Turkish English Fikhi Ekber Lesson 34
Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar – Lesson 34
A’oodhu billaahi min al-shaytaan ir-rajeem (I seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan), Bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (In the name of God).
Most valuable and venerable audience, our lesson regarding the discovery notes of Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar continues in order for it to protect you and your Islamic imān (faith) from all dangers. Abu Hanifa Al-Imam Al-Azam was speaking of the anecdotes of Abu Hanifa Al-Imam Al-Azam, then he asked this to someone, “Are you a believer?” So, do you know who Ibn Umar is? Some may know. He is son of Umar ibn al-Khattāb, and he is one of the greatest ālims of the ashab (radyallahu anhum wa ardahum ajmain). May Allah be pleased with all of the ashab. And we send good wishes and prayers to our Beloved Prophet. Also, we send unlimited thanks and praises to our Almighty Lord.
Look, Ibn Umar asked, “Are you a believer?” Now, you may ask, “What’s that got to do with Al-Imam Al-Azam?”, you will get it as you listen to the lecture. That person replied, “I am a believer Insha’Allah (if Allah wills).” Upon that Ibn Umar said, “The one who has doubts in his imān (faith) can’t sacrifice my animal.” In other words, the affirmation should be absolute. For Almighty Lord had offered imān (faith) to the entire humanity, and He had also placed it in our innate nature (fitrat). He has to say, “Indeed, I am a believer.” This is the frame of mind Al-Imam Al-Azam had put forth. Now, Ibn Umar said, “The one who has doubts in his imān (faith) can’t sacrifice my animal.” Some time later another person asked the same guy, “Are you a believer?” Upon that he replied without hesitation, “Yes, yes I am a believer,” he said. Then Ibn Umar had that man sacrifice his animal.
So, friends, if a person is having second thoughts in his imān (faith), that person can’t be a believer. However, that remark applies to the people who said the word, “Insha’Allah” as a reference to having second thoughts and doubts. Otherwise, the situation of those who said the word, “Insha’Allah” with the intention of wanting the favor and generosities of Allah, and those who said it due to force of habit, humbleness, and weakness is different than the ones who said it due to having second thoughts. Imān (faith) requires certainty, this is the point of the story we wanted to narrate. That anectode resides in our valuable books, it also resides in the book Al-Muhit. Selef âlimlerinden bir kısmı imânlarında istisnada bulunursa “İnşâAllah” derlerdi. However, them saying, “Insha’Allah” and the other saying it due to having second thoughts are different things. Their remark is not due to having second thoughts. Their’s is in the meaning of humbleness. But there are also some people who say it because they find themselves imperfect.
(Dakika: 04:59)
They said that this does not mean having doubts in imān (faith). They have also said that is not because of the doubt in imān (faith) but because they have superior attributes. For imān (faith) has grades of perfection. Not everyone can attain that rank of perfection. For example, our Prophet (ʿalayhi ṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salām) said, “If a scale weighed Abu Bakr’s imān (faith) and the imān (faith) of the world at that time, Abu Bakr’s would outweigh.” So, it means that people are different in rank of perfection of imān (faith). İstisna, imânda istisna imânın kemâl derecesine râcî bir husustur. İkrâr edip, dil ile ikrâr edip, kalp ile tasdik etmeye râcî değildir.
Furthermore, if a denier, who is amongst the non-muslims said, “Tell me about Islam,” to a Muslim, and that Muslim wouldn’t tell him what he knows and says, “Go to this or that ālim”, in order to send him away, he would fall into blasphemy, they said. So, why is that? They said that it is because he consented for that person to stay as a kāfir until he finds an ālim. Friends, for it is not permissible to have consent to a person to stay as a blasphemer, not even for a second more.
If someone wants to become a Muslim, it is not acceptable for him to stay in blasphemy even for a single moment. It is an obligation to save him from blasphmey for he wants to become a Muslim. He can briefly convert to Islam via uttering the shahada. And every believer can make him do that. So, for example, let’s say someone will become a Muslim. You can teach him, “lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh muḥammadun rasūlu llāh” even if you don’t know anything else, and tell him about this Kalima Shahadat, and narrate it to him. That man can become a Muslim via those words. He will then start learning the things he didn’t know as time goes by, and he will study. And the Muslim should endeavor to teach him. Now, if he had sent him off to an ālim, some of our valuable ālims such as Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi said, “He won’t become a kāfir if he couldn’t manage that.” However, they also said that he would fall into blasphemy if he sends that person away even though he knows, and if he consents for him to stay as a blasphemer. The Muslim can’t consent to anyone’s blasphemy, he just can’t. Every Muslim should immediately suggest and convey Islam to the person who wants to become a Muslim in order to immediately save him from blasphemy.
