Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Third Fascicle

this matter. Some savants said that one should not make a sign. So
does the book entitled Kubrâ write. The fatwâ agrees with this.
Yet some others said that one should make a sign.”
Hazînat-ur-riwâyât is a book of Fiqh written by the Qâdî of
Gujarât in India. Kubrâ, a book of fatwâ, was written by
Husâmaddîn ’Umar. It is written in Durr-ul-mukhtâr: “One should
not make a sign with one’s pointing finger when saying the word of
Shahâdat in namâz. The fatwâ says so. It is written so in
Walwaljiyya, in Tajnîs, [1] in ’Umdatulmuftî, [2] and in all the books
of fatwâ. However, commentators of these books, such as Kamâl,
Halabî Ibrâhîm (866 – 956 [1549 A.D.]), and Nûr-ad-dîn Mahmûd
Bâqânî Qâdirî (d. 1003 [1594 A.D.]), state: “You should make the
sign. As a matter of fact, Imâm-i Muhammad informs that
Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ used to do so. Also, it is
written in the book Muhît [3] that it is sunnat to make a sign.” Ibni
’Âbidîn says: “It is understood from Muhît that it is sunnat-i ghayri
muakkada. As a matter of fact, Aynî [4] and Tuhfa [5] inform that it
is mustahab.” In the book Nûr-ul-idhâh, Shernblâlî says: “What is
sahîh is to make a sign with one’s pointing finger.” However,
Tahtâwî [6] objects to this.
As is seen, there are savants who say that it is harâm to make
the sign. There are fatwâs stating that it is makrûh. There are many
another (scholar) who states that one should not make the sign;
information of usûl states so. Then, it is not right for us, the
imitators, to attempt to make the sign by saying that there is a
hadîth confirming it, thus doing something which has been said to
be harâm or makrûh by the fatwâs of many mujtahids. If a person
in the Hanafî Madhhab makes the sign with his finger despite the
[1] Written by Burhân-ad-dîn ’Alî bin Abî Bakr Merghinânî
‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’ (martyred by the hordes of Dzengîz Khân
in 593 [1137 A.D.]).
[2] Written by Sadr-us-shehîd Husâmaddîn ’Umar bin ’Abd-ul-’Azîz
‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’ (483 – martyred in Samarkand in 536 [1142
A.D.]).
[3] Muhît-i-Burhânî, written by Mahmûd Burhânî ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’.
[4] By Bedr-ad-dîn Mahmûd bin Ahmad ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ (760 [1359
A.D.] – 855 [1451], Cairo).
[5] Tuhfa-t-ul-fuqahâ, written by ’Alâuddîn Muhammad bin Ahmad
Samarkandî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’ (d. 540 [1145 A.D.]).
[6] Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Ismâ’îl Tahtâwî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’alaih’ (d. 1231 [1815 A.D.], Cairo).
– 70 –