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Shirk means partnership and it is the opposite of oneness (tawheed). Sharik means partner.

The Quran calls people to accept the oneness of Allah and severely prohibits people from associating partners with His personality or attributes.

The Quran states that shirk is a big sin and oppression that God Almighty will never forgive associating partners with him and that He will forgive the sins except shirk of the people He wishes. 

It is a grave sin and great oppression for man whom everything on the earth is appointed to serve and to whom the administration of everything is given to accept some beings that serve him as gods and to worship them instead of Allah.

Shirk is a sin and oppression not only because it is transgression of the rights of Allah and that it includes slander and insult but also because it is a great insult and transgression of the rights of the universe and all of the creatures.

• Types of Shirk

Main types of shirk are as follows:

1. To leave Allah and to adore and worship living and non-living things other than Him.

2. To believe in Allah but to associate partners with Him, that is, to believe that some other beings have the attribute of divinity.

The belief of trinity in Christianity is included in this part...

3. To accept that there is a creator of this world but to worship non-living things like idols and sculptures in order to approach Him.
Idolatry is included in this part.

4. Another form of shirk is to accept some people as Lord, that is, to obey their orders and to avoid their prohibitions instead of the orders and prohibitions of Allah by believing them blindly. It is stated in the Quran that Jewish people accept their rabbis and Christians accept their clergymen as Lords.

5. The most common type of shirk is the one in which man obeys his own passion and desires blindly and see his desires as a divinity.

In the Quran, those kinds of people are condemned by this verse:
“Seest thou such a one as taketh for his god his own passion (or impulse)?”

6. There is another form of shirk: hidden shirk, that is riya (hypocrisy). That is, instead of praying and worshipping only for the sake of Allah, to pray and worship so that other people will see them and appreciate him. Worshipping like that is a kind of associating partners with Allah. Our Prophet defined it as hidden shirk.

A believer must avoid all kinds of shirk; whether hidden or visible, whether open or covered. The real oneness can only be obtained like that.
All kinds of shirk are rejected severely in the Quran; the real belief of oneness is preached to humanity.

Children learn the issues that are told in the form of stories more easily. While teaching them Allah and His attributes, we can tell them the talk between Luqman (pbuh) and his son in the form of a story. When I told my children about our Prophet, I told them how much he loved children by giving examples from his grandsons, Hazrat Hasan and Husain and his daughter, Fatima. Similarly, when I told them about the miracles he showed, I told them stories. For instance, when I told my son about the miracles of the spider and pigeon when our beloved Prophet and Hazrat Abu Bakr hid in the cave of Thawr for Hijrah in the form of a story, my son was four years old. He liked it so much that he asked me to tell it again.

When we consider the advice that Luqman (pbuh) gave his son, we see that the belief that ‘there is no god but Allah’ comes first. Luqman said to his son: O my son! Join not in worship (others) with Allah: for false worship is indeed the highest wrong-doing (see the Quran, 31:13). We should tell them about the greatness of Allah based on that verse. –It is He Who created the universe, sun, stars, moon, earth and all the creatures in it.

It is He Who gives life to the strongest king of the world and to the tiny fly. There is no god but Allah. It is only He Who is worthy of worshipping and praying. We bow down only in front of Allah and ask from Him what we cannot do. If we forget Allah and bow down in front of others in order to obtain goods, money and rank, we will be regarded to have associated partners with Allah and to have committed injustice.

Luqman (pbuh) continued his advice as follows, - "O my son! If there be (but) the weight of a mustard-seed and it were (hidden) in a rock, or (anywhere) in the heavens or on earth, Allah will bring it forth: for Allah understands the finer mysteries, (and) is well-acquainted (with them). (see the Quran, 31:16). We should tell our children like Luqman did that Allah sees everything we do, that He knows the most hidden feelings we have in our mind and heart, that we cannot conceal anything from Him, that He will enjoy it when we do good deeds and that He will love us.

In the following verses, Luqman (pbuh) said: - "O my son! Establish regular prayer, enjoin what is just, and forbid what is wrong: and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; for this is firmness (of purpose) in (the conduct of) affairs. And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men nor walk in insolence through the earth; for Allah loveth not any arrogant boaster. And be moderate in thy pace, and lower thy voice; for the harshest of sounds without doubt is the braying of the ass." As a matter of fact, they are the things that need to be emphasized. (see the Quran, 31:17-19). In those verses, our duties towards both Allah and human beings that He created are listed and a summary of good manners is given. When we tell about them to our children, we should choose the words and their explanations in accordance with their age and understanding.
We Should Approach Questions with the Logic of a Child
When we answer the questions of children relating any issue, we should think with the logic of a child not an adult. A small mistake that we will make will be enough to confuse their minds. Children have an egocentric style of thinking until they are four years old. They do not discriminate between living and non-living things; according to them, everything is living. Therefore, they believe in everything that happens in tales; they do not think that they are made up.

The role of tales and religious stories is great in the education of pre-school children. It becomes easier to teach the right acts through the legendary characters. The child puts himself in the hero’s place and becomes identified with him/her.
Children become content with the simple explanations we make; they do not wonder about more. Once a mother told me the following: -My four-year old son asked me, ‘Mum! Why can’t we see Allah?’ I said, ‘Because our eyes are small.’ He murmured, ‘Yes. We can’t see Him because our eyes are small.’ That answer was enough for him; he did not ask any other questions. That explanation may not be enough for older children.
We need to answer questions like –Why can’t we see Allah, Where is Allah, How big is He? and correct their suspicions and the wrong images in their minds. I answered my son, who asked me those questions when he was ten, in the form of dialogs. I showed him the table in front of us asked him:
- Can this table form on its own?
- No, it can’t.
- You mean there is someone who forms it.
- Yes, there is.
- Those slippers and shoes we wear cannot form on their own, can they?
- No, they can’t.
- Who makes them?
- Men.
- Yes, men make them. We call them shoemakers.
- Does the shoe resemble the shoemaker at all? The shoemaker has a mouth, eyes, ears, legs and arms; he walks and talks. The shoe does not resemble the shoemaker that makes him at all; It has neither eyes nor ears; it can neither walk nor talk; can he?
- No, he can’t.
- Since a simple table and shoe cannot form on their own, can the sun, moon, stars and the earth that we live on form on their own?
- No, they can’t.
- It means there is someone who makes them, that is, who creates them. Who is He?
- Allah.
- There is a Being Who has perfect knowledge and power and Who created the world and the living things on it; we call him Allah. A shoemaker does not resemble the shoe he makes; similarly, Allah does not resemble any of the creatures He created. Things like eating, drinking, sleeping, living in a house are peculiar to human beings. Allah does not need any of them because he does not resemble us. We know the existence of Allah but we do not know Him. We cannot see, hear, or know everything because our feelings, mind and knowledge are limited. We cannot see the angels because Allah created them out of light.

How Can We Accustom Our Children to Worshipping and Supplication?
Children believe in everything until they become seven years old since thinking through symbols, that is, abstract thinking has not yet developed fully. There is nothing impossible for a child at the age of four; everything is possible. If you say to him – last night, while you were sleeping, a star came down to the earth, kissed you and left, he will believe it. He will not think that it is impossible.
Worshipping and supplication are very interesting for children aged four; they try to imitate us. They like to perform prayers, pray, fast and go to mosque very much. To thank Allah aloud before and after the meals for the bounties He gave us, to pray aloud after salats (prayers), to wish good things for ourselves, our spouses, elder family members and children will affect our young children a lot and make them approach Allah.
Small children cannot express the aims of their questions fully since their lingual and mental development has not matured sufficiently. Once I was in the market, wandering. A two or three-year old child in his mother’s arms pointed to a mosque and asked her:  
-What is that? His mother said –It is a mosque. The child asked again: - What is that? His mother gave the same answer: -It is a mosque. The child asked again in order to show that he could not get the answer he wanted: - What is that? The mother answered again, speaking out and pronouncing each word clearly, -It is a mosque. I approached the mother and said, -Madam! The child is not asking its name, he is asking what it is used for since it does not look like a house.
Cezmi Tahir Berktin, a pedagogue and a writer, narrates one of his experiences in his book “Okul Öncesi Eğitim” (Pre-school Education):
-My four-year old daughter suddenly stopped eating as if she was on a hunger strike. She did not sit at the table with us; she did not even eat one morsel. We tried hard but could not understand why she did not eat. One night, it was time to go to bed. I held her in my arms and took her to her bed. I caressed her head and said, “I love you but it distress me that you do not eat.” She started to cry and put her hands around my neck. She said, “Please stop eating dad!” and started to tell me the reason why she stopped eating. I found out that my wife had made a mistake. As she gave too much importance to the nourishing of the child like every mother did. My daughter asked her:
- Mum, why should we eat?
- In order to grow up.
- What will happen when we grow up?
- We will get old.
- What will happen when we get old?
- One day, we will die as every old person does.
My daughter decides through her logic that she will not die if she does not eat. She uses a simple logic as: if I do not eat, I will not grow up. If I do not grow up, I will not get old. If I do not get old, I will not die.
As Berktin expresses, no matter how long we hide, the child will find out about the reality of death. He/she will ask us when his/her beloved grandmother, grandfather or friend dies: -Where did my grandmother (or friend) go? How will you console that small heart full of the pain of separation if the belief in the hereafter is not included in your answer? How will you answer his/her question when he/she asks about the coffin that people carry?

We Should Educate Our Children through Love not Fear
Children cannot discriminate between dream and truth until they become four or five years old; they believe that thoughts and dreams can be realized. When he/she is jealous of his/her brother or sister and wants him/her to die, he/she fears that it will happen, and assumes a feeling of guilt.
When a mother becomes tired of her child’s naughtiness and says, -You are making me distressed, or, -Allah does not love children who distress their mothers and puts them into Hell, the child thinks that it will happen and gets into a panic. 
When teaching children about religion, many families use the concept of fear without being aware of it. I had translated the “Crab Book”, a classic in pedagogy, written by Salzman. –The following advice was under the heading of ‘Ways of Making Children Irreligious’:
" Make them memorize prayers by force; punish them when they cannot memorize.
" When they are naughty, scare them by saying ’Allah will burn them in Hell’.
" Backbite clergymen, religious relatives and neighbors; discredit them by listing their mistakes.
Narrating the story of an awkward mother who cannot make them obey her, Salzman says: That foolish woman tried to intimidate her children using three things: bogey, father and God. When she wanted to make her children sleep, she said, -Go to sleep quickly, close your eyes; or else, bogeys will come and eat you. When they were naughty, she intimidated them by saying, -God will burn the children who distress their mother in Hell. When one of her children committed a bad deed or told a lie, she threatened him/her by saying, -When your father comes home in the evening, he will give you a good trashing and you will get what you deserve.
Our actions are more effective than our words in educating children. There are some parents who send their children out of their room when they perform prayers. You always see some old men who reprimand children in mosques and drive them away. When you ask them why they do it, they say, -They invalidate our prayers by being naughty. They are not aware that they alienate children from mosques through their attitudes.
Once we went to visit an old relative of us. After some chatting and having tea, it was time to pray. While we were praying, my four-year old son climbed my back and put his hands round my neck. Both my son and I are used to it. While telling them about the Prophet’s love of children, I had told them that Hazrat Hasan and Husain climbed the back of their grandfather and that the Prophet did not object to them and prayed together with them. After that day, he climbed my back and put his hands round my neck while I was praying, maybe regarding himself as Hazrat Hasan and Husain, and we prostrated together.  When he was asked what he was doing, he said –I am praying with my father. While I was in the last rakat (part) of the prayer, our old relative took my son away from my back harshly, took him out of the room and closed the door. He said to me, -Your prayer was invalidated; you must perform that prayer again. I laughed. I said, -Why should something that did not invalidate the prayer of the Prophet should invalidate mine? He did not understand what I meant. He asked angrily, -What is the thing that did not invalidate the prayer of the Prophet? I told him about it but he was not convinced. He said, -It is not true, you have made it up.
We Should Tell Our Children About Allah Who Has Paradise.
One evening, one of my neighbors called me. He said, - Mr Ali, something happened to my child; he was probably affected by an evil eye; the devil makes him say very bad words. I said, -Tell me what happened. He started to talk: -I do not understand what happened to my nice child, who used to go to mosque with me. As a matter of fact, he is four years old but what he said made me crazy; I do not know what to say. He said, -I am not going to perform prayers. I said, - Allah will burn those who do not perform prayers in Hell. He said, I will burn Him. I wanted to take him to a hodja but before that, I decided to ask you.
After listening to him, I laughed.
- There is no need to take him to a hodja, I said, the child is right.
As he did not expect to receive such an answer, his reaction was harsh.
- What do you want to say Mr Ali?
- No child will love Allah who burns small children in Hell and will perform prayers voluntarily. We have no right to intimidate a child with Hell and alienate him from Allah. Do you not know that Hell is closed for children? Our Prophet says: Children until they reach the age of puberty and insane people will not to be accounted for. You commit an injustice to both Allah and the child by intimidating him with Hell. The reaction of the child is not against the real Allah but against Allah that you made up. How will you get out under that sin?
My words were harsh because I was sorry for the child; I knew it but I could not control myself. After keeping silent for a few moments, the man said:
- Sorry Mr Ali, I got confused, he said. I heard from hodjas that our Prophet said:
- Accustom your children to perform prayers beginning from the age of seven.
- Yes, but he did not say accustom them by intimidating them with Hell!..
- I think you are right... What will happen now? How will I repair my mistake?
- Your child needs therapy; come to my place and talk about how to do it.
The father was an obedient man with good intentions; so, he followed my advice and the belief of the child that had been distorted recovered in a short time.  
Fear of Death in Children
Researches show that the fear of death is dominant in pre-school children. The child is first afraid of his parents’ death and then his own death. The only remedy for the fear of death is the belief in the hereafter. Since we cannot kill death and we cannot close the door to the grave, we must find an answer to the question –Where do we come from and are we going? The answer to that question is present in Islam. 

Once, one of my female readers called me. She talked as if she was going to cry:
- Mr Ali, my mother died.
I gave her my condolences and wished patient for her.
She went on talking:
- I am not very sorry that my mother died; she was very old and she could hardly walk. I heard her praying, ‘Oh Allah, do not make me a burden for my children, take my life without making me bedridden, take me near my Hasan’ many times. She meant my father when she said Hasan. I do not want to disturb you more by talking so much. I have called you for my four-year old daughter. When my mother died, I took my daughter to her aunt. I told her that her grandmother was ill; she does not know that she is dead. I cannot conceal it for a long time; she will hear it from somebody else or she will ask us where her grandmother went. I do not know how to answer her and what to say; please help me.
I gave her my condolences and wished patient for her again.
- You are a believing person, I said. When your pain relieves one or two days later, take your child from her aunt. Tell her that her grandmother is dead but that she has gone to Paradise and will have a better life there.
After hesitating for a moment:
- I thought of telling her something like that, too, she said. However, if she asks, -Shall I see my grandmother again?, what shall I say to her?
- We should be honest when we answer the questions of our children. We should answer using short and simple words without giving details. We should say what we believe. According to our belief, we will come together in the hereafter, our affinityand friendship will continue. Tell your child about them. Tell her that her grandmother will meet her in Paradise and will love her again in Paradise.
You will appreciate that I cannot explain the religious education of children in one article. You can send the questions of children to my e-mail address; you can be sure that I will try to help you as much as I can.
ALİ ÇANKIRILI

There is no sin that cannot be forgiven after repentance. However, we cannot know whether the sin will be forgiven or not. Allah might or might not forgive the sin after repentance. The repentance should have the conditions of veniality. Allah promises that he will accept the repentance if it is done properly.

As for the sins that are not repented, associating partners to Allah (shirk) will never be forgiven. The sins other than shirk can be forgiven.

Some of the major sins are as follows:

To associate partners with Allah, to kill somebody, to slander someone that he/she has fornicated, to commit fornication, to escape from Islamic jihad, to cast a spell, to spend an orphan’s money on one’s own needs, to disobey one’s parents, to commit a sin in the haram region of Makkah, to get and spend interest or usury, to steal, to drink alcohol, to gamble.

If a Muslim commits a major sin, he is not regarded to have exited Islam as a believer unless he despises or ignores it. Ahl as-Sunnah scholars hold the view that a Muslim who commits a major sin will not exit Islam and he will not stay in Hell forever; they say that even if a Muslim dies without repenting, Allah will forgive him out of His generosity; and that if He wishes, He will torture him in Hell  due to His justice. (Sharhu Aqidati't-Tahawiyya p. 370).

The greatest major sin is not to accept Allah and to associate partners with Him in terms of His personality, attributes and deeds. It is called the greatest major sin.

"Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with him; but He forgiveth anything, else to whom He pleaseth" (an-Nisa, 4/48).

It is not permissible to despair of the mercy of Allah and to continue committing sins or to commit sins without repenting and without being afraid of His torture. No matter how many sins a believer commits, he should be between fear and hope and he should not turn away from his Lord.

"O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful “(az-Zumar, 39/53)

"Tell My servants that I am indeed the Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful; And that My Penalty will be indeed the most grievous Penalty." (al-Hijr, I5/50).

For the answer please click on the link given below.

What are the proofs of God’s existence?

The punishment for polytheism (shirk) is described as follows in the Quran: "Those who reject (Truth), among the People of the Book and among the Polytheists, will be in Hell-fire, to dwell therein (for aye). They are the worst of creatures." (al-Bayyina, 98/6).

It was stated by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) that all of the sins except polytheism would be forgiven, that the believers would definitely go to Paradise after being punished for their sins and that polytheists would not be forgiven if they died before repenting:

"Jibril came to me and gave me this glad tiding: "-Anyone from your ummah will enter Paradise if he dies without associating partners with Allah". Thereupon, I said to him, "-Even if he commits fornication and theft?" He replied, " Yes, even if he commits fornication and theft " According to what our Prophet (pbuh) narrates, he asked Jibril this question three times and he received the same answer each time. (Bukhari, Janaiz, 1, Libas, 24, Isti`zan, 30, Riqaq, 13,14, Tawhid, 33; Muslim, Iman, 153, 154, Zakah, 32,33; Tirmidhi, Iman, 18; Ahmad b. Hanbal, V, 152, 159, 161, VI, 166)

Allah is munazzah (freed) from attributes such as appearance, shape and colour. So also according to the meaning of the verse: "there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things), (Al Shura, 42:11)

Indeed, the Most Pure and Holy Deity, Who administers with order the whole universe as though it was a palace or house, and spins the stars as though they were particles and causes them to travel through space with wisdom and ease, and employs minute particles as though they were orderly officials, has no partner, match, opposite, or equal.

Please click on the links given below for further information,

Can Allah (SWT) be compared with the creatures He has created?

What does Allah’s being munazzah (freed) from time mean?

There is no sin which may not be forgiven provided that you repent for it. The repentances which satisfy the conditions are always accepted. You must repent sincerely with the determination of not committing the same sin again.

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Can you give information about Allah’s mercy for the sinners?

What is the meaning of “Having a good opinion about Allah and being between hope and fear”?

As loving Allah and knowing that He is content with us is an abstract issue, it is difficult to comprehend it. One can say, “I love Allah”. However, as that statement expresses a feeling inside us, we need to externalize it.

On the other hand, is Allah really content with us? What kind of slaves are we in His eyes? Those questions are equally difficult to comprehend. There must be a way to comprehend them.

As a matter of fact, Allah informs us of the way, with which we can make our love for Allah understood and find out whether Allah is content with us, in the following Quranic verse: “O Muhammad, say: If you love Allah, follow me, so that Allah will love you.”

The indication of our love for Allah is practicing Islam by complying with our Prophet. We can say without hesitation that Allah loves us, if we lead our lives in accordance with the Prophet. For instance, how is your love for parents manifested? If you meet their wishes and quit things which they do not approve of, your love for them is manifested. And we understand that they love us too, even though they do not tell us. Contrarily, if you do not do anything they wish and still say, “but look at my heart I love them so much”, nobody will believe you.
We can deduce that Allah created the Prophet as an example for us and He manifested the most beautiful exemplary characteristics in him. And He said to us: “If you love me, comply with the Prophet I sent for you. Then you can know that I love you too.” In summary, the criterion of how much we love Allah is how much we resemble Prophet Muhammad. We can come to a conclusion judging by that criterion.

They are Quran and Sunnah, which are route maps for you, us and all humanity. We cannot suggest you anything other than those. That is to say; it is making the Quran and sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) our guides, putting ourselves in line with them and contemplating by reading subjects and books about faith. It will be very beneficial for your afterlife if you can find books which tell about the Quran and faith or spend time with people who contemplate and evaluate those matters.

Performing prayers in time, avoiding major sins and performing tasbihat (glorifying Allah) after prayers will also lead you to maturity.

Allah forgives every repented sin. If an infidel repents for his infidelity, he becomes a believer and all his sins are forgiven. If a believer commits every kind of sin, even associates partners with Allah and then regrets and repents, finds Allah all-forgiving. It is stated in the Quran : “O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (az-Zumar 53)
The Repenter is to be forgiven

It is stated in the hadiths as follows:
One, who repented, is as if he has never committed any sins.
Allah ordained: “Even if the sins of my slave reaches the skies, I forgive him, on condition that he does not despair of me”

“Allah accepts your repentance, when you repent, even if your sins reach the skies”
“Hell is forbidden for the one who firmly believes that Allah is the Lord and I am the Messenger”

Allah ordained: “I get enraged for the one who assumes that his sin is greater than my forgiveness”
A transgressor who does not despair of Allah’s mercy, is closer to mercy than the worshipper who despairs of Allah’s mercy

Can anyone be desperate of Allah’s mercy while it is so plentiful?
Make Allah loved by His slaves, so that in turn, Allah will love you.
Allah forgives His sinful Muslim slaves with a mercy that no one can imagine. (Bayhaqi)
Allah ordained: “O my servant, if you seek forgiveness, I will forgive you regardless of multitude of your sins. I will forgive them even if they reach the clouds. If you come with plenty of sins, I will welcome you with plenty of forgiveness as long as you come as a true believer”
It is a clear indicator of perfection of a man if he always recalls Hell and balances his life accordingly. However, this recollection must not cause an unbearable life and result in despair of Allah’s mercy. Thereby, man will acquire the feeling of controlling his every single step. He will be able to interrogate himself continually. He will be always on alert with the thought: “I wonder if this deed of mine leads me to Hell”

Allah did not create some people for Hell. On the contrary, He created Hell for some people. For example, the state builds a prison. But this construction is not for confining some people in it. It is constructed for anyone who deserves to be put in it. Likewise, Allah built Hell for the ones who deserve it. Otherwise, the statement “I prepared Hell for such and such men” is not compatible with justice and wisdom of Allah because those men will have the right to object, if they have not deserved Hell.
The word “Hell” scares many people. And it must. However, we must always be on alert, because we do not know who will go to Hell or Paradise. We must evaluate every single word that we utter.

Being between hope and fear is a balance which is required for every human. Although we are Muslims, it is always possible to die as an infidel and go to Hell. Likewise, even if we live as a sinner for the whole life, in the end, it is possible to repent and we may die as a true believer and go to Heaven. Hazrat Abu Bakr (A companion of the Prophet (PBUH)) is reported to have said: “If I hear from the skies: “All human beings will go to Heaven except one, I fear to be that single man. Similarly, if I hear that everybody will go to Hell except one, I hope to be that person” A Muslim’s faith must be between hope and fear. No one may feel safe from the torment of Allah. However, they hope to gain His mercy and fear His wrath. They seek to reach His forgiveness and abstain from His punishment. We should maintain this equilibrium. We must perform our religious services fully and hope that Allah will put our names among the list of people who will go to Paradise.

It would be better to interpret the negative influence of sinners against others as a side effect. For example, you are also influenced by a person who smokes next to you. In the same way, when the punishment because of an oppressor is suffered, it can affect others, too. Especially, the punishment over a particular place where the rate of crime is high may come in a general form.

This issue is pointed out in a verse as follows:“And beware and guard yourselves against a trial that will surely not smite exclusively those among you who are engaged in wrongdoing; and know that Allah is severe in retribution.” (the Qur’an, al-Anfal,8:25) For instance, if Allah punishes a country with famine where such crimes which summon Allah’s rage as adultery, bribe, interest, murder or polytheism, innocent people will also suffer from this famine. This suffering of the innocent people is the side effect of the punishment sent to unjust people. Even if this punishment is not directly for them, they are perforce disturbed by it. However, Allah grants them their reward. He makes the innocent people become martyrs and accepts their goods as sadaqah in an earthquake which has been sent as a punishment. From the dead people in the same earthquake, disbelievers are delivered to Hell while believers are delivered to Paradise. Yet, the death of believers and disbelievers in the same earthquake is about the mystery of trial.

The side effect of the punishment due to oppressors is pointed out in a verse in the Qur’an as follows: “If God were to take people to task for whatever wrong they commit (and accumulate to their account), He would not leave on earth any living creature. But He grants them respite to a term appointed (by Him). When the end of their term falls (He treats each as He wills, according to his just deserts), for surely He sees His servants well.” (the Qur’an, Fatir, 35:45) The statement in the verse “He would not leave on earth any living creature” is the obvious evidence for this.

Even if it is the closest relative of the innocent people who is excluded from this side effect, he/she not to be punished because of  the crime of an oppressor because it is against divine understanding of justice. This issue is clearly pointed out in the verse from the Qur’an : “Say: "Am I, then, to seek after someone other than God as Lord when He is the Lord of everything?" Every soul earns only to its own account; and no soul, as bearer of burden, bears and is made to bear the burden of another. Then, to your Lord is the return of all of you, and He will then make you understand (the truth) concerning all that on which you have differed.” (the Qur’an, al-An’am, 6:164)

Salafi (the first three generations of pious Muslims) scholars did not comment on the ambiguous (mutashabih) Quranic verses. When misunderstandings about those verses emerged in time, ambiguous verses were explained. The view of the Ahl as-Sunnah scholars is that Allah is free from time and place.

  
The following is stated in the tenth verse of the chapter al-Fath, “the Hand of Allah is over their hands.”  The mind decides that Allah, who is the creator of all of the material and spiritual realms, is free from having a hand. However, it is reported in the Quran that He has a hand. Here, the mind and the naql (texts) contradict. Then, it is necessary to accept the mind as a base and interpret the text.

The scholars of tafsir are divided into two groups regarding the interpretation of those kinds of ambiguous verses. The previous mufassirs called al-mutaqaddimin did not interpret the ambiguous verses and preferred keeping silent by saying, “Allah knows the best what is meant by them.” The scholars that came after them interpreted those verses acting upon the rule: “when the mind and the text contradict, the mind is given the priority and the text is interpreted”; they said what was meant by “hand” is “power”. It is an interpretation, and mufassirs are authorized to make such interpretations.

Besides, it is impossible that Allah, who does not resemble anything, who is free from incomplete attributes and the expressions that express incompleteness, who can be defined with all kinds of perfect attributes and qualities that express perfection, superiority and competence, has a hand like the hands of human beings. Therefore, Allah does not have a hand; however, it will be better to understand the hand as “the strength and power of Allah” figuratively.

Nasuh is the exaggeration mode of the word nush. It means to give advice a lot. The repentance is described as something giving advice a lot. That is to say, it recommends its holder to leave his sin, removes him from the evil deeds, and tells him to turn to Allah with sincere repentance. Thus, sincere repentance is: Leaving the sin; Remorse over the sins committed; Resolving never to return to sins; If it is related to the rights of another person, then, returning the rights or property one took. 4

Our prophet defines the sincere repentance as: feeling remorse, seeking an absolute refuge in Allah and not returning to it again just as there is no return for the milk into the udder. (Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, 1/446)

Ghazali described repentance as follows: Those asking Allah His forgiveness with sincere repentance are the ones showing persistence in their vows until they are dead. They make up their mistakes in the past and never think of repeating the same sin, except for lapses and slips. It is the resolution in repentance. They are the people whose sins are turned to virtues by Allah, and who compete for good deeds. 5

2.The conditions for the repentance being accepted:

That Allah acclaims those turning to Him in repentance (the Quran, Repentance (At-Tawbah) 9/112) and says He likes the people knocking the gates to repentance is a proof that repentances are to be accepted by Him. (the Quran, the Heifer (Al-Baqarah 2/222)

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) tells how Allah becomes joyful when His servants seeks his forgiveness with the following analogy,: 'When a servant of Allah returns to Him and repents, Allah becomes happier than a traveler who loses his mount which has all his belongings and provisions on and then resorts to the shade of tree after losing all hope only to wake up and find his mount staring in his face, and then out of joy and happiness erroneously says: 'OAllah! You are my servant and I am your Lord.' (Bukhari, Muslim) (Bukhari, Daawat 4; Muslim, Tawbah 3). As it is emphasized above, Allah’s joy is more than that of a man losing his camel and then finding it again when His servants turn to Him.

There are some requirements for repentance to be accepted by Allah. However, those requirements show differences depending on the type of wrongdoing committed. It is very important to know against whom it is committed at the time of seeking forgiveness of Allah. Therefore, we can divide it into two:

A. The sins involving God’s due: there are three stipulations in order to repent of the sins relating to His rights.

1) Remorse over having committed the sin; there occurs a sense of uneasiness and penitence within the conscience of man when it is come to a decision that the sin committed is a misdeed and harms the relations between Allah and His servant.

The servant transgressing will stand before the gate of repentance in a state jerking out of the perturbation and lurching with penitence and having a prudent heart and soul. 7 The perturbation mentioned is an element encouraging man to repent.

Penitence is the first condition of repentance. As a matter of fact, our prophet said that repentance is feeling remorse in order to emphasize it. (Ibn Majah, Zuhd 30; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, 1/376, 423). To feel remorse is repentance itself. Repentance is impossible without having deep regretful feelings.

2) Abandoning the sin that is repented: Penitence cannot only be confined to the heart and neither is it a creep, recoil nor is a spiritual repentance in the form of weeping. That is to say, it is not only composed of some sorts of inner feelings. Rather, it is a process during which some actions are constructed on internal sensations. For instance, the person seeking repentance must give up the wrongdoing (8), live up to Allah’s orders as far as he can (9), and should not continue the sin that is repented. 10. Should he happen to keep committing the sin even though he has repented, he will fall into a contradiction with himself. Such a manner is not going to comply with the repentance and the vow not to repeat that sin. On the other hand, abandoning the sin immediately is going to be an indication of his repentance and decisiveness not to go back to the same sin again.

3) Resolve not to repeat the sin that is repented: The person who has turned to Allah with repentance because of his past sins should be strong-willed not to commit the same sin again so that he will repent truly. (11). Repentance and decisiveness for not repeating the same sin will be known with their true meaning merely by Allah as they are related to the heart. Therefore, it will not be known by people about who truthfully has repented. (12) The person should promise Allah not to commit the same sin again so that it will have the true essence of penitence. (13)

b- The sins that involve the rights of other men: there are four conditions for making tawbah for the sins involving other people’s rights. The fourth stipulation, apart from the three conditions stated above, is that it is compulsory that the rights be restored to the people and he has to ask for forgiveness from the person whose right is violated. If those rights are in the form of property, then he may encounter the following possibilities:

1. The grabbed possessions should be given back if they are still available and their true owner is known. 14. At this point it is not sufficient to conceal the sin and repent only.

2. If the stolen belongings are at the hands of the thief and yet their true possessor is not known, then those belongings should be given out as alms and he should not keep them any more. 15

3. If a man wronged the others in the past years and their true holders are not known, then he should give the equal amount of money to charity.

4. If the possessions the wrongdoer has are not fungible goods and if their value can be estimated and if he has enough money, he should give its equivalent to their owner. 16 If he cannot pay for them, he should intend to give them back when he has enough money. We can expect of Allah’s forgiveness for the person that tries to restore the properties to their true owners as far as he can even if he finally fails. 17

5. A man who is not sure how much of his own material goods is mixed with what is forbidden picks a quantity of sum in accordance with his own assumption and gives alms intending getting rid of the rights of other people. 18 

If the sinner seeks the pardon of his Lord and carries out those conditions, Allah will accept his repentance and will be ashamed to punish the repentant.

3. Time factor in penitence:

The sins are hurdles in the path going to Allah. The sinner is similar to a person who has got poisoned. Just as it is so perilous to waste time for a poisoned person, so too is it very risky for a man committing sins to delay his repentance.

A believer who has just sinned will be very irritated out of his sin as a result of his trust in God and will seek out ways to be removed from that sin. There is concurrence of opinion about the fact that it is fard to ask for Allah’s forgiveness just following the sin committed. In addition, those holding their penitence in delay get sins due to delaying it. 19

According to Ghazali, once the man realizes what he has done is a sin, he is to feel remorse and cleanse its effect with a good deed. Otherwise, the wrongdoings will dwell in his heart and their removal is going to be impossible. 20

Thus, in a hadith, it is said, “when the servant commits a sin, a black spot appears on his heart, and if he seeks forgiveness, that black spot is removed, and if he returns to sin, the black spot grows…..”(Ibn Majah, Zuhd 29)

The following hadith illuminates us about the last time for penitence: “Allah, the Lord of honor and glory, will accept the repentance of His servant till his death-rattle begins.” (Tirmidhi, Daawat 100; Ibn Majah Zuhd 30). When the death comes and the death-rattle begins, the penitence will not be accepted.

The reasons why tawbah is not accepted at the parting breath are that the man is in the state of hopelessness at that moment. However, the penitence should be sought at a situation when the servant is still hopeful of life. At the parting breath, the proposal is cancelled from servants. The deeds committed at that time cannot be regarded as good or bad. However, penitence is of the worldly deeds and should be done before the proposal is over. In the hereafter, everybody is going to be regretful and yet their states are not going to be evaluated as repentance. 21 It is because the moment when the sinners feel remorse is a moment when the proposal is concluded. 22 The last minute repentance is not accepted and it is like nothing and as a result, it means nothing. 23 The person seeking repentance at the time of his parting breath is regarded like a man who has never repented throughout his lifetime. 24

As a conclusion, we can draw a timeline with regard to repentance: the time for penitence starts just after the moment a sin is committed, continues in the following days with no regard to any time limit and ends when the death signs appear. That is to say, the last time is when hope of life expires, the death marks become visible and the person lives his last moments.

4. The place factor in repentance: 

Though some certain places for prayer and Hajj (Pilgrimage) are obligatory and virtuous, there is no any such a condition for penitence. Since tawbah (penitence) is multi-dimensional remorse, it does not start and end at a definite place.

Therefore, being in the mosque, dervish lodge or in a small Islamic monastery is not a must for asking for the pardon of Allah. On the other hand, it is not obligatory to come together with congregation in order to make tawbah in the form of chorus in groups.

A person who has committed a sin can make his repentance in any place. Any place for a person thinking about his past sins and coming into a decision to get rid of his sins is a place for repentance. That is to say, a worker can decide to start for making tawbah at his work, a farmer at his land, those being at home can make their repentance at their abodes.

After all, Hazrat Yunus (Peace be upon him) was in the stomach of the fish and in the darkness of the sea and said “"There is no god but Thou: glory to Thee: I was indeed wrong!" (the Quran: 21-The Prophets (Al-Anbiya, 21/ 87) and asked for Allah His forgiveness just because he did what was virtuous though he could have done the most virtuous. 25 And Allah pardoned him.

And as it is known, eating the forbidden apple in the heaven, Hazrat Adam and Eve disobeyed Allah’s order. Having been expelled from Paradise and walking in the world for a long time, they turned to Allah in repentance because of their mistake at Arafat arena at the top of a mountain called “Mountain of Mercy”. And they said: "Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: If Thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy, we shall certainly be lost." The Quran: -The Heights (Al-Araf), 7/23). They asked the pardon of God and God Almighty granted His forgiveness upon them.

The process for tawbah begins when the heart decisively comes into a decision to get rid of sins. At every place where this decision is taken, the repentance is sincere. Confining the penitence to a place, laying down a sacred place condition for it stems from not knowing the essence of tawbah and failing to work out the message of Islam for the issue.

Conclusion:

God Almighty created man in a nature apt to being able to do both good and evil deeds. Tawbah is the solution for being cleansed out of sins and mistakes committed, and spiritual dirt. Through repentance, the servant is removed from his sins and faults and becomes as if he has never sinned. It is an undisputable fact that every man is in need of penitence.

Tawbah can be made just following the sin or until prior to the death rattle and signs for death come out. Since the appointed time is not definite, a person should repent without wasting any time.

A man needs no means for making tawbah nor a certain place or time for asking God in repentance.

For a true penitence, a person should feel remorse over having committed sins, and leave the place where he sins together with a resolution not to go back to the same sin. Giving the rights of their true holders back is the most crucial element of tawbah.

The suspicion whether he is cleansed out of his sins after his penitence is something baseless, Allah keeps His tawbah door open for people committing every type of sin. The point about which people should be cautious is if repentance is done with sincerity or not.

FOOTNOTES

1. Firuzabadi, Muhammed b.Ya’qub, al-Qamusu’l-Muhit, Beirut 1991, I, 166; Jawhari, Ismail b.Hammad, as-Sihah fi’l-Lugha wa’l-Ulum, Beirut 1974, I, 146; Ibn Manzur, Jamaluddin Muhammad b.Mukarram, Lisanu’l-Arab, Beirut 1990, I, 233.

2. For those definitions, see, Ghazali, Abu Hamid Muhammad, Ihyau Ulumi’d-Din, (trns. Ahmed Serdaroğlu), Istanbul 1974, IV, 10; Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, al-Futuhatu’l-Makkiyya, (invs Uthman Yahya), Cairo 1988, XIII, 298; Ibn Hajar, al-Askalani, Shihabuddin Ahmad b.Ali, Fathu’l-Bari bi Sharhi’l-Bukhari, Cairo 1987, XI, 106.

3. Qurtubi, Abu Abdillah Muhammad b.Ahmad, al-Jami li Ahkami’l-Qur’an, Cairo 1959, XV, 268; Ibn Kathir, Tafsiru’l-Qur’ani’l-Azim, IV, 59.

