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

“Allah is the One who holds the heavens and the Earth (the universe), lest they cease to exist. And if they vanished no one could then keep hold of them. Certainly He is Most Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving.”(35:41)

Ibn Umar reported that the Prophet said, ‘Whoever wishes to behold the Resurrection (the end of the universe) as if he were seeing it with his own eyes should read: “When the sun is folded away”

Allah said: When Adam made an error, he asked: O Allah! I ask you for the sake of Muhammad to forgive me. Allah said: O Adam! How do you recognize Muhammad when I have not yet created him? Adam said: O Allah! When you created me and blew into me the spirit, I lifted my head and saw written on the Arsh (throne) ‘La ilaaha illallah Muhammadur rasoolullah’. So, I got to know that you would only join your name with him who is most beloved to you. Allah said: O Adam! You have spoken the truth. Indeed Muhammad is more beloved to me than anything and when you asked me for his sake, I pardoned you. If Muhammad was not in existence, I would not have created you” (Hakim in Mustadrik, Baihaqi in Dalail an-Nubuwah, Tabrani in Kabeer)

Abdullah ibn Abbas (r.a) said that: “Allah revealed to Prophet ‘Isa ‘(as) that: O ‘Isa! Have Iman in Muhammad and order your ummah to do the same. If Muhammad was not in existence, I would not have created Adam nor would I have made heaven or hell”. (Hakim in Mustadrik and Abu as-Shaykh in Tabqat al-Isfahani’in)

Salman al-Farsi (r.a) said that: “Jibra’il came to Rasoolallah (saws) and said that Allah says: I have not created anyone who is more honoured to me than you. I have created the world and all that is therein so that they may know the rank that you possess. I would not have created the world if I had not created you”.(Ibn Asakir)

Ibn Hajar ‘Asqalani says: “These reports say that if Muhammad (saws) were not created then Allah would not have made the skies nor the Earth, neither heaven nor hell, neither the sun nor the moon”.

This is because Allah was referring to the depth all His creatures would achieve in knowing Him, and the Prophet Muhammad (saws) surpassed any other creation in that, among all His creatures Mankind surpassed Allah’s other creations, this is mankind’s place with Allah because they fulfilled the reason for Allah creating everything, which is to know Him.

Allah created Death and life to see which of us is best in Deed (surah al Mulk), Heaven and Hell are a reward or punishment for those who Follow and pick up this burden, and those who ignore it and become evil. If neither existed then our actions would not have worth and real consequences, both heaven and hell serve as a balance in creation being the two most opposite places with Allah representing His best rewards and His most sever punishment.

If they didn’t exist no creature would have been deserving of his reward, which means that no creature would have achieved the same depths in knowing Allah to deserve its creation in the first place, everything is in Allah’s foreknowledge and it was all created for the sake of mankind so they could achieve knowing Allah.

Because Allah mentioned both Heaven and Hell in relation to why creation was created, Allah was saying He would not have otherwise created a system in the universe that promoted knowing Him to the same Depths, because Allah says “man can not have anything but what he strives for” (53:39) or earns in other words.

If we keep in mind what Imam al Ghazali said we would understand that in the following Hadith, Allah wanted the companions and mankind after them to understand that creation worshiped him by obeying his Laws, which is why it was made to speak in front of the companions.

Abdullaah ibn Mas‘ood, may Allaah be pleased with him, said,”We were with the Messenger of Allaah, (saws), on a journey, and we ran short of water. He said: ‘Bring the remaining water with you.’People brought a utensil containing a little water. He dipped his hand in it and said:’Come to the blessed water – and the Blessing is from Allaah!’ I saw the water flowing from among the fingers of the Messenger (saws) and we certainly heard the food glorifying Allaah when it was being eaten

Through the Qur’an Allah revealed many things which we take for granted today, it was the work of Muslim Scholars over the past 1400 years that allowed us to arrive at the age we are in now.

