Subsistence by God denotes that the servant of God regards all existence, including him or herself, as being non-existent in and of itself, and discovers in his or her consciousness that every being, living and non-living, is a manifestation or shadow of the light of the Divine Knowledge and Existence. Initiates who experience destruction and effacement with respect to their corporeal self and gain a new existence by God’s permanence or subsistence exist by His Existence, subsist by His Subsistence, live by His Life, know by His Knowledge, will by His Will, and hear and see by His Hearing and Seeing. They see and hear what other (normal) people cannot see or hear, and receive favors that come as a result of such hearing and seeing. Initiates who have reached this rank, which marks the near completion of the journey, and where they feel themselves to be in the most pleasurable state of being freed of their name and existence, are in relative terms qualified and mentioned with any of God’s Attributes in the heavens and earth. Those who have contact with the spiritual realms can feel in their consciousness a reflection of this favor. This state is also regarded as persons of heart being called according to their own perception of themselves. Only those with purified souls who see and think of nothing but the Truly Beloved One, and whose hearts always beat by His Existence and Subsistence, and whose spirits are continuously reanimated with a new flash of His manifestation, can experience this state. So long as they can keep their relation with the Ultimate Truth at the level which has carried them to this summit, and the Ultimate Truth continues to treat them in this way, do they perceive even the slightest falling under the influence of others in knowledge, perception, feelings, and consciousness as a spiritual eclipse, which may end in their spiritual spark being extinguished. If they feel they have suffered such a falling-off, they will, in order to save themselves from it, be on the lookout for the All-Beloved’s opening a window in their spirits from His special consideration.

From another perspective, subsistence is, after the total disappearance of things that are transient and visible in the sight of an initiate, either a temporary permanence dependent on its own conditions, or an uninterrupted continuity due to the extraordinary confirmation of Divine grace. That is, while a traveler continues his or her journey in the light of the signposts or traffic lights along the way, after a certain point, which is determined by the impressions and discernment of the traveler, the signposts will no longer be needed and are no longer visible. This stage, where the One Who is indicated by the signs and proofs shows Himself with the lights of His Existence, making signs and proofs no longer visible, and where His witnesses are the only instruments for His praise and exaltation, is a different point of breathing and turning to a different angle. If the initiate has the ability and resolution to continue journeying toward further goals, the breezes of annihilation will begin to blow in both the person’s inner and outer world. When the journey is almost exceeding time and space, the initiate feels in the consciousness complete annihilation ready to turn into subsistence. One cannot say anything, nor think of anything, nor attempt to perceive anything. Despite the brilliance of the witnesses that point to Him throughout the universe, they disappear when faced by the lights of His Existence, like stars sinking when the sun rises. As stated in (55:27), There remains forever the “Face” of your Lord, the One of Majesty and Munificence, only the Divine Being continues to exist beyond the scope of human perception, understanding and feeling.

Initiates can view His subsistence or permanence in three stages: the first is based on knowledge, the second on vision, and the third on the pleasure of experiencing His Existence. While traveling through these stages, any information that has been acquired by the known means of acquiring knowledge loses its significance and utterly disappears into what is known. All instances of seeing and feeling vanish while the meaning and content based on or reached through seeing, feeling and knowing remain intact. While all relative truths no longer exist, the absolute truth prevails and the natures of existents, each differ­ent from the other, are surrounded by the lights that emanate from their annihilation in the True Existence. In all of these stag­es, annihilation provides a way to subsistence and wherever an initiate attains subsistence, it can address itself to different levels of feeling and perception, producing relative effects of its own on things. For this reason, this rank has usually been called “subsistence by God with or in the company of God,” and not only “subsistence by God.”

We can view this stage from two angles:

• Travelers find and feel things and events annihilated with respect to their own selves and existence. Nothing exists any longer with respect to its own being. When the travel­ers are surrounded by the atmosphere produced by this, they no longer feel the existence of anything except Him and find everything annihilated in Him.
• A wakeful initiate can always distinguish between the essential, absolutely true Self-Existence and relative instances of existence. So, all things have relative exis­tence dependent on the unique Self-Existence in the initi­ate’s sight. Concerning these two kinds of feeling, percep­tion, and experience, the leading Sufi scholars comment that for a traveler who feels all things annihilated in Him everything ceases to exist, while for one who has the abili­ty to distinguish between the Absolute Existence and the relative existence all things continue to exist.

If we deal with the matter from the approach of the Com­panions, nothing exists by itself nor does it have any essential existence. Everything has relative, insubstantial and accidental existence as a manifestation of the Existence of the Eternal Truth, according to its receptivity. Things, as dependent on the Absolute Truth, have a constant but relative truth. In the begin­ning, this consideration is doctrinal belief based on acceptance, and in the end it is based on the certainty that comes from knowledge and vision.

In the spiritual journey, the whole of existence no longer has any value or significance in the heart of an initiate and vanishes in the infinite light of the True Existence in the same way that the light of a firefly fades when the sun rises. The initiate gives no place to anything else but God in his or her heart, and leaves him or herself in the cataracts of his or her spiritual pleasures immersed in the ownership and guidance of His Will and the lights of His Existence. The utterance always on the initiate’s lips is “He.”

Travelers who feel themselves in a state of pleasure when they find themselves annihilated with respect to their own acts, advance toward the attainment of a new existence and perma­nence in the Acts of the Ultimate Truth. By feeling transience in their own attributes, they taste the pleasure of permanence in the Attributes of God. By forgetting their own selves—though for­getting has been interpreted in different ways—they attain a new existence by the lights of the Ultimate Truth’s Existence. While they sometimes refer to the relative, existential truth of things and emphasize its difference from the absolute, True Existence, they sometimes can find everything annihilated in the absolute, True Existence. There is left only one rank to be reached by the travelers who have arrived at this point, namely God’s company. Every initiate who has attained subsistence by God can attain this rank according to the individual’s capacity. Attainment of this rank sometimes brings with it a feeling of wonder and sometimes an intoxication and sometimes astonishment. Mawla­na Jami expresses this feeling of wonder beautifully as follows:

Love is not without the flute-player, and we are not without Him.
He without us and we without Him, this cannot be.
The flute always beautifies its tunes, but in fact
the beauty of the tune comes from the breathing of the flute-player.
The following verses, belonging to another hero of subsistence by and with God, are concerned with a feeling of wonder and astonishment:
The lights of my eyes are He, and the direction for my reason is He;
my tongue always utters He, and I sigh and groan with He.
My heart goes on an excursion in He; the love of my soul is He.
My greatest secret is He, and my brightest sun is He.
Those who are lovers and intoxicated are always with He.
Their fasting is He, their festive day is He, and their rituals are He.
My soul has sacrificed itself in the way of its Beloved;
its union is with He, its parting is with He,
and its cure, as well as its afflictions, is He.

Those who have attained subsistence by and with God always feel and think of Him alone, they are always with Him alone, and they begin with Him alone. Attracted by Him, they leave themselves in the overflowing pleasures that come from experiencing Him throughout the universe, and always act according to His good pleasure and approval. In the face of the rays of His Knowledge and Existence, which totally eliminate all others save Him and His friends from their hearts and sight, they cannot help but utter “O the All-Living!” and feel as if they are talking about themselves. They utter “O the Ultimate Truth!” and melt away in the light of His Existence.

O God, O the All-Living and the Self-Subsisting! O the One with Majesty and Munificence! Pour unto us knowledge of You and give us from the drink of Paradise, and enable us to be steadfast on the Prophet’s way and true guidance. And bestow blessings and peace on our master Muhammad, who teaches the true way, and on his Companions, the noble, hon­orable and godly ones.

