FAQ in the category of Worshipping

1 Why do we say tasbihat 33 times? What are the narrations regarding the issue?

There are keys that fit material locks; some secrets that are like spiritual locks have some appropriate keys that fit them. 

If you do not use the key that fits the lock, you cannot be successful. For instance, your email account has a password.If you type in a wrong password, you cannot access your mailbox. A certain number of tasbihat or salawat needs to be said for some divine secrets to be revealed. If this number is ignored deliberately, it is impossible to attain that divine secret. However, if someone says tasbihat a wrong number of times by mistake, the mercy of Allah Almighty will accept it. It is something different. 

How to do tasbihat and what duas (supplications) and tasbihat to read were determined by the Prophet (pbuh) himself. According to a narration from Thawban, when the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) finished a prayer (salah), he would ask for forgiveness (istighfar) by saying , “Astaghfirullah”.1 It is possible to say this istighfar as follows: “Astaghfirullaha’l-azima’l-karima’lladhi la ilaha illa hu, al-hayya’l-qayyuma wa atubu ilayh”.

After fard and sunnah prayers are performed, first ayat al-kursiyy, the chapters of al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and an-Nas are read; after that, “Subhanallah” is said 33 times, “Alhamdulillah” 33 times and “Allahu Akbar” 33 times. Then, “La ilaha illallahu wahdahu...” is read and dua (prayer) is done.  

In hadith and fiqh books, blowing onto the prayer beads or one's body after reading ayat al-kursiyy is not mentioned. However, before the Messenger of Allah went to bed, he would read the chapters mentioned above and blow into his palms. Then, he would wipe the parts of the body that he could reach with his palms. However, something like that is not in question while saying tasbihat.   

As it is known, tasbihat after prayers are usually counted by prayer beads. Thus, the probability of saying more or fewer words of dhikr is eliminated. However, prayer beads were not used during the Era of Bliss. The Prophet (pbuh) counted dhikr words by using the knuckles of his right hand. 2 He did not prohibit those who used pebbles and date seeds to count dhikr words from using them.

Hz. Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas, who is one of the ten Companions who were given the glad tiding of being a person of Paradise, said he went together with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to a woman. They saw the women making dhikr using the date seeds or pebbles in front of her but the Messenger of Allah did not interfere.3

This attitude of the Prophet (pbuh) is included in "sunnah taqriri", which is a type of sunnah. It shows that he regarded this deed appropriate. On the other hand, it is narrated that Hz. Abu Hurayra made knots on a string and used it (Abu Nuaym, Hilya I/383) that Abu Safiyya, who was a muhajir, used seeds (Isaba IV/109; Ibn Sa’d VII/60) and that Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas used pebbles to make dhikr  (Ibn Sa’d III/143). 

The prayer beads used today became common only in the fifth century of the Migration.

Abdullah bin Amr said,

“I saw the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) count dhikr words by using the knuckles of his right hand.”4

It is more virtuous to count dhikr words by using the hands if one can count them correctly. However, those who wish may use 33 or 99 prayer beads. There is no difference between holding the prayer beads above or below the level of the navel.

As for the number of the dhikr words to be said, there are various narrations regarding the issue. Some of them say the number of times dhikr words are to be said is 11 while others say it is 25; yet others say it is 10. 5 However, the hadiths stating that the number of the dhikr words to be said is 33 are more than the others. Hadith and fiqh scholars like Qadi Iyad preferred these narrations and regarded it appropriate to act accordingly.

In the explanations of the hadiths regarding the issue, some information is given about the wisdom behind those numbers. For instance, Imam Ayni states the following regarding the issue:

“The reason why the number of dhikr is advised to be 33 is this: When it is multiplied by three, the product is ninety-nine. When a person makes dhikr 99 times, he is regarded to have mentioned Allah with His ninety-nine names.”

As for the issue whether those who glorified or praised Allah more or fewer times than the numbers stated in the hadiths will gain the rewards promised there, some scholars say the extra numbers will not eliminate the rewards while others say, “if dhikr is deliberately made more or fewer times than the number stated in the hadiths, the promised rewards will not be obtained. For, these numbers have a wisdom and particularity; if the number is decreased or increased, the wisdom and particularity will disappear.”

Therefore, it is necessary to try to say tasbihat no fewer than 33 times; if a person says them more than 33 times, he does not have to worry that the reward and wisdom will disappear. For, it is mustahab to utter tasbihat in ruku' and sajdah from 3 to 7 times. What is meant to say and advise here is to say 3 times but it is mustahab and permissible to say 5 and 7 times, too.

It is possible to perform tasbihat after prayers alone or in congregation.

After the prayers performed in congregation, these tasbihat and duas are done together in congregation with the participation of the muezzin, which is better in terms of virtue and more appropriate.

As for the issue whether it exists in sunnah to do tasbihat in congregation, the Messenger of Allah always encouraged dhikr, dua and worshipping in congregation; when he saw his Companions talking, making dhikr and worshipping in congregation, he would be pleased and sometimes give them glad tidings. 

According to the narration of Hz. Muawiya,

The Prophet (pbuh) once saw some of his Companions sitting in the form of a circle. He approached them and asked,

“Why did you come here and sit like this?”

They said, “We sat here in order to mention Allah, who granted us a religion like Islam and who tested us through this way, and to praise Him.”

The Prophet asked them again. After receiving an answer with a vow from them, the Prophet said,

“Do not think that I made you vow to blame you. However, Jibril came to me and told me that Allah, who is Mighty and Glorious, was proud of you in the presence of the angels.”6

As it is seen, the Prophet praised the believers who came together and made dhikr and tasbih in an occasion though it was not after a prayer. Tasbihat after prayer was not made in congregation during the time of the Prophet (pbuh) but beginning from the time of mujtahid imams, it was accepted in principle that it would be better to do tasbihat in congregation so that everybody who prayed would do it easily and that they would not be deprived of the reward of dhikr.  

After the prayers performed in congregation, it is mustahab for the congregation to change their places and perform the sunnah prayer and do tasbihat in a different place in the mosque. According to a narration mentioned in Ibn Abidin, it is said to be sunnah to do so. Breaking the ranks after the prayers is in question for all five daily prayers. No difference is in question for the morning and afternoon prayers.

The reason why the ranks are broken after the fard prayer is not to cause the people who came to mosque late to think that the fard prayer is still being performed. It is mustahab to perform sunnah prayers by changing one's place after the prayers that are performed in congregation. It is narrated that the prayer rugs and the ground will witness for those who perform prayers. Therefore, the more a person prostrates, the more places will witness for him. For, in the hereafter, all of the beings are conscious and they will speak when Allah wishes.

If it is not possible to perform the sunnah prayer and dua in a different place, there are also views stating that it is permissible to complete them in the same place. 7

References:

1. Muslim, Musafirin: 135.
2. Tirmidhi, Daawat: 25.
3. Abu Dawud, Witr; 24.
4. Tirmidhi, Daawat: 24.
5. Nasai, Sahw:91-96.
6. Muslim, Dhikr: 40.
7. al-Imam Alauddin al-Qasani. Badaiu’s-Sanai. (Beirut: Daru’l-Kitabi’l-Arabi, 1402-1982), 1:160; Ibni Abidin, 1:356.

(see Mehmed PAKSU, İbadet Hayatımız)

2 What is intention; how should it be?
3 Some people claim, Prayer is done in order to get rid of bad notions in our minds and hearts, and they add, They do not have to pray to God since their hearts are pure and sincere. Can anybody wriggle out this farz (religious p
4 Why do we worship?
5 Why do we worship in Arabic? What if we do that in our own language?
6 I feel delusions as if I pass wind when I have wudu and as if I break wudu. What should I do? I feel delusions while making ghusl too.

This disorder is related to delusion. Satan blows to man’s anus in order to keep him away from worshipping. Man thinks he has passed wind and that his wudu has been invalidated; he tries to make wudu again though his wudu has not been invalidated. The following is stated in a hadith to prevent it:

"Do not make wudu for the things that you do not hear or smell." [Muslim, Hayd, 99 (362); see Bukhari, Wudu, 4, 36)]

What is meant by the nose feeling a smell or the ear hearing a sound is to know that one’s wudu has been invalidated. However, if a person knows that he has passed wind though he does not hear a sound and feel a smell, his wudu is invalidated. For, not all winds produce a smell or sound. It is dangerous for a person not to make wudu though he knows that he has passed wind but says, “I have not felt any sound and smell”.

This is the most common delusion that affects people who are affected by delusions. The person has the ideal of doing a deed of worshipping perfectly. He wants to do the best deed and service without any mistake and deficiency. When the issue of taqwa is also included, he pays too much attention to it. The severity of delusion increases gradually. It reaches to such a degree in the course of time that a person commits a haram while trying to do the best deed and worshipping. He abandons a fard deed while trying to do a sunnah deed perfectly. Finally, he repeats the worshipping thinking "whether it has been accepted or not". This state continues in the course of time and he finally falls into despair. Satan makes use of this state and harms him.

A person who is affected by such a delusion starts to make wudu and is caught by a delusion; while he is washing his arms, he starts from the beginning; instead of finishing wudu after washing his feet, he starts from the beginning; or after finishing wudu, he makes wudu again and again based on some excuses like "I have probably not washed my right arm and I have not wiped my head". Thus, Satan hits the target with the arrow of delusion. It becomes a disorder in that person.

I have known many people affected by delusions like that. There was a young man who had just started to worship. He used to start making wudu half an hour before adhan and hardly caught up with the fard of the prayer. He sometimes made wudu five times on end. When I knew about it, I told him that it was a delusion and he shortened it a bit but he could not overcome the delusion fully. I hope he has overcome it.

The people who are affected by a delusion in ghusl feel obliged to wash their body repeatedly after drying though to make ghusl once is enough.

This kind of delusion is seen in wudu and ghusl but it is seen in prayer (salah) most frequently. Various thoughts can normally come to mind in prayers. A person who is affected by the delusions caused by Satan cannot finish his prayer and cannot catch up with the congregation if he is in a mosque.  He performs both sunnah and fard prayers again and again. He feels obliged to read the chapter of al-Fatiha and additional verses repeatedly. He abandons some wajibs or a fard while trying to fulfill mustahab and sunnah deeds of the prayer perfectly; he makes mistakes after mistakes.

There is another aspect of the issue: If a person knows that this delusion comes from Satan or if somebody he loves and relies on informs him about it but if he continues to be affected by this delusion, he will be held responsible and he will be regarded to have committed a sin. For, in that case, it means he does not obey Allah and Allah's friends; he obeys Satan. In that case, he needs to make a preference: "Shall I obey Allah or Satan?" The first preference will lead him to nice things but the second one will lead him to misfortunes after misfortunes. (God forbid!)

Let us listen to the advice of the Prophet (pbuh) about how to act against delusions while making wudu:

According to the narration of Ubay bin Ka'b, the Messenger of Allah said,

"Indeed there is a Satan for wudu who is called "al-Walahan (the one who causes confusion)". So beware of having misgivings about water in wudu and ghusl."(1)

The reason why this name was given to the Satan who causes delusions in wudu is its extreme ambition to cause delusions in a believer while making wudu. Or, Satan makes man panic so much by delusions that he feels confused; he does not understand that Satan is playing a trick on him. He does not know whether he has washed an organ or how many times he has washed it.

Bewaring of the Satan in charge of wudu means as follows: Beware of delusions like whether an organ has been washed or not, whether it has been washed once or twice, whether the water is clean or dirty suggested by the Satan called al-Walahan.

The advice of the Prophet (pbuh) that eliminates the delusions in wudu and that can be applied by everyone is as follows:

A Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and asked him how to make wudu. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) washed the wudu organs three times, showing him how to make wudu. Then, he said,

"This is wudu. A person who does more than it makes a mistake by abandoning Sunnah, goes beyond the limits and oppresses his soul." (2)

While explaining this hadith, Ibn Hajar writes the following:

"We saw many people who washed their hands hundreds of times but who believed that they did not have wudu."

Ibn Hajar is a hadith scholar that lived five centuries ago. It shows that delusion is not a problem seen in this age only; man has faced this misfortune for centuries. For, Satan uses the same tactics, keeping his promise that he gave Allah about misguiding His righteous slaves.

Practical solutions are mentioned in hadiths about how to act against mistakes, doubts and delusions in prayers in addition to wudu.

Let us quote some of these hadiths:

According to the narration of Abdullah bin Amr, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"When one of you is in a prayer, Satan will come to him and say, 'Remember this and that thing' so that he will virtually abandon prayer heedlessly. When one of you lies in his bed, Satan approaches him and tries to make him sleep."

We may forget some things in the deeds of worshipping, primarily wudu and prayer; we might not remember what we have read, how much we have read and how many rak'ahs we have performed. In such cases, we must not panic; we must look for a solution in the worshipping itself. Nobody can be away from forgetting; even the Prophet (pbuh), who was the most superior man, forgot, though very little. He was a great and perfect man but he was a human being like us. He felt hungry, got ill, had problems and forgot. We see this issue in the hadith as follows:

Abdullah bin Mas'ud narrates:

"Once, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) led a prayer. He either performed it more or less than it should have been. Thereupon, somebody said, 'O Messenger of Allah! Was anything added to the prayer?' The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"I am a human being. I forget as you do. When one of you forgets, he should perform two prostrations."

Then, the Messenger of Allah turned toward the qiblah and performed two prostrations. (3)

Satan has one wish and duty: to keep man away from worshipping, especially prayer; since he was deprived of prayer and prostration, he wants to deprive humanity of this bounty and keep away from it. The Prophet reveals this target of Satan's.

Footnotes:

1. Tirmidhi, Taharah:43; Ibn Majah, Taharah:48.
2. Ibn Majah, Iqamah: 48.
3. Ibn Majah, Iqamah: 129.

7 According to the Statement in the Surah (Chapter) Neighborly Needs (Al-Máun): So woe to the worshippers; who are neglectful of their prayers (who lapse in their prayers) : Would it not be Better not to Perform Prayers Instead of Performing i
8 Why does Allah need our worship?
9 What does Hudhur mean and how is it achieved during the performance of prayers?
10 It is informed in a Quranic verse that prayer is dhikr (the Divine Ceremony of Remembering God). How can prayer be dhikr?
11 What are the benefits of worship for the individual and for the community?

1. One of the important benefits of worship is that it makes the decrees related to creed and belief settle in hearts and spirits and remain there. 

As it is known, knowledge increases, develops and becomes steady through practice and experience. It is difficult to maintain the knowledge that is not practiced and applied; they will not be very useful to man. The same thing is valid for the knowledge and decrees related to belief and creed. They become steady in man only through worship because worship, which means to fulfill the orders of Allah and to avoid His prohibitions, is like the practice and application of belief.

Abandoning worship causes the positive effect of belief on human behavior to weaken and fade away in the course of time. As the positive effect of belief on human behavior weakens, negative feelings, bad habits and harmful desires cover his realm of feeling and forces man to commit various sins and evil deeds. Therefore, belief and worship are closely interrelated. If we liken belief to a lamp, worship is like the glass of that lamp that protects it from being extinguished by the wind and that increases its light. Pointing to the role of worship to protect belief, the Prophet said, "Belief is naked; its garment is taqwa." As it is known, taqwa means to avoid the prohibitions of Allah and to keep away from harams and sins; we have mentioned above that it means worship.

2. Worship plays an important role in arranging the life of the individual because worship makes the thoughts turn toward God Almighty and places the magnificence and greatness of Allah into the minds of people. This makes a person think of the consent of Allah in everything he does and obey the divine orders and prohibitions.  

Thus, the personal life of an individual is arranged by the instructions of the religion and it is disciplined both materially and spiritually. 

3. Worship plays an important role in binding people together and ensuring peace and harmony in the community, too. Worshipping by turning to the same qiblah establishes an unbreakable loyalty and an unending relationship among Muslims. This loyalty and relationship bring about an unshakable fraternity, a serious love and sincere friendship.  

Thus, the life in the community becomes peaceful and tranquil; material and spiritual development are attained.

4. As for the effect of worship on the moral and spiritual world of man:

A believer who fulfills his worship becomes peaceful and comfortable. He becomes strong spiritually. He lives in peace and happiness throughout his life with the psychology of a person who fulfills his duty.

He will not feel stressed, bored or disappointed. He will not feel depressed and hopeless when he faces obstacles, difficulties and impossibilities; he will not lose his endurance and confidence. The inner world of a person who worships is settled and stable. Psychological storms, controversies and conflicts do not take place in him. 

5. Worship is the greatest means for personal perfection and maturity.

As it is known, man is a small and weak being in terms of his body. However, he owns a lofty spirit and a great talent. His inclinations and desires reach eternity; his feelings were not delimited when he was created. 

What elevates and widens the spirit of man, who has such a nature, is worship.

What develops his abilities and talents is worship.

What elevates his inclinations and desires is worship.

What realizes his ambitions and what renews his hopes is worship.

What ensures correct thoughts and healthy reasoning by disciplining his ideas is worship.

What controls feelings and emotions, what saves man from extremism and excessiveness is worship.  

To sum up, what makes man attain the perfection, and ethical and spiritual maturity is worship.  

12 What exactly is ikhlas (sincerity)? How can one get ikhlas?

Ikhlas lexically means refining, purifying, separating and removing impurities.

Ikhlas means, for an individual, to be closed to anything except Allah Almighty’s orders, requests and grants in worshipping. It means to keep secrets in the relationship between the slave and the Creator, in other words, to fulfill his duties and responsibilities because He wants them, to aim His consent while fulfilling them and to turn toward His otherworldly courtesy. It is regarded as one of the most important qualities of the purest, loyal people.   

Ikhlas is a deed of the heart and Allah values man based of the tendencies of his heart:

"He does not look at your shapes and outward appearance; He looks at your hearts and the tendencies of your heart." (Muslim, Birr, 33)

Ikhlas is a magical credit that Allah granted to clean hearts, that makes little things big and shallow things deep and that makes limited worshipping unlimited so much so that man can demand the most expensive things in the markets of the world and the hereafter with it and is valued in the places where people crawl thanks to it. The Messenger of Allah states the following due to this mysterious power of ikhlas:

"Be sincere in your religious life; few deeds will suffice." (Munawi, Faydul-Qadir, I, 216)

"Always try to do your deeds with ikhlas because Allah accepts only sincere deeds." (Munawi, Faydul-Qadir, I, 217)

Thus, the Prophet warns us to base our deeds on ikhlas. Ikhlas is a secret between the slave and the Creator; Allah has placed this secret in the hearts of His beloved slaves. 

It is necessary for man to realize why ikhlas is so important and to demand sincerely to be able to attain that level of belief in order to practice ikhlas with its real meaning. For, the people who have not realized the importance of ikhlas may seek power in the worldly values and pursue them in order to have a position in the community. Fame, glory, wealth, beauty, academic career or prestige are the things that those people seek. However, none of them can make man gain a permanent power or prestige in the hereafter in its real sense.

Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states the following:

"You should know that all your strength lies in sincerity and truth. Yes, strength lies in truth and sincerity.” (see Lem'alar, Yirmi Birinci Lem'a)

Thus, he reminds us that a believer can gain power both in the world and the hereafter only through ikhlas.  

What is necessary in order to gain ikhlas and to preserve it:

1. Fear of Allah is the most important means that enables man to increase his ikhlas. A person who realizes the greatness of Allah, that there is no power except Him and that the one that created the universe out of nothing, that takes care of all living beings and shows mercy to them is Allah is affiliated to Allah with a deep love. He understands that his real friend in the world and the hereafter is only Allah and hence the one whose consent is necessary to seek is only Him. Along with this strong love, he fears Allah.  

"... Then fear Allah, and know that ye will surely be gathered unto Him." (al-Baqara, 2/203)

Allah tells people that they need to fear Him in the verse above.

Fearing takes place when a person avoids the attitudes that Allah rendered haram and is not pleased with and when he fulfills His orders without any laziness. A sincere person who fears Allah knows what attitudes He will not be pleased with and steps into action to correct them. For instance, if his soul has a tendency and weakness toward worldly possessions, he notices it. In that case, he uses his wealth in the way of Allah in order to overcome that weakness.  

2. One of the responsibilities of a believer is to attain a level of belief that can appreciate Allah as it is necessary by being aware of the fact reminded in the verse below:

"No just estimate have they made of Allah, such as is due to Him: On the Day of Judgment the whole of the earth will be but His handful, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand: Glory to Him! High is He above the Partners they attribute to Him." (az-Zumar, 39/67)

To be able to appreciate Allah can be attained by knowing Him with all of His names and to see and realize the manifestations of those names in his life all the time. For, man can fear Allah and attain a sincere belief only if he can realize Allah’s greatness.

A person who can appreciate Allah as it is necessary knows that there cannot be any power except Allah and does not fear anyone except Him. He knows that nothing will happen unless Allah wishes, which enables him to worship by turning to Allah only. When he wants to do a good deed, he does it not because of fearing the reactions of people but because he does not want to act contrarily to Allah's order. Similarly, when he decides to give up doing something, he does not give it up thinking that people will get angry with him but in order to attain Allah’s mercy and avoid His wrath.

3. A person who wants to show the most sincere attitude in everything he faces needs to seek "Allah's consent as much as possible". This order of Allah is reminded through the following verse with the phrase "strive as in a race in all virtues":

"… so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah..." (al-Maida, 5/48)

The following is stated in another verse:

"Then We have given the Book for inheritance to such of Our Servants as We have chosen: but there are among them some who wrong their own souls; some who follow a middle course; and some who are, by Allah´s leave, foremost in good deeds; that is the highest Grace." (Fatir, 35/32)

As it is stated in the verse above, there are some people who ‘follow a middle course’ among believers and who are ‘foremost in good deeds’. A sincere Muslim is foremost in good deeds. He works very hard in order to display the attitudes with which Allah will be pleased and tries to be a righteous slave by using everything he has. 

4. A person who wants to gain ikhlas needs to be aware of this fact: man should expect the rewards for what he does in the world only from Allah. If a person does something for anything except Allah's consent, mercy and Paradise, his ikhlas is broken and he is led to insincerity. If a person serves in the way of Allah for years with this thought, he will not have gained ikhlas in its real sense unless he does them for Allah’s sake only. Only the deeds of worship that he does without adding anything except Allah's consent can gain him great rewards and thawabs.

Allah states in the following verse that deeds of righteousness will be given ‘a magnificent reward’:

"Verily this Qur´an doth guide to that which is most right (or stable), and giveth the Glad Tidings to the Believers who work deeds of righteousness, that they shall have a magnificent reward." (al-Isra, 17/9)

Badiuzzaman Said Nursi attracts attention to the fact that ikhlas can be obtained when man becomes happy with what Allah gives him and shows contentedness:

"… One should also take as one’s guide the quality of preferring others to oneself, the same quality of the Companions that is praised in the Quran. For example, when giving a present or performing an act of charity, one should always prefer the recipient to oneself, and without demanding or inwardly desiring any material reward for religious service, know one’s act to be purely Allah’s grace and not impose a sense of obligation on men..."

"This world is a place of service; it is not a place of rewards. The rewards, fruits and lights of righteous deeds are in the hereafter. To want those eternal fruits in this world means to make the hereafter subject to this world. The sincerity of that righteous deed is broken and its light disappears. Those fruits are not demanded and intended. If they are given, man thinks that they have been given for encouragement and thanks Allah." (see Lem'alar, Yirmi Birinci Lem'a)

5. It is necessary to base everything directly on Allah’s consent. Even if everybody is against a person and nobody is pleased with him, it is of no significance if Allah is pleased with him. For, the hearts of all of those people are under the control of Allah. If Allah wishes, He will make them pleased with that person.

On the other hand, if Allah is not pleased with a person due to an attitude of his, it is of no significance if everybody is pleased with him and is grateful to him. A believer knows that it is of no significance in the eye of Allah and that people’s being pleased with him will gain him nothing in the hereafter unless Allah is pleased with him. The group that will be pleased with him may consist of financially or politically powerful people. However, they are all weak beings that were created by Allah and that will decay in the grave one day, losing all of their power. Therefore, their number, support and appreciation will be of no use in the hereafter. The one who is eternal and whose consent needs to be attained is only Allah. What will make man gain a permanent understanding of ikhlas is ‘to ignore the consent of people and to aim to attain Allah’s consent’ by realizing this fact.  

6. Conscience is a power that Allah has created so that it will show man the true path. It warns man against the evil of the soul, provocation of Satan and all attitudes contrary to the Quran throughout man’s life. It inspires man the attitude that Allah will be pleased with and the deeds that are in compliance with the Quran. A person who obeys the voice of his conscience unconditionally in all incidents obtains ikhlas. For, ikhlas means being able to make use of one’s conscience ultimately and not making concessions related to acting in compliance with one’s conscience even if he conflicts with his soul or encounters difficulties.

Therefore, a person who wants to obtain ikhlas should check whether he uses his conscience as it is necessary first. If he sometimes stops his conscience, does not heed its voice and acts in accordance with his soul deliberately, it means he does not use his conscience in compliance with the Quran.

"Nay, man will be evidence against himself, Even though he were to put up his excuses." (al-Qiyamah, 75/14-15)

What is more, as it is stated in the verses above, everybody knows that the voice that whispers to him is conscience and knows with what excuses he suppresses it.

7. Thinking about death is one of the most important means of obtaining ikhlas. Everybody in the world, without an exception, mentions or at least thinks about something: to live long and if possible not to die. Scientists have been researching seriously and trying to find a way of making man live longer. However, no improvement haven been made in those researches up to now. 

Many people view death through a wrong perspective; they regard it as an end where all of the beauties of the worldly live finish, man bids farewell to life permanently and goes under the ground to decay. However, this belief originates from the fact that they have not been able to understand Allah's existence and the purpose of their creation. Those people are not aware that the worldly life is only a testing that will determine their real life after death. They regard this world as real life and the hereafter as a deception. Therefore, they regard death, which ends worldly life and starts life in the hereafter, as an end.

Thus, 'death' is very scary for them and 'thinking about death' is very disturbing for them. They believe that they will not take pleasure from the world as necessary if they think about death and that this thought will make all pleasures bland and meaningless. They think they will be affiliated with the worldly life more and benefit from its pleasures more if they do not think about death or if they try to forget it.

However, the result will not change whether man thinks about death or not whether he remembers or forgets it:

"Say: ‘The Death from which ye flee will truly overtake you: then will ye be sent back to the Knower of things secret and open: and He will tell you (the truth of) the things that ye did.’" (al-Jumua, 62/8)

As the verse above reminds us, man will definitely face death. Then, what is reasonable is not to try to forget and ignore a fact that will definitely happen but to make preparations to face this fact.

If man leads a life that Allah will be pleased with, death will not harm that person. On the contrary, it will be a means of starting his endless and perfect life. If he has turned toward Allah with a sincere heart, death will not give him any pain no matter under which circumstances it takes place. Allah states in the Quran that the angels of death will remove the spirits of the believers softly without giving pain. It is also stated in the verses of the Quran that death is a painful incident only for deniers.  (an-Naziat, 79/1-2) Therefore, if a person is a believer and has ikhlas, death will not be a painful end for him.

On the other hand, to think about death is not something that pulls man away from the world as those people think; on the contrary, it is something that makes man take maximum pleasure from the boons of the world. For, man takes more pleasure when he understands that boons are ephemeral and temporary not when he is attached to them fully and regards them as lust. The Prophet expresses the importance of thinking about death as follows in a hadith:  

"Mention death a lot because this pulls man from the world and sins." (Tirmidhi, Zuhd 4, Qiyamah 26; Nasai, Janaiz 3)

Besides, death is not the end of life, boons or beauties as those people think. On the contrary, it is the beginning of real life; it is man’s transition to his real world where he will lead his endless life based on the preference he made in his worldly life. If he has understood Allah's greatness and led his life in His way, he will spend his endless life in beautiful gardens. However, if he has been deceived by worldly life and forgotten the day when he will be reckoned in the presence of Allah and the hereafter, his eternal place will be Hell. Trying not to think about death in his worldly life will not save him from encountering this fact. 

