Isn’t it strange, but also vividly true, that sunk in the deepest agony, some people lose their faith in God, the absolute sustainer? And yet others do exactly the same at the height of utmost pleasure. They forget that God is the sole provider. Either way, this entrenches the “in medio stat virtus” universal rule, which means virtue stands in the middle. This is what constitutes the dividing line between man’s meaningful living module (modus vivendi) for the Hereafter and the mistaken lifestyle “causing people to claim absolute independence and ownership of their self … leading one to imagine a realm of personal dominion,” as observed by Said Nursi in The Fourth Treatise in The Seedbed of the Light (pg 87).

Linking the initial paradox and Said Nursi’s soul searching words, brings to light one of the most interesting and captivating stories to appear in both the Bible and the Quran. This is none other than the story of Joseph – blessings and peace be upon him—and his brothers. Their riveting story cuts across humanity as it paints an almost unimaginable life of someone who never parted ways with His Creator – come rain when he was a slave and come shine when he was leading a palace life.

While the Quran devotes a whole chapter (Surah 12 Joseph) and 111 verses to Joseph’s story with his brothers, the Bible tells it in 13 Chapters (37-50) and a total of 395 verses in Section Four of the Book of Genesis.

The story begins with Joseph, as the last child in the family of Jacob, born of Isaac, the son of Abraham, living in Moses’ promised land of Canaan (blessings and peace be upon them). Joseph draws envy from his brothers because of the special treatment he receives from his father, exemplified by a special dress.

His brothers also disprove of his chain of dreams, which they believe is Joseph assuming leadership; one particular dream sends chills even down his father’s spine. He talks of seeing, “the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing before him.” His brothers’ envy rages, but his father keeps this to his heart.

Lesson One: Did Jacob discriminate against his children? Very unlikely. As a prophet, he must have noticed something special in Joseph’s destiny and thus exercised extra caution to ensure the delivery of a sound and wise judgment. In the world of journalism, it is said “when in doubt, leave out.” In matters of faith in God, we ought to do what is expected of us while exercising enduring patience. No complaints. We must have pure sincerity and clean intentions.   

Lesson Two: What is in a dream? In dreams, all our five senses are virtually non-functioning. The dream drive – borrowing from the IT language – is external. That is why we travel distances above the speed of light from our bed pillows, as a friend told me.

At the same time, we cannot rule out cases of Divine warning about what is coming or ought to be done. Examples abound in the scriptures. In parts of Africa, dreams were originally taken for communication between gods and human beings, whereby the former made their wishes known. But an interpreter had to be there.

Lesson Three: Joseph’s brothers’ envy derives from prejudice, which is a vice to be fought against; it led them to treat their young brother unfairly. First they plot to kill him. Then they settle for dipping him into a waterless well and finally sell him to a caravan of Egyptian merchants, who resell him to Pharaoh’s Chief Steward Potiphar. He starts a slave’s life.

The brothers take his garment and soak it in goat blood. They send it to their father claiming to have bumped into it. Jacob laments. He goes into mourning. His children come to express their empathy. He takes no heed and keeps on mourning.

Through God’s providence, Joseph wins the trust of his “master” and is made steward of his household. He resists the temptation of his master’s wife. He chooses jail to breaking God’s and his master’s trust.

Again, he builds trust: the warden places him in charge of prisoners. There, he meets Pharaoh’s chief baker and cup-bearer. He interprets their dreams: the baker was going to hanged and the latter would be reinstated to his job as the Pharaoh’s cup-bearer.

Pharaoh himself is troubled by dreams. Egyptian interpreters fail to deliver. The cup-bearer remembers Joseph, who is called and manages to decipher Pharaoh’s dreams into seven years of good harvest and seven of famine on its heels. Joseph is made Pharaoh’s Chancellor. He helps the country store its food. When famine strikes, many people, including his brothers, come to Egypt for food supplies. He notices them. He sells food to them and orders their money stuffed back into their bags. He asks them to come back with their young brother as a condition for getting further supplies and orders one of them to remain behind as a surety.

Lesson Four: The Roman’s “natura humana ad mala inclinatur” observation – meaning human nature is inclined to do bad things, becomes evident. The Chief Steward’s wife shows lust and anger. The chief-baker and cup-bearer display the fact that power corrupts. Man is forgetful. Men were busy looking for power and riches while women indulged in gossip, banquets, arranging amusements, and competing for worldly things.

Lesson Five: God never guides unbecoming behavior (Quran 12:52). For every holder of knowledge, there is (always) One more knowledgeable: the All-Knowing (Quran 12:76).

From all that has taken place in the fate of Joseph, it becomes evident that Destiny wills good for the believer. Although he was a slave at the palace, Joseph (blessings and peace be upon him) rejects the invitation of the noble, rich, and beautiful woman. He willingly prefers prison to committing sin.

Lesson Six: After introducing himself to them, his brothers start to feel guilty, which is the start of the process of reconciliation.

Lesson Seven: When hunger strikes again, Jacob releases Benjamin and orders the collection of an assortment of gifts and the return of the money which was stuffed back into their bags. He prays for God’s protection. Upon arrival in Egypt, they are received but have to undergo another session of questioning.

After Joseph ascertains the presence of Benjamin, he is overwhelmed and takes a short leave. He sheds tears, washes his face, and returns. A grand reception is held.

Joseph orders bags stuffed to everybody’s carrying capacity. He orders to secretly place his special cup in the bag of the youngest, Benjamin. After they left, Joseph summons the supervisor and orders him: “Stop those people and ask them why they have returned bad for good?”

They deny any knowledge, let alone involvement in such unbecoming behavior. They pledge their innocence and that whoever would be found with the cup should face death, while they are ready to remain slaves forever. The supervisor differs with them. The one on whom the cup is be found will remain behind while the rest will be allowed to leave.