Faith, especially in the form of religion, refers to a heavenly-inspired system that leads people to goodness, but on the condition that they believe wilfully.

Religion is a divine system or a corpus consisting of systems. The most eminent feature differentiating it from human systems is that it is ordained by God, based on scripture, the good example of the Messenger that it was revealed to, and on how scholars have interpreted both. Arriving at goodness by means of religion is an absolute blessing by God; yet every human contributes to it by his or her choices.

Wisdom, on the other hand, has been decribed in many forms. In the case of Islam, the Qur’an states that wisdom has been bestowed to the Prophet in addition to the Book.1 Because of this fact, many interpreters have said that wisdom and the Book are not one and the same. It is decreed in another ayah that, “whoever is granted the Wisdom has indeed been granted much good.”2 Since the Prophet’s sunnah – his traditions, including his words and silent approvals – specifies the general issues of the Book, generalizes the specific points, and restricts its absolute topics by particular conditions and clauses, it is a great and abundant fountain of goodness. Therefore, some hadith scholars thought it was the Sunnah that “Wisdom” was actually refering to. Besides, the details of daily prayers, fasting, and hajj were determined by the Sunnah.

At the same time, as pointed out by Bediuzzaman, wisdom has been interpreted as the attainment of certain truths of faith and the universe, which have been concealed behind material veils, through spiritual inspiration and discoveries. All we see are a door, some windows, and four walls around us; however, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, decrees that, “I see what you do not see, and hear what you do not hear. The sky has resonated in such a way that you would laugh less and cry more if you saw what I see and knew what I know.” In this regard, reaching the veiled knowledge about the realm behind the physical world has also been considered wisdom.

This cognisance may take place through intuition or an expansion of the imagination, or through divination or direct witness. Whatever we know through rational deduction and certainty of knowledge (ilm al-yaqin) is endorsed by seekers of truth – first inwardly, in their consciences, and then outwardly, in their practices. This is another sign of abundance of goodness.

However, some have heaped the meaning of philosophy upon wisdom. There is a conflictual history between Islamic scholars and positivist philosophers. The struggle of Islamic scholars like Imam Ghazzali against philosophical deviance has become legend. Scholars like Ghazzali and Bediuzzaman used reason, logic, and other methods of philosophy to contest philosophers; so, if their efforts will be considered a part of philosophy, then it is certainly within the domain of wisdom.

One dimension of this conflict had to do with the literalists who interpreted all commandments exclusively and conducted them without question, even though this may have led to contradictions with other rules. Philosophers reacted to this movement, yet drifted to another extreme, where they went so far as to deny the essentials of faith. What we consider “wisdom” would be one that embraces rationality and logic in accordance with positive sciences and humanities, but is also in line with the overall message of the scripture as understood and practiced by the Messenger.

Searching for an accord between laws in nature and the regulations and laws of human life, and sensing and eliciting the concordance between the divine message and universe, are also considered within the territories of wisdom. Such a search for harmony between these dynamics is a key for success and serenity, both in this world and in the life to come after death. The science of jurisprudence in Islam and its applicative branches may be regarded as a vital manifestation of this correspondence and union. This science has been successful because it has been open to analogical reasoning and interpretation. Under current conditions, where such reasoning is missing, it is impossible to govern even the smallest district in any country.

After religion and wisdom, comes power. Unless the laws of wisdom and principles of faith and state are equipped with power, everything shall remain on paper and cannot evoke any sort of influence on people. Without power, how can the wisdom in minds and souls, and the piles of books in the libraries, transform into daily practice? As a matter of fact, we have been witnessing that it is not transformed, since those representatives of brute force who have turned their backs on scientific knowledge and absolute truth, and believe that they can sort out everything by power, have not let it be so; and it seems that they will not, either. In this regard, if a nation does not attach as much importance to power as as it does to wisdom, much of the performance of that nation in the name of national and religious values shall be uncertain. Besides, all three elements of religion, wisdom, and power must work together and in alliance. Otherwise, power not guided by faith and wisdom shall be a mere tool of cruelty and suppression; wisdom without faith shall be a wheel of intrigue; and faith not supported by legitimate power shall become just a mere “issue of conscience.” That is, the raison d’etre of faith and communicating it to people shall not be fully realized.

Notes

1. Surah Al-Baqarah, 2/129, 151, 231; Surah Âl-i Imrân, 3/164; Surah An-Nisâ, 4/113; Surah Al-Jumu’ah, 62/2.
2. Surah Al-Baqarah, 2/269.

‘Ashq, which the spirit feels outside the intervention of free will, cannot be controlled by the person so affected, for its real source is God, Who loves Himself in a way special to His Sacred Essence and is essentially independent of the created. In addition, it is essentially different from the love felt by the created for the created or the Creator. This sacred, essential love of God for Himself is the reason why He created the universe and why He caused humanity to appear in the world. It is also this love that manifests itself in human beings as love for God, as the most essential center of humanity’s relationship with God.

‘Ashq is the final step leading to God, and a lover who has reached it almost has no further steps to take. God manifested Himself first as this sacred, essential love required by His being God. I particularly avoid attributing to Him ‘ashq (passion or esctatic love) in the absolute sense of the word, and prefer using the word mahabba (love).

Some tend to call this Divine Love Knowledge, as Knowledge is the first manifestation of the Absolute Divine Being, Who is infinitely exalted above having any equals or likes. Every manifestation of the Divine Being is a condescension. This first condescension is called “Knowledge,” as it is God’s Knowledge. It is also called “the Sacred Love” in the sense that God loves to observe and to be “observed;” or “the Tablet” as it comprehends or contains all of existence; or “the Pen,” as it handles all things in existence in all their details. Jabarut (the Realm of the Transcendental Manifestation of Divine Attributes and Names) and the Truth of Ahmad (the Prophet’s Name before his coming to the world) are other titles of this condescension.

Sacred Love is a mystery peculiar to the Divine Essence. Other Attributes of His are appended to or dependent on this love. It is for this reason that those who fly with the wings of ‘ashq directly reach the Divine Essence and attain amazement, whereas others have to pass through the intermediate realms of the worlds of things and Names. The ways leading to God are almost beyond number. Sufism, the science of truth, contains the food, light, and other necessities travelers need for the journey, and the (spiritual) orders (tariqas) are the ports from which they set out, or the schools in which the principles of the journey are taught.

The ways to the Ultimate Truth can be divided into two main groups. The first is the way in which the wayfarer is offered or taught such principles as eating less, drinking less, sleeping less, increasing contemplation, and refraining from unnecessary social intercourse. Almost all Sufi orders are based on these practices. The main invocations recited by followers of this way are the Seven Names: There is no deity but God, God, He, the Ultimate Truth, the All-Living, the Self-Subsistent, the All-Overwhelming. By reciting these Names, one seeks to pass through the seven steps of the human self or soul: the Evil-Commanding, the Self-Condemning, the Inspired, the Serene and Peaceful or the Soul at Rest, the Soul Well-Pleased (with God), the Soul Pleasing (to God), and the Purified or Innocent Self or Soul. To these seven Names, some add such Names of Majesty as the All-Powerful, the All-Strong, the All-Compelling, the Master, and the All-Loving; others add such Names of Grace as the All-Independent, Single One; the One (having no partners or equals), the Unique One, and the Eternally Besought-of-All.

The second way is based on strict adherence to the Qur’an and the Sunna, and the encouragement of certain recitations. Those who follow this way strive to comply with the Sunna in whatever they do. Rather than reciting certain Names, they follow the methods used by God’s Messenger to worship, invoke, and pray, reflect on His Acts and creatures, and mention Him with all of His Names. Joining these activities with a meticulous following of the commandments of Shari’a, they are firmly attached to their guides or teachers and abandon themselves to the tides of ‘ashq and spiritual attraction toward God.

