Allah says the following about angels in the Quran:
The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His Messengers (al-Bakara, 285).
The Fundamentals of belief are belief in Allah, belief in His Angels, belief in His Books, belief in His Prophets, belief in the hereafter, belief in the destiny respectively. Belief is only one of the realities emerging from these six fundamentals. It cannot be divided or separated. It cannot be divided into parts. It is not possible to believe in some of the fundamentals and not to believe in others. Each fundamental of belief proves the other fundamentals of belief with the evidences that prove themselves.
6. 1. THE EXISTENCE OF ANGELS
Allah is able to do all things. He can create a tree very easily and equip it with branches, knots, leaves, flowers and fruits; He can also create and creates a garden and even all the gardens on the earth as easily. Allah creates a cell easily with his endless power; he can also create and creates all of the cells, all animals from fish to lion and man as easily. We see them with our eyes.
Since Allahs power is endless, He can create and created man out of soil, angels out of light and jinns out of fire. Allah is able to create everything. Jinns and angels are beings with souls and conscience like human beings. Men were created out of soil, angels out of light and jinn out of fire. Human beings and jinn were created to believe in Allah and to worship Him. However they were left free to carry out the duties of belief in Allah and worshipping Him. If they do it they will receive the reward if not the punishment. Angels were created only to worship Allah and carry out His orders. There is no disobedience by angels.
All of the angels obey the orders of Allah without any objection and worship Him. They have no gender like male or female. Jinn resemble man in one aspect. Some of them obey Allah and others disobey Him. They eat, drink and reproduce. The first evil jinni is Iblis (the devil). He disobeyed Allah because of his pride and went astray; he has been trying to tempt men since then.
The fact that our world, which is a small planet, has been filled with so many living beings with souls and conscience shows that the numerous stars and planets in the sky have been filled with living beings with souls and conscience. Otherwise the creation of the stars in the sky would be meaningless and without any reason or wisdom. However, Allah is Perfectly Wise; He wont do anything meaningless and nonsense.
Those residents of the sky that have various species are called angels and spiritual beings by the Quran. They were created in such a way to adapt to the conditions of the medium they live in. Therefore, an angel that lives in the sun can wander on the surface, in or through the layers of the sun like men wander in the vineyards and gardens.
The purpose of the creation of the beings with conscience is to believe in Allah and to worship Him. Angels, like men and jinn, believe and worship. They watch this palace of world. They contemplate on the beings in the universe and they proclaim it.
The duties of the angels are somewhat similar to those of men. The purpose of the creation of man and being sent to this world is also valid for angels and spiritual beings. Allah says the following in a divine hadith: I was a secret treasure; I created the creatures to make myself known. So, one of the most important reasons and wisdoms of the creation of the universe is the recognition and proclamation of the Lord by looking at the universe by the creatures with intelligence and conscience. Everything in the universe makes Allah, who created the universe, known with his beautiful nouns clearly as a pin makes its maker and a letter makes its writer known. No doubt, a simplest work of art cannot be without a master; similarly this universe and the creatures in it cannot be without a Creator; it is impossible.
Since Allah created the universe to make Himself known by the beings with intelligence and conscience, there wont be any places in the universe without beings with intelligence and conscience. They will know Him, worship Him in the moon and in the sun, in the stars and in the galaxies and in the worlds that we do not know.
The human body was created in accordance with the living conditions in the world. For instance, fish were created in accordance with the living conditions in water. Angels were created in accordance with the living conditions of the world they live in. Angels were created out of light. Therefore fire does not harm them; and their presence in the stars does not harm them either because they were created out of light. Angels wander on the sun and through all its layers watching the miracles of Allahs power, contemplating and worshipping as man wander in the vineyards and gardens contemplating.
The food of the angels is light or things similar to light. For instance, the recital of the Quran, beautiful words and meanings, even the beautiful scents are a kind of food for angels. Bad smells are things that they do not like. Therefore our Prophet (PBUH) wore nice scents and recommended it.
One of the clearest evidences for the existence of angels is the Quran. The Quran informs us that angels exist. Since the Quran is the word of Allah, all of its evidences are the evidences of the existence of angels.
Similarly, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) informs us about the existence of angels. The prophethood evidences of the Prophet are the evidences of the existence of angels. Works displayed in an exhibition want people that can understand those works. Similarly, the wonderful and adorned works of art and nice embroidery of Allah exhibited in the universe want people who will watch them. The watching by the human beings will not suffice. There should be other conscious beings too. They are angels.
Another piece of evidence from the universe is that various creatures are created out of things like soil around us. The being that creates creatures out of soil and decayed materials can create and created creatures from fire and light.
6. 2. THE TRUE NATURE OF ANGELS
Angels are conscious and intelligent beings like human beings; they were created out of light. Their food is worshipping Allah, glorifying and praising Allah, beautiful words and meanings, and nice scents.
The following is stated in a hadith:
"I see what you do not see and I hear what you do not hear. Now the sky hummed, it deserved to hum. There is not enough space in the sky for four fingers to occupy; there are angels everywhere prostrating to Allah." (Tirmizi, Zuhd 9, 2313).
Angels can be in many places at the same time with the permission of Allah, they may have different forms too. As people on television seem in a lot of places at the same time, angels can be in many places at the same time. For instance, Hazrat Azrael can appear in more than one place at the same time and take the souls of a lot of people.
Angels are the creatures and slaves of Allah that obtained His blessing and grants. They never disobey the orders of Allah. They do whatever they are ordered to do. They do not have human weaknesses like self-importance, pride and ambition. The number of the angels is too many to be calculated. The farthest corners of the sky and the space are full of angels. Each one of the stars and planets we see in the sky is like a mosque for angels.
6. 3. KINDS OF ANGELS AND THEIR DUTIES
There are many kinds of angels. Their duties are different. Some kinds and their duties are mentioned in the Quran. Angels are in charge of glorifying and worshipping Allah in accordance with their talents. Four of them are archangels. Their names are Jibril, Mikail, Israfel, Azrael.
Hazrat Jibril is in charge of conveying the orders of Allah to prophets by revelation. One of the continuous duties of Hazrat Jibril is to convey and explain the orders of Allah to human beings. This is his worshipping duty.
Hazrat Mikail is in charge of supervising all of the creatures in the world on behalf of Allah by His permission. Allahs mercy manifests itself as the food and drinks of these creatures in the largest sense and in the nicest way. It is necessary to thank Allah for His numerous grants and favors like those food and drinks. It is Hazrat Mikail who represents the thanks of the unconscious beings as a conscious being. He also worships continuously by supervising the grants of Allah.
Hazrat Israfel is in charge of blowing Soor (the trumpet) by the permission of Allah when it is due. In the first blowing all of the beings in the heavens and on the earth will die; in the second blowing all of the dead will be resurrected.
The most awesome and terrifying actions of Allah in the world of the living are reviving, giving life and sending beings to the other world by death. The duty of supervising these happenings was given to Hazrat Israfel and Hazrat Azrael. This duty is their worshipping of Allah. They are not the assistants of Allah.
Hazrat Azrael is in charge of taking the souls of people and keeping them by the permission of Allah.
OTHER ANGELS
Kiraman Katibin (Honorable Recorders). Two angels were appointed for each man by the permission of Allah; one to record the good deeds, the other to record the sins.
Angels guarding men. They are appointed to protect men from troubles and misfortunes by the permission of Allah.
Angels praying for men. Some angels were appointed to pray for believers by the permission of Allah.
Munkar-Nakir angels. They are appointed to interrogate people in the grave. Their attitude towards each person is different in accordance with their deeds. They expand the graves of believers, make them spacious, free believers from loneliness and become intimate friends with them in the grave.
6. 4. PLACE OF BELIEF IN ANGELS IN MANS LIFE
1. When man contemplates on the universe, he feels alone and needy in the endless space. If he knows the existence of angels, he will understand that he is not alone and that like the earth, the universe is full of conscious beings created in accordance with the living conditions of the universe and that glorify and worship Allah, and his soul will be freed from terror and wildness.
2. If man has good deeds he wants his good deeds to be saved and not to be lost. By believing in Kiraman Katibin (Honorable Recorders), he knows that his good deeds are saved and he tries to do more good deeds. Thinking the rewards of his good deeds in the hereafter, he feels kind of the pleasures of the hereafter and Paradise even in the world.
3. Believers who are inclined to do bad deeds refrain themselves from bad deeds, oppression and aggression thanks to belief in angels by saying, There are Allahs angels that record whatever I do.
4. The terrible face of death seems beautiful thanks to belief in Hazrat Azrael. Therefore he sees Azrael as a compassionate friend.
5. The pleasure that a worshipping believer takes from mentioning Allahs name and remembering him, from worship increases one thousand times because he knows that angels and spiritual beings listen to him.
6. 5. SOURCES
- The Quran - Nursi,, B. Said. Sözler (Words). rnk Neşriyat. Istanbul, 2006, p. 548 etc
It is the eternal world to go to after this world.
Belief in the hereafter is one of the six fundamentals of belief.
1. Stages of Life in the Hereafter
There fourteen stages in the life in the hereafter:
1- Life in the grave
2- Blowing of the trumpet
3- Qiyama (Apocalypse)
4- Resurrection
5- Gathering
6- Delivering the book of deeds
7- Reckoning
8- Scale
9- Kawthar Pool
10- Sirat
11- Shafaat
12- Purgatory (Araf)
13- Hell
14- Paradise
1. Grave / Barzakh Life
A verse:
“Then, He causeth him to die, and putteth him in his Grave; Then, when it is His will, He will raise him up (again).” (Abasa, 21-22).
The stage from the death of men in the world till they are resurrected after the apocalypse is called the life of grave. This life is also called “barzakh life or barzakh world” because it expresses the transitional period between the world and the hereafter. Barzakh means a drawback, barrier, or curtain between two things.
It is not necessary to put the body of a man in the grave for him to live the life in the grave. Whether the dead person is put into the grave or his body is eaten by wild animals or it is eaten by the fish in the sea or it is burnt to ashes, his life in the grave starts. It would be better to use the term barzakh life in order to prevent misunderstanding because grave means a place dug in the ground.
Our Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) describes life in the grave as “the first stop of the hereafter” in a hadith (Tirmizi, Zuhd, 5). In another hadith, our prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) says: “Grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise or a hole from the holes of Hell” (Tirmizi, Qiyama, 26) , stating that there will be torture or reward in the life in the grave.
In yet another hadith he says;
“After man dies and is put into the grave two angels called Munkar and Nakir will come and ask him questions like “Who is your Lord? Who is your Prophet? What is your religion?.... The believer answers these questions easily. As for the unbeliever, he cannot answer them and suffers grave torture” (Tirmizi, Janaiz, 70), informing us about the life that will last till the day of resurrection.
2. Soor (Trumpet) and Blowing of the Trumpet
The trumpet is an instrument blown by the angel Hazrat Israfel to start the apocalypse and after the apocalypse to resurrect people and to gather them in the gathering place. According to what the Quranic verses tell us Hazrat Israfel will blow the trumpet twice. During the first blowing everything on the earth and in the heavens, except what Allah wishes, will be shaken fearing it and die and the apocalypse will take place. With the second blowing, everything will be resurrected and will run towards their Lord in order to gather in the gathering place. Let’s give two of these verses as an example:
"The Trumpet will (just) be sounded, when all that are in the heavens and on earth will swoon, except such as it will please Allah (to exempt). Then will a second one be sounded, when, behold they will be standing and looking on!” (Zumar, 68).
“The trumpet shall be sounded, when behold! from the sepulchers (men) will rush forth to their Lord!” (Ya Seen, 51).
3. Qiyama (Apocalypse)
Qiyama has two meanings: the first one is the break down of the order in the universe, everything turning upside down, destruction of everything and the end of the world.
The second is the resurrection of dead people and their walk towards the gathering place. Qiyama in the first sense will start with the first blowing of the trumpet by Hazrat Israfel, in the second sense with the second blowing. So qiyama is a very important event that involves the death of all men and their resurrection.
The Quranic verses inform us about it. Allah states the following in one of the verses about qiyama:
“O mankind! fear your Lord! For the convulsion of the Hour (of Judgment) will be a thing terrible! The Day ye shall see it, every mother giving suck shall forget her suckling-babe, and every pregnant female shall drop her load (unformed): thou shalt see mankind as in a drunken riot, yet not drunk: but dreadful will be the Wrath of Allah.”(Al-Hajj, 1-2.).
"He (man) questions: "When is the Day of Resurrection?" At length, when the Sight is dazed, And the moon is buried in darkness. And the sun and moon are joined together―That Day will Man say "Where is the refuge?" By no means! no place of safety! Before thy Lord (alone), that Day will be the place of rest” (al-Qiyama, 6-12).
Although the Quran mentions qiyama often, it does not answer the questions about the time of it and emphasizes that no one except Allah has any knowledge about it. Our Prophet (PBUH) gives some information in his hadiths that there will be some signs of the qiyama when it approaches.
4. Resurrection after death
Please recall!...
As Allah does not lose the seed that is sown into the ground after it decays and revives it making it a tree, He will not leave the man who falls into the ground after death there.. Therefore man, who is the most valuable and most honorable of all the beings will not decay after dying but will be resurrected again by Allah in the hereafter.
During the history of mankind, the question of “death” occupied people’s minds in the past, it is occupying today and it seems that it will occupy in the future too. Man has the desire to live forever and does not want to die. However, no one can resist death and everybody becomes helpless against death.
The Quran informs us that resurrection is possible by reason and that it will definitely take place in various ways:
a. A being that creates something out of nothing can create it again a second time. The Quran proves this creation by the following verses:
"And he(man) makes comparisons for us, and forgets his own (Origin and) Creation: He says "Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)?" Say "He will give them life Who created them for the first time! For He is well-versed in every kind of creation!” (Ya Seen, 78-79).
In another verse Allah states the following:
“O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection, (consider) that We created you out of dust, then out of sperm then out of a leech-like clot, then out a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (Our Power) to you; and We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term, then do We bring you out as babes, then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much)” (Al-Hajj, 5).
In this verse, Allah first mentions the course of man’s first creation concisely for the people who deny resurrection after death. Then He explains the stages of his first creation beginning from the stage of sperm to his coming to the world. Then with these statements He reminds man his miraculous creation out of nothing and makes man think logically about his second creation in the hereafter following his death. In addition He emphasizes that it should not be seen as far from being rational.
b. A being that creates something difficult can definitely create something easy. The creation of the earth and heavens is more difficult than the creation of man. Allah, who created the earth and heavens and holds them in the spaces without any support, is definitely capable of creating man again after his death. Furthermore, the first creation of man is more difficult than his second creation. Allah, who is capable of creating man for the first time, is more capable of creating him for the second time. This meaning is stated in the Quran through the following verses:
“See they not that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, and never wearied with their creation is able to give life to the dead?” (Al-Ahqaf, 33.)
“It is He Who begins (the process of) creation; then repeats it; and for Him it is most easy.” (Ar,Room, 27.)
“Were We then weary with the first Creation, that they should be in confused doubt about a new Creation?” (Qaf, 15.)
A verse:
“(O ye people!) And your creation or your resurrection is in no wise but as an individual soul: for Allah is He Who hears and sees (all things).” (Luqman, 28).
It is explained in these verses that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth can create man more easily. It is also stated that since He was not incapable in the first creation, He will definitely not be incapable in the second creation, which is easier then the first one. Attention is attracted to the fact that men will be resurrected and come out of their graves. It is also emphasized that the creation of men out of nothing and their resurrection after death is as easy as the creation and resurrection of one man.
Difficulty and easiness depend on men
As a matter of fact concepts like difficulty and easiness are relative concepts. They are difficult or easy for us, for Allah there is nothing like difficult or easy. Everything is easy for him. We are weak beings created with a limited power, knowledge, will and all other things. Allah is eternal in all aspects and He is the supreme creator, who is omnipotent over all things. Since Allah’s power, knowledge, will, all of his attributes and names are endless, there is no difference for Him between few and many, big and small in creation. Therefore there is no difference for Him between the creation of an atom and the sun, creation of billions of men and one man. Nothing is difficult for Him. For Him to create a spring is as easy as to create a flower.
Allah addresses us in the Quran so that we can understand; therefore He uses those statements. As a matter of fact there is no difference for Him between the creation of an atom or the whole universe.
c.Allah, who revives the earth that is dead, can revive man too.
Verses:
“And We send down from the sky Rain charged with blessing, and We produce therewith Gardens and Grain for harvests; And tall (and stately) palm-trees, with shoots of fruit-stalks piled one over another― As sustenance for (Allah's) Servants;― and We give (new) life therewith to land that is dead: Thus will be the Resurrection” (Qaf, 9-11.).
The sultans that have the power of state and other groups that have the power reward people who obey the laws that they made and punish people who disobey them. Similarly, Allah, who has a magnificent sultanate of divinity, will reward those who obey Him and punish those who disobey Him. However, the rewards and punishments in this world are not applied sufficiently. So, there is another world where they will be applied completely. That world is the hereafter. Therefore everybody will be sent there willy-nilly.
The names of Allah necessitates the existence of the hereafter
The names of Allah show and want the hereafter and the resurrection there. Allah is eternal. Therefore His names and the manifestations of these names will be eternal. For instance the manifestations of Allah’s names, the Generous and the All Compassionate, are seen in the universe in the maximum way.
Allah is generous. That is, He has endless generosity. We see it in his granting various fruit and vegetables in the universe. He fills the laps of the trees with fruit and sends presents to the heads of plants. The world of plants seems to be servants. They carry Allah’s grants in convoys to men. The world of animals becomes another convoy. They bring grants like milk and meat. They are all evidences for an endless generosity and the owner of that generosity.
However, the fact that man’s life is short shows that man could not and will not obtain the endless generosity in a short time. However, endless generosity wants to grant endlessly. Since the world is mortal, the manifestation of this name of Allah’s necessitates the existence of an eternal world where men will receive endless grants.
Similarly, Allah is All Compassionate. That is, He has endless compassion. One of its evidences is that He put compassion in the hearts of all mothers and ensured the protection of babies through compassion. For instance; a hen feeds its chick when it is young but takes its grain from it by hitting it when it gets old. This shows that it is not the mother that is compassionate towards the chick. It is Allah, who gives the mother the feeling of compassion and takes it back when its function ends. The protection of all young animals and babies through the compassion that is given to all mothers in the universe is the evidence for an endless compassion.
Through this compassion, mothers take pleasure in looking after their babies. A mother even sacrifices her life for her baby. However, the thought of parting from her baby without returning again makes the mother think of parting from her baby eternally; so this time compassion torments the mother. The owner of an endless compassion does not allow this eternal parting; because it is contrary to real compassion. So the evidences of the endless compassion seen in the universe want an eternal togetherness. He does not allow eternal disappearance. This shows the existence of life in the hereafter and that it is eternal.
