to go back to London, to deliver a detailed report concerning the center of the caliphate, and to take new orders. Throughout my stay in Istanbul I sent reports of my observations monthly to the Ministry of the Commonwealth. I remember asking in one of my reports what I was to do should the person I was working for ask me to practice sodomy with him. The reply was: You can do it if it will help you attain your goal. I was very much indignant over this answer. I felt as if the whole world had fallen down on my head. I already knew that this vicious deed was very common in England. Yet it had never occurred to me that my superiors would command me to commit it. What could I do? I had no other way than to empty the drug to the dregs. So I kept quiet and went on with my duty. As I said farewell to “Ahmed Efendi”, his eyes became wet and he said to me, “My son! May Allahu ta’ala be with you! If you should come back to Istanbul and see that I am dead, remember me. Say the (sura) Fatiha for my soul! We will meet on the Judgement Day before ‘Rasulullah’.” Indeed, I felt very sad, too; so much so that I shed warm tears. However, my sense of duty was naturally stronger. - 16 - Section One PART THREE My friends had returned to London before I did, and they had already received new directives from the Ministry. I, too, was given new directives upon returning. Unfortunately, only six of us were back. One of the other four people, the secretary said, had become a Muslim and remained in Egypt. Yet the secretary was still pleased because, he said, he (the person who had remained in Egypt) had not betrayed any secrets. The second one had gone to Russia and remained there. He was Russian in origin. The secretary was very sorry about him, not because he had gone back to his homeland, but because perhaps he had been spying on the Ministry of the Commonwealth for Russia and had gone back home because his mission had been over. The third one, as the secretary related, had died of plague in a town named “Imara” in the neighborhood of Baghdad. The fourth person had been traced by the Ministry up to the city of San’a in the Yemen, and they had received his reports for one year, and, thereafter his reporting had come to an end and no trail of him had been found despite all sorts of efforts. The Ministry put down the disappearance of these four men as a catastrophe. For we are a nation with great duties versus a small population. We therefore do very fine calculations on every man. After a few of my reports, the secretary held a meeting to scrutinize the reports given by the four of us. When my friends submitted their reports pertaining to their tasks, I, too, submitted my report. They took some notes from my report. The Minister, the secretary, and some of those who attended the meeting praised my work. Nevertheless, I was the third best. The first grade was won by my friend “George Belcoude”, and “Henry Fanse” was the second best. I had doubtlessly been greatly successful in learning Turkish, Arabic, the Qur’an and the Shari’at. Yet I had not - 17 - managed to prepare for the Ministry a report revealing the weak aspects of the Ottoman Empire. After the two-hour meeting, the secretary asked me the reason for my failure. I said, “My essential duty was to learn languages and the Qur’an and the Shari’at. I could not spare time for anything in addition. But I shall please you this time if you trust me.” The secretary said I was certainly successful but he wished I had won the first grade. (And he went on): “O Hempher, your next mission comprises these two tasks: 1- To discover Muslims’ weak points and the points through which we can enter their bodies and disjoin their limbs. Indeed, this is the way to beat the enemy. 2- The moment you have detected these points and done what I have told you to, [in other words, when you manage to sow discord among Muslims and set them at loggerheads with one another], you will be the most successful agent and earn a medal from the Ministry.” I stayed in London for six months. I married my paternal first cousin, “Maria Shvay”. At that time I was 22 years old, and she was 23. “Maria Shvay was a very pretty girl, with average intelligence and an ordinary cultural background. The happiest and the most cheerful days of my life were those that I spent with her. My wife was pregnant. We were expecting our new guest, when I received the message containing the order that I should leave for Iraq. Receiving this order at a time while I was awaiting the birth of my son made me sad. However, the importance I attached to my country, compounded with my ambition to attain fame by being chosen the best one among my colleagues, was above my emotions as a husband and as a father. So I accepted the task without hesitation. My wife wanted me to postpone the mission till after the child’s birth. Yet I ignored what she said. We were both weeping as we said farewell to each other. My wife said, “Don’t stop writing to me! I shall write you letters about our new home, which is as valuable as gold.” These words of hers stirred up storms in my heart. I almost cancelled the journey. Yet I managed to take control of my emotions. Extending my farewell to her, I left for