This is an excerpt from Ch. 13, ‘Muslim Contributions to Science and Art’ from the book “Introduction to Islam” by Dr. M. Hamidullah.

Just as many are there sciences, so many do we require specialists from among the historians to describe adequately the Muslim contribution to each branch and to collaborate in the compilation of a general survey of this vast subject. Far from pretending to deal adequately with the topic, an attempt is made here to give information of a general nature relating to the role the Muslims have played in the development of the various arts and sciences.

General Attitude

444. Islam is a comprehensive concept of life and not merely a religion describing the relations between man and his Creator. Therefore it becomes necessary to, first of all, give an account of the attitude of Islam with respect to the pursuit of arts and sciences.

445. Far from discouraging a life of well-being in this world, the Qur’an gives expression again and again to directions like: “Say (O Muhammad): Who hath forbidden the adornment (beautiful gifts) of God which He hath brought forth for His bondsmen and the good things of His providing?” (7:32) It praises those “who say: Our Lord! Give unto us in this world that which is best and in the Hereafter that which is best, and guard us from the torment of Fire.” (2:201) It teaches mankind: “. . . . and neglect not thy portion of the world, and be thou kind even as God hath been kind to thee. ..” (28:77). It is this quest for well-being which attracts man to study and to learn, in as perfect a manner as possible, all that exists in the universe so as to profit by it and to be grateful to God for it. The Qur’an says: “And We have given you (mankind) authority on the earth, and appointed for you therein a livelihood; small are the thanks ye give:” (7:10; cf. 15: 20-21): And again: “He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. . .” (2:29) further: “See ye not how God hath made service able unto you whatsoever is in the skies and whatsoever is in the earth and hath loaded you with His favours both without and within?” (31:20, cf. 14:32-33; 16:12, 33:65, 65:11-12, etc.). On one hand, the Qur’an reminds men of their duty of worshipping the One “Who hath fed them against hunger, and hath made them safe from fear” (106:4) and on the other hand, it tells them of the need for effort in this world of cause and effect: “And man hath only that for which he maketh effort.” (53:39) The Qur’an (30:42) urges men not only to go on exploration: “Say: Travel in the land and see the nature of the end of those who were before you,” but also for new discoveries …” “… who meditate over the creation of the heavens and the earth, (and say:) Our Lord! Thou createdst not this in vain.” (3:191)

446. As to the method of increasing knowledge, it is inspiring to note that the very first revelation that came to the Prophet, who was born amongst illiterate people, was a command to read and write, and the praise of the pen which is the only means or custodian of human knowledge: “

Read with the name of thy Lord, Who createth,

Createth man from a clot. Read, and thy Lord is the Most Bounteous,

Who teacheth by the pen: Teacheth man that which he knew not.” (Q. 96:1-5).

It also reminds us: “. . . and ask the people of remembrance if ye know not” (16:43, 21:7), as also: ” . . . and of knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little” (17:85). Further: ” . . . We raise by grades whom We will, and over every possessor of knowledge there is one more knowing” (12:76). What abeautiful prayer is the one which the Qur’an teaches man: “… and say: my Lord! Increase me in knowledge” (20:114).

447. Prophet Muhammad said: “Islam is built on five fundamentals: Belief in God, Service of worship, Fasting, Pilgrimage of the House of the One God, and the Zakat-tax.” If belief demands the cultivation of the theological sciences, the other requires a study of the mundane sciences. For the service of worship, one faces towards Mecca, and the service must be celebrated on the occurrence of certain determined natural phenomena. This requires knowledge of the elements of geography and astronomy. Fasting also requires the understanding of natural phenomena, such as the appearance of the dawn, the setting of the sun, etc. The pilgrimage necessitates knowledge of the routes and the means of transport in order to proceed to Mecca. Payment of the Zakat requires knowledge of mathematics, which knowledge is also necessary for calculations for the distribution of the heritage of the deceased. Similarly there is the fundamental need of the understanding of the Qur’an in the light of historical facts and allusions and references to the sciences contained therein. In fact, the study of the Qur’an requires first of all a knowledge of the language in which it is compiled (the linguistic sciences) and its references to various peoples demand a knowledge of history and geography, and so on and so forth.

448. Let us recall that when the Prophet began an independent life, settling down in Madinah, his first act was the construction of a mosque with a portion reserved for the purpose of a school (the celebrated Suffah) which served during the day as a lecture hall, and during the night as a dormitory for students.

449. God helps those who help the cause of God, is repeated often in the Qur’an (47:7, 22:40). It is not surprising if Muslims had the good fortune to possess abundant and cheap paper so as to spread knowledge among the masses. Since the second century of the Hijrah, there began to be established factories for the manufacture of paper all over the vast Muslim empire.

450. For purposes of this short sketch, we shall refer only to a few sciences in which the contribution of the Muslims has been particularly important for mankind.

Religious and Philosophical Sciences

451. The religious sciences began, naturally enough, with the Qur’an which the Muslims received as the Word of God, the Divine Message addressed to man. Its perusal and understanding necessitated the study of the linguistic, grammatical, historical, and even the speculative sciences, along with many others – which gradually developed into independent sciences of general utility. The recitation of the sacred text brought into being, and developed, the religious “music” of Islam (to which we shall revert later). The preservation of the Qur’an led to improvements in the Arabic script, not only from the point of view of precision, but also of beauty. With its punctuation and vocalization, the Arabic script is incontestably the most precise for the needs of any language in the world. The universal character of Islam necessitated the understanding of the Qur’an by non-Arabs; and we see a series of translations, from the very time of the Prophet (Salman al-Farsi had translated parts of it into Persian) continuing to our own day, and there is no end to it in sight. It is necessary to point out that these translations were made solely for the purpose of understanding the contents by those who did not know Arabic, yet never for liturgical purposes. For in the service of worship, one uses only the Arabic text. And the method adopted by order of the Prophet for the preservation of the integrity of the sacred text was perpetuated, namely recording by writing, and learning by heart, both done simultaneously. Each process was to help the other in guarding against forgetfulness or the commission of error. The institution of a judicial method of verification further perfected the system. Thus, one was required not only to procure a copy of the Qur’an, but also to read it from the beginning to the end before a recognized master, in order to obtain a certificate of authenticity. This practice continues to this day.

452. As in the case of the Qur’an, Muslims were also attached to the sayings of the Prophet. The reports of his sayings and doings, both public and private, were preserved. The preparation of such memoirs began even in the lifetime of the Prophet, on the private initiative of certain of his companions, and was continued after his death, by a process of collection of first hand knowledge. As was the case of the Qur’an, authenticity was insisted on in all transmissions. One could relate all that is known of the lives of Noah, Moses, Jesus, Buddha and other great men of antiquity, in a few pages only, but the known details of the biography of the Prophet Muhammad fills hundreds of pages, so great was the care that was taken to preserve for posterity documented and precise data.

453. The speculative aspect of the Faith, particularly in the matter of beliefs and dogmas, shows that the discussions which I began in the lifetime of the Prophet, became later the root cause of different sciences, such as the Kalam (dogmatico-scholastic), and tasawwuf (mystico-spiritualistic). The religious polemics with non-Muslims, and even among Muslims themselves, introduced foreign elements from Greek and Indian philosophy, etc. Later on, Muslims did not lack their own great philosophers endowed with originality and erudition, like al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn-Sina (Avicenna), Ibn-Rushd (Averroes) and others. The Arabicization of foreign books resulted in the fortunate feature that scores of Greek and Sanskrit works, whose originals have now been lost, became preserved for posterity in their Arabic translations.

New Sciences

454. The part played by the Muslims in the development of the social sciences has been very important. A remarkable characteristic of Muslim science is the rapidity of its development. The Qur’an was the first book ever written in the Arabic language. Scarcely two hundred years later, this language of the illiterate Bedouins developed into one of the richest in the world, later to become not only the richest of all languages of the time, but also an international language for all sorts of sciences. Without stopping to discover the cause of this phenomenon, let us recall another fact. The first Muslims were almost all Arabs, yet with the exception of their language, which was the repository of the Word of God and of His Prophet, they effaced their own personality, under the influence of Islam, in order to receive in Islam all races on the basis of absolute equality. Therefore it is that all races have participated in the progress of the “Islamic” sciences: Arabs, Iranians, Greeks, Turks, Abyssinians, Berbers, Indians, and others, who have embraced Islam. Their religious tolerance was so great, and the patronage of learning so perfect, that Christians, Jews, Magians, Buddhists and others collaborated with a view to enrich the Muslim sciences, not only in the domain of their respective religious literature, but also in other branches of learning. Arabic had spread more widely than any other language of the world, since it was the official language of the Muslim State whose territory extended from China to Spain.

Law

455. In its comprehensive character, legal science developed among Muslims very early. They were the first in the world to entertain the thought of an abstract science of law, distinct from the codes of the general laws of the country. The ancients had their laws, more or less developed and even codified, yet a science which should treat the philosophy and sources of law, and the method of legislation, interpretation, application, etc., of the law was wanting, and this never struck the minds of the jurists before Islam. Since the second century of the Hijrah (800 C.E.) there began to be produced Islamic works of this kind, called Usul al-Fiqh.