Please note!
“Thus in the gathering and dispersal that takes place every spring we see that in a very short time Allah gathers and then disperses millions of different kinds of animals and plants. He revives and restores the roots of all the trees and plants, as well as some animals. He recreates others in a form so similar as to be almost identical. The seeds which appear, in their outward form, to be so close to each other, nonetheless, in the course of six days or six weeks, become distinct and differentiated from each other, and then with extreme speed, ease and facility, are brought to life in the utmost order and equilibrium. Is it at all possible that for the One Who does all of this anything should be difficult; that He should be unable to create the heavens and the earth in six days; that He should be unable to resurrect men with a single blast? No, by no means is it possible!”
Words (Sözler)
Allah is also perfectly wise. That is, He has endless wisdom. We understand this wisdom by seeing that everything in the universe is created in accordance with a wisdom and purpose. For instance, when we are asked “Why are our ears like bowls?”, we say “so that they will collect the sounds”. When we ask “Why are leaves green?” a purpose or a benefit is stated. All sciences examine the universe. They discover wisdom, purpose or a benefit in everything and tell us about it. That is, they prove that the administrator of the universe operates with endless wisdom. Wise creation is opposite to unnecessariness, purposelessness, immoderation and planlessness. That is, a Wise being does not waste a being that operates wisely. So, the maker of the universe, who makes the whole universe a servant for man, does not put man into the ground so that he will not resurrect again, wasting all of the outcomes of the universe. So the wisdoms in the universe prove the existence of an eternal world.
We see that Allah gives each being the most suitable food and drink and that He feeds each being in the nicest and most affectionate way as a necessity of his name, the Sustainer. Since this world is mortal and transitory, His names are not manifested fully here. The manifestation of these names completely, fully and eternally necessitates the existence of the hereafter world and the resurrection of those who die here. Therefore Allah will bring the hereafter and revive us there again.
It should not be forgotten that when we, men, came to this world found everything at our disposal, like a newborn baby. A newborn baby does not prepare its cradle and the living environment that is necessary for it; similarly man did not prepare the living environment necessary for him when he came to this world. He found everything at his disposal when he came to this world. The Being that brought us here did not ask us before we came to this world whether we wanted to come here or not and did not consult us.
That Supreme Creator does not ask us when he takes us from childhood to youth, from youth to the old age and from old age to death whether we want them to happen or not. That is, he did not ask or consult us when He created us out of nothing and brought to this world; He does not ask or consult us when he takes us from this world; nor will he ask us when resurrecting us and gathering us.
The fact that a baby in the uterus denies the other world because it cannot perceive the world does not negate the world; similarly the fact that we cannot see the hereafter and that we deny it because we do not know its true nature does not negate the hereafter world, Paradise and Hell. To deny the hereafter does not prevent its existence. It prevents us from entering Paradise. What we should do is not to deny the hereafter but to believe that after death the gathering morning will come and the resurrection will take place as definitely as we believe that winter comes after autumn and morning comes after night and prepare ourselves for the hereafter with belief and good deeds.
With our denial we will be deprived of the happiness of the eternal Paradise life and will suffer from a great and irreparable harm. We will not revive by our own will and power in the hereafter. Allah will revive us just as we did not come to this world by our own will and power and Allah brought us by His power. Creation and resurrection are Allah’s deeds, not ours. What is impossible in terms our limited power is very easy for Allah’s power, and He will do it when it is due.
On the other hand, when we have a look at the baby in the uterus, we see that organs like hands, feet, eyes and ears are not necessary for the baby there and that it does not use them there. We understand by reason that the creator that gave it these organs gave them to the baby to use them in the world outside the uterus and that He created it for the outside world. Similarly, we cannot use some of the feelings that were given to us in this world sufficiently here.
What is more, our feelings like living eternally and the desire of immortality have no corresponding feelings in this world. So the place to satisfy these desires is not here but the hereafter. This world is transitory for man like the uterus, as for the hereafter, it is the place to live eternally. The feelings of man and the spiritual and material instruments given to him do not fit in this world, and they want the hereafter.
Resurrection after death will take place both bodily and spiritually. This is very easy for Allah. As it is possible to give light to all of the lamps in the world from one center, the dead bodies will be given life in an instant. Just as the members of an army that take a rest come together at once, so will the souls come to the bodies and man will be resurrected in the twinkling of an eye.
5. Gathering after Resurrection and Gathering Place
Gathering is Allah’s sending men to the gathering place after the resurrection for reckoning and bringing them together. The place where men gather is called the Gathering Place. There are a lot of verses in the Quran about gathering. We can give the following verse as an example.
“One Day He will gather them all together, and say to the angels "Was it you that these men used to worship?" (Saba, 40).
Verses:
“They will come forth― their eyes humbled― from (their) graves, (torpid) like locusts scattered abroad,
Hastening, with eyes transfixed, towards the Caller!― "Hard is this Day!" the Unbelievers will say. ” (al-Qamar, 7-8).
It is stated in a hadith of the Prophet (PBUH) that the gathering place will be a smooth flat place, men will be sent to the gathering place as naked, barefoot, uncircumcised and faultless; while men wait in the gathering place, the sun will approach and they will sweat, that day men will be sent to the gathering place in three groups; on foot, riding and crawling face downwards.
6. Receiving Book of Deeds
The Books of Deeds, in which the good and bad deeds men did in the world were recorded, will be given to men in the gathering place for reckoning. We do not know the true nature of these books.
Without doubt, they do not resemble the books we have in the world. If we use the jargon of today’s technology, we can liken them to candid cameras that record the vision and sound and then show these recordings to viewers.
Verses:
“Every man's fate We have fastened on his own neck: on the Day of Judgment We shall bring out for him a scroll, which he will see spread open. (It will be said to him:) "Read thine (own) record: sufficient is thy soul this day to make out an account against thee." (al-Isra, 13-14)
An owner of knowledge and power, who can save plants in tiny seeds, big trees in small pips, men and animals in a drop of water and maintain their species, can record the deeds of men in a book; just as we save hundreds of pages of information and documents in a small CD. This issue is stated in the Quran as follows:
“And the Book (of Deeds) will be placed (before you); and thou wilt see the sinful in great terror because of what is (recorded) therein; they will say "Ah! woe to us! what a book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great, but takes account thereof!" They will find all that they did, placed before them: and not one will thy Lord treat with injustice” (Al-Kahf, 49).
The Books of Deeds will be given to the people of Paradise from the right side and the people of hell from the left side or from the back. Receiving the Book from the right side indicates good news that reckoning will be easy and receiving it from the left side indicates a hard reckoning.
7. Reckoning
After men receive their books in the hereafter Allah will start reckoning in accordance with the records in those books, nobody will be treated with injustice.
Verse:
“"O our Lord! cover (us) with Thy Forgiveness― me, my parents, and (all) Believers, on the Day that the Reckoning will be established!" (Ibrahim, 41).
There are a lot of verses in the Quran related to this issue. Some of them are as follows:
“That Day will every soul be requited for what it earned; no injustice will there be that Day, for Allah is Swift in taking account” (al-Mumin, 17).
“(It will be said to him:) "Read thine (own) record: sufficient is thy soul this day to make out an account against thee." (al-Isra, 14).
The Prophet (PBUH) informed us that men will definitely be questioned of the following five things on the Day of Judgment:
1. Where they spent their life,
2. Where they spent their youth,
3. Where they earned their property,
4. Where they spent their property,
5. Whether they applied what they knew or not. (Tirmizi, Kıyame, 1.)
8. Mizan (Scale)
Mizan, which means scale and balance, is the measurement of the divine justice that weighs the deeds of everybody in the hereafter following the reckoning. However, its true nature and the inside cannot be known by men. It does not resemble the scales or any other measuring or weighing devices in the world. After the weighing of the deeds, those whose good deeds are heavier than their bad deeds will reach salvation and those whose good deeds are lighter will go to Hell and suffer punishment there. The believers who go to Hell will be taken out of Hell and sent to Paradise after they suffer the punishment accounting for their faults. It is stated in the Quran that those whose good deeds are heavy will be in a pleasant life as follows:
A verse:
“We shall set up scales of justice for the day of Judgment, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least. And if there be (no more than) the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it (to account): and enough are We to take account”
(al-Anbiya, 47).
“Then, he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) heavy Will be in a life of good pleasure and satisfaction. But he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) light― Will have his home in a (bottomless) pit.”(al-Qaria, 6-9.)
“Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy - they will attain salvation: But those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls; in Hell will they abide.” (Mumenoon, 102-103).
9. River and Pool of Kawthar
A verse:
“(O Muhammad!) To thee have We granted the Fount (Of Abundance).” (al-Kawthar, 1)
Kawthar is one of the rivers of Paradise and it is also the name of the pool into which the waters of this river flow. The waters flowing from the river Kawthar gather in this pool in the Day of Judgment. When men are resurrected and gathered in the gathering place, our Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) will be given the Kawthar pool. The first person to reach this pool will be our Prophet. Those who reach it and drink from it will never get thirsty again. As it is stated in hadiths, one side of this pool is so long that it takes a month to walk it; its water is whiter than milk, its scent is sharper than musk, its glasses are more than the stars in the sky (Bukhari, Riqaq, 53).
10. Sirat
Sirat is used to mean a bridge or road laid across Hell. Everybody, whether a believer or an unbeliever, will cross this bridge.
It is stated in the hadiths of the Prophet (PBUH) that in accordance with their deeds some of the believers will cross it like lightning, some like wind, and some creeping, that all of the unbelievers and some of the believers whose sins are not forgiven will be thrown into Hell. Those crossing Sirat will enter Paradise (Bukhari, Riqaq, 52).
It is stated in the Quran that everybody will come round to Hell:
“Not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished. But We shall save those who guarded against evil, and We shall leave the wrongdoers therein, (humbled) to their knees.” (Maryam, 71-72).
Please recall
The deeds of man in this world come as a bridge in front of him in the hereafter. As a matter of fact we cross Sirat in this world. That is, we deserve to cross Sirat in this world by believing in the fundamentals of belief and by doing good deeds.
Sirat will definitely be in the form that Allah and His Messenger informed us and in the state that Allah knows and wishes. This bridge stretching across Hell to Paradise is in fact a bridge that man constructs during his life in the world with belief and good deeds. The deeds of man in this world come as a bridge in front of him in the hereafter. As a matter of fact we cross Sirat in this world. That is, we deserve to cross Sirat in this world by believing in the fundamentals of belief and by doing good deeds. Those who believe and do good deeds in the world will be able to cross it and those who do not believe and do not do good deeds will not be able to cross it.
As a matter of fact, since the hereafter world is a world of ghaib (unknown unseen, unfelt), we cannot understand the happenings there while we are in this world with our limited mind and organs. As the world and everything in it is ghaib for an unborn baby in the uterus the hereafter world is ghaib for us. Therefore we can only know the existence of Sirat bridge through the revelation Allah sends to His Messenger. However, we cannot understand its true nature.
A verse:
“No intercessor (can plead with Him) except after His leave (hath been obtained).”(Yunus, 3).
Allah addresses us, men, in a style we can understand. He tells us about the unknown concepts related to life in the hereafter like Trumpet, Book of Deeds, Pool, Sirat, Scale, etc using the names of the objects we know in the world. Actually there are no relations or similarities between the beings there and those here. For instance, there are no similarities but similarities of name between Sirat bridge and the bridges in the world, the scale there and the scales here, the trumpet there and the trumpets and bugles here, the books there and the books here. Allah knows the true nature of them.
11. Intercession (Shafaat):
It means for the believers who have sins to ask prophets, ulama (scholars) and martyrs, whom Allah allowed to intercede, to pray and beg Allah for their forgiveness and for those who do not have any sins to ask for ascension to higher degrees.
The Quran gives special significance to intercession and connects it with the issue of oneness. Some of the Quranic verses related to this issue are as follows:
“O Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth?” (al-Baqara, 255).
“They offer no intercession except for those who are acceptable” (al-Anbiya, 28).
Allah can consent to the intercession of only His slaves who deserve to be forgiven as a necessity of His divine justice. The Prophet said the following in a hadith:
“Every prophet has a prayer peculiar to him that is accepted, and they have always prayed. However, I keep my prayer for the intercession for my umma in the hereafter.” (Bukhari, Daawat, 1).
However, Muslims should not rely on the intercession and show laziness in applying the orders and the prohibitions of the religion, and they should never leave them. On the contrary, they should make a greater effort to act in accordance with those orders and prohibitions in order to deserve intercession. Or else, they may be deprived of intercession.
12. Purgatory (Araf)
Araf is the name given to the high castle and tower separating Paradise and Hell. In other words, Araf is a buffer zone between Paradise and Hell, separating them. There are some disputes over who will be the people of Araf; there are two views that became prominent.
1. People who were not informed about the call of any prophets and children of polytheists who died very young.
2. Believers whose good deeds and bad deeds are equal. They will have to wait between Paradise and Hell before they enter Paradise.
The followings is stated in the Quranic verse about the people of Araf:
“Between them shall be a veil, and on the Heights will be men who would know everyone by his marks: they will call out to the companions of the Garden "peace on you" they will not have entered, but they will have an assurance (thereof.) When their eyes shall be turned towards the companions of the Fire, they will say: "Our Lord! Send us not to the company of the wrong- doers." (al-Araf 46-47.).
However, Araf is not a place of permanent resident. After making the people of Araf wait there for a while temporarily, Allah will make a decision for them and send them to Paradise with his blessing.
13. Hell
Hell is a place of torture where unbelievers will stay continuously and where sinful believers will be punished and stay temporarily in accordance with their sins.
When we have a look at all of the verses about Hell in the Quran, we understand the following from their meanings concisely: Although fire punishment forms the main punishment in hell, it is a vast place of punishment where, spiritual and material, what we can think of and what we cannot think of, all kinds of anguish, pain, torture that influence all of the feelings of man are present.
Unbelievers will stay in Hell eternally and they will never be able to leave Hell. As for sinful believers, they will suffer punishment in accordance with their sins and then they will be taken out of Hell and sent to Paradise.
As it happens in all stages of life in the hereafter, the spirit and the body together will suffer Hell torture. However, the pain, anguish, agony, torture, fire, etc cannot be likened to those in this world. Only Allah knows their true nature and inside; it is impossible for men to know them in this world.
14. Paradise
Paradise is a place in the hereafter which is adorned with various blessings and which believers will live eternally.
When we examine the Quran, we see that the Quran describes Paradise and the people of Paradise as follows: Paradise is a place whose width is that of the heavens and of the earth; and a place where neither excessive heat nor excessive cold is present. There are rivers of clean water, rivers of incorruptible milk and pure honey, a fresh water spring with a scent of ginger and a drink that leaves the scent of musk after drinking. Paradise wine is a kind of drink that does not give headache nor makes drunk; it gives joy to drinkers and it comes out of a snow-white spring. It does not make drunk or give headache, it does not tempt people to commit sins, or make people do nonsense things. There are various fruits, dates, pomegranates, grapevines, cedar trees without thorns, banana-trees with fruits piled one above another and various bird flesh. (Aal-e-Imran, 3/133; al-Insan, 76/13, 18; Muhammad, 47/15; al-Mutaffifin, 83/25-26; as-Saaffat, 37/45-47; al-Waqia, 56/21, 28-29; at-Tur, 52/23; ar-Rahman, 55/68; an-Naba, 78/32.)
The clothes of the people of Paradise are of fine silk and heavy brocade; their adornments are of gold, their houses are beautiful, immortal youths walk around them to serve them, these youths are thought to be scattered pearls because of their beauties; they will pass round dishes and goblets of gold. There will be there all that the souls could desire all that the eyes could delight in. there are mansions built one above another beneath which flow rivers. There are pure companions with special creation. They and their associates will be in pleasant shade, reclining on thrones. The people of Paradise whose spite in their hearts were taken away by Allah sit facing each other on thrones as brothers. There is no tiredness or inconvenience here for them. They will not hear any vanity or untruth. (Ak-Kahf, 21, 31; al-Insan, 19, 21; al-Hajj, 23; al-Fatır, 33; at-Tauba, 72; az-Zukhruf, 71; az-Zumar, 20; al-Baqara, 25; al-Waqia, 35-38; as-Saaffat, 48-49; an-Naba, 33, 35; Ya Seen, 56; al-Hijr, 47.)
Paradise blessings are so beautiful that man’s mind and imagination cannot envisage them. There are all kinds of immaterial and material, bodily and spiritual tastes and joys with all details there. When Allah mentions the blessings there, He explains them by likening them to the worldly blessings so that we can understand them. As a matter of fact, only their names resemble the blessings here, not any other qualities. They are unique blessings prepared in accordance with the conditions of Paradise not the conditions of the world. The Prophet explains the blessings of Paradise in a divine hadith as follows:
“Allah said, "I have prepared for My righteous slaves such excellent things as no eye has ever seen, nor an ear has ever heard nor a human heart can ever think of.” (Bukhari, Tafseer, sura 32; Tawheed, 35; Muslim, Jannah, 1; Tirmizi, Tafseer, sura 32).
No doubt, the greatest blessing in Paradise is to receive the consent of Allah and to see Allah. The following is stated in the Quran related to this issue:
“…the greatest bliss is in the Good Pleasure of Allah: that is the Supreme Felicity.” (At-Tauba, 72).
On the other hand, believers in the hereafter will see Allah after they enter Paradise. There is no definite information about the true nature and quality of this sight.
The following is stated in a verse in the Quran: “Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty)― Looking towards their Lord.” (Al-Qiyama, 22-23.).
Our Prophet (PBUH) says the following when talking about how believers will see Allah:
“Certainly you will see your Lord as you see this moon.” (Bukhari, Mawakit, 16; Tawheed, 24; Muslim, Eeman, 81; Tirmizi, Jannah, 15).
Paradise and the life there is eternal and the people of Paradise will live there eternally. What makes Paradise Paradise and what makes the life there valuable is the fact that it is eternal and immortal. If Paradise were temporary and mortal like this world and if there were death there, it would not have any value in spite of all of its beauties and advantageous blessings. So, eternity and immortality alone are great blessings in Paradise; and what makes Paradise valuable is this property.
We should not forget that Paradise is obtained in this world. To obtain Paradise it is necessary to believe in the existence and oneness of Allah, His angels, His books, His prophets, Day of Judgment, decree and destiny; to do good deeds in accordance with the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) encompassed by the consent of Allah and to live in accordance with Islamic ethic. There is no other way of salvation. Therefore we should all make a great effort in this world to obtain Paradise. May Allah let all of us enter Paradise and live there eternally reaching His consent. Amen.
