21 June, 1995 Copyleft c Waqf Ikhlas, Istanbul, 1995.

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WAQF IKHLAS 

In this book, Itiqad-nama, the Prophet's (sall- Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) hadith telling of iman and Islam will be explained. I hope that, through the blessing of this hadith ash-Sharif, the faith of Muslims will be perfected, and thus they will attain salvation and happiness. And I hope again that it will cause me, Khalid, whose sins are a lot, to be saved. May Allahu ta'ala, in whom I have the beautiful belief that He needs nothing and that His favors and blessings are so plentiful and who pities His servants much, forgive this poor Khalid, whose stock is so little and heart so black, for his unsuitable words, and accept his defective 'ibadat. May He protect us against the evils of the deceitful, lying Satan [and against being deceived by false, erroneous words and writings of the enemies of Islam] and make us happy! He is the Most Merciful of the merciful and the Most Generous of the generous.

 The 'ulama' of Islam said that every discreet male or female Muslim, who has reached the age of puberty, ought to know and believe in the as-Sifat adh-Dhatiyya (3) and as-Sifat ath-Thubutiyya (4) of Allahu ta'ala correctly. It is this which is primarily obligatory (fard) for everybody. Not to know is not an excuse but a sin. Khalid ibn Ahmad al-Baghdadi wrote this book not to make a show of superiority and knowledge to others or to become famous, but to leave a reminder, a service behind. May Allahu ta'ala help humble Khalid (5) with His Power and through His Prophet's blessed soul! Amin.

 Everything other than Allahu ta'ala is called the ma'siwa or 'alam (the creation, the universe), which is called "nature" now. All creatures were nonexistent. Allahu ta'ala is the One who has created them all. They all are mumkin (that may come into existence out of nonexistence) and hadith (that came into being out of nothing); that is, they may come into existence while they are nonexistent, and they came into existence while they had been nonexistent. The hadith ash-Sharif, 'Allahu ta'ala was existent, anything else did not exist,' shows that this is true. ` A second evidence showing that the whole universe and all creatures are hadith is the fact that creatures are transforming and changing into one another all the time; whereas, anything Qadim (without a beginning) should never change. Allahu ta'ala's Dhat (Person, Essence) and Attributes are Qadim and never change.(6) The changes in creatures cannot be coming from the eternal past. They should have a beginning and come into existence from elements or substances, which must have been created out of nonexistence.

 Another evidence for the fact that the universe is mumkin, that is, it may come into being out of nonexistence, is that creatures, as we see, are hadith; that is, they come into existence out of nothing.

 There are two beings: the mumkin and the Wajib.(7) If only the mumkin existed, or if Wajib al-wujud did not exist, nothing would exist.(8) For this reason, the mumkin could not come into existence or go on being by itself. If some power had not affected it, it would have always remained in nonexistence and could not have come into existence. Since a mumkin could not create itself; it could not, of course, create other mumkins, either. That which has created the mumkin has to be Wajib al-wujud. The existence of the 'alam shows that a creator who created it out of nothing exists. So, the Unique Creator of all that are mumkin, the creatures, is the only Wajib al-wujud without being hadith or mumkin, but always existent and Qadim (eternal). 'Wajib al-wujud' means that its existence is not from something else but from itself, that is, it is always self-existent and is not created by someone else. If this were not so, then it would have to be a creature (mumkin and hadith) created by someone else. And this is contrary to what is deduced above. Persian 'Khuda' (used as a name for Allah) means 'always self-existent, eternal.(9)'

 We see that the classes of beings are in an astounding order, and science finds out new laws of this order each year. The Creator of this order must be Hayy (Ever- living), Alim (All-knowing), Qadir (Almighty), Murid (All-willing), Sami (All-hearing), Basir (All-seeing), Mutakallim (All-speaking) and Khaliq (All-creating) (10), because, death, ignorance, incapability or being disposed under others' compulsion, deafness, blindness and dumbness are all defects, imperfections. It is impossible that such defective attributes be in Him who has created this 'alam or ka'inat (all beings) in such an order and who protects them against annihilation (11). Moreover, we see the above attributes of perfection also in creatures. He has created them in His creatures. If these attributes did not exist in Him, how could He create them in His creatures, and would not His creatures be superior to Him?

 We should also add that in Him who has created all these worlds of beings there should exist all the attributes of perfection and superiority and none of the attributes of deficiency, for, one defective cannot be creative.
 
 

Let alone these reasonable evidences, ayat-i karimas and hadith ash-Sharifs explain clearly that Allahu ta'ala has the attributes of perfection. Therefore, it is not permissible to doubt it. Doubt causes disbelief. The above-given eight attributes of perfection are called as-Sifat ath-Thubutiyya. Allahu ta'ala has all the eight attributes of perfection. There is no defect, disorder or change in His Person, Essence, Attributes or Deeds.

FOOTNOTES

 (3) As-Sifat adh-Dhatiyya of Allahu ta'ala are six: al-Wujud, existence; al-Qidam, being without beginning, and eternal in the past; al-Baqa', being without end, and eternal in the future; al-Wahdaniyya, having no partner or match; al-Mukhalafatu li 'l-hawadith, being dissimilar to every creature in every respect; al-Qiyamu bi nafsihi, self-existence or being unneedy of anything for His existence. No creature has any of these six attributes, nor any relation with them. They belong to Allahu ta'ala exclusively. Some 'ulama' said that al-Mukhalafatu li 'l-hawadith and al-Wahdaniyya were the same and that as-Sifat adh-Dhatiyya are five.

(4) See pages 13 and 24.

(5) Khalid-i Bagdadi passed away in Damascus in 1247 [1826 A.D.].

(6) However, in the universe the state of substances changes in physical events. In chemical reactions, the essence or structure of substances changes. We see objects or substances cease to exist and change into other substances. Today, in atomic changes and nuclear reactions, which have been discovered recently, the matter or element, too, ceases existing and turns into energy.

 (7) " 'Wujud' means 'existence, being.' There are three kinds of existence. The first one is Wajib al-wujud, the Necessary Existence. He always exists. He has never been nonexistent before, nor will stop existing in the everlasting future. Only Allahu ta'ala is Wajib al-wujud. The second one is mumtani' al-wujud, that cannot exist. It should never exist. Such is sharik al-Bari' (partner to Allahu ta'ala). Another god partner to Allahu ta'ala or likeness to Him can never exist. The third one is mumkin al-wujud, that may or may not exist. So are the universe, all creatures without any exception. The opposite of wujud is 'adam (non-existence). All creatures were in 'adam, were nonexistent, before they came into existence.

(8) For, it is a change, an event, to come into existence out of nonexistence, and, according to our knowledge in physics, in order for a change to take place in a substance, the substance has to be acted upon by an exterior power, the source of which has to precede the substance.

(9) There is more detailed information in the chapter on page 79.

(10) These are the eight Sifat ath-Thubitiyya of Allahu ta'ala.

(11) Every being, from atom to stars, has been created with some calculations and laws. The regularity in the known laws of physics, chemistry, astronomy and biology bewilders the human mind. Even Darwin had to say that when he thought of the order and delicacy in the structure of the eye, he felt as if he would go crazy. Is it possible that He who has created all the laws, delicate calculations and formulas taught as scientific knowledge be defective?
 
 

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