4. Ibn Manzur, ibid, II, 617; Ibnu’l-Qayyim, Madariju’s-Salikin, Cairo trs, I, 356.

5. Ghazali, Ihya, IV, 78. 6. It is stated that that anxiety is a sign of belief in a hadiths as follows: “A person is a believer if he commits a sin and if that sin disturbs him.” See, Bukhari, Daawat, 4; Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 49; Ahmad b.Hanbal, ibid, IV, 12. 7. Ghazali, Ihya, IV, 9. 8. Qurtubî, ibid, V, 91. 9. Qasimi, Muhammad Jamaluddin, Mahasinu’t-Ta’wil, (invs. M.Fuad Abdulbaqi), Cairo trs, XII, 4597. 10. Ibnu’l-Qayyim, al-Jawziyya, Muhammad b.Abubakr, Madâ,ariju’s-Salikin, Cairo trs, I, 301. 11. Qurtubî, ibid, V, 91. 12. M.Abu Zahra, al-Jarima wa’l-Uquba fi’l-Fiqhi’l-Islami, Cairo trs, s.223. 13. Ibn Hajar, ibid, XI, 106; Alusi, Ruhu’l-Maani, IV, 240. 14. Sarakhsi, al-Mabsut, IX, 176; Kasani, Badayi, VIII, 96; Alusi, ibid, VII, 96. 15. Aliyyü’l-Qari, Sharhu’l-Fiqhi’l-Akbar, (trns. Yunus Vehbi Yavuz), Istanbul 1979, p.415. 16. Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, Futuhat, XIII, 298. 17. Ibn Hajar, ibid, XI, 106. 18. Ghazali, Ihya, IV, 68, 69. 19. Ibn Qayyim, ibid, I, 297, 298. 20. Ghazali, Ihya, IV, 13. 21. Alusi, ibid, XXVIII, 158. 22. Qurtubî, ibid, V, 93. 23. Suyuti, Abdurrahman Jalaluddin, ad-Durru’l-Mansur fi Tafsiri’l-Ma’thur, Beirut 1414h, II, 458. 24. Mawardî, Tafsir, I, 456. 25. Tabari, Abu Jafar Muhammad b.Jarir, Jamiu’l-Bayan an Ta’wili’l-Qur’an, Beirut 1988, XVII, 80. Ass. Prof Mehmet Soysaldı

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Yes, He saw Allah but it is impossible for us to understand the true nature of this matter.

Please click on the links given below.

What does it mean to ‘see God’? How are the views of the scholars in Islam about this issue?

Can Allah’s nature be comprehended by man’s mind?

Forgiving and forgetting what other people did is a virtue. However, the holder of a right may refuse to give up his right. That is to say, he may not excuse that person in this world. He may ask for his right in the next world. Nevertheless, granting forgiveness to a Muslim person is a grand good deed and he is given more than his right in the hereafterIt is narrated by Hazrat Aisha that our Prophet never tried to get personal revenge.

He used responded with favors to the wrongdoings. He always had acts of kindness and an elevated soul. In all his lifetime, the Jewish people, unbelievers and the munafiqs (hypocrites) who set traps for him got their shares of his compassion and high merits. In the works that give accounts of his life, he is said to have given his shirt as a shroud for Abdullah bin Ubayy the leader of the munafiqs when he died. We can also observe his good and fair conducts towards the Jewish despite all their tricks. And after all of those endeavors against them, we are able to find out that when he stepped in Mecca, he said to them “you can go and all of you are free from now on” and addressed the unbelievers with the verses “This day let no reproach be (cast) on you: Allah will forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy! (the Qur’an, -Joseph (Yusuf), 92 ( 12: 92) Moreover, we can realize that how the verse “Hold to forgiveness; command what is right; But turn away from the ignorant” can be put into practice (the Qur’an, The Heights (Al-Aráf) (7: 199), when we read that for those throwing stones at him and scorning, attempting to kill him, he prayed to Allah “Oh My God, forgive them because they do not know” And also, we can understand his words better “My Lord ordered me to excuse my enemies though I have the enough power to take revenge, to keep the contact with the ones who cut their relations with me, and give away to those who did not give anything to me”

God Almighty orders in Aale-Imran surah in the verse 159 “It is part of the Mercy of Allah that thou dost deal gently with them. Wert thou severe or harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about thee: so pass over (their faults), and ask for (Allah's) forgiveness for them; and consult them in affairs (of moment). (the Qur’an, Aal-e-Imran, 3:159).

The style the Quran has and the evidence it uses about the existence and oneness of Allah is based on the principle that they can naturally be known and adopted by people whose nature have not been spoiled. Therefore, the verses related to the issue are generally in the form of questions, warnings that express astonishment and condemnation. (see al-Mu'minun 23/84-89; an-Naml 27/ 59-64; al-Ankabut 29/61, 63; az-Zumar 39/6) 

There are many verses in the Quran that describe Allah. We will quote only a few of them here.

a- Say: He is Allah the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth, not nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (Surah Al-Ikhlas 1-4)

b- Is there a Creator, other than Allah? (Surah Fatir 35/3)

c- No son did Allah beget, nor is there any god along with Him: (if there were many gods), behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have lorded it over others! Glory to Allah (He is free) from the (sort of) things they attribute to Him! (Surah Al-Mumenoon 23/91)

d- If there were in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have been ruin in both! But glory to Allah the Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him! (Surah Al-Anbiya 21/22)

e- (He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things). (Surah Ash-Shura 42/11)

They are not issues that mental capacity of a believer cannot perceive.

For instance, it is already an obvious event if manna was sent to Israelites as a miracle. Actually, miracle already means something extraordinary. It is possible that the dessert named as “Mann” (Manna) in the Quran is interpreted as “halwa of power” due to the fact that nobody else can do it.

On the contrary, if it is not a miracle, but an offering to Jews, it is still obvious to some extent. This is because it is religiously unobjectionable to consider it a substance falling from the sky onto the leaves of trees and from which a kind of molasses is made by boiling. The latter view is even more strengthened by the fact that the other food sent to Israelites is quail, which flies in the sky and is familiar to everyone.

The fact that Allah orders people to wait for camel’s turn to drink water, which is an issue considered amongst insignificant events in daily life is indeed a testing and trial. There is not much difference between this issue and forbidding Jews to fish on Saturdays. If Allah chose to try His slaves in different ways, what we are supposed to is to submit to Him. The fact that the tribe of Thamud was tried with a small amount of water is etymologically quite consistent with the word “thamud”. The word “thamud” means a small waterhole.

Hitting a single person who fornicated with a club is a really dissuasive punishment. It causes physical pain and on the other hand, there is also an even greater pain of falling into disgrace in front of everyone. If the Divine Wisdom has considered this appropriate, we need to be in favor of it. If such a punishment was applied today, women would surely be saved from abuse, which is so wide. At least it would decrease by one tenth.

The wisdom behind the Quran drawing attention to insignificant issues:

We will try to summarize the issue in the form of a few items:

As already known, the most important aim of the Quran is to prove the existence and oneness of Allah and draw attention to it. Some very insignificant and simple issues mentioned in the Quran indicate that Allah, who is unique, is there for everything -insignificant or significant- and sees it all with His infinite knowledge and might and mystery of oneness. Everything happens with His permission and His creation. Every event is materialized only with His will.

Such insignificant issues are mentioned in order to show that Allah cares everything, regardless of their importance, and is thoughtful of their rights. For instance, the first verses of the chapter al-Mujadila clearly prove the issue:

“God has indeed heard (and accepted) the statement of the woman who pleads with thee concerning her husband and carries her complaint (in prayer) to God: and God (always) hears the arguments between both sides among you: for God hears and sees (all things).”

Each of the insignificant issues mentioned in the Quran is a universal law. The Quran sometimes explains quite wide, long and universal laws and general laws with simple, small examples from certain events, like displaying a great sea inside a ewer, because Allah takes the level of perception of human beings who are simple and ordinary into consideration, due to His mercy over them. The issue can be exemplified as follows:

a. An insignificant event called “teaching of names” is mentioned in the Quran (al-Baqara, 2/31); however, teaching of all knowledge and science inspired to mankind was expressed with this event.

b. Again in chapter al-Baqara (2/34) it is stated that all angels prostrated before the prophet Adam, except Satan. This insignificant event taught humankind the lesson of the fact that the majority of beings from fish to angels are obedient and yet that detrimental creatures from serpents to Satan do not obey and are enemies.

c. An insignificant event such as “slaughtering a cow” is mentioned in several verses (2/67-73) starting with the verse, the translation of which is “And remember Moses said to his people: "God commands that ye sacrifice a cow”, in the chapter of al-Baqara again. However, the Quran indicates with this insignificant event that cow-worshipping which is a kind of paganism wide spread in Egypt and which also influenced Jews was cut off with Moses’ knife (i.e was ended).

d. The verse which is translated as “And indeed, there are stones out of which rivers gush forth, and indeed, there are of them (stones) which split asunder so that water flows from them, and indeed, there are of them (stones) which fall down for fear of Allah.” (al-Baqara, 2/74) mentions about the insignificant events such as water and rivers springing out of stones, and stones rolling down. However, the Quran indicates with this that the stone layer under the soil layer keeps the treasure of water and is like the mother of soil.

In conclusion, it is necessary to bear in mind that everything mentioned in the Quran has a lot of wisdom and is also a means of testing for us. It is Allah who created everything from the smallest detail to the most obvious detail.

The Quran is the word of Allah. We must believe and trust in each verse of it doubtlessly, even if we may not find it logical and even if they do not comply with modern life. It is a necessity of belief to accept them all as they are. Yet, it is better to search the wisdoms behind them.

“The answer of the Believers when summoned to Allah and His Messenger in order that He may judge between them, is no other than this: they say "We hear and we obey": it is such as these that will attain felicity. He who obeys Allah and His messenger, and fears Allah, and keeps duty (unto Him): such indeed are the victorious.” (an-Noor, 24/52-52).

We thank Allah in order to show that we are humans because the rule “man is the slave of goodness made for him” is an explanation of a disposition law that emanates from humans’ sociological and psychological life.

We thank because thanking is the price of the benefactions which are demanded by Almighty Creator, who is also the sole owner those benefactions. The feeling of thanking which is present in our nature shows that the Creator wants it from us.

- We thank because we know the value of the benefactions that are given to us; so we become a symbol which is free from ungratefulness, insensitiveness and naughtiness.

- We thank because our contentment and thankfulness is an indicator for our Lord’s divinity, management, training and ruling.

Thanking is carried out in order to join the glorification (that is, declaring that Allah is a perfect Lord) of all of the beings in the universe to show that they owe a debt of gratitude to Allah.

Thanking is carried out in order to express one’s satisfaction toward the All-Compassionate Lord with the consciousness of belief and to join the feast of gratitude held by all living and non-living beings and to prove that man does not fall behind and as a debt of being a slave of Allah.

- Thanking is benefiting from the benefactions properly, not revolting against Allah (SWT), not forgetting the sole owner of these benefactions while using them and thanking for goodness.

- Thanking is giving honor to Allah in return for the benefactions and grants given by Him.

- Thanking is confessing and acknowledging the benefactions given by Allah (SWT) verbally and by heart. Benefaction is all what Almighty Allah gives to His slaves and of which they get pleasure and benefit from. Thanking for those benefactions is confessing the sovereignty of Allah, Ar-Razzaq (the Sustainer). Not heeding them is also considered an ungratefulness of benefaction.

- Thanking is man’s realization of benefactions that are given to him by Allah (SWT) and his serving in return for these benefactions. If a man knows that he does not deserve the bounties but they are  given to him, then this is called thanking.

- Thanking means doing a favor in return for a favor.

- Thanking is a duty that man should perform for Allah (SWT) because, Almighty Allah created man and gave him innumerable benefactions. He let him free select between ways of which one is gratitude and the other is ungratefulness. If man selects the way of gratitude and use the benefactions given to him in a way that Allah will be consent, He will respond man and increase His blessings.

It is possible to understand them from these verses; “Then do ye remember Me; I will remember you. Be grateful to Me and reject not faith.” (al-Baqara, 2/152), “It is He Who hath created for you all things that are on earth” (alBaqara, 2/29), “If ye are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you; but if ye show ingratitude, truly My punishment is terrible indeed." (Ibrahim, 14/7

Upon listening to the orders given by the Qur’an such as Worship for Allah who created you and your ancestors.” “Perform Salah”. “Continue fasting during the month of Ramadan.”, man who feels and realizes his duty of thanking Allah in such a way, finds peace due to finding what he seeks.

When we open the Quran, the first verse that we see is, Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful). Our Lord introduces Himself as the Beneficent (ar-Rahman) and the Merciful (ar-Rahim). Both holy names express that Allah has infinite mercy. Doubtlessly, Allah, who has infinite mercy, loves every person that He creates. 

Is it possible that He should not love the creature that he takes out of the darkness of the realm of non-existence to the luminous hills of the realm of existence?

When the bounties that are given to man are taken into consideration, man will understand that Allah loves him. Let us explain some of the manifestations of the love of Allah toward His slaves:

1. Creating man out of nothing: Man owned a soul in a very nice form thanks to the mercy of Allah although he was not existent. Allah did not leave man in non-existence; He gave him the bounty of existence. It is the greatest bounty. Allah did not leave him lifeless and gave him the bounty of life. He did not leave man without a spirit and gave him the bounty of spirit. He did not leave man without consciousness and mind and gave him the bounties of the mind and consciousness. He gave man the bounty of humanity. He also gave man the bounties of guidance and belief. They are all the bounties that were given to man. The issue is explained as follows in the Quran:

"Him Who created thee. Fashioned thee in due proportion, and gave thee a just bias; In whatever Form He wills, does He put thee together"(al-Infitar, 82/7-8)

"We have indeed created man in the best of moulds." (at-Tin, 95/4)

2. Giving man numerous bounties: Bounty means giving man all kinds of good things and keeping all kinds of harms away from him. It is the manifestations of the names ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim.

Beneficence and mercy mean to will the good and to grant endless favors and bounties.

The following definition of mercy is very nice:

“Mercy is the feeling of eliminating the pains, disasters, and troubles and replacing them with goodness, joy and happiness.”

The name ar-Rahman means ‘the one that gives the sustenance of every living thing, whether man or animal, whether believer or unbeliever, and that takes care of and protects them’.

The name ar-Rahim means ‘the one that makes His slaves that use their will correctly reach the happiness of belief, worshipping and guidance and that prepares eternal gardens (Paradise) for them’.

The name ar-Rahman looks at the first creation. As a matter of fact, God Almighty gives so many grants and bounties to the beings that He created without their willing.

The name ar-Rahim looks at the second creation and bears the glad tiding that the slaves that use their will in the good and correct way will be given endless blessings, bounties and grants in the second creation.

“It is He Who hath created for you all things that are on earth" (al-Baqara, 2/29).

3. Sending prophets that warn people: Sending prophets is an indication of the mercy of Allah. The right and the wrong were presented to each ummah through a messenger and they were informed about the orders and prohibitions of Allah. Prophets are also guides for worldly affairs. The development of the civilizations took place thanks to the guidance of the prophets. 

“Allah did confer a great favor on the Believers when He sent among them an Messenger from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the Signs of Allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in Scripture and Wisdom, while, before that, they had been in manifest error." (Aal-i-Imran, 3/164)

4. The religion of Islam being a religion of ease: Allah, who created man out of nothing, definitely knows what he needs, what kinds of worshipping he can perform and how he can be healthy, peaceful and happy. Therefore, the religion of Islam provides man with an easy, nice and comfortable life as a grant from Allah. 

"... He has chosen you and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the cult of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this (Revelation); that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind! So establish regular Prayer give regular Charity, and hold fast to Allah! He is your Protector― the― Best to protect and the Best to help!!" (al-Hajj 22/78)

5. Giving some time for repentance in the life of the world: Allah does not punish His slaves who disobey him at once. He gives them some time so that they will understand their mistakes and repent.   

“Mocked were (many) messengers before thee: but I granted respite to the Unbelievers, and finally I punished them; then how (terrible) was My requital!." (ar-Rad 13/32)

6. Rewarding His slaves who believed in Him with Paradise: Paradise is a bounty and grant of Allah.

“Except those who repent and believe, and work Righteousness: for these will enter the Garden and will not be wronged in the least. Gardens of Eternity, those which (Allah) Most Gracious has promised to His servants in the Unseen: for His promise must (necessarily) come to pass. They will not there hear any vain discourse, but only salutations of peace: and they will have therein their sustenance, morning and evening. Such is the Garden which We give as an inheritance to those of Our Servants who guard against evil.."  (Maryam, 19/60-63).

7- Answering prayers: Dua (prayer, supplication) is another superior manifestation of the names ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim of our Lord. A believing man asks power and patience from Allah without losing hope even if he is under very difficult conditions. He begs only from Allah with hope knowing that He always creates the best thing.  He knows that what he asks from Allah will end up in a good way. This opportunity, which Allah gives to His slaves, is doubtlessly a manifestation of His infinite mercy. Allah owns all the power. Allah, who is ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim, informs people through the following verse that He will make it easy for the people that are in need if they turn toward Him and ask from Him: 

“And those who dispense their charity with their hearts full of fear, because they will return to their Lord " (al-Muminun, 23/60).

“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them); I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me."  (al-Baqara, 2/186)

8. Being Happy when His slaves repent: Our Lord expresses clearly that He will accept the repentance of those who repent appropriately, that he will reward them, that they will feel safe regarding their future and that they will obtain their hope again if they do so.

“For such the reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens with rivers flowing underneath an eternal dwelling; how excellent a recompense for those who work (and strive) " (Aal-i-Imran, 3/136).

“Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean” (Bakara, 2/222)

9.  Making man superior to all other creatures: Some of the verses regarding the superiority of man are as follows:

“Behold thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent on earth." They said "Wilt thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? Whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?" He said: "I know what ye know not." (al-Baqara, 2/30)

" We have honoured the sons of Adam; provided them with transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of Our Creation."(al-Isra, 17/70)

“We have indeed created man in the best of moulds, Then do We abase him (to be) the lowest of the low― Except such as believe and do righteous deeds: for they shall have a reward unfailing.."(at-Tin, 95/4-6)

Allah created man in the best form, made him superior to all beings and made him the vicegerent in the universe. Man must keep this superior quality through belief and worshipping.  Otherwise he will fall to the lowest of the low and lose the vicegerency, and, as it is expressed in the Quran, he may become more misguided than animals. While belief takes man to a rank superior to angels, unbelief throws man into the lowest of the low down into the depths of Hell. 

As a matter of fact, Allah says “the best of moulds“ for man. That the phrase “the best of moulds“ is used for man means that there is nothing more beautiful than him among the creatures. 

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How can we understand whether Allah loves us? Do the troubles that we have show that Allah does not like us?

Have you ever thought how much Allah loves people and how much He wants them not to go to Hell?

To cut it short, let us look at the reminding of a sacred hadith and then we can move on to other examples.

Do you know what our Lord likes most?

The following is stated in the sacred hadith:

- Our Lord likes repentance of people most of all the deeds they commit
-Why?
-Because those people who repent will be saved from Hell. Our Lord likes the deed which saves people from Hell.

A mother does not want to throw her child onto fire; similarly, Our Lord does not want to throw people into Hell more than she does.

As a matter of fact, one of the Companions once narrated a childhood memory :
- As I was walking among scrubs, I took chicks into my bosom from a bird nest that I found there. At the very moment, the mother of the chick appeared flying over me. I felt pity for her and when I attempted to take chicks out of my bosom, the mother bird dived into my bosom next to her chicks. She spread her wings over them to protect them.

The Prophet’s (pbuh) question was:
- Did you become surprised with this mother’s mercy for her chicks?
And Prophet ( pbuh) added:
-You should have no doubt that God’s mercy for people is (incomparably) more than the mercy of this mother.

Once, a woman lost her child and she was running here and there like a crazy person seeking for her child. She was hugging every stranger child she encountered and she was suckling them right on the spot.
Seeing the anxiety of this woman, the Prophet ( pbuh) asked the people next to him :
-Do you think such a compassionate woman would throw her child into fire?
-“She would not!” they said.
Prophet (pbuh) affirmed their answer :
- “I also know she would not” and He added:
-God is more merciful than this woman. He would not throw people into fire unless they themselves dive into evil deeds and into fire.

Yes, God will not throw people into fire unless they themselves dive into evil deeds and into fire!

On the way back from a trip, a break was given and a woman, lit a fire, began to prepare the meal. When the flames rose, she took a sudden hold of the child that was running around and took him into her arms for fear that the child might fall into fire and imagining a possible scene of the child having fallen into fire and thinking that she could not bear this pain, she turned to Prophet (pbuh) and asked Him :

-You are Allah’s Prophet, aren’t you?
-You should have no doubt about it, he said.

And the woman went on :
-God’s mercy for people is much more than that of a mother’s for her child, isn’t it?
The Prophet (pbuh):
-You should have no doubt about it.
Then the woman said:
-So, a mother cannot throw her child into fire, she moaned.

The Prophet’s eyes were filled with tears and he said:
- God only throws the ones who rebel against him into fire. Not those who do not.

So, this means God does not want to throw people into fire; His infinite mercy and compassion does not require fire. However, people do not behave honestly and they commit deeds which will lead them to fire. They do injustice to each other and act unjustly against one another. They do not restrain from rebellion against their Creator and as a result, if they lead themselves to fire with their own deeds, this is their own choice.

This should be the essence of the issue.

The statement “Allah loves us; if He did not love, then he would not have created us and blessed us with all these favors.” is quite to the point.

Every sin is a rebellion and disrespect against God. Is it possible that Allah loves disrespect and the disrespectful person?

However, it is a requisite of the wisdom of the trial which human is put to that he has the equipment with which to commit sin, too. For this reason, Allah takes into account who commits sins under which circumstances and for which reasons. For instance, the sins of Prophet Adam, peace be upon him, who was tricked by his self and the Satan, and that of the Satan who rebelled knowingly against God because of his pride are not the same. One of them had the chance to repent and for the other this door was closed.

In the Qur’an, in many verses, it is written whom God does not love. Allah does not take one’s self into account, but He takes into account one’s attributes and qualities. Otherwise, all are His works of art. Of course, He loves His art. Nevertheless, the actions that human performs with his own free will play a role in his/her being loved or not. In the translation of some Quranic verses below we see certain loved and unloved qualities:

“Surely God loves not those who exceed the bounds.” (The Qur’an, Al-Baqarah 2:190)

“Surely God loves those who are devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing them.” (The Qur’an, Al-Baqarah 2:195)

“Surely God does not love disorder and corruption.” (The Qur’an, Al-Baqarah 2:205)

“Surely God loves those who turn to Him in sincere repentance (of past sins and errors), and He loves those who cleanse themselves.” (The Qur’an, Al-Baqarah 2:222)

In the Qur’an, it is emphasized that God does not love “the unbelievers, oppressors, disorder makers, wasters, the ill-behaving, the arrogant, traitors, the indulging in sins”; whereas He loves “the pious, the just, the ones trusting Allah (tawakkul), the patient”.

It is quite common that a mother becomes too offended to forgive her child because of her/his certain disrespectful actions even if she tolerates certain other disrespectful ones. It is quite displeasing to like ugly states besides the good ones.

What is meant by the expression, “repent soon afterwards” may mean to regret committing that sin immediately after it or the moment one realizes his sin; however, what is really meant by the verse is the regret and repentance before death.(see Tabari, the interpretation of the relevant verse) As a matter of fact, that the door of repentance is open for all kinds of sins until death confirms this truth.

In fact Abdullah b. Umar narrates that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"Doubtlessly, Allah accepts the repentance of a person until he is at death’s door and begins to wheeze."(Tirmidhi, Daawat, 99; Ibn Majah, az-Zuhd, 30)

The door of repentance is open as long as one is alive. It is expected that Allah will accept the repentance of His sinful slaves and forgive their sins when they get religion as a necessity of His promise and out of His grace. If a sinful person does not repent until the last seconds of his life and he repents after he loses hope of the world life and after he sees and feels some of the realities related to barzakh (the period between death and the Day of Resurrection) and the hereafter, his repentance is not repentance based on belief in ghaib (the unknown, the unseen) and it is not sincere repentance; it is repentance that aims to be saved from punishment that faces him; since there is no more time left for the testing of worshipping and obedience, his repentance will not be accepted. Another kind of repentance that is not accepted is the repentance of those who spend their lives by denying the true religion and repent after they die and see the realm of the hereafter. It will not be accepted by Allah either since it is not based on belief in ghaib and sincere regret. (Kur’an Yolu, Diyanet Tefsiri, II/24-25)

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) says, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say,

“Allah stated: ‘O son of Adam! I will forgive you regardless of the magnitude of your sins and no matter how many sins you have committed if you pray to me and expect forgiveness from me. O son of Adam! If you ask forgiveness from me, I will forgive your sins even if they are so much as to fill the skies. O son of Adam! If you come to me with sins that will fill the earth but without associating partners to me and without being engaged in polytheism, I will welcome you with forgiveness to fill the earth’.” (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 98)

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Due to the nature of man, every individual feels the need of what he lacks. On the other hand, a person who has everything does not appreciate what he has and usually is unaware of those bounties like a prodigal inheritor. It will be appropriate to explain the issue through the following example:

While a child who has no shoes is crying, he suddenly sees a crippled child without feet. He becomes terrified, stops crying and says "O Lord! Thank you that I have my feet; I am so lucky; please forgive me..."; thus, he becomes content.

Then, people should be thankful. They must know well and appreciate the value of the things that they have.

To sum up, we should look at those who are inferior to us and console ourselves. We should look at those who are superior to us in terms of wealth and knowledge and try to catch up with them.  

Man always sought justice in this world. First of all, it is necessary to know that there is no true justice in the world. Absolute justice will occur on the Day of Judgment. The world is a place of training and testing. Here, there are very complex issues that the mind cannot realize and that our feelings and faculties cannot understand. Let us give some examples.

Visible rays account for only about 4% of the lights. The other lights include  Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Radio, Television, IKS, ultrasound, infrared, ultraviolet, Mion, Laser, Radar and other cosmic rays; they are invisible. Then, we can only see 4% of the lights and cannot see the remaining 96%. Therefore, statistically what we think that we see remains uncertain. That is, we see very little.  

If we consider the sense of touch, it is not possible for us to recognize so many tiny beings that our eyes cannot see and the big beings like the galaxies and planets in the distance.

The power of our other senses is as weak as the sense of touch and it is not enough for us to understand everything.

However, beyond the emotions, we have a very valuable being called the "mind".  We must complete our weak aspects with it. As a matter of fact, many devices have been made and many unknown things have become known thanks to the mind. However, the number of the unknown things is not few.  

Thanks to the mind, we can also examine the reasons of some imbalances in this world. For example: Let us think about a baby that has been created with a congenital limb deficiency.

As some of us think, the birth of such a baby can never be called "God's injustice". There are great lessons for those who use their mind regarding that baby; there are signs in this painting for a person who uses his mind.

Many people sacrifice their lives so that their country can be saved, and others can continue to live on the territory of the country thanks to martyrs and veterans.

In this world, which is the property of God, God Almighty wants the humankind continue to exist and live peacefully. Therefore, other people are expected to thank and be content with their situation.  In general, a person who is healthy and sound thinks that everybody is healthy and sound. One can notice that his healthy and sound body is a grant of God only when he sees handicapped people. That is why, the people who are considered as poor and handicapped people by us serve humanity greatly so that they will find the way to salvation.    Therefore, I think they are blessed people like martyrs and veterans in the sight of God. However, man is far from understanding the wisdom behind this issue and similar ones. The handicapped and diseased people themselves may not be aware of this preordainment of God Almighty.

Then, we will express it again: There is no injustice in the world regarding the case of births with congenital defects or those injured later. There are very significant services and profound wisdom regarding their cases. On the one hand, other people are expected to see them and thank God and feel content. On the other hand, people are reminded that they should avoid alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, exposure to harmful radiation, diseases and other harmful things and hazards, and that otherwise their offspring might be deformed as the handicapped people.

Despite those grants and bounties of God Almighty, the number of unwise, thoughtless, emotionless, ungrateful and selfish people is increasing along with the number of handicapped people day by day.

Likewise, it is known that the illegitimate adoption, divorces, severe conflicts in the families, which are contrary to the orders of God, increase juvenile delinquencies. However, if man still looks for peace of mind and happiness with his numb and so to speak blind state despite those wonderful exemplary situations, he will not be able to find them. If the young generation does not see the mistakes of their parents and if they do not walk in the true path, it is necessary to be even more pessimistic for the future generations of humanity.

We have stated that troubles and misfortunes are the price of the mistakes that believers made in this world. However, sinless and innocent people are also affected by those troubles and misfortunes and their lives and property may also be harmed. At this point, the question that comes to mind first is, "is it not possible that only the sinners be affected by them not the innocent people?"

The following is stated in the verse,

"And fear tumult or oppression which affecteth not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong and know that Allah is strict in punishment.."(al-Anfal, 8/25)

There are certain lessons that we must take from this verse. However, the first thing that comes to mind is "why misfortunes also affect innocent people along with oppressors." In other words, when a misfortune occurs, the baby is thrown out with the bathwater; that is, the innocent people also lose their lives and property.

The answer to it lies in the fact that this world is a place of experience and testing. That is, if misfortunes hit only the oppressors and sinners and the innocent and sinless people were protected from them, a situation opposite to the mystery of testing would occur.

"An earthquake happens and only the sinners die under the buildings that collapse; the other people are saved; a flood hits a place and the oppressors are drowned but the innocent people are saved by an unseen hand. The sinners who hear about it start to repent because they think that they will be hit by misfortunes if they do not repent."

As a necessity of testing, when a misfortune occurs, it encompasses both the good ones and the bad ones together. Thus, the mystery of testing is not lost. If the good people were to be saved and only the bad people were to be harmed, the mystery of testing would be lost. People who have spirits like Abu Bakr and people who have spirits like Abu Jahl would be in the same level.  Therefore, innocent people are sometimes exposed to oppression. However, misfortunes become atonement for their sins and increase their ranks.  If those who are exposed to misfortunes are children who are not of age yet, it is expected from the mercy of God Almighty, who doesnot neglect to reckon even a very small good or bad deed, to give them more happiness than other children in the hereafter.

Regarding these misfortunes, great rewards of God Almighty’s mercy is in question for innocent people. The ephemeral goods of those sinless and innocent people become sadaqa and are transformed into permanent goods; their lives that end make them gain a kind of martyrdom that enables them to have an eternal life. Doubtlessly, it is not something unimportant to gain a great and eternal happiness in return for a small and temporary pain in the world.

Those who oppress others will be punished in this world or in the hereafter. Therefore, justice will be carried out. Those who were oppressed will get their due from the oppressors and they will be rewarded by God because they were oppressed despite being innocent; they will be granted endless bounties. When those people who were oppressed despite being innocent are asked about their situations in the hereafter, they will say, "We received great rewards in return for little trouble and we saw that the oppressors were punished in return for their oppression; we are glad."

Moreover, those people who are exposed to such oppression might receive various grants of God as a sign of His mercy.  

God does not oppress anyone. He never ignores to punish those who oppress others though He sometimes delays it.

“No one can have more mercy than God.

No one can have more wrath than God.”

Things such as crying are out of question for Allah (SWT) . Since things like that a deficiency, they are definitely far away from the Most Sacred Being.

Allah does not have gladness or sadness similar to our emotions because those emotions emerge as a result of meeting a need or a desire or as a result of dissatisfaction. However, Allah (SWT) is Samad, everything is in need of Him but He is not in need of anything.

Consequently, sadness or gladness in the sense we comprehend is out of question for Allah.  

Nevertheless, the fact of “gaining Allah’s pleasure” that is emphasized repeatedly in the Qur’an also brings “rejoicing” to mind. However, as that rejoicing is not similar to the rejoicing of man, it is not related with the causes which are the reasons for that rejoicing, either. As Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states, that issue can be considered as “divine gladness (whose essence cannot be known by us) convenient to the sacredness of Allah’s Essence, Names and Attributes.”     .

In the same way, the concept sadness can also be considered as “divine displeasure convenient to the sacredness of Allah’s Essence, Names and Attributes.”

The best answer for that question is The Surah of Al Ikhlas.
1. Say: He is Allah, the One;
2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
3. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
4. And there is none like unto Him.
According to those verses and other verses mentioned in the Qur’an, the claims mentioned in the question are wrong and is a slander to Allah. The claim of “Allah’s daughters” is a slander like that, too..

“And they make into females angels who themselves serve Allah. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded, and they will be called to account!” (Az-Zukhruf, 43/19)
Angels were described as female by the polytheists of Kuraysh according to the meaning of that verse.

Today, the fact that Christians characterize angels as female and (Allah is far from it) say that angels are His daughters is a concept that came from and was shaped by old superstitions.

As a matter of fact, a considerable portion of the Christian actors are far from religion. They are not concerned with whether what they are doing is suitable for their religion or not.

In addition, their faith of the “trinity” which is composed of the coalition of Mary-Jesus-Holy spirit can comply with that.

The ayahs (verses) warning those who slander to Allah by saying “Angels are daughters of Him” are as follow:

“Those who believe not in the Hereafter, name the angels with female names.” (An-Najm, 53/27)

“Has then your Lord (O Pagans!) preferred for you sons, and taken for Himself daughters among the angels?” (Al-Isra, 17/40)

“Now ask them their opinion: is it that their Lord has (only) daughters, and they have sons?-  Or that We created the angels female, and they are witnesses (thereto)?” (As-Saffat, 37/149-150)
As for the name  “Allah”:

The name  “Allah” has not been derived and taken from any other languages into Arabic. It is used as a proper name from the beginning. Almighty Allah’s personality is present before His all names and attributes, so too, is the name “Allah”. One of the proofs that indicates the name “Allah” is Arabic is this: If it had been taken from any other languages, it would have been used as qhayri munsarif (Arabic origin verb that is suitable for inflexional suffix) such as; Israfil, Gabriel, Abraham, Ishmael. However, it is not used like munsarif nouns. (Arabic origin verbs which are suitable for inflexional suffix)
Shortly, it is not possible under these conditions to claim that the name “Allah” had been derived from another language.
That exalted name, from the aspect of the language too, is in an eternal curtain. In order to have the simplest meaning, the word to be said is amazement and greatness. Allahu Akbar! (Allah is the greatest!)

Some features of the name “Allah”.

1. The name  Allah is the most mentioned name in the Qur’an; it is mentioned 2697 times.

2. That holy name includes all of the other meanings of the names of Almighty Allah.

3. The name Allah is a proper noun that indicates divinity. His other names called Asmau’l Husna (the most beautiful names of Allah) are in fact His attributes. And all of these names are attributed to Him. For example, it is said: “Allah is Ghafoor, Raheem, Hakeem, etc”. And the verbs of these attributes are attributed to Him, too. Such as “Allah blessed mercy, He blesses mercy, O Allah mercy upon me, Allah sees, hears, knows, etc”.

4. Both of the “lam”s (One of the Arabic letters which indicates the letter “l”.) which are in the name “Allah” are pronounced as dark “l” –contrary to the other nouns including “lam”- to honor Allah.

An-NUR

“One who is seen and makes other beings seen, too.”

(Imam Ghazali)

“One who enlightens and lights up the universe.”

“God is the Light of the heavens and the earth.” (an-Nur, 24:35) 

One of Allah’s attributions is “The Light (an-Nur)” and also all of His other names are luminous. Expressions of “goodness and nur (light)” are used to define “existence” and expressions of “evil and darkness” are used to define “non-existence”. In this sense, it can be said that everything that manages to exist getting rid of non-existence has got a manifestation of the name “an-Nur”.

In the Quran, the following is stated, “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth.” (an-Nur, 24:35)

Allah who let the heavens and the earth have the light of existence has given a greater share to stars by giving them more of light of existence.

And He let the light of life shine on the earth, which largely surpasses the light of heavens.

He made human beings, amongst other creatures, more luminous and more elevated than heavens by blessing them with the lights of faith and knowledge.

Existence is light and non-existence is darkness; similarly, knowledge is light and ignorance is darkness.

It is said that “Faith is both light and power” in Nur Collection. Light enables things to be seen; similarly, the light of faith enables believers to realize and find the truths.

Through this light, human beings know their Creator and His blessed names and attributions. It is through this light that they know about angels, realm of the dead, the Day of Resurrection, Heaven and Hell.

Manifestation of the name “an-Nur” in the realm of humankind is emphasized through the following Quranic verse:

“God is the Protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light.” (al-Baqara, 2:257)

As the darkness is made plural with “the depths of darkness”, it is declared that those who have faith are saved from not only the darkness of unbelief but also a lot more ones such as the darkness of ignorance and darkness of immorality and it is declared that they reached light.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) likens sins to “dark/black stain” in one of his honorable hadiths. He states that a dark/black stain grows in a believer’s heart when he sins. As sins are dark stains, it is understood that good deeds which are the opposite of sins are light. In this sense, a repentance which sweeps sins away is also light. According to this, a believer’s duty is to make efforts in order to improve his faith from imitation to investigation, to avoid unbelief and shirk (polytheism) which cause that light to die out, to refrain from all sins which taint that light and try to make his heart more luminous and prosperous by increasing his good deeds.

Alaaddin Başar (Prof. Dr.)

It is certain that the maker of something does not resemble what he has made. He is not of the same type. For example, the maker of a car is quite different from the car; similarly, the maker of a stove is different from the stove. Likewise, Allah, the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal) is different from His creatures.
Allah is the unique Creator and He is not like the contingent creatures because one is the Creator and the other is the creature. Is it ever possible that the Creator and the creature, the killer and the killed to be equal? Allah, the Creator of life and death is pre-eternal and post-eternal.