Furthermore, let’s say a non-muslim who wants to convert to Islam visited a Muslim, and the Muslim said to him, “You should go to this or that ālim, he will tell you about it,” or, “You have to wait until our meeting ends,”. In that case the Muslim would also fall into blasphemy. So, why is that? It is because he consented for that non-muslim to stay as a blasphemer for a little while longer. It is blapshemy to consent to blasphemy. We can’t consent for no one to stay as a blasphemer for even a single second, you can’t either.
(Dakika: 10:00)
O, Muslim! You should pay attention to this. If someone wants to become a Muslim, if you don’t know anything else you should at least teach him or her the Kalima Shadadat [Islamic Testimony of Faith] or Tawhid [Monotheism] immediately so that he or she can become a Muslim. That person should be able to become a believer, and a Muslim with al-iman al-ijmali‘ (faith in general). He will learn the rest slowly. You should never consent for him to stay as a blasphemer any longer or you may also fall into blasphemy. You should never consent for him to stay as a blasphemer any longer or you may also fall into blasphemy. They have showed the danger here. For it is blasphemy to have consent to your own blasphemy. It is blasphemy to consent to the blasphemy of others as well.
So friends, it is blasphemy to have consent for blasphemy. We should beware of the danger here collectively. Now, it is blasphemy to have consent for blasphemy. This legal opinion (fatwa) was given according to Al Hamidi. It is not permissible to declare any Muslim a kāfir due to matters regarding which there are dispute. If there is dispute in a matter, you can’t directly call that person a kāfir. Rather you inform him about the danger, and the dispute so that he may watch his steps.
So friends, they said that if someone says, “I don’t what how Islam is,” he would fall into blasphemy. Now, such a person is devoid of religion, namāz, fasting, worship, and their marriage is null and void. Their children are illegitimate as well. So, who can be counted as such? Those who don’t want to learn Islam and have an attitude such as, “I don’t know anything in the name of Islam, and don’t want to know as well.” Şimdi bunların durumu da İslam ile ilgili taraflarındaki tehlikeyi haber, tehlike haber verilmektedir. This is written in the book named Al-Muhit as well. Friends, such people say, “I don’t know what Islam is like.” Islam is not a religion that is unknown, especially if you are living amid the Muslims. Saying, “I don’t know Islam,” is turning you back to it. So, they have said that the situations of such people, their marriages, and their children are in danger. Moreover, this is said in valuable sources: “If a person acknowledges via the heart and testifies by the tongue, he is a Muslim by consensus.” For example, let’s say that a person has believed in the things that must be believed in Islam, and acknowledged them via his heart, and testified his faith through his tongue. They are saying that this person becomes a Muslim by consensus.
For the essential elements of imān is acknowledgement and testification. It is fallacy to ask such questions to the ignorant. Now, we have been forbidden from fallacies. Who forbade us? It is our Beloved Prophet. Daha önce de geçtiği üzere mümin sayılmak için İslam’ın hükümlerini bilmek yahut tafsilî ve icmâlî olarak onu anlatmak gerekmez.
They have said, maybe acknowledgement and testification is enough for the imān (faith) to occur. You see, a group have said it like that. For if there is honest to god acknowledgement and testification, the person may obtain the rest of the knowledge later in life for it’s not like you can learn them all in one day. He will then upgrade it to tefsili imān later.
(Dakika: 15:00)
İcmâlî imândan tafsilî imâna terakki eder. There is also this, if someone asked a believer, “What is your nationality?” and he replied, “We are not from any nation,” or “We don’t know from which nation are we,” that would also be blasphemy because Islam is also a nation, it is the nation of Islam. Don’t a person know that he is amid the Islamic nation? Then he is not a Muslim. So, they said as a result that person would fall into blasphemy. There are two nations in the world: there are the beliers who are Muslims, and the non-muslims. In terms of imān the world consists of two nations. Fist is the Muslims who are the believers, and there are non-believers.
Now, valuable friends, Imam al-Muhammad speaks of such women in this book, who don’t know Islam, and doesn’t want to know, too. The same applies to those women too; if they are staying away from learning Islam they are in danger.
In another time, a qadi (in the past judges were also called as qadi) asks a woman, “What is the ruling of Islam?” The women says, “I don’t know,” for she is uneducated or because she didn’t know how to say it. Then the qadi rules that this woman is a blasphemer and declares her marriage invalid, and kendisi için ikinci bir nikâh tazeliyor. It is said that those qadis (judges) mostly fall into blasphemy for they have done such an evil and vile action. Çünkü onun tasdiki ve ikrârı olduğu müddetçe kadın izah edememesi. The woman’s guilt here is not an indication that she is a kāfir. In the past, these judges were named as qadi. They have said that if these judges who used to be called as qadi treat the women in such ways, these judges fall into blasphemy themselves. They have said many times that these judges will fall into blasphemy due to their evil and vile actions. For they have consented to this bizarre decree of blasphemy. The woman was neither a blasphemer nor a kāfir. So, they have said that the judges who were called as qadis at that time, were falling into blasphemy for they have consented to the woman’s blasphemy. These are thin manners, not everyone can understand these. This is what you should understand from here: “You can’t declare any Muslim as a kāfir. You can’t put the kāfir stamp on a person who is not a kāfir, and you can’t consent to his or her blasphemy. In the case that you have consented, you would also fall into blasphemy. You should get your mind together. You can’t call anyone a kāfir if they are not a kāfir.
