Everyone who strives in God’s path must be mentally prepared for the hardships and challenges they are likely to face. Things may not always go as we hope. Our wishes and desires may not be fulfilled. The plans and projects we make for the future may stall and remain unfinished. Along the way, we may be confronted with unexpected difficulties and even face disloyalty or betrayal from people we never imagined.

As Bediuzzaman Said Nursi once said, “Every good endeavor faces numerous harmful obstacles, and devils relentlessly strive against the servants devoted to such good endeavors.” Human and jinn devils alike will harass them and never leave them in peace, just as they did not leave the great Prophets and saints in peace. As expressed in a saying—though not an authentic hadith, yet supported in meaning by Qur’anic verses and sound traditions—“Every good has its obstacle” [1]. In every righteous endeavor, Satan crosses the path of human beings and seeks to block them through various schemes and traps [2].

God has always bestowed His grace upon those who walk in His path and has protected them. Yet being under His grace and protection does not mean that we will never face afflictions and misfortunes. This world is a place of testing, and therefore we will, from time to time, be tried with hardships.

As the Qur’an states in several verses, those who seek to live and uphold God’s religion will inevitably encounter calamities. Those who enter this sacred path will experience certain losses and deprivations. Sometimes we will be tested through the loss of wealth, at other times through the loss of life. If, in the face of such heavy trials, we can endure patiently and restrain ourselves, we will emerge as the winners. For whatever we lose here, we will gain many times over in return.

From the very beginning of the journey, it is vital to be prepared for the kinds of hardships that may arise. A person who sets out knowing that there will be steep climbs, peaks to cross, and deep valleys to pass through will make their preparations accordingly. You may call this an “inner equipment.” By this we mean strengthening one’s inner world and gaining the resilience needed in one’s spiritual and moral life. If such maturity is attained from the outset, external assaults will not cause turmoil. Without such foresight, however, unexpected challenges may leave one bewildered, swept off balance, and clouded in vision.

Let us listen to the Qur’an’s warning: “Or do you think you will enter Paradise without experiencing the trials of those who came before you? They were afflicted with such hardships and adversity, and so shaken that even the Messenger and those who believed with him cried out, ‘When will God’s help come?’ Surely, God’s help is near” [3]. Since the Qur’an offers such a reminder, we too must take heed, wake up, and come to our senses.

At this point, we can recall the words of Abbas ibn Ubada, who addressed the Ansar when they pledged allegiance to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at Aqabah: “Do you know what you are saying yes to?” People can sometimes be swept away by group psychology, carried along by an emotional current, and pursue a cause with great passion. This is admirable, yet it must not end there. At the very outset, people need to be made aware of the characteristics of the road ahead and be told where they are heading. This path, while offering joy and delight, also carries its share of pain and difficulty. Abbas ibn Ubada, a man of foresight and discernment, reminded them of this reality, implying that tough days lay ahead and urging them to be ready.

Similarly, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted the pledges of new Muslims, he asked them to promise obedience to him not only in times of peace and ease (manshat) but also in times of hardship and trial (makrah).

From this, it should not be concluded that everyone who serves in God’s cause must inevitably face the heaviest of trials. At times, out of compassion for our weakness, frailty, poverty, and inconsistency, the Almighty may spare us from such severe tests.

Indeed, Bediuzzaman expresses this in one place as follows: “Just as the All-Powerful God can, in a moment, sweep away a sky filled with dark clouds and reveal the shining Sun upon the clear face of heaven, so too can He dispel the pitch-dark clouds of confusion and unveil the unshakable truths of faith as brightly as the Sun, granting this in an easy and effortless way. From His mercy, we hope that He will not exact a heavy price from us” [4].

Nevertheless, we cannot base our preparations on this possibility. We must ready ourselves for winter, take our precautions accordingly, and if spring arrives instead, we should embrace it with gratitude and delight.

Those who devote themselves to the service of faith and the Qur’an can be regarded as having formed, so to speak, a spiritual company. Every member of this company is responsible for supporting and helping the others. When some are afflicted with hardship, the others should lift them up and provide the necessary support to strengthen their hearts and spirits. To withstand external pressures and oppression, and to overcome the shock of unexpected events, we all need this kind of mutual support.

It is especially important to strengthen those whose inner resilience is weak and who are easily shaken by pressure. Such individuals must not be left alone; they must be cared for and supported. Visiting a brother or sister in prison, asking after their wellbeing, and meeting their needs will be a great source of morale for them and will fortify their spiritual strength.

We should never forget that when one person who shoulders a cause is wounded or hurt, this affects the entire body of the community, causing cracks and fractures. Therefore, whenever a friend faces difficulty, we must mobilize the blessings God has granted us and try to resolve their problem in some way.

Indeed, everyone may encounter different forms of affliction. Some may overcome these with their own inner strength. Yet not everyone’s spiritual immune system is equally strong; some cannot resist the viruses and microbes to which they are exposed and thus require external reinforcement. In such circumstances, it is a major responsibility of the members of this spiritual company not to leave anyone alone in their troubles, not to let them feel abandoned or helpless. Like the stones of a dome that hold each other in place, we too will stand firm if we support one another. Otherwise, we will collapse and scatter along the way.

Another matter that must be emphasized during times of trial is this: especially those of weak character may criticize destiny, refuse to submit to God’s decree, and begin to question the divine determinations concerning them. In doing so, they act contrary to the verse: “He cannot be questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned” [5].

Furthermore, in such times, people may also start searching for someone to blame for the problems at hand, casting accusations on one another. This, in turn, damages morale and undermines spiritual unity, thereby doubling the calamity already being experienced.

Of course, in the face of misfortunes, we must engage in deep self-examination, draw lessons from past mistakes, and resolve not to repeat them in the future. To prevent similar problems from arising, we must learn from experience and act with greater prudence. We should analyze the visible causes of the afflictions that befall us and take precautions to avoid their recurrence. We should also review our activities, plans, and programs once more, seeking new measures to ensure security on the path ahead. But all this should be done without criticizing destiny, without blaming one another, and without hurting or reproaching our friends—rather, it should be done with gentleness and forbearance.

Otherwise, we risk breaking our companions’ hearts, burdening them with guilt, or provoking defensive reactions. Through our criticism and accusations, we may cause disputes and divisions among ourselves. Over time, this could give rise to a group of the alienated and discontented who might even work against us. Without realizing it, we would then have violated both our own rights and God’s rights. While trying to solve one problem, we would open the door to even greater problems and eventually collapse under their weight. Such matters can tolerate neither haste nor harshness.

References

• Kashf al-Khafa,2/89.
• See Nasa’i, Jihad 19.
• Surah al-Baqarah, 2:214.
• Bediuzzaman, The Gleams, p. 131.
• Surah al-Anbiya, 21:23.

Can science and faith work together? Can we reconcile experiment and observation with Divine wisdom?

Connecting what is experimentally observed/measured to the creations of the All-Wise One (meaning there is nothing by coincidence or meaningless) helps us interpret scientific facts with spiritual insights, offering a view that appreciates the connection between science, thought, and spiritual wisdom. Such interpretation would enrich both our knowledge and spirit. The price methods of Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE), which is a set of analyzing techniques in science and technology industries, offer us such a connection highlighting the wonders of creations by the Divine.

The journey to understanding through measurement

Measurement is a fundamental aspect of human curiosity and our quest to understand the world, going beyond simple tools like rulers or scales. It includes various testing and evaluation methods that uncover hidden details of our environment. For example, Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) is a technique used to check the safety of structures (e.g., bridges, airplanes, pipelines, etc.) by using special tools that look inside the structure without causing any damage. There are several common NDE methods, such as ultrasound, visual inspection, and electromagnetic techniques. Ultrasound NDE uses high-frequency sound waves to detect internal flaws. Visual inspection involves examining structures for flaws using the naked eye or optical aids. These methods ensure safety and reliability, connecting both the visible and invisible aspects of measurement. Our journey is not just about technical details; it is about linking the natural world with a deeper sense of purpose.

The philosophy of measurement in NDE

What do we measure? Every particle in the NDE field can give us important information as it moves. For example, ultrasonic NDE uses high frequency sound waves – outside the range of human hearing – to create images of an object’s interior. By tracking how the particles move (similar to how sound wave travels), we can determine important information based on specific rules of physics. This helps us better understand the data we collect.

Understanding the data from NDE methods is a challenging job. Think of it like when doctors use ultrasound to see inside a pregnant woman’s body. They send high-frequency sound waves into the body with the help of a gel, and by analyzing the echoes, they can see what is happening inside the patient.

Why do we measure? This question takes us back to the very essence of human inquiry. We measure to understand and predict in response to our material needs, but appreciating the complexity of creation often comes as another major outcome. Historically, scientific discoveries have sometimes conflicted with personal beliefs, like when people learned that the Earth orbits the sun. Measurement transforms subjective observations into objective data, bridging the gap between what we see and the deeper truths they reveal.

Similarly, the philosophy of measurement in NDE, one might think, is actually based on a similar search for truth, connecting, as it were, science with faith. When we observe something happening, it usually triggers a question about having a very wise and knowledgeable power behind it, the One who sets the rules of nature to make things work with such harmony and intelligence.

