Masses who have developed with different thoughts and objectives that are in conflict, and who have been deprived of positive cultivation, they form a society wherein passion, animosity, and hatred run rampant. Such a society promises nothing in the way of goodness and decency.

The harmony in this resplendent book of the universe continues with the mutual support of all things, living and non-living, and their coming together to form a cohesive whole. Every kind of destruction and devastation transpires due to the collision of opposing currents. Such destruction is proportionate to the intensity of the clash.

Human societies are united under the same feelings, thoughts, and visions. They reach spiritual perfection with the same edification and all have a promising future.

As for those masses who have developed with different thoughts and objectives that are in conflict, and who have been deprived of positive cultivation, they form a society wherein passion, animosity, and hatred run rampant. Such a society promises nothing in the way of goodness and decency. In such a tumultuous society, the odds of an individual finding his or her true purpose and attaining serenity are unlikely – and perhaps even impossible. This is especially true when that society’s chief institutions are at the epicenter of the upheaval. When this happens, the society has become completely disordered. As a result, chaos and confusion reign.

However, the regularity of human societies, as with the order and harmony in the universe, is necessary and indispensible, both so that humanity can conform to nature’s universal harmony and so that humans do not contradict their own innate disposition. Every movement that does not adhere to the general symphony present in the book of the universe is a debacle, and the populace that falls prey to this erroneous movement is very unfortunate.

As such, in a population where successive oppressions and counter aggressions in the name of reprisal form a vicious cycle, the turmoil and mayhem resulting from disputes, uncertainties, and above all, deficiencies of the heart and soul, will engulf its surroundings like a terrifying tornado. In the ensuing terror, none will have the security to consider and examine the events or the reasons behind them. And of course, in the meantime, with collisions taking place one after another, the nation-tree will be shaken over and over again; homes will be intermittently destroyed, and individuals left stupefied. If only those rushing to society’s rescue in the sphere of belief and thought possessed a sense of order, faith in renewal, the power of persuasion, and sincerity and earnestness. Alas! Not in the least!

Virtually none of them has embarked upon this task with a clear worldview, an initial plan and system, or any anxiety over their destiny. Perhaps, with respect to the majority, even those who first sensed and recoiled in the face of such danger, especially the sensitive and exceptionally spiteful, were so unrefined in spirit that they said “yes” to every kind of tyranny, attack, and domination for the sake of satiating their carnal selves…

How sad it is that in this struggle, which defies all reason and comprehension – or more precisely, in this uproar – those most wronged and perpetually subjected to tumult have been the innocent multitudes. These naive masses, united by their centuries old cultural and historical values, have been unable to determine quite where they have come from and where they are going. They have been dragged into error after error, unaware of whose account they were acting. They have been corrupted and afflicted even more as their intellectuals have been denying their past and all they ought to take pride in, who could have otherwise served as a beacon of light and direction. When, eventually, the seeds scattered on our soil with countless ill intentions sprang up and developed, all segments of society formed into “enemy-camps” ready for conflict.

The masses have become such an ill-fated and uninhibited horde-who excuse everything as permissible, obliterate in one stroke all that is sacred, and ridicule all their values-that an individual falling into their clutches is but a vagrant, not bound by any limitations. And, as such, the national spirit worn away for centuries by internal erosion, and paralyzed in these ill-omened hands, has become completely bedridden.

If only the behavior of those wanting to protect their spirit in the face of such destructive movements were heartfelt, valiant, compassionate, and constructive… Alas! They too, could not establish the expected balance and provide the people with a sense of security…

On the contrary, by responding to excessiveness with excessiveness, they sacrificed myriad magnificent, righteous, and beneficial things. In this chaos, truth was slaughtered innumerable times; on top of that, those who slaughtered it did so for another presumed truth. How many times the masses were fooled and the multitudes were set against each other with wrong being shown as right and right being shown as wrong! Time and time again, after the battles erupting between enemy camps exhausted both groups, rifts had already formed that were difficult to heal.

Indeed, in this collective chaos, however harmful and destructive this ravenous “miscreant-spirit” has been, those naive immature spirits unable to rest their defense on a sensible system and who return “hate” for hate and “anger” for anger, have been just as detrimental. And thus, on one side are those miserable creatures who have rejected all their human values, have denied their past and their source of pride, and through an ever-increasing estrangement, have completely altered their nature-those irreverent, unloving, rootless, disbelieving slaves of their desires. And on the other side, up against these wretched creatures, are only those simpletons, deprived of the fighting spirit and ideal, who respond with anger, coercion, and brute force… For years on end, people grappled with the waves emerging from these opposing currents, resisted all these eddies, were assaulted again and again, and were repeatedly abandoned to hopelessness…

At this time, we await a community of devotees, who will “neutralize” these damaging currents. They will be respectful of the truth, hold the sake and pleasure of God over everything else, possess reason and conscience, have enlightened minds, radiant hearts, and souls that take flight in the realms high above. They will be reverent towards all the universal values we inherited from our forebears, to traditions and customs, to art and culture, and to morality and sound upbringing. This cadre would not overturn the spiritual roots and historical values that have held us on our feet for centuries. On the contrary, they would revive these in the face of changing world conditions; and, viewing each of these as a part of the national structure, would take complete ownership of them.