It is inconceivable to mention direction or side for Allah because they are just relative things, not really existent. That is, they are considered with respect to the entities. For example, with respect to an ant walking on the ceiling, it is above, and we are below. For an ant walking on the ground, we are above, and it is below. Before the creation of the universe, the six directions (left – right – up – down – back – front) did not exist. Later on, the people adopted them in order to arrange their daily life. What is level with the chest is called the front, and what is across it is called the back (or rear)

Allah was existent when the entities and the directions were non-existent. Thus, the concept of direction is considered for us, not for Allah. Wherever a person turns, Allah is there.
From one aspect, it is like the sun, which is a manifestation of Allah’s Holy name “Nur (the Light)”, wherever a man turns, the sun is there with its light. That means, it is existent in all six directions.
When our Prophet (PBUH) was asked “Where is Allah?” he responded “He was existent alone, and nothing else co-existed with Him. …” (Bukhari, Wars, 67, 74, Beginning of the Creation 1, Unity 22; Tirmidhi, Stories, 3946)
 “To Allah belongs the East and the West; whithersoever ye turn, there is Allah's countenance. For Allah is All-Embarcing All-Knowing” al-Baqara 115
“Every day in (new) Splendour doth He (shine) ar-(Rahman 29)
“He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, and is moreover firmly established on the Throne (of authority), He knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah sees well all that ye do” (al-Hadid 4)

 “If ye help not (your Leader) (it is no matter): for Allah did indeed help him; when the unbelievers drove him out: he had no more than one companion: they two were in the cave, and he said to his companion "Have no Fear, for Allah is with us"” (at-Tawbah 40)
 “We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein (Qaf 16)”
A man reminded Imam Abu Hanifa, the verse in the meaning: “He is with you” (al-Hadid 4) He responded to him : “It is like your writing a letter to someone and say that you are with him. But actually you are not in his presence”

When a worshipper of nature asked Imam Azam (The Greatest Imam ) Abu Hanifa his last question:
- What is Allah doing now?,
he responded :
-Come down and I will go up there, and then I will answer your question.
They exchanged places and then he said to the disbeliever:
- Right now, Allah has made a disbeliever like you come down, and He has made a believer like me go up here.
Allah is continually in action in the universe. Like the sun shining on the things, Allah similarly manifests His Divine Names on all things continually.
The changes in the entities are just the different manifestations of Allah’s names on them.
Right now, Allah knows what we write and what you read and He creates one thing connected to everything and everything connected to one thing.
Where is Allah?

Answer 1:

Two hadiths related to the issue is as follows:

“All human beings are sinners; the best of the sinners are those who repent.” (Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 30) “If you were not to commit sins, Allah would sweep you out of existence and would replace you by other people who would commit sins, and then would ask forgiveness from Allah.” (Muslim, Tawbah, 9, 10, 11)

As it is understood from the hadiths above, man is a creature that has been created with a natural tendency to commit sins and to do good deeds. Committing sins is a property that discriminates man from angels. As it is known, angels are beings that were created out of light and that never commit sins.

Islam is a religion of nature. In Islam, it is accepted that man might commit sins and he is taught the ways of avoiding committing sins. The way of getting rid of the sins and crimes that have been committed and being purified of spiritual impurities is repentance. Thanks to repentance, a person becomes free of the sins and mistakes; he becomes as clean as if he has not committed those sins. As a matter of fact, the Prophet said the following regarding the issue, “A person who repents from his sin is like the one who has never committed that sin.” (Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 30)

Allah calls His slaves to repent as follows: “And O ye Believers! Turn ye all together towards Allah that ye may attain.” (an-Nur, 24/31) In another verse, Allah says to His Prophet: “Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (az-Zumar, 39/53)

In the verse above, Allah orders His Prophet to tell His sinful slaves not to despair of the mercy of Allah because Allah, who is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful, forgives all sins if He wishes. Therefore, the slaves of Allah need to turn toward Allah, surrender to Him and abandon polytheism and all kinds of sins before His wrath comes.

That is, the hadith mentioned in the question should not be understood as something that encourages man to commit sins. On the contrary, it means man tends to commit sins due to his nature; therefore, if he happens to commit a sin, he should know that the door of repentance is open.

What is meant by the expression, “If you were not to commit sins, Allah would create other people who would commit sins” is if man did not have or lost the property of committing sins, Allah would create other beings with the property of committing sins; and those beings would give up committing sins despite that property and would worship Allah. If they committed sins due to negligence, by mistake or as a result of the deception of Satan, He would forgive their sins.

Those hadiths state the importance of repentance and ask people no matter who they are to turn toward Allah without despairing of the mercy of Allah.

Answer 2:

Paradise, which is the place of manifestation for the jamal (beauty) attributes of Allah, is not related to human beings only; Hell, which is the place of manifestation for the jamal (majesty) attributes of Allah, is not a place of manifestation for human beings only, either.

That is, since the attributes of Allah are pre-eternal and post-eternal, they are to be manifest forever. The place of manifestation of those attributes is the hereafter, where Paradise and Hell are located.

That is, the manifestation of the attributes containing jamal attributes is not related to the bounties that are given to human beings only; the manifestation of the attributes containing jalal attributes is not related to the punishment given to human beings only, either.

That is, if there were not any people who passed away and went to the hereafter, Paradise and Hell, which are eternal places of manifestations in the hereafter, which is an eternal land for those attributes to be manifest forever, would exist.

That is, the rewarding of believing people by the bounties of Paradise, and the punishing of deniers by the Hell fire are only some manifestations of jamal and jalal attributes.

That is, Paradise shows the attributes of jamal with all of its beauties, charms, houris, ghilmans and luminous scenery; similarly, Hell is a terrible place of manifestation of the attributes of jalal with its zabanis (angels of Hell), horrible fires with flames, lava, coldness and darkness.

It is possible that Paradise is a center – a light that reflects the light of the existing suns and stars – which are a reflection of the jamal attributes that are manifest in the universe; it is possible that Hell is the source of the elements like fire and heat of the existing celestial bodies, suns and stars, which are a reflection of the jamal attributes that are manifest in the universe. The following statement of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi – which we have summarized – regarding the issue is really meaningful.

“He has made the stars luminous witnesses to the sovereignty of His Dominicality like a feet decked out with electric lights and has shown the sovereignty of His Dominicality and tremendous power. It is not far from the perfect wisdom, tremendous power, and sovereignty of Dominicality of one thus All-Glorious to make Hell like the boiler of an electric light factory and with it set fire to the stars of the heavens which look to the Hereafter, and give them heat and power.” (Mektubat/Birinci Mektub/3. sual): (Letters/First letter/3^rd question)

We find it useful to give an example to clarify the issue:

There are prisons in all of the countries of the world in principle today. It is clear that the existence of prisons is not the element that makes people commit crimes. On the contrary, prisons were built as a precaution because it is known that there will be criminals at all times.

The existence of Hell is like that. That is, people do not commit sins and crimes because Hell exists. Allah created Hell because He has known with His pre-eternal knowledge surrounding everything that there will be people who will commit sins and crimes using their own free will.

We should not forget this: Dominicality has two very clear properties. One of them is to reward those who accept His domination and who obeyHim, and to punish those who do not accept His domination and who disobey Him. Thus, Allah shows the assistance and mercy aspect of His domination by rewarding those who obey Him, and He shows the honor and dignity of His domination by punishing those insolent bandits who disobey Him. Allah has prepared a reward like Paradise, which is too beautiful to describe, for those who believe in and obey Him; He has also prepared a dungeon like Hell, whose torture is impossible to define, for those who deny Him, His prophets and books. It is very reasonable that the reward and punishment of Allah, who is the greatest, will be as great.

As a matter of fact, those who do not do their best to get rid of the punishment of Allah have attacks of nerves while thinking that the punishment is so near; thus, they want to blame the Quran, which mentions the existence of the punishment.

As a matter of fact, to oppose Allah means to fight with broken hands, which will gain a person nothing but pain.

It is very exemplary that those cowards, who get into a lather when they face a police officer or a soldier, challenge the Creator of all beings.   

How else can it be explained that some dishonorable people who kiss the feet and hands of Satan for a very small worldly interest feel too proud to obey Allah, who promises a reward like Paradise? 

Why are people put into Hell although they were created with a property to commit sins?

A lesson of truth from Risale-i Nur Collection: 

“There needs to be grace and mercy on the right side of a Sultan and torment and discipline on the left side.  Reward is what mercy necessitates. Discipline needs punishment. The place of reward and punishment is the hereafter.” (Mesnevî-i Nuriye)

It does not fit a Sultan not to reward those who obey him and not to punish those who disobey him; both are signs of weakness. God Almighty is free of all kinds of weaknesses.

Not to want His torture to be manifest means two things:

The first one means not to inflict any punishment on rebels, transgressors, oppressors. It does not comply with the honor, magnitude, wisdom and justice of Allah. Since this alternative is not possible, there is only one choice left: that men lack disobedience and that they always obey. It is not the definition of human beings but angels. 

Man is a being that can commit sins. There is nobody who can say, “It is impossible for me to commit a sin.” Every man approaches the pit of sins and sometimes falls into it one way or another, rarely or often.

We lead our life with a balance of the mind and the heart. However, since man does not consist of the mind and the heart only, he sometimes cannot control his will and commits sins under the influence of primarily the soul, dominant feelings, disobedient emotions, unchecked desires and irresistible delusions.

In fact, Allah has created many different means to make us approach and need Him, and to attract us. For instance, he gave us a feeling like hunger and made us need sustenance; thus, He has shown us that He is ar-Razzaq (the Sustainer) and has made us need Him this way. We, as slaves, ask all of our needs from Him and know Him as ar-Razzaq, the real Sustainer. That is, the name ar-Razzaq necessitates our hunger.  

Similarly, we are sinners and Allah is the Forgiver. We make mistakes; Allah forgives us. We disobey Him; He shows mercy on us. We repent; He accepts our repentance. Allah is al-Ghafur (the Forgiver), al-Afuww (the Pardoner), al-Ghaffar (the Forgiving), at-Tawwab (the Acceptor to repentance). The sins that we commit lead us to those names of Allah. Thus, we know Allah with His names al-Ghafur and al-Ghaffar. As Badiuzzaman Said Nursi says, "The name al-Ghaffar necessitates the existence of sins and the name as-Sattar necessitates the existence of faults." To put it more clearly, sins need to be committed so that the name al-Ghaffar of Allah will be manifest; faults and mistakes need to be made so that Allah will show He is as-Sattar by covering the fault of His slave.

Our Prophet (pbuh) expresses this truth very nicely in a hadith as follows:

“I swear by Allah, in whose powerful hand is my soul, that if you did not commit any sins, Allah would sweep you out of existence and would replace you by other people who would commit sins and then would ask forgiveness from Allah; and He would forgive them.”1

Repentance as much as the amount of sins

Man is deceived by his soul and Satan; he loses control over his feelings and will; thus he commits a sin; then he regrets having committed it and repents many times. According to what we learn from hadiths, the state of the slave in which he turns toward his Lord despite his sin pleases God Almighty very much.  

Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: “The Messenger of Allah said, reporting from his Lord:

"A slave committed a sin and said, ‘O my Lord! Forgive my sin!’ God Almighty said, ‘My slave committed a sin and knew that he had a Lord who forgave sins or who punished His slave due to his sin.’  Then, the slave committed a sin again and said, ‘O my Lord! Forgive my sin!’ God Almighty said, ‘My slave committed a sin and knew that he had a Lord who forgave sins or who punished His slave due to his sin.’ Then, the slave committed a sin again and said, ‘O my Lord! Forgive my sin!’ God Almighty said, ‘My slave committed a sin and knew that he had a Lord who forgave sins or who punished His slave due to his sin. O my slave! Do whatever you want, I have forgiven you.’.”2

Imam Nawawi, the great hadith scholar, deduces the following judgment from that hadith:

“If sins are repeated a hundred times, even a thousand times or more and if the person repents each time after he has committed a sin, his repentance is accepted. Even if he repents once for all of his sins, his repentance is valid.”

In another hadith, it is stated that if a person who repents repeats his sin seventy times in a day, he will not be regarded as to have insisted on his sin.3

The explanation Hazrat Ali makes regarding the issue is more interesting:

“I am astounded by the situation of a person who has the recipe of salvation but is destroyed. That recipe is repentance.”

Besides, the names al-Ghaffar and at-Tawwab means He who pardons and forgives a lot, who accepts repentance a lot, who forgives one who repents after each sin and who accepts the repentance of a person who repents. If God Almighty forgave His slave only once in his life, He would not give him any opportunity to commit sins after that. That is, if Allah did not want to forgive, He would not give us the feeling to ask for forgiveness.

On the other hand, it is the grant, grace and gift of God Almighty to forgive sins. As it is stated in the hadith, it is the manifestation of justice to punish people due to their sins. As  Said Nursi states, “It is the grace of God Almighty to forgive sins and His justice to punish.”

The generation of the Companions, who were trained and educated by the Prophet (pbuh), perceived that fine point very well. They understood the high names of Allah perfectly and practiced them in their lives. When the hadiths that were reported by them are examined, it will not be difficult to notice the level of their education and the capacity of their understanding.

For instance, Hazrat Anas informs us that no matter how many sins a slave has committed, no matter how many times he has asked for forgiveness, his request will not be left unanswered.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) says, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say,

‘Allah stated: O son of Adam! I will forgive you regardless of the magnitude of your sins and no matter how many sins you have committed if you pray to me and expect forgiveness from me. O son of Adam! If you ask forgiveness from me, I will forgive your sins even if they are so much as to fill the skies. O son of Adam! If you come to me with sins that will fill the earth but without associating partners to me and without being engaged in polytheism, I will welcome you with forgiveness to fill the earth.”4

In a hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) tells us about the repentance of a slave due to a sin that he commits and his turning toward his Lord by likening it to the sorrow and sadness of a person who lives in the desert with his camel as follows: 

“A person is in a barren, empty and dangerous land. He has his camel with him. His food and drinks are on the camel. He falls asleep. When he wakes up, he cannot see his camel. He starts to look for it but he cannot find it. While he is in a terrible state due to hunger and thirst, he says to himself, ‘I will go to the place where I was and sleep there till I die.’ He goes there and puts his head on his arm and sleeps to die. He wakes up to see his camel standing nearby. His food and drinks are on the camel. Allah becomes happier than this man when His believing slave repents and asks for forgiveness.”5

Will a mother throw her child into fire?

The mercy, compassion and pity of God Almighty are endless. They are enough for all His slaves and for the whole world. He will not leave His slaves that know Him but cannot refrain from sins and who have been enslaved by their souls on their own. In other words, God Almighty attracts His slave that turns toward Him to His mercy through creating various means. That is, Allah has not created His slave to punish him; He has not sent him to the world in order to find an opportunity to send him to Hell. A person will not throw his child into fire due to a mistake he has made; likewise, Allah will not deny His endless mercy to the slaves who recognize Him as Lord and will not throw them into Hell.   

Hazrat Umar reported us the glad tiding of the Prophet (pbuh) regarding the issue while narrating an incident that he witnessed as follows:

It was just after a battle. There was a woman among the slaves; she had lost her child. She hugged and embraced every child that she saw and suckled them due to her longing for her child. The Messenger of Allah said to the people around him,

- “Do you think this woman can throw her child into fire? They said,

- “No, she won’t.” Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

-”Allah is more merciful to His slave than this woman to her child.6

The hadiths inform us about the endless mercy and forgiveness of God Almighty. Similarly, the verses remind us an important point after giving us the general criteria as an infallible principle: Not to harm the consciousness of slavery and not to transgress the limit of respect toward Allah. A person should not continue to commit sins after repenting and asking for mercy by thinking, ‘Allah will forgive anyway’ so that the mystery of slavery will not be lost. The Quran points out to this truth as follows:   

“And those who having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls earnestly bring Allah to mind; and ask for forgiveness for their sins,―and who can forgive sins except Allah?,―And are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done.”7

Spiritual elevation through sins

If a slave takes refuge in Allah more seriously and turns toward Him more sincerely due to a sin that he has committed, he can have a spiritual elevation. The Quran describes that truth as changing the sins into rewards.

“Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah will change the evil of such persons into good and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”8

God Almighty forgives the sins of those who confess their sins and repent and He also replaces their sins with rewards; thus, the sins change into rewards. Therefore, some hadith scholars say, “There are some sins that are more useful than worshipping for a believer.”

Everybody can make mistakes; or rather, everybody makes mistakes and commits sins. However, there are some good people among sinners. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) states that goodness as follows:

“Everybody makes mistakes but the best ones of those who make mistakes are those who repent a lot.”9

Those who make mistakes can be good people by their repentance; what is more, they can be elevated to the degree of being a beloved slave of Allah. This glad tiding, which the Quran shows is one of the best glad tidings that Islam presents to man: 

“For Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean.”10

The Prophet (pbuh) interprets that verse as follows:

“Doubtlessly, Allah loves His slave who repents repeatedly after committing sins repeatedly.”11

Being really aware of this love, our Prophet (pbuh) would repent and ask for forgiveness seventy times and sometimes a hundred times a day although he did not have any sins and he was protected against sins.

However, it is necessary not to misuse this glad tiding by saying demagogic words like, “Since sins change into rewards, is it not better to commit sins first and to repent after that?

First of all, such an approach is contrary to the good manners of slavery. It means to test Allah – God forbid – and not to take religious decrees seriously, which means not to be able to understand the essence of the issue. Against such a misuse, it is stated in many verses that the authority to forgive belongs to Allah and that He will forgive and punish anybody He wishes and attention is attracted to the balance of hope and fear.

Besides, will a person who commits sins thinking, “I will repent anyway” have the chance to repent? Will he live long enough to repent? Does he have a guarantee about it? Or, what is more important, will Allah give Him the opportunity to repent although his attitudes attract the wrath of Allah? They all need to be taken into consideration.

“A person who fulfills fards and avoids committing major sins is saved.”

However, the most important question of a believer who is exposed to the attack of hundreds of sins every day is to try to avoid sins, to keep away from places full of sins and not to approach the doors that are open to sins. In a way, he should drive away evil and keep away from bad deeds. It is very important in this age. A person can reach taqwa only this way. It is fard to abandon a haram, a major sin. To fulfill a wajib is more rewarding than to fulfill several sunnahs. By sticking to taqwa, turning away once against the attack of thousands of sins hundreds of sins are abandoned; hence hundreds of fards and wajibs are fulfilled. Thus, many good deeds are done by the intention of taqwa and in order to avoid sins. In this age, “a person who fulfills fards and avoids committing major sins is saved.”12

The Quran informs us about that salvation, that is, those who avoid major sins will reach bounties, grants and the bliss of Paradise:

“If ye (but) eschew the most heinous of the things which ye are forbidden to do, We shall expel out of you all the evil in you and admit you to a Gate of great honour.”13

Then, “give life to your life through belief, and adorn it with religious duties. And preserve it by abstaining from sins.”14

Footnotes:

1. Muslim, Tawbah 9.

2. Bukhari, Tawhid 35; Muslim, Tawbah 29.

3. Musnad, 5:130.

4. Tirmidhi, Daawat 98.

5. Muslim, Tawbah 3.

6. Bukhari, Adab 19, Muslim, Tawbah 22.

7. Aal-i Imran, 3:135.

8. al-Furqan, 25:70.

9. Tirmidhi, Qiyama 49.

10. al-Baqara, 2:222.

11. Musnad, 1:80.

12. Risale-i Nur Collection, 2:1632.

13. an-Nisa, 4:31.

14. Risale-i Nur Collection, 1:5.

Sacrifice (Qurban) means to sacrifice certain animals in accordance with the proper way of slaughtering in a specific time, with the intention of worship.”

The denotation of it is “approaching”. It means that one can be close to Allah (God), can sacrifice his/her possessions in the way of Him and can submit to Him and praise Him. It was legitimized in the second year of hijrah (migration).
The legitimation of slaughtering an animal as a sacrifice is certain by the Qur’an, Sunnah and the agreement of community (Ummah).

Allah, the Most High, says in the Qur’an: “Therefore to your Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice.” [Surah Abundance (Al-Kauthar),2 (108: 2)]
Our Prophet (pbuh) says “Whoever can afford to offer a sacrifice but does not do so, let him not approach our place of prayer.” (Ibn Majah, Adahi, 2; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, II, 321)
That verse and hadith prove that sacrificing is an important issue. Acting from those obvious explanations  Hanafi scholars have the opinion that sacrificing an animal is necessary (wajib). (Sarahsi, al-Mabsut, Qahira 1324-31, XII, 8; Kasani, Badâyiu's-Sanayi', Qahira, 1327-28/1910, V, 61, 62; al-Fatawa'l Hindiyya, Bulak 1310, V, 291).

Sacrificing means to sacrifice an animal in order to be close to Allah and gain only the pleasure of Him. It is forbidden to sacrifice an animal except for the sake of Allah. And Our Prophet (pbuh) said about those who sacrifice animals in that way: “May Allah damn those who sacrifice animals for the sake of somebody or something other than Allah.” (Muslim, Adahi, 43-45; Nasai, Dahaya, 34).
Is it brutality to sacrifice animals?
It is accepted as brutality by some authors to sacrifice some animals by slaughtering their throat in the purpose of performing that religious duty and worship, and therefore, some criticism is directed towards the religion of Islam. Those who put forward those views ignore this fact: The meat obtained by sacrificing animals is an invaluable protein source which is indispensably important for people. That is why, today all over the world, countless animals are being slaughtered only for nourishment in the slaughterhouses and they are consumed as a source of nutrition.
There is no source which can replace meat in the world. With this regard, objecting to animals’ being sacrificed as a source of nutrition and considering it as a brutality is not only against common sense but also is irrational. Since the first era, human beings have been taking nourishment that way.
Ignoring that fact and taking objection to sacrifice only because it is a religious duty can be only an ideological attitude. Actual brutality is to kill people. They must try to stop it if they can. Trying to save the rights of people who are slaughtered by modern world is more relevant and to the point than taking objection to sacrificing animals, which were created as a source of nutrition for human beings.
The Wisdoms of Sacrificing Animals
1- Sacrifice is an opportunity to be close to Allah and to gain His consent. The following is stated in the Qur’an:
“To every people did We appoint rites (of sacrifice), that they might celebrate the name of Allah over the sustenance He gave them from animals (fit for food). But your God is One God, submit then your wills to Him (in Islam): and give you the good news to those who humble themselves [The Pilgrimage (Al-Hajj),34 (22:34)].” In that verse, it is expressed that Allah Almighty commanded that decree in order to remind His slaves that He is the owner of all animals and He offered them to human beings as an indication of His mercy and grace. Man, in the course of time, may be unaware and forget that the real owner of his possessions is Allah Almighty, who gave all the possessions as a mercy. Like Karun, he may think that he obtained all of the things through his own work, knowledge and ability; and he may start to appropriate the Divine blessings for himself and assume that he has a power and might. He may be conceited and overstep the limits. So, the command of sacrifice reminds him that all the possessions and commodities, vineyards and orchards, wealth and money are the bounties of Allah Almighty who bestowed them on him. He informs man that he can not have anything without His permission and will. Thus, man gives up arrogance and becomes humble. He starts to be a real slave and try to give thanks to Allah. And that behavior becomes an opportunity to approach to Allah and gain Allah’s consent.
2- Allah does not need sacrifice, nor does he need all of the other worships made by man. However, Allah, with the command of sacrifice, tests His slaves, measures their devotion, their attention to that Divine decree and their closeness to Him. The following is expressed in the Qur’an, Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage) verse 37:
“It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah, it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that you may glorify Allah for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do good...”. As it is seen in this verse too, the purpose of sacrificing animals is sincerity, devotion and being close to Allah. The purpose is to remember Allah with the bounties He gave and especially to gain His consent. Unless those purposes and aims are intended, no matter how much meat is given away nor how much blood is shed, they have no value before Allah.
3- Sacrifice is also an opportunity to remind the salvation of Prophet Ishmael (peace and blessings be upon him) as a favor of Allah from being sacrificed. Allah, the Most High, tested Prophet Abraham (pbuh) and wanted him to sacrifice his only son Ishmael. Hazrat Abraham and his son Hazrat Ishmael (peace be upon them), both of them had complied with that will sincerely. Hazrat Abraham laid down his son and started to slaughter him in the throat. However, the knife did not cut Hazrat Ishmael (pbuh). It was because the intention of Allah, the Most high, was not Hazrat Ishmael’s being slaughtered but to show and inform angels and people who will come till the end of time about those two noble prophets’ inaccessible submission and obedience, devotion and generosity. Because that wisdom occurred, Allah Almighty had commanded the knife not to cut Hazrat Ishmael. Instead of Hazrat Ishmael, He had sent down a ram to them from Paradise to be sacrificed. So sacrificing is a commemoration of that great and exemplary event.
4- Every year, thousands of animals are sacrificed by Muslims. It is, in one respect, a symbolic expression that a Muslim can sacrifice anything he has in order to worship Allah, comply with His command and give up anything he has for the sake of Him.
5-  The command of sacrifice also is a great bounty and mercy upon people. Poor people who have had difficulties and have not been able to eat meat for one year may have an opportunity to get a lot of meat to eat with the occasion of Eid al-Adha. Thus, the aspect of Islam that realizes social justice will be seen.

The Prophet (PBUH) came to a moribund young man and said: “How do you feel?” He said: “I expect forgiveness of Allah and fear my sins” Then said the Prophet (PBUH) : “At this critical moment, if the hope of being forgiven and fear of sins are united in one servant’s heart, then absolutely, Allah grants him what he wishes and protects him from the torment that he fears” (Nesei, Zuhd: 31)
Although this event has happened to a young man, it is true for everybody. But the importance of this event and the young man is: The period of youth is indeed a term when the balance between hope and fear is often lost. The young man is sometimes too much hopeful and supposes he will go to Paradise directly. And sometimes, he becomes desperate because of his plenty of sins and thinks that he may not be forgiven.
This very hadith is a good tiding and also a warning for our youth who have a very quickly changeable world.
Our religion encourages us to lead a life which is balanced between hope and fear. Our glorious Lord ordains : “ Say (O Muhammad) : O my servants who wronged themselves through overly transgression! Do not despair of my mercy. Surely, Allah forgives all sins. Undoubtedly, He is most forgiving and most merciful. Thus, repent and surrender to your Lord before the torment comes, otherwise you may not find any helper” (Zumer, 53-54)
Our Lord has stated that He may forgive any sin except associating partners with Him. Therefore, one must never be desperate. Because, Satan is the mere one who is hopeless of Allah’s mercy. But, being hopeful does not mean to continue to sin, not to fear Allah’s wrath and feel sure to be forgiven.
For instance, Hz. Omar expresses this criterion which is a guide for our youth: “If I hear that : “All human beings will go to Heaven except one, I fear to be that single man. Similarly, if I hear that everybody will go to Hell except one, I hope to be that person”
This very thought is the apex of being between hope and fear. Namely, one should both fear Allah’s wrath and think of his sins, and be hopeful about Allah’s mercy.
It is remarkable that, there is no paradox here. Because, what is under consideration is hope and fear. Their opposites are no fear and no hope at all. What we are recommended is not both fear and not to fear, or hope and not to hope at the same time. We are expected: “not to be hopeless because of excessive fear”, and “not to be fearless because of excessive hope”
Therefore, one may be both afraid and hopeful at the same time.
Another important point expressed in the hadith is the fact stated in the Holy Hadith (a Holy Hadith is a Hadith conveyed by the Prophet but the meaning is from Allah) : “I am just as my servant thinks how I am. I treat him however he knows me.” According to this hadith, if we expect Allah’s mercy, we get it accordingly. Besides, we must not have a bad opinion of Allah. Namely, the thought “I am too sinful, I will receive the torment, for sure.” is meddling in Allah’s business. What is better is to say: “I am very sinful but my Lord has a vast mercy” and repent and seek refuge in his forgiveness.
It is wrong to think for a person “I am definitely destined for Hell”, or “I am definitely destined for Heaven” , it is a grave sin. The right choice to think is “I am surely vey sinful and I fear Allah’s torment, but at the same time I regret for my wrongdoings, He can forgive me. Moreover, Allah gave me the chance to commit some good things too. My good deeds are from his bounty. I hope, He treats me with His mercy."
Our Prophet states that “Noone’s good deeds can take him to Paradise. Neither can mine. I may not enter Paradise unless Allah’s mercy helps me” and mentions the man in the old times who killed a hundred men but then repented sincerely and was consequently forgiven.
This is exactly what we mean as being between fear and hope. On one hand, the Prophet admits that he may not enter the Paradise without Allah’s mercy; on the other hand, a man who killed a hundred men was forgiven because of an absolute and sincere repentance.
“UCB” is defined as a spiritual and interior disease, where the person trusts his/her good actions, which is, as bad as despair.

May our Lord keep us between hope and fear in our whole lives till we enter the grave with faith and a good ending.

Author: İslam Ansiklopedisi 2006-03-12 

It means oneness; to declare as one.

To know and to believe in the existence and oneness of Allah, that Allah has all of the efficient qualities and that He has no associates or partners. This knowledge and belief is expressed concisely in the sentence, "La Ilaha Illallah” (There is no god but Allah). Therefore, this sentence is called kalima at-tawhid (word of oneness). A person who utters and believes in the word of oneness is called a believer and a muwahhid. The branch of science that that deals with the issues of oneness is called ilm at-tawhid.

The word tawhid does not exist in the Quran. However, the belief of oneness is mentioned in numerous verses in terms of its various aspects.

Especially, the verses sent down in Madinah focus on the belief of oneness so that it will be understood well. The belief of oneness, which forms one of the three principles of the religion called usul ad-din, has been examined deeply by Islamic scholars, kalam scholars and Sufis and interpreted in various ways.  

The Quran deals with the belief of oneness in terms of the essence of Allah, his oneness, attributes, relations with the universe and man in various dimensions. They can be summarized as follows: 

Allah is one. There is no god but Him. He does need anything; everything needs Him. There is nothing similar to Him. He is free and away from having an associate or partner. If there were other gods along with Him, some of them would want to dominate the others. He is one; He is not one of the three as Christians believe. Those who attribute daughters and sons to Him and who say Jesus is his son or he is God slander Allah. He has neither sons nor daughters. He did not beget; He was not begotten. However, unbelievers attribute the things that do not create anything but that are created to Him as partners. Those so-called gods can do neither something good nor something bad. They can control neither death nor life, nor resurrection. Therefore, there is no god that can be connected with Allah. The gods that people make up are only names based on imagination and what their souls wish.  

Allah has absolute power. Everything returns to Him. He is the Creator; He is the one that starts the process of creation and that creates as He wishes. First, He created the skies and the earth; He brought them together in the form of smoke or a nebulous substance and then separated them. The skies and the earth with all of the beings on are His order. His order is definite; nobody can change it.  The sun, the moon and stars that He created act in accordance with His laws and orders. Every being in the sky and on the earth surrender to His orders willingly. He is the one that creates and shapes everything. 

Allah is the Lord of the realms; He is the Lord of the hidden beings, too. He has power over everything; all of the powers of the skies and the earth belong to Him. He is the Owner of the generous and exalted Arsh (throne). He is the owner of all of the elevation degrees. He extends the earth like a cradle; He sends down water in appropriate amounts. He created all of the beings in pairs. He arranged and perfected the sky. He is sovereign over the skies and the earth and everything between them. The east and the west belong to Him. No matter what direction you turn, He is there because He has surrounded everything. His chair covers the skies and the earth. He protects and takes care of His creatures; and He does not have any difficulty in doing it. He is mighty and wise.   

Allah is not only the Creator; He is also the Compassionate; He gives sustenance; He guards, helps and guides; He sends help to the creatures that are in need. Allah did not create the world for fun. The world was created for a certain period based on a purpose and plan. He imposes laws and guides; He creates everything based on a criterion; He creates and shows the way. He knows everything. He sees everything.

Allah is the best one among those who judge. He never oppresses anyone. He does not treat man unjustly; man treats himself unjustly. On the Day of Judgment, the scale of justice will be established; even the slightest deed will be accounted. He punishes quickly with painful torture. He orders people to be just and He loves those who are just. He gives great rewards to those who avoid sins and do good deeds. The good deeds of people are recorded so as to be rewarded in the best way. Allah has collected all good deeds in His self; He is the source of all good deeds. He is free and away from all bad deeds.    

Allah created the spirit of man out of nothing; He created the humankind from that single soul. He created the first man and his wife; then, he made many men and women reproduce from them. He gave man ears, eyes, the mind and feelings; He made man His vicegerent on earth. He decided that he would die one day; then, it was written that he would be resurrected on the Day of Judgment. The whole humanity is one family because they come from the same parents. Man is the most superior creature because Allah created him in the best of moulds. He is born by breathing in the breath blown by Allah. Therefore, the perfection of man depends on being painted by the paint of Allah, and being the perfect realization and internalization of the divine names. Allah does not want anything but the perfection of His light, that is, the perfection of those attributes in man. The only aim of man is to promote all of the divine qualities and natural values and to realize them in himself. Allah has encompassed the humanity and elevates man. He is always with man; He is nearer to man than his jugular vein.  

The understanding of oneness expressed in the Quran has been systemized by Kalam scholars in various forms. According to this, the oneness of Allah includes the oneness of the creator and the divinity. Expressing the oneness of the creator is called oneness based on will (tawhid al-iradi) and oneness based on action (tawhid al-amali). All of the prophets called people to this oneness. Hazrat Muhammad was sent to teach and realize those two kinds of oneness. Oneness based on knowledge means to accept the essential qualities of Allah and to reject the incomplete qualities. Thus, oneness based on knowledge saves one from the understanding that does not accept the attributes of Allah and the understanding that likens Allah to the created beings. Oneness based on knowledge means to express that Allah is one in the level of knowledge and words.   

Oneness based on will or action necessitates worshipping Allah, who has no associates or partners, love, sincerity, trust in Allah, loyalty to Allah, expecting and fearing from Him only, and not associating partners with Him. Oneness based on will means to express that Allah is one through one’s intention, will and actions. In oneness based on knowledge, there exists confirmation and refutation; in oneness based on will, there exists encouragement or prohibition. There are two opposites of oneness based on knowledge. They are cancellation of the attributes and likening Allah to the created beings. Oneness based on action has two opposites, too. They are avoiding love, loyalty, trust in and reliance on Allah and associating other beings as partners to Allah.

Oneness based on knowledge and oneness based on action complement each other compulsorily. The oneness of understanding put forward by Islam cannot be realized without combining those two kinds of oneness. For instance a person who says, “Allah is the only creator” is not regarded to have said “La ilaha illallah” (There is no god but Allah). The essence o f the word oneness is worshipping the real Allah, who deserves being worshipped, who has no partners and who is one. Therefore, it is not enough to say that Allah is the Creator and Lord of everything, that He has no partners in creation and lordship. Along with saying them, it is necessary to say that there is no divinity to be worshipped except Him.  

The fact that Allah creates the deeds of people, that He administers the whole universe and that He is the Lord of the realms constitutes the topics of the oneness based on knowledge. Those kinds of facts are called universal realities. The facts like loving what Allah orders, disliking what Allah prohibits, loving those that Allah loves, disliking those that Allah dislikes and the judgments of the religion being imposed by Him constitute the elements of oneness based on action. Those kinds of facts are called religious realities. A person who regards universal realities enough and who does not surrender to religious realities is not regarded to have obeyed the prophets and is not regarded as a muwahhid.

To say that Allah is one means to say that He is one in His personality, attributes and deeds. To say that His personality is one means to say that He has no parts or divisions because it is one of the indispensable qualities of Allah not to be combined. To say that his attributes are one means to say that He has no partners and that He does not resemble anyone because not to resemble the created beings is one of His essential qualities. To say that He is one in His deeds means to say that He has no partners because to have partners necessitates being weak.

Sufis have interpreted oneness in various forms. According to the most common one, oneness is divided into two: oneness based on intention and oneness based on witnessing. Oneness based on intention means to want and wish Allah or rather to want and wish what Allah wants and wishes. In this oneness, the will of the slave and the will of Allah unite in the same point; they want and wish the same thing. This kind of oneness is expressed in the sentence, "La maqsuda illallah" (There is nothing purposed except Allah).

Oneness based on witnessing originates from the spiritual experience of the sufi. The sufi who is enraptured and enchanted sees Allah only. He does not see the other beings. This oneness which is also called oneness based on conscience or pleasure is summarized by the sentence, "La mashhuda illallah"(There is nothing witnessed except Allah). Oneness based on witnessing has three degrees. In the first degree, Allah becomes manifest to the sufi in His deeds; he sees all deeds as coming from Allah. The oneness in this degree is expressed by the sentence, "La faila illallah" (There is no doer except Allah). In the second degree, Allah becomes manifest to the sufi in His attributes. In this case, the sufi sees only Allah and His attributes not the beings. In the third degree, Allah becomes manifest to the sufi in His essence. In this case, the sufi sees Allah in all beings. This oneness which is based on observation is expressed by the sentence, "La mawjuda illallah" (There is no being except Allah). This last form of oneness is the understanding of the oneness of being (wahda al-wujud) of the sufis.

Worshipping Allah is not limited to certain deeds. Worshipping Allah means to obey the rules imposed by Him, to fulfill His judgments and to follow the way of the prophets in one’s deeds, actions and words. To ask help only from Him, to fear Him, to trust and rely on Him, to take refuge in Him, not to accept anyone except Him as a guardian, to refer to Him to solve one’s problems, and not to accept anyone as a protector constitute the dimensions of worshipping only one Allah, which the belief of oneness necessitates.

Ahmet ÖZALP

Detailed explanation of oneness (tawhid)

One of the most beautiful similes about this realm is the Palace of the Universe.

In this simile, there exists oneness. There cannot be two sultans in one palace. It is impossible for the floor of the palace to belong to someone and the ceiling to belong to another one. It is impossible for the outer walls to belong to the sultan and the inner walls to belong to the vizier (minister). When there is one palace and one sultan, you cannot attribute the things in it to another person.

The carpets, lamps and other things in the palace of the universe were not brought from another realm and then mounted here. Everything, every guest in the palace is born in the palace. Let us have a look at a flower: Every being of the palace, from the soil to the sun, has some share in it. Let us have a look at the human body: The elements that are the building blocks of this palace are present in him.

The mountains settled on the plains like armchairs. However, they were not brought from somewhere else; they rose from within the plain. 

The fruits are attached to the trees. They were not imported from another country; they grew from the trees.
The baby is on its mother’s lap. It did not come from another country; it grew up in her womb.

The sun is a lamp for this palace. It was not brought from somewhere else; it was created together with the sky.

The oneness is the creed of recognizing the sultan of this palace as one and not associating any partners with Him.
This oneness in the universe is manifest in everything.

“There is oneness in everything; and oneness shows the one.”