2. Worldly Benefits of Belief in Hereafter
Belief in the hereafter underlies the happiness and the peace of individual life and community life. Some of the numerous evidences will be pointed out here.
1. Children form an important part of humanity. They can only console themselves with the idea of Paradise when they face the terrible and grievous deaths around. For instance, a child whose brother, mother or close relative dies can only cope with this painful and sorrowful situation thanks to belief in the hereafter. For instance, a child facing this situation consoles himself with saying, “My brother died but he did not disappear; now he is in Paradise, living there more happily and better than me” and can endure the pains.
Otherwise it is impossible for children to endure these pains in the world.
2. Old people also form an important part of humanity. Since the world life will soon end for them and they approach death, they can only console themselves with the existence of life in the hereafter and belief in that life. They know that by believing in the hereafter they will not disappear when they die that they will be given an eternal youth in Paradise and eternal, wonderful blessings there and they find solace in it.
Otherwise, if they did not believe in the hereafter, this world would be a dark dungeon and the world life would be a troublesome unbearable torture for them since they would die soon. However, belief in the hereafter tells the following to the old:
“Don’t worry! You have an immortal youth; a shining, endless life awaits you. You will be joyfully reunited with the children and relatives you have lost. All your good deeds have been preserved and you will receive your reward.” Belief in the hereafter gives the old and other people such solace and joy that it relieves them. It frees them from sorrow and despair. It becomes like a remedy for man’s pains in this world. It consoles him psychologically, rehabilitates him and frees him from crises. According to our belief, death is not a disappearance but a transfer. A transfer from the temporary world to the eternal world of the hereafter.
3. Another group that forms the most important part of the community is the youth. The only thing that can prevent them from attacking and harming the things and people around them in a term when their feelings and bodies are the strongest and when they are eager to satisfy their desires is belief in Hell.
If the youth did not have the fear and concern about Hell, those drunken youngsters and tempted teenagers would transform the world to Hell for the poor, the weak and the old, a place impossible to live in and they would transform humanity to animalism in accordance with the rule “The rule and sovereignty belong to the conquerors”.
4. The most important support, shelter and source of happiness for man in this world is the family life. The house a person lives in and his family life is a small world of his. The happiness of family life lies in the faithful respect, and real, affectionate and altruist mercy. This real respect and mercy can only be achieved by belief by the family members that there will be an eternal life with their understanding of eternal friendship, motherhood, fatherhood, brotherhood, unity and togetherness. For instance, with this belief a father thinks about his wife as follows: “My wife is my eternal partner in an eternal life in an eternal world; she may be old and ugly now but it does not matter. She will have an eternal beauty. For the sake of such an eternal friendship, I will show all kinds of altruism and mercy.”and treats her old wife as if she was a houri and with love, affection and mercy.
5. The world and the country man lives in is like a big house for him. If belief in the hereafter prevails in this house, intimate respect, serious mercy, gratuitous love, solidarity and cooperation, guileless service, nice human relations, candid beneficence and merit, selfless grandness and virtue start to develop in that grand family life. The reason for it is as follows:
Belief in the hereafter
says to the children: “There exists Paradise, stop being naughty.”, it makes them decent in their behavior;
says to the youth: “There exists Hell, stop being drunk”, it makes them come round;
says to the oppressor: “There exists severe torture, you will be punished”, it makes him bow to the justice;
says to the old: “An eternal, otherworldly happiness much higher than the happiness that you let go, a fresh and permanent youth awaits you. Try to obtain it.”, and transforms their crying into laughing”.
The benefits of belief in the hereafter listed above shows its effects in the best and positive way more or less in all of the individuals and levels of the community. It has an important role in the improvement of the community. Crime rates fall down to a minimum in such a community. A peaceful community life prevails there. So, the only cause for the happiness in both worlds and lives is belief in Allah and the hereafter (Nursi, B. Said. Sözler. (Words) rnk Neşriyat. Istanbul, 2006, p.106 etc).
3. SOURCES
- Abdulbaki, Muhammad Fuad, Mu’jamu’l-Mufahras li Alfazi’l-Qurani’l-Karim, Istanbul, 1990.
- Ahmad b. Hanbal, al-Musnad, Istanbul, 1992.
- Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Sözler,(Words) Envâr Neşriyât, Istanbul, 1996.
- Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Asây-ı Mûsâ, Envâr Neşriyât, Istanbul, 1996.
- Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Mektubât, (Letters)Envâr Neşriyât, Istanbul, 1996.
- Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Şualar, (Rays)Envâr Neşriyât, Istanbul, 1995.
- Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Lem’alar, (Flashes)Envâr Neşriyât, Istanbul, 1996.
- Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Mesnevî Nûriye, Envâr Neşriyât, Istanbul, 1996.
- Bukhari, Sahihul-Bukhari Istanbul, 1992.
- Çelebi, İlyas; İslâm’da İnanç Esasları, Istanbul, 1998, (Together with Bekir Topaloğlu and Yusuf Şevki Yavuz).
- Abu Dawud, as-Sunan, Istanbul, 1992.
- Gölcük, Şerafeddin, İslâm Akâidi, Konya, 1988.
- Ibn Majah, as-Sunan, Istanbul, 1992.
- Ibn Manzur, Jamaluddin Muhammad, Lisanu’l-Arab, Beirut, ts., c. I-IV.
- Kılavuz, Ahmet Saim, İlmihal, İSAM, Istanbul, tsz., I-II.
- Kılavuz, Ahmet Saim, Ana hatlarıyla İslâm Akâidi ve Kelâm’a Giriş, Istanbul, 1993.
- Kur’ân-ı Kerim ve Açıklamalı Meâli, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı, Ankara, 1993.
- Muslim, Sahihu Muslim, Istanbul, 1992.
- Nasai as-Sunan, Istanbul, 1992.
- Tirmizi, as-Sunan, Istanbul, 1992.
- Topaloğlu, Bekir, “Cehennem”, DİA, VII.
- Toprak, Süleyman, Ölümden Sonraki Hayat (Kabir Hayatı), Konya, 1989
One of the fundamentals of belief in Islam is belief in the holy books sent by Allah.
Islam orders believers to believe in all holy books. The source of all holy books is one. All of the heavenly books explain the orders and prohibitions of Allah and the duties and responsibilities of man. Allah appointed prophets and sent books to guide men and to warn them. Throughout the history, the wise action of Allah was like that. The prophets whom books were not sent to conformed to the previously sent book and warned and guided their tribes and nations.
Allah ordered believers to believe in all of the prophets and the revelations:
Muslims believe not only in the Quran but also the other holy books. Allah states the following:
It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Torah (Of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) (Aal-e-Imran,3/3.).
Islam is more universal in comparison to other religions in terms of belief in the holy books, it accepts all holy books. Books were sent to the tribes before the Quran, but those books lost their original identity through translations in time.
4. 1. IMPORTANCE OF HOLY BOOKS
We can list the importance of holy books as follows:
1. Allah has endless generosity. He offers abundant gifts and grants. He has endless blessings and numerous dinner tables; He granted men a lot of organs and feelings, He laid blessings for each organ and laid tables for each feeling. For instance, He created the sun for the eyes, the air for the lungs, and food for the stomach. Like mans material organs, his mind, heart and conscience need tables, spiritual food and remedies. Because of this secret, the Generous Lord, who meets all of the needs of human beings, did not leave their minds and brains, hearts and conscience, spirit and feelings without tables, food or remedies. He sent heavenly books that are like remedies and spiritual tables for them. He sent heavenly books that develop and improve spirits, give light and direction to minds and give happiness to life.
2. One of the attributes of Allah is the attribute of speech. Allah is the Eternal Speaker. The blessing of understanding and the faculty of speaking were given to human beings among the creatures. Man received the manifestation of the attribute of speech.
Where there is mind, there are also duties and responsibilities. Where there is speaking and speech, an interlocutor is sought. Since man is given them the mind, he will be informed of his responsibility, his duty will be reminded. Since man is given the blessing of speaking, he will be spoken to and he will be told why he was born and to whom he is responsible to. So, the fact that man was given the mind and the faculty of speech makes it necessary for heavenly books to be sent.
3. All of the feelings of man are conditional and limited. He cannot see kilometers away with naked eye. He cannot hear the sounds or smell the scents far away. Like these senses, mans mind and perception faculties are also conditional and limited. That is, the mind cannot know ghaib things. He cannot decode spiritual secrets and realities on his own. In other words, the orders and prohibitions of Allah are not understood by reasoning or by abstract mind. The mind can find its Lord by judgment or reasoning. However, it cannot understand why its Lord created it. Man needs to know a lot of ghaib knowledge and realities like the fundamentals of belief, the way of slavery, the qualities and properties of worshipping, the eternal life, the existence of Paradise and Hell, the names and attributes of Allah. Humanity needs prophets and heavenly books in order to learn them and carry out their duties and responsibilities. Therefore Allah sent prophets as guides and teachers to mankind and sent heavenly books.
4. Man has a nafs (soul). It has desires and lust. Man has endless goals, ambitions and pride, anger and fury, indignation and reactions.
Man is open to inculcations of the devil. Nafs may continuously tempt him to do bad deeds. The devil tempts him to do bad deeds. If man headed towards evil and destruction, his destruction would become terrible and his harm would be terrifying, he could ruin or destroy a country.
For these reasons, there is a need for prophets to show the right path and heavenly books to teach men the truth and the reality. Allah sent books to balance the falls and rises and the declines and downfalls and also to guide men to the right path and the line of true direction.
5. Mans disposition and conscience seek their Lord and want to know their owner and Master. They want to find answers the questions like Where did I come from, why was I created, what are my tasks and duties in this world? It is the prophets that can give answers to these questions. It is the prophets that settle and discover the secret of the creation of the universe and the enigma of the creation of man. The guides of these prophets are the heavenly books. Allah gave the books to the prophets and explained people the mystery of this world through the prophets and answered the questions of the creation.
4. 2. HOLY BOOKS
Throughout centuries beginning from Hazrat Adam to the last Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) Allah sent four books and some pages.
Pages were sent before books. They contained advice about belief and ethic. The ethical advice in the pages is present in the Quran in the perfect sense. As a matter of fact the Quran points out to this issue through the following verse:
And this is in the Books of the earliest (Revelations)―The Books of Abraham and Moses. (al-Alâ,18-19.).
After the pages Allah sent the four books. They are; 1. Torah, 2. Psalm, 3. Gospel and 4. the Quran.
1. TORAH
It was given to Hazrat Moses (Musa). The Quran mentions that it was sent to the Israelites (Aal-e- Imran, 48,50,65,93 ; al-Maeda, 46,66).
2. PSALM:
It was sent to Hazrat Dawud (David).
3. GOSPEL:
It was sent to Hazrat Eesa (Jesus).
Gospel as a word means good news. It tells the life story of Hazrat Eesa and gives some ethical advice. It does not have legal arrangements. Since Christians accept Torah also as a holy book, they take Torah as reference for legal arrangements. Christians call Torah as Old Testament and Gospel as New Testament. They brought together some parts from Torah, Gospel and Psalms and called it the Holy Book.
4. THE QURAN
The Quran is the last holy book sent to the last Prophet Hazrat Muhanmmad (PBUH) through revelation chapter by chapter and verse by verse in 23 years. With the Quran the chain of heavenly books was completed and the other books were abrogated. Allah said the following in the Quran:
This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. (al-Maeda,3.).
The Quran started to come down in Makkah. The first revelation came through Hazrat Jibril (Gabriel) while Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) was busy with contemplation and worshipping in Mount Hira:
The call of the Quran is general. The Quran calls the whole mankind to the right path. Its message is not for a certain nation but for the whole mankind. The target is the salvation and happiness of the whole mankind.
Since the Quran was revealed in 23 years, the Sahaba (Companions of the Prophet) wrote down the verses and memorized them during this period. So, the Quran was kept by the clerks of revelation and was continuously recited by hafizes (hafiz: one who memorized the whole Quran). It was recited in mosques and was conveyed to those who do not know it and they were taught to recite it. Later the copies of the Quran were duplicated, the Quran that we have today is the same Quran as the one during the time of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). It was conveyed to us in the same form as it was revealed.
4. 3. MIRACULOUS ASPECTS OF THE QURAN
The miraculous aspects of the Quran are plentiful (Said Nursi proved the miraculousness of the Quran in forty ways and showed its miraculous aspects in seven ways in his booklet the Miracles of the Quran, in his book Lemaat and in his interpretation İşarat-ül İcaz. Those who want to have more information about this issue should refer to those boks.). We can list those aspects in summary as follows:
1. Something like the Quran cannot be written:
The miraculous Quran says: "Oh men and jinn! If you have any doubts that the Quran is the Word of God and imagine it to be man's word, then come on, here it is, let's see! You bring a book like this Quran from someone unlettered, who does not know how to read and write like the one you call Muhammad the Trustworthy, and get him to compose it! If you cannot do this, then he need not be untaught, let him be a famous man of letters and learned. And if you are not able to do this, alright, not on his own, take all the finest works of all your orators and men of eloquence, and indeed of all the literary geniuses of the past and all those of the future, and the assistance of all your gods. Work with all your strength; compose the like of this Quran. And if you cannot do this, leave aside the Truths of the Quran and its many miraculous aspects, which it is not possible to imitate, and compose a work which is its equal in only the eloquence of its word order!"
Through the silencing words of:
Bring ye then ten Surahs forged, like unto it it says " Come on, I do not want its true meaning from you, let it be fabrications and lies and false tales. And you will not be able to do this. So it need not be as much as the whole
ten Surahs Qur'an, just bring ten Chapters like it, equivalent of a short Chapter. And you will not be able to do this either, although the need for you to do so is so great. For your honor and self-respect, your dignity and religion, your tribal honor and pride, your life and property, and your lives in this world and the next will all be saved by producing the like of it. Otherwise in this world you will remain in abasement, without honor, dignity, religion, or pride, and your lives and property will be destroyed and will perish, and in the hereafter, as is indicated by the verse,
then fear the Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones you will be condemned to everlasting incarceration in Hell; together with your idols you will be fuel to its fires. Since your need is thus great, and since you have now understood your impotence in eight degrees, for sure, you should know eight times over that the Quran is a miracle. So either believe in it, or be silent and go to Hell!"
2. The Quran is also a miracle because it gives information about ghaib and the future. Human mind cannot estimate the future obviously and clearly. It cannot make decisions about the future. It is not something to be done by man to discover the happenings in the past that were left under veils and to reveal them. However, when we have a look at the Quran, we see that the Quran informs us about the prophets in the past, the characteristics of their tribes, the heavenly misfortunes that they suffered obviously and clearly, and makes us draw a lesson and think. The Quran also gives a lot of information about life in the grave, Paradise and Hell, and a lot of good news about the spread of Islam. For instance, it gave the good news that believers would enter the Kabah fearlessly, that Muslims would seize the booty, and a lot of happenings like the conquest of Makkah and that the Romans would beat Persians.
3. The beauty, the brightness and the fluency of the statements of the Quran enchant the spirits. It enters the hearts and attracts them. The depth of its realities, the loftiness of its meaning, the news about ghaib, the language of reality and the language of wisdom in it, show that it is not the words of man but a divine and holy statement.
The Quran showed with this high quality and characteristics to everybody that it could not be the work of an illiterate person or the work of the mind or will of a person.
4. The Quran is also a miracle because it encompasses the sciences and realities that are beyond human strength. People who lived fourteen hundred years ago could certainly not know the realities that would be discovered a thousand years later. Mind and thought cannot move along this path. If a book mentioned a lot of mysteries and realities that would be discovered a thousand years later, it could only be holy and divine. It is not the skill of a man. In the Quran, there are signs indicating many scientific realities that have been discovered only in this century. These signs and statements are evidences that the Quran is a miracle. Lets list some of these statements:
The expansion of space has been discovered recently. The Quran points to this expansion as follows:
And the heaven, We have constructed it mightily, and it is surely We Who have vast power, and keep expanding it (adh-Dhariyat,47).
The Quran states the movement and rotation of the world concisely as follows:
Thou seest the mountains and thinkest them firmly fixed: but they shall pass away as the clouds pass away: (such is) the artistry of Allah, Who disposes of all things in perfect order (an-Naml,88).
The Quran states the separation of the earth and the sky while they were together and the fact that all living things were created out of water as follows:
Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of Creation), before We clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? (al-Anbiya, 30).
The Quran states that night and day were arranged in a system and that the sun and the moon are moved along certain courses as follows:
It is He Who created the Night and the Day, and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) swim along each in its rounded course. (al-Anbiya,33.).
And the Sun runs his course for a period determined for him: that is the decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, the All-Knowing. (Ya Seen, 38).
The Quran shows to the eye the measurement, appointment, rotation, and the illumination of the moon and its precise positioning in accordance with the sun; the eternal power and control of Allah, who directs the universe.
The Quran states the fact that the sea waters do not mix as follows: He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together: Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress: (ar-Rahman,19-20).
The Quran states the duty of the wind that serves the fecundation, fertilization and reproduction of trees and flowers as follows:
And We send the fecundating winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water (in abundance), though ye are not the guardians of its stores. (al-Hijr, 22).
5. In terms of its miraculous education the Quran is a miracle. The indication that a tree is living and productive is its fruits. The fruits of the Quran are the students that are educated by the Quran. Hundreds of thousands of saints, holy people, scholars, mujaddids, wise people, exemplary people that have been brought up for fourteen centuries is a great indication that the Quran is alive and living.
All of the true religious orders and the genuine ilms (sciences) of Islam, all of the Islamic scholars that have been educated under the spiritual wings and protection of the Quran testify that the Quran is pure truth and the assembly of truths and in its comprehensiveness, a matchless wonder.
READING TEXT
MANUAL
Mr Ahmet went shopping. Passing by a big department store he saw that there was a great discount in electronic devices. He walked around the store. He bought a nice high quality camera and an advanced technology television set.
In the evening he wanted to set up the television and operate the camera. However he couldnt do it. There was vision on the television but no sound. He couldnt understand how the camera shot and how it recorded the vision, either. He called his next-door neighbor Mr Halil. He was an electronic engineer. Mr Ahmet said on the phone:
- I bought a new television set and a camera. However I couldnt cope with it. I am astonished. I need your help. Can you come right away?
Five minutes later the doorbell rang. It was Mr Halil. Mr Ahmet said:
-Come in. and let him in. They went into the living room together. Mr Halil liked the television set and the camera very much.
-Enjoy them. You bought the best quality goods. he said. Mr Halil took the television manual first. He searched it. He set up the television in accordance with the manual. Then he searched the manual of the camera, instructed Mr Ahmet how it operated in general. The task was over. Mr Halil wanted to leave.
