Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Second Fascicle

knowledge that explains the Kalimat ash-shahâdat and the six
tenets of îmân related to it.
4— The knowledge of Usûl-i hadîth. This is the branch of
knowledge that explains the different kinds of hadîths.
5— ’Ilm-i hadîth relates and explains Rasûlullah’s ‘sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ behaviors, utterances and manners.
6— The knowledge of Usûl-i fiqh. It explains how learnings
of Fiqh are derived from âyats and hadîths. A book of usûl
entitled Manâr is well-known.
7— The knowledge of Fiqh explains the af’âl-i mukallafîn.
That is, it explains the commands, the prohibitions and the
permissible things that must be done or avoided physically. The
knowledge of Fiqh is divided into four divisions: ’Ibâdâd,
Munâkahât, Mu’âmalât, and ’Uqûbât. [1]
8— ’Ilm-i tasawwuf explains the things to be done or avoided
with the heart, and the ways to purify the heart and soul. This is
also called ’Ilm-i akhlâq or ’Ilm-i ikhlâs.
Of these eight branches of knowledge, it is fard-i ’ayn for
every Muslim to learn the subjects of Kalâm, Fiqh and Akhlâq as
much as necessary and to teach them to his household. Those
who do not learn them and those who do not teach them to their
household are gravely sinful. They will go to Hell to be
tormented. And he who does not even think it is necessary to
learn them and who slights them becomes a kâfir; his îmân goes
away. It is fard-i kifâya to learn more than personally needed
amounts of these three branches of knowledge or the other five
branches, i.e. the advanced religious knowledge, or the ’ulûm-i
’aqliyya. It is written in Bezzâziyya: “After memorizing some
parts of the Qur’ân al-kerîm, it is necessary to learn Fiqh. For, it
is fard-i kifâya to memorize the entire Qur’ân al-kerîm. But it is
fard-i ’ayn to learn the indispensable subjects of Fiqh.
Muhammad bin Hasan Sheybânî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’ says:
[1] These four sub-branches deal with, 1) acts of worship; 2) social
dealings, such as marriages, etc.; 3) People’s dealing with one another;
4) penal codes, respectively. Fard (or farz) means an act or a belief or
conduct which Allâhu ta’âlâ commands Muslims. Fard-i-’ayn is a
command which every individual Muslim has to observe or perform.
Fard-i-kifâya is a command which has to be observed or performed by
at least one of the people making up a certain society or congregation
or group of Muslims.
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