Benjamin turns out to be the culprit. In disbelief they tear their clothes and mount their donkeys back to town. Down on their knees, the entire entourage goes to Joseph’s residence.

He asks them: “What is this you have done? Don’t you think a person like me can prophesy?

“The one to whom the cup was traced becomes my slave. The rest can return to your father in peace.”

“My Lord”, says Yuda, “may your anger not befall on your servant because indeed you are like the Pharaoh!” He goes on to narrate conditions under which Jacob may release Benjamin, listing the fatal family consequences of detaining him in Egypt.

Joseph is touched by the plea of Yuda. He loses control of himself. He orders the removal of all people. He tells his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” They fail to answer. They are astonished.

He goes on to tell them: “Come near me.” They move closer. He adds: “I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold to be taken to Egypt. But don’t grieve now. Nor feel bad because you sold me to be brought here, because God placed me ahead of you to save your lives. Quickly go up to my father and tell him. Your son Joseph says: ‘God has made me the Lord of the entirety of Egypt. Come down without delay. You will settle in the land of Goshen near me; you and your children, grandchildren, sheep, cows and whatever you possess.’”

Lesson Eight: The entire story is one of affection and portrays the qualities of being keen, pure, and having sincere feeling with no ulterior motives and without seeking any return. Said Nursi puts it better in the 23^rd Letter (2:86-87), where he points out that the story encourages us to strive for the other side of the grave where we will find real happiness and pleasure. It also shows Joseph’s exalted truthfulness and announces that even the most joyful and brightest conditions of the worldly life could not captivate him; rather it led him to ask for death and the other life.

Lesson Nine: Via Jacob’s life, we learn that for believers who follow God’s ways without deviation and with pure intention, when things start to worsen, this means the happy end is approaching. The dawn of light is the end of darkness.

Note: The story of Prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, is narrated with some differences in both the Bible and the Qur’an. The author quotes from both sources in this essay.

I’ve been working with them now for the past eight years. I’ve had an opportunity to work closely with them and to travel with them overseas, and I see no foundation for this.

As a matter of fact, when I look at their zeal and their enthusiasm for the religion, and I look at how they practice the Qur’an and the life example of Muhammad the Prophet (upon him be peace), I’m inspired by what they do.

And they not only focus and center upon Muslims, they have great relationships with the non-Muslim community. And I would consider them to be like ambassadors for Islam.

They share Ramadan, they share neighborly needs, etc.

Muhammad the Prophet (upon him be peace) said he was one time talking with one of his companions, and he asked them if he knew one of the brothers. And then, he said, “Yes, I know so and so.”

And then the Prophet (upon him be peace) said, “Well, let me ask you something about him. Have you worked with him?”

He said, “No.”

“Have you traveled with him?”

He said, “No.”

Then the Prophet (upon him be peace) said, “Well, then you don’t know him.”

I’m pleased to say that I’ve worked with our brothers, and I have traveled with them. And I know them well.

And to classify them as terrorists in any form is a great misrepresentation.

The other thing that I want to say is that they are very loyal and very patriotic to this nation. They work to support the good works in this nation.

They also work with all people, faith or no faith, and they show by example what the Prophet Muhammad (upon him be peace) taught us.

Some of us read books, some of us talk, but they actually do. And I consider it a privilege and an honor to be associated with them and to be part of the brotherhood.

I see them as wonderful human beings and as true Muslims, and I can say this as one that has studied the religion and been a leader in the religion for over 25 years. I can say this.

Also, what I want to say to you is that when people try to come against them – because some Muslims don’t know about them and their movement and the good that they do in the world – I would tell them not to worry about that.

I would tell them to continue to model and be an excellent example of this religion and also build on the relationships you already have.

Myself, as one of your brothers and friends: if I know other Muslims don’t know you, I’m happy to take you with me and introduce you to them and let them get to know you so they can form their own opinions.

And I have no doubt that once they get to know you and get to know your leadership, I have no doubt that they will no longer believe these outrageous allegations against you.

Muhammad the Prophet (upon him be peace) made education a top priority. You all make education a top priority.

He told us that we should be kind and considerate and respectful and hospitable to our neighbor. You all demonstrate that. You host iftars, you host various events during the month of Ramadan to educate the people.

So the Hizmet Movement is, I think, vital to the Muslim community, and they are also showing us how to apply the wonderful, universal, timeless concepts of Islam in the 21st century.

My imam, my teacher, taught me that you never change the principles. You never change the logic in Islam.

He said, but it’s OK to change the way you express the logic. And we have to look at our current set of circumstances and our reality here in the West and apply the best application of this faith.

I see them doing that, and I see them embracing the entire human family and making a positive, wonderful difference in the world.

They’re a benefit to the Muslim community and humanity as a whole.

Imam Omar Shakir, Resident Imam at Masjid Bilal ibn Rabah of San Antonio, Texas

This article has first been published in the special issue of the Fountain Magazine © Blue Dome Press

One will be held responsible according to his or her intention. However, it is beneficial to know that on the subject of service to the society, we cannot claim that, in the absolute sense, our path is faultless. Moreover, misfortune can come to all, good or bad.

Yes, sometimes the path a believer follows can be flawed, but they may not run into difficulties. Sometimes, although a person walks on a faultless path, they may encounter many difficulties. In fact, many calamities can come to a person who is on a perfectly straight path; this is in order to purify and test them. If one considers that the greatest calamities came to the prophets, then the saints (or religious scholars, according to another report) and then to others according to their spiritual degree, it can be seen that trouble can come to everyone. Consequently, a person’s being subjected to difficulty does not have a great deal to do with the straightness or crookedness of the path they follow.

By means of such difficulties and calamities God encourages a person who is on a straight path to advance farther on an even better path. He can also admonish a person who has flaws to advance onto a straighter path. In other words, it is difficult to understand God’s ways. Everyone should accept calamity as a sign according to their level and be prepared for duty. Of course, this idea is very important for everyone from the aspect of self-examination.

