of yours, Al Juman ibn /habit, fears Allah "ery much.( 4hari al Ja ha. had said that Abu Hanifah spent long spells in silence and contemplation and con"ersed little with men. /hese are among the clearest signs of inward nowledge and the concern with the weighty matters of religion, because whoe"er has been blessed with silence and ascetism would recei"e all nowledge as well. /he "irtues of Abu Hanifah are, howe"er, too many to be numbered. Had he not been characterized by perse"erance in self mortification, and had he not dipped into the sea of contemplationD Had he not throughout a period of forty years performed his morning prayer %ha"ing spent all night in continual prayer' on the basis of the e"ening ablutionsD Had he not, also, performed the pilgrimage fifty fi"e timesD /his is but a small part of the li"es of these three Imams. As to Ahmad ibn Hanbal and 4ufyan al /hawri, their followers are not as many as those of the three other Imams, and of the two, the followers of 4ufyan are the less numerous. Je"ertheles, of the fi"e, Ahmad and 4ufyan were the best nown for piety and ascetism. 4ince this boo is, howe"er, full of the account of their wor and words, there is no need to ta e up their li"es in detail at this moment. <or the present, e0amine the li"es of these three Imams and as yourself whether these states, words, and wor s, through, which they forsoo the world and de"oted themsel"es to Allah, were merely the result of the nowledge of the se"eral branches of .urisprudence, such as contracts of the type of salam, hire, rental and lease: and the different forms of di"orce, namely, zihar, ila and li1an: or the result of a higher and nobler nowledge. 4crutinize, too, those who claim to be

following the e0ample of these Imams and find out for yourself whether their claim is true or false. Cha8t% Th %% On what is popularl% considered to !e a part of the science of religion, !ut is *reall%, not Including a discussion of the circumstances under, which some of the sciences would be blameworthy: and on the e0position of how the names of certain sciences, .urisprudence, the science of religion, theology, admonition, and philosophy, ha"e been changed, as well as on showing how much of sacred nowledge is praiseworthy and how much is blameworthy. 6e ad"ised then that nowledge is not held to be blameworthy in itself. It is only regarded as such in the eyes of men for one of three reasons. <irst when it leads to any harm, whether the harm should befall its practitioner or someone else besides, for, which reason the science of magic and talismans is held blameworthy. 4econd, a nowledge is blameworthy when it is mostly %fi ghalib al7amr' harmful as, for e0ample, astronomy, which is not, in itself, blameworthy, because it is of two parts# /he first is mathematical %in reference to, which' the )oran has pronounced that %by it' the courses of the sun and the moon are rec oned. /hus Allah said# $/he sun and the moon to a rec oning.( )oran !h. ** "erse G. And again# $And the moon, We ha"e determined it in phases till it returns li e an old palm7branch.( )oran !h. ?M "erse ?+. /he second is astrology %ah am' the gist of which is that %future' e"ents are indicated by present causes. /his is similar to how a physician is guided by the patient1s pulse to predict the future de"elopment of a disease. Astrology is therefore an attempt to now the course of the laws and ordinances of Allah relati"e to His creatures. 6ut the law has declared it blameworthy. /hus the &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, said# $Whene"er the decrees of Allah are mentioned, withhold from discussing them: whene"er the stars are mention, desist from tal : and when my !ompanions are mention, refrain from any gossip.( He warned against it for three reasons: first because it is harmful to most people, since if they were told that these results would ensure conse2uent upon the course of the stars, they might thin that it is the stars, which influence the course of e"ents and are also the gods who direct the world. <urthermore, in "iew of the fact that the stars are glorious celestial bodies and awe inspiring to the hearts, the hearts of man ind would naturally become focused upon them and would see both good and e"il re2uired or forbidden by the stars with the result that the

Jame of Allah would be erased from the heart. /he feeble minded one does not loo beyond the means, and only the learned man who is well grounded in nowledge would understand that the sun, moon, and the stars are sub.ect to the will of Allah. A second reason is that astrology is purely guess wor and in the opinion of the a"erage man, %the influence of the stars' is not determined either with certainty or e"en probability. &ronouncements in connection with it are the result of ignorance. !onse2uently, astrology has been pronounced blameworthy because of this ignorance, not because it is nowledge. A third reason %for which a ind of nowledge may be pronounced blameworthy' is when the pursuit of that ind of nowledge does not gi"e the practitioner any real scientific ad"antage. !onse2uently, such nowledge is intrinsically blameworthy, as, for e0ample, the study of the tri"ial science before the important one, and the obscure before the significant, li e del"ing into the 8i"ine mysteries, which ha"e been pursued by both the philosophers and the theologians: but neither they nor anyone else could %grasp' it in whole or in part e0cept the prophets and the awlia %those close to Allah'. <or this reason people should be deterred from del"ing into these mysteries, and instead, be di"erted to pursue those sub.ects, which the law allows, wherein lies sufficiency for the guided. )etermining .hat /ames of 0ciences 1ave &een Changed We should also be aware that the source of the confusion of the blameworthy sciences with the sacred is the tampering with, and the changes in, the names of the praiseworthy sciences and the alterations introduced therein, in bad faith, so as to connote other than those, which the righteous fathers and the first century Muslims intended. !onse2uently, fi"e terms, namely, .urisprudence %fi2h', the science of religion %al ilm', theology %tawhid', admonition %tadh ir', and philosophy %hi mah', all names of praiseworthy sciences, whose possessors ha"e held the chief positions in the religious organization, but, which now ha"e been altered so that they connote something blameworthy: yet people ha"e become reluctant to condemn those who possess them because of the widespread practice of applying these names to all of them %ali e'. /he first term to be affected was .urisprudence whose meanings ha"e been tampered with not so much by alteration and change but by limitation. It has thus been limited to the nowledge of unusual legal cases, the mastery of the minute details of their origins, e0cessi"e disputation on them, and the retention of the different opinions, which relate to them. /he person who goes more deeply into these things than his colleagues and de"otes more time to them than the rest is considered the most "ersatile in .urisprudence. 6ut in the early period of Islam the term .urisprudence %fi2h' was applied to the science of the path of the Hereafter and the nowledge of the subtle defects of the soul, the influences, which render wor s corrupt, the thorough realization of the inferiority of this life,

