Truthfulness is the firmest road leading to God, and the truthful are fortunate travelers upon it. Truthfulness is the spirit and essence of action and the true standard of straightforwardness in thought; it distinguishes believers from hypocrites, and the people of Paradise from the people of Fire. Truthfulness is a Prophetic virtue in those who are not Prophets, by which “servants” share the same blessings as “kings.” In the Qur’an, God Almighty described as being true both the one who communicated it and the one who confirmed it: He who came with the truth and he who declared that it is true (39:33).

Truthfulness can be defined as struggling to preserve one’s integrity and to avoid hypocrisy and lying, even in strained circumstances when a lie will cause release. Junayd al-Baghdadi says: “A loyal, truthful one changes states at least forty times a day (in order to preserve personal integrity), while a hypocrite remains the same for forty years without feeling any trouble or unease (over his or her deviation).”

The initial and lowest degree of truthfulness is sincerity and behaving the same whether in public or in private. This is followed by being true in all thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions. The truthful are those valiant people whose feelings, thoughts, and actions do not contradict one another; the most truthful are those heroes who are absolutely true in all of their imaginations, intentions, feelings, thoughts, actions, and gestures.

Using all of one’s faculties and capacities to achieve truthfulness in all actions, adherence to a lofty ideal or cause, and loyalty to or steadfastness in it is an attribute of Prophethood. In the verse: Make mention of Abraham in the Book: he was a most truthful one, a Prophet (19:41), the Qur’an refers to this highest degree of truthfulness. Truthfulness is the primary attribute of all Prophets, and the strongest moral force or means-producing activity for serving Islam and the Qur’an. It is also a believer’s greatest credit and most valid document in the Hereafter. God draws our attention to this significant fact: This is a day in which their truthfulness profits the truthful (5:119).

Truthfulness serves the Prophets, the purified and perfected scholars and the saints brought near to God, as a heavenly mount that, as quick as lightning, can carry them to the highest heights; lying, however, pulls Satan and his followers down to the lowest depths. Thoughts “fly upward” on the wings of truthfulness and increase in value, actions grow and flourish on the ground of truthfulness, and truthful supplications and prayers reach the Throne of Mercy and are welcomed.

Truthfulness is as effective as the “elixir” of God’s Greatest Name. When asked about the Greatest Name, Bayazid al-Bistami answered:

Show me the Least Name among God’s Names so that I may show you the Greatest One. If there is something as effective (for the acceptability by God of prayers and actions) as the Greatest Name, it is truthfulness. Whichever Name is recited truthfully, It becomes the Greatest.

Truthfulness caused the light of repentance to shine on the forehead of Prophet Adam, upon him be peace. Truthfulness served as a vessel of salvation for Prophet Noah, upon him be peace, when the world was flooded. Truthfulness carried Prophet Abraham, upon him be peace, to safety and coolness from the fire into which he had been thrown. Truthfulness elevates ordinary people to extraordinary heights, and is a key that opens the door to realms and realities beyond visible existence. One borne aloft by truthfulness cannot be detained from journeying upward, and doors are not closed in the face of one who uses this key. How apt are the words of Rumi in this respect:

The truthfulness of a lover affects even the lifeless;
Why then should it be found strange that it affects man’s heart?
The truthfulness of Moses affected his staff and the mountain;
Nay, it also affected that great, splendid sea.
As for the truthfulness of Muhammad, it affected
The beautiful face of the Moon and also the shining Sun.