At a time when our sense of identity faces annihilation, this group of blessed ones-the possessors of this “sense of sacred suffering” who take upon themselves the task of its rescue-will applaud goodness and neutralize evil. They will do so by thwarting the internal decay and discord that has gnawed away at society for years on end, by ensuring a road for peace, and by removing the archaic methods, damaging fanaticisms, and monopolist designs used by both groups and which have crippled our society.

Today, when society’s ailments have reached their peak, when real enmity and our enemies have clearly emerged, and when the dialogue we have with the world to which we are connected gains strength with every passing day, we are exceedingly hopeful for humankind and hold the belief that we will rise once again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notes

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

According to truth-seeking scholars, ihsan (perfect goodness) is an action of the heart that involves thinking according to the standards of truth; forming the intention to do good, useful things and then doing them; and performing acts of worship as best as possible and in the consciousness that God sees them. To attain perfect goodness, an initiate must establish his or her thoughts, feelings, and concepts on a firm belief, and then deepen that belief by practicing the essentials of the religion and training his or her heart to receive Divine gifts and be illuminated by the light of His manifestations. Only one who has attained such a degree of perfect goodness can really do good to others just for the sake of God, without expecting anything in return.

According to a Prophetic saying, perfect goodness is that you worship God as if you were seeing Him; for even if you do not see Him, He certainly sees you. The most comprehensive and precise meaning of perfect goodness is that there is no fault in an initiate’s action, and that he or she is always conscious that God is always watching. An initiate must concentrate on his or her actions with all of his or her will, feelings, awareness, and outer and inner senses. An initiate who is aware of God’s supervision to this degree, and who therefore strives to act in the best way possible, cannot help but do good to others. Doing good to others then becomes an essential attribute of his or her nature, and radiates as light radiates from the sun.

Ihsan, in the sense of doing good to others, is summed up in the Prophet’s principle of desiring for one’s fellow believer whatever one desires for oneself. Its universal dimension is defined in the following Prophetic Tradition:

Surely, God has decreed that you excel in whatever you do. When you lawfully punish someone by killing, do it kindly; when you slaughter an animal, slaughter it kindly. Let him who will slaughter it sharpen his knife and avoid giving the animal much pain.

Consciousness of goodness is like a mysterious key that opens the door of a virtuous circle. An initiate who opens that door and steps into that illuminated corridor enters the “spiral” of a mysterious ascension, as if stepping onto an escalator. In addition to being endowed with this virtue, the correct use of one’s free will to do good and refrain from evil will result in an advance of two steps for each step taken: Is the reward of excellence other than excellence? (55:60). As we read in commentaries on the Qur’an or books of the Prophetic Traditions:

Once God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, he who was truthful and confirmed, asked his Companions about the verse: Do you know what Your Lord means by this verse? The Companions answered: God and His Messenger know better. He explained: The reward of the one upon whom I conferred belief in Divine Unity is nothing but Paradise.

When the consciousness of goodness invades one’s heart like clouds of rain, Divine favors begin to pour down. The possessor of such a heart, addressed by the verse: For those who do good is the greatest good, and even more (10:26), feels the profound pleasure of having been created as a human being.

In addition to the blessings of Divine grace in return for good actions, Divine gifts issue from God’s Graciousness and Kindness in return for a heart’s sincere intention. We are unable to conceive of or describe such gifts.

A sound heart leads one straight to God without any deviation, and goodness is the heart’s greatest and most rewarding action. Goodness is the safest way to ascend the slopes of sincerity, the most secure means to reach the peaks of being approved by God, and the consciousness of self-possession before the Eternal Witness. Of the many people equipped with belief, as well as deep fear and reverence for Him, who have taken the wings of good action and set out toward Him, only a few succeed in reaching the peak. May those who have not yet reached it try their utmost to do so. Those who have reached the peak feel deeply the ugliness of whatever God dislikes and are immune to it, while they are ready to do whatever He likes and to adopt such as their second nature.

O God! Favor us with a good, happy end in all our affairs, and save us from humiliation in the world and punishment in the Hereafter. Assign for us from awe of You such amount that it may intervene between us and any disobedience to You. And bestow blessings and peace on Muhammad, our master and the master of those distinguished with perfect goodness, and on his Family and Companions, all of them.

We have not sent you but as a mercy to all people. (21:107)

The verse tells that it is God’s mercy that caused Muhammad to be a universal messenger, that Prophet Muhammad is the messenger of mercy, and that his message, namely the Qur’an, is the message of mercy.

