FAQ in the category of Principles of Belief

A Christian woman can get married with a Muslim man. There is no problem with such a marriage. And also she does not have to convert Islam when she makes such a marriage. For a detailed information please click on the link given below.

Why can’t a Muslim woman marry a Christian man?

It includes all the decrees Allah set for people. Islamic Shari’ah is fundamentally based on the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) and the general opinion of Islamic scholars and proofs of Qiyas (analogy - foundation of legal reasoning ). A decree bearing an Islamic qualification depends on whether it is based on these principles or not.

Faith is a light, a blessing from Allah. However, faith is knowledge at the same time, which must be necessarily learnt. There are two ways to strengthen our faith:

The first and the primary one is to learn the rules of the sunnah and to investigate it in accordance with the Quran and the sunnah, as required by our time.

The second one is to advance in spirituality through performing good deeds, purifying the heart and soul by avoiding sins.

However, the course of this century makes the second way really difficult to take. For this reason, it is very important to read books which teach investigative faith. It has also become essential to study science as a feature of our century, besides studying religious knowledge. This is because the light of the mind is science as the light of the heart is religious knowledge. We can state that one of the most important books which teach both of them together is Risali-i Nur Collection. In addition, one can benefit very well from books of significant people such as Imam Ghazali, Imam Rabbani, Imam Mawardi and Imam Qushairi.

Protecting and enhancing faith is a Muslim’s most important issue. It is necessary to attach importance to taqwa (God-Consciousness) in order to protect faith. Faith can only be protected within the castle of taqwa. Without taqwa, faith tends to deteriorate. It is necessary to read and make research on books about faith a lot in order to enhance faith. Issues about faith which result from knowledge do not have effect on one’s feelings unless it is filtered through reasoning. Firstly, mind must be satisfied.

Contemplation is very important. The fact that Prophet Abraham found his Lord by watching the moon and stars and contemplating is narrated in the Quran. Faith improves with thinking.   For this reason, it is stated in hadith that “One hour of contemplation is superior to one year of nafilah (supererogatory) prayer.”

Environment has a great influence on human being. Sins suggest people infidelity. Suggestion has a great influence on human beings. It infuses infidelity into one’s sub-conscious though people are unaware of it. For this reason, one must keep away from from sinful places as much as possible. Sins committed outside carelessly suggest people that there are not hereafter and punishment. To be protected from the negative effects of such suggestions, one must keep away from sinful places as much as possible and try to suggest people goodness and prevent them from evil as much as s/he can. One needs to study issues about faith a lot and pay attention to delivered messages in order to compensate for the damages of the negative suggestions which s/he has been imposed to. It is necessary to meet often with people who care about good deeds and live in accordance with taqwa. In this sense, the importance of a community (jama’ah) becomes more obvious. Just like sins suggest infidelity, good deeds suggest faith.

How are people deceived in faith issues?

Why cannot I worship Allah properly and be a good servant to Allah?

What is the essence of faith?

Faith, in its essence, is the greatest and kindest blessing from Allah to human beings. Allah bestows it upon whomever He wishes. However, it cannot be said that human beings do not play a role in this bestowment. Contrarily, first of all, a human being must be willing to have faith and righteousness using his/her choice and free will. Allah will bestow faithfulness and righteousness upon him/her because of this will and demand. For this reason, Islamic scholars described faith as “It is the light that Allah places in His servants’ hearts after servants display a partial will and choice.

Are There Degrees and Development in Faith?

Faith develops like a seed develops and grows into a tree. Islamic scholars divided faith into two levels firstly:

1. Imitative faith, 2. Investigative faith…

Imitative Faith: having faith in the pillars of faith in the way one has seen from parents, hodjas and people around, without any reasoning about them. As imitative faith is a kind of faith that one believes without comprehending the pillars, consciousness and details of faith, one can be subject to some doubts and misgivings especially in our time and it may lead to the destruction of faith.

Investigative Faith: having faith in all issues about faith in a detailed way with proofs, and confirming them. Such a faith can prevent itself from being destructed by doubts and misgivings. Investigative faith has got many levels. Islamic scholars have classified those levels in three parts:

1. Certainty at the degree of knowledge: knowing issues about faith together with all of its details, with proofs and having faith in them.

2. Certainty at the degree of witnessing: knowing issues about faith and having faith in them as if you have seen them with your own eyes and witnessed their trueness. Believing with knowledge and witnessing are very different in terms of giving one a precise conviction. One can know something exactly without having any doubts, yet if s/he witnesses it, his/her conviction increases. Like the difference between knowing that America exists and seeing it… So, certainty at the degree of witnessing is the state of believing in the pillars of faith as if one has seen them with his/her own eyes.

3. Absolute certainty: Accepting and comprehending issues about faith by experiencing them in person, apart from witnessing. An example can be given in order to explain those three degrees of faith: A man who sees smoke coming from somewhere knows that there is a fire burning over there. Knowing that there is a fire by seeing smoke from a distance refers to “certainty at the degree of knowledge”. Then he goes to the place where the smoke comes from and sees the fire with his own eyes from a distance. It refers to “certainty at the degree of witnessing”. Then he goes close to the fire and feels its warmness, and it refers to “absolute certainty”.

Is Imitative Faith Enough in Our Day?

As we have mentioned above, imitative faith encounters many misgivings and doubts and eventually is subject to breaking down because of those doubts in our day. Ali Fuad Basgil explains why imitative faith is not enough in our day though it was enough in the past as follows:

“People were in need of religion and power of spirituality in every period of time. However, this need has become an obligation in our day. Our ancestors used to live peacefully with quite a simple knowledge of religion and traditions, that is, with imitative faith; because, all social neighborhood around them suggested them religion and morals.

Today, everything has changed. Religious feelings have weakened and good manners of religious respect have been replaced by an insolent disrespectfulness. Families have gotten smaller and family relations have loosened. Financial burden of the family have been placed merely on spouses and parents have started to neglect to educate their children in terms of religion because of financial needs of the family. On the other hand, schools and universities have become places of anti-religionist propaganda. Today, a simple knowledge of religion has become inefficient in the atmosphere which has become hazier because of the invective words and resistance of obstinate deniers.

Questions such as “What is religion?”, “What is the relationship between religion and science?” and “What should religion do and what should be its place compared to science today?” preoccupy minds more than ever now. Especially educated young people need to know the answers to those questions.”

The knowledge of religion and faith to be given to people today must have an investigative content that combines science and religion and that convinces the mind and reason about the issues of faith. Otherwise, simple knowledge of religion and imitative faith in the form of traditions will be far away from satisfying the people especially the young people of today.

What is the Importance of Faith for Human Beings?
1. Faith is the reason why human beings were created. That is to say, they were created so that they would recognize the Creator through faith and worship Him. If one acts in accordance with this reason of creation, s/he will reach eternal bliss in the Hereafter and will enter Heaven. Otherwise, s/he will enter Hell and be subject to eternal misery and unhappiness.

In this sense, faith is a means of gaining eternal happiness and the key to Heaven for human beings. Without faith, there is no Heaven. For this reason, it is a more precious blessing than the world and than anything in the whole world for a human being to have faith and to keep this faith until his/her last breath without losing it or letting it weaken. Our Prophet said in one of his hadiths “renew your faith by saying ‘la ilaha illallah” because of the importance of faith and emphasized the importance of renewing and keeping faith. One can come up with a question like “Is there a possibility of faith to weaken or to get lost since it is suggested to renew it continuously?”

Badiuzzaman, explains the issue of renewing faith as an answer to the question above, as follows: “Since man himself and the world in which he lives are being continuously renewed, he needs constantly to renew belief. For in reality each individual human being consists of many individuals. He may be considered as a different individual to the number of the years of his life, or rather to the number of the days or even the hours of his life. For since a single individual is subject to time, he is like a model and each passing day clothes him in the form of another individual. Furthermore, just as there is within man this plurality and renewal so also is this world in which he lives in motion. It goes and replaced by another. It varies constantly. Every day opens the door of another world. As for belief, it is both the light of the life of each individual in that person, and it is the light of the world in which he lives. And as for ‘There is no god but God’, it is a key with which to turn on the light. Then the instinctual soul, desire, doubts and Satan exercise great influence over man. In order to damage his belief, they are much of the time able to benefit from his negligence, to trick him with their wiles, and thus to extinguish the light of belief with doubts and uncertainty. Also, man is prone to act and utter words which apparently oppose the Shari’a, and which in the view of some religious authorities are no less than unbelief. Therefore, there is need to renew belief all the time, every hour, every day.” (The Letters, 26th Letter)

Those statements emphasize the importance of renewing belief from three points of view:

The first point: one’s mood, ideas and understanding can often change depending on the period of time in which he lives, the place he is in and the neighborhood he is in contact with. Events he has been subject to, the things he has done and the people he has been in contact with impress him in a positive or negative way. Our Prophet states the following on the issue: “A true believer’s heart is subject to more changes than a boiling pot…” “The heart is like a sparrow. It can head towards anywhere at any time.” “The heart is like a bird’s wing thrown to the fields. The heart can change like wind turns this wing upside down.”  It is ordered to renew faith by saying “la ilaha illallah (there is no god but God)” in the hadith because of the fact that human heart and mood are subject to external influence.
The second point: Human beings have got negative feelings such as instinctual soul, desires and doubts, and Satan constantly tries to deceive them and suggest them evil. It is possible that those negative suggestions will make people to have doubts about faith while they are careless. It is necessary to renew faith in order to avoid such a state.

The third point: One cannot totally keep away from some words and sayings which are against Shari’a and also considered to be disbelief by some Islamic scholars. For this reason, renewing faith by saying “la ilaha illallah” is essential. Another way of strengthening and keeping faith is to save it from imitative level by turning it into investigative faith. And it can be realized only by reading works about faith which teach the realities of faith in an investigative way and respond to all doubts and misgivings one can think of, and by making conversations on faith constantly. If a person upgrades his faith from imitative level to investigative level, there is no possibility for him to lose faith and to pass away to the Hereafter as an unbeliever. Islamic scholars stated that Satan will come and try to deceive people with all of his tricks and misgivings in order to take their faith away while they are about to die. For this reason, Islamic scholars stated that they were afraid of the moment of death. People can be protected from such suggestions at the moment of death with the help of investigative faith; because, in investigative faith, faith is not only in mind, but also in heart, soul, other senses and feelings. Even though Satan may damage the faith in one’s mind, he cannot manage to take the faith in other senses away. In this way, that person remains and dies as a believer.

2. Faith is also a great source of high spirits and endurance. A person who gains true faith can challenge the world and escape the suppression of the troubles he has encountered with the power of his faith. Our victories, which honor the history and inspire authors to write legends, are doubtlessly a good example to the power and might which faith earns a person. A faithful person can react to events and troubles he has been through with sturdiness, can be patient and put up with them, with the help of trust in God which faith earns a person. A faithful person does not become hopeless and pessimistic, does not choose to rebel and complain. It results from the power and might the faith has earned him. Faithless people can easily end their lives by committing suicide when they encounter an insignificant trouble as they become desperate and hopeless. While in Islamic countries committing suicide is so rare, it increases day by day in the world’s most civilized and wealthy countries, which confirms it. The Prophet points out to the power and endurance the faith earns a person in his hadiths: “A true believer resembles green plants. The continuous winds of trouble bend them, yet they cannot break them down. Contrarily, they enable them to pursue their lives and become healthier. However, hypocrites (and infidels) are like faded plants. Their leaves fall down and their body breaks down and they die with the winds of trouble.”

“How astonishing a true believer is! If he encounters goodness, he gives thanks; if he encounters evil, he endures. And this way he makes both of those states good for himself.”

to see the answer click on the link below: What are the Essentials of the religion-Islam? Can you explain? What are the pillars of Islam?  

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Beads are something that is used for glorifying Allah the Most High. Using these bead are not innovation. It is useful in order not to forget the number of glorifications. Our Prophet (pbuh) advised to do glorfy, praise and to say Allahuakbar at different times, especially after salats (prayers).

The Companions of Our Prophet (pbuh) used to do this glrifications by counting their hands or by gathering small stones. So, it can be said that today’s beads which are used for glorifying Allah Almighty is similar to what the Companions used and a good custom as well.

Belief is a holy  light; a blessing from Allah. However, belief is also knowledge, a fact which should be learnt. There are two ways to strengthen our belief:

The very first one is to learn the principles of ahl as-sunnah (those who are loyal to sunnahs of the Prophet (pbuh) ) in the direction of the Book and the Sunnah and consider them with the help of reasoning as a requirement of our century.

The second is to purify the heart by doing good deeds and restraining from sins and to progress in spirituality by purifying the carnal soul.

However, the situation of this century makes the second way difficult. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to read the books which provide verified lessons of belief. As a requirement of the property of this century, it has become a necessity to learn natural sciences along with religious sciences because, just as the enlightenment for the heart is obtained by religious sciences, the illumination for the mind is obtained by natural sciences. We can say that one of the most important works which present these both together is the Risale-i Nur Collection. Besides, the works of great people like Imam Ghazali, Imam Rabbani, Imam Mawardi and Imam Qurayshi can be utilized as well.