the urgent e0pectation of bliss in the Hereafter, and the domination of fear o"er the heart. /his is indicated by the words of Allah when He said# $Ba party from each section should go forth to become well "ersed in the religion, and when they return to their people warn them in order that they may beware.( )oran !h. + "erse@EE. Iurisprudence is, therefore, that, which brings about such a warning and such fear rather than details of ordinary di"orce or di"orcee through li1an, or manumission %ata2', salam contracts, and hire, rental, and lease %i.arah', which produce neither warning nor fear. 5n the contrary, to de"ote oneself e0clusi"ely to these things hardens the heart and remo"es from it all fear, which is e0actly what we see now in those who ha"e so de"oted themsel"es. Allah thus said# $B/hey ha"e hearts, with which they cannot understand:( )oran !h. , "erse @,+. ha"ing had in mind the meaning of belief, not of legal opinions. /he &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, said# $4hall I tell you who is the profoundly discerning manD( /hey answered# $Les.( /hereupon he said: $/he profoundly discerning man is he who has not induced people to despair of the Mercy of Allah: nor made them feel safe %rather than urge them to repent' during the period of respite, which Allah, out of patience, gi"es to man ind, nor made them lose hope in the spirit of Allah: nor discarded the )oran in fa"or of something else.( /he second term to ha"e been altered is the science of religion %al7ilm', which used to be applied to the nowledge of Allah, His miracles, and His wor s among His ser"ants and creatures. When, therefore, the !aliph =mar died, Ibn Musud e0claimed# $Indeed nine tenths of the science of religion %al7ilm' has passed away.( He thus designated this nowledge as the science, using the definite articles, and then e0plained it as the nowledge of Allah. Let people used the term freely and altered its meaning by restriction until it became more commonly applied to those who debate cases of .urisprudence and the li e with ad"ersaries and are dubbed learned in the truth, "ersatile in nowledge. /he third term %to suffer alteration' was theology %tawhid', which has now become e2ui"alent to scholastic theology %sina1at al7 alam', the nowledge of the methods of argumentation, the manner of confounding ad"ersaries, and the ability to be diffuse in speech by means of as ing too many 2uestions, raising doubts, and formulating re2uisites, to an e0tent that some of those groups ha"e gone so far as to call themsel"es ;/he &eople of 92uity and 5neness1 %ahl al7adl w7al7tawhid' while the scholastic theologians were called the learned men of religion although nothing of the tenets of men of religion although nothing of the tents of their profession was nown during the early period of Islam. 5n the contrary %the learned men at the time' condemned "ery strongly anyone who would ta e to disputation and contention.

As to the e"ident proofs, which the mind accepts immediately on hearing and, which are contained in the )oran, they ha"e been nown to all. )nowledge of the )oran was all nowledge while theology %tawhid' signified something else, which was beyond the comprehension of most scholastic theologians, and, which, when they comprehended it, they were not called after its name. /heology was then the belief that all things come from Allah, a belief, which ruled out all intermediary causes %al7asbab w7al7wasa1it'. 6oth good and e"il would then be seen as coming from Allah. /heology %tawhid' is, therefore, li e a precious fruit, which is encased in two successi"e hus s. %5b"iously' the outer hus is farther from the pith than the inner hus . &eople ha"e thus applied the term %theology' e0clusi"ely to the hus s, which encase the pith, as well as the t heir protection, and ha"e entirely ignored the pith itself. /he out hus represents the "erbal profession that there is no god e0cept Allah, which profession is called monotheism in contradistinction to the /rinitarianism the !hristians profess. 4uch a profession, howe"er, may come from the lips of a hypocrite whose secret thoughts contradict his open declaration. /he inner hus represents the state wherein the heart neither opposes nor denies the e0press meaning of this statement, but rather the outward e0pression of the heart represents its belief and acceptance of that belief. /his is the monotheism, which the common fol profess. /he third part is the pith itself. It represents the belief that all things come from Allah, a belief, which rules out any consideration of instrumentalities and implies worshiping Him and no other thing besides Him. /he fourth term to be altered was the science of in"ocation %dih r' and admonition %tadh ir'. Allah said# $6ut remind, the 3eminder will benefit the belie"ers.( )oran !h. *@ "erse **. 4e"eral traditions commending the assemblies of in"ocation %dih r' ha"e been passed down to use, as, for instance, the words of the &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, when he said: $When you pass by the gardens of &aradise, stop and en.oy yoursel"es.( 5n being as ed what the gardens of &aradise were, he replied, $/he assemblies of in"ocation.( And again in the following tradition# ;indeed, other than the guardian angels, Allah has roaming angels %sayyahan' who roam the earth loo ing for the assemblies of in"ocation %dih r'. 5n locating an assembly they bec on one another saying# ;!ome to your goal.1 /hen the roaming angels gather around these assemblies and hear the words# ;5 you remember Allah and gi"e warning to one another.1 /he practice has been altered in fa"or of story telling, recital of poems, ecstatic utterances %shath' and heresies %tammat', the things, which contemporary preachers persist in doing. As to story telling, it is an inno"ation: in fact our fathers ha"e warner against attending the circles of story tellers saying that it was not the custom either at the