Inspired by the Qur’an, Muslim philosophers have thought that mercy is the primary reason of the existence of Islam, just as love and generosity are the main reasons of the existence of the universe. To put it clearly, it can be said that God so loved His own beautiful names that He generously created the world for the manifestation of those names, and He had Mercy so much upon humanity that He sent Islam as a pure way of life.

Meaning “submission to God,” Islam teaches the rules of goodness, originating from the eternal wisdom of the Maker of the universe. Given this generic definition, Islam does not mean only the religion instructed in the Qur’an, but the only religion instructed by God through all divine revelations and all prophets. In other words, submission to God refers to the essence of the heavenly prescribed religion. Some scholars even comment that Islam means the religion of all creation in the sense that all creatures in the universe, as Qur’an says, necessarily obey God. Only humans are exempt from necessity; they choose to obey or disobey.

As a result, Prophet Muhammad is not the only prophet of Islam in generic sense, but only the last prophet of the religion. He is also the last messenger of mercy, following and witnessing to all messengers before him. In fact, the Qur’an describes the previous revelations as manifestations of divine mercy. To mention some:

[Noah:] God has granted me mercy from Himself. (11:28, 63)

Before this was the Book of Moses as a guide and a mercy. (11:17, 46:12)

[For Mary’s miraculous conception:] So that We may make him (Jesus) a sign to men and a mercy from Us. (19:21)

Following the previous revelations, Qur’an, the last scripture of Islam in generic sense, is a Book of mercy above all. At the first glance, we see that each chapter opens with a certain word: “In the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate.” Then the Qur’an describes itself as “mercy” again and again. To mention a few:

We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything, and a guidance and a mercy and good news for those who submit. (16:89)

These are verses of the Book of Wisdom, a guidance and a mercy for the doers of goodness. (31:2-3)

These verses along with others should explain why the night of the first revelation of the Qur’an is called in the Book as the “night of destiny.” The particular chapter concerning that special event informs us that “the night of destiny is better than a thousand months” (97:3). That is, a tiny slice of time bearing the divine message of mercy is better than an age deprived it. The verse should imply that the revelation of the Qur’an is as much significant for humankind as mercy is.

If the Qur’an is the message of mercy, and Prophet Muhammad the messenger of mercy, it is because God is the God of mercy. The very first sentence of the Qur’an movingly puts it: “Praise be to God, the Lord of all creation, the most merciful, the most compassionate, the master of the day of judgment.” Such beginning indicates that the Qur’an’s most fundamental teaching, the unity of God, is profoundly related to the mercy of God, as Qur’an reads elsewhere: “Your God is One God. There is no god but He, the most merciful, the most compassionate” (2:163).

In the Qur’an, mercy is so essential to the divine personality that the attribute Rahman, meaning “the most merciful,” is many times used as a proper name replacing the name “God,” Allah in Arabic. Here are a couple of examples:

Say, Call upon God or call upon the most merciful. Whichever you call upon, to Him belong the most beautiful names. (17:110)

The servants of the most merciful are they who walk on the earth in humbleness, and when the ignorant address them, they say, Peace. (25:63).

Pondering on the correspondence between the names “God” and Rahman, scholars comment that the so-called “greatest name of God” is the name Rahman, the most merciful. Ibn Arabi, the well-known Sufi philosopher, thinks that Rahman is the “mother” of all divine names. That means Rahman comprises or involves the meaning of all other divine names, such as the Forgiver, Provider, Lover, Creator, and Reviver. Therefore, in Sufi philosophy, creation is mainly for the purpose and by the manifestation of God’s mercy. Just two samples from amongst many verses in accord with this mystical insight:

And out of His mercy He has made for you the night and the day, that you may rest therein, and that you may seek of His grace, and that you may give thanks. (28:73)

Look then at the signs of God’s mercy: How He gives life to the earth after its death. Surely He will raise the dead to life; and He has power over all things. (30:50)

Everywhere in the Qur’an, God speaks as the God of Mercy. That is not only for introducing the merciful personality of the Creator, but also for prescribing mercy to the servants, who have been created for the purpose of living in conformity to the divine goodness. A few out of hundreds:

Say, To whom belongs what is in the heavens and the earth? Say, To God. He has prescribed mercy for Himself. (6:12)

Say, In the bounty of God and in His mercy: therein let them rejoice. It is better than what they hoard. (10:58)

[Prophet Shuayb:] And ask forgiveness of your Lord, then turn to Him. For my Lord is Merciful, Loving. (11:90)

O My servants, who have transgressed against their own souls! Do not despair of the mercy of God. Surely God forgives the faults altogether. He is Forgiving, Compassionate. (39:53)

Nonetheless, God is not only the God of mercy or the God of love, but also the God of wisdom and the God of justice. As theologians have perfectly articulated, His absolute mercy does not cause Him to behave unwisely or unjustly. Having conscience, humans are responsible and accountable for their actions. We are here for this reason, as reiterated in the Qur’an. Although all our mistakes and faults are subject to forgiveness as long as we seek, some grave crimes might be unforgivable if insisted. Mercy upon the victim does not excuse the lack of punishment, which would also leave the judgment meaningless.