In its simplest meaning, examining difficulties and calamities that come to others as being due to their not following one’s own path is not fair. Such a thought cannot be reconciled with a believer’s consideration of others. God help us not to say: “He deserved that!” as this in no way can be reconciled with being a believer. God forbid – He may turn such a calamity onto the person who utters these words.

In fact, even thinking that people who are on a completely flawed path have attracted calamity on their heads for this reason is nothing but an unjust and unjustified assumption.

A person should always be sincerely considerate of other believers. When we examine the matter from this perspective, even if a person should burgle our house, beat us or transgress our rights, then encountering some calamity, one should not say, “Oh, they deserved it!” If we, as victims, are defeated by our feelings at a particular moment and make a temporary lapse, later we should be remorseful and say, “Oh my Lord! I am sorry! I seek refuge in You!”

The attitude of one believer towards another should always be just and this is our responsibility. For – God willing – one day we will pass over the Sirat (bridge) together, enter Heaven together and come face to face. There it is always possible for what is hidden to surface. The things we thought and designed can fall in front of us, one by one – this is possible – and we will be greatly shamed. For God says this is “The day that all things secret will be tested” (Tariq 86:9). May God, the Coverer of All Shameful Things, cover our faults and the faults of others!

A believer should be very kind and very generous so that the Most Generous God will bestow different blessings upon them. In fact, a good believer should always think and say: “My God! These people did some bad and base things to me, but I have forgiven them. I was not able to be a fully noble servant to You, oh my Lord, who is Clement and Free of Defects! Please forgive me, too!”

Indeed, it is necessary to have the means on our journey to God. Thus, a believer should consider this matter he or she happens to be with other fellow travelers doing good work a means for reaching God, seeking refuge in Him with it and seeking relief in His shade.

Yes, just as differences in path and method should not cause believers to turn against one another, this kind of reproach should not be imposed on other believing brothers or sisters.

Furthermore, seeing calamities falling on our brothers or sisters as a result of the path they are taking is no different than criticizing destiny. These kinds of thoughts are contrary to the tenets of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, “Do not say ‘I wish it had been’ (regretting what happened and condemning his fate) for it is destruction; it opens the door to the Devil’s work.” Consequently, getting hung up on thoughts like, “If they had done this, such and such a calamity would not have occurred to them” is a sign that we are setting out on the Devil’s path.

As believers, we should know that we cannot take the past to account. The past can be examined only for learning lessons and illuminating the future. In particular, if we are happy about a calamity that has befallen a believer is absolutely not acceptable, more so especially if this implies a criticism of destiny.

The modern age has made people so preoccupied with worldly affairs that for a long time people have been deprived of the joy of being in the presence of our Lord. Bediuzzaman felt this honor of celestial presence before God throughout his life, and no prayer was deprived of its share of divine serenity.

Assignment to read the whole Qur’an everyday

Bediuzzaman would assign every one of his students who resided in towns or villages near Isparta to read a certain part of the Qur’an; thus, with the participation of all the students, many hatims (reading of the entire Qur’an) were completed every day. Bediuzzaman would read the hatim prayer on behalf of every participant and would devote it to the blessed souls of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his family, his Companions, all believers, and students of the Risale-i Nur.(1)

Additionally, at the beginning of each of the blessed months, Bediuzzaman would issue a letter of celebration, which also served as a means of maintaining communication with his students. An excerpt from one follows:

My esteemed and loyal brothers,

First of all we celebrate your Blessed Three Months and the most precious holy nights therein. May God Almighty reward all your nights to the worth of a Raghaib or a Qadr.

We pray that your night of Bara’a, the forthcoming Ramadan, and the night of Qadr be more rewarding than a thousand months, and be recorded thereby in your “book of deeds.”

Likewise, we celebrate your night of Mi‘raj and we beg that your prayers on that night will be accepted by the divine Mercy-we hope the fact that it rained the day before and the day after this night in this region is a sign for the future manifestation of universal mercy.

My esteemed and loyal brothers,

We celebrate your blessed Ramadan with all our soul and existence. May God Almighty bless the night of Qadr for all of you with more rewards than a thousand months. And may He grant you a lifetime of eighty years, which will be most appreciated for each of you. 

Ramadan nights

Bediuzzaman’s life of worship was transformed into strict discipline during Ramadan. Bayram Yuksel, one of his most loyal students, reports that Bediuzzaman would not sleep on the blessed nights, and most particularly in the second half of Ramadan. He used to check on his students at night and spill water on their faces to keep them awake; he made sure they stood vigilant in prayer.(2) He constantly reminded them of the authenticated hadith that the night of Qadr was to be searched for in the second half of Ramadan, and especially in the last ten days.

Bediuzzaman engaged in supplications and remembrance, and read a part of the Qur’an every day. He paid his sadaqa al-fitr (charity of the fast-breaking) to his students and asked them to collect the same charity among themselves.

He indicated the lofty mission of his students in one of his letters on the occasion of the Three Holy Months:

In His name, glory be to Him,

There is nothing that does not glorify Him with praise.

My esteemed and loyal brothers,

This summer season is also a time of unawareness, a chaotic time of chasing after livelihood, (as well as) a most rewarding time of prayer in the Blessed Three Months, and also a time of diplomatic storms not caused by weapons; if this is not resisted by powerful fortitude and determination in the holy mission, a sort of laziness, a loss of zeal, a state of languor is likely to set in, to the disfavor of the Risale-i Nur service.