Preserving faith and improving it is the most important duty of a believer. To preserve belief in the first place, we should take great care of piety. Belief is preserved in the fortress of piety. Without piety, belief is in danger or deterioration. In order to improve belief, works on belief should be read and considered a lot. Matters on belief through knowledge are not digested by the faculties of man without passing through the rooms of the mind. The satisfaction of the mind comes first.

Contemplation (meditation) is very important. Ibrahim’s (peace be upon him) finding Lord by observing the moon and the stars with the help of reasoning is recounted in the Qur’an. Belief develops by reasoning and contemplation. That is why it is stated in a hadith that “one hour’s reasoning and contemplation is worth more than a thousand year’s supererogatory worshipping”.

The environment has a significant impact on people. Sins play a suggestive role of disbelief on people. Suggestion has a great effect on people as well. It injects disbelief to the subconscious of people without their being aware of it. For this reason, people should stay away from sinful environments as much as possible. Sins that are freely and fearlessly committed suggest that there is no hereafter or punishment. In order to protect ourselves from the malicious effects of this suggestion, we should stay away from sinful environments as much as possible and should order the good and forbid the evil. In order to recover the effects of imposed malicious suggestion, we should consider the matters on belief and we should pay a lot attention to conveying the message of Islam. We should keep in touch with pious people who care good deeds a lot. With this respect, the importance of community becomes clearer. Just as sins suggest disbelief, so too do good deeds suggest belief.

“After belief, the most elevated truth in Islam is the obligatory prayers”

Please click on the links given below;

Would you briefly mention the pillars of faith? 

Information about the Five Daily Prescribed Prayers

Faith is in heart. But what is mentioned here is not the heart in its bilogical sense.

Islam’s message also reveals the existence of the inner sense mechanisms which gain man perfection in addition to eyes, ears what we briefly call the sense organs.

What makes man superior to the other living beings is not his material body but his spiritual side.

The centre of this spiritual structure is heart. Heart is like a mirror which could receive the rays of revelation coming from Allah.
The each sin committed is like a black spot on heart-miror. As man keeps sinning, his heart starts to blacken. In the end, heart grows completely blackened. Such a person starts to think of himself mere accumulation of flesh. Since he is alone with his evil-commanding self and its desires, he deems the life fulfilled by satisfying himself with these desires.

Since heart is the centre of any kind of spiritualities, Allah (SWT) will hold people responsible according to what they have in their hearts.

“…Allah hath set a seal upon them for their disbelief, so that they believe not save little.” (An-Nisaa, 155)  “…if We will, We can smite them for their sins and print upon their hearts so that they hear not?” (Al-Araf, 100)  “They are content that they should be with the useless and their hearts are sealed, so that they apprehend not.” (At-Tawba, 87)  “…Thus print We on the hearts of the transgressors.” (Yunus, 74)   “Such are they whose hearts and ears and eyes Allah hath sealed. And such are the heedless.” (An-Nahl, 108)

Those who keep sinning would have blackened hearts. As the verses above states, their hearts become sealed. As the Qur’an suggest, one who has such a heart is dead. He is blind and deaf. As the Qur’an puts it, “indeed it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts.” (Hacc, 46)

Faith blossoms in the heart. Thanks to the faith in the heart man gains perfection who thinks, contemplates, and gains an insight of things. He is always with Allah (SWT). That is he always feels love for Allah (SWT) in his heart and. His heart is always full of love for Allah (SWT) and fear to lose Him.

It is understood from these explanations that the heart transplanted in medicine and the one faith is placed are separate.
There are a number of expressions that the word “heart” passes:

(2-7) “Allah hath sealed their hearing and their hearts…” (This verse implies the indifference to the truths and heart’s and heart’s sensing side lowers in a way not to grasp the truths because of sins.

(2-10) “In their hearts is a disease…” ( It is implied that the actual function of the heart is partially impaired.)

(2-74) “…your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or worse than rocks, for hardness…” (Deterioration of the heart with sins in a way not to receive Divine inspiration and understand truths is implied.)

22-46) “…it is the hearts, which are within the bosoms, that grow blind…”

Heart has two windows which open to the outer world. These two windows are hearing and seeing.

Just as eyes and ears have their functions, so too heart functions which are expressed with seeing and hearing. Hearts’ growing blind in bosoms means the disappearence of these functions of heart.

Thus we could say this: Faith is in heart but the biological heart has nothing to do with this. Therefore it is out of question that faith is transplanted too in heart transplantations.

Gerçeğe Doğru (Towards the Truth), C:4, Zafer Publications

Coincidence: It means something taking place on its own, happening without any measures. If it is used in the sense of taking place on its own by denying the Creator, it becomes polytheism (shirk).

However, it does not become polytheism in the sense it is used today by Muslims in the Islamic community. People use it in the sense of coming across unexpectedly without thinking about it. That is, they use the word coincidence in terms of people's understanding and thinking, not contrary to Allah's knowledge; therefore, it is not polytheism. However, it is better to use the word "tawafuq" (synchronization; divine coincidence).

Tawafuq: means synchronization of the things with each other, being in conformity with each other, being in conformity in an arranged way.

Although we use the word coincidence a lot in daily life, there is no coincidence in reality; there is tawafuq. Many similarities in creation and the incidents that take place are not coincidence but tawafuq.

When Allah Almighty created this enormous universe, He created it with a lot of tawafuqs in order to show that there is only one creator and to enable us to make use of the universe more.

For instance, there is a tawafuq, similarity between an atom and the solar system. Their models are similar. There is a nucleus in the middle of an atom; and electrons rotate around it. The solar system is similar to it. The sun is in the middle and the planets rotate around it. More examples can be given.  

The Lord of the realms created many wonderful differences in both systems in detail in order to show His art of invention. Although there are endless models in His knowledge, He used the same model in both systems. The first reason for it is the seal of oneness. This tawafuq declares that it is Allah who created both the atom and the solar system and that the intervention of polytheism is impossible.

The second reason is that this tawafuq is ease for us, human beings. A scientist who knows the solar system will examine the atom and electrons with the model in his mind while studying the atom whether he is a believer or not. These studies, which were made making use of models and tawafuq, gained a lot of things to the world of science.

The tawafuq between fingers and toes and the other organs are among the tawafuqs in the universe. In fact, Allah Almighty created mathematics by creating Hz. Adam with ten fingers and ten toes. He also gave Adam an instruction having ten pages. Thanks to the number of fingers, all civilizations used the decimal number system being aware or unaware of one another.

That the human body or flowers and fruits and other creatures are symmetrical is an indication of Allah Almighty's domination and the manifestation of His names in beauty and esthetics.

The golden proportions used by sculptors and artists for centuries in their works of art are manifestations of Allah Almighty's names of Adl (the Just) and Hakam (the Judge). These tawafuqs were known by the scientists and philosophers of the old ages. One of the founders of geometry who knew this said, “Allah always uses geometry.”

Indeed, if the universe is viewed from this perspective, we will notice that a secret compass, ruler and other geometrical instruments work constantly in our face, eyes, trees, fruits, atoms, the sun, their orbits, in short, in everything in the universe. Besides, Allah Almighty states the following in several verses in the Quran: “Verily, all things have We created in proportion and measure.”

The Lord of the realms, who does not leave atoms and suns unattended and without measure and proportion, definitely controls all deeds of people and He will assess their deeds on the Day of Reckoning as precisely as He created the atoms. That is, the mathematics in the world is a sign of the mathematics in the hereafter.

Among people, expressions such as “I had good luck”, “My luck was with me”, “My luck helped me”, “I was born lucky” are used with a positive meaning by the persons whose things are going well and who do not meet any misfortunes; and expressions such as “I have no luck”, “I am an unlucky person”, “If I had luck, I would not be in such a bad condition” are often used with a negative meaning by the persons who experience misfortunes and who think their lives rely on chance.

In the community, the word “chance” is mainly repeated by the surroundings and institutions such as gambling, lottery and pools. “Take your chance”, “good luck” are repeated for that.   

Although “luck” is used for positive things, it is used for “negative” things more. The thought and psychology of a person who relies on and sets his hopes on “luck” is sufficient to tell the essence of the luck concept. A person who acts according to “luck” feels suspended, he believes in chances, and all the time he gets his heart, spirit and even his life in stress, agitation and turmoil. If what he wanted does not happen and the result he desired does not take place, he becomes anxious and distressed; he desponds and cannot keep himself from the frustration of that situation.

Why does a person in such a situation give himself over to “luck”? Its reason is quite clear. Just as a baby who is deprived of milk takes up artificial dummy immediately so too does that person rely on a hypothetical, ambiguous, vain thing like “luck” since he does not know the real points of support such as “divine determining, reliance on Allah, and consent to his fortune.”        
 
However, Islam has never let people suspended. It has not allowed them to abandon themselves to worthless things and thoughts whose essences are not known.

There is no place for the words such as “luck and chance” in Islam.In our religion, there are “destiny and reliance on Allah and consenting to what comes from Allah.” And the source of those is faith. The believing person has faith in Allah; he resigns to fate and he is saved from getting confused before the events and he overcomes anything he meets by the force and light of the faith.

As it will be comprehended from the expression

“Belief necessitates affirmation of Divine unity, affirmation of Divine unity necessitates submission to Allah, submission to Allah necessitates reliance on Allah, and reliance on Allah necessarily leads to happiness in this world and the next”,

a person who has faith in Allah recognizes Allah as “the only one” as the possessor of power and strength. He submits to Him. He puts his trust in Him, reclines upon His power; and as a result he attains happiness both in this world and the next.

A person who has faith is strong; he has a courage that can “challenge the whole universe”. He believes that he has a Lord who has created him from non-existence, who has prepared the world and has bestowed him bounties such as life, health and peace which cannot be measured materially, and who keeps the control of not only the earth but also the sun and billions of stars and the universe. Besides knowing that his Creator has not created him in vain, he also knows that He has not left him suspended in air as a plaything of “chance.” He has the belief that his life, minutes and seconds passing from the moment he comes to the world to his death, has been known, programmed and determined by Allah. Therefore, he does not believe in chance, rely on it and give place to it in his world. He perceives that good things or bad things happening to him are under the knowledge of Allah. He always endeavors, he has recourse to all means and causes and then he puts his trust in his Creator who knows and thinks of him better than himself in the end and expects the result from Him. He consents to the happening of whatever exists in the Divine program (fate).

However, how about the person who does not put his trust in Allah and fluctuates in “chance” and “luck”? He does not do his best and endeavor or even if he does, he does not rely on a Power; and what happens in the end? He cannot be delivered from “begging before all the universe”, namely, begging before everything he sees and feeling weak before the things he regards as powerful; from “trembling before every event”; from “pride”, namely, supposing that he is the owner of beings; from “making a fool of himself”; from “misery in the hereafter”, namely, losing the eternal life, and from “the prison of the pressures of this world”. (The Words, p. 292)

And so, the persons whose senses of reliance on Allah and consenting to what comes from Him are weak rely on inessential, pointless and vain things such as luck, stars, horoscopes and chance and are obsessed by superstitions such as “his star is low”, “his star is high”.

Belief means to believe. Believing is a result of knowledge. One cannot believe without knowing. Belief cannot be realized just by saying, “I believe”.

The religion of Islam has got two essential elements: the first is belief and the second is the pillars of belief. The pillars of belief require knowledge and information. The elements of Islam require submission (to Allah) besides requiring knowledge.

The sum total of belief (ijmal; believing in God’s oneness and His messenger) is a part of detailed (tafsili) belief. Detailed belief means to examine each issue in Islam seriously and to enlighten one’s soul with a clear consciousness. This issue is not something that everybody can accomplish. For this reason, it is also considered “belief” to accept the details of an examined issue in total with submission. The principle of “Belief in everything sent down to the Messenger of Allah” explains this reality.

For instance, after believing in the Quran, which is Allah’s words and one of the pillars of belief, it is an obligatory result of belief to accept the details of issues that are mentioned in the Qur'an. This is because it is an illogical conflict for someone who believes that the Quran is the words of Allah, the All-knowing, to consider some issues in it wrong.

A person who believes in Islam must fulfill the requirements of the religion and apply his/her belief into daily life. However, a Muslim who does not perform the requirements is not rejected by Islam but they become sinful. A sinner is not rejected by Islam.

In a Quranic verse, Allah states the following: “If ye (but) eschew the most heinous of the things which ye are forbidden to do, We shall expel out of you all the evil in you and admit you to a Gate of great honour.”1. This statement points out that a Muslim has to avoid great sins and he must perform fards (obligatory acts) in order to gain eternal bliss.