time of the Messenger of Allah or the times of Abu 6a r and =mar. It was not until the appearance of heresy that they made their appearance. =nfortunately, howe"er, those who are in the habit of embellishing their speech with lies ha"e ta en these traditions as means of .ustification for themsel"es and ha"e appropriated the name warning %tadh ir' for their fables thus forgetting the right path of praiseworthy in"ocation %dih r' and spending their time in recounting tales, which are sub.ect to "ariations, accretions, and deletions, and, which de"iate from the stories, which occur in the )oran and go beyond them. 4ome of the tales are good to hear while others are harmful in spite of the fact that they may be true. Whoe"er would go after this practice would no longer be able to distinguish truth from lies and what is good from that, which is harmful. As to poetry, its generous use in sermons is blameworthy. Allah said# $&oets are followed by the per"erse. Ha"e you not seen how they wander in e"ery "alleyB ( )oran !h. EM "erses EEG7EE*. And Allah 1igh Exalted said $We ha"e not taught him %&rophet Muhammad' poetry, nor does it become him.( )oran !h. ?M "erse M+. <urthermore, most of the poetry with which the preachers are familiar and, which they are accustomed to repeat in their sermons pertain to claims of being in lo"e, the beauty of the belo"ed, the .oys of union with him, and pains of separation: while the assembly comprises no one but the crude among the common fol whose minds are saturated with lust and their eyes ne"er cease from staring at fair faces. /heir poetry inspires nothing in their hearts e0cept that, which their hearts already conceal, and en indles therein the flames of lust. !onse2uently they begin to shrie and ma e a show of their lo"e. Most of this, if not all, is a result of a certain ind of corruption. /herefore no poetry should be used unless it contains a moral or a wise saying and should only be used as e"idence or for e0ample. 6y ecstatic utterances we mean two types of speech e"ol"ed by some of the 4ufis. /he first comprises long pretentious claims of e0cessi"e lo"e %ish2' of Allah and of union %wisal', which renders outward deeds superfluous until some ha"e asserted oneness %ittihad' with Allah, the remo"al of the "eil %hi.ab', seeing %mushahadah' Him with the eye %ru1yah', and mouth to mouth con"ersation. /hey thus say that they were told such and such and that they ha"e said such and such and imitate thereby al Husayn ibn Mansur al Halla. who was crucified for letting slip from his lips certain words of this type, and cite as an e0ample his saying# $I am the /ruth.( %Ana1l Ha22'. /he second type of ecstatic utterances comprises unintelligible words with pleasing e0ternals of, which some, though awesome, are useless. /hey may be of two inds# the first and more common comprises words unintelligible to the

author who utters them because of the perple0ity in his own mind and the confusion in his imagination resulting from his ignorance of the e0act meaning of the words, which he hears: while the seconds represents words, which may be intelligible to their author who, howe"er, because of his insufficient practice in science and his lac of instruction in rhetoric, is unable to con"ey them to others through language, which can e0press his thoughts. As to heresies %tammat', they comprise, besides what we ha"e already mentioned under the ecstatic utterances %shath', another thing characteristic of them, namely, the dismissal of the ob"ious and literal meaning of words in fa"or of an esoteric interpretation of worthless "alue such as the 6atinite method of interpretation, which is unlawful and of great harm. An e0ample of the interpretations put forward by those heretics may be seen in the assertion of one of them that in the "erse where Allah addresses Moses saying# $Go to &haraoh, he has become e0ceedingly insolent( %)oran ,+ "erse @,' the word &haraoh stands for the heart of Moses, the heart being the trespasser against e"ery man. Again when Allah said to Moses# $!ast down your staff.( %)oran E, "erse @H', the word staff is asserted to represent anything besides Allah on, which man may depend %and in, which he may place his trust', and should therefore be cast away. /he fifth term to ha"e been altered is wisdom %hi mah', since we see that it has now become customary to apply the word wise %ha im' e2ually to the physician, the poet, the astrologer, and e"en to the one who reads fortunes for the peasants who s2uat on the street corners. Wisdom, howe"er, is that, which Allah commended when he said# $He gi"es wisdom to whom He will, and he who is gi"en wisdom has been gi"en a lot of good.( )oran !h. E "erse EM+. /he &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, also said# $A word of wisdom, which man learns is better to him that the world and all that is in it.( We see, therefore, what wisdom stood for and to what it has been altered, and e0amine, in the same way, the other terms. 6eware, then, of being decei"ed by the ambiguities of the teachers of falsehood# their e"il influence upon religion is greater than that of satan. )etermining 1ow 2uch is #raiseworth% *to ac(uire, of the #raiseworth% 0ciences 5ne should now that, in this respect, science is di"ided into three parts. 5ne part is that whose nowledge is blameworthy whether it be in part or as a whole. Another is that whose partial as well as total nowledge is praiseworthy: in fact the more one ac2uires of it, the better. /hird is that whose nowledge is

praiseworthy within a certain limit, that of sufficiency, but beyond that it ceases to the praiseworthy. /he part whose partial and total nowledge is blameworthy is that, which has no use either in the realm of religion or in the domain of life because its harmfulness e0ceeds its utility, such as the science of magic, talismans and astrology. /he part whose nowledge, e"en to the limit of thoroughness, is praiseworthy is the science of nowing Allah, His attributes and wor s as well as His Law, which go"erns His creatures and His Wisdom in ordaining the superiority of the Hereafter to this life. /he nowledge of this is incumbent upon man ind both for itself and also for attaining thereby the bliss of the Hereafter. /he sciences whose nowledge is praiseworthy up to a certain limit are those, which we ha"e already mentioned under the sciences the ac2uisition of whose nowledge is a collecti"e duty. 9"ery one of these sciences has three stages: first limitation %i2tisar', which stage is the primary, second moderation %i2tisad', which is the intermediary, and third thoroughness %isti2si', which is a se2uel to moderation and, which goes on and on during the life of the see er. 6e, therefore, on of two, either one who educates himself, or one who concerns himself with the education of others after he has educated himself. Je"er, howe"er, concern yourself with reforming others before you ha"e first reformed yourself. /he one who would spend himself in pursuing what would reform others %while he himself remains unredeemed' is insolent, and how utterly foolish is the man who, when sna es and scorpions ha"e crept beneath his clothes, is busy loo ing for a whis with which to dri"e the flies off from other people, a tas , which will neither spare nor sa"e him from the attac s of the sna es and scorpions lur ing beneath his clothes. Cha8t% F!u On the 3easons, which induced men to pursue the 0cience of #olemics and on 3evealing the Evils of )e!ate and )isputation as well as 0tating the Conditions, which 3ender Them #ermissi!leAfter the death of the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, the caliphate was occupied by the orthodo0 and guided caliphs who were Imams of righteousness, learned in the science of Allah, His essence and His attributes, "ersed in His statues, and independent in handing down their legal opinions and decisions. In this they did not see the aid of .urists e0cept in "ery rare cases in, which consultation was indispensable. /hey de"oted themsel"es to the science of the Hereafter and used to refer legal 2uestions and all that pertains to human