In each Era as man advanced in understanding, more of the Qur’an opened up to Him, this is not an exception in our time where we are capable of understanding what Allah meant by verses like the Heavens being smoke (a simile) at the beginning of time, when He ordered them to come together or solidify, it is almost a vision of how the fine quantum particles of the Universe became the Solid matter we see in creation today, such as the Planets.

“And He

One of the most influential figures on the founding fathers of America was John Locke (d.1704), he was a philosopher and physician, regarded by the west as one of the most influential thinkers in western history and known as the “Father of Classical Liberalism”.

He helped western civilization come out of the Dark Ages it was still in, Europe had to move away from the rule of the totalitarian Church that rejected science and advancement in order to preserve it’s power over the world, and this was achieved by relying on the works and intellectual thought of various figures through western history, John Locke was one such figure.

In John Locke’s Biography, to the intellectual origins of American society the most influential individual on Locke’s life was Edward Pococke, he was the teacher at Oxford for Arabic and Islamic studies.

At the end of the Dark Ages Europe was in, the very first edict of toleration occurs in the 17th century in Budapest, it was done by a transelvanian unitarian ruler (a christian who did not believe in the trinity), he was directly under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire and paid the Jizya tax for protection from other European nations at a time when they still conquered each other. Essentially he called for the very same policies the Ottomans where using in their states, and he was the first ruler to freely allow protestants to come into his land when they where being persecuted through out Europe, this later became a model to be emulated.

The Ottoman muslims offered refuge to protestants who where being persecuted under catholic rule, they also offered refuge to the jews in sarajevo and those who fled Spain from the inquisition and went to Morocco. Historically Jews where treated very well in Muslim lands and reached many positions of influence, for example Rabbi Musa Bin Maimun (Maimonides) who was considered one of the greatest Rabbi’s in Jewish history was the personal Physician of Salah al Deen Ayubi (Saladin in the west) who defeated the crusaders and won back Jerusalem from Richard the king of England.

John Locke and Isaac Newton were both Unitarians or Socinians, and were influenced by Muslim philosophical thought, they in turn were among the great influences on the Founding Fathers of America, like Thomas Jefferson.

Much of what is found in the American constitution is borrowed from Islamic philosophical thought, this can be established by John Locke’s influence upon them. As John Locke was Arian, Socinian and what is termed today as Unitarian, he was not only directly influenced by muslim scholars he was accused of being a muslim in his time.

John Locke and Isaac Newton (1642-1727) where friends and graduates from Oxford University, and like Locke Newton was also Unitarian and was accused of being a muslim in his time.

Both Locke and Newton taught at Oxford university, when they where teaching they hid there positions on many issues because of the persecution that others suffered before them. Both had a friendship with Henry Stubbe (1632-1676) who as a result of apposing the monarchy and rule of the Church, along with the establishment, studied christian theology only to later revolt against it and their position on how they imposed authority on people, it was after he challenged them that he began studying Islam, which unlike Europe had a diverse community of people peacefully living alongside each other within it’s borders so he wanted to see how this could come about in Europe.

During that time studying Islam, reading and having a copy of the Quran was a crime, hence they hid where they were taking all of there information from and what the sources where, they wrote books on the prophet Muhammad (saws), about the myth that Islam was spread by the sword, and how Islamic theology was the original and correct monotheistic theology, relied upon by earlier Christian Saints like Saint Augustine and other influential Christian Theologians, ‘it had come to purify the corruption that was caused by the Church and the Christians from the third century onwards’.

This corruption occurred when the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine (d 337AD), adopted Christianity as the state religion, He then decided through the council of Nicaea in 325AD, what the nature of the “Son of God” was, this question itself was only relevant to the Romans because in their pagan religion they already worship a trinity so the duplicate question was posed to the Romans who were now forced to read a bible they had no cultural connection to and had been persecuting for 300 years.

The label “son of god” was used to prove their argument, but itself was a Jewish term for the prophet’s of Allah, existing for thousands of years before hand, and was never exclusive to Jesus (ra).