Let’s explore the most widely used method among electromagnetic NDE techniques – Eddy Current NDE. This method is based on a principle discovered by Michael Faraday. When you pass an electric current through a wire that keeps changing direction, it generates a changing magnetic field. This changing magnetic field can cause small loops of electric current, called eddy currents, to form in nearby metal objects. Tracking how these eddy currents flow helps us detect any defects or irregularities in the material. Early detection of these issues is important to ensure the safety and reliability of engineering structures.

Eddy Current NDE: A glimpse into the unseen

NDE is like a doctor’s gentle touch, diagnosing without cutting open. It uses technologies such as ultrasound and electromagnetic techniques to look into the heart of materials, detecting structural flaws that could lead to future failures. For example, Eddy Current Testing (ECT) uses electromagnetism to scan for irregularities, ensuring the reliability of metal components and aircraft parts without leaving a mark. ECT detects surface and near-surface flaws in conductive materials by inducing and measuring electrical currents (Mussatayev et al., 2024). Any flaws in the material disrupt the flow of eddy currents, which can be detected by sensor, as shown in Figure 1.

For example, when eddy currents flow through undamaged material (see Figure 1), the movement is smooth and shows no sign of disturbance. However, when a defect was present between 60 and 80 mm, the sensors picked up a clear, symmetrical change in voltage readings.

Recent advances in science and technology are making such measurements even more precise. For instance, new machines can automatically adjust themselves during composite manufacturing (Nguyen et al., 2023). Researchers have also shown that sound waves can lift, move, and spin tiny objects in the air—an innovation that could greatly improve how certain medicines are delivered in the future (Marzo et al., 2015).

The dance of particles: A reflection of Divine order

Every particle, wave, and pulse of energy in the NDE process reflects an underlying order. These particles move according to precise laws, hinting at a greater orchestration. It is a dance choreographed by the Creator, displaying creativity and direction that invites us to ponder the purpose behind existence.

Studying how particles move in NDE methods helps us understand their formation and behavior. Despite their many tasks, the movement of particles provides crucial insights in understanding the feature of interest in material under the test. Just like a tiny seed contains all the “program codes” for a huge tree, the systematic and repetitive movement of particles reveals information about the hidden aspects of the material world to engineers.

One can speculate three possible explanations as to why particles can perform so many functions:

• Each particle knows everything. In this case, it would need to have infinite wisdom and power. It would have to see everything, be aware of all things, and have control over everything.
• Each particle is made to serve a greater purpose. So, the particles that perform their roles in structures and bodies do so with the permission, command, knowledge, and will of an entity with complete wisdom.
• Particles move based on general rules without needing prior knowledge.

If we applied an NDE process to these particles, the most logical explanation would be that they are created by one Creator, designed with complexity to demonstrate His power and will. This implies that only the One who creates the flow of all particles can place each particle in its position. To uncover these “hidden treasures,” humans rely on curiosity and structured measurement (metrology) to explore the natural world.

Divine Wisdom and human innovation: Exploring the Creator’s influence

Advancements in technology show that humans are inspired by the order we see in nature, and we try to use these natural laws for our benefit. It’s as if the Creator gives us the ability to understand and control things to some extent in different scientific areas. While we can’t fully understand everything because God knows all, we can still learn and explore from the laws of nature.

These are introductory insights that warrant deeper exploration, yet they illustrate important concepts about the nature of knowledge and its boundaries. Empirical knowledge, while immensely valuable for understanding the natural world, has limitations. It provides evidence of order and design, hinting at an intelligent designer, but it cannot fully capture the essence or attributes of the Divine. The concept of an intelligent Creator aligns with the argument of design, as seen in nature’s intricate systems, yet the full scope of divine attributes lies beyond empirical reach.

This perspective is enriched by philosophical discussions about the self, the soul, and their connection to the material world. Take the idea of causality, for example, which explains the link between cause and effect. A cause produces a result not because it looks like the effect, but because it has a unique property that makes that result possible—like fire producing heat because of what it is, not because it resembles heat. This way of thinking highlights the careful design behind natural phenomena and points to divine wisdom and purpose.

“As a scientist, I can move a small particle a short distance (Marzo et al., 2015).” However, God manages all the cells in my body and everything in the universe continuously. This suggests that our ego can help us understand some of God’s attributes, such as being All-Wise and All-Compassionate, with limitless knowledge and power. Imagine an endless land without boundaries; it requires an imaginary limit to comprehend its vastness. Similarly, our ego acts like a reference point in geometry, setting a limit by saying, “I can control the movement of a particle up to this point; beyond that, God controls everything.” Although this limit does not physically exist, it helps us understand, much like a thermometer indicates temperature. In this way, through the lens of this perspective, an engineer can see the nature of the universe. With our limited knowledge, we catch a glimpse of the Creator’s power and authority over creation. But if the “I” believes it exists on its own and belongs only to itself, it ends up dividing God’s sovereignty between itself and other imagined causes.

In this context, the human capacity to reason, explore, and innovate mirrors aspects of divine knowledge and wisdom. Our ability to uncover the laws of nature serves as a reflection of the Creator’s infinite knowledge and deepens our appreciation of His dominion. When approached with humility, the pursuit of science becomes a way to honor the Creator, bridging the gap between human curiosity and divine majesty.

Integrating science and spirituality

Curiosity is something humans possess to understand how nature works and to contemplate what lies behind it as Divine wisdom. The philosophy of measurement leads to questions about existence and the Creator’s rule in the cosmos. When people measure things, it is to answer specific questions in different fields. Measurement is not only a tool for understanding the physical world but also a metaphor for seeking spiritual knowledge and wisdom. For example, someone might want to explore a natural event, and through new branches of science, we can learn measurable facts about the universe. These observations connect with what we already know about the things we measure.

Finally, experts make sense of the measurements through validation and assign meaning to the scores based on theory (Adcock and Collier 2001), as shown in Figure 2. As Nursi says, the Creator made everything with a purpose, and this is a way to inspire humans to find their purpose on Earth.

Over the centuries, a rift between science and religion has emerged, but understanding the order in particle behavior can help bridge this gap. Particles operate under divine laws, reflecting the Creator’s will and power. This perspective aligns with the view of a universe created with intent, where every element serves a purpose.

A need for balance

Considering different explanations for particle behavior, the idea that particles follow divine laws without inherent knowledge harmonizes scientific understanding and religious belief. This view suggests a universe created with intent, where everything has a purpose. Integrating scientific exploration into religious education can foster deeper understanding and respect among various traditions.

Conclusion: A call for unity

In summary, the dialogue between science and faith is ancient, with moments of conflict and reconciliation. Today, they can coexist, complementing each other in the search for truth. Measurement, in its purest form, honors the Creator by unraveling the mysteries of the universe. The Abrahamic traditions share a belief in purposeful creation, which could be the foundation for a future where science and faith walk hand in hand, fostering understanding and peace.

References

• Adcock, Robert, and David Collier. 2001. “Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research.” American Political Science Review 95(3):529–46. doi: 10.1017/S0003055401003100.
• Marzo, Asier, Sue Ann Seah, Bruce W. Drinkwater, Deepak Ranjan Sahoo, Benjamin Long, and Sriram Subramanian. 2015. “Holographic Acoustic Elements for Manipulation of Levitated Objects.” Nature Communications 6(May):1–7. doi: 10.1038/ncomms9661.
• Mussatayev, Meirbek, Qiuji Yi, Mark Fitzgerald, Vincent K. Maes, Paul Wilcox, and Robert Hughes. 2024. “Directional Eddy Current Probe Configuration for In-Line Detection of out-of-Plane Wrinkles.” Composites Part B: Engineering 268:111048. doi: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2023.111048.
• Nguyen, Duc H., Xiaochuan Sun, Iryna Tretiak, Mario A. Valverde, and James Kratz. 2023. “Automatic Process Control of an Automated Fibre Placement Machine.” Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 168(November 2022):107465. doi: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2023.107465.
• Nursi, Said. 2023. “Sözler.”

“Every soul will taste death. And We test you, O humanity, with good and evil as a trial, then to Us you will all be returned.” (al-Anbiya 21:35)

Allah has enjoined every soul to not only believe in destiny but to embrace whatever fortune befalls him as an act of worship. That is why whatever afflicts us as Muslims we turn to the Creator in supplication, seeking His favor to make us stronger in faith, and grant us the fortitude to bear the burden of the situation.

It was such a profound moment when God tested our faith as the renowned yet humble Fethullah Gülen, known affectionately as Hocaefendi by his admirers, answered the call of his Creator and passed away at the age of 86.

As a mere student of theology, I may be alluding to matters I am not fully equipped to address—namely, the attributes of Hocaefendi. I will leave that to his contemporaries, colleagues, and those with deeper knowledge of who he was in life and what they envision for him in the afterlife. However, I will say that what I witnessed at his funeral sheds light on a personality that any peace-loving soul would adore.

Having passed away far from his home country, one might have expected a low-key funeral, attended by only a few scholars and clerics to fulfill the necessary rites. But alas, that was not the case. If not for the distinct features indicating religious significance, the gathering could have been mistaken for a massive public event or festival. The crowd was immense and unprecedented. While driving to the venue for the Salatul Janaza (the funeral prayer), a sea of admirers and well-wishers stretched as far as two kilometers on foot, as accessing the venue became nearly impossible due to heavy traffic. Little did I know that this was only the beginning. Upon reaching the main venue, the sheer number of attendees defied description. Everyone was demanding for space to be part of this historic moment. A long queue of well-wishers extended as far as the eye could see, all eager to enter the arena.