affairs in this world to one another and with their eenest effort, as the accounts of their li"es re"eal, they followed after Allah. When at their death, the caliphate passed to those who occupied it without either merit or independence in legal opinion and decisions, the caliphs were compelled to see the aid of .urists and to attach them to themsel"es on all occasions in order to consult with them on the manner of their .udicial decisions. A few learned followers %tabi1un', who continued to emulate the orthodo0 caliphs and persisted in conforming to the dictates of religion, and in following the way of righteous <athers, were still li"ing. Whene"er they were sought %for appointment as .udges', they would flee, disdaining %altogether such honor'. !onse2uently the caliphs were compelled to be insistent in their desire to appoint them as .udges and to delegate to them the power of go"ernment. !ontemporaries were thus awa ened to the glory of the learned men who, while they paid no attention to the caliphs and go"ernors, were persistently sought by them. As a result these contemporaries turned with their efforts towards nowledge, which they hoped to ac2uire in order to attain power and glory through the solicitation of go"ernors. /hey bent themsel"es to the study of the science of legal opinions and offered their ser"ices to go"ernors from whom they sought office and rewards. In this some failed while others met success, but those who were successful were not free from the obse2uiousness of begging and the ser"ility of indebtedness. !onse2uently the learned men, after ha"ing once been sought, ha"e now become .ob see ers, and after ha"ing once been proud of their indifference to the sultans, ha"e now become obse2uious by waiting upon them. %/his is true of all' e0cept the few learned men of religion whom Allah has blessed in e"ery age. 4ubse2uently, howe"er, there appeared some distinguished men who deemed it improper to discourse on theology and start a series of debates therein because such a thing would lead to bloodshed and destruction. Instead they preferred to debate in .urisprudence and to point out the more important .uridical points in the systems of Al 4hafi1I and Abu Hanifah in particular. !onse2uently, men discarded theology and other disciplines of nowledge and pursued especially problems of disagreement between Al 4hafi1i and Abu Hanifah, while to those between Mali , 4ufyan %al /hawri', Ahmad %ibn Hanbal', and others, they paid little attention. /heir purpose, they claimed, was to elicit the abstruse points of law, determine the principles of the system, and prepare the bases of legal opinions and decisions. /hey composed many wor s on the sub.ect and elicited many points, setting forth therein the different inds of syllogisms of contro"ersy and enumerating the "arious wor s that pertain thereto. <urthermore they still continue to compose at this present time: as to the future, howe"er, we do not now what Allah ordained. /his, then, is what induced men to ta e up nothing but contro"ersies and debate. On the Evils of )e!ate and the Character )estro%ing Influences 3esulting there from

We shall now allude to the ma.or e"ils, which are en indled by debate. 5f these we may enumerate the following. 5ne is en"y. /he &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, said# $As fire consumes wood so does en"y consume goods deeds.( /he debater persists in en"y because at times he o"ercomes his ad"ersary and at other times he himself is o"ercome: at times his words are praised and at other times those of his opponent are applauded: and as long as there remains in all the world one nown among men for his "ersatile nowledge and regarded by them more learned than the debater and endowed with eener insight, the debater will ine"itably en"y him and wish that the fa"ors and admiration, which that man en.oys might accrue to him instead. 9n"y is a consuming fire: its "ictim is sub.ect to torment in this world while in the world to come his tortures will be more intense and painful. <or this reason Ibn Abbas said# $/a e nowledge where"er you may find it, but accept not the opinion of one .urist concerning another because they are as .ealous of one another as the bulls in the cattle7yard.( Another is pride and haughtiness. /he &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, said# $He who e0alts himself is humbled by Allah.( /he debater persists in e0alting himself abo"e his e2uals and peers and in claiming for himself a station higher than his worth to the e0tent that he and his colleagues fight o"er their seats in assembly halls and boast about the degree of their ele"ation or lowliness as well as their pro0imity to, or remoteness from the central seats. Another is rancor from, which a debater is hardly e"er free. /he &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, said# $/he belie"er is free from rancor.( 4e"eral more traditions ha"e been related in condemnation of rancor and they are well nown. Let we do not now of a debater who is capable of entertaining no rancor against anyone who would nod his head in appro"al of the words of his ad"ersary, or who, when the latter pauses in the midst of a sentence, would politely wait for him. 5n the contrary he would, whene"er he is confronted with such a situation, entertain and foster rancor in his heart. He may attempt to restrain himself hoping thereby to disguise his feelings: but in most cases he fails as his feelings in"ariably re"eal themsel"es. How can he refrain from rancor when it is inconcei"able that all the audience should unite in fa"oring his argument and appro"e all his conclusions and deductionsD <urthermore, should his opponent show the least sign of inconsideration about what he is saying, he would entertain for him in his heart a hatred that would last throughout his life. Another is bac biting, which was li ened by Allah to the eating of carrion. $Jeither spy nor bac bite one another, would any of you li e to eat the flesh of

his dead brotherDB( %)oran !h. G+ "erse @E'. /he debater persists in $eating carrion( and is continually referring to the words of his opponent and traducing him. 6ecause he endea"ors to be right in what he says about his opponent, he ine"itably cites only what shows the wea nesses of his opponent1s argument and the flaws in his e0cellence. 5f such is traducing and bac biting, while lying is sheer calumny. /he debater, moreo"er, cannot eep his tongue from attac ing the honor of anyone who turns away from him and listens to his opponent. He would e"en ascribe to him ignorance, foolishness, lac of understanding and stupidity. Another is self7.ustification. Allah said# $8o not praise yourself. Allah nows the cautious.( )oran !h. *? "erse ?E A certain wise man once was as ed# $What truth is reprehensibleD( He replied# $A man1s praising himself %e"en though it is .ustified'.( A debater is ne"er free from praising himself %and boasting' of his power, triumph, and e0cellence o"er his peers. In the course of a debate he would repeatedly say# $I am fully aware of all such things,( and $I am "ersatile in sciences, of independent .udgment in 2uestions of law, and well "ersed in the nowledge of tradition,( and many other assertions besides with which he would sing his own praise, sometimes out of sheer arrogance and at other times out of need to render his words con"incing. It is well nown that arrogance and self pride are by law and reason condemned. Another is spying and prying into a person1s pri"ate affairs. Allah said# $Jeither spyB( )oran !h. G+ "erse @E. /he debater always see s to unco"er the errors of his peers and continually pries into the pri"ate affairs of his opponents. He would, when informed of the arri"al in town of another debater, see someone who could re"eal the inside story of the man and would by means of a 2uestionnaire attempt to bare his "ices in order to e0pose and disgrace him whene"er the need should arise. He e"en would in2uire about the affairs of his early life and the blemishes of his body in the hope of disco"ering some defect or disfigurement such as scalp pustule and the li e. 4hould he fear defeat at the hands of his opponent, he would, in the course of the debate, allude to these blemishes, especially if his opponent should remain firm and stand his ground, and would not refrain from being outspo en if he were gi"en to insolence and scorn. Another is to re.oice at the in.ury of others and feel depressed when they are glad. Anyone who does not desire for his brother Muslim what he desires for himself is far remo"ed from the way of the belie"ers. /hus he who prides himself by parading his e0cellence is ine"itably pleased at the in.ury of his peers and e2uals who "ie with him for glory. /he hatred, which e0ists between them is li e that, which e0ists between fellow wi"es. Iust as the one wife would tremble and turn pale at the sight of her fellow wife so would a debater at the sight of another:

his color would change and his mind become perple0ed as though he had seen a mighty de"il or a hungry lion. Another is deception, the e"idence of whose blameworthiness %is well nown' and need not be enumerated. 8ebaters are compelled to deception because when they meet their opponents, friends, or followers, they find it necessary to endear themsel"es to them by saying nice things, which they do not mean, by feigning to ha"e been an0ious to meet them, and by pretending to be impressed by their station and position, while e"eryone present as well as the spea ers and those to whom they ha"e spo en now that the whole thing is untrue, false, fraudulent, and wic ed. /hey profess their lo"e with their tongues while their hearts seethe with hate. <rom it all we see refuge in Allah. /he &rophet. praise and peace be upon him, also said# $When people ta e to nowledge and ignore wor s, when they profess lo"e to one another with their tongue and nurse hatred in their hearts, and when they se"er the ties of relationship, which bind them, Allah will "isit His wrath upon them and curse them, He will render their tongues mute and their eyes blind.( /he truth of this tradition, which was related by Al Hasan, has been "erified as these conditions, which it predicts ha"e been witness and seen. Another is to resist truth and detest it and to persist in disputing it so much so that the most hateful thing to a debater is to see the truth re"ealed by his opponent: no matter what it may be, he would do his best to refute and deny it and would e0ert his utmost in deception, tric ery and fraud in order to dispro"e his ad"ersary until contention becomes in him a second nature. He is unable to hear anything without immediately e0pressing his ob.ection to it. /his habit of his would e"en dri"e him to dispute the truths of the )oran and the words of tradition and would cause him to cite the one in contradiction of the other. Another is hypocrisy and flattering people in an effort to win their fa"or and mislead. Hypocrisy is that "irulent disease, which leads to the gra"est of the ma.or sins. /he debater wants nothing but to the gra"est of the ma.or sins. /he debater wants nothing but to put himself forward before people, and to gain their appro"al and praise. /hese ten traits are among the greatest secret sins. 5thers who lac restraint, may engage in contro"ersies leading to the e0change of blows, ic ing, bo0ing, tearing garments, pluc ing bears, cursing parents, denouncing teachers, and outright slander. 4uch people, howe"er, are not considered respectable human beings. /he prominent and sober among them do not go beyond the preceding ten traits. 5ne may be free of this or that trait with regard to his inferiors or superiors whate"er the case may be, or with regard to people outside his community or his sphere of wor . Let in his attitude towards his peers, who are e2ual to him in position, the debater is guilty of all these traits. 9ach of these ten traits may gi"e rise to ten other "ices, which we shall neither discuss nor e0plain

at the present time. /hey include snobbishness, anger, hatred, greed, the desire to see money and power in order to attain triumph, boasting, gaiety, arrogance, e0alting the wealthy and those in authority as well as fre2uenting their places and parta ing of their unlawful riches, parading with horses, state coaches, and outlawed garments, showing contempt to people by being "ain and ostentatious, meddling in the affairs of others, tal ati"eness, the disappearance of awe, fear and mercy from the heart, absentmindedness to an e0tent that the worshiper would no longer be aware of what he prayed, or read, or who had communed with him during the prayer. Cha8t% Fi9% On the #roprieties of the 0tudent and the Teacher /he formal proprieties and duties of the student are many but may be classified under ten headings. /he first duty of the student is to purify his soul from impure traits and blameworthy characteristics because nowledge is the worship of man1s heart as well as the prayer of his inmost self %sirr' and the oblation of his inward being before Allah. Iust as prayer, which is the duty of the physical senses, is not fulfilled unless the physical body has been purified from e0crements and impurities, so is the worship of the inward being as well as the reformation of the heart# they are not fulfilled through nowledge unless they first be cleansed from impurities and uncleanliness. /he second duty of the student is to reduce %to a minimum' his ties with the affairs of the world and lea"e his in and country because such ties occupy one1s time and di"ert one1s attention. <urthermore Allah has not gi"en the human two hearts and the more mind di"ides its attention among se"eral things, the less able it is to comprehend the truth. <or this reason it has been said# $ nowledge will surrender nothing to man ind unless man ind surrenders his all to it.( 9"en when you de"ote yourself completely to it, you cannot be sure that you will attain any of it. /he mind, which di"ides its attention among different things is li e a stream the water of which flows in se"eral different directions only to be absorbed in part by the earth and in part by the air with the result that nothing is left for irrigation of planted lands. /he third duty of the student is that he should neither scorn nowledge nor e0alt himself o"er the teacher, but rather entrust to him the conduct of his affairs and submit to his ad"ice .ust as the simple patient would submit to a sympathetic and cle"er physician. He should humble himself before his teacher and through his ser"ice see reward and honor. /he fourth duty is that the student should at first pay no attention to the numerous differences of opinion, which e0ist among people, whether in the

