JARBAZA – جربزة

Literally: Wittiness, craftiness and cunning; a deceptive sophistry of mind. Extraordinary readiness of wit coupled with a facile, persuasive expression and tactical cleverness.

As an Islamic term: The ifrât degree of al-quwwa al-aqliyyah (the intellectual power), which is bestowed upon man to distinguish haqq and bâtil. A sophistic and deceptive state of mind wherein al-quwwa al-aqliyyah is severed from hidâyah and misused through intellectual artifice and specious arguments to present falsehood under the guise of haqq, or haqq under the guise of bâtil. It may also manifest in the form of over-meticulousness and obsession with trivial matters.

Excerpts from the Risale-i Nur that elucidates the meaning of this term:

الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ: Know that as-sirât al-mustaqîm is justice (‘adl), which is the summary and essence of hikmah, ‘iffah and shajâ'ah. These three represent the wasats — the middle degrees — for each of the three degrees belonging to man's three powers (quwwa).

To explain: When Allah 'Azza wa Jalla housed the rûh in the changing, needy body exposed to perils, He entrusted three powers (quwwa) to it to maintain its existence therein.

The First: Al-quwwa ash-shahawiyyah al-bahîmiyyah — the power of animal appetite that attracts benefits.

The Second: Al-quwwa al-ghadhabiyyah as-sabui’yyah — the predacious power of anger that repulses harmful and destructive things.

The Third: Al-quwwa al-aqliyyah al-malakiyyah — the intellectual power of the malâikah that distinguishes between benefit and harm.

However, in accordance with His hikmah that necessitates mankind achieving perfection through the mystery of competition, Allah did not determine limits on these powers in man’s fitrah as He did on the powers of animals. Rather, He determined limits on them through the Sharî'ah, which prohibits ifrât and tafrît and commands the wasat. This is what is declared by the âyah

فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَٓا اُمِرْتَ 1

And due to this lack of limitation in fitrah, three degrees arise in each: the degree of deficiency, which is tafrît; the degree of excess, which is ifrât; and the degree of wasat, which is justice (‘adl).

Thus, the degrees of al-quwwa al-aqliyyah:

1. Its tafrît is gabâwah and stupidity (or dullness).

2. Its ifrât is deceptive jarbaza2 and over-meticulousness in trivial matters.

3. Its wasat is hikmah.3

وَمَنْ يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ اُو۫تِىَ خَيْرًا كَث۪يرًۜا 4

Know that just as these powers vary in these three degrees, so does each of their branches. For example, regarding the issue of the creation of actions5 , the wasat is the madhab of Ahl al-Sunnah6 between the Jabriyya7 and the Mu'tazila8 .9

And concerning belief: the madhab of Tawhîd is the wasat between ta'til (denying the attributes of Allah or stripping them from their haqiqah) and tashbîh (anthropomorphism). Other examples can be expanded according to this analogy.

Thus, the degrees of al-quwwa ash-shahawiyyah:

1. Its tafrît is khumud, which is a complete lack of desire for anything.

2. Its ifrât is fujûr, which is to desire whatever one encounters, whether halal or haram.

3. Its wasat is ‘iffah, which is desiring what is halal and shunning the haram.

Apply this analogy, comparing every branch of this power — such as eating, drinking, clothing, and the like — with its root.

Thus, the degrees of al-quwwa al-ghadhabiyyah:

1. Its tafrît is jabânah, which is fearing what should not be feared and having wahm.

2. Its ifrât is tahawwur10 , which is the father of despotism, arbitrary, domination and dhulm.

3. Its wasat is shajâ'ah, which is sacrificing one’s rûh with passionate love and eagerness to protect the honour and dignity (nâmûs11 ) of Islam and uphold the Word of Tawhîd.

Compare every branch of this power with its root.

Thus, these six ifrât degrees are dhulm, while the three wasat degrees are justice (‘adl), which is as-sirât al-mustaqîm — that is, acting in accordance with:

فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَٓا اُمِرْتَ 12

Whoever successfully crosses this bridge of as-sirât al-mustaqîm will likewise cross the bridge of sirât stretched over the fire of Jahannam.

The Sign of Miraculousness-52-55

(Please also refer to the Compilation on As-Sirât Al-Mustaqîm.)

Thirdly: The cause of the disagreement is jarbaza that is the cruel ruler. Jarbaza that relies on criticism and pessimism is always cruel.

…

Indeed, such is the strange disposition of jarbaza: it gathers together disparate elements scattered across time and space, uniting them into one. It views everything through that dark veil. Verily, jarbaza is a machine of bizarre distortions in all their varieties.

Sünuhat Tüluat İşârât (83-84)

You accuse me of turning religion into a tool for politics. Yet, alongside proving with a hundred decisive proofs that this accusation is a patent, baseless and utterly unfounded slander, in response to your grave slander, I accuse you of turning politics into a tool for irreligion!

One time, a sultân who had fallen into jarbaza committed great acts of injustice under the guise of justice. A muhaqqîq ‘âlim told him:

“Oh Ruler! You are oppressing your subjects in the name of justice. Because your critical and jarbaza-driven perspective gathers together faults scattered across time. By imagining those faults all at once to be present now, you deliver severe punishments to the one who committed them. Moreover, through your critical and jarbaza-driven perspective, you gather together the faults committed by various individuals of a community. Because of that veil, rancour and rage towards every single member of that community take hold of you, and you inflict injustice upon all of them. Indeed, if the saliva you secrete over the course of a year were to be produced by you in a single day, you would drown in it. Likewise, if several people were to take all at once bitter medicines, such as quinine sulphate, that you consume at different times, it would kill all of them.

Just in the same way: while it is necessary to conceal occasional faults—since those faults are found amidst a person's virtues—you ignore the virtues that remove those faults, and through your jarbaza-driven perspective, you gather together scattered faults and inflict severe punishments upon your subjects.” Thus, the sultân was saved from dhulm that he had perpetrated in the name of justice, as a result of the warnings of that muhaqqîq ‘âlim.

Biography-252

Q- What impact has jarbaza had on the thoughts of the present time?

A: Look, it is that evil: with such sophistical pretexts and absurd claims, such as the nonsense that "they aided us in Crimea on some date," it portrays a foreign state that oppresses and insults us as vastly as Mount Ararat in a way that makes it appear as if it could be a friend.

They also relegate to the lowest depths the great group of mujahidin, who work for the honour and glory of Islam as immensely as Mount Subhan, and portray them to the nation as enemies through such absurd pretexts.

Moreover, as a result of the tarbiyyah it received from Europe, jarbaza focuses on the worst aspect of everything, whereas the proper benefit, based on the principle

خُذْ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ اَحْسَنَهُ13

is to consider the best aspect. By constantly driving the nation into despair, it kills the rûh of the jamâ'ah.

Moreover, by combining the people's vulnerability in aqâid into its evil, the jarbaza shows the vulnerable side of religious matters and prepares the ground for irreligion.

It is also its result that, employing a sophistical jarbaza, they show the criticisms — which are the requirement of human fitrah — that happened among the Salaf as a form of positive rivalry or arising from devotion to haqq. By showing the criticism of each about the others, the jarbaza instils disrespect and distrust towards the great personages of the ummah and thereby undermines the sanctity of Islam in the minds.

Thus, many grievous damages like these arise from this kind of jarbaza. Whenever I think of Istanbul, the image comes to mind of an old child with a tongue two inches long and whose other limbs are deprived of growth and development.

Sünuhat Tüluat İşârât (87-88)