A person who can think about death with all these aspects knows that he can face death anywhere and that his life can end any time. This makes him act sincerely and to use his mind, conscience and means in every moment of his life. He acts based on the clear consciousness that he can be reckoned in the presence of his Lord soon and that he can be sent to Paradise and Hell any time. He spends his worldly life as if he has been to the hereafter and returned after seeing Paradise and Hell, with a belief and ikhlas that makes him sure that they are true and close. He spends every moment with a deep fear of Allah as if he is experiencing the moment when he will meet the angel of death who comes to take his soul, when his book of deeds is shown and when he waits for the decision of being sent to Paradise or Hell. He keeps in mind the closeness and horror of hellfire and acts by feeling the fear of being punished with hellfire eternally. He is also full of the enthusiasm of being saved from Hell and living in Paradise as a slave that is Allah’s friend eternally. He acts with the consciousness that expressing excuses like the following ones will be of no use when he is taken to the presence of Allah on the Day of Reckoning: "I did not know; I did not understand, I did not notice; I was heedless with other heedless people; I acted lazily; I was deceived by Satan; I though Allah would forgive me anyway; I worshipped and thought my worshipping would be enough..."

This consciousness becomes apparent with a strong conscience, a sharp power of understanding, a superior mind and an uninterrupted understanding of sincerity. A person who has this consciousness knows that he can die any moment; therefore, he does not postpone any charitable deeds; he does not act slackly and lazily regarding any issue. He thinks that his life may not be enough "to do something that he thinks he will do an hour later or tomorrow". He knows that he will regret in the hereafter for the deeds that he postponed or did not complete.

13 What is Worship and Why Are the People Held Responsible For It?
14 Why Perform Prayers?
15 When we advise some people to perform prayers, we receive a reply like this: Ignore prayers and look at my heart How True is That Answer?
16 What are the conditions for worship to be accepted by Allah?

There is only one condition for the worship to be accepted by Allah. It is sincerity. 

Sincerity is like the spirit of the worship that is performed.  Worship without sincerity is spiritless; it is only formality. It has no value in the eye of Allah. 

Sincerity in worship means to worship only because it is the order of Allah and it is a means of gaining the consent of Allah. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi expresses this issue as follows:

"Worship and servitude of God look to the Divine command and Divine pleasure. The reason for worship is the Divine command and its result is Divine pleasure. Its fruits and benefits look to the Hereafter."

If sincerity is used for a worldly interest and benefit, sincerity will disappear and that worship will be invalid; that is, it will not be accepted by Allah. 

In a hadith, the Prophet states the place of sincerity in the deeds and worship as follows:

"Doubtlessly, Allah accepts among deeds and worships only those that are performed sincerely for His own sake and consent."

17 What are the wisdoms behind performing prayers 5 times every day?

In the morning, man is in a state as if he has started a new life and has had the body vitality necessary for the daily activities to earn his living. It is Allah who gives him this vitality and who will make him successful in his efforts to earn his living. Therefore, man is bound to perform the morning prayer in order to thank Him for the bounty of health He has granted and in order to receive help from Him in his worldly efforts.

Every day, from the morning to the evening, man benefits from the bounties of life, health and mind that Allah has given him. Thanks to these bounties, he becomes successful in worldly affairs. The noon and afternoon prayers were rendered fard so that man would thank for the achievements he obtains and so that these activities would be prevented from putting the spirit into heedlessness and gloom.

The evening prayer was rendered fard so that daily activities and efforts that are about to finish as the evening approaches would be ended through a spiritual worship and so that it would be a sign of gratitude for the profits and benefits obtained that day.

After that, man will enter the realm of sleep. Before arriving at this realm, which is a sample of death and which is regarded as a period of peace and relaxation, ending the day with a sacred worship, to proceed to that realm with divine pleasure and a spiritual awakening and to beg Allah for pardoning and mercy will be a sign of a nice ending; therefore, the night prayer is performed.  

On the other hand, there are 5 different phases in the life of both people and the other beings around people: being born, growing up, stagnating, getting old and dying.  

Corresponding to those phases, our Creator ordered us to perform 5 daily prayers so that we will establish a nice balance between our material and spiritual existence and our efforts. We cannot thank Him enough because he ordered us to perform such a worship that is sacred, material and that contains so many benefits.

The wisdom behind the division of prayers into 5 times a day is not limited to what we have mentioned above.

The following explanation of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi clarifies the issue:  

"Just as the second-hand, minute-hand, hour-hand, and day-hand of a clock which tells the weeks look to one another, are examples of one another, and follow one another, so too the revolutions of day and night, which are like the seconds of this world - a vast clock of Almighty God - and the years which tell its minutes, and the stages of man's life-span which tell the hours, and the epochs of the world's life-span which tell the days look to one another, are examples of one another, are like one another, and recall one another.

For example:

The time of Fajr, the early morning: This time until sunrise resembles and calls to mind the early spring, the moment of conception in the mother's womb, and the first of the six days of the creation of the heavens and earth; it recalls the Divine acts present in them…"

18 How should we spend holy nights? What should we do in order to gain Allah's (SWT) content?

There are some important means of deserving forgiveness and intercession, earning thawabs, advancing in religion, being safe from troubles and problems and gaining Allah’s content, which can be –and necessary to be- applied in holy nights. It will be useful to remember some of them in short and with the list below in general: 

1. One should read the Quran and listen to the ones who read. There should be Quran-citing invitations held in appropriate places. The feelings of love, respect and loyalty for the words of Allah, i.e. the Quran should be renewed and strengthened.

2. One should send compliments (salawat) to the Prophet and renew his/her awareness of being one of his followers, and hope for his intercession.

3. One should perform qada and nafilah (supererogatory) prayers. If there are prayers exclusive to that night, they can be performed as well. Holy nights should be spent with prayers and with consciousness of kindness in prayers, in accordance with their essence.

4. One should meditate; “Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going to? What does Allah expect from me?” are the main issues which one should contemplate, besides other important matters.

4. One should make an account and revision of her/his past and outline the plan and program of the present and the future.

5. One should repent her/his sins sincerely and should regret and turn to the Lord, considering that night as the last chance.

6. One should perform invocations (dhikr) and supplications to Allah.

7. Believers should make amends with and forgive each other, and assure their content with others.

8. Resentful and offended people should be reconciled; people should be pleased, and sorrowful faces should be given a smile.

9. One should pray for the good of himself and for other Muslim brothers and sisters mentioning their names.

10. One should ask the news of those who have got rights over himself and the necessities of moral quality of fidelity and gratefulness should be fulfilled.

11. One should visit the poor, orphans, the sick and the elderly people and please them with love, compassion, respect, gifts and charity.

12. Verses, hadiths about that night and comments of them should be read from the books about them individually or in groups.

13. Religious meetings, panels and conversations should be organized, ;advices of preachers should be listened; poems should be recited and a different feeling should be evoked in hearts with religious songs and hymns.

14. Prayers of maghrib, isha’a and fajr should be performed in groups in mosques, at holy nights.

15. Tombs of the Companions, scholars and saints should be visited and they should be pleased, and supplications should be made to Allah in the spiritual atmosphere of their tombs.

16. One should visit their dead relatives’, friends’ and ancestors’ graves, which is a requirement of faith brotherhood.

17. One should wish their elderly people, masters, parents, friends and other acquaintances blessed holy nights, by visiting them in person or by phoning, faxing and e-mailing to them.

18. If possible, one should fast the day before the holy nights.

There is not an exclusive way of praying for holy nights. Holy nights can be spent with prayers (salat), reading the Quran, supplications and other kinds of worship… Some special prayers performed at holy nights are not present in sunnah; and they are not based on a notable narration either. Nevertheless, it does not mean that “it is makrooh to perform prayers at those nights”. There are many narrations encouraging tahajjud and nafilah prayers. Of course, it is more virtuous to perform them at holy nights.” (Canan, Kutub-u Sitte, 3/289).

Moreover, it is unobjectionable to perform prayers which are said to be exclusive to holy nights additionally; it makes one earn thawabs.

19 How can we avoid Looking at Harams? What is the Sin of Watching Haram things?

Allah Almighty says, "Nor come nigh to adultery!" in verse 32 of the chapter al-Isra. Acting upon the phrase ‘nor come nigh (near)’, Islamic scholars stated that all of the acts that could lead a person to adultery were forbidden. Looking at obscene pictures or videos can be regarded in this category. Therefore, it is not permissible to look at those kinds of pictures.

As one of our scholars says, all of the sins and moral deteriorations start with the look at obscene things; it develops with the insistence on the looks and then it turns into actual sin. Besides, the eyes take the pictures of the things they look at and store them in the archives of images. No matter where man goes and where he is, those pictures are in front of his eyes in the realm of the imagination.

It is not permissible to look since lustful feelings arouse from such looking.

“Moreover, the Qur'an compassionately commands women to wear a veil of modesty, so that they will be treated with respect and those mines of compassion will not be abased beneath the feet of low desires, and will not become like worthless goods for the excitement of lust. However, civilization has drawn women out of their homes, rent their veils, and corrupted mankind.” (The Words, p. 381)

One of the reasons that cause the corruption of the society is, as it is expressed above, the women’s going out of their homes and being incorporated in the community immoderately and becoming unimportant things although they are beings deserving respect. Thus, the women lost their self-respect and caused the members of the community to corrupt.

The duty of the Muslim becomes heavier and he needs to act more meticulously in order to preserve his belief in a time when obscenity prevails and when modesty and chastity are not given any importance. In our community, there is almost no place that women have not entered today. They are abundant in the shops, markets, ships, state offices, etc. Under these circumstances, a Muslim cannot leave the community and live in seclusion. However, he has to obey some principles due to his belief.

The relationship of a man with a non-mahram woman and the relationship of a woman with a non-mahram man are limited and subject to certain criteria. Our Lord commands believing men and women as follows:

“Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty...”(Surah an Nur, 24/30-31)

In those verses, believing men are definitely ordered not to look at non-mahram women and believing women are ordered not to look at non-mahram men.

What is the limit and content of that forbidden look?

The phrase “lower their gaze” in the verse does not mean to shut their eyes, bend their heads and walk like that. Besides, it is not possible to walk like that. A person naturally sees a man and a woman and looks at him or her. However, what is meant here is to look at the opposite sex with lust and having sexual feelings. The criterion for the look of lust is to look continuously, several times. We find out about that criterion from the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). He said the following to Hazrat Ali regarding the issue:

“O Ali! Do not turn round to look! The first look is all right but you have no right for the second look.”(Abu Dawud, Nikah: 43; Tirmidhi, Adab: 28)

When one sees someone from the opposite sex, one must not look at continuously but turn his/her head. Thus, one does not approach the limit of the look of lust. Generally, the door to fornication is opened through looks. Then, the other doors open one another. Thus, by preventing the looks, the door to fornication can be closed.

Fakhruddin Razi, reports the following sentence from the Torah:

“The look at haram sows the seed of lust in the heart. And lust causes deep sorrow in man.”

Each seed of sin that falls into the heart endangers the spiritual life of man if it finds an appropriate ground and germinates. As Dhunnun Misri, a great spiritualist (sufist) says, “To close the eyes to sins is the best way of protection.”

Our Prophet explains the state of a Muslim who tries to protect himself from haram as follows:

“If the beauty of a woman catches the eyes of a Muslim and he turns his eyes away from her, Allah Almighty grants that Muslim a kind of worshipping whose pleasure he will feel in his heart.”(Musnad, V/264)

As it is known, the parts of the body of a man that is haram (forbidden) to show to other men and non-mahram women are the parts between his navel and knees according to the opinion of the most of the scholars. The parts of the body of a woman that is haram to show non-mahram men are all of her body except her hands and face.

Accordingly, it is permissible for a woman to look at the parts of the body of a man except the parts between his navel and knees without lust and repetition. It is also permissible for a man to look at the hands and face of a woman without lust. However, if a man or woman looks at the above-mentioned parts with sexual pleasure, then it becomes forbidden.

A man can look at non-mahram woman in business life and in some obligatory situations. Fakhruddin Razi, the writer of at-Tafsir al-Kabir, lists those obligatory situations as follows in the interpretation of above-mentioned verse:

*A man can look at the face and hands of a woman he wants to marry. As a matter of fact, once, a man went to the Prophet and said he wanted to marry an Ansar woman, while Abu Hurayra was with the Prophet. Our Prophet asked him, “Did you look at that woman?” The man said, “No!..” Then, our Prophet said, “Go and look at her because there is something in the eyes of Ansar.” (Muslim, Nikah: 74)

In this regard, it is also mentioned that even a look of lust is permissible.

* In the court, it is permissible for the judge and the witnesses to look at a woman in order to identify and recognize her. Here, to do away with injustice and to realize justice is in question. (at-Tafsir al-Kabir, XXIII: 203)

The following sentences are present in al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya:

“It is permissible to look at the hands and face of a woman if a man feels free from sedition and lust.” (al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 5: 329)

In the book al-Muhadhdhab, the following is stated: “If it is obligatory, a tradesman can look at the open face of a woman. If he does not have a bad intention, he will not be responsible before Allah.” (al-Muhadhdhab, II: 34)

20 What does worship mean? Why do we worship?

Worship means to fulfill the orders of Allah, to keep away from His prohibitions, and to act in accordance with His consent. As for the issue why we worship: 

* First of all, we worship because it is the purpose of our creation because Allah created us, human beings, so that we would know Him, believe in Him and worship Him. 

This issue is stated as follows in the Quran:

"I have only created jinn and men, that they may serve Me." (adh-Dhariyat, 56)

As believers, we act in accordance with our purpose of creation stated in the verse and try to fulfill our duty of worshipping our Creator.

* Furthermore, we worship Allah to thank Him for so many bounties he gave us. 

We thank somebody who gives us a small gift several times; if we do not thank Allah, who gives us so many bounties and gifts, by worshipping, we will definitely have shown ingratitude. We try to fulfill our duty of worship faultlessly to avoid such ingratitude. 

Allah created us out of nothing, equipped us with thousands of feelings and organs, created everything that those feelings and organs need and he gave us humanity, belief and guidance along with life.  

It is stated in the Quran that the bounties of Allah are endless and that it is impossible to count them as follows:

"If ye would count up the favors of Allah, never would ye be able to number them: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (an-Nahl, 18).

What we need to do for endless bounties is to know and love God Almighty, who is the owner of those bounties, to show that we love Him by worshipping and to show Him our thanks and gratitude in return for the bounties He gives us.

* In fact, our worship and thanks are not sufficient at all for the bounties given to us in this world. As a matter of fact, Allah prepared greater bounties for us in Paradise if we believe in Him and worship Him and He promised us endless bliss in Paradise. In that case, the bounties that Allah promised us to give in the hereafter are completely His special favor, grace and grant. They are not given to us in return for our worship and thanks.

The Prophet explains this issue as follows:

"Your deeds (worship) cannot take you to Paradise. My deeds cannot take me to Paradise, either. It can be possible only through the mercy of Allah."

21 How should we spend holy nights? What should we do in order to gain Allah's (SWT) content?

There are some important means of deserving forgiveness and intercession, earning thawabs, advancing in religion, being safe from troubles and problems and gaining Allah’s content, which can be –and necessary to be- applied in holy nights. It will be useful to remember some of them in short and with the list below in general: 

1. One should read the Quran and listen to the ones who read. There should be Quran-citing invitations held in appropriate places. The feelings of love, respect and loyalty for the words of Allah, i.e. the Quran should be renewed and strengthened.

2. One should send compliments (salawat) to the Prophet and renew his/her awareness of being one of his followers, and hope for his intercession.

3. One should perform qada and nafilah (supererogatory) prayers. If there are prayers exclusive to that night, they can be performed as well. Holy nights should be spent with prayers and with consciousness of kindness in prayers, in accordance with their essence.

4. One should meditate; “Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going to? What does Allah expect from me?” are the main issues which one should contemplate, besides other important matters.

5. One should make an account and revision of her/his past and outline the plan and program of the present and the future.

6. One should repent her/his sins sincerely and should regret and turn to the Lord, considering that night as the last chance.

7. One should perform invocations (dhikr) and supplications to Allah.

8. Believers should make amends with and forgive each other, and assure their content with others.

9. Resentful and offended people should be reconciled; people should be pleased, and sorrowful faces should be given a smile.

10. One should pray for the good of himself and for other Muslim brothers and sisters mentioning their names.

11. One should ask the news of those who have got rights over himself and the necessities of moral quality of fidelity and gratefulness should be fulfilled.

12. One should visit the poor, orphans, the sick and the elderly people and please them with love, compassion, respect, gifts and charity.

13. Verses, hadiths about that night and comments of them should be read from the books about them individually or in groups.

14. Religious meetings, panels and conversations should be organized, ;advices of preachers should be listened; poems should be recited and a different feeling should be evoked in hearts with religious songs and hymns.

15. Prayers of maghrib, isha’a and fajr should be performed in groups in mosques, at holy nights.

16. Tombs of the Companions, scholars and saints should be visited and they should be pleased, and supplications should be made to Allah in the spiritual atmosphere of their tombs.

17. One should visit their dead relatives’, friends’ and ancestors’ graves, which is a requirement of faith brotherhood.

18. One should wish their elderly people, masters, parents, friends and other acquaintances blessed holy nights, by visiting them in person or by phoning, faxing and e-mailing to them.

19. If possible, one should fast the day before the holy nights.

There is not an exclusive way of praying for holy nights. Holy nights can be spent with prayers (salat), reading the Quran, supplications and other kinds of worship… Some special prayers performed at holy nights are not present in sunnah; and they are not based on a notable narration either. Nevertheless, it does not mean that “it is makrooh to perform prayers at those nights”. There are many narrations encouraging tahajjud and nafilah prayers. Of course, it is more virtuous to perform them at holy nights.” (Canan, Kutub-u Sitte, 3/289).

Moreover, it is unobjectionable to perform prayers which are said to be exclusive to holy nights additionally; it makes one earn thawabs.

22 When worship is mentioned, commands like performing prayers and fasting come to the mind. Does worship include only prayers and fasting?

No. Worship does not consist of the orders of the religion like daily prayers and fasting only. Everything, every act, word, deed, view and intention in accordance with the consent of Allah are regarded as worship. Both to obey the orders of Allah and to avoid His prohibitions are equally regarded as worship. Therefore, it is possible to divide worship into two:

1. Righteous deeds, 2. Taqwa.

Righteous deeds means to fulfill the orders of Allah like daily prayers, fasting, etc.

Taqwa means to avoid the things that Allah prohibits like alcohol, gambling and fornication.

23 Why do we worship in Arabic language? Why not in our own language?

When considered first, it seems more sensible for a believer to worship his Sustainer in his own language. But when contemplated throughly, there appears different outcomes:

First of all we need to make a distinction between prayer and prescribed prayer (salah). In prayers, a believer presents his needs and wishes to his Sustainer in any language he wants. This is a personal matter and has to do with a servant’s presenting his own needs and wishes to his Creator directly without a means. In prayer, everybody can ask Allah for anything in supplication in his own language.

The prescribed prayer is quite different from that. In the prescribed prayer, all Muslims regardless of languages and races gather together as if to form a single body and worship Him collectively. In this worship, like hearts, the language also needs to be in unison. What is more, worship must be performed in the way how Allah (SWT) ordered and how His Messenger (PBUH) described to.

If Islam were the religion of a particular region, race, or nation, no doubt only the language of this region, race, or nation could be used. But there are Muslims who live in various places of the world, of various races, and speaks different languages. In order for them to perform prescribed prayers and to say prayers in the same language, they need to be in agreement in the language of worship.

In international congresses and meetings, people speak an international language which everbody may understand rather than their own languages.

Another aspect of the issue is that: No translation can ever replace the original form. The Quran is the word of Allah (SWT) and has been revealed in the Arabic language. Just as the creatures that come from the attribute of Power of Allah cannot be imitated, so too the Holy Qur’an cannot be imitated either, which comes from His attribute of Speech. And the translation of the Qur’an is not exactly the Qur’an Itself. That each letter yields at leats ten merits is a Divine bounty to servants in exchange of repeating the words of Allah (SWT). For the translation of the Qur’an is no more the words of Allah (SWT), this significance disappears there. Man receives merits of not reading the Qur’an but of learning some things in terms of knowledge in the Qur’an.

Most of the words in prescribed prayers have also passed to our daily language. Most of Muslims know what Allah-u Akbar (Allah is most great), hamd (glorification to Allah), Rabb-ul Alemin (Allah of all beings), Ahad (The One), Samed (The Only) mean.         

Although we learn by heart some foreign words such as inflation, deflation, economy, foreign exchange, could we ever be justified in not learning a few words which are vital for worship?

24 How appropriate is it to say, "Allah will forgive" and not to worship?

Worshipping is a kind of thanking the Lord in return for the boons He gives us. Man should be conscious of it whether Paradise and Hell exist or not.

The reason why we perform worshipping is that it is Allah's order. We should not worship in order to go to Paradise or to escape from Hell.

Every believer knows that he performs prayers for Allah. He stands in the presence of his Lord five times a day.

The following statement of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi will clarify the issue:  

"I neither care for Paradise nor fear Hell."

To know that Allah's order is superior to everything will place the love of worshipping in our hearts.

Allah states the following in the Quran:

"I have only created jinn and men, that they may serve Me."(adh-Dhariyat, 51/56)

Every deed has a purpose. The reason why this universe was created and arranged is to give humans and jinn the duty of "worshipping Allah". Everybody who has consciousness and will needs to know and worship Allah. This is, so to speak, the divine purpose for the creation of things by Allah.

Worshipping means to fulfill the orders of God Almighty and to represent the responsibilities of being a slave of Allah. Servitude is interpreted as having the consciousness of a slave.

The religious meaning of worshipping is fulfilling the orders of Allah through a sincere intention, expecting to get rewards and thinking about being close to Allah. When we use the word worshipping, we mean both worshipping and being close to Allah. If we think of the fact that jinn and humans were created only to worship Allah, we can say that worshipping means obeying and fulfilling all of the orders Allah.  

According to a widespread belief among people, worshipping consists of only prayers, fasting, zakah and hajj. Such a belief is sound but to restrict the scope of worshipping in terms of form and number will cause fruitlessness in terms of understanding. In fact, five principles that are regarded as the pillars of Islam can be accepted as a summary and basic principles of worshipping. When we expand them and take the other forms of worshipping into consideration, we will see that the whole religion of Islam appears.

Worshipping, which consists of man's turning toward Allah with all of his self, feelings, all of his inner and outer faculties, mental faculties, head and tongue, is a systematic way of acting. It is not possible to interpret worshipping as 'adoring/idolizing' since it encompasses all of the meanings above. Adoring and idolizing consist of a simple orientation and deeds done without a system that lacks real consciousness and intention. Idolaters' bowing down before some deities except Allah, living and non-living beings that they accept as mediators between themselves and Allah, adoring some objects can be called adoring and idolizing but not worshipping. For, worshipping is peculiar to Allah Almighty. Yes, only Him can we worship.

Servitude Exists in the Nature of Man

Religion is seen all the time and everywhere in the history of humanity no matter what it is called, how it is and how it is described. Religion has some common properties. They are belief, worshipping and community. That is, religion is a fact of man and community. Religion exists wherever man exists. However, religion is not only a belief or a system of beliefs. Worshipping is a very important and inseparable property of the religion.

Yes, servitude exists in the nature of man. When Allah created man, He created him with a nature suitable for being a servant of Allah. However, man often used this nature in bad and wrong ways. He transformed the beings like stones, trees, stars, the moon and the sun, which cannot be worshipped and which are weak creatures of Allah, into partners of Allah. When man could not find the real God, he invented some so-called gods and surrendered to them, which is a deviation from his natural state.    

Belief consists of proclaiming Islam through the tongue and confirming it through the heart. However, it is necessary to strengthen and support belief by deeds in order to get the desired result. Some people's words like, "what matters is the cleanliness of the heart; worshipping is not so important" serves to destroy the indications (principles) of the religion.

Human life becomes significant as the duty of worshipping Allah is fulfilled. The deeds of worshipping that Allah orders us to perform serve to maintain our humane feelings and improve them. Man consists of both a body and a spirit; so, harmonious improvement and balanced development necessitate that man show attention toward and take care of both aspects of his personality equally. 

According to the Quran, all beings worship. This fact is expressed as follows in the Quran:

"…There not a thing but celebrates His praise..." (al-Isra, 17/44)

The Quran also states that lengthening and shortening is a kind of worshipping peculiar to shadow. Prostration is a deed of worshipping by plants and their branches. Stars, mountains, birds, animals and many more creatures worship Lord in a way peculiar to them. Even the thunder glorifies Allah by praising Him.

Man, who has a distinguished place in the universe and who is equipped with the mind, thought and superior abilities, was created for a lofty purpose.This purpose is to know Allah and to worship Him.

Benefits of Worshipping:

Worshipping is performed only to fulfill the order of Allah and to attain His consent. The worshipping that is accepted by Allah is the worshipping that is performed sincerely, without having any interests in mind.  

Sincerity is regarded as the spirit of worshipping. Worshipping without sincerity is something without a spirit. It has no value in the eye of Allah. Sincerity in worshipping means to perform it just because it is the order of Allah and it serves to attain the consent of Allah.

If a deed of worshipping is performed for a worldly benefit and advantage, its sincerity disappears and that deed of worshipping becomes invalid; that is, it is not accepted by Allah. However, it is certain that there are many wisdoms and material and spiritual benefits for us in the orders of our Lord.

Just as our body needs food so too does our spirit need food. The most important food of the spirit is a strong belief and worshipping. Worshipping serves to strengthen our belief and develop us ethically. The fruit of the tree of belief that is fed by worshipping is high ethics.

The light of belief shines in the heart of a person who keeps worshipping. Fear of Allah and the feeling of responsibility settle in his heart. Thanks to worshipping, our inner body becomes free of bad ideas and our outer body becomes free of the impurity of sins. Besides, when a Muslims performs financial worshipping (like giving alms), he is loved by others. 

We need to eat and drink as long as we live; similarly, we need worshipping and spiritual food until we die. Allah states the following in the Quran:

"And serve thy Lord until there come unto thee the Hour that is Certain." (al-Hijr, 15/99)

Thanks to worshipping, a believer gets rid of the material bonds of the world and elevates spiritually; the bright way of the land of bliss opens for him after the obstacles are removed.

Worshipping, which is the indication of our belief and the food of our spirit, strengthens our belief and makes us mature believers with ethics and merits by freeing our inner bodies from bad thoughts and our outer bodies from the impurity of sins. Thus, it becomes a means of making us attain peace in the world, save from punishment in the hereafter and have an eternal and happy life in Paradise, which is the land of endless bliss.    

The other benefits of worshipping for the individual and society are as follows:

1. Knowledge and decrees about belief and creed settle in man only through worshipping.

2. Worshipping plays an important role in the arrangement of individual life. 

3. Worshipping plays an important role in binding individuals together and ensuring peace and harmony in society.

4. Worshipping has a positive effect on man's moral life and spiritual realm.

5. Worshipping is the greatest means of attaining personal perfection and maturity.

In addition, worshipping leads to happiness in the world and the hereafter along with being a high relation and an honorable bond between the Creator and His slaves. Fire and melting pot cause the gold in the soil to be distinguished; similarly, the world and worshipping help man attain Paradise. Yes, since man cannot change the road opened by wisdom, he needs to fulfill this very difficult and holy duty truly to deserve Paradise. In other words, the only way to deserve Paradise is worshipping and being a slave of Allah. For, worshipping makes man pure and liable for Paradise.

Form of Worshipping

No being in the universe was created without any purpose; no living being was left without a guide. Allah, who does not leave ants without a prince, bees without a queen, fish and birds without a guide, will definitely not leave human beings without prophets.  Human beings can find Allah by looking at the incidents taking place in the universe and using their minds but they cannot know the purpose of their creation, where they come from and there they are going to and the forms of worshipping without prophets. Therefore, they do not perform worshipping randomly or without a system but based on a system and rules that they learn from their prophets; they present their respect and worshipping to God with awe and reverence.  

Yes, worshipping means belief in Allah and knowledge about His divine personality, the arrangement and formulation of the things that need to be done with the love and admiration coming from this knowledge through the indication and guidance of God Almighty in accordance with His orders. That is, it is necessary to act and worship as it is required under the guidance of the Lord's clear verses and in the light of the lights emitted by the Prophet (pbuh) so as not to do anything wrong or inappropriate.

What are essential in man's relationship with his Lord are meaning, essence and spirit. However, what convey them are words, forms and molds. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to those words and molds. Those forms should convey the essential meanings. Therefore, it cannot be said that molds and forms have no meaning. 

It is necessary to be balanced, moderate and to act in accordance with the criteria imposed by Allah while worshipping Him along with intention. The Messenger of Allah said,

"There are so many people standing while performing prayers that what they earn by it is nothing but tiredness; there are so many people who perform fasting that what they earn by it is nothing but hunger and thirst."