The universe is a single palace and the sun is a single lamp. Every tree is a being on its own. Man is a different realm. 

The man is said to be a tiny sample of this realm. It is impossible to say that his hands were created by a being and feet by another being.  It is impossible to say that his inner part was created by a being and outer part by another being.
Allah is the only Owner and Creator of the realm of all beings.

“…He has no partners in His sultanate; He does not need any assistants or partners in His activities of Lordship, either. But for His command and will, nothing could interfere with anything.” (Mektubat:Letters)

We learn two degrees of the oneness from the statement above: oneness of divinity and oneness of lordship.

Oneness of divinity means to know the essence of God Almighty as one and to free Him from all kinds of partners. In fact, this is what comes to the mind when the word oneness is uttered. The word, “La ilaha illallah” expresses this oneness.

When the name of Allah is mentioned, all of the attributes of perfection and beautiful names are remembered together: Allah is pre-eternal; Allah is eternal; Allah is ar-Rahman the All-Merciful); Allah is ar-Rahim (the All-Compassionate), etc.

Thus, thinking about all of the meanings expressed by the name Allah leads us to the oneness of lordship. That is, it is only Allah who educates and trains everything gradually and makes everything a useful being. This deed of education and training, this lordship are carried out by all divine attributes and holy deeds; and a work on which the divine names are read appears. Allah is both the Creator and Lord of this work.

The egg of yesterday flies today. The seed of yesterday yields fruit today. And the nutfah (drop of fluid) of yesterday studies to learn today. The latter ones reached those states after being educated and trained. They were all educated and trained by Allah.

Let us think of a building. Someone laid the foundations; another one laid the bricks; different people carried out the works of plumbing, wiring, plastering and painting. The creation of man is not like that. The building of man with all of its installations, parts, organs and numbers were recorded in the divine code called nutfah by divine determination. The Being that records the information like that creates this body with all of its constituents. It is Allah who creates the nutfah who decodes the code and who arranges the body that comes out of it. All of the deeds belong to Him.

To know and accept that all of those deeds are from Allah is called the oneness of deeds. Those deeds are carried out by divine attributes, that is, by the same knowledge, the same power and the same will. To know and to accept that all of those deeds are done by Allah is called oneness based on deeds. Those deeds are carried out by divine attributes, that is, the same knowledge, the same power and the same will. The one who knows and the one who wishes are not different people. The one who sees and the one who does are not different people, either.   

To grow trees from seeds, to create fish from eggs, to create babies in the womb, to hold the sky without any poles, to rotate the word regularly, to make the wind blow and to make it rain are all based on the same power. Those deeds are carried out and known by the same will and knowledge. 

To attribute those realms of deeds to the same attributes are called the oneness of attributes.
There is also the oneness of essence. To accept that this infinite knowledge, this endless power, this absolute will and other attributes are the attributes of one person ant to attribute all of them to Him.

The mind becomes satisfied by oneness like the heart. If a person paints your building, can he claim that he is the owner of that building? He can only charge for the work he has done. That person is not the owner of that building; he is only an assistant, worker or employee.

Another deity cannot decorate the body that Allah created. Even if we assume the existence of such a deity, that deity is not the owner of that body. It can only be an assistant. An assistant cannot be a deity and Allah does not need any assistants.

Then, He is the one that creates and that gives life. He is the one that gives form and sustenance. He is the one that educates and arranges. He is the one that rotates things and stops them.

The inside and outside of everything belong to Him. Then, Allah is both az-Zahir (the Maifest One) and al-Batin (the Hidden One).

He created the beginning and the end of everything. Then, Allah is both al-Awwal (the First) and al-Akhir (the last). 

He is the owner of all creatures and He meets their needs, too. That is, Allah is both al-Malik (the Absolute Ruler and ar-Razzaq (the Sustainer).

All of the people have something in common; they are human beings. The Being that creates one of them is the one that creates all of them. The people and animals have something in common; they are living beings. The one that creates the fly creates the whale, too. All of the stars are together as stars. The Creator of one star is the Creator of all stars. All of the beings have something in common; they are all creatures. They are all works and arts of Allah.

God almighty combined leaves, branches, a stem and roots, and a tree appeared. He combined seventy trillion cells and a human body appeared. He combined the mind, imagination, love, fear and many other feelings in the spirit.
Eventually, He combined the spirit and the body as man.

He connected strong ties between the human body and the universe. He connected the lungs with the air and the stomach with the food. He made the eyes travel in the sky and the feet on the ground. Thus, man became one with the universe, in a sense. The heart becomes satisfied by recognizing the Lord of this realm, which is a single one, as one and by accepting that he is one.

Some scholars divide oneness into two as oneness based on knowledge and oneness based on action. According to this classification, the things written so far are oneness based on knowledge. Oneness based on action means the full rule of this belief over man in his realm of action.   

The verse, “iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nastain” teaches us the oneness based on action.   

“Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.”

We turn to the direction that you tell us only; we stand in the presence of you only; we bow down and prostrate before you only.

We think about the things that only you consent to and we love those that only you consent to.

We said, “Inna lillah” (We belong to Allah). We speak for you and keep quiet for you. We sit down for you and stand up for you.

A person who worships Allah only is freed from the contempt of worshipping idols; a person who asks for the help of Allah only will not pursue causes and will be freed from being the slave of events; and he will take refuge in Allah with full trust. It is a lofty pleasure and a superior power. 

Besides, the way of being a perfect believer is through attaining perfection in oneness based on knowledge and oneness based on action.

ONENESS BASED ON DEEDS

The shape of the nightingale is so different from that of the camel. The date tree does not remember the poplar tree. Man has the best appearance. Each human being has a different shape. Even the fingerprints are different. It is impossible to find two same stars in the sky and two same fish in the sea that are 100% identical. All of those different shapes originate from the same deed: depicting. 
To keep, to maintain is one deed. However, it is manifest in different forms in different creatures. The cat carries its young in its mouth; the eagle raises its prey with its paw; the mother carries her baby on her bosom. The way a tree holds its fruits does not resemble any of them; it is as if it sticks the fruits to itself. The way the sun keeps the planets is different; it does not touch them; it keeps them at a distance. This manifestation and other ones are actually various applications of the same law; they are different manifestations of the same light on different mirrors.

To give life, to kill, to heal, to guide, to sustain are all different deeds. Those numerous deeds are based on the same attributes: Life, knowledge, power, hearing, sight, will, speech and creating.  To accept that those numerous deeds carried out in the realm of creatures originate from those divine attributes is called oneness based on deeds. To attribute all that attributes to only one being is called oneness of essence.

Prof. Dr. Alaaddin Başar

This one and similar questions are as a result of insufficiency in knowledge and in belief. When Allah (SWT) is cited, we recall a Person who is Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal, Single and Eternally Besought One, whose attributes are at utmost perfection. And such a Person is free of being created for those, which are created did come into existence afterwards, are mortal and have limited attributes. There is an obvious contrast in this question that creatures’ attributes are ascribed to Allah (SWT).
Some questions have constantly been asked since the early times. This question, too, is one of them. A group of disbelievers came to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and asked him, “O Muhammad, it is Allah who created all beings. So who created Him? Upon that question, Gabriel (PBUH) brought the surah of Ikhlas from Allah (SWT) as a response. “Say: He is Allah, the One, and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He beget not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.” With this surah (chapter), every kind of polytheism is rooted up and all degrees of Allah’s Unity are explained and proved most properly.
Allah is Unique. He is the only and unique Presence whose Person and nature are free from looking like those of other creatures, from space and time, from change and evolution. He is Eternally Besought One. All creatures need him –be it their creation or their life, in short, in all situations they are in need of Him. He is in need of nothing.
Allah is free from the attributes such as begetting and being begotten. Because He has neither a beginning nor an end. Yes, He existed and there was nothing else but Him. How can it be thought that Allah (SWT), Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal, has come into existence by any other one’s involvement?
He has no partner, no match, and no equivalent. There can be thought no being that could ever be equivalent to Him in His creation, management, discipline, or sovereignty. Someone even with a bit of cleverness knows that this contradictory question cannot be asked about such a Person.
Yes, the one created cannot be a creator. The one whose power and might are infinite cannot come into existence by any other’s involvement. The one who has no beginning cannot come into existence afterwards. In short, it is not possible for someone to be in a position both being equipped with infinite attributes of perfection of creativity and having infinite deficiencies for being a creature.
The point also has to do with concatenation and it is as follows: In chain of events, there must be a ring that other rings can attach to it. For example, in a train with fifteen railway wagons, each wagon is pulled by the previous wagon. Eventually when we arrive at the locomotive, we do not ask, “What pulls the locomotive?” There must be a vehicle –locomotive- that has enough power to pull and, that does not need to be pulled so that the train moves properly.
In the same way, if we ask how sugar is made, we will be told that it is made in sugar factory. If we ask where the machines tools in the sugar factory are made, we will be shown their workshops. In the end if the problem does not rest on knowledge and will, the workshop of the workshop will be asked and we will find ourselves in a vicious circle.
A private receives order from a corporal, he receives order from captain, and finally commander-in-chief receives from king. You cannot ask who he receives order from, since he is not the one to receive order but the one to give order. If he too is to receive order from somebody, he also becomes the one who receives order and the one who gives him order becomes king.
It is clearly understood from the explanations made here that the existence of this universe rests on a Creator who is eternal with His Person, names and attributes. It is not possible to ask by reason that created such a Person.
Mehmet Kırkıncı

Author: Alaaddin Başar (Prof.Dr.)

Tawhid (oneness) means to say and to believe that ‘there is no god but Allah’, to utter the word ‘La ilaha illallah’.

When the word tawhid is uttered, the phrase “La ilaha illallah” comes to the mind. This phrase is called kalima at-tawhid and it expresses that there is no true god to be worshipped except Allah.

There are many similes for this realm of beings. One of them is the palace of the universe. Tawhid is the creed of accepting and recognizing the Sultan of this palace as one and not associating any partners with Him.

It is impossible for the floor of the palace to belong to someone and the ceiling to belong to another one. The carpets, lamps and other things in the palace of the universe were not brought from another realm and then mounted here. Everything, every guest in the palace is born in the palace. Let us have a look at a flower: Every being of the palace, from the soil to the sun, has some share in it. Let us have a look at the human body: The elements that are the building blocks of this palace are present in him.

The mountains settled on the plains like armchairs. However, they were not brought from somewhere else; they rose from within the plain. The fruits are attached to the trees. They were not imported from another country; they grew from the trees.

The baby is on its mother’s lap. It did not come from another country; it grew up in her womb. The sun is a lamp for this palace. It was not brought from somewhere else; it was created together with the sky.

Numerous beings that exist in this realm have been united; relationships have been established among them and this realm of beings has been made like a palace. People who think of this utter kalima at-tawhid and know that this palace is the property and creature of Allah with everything in it.

Kalima at-tawhid means there is no true god to be worshipped except Allah but since the word Allah encompasses all divine names, it also contains the meanings like, “there is no giver of life but Allah, there is no creator but Allah” Thus, onenesses as many as the divine names are hidden in this oneness.

Some scholars divide oneness into two as oneness based on knowledge and oneness based on action. According to this classification, the things written so far are oneness based on knowledge. Oneness based on action means the full rule of this belief over man in his realm of action.  

The verse, “iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nastain” teaches us the oneness based on action. “Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.” We turn to the direction that you tell us only; we stand in the presence of you only; we bow down and prostrate before you only. We think about the things that only you consent to and we love those that only you consent to.

A person who worships Allah only is freed from the contempt of worshipping idols; a person who asks for the help of Allah only will not pursue causes and will be freed from being the slave of events; and he will take refuge in Allah with full trust. It is a lofty pleasure and a superior power.

Besides, the way of being a perfect believer is through attaining perfection in oneness based on knowledge and oneness based on action.

Oneness is not limited to those we have mentioned above. Oneness is in question for the attributes, names and deeds of Allah, too. It is possible to summarize them as follows:

Oneness of Deeds: “To know that the causes have no effects on the creation of things”, “to believe that Allah is the only creator.”

Oneness of Attributes: “To know that the attributes like knowledge, power and will given to the creatures are the creatures of Allah and not to attribute them independent beings.”

Oneness of the Essence: “To know that every being is in the level of non-existence in the presence of His essence and existence.”

To give life, to kill, to heal, to guide, to sustain are all different deeds. Those numerous deeds are based on the same attributes: Life, knowledge, power, hearing, sight, will, speech and creating.  To accept that those numerous deeds carried out in the realm of creatures originate from those divine attributes is called oneness based on deeds. To attribute all that attributes to only one being is called oneness of essence.

- There is no doubt that Allah created the universe before the time that we live in now. It cannot be doubted that the skies and the earth were created beforehand.

- The expression, “and the trumpet was blown” in the 20^th verse of the chapter Qaf and in similar verses does not indicate the past tense but the present or future tense and it is translated as  “and the trumpet is blown” in the translations of the Quran. In the literature of Arabic, the tradition of using various tenses interchangeably is present. As a matter of fact in the 31^st verse of the same chapter, the expression, “and the Garden was brought nigh to the righteous.” is usually translated as “is brought near” in the translations of the Quran. The wisdom behind such usage is to emphasize that the things are stated that will take place need to be seen as if they definitely took place.

The meaning of the 29^th verse of the chapter ar-Rahman is as follows:

“Of Him seeks (its needs) every creature in the heavens and on earth: every day in (new) Splendour doth He (shine)!”

The interpreters generally focus on the following issues in their interpretations of the verse mentioned above: Allah creates and eliminates, revives and kills, makes rich and poor, increases and reduces, makes high and low, makes people ill and heal them, makes people laugh and cry, punishes and forgives, etc at any moment...

The verse,

"With the power and skill did We construct the Firmament: for it is We Who create the vastness of Space.” (adh-Dhariyat, 51/47)

indicates the skies are expanding at any moment. It shows that the creation has not ended but it continues. Similarly, the science tells us that some of celestial bodies are continuously destroyed and new ones are created instead of them. For instance, it is known that the creation time of the Milky Way Galaxy is quite recent in comparison to other systems.

It is necessary to examine the relevant verse of the chapter ar-Rhaman from this point of view.

In the verse, attention is drawn to the fact that all of the creatures in the universe are in need of Allah and that He continuously expands His magnitude, grace and generosity; that is, no being or event can take place without His knowledge, will and power. It is mentioned in the Quran on various occasions that there can be no incident or event that the attribute and will of creation of God Almighty is not involved in. However, the 29^th verse, which is translated as, " every day in (new) Splendour doth He (shine)!" has a special emphasis and is of special importance in that it enlightens the following two points:

a) Although the concept of time is used for Allah in the holy texts to make the creatures understand it better, it cannot be interpreted in a way that will limit His absolute will and power. Therefore, that the prohibition of Saturday, which was introduced in order to test the Sons of Israel, is interpreted as He needed resting for one day (see Genesis 2/2-3) is not compatible with the principle of His perfection. There exists a narration that this verse was sent down in order to reject that wrong understanding of Jews. (Ibn Atiyya, V, 229) In this sense, the verse rejects the deist thought, which says, "God were not interested in things like sending revelations, meeting the needs, etc after the creation."

b) The verse refutes the positivist and materialistic ideologies that exclude the will of the Creator; it states that the bright results that science has reached will discover the laws of Allah and will not be able to go beyond it and that all of the findings are nothing but ever-present manifestations of his attribute of creation. (Kur’an Yolu:V/148.)

You should not fear that your belief is imperiled because of these questions. You can feel comfortable. These questions show that you have belief.

The answer of to such Questions is the utterance of “Allah is Most Great!” That is Allah (SWT) is the greatest and have enough power for all things.

Badiuzzaman Said Nursi evaluated this subject as follows:

The way to silence this wile of Satan’s is “God is Most Great!” And its true answer is “God is Most Great!” Yes, “God is Most Great!” being the most frequently repeated of all the marks of Islam is in order to eliminate this wile. For it is through the light of “God is Most Great!” that man’s impotence and lack of power, weakness and lack of strength, and narrow thought see such infinitely vast truths and affirm them. And it is through the strength of “God is Most Great!” that man sustains those truths, and situates them within the sphere of “God is Most Great!” (The Thirteenth Flash)

One aspect of the meaning of God is Most Great! is that Divine power and knowledge are greater than everything; nothing at all can quit the bounds of God’s knowledge, nor escape or be saved from the disposals of His power. He is greater than the things we fear most. This means He is greater than bringing about the resurrection of the dead, saving us from non-existence, and bestowing eternal happiness. He is greater than any strange or unimaginable thing, so that, as explicitly stated by the verse,

“Your creation and your resurrection are but as a single soul,”(1) the resurrection of mankind is as easy for His power as the creation of a single soul. It is in connection with this meaning that when faced by serious disasters or important undertakings, everyone says: “God is Most Great! God is Most Great!”, making it a source of consolation, strength, and support for themselves. (The Eleventh Ray)

1- 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). - Surah Luqman, 31:28.)

Everything is the best in the environment it is presented. However, generally there is something which is the best and the most beautiful among all things.

For example, in the Holy Qur’an, it is expressed that man was created in the best of moulds. According to that, were the other things created deficiently? No. They are the most beautiful creatures in their own environments, too.

As an example, the Sun is the most beautiful in its own environment. In other words, none of the people could live if the Sun did not exist. However, man is the most beautiful in general, and the Sun is the most beautiful in point of its existence, and in point of the mission it performs. We can give more examples. Sheep, earth, fruit trees, angels, etc are the most beautiful and the most perfect creatures in their own environments.

In this case, the fact that man is the most perfect does not mean that other creatures are not perfect or that they are created deficiently.

No other sheep more perfect than those existing sheep can be conceived. No camels more beautiful than those camels or no sun more beautiful than the Sun can be imagined. In the same way, the Holy books revealed were the most perfect books which were to be sent at those times.

Teaching a primary school student the multiplication table is neither extra nor insufficient. However, not the multiplication table but more advanced topics are taught to a university student. Similarly, the holy books sent before the Qur’an are the best of their times and sending them at those times is reasonable and it is not a deficiency. From that standpoint, every prophet and every revelation sent to them is the best and the most favorable of its own time.

However, so to speak, the Qur’an was revealed when all men came to the same level like the students of a university who could take their lessons from a single book and from a single prophet.

Considering that the most advanced science is taught in universities, then can we say the science taught in a university should be taught to primary school children? Humanity is also like an education institution. Every period is like the departments of that school and the lecturers of those departments are the prophets.

Since from the time of Adam (peace be upon him), humanity has come up to the level of university and achieved the ability to take the perfect lessons of the religion of Islam. Therefore, the last and the most perfect religion has been left as the last. The essence of mathematics also exists in primary school. However, the lesson is taught in accordance with the level of primary school students and the teacher does not teach everything he knows but teaches the topics they can understand.
In the same way, the other prophets instructed the people according to their levels and educated them. In the end, when they reached the level of being educable from all aspects, the religion of Islam and the exalted Prophet (pbuh) were sent.

-Why did Allah let the Gospel and the Torah to be distorted although He has protected the Qur’an? Why did Allah let His own words to be changed before?

1. Trusting in Allah for the things which we do not know their reasons (wisdom) demonstrates the perfection of our belief and our fidelity to our religion.

2. The things Allah has created on the earth are not the same as each other. He ties some of them to causes and creates some of them without any causes or means. For example, although every person comes from a mother and a father, He created Adam (pbuh) without a mother and a father, Jesus (pbuh) without a father and Eve without a mother. It means he sometimes acts out of general laws.

Moreover, with regards to laws, fire burns, the Moon does not split into two, trees do not walk and sticks do not transform into snakes. However, with the order and desire of Allah, Abraham (pbuh) did not burn, the Moon was splitted into two, the tree walked by the Prophet’s (pbuh) order and the stick of Moses (pbuh) became a snake.
Moreover, while some prophets came and were killed by the communities they were sent to, Allah protected some of His prophets such as Moses, Abraham and Muhammad (pbuh).

The same situation can be valid for the books. Allah, who let the other books be changed, prevented the Noble Qur’an from being changed by His particular beneficence. For that reason, He indicated that the Qur’an is under His private protection. Allah, who prevented Abraham (pbuh) from burning in the fire, also protected the Qur’an to be changed.
Our souls and satans cannot ask why He did not prevent his other prophets from being killed but protected Abraham; they cannot express their opinion regarding the issue, either.

3. If Adam had not been expelled from Paradise, not so many people could have progressed. Seeds get out of storehouses and get into fields so that they become trees; similarly, human beings have descended to the field of Earth from the storehouse of Paradise so that they would progress like a tree.
In the same way, if the other books had not been changed, the revelation of the Qur’an would not have been in question, then. They were to be changed so that it would give rise to the revelation of the Qur’an. However, only the people who have changed them are responsible for their alteration.

4. The status of the Prophet (pbuh) among the other prophets is apparent. He was sent as a mercy to all worlds and his prophethood does not pertain to a certain time and a certain period but comprises all times and periods. And he was sent to the human beings and the jinn. The other prophets are not like that.
So, the book of that prophet (pbuh) had to comprise all times and places. If that book had not had a seal that it was unalterable, men would also have changed that book. That seal has protected it.

5. No one can do anything against Allah if He does not let. So, He has shown it by protecting the Qur’an.

The fact that Allah (SWT) loves us is a proved event. In fact, the purpose of our coming to this world is to prove whether we love Allah or not. Does Allah not prove that He loves us by taking us from the darkness of nonexistence to the brightest hills of the world of existence and making us Muslims and showing the manifestations of His names to us among seven billion people?

Let us think, why should we tell our characteristics and the things we love and we do not love to a person whom we do not love? We even do not speak with that person, do we?

If Allah does not love and rely upon us, why does he give us hundred of organs that He does not give to His various creatures? And above all why does He put the luxurious jewelries, like the ability of reasoning, soul and heart on our body, whose value equal to the weight of the universe? Is the criterion of the love of someone for us not directly proportionate to the value of a gift given to us?

We have been put into the test of loving and obeying Allah (SWT) in return for taking these bounties beforehand. After all we will believe that Allah is worthy of love. This is something that interests us.

The fact that some of the things come to us behind a veil is because of the fact that we are in a test. It might please us to receive an apple from Allah (SWT) Himself. It may cause us to feel to be loved more. However, Is His giving an apple from a tree different from this? Yet, His decision of making the tree incompetent is a proof of this.

Then, we are facing a kind of problem which is called imperception. I understand you well. when it is not read well, it is something that is too difficult to cope with. However, there may be a kind of misevaluation in our minds. We believe that we got lost in the shuffle. As if there is nothing special for us… Besides, we see the degree of love of any other one for us as in direct proportion to His/her special gifts for us. however, be sure that your surroundings are full of special gifts for you.

For example, the fact that you are alive. Do you think that this is some kind of fabrication? Speak with a biologist immediately. Or with a physician or a doctor or books… “Yet, all the sciences you study continuously would prove this with its own particular tongue…”

For example; Do you know that the life story which is necessary for asking this question started fourteen billion light years ago?

Do you know the relation between your life and the moment when the universe started to be created with that terrific explosion from a heat of 1045 centigrade degrees by expanding and decreasing to a temperature of -233 degrees until five billion years ago? The world of physics declares that the first and the most important condition of the creation of a planet such as the world is to retain all space in that temperature. That is to say, in order for you to ask this question, the space has to reach that temperature.

The creation of the world is just for us. Because, according to biologists’, continuing our lives in this world as human beings is a possibility of one in two-hundred and fifty billions…

Let us take it for granted that we were born…The possibility of having a mind and again being a Muslim overstrains our thinking capabilities. And a probability which the numbers become inadequate to calculate the continuation of this world life and the universe’s working without a pause, is always in front of our eyes. And the reflection of the sun light on the pupil of our eyes… In order to understand that this is special for us, look at the blind, and paralyzed people and those who cannot wake up in the morning and that die without seeing the sun that day. Be sure that this is special for you…

If your problem is this thought; “I do not want to see something that was given to me at the hand of others”…

I only say, Be Just… What is the fault of creatures? What happens if they benefit from these bounties?

Apart from these, there are favors only for you. Your fingerprint, blood type, voice, the pupil of your eye and before anything else, your fate, which is only peculiar to you…

Please click on the links given below;

It is said that troubles are the reflections of the punishment of God. Is this the case for all the troubles?

Now that Allah Almighty has created this universe to make Himself known, so if there were not any kind of diseases and calamities in this worldly life, wouldn’t our knowing Him come true all the same? Then what is the wisdom of such an ordaining?

Every creature we see around us and that seems to be simple is a wonderful art of Allah and it is possible to see the manifestations of several names and attributes of Allah on it. From that point of view, a leaf on a branch of tree is as valuable and wonderful as the Sun in the sky. It is not inferior to the Sun in terms of art.

Allah’s knowledge is infinite and He encompasses everything by His knowledge. Everything, small or great, is within His sphere of knowledge. 

For example, the Sun illumines everything small or great during the day-time. It illumines a cell inside an eye as well as great mountains and seas. From that point, it cannot be said “the Sun illumines great things but how does it illumine those small things?” There is no difference between illumining a mountain or a small stone for the Sun.     

In the same way, our Lord, all of whose attributes are infinite, encompasses everything small or great by His knowledge. A doubt such as how Allah can know small things must not come to mind.

Furthermore, in case that an opinion such as Allah knows great things but it is not necessary for Him to know small things is accepted, it will cause a lot of mistakes.

In that case, an idea that shows the signs of assigning partners to Allah such as “If Allah does not know those small things, then they form themselves, they come into existence by themselves” comes to mind.

No. Allah never does injustice to His slaves. For injustice, He must need it or he must have some interest – God forbid – to favor some of His slaves. However, Allah does not need anything. There is no injustice in testing. Allah tests everybody based on their own states, capacity and conditions.  

There are various kinds of testing in the world. Some people are tested through their wealth and some through being enemy of wealth. Some are tested through health and some through illness. Some are tested through being debtors some through being creditors...

Allah does not hold a poor person responsible for zakah but wants him to show patience. He does not undergo the testing of zakah. As for a rich person, he faces the testing of zakah. A person who does not give zakah loses the test; he is accounted for it in the hereafter and punished.   

People are not created with the same characteristics; therefore, their testing is different. Man has thousands of feelings and emotions. The development of those feelings is different in each man. For instance, the feeling of compassion in women is superior to that of men. Therefore, we understand that it is appropriate to have different tests for different people.

The reward increases depending on the difficulty of the test. If a person gets 50 points in an easy test and 100 points in a difficult test, the result might not be similar seemingly but in reality, they may be similar. One of the figures might seem high but their value might be the same. Sometimes a misfortune suffered by a person may gain him more rewards than ten misfortunes suffered by another person. What matters is to be able to understand the true nature of the question.

We do not know where and how this sentence was uttered but it is possible to understand it as follows:

The Most Sacred Essence of Allah cannot be known and thinking about it is forbidden. Then, what is meant by “Allah” here is knowing His names and attributes and the knowledge of Allah is considered within that frame. Comprehending Allah’s names and attributes can be by narrations (from revelations), not by reason. The greatest evidence that theoretical/ philosophical reason will not be able to reach that knowledge is the mistakes that even the greatest philosophers who are interested in that subject have made in their thoughts. Then, the heart has the greatest function in getting the knowledge of Allah. As a matter of fact, belief is an essence of fact sown into the heart. The heart should get rid of every kind of dirt, rust and filth of doubts in order to reflect the fact – convenient to the narrations- in that subject. That is possible only through sincere deeds.

Then, knowing Allah truly is not possible by theoretical reason only occupied with science- philosophy. On the contrary, that knowledge is a window that only can be achieved by the possessor of a heart that is attached to Allah’s book and His messenger’s way, that submits to his Lord and is polished by deeds.

The attributes of the self of Allah are attributes that are peculiar to Allah and that are impossible to be present in any other being. Those attributes are also called sifat as-salbiya (attributes of negation) or sifat at-tanzihiyya.

They are;

Wujud: Existence. The existence of Allah is a necessity of his personality; He is not in need of anybody else. He has no contrast.

Qidam: Pre-eternity; having no beginning.

Baqa: Having no ending; eternity.

Mukhalafatun li’l-hawadith: Not resembling any beings that were created.

Wahdaniyyah: Being unique, only one, in His personality, attributes and deeds.

Qiyam bi nafsihi: “His existence originates from nothing but Himself; He does not need anybody or anything to exist”.

Essential attributes are; Hayah (life), Ilm (knowledge), Sam’ (hearing), Basar (seeing), Irada (will), Qudrah (Power), Kalam (Speech), Takwin (creating). Those attributes are pre-eternal, eternal and unique like the attributes of the self when they are used for Allah. However, they can be used for others as a word and as a quality. For instance, Allah has life, will and knowledge; we also have life, will and knowledge although they have endless differences. However, it is impossible to use attributes like pre-eternity and eternity for others in terms of reason, too.

Attributes of the self cannot be imagined independently for any beings except Allah; Allah’s personality cannot be imagined without those attributes, either. For instance, there are many actual deeds like giving sustenance, creating, forgiving, killing, reviving; you can think about Allah without imagining them; however, you cannot imagine Allah without thinking about the attributes like having no beginning, eternity, pre-eternity, being unique and existence because they are attributes of the self.  

We cannot use an expression personal or non-personal fort he names of Allah. The name Rahman is not an attribute; it is the second special name after the grand name “Allah”, that is, it is a proper noun. The name Rahman indicates other issues like justice, sustenance, revelation and lordship apart from mercy.   

Rahman is the One that is firmly established on the Throne of authority that created, arranged and directs the universe. It is Rahman that teaches the Quran. The servants who worship Allah are ‘Ibadu’r-Rahman’ (servants of Rahman). Therefore, it is not permissible to give and attribute the names Allah and Rahman to anybody. (Tabari,1/59) As a matter of fact, in the following 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, 17/110), the name Rahman is mentioned just after the name Allah, in the second place (at-Tabari, I/59). While interpreting the verse: " knowest thou of any who is worthy of the same Name as He?"( Maryam, 19/65), Ibn Abbas said, "No one but Allah can be given the name ar-Rahman." (Hakim, Mustadrak, II/474).

Those who want to give that name to their children have to give it as “Abdurrahman". Those who gave the name "Rahman" before have to change it to Abdurrahman.

According to what is reported from Abu Umama, the Prophet said,

 “Make the slaves of Allah love Allah so that Allah will love you.”(see Suyuti, al-Jamiu’s-Saghir,1/251; Kanzu’l-Ummal, 15/1186; Faydu’l-Qadir, 3/371)

In the Quran and the life of Prophet, there exists teaching and training through love not through fear. It will cause adverse reactions to inform people about Islam, which is based on love, to use the elements of fear and terror. You cannot make people do things through fear. Especially worshipping like daily prayers should be presented as a means of reaching peace and quiet. Informing people about religion wrongly and incompletely and causing them to alienate from religion will make a person responsible.

The basic principle of Islam is, “Give good tidings, do not alienate; make things easy, do not make them difficult”. When the religion of Islam is preached, this principle should be used; and one should be sensitive especially when he addresses children. Talking about fear all the time will harm the psychology of children. Wrong information and methods may alienate people from the religion instead of making people love Allah and the religion. Preaching the religion by using fear will not make people approach the religion. As a matter of fact, it is stated in the Quran that the mercy of Allah extends to all things. (al-A'raf , 7/156)

Every believer and Muslim must turn toward Allah first and must make himself free from being the slave of other people and things; he must be the slave of Allah only. After that, he must preach Islam and make people love Allah using the method mentioned above.  

The criterion for loving Allah and making other people love Him is to obey and follow Hazrat Muhammad, His messenger.

Author: Şadi Eren (Doç.Dr.) 

We live in a realm in which everything takes place based on a cause. Rain comes from clouds; fruits come from trees and people come from their parents to this realm. Are those causes the creators of those things? If the causes did not exist, would the outcomes not take place? Mawlana says the following regarding the issue: 

“The miracles of Hazrat Musa and our Prophet did not take place based on causes; they took place because Allah created them. Where do the non-existent things take their abilities?

“Allah imposed a custom under the sky for those who seek. He created causes and ways. Most of the events take place are based on that custom. However, sometimes, He breaks and abolishes that custom. He usually does things based on causes; He creates causes so that the person who seeks will reach what he wants.” (1)

The first creation took place without a cause.  Mawlana states it as, “Where do the non-existent things take their abilities?” Then, results were started to be created by causes and divine laws that are called “adatullah, sunnatullah”. However, those laws are not binding for Allah. Allah cannot be a prisoner of the laws He himself imposed. As a matter of fact, the miracles of Hazrat Moses, our Prophet and the other prophets are the proof of divine will. Through the extraordinary events by the hand of the prophets, God Almighty shows that He does whatever and however He wants . “Causes are only curtains (veils)”. (2)

The karamahs of the saints and some extraordinary events take place by the special will of Allah not by the law of causes. For instance, a child falls off from the tenth floor of a building but he does not die; a taxi falls down to a precipice but nothing happens to anybody in it; events like those are rare but they do take place. Mawlana attracts attention to things like that by saying, “I had been surprised by the fact that Allah sometimes rendered causes ineffective.  I had had views like skepticists in terms of imagining and envisioning.” (3) That is, skepticists avoid making definite decisions about things and events; I had become like them, unable to make decisions. Will the sun rise tomorrow? It might not. Does fire burn? It might not burn sometimes. Can a handful of soil hit the eyes of the all of the enemies. If Allah wishes, it will. (4)

Nevertheless, it should not be misunderstood. That causes are curtains (veils) does not mean that causes are ignored. As a matter of fact, the Prophet did not ignore causes; he put on armor during the battles, stood in trenches and dug trenches. Mawlana states this point as follows:

“Give up dry prayer! If you want a tree, sow seeds.”

“To sow seeds... It neither makes the ground bright nor the owner of the ground becomes rich. It means only to say ‘You are the one that gives its origin out of non-existence. I need it’. ‘I ate it and brought its seed as an indication. Give us from this bounty again. ‘ ” (5)

That is, causes must not be ignored; but, the outcomes should be expected from Allah. A person who expects fruits without sowing seeds acts against the law of Allah; a person who thinks that he will definitely receive fruits when he sows seeds opposes the will and power of Allah.

References:

1. Mevlana, V, 129 (İzbudak).
2. Mevlana, XIII, 932.
3. Mevlana, II, 350.
4. As a matter of fact, the sun will rise in the west just before the Day of Judgment. The fire did not burn Hazrat Ibrahim. (see al-Anbiya, 69). A handful of soil the Prophet threw at the enemies hit the eyes of them. See Baydawi, Anwaru’t-Tanzil, I, 378.
5. Mevlana, V, 98 (İzbudak).

Man, who is benefiting from this universe created by Him all his/her life with the body blessed again by Him, and who has become the addressee to many truths and realities through his/her intelligence, heart and feelings which are each a Divine blessing, by all means, craves to see his/her Lord who has bestowed all those blessings on him/her. The answer to that desire embedded in human heart will be given in Paradise and thus man will attain the supreme blessing which far exceeds all other pleasures of Paradise. There have been many discussions about ru'yat (seeing Allah in Paradise). We will not delve into details. Overall, the scholars of Ahl'al Sunnah wa'l-Jamaah (the mainstream Islamic sect; followers of the Prophet's Sunnah/Practice) have agreed that ru'yat is right and permitted, but that its essence cannot be understood. Mu'tazila, one of the sects of misguidance, does not accept ru'yat.

Man, who tries to solve every problem with intelligence, has taken a lot of pains trying to understand how that great reflection will take place. In reality, that platform belongs not to intelligence, but to heart; not to thought but to pleasure. However, the intellect still wants to perceive some things however far they may be, and wants to grasp some cues and to get satisfied. How can we understand Paradise, which is, as is stated by God's Messenger, peace and blessings upon him, a land “that eyes have not seen, that ears have not heard of and that have not occurred to human heart (imagination)” and how can we fathom in this world the greatest Divine mercy, ru'yat? Yet, the human mind does not behave itself. It demands in this world a reasonable explanation of a truth that will be bestowed in the next world and that will be enjoyed there only.

In The Words, from the Risale-i Nur Collection, it is stated: “The eye is such a sense that the spirit watches this realm through this window.” and it is implied that the spirit can watch other realms without needing this eye. The best example of it is dream. In  Mesnevî-i Nuriye, from the Risale-i Nur Collection, it is said: “The works and deeds of the awliya (people of guidance, stationed near to God), whose spirits have overcome their material being, take place with the speed of spirit.” As is known, directions are valid only for the body. For the spirit, such words as front, back, right and left are not used. So, when the spirit overcomes the body, directions become irrelevant and the spirit can see all directions together. Similarly, God's Messenger (PBUH) could see those behind him as easily as he could see those in front of him. The spirits of the dwellers of Paradise are victorious over their bodies. They can be present in many places at the same time. And the sight of the dwellers of Paradise is much more improved than in this world. There is a great difference between the two sights like the difference between a real object and its shadow. The human eye which can see only material beings in this world will start seeing the angels from the grave onwards.

When the Divine closeness in ru'yat is added to it, then that perfect spirit will be overwhelmed with blessings, and by regarding his/her Lord without direction, distance and figure, s/he will lose consciousness with over-excitement and his/her heart will turn into a sea with waves of spiritual pleasures and that elated slave will take such a great pleasure through seeing his/her Lord as beyond comparison to the pleasures s/he took from Paradise and s/he will be entranced.

Badiuzzaman describes the Order of Wahdat'ul-Wujud (the unity of the being) as “Submersion in unity.” Just as the senses, eating and drinking and shortly everything in this transitory world are only like shadows when compared to those in the abode of eternity; so too will the real form of 'submersion in unity' be experienced in ru'yat, with such a sublimity as beyond any description. A verse giving the good tidings of ru'yat: “Some faces on that Day will be radiant (with contentment); Looking up toward their Lord.” (The Qur'an, Al-Qiyamah (The Resurrection) Surah, 75:22-23)

One of the great scholars of the last century, Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır states the following whiile explaining that verse: “The scholars of Ahl'al Sunnah wa'l-Jamaah have understood that “look” as “seeing” and proved that in the Hereafter the Believers will see Allah's Jamal (beauty). Mu'tazila, moving from the verse “You cannot see Me.” (The Qur'an, Al-A'raf (The Elevated Places) Surah, 7:143) interpreted that look as “waiting”. However, as the result of waiting without reaching its aim will not be joy (radiance), but disappointment and sorrow, it will not be appropriate to deduce only the meaning of “waiting” from the verse.” The expression “You cannot see Me.” which is mentioned in the 143^rd verse of Al-A'raf Surah, is said by Allah as an answer to Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, who asked for ru'yat. The author of Fusus, esteemed man of knowledge, Ahmed Avni Bey says that the request of Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, for ru'yat is a proof of ru'yat and states: “If ru'yat was impossible, Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, would not make such a request.”