secular sciences or in the sciences of the Hereafter, because they would confuse and perple0 his mind, cool his enthusiasm and cause him to despair of e"er comprehending or learning anything. 3ather he should first master the one and only praiseworthy way, which is satisfactory to his teacher and then attend to the other schools of thought and 2uestionable ideas. He should be on the loo out to see if his teacher is not capable of reaching independent opinions but is in the habit of repeating the opinions of the different schools and the comments, which ha"e been made concerning them, because the influence of such a teacher is more misleading that it is helpful. 5ne blind is not fit lead the blind and guide them. /he fifth duty is that the see er after nowledge should not allow any branch or ind of praiseworthy nowledge to escape him without carefully e0amining it in order to become familiar with its aims and purposes, and should time permit, he should ta e it up in detail: otherwise he should address himself to and master the most important, while ac2uainting himself with the rest, because the different branches of nowledge are both supplementary to one another and closely interrelated. /he si0th duty is that the student should not address himself at the same time to e"ery branch of nowledge, but should rather obser"e some ind of order and begin with the most important, especially since life is ordinarily too short to enable a person to pursue all branches of nowledge. It is therefore wise to ac2uire the best of e"erything, satisfying oneself, so to spea , with the mere tasting of it while directing whate"er power one has left, after ha"ing obtained all a"ailable nowledge, towards mastering that noblest of all sciences, the science of the Hereafter. /he se"enth duty is that no one should address himself to one branch of nowledge before he has already mastered the branch, which precedes it because science is of necessity so arranged that one branch prepares for another and one branch leads to another. 5nly the person who would obser"e this order would succeed. /he eighth duty is to now how to ascertain the noble nature of this or the other science. 6y this is meant two things: the nobility of its fruit and the authenticity of its principles. /a e for e0ample the science of religion and that of medicine. /he fruit of the one is eternal life and the fruit of the other is the physical life: conse2uently the science of religion is the nobler: or again the science of arithmetic and astrology: the former is the nobler because of the firmer and more authentic foundations of its principles. If on the other hand arithmetic should be compared with medicine the latter would be the nobler with respect to its fruit while with respect to its principles arithmetic would be the nobler. /he fruit, howe"er, has the priority. <or this reason medicine, although mostly guesswor , is nobler.

/he ninth duty is that the student1s purpose should, at the time, be the adornment and beautification of his inner self with "irtue, and at the end, nearness to Allah and ascent to the neighborhood of the hea"enly hosts, the angels and the cherubim. His aim should not be the attainment of authority or influence nor contention with foolish men and boasting before his peers. 6ut is his aim was %to draw near to Allah' he would ine"itably see that, which was closed to it, namely, the science of the Hereafter. Je"ertheless he should not loo with contempt upon the other sciences such as the sciences of .urisprudence, the sciences of synta0 and grammar, which are connected with the )oran and the 4unnah, and other sciences li e those already mentioned in connection with the au0iliary and supplementary sciences discussed under those sciences the ac2uisition of, which is a fard ifayah %collecti"e duty'. 5ne should not, howe"er, gather from our enthusiastic praise of the science of the Hereafter that we see to disparage the other sciences. 5n the contrary those who ha"e underta en to study them are li e those who ha"e underta en to guard the outpost of Islam where they are encamped, or li e the con2uerors who are warring in the cause of Allah. 5f them some are acti"e fighters, others are on the reser"e, others are in charge of the water supply, while others loo after the mounts: but all will recei"e their reward if their aim is the glory of the word of Allah rather than the possession of spoils. Allah said# $BAllah will raise up in ran s those who belie"ed among you and those who ha"e been gi"en nowledgeB( )oran !h. *A "erse@@. And again referring to those who ha"e followed His good pleasure# $/hey are in ran s with AllahB( )oran !h. ? "erse@M?. Firtue is relati"e and our scorn for the money7changers when we compare them with royalty does not mean that they are contemptible when compared with the street cleaners. 8o not thin , therefore, that whate"er falls short of the highest ran s is worthless. 6ecause the highest ran belongs to the prophets, followed by that of the awlia %those close to Allah', then that of the learned men who are well "ersed in nowledge, and finally the righteous according to their ran s. In short# $Whosoe"er has done an atom1s weight of good shall see it, and whosoe"er has done an atom1s weight of e"il shall see it.( )oran !h. ++ "erses ,7A. Whosoe"er will see Allah through nowledge, no matter what ind, he is sure to profit and ad"ance. /he tenth duty of the student is that he should now the relation of the different sciences to the goal so that he might not attach more importance to close by, inconse2uential matters than to remote but more important things.

Th% Duti%s !( th% T%a#h% /he first duty of the teacher is to be sympathetic to students and treat them as his own children. /he &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, said# $I am to you li e a father who desires to sa"e his child from the fires of Hell, which is more important than any of the efforts of parents to sa"e their children from the fires of the earth.( <or this reason the rights of the teacher ha"e become greater than the rights of the parents. /he parents are the cause of the children1s present e0istence in this mortal life, while the teacher is the cause of their immortal life. /he second duty of the teacher is to follow the e0ample of the Lawgi"er: he should see no remuneration for his ser"ices on behalf of nowledge and accept neither reward nor than s. 3ather he should impart his nowledge free for the glory of Allah and for the sa e of drawing near to Him. He should not feel that his students are under any obligation to him although the feeling of obligation in incumbent upon them. He should gi"e them credit for disciplining their hearts with nowledge in order to draw near to Allah. /hus, when someone lends you a plat of land so that you can e0ploit it for yourself by planting it, the benefits you reap are greater than those of the owner of the land. Would you then feel that he was under any obligation to youD 4imilarly, in teacher, your compensation is greater than that of the student, and without him you would not ha"e attained it. /he third duty of the teacher is that he should not withhold from the student any ad"ice, or allow him to attempt the wor of any grade unless he is 2ualified for it, or permit him to address himself to abstruse sciences before he has mastered those, which are clear. He should also point out to him that the purpose of ac2uiring nowledge is to draw near to Allah rather than power, boasting, and competition, and should in the strongest possible way, condemn any such things in his students. /he fourth duty, which is one of the finer points of the profession of teaching is that the teacher, in dissuading the student from his e"il way, should do so by suggestion rather than openly, and with sympathy rather than with odious upbraiding. 5pen dissuasion destroys the "eil of awe, in"ites defiance, and encourages stubbornness. /he &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, who is the guide of e"ery teacher, said in this connection# $If men had been forbidden to ma e porridge of camels1 dung, they would ha"e done it, saying that they would not ha"e been forbidden to do it unless there had been some good in it.( /he fifth duty is that the person who is teaching a certain science should not belittle or disparage the "alue of other sciences before his students. /hus it is customary for the teacher of language to disparage .urisprudence and the teacher of .urisprudence to slight the sciences of traditions and interpretation. 4uch traits are blameworthy and reprehensible in teachers, and should be a"oided.