Once they have attained ‘ashq and attraction, existence with its outer dimension vanishes from their sight. They are annihilated with respect to the carnal aspect of their existence and begin to feel and observe the absolute Divine Unity. At this point, they immediately come to their senses without becoming confused or going to extremes in the relationship between the Creator and the created. In such a manner do they complete their journey.

The basic principles of this second way are regular worship, love, spiritual attraction toward God, regular recitation, and the companionship of one’s guide or teacher. In this context recitation, in addition to mentioning God with all of His Names, involves study or attending classes in whatever leads one to God. This is what the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, meant when he described this kind of recitation: They study together. At times, a lover finds himself or herself in the stream of joyful zeal and yearning, regarded as another dimension of ‘ashq.¹

O God! Guide us to what You love and are pleased with, and bestow blessing and peace on Muhammad, the one with whom You are pleased, and on his faithful Companions.

1- Muslim, “Dhikr,” 11.

One of the signs of anarchy in a region could be the marching of an army to get a particular situation under control and, if it is indispensible, destroy or suppress anarchists. Similarly, the first response of the body to such uncontrolled growth is the destruction of tumor cells by activating inner mechanisms that lead to cellular suicide (apoptosis). Anarchy is by definition not to accept any border and authority, causing disorder or upheaval. According to twentieth century thinker Nursi, anarchy cuts and throws away norms and laws that organize social life, one by one, thus destroying the order and leading to mischief and rebellion. In addition, anarchism does not consider the rights of any. Analogously, one by one, cancer breaks genetic rules that organizes cell proliferation and eliminates pathways that suppress tumor formation. Thus, it eradicates the order and triggers chaos and malignancy. Again, cancer works against the life of the body without considering the rights of other cells.

Another characteristic of anarchism could be the elimination of its leaders. Thus, once you get rid of the key players, anarchy may not resurface. Likewise, you can use a strategy in certain cancer types where you can specifically target cancer stem cells. As a result, cancer growth could be suspended and it may bring an opportunity to shrink tumor through chemotherapeutical approaches. One such example is the targeting of CD24, a putative cancer stem cell antigen expressed by a minority of adenocarcinoma cells. This cell-based cancer immunotherapy method uses genetically engineered cancer killing T cells, which are directed towards cancerous tissues using chimeric antigen receptors. This is similar to the taking over of trained Special Forces when anarchy becomes malicious and unceasing. Both natural and genetically engineered cancer killer T cells in our body resemble trained Special Forces that patients need to fight against cancer.

Cancer treatments

Cancer is nowadays mainly treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, and to some extent with immunotherapy. The many purposes of chemotherapy include relieving or preventing the suffering of the patient, prolonging the life span, and if possible, completely curing the cancer along with surgery or radiotherapy regimens. Chemotherapy mainly uses cytotoxic drugs that kill cells by attacking one of the main properties of cancer cells—rapid division. Unfortunately, since cancer cells are not the only rapidly dividing cells in the body, chemotherapeutic agents also harm healthy cells. Another fall back of chemotherapy drugs is the lack of specificity that does not provide a therapy against a specific cancer type and their efficacy vary from patient to patient. In these cases, the indispensable path is synergistic use of radiotherapy with chemotherapy.

As its name implies, radiotherapy involves the use of ionizing radiation to kill cancer. It relies on the destruction of dividing cells by introducing DNA damage, which leads to induction of cellular death through apoptosis. Radiotherapy is therapeutically useful in cancers that are localized to one part of the body. It is also useful to prevent tumor relapse after surgical removal such as in breast cancer. However, radiation, which radiotherapy depends on, is itself the potential cause of cancer and leads to various side effects.

Citizens of the body need justice

Chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which harms both healthy and cancerous cells, recalls the practice of absolute justice versus relative justice. Absolute justice requires protection of every individual while punishing the criminals. On the other hand, relative justice is the justice where the rights of one person are ignored for the betterment of the whole. Absolute justice is always the best practice if it can be properly established. However, relative justice may be sought if absolute justice is absolutely out of reach. Current chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments are like the practice of relative justice, which harms both cancerous and healthy cells. Of course, these treatments are considered as the last resort for many cancer patients but this analogy regarding absolute justice toward cells in the body urges us to seek for cancer therapies that follow absolute justice. In other worlds, we need to practice an approach that is more specific toward cancer cells. This could be, as we mentioned above, the use of cancer immunotherapy where cytotoxic T cells are directed towards cancer cells through genetic engineering by introducing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). CARs should be able to recognize unique or relatively specific antigens located on the surface of cancer cells to execute them.

Cancer killing T-cells: Equipped with chimeric antigen receptors

There are three main approaches in cancer immunotherapy including immunization, use of antibodies and cellular immunotherapy. Immunization by administering a cancer vaccine prepares the patient’s own immune cells to recognize tumor cells as targets to be destroyed. The use of therapeutic antibodies specific to cancer cells recruits immune cells in the patient to abolish tumors. Cellular immunotherapy, on the other hand, uses patients’ own immune cells like the natural killer cells, cytotoxic T cells and so on. Basically, those cells could be stimulated in patients with the administration of interleukins or they could be isolated from the patients’ blood and cultured in the laboratory and following expansion and in vitro training, then transfused back to the patient to fight against cancer.

Cytotoxic T cells are unique immune cells that recognize target cells via T cell receptors. Over the past decade, scientist engineered T cell receptors and developed chimeric antigen receptors that specifically recognize target antigens. This recognition lead to signaling pathways that resulted in apoptosis of tumor cell through the production of granzymes, perforins and cytokines such as IFN-γ, and TNF-α (Figure 1). There are a number of success stories using CAR+ T cells for cancer immunotherapy used in patients. Encouraging results were obtained with CARs targeting lymphoma (by targeting CD19 antigen), coleractal Cancer (by targeting CEA antigen), and melanoma (by targeting melanocyte-specific markers MART1, MELOE-1 and gp100).

Universal chimeric antigen receptors

Two recent studies published by two different groups increased the hopes in the battle with cancer. They developed novel and universal CAR technologies that combines cell based immunotherapy and use of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. This new approach relies on the recognition of specific molecules such as FITC and Biotin by corresponding Anti-FITC and Anti-Biotin (Avidin) CARs. The decent thing about these specific molecules is that you can attach them to any antibody, ligand, or aptamer known to target specific tumor antigens (Figure 2). One of the universal chimeric antigen receptor, for instance, uses FITC, a fluorescent molecule widely used in flow cytometric assays. Since it is easy to label antibodies, this provides wide range of antibodies to target cancer cells. In addition, scientists using this approach could target more than one tumor antigen or could use another antibody that targets different antigen even if cancer relapses. Moreover, since antibodies used to activate CAR+ T cells will degrade and their bioavailability will decrease in the body by time, there will be no need to kill injected T cells with suicide mechanisms. Once FITC labeled antibodies are stopped from being given to patients, CAR+ T cells will stop attacking cells and cease-fire since their guns (CARs) cannot recognize tumors or anything nonspecific. This approach is highly encouraging and has brought with it great hopes in the treatment of cancer.