The essence of the picture I’ve painted reflects the true life of this gentle soul, whom I regard as a colossus both in life and in death. The following he commanded transcended every stratum of society. At his burial, as in his life, people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and faiths gathered. True to his philosophy of peaceful coexistence, dialogue, and interfaith harmony, speakers from various walks of life eulogized him, his teachings, and his way of life. One after another, they took the stage, taking a stroll down memory lane and sharing heartfelt memories and personal experiences of knowing and interacting with this man of God.

I was one of the fortunate individuals who had the rare privilege of sharing memorable moments with Hocaefendi in February 2022. The experience remains etched in my memory and will stay with me for the rest of my life. During our tea session, before he arranged for me to be given a guided tour of the compound, he noticed that I was cold. Without hesitation, he removed his personal cap and placed it on my head. Later, he honored me further by asking me to lead the Maghrib prayer, with him joining as part of the congregation. What greater honor and privilege could I have asked for?

God has shown grace to Hocaefendi, a man of peace, understanding, and boundless humility. He exemplified simplicity and piety, teaching the world the beauty of sacrifice, the rewards of hard work, and the value of perseverance. He embodied the virtue of being your brother’s keeper and demonstrated that we can all coexist peacefully, regardless of ethnic or religious differences.

As we mourn this remarkable soul, I pray that we continue to live by the teachings and examples he left behind. May we carry forward the legacy he built while praying that God grants him Al-Jannat al-Firdaus (the highest paradise). Ameen.

From one perspective, some think, the entire world is in chaos—it is not possible to speak of any beauty or goodness, nor is there room for faith, divine knowledge, emotions, love, or enthusiasm. In this world, feelings are confused, thoughts are bizarre, and life overall is like hell. Voices are obscured by static and are on a hopeless bandwidth; words are allergen, heartstrings snapped, the plectrum broken. Souls that used to foam with tranquility and satisfaction, friendly conversations that used to buzz like a beehive and taste like honey, are nowhere to be found. These voices, breaths, homes like a warm, bubbly bird nest, and leadership that worked like a clock are gone only to be replaced by a scary silence, a maddening loneliness, homesickness, grief, longing, and disappointment that fill people’s hearts drop by drop. This is how pitiful the world is from one perspective.

The world of faith, however, is one with hope and has its doors open to eternity. All the beauties of existence come in torrents that appear in the exhibition of this world and inspire us with feelings for an eternal life. In this magical realm, thoughts about this life and the next are intertwined so closely that those who can preserve their roots of meaning and perceive this world with its various dimensions would never wish to leave it.

In a world of faith, what appears to be a state of stillness hides vitality and dynamism, and under what appears to be a muddy snowy surface lies a liveliness that strives for spring. As we close our eyes to observe this world with our hearts, we witness the best bouquet of songs, sounds, and sights of sweet babbling waters, a soft breeze, colors, and scents flowing in from everywhere.

In this world, life revolves on the axis of purpose—a life that reaches an unforgettable state of being in terms of faith, love, devotion, and spiritual pleasures, filling our subconscious with the seeds of otherworldly joy. This is especially so during the blessed hours and minutes, days, weeks, and months when faith embraces our core with light and softens our physicality in favor of spirituality—that is when we feel everything around us to be otherworldly, and our feet are off the ground soaring in the skies. In such an expansive mood of the spirit, our curtains are unfurled to eternity in times unbound by time; as the colors of the other world and the voices of those who have passed on come fill our souls, we feel freed from spatial boundaries and soak under a rain of blessings—blessings that we cannot even imagine.

When comparing our world of faith to other systems of belief, thought, and worldview, I cannot think of one that is more magical, colorful, fulfilling, rational, and that does not allow gaps for any vice. Lights from beyond this physical realm stream in a variety of wavelengths and embrace our spirit, turn our vision in the heart to the beauties of the beyond, connect our feelings to eternity, and have us drink its magical elixir. Our concerns are calmed in our world of faith; our fears are gone; traumas resulting from assumptions of non-existence and oblivion are removed; and our hearts are soothed.

At times, one can see this world to be overshadowed by ash-like colors—people disconnected and heartbroken. But these are never permanent, and they never originate from the human spirit. These times of constriction and darkness are immediately followed by faith in the form of a heavenly tree, filling up our failing points and reviving our willpower.

Everyone can sense this pleasure and joy in their own depths of spirit as if they are coming directly from the Beloved. For them, in everything they touch, in every yearning they keep, and in every word they utter, there is a color of eternity and a sip from the spring water of life. This is such a state of being that even the spirits of the invisible world feel the need to clear their sacred path for you.

In this world of faith, hymns of peace and contentment and the music of enthusiasm never go fully mute. This world’s silence is but to tune up, and its musical compositions flow as a heavenly river sent to help us make sense of this life.

The real music, poetry, and beauty of this world have their roots in the hearts of its inhabitants who embrace everything and every person with love. This beauty sprouts from the light source of their hearts, from the consciousness and awareness that overflow this source, and from their efforts to search for it and the fact that they become the ones searched for in the heavens and the earth. Who knows what sacred secrets and songs from the beyond are whispered to these spirits and which naked truths are shown to them?

Yes, this world of faith provides, on the one hand, nourishment for all the desires and dreams of our spirits, awakes us to all the secrets worth waiting for, and opens doors for new aspirations and perceptions; while on the other hand, it delineates the boundaries of human horizons, reminding us that we cannot be independent from what is eternal—or rather, from the source of eternity. Anyone who can lend an ear to their conscience can hear and comprehend in the form of a humming sound the whispers and signs from these secret and mysterious realms—maybe without words and letters but still clear, deep in their soul.

The human soul is always awake; yet, their conscience is like a computer programmed to decipher certain secrets, waiting for specialized hands to tap on its keyboard. This is true for every human being. The world spins, centuries come one after another, time transforms, events change color, yet the richness and harmony of the human’s inner world never changes. How does this richness penetrate eyes and hearts? What kind of an impact does it have on the soul? How does it change our perspectives? And how do we perceive this heavenliness?

In order to answer these questions, we need to run a self-reflective analysis and reach a synthesis in the laboratories of our heart and soul. If we can manage to do this, we will be able to observe how much we are impacted by things and events. Then, we will realize how our spirit is a witness to and an interpreter of existence and the worlds beyond. This joyful recurrence of awakening and acceptance over many years will leave such indelible traces that for those sincere servants of God, life will be experienced in the sweetness of a song and in the uniqueness of being human. Many crooked standards of measurement of our age, however, put us in a position that contradicts the self, causing us to experience a chaos which, in fact, does not exist in our soul.

Our world of faith manifests in the depths of a dreamy land, in the compassion and comfort of a private heavenly mansion, and in the incomprehensible magic of contentment.

All the stars and the skies they glide in, all the heavenly realms and the colorful eternity that lie beyond, are present as beautiful decorations in our world of faith.

In our world of faith, heavens interweave with the earth; the afterlife is an eternal abode of rest from this world—but only after a long journey herein. Death is a means for reunion; and the time of death is like a “wedding night” (shab-e arus).

Humankind has as many aspirations as there are grains of sands on earth and stars in outer space. With its enchanting beauties, signposts, and guides that point to the beyond, this world of faith offers to humankind a land of magic filled with light, color, meaning, spirit, and pleasures. This world opens its gates every day with thousands of blessings, settles in our spirit with a different taste, delights us by putting on an exhibition of the most precious meanings, and sets up bridges between knowledge and thought as if presenting to us a book for our review. This world constantly nourishes our mind and never leaves us alone, even for a moment.

Voices and words in this world are heard like the most touching songs. Roses and all other flowers spread the best of their fragrances without holding back any of it. Living things are friends; non-living things are loyal companions. Everything is born, grows, and moves on with a paradisical consistency.

* The Qur’an 21:69: “‘O fire’ We ordered ‘Be cool and peaceful for Abraham.’”

Being trouble-free is the biggest trouble of all. I’d rather wish people felt so troubled for others that their hearts felt burning in embers, rather than being trouble-free. Troubled as to why people are in so miserable condition because they do not believe, because they choose to stray from the straight path, because they are so rude and aggressive.

This does not mean believers should artificially subject themselves to different conditions of suffering. On the contrary, we are referring here to the suffering of a believer’s heart which stems from strength of faith, immensity of spirit, and magnanimity of conscience; a heart that is open to the entirety of humanity. The suffering I am mentioning is not one caused by worldly losses and distress; it is a suffering that comes out of a life lived in the shade of the heart and immensity of the spirit.

It is not possible to have such suffering by merely saying “let me be a suffering person now…” This is not a goal one should choose to reach only for its sake. On the contrary, it depends on having belief and occurs as a natural result of faith. It is related to grasping the significance of what the next world means for us. A person who has a strong connection with God and has attained certainty of faith cherishes such compassion for the entire creation that even seeing an ant fall into water and struggling to survive will tug at such a person’s heartstrings. In response to an insect crushed under his foot, the person feels pain as if it were himself being crushed. If a true believer’s feeling of compassion is so developed even towards animals, imagine how much grief such a person would feel for people being thrown to Hell.

This level of compassion is very difficult for those with weak faith, whose connection with God is virtually a thin line and who do not have much to do with a proper religious life. Can such people not be saved? They can be saved of course; God can take anybody to Paradise, even those whose faith is only by imitation, who does not feel concerned for others. This is another thing. But what we are talking about here is being a perfected universal human (insan al-kamil), attaining true faith by verification, and the fact that this is the actual way to feel due suffering. In short, a concern in this sense is an outcome of having wholehearted faith in God; it is the result of a sincere stance.

