Hakikat Kitabevi Publications No: 10 answer to an enemy of islam

‘Any action which calms the nafs and relieves the
heart is good. Any action which rouses the nafs and excites the
heart is a sin.’ Again a hadîth sherîf declares, ‘Things that are
halâl are evident. Harâms have been revealed, too. Avoid
doubtful things. Do what you know to be doubtless!’ This hadîth
sherîf shows that we should not do something which excites the
heart and is doubtful. It is permissible to do something about
which there is no doubt. Another hadîth sherîf declares, 
‘The
things which Allâhu ta’âlâ has made halâl in the Qur’ân al-kerîm
are halâl. He will forgive what He has not declared in the Qur’ân
al-kerîm.’ When we meet a doubtful affair, we should put our
hand on our heart. If the heart does not palpitate, we should do
it. If it palpitates, we should not do that thing. A hadîth sherîf
declares, 
‘Put your hand on your chest! The heart will be calm
about something halâl. It will palpitate about something harâm. If
you doubt about something, don’t do it! Don’t do it even if men
with religious posts issue a fatwâ!’ A person who has îmân will
refrain from venial sins in order to escape from committing grave
sins.
We should deem all of our ’ibâdât and good deeds as
defective. We should think that we have not been able to do
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s commands properly. Abû Muhammad ’Abdullah
ibn Manâzil
[1]
(quddisa sirruh) said, ‘Allâhu ta’âlâ has
commanded various kinds of ’ibâdât. He has commanded
patience, devotion, salât, fast and istighfâr (begging Allâhu ta’âlâ
for the forgiveness of one’s sins), which is done immediately
before dawn. He has declared istighfâr last. Thus, it has become
necessary for human beings to deem all their ’ibâdât and good
deeds as defective and to ask for pardon and forgiveness.’ Ja’far
ibn Sinân (quddisa sirruh) said, ‘Worshippers deeming
themselves superior to sinners is worse than their sins.’ Once,
Hadrat ’Alî Murta’ish (quddisa sirruh) gave up i’tikâf (retreat)
and went out of the mosque after the twentieth of Ramadân.
When asked why he had gone out, ‘Seeing that the qârîs were
reciting the Qur’ân al-kerîm melodiously and boasting about it, I
could not stay inside any longer,’ he said.
“We should work in order to earn our household’s and our own
livelihood in a halâl way. Trade and crafts are necessary for doing
– 100 –
[1] His master was Hamdûn al-Qassâr, who passed in Nishapur in 271/884.

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this. The Salaf as-sâlihîn always worked and earned in this manner.
There are many hadîths explaining the thawâb in earning in a halâl
way. Hadrat Muhammad ibn Sâlim was asked: ‘Shall we work and
earn, or shall we only worship and put our trust in Allâhu ta’âlâ?’
He said, ‘Tawakkul (trust in Allâhu ta’âlâ) was a hâl (quality) of
Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam), and earning by working
was his sunna. You shall work and put your trust in Allâhu ta’âlâ!’
Abû Muhammad Ibn Manâzil said, ‘It is more useful to work and
put one’s trust in Allâhu ta’âlâ than to seclude one’s self for
worshipping (’ibâda).’
“We should be temperate in eating. We should not eat so much
as to slacken us. Nor should we diet so much as to prevent us from
’ibâdât. Hadrat Shâh an-Naqshaband (quddisa sirruh), one of the
greatest Awliyâ’, said, ‘Eat well and work well!’ In short,
everything which helps ’ibâdât and the doing of good is good and
blessed. And those which diminish them are prohibited. We
should check and be careful about our intention on anything good
we do. If the intention is not good, we should not do it.
“We should avoid (’uzla) those who do not obey Islam and
those who commit bid’as and sins. In other words, we should not
be friends with such people. A hadîth sharîf declares,