Belief and Islam

the villages in the region of the city of Bihar. His biography is
written in details in the book Akhbâr-ul akhyâr, by Shah
’Abdulhaq Dahlawî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’. This book is in
Persian, and it was printed in the city of Diobend, India, in 1332
[1914 A.D.], and later in Lahor, Pakistân. Those books, Irshad-ussâlikîn,
Ma’din-ul-ma’ânî, and Maktûbât are extremely valuable.
Ghulam ’Alî ’Abdullah-i Dahlawî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ alaih’, [1] one
of the great Ahl as-Sunna scholars, recommends reading Ahmad
bin Yahya Munîrî’s book Maktûbât and states in his 99th letter
that it is very effectual in purifying the heart.
[Imâm-i-Rabbânî ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ states as follows in
various of his letters: “Commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ are called
farz(es), and His interdictions are termed harâm(s). (Acts,
utterances, behaviours) that are neither farzes nor harâms and
which have been declared to be free (by Islam) are termed
mubâh(s). It is called worship to perform the farzes, to avoid the
harâms, and to do the mubâhs for the purpose of pleasing Allâhu
ta’âlâ, (i.e. for His grace.) An act of worship’s being sahîh and
maqbûl, i.e. its being correct and for its being liked by Allâhu
ta’âlâ, is conditional on ’ilm (knowledge), i.e. on learning the
stipulations for its having been done correctly, on ’amal, i.e. on
doing it compatibly with the conditions stipulated, and on doing it
with ikhlâs. And to do something with ikhlâs means to do it only
for the purpose of attaining Allâhu ta’âlâ’s grace and love and only
because He has commanded it, without considering worldly
advantages such as money, position, and fame. ’Ilm (knowledge) is
obtained by reading books of Fiqh under the supervision of a
competent religious teacher, and ikhlâs is attained by observing
the words and and manners of a Walî and reading his books on the
science of Tasawwuf. Islamic knowledge consists of two
components: Religious knowledge, and Scientific knowledge. It is
farz, (i.e. compulsory,) to learn them as much as necessary. For
instance, it is farz to learn the manners and ways of using a
medicine one is to take and the dosages to be taken, or for a person
who needs to use an electrical implement to acquire the necessary
information on electricity. Otherwise, a violent death may be met.
“If a Muslim who neglects his duties pertaining to worship as a
result of sloth or evil company dies without having made tawba,
although he believes in farzes and harâms, he will be tormented in
[1] ’Abdullah-i Dahlawî passed away in Delhi in 1240 A.H. (1824).
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