Tell My servants that I am Forgiving, Merciful, and that My punishment is the painful punishment. (15:49)

God had mercy so much upon humanity that He sent Islam as a pure way of life, we said earlier. Then mercy should be essential to all aspects of the religion. An analysis on Islamic morality and law would reveal that all prescribed rules ultimately function for the establishment of mercy in human life in parallel to the merciful establishment of nature by God. Perhaps the most apparent rule of mercy in Islamic life, as instructed by the Prophet, is what is called basmala, namely saying “In the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate,” in the beginning of any action-eating, dressing, reading, writing, having a seat, starting the car, getting on the bus, sleeping, waking up, etc. Doing so, one is constantly trained in that mercy and compassion is the basis of everyday life.

As well recorded, the Prophet’s everyday life was full of words of mercy and acts of compassion. A study on his elaborate biography would ensure that he always aimed at requirements of a soft heart. I would like to give a single example, which would illuminate all examples. Prophet Muhammad has had billions of lovers, and had many enemies as well. Abdullah bin Ubayy, the chief adversary of Islam in Medina, was one of the latter and so harsh. He was the person behind many betrayals and plots including adultery slander to the wife of the Prophet. One day Abdullah passed away with his all mischief. The Prophet was saddened at such an end. He participated in his funeral, condoled with the family, performed the funeral prayer asking God forgiveness for the dead, even gave his garment to be put on the body as a cause for divine mercy, and left the funeral in sadness.

One of the sad things about his legacy is that his biography has been generally narrated with emphasis on the struggles and battles that he was forced to get into by the hostile opponents. This has been a focus-shift from the elegant face of the rose to its protective thorns. The fact is, Prophet Muhammad cultivated a community in peace and justice, and nurtured them with sympathy and mercy. As they grew, so did the enemies. The early Muslims in Mecca were threatened, oppressed, persecuted, murdered, and forced to migrate by the pagans of the city. Responding in silence, they migrated to Medina. Then military assaults on the early Muslims were carried out by the same pagans. The revelation allowed the Muslim community to defend their faith and existence in justice. After several years of struggle, the Prophet initiated a long-term peace agreement at a time when his community got stronger than the opposite. As the Prophet had expected, peace caused thousands to embrace Islam. When the pagans eventually broke the agreement with a final attack, the Prophet marched on Mecca and occupied the city without any drop of blood. He announced freedom to all, saying: “No reproach this day shall be on you. May God forgive you. He is the most compassionate.” This was the only way in which he struggled.

Meaning “struggle in the way of God” and referring to any kind of endeavor for goodness, jihad naturally includes protective actions and, in case of offense, fighting in justice and mercy. Textual and historical analyses show that all verses in the Qur’an concerning fighting are in this category, the category that might be called the rightful pacifism. Qur’an teaches that disbelief itself is not a reason of fight at all. However, in today’s world, due to ignorance or misconception, as well as living under oppression, those verses are often taken arbitrarily out of their textual and historical contexts, and used for various purposes. Indeed, for those who sincerely and seriously appeal to the Qur’an and the Prophet, neither hatred nor antagonism can be the stable rule of the relationship with the other. What is the rule then? The messenger of mercy reminds: “Have mercy upon those on earth, so that He Who in the Heaven has mercy upon you” (Tirmidh, Birr, 16). Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon him and his fellow messengers.

Erkan M. Kurt, PhD, is a researcher at the Institute of Interfaith Dialog, Houston, Texas.

If I had not actually seen them I would have said, it is mere fantasy, idle talk or imagination-a luminous shadow of the generation of the noble companions of the Prophet. Although it is understood of course, that the merit of the Companions cannot be surpassed, in these men were combined two of their great qualities-migration (hijra) and support (nusra). However, they were not divided into migrants and helpers but rather were migrants who help.

Migration to God and His Messenger (upon him be blessings and peace) are words often pronounced on tongues but rarely heeded by hearts. It is when a person leaves behind a life of comfort and rest, and the alluring bright lights of the city. He sets off journeying through the land to penetrate into foreign and remote territory. Carrying a lantern in his hand he searches out the needy throughout the land in order to nourish them with a sip of the nectar of life. On this path he has to endure self-sacrifice, self-annihilation and the abandonment of his worldly interests. That is a spiritual experience that nobody can truly comprehend except the one who has endured it. This is indeed an obstacle besides which are more obstacles, which count among the various degrees of striving.

Their sun rises in the land of Anatolia, and its rays effuse throughout the world in clear radiant beams. By this light old ties of kinship are bonded and the warmth of compassion is imparted to the wounded. They are migrants who left everything behind them and set forth like unsaddled, unshod horses. They open the doors and windows of the besieged in every land and teach them how to breathe again, breathe in the open air after having lost their ability to sense life centuries ago.