Sometimes suffering may come as a sort of pleasure for people of a certain level of spiritual progress; the person takes spiritual delight from that very suffering. However, a believer’s course of life should not depend on taking such delight. Nursi mentions the concepts of spiritual journeying in the following order: faith in God; knowledge of God; love for God; and spiritual delight. At first glance to this order, one can be misled as if spiritual delight is the ultimate target. However, even if a spiritual journeyer feels a spiritual delight with their outward and inward senses after a certain level of progress, the person should not seek to feel such delight through their worship or suffering. We need to act with the consciousness that faith, worship, knowledge of God, and loving Him are God’s rights over us and a duty on our part. Therefore, we should never make these conditional to any material or spiritual gain since this might mean daring to take an attitude of claiming rights against God. This is a sensitive issue that calls for much care. What made the Prophet’s Companions endeavor on God’s path in a tireless fashion was this very concern and suffering of theirs. It was their consideration of glorifying the name of God. Since Abu Ayyub al-Ansari knew that having no suffering and concern is a type of death in one sense, he had traveled as far as the vicinity of Istanbul despite his old age. Others as well got themselves tied to their horses and set forth thus because they did not know anything more important than letting God’s name be heard all over the world. This was what they had learned from the Messenger of God. They wished to continue until the end of their lives the understanding and philosophy they had inherited from him. They understood very well that the hardships, troubles, and suffering they would forbear on this path would return to them very differently as great rewards. They believed so soundly and grasped the truth of the matter so quickly. They had sound insight to the truth underlying the message of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Tradition. They spent a lifetime with love and yearning for God, with a heart open to the realms beyond.

We also read the Qur’an, reflect on books, and we listen to sermons. However, we are not able to reach their level of these pioneers in any way. Had they seen our libraries, they would probably find it ridiculous and say, “Why do you need so much grandiloquence for knowing God?” They had very sound belief. Thanks to that sound belief, they had overcome matters you could not settle by means of referring to heaps of books. It is not possible to find in any other era of world history such a community of people who progressed from sheer ignorance to such a scholarly level and profound spiritual knowledge. After taking their place behind the Pride of Humanity, they found their true identity, they sensed their own truth, and they read their own selves correctly. With regard to knowledge of and love for God, they made a dramatic progress. They saw the realms beyond clearly and did their best in order to attain those wonders and to let other people attain them. Since we are not able to live even one tenth of the life they led, we cannot feel the same concern, suffering, and spiritual delight they did.

Unfortunately, we have much of empty talk and attitude of a know-it-all. We are matchless at paying lip service; there is no one we cannot persuade with demagogy. However, most of the time we are telling about ourselves. Had the Companions of the Prophet seen our situation, they would be surprised at our extensive talk and wonder why we engaged in so much useless talk. They would probably put it simply as, “God is sufficient; all the rest are transient” and astonish at our situation. If we are to compare our situation to theirs we can say that we are the unfortunate people of the lowest level and they were the distinguished people of the highest level.

I have much hope in Divine mercy and live with the hope that even a person like myself will enter Paradise. Given that I cherish such a hope about myself, I easily think the same way about others and say, “According to the nature of people’s deeds, Paradise has eight different gates; if we cannot enter from one maybe we can enter from another.” However, I am not quite sure whether they take us there with our present condition.

We have no right to revile any other people. Everybody must question their own condition: “How many times in my life I prostrated myself at night and cried for the troubles of other believers for an hour? Am I making any efforts for the sake of letting people meet faith?” Everybody can practice such self-questioning and weigh the degree of their share from true humanity. I am not making any exaggerations. Perfection of a person’s faith is to the degree of their compassion to the creation. The degree of a person’s profundity at this type of determination, resolution, endeavor, excitement, and letting people know the Messenger of God correctly reflects the profundity of their being human. When saintly people with deep insight look at you, they evaluate you from this perspective. No matter how you present yourself, no matter what achievements you make, and no matter how many schools you open, the actual factor that determines your true worth is your faith and your relationship with God, as well as your resulting feelings of compassion, suffering, concern, and caring excitements about the creation. The Qur’an relates the suffering of God’s Messenger about his people as, “Yet, it may be that you will torment yourself to death with grief, following after them, if they do not believe in this Message” (Kahf 18:6). Likewise, the noble Prophet stated that (the weight of responsibility expressed by) chapter Hud made his hair turn gray (Tirmidhi, Tafsiru’s Surah, 56 (6). Considering the dramatic flourishing that occurred during the Time of Bliss, the underlying reason was first of all the Messenger of God and then his Companions in his footsteps, with their due concern, suffering, and correct practice of the faith.

It is for this reason that a person’s degree of relation with God, of faith, knowledge of God, and enthusiasm for conveying lofty truths to humanity is the determining factor for the degree of the impact and flourishing that person will effect. Ultimately, the matter relates to having perfected faith, complete sincerity, pure certainty of belief, depth of knowledge and love of God, and having genuine enthusiasm. If you can be deepened in these aspects, the waves you will effect will be in the same scale and reach four corners of the world.

Question: Oppression is everywhere and exists in almost every form. How should believers respond to oppression when they have to face it?

Oppression, at its most basic form, is a transgression of boundaries and a violation of others’ rights. Killing an ant is oppressive, for nobody is authorized to take an animal’s right to life unjustly. If it is human who is being unjustly treated then it is definitely a form of oppression of a much higher magnitude. As for the oppression committed against a collective group of people, that is an incomparably greater and more horrible misdeed.

Irrespective of its exact nature, believers are seriously warned not to oppress others. Otherwise, it will appear on the Day of Judgment as a manifold darkness that will suffocate and distress the one who oppresses (Bukhari, Mazalim 9; Muslim, Birr 56). Each act of oppression and injustice – be it against animals, people, or even God – will appear before that person as a separate trouble in the Afterlife.

Oppression, according to some insightful scholars, is among one of the obstacles that can prevent a person from embracing faith. While it is an obstruction to having belief in God, it is similarly a significant reason that causes believers to drift out of the realm of faith.

Preventing oppression

Given that oppression is evil to this degree in regard to how other people are treated, it definitely needs to be prevented. According to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, everyone should try to prevent oppression depending upon their capability, power, and position be it by direct intervention or via verbal objection. In the event that a person cannot resist oppression physically or verbally, it is at least necessary to protest the oppressor in one’s heart (Sahih al-Muslim, Iman 78; Tirmidhi, fitan 11; Abu Dawud, salat 239). Likewise, it is a famous old adage that “(the) one who remains silent before oppression is a mute devil.”

Preventing oppression on a smaller scale is within the capability of individuals, but there are some forms of oppression that can only be prevented by the state. In this contemporary world when justice and democracy have wide – though not perfect – prevalence such oppressions are committed at degrees big enough that even states are not able to tackle them. Preventing those oppressions and successions of atrocities, by which people are swept away in floods of blood, families are shattered, children are orphaned, and spouses are widowed, can only be possible through the hands of certain international establishments and organizations. In this respect, those who remain silent before oppression while they have the power to stop it—be they individuals, a state, or an international establishment—in a way have a share in that oppression by turning a blind eye to it and not taking the preventive action that they could have, and they will be treated accordingly on the Day of Judgment.

As it is very important to take a stance against oppression and to prevent it, determining the correct strategy to follow while not making any mistakes with the method is no less important. People must reckon well from the beginning how they can prevent unfairness, be aware of their capabilities, and also must not exacerbate problems while attempting to prevent oppression. They must not commit evil by thinking that they are doing something good.

Nothing good can come from oppression

It is a gross delusion to think that one can reach any positive goal via oppression and injustice. While it is not possible to obtain any favorable outcome with oppression, it is not possible to reclaim one’s violated rights via oppression either. If people try to move themselves or their societies in a new direction, or try to reclaim the rights that they lost by means of oppression, then this will give way to new acts of oppression, violations of rights, and a shattered system of justice. If these demands are for rights to be upheld and for justice to prevail, then strict adherence to a righteous course is needed from beginning to end. Just as the end should be lawful, so should be the means and ways to that end.

We do not know exactly to what degree we can prevent any oppression and injustice in our time. What matters most is being on the path to setting things right and correcting previous misdeeds. The duties that befall the wayfarers of the righteous path are that they must always be representatives of what is right and truthful, open one’s heart to everyone, and also not respond to oppression and injustice committed in the same wrong way. To put this in the words of the Poet Nabi:

“Do not trouble anyone with oppression
Even if they did oppress you, you do not be unjust to them
Do not arrive at God’s door with complaints
As for those who oppressed you, leave them to the Divine.”

Be like Rumi

In many instances, we quote, with a little bit of boastful considerations, the names of masters such as Jalaluddin Rumi, Yunus Emre, Ahmad Yasawi, or Haji Baktash Wali and bring their tolerance to attention. It is easy to make mention of Rumi, but it is difficult to be like him. At a time when you make mention of Rumi, are you really able to open your arms for all people, even for those who insulted you? When they come upon you, do you seek ways to settle issues in a peaceful manner? Are you able to make those who bear hostility against you share the same peaceful considerations after a while? This is how you become a Rumi in the real sense.