Ahmad Avni Bey points out significant s,gns about ru'yat by saying that in ru'yat, the person will be entranced, there will not be any existence left to him/her, and that s/he will be submerged in Divine reflection and closeness.

A verse about ru'yat:“For those who do good, aware that God is seeing them, is the best (of the rewards that God has promised for good deeds), and still more.” (The Qur'an, Yunus (Jonah) Surah, 10:26) Allah's Messenger (PBUH) explained the expression “still more” in the verse as “looking toward the jamal (beauty) of the All-Merciful”

A mirror that reflects the sunlight always needs the light, heat and colors of the sun in order to show the sunlight continuously. As soon as the sunlight ceases to send its light, the mirror becomes dark. Similarly, If Allah withdrew His names that are manifest in us and in the universe, the universe would be eliminated. Therefore, everything is in need of Him at any moment.

The laws that Allah created do not operate on their own. Allah, who created those laws and who directs them, will not operate those laws for some of His slaves if He wishes to do so. For instance, fire burns; it is a law imposed by Allah. However, what really burns is not fire; it is Allah. It is Allah who created that law. He did not operate that law in the case of Ibrahim (pbuh). The laws do not operate but Allah makes them operate. Therefore, a question like to act against the laws would be illogical. Allah did not act against the laws. On the contrary, it means Allah creates the laws that He imposed as He wishes. 

It is contrary to the verses and hadiths and to the mind to say that the universe exists like a wound watch and Allah stepped back (Allah forbid) because: 

Everything is in need of Him at any moment. In many verses in the Quran, Allah states that He is al-Qayyum (the Self-Existing One), Fa’al (Accomplisher) and al-Qadir (the All-Powerful). Therefore, if He stopped maintaining the universe for a moment, the universe would be eliminated:

Allah! there is no Allah but He―the living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) Before or After or Behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. For He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory). (al-Baqara, 255)

All of the names of Allah are manifest at any moment.

He makes everything everlasting through His everlastingness...

He makes everything exist through His attribute of self-existence...

He gives life to everything through His life...

He gives power to everything through His power...

He makes everything have will through His will...

He makes everything speak through His speech.

Therefore, if Allah withdrew one of His names, for instance, the name al-Muqaddir (the All-Determining), there would be no standards and balance in anything. So, everything is in need of Him at any moment.

All of the beautiful names of Allah are based on divine attributes. For instance, the name al-Alim (the All-Knower) is based on the attribute, “knowledge”, one of the subuti (immutable) attributes; the name al-Qadir (the All-Powerful) is based on the attribute, “power” and the name al-Mutakallim (the Speaker) is based on the attribute, “speech”.   

Similarly, the name al-Awwal (the First) is based on the attribute, “eternity”, and the name al-Akhir on the attribute, “everlastingness”.

In some Islamic resources, the divine names are mentioned as attributes. For instance, al-Karim (the Generous) is one of the names of Allah. It is also an attribute because it defines Allah as the owner of generosity. When we say “Karim Allah” we use the name al-Karim as an attribute.   

No matter what name of Allah we mention, that name also functions as an attribute because it expresses one of the qualities, perfections, beauties or divine moral qualities of Allah.   

Most of the divine names are based on actual attributes. The name al-Khaliq (the Creator) is based on the deed of creation, all-Muhyi (the Giver of Life) on the deed of reviving, al-Musawwir (the Shaper of Beauty) on the deed of shaping and the name al-Mumit (the Taker of Life) on the deed of killing.

Abu Said and Abu Hurairah narrate: “The messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “On the day of Judgment, man is taken to the presence of Allah to give account. Allah asks him: 

“Did I not give you ears, eyes, property and offspring? Did I not give you an opportunity to rule over animals and farming? Did I not make you the chief of them and leave you free to benefit from it? Have you ever thought that you would meet Me? And he would say: No. Thereupon Allah will say: “Well, We forget you as you forgot Us. (Just like you did in the worldly life)” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah 7, (2430). 

Explanation of the Hadith: 

This hadith informs us that a person will be sentenced to oblivion by Allah unless he favors the benefactions that were given to him. Allah’s forgetting a person means to expose that person to torture, and to prevent him from being saved by not making His mercy being manifested.

(See Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Canan, Al-Kutubu's-Sitta's translation and explanation)

Let us mention a point first: In the Qur'an, Allah does not always address Himself as “We” instead of “I”. The verses are not always arranged this way. According to the context, the forms of address change; sometimes “I”, sometimes “We”, etc.

If the following verses are understood, this point will be clear:

“O Children of Israel! Remember My favor that I bestowed upon you, and fulfill My covenant (which I made with you through your Prophets), so that I fulfill your covenant, and of Me alone be in awe and fear (in awareness of My Power and of your being My servants).” (The Qur'an, Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:40)

“And when (O Messenger) My servants ask you about Me, then surely I am near: I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he prays to Me. So let them respond to My call (without hesitation), and believe and trust in Me (in the way required of them), so that they may be guided to spiritual and intellectual excellence and right conduct.” (The Qur'an, Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:186)

“Pray to Me, (and) I will answer you.” (The Qur'an, Al-Mumin Surah, 40:60)

“I have not created the jinn and humankind but to (know and) worship Me (exclusively).” (The Qur'an, Adh-Dhariyat Surah, 51:56)

In many other verses like these above, the translations of which we provided here as examples, our Lord mentions Himself with the pronouns of the first person, “I”. If these verses are carefully analyzed, it is seen that the expressions “ My covenant”, “so that I fulfill your covenant”, “ And when My servants ask you about Me”, “ Pray to Me” are related directly to Allah Himself and He doesn't accept any means or any intermediaries in between. Most of the verses in which Allah addresses Himself as “I” are always about Himself.

In the verses where the form of address is “We”, generally there is a means in between. For example, in the verses about the revelation of the Qur'an, it is said: “We sent it down.” As all verses are sent down by way of revelation, here the means between Allah and the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, is the angel Gabriel, peace be upon him. In the verses such as “We caused the cloud to shade you.” (The Qur'an, Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:57), too, the One Who had the work done is Allah, and the ones who did the work are the angels who are in the position of “Allah's officers.” However, we should not compare this similitude of “officer” made here with the officers that humans have to hire in order to make their work easier. There are officers in the society because we are incapable to handle everything, while Allah puts angels to work in order to announce His power which dominates the universe and to convey His greatness through them, not because-God forbid- He needs them.

After all, many scholars learned in the explanation of the Qur'an say that in such verses Allah addresses with His own greatness and power, with His Godhead and majesty. That's to say, Allah addresses with His beautiful Names and attributes and thus informs about His greatness and majesty.

For instance, in the verse “Indeed it is We, We Who send down the Reminder in parts, and it is indeed We Who are its Guardian.” (The Qur'an, Al-Hijr Surah, 15:9), there are four words with the meaning “We”. Here, both the greatness and majesty of Allah is emphasized and the importance of the point is consolidated with pronouns.

Scholar of the Qur'an's explanation, Abu's-Suud Afandi, says in the explanation of the verse above: “We sent down the Qur'an with the greatness of Our glory and with Our Loftiness.”

In the explanation of the expression “Inna”, which means “We”, in Al-Kauthar Surah, Fahruddin Razi says: “Here what is meant with 'We' is to demonstrate the greatness of Allah.” He continues: “This is because it is Allah the Owner of the Heavens and the Earth who gives Kauthar (abundant good) to the Prophet (PBUH) as a gift. And the gift gains worth and greatness according to the greatness of its giver.”

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, one of the leading contemporary Islamic scholars, deals with the expressions “Inni” (I) and “Qulna” (We said) in the 34^th verse of Al-Baqarah Surah and says:

“It is a sign of the fact that in the deed of creating and bringing into existence there is no means/intermediary, and that in His speech and address there is means/intermediary.”

He continues to explain the pronoun “Na” (We) in the 105^th verse of An-Nisa Surah:

“Just as in this verse the plural pronoun “Na” (We), which denotes greatness, is a sign that there is intermediary in revelation; so too the Name of Majesty, Allah, which is in the singular form, in the expression “how Allah has shown you” is a sign that there is no intermediary in inspiring meanings.” (Risale-i Nur Collection, İşaratü'l-îcaz, p. 230)

Then, it should not be understood from the verses in which Allah addresses Himself as “We” that-God forbid- Allah is more than one.

Don't we, too, sometimes say “We did.” when we actually refer to the things that we did on our own? 

This name is pronounced as “Fard” if stopped at the end of the sentence. If not, it is pronounced as “Fardun”.

The name Fard expresses the oneness of Allah; it teaches that there is nothing equal and similar to Him.

The name Fard is more comprehensive than the names Wahid and Ahad. The name Ahad expresses the oneness of Allah himself, and the name Wahid expresses the uniqueness of His attributions. The name Fard covers both meanings. In this sense, the name Fard can be described as, “The unique being which is free from the existence of anything equal to and resembling Him in person, and also His attributions”.

In the world of creatures, there are innumerable proofs and phenomena of the name Fard. Though the universe consists of innumerable stars and galaxies, all of them are still one thing. This one thing is called the universe and we see a manifestation of the name Fard in it.

It is also possible to see Fard in all of universe’s results and fruits: All the cells working in human body and all the emotions wandering in the soul constitute oneness and emerge as a single human being. In this sense, we can observe a manifestation of the name Fard in man, who is a single being.

Similarly, all the planets in the Solar System have constituted oneness and formed a single system.

Every tree constitutes oneness with its branches, leaves, flowers and fruit and grows as a single tree. More examples can be given.

In short, everything that has an individual character bears a manifestation of the name Fard and cries out that He is a single being, His attributions or creatures given to His servitude cannot be attributed to other beings and declares Allah’s oneness with infinite tongues.

The word Muqim stems from the verb “aqama”. It means “the one who maintains whatever he created in the most appropriate position”. It stems from the same root letters (qama) as the name Qayyum. Qaim is also one of Allah’s names, which is derived from the verb “qama”, just like the name Hay, which stems from the root “hayah” indicates that Allah is alive, the name Muhyi, which also stems from the same root means the one who vitalizes, who brings to life.

The name Muqim also means “eternal” which is impossible to end and vanish. The words “Adhabun muqim” (al-Maidah, 5/37) and “Naimun muqim” (at-Tawba, 9/21) are used in this sense.

It is completely unobjectionable to use the name “Muqim” in order to express one of Allah’s attributes.

According to what the scholars of Ahl Sunnah informs us, Allah’s most beautiful names do not only consist of 99 names. Names for Allah can also be derived from verbal adjectives which are used in the Quran. From this point of view, the word, which is interpreted as “nor shall we establish” in the verse the interpretation of which is “They are those who deny the Signs of their Lord and the fact of their having to meet Him (in the Hereafter): vain will be their works, nor shall We, on the Day of Judgment, establish for them any weight” (al-Kahf, 18/105), is used as a modal form of the verb “aqama” which adds plurality to the meaning. The noun form of this verb which means to establish, to maintain is “Muqim”. It is scientifically impossible to say that the noun form of a word, which is used in the verbal adjective form by Allah to describe Himself cannot be used to express Him.

“One who establishes (aqama) prayers” means one who performs prayers properly. When this adjective is used for Allah, it means that Allah created all beings wisely and properly.

Under the light of those explanations, it can be said that “the fact that Sheikh al-Harari stated it was not appropriate to say Allah was al-Muqim as it is an attribution of the creatures, not of the Creator” does not reflect the reality. In fact, the majority of Allah’s names is also used for human beings who are creatures.

According to the creed of Ahl Sunnah, except for the names which are exclusive to Allah such as Allah and Rahman, other appropriate attributions and names can be used both for Allah and human beings. As a matter of fact, the names Rauf and Rahim which are Allah’s names are also used for the Prophet (pbuh) in the Quran.

The fact that the name “muqimu’s-sunnah” is used for our Prophet or someone else does not mean that it cannot be used for Allah. As a matter of fact, the word “Muhyi’s-sunnah” has been used for some scholars and it does not prevent this name from being used for Allah.

Such a reasoning and giving a judgment according to this will never be true. Supposedly, this reasoning is based on this comment: If God existed, He would not let the orbit of the earth flow away. In fact, there is no need to wait for the earthquake of Japan in order to make such an absurd reasoning. Thousands of people die every day; their orbit of life flows away. They may also say; “If God existed, He would not let these men die…” or a murderer’s shooting a man with a bullet would cause the same result… If God existed, He should not have died even if he had received a hundred bullets…”

The scientific explanation of this is as follows: If God does not give permission, not a single leaf can fall down nor the earth can flow away from its orbit. It is an obvious proof of what we have said that the earth moves on in the same orbit for millions of years by day and night with a 23, 5 degree of inclination without flowing away even a centimeter.

It is well known that throughout the history there were greater earthquakes that had happened when compared with the earthquake of Japan. The flowing away of the earth’s orbit as a result of huge earthquakes but not flowing away as a result of little ones such as in Japan is not proof of God’s nonexistence (God forbid) but proof that He has a power of will through which He does whatever He wishes. If the claim about the earth’s flowing is a scientifically proved one, it can be said that by allowing the earth to flow away and creating a difference, God both shows His free will and gives a sign about the Doomsday which is also told in the Qur’an that “the system of the world and even all systems will flow away from their orbit”. Of course “a word to the wise is enough, and many words will not fill a bushel…”

In the verse, “It is Allah Who sustains the heavens and the earth, lest they cease (to function): and if they should fail, there is none not one can sustain them thereafter: verily, He is Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving.” (Fatir, 35/41), attention is attracted to the fact that all of the systems in the sky/skies, and the sun, stars and all of the celestial bodies there have been existent in their current places; this wonderful state of the earth and the skies is presented as proof for the existence of God.

Being stuck in the delusions of the imagination of unbelief is worse than being stuck in the medieval scholastic swamp although the facts like the existence of the world in the same place for billions of years, and its constant rotation in the same orbit, its moving away from the Milky Way galaxy, to which it belongs, with a spiral movement and heading toward Hercules or the Sun of the suns are visible.

It is not suitable to make long explanations here. We can show a lot of evidence for the existence of God. Besides, if a proper man looks at his own body, he will not doubt that he was created by a creator that has infinite knowledge, power and wisdom. As a matter of fact, it is clear that only the creator that created the eye could create the sun because the eye would have had no significance without the existence of the sun. Similarly, only the creator that created the ear could create the air because the ear would have had no significance without the existence of the air. The same being created the stomach and the food. It is not possible for a sane person to claim that the channels for the entrance and exit of the food to form coincidentally. Even animals will not accept such a foolish thought. God, who connected man to the oxygen tube in the atmosphere, wants to show His existence and oneness to sane people. Woe on those who do not accept the existence of God, who makes the lungs of man operate with oxygen tube in the atmosphere, as if they see Him!  

Every being or law that Allah created may have many wisdoms. As our knowledge is limited, we can know or explain the wisdoms of its creation in a very limited sense. What science does is to understand the wisdoms and purpose of creation and to state these principles and the workings that they are based on.

For example, the night does not come all of a sudden; the daylight does not come at once, either. The dawn follows the night and the sunrise follows it too. After that as the sun rises slowly again, the noon comes and a blessed time which is the mid-afternoon follows it; and finally the sun sets.

If the daylight came at once and the night came suddenly, we could not mention dawn, noon or mid-afternoon.

We can think of the same rule for the seeds, life of man and for the life of the world. The seed would become a fruit at once; a child would complete its creation and become an adolescent at once, the world would complete this long journey and lifespan at once.

This wise creation is also valid in the world of plants. A seed has a divine art and wisdom. The whole program of a large tree is written by the pencil of fate in that very small place. The genetic structure is so perfectly created that it is full of deep secrets that astonish the scientists and cause them to remain silent.  

We can compare man, universe and all things to it.

All laws and systems in the universe are based on Allah’s one or sometimes more names; they manifest those names to a certain extent. In other words, Allah’s names are seen and manifested in creations in the forms of laws and principles.

For example, let us discuss the leaf of an apple. In the creation of this leaf, there is a manifestation of many names of Allah (SWT). In the manifestation of the name al-Hakim (the Perfectly Wise), the creation of something must be suitable for wisdom and reason and there should be a profundity and purpose. At the same time, as a requirement of the manifestation of the name of al-Mudabbir (the Ruler), the future duty of this leaf is taken into consideration. In addition, as a requirement of the name Al- Muqaddir (One who controls fate), this leaf is created in a certain shape and size and also with the manifestation of the name of Al-Muzayyin (the Adorner) it is adorned so beautifully too. With the manifestation of so many names that we have not listed here, this plant is planned and created by considering all of its nuances from its inside to outside, nourishment and duty.

That is, the manifestations of Allah’s names on created things, requires the creation of them according to a certain plan, wisdom and purpose. The observation of a definite plan and purpose in their creations can be seen as in the forms of laws such as physics, chemistry, biology, gravity and electromagnetics.

On the other hand, knowing the role of some principles and laws of the creation of living beings and the continuation of their lives encourages mankind to research and investigation because, a researcher’s awareness that nothing is aimless and superficial stimulates his soul of research and investigation. Such a spiritual state is the first encouraging component in man’s development.    

Galaxies and planets were not formed at once but in the course of time. Actually gradual or step by step creation is a kind of scientific law. This law was valid in the past and nowadays both in the living and non-living world and coming to the earth also takes place gradually. Thus, a baby is born in nine months. A chick comes out from an egg in one day. A wheat kernel ripens within 9-10 months.

Allah (SWT) can create all and everything at once with the manifestation of His name, al-Qadir (the All-Powerful). But, why does He create like that but gradually?

Of course, it has many wisdoms and purposes that we cannot know. One of the wisdoms is that the world is place of testing and trial. As a requirement of this test, in this world, the name al-Hakim (the Perfectly Wise), which necessitates gradual creation with wisdom, is superior to the name al-Qadir (the All Powerful), which necessitates immediate creation.  As it is known, in this world, a gradual creation exists and all things are connected to a cause. What causes a child to be born is his /her parents. What causes an apple to grow is its tree. What causes a watermelon to come into existence is its seed, some elements, air, water, temperature and the sun light. What causes an egg to be produced is a chicken.

Actually, those causes are created, too.  As parents have no an interference in the creation of their child, parents are being created too. Some regard those causes as the real creator/doer. As a result, they do not accept or believe in Allah, and the test is being shaped in accordance with their belief.

The Qur’an informs as follows; as there is no test in the hereafter, , the name of al-Qadir will dominate there and anything that man wants will be created at once and man will also be resurrected in the twinkling of an eye.

One of the wisdoms behind the gradual creation based on causes is that living beings stick to those causes in order to maintain their lives. If an apple seed had been a tree and yield fruit at once, how would man have spent his time?

Let us suppose that an apple comes into being at once. Then, the person who produces saplings, who transports it, who markets it and who prunes the tree will be redundant. There will not be any need for a tractor and its equipment to plow the field, any water to water the field, any fertilizers, and any pesticides and equipment to pulverize it. There will be no need for scientific researches to examine them and to try to obtain the most appropriate ones. As it is seen, the gradual creation of an apple provides work for so many people.

Gradual creation seems as a necessity of testing; and it serves as a means of mutual assistance to meet some needs, of scientific research and formation of social life.

This question includes an interpretation of a verse from the Qur’an.

“But the fact is that had there been in the heavens and the earth any deities other than God, both (of those realms) would certainly have fallen into ruin. All-Glorified God is, the Lord of the Supreme Throne, in that He is absolutely above all that they attribute to Him.” (the Qur’an Al-Anbiya 21:22) 

The reason for this very logical rule and proof which the scholars of religious precepts call Burhan at- Tamanu: reductio ad impossible (which means proof against the denial of God’s existence) is quite clear :

 1. The one who brought this absolute system into being is the owner of infinite power because, the immensity and perfection of this system stands as a proof for the limitlessness and uniqueness of the creator.

2. This power is able to manage and to keep the thing that is brought into being within certain measures and to sustain it because He is not under the authority of anyone and He does not need any help to give Him ideas. As His presence originates from His own self, His ultimate power, infinite knowledge and will also originate from His own self by Him. 

3. He creates everything without a model or template and in a unique way because there is no power before him that He can copy and no things in existence that He can use as a template. He does not have a beginning; similarly, He does not have an end. Fort his reason, He does not need anything in his precaution and his management because needs are caused by deprivation and powerlessness. He is free from deprivation and powerlessness and He is exalted. 

 4. What would happen if there were two different owners of the power with those qualifications and maturity, and measures and meaning both in the sky and on the earth? If one of them had only the ability of management and precaution, then it would mean the other would be incapable and weak. The Weak one could never be a deity. If both of them had equal power, then there would be different orders and systems. As a result, this order which is unique and infallible, would never come into existence. Suppose both of them got along well and brought one order into existence; then two different disorders would affect the sick one and irritate it. So, there would not exist this kind of order again. If they did not get along well with each other, one of them would destroy the other’s system, anarchy would commence and never would a thing like order come into existence.

If we presume both of them brought insignificant amount of power and disorder into being, then neither of them would have the chance to demonstrate their own power. In this case, they would not be considered as deities.

5. If we suppose that the illness of one deity is the other deity itself, and the other is the illness of the universe, the sick one cannot be a deity as it needs illness to be sick. And in that case, illness-sick concept would go back and therefore there would never be a beginning and ending of the chain of illnesses and the sick ones and so it would continue to carry on like this; which is unacceptable and moreover, it fundamentally devastates the quality of deity. 

Here The Great Qur’an, stating this truth, grants us this enlightening main information:

“Had there been in the heavens and the earth any deities other than God, both (of those realms) would certainly have fallen into ruin”

Then, Allah who is unique and who does not have any match, equal and does not need any help is very exalted, very glorious and free from the attributions and deficiencies that denying heretics, drug users, desperate pagans, brainless skeptics describe. Sound mind is the witness to this; common sense is the descriptor; knowledge is the proof and faith is the basic structure for it. (see Celal Yıldırım, İlmin Işığında Asrın Kur’an Tefsiri, Enbiya, Interpretation of the 22th Verse )

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Could you please give me information about the Oneness of Allah? What does Burhan al-Tamanu (Reductio ad Impossible) mean?

The spirit is placed into man’s body when he is four months old in their mothers’ womb. The soul has no information about that body it is going to stay for the next five months. Moreover, it is neither aware that it is a soul nor has it been equipped with capabilities of senses like seeing and hearing, nor intangible assets like mind, memory and imagination. When it is born to this world, it does not have any information about this world either. It undergoes childhood, grows up and becomes an adolescent. It turns into an exceptional being that sets its mind to work, analyzes itself and the world it lives in, comes up with questions of its own and tries to find answers to those questions. Even in that state of questioning, it does not remember its infancy and especially the phases it experienced in the mother’s womb. Then, it questions, “Why do I not remember the divine pact?”  

I will approach this question from two aspects:

First:

Our Lord imposes limitations on us and we benefit from all those limitations. For example, he has limited our sight and hence we cannot see everything. If we were able to see atoms’ giddy movements, we would lose our balance and maybe it would not be possible for us to live in this world. If we were able to see all the bacteria on the ground, we would not be able to walk easily. 

That is the case in our hearing too. If we were able to hear the footsteps of all insects while we were resting on the grass, we would not be able to rest. If we were able to hear high pitched sounds, we would be disturbed and maybe lose our hearing ability. We can only hear a specific range of frequencies and that is the most beneficial to us.

Our Lord, who set those constraints, has put limitations on our memory as well. We do not remember our infancy, what we have experienced in that period and anything before that, that is the period in the mother’s womb. One of the incidents we encountered in the womb but are not able to remember later is the “pact issue”. If we could remember the pact, then everyone would believe in Allah (God) and there would be no point of being tested for our belief.

The other aspect:

We often read through the Prophet’s miracles: An animal speaks and affirms the prophethood of the messenger of Allah God) (pbuh). Then, the animal goes back to its normal state (being a non-speaking animal) and resumes without being aware of anything.

Miracles related to the talking of the trees are exactly the same.

If God, the Supreme Being, granted consciousness to an apple tree for a moment and asked the tree “is it not me, who forms you in a way that you can produce apples?”, or asked a honeybee, “is it not me, who forms you in a way that you can produce honey?”, their answer to those and similar questions would be “yes, it is you who forms us in every way”.

The same question can be proposed to the human soul:

“Is it not me, who forms you to be a human soul, makes you capable of many sciences and skills by equipping you with physical and spiritual assets?”

The human soul would answer “Yes, it is you who forms me in every way”.

As a matter of fact, this question had been asked and the souls replied that Divine addressing by saying “Yes, you are our Lord”.

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What does Mithaq, that is the ‘covenant’ in qalu bala, mean? Why do we not remember the promise we made in the realm of the souls? Will it make us free of responsibility not to remember that promise?

How did it occur that spirits promised to Allah (SWT) in pre-eternity? Is it something symbolic?

1- Allah is the owner of the all properties. He administers His properties as He wishes. No one can interfere in Him and intervene in His creating. Allah (May His Glory be exalted) is the One who has created the atoms of your body and has organized all its systems and has endowed you a humane identity. You have not given anything to Allah who has bestowed those to you; so how can you put in a claim before Him?

If you had given something to Allah in return for the things given to you, maybe you would have had a right to claim as “Give me two eyes, not one eye; two hands, not one hand!” and to raise an objection as “Why have you given me one foot instead of two?” However, you have given nothing to Allah (May His Glory be exalted); therefore, –Allah forbid- you cannot claim that He is unjust. Injustice arises from a right that has not been paid. What rights do you have before Him that has not been paid and you have been wronged? 
Almighty Allah has brought you from nonexistence into existence and as a human… If you pay attention, you will see that there are so many creatures below you that you can notice and consider the excessive bounties you have been bestowed.    

2- Almighty Allah sometimes takes a person’s foot, but He bestows many things in the hereafter in return for it.
By taking his foot, He makes that person feel that he is an impotent creature and his weakness and needs are so much. If He directs his heart to Himself and develops that person’s feelings, He is considered to be giving many things by taking a little thing. Then, in fact, that is the expression of Allah’s blessings to him even though it does not apparently seem so; just like giving someone the Paradise by making him a martyr… A person dies for Islam during a war. In the Supreme Tribunal that will be settled in the resurrection and in the presence of Allah, he arises to a degree which the veracious ones and the martyrs envy. Other ones seeing him say, “We wish Allah would bestow us being martyrs in the battlefield.” Therefore, such a person would not have been losing many things even if he had been pulled into pieces. Definitely, the thing he achieved (in return for it) is greater than it. 

Although some people occasionally stray with a feeling of offense, vexation, pessimism and inferiority, for many persons those kinds of deficiencies have become a means of inclining to Allah more. Therefore, trying to spread the losses of some people regarding that issue like some harmful insects is not an appropriate behavior. The merits in that issue are provoking the desires pertaining to the hereafter in their spirits destined for the eternal life. It is appropriate for the aim and wisdom if it appears in a way that the disabled person turns to Allah and some others arise by taking lessons from it.

“He has wisdoms in every act; Allah does not perform any unnecessary acts.” Ibrahim Hakkı

When we try to understand our awareness of divine justice, it will be evident to what extent we perceive the concept of time, transience and eternity and to what extent we realize and internalize them and manage to think using them. A believing person knows that one percent of the divine justice, so to speak, is prevalent in the world and that ninety-nine percent of it awaits to function in the hereafter. The oppressors will suffer for the cruelty they committed much more severely and intensely in the hereafter than in this world. Many narrations in the Islamic culture explain the reason why some evil people are not punished for the evil deeds they committed in this world as follows: Allah does not like those people; so He does not punish them here; if He punishes them here, their punishment in the hereafter will be relieved. Therefore, He delays their punishment to the hereafter so that they will be punished severely there.

- If we remember that our Prophet (pbuh) resembles the life in this world to a few hours that a traveler spends under a tree to rest under the shade (Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 44.), we will consent to the fact that Allah does not punish the oppressor in the few hours he will live in this world or the fact that the traveler will suffer a temporary pain in that short period compared to the punishment or reward they will receive in the eternal life.  

Allah will punish the doers of the deeds that cause others pains and troubles in this short, ephemeral world, for instance, the oppression an innocent child suffers without any reason, in the hereafter and He will compensate for those who suffer. Maybe that innocent child will be granted such a nice life in the hereafter by Allah due to the pains he suffered in the world that it will be higher than the ranks that a person who worshipped and prayed Allah a lot but led a comfortable life in the world.   

This is a fact: Allah never loses the right of a creator that He creates. If we remember the hadith giving glad tidings that when a thorn pricks a person’s hand, Allah either will regard it as an atonement for his sin or will give him a reward because he has suffered, Allah will atone for his slaves who suffer in this world. When the day when how our eternal life will take place is determined comes, nobody’s right will be violated by others and even the tiniest good and bad deeds will definitely not be lost.  

To sum up;

1. Since the world is a place of testing, Allah lets people commit bad deeds and oppress others. Wars, rapes, murders and the example given above are incidents that Allah allows to happen because He does not interfere with the partial free will of man; however, He will punish severely those who do bad deeds and He will give rewards to those who suffer in the world. Those kinds of incidents were experienced by the innocent prophets like Zakariya (Zacharias) and Yahya (Jonah) that were sent by Allah; they were killed by people; Allah let their cruel nation use their partial free will. As a matter of fact, our Prophet (pbuh) was stoned in Taif; he lost one of his teeth in Uhud; he was exposed to evil deeds of people; Allah let those things happen to His most beloved slave. 

2. The father that inflicts that cruelty upon his son will either be punished in this world by Allah and be saved from the punishment in the hereafter if he is valued by Allah or he will be punished severely in the hereafter in such a way that when his son sees him like that, he will feel relaxed and be content.

3. The oppression and the violent acts that the innocent child suffers might be atonement for his sins in his life in the future. Due to the unjust treatment he has suffered, Allah will not evaluate his good and bad deeds as he evaluates the good and bad deeds of those who led a comfortable life in the world; He will consider his psychology and sufferings and maybe he will be granted surprising bounties that will make him say,  “What did I do to receive so many rewards and high ranks.” To be granted such great bounties in return for leading a life full of difficulties will be atonement for the oppression he has suffered. We should not forget that what we have mentioned so far will be valid for those who do not hide behind the sufferings, who do not exploit the feelings of other people, who do not transform the sufferings he underwent in the past to oppression against others and who try to lead their lives as good individuals.  

4. What we have mentioned above are the state of those people who oppose the Sunnah of Allah, why those states are allowed and explanations regarding the general states of those who violate those rules and those who suffer. It should not be forgotten that natural laws like cause and effect and some spiritual principles are evaluated within the scope of the term the Sunnah of Allah; however, there are some states in which the Sunnah of Allah operate differently and in which the divine principles are flexible. That is, the Sunnah of Allah does not mean laws that take place in the same pattern for everybody. Those divine principles may function differently and have different manifestations depending on each state, person, the qadar of people, conditions and levels, divine purposes, results and the mystery of testing. Therefore, in the example we have given above, the father who beats the innocent child is captured in the world and undergoes punishment; in some states, he is not accounted for what he has done until he dies.  In some cases, the innocent child is saved by the interference of the state or neighbors; in others, he continues to undergo violence as long as his father dies. In some cases, the violence he suffers makes him develop a personality that opposes injustice and defend other innocent people throughout his life; in others, it may cause him to develop a shy, introvert and depressed personality. In short, there is a special plan of qadar for every person and situation and there is special atonement for the unjust treatment a person undergoes and the oppression that a person inflicts upon others.   

In conclusion; the Sublime Creator does not lose the tiniest good or bad deed. The accounting for the things that a person does to another one is carried out by Allah even if the person who suffers forgives him because Allah regards it as oppression inflicted upon his slave.

One is responsible for repenting regardless of the state he is in. Satan tries to hinder people from repenting by demotivating them. While repenting, one needs to improve his lower-self and advance.
The following verse is present in the chapter Aal-i-Imran
“And those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bring God to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins, - and who can forgive sins except God?- and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done. For such the reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens with rivers flowing underneath, - an eternal dwelling: How excellent a recompense for those who work (and strive)!” (Aal-i-Imran, 135-136)
That is to say, it is essential that one must not insist on committing that sin without an excuse for a repentance to be accepted, for a sin to deserve to be forgiven. What happens if a person continues to commit something haram, to make excuses like not being able control his lower-self and being hesitated about how the people around him would react to it? The translation of a hadith on the issue is as follows:

“When a believer commits a sin, a black spot appears in his heart. If he leaves that sin and begs Allah for forgiveness, that black spot disappears. If he continues to commit that sin, that black spot grows bigger. This is what “sin covering a heart” mentioned in the Quran means. (Ibni Majah, Zuhd: 29).
Yes, the statement “Through every sin is a way that leads to unbelief” indicates a significant reality. That is to say, a person who continues to commit a sin, gets used to it in the course of time and comes to such a point that he cannot quit it anymore. That habit leads him to greater and greater spiritual dangers. He eventually happens to believe that there is not an otherworldly punishment for sins and Hell’s existence is unnecessary. It is possible that, God forbid, the seed of sin that covers a small place in one’s heart at first will sprout and grow into a tree of Hell at last. (Flashes, p. 7; Mesnevi-i Nuriye, p. 115.)

In order not to be subject to such danger and be deceived by Satan’s whispers, one needs to quit sins, which will require repentance right away and pull himself together. (see Mehmed Paksu, Sünnet ve Aile).

What is the criterion of uttering one’s love for Allah?

As loving Allah and knowing that He is content with us is an abstract issue, it is difficult to comprehend it. One can say, “I love Allah”. However, as that statement expresses a feeling inside us, we need to externalize it.

On the other hand, is Allah really content with us? What kind of slaves are we in His eyes? Those questions are equally difficult to comprehend. There must be a way to comprehend them.

As a matter of fact, Allah informs us of the way, with which we can make our love for Allah understood and find out whether Allah is content with us, in the following Quranic verse: “O Muhammad, say: If you love Allah, follow me, so that Allah will love you.”

The indication of our love for Allah is practicing Islam by complying with our Prophet. We can say without hesitation that Allah loves us, if we lead our lives in accordance with the Prophet. For instance, how is your love for parents manifested? If you meet their wishes and quit things which they do not approve of, your love for them is manifested. And we understand that they love us too, even though they do not tell us. Contrarily, if you do not do anything they wish and still say, “but look at my heart I love them so much”, nobody will believe you.
We can deduce that Allah created the Prophet as an example for us and He manifested the most beautiful exemplary characteristics in him. And He said to us: “If you love me, comply with the Prophet I sent for you. Then you can know that I love you too.” In summary, the criterion of how much we love Allah is how much we resemble Prophet Muhammad. We can come to a conclusion judging by that criterion.

They are Quran and Sunnah, which are route maps for you, us and all humanity. We cannot suggest you anything other than those. That is to say; it is making the Quran and sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) our guides, putting ourselves in line with them and contemplating by reading subjects and books about faith. It will be very beneficial for your afterlife if you can find books which tell about the Quran and faith or spend time with people who contemplate and evaluate those matters.

Performing prayers in time, avoiding major sins and performing tasbihat (glorifying Allah) after prayers will also lead you to maturity.

What does Selling of Soul and Property mentioned in the verse mean?

While the verse which is translated as “Verily, Allah purchased the souls and the properties of believers in exchange for Paradise” is interpreted in Nur Collection, an exemplary anecdote is given and in the anecdote this message is placed: “The devices in those factories will be operated in my name and on my workbench. And their costs and payments will increase from one to a thousand.” The Words

During a conversation with my friends, I asked them how much soil and water cost and I could not get an answer. When I asked how much bananas cost, they told me a high value. So, when soil and water enter a tree, which is a factory of Allah, they come out in the form of bananas and gain a high value. In the same way, we give grass to a live factory called cow and we get meat and milk from it. Common beets come out of factories in the form of sugar and flower pollens become honey in beehives.
If one gives his soul and property to Allah’s workbench of orders, drawing lessons from the innumerable cautionary scenes surrounding him, he will be elevated to that supreme position called  “ala-i iliyyin” (the highest of the high ones) and will have the honor of being one of the dwellers in Heaven.

In Nur Collection, a significant lesson of truth is given by stating: “unbelief destroys the essence of humanity and transforms it from diamond into coal”. That is to say, humankind is created in the best stature (ahsan at-taqwim) like a diamond. If he strays away from the allowed way, the straight way, he is degraded to the lowest position as a punishment. That degradation is symbolized with “coal”. According to scientists, the main stone of both coal and diamond are the same. The only difference is in their way of crystallization. And from this difference, come out two opposing qualities. Just as different words can be written with the same letters, so too can reverse fruits come out from the same essence of humanity such as: believer-unbeliever, righteous-sinful, just-unjust, and modest-proud.

According to this exemplary anecdote:

The best stature: “state of being created as capable of writing the best”
The highest of the high: “the supreme position of those who can succeed in the previous one”
The lowest of the low: “the great fall and destruction of those who fail to write correctly”

The Messenger of Allah says: “The world is the field of the Hereafter”. In this sense, one needs to reach to the highest of the high, at least as a seed, in the worldly life so that it can manifest itself as that supreme position in the Hereafter. And one will deserve the position of the lowest of the low by committing sins and it will bear the fruit of that severe agony of punishment.

In summary: Both high people and low people grow in this world. And everyone tastes bliss or punishment in the afterlife based on their own deeds.

Representation is an important law in the universe. It is the reflection of a being with self or appearance, sometimes both together. It can also be expressed as resemblance, materialization, and appearance.

Two important elements determine the nature of representation. “Being that appears” and “mirror that shows.” In other words, in the case of representation, there are two basic factors: the ability of the being to appear and the quality of the mirror to reflect.