My dear brothers, know for certain that the mission that the Risale-i Nur and its students are engaged in is far greater than all the great issues that are on the surface of the Earth. Therefore, do not lose your zeal for your eternal duty by focusing on worldly issues that may arouse your curiosity. (3)

In another letter, Bediuzzaman speaks about the spiritual atmosphere of the Blessed Three Months:

When the weather is unfavorable, it has a bad influence; likewise when the spiritual atmosphere is corrupt, every individual is influenced to the degree of his or her capacity and skills. The blissful atmosphere of the Blessed Three Months and the month of Muharram (the first month in the Islamic calendar) is purified, beautified, and can resist horrendous misfortune and storms, with the considerable inclination, efforts, and illumination of all believers who are involved in the profitable pursuit of earning the Hereafter. Everyone benefits from these circumstances to his or her respective level. But, after the Blessed Three Months depart, the exhibition and market for the Hereafter trade changes, and the exhibition of the world starts. Most effort undergoes a transformation. The smoke of the debris poisoning the air spoils the spiritual atmosphere; everyone is poisoned to the degree of his or her level. (4) 

References

1. Sahiner, Necmettin, Son Sahitler (The Last Witnesses), Nesil Yayinlari, Istanbul: 2005.
2. Akar, Mehmet, Secdede Bir Omur (A Lifetime in Prayer), Sahdamar Yayinlari, Istanbul: 2005
3. Emirdag Lahikasi (Letters from Emirdag), Letter No: 21.
4. Kastamonu Lahikasi (Letters from Kastamonu), Letter No: 40. 

This time, with your permission, I won’t be talking about the last two weeks that I have spent in this alien city, as I usually do. Instead, I feel obliged to reflect on your anger at the fact that your father did not use the opportunity he had during his youth to become a medical doctor. What I’m going to tell you has been said by many great thinkers in the past, but I want to bring their words up-to-date and relate them to my studies here. I hope to give you an alternative understanding of tolerance by using the idea of networks.

As commonly defined, networks are web-like maps of nodes that represent entities and links that connect the nodes and represent their interactions. Networks have become very popular these days, and are used to analyze everything from ecology and biochemistry to social infrastructures.

Try to visualize your father 30 years ago in a large network that consisted of his two brothers and three sisters, his fiance of 2 years standing, maybe a very close friend who had recently died, maybe another friend who already had had a child, along with the fear of leaving his hometown for the first time, and so on. All of us, including your father, are surrounded by such factors all the time. Perhaps your father could have overcome some of them, like his fear of loneliness or impatience, but he certainly could not have overcome all of them, because his family, surrounding events, and many other factors existed on their own and didn’t develop according to your father’s will.

Upon further reflection, however, maybe none of these factors, even the trivial ones, were ever in his grasp and thus were never under his control. Let’s think back even further. When your father was in the womb, he had only one obvious link with the world: his mother. But wait a minute, you might ask, didn’t he have other links, such as his genes, family, and birthplace? Of course, you would agree that your father had no choice in any of these crucial factors. Moreover, I don’t think that it’s hard to accept that, for example, his impatience was probably the result of his cultural make-up, genes, interactions with his family members, and other things. As you know, all of these were independent of your father’s will. Thus, your father, and indeed every person, was born into a predetermined world, one in which most choices had already been made for him. Moreover, these initial determinations had an undeniable impact upon the rest of his life and decisions.

Imagine a circle in the center of a big picture. The circle is you, and the picture represents your life, or else all of the interactions that you make during your life. As mentioned above, even in the very beginning, that circle is not unique. Now imagine a few more circles which represent your family members and hometown, and draw a line from each circle to yourself. This is you in the beginning. Without a doubt, soon some circles will fade away and other circles will appear in a continuously regenerating network. Let this little human being live in this world (morph his network, as we say) for some years and, in the end, you’ll obtain a dreadfully complex picture that is almost impossible to understand.

Nevertheless, let’s consider for a moment the evolution of this self-network. At each decision point, we make a choice that is influenced by our personal self-network, defined as a collection of those choices over which we had no control and those which we made due to our personal network at that time. This recursive definition of self, which is entirely reasonable, makes it impossible for us to judge other people’s behavior, for we can never know if such behavior is the result of free will or of the previous self-network. We find it easy to criticize students who drop out of school, or behave anti-socially, or sleep all day. But maybe they had no other option in the context of their self-network. If this is the case, criticizing them is almost like criticizing a fish because it cannot fly. It is quite possible that no alternative choices were within their reach.

The key observation lies in this: When we see a person do something that we don’t like, we don’t know and can never know how much his or her self-network has influenced that specific act. Therefore, my friend, who are we to judge other people’s acts unless we have this kind of knowledge? Given this, if we want to be true to ourselves, what other alternative do we have but to exercise complete tolerance toward others?

Before going on, however, I should stress that I am talking about tolerance for acts that don’t violate other people’s rights and freedoms. In addition, I’m talking about personal tolerance only, for obviously everyone must follow the law for the sake of society. For example, a thief should be punished according to the law. Therefore, given that there are many underlying reasons for a person’s act, we should hesitate before passing judgment, for it benefits both of us if we are tolerant. As shown above, this is not only a more pragmatic, but also a more rational approach.

The world’s great religions and great minds have said such things many times. For example, we read in the Bible: Judge not, that ye be not judged (Matthew 7:1) and Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whoseoever thou art that judgest… (Romans 2:1). The great Hellenistic philosopher Epictetus says: If a man drinks much wine, do not say that he drinks badly, but that he drinks much. For till you have decided what judgment prompts him, how do you know that he acts badly? 1 Even more, another Biblical verse states: Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (I Corinthians 4:5). This verse supports tolerance, for it tells us that we should have comprehensive knowledge of a person before judging their acts. Such knowledge, as we all know, is possessed only by God.

An interesting result of considering individuals as nodes located in the center of a complex network occurs when we try to influence a person’s views, acts, and beliefs. In order to appreciate how difficult (if not impossible) this is, imagine the self-network of the person you want to influence, with all of his or her beliefs, memories, friends, as well as all of the nodes acquired while morphing his or her self-network.