Now, resorting to bribery is haram (sinful). We have seen that there were judges who had done evil acts against the poor women who couldn’t even bear a testimony. So, if those judges did those things in order to get bribe, then it means that they have consented to blasphemy due to bribery. That could also happen due to some other reason. Bribery is only one of the causes.
Yes friends, the woman should know from which nationality is she, they have said that this is a condition for the marriage.
(Dakika: 20:13)
For a woman should know if she is a Muslim or not, and if she is from the Islamic nation or not. That goes for both men and women. The aforementioned case is valid if the husband is a Muslim. If that not knowing is because of the woman, then there is no doubt in the integrity of their marriage. If the man is un-knowing like the woman, then their marriage would not be permissible, and the judge would have to rule that they are blasphemers, and that worships they have performed over the course of their lives have been null and void, and then the judge should present Islam to both of them, and they should utter the Islamic testimony of faith (the shadada) together, and learn the rulings of Islam. This is because the marraige of Muslims should be arranged according to Islamic rules. However, that is not the case for non-muslims, Islamic rules don’t apply to them.
Friends, “Will there be resurrection after death, or not?” or, “Were the prophets sent down, or not? Were the books sent down for them, or not?” friends, one should be able to answer these quickly. If the person hesitates in the face of such questions, this is not in terms of a simple lack of knowledge. This hesitation is not in terms of a simple lack of knowledge but it is in terms of proving that you are believing. The person should know whether he believers or not, he has to prove it as well. Now, there are people who reply, “I don’t know,” when they were asked such a question. However, there are not many people living in the Islamic countries who stayed uninformed. Now, this is a direct narration from Muḥammad ibnu-l-Hasan ash-Shaybānī, from his book named al-Jami al-Kabir, he said the following regarding such covered matters: Imam al-Muhammad had said that if a women does not know about imān (faith) and Islam, they will have a falling-out with each other. Moreover, if the husband narrates imān (faith) and Islam to his wife, and the woman says, “Thus I have believed, and acknowledged,” that woman would walk out of imitation, and it would be permissible to marry with her. However, she may also say, “I don’t understand,” or “I dont’t know.” She has no knowledge regarding imān (faith), then he tells about it to her, and she may still say, “I don’t know.” So, if she doesn’t know, the marriage would not be permissible for imān (faith) has not occurred yet. It is necessary to pay more attention to these subjects. The majority of the ālims of Bukhara had said that the blasphemy of such a woman have effect on the disruption of the marriage. They have said that the woman will be invited to marrying to her husband again. That seperation is an neutral seperation. The legal opinion (fatwa) is based on that as well. In other words, the woman will be invited to marry to her husband again when she fixes the imān situation. Moreover, similar legal opinions (fatwa) are written in valuable sourcebooks as well.
(Dakika: 25:03)
If a person prays for someone else and says, “Allah onu küfür inancı ile alsın,” he would become a kāfir . Look, if someone prays for someone else to become a kāfir, he would himself become a kāfir. For that remark is having consent for blasphemy in a person. We know that it is blasphemy to have consent for blasphemy. Muhammad ibn Fadl had said that it is not blasphemy to say the same thing in prayer about a kāfir. The first legal opinion (fatwa) is universal. However, the second legal opinion (fatwa), the one we just said is a special legal opinion (fatwa) which expresses that it is blasphemy to pray for the blashphemy of a Muslim. The kāfir is already a kāfir. There is also this, If a someone is inflicting cruelty on Islam or the Muslims, the words that are uttered with the intention of taking revenge from him may not be blasphemy, but if someone says, “May he become a kāfir,” he would himself fall into blasphemy. Many scholars had drew attention to these matters.
Furthermore, if a person says, “May Allah snatch imān away from you,” to a Muslim, and someone says amen to that, they would both become kāfirs. For there is consent for blasphemy in both of them as well. For there is consent for blasphemy in both of them as well. The person would also become a kāfir if he says, “May Allah retreive his soul as a faithless,” or, “as a kāfir,” or, “May Allah kill him and render him faithless and a kāfir,” or “May Allah leave him in the Fire forever, May He never take him out of the Fire.” For there is consent for blasphemy in here as well. It is blasphemy to have consent for blasphemy. However, if someone utters such words in order to take revenge from a tyrant he wouldn’t become a kāfir, but that is if he does that in order to free himself from the cruelty of that tyrant. Otherwise, you can’t want anyone to become a kāfir not even for once. There can’t be consent for blasphemy.