The great sins that Allah wants us to avoid are clearly indicated both in the Quran and in hadiths. For instance, regarding great sins, the following is stated in a verse:

“Those who invoke not, with Allah, any other god nor slay such life as God has made sacred except for just cause, not commit fornication; - and any that does this meets punishment.”2.

Our Prophet (pbuh), in a hadith narrated by Hazrat Anas, indicated the great sins as follows:

“Attributing partners to Allah, being cruel to parents, killing a human and telling lies”3.

In another hadith, telling lies and bearing false witness are also included in great sins. 4.

There are also sins which our Prophet (pbuh) attaches importance to and which have an important place amongst great sins. Those sins are characterized as “seven sins leading one to the deterioration of soul. Once our Prophet said “avoid seven things that deteriorates” and listed them as follows:

“Attributing partners to Allah, putting spells, murdering a person for an unfair reason, depriving orphans of their rights, charging or getting interest, running away from battle during enemy attack, slandering an innocent and modest woman by accusing her of fornication”.5

In addition, drinking alcoholic beverages, gambling and supporting innovations which can damage the religion are also included in great sins. 6

Sin means disobedience to Allah. Especially, someone who commits great sins without any hesitation, plunging into them willingly, opposes Allah’s rules openly and forgets about His omnipotence. For this reason, every Muslim must avoid great sins in order to escape from this danger. And it is only possible with having taqwa which means to refrain from things forbidden by Allah and from sins, and doing good deeds and to gain thawabs (reward for good deeds). The safest fortress to take refuge in order to be protected from sins is taqwa. Whoever takes refuge in this fortress can gain lots of thawabs with few good deeds. In fact, it is wajib (obligatory) to avoid a haram (forbidden act). And thawabs gained through a wajib is many times more than thawabs gained through many sunnahs. Consequently, the most important duty of a Muslim is protecting his/her taqwa against the flood of sins attacking him.7

As for the relation between committing sins and belief, as it is known, belief consists of accepting the essentials that must be believed in by heart and professing them orally. One who accepts the essentials of Islam by heart and professes them orally is a Muslim both in the eyes of Allah and of people. That person is considered neither to be rejected by the religion nor to be an infidel, even if he/she commits great sins. In fact, according to sunnah-follower scholars, acts are not a part of belief. A Muslim who commits one of the great sins does it not because of the deficiency of his/her belief but because he/she obeys the voice of his/her emotions.

That is to say, people are not fully rewarded with thawabs of obeying Allah’s orders, i.e. performing prayers and refraining from forbidden acts in this world, because this world is not a place of reward or prize, but a place of service and worshipping. In this sense, Allah delays the reward of worship and thankfulness in order to give it infinitely in the Hereafter. Just like the rewards are delayed, so too are punishments of sins which cannot be erased with repentance delayed until Hereafter. For this reason, punishment is not given as soon as a sin is committed and consequently it leads people to absentmindedness and causes them to continue to be defeated by their excessive desires, as they think future is so far away. Badiuzzaman explains this state as follows:

The human soul prefers a small amount of instant delight given right away to a big amount of delight postponed to the future. Similarly, it is more afraid of an instant slap than a punishment which will last for one year in the future. If emotions rules over a person, he/she does not listen to the judgment of his/her mind. Judging with temporary desires and groundless thoughts, he/she prefers an insignificant yet instant delight to a relatively great delight which will be given later. And he/she refrains from an instant yet little pain more than a great punishment which will be given in the future. This is because one cannot see the future with groundless thoughts, temporary desires and emotions. Indeed, they deny it. If excessive desires of the soul are involved, the heart and mind, which are the locus of belief, are silenced and defeated. Consequently, committing great sins does not result from infidelity but. from the predomination of emotions, temporary desires and groundless thoughts over the mind and heart. 8

Therefore, it is impossible to say that a Muslim will be excluded from the religion when he/she commits one of the great sins.

In fact, it is clearly deduced from the following hadith that a Muslim who commits one of the great sins will not be infidel, but he/she will go into Heaven after going through his/her punishment. Our Prophet (pbuh) states:

“Gabriel came to me and gave the good news of that “Whoever from your followers dies without having attributed partners to Allah will go to Heaven”. I asked “even if he/she fornicates or steals?”. “Yes, even if he/she fornicates or steals.” replied Gabriel.” 9.

As already known, infidels cannot go into Heaven and stay in Hell eternally, because Allah forbid the boons of Heaven for infidels. It is indicated that fornicators and stealers are not considered infidels, through stating in the hadith that fornicators and stealers can go to Heaven. So, a person who commits one of the great sins except attributing partners to Allah is a Muslim. He/she will go to Heaven after going through punishment of his/her sins. However, a person should not believe the sin he/she committed is permissible (halal). It is already certain that a person who believes a sin, which is surely proved to be forbidden by certain evidences, is permissible will be excluded from the religion. Such as claiming that charging/paying interest is not forbidden or it will not be forbidden today.

However, it is necessary to bear in mind that “in every sin there is a way leading to infidelity” 10. Badiuzzaman, who states that when a sin is committed consistently, it is a seed of infidelity, explains it as follows:

“There is seed of infidelity in the essence of the sin especially if it is committed consistently. This is because, whoever commits that sin consistently gains familiarity with it, falls in love with it and becomes addicted to it. He/she comes to such a stage that he/she cannot find an opportunity to quit it. Then, he/she starts to hope that this sin does not require punishment. As long as this state continues like that, the seed of  fidelity starts to sprout. Eventually, it causes to deny both punishment and the place of punishment (hell). ”11

As it is impossible for us to avoid sins completely because we are human beings, this danger threats us all. When we are exposed to this danger, we must regret for what we have done in front of Allah right after a sin, whether it is great or small. We must turn to Allah with repentance and ask Him to forgive us.

Footnotes:

1. Chapter an-Nisa, 31.
2. Chapter al-Furqan, 68.
3. Muslim, Faith: 144.
4. ibid. Faith: 143.
5. ibid. Faith: 145.
6. Appendix of Barla, p.179.
7. Appendix of Kastamonu, p.106.
8. The Flashes, p.70
9. Muslim, Faith: 153.
10. The Flashes, p.7
11. Mesnevi-i Nuriye, p.115

Mehmed Paksu

A Muslim should be gentle. It would be better to have mercy and pray for their goodness.

Islam does not suggest not to trust people but it suggests the truth, justice, peace and facts contributing to confidence.

Islam orders Muslims to convey the material and spiritual goodness not only for themselves but also for the people around and to help each other.

Allah holds Muslims responsible for conveying the message of Islam.

Regarding the issue, Allah orders the Prophet (pbuh) the following : “O Messenger (you who convey and embody the Message in the best way)! Convey and make known in the clearest way all that has been sent down to you from your Lord. For, if you do not, you have not conveyed His Message and fulfilled the task of His Messengership.” (the Qur’an, al-Ma’idah, 5:67)

“Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and argue with them in the best way possible. Your Lord surely knows best who has gone astray from His way, and He knows best who are the rightly guided.” (the Qur’an, an-Nahl)

Conveying the message of Islam is a cause. This cause is a cause of saving the belief. It is the cause of saving people from the severe seditions of the end of time and leading them to exalted purposes. It is a cause of saving humanity from the effects of carnal soul, satan and social atmosphere which has become incredibly spoiled and letting them enjoy the taste of worshipping Allah.

Pitying rebellious and sinful people who prepare themselves for Hell and running to help them with the sensitivity of a doctor and with the compassion of a mother is the cause of every person who set his heart on Islam.

The invitors to the religion are in grief; people’s deviation from the right path, their disobedience to Allah’s commands and rebelling against them strike the heart of the invitors. They cringe at their conversions from Islam and they feel they have nothing to do to prevent it; this makes them enraged and exasperated. Addressing the Prophet (pbuh) saying, “It may be that you (O Messenger) will torment yourself to death because they refuse to believe.” (the Qur’an, ash-Shu’ara, 26:3), the Quran illustrates the pain of the Prophet (pbuh) for the sake of conveying the message of Islam and the mood due to this pain. Essentially, every invitor has this kind of mood depending on the severity of the pain and they should have it.

The cause of attaining or losing the eternal field and property which is adorned with gardens and pavillions in return for their belief – that is, Paradise – is set on everybody. They will lose if they are not well certified with belief. And in this century, many fail this cause due to the plague of materialism. Could this man be satisfied with all the property of this world given to him for the cause he failed?

Muslim people have been given such a cause that if they had as much property as the Germans and the Englishmen and they were mentally healthy, they would spend this property without hesitation to win this cause.

As the members of the religion which teaches us the rule: “Those who sleep with a full stomach while their neighbors are hungry are not from us”, is it possible that this religion which deals with material hunger of the relatives and all the humanity as a result does not deal with the spiritual life of humanity?

When an eternal punishment like Hell is set in front of humanity, is it possible for them not to strive to rescue people from disbelief, injustice and cruelty?

In Islam, making up excuses does not work. There is no such thought as “ I shall be in comfort and I do not care whatever happens to others” or “ I shall go to Paradise and  I don not care if others go to Hell”.

While it is not considerable for a Muslim to watch a person in the fire and not to help him, is it possible to say “ Why are you doing this?” to a person who helps a person who is heading to Hell, by suggesting and inviting them to the right path?

Faith is a light, a blessing from Allah. However, faith is knowledge at the same time, which must be necessarily learnt. There are two ways to strengthen our faith:

The first and the primary one is to learn the rules of the sunnah and to investigate it in accordance with the Quran and the sunnah, as required by our time.

The second one is to advance in spirituality through performing good deeds, purifying the heart and soul by avoiding sins.

However, the course of this century makes the second way really difficult to take. For this reason, it is very important to read books which teach investigative faith. It has also become essential to study science as a feature of our century, besides studying religious knowledge. This is because ‘the light of the mind is science as the light of the heart is religious knowledge.’  We can state that one of the most important books which teach both of them together is Risale-i Nur Collection. In addition, one can benefit very well from books of significant people such as Imam Ghazali, Imam Rabbani, Imam Mawardi and Imam Qushairi.

Protecting and strengthening faith is a Muslim’s most important issue. It is necessary to attach importance to taqwa (God-Consciousness) in order to protect faith. Faith can only be protected within the castle of taqwa. Without taqwa, faith tends to deteriorate. It is necessary to read and make research on books about faith a lot in order to strengthen faith. Issues about faith which result from knowledge do not have an effect on one’s feelings unless it is filtered through reasoning. Firstly, mind must be satisfied.

Contemplation is very important. The fact that Prophet Abraham found his Lord by watching the moon and stars and contemplating is narrated in the Quran. Faith improves with thinking. For this reason, it is stated in a hadith that “One hour of contemplation is superior to one year of nafilah (supererogatory) prayer.”

Environment has a great influence on human beings. Sins suggest people infidelity. Suggestion has a great influence on human beings. It infuses infidelity into one’s sub-conscious while people are unaware of it. For this reason, one must keep away from sinful places as much as possible. Sins committed outside carelessly suggest people that there are no hereafter and punishment. To be protected from the negative effects of such suggestions, one must keep away from sinful places as much as possible and try to suggest people goodness and prevent them from evil as much as s/he can. One needs to study issues about faith a lot and pay attention to delivered messages in order to compensate for the damages of the negative suggestions which s/he has been exposed to. It is necessary to meet often with people who care about good deeds and live in accordance with taqwa. In this sense, the importance of a community (jama’ah) becomes more obvious. Just like sins suggest infidelity, good deeds suggest faith.

What is the Nature of Belief?

Belief is the greatest blessing and grant of Allah to humans. Allah gives it to His slaves that He wishes. However, it cannot be claimed that the slave has no role in receiving it. On the contrary, the slave should use his preference and will first and be willing for belief and guidance. Allah will give him belief and guidance upon his demand and request. Therefore, some Islamic scholars and saints described belief as, “It is a light that Allah Almighty puts into the heart of a person He wishes after that person uses his partial will and preference in that way.”

Is an increase and development in belief in question?

A seed grows and develops greatly until it becomes a tree; belief is like a tree too. Islamic scholars divide belief into two levels first:

1– Taqlid (imitative) belief,
2– Tahqiq (investigative) belief...

Imitative belief: It means adhering to the fundamentals of belief traditionally without reasoning on the issue as one hears from his parents, teachers and environment. Since imitative belief is a kind of believing that is not based on a detailed belief in the fundamentals and consciousness of belief, it may be exposed to some doubts and delusions and face the risk of faltering and breaking down especially in this age.

Investigative belief: It means knowing all of the issues about belief with evidence and in detail, to approve and believe without hesitation. A belief like that can protect itself from faltering and breaking down when faced by doubts and delusions. There are various degrees of investigative belief. Islamic scholars divide those degrees into three:

1 – Certainty at the degree of knowledge: It means knowing and believing in Islamic issues scientifically and in detail.