Now imagine the fraction of nodes in that self-network that are directly related to you. I don’t think that you’ll claim to be a big part of that person’s life, unless both of you have been on intimate terms for quite a while. The proportion of the nodes that you represent in his or her self-network can be quite an accurate measure of how much influence you will have. For example, you can alter a lonely or a simple person’s beliefs in a shorter time, since in a short time you can become a large proportion of his or her self-network.

By the way, you might be amazed to hear that the English mathematician Thomas Bayes (1702-61) tried to formulate quantitatively how a person’s beliefs would change upon receiving new information that contradicts his or her previous beliefs. In a Bayesian analysis, a set of experiences (in our case, links) are seen as something that influences opinion and decision. I won’t discuss this further, however, since it’s beyond both my and this letter’s scope.

In my opinion, the reason why we almost always criticize and blame others, and constantly see faults in everybody else is because we refuse to make an honest self-criticism; that is to consider our own responsibilities, not those of other people.

Forgive me for saying this, but you want to achieve a better quality of life now; this is something for which you have to work really hard. Yet, if your father had become a doctor, you probably would already be living this better life, and so you wouldn’t have to push yourself. Hence, we can find a convenient scapegoat in your father, who, for whatever reason, didn’t set you up with such a life!

Another example, one in the future, might be that a person explains his/her beliefs in the hope of influencing someone else. Unable to convince this person, he/she blames that person for not opening their heart and really listening. Easy, isn’t it? However, remember that you can’t really influence a person if you are not a large part of his or her life.

Do you see what’s missing in this picture? Reality and, more than that, a solution. It lacks reality, for we can never hold someone absolutely responsible for anything. And why not? Because we have no way of knowing which actions were based upon free-will and which ones were the result of his or her prior self-network. By blaming others, regardless of whether we are correct in doing so or not, we not only contradict reality, we also ignore our own mistakes, closing the roads to a solution that could come from ourselves, and taking a passive position of stagnancy that, I think, won’t make a better world for ourselves or anybody else.

Before ending, I’d like to apologize if some of my words sound harsh. However, I consider you a true friend who will appreciate my openness. Even if some of my words have upset you, perhaps you’ll be patient with me. For this to be, before blaming me, stop for a moment and try to look at this situation from another perspective. Try to find some truth in my words, and try to be hard on yourself. Below are some extraordinarily beautiful lines from Nietzsche, which I think are appropriate to our discussion. He writes:

Why so hard? the kitchen coal once said to the diamond. After all, are we not close kin?

Why so soft? O my brothers, thus I ask you: are you not after all my brothers?

Why so soft, so pliant and yielding? Why is there so much denial, self-denial, in your hearts? So little destiny in your eyes?

And if you do not want to be the destined inexorable ones, how can you one day triumph with me?

And if your hardness does not wish to flash and cut through, how can you one day create with me?

For all creators are hard. And it must seem bliss to you to impress your hand on millennia as on wax, bliss to write on the will of millennia as on bronze harder than bronze, nobler than bronze. Only the noblest is altogether hard.

This new tablet, O my brothers, I place over you: become hard!2

Yes my friend, become hard, very hard on yourself; and soft, very soft towards others.

Footnotes

1 Epictetus, The Discourses of Epictetus, tr. P. E. Matheson (New York: Heritage Press, [1968]).

2 Friedrich W. Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, tr. Walter Kaufmann (USA: Viking Penguin, 1966), 214.

– Moive Review

Science Fiction/Fantasy and Action/Adventure

Rated R for sci-fi violence and language

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano

Directed by: The Wachowsky Brothers

Produced by: Andrew Mason and Joel Silver

Written by: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski

Distributor: Warner Brothers

In the year 1999. To be more precise, people believe it is the Year 1999. In facts we are well into the middle of the twenty-first century. In addition, this is not the only reality concealed from us. The “creators” of artificial intelligence were caught unprepared while they were drunk on the extent of their accomplishments. There has been a great revolution-machine revolted against humanity and conquered life. Now we do not even have a system about whose corruptness and shortcomings we can complain. Yet we continue to work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in our daily shifts, eat hamburgers while watching television, and attend parties. Children are still being born, and the sun still rises and sets.

However, none of this really exists, for only the “Matrix” exists. This “Matrix” is the name of a dream from which we cannot awake. It also is a three-dimensional curtain pulled between reality and humanity. With your fork-actually your fork does not exist either-you can still feel the taste of a nonexistent slice of meat. Tiredness, disappointment, and sorrow are all possible, along with the signals they send to your brain, most of which they already own.

Unless you believe “ignorance is a virtue,” like someone who realizes the difficulty of “knowing” does after he or she has known, you would like to learn. Yet, you also realize immediately that knowing this particular truth does not exalt you. This is neither an auto-criticism nor a suggested solution, but rather a knowledge that you will not be able to relate to others with extravagant praise or mention in every meeting or social gathering.

In fact, you would prefer not to know it at all: Matrix is the name of a computer program that is animated as if it is “life.” In reality, our bodies are connected to metal basins, and cables of various sizes are plugged into us. Our life lasts only as long as (the lifetime of the “battery.” We are planted on electronic fields, harvested and fed “until we exhaust” the battery. We are walking around with large plap-ins,which provide our connection with the machine, located at the back of our heads. Only those few who were born naturally have seen the world in which real parents exist, known in the movie as “Zion,” and do not have plug-ins. Zion is the only place that the electronic barbarians cannot enter, which is why the ruthless guards of the Matrix are trying so hard to find its coordinates.

THE CHOSEN MAN

Thomas Anderson is a computer geek who works for a software company during the day and spends his nights as a computer hacker known as “Neo.” There is a truth that he has been trying to find for a long time: Is his life somehow being controlled? He is after “Morpheus,” whose name is usually uttered as if he were a terrorist. Neo feels that this man is somehow connected to his problems and can provide him some answers. Morpheus gets in touch with Neo through his assistant “Trinity.”