456. In the days of antiquity, International Law was neither international nor law. It formed a part of politics and depended on the discretion and mercy of statesmen. Moreover, its rules applied only to a limited number of States inhabited by peoples of the same race, who followed the same religion and spoke the same language. The Muslims were the first to accord it a place in the legal system, creating both rights and obligations. This may be observed in the rules of international law that formed part of a special chapter in the codes and treatises of the Muslim law ever since the earliest times. In fact the most ancient treatise which we possess is the Majmu’ of Zaid ibn ‘Ali, who died in 120 H/737 C.E. That work also contains the chapter in question. Further, the Muslims developed this branch of study as an independent science, and monographs on the subject, under the generic title of Siyar, were found existing even before the middle of the second century of the Hijrah. In his Tawali at-Ta ‘sis, Ibn Hajar relates that the first monograph of the kind hailed from the pen of Abu Hanifah, the contemporary of the above-mentioned Zaid Ibn ‘Ali. The characteristic feature of this international law is, that it makes no discrimination among foreigners. It does not concern inter-Muslim relations, but deals solely with the non-Muslim States of the entire world. Islam in principle forms one single unit and one single organic community.

457. Another contribution in the legal domain is the comparative Case Law. The appearance of different schools of the Muslim law necessitated this kind of study, in order to bring into relief the reasons of their differences as well as the effects of each divergence of principle on a given point of law. The books of Dabusi and Ibn Rushd are classics on the subject. Saimuri wrote even a work of comparative jurisprudence or methodology of law (Usul al-Fiqh).

458. The written-constitution of the State is also an innovation of the Muslims. In fact, Prophet Muhammad was its author. When he established a City-State at Madinah, he endowed it with a written constitution, which document has come down to us, thanks to Ibn Hisham and Abu ‘Ubaid, and its contents could be divided into 52 clauses. It mentions in precise terms the rights and obligations of the head of the State, of constituent units, and of subjects respectively, in matters of administration, legislation, justice, defence, etc. It dates from the year 622 of the Christian era.

459. In the field of law proper, codes have appeared since the beginning of the second century of the Hijrah. They are divided into three principal parts: (i) cult or religious practices, (ii) contractual relations of all kinds, and (iii) penalties. In keeping with its comprehensive view of life, there was no differentiation in Islam between the mosque and the citadel. The doctrine of the State or constitutional law formed a part of the cult, since the leader of the State was the same as the leader of the service of worship. The revenues and finances also formed part of the cult, since the Prophet had declared them to be one of the four fundamentals of Islam, side by side with worship, fasting, and pilgrimage. International law formed part of the penalties, war being placed on the same level as action against marauding brigands, pirates and other violators of law or treaty.

460. It is due to this comprehensive view of law among Muslims, that we have discussed the question at length.

History and Sociology

461. The share of Muslims in these is important from two points of view, one being assurance in the matter of authenticity and the other the collection and preservation of the most varied details. Born in the full light of history, Islam did not require legends and hearsay. With regard to data concerning other peoples, each narration was accorded the value it merited. But the current history of Islam required a fully reliable measure to maintain such an integrity through the ages. Attestation by witnesses was once an exclusive feature of judicial tribunals. The Muslims applied it to history; one required evidence for each reported narration. If, in the first generation after the event, it sufficed to have one trustworthy witness of the event, in the second generation it was necessary to cite two successive sources: “I have heard A, telling me that he had heard B, who had lived at the time of the event, giving the details”. And in the third generation, three sources were required, and so on and so forth. These exhaustive references assured the truthfulness of the chain of the successive sources, for one could refer to biographical dictionaries which indicated not only the character of individual personages, but also the names of their teachers as well as of their principal pupils. This kind of evidence is available not merely in connection with the life of the Prophet, but even for all branches of knowledge transmitted from one generation to another, sometimes even in the domain of anecdotes meant simply for amusement and pastime.

462. Biographical dictionaries are a characteristic feature of Muslim historical literature. The dictionaries were compiled according to professions, towns or regions, centuries or epochs, etc. Equally great importance was given to genealogical tables, particularly amongst the Arabs; and the relationship of hundreds of thousands of persons of some importance, thus learnt, facilitates the task of the researcher who should desire to penetrate the underlying causes of events.

463. As to history proper, the characteristic trait of the chronicles is their universalism. If the pre-Islamic peoples produced national histories, then Muslims seemed to be the first to write these world histories, Ibn Ishaq (d. 769) for instance, who is one of the earliest historians of Islam, not only begins his voluminous annals with an account of the creation of the universe and the history of Adam, but he also speaks of other races that he knew, of his time – a task which was pursued with ever-increasing passion by his successors at-Tabari, al- Mas’udi, Miskawaih, Saa’id al Andalusi, Rashiduddin Khan and others. It is interesting to observe that these historians, (to begin with at-Tabari) commenced their work with a discussion on the notion of time. Ibn Khaldun dove deeper into these sociological and philosophical discussions, in his celebrated Prolegomena to Universal History.

464. Already in the first century of the Hijrah, two branches of history began to develop independently, and were later combined with one composite whole. One was Islamic history, beginning with the life of the Prophet and continuing through the time of the caliphs, and the other non-Muslim history, whether concerning pre-Islamic Arabia or foreign countries such as Iran, Byzantium, etc. A very clear instance is that of the history of Rashiduddin Khan, the major portion of which still remains to be printed. This was simultaneously prepared both in Arabic and Persian versions, and speaks with equal familiarity of the prophets, caliphs, and popes as well as the kings of Rome, China, India, Mongolia, etc.

Geography and Topography

465. Pilgrimage as well as commerce in the vast Muslim empire needed communication. Baladhuri and Ibn al-Jauzi report: “Every time the post departed for some destination or other (ranging from Turkestan to Egypt, and this happened almost daily) the Caliph ‘Umar used to have it announced in the metropolis so that private letters could also be despatched in time through the official courier.” The Directors of the Post prepared route-guides, whose publication was always accompanied by more or less detailed historico-economic description of each place, place-names being often arranged alphabetically. This literary geography led to other scientific studies. The geography of Ptolemy was translated into Arabic, and so were the Sanskrit works of Indian authors. Tales of travels and voyages increased daily the knowledge of the common man. The very diversity of the data counteracted all possibility of Chauvinism and one was obliged to put everything to practical test and trial. The dialogue of Abu-Hanifah (d. 767) reported by al-Muwaffaq, (1, 161) is well known: A Mu’tazilite asked him where the centre of the earth was, and he replied: “In the very place where thou art sitting!” This reply can be given only if one meant to convey that the earth was spherical. Even the earliest world maps, prepared by Muslims, represent the earth in circular shape. Ibn Hauqual’s (cir. 975) cartography, for instance, presents no difficulty at all in recognizing the Mediterranean or the Near-Eastern countries. The map of al-Idrisi, prepared for King Roger of Sicily, (1101-54), astonishes us by its great precision and exactitude; it marks even the sources of the Nile. One has to remember that the Arabo-Muslim maps point upwards to the South, the North downwards. The maritime voyages necessitated the tables of Latitude and Longitude as well as the use of the astrolabe and other nautical instruments. Thousands of Muslim coins, discovered in the excavations of Scandinavia, Finland, Russia, Kazan, etc., show conclusively the commercial activity of Muslim caravan-leaders during the Middle Ages. Ibn Majid, who served as pilot to Vasco da Gama as far as India, already speaks of the compass as a familiar thing. Muslim mariners astonished us with their skill and daring in their voyage from Basrah (Iraq) to China. The words arsenal, admiral, cable, monsoon, douane, tariff, which are all of Arabic origin, are substantial proof of the Muslim influence on modern Western culture.

Astronomy

466. The discovery and study of a number of stars is acknowledged to be a valuable and unforgettable contribution of the Muslims. A very large number of stars are still known in Western languages by their Arabic names, and it is Ibn-Rushd (Averroes) who recognized spots on the surface of the sun. The calendar reform by ‘Umar al-Khayyam outdistances by far the Gregorian one. The pre-Islamic Bedouin Arabs had already developed very precise astronomical observations, not only for their nocturnal travel in the desert, but also for meteorology, rain, etc. A number of books called Kitab al-Anwa, gives us sufficient proof of the extent of Arabic knowledge. Later, Sanskrit, Greek and other works were translated into Arabic. The confrontation of their divergent data required new experiments and patient observation. Observatories surfaced everywhere. Under the Caliph al-Ma’mun, the circumference of the earth was measured, the exactness of these results was astonishing. Works were compiled very early dealing with the ebb and flow of the tide, dawn, twilight, rainbows, halos, and above all the sun and the moon and their movements, since they are immediately related with the question of the hours of prayer and fasting.

Natural Science

467. The characteristic feature of this aspect of Islamic science is the emphasis laid on experiment and observation without prejudice. The Arabian method was quite unique and wonderful. The authors began their study of the sciences by the preparation of categorized dictionaries of technical terms, which were found in their own language. With extraordinary patience, they painstakingly scrutinized all books of prose and poetry, in order to sorting out terms -with useful citations – in each branch separately, such as anatomy, zoology, botony, astronomy, mineralogy, etc. Each successive generation revised the works of its predecessors so as to add something new thereto. These simple lists of words, with some literary or anecdotic observations, proved of immense value when the work of translation began. Rare were the cases in which one required to Arabicize, or conserve a foreign word in Arabicized form.