Moreover, the one who is pleased with his blasphemy becomes a kāfir. There is consensus in that opinion. They have also said that there is unanimity in the matter of not being pleased with the blasphemy of others. So, it is necessary to stay away from such dangers for they present danger.
Furthermore, if someone allows blasphemy or finds it good, that would be blasphemy. You can’t allow blasphemy. You can’t find it pleasant either. It would lead to blasphemy if such a situation develops.
Moreover, they have also said that it would not be blasphemy if someone said, “May Allah Ta’ala take my revenge from him in this way.” That is, of course, when a person is oppressed by a tyrant, and when he utters it against the cruelty of a tyrant. May Almighty Lord render the entire humanity, the believers, and the Muslims far from all kinds of blasphemy. Bütün kâfirlere biz imân nasip olmasını istiyoruz. Bütün müminlerin, imânlılarının da imân üzere kalmalarını istiyoruz. It is one of the conditions of our faith to wish for that. Moreover, “Our Lord! Blot out their wealth and harden their hearts so that they do not believe until they sight the painful punishment,” there is this prayer of Mūsā Alaihissalam against the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh is a vigorious kāfir, and he is extremely cruel. “rabbanā ṭmis ʿalā ʾamwālihim wa-shdud ʿalā qulūbihim fa-lā yuʾminū ḥattā yarawu l-ʿadhāba l-ʾalīm,” this is the transliteration of the above verse which the 88th verse of Surah Yunus. It is also necessary to understand this verse correctly.
(Dakika: 29:58)
Friends, what does He says, “Mūsā said, our Lord, obliterate their riches and harden their hearts, so that they may not come to believe until they witness the painful punishment.” In other words, such people declare faith when they see the punishment, and they give up cruelty. This is a prayer that is recited by Mūsā against the Pharaoh and his group.
He says that we have acquainted oneself with this remark which is reported from Abu Hanifa Al-Imam Al-Azam: “It is blasphemy to consent to the blasphemy of someone else.” So, they are saying there is dispute in that but Al-Imam Al-Azam says that it is blasphemy to consent to your own blasphemy or the blasphemy of someone else is blasphemy. For that reason we should protect ourselves from danger, we should especially avoid from blasphemy in the matters regarding imān (faith). We should never do things and utter remarks the would lead to blasphemy.
Moreover, the one who says that it is halal to murder someone or that someone deserves to be murdered becomes a kāfir. For murder is haram. So, can you call what is halal as haram? You are telling, “Murder this or that person.” What are you relying on while saying that, or while saying that action is halal? On what grounds are you telling that? He becomes a kāfir for he accepted a haram action as permissible. Being a killer is the greatest haram.
Furthermore, according to al-Shafi’i the punishment of abandoning performing namāz is equally severe like the punishment above. Also according to Imam al-Ahmad ibn Hanbal, abandoning performing namāz is abjuration of religion. Now, abandoning namāz is one of the controversial matters. Therefore, although it is not blasphemy to say that it is halal to severely punish the one who stops performing namāz, in such situations non-mujtahid people should be really careful in controversial matters. As for the Mujtahids, they perform ijtihad (reasoning). They were granted right and authority.
Moreover, the person who says, “You did right,” for a statesman who unjustly killed a man, or the one who says, “You did good,” for a person who killed a thief becomes a kāfir. For he would be has approving and supporting blasphemy and haram. He would be seeing haram and cruelty as halal. Can you say, “You did right,” for the person who unjustly killed someone. The punishment of the thief is not death. So, you would be stading against the justice of Allah when you say, “You did good” for the person who killed him as his punishment is not death.
Now, if a person says, “This Muslim’s assets are halal (lawful) to take,” or “Spilling blood of this person is halal (lawful),” and if someone else affirms him, they both become kāfirs. On what grounds are you saying, “Spilling blood of this person is halal (lawful),”? Are you a mujtahid? Are you a judge of Islam? Do you know the laws of the Islamic sharia? On what grounds are you saying that? For that reason, those things lead the person to blasphemy. You should beware of these things. We are conveying in the amantu (fundamentals) of Islam in our lectures so that the imān of the Muslim should not draw near dangers. Destroying imān (faith) is an easy thing, but shielding yourself from blasphemy requires much attention, knowledge, ilm, and wisdom. For that reason, there is no such thing as random talking in Islam. If you think randomly you’ll have to think about the consequences. May Almighty Lord admit us amongst the servants whose imān is perfect and everlasting, and whose actions and deeds are all good.
(Dakika: 35:19)