That is, the heart needs to turn to Allah. Zakah or sadaqah given without thinking of Him is nothing but wasting, and as the Quran puts it, becoming friends with Satan. To enjoin what is good and to forbid what is evil without having Him as a purpose in one's mind means to do dialectic and to deceive people by being engaged in demagoguery. Jihad without having Him as a purpose means show off, and wasting wealth and time. That is, the purpose of the spirit of worshipping needs to be the Creator; the servant needs to turn toward the Creator and worship Him.

In Islam, the scope of worshipping is wide. In Islam, worshipping does not consist of performing prayers and dhikr only. Every deed that is done in order to attain the consent of the Lord and to fulfill His orders is regarded as worshipping. For instance, a person can transform eating and drinking into worshipping as follows: If a person intends to eat, drink and travel by finding it sufficient to eat halal food and drink halal beverages, avoiding haram and fulfilling the orders of Allah, his deeds will be regarded as worshipping. A person who eats and drinks with this intention and becomes strong becomes the addressee of the following hadith of the Prophet (pbuh):

"A strong (due to worshipping properly) believer is better than a weak believer and he is more beloved in the eye of Allah." (Muslim, Qadar, 34; Ibn Majah, Muqaddima, 10; Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 2:366)

When the deeds that the soul likes and takes pleasure from are done with such sincere intentions, they are regarded as worshipping and become means of getting thawabs (rewards). The servant takes pleasure from what he does and feels happy but he approaches Allah with every deed that he does because his intention is to attain the consent of Allah. Acting upon this fact, the fiqh scholars say, "A righteous intention transforms habitual deeds into worshipping."

Worshipping is classified as follows based on will, determination, intention and sincerity:

a. Worshipping performed with the desire of Paradise.

b. Worshipping performed due to the fear of Hell. 

c.Worshipping performed with the feeling of awe, fear of Allah and love.

d. Worshipping performed as a necessity of the relationship of the Lord and the slave,  the Creator and the creature.

No matter how it is performed, worshipping (servitude) is the color of man's honor and the greatest rank granted to him. There is no rank and position higher than worshipping (servitude).

The Privilege of the Religion of Islam in Worshipping

According to some religions, worshipping means to leave all of the pleasures of the world aside and live in seclusion (like the life of monks and nuns living in a monastery). In another religion, worshipping can be performed only in some special places of their temples. According to some other religions, worshipping can be performed only under the under the leadership of some clergymen. The people cannot worship alone and in congregation without the guidance of the clergymen.  

In Islam, worshipping is free from intermediaries between Allah and His slaves. Man can apply to his Lord directly. In Islam, the clergy are not intermediaries between Allah and His slaves; the belief that worshipping can be accepted only through the mediation of the clergy only does not exist in Islam. In the eye of Allah, scholars, the clergy and ordinary people are equal in terms of worshipping. Superiority is based on taqwa (fear of Allah).  

Islam has freed worshipping from the hands of the intermediaries and from the obligation of being performed in certain places. Every place, whether it is a mosque, a ship in the middle of the sea or a house, is suitable for worshipping as long as they are clean. Man can contact Allah by worshipping anywhere. The Messenger of Allah stated the following:

"The earth was made a mosque and a cleaner for me." (Bukhari, Tayammum, 1; Muslim, Masajid, 3)

That is, a person can perform prayers anywhere and he can use the earth (soil) to make tayammum instead of wudu and ghusl when there is no water.

The Relationship between Belief and Deeds

The principles that need to be believed in Islam do not consist of some abstract ideas only. The principles that need to be believed in Islam are some vital values that need to be done, thought, believed, internalized and used in order to reach Allah with submission.  These vital values become deepened by meditation and dhikr, are fed by worshipping; deeds and manners are also included in this framework so that individual and human thoughts will not affect them. Thus, a believer is in a relationship with the circle of belief all the time and he turns around the main axis of belief.    

According to Ahl as-Sunnah, worshipping is not a part of belief. Deeds are not a part of belief. This principle is a general decree. That is, if a man does not do any deeds and does not worship at all, he will not exit belief. However, it is necessary for him not to deny any worshipping and accept that all kinds of worshipping are true.

As it is seen, there is a difference between believing and doing. However, this is the last boundary. In fact, there is a close relationship between belief and deeds. A person can be treated as a Muslim based on his worshipping only. As it is known, the application of some decrees among the Muslims who live in a community is based on the lifestyles of individuals since the religion decides based on the outward appearance. A person who does not show any signs of being a Muslim will definitely not be treated as a Muslim. Besides, the real benefit of worshipping is to protect and improve the belief that exists. For, belief consists ofproclaiming Islam through the tongue and confirming it through the heart. It is a source of infinite power and strength. However, it is necessary to strengthen and support belief with deeds in order to obtain the fruits and results that are desired. Therefore, the following statement of some people means nothing but demolishing the signs and principles of the religion: "The cleanliness of the heart and intentions are important in religion. Worshipping like prayers and fasting are not so important; there is no harm in abandoning them." For, if this idea is accepted, any denier can claim that he is a distinguished believer.

Besides, though some people who lived in this age and who vulgarized the issue said, "My heart is clean and I believe in Allah" without worshipping, everybody saw that they fell into Hell. Yes, belief needs to be strengthened by prayers, hajj, jihad and other types of worshipping. 

Only worshipping can transform decrees related to creed and belief into faculties by strengthening and maintaining them. Yes, if decrees related to belief, which are involved with conscience and mind, are not trained and strengthened by worshipping, which consists of fulfilling Allah's orders and keeping away from what He prohibits, its results and effects will be weak. The current situation of the Islamic world is evidence for it.  

It is necessary for a believer to strengthen his belief with deeds sooner or later.

Islam has two aspects: belief and deeds. They are indispensible parts of Islam. Belief, or creed as it is mentioned in the Islamic literature, means to believe in all of the things in the system of Islam like Allah, Hz. Muhammad (pbuh), the Quran and the hereafter in a way that excludes the opposite possibilities. 

As for deeds, or as the Quran puts it "amal salih (righteous deeds)", that is, complete, flawless, impeccable deeds, it is the second important element of Islam after belief.For instance, worshipping is an indispensible part of it.

Since man cannot change the road opened by wisdom, he needs to fulfill this very difficult and holy duty truly to deserve Paradise. In other words, the only way to deserve Paradise is worshipping and being a slave of Allah. For, worshipping makes man pure and liable for Paradise.

Deeds of worshipping are in a way like the blockage of the issues related to creed and in another like faculties that improve them. For, if worshipping is not performed and if religion is kept in the conscience only by acting upon a common view today, deviation and destruction - God forbid - and consequently losing the worldly and otherworldly life will be inevitable. Yes, man can be protected from various deviations and his belief can be maintained only through worshipping.    

Mancan believe in Allah as a result of scientific research but it will be a theoretical belief. It can be transformed into real belief and elevated to the desired level only through worshipping. From this point of view, it can be said that it is always possible for a person who has not made worshipping a part of his nature and who has not deepened in it to deviate and go astray. Acting upon this fact, we can say that those who say, "I believe in Allah but I drink alcohol or I cannot perform prayers" lack one of the bonds that protect them. Yes, if those people are sincere in their words, they need to support their belief with deeds and be loyal slaves at the door of God Almighty with their deeds of worshipping so that they will be real believers.

Consequently, it can be said that worshipping is necessary for belief to remain fresh in the hearts and not to wither. Belief can remain new without withering only through worshipping. Otherwise, it is unknown whether the belief of a person who does not worship can last until he dies.

25 What are the signs showing that our worship is accepted?

There is no definite decree regarding the issue. However, there are some signs of it. They are as follows: a person sees himself away from sins; he feels that the joy in his heart lessens; he feels the power of Allah Almighty on everything that he looks at; he approaches good people and moves away from bad people; he regards very few worldly things as a lot and a lot of deeds for the hereafter as very few; he keeps his heart busy with what Allah rendered fard; he controls his tongue; he always thinks; he always regrets about the bad things he did.

A person who performs worshipping as much as he can should not think about whether his worshipping is accepted or not; he should think about his duties.

26 Is there sajdah ash-shukr (thanking)? How is it performed?

Shukr (thanking) means to know the one who gives boons and to praise him. Sajdah ash-shukr is a sajdah performed by turning toward the qiblah and uttering takbir like sajdah at-tilawah due to attaining a boon or being saved from a trouble or misfortune.  

According to a narration from Abu Bakra,

"Hz. Prophet (pbuh) would prostrate whenever he received some good news or when he was given a glad tiding."

Sajdah ash-shukr is mustahab. However, it is makruh to perform it after a prayer. For, those who do not know what it is about may think that it is a part of the prayer. All kinds of permissible deeds that can lead people to misunderstand become makruh.

It is necessary forsajdah ash-shukr to be performed outside makruh times. (Ibn Abidin, Raddul-Muhtar, Egypt n.d., I, 344, 731;ash-Shurunbulali, az-Zubab, p. 85 ff.)

27 Since the Kaaba is the first house built for worshipping, why did Masjid al-Aqsa become the qiblah in the first years of Islam?

Answer 1:

The Kaaba is a rectangular building made of stone in the middle of Masjid al-Haram in Makkah; it is 13 meters high, 12 meters long and 11 meters wide. The Kaaba, which is the reason for hajj and the qiblah of all Muslims, is the first holy temple built in the world. It is also called Baytullah and Bayt al-Atiq. The following is stated in the Quran:

"The first House (of worship) appointed for men was that at Bakka: Full of blessing and of guidance for all kinds of beings." (Aal-i Imran, 3/96)

Answering the questions of Abu Dharr, the Prophet (pbuh) said the first mosque built in the world was "Masjid al-Haram", the second one was "Masjid al-Aqsa" and that there were forty years between them. (Bukhari, Anbiya. 10)

The verse and hadith above show clearly that the first mosque built in the world was the Kaaba.

It is Allah who orders us where to turn when we worship. It is also a deed of worship to turn to the direction He orders. Therefore, if He orders us to turn to the Kaaba, the Kaaba becomes the qiblah; if He orders us to turn to Masjid al-Aqsa, Masjid al-Aqsa becomes the qiblah. As a matter of fact, the Prophet (pbuh) performed prayers by turning to both of them.

Thus, Allah determined both the Kaaba and Masjid al-Aqsa as the qiblah. It is necessary to turn to the one that He orders. He ordered some ummahs to turn to the Kaaba while he ordered others to turn to Masjid al-Aqsa.

Answer 2:

The principles of belief conveyed to people by all prophets, from Hz. Adam to Hz. Muhammad (pbuh), are the same. It is a common quality of all of the true religions that the prophets conveyed to people. No prophet changed the principles of belief, nor did they make any additions. Hz. Muhammad (pbuh), the last prophet, called people to believe in the same principles as Hz. Adam did.  

There is no difference among heavenly religions in terms of principles of belief; there is no difference in terms of basic deeds of worship either.

Similarly, prayer, which is like the pillar of the religion, is a deed of worship rendered fard for all prophets and their ummahs. The difference is related to the number of times and rak'ahs. For instance, prayer was rendered fard fifty times a day for the ummah of Hz. Musa (Moses). It was rendered fard for us five times a day but we receive the thawabs of fifty times a day.  

It is stated in the Quran itself that payer was ordered to the previous ummahs too. For instance, it is stated in a verse that Hz. Ibrahim preformed prayers regularly and that he wanted his offspring to perform prayers too:

"O my Lord! Make me one who establishes regular Prayer, and also (raise such) among my offspring O our Lord! And accept Thou my Prayer." (Ibrahim, 14/40)

Hz. Musa was also ordered to perform prayers. It is stated in verse 12 of the chapter of al-Maida that Sons of Israel were made promise definitely that they would perform prayers. 

Hz. Shuayb performed prayers a lot. They even tried to insult him because of it. It is expressed in the Quran as follows:

"They said: ‘O Shu´aib! Does thy (religion of) prayer command thee that we leave off the worship which our fathers practised, or that we leave off doing what we like with our property?...’" (Hud, 11/87)

It is also stated in the Quran that Hz. Ishaq, Hz. Yaqub, Hz. Zakariyyya and Hz. Isa performed prayers.

On the other hand, fasting and zakah are not deeds of worship peculiar to the ummah of Muhammad (pbuh). As a matter of fact, it is stated in the Quran that they were rendered fard to other ummahs too. The following is stated in verse 183 of the chapter of al-Baqara:

"O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint."

Yes, prayer, fasting, zakah and many other deeds of worship existed in the shari’ahs of the other prophets too. However, the Jews and Christians abandoned or changed those deeds of worship. Then, instead of saying, "Muslims took prayer from Jews", it is more appropriate to say, "Allah Almighty ordered prayer to Jews and other ummahs too."

Answer 3:

Masjid al-Aqsa

Qasimi, who is a famous tafsir scholar, makes the following explanation about the name Masjid al-Aqsa: The word Aqsa means “the farthest". Masjid al-Aqsa was given this name because of its distance from Makkah.

According to the narrations in tafsir books and historical records, Masjid al-Aqsa was first built by Hz. Sulayman. According to a sound narration included in the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim, Abu Dharr said,

"I asked the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) what the first mosque placed on earth was. He said, "Masjid al-Haram." I asked, "What is the next one?" He said, "Masjid al-Aqsa."

Masjid al-Aqsa has an important place in both Islam and the other heavenly religions. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) states the following in a hadith: 

"Do not set out on a journey but for the three mosques; this mosque of mine, Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Aqsa." (Muslim, Kitabul-Hajj, 15/415, 511, 512)

What is meant by journey here is a special journey with the intention of worshipping. Masjid al-Aqsa is regarded as the third haram mosques due to this hadith.  

One of the reasons for the exceptional place of Masjid al-Aqsa in Islam is that it was the place of Isra and Miraj for the Prophet (pbuh). Allah Almighty states the following in the first verse of the chapter of al-Isra by mentioning the blessed name of Masjid al-Aqsa:

"Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things)."

As it can be noticed, the phrase "whose precincts We did bless" is used for Masjid al-Aqsa. The precincts of Masjid al-Aqsa are Quds (Jerusalem) and the other land of Palestine.

When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was elevated to the sky, there was not a mosque like the one today in Quds. However, there were ruins of Masjid al-Aqsa, which was built by Hz. Sulayman and which was demolished and rebuilt later. It was called Bayt al-Maqdis. That was the place that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) visited. The phrase Bayt al-Maqdis is used for Quds in some historical resources.

When the phrase "Masjid al-Aqsa" is explained in the tafsir of Qadi Baydawi, the following is stated: "What is meant by it is Bayt al-Maqdis because there was not a mosque there at that time." We see the same statement in the tafsirs of Nasafi and Hazin. The tafsir reported from Ibn Abbas is like that too. The following explanation is made in the tafsir of Elmalılı Hamdi Yazir about the phrase "Masjid al-Aqsa":

"Masjid al-Aqsa is Bayt al-Maqdis in Quds. As a matter of fact, the following is stated in the hadith of Isra: 'I mounted Buraq. I arrived at Bayt al-Maqdis.' Its precincts means Quds and the places around it." (For the hadith of Isra mentioned here, see Bukhari, Bad'ul-Khalq, 6; Muslim, Iman, 259, 264; Nasai, Salat, 10; Tirmidhi, Tafsiru Suratil-Isra 2, 17; Ahmad b. Hanbal narrated it in III/148, IV/208, V/387, 392, 394.)

The following is stated in the tafsir of the first verse of the chapter of al-Isra in Fi Zilalil-Quran:

"... Masjid al-Aqsa forms one end of this journey, which took place between two definite places. Masjid al-Aqsa is a place that is regarded as the heart of the holy land. Allah settled Sons of Israel there for a while and then expelled them."

The following is stated in the tafsir called Hulasatu'l-Beyan by Konyalı Mehmed Vehbi Efendi:

"What is meant by Masjid al-Aqsa in the verse is Bayt al-Muqaddas. It is called aqsa because it is far away from Makkah. The precincts of Masjid al-Aqsa are full of orchards and all kinds of boons; therefore, it is blessed in terms of both worldly boons and religion. For, Bayt al-Muqaddas is a residence of prophets, place of divine revelation and temple of righteous people. Allah Almighty declared it blessed because the miracles of most of the prophets and strange incidents took place there. Therefore, it deserves to be called blessed materially and spiritually."

Mawdudi states in his tafsir book called Tafhim al-Quran that the temple mentioned in the verse is Masjid al-Aqsa in Quds.

Sabuni states the following in the tafsir of the same phrase in his book called Safwatut-Tafasir:

"That is, Glory to Allah, who took him from Makkah to Quds. Since the distance between Masjid al-Aqsa and Masjid al-Haram is big, the mosque in Quds is called Masjid al-Aqsa."

It is stated also in this tafsir that the precincts of Masjid al-Aqsa were made blessed both materially and spiritually.

In some places of the Quran, Masjid al-Aqsa is meant without its name being mentioned. For instance, Allah Almighty states the following in verse 11 of the chapter of Maryam:

"So Zakariyya came out to his people from him chamber: He told them by signs to celebrate Allah´s praises in the morning and in the evening."

The mosque mentioned here is Masjid al-Aqsa, that is, Bayt al-Maqdis. The following is stated in verse 37 of the chapter of Aal-i Imran:

"Right graciously did her Lord accept her: He made her grow in purity and beauty: To the care of Zakariyya was she assigned. Every time that he entered (Her) chamber to see her, He found her supplied with sustenance. He said: ‘O Mary! Whence (comes) this to you?’ She said: ‘From Allah: for Allah Provides sustenance to whom He pleases without measure.’"

The temple mentioned here is the same mosque. The following is stated in verse 39 of the same chapter:

"While he was standing in prayer in the chamber, the angels called unto him: ‘Allah doth give thee glad tidings of Yahya, witnessing the truth of a Word from Allah, and (be besides) noble, chaste, and a prophet,- of the (goodly) company of the righteous.’"

The place that is meant by the word chamber (mihrab) in this verse is Masjid al-Aqsa.

All of those verses show that there was a temple, that is, the old form of Masjid al-Aqsa, there when Hz. Zakariyya, his son Hz. Yahya, Hz. Maryam and her son Hz. Isa lived. That temple is the temple called Bayt al-Maqdis.

There are many hadiths about the virtue and importance of Masjid al-Aqsa. We quoted the most famous one above. According to a hadith reported from Abdullah Ibn Umar by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Nasai and Hakim, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated the following:

"Whilst Sulayman was rebuilding Masjid al-Aqsa, he asked three things from his Lord. His Lord gave him two of them. I hope that He gave the third one too. He wanted his judgment to be in harmony with Allah’s judgment. His Lord granted it. He asked for a kingdom that no one before or after him would have. His Lord granted it too. Finally, he asked Allah to forgive the sins of any person who visits Masjid Al-Aqsa and to make that person as pure as the day he or she was born. We hope Allah granted him this too."

According to what is stated in a hadith, Maymuna, the female slave of the Messenger of Allah, asked, “O Messenger of Allah! Tell us the legal injunction about visiting Masjid al-Aqsa.” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “Go there and pray in it.” The narrator of the hadith said, “It was dar al-harb then. That is, it was under the domination of non-Muslims.” The Messenger of Allah added, “If you cannot visit it and pray there, send some olive oil to be used in the lamps.” (Abu Dawud, Kitabus-Salat, 14)

Olive oil is a symbol here. What is desired to do is to give importance to Quds and Masjid al-Aqsa, to try to enable Muslims to capture them as believers who are the real owners of Hz. Ibrahim’s hanif religion and to support the works done with the intention of preserving the identity of those blessed places fitting the religion of oneness.  

The most virtuous places in the world are mosques and the most virtuous mosques are Masjid al-Haram, Masjid an-Nabawi and Masjid al-Aqsa. It is stated in hadiths that the prayers performed in these three mosques are more virtuous than the prayers performed in other mosques. The following is stated in a hadith narrated by   Ibn Majah:

"A man’s prayer in his house is equal in reward to one prayer; his prayer in the mosque of his neighborhood is equal to twenty-five prayers; his prayer in the mosque in which Friday prayer is offered is equal to five hundred prayers; his prayer in Masjid al-Aqsa is equal to fifty thousand prayers; his prayer in my mosque is equal to fifty thousand prayers; and his prayer in Masjid al-Haram is equal to one hundred thousand prayers."(Ibn Majah, Iqamatus-Sala was-Sunna fiha, 5/198)

However, it is stated in az-Zawaid that the chain of narrators of this hadith is weak. Ibn Hibban states that a narration that will confirm this hadith is necessary for this hadith to be accepted as evidence. We do not know about another narration that will confirm those figures in this narration but there are other hadiths stating that prayers performed in those three mosques are much more virtuous than those performed in other mosques. Therefore, those figures might have been expressed in order to attract attention to the fact that there is a great difference of thawabs between prayers in those mosques and other mosques, not to express how many times more virtuous.  

As it is known, Masjid al-Aqsa is also the first qiblah of Muslims. Due to this fact, it has a different importance in Islam. According to what Bukhari and Muslim report, el-Bara Ibn Azib said,

"The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performed prayers by turning toward Bayt al-Maqdis (Masjid al-Aqsa) for sixteen or seventeen months. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) wanted to turn toward the Kaaba in prayer. Allah Almighty sent down the following verse: " We see the turning of thy face (for guidance to the heavens: now Shall We turn thee to a Qibla that shall please thee. Turn then Thy face in the direction of the sacred Mosque: Wherever ye are, turn your faces in that direction." (al-Baqara, 2/144)

Many other hadiths confirming this one were narrated.

Masjid al-Aqsa is also one of the divine signs of Allah on the earth. The phrase "in order that We might show him some of Our Signs" quoted above in the verse related to Miraj about the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) being taken to Masjid al-Aqsa indicates it. If Allah had wished, He could have elevated the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to Miraj from Masjid al-Haram. However, he was taken to Masjid al-Aqsa first so that some divine signs would be shown to him. Then, he was elevated to Miraj. Thus, it is one of the divine signs of Allah on the earth. Therefore, those who need to take care of Masjid al-Aqsa are Muslims. 

History of Masjid al-Aqsa

According to what is understood from historical resources, the first person to build Masjid al-Aqsa was Hz. Sulayman. The information given about the interpretation of verse 14 of the chapter of Saba indicates this. The following is stated in this verse:

"Then, when We decreed (Solomon´s) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down, the Jinn saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating Penalty (of their Task)."

The following information is given in the interpretation of this verse: Sulayman made use of jinn in the construction of Masjid al-Aqsa. Jinn did the hard work that people could not do in the construction. However, one day Hz. Sulayman died leaning on his staff in mihrab while worshipping. Jinn thought he was worshipping and continued working. Finally, a moth gnawed away the staff from the inside and his dead body fell on the floor when the staff was broken. Thus, they realized that he was dead.

It is stated in some historical resources that Quds (Jerusalem) was destroyed in 70 AD and that Bayt al-Maqdis was also demolished then. However, that place was still known as a worshipping place and the ruins of Bayt al-Maqdis were kept. The wall that is called the "Wailing Wall" by Jews and "Buraq Wall" by Muslims is a remnant of the old temple. In 638 AD, Masjid al-Aqsa was built in the place of Bayt al-Maqdis after Quds was conquered during the caliphate of Hz. Umar. The reason why Hz. Umar built the mosque there was the holiness and importance of that place. Masjid al-Aqsa was expanded during the caliphate of Abdulmalik bin Marwan, who was an Umayyad caliph. The temple that is next to Masjid al-Aqsa and that has eight corners and called Qubbatus-Sahra was built upon the order of Abdulmalik bin Marwan.

28 Can thawabs (rewards) be eliminated like sins?

There are some cases in which rewards are eliminated. For instance,

"Backbiting and being jealous of others eliminate good deeds. Beware being jealous of others. Know it very well that jealousy eliminates good deeds just as fire eliminates wood." (Hadith, Mishkat)

“Belief and jealousy do not exist together in the heart of a person.”(Nasai, Jihad, 8)

“Jealousy eliminates good deeds just as fire eliminates wood.” (Abu Dawud, Adab, 44; Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 22)

29 What is the best dhikr in the eye of Allah?

The best dhikr means to believe in Allah, to mention Him and to remember Him.

Mentioning: remembering, memorizing, recalling. The words used for praising and praying are also called dhikr. Some scholars defined dhikr as all kinds of deeds that gain man thawabs.

The Quran calls prayer (salah), which is the most comprehensive worshipping, dhikr. A believer who performs prayers mentions Allah. This dhikr starts with wudu. A person who makes preparations with the consciousness of going into the presence of Allah in the way that His beloved prophet teaches remembers and mentions Allah.

When he turns toward the Kaaba, he makes dhikr. Intention and takbir are dhikrs. Dhikr continues when he glorifies and praises Allah and when he says there is no god but Allah. A believer who performs a prayer thinks about the meaning of the verses he reads. His heart enters from state to state based on the chapters he reads.

Dhikr with the tongue exists in prayer in the form of qira’ah. Dhikr with the heart exists in prayer in the form of meditation, awe, hope and love.

Man consists of a body and a spirit; similarly, the realm consists of the visible and invisible realms. Man’s essence comes from this realm; therefore, the dhikr he makes with his body represents the dhikr of the universe.

All of the sounds in this universe, from the thunder to the lightning, from the swishing of the leaves to the tweeting of the birds, are a kind of qira’ah. They make us hear what Allah Almighty makes them say. When we read the Quran in the prayer, we join this loud dhikr and get ahead of them.

30 Is rain prayer (dua) done so that it will rain?

Rain salah and rain dua are kinds of worshipping. Lack of rain is the time of that worshipping. That worshipping and dua are not done to bring rain. If it is done only with that intention, it will not be accepted since it is not sincere.

When the sun sets, it is the time of the evening (maghrib) prayer; solar eclipse and lunar eclipse are the time of kusuf and khusuf prayers.That is, the night and the day are veiled by divine signs, declaring the greatness of Allah; so, Allah Almighty invites His slaves to perform a kind of worshipping. That prayer is not performed so that the moon or the sun will appear again (it is definite by astronomic calculations when the eclipse will take place and how long it will last). Similarly, lack of rain is the time for rain prayer. Allah Almighty calls His slaves to perform salah and dua at that time. Lack of rain becomes the time for that worshipping. The aim of that worshipping is not rain. From this point of view, it is necessary not to see lack of rain as absolute  punishment. (1)

Man, who needs rain and who is too weak to bring it, takes refuge in Allah being conscious of the fact that this need can be met only by Allah. Allah's consent is sought in the prayer of rain like all other kinds of worshipping. After worshipping, people pray to Allah in order to be relieved of the misfortune of lack of rain and ask His help.

Although the apparent outcome of the rain prayer is rain, the real and most beneficial outcome and the sweetest fruit of it as follows: Everybody understands from this situation that the one that gives their sustenance is not their father, house, shop, etc but a Being who meets their needs, gives their food, uses the big clouds like sponges and the earth like a field. Furthermore, a small child who is used to begging his mother when he is hungry will understand, with his small mind, during the prayer of rain the big meaning that a Being who manages this world like a house gives my sustenance and that of these children's and our mothers', and feeds us. If He does not give us food, others will not be of any use. Then, he thinks, we need to beg Him and becomes a fully believing child. (2)

Since lack of rain is the time of worshipping, it is necessary to continue worshipping until this time ends. That is, the time for rain prayer, which is performed at the time of lack of rain, will end when it starts to rain. Therefore, this prayer should not be abandoned after performing it once or twice; it is necessary to continue performing prayers it until it rains.

Footnotes:

(1) Badiuzzaman, Sözler Yirmiüçüncü Söz (Words, Twenty-Third Word)
(2) Emirdağ Lahikası-I, 14. Mektup.

31 Will you explain the order of prayer, fasting, zakah and hajj being rendered fard?

Prayer was rendered fard on the night of Miraj (Ascension), about one and a half years before the Migration as five times a day. It is stated that prayers were performed two times a day before Miraj. Then, it was increased to five times in Miraj.

Ramadan fasting was rendered fard one month after the qiblah was changed as the Kaaba, 18 months after the Migration of the Prophet (pbuh) to Madinah, in the month of Shaban.

Zakah was rendered fard in the second year of the Migration, after Ramadan fasting was rendered fard and giving fitrah was rendered wajib.

Hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, was rendered fard in the ninth year of the Migration.

Accordingly, the order is as follows: prayer, fasting, zakah and hajj.

32 Since the world is round, do we not turn toward the Kaaba no matter where we turn?

It is obligatory for a person to turn his chest toward the Kaaba while performing prayers. Therefore, it is necessary to turn toward the direction of the qiblah. Besides, a person does not turn toward the qiblah when he turns to any direction.