468. Words used in Botany are quite characteristic. Except for the names of certain plants which did not grow in the Muslim empire, there is not a single technical term of foreign origin therein; one found words for every term in Arabic. The Kitab an-Nabat, Encyclopaedia Botanica of ad-Dinawari (d. 895) in six thick volumes was compiled even before the first translation into Arabic of the works on the subject in Greek. In the words of Silverberg: After a thousand years of study, Greek botany resumed with the works of Dioscorides and Theophrastus, but the very first Muslim work, of ad-Dinawari, on the subject far surpasses them in erudition and extensiveness.(1) Ad-Dinawari describes not only the exterior of each plant, but also their alimentary, medicinal and other properties. He classified them, spoke of their habitat, among other details.

Medical Science

469. Medicine also made extraordinary progress under the Muslims, in the branches of anatomy, pharmacology, organization of hospitals, and training of doctors, who were subjected to an examination before being authorized to start practice. Having common frontiers with Byzantium, India, China, etc., Muslim medical arts and science became a synthesis of the world medical knowledge. And if the old lore was subjected to trial and test, new original contributions were also made. The works of Razi (Rhazes), Ibn-Sina (Avicenna) Abu’l-Qasim (Abucasis) and others remained until recent times the basis of all medical study even in the West. We know now that the fact of the circulation of blood was also known to them, thanks to the writings of Ibn an-Nafis.

Optics

470. This science owes a particular debt to the Muslims. We possess the book of rays by al-Kindi (of the 9th century), which was already far in advance of the Greek lore of the incendiary mirrors. Ibn al-Haitham (Alhazen, 965), who followed him, has rightly merited a lasting celebrity. Al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn-Sina, al-Birun and others who were representatives of Muslim science, yield their place to none in the world history of science.

Mineralogy, Mechanics, etc.

471. This attracted the attention of the learned, both from the medical point of view and for the purpose of distinguishing precious stones, so much sought after by kings and other wealthy people. The works of al-Biruni are still functional in this field.

472. Ibn-Firnas (d.888) had invented an apparatus, with which he flew a long distance. He died in an accident, and left no successor to pursue and perfect his work. Others invented mechanical instruments for floating sunken ships, or pulling out trees without difficulty that are of an enormous dimension.

473. For the underwater lore, numerous treatises were written on pearl-fishery and the treatment of their shells.

Zoology

474. The observation of the life of the wild animals and birds had always fascinated the Bedouins of Arabia. AI-Jahiz (d. 868) has left a huge work for popularizing the subject while referring to evolution, which theme was later developed by Miskawaih, al- Qazwini, ad-Damiri, and others, not to speak of numerous works on falconery and hunting by means of domesticated and trained beasts and birds of prey.

Chemistry and Physics

475. The Qur’an has repeatedly urged Muslims to meditate over the creation of the universe, and to study how the heavens and earth have been made subservient to man. Therefore there has never been a conflict between faith and reason in Islam. Thus it is that the Muslims began very early an ever-progressive and serious study of chemistry and physics. Scientific works are attributed to Khalid ibn Yazid (d. 704) and to the great jurist Ja’far as Sadiq (d. 765); and their pupil Jabir ibn Hayyan (cir. 776) has justly remained celebrated throughout the ages. The characteristic feature of their works has been objective experimentation, instead of simple specualtion; and it was through observation that they accumulated facts. Under their influence, ancient alchemy was transformed into an exact science, based on facts and practical demonstration. Already Jabir knew the chemical operations of calcination and reduction and he also developed the methods of evaporation, sublimation, crystallization, etc. It is evident that in such paths of human knowledge, patient work for generations and centuries was required. The existence of Latin translations of the works of Jabir and others (for a long time were used as textbooks in Europe) suffices to show how greatly modern science is indebted to the works of the Muslim savants, and how fast it developed, thanks to the applications of the Arabo-Muslim method of experimentation rather than the Greek method of speculation.

Mathematics

476. Mathematical science had left ineffaceable traces of the Muslim share in its development. The terms algebra, zero, cipher, etc., are of Arabic origin. The names of al-Khwarizmi, ‘Umar al-Khayyam, al-Biruni and others shall remain as famous as those of Euclid and the Indian author of Siddhanta, etc. Trigonometry was unknown to the Greeks – the credit for its discovery undoubtedly goes to Muslim mathematicians.

Summary

477. Muslims continued their work in the service of science until great misfortunes afflicted their principal intellectual centres, Baghdad in the East, and Cordova-Granada in the West. These were occupied by barbarians, to the great misfortune of science, at a time when the printing press had not yet come into vogue. The burning of libraries with their hundreds of thousands of MSS led to untold and irreparable loss. And the wholesale massacres did not spare the learned. What had been constructed over the course of centuries was destroyed within days. Once a civilization declines, owing to such calamities, it takes several centuries as well as numerous resources, including the facilities to study the achievements of others – who should have taken the relay after the fall of the previous standard-bearers of civilization – before one can make up the distance. Moreover noble characters and great minds cannot be had at will – they are the gift and grace of the Almighty on a people. That men of noble character are held in check, and not invested with the direction of their countrymen, which is assumed by incompetent and unscrupulous persons, is another tragedy which one has often to deplore.

Arts

478. As in the case of the sciences, the Qur’an took the initiative in the development of art among Muslims. The liturgical recitation of the Holy Qur’an created a new branch of music (cf infra 485). The conservation of its text necessitated calligraphy and book-binding. The construction of mosques developed architecture and decorative art. To these were added later the secular needs of the wealthy. In its care for an equilibrium between body and the soul, Islam taught moderation in all things, led the natural talents in the right direction, and tried to develop in man a harmonious whole.

479. We read, in the Sahih of Muslim, and the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal, an interesting saying of the Prophet: “God is beautiful and likes beauty.” Another of his sayings is: “Beauty is prescribed in everything; even if you kill somebody, kill him in a nice manner.” God has spoken in the Qur’an: “We have beautified the lower sky with lamps” (67:5), or “Lo! We have placed all that is on the earth as an ornamental thing that We may try men: which of them is best in conduct.” (18:7) It goes so far as to ordain: “Put on your dress of adornment on every occasion of prostration (service of prayer).” (7:31)

480. In the life of the Prophet, we come across the following instructive incident: One day he saw the interior of a grave which was not fully levelled. He ordered the defect to be mended, adding that it would do neither good nor harm to the dead, but it was more pleasant to the eye of the living, and whenever one does something, God likes that one does it in a perfect manner. (cf. Ibn; Sa’d, VIII, 156)

481. The taste for fine art is innate in man. As in the case of all other natural gifts, Islam seeks to develop the artistic talents with the spirit of moderation. It may be recalled that excess even af self-mortification and of spiritual practices is forbidden in Islam.

482. The first minbar (pulpit) in the mosque, which was prepared for the Prophet, was decorated with two balls, like pomegranates, and the two little grandchildren of the Prophet enjoyed playing with them. This was the beginning of wood-carving. Later on, copies of the Qur’an were illuminated in colour, and the greatest care was taken in their binding. In short, Islam never forbade artistic progress. The only restriction is the one against the representation of animal (including human) figures. The prohibition does not seem to be absolute, and we shall revert to it, yet the Prophet has placed a restraint on this activity. The reasons for this are metaphysical as well as psychological, biological and social. In the creation of the different kingdoms, animal life is the highest manifestation, vegetables and minerals succeed it in a lower order. Therefore in his anxiety to pay his profound respect to the Creator, man reserves for God the privilege of the supreme creation, and contents himself with the representation of inferior objects. The psychologists point out that, seeing the privileged position which the animal kingdom occupies in creation (with the faculty of movement and, for man in particular, the faculty of invention), animal representation gives man the double temptation to which he cannot always resist: the temptation to believe that he “creates,” whereas he merely manufactures, (and as a proof the famous story of a Greek sculptor who had become amourous of his own sculpture), and the temptation to attribute to the representation the soul and the ideal virtues of an accessible Divinity (cf. the history of human antiquity of idolatory, and the modern taste for the cult of heroes, champions and stars). The biological aspect is that an unutilized talent reinforces those in constant use. Thus, a blind man possesses a memory and a sensibility which are far superior to those of ordinary men. By abstaining from animal representations in painting, engraving, sculpture, etc., the innate talent of the artist seeks other outlets and manifests itself with greater vigour in other domains of art, (cf. the pruning down of the superfluous branches of a tree in order to increase its fruits). As regards the social aspect, the horror of Chauvinism, which degenerates into idolatry, and a restraint on animal representation would lead to restraint on idolatry. There are however several exceptions: such as toys of children, decoration of cushions and carpets – both these were expressly tolerated by the Prophet – scientific needs (for teaching anatomy, anthropology, etc.), security needs (of the police, etc., for identification, for search of the absconding criminal), and others of like import, cannot be banned.

483. History has shown that this check on “figurative” art among Muslims has never curbed art in general; on the contrary an astonishing development was achieved in the non-figurative spheres. The Qur’an itself (24:36) recommended grandeur in the construction of mosques. The Prophet’s Mosque at Madinah, the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem, the Sulaimaniyeh Mosque in Istanbul, the Taj- Mahal in Agra (India), the Alhambra Palace at Granada, and other monuments are in no way inferior to the masterpieces of other civilizations, either in architecture or in artistic decoration.

484. Calligraphy as an art is a Muslim speciality. It makes writing a piece of art, in place of pictures; it is employed in painting or mural sculpture, to decorate fine cloth, and other material, excellent specimen of this art, with their powerful way of execution, grace and beauty, are things to see, and impossible to describe.