In many verses, the Qur’an relates that being a true believer depends upon one’s integrity and truthfulness in words, actions, feelings, and innermost senses. It also regards such a degree of integrity and truthfulness as the basis of happiness in both this world and the next. The following are a few examples:

– Say: My Lord, cause me to enter with truth, and cause me to go out with truth, and grant me a power from Your Presence to help me. (17:80)

– Grant me a good reputation, being remembered for truthfulness, in later generations. (26:84)

– Give to those who believe good tidings that they have a true, sure footing in the sight of their Lord. (10:2)

– The righteous are in the Gardens and rivers, on the seats of truthfulness in the Presence of a Mighty King. (54:54-5)

Entering with truth, going out with truth, being remembered for truthfulness, true and sure footing, and a seat of truthfulness are all stations of and provisions for a long road extending from this world to the Hereafter. Since what takes place in this world yields fruit in the Hereafter, the truthful always pursue what is true, observe truthfulness when starting a task or moving to another place in the way of God, act and live in accord with the requirements of truthfulness, and bequeath truthfulness to succeeding generations. Their objective is to deserve eternal happiness in the Hereafter.

To become truthful in intentions and aims, believers must consciously decide to become truthful in their thoughts, decisions, and acts. This is the first step. Those so resolved must persist in truthfulness, regardless of the consequences, and refrain from whatever might shake their resolution. The second step is to maintain this worldly life only to support the truth and gain God’s approval and pleasure. Such people are always aware of the defects and faults of their selfhood, and do not surrender to the world’s attractions and change their conditions for worldly reasons. The third step is to establish truthfulness so firmly in one’s conscience that it governs every facet of life. This is identical with the station of being pleased, which is explained in the Tradition: One who is pleased with God as the Lord and Islam as the religion and Muhammad as the Prophet has tasted the delight of belief.

The greatest truthfulness and loyalty is for people to be pleased with the Lordship of God regardless of the treatment He dispenses, to accept Islam as the Divine system governing their lives, and to submit willingly to the guidance or leadership of the best of creation, upon him be peace and blessings. The way to true humanity lies in undertaking this grave responsibility, which is very difficult to fulfill perfectly.

Let us conclude with a fine couplet:

What befits man is truthfulness even if under threat;
God Almighty is the helper of the truthful.

The universe is a palace, but it is such a palace that in it is a city which is being constantly shaken by destruction and reconstruction. And in the city is a country which is being continuously agitated by war and emigration. And within the country is a world which is unceasingly revolving amid death and life. But such an astonishing balance, equilibrium and equilibration prevail in the palace, city, country and world that it self-evidently proves that the transformations, incomings and outgoings apparent in these innumerable beings are being measured and weighed every moment on the scales of a Single Being Who sees and supervises the whole universe.

For if it had been otherwise, if causes had been free and unrestrained, which try to destroy the balance and overrun everything, through a single fish laying a thousand eggs and a single flower like a poppy producing twenty thousand seeds, and through the onslaught and violence of change and the elements flowing in floods, or if it had been referred to aimless, purposeless chance, anarchic blind forces, and unconscious dark Nature, the equilibrium of beings and balance of the universe would have been so utterly destroyed that within a year, indeed within a day, there would have been chaos. That is to say, the seas would have been filled with things in total disorder and confusion and would have become fetid; the atmosphere would have been poisoned with noxious gases; and as for the earth, it would have turned into a refuse-heap, slaughter-house, and swamp. The world would have suffocated.

Thus, everything from the cells of an animate body, the red and white corpuscles in the blood, the transformations of minute particles, and the mutual proportion and relation of the body’s organs, to the incomings and outgoings of the seas, the income and expenditure of springs under the earth, the birth and death of animals and plants, the destruction of autumn and the reconstruction of spring, the duties and motion of the elements and the stars, and the alternations, struggles and clashes of death and life, light and darkness, and heat and cold, are ordered and weighed with so sensitive a balance, so fine a measure, that the human mind can nowhere see any waste or futility, just as human science and philosophy see everywhere and point out the most perfect order and beautiful symmetry. Indeed, human science and philosophy are a manifestation and interpreter of that order and symmetry.