2 – Certainty at the degree of witnessing: It means knowing and believing in Islamic issues as if seeing them or as if observing their truthfulness personally.Seeing through eyes and knowing scientifically are very different from the aspect of giving a person an idea. Man can know something definitely, without hesitation but when he sees it, his belief increases. For instance, knowing the existence of America and seeing America personally. Certainty at the degree of witnessing is believing in the fundamentals of belief as if seeing through the eyes.

3 – Absolute certainty: It means accepting and realizing the issues concerning belief by entering into them and experiencing them personally.

The following example can be given to explain the three levels of belief: When smoke is seen somewhere it is known that there is a fire there. To know the presence of fire by seeing the smoke is certainty at the degree of knowledge. To go near the fire and to know the existence of fire by seeing it is certainty at the degree of witnessing. To go near the fire and to put your hand into the fire and feel the burning property of the fire and to know the existence of fire like that is absolute certainty.

Is imitative belief sufficient today?

As we have mentioned above, today, imitative belief faces many delusions and doubts and they are exposed to be shattered and break down. Ali Fuad Başgil explains the reasons why imitative belief was sufficient in the past but not sufficient today as follows:

“People needed the strength of religion and spirituality in every period. However, that need became an obligation today. In the past, our ancestors lived comfortably with quite simple knowledge of religion and “imitative belief” in the form of tradition because the whole environment presented them with spirituality. Today, the situation has changed completely. The feeling of religion has weakened; the former religious respect has been replaced by an arrogant disrespect. The family has diminished and the family ties have loosened. The burden of the family has been placed on the shoulders of the father and mother; they have not been able to take care of the religious education of their children due to the economic needs.”

“On the other hand, schools and universities have become centers of anti-religious propaganda. In an environment that has become more blurred with the derisions and obstinacy of the stubborn deniers, simple knowledge of religion is not enough today.”

“Questions like “What is religion? What is its relation with science? What should religion do in the presence of science and what kind of attitude should it assume?” have been occupying minds more than ever. Especially the intellectual young people should know the answers to those questions.”

Indeed, the religious knowledge and the belief lesson to be given today should have an investigative content that will make the mind and logic accept the issues about belief. Otherwise, a simple lesson of religion, some knowledge about belief in the form of tradition will not be satisfactory for the people, especially the youth of today.

What is the Importance of Belief for Man?

1. Belief is the reason why man was created.That is, he was created in order to know his Creator with belief and to worship Him. If man acts in accordance with the reason of creation, he will attain the endless bliss in the hereafter and enter Paradise; otherwise, he will be sent to Hell and will be exposed to endless trouble and unhappiness.

In this regard, belief is the means of gaining the endless bliss and the key to Paradise. One cannot enter Paradise without belief. Therefore, it is more important than anything in the world for a man to believe and to preserve his belief without losing or weakening it until his last breath. Because of the great importance of belief, our Prophet said: “Renew your belief by saying la ilaha illallah” : there is no god but Allah”; he attracted our attention to renewing and preserving belief. A question like, “the belief is repeatedly ordered to be renewed; is there a continuous possibility of belief to weaken and be lost?” may come to one’s mind.

Badiuzzaman, interprets the issue of renewing belief as follows by giving also the answer to that question:

“Since man himself and the world in which he lives are being continuously renewed, he needs constantly to renew his belief. For in reality each individual human being consists of many individuals. He may be considered as a different individual to the number of the years of his life, or rather to the number of the days even to the hours of his life. Since a single individual is subject to time, he is like a model and each passing day clothes him in the form of another individual.”

“Furthermore, just as there is within man this plurality and renewal, so also is the world in which he lives in motion. It goes and is replaced by another. It varies constantly. Every day opens the door of another world. As for belief, it is both the light of the life of each individual in that person, and it is the light of the world in which he lives. And as for la ilaha illallah (there is no god but Allah), it is a key with which to turn on the light.”

“Then, the instinctual soul, desire, doubts, and Satan exercise great influence over man. In order to damage his belief, they are much of the time able to benefit from his negligence, to trick him, with their wiles, and thus to extinguish the light of belief with doubts and uncertainty.”

“Also, man is prone to act and utter words which apparently oppose the Sharia, and which in the view of some religious authorities are no less than unbelief.Therefore, there is a need to renew belief all the time, every hour, every day...” (Letters The Twenty-Sixth Letter)

In the passage above, the necessity of renewing belief is underlined from three different points:

First point: The time and place man lives, his spiritual mood, psychology, thought and understanding can change very often due to the environment he is in. The things that he is exposed to, the things that he does and the people that he contacts leave positive or negative marks on him. Our Prophet states the following about the issue:

“The heart of the son of Adam is like a sparrow; it turns seven times a day; it is turned continuously.” (Jamiu’s-Saghir, 2342)

“Doubtlessly, all of the hearts of the sons of Adam are like one heart in the powerful fingers of Allah, who is Rahman (the most Compassionate); Allah turns His slave wherever he wants to turn.” (Jamiu’s-Saghir, 2344)

“The heart of the son of Adam is more changeable than a saucepan; when it boils, the water moves.” (Jamiu’s-Saghir, 7300)

“The heart is like a feather in the desert. The wind turns it inside out continuously.” (Jamiu’s-Saghir, 8135)

“The reason why the heart (qalb) is called so is that it turns all the time. The heart is like a feather stuck in a tree in the desert; the wind turns it inside out continuously. (Jamiu’s-Saghir, 2595)

Due to the fact that the heart of man and his psychological mood is so vulnerable to outside effects, our Prophet ordered us to renew or beliefs often by saying “la ilaha illallah.”

Second Point: It is the fact that there are negative feelings like the soul, desires and delusion in man, and the devil constantly tries to tempt and deceive him. In a moment of heedlessness, those negative thoughts may cause doubts in man about belief. It is necessary to renew belief so as not to fall into a dangerous situation like that. 

Third Point: Man cannot keep himself away from some words and sentences that are contrary to religion seemingly and that are even regarded as unbelief by some scholars. Therefore, it is necessary to say “la ilaha illallah” and renew belief. 

Another way of strengthening and preserving belief is to upgrade it from the level of imitative belief to investigative belief. It can only be achievedby reading the books about belief that teach the truths of belief investigatively and answer the doubts and delusions that can come to the mind and by taking part in talks about belief.

If man upgrades his belief from imitative to investigative level, it will be out of question for him to lose his belief and to die without belief in the last breath. Islamic scholars say that the devil will come to deceive man and take away his belief in his deathbed using all of his tricks and delusions. Therefore, they say that they are afraid of the time of death. Man can be freed from dangers like that in deathbed through investigative belief. It is because in investigative belief, belief is not only in the mind; it is distributed over the heart, spirit and other feelings and settled there. Even if the devil damages the belief in man’s mind, it cannot remove the belief settled in other feelings. Thus, he remains a believer and dies as a believer.

2. Belief is a great source of morality and a strong supporting point for man. A person who attains the real belief can challenge the whole universe and can get rid of the pressure of the troubles that he undergoes to the extent of the strength of his belief. Our victories that made history and caused people write legends are good examples of the strength that belief gives to man.

A believing person, no matter how big a disaster happens to him, may face those troubles and sorrows with trust in Allah and surrendering, and with the feeling of consent to predestination and confront them with patience and endurance. He does not fall into hopelessness and pessimism. He does not resort to rebellion and screaming. It comes from the strength that belief gives a man. We see very often that people with no belief give way to despair so much that they think of committing suicide when they face very small problems. The fact that we witness almost no suicides in Islamic countries and that suicides increase in the most civilized and wealthy countries with high level of welfare confirm it.

Our Prophet pointed out to the power of strength and resistance that belief makes man gain as follows:

The example of a believer is that of a fresh green plant. The leaves of it move in whatever direction the wind forces it to move. When the wind becomes still, it stands straight. Such is the similitude of the believer: He is bent by calamities (but does not fall down). And the example of an unbeliever is that of a pine tree which remains hard and straight till Allah pulls it down when He wishes." (Bukhari, Tawhid, 32)

"The state of a believer is very nice. If a misfortune hits him, he shows patience; it is good for him. If something good happens to him, he thanks God; it is good for him." (Muslim, Zuhd, 64)

When we see a bad deed, we should try to correct it based on our position.

Every Muslim is responsible for fulfilling his duty. The position (rank) of a person in a community encumbers him with some responsibilities. Every Muslim becomes responsible in accordance with his position. We can deal with the issue through the following hadith:  

“Whoever among you sees an evil, then let him stop it with his hand. Whoever is not able, then with his tongue, and whoever is not able, then with his heart.” (Tirmidhi, Fitan, 11)

People cannot interpret this hadith on their own in all situations. For instance, if you see an evil on the way and try to correct it by beating a person and if that person sues you, you may be punished. Then, how should we understand the meaning of the hadith?

Correcting/stopping something with the hand is the duty of the people with authority, that is, the state, the police. To correct something with the tongue is the duty of the scholars; to dislike it by the heart is the duty of others.

A person can be in the position of correcting with the hand in some places and correcting with the tongue in others. For instance, regarding an affair of the state, we can fulfill our duty by stopping it with the tongue or by disliking by the heart. However, in a family affair, we can correct it with the hand.

We should try to tell a person who does an evil deed about his mistakes through soft words. However, if he is likely to react or to oppose, we can dislike it by our heart and feel relaxed.

Belief is something related to the heart. Therefore, a person who believes inthe existence and oneness of Allah, and the principles of belief, he is a believer even if he does not utter kalima ash-shahada.

Belief is a property belonging to the heart; therefore, it is not necessary for a person to express his belief by his tongue in order to be a believer. That is, he is a believer if he believes with his heart but does not utter it with his tongue. Therefore, he does not have to utter his belief by his tongue, and witnesses are not necessary.

If a person says by his tongue that he believes and practices all of the orders of Islam but does not believe by his heart, he is not regarded as a believer in the eye of Allah.  If a person whom we know as an unbeliever andhave buried in the cemetery of unbelievers has died as a believer, he is a believer in the eye of Allah though he is an unbeliever in our eye. That is, what is essential is what is in the heart.   

However, it is sunnah for a person who believes by the heart to utter it by the tongue. It will be appropriate for him to say that he is a believer and inform others about it so that other believers will have good thoughts about him, apply the decrees of Islam to him in his life and when he dies.

On the other hand, when a person does the things that are regarded as signs of being a believer and a Muslim, people will be witnesses for him. If a person who is not known to be a Muslim is seen while performing a prayer even once, Islamic decrees are applied to him and he is buried in the cemetery of Muslims when he dies. For, prayer (salah) is among the signs of Islam.

That is, the most important issue for a person is to believe by the heart. It is Sunnah for himto utter it by the tongue. The existence of witnesses is important in terms of applying Islamic principles. 

From this point of view, the belief and Islam of a person who conceals that he is a believer due to various reasons and who practices Islam secretly is valid.

Abu Hanifa’s book that explains principles of belief is called "al-Fiqhul-Akbar". Abu Hanifa states that it is not possible to attribute space and place to Allah, who is free of space and place.

Various works were made on this book. One of them is the explanation (sharh) made by Aliyyul-Qari. Aliyyul-Qari explains the words of Abu Hanifa mentioned above as follows:

Allah states the following: «He is the Irresistible (watching) from above over his worshippers...» (1) Allah’s superiority over His creatures is not in terms of space and place. On the contrary, it is in terms of being superior and lofty. As a matter of fact, the view adopted by Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah is like that. In addition, Mutazila, Kharijites and other people of bid’ah also hold the same view. However, some people who attribute direction and side to Allah and the group of Mujassimah are excluded. Allah is free and away from what they say.

Some hadiths and verses indicating His attribute of loftiness and superiority are evidence that will prove Allah’s attribute of loftiness for the scholars of salaf. However, all of them are interpreted as the loftiness expressed by His attributes of ghalib (winner), qahir (supreme) and hakim (dominant).

The issue narrated from Abu Muti' al-Balhi is like this: When he asked Abu Hanifa the state of a person who says, «I do not know whether my Lord is in the sky or on the earth», Abu Hanifa answered as follows: He becomes an unbeliever. For, Allah said, «(Allah) Most Gracious is firmly established on the Throne (of authority).» (2) His Throne is over the seven skies.

Sheikh al-Imam Ibn Abdussalam states in his book called “Hall ar-Rumuz” that Abu Hanifa said, «A person who says I do not know whether my Lord is in the sky or on the earth» becomes an unbeliever. For, this statement gives a wrong idea that Allah Almighty is in a place. If a person holds a wrong view like this, he is from Mushabbiha. He likens Allah to His creatures, which can never be true. Abu Hanifa states that we need to avoid things that will mean attributing space and place to Allah. (3)

Footnotes:

(1) al-An'am, 6/61.
(2) Taha, 20/5.
(3) see Aliyyul-Qari, Fıkh-ı Ekber Şerhi, Hisar Publishing House.

All sins of a person who becomes a Muslim are forgiven except the violation of other people’s rights. The good deeds of a person who becomes a believer do not go for nothing; besides, all of his previous sins are forgiven.

"Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah will change the evil of such persons into good, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (al-Furqan, 25/70)

Repentance means a voluntary renunciation of all kinds of denial, rebellion and evil by a person after his regret as a result of heart-searching, and a determination not to commit them again. The Quran regards such a repentance as very valuable in many verses; the Quran states that if a person regrets for the evil deed he has committed and decides to give it up with a strong will and then abandons that evil deed without committing it again, that repentance is enough for all wrong beliefs, thoughts, bad feelings and behaviors, including the biggest sins such as denial and polytheism, and enough for the forgiveness of his sins due to that evil deed. As it is stated here, giving up denial becomes possible with belief and giving up evil deeds becomes possible with doing good and righteous deeds instead of them. However, since all these are possible if they are based on a psychological motivation, the Prophet (pbuh) states the following:

"Repentance means regretting a sin and asking for forgiveness."1

It is stated in verse 70 of the chapter of al-Furqan that Allah will convert the sins of someone who repents like that into good deeds. This last expression of the verse is generally interpreted in three ways in tafsir books:

a) Allah converts the sins of their bad deeds they commit before repenting into thawabs and He rewards those evil deeds as if they are good deeds on the Day of Judgment.2 According to this interpretation, not only are the sins forgiven but are also transformed into thawabs. This interpretation is considered excessive and the verse is also interpreted as follows, which we prefer too:

b) Allah turns their bad state before they repent to good states when they repent; and after that, they believe instead of denying; and they tend to obedience and piety instead of rebellion and sins. Although they were bad people before repenting, they become good people and good believers thanks to repentance and with the help of Allah.3

c) Shawkani summarizes the views of some Companions and other scholars regarding that sentence of the verse as follows: The "change and converting" (tabdil) here means only "forgiveness". That is, Allah will forgive their sins in question; He will not convert them into good deeds (IV, 103). However, there is no difference between the last two interpretations.4

References:

1. Musnad, VI, 264; Ibn Majah, "Zuhd", 30.
2. see Tabari, XIX, 4748.
3. Zamakhshari, III, 105; Razi, XXIV, 112.
4. Prof. Dr. Hayrettin Karaman, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Çağrıcı, Prof. Dr. İbrahim Kafi Dönmez, Prof. Dr. Sadrettin Gümüş, Kur'an Yolu: IV/150-151.

Not every attribute and characteristic make a person a hypocrite. For example, lying should not be a characteristic of a Muslim. It is the characteristic of a hypocrite or an unbeliever. However, even if a believer has the characteristic of a hypocrite when he tells a lie, he is not a hypocrite and we cannot say that he is a hypocrite.

Hypocrite (Munafiq): A person who does not actually believe in his heart and looks like a Muslim in appearance. The word munafiq means a person who hides his enmity toward Allah, His Messenger and the believers by pretending to be a Muslim due to various reasons and for the sake of his own interests (al-Baqara, 2/8; Aal-i Imran, 3/167; al-Maida, 5/41)

Our Prophet (pbuh) did not tell everyone who the hypocrites were, and he even led the funeral prayers of some of them. Therefore, it is necessary to be careful.

“If hypocrisy is in the heart, it is unbelief; and if it is in deeds, it is a crime.” (Qurtubi, Tafsir, VIII/212)

In this respect, the state of hypocrisy in hypocrites is divided into two: creed and deed:

1. Hypocrisy in terms of creed: It is the state of hypocrisy which is characterized in the Quran and which will cause a person to be treated as a Muslim in the world but to be treated worse than unbelievers when his unbelief is revealed in the hereafter. (an-Nisa, 4/145)

“It is hypocrisy in belief that is contrary to creed.” (M. Hamdi Yazır, Hak Dini Kur’an Dili, VI/4997)

The Quran divides people into three groups as believers, unbelievers and hypocrites (al-Baqara, 2/1-20) and mentions the following characteristics of hypocrites, who are described as “the worst of the people and two-faced”:

- They cause mischief in the Islamic society. When it is said to them, “Make not mischief on the earth,” they say, “We only want to make peace.” (al-Baqara, 2/9-13) When it is said to them, “Believe as the Muslims believe,” they object by saying, “Shall we believe as the fools believe?” When they meet those who believe, they say, “we are with you” but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say: “We (were) only jesting.” (al-Baqara, 2/13-15)

- Hypocrites who falter between belief and unbelief sometimes act as if they remember Allah. However, they try to play tricks on Allah and show off. They also get up to pray lazily (an-Nisa, 4/142-3). They take false oaths in order to turn people away from the path of Allah (al-Mujadala, 58/14; al-Munafiqun, 63/2).

- The hearts of hypocrites are like barren soil (al-A’raf, 7/58); they take shape according to their interests; they are fickle (an-Nisa, 4/141; al-Ankabut, 29/10-11). When it was said to the hypocrites in the Age of Bliss; “Spend sums in charity before your private consultation with the Prophet”, they fled because it harmed their interests. (al-Mujadala, 58/13)

- On the other hand, hypocrites resort to immoral acts to get financial gain. As a matter of fact, the leader of the hypocrites, Abdullah Ibn Ubayy b. Salul forced his female slaves to fornicate in order to earn money. He also established a kind of brothel for this purpose. Upon his effort to earn money from his female slaves through fornication, the verse prohibiting it was revealed (at-Tabari, Tafsir, XVIII/132; an-Nur, 24/33).

- Hypocrites forget Allah, act stingily and are close with their hands. (at-Tawba, 9/67) If they suffer infliction, they fall into mischief (al-Ankabut, 29/10); when they fear that they will be hit by a misfortune, they whisper among themselves (al-Maida, 5/52, 53); if the course of events seems to be in favor of the hypocrites, they rush to the Prophet (pbuh) in obedience (an-Nur, 24/49); they are those who believe in appearance and unbelieve in their hearts (al-Munafiqun, 63/3).

The hypocrites who say “We believed in and obeyed Allah and the Prophet” (an-Nur, 24/47; al-Munafiqun, 63/1) on the one hand whisper among themselves for rebellion and enmity to the Prophet (pbuh) on the other hand (al-Mujadala, 58/9-10). They are just like devils (al-Hashr, 59/16); they are in opposition to Allah and the Prophet by their nature (al-Mujadala, 58/20); but they are also very afraid of the revelation of the verses that reveal what they hide in their hearts (al-Infitar, 82/4-5; at-Tawba, 9/64).

Hypocrites, men and women, who have bad thoughts about Allah (al-Fath, 48/6) are complementary parts of one another; they call people to evil and try to discourage them from doing good deeds. They are the eternal inhabitants of Hell (at-Tawba, 9/67-69). They want bad words to spread among Muslims (an-Nur, 24/19); they rejoice when they do evil; they like to boast about what they did not do (Aal-i Imran, 3/188);

- They ridicule the verses of the Quran (an-Nisa, 4/140);

- They spread false and wrong news within the Islamic community (al-Ahzab, 33/60-61).

- Even though they swear that they will go to jihad, they flee when it is time for jihad (an-Nur, 24/63); they fall unconscious from the fear of the enemy (al-Munafiqun, 63/4); they look for a cave to escape in such an environment (at-Tawba, 9/57). When the believers are victorious, they say, “Were we not with you?” in order to share in the success and benefit from the booty. When the unbelievers are victorious, they say, “Did we not guard you from the believers?” (an-Nisa, 4/141). If there are many martyrs in the war, the hypocrites say, “Allah did favor us in that we were not present among them” but if the booty is to be shared, they say, “Oh! I wish I had been with them; a fine thing should I then have made of it.” (an-Nisa, 5/72, 73)

Almighty Allah warns His Prophet about the hypocrites, whose characteristics He introduces and mentions in the Quran:

“When thou lookest at them, their exteriors please thee; and when they speak, thou listenest to their words. They are as (worthless as hollow) pieces of timber propped up, (unable to stand on their own). They think that every cry is against them.” (al-Munafiqun, 63/1-4)

It is equal to the hypocrites, who will come together with the unbelievers in the hereafter (an-Nisa, 4/140), whether you pray for their forgiveness or not because Allah will not forgive those rebellious transgressors (al-Munafiqun, 63/6).

The Quran states that the hypocrites will want the benefits they gain from being in the Islamic community to continue in the hereafter, but that it will not be possible:

“One Day will the Hypocrites - men and women - say to the Believers: “Wait for us! Let us borrow (a Light) from your Light!” It will be said: “Turn ye back to your rear! then seek a Light (where ye can)!” So a wall will be put up betwixt them, with a gate therein… The hypocrites will call out to the believers, “Were we not with you?” They will reply, “True! But…ye looked forward (to our ruin); … and (your false) desires deceived you...” (al-Hadid 57/13-14)

Thus, the hypocrites and the unbelievers will come together in Hell (an-Nisa, 4/140).

In the Madinah period, believers were reminded not to be friends with hypocrites who made friends with Jews (al-Maida, 5/51) and the Prophet (pbuh) was informed through revelation that the real enemy was hypocrites, that he needed to fight them and even act harshly. The Prophet applied a very cautious policy towards hypocrites and did not treat them in the same way as he did to non-Muslims; on the contrary, it is observed that he did not separate them from the Islamic community, but neutralized them with the powerful authority he established over them.

2. Hypocrisy in terms of deed: The state of the Muslims in whom there is no open hypocrisy in terms of their faiths though there is a partial resemblance to hypocrisy in terms of creed in some of their attitudes and behaviors. The type of hypocrisy mentioned in the hadiths emphasizes hypocrisy in terms of deeds (ethics). For example:

“There are three signs of a hypocrite: He lies when he speaks, breaks his promise when he makes a promise, and betrays the trust when he is entrusted with something.” (Tirmidhi, Iman, 14)

The hadith above and similar hadiths are orders in the form of warnings and precautions taken to prevent hypocrisy in creed. For, when hypocrisy in terms of creed increases, there may be a danger that a Muslim might approach hypocrisy in the future.

(see Ahmet SEZİKLİ, ŞİA, Münafık article)

Conceit is divided into two: The first is conceit toward Allah and the Prophet, which is unbelief. The second is conceit among people, which is unethical.

The expression in the hadith states that a conceited person will not be able to enter Paradise. However, the conceit mentioned in the hadith is conceit toward Allah and the Prophet. Such conceit will be unbelief and it is definite that a person having conceit in the sense of unbelief cannot enter Paradise.

If conceit, which is an ethical property, is considered in the sense of despising others and making fun of them, it is not a property that makes man exit religion. However, it is haram and it can cause a person to commit deeds that can make him exit religion. A person with such conceit will enter Paradise with the forgiveness and pardoning of Allah after he is punished in Hell. As a matter of fact, Allah states the following in a verse:

"And We shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury." (al-Hijr, 15/47)

He states that the ethical faults of the world will be cleaned from the heart of the people who enter Paradise.

First of all, we should say that the statements of Ghazali and similar scholars about bad ending and dying without belief aim to advise people to have a balance of fear and hope, with fear overweighing a bit. What they say expresses is a possibility, not certainty.  

It is wrong to regard the things that are possible to happen as things that are certain to happen. Therefore, if one side is overestimated while trying to maintain a balance of hope and fear, it can cause a chaos that is difficult to compensate.

There are serious warnings in the Quran that both those who are not afraid of Allah and those who abandon hope of His mercy may face the danger of going out of the boundaries of the religion.

1. Any sin, especially major sins, that shakes the belief of a person with continuity and persistence may lead man to a bad ending and dying as an unbeliever – if he does not repent. No matter what the sin is, if it is done thoughtlessly and recklessly, it damages man's consciousness of belief, causes the love and respect of Allah in his conscience to be lost and he may face the risk of a bad ending if he dies immediately after that.

As a matter of fact, The following is stated in a hadith:

“A sin that is repented will get smaller even if it is big. On the other hand, a minor sin that is committed continuously will not remain as a minor sin and will get bigger.”

As it is understood from the statement above, what matters is not to lose one’s respect and love to Allah and to take refuge in His mercy immediately if he commits a sin by obeying his soul and Satan.  

It is understood from the explanations above that it is not possible to say “This or that sin leads man to unbelief” in principle. However, there is a way that leads man to unbelief in every sin. In that case, it is a requirement of belief to change one’s way without walking on that road very much.  

Imam Ghazali also points out that there are views stating that “those who claim that they are saints by lying can face such a danger.” (see Ihya, 1/130)

2. If a person who enters the grave without belief though he seems to have done good deeds, it is definitely because of his insincerity. It is definite that nobody will go to Hell if he has not deserved it.  Allah’s endless mercy and justice will not allow such injustice. Since there are definite statements in tens of verses that “Allah is never unjust in the least degree”, it will be a very bad thought about Allah – God forbid – and it is a mistake that does not comply with belief.

3. It is essential to strengthen belief a little more every day, to try to do good deeds regularly, to try to refrain with might and main from prohibitions, to repent and ask for forgiveness immediately if one happens to commit a sin in order to enter the grave with more confident steps.