Anarchy, spirituality, and prayer therapy

Hunger, poverty, social inequality and economical issues could be asserted as the basis of anarchy within a society. However, according to Nursi, the real basis of anarchy is spiritual weakness and poverty. Similarly, the basis for cancer could possibly be the lack of appropriate spiritual diet that may eventually make a person fall spiritually and physically weak. For example, fasting is a physical and spiritual fast prescribed in monotheistic religions which increases spirituality and has been shown to be synergistically effective in chemotherapy with cancer treatments. It has been observed and scientifically recorded that patients with strong beliefs and continuous prayers and spiritual support overcome diseases much faster than those without. This raises certain questions regarding our spiritual makeup and many other dynamics involved in being sick and getting well. So, are we getting ill because some evil spirits are manipulating our biological condition by settling in the tumors and propagating cellular anarchy? Is radiation, which leads to cellular mutations, a result of spirits that are created of “scorching fire” (The Qur’an 15:27)? Is cancer a result of such manipulations and should we seek cure for it not only through biological medicine but also through spiritual healing?

Various scientifically proven causes are known to increase the likelihood of cancer, which includes, but is not limited to, smoking, viral infections, radiation, and pollutants that lead to internal genetic faults within cells. Considering the fact that there are many cases in which patients have been reported to have recovered from their illnesses by reciting prayers, then such cases are worth examining to find out whether and to what degree non-material factors are involved as causes for our illnesses. Studying these cases may offer science new opportunities to be able to remove the present obstructions and make greater advances in the medical field by perhaps developing cancer therapies that combine prayer therapy and cancer immunotherapy using genetically engineered T cells during the treatment of patients.

Ali Fethi Toprak is a PhD candidate at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

References

Döğen, Şaban. 2005. “Bediüzzaman and Anarchy.” Köprü Dergisi, No 89.

Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said. Işarâtü’l-I’caz. Şahdamar Yayınları.

Chmielewski et al. 2012. “CAR’s made it to the pancreas.” OncoImmunology 1:8, 1387–1389.

Tamada et al. 2012. “Redirecting Gene-Modified T Cells toward Various Cancer Types Using Tagged Antibodies.” Clin Cancer Res.

Urbanska et al. 2012. “A universal strategy for adoptive immunotherapy of cancer through use of a novel T cell antigen receptor.” Cancer Res.

Gülen. M. Fethullah. “Cinler, Hastalıklara Sebep Olabilir mi?” Retrieved from http://tr.fgulen.com/content/view/708/3/ on 12/24/12.

Bukhari, i’tikâf 8, 11, 12; Muslim, Salam, 24; Ibn Maja, Siyam 65; Abu Dawud, Sawm 79; Adab 81; Muslim and related hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah, Bukhari 7.582.

¹ See Yücel, Salih. 2010. Prayer and Healing in Islam, NJ: Tughra Books.

As a child of 11, Rebecca thought she was going blind. There was a Japanese plum tree in her front yard, and its leaves seemed duller than they had the day before. Looking down, the grass didn’t seem quite right either. Neither did the sky. There seemed to be an invisible filter over her eyes, a slightly cloudy lens that made colors less colorful. It wasn’t just colors, either… things that had been painfully shiny, like a baby’s eyes or her swimming pool, suddenly seemed normal and unremarkable. A dullness had descended on her world. It was a subtle change, maybe imperceptible to some, but the shift in her perception bothered her. Maybe she sensed that it was a spiritual rather than physical malady. However, she told no one, and later forgot to worry about it.

Years went by and Rebecca became a romantic teenager. As she walked to classes at university, she looked around at the ivy-covered brick buildings, the oak trees dripping with Spanish moss, the students laughing and talking or hurrying to and fro, and she felt her heart would burst. In those days, her heart could break in under a minute. She felt so much love for the world, such joy at occupying her small corner of it that she couldn’t help but be very, very aware of how fleeting it all was. She remembered then her odd experience as a child. Had that been a rite of passage, the moment that a child’s eyes become an adult’s? She grew into a woman who valued intellectual honesty and emotional generosity. It annoyed her how others blindly accepted conventional wisdom, or how they were too self-centered to be counted on.

More years went by, and Rebecca descended into a deep, desperate unhappiness. Most people she knew seemed so satisfied, which made it worse. Those who were religious did not look too closely at any logical or metaphysical cracks that might appear in their chosen worldview. Those who were irreligious seemed content to look at the world through their own eyes, apart from organized religion. Rebecca took to reinventing herself from time to time. She became a bit of a chameleon, vacillating between ideological extremes, a bright “love-me” smile under sad eyes. But there was something incomplete about each philosophy she tried on, something fractured within that intensified the eternal hole in her own heart.

Rebecca felt she owed it to herself to find the most perfect perspective; obviously, it must adapt to new information. People often ridiculed her for her wanderings from libertarian to Marxism, from church to yoga. She, too, couldn’t understand herself. She couldn’t recapture her earlier mindset: she had changed, her perception had shifted, and no memory, photo, or diary could take her back to the way she’d felt. It was as if those memories were of someone else entirely. She was evolving because she hadn’t found “it” yet: her place in the world, the meaning of life. It seemed to her that, just out of her reach, was an absolute truth, an ultimate reality.

As the search for God devolved into a search for significance, her personal troubles began to overshadow the metaphysical ones. She struggled to sleep, and had vivid, disturbing dreams. She no longer felt comfortable, even with family or friends. She was uneasy even in her own skin, and felt she did not belong anywhere. Academia appeared to dismiss the spiritual dimension of the human experience, while religion appeared to dismiss intellect. But to her it was too arrogant to forge her own path, to create her own philosophy: how was it possible that in thousands of years, billions of human souls had not yet hit upon something more absolute and eternal about the meaning of life? As she wrestled with the answers, she nearly drowned a thousand times in her own despair – why was there starvation, genocide and war? Why had her father left? Why could no one love her as she needed to be loved?

Could belief in God and worshiping Him be an option? Reading the holy scriptures

was at first a foray into the unconventional, a little excursion into something foreign. Later it made Rebecca uneasy: their warnings to the followers of other faiths, their recurring admonitions to unbelievers-“will they not see?” They claimed to be a direct communique from the Lord, God. It scared her to keep reading, and yet it scared her more not to know what it said.

Sometimes it feels like our personal, unstable world is constant, like the general world, and we imagine ourselves to be immortal; we embrace that world with intense emotions; then we drown in it and depart. Such love is boundless torment and trial for us, because an orphan-like compassion, a despairing softness of heart is born of that love. We pity all living things, we feel sympathy for all beautiful creatures which suffer decline and the pain of separation, but unable to do anything, we suffer in absolute despair.

Thinking over these, Rebecca would file them away, unaware that little seeds were growing and piercing the soil of her heart. She thought of praying to God. She felt each of the prayers was related to a season and stage in human life. Praying at dawn reminds us of spring, the freshness of youth. Prayer at noon reminds us of summertime, the vitality of adulthood. The afternoon prayer reminds us of autumn, and the weakening of old age. The sunset prayer reminds us of winter and death. The night prayer reminds us of the grave.

Rebecca’s heart was touched by words, but even so, to Rebecca they might have remained mere ideas, words in a book. It was the day-to-day examples of a number of observant believers that breathed life into faith and made it viable. They were kind, thoughtful people who spoke of God with both familiarity and reverence. Their eyes would light up at the sight of a lovely child, and they would breathe, “It is God’s will.” Their smiles were so warm, their hugs so tight, their hearts so giving; she felt she had found the community she had searched for. Muslims believe God’s mercy is limitless: like the waxing and waning of the moon, God forgives His people over and over and over again, and again and again. All people will stand before God and be held accountable for the good and bad they brought forth in this life. Life, therefore, is a test-for the human to overcome their evil-commanding soul and submit to the will of the Eternal and Absolute.