the ministry to receive the final instructions. Six months later I found myself in the city of Basra, Iraq. The - 18 - city people were partly Sunnite and partly Shiite. Basra was a city of tribes with a mixed population of Arabs, Persians and a relatively small number of Christians. It was the first time in my life that I met with the Persians. By the way, let me touch upon Shi’ism and Sunnism. Shiites say that they follow ’Ali bin Abu Talib, who was the husband of Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salam’ daughter Fatima and at the same time Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salam’ paternal first cousin. They say that Muhammad ‘alaihis-salam’ appointed ’Ali and the twelve imams, ’Ali’s descendants to succeed him as the Khalifa. In my opinion, the Shi’is are right in the matter pertaining to the caliphate of ’Ali, Hasan, and Huseyn. For, as far as I understand from the Islamic history, ’Ali was a person with the distinguished and high qualifications required for caliphate. Nor do I find it alien for Muhammad ‘alaihis-salam’ to have appointed Hasan and Huseyn as Khalifas. What makes me suspect, however, is Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salam’ having appointed Huseyn’s son and eight of his grandsons as Khalifas. For Huseyn was a child at Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salam’ death. How did he know he would have eight grandsons. If Muhammad ‘alaihis-salam’ was really a Prophet, it was possible for him to know the future by being informed by Allahu ta’ala, as Jesus Christ had divined about the future. Yet Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salam’ prophethood is a matter of doubt to us Christians. Muslims say that “There are many proofs for Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salam’ prophethood. One of them is the Qur’an (Koran).” I have read the Qur’an. Indeed, it is a very high book. It is even higher than the Torah (Taurah) and the Bible. For it contains principles, regulations, moral rules, etc. It has been a wonder to me how an illiterate person such as Muhammad ‘alaihis-salam’ could have brought such a lofty book, and how could he have had all those moral, intellectual and personal qualifications which could not be possessed even by a man who has read and travelled very much. I wonder if these facts were the proofs for Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salam’ prophethood? I always made observations and research in order to elicit the truth about Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salam’ prophethood. Once I brought out my interest to a priest in London. His answer was - 19 - fanatical and obdurate, and was not convincing at all. I asked Ahmed Efendi several times when I was in Turkey, yet I did not receive a satisfactory answer from him, either. To tell the truth, I avoided asking Ahmed Efendi questions directly related to the matter lest they should become suspicious about my espionage. I think very much of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salam’. No doubt, he is one of Allah’s Prophets about whom we have read in books. Yet, being a Christian, I have not believed in his Prophethood yet. It is doubtless that he was very much superior to geniuses. The Sunnites, on the other hand, say, “After the Prophet’s passing away, Muslims considered Abu Bekr and ’Umar and ’Uthman and ’Ali suitable for the caliphate.” Controversies of this sort exist in all religions, most abundantly in Christianity. Since both ’Umar and ’Ali are dead today, maintaining these controversies would serve no useful purpose. To me, if Muslims are reasonable, they should think of today, not of those very old days.[1] One day in the Ministry of the Commonwealth I made a reference to the difference between the Sunnites and the Shiites, saying, “If Muslims knew something about life, they would resolve this Shiite-Sunnite difference among themselves and come together.” Someone interrupted me and remonstrated, “Your duty is to provoke this difference, not to think of how to bring Muslims together.” [1] In Shi’ism it is essential to talk and to have a certain belief on matters concerning the caliphate. According to Sunni belief these are not necessary. The young Englishman confuses religious information with information pertaining to worldly matters. In worldly knowledge, Muslims have, like he advises, always thought of novelty and improvement, and have always made progress in science, technique, mathematics, architecture, and medicine. When the famous Italian astronomer Galileo said that the earth was rotating – no doubt he had learnt the fact from Muslims – not only was he anathemized by priests, but he was also imprisoned. It was only when he made penance, renouncing his former statement and saying that “No, it is not rotating,” that he saved himself from the priests’ hands. Muslims follow Qur’an alkerim and hadith-i-sherifs in knowledge pertaining to Islam and iman. Unlike Christians, they do not interpolate this knowledge, which is beyond mind’s periphery of activity. - 20 - Before I set out for my journey to Iraq, the secretary said, “O Hempher, you should know that there has been natural differences among human