As a matter of fact, according to Imam Ghazali, it is a very rare thing if a person who has obeyed the orders and prohibitions of the Islamic religion throughout his life goes to the grave as an unbeliever. This is probably because Allah has seen his insincerity. For Allah’s promise that “Allah will not be unfair to anybody” exists in several verses n the Quran. It does not fit Allah not to keep His promise and He does not need it at all.

Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states that there are two strong ways to enter the grave with belief as follows:

"First Sign: People of discovery and research have decreed that as investigative belief approaches from the knowledge of certainty to the reality of certainty, it will not be removed and state the following: At the time of death, Satan can cause delusions only in the mind by suggesting it some doubts and causing it to hesitate. This kind of investigative belief is not only in the mind. It spreads to the heart, spirit and the faculties so extensively that Satan cannot reach those places; the belief of such people is protected from being removed. It is a way that becomes a means of attaining investigative belief and means to attain the truth by discovering and witnessing through perfect sainthood. This way is peculiar to the selected of the most selected people; it means witnessing belief."

"The Second Way: To approve the realities of belief with the knowledge of certainty that is at the level of necessity and clarity with the harmony of the intellect and the heart in an evidential and Quranic way with the blessing of revelation in terms of belief in what is unseen..." (see Kastamonu Lahikası, Envar, p.18-19)

Belief means to trust, to believe heartily in the news that is given, to approve the one that brings the news, to believe in something without hesitation, to believe that there is no god but Allah, that Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) is Allah's slave and Messenger, to believe in Allah's angels, books, the Day of Judgment, qadar and that Allah created the good and evil. (Bukhari, Iman, 37; Muslim, Iman, 1, 5, 7; Abu Dawud, Sunnah, 15)

As an Islamic term, "belief" means to believe without hesitation that the news, religious principles and decrees that are definitely known to be brought by the Prophet Hz. Muhammad from Allah are true and real and to approve and express all of them by understanding and accepting them. That is, to believe in and to accept Allah, that Hz. Muhammad is the last Prophet, in the Islamic principles, decrees and news that are known as “religious requirements”, and to express them by the tongue.

Religious requirements are the Islamic principles, decrees and news reported from the Prophet (pbuh) through tawatur and known without needing any rational evidence like the fact that the Quran is Allah’s speech, that resurrection after that and life in the hereafter are true, that deeds of worship like prayer, fasting, zakah and hajj are fard and that fornication, wine, interest, murder and telling lies are haram. It is necessary for every Muslim to believe without hesitation in such religious principles that are definite. Therefore, as a religious term, belief is more specific in terms of the things that it is related to but more general and comprehensive according to linguists.

In essence, belief is something related to the heart and conscience; therefore, what is essential according to linguists and in religious terminology is approving it, which is necessary to exist in the reality of belief. However, what is the source of this approving and expressing? What are the decrees that form the reality of belief? Is it only the heart? Is it only the tongue? Or, both of them? Or, the acts and righteous deeds done by the organs in addition to both of them? There are differences of opinion among Islamic scholars regarding the issue. Therefore, many madhhabs of creed emerged.

a) According to some scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah, religious belief means to approve with the heart and to express by the tongue that all of the things that are definitely known to be brought by the Prophet Hz. Muhammad from Allah are true and real. According to this definition, belief has two parts: one of them is approving, the other is expressing (stating). However, those parts are not essential parts that are at the same level. For, "approving by the heart" is the essential part that cannot be abandoned by any means, but expressing by the tongue is the "additional part" that can be abandoned due to obligatory states like dumbness and death risk. If approval by the heart, which is regarded as the essential part, is no longer present, that person exits belief and becomes an unbeliever. For, belief without approving by the heart is not possible by any means. However, a person who cannot express his belief due to threats of death does not exit belief and does not become an unbeliever since his heart is full of belief. (an-Nahl, 16/106) This madhhab, which is known as "Qawl al-Mashhur", is adopted by some Ahl as-Sunnah kalam scholars, Shams al-Aimma as-Sarakhsi, Fakhr al-Islam Pazdawi, who are Hanafi imams, and other Hanafi fiqh scholars. It is even narrated that Abu Hanifa also preferred this view. (Fiqh al-Akbar Aliyyul-Qari Sharh, p. 76-77; Sharh al-Maqarad, II, 182, Sharh al-Aqaid an-Nasafiyya, p. 436438)

b) According to “the majority of the researchers” of Ahl as-Sunnah, belief consists of approving what is necessary to believe by the heart. In that case, the only part of belief is approving by the heart. A person who has such unhesitant approval in his heart is a believer in the eye of Allah Almighty. Expressing it with the tongue is not an essential or additional part of belief. However, the approval in the heart can be known only if it is expressed with the tongue; otherwise, it is not possible to know whether a person is a believer or not; therefore, it is necessary to express belief with the tongue for the application of worldly and legal decrees. According to this principle, those who really approve belief in their hearts but do not express it with their tongues are not regarded as Muslims in the world and religious decrees are not applied to them but they are regarded as believers in the eye of Allah. Religious nass support this view:

"…For such He has written Faith in their hearts..." (al-Mujadala, 58/22);

"…For not yet has Faith entered your hearts..." (al-Hujurat, 49/14 and an-Nahl, 16/106, etc)

This is the preference of Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. Imam Abul-Hasan al-Ash’ari, Imamul-Haramayn al-Juwayni and Imam Fakhruddin ar-Razi also hold this view. (Ali Arslan Aydın, İslâm İnançları, I, 164-165).

The Relationship Between Belief (Iman) and Deed (Amal):

According to what is understood from the information given and the explanations made above, both linguists and the majority of Ahl as-Sunnah scholars hold the view that “the reality of belief” consists of approving by the heart the existence and oneness of Allah, the prophethood of Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) and that he is honest about what he brought from Allah and conveyed to people. Many verses and sound hadiths show this decree clearly. As a matter of fact, the Quran always uses the word ”belief (faith)” related to the hearts of people:

"…For such He has written Faith in their hearts…" (al-Mujadala, 58/22)

"…For not yet has Faith entered your hearts." (al-Hujurat, 49/14)

"... his heart remaining firm in Faith... " (an-Nahl, 16/106).

When Hz. Usama killed a person thinking that he was an unbeliever though he said "La ilaha illallah (There is no god but Allah)", the Prophet (pbuh) asked him, "Why did you kill him though he uttered ‘Kalima at-Tawhid’?" Usama said, "He uttered it in order to save himself." The Prophet asked, "Did you rip his heart open and look (whether he had belief or not)?" (Tirmidhi, Qadar, 7; Ibn Majah, Muqaddima, 13; Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, II, 4).

According to the same scholars, “expressing with the tongue” is not a part of the reality of belief as it is stated above; it is a condition that is necessary to know whether a person is Muslim or not in order to apply the worldly decrees of Islam to him.

To act in accordance with Islamic decrees, that is, to practice the religious decrees that one believes is not included in the reality of belief according to the view of the majority of Ahl as-Sunnah imams and scholars. Along with the evidences mentioned above, the following muhkam (unambiguous) verses indicate it clearly and definitely:

"O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you..." (al-Baqara, 2/183)

In the verse above and similar ones (see al-Baqara, 2/153, 187; Aal-i Imran 3/59; al-Anfal, 8/20, 27; an-Nur, 24/21; al-Ahzab, 33/70; al-Jumu'a, 62/9), the first address is "O those who believe"; after that, the orders and prohibitions that believers need to do and not to do are stated. In that case, deed that is positive or negative, is something separate and it is not included in the reality of belief.  

"But those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, We shall soon admit to Gardens..." (an-Nisa, 4/57)

Righteous deeds are attributed to belief in the verse above and similar ones (al-Baqara, 2/227; Yunus 10/9; Hud, 11/23; Luqman, 31/8; Fussilat 41/8; al-Buruj, 85/ 11; al-Bayyina, 98/7; al-Ankabut, 29/7, 9, 58; Fatir, 35/7; ash-Shura, 42/22); According to the Arabic grammar rule, only things whose meanings are different are attributed to one another. That is, attribution necessitates that the thing that is attributed and the thing to which something is attributed have different meanings. In that case, deed is different from belief and it is not part of it.

"But he who works deeds of righteousness, and has faith,…" (Taha, 20/ 112)

In the verse above, the acceptance of deeds is bound to the condition of having belief. It is a known rule that what is conditioned (that is, deed) cannot be included in the condition (that is, belief). In that case, belief and deed are different things.

"If two parties among the Believers fall into a quarrel, make ye peace between them..." (al-Hujurat, 49/9)

Since the committers of the major sins who fight each other are mentioned as believers in the verse above, it is clearly stated that belief and the deed of killing a person, which is haram, can be present in a believer and hence that all kinds of deeds are different from belief and that they are elements that are separate from belief.

In addition to the clearness of the verse above and similar ones,  it is unanimously agreed by Islamic scholars that belief (the approval in the heart) is a prerequisite for the deeds of worshipping, each of which are righteous deeds, to be accepted by Allah. Therefore, a deed of worshipping done by an unbeliever has no value and thawab. For, it is necessary for him to become a believer first and to worship and do righteous deeds after belief. Deeds done without belief are not acceptable and valid in the eye of Allah. 

According to the definite religious evidence mentioned above and the consensus of scholars, it is clearly understood that deed is not a part of the reality and essence of belief. (For more information, see bk. Fiqh al-Akbar Aliyyul-Qari Sharh, p. 80; Tafsir Kabir, I/249; Sharhul-Maqasid, II/187; Sharhul-Mawaqif, III/248)

Although deed is not a part and principle of belief, there is a close relationship between deed and belief. For, worship and righteous deeds improve the belief of a person. They make man gain the eternal boons promised by Allah and informed by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), and divine consent. In that case, it is necessary to worship Allah and to do good and righteous deeds in order to shine the light of belief in the heart, to strengthen and to make it perfect. For, a belief whose signs/traces are not seen in the external life and in community is like a tree without fruit. Both the religion and belief, which is the foundation of the religion, have an aim and purpose. This aim is high ethics, to be useful to people and to attain the consent of Allah. The consent of Allah is not attained only through belief, which is related to the heart and conscience, but with worshipping, righteous deeds and high ethics, which are the fruits of that belief. In fact, a belief that does not exit the field of heart can be of no practical and vital importance. For, it means to imprison belief in the heart and not to benefit from it.  

Real belief must be the driving power that leads its owner to what is good, true and righteous deeds; its works must be transferred to life and must enlighten the believer and what is around him. This can be possible only through practicing what one believes, that is, through worshipping Allah, doing good and right things called righteous deeds and attaining high ethics. In that case, since worshipping and deeds done without belief are not accepted (and are regarded as sign of hypocrisy), a belief that does not lead a person to deeds and worshipping is not sufficient.  

In that case, in order to improve belief and to make it perfect, it is necessary to adhere to Allah's orders, to avoid His prohibitions; that is, righteous deeds are necessary. Only those who do so can attain the consent of Allah and eternal bliss. Therefore, deed is not included in the reality of belief but there is no doubt that it is included in the perfection of belief. Therefore, - as it is stated above – salaf scholars, hadith scholars and some madhhabs imams regard deed to be included in belief, that is, perfection of belief. This view is right and in point.

We should say that those who boasts of the sins they commit and do not regret them are out of the scope of the answer to this question. Our real topic is those who believe but commit such sins and regret them.

Mutazila madhhab and some of Kharijites, which are outside Ahl as-Sunnah, say, “Those who commit major sins will be unbelievers or will be in a point between belief and unbelief.” They try to explain this decree as follows:

“A believer who commits a major sin becomes an unbeliever because it is not possible for a person who believes in God Almighty and Hell to commit a major sin. If a person who protects himself from illegal ways due to the fear of going to prison commits major sins without thinking of eternal penalty in Hell and the wrath of God Almighty, this shows his unbelief.”

This decree, which seems to be true at first, is a product of a wrong thought that does not know human nature. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi gives the answer to that question as follows in his work called Lem'alar:  

“...If the emotions dominate a person, they do not heed the reason and mind. Desires and delusions govern in him, and he prefers the slightest, most trivial present pleasure to huge reward in the future, and he shrinks from some minor present distress more than from some terrible postponed torment. For desire, illusions, and emotions do not see the future, indeed, they deny it. And if the soul assists them, the heart, which is the seat of belief, and the mind, fall silent and are defeated.

In which case, committing grievous sins does not arise from lack of belief, but from the defeat of the heart and mind by the predominant emotions, desires, and illusions."

Yes, as Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states, man’s nature has a feature that regards the unbelievable pleasures of Paradise very distant and pushes them into the background and that tends to the pleasures of sins, which are close to him. When a man goes to the nearest restaurant due to hunger and orders double doner kebab, he starts to eat bread on the table while waiting since it will take 10-15 minutes for doner kebab to be ready and fills half of his stomach with bread due to this feature in his nature. 