The simplest and the most familiar example of representation is “mirrors” which we always use in our daily life. If we look at a mirror, we can see ourselves in it. That our appearance is reflected on the glass in front of us is a representation. The appearance in the mirror is a true picture of ours. The same proportion exists between the appearance and the color in the mirror and its correctness.

Water is sort of mirror. Television can be a good example too. A person is reflected in millions of screens, by means of television, at different places. In addition to the quality of mirror, television also has the quality of sound.

Glass, water, and television are three mirrors whose abilities are different. These are not the only mirrors in the universe. The air and ether are another two examples functioning as mirrors. Luminous beings represent in them. Just as material beings appear with material mirrors, luminous beings appear with heavenly mirrors. Those, which are not seen by eyes, are jinns, angels, and spirits.

We can divide representing beings into three. First, the reflections of material things. Their appearances are just a vision. This vision does not reflect their nature. For example, if someone enters a room with hundred mirrors, there appear one hundred figures. But in fact, those figures are not living. They do not see, hear, speak, eat, drink etc.

Second is the reflection of “material luminous” beings. Let us think of one thousand men turning their mirrors to the sun. The sun will be seen in each mirror. Those appearances are not the same as the sun. But they have some qualities that the sun has. Like the real sun, the little suns in the mirrors have light, heat, and seven colors. If the sun in the sky were conscious, it could talk to us through our mirror. Different actions would not interfere with one another.

Third group, the reflection of “luminous spirit beings.” These appearances have the qualities of luminous beings. They are alive, they hear, speak, understand, and know. At this point, the important thing is the ability of mirrors to show. For example, the matter of “ether”, which is more luminous than air, is a good mirror for luminous beings.

In trustworthy hadith books, it is possible to see a number of examples of representation. For example, jinn named “Khame” took on bodily form of an old man, came to the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), uttered the Islamic confession of faith, and became Muslim. This event, which the Caliph Umar narrated, is a fine example to the representations of jinns.

The Archangel Gabriel came before the Prophet Muhammad in the form of a companion of His, Dihya. He asked several questions such as “What is faith, What is Islam?” This event, which took place in the presence of companions of Muhammad (PBUH), is a remarkable example about the representation of angels.

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), too, appears at several places at the same moment, teaches scholars, and guides religious people with the law of representation. This truth has been explained in the books that were written by godly people who have been blessed by being spiritually advanced. This quality has been given to some famous religious people as well. The teachings and guidance of these people continue even if they are dead.

There are a large number of godly people who can exist at several places at the same moment with both their spirits and bodies. These are called “abdal.” The situation of these people is marvelous; whose bodies have gained luminousness like their souls.

The occurrence of representation is the key answer to all “hows.” This law tells us without leaving any doubt that how Allah (SWT) knows “everything” at the same time, how He creates, how He governs, how any action is not interfered with by any other, though He is One and Only. It is Him Who makes each law. It is Him Who created all jinns, angels and spirits who have been bestowed many marvels. Lights are the shades of His name of “Light.” He is nowhere in Person, Who is sacred and not material, but is everywhere with His names and attributes. Those who understand the mystery of representation and luminousness, even if to some extent, can see, know, and confirm these truths.
Gerçeğe Doğru (Towards the Truth) C:3, Zafer Publications

Alaaddin Başar (Prof.Dr.)

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How can we understand that the attributes of Allah (SWT) cover everything?

According to the context, the pronoun of the third person singular “Huwa” (He) is often used in the Qur'an. There are many reasons for this: 

As a principle, the religion of Islam is based on objective criteria which can be put across the mind. Hundreds of objective proofs/evidences are pointed out in the Qur’an for proving the oneness and existence of Allah (SWT). For this reason, the claims that are put forward that objective proofs cannot be used on the subject of Allah (SWT)’s existence are wrong. The interpretation of the verses given below would enlighten the subject.

- “Were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, they have no firm belief.” (Surah At-tur, 52/35-36).

- “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)?

Allah enlarges the sustenance (which He gives) to whichever of His servants He pleases; and He (similarly) grants by (strict) measure, (as He pleases): for Allah has full knowledge of all things.

And if indeed thou ask them who it is that sends down rain from the sky, and gives life therewith to the earth after its death, they will certainly reply "Allah!" Say "Praise be to Allah!" But most of them understand not.” (Surah Al-Ankaboot, 29/61-63).

Their messengers said: "Is there a doubt about Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth? (Surah Ibrahim, 14/10).

- “Do they not look at the sky above them?― How We have made it and adorned, it and there are no flaws in it? And the earth--We have spread it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm, and produced therein every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs)― To be observed and commemorated by every devotee turning (to Allah).” (Surah Qaf, 50/6-8)

- “O ye people! adore your Guardian-Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness. Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth).” (Surah Al-Baqara, 2/21-22).

- “If there were in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have been ruin in both! But glory to Allah the Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him!” (Surah Al-Anbiya, 21/22).

Or who has created the heaven and the earth, and who sends you down rain from the sky?.... Yea, with it We cause to grow well-planted orchards full of beauty and delight: it is not in your power to cause the growth of the trees in them. (Can there be another) god besides Allah?.... Nay they are a people who swerve from justice. Or, who has made the earth firm to live in; made rivers in its midst; set thereon mountains immovable; and made a separating bar between the two bodies of flowing water? (Can there be another) god besides Allah?.... Nay most of them know not. Or, who listens to the (soul) distressed when it calls on Him, and who relieves its suffering, and makes you (mankind) inheritors of the earth? (Can there be another) god besides Allah?.... Little it is that ye heed! Or, who guides you through the depths of darkness on land and sea, and who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His mercy?.... (Can there be another) god besides Allah? High is Allah above what they associate with Him! Or who originates Creation, then repeats it, and who gives you sustenance from heaven and earth? (Can there be another) god besides Allah? Say "Bring forth your argument, if ye are telling the truth!" (Surah An-Naml, 27/60-64).

How can ye reject the faith in Allah? Seeing that ye were without life, and He gave you life; then will He cause you to die, and will again bring you to life; and again to Him will ye return. (Surah Al-Baqara, 2/28).

- “Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the Night and the Day; in the sailing of the ships through the Ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which Allah sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds, and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth;― (here) indeed are signs for a people that are wise.” (Surah Al-Baqara, 2/164).

- “Say: Is it that ye Deny Him Who created the earth in two Days? And do ye join equals with Him? He is the Lord of (all) the Worlds.” (Surah Fussilat, 41/9).

- “Among His Signs is this that He created you from dust; and then Behold ye are men scattered (far and wide)! “

- “And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts); verily in that are Signs for those who reflect. And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who know.”

- “And among His Signs is the sleep that ye take by night and by day, and the quest that ye (make for livelihood) out of His Bounty: verily in that are Signs for those who hearken.”

- “And among His Signs, He shows you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope, and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs for those who are wise. And among His Signs is this that heaven and earth stand by His Command: then when He calls you, by a single call, from the earth, behold, ye (straightway) come forth.” (Surah Ar-Room, 30/20-25).

Please read the article given below. You will get the answers you need. 

Some people claim that the need to believe originates from the fact that man is a weak being and that he feels the need to take shelter; and they deny divine religions through a wrong evaluation. How will you answer that claim?

In fact, that claim belongs to a philosopher. I will not mention his name and list his thoughts here. I will only evaluate the issue because it may blur some simple minds.

The person who asks the question bases his claim on the fact that man is a weak being. Let us stop here a bit and change the word “is” as “is created” and then go on. If “creation” had belonged to man, instead of a weak being, he would have preferred being a creature as strong as a lion and a creature that could fly high like birds and would have made a mistake. Since man was not given the right of preference, he did not come into being on his own; he was created.

Let us go to the past imaginatively and think about the phases of the creation of the universe in order to understand the divine wisdom behind the feeble and weak creation of man, who is the most honorable and superior being among more than 1,5 million species of living beings. 

The construction of the palace of the world starts. A substance like vapor spreads everywhere, expands, ascends, cools and starts to harden.

The world of angels starts to watch those strange activities wondering what will happen in the end.

As a result of those activities, a sun appears. A magnificent piece of lava has broken off from the sun changes its direction after moving away from the sun a certain distance. Although it is expected to move away gradually, it starts to rotate around the sun. After a while, most of that piece of fire turns to oceans, seas and rivers. 

The world of angels watches that terrifying piece of fire turn to magnificent oceans astonishingly.

Suddenly, some part of that fire turns to land; plants emerge, and forests form there. The fact that flammable forests emerge from the burning fire is watched as a divine miracle.  

Then, the animal kingdom appears on the earth. All of the animals are introduced with the miracle of seeing thanks to the pairs of eyes attached to them. The sunlight penetrates into all eyes and enables them to see.  

Eventually, man as a being who is in need of everything is created so that everything will help him and serve him, so that that distinguished being will know his Lord through everything, so that he will know His wisdom, mercy and power, and so that he will praise and thank Him for everything. 

None of the millions of the species of the living beings could know their eyes nor the sun nor the relationship between those two things; they were contented with seeing their ways and finding their food. Man knew about the miracle of seeing thanks to the mind that was granted to him. That knowing was a privilege for him and it would make him superior to other living beings and make him vicegerent (caliph) on the earth. 

Man started to thank his Lord for that great grant with all his spirit and heart.

What made him thank his Lord was not only the mercy of seeing. All of the living beings around him breathed without knowing, “What is air?”, “What is atmosphere?”  They were ignorant of the fact that the air they breathed in went to their lungs and cleaned their blood. They did not know about the blood, lungs and air. Man knew all of the three, contemplated the divine mercy in them and increased his thanks.

We can add many more to those two examples. Man knew all of the organs in his body, their duties and benefits, all of the feelings attached to his spirit, imagination, memory and conscience, and he felt the joy of having them in the depths of his heart.  In addition, he could perceive all of the beings and events around him from day and night to seasons, from flowers to stars and from atoms to systems, and that ability led him to thanking and admiration.

What was the duty of him among all of those things? Each conscience looked for the answer to that question; each mind thought and wondered about it.

That wondering was removed by sending prophets, the loyal messengers of Allah, and sending down divine books. The real reason why man was created was stated in this verse:

“And I created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone)..” (adh-Dhariyat, 56)

In many tafseers (interpretations), “worshipping” is also interpreted as “knowing”. According to that interpretation, the first duty of men and jinn is “to know their Creator, to believe in Him and to live in accordance with His consent.”

Men felt the need for belief and worshipping thanks to their creation and the impulsion of their conscience; those who did not reach a prophet met their need through their own minds and they started to worship the idols that they made themselves.

Contrary to what is claimed, the only source of the need for belief is not the fact that man felt his weakness and looked for something to take shelter.

The following is stated in Risale-i Nur Collection: “Included in human nature is love of beauty, worship of perfection, and love of bestowal.” (Lem’alar: Flashes)

We can see the manifestation of beauty, perfection and bestowal in the whole universe also in our own being clearly.

In the beginning, we mentioned the sun and the eyes. Let us give another example about the eye.

The eye is very “beautiful”; it is a “perfect” work of art and a great “bestowal” for man. When we use the example of the eye also with our other organs and the world of our spirit, we will see that the being of man is full of the manifestation of beauty, perfection and bestowal.

The real source of worshipping is not as it is thought only fear but the fact that man is aware of those divine activities, that he contemplates them and feels the deed for thanking in the depths of his spirit.  

Fear also has a part but not everything can be attributed to fear. 

The greatest event man fears is death. Among all species of living beings, man is the only being that knows the journey of life will end in death. That knowledge and fear are also proof that man is a candidate for a life beyond death. And the feeling of fear is a great capital that makes man prepare for the eternal world.

In this word the manifestation of beauty and majesty are side by side and one within the other like night and day.

“To love beauty and to fear majesty” is a great truth. That is, man will love beauty and fear the manifestation of majesty and power. That fear is an important essential of living without disobedience to Allah and attaining the eternal happiness.

As it is known, the first duty of man is belief; then comes good deeds and taqwa (fearing Allah). A person who believes in Allah acts in accordance with His orders, that is, he commits good deeds and heads toward paradise; he moves away from hell through taqwa, that is, by avoiding sins.

The feeling of fear was given due to that fact and it should be evaluated accordingly. 

The considerations other than those are the products of man’s dim mind and a search for consolation originating from the fear of being called to account.

There are hundreds of thousands proofs showing that Allah (SWT) treats all humans with compassion without discriminating between Muslim s and unbelievers. He created all people out of nothing and presents the earth with thousands of benefactions to all humans just like an open buffet; He put the sun, sea, atmosphere into the service of man; these numberless benefactions are a reflection of Allah (SWT)’s compassion that covers everywhere.

Allah has dignity and greatness just as He has compassion and mercy. As His attributes that express compassion and mercy demand a merciful and compassion treatment to all people even to all living things and creatures, His attributes that express dignity and greatness demand from humans who have intelligence and free will to be respectful and thankful towards Him, just like other non-living and mindless creatures.

Allah, who is the creator of life, observes the justice of life and demands from humans to be respectful to the rights of their Lord, who offers benefactions at any moment in every aspect of life. In addition to this, although there are disrespectful attitudes towards Him, He does not deprive of the livelihood of them; this shows that He is tolerant and tender towards His slaves.

In addition to this, there are sound hadiths mentioning that Allah will forgive millions of people who deserve punishment on the Day of Judgment and will also save those who are in Hell and who have belief in the slightest degree after a while. Does this not show how compassionate Allah is?

Of course, Allah will make the unbelievers that have no slightest degree of belief and that have been  hostile to Him during their lives stay in Hell forever. This is essential in order to protect the rights of the creator’s attributes that show dignity and greatness and for the rights of the oppressed ones, prophets, their revelations and millions of verses that were refuted and disapproved by unbelievers.

It would be useful to remind some points that were given beforehand while answering a question.

Allah really loves us, if not; He would not have created us and given these benefactions for our benefit.

Any sin is a rebellion and disrespectfulness towards Allah. Is it possible to think that Allah loves inconsiderateness and inconsiderate man? 

However, it is a requirement of the test that humans were created with equipment which inclines them to commit sin. Thus, Allah takes into account under which conditions and reasons a person commits sins. For example; the sin which Hz. Adam committed because of having been deceived by his nafs (evil commanding soul) and Satan, is not the same as the sin of Satan who rebelled deliberately with arrogance. The door of repentance is opened for the former and closed for the latter.

In many verses of the Qur’an, it is mentioned who are liked by Allah and who are not. Allah evaluates individuals based on their qualities not on themselves. After all, they are all His creatures. Of course, Allah loves His art; if not, He would not have created them. However, intentional behaviors of man cause him to be loved or not. In the following verses, we can see qualities that are liked and not liked.

Allah loveth not transgressors. (al-Baqara, 2/190)

For Allah loveth those who do good. (al-Baqara, 2/195)

But Allah loveth not mischief. (al-Baqara, 2/205).

Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean. (al-Baqara, 2/222).

In the Qur’an, there are clear sentences that Allah does not love “unbelievers, seducers, dissipaters, spoilers, boasters, traitors and sinners”. On the other hand, Allah loves those who are pious, the ones who treat others fairly and who rely on Allah and the patient ones”.

A mother may sometimes show tolerance for some of the disrespectful behaviors of her children but it is a very common fact that she sometimes becomes so angry that she does not forgive others. It is not a nice attitude to like bad aspects of a person along with his good aspects. It is a reasonable act to call a good act good and to call a bad act bad, to regard nice acts as lovely and ugly acts as unlovely and not to regard the oppressor and the oppressed, the thief and the owner of the goods as the same.

Created things are divided into classes. Soulless and willless creatures are not judged. However, those who have the ability to perform good and bad deeds will definitely be judged. One of the names of Allah (SWT) is “Al-ADL (the JUST)” He is so just that in fact He is the embodiment of justice. In every corner of the universe, the visible balances and criteria become witnesses of this justice.

Since even a system that judges the cruel ones in order to establish the justice is accepted by everyone in this world, is it possible for our Lord, who is just, not to judge and punish the rebellious and cruel ones?

If man is like “a leaf in the wind or a computer that obeys the orders it is given” and if he/she does not have an ability to decide and not responsible for what he/she has done, then what is the purpose of crime? Does a person who thinks so not apply to the court when he/she is wronged?

However, according to his/her understanding, he/she should have thought as follows:

“This man has set my house on fire, threatened my chastity, killed my child but he is excused because he is a machine, a computer and he has to perform these crimes, what else can he do? He is incapable of doing anything other than this.”

Do the wronged people really think like that?

If man were not responsible for what he had done, the words “good” and “bad” would be meaningless. There would not be any necessity to insult traitors and admire heroes because what they did would be performed without their will. However, no one claims such things. A person who has conscience knows that he will be responsible for what he does and accepts that he is not a leaf in the wind or a programmable computer.

First of all, a person who says so does not believe in Allah. He cannot say such a sentence. If he is a deist, he does not believe in prophets. A person who does not believe that Allah sent down revelation should examine the life and miracles of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) first. If a person really wants the truths, he must examine whether what he will buy is proper. A person who wants to see the truths of Islam has to do such an examination. Thousands of non-Muslims believed and accepted that Islam is the true religion sincerely by researching it.   

Secondly, the most important being in the universe is life. Those who are in the highest level of life are man and jinn, who are conscious beings. Allah created man as the vicegerent of the earth and wanted man to worship Him with his words, deeds, thoughts, mind and acts just like the other beings in the universe that worship Him with their states. It is not possible in terms of the mind, conscience, religion or values that are accepted by the humanity for man, who is given so much importance, to be left unattended and free like animals, to be regarded as a poor vagabond who has no duty and to be regarded as a worthless being. It is not something that can be explained to decrease the great value given to man, who was presented the sun, moon, stars and earth, by regarding him as an irresponsible being. It does not befit the endless wisdom, purposeful art, and perfect science and power of Allah, who does everything with wisdom, who created everything for a purpose, and who assigned duties to everything, to leave man without any responsibilities or duties and unattended.   

The coil spring of the current wonderful system of the universe is the balance factor that is a reflection of the divine justice. The balanced system, which gives everything its due, is manifest in every part of the universe. It is impossible for this criterion of justice, which is in question for all living and non-living beings, not to be in question for man, who is the pupil of the universe – etymologically it means pupil. Then, the non-existence of a reckoning day that will discriminate between the oppressor and the oppressed, the guilty and the innocent, the thief and the possessor of the goods, the obedient and the disobedient, the believer and the unbeliever does not comply with the visible endless divine justice.

The following verses teach us important things regarding the issue:

Not for (idle) sport did We create the heavens and the earth and all that is between (al-Anbiya, 21/16).

Did ye then think that We had created you in jest, and that ye would not be brought back to Us (for account)? (al-Muminun, 23/115)

I have only created jinns and men, that they may serve Me. (adh-Dhariyat, 51/56)

When the fanaticism of prejudice settles in the subconscious regarding a certain subject, it almost hypnotizes the individual. Then, this individual starts to consider himself to be in the realm of wrongs. As long as he remains in this situation, he sees gold as copper and diamond as coal. For there is no gold or diamond there according to his view.

For an atheist, there is no meaning of being a human, having faith, healthy working of seventy trillion cells and regular working of the universe for man. For it is not possible for him to realize these facts in the darkness of unbelief.

What is the value of the material things that will transform the state of poverty into richness? A hundred thousand? Please just think for a few minutes: Are all of them worth an eye?

Our Lord, who gave such a precious life to us, could give us the things for the lack of which we disobey Him such as cars, houses and property if He wished; however, it is not the purpose of being a human.

The heart is the place where the love of God exists. No other love can settle there. There should not be any space for others there. Some troubles, scarcity, misfortunes can hit us; we are tested through them to see whether any love other than His has settled there or not. Our Lord knows our hearts but those misfortunes enable us to be aware of those facts and to evaluate the result of our reactions. Then, we think it is time we checked what we love except Allah, if we really worshipped Him and if we dare to say He did not give us anything though we worshipped Him so much.

ANSWER I:

Paradise is a reward given by Allah to His believing slaves. Of course, the promise our creator Allah (SWT), whose treasury and compassion is everlasting, gives to His believing slaves will be also unique.

If so many wonderful works are displayed in this world of guest-house, which is the place of minor manifestation of His names, then He will absolutely show magnificent things by giving His slaves all kinds of benefactions in the realm of Paradise, which is the place of the greatest manifestation of His names. Understand how suitable it is for wisdom and compassion to show His blessing with perfection in Paradise, which is a place of eternal happiness and utmost manifestation of His names… Badiuzzaman expresses it as follows; There being such reservoirs of mercy for the travellers in this guest-house of the world and their being utilized for man’s journeying, and for his ship, and his benefit shows that the One Who bestows such a profusion of gifts out of the seas on his guests of one night in a wayside inn, must surely have eternal seas of mercy at the seat of His everlasting rule, and those here are merely their small and transitory samples. (Şualar: Rays)

ANSWER II:

The eternalness of Allah (SWT) is a characteristic of Him. The eternalness of the inhabitants of Paradise and Hell will only be possible with the decision Allah.

For example, the sunlight, warmth and colors originate from the sun itself. The warmth, light and colors in the world originate from the sun, too. As long as the world exists, the beauties of the sun will continue. However, these beauties do not belong to the world but to the sun.

Similarly, the eternal one is Allah (SWT). The eternalness of the inhabitants of Paradise and Hell will only be possible through if He maintains them. For this reason, there is no contradiction between them.

The eternalness of Allah belongs to Himself. On the other hand, the eternalness of humans and other creatures will be possible if Allah maintains them.

As it is repeatedly emphasized in the Qur’an, Allah (SWT) created the universe in six days (six periods: 2 astronomic periods and 4 geologic periods).

Allah (SWT), who has infinite Qudrah (power), could have created everything at once; however, He did not do so because, along with Qudrah, Allah has wisdom too; He has a name, Al-Hakim (the Perfectly Wise) along with Qadir (Power). The name Hikmah (wisdom) requires the creation of everything with a purpose because, Allah who wants to be known by man with his arts that He created, finds it necessary to show how perfectly these arts are created. In order to show that they are beautifully created, it is necessary to show the relations of creations among them along with the mechanisms in their own systems. This is possible with a creation which is not instant but which takes place with a gradual process.

For example, if there were not the phases of growth of humans in the womb, Science would not be able to know the value of this prodigiousness. As a matter of fact, the following is stated in the Qur’an:

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). And (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs). (Surah Al-Hajj, 22/5).

If Allah wished, He would create a tangerine at once. however, in order to show humans the endless knowledge and power that is present behind the wise phases, He let it go on a process from a seed to sapling and then a tree that has developed branches and it finally offers a tangerine to us.

Man is the pupil of this universe, the best result of creation, the most prominent creation of the earth and the most valuable guest of Allah, who is both Rahman (the All-merciful) and Rahim (the All-Compassionate). Allah gave this prominent guest so much importance as to address him and He has offered so many magnificent kindnesses in the womb and prepared for him every comfortable life conditions as the vicegerent of the earth before sending him to the world; and then, he honored this world with his presence.  

The fact that different parts and systems of the universe, the living beings that were created later and human beings that were created the last were created at different times and that they were subjected to different procedures is a reflection of the endless wisdom of Allah and the indication of his absolute will and wish.

The possibility of the coincidental occurring of the solar system is ZERO (0) because you know that a word cannot be without an author, a pin cannot be without a master.

Then, how can this book of the universe be without an author; a thousand books can be written through every atom of the universe…!

How can this palace of the universe, in each part of which there are hundreds of wonderful art embroideries, be without a master?

How can this moving cosmic universe, which has been moving for 5/15/25 billion years without breaking its system, be without an administrator?

A person who regards such a possibility to be possible probably carries some information like a porter and does not have any knowledge about mathematical probabilities.

Anyone who has doubts about the issue should ask al-Tusi and Copernicus!

There are sociological, psychological reasons alongside with ontological laws why this subject has been perceived like that. We are going to list it in a few points.

Let us express that this situation is perfection, development, beauty and growing in maturity for man. It is not disadvantageous for him but advantageous. If man looks at around him with justice and conscience, he will find the answer to this question.

- The seeds in the barn must be put into soil so that they can be trees. Seemingly, the underground is dark and boring. However, it is the only way of being a tree. A tree does not appear even if the seed stays in a barn for thousands of years. Now, what can this seed say to its owner other than thanking to Him who put it into the soil in order to make it become a tree from the state of a seed? Does it have a right to say the following; why did you put me into this boring and dark life?

Likewise, Allah (SWT) sent Hz. Adam and his offspring from the barn of Paradise to the field of the earth. He gives man illnesses, troubles so that he would return to Paradise in the form of a tree and He buried Adam into the soil of worshipping. Thus, man returns to Paradise just like a tree.

- A kind of compassion lies under the fact that a teacher makes his/her student work hard because after that hard work, the development of that person occurs. The main factor that turns iron into steel is the fact that it is put in fire. The severity of the winter and the horridness of the storms are necessary for the spring flowers to appear. That essential rule is valid for us too. That is, the flower we call development can blossom if we are exposed to some hardships and troubles.

- Allah equipped the universe that He created in a wonderful system with His endless knowledge and power with opposites because beauty can only be perceived when ugliness appears. The darkness of the night shows the brightness of the day; the existence of the disease shows the value of the health; the existence of hunger shows the value of the bounties; and the existence of oppression shows the beauty of justice. This system also paves the way for hundreds of relative truths to appear. For instance, it serves as a means for variations of sour, sweet and salty tastes to appear; similarly, it serves as a means for beauty, ugliness, oppression, justice, bravery and cowardice to appear in thousands of shades. The beauties of material beings in different shades appear through this system; the different degrees of the achievements of people who are subjected to tests are also determined through this system. The penalties for different crimes are different; similarly, the rewards of different good deeds are to be different. It is necessary to know the shades and degrees of all forms of beauty and ugliness for being able to make different evaluations – based on the fine criteria of justice.

- Man has two different worlds. One of them is the objective, big world, in which all humans live. The other is the subjective, small world, which is limited to the psychology of each person. While the color of the first – the real – world proceeds on its way – without changing – in accordance with its own principles, the subjective world of the person changes its color depending on the psychological mood of the person. A person can make mistakes since he tries to see the world through the window of his subjective world. For instance, a person who is crying due to his sorrow thinks that the whole world is crying; a person who is very happy will see the whole world in happiness. However, the situation of the real world cannot be evaluated by the criteria of this mental, virtual, subjective and psychological world. Dark glasses will show everything dark but things are dark for only that person. It does not mean that everything is black.

- There are principles that Allah has imposed. Those who do not act in accordance with those principles – no matter what their religions are and how religious they are –are bound to be downtrodden. As it is emphasized in the verse, “That man can have nothing but what he strives for” (an-Najm, 53/39), what is demanded from man is to work. The natural ways of sustenance are agriculture/farming, artisanship and trade. Allah has filled the earth with bounties that are enough for everybody. He has created the earth suitable for it. However, He will not personally put the food into a person’s mouth.  One of the most important reasons for the poverty in the world today is the laziness of people on the on hand and the imperialistic attitudes of the oppressors – who are unfortunately regarded as members of the family of the mankind – on the other hand. When the power is in the hands of the oppressor, the law is bound to be downtrodden.

The exemplary blows that oppressors like Nimrod, Shaddad and Pharaoh, and tribes like Thamud and Ad, who held power, received throughout history, the prophets that were weak but struggled and became victorious and the rewards that their followers received show that Allah will justly punish those who rebel against Him and will protect compassionately and mercifully and reward those who obey Him. However, since the world is a place of testing, things are to be held secret. It is against this principle of secrecy to punish the criminals whenever they committed a crime and to reward those who obey whenever they did good deeds. However, the fact that they take place even if on a small scale shows that justice will be manifest fully in the great court in the hereafter.  

- If the crime of every thief, snatcher, murderer, killer were to be prevented, it would not be possible to distinguish between the good people and the bad people.

- The ecological and ontological balances present in the universe denote the existence of a large justice because balance is the reflection of a justice criterion. The place where this justice will be manifest is the hereafter. 

- Although beauties are more than evil deeds, the intelligence of man that is affected by suspicions can alter those rates through the gift of the gab. While the sun, the moon, the stars, the seas and the atmosphere work in the service of man and the earth helps man through all of its bounties, it will be an ugly mistake like accusing the mercy of Allah, who introduces Himself as the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful at the beginning of the chapters of the Quran, to ignore all of those bounties due to some troubles that we do not like originating from the misuse of man himself, the mistakes of others or that are like warnings. Man sometimes becomes so ungrateful that he will forget about all of the bounties and will start to complain if he becomes ill for one day even if he has lived healthily and wealthily for 50 years. May Allah show us the straight path.

The term justice is generally used for giving and distributing living creatures necessary rights and duties that they need according to their conditions in an appropriate way. It would be injustice to demand from an ant to carry the load of a camel, expecting from a cow to fly or a human to run like a rabbit.

All kinds of balances that exist in the universe are a reflection of God’s infinite justice. Giving the camel a tall neck enables it to drink water from deep holes and graze over high places and having it equipped with a system that lets it resist drought under hot desert conditions for long; creating the snake without any hands or arms to let it enter its place easily; giving the elephant a long trunk that it needs so much and let it obtain its food easily. Such similar subjects are all reflections of God’s justice, which is full of wisdom.

Likewise, ecological balances, astronomic, geologic, ontological and all cosmic balances are a proof of God’s infinite justice. Multifaceted balances of the solar system that were discovered with millimetric calculations by Copernicus prove the infinite justice of God like the sun.   

Are the following not an indication of absolute justice along with infinite knowledge, wisdom and power: balancing the light of the sun, the frequency of air and the amount of oxygen and hydrogen in order to ensure the vital life functions like seeing, hearing, breathing and cleaning the dirty blood to work?

Although these realities are obvious, the claim of a person who says, “I believe that the world is wholly based on injustice” will be refuted by the whole world.

When a person sees a different pattern in the corner of a building designed by Sinan, who is an excellent architect, with wonderful patterns, is it more reasonable for that person to regard it as a mistake of Sinan or as something based on a reason that he does not know?

Similarly, although we see the divine justice that shines like the sun everywhere, is it possible to attribute some mistakes in this world in which human beings are subjected to testing and trial because they are left free with their free will to Allah?

On the contrary, the cause of all of the mistakes and the oppression that are available on earth is man.

In the following verse, this erring aspect of man is emphasized:” Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of (the meed) that the hands of men have earned that (Allah) may give them a taste of some of their deeds: in order that they may turn back (from Evil).” (ar-Rum, 30/41)

The cause of all of the states especially like the current state of Africa and Somalia is man himself. As we can see it in the media, along with the oppression of the imperialist forces, the wrong policies that the people in Somalia carried out for years caused civil wars. Due to the civil war, people had to leave their homes. It caused misery.   

There exists definitely the wisdom of qadar behind the troubles that people caused across the country by disregarding the brotherhood of belief and violating the orders and prohibitions of Allah because the punishment of the believers are usually given in this world. Besides, the disasters that are sent due to the faults of the majority affect not only the oppressors but also the oppressed people. That is a mystery of testing. However, in the same place where people oppress others, qadar acts justly.  

We should not forget that one of the greatest names of Allah is al-ADL (the utterly just). It is emphasized in many verses like the following ones that Allah never does injustice to His slaves: “Allah never do injustice to those who serve Him” (Aal-i Imran 3/182; al-Anfal 8/51; Hac 22/10); “never will they fail to receive justice in the least little thing” (an-Nisa 4/49)

Therefore, it does not comply with belief to attribute oppression to Allah. It is necessary to repent it at once.

Considering God as being in the universe or in some of the living things is seen both in some religions and philosophical movements. For example; Pantheism considers God as a thing in the matter, Christianity considers God as an emanation of Jesus, Christ.

However, a work of art shows its creator but it is necessary not to search that doer in that work of art. In every transparent thing, the sun is seen with its manifestation but the sun is not present in any of those things with itself.

When a work of art and its artist are considered as the same, there will be an endless cause and effect series. If the book authors the book then that book is authored by another book and that one is authored by another one; thus, there will a long series which is meaningless and illogical. However, if the book is written by an external living creature but not a type of book, that is, a human, then this time it will be both easy and we will no longer face such long and meaningless series of ideas. A letter of the book cannot write itself or become a doer. However, somebody from outside can easily invent and write it.

How can the letter of “A” create itself while it does not exist? Is this not an inconsistent and illogical approach? If the universe is a book, then the author of it cannot be itself or a matter inside of it. The author of the book of the universe must be someone who is independent and not a type of it. This can only be God, who is free from time and place. The artist and his art cannot be the same being.
 
“If the creator of something exists in its creation, then there must be a total uniformity between them.” (Nursi, Mesnev-i Nuriye, Habbe) That is, if the artist exists in its art then the artist and the art must be alike. It should have the qualities of its art. The art and the artist must be same and equal. The art is passive and it is the subject of the work; similarly, the artist has a relation with the art; then it must be both passive and the subject of its work.

For example, a carpenter who is the maker of a table is thought to be inside it, then the carpenter must be like wood and have the qualities of wood. If God is considered to be inside of the universe, He should have qualities of the universe. The table is a product which displays the art and mastery of its carpenter.

For instance, God must be dependent on time and place. Death and decaying would apply to Him too.

For this reason, the artist can never be inside of his art or a type of to it. Being in it and being a type of it means that He is also an art.

The biggest error of man is that he compares God and His infinite attributes with himself and his types. However, neither God nor His attributes can be compared with anything among living things or non-living things. Comparison is something which can be made among the same types and species. Since God is outside of the realm of living things, comparing Him with these things is impossible. This is a void and wrong comparison which diverts man from tawhid (oneness of God) to personification and embodying. (Comparing God to matter) As it is stated in a verse of the Qur’an, “there is nothing whatever like unto Him” (Ash-Shura, 42/11), we should consider God as pure and glorious and attribute qualities which are suitable for Him. Otherwise -God forbid- there is a danger of polytheism and unbelief.
 
A honeybee is an art of God. Many names and attributes of God display themselves on this work of art.However, all of the divine attributes of God does not have to be present in the honeybee with all their grandeur. For instance, the endless knowledge and power of God is not seen in the bee as it is; it is an illness to expect something like that. If the divinity aspect of God had been fully present in all of His arts, each art would have had to be a deity. Mountains, stones and all of the beings would have had endless knowledge, will and power like a deity, which is sophistry. 

When the sun becomes manifest in a drop of water, it does not come and enter that drop; it becomes manifest in the drop in accordance with the nature and capacity of the drop. Similarly, when God becomes manifest it His art, He becomes manifest in accordance with the nature and capacity of that art. He Himself does not come and enter that art. This state describes the fact when people do not see the oneness that becomes manifest in things that they generally consider as unimportant and simple. For instance, when a person looks at a small fly, he tends to attribute the creation of the fly to causes and nature because he cannot see the grandeur of the sun and stars in that fly. As a matter of fact, the grandeur of the fly is hidden in its fine art and life. Many names that are manifest in the fly do not exist in the sun and stars. A person who has an ill view does not pay attention to them and unfortunately he refuses and denies God. 

To sum up, the power of God becomes manifest in the universe without touching or entering it, commanding it directly, without any intermediaries. The power of God does not have to enter man when He creates man. A carpenter makes hundreds of tables but the power and knowledge of the carpenter does not enter the table. That is, the table is not elevated to the level of humanity. Similarly, God creates the universe with His knowledge and power but the universe and all of the things in it do not and cannot receive the power and knowledge hereditarily.                            

God wants it because He is the greatest. It is appropriate for the wishes of both those who are small and those who are big that the young should show respect to the old. The fact that human beings have needed to worship superhuman forces since the time of Hazrat Adam even when they deviated is clear evidence for that reality.

To worship is an indication of both respect and love. It is quite natural and sensible for God, who creates people out of nothing, who gives them thousands of bounties, who loves them and who shows His love through revelation and inspiration, to ask His slaves to worship Him, which is a manifestation of both love and respect.

As a matter of fact, the following is stated in a verse:

“O ye people! adore your Guardian-Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness. Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth)." (al-Baqara, 2/21-22)

The nicest bond between the slave and God is the bond of worshipping. That is, the slave applies God and asks something from Him and God fulfills his wish as a result of that worship. Worshipping is a means of communication between man and God.   

Worshipping is a divine language of communication. Morse code is a language of communication; similarly, worshipping is a language of communication between the slave and God. So, to give up worshipping means to break off the communication with God.

God has granted man a chain of bounties that broadens out from top to bottom. The horizon of man and his benefit from those bounties increase by expanding and multiplying.  

The first and most fundamental bounty is the bounty of the body and existence, which is like the origin of all the other bounties. Just as a building stands on its foundations so too do all bounties stand on the foundation of the bounty of existence.    

God gave us life to enlarge and increase the bounty of existence. Through the bounty of life, He made man connect with the universe called the realm of visibility. The universe became the field of bounties. Life is the second greatest and most important level of bounties.  

Then, the bounty of being a human was added to the bounty of life; thus, the field of benefitting for man surrounded all of the material and spiritual realms. With the human qualities, the table of bounties expanded a lot. Consciousness and understanding in being human added a different value to the bounties.

With the addition of the bounty of Islam to the bounties of existence, life and being human, the field of benefitting expanded surrounding the realm of visibility and the realm of ghayb (the unknown, the unseen). It looks as if all of the creatures and beings were transformed into a vast table for man. In addition to the creatures, God’s names and attributes that become manifest behind the creatures were included in the field of benefits for man thanks to Islam. 

The bounty of investigative belief encompassed the world and the hereafter; likewise, the bounty of knowledge and love in belief encompassed the circles of possibility and obligation; thus, the meaning of the bounty reached its highest and largest dimensions.

When all of those bounties are considered, it is understood that man is bound to offer universal thanks. Universal thanks necessitate daily prayers and other fards, avoiding haram deeds, that is, worshipping. Then, worshipping is the price of those universal bounties. The rewards of worshipping are to be considered as the extra grants and gifts of God because even if we worship for one thousand years, we cannot pay the price of the two eyes that were given to us.

We will try to point out the personal and social benefits of belief and worshipping briefly in items:

- Through belief and worshipping man fulfills his responsibility toward God. That is, the main purpose of creation of man is belief and worshipping; to fulfill it is the greatest benefit for man. When a device is used for wrong purposes, it gets broken or damaged; similarly, when man lives without belief and worshipping, he gets harmed. Instead of receiving benefits, he is punished.   