The pagan outcome of this council then shouldn’t be surprising considering that none of the earlier religions of Allah, had claimed this Roman trinity which already existed among them. The religion of Abraham was entirely monotheistic right back to the first days of Man. Constantine through this same council would then decide which books to include in the Bible and which to exclude, all other books were subsequently burned and their followers massacred, as later archeological evidence would show.

These Unitarian Christians wished to purify christianity of this corruption, they wrote to Muslim Khalifs and ambassadors that, we are closer to you than our closeness to established Christianity, this occurred after the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century.

The hole of the 17th century was marred by the controversies of the Socinians, and controversies between the Church and Monarchy. John Locke who was a major influence on the American constitution itself, studied the Islamic work “Hayy bin Yaqzan” by the muslim philosopher Ibn al Tufail (d.1185) which caused him to conclude that whatever Christianity and monarchy where offering are against human nature, a concept now known as Tabula Rasa (that man was born with a blank slate) was developed and he became the father of empiricism, (that knowledge only comes from sensory perception), along with materialism and the modern sciences.

In contrast to Tabula Rasa St. Augustin viewed man as originally sinful being born with a disposition, the Cartesian position holds that man innately knows basic knowledge, that we are born with innate ideas. Tabula Rasa and innatism, or the idea of a blank slate became very common in the european world from the beginning of the thirteenth century through the translations of Islamic texts, innate means something which is in the nature of the human being, and in Islam this was termed “Fitrah”, man was born with the innate belief in God, but was otherwise a blank slate molded by his parents and society.

Thomas Jefferson was to be the lead author of the American Declaration of Independence from the British Empire, the declaration was to outline their beliefs regarding man and the reason for their split from the church controlled Monarchies. Jefferson and therefore the Declaration of Independence, was heavily influenced by John Locke, it can be seen from the list of reasons given to separate from the British Empire, Locke’s words, ideas and theories coming into play.

John Locke had given the four inalienable (Maqasid) rights of Man in his writings, Locke’s own treatises provide everyone with a right to defend their life, health, liberty or possessions.

One of the most noticeable instances of direct Islamic influence is in the preamble, where the Declaration of Independence proclaims the right of every man to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.

Maqasid is an Islamic term for goals and purpose, after imam Shafii developed the science of Usul al Fiqh (principles of jurisprudence), many later scholars, from the 8th century onwards, began to write works of legal theory on the Maqasid of Shariah, or the aims and intents of Islamic Law, through these the rights and liberties of Man were clearly outlined and among the most famous scholars was Imam al Ghazali (d.1111).

Jefferson in the declaration summarized Locke’s “Maqasid” into three and preferred to include what other earlier muslim scholars thought should be part of the Maqasid, and that is the pursuit of Happiness.

The Declaration of Independence explains the reasons for splitting with the British Empire, it borrows heavily from Locke’s Second Treatise, which is noticeable in the almost identical preamble, but also the idea of a Natural Law (or Locke’s state of nature). Their reasons for absolving Great Britain rule was mirrored in Locke’s idea of Representative Government, which was translated into their form of Democracy.

One of the first to detail the idea of Democracy was the muslim scholar al Farabi (d.950), he devised the different kinds of governments and concluded that the Democratic government was the government which is ruled by the people for the sake of the people, using this exact expression.

Thomas Jefferson himself incorporated many ideas from the European enlightenment which was inspired by Islamic text that were being translated on Mass to Europe to fuel these new thoughts in order to rid it of the Dark Age it was in. The right of the people to “alter or to abolish” unjust governments; the idea that it is the governments job to secure “unalienable rights”; the idea of popular sovereignty, governments derive their power from the “consent of the governed”; the idea that “all men are created equal”; these are all ideas that the enlightenment thinkers shared.

Many of the issues raised by John Locke and Thomas Jefferson are the exact terminologies or translations of the Quranic words, basically huquq al Insan, consent of the governed, and all men are created equal, are taken from the work of Ibn Tufail. John Locke believed there existed a social contract between government and its citizens as government derived its power from the consent of the governed and that people should rebel against a government that violated their natural rights; the natural rights referred to are “life, liberty and possessions.”