As Nursi also states, man fears a slap he is about to receive now more than the penalty of solitary confinement he will suffer a month later. That is, according to this feature, penalty in Hell is far away in his opinion and, besides, Allah is the forgiver.   

Due to those thoughts, man can tend to commit sins and fall into sins with the push of his soul - though he is a believer. Yes, committing major sins does not originate from lack of belief. However, if those sins are not eliminated by repentance, they may lead man to unbelief. Let us read what Nursi says regarding the issue:

“Sin, penetrating to the heart, will blacken and darken it until it extinguishes the light of belief. Within each sin is a path leading to unbelief. Unless that sin is swiftly obliterated by seeking God’s pardon, it will grow from a worm into a snake that gnaws on the heart...” (Lem'alar, İkinci Lem'a)

It is enough for a person to believe in order to become a Muslim; such a person is a believer even if he does not say it with his tongue. However, if he says it with his tongue, others will understand that he is a Muslim.

As a matter of fact, Hz. Ammar underwent torture a lot because he became a Muslim. Once, they tortured him until he lost his mind, gasped for breath and his skin was removed. They said they would not release him until he said good things for their idols. He had to speak in favor of Lat and Uzza in order to save his life. As soon as he was released, he went to the presence of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). He told the Messenger of Allah what had happened. The Prophet (pbuh) said,  

“How was your heart when you uttered those words?” He said,

“There was no change in my heart about belief in Allah.”  Thereupon, the Prophet (pbuh) said,

“Belief covered Ammar from top to toe. Belief penetrated into his bones.” (Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, 4/69-90)

He wiped Ammar’s tears with his blessed hands. He stated that to utter something against belief due to an obligation would not harm belief if belief settled in the heart and he gave him the good news with the following verse that he could say the same words again if he was tortured:

“Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters Unbelief,- except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty.”(an-Nahl, 16/106)

Yes. If a person denies Allah, opens his heart to unbelief, his heart is opened with unbelief and he keeps his heart open to unbelief after his heart is full of belief and after attaining belief and guidance, penalty and wrath from Allah will hit him. Big penalty is for such people. However, if a person whose heart is satisfied with Islam and full of belief utters unbelief because he is forced to do so, he is excluded. Such people are excepted from wrath from Allah.

Yes. If a Muslim who is under serious pressure, compulsion, threat, death threat, torture threat says to the people who force them, I am like you and I believe in what you believe, he is excepted from wrath from Allah. If a person’s heart is full of belief and satisfied, and if his heart is not pleased with unbelief says that he is an unbeliever with his tongue, he is excepted. Our Lord says there is no responsibility for such people.   

Imam Qurtubi states the following in the interpretation of the verse: If a person is threatened to be killed and forced to unbelieve and deny and if he denies with his tongue though his heart is full of belief and does not abandon belief in his heart, his utterance of unbelief is not valid; after that he mentions that Imam Malik and Imam Shafii hold the same view. The following verse in the chapter of Aal-i Imran witnesses this issue: 

“Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah: except by way of precaution, that ye may Guard yourselves from them. But Allah cautions you (To remember) Himself; for the final goal is to Allah.”(Aal-i Imran, 3/28)

Imam Qurtubi says taqiyya (lying about one’s religion) is valid only when a person faces the risk of death or losing an organ.

Yes. Compulsion eliminates the will of a person. A sin is not in question for a person whose will is eliminated in the face of compulsion and who has no power to resist what is wanted from him when he does or says something.

Yes. The state of a believer who faces a serious compulsion is like that. If a person conceals his belief due to simple fears and poor excuses after becoming a believer, he does not become an unbeliever but it is not appropriate.

Answer 1:

Ananiyyah (egoism/self-conceit) means a person’s thinking that the boons Allah granted him were obtained by himself through his own efforts and talents. That is, a person who has ananiyyah attributes the talents and boons he has to himself, not to Allah. He transforms the feeling of owning, which is metaphorical and relative, into reality and wants to own everything with egoism. He says my eye, my ear, my voice, my power, my mind, leading to egoism. That is, he starts to regard those boons as his own boons really. This is that state that is dangerous.  

If a person knows and accepts that the boons and talents he has are grants of Allah to him and that the feeling of owning them is relative, it is permissible; it means to be aware of the boons given by Allah.   

When man has ananiyyah, he feels conceited when he does something without thinking about divine power and says, “I did it.”

This age is the age of ananiyyah. “Aberrant people ride on egoism and proceed in the valleys of aberration.” They caress the ananiyyahs of one another and feel more and more conceited.

However, man becomes great when he gets rid of ananiyyah. The Quran states that all bad deeds originate from the soul. (see an-Nisa, 4/79) Human soul acts contrarily to this divine decree. When there is an achievement, he embraces it; when there is a failure, he attributes it to qadar.

Mature people “are great without ananiyyah”. They are great but they do not act conceitedly. They admit that all perfect things and beauties come from Allah and that all bad deeds originate from themselves.

A pay clerk who distributes salaries to officials has no right to feel conceited; likewise, a rich person who helps the poor has no right to feel conceited.

Man can get rid of an egocentric life only through lofty ideals. Ideals like “seeking the consent of Allah Almighty in all deeds, wanting belief to dominate all hearts, working so that one’s country will rise both materially and spiritually” save man from being the slave of egoism and obeying it by being under its command. Those who live by being deprived of such lofty ideals cannot get rid of leading an egocentric life.   

Answer 2:

Ana (I) is a hypothetical and delusive feeling of egoism and ownership. That is, it is a feeling of ownership and accepting that does not really exist but that is regarded to be existent. For instance, man says my family, my house, my body and my organs. The word “my” in those examples is ana.  

However, in terms of reality, the family, the house, the body and the organs of man do not belong to man. Allah is the real owner of them. Allah has given man this feeling of ownership so that he will understand His absolute names and attributes and will make comparisons. That is, the partial knowledge, partial power, partial will and partial feeling of ownership are like windows opened to a name and attribute of Allah. Man understands Allah’s names and attributes with that window. For instance, he says, “I am the owner of this small household. Allah is the owner of the whole universe. I built this house with my partial power and Allah built and created the house of the universe with His endless power. I know such and such things with my partial knowledge and Allah knows everything and is aware of everything with His endless knowledge.

After understanding this, he knows that what is given to him is the manifestations of Allah’s names and attributes, and ascribes them to Allah. Thus, man compares those partial and hypothetical things, and understands Allah's endless names and attributes. If it were not for this feeling of ownership, man would not be able to make comparison and to understand Allah’s endless attributes.

The aspect of the feeling of ana and egoism explained and described here is its positive and good aspect that develops man, opens the doors of knowledge to him and elevates him to endless ranks. When man uses this hypothetical feeling like this, he attains the basics and essence of slavery. Man’s spiritual aspect has been designed in a way that will know Allah’s names and attributes; what man needs to do is to act in accordance with this design.

The feeling of ana and egoism also has a negative and bad aspect. If the feeling of ana and egoism given to man greens and flourishes in the field of unbelief and denial, things happen contrarily. That is, the feeling of ana and egoism, which is a means of knowing Allah, is transformed into a means of denying and challenging Allah. The feeling of ana and egoism, which is a hypothetical and imaginary line, is transformed into a real and universal line through the window of denial and unbelief. Man starts to believe that the partial knowledge, will and power have not been given to him by Allah and that they are his own possessions. As denial and philosophy deepen, those feeling cease to be partial and become universal. Then, man goes too far as to say, “I am also a deity.”

That is ana and egoism is such a feeling that it makes man a valuable and great slave if it is used in a good way and it causes man to claim to be a deity if it is used in a bad way. 

When an unbeliever looks at the universe with the glasses of unbelief, he cannot see Allah’s divinity and lordship and denies; either he says nature did it or he attributes divinity to a cause. Similarly, when the unbeliever looks at the feeling of ana and egoism, which is a micro universe, he cannot see that the feeling of ana and egoism is hypothetical and imaginary and that it has been given to man as a partial trust so that he will know and compare Allah’s absolute attributes; and he attributes reality and universality to those feelings. In a sense, it means to deify man.

Answer 3:

We can divide the disease of ana into four degrees in general:

The first degree of ana is the ananiyyah of a person toward his peers; it is a disease in the heart. It is the seed form of the tree of ana. If it is not crushed with oneness, worshipping, piety and dhikr, it will flourish and develop, finally assuming a form that will swallow man.

The second degree of ana is the ananiyyah of a person toward scholars and saints, which is a spiritual aberration but it is not unbelief. This ana is the process of being a young tree. The processes after that make man approach the line of unbelief. Many egoistic leaders that feel conceited with their souls are the products of this process like the imams of Mutazila.

The third degree of ana is the ananiyyah of a person toward prophets, which is unbelief. It is the form of the ana that was a seed and that started to become a tree. The ananiyyah of Abu Jahl toward the Prophet (pbuh) is an example of it.   

The fourth degree of ana, that is, the worst degree, is the ananiyyah of a person toward Allah. The ananiyyah of Pharaoh is an example of it. In this stage, ana is in the form of a tree and has swallowed man; all of his organs have been transformed into ana. Man regards himself as a deity in this stage. He attributes divinity to everything.

Answer 4:

Man is weak and poor in nature. This endless weakness and poverty can be filled only with a power and richness; those attributes exist only in Allah. Then, man needs to give up the claim of egoism and conceit; he needs to take refuge in Allah with his weakness and poverty; he needs to take refuge in His endless power and richness, which is the essence and reality of worshipping.

 
Allah sent man to this world so that he will worship Him. He did not send man so that he would be egoistic and conceited and so that he would boast. Only through belief and worshipping can man understand that the reigns and control of everything are in the powerful hand of Allah and surrender to it with weakness. The other beliefs and ideologies cannot attain this consistency. On the contrary, those beliefs and ideologies transform man into an egoistic Pharaoh that is haughty and that has forgotten his weakness and poverty.

The most important equipment of man in approaching Allah and making Him pleased is the endless weakness and poverty in his nature. With this endless weakness, man builds a bridge toward the endless power and with his endless poverty, he establishes a connection with the endless richness. Then, the endless power and richness becomes a full remedy of man’s endless weakness and poverty. The helpless and weak state of a baby makes its parents servants for it; likewise, man attracts Allah’s endless power and richness to himself with his endless weakness and poverty; he becomes like a baby in His eye.

If man uses this channel of weakness and poverty instead of the claim of conceit and egoism, everything will be obedient to him.

Answer 5:

The light reflected in the mirror is not the property of the mirror, but the sun. The self of a person is like a mirror; the feelings like partial knowledge, will, power and ownership that appear in this self are the manifestations reflected from the names of Allah.

The soul is like the mirror but it regards itself as the doer and a powerful being; it challenges Allah without taking its abasement and lowliness into consideration. In that sense, man is ephemeral as if he does not exist.

When man is conscious that he is a slave and a mirror, he exists in the eye of Allah and has attained His consent; if man gives up being a slave and a mirror, and claims existence and freedom in the presence of Allah, he will be in non-existence and ephemerality.  In other words, there is absence in existence, and existence in nonexistence. If man says, "I exist" with his self, he does not exist; if he says, "I do not exist" and knows that the boons and blessings on him are from Allah, not himself, it means he exists. Thus, he takes Allah’s endless names and attributes as support and help.

Answer 6:

Ananiyyah can exist in everybody and in every state. Ananiyyah is possible everywhere and in everything: in youth, art, science, worshipping, physics, property, authority, in wealth, etc. The reason why ananiyyah has been given to man is that it is a criterion and a measuring instrument to know Allah. Since ananiyyah has been given for this reason, it is not possible and appropriate to destroy it completely. However, it is channeled and can be directed according to the reason for its being given. Ananiyyah is stronger and more prominent in youth. It is very important to pay attention to the following issues in order to educate the people with ananiyyah and to be useful to them without breaking their hearts and offending them:

1. To be competent; that is, to know well what to give and how.

2. To try to educate the addressee sincerely.

3. To find the underlying causes of the wrong deeds and to discover the spiritual illness.

4. Not to hurry; to leave some things to time.

5. Not to make the mistake of telling everything that is true everywhere. 

6. To approach the addressee with compliments and to show respect to him.

7. To give advice if it will not be harmful.

8. The most important of all is to serve as a model by practicing what we preach.

Since this age is an age when the soul is in the foreground and ananiyyah is dominant, it is necessary for those who serve the religion of Islam to be more careful. We need to approach our addressees compassionately and seek ways of saving them with wisdom. We can cause to change our addressees in a good way if we fulfill our duty properly as if we are worshipping.