They are migrants (muhajirun) who have abandoned that before which dead-hearted people debase themselves: the pleasures of this life and its adornment, even though these flowed toward them in abundance from every direction. They set out towards God, distributing words of light, giving the world the good tidings of security and peace, and transmitting to the hearts of the poor great hope. Their legions are dispersed over deserts, mountains, jungles, and oceans. A horse may buckle here or there but the vanguard ever reaches its goal and raises its banner of light on the highest and loftiest peaks. True faith in God is elevated and honored through them.

A shadow of the generation of the Companions or a new copy, I know not. I have certainly seen them and my eyes did not deceive me. Among them are those who have passed on and among them are those who await their turn. They have not changed. It is for God to reward them! What men they are!

They are helpers (ansar) for they have supported the good, becoming thereby the helpers of the modern age. Each time they see the light of a candle faltering in a stormy wind, wherever it may be, they rush forth without a care for hardships and shield it with a niche of clear glass. Then it becomes like a shining star emanating beauty and splendor.

They went hungry so that others could eat, and they gave the clothes of their backs so that their poor could be clothed. They went short so that their needy could have possessions, and they wept so that their brothers could laugh. Truly, they preferred others over themselves even though they were themselves needy.

They are helpers who have acquired their state of support (nusra) by drawing from the light of Medina Al Munawwarra in the period just after the emigration of the Messenger (upon him be blessings and peace) there, when the joy of the people of Yathrib was still fresh and expressed in outbursts of song. It is from there that they have received the essence of their support, fresh and moist as a supple green branch sprinkling dew and bearing delicious fruit.

They migrated, and they gave their support. Furthermore, they have given themselves fully to the quest of migration and given themselves fully to the task of offering support. On this earth there remains nothing for them! However, in the world of the spirits they own everything through their dependence on God, the Rich beyond need, Owner of Praise.

They are crazy in their love of serving in foreign lands, from the cold of Siberia to the heat of South Africa. There is no island, cave, plain, or mountain, in all the continents of the world where they have not reached and there transmitted the rays of light effused by the approaching dawn. They smile in the face of painful afflictions, and they are happy to cross thorn-ridden fields which cause blood to flow from their feet and tears to flow from their eyes while their hearts rejoice in God!

They are truly men; men about whom if an ancient book had spoken, we would have called it an exaggeration like the exaggerations encountered in stories, histories and biographies. However, they are living now in the present and in the future. There they are, in front of you-living examples of burning longing and great dynamism. How commendable they are these youths and mature folk. They have revived in us hope in life, and given us certainty of a new dawn. They are a testimony to the verity of the prophetic words that God will make true faith in Him triumph universally such that there will not remain a house of wool or mud to which it will not have entered, bringing to it either humiliation or honor.

I have beheld the lights of the beautiful divine names reflected in their eyes. Those lights pour out before them and they follow their guidance, drawn by their force, to realize the will of God, the Tremendous, to revive the earth after its death, with prosperity, generosity and munificence. You would see one of them as a nation embodied in a man or a man as if he were a whole nation. If your eyes set upon one of them, they would be dazzled, and you would say, “Goodness! Surely, he can have no equal.” But when you see another, his beauty would make you forget the magnificence of the first. They have united within themselves all the best qualities associated with goodness and virtue. One gaze upon them would rid you of the need to read any books on philosophy and morality, and imaginary ideas on the “city of virtue.”

They do not speak about good character; rather they are in themselves the embodiment of good character walking on earth in an age when noble character is a neglected object consigned to the museum of history.

Would you like to be one of them? Think, and think again before saying yes, for it is just a word that you pronounce but a truly great proclamation that you make, before which lies the obstacle that you must overcome. But what will explain to you what that obstacle is? It is that you should sell your soul to God completely. There should not remain anything of yourself belonging to you; nothing whatsoever. Then you should submit to God’s will and accept whatever comes to you by His decree such that when your whole self is buried away in some corner of the world far, far away from your familiar home country, family folk or loved ones, your only provision and your sole source of nourishment will be the remembrance of God and dependence on His magnificent light.

To be one of them means that everyone will forget you and only God will remember you. It means leaving this world while you are still living, eating its food and walking its streets. You do not see anything in yourself or anything that is yours. You observe among the contemporaries with whom you are acquainted those who have a high opinion of themselves. The latter have not been able to free themselves from earthly yokes or escape from the snares of the realm of causes. They climb in the ranks of worldly delusion and look down on you from their high towers, proud of their posts and titles.

As for you, you walk on the earth barefoot, poor in everything except for the support of God Almighty.

But we have made some of you a means of testing others-will you stand fast? (Furqan 25:20)

Do you really want to be one of them?