-No, you cant leave now. I made some tea. There is also some cake and pie. Lets drink tea and watch TV. I wont let you go without drinking tea. said Mr Ahmet.
They were drinking tea and watching TV when Mr Halil said:
-Do you know what I thought while setting them up?
-What did you think?
-I thought like this: If we took that television to a mans house who never saw a television and who never set up a television set before and didnt give him the manual and told him to operate the television, what would the poor man do?
-He couldnt set them up. He would be astonished.
-Is that all? I think more dangerous things could happen. If he attached the cables differently, if he connected wrong cables, there could be a short circuit, a fire and the television could blow up. Or if he tried to set it up on his own, the television could break down; there could be vision but no sound. Sometimes there could be sound but no vision.
-You are right.
-So, the best and perfect way to operate a television set is to operate it in accordance with the manual. Isnt it?
-Yes, it is.
-This reality caused me to think about a reality in my mind.
-How?
-I thought like this: Man is like a television set Maybe he was created a thousand times more perfectly and miraculously than it.. It is only possible for a man to lead a nice life, to have a joyful, bright world free from parasites by arranging his life in accordance with a spiritual manual.
-Alright, what is that spiritual manual?
-That spiritual manual is the Quran. It tells the truth and explains what is right. It sets the essentials of the happiness and joy of the mankind. It presents the criteria and the prescription for the material and spiritual salvation of the mankind. Mankind is in need of the Quran in this depressed century. The farther man goes away from the Quran, the more troubles, pains, chaos and crises he will face. The prescriptions of leading a good life are present in the Quran. Those who live in accordance with the Quran, will obtain happiness and exhilaration in this world and eternal blessings in the hereafter.
Those words made Mr Ahmet think.
They were all right. A life away from the Quran was like Hell even in the world. A man who knew and obeyed Allah would be happy even in the dungeon. A person who forgot Allah would be in the dungeon even if he were in palaces.
You are absolutely right. You discovered the mystery. My mind, heart, soul and conscience approve your words. said Mr Ahmet.
SUMMARY
There are a lot of wisdoms in Allahs sending the holy books. If the books had not been sent down, Allah, who is eternal, would not have been known. His orders and His will would not have been known. The purposes of mans creation would have remained veiled or closed. The books removed this veil and explained clearly the orders and prohibitions of the Perfectly Wise and the Eternal, the duties and the responsibilities of man.
The Perfectly Wise and the Eternal did not leave men without owners or protectors throughout the history and sent them prophets as guides and teachers who differentiated between the right and the wrong, the good and the ugly, the correct and the incorrect. Books are regulations and instruction manuals sent to mankind through prophets. Throughout history, believers found out about the orders and the prohibitions of Allah thanks to these books and tried to direct their lives.
Four books were sent down. The only one that maintained its originality among them is the Quran, which is full of wisdom.
During the period of each prophet, a particular science, art or skill prevailed. For instance, during the time of Hazrat Eesa (Jesus) medical science prevailed. So Allah granted Hazrat Eesa the miracle of reviving the dead, opening the eyes of the blind, curing the people with speckled skins. During the time of Hazrat Musa (Moses) magic was very common. So Allah granted Hazrat Musa the miracle of transforming his walking-stick into a snake. This snake swallowed the ropes of the magicians and the magicians accepted that it was a miracle by Allah. During the time of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) eloquence, rhetoric prevailed. During a period when rhetoric was perfect, the Quran was sent down. It silenced all of the skillful authors and poets.
The rhetoric of the Quran is beyond the talents of man. The rhetoric of the Quran comes from the beauty, charm, steadiness and the awe of its verse. The expression of the Quran is strange and peculiar, superior and unique, pure and clean. Its meaning is true and real, strong and deep. Its words are perfect in terms of wording, meaning and harmony. Its word and sentence harmony is a miracle. Its words flow like a fountain, into the minds and hearts.
The Quran has challenged the most genius authors, the most excellent orators, the deepest scholars of the mankind for fourteen hundred years, and has provoked them. It has called them to discuss.
The genius people who walk proudly and arrogantly on the earth could not open their mouths to discuss and bowed down in abasement.
The believers who recite the Quran surrender to their Lord learn their duties and responsibilities and enjoy the pleasure and the happiness of knowing their Lord and being addressed by His orders.
When the believers recite the Quran, they speak to their Lord in a way. These favors give the believers a lofty pleasure and a spiritual comfort. The Quran is an eternal guide, an endless light that enlightens them when they have a conflict among themselves.
The duty and responsibility expected from Muslims is to recite, understand and live the Quran; to show the ethic of the Quran in their lives, to try to mirror the Quran in a straight line.
Destiny is Allahs knowledge of everything, what happened and what will happen in the universe, their characteristics, past and future in the past eternity and His determination and recording of everything in the preserved tablet (lawh mahfuz). In other words, destiny is the determination of the beings in accordance with a plan and measure.
When we want to write the word apple the form, order and the size of the letters are formed in accordance with our determination. It is clear that that word was not written by an unconscious pen or ink but by a clerk who has will, knowledge and power. So, the real apple is written and created by elements that are like ink by Allah in accordance with the form and characteristics determined by Allah.
The Book of Destiny
Trees, stars, mountains, vineyards and human beings are all words of power. They were created in accordance with the program of the destiny. A beauty and order in a building emerges as a result of a plan drawn by the determination of an engineer. Lets imagine that we programmed where when and how each brick would be used. The destiny of that building becomes determined by the drawing of such a plan. The building will be formed in accordance with that plan. This plan is called the Book of Destiny with the Quranic expression. The universe emerges as the building is constructed in accordance with that plan. When the building is constructed in the manifest world, the thing whose plan was drawn in the Book of Destiny becomes a reality.
Each one of us was in the Book of Destiny and in the knowledge of Allah before we were created. By being created we passed the stage of power. That is, we appeared in the manifest world. What is meant by the creation of things is going out of the stage of knowledge into the stage of power.
A tiny sample of the book of destiny of each being is present in its seed, pip and cell. The plan of an apple tree, that is, everything including the form, structure, color and smell of its flowers are coded in the chromosomes of the cells. All of these plans and programs that determine the genetic structure are tiny samples of the book of destiny. The structure of each being is shaped by the elements that act in accordance with the destiny program.
There is no use in talking to a person who does not accept the existence of the engineer about the plan of the building. It is unnecessary to talk about the plan and the program of the engineer with a person who ignores the engineer that draws the plan of the building. Similarly, it is nonsense for a person who does not believe in the existence of Allah to talk about the plan Allah determines or about destiny.
The fact that all of the organs of the human beings like the other beings were placed where necessary and with the optimum form and size show that they all take place with the determination of a plan and program. Each one of the characteristics of man is recorded in his cells with the spiritual pen of the destiny. Each moment, thousands of cells are exterminated and new cells are produced in his body. So, each moment, changes take place in mans body; Allah applies the plan in the Book of Destiny with his power and shows it to us. Destiny is divided into two as compulsory and voluntary:
Compulsory destiny is the divine destiny that does not depend on human will. Issues like who a persons father and mother will be, in which century a person will be born, whether a person will be male or female are examples of compulsory destiny. It is meaningless to ask questions about this aspect of destiny. These kinds of questions will not cease. A person who asks why he was born in the 21st century would ask the same question if he were born in any other century. Man is not responsible for this destiny. They all happen out of the reach of his will. This determination and condition depends solely on Allahs knowledge and will.
Voluntary destiny is related to the actions that a person does using his own partial free will and wish. Their occurrence depends on the partial free will of man. What man is responsible for is that kind of destiny which depends on his own wishes and desires. For instance, Allah determined as a general rule that a student would pass when he studied and realized the necessary conditions to pass the class and that a student would fail the class when he didnt realize the necessary conditions. If a student studies and passes the class, the determination of Allah will be in this way.
It is necessary to remind something here. We use our partial free will. However, what is important is the divine will. We will do our best. If Allah wills, he makes us successful; if he doesnt, he wont. Therefore we cannot say, I worked, I must definitely succeed. It is Allah who will make us successful. For instance, we water our garden. If we dont, we will cause it to dry. It will be our responsibility. However, when we water it, we carry out our duty. If Allah wishes, He will grow it; if He wishes, He will decay it. If he grows it, we will thank Him for his grant. If he doesnt, we will look for a manifestation of mercy, we wont disobey him. Studying is like that. If we study and pass the exam, we will thank Allah. If we fail, we will show patience.
7. 2. DESTINY AND PARTIAL FREE WILL
Destiny and partial free will are parts of a situational and conscientious belief that determine the boundaries of Islam. They are not scientific or theoretical. However, everybody knows by his conscience that he has a partial free will and he can direct his actions in accordance with his intentions, inclinations and wishes.
When the believer wants to get rid of the responsibilities by attributing everything to Allah since everything happens as a result of the determination and creation of Allah, partial free will will come before him and say: You preferred doing it by your own wish and will so you have the responsibility. And then when nafs (the soul) says; If it is my responsibility, then all of the good deeds I have done belong to me, destiny will come before him and say, Know your place, it is not you who has done them. So destiny protects nafs from pride. It draws the border at this end of belief. Partial free will places responsibility on nafs and determines the border at the other end. This issue is not scientific or theoretical but conscientious; however, it may be made reasonable by some examples.
Both cause and effect are of Allah.
Allah made a cause for everything. He determined the way of obtaining apples as growing apples. Here the apple tree is a cause and the apple fruit is the effect. It is Allah who created both of them. The mother and the father are the cause and the child is the effect. It is Allah who created the mother and the father. He creates the effect in accordance with the cause we have.
Similarly, Allah ordered us to make some kinds of worshipping and attached the fruits of reward to them. Here worshipping is the cause and reward is the effect; both of them are of Allah. When man wishes the actions based on his will, Allah creates them. Allah says spiritually: My servant! Whichever way you wish to take with your will, I will take you on that way. Then it is your responsibility!
For instance, suppose that you took a child onto your shoulders and said to him, I will take you wherever you wish. The child wanted to go to a high mountain. He felt cold. You said you wanted to go there and gave him a slap. So Allah makes His divine will a condition for mans partial free will. This is his unchangeable law.
It is Allah who creates everything. He informs us the cause and its effect. Allah promises that He will answer when man wants something. If His wisdom finds it appropriate, he will give man what he wants or something better or he does not give him anything and leaves it to the hereafter, which is more fruitful for man. Unless man attempts to do something with his partial free will, Allah does not create that thing. So, Allahs divine will and absolute power depend on mans partial free will. Allah creates whatever man wants, whether good or evil. So man is responsible for his acts because he intends and wants to do something with his partial free will.
We can understand this by giving the example of the elevator. Suppose that there are groups of people chatting on each floor of a ten-storey building, and the basement floor is full of wild and poisonous animals. It is your choice which floor the elevator will go to. The elevator will take you to the floor whose button you push. That is the elevator operates in accordance with your choice. If you want to go to a good place, it will take you there; if you want to go the bad place, it will take you there.
Our partial free will is like in the example above; Allah informed us what is right and what is wrong through His prophets and books. We are in a position to choose one of these right or wrong alternatives with our partial free will. The divine will of Allah that encompasses human beings and all of the creatures and His absolute power become subject to the partial free will; Allah creates whatever man wants. The only thing that we possess is our choice, the act of pushing the button in the elevator. After this choice, all of the actions from the operation of the organs in our body to all of the activities in the universe to that effect are created by the divine will and absolute power of Allah.
When to apply to destiny
A person who improved spiritually sees the power of Allah in everything and says, Both the grace and sorrow coming from Allah are nice; he regards whatever Allah does as nice. A person who did not improve spiritually uses destiny for the problems and misfortunes in the past. He sees the negativeness as a result of destiny and such an approach becomes a consolation for his sorrow and problem.
Islam does not approve of destinys use for the issues about the future. That is, a student cannot say, If being a teacher is my destiny, I will be a teacher. I dont have to go to school. For instance, a student studies his subjects, does whatever necessary and takes the exam. He accepts the result as his destiny. Similarly a person cannot say, If being hit by a car is my destiny, a car will hit me and cross a street with heavy traffic with his eyes closed. He takes necessary measures to cross that street. If he is overrun by a car, then it is regarded that that was his destiny. Similarly, a person cannot say, If I am a person of Paradise, I will go to paradise; if I am a person of Hell, I will go to hell. Then why should I worship?
7. 3. ALLAH KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN ALL
Allahs knowledge includes everything that happened and that will happen. The fact that Allah knows everything pre-eternally does not make a person free from the responsibilities of the actions he did using his own will.
Knowledge is the shape of things in the brain; the thing known is defined as the existence of that thing outside. For instance, the shape of the apple outside is the thing known and its shape in our mind is knowledge. Our knowledge about the apple is dependent on the shape of the apple outside. That is, knowledge is dependent on the thing known. The thing known is not dependent on knowledge. That is, the shape of the apple outside does not have to be in accordance with the shape we know. Similarly, to know where and when the sun will rise, where it will be at a definite time is knowledge. The suns being in those places at those times is the thing known. Our knowledge is dependent on the movement of the sun, that is, the thing known. If the thing known were dependent on knowledge, the sun would have to rise in accordance with the time we wrote in the calendar.
As it is explained above, all of our actions are the things known, Allahs knowing them pre-eternally is knowledge. Allah knew and ordained pre-eternally what human beings would do using their own wills. Human beings did not have to do them because Allah knew and ordained them like that. If man has to do something, that is if something happens in spite of his will, then testing and trial, and offer become invalid.
What is azal (past eternity)?
Past eternity is not one end of the past chain. The expressions of past and future are for creatures. They are not for Allah. Allah is not bound with time. Time is a creature of Allah.
The relation of the knowledge of a person who has memorized Chapter al-Fatiha with the verses is the same. That is, his knowledge is aware of all of the verses of Chapter al-Fatiha similarly. However, there is a sequence among the verses. When he recites or writes the second verse, the first verse is in the past and the others are in the future.
Azal encompasses the past, the present and the future all. It contains all of them. We can understand it to some extent by the example of a mirror directed towards a table. When a mirror in the hand is directed on the table, suppose that the area seen in the mirror is the present, the area on the right is the past and the area on the left is the future. When the mirror is at a certain height, a small part of the table will be seen in the mirror. In this case the right side of the vision will be the past and the left side will be the present. However, when the mirror is moved upwards, all of the table will be seen in the mirror. This time there will be no precedence and antecedence between the happenings that will take place on the table. They will be all in the vision of one mirror.
The mirror here is knowledge. The mirror at the lowest level is our knowledge. The mirrors of prophets may encompass a lot of time related to past and future as a divine grace and miracle. Allahs knowledge encompasses the past, the present and the future at the same time. There is no precedence and antecedence for Allahs knowledge. Precedence and antecedence are for us. So, Allah knows the past and the present as he knows the present. That is, everything is in His view at the same time. Allahs knowledge encompasses all times and places.
7. 4. ALMS LENGTHENING LIFE
It is stated in the verses and hadiths that alms lengthen life. Alms contain all of the favors, grants, charity done for the sake of Allah. Our Prophet (PBUH) said, Only favors (all kinds of charity, good deeds, grants) lengthen life; only prayer returns destiny. A person becomes deprived of his food and because of the sins he commits. This hadith encourages believers to do favors and good deeds; and the good deeds prevent so many troubles we do not know from happening.
This destiny expresses a determination depending on time place and conditions. Since Allahs knowledge is eternal and it encompasses all of the times and places, Allahs eternal knowledge does not change and it contains all of the changes.
The time of death ordained by Allah and that is in Allahs knowledge does not change. Suppose that a mans conditional time of death is 60 years if he gives alms and 55 years if he doesnt. Allah ordains that persons life as 60 years because He knows that he will give alms. This time of death does not change. Another meaning of alms lengthening life is related to its outcomes. A person who gives alms will receive a lot of rewards because he does something appropriate for Allahs consent. So, in a short life he can obtain more rewards in comparison to the length of his life. The night of Qadir can be an example for it. A person who evaluates that night adds 83 years to his life spiritually.
Another meaning of good deeds lengthening life is the continuation of a persons book of charity and good deeds after his death. For instance, the book of charity and good deeds of a person who brought up a good child do not close.
7. 5. IT IS ALLAH WHO CREATES THE EVIL AND THE GOOD
Allah creates all of the deeds that man does whether good or evil. For instance, it is Allah who creates the act of walking. It is Allah who creates the act of the earths rotating around the sun. The rotation of the earth is not dependent on its own will. Therefore it moves along the orbit that Allah ordained. However, man is not like that. Allah gave man the choice of deciding wherever he wants to go based on his own will.
Man is not like a robot. Robot does either of the things as he is programmed. It has no choice. However, man is not like that. He can choose whatever he wants. He can even choose one of the two same things, which shows the characteristics of the attribute will and its existence.
When a person wants to go to a place of worshipping, it is Allah who creates that action; it is also Allah who creates the action of going to a pub. Similarly, it is Allah who creates the action of drinking water and also the action of drinking alcohol. Since man chooses the place to go or the thing to drink, the responsibility belongs to him. So it is Allah who creates all of the actions we do whether good or evil.
Hidayah (Guidance to the right path) and dalalah (going astray) are of Allah As the good and the evil are of Allah, it is Allah who creates hidayah and dalalah too. People cause each others hidayah and dalalah. A persons falling into dalalah is because of his misusing of his will. Allah does not drive a person into dalalah unless the person drives himself that direction. The same is valid for hidayah too. The fact that Allah gives hidayah to whomever He wants means, He will give hidayah to the people who have the adequate conditions for hidayah. Expecting hidayah from Allah without meeting any conditions necessary for hidayah is like expecting to obtain crops without sowing any seeds into the field.
7. 6. ALL OF THE GOOD DEEDS ARE OF ALLAH AND THE BAD DEEDS ARE OF NAFS (THE SOUL)
Allah gave man wonderful devices like mind, memory and imagination, and very fine feelings like sight, hearing, fear, love and affection. He advised man to use these feelings and devices for good and nice things and for charity; He informed us through His books and Prophets that His consent depended on it. Allah promised the endless happiness in Paradise as a reward if all of these feelings and talents were used in accordance with His orders. He threatened us with a punishment, Hell, if we committed bad deeds that He did not consent to. It is Allah who wants all of the good deeds and it is also He who gives the necessary things like mind, memory, life and information necessary to do good deeds. Allah creates and grants good deeds. If man does not understand it and thinks that those good deeds are of him and feels proud of them, the door of thanking closes for him and he may go astray. Therefore man has no right to appropriate them.
However, a person who uses this capital in bad ways that Allah does not want is responsible for these bad deeds and deserves to be punished.