- God’s pleasure is the source of all benefits because benefits and losses take place through His will. Then, the greatest benefit for man is to obtain the pleasure and consent of God; the only way to do it is belief and worshipping.

- God placed an advance payment in belief and worshipping representing a small model of Paradise; He also placed an advance torture in unbelief and disobedience representing a small model of Hell. If we want to live a small model of Paradise, we need to design our lives based on belief and worshipping. If we do not want to turn our lives to a small Hell, we need to arrange our lives based on belief and worshipping.

- The greatest benefit of belief and worshipping is that it is the document of endless bliss. That is, if man wants the endless bliss he needs to have belief and decorate it with worshipping. The greatest benefit regarding the world is less important than the smallest benefit regarding the hereafter.

- It is easier to govern one million people who believe in and obey God than to govern ten unbelievers. That is, people of belief and worshipping are much better and much more useful than people who do not believe and worship in terms of the law and order of the community.

- Belief and worship strengthen the order of the universe; so, the foundation of happiness in the world is based on belief and worship. Belief and worship are a means of adaptation and harmony between man and the universe. A person who denies this means is bound to be crushed under the heavy and oppressing wheels of the universe. Therefore, if we want to live harmoniously with the universe and the material world, we need the means of belief and worship.   

- The best consolation for a person who is oppressed by the world and who suffers troubles and agonies is belief and worship. What happiness or ideology of the world can console this person as much as belief and worship can? For instance, how can we make an old and sick man who is near death happy except through belief and worship? A great portion of the community consists of sick and old people, women and children, and people affected by misfortunes. What hypnotizing and deceiving things can satisfy these people except belief and worship?

Muhabbatullah (love of Allah) is a divine light that forms in the heart based on the rate of understanding and appreciating the perfection and beauty of Allah. Through this love, the spirit of man is freed from grief and distress. Man attains pure joy and peace. The strongest cause that makes the spirit of man attain virtue is the love of Allah.

God Almighty has placed an ability of eternal love into the heart of man. This eternal love is only for Allah, who has eternal perfection with His personality and attributes. That is, this ability of love, which has been granted to man, is for the love of Allah.

Man loves something due to its perfection, or the pleasure and the interest he takes from it. For instance, a Muslim loves the prophets, saints and virtuous people due to the “perfection-maturity-virtue” in them. He loves those who grant him something due to the grants and bounties he receives from them. He loves the meals and fruits he eats due to their flavor. Man knows through his mind and conscience that all of those beings whose perfection he appreciates, whose grants he is pleased with and from whom he takes pleasures belong to Allah. He created all of them. All of the perfection, beauty and grants that become manifest on them come from Him.

Then, man needs to give this eternal love in him to Allah first and then he needs to love all of the other people that deserve to be loved, the bounties and the grants for the sake of Allah. Every mind and conscience will accept this reality.

Therefore, we, Muslims, love our Prophet (pbuh), the four Caliphs, the household of the Prophet and his Companions on behalf of Allah and because “Allah wants us to love them”. If we love those people just because of their personalities not because of Allah, we will face the danger that Christians faced. They love Jesus like Allah not like a messenger of Allah on behalf of Him. They exit the religion by associating him as a partner to Allah.

Every Muslim must take this issue into consideration: The Quran has brought criteria for all of the worldly and otherworldly states of man. It has imposed criteria not only on their talking, eating, drinking, buying and selling but also on their feelings.

For instance, Islam has brought criteria regarding talking: A Muslim is not allowed to tell lies. It has brought criteria regarding thinking: Man is not allowed to think of the personality and nature of God Almighty. Similarly, it has brought criteria regarding loving Allah and fearing from Him. The criterion for love of Allah is to “do good deeds” and the criterion for fear of Allah is “taqwa” that is, avoiding committing sins.

We regard it useful to explain the “criteria regarding love” a bit more since it is related to our topic.

We, Muslims, love only Allah eternally and without any conditions. Then, we love our Prophet (pbuh). However, we love him as the slave and messenger of Allah, not as a deity – God forbid. We believe that all of his perfection originates from Allah not from himself. We know that he is a large mirror for the manifestations of the names and attributes of God Almighty; therefore, we love him more than our souls, goods and relatives, in short, everything.

After Allah and His messenger, we love the other prophets, the four Caliphs and the other Companions. Then, we love all of the saints and believers based on their degrees. In conclusion, we pay attention to the criteria imposed by Islam for our love.

As for the love of Allah, the Quran has imposed the following criterion regarding it:

Say: "If ye do love Allah, follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins; for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Aal-i-Imran, 3/31 )

The following is stated in the interpretation of the verse above:

If you believe in God, you will surely love Him. Since you love God, you will act in the manner He loves. To do that, you must resemble the one God loves. And he may be resembled by following him. Whenever you follow him, God will love you too. Anyway you have to love God so that He shall love you (Lem’alar: Flashes, p.21)

As it is understood from the verse and its explanation, the way of loving Allah is obeying His Prophet. A believer is regarded to love Allah to the extent that he resembles the Messenger of Allah in terms of creed, ethics and worshipping and to the extent that he applies the judgments he brought. The greatness of the Companions originates from the fact that they followed the Messenger of Allah in the furthest level. Hazrat Ali and the household of the Prophet also have an important place regarding the issue. Then, every believer that loves them must follow the Prophet, too.

In conclusion, our Prophet (pbuh) is the model that Allah loves and gives consent to. A person is regarded to love Allah and to attain His love to the extent that he resembles the Messenger of Allah.

In order to resemble the Prophet, it is necessary to follow his sunnah with deeds, words, ethics and attitudes.

Accordingly, a person who wants to follow the sunnah of the Prophet has to perform  all of the prayers – fard, wajib, sunnah – like the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), perform fasting, go to hajj and pay zakah if he is rich, read the Quran, love those that he loves and dislike those that he dislikes. He has to follow the ethics of the Prophet as much as he can.

- First of all, there is a scientific rule as follows; “everything is known with its opposite.” For example, if there were not any illnesses, the value of the benefaction of healthiness, if there was not elderliness, the value of the benefaction of youthfulness, if there were not blindness, deafness and the calamity of dumbness, the value of the benefaction of seeing, hearing and talking could not be realized.

Similarly, if there were not any harmful radiation of the sun, we would not think of the various benefits of the sun for us.

In addition to this, since there are harmful things among the living things as well as beneficial ones, it shows the traces of Allah’s infinite wisdom, power and compassion. For example, if the levels of radiation were higher than now, it would be completely harmful. If the levels of oxygen-hydrogen were different than now, let alone the benefits, there would not be any living things because of their harms. If there were not bitter fruits like citrullus colocynthis, how would we realize what a great benefaction water-melon and melon are?

In short, blind and deaf people remind sensible people that seeing and hearing are among the benefactions given by Allah. Otherwise, the majority of humans could be blind. So, there is no coincidence. The sun gives the same lesson to us with its rays.

Yes, the construction of rays made suitable for living and semi-living creatures is a proof of Allah’s compassionate will of power.

Do not forget that Allah (SWT) has infinite compassion, knowledge, wisdom and power. He works, creates, organizes and designs with His infinite attributes. We cannot grasp His infinite works with our limited reasoning, thinking and knowledge.

Who knows what wisdoms there are behind the thorns of a rose apart from protection? Allah forbids us harmful things and plants; this is a test for us, too. Eating and drinking useful things is a natural, biological duty; similarly, it is a natural servitude duty to avoid harmful things.

Moreover, the world is not for humans only. It is a well known fact that many types of plants which we do not eat are eaten by other living things.

It is also said that lightening bug, which relies upon the tiny light at its back, disdains to benefit from the sun; thus it suffers in darkness. As humans, this is not a situation that is desired to be in.

Trying to explain the wisdom and knowledge of Almighty Allah (SWT), who is the sole creator of the stars and suns, with our limited reasoning and knowledge is like to be in the state of a lightening bug in darkness.      

What we want to say is this: We have a right of learning the Divine power and its wisdoms in the universe, let us investigate and find out! However let us not allow Satan to make us doubt our belief and hesitate about it; let us say like the famous poet:

Our small minds cannot grasp those high truths,

because this scale cannot weigh that load.

Allah’s house, the Kaaba. Bayt means house in Arabic. Baytullah means house of Allah and it is a phrase used for the Kaaba. In the Quran, it is generally mentioned as “al-bayt” (the house); and Baytullah, the Kaaba, is meant by this word. In addition, al-Bayt al-Haram, that is, the holy house, is used in two verses (al-Maida 5/2, 97) and al-Bayt al-Atiq in two verses (al-Hajj, 22/29, 33).The word the Kaaba is mentioned only in two places.  

In fact, Allah is the real owner of the earth, the sky and everything between them, in short, the universe. The reason why the Kaaba is called Baytullah (house of Allah) is because it was built to be worshipped Allah in it; and only Allah is worshipped there. Thus, Allah elevated its honor by attaching it to His name.

According to what we learn from the Quran, the first worshipping place that was built on the earth is Baytullah:

"The first House (of worship) appointed for men was that at Bakka." (Aal-i Imran, 3/96).

When Hz. Ibrahim (pbuh) and his son, Ismail (pbuh)built  Baytullah, they prayed Allah as follows:

"Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us; for thou art the All-Hearing the All-Knowing. Our Lord! Make of us Muslims bowing to Thy (Will) and of our progeny a people Muslim bowing to Thy (Will) and show us our places for the celebration of (due) rites; and turn unto us (in Mercy); for Thou art the Oft-Returning Most-Merciful."(al-Baqara, 2/127-129).

Allah made Baytullah a place of assembly and safety so that people would fulfill lofty aims:

"We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety."(al-Baqara, 2/125).

Allah ordered people to keep Baytullah clean for those who circumambulate it and worship, bow or prostrate there. (see al-Baqara, 2/125)

- “Egoist” means a person who thinks of himself only, who always gives importance to his own interests and who always wants to be on the foreground. 

However, the fact that Allah prepared so many bounties for humans and that He made the earth a dinner table equipped with thousands of bounties shows how much importance He gives to His slaves, creatures and His art and it indicates His endless mercy.

- Allah defines himself as Samad (al-Ikhlas, 2). Samad means a being whom everybody is need of and who is not in need of anybody. It is unjust and cruel to call Allah, whom everybody is in need of, who is not in need of anybody and who certainly meets the needs of all creatures who are in need, an egoist.

We advise them to read, without prejudice, the following verse, which is one of the hundreds of verses regarding the issue:

“Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the Night and the Day; in the sailing of the ships through the Ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which Allah sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds, and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth;― (here) indeed are signs for a people that are wise.” (al-Baqara, 2/164)

- Only the existence of the people who call Allah an egoist - God forbid - is the clearest indicator showing how suitable it is that the Quran emphasizes the power of Allah repeatedly.

- Allah is not affected by the praise or criticism of anybody. However, He warns people several times and attracts attention to the manifestations of His names because, with His endless mercy, He wants His slaves to have good manners and act in accordance with the criteria He has imposed so that they will go to Paradise.

For instance, with the summary of the verses regarding the issue, He says, "Behold! Endless knowledge and power is necessary to create this universe. Since the universe exists, Allah, who has endless knowledge and power, also exists. If you think that this universe came into being as a result of coincidences, you will have insulted your mind and fallen into blindness which does not see Allah's endless knowledge and power.   

For, you know and see very well that even one letter cannot come into being without a writer, that even one pin cannot come into being without a master and that a village cannot be without a headman (administrator). Since the issue is so clear, how can you think that man, who is a wonderful being who is made up of one trillion cells, can come into being without a master? 

How can you deem it possible that the wonderful works of art seen all over the universe can be without a maker?

How can you attribute the fact that the solar system, with its sun, moon, earth, atmosphere, etc, has performed hundreds of wise and purposeful deeds with the extraordinary love and performance of duty without having any traffic accidents to coincidences?"

- Since Allah has endless knowledge and power as the scientific facts we have mentioned above and this universe witness, you must never doubt that the same power will raise you from the dead and account you. In that case, you will be punished severely due to this ignorance of yours.  

- If a person does not think about the warnings repeated by Allah regarding the issue and His endless mercy and then labels it as "egoism", he will definitely be accounted for it.

- It is interesting that they object to the repetitions in the Quran but nobody objects to the repetitions done by the same endless mercy ontologically in the universe. For instance, nobody objects and says,

“Why does the sun rise every day?
Why are we granted various bounties every day?
Why are our lungs attached to the oxygen tube of the atmosphere and why are we enabled to breathe repeatedly every second? 
Why are we made drink water and eat a few times every day?
Why are we made sleep every night and then we are revived every morning again?“

For , they know that they are the favors of Allah, who has endless power, wisdom and mercy, to His slaves and that it is impossible to live without them; therefore, they do not object.

- The repetitions that take place in the Quran are actually not repetitions; they aim to add new dimensions to the relevant topic, give deeper clues to the people of knowledge and warn those who are heedless.

- If a doctor examines a patient repeatedly, demands analyses repeatedly and advises the patient to take some pills repeatedly every day, this patient will be glad about it if he is sane.   

- If the parents of a child advise their children to keep away from bad deeds every day as a necessity of their undeniable compassion, can you call those parents "egoists"?  

Can a teacher who tells his students to study hard every day be labeled as an "egoist"?

Can it be used as evidence that a commander is an "egoist" if he makes his soldiers drill every day?

- We take nutrients repeatedly every day for our material body; how can we deem spiritual nutrients that are more important than material nutrients for our spiritual, mental and conscientious body, that is, the advice of the Quran consisting of Allah's compassionate orders and prohibitions, as extra and unnecessary?   

- In conclusion, we say the following: We need to believe in Allah, the Messenger of Allah and the Quran first in order to block these delusions of Satan, who repeatedly harms our hearts every day.

We can say to our brothers who convey these questions to us but not to those who ask questions by objecting the following: The decrees imposed by Allah are reflections of His endless knowledge and wisdom. In principle, every decree has an added value on its own. No divine decree can be sacrificed for another one unless there is a necessity.

For instance, the existence of war does not render alcohol and pork halal. The person who objects to it should know that when he drinks alcohol at home, war will not end and peace will not be attained. If he thinks so due to humanistic reasons, it is contrary to humanism and conscience to drink alcohol at tables by enjoying oneself while a lot of people die in wars.   

Similarly, when people are killed in wars, does consuming pork contribute to peace? 

Besides, Allah has dealt and is dealing with wars. Yes, Allah orders us not to fight and make peace through the Quran and His Messenger.

Here are some of those verses:

“O ye who believe! Enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the Evil One; for he is to you an avowed enemy.” (al-Baqara, 2/208)

“Therefore if they (the unbelievers who are your enemies) withdraw from you but fight you, not and (instead) send you (guarantees of) peace, then Allah hath opened no way for you (to war against them).” (an-Nisa, 4/90)

“On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone slew a person―unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land― it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our Messengers with clear Signs, yet even after that many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.” (al-Maida, 5/32)

The verse that allowed Muslims to fight for the first time about 15 years after the first revelation is the following one: “To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight) because they are wronged― and verily, Allah is Most powerful for their aid.” (al-Hajj, 22/39)

The believers were maltreated and tortured a lot by the unbelievers for 15 years: 13 years in Makkah and 2 years in Madinah. However, they were not allowed to fight because Islam is a religion of peace. The world Islam is derived from the word silm, which means peace. Therefore, when Allah allowed the Muslims to fight for the first time, He used mild words not extreme ones. For instance:  

a. Instead of an extreme expression like "fight at once", the phrase, "permission is given to fight" is used at the beginning of the verse. The expression" permission is given to fight" instead of "fight is ordered" is really a compassionate and mild expression. 

b. Similarly, the fact that a passive expression like "permission is given to fight" is used instead of an active expression like “I permit you to fight”, aims to indicate that war is something that is not desired in Islam unless there is a necessity.    

c. The Muslims were not allowed to fight when they wanted to fight but the permission was given on the condition that a war would be declared against them, which is clear evidence that war is not the real aim in Islam. The expression “permission is given (to fight) because they are wronged” in the related verse is an indication of this fact.  

d. Moreover, the fact that the reason for the permission to fight is expressed as “because they are wronged” in the verse indicates that Muslims cannot declare war against the enemies without any reason - with imperialistic thoughts.  

The first war after this permission is the Battle of Badr. The polytheists came to Makkah from Madinah and reached the place called Badr near Madinah; the expression "Allah is Most powerful for their aid", which is the last part of the verse mentioned above and which is a gleam of a miracle giving news about the future clearly expresses that the unbelievers would be defeated by the believers; and they were defeated.  

If what is meant by the question “Why does Allah not deal with war” is “Why does Allah not stop wars?”, the answer to this question is very simple:

Allah created this world as a place of testing and He tests people in this place. He gave people a free will that they could use as they wished and power that they could use freely so that a fair test would take place. Everybody is tested equally so that there will be winners and the losers of this test.

Therefore, Allah does not prevent those who want to do good deeds and those who want to do bad deeds. Otherwise, He could have punished those who drink alcohol by removing their minds and reducing them to the level of animals and could have transformed those who eat pork into pigs. He would have eliminated the cruel murderers who rebelled against him and would have cut off their tongues that uttered evil words. 

So, He does not interfere in the cruel people because it is necessary for the fairness of the test. 

Yes. Both Paradise and Hell demand people.

Paradise is not cheap; Hell is not unnecessary.

The real conscience of humanity says, "Long live paradise!" for the oppressed and "Long live Hell!" for the oppressors.

The fact that there are oppressors and oppressed people in the testing place of this world, that the oppressors live and die wealthily and that the oppressed live and die in poverty prove the existence of the great court that will show the endless justice of Allah in the hereafter.

1. If a carriage is drawn by another carriage, who is drawing the first one?  Then, there should be a creator for this universe.

2.  Even a letter cannot exist without a writer; how can we imagine humans and universe to be without an owner?  In addition, any master of anything is not the same kind of the thing that he makes.  For example, the master of a watch does not resemble the watch, and the writer is not like the letter.  Thus, the Creator who creates us and the universe should not resemble us and the universe.

3. Will negating the existence of God relieve us?  On the contrary, this understanding will send us down to a deep abyss.  Why, for what, how, and for whom do we live?  What happens to us after our death?  If there is another life, where can we find the correspondence of the sense of infinity and desire for living forever?  In that case, why have these senses been given to us? 

How do sciences mention God? 

Islam never contradicts science and in any issue; on the contrary, it encourages science.  The religious sources are replete with the examples of this.  There are two books of God Almighty; one of them is the Quran which comes from His Attribute of Speech, the other one is the universe that comes from His Attribute of Power.  

Scientists, whether they believe in God or not, read the book of universe and interpret the Creator’s artifacts; like the laborers who work without recognizing the owner of the plant!  Every branch of science, with a unique tongue of its own always mentions God.  For instance, botanical science describes us the traits of trees.  It shows how the tree does receive the nutrients from the soil, how it carries them to the leaves, and how the fruits can be formed, and how growth takes place.  In this way, we can observe an excellent machine which consists of cells, roots, stem, leaves, flowers and fruit.  Besides, it is a living thing. 

Now, let us ponder conscientiously: how can the simple soil which is mindless, unconscious, and devoid of knowledge, will and power create this excellent machine?   While botanists, even in the huge laboratories, cannot make only one leaf of a tree, how can a tree, in other words a wood make these extraordinary flowers and fruits?  Does each tree, with its miraculous creation, not demonstrate the One Who is infinite with His Holy Names and Attributes? 

Likewise, zoology has opened to our reasons the gates of inner realms of an animal.  We have understood that every animal is an extraordinary plant.  A poisonous insect produces honey.  An insect without hands weaves silk; a sheep without a tongue produces milk.  Science has shown that it is not a mindless sheep’s work to produce a delightful food; namely, milk from simple forage and water.  Sheep, bee, silkworm, and all the animals like them are but tools like the brush of a painter, the pen of an author, the hammer of a carpenter.  Undoubtedly, the doer of the deed of creating is our Lord, the master of this universe.

By looking through the window of astronomical science, we have observed the position of the earth in the outer space: a huge plane flying around the Sun with projectile speed.  It is wingless, motorless, and enormous, and although it flies without a pilot, it turns around smoothly and without noise.  Yet, on this planet, the passengers travel peacefully and without being disturbed.  Most of the time, they are not aware that they are flying.  On the other hand, the earth rotates on its axis.  Nights and days, and the seasons are the products of this rotation and revolution.  It is dangerous if we approach into the sun or we move away from it.  It is not only the earth that turns around the sun; the other planets also do the same revolution.  It is a simple matter for the earth to collide with one of them.  However, we do not observe any fault, and everything is fine.  This system has never gone out of order for millions of years. 

Is it necessary for any astronomy student to ponder on this and seek the answers to the following questions?

Who has established this delicate balance?  Who made the earth a livable place?  While some planes can collide with each other even though they have pilots, which knowledge and power can make these enormous objects rotate and fly without colliding?

Above all, there is a creature among beings, it is a miracle per se; we call him man.  He thinks, imagines, searches, understands, loves, sympathizes and hates.... He has been equipped with thousands of abilities.  More importantly, he is conscious of his own being.  The universe gets illuminated by his cognizance.  Apart from his soul, heart, intellect and imagination, this magnificent living’s material structure is also a masterpiece of art.  Let us make the long story short; he has been bestowed the best kind of everything;  the best eye, the most convenient hands, the most elegant hair, the most balanced figure, the most moderate height...

It has been understood by the medical science that the inner parts of the human body are very extraordinary as well as the outer parts of it.  A genuine masterpiece with its heart pumping tons of blood, with its stomach digesting the food easily, with its lungs that are machines of blood cleaning, with its vessels that are measured by kilometers, and so forth... While a statue shows its sculptor, is it possible for the human body whose beauty has been understood by medical science not to demonstrate its master?   

Thus, even though the scientists do not attribute the sources of these sciences to a Creator, each branch of science, with its unique tongue, always mention God.  In that case, it is necessary to listen to these branches of science.

Man has vowed throughout history in order to strengthen his statements, to persuade the person he is addressing, to ask people to trust his word and to ensure it. That is, to swear and to use expressions containing vows is not something that man is not familiar with. The expressions containing vows in the Quran are words of Allah, who addresses man at the level that he understands.

As it is seen in the verses, Allah Almighty vows mentioning His own name (al-Hijr, 15/92), His prophets (Yasin, 36/1), the places where prophets lived or revelations were sent down (at-Tur, 52/1-3; al-Balad, 90/1), angels (as-Saffat, 37/1; an-Naziat, 79/1-2), the Quran (al-Waqia, 56/77; at-Tur, 52/2), Day of Judgment (al-Qiyama, 75/1), the important beings present in the universe, for example, the pen (al-Qalam, 68/1), the sky (al-Buruj, 85/1; at-Tariq, 86/1), the sun (ash-Shams, 91/1), the moon (ash-Shams, 91/2), the night (al-Layl, 92/1), the morning (al-Fajr, 89/1), the late morning (ad-Duha, 93/1), the time (al-Asr, 103/1), the star (an-Najm, 53/1), the air (adh-Dhariyat, 51/1) and the plants (at-Tin, 95/1).

The Quran is a collection of divine words sent by Allah, who is the Lord of Realms, to His slaves. The reason why the Quran, which comes down to our level of thought, perception and understanding, includes vows in its expressions is to enable us to understand its seriousness and to see that it is true. Allah Almighty sometimes approves and strengthens His verses through vows; He sometimes uses the names of some beings when He vows to indicate the importance and value of these beings for man and draws attention to them.

Allah Almighty strengthened His verses through vows for reasons like making people believe and trust in verses, strengthening the information He gives, encouraging people to meditate on important beings and things, reminding people about important bounties, persuading people that the Quran, the news given by the Quran, the Day of Judgment, the hereafter, resurrection after death, reckoning, Paradise and Hell are true, and eliminating doubts about them.   

It is necessary to regard the issue with signified meaning not literal meaning. That is, the things about which Allah vows are not valuable on their own; they are valuable because they were created by Allah. Allah Almighty draws attention to beings in order to inform people about His majesty and to show the perfection and uniqueness of the manifestations of his names and attributes. Is everything not a unique manifestation and domination of Allah's power and creation? When Allah vows by using the names of the beings which are the works of His unique and numerous names and attributes, He actually vows by various manifestations of His power and creation, hence the majesty of His power, the perfection of His wisdom, the comprehensiveness of His mercy and the unique beauty of His creation. (see Nursi, Mektubat, p. 378)

We want to explain the verse "By (the Token of) time (through the Ages)" (al-Asr, 103/1) briefly as an example of the things by which Allah vows:

In the verse above, Allah Almighty vows by one of the things He created. There are two things to think about here: One of them is why Allah vows.

A vow is to mention the name of a being that is respected and regarded as holy by the person who makes it and the person who hears it in order to make the person who hears it believe a statement or a claim made by the person who makes a vow and to give the message that what one says is true. The being whose name is uttered is usually a powerful being that is expected to punish the person who deceives. In this sense, it is haram for Muslims to make a vow using the name of a being other than Allah.

Why does Allah make a vow? It is clear that Allah does not need to bring a witness and He does not need such a being in order to prove the trueness of His word. What is meant by His vow is to correct the wrong views of people about that being and to draw people's attention to the expression that comes after the vow. People sometimes underestimate the values of some beings and regard them as ominous, bad and ugly. However, they are honorable like the other beings created by Allah and they do not have those bad attributes. People sometimes see in those beings some attributes that they do not have and attribute deity to them. This is not right, either. They are the beings that are created by Allah. Allah vows using their names to emphasize that they are not ominous and worthless beings like some people think, that they do not have the attributes of deity as some other people think and that they are only the works of Allah.   

The second thing to be thought about is the meaning of "Asr" and why Allah makes a vow using it. 

According to a view, "Asr" means time. Time is something that surrounds people's lives and deeds. All of the deeds whether good or bad take place in the course of time. Relaxation, troubles, illnesses, health, wealth and poverty take place in the course of time. Therefore, time is something that attracts people's attention. People's attention is drawn to the words that follow time when a vow is made about time.
Besides, the Arabs of Jahiliyya attributed damages and losses to the badness of time. Even today, some people mention the inauspiciousness of days and numbers when something happens to them. Thus, Allah Almighty tells people that badness is not in time but in people themselves by vowing by the name of time.

According to another view (Abu Muslim), "Asr" means afternoon. Allah vows by late morning (Duha) along with afternoon. Besides, there are several hadiths telling about the importance of afternoon. The afternoon is a time when the end of the day approaches, people try to end their tasks and calculations for benefits and losses are made.  With this property, it resembles the last time period before the Day of Judgment and before death. Man who is at loss or who is happy is getting ready to be accounted. 

It is also narrated that the Arabs of Jahiliyya finished their tasks, gathered around the Kaaba in the afternoon, wandering and drifting people gossiped and did many other bad deeds and consequently quarrels, fights and bad consequences. As a result, Arabs assumed the view that afternoon was an ominous time and they attributed the badness in themselves to the afternoon. Thus, Allah vows by afternoon stating that it was an honorable being created by Allah.

According to the third view, asr means the afternoon prayer.  The following order in verse 238 of the chapter of al-Baqara is shown as evidence for it. "Guard strictly… especially the middle prayer". In the Mushaf of Hz. Hafsa, the explanation of this verse is written as the afternoon prayer.  In a hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) says, "A person who does not perform the afternoon prayer is like a person who has lost his family and property." (Bukhari, Mawaqit, 14; Muslim, Masajid, 200, 201) The afternoon prayer is a very valuable prayer since it is the last prayer performed during the day. Therefore, Allah vows by it.

According to the fourth and last view, "Asr", is the period when the Prophet lived. Time is divided into three as the first ages: the period from Hz. Adam to Hz. Musa; the middle ages: from Hz. Musa to Hz. Prophet, and the last ages (end of time). With Hz. Prophet, the revelation, which was sent to all human beings and jinn in order to lead them to brightness from darkness, was sent down for the last time. Allah praised the ummah of Hz. Prophet by saying, "Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind." (Aal-i Imran, 3/110) Therefore, Allah vowed by the time the Prophet lived.

In conclusion, the word "Asr" is a common word with different meanings. There is not a definite sign indicating one of them. Then, the word "Asr" can be interpreted as all of them.

The word Islam is used in several senses. However, the special name of the religion that was sent to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is also Islam. Therefore, the name of the religion sent to our Prophet and the one sent to Abraham is different. These religions have different names but their main issues are the same. However, there are differences in details.

All prophets, from Adam to Muhammad (pbuh), conveyed the true religion to people. The principles of belief, which are the fundamentals of the religion, always remained the same.  However, the issues related to worship and worldly affairs, which we call shari’ah, and some decrees changed based on the necessities of each period and people beginning from Adam to Muhammad (pbuh). God Almighty sent a different shari’ah to every ummah taking into consideration the living styles and interests of the people of each era. The following is stated in verse 48 of the chapter of al-Maida:

“…To each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way...”

For instance, Jews can worship only in synagogues and Christians only in churches; however, we, Muslims, can worship anywhere. The suet of cattle and sheep was forbidden in the shari’ah of Moses but is permissible in our religion.

This issue is stated as follows in Risale-i Nur Collection:

“Sacred Laws change according to the ages. Indeed, in one age different prophets may come, and they have come. Since subsequent to the Seal of the Prophets, his Greater Shari'a is sufficient for all peoples in every age, no need has remained for different Laws. However, in secondary matters, the need for different schools has remained to a degree.” (Sözler (Words), p. 485)

“For very many of these are beneficial at one time yet harmful at another, and very many medicines were efficacious in mankind’s infancy yet ceased being remedies in its youth. This is the reason the Qur’an abrogated some of its secondary pronouncements. That is, it decreed that their time had finished and that the turn had come for other decrees.” (İşarât-ül İ’caz (Signs of Miraculousness), p.50)

Main decrees are the same for all prophets; they do not change and they are not abrogated. For instance, the principles of belief are the same in all heavenly religions, and worship is present in all of them. However, there are some differences in the secondary decrees (details) of worship. There were changes in the decrees like the form and times of the prayer and the direction of the qiblah.

Since in the divine books except the Quran, the name of the religion that the followers of those books is not mentioned and since the names Judaism and Christianity were coined afterwards and since the followers of those prophets were called like that afterwards, we think that the meaning of the phrase “the Religion before Allah is Islam (submission to His will)” in the Quran is understood better. The religion that Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) conveyed to people has decrees peculiar to it but the fact that it is insistently emphasized in the Quran that this book also confirms what the previous prophets brought shows that what they conveyed was generally within the sphere of Islam but, due to divine wisdom, the perfect form of these teachings was attained when Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) was sent as a prophet. Then, the only way to attain the consent of Allah is to believe in all of the things that He sent to us.

Doubtlessly, prayers, tasbihat, and frequently repeated al-Asma al-Husna will be rewarded. However, there must be some rules to get the outcomes that will be gained by them. A person who does not act in accordance with them cannot attain the outcome he wishes.

To mention Allah is an order of the Qur’an. This can be done with any names of Allah. It is true that people focus on reading certain names while while undergoing certain evolutions. For example, the dhikrs of the holy people seeking the love of Allah are mostly the name al-Wadud; and those who focus on contemplation usually utter the name al-Hakim. This is true, too.

However, it is not true to think that people who do not have anything to do with taqwa, which means being obedient to Allah’s orders and prohibitions, can make any improvement on that way by only reading the name  “al-Quddus”. The point is not to repeat the words of these names but to put the requirements of the meanings of these names  into practise. What the name al-Quddus wants from us is to display a good and pure personality like keeping away from the impurities originating from rebelling against Allah, keeping the environment clean, having a good personality and being honest to others.

When we do not keep our environment clean actually, we do not contribute to this cleaning even if we utter the name al-Quddus one thousand times a day verbally; likewise, it is not reasonable religiously and logically  to think that we can get rid of these impurities by uttering the name al-Quddus a few times after we pollute our spiritual environment with sins and heedlessness.

For physical cleaning, we must certainly clean the floor by using a broom; likewise, for spiritual cleaning, firstly we must clean the impurities of our hearts by using the broom of repentance and asking for forgiveness with our tongues; after that, we must spread the spiritual taqwa cloth, which is a reflection of the name al-Quddus on the floor our hearts and we must sit  on that cloth and  perform embroideries of belief and good deeds.

If Allah had talked to everybody individually and conveyed His message personally, He would have rendered everybody a prophet.

Prophets were sent to guide other people. If everybody had been a prophet, there would not have been any needs for prophets. Such a situation would have meant the elimination of the test devised for human beings.

However, Allah started a test in order to distinguish between god and bad people and to evaluate hardworking students and lazy students separately.

- The following verse indicates that such an idea is wrong: “Forsooth, each one of them wants to be given scrolls (of revelation) spread out.” (al-Muddaththir, 74/52)

- The importance of the test is emphasized as follows: “If We had so willed, We could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance: but the Word from Me will come true. 'I will fill Hell with Jinn and men all together.'” (as-Sajda, 32/13)

If Allah had talked to everybody individually and conveyed His message personally, He would have rendered everybody a prophet.

Prophets were sent to guide other people. If everybody had been a prophet, there would not have been any needs for prophets. Such a situation would have meant the elimination of the test devised for human beings.

However, Allah started a test in order to distinguish between god and bad people and to evaluate hardworking students and lazy students separately.

- The following verse indicates that such an idea is wrong: “Forsooth, each one of them wants to be given scrolls (of revelation) spread out.” (al-Muddaththir, 74/52)

- The importance of the test is emphasized as follows: “If We had so willed, We could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance: but the Word from Me will come true. 'I will fill Hell with Jinn and men all together.'” (as-Sajda, 32/13)

The origin of the word translated as "trap, trick, plan" is the Arabic word "MKR". The concept "divine makr" is well known. While explaining the issue, we will use the terminology of the Quran in order to avoid wrong expressions. Lexically MAKR means to divert somebody from his target through a trick. 

The word "MKR" has two reflections: The first one is the MAKR that is praiseworthy and the second one is the MAKR that is that is unworthy. 

The nice "makr" is the makr that aims to reach a nice outcome. Allah, who informed His Messenger about the trap/plan of the unbelievers who decided to kill him in Makkah and enabled him to migrate from Makkah the same night,  explains the incident as follows: 

"Remember how the unbelievers plotted against thee, to keep thee in bonds, or slay thee, or get thee out, (of thy home). They plot and plan and Allah too plans but the best of planners is Allah." (al-Anfal, 8/30)

The MaKR of Allah mentioned in the verse is a nice example of praiseworthy MAKR. (R. Isfahani, Mufradat, MKR item)

We can give the following verse as an example of bad MAKR:

"They swore their strongest oaths by Allah that if a warner came to them, they would follow his guidance better than any (other) of the Peoples: but when a warner came to them, it has only increased their flight (from righteousness)―On account of their arrogance in the land and their plotting of Evil. But the plotting of Evil will hem in only the authors thereof. Now are they but looking for the way the ancients were dealt with? But no change wilt thou find in Allah's way (of dealing): no turning off wilt thou find in Allah's way (of dealing)." (Fatir, 35/42-43)

The trap set by the tribe of Thamud in order to kill their prophet, Salih, is a bad trap but the trap set by Allah in order to save His Messenger is a nice trap. (ibid) Both kinds of makrs (traps) are mentioned in the following verse: 

"They said: "Swear a mutual oath by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his people, and that we shall then say to his heir (when he seeks vengeance): `We were not present at the slaughter of his people and we are positively telling the truth.' They plotted and planned, but We too planned, even while they perceived it not." (an-Naml, 27/49, 50)

It is understood from the explanations above that Allah's MAKR/trap is always a nice tactic in a sense. It means to eliminate the bad traps of the oppressors.

This is the true meaning of the "traps set by Allah" about which people make a great fuss.

We should not forget that Allah, who has endless knowledge and power, does not need to set traps - in the sense that we know - nor does He condescend to do so. However, the Quran addresses people; therefore, it has to use the language that people will understand. One of the phrases that are widely used not only then but also today is "to set a trap, to trick" and words that connote the same meaning. The reason why the Quran, which will be valid up to the Day of Judgment, uses these words in its universal message is a strategic style to influence the people it addresses.  

After this short explanation, we can have a look at the verses regarding the issue one by one. First, we will quote the translations of the verses that are used in the objections; then, we will explain them briefly. 

1. " By it He (Allah) causes many to stray …" (al-Baqara, 2/26)

Its explanation:

The translation of the relevant verse is as follows: “Allah disdains not to use the similitude of things lowest as well as highest. Those who believe know that it is truth from their Lord; but those who reject Faith say: "What means Allah by this similitude?" By it He causes many to stray and many He leads into the right path but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path).” (al-Baqara, 2/26)

As it is clearly expressed in the verse, some ignorant deniers regarded it very simple for the Quran to give a "mosquito" as an example and regarded it as unfit for Allah. The main reason behind this criticism is the fact that those who criticize the Quran do not believe in it. Thus, Allah answers those unbelievers through those verses. He draws attention to the following points in the answer:

Firstly: It is underlined that mentioning a mosquito is by no means wrong as they think. In fact, no state disdains some of its citizens by ignoring them; similarly, Allah does not regard the mosquito, which is a disdained being, out of the guardianship of His divine state. Besides, there is something else that those ignorant people do not know: the mosquito is a wonderful work of art of Allah. It is not less sophisticated than an elephant in terms of art.

Secondly: Whether a mosquito is worth mentioning depends on the viewpoints of people. Unbelievers can disdain animals because of their negative viewpoints. However, believers think that every living being is a wonderful work of art of Allah and that a mosquito is also a divine work of art worthy of being mentioned in the book of Allah.

Thirdly: Man was created so that he would be tested; therefore, his free will cannot be removed from him because he needs to prefer one side. Therefore, a door is opened for the mind but man cannot be forced to prefer a certain direction. Some people use their minds and believe; others prefer unbelief using their minds. The following phrase in the verse underlines this fact: “He causes many to stray and many He leads into the right path”.