It is Allah who orders us to turn toward the Kaaba. Therefore, it is fard for the qiblah to be the Kaaba. We turn toward the Kaaba because it is the order of Allah.

When the question, “What is the building that was constructed the first in the world?” is asked the answer is definitely “the Kaaba”. No center in the world is visited as much as the Kaaba. With this state, Makkah and the Kaaba has been a center that has played a uniting, integrating and combining role throughout history by eliminating political borders. People are not in connection with any religious center in the world except the Kaaba twenty-four hours a day.

The Kaaba, toward which people turn while worshipping, is the center of the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa). It is almost at the same distance to those three continents. It has a strategic importance and is located in the focal point of transportation centers.

If you hold a map and draw a line from North America to Australia and from North-east Asia to South America, you will find in the place where these lines intersect, that is, in the center, Makkah, hence the Kaaba. You should start from the end points of the continents when you draw.

It is known that the continents were in the form of one big mass millions of years ago before they took their present form. The surface of the earth has a hard crust but it is in the form of scorching hot liquid under the crust; and the continents swim like boats. When the continents were together, Makkah was in the center of that big mass. If you bring the continents of America and the other pieces of land together, and seek the center, you will find Makkah there.  

Is Makkah (or rather the Kaaba), which is the center of the continents, also the center of the world? Geographers divided the world into small squares symbolically with the lines called latitudes and longitudes in order to find any point in the world easily and to show the most correct way it in easily. However, the beginning points of these lines were determined arbitrarily. There are no definite scientific facts about it. For instance, the longitudinal line supposed to pass from Greenwich, UK, is regarded as 0 (zero).

It is a known fact that the world, which is assumed to be round, is actually flattened at the poles and bulges in the middle. The biggest latitude passing from the middle of this bulging region is called 0 (zero) latitude. This latitude is called the equator. It is accepted that the equator divides the world into two relatively.

The poles are the two end points of the axis passing from the middle of the center of the circle formed by the equator. However, it is not really the case. This is an assumption. The world has a real north pole and a real south pole. We know that the world turns like a dynamo on liquid iron-nickel and that it forms a magnetic field and electricity like a dynamo during this turning. This magnetic force goes out of the North and South Pole points of the world and forms the magnetic protective layer that forms the outermost layer of the atmosphere called magnetosphere. Therefore, compasses always show the North Pole in the northern hemisphere.

Why are the pole points shown by the latitudes and longitudes are at different places from the magnetic pole points shown by the compass? We know that the world has a tilt of 23’ 27’’. If the world were not tilted like that, we would have only one season like the summer or winter. Days lengthen and shorten based on this tilt. This tilt changes the places of the poles. If we take into account this tilt of the world, that is, the real magnetic North Pole and South Pole, toward which the magnets always tend, when we draw the latitudes and longitudes, a new equator will occur. This new equator will pass through the middle of Makkah. This shows that the Kaaba is in the middle of the world.

On the other hand, the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer drawn based on this new form will pass from the block that Makkah is located. The longitude drawn based on this new method will intersect the tropics and the equator (by combining the two poles) in the same block. The intersection point is Makkah again. The intersection of these latitudes and longitudes in Makkah shows that the place of the Kaaba was determined specially and shows the secret of people's turning toward the Kaaba while worshipping. Thus, it is understood that the Kaaba is the center of the world now and it was the center of the world when the continents formed a big single mass in the past.     

Then, hajj (pilgrimage) is a journey to the center of the world. Besides, hajj can also be defined as an incident in which the psychic energy emitted by the radar of Hajar al-Aswad, which connects the physical and metaphysical world, is received and given directly, direct contact is realized in the shortest way, a unique magnetic field, that is, the divine light, is circumambulated. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi expresses this fact as follows:

“Kaaba is a luminous column connecting the sky and the earth.”

Thus, he states that the world is connected to the spiritual realms through the Kaaba. It is necessary to think that the holiness of that place is not material but spiritual, that people establish a connection with this spiritual column when they turn toward it while worshipping and that several exchanges like the manifestation of the divine secret of the Ascension (Miraj) that we do not know take place.     

It is enough for people to turn toward the column that passes from the Kaaba whether they are in the air, on land or under the sea for the qiblah; the spiritual atmosphere in that region causes the spiritual connections and desires about the other realms to occur faster and at the highest level.   

Just as the climates or productive places on the earth are different, so too may some places and times be different. Therefore, the spiritual concentration there also varies. Allah, who associates everything with the physical and chemical laws due to His wisdom, associated the expansion and exaltation of the spirit and its state of resonance and contact with the other realms with certain conditions and laws. It is much easier for the spirits to absorb the truths, to develop and flourish in an intense and spiritual atmosphere like the Kaaba. Other places are relatively arid compared to the Kaaba and dry like a desert. Indeed, the fact that those who go there actually experience it confirms this truth.

Thus, when those who go to the Kaaba enter into that spiritual column, they breathe a different atmosphere, and their worship, prayers and asking for forgiveness reach a very different dimension. This situation, in particular, takes on a much more mysterious state on holy nights.

“The first House (of worship) appointed for men was that at Bakka: full of blessing and of guidance for all kinds of beings: In it are signs manifest; (for example), the Station of Abraham; whoever enters it attains security.” (Aal-i Imran, 3/96-97)

According to a research, magnetic lines intersect and focus on the Kaaba. Through this magnetic shield of the world called "Van Allen Belts", the cosmic rays having horrible energy do not come to the world; maybe they gather in the Kaaba due to being attracted by these lines.

It can be said that the Kaaba gathers some cosmic energy in its body and distributes it to the earth, functioning as a kind of transformer. As a result, millions of Muslims turn toward the Kaaba every day, harmonizing with the psychic energy spread from the Kaaba and the movements made during the prayer. These movements enable this energy to penetrate all elements of man's spiritual and physical existence. When people circumambulate the Kaaba, that is to say, the focal point of the energy, they establish connections with this psychic energy at the highest level. As a matter of fact, it is known that people have experienced extraordinary, strange events during circumambulation. Among these events are time shifts, teleportation, apport, etc; everyone who goes there expresses that they breathed in a different atmosphere and entered a completely different world.

I would like to report a reminiscence I heard from a doctor about the Kaaba since it s relevant to the subject:

"A Turkish doctor in Germany, where I went for my postdoctoral research, told me that he had witnessed an incident in the anatomical examinations of frogs in his anatomy lessons during his years at the School of Medicine:

'When the frog's heart is pulled out, it will continue to work for about 10 minutes. Since there is a triple protection system in the heart, the inner protection is not dependent on something else. Meanwhile, it is seen that the lower pointed part of the heart is directed to one side. No matter where you turn the heart, it turns to the same direction like a compass. In this incident, which the students follow with astonishment, the direction that the heart turns is the direction of the qiblah.' "

This is something incredible. As it is known, the center of the universe is the Earth, in which man was created as the most honorable creature. The center and heart of the world is the Kaaba. The center and the Kaaba of man, who is a small universe himself, is his heart. In this respect, both hearts are related to each other.

For, divine manifestation and prosperities are born and appear in these Kaabas. The heart is the place where spirituality appears. Since the spiritual attraction focus of the world is the Kaaba, all hearts have their share of that truth and they look at the Kaaba all the time.

“...for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.” (ar-Ra'd, 13/28)

The verse above points out this reality.

for more information please click on the link given below;

Does a mistake of forty-five degrees while turning to the qiblah invalidate a prayer? Are prayers that are performed in mosques whose directions are deviated from the qiblah valid?

33 Can we say the prayers that we know while we have no cover on our heads, when we do not have wudu and while we are doing something?

1. It is permissible to say prayers when one does not have wudu and when her head is not covered. 

2. We can say prayers silently while we are working or walking.

34 Will you give information about the arrangement of the deeds of worshipping in terms of wisdom and taabbud?

It is necessary to mention the following feature in terms of being a criterion for this issue and similar ones:

“Some issues of shari'ah are called taabbudi. They are not subject to reasoning. They are fulfilled because they are ordered. The reason for their fulfillment is order.”1

That is, some religious issues are called “taabbudi”(requiring obedience without needing to know its reason). They are issues related directly to worshipping itself; for instance, the time, form, style and principles of worshipping. For instance, the fard of the morning (fajr) prayer is two rak'ahs; the fard of the evening (maghrib) prayer is three rak'ahs; The fasting of Ramadan is one month; zakah is given at the rate of one-fortieth of goods; hajj is performed in the month of Dhul-hijjah, etc. The states of some of the deeds of worshipping mentioned in the examples were determined by God Almighty and others by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). We accept them as they are told us and fulfill them. 

There is no need to think of different forms from the ones that are stated and it is of no use. There are some wisdoms and benefits behind them but they do not change the forms and principles of these deeds of worshipping. As Nursi puts it, the reason for the determination of it like that is the "order". That is, it is necessary to do it as it is ordered and determined.

It is possible to mention the times of prayers and the times when it is makruh to perform fard or nafilah prayers among these “taabbudi” issues. First, let us have a look at the blessed words and attitude of the Prophet (pbuh) regarding the issue:

In a narration reported by Abu Said al-Khudri, the Prophet (pbuh) said,

“There is no prayer after the afternoon (asr) prayer until the sun sets and after the morning (fajr) prayer until the sun rises.”2

Imam Bayhaqi reports the following narration from Hz. Ali:

“The Messenger of Allah performed two rak'ahs of nafilah prayers after all fard prayers except the morning and afternoon prayers.”3

Those hadiths state that nafilah prayers cannot be performed after the fard of the morning and afternoon prayers. That is, only fard and missed fard prayers are performed at those times; no nafilah prayer is performed. This issue is regarded as “taabbudi”.

As for the issue of wisdom behind it, According to the explanation of Ibn Abidin, the wisdom behind the prohibition of performing nafilah prayers at those times is not because the time lacks but because all of the time is virtually filled with fard. Therefore, nafilah is not permissible.4 If the person who performs the prayer has enough time, he can lengthen the qira'ah in the fard of the prayer or perform missed prayers if he has any instead of performing nafilah prayers.

As we have mentioned above, the reason rather than wisdom or benefit of the issue needs to be regarded and attention should be paid to the real reason (doing it because it is ordered). The following hadith of the Prophet regarding the issue also needs to be remembered:

“Perform prayers as you see me perform.”5

Footnotes:

1. Bediüzzaman Said Nursî. Mektûbat. (İstanbul: Sözler Yayınevi, 1981), p.371.
2. Muslim, Musafirin: 288.
3. Ahmed Davudoğlu. Sahih-i Müslim Tercemesi (İstanbul: Sönmez Neşriyat A.Ş. Yayınları, 1983), IV/421.
4. Ibn Abidin, I/251; at-Tahtawi, p.151.
5. Bukhari, Adhan:18.

(see Mehmed PAKSU, İbadet Hayatımız)

35 Why does Allah threaten those who abandon worshipping to send to Hell?

Worshipping means a slave fulfilling his duties like takbir, hamd and shukr toward Allah in the way that He orders. Man has to fulfill his duty of hamd (praising) and shukr (thanking) toward Allah Almighty in ultimate humbleness and modesty thinking that he is fed by His endless grants, treats and boons. This can be done only through worshipping.

A person who worships in this world guesthouse sits, stands up, eats, drinks and does all of his deeds and acts according to His commands. He lives as the slave of Allah, not anyone else. This servitude makes him attain the true humanity honor, dignity and innocence. Besides, the purpose of the creation of people is to attain this honor through worshipping. As a matter of fact, Allah Almighty states the following in the chapter of adh-Dhariyat:

“I have only created jinn and men, that they may serve Me.” (adh-Dhariyat, 51/56)

He states the following in another verse:

“O ye people! Adore your Guardian-Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness. Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth).” (al-Baqara, 2/21-22)

Yes, Allah Almighty created the skies with the sun and stars, the earth with the sea and the land in a perfect way. And He extracted man from the magnificent tree of the universe with the delicate measure of His knowledge through so many fine sieves as the most perfect fruit. He made that little man an extract of this magnificent universe.

He placed faculties each of which is more precious than the universe into the spirit of man.  He gave man eyes that could see all kinds of beauties, a tongue that could enjoy the different flavors of the foods, and a mind that would transform the perceptions and pleasures he would obtain with these feelings into knowledge and wisdom. And He gave man conscience that could appreciate the boons sent to him in order to help him and the material and spiritual gifts that placed in his body.

He also placed a heart that could respond to these endless grants and boons with endless love into man's chest. 

With the mind given to him as a gift, man understands that he was not created only for this world and that he cannot be without a duty and purpose. He knows with his conscience that he should see his Lord in return for these eternal grants bestowed on him and that he should praise and thank him.

He devotes his worshipping to Allah alone. He does not associate partners with Him. Allah's love in the heart of man becomes manifest, develops and strengthens only by worshipping.

And he loves only Allah with his heart; he loves all the creatures that are worthy of love for Him too. Suppose that man is not held responsible for worshipping by the religion; his mind, heart and conscience will order him to worship and obey Allah. For, only worshipping satisfies them.

It is clear that Allah, who is the Absolute Rich, who does not need anything, does not need our worshipping. On the contrary, we are in need of worshipping.

In the Gathering Place on that horrible day of Reckoning, where we will go willy nilly, Allah Almighty will address people as follows:

"O my slaves! I created you out of nothing. I turned toward you with all my boons in the universe in order to meet your endless needs. I fulfilled all of your needs in time. I was with you in the world with My mercy and grace. Who were you with then? Who did you thank and worship by forgetting me though I deserve thanking and worshipping? "

How will we answer then? Will the spiritual torment in that sacred presence originating from shame and bashfulness be more dreadful than Hell torture? The strong feeling of shame that make unbelievers say “We wish we were earth” is probably this.

Yes, man cannot be without worshipping; similarly, Islam without worshipping cannot be imagined. Let us explain this reality with an example: Think of a Muslim village. No adhan is called in this village. No one performs any prayers - neither eid, nor Friday, nor daily prayers. Nobody performs fasting, gives zakah, or go to hajj. Those who live in that village do not read the Quran, do not care about haram-halal, and do not know what fard and wajib is. They do not have love and fear of Allah in their hearts. Nobody thinks of praising and thanking Him for His boons and blessings.

Will the people of such a village not be in a position that is contrary to the widest path that the Quran opened, the lifestyle of the Prophet (pbuh), all of the Companions, saints, righteous people, mujtahids, mujaddids, tafsir and hadith scholars, and finally all of the worshippers, good and pious people?

Yes, Islam is not just a theoretical system and a system based on conscience. In many verses of the Quran, the concept of righteous deeds is used immediately after belief, and it is taught that righteous deeds are a result of belief.

We will finish our explanations about worshipping with the following nice expressions in İşarâtü’l-İ'caz, a tafsir book written by Badiuzzaman Said Nursi:

“...As for worship, it expands his spirit and raises his value; it causes his abilities to unfold and develop, allowing him to become worthy of eternal happiness. Worship is also a means of rectifying and purifying his inclinations, and of realizing his hopes and making them fruitful, and of marshalling his ideas and setting them in order, and also of reining in and limiting his three powers of appetite, anger, and intellect. Worship also removes the rust of nature from his members, physical and spiritual, each of which when transparent is like a window onto his private world and that of humankind. Also when performed with both conscience and mind and heart and body, worship raises man to the dignity of which he is worthy and to his appointed perfection. It is a subtle, elevated relation, an illustrious lofty connection between the bondsman and the One Worshipped. This relation constitutes the utmost degree of human perfection.”

Yes, the wisdom behind sending prophets is to teach people the principles of belief and pillars of Islam. That is, to place belief in Allah and all of the other truths of belief into their hearts and to teach them fully the duties of worshipping that will perfect their belief. Man's belief matures only with worshipping. The value of a slave in the eye of Allah is based on the sensitivity and care he will show in the duty of worshipping Him.

If belief without worshipping is likened to a fruit tree, worshipping is the causes that develop it and make it a fruitful tree. If one is like the sun, the other is like the air; if one is like the soil, the other is like the water.

No believer, including prophets and saints, has been excluded from this responsibility of worshipping. No personal virtue and maturity can replace fard worshipping.

The punishment of a person who does not fulfill such a lofty deed will definitely be Hell.

36 What can be done on the night of Raghaib? How should we benefit from holy nights?

The Night of Raghaib is a night when the Prophet (pbuh) received some special manifestations, luminous grace and grants, and heavenly gifts from Allah. It is the first Friday night of the month of Rajab.  Raghaib is the plural form of raghiba, which lexicologically means “something that is wished a lot, wonderful, valuable, worthy, grant”. Thus, when the phrase the Night of Raghaib is used, “the night that is full of grace and grants a lot, that has great value and that needs to be benefitted from very well”. Allah sends his grace in abundance that night.  

It is believed among Muslims that it is the day when the Prophet was transferred into his mother’s womb, which forms the first stage of the birth of the Prophet (pbuh). (However, the time period between that night and the day when the Prophet was born indicates that this view is not right. Nevertheless, it can be thought that Amina, the Prophet’s mother, found out on that night that she was pregnant with the Prophet (pbuh) that night.) (Bilmen, Ömer Nasuhi, Büyük İslâm İlmihali, p.187, Bilmen Yayınevi, Istanbul, 1990)

When the Prophet (pbuh) was born, the earth was saved from the darkness of unbelief and ignorance and became very happy; similarly, the universe appraised and welcomed that night, which was the first step of his honoring the world, with enthusiasm. One of the properties of that night, which is spiritually blessed, is that it is the first heraldist of the month of Ramadan. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states that the Night of Raghaib is the title of the beginning of the Prophet’s progress life and that the night of Ascension (Miraj) is the title of the zenith of his progress life. (Nursi, Sikke–i Tasdik–i Gaybî, p.207)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performed twelve rak’ahs of prayer on that night in order to thank God Almighty for those manifestations and grants. One gets a lot of rewards if he spends that night worshipping. (Bilmen, ibid, p.187) If ten thawabs are given for each letter of the Quran that is read at normal times, it is more than hundreds in the month of Rajab and increases more on the Night of Raghaib. The thawabs given to missed (qada) prayers and nafilah prayers are many times more than other nights. 

One of the deeds of worshipping that can be done on the night of Raghaib is dua (supplication). The Prophet (pbuh) states in a hadith that duas made on that night will not be rejected. [Suyuti, Jalaluddin, Jamius–Saghir, (with Faydul-QKadir), III/454, Beirut, 1972]

BENEFITTING FROM THE HOLY NIGHTS

There are means of attaining pardoning and forgiveness, gaining thawabs, achieving spiritual progress, getting rid of misfortunes and attaining divine consent that can be done and should be done on holy nights. It will be useful to write and remember some of them in a list concisely: 

1. One should read the Quran and listen to those who read the Quran; Quran programs should be organized; the feeling of love, respect and loyalty to the Quran should be renewed and strengthened.

2. One should utter salawat for the Prophet (pbuh), expect his intercession and renew the consciousness of being a member of his ummah.

3. One should perform missed (qada) and nafilah prayers; one can perform prayers reported for that night if any; one should spend a holy night worshipping with the consciousness of ihsan (worshipping Allah as if one sees Him).

4. One should contemplate; he should meditate deeply on vital issues like “Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What does Allah want from me? etc.”

5. One should think over and check the past, and plan the present day and the future.  

6. One should repent for his sins sincerely and ask for forgiveness; one should regard that night as his last night, regret and repent.

7. One should mention Allah and read supplications a lot.

8. One should ask forgiveness from other believers; one should attain their consent.

9. Those who are cross should be compromised; the people whose hearts are broken and who are sad should be cheered up.

10. One should pray for himself and for his other believing brothers by mentioning their names.

11. One should find those whose rights he violated and ask forgiveness from them; one should act loyally toward the people he knew.

12. One should visit the poor and desolate people, orphans, ill and handicapped people, the elderly; he should make them happy by showing love, compassion and respect to them and by giving them gifts and sadaqah.  

13. One should read the verses, hadiths and interpretations related to that holy night from books individually or in congregation.

14. Religious meetings, panels and talks should be organized; preaching should be listened; poems should be read; religious songs should be listened to make hearts enthusiastic.

15. One should perform the evening, night and morning prayers of a holy night in congregation in the mosque.

16. One should visit the tombs of the Companions, scholars and saints; one should make them pleased and pray God in their presence.

17. One should visit the graves of his relatives and friends, fulfilling the loyalty of being believing brothers.

18. One should say blessed holy night to his religious teachers, parents, friends and relatives by visiting them, or calling them, or sending them messages or emails. One should ask them to pray for him. 

19. One should perform fasting on the days of those holy nights.  

There is no definite deed of worshipping to be performed on holy nights. One can spend such a holy night by performing prayers, reading the Quran and supplications. Some prayers performed on holy nights do not exist in the Sunnah; they are not based on reliable narrations. This does not mean “It is makruh to perform prayers on those nights.” There are a lot of narrations encouraging tahajjud and nafilah prayers. It is definitely more virtuous to perform them on holy nights.” (Canan, Kütüb–ü Sitte, III/289). There is no drawback to performing the prayers stated to be related to the holy nights; one can get thawabs by performing them.

37 What is the importance of Friday and what are the deeds of worship to be performed on that day?

The reason why that day is called Friday is being a day of coming together.

"…When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic)..." (al-Jumu'a, 62/9)

The verse above in the chapter of al-Jumu’a indicates that the day was called like that before Friday prayer was rendered fard and that it is a day of meeting.

According to what is understood from various hadiths, Friday was determined as the day of weekly worship for Jews and Christians before but they fell into dispute about it and Jews adopted Saturday and Christians adopted Sunday for weekly meeting and worship. Allah enabled Muslims to have Friday as the day of weekly worship and to attain the truth regarding the issue. (Muslim, Jumu'a, 19-23). Thus, Friday was chosen as the day of weekly worship in congregation and it is clearly stated in several narrations that it is a day of eid (feast). (Bayhaqi, as-Sunanul-Kubra, 3/243; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Zadul-Masir, 1/369)

"The best day on which the sun has risen is Friday; Adam was created on that day. He entered Paradise on that day and he was expelled from Paradise on that day. Doomsday will take place on Friday." (Muslim, Jumu'a, 18)

The Prophet (pbuh) expressed the specialty of that day with the hadith above. Allah stated that He would allow His slaves to visit Him in Paradise on "yawmul-mazid" corresponding to Friday in the world (Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, I, 369-372, 408-410), and that the prayers said at a certain time (time of answering) on Friday would be accepted.

Various views were put forward about the exact time of answering like the period from zawal time to the start of the Friday prayer, from imam’s ascending the pulpit to the start or end of the Friday prayer, from adhan to the end of Friday prayer, from dawn to sunrise and from the afternoon prayer to sunset. Based on the hadith of the Prophet "I knew it but I was made forget it afterwards like the night of Qadr (Power)." (Hakim, Mustadrak, 1/279), it is stated that the time of answering was kept a secret so that people would worship Allah all day on Friday like ism al-a’zam (the greatest name) of Allah being kept secret among His beautiful names and the night of Qadr (Power) being kept secret among the last ten days of Ramadan.

It is stated that the sins of a person who cleans himself on Friday, goes to mosque, listens to the sermon and performs Friday prayer between that Friday and the next Friday will be forgiven (Bukhari, Jumu‘a 6, 19; Muslim, Jumu'a, 26), and that the heart of a person who leaves Friday prayer (continuously) for three Fridays on account of slackness will be stamped. (Abu Dawud, Salah, 204)

When the day of Arafah is on Friday, hajj, which is the greatest congregational deed of worship that brings together Muslims from all around the world, is called "hajj al-akbar" (the greatest hajj).

Due to those properties, the following things are regarded as sunnah to do in addition to Friday prayer, which is fard, on Friday, which is very important as individuals and the community in terms of Muslims:

To make ghusl (it is fard according to some scholars), to shorten the mustache, to trim nails, to do other bodily cleaning, to clean teeth with a miswak or brush, to wear nice clothes, to go to the mosque early, to read the chapter of al-Kahf, to clean the mosque and to make it smell nice, to read the chapters of as-Sajdah and ad-Dahr in the morning prayer, to read the chapters of al-Jumua and al-Munafiqun or al-Ala and  al-Ghashiya in Friday prayer, to say prayers and make dhikr a lot, to utter salawat for the Prophet.

To perform Friday prayer is fard for every sane Muslim man who has reached the age of puberty. (al-Jumu’a, 62/9-10). When adhan is called, it is necessary to go to mosque at once without being busy with anything else.  

Since Friday is the day of feast, it is makruh to fast only on Friday, without adding the day before or after it. It is also regarded makruh to enter the mosque after adhan, to be busy with shopping or other worldly affairs from the time the imam ascends the pulpit when adhan is called to the time the Friday prayer is performed unless there is an obligation and to set off for a journey after the time period for the Friday prayer starts without performing Friday prayer.

During the sermon, A person who speaks unnecessarily and who deals with other things is deprived of thawabs; to go to mosque before adhan, not to disturb the believers, to listen to the sermon with awe, to perform the prayer in awe will be atonement for the sins committed between the previous Friday and that Friday and for three more days. For Allah Almighty states the following in the Quran:

“He that doeth good shall have ten times as much to his credit.” (al-An’am, 6/160)

Therefore, a Muslim should increase the righteous deeds on Friday. Muslims, who are declared as brothers by Allah, should perform worship, which is the purpose of their creation (adh-Dhariyat 51/56) and to compete to do good deeds, which is the command of Allah (al-Baqara 2/148), on Friday like the other holy days and nights. Let us end the issue with a saying of scholars related to Friday:

“Friday is the criterion for the week, Ramadan for the year and hajj for the life.”

38 What is consciousness in worship and its importance?

Shu’ur (consciousness) is used in the sense of feeling, being aware of the things around, being able to observe one’s own acts objectively and to have will in Arabic.

When a conscious person drinks a glass of water, eats a morsel of bread, he does them on behalf of his spirituality and gains thawabs. A conscious person does even the simplest worldly deeds under the surveillance of Allah peacefully and does things with good manners. 

Allah created man so that he would worship Allah.

"O ye people! Adore your Guardian-Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness." (al-Baqara, 2/21)

As a matter of fact, people are ordered to worship Allah in the verse above; besides it is stated that the purpose of the creation of man is worshipping. (adh-Dhariyat, 51/56)

"Say (to the Rejecters): "My Lord is not uneasy because of you if ye call not on Him:" (al-Furqan, 25/77)

It is stated in the verse above that Allah values only those who worship and obey Him.

When worship is mentioned, only acts of worship like prayers, fasting, zakah and hajj that are performed at certain times should not be understood.

In its widest sense, worship means to do good deeds that Allah loves and to avoid thoughts, words and deeds that Allah forbids and does not like with the intention of attaining the love and consent of Allah. 

Worship means (for a slave) to devote his life to Allah, to adhere to Him with his being and to seek His consent in all of his deeds. Intention is very important for it. For, the Prophet (pbuh) said, "Actions are dependent upon their intentions." (see Bukhari, Iman, 42; Muslim, Imarah, 155)

If a Muslim utters all his words and does all his deeds and acts with a sincere intention, he will spend his whole life worshipping. His working in order to make his living legitimately, his eating, drinking, sleeping and resting in order to be strong enough to worship are also regarded as worshipping. For, all of his life is regarded as worshipping.

In our religion, the scope of worship is quite wide and the ways of gaining thawabs are made very easy. For instance, even to pick a stone on the way so that it will not harm others is regarded as an act of worship. (Bukhari, Jihad, 128)

"Your smiling in the face of your brother is charity (sadaqah), commanding good and forbidding evil is charity, your giving directions to a man lost in the land is charity for you. Your seeing for a man with bad sight is a charity for you, your removal of a rock, a thorn or a bone from the road is charity for you. Your pouring what remains from your bucket into the bucket of your brother is charity for you." (Tirmidhi, Birr, 36)

“What people and animals eat from a tree that a Muslim planted is charity (sadaqah) for him.”(Muslim, Musaqat, 7)

Besides, it is stated that the sins of a person who gave water to a dog that was about to die by drawing water from a well were forgiven. (see Bukhari, Musaqat, 9)

A Muslim has to spend his day and night, winter and summer, youth and old age, in short, his whole life in the consciousness and joy of worshipping.