We can understand it better with the following example:
Suppose that the state gives one of its officials enough money and appoints him to build an education complex. When the official carries out his duty, he cannot appropriate it by saying, I made this education complex.
However, if that official builds a pub instead of an education complex that he was ordered to do and harms the lives of a lot of people, he will have no right to say, The state is responsible for it because the state gave the capital for that pub.
It is the state that gives the capital in both cases. When the capital is used in accordance with what the state wants, the honor will go to the state. When the capital is not used in accordance with what the state wants, the person who uses it in the wrong way will be responsible for the evil and the harm that take place.
7. 7. DESTINY AND JUSTICE
Justice is defined as to give each owner of the right their due. Justice is divided into two. The first one is giving every being on the earth all of the devices and opportunities appropriate for them. The second is the elimination of injustice by returning the rights of the wronged people taking their rights from the oppressors.
The second one will take place in the hereafter on a large scale. As for the first one, Allah created each animal in such a way that each animal is content with their lives; Allah made them love the food He ordained for them and created their bodies suitable for obtaining their food. He gave each one the most suitable body for their souls. He showed his justice by giving the sheep the most suitable body for its soul and the wolf the most suitable body for its soul. If the opposite had taken place, if He had given the sheep the soul of the wolf, it would have been an injustice.
One of the manifestations of the divine justice in this world is the maintenance of balance. Those who come to the world and those who leave the world as a result of death form a balance. All of the particles that go into the body of each being and those that leave their body are in equilibrium. Similarly, there is a balance and justice in the creation of the beings in accordance with their duty here and in optimum numbers. For instance, if lions reproduced in the same number as fish did, it would be a great injustice. Allah, who has absolute justice, gave man a rank over all of the other creatures and a suitable soul and body. The body and the soul given to man are a grace and grant of Allah.
A man who works somewhere and who deserves to get a certain amount of money can have the right to file a lawsuit and complain that he suffers injustice when he is not given what he deserves. Filing such a lawsuit without working is an injustice.
Allah created man out of nothing; He did not make man a mine, plant or animal but a human being. As a matter of fact man did not obtain or deserve it. He cannot compare himself with others and cannot say, Why wasnt I given more? So, mans duty is only to thank Allah and to express his gratitude for the blessings he is given.
7. 7. 1. Isnt being exposed to negativeness an injustice?
Allah does not place anybody a burden greater than he can bear. The following is stated in the Quran;
On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear (Al-Baqara, 286).
Some troubles and misfortunes man suffers are in favor of him. Sometimes what we regard as good may be bad for us and vice versa. Because our aim is always directed towards the world, we do not want to undergo any trouble or hardship here. And then we want to go to Paradise. However, Allah knows us better than we do, so He ignores some of our wishes that may harm our eternal life. Instead of some of our bodily desires He gives us troubles and hardships. He saves our eternal life with what may seem as unjust.
Everything that Allah creates for us is good for us either directly or in terms of their results. What we see as unjust and bad may have something good hidden under it. We can understand it through the following example.
Suppose that there is a film that lasts two hours. It is clear that we cannot make a right decision if we want to evaluate the heroes of the film and whether there has been an injustice or not after watching only fifteen minutes of this film in the middle. We cannot know what happened before and what will happen later.
Similarly, the life of man is like that two-hour film. That film starts at the age of 14-15 and goes on till death. That film will be shown in the hereafter. The troubles and hardships that we see as injustice and unfairness in this world may save our eternal life. Some of the qualities that are seen as well and that are envied in this world may cause people to enter Hell. So, some of the things that are thought to be useful in this world may be a burden on man because of its responsibility in the hereafter; and some of the hardships and pains that are faced with patience may cause the forgiveness of mans sins.
7. 7. 2. How will destiny be just for a person who is born away from Makkah in knowing Islam?
Allah has absolute justice. As the understanding, talent and intelligence of each man is different in this world, the conditions and the problems they face are different. So the test and trial of each person will be different from the other people. Maybe some people will be asked only 5 questions, and for some people 500 questions will not be enough. We see this application in the world to some extent. For instance if we teach some students only 50 pages of a 500-page biology book because of the lack of teachers or for some other reasons, we will ask them questions covering only those 50 pages. If some schools have taught the entire book, the students of that school will be responsible for 500 pages. Since we, as slaves, try to act justly, can we think that Allah will act unjustly?
Allah informs us that He will not torment a tribe or nation unless He sends a messenger.
Nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent an messenger (to give warning). (al-Isra, 15).
According to this verse, people of interregnum are people who have been saved from Hell. That is, it is stated that if a person is unaware of the reality of Islam due to some reasons, he will have no responsibility for it.
Maturidi, one of Ahli Sunnah scholars, regards it enough for such a person to know the existence of Allah. According to Ashari, a person to whom no reality of Islam has reached will go to Paradise even if he does not know Allah. Being born in Makkah may be seen as an opportunity but its responsibility is greater. As a matter of fact, there were people who were born in Makkah and there were even the neighbors and relatives of the Prophet (PBUH) that were polytheists and unbelievers. If it was necessary for a man who was born in Makkah to be a Muslim, Abu Jahl and the uncle of our Prophet (PBUH), Abu Lahab would be Muslims.
So, there is no need to defend some people based on the misgiving that they suffer injustice. The test and trial and the responsibility of each person is different and depends on the place he is in, the opportunities he has and his talents and capability. Allah manifests His justice in the best way here too.
7. 8. SOURCES
- The Quran. - Nursi, B. Said. Sözler (Words). rnk Neşriyat. Istanbul, 2006, p. 502 etc. - Kırkıncı, M. Kader Nedir? Cihan Neşriyat. Istanbul, 1985.
Man, who has mind and conscience, thought about both the world he lives in and his own creation and tried to find answers to questions related to these issues in every age. Man found some realities as a result of these efforts, with his limited mind and knowledge but he wasnt able to find satisfactory answers to his questions. Satisfactory answers were learnt from the divine messages received through prophets. The following is stated in the Quran related to this issue:
We have sent among you a Messenger of your own rehearsing to you Our signs, and purifying you, and instructing you in Scripture and wisdom, and in new Knowledge. (al-Baqara, 151).
Prophets were sent in order to teach men how to worship their Lord. It is a reality that man needs a guide to teach him the types of worship like prayer, fasting, almsgiving etc stated in the Quran. The Lord gave men endless blessings. Men can learn how to thank their Lord only through prophets that are sent.
An artist who produces a valuable work of art wants to show this work to people who are good at art, to receive their admiration and appreciation and wants himself to be known. He sometimes holds a general exhibition where he displays all of his works. He appoints an attendant to inform people about, to explain and to show the exhibition.
Similarly, Allah created conscious beings to show the manifestation of His endless perfection and beauty attributes. The most superior of these beings are men. No doubt, there is a need for an interpreter to understand the exhibition of the universe. This guidance is the work of Prophets. The universe is like a book in terms of conveying the names and attributes of Allah. There is a need for Prophets to teach this book to mankind.
Prophets are distinguished people whom Allah appoints out of His grace to guide and enlighten men. Allah informed Prophets the divine judgments through revelation and appointed them to convey and explain them to men. In the Quran the following is stated: وَمَا عَلَى الرَّسُولِ اِلاَّ الْبَلاَغ that is, The Messenger's duty is but to proclaim (the Message) (al-Maeda 99).
Man was created in such a way to live in a community. Therefore, there is a need for the principles brought by Prophets to arrange all of the social and legal procedures sagaciously among the individuals that form the community. Otherwise the establishment of peace, security, justice, reliance, social assistance and solidarity, brotherhood, fraternity, affection, love and respect will not be in the expected level. Despite the material and technical advancement of todays communities, their social problems have increased because of their deprivation from the criteria brought by Prophets. The peace and happiness of the family have disappeared. The social abyss between the social layers has increased.
5. 2. THE EXISTENCE OF ALLAH NECESSITATES PROPHETHOOD
Prophets tell us that the happenings in the universe are meaningful. They also tell us that there is a reason, an aim and a benefit for man. They also mention the relation of the whole universe with man. They speak about the value of man. They state that the misfortunes that come to man are not coincidental that they all have a reason. They state that there is no coincidence in the universe.
Each man would like to find out what the great personality, that does him a lot favors and grants him a lot of things, wants from him to please Him, how to please Him, what his future will be. Allah, who gives men endless blessings, told men what to do to please Him and what their future will be through Prophets.
It is natural that the owner of a skill wants to see and to show his skills and art. He will certainly appoint somebody to explain his skills and art. Similarly, Prophets informed people about the aim of the creation of the universe, the orders and consent of Allah. Prophets mirrored the divine names in the best way. They advised men in the best way that they should believe, obey, thank and praise Allah. Men were able to understand the answers to the questions where the beings come from, where they go and what their duties are thanks to the messages brought by Prophets.
5. 3. PROOFS OF PROPHETHOOD
Prophets never told lies and never stopped being straightforward during their lives. When Allah conveyed them this divine duty, their most important assistant was the fact that they never stopped being straightforward. Another element that strengthened the causes of Prophets and that supported them was Miracles.
Why is a Miracle shown?
A Miracle is approval by Allah that the causes of the Prophets are right. It means that the Prophet tells the truth. Suppose that you said in the assembly of a ruler, The true ruler has appointed me to such and such position. At a time when you were asked to prove your claim, the word Yes uttered by the ruler would sufficiently support you. Or, if the ruler changed his usual practice and attitude at your request, this would confirm your claim even more soundly and more definitely than would the word Yes. (Letters (Mektubat), Page 90).
A person can claim that he is a prophet. Therefore Allah gave each Prophet miracles as a mark and sign of being Allahs messenger. A miracle is an extraordinary thing that men become too weak to do and is only granted to Prophets by Allah.
About 1000 of the miracles of the Mesenger of Allah (PBUH) were seen. Some of these miracles occurred in front of the eyes of hundreds or even thousands of people. That is, it is impossible for them to be denied or to be lies. However, his permanent miracle that will last till the Day of Judgment is the Quran. A lot of scholars, interpreters and researchers expressed clearly that it was impossible for this holy book to be written by a man and that it could only be the book of Allah.
The most distinguished people in the world are the chains of Prophets beginning with Hazrat Adam. The last link of this chain is undoubtedly Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). He himself not only showed the essentials of Islam but he also brought the details of the religion even the smallest manners and principles himself. For instance, he showed and applied everything from the manners of going to bed to eating, drinking water, sitting even speaking and wanted his umma to apply them.
Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) is extremely affectionate towards his umma. It is stated definitely that when he was born, as a miracle, the words my umma, my umma were heard from his lips. In the gathering place in the hereafter, when everybody even the Prophets are busy and in a hurry, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) will say my umma, my umma (Reported from Fathul- Bari Sharh-i Bukhari; El-Hasais-ul Kubra, 1/134).
Religion is a test and trial. Allah will differentiate between the good men and the bad men with this trial. The proclaimers of the religion are Prophets. Prophets need to show some miracles to persuade those who hear their proclamation. No miracles to force the mind to accept were shown. It is the necessity of the offer to leave the door open for the mind and not to grasp the free will If the miracles had been in such a way to grasp the free will, then people with diamond spirits like Abu Bakr and people with coal spirits like Abu Jahl would have been in the same level and the secret of the trial would have been spoiled.
5.4. THE ATTRIBUTES OF PROPHETS AND THEIR HIGH VIRTUES
Prophethood is quite a heavy and big load. When Prophets carried out their duties they followed important orders and principles. Some of them are as follows:
1. Sidq (Loyalty): It means honesty. It is one of the most important characteristics of Prophets.
2. Amanah (Trust): It means to be reliable. Prophets are the most reliable and trustworthy people.
3. Ismah (Innocence): It means not to commit sins, to be protected from committing sins. Prophets were freed and forgiven from any sins by Allah.
4. Fatanah (Intelligence): It means to be clever and intelligent. Prophets were created so talented as to understand the orders of Allah and the happenings.
5. Tabligh (Conveying): It means to inform, to convey. To command the good things and to forbid the evil things are the fundamental duties of Prophets.
6. Altruism and not asking anything: Prophets never asked any money for the services they offered; on the contrary they sacrificed their interests.
7. Divine consent: Prophets always depended on divine consent in their services.
5. 5. SOME ISSUES ABOUT PROPHETS
Revelation: It is the words of Allah told to the Prophets chosen by Him among human beings to convey those words to the other human beings (Cerrahoğlu Prof.Dr. İsmail, Tefsir Usûlü p.39, Ankara 1979.).
The number of Prophets was stated to be one hundred and twenty-four thousand in a hadith (Mishqat-ul Masabih 3/122).
There are 25 Prophets mentioned in the Quran. They are as follows: Adam, Idris (Enoch), Nooh (Noah), Hood, Saleh, Ibrahim (Abraham), Loot, Ismaeel (Ishmael), Ishaq (Isaac), Yaqoob (Jacob), Yousuf (Joseph), Ayub (Job), Shuaib (Jethro), Musa (Moses), Haroon (Aaron), Dawood (David), Sulaiman (Solomon), Elias (Elijah), Alyasa (Elisha), Dhul kifl (Ezekiel), Younus (Jonah), Zakaria (Zacharias), Yahya (John), Eesa (Jesus Christ), Muhammad (PBUH). In addition, there are three more people called Uzair (Ezra), Luqman and Dhul-qarnain; it is disputable whether they are prophets or saints.
5. 6. MIRACLES AND WONDERS OF CIVILIZATION
Prophets were sent to arrange the life in the world and in the hereafter. Prophets were leaders both in spirituality and in material development. Human beings needed to eat and drink as soon as they appeared on the earth. This made agriculture obligatory. Hazrat Adam, the first man and the first prophet, started agriculture as a result of the command he received through Hazrat Jibril; he sowed wheat and produced bread. Another prophet to think of when agriculture is in question is Hazrat Yousuf. He made the first examples of great grain barns and silos. He saved the crops collected during the seven years of abundance and used them during the following seven years of shortage. Hazrat Yousuf is also known as the first prophet to make a clock. Hazrat Nooh built a ship as a result of the revelation of Allah and became the first sailor.
Some Miracles Indicating Science and Technology
In the event that Hazrat Musa struck a stone with his stick and twelve springs of water gushed from the stone (al-Baqara, 60.al-Baqara, 60.), which is a miracle of Hazrat Musa, there is a sign that people can extract water through an instrument from hidden underground water resources. Todays science found the drill. That verse indicates the drill and further.
The Miracles of Hazrat Eesa reviving the dead, curing the people born blind and the people with speckled skins (Aal-e-Imran, 49.) show that remedies can be found even for the most chronic diseases. That verse shows and encourages more than the level mankind reached in medicine today.
In the verse O Fire! Be thou cool, and (a means of)) safety for Abraham! (al-Anbiya. 69.), there is a sign for science and technology. Accordingly, it is understood that out of materials like fire resistant amianthus (rock wool) Allah hid under the earth, clothes and other fire resistant thins can be made.
The verses informing us the miracles of the prophets indicate science and art, apart from their literal meaning. It is possible to understand different things from a verse. Absolute obedience to prophets is ordered in the Quran. So the Quran encourages men to learn science by these verses. Since the purpose of mens creation is to fully worship their Creator, men can only perform full worshipping by the sciences and information he learns.
Please note!
"O Kings and Rulers! If you wish to act with pure justice, try to see and understand the face of the earth in all its details, like Solomon. For, by rising to the level of being informed whenever he wishes about every part of his realm, a just ruler and king who cherishes his subjects is saved from being made answerable, and may act with complete justice." And Almighty God in effect says through the allusive tongue of the verse: "O Sons of Adam! I gave one of My servants a broad realm, and in order to act completely justly within it, I allowed him to know personally of all situations and events that occurred there. And since I have given all men, by their natures, the ability to be vicegerent of the earth, I gave them also the capacity to see, consider, and understand the face of the earth in accordance with that ability, since My wisdom required it. If individuals do not attain to that point, as a race men may attain to it.
And if they do not reach it physically, the saints may reach it in meaning. In which case, you may benefit from this great bounty. Come on, let's see you do it! On condition you do not neglect your duties of worship, work to turn the face of the earth into a garden every part of which you may see, and the sounds of every corner of which you may hear. Heed the decree of the Most Merciful: هُوَ الَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اْلاَرْضَ ذَلُولاً فَامْشُوا فِى مَنَاكِبِهَا وَكُلُوا مِنْ رِزْقِهِ وَاِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ : It is He Who has made the earth manageable for you, so traverse its tracts and enjoy of the sustenance which He furnishes, but unto Him is the Resurrection." Thus, the above mentioned verse alludes to the farthest limit in much further advances in the attraction of forms and sounds, one of man's finest arts, and hints encouragement. (Words (Sözler)
فَآمِنُوا بِاللهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وِالنُّورِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلْنَا وَاللهِ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ Believe, therefore, in Allah and His Messenger and in the Light which We have sent down. And Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do (at-Taghabun, 8).
A hadith and its meaning:
When the Prophet (PBUH) was asked what belief was, he said:
ما الإيمان؟ قال: أن تؤمن بالله وملئكته وكتبه ورسله واليوم الآخر وتؤمن بالقدر خيره و شرّه That you affirm your faith in Allah, in His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil (Muslim, Eeman, 1).
1. 1. WHAT IS BELIEF?
Belief is to believe in without hesitation and to affirm with the heart that the fundamentals of religion, the decrees and the news that are certainly known to be sent by Allah to the prophets are true.
According to Sad Taftazani belief is the light that Allah throws into the heart of a person that He wishes after that persons use of his free will.
1.2. MANS NEED TO BELIEVE
Those who fear Allah believe in Allah although they dont see Him and in what He informs.(Al-Baqara, 3.)
By nature man is extremely weak, yet everything touches him, and saddens and grieves him. Also he is utterly lacking in power, yet the calamities and enemies that afflict him are extremely numerous. Also he is extremely wanting, yet his needs are indeed many. Also he is lazy and incapable, yet life's responsibilities are most burdensome. Also his humanity has connected him to the rest of the universe, yet the decline and disappearance of the things he loves and with which he is familiar continually pains him. Also his reason shows him exalted aims and lasting fruits, yet his hand is short, his life is brief, his power is slight, and his patience is little. (Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Sözler (Words), Ninth Word, p. 46.)
Man has thousands of thousands of desires which stretch to eternity and are spread throughout the world. Just as he wants a flower, so does he want the spring. Just as he desires a garden, so does he also desire the everlasting Paradise. Just as he longs to see a friend, so does he long to see Allah. Just as in order to visit one he loves who lives in another place, he is in need for his beloved's door to be opened to him, so does he want to visit his friends who traveled to the world of the graves. He needs to seek refuge in Allah Who will close the door of this huge world and open the door of the hereafter.
