Today, a Practice of Religion Based on Suspicions and Bidahs (Innovations) Is Being Lived.

Al-Mulk-8: It (hell) almost bursts up with its anger. Whenever a group is cast therein, its (hell) keepers asked them: “Did no warner come to you”?

Al-Mulk-9: They (people of hell) said: “Yes, indeed a warner had come to us, but we belied him and said: ‘Allah never sent down anything, you are only in a great Darkness’”.

Al-Mulk-10: And they said: “If only we had listened and reasoned, we would not have been among the inmates of the blazing Fire”.

On one side stand the truths of the Qur’an, the sole source of religion. On the other side are the suspicions—the bid‘ahs and emaniyyes—fabricated by those who do not know the Book, and which they replaced with the truths of the Qur’an. Whoever adopts these suspicions and emaniyyes as their guide will be in eternal loss What befits those endowed with reason is to look at events from the perspective of Allah and to evaluate them through His view. Indeed, Allah does not wish to give any servant pain or hardship. His only will is to form, within the heart of His most beloved creation, a single wish: the wish to reach Allah.

Therefore, we can mention two groups of people:

First group: Those who do not wish to reach Allah and follow their own suspicions. Their deeds will be in vain, and therefore they are the ones who will go to Hell.

Second group: Those who reflect on events and the Holy Qur’an, and wish to reach Allah, thus becoming followers of the Hanif religion, the only true religion Allah has decreed since pre-eternity, known in Arabic as the religion of Islam.

Unfortunately, all individuals in the first group are destined for Hell. Unless they wish to reach Allah, they will remain stuck in either the first or second step. The destination of those in these two steps, based on the degrees they’ve earned, is Hell. (See: Yunus 7–8)

Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says:

“…whoever claims the cause of ignorance (defends the systems of ignorance) is undoubtedly among the people of Hell.” (S: Tirmidhi 3022; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad 16042; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak; Ibn Hibban.)

Allah Almighty states that He has created Hell for most of the mankind and jinn.

Al-A'raf-179 And surely, We have prepared Hell for many of the jinn and the mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand. They have eyes with which they do not see. They have ears with which they do not hear. They are like animals. Even in more misguidance. They are the ones who are heedless.

In the light of all these verses and hadiths, we see that most people, regrettably, remain at the first and second steps, and these people will face a great torment in Hell. Whoever wants to save himself from this eternal punishment has only one thing to do: to evaluate events in the direction Allah wills and to learn knowledge from the saints of Allah and put it into practice in his life.

Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says:

“(First) learn silence, then learn forbearance, then learn knowledge, then learn to act upon that knowledge, and then spread it.” (S: Bayhaqi, Shu‘ab al-Iman, 3/282.)

In His Holy Qur’an, Allah Almighty explains that in every era and to every community He has sent guides (saint messengers and saint guides) to recite His verses, to purify them, and to teach them the Book and wisdom. 

An-Nahl-36: And certainly, We have raised (brought to life, charged with a duty) in every nation a Messenger. For them to become servants to Allah and avoid Tâgût (human and jinn Satans). So there were some of them whom Allah delivered to Hidayah (those who have wished to reach Allah upon the call of the Messenger) and of them were some upon whom Misguidance was justified (who did not wish). So travel in the land. Then see what the end of the deniers was.

Ibrahim-4 And we have not sent a messenger except in the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly (by their own language). Therefore Allah leaves in Misguidance whom He wills (those who do not wish to reach Him) and He delivers whom He wills to Hidayah (Guidance) (those who wish to reach Him). And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

Al-Mu'minun-44 Then We sent Our Messengers in succession. Whenever its Messenger came to a nation, they belied him; then We destroyed them one after another and We made them stories. May the disbelievers be far away (from the Mercy of Allah).

Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says:

“Speak to people only according to their level of knowledge. Would you like for Allah and His Rasul (Messenger) to be denied?” (S: Bukhari, Book of Knowledge, 4.)

Allah Almighty expresses this matter in the 8th, 9th and 10th verses of Surah Al-Mulk.

The Sultan of the Nabîs, our Prophet (PBUH), said in another hadith: “The believer is nourished through the ear.”

The people of Hell reply: “Yes, a warner did come to us, but we denied them and said: ‘Allah has never revealed anything.’ And we accused them of being in great misguidance. If only we had listened or reasoned (used our intellect), we would not be among the people of Hell today."

Whoever understands Allah’s will in the events he experiences can save himself from being at total loss. For this, he must surely use his intellect and learn the knowledge of Allah.

Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said the following in this regard:

“Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the falsest of tales.” (S: Narrated by Abu Huraira - Bukhari, Wasaaya 8; Nikah 45; Fara’id 2; Adab 57–58; Muslim, Birr 28; see also Tirmidhi, Birr 56.)

Suspicion (Zann) refers to people’s personal thoughts and interpretations. While experiencing and evaluating events at the 1st step, people often fall into the trap of suspicion. However, suspicion can never take the place of Allah’s verses. The verses of Allah are His judgements, His divine laws. Those who fail to understand and evaluate events in the way Allah wills are those who do not know the Book of Allah.