For, we do not know when, at what age and doing what death will come. In that case, it is necessary to have the consciousness of worshipping until death comes. As a matter of fact, Allah states the following:

"And serve thy Lord until there come unto thee the Hour that is Certain!" (al-Hijr, 15/99)

It is emphasized that acts of worship, which are our debt to Allah and a sign of thanking for the endless boons He has given to us, are not limited to certain times but that they have to be performed continuously and that every moment of life has to be transformed into acts of worship.

Hz. Prophet (pbuh) indicated the importance of continuity in worship as follows: "The acts most pleasing to Allah are those which are done continuously even if they are small." (Muslim, Musafirin, 218)

Then, we have to beautify every moment of our lives with worship and be ready as if we will die any moment; we have to provide provisions for the eternal journey by doing righteous deeds acting upon the following order: "And take a provision (With you) for the journey." (al-Baqara, 2/197)

39 Is there a kind of worshipping peculiar to the Arafah of (the day before) Eid al-Fitr?

Arafah is the day one day before eid al-adha, the 9th day of the month of Dhul-hijjah of the Hijri calendar. No other day can be called Arafah. However, the day before eid al-fitr is also called Arafah in some Islamic countries.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) states the following :

"The most virtuous day among the days is the day of Arafah. It is like Friday in terms of virtue. It is more virtuous than seventy hajjs except the one performed on Friday. The most virtuous prayer (dua) is the one said on the day of Arafah. The most virtuous sentence uttered by me and the prophets before me is (Lailaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lahu. (There is no god but Allah; He is one; He has no partners.)" (Muwatta, Hajj, 246)

Hazreti Aisha narrates:

"There is no day when Allah sets free more servants from Hell than the day of Arafah. He draws near His slaves and praises them to the angels, saying: 'What do these want?'" (Muslim, Hajj, 436)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"Show respect to the day of Arafah. Arafah is a day that Allah appreciates."

Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) wanted us to show respect to the day that Allah appreciates and to try to live consciously. Respect starts by realizing the boon that is granted and being able to know and see. To spend the day of Arafah by performing fasting, saying prayers, asking for forgiveness without committing sins is an expression of respect and gratitude to Allah, who gave the glad tiding that He would forgive His slaves. (Daylami)

The following conversation between Hz. Umar and a Jew shows the importance of the day of Arafah:

During the caliphate of Hz. Umar, a Jew said to him,

"O Umar! You read a verse; if it had been sent down to us, we would have celebrated that day as an eid (festival)."
It was the third verse of the chapter of al-Maida. Allah Almighty stated the following:

"This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you."

That verse was sent down in the tenth year of the Migration during the Farewell Hajj on Friday, which was the day of Arafah, in the afternoon when the Prophet (pbuh) was on his camel called "Adba". The camel slumped down due to the heaviness of the revelation.

When Hz. Umar heard the verse from the Jew, he said,

"We know that day and the place where that verse was sent down. It was on Friday and Arafah." Thus, Hz. Umar mentioned the importance of Arafah by stating that it was eid for us. 

The day of Arafah is the day when Hz. Adam and Hawwa (Eve) met.

Tawriyah is one day before Arafah.

The Prophet (pbuh) stated the following:

"A Muslim who performs fasting on the day of Tawriyah and does not utter any sinful words enters Paradise."

The fasting performed on that day is equal to supererogatory fasting of one thousand days. Besides, it causes the repentance of the previous year and the next year to be accepted. One gets a lot of rewards when he fasts on the day of Arafah. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated the following:

"A reward of twice the number of the people that lived beginning from Hz. Adam and that will live up to the Day of Judgment will be given to a person who performs fasting on the day of Arafah."

"The fasting performed on the day of Arafah is equal to supererogatory fasting of one thousand days."

"The fasting on the day of Ashura is equal to supererogatory fasting of one year and on the day of Arafah two years."

The fasting performed on the day of Arafah is equal to freeing two thousand slaves, sacrificing two thousand camels and giving two thousand horses in the way of Allah for jihad."

"The fasting performed on the day of Arafah will be atonement for the sins of the previous year and the next year."

It is recommended to read the chapter of al-Ikhlas one thousand times by some great personalities. It is stated in hadiths that reading the chapter of al-Ikhlas will be a means of forgiveness for the sins except individual rights.

"The sins of a person who reads al-Ikhlas one thousand times with Basmala are forgiven and his prayer is accepted."

The Prophet (pbuh) prayed to Allah on the night of Arafah to forgive his ummah. His prayer was answered as follows: 'I have forgiven them, except for the wrongdoer, with whom I will settle the score in favor of the one whom he wronged.' The Messenger of Allah said,

'O Lord, if You wish, You will grant Paradise to the one who is wronged, and forgive the wrongdoer.' No response came from Allah in Arafat to this prayer. The next day at Muzdalifah, he repeated the same prayer. This time, his prayer was accepted. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) laughed, showing his joy. Thereupon, Hz. Abu Bakr and Umar said to him,

‘May my father and mother be sacrificed for you! This is not a time when you usually laugh. What made you laugh?’ The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

‘When the enemy of Allah, Iblis, came to know that Allah answered my prayer and forgave my nation, he took some dust and started to sprinkle it on his head, crying 'Woe on you! You have been destroyed!' This cry of Satan's, which I saw, made me laugh.'

It is necessary to show respect to the day of Arafah; we should join the prayers of hajjis who are on Arafat on that day by feeling that we are with them spiritually. We should avoid anything that can cause us to commit a sin on that day. Nowadays, the day of Arafah is experienced as a very busy day with worldly affairs since it is one day before eid. In fact, Arafah is one of the most important time periods given to man. These days are days of worshipping and forgiveness.  It is the most valuable time period when hajjis come together in Arafat regardless of their languages, races and skin colors reminding of the Day of Gathering  by saying, "Labbayk (Here I am at your service)" and when servitude is presented to Allah by supplications and talbiyahs. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) states the following:

"The most virtuous prayer is the one said on the day of Arafah." (Bayhaqi)

"Allah looks at His slaves on the day of Arafah and forgives anyone who has even a very little amount of belief."

Allah informed the Prophet (pbuh) that prayers are not rejected on some nights. The four holy nights when the doors of mercy are opened are as follows:

1. The night of (before) eid al-fitr,
2. The night of (before) eid al-adha,
3. The night of Tarwiyah (8th night of Dhul-hijjah),
4. The night of Arafah. (Isfahani)

It is very virtuous to spend the day and night of Arafah worshipping. There are narrations stating that a person who spends the night of Arafah worshipping will be saved from Hell. It was stated by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) that a person who avoids sins on the day of Arafah will be forgiven.

"On the day of Arafah, a young man who was near the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was thinking about women and looking at the women. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) turned the man's face away from the women a few times. The young man started to think about them again. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"My brother's son! Today is such a day that anyone who controls his ears, eyes and tongue is forgiven." (Musnad)

The following are advised to do on the day of Arafah:

1. It is necessary to start uttering takbirs of tashrik after the fard of the morning prayer.
2. One should perform fasting on the day of Arafah.
3. One should show respect to the day of Arafah and try not to commit sins.
4. One should pray to Allah and ask for forgiveness a lot on the day of Arafah.
5. One should read the chapter of al-Ikhlas 1000 times on the day of Arafah.

40 What answer should we give to those who say, "Do not think deep; excessiveness in religion will make a person go crazy"?

Unfortunately, the world is like that today. Allah makes this factory of the universe work for us all the time and mobilizes everything for us; therefore, we need to allocate all of our time to Him but we live in an age that regards performing five daily prayers, which hardly lasts an hour every day, extremism. They act as if we will do very important things if we do not perform prayers.     

The midway, way of ease, moderate way, the way that can be followed is ordered in our religion. The Prophet (pbuh) said, 

“I advise you the midway because the religion will overcome any person who makes tiny distinctions.” 2

As a matter of fact, the following is stated in the Quran:

“We have not sent down the Qur'an to thee to be (an occasion) for thy distress.”3

The following is stated in another verse of the Quran:

“Allah intends every facility for you He does not want to put you to difficulties.”4

“On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear.”5 Acting upon the verses above, Badiuzzaman Said Nursi attracts attention to the fact that a person cannot be loaded a burden heavier than he can carry in the religion.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) interprets the verses above with the following hadith:

“Indeed, this religion is easy, and no one will ever overburden himself in religion, except that it will overcome him. So seek what is appropriate, and come as close as you can, and receive the glad tidings (that you will be rewarded), and take it easy; and gain strength by worshipping in the mornings, afternoons, and during the last hours of the nights.”6

To go to extremes in the religion does not mean to persevere, to live based on taqwa and to live in accordance with the obligations of the religion. To go to extremes in the religionmeans to pay much attention to the orders of the religion that are of less significance and to neglect the orders of the religion that are of great significance by not establishing a balance between the decrees of the religion. It is imbalance. For instance, a person makes a lot of efforts, efforts that are beyond his power, and wearies himself for nafilah (supererogatory) prayers – he becomes too tired due to this extreme meticulousness – and he neglects sunnahs, wajibs and even fards.

In fact, the Prophet (pbuh) worshipped at night until his blessed feet swelled and performed prayers. For instance, once Hz. Aisha asked him, “O Messenger of Allah! Why do you tire yourself so much? Were your previous and future sins not forgiven?”  The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “Should I not be a slave that thanks Allah more?”

However, the Prophet (pbuh) performed this worshipping within the boundaries endurance; and this night worshipping never caused him to neglect - God forbid - the morning prayer, his family and the people. Taqwa starts at this point. 

If a person who performs a lot of nafilah worshipping at night in order to revive a sunnah becomes very tired and neglects the morning prayer, his wife and children, his guests and his health, he will have gone to extremes and acted contrarily to the Sunnah.  

* Hz. Anas narrates:

When the Prophet (pbuh) entered the mosque, he saw a rope stretched between two columns.

“What is this rope?” He asked. The Companions said,

“This rope belongs to Zaynab bint Jahsh. She holds it when she gets tired.”

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

“Remove it. Perform prayers with pleasure. When you get tired, go to bed and sleep.” 7

* Hz. Aisha narrates:

There was a woman I was talking to in my room. When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) entered my room, he asked,

“Who is this?” I said,

“She is such and such a woman.” Then, I started to mention her prayers. Finally, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

“That is enough. Do what you can do. By Allah, Allah Almighty will not be tired of giving you thawabs but you will be tired of worshipping.“ 8

* Hz. Anas narrates:

A group ofthree men asked about the worship of the Prophet (pbuh).  When they were informed about it, they considered it little and said: "Where are we in comparison with the Prophet (pbuh) while Allah forgave his past sins and future sins". One of them said,

"I will perform prayers all night long and will not sleep." Another said,

"I will perform fasting continuously and will not break except on days of eid."Another said,

"I will abstain from women and will never marry".

When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) came, he summoned them and said to them,

“Are you the people who said such and such things? By Allah, I fear Allah more than you do, and I am most obedient and dutiful among you to Him, but I sometimes perform fasting and sometimes break it. I both perform prayers and sleep at night. This is my Sunnah. Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not from me.” 10

* Abu Muhammad Abdullah b. Amr b. al-As narrates:

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was informed that I said, “I will perform fasting every day and perform prayers the whole night as long as I live.” He said to me,

"Is it you who said this?" I said to him,

"O Messenger of Allah! That is true." Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"Do not do that. Observe fasting for few days and then leave off for few days; perform prayers and sleep at night, as your body has a right upon you, and your eyes have a right upon you. Your wife has a right upon you; your visitors have a right upon you. It is sufficient for you to perform fasting three days in a month, as the reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times, so it will be like fasting the whole year." I said,

"O Messenger of Allah! I can do more than that." He said,

"Then, perform fasting of Dawud. Do not add more.” I said,

“What is fasting of Dawud?” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

“Fasting half of the year. You will fast one day and eat the next day.” I said,

“I can do more than that.” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

“There is no fasting more virtuous than that. The most virtuous fasting is that of Dawud.”

Afterwards when Abdullah grew old, he said, "I wish I had accepted the three-day fasting the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) advised. It would have been lovelier to me than my family and wealth. However, it is too late now." 11

There is no compulsion in the religion. There is moderation, balance and harmony. It is essential to live in the religious balance, not to abandon fards for sunnahs, not to leave wajibs for nafilahs, and to live the religion as a whole based on our strength.

Footnotes:

1. Jamius-Saghir, 2/1582;
2. Jamius-Saghir, 3/2706;
3. Taha, 20/2;
4. Al-Baqara, 2/185;
5. See al-Baqara, 2/286; at-Talaq, 65/7; al-An’am, 6/152; al-A’raf, 7/42; al-Mu’minun, 23/62;
6. Nasai, Iman, 28;
7. Nawawi, R. Salihin, 146;
8. Nawawi, R. Salihin, 142.
9. Jamius-Saghir, 2/1582;
10. Nawawi, R. Salihin, 143,
11. Nawawi, R. Salihin, 150.

41 Will the thawabs of a person who performs prayers but commits sins be more than his sins due to his prayers?

An approach like "the thawabs of a person who performs prayers will be more than his sins" is not appropriate. Sometimes, a very small sin can cause a lot of destruction in our spiritual world. Therefore, it is not appropriate to underestimate a sin.

Every sin that is committed does not annul man’s worshipping but it decreases its thawabs. Allah Almighty praise the believers who have taqwa (fear of Allah) in the Quran. The first principle of taqwa is to abandon sins. The first thing that comes to mind about taqwa is abandoning haram deeds. They are definitely forbidden.  

It is followed by avoiding makruhs. Makruh means bad and unpleasant deeds, words and states. Taqwa necessitates abandoning what is makruh too.  

Then comes doubtful things. They are near haram like makruh things. Taqwa necessitates abandoning the things about which there are no definite decrees by thinking that they might be haram.

Then comes mubah and halal things. Taqwa necessitates making use of them sufficiently and avoiding extravagance.

The chapter of al-Fatiha is described as “the index of the Quran”. The second verse of the chapter followed by al-Fatiha shows the importance of taqwa very clearly as follows: “This Book is guidance to those who fear Allah.” The following verse of supplication exists in the chapter of al-Fatiha: “Show us the straight way”. When it is considered together with the verse “the Quran’s being guidance to those who fear Allah”, it is understood that guidance (hidayah) means “as-sirat al-mustaqim” (the straight path). That is, being on the straight path means guidance.

Thus, taqwa means being concerned that one will be away from the way of guidance and keeping away from all kinds of mistakes that will deviate man from this path.

In the chapter of al-Fatiha, the statement “those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace” is used for those who follow the straight path. It is stated in another verse that those who attain that boon are “the prophets, (who teach), the sincere (lovers of Truth), the witnesses (who testify), and the Righteous (who do good)”. Accordingly, taqwa is the most distinguished characteristic of this fortunate congregation. Taqwa is the greatest condition of following that congregation.

Muttaqi means a person who has taqwa. It means a person who avoids and keeps away from anything that will harm man spiritually. After the statement “The Quran is guidance to those who fear Allah”, at the beginning of the chapter of al-Baqara, the attributes of a muttaqi are listed as follows:

“Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them.”

The things mentioned in the verse are belief and righteous deeds but they are included among the attributes of a muttaqi. The following is clearly understood from it: Belief in the Unseen is the opposite of unbelief. Not being steadfast in prayer means performing that lofty deed of worship haphazardly, without based on tadil al-arkan, and insincerely. They are the issues that need to be paid attention to in terms of taqwa.

Giving zakah is fard; not fulfilling this great principle of Islam is something that has to be avoided by people of taqwa. In this sense, every righteous deed can be regarded to be included in taqwa. As a matter of fact the attributes of a muttaqi are listed as follows in the chapter of Aal-i Imran (verses 134 and 135):

“Spending (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity.”
“Restraining anger.”
“Pardoning (all) men.”
“After having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bringing Allah to mind, and asking for forgiveness for their sins.”
“Never being obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done.”

As it is seen, taqwa and righteous deeds are intertwined in the things listed above. Besides, taqwa is an important cause that leads man to righteous deeds.

Let us go back to the chapter of al-Fatiha. The holy people who keep away from all kinds of extremism and who follow the straight path are on the way of “guidance”; their opposites are described as “those who incur Allah’s wrath” and “those who go astray”. That is, the rebellious nations who incurred Allah’s wrath and the deviant groups who abandoned the true path by following the beliefs and thoughts that are contrary to Islam. When taqwa is in question, the fear of being included in those two evil groups should come to mind.   

It is also necessary to remember the nations of Nuh, Lut and Salih, which incurred Allah’s wrath due to immorality, debauchery and other sins, to think that one will follow them when he follows the way of sins and disobedience, and to be worried that one will follow the Way of Qarun (Croesus) when he enters a path that is contrary to Islam. A letter related to taqwa is included in Kastamonu Lahikası of Risale-i Nur Collection. The letter, which Said Nursi says “is very important” starts as follows:

“Nowadays, I have thought of the principles of taqwa and righteous deeds, which are regarded as the most essential issues by the Quran after belief. Taqwa means avoiding forbidden things and sins; and righteous deed means acting based on divine orders and doing charity. Driving evil away is always preferred to obtaining useful things but in this age of destruction, debauchery and attractive desires, driving evil away and abandoning major sins, which is taqwa, is especially preferred.”

As it is known, there are two principles of all kinds of development and evolution whether material or spiritual: Doing useful things and avoiding harmful things. The first one is called obtaining useful things and the second one is called eliminating evil things. It is stated that “eliminating evil things is always preferred to obtaining useful things”, that is, the former is always more important than the latter.

If the harm is not driven away, benefit will be of no significance. There is no use filling a bucket that has a hole with water. First, it is necessary to eliminate the things that prevent benefits in order to make benefit possible. Reading the Quran is a good deed in all senses. When we start this lofty deed, in which we gain at least ten thawabs for reading a single letter of it, we take refuge in Allah from the evil of accursed Satan first. That means driving the evil away. It is followed by obtaining good things: uttering bismillah and reading the Quran. A person who does not close the ways that lead to harm might lose more than he earns, which will lead him to bankruptcy.   

Spiritual trade is also like that. The righteous deeds that are done need to be protected by taqwa. The following hadith about bankruptcy is formidable and frightening:

“The poor (bankrupt) of my ummah would be he who would come on the Day of Judgment with deeds like prayers, fasting and zakah  but since he had hurled abuses upon others, brought calumny against others and unlawfully consumed the wealth of others and shed the blood of others and beat others, he would find himself bankrupt on that day because his virtues would be credited to the account of those who suffered at his hand. And if his good deeds fall short to clear the account, then his sins would be entered in (his account) and he would be thrown into Hell.”

Both the night and the day are important for a plant. The night resembles taqwa and the day resembles righteous deeds. We receive different benefits from each one. There is an interesting determination regarding the issue in the letter that we have mentioned above:

“There is a kind of righteous deed in taqwa because it is wajib to abandon something haram. To do a wajib deed gains man thawabs equal to many sunnahs. Since man encounters a hundred harams every minute in today’s lifestyle, he is regarded to have done one hundred righteous deeds with taqwa and the intention of avoiding harams.”

Thus, when a believer abandons thousands of sins that attack him with the fear of Allah and by demanding His consent, he does many wajib deeds. In the previous centuries, most of the doors to the sins were closed and the opportunities to commit sins were limited. If a young man wandered in the streets to see a haram face, he could see one after some days.

However, it is very different today. As Nursi puts it, sins “are flooding”. This negative atmosphere of this age affects man’s spiritual life too; the heart and the spirit, which are harmed by so many sins, can hardly worship in tranquility. It is very difficult for a person who is wounded in several placed in a battle to worship in tranquility by forgetting about his pains; similarly, it is as difficult or even more difficult to worship in tranquility and sincerely in this age.    

However, the divine justice compensates for this great deprivation of Muslims living with the mischief of the end of time with taqwa and gives them the great opportunity of “doing thousands of wajib deeds by avoiding one haram”.

It is necessary to think as follows and question ourselves:

Since “it is very difficult for a person to be successful with righteous deeds sincerely in this age”, the only way out is to compensate for it with taqwa. If we make concessions about it, danger is inevitable."

Acting upon different verses, tafsir scholars divide taqwa into three stages: 1. To be protected from polytheism through belief. Thus, a person is protected from staying in Hell eternally. 2. To avoid committing major sins and to avoid insisting on minor sins. That is the most common meaning of taqwa. 3. To keep one’s heart away from anything that prevents him from God.

The first one is called “taqwa from polytheism (shirk)” the second one is called “taqwa from sins,” and the third one is called “taqwa from everything except Him”.

Since it is not possible to think that a believer can commit polytheism in its general sense, “hidden polytheism (shirk al-khafiyy)” should be understood by the phrase taqwa from polytheism. Here are two lessons of reality from Risale-i Nur Collection about hidden polytheism:

“This is to flatter the ego and give high status to the evil-commanding soul by attracting attention to oneself and public acclaim, driven by the desire for fame, renown, and position. This is a serious spiritual sickness that also opens the door to the hypocrisy and self-centeredness called the hidden association of partners with God, and damages sincerity.” (Lem’alar, Yirmi Birinci Lem'a)

We are taught by the sentences above that hypocrisy and self-centeredness, that is, conceit, are types of hidden polytheism. It is so strange for man, who was sent to this world to worship and to know Allah, to try hard in order to be liked by others by showing off and hypocrisy. To love oneself and to boast are as meaningless and as strange as hypocrisy. A believer “who praises Allah, who is the Lord of the realms” in every rak’ah of prayers will get rid of the disorder of loving himself only through stating that all praise belongs to Allah. If he cannot get rid of it, it means he has not taken the lesson regarding the issue from the chapter of al-Fatiha and has approached hidden polytheism by loving himself instead of praising God.  In that case, it is necessary not to regard taqwa as only avoiding major sins but also trying to keep away from such wrong understandings and wrong feelings that lead us to hidden polytheism.

Another aspect of hidden polytheism is described as follows:

“When the hidden polytheism originating from egoism gets strong, it is transformed into the polytheism of causes.” (Mesnevî-i Nuriye)

Thus, man’s loving himself and feeling too confident is a spiritual disease; when it gets worse, another disease occurs: the polytheism of causes. It is regarded as hidden polytheism to think that things or incidents, which are used as causes in divine deeds in this realm, can influence things, that they are real causes and to tend toward them with the heart. In that case, we need to regard the universe and everything in it as Allah’s creatures and officials and the boons coming through those slaves of Allah, who receive orders from Him, as coming from Allah. As Said Nursi puts it, we must not make the mistake of, “kissing the foot of a lowly man who conveys to you the precious gift of a king and not to recognize the gift’s owner”. Otherwise, we will have regarded the official as the partner of the king. We always encounter this aspect of taqwa and we are always tested through it; the test of knowing that the cloud is only a cause of rain, the tree is only a cause of the fruit, the sun is only the cause of the light and the father and mother are only causes of the baby and the test of not regarding them as the real doers. The fear of losing this test is another aspect of taqwa.

As for the third aspect of taqwa,  it is related to knowing that the heart becomes satisfied only with belief in Allah, and knowing and loving Him, and being afraid of placing the love of creatures in the heart. Unfortunately, man, who acts very cautiously so as not to put harmful food in his stomach and who does not want even a small straw to enter his eye, does not act as cautiously and sensitively related to his heart, which is the king of those organs and feelings.  It is certain that his soul and Satan have a great share in it. To act cautiously and sensitively in order to protect the heart is an important aspect of taqwa. I believe that acting in compliance with the following principles included in Risale-i Nur Collection will help us a lot to pass that great test:

“It is necessary to renounce the world for the following four reasons: 1. It goes swiftly and decays. The pain arising from decay and separation remove the pleasure of attainment of, or union with, something subject to decay. 2. The pleasures of the world resemble poisonous honey. It includes pain as much as pleasure. 3. The grave, which waits for you and toward which you travel, is the door to the other world. It does not accept your ornaments of the world as gifts, for in the other world they will change into error and sin. 4. [To understand the difference between this world and the Hereafter, reflect on] the difference between staying for an hour among enemies and vermin and among your most beloved friends and elders for years. The Lord of earthly and spiritual dominion calls you to abandon that hour of pleasure so that you may have perfect comfort and satisfaction in the company of your beloved ones in those years. So answer His call before you are sent to Him fettered.” (Mesnevi-i Nuriye)

42 Can women enter the mosques where Friday prayers are performed and that have pulpits when they are in menstruation?

It is haram for the women who are in menstruation or in puerperium to enter mosques unless there is an obligation. 

The things that are forbidden for a woman in menstruation to do are as follows:

1. A woman who is in menstruation or in puerperium does not perform any prayers. 

It is forbidden (haram) for women to perform prayers when they are in the state of menstruation or puerperium. (1) They do not have to perform those prayers when they are clean. Allah Almighty removed such a responsibility due to His grace and generosity.

The religion of Islam is really a religion of ease. We see this principle of ease clearly in the decree related to the prayer responsibility of the women who are in menstruation or in puerperium. For, the state of menstruation is something troublesome that women suffer every month and that keep them busy for about a week. They miss many prayers during this period. 

It is known that a woman is busy with the cleanliness and care of the house along with serving her husband and children. It is clear that it will be very difficult for her to perform the prayers that she has to miss during her menstruation period afterwards as qada. 

The same thing is valid for the state of puerperium. It is obvious that it will be difficult for a woman who abandoned prayers for 20, 30 or even 40 days to perform those prayers later. Islam, which is a religion sent as mercy to the realms, does not hold women responsible for the prayers that they do not perform during the state of menstruation and puerperium.

It is haram for women who are in the state of menstruation and puerperium to perform prayers but it is permissible for them to glorify Allah, to mention His names and attributes and to pray to Him. It is even regarded mustahab for a  woman who is in the state of menstruation and puerperium to make wudu when it is time for prayer and to sit facing the qiblah for a period of time as long as a prayer takes and glorify Allah, say salawat and prayers if it possible and if she has enough time. Thus, she will not forget her Lord and will not miss the pleasure of worshipping; she will also show how enthusiastic she is about worshipping Allah if she could. It is understood from narrations that such a woman will receive the reward of the best prayer she has performed due to her good intention.

2. It is forbidden for women who are in the state of menstruation and puerperium to perform fasting just like prayers. However, unlike prayers, they have to perform fasting after they are cleaned because fasting is not performed during the whole year unlike prayers but only one month; therefore, a few days of fasting will not be very difficult for women to perform after they are cleaned. Thus, women are not asked to perform the prayers that they miss during the state of menstruation and puerperium but they are asked to perform fasting that they miss. Hz. Aisha states the following regarding the issue:

“When we were in the state of menstruation and puerperium, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) ordered us to perform fasting that we missed later. He did not order us to perform the prayers that we missed.” (2)

3. It is haram for a woman who is in the state of menstruation and puerperium to read the Quran. The Messenger of Allah stated the following regarding the issue:

"A woman who is in the state of menstruation and puerperium cannot read the Quran."(3)

It is permissible for women who are in the state of menstruation and puerperium to read various prayers like the qunut prayer, to glorify Allah and to say salawat for the Prophet. Women who are in the state of menstruation and puerperium cannot read the Quran but they can listen to it.

4. It is haram for women who are in the state of menstruation and puerperium to touch the Quran. Let alone the whole Quran, it is even haram to touch one verse or one word of a verse.

A woman who teaches the Quran must leave it to somebody else to teach the Quran if she starts to menstruate. If there is nobody else to do it, it becomes permissible for her to go on teaching the Quran according to Hanafi scholars Karhi and Tahawi. Imam Karhi says it is permissible for a woman teacher to continue teaching the Quran in the form of separate words when she is in menstruation and Tahawi says in the form of half verses.

5. It is haram for women in the state of menstruation and puerperium (or janabah) to enter mosques unless it is obligatory. For, the Prophet stated the following regarding the issue:

"I do not render it halal for a person who is in menstruation and who is in the state of janabah to enter the mosque."(4)

6. It is also haram for a woman who is in the state of menstruation and puerperium and for a woman or man who is junub to circumambulate the Kaaba, the qiblah of believers. (5)

7. It is haram for a woman who is in the state of menstruation and puerperium to have a sexual intercourse with her husband. Such an intercourse is regarded as one of the major sins. The following is stated in the Quran: “They ask thee concerning women's courses. Say: They are a hurt and a pollution.”

"…So keep away from women in their courses, and do not approach them until they are clean..." (al-Baqara, 2/222)

The following hadith reported by Anas explains the meaning of the order ‘do not approach women’ mentioned in the verse:

“Jews did not eat or drink together with women when they were in menstruation. The Prophet stated the following regarding the issue:

– Do whatever you do with them except sexual intercourse.” (6)

It is not religiously and medically permissible to have sexual intercourse with a woman who is in the state of menstruation and puerperium. The woman is regarded as ill in those states. She needs elaborate care and cleaning then. She should avoid being tired and she should rest as much as possible.