Please note
Belief is a light and ray granted by the Everlasting Sun to the conscience of man; it illuminates the inner face of the conscience completely. Thanks to it, a familiarity and security with the whole universe emerges and he becomes an expert on everything; such a spiritual strength appears in the heart of man that man can resist any misfortune, happening with it. It gives man such wideness that he can encompass the past and the present. (Nursî, İşârâtul-İcâz, p. 38-39).
1.3. LEVELS OF BELIEF
There are two levels of belief: ijmal and tafseel.
a-Ijmal (Imitative) Belief
Ijmal Belief is a belief in the form of; Allah exists, Allah is the owner of everything, Muhammad (PBUH) is Allahs messenger. This belief is a belief that is accepted without any reasoning, based on the information heard from the people around and accepted as heard. That kind of a belief can always be defeated by doubts.
b- Tafseel (Investigative) Belief
Tafseel Belief is the belief that is accepted by proving the fundamentals of belief with scientific and logical evidences and by contemplating on them.
Philosophical objections and doubts against belief and religion that have accumulated for centuries are a great problem for humanity. They attack the fundamentals of belief that are the keys of eternal bliss. In this century, above all, there is a need for investigative belief that can resist these attacks. The most effective way to save the life in the hereafter and to maintain it, which is the greatest problem of man, is possible by obtaining investigative belief.
Just as there are levels from a seed to a tree, belief has a lot of levels too. They are the levels of 'certainty at the degree of knowledge', 'certainty at the degree of witnessing', and 'absolute certainty'. Each of them has endless levels too.
1- Certainty at the degree of knowledge
Certainty at the degree of knowledge means to know Islamic matters scientifically without any doubt. This level of belief is capable of resisting thousands of doubts due to the strength of the proofs.
2- Certainty at the degree of witnessing
This belief has a lot of levels too. Maybe it has as many manifestations as the names of Allah. It means to know the matters related to belief by observing or as if seeing them or as if observing their truthfulness. A person who has this level of belief is capable of reading the whole universe like the Quran.
3- Absolute certainty
The highest and most advanced level of belief is absolute certainty. That is, to observe the truth and to live the truth. It has a lot of levels too. People who have this belief are not influenced even if thousands of armies of doubt and delusion attack them. 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. Smoke is the sign of fire. To know the presence of fire like this 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. Fire is seen by the eye.
To put your hand into the fire and feel the burning property of the fire and other properties is absolute certainty.
1.4. BELIEF IS AN INDIVISIBLE WHOLE
A verse:
The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His Messengers "We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His Messengers." (al-Baqara, 285).
Belief in Allah and the hereafter makes it necessary to eliminate the darkness of unbelief like a sun. Why doesnt acceptance of only some of these fundamentals of belief free a person from absolute unbelief?
The six fundamentals of belief are belief in Allah, the Prophets, the Angels, the Revealed Books, the resurrection after death and destiny. They are an indivisible whole. Therefore a person who does not accept any one of them does not become a Muslim.
Each of the truths of belief proves the other fundamentals of belief with the evidences that prove itself. That is, the six fundamentals of belief become both evidences and results for one another. For instance, belief in Allah proves both belief in the hereafter and the other fundamentals of belief with its own evidences.
There is no sultanate that has no reward for obedient people and no punishment for disobedient people. So, Allah, who is the owner of this universe, will have an eternal reward place for those who obey Him and a permanent punishment place for those who disobey Him. Since such punishment is not given fully in this world, it will be given in the hereafter. Therefore belief in the existence of Allah necessitates belief in the hereafter.
The meaning of the each being in this universe, which is written like a book, needs to be explained. This can only be done by prophets sent by the owner of the universe. The most important issue of the humanity is to find answers to the questions like what the duty of man is, where he came from, why he was sent to this world, who sent him, where he will go from here. The people to give the true answers to these questions are prophets. So belief in Allah necessitates belief in prophets.
The Creator of this universe, who makes all of His creatures speak to one another through thousands of languages and who hears and knows their speech will definitely speak to man. Since He will speak to man, He will also speak to prophets, who are the spiritual leaders of human beings that are the result of the universe and caliphs on the earth and the commanders of many creatures. He will send them His books and pages. Therefore belief in Allah necessitates belief in His Books.
Allah records everything that a tree and a grass experiences throughout their lives in their seeds. Similarly He perfectly has everything that a being with a consciousness experiences during his life recorded in his memory as tiny as a mustard seed. So He has everything man does recorded. He has mans deeds recorded for punishment and reward and has his bad and good deeds recorded in the tablets of destiny. So, belief in Allah necessitates belief in destiny. The limited sight of man does not suffice to recognize the Creator, who filled this universe with endless works of wonderful art. This necessitates the existence of angels who carry out the duty of glorification of Allah properly. So, belief in Allah necessitates belief in angels.
As the sun shows the day and the day shows the sun, the fundamentals of belief prove one another. Each one proves and necessitates the existence of the others. The truths of belief are an indivisible whole.
1. 5. WHAT BELIEF MAKES MAN GAIN
Man ascends to the highest of the high points with the light of belief and gains a value deserving paradise. He descends to the lowest of the low points with the darkness of unbelief and reaches a state deserving hell. Belief is an attachment. It is a luminous connection that connects man to Allah. To make a connection with Allah is only possible through belief. The real value of man depends on his connection with and closeness to Allah. A persons dignity and prestige increases in accordance with his closeness to the sultan; similarly mans value increases in accordance with his closeness to Allah.
In this universe, if man is connected to Allah, takes shelter in Him, then he can become Allahs caliph on the earth, His official, His guest or even His friend thanks to belief. This connection of friendship with Allah can only be realized by the light of belief. Belief is such a light that man sees the reality of everything thanks to this light. He perceives the hidden reasons and meanings of beings and understands that they are not created in vain.
The nicest and prettiest feeling of man is affection. If belief wouldnt exist, this affection would put man into distressed troubles due to endless parts. For instance, a mother whose only and very beautiful baby dies feels this spiritual torture fully if she is unaware of the hereafter.
One of the important feelings of man is love. Love that is illuminated by belief makes all of the beings friends of man. Then a connection of love is established between man and his environment. The feeling of being eternally together with the people he loves makes him happy. For instance, when a mothers baby is about to die and when a doctor gives the baby some medicine and the pretty baby comes round, the mother will feel very happy and comfortable.
Similarly, millions of people that we love and that are interested in like this baby are separated from us by death. If we see the matter in the light of belief, we will know that they do not disappear eternally. So the troubles and sorrows are transformed into endless happiness and comfort.
If man is deprived of belief, the anxiety of being eternally parted from the people he loves gives him hell-like torture. For instance, the most valuable thing of man is his mind. If the mind falls into polytheism and unbelief, it sends the sufferings and troubles coming from the past and caused by the eternal disappearance of the beloved people to the heart. In addition, the anxiety about his disappearance in the future transforms the mind into a torturing device. Therefore the sinful man generally indulges in alcohol or entertainment to escape from the troubles the mind gives him.
If mind is illuminated by the light of belief, the thought of being together with his late relatives and friends in paradise fills his world. It makes him love life and creatures. His love towards his Lord, who will make it possible to rejoin the people he loves and who will give him and them the endless bliss, will increase. Mind becomes a real mind with the light of belief and gets its real worth.
If the eye of man is illuminated with the light of belief, then he sees the whole universe in the form of paradise adorned with roses and basils. He sees the works of arts, grace and help of Allah in every being he looks at. He looks around with contemplation and to draw lessons. He understands the evidences showing the existence and oneness of Allah in everything and draws lessons from them to strengthen his belief. The universe becomes like a big book in his sight. He reads the hidden meanings in this book of universe.
When the eardrum becomes illuminated with the light of belief, it hears the spiritual voices coming from the universe. It understands the glorification of Allah carried out in the language of state. It hears the songs of the winds, the cries of the clouds and the beautiful sounds of the sea waves thanks to the light of belief. It hears the divine words and exalted glorification of Allah from each being like the splashes of rain, the chirruping of birds and the chatting of insects. The universe becomes like a gathering of divine music. The soul and the heart of a man like this are filled with tastes and pleasures.
However, when that ear is blocked with unbelief, it is deprived of those high delicious, spiritual sounds. The sounds that give pleasure are transformed into the sounds of mourning. The lofty and beautiful meanings in the heart are replaced by sorrows. The sounds that come from the state of being eternally lonely caused by being unable to find close friends fill his world. He hears only the sounds of the troubles and agonies caused by the state of feeling ownerless and unprotected. This state makes him live a hell life.
So, belief makes man gain such a great happiness and blessing, such a great taste and comfort and such an honorable rank that it cannot be defined. The believers point of view of the universe is positive. He sees everything as good, has good thoughts and receives pleasure from life. He sees all of the beings in the universe as his friends and brothers. He has no unfamiliarity with anything. Everything is tightly connected to one another with bonds of unity as many as the names of Allah. The world is like a cradle of brotherhood for him.
The light of belief illuminates the world of man and enlightens the universe. It saves the past and the future from darkness. It honors man and brings out the perfection in the essence of the universe. It adds values to its value. All of the beings in the universe obtain a meaning thanks to belief. The happenings cease to be coincidental. It is seen that everything takes place within the plan and program of Allah.
The believer sees the trace, essence and face of Allahs grace in the inside of all negativeness thanks to the positive and good point of view he gained through the light of belief. For instance he looks at the misfortunes like diseases on the positive side. He thinks that it will compensate for his sins, train his soul, make him gain good deeds and increase his level, and consoles himself.
The unbeliever looks at the universe and happenings on the negative side and dubiously. Unbelief is like black glasses that show everything ugly and dark. Unbelief sees beings as a result of coincidence and arbitrariness. From the point of view of the unbeliever everything is aimless. All of the beings are strangers to and enemies of one another. He thinks all of the beings advance rapidly to the world of non-existence. The fear and anxiety that he himself will also fall into eternal darkness makes the world a dungeon for him. His world is filled with darkness and troubles. His soul is surrounded by the darkness of grudge, hatred and disobedience instead of the lights of love and affection. Such a man lives the life of hell in this world before going to hell.
A look at the six aspects of man by the glasses of belief
Man is related to all creatures. He has a kind of trade with everything. He has to meet, speak to and live near the things that surround him materially and spiritually by its very nature. In this case, man has six aspects: right, left, front, back, top and bottom. By wearing the glasses of belief and unbelief, man can see the creatures and their states in these six aspects.
Right aspect: This aspect means the past. When the past is viewed through the glasses of unbelief, it will be seen as a large graveyard. This view will give man a great terror and hopelessness.
However, when this aspect is viewed through the glasses of belief, he sees that the people in the past were transferred into a better and more luminous world. He regards the graves and ditches as underground tunnels dug in order to reach a luminous world. So, belief gives man great happiness, comfort and peace and makes him say Thank you Allah.
Left aspect: When the left aspect, that is, the future is viewed through the glasses of unbelief, it will be seen as a terrible, dark, large grave that will make us decay and that will destroy us by making the snakes and scorpions eat us.
However, when it is viewed through the glasses of belief, it will be seen as a dining table full of different kinds of delicious, nice food and drinks prepared by Allah, who has mercy on, and creates man out of nothing. And it will make him say Thank you Allah thousands of times.
Top aspect: A man who looks at the skies through the glasses of unbelief sees that billions of stars and spheres move very fast and do different actions like the running horses or the military maneuvers in the endless space; since he does not know that a being controls them, he feels terrified and horrified.
However, when a believer looks at the skies, he understands that this strange maneuver is carried out under the command and control of a commander. He sees that the stars that adorn the world of skies are candles that illuminate humans. Since he knows that their reigns are in the hands of somebody, he watches the actions that are like the running of the horses fondly instead of fear or terror. It is definitely not enough to say Thank you Allah thousands of times for the blessing of belief that describes the action of the sky.
Bottom aspect: It is the earth. A person who views the earth through the eye of unbelief sees the world as an idle, unbridled wandering animal around the sun or a boat with broken planks and without a captain and feels terrified and excited.
However if he looks through belief, he sees it in the form of a ship under the command of Allah, with all of the food, drinks, clothes and people, that travels around the sun. And he starts to say Thank you Allah many times for the great blessing originating from belief.
Front aspect: When an unbeliever looks at this aspect, he sees that all of the living creatures, whether they are humans or animals, go to that aspect speedily in groups and disappear. That is they cease to exist. Since he knows that he will go there too, he nearly goes mad because of sorrow.
However, for a believer who looks through the eye of belief, the movement and travel of people that way is not towards the world of non-existence but a transfer like movement of nomads from one plateau to another. It is a migration from the temporary zone to the permanent zone, from the farm of service to the office of payment, from the land of troubles to the land of grace. Since he knows that this transfer is not to the world of non-existence, he faces it with gladness.
However, the hardships that seem like death and grave on the way are happy events as a result. The way to luminous worlds passes through the grave and the greatest happy events are the results of the worst disasters. For instance, Hazrat Yusuf reached the sultanate of Egypt only after he was thrown into a well by his brothers and after he was put to prison as a result of the slander of Zaliha.
Similarly a child that comes to the world through the womb of his mother attains worldly bliss as a result of the troubles and pains he experiences in the tunnel.
Back Aspect: If those coming from behind are viewed through the eye of unbelief, the questions "Where are they going and from where? Why did they come to the world? cannot be answered and the unbeliever remains in the torture of hesitation.
However, if a person looks through the eye of belief, he understands that these people are onlookers sent by Allah to see the miracles of the strange power exhibited in the exhibition of the universe. He realizes that these people will achieve levels by understanding the meanings which Allah wants to be known in the universe in accordance with the rate they understand and return to Allah. He will say Thank you Allah for the blessing of belief that makes him gain this blessing of understanding.
These six aspects of man are illuminated thanks to belief; all of the times and places are transformed into a large and comfortable world. The whole world virtually becomes like his house that he knows, is familiar with and he feels secure in. Thus he becomes like a sultan of the universe thanks to belief.
1.6. IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION IN MANS LIFE
Man was created differently from and more talented than the other beings. His needs are so many. He cannot meet all of his needs alone. Therefore he is bound to live together with other people. In such a social structure there is a need for justice in mutual relations. For instance, if the whole world were given to the man, he would say greedily, Are there any more to come? (Chapter Qaf , 50:30.). He agrees to the infliction of harm on thousands of people for his own pleasure or interest. Communities need justice in order to save individuals from immoral behavior like that and to prevent the infringement on the rights of others.
However, since the mind of each individual is not enough to understand and carry out justice, there is a need for a superhuman mind. Such a mind is possible in the form of law. Such a general law can only be the product of revelation, religion. Religion is the total of the orders and prohibitions of Allah that arranges the acts of man that he does using his will. It ensures the peace and comfort of man, his family and the community in which he lives (Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, İşaratül-İcaz, p. 140-141.).
LETS THINK!...
WHAT IS MAN?
Man is the final and most comprehensive fruit of the tree of the universe, And in respect of the Muhammadan (Peace and blessings be upon him) Reality is its original seed,
And the supreme sign of the Quran of the universe,
And he is its Throne Verse bearing the Greatest Name,
And the most honored guest in the palace of the universe,
And the most active functionary empowered over the other inhabitants of the palace,
And the official charged with overseeing the income and expenditure, and the planting and cultivation of the gardens in the quarter of the earth in the city of the universe,
And is its most noisy and responsible minister, equipped with hundreds of sciences and thousands of art,
And an inspector and sort of vicegerent of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, under His close scrutiny, in the region of the earth in the country of the universe,
And one with disposal over it whose actions, particular and universal, are all recorded,
And who has undertaken the Supreme Trust, from which the heavens and earth and mountains shrank,
And before whom are two roads, on one of which he is the most wretched of living beings, and on the other, the most fortunate,
And he is a universal bondsman charged with most extensive worship,
And the place of manifestation of the Greatest Name of the Monarch of the universe and a comprehensive mirror of all His Names and a special addressee of His, with the best understanding of His Divine addresses and speech,
And the most needy of the living beings of the universe,
And a wretched living creature who has innumerable desires and goals, numberless enemies and things that harm him, despite his infinite poverty and impotence,
And the richest in regard to abilities and potentialities,
And the most suffering in respect of the pleasures of life, whose enjoyment is marred by ghastly pains,
And the most needy and wanting, and worthy and deserving of immortality, and seeks and beseeches eternal happiness with endless prayers, and if all the pleasures of this world were given him, his desire for immortality would not be satisfied,
And who loves to the degree of worshipping Him the One Who bestows bounties on him, and makes Him loved and is loved and a wondrous miracle of the power of the Eternally Besought One and a strange creature (Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Şualar (Rays), Eleventh Ray, Seventh Topic, p.198.).
The laws of nature that Allah made for the universe result in this perfect order. Man becomes successful to the extent that he obeys these laws. When he disobeys these laws he receives the opposite of what he aims.
For instance, if man puts his hand in the fire saying I have the freedom, his hand burns. If he goes out and wanders nakedly at minus 40 degrees, he freezes. If he opposes the law of gravity and throws himself down from the 40th floor, he is broken to pieces. At this point, man has no freedom. Man becomes free and happy to the extent that he obeys the laws of Allah.
As Allah has laws arranging the rules in the universe, His laws that arrange the life of man and community are the religion. To live in accordance with the laws of nature makes man happy in this world and to disobey them harms him; similarly to obey the rules of the religion will make man happy both in this world and in the hereafter.
If you operate a machine in accordance with the rules in the manual prepared by the constructor of the machine, it will operate more effectively and last longer. If you operate it randomly without reading the manual, it will be out of order soon. The guide of man, the perfect machine that Allah created, is the Quran. A person living in accordance with the principles in the Quran, will have an efficient life in the world and will obtain the endless bliss in the hereafter. Otherwise he will be miserable both in the world and in the hereafter.
Mans healthy living depends on the rules of the science of medicine. It is a sensible attitude to use the drugs in the prescription administered by the doctor and to follow the advice of the doctor. If you say, This doctor limits my freedom, I will eat and drink whatever I want, you will lose your freedom to live healthily. You will have to accept to be the slaves of microbes and diseases.
Religion does not consist of belief only. Good deeds are also included. Only the fear of prison and the police are not enough in order to prevent people who commit many great sins like murder, adultery, theft, gambling and alcohol that poison the community life from these bad deeds. Thanks to the fear of Allah man obtains through his belief, he always feels a spiritual forbidder in his heart and conscience. He stays away from bad deeds by recalling the prison of hell and the torture of Allah.