Beauty came suddenly, a few months after Rebecca have experienced these transformations in her soul. It was a hot summer day. She was sitting in a comfortable silence with her husband in the shade of their back porch, and she realized that the world was violently bright- almost Technicolor. The grainy contacts she’d been wearing since she was 11 were gone. The sky was so shockingly blue; the trees were so startlingly green. Her eyes filled with tears suddenly. She knew. She had been born completely surrendered to God, and had lived that way for almost a dozen years. She wondered if the day when the colors grew dull was the day she had left that perfect state of human nature. Perhaps now she had returned to her innate knowledge of God’s unity, and submitted herself to His Sole Divinity. It seemed God had called her back to Himself, and filled overflowing the hole in her heart, returning to her the colors of the world. Praise be to God, she could see again.

Jennifer Knight-Ari is an MA student in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program at the University of Central Florida.

This attitude usually adds to the tyrant’s courage, makes the slanderer even more impudent and the assailant more outrageous. Still, I say to myself, “They are human too, and one day they will realize it and they will give up such impertinence.” This is perhaps wishful thinking or a misapprehension, but I prefer waiting for a blissful hour when everyone will come to reason and mercy. Filled with some bizarre supernatural expectations, I endeavor to soothe my exasperation and stand firm against the storms that challenge my lenience. I sometimes dive into a deep, silent introspection to escape my own realm of feelings. There are times when I feel sorry for myself in the face of some agonizing events, and I am troubled with a passing sensation that I am perhaps disrespecting myself while trying to be respectful to everyone else. But still, in spite of so many lies, fabrications, and devilish schemes, I turn to myself and say, “You have assumed trouble as your healing from the beginning; then what is this protest for? The one with teeth will certainly bite, and the one with claws will rip through; no one can change this as long as those who consider the truth to be with the powerful continue to exist. Be tolerant to everyone.” I bury my cries inside and pronounce my feelings with silent woes.

Indeed, it is impossible for people in my circumstances who share this way of thinking with me to act otherwise. First of all, we do not submit to the wicked ones, but “to the decree of fate we wholeheartedly submit our souls” (Bâkî). Secondly, we live in a time in which people in great numbers are locked onto hostility; today’s revenge-thirsty figures overshadow in ruthlessness the abominable tyrants of the past-so, tempering the atrocities in my heart does not change the reality. Many billow with the rage of pharaohs when they speak; their hatred and violence never abate and their hunger for blaze, destruction, slaughter, and extrajudicial execution is never satisfied. They raise their swords to the heavens like He-Man and scream, “I have the power!” The world all over echoes with the chorus of “Justice, freedom, democracy, civil rights,” but justice is desperate in the hands of crude power, freedom is leashed with the straps of slavery one over another, democracy is a freak in the hands of enforcers who interpret it capriciously. There is no one left who does not understand this, but those who have conducted decades-long abuses continue singing the same tune, as if they are unaware, with no sense of self-respect, and debasing their own social status. With no other occupation, sitting in sloth, they speak on behalf of rights, freedom, and democracy, while others who violate these values in broad day light utter the same words. These are words of magic invoked to earn status and esteem, and then circumvented to legitimize corruption and fraud. Oppressors rely on them when they oppress some people while favoring whoever they favor. These are the words offered as legitimate governments around the world are interfered with and countries are invaded. “Bringing prosperity” is a pretext for shedding blood and dishonoring others. With the same excuse, murders are committed, killings are left unsolved, people are tyrannized, free speech is censored, privacy is violated, religious persuasions are harassed, unthinkable profanity and what is forbidden are replete and promoted; civil rights and justice are frequently pointed to, but are trodden down at the same time.

Nowadays, I am observing all these horrors and calamities through my narrow vision, and I mumble, “O Lord, how forbearing you are! You continue to grant respite to the perpetrators who are responsible for all this violence, oppression, and degradation of rights, freedom, and democracy. Absolute might and power belong to God.” And then I bury myself in a silence of astonishment and amazement (dahsha and hayra) , which I feel has become part of my nature. Absolute silence in the face of injustice, tyranny, and violation of rights is no different than glorifying Satan and is condemned in a Prophetic tradition. Indeed, believers never remain in absolute silence; if their hands are tied, they speak out; if they are gagged, they reveal their fervor with overflowing gestures; if they are ostracized completely from society, they expand with palpitations as if they had a volcano heaving inside. If their internal explosions could be unveiled, we would witness bolts of lightning issuing from their hearts and chill from their claps of thunder.

Their quiet stance arises from their subtle refinement and vast compassion which would not disdain even an ant, from their philosophy of security and trust, respect for human values, mercy toward everyone, and from relying on God in all matters. First and foremost, they are people of fine balance. Even when the most horrific waves of unrest beat the shores of their hearts, they behave with the utmost moderation and prudence. They never act unwisely like a child whose imagination outweighs his reason and comprehension, who blabs everything that crosses his mind without a moment’s thought, who is concerned with accountability only after destroying everything with his words and actions and seeks excuses for the destruction he has caused. They are always aware of their position, of what they do and say, and act with discretion in the balance between their hearts and minds. When they are granted the opportunity, they pronounce universal human values; when they have to remain silent, they act out these values with fervor, keep up their prayers and invocations, observe with compassion, and smile on everyone. They are never upset by their fate, nor do they complain to others as if dissatisfied with God Almighty. On the contrary, they question their own selves and seek their own faults. They bury their sorrows in their chests and do not mention them to those who are unable to comprehend; not a word of discomfort can be released from their mouths even though they may burn like an oven on the inside. They die and come back to life, but never do they disclose this to anyone.

No one can know completely what a burning mass of white-hot embers they actually are; others consider these special people no different than themselves. Yet, if their belief, demeanor, and selfless spirits that are devoted to making others live were to allow them to roar out their internal fervor, all the crows would immediately hush and look for a hidden corner to take refuge in, while all the bats would retreat back into their dark caves and descend into silent introspection. True believers are men and women of trust and security who show the utmost care in performing what their true character necessitates. They never hurt others, even though they may be hurt; nor do they cause pain, even if they are tortured.

In fact, their spiritual realm is replete with portraits of sorrow, each more horrifying than the last, that exist side by side with their feverish passion to relieve society of its ailments. Their palpitations and pains last forever with constant brainstorming and attempts at revival. The eternal verses of their hearts or, more truly, their silent cries, are a call to the light with a commitment to illumination as opposed to darkness. One line of the poem drops from their lips in grief, while the next inspires revivification. Their indignation and enthusiasm reveal signs of all this incessant internal turmoil.

Indeed, this has been the kind of life we have always sought, or perhaps we have been forced to live in this way. Fervor and sorrow have been our fate and in fact what we have also demanded. We have considered living for our own sake as selfishness, an attitude we have always abhorred. The motto “So others may live” and wishing eternal happiness for all have been our passion. This passion is so intense that if it were at all possible to come back to this life after death and we were given the right to choose, we would still prefer others’ lives to our own. The true horizons of humanity we would fix our direction towards; thoughts of revival we would breathe with; degradations we would close our eyes to; fuss about fundamentalism we would not be deceived by; those who come forward with slanders, calumnies, and accusations we would not be upset by or despair at; unrelenting violations and attacks of the severest kind we would bury in our chests; when it hurts inside, we would still manage to smile; when the magma inside erupts, we would suppress our exasperation so that no one is hurt or disturbed; and we would always display the privilege of being human.

I feel that those who think we remain in total passive silence and those who think we are involved in some kind of “activism” are all wrong. We are never absolutely still-anguish and hope, enduring everything, and striving for survival, all coexist in the depths of our souls. We may sometimes lose spirit, but never to a level of termination for good. Even if only with half of a voice or a breath, a quarter of a pain or palpitation, our hearts are like a brazier with embers always burning inside. Our faith constantly whispers new sentiments to us, and our conscience plays tunes of all kinds. Nevertheless, those who are of not the same persuasion or ideals as us cannot hear any of these melodies nor can they comprehend any of these sentiments.

