In short, Din (religion) means the system of rules revealed by Allahu ta'ala to Prophets in order to teach the beliefs, behavior, words and attitudes liked by Allahu ta'ala, worships to be performed, and ways of attaining happiness in this world and in the Hereafter. Illusions and imaginary stories fabricated by the imperfect human mind are not called Din. Mind is useful in learning and obeying the religious commandments and prohibitions. Yet it cannot grasp the mysteries, the ultimate divine causes in the commandments and prohibitions. Nor can it reason on them. Such occult facts can be learned if Allahu ta'ala intimates them to Prophets or inspires and reveals them to the hearts of Awliya. And this, in its turn, is a blessing that can be bestowed only by Allahu ta'ala.

 Now, attaining happiness in this world and the next and deserving love of Allahu ta'ala requires being a Muslim. A non-Muslim is called Kafir (disbeliever, unbeliever). And being a Muslim, in its turn, requires having iman and worshipping. Worshipping means adapting oneself completely to the Shariat of Muhammad 'alaihis-salam', both in words and in actions. The prescribed worships must be performed only because they are the commandments of Allahu ta'ala and without expecting any worldly advantages from doing them. The Shariat means the canon [commandments and prohibitions] taught in the Qur'an al-karim and explained through hadith ash-Sharifs, and can be learned from what we term books of fiqh, or ilmihal. It is Fard-i-ayn for everyone, men and women alike, to learn the Shariat, that is, the religious principles incumbent (to do or not to do) for every individual Muslim. These principles are remedies protecting men against spiritual and physical diseases. Learning medicine, arts, trade or law would take one years in a high school and then years in a university. By the same token, learning the books of ilmihal and the Arabic language requires studying for a number of years. People who do not learn these things will easily fall for the lies and slanders fabricated by British spies and by mercenary, hypocritical, and so-called religious men and treacherous statesmen misled by British spies, and will consequently end up in a disastrous and afflictive destination in this world and in the Hereafter.

 Expressing and believing in the (Kalima-i-shahadat) is called Iman. A person who expresses the Kalima-i- shahadat and believes the facts purported by this word is called a Mumin (believer). The Kalima-i-shahadat is "Ashhadu an la ilaha ill-allah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa Rasuluh." It means: "There is no ilah (being to be worshipped) except Allah; and Muhammad 'alaihis-salam' is His born servant and His Messenger whom He has sent to (guide) all humanity." No Prophet shall come after him. It is stated as follows in the Tahtawi footnotes, at the end of the subject dealing with how to perform the daily prayers of namaz one has somehow missed or omitted, in the book Maraq-il-falah, "Islam is not only believing that Allahu ta'ala exists. Those disbelievers who attribute partners to Him believe in His existence, too. For being a Mumin (believer) it is necessary to believe that He exists, that He has attributes of perfection such as being One, being Alive, Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Will, that He sees and hears all, and that there is no creator except Him." To believe that Muhammad 'alaihis-salam' is the (Messenger=Prophet) means to believe that all his teachings were dictated to him by Allahu ta'ala. Allahu ta'ala revealed Islam, that is, iman and the teachings of the Shariat to him through Qur'an al-karim. The commandments to be observed are called Fard. Prohibitions are called Haram. Altogether they are called Shariat. As soon as a person becomes a Muslim, it becomes fard for him to perform namaz (five times daily) and to learn the Islamic teachings commonly known among the people. If he slights learning them, e.g., if he says that it is unnecessary to learn them, he loses his iman and becomes a kafir (disbeliever). It is written in the 266 th letter in our book Mujdeci Mektublar that those who died as kafirs will not be forgiven and will be subjected to an eternal fire in Hell. A person who loses his iman is called a Murtad (renegade). People who hold correct belief concerning the facts taught in Qur'an al-karim and hadith ash-Sharifs are called Ahl as-sunnat (Sunnite Muslims). Allahu ta'ala, being very compassionate, did not declare everything overtly. He expressed some facts in a covert language. People who believe in Qur'an al-karim and hadith ash-Sharifs but do not agree with the scholars of Ahl as-sunnat in interpreting some of their parts, are called people without a Madhhab. Of the people without a Madhhab, those who misinterpret only the teachings of iman expressed covertly are called people of Bidat or deviated Muslim. Those who misinterpret the openly declared ones are called Mulhid. A mulhid is a disbeliever, although he may consider himself a Muslim. A person of Bidat, however, is not a disbeliever. Yet he will certainly be subjected to very bitter torment in Hell. Among the books which informs that Ahl as-Sunnat 'ulama are on the right path and are superior, the book Mahzen ul-fiqh il-kubra of Muhammad Sulaiman Effendi a virtuous Sudanise, is very valuable. On the other hand, kafirs who pretend to be Muslims though they are not and interpret the overt teachings of Qur'an al-karim in accordance with their own personal mental capacities and scientific information, and mislead Muslims, are called Zindiqs.