Besides, the strong smell a menstruating woman emits can cause her husband to feel disgusted. Therefore, the sexual intercourse during this period can cause the husband to feel disgusted against her and can also cause some gynecological diseases.

For instance, one of the important causes of the uterine cancer seen frequently in women in Europe today has been determined as having sexual intercourse with their husbands when they are in menstruation. It is haram for a man to approach his wife when she is in menstruation; it is also haram for a woman to give consent to it. If a husband and wife have a sexual intercourse, both of them have to repent. In addition, it is necessary for them to give one or half a dinar of gold or the equivalent to the poor. [One dinar is a gold coin equal to one mithqal (4 gr.)]

It is not permissible to sleep in a separate bed away from the woman when she is in menstruation. Such an attitude exists in the belief of Jews. Jews did not sleep in the same bed as menstruating women and they did not even eat together with them. They even used different towels. Islam abolished this unjust custom, which disdained women; Islam does not even regard it makruh to sleep in the same bed as a menstruating woman, to eat the food that she has cooked and to use the same towel. Hz. Aisha stated the following:

“When I was in menstruation, the Prophet put his blessed head on my lap and recited the Quran.” (7)

“When I was in menstruation, I combed the hair of the Messenger of Allah.” (8)

It is understood from those hadiths that women in menstruation are not najis (materially dirty). Those who are in puerperium are not najis, either. Those states are spiritual obstacles that prevent them from performing some religious duties.

Footnotes:

1. Hadiths related to the issue exist in Kutub as-Sitta. Naylul-Awtar, 1, 279-280.
2. See also Subul as-Salam, 1, 105 along with the narrations in the previous footnote.
3. Tirmidhi, Taharah, 98,111; Nasai, Taharah, 170; Ibn Majah, Taharah, 105; Darimi, Wudu' 103.
4. Abu Dawud narrated it.
5. Bukhari and Muslim narrated it from Hz. Aisha.
6. See Muslim, Hayd 16; Nasai, Taharah, 18.
7. Bukhari, Hayd, 2, 3; Nasai, Taharah, 173, 174.
8. Bukhari, Hayd 2; Muslim, Hayd 8; Nasai, Hayd 21.

43 What are the deeds that need to be kept secret and that should not be told to others?

As you mention, one of the deeds that are very virtuous to do secretly is sadaqah (charity). It should be so secret that the left hand should not notice what the right hand gives.

Fard prayers are not performed secretly. Fard prayers, which are ordered to be performed in congregation and which are stated to gain man twenty-seven times more thawabs, cannot be performed secretly. However, it is very important to perform nafilah prayers like duha, awwabin, wudu and tahajjud secretly and to perform nafilah fasting secretly in order to prevent them from show off.

A person gains more thawabs if he keeps secret the amount of the Quran he reads and dhikr he makes every day since it will prevent show off.

Similarly, visiting ill people, prisoners and victims secretly in order to console them and not mentioning them unnecessarily are among such nafilah deeds of worship.

It is not always possible to keep such good deeds secret but one’s intention is important. He does not tell people deliberately what he does but some people see him inevitably; he does not inform others about what he does.

The value of a deed done secretly or openly varies based on circumstances and from person to person. For instance, it gains man more thawabs to give sadaqah openly - in order to encourage others to do so. The Companions gave charity for war openly; the Prophet (pbuh), the Companions Hz. Abu Bakr, Hz. Umar and Hz. Uthman revealed the amount they gave in order to encourage people.

"In order to encourage people, the good deeds of worship and charities of an imam, scholar, etc. related to religious duties are not and should not regarded as hypocrisy and show off unless such a person uses his duty for his own interest. Yes, an imam glorifies Allah aloud and makes other people hear them when he fulfils the duty of imamate; it is not regarded as show off at all. However, when he is not in the mosque, it is more virtuous for him to glorify Allah secretly because when people hear him outside, showing off might be in question.” (Kastamonu Lahikası, p. 185)

Show off is not in question in fard and wajib deeds in principle because everybody does the same deeds. There is no extra “virtue, privilege” that leads to show off. Therefore, there is no show off in rawatib sunnahs performed in connection with fard prayers. However, nafilah prayers that are performed additionally are not like that. Satan might cause man to show off related to them.

Finally, it will be useful to quote the following statement of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi indicating a principle regarding the issue:

“No show off is in question in fards, wajibs, principles of Islam, following the Sunnah and avoiding harams. Doing them openly is not regarded as show off unless a person has a weakness in his belief and has a hypocritical nature. Great people like Imam Ghazali state that one gains more thawabs when he does a deed of worship that is connected with the principles of Islam openly than secretly. One gains more thawabs when he does other nafilah deeds secretly but at times of bid’ah, it is more virtuous to show one’s taqwa by avoiding harams in order to show the honor of following the sunnah.” (see Kastamonu Lahikası, p. 184)

44 How is wudu made? Will you give information about the virtue of wudu?

Abu Hurayra narrates: "The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, ‘When a slave - a Muslim or a believer - washes his face in wudu, every sin he committed with his eyes will be washed away from his face along with the water - or with the last drop of water; when he washes his hands, every sin he committed with his hands will be effaced from his hands with the water - or with the last drop of water; and when he washes his feet, every sin toward which his feet walked will be washed away with the water - or with the last drop of water; consequently, he will come out pure from all sins.’" (Muslim, Taharah 32, (244); Muwatta, Taharah 31, (1, 32); Tirmizi, Taharah 2)

Hz. Uthman narrates: "The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, ‘If a person performs wudu well, his sins will come out from his body, even from under his nails.’'' The following is stated in another narration: "Hz. Uthman made wudu and said, "I saw the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) make wudu as I did and say, ‘If a person makes wudu like this, his previous sins will be forgiven; his prayer and walking to the mosque will be nafilah worshipping.’" (Bukhari, Wudu 25; Muslim, Taharah 8, 229)

Amr Ibnu Abasa as-Sulami narrates: "The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, ‘None of you who uses water for ablution and rinses his mouth, snuffs up water and blows it, but the sins of his face, and his mouth and his nostrils fall out. When he washes his face, as Allah has commanded him, the sins of his face fall out from the end of his beard with water. When he washes his forearms up to the elbows, the sins of his arms fall out along with water from his finger-tips. And when he wipes his head, the sins of his head fall out from the points of his hair along with water. And when he washes his feet up to the ankles, the sins of his feet fall out from his toes along with water. And if he stands to pray and praises Allah, lauds Him and glorifies Him with what becomes Him and shows wholehearted devotion to Allah, his sins would depart leaving him as innocent as he was on the day his mother bore him.’" (Muslim, Musafirin 294, 832)

Abu Umama al-Bahili narrates: "I listened to Amr Ibnu Abasa. He said, ‘I asked the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), ‘How is wudu made?’ He explained it as follows: ‘When you perform wudu, wash your two hands to clean them. Then, wash your face and hands up to the elbows; then, wipe your head, and wash your feet up to the ankles. When you complete them, you will be purified of your sins.  You will emerge from your sins like the day your mother bore you.’'' (Muslim, Musafirin 294, (832); Nasai, Taharah 108, (1, 91, 92).

Humran Mawla Uthman narrates: "Hz. Uthman asked for water. I brought it and he poured water on his hands and washed them three times. Then he put his right hand in the water and rinsed his mouth and his nose. Then he washed his face three times, and his arms up to the elbow three times. Then he wiped his head, and washed each of his feet three times. Then he said: ‘I saw the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performing wudu like I have just done.’ When, he finished wudu, he said: ‘If a person performs wudu as I have done and stands and prays two rak'ahs without letting his thoughts wander, his previous sins will be forgiven.’" (Bukhari, Wudu 24, 28, Sawm 27; Muslim, Taharah 3, 4, (226); Abu Dawud, Taharah 50, (106); Nasai, Taharah 27, 2 8, 93)

The following is stated in another narration Abu Dawud recorded from Ibn Mulayka: "Uthman b. Affan who was asked about ablution. He called for water. A vessel was brought to him. He poured water on his right hand and washed it. Then put his right hand in the water, rinsed his mouth and his nose three times. (He did the same things mentioned in the previous hadith. The following addition exists in the hadith:) He then put his hand in the water and took it out; then he wiped his head and ears, in and out only once.” (Abu Dawud, Taharah 50, (108)

Abdu Khayr narrates: "Ali came upon us and performed a prayer. He called for water. We thought: ‘What will he do with water? He has already offered prayer. He probably wants it to teach us.’ A utensil containing water and a washbasin were brought to him. He poured water from the utensil on his right hand and washed his hands three times. Then, he rinsed the mouth, snuffed up water and cleansed the nose three times. He rinsed the mouth and snuffed up water with the same hand by which he took water. He then washed his face three times, and washed his right hand three times and washed his left hand three times. He then put his hand in water and wiped his head once. He then washed his right foot thrice and left foot thrice; then, he said, ‘If one is pleased to know the method of performing ablution of the Messenger of Allah, this is how he did it.’" (Abu Dawud, Taharah 50, (111); Tirmidhi, Taharah 37, (48); Nasai, Taharah 75)

Another narration by Nasai is as follows: ".. He wiped his head.'' - Shu'ba once pointed to his forehead up to the back of his head – then, he said, "I do not know whether he wiped his hands back.'' (Nasai, Taharah 76)

45 What is the decree about saying "Bismillah" in the middle of a meal?

Umayya Ibn Makhshiyy narrates:

"The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was sitting and somebody was eating. He did not mention Allah's name until there remained the last morsel. When he raised it to his mouth, he said,

'Bismillahi awwalahu wa akhirahu (In the name of Allah at the beginning and at the end of it).' Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) laughed and said,

'Satan kept eating along with him, but when he mentioned Allah's name, Satan vomited what was in his belly.'" [Abu Dawud, At'ima 16, (3786)]

When one starts to eat, he should say bismillah; if he forgets, he should say bismillah when he remembers. It is mustahab to say, "Bismillahi awwalahu wa akhirahu" when one utters it late.

Bismillah adds blessing to food with divine privilege and enables those who eat to feel full. When one does not say bismillah, Satan eats with him and eliminates the blessing of the food.

The meaning of Satan’s vomiting is that the share of Satan is removed from him with bismillah and it is transformed into a sin against him. 

What is meant by Satan’s eating is to eliminate the blessing of the food and what is meant by his vomiting is to return the blessing.

46 Why the phrase the direction of Masjid al-Haram is used and not the Kaaba?

The Kaaba is the heart of Masjid al-Haram. All those who pray in different directions of Masjid al-Haram have to turn toward the Kaaba itself.

Although the Kaaba is more valuable, the place where five daily prayers are performed is Masjid al-Haram.

Besides, the position of facing the qibla his understood differently from the related verses:

According to some scholars, it is sufficient to turn to “the direction of the Kaaba” but according to some other scholars, it is necessary to “turn toward the Kaaba” itself, not “direction of the Kaaba”.

The expressions in the verses are suitable for both of these interpretations.

Like other expressions of the Quran, the expressions on this issue have a “broad meaning”, not a “narrow meaning”.

The word Kaaba does not include Masjid al-Haram, but the name Masjid al-Haram includes the Kaaba.

That is, turning to the direction of Masjid al-Haram includes both the Kaaba and Masjid al-Haram.

Due to this wisdom, the phrase the direction of the Kaaba, not Masjid al-Haram, is used.

Thus, it will suffice for those who cannot see the Kaaba itself and who are far away to pray by facing Masjid al-Haram.

47 Is worshipping more acceptable in the Kaaba or Arafat?

Every deed of worship is valuable where it is done. Therefore, the importance of prayer (dua) said in Arafat is different and the prayer performed in the Kaaba is different. Besides, there are narrations stating that prayers performed in the Kaaba are more virtuous than prayers performed in other mosques.

The Prophet (pbuh) praised Masjid al-Haram by saying, “A prayer performed in Masjid al-Aqsa is equal to one thousand prayer; a prayer performed in Masjid an-Nabawi is equal to ten thousand prayers; a prayer performed in the Kaaba is equal to one hundred thousand prayers.”

Hz. Abu Hurayra narrates: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,  

"Prayer in this mosque of mine is more virtuous." –In another narration- "A prayer in this mosque of mine is more virtuous than one thousand prayers in other mosques except Masjid al-Haram." [Bukhari, Fadlus-Salat 1; Muslim, Hajj 505, (1394); Muwatta, Qiblah 9, (1, 196); Tirmidhi, Salat 243, (325); Nasai, Masajid 7, (2, 35).]

In other hadiths that Ibn Hajar includes in the explanation, the superiority of the prayers performed in Masjid al-Haram and even in Masjid al-Aqsa is expressed by some numbers. The following is stated in a narration in Musnad:

"A prayer in this mosque of mine is more virtuous than one thousand prayers in other mosques except Masjid al-Haram. A prayer in Masjid al-Haram is more virtuous than one hundred prayers in this mosque of mine."

The following is stated in a narration of Bazzar:

"A prayer performed in Masjid al-Haram is equal to one hundred thousand prayers. A prayer performed in this mosque of mine is equal to one thousand prayers. A prayer performed in Bayt al-Maqdis is equal to five hundred prayers."

(Prof. Dr. İbrahim Canan, Kütüb-i Sitte)

48 What are the drawbacks to worshipping in a church for a Muslim in Noel celebrations?

It is not appropriate for a Muslim to go to church and worship like Christians; it is haram. We are prohibited from imitating even their traditions; it is a bigger sin to go to the temple of another religion and to worship like them. Something like this may cause a person to forget his religion in the course of time and adopt the other religion. 

The Prophet (pbuh) says,

“A person who tries to resemble a nation becomes one of them.” (Abu Dawud, Kitabul-Libas, hadith no 3512)

A person can go to a church with two aims: 

1. Those who go to church because they are Christians.

2. Those who go to a church for visiting and touristic purposes.

After this classification, let us explain the decree of going to church:

a. The first group is virtually Christian since they know and accept themselves as Christians. They are regarded as non-Muslims. That is, they are not Muslims.

b. The second group goes there in order to see how the church was built and arranged. When a Christian goes to a mosque to visit it, he does not become a Muslim; similarly, when a Muslim goes to a church to visit it, he does not become a Christian.

49 What should we do to tell people about supererogatory (nafilah) deeds of worship?

Performing supererogatory (nafilah) prayers and fasting has great rewards but a person who does not perform them does not become a sinner; he will be deprived of their thawab (reward).

Therefore, we ourselves should perform nafilah prayers and nafilah fasting first. Then, if the conditions and medium are suitable and if our advice is not likely to harm, we can encourage people to perform them by talking about their virtues and rewards with verses and hadiths. Then, we should pray for them.

What is nafilah?

Nafilah is a fiqh term meaning worship that is not fard or wajib.

The words nafilah and nafl in fiqh, in a broad sense, mean financial and bodily deeds of worship that are not religiously fard and wajib, demanded from a responsible believer. They refer to, in the strict sense, the financial and physical deeds of worship that a person performs voluntarily in order to gain more thawabs (rewards), apart from the fard, wajib and sunnah prayers (Tahanawi, Kashshaf, 2/1325).

The Importance of Nafilah Worship

a. Quran

It is seen that in the Quran and hadiths, the importance of worship that can be expressed as certain deeds that are required to be done in order to serve Allah in the strict sense as well as worship containing all kinds of deeds and efforts in accordance with Allah’s consent in a broad sense is emphasized, and that definite commands in some of them and voluntary deeds in others are encouraged.  

- Worshippers are praised in many verses (see at-Tawba 9/112; az-Zumar 39/9).

- Muslims are recommended and encouraged to compete with each other in good deeds (see al-Maida 5/48) and to help each other in good deeds (see al-Maida 5/2).

- It is stated that nafilah worship (tatawwu) is good and rewarding. (see al-Baqara 2/158, 184; at-Tawba 9/79)

Some tafsir scholars interpreted justice as fards and ihsan as nafilahs in the verse “Allah commands justice, the doing of good (ihsan)...” (see an-Nahl 16/90). (Shawkani, III, 187-188)

b. Hadiths

The Prophet (pbuh) gives the good news that those who fulfill fard and wajib deeds of worship will attain salvation. (see Bukhari, Iman, 34)

However, the Prophet (pbuh) also states

- that those who perform nafilah worship are the beloved servants of Allah. (see Musnad, VI, 256)

- He encouraged his Companions to perform nafilah worship provided that they would not neglect their duties towards themselves, their families and the society and exceed the bounds (see Bukhari Nikah, 1). (see Muslim, Musafirin, 103)

- He informed us that the deficiencies in fard deeds of worship would be completed with nafilah prayers in the hereafter. (see Ibn Majah, Iqamatus-Salah, 202)

- Although the Prophet (pbuh) was informed that he was granted Allah’s forgiveness, he never gave up his efforts to be a grateful servant and performed a lot of worship other than obligatory prayers. (see Bukhari, Tahajjud, 6; Muslim, Munafiqin, 79-81)

c. Companions

The Companions took pains to perform the deeds of worship other than fards in the way the Prophet (pbuh) practiced and taught. They gave importance to nafilah worship by maintaining this line based on the principle of following the Prophet (pbuh), and they adopted the understanding that nafilah acts had a special place for progress on the path of being a perfect believer.

D. Fiqh Scholars

Considering that nafilah deeds of worship protected and supported fard and wajib deeds of worship and that performing them together contributed positively to the improvement of relations among individuals and social structure, and to personality training, fiqh scholars regarded them as wajib in terms of society, and attracted attention to the fact that if nafilahs were abandoned constantly by individuals and wholly by the congregation, it would have significant drawbacks. (Fakhruddin ar-Razi, al-Mahsul, I, 102; Shatibi, Muwafaqat, I, 132-133; cf. Sarakhsi, al-Usul, I, 114; Abdulaziz al-Bukhari, Kashful-Asrar, II, 628)

Types of Nafilah Worship

Nafilah types of each of the four basic deeds of worship of Islam, namely prayer (salah), fasting, pilgrimage (hajj) and zakah, are dealt with in fiqh with the expressions such as “salat an-nafilah / salat at-tatawwu”.

1. Nafilah Prayers

Nafilah prayers are divided into parts such as sunnah, mandub, and tatawwu in terms of their degrees; they are also considered differently in terms of being performed in congregation or not. In addition, such prayers are also divided into two as muqayyad and absolute in terms of having a certain time to be performed or not or having a reason to be performed or not.

Muqayyad nafilah prayers performed for a reason are as follows: lunar eclipse, solar eclipse, rain, starting a journey, returning from a journey, repentance, tawaf (circumambulation), entering ihram, tasbih, tahiyyatul-masjid, istikhara, wudu and ghusl prayers.   

Sunnah prayers that are called “sunan rawatib” because they are performed in a certain order, arrangement and regularity before or after the Friday prayer and five daily fard prayers, tarawih, duha, awwabin and tahajjud prayers, which are performed based on a certain time are muqayyad nafilah prayers.

Nafilah prayers that are recommended to be performed on holy days and nights are also regarded in this group.

Witr and Eid prayers, which are considered wajib in Hanafi madhhab, are considered to be nafilah prayers depending on a certain time since they are sunnah al-muakkadah in other madhhabs.

Nafilah prayers that are not dependent on a certain time and whose number of rak’ahs are not determined are absolute nafilah prayers. Such prayers can be performed during the day and night in a way that will not delay fard and wajib prayers, and outside of makruh times to perform nafilah prayers.

Fiqh scholars state that it is more virtuous to have longer recitation of the Quran rather than performing more rak’ahs in absolute nafilah prayers, and that nafilah prayers performed at night are superior in degree to those performed during the day. Hanafis state that absolute nafilah prayers can be performed with a salutation in the daytime after a maximum of four rak’ahs and at night eight rak’ahs while Shafiis state that they can only be performed with a salutation after each two rak’ahs both in the daytime and at night.

2. Nafilah Fasts

Nafilah fasts are also divided into two as muqayyad and absolute.

Muqayyad nafilah fasts are fasts that are performed on the ninth and tenth or tenth and eleventh days of Muharram, in the month of Shawwal, especially on the six days following Ramadan, in the haram months (Dhul-Qada, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab), especially on the first nine days of Dhul-Hijjah, in Sha’ban and on the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth days of all lunar months except Ramadan, and on Mondays and Thursdays of every week.

Some of those fasts are described as sunnah and some as mustahab. Absolute nafilah fasts, on the other hand, are the fasts that a person observes in order to gain rewards on days other than those that are not makruh or haram to fast, and their decree is mustahab.

On the other hand, it is emphasized in fiqh books that it is makruh to fast if it causes a violation of the rights of others or weakens the person and prevents him from fulfilling his personal, family and social duties. It is stated by some fiqh scholars that although it is necessary to make intention for fard fasting at night, it is permissible to make intention for nafilah fasting up to the noon time and that such a fast can be broken without an excuse.

3. Nafilah Sadaqah (Charity)

Sadaqahs are also divided into two parts as fard and nafilah; the fard part is zakah.

In the chapters of zakah, fiqh scholars examined in detail the decrees of zakah, which is fard among financial deeds of worship, and sadaqah al-fitrah, which is wajib, and stated that it was a great thawab for the responsible person to voluntarily give more than the minimum amount while fulfilling the duty of zakah and fitrah. They pointed to the financial help other than them under the heading “sadaqat at-tatawwu” and they dealt with the decrees regarding the issue generally under the titles related to donation deeds such as foundation, testament (will), grant, loan without interest and gift.

In this context, although it is recommended to give nafilah financial aid a lot, especially on blessed days and nights, it is stated that they can be given any time, that it should be given in great secrecy without offending the person being helped (al-Baqara 2/264, 267, 271, 274) and it should not be so high as to make the donator poor (al-Isra 17/29). It is also stated that it is considered makruh for a person who is in debt to give nafilah sadaqah before paying his debt.

4. Nafilah Hajj

Although there is an agreement among fiqh scholars that it is rewarding to perform nafilah hajj, it is debatable, when compared to other deeds of charity, which one is considered more virtuous.

Hanafis hold the view that the construction of outposts (ribat) along the borders of the country is more virtuous than nafilah hajj; they have different opinions related to the comparisons with other nafilah financial aids. (Ibn Nujaym, Bahrur-Raiq, II, 334; Ibn Abidin, Raddul-Muhtar, II, 621)

Can a person who has missed fard or wajib deeds of worship perform nafilah worship?

Fiqh scholars have different opinions about whether a person who has missed fard or wajib deeds of worship to perform can perform the same kind of nafilah worship without performing those missed deeds of worship.

It is generally accepted that it is haram for a person who owes zakah, nafaqah and kaffarah to give nafilah financial aid without paying them.

Hanafi fiqh scholars state that it is better for a person who owes fard and wajib prayers to perform those missed prayers instead of performing absolute nafilah prayers, that it is not considered makruh for a person who owes fard fasting to perform nafilah fasting, that a person who has not performed fard hajj yet can perform a hajj with the intention of nafilah hajj, and that it is permissible for a Muslim who has not fulfilled fard hajj yet to perform Hajj on behalf of someone else.

According to a narration from Abu Yusuf, hajj performed by a person who has not performed fard hajj yet with the intention of nafilah hajj is regarded as a fard hajj.

In the Maliki madhhab, it is stated that it is haram for a person who has to perform missed fard prayers to perform nafilah prayers other than witr, eid prayers and the sunnah of the morning prayer, that it is makruh for a person who owes fasting due to vowing, qada and kaffarah to perform nafilah fasting, that it is makruh for a person who has not performed fard hajj yet to perform nafilah hajj and that in that case, his fard hajj obligation will continue.

According to an accepted view in Shafii madhhab, it is not permissible for a person who has missed fard prayers without an excuse to spare time for nafilah prayers. In this madhhab, it is makruh for a person who owes Ramadan fasting to perform nafilah fasting. Again, according to this madhhab, a nafilah hajj cannot be performed before the fard hajj is performed; even if intention is made for a nafilah hajj, it is regarded as a fard hajj.

Hanbalis hold the view that it is makruh for a person who has to perform missed fard prayers to perform nafilah prayers other than the sunnah of the morning prayer. In this madhhab, in which it is debatable whether it is permissible for a person who has had a missed Ramadan fasting, to perform nafilah fasting, it is stated if a person who has not performed fard hajj yet makes intention for a nafilah hajj, such a hajj is regarded as a fard hajj.

50 Although the deeds of worship are not explained in the Quran, how were they, for instance, the number of the rak’ahs of prayers, determined? Is the source sacred hadiths since the amount is not mentioned in the Quran?

Sunnah: The words, deeds and approval of the Prophet (pbuh).

"If a person skips a prayer by sleeping or forgetting, let him perform it when he remembers." (Abu Dawud, Salah, II; Darimi, Salah, 26)

The hadith above is an example of verbal sunnah (sunnah based on words).

"Perform prayers in the way that you see me perform." (Bukhari, Adhan, 18, Adab, 27, Ahad, I)

The hadith above is an example of actual sunnah (sunnah based on deeds). A Companion performed prayer with tayammum because he could not find water and he did not perform his prayer again though he found water after performing the prayer; the Prophet (pbuh) approved it, which is an example of sunnah of approval. It is unanimously agreed in fiqh that sunnah is the second main source after the Quran. It is definite by verses of the Quran that sunnah is regarded as evidence:

"…So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you..." (al-Hashr, 59/7).

"But no, by the Lord, they can have no (real) Faith, until they make thee judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against Thy decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction." (an-Nisa, 4/65)

''He who obeys the Messenger, obeys Allah...'' (an-Nisa, 4/80)

"O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you..." (an-Nisa 4/59)

''It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision..." (al-Ahzab, 33/36)

Sunnah is the Prophet’s fulfilling the duty of messengership he took from His Lord by conveying the message to people. The following is stated in a verse regarding the issue:

"O Messenger! Proclaim the (message) which hath been sent to thee from thy Lord. If thou didst not, thou wouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed His mission..." (al-Maida, 5/67).

The Quran states that the Prophet (pbuh) speaks based on revelation:

"Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him." (an-Najm, 53/3-4)

On the other hand, the verses of the Quran states clearly that it is necessary to believe in the Prophet (pbuh):

''…So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided.'' (al-A'raf, 7/158)

Sunnah has three functions in the face of the Quran. It explains the ambiguous and concise verses of the Quran, specifies general decrees of the Quran, mentions the abrogating and abrogated verses, introduces complementary decrees to the verses whose origins are certain in the Quran, imposes some decrees that do not exist in the Quran. That the way of performing prayers and paying zakah, which are orders in the Quran, are explained by sunnah, the decree that the marriage of a man who accuses his wife of adultery but who cannot prove it will end if he practices mula’ana (mutual damning), and the hadiths that prohibit eating the flesh of domestic donkeys and birds of prey are examples of it. (Muhammad Abu Zahra, Usulul Fiqh, p. 113, 114).

51 What does "glorifying Allah", which is often mentioned in the Quran mean? How "is Allah glorified"?

TASBIH means to say that Allah is free of any imperfections, to glorify Allah, to worship Allah and to say "subhanallah".

To say "subhanallah" 33 times, "alhamdulillah" 33 times and "Allahu akbar" 33 times after performing a prayer is also tasbih.

The words that are derived from the root of the word tasbih, and glorify and extol Allah are mentioned in about one hundred places in the Quran.

Allah mentions tasbih and dhikr together:  

"O ye who believe! Celebrate the praises of Allah, and do this often; And glorify Him morning and evening." (al-Ahzab, 33/41, 42).

In the verse above, Allah wants believers to mention Allah and to glorify Him. Mentioning (dhikr) and glorifying (tasbih) are dealt with together. Besides, tasbih is a kind of dhikr. The word dhikr includes various sufistic concepts. One of them is tasbih. There are various explanations of scholars about tasbih mentioned in the verse above. Some scholars interpret it as saying that Allah is free of any defects and imperfections. Some scholars regard it as prayer and supplication (salah). (al-Mawardi, an-Nukatu wal-Uyun, Beirut 1992, IV/409)

It is stated in the Quran that everything in the world and sky glorifies Allah:

"Whatever is in the heavens and on earth let it declare the Praises and Glory of Allah: for He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise." (al-Hadid, 57/1).

This verse is repeated in two more places in the Quran (al-Hashr, 59/1; as-Saff, 61/1). In all three places, it is the first verse of the three chapters.