Therefore the cure for the spiritual diseases of man and community is religion. It depends on the rules of the religion to live spiritually peacefully and healthily. It offers man an honorable life to be a slave to Allah and to carry out His commands and prohibitions. Being a slave of Allah is not slavery but an honorable rank. A person who does not accept this honorable rank for the sake of freedom and takes his own passion and impulses as god becomes a slave of his soul and the devil. To be a slave of only one Allah and to be the sultan of all beings is only possible through belief.
Please note
Humans became free, yet they are slaves of Allah Tarihçe-i Hayat
1.7. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ALLAH, UNIVERSE AND MAN
The universe is a mirror showing the endless beauty and perfection present in the Personality of Allah. The beauties and arts seen in the construction of the beings in the universe came into being with the manifestation of many of Allahs names like Compassionate, Merciful, Almighty, Knower of All and Perfectly Wise.
An artist with a skill wants to see the beauty in him and to show it to others by exhibiting his art. Accordingly, Allah wanted to build a palace and lay tables in it. He wanted to entertain His dear guests, human beings. He wanted to show them the wonders of His art, the glory of His sultanate and the miracles of His might.
Similarly, the universe is a magnificent palace where Allah exhibits the glory of His Sultanate, His wealth, the wonders of His art, the miracles of His knowledge and power. The seal of that Sultan is stamped on each stone of this palace. The signature of this Artist is seen on each embroidery. Man is the most beautiful embroidery of Allah. The seal of humanity stamped on his face since the time of Hazrat Adam shows the seal of Allahs unity. That is, all humans are of the same form and structure. On the other hand, the difference on the face of each human being mirrors the seal of Allahs oneness.
Each work of art shows the art and skill of its artist. Man is the most beautiful work of art of all the beings in the universe created by Allah. All of the divine names that were manifested and that functioned in the creation of the universe are manifested in man too. Therefore man is the most perfect work of art that makes Allah known.
Allah created man for His own recognition and love. To know Allah and to love Him is the greatest duty of and most honorable rank of man. That is, man will see the divine names manifested in his own body and in the other beings of the universe and will know Allah by those names. He will love Allah through the beauty of those names and his love for Allah will increase accordingly.
Nafs (soul) is the greatest enemy of man. It obeys the orders of the devil and tempts man into bad deeds. In the world of man, there are some other feelings apart from nafs that tempts him into bad deeds. On the other hand, there are instruments like mind, heart and conscience that order him to do good deeds. So the doors of progress and backwardness are open in the inner world of man.
Therefore man has to be very careful and must not be tempted by the inculcation of nafs and the devil; he must ensure the sovereignty of mind, heart, conscience and belief in his world and keep away from bad deeds. So, this is the way to obtain the consent of Allah and the endless bliss.
READING TEXT
MAN AND UNIVERSE
On the one hand, cells written through atoms, organs formed by cells and human body emerging as a result of their common work.
On the other hand, soil merging with bacteria, the miracle of water arising from the togetherness of oxygen and hydrogen; seas, rivers.
The sky, sun and moon, adorned with stars in the distance
Everything, from atom to the sun, is heading towards the same target. All of the works and alliances are for man, who is the fruit of the universe; for the spirit of man
That spirit is a guest in that body as well as in the universe; one of them is like his house the other is like his city. There is a close relationship between the body and the universeBoth of them are at his disposal. The properties of both are arranged for man Their forms, sizes, distances are all to house the guest in the best way...
Man and universe... One is likened to tree, the other to fruit. The phrase little world is used for man, and the phrase big man for the world. The most important indication of universe-man relationship is the fact that all of the world of beings was created out of the light of Muhammad.
This magnificent universe that was created out of that light phase by phase is represented in the nature of man with all of its worlds. Human mind reminds the Preserved Tablet; similarly the element of iron in man represents the iron mine in the world. More examples can be added to these two examples of spirit and the body.
Man is a unit of measurement, an index, a scale, and a balance to the truths of the universe. For example, an extremely decisive evidence of the existence of the Preserved Tablet in the universe and an example of it is the faculty of memory in man. And a decisive evidence of the existence of the World of Similitudes and an example of it is man's faculty of imagination. (Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, (Lemalar) Flashes, Thirtieth Flash, Sixth Point, p.347.).
When we pay attention to the close relationship between the eye and the sun, the food and the stomach and the air and the lungs, we seem to feel that man is almost adjacent to the tree of the universe as fruit is attached to the branch. The fact that we are attached to the earth with the force of gravity is an indication of it.
To forget man-universe relationship is a great barrier that closes the doors of thinking and thanking for man. Such a man almost isolates himself from this magnificent world and attaches himself to office, money, applauses, fame, love of admiration and anxiety of criticizing of people Since these are very small matters, a man attached to them becomes smaller spiritually and cannot make progress.
Whereas a man who sees himself standing near the tree of the universe, facing the eternal world and as a candidate for the endless bliss, ascends to a very high rank with his targets that leaves the universe far behind.
In Chapter al-Fatiha when the verse Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek (Chapter al-Fatiha ,1: 5.) is interpreted, attention is attracted to an important point: Even if a person prays alone, he says we not I On behalf of whom does he say we? One of them is the great congregation that prays in the mosque of the earth together with that believer. The other is all of the organs and cells of man that worship their Lord by fulfilling the duties assigned to them. Man means this congregation inherent in him when he says, Thee do we worship.
And the third congregation: The whole tree of the universe that yields the fruit of man is at work and worshipping. So man can say Thee do we worship by meaning the universe and everything in it.
So, man, as a fruit of the tree of the universe, was created with the capability of presenting all of his trees worshipping to his Lord.
Those who fulfill this duty are great men. To stand in front of such a congregation, to perform a general prayer with them is a great rank and a lofty glory.
A person who lives without paying attention to any of these and who is occupied with a small office or a small wealth in any part of the world is no more than a poor person who lost his capital of life.
A verse teaching that man is a greater being than the universe:
We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains: but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it― he was indeed unjust and foolish. (Chapter al-Ahzab 33: 72.).
The talent that was not the share for any being in the valley of belief, recognition and love was attached to the spirit of man. No matter what the reason was for the other beings to avoid undertaking the trust, an important lesson to draw from this verse is as follows:
Man is a worthy and honorable being who undertook a load that the heavens, the earth and the mountains avoided undertaking. This great man should not be drowned in small bodies of water, should not disappear in small accounts and should not derogate himself. Otherwise he will be very unjust and very foolish. And this lofty nature falls in a position lower than animals as it is stated in another verse.
Prof. Dr. Alaaddin BAŞAR
KEY WORDS
Certainty at the degree of witnessing: To know certainly to the extent as if seeing by eye or to believe to the same extent.
Great sins: There are seven great sins: Killing, adultery, drinking wine, stop visiting close relatives, gambling, bearing false witness, supporting the innovations that will harm the religion.
Great trust: Great trust and duty; the duties of worshipping to Allah.
Absolute certainty: The highest level of recognition;
Caliph on the earth: Acting on the earth on behalf of Allah and by the permission of Allah related to some matters.
Evidence: Bond, document, proof; document shown to prove that a claim is right.
Sedition: deteriorate, misguide, cause unrest, stir.
Natural need: Need felt naturally.
Certainty at the degree of knowledge: To know definitely through knowledge.
Belief in Allah: To believe in Allah.
Development: Improving, evolving, discovering, emerging; making progress.
Abundance: Plentitude, frequency, variety. Opposite of oneness, everything except Allah.
Book of the Eternally Besought: Book of the universe.
Stubborn unbelief: Being persistent in unbelief.
Absolute unbelief: Definite and full unbelief.
Whole: All, always, every, full, consisting of parts.
Wholly: Made up of parts or individuals of the whole, general, all.
Language of state: (used for something) Expressing a meaning with its standing and appearance.
Resort: Reference, place to be returned to, center, source.
Character: Temper, nature, creation, structure.
Responsible: Liable, in charge. Obliged to the something. Apostate: A person who forsook from Islam.
Sharia: The right way, the true religious way, the religion Islam, all of the rules and laws of Islam.
Sharia of universe: the laws of creation Allah made in the universe.
Taqwa: Protect oneself from all sins, avoid the things that the religion forbids.
Instructing: teaching, training, educating.
Conveyance: Communicate, inform. Inform people about the orders and laws of Allah exactly.
Backwardness: derogating, recession.
Contemplation: Thinking, thinking deeply and carefully, considering.
Advancement: Progress, promotion.
Slavery: Being a slave, knowing that one is a slave and obeying Allah.
Divinity: Deity, Sovereignty of Allah and obedience and worshipping of everything in the universe to Him.
Conscience: The spiritual feeling inherent in man that can discern good and bad and that takes pleasure in doing good deeds and that feels pain in doing bad deeds.
Necessary existence: To be necessary to exist, to be impossible not to exist, His existence to be necessary and obligatory, to be indispensable.
Certainty: Knowledge that is too certain to doubt
1.9. Sources
The Quran. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, (Sözler) Words, Ninetennth Word, p. 46. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, İşaratül-İcaz, p. 140-141. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, (Şualar) Rays, Eleventh Ray, Seventh Matter, p.198. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Words, Lemeât, p. 656. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Rays, Seventh Ray, p. 138. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Emirdağ Lahikası (Emirdağ Addendum), p. 311. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Münazarat, p. 127. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Muhakemat, p. 8. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Words, Thirteenth Word, p 40 Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, (Lemalar) Flashes, Thirtieth Flash, Sixth Point p.347. Alaaddin Başar, İnsan ve Kâinat, Zafer Dergisi, Issue:375, Nisan 2008, p.36-38.
Belief in Allah is to accept and affirm with the heart the existence and oneness of Allah and that Allah is the Creator of all of the beings.
2. Existence of Allah
Hundreds of evidences stating the existence and oneness of Allah are mentioned in the Quran.
For instance, “Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made? And at the Sky, how it is raised high? And at the Mountains how they are fixed firm? And at the Earth, how it is spread out?”(al-Ghashiya, 17-20.).
Man is asked to look at the beings around him and to know and find the Creator of them by looking at them. In some verses it is stated that it is impossible for people who see the beings to deny the existence of Allah.
In another verse a similar meaning is pointed out:
“If indeed thou ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to His Law); they will certainly reply "Allah." How are they then deluded away (from the truth)?” (Al-Ankaboot, 61.)
Since things exist and they are full of art, they surely have a creator and a maker. The universe can be likened to a very meaningful book from this aspect and to a perfect and magnificent city from another aspect and to a wonderful work of art from yet another aspect. Just as a book has a writer, so does this book of the universe have a writer. Whoever is the writer of the book is also the writer of each letter. Whoever is the creator of the universe is also the creator of all of the beings, from the atoms to the planets of the book of the universe. Therefore the owner of the universe is the owner of all of the beings in it. Whoever owns the field owns the crops too. Whoever is the maker and the creator of the tree owns its fruit too. If the universe is a tree, then man, who is the fruit of this tree is the work of His. A being that cannot create the tree, cannot create its fruit either. Therefore whoever is the creator of the universe is the creator of man too.
Allah, who created the eye of man and gave the eye the ability to see, created the sun too. The eye could not see if the sun did not exist. Therefore the being that placed the eye in the face of man is the same person as the being that placed the sun, which is the eye of the sky, in its place.
As there is a maker of a pin so will there be a maker and an artist of all the beings, each of which is a wonderful work of art, in the universe.
If the universe is likened to a magnificent city, there is a governor of each city; so will there be a governor of this city of the universe, which acts in a system and order, which is kept clean and which is under observation. And that can only be Allah.
The mind and the conscience of man accept the existence of a creator, and science proves it. When we take a living thing into account;
a- Causes may have made it.
b- This being may have come into being by itself.
c- Nature may have made it.
d- Or an almighty being may have created this thing.
There is no other way for a being to come into being than the alternatives mentioned above. It can be explained by the example of a pharmacy that the first three ways are impossible in terms of mind and science and that the last one necessitates the existence of Allah:
Imagine there is a pharmacy in which there are hundreds of jars and phials filled with quite different substances. A living potion and a living remedy are required from those medicaments. So we go to the pharmacy and see that they are to be found there in abundance, yet in great variety. We examine each of the potions and see that the ingredients have been taken in varying but precise amounts from each of the jars and phials, one ounce from this, three from that, seven from the next, and so on. If one ounce too much or too little had been taken, the potion would not have been living and would not have displayed its special quality. Next, we study the living remedy. Again, the ingredients have been taken from the jars in a particular measure so that if even the minutest amount too much or too little had been taken, the remedy would have lost its special property. Now, although the jars number more than fifty, the ingredients have been taken from each according to measures and amounts that are all different. Is it in any way possible or probable that the phials and jars should have been knocked over by a strange coincidence or sudden gust of wind and that only the precise, though different, amounts that had been taken from each of them should have been spilt, and then arranged themselves and come together to form the remedy? Is there anything more superstitious, impossible and absurd than this?
Similarly, each living being may be likened to the living potion in the comparison, and each plant to a living remedy; they are composed of matter that has been taken in most precise measure from truly numerous and truly various substances. If these are attributed to causes and the elements and it is claimed, “Causes created these,” it is unreasonable, impossible and absurd a hundred times over, just as it was to claim that the potion in the pharmacy came into existence through the phials being knocked over; by accident.1
Now let’s use this example for a man, animal or plant. The building blocks of this living thing are the cells. These cells come together in precise amounts and constitute different tissues, and the tissues constitute organs, systems and finally the living organism come into being. There are thousands of different molecules even in the cell of the simplest structure. Each of these molecules does a different task. Fundamental elements are common in all of them; however, different cells, different individuals and finally even different species emerge with the different arrangements of different amounts of these elements. For instance, the formation of beings like bees and ants is impossible out of these elements, which are mindless, unconscious, blind, deaf and knowledgeless, on their own or by the cooperation of causes like wind or storm; because these elements and causes themselves need to be formed.
The remedies prepared in the pharmacy in precise amounts show an expert chemist or pharmacist that makes them. Similarly the creation of each living thing shows the existence of a wonderful creator, who knows, sees and has consciousness and wisdom.
3. Oneness of Allah
It is often emphasized in the Quran and hadiths that Allah has no partners. It is repeated by saying, “there is no god but Allah. He is the one, without any partners.” that Allah is One and He has no partners.
Allah is pre-eternal and post-eternal. That is, He encompasses all times and places. There is no beginning and end for him. He is by no means bound with time and place. He does not produce a child, and He was not born of anyone. Therefore one who produces a child and one who was born cannot be a deity. He does not need anything. Everything needs Him.
As there cannot be two principals in a school or two governors in a city, the owner of the universe is one. Sometimes it is possible that there is only one Sultan and there are no partners in his sultanate but his officials may be regarded his partners in his operations; whereas Allah does not need any assistants or partners in His works in the Universe. He has got the keys to everything and he holds the reigns of everything. Everything is settled by His order.
The Quran includes a lot of evidences about the oneness of Allah. The Quran attracts attention that if Allah had a partner or an assistant, this order would break down. For instance, the following is stated in the Quran; “If there were in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have been ruin in both!”.(Al-Anbiya, 23.)
When we look at the universe, we see the seal of Allah’s oneness in everything. Each law is an evidence for the oneness of Allah. The law of gravity, the laws that are valid for all living things like growth and reproduction show the seal and sovereignty of a being everywhere. What operates here is not the laws but Allah, who is the maker of these laws and who is the owner of power.
In the universe, the exchanges between the earth and the heavens, mutual assistance between the sun and the ground, and the plants and the animals are the greatest evidences of his oneness.
4. Names and Attributes of Allah
A verse:
The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on Him by them”
(al-Araf, 180).
Every believer wants to recognize and know Allah in the best way. To know Allah in the best way is only possible through his names and attributes. It is not possible to perceive the personality of Allah. No mind has the capacity of understanding His personality. Our Prophet (PBUH) says “Contemplate on what Allah created; do not contemplate on the personality of Allah”.2
A hadith:
The Messenger of Allah said: Allah has ninety-nine names, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.”
(Bukhari, Tawheed, 12).
It is an important type of worshipping and it is encouraged to think about and to contemplate the manifestation of Allah’s names and attributes on the beings. However, since Allah’s names and attributes are endless, it is not possible to encompass them. For instance, if we deal with the attribute ilm (knowledge), Allah says the following in a verse about it:
“And if all the trees on earth were pens and the Ocean (were ink), with seven Oceans behind it to add to its (supply) yet would not the Words of Allah be exhausted (in the writing)”.(Luqman, 27)
It is not possible to understand the vastness of His knowledge only when the seas are taken into consideration let alone all the trees on earth being pens and writing His knowledge. Three fourths of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Some places are 11 thousand-meter deep. It is stated that if these seas were ink and if seven more seas were added, the knowledge of Allah would not be exhausted. We can understand what this means through the following example.
If the knowledge of a person with average intelligence were to be written by ink, maybe a tea glass or a jug would be enough. Suppose that you are very intelligent and have a great knowledge. Maybe ink for a hundred-liter cauldron would be necessary to write your knowledge.
A Verse:
“Say: Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. ”
(al-Isra, 110).
To know the knowledge of Allah fully means to encompass the limits of that knowledge. It is not possible to encompass all of the oceans with a jug or with a hundred-liter cauldron, yet it is stated that even if there was ink amounting seven times more than these oceans, His knowledge would not be exhausted.
What is understood from this example is that the limits of Allah’s knowledge cannot be known because this vastness in knowledge is beyond the perception and understanding capacity of man. Thanks to his little knowledge, man can understand the existence and endlessness of His knowledge. To know that Allah’s ilm (knowledge) cannot be known fully is ilm (knowledge).
Like His knowledge, His power, sight, hearing, will, life and talking is endless. Since we cannot know only the ilm (knowledge) attribute of a Creator, whose attributes are endless, it is definitely not possible to know the personality of the owner of these attributes. What is more, there are no beings like him. He is not of the same type of any of the beings in the universe. Therefore He cannot be likened to anything. That is why the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) prohibited us from contemplating on the personality of Allah.
Allah has a lot of names and attributes.
Allah makes man feel all of His names through man’s own soul. The darkness in the in the night makes light seen; similarly man makes Allah’s power, strength, wealth and mercy known through his weakness, poverty, needs, defects and mistakes. So man mirrors many names and attributes of Allah.
Man also shows Allah’s names of Maker and Creator through his creation, Compassionate and Merciful through his best construction, Generous and Subtle One through his best manners. So man mirrors different arts of Allah’s different names through his organs, characteristics and feelings.
The limited examples of knowledge, power, sight, hearing, ownership and sovereignty mirrors the knowledge, power, sight, hearing, and sovereignty of the Owner of the Universe. He understands them and he makes them known. For instance he says, “Just as I make this house and know how to make it, and I see it and own it and administer it, so also the mighty palace of the universe has a Maker. That Maker knows it, sees it, makes it, and administers it”.