Historians mention the following anecdote about the tolerance of Rumi: One day, a rude bigot accosted him and criticized his statements such as, “one of my feet is in the center of Islam, while the other is among all nations of the world.” He accused Rumi of apostasy, misguiding Muslims, and proceeded to let out an invective against him. Without ever interrupting the man, the venerable master listened to him peacefully with God-granted self-restraint. On seeing that the man stopped talking and had no other words to say, he asked if he was done. When the man replied in the affirmative, Rumi spoke with a soft voice and said, “You are most welcome; my heart is open for you too.”

This is the very point at which words cease. In such a situation, all of the negative feelings within the latter melted away. The grudge and hatred suddenly started pouring down in the form of fireworks of love. While it is possible to treat people with showers of light, why should we shower them with meteors instead?

If you are focused on representing the spirit of Rumi, even if those who show hostility towards you commit oppression and injustice against you for one, two, three, or four times, they will give up such acts after some time on account of not having the same kind of response from you. Now, while there is a way to settle issues with mildness and agreement, why should we engage in other behavior that will only spur ill-feelings and hatred?

One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that we can give up on our personal rights and forgive others for their unfair treatment of us. However, we do not have the authority to forgive on behalf of others when there is an offense against values like faith or country. When such an offense happens, we should make plausible explanations to offenders to show them what they are doing is wrong. If they still insist, we deny their claims with denouncements. If they still persist, then we sue them and claim compensation.

We must always act carefully to remain within the confines of laws and ethics, and we must never make concessions on our fairness when responding in these ways. It is paramount that we must always act humanely but assertively. Even while making certain clarifications, corrections, and denouncements, we always try to give positive messages to the other side and never make concessions from our own character. We voice what we are to say not with whisperings of Satan, but with the voice and breath of the Archangel Gabriel. Oppression and assaults only indicate the character of the offender. This situation should not avert people attached to faith and universal human values to act as becomes their own character.

Is it worth it?

This passing worldly life is neither worth committing oppression against others nor responding to their oppression in the same way. After all, each of us is a traveler in this world. After staying in this guesthouse that we call life, we will pass to the Afterlife in order to be brought to account for what we did here. Is it worth it to promote fighting? Is it worth it at all to cause disunity and dissension? Is it worth it at all to commit oppression and injustice?

In an anonymous saying, the simple and transient nature of the world is expressed as follows:

Behold with the eyes of wisdom, this world is but a guesthouse;
Not a single person remains settled, what a strange abode it is.
The share of a king and subject alike, is nothing but a plain shroud.
As for those who fall for it, what else can they be called but mad?

Humankind has oftentimes made use of oppression and hatred in order to solve the problems that we collectively faced. If only we could make use of love and tolerance from now on! If only we were able to open our hearts to everyone so that those who enter therein would never have worries of remaining without a seat. If only we would treat everyone with a deep feeling of respect and reverence, and if only we could read into other’s feelings, their cultural backgrounds, and treat everyone with a serious feeling of empathy! For whatever style of treatment we expect to receive from others, they similarly expect the same from us. If we expect respect, we must show respect. If we expect observance of our rights, we must observe everybody’s rights.

It is necessary to know that the problems in our time have taken a complicated form to such an extent that they cannot be tackled by those with narrow minds and dull thoughts. There is not much that those with radical thoughts, who act out of bigotry in order to pursue arrogant purposes, can do for the sake of conquering people’s hearts and bringing peace to humanity. Particularly with this harsh attitude of theirs, they can never evoke in hearts any love towards their own values. They cannot let others love the Pride of Humanity, peace and blessings be upon him, because they are too captivated by their own worldly, illicit desires.

Therefore, for the sake of solving the problems of humanity, there is a need for people with immense conscience, rich hearts, and profound thought. Just as Rumi brought people together anew with the plausible cures he came up with some 7-8 centuries ago, in the contemporary world when people are so detached from one another, when people cannot agree on anything, and relations are built upon conflict and hostility, the duty that falls to those with faithful hearts is to revive the spirit of Rumi once again. As far as this cannot be done, it will not be possible to put a stop to oppression and hostilities in different parts of the world. This is particularly the case if we consider to what degree world peace is under threat by ambitious tyrants and horrible weapons prepared with vengeful intentions. It will then be best understood how great the responsibility is of the altruistic souls who have dedicated their lives to love and tolerance.

Our modern society has gone astray during much of the past several centuries. While every person is in pursuit of one thing or another, we are searching for our own soul. If we can persist on this search on a sustainable path then we can hope that the days in which we will be revived as our true selves are very close; the days when we will turn towards our true nature and win back our best values.

Enduring a most unfortunate period, the last couple of generations have renounced their warm, cozy homes and embarked upon peculiar pursuits; they either took refuge in a world of “matter,” or rather machines. They fell prey to different fantasies, let themselves fall into the maddest of delusions, and spent their lifetimes amidst insanity. At times they turned into wild mad men, and their thoughts were stained with blood. This disorder has continued up to our days and these brutal and unrelenting sins are no more bearable.

Nowadays, however, they are growing more and more aware of the void they happen to be in and have started to open the doorways for alternative thoughts – even if only a little. They have started speaking about faith; they have even started to accredit some value to the past and its wisdoms. Indeed, though it was only yesterday that they made no mention of God or His Messengers, and that they insulted believers and cursed at our historical values, today they are adorning many of their thoughts with soul and meaning, weaving their words with the silk threads of the metaphysical. For this change to hold ground with this color and harmony we want, it is important that these divine days continue uninterrupted for another quarter century. Afterwards, perhaps we can be hopeful for a prosperous future.

To this day, those who have lost their spiritual power have gone to waste just like seeds that have decayed in infertile soil. Indeed, whatever has happened to this day cannot be undone, and many have been sacrificed, honor has been destroyed, decency has been tattered, and our innocence and purity have been shaken as a punishment for misinterpreting history. From now on, we must review our intentions and wish for the best. We must always be alert and awake not to leave any voids in our feelings, thoughts, or logic that may prevent us from serving others so that our future will not become soaked in blood and tears. We must take advantage of all possible opportunities when the hurricanes subside to some extent, and where signs appear on our horizon in order to breathe life into even the most lifeless points of time so that they become the voice of common sense. We have just started to gain a feeling of the mystery, magic, and endlessness of this “book of existence” and all of its contents that are put on exhibition in the universe. We must practice active patience, remain alert, and be prudent so that we are not held back and pushed further away from what is close at hand until the day the meaning and wisdom found in this “book of existence” become evident with the help of the sciences and allow us to learn the purpose of our lives. We must be careful to not suffer any spiritual or moral loss on what seems to be a winning path.

Indeed, in this apparently calm yet active period, as the promised divine days have started to break with their colorful flow, we must knead the dough of spirit and meaning that will shape the enlightened generation that represents the future. They will bear this spirit on their shoulders with their own coat of arms made of hues and patterns unique to them. We must knead that dough in our safe basins and in the best form we can so that our society will be able to step onto new lively formations with a rich heritage of thought and consciousness of history. While we, as a society, strive to realize this very significant task, there will be those who either knowingly or not will try to object to these vital efforts, not to mention those who will underestimate, belittle, and even reject the efforts altogether. In response to all of these hindrances, on one hand, we will make a great effort to strengthen our free will by starving the roots of our evil inclinations while uplifting our capacity to do good; on the other hand, we will exhibit a sensitivity to not allow any intellectual or logical voids in our plans and projects as we strive to advance with a purity of intention. We believe that because our ultimate goal is the consent of God and our provisions along the way are faith and sincerity, God will raise us with advances of mercy and favor along the way. No matter where we happen to be, we will be nurtured through His manifestations.  

Yes, as we close our eyes and fill ourselves with the exhilaration of serving God Almighty, the seeds we scatter throughout the four corners of the world will, through His Divine will, certainly find life one day. Even those we think have been lost will sway like ever-blooming ears of grain, and they will sing the melody of their good fortune when the season is right.

With favor and mercy from God, we will walk into the future with “faith and knowledge” taking the lead as “thought and worship” will be closely knit together. We will do our best to conform to “causes” and submit to God with a tight embrace in full acceptance of His will (tawakkul). Our hope will be the source of our action, and our patience will follow right behind like a trusted companion. Even retributions will be considered a blessing, and each blessing – just like an unexpected advance – are references to the reliability of the true source of everything.

We will walk, and He will always guide and protect us and will never abandon us throughout our journey. We will walk, as the light from the waves of the eternal worlds will manifest in our eyes, while our ears will have the ability to receive the truest of words without error, and our hearts will beat with inspirations of wisdom. This can be possible if we can maintain our relationship with Him as our Creator and us as the created, and do not forsake His kind favors to “familiarity” and monotony, for this may fade away “colors and freshness” like the winds of autumn.

We will walk away from today’s lethargic masses to discover the enlightened generations who offer much promise for a brand-new world. We will walk away from them without tarnishing the image of, or slandering, anyone by planning our thoughts according to our actions and carrying out our actions as lifeguards do so that others may live. We will do this to prove that there really are passengers who can be void of blood and grime, and void of revenge and hatred. We will keep walking without stumbling on our path and will not be obstructed by any obstacles along the way. We do not, and cannot, claim to pardon the thousand and one incidents of murder and brigandage that we have been witnesses to. When the laws and rights of the public are the matters at hand, the feeling of forgiveness and pardoning transforms into a feeling of justice, and the style of living closes off to inhumane behavior of any kind. Yes, it is requisite of one’s respect for humanity to transform goodness – and the bridges leading to goodness – into avenues and to award those who want to go on this destination. Likewise, respect for the human being also requires the prevention of evil and stopping those who engage in evil. Indeed, goodness must always be recognized and praised, and, at the same time, people must be warned against sins so that no one avoids accountability by saying, “The fault is not ours; we were driven to these ways.”

