What follows this is a Needed Summary of the Inner Sciences

 

Know that the necessary sciences are divided in two:

• The outer sciences, which are the cases of Islamic Law that we previously mentioned.
• The inner sciences, which are the lethal deeds of the hearts, that Allah, exalted be He, refers to in his saying:{Leave all kinds of sin—outer and inner} (Q. 6:120).

 

Whoever does not know the inner sciences and did not try to take care about knowing it, s/he shall fail, lose, and perish. Therefore, one is religiously obligated to have good knowledge of the science of the permitted and prohibited. The said knowledge may include the detailed points that s/he must avoid to keep away from the apparent sins as well as the inner sins.

 

We will mention, in total, nineteen types of it, whoever commits them all, or even if commits only one of them, then he has sunk in the sea of perish and loss, for many evidences and proofs exist in the verses and stories.

 

The First Type: Conceit (al-Kibr)

It is when one believes that s/he deserves honour more than others. He believes that the others deserve to be humiliated just by assumption, without certain knowledge of them.

 

It is considered conceit in the following cases: disrespecting who is not known to be disobedient and refusing to give due respect to the father, imam, scholar, or husband in terms of honour.

 

The Rights of the Father upon the Son and Vice Versa

The father deserves honour from the son, by being humble, kind and flexible to him; obeying him in whatever he wants, except in the sins which is considered disobeying Allah. He is to obey him in the similar matters that are considered from showing honour.

 

Generally, he must never hurt his parents by any means possible. S/he must listen and obey all their commands as long as they are not acts of disobedience. S/he must never call them with neither their first names nor their surnames, but he must call them with “father” or “mother.” As well, s/he must be quick to respond to them, and he must say to them: “I am at your service.” S/he must ask Allah to grant them guidance and goodness if they were alive, and to forgive them if they were dead.

 

This only is to be done if they were good and straight. But if they were disbelievers or disobedient, then s/he must not give them the full due honour and may not consider them as protected friends. But only s/he must provide good company for them in the life of this world. S/he must disavow them like Ibrahim, peace be upon him, from his father. However he must never insult them nor curse them, as these are rights of the parents that the son must respect.

Regarding the rights of the son that the parent must respect and fulfil, they are: educating and disciplining, teaching, helping him/her to marry—as much as possible, choosing a good uncle and good name, training him on good manners, making a good house for him so that he can worship Allah well, and praying for him.

 

The Rights of an Imam

The Imam has greater rights than the father and the scholar, as Allah, exalted be He, has commanded us to obey him as we obey the Messenger of Allah. We already mentioned the rights of the Imam that the subjected people must respect.

 

Regarding the rights of the subjected people, the Imam should respect, they are the following: the Imam should make it easy for the weak oppressed people to reach and meet him, by facilitating the meeting procedures.  He must make the good and righteous people close to him and to respect them and take their consults. He must take care of the services of Muslims like: mosques, water fountains, roads, endowments, and for the weak children and women, the patients, and the lazy people. He must never give up the affairs of the Imamate as Allah asked him, as long as he finds supporters. He must never step down—only in case of he finds another one who worthy to be imam—who is more active than him.

The Rights of the Scholar

Regarding the scholars, people should be humble to them and respect them, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, said when speaking on behalf of his Lord, exalted be He, ((Whoever wants to honour Me, then he should honour my beloved ones)). Then, he was asked: “Who are His beloved ones?” He said: ((The scholars)). He, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, said: ((Three are not disrespected except by a hypocrite: the one whose hair turned to grey while he is Muslim, the one who has knowledge, and a just imam)).

 

The Etiquettes of a Student of Knowledge

The student must initiate the greeting to the teacher. He must not speak much. He must not speak except when his master asks him.

 

He must not mention contradictions, like for example: “I heard someone who contradicts your saying.” He must not try to advise him with an opinion which is different from his, as he thinks that his opinion is more correct than the right of his master. He must not speak with his colleagues.

 

He must not keep looking at the surroundings and lose attention, but he must look and listen carefully with respect. He is to act like if he was in prayer. He must not show his teacher that he is bored, but he must stand up when he stands up. He must not be rude while talking and asking him. He must not speak to him in the way, till he reaches his place. He must not misunderstand him and think bad of him, because he must have apparently seen him doing some deeds that looks like bad deeds according to him, but he must be sure he knows better than him and he knows well the secrets of these deeds.