By this time in history the Maqasid of Shariah, Islamic Law, where well developed and three out of the famous “five Maqasid of Islamic Shariah” were used by John Locke in the Declaration of Independence. The declaration interchanges “possessions” with “pursuit of happiness” which some muslim Scholars believed should be included in the five Maqasid of Shariah.

The ideas that Jefferson adopted from Islam became central to the United States Government, they would eventually be incorporated into the constitution and then ground the argument of future revolutionaries both in the United States and around the world.

The Declaration of Independence was paraphrased from John Locke’s 1693 work “Concerning the True Original Extent and End of Civil Government”, Presidents Adams and Madison later acknowledged that these truths where already present and borrowed from elsewhere and that “the objective (of the declaration) was to assert and not discover truth”.

Al Farabi (872-950) wrote on the ideal state in a book called “al Madina al Fadila”, An Ideal State, in it he divided the states into the ideal muslim states, beginning with the prophetic state, then the democratic, then comes the dictatorship (oligarchy and monarchy), he then says the best of these is the Islamic State in which the prophet or the leader (Imam) is a philosopher and a righteous person guided by Allah (swt), the second best is then the Democratic state.   

The best state for Al Farabi is one that is comprised of true justice, proportionate equality, and a body of citizens who are willing to fulfil the tasks (skills) naturally endowed to them.

Al Farabi explains the most important principle of Democracy to be its freedom and that of the six Government types, including tyranny and oligarchy, the regime of Democracy occupies the privileged position of supplying the most solid and the best starting point for the establishment of the virtuous human beings.

A Democracy promotes the concept of “rule by the people” which are the exact words of al Farabi.

Democracy is the last step towards the Ideal state where Human beings enjoy freedoms, where everybody has a role not because they have to earn money or because of political influence but because this is their human right given to them by Allah. The best of the rulers are the ones who give the upmost freedoms to every individual in the state. And the best human beings are those who use there freedoms to accomplish to the best of their ability, in other words Ihsan or Human Perfection.

Al Farabi was one of the first to use the word Democratic (Democratiya) in the 9th  century, which originally came from Greek but its etymology doesn’t agree with its modern understanding; “The Democratic city is one in which each one of the citizens is given free reign and left alone to do whatever he likes. Its citizens are equal and their laws say that no man is in any way at all better than any other man…And no one…has any claim to authority unless he works to enhance their freedom…those who rule them do so by the will of the ruled, and the rulers follow the wishes of the ruled”, Al Farabi essentially helped shape the modern understanding of the term Democracy.

The Etymology of democracy (n.) as western historians traced, goes back to the 1570s, from Middle French democratie (14c.), and from Medieval Latin democratia (13c.). It can’t be traced any further with it’s current definition except through Islamic works which took it from the Greek word demokratia “popular government”, the word comes from two Greek words, demos meaning “common people”, but whose originally ancient Greek meaning was “district” (as apposed to nation, see demotic), and kratos “rule, strength”. To the Greeks the word did not represent Democratic rule, this definition was given to it by Al Farabi because that was the outline of his Book in which he used it as the second best form of government after prophetic government.

Al Faraby in the 9th century was addressing the issue of rulers, who thought they where an exception to the rule of Shariah, Al Farabi said that the Islamic state of the present day was better than the other models being used such as Monarchy and Oligarchy but the ruling class was not accountable to those they ruled, they where not following the islamic injunction of Shura (consultation of the people), mentioned in the Quran in the chapter entitled al Shurah (the Consultation) and they were restricting freedoms, this eventuated when the original Islamic Khalifah, itself founded upon Shura, or a democratic vote was turned into Dynasties by later rulers.

In the Islamic state there was much freedom, you could say what you wish and express your self freely but the exception was don’t address the ruling class. Al Faraby was addressing this issue and suggesting that to them they have not reached the level of the democratic state, and ruling by the wishes of those ruled. He suggested to the rulers that they should follow the Democratic state and then move towards the ideal state of the Prophetic Khalifah that originally existed in Madina after the prophets (saws) death.