Those who think in this manner are actually trying to take refuge in such inconsistent excuses in order to escape the responsibility of their present wretchedness and misery. In fact, they can be described as disoriented and decayed souls that have been unable to appreciate and comprehend the distinction of being human. It is a fact that those who carry the spirit of true humanity have no other choice than to assume part of the responsibility that belongs to the society in which they too have risen and flourished. Such a sense of responsibility is the requisite of a humane spirit, comprehension, and thought – not to mention the command and will of the One who has equipped the human being with such dynamics. Provided that their conscience has not decayed completely, become atrophied, or that understanding has not died, it is unthinkable for a human being to be negligent of such a responsibility.

In terms of the contemplation of being truly human, we hold ourselves accountable for current mishaps and for the sake of the peace and security of tomorrow’s world. When we say “the human being” and “culture” we wish to underline once more the priority of “faith,” which is the first stage of true liberty and the only source of light to guide us to the final destination.

Indeed, the first phase and the highest priority in reviving out-of-control generations to their true human form is by embedding faith and all that it promises into the depths of their nature and character, and to ensure their continuity. Explaining to generations and feeding their souls with both the apparent and hidden aspects of existence by imbuing them with the culture of faith and making it possible for them to embrace all things with compassion will serve to liberate the generations who we have failed to keep under control and whose disintegration we have been unable to prevent. A spirit that is not cleansed through faith cannot be pulled completely away from savagery, avoid aggression, love or compromise with other people, and, above all, cannot begin to reach towards the heavens. It is inevitable for such a person to be tainted by greedy ambitions and to live a life full of grudges and hatred, and to have their heart be blackened with grime. Truly, faith enables the human to hear, listen, and interpret existence in a completely different way by imbuing knowledge and love of the eternal, building a connection with all of existence, and by moderating hatred and flaws. It saves a person from the misery of disorientation.

At the present time, generations from every walk of life who have reached such deep levels of faith, and thus – though weak at the present moment – hold promise and hope for the future, must be imbued with a zeal for service to humanity and a feeling of responsibility and duty free from the promise of fame, fortune, or status. They must be nurtured to have no expectations for recompense so that they neither dive into thoughts of gaining support from any government, from the public, or centers of power so that they will not raise their hopes for future prosperity. In this way, strong structures that flourish with knowledge and wisdom will light the lanterns of our thoughts in every corner, and we will not be held back by certain desires and ambitions. Instead, we will continue on with feelings of altruism, purity in our souls, seeking God’s good will and consent, and always aware that He is the one who employs us in this service.

The fact that a love for Divine Truth holds great importance, in itself, is also something that should certainly be underlined. The power that forms when reading, contemplating, studying, and researching are united with a love of connecting to the truth – for the sole fact that it is the truth – would, I believe, be enough to open the doors for the whole universe. For centuries, while certain nations have been lifted towards the skies through a love of the truth, even if only in certain fields, others have always been the ones to watch from afar with a desire and longing to imitate their success. They have taken it in with a sigh, watching like paralyzed spirits that are bound by the chains which enclose our feelings and thoughts. Nowadays, even if we can appreciate the fact that this important matter is at least being articulated, syllable by syllable by a certain group of people, it is still difficult to say that it is being handled in the mindset of true scientific thinking. We are in need of true scientific thinking that has, with its cultural and ethical dimensions, settled over the blockade of belief in the truth and will awaken in our souls a thought of physical and spiritual transformation towards the heavenly realms. The constant development of thought, the transformation of theory into practice, and the promise of advancement that such a transformation holds have, so far, only been possible, and will only be possible, through the push of such scientific thinking. True scientific thinking is what is fundamental; science and technology, on the other hand, are merely products derived from it. We are witnesses to the many high caliber individuals, to the heroes of determination, to such great performances, and lifetimes dedicated to this cause.

Those who will reconstruct the future will come from among these heroes. They will turn around this narrow, contaminated world, won over by adversities, to construct a wider, purified and more harmonious world that will remind us of heavenly beauties. They will do this to the extent that we are able to teach them love for the truth, the spirit of research, and the nuance of renewal. This will raise them to a level where they are able to distinguish between what does and does not belong to the roots of spirituality and meaning.

While the generations that have been connected with these dynamics and have reached a love for truth are considered the heroes of their own people, the disoriented masses who have lost their souls and meaning will always be considered a source of shame and dishonor and will darken the future of our society.

We foster the hopes that our intellectuals who stand in a position of influence will take advantage of the opportunities at hand, prepare future generations to the throne of hearts, and turn the pits of failure into zeniths of victory.

This is not the first time that the world is witnessing a pandemic; previous incidents were regional in scope and did not affect the affluent segment of society. However, COVID-19 is first of its kind in modern times whose impact was felt wide across many nations precisely because of the fact that its carrier happens to be the modern upwardly mobile segment of the globalized world. Apart from this class dimension, COVID-19 has also ignited the old debate of religion vs science as its faster spread has been traced to congregation of religious faith groups across many communities amidst a worldwide call for social distancing in order to contain the spread of the virus.

Thus, the congregation of South Korea’s Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Wuhan has been widely held responsible for half of South Korea’s COVID-19 contractions and in other parts of other South East countries. A major source of COVID-19 in India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and further in parts of West Asia was traced to the congregation of an Indian transnational Islamist movement known as Tablighi Jamaat. The Shia religious congregation in Qom, the major center of Shia Islamic knowledge production, was identified as the major source for the spread of COVID-19 in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Bahrain. A good number of Hindu devotees defied Indian lockdown and gathered in various temples on the occasion of the Hindu festival RamNavemi. A few Sikh devotees were arrested for illegal gathering at Gurudawara, a place of worship for the Sikh community. There are several reports from the USA that many denominational Churches and orthodox Jewish religious groups continue to hold congregation for religious practices and have been found to be instrumental in the spread of COVID-19 within the country. Worst of all, in view of the conservative nature of American society, many states in USA have officially exempted places of worship from ban on gathering and stay-at-home order [1].

Given the global demonization of Islam, Islamic movements, and the widespread prevalence of Islamophobia, Islamic congregations received wide attention from the public for its blind faith and conservative, messianic, and eschatological approach towards life and religion. However, a careful observation reveals that similar approach to religion, life, and normal congregational practices during the COVID-19 pandemic has been found among segments of many religions and their communities including Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, and many others as mentioned above. While religious gatherings have been blamed for the spread of this virus, “secular gatherings” have also been potential carriers. For instance, one can trace the roots of this virus’ spread across Europe to an Austrian Ski resort, a famous tourist destination in the village of Ischgl in Tyrol, despite warnings beforehand from public health officials as early as March 5.

It is in the above context, particularly the raging issue of religion vs science or religious vs secular, that I am trying to figure out a “Hizmet” approach towards dealing with this global pandemic. How does Hizmet, a civic-social Islamic movement with a good presence in many parts of the world, approach the problem of COVID-19, a highly contagious virus that has brought the world to standstill and is threatening millions of lives? One way of approaching this subject matter is to find out the official statement of Fethullah Gülen, whose pacific exposition of Islam’s universal values (based upon the examples of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and his Companions) through speeches, writings, and concerted actions has inspired this movement and continue to provide spiritual, moral, and ethical leadership to the movement while it is facing the existential dilemma in the backdrop of the brutal crackdown of the Erdogan regime in Turkey, its birthplace. However, listening to the sermon of Gülen is one thing; developing a Hizmet approach to COVID-19 is another. The latter needs to be excavated from the life trajectory of Gülen, and everyday Hizmet praxis as they have been unfolding while dealing with different contingencies of life situations from time to time.

It seems to me that Hizmet’s approaches towards the phenomenon of COVID-19 is shaped through two broad principles: (A) relationship between religion and science in general and (B) revival of ethical dimension of Islam as exemplified by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Hizmet sees the relationship between the religion and science as one of complementarity or one of organic whole, as opposed to modern discourse which presumes a perennial inherent conflict between the two, mostly shaped through Church-State struggle and development of positivism in the European Continent which eventually led to the secular’s high distrust towards religion and regulation, control, marginalization and finally banishment of religion to the other world. The more religion, science, and secular became modern, ideological, and identity discourse, the more they became bereft of their inner ethical dimension, lost their internal connectivity to each other, and finally found themselves in an antagonistic relationship, often resulting into violent responses. For Hizmet, religion and science are two mega methods and approaches to address the various aspects of the ever-changing complexities of life processes with a view to create a harmony between their physical-material, metaphysical, and spiritual aspects.