 

The Rights of the Student of Knowledge upon the Teacher

The rights of the student of knowledge that the teacher must respect are many: being patient and tolerant; avoiding deception, envy, boredom, and anger; preferring humility; avoiding greed and jealousy; practice well on saying the attractive words without boring prolongations and defective summarizations.

S/he must be a benefactor who makes a lot of charities, qualified to teach every human, soft and kind when he treats the sincere student, more patient with the conceited stubborn, as well as try to help to guide and reform the dull and guide well the near and the far. He must be humble, and say “I do not know,” if he does not know something. He must confess the mistake and follow the right when he forgets or omits something. He must consider the condition of the student and assume what is the best type of science to start with. He must conserve piety and be God-conscious so that the student may imitate his deeds first, then be benefited by his statements—as the personality influences the other personality.

 

All that we mentioned concerning the Imam applies to the teacher on condition that they must be righteous. But if the Imam is converted to a disobedient person then he is not to be Imam and he must not deserve honour.

 

Regarding the scientist, he must be at enmity with the enemies of Allah, as Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, said: ((The scholars are the inheritors of prophets, and they are the trustees who take care of the slaves of Allah, as long as they do not mingle with the Sultan and put all their interest in the life of this world. If they did so, then you will have to leave them and be careful of them)).

 

The Rights of the Husband upon the Wife

Regarding the wife, the right of her husband to her is greater than what can be explained. The wife must obey her husband in all what he asks her to do, except in case of an act of disobedience. She must remain in her house and take care of her spindle. She must not be curious and go out the house too often. She must not speak much to her neighbours. She must not brag because of her beauty and her wealth. She must not disrespect and blame her husband because of his ugliness or poverty. She must keep being righteous, pious and chaste when her husband is absent. She must not harm her husband by any means.

 

 

The Rights of the Wife upon Her Husband

They are what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, answered when someone asked them about this matter: ((To feed her when you eat and clothe her when you clothe yourself. You must not hit her face nor disrespect her. You may not abandon her)). Then he said: ((Keep your obligation to Allah and fear Him regarding the women, as they are a trust in your houses and do not have the decision for their selves. But you took them by the word and trust of Allah, as their private parts became allowed for you upon the trust and word of Allah)).

 

Now, as you have known all what we previously mentioned, then you may disdain for the conceit what they deserve. It also includes having disdain for asking for knowledge from who is younger or of less prestige and for answering with “I do not know” in case he really does not know.

 

It also includes having overconfidence and to strut while walking and deeds similar to it. It is also to drag cloth's tail for showing the arrogance and pride.

 

From it, as well, is being keen on sitting in the front of meetings and having desire to be honoured, the standard of choosing them while they really do not deserve such an honour. This also includes the seeking of sitting near the Sultan so that he must acquire some honour by being close to him. This would also include disdain for sitting with the poor God-conscious people. Although one must have disdain for sitting with the disobedient failures and wrong-doers who make huge sins and are not ashamed of what they do, and they consider it good. He must also not have disdain for accepting to work in what’s considered a humiliating job, like sewing sometimes.

 

It is not considered conceit to respect, fear, and honour the Imam, his prince, or some of his servants by doing things such as, serving him, making curtains for his door , or appointing someone for placing on his shoes and taking them off of his feet. It is not to forbid people from kissing his feet for the general sake of all. As the similar deed is proven to be right and approved according to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny. Deeds are judged by their intentions.

 

Know that conceit is a disease in the heart, and it is one of the greatest diseases. It cannot be cured except after eliminating this disease. There are two cures for it: practical and cognized.

 

The cognized cure is that one knows and is certain of how worthless his self is, that he is more humiliated than any humiliated one, and that he is smaller than any small one. Therefore, he only deserves to be humble and humiliated. He must know his Lord and to acknowledge that He is the one that deserves the greatness and glory.

 

The practical cure is that one be humble by working for the sake of Allah and for the sake of rest of His creation. It is also that one keeps acting like the humble people, take them as examples, and try to imitate them. In order to be able to do that correctly and perfect it, one has to abandon the adornment of the life of this world and to keep away from it. If he did so, he will have success and excellence in achieving this.