/he si0th duty of the teacher is that he should limit the student to what the latter is able to understand and should not re2uire of him anything, which his mind cannot grasp for fear that he would de"elop a feeling of disli e for the sub.ect, and his mind would become confused. In this the teacher should follow the e0ample of the &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, who said# $We prophets ha"e been commanded to gi"e e"ery man his rightful place and to communicate with e"eryone according to his own ability to understand.( /he se"enth duty is that the teacher should gi"e his bac ward students only such things as are clear and suitable to their %limited understanding' and should not mention to them anything about the details that are apt to follow but, which he deems fitting for the present to withhold. 4uch a course would discourage the students and ma e their interest e"en in easy sub.ects lu ewarm, perple0 them in their minds and ma e them thin that the real reason for the teacher1s reluctance to impart to those details is his illiberality, especially because e"eryone usually belie"es himself capable of mastering e"ery science no matter how comple0. /hus there is no one who is not satisfied with Allah for the perfect mind He ga"e him. 9"en the most foolish and feeble minded among men is usually the most pleased with the perfection of his mind. /he eight duty is that the teacher must practice what he teaches and not allow his wor s to contradict his word. /he relation of the guide to those who see his guidance is li e the relation of the stamp to the clay and li e that of the shadow of the cane to the cane itself. How then could the clay be stamped with a stamp that bears no character and how could the shadow of the cane be straight if the cane itself were croo edD /he following con"eys the same meaning# If you condemn a sin and then commit the same transgression, shame upon your head. Cha8t% Si; On the Evils of Knowledge and on )etermining the )istinguishing +eatures of the Learned of the 1ereafter and those of the Teachers of +alsehood It is "ery important to ascertain what distinguishes the learned of this world from the learned of the Hereafter. 6y those learned of this world we mean the teachers of falsehood whose sole purpose in pursuing nowledge is to en.oy the lu0uries of this life and to achie"e power and position among its people. /he &rophet said# $/he most se"erely punished of all man ind on the day of 3esurrection will be the learned one whom Allah has not blessed with His nowledge. He also said# $8o not ac2uire nowledge in order to "ie with the learned, dispute with and silence the insolent, and win fa"or and popularity among men, for whosoe"er would do this would be doomed to Hell <ire.( Iesus

said# $How can you lead the night tra"elers along the way when you yoursel"es are perple0edD( We find in history the same e"idence. =mar said# $/he thing I fear most for the safety of this nation is the learned hypocrite.( =mar was then as ed how one could be both learned and hypocritical, to, which he replied# $When his learning does not go beyond "erbal nowledge while his heart remains untouched and his wor s %betray no wisdom'.( 4ufyan Al /hawri said# $)nowledge summons wor s and unless they respond, it departs.( Ibn al Mubara said# $As long as a person continues to see nowledge he remains learned, but the moment he thin s he has mastered all nowledge, he recedes into ignorance.( Among the learned are those who would guard their nowledge and disli e the idea of sharing it with others: these will occupy the first depth in Hell. /here are others who are in the habit of regarding their nowledge as e2ui"alent to power and position: and if they are e"er contradicted or slighted they become infuriated: these will occupy the second depth in Hell. 5thers confine their nowledge to the circles of nobility and wealth and deem the poor classes unworthy of it: these will occupy the third depth in Hell. 5thers appoint themsel"es .udges and hand down faulty opinions: these will occupy the fourth depth in Hell. 5ther learned men employ in their discourses Iewish and !hristian argument in order to ma e their erudition seem great: these will occupy the fifth depth in Hell. 5thers regard their nowledge as something "irtuous and honorable and continually dwell on it before men: these will occupy the si0th depth in Hell. And finally there are the learned who are the "ictims of "anity and conceit. Whene"er they preach they upbraid, and whene"er they are admonished they show resentment: these will occupy the se"enth depth in Hell. It has been related that Lahya ibn Lazid al Jawfali once wrote to Mali ibn Anas saying# $In the Jame of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful. May His blessing be upon His Messenger Muhammad. <rom Lahya ibn Lazid ibn Abd al Mali to Mali ibn Anas# I ha"e been informed that you wear fine clothes, eat choice food, recline on comfortable couches, and station at your door chamberlains. At the same time you ha"e assumed the seat of learning and men ha"e come toyou from e"ery direction, selecting you as their Imam and accepting your pronouncements as the final word. <ear then Allah and humble yourself. I ha"e written to you this letter of ad"ice. Jo one besides Allah has seen its contents. &eace be with you.( Mali wrote bac saying#

$In the Jame of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful. May His blessing be upon Muhammad, His Messenger, and on His !ompanions. <rom Mali ibn Anas to Lahya ibn Lazid# /he peace of Allah be upon you. I ha"e recei"ed your letter, which I accept as the to en of your interest and sympathy, and as the e"idence of your refined character. May Allah bless your piety and reward and prosper you for you ad"ice. I see the help of Allah: there is no strength nor power but in Him. As to your charge that we eat choice food, wear fine clothes, station chamberlains at our door, and recline on comfortable couches, may we state that %at times' we do all these but usually beg the forgi"eness of Allah. %May we, howe"er, add' that Allah said in the )oran# $4ay, $Who has forbidden the adornment that Allah has brought for His worshipers and the good pro"isionD( %)oran , "erse ?E' <urthermore we now "ery well that abstinence from these things is better than indulgence in them. At any rate do not neglect us in the matter of writing and we shall not forget you. &eace be with you.( 4ee then the sense of .ustice, which Mali displayed: he admitted that to abstain from these things was better than indulgence in them, yet at the same time he handed down the opinion they were permissible, and he was right in both. Cha8t% S%9%n On the Intellect, Its /o!le /ature, Its )efinition, and Its )ivisions /he Joble Jature of the Intellect# It will be superfluous to show the noble nature of the intellect %al7a2l', especially because through it the noble nature of nowledge has been re"ealed. Intellect is the source and fountainhead of nowledge as well as its fountain. )nowledge springs from it as the fruit from the tree and the light from the sun and "ision from the eye. How then could that, which is the means of happiness in this world and the ne0t not be noble or how could it e"er be doubtedD /hus we find in the )oran that Allah called it light when He said# $Allah is the Lighter of the hea"ens and the earth. /he e0ample of His Light is li e a tube, in, which there is a wic . /he wic is in a lamp and the lamp is as a glittering planet indled from a 6lessed /reeB( )oran EG "erse ?*. /he nowledge deri"ed from it was called a spirit, a re"elation and a life. Allah said#