485. Another art which is peculiar to the Muslims is the recitation of the Qur’an. Not accompanied by instruments of music, and not being even in verse, the Qur’an has been an object of great attention for recitation purposes, since the time of the Prophet. The Arabic language lends to its prose a sweetness and melody hardly to be surpassed by the rhymed verses of other languages. Those who have listened to the master singer, or Qari, reciting the Qur’an or pronouncing several times a day the calls to the prayer, know that these specialities of the Muslims have unequalled charms of their own.

486. Even mundane music and song, under the patronage of kings and other wealthy people, have had their development among Muslims. Theoreticians like al-Farabi, the authors of the Rasa’il Ikhwan as-Safa, Avicenna and others have not only left monumental works on the subject, but have even made appreciable corrections in Greek and Indian music. They have employed signs to denote music, and have described different musical instruments. The choice of appropriate melody for different poems and selection of instrument according to the requirements of the occasion – of joy and of sadness, in the presence of sick men, etc. – have been objects of profound study.

487. As for poetry, the Prophet recognizes: “There are verses of poems which are full of wisdom, and there are discourses of orators which produce a magical effect.” The Qur’an has discouraged immoral poetry. Following this direction, the Prophet surrounded himself by the best poets of the epoch, and showed them the road to follow and the limits to observe, thus distinguishing between the good and the bad use of this great natural talent. The poetic works of Muslims are found in all languages and relate to all times and it would be impossible to describe them here even in the briefest manner. An Arab, even a Bedouin, finds himself always “at home” in his poetry, as if borne out by synonymous terms: Bait means both a tent and a verse of two hemistiches. Misra means not only the flap of a tent, but also a hemistich. Sabab is rope of the tent as well as the prosodical foot. Watad: means a tent peg as well as the syllables of the prosodical foot. Further the names given to the different metres of poems are synonymous with different paces – fast, slow, etc. – of the camel. These are but a few among great many peculiarities of the language.

488. In short in the realm of art, Muslims have made worthy contributions, avoiding its harmful features, developing its aesthetic aspects, and inventing things quite new to it. In this sphere also, their share in development has been considerable. In passing, remarks may be made on two points:

(1) Had the Muslims no culture of theirs – the all-pervading Islamic culture with which the Prophet had inculcated them intensely – they would certainly have been absorbed by the culture of those whom these Muslims had so easily and so swiftly subjugated.

(2) Among the subjects of the extremely extensive Islamic State, there were peoples of all religions: Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Sabians, Brahmans, Buddhists among others, each with its own cultural tradition, even if these did not collaborate with each other, all of them did collaborate with the Muslims, who were their political masters, and each explained its own point of view to the Muslims who were thus obliged not to imitate any of them – since there was even contradictions in the different scientific strains – but to test them all and create a sort of synthesis, to the benefit of science and humanity.

Notes:

1. The actual words are: “Anyhow it is astonishing enough that the entire botanical literature of antiquity furnishes us only two parallels to our book (of Dinawari). How was it that the Muslim people could, during so early a period of its literary life, attain the level of the people of such a genius as the Hellenic one, and even surpassed it in this respect.” (Zeitschrift fuer Assyriologie, Strassburg vols. 24-25, 1910-1911, see Vol. XXV, 44).

by: Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, with additions from my self in brackets.

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem

Glory be to him who made his servant to go on a night from the sacred mosque to the far-distant mosque of which we have blessed the precincts, so that we may show to him some of our signs; surely he is the hearing, the seeing.

In a hadith related by Al-Mu’aafah ibn ‘Imraan, the Messenger of Allah, said, “Verily, in Paradise there is a tree that is called Tooba If a good rider were made to travel in its shade, he would travel in it for one hundred years. Its leaves are green emeralds and its flowers… are yellow. Its courtyard is fine and thick silk. Its fruits are robes. Its secretion is ginger and honey. Its valley is red rubies and green emeralds. Its soil is musk, and its grass is saffron, which exudes fragrance without needing to be ignited. Rivers of Salsabeel gush forth from its source, as well as wine. Its shade is a gathering place from the gathering places of the dwellers of Paradise. They will be acquainted with it, and all of them will talk in it (Underneath it’s shade).

“One day, while they will be talking in its shade, angels, riding superior mounts of rubies, will come to them. Ar-Rooh (a soul) will be blown into those mounts. They will be drawn tight by chains of gold, and their faces (i.e. faces of those mounts) are lamps (lit). Upon them are saddles whose Alwaah (literally, plates) are made of pearls and rubies, which are lobed by pearls and corals, the covers of which are of red gold…The Angles will kneel those mounts down before them and say to them, ‘Verily, your Lord sends peace to you and wishes to visit you, so that He looks at you, and you look at Him; so that you love Him, and He endows you with life (possibly akin to vigor); so that you speak to Him and He increases you in comfort and in His Favors. Verily, He is the Possessor of Vast Mercy and Tremendous Favors.’

Each man from them will go to his mount, and then they will go in one, even ,row…. They will not pass any tree from the trees of Paradise except that it will confer its fruits upon them. Those trees will move out of their way, hating to spoil their row or to divide between a man and his companion. When they will be raised to the All-Mighty, He will reveal to them His Noble Countenance and He will appear to them with the Glory (and Majesty) of the All-Mighty. And they will say, ‘O our Lord, You are As-Salaam (the One Who is free from all defects and deficiencies), and from You is all peace (you are the source of All peace felt in creation). You have the right of all Majesty and Honor.’

Their Lord ‘Azza WaJall (To Him belongs Might and Majesty) will say to them, ‘I am As-Salaam (peace) and from me is all peace, and I have the right of all Majesty and Honor. Welcome to My slaves who preserved My commands, who attended to My right (over them), who feared Me in the unseen (ghayb, of the universe). They would fear Me in every situation.’ They will say, ‘By Your Glory, and the Highness of Your Place, we have not estimated You (perceived your measure) with a true estimation. And we have not fulfilled all of Your rights (due your measure), so give us permission to perform prostration to You.’

Imam al Ghazali said about Ihsan: Simply, Ihsan in the beginning of Islam was referred to as Ihsan or Zuhd which means doing without; a form of purification. Later it became known as Sunni Sufism in which participants have an unconditional discipline of following the Sunni Order (Way of the Prophet). Ihsan is mainly an ethical and spiritual course which respects and follows the scholars of Ihsan as well as the other two parties of scholars namely, the scholars of Iman (Aqeedah) i.e. Imam Ash’ari, Maturidi and the Salaf (first generations of muslims) as well as the scholars of Islamic Jurisprudence (Law) i.e. Imam Shafi’i, Hanball, Malik, and Imam Abu Hanifa.

Ihsan is based on three dimensions: For the sake of self cleansing, one asks Allah for forgiveness repeatedly, over and over again (throughout life). This is followed by the multi repeated remembrance of bearing witness that there is no god except Allah. Thirdly, by the abundant repeating of the praise of Allah, His angels and for the Prophet Muhammad as prescribed in the Qur’an – praise and peace be upon him. (From Foundations of Islamic Belief by Imam al Ghazali)

Allah in the Qur’an refers to those who Follow Islam by three names, these names give us the three levels of People in Islam.

He (Aza wa Jaal) calls People in the Qur’an “Muslim”, this is the first level and the lowest. Then He (Aza wa Jaal) Calls People in the Qur’an “Mu’min” for example Wal Muslimun, Wa Muslimat, Wal Mu’minun Wa Mu’minat (the male and female Muslim, the male and female believer), this is the second level and is higher than the first because He is calling them by the strength of their Iman.

He (Aza wa Jaal) then calls People in the Qur’an “Muhsin” (from the word Ihsan), this is Higher then a Mu’min (from the word Iman) because He is calling them by the perfection of their selfs.

Muhsin is the one who does Ihsan, Allah says “Those who believe and do righteous good deeds, there is no sin on them for what they ate (in the past), if they fear Allah, and believe and do righteous good deeds, and again fear Allah and believe, and once again fear Allah and do good deeds with Ihsan (perfection). And Allah loves the good-doers” (Muhsinnun) (5:93), this is the highest level, the word Muhsin is derived from the word Ihsan and means those who perfect themselves and their acts.

Allah gives us the steps and formula for becoming one of these people in verse 5:93, He says First believe and do Good deeds, then fear Allah, then again Believe and do Good deeds and Again Fear Allah, and once again fear Allah and do good deeds with Ihsan, meaning perfect the deeds you are already doing, then after that Allah will love you.

This is a Tariqa (method or path) outlined in the Quran for achieving Ihsan and becoming one of the Muhsinuun, those who perfect themselves because to fear Allah you have to be aware of him in your life, be able to perceive and know the thing you are to fear because of it’s status or nature.