Personally, every time I think of this agitation and fervor, I tremble as I visualize innocent people who have been victims of deadly imprisonment, maddening persecution, and merciless hounding, and whose words were stuck in their throats, words they wanted to utter but could not, so they were choked almost to the point of death. Who knows what beautiful things they would have said. The ignorant who did not know, even worse, those who did not know that they did not know, and the worst of all, who thought they knew even though they did not, used all available means to prevent those innocent people from expressing themselves; they would never allow them to do so, for if they did, people would understand how bereft of ideas and knowledge are those persecutors. In the words of Akif, the miserable oppressors “do not look to the East, nor are aware of the West, nor have any share of good conduct / All they have as capital is a face that cannot blush and eyes that cannot water!” If they did allow the innocent to speak up, those who can reason would comprehend all these matters and discover the true identities of some of these ignorant ones who tie justice to power and resort to despotism, whose assets are no more than yelling, and who try to catch fish in muddy water. Then, all the wretched souls who fight against common sense with dialectic and demagogy would topple one by one, their false candles would blow out, and those who have been deceived would not be tricked any more. All this would end in the collapse of those who want to rule the world with crude power, and I do not think they would ever acquiesce to that. In any case, we end up with the fact that today some people are gagged, while many others remain indifferent.

Those who cannot express themselves today in one way or another, will certainly voice their internal vibrations and pain, be it merely in their comportment; in return for their gulping down their words with palpitations today, they will recite the best poems of silence when the day comes. Who knows, perhaps then many rude and cruel characters who have forgotten true humane values like compassion, mercy, and justice for several centuries now, will unexpectedly melt down and turn into whatever being truly human demands.

So, let tyranny enjoy itself for a bit longer; let civil rights and justice be trodden on; let the innocent moan with pain; let the wronged strive to voice their grievance; and let hearts breathe with grief and fervor, hoping for a blissful hour in which the All-Powerful will speak. For us, if it is a matter of time serving our time of trial and lamentation, then, as in the words of Faik Ali, “There are songs yet unfinished / Anticipation moans in their silence,” there is still need for more quiet lament, after which perhaps the spring will rise.

Two mechanisms of the mind

According to science, everything is bound to a cause. Without understanding a single cause or a set of causes, one cannot reach the knowledge of existence. Modern science, which does not accept the metaphysical dimension of being, does not seek wisdom in the creation; rather, it only searches for a cause–effect mechanism that is based on self-interest. For modern thought, all individuals are the lords of their selves and they interpret life according to their own reasoning.

In reality, however, the mind works in two ways: it is either a toy in hands of the nafs (the evil-commanding self) or it functions as a department of the heart. Thus, one can either think with one’s evil-commanding self or with one’s heart. In the former case, since everybody thinks according to their wishes, there is no doubt that an environment of chaos will emerge in social life. Modern philosophy, however, relying upon a wrong perspective, generalizes this idea to the entire existence and imagines the universe as an environment of chaos. For this reason, Frederic Nietzsche argued that the good is to acquire power, and he divided people into two groups, the aristocrats (or powerful) and the ordinary. In this view, those who are materially deprived seek to escape material realities and try to find a source of empowerment somewhere else in order to satisfy them. Hence, searching for metaphysical truth has its roots in lack of power. In reality, however, is impotence a result of non-recognition of religion, or is it a reason to search for metaphysical truth or religion?

The impotence of human beings

Indeed, human beings, who are in the best form among all living creatures, do not own themselves. To give an analogy, consider that a soldier has some money. If the money is granted to the soldier to be employed in the service of the government, he can only use it in certain ways. In other words, the soldier does not have absolute ownership of the money. Similarly, human beings do not absolutely own themselves or their bodies since they cannot always use their bodies as they wish. Sometimes, they become sick; they even cannot raise an arm when they want to. The very fact that they die against their wishes shows that they do not have absolute ownership of themselves or their bodies.

Human beings, if they do not lose their mind and awareness, see the world as a place of mourning since they feel pity at the sorrows of others. However, in the eyes of modern man, who assigns every self (nafs) absolute ownership, this world is a place where brute force triumphs because, as Sartre asserted, humans are left to themselves as they do not know what they should do. According to this view, what is heard everywhere is the voices of tyrants and the mourning of the oppressed. The contradictions of this modern view, which overlooks religion, have loaded humans’ hearts and souls with burdens of grief and have granted them impotence. Here, what I mean by “impotence” is that condition of spiritual weakness of the one who learns the outside world while having no point of reliance within the self.

The understanding that “conflict is always essential in the world” is based on a totally wrong perspective as well. The help and assistance of the sun and the moon to plants and animals; animals (and plants) being put at the service of humans; food materials being found in nurturing fruits; atomic sustenance nourishing body cells are some examples that show how helping one another is an obvious truth in the world. This fact is so critical that even an absence of one cause in the universe could lead to enormous negative consequences. For instance, let us imagine nitrate bacteria were to be absent in the circulation of nitrogen. In that case, plants would not be able to use nitrogen, their metabolisms would be greatly weakened, photosynthesis would stop, oxygen in the air would decrease as carbon dioxide increased, and the earth would turn into a place which would not support human life. Likewise, small or big, all kinds of balances in the universe indicate a law of reciprocal help and assistance.

The place and nature of causes

Additionally, assigning all events to certain results and regarding causes as the absolute power in the universe is a result of modern philosophy’s being deprived of transcendental truth. Bediüzzaman Said Nursi summarized the influence of causes thus: “For physical causes only gather and join together. It is confirmed by people of reason that they cannot create out of nothing what is not present in them.” When an ordinary result is looked at, a deep consciousness, a transcendental knowledge and supremacy and similar attributes are seen. Causes do not own these attributes and therefore cannot be the real architect of the result. Besides, every cause is contingent (al-mumkinat, plural of mumkin, or “possible”), its presence and absence has equal consequences. Therefore, every cause depends on another cause, which depends on a further third cause, in the same way as the feet of chairs lean against one another for support. At the end, however, for this chain to stand, there is still a need for One who is not contingent, whose presence is essential and of Himself (Wajib al-Wujud), and who is the Causer of causes (Musabbib al-Asbab). If human beings, who can be considered as the most developed cause, cannot create the tiniest thing from nothing, then no other cause can possibly be the real architect.

Thus, a human being who thinks according to modern science of trying to get knowledge of the physical world through pure reason and experimental method will assign everything (from the smallest sphere to the largest one) to causes. Since the “modern” scientist regards the perfect balances that he or she discovers, from those in one small cell to those in the universe as a whole as a gift of causes, he or she thinks that any cause can also destroy the perfect stability; for destruction is much easier than construction. Therefore, modern scientists load an enormous burden on their backs. All the discoveries that they make and everything they assign to causes in the path of science will soon become a source of fear for them. Now, knowledge grants them impotence. Under the pressure of this subjection, they seek a source of empowerment. It might sometimes be their own self (or ego), sometimes technology, and at other times nature.

As can be seen, contrary to the arguments of the mechanical worldview that separates metaphysics from physics and regards causes as sources of everything; and as opposed to the “modern” understanding that assigns absolute authority to every self, assumes chaos in the world, and considers force the only way to win a conflict; turning to belief is not because of impotence. On the contrary, it is one’s not turning to belief that results in impotence and helplessness.

Note

1. Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, Asa-yı Musa (“The Staff of Moses”), Istanbul: Yeni Asya Yayıncılık, 2005, p. 273.