It is this ethic driven human discourse upon which Gülen constructed a philosophy of life based upon the unity of religion and science, heart and mind, universal and particular, and reason and faith which on the one hand prevents the “process of othering” – whether emanating from an exclusive understanding of religion or secular – and on the other helps in dispelling the fear of relatively conservative religio-socio segments of humanity towards scientific-technological solution to human problem such as COVID-19. We learn from history how religious bigotry and fear of treatment of medical science resulted in many deaths during the period of epidemics in the past. The resistance of Ulama (clergy) to state’s prescribed medical measures including quarantine during plague epidemic (1835) and Cholera epidemic (1848) in the Ottoman Empire, particularly in Egypt, has been well documented [2]. Today, a similar situation has come to exist in India wherein a vast segment of the Indian Muslim population is currently exhibiting a strong resistance and non-cooperative attitude towards undergoing any kind of medical testing. It must be recalled here that the quarantine system, or what is referred as “social distancing,” was first invented by the sixth Umayyad caliph Al-Walid in early eighth-century AD, in Damascus, to combat the spread of the virus.

A second aspect of Hizmet’s approach towards COVID-19 comes from its ethical understanding of Islam and its universal principles and values which arise from a human-centered Islamic theology and take form in Gülen’s vast sermons and published works as well as everyday praxis of Hizmet movement. Thus, like any Islamic movement, or for that matter like any believer, absolute belief in hereafter (life after death) is the cardinal principle of the Hizmet movement. However, unlike many other religious groups the Hizmet movement does not disassociate the “earthly life” from the Hereafter. In other words, whereas many religious movements, whether with a political or social focus, tended to pay a very less premium on building human resources with an idea that real life begins in Hereafter, the Hizmet movement, under the spiritual leadership of Gülen, invested heavily in human resources and in developing human capabilities through the combination of Islamic universal ethics, morality, and scientific knowledge. This system has an understanding that the most important call of Islam, as exemplified in the model of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the preservation and balanced growth of lives on Earth which demands ceaseless positive actions that will be accounted for in the Hereafter. All other principles and rituals of Islamic practices must be subjected to this fundamental principle of Islamic universalism.

It is this cardinal principle which led the Hizmet movement to develop a “praxis of service, trust, and cooperation” with an eventual goal of shaping human potential towards becoming an insan-i kamil (the perfected human). Guided by the Islamic principle of preservation of life in view of challenges posed by COVID-19, Gülen promptly issued a formal statement on March 13, 2020 offering his profound condolences to all those who lost their loved ones, asked people (and he was surely not alone in doing so) to trust public health officials and to take precautions based upon medical and scientific data, to show empathy with victims, and offer help to the needy in dealing with COVID-19. When I inquired from one senior volunteer of Hizmet in India about Hizmet’s position on COVID-19 he immediately responded without any pause that “protection of life is the most important duty of Muslims in accordance with Islamic faith” and then further stated, “whom to preach to if there will be no human beings?” Unfortunately, many Islamic movement leaders and government officials in Muslim communities fumbled and did not prevent Muslim gatherings either on Friday or on other social occasions partly due to ideological understanding of iman (faith) and Hereafter with a consequence that they became the major source of COVID-19 in their respective countries.

In view of mandatory daily prayers in Islam including Friday congregation a question has emerged whether a mosque, as well as Islamic congregation on Friday, is an essential part of Islamic faith, and whether or not it is permissible to abandon or forbid these prayers. I do not have training in Islamic theology and hence I lack requisite competence to reflect on such questions. However, what is minimally clear to me in light of my understanding of Islamic history in general, and discourse of the Hizmet movement in particular, is that Islam enjoins the preservation of creation and a healthy life on this Earth which is evident from the expression of mankind as “inheritors of the Earth” in the words of Gülen. All other principles, rituals, practices and value systems connected with interpretive field of Islam must be subjected to the central maxim of Islamic faith: the duty to preserve life on Earth as God’s vicegerent/trustee.

The life trajectory of Gülen and Hizmet movement, which spans over more than 50 years, demonstrates this divine mandate: building all round human capital to manage the affairs and challenges of earthly life through rigorous ethical, moral, and spiritual training, creation of quality educational institutions and construction of cultural-dialogue centers all over the world with a view to develop a mutual understanding of each other to address the common challenges of humanity. For this reason, the Gülen (Hizmet) movement avoided giving an Islamic nomenclature to their education and dialogue institutions so as to meet the principle of Islamic universalism. Education and dialogue initiatives are for all and bring them together in the common goal of serving humanity. One is therefore not surprised when one does not find a mosque-like structure where Gülen lives in Pennsylvania.

On the other hand, the government in Muslim countries and various Islamic movements have prided in constructing mosques and Islamic madrassas in modern times and have transformed them as the most important institutions of Islamic identity at the cost of moral, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of Islamic faith. The Erdoğan regime in Turkey is spearheading the construction of mosques and madrassas within and outside Turkey with a view to wear the mantle of Caliph in coming years. As Islam has been transformed into a matter of “market identity,” one is not shocked to see how many Muslims in many countries in violation of appeal of their governments, World Health Organization guidelines, and in violation of Islamic ethics of life preservation gathered together to perform the Friday prayer! The Pakistani government had to obtain a fatwa from Al Azhar, the famous Sunni Islamic seminary, to enforce its ban on Friday congregations!

COVID-19 is a grim reminder to the globalized humanity of the spiritual call of Gülen and principles of Hizmet movement: (a) that the world is truly inter-connected and inter-dependent; (b) that the transparency in dealings, dialogue, mutual trust and cooperation and collaborative research is needed to overcome the common challenges of humanity such as COVID-19; (C) that humanity is in dire need of philosophy that restores the dialogue between mankind and nature (ecology and environment) and develops a harmonious relationship between the two and connects different cultures, traditions and economies based on the universal value of dialogue, tolerance, trust and respect; (d) that modernity must realize its limitations of establishing supremacy over nature; and (E) that mankind must undergo ethical, moral and spiritual training to overcome his/her greed and ego, to develop self-restraint and build the moral capacity to live together and cooperate.

Last, if not least, Hizmet has developed a “culture of self-disciplining” and “solution providing perspective,” which has proved to be its biggest asset in successfully confronting many challenges thrown before it from time to time, of which the most recent one is brutal crackdown of the Erdoğan regime since 2013. These two aspects of Hizmet movement is badly needed to fight the challenges of COVID-19 till the time a medical breakthrough in terms of vaccination/medicine develops.

Notes

1. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/news/2020/03/27/482359/religious-exemptions-coronavirus-pandemic-will-worsen-crisis/
2. Birsen Bulmus, Plague, Quarantines and Geopolitics in the Ottoman Empire, Edinburgh University Press, 2012, especially Chapter 2, pp 15-38. See also Khaled Fahmy, ‘Law, medicine and society in nineteenth-century Egypt’, Égypte/Monde arabe, vol. 34, 1998, PP, 14-15 available at: https://journals.openedition.org/ema/1488, accessed on April 18, 2029.

About 3500 years ago in Egypt, Moses began to preach the religion that calls for submission to God, which he inherited from his forefather Abraham. According to the belief in that era, the ruler was considered a son of God, even a god on earth.

The Pharaoh said (to his chiefs): “Let me kill Moses, and let him call upon his Lord! I fear lest he alter your religion (replacing it with his), or lest he provoke disorder in the land” (Mu’min 40:26). What is meant by “religion” as mentioned in the verse refers to the civilization, i.e. the overall social order, of that society. The pharaoh was rather concerned about his own reign, like many other tyrants, but he professed as if he was concerned about his people and that he wanted to get rid of Moses for their good.

The following verse expresses this fact: “They said: ‘These two men are surely sorcerers intent on driving you out of your land with their sorcery, and doing away with your exemplary way of life’” (Taha 20:63).

Then the Pharaoh increased his torment to the believers and closed up their temple. In that case, God commanded Moses and his brother to take their houses as places of worship (a center of learning) (10:87). The essential judgment on worship was to be observed in the temple, but the command to pray at home was a special judgment to be implemented during this period of torment.

We are currently facing another crisis, though entirely different from the persecution that Moses and his followers endured, that is requiring us to temporarily close our houses of worship and instead pray at home. In these days of Coronavirus, all faith communities, including Muslims, Jews, and Christians, abide by this special judgment. For Muslims even the congregational Friday Prayer, which all males without valid excuse must strictly attend, is suspended. Everybody prays at home instead for the same reason of protection from harm. Whether they observe prayers or not, most people are at an obligatory retreat.

From a believer’s perspective, these days are offering us some serious food for thought. Is Coronavirus on a mission sent by God to warn people who exceed in wrongdoing? Are we being told to come to our senses, to make up our minds, step back from wrong, act in accordance with our purpose of creation, not neglect our families for the sake of greedy pursuits, and live in a way to be eligible for eternal happiness?

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, taught his people about belief in God. He was able to preach for only a very short amount of time, only to be accepted by a limited number of people around him all of whom suffered and were exterminated under the cruel Roman Empire. Yet, his message was not silenced; by the third century after he was gone, a great majority of people ruled by Roman Empire accepted his invitation. Muslims believe Jesus Christ was ascended to the heavens to be sent back to complete his mission as a renovator of faith in God in the Latter Times in the way of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who, according to some Muslim scholars, is the “advocate” (Paraclete – or Parakletos, the Praised One) mentioned in John 14:16. It is believed that Jesus Christ will lead his followers – now dispersed in many denominations more so than any other tradition has [1] – and will unite them back in worship. Coronavirus has struck at a time that is most special to the Christian community, and thus giving them an opportunity to reflect on faith. It was the time of Lent, a six-week period which ended on April 11. Observing Christians have sought closeness to God by observing different forms of worship such as fasting, praying, and supporting the needy while hoping to be more receptive to the call of revival by COVID-19. Taking this opportunity, it is my hope that Christians, who are adorned with these lofty qualities, had a happy Easter holiday, which was on April 12 this year. I also celebrate the Passover holiday of the Jewish community, which was on April 8.