 Different scholars of Ahl as-sunnat drew different conclusions and meanings from the covertly expressed parts of the Shariat. Thus four different Madhhabs appeared in matters pertaining to religious practices that is, in adapting oneself to the Shariat. These Madhhabs are named Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. These four Madhhabs agree in matters pertaining to iman (belief). They differ slightly only in ways of worship. People who belong to these four Madhhabs consider one another brothers in Islam. Every Muslim is free to choose and to imitate any of the four Madhhabs and to perform all his deeds in accordance with that Madhhab. Muslims' parting into four Madhhabs is the result of the mercy, the great compassion Allahu ta'ala has over Muslims. If a Muslim has trouble performing a worship compatibly with his own Madhhab, he can imitate another Madhhab and thus do his worship easily. Conditions to be fulfilled for imitating another Madhhab are written in the (Turkish) book Se'adet-i Ebediyye (Endless Bliss).

 The most important worship is the namaz. If a person performs the namaz it will be understood that he is a Muslim. If a person does not perform the namaz it will be doubtful whether he is a Muslim. If a person values the namaz and yet neglects it because of indolence though he does not have a good excuse for not doing so, the law courts of Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali Madhhabs will give him death penalty, (if he is in one of these Madhhabs). If he is in the Hanafi Madhhab, he will be kept prisoner until he begins performing the namaz regularly and will be commanded to perform all the prayers of namaz he has omitted. It is stated as follows in the books Durr-ul-muntaqa and Ibni Abidin, and in Kitab-us- salat, published by Hakikat Kitabevi in Turkey: "Omitting the five daily prayers of namaz, i.e. not performing them in their prescribed times without any good excuse for not doing so, is a grave sin. Forgiveness for this sin requires making a hajj or tawba." And the tawba made for it, in its turn, will not be acceptable unless one performs the prayer, or the prayers, of namaz one has omitted. One must free oneself from this state of haram by performing the omitted prayers of fard namaz instead of the daily prayers of sunnat namaz called Rawatib. It is written in authentic religious books that if a person has debts of fard prayers of namaz none of his sunnat or supererogatory prayers of namaz will be accepted even if they are sahih. That is, he will not attain the thawabs (rewards), the benefits which Allahu ta'ala promises (for performing supererogatory prayers). Their writings are quoted in our (Turkish) book Se'adet-i Ebediyye. It is not sinful to miss a namaz for good reasons (prescribed by Islam). Yet all the four Madhhabs agree that one has to perform as soon as possible any prayers of namaz one has missed or omitted be it with good excuses or not. In Hanafi Madhhab only, it would be permissible to postpone them as long as the time necessary for working for one's living or for performing the prayers of sunnat namaz called Rawatib or the supererogatory prayers of namaz advised through hadith ash-Sharifs. That is, it will be good to postpone the qada namazs with these reasons. According to the other three Madhhabs, however, it is not permissible for a person who has debts of namaz omitted for good reasons to perform the so-called prayers of sunnat namaz or any sort of supererogatory namaz; it is haram. The fact that the prayers of namaz omitted for good reasons are not the same with those neglected without good reasons is written clearly in Durr ul-Mukhtar, Ibni 'Abidin, Durr ul-Muntaka, Tahtawi explanation of Marak il-falah and Jawhara.
 
 

F O O T N O T E S

 (81) Lahiqa means addition, supplementary, appendix.