Our Prophet (PBUH) says in this regard:

"Surely, truthfulness in words and deeds leads to goodness and righteousness. And goodness leads to Paradise. A person who keeps speaking the truth will be recorded with Allah as a truthful one (siddiq). Lying leads to wickedness (fujur), and wickedness leads to Hell. When a person persists in lying he will be written with Allah as a great liar (kadhdhab).” (S: Bukhari, Adab 69; Muslim, Birr 103–105; see also Tirmidhi, Birr 46.)

The true word is to wish to reach Allah. Whenever a person holds such a wish, Allah will surely guide him to the Sirat al-Mustaqim, the Straight Path that leads to Him. The decision always belongs to the person himself. Yet whoever evaluates the events correctly will be on a path directed towards Allah and will save himself from misguidance (darkness). Whoever wants to avoid becoming a ruin in this world and the Hereafter must surely evaluate events according to the truths of the Holy Qur’an, turn to Allah, and avoid suspicion. Because those who follow suspicion can never take the path of Allah. They waste their lives trapped in one of Satan’s dreadful snares.  Only those who use their intellect can free themselves from suspicions and bring Allah’s truths into their lives.

In another noble hadith, our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

“Learn knowledge before those who follow suspicions (zann) do. ” (S: Kutub al-Sittah, Book of Knowledge, Narrated by Uqbah ibn ‘Amir, Hadith No: 4112.)

Al-Baqarah-78 And there are among them the illiterate who do not know the Book (of Allah), but know only the books written by people. And they only reveal their suspicions.

The current practice of religion is one shaped by those who rely on emaniyye—false literature and suspicions.  People perceive the Holy Qur’an merely as a book to be recited for completing khatm, recited for the deceased, or recited in cemeteries. On this matter, Mehmet Akif Ersoy, the siant of Allah and the author of our National Anthem, said:

“Know this well: the Qur’an was not revealed  To be recited at graves or be used for fortune-telling.  Live by the Qur’an, learn the Qur’an.”  

If the Holy Qur’an is a book of life revealed to be lived, then learning the Qur’an from the man of wisdom (ahl al-dhikr) becomes an obligation. Our Prophet (PBUH) said: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every man and woman.” When we look at today’s religious practice, sadly, people rarely ask themselves: “What is the true meaning behind Allah’s verses? Am I truly living that meaning? Or am I, in every second of my life, in a state of conflict with those verses?” Instead, people consider the mere performance of the five pillars of Islam and outward acts of worship—the intermediary commands—as sufficient. Yet, the most vital of these intermediary commands—wishing to reach Allah and dhikr, the sultan of all acts of worship—are completely absent in today’s religious practice. Thus, people are trapped in a religion shaped by suspicions.

Allah Almighty says the following regarding this matter:

Yunus-36 And most of them do not follow anything but conjecture (suspicions). Surely, by conjecture it is impossible to earn anything from the Truth (Allah). Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what they do.

Al-Baqarah-79 Then woe to those who write the book with their own hands and then say: “This is from Allah!", to sell it for a little price. Therefore, woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn thereby.

Unfortunately, people write down their suspicions that contradict the Holy Qur’an, and millions, learning from them, believe they are performing good deeds. Allah Almighty describes this condition in Surah Al-Kahf, verses 103, 104, and 105 as follows:

Al-Kahf-103: Say: “Shall we inform you of the greatest losers in deeds”?

Al-Kahf-104: They are those, whose work (deeds) has gone astray in the life of this world (the degrees they have lost are more than that they have earned) and they reckoned that they were doing better deeds.

Al-Kahf-105: They are those who denied the Verses of their Lord and reaching Him (the spirit’s reaching Allah before death). So their deeds became vain and therefore We will not set up a scale for them on the Day of Resurrection.

The Sultan of Prophets says in one of his hadîths:

“People are at total loss, except the scholars. The scholars are at total loss, except those who act upon their knowledge. Those who act upon their knowledge are at total loss, except those who are in ikhlas (sincerity). And those who are sincere are in great danger.” (S: Saghani, Mawdu‘at, 39; Acluni, Kashf al-Khafa, vol. 2, p. 433, Hadith No: 2796; vol. 2, p. 280, Hadith No: 2795.)

Moreover, when we look at the Holy Qur’an, we see that those who enter Hell are the ones who followed suspicions and do not use their intellect. When they enter through the gates of Hell, its keepers ask them, saying: ‘Did there not come to you a warner during your lifetime?’

There are rasûls (messengers) of Allah and walī murshids (saint guides) who recite the verses to people. In every era, they address people in a language they can understand. Our Prophet (PBUH) also emphasized this matter in his noble hadiths. Therefore, whoever takes knowledge from the Messenger of Allah and applies it in his life is among those who are saved from the first and second steps, which are formed by the people of Hell.