2 - On the 48th and 348th pages of the Wahhabite book, it is written:
"Deeds, 'ibadat, are included in iman. Iman of a non-worshiper fades away. Iman may increase or decrease. Ash-Shafi'i, Ahmad and others said so unanimously."
It is of iman to believe that 'ibada is a duty. Believing and performing are two different concepts that should not be confused with each other. Anyone who, though he has believed but because he is lazy, does not practice his beliefs does not become a disbeliever. The author of the book, unable to understand this, accuses millions of Muslims of disbelief. Although anyone who calls a Muslim "kafir" (disbeliever) becomes a kafir himself, those who say so with a tawil do not become kafirs.
The forty-third verse of the famous book Qasidat al-Amali [Nuhbat al-la'ali, a very valuable Arabic annotation of this qasida was published in Istanbul in 1975.] says, "The fard 'ibadat are not included in iman." Hadrat al-Imam al-Azam Abu Hanifa declared that deeds were not a part of iman. 'Iman' means 'belief.' There is neither paucity nor plentifulness in believing. If 'ibadat were of iman, iman would increase or decrease. The belief will not be accepted after the curtain rises up from in front of the eyes and the torture is seen [at the moment one dies]. Those who pass away with iman at that moment, when 'ibadat cannot be performed, believe only by heart. And this is called "iman" in the ayat. In many ayats, those who have iman are ordered to perform 'ibadat. Therefore, belief is separate from 'ibadat. Furthermore, the Qur'anic phrase "Those who believe and those who do pious deeds" shows that 'ibadat and iman are distinct. The ayat al-karima, "Those who, being believers, do pious deeds..." shows clearly that deeds are separate from belief. For, stipulation must be different from what (who) is stipulated. It was said unanimously that anyone who, just after becoming a believer, died and found no time to perform any 'ibada was a believer. It is declared in the Hadith al-Jibril that iman is only belief.
Imam Ahmad, al-Imam ash-Shafi'i, many scholars of hadith and Asharis (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) and the Mutazila said that 'ibada was of iman, and iman would increase and decrease, and that if iman and 'ibada were separate from each other, the iman of the prophets ('alaihimu 's-salawatu wa 't-taslimat) and that of sinners should be the same. They said that the ayat, "Their iman increases when they hear My ayats," and the hadith, "Iman, when it increases, takes its possessor to Paradise, and it takes him to Hell when it decreases," meant that iman would increase and decrease. Long before, al-Imam al-Azam (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaih) had given information as an answer to them. He had said that the 'increase' of iman means its 'lasting, longevity.' Imam Malik (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaih) also said so. Plentifulness of iman means the increase of the number of the things to be believed. The as-Sahabat al-kiram, for instance, formerly had a few things to believe, and, as new orders descended, their iman increased. The increase of iman means the augmentation of nur (spiritual light) in the heart. This brilliance increases by performing 'ibadat and decreases by committing sins. Further information can be found in the book Sharh-i Mawaqif and Jawharat at-tawhid.
On page 91 of the Wahhabite book, it is said:
"A Sahabi did not give up drinking wine. He was punished with a penalty of flogging called 'hadd.' When a few Sahabis cursed him, Rasulullah declared, 'Do not call down curses upon him! For he loves Allahu ta'ala and His Rasul.' "
He, too, confirms that a Muslim who commits sins does not become a kafir. This hadith ash-Sharif refutes the Wahhabis' saying that Muslims who commit grave sins or who do not perform the fard would become disbelievers. Also it proves that the hadith ash-Sharif "He who has iman does not commit zina (adultery or fornication). He does not steal," refers not to iman itself but to its maturity.