$And We ha"e re"ealed to you %&rophet Muhammad' a spirit %the re"elation of the )oran' from 5ur 5rdinanceB..( )oran GE "erse *E. And again# $Is he who was dead whom We re"i"ed and gi"en a light with which he wal s among people to be compared to him who blunders about in dar ness from, which he will ne"er emergeDB( )oran !h. M "erse @EE. <urthermore, whene"er Allah mentions light and dar ness He means by it nowledge and ignorance respecti"ely, as is e"ident is His words# $BHe brings them out from dar ness into the lightB( )oran !h.E "erse E*,. It was reported on the authority of Ayesha that she once said# $5 Messenger of AllahO How do people e0cel each other in this worldD( He replied# $In intellect.( $And in the HereafterD( she added. $In intellect,( he replied again. /hen Ayesha said# $6ut are they not rewarded according to their wor sD( /o, which the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, replied# $5 AyeshaO Ha"e they e"er achie"ed anything e0cept in proportion to what Allah has gi"en them of intellectD /heir wor s will always be in proportion to the intellect, which Allah has gi"en them, and their reward will be in proportion to their wor s.( /he &rophet, praise and peace be upon him, also said# $Indeed the belie"er who is most belo"ed of Allah is the one who toils in the ser"ice of Allah and gi"es counsel to his people, whose understanding is complete: who admonishes himself and conse2uently sees the truth and acts accordingly all the days of his life, with the result that he himself prospers and leads others to success.( And again# $/he man who possess the most mature mind among you is he who fears Allah most, fulfilling best what He en.oined and desisting from what He has forbidden, although that man may be the least willing to obey.( /he truth, howe"er, is that the word intellect %a2l' is a term used interchangeably for four distinct meanings. In the case of such words, therefore, no one single definition should be e0pected to co"er the se"eral meanings of the term. 5n the contrary, each meaning should ha"e its indi"idual definition. <irst is the 2uality, which distinguishes man from the other animals and prepares him to understand and grasp the theoretical sciences %nazaiyah', and master the abstract %fi riyah' disciplines. 4econdly the word ;a2l is applied to that nowledge, which ma es its appearance e"en in the infant who discerns the possibility of possible things %.a1izat' and the impossibility of impossible things %mustahiiat', such as the nowledge that the two are greater than the one and that the one indi"idual cannot be in two different places at the same time. It is what one fo the scholastics meant when he defined the word ;a2l as some a0iomatic %daruriyah' nowledge, such as the possibility of

possible things and the impossibility of impossible things. /his definition is right, as it stands, because this nowledge is e0istent and the application of the word ;a2l to it is clear. What is wrong, howe"er, is to deny that instinct, and to hold that only this ind of nowledge e0ists. In the third place the word ;a2l has been applied to that nowledge, which is ac2uired through e0perience %empirical nowledge', in the course of e"ents. /hus he who has been taught by e0perience and schooled by time is generally called intelligent %a2il', while he who lac s these 2ualifications is called unintelligent, stupid and ignorant. In the fourth place the word ;a2l is used when the power of the instinct de"elops to such an e0tent that its owner will be able to tell what the end will be, and conse2uently he will con2uer and subdue his appetite, which han ers for immediate pleasers. Whene"er such a power obtains, its owner, in "iew of the fact that he embar s upon an underta ing, or refrains from it only after a thorough consideration of its end rather than in answer to the urge of a carnal appetite, is called intelligent.

On The Intellectual )isparit% Among #eople &eople ha"e disagreed concerning the disparity, which e0ists among their intellects %a2l'. 6ut there is no use in repeating the arguments of those of little nowledge. It is more important to proceed immediately to the declaration of the truth. /he ob"ious truth in this case is that this disparity per"ades all the four parts of the intellect e0cept the second, namely, a0iomatic %daruri' nowledge, such as the possibility of possible things and the impossibility of impossible things. /hus he who comprehends that two are greater than one will also comprehend the impossibility for one ob.ect being in two different places at the same time, or for a thing being both eternal %2adim' and originated %hadith'. /he name is true of all other similar fact and whate"er is comprehended with certain comprehension free of any doubt. /he three other parts are sub.ect to disparity. As to the fourth, namely the power of the intellect to con2uer the appetite, the disparity in it among men is e"ident and clear: in fact, it is e"ident and clear that, at times, e"en the indi"idual betrays a certain degree of disparity therein. /his is sometimes the result of "ariation in the intensity of different appetites. A wise man may be able to o"ercome one appetite more readily than another: but the problem is not restricted to this only. /he young man may fail to o"ercome the appetite of se0 and desist from fornication, but when he ad"ances in age and his understanding becomes mature he will be able to subdue his lust. 5n the other hand, hypocrisy and pride increase and grow stronger with age.

/his disparity may also be the result of differences in the mastery of the nowledge, which re"eals the e"ils of the other appetites. /hus a physician may be able to abstain from some of the harmful foods, while another man may fail simply because he lac s medical nowledge, although he may be the physician1s peer in intellect and of the same belief in the harmful effects of those foods. Again, the more mature the physician1s intellect, the stronger will be his fear. Hence fear is an aid in the ser"ice of intellect, an instrument with which to o"ercome and brea appetites. 4imilarly, the learned man is more capable of renouncing sin than the ignorant, because his nowledge of the e"ils of sin is greater. I mean the true learned men and not those of the flowing robes who dote and ra"e and prattle of things they now little about.