So when Allah says “fear Allah and once again Fear Allah” He is saying to you be aware of Allah and then again increase that awareness so you come to know Him, or be one of the Arifeen (the knowers as the Quran states) “That is,

Abu Hurairah said that, while the Messenger of Allah was among a group of his companions, he said, “Indeed, when Allah finished creating the heavens and the earth, He created the horn (Trumpet) and gave it to Israafeel. He holds it on his mouth, looking at the ‘Arsh (Throne) with his sight, waiting for when he will be ordered.” Abu Hurairah asked, “O Messenger of Allah, and what is As-Soor?” He said, “A horn.” “And what is it like?” He said, “Huge. And by the One Who has sent me by the truth, the greatness of the circle of his mouth is like the width of the heavens and the earth. He will blow into it three times: the first is the blowing of terror; the second is the blowing of swooning away; and the third is the blowing of resurrection to the Lord of all that exists. Allah will order Israafeel to make the first blowing, saying, ‘Blow the blowing of terror’ The inhabitants of the heavens and the earth will be terrified except for whomsoever Allah pleases. Allah will order him, and then he will extend it and prolong it without getting tired. This blowing is the one about which Allah said:

“And these only wait for a single Siahah (shout (i.e. the blowing of the Trumpet by the angel Israafeel or Sarafeel)) there will be no pause or ending thereto (till everything will perish except Allah)” (38:15)

“The mountains will move like clouds, and they will be (like a) mirage (the bonds of matter weakening in front of our eyes as solid matter wavers and slowly disintegrates). The earth will shake its inhabitants, and it will be like a ship at sea, and the waves are striking it; it will capsize its inhabitants like a lamp suspended from a throne (the earth floating in space as gravity looses it’s effect). It will shake the souls. Lo! It is the one about which Allah said:

“On the Day (when the first blowing of the Trumpet is blown), the earth and the mountains will shake violently (and everybody will die), the second blowing of the Trumpet follows it (and everybody will be raised up), (some) hearts that Day will shake with fear and anxiety.” (79:7-6)

The earth will shake with its inhabitants; every nursing mother will forget her nursling and every pregnant one will drop her load. Children will turn gray-haired, and people will fly (run), fleeing from the terror. The angels will meet them, striking them on their faces, and they will return. Then they turn around, running away. They will have no protector from Allah. Some of them will call the others, and while they are upon that state, the earth will split into two cracks, from one region to another. Then they will see a tremendous matter, never having seen before something similar to it. And for that they will fall into such a state of terror and grief that only Allah has full knowledge thereof. They will look at the sky, and it will be like the boiling filth of oil, (or molten copper or brass, meaning the colors present in space will be awash like different kinds of paint mix in water). Then the sky will be cleft asunder and the stars will be scattered. The sun and its moon will be eclipsed.” The Messenger of Allah said, “The dead will know nothing of that.”

Abu Hurairah said, “As for those whom Allah exempted when He said, ‘and all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth, will be terrified except him whom Allah will (exempt); they are the martyrs. The terror reaches only those who are alive, and the martyrs are alive with their Lord, and they are being given provision. Allah will protect them from the terror of that day, making them safe. It will be a punishment from Allah that he will send upon the worst of the creation. About this terror, Allah said:

“O  mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgment) is a terrible thing. The Day you shall see it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling, and every pregnant one will drop her load, and you shall see mankind as in a drunken state, yet they will not be drunken, but severe will be the Torment of Allah.”

“They will remain in that state of punishment for a period that Allah wills; and it will be prolonged. Then Allah will order Israafeel to blow the blowing of the swooning away. Except for those whom Allah wills, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth will swoon away. And they will be silent (dead, destroyed). The angel of death will go to the All-Mighty and say, ‘O my Lord, other than those whom You exempted, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth are dead.’ He will say, and He is most knowledgeable regarding who remains, ‘And who is left.’ The angel will say, ‘O my Lord, You, the Ever-Living, Who never dies, remains. The bearers of Your throne remain; Jibreel and Mikaaeel (Michael) remain; and I remain.’ Allah says, ‘Let Jibreel and Mikaaeel die.’ Then Allah will make His Throne speak, and it will say, ‘O my Lord, Jibreel and Mikaaeel will die?’ Allah will say, ‘Be quiet, for I have indeed written death upon everyone who is under my Throne.’ And so the two said angels die. Then the Angel of death goes to the All-Mighty ‘Azza Wa-Jall (to Whom belongs Might and Majesty), and says, ‘O my Lord, Jibreel and Mikaaeel have indeed died. I and the bearers of the throne are left.’ Allah will say, ‘Then let the bearers of the throne die,’ and then they will die. And Allah will order the throne, and it will seize the horn from Israafeel. Then the angel of death will go to the All-Mighty and say, “O my Lord, the bearers of Your throne have indeed died.’ He will say, and He is most knowledgeable regarding who remains, ‘Then who is left?’ He will say, ‘O my Lord, You, the Ever-Living, Who never dies remains, and I remain.’ Allah will say, ‘You are one from my creation; I have created you for what you have seen, so die, and he will die.

When no one remains except for Allah, the One, the Irresistible, the single Self-Sufficient Master: He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him. He will be the last just as He was the first. He will fold the heavens and the earth like the folding of the registry for a book. Then he will spread them and then wrap them three times. He will say, ‘I am the All-Mighty  (Al-Jabbaar),’ three times. Then He will call with His voice, ‘Whose is the kingdom this Day?’ He will call out (with this question) three times, and no one will answer Him. He will say to Himself, ‘It is Allah’s, the One, the Irresistible!’ The earth will be changed to another earth and so will be the heavens. Then He will unfold, even out, spread, and then extend it, like the extending of tanned leather… You will see therein nothing crooked or curved. Then Allah will drive out the creation with one driving, and they will be like they were the first time: whoever was inside of it will be inside of it, and whoever was on it will be on it.

[The phrase “in it” is a reference to creatures in physical space like man and animals, if we can imagine the physical stuff in the Universe like planets, rocks, trees is made from matter larger than Atoms, this is what is meant by “in the Universe”. The physical Universe is surrounded by the non physical particles smaller than Atoms, in all directions, so “on it” refers to, on top of physical matter and all the small particles that fly through everything solid, it is what “on it” means, the prophet (saws) was talking about the quantum universe and it’s creatures like the Jinn and Angels which are made from these small particles like photons (light). The term on it may be the translators choice of words, but this is the perspective of the heavens, they look down upon the physical world. It should be understood that the prophet (saws) saw the entire Universe which is what is being described in this narration in a language desert Arabs can understand, and we shouldn’t mistake His words for simple explanations because if we gather all that He said about the Universe, including what is in the Quran this negates any simpleton understanding of His words. It takes a high level intellect to be capable of discussing all the complex topics mentioned in the Quran in simple terms everyone can understand].

Then Allah will send water from underneath the Throne on you. Then Allah will order the sky to give rain, and it will rain for forty days, until the water will be above them by 12 arm-spans. Then Allah will order bodies to grow (underneath the ground), and they will grow like the growing of vegetables (the resurrection of bodies with out souls), until their bodies will be complete, becoming as they were. Allah will say, ‘Let Jibreel and Mikaaeel live,’ and they will come back to life. Then Allah will call the souls. They will be brought, and they will be shining: the souls of the Muslims (believers in Allah) are light; and the (souls of the) others (not destined to Jannah) are dark. He will seize them all and throw them into the horn (Trumpet). Then Allah will order Israafeel to blow the blowing of resurrection, and he will blow the blowing of resurrection. The souls will come out as if they are bees; they will have filled what is between the heavens and the earth. Allah will say, ‘By My Greatness and Majesty, each soul will indeed return to its body. The souls will enter the earth to the bodies, and they will enter into the noses, moving in the body like poison in a poisonous (creature). Then the earth will split (open) for you, and I am the first for whom the earth will split (open). You will come out in a hurry, going quickly to your Lord:

“Hastening towards the caller, the disbelievers will say: “This is a hard Day.” (54:8)

“You will be barefooted, naked, Ghulfan Ghurlan (uncircumcised). Then you will stand in one place of standing for a period of seventy years, and you will not be looked at. Nor will any judgment be passed between you. Then you will cry until your tears are depleted.

Then you will cry blood and you will sweat, until that (sweat) bridles you (i.e., reaches your faces, just as a bridle does for a horse) or it will reach the chins (of some). Then you will shout, saying, ‘Who will intercede for us to our Lord, so that He judges between us?’ They will say, ‘Who is more worthy of that than your father, Adam. Allah created him with His Hand, and He blew into him from His Rooh, and He spoke to him Qublan.’ They will go to Adam and request that from him, but he will refuse… Then they will go to the Prophets, one Prophet at a time. Each time they go to a Prophet, he will refuse them.”

The Messenger of Allah said, “Until you come to me, and I will go until I reach Al-Fahs, where I will fall down, prostrating.” Abu Hurairah said, “O Messenger of Allah, what is Al-Fahs?” He said, “A place before the Throne; until Allah sends an angel to me, who will take me by my upper arm. He will raise me and say to me, ‘O Muhammad.’ I will say (to Allah), ‘Yes, I am answering your call, O my Lord.’ Allah will say, ‘What is your affair?’ – and He is Most Knowledgeable thereof. I will say, ‘O my Lord, You promised me intercession, so allow me to intercede for Your creation – so judge between them.’ He ‘will say, ‘I have granted you intercession. I am coming to you all and I will judge among you.”‘

The Messenger of Allah said, “I will then return and stand with the people. As we are standing, we will hear a powerful sound from the sky. The inhabitants of the heaven and of the earth will descend, (in number) like those who are on earth from jinn and mankind. When they come near to the earth, the earth will shine with their light. And they will take their places in rows. We will say to them, ‘Is our Lord among you.’ They will say, ‘No, He is coming.’…Until the All- Mighty – Blessed is He, The Exalted – will come in the shadows of the clouds and the angels (Allah will allow a direction to be perceived on that day, their is no risk as this time of confusing His nature with created things and the judgment would have begun). At that time, eight will carry His Throne; and today they are four… Then Allah will call out with His voice, saying, ‘O group of jinn and mankind; indeed, I have listened to you from the day you were created until this day of yours: I have listened to your speech and seen your deeds, so listen to Me. Verily, it is only your deeds and your scrolls that are read out to you.