Jalal: Let me begin first. Basing myself on the Islamic viewpoint, I argue that in an Islamic political regime, sovereignty can belong only to God. However, given that democracy means popular sovereignty, democracy is anti-Islamic.

Jamal: Your argument is based on your reductionist worldview. There is only right or wrong for you. Your world is black and white, and has no room for any gray area. Real life is fuzzier than your rigid opinions.

Contrary to your claim, God’s ontological sovereignty and the people’s political sovereignty are not contradictory. I believe that God, in His capacity as the ultimate Creator, created everything. Therefore, God is sovereign in the universe.

However, His creation in the material universe is different from His creation in social life. He has given each person the freedom of choice and free will; no other member or part of creation has these abilities. Given this, God can create something in social life even though it does not seem appropriate. For instance, He creates heroin and creates the people’s actions when they use it. However, God does not like the people to use it. In other words, He orders them not to use it but does not force them not to use it. God provides the people with free will and thereby makes them responsible for own decisions.

So, God creates whatever happens. Therefore, electing a leader is ontologically a creation of God and cannot contradict His sovereignty, although we cannot know whether this is an appropriate election in His sight.

Jalal: I still think that any popular vote is incompatible with Islam. Think about the designations of Prophethood. God is the ultimate decision-maker Who chooses the Prophets, regardless of what the people think.

Jamal: Perfect example! Of course, the people cannot elect a Prophet through voting, because by definition a Prophet is God’s messenger. Political leaders, however, are the people’s representatives, not God’s. Also, the Qur’an states that no Prophet will come after Prophet Muhammad. Thus, the people are free to elect their own leaders.

Furthermore, democracy based on popular sovereignty is an alternative to monarchy and oligarchy, not to God’s sovereignty. Why don’t you accept that monarchical and oligarchic sovereignties also contradict His sovereignty? Can you really claim that the various royal dynasties received their right to rule from God? Similarly, are the militaristic regimes the shadow of God upon Earth? I don’t think so.

Jalal: Frankly, I never thought of that. But I’m still curious about what you would say if a man-made rule happens to contradict a Divine rule. In Islam, the Qur’an and the Hadith reflect God’s commands and so are accepted as absolute truth. In a democracy, however, ideally the people have the absolute power and legitimacy to create the law.

Jamal: But there is no paradox here. First, Muslim populations normally do not support laws that contradict the Revelation. Second, the Qur’an or Hadith contain no concrete and fixed political principles. Politics deals with temporary and mundane issues, which are subject to change according to time and place. Thus, the people can pass laws that are compatible with the constant, general, and universal principles of Divine rule on one hand, and with changeable sociopolitical contexts on the other. Third, it is more likely that the sovereignty of dictators, dynasties, or oligarchies will contradict the Divine rule than the sovereignty of the people will.

Finally, democracy has different forms, such as direct and representative. In direct democracy, the people vote directly in referendums for almost every political issue. In representative democracy, however, politics is conducted by the people’s representatives. Moreover, some representative democracies (e.g., the U.S.) have a Supreme (or Constitutional) Court to restrict law-making. In sum, possible contradictions between popular sovereignty and Divine rule can be minimized by creating institutions (e.g., a representative system and a Supreme Court) that include some Divine rules as pillars of the constitution.

Jalal: You try to show that democracy is compatible with Islam

Jamal: Moreover, I accept democracy as being more compatible with Islam than with non-democratic systems. The Prophet’s statement that my community will never agree upon an error reveals that the people are the source of political legitimacy. Moreover, the fact that the four Rightly Guided Caliphs were elected shows that election is a more suitable political institution for Muslims than any monarchic or oligarchic alternatives, despite the fact that such elections may not necessarily be considered purely democratic according to modern standards.

Jalal: If everything is so smooth, why did classical Islamic thinkers oppose democracy?

Jamal: First, evaluating classical thinkers by modern paradigms is an anachronism. Historical ideas need to be examined in their historical contexts. Don’t forget that until the French Revolution, monarchy was the dominant political institution. Second, many classical Islamic thinkers (e.g., al-Baqilani and al-Mawardi) generally emphasized the necessity of elections in determining a new caliph. They did not legitimize hereditary systems. Finally, the non-democratic components of classical thought are the results of historical sociopolitical contexts instead of the essence of the Islamic thought. Therefore, Islamic political thought can easily adapt, adopt, and legitimize democratic systems.

Jalal: If Islam and democracy are so compatible, why are so many Muslim countries non-democratic?

Jamal: As I have tried to demonstrate, Islam does not necessarily oppose democracy and is not the only cause of non-democratic regimes in the Muslim world. While discussing the lack of democracy in Muslim countries, one should consider such other factors as the economic, cultural, and international conditions that shape these countries’ political systems.

Second, Islam can be interpreted from different political viewpoints. While Islam encourages obedience to the rulers (4:59), it also encourages resistance. For example, the Prophet said: The best jihad is to say the truth to a tyrant’s face. Non-democratic Muslim rulers have their own interpretations of Islam, which have been shaped by their particular conditions. Therefore, their practices cannot represent Islam’s theoretical principles and essentials and its relations with democracy.

Jalal: Sounds interesting. Are you saying that democracy is the only political system compatible with Islam?

Jamal: No. Muslims may have changeable opinions, although Islam has absolute and universal values. The essentials of Islam are unchangeable and eternal truths. Political ideas, however, depend upon circumstances. Thus they are not absolute and change along with the sociopolitical and economic transformations. For that reason, Muslims could accept multiple political arguments. At this point in time, I personally prefer democracy to other political systems. However, if another system proves to serve humanity better, I might favor that one.

However, turning to the Eternal Truth must not be governed merely by our own desires and whims. We must turn to God in an attitude of conscious servanthood, in utmost humility and fragility, to ask for our common needs.

Our Lord is more aware of our needs and wishes than we are. Hence our petitions must be made quietly, as such courtesy is expected of those who are truly aware of this. Our Lord, closer to us than we are to ourselves, says: Pray to Me so I may respond to your prayer. This Divine encouragement to pray indicates that failing to do so causes people to feel a senseless independence and alienation from themselves.

When those who pray turn to God wholeheartedly, they express their respect to God’s continual closeness while being saved from the turmoil of their remoteness to God. In return, God makes them hear what needs to be heard, see what needs to be seen, say what needs to be said, and accomplish what needs to be accomplished.

As a result, all who feel the pleasure of faith and have become very sensitive in their duties to God remain highly aware of prayer. In fact, such people understand that worship is the purpose of their existence and so give it the importance it deserves. They conform to daily life’s material and immaterial aspects, and see a pleading heart as a sign of seeking closeness to God. In such an atmosphere of closeness, they usually feel hope and joy, as well as fear and anxiety.

Although we are fragile and weak beings with endless needs, God gives us existence, provides us with food, causes us to grow, and is aware of our every need and wish. His Mercy is so vast that we are not left to the mercy of others. Hence, our behavior must be equally and carefully gauged. As God is the Absolute Ruler of all that we have, we need to be aware of our smallness while appreciating God’s greatness and of our duty to direct our prayers only to God. When we reflect that God is closest and that our prayers will be answered, we analyze our behavior and adjust our voice levels.

We feel pleasure and awe while observing ourselves as we become conscious of God’s always ready and watching presence. Hence our petitioning through prayer is the purest form of worship. In fact, all parts of existence prays to God through the language of their innate abilities. In return, God responds to their needs from His Wisdom. God hears all and makes us aware that His response covers everything.