“Yes.” That is a word that is easy on the tongue, but it involves a bitter experience. Whoever says that fire does not have the quality of burning; let him test it with his hand. Are you prepared to be burned to the extent that your body becomes dust-dust which the wind then disperses throughout the continents of the world, scattering particles here and there? Whenever one of these particles falls on barren ground, it becomes verdant and sprouting…

These are the giants of our time, examples of the true human being whose appearance has been awaited by the world for a long time. Has not the time come to return to the earth the security that was established there by the liege of creation, Muhammad (upon him be blessings and peace)?!

They have surrounded the oppression of guns and defenses with institutes and schools and put out the fire of discord and wars with words and letters. Every school that they build, wherever it may be, becomes a green tree which continues to sprout palm shoots around it that grow and grow until the region becomes full of trees. Thus does a forest of goodness stifle the loathsome sound of bullets and rid it of the rotten stink of gunpowder.

They are teachers who have spread everywhere; teaching the children of the world the language of birds and the song of sparrows. They draw on their green boards in front of them dreams of a beautiful future and the outlines of the path leading to Paradise. The children who graduate leaving the custody of these teachers, throughout the continents of the earth, come out singing one hymn-giving tidings of goodness and peace to the world.

The angels of remembrance love them, for often do they listen to their heart rending songs. The angels of knowledge know them, for often do they carry their vanguard under their wings while it is journeying through the land towards the forests of Australia, the deserts of Asia, the jungles of Africa, or the foggy lands of the far west.

They shoot rays of light over skyscrapers. They are teachers, unarmed except with the weapons of education and edification. They are prepared to venture into dangerous situations wherever they may be. They advance bare-chested, smiling in the face of abysses of discomfort.

Extending before them, they have a far reaching vision which never strays from its goal. Behind them is solid instruction which provides them with guided inspirations received from God. The burning core of their teacher’s heart makes them steadfast through works of wisdom. These works are outpourings of light which gush forth via streams whose support could scarcely be cut off, God permitting!

O my beloveds! You are the true guardians of love, and upon you may God send His greetings of peace!

Farid al-Ansari is a professor of Philosophy of Islamic Law at Mawlay Ismail University, Morocco.

The first group of people carry a “pump” in their chests, but it cannot be said that they have hearts. The second group of people live in the cloudy, misty atmosphere of their surmises and doubts, separate from God, and are unable to reach their destination. The third group of people, those who have traveled some distance toward the destination, are at risk because they have not yet reached the goal. They advance falteringly, struggling on the way of God, experience cycles of defeat and success, and spend their lives trying to climb a “hill” without being able to reach the summit.

On the other hand, those who have a firm belief live as if they see God and in the consciousness that God sees them, enjoy complete security and are under God’s protection. They study existence with insight, penetrate the nature of existence, discover their reality through the light of God, and behave soberly and with self-control. They tremble with fear of God, full of anxiety and hope concerning their final goal, and pursue His pleasure by seeking to please Him and living in a way that shows their love for Him. In return, God loves them and causes other believers to love them. They are loved and esteemed by humanity and the jinn, and receive a warm welcome wherever they happen to be.

Prophet Joseph, upon him be peace, the truthful hero of Sura Yusuf, is mentioned five times in this sura as a man of perfect goodness and deep devotion. All of creation, including the Creator and the created, friend and foe, Earth and the heavens, testified to his strict self-control and self-supervision: When Joseph reached his full manhood, We bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge. Thus do We reward those who are perfectly good [worshipping and acting in consciousness of being always seen by God] (Yusuf 12:22). Here, the Almighty states that Prophet Joseph was a man of perfect goodness and self-control at the age of puberty. During his imprisonment in Egypt, every prisoner, whether good or evil, discerned the depth of his mind and purity of his spirit, and appealed to him to solve their problems: Tell us the interpretation of events, including dreams, for we see you [to be] among those who are perfectly good (Yusuf 12:36). Joseph succeeded in every trial he faced, and won a place in everyone’s heart, both friend and foe.

Once more God mentions him as a man of perfect goodness, a perfect embodiment of goodness, as his character did not change when appointed to a high government post: Thus We established Joseph in the land, to take possession of it where he pleased. We reach with Our mercy whom We will, and We never cause to be lost the reward of those who are perfectly good [worshipping and acting in consciousness of being always seen by God] (Yusuf 12:56). When his brothers, who had always envied him, acknowledged his goodness and truthfulness even before they discovered that the charitable minister in the royal palace of Egypt was Joseph. They said: O exalted sir. He has a father, aged and venerable; so take one of us instead of him, for we see that you are among those who are perfectly good (Yusuf 12:78).

Lastly, as a man perfectly matured and having acquired full spiritual contentment, Prophet Joseph himself testified to God’s blessings on him: God has been indeed gracious to us. Whoever acts in fear of God and full submission to Him and is patient, surely God does not waste the reward of those who are perfectly good (Yusuf 12:90).