Fourthly: That Allah causes some people to stray is not something random and without a reason. Contrarily, it is based on the acts of the sinners who rebel against Allah and go astray. The following phrase in the verse indicates this fact: “but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path)”. As it is seen, there is no trap or groundless confusing here.

2. "And the best of planners is Allah." (Aal-i Imran, 3/54)

Its Explanation:

“When Jesus found unbelief on their part, he said: "Who will be my helpers to (the work of) Allah?" Said the Disciples: 'We are Allah's helpers we believe in Allah and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims. Our Lord! we believe in what thou hast revealed, and we follow the Messenger; then write us down among those who bear witness.' And (then unbelievers) plotted and planned, and Allah too planned, and the best of planners is Allah.” (Aal-i Imran, 3/52-54)

In the verses above, the state of the disciples of Jesus and those who made plans to kill him is indicated. The word plot/plan mentioned in the following sentence describes this bad plot of those who wanted to kill him:“And (then unbelievers) plotted and planned, and Allah too planned, and the best of planners is Allah.” The meaning of "Allah's planning" is His ascending of Jesus to the sky and ruining their plan. That is, He caused the soldiers to think that the person who showed them his place was Jesus by making him resemble Jesus; thus, He ruined their plan. (According to some narrations, the person that showed the soldiers the place of Jesus was a disciple.)

3. "If some evil befalls them …Say: 'All things are from Allah'.” (an-Nisa, 4/78-79)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verses is as follows: "Wherever ye are, death will find you out, even if ye are in towers built up strong and high!" If some good befalls them they say "This is from Allah"; but if evil, they say "This is from thee" (O Prophet). Say: "All things are from Allah. But what hath come to these people, that they fail to understand a single fact? Whatever good, (O man!) happens to thee is from Allah; but whatever evil happens to thee is from thyself And We have sent thee, as a Messenger to (instruct) mankind: And enough is Allah for a witness." (an-Nisa, 4/78-79)

In the verses above, attention is drawn to two points:

Firstly: It is the answer given to hypocrites (munafiqs). In the previous verse, it is stated that they are afraid of fighting in the war; in the verses above, they say the booties obtained in the war were granted to them by Allah (in order to eliminate the idea that they were obtained thanks to Hz. Muhammad (pbuh)) and that the sorrowful incidents like death, wounds, etc took place because of the Prophet. Allah answers their ignorant claims by drawing attention to the issue of creating: “Say: 'All things are from Allah'.” That is, Allah creates both the good and the evil.

Secondly: The issue is analyzed from the viewpoint of causes not creating and the following is stated: “Whatever good, (O man!) happens to thee is from Allah; but whatever evil happens to thee is from thyself.” That is, all of the good deeds coming to man from Allah is a grace of Allah because the creator of all of the bounties is Allah only. All of the good deeds of man are a result of the bounties given to him beforehand; they are not preliminary to or a means of the good deeds to come.  On the other hand, the cause of a bad deed that comes to man is man himself; he gives fatwa to qadar for the bad deeds to come because of the bad deeds he commits.

As it is seen, we are face to face with an issue whose philosophical dimension is very big. It is really a big boldness for those who cannot make their simple minds understand these profound issues to try to regard Allah as responsible.

4. "Allah hath set the seal on their hearts." (an-Nisa, 4/155)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verse is as follows:“(They have incurred divine displeasure): in that they broke their Covenant: that they rejected the Signs of Allah; that they slew the Messengers in defiance of right; that they said "Our hearts are the wrappings (which preserve Allah's Word; we need no more)"; nay Allah hath set the seal on their hearts for their blasphemy, and little is it they believe.” (an-Nisa, 4/155)

As it is seen, the verse above, which describes the situation of Jews, is very clear. They deny Allah’s signs (verses) and kill Allah’s messengers unjustly; while doing so, they say, “our hearts are the wrappings; they cannot understand these issues" by making fun of the message of Allah. For, the stronger the relationship between crime and punishment is, the stronger justice will be manifest.   

It is understood from what is stated by the verse above that Allah did not set the seal on people's hearts at random. On the contrary, He set the seal on the hearts some fanatical irreligious people who committed many major crimes, killed their prophets, closed their hearts to the truths with their free will and sealed them, and then boasted about them.  

5. “From those, too, who call themselves Christians …We estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the Day of Judgment." (al-Maida, 5/14)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verse is as follows:“From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a Covenant, but they forgot a good part of the Message that was sent them: so We estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the Day of Judgment. And soon will Allah show them what it is they have done." (al-Maida, 5/14)

The people mentioned in the verse above are Christians. Allah obtained from Jesus the same promise that he received from the previous prophets: to advise his ummah to believe in and to help Hz. Muhammad, the last prophet that would come at the end of time. Jesus gave some advice to Christians to fulfill the requirements of this vow. This issue is mentioned in some Gospels. (Ibn Ashur, the interpretation of the relevant verse) However, they ignored this vow and forgot about it in the course of time. Finally, when Hz. Muhammad came as a prophet, they opposed him instead of helping him. Allah caused disagreements among them to show them that they were not consistent.  

It should not be forgotten that the disagreements that occurred among Christian sects like Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestants were caused by Christians themselves. For, these disagreements originate from the different views of those sects. What leads them to those different views is various feelings like interest, love of leadership, posts and ranks, originating from their own souls. That is, the real cause of these disagreements is themselves. However, in the verse, attention is drawn to the point of divine punishment, not to the cause, acting upon "the creation of the deed" in order to state that a punishment was given to them. It is underlined that their negative attitude toward Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) had a great role in this sociological incident and the punishment given to them. 

6. "For such it is not Allah's will to purify their hearts." (al-Maida, 5/41) 

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verse is as follows: “O Messenger! let not those grieve thee who race each other into Unbelief: (whether it be) among those who say: "We believe" with their lips but whose hearts have no faith; or it be among the Jews,― men who will listen to any lie,― will listen even to others who have never so much as come to thee. They change the words from their (right) times and places; they say "If ye are given this, take it, but if not, beware:" If anyone's trial is intended by Allah, thou hast no authority in the least for him against Allah. For such it is not Allah's will to purify their hearts. For them there is disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter a heavy punishment." (al-Maida, 5/41)

In the verse, the free will of man is compared to Allah's universal will as a necessity of testing. "Belief is defined as light put into the heart of man by Allah after he takes the necessary steps by using his free will.”

Accordingly, first man needs to make efforts in order to believe in the messages of Allah sent by Him as revelation by using his mind and free will; then, Allah will activate His universal will, open his heart to the truths and give him the ability to understand. Those who tread on this principle because of their sensual desires will bear the consequences.

This is the situation mentioned in the verse. Hypocrites and fanatic Jews betray Hz. Muhammad. They do not believe in him heartily but they say they believe in him. In order to express their enmity toward Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) and the religion of Islam, they keep saying to the people around, “If Muhammad gives you a fatwa like this, accept it; if it is not given, do not accept it.” That is, they assume an anarchic attitude like accepting or not accepting the laws of the state based on their own desires and try to shake the authority of the state.

We can understand the truths expressed by Allah in order to console His Messenger, who became very worried because of the betrayal of the mischief-makers, as follows:  “O Messenger! Do not worry about what they do. Their hearts are spoiled; they cannot understand the truths. If I wished, I would clean and purify their hearts. It is not beyond my power. However, they blackened their hearts deliberately through their persistent unbelief and hypocrisy; so, they will continue to remain like that. They will definitely suffer the consequences.” 

7. " The Jews … Amongst them We have placed enmity and hatred." (al-Maida, 5/64)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verse is as follows:“The Jews say: "Allah's hand is tied up." Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. Nay both His hands are widely outstretched: He giveth and spendeth (of His bounty) as He pleaseth. But the revelation that cometh to thee from Allah increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them We have placed enmity and hatred till the Day of Judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah doth extinguish it; but they (ever) strive to do mischief on earth. And Allah loveth not those who do mischief.” (al-Maida, 5/64)

The explanations about Christians are also valid for Jews, whose situation is described here.

The real cause of the enmity among them is pursuing their sensual desires by abandoning the orders of Allah.

However, the penal aspect of the issue is put at forefront because the divine justice would be overshadowed if they went unpunished. Their crimes are listed and attention is drawn to the punishment they deserve - without giving any details about their deeds that have to occur sociologically. 

Their crimes: To accuse Allah of stinginess by saying, “Allah's hand is tied up.” To act in an unruly way toward the revelation of Allah sent to Hz. Muhammad (pbuh). To try to pick a war all the time by eliminating world peace. To try to cause mischief on the earth.  

Thus, Allah punished them with their own traps they prepared for the humanity; He allowed them to fight one another as a punishment for trying to make people enemies of one another. He left them fighting one another.    

8. "The best of planners is Allah." (al-Anfal, 8/30)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verse is as follows: “Remember how the unbelievers plotted against thee, to keep thee in bonds, or slay thee, or get thee out, (of thy home). They plot and plan and Allah too plans but the best of planners is Allah.” (al-Anfal, 8/30)

As it was stated in the introduction, the phrases meaning “Allah’s setting traps” in the Quran means His eliminating those traps. All of the tafsir scholar understood it like that. To set secret traps and make secret plans in the sense that we understand means to try to do something in an unnoticed way because of fearing from the other party. Does Allah, who has enough power to destroy the whole universe at once, need to set secret traps? Then, this expression is an emphasized style of speech that can be understood by people. Nobody who knows Allah and is aware of the style of the Quran has difficulty in understanding this style. To set a trap is a bad deed but to eliminate a trap is a good deed.    

In the Quranic terminology, a good makr/trap is the makr that is made in order to reach a nice result. Allah, who informed His Messenger about the trap set by the unbelievers who wanted to kill Hz. Prophet (pbuh) and enabled him to migrate from Makkah,  describes that incident as follows in the Quran: “Remember how the unbelievers plotted against thee, to keep thee in bonds, or slay thee, or get thee out, (of thy home). They plot and plan and Allah too plans but the best of planners is Allah.”(al-Anfal, 8/30). Allah’s MAKR/trap mentioned here is a very nice trap.

9. " I will fill Hell with jinn and men all together!" (Hud, 11/119)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verses are as follows: “If thy Lord had so willed, He could have made mankind one People: but they will not cease to dispute Except those on whom He hath bestowed His Mercy: and for this did He create them: and the Word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled: "I will fill Hell with jinn and men all together.” (Hud, 11/118-119)

The issue mentioned in the verses above is a topic of qadar. Qadar is a part of Allah's knowledge. The attribute of knowledge is a property that has no power of sanction. This means as follows: Allah knows everything in detail and how they will take place. Endless knowledge means knowledge that surrounds everything. Ignorance cannot penetrate into the knowledge that surrounds everything.

In the verse above, it is stated that Allah knows with His endless knowledge which way people will follow - through their free will - and whether they will go to Paradise or Hell at the end of the way they choose. There is no compulsion here. The biggest evidence that there is nothing like sending some people to Paradise and others to Hell without any legal and ethical criterion as if drawing lots is the fact that God created all of the beings in the universe in a wonderful system considering all of the necessary balances, that He teaches justice in the heavenly books He sent, that He says He never likes oppressors and that He does not need to do any injustice as a being who has endless power.  

10. "Allah… He leaves straying whom He pleases and …"(an-Nahl, 16/93)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verse is as follows:“If Allah so willed, He could make you all one people: but He leaves straying whom He pleases and He guides whom He pleases: but ye shall certainly be called to account for all your actions.” (an-Nahl, 16/93)

The meaning of the verse above is as follows: If Allah wished, he would force all people to accept Islam and unite them as one ummah. However, this compulsion would be contrary to the mystery of testing; so, He did not do it. Contrarily, He would lead some people astray and others to guidance acting upon their performances based on their free will. For, to prefer guidance and aberration depends on a person's will but to create them belongs to Allah. The expression of this fact aims to make people turn toward Allah, beg and pray Him.

Accordingly, no matter how much a person worships, he thinks that he may go astray any time because of the suggestions of Satan and his soul and that Allah may leave him in aberration; therefore, he always feels that he has to take refuge in Allah and takes refuge in Him. Similarly, no matter how much a person sins, a sinner thinks that he can make himself forgiven by Allah by going to the door of Allah, who holds guidance in His hand by creating; thus, he gets rid of the problem of hopelessness.

The last sentence of the verse, “…but ye shall certainly be called to account for all your actions” indicates that everything will develop based on man's free will and in the way that divine justice foresees. For, if there were compulsion and force, questioning would not be fair. Anybody who believes in Allah believes that Allah is away from oppression and understands the expression of the verse as we have mentioned.

11. " I will fill Hell with Jinn and men all together!" (as-Sajda, 32/13)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verses are as follows:“If only thou couldst see when the guilty ones will bend low their heads before their Lord, (saying:) "Our Lord! We have seen and we have heard: now then send us back (to the world): we will work righteousness: for we do indeed (now) believe." If We had so willed, We could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance: but the Word from Me will come true. "I will fill Hell with Jinn and men all together.” (as-Sajda, 32/12-13)

As it is seen in the verses above, the answer given to those who feel remorse on the Day of Judgment and want to be sent to the world again is in question. People are warned seriously lest they should encounter that terrifying scene on the Day of Judgment, which subdues the oppressors. It is indicated that Paradise and Hell exist and that people will go to either of these places after death. This issue was determined in Allah’s pre-eternal knowledge. Therefore, Allah promises that He will not send people to Paradise without testing them, that He will test them in order to differentiate between the good and the bad, the oppressors and the oppressed and in order to give the people what they deserve and that He will send those who pass the test to Paradise and those who fail to Hell.   

12. "If it be His wish to give you Punishment … Nor will they find for themselves, besides Allah any protector?" (al-Ahzab, 33:17)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verse is as follows: “Say: "Who is it that can screen you from Allah if it be His wish to give you Punishment or to give you Mercy?" Nor will they find for themselves, besides Allah any protector or helper.” (al-Ahzab, 33/17)

In the verse above, it is clearly emphasized that Allah holds the reins of everything, that His power penetrates everything, that all beings obey Him and that it is Allah who creates everything good or bad. Through those expressions, it is indicated that there is no god but Allah, that there is no sultanate except His in the universe and that Allah is the only owner of the property hence it is necessary not to worship anybody but Allah.

Instead of being a sincere slave of Allah by taking lessons from these clear truths, following a way that will cause a person a lot of troubles and to make superficial objections instead of understanding seem strange. 

13. "If anyone withdraws himself from remembrance of Most Gracious, We appoint for him an evil one."(az-Zukhruf, 43/36)

Its Explanation:

The translation of the relevant verse is as follows: “If anyone withdraws himself from remembrance of Most Gracious, We appoint for him an evil one to be an intimate companion to him.” (az-Zukhruf, 43/36)

It is stated in the verse above that an evil being is appointed as a friend for those who do not see and recognize Allah, who has endless mercy, Hz. Muhammad (pbuh), whom Allah sent as mercy to the realms, and virtually pretend to be blind. In return for their pretending to be blind by ignoring the truth, they become slaves of Satan, which makes them blind and unable to see by blinding the eyes of their hearts. For, an angel protects those who are believers. When a person abandons belief, the angel no longer protects him. The person who is unprotected is surrounded by devils. This is a very important lesson and warning.   

In fact, an unbeliever always ignores the Quran and is deceived by Satan all the time; similarly, some believers sometimes ignore the Quran and are deceived by Satan. It can even be said that the root of all evil and sins is the time when the Quran is ignored. It is necessary to understand from the following hadith the sign how the devil that approaches man drives him away from belief even if it is for a second:“A person who steals is not a real believer at the moment he steals; a person who drinks alcohol is not a believer at the moment he drinks.”

We are in need of the hearts that can see the truth without any prejudice not without any knowledge.

It is stated in the Quran that a person who lives as a polytheist and dies as a polytheist will remain in Hell forever. However, it is also stated in the Quran that if a polytheist repents before he dies and believes in Allah, he will be forgiven.   

When we study the Quran, we see that those who associate partners with Allah do so by opposing oneness as a result of obeying their souls. In all polytheistic communities, immorality, the feelings of the soul, oppression, ambition, naughtiness, rampage and utilitarianism are dominant. The basis of polytheism is people not believing in Allah fully, not obeying His orders and prohibitions properly; then, they fall into debauchery as described above. This issue is mentioned in many verses: (al-A'raf, 7/80, 81, 85, 86; Yusuf, 12/23, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35; al-Hijr, 15/3 etc)

Along with the verses of the Quran, the issue of polytheism is mentioned in detail in hadiths and academic books. Associating partners with Allah in terms of His oneness is polytheism; associating partners with Him in terms of His power and administration is also polytheism. Another form of polytheism is to expect the results that need to be expected from Allah only from others.  

The opposite of polytheism is oneness. Oneness means to accept the existence and oneness of Allah, that only He has power in His administration, and that His domination and will are superior to everything. Oneness is essential in the religion of Islam. The main purpose of almost all kinds of worship is to establish unity among Muslims. All of the Muslims around world reciting the same adhan, turning toward the same qiblah are an indication of oneness. Polytheism is the opposite of it. To harm the belief about the oneness of Allah, which is the main purpose and essential aim of oneness, and to associate partners with Allah are regarded as the biggest polytheism. 

Allah states the following in the Quran, describing polytheism as wrong-doing: "False worship is indeed the highest wrong-doing." (Luqman, 31/13) As a matter of fact, a person who falls into polytheism wrongs his own soul by doing so. (al-Mawardi, an-Nukatu wa'l-Uyun, Beirut, 1992, IV, 333). Polytheism is also regarded as wrong-doing because when a person opposes the universal law to which the skies, the earth and the beings in them, matter and life surrender, that is, the fact that Allah is the unique deity and Lord, he does not give Allah His due. Another verse supporting the fact that a person who falls into polytheism wrongs his own soul is as follows: 

"Being true in faith to Allah and never assigning partners to Him: if anyone assigns partners to Allah he is as if he had fallen from heaven and been snatched up by birds or the wind had swooped (like a bird on its prey) and thrown him into a far-distant place." (al-Hajj, 22/31 )

A person who falls into polytheism becomes so terrible that his ties with Allah break off, he loses his sense of direction, he cannot distinguish the bad from the good and he becomes so confused as to kill his own child. Their terrible situation is described as follows in the Quran:   

"Even so, in the eyes of most of the Pagans, their `partners' made alluring the slaughter of their children in order to lead them to their own destruction, and cause confusion in their religion. If Allah had willed, they would not have done so: but leave alone them and their inventions!" (al-An'am, 6/137)

Some other verses showing how Allah sees polytheism and the definition of polytheism in the Quran are as follows: 

"Allah forgiveth not (the sin of) joining other gods with Him: but He forgiveth whom He pleaseth other sins than this: one who joins other gods with Allah, hath strayed far, far away (from the Right)." (an-Nisa, 4/116)

"Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the fire. But Allah beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of Bliss) and forgiveness." (al-Baqara, 2/221)

"Those who reject (Truth), among the People of the Book and among the Polytheists, will be in Hell-fire, to dwell therein (for aye). They are the worst of creatures." (al-Bayyina, 98/6)

It is necessary not to obey polytheism, which is contrary to oneness, and the orders of Allah and the Prophet, no matter from whom it comes. Islam orders people to obey their parents and to show respect to them but polytheism asks people not to obey them and not to be subject to them. One of the verses regarding the issue is as follows: 

"We have enjoined on man kindness to parents: but if they (either of them) strive (to force) thee to join with Me (in worship) anything of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not. Ye have (all) to return to Me, and I will tell you (the truth) of all that ye did." (al-Ankabut, 29/8).

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) lists polytheism as the first one among the destructive sins. The following is stated in a hadith regarding the issue:

"Avoid seven destructive deeds:

1- To associate partners with Allah;

2- To deal with magic (and sorcery, witchcraft, etc);

3- To kill a person unjustly, which is rendered haram by Allah;

4- To eat (spend) the property of orphans;

5- To run away from battlefield;

6- To eat usury (interest);

7- To slander chaste, honorable and innocent women stating that they have committed fornication." (Bukhari, Wasaya, 23, Tibb, 48, Hudud, 44; Muslim, Iman, 144; Abu Dawud, Wasaya, 10; Nasai, Wasaya, 12).

It was stated by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) that the sins except polytheism could be forgiven, that if a believer committed sins, he would definitely go to Paradise after he was punished for his sins and that if those who committed polytheism died before they repented, they would not be forgiven as follows:

"Gabriel (Jibril) came to me and gave the following glad tidings: 'Whoever from your ummah dies without having associated partners with Allah enters Paradise.' Thereupon, I asked him, 'Even if he has committed fornication and theft?' He answered, 'Yes, even if he has committed fornication and theft.'" According to what the Prophet (pbuh) said, he asked Jibril the same question three times and Jibril gave the same answer. (Bukhari, Janaiz, 1, Libas, 24, Isti'dhan, 30, Riqaq, 13,14, Tawhid, 33; Muslim, Iman, 153, 154, Zakah, 32,33; Tirmidhi, Iman, 18; Ahmad b. Hanbal, V, 152, 159, 161, VI, 166)

There is another kind of polytheism called small polytheism. It means to perform worshipping by showing off and deviating from the consent of Allah. The following is stated in the Quran regarding the issue:

"Whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as partner." (al-Kahf, 18/110).

What is meant by admitting no one as partners of Allah is not to be sincere in worshipping and to have feelings of hypocrisy, show off, interest and similar ones. (al-Baydawi, Anvaru't-Tanzil wa Asraru't-Ta'wil, Egypt 1955, II, 14)

Some of the hadiths of Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) regarding the issue are as follows:

What I fear the most about you is small polytheism. Those who were there asked, "O Messenger of Allah! What is small polytheism?" The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) answered, "Small polytheism is hypocrisy, that is, show off. When people are given their rewards for their deeds on the Day of Judgment, Allah will say to them, "Go to the people to whom you showed your worshipping through hypocrisy and show off and see whether you will find any rewards for you from them." (Ahmad b. Hanbal, V, 428, 429)

"What I fear the most about my ummah is associating partners with Allah. Pay attention. I do not say they will worship the moon, sun or idols. They will do deeds for things outside the consent of Allah; they will show off." (Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 21)

Abu Hurayra narrates:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say: The first of men whose case will be decided on the Day of Judgment will be a man who died as a martyr. He shall be brought before the Judgment Seat. Allah will make him recount His blessings (i. e. the blessings which He had bestowed upon him) and he will recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his life.

Allah will say: What did you do to requite these blessings? He will say:

I fought for Thee until I died as a martyr. Allah will say:

You have told a lie. You fought that you might be called a" brave warrior". And you were called so. Then, orders will be passed against him and he will be dragged with his face downward and cast into Hell.

Then will be brought forward a man who acquired knowledge and imparted it to others and recited the Qur'an. He will be brought and Allah will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime. Then will Allah ask:

What did you do to requite these blessings? He will say:

I acquired knowledge and disseminated it and recited the Qur'an seeking Thy pleasure.

Allah will say: You have told a lie. You acquired knowledge so that you might be called "a scholar"; and you recited the Quran so that it might be said:" He is a Qari" and such has been said. Then, orders will be passed against him and he shall be dragged with his face downward and cast into the Fire.

Then will be brought a man whom Allah had made abundantly rich and had granted every kind of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime. Allah will (then) ask:

What have you done to requite these blessings?

He will say: I spent money in every cause in which You wished that it should be spent.

Allah will say: You are lying. You did  it so that it might be said about you:" He is a generous fellow" and so it was said. Then will Allah pass orders and he will be dragged with his face downward and thrown into Hell." (Muslim, Imara, 152; Nasai, Jihad, 22; Ahmad b. Hanbal, II, 322)

As it is stated in the hadith, to become a martyr, to become a scholar, to do charity are very good deeds. However, if they are not done for the sake and consent of Allah but for hypocrisy, show off or any other feeling of interest, they have no value.

To be loyal means to live in a way that Allah is pleased with. To love Allah and to know He is pleased with us is something abstract; therefore, it is difficult to understand. A person may say, "I love Allah." However, this expresses a feeling in us; we need to show it.

On the other hand, is Allah pleased with us? What kind of slaves are we in His eye? These questions are issues that are difficult to understand. There must be a way to understand them.

In the following verse, Allah informs us the way of understanding whether we love Allah and whether He is pleased with us: 

“Say (O Muhammad!): 'If ye do love Allah, follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins; for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.'" (Aal-i Imran, 3/31)

As it can be seen, the indication of loving Allah is to practice Islam by following the Prophet.  If we live by following the Prophet, we can say that Allah loves us as a result. 

How is it understood that you love your father and mother? If we do what they want and abandon what they are not pleased with, it is understood that we love them. Even if they do not tell us, we can understand that they love us. If we say we do not do what they want but we love them, nobody will believe us. 

That is, Allah created the Prophet as a model and showed the best examples in him. He told us in the Quran to love the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), whom He sent to us, if we loved Him, and added that He would love us if we did so. 

To sum up, the indication that Allah loves us is how much we resemble Hz. Muhammad (pbuh). We can decide accordingly.

The road map for us, you and the whole humanity is the Quran and the Sunnah; we cannot advise anything else to you. That is, to accept the Quran and the Messenger of Allah as our guide, to act in accordance with them and to read books about belief by meditating. That is, if you find the Quran and books about belief or if you come together with people who meditate and negotiate these issues, it will be useful for both your world and hereafter.

If you perform prayers on time, avoid major sins and glorify Allah after performing prayers, you will improve yourself.

Allah created sustenance needed by the creatures He created. This sustenance is enough for survival. This sustenance is allocated to him up to the time he dies. Therefore, nobody dies before he eats the sustenance allocated to him.

The following statement of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi sheds light on the issue:  

"How many are the creatures that carry not their own sustenance? It is Allah Who feeds (both) them and you..." (al-Ankabut, 29/60),"For Allah is He Who gives (all) Sustenance― Lord of Power, Steadfast (forever)"(adh-Dhariyat, 51/58) According to the verses above, sustenance is directly in the hand of the All-Powerful One of Glory and comes from the treasury of His mercy. Since the sustenance of all living creatures is guaranteed by the Sustainer, it should be that none dies of hunger. Whereas apparently many die of hunger and lack of food. "

What is the mystery behind it? Badiuzzaman Said Nursi answers this question as follows:

“The Sustainer's guarantee is a reality; none die of hunger. For that All-Wise One of Glory stores up some of the sustenance He sends to the bodies of living creatures as fat, as reserves. In fact, He stores up a part of the sustenance He sends to each cell, in the cell, like a reserve stock to be spent when no sustenance comes from outside. They die before this store is finished. That is to say, such death is not from lack of sustenance; they rather die from a habit acquired through wrong choice and due to illness arising from desire for the wrong things and the giving up of habit.”(Lem'alar (Flashes), On İkinci Lem'a (Twelfth Flash))

Allah gives sustenance but He does not promise to give enough sustenance for a luxurious life. The sustenance that is enough to meet minimum requirements of man - as it is stated above - is guaranteed by Allah. 

The hadith below also indicates this fact: "The Holy Spirit whispered the following to my heart: 'No soul dies before he fully receives the sustenance allocated to him.' Then, fear Allah and seek your sustenance through nice and legitimate ways."(Suyuti, Itqan, I/59;  Ajluni, Kashfu'l-Khafa, I/231)

“That man can have nothing but what he strives for.”(an-Najm, 53/39) As it is indicated in the verse above, one of the reasons why sustenance does not go to a person properly is his laziness or using wrong methods. Besides, sometimes ways to sustenance might be closed due to negative attitudes of other people. This world is a place of testing and Allah gave people free will so that they will be responsible for what they do; therefore, He does not interfere in what they do. As a matter of fact, there are so many murderers that end the lives of so many people but Allah does not interfere in them.  

Therefore, there are several reasons why the sustenance of a person except his minimum sustenance is not increased. To accuse Allah because of it is contrary to reliance (tawakkul) and surrendering originating from belief. We should act in accordance with the order “fear Allah and seek your sustenance through nice and legitimate ways” included in the hadith above in order to attain peace in both the world and the hereafter.

It is vitally important to act in accordance with lessons taught by the following verses: “O ye who believe! if ye fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion (to judge between right and wrong), remove from you (all) evil (that may afflict) you, and forgive you: for Allah is the Lord of grace unbounded.”(al-Anfal, 8/29),“And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if anyone puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish His purpose: verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion.”(at-Talaq, 65/3)

Besides, testing can be carried out by hunger and poverty. So many prophets and saints underwent this test. In the first years of Islam, the Companions were not given any food and were tortured just because they were Muslims. We should seek our sustenance through legitimate ways and accept the result; however, we should continue to seek our sustenance through legitimate ways with new excitement and determination. This is the necessity of being a slave of Allah.  

We should not forget that nobody can challenge Allah. Nobody can address Allah as follows:  “I will not obey your prohibitions since you do not find a good job for me.” To struggle against Allah means to fight with a broken hand or to hit an anvil with one's head.

The sustenance guaranteed by Allah is the sustenance that is enough to make a person survive. More sustenance depends on the work and effort of man. A contended person can work anywhere.

"The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on Him by them." (al-Araf, 7/180)

The verse above indicates that Allah Almighty has a lot of names. These sublime names, each of which has beautiful and lofty meanings, are called "Asma al-Husna" (Beautiful Names). Some of those names are as follows: "Wahid, Awwal, Akhir, Zahir, Bari, Musawwir, Rahman, Rahim, Hayy, Qayyum, Halim, Karim, Tawwab, Razzaq, Muhyi, Mumit."

Not all of the names of Allah Almighty are known certainly. Some scholars state that there are about one thousand beautiful names. (see Ibn Kathir, Alusi, interpretation of verse 180 of the chapter of al-Araf; 7/180) As a matter of fact, the Prophet (pbuh) prays Allah with one thousand and one names and attributes in his special supplication called Jawshan al-Kabir.

While some scholars say that Allah has about four thousand names (see Alusi, ibid), others say Allah has about five thousand names. (see Ibn Kathir, interpretation of the chapter of al-Fatiha)

Most of those names are known by Allah Almighty only. The angels know some of them and the prophets know others along with the angels; the believers know only those that the prophet (pbuh) informed them.

In the hadiths about Asma al-Husna that are narrated in hadiths books like Ibn Majah and Tirmidhi, the Prophet (pbuh) mentions those names one by one and informs us about their virtues. The first part of the hadith in which Asma al-Husna are listed is as follows:   

"Doubtlessly, Allah has ninety-nine names. Allah is one (odd). He likes odd numbers. Allah Almighty will reward a person who lists (mentions) or memorizes those ninety-nine names by sending him to Paradise." (see Bukhari, Tawhid, 12; Muslim, Dhikr, 5-6, Tirmidhi, Daawat, 82)

However, it is not enough to list the names and to memorize them only in order to attain this glad tiding. One should think about the lofty meanings those divine names include and he should not forget to observe their manifestations and reflections in the universe.

For instance, it is necessary not to worry about sustenance by thinking that Allah is Razzaq (the Sustainer). It is necessary to try to obtain sustenance through legitimate means and to be abstinent. It is an aspect of mentioning the name ar-Razzaq thinking that Allah Almighty gives sustenance not only to man but also to billions of living beings and plants from tiny microbes to elephants, from fish as little as fingers to whales weighing tons in the best way and without forgetting any of them.

The names of Allah Almighty are heavenly (divine). Most of those names are mentioned in the Quran and the others were told us by the Prophet (pbuh).

The names Maalik and Malik are among the names of Allah Almighty. The name "Maalik" mentioned in the chapter of al-Fatiha means owner and the word "Malik" means king; they state that Allah Almighty is the owner and king of everything.

In general, friends of Allah undergo a lot of pains and trouble in order to reach Allah and their rank. We do not have any trouble or pains, thank God.

Allah gives trouble to His slaves that He loves. As a matter of fact, the people that undergo the most trouble and misfortunes in the world are prophets.

However, if a believer does not undergo any trouble or pains, it does not mean that he is spiritually in a bad position. The following conclusion cannot be made: "Everybody who undergoes pains and trouble is a good person; everybody who does not undergo any pains and trouble is a bad person."

Every misfortune that hits man will be atonement for his sins. In the hereafter, this will be a means of elimination of his punishment for his sins in return for some trouble in this world.  

A person who undergoes trouble is tested whether he will show a lot of patience or not and a person who does not undergo any trouble is tested whether he will thank God a lot or not. Man can attain rewards in both ways.

The issue has several aspects. You can make a detailed search in our website using keywords like "Allah", "gathering" etc.

Not all misfortunes are grievous; one should not view all diseases or disasters as a manifestation of grief. 

The following is stated in a hadith:

“The biggest misfortunes hit prophets, then saints and then the other righteous slaves.”(see Hakim, al-Mustadrak, III/343; Musnad, 1/172, 174, 180)

When misfortune is mentioned, we understand “being tested by disasters/tribulations”. The results of heavy tests are big. The questions asked in the test for ordinary officials and administrators are not the same. The former is easier than the latter and the result of the letter is more important than the former.

A wonderful determination regarding the issue is as follows:

“Everything about Divine Determining is good and beautiful. Even the evil that comes from it is good, and the ugliness, beautiful.” (Nursi, Sözler (Words))

Man needs to have a look at his own body first. He needs to think of each organ separately. And he needs to ask himself the following questions:Which one is not determined in the best way in terms of its location, shape, size and duty/function? Then, he needs to move to his own world of spirit and think of the same things for it:Is memory or imagination unnecessary? Is love or fear redundant?

The body forms a whole with all of its organs and becomes useful only then; similarly, the spirit is a whole with all of its feelings, emotions and faculties. It becomes useful only when it is a whole. If you remove the mind and memory from human spirit, it cannot fulfill any of its functions. If you remove the feeling of anxiety, it will become lazy and will not work for the world or the hereafter. If it does not have the feeling of love, it will not take pleasure from anything.

Both the body and spirit of man have been arranged in the best and wise way. It is called “apparent qadar”. Similarly, the incidents that take place in the life of man are in order. It is called “spiritual qadar”. Apparent qadar informs us about spiritual qadar. Both of them are nice in all aspects, except for the sins and rebellious acts committed by partial free will. 

When we face the manifestations of the spiritual qadar that are out of our will and when we are shocked, falter and fluctuate, we need to look at apparent qadar and the endless wisdoms in it immediately. For instance, we need to remember the merciful training in the womb: divine wisdom and mercy educated us in the best way there and we were not aware of anything.

Now we live with different manifestations of the same mercy.

“Having good thoughts about Allah is worshipping.”(Abu Dawud, Adab, 81, no: 4993)

We need to take our lesson from the hadith above and rely on the mercy of our Lord, who fed and brought us up and who arranged everything about us in the best way. We need to see every incident that we face as a question of the test and we need to look for a manifestation of mercy in the incidents that our soul does not like. If man takes only his soul as a criterion, he will be mistaken. The soul of a young person does not want to go to school but wants to play. However, the mind opposes this. It shows man the nice ranks he can attain in the future or the problems he will face; thus, it makes man give up playing. That is, what is good for the soul is not good for the mind.

The heart is completely different. If it is illuminated with belief, it sees everything and every incident as a manifestation of divine names. It attains the following reality: “All of Allah’s names are beautiful and all of their manifestations are beautiful too.” There will be nothing ugly for that fortunate slave.

Those who say, “Your misfortune is nice and Your grace is nice, too” are fortunate people who have attained this rank. They have attained the following secret: “Allah loves them and they love Allah.”

In Risale-i Nur Collection, beauty is analyzed in two parts:  “those that are beautiful themselves” and“those that are beautiful in terms of their outcomes.” we can give some examples for this classification: Day itself is nice; night has a different beauty. One reminds wakefulness; the other reminds sleep. Is it not clear that we need both?  

On the other hand, fruit itself is nice; medication is nice in terms of its outcome.

The incidents man faces are like either night or day. Health is like day and illness is like night. If it is regarded that an illness is atonement for sins, that it teaches man that he is weak, that it reminds man of his slavery and that it turns man's heart from the world to his Lord, it will be seen that illness is a boon as big as health. Health is the feast day for the body and illness is food for the heart. 

“Night and day” are only one link of the continuous chain of the manifestation of “jalal (majesty) and jamal (beauty)”. There are so many other links like the negative and positive polarity of electricity, the black and white parts of the eye, the white and red blood cells, etc. We are surrounded with this binary system in our inner and outer world; and we make use of each of them. 

A verse closely related to the issue is as follows:

“But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you.”(al-Baqara, 2/216)

The verse is related to jihad but its decree is general. This verse points to another binary: war and peace. Peace is like day; everybody likes it; war is like night. However, those who do not fight when it is necessary will have difficulty in the future and their descendants will live under oppression. Those who are martyred in jihad, attain the rank of sainthood at once and the worldly life that they have lost is like night compared to their new life. 

Can there be a misfortune worse than death? The verse states that there are several good things under this incident, which the soul does not like; thus, it consoles us for the other disasters, illnesses and misfortunes of the world.

The following is stated in a sacred hadith:

“My mercy prevails over My wrath.” (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 99)

This hadith is interpreted as follows:“There are so many manifestation of Allah's mercy behind every misfortune that they are more than the agonies and pains caused by that misfortune.”

Life is not like even a moment compared to eternity. There is no need to worry if the illnesses, misfortunes and problems that hit us in this short life are good for our eternal life. What is the importance of seventy-eighty years compared to eternity? Are all of the ephemeral misfortunes and problems of this world not regarded as nothing compared to eternal bliss?

However, the soul of man wants advance pleasures; it does not look at the future. That area belongs to the mind and heart. As we have just mentioned, not all misfortunes are absolutely troublesome. The incidents that our soul does not like and the ones that make life upside down for us are either divine warnings preventing us from going astray or atonement for our sins preventing us from being punished in the hereafter by giving us pain in this world. Or, they are a means of turning human heart to Allah and the hereafter from the world life.

On the other hand, misfortunes are a test of patience for man; the reward of passing this test is great.

In conclusion, they are divine warnings and grief. They all can have shares in general misfortunes. They may be punishment for a group, warning for another and atonement for sins for another.

Regarding individual misfortunes, the safest way, according to us, is as follows: If a misfortune hits us, we need to blame our soul and make it repent. If a misfortune hits others, we need to regard them as a means of improvement for those people. Thus, we will elevate our level in educating our soul and will not think of bad things about others.