When they finally meet, Morpheus promises to show Neo “the truth,” of which even minute parts are invaluable. Now, faith is the power that reality cannot deny. Neglecting humanity’s fragile nature, men and women built the Machine and will defeat it to the extent that they can free their thoughts from it. Is Neo the awaited savior? If so, what will he promise to humanity? Unless they are killed at the instant they “awaken,” will he promise the underground breakfasts consisting of mossy oats at best? In place of a joyful but unreal world, can he promise a dark but real world?

ELECTRONIC SCIENCE FICTION

Finally, a science fiction movie that can be viewed with enjoyment and suspense, one that is graded “A” despite its shortcomings. In The Matrix, the dose of excitement, long and technical dialogues, and contrasts are properly blended. The fighting scenes, modeled after Asian action movies and modernized in a computer environment, have been transformed into a public demonstration by the aesthetic style of the Wachowsky brothers. They do not hesitate to use such scenes, for they know that even viewers who do not like such action and fighting scenes will appreciate the results. With cameras that can shoot 12,000 clips per second, with actors seemingly almost independent of gravity, these fighting scenes seem like dances conforming to the movie’s theme, rather than brutal fights.

The movie moves smoothly between prologue and awakening, development and meeting, result and struggle, and conclusion. Among the cool, black-clad men and women with sunglasses, Reeves, Fishburne, and Moss have peculiar facial expressions. But the movie itself has a power beyond its individual components. One example of this is how the camera approaches objects: In one scene, the camera is located right under the helicopter and window from which a gun is being fired. Both action areas can be seen, yet the focus is on cartridges seemingly suspended in the air and then gradually gliding to the ground

As a matter of fact, the question: “Seeing that this electronic mechanism fools man and condemns him to a virtual life, to a dream from which awakening is impossible, could not man be deceived by a better view of 1999 rather than the present one?” is answered before long. Agent Smith accidentally lets the cat out of the bag when he has cornered Morpheus: “We wished a better world for man, but man defines his essence with such misery and sorrow that these designs were rejected by human conscious in the experiments.”

The martial-art figures borrowed from Asia give the impression that this struggle to awaken humanity carries a deeper philosophy, yet only in the movie’s second half is this suspicion confirmed. But it is impossible not to notice the symbolic supports of the Bible and Greek mythology, which are layered one inside the other and pervade the movie’s life and imagery. The relationship of “Trinity” to the Bible is self-evident. Moreover, “Neo” (like his name, he also is “new”) ascends to his own “reality” under the protective wings of “Morpheus” (the Greek god of dreams), who heals the mental and physical harm caused by switching from one world to another. Trinity Morpheus, and Neo form a sacred trio who know the “truth” and partially own the mechanism to alter it. They are striving to benefit a humanity corrupted by its own faults, while at the same time being fully aware that they really do not have more than just their belief. Until he experiments with the limits of his powers to learn if he is the “Chosen One” or not, Neo continues to learn. A female soothsayer wants him to sacrifice himself. After all, is there any other savior for humanity, who became arrogant because of its accomplishments but lost the struggle against evil forces and was enslaved, other than a “Chosen One”?

A BROTHER TO LEM

I do not know how much of The Matrix is inspired by the science fiction work of Polish author Stanislaw Lem. But the theme of living in a fake world as if alive, which came to the public agenda with such books as Strangers by Day (by Vicki Malones, 1984) and movies as Dark City (written by Frank Lauria, 1998, the movie version released on February 27, 1998), or the theme of an existing dark reality contrary to the present make-believe world-in other words the theme of illusion-simulation-is not so new.

The Matrix’s story-line bears a considerable resemblance to a book written in the 1970s by Lem, who is considered to be the genius of science fiction. But rather than eulogies, Lem delicately criticizes science. He foresaw humanity’s misfortunes and degeneration years ago. He touches on the results of inventions and discoveries in his future tableaus, rather than becoming carelessly intoxicated by them, and analyzes our greed and inordinate desires via scientific diagnoses and terms. Lem fictionalizes a virtual world similar to The Matrix in his 1974 novel The Futurological Congress.

The story goes like this: After a space voyage, Ijon Tichy finds himself in an advanced twenty-first century civilization. He tries to understand the age in which he lives and what he missed while asleep in the shuttle. In this new age, people can assume any temperament they want via chemical stimulants, store in their brains any information they want to by means of drugs, torment those they hate in their virtual worlds, travel, and participate in any virtual fantasy. In this “democracy,” such serious social problems as prejudice and racial discrimination are solved by chemicals. Opportunities are endless. There are firms to decide things for you, fight your fights, even to satisfy your religious sentiments. In short, this society has an ultra-free market economy.

Ijon comes across a Professor Trottelreiner, whom he had known long ago and who was sent to sleep in a spaceship like himself. He shows Ijon more than he wants to know by giving him a bottle of fragrance to smell. The scent emitted from the bottle shows reality to Ijon. The eye-catching restaurant coated with Italian tile, and the palm trees are transformed into a coarse underground shelter. The pheasant they are eating is, in fact, a porridge that has a grayish-brown vomit-like color, because the last pheasant died 25 years ago. The palm tree is really the rubber underwear of the man living in the upper shelf, which in reality is too narrow. People inhabit an incredibly overcrowded world, and forks and knives are made of tin.

Worse than that, Ijon understands why people are always red and out of breath: There are no elevators, so people reach the ninth and tenth floors by climbing up elevator cords. The chemical empire has already started to transform them, for most people now have stained and discolored skins, longer ears, and scaly backs. All seen images and used chemicals conceal the already demolished system of the planet, on which more than 20 billion people live. The air we breathe is full of camouflage mascots, reality is hidden under layers of chemical products, and humanity is rescued superficially from the reality of poverty and misery!