Whosoever finds goodness then let him praise Allah. And whosoever finds otherwise, then let him blame no one except himself. Then Allah will order the Hellfire, and a manifest dark neck will come out from it. Then He will say:

And O you Al-Mujrimoon (criminals, polytheists, sinners, disbelievers in the Islam, wicked evil ones, etc.)! Get you apart this day (from the believers)” (36:59)

“Did I not ordain for you, O Children of Adam, that you should not worship Shaitan (Satan). Verily, he is a plain enemy to you. And that you should worship Me (Alone, and set up not rivals, associate-gods with Me). That is a Straight Path and indeed he (Satan) did lead astray a great multitude of you. Did you not, then, understand? This is Hell which you were promised! Burn therein this Day, for that you used to disbelieve.”(36:60-64)

“Allah will separate the people, making each group distinct. He we will call the nations, calling each nation to its Book. And the nations will be kneeling from the terror (of the situation). Allah said:

“And you will see each nation humbled to their knees (kneeling), each nation will be called to its Record (of deeds). This Day you shall be recompensed for what you used to do.” (45:28)

“Then Allah will rule between the creation except for Ath-Thaqalain: mankind and jinn. Allah will rule between wild beasts and animals, to the degree that the hornless animal will exact retribution from the horned one (that attacked it).

When Allah finishes that, and there remains no liability upon anyone else (from other than jinn and mankind), Allah will say to them (to beasts and animals): ‘Be you all dust.’ At that juncture, the disbeliever will say, ‘Would that I were dust.’ Then Allah will rule between (His) slaves, and the first matter that will be ruled upon will be (issues of) blood (these are examples of what will occur, not the sum of everything that will occur). Everyone who was killed in the way of Allah will come, and Allah will command the one who killed (justly), and he will carry his head (i.e. the head of the one who was killed); (blood) will be coming out from its veins. He will say, ‘My Lord, for what did this one kill me?’ Allah will say, and He knows best, ‘For what did you kill him?’ He will say, ‘O my Lord, I killed him so that the Glory be Yours.’ Allah will say, ‘You have spoken the truth.’ Then Allah will make his face become like the light of the heavens, and then the angels will precede him to Paradise. Then all will be brought who were killed for other reasons.

He will command the one who killed (unjustly), and he will carry his head (i.e. the head of the one who was killed), the veins of which will spill blood. He (the one who was killed) will say, ‘O my Lord, for what did this one kill me?’ Allah will say, and He knows best, ‘For what did you kill him?’ He will say, ‘O my Lord, I killed him so that the glory be mine.’ Allah will say, ‘You have become wretched (or destroyed; or: be wretched).’

There will remain no soul that was killed by a killer except that it will be killed for, nor will any transgression remain that one person wronged another with, except that Allah will take it for the wronged from the transgressor, to the degree that one who mixed milk with water (to fool people he was selling it to) will be called upon to purify the milk from the water. When Allah finishes that, then a caller will call out, and all of the creation will hear him. He will say, ‘Let every people go to their gods and those that they worshipped instead of Allah.

Anyone that was worshipped other than Allah will be given a shape before him: at that time an angel from the angels will be made to take the appearance of ‘Uzair; and another angel will be made to take the appearance of ‘Eesa (Jesus). The former will be followed by the Jews, and the latter will be followed by the Christians. Then all of their (false) gods will steer them to the Fire.

About this, Allah said: “Had these (idols, etc.) been aliha (real gods), they would not have entered there (Hell), and all of them will abide therein.” (21:99)

When only the believers remain, the hypocrites will remain among them. Allah will come to them upon whatsoever form He pleases. He will say, ‘O people, the people have gone, so catch up to your gods and to whatever you worshipped’ They will say, ‘By Allah, we have no one save Allah: we would not worship anyone save Him.’ Then he will leave them — and He is Allah — and they remain for what period Allah wills for them to remain.

Then He will come (again) to them and say (in a kind of test), ‘O people, the people have gone, so catch up with your gods and with those you used to worship’ They will say, ‘By Allah, we have no one save Allah, and we would not worship anyone save Him.’ He will reveal His Shin (man’s body is used as a simile for the extent of how much they will know of Allah, the shin is meant in relation to whole body) to them, and such of His Greatness will become plain to them that they will know that He is their Lord.

They will fall down, prostrating on their faces. Every hypocrite will fall on the back of his neck, and Allah will make their spinal columns become like the horns of cows (i.e., they will not be able to bend except according to their deeds, another hadith explains this further, the hypocrites will be stiff not able to move). Then Allah will give permission to them, and they will raise their heads. And Allah will place the Siraat (bridge) over (to) Paradise, like a strap of (thin) hair or a knot of hair or like the blade of a sword.

Upon it will be hooks and grapples and hard thorns of steel like the thorns of Sa’daan (a kind of thorny plant). Before it (hell) is a bridge (Siraat) that is slick and slippery. They will pass over it (according to their light, which is measured by their Ihsan, perfection) like the blinking of an eye, (then others) like the flash of lightning, (then others) like the passing of wind, like racing horses, like other racing animals, or like racing men. Some will go by safely, some will be safe but scratched (by the hooks), and some will be pushed onto their faces (falling) into the Hellfire.

When the people of Paradise will reach Paradise, they will say, ‘Who will intercede for us to our Lord, so that He will make us enter Paradise?’ (this is the second intercession of the prophets (as) on this day).

They will say, ‘Who is more worthy of that than your father, Adam? Indeed Allah created him with His Hand and blew into him from His Rooh, and spoke to him Qublan (directly).’ They will go to Adam and request that from him. He will mention a fault and say, ‘I am not the one for that, but go to Nooh, for he is the first of His Messengers to His creation.’ They will go to Nooh and request that from him, but he will mention something and say, ‘I am not the one for that, but you should go to Moosa.’ They will make that request to him, but he will mention a fault and say, ‘I am not the one for that, but you should go to Roohullah and His Word, ‘Eesa Ibn Maryam.’ They will request that from him, but he will say, ‘I am not the one for that, but you should go to Muhammad.”‘

The Messenger of Allah, said, “Then they will come to me, and for me are three intercessions that my Lord promised. Then I will go to Paradise and take the ring of the door. Next, I will ask for it to be opened, and it will be opened for me. I will be greeted and welcomed. When I enter Paradise, I will look at my Lord ‘Azza Wa-Jall (to Whom belongs Might and Majesty), and I will fall down to Him, prostrating. Allah will inform me of something from His praise and glorification that He never before informed anyone from His creation. Then Allah will say to me, ‘Raise your head, O Muhammad, and intercede, for you will be granted intercession. And ask, for you will be given.’ When I will raise my head, Allah will say, and He knows best, ‘What is your affair?’ I will say, ‘O my Lord, you promised me intercession, so grant it to me for the inhabitants of Paradise, so that they enter Paradise. Allah ‘Azza (to Whom belongs Might and Majesty) will say, ‘I have granted you intercession, and I have given permission for them to enter Paradise.

The Messenger of Allah used to say, “By the One Who has sent me by the Truth, you do not recognize your wives and abodes in this world as well as the inhabitants of Paradise will recognize their wives and abodes.”

“Each man from them will enter upon 72 wives as Allah created them (i.e. Allah created them for the dwellers of Paradise; they are not from the women who lived in the world), and two will be Adamiyyatain (two from the children of Adam). Because of their worship of Allah in the world, they (the women of this earth) will have the favor of whomsoever Allah pleases.

He (the dweller of Paradise) will enter upon one of the two in a room made of sapphire (or ruby), upon a bed made of gold, wreathed in pearls. He will have 70 levels of fine and thick silk. He will place his hand between her shoulders and then look from her chest to what is behind her garment in terms of skin and flesh. And he will indeed look at the flesh of her shin…His liver will be as a mirror to her and her liver will be as a mirror to him (an Arab expression about the closeness of their nature).

While he is with her — he does not tire of her nor does she tire of him — it will be called out, ‘We indeed know that you do not tire and that she does not tire, but you have wives other than her.’ Then he will go out, going to them one by one. Every time he goes to one, she will say, ‘By Allah, there is none in Paradise who is better than you, and there is none in Paradise who is more beloved to me than you.'”

He said, “And when the people of the Hellfire fall into the Hellfire, some among your Lord’s creation will fall into it — their deeds will have destroyed them. As for some of them, (the fire) will take them until their feet, not going beyond that from them; others will take until the loins; and yet others it will take their entire body, except for the face…” The Messenger of Allah said, “I will say, ‘O my Lord, grant me intercession for those from my Nation who entered into the Hellfire.’ Allah ‘Azza Wa-Jall (to Whom belongs Might and Majesty) will say, ‘Take out those you know,’ and they will come out, until not a single one from them remains.

Then Allah will give me permission to intercede. There will remain no Prophet or martyr except that he intercedes. Then Allah will say, ‘Take out the one in whose heart you find Eemaan (actual faith) equal to the weight of a Deenaar.’ Those will come out, until not a single one from them remains. Then intercession will be sought from Allah, and He will say, ‘Take out the one in whose heart you find Eemaan equal to two-thirds of a dinar.’ Then He will say, ‘One-third.’ Then He will say, ‘A Qeeraat.’ Then He will say, ‘A mustard seed’ They will come out until there remains not a single one from them, and until there remains no one in the Hellfire who ever did even a single deed for Allah, and until there remains no one who is granted intercession except after his intercession is granted.

