The Third: Some bad habits of our time which are in the degree of addiction affect the manner of their approach to the certain prohibitions of religion.
THE THIRD: There is a rule: Necessity makes permissible what is forbidden. This rule is not universal. So long as it is not by way of what is forbidden, necessity makes licit what is forbidden. But if something has become a necessity due to abuse and for illicit reasons, this necessity may not be the basis of ordinances permitting it, nor form an excuse. For example, if, through ill choice someone makes himself drunk in an unlawful way, according to scholars of the Shari‘a, his actions act against him and he may not be counted as excused. If he divorces his wife, the divorce is in force. And if he commits a crime, he receives the punishment. But if it is not through ill choice, the divorce is not in force, neither does he receive punishment. And, for example, even if an alcoholic is addicted to alcohol to the degree of necessity, he may not say: “It is a necessity, and lawful for me.”
Thus, at this time there are many matters which have reached the degree of necessity and have taken on the form of a general calamity afflicting people, and which, since they have arisen from ill choice, illicit desires, and forbidden acts, may not be the basis of ordinances permitting them and making what is unlawful lawful. However, since those who make interpretations at the present time make those necessities the basis of ordinances of the Shari‘a, their interpretations are earthly, the products of their own fancies, tainted by philosophy, and cannot be heavenly or revealed, or in accordance with the Shari‘a. However, if exercise of authority concerning the Divine ordinances of the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and interference in the worship of His servants is without the Creator’s permission, that exercise of authority and interference are rejected. For example, a number of the heedless and neglectful approve the changing of some of the marks of Islam like the Friday Sermon, and substituting the language of each country for Arabic, for two reasons:
The First: “So that in that way the mass of Muslims will understand current politics.” But current politics has become so intermixed with lies and trickery and evil that it has become like the very whisperings of Satan. However, the pulpit is the seat of delivering Divine revelation, so political rumours do not have the right to rise to that high position.
The Second: “The Friday Sermon is for understanding the admonitions of certain Suras of the Qur’an.” Yes, if the majority of the Islamic nation conformed to the essential teachings and incontestable matters of Islam and the ordinances which are well-known and carried them out, then the reading of the Sermon in the known language and the translation of the Qur’an,1 if it was possible, might have been desirable, in order to understand the theoretical matters of the Shari‘a and its subtle matters and abstruse teachings. But the well-known, incontrovertible ordinances of Islam like the five daily prayers, fasting in Ramadan, and zakat, and the unlawfulness of murder, fornication, and wine are neglected. The ordinary people are not in need of learning their necessity or unlawfulness, but through encouragement and warning, to be reminded of those sacred decrees, and, through their sense of belief and feelings for Islam being stirred, to be prompted, encouraged, and reminded to conform to them. However lowly and ignorant they may be, they understand the following brief meaning from the Qur’an and Arabic Sermon: “The preacher and the reciter of the Qur’an are recalling the pillars of belief and Islam, which are known by me and everyone, and teaching us, and reciting them.” A longing for them is born in their hearts. What words are there in the universe which can be compared with the miraculous, instructive reminders, warnings, and encouragement of the All-Wise Qur’an, which comes from the Sublime Throne?
____________________
1. The Twenty-Fifth Word, about miraculousness, has shown that a true translation of the Qur’an is not possible.
Please click on the following link to continue reading;
- Conclusion: The reason for the existence of different schools. Can truth be more than one?
- The Second: The view at the present time; worldly happiness has taken primacy instead of the happiness of hereafter.
- Third Fruit: The importance of the Sunnah (practices of the Prophet) and the results of acting in accordance with them.
- The Fifth: What are “earthly” and “heavenly” ijtihads? Three reasons that make interpretation of the Law of today earthly.
- Gleams: Flowers from the Seeds of Reality. A short ‘Mathnawi’ and collection on the subject of belief for the Risale-i Nur students.
- Third Gleam: A comparison between the works of scholars who take lessons from the Qur’an and the Qur’an itself.
- What is the benefit of listening to the recitation of the Holy Qur'an even though one cannot understand its context and meaning?
- Third Point: The real meditation in the nature of the Quran.
- A Flower of Emirdağ: The answer given to the objections for the repetitions in the Qur’an.
- First Flash: The comprehensiveness of the words of the Qur'an; each phrase contains many meanings.