We must understand that God does not necessarily answer our prayer by giving that for which we ask. More often than not, we make our own window of needs narrow by thinking only of today and the present, thereby ignoring many things that are related to us. However, as God knows and sees today and tomorrow, He grants different kinds of needs with Mercy and Wisdom. When God enlightens our present situation, the future is not deprived of this light; when complimenting one person, God is not oblivious of another person.

And so when believers raise their hands to entreat their Lord, they are aware that there is a One who sees them, hears their breathing, knows all that passes through their minds, and, last but not least, gives due importance to all of their complaints and pains. In addition, they know that the One God accomplishes all acts according to His Absolute Ability and Wisdom. They are reassured of God’s actions, whenever and whatever is willed. They are convinced that all obstacles will be overcome through God’s mercy and will and, even at worst of times, breathe with security and hope. Those who turn to their Lord many times during the day and visualize reality beyond matter through the eyes and ears of their hearts can never again depart from this door.

For centuries scientists had accused religion of being a collection of dogmas and religious people of being dogmatists. However, only with the demonstration of the limitations of classical physics did they realize that they too had become dogmatically attached to their theories. As Bertrand Russell put it: ‘Newton’s law reigned for such a long time and explained so many things that no one believed that it would ever need correcting. But eventually it became apparent that correction was needed. Let there be no doubt about it, one day these corrections will need to be corrected.’ Science advances, if and when it does, by trial and error. In spite of this, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity which replaced the classical physics of Newton’s Law is treated in many circles as if it were absolute truth, and the fact that it will need revision is kept hidden from sight. It is quite probable that eventually it will give way to a new theory.

It seems that going to extremes in the pursuit of a single idea is a constant trait of human beings. Whereas, while there is a share of truth in each of these great ideas, they are not the only means nor the only expressions of truth. If we think of truth as a light at the centre point of a circle or a straight line, we see that the light will be reflected ray by ray to an infinite number of points on the circle’s circumference or along the straight line. Each point is touched by a ray of the truth and therefore each can be said to be true. However, the fact is that only the light of the truth in the centre never changes, since it is absolute in contrast to each point which is only a relative truth. What gives the relative truth its particular dimensions and properties, its relevance, is the nature of the receiving point, its own properties, time and conditions. This is true for the natural sciences, as much as for the social sciences; indeed, it also applies to fields of Islamic learning such as tafsir (commentary on the Qur’an) and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).

But we may ask, Is there no permanent, absolute truth? Yes, this truth exists but it does so on the spiritual rather than the visible, external dimension of things. In fact, from one view even in the principles which relate to the spiritual dimension of things there are exceptions. These principles are not absolute, universal laws because, in their relevance to the visible, external dimension, they operate as general principles, that is, they admit exceptions. In respect of this difference between absolute and general laws, even science cannot affirm its laws, for example the law of cause and effect, absolutely. For this reason scientists say, ‘If the universe is in T1 condition at this moment, it cannot be concluded that a little later it will be in the same condition.’

We have already mentioned that the difference between absolute and general principles can be seen in the social sciences and even in the Islamic sciences like tafsir and fiqh. In the Realm of Unity, single and indivisible truth opens the door to countless relative truths in this material and quantitative world. For example, the Qur’an mentions good works as being virtues, as inherently and always of value. This is so, and yet we know that what are virtues under certain conditions and according to certain people may not be considered virtues under different circumstances, at a different time, by others. An administrator’s seriousness of manner may be considered to be dignity at work, but haughtiness at home. A weak person’s self-respect before a strong person is a quality to be praised, but the same quality in a strong person before a weaker one is considered undesirable. In the same way, what is an act of sin for one person can be a meritorious act for another. For this reason it was said, ‘Pious deeds of ordinary righteous people are the sins of those near to God.’ Again, an act that earns a single merit for one person can earn a million merits for another. Again for this reason, as long as there is no conflict with the essential literal meaning of a word and the rules of eloquence are considered and the rules of the Arabic language are not violated, the understanding of every authorized interpreter of every verse in the Qur’an can be listened to with respect.

The most obvious example of the manifestation of the relative truth of general principles in history is in the sphere of justice. In the absolute, justice would see personal rights and public rights as equal. But sometimes there is such a disturbance of the peace that it is not possible to protect either the rights of the individual or of the public, let alone both; sometimes, even fundamental rights to life and Islam’s basic principles are endangered. During such times relative justice, which sacrifices the individual’s rights for the sake of the public good, becomes necessary and application of it becomes absolutely mandatory. In Turkish history the administration by sultans and even the killing of sons and brothers in the Ottoman dynasty were demanded by relative justice, which, by virtue of the necessity of compelling circumstances, gains authority as if absolute justice.

In this earthly world there is such variety and abundance of colours, shapes, properties, times and conditions, that it is not possible to avoid relativism altogether. It is a reality of this world. Having understood that, we do also need truths which are at least close to absolute so that we can guide our lives by them. The absolute truth is that in the universe there is no real effect created by causes, and everything is in Cod’s hand. It is not predictable with certainty what will happen next, and our lives and the life of the world actually consist of this moment. Living this truth consciously together with faith and surrender to God, from the perspective of free-will given to man, we have also to give due recognition to the experience that causes do operate relatively reliably, though not absolutely, in this life. Because of this, the causes wrapping absolute reality like a shawl or veil, a veil of familiarity or habit, make life livable and thereafter, all technology and sciences get constructed on this veil. This is the broad region of human actions and observations where Newton’s classical physics has precedence over Einstein’s relativity physics.

Relativity is an important matter that reminds man of his vulnerability. The highest station a person who is climbing the ladder of Divine knowledge can reach by means of his heart is the station of amazement. As the greatest human being said, ‘We did not know You as we should, O Known One!’ and ‘How could I see Him; what I saw was light.’ Similarly, the scientist solves one problem, but opens the door to many new ones, and his trust in the century-old foundations of science suddenly falls through. The moment he says that he has found the truth, he sees that everything slips from his grasp. The fact of relativity makes him exclaim, ‘The only thing I know is that I don’t know anything,’ and this leads him, like a moth flying around a light, to eternally flap his wings around the light of unchangeable truth.

Relativity shows that absolute truth lies only in Revelation and never begins with man. It can be directly known only by Revelation. Therefore it is clear that man has an absolute need for religion and definite revealed knowledge. It has been seen in innumerable fields of activity that two people cannot agree on even a simple matter; thus, absolute truth can never derive from man and can only come from God. Man’s duty is to organize his living and dying according to the God-given truth at the point of belief. Understanding that human beings can only attain partial truth is also an acknowledging of the space separating multiplicity from oneness. In pointing to and yearning for the oneness beyond multiplicity, this understanding functions as one of the important proofs of oneness.

Relativity is an important measure for managing (learning to live peaceably with) the differences among professions, temperaments, schools and sects that have arisen in philosophy, teaching methods and religions. All dispositions, sects, schools and methods have a portion of the truth and none of them are absolutely wrong or false. The important thing is for them to be able to unite around a common point. When we look to the past and catastrophes from the perspective of fate, and when we look to the future responsibilities and divine orders from the perspective of free-will and opportunity, then it is possible even to reconcile the conflict between the fatalists and the proponents of unconditioned freedom of will.

The essential thing is to live believing that absolute truth when it touches upon this world, when it becomes relevant for us, is relative to us, conditioned by the points, circumstances, conditions receiving it. In the analogy given above, countless relative truths reflect the absolute truth located at the centre point of the circle or the straight line at innumerable other points according to the properties, colour and design of each. As long as people recognize, acknowledge, and defer to their own distance from the absolute truth, and don’t go beyond their human limits, unmanageable conflicts will not arise. But when people lose this sense of proportion about themselves and their capacity to know and propose the truth, when they take what is relative for what is absolute, they fall into errors with catastrophic consequences.