beings since God created Abel and Cain. These controversies shall continue until the return of Jesus Christ. So is the case with racial, tribal, territorial, national, and religious controversies. “Your duty this time is to diagnose these controversies well and to report to the ministry. The more successful you are in aggravating the differences among Muslims the greater will be your service to England. “We, the English people, have to make mischief and arouse schism in all our colonies in order that we may live in welfare and luxury. Only by means of such instigations will we be able to demolish the Ottoman Empire. Otherwise, how could a nation with a small population bring another nation with a greater population under its sway? Look for the mouth of the chasm with all your might, and get in as soon as you find it. You should know that the Ottoman and Iranian Empires have reached the nadir of their existence. Therefore, your first duty is to instigate the people against the administration! History has shown that ‘The source of all sorts of revolutions is public rebellions.’ When the unity of Muslims is broken and the common sympathy among them is impaired, their forces will be dissolved and thus we shall easily destroy them.” - 21 - Section One PART FOUR When I arrived in Basra, I settled in a mosque. The imam of the mosque was a Sunnite person of Arabic origin named Shaikh ’Umar Tai. When I met him I began to chat with him. Yet he suspected me at the very beginning and subjected me to a shower of questions. I managed to survive this dangerous chat as follows: “I am from Turkey’s I?d?r region. I was a disciple of Ahmed Efendi of Istanbul. I worked for a carpenter named Khalid (Halid).” I gave him some information about Turkey, which I had acquired during my stay there. Also, I said a few sentences in Turkish. The imam made an eye signal to one of the people there and asked him if I spoke Turkish correctly. The answer was positive. Having convinced the imam, I was very happy. Yet I was wrong. For a few days later, I saw to my disappointment that the imam suspected that I was a Turkish spy. Afterwards, I found out that there was some disagreement and hostility between him and the governor appointed by the (Ottoman) Sultan. Having been compelled to leave Shaikh ’Umar Efendi’s mosque, I rented a room in an inn for travellers and foreigners and moved there. The owner of the inn was an idiot named Murshid Efendi. Every morning he would disturb me by knocking hard at my door to wake me up as soon as the adhan for morning prayer was called. I had to obey him. So, I would get up and perform the morning prayer. Then he would say, “You shall read Qur’an-al kerim after morning prayer.” When I told him that it was not fard (an act commanded by Islam) to read Qur’an al-kerim and asked him why he should insist so much, he would answer, “Sleeping at this time of day will bring poverty and misfortune to the inn and the inmates.” I had to carry out this command of his. For he said otherwise he would send me out of the inn. Therefore, as soon as the adhan was called, I would perform morning prayer and then read Qur’an alkerim for one hour. - 22 - One day Murshid Efendi came to me and said, “Since you rented this room misfortunes have been befalling me. I put it down to your ominousness. For you are single. Being single (unmarried) portends ill omen. You shall either get married or leave the inn.” I told him I did not have property enough to get married. I could not tell him what I had told Ahmed Efendi. For Murshid Efendi was the kind of person who would undress me and examine my genitals to see whether I was telling the truth. When I said so, Murshid Efendi reproved me, saying, “What a weak belief you have! Haven’t you read Allah’s ayat purporting, ‘If they are poor, Allahu ta’ala will make them rich with His kindness’?[1]” I was stupefied. At last I said, “All right, I shall get married. But are you ready to provide the necessary money? Or can you find a girl who will cost me little?” After reflecting for a while, Murshid Efendi said, “I don’t care! Either get married by the beginning of Rajab month, or leave the inn.” There were only twenty-five days before the beginning of the month of Rajab. Incidentally, let me mention the Arabic months: Muharram, Safar, Rabi’ul-awwal, Rabi’ul-akhir, Jemaziy-ul-awwal, Jemaziyul- akhir, Rajab, Sha’ban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Zilqa’da, Zilhijja. Their months are neither more than thirty days, nor below twenty-nine. They are based on lunar calculations. Taking a job as an assistant to a carpenter, I left Murshid Efendi’s inn. We made an agreement on a very low wage, but my lodging and food were to be at the employer’s expense. I moved my belongings to the carpenter’s shop well before the month of Rajab. The carpenter was a manly person. He treated me as if I were his son. He was a Shiite from Khorasan, Iran, and his name was Abd-ur-Rida. Taking the advantage of his company, I began to learn Persian. Every afternoon Iranian Shiites would meet at his place and talk on various subjects from politics to economy. More often than not, they would speak ill of their own government and also of the Khalifa in