It is inconceivable that an individual with such a sound heart could deviate or be deprived of God’s blessing. Such a heart has the same meaning with respect to its owner as God’s Supreme Throne has with respect to the universe, and is a polished mirror in which the Almighty looks in full appreciation. Such a mirror is not something to be discarded or allowed to break, for it is the essence and spirit of human reality and is praised by God.

In the following couplets, Rumi recalls this:

The Truth says: I consider the heart,
Not the form made from water and clay.
You say: I have a heart within me, whereas
The heart is above God’s Throne, not below.

First comment

Man has some relationship with, and stands in some need of, most of the species of creation. His needs spread throughout all parts of the cosmos, and his desires extend to eternity. As he desires a flower, so he desires a whole spring. As he wishes for a garden, so he wishes for eternal Paradise. As he longs to see a friend of his, so he longs to see the Graceful One of Glory. As he needs to knock at the door of his beloved friend in order to visit him, so he needs to take refuge in the court of an Omnipotent One Who will close the door of his world and will open that of the hereafter, Who will remove the world and establish in its place the world – to – come, in order that he should be delivered from unending separation from the ninety-nine per cent of his friends who have departed for the intermediate world.

The true object of worship of a being in this position can only be an Omnipotent One of Glory, a Compassionate One of Perfection, in Whose Hand are the reins of all things, in Whose possession is the provision for all things, in Whose sight everything, and in Whose presence everywhere, is, unbounded by space or time, free of all weakness or deficiency. For the one to meet the limitless needs of man can only be One with infinite power and all-embracing knowledge. Thus, He is the sole One worthy of worship.

Now, o man, if you see yourself as a servant of His, and of none else, you will acquire a rank above all creation. If you refuse to be such, you will become a mean slave to powerless creation. Or, if you rely on your selfhood and strength abandon prayer and trust in God, and arrogantly claim to have power, then you will fall lower than a bee or an ant, and become weaker than a spider or a fly, with respect to positive acts and constructiveness. In negative acts and destructiveness, however, you will weigh heavier than a mountain and be more harmful than an epidemic disease. This is your being; it has two aspects: one of them is positive and active and has to do with constructiveness, invention, existence and goodness; the other is negative and passive and has to do with destructiveness, non-existence and evil.

Regarding the first aspect of your being, you cannot in yourself match a bee or a sparrow, nor have the strength of a fly or a spider. Regarding the second aspect, you surpass mountains, even earth and the heavens, for you bear a burden from which they hold back because of lack of strength; and your acts therefore show their effect in a wider realm than theirs.1 When you do an act of goodness, or construct something, this does not go beyond the reach of your hand and your strength. Your evil and destructive acts, by contrast, are aggressive and expandable. For example, unbelief is an evil, a nonexistence of affirmation, and is destructive. Though it seems a simple, single sin, it implies an insult to all creation, an aggression against all the Divine Names and an affront to all mankind. For all beings in creation have lofty ranks and important tasks in virtue of their nature as letters of the Lord, mirrors of His orders. Unbelief denies them the rank bestowed by these functions, reduces them to the state of instruments of coincidence, to the degree of insignificance, valuelessness and nothingness, and makes them perishable objects doomed to decay and separation. An unbeliever denies and thus offends the Divine Names, Whose beauties, impressions and manifestations are observed on the mirrors of beings throughout the cosmos.

Man is a work of poetry, praising God’s wisdom and beautifully displaying the manifestations of all the Divine Names, a manifest miracle of Power like a seed that contains the members of an eternal tree, holding the rank of the Divine vicegerent on earth, superior to angels and in ascendancy over mountains, over the earth and the heavens by virtue of the trust he holds. Unbelief throws him into a degree that is lower than that of the lowest animal, more helpless, and impotent, and more wretched, and degrades him to the state of a speedily perishable tablet on which are scribbled meaningless, confused things.

To conclude: the concupiscent soul can commit numerous crimes in wrongdoing and destructiveness; but it has little power in goodness and constructiveness. It can destroy a city in a single day, but cannot build one in a hundred. However, if it abandons selfhood and requests from God goodness and fertility, if it turns from arrogance, wrongdoing and destructiveness, and accepts the form of a perfect slave of God, it then becomes the referent of the Qur’anic verse: ‘God will change their evil into good’ (25.70).

The infinite capability for wrongdoing inherent in man then changes into an infinite disposition to goodness, and he thus ascends to the highest of the high, and gains the value of the best pattern of creation.

Now, o heedless man! Behold the grace and munificence of God Almighty: while it would be perfect justice on His part to do the reverse, He records a single sin only once, and records a single act of goodness as ten, or seventy, or seven hundred, or seven thousand. Also draw from this comment, some understanding that to enter Hell is the punishment of crime and mere justice, but to enter Paradise is the result of His perfect grace.