The phrase "everything declares the praises and glory of Allah" in the verse was interpreted variously. The glorification of Allah by living beings involves saying through the tongue that He is free from all kinds of imperfections and things that do not fit His majesty. All scholars say that living beings glorify Allah like that. However, they hold different views about non-living beings glorifying Allah. According to some scholars, the glorification of non-living beings is their being shown as evidence for Allah's creativity and power over everything. The existence of these beings shows the exaltedness of Allah. This state of theirs is glorification. Other scholars say non-living beings glorify Allah like living beings and show the following verse as evidence:

"The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: there not a thing but celebrates His praise; and yet ye understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is Oft- Forbearing, Most Forgiving." (al-Isra, 17/44)

According to the scholars who hold this view, there is something living that man cannot notice in every being that is thought to be non-living. Everything is made up of atoms. The electrons around the nucleus of the atom turn in an astonishing speed.

According to some other scholars, everything in the universe, all living and non-living beings, is under the command of Allah. He uses them as He wishes. Everything surrenders to His orders. Their glorification is this surrendering.   (Muhammad Ali as-Sabuni, Safwatut-Tafasir, İstanbul 1987, III/319 ff.)

Some other verses regarding glorification (tasbih) are as follows:

"But celebrate the praises of thy Lord and be of those who prostrate themselves in adoration." (al-Hijr, 15/98).

"And thou wilt see the angels surrounding the Throne (Divine) on all sides, singing Glory and Praise of their Lord. The Decision between them (at Judgment) will be in (perfect) justice. And the cry (on all sides) will be "Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds." (az-Zumar, 39/75)

"Patiently, then persevere: for the Promise of Allah is true: and ask forgiveness for thy fault, and celebrate the Praises of thy Lord in the evening and in the morning." (al-Mumin, 40/55)

"Glorify the name of thy Guardian-Lord Most High" (al-A'la, 87/1)

Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) gave some advice to his ummah regarding tasbih and set an example as he did in other issues. Some hadiths of the Prophet regarding tasbih are as follows:

"There are two sentences that are light for the tongue, heavy on the scales and loved by Rahman: Subhanallahi wabihamdihi subhanallahil-azim (Allah is free from imperfection and all praise is due to Him; Allah is free from imperfection, the greatest)." (Muhammad b. Allan Dalilul-Falihin, Egypt 1971, IV/210)

"Shall I tell you the best and most beloved word according to Allah? The best and most beloved word according to Allah is: Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi."(Muhammad b. Allan, ibid, IV/214)

According to what is narrated from Abu Hurayra, the poor among the muhajirs went to Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) and said,  

"The rich attained high ranks and endless boons. They perform prayers and fasting like us. They have a lot of wealth. They perform hajj and umrah whenever they want; they make jihad and give sadaqah." Thereupon, Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) said,

"Shall I teach you something that will make you catch up with the ones that surpassed you, that will make you surpass the ones after you and that nobody except those who do what you do can surpass you?" The Companions said,

"Yes. O Messenger of Allah!" Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) said,

"Say, 'Glory be to Allah' thirty three times, 'Praise be to Allah' thirty three times, and 'Allah is the greatest' thirty three times after every prayer." (Abu Dawud, Imarah, 20; Ahmad b. Hanbal, V/196)

According to what Abu Hurayra narrates, Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) said,

"If anyone extols Allah after every prayer thirty-three times, praises Allah thirty-three times, declares His greatness thirty-three times, ninety-nine times in all, and says to complete a hundred:" La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu wa huwa ala kulli shayin qadir (There is no god but Allah, having no partner with Him, to Him belongs sovereignty and to Him is praise due, and He is Potent over everything)", his sins will be forgiven even if they are as abundant as the foam of the sea." (Muslim, Masajid, 144, 145, 146).

Besides, Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) glorified Allah before sleeping. (Abu Dawud, Adab, 98). He also advised glorifying Allah by saying, "Every tasbih is sadaqah." (Muslim, Musafirun, 84, Zakah, 53; Ahmad b. Hanbal, V/167, 168) There is also a special tasbih prayer. It is called tasbih prayer because a lot of tasbihs are said in it.

52 Is wudu made with makeup and the prayer performed with that wudu valid?

It is necessary to pay attention to two points whether prayers can be performed after wearing makeup:

The first point is that the substance that is used in makeup and cosmetics must not contain any dirty and harmful matter; and the makeup must allow water to penetrate under it. If the makeup contains some dirty matter and does not water to penetrate under it, prayers cannot be performed with it; it has to be removed at once.  

The first point is that if a woman wears makeup, she must not show it to anybody except her husband and her mahram men about whom she is sure (for instance, her son, father, brother, etc.). If she appears like that in the presence of non-mahram men and goes out like that, she leads men to sins.

Nail polish is related to wudu before prayer. As it is known, water must touch the outer parts of wudu organs for wudu to be valid. If a substance spread on wudu organs prevents water from touching the body, that wudu is not valid. 

When nail polish is spread on the nail, it prevents water from penetrating under it. For instance, it is clearly stated in our fiqh books that wax prevents wudu. Wudu is not valid if wax is not removed before wudu; similarly, wudu is not valid if nail polish is not removed before wudu.

(Mehmed Paksu, Aileye Özel Fetvalar)

53 Will you give information about the sacrifice of vow and when is it necessary to sacrifice?

A person who vows a sacrifice can slaughter it at any time when he is free to do so.

Nazr, which is the equivalent of vow in English, is a kind of worship. In fact, the real meaning of nazr is that a person promises to do something that is permissible for the sake of Allah and makes it obligatory on himself to do what he has vowed to do.

Religiously, it is obligatory to fulfill a vow because the person has promised to do something for Allah.

The verse “Then let them … perform their vows.” (al-Hajj, 22/29)

is a command from God Almighty to those who make vows. Our Prophet (pbuh) said,

“If a person vows something and pronounces it, he must fulfill what he has vowed.” (Molla Husrev, Dürerü’l-Hukkâm, İstanbul: Fazilet Neşriyat ve Matbaacılık, 1976, II/45)

However, there is something that should be taken into consideration regarding the issue: The vow does not change what is vowed, that is, it has no effect on Divine Predestination. Our beloved Prophet (pbuh) points to the issue as follows:

“Vow does not change anything from destiny. However, a stingy person will be deprived of some property because of his vow.” (Tirmidhi, Nuzur: 10)

If one makes a vow knowing that it has no effect on one’s happiness or misfortune, and then fulfills it, he will be rewarded. Besides, a vow can only be made related to something that is fard or wajib. Fulfilling those obligations will undoubtedly gain man rewards. However, it is best not to get used to the custom of making a vow very much, as those deeds of worship can also be performed and good deeds can also be done without making a vow.

The purpose of the vow must be Allah’s consent. In all those issues, Allah’s consent must be stipulated, and if something is to be offered, it must be done in order to attain His consent.

No limitations or determinations such as time, place, money, or poor people are considered in a vow. If a person makes a vow to sacrifice an animal in Ramadan, it is permissible for him to sacrifice it in any month. Similarly, if a person vows to perform a prayer at the Fatih Mosque, it is permissible for him to perform the same prayer at the Süleymaniye Mosque. If a person makes a vow to give a certain amount of money to a certain poor person, his vow will be fulfilled even if he gives it to another poor person.

Certain conditions must be fulfilled for a vow to be valid:

1. The thing that is vowed must be something that exists and can be done. For example, a vow cannot be made by saying something like, “I will fast yesterday for the sake of Allah.”

2. The vow must not be something that is forbidden or sinful in religion. For example, it is invalid to vow to gamble or drink wine.

3. The vow must be something that is obligatory or wajib like fasting, performing a prayer, sacrificing an animal, etc. A vow to go on a journey, travel, or visit a sick person is not regarded as a vow.

4. The vow must not exceed the financial capacity of the person making the vow, and it must not be something that belongs to someone else. For example, if a person who vows to slaughter a calf cannot afford it, he can slaughter a sheep. However, if he vows to slaughter someone else’s sheep, he does not have to fulfill this vow.

It is not permissible to make a vow on behalf of a person or a creature. For example, one cannot make an offering in the name of a notable person, a shrine or a tomb. It is not permissible to sacrifice animals that are not permissible for sacrifice, such as chickens and roosters, which is a custom of the Jews; nor is it permissible to make vows by lighting candles. One must not rely on such things, and must seek help and healing only from Allah.

There are some vows that are regarded as oaths. Atonement (kaffarah) is necessary for them. For example, if a person vows not to go somewhere, not to eat something, or not to do something and if he does it, he has to atone for his vow. He does not have to sacrifice an animal.

If it is an animal that is permissible to be sacrificed, such as a sheep, goat and cattle, when the animal is slaughtered, its meat cannot be eaten by the person who made the vow, nor can his close relatives (called usul and furu’) eat from it. That is, the person who made the vow, his parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren, husband and wife cannot eat from it. There is no difference between a man and a woman in terms of a vow. However, a person’s mother-in-law and father-in-law can eat from it. The meat of this animal must be given to the poor. (Ibn Abidin, V/208)

The animal that has been sacrificed cannot be given to the rich. If the person who has made the vow and his relatives eat the meat, they must give the equivalent of the meat to the poor. However, if a person who has benefited from the meat of the vow offers some of it to the people who have made the vow, they can eat from it.

By the way, it would be useful to clarify one more point. If a person who buys a house, a car, or something similar buys an animal, slaughters it, and distributes the meat to the poor, both as a thankful gesture and with the intention of keeping it safe from accidents, it is both a good deed and a kind of du’a (prayer). This animal is not regarded as a vow since he has not had an intention of vow beforehand.

However, if he intends, for example, by saying “If I buy a car, I will slaughter a sheep for the sake of Allah”, he has to slaughter the animal when he can after buying the car and give its meat to the poor.

54 Is there a difference between worshipping for the sake of Allah and worshipping for the sake of attaining Paradise or avoiding Hell?

Aiming to attain Paradise and avoiding Hell along with attaining the consent of Allah while worshipping does not invalidate worshipping and such a person is not regarded to have committed a sin. However, sincerity, which is the spirit of worshipping, is harmed. "A small deed done with sincerity (ikhlas) is better than thousands of worship without sincerity." Therefore, it is necessary to worship because Allah orders not because of any other aims.

We should abandon sins because He orders us to abandon them.

Worship has two aspects. One is its cause, the other is the wisdom behind it. The real reason of worship and the reason why it is a duty is its cause. The cause is the order or the prohibition of Allah. Then, the real reason and cause of worship is the order and the prohibition of Allah. Its result is to attain the consent of Allah. Its fruit is in Paradise in the hereafter.  

“Sincerity is to perform worshipping just because it is ordered by Allah. Worship should be performed just because it is ordered. Some other wisdom or benefit should not be the main cause of worshipping.  

However, it is not objectionable for the wisdoms and benefits to become reasons for preference. Then, we can want our worship to be beneficial for us in the hereafter on condition that we do not regard it as the main reason. After worshipping, we can ask for Paradise from Allah. Since the hereafter is a place of oneness, there is no drawback to worshipping by thinking of the bliss in the hereafter. There is no need to look for something contrary to sincerity here.  

However, if we regard the bliss in the hereafter as the main reason for worship and as superior to attaining the consent of Allah, then our sincerity will be harmed. After all, we are slaves of Allah; we need to attain the consent of Allah. With the expression of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, a believer who learns from the Quran is a servant of Allah. However, he does not stoop to worship even the greatest of creatures; he is an esteemed slave who does not take a supreme benefit like Paradise as the aim of his worship. (Sözler (Words), p. 122)

The Quran invites people to worship Allah with the following order: “O ye people! Adore your Guardian-Lord!” After this call, the Quran also answers the question, “Why should I worship?” by stating, “Because he is your Lord, who created you.” (al-Baqara, 2/21) Thus, the Quran itself finds it sufficient for us to worship our Lord just because He created us. The statement at the end of the verse, “that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness” expresses a result for our worship. According to this verse, the result of our worship is to attain righteousness (taqwa). To attain Paradise or to attain the endless bounties in the hereafter is a grant from Allah if He wishes.  

Indeed, our purpose of creation is to live for Allah and to exist for Allah. As a matter of fact, the following verse, which is sunnah for us to utter when we are hit by a misfortune, depicts clearly what we are living for:  “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un” (To Allah we belong and to Him is our return.) (al-Baqara, 2/156) A person who lives for Allah will definitely worship for Allah only.  

While interpreting the verse above, Badiuzzaman Said Nursi pays great attention to the fact that “taqwa” is shown as a sufficient target for worship. According to Nursi, we understand from the verse that worship becomes real worship when it is performed with sincerity. Worship cannot be performed with the intention of attaining something worldly or Paradise or bliss in the hereafter. Worship is not a means; it is an end. Worship is the only aim of our creation. We do not worship in order to attain something. We do not worship in order to gain rewards or avoid hellfire. We worship because it is the purpose of our creation and because it is a target that we need to attain. (see İşârâtü’l-İ’câz (Signs of Miraculousness, the interpretation of the verse mentioned above) That is why we feel peace and ease when we perform worship because we attain our purpose of creation.

We were created so that we would worship not that we would attain Paradise or be happy in the hereafter. The following verse expresses that purpose very clearly:

“I have only created jinn and men, that they may serve Me.” (adh-Dhariyat, 51/56)

We worship with that intention, with the help and guidance of Allah, only for the sake of Allah, and in order to obey the order of Allah. We expect Paradise, God’s mercy and pardoning in the hereafter not as a reward of our worshipping but as a grant, grace and mercy of God Almighty.

It is a necessity of our servitude to Allah to worship in the world; similarly, it is a necessity of our servitude to Allah to expect God’s bounties, mercy and Paradise – though not in return for our worship. To ask befits the servant and to give befits Him.  

Then, the answer to the question, “Why are you worshipping?” is “Because my Lord has ordered.” There are several benefits of obeying this order, both in this world and in the hereafter. However, we do not worship for those benefits. They are the wisdoms behind worshipping. The duty of a servant is to worship, to obey orders and to avoid prohibitions. It befits a servant to worship. The grants, bounties and the ranks in Paradise that will be given by the Lord to a servant who worships sincerely are wisdoms behind worshipping.

Let us summarize the issue with an example:

Uncle Hakkı had a very nice garden and he had very nice mulberry, apricot and cherry trees in his garden. When Fatih was a boy, he used to go to Uncle Hakkı and eat those fruits. To eat fruits directly from the tree was really very nice. Once Fatih said to his father, “Dad! I love Uncle Hakkı very much.” His father said jokingly, “Son! You do not love Uncle Hakkı; you love his garden.”

Uncle Hakkı was a person to be loved. However, loving him for his personality was different from loving him for his garden.

55 What is the importance and wisdom of religious times for Allah?

It is a clear fact that Allah does not need anything.

- However, He comes with His mercy and compassion to help His slaves who believe in this world of testing but who cannot get rid of the traps of Satan and the tricks of their souls. That He keeps the door of repentance open until the time of death is a manifestation of this mercy.

Similarly, His use of some periods of times and places as special occasions and as a trade market for the hereafter for accepting His slaves and forgiving them is a reflection of His infinite mercy.  

Yes, our Almighty Lord shows His compassion and mercy to His slaves through such occasions.

- There is no doubt that when a doctor prescribes some drugs for his patient, a host treats to his guests, a king helps his subjects, a teacher holds a special make-up exam though they do not need them, they do them to meet the needs of their addressees.  

When we look at the truth through the example of this window, we must not doubt that when Allah keeps those doors of opportunities wide open, He does so to meet the needs of His slaves not because He needs.

- There is no doubt that when those otherworldly seasons, which are cheap spiritual markets, and the places of spiritual fairs are determined, the holiness of those times and places were taken into consideration as a necessity of divine wisdom.   

For instance, the reason why the deeds of worship performed in the Kaaba, Masjid an-Nabawi and Masjid al-Aqsa gain man more thawabs than those in other places is their value in the eye of Allah.

Similarly, the time periods like Ramadan, Friday, some holy nights and time of dawn are known to be the times of special worshipping when a close relationship between Allah and His slaves is established.

For instance, that the Quran was sent down in the month of Ramadan, that slaves worship in congregation in Friday prayer and that they give up sleeping for Allah at the time of dawn are regarded as suitable by Allah for the divine mercy to come down on His slaves abundantly.

56 How should it be evaluated that a person who starts to perform prayers and acts carefully to obey the orders of the religion becomes peaceful and happy, and things go smoothly for him?

We cannot say that obeying the religious orders will definitely bring happiness because there are many people who fulfil the deeds of worshipping but who are hit by misfortunes.

However, we should state that even if he is hit by worldly problems, his heart will be peaceful. For, he experiences the ease of fulfilling the duty of worshipping Allah. If he regards the worldly problems as temporary, those problems will also be eliminated inshallah.

57 Is there a kind of worshipping peculiar to the arafah of (the day before) eid al-fitr?

Arafah is the day one day before eid al-adha, the 9th day of the month of Dhul-hijjah of the Hijri calendar (lunar year). No other day can be called Arafah. However, the day before eid al-fitr is also called Arafah in some Islamic countries.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) states the following:

“The most virtuous day among the days is the day of Arafah. It is like Friday in terms of virtue. It is more virtuous than seventy hajjs except the one performed on Friday. The most virtuous prayer (dua) is the one said on the day of Arafah. The most virtuous sentence uttered by me and the prophets before me is (Lailaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lahu. (There is no god but Allah; He is one; He has no partners.)” (Muwatta, Hajj, 246)

Aisha (ra) narrates:

“There is no day when Allah sets free more servants from Hell than the day of Arafah. He draws near His slaves and praises them to the angels, saying: ‘What do they want?’” (Muslim, Hajj, 436)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

“Show respect to the day of Arafah. Arafah is a day that Allah appreciates.”

Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) wanted us to show respect to the day that Allah appreciates and to try to live consciously. Respect starts by realizing the blessing that is granted and being able to know and see. To spend the day of Arafah by performing fasting, saying prayers, asking for forgiveness without committing sins is an expression of respect and gratitude to Allah, who gave the glad tiding that He would forgive His slaves. (Daylami)

The following conversation between Umar (ra) and a Jew shows the importance of the day of Arafah:

During the caliphate of Umar (ra), a Jew said to him,

“O Umar! You read a verse; if it had been sent down to us, we would have celebrated that day as an eid (festival).”
It is the third verse of the chapter of al-Maida. God Almighty states the following:

“This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you.”

That verse was sent down in the tenth year of the Migration during the Farewell Hajj on Friday, which was the day of Arafah, in the afternoon when the Prophet (pbuh) was on his camel called “Adba”. The camel slumped down due to the heaviness of the revelation.

When Umar (ra) heard the verse from the Jew, he said, 

“We know that day and the place where that verse was sent down. It was on Friday and Arafah.” Thus, Umar (ra) mentioned the importance of Arafah by stating that it was eid for us. 

The day of Arafah is the day when the Prophet Adam and Hawwa (Eve) met.

Tawriyah is one day before Arafah. The Prophet (pbuh) stated the following:

“A Muslim who performs fasting on the day of tawriyah and does not utter any sinful words enters Paradise.”

The fasting performed on that day is equal to supererogatory (nafilah) fasting of one thousand days. Besides, it causes the repentance of the previous year and the next year to be accepted. One gets a lot of rewards when he fasts on the day of Arafah. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated the following:

“A reward of twice the number of the people that lived beginning from the Prophet Adam and that will live up to the Day of Judgment will be given to a person who performs fasting on the day of Arafah.”

“The fasting performed on the day of Arafah is equal to supererogatory fasting of one thousand days.”

“The fasting on the day of Ashura is equal to supererogatory fasting of one year and on the day of Arafah two years.”

The fasting performed on the day of Arafah is equal to freeing two thousand slaves, sacrificing two thousand camels and giving two thousand horses in the way of Allah for jihad.”

“The fasting performed on the day of Arafah will be atonement for the sins of the previous year and the next year.”

It is recommended to read the chapter of al-Ikhlas one thousand times on the day of Arafah by some great personalities. It is stated in hadiths that reading the chapter of al-Ikhlas will be a means of forgiveness for the sins except individual rights.

“The sins of a person who reads al-Ikhlas one thousand times with Bismillah are forgiven and his prayer (dua) is accepted.”

The Prophet (pbuh) prayed to Allah on the night of Arafah to forgive his ummah. His prayer was answered as follows: ‘I have forgiven them, except for the wrongdoer, with whom I will settle the score in favor of the one whom he wronged.’ The Messenger of Allah said,

‘O Lord, if You wish, You will grant Paradise to the one who is wronged, and forgive the wrongdoer.’ No response came from Allah in Arafat to this prayer. The next day at Muzdalifah, he repeated the same prayer. This time, his prayer was accepted. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) laughed, showing his joy. Thereupon, Abu Bakr (ra) and Umar (ra) said to him,

‘May my father and mother be sacrificed for you! This is not a time when you usually laugh. What made you laugh?’ The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

 ‘When the enemy of Allah, Iblis, came to know that Allah answered my prayer and forgave my nation, he took some dust and started to sprinkle it on his head, crying ‘Woe on you! You have been destroyed!’ This cry of Satan’s, which I saw, made me laugh.’

It is necessary to show respect to the day of Arafah; we should join the prayers of hajjis who are on Arafat on that day by feeling that we are with them spiritually. We should avoid anything that can cause us to commit a sin on that day. Nowadays, the day of Arafah is experienced as a very busy day with worldly affairs since it is one day before eid. In fact, Arafah is one of the most important time periods given to man. These days are days of worshipping and forgiveness.  It is the most valuable time period when hajjis come together in Arafat regardless of their languages, races and skin colors reminding of the Day of Gathering by saying, “Labbayk (Here I am at your service)” and when servitude is presented to Allah by supplications and talbiyahs. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) states the following:

“The most virtuous prayer (dua) is the one said on the day of Arafah.” (Bayhaqi)

“Allah looks at His slaves on the day of Arafah and forgives anyone who has even a very little amount of belief.”

Allah informed the Prophet (pbuh) that prayers were not rejected on some nights. The four holy nights when the doors of mercy are opened are as follows: 

1. The night of (before) eid al-fitr,
2. The night of (before) eid al-adha,
3. The night of tarwiya (8th night of Dhul-hijjah),
4. The night of Arafah. (Isfahani)

It is very virtuous to spend the day and night of Arafah worshipping. There are narrations stating that a person who spends the night of Arafah worshipping will be saved from Hell. It was stated by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) that a person who avoids sins on the day of Arafah will be forgiven. 

“On the day of Arafah, a young man who was near the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was thinking about women and looking at the women. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) turned the man’s face away from the women a few times. The young man started to think about them again. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

“My brother’s son! Today is such a day that anyone who controls his ears, eyes and tongue is forgiven.” (Musnad)

The following are advised to do on the day of Arafah:

1. It is necessary to start uttering takbirs of tashrik after the fard of the morning prayer.
2. One should perform fasting on the day of Arafah.
3. One should show respect to the day of Arafah and try not to commit sins.
4. One should pray to Allah and ask for forgiveness a lot on the day of Arafah.
5. One should read the chapter of al-Ikhlas 1000 times on the day of Arafah.

58 How should we consider disasters and misfortunes?

“Worship consists in fact of two kinds, positive and negative. What is meant by the positive is obvious. As for negative worship, this is when one afflicted with misfortune or sickness perceives his own weakness and helplessness, and turning to his Compassionate Lord, seeks refuge in Him, meditates upon Him, petitions Him, and thus offers a pure form of worship that no hypocrisy can penetrate. If he endures patiently, thinks of the reward attendant on misfortune and offers thanks, then each hour that he passes will count as a whole day spent in worship. His brief life becomes very long.” (Lem’alar)

One of the duties of worship that the Messenger of Allah performed perfectly is patience. He passed the test of patience successfully through migration, wars and so many misfortunes and problems.

Prayer is the ascension (Miraj) of the believer. Misfortunes and diseases are another ladder of ascension. A Muslim rises spiritually as he obeys every command of Allah and avoids every prohibition of His. Another form of this ascension takes place through showing patience in the face of misfortunes and illnesses. The misfortunes that hit man teach him that he is a weak slave and that he has no power to prevent any incidents from traffic accidents to floods and storms. Illnesses repeat the same thing in the inner world of man. A person who understands very well that he cannot control the incidents like external influences in his own body puts his trust in his Lord and expects the cure from Him after taking the necessary precautions for treatment. This is a great progress for the believer.

People who undergo different tests with such different manifestations throughout life will move to the land of eternity after this short world life. They will attain the origin of these shadows and they will find and taste the blessings of knowledge and love in the perfect form there.

59 Does thawab change according to the intention? What is the best intention?

Niyyah (intention), which is a criterion for deeds, is the impetus that comes from the heart of a person and emerges in order to satisfy his desire at that moment. Therefore, intention is not only an element that sharpens man’s will but also a factor that triggers the spark of the first will that emerges depending on the relevant desire.

It will be useful to have a look at the following hadith and the reason why it was said in order to understand the issue better:

“The rewards of deeds are according to the intentions. Everybody will get the reward for what he has intended. So, whoever emigrated for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, his emigration was for Allah and His Messenger; and whoever emigrated for worldly benefits, or to marry a woman, his emigration was for the thing for what he emigrated.” (Bukhari, Nikah, 5; Muslim, Imarah, 155)

The following incident is narrated for the reason why the hadith above was said: After the Prophet (pbuh) migrated to Madinah, the Muslims started to migrate too. One of them was a woman called Umm Qays. A man wanted to marry her but she said, “I will not marry you if you do not migrate.” Thereupon, he migrated to Madinah and married her.

Everybody migrated in order to attain Allah and His Messenger’s consent, but that man migrated in order to marry Umm Qays; therefore, he was given the nickname “Muhajiru Umm Qays (the Migrant of Umm Qays)”. (see Ibn Hajar, Fathul-Bari, 1/10)

- After seeing that importance of intention, one should not hesitate that people’s deeds will be more rewarding according to their intentions. The quality of deeds increases according to the quality of the intention.

- There is no doubt that the highest rank among the degrees of servitude is related to the “consent of Allah”.

“(To the righteous soul will be said:) “O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! Come back thou to thy Lord,- well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him! Enter thou, then, among My devotees! Yea, enter thou My Heaven!” (al-Fajr, 89/27-30)

We can understand from the verse above that the highest degree is “to attain the consent of Allah”.

- Trying to attain the consent of Allah is a very great rank. However, “fear of Allah” expressed as “taqwa” in the Quran is a great criterion in this life of testing. Nevertheless, that fear is also divided into degrees.

Undoubtedly, the first and the highest level of it is to fear the lofty rank and grandeur of Allah’s Self.

- The level after that is to assume an attitude considering one’s own benefit and harm. To think of one’s benefit is to do righteous deeds by thinking about Paradise. To do deeds by thinking about Hell aims to avoid harm. There is not much difference between those two. However, since there are also issues such as watching the face of Allah and being with the prophets in Paradise, working with the intention of them can be considered a better deed.

60 Will you explain the following statement: "There is no prayer that cannot be accepted; there are people who do not deserve"?

The statement above has a true aspect:

Allah’s laws encompass the universe. The general decree of the following verse includes everybody, believers and unbelievers young and old: "That man can have nothing but what he strives for." (an-Najm, 53/39)

If a person who wants to achieve something in this world acts in compliance with the laws of adatullah, he will achieve it. There is no difference between a Muslim and an unbeliever regarding the issue. Therefore, a person who prays to Allah to achieve something should also act in compliance with the laws Allah imposed in order to succeed. Otherwise, he cannot achieve what he wants. 

Prayer (dua) is also a deed of worship; a person who prays receives the thawab of worship. He will be rewarded for it in the hereafter.

61 It is said that thawabs on the Night of Power is multiplied by more than thirty thousand. What is the evidence for it?

The Night of Power is better than one thousand months that do not include the Night of Power. There is a chapter expressing the virtue of that night. Our Lord states the following:

"We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power: And what will explain to thee what the night of power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah´s permission, on every errand: Peace! This until the rise of morn." (al-Qadr, 97/1-5)

The Night of Power is better than one thousand months as the verse states it. Since one month is thirty days, the value of a deed of worship performed on the Night of Power is worth more than thirty thousand times.

The Messenger of Allah told the Companions that an Israelite carried weapons and fought for the sake of Allah for a thousand months. The Companions were astonished to hear this and regarded their deeds to be very little. Thereupon, the chapter of al-Qadr was sent down.