As man is busy with lofty feelings, he gets rid of simple, worldly feelings. The higher the purpose of life, the more distant man keeps from minor issues. The following statement of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, who knows no limits related to the service of belief in conveying the message of Islam:

"They ask me: ‘Why do you attack this and that?’ I am not aware of it. There is a great conflagration before me, the flames of which are touching the skies. My children are burning in it. My belief has caught fire too, and is burning. I am racing to put out the fire and save my belief. If someone wants to hold me up on the way, or I trip on him, what importance has it? What importance has such a minor incident in the face of that conflagration? Narrow minds! Narrow views!" (Tarihçe-i Hayat, Tahliller)

Allah's creation of good and evil:

It is Allah Almighty who creates all deeds, whether good or evil, that man does with his will and volition. There is no creator other than Him and it is only for Him to create. However, man desires good and evil with his own will, and therefore he is responsible for his actions. Let us try to point out this reality with two examples:

It is Allah Almighty who gives the human spirit the ability to see, establishes a connection between the spirit and the eye, and allows light to enter the eye factory as a raw material to enable seeing. Human will and power have no effect on these actions. Therefore, it is only Allah (the Creator of everything) who creates the deed of seeing. However, Allah Almighty has made it permissible for a person to look at some things and forbidden at other things. Thus, man does a good deed by looking at the permissible things and does an evil deed by looking at what the forbidden things. So, it is Allah (swt) who creates the two deeds of seeing that result in good and evil.

Likewise, it is Allah Almighty who creates the deed of walking. When a person desires to go anywhere or any direction, the feet begin to move towards the place he chooses. This movement of man is an optional act. The difference between the optional act and an imperative act such as the rotation of the earth around the sun is obvious.

Allah Almighty did not give the sun the will to make the world move as it wished. For this reason, the world has been rotating in the orbit determined by Allah for billions of years. However, Almighty Allah left the determination of the direction of man's act of walking to his will. Although Allah creates the act of walking, since man prefers the place to go based on his own will, the responsibility belongs to him, too. So, when a person goes to a place ordered by Allah with the deed of walking created by Allah Almighty, he does a good deed, and when he goes to a place Allah has forbidden, he does an evil deed. We can compare these two examples with other deeds of man.

Therefore, that good and evil come from Allah means that He creates all the deeds we do.

Guidance and Heresy:

Since good and evil are from Allah, it is only He who guides people to the true path and leads them to heresy. People only cause one another's guidance and heresy. Some people who misunderstand the creation of guidance and heresy by Allah Almighty say, "Guidance is from Allah. Unless He gives guidance to someone, he cannot enter the right path." Thus, they both block off the way of warning and guiding others and want to justify themselves for their faults.

Let us state the following first: It is possible for Allah Almighty to guide whomever He wills. He is the only one who makes people feel attain happiness and leads them to heresy. However, Allah, al-Khaaliq (the Creator) and the al-Hakeem (the All-Wise) creates heresy in a servant because that servant abuses his own partial will. Otherwise, Allah Almighty will not lead His servant to that path unless he directs his abilities to heresy. The same thing is also valid for guidance. A person expects the result from Allah after making all the necessary attempts for sustenance because only He is ar-Razzaaq (the Provider). We cannot guarantee obtaining sustenance by acting in accordance with causes perfectly because a person who conveys the commandments and prohibitions of Allah to some people in the best way cannot be sure that those people will be guided to the true path. For, it is Allah Almighty who is the only Haadi (the Guide). Allah’s guiding whom He wills means a person who follows and obeys the conditions of guidance will be guided by Allah if He wills.

Otherwise, it does not mean not to act in accordance with the causes of guidance. This way of thinking is like expecting crops without sowing seeds in the field.

At this point, an issue needs to be explained. It is certain that he who does not sow seeds in his field will not get crops. However, a person who does everything properly to get crops will have a ninety-nine percent chance of getting the crops. There might be a disaster such as flood and drought with a chance of one percent. The reason for the possibility of not getting results, even if it is a small percentage, is based on the wisdom of a person’s need to take refuge in the Almighty Allah and to beg Him. This fact is also valid for the issue of guidance.

All Good Being from Allah And All Evil Being from the Soul

We will try to explain this reality with a simile based on the rule that examples serve as binoculars to watch the stars of reality:

Suppose that a sultan gave one of his officers a sufficient amount of gold and ordered him to print copies of the Quran and distribute them with some of that gold, to build a mosque like Suleymaniye for the worship of the people with some of it, a social complex like the Fatih complex for the people to progress in the field of science and knowledge with some of it, and a barracks like Selimiye to enable the soldiers to prepare in the best way against the enemy with the remaining part of it. Can this officer say, "I did all these by myself" for the good results that would arise if he followed the orders given by sultan? Can he say, "I printed all these copies of the Quran; this mosque, social complex and barracks are all my works"?

However, if that officer acted contrarily to the orders of the sultan and printed and distributed books that would deprave the creed and ethics of people instead of distributing copies of the Quran with those gold coins, built places of disgrace that would corrupt people instead of building a mosque and a complex and established camps that would make young people hostile to the state and the nation instead of a barracks and consequently if community life was turned upside down as a result of all these activities, could this man say, "The sultan did all these things because he gave me the gold coins to do them"?

In both cases, it is the sultan who gave the monetary fund. When this fund is used based on the orders of the sultan, all honor belongs to him. If it is used contrarily to the sultan's orders, all the evil and destruction that will arise belongs to the person who used the fund in the wrong way.

Almighty Allah has also given wonderful faculties such as mind, memory and imagination to everybody and many feelings such as seeing, hearing, fear and love, each of which opens the door to a different world. He has created the size and field of vision of the eye with His will, and wisely determined what to look at and what not to look at, and left the choice to the partial will of man. In the same way, He has determined what man should listen to and not listen to, what he should say and what he should not say. He has also promised that if all these organs and faculties are used based on His command, He will bestow eternal bliss upon man in Paradise as a reward.

Thus, when man uses this great capital bestowed by Allah in accordance with His consent, he should attribute the worldly and otherworldly consequences to Allah and be grateful to Him. The benefits of delicious grape clusters are not sought in the dry peduncles of that grape; by taking the reality of this aphorism as a guide, one should not usurp the blessings bestowed upon him by Allah. Anyone who uses this great capital granted by Allah Almighty contrarily to His consent will definitely be fully responsible for the evil results he/she will obtain.

All sins of a person who becomes a Muslim are forgiven except the violation of other people’s rights. The good deeds of a person who becomes a believer do not go for nothing; besides, all of his previous sins are forgiven.  

“Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah will change the evil of such persons into good, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (al-Furqan, 25/70)

Repentance means a voluntary renunciation of all kinds of denial, rebellion and evil by a person after his regret as a result of heart-searching, and a determination not to commit them again. The Quran regards such a repentance as very valuable in many verses; the Quran states that if a person regrets for the evil deed he has committed and decides to give it up with a strong will and then abandons that evil deed without committing it again, that repentance is enough for all wrong beliefs, thoughts, bad feelings and behaviors, including the biggest sins such as denial and polytheism, and enough for the forgiveness of his sins due to that evil deed. As it is stated here, giving up denial becomes possible with belief and giving up evil deeds becomes possible with doing good and righteous deeds instead of them. However, since all these are possible if they are based on a psychological motivation, the Prophet (pbuh) states the following:

“Repentance means regretting a sin and asking for forgiveness.”1

It is stated in verse 70 of the chapter of al-Furqan that Allah will convert the sins of someone who repents like that into good deeds. This last expression of the verse is generally interpreted in three ways in tafsir books:

a) Allah converts the sins of their bad deeds they commit before repenting into thawabs and He rewards those evil deeds as if they are good deeds on the Day of Judgment.2 According to this interpretation, the sins are not only forgiven but also transformed into thawabs. This interpretation is considered excessive; and the verse is also interpreted as follows, which we prefer too:

b) Allah turns their bad state before they repent to good states when they repent; and after that, they believe instead of denying; and they tend to obedience and piety instead of rebellion and sins. Although they were bad people before repenting, they become good people and good believers thanks to repentance and with the help of Allah.3

c) Shawkani summarizes the views of some Companions and other scholars regarding that sentence of the verse as follows: The “change and converting” (tabdil) here means only “forgiveness”. That is, Allah will forgive their sins in question; He will not convert them into good deeds (IV, 103). However, there is no difference between the last two interpretations.4

References:

1. Musnad, VI, 264; Ibn Majah, “Zuhd”, 30.
2. see Tabari, XIX, 4748.
3. Zamakhshari, III, 105; Razi, XXIV, 112.
4. Prof. Dr. Hayrettin Karaman, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Çağrıcı, Prof. Dr. İbrahim Kafi Dönmez, Prof. Dr. Sadrettin Gümüş, Kur’an Yolu: IV/150-151.

There may be two different personalities that ignore Paradise and Hell.

One: His respect and love for Allah, his sense of obeying His orders and prohibitions has reached such a peak that all his feelings are activated only by depending on Allah. He might not think of fearing Hell because the fear of Allah in his heart exists in a very fine corridor of belief such as disrespecting Him or hurting His mercy and compassion, not due to torment (penalty).

Besides, such high personalities are not lovers of Paradise... because the sense of seeing Allah’s beauty prevents them from thinking about Paradise.

- This topic might not be understood by us. However, the existence of such exceptional people in history is a fact. Imam Ghazali gave some examples by naming them in the “Love of Allah” section of his book called Ihyau Ulumiddin.

For example, Rabi’atul-Adawiyya said,

“O Allah! Whatever beauties there are in the world for my share, give them to Your unbelieving servants; whatever beauties I have in the hereafter for my share, I have donated them to Your believing servants... I do not want anything from this world or from the hereafter; I just want to see your beauty.”

Someone else said,

“O Allah! If I worship You out of fear of Hell, burn me in hell; If I worship You for the love of Paradise, make it haram for me!”

Badiuzzaman Said Nursi said,

“I also sacrificed my hereafter for the salvation of the belief of the community. I have neither the love of Paradise nor the fear of Hell. Let alone one Said, one thousand Saids can be sacrificed for the belief of the Turkish community of twenty-five million people. If the Quran is left without congregation on the earth, I do not want Paradise because it will be a dungeon for me. If I see that the belief of my nation is safe, I will consent to burn in the blazes of Hell. For, my heart will be like a rose garden when my body burns.” (History of Life, p. 630).

- It should not be forgotten that those people fear Allah more than anyone else, they love Allah more than anyone else, and they worship and serve Allah more than anyone else.

Doubtlessly, we are not in a position to measure the consciousness and enthusiasm of belief in the hearts of those exceptional people. As a poet puts it,

“This small mind cannot grasp those high realities;
For, this scale does not weigh such a big weight.”

The Other: The ones who ignore Paradise and Hell are those who are deprived of the consciousness of belief. Even if they have belief, they cannot show the light that will show the principles of belief, just like a candle that is about to die out. Many of them, like many other people, do not hesitate to spend their energy for the slightest benefit and they tremble at the slightest fear. Such people, whose hands and feet begin to tremble in the face of those who will harm their lives, who do not refrain from making all kinds of sacrifices due to the fear of being imprisoned for two days, and who make so many concessions for the sake of an ephemeral and temporary post and position in the world and a benefit and pleasure, ignore Allah, who created them, Paradise, which is the land of eternal life, and Hell, which is an eternal dungeon; it shows that they have mental problems and that they cannot benefit from the consciousness of belief.

- Actually, they are people like ostriches. They asked the ostrich, “You say I am a bird; Birds fly; we want to see you fly and see.” It said, “I am a camel, not a bird; a camel cannot fly...” They asked the ostrich, “If you are a camel, why do you not carry loads like other camels?” It said, “I am a bird with wings; does a bird carry loads? However, due to its folly, it tries not to see the hunters by burying its head in the sand so as not to be the target of the hunters. However, its huge body is always bound to be a prey to hunters.

Just like in the example of the ostrich, when it is said to such people, “There is Paradise and Hell; so, worship Allah”, they say, “Maybe there is no Paradise and Hell; even if there is, we neither want heaven nor fear hell.” Thus, they think that they free themselves from the burden and responsibility of servitude. On the other hand, when it is said to them, “Since, according to you, there is no hereafter, you and thousands of your beloved ones will perish; that is, you will all be eliminated and sent to the island of nonexistence... All your human values and dignity will be reduced to zero and you will be no different from carrion”, they say, “The Quran teaches that the hereafter exists; accordingly, there is a strong possibility that the hereafter will exist... Therefore, we will be resurrected as honorable people, not as carrion...” Thus, they try to get rid of the boring atmosphere of denial.

However, these wrong maneuvers of theirs are not enough to save them from Azrael’s hands and they will die like everyone else. When believers go to Paradise, such people will unfortunately be thrown into Hell like a rag by angels of Hell.

- We understand from many verses of the Quran that “a lie never lives to be old”. In other words, this lying attitude of those who pretend that they are not afraid of Hell and show off will turn into a real disgrace and baseness after a while: We will give the following verse of the Quran as an example:

“If only thou couldst see when the guilty ones will bend low their heads before their Lord, (saying:): ‘Our Lord! We have seen and we have heard: Now then send us back (to the world): we will work righteousness: for we do indeed (now) believe!’” (as-Sajda, 32/12).