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Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Third Fascicle

Translations of letters from Imam-i Rabbani's Maktubat. Subjects include importance of having a correct belief and many issues related to namaz, sunnat, tawba, halal, haram, bid'at and tasawwuf.

Translations of letters from Imam-i Rabbani's Maktubat. Subjects include importance of having a correct belief and many issues related to namaz, sunnat, tawba, halal, haram, bid'at and tasawwuf.

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decrease and increase is not called îmân, but it is called supposition<br />

and illusion. Îmân’s being much or little means muchness or<br />

scarcity in acts of worship. When a person worships much, he is<br />

said to have much perfection in his îmân. Then, the îmâns of all<br />

Believers are unlike the îmâns of Prophets. For, Prophets’ îmân<br />

has reached the summit of perfection on account of acts of<br />

worship. The îmân of other Believers cannot reach there. But both<br />

have the common quality of being îmân. The former has become<br />

different through acts of worship. It is as if there were no<br />

resemblance between them. All Believers and Prophets share the<br />

property of being human. But other values, superiorities have<br />

made Prophets reach high grades. Their humanity has become sort<br />

of different. In a way, they are higher human beings than the<br />

common humanity. Perhaps, they only are human beings. Others,<br />

as it were, are not human beings.<br />

Imâm-i A’zam Abû Hanîfa ‘’alaihirrahma’ said that one should<br />

say, “I am certainly a Believer.” And Imâm-i Shâfi’î ‘alaihirrahma’<br />

said that one should say, “I am, inshâ-Allah, a Believer.” Both are<br />

true. When one expresses one’s present îmân one should say, “I<br />

am certainly a Believer.” When expressing one’s îmân at one’s last<br />

breath, one will say, “I am, inshâallah, a Believer.” However, in<br />

this latter case, too, it is better to say, ‘certainly’ than saying it with<br />

some doubt.<br />

A Believer’s îmân does not go away no matter how grave a sin<br />

he commits. He does not become a disbeliever. I have heard that<br />

one day Imâm-i a’zam and the great savants of Baghdad were<br />

sitting somewhere, when somebody came up and said, “If a<br />

Believer kills his father unjustly, breaks open his head, drinks wine<br />

from his skull and then, getting drunk, commits fornication with<br />

his mother, will his îmân go away?” All the savants who heard this<br />

became angry with that Believer. “It is unnecessary even to ask<br />

this,” they said. Imâm-i a’zam said, “That person is still a Believer.<br />

His îmân does not go away by his committing sins.” The savants<br />

disliked this answer and castigated Imâm-i a’zam. But when the<br />

Imâm proved his word true, they all admitted it. If a Believer with<br />

a lot of sins repents before his last breath comes up to his throat,<br />

he will most likely be saved. For, Allâhu ta’âlâ promised that He<br />

would accept the tawba (repentance). If he has not attained the<br />

honour of tawba, his state is up to Allah only. If He wishes, He will<br />

forgive all his sins and put him into Paradise, or He will torment<br />

him with the Hell-fire or through troubles as much as his sins. But<br />

– 18 –

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