Attributes of Allah
a-His attribute about His self:
Existence; It is the existence of Allah. His existence is necessary because of His personality not because of others. Therefore the attribute of “Necessary Being” is used for Allah.
Qidam (Eternity); His existence is without beginning,
Baqa (Everlastingness); His existence is without ending,
Wahdaniyyah (Oneness); Allah is one,
Mukhalafa lil-hawadith (Non-resemblence to the creation); Allah does not resemble to any of His creatures.
Qiyam bi Nafsihi (Self-existence); Allah is self-existent without any needs.
b-Subuti Attributes (Immutable Attributes):
Hayah (Life); Allah has life.
Ilm (Knowledge); Allah knows the past-the future, what happened-what will happen, the open-the secret, in short, everything,
Sam‘ (Hearing), Allah hears everything,
Basar (Sight), Allah sees everything,
Qudrah (Power), Allah is capable of all things, He has endless power,
Iradah (Will); Allah wills anything He wants.
Kalam (Speech); Allah’s speech
5. Allah is Free From Time and Place
A verse:
“And He is with you wheresoever ye may be”
(al-Hadid, 4).
A verse:
“We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein”
(Qaf, 16).
It is stated in the Quran that Allah is everywhere; even nearer to man than his jugular vein that Allah knows what men do openly or secretly even what they think of.
It is a reality in the Quran that although Allah is free from place, He is present everywhere, He is near everything with His endless loftiness and He holds everything.
Allah is not in any place but He is present everywhere and watching with His power and knowledge. Although everything is extremely far away from Him, he is extremely near to anything. We can explain this by giving the example of the sun.
A hadith:
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “It is the highest level of belief for a person to know that Allah is with him no matter where he is.”
(Haythami, Majma uz-Zawaid, I, 60).
For instance, while the sun is an only one being, it fills the earth with its reflections thanks to bright objects. The heat and light of the sun and each one of the seven colors in the light encompass the corresponding objects and are present in those transparent things with its light and heat. If the sun had consciousness, and its heat were its power and its light were its knowledge and the seven colors had seven attributes, then the sun, which is an only one being, would be in all mirrors simultaneously. If everybody had a mirror, everybody could speak to the sun through their own mirrors. It could speak to each one at the same time, one would not prevent another. We would be far away from it but it would be near us.
Radio and television broadcasts, which have a weak manifestation of light, show us the ability to be in a lot of places at the same time. We should understand from these examples that there are no limits for luminous things. They may be present everywhere. Therefore angels, which are luminous beings, can be in a lot of places even if they are only one person. For instance, Azrael is only one angel but it takes souls everywhere. One does not prevent another.
All of the lights in the universe are a weak shadow of His name Noor (Light), He created all of the lights and one of His names is Noor; the fact that he is present everywhere and He is nearer to everything than everything can be understood to a certain extent through those examples.
6. Sources
The Quran.
Ajluni, İsmail b. Muhammed (d.1162/1749), Kashful-Hafa wa Muzilul-İlbas ammâ ishtahera mina’l-Ahâdîs alaAElsinat’n-Nâs, Beirut, (I-II), 1988.
Ahmad b. Hanbal (d.241/85), Musnad (I-VI), İst., 1992.
Bayhaqi, Ahmad b. al-Husayin (v.458/1066), Şuabu’l-İmân (I-VII), Beirut, 1990.
Bukhari, Muhammed b. İsmail (v.256/870), Sahîh (I-VIII), İst., 1992.
Dölek, Adem, Edebî Açıdan Hadîslerde Teşbîhler ve Temsîller, Istanbul, 2005.
All of the beings in the universe show that they were organized and formed by knowledge, a will and a consciousness. The discovery of the existence of this knowledge is only possible through the eye of the mind as light is necessary to see things. The creation of things so artistically and wisely is only possible through an endless knowledge.
When we look around carefully, we see that everything is created through knowledge. There is a widespread knowledge in everything, from sub-atomic particles to galaxies, and the existence of endless branches of knowledge that deal with the discovery of this knowledge from particle physics to astronomy is only possible through the existence of a high and deep knowledge. The fact that each being is created in an orderly manner and with the most precise sizes shows knowledge. To act in an orderly manner and in precision necessitates a sound knowledge.
Wonderful ease in the creation of beings points to a perfect knowledge. To carry out something easily can be through knowledge and wisdom.
For instance, if someone invented to make an egg out of grass, grains, etc that hens eat, he would be appreciated and admired, and people would talk about the advanced level that knowledge reached and the wonder of the human brain for days – even if it was necessary to set up a huge and expensive factory to realize it. However, the fact that hens which have no claims about mind and knowledge produce eggs that are wonders of art and knowledge in their small bodies, in a dark environment without human touch and hygienically does not attract the attention of anybody. The eggs are produced so easily that it looks as if they are created out of nothing.
The fact that the egg which is kept at a certain temperature becomes a chick which is a wonderful masterpiece of art and knowledge, in a dark shell without human touch, points to an unsurpassed, deep knowledge. Similarly, the fact that a seed sown into the ground becomes a tree extremely easily and leaves are woven out of the raw material of soil and fruits are produced – for instance, under unhygienic circumstances pomegranate arils are arranged like clean pearls in a wonderful order, clusters separated by white tulles wrapped in a biodegradable material and exhibited on branches- leaves no doubt about the existence of an endless knowledge, will and might.
The veil of familiarity that conceals the wonders in the universe
If someone invented a machine as big as a watermelon that made eggs out of the waste meals and rotten vegetables and fruit at home and transformed the remaining into fertilizer that we could use for flowers – and if the cost of the machine werent more expensive than a watermelon and it were as beautiful as a curio to be placed in a corner of the kitchen – wouldnt everybody including the scientists applaud admiringly the wonderful knowledge adorned with art and aesthetics in this person? Wouldnt everybody including the scientists get in line curiously and try to see how it was produced? And wouldnt we cry Incredible if these eggs were maintained at a certain temperature for 21 days and each egg turned out to be an egg machine and each machine grew up with the waste meals and started to produce eggs? Wouldnt we say I should be dreaming and pinch ourselves if this machine could see, went out and took a walk? Wouldnt we make a fuss over this inventor? Wouldnt we award him the most prestigious science medals? If we were neurotic people, wouldnt we believe in the speculations that will render our minds weak and render our level of knowledge ridiculous about this person he must have come from a planet where technology is much more advanced than ours?
However, unfortunately, the veil of familiarity that covers everything like a dark cloud prevents us from seeing thousands of the wonders of technology – living wonders – around us.
The Light of Knowledge
The fact that everything in the universe is carried out through knowledge and that knowledge gleams out of beings indicates the existence of a widespread light of knowledge that penetrates into everything – just as the gleams of light on a diamond indicates the existence of a widespread source of light around. Then the manifestation of a widespread knowledge that penetrates into everything, which is beyond time and place, exists in the world like the force of gravity. This light of knowledge that comes from the spiritual world can be perceived not through the material body eyes but through the spiritual heart and mind eyes.
The light we know reaches our eyes by two ways; either directly from its source or indirectly by being reflected from beings. In the former case the light reaches by maintaining its pure and original state. In the latter case the gleams reaching our eyes can vary depending on the interaction of the object with the light. For instance the light that reaches our eyes after striking an orange has the color of orange predominantly instead of the seven colors the mixture of which we perceive as colorless. Therefore it may be delusive to try to understand the nature of the light that comes from the source of light by examining the light reflected from the objects.
In accordance with this analogy, it may be stated that there are two ways of perceiving the light of knowledge too. The former is the absorption of the light of knowledge directly by the eye of the heart, which is the spiritual center of the man; the latter is the perception of the gleam of the light of knowledge reflected from objects by the minds eye. The former is the source of a pure knowledge coming from inside; the latter is the source of the dispersed knowledge coming from outside. The former is like refined sugar, it is absorbed immediately; the latter is like carob or sugar cane, it has to be grinded and cleared off the sediment first.
Mind is enlightened by knowledge
Mind needs to be handled adequately in order to perceive the dispersed light of knowledge coming from the objects – just as the diamond needs to be processed elaborately in order to reflect the light in fascinating beauty. The way to handle, develop and brighten the mind is to tend to knowledge and to be occupied with knowledge and to digest it. Then it is necessary to classify the gleams of knowledge, to grind them through the mill of reasoning and to separate the essence from the covering and the ore from the cinder. The light of knowledge refined like this and made ready for digestion enlightens the mind and glorifies a person scientifically. The way to observe the beings tending to receive the dispersed light of knowledge and to observe the happenings is open to everybody, and everybody can brighten their minds as much as their talents let them and continue brightening – as long as they try hard enough.
Inspiration
Direct perception of knowledge is its sudden reflection in the heart and sensing. This sense, which is different from five senses, which has no material organ and which is noticed by everyone, is called the sixth sense or inspiration; it is also expressed as feel in ones bones. This sense is present in everybody in different levels; it may be a sound source of information depending on the purity, sensitivity and development of the heart – as long as a person makes himself an active receiver and maintains this position. The knowledge belonging to animals called instinct, which cannot be denied, is of this kind, that is, inspiration. The animals that have the greatest inspiration are bees, silkworms and so on, animals with small bodies but big skills. A happy person is someone whose minds eye and hearts eye are open and who receives knowledge through two channels. That is, his mind and heart should always be alert and receiving. Thus he should fly to the peaks of the knowledge not by one wing and with difficulty, but with double wings and by gliding.
The source of knowledge is not the brain
The source of new knowledge is not current knowledge or the brain but inspiration. Therefore to produce new knowledge is not the natural outcome of learning a lot of things. That is, previous knowledge cannot produce new knowledge. If it could, computers loaded with the most information or high technology robots would produce new knowledge. In other words, current knowledge cannot be the source of new knowledge. The known knowledge has no unknown part, so how can the known knowledge be the source that part? If it were, that part would be known as a part of the known knowledge.
It is necessary to say the following to the people who think that the source of knowledge is the brain: The carbon in the brain is no different than the carbon in the coal, nor the hydrogen in the brain is different than the hydrogen in the water, nor the electrons that enable the electric current in the brain are different than the electrons flowing in the electric wiring in the houses; and there is nothing like knowledge in these atoms or particles. Since the things that are non-existent in the part cannot exist in the whole, the idea that human brain is the source of knowledge is nonsense. The reason why the people who discover and state new knowledge are generally well-educated people is not the change of brain through education but the development of the ability to receive the light of knowledge by dealing with knowledge.
Can an information card make a building?
Some people see DNAs as the code of life and claim that the secret of beings have been revealed by the drawing of the gene maps of living things. According to them, the formation of beings is carried out in accordance with DNA codes. Therefore many things that were a secret in the past can be easily explained today. That is, according to them, it is quite natural for an orange seed to crack and to germinate after being sowed into the ground and then to develop branches and become a tree. Everything is carried out in accordance with the DNA codes in the seed. It is no wonder that the tree yields oranges and all of the plans and programs of the orange tree are coded in each orange seed. All of this information is present in DNAs. Many people regard this explanation that a seed sowed into ground becomes a tree and yields fruit without any outside intervention as reasonable because they have seen it many times and become familiar with it.
Based on the same reasoning, could a building emerge if we made detailed plans of a building and the fixtures in it and loaded these plans into a CD or memory card and sowed this CD or the memory card into the ground? Or similarly, if we loaded all of the technical information and detailed drawings of a car into a memory card and sowed it into the ground, would a car emerge? If somebody said his house or car emerged like that, wouldnt we laugh at him? Wouldnt we tell him that plans and detailed drawings couldnt do anything on their own because they had neither consciousness, nor will nor power nor eyes, nor knowledge nor artistry?
How can a mind that rejects without hesitation the emergence of a car or building through plans and detailed drawings on their own accept the emergence of a fruit tree, a bird or a man out of gene maps on their own? While many architects, engineers, foremen and workers with minds, will and knowledge are necessary to make a building or a car, doesnt the fact that these beings that are all creation miracles form without almost any human touch and wonderfully indicate the existence of a being with will, wisdom, power and knowledge behind the veil?
The evaluation of Badiuzzaman about knowledge is appropriate and original:
All the instances of wisdom apparent in all beings point to the knowledge of Allah. For to carry out work with wisdom means to do it with knowledge.
And all favor and adornment point to such knowledge. He who works blessingly and gracefully certainly knows, and does knowingly.
And the well-ordered measuredness apparent in all beings, their shapes cut out in accordance with purpose and benefits, all demonstrate an all-embracing knowledge. For to carry out work with order means to do it with knowledge. He who works skillfully and with measure and balance is surely relying on a powerful knowledge.
Certainly, the giving of well-ordered and different forms to everything, as well as a particular shape that is appropriate and beneficial to its life and existence, occurs through an all-encompassing knowledge; it could not occur any other way.
And mercy's benevolence, which encompasses all beings and is in a form appropriate to each of them, demonstrates an all-embracing knowledge within a vast mercy. Because, for example, the One Who feeds the offspring of animate creatures with milk and assists the plants of the earth needy for water with rain, most certainly knows the young and their needs, and sees the plants, perceives how necessary rain is for them and then sends it; and so on. All the manifestations of' His wise and kind mercy demonstrate an all-comprehensive knowledge.
And the care and attention, the artistic fashioning, and the skillful decoration present in the art in all things demonstrate an all-embracing, knowledge. For choosing an orderly, adorned, artistic, and purposeful state from among thousands of possible states can only occur through a profound knowledge. This choice apparent in all beings demonstrates an all-encompassing knowledge.
The complete ease in the creation and origination of things points to a most perfect knowledge. For the ease and facility in achieving a certain situation is commensurate with the degree of knowledge and skill. To whatever degree a thing is known, to that degree it will be carried out with ease.
Thus, in consequence of this fact, we see from beings, every one of which is a miracle of art, that they are being created with ease and facility, without trouble or confusion, in a short period of time, in a wondrous, indeed a miraculous, fashion. That is to say, there is a boundless knowledge which is expressed with boundless ease. And so on.
There are thousands of veracious signs like those mentioned in the examples above to the fact that the Being Who has free disposal over the universe has an all-encompassing knowledge; that He knows all the attributes of all beings, and then he acts.
Since the universe's Owner has such knowledge, for sure He sees human beings and their actions, and He knows what human beings deserve and what is appropriate for them. And He deals with them and will deal with them in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and mercy.
May, 2008. Prof. Dr. Yunus ÇENGEL Nevada University, ABD
9-)
Preface
Twenty-first century is a century in which human beings have all kinds of technical facilities. Human beings can travel internationally as comfortably as they are at home. The material development level caused the neglect of their spiritual aspect.
Todays human beings sought peace and happiness in material things. They had the conviction that they would be happier as they satisfied their material desires and requests. Most of the human beings pursued their bodily desires and requests and did not pay any attention to the cries of their spirits. Todays human beings and communities that advanced materially were ill spiritually. Human beings were deprived of the knowledge to know Allah, which is the nourishment of the spirit and the heart, of the honor to know the Creator, who granted them everything. The spiritual illnesses caused by this deprivation devastated both individuals and communities. This illness has a long history.
Beginning from the nineteenth century, technology started to prevail the lives of human beings. Materialistic philosophy overshadowed faith and human beings started to question everything. Everything was sought in the matter. The brains of the people who sought everything in the matter are in their eyes. Eyes are blind spiritually.
The values of the religion based on faith incurred the attack of materialistic philosophy. The issues that materialistic philosophy did not accept were regarded as non-scientific hence non-religious. Religion and values regarded as holy by religion were attacked in the name of knowledge and atheism. Thus atheism was presented as the religion of knowledge.
Todays human beings that were brought up with this spirit were dragged into a full psychological crisis and faith crisis. A war was declared against all kinds of holy values and even against human life. Instead of love, compassion and affection, enmity, hatred and hostility prevailed among people. All kinds of immorality contrary to human spirit and social values were in demand.
What will save humanity from this spiritual pit and crisis is the spiritual values that religions offer. Members of religions should seek ways to cure these spiritual wounds of human beings with the compassion of a doctor. They have the remedy that will save human beings from the crisis they fell into. The solution depends on the presentation of these values in accordance with the mind, thought and philosophy of todays people.
Islam, which is sufficient for the improvement of the world in every aspect, has undertaken this duty itself because it has a very comprehensive book. This book contains the decisions and value judgments of all the other heavenly religions. It accepts all of the prophets sent by Allah as its own prophets. Therefore it is always in heart and soul unity with them.
The Quran, which persuades the mind and the heart and is based on proof, teaches reasoning and logical thinking emphasized by people of this century. It wants the truths that it presents to be seen through this point of view. It refers them to the mind. The Quran encourages thinking by verses like the following: Why arent you thinking?, Why arent you reasoning?, There are proofs here for those who reason.
For instance, the Quran attracts the attention of its followers, against the idea of nature worshipping, to the fact that brainless, unconscious, blind and deaf nature cannot create anything. It states that nature is only a work of art not an artist. It also states that the attributes like knowledge, will and consciousness seen on the work of art cannot be explained by causes. It tells us that causes do not have the ability to create and that there must be an artist that creates causes.
When the claim I will create you again is stated in the Quran, which is based on the truth and justice, such a proof is presented that no proof surpassing it can be thought of.
The Creator shows that in each spring He creates millions or billions of individuals out of three hundred thousand species of creatures. He proves His cause without any resistance as if He says, My might is sufficient to create everything again. Here are three hundred thousand examples. I repeat it every spring. I will create as many as all of the things that you have seen again, that is, I will create you again, too.
For instance, in the Quran the following challenge is present: If you are in doubt that the Quran is the word of Allah; it has been challenging human beings for fourteen centuries and has invited human beings to write a similar chapter.
In short, the Quran addresses the mind and reason of human beings and invites them to think reasonably. The cure for the spiritual wounds of todays human beings, who are spiritually wounded by materialistic philosophy, is in the Quran. Acting upon this thought, expert people wrote four books using their knowledge and education experience accumulated throughout years. These books are Fundamentals of Belief, Worshipping in Islam, Prophethood and Islamic Ethic.
These books were written at the level of university students and in accordance with the curriculum.
We would like to thank the people who contributed to the preparation of these books, which we regard as a good cure for the spiritual crisis todays human beings have fallen into.
We would like to offer sincere thanks especially to İhsan Kasım Salihi, who encouraged us to write such books, to Muhammed Rıza Dalkılıç, Olgay Şerbetcioğlu, Nurlan Karan and Saly Tayaban to the people who contributed to the works of the committee, to Fevzi Allahverdi, who provided us with a comfortable working environment, to Yunus Emre Barun, Osman Kan and Şerif Sağlar, who helped in editing and proofreading.
We ask Allah to forgive our mistakes and request our readers to help correct our mistakes.
