Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Third Fascicle

shape and essence of Ka’ba-i mu’azzama. How could the Rawda-i
mubâraka ever be higher?
[In the mosque of Medina, the twenty-six-metre-long place
between Rasûlullah’s ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ blessed grave
and the minbar which the mosque at that time had is called
Rawda-i mutahhara. Rawda means garden. The blessed minbar at
that time had three steps and was one metre high. It burned to
ashes in the fire that took place in 654. Various minbars were made
at various times, and today’s twelve-stair minbar was sent by (the
Ottoman) Sultan Murâd Khan III from Istanbul in 998 Hijri.]
Answer 1 — My Dear Sir! According to this faqîr (Hadrat
Imâm-i Rabbânî means himself), the most valuable place on the
earth is Ka’ba-i Mu’azzama [together with the mosque around it
which is called Masjid-i harâm]. Next comes the Rawda-i
muqaddasa, which is in Medina. Thirdly comes the blessed city of
Mekka. This means to say that it will be correct to say that the
Rawda-i Mutahhara is higher than Mekka.
Question 2 — Does a Muslim in the Hanafî Madhhab raise his
index finger while sitting in namâz? Mawlânâ ’Alîmullah wrote a
booklet on this subject. I send it to you. What do you say on this
matter?
Answer 2 — My Dear Sir! There are various hadîths saying that
it is permissible to make a sign with one’s index finger. Some of the
savants of the Hanafî Madhhab have said so, too. Mawlânâ
’Alîmullah states so, too. If the books in the Hanafî Madhhab are
read with attention, it will be seen that the teachings stating that it
is permissible to raise one’s finger are not from the teachings in the
category of usûl. They are not the Madhhab’s zâhir khabars.
Imâm-i Muhammad Shaybânî said: “Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam’ used to make a sign with his blessed finger. Like
him, we, too, raise and lower our finger. Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa
said so, too.” But it has been communicated through nawâdir
teachings not through usûl teachings, that Imâm-i Muhammad said
so.
[Ibni ’Âbidin writes in the forty-seventh page of his first
volume: “Teachings of the Hanafî Madhhab reached the later
savants through three different ways:
1 — Teachings which are usûl are also called zâhir khabars.
They are the teachings coming from Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa
and his disciples. Those teachings are conveyed in Imâm-i
Muhammad’s six books. These six books are Al-Mabsût, Az-
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