As a matter of fact, even the timing of this global retreat is worthy of attention; similar to Christian Lent and Easter, Muslims are in the midst of the holy three months of Rajab, Shaban, and Ramadan, while the Jewish community have been celebrating Passover within these days of retreat. Surely the followers of other traditions such as Buddhism and Hinduism will evaluate this period in meaningful retrospect. The indigenous people of Canada pray as follows:

 “O our exalted Creator! We wish you to be with us. We wish you to help our diseased ones and our friends who are far away. When we lose hope, please remind us to be thankful for the blessings of water which gives life and the earth which bears us. O God, please help us know that all people are our relatives!”

Muslims have not undergone as huge a diversification as has been the case in Christianity in terms of the essentials of faith. However, many Muslim nations have failed to duly understand the true message of the religion, could not interpret its commandments, nor could they practice it properly. As those in power did not govern them well for a very long time, many countries of the Muslim world have lagged behind with regards to civilization, ethics, culture, and public administration. In a way, they have alienated themselves to the essence of their own values. Interestingly, social studies indices that conduct research on which countries perform better on establishing institutions that reflect Islamic values and principles, there is not a single Muslim country among the first thirty [2]. There are countries like Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, and Canada among the first ten. The brilliant face of Islam entered a period of eclipse in the Muslim world, and then the eclipse got to be constant. Accordingly, Corona is virtually making the following call to Muslims: “You did not thoroughly understand and practice religion God revealed to you by means of His Messenger. Come back home, you need a revival. Make up your mind to make wise use of this opportunity. Evaluate the oncoming opportunity of Ramadan well in your home. Try to make up for things you neglected for years. Make self-criticism, come to grips with yourself! Become repentant and ask forgiveness!”

May this holy Ramadan, the month of the Holy Qur’an, be a means of God’s good pleasure and happiness for all Muslims.

With Coronavirus, and for that matter with all such tribulations, perhaps God Almighty makes us realize that He has not ceased to care for the humanity He created: “Shall We take away this Reminder from you (and leave you to your own devices), because you are a people wasteful (of your God-given faculties and committing excesses)?” (Zukhruf 43:5). Thus, He gives an opportunity to people before the Day of Judgment to repent and experience a “revival” now, so that we can be absolved “there.”

Notes

1. De Glasenapp. 1954. Les cinq grandes religions, Paris, Payot, 1954, p. 415.
2. http://islamicity-index.org/wp

The origins of a seemingly nameless civic-social movement which later became popularly known as the “Gülen Movement” or “Hizmet Movement” date back to the early 1970s in Turkey.  The Movement’s goal is to produce “social good” throughout the world, which are manifested around peaceful activities like promoting dialogue among communities, human rights, love, tolerance, ethics, education, women’s issues, and eradication of poverty. It derives inspiration from the ideas and thoughts of Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim cleric who is known as “Hojaefendi.” The Movement has successfully nurtured a generation to establish a global network of socio-cultural institutions including schools, coaching centers, universities, media outlets, publishing houses, hospitals, dialogue centers, and relief organizations.

At its core, the Movement is a faith based social movement that takes inspiration from Islamic ideals to reinforce the civic, moral, and ethical goals of Islam. The goal is to transform individuals and society in such a way to produce a “golden generation,” which in turn provides leadership to all walks of human life.

The Movement has espoused a purely civic social aspect of Islam – as opposed to discourses of “Islam and modernity” – to universalize the message of the Movement which has ultimately paved the way for it to become transnational.

“The movement encapsulates a faith-inspired peace-invoking service. It promotes universal values, superiority of the law and human rights along with freedom of belief, freedom of religion and freedom of expression.” [1]

As the movement’s chief source of inspiration, Fethullah Gülen dwells upon the universal values of humanity as an integral part of Islam’s fundamental doctrine and values. His approach to faith bends on Sufism and this has always made him a propounder of the human-centric discourse of Islam. The goal of this discourse is to promote a civic and ethical transformation of an individual and society at large, based upon the prophetic model of insan al-kamil (perfect human being). Gülen maintains that “Morality is the essence of religion and a most fundamental portion of the divine message. The Prophet, who is the greatest embodiment of morals, said: Islam consists in good morals; I have been sent to perfect and complete good morals” [2].

Gülen further underlines that the basic dynamics of a life of action and thought is directly tied with our spiritual life, which is based upon our religious values [3]. Gülen’s very idea of hizmet, meaning “service,” reminds the spiritual fervor of Imam Rabbani’s “abadiyat,” (meaning eternity) notion, becomes in a way “service to eternal God.” The attainment of “service to eternity” can only be achieved by serving the humanity. This universal Islamic discourse of Gülen discards the need of state agencies as a perquisite to serve Islam and its interests. Rather, he maintains that Islam can best be served by participating in socially beneficial activities such as promoting peace, imparting education, providing relief and health facilities. To emphasize this point, Gülen has said; “Islam does not need a state to survive; in the modern age, civil society can independently maintain Islam even where Muslims are not in majority” [4].

These conceptual and ideological clusters helped create and broaden the vision of transnational networks of Hizmet Movement that had entered the global arena and made it to engage in a comprehensive perspective on social-civic challenges. Its transnational character became even firmer when Gülen himself moved to the United States and was actively involved in promoting and improving the overall wellbeing of society investing his robust efforts to foster dialogue and peace. Since then, themes such as peace, human rights, ethics, pluralism, altruism, reconciliation and dialogue have occupied even more space in the center of the Movement’s agenda in order to gain a better understanding of, and appreciation for, cultures, histories, civilizations and traditions.

Despite its current national experience in its homeland Turkey differs widely in terms of the social relevance and political interactions, at the transnational level one can hardly doubt that the Movement has progressively developed an ability to address and mobilize around problems of a social and civic nature.

Unlike many other Islamic modernist movements including Salafism and al-Nahdah in Arabia, the Muhammadiyah movement in Indonesia, the Aligarh and Nadwa movements in India, the Hizmet Movement has been characterized by mass interaction and participation at local, national, and transnational levels. This interaction and participation have attracted thousands of volunteers across the globe and have generated a global network of thousands of socio-cultural institutions including schools, coaching centers, universities, hospitals, dialogue centers, relief organizations etc. Their transnational networks active on global and local civic social issues have multiplied, built alliances with national and supranational civil actors including UN’s institutions, and influenced their views and actions.

Professor Anwar Alam maintains:

“Hizmet is a transnational civil society movement calling up everyone to collaborate around a common ideal of good work for humanity. The movement aims to facilitate an environment in which all can work together in a pluralistic, peaceful, all embracing spirit and voluntary altruism, regardless of subscription to a certain faith.” [5]

Unlike other movements, Hizmet’s most effective paradigm of conceptualizing such an unusual combination of coalitions, coordination, and diversities of convergence and pluralism, of national and transnational struggles is an example of a model grassroots movement.

Transnational networking of the Movement has emerged as a crucial aspect of its global activities and as the main form of organizational linkage between local nation-based civic actors to the cross-border activism of Hizmet. The Movement aptly fits into Robert Putnam’s theory on “Social Capital” which refers to “the connections among individuals, social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them.” Hizmet’s transnational network is a result of its employment of “social trust” and “reciprocity.”

Thus, these forms of movement within Hizmet can be characterized by voluntary horizontal and, at times, vertical patterns of coordination that are reciprocal and asymmetrical. Within the Hizmet Movement, in particular, the transnational network can be understood as maintaining coordination among different civil society actors including both organizations and individuals such as experts, located in several countries, based on a shared frame of work, and investing joint efforts for common good. Being a faith based movement, the crucial factor that motivates its volunteers is, as Anwar Alam rightly observed, “the in-built Islamic cognitive structure of the ‘ikhlas-iman-hijrah-dawa’” linkage that provides the motivational resources for the expansion of the movement.” While detailing the micro structure of the Movement he concluded, “in short, the whole Hizmet Movement runs on the informal principle of consultation, trust, cooperation, and faith” [6].

In spite of the different perspectives and viewpoints in course, the Movement flourished as a self-organized and self-sustained actor on the global scene with its own policy priorities and agenda for social-civic changes. The Movement is clearly transnational in its very nature and in the reach of its activism that converges in fostering universal values. While having such a vivid picture of the transnational character of the Movement, one can rightly argue that this transnational character became the reason the Movement not only survived but thrived, in wake of the so called failed coup attempt of 2016 and subsequent witch hunts and purges that were launched by the Turkish regime.

References

1 Alam, Anwar. 2019. For the sake of Allah, The Origin, Development, and Discourse of the Gülen Movement. Blue Dome Press, USA, p. 28.

2 Gülen, M. Fethullah. 1998. Towards the Lost Paradise. Izmir: kaynak.  Al-Bukhari, “Al-adab-ul-Mufrad” no. 273, and  Ibn-Sa’ad, “al-tabaqat” vol.1, p. 192.

3 Ibid, p. 87.

4 Quoted in Mustafa Akyol, “What made the Gulen Movement Possible” in International Conference Proceedings: Muslim World in Transition: Contributions of the Gülen Movement, Leeds Metropolitan University Press, London, October 2007, p. 31.

5 Alam, op. cit. p. 27.

6 Alam, op. cit. p. 159-164.