The Matrix is a movie that should be seen more than once. The Wachowsky brothers took into consideration not only aesthetic styles, but also commercial worries by meeting the expectations of an average sci-fi viewer and then combining both issues on the same platform. After the Coen and Taviani brothers, it is possible to say that the Wachowsky brothers, who managed to attract interest with their previous movie Bound, have opened a respected room in the cinema for themselves with The Matrix. We can only hope that the sequels, already rumored to be coming soon, will be just as good.

The best side of the movie is the Matrix paranoia itself, which is even scary to say. The Matrix gains importance when the uncontrolled life is faced with the reality of existence, the purpose of which is almost forgotten. It gains importance by becoming the new name for alienation, enslavement, and enumeration. Everything is assigned a number, including people. Our identification and accomplishments, everything we do, is specified with statistics and numbers, which have more value than the individual in the twenty-first century.

‘I know that Muhammad is a Prophet. However, we-the Banu Makhzum-and the Hashimites have competed in all affairs. They have commanded armies, so have we. They have offered food and drink to pilgrims, so have we. They have carried the standard of the Quraysh, so have we. But now, they have one who claims that he receives tidings from the heavens. Since another similar one will not arise among us, I will never believe in him.’

However, the Qur’an came, forbidding discrimination on the basis of race or colour or tribe, and enjoining all believers to be as brothers:

Surely, all believers are brothers, so reconcile your brothers and fear God, so that you may deserve mercy.

History has never seen another – era more blessed than the age of the Prophet when people treated one another more lovingly and sincerely than brothers in blood.

When the Makkan Muslims had to emigrate to Madina, the Madman Muslims, who would be called the Helpers, welcomed their Makkan brothers in religion so warmly that they shared with them whatever they had. The Messenger established brotherhood among them. He made Sa’d ibn al-Rabi’ a brother with ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf. Sa’d ibn al-Rabi’ took ‘Abd al-Rahman to his house and, presenting his two wives, said: ‘Brother, you came here only for God’s sake leaving whatever you had in Makka. This is my house and these are my wives. You can use my house and whatever is in it just as you wish. You may also choose one of my wives. If she agrees, I will divorce her so that you may marry her.’,

‘Abd al-Rahman answered:

‘Brother, may God bless your house and your wives! Please show me the way to the market. There I’ll buy a rope and use it to bundle wood to sell in the market.’

As another incident to show the solidarity among the believers in the Age of Bliss, Abu Talha, who was among the Helpers, was in the Mosque while the Messenger was communicating to his Companions the newly revealed verse: You will never be able to attain (the rank of) perfect goodness unless you give (as charity) out of what you love. Abu Talha stood up and said: ‘What I love the most among my worldly belongings is my orchard of 600 datepalm trees, which you know. As of now, it is no longer mine; I put it at your disposal. You can use it as you wish. You can share it among the poor just as you wish.’

Then he left for home. His wife was sitting under a tree in that same orchard. She called to her husband who remained standing outside the wall surrounding the orchard:

– Abu Talha, why are you standing there? Come here!

– I cannot. .You must take your things and leave the orchard!

– Why?

– This orchard is no longer ours. It belongs to the poor people of Madina.

– Did you give it as charity only on your own behalf or on behalf of us both?

– On behalf of us both.

– May God be pleased with you. Whenever I saw the poor, I wondered whether we ought not to give this orchard as charity to them, but I dared not say that to you as I did not know whether you would be willing to do that. May God accept good from us. I am just leaving.

Once upon a time, there are two brothers who set off on a long journey together. One is self-indulgent and clever. The other is self-disciplined and wise. After a while they come to a fork in their road where they see a wise old man. They ask him which way to take. He tells them that the right fork requires obligatory observance of the law which governs both roads, but that this burden of observance brings with it a certain security and happiness; while the left fork promises a certain kind of freedom it represents also certain danger and distress. Now the choice is yours, says the old man.

On hearing this, the well-disciplined brother, by relying on God, takes the right fork saying that he accepts dependence on law and order. The other brother takes the left fork just for the sake of freedom. Seemingly, he is comfortable but in truth he feels no tranquillity inside. He reaches a desert. Suddenly he hears the terrible sound of a beast, about to attack him. He runs away and, happening to come across one, jumps down a dried well which is sixty metres deep. Half-way down, he tumbles upon some branches of a tree and grabs on to these to save himself from falling further. He also notices that the tree protruding from the wall of the well has two forks. He hangs down from the branches. Meanwhile, two mice, one white and the other black, are gnawing away at the two roots. The man looks up and sees that the beast is still there. He looks down and there is a horrible dragon almost at his feet, with its large mouth gaping to receive. Having time to do so, the man looks more closely at the wall of the well and notices that it is all covered with labouring insects. He looks again at the tree. It is actually a fig tree but it is a miracle of a tree in that it has a great variety of fruits growing on it, such as walnuts and pomegranates.

There, hanging in the well, he cannot understand that all that has happened to him is in any way special or meaningful, that the scene and the events upon it cannot be merely coincidental. That there should be, must be, some secret to it all, that behind the scene and the events there must stand an arranger and doer of all-none of this, alas, even occurs to him.

Now although this man is well aware of the danger all around him, he gets used to his state of suspense, more or less, and pretends to himself that he is in a garden, having a nice time, eating all kinds of fruits for free but which, it will turn out, are poisonous and harmful to him to consume in this way.

In some of the sacred sayings, God addresses mankind. The meaning of one of those sayings is: I will treat my servant in the way he thinks of Me. This wretched man in the well sees every event that befalls him as no more than itself, as having no further weight or significance and, for him, so it is. He does not die but he does not live well either. He persists merely in an agony of suspense.

Let us now recall the other brother. He is the wiser of the two and, because well-disciplined, not suffering anxieties. He always thinks of the good; affirms the law, and feels himself to be secure and free within it. Whenever, on his journey, he enters a garden and comes across ruined or ugly things in it, he is able to turn his mind to that which is good and beautiful. His brother cannot and does not do the same; he has concerned himself with evil and therefore cannot find ease in such a garden. The wise one lives according to the saying: Take the good not the evil. He is therefore generally happy with everything.