The first four Khalifahs of Islam known as the rightly guided Khalifahs, or al Rashidun throughout history, where known and characterized by their Shura (consultation) with the people, while later Khalifs, although they applied the laws of Shariah they where closer to a Monarchy in how they governed and rule was passed on to their sons.

Al Farabi’s three Principles for Democracy were

1) Al Musaawa, Equality, All Human Beings are equal.

2) Itq or Liberty, Freedom.

3) La-ikrah, there is no compulsion in religion (2:256), Financial and Social Freedom

Three of the five objectives of Islamic Law (Maqasid al Shariah) were used in the American constitution and are translated from al Faraby into english as, Human Equality, Liberty and Freedom of Expression. From the 9th century until the 17th century these were the ideas being incorporated by the intellectual scholars of Europe.

The problem in Islamic lands was that the ruling class where not responsible to the common people, the Oligarchy of the Ottomans was criticised by Rasul Allah (saws) himself, they conquered and put an end the other major Khalifahs in the world and hoarded power until their eventual decline.

These three ideals were understood from the earliest days of Islam, that if man’s basic needs where not taken care of and secured he could not pursue higher forms of knowledge, man needed to be free in his life in order to be capable of dedicating it and perfecting his pursuits.

Imam Abu Hanifah (d.767) the founder of one of Islam’s four legal schools of thought understood this clearly, he was himself wealthy because of his trade and on account of this understanding he used to take care of the basic needs of his students so they where not distracted by securing a livelihood, they could dedicate themselves fully to knowledge and religion.

Al Farabi enjoys the concept of Equal opportunity for happiness because he believes citizens should be able to equally engage in whatever they may choose, “the actions that are determined and directed toward happiness strengthen the part of the soul that is naturally equipped for happiness, and actualise and perfect it to the extent that the power resulting from the perfection is achieved through political activities”. (Al Farabi, On Political Science, Jurisprudence and Theology, P.38)

This is the source of the pursuit of happiness of Thomas Jefferson,  and is one of the Maqasid that some Islamic scholars thought should be included among the five main Maqasid of Shariah that was being taught to Islamic students of Law.

Regarding Freedom and Equality which are the Foundation of “rule by the People”, the two principles that define the basis of Al Farabi’s authoritative powers; “Authority is justified only on the basis of the preservation and promotion of freedom and equality”.

Thomas Jefferson wrote about Roger Bacon, John Locke and Isaac Newton…“I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the Physical and Moral sciences”.

Regarding Tabula Rasa, Locke’s “theory of the mind” is often cited as the origin of modern conceptions of identity and the self, figuring prominently in the work of later philosophers such as Hume, Rousseau and Kant. Locke was the first to define the self through a continuity of consciousness. He Postulated that the mind was a blank slate or Tabula Rasa.

John Locke’s formulation of Tabula Rasa in an Essay concerning human understanding was influenced by a 17th century translation of “Philosophus Autodidactus”, a publication by Edward Pococke of the Arabic philosophical novel “Hayy ibn Yaqzan” (Lit. “Alive, Son of the Awake”), written by the 12th century Andalusian Islamic Philosopher and novelist Ibn Tufail  (d.1185) also known as Abubacer or Ebn Tophail in the west.

The word Tabula Rasa is used by Ibn Tufail whom they took it from, the word “Ra’s” means head, “tabula” means cabinet, and was originally a latin term. Contrary to pre-existing Cartesian philosophy, He maintained that we are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived from sense perception.

Ibn Tufail demonstrated the theory of tabula rasa as a thought experiment through his Arabic Philosophical novel Hayy ibn Yaqzan, in which, he depicted the development of the mind of a wild child “from a Tabula Rasa to that of an adult, in complete isolation from society” on a desert island through his experiences alone, the Island is what gave the child the blank slate that freed him from the preconceptions of society and was a discussion on the Islamic concept of Fitrah.