In another narration, the Prophet (pbuh) told his companions that four people from the Sons of Israel had worshipped for eighty years without committing any sins. The companions were very surprised when they heard about it. Then, Jibril came and said,

"O Muhammad! Your ummah was surprised by the worshipping of eighty years of those people. Allah sent you something better than it”

and read the Chapter of al-Qadr. He said,

"It is better than your and your ummah’s astonishment." (see Hak Dini Kur an Dili, VI/4592)

In another narration, the Messenger of Allah was shown the lifespans of the previous ummahs. When he saw the short lifespan of the people of his ummah, he thought about the deeds of the ummahs whose people had long lifespans. He became sorry because he thought that his ummah, with the short life span, could not reach the good deeds of those ummahs. Allah, the Exalted, granted the Night of Power to His beloved Prophet in return for his sorrow and made it better than one thousand. (Muwatta, Itikaf, 6)

The chapter of al-Qadr was sent down upon those incidents. This chapter alleviated the sorrow of the Companions.

62 How can we observe only Allah’s consent in worship?

There are several levels of sincerity in worshippers:

a) The sincerity of those who have no desire other than gaining Allah’s consent, which is the greatest one.

b) The sincerity of the one who worships thinking of the reward and punishment in the hereafter (Paradise and Hell). The condition for its acceptance is “not to do a deed of worship for otherworldly reward, but to regard it only as an encouragement to do that deed of worship.”

That is to say, although the consent of Allah is essential, if the bounties and rewards for performing prayers and avoiding sins are a means of doing that deed of worship or abandoning that sin, and if they encourage a person, inshaallah it will not harm the worship.

The desire to see a result such as getting a reward and getting rid of punishment exists in human nature. For example, if he imagines this desire - while performing a prayer - and prays only for that result, this worship will be either incomplete or reduced to zero.

However, if he keeps that desire in his mind before the prayer and imagines it but acts in a way to gain only the consent of Allah during the prayer, there is no harm in it.

It is a fact that in many verses of the Quran, a connection is established between performing the duties of servitude and gaining reward or getting rid of punishment:

“Those who rest not their hope on their meeting with Us, but are pleased and satisfied with the life of the present, and those who heed not Our Signs; Their abode is the Fire, because of the (evil) they earned. Those who believe, and work righteousness,- their Lord will guide them because of their faith: beneath them will flow rivers in gardens of bliss…” (Yunus, 10/7-9)

In the verses above, a clear connection is established between worldly deeds and their otherworldly results.

The proportions of intentions are also very important. If a person aims to gain Allah’s consent 90%, but has a purpose other than His consent around 10%, he will lose at that proportion.

For example, Imam Ghazali states the following:

“If a person has the intention of ‘fulfilling the requirements of hajj and doing some trade there’ while going on hajj, that person’s reward for the journey will decrease in proportion to his intention. He will gain full thawab of hajj while performing the requirements of hajj - since he does not do trade then. (Ihyau Ulumiddin, Kitabul-Hajj)

It is possible to consider other issues according to this criterion too.

63 I want to wear hijab, but my husband does not; what should I do?

A woman must fulfill her husband’s legitimate wishes. However, she must not obey his unlawful wishes, even if he is her husband... 

For more information, please click on the link given below;

I want to wear hijab, but my husband does not; what should I do in that case?

64 What does it mean to perform deeds of worship on time and properly?

Performing any deed of worship on time and in accordance with its conditions means fulfilling that deed of worship properly.

Worship appeals to both the apparent and esoteric faculties. For example:

Fasting is realized by abstaining from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse. It is appropriate according to the principles of the Shari’ah to perform prayers by praying on time and fulfilling the rituals specified in the books of fiqh, such as qira’ah, ruku, and sajda.

However, keeping away from hypocrisy, basing everything on Allah’s consent and focusing on worship with one’s mind, heart and intellect mean the servitude of the esoteric faculties.

It is pointed out in the Quran that true and real salvation cannot be attained without activating the centers of sincerity, awe, submission, meditation, contemplation and reasoning in accordance with the principle of tawhid. (see al-Muminun, 23/1-11)

65 Will you give information about riyazah?

RIYAZAH means to abstain from worldly pleasures and to try to overcome the desires of the soul with the intention of zuhd (ascetism) and taqwa (piety).

Continuous and regular efforts made in order to attain sufistic states and ranks are called mujahadah and riyazah. Riyazah generally means to oppose the desires of the soul; mujahadah means to enable the ethics to change.

The way of riyazah and mujahadah is the way of purification. Those who are in this way are loyal in their relationships with both God and people. For, this way is the way of the pious people. The aim of riyazah, which means man's being stripped off all of his worldly inclinations and devoting himself to Allah, is to train human soul and to eliminate all of the desires except love of Allah. It means not to think of anything except Allah and to be engaged with dhikr and worshipping all the time.   

In conclusion, riyazah is generally made in order to have taqwa, piety, honesty, discovery and inspiration. [al-Qushayri, Risalah, (Trnsl) Süleyman Uludağ, 21-22; Cavit Sunar, Tasavvuf Tarihi, 185; H. Kamil Yılmaz, Aziz Mahmud Hüdai, 213]. Riyazah must be within the framework of the Quran and Sunnah.  It is never permissible to perform riyazah with bid'ah worshipping or with worshipping that is not proposed by Islam. Including bid'ah into Islam with the excuse of performing riyazah means deviating from Islam.  

Conditions of Riyazah

Sufis believe that a soul that is used to eating little, speaking little, sleeping little, being alone and making dhikr and meditation all the time will be saved. According to Hujwuri, “Soul is a dog but it is elevated to such a rank with mujahadah that the animal hunted by it becomes halal.”

1. To Eat Little

One of the leading things that seduce human soul is not limiting eating and drinking. Qushayri reports the following from Ibn Salim:

“It is good manners of hunger for a person to decrease what he usually eats as much as a cat's ear every day.”

The Messenger of Allah said (pbuh):

“Man has not filled a container worse than his stomach. A few morsels that will enable him to stand upright are enough for him.”

Abu Sulayman Darani says, “The key to the world is fullness; the key to the hereafter is hunger.”

2. To Sleep Little

A person who eats little sleeps little. To sleep little is an expression of returning to Allah and it polishes the heart. The night has a special place in Islam. It is hard for the soul to get up at night to worship. Therefore, the following people are praised in the Quran:"those who get up from their hot beds and pray their Lord with hope and fear at dawn and sleep little at night by asking for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning." Glorification at long nights and tahajjud prayers are ordered.

Little sleep is not a target but a means of knowledge, deeds and dhikr. “The Messenger of Allah did not approve of sleeping before the night (isha) prayer and talking after it.”

3. To Speak Little

Another important aspect of riyazah is to speak little. A person who controls his tongue becomes free of evil. Najmuddin Kubra says,

“When the tongue speaks, the heart keeps silent. When the tongue keeps silent, the heart speaks.”

It is stated in hadith that the one who keeps silent is saved. A person who controls his tongue and makes his heart speak commits few sins. Paradise is promised to a person who promises to control between his two lips and two legs. 

Man has been given two ears and one mouth. The first order of the Quran is 'read'. Then, it is necessary to learn. Man needs listening more than speaking. Hatam al-Asam says,

“There are three kinds of desires. Eating, speaking and looking. Control eating by relying on Allah, speaking by speaking honestly and looking by worshipping.”

Being alone (living in seclusion) has an important place in riyazah. Although the soul does not like loneliness, a person who disturbs his soul by separating it from the place it is accustomed to and by being alone and imprisons his soul to obey Allah starts to take pleasure from it through his heart after these pains. For, the soul and the nature of the soul do not like being alone; they want to be among people.   

Dhun-Nun al-Misri says, “I have never seen anything leading man to sincerity more than seclusion." Ibn Mubarak was asked, "What is the remedy for the heart?" He said, “To talk to people less.”

In conclusion, a person attains peace and approaches Allah based on the success of his mujahadah and riyazah. Our bodily and spiritual beings are in continuous struggle against all kinds of evil that face us until we die in life. Thanks to this, man is always in the way of perfection throughout his life.

66 According to the statement “So woe to the worshippers who are neglectful of their prayers” in the chapter al-Ma’un, is it not better not to perform prayers at all instead of performing them neglectfully?

We have been informed that the phrase “woe to those who pray, who are neglectful of the prayer they perform (they make mistakes)” in the chapter of al-Ma’un, especially in verses 4-5, has caused many Muslims who perform prayers to worry. The reason why some Muslims who read this chapter only from the translations were seriously worried about the issue was that they questioned themselves as follows: “Many Muslims can experience a natural state of heedlessness while performing prayers and cannot be in a state of awe at all times. According to the verses in the chapter of al-Ma’un, are those prayers that we perform a sign of hypocrisy and not acceptable by any means? Since our minds can wander while praying and we cannot be in a state of awe at all times, would it not be better for us not to perform those prayers at all instead of performing them in heedlessness given the horrifying scolding in the verse?”

We will try to clarify the issue with the hope that this deep conscientious questioning will heal the pain of the wound inflicted on Muslim minds. First, let us have a look at the statements in the chapter of al-Ma’un that raise questions in the mind:

The Translation of the Chapter:
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
1– Seest thou one who denies the Judgment (to come)?
2– Then such is the (man) who repulses the orphan (with harshness).
3– And encourages not the feeding of the indigent.
4– So woe to the worshippers,
5– Who are neglectful of their prayers.
6– Those who (want but) to be seen (of men).
7– But refuse (to supply) (even) neighborly needs

What we will focus on, and what is mentioned in the question, is the verse that is generally translated as “Woe to those who perform prayers like this... They are neglectful of the prayer they are performing”. The phrase “of their prayers” in the translations is very different from the phrase “in prayer”, but this difference is not perceived by people in general and hence they can be very uneasy and anxious. In this respect, we will briefly summarize what the phrases in the verses mean in items:

- This chapter mentions deniers from beginning to end. In the first verse, the profile of those who do not believe in the Hereafter is drawn: “Seest thou one who denies the Judgment (to come)?”

-The last verse mentions those who do not give the slightest help to those in need because they do not expect any reward in return - because they do not believe in the hereafter. Thus, the first verse and the last verse draw a picture that unites on the common denominator of denial.

-The second and third verses paint a picture of the lack of compassion, hard-heartedness, excessive stinginess, excessive pride and spoilage that stems from not believing in being called to account, which makes one look down on others - especially orphans. All those qualities are presented in a manner showing that they stem from the “denial of the Day of Reckoning” emphasized in the first verse.

- The fourth verse is in a position to link the first three verses with the last three verses. However, according to this position, instead of saying, “woe to the worshippers “, the verse should have said, “Woe to them”, i.e., “those whose characteristics are mentioned above”.

The use of the word “worshippers (performers of prayers)” instead of the pronoun “them” in the verse is certainly for one or more reasons. We can explain two of those reasons as follows:

a. The emphasis on prayer in the verse shows its place in religion and its close relationship with belief. Indeed, in Islam, prayer is an issue that comes after belief. This is why, at the beginning of the chapter of al-Baqara, the first chapter of the Quran after al-Fatiha, “those who have taqwa”, i.e. those who fear Allah are characterized as “who believe in the unseen and are steadfast in prayer...”, and prayer is placed immediately after belief, in the second place. It means that the weaker the belief in the Hereafter, the less desire for prayer. In fact, it does not mean that every person who does not perform prayers does not believe in the Day of Reckoning, but every unbeliever in the Day of Reckoning does not perform prayers. Accordingly, it is possible to understand verse four as follows: “Woe to those who do not believe in the Day of Reckoning, those who are in the position of “Musalli” (those who perform prayers), who are obliged to perform prayers but do not do so because they do not believe in the Day of Reckoning! Woe to them when the Day of Reckoning comes!”

b. The mention of “prayer (salah)” in this verse is to indicate that hypocrites can also pray. However, they have a characteristic that gives them away: they are not scrupulous about whether they pray or not. It does not matter for them whether they perform prayers or not because they do not expect any reward.

- That characteristic of theirs is indicated in other verses of the Quran too:
“The Hypocrites - they think they are over-reaching Allah, but He will over- reach them: When they stand up to prayer, they stand without earnestness, to be seen of men, but little do they hold Allah in remembrance; (They are) distracted in mind even in the midst of it,- being (sincerely) for neither one group nor for another whom Allah leaves straying,- never wilt thou find for him the way.” (an-Nisa, 4/142-143)

“They (hypocrites) reject Allah and His Messenger. that they come to prayer without earnestness; and that they offer contributions unwillingly. (at-Tawba, 9/54)

As it can be seen, the characteristics of the hypocrites mentioned in those verses and the characteristics described in the chapter of al-Ma’un correspond fully. The common denominator: Not caring about prayer, praying lazily and for show-off, not giving charity willingly... because hypocrites are unbelievers. They do not expect any reward in the Hereafter.

That is why they are usually neglectful (heedless) “of prayer, not in prayer”. They only pray pretentiously so as not to be embarrassed in the presence of people.

-According to some scholars, the first three verses of the chapter of al-Ma’un were revealed in Makkah and the last four verses in Madinah. Accordingly, the first three verses, which describe the characteristics of those who do not believe in the Day of Reckoning, specifically mention the polytheists (mushriks). The last four verses, which were revealed in Madinah, mention hypocrites.

According to some, the first three verses were revealed in Makkah about Abu Jahl. It was he who denied the hereafter. The last four verses were revealed in Madinah about the famous hypocrite Abdullah b. Ubayy b. Salul and his friends. They are the ones who performed prayers for show-off.

Look at the marvelous style of the Quran: when you read those two parts of verses, which are separated by years in terms of their descent, you see no discrimination. It is true not only for the literal style but also for the semantic style.

For example, the common characteristic of the polytheists and hypocrites mentioned in both groups of verses is that they do not believe in the Day of Reckoning. Both of these groups of people do not perform prayers sincerely. The polytheists do not pray at all. The hypocrites pray for show-off because hypocrites usually lived in Madinah in the Era of Bliss. The hypocrites who lived among those who performed prayers in Madinah did not pray for the sake of Allah, but only for the sake of appearances.

- Some of the Companions, such as Ali (ra), Ibn Abbas (ra) and Anas (ra), pointed out the subtlety of the verse and said that the expression “of (from) prayer” was very different from the expression “in prayer”.

Accordingly, if the phrase “fi salatihim” had been used, it would have meant woe to those who are negligent (heedless) in their prayers, which would have been wrong. This is because it is beyond human power not to be heedless in prayer and not to make mistakes. Moreover, it is known that the Prophet (pbuh) himself made mistakes in prayer. There is a chapter on “Making mistakes in prayer” in all fiqh books.

That is why the phrase “an salatihim” is used in the verse. That is, they are heedless of their prayers. That is, they do not know about the prayer itself; they forget it completely; they do not pay attention to it. If they are not concerned about showing off to people, they will never pray.

That is why some scholars say, in order to point out this subtle difference, thank God that the Quran does not say “fi Salatihim = in their prayers” but “an salatihim = from (of) their prayers”.

- Abdullah b. Abbas states the following: This verse is about the hypocrites. When they are away from people, they do not perform prayers. When they are in the presence of people, they pray for show-off. They pray in public and abandon it in seclusion.

Wahidi, one of the famous tafsir scholars, states the following: This verse is about the hypocrites because they do not believe in the Day of Reckoning and they do not expect any reward when they pray; nor do they fear any punishment when they do not pray. That is what “neglectful of prayer” means.

According to Tabari, when this verse was revealed, the Prophet said: “Allahu akbar! This verse is better for you than the whole world being given to one person because the one who makes a mistake in prayer is the one who does not expect any reward when he prays, nor does he fear his Lord when he abandons it.”

This hadith also points out the subtlety of the phrase “from (of) their prayers” in the verse in question.

- It is also possible to understand that it is related to the hypocrites since the term “those who are steadfast in prayer” is not used in the verse but the term “worshippers (those who pray)” is used.
This is because the Quran uses the expression “those who are steadfast in prayer” for sincere and proper prayers. The phrase “those who pray (worshippers)” is used in the Quran for prayers that are not sincere and proper.

What is meant by the worshippers in the chapter of al-Ma’un with the use of the latter is this: When those who are not sincere in their prayers and those who pray for show-off perform prayers, their spirits wander far away from prayer though their bodies are in prayer. They pray when they are supposed to perform a prayer, but they are not steadfast in prayer.

-It is understood from all those explanations that the verse refers to the prayers of the hypocrites for show-off, not to the mistake and negligence of the believers who pray properly.

As a matter of fact, three characteristics of the hypocrites and unbelievers are pointed out in the three verses preceding this fourth verse; and three other characteristics are pointed out in the three verses following this verse. The characteristics in the first three verses are as follows: Denying the Day of Reckoning, repulsing the orphan with harshness, and not encouraging to feed the poor/needy. The last three characteristics in the last three verses are as follows: neglecting/disregarding prayer, liking show-off, and avoiding even the smallest help. When we bring the six characteristics in those six verses together, the unbelief of the hypocrites who do not believe in the Day of Reckoning will be seen.

Then, why does the Quran prefer a style that also touches Muslims?

The main reason for this preference is to enable Muslims to learn from the parable. So much so that sincere believers will avoid the characteristics of hypocrites, try to strengthen their belief in the Day of Reckoning at all times, will not forget that they will be called to account, will not abandon prayer in particular, will not delay prayer, and will keep their minds away from worldly preoccupations as much as possible while in prayer. As Mawlana (Rumi) puts it; “Ser be zemin, dum be heva” = head on the ground, tail in the air; it will not be a show-off consisting of bending down and standing up. They will not forget that they are in the presence of Allah Almighty; they will be steadfast in prayer (“iqamah” / “tadil al-arkan”); they will not show off in their worship, will not avoid spending their wealth in the way of Allah, and will take care of the poor and orphans.

The Phrase “Yuqimunas-Salah (Are Steadfast in Prayer)”

This Arabic phrase (yuqimunas-salah = are steadfast in prayer), which first appears in the Quran in verse 3 of the chapter of al-Baqara, is preferred over “yusalluna = performing prayers” though it is longer. According to tafsir scholars, the reason for the preference of the phrase “yuqimunas-salah” over the shorter phrase “yusalluna” is to draw attention to the meanings of the word “iqamah” (the root of the verb yuqimuna), such as tadil al-arkan, performing prayers regularly, and maintaining prayer by performing it on time. (1) Qaḍi Baydawi attracts attention to the same point and states that “iqamah” is used in verses that praise those who pray with tadil al-arkan perfectly or command daily prayers and that it is not used in verses that rebuke those who pray in heedlessness, as in the chapter of al-Ma’un. (2)

The word “iqamah” is derived from “qiyam” or “qiwam” in the form of “if’al” and one of its lexical meanings is “lifting up” or “straightening” (3), which is closely related to the lexical meaning of the word “salah”. When “lifting up, straightening and putting upright” is used in prayer, the spinal cord is involved. So, when those lexical meanings are taken into account, the meaning of “yuqimunas-salah” is “performing the prayer by reading (reciting) the Quran and dhikr properly, and by keeping the 17 vertebrae in your spine straight in all your movements practically in accordance with the position of the place where you are.”

References: Tabari, Zamakhshari, Samarqandi, Razi, Qurtubi, Salibi, Ibn Kathir, Abu Suud, ad-Durrul-Manthur, Baydawi, Nasafi, Shanqiti; Shawkani, Alusi, Ibn Ashur, Fi Zilal, Elmalılı, the interpretation of the verses in question.

1- see az-Zamakhshari, al-Kashshaf, I/39-40; Nursi, İşãrâtu’l-İ’câz, 45-46.
2- al-Baydawi, Tawaliul-Anwar, 45-45. See also Khatib ash-Sirbini, as-Sirajul-Munir, I/17-18; ar-Raghib,491-492; Jamaluddin al-Qasimi, Mahasinut-Tawil, I/35-36. For the examples in the Quran where the word “iqama” is used, see 4/162; 5/55; 11/114; 17/78; 20/14; 29/45; for the examples where it is not used, see 107/4-5; 9/54.
3- see Yazır, I/175.

67 What is meant by seventy years in the following hadith?: "If a person fasts for Allah for one day, Allah will keep his face away from Hell for seventy years in return for that day."

The Prophet (pbuh) stated the following according to a narration from Abu Said al-Khudri:

"No one observes fast for a way in the way of Allah but that Allah would make his face for that day as far from Hell seventy years." (Muslim, Siyam, 31).

Bukhari and Tirmidhi included this hadith in "Kitabul-Jihad"; Nasai and Ibn Majah included it in "Kitabus-Sawm".

Keeping away from Hell for seventy years is a metaphorical expression indicating a long time. This fasting will enable a person who goes to Hell to suffer a lighter penalty or to be burnt less. Imam Nawawi interprets being kept away from Hell as not burning that person in Hell. The face of that person can be understood as the person himself. The Prophet (pbuh) states the following in another narration, which confirms this meaning:

"If a person fasts for Allah for one day, Allah will move that person away from Hell like a crow that flies." (Muslim, Siyam, 31).

This hadith is important in that it shows the great reward for a deed that is done sincerely.

When this hadith and similar ones are dealt with, it should not be forgotten that a person needs to be careful about obeying the commandments and prohibitions of the religion. It is contrary to reason and the outward appearance of the shari’ah for a person to think that he can be saved from Hell by fasting for one day without fulfilling his duty of worshipping and without keeping away from sins.

68 It is not certain that the Night of Power (Laylatul-Qadr) is on the 27th night of Ramadan. Why do we give so much importance to that night?

Allah Almighty did not express clearly on what night of Ramadan the Night of Power was due to His mercy to the ummah. As it is known, Allah Almighty hid very important things in this world of testing.

He hid the time of death in a person's lifespan, saints among people and His greatest name among His beautiful names.  

Similarly, the time of acceptance is hidden on Friday, middle prayer is hidden among five daily prayers, divine consent is hidden among worshipping, Day of Judgment is hidden in time, death is hidden in life and the Night of Power is hidden in Ramadan.   

As they are kept hidden, the other things and times also become valuable and they are given more importance. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states the following: "The reason why some things are hidden in other things is to increase the value of the other things; if special things like that are revealed, the value of the other things will decrease."

As it is known, the Prophet (pbuh) said the Night of Power was on one of the odd nights (21, 23, 25, 27, 29) of the last ten nights of Ramadan. However, the hadiths stating that it was on the 27th night were generally accepted by the majority of the scholars and the Islamic world adopted it. The interpretation of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi regarding the issue is as follows:

“There is a strong possibility that tomorrow night is the Night of Power. Some of the scholarly authorities stated it is tomorrow. Even if it is not in fact, since the Ummah consider it to be so, God willing it will be accepted as such.” (see Şualar (Rays), On Dördüncü Şua (Fourteenth Ray))

69 Does riyazah (asceticism) exist in Islam? Is it necessary for man to isolate himself from the world?

The Quran, which was sent by Allah through Hz. Jibril to Hz. Muhammad for the guidance, welfare and happiness of humanity, has universal principles that address the people of all ages up to the Day of Judgment and that show us the ways of knowledge, advancement, success and civilization

The principles brought by the Quran have not grown old up to this time and they will not grow old up to the Day of Judgment. A person can attain real happiness by following the way that the Quran, which includes all principles of happiness for humanity, shows and by practicing in his life its principles that are full of wisdom.  

One of the ageless universal principles that the Quran contains is to work.  Working is Allah's pre-eternal law. Everything in the universe surrenders to this law; the existence of every atom is based on working. Every creature constantly works in order to continue their life. If electrons did not turn around the nucleus in an atom, which is the smallest part of matter, atom would break into pieces. If planets did not continue their movement in the solar system, the order of the realm would break. If our heart stops, our life will end.

There are two kinds of working. One is worldly and the other is otherworldly. Our religion accepts them as complementary to each other. For, it is impossible to separate the world from the hereafter. The hereafter is intertwined with the world in the same way as our spirit is intertwined with our body. The otherworldly realm is the inner aspect and spirit of this world. If one of them is ignored, the other will be left incomplete.

The Quran does not want man to be through with the world, to follow the way of asceticism absolutely, to pour himself into worshipping and to beg and pray to Allah all the time. The Quran does not accept it if those who follow the Quran tend toward the world fully, to work only for the world and to be greedy for material things. For, neither of these two understandings is appropriate; to keep away from life for a person means to waste one’s energy, power of intellect and will and his working power. It means to act negligently in the duty of improving the universe, which was placed on him. 

Besides, to work only for the world all the time causes to cut off the bonds of love and assistance, to be deprived of mercy, to get used to hardheartedness, to make greed and stinginess one’s habit, to increase love of materialism and to plunge into pleasures and the ornaments of the world. 

The system of decrees in the Quran is based on establishing a close relationship between the world and the hereafter, realization of the understanding of completing each other, considering “the world as the field of the hereafter” and enabling man to attain bliss both in the world and the hereafter.

For, if the world is the field of the hereafter, the hereafter is the place of harvest.  It is not possible to sow in the hereafter without reaping in the world. It is necessary for man to evaluate the worldly life well and to do righteous deeds that are in compliance with the consent of Allah in order to attain bliss and success in the hereafter.   

As a matter of fact, the following is stated in the Quran:

“But seek, with the (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on thee, the Home of the Hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this world: but do thou good, as Allah has been good to thee, and seek not (occasions for) mischief in the land: for Allah loves not those who do mischief.” (al-Qasas, 28/77)

As it is seen, we are ordered to seek the hereafter and not to forget the world in this verse; in other words, the following is meant: Do not ignore the worldly life, which is limited and temporary. For, the bliss in the hereafter depends on it. The Prophet (pbuh) stated the following in a hadith: “The world is the field of the hereafter.”

The Prophet has some other advice related to dealing with the world and the hereafter together:

"The best one among you is the one who does not abandon the world for the hereafter and who does not abandon the hereafter for the world, and who works for both of them together. For, the world is a means that takes man to the hereafter."

"Do not be a burden to others."

"He whose two days are equal is at a loss."

Hz. Prophet rebuked the Companions who planned to work only for the hereafter and to abandon the world and the worldly boons:

A group of Companions went to the wives of the Prophet (pbuh) and asked them how the Prophet (pbuh) worshipped. When they were informed about it, they considered their deeds little and said, "Where are we in comparison with the Prophet (pbuh) while Allah forgave his past sins and future sins?" One of them said,

- I will perform prayers all night long and will not sleep. Another said,

- I will perform fasting continuously. Another said,

- I will abstain from women and will never marry. They made a vow like that.

When the Prophet (pbuh) was informed about them, he summoned them and warned them as follows:

“Are you the people who said such and such things? By Allah, I fear Allah more than you do, and I am most obedient and dutiful among you to Him, but I sometimes perform fasting and sometimes break it. I both perform prayers and sleep at night. I also marry women. This is my Sunnah. Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not from me.”

In our religion, working only for the world is not in question. It is not appropriate for man to abandon the worshipping rendered fard by Allah and to be interested in the world only by saying, “Working is regarded as worshipping.” Yes, working is regarded as worshipping; working legitimately in order to earn one’s living is regarded as worshipping but after fulfilling fard worshipping.

The Quran condemns those who work only for the world as follows:

“If any do wish for the transitory things (of this life), We readily grant them--such things as We will, to such persons as We will: in the end have We provided Hell for them: they will burn therein, disgraced and rejected. Those who do wish for the (things of) the Hereafter, and strive therefor with all due striving, and have Faith― they are the ones whose striving is acceptable (to Allah).” (al-Isra, 17/18, 19)

The following is stated in another verse:

“To any that desires the tilth of the Hereafter, We give increase in his tilth; and to any that desires the tilth of this world, We grant somewhat thereof, but he has no share or lot in the Hereafter.” (ash-Shura, 42/20)

The Quran, which came like Khidr in an age when humanity was on the brink of destruction due to aberration, ordered people to work for both the world and the hereafter, opening the way to real civilization. Therefore, when the basic principles introduced by the Quran were applied fully, Muslims attained material and spiritual peace, showing examples of civilization.

70 “On the one hand, it is said, “A little and regular worship is good,” and on the other hand, it is said, “Do not stay at the same level in worship, but increase it constantly.” Which one is true?

Our model in this regard is the Prophet (pbuh). It is necessary to try to do the acts of worship that have a place in the Sunnah.

Regular worship, even if it is a little, is good in terms of stability; there is no harm in increasing it. However, while increasing it, it is necessary to increase it little by little and preserve stability so that we can do it regularly.

The meaning of “a little” is not that you should not increase it. It is encouraged to “do a little and do it regularly rather than doing a lot and quitting”. The message is not to worship a little, but to worship continuously.