Second comment

Again, man has two faces: one is related to his selfhood and turned to the worldly life; the other concerns his nature as a slave of God and gazes upon the eternal life. With respect to the former, he is so wretched a creature that he has nothing of free will beyond a brief and fast-ending period, and nothing of existence beyond a small, decaying body. In this state, he appears as no more than one of many feeble members of just one of the innumerable species that are spread over all levels of the whole of creation. With respect to his other, better nature, however, and by virtue of the impotence and poverty that lead him to worship, man has a comprehensiveness and a great importance. Indeed, the Wise Creator has purposefully included in him infinite impotence and poverty so that he should be a large and comprehensive mirror for the endless manifestations of the infinite power of the Compassionate One and the infinite richness of the Munificent One. In other words, man resembles a seed that is given ideal and important faculties by Power, and a delicate, precious programme by Destiny, in order that it will work under the ground to leave that narrow world of soil and enter the wide world of the air, request from its Creator through the tongue of its disposition to become a tree and to reach the perfect state that will befit it. If that seed, because of its bad temperament, employs the faculties that are given to it in attracting some harmful substance contained in soil, it will soon decay in that narrow place and become nothing. If, in compliance with the cosmic decree expounded in the verse- “It is God Who causes the seed-grain and the date-stone to split and sprout” (6.95), it uses its ideal faculties in their proper places, it will then emerge from that narrow world, become a big, fertile tree, and thus its small, particular nature will take the form of a great, comprehensive truth. The nature of man is likewise equipped with important faculties by Power and with precious programmes by Destiny.

If he wastes his spiritual means on this narrow world, under the ground of the worldly life and for the sake of his desires, he will leave from this world with a burden on his unfortunate soul that will be his responsibility before God. If, on the other hand, man waters the seed of his disposition with Islam, feeds it in the soil of worship, exposes it to the Qur’anic decrees, directs his spiritual means to their true purposes, he will of a certainty become a seed containing the essentials of a permanent truth and of an everlasting tree that extends its branches in the physical and intermediate worlds and yields endless blessings in the hereafter and in Paradise. He will, in fact, become a blessed, luminous fruit of the tree of creation. The actual progress of man is possible only by turning his heart, spirit, intelligence, imagination and other inner faculties to the eternal life, so that each of them will be occupied by its own kind of worship. For what the misguided imagine to be progress, which is to put one”s faculties at the disposal of the concupiscent soul in order to penetrate into all the details of the worldly life and to taste all its lowly pleasures, is not progress, but decline. I once observed this truth in a vision that was as follows: I was in a large city full of big palaces. Outside some of the palaces were spectacles to attract and entertain everyone.

As I came close to one of them, I saw that the master of the palace was at the door, playing with the dog. Women were absorbed in sweet conversation with young strangers, and grown-up girls were supervising children”s play. It was when I was the doorkeeper acting as the head of all the other people that I realized the inside of the palace was empty, and the important posts in the palace, obviously, had become so corrupted that their officials had left their duties and appeared in such a state outside the palace. I then came across another large palace. This time, a faithful dog was lying at the door, and beside it was standing a doorkeeper with a serious, stern and calm appearance. The palace seemed so quiet that I wondered why it was so, while the other palace was not. I entered the palace, and saw that the inside was, contrary to the outside, a scene of activity: one floor on another, different people with different, intricate tasks on each floor. Those on the first floor were conducting the management of the palace. On the second floor, girls and small children were studying; on the third were ladies occupied with fine arts and beautiful embroidery. On the top floor, the master of the palace was corresponding with the king in order to maintain the well-being of his people, and was also performing his own noble duties for his advancement and progress. As they did not see me, no one stopped me, so I was able to walk about. After I had left the palace, I realized that everywhere in the city there were palaces of these two kinds. I asked about this, and I was told that those palaces with empty insides and crowded outsides belonged to the notorious ones among the unbelievers and the people of misguidance, and the others to upright, eminent Muslims. Afterwards, I encountered another palace that attracted my attention, as my name Said was written on it. When I looked at it closely, I felt as if I were seeing my own shape on it. I was so bewildered that I began to cry, and at this point I woke up. I will now interpret this vision, may God make its outcome fortunate! That city is the social life of humanity and the terrain of human civilization. Each palace is the faculties and organs, such as eyes, ears, heart, spirit and intelligence, the self, desires, the sense of anger and carnal appetites. Each faculty of man has a different task in worship; it has also different pleasures and different sorrows. From among them, the soul and desires, the sense of anger and carnal appetites are like doorkeepers and dogs in the palace of the being of man. Thus, to put the other lofty senses at the disposal of the self and desires, and to cause them to forget their innate duties, is by all means a decline, not progress. You may now interpret for yourself the other details of the vision. R. Nur Collection (23rd Word)

References

1) The burden is described as the trust in the following verse: —Verily We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof. But man undertook it; he was indeed unjust and foolish— (Qur’an, 33:72), and one of its aspects concerns self as explained in detail in the Thirtieth Word. [Tr.]