On his way he too reaches a desert, just as his brother did, and the same beast shows up. He too is afraid but not as much as his brother, because he is sure that the beast must be in the service of a certain master. This disciplined man also jumps down a well that happens to be there and, half-way down, catches hold of the branches of a little tree. He too notices the pair of mice gnawing at the two roots of the tree. Looking down, he sees the dragon and, up above, the beast still waiting for him. Just like his brother, he finds this suspense a strange situation to be in. But because he is wise and self-disciplined, he infers that all these strange happenings are arranged by someone, and constitute a sign. He thinks he is not alone and that he is being watched and examined by someone. He understands that he is being directed and guided in some way.

He is curious about the one who arranged all these events and asks: Who is it that desires to make me know him? Even in his curiosity he is patient and self-disciplined, and so this curiosity changes into a sort of love for Him who arranges all these events. And this love causes him a desire to open the secret sign of these events and that desire drives him to be approved by the owner of the sign.

He observes that the tree from which he is suspended is a fig tree but one that bears almost every kind of fruit. He is no longer afraid; he understands that this tree is actually a sort of catalogue of samples of the fruits the owner has. Otherwise, one tree would not bear so great a variety of fruits as this one does. He desires more earnestly and the key to the secret is inspired in him. He declares:

Oh Owner of all this scene and these events, I am your servant and I desire your approval and I desire to know you.

Following this prayer, the wall of the well changes into a door to a wonderful garden. The dragon and the beast become two servants inviting him in. The beast even changes into a horse for him to ride on.

Now, let us compare the positions of these two brothers and see how good brings with it good and evil causes evil:

The unfortunate traveller who took the left way, the way of self-trust and self-willed freedom, is about to fall into the mouth of the dragon; he is continually anxious. He suffers loneliness and considers himself a prisoner facing the attacks of wild beasts. Furthermore, he adds more to this distress, eating apparently delicious but actually poisonous fruits which are only presented as samples, not intended to be consumed for their own sake. This unfortunate one changes his day into darkness; he himself does injustice, changing his situation into a hell-like one.

In contrast, the traveller who took the right way is invited to a fruitful garden with servants all .around him. He studies every strange incident in awe, and enjoys himself. He does not eat up the fruits on the fig tree, only samples them, curious as to why they should be there at all-which is how they are intended to be used.

The other is just like a man who, by not being content with what has been served for him and intoxicating himself with alcoholic drink, denies his favoured situation in a summer garden surrounded by friends, and instead imagines himself to be among wild beasts in winter time, and complains thereof. He does himself injustice and deserves no mercy. The brother who took the right way, the way that accepts trustingly what is given and observes the law, sees and accepts the whole reality and for him it is beautiful. In doing this he respects the One who possesses reality, and that is why this brother is deserving of mercy. By this we may understand, at least in part, the meaning of the Qur’anic phrase: Know that evil is from yourself but goodness is from God.

When we reflect upon the differences between the two brothers we see that the inner-self of one prepared a kind of hell-like situation for him, corresponding to his own attitude to reality, whereas the other’s potential goodness, positive intention and good nature led him to a very favoured and happy situation.

Now, I say to my own inner-self as well as to the inner-self of anyone who has read thus far:

If you desire to be like the luckier of the two brothers, follow the guidance of the Qur’an. The details of the allegory could be explained at very great length, but the gist of it, roughly, is this:

One of the brothers is a believer who is good-hearted and the other is a blasphemous unbeliever. Of two ways the one on the right is the way of the Qur’an and faith, whereas the other is the way of unbelief and heresy. The garden on the way is human society and civilization which has in it both good and evil, cleanliness and pollution. The wise one is he who acts according to the law of this road and so travels peacefully.

The desert in the story is the earth, and the beast who turns up unawares is death. The well is life and the body of man, and sixty metres in depth because that is our average life span. The tree in the well is life itself, the two mice gnawing its roots are day and night. The dragon in the well is the opening to the hereafter and, for a believer, becomes a door to the Garden. The insects on the walls of the well are the troubles people face on this earth. However, these troubles are but little warnings for a believer, to remind him of God. And the fruits on the tree, as we have already indicated, are samples from the blessings of the hereafter.

(There is only one tree in the well but there are various fruits on it. This shows the seal of divinity whose unique virtue is to create everything out of one thing and to change everything into one thing, to make various plants and fruits from one soil only; to create all living things from one drop of water; to make a simple skin for each species from a variety of foods, to nourish and sustain all alike living things and make all parts of body from a simple food.)

To return to the allegory, the sign shows the secret will and purpose of God in creating; this sign is opened with faith and there the key is:

God, there is no god save God. God, there is no god save Him.

For one of the brothers, the mouth of the dragon changes into a door to the Garden. For the other, as for all unbelievers, the grave is the door to a place of trouble, the belly of a dragon, whereas for believers it is the door to the eternal Garden which is the blessing of God for the faithful followers of the Qur’an.

The beast changes into an obedient servant. This means that, for unbelievers, death is a painful detachment from loved ones, a kind of imprisonment after leaving (for them) the paradise-like earth. For believers on the other hand, it is just like going forward to meet friends and companions, it is like going into their eternal home. It is for them a formal invitation to pass into the eternal gardens from the prison of the earth, a kind of retirement from the burden of life.

In sum, the one who chooses the transient life as his aim puts himself into hell even though he stays in what appears to him paradise on earth. By contrast, the one who aims at the eternal life will find peace and happiness in both worlds. Despite all troubles, he still thanks God and will patiently conclude his stay on the earth which, as he properly comes to understand, is merely a waiting room opening up to heaven.

R. Nur Collection (Eight Word)