The Fifth Letter
The spiritual journey’s final station
In His Name, glory be to Him.
There is nothing that does not glorify Him with His praise.
IMAM RABBANI,12 A “SUN” AND GREATEST MASTER OF THE NAQSHBANDI way, says in his Letters: “I would prefer to make one matter of belief known in plain terms than attain thousands of spiritual pleasures and ecstasies and work miracles. He also says:
“The final station of all spiritual journeying is to attain the full perception of the truths of belief.”
Again, he says:
There are three kinds of sainthood: that known to everybody (minor), that of a medium degree, and that of major sainthood (the greatest one), which can be attained through direct succession to the Prophetic Message. This greatest one paves the way to the truth without entering the intermediate realm of spiritual orders.... One can progress in the Naqshbandi way by having a firm belief in the pillars of belief and performing the religious duties. Neglect of or deficiency in either makes this way impossible to follow.
This means that the Naqshbandi way encompasses three kinds of mission. The first and greatest is directly serving the truths of belief without mediating influences. Imam Rabbani entered into such service especially in the closing years of his life. The second is to try one’s hardest to perform and promote the obligatory religious duties and the Sunna13 of the Prophet by following a spiritual order. The third is to follow a Sufi way in order to be purified of spiritual diseases. The first is obligatory, the second is necessary, and the third is supererogatory.
Given this, if such people as ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Shah Naqshband,14 and Imam Rabbani were alive today, they would preach and defend the truths of belief and the fundamentals of the Islamic creed, since one cannot otherwise attain eternal happiness. Any neglect of them results in eternal punishment. One cannot enter Paradise without belief, but many deserve Paradise without following a spiritual order. Following an order has the same use and importance as a fruit, whereas the truths of belief are the food essential to one’s spiritual life. One can live without fruit, but not without bread.
In the past, one could attain only a few truths of belief by strict performance of an order’s rituals for a certain period from 40 days to 40 years. But if God, through His Mercy, today has inspired a way so that people can attain these truths within 40 minutes, it is unreasonable to remain indifferent. Relying on God’s Mercy, the Risale-i Nur is trying to establish such a way. Today we are in desperate need of a most suitable remedy for our current spiritual diseases, a most useful light to illuminate the way of Islam attacked by many veils of darkness, and a most truthful guide in the valleys of misguidance.
If misguidance came only from unlettered ignorance, it would be easy to remove. But if it is caused by science and knowledge, it is very difficult to remove. This second type of misguidance was very rare in the past and almost impossible to cure, since those misguided through scientific knowledge were too arrogant to realize their ignorance. Today, in my judgment, God Almighty has favored us with sparks of spiritual light from the Qur’anic miracle as a remedy for modern atheism.
The Everlasting: He is the Everlasting.
Said Nursi
12 Imam Rabbani (Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi) (1564?-1624): Indian Sufi and theologian largely responsible for reasserting and reviving Sunni Islam in India against the syncretistic religious tendencies prevalent under the Mughal emperor Akbar. He was given the posthumous title: Mujaddid-i Alf-i Thani (Renovator of the Second [Islamic] Millennium). The Naqshbandi Sufi order, to which Imam Rabbani belonged, is found in India, China, Central Asia, Turkey, and Malaysia. (Ed.)
13 The Sunna is the record of the Messenger’s every act, word, and confirmation, as well as the second source of Islamic legislation and life (the Qur’an is the first one). In addition to establishing new principles and rules, the Sunna clarifies the ambiguities in the Qur’an by expanding upon what is mentioned only briefly in it, specifies what is unconditional, and enables generalizations from what is specifically stated and particularizations from what is generally stated. (Ed.)
14 ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (1077/78-1166): Traditional founder of the Qadiriyah order of the Sufi branch of Islam. His achievement as a thinker was to have reconciled the “mystical” nature of the Sufi calling with the sober demands of Islamic law. His concept of Sufism was that of a holy war or jihad waged against one’s own will in order to conquer egotism and worldliness and to submit to God’s will. Shah Naqshband (d. 1384): Founder of the order at Bukhara, Turkistan, was called an-naqshband, “the painter,” because of the impression of God that the repetition of his prescribed ritual prayer (dhikr) should leave upon the heart, and so his followers became known as Naqshbandiyah. The order has no mass support, for its litanies are subdued and emphasize repetition of the dhikr to oneself. (Ed.)