| PREFACE
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'âlâ created the mankind and djinns for them to know Him and worship Him. To inform about Him and to teach how the worship and servitude is carried out, He sent messengers for them. Thousands of messengers have been commissioned since the time of our father Hadrat Adam. Yet as the time passed, the message brought by the messengers was forgotten or modified, so the mankind deviated from the straight path. Almighty Allah sent Prophet Mohammed to reaffirm the messages of the previous messengers, to correct the errors, to straighten the path, to warn the mankind and to guide them. Our beloved Prophet, Muhammad the Chosen SAS practiced the Qur'an that was revealed to him and set the example of the perfect man by his life. After him, sahaba-i kiram (his companions), tabi'în (those who came after the companions), tebe-i tabi'în (those who followed the tabi'în), and awliyaullah maintained his style of life and brought it to us. One of such personages to follow the path of the Prophet and guide people in that path is our respected master Prof. Dr. Mahmud Es'ad Cosan. This book contains some talks delivered by Prof. Cosan in various locations and countries. In
the book, first, the fact that Islam is the truth and the way of life
for
mankind is established. Then, the
principles of Islam are introduced. It
is also stated that there was information in the pre-Quranic scriptures
about
Prophet Muhammad SAS. Then the manners
of the Prophet, his code of conduct, and some good characters are
explained. Furthermore, Tasawwuf, the
path of ihsân, is discussed.
Importance of training the self and acquiring good manners
is
emphasized. Then dhikr and the methods
of dhikr are described.
In the last part of the book, importance of conveying the message of Islam, guiding people to the straight path and serving for Islam is expressed. We are indebted to Rahmi Unal from Germany and Osman Gurdal from the United States for the tapes of the talks. We hope that this book would be instrumental for those who want to get to know about Islam and Tasawwuf and increase their zeal in serving Almighty Allah. Dr.
Metin Erkaya
August 1996 Sincan, Ankara
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