'Abd al-Ghani an-Nabulusi, while explaining the writings of 'Allama al-Birghiwi (rahimahumallahu ta'ala) wrote on the 281st and following pages of his book Al-Hadiqa:
"Iman is the belief by the heart in and confirmation by the tongue of the knowledge Muhammad ('alaihi's-salam) revealed from Allahu ta'ala. It is not necessary to study or to understand every piece of this knowledge. The Mutazila group said it was necessary to believe after understanding. 'Ayni (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), in the commentary on the Sahih of al-Bukhari, said that muhaqqiqin or the most profound 'ulama,' for example, Abu 'l-Hasan al-Ashari, Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Hamadani al-Mutazili, Ustadh Abu 'l-Ishaq Ibrahim al-Isfaraini, Husain ibn Fadl and many others had said, 'Iman is the belief accepted by the heart in the facts that were declared clearly. It is not iman to say it with the tongue or to perform 'ibadat.' Sad ad-din at-Taftazani (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), too, wrote this in his Sharh-i 'aqa'id and reported that 'ulama' like Shams al-aimma and Fakhr al-Islam 'Ali al-Pazdawi (rahimahumallahu ta'ala) said it was necessary to confirm it with the tongue. The revelation with the tongue of the iman in the heart is necessary for the reason that it will help Muslims to recognize one another. The Muslim who does not say he is a believer is a believer, too. Most 'ulama', for example, al-Imam al-Azam Abu Hanifa (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), said that deeds or worship were not included in iman. Though Imam 'Ali (radi-Allahu 'anh) and al-Imam Ash-Shafi'i (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) said that iman was to believe and to confirm it with the tongue and to perform 'ibadat, they, in fact, meant the perfection, maturity of iman. It was a unanimous declaration that the one who said that he had iman in his heart was a Mumin (believer). Rukn ad-din Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Kirmani, in the commentary on the Sahih of Al-Bukhari, said, 'If 'ibadat had been considered to be a part of iman, then iman would have increased or decreased. However, iman of the heart neither increases nor decreases. A belief that would increase or decease would not be iman but doubt, misgiving.' Imam Muhyiddin Yahya an-Nawawi (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) said, 'Iman increases by studying and understanding the reasons of the facts to be believed. Abu Bakr as-Siddiq's (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anh) iman is not the same as the iman of any other person.' This statement points to the strength or weakness of iman; it does not mean that iman itself increases or decreases. It is likened to the similarity between sick and healthy persons: they are not equally strong, but both are human beings and their being human neither increases nor decreases. Hadrat al-Imam al-Azam Abu Hanifa explained the ayats and hadiths about the attributes of iman as follows: 'As-Sahabat al-kiram (radi-Allahu ta'ala 'anhum ajmain), when they embraced Islam, believed everything as a whole. Later many new things became fard in the course of time. They believed these orders one by one. Thus their belief increased gradually. This is true only for the as-Sahabat al-kiram. The increase of iman cannot be thought of for Muslims who came after them.' Sad ad-din at-Taftazani (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) wrote in his Sharh-i 'aqa'id, "Those who know summarily should believe summarily, and it is necessary for those who know the details profoundly to believe accordingly. The iman of the latter is certainly greater than that of the former. But the iman of the former is complete, too. Their belief is not defective."
'Abd al-Ghani an-Nabulusi (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) summarizes: "In short, not iman itself but its firmness increases or decreases. Or, the increase or decease in iman means its perfection or value. And so have been interpreted the ayats and hadiths about the attributes of iman. Since this is a subject on which ijtihad may be employed, various interpretations have been made. None of the commentators have censured the other." But the Wahhabi writer says "disbeliever" or "polytheist" about the one who believes in 'ibadat but, out of laziness, does not perform them. Muhammad al-Hadimi (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), in his Bariqa, wrote:
"Iman does not include 'ibadat. Hadrat Jalal ad-din ad-Dawani (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) said, 'The Mutazila considered 'ibadat as part of iman and said that those who did not perform 'ibadat did not have iman. 'Ibadat make iman mature and beautiful and are like the branches of a tree.' Al-Imam al-Azam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ar-Razi and many other profound scholars said that iman neither increased by worshiping nor decreased by sinning, because 'iman' meant 'thorough belief and, therefore, it neither increased nor decreased. The increase of iman in the heart means the decrease of kufr, the opposite of belief, which is impossible. Al-Imam ash-Shafi'i and Abu 'l-Hasan al-Ashari (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) said that iman would increase or decrease. But it is explained in the book Mawaqif that they meant with this statement the increase or decrease of not iman but the strength of iman, for the Prophet's iman and his umma's iman are not the same; the iman of the one who, with his reason and knowledge, has studied and then believed what he has heard is different from the iman of one who just believes what the hears. [The iman of a wali who has attained mukashafa and mushahada is not like that of a Wahhabi who knows nothing of tasawwuf.] It is written in the Qur'an al-karim that the Prophet Ibrahim ('alaihi 's-salam) wanted his heart to gain itminan (tranquility) or yaqin (certitude based on revelation). In his book Fiqh-i akbar, [Al-qawl al-fasl, a valuable Arabic annotation of Fiqh-i akbar, was published in Istanbul in 1975.] al-Imam al- Azam Abu Hanifa (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) wrote, 'The iman of the ones in heaven [angels] and on the earth [men and genies] does not become less or more in respect to the facts to be believed. Iman increases or decreases in respect to itminan or yaqin. In other words, the strength of iman increases or deceases. However, without any yaqin or strength, it is not iman.' "