Even Iblees (Satan) will stand tall from what he sees of Allah’s mercy, hoping that he will be interceded for. Then Allah will say, ‘I remain, and I am the Most Merciful of the merciful ones. He will enter His Hand (a simile) into the Hellfire and take out an amount that none can enumerate except He, as if they are grain. Allah will spread them on a river that is called the River of the Animals. And they will grow…from beside a green sun and a shade that has yellowness to it. They will grow until they become the likes of pearls. Written on their necks is Al-Jahannamiyyoon (the people of Hellfire) the ones freed by the Most Merciful ‘Azza Wa-Jail (to Whom belongs Might and Majesty).

The People of Paradise will know them by that writing. They never did any good for Allah, and they will remain in Paradise.” (End of the Narration)

Imam Ibn Katheer narrated it up to here from the text of Abu Bakr Arabee from Abu Ya’laa (may Allah have mercy on him), and it is a famous Hadeeth. Many groups from the Imams related it in their books; like At- Tabaraanee in AI-Mutawwilaat; Al-Haafiz Al-Baihaqee, in Al-Ba’ath Wan-Nushoor; Al-Haafiz Abu Moosa Al-Madeenee, in Al- Mutawwilaat.

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The word Sufism is an english word with arabic roots, in Arabic the science is called Tasawwuf, and the act you perform is called Tazkiyah an Nafs, Purifying your self of evil and bad while promoting good qualities, and what you try to achieve by it is Ihsan, Human Perfection.

Tasawwuf can be established with Three verses of the Qur’an and a Hadith:

1) In Surah al Shams (91:1-9) Allah takes an oath in the Qur’an like no other and swears by the act of Tasawwuf, Allah says “Qad Aflaha man Zakaha” the word Zakaha means Tazkiya an nafs, in english the sentence reads “He Who Purifies it (his self) succeeds”. This verse is talking about getting rid of your bad qualities, Tazkiya an Nafs, and the one who does it will be granted Jannah (heaven).

2) In Surah Abbasa (80:3) a blind man comes to the Prophet (saws) seeking to learn about Islam and the Prophet (saws) frowns upon His untimely question because He is busy in a meeting with the leaders of Quraish, Allah responds to the prophet (saws) by saying, “Wama yudrika La-alahu Yazaka” the word Yazaka also means Tazkiyah an Nafs, in english the verse reads, “Yet for all thou didst know,

To say that the Scholars did not develop a science around everything Allah and his messenger (saws) mentioned of Ihsan, Human perfection, just as they did with Islam and Iman, is to accuse them of kufr in the ayat (verses) of Allah and to say they have done nothing over the past 1400 years with the knowledge Allah gave them.

A ridiculous accusation as the Scholar’s where meticulous in their research and sifting through what the Quran and Sunnah mentioned, there is no other science in the history of Islam which deals with the topic of Ihsan except Tasawwuf (sufism).

This is very clear from our history, in Fiqh we have four madhhabs the Hanafi, Shafii, Maliki and Hanbali, in Aqeedah we have similar schools al Tahawi, Maturidi and Ahsari, and in Tassawwuf we also have Madhhabs (schools) the Naqshbandi, Shadhili, Rifai and Qadiri, other principal schools are the Ashrafiyya, Badawiyya, Bektashiyya, Chishtiyya, Darqawiyya, Dasuqiyya, Firdawsiyya, Khalwatiyya, Kubrawiyya, Mawlawiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Tijaniyya, and Yasawiyya, all named after a scholar from the region they were founded in.

“Although the practices, appearances and internal structures of different orders may vary from one to another, from region to region, there are no fundamental differences between the tariqas, since the ultimate goal is essentially the same. The variations have nothing to do with religious principles, the Sufi orders are essentially the same, just as the differences in schools of law refer to methods and not the essence of religion”.

Each one of the schools dealt with one of the sciences of the religion, mentioned in the hadith of Jibril, this is how our Ullumah treated the Knowledge Allah entrusted them to know and discover from what they learnt about the universe and our world, this is their legacy and our heritage from the past 1400 years.

The Ottoman Khalifah for example was officially Maturidi in it’s Aqeedah, the Ottoman Khalif Muhamad al Fatah who first conquered Constantinople by Consensus was Hanafi in Fiqh (law), Maturidi in Aqeedah (creed) and Naqshbandi in Tasawwuf (Ihsan).

To fight all the Finah (strife and troubles) being caused in the world today we have to know Ilm al Nafs (the science of the self) so we won’t become corrupted, because it is through these same sciences of the self that these fitnah’s (strife and troubles) are being caused, man self has been studied by the corporations and manipulated against him so they can profit from his weakness’s.

The Scholars throughout History understood this and acted accordingly, it was for example only after Salah al Deen Ayoubi, who conquered Jerusalem from the crusaders, repented from his old life and began practicing Tasawwuf did he see a need to fight for that city.

Imam al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110 AH) was  a Wali (friend) of Allah and one of the early people who practiced Tasawwuf and developed the science. He (ra) was the son of a freedwoman of Umm Salama’s (the Prophet’s wife) and a freedman of Zayd ibn Thabit’s (the Prophet’s stepson), this great Imam of Basra (Iraq),was known for his strict and encompassing embodiment of the Sunna of the Prophet. He was also famous for his immense knowledge, his austerity and asceticism. Ibn al-Jawzi wrote a 100-page book on his life and manners entitled Adab al-Shaykh al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Basri.

The hadith master Abu Nu`aym al-Isfanahi (d. 430 AH) mentions in his biographies of companions, tabiin, saints and sufis entitled Hilyat al-awliya’ (The adornment of the saints) that it is al-Hasan’s student `Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd (d. 177) who was the first person to build a Sufi khaniqa or guest-house and school at Abadan on the present-day border of Iran with Iraq (Abu Nu`aym, Hilyat al-awliya’ 6:155).

Imam Abu Hanifa (d.150 AH) who founded the Hanafi madhhab said “If it were not for two years, I would have perished.” He said, “for two years I accompanied Sayyidina Ja’far as-Sadiq (a great grandson of Imam Ali) and I acquired the spiritual knowledge that made me a gnostic in the Way” (Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, vol 1. p. 43).

Imam Jaffar like Abu Bakr was called al Siddiq, He was a Major Imam of Ahl al Bayt, a descendant of Rasul Allah (saws) his lineage to the prophet (saws) goes back through his father Sayidina Muhammad al-Baqir (r.a), ibn (son of) Zayn al-Abdin (r.a), ibn Husayn (r.a) ibn Imam Ali (r.a).

Sufyan al-Thawri (d. 161 AH) was a Mujtahid Imam, “Commander of the Believers in Hadith” – He achieved the highest level in hadith Mastership from the first days of Islam, he also earned the qualifications (titles) of Shaykh al-Islam, the Imam of hadith Masters, and the leader of all the practicing Ulema in his time (al-Dhahabi). His father was a junior Tabi‘i (one of the early generations of muslims) Muhaddith and he thus began his scholarly career at home.

Abu Nu`aym in his Hilyat al-awliya’, states that Sufyan al-Thawri said: If it were not for Abu Hashim al-Sufi (d. 115 AH) I would have never perceived the presence of the subtlest forms of hypocrisy in the self… Among the best of people is the Sufi learned in jurisprudence (law).

Abu Hashim al-Zahid (the sufi) said: “Allah has stamped alienation upon the world in order that the friendly company of the muridin (seekers) consist solely in being with Him and not with the world, and in order that those who obey Him come to Him by means of avoiding the world. The People of Knowledge of Allah (ahl al-ma`rifa billah) are strangers in the world and long for the hereafter.”(Abu Nu`aym, Hilyat al-awliya)

Imam Malik who founded the Maliki Madhab said:

و من تصوف و لم يتفقه فقد تزندق من تفقه و لم يتصوف فقد تفسق و من جمع بينهما فقد تخقق

“He who practices Tasawwuf without learning Sacred Law (Fiqh) corrupts his faith, while he who learns Sacred Law (Fiqh) without practicing Tasawwuf corrupts himself. Only he who combines the two proves true.” (‘Ali al-Adawi , vol. 2, p 195.)

This is because trying to fix the self through Tassawwuf with out knowing the Law will distort the mind as it reflects upon itself, while practicing Law without knowing Tassawwuf will harden the heart until it’s rigid and stiff incapable of accepting anything outside it’s now narrow point of view.

Being able to accept and understand what is occurring around us and to us is the essence of what Islam is trying to achieve, Allah for instance will say to the people of Jannah (Heaven) just before they enter it, which is the moment they are about to experience the perfected life of Allah for the first time, “O soul made peaceful, return to your Lord, accepted and accepting” (89:28), because Allah is always revealing more of himself to creation a dead heart will be cut of from that place because they are not fit for it.

Imam Shafi’i (d.204) who founded the Shafii Madhhab said “I accompanied the Sufis for ten years and benefited from them two sayings

“In previous centuries, students would come from their villages or neighborhoods to scholars, who would have them memorize a matn or short basic text of fiqh, then teach the students what the condensed and often technical language of the particular rulings implies, along with the conditions for applying them, their evidential basis from Qur’an and Hadith, and so forth. In this way, students returning to their native places were able to give reliable answers based on qualified scholarship to most of the questions in sacred Law they encountered (since the short text they memorised, mostly in point form, were comprehensive in what they covered), and then go on to explain the details of them that they had learned from their scholars.”