In a number of famous narrations, the prophet (saws) discussed Fitrah, or mans natural disposition when he is born. Abu Hurairah said that the prophet (saws) said, “No one is born except upon natural instinct, then his parents turn him into a Jew or Christian or Magian. As animals produce their young with perfect limbs, do you see anything defective? Abu hurairah said, “Recite the verse if you wish: Direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth, the nature of Allah upon which He has created the people. No change should there be in the creation of Allah. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.”(30:30). (Bukhari and Muslim)

Philosophus Autodidactus inspired the concept of Tabula Rasa, which was developed in “An essay concerning human understanding” (1690) by John Locke, he was a student of Pococke, and who referred to his translation of the novel as a “novelty”. Philosophus Autodidactus also inspired Robert Boyle, another acquaintance of Pococke, to write his own philosophical novel set on an island, called “The Aspiring Naturalist”.

The First english translation of Hayy Ibn Yakzan was published by George Ashwell in 1686, based on Pockoke’s latin translation. The first translation of the Arabic original, entitled “The Improvement of Human Reason: Exhibited in the life of Hayy Ebn Yakdhan”, was published shortly after by Simon Ockely in 1708, followed by two more English translations. Baruch Spinoza also read the work and soon encouraged a Dutch translation published by his friend Johannes Bouwmeester in 1672. Another Dutch translation, De natuurlijke wijsgeer, was published by Adrian Reland in 1701.

Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677) was a jew living in Holland, among the jewish scholars, he was thought to have one of the most critical minds and applied the same thoughts upon Jewish Theology and scriptures, the work also influenced Charles Darwin and his family.

To modern man and society Spinoza was almost like a prophet, and to Jews he is an Atheist because he revolutionized their theology. He was the one who first requested the translation of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, two into the German language and another into Nederland. He also distributed it all over the region including Paris, France, where it was received by Sorbonne University, the most powerful university in France and was the centre of the french revolution, for which they where thankful and delighted with it, the work was Praised as an excellent example of classical Arabic Philosophy.

Many early and modern European scholars and writers were also influenced by “Philosophus Autodidactus”, they included Melchisedech Thevenot, John Wallis, Christian Huygens, George Keith, Robert Barclay, the Quakers, Samuel Hartlib, Karl Marx and Voltaire, these are the scholars and leaders of the enlightenment. The English translation of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan was known to the Royal Society and the New England Company in North America by 1721, when Cotton Mather’s the Christian Philosopher cited Hayy Ibn Yaqzan as an influence. Despite condemning the Mahometans as infidels, Mather viewed the protagonist of the novel, Hayy, as a model for his ideal ‘Christian Philosopher’ and monotheistic scientists’. Mather also viewed Hayy as a noble savage and applied this in the context of understanding the Native American “indians” in order to convert them to puritan Christianity.

After Locke changed his ideas and beliefs because of the work, he began to write books and was accused of being Socinian (Unitarian Christian).

Unitarians where impressed by the Ottoman civilization and the concept of oneness of God, and Jesus as his prophet along with Islamic theology, they where accused of everything including being turkish.

Traditionally Unitarians (see the Council of Rimini and Arianism), were declared heretic by the council of Nicaea in 325 which now adopted a Roman pagan Trinity, but before this time there where also ebionites, the first Christians were the Jews who believed that Jesus was the Jewish messiah. They used an early Gospel of Matthew, and their beliefs are in accordance with the earliest reports of the gospels of Luke and Matthew, and with Jewish prophecy, they were also known as “Nazarene”, and so the very first followers of Jesus were called the Nazoreans, a term used in the Quran.

As a consequence to all this in the 17th century there where people who wrote many books saying the original christianity was Nazrean and called for a stop to the corruption, to follow the Nazrean monotheistic faith or to go back to Arianism.

As a result of their work the church accused Newton and the Unitarians of not following the Bible but the Quran, and called for their deaths, these are the same people who now influenced modern Philosophy and science. (Source: This section is primarily based on the work of Zulfikar Shah).