Al-Imam ar-Rabbani Ahmad al-Faruqi as-Sirhindi (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala) wrote in the 266th letter in his book Maktubat: "Since iman is the affirmation and certitude in the heart, it neither increases nor decreases. Belief which increases or decreases is not called iman but surmise. Iman becomes brilliant, illuminated and shiny when one performs 'ibadat and does the things Allahu ta'ala likes. And it becomes dull and stained when one commits sins. Then, increase or decrease is a change of illumination or brilliance due to deeds. There is not a decrease or increase in iman itself. Some [who said that belief would increase or decease] said that the glossy, shiny iman was more than the dull iman and regarded the dull iman not to be iman. They even considered the glossy iman in some people as iman but said it was less than the one in others as if the [two kinds of] iman were like two mirrors with different grades of brilliance or gloss and the mirror reflecting clearer images due to its brilliance were 'greater' than the less brilliant one. Some others say that the two mirrors are equivalent but their gloss and the images they reflect, that is, their properties, are different. Those who made the first type of comparison looked just on the external varnish but could not see the essence of the matter. The hadith ash-Sharif, 'Abu Bakr's iman is heavier than the total iman of all my umma,' is a comparison from the glossiness or brilliance viewpoint."
The Wahhabite book quotes the hadith ash-Sharif, "A person's iman is incomplete unless he loves me more than his children, his parents and everyone," and comments:
"Love is in the heart it is a function of the heart. Therefore, this hadith shows that deeds and 'ibadat are included in iman and are requisites for iman."
Love is not a function but an attribute of the heart. Even if we would accept that it is a function of the heart, it cannot be said that the work done by the body or organs is the work of the heart. The one who commits grave sins will be punished. The one who has them in his heart or intends to commit them will not be punished. The good deed of the heart is to believe, and its bad deed is to disbelieve or is being without a belief. Disbelief is not a deed of the body. Lying, for instance, is haram (forbidden), and the one who lies does a bad deed, but he does not become a kafir. He who approves of lying or does not believe that lying is haram becomes a kafir.
The Wahhabi claims:
"Iman becomes genuine by the belief and practice of the heart, by the confirmation of the tongue and by performing 'ibadat. Ahl as-Sunnat said so, too," but on page 339, he says,
"If one loves Allah, he has to love those who obey Him, His prophets, His pious servants and those whom Allah loves."
Then love for the awliya' (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) is the sign of love for Allahu ta'ala. Nothing should be said against those who express their love for them. As the Wahhabite book was compelled to write, it is forbidden and disbelief to love those whom Allahu ta'ala does not love, and it is necessary and a sign of iman to love those whom He loves. This is the very worship called "al-hubbu fi 'llah wal-bughdu fi 'llah," which was declared to be the most virtuous of all 'ibadat. Disbelievers and polytheists love things other than Allahu ta'ala. However, Muslims, because they love Allahu ta'ala, love His prophets ('alaihimu 's-salam) and awliya' (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) whom He loves. The Wahhabite book confuses these two kinds of love with each other. It takes the ayats condemning disbelievers' love as if they comprise Muslims' love.
Some of the Kharijis (Khawarij), one of the seventy-two groups of bidat, and the Wahhabite book do not oppose the ayats and hadiths but misunderstand them by misinterpreting (tawil) ambiguous and obscure nasses with unclear and uncertain meanings, and say that to do the fard and to refrain from the haram are of iman, that it is necessary not only to believe in the six principles of iman but also to live up to Islam in order to be a Mumin (believer), and that anyone who does not carry out a fard or who commits a haram becomes a kafir. Out of this misunderstanding, they put the stamp of "kafir" on Muslims. Whereas, what is of iman is to believe that what is fard is fard and what is haram is haram. "Disbelief" and "belief without practice" are two distinct concepts. Because they confuse these two concepts with each other, they dissent from Ahl as-Sunnat. Yet, they do not become disbelievers because of this belief. They become ahl al-bidat, innovators in 'ibadat. However, the ones tho regard, without the ta'wil of nasses, those Muslims who do not perform 'ibadat or who commit haram as kafirs become kafirs themselves. In the Hadith ash-Sharif, it was declared, "Allahu ta'ala fills with iman the heart of the one who dislikes the innovator [in 'ibadat]. The one who condemns the innovator [in 'ibadat] will be blessed by Allahu ta'ala against the fear of the Day of Resurrection."
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