Istanbul. Whenever a stranger came in they would change the subject and begin to talk on personal matters. They trusted me very much. However, as I found out later [1] Nur sura, ayat: 32 - 23 - on, they thought I was an Azerbaijani because I spoke Turkish. From time to time a young man would call at our carpenter’s shop. His attirement was that of a student doing scientific research, and he understood Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. His name was Muhammad bin Abd-ul-Wahhab Najdi. This youngster was an extremely rude and very nervous person. While abusing the Ottoman government very much, he would never speak ill of the Iranian government. The common ground which made him and the shop-owner Abd-ur-Rida so friendly was that both were inimical towards the Khalifa in Istanbul. But how was it possible that this young man, who was a Sunni, understood Persian and was friends with Abd-ur-Rida, who was a Shi’i? In this city Sunnites pretended to be friendly and even brotherly with Shiites. Most of the city’s inhabitants understood both Arabic and Persian. And most people understood Turkish as well. Muhammad of Najd was a Sunni outwardly. Although most Sunnites censured Shiites, — in fact, they say that Shiites are disbelievers — this man never would revile Shiites. According to Muhammad of Najd, there was no reason for Sunnites to adapt themselves to one of the four madh-habs; he would say, “Allah’s Book does not contain any evidence pertaining to these madh-habs.” He purposefully ignored the ayet-i-kerimas on this subject and slighted the hadith-i-sherifs. Concerning the matter of four madh-habs: A century after the death of their Prophet Muhammad ‘alaihis-salam’, four scholars came forward from among Sunnite Muslims: Abu Hanifa, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Malik bin Anas, and Muhammad bin Idris Shafi’i. Some Khalifas forced the Sunnites to imitate one of these four scholars. They said no one except these four scholars could perform ijtihad in Qur’an al-kerim or with the Sunna. This movement closed the gates of knowledge and understanding for Muslims. This prohibition of ijtihad is considered to have been the reason for Islam’s standstill. Shiites exploited these erroneous statements to promulgate their sect. The number of Shiites was smaller than one-tenth that of Sunnites. But now they have increased and become equal with Sunnites in number. This result is natural. For ijtihad is like a weapon. It will improve Islam’s fiqh and renovate the understanding of Qur’an al-kerim and Sunna. The prohibition of ijtihad, on the other hand, is like a rotten weapon. It will confine - 24 - the madh-habs within a certain framework. And this, in its turn, means to close the gates of inference and to disregard the time’s requirements. If your weapon is rotten and your enemy is perfect, you are doomed to be beaten by your enemy sooner or later. I think, the clever ones of the Sunnites will reopen the gate of ijtihad in the future. If they do not do this, they will become the minority, and the Shiites will receive a majority in a few centuries. [However, the imams (leaders) of the four madh-habs hold the same creed, the same belief. There is no difference among them. Their difference is only in worships. And this, in turn, is a facility for Muslims. The Shiites, on the other hand, parted into twelve sects, thus becoming a rotten weapon. There is detailed information in this respect in the book Milal wa Nihal.] The arrogant youngster, Muhammad of Najd, would follow his nafs (his sensuous desires) in understanding the Qur’an and the Sunna. He would completely ignore the views of scholars, not only those of the scholars of his time and the leaders of the four madh-habs, but also those of the notable Sahabis such as Abu Bakr and ’Umar. Whenever he came across a Koranic (Qur’an) verse which he thought was contradictory with the views of those people, he would say, “The Prophet said: ‘I have left the Qur’an and the Sunna for you.’ He did not say, ‘I have left the Qur’an, the Sunna, the Sahaba, and the imams of madh-habs for you.’[1] Therefore, the thing which is fard is to follow the Qur’an and the Sunna no matter how contrary they may seem to be to the views of the madh-habs or to the statements of the Sahaba and scholars.”[2] During a dinner conversation at Abd-ur-Rida’s place, the [1] This statement of his denies the hadith-i-sherif which commands us to follow the Sahaba. [2] Today in all the Islamic countries ignorant and traitorous people disguised as religious people have been attacking the scholars of Ahl as-sunna. They have been commending Wahhabiism in return for large sums of money they receive from Saudi Arabia. All of them use the abovementioned statements of Muhammad of Najd as a weapon on every occasion. The fact is that none of the statements made by the scholars of Ahl as-sunna or the four imams is contrary to Qur’an alkerim and hadith-i-sherifs. They did not make any additions to these sources, but they explained them. Wahhabis, like their British prototypes, are fabricating lies and misleading Muslims. - 25 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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