Seâdet-i Ebediyye Endless Bliss Third Fascicle

the rules of Islam. One should perform namâz five times without
being slack or lazy. One should perform it with ta’dil-i arkân and
in jamâ’at. “It is namâz which distinguishes the Muslim from the
kâfir.” [A person who performs namâz correctly and well is a
Muslim. If a person performs namâz incorrectly or does not
perform it at all, his being a Muslim is doubtful.] When a person
performs namâz correctly and well, he has held fast to Islam’s
rope. For, namâz is the second of Islam’s five essentials.
Islam’s third essential is to pay zakât.
Islam’s fourth essential is to fast every day in the blessed month
of Ramadân.
Its fifth essential is to perform hajj by making tawâf around the
Ka’ba-i mu’azzama.
Islam’s first essential, îmân, is to believe with the heart and
express it with the tongue. And the other four essentials are the
acts of worship that are to be done with the body and intended
with the heart. Namâz, which has accumulated all kinds of worship
in itself, is the highest of all. On the Day of Judgement the first
questioning will be on namâz. If namâz is correct, all the other
questions, with the help of Allâhu ta’âlâ, will pass easily.
We should avoid the harâms as well as possible. We should
deem the things which Allâhu ta’âlâ dislikes as fatal poisons.
Thinking about our faults, we should feel ashamed, embarrassed
for having done them. We should repent and be sorry. [This
repentance, and decisiveness (not to commit sins again), is called
making tawba. Begging Allâhu ta’âlâ to forgive your sins is called
making istighfâr.] He who speaks and acts in a manner which
Allâhu ta’âlâ dislikes without being ashamed, embarrassed, has
been persistently disobeying Allâhu ta’âlâ. Their obstinacies will
almost drive them out of Islam.
[It is written in the third paragraph of the second chapter of the
fourth section of the book Riyâd-un-nâsikhîn: “Although the
harâms have been divided into two classes, grave sins, and venial
sins, we should avoid the venial sins as well as we avoid the grave
ones, and we should not consider any sin unimportant. For Allâhu
ta’âlâ is muntaqîm [1]
and ghanî (independent). He does not fear
anybody in doing what He wishes. He has concealed His wrath,
His enmity in sins. Any sin which is supposed to be venial may
[1] Vindictive, capable of revenging on His enemies.
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