With such educational interests in view, the first priority of a matn’s author was often to state the content as briefly as possible to facilitate memorizing. Imam Nanwai’s book al Maqasid, simply entitled “The Objectives” (of Religion) is such a text (an english translation is available), we find in it for example that Imam Nawawi has summarized the law for prayer (salat) in a few brief lists of integrals, it’s conditions, and sunna’s, all in point form to enable students who learn them to answer a wide range of questions on whether a particular prayer is valid.

In his book al Maqasid, Imam al Nawawi, who was one of the Main Scholars the Shafii Madhhab, outlines the objectives of the Islamic science of Tasawwuf (sufism) and it’s Principles, clarifying its aim and intent in the following manner.

The Rules of Tassawwuf:

The basic rules of the way of tasawwuf are five (1) having god fearingness (Taqwa) privately and publicly, (2) living according to the sunna in word and deed, (3) indifference to whether others accept or reject one, (4) satisfaction with Allah most High in (times of) scarcity and plenty, and (5) turning to Allah in happiness or affliction.

Acquiring these five qualities are the foundation to what the prophet defined as Ihsan, the ability to “worship Allah as if you see him”, which can’t occur if we don’t know how to be aware of him in our selves.

Imam Nawawi continues, (1) God fearingness (Taqwa) is attained by scrupulousness and uprightness; (2) Following the sunnah is attained through caution and good character; (3) indifference to others acceptance or rejection is attained through patience and trust in Allah; (4) Satisfaction with Allah is attained through contentment with what one has and submission to the will of Allah; (5) Turning to Allah most High is attained by gratitude to Him in Happiness and taking refuge in Him in affliction.

The foundation of these consist of five things:

(1) high aspiration (2) Keeping Allah’s reverence, (3) giving the best of service, (4) keeping one’s spiritual resolves, and (5) esteeming Allah’s blessings.

(1) whoever’s aspiration is high, his rank rises; (2) Whoever revers Allah, Allah maintains his respect; (3) Whoever’s service is godly is necessarily shown generosity; (4) Whoever keeps his spiritual resolves continues to have guidance; (5) whoever esteems Allah’s blessings will be grateful for them, and whoever is grateful for them will necessarily see them increased.

The Signs of Tasawwuf’s Principles Showing On A Person Through Practice Are Also Five;

(1) seeking Sacred Knowledge in order to perform Allah’s command; (2) keeping the company of sheikhs and fellow disciples in order to see with insight; (3) forgoing both dispensations from religious obligations and figurative interpretations of scripture, for the sake of cautiousness; (4) organizing ones time with spiritual works to maintain presence of heart; and (5) suspecting the self in all matters, in order to free oneself from caprice and be safe from destruction.

(1) Seeking Sacred Knowledge is vitiated (spoilt or impaired) by keeping the company of juveniles (imature people), whether in age, mentality, or religion, who do not refer for guidance to a firm principle or rule; (2) Keeping the company of sheikhs and disciples is vitiated by self-deception and concern with the unimportant; (3) Leaving dispensations and figurative interpretations is vitiated by leniency toward the self; (4) Organizing one’s time with spiritual works is vitiated by looking for more and more supererogatory worship; (5) Suspecting the self is vitiated by satisfaction at its goodliness and uprightness.

The Principles Of Curing The Ego Are Five;

The principles of curing the ego are also five: (1) lightening the stomach by diminishing one’s food and drink; (2) taking refuge in Allah Most High from the unforeseen when it befalls; (3) shunning situations involving what one fears to fall victim to; (4) continually asking Allah’s forgiveness (istighfar) and His blessings upon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) night and day with full presence of mind; and (5) keeping the company of him who guides one to Allah.

Reaching Allah

(Reaching Allah is a descriptive expression of the state of knowing Allah, which encapsulates the acts one does to attain it.)

One reaches Allah Most High by (1) repenting from all things unlawful or offensive; (2) seeking Sacred Knowledge in the amount needed; (3) continually keeping on ritual purity; (4) performing the prescribed prayers at the first of their times in a group prayer (and praying the confirmed sunnas associated with them); (5) always performing eight rak’as of the nonobligatory midmorning prayer (al-duha), the six rak’as between the sunset (maghrib) and nightfall (‘isha) prayers, the night vigil prayer (tahajjud) after having risen from sleeping, and the witr prayer (n: an odd-number of rak’as as one’s last prayer before dawn); (6) fasting Mondays and Thursdays, and the “full moon

From the Hadith of Jibril (r.a) the scholars understood Islam Has four main categories which all other areas of knowledge come under, they are Islam, Iman, Ihsan and The Signs of the Hour.

From what rasul allah (saws) mentioned of Islam we know that the laws for the Shahada, Prayer, Zakat, Fasting Ramadan, and performing the Hajj, each of them comes under the topic of Islam, the legal sciences of Fiqh (Law) and it’s codification into the legal system, Shariah, are all under this subject.

If we where to simplify the explanation of how the Legal Schools can be traced back to the prophet (saws), we can say Imam Ali and the companions who lived in Iraq where Hanafi in Law since that schools rolling revolve around their opinions, the companions who lived in Madina are Maliki, and the Shafii and Hanbali madhhabs (legal schools) are a mix of both the companions of Madina and Iraq.

This is all referring to the opinions that the founders of Islam’s four legal schools, Imam Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shaffi and Ahmad followed. The Imam’s looked into the opinions of the companions that lived in their area, and derived the methods by which these companions came up with their rulings and from all that the science of Usul al Fiqh, principles of jurisprudence, was born which every legal system on earth today relies on, the four legal schools agree on about 75% of these principles (Usul) and have differences on about 25%.

As Jibril (as) defined the Deen into four areas of knowledge, the scholars went through these four areas of knowledge in Islam and codified (to put laws or rules together as a code or system) the knowledge in them and developed sciences around studying them, like the modern sciences related to history or language, in order to preserve and study our Deen with accuracy and reliability for many later generations.

Under the topic of Iman (faith) came the laws and science behind affirming Allah’s existence, His angels, His books, His messengers, the existence of the Last Day, and the Decree of Allah, the good of it and the bad of it, which the Islamic science of Aqeedah (Creed) deals with, the two main schools of Aqeedah that were dedicated to the spread of this science are the Maturidi and Ash’ari schools, named after the respective scholars who founded them. These are the schools the wider muslim community agreed upon and spread around the Muslim world.

Most muslims know of these categories of knowledge along with the Signs of the Hour (ilm Alamat al Sa’ah) which the Mufasireen, those who wrote commentary on the Quran and Sunnah dealt with, but hardly any in the western and modern world know about the knowledge that comes under the last Islamic Science mentioned in the hadith of Jibril, that of Ihsan or human perfection.

The Deen (religion) today is only learnt from the Fuqaha (Lawyers) who are only knowledgable and qualified in Fiqh (law) and Aqeedah (creed) but not Ihsan (human perfection), so they can’t teach what they don’t know despite the fact this is the ultimate aim of Allah for mankind which He mentioned in the Quran, hence today they can’t fulfil what Allah wants.

While Islam in the hadith comes under the science of Fiqh (Law) and it’s four Madhhabs (legal schools), and Iman (faith) comes under the science of Aqeedah and it’s Madhabs (schools), Ihsan in Islam’s History came under the science of Tassawwuf, sufism.

Just as schools were created to study the other areas of knowledge, likewise schools were created to study this area of knowledge as well, the main schools dedicated to this science throughout Islam’s history were the Qadiri, Naqshbandi and Rifai, there are also many more that we can mention which developed in different parts of the Islamic world, because each person is different and each nations has it’s own identity, it is only natural that a science dealing with human character and reforming should have many different schools around the world.

Typically a scholar in Islam could be Hanafi in his Fiqh (law), Ash’ari in his Aqeedah (creed) and Rifai in his Tassawwuf (Ihsan), since they all dealt with a different area of knowledge in Islam.

Being able to quote many facts about religion is not the same as understanding it, and how it all fits together, this is like being able to quote a lot of facts about the Fiqh of wudu (ablution) and salat (prayer) but not being able to give a tafsir (explanation) of verses in the Qur’an. A fiqh (Law) manual contains a list of facts about wudu, salat, zakat, fasting and hajj while a tafsir (exegesis) contains the understanding of the Qur’an, and Allah doesn’t give understanding of the religion to every person,

  يُؤْتِي الْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَاءُ وَمَن يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّا أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

“He granteth wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding” (2:269).

So there are many Lawyers today but not many Mufasirs, people capable of explaining the religion. Under the Khalifah of Islam and through out history, Ihsan (Tasawwuf) in our academic institutions was taught alongside Fiqh (law) and Aqeedah (creed) because Allah mentions in the Qur’an that Ihsan is the mission (aim) of Rasul Allah (saws), it is the reason why He was sent, and the four reasons Allah gave for sending in the verse all aim to achieve this for man.

Imam an Nawawi wrote in his Sharh Sahih Muslim, “As far as Fiqh and Hikma (wisdom) are concerned, the former (fiqh) means to have a deep understanding of religion, whilst the latter (hikma) refers to having conscious acknowledgment of Allah Most High (ma’rifa), coupled with self-reformation, good character and abstaining from following one’s desires and falsehood (this is Tazkiya).”(Nawawi, al-Minhaj Sharh Sahih Muslim, Pg: 158-159)

The prophet (saws) said Ihsan is ‘That you worship Allah as if you see Him, for if you don’t see Him then truly He sees you.’

Tasawwuf or Tazkiya an Nafs (91:9) is mentioned in many places in the Quran, Imam Tustari said regarding verse