So, come and consider the balance and equilibrium of the sun and its twelve planets. Does this balance not point as clearly as the sun to the All-Glorious One Who is All-Just and All-Powerful? And especially our ship, that is, the globe of the earth, which is one of the planets; it travels an orbit of twenty-four thousand years in one year, not scattering or shaking the things stored up and stacked on its face, despite its extraordinary speed, nor throwing them off into space. If its speed had been increased or reduced just a little, it would have thrown its inhabitants off into the atmosphere, and scattered them through space. And if its balance was to be destroyed for a minute, or even a second, it would destroy the world. Indeed, it would clash with another body and doomsday would break forth.

And especially the compassionate balance on the face of the earth of the births, deaths, livelihoods, and lives of the four hundred thousand plant and animal species, it shows a single Just and Compassionate One, as clearly as light shows the sun.

And especially the members, faculties, and senses of a single of the innumerable members of those species, they are related to each other with so fine a balance and equilibrium that their balance and mutual proportion show an All-Wise and Just Maker so clearly as to be self-evident.

And especially the cells and blood-vessels in the bodies of animals, and the corpuscles in the blood and particles in the corpuscles, they have such a fine, sensitive, and wondrous balance that it self-evidently proves that they are being nurtured and administered through the balance, law, and order of a single All-Just and Wise Creator in Whose hands are the reins of all things, has the key to all things, for Whom nothing is an obstacle to anything else, and directs all things as easily as a single thing.

If someone who does not believe or deems it unlikely that the deeds of jinn and men will be weighed up on the supreme scales of justice at the Last Judgment notes carefully this vast balance which he can see in this world with his own eyes, he will surely no longer consider it unlikely.

O wasteful, prodigal.. wrongful, unjust.. dirty, unclean.. wretched man! You have not acted in accordance with the economy, cleanliness, and justice which is the principle by which the whole universe and all beings act, and are therefore in effect the object of their anger and disgust. On what do you rely that through your wrongdoing and disequilibrium, your wastefulness and uncleanliness, you make all beings angry? Yes, the universal wisdom of the universe, which is the greatest manifestation of the Divine Name of All-Wise, turns on economy and lack of waste. It commands frugality.

While the total justice in the universe proceeding from the greatest manifestation of the Name of All-Just, administers the balance of all things. And it enjoins justice on man. Mentioning the word `balance’ four times, these verses in Sura al-Rahman,

And the firmament has He raised high, and He has set up the balance (of justice); In order that you may not transgress (due) balance. So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance (55:7-9),indicate four degrees and four sorts of balance, showing its immensity and supreme importance in the universe. Yes, just as there is no wastefulness in anything, so too in nothing is there true injustice and imbalance.

And the cleanliness and purification proceeding from the Name of Most Holy cleans and makes beautiful all the beings in the universe. So long as man’s dirty hand does not interfere, there is no true uncleanliness or ugliness in anything.

So, you may understand how basic to human life are the principles of justice, frugality, and cleanliness, which are truths of the Qur’an and Islamic principles. And know how closely connected with the universe are the injunctions of the Qur’an, having spread their firm roots everywhere, and that it is impossible to destroy those truths like it is impossible to destroy the universe and change its form.

Is it at all possible that although hundreds of comprehensive truths like these three vast lights, such as mercy, grace, and preservation, require and necessitate the resurrection of the dead and the Hereafter, powerful and all-encompassing truths like mercy, favour, justice, wisdom, frugality, and cleanliness, which govern in the universe and all beings, should be transformed into unkindness, tyranny, lack of wisdom, wastefulness, uncleanliness, and futility, through there being no Hereafter and the resurrection not occurring?

God forbid, a hundred thousand times, God forbid! Would a mercy and wisdom which compassionately preserve the rights of life of a fly violate the countless rights of life of all conscious beings and the numberless rights of numberless beings, through not bringing about the resurrection? And if one may say so, would a splendid dominicality which displays infinite sensitivity and care in its mercy and compassion and justice and wisdom, and a Divine sovereignty which adorns the universe with His endless wondrous arts and bounties in order to display His perfections and make himself known and loved, permit there to be no resurrection, which would reduce to nothing the value of creatures and all their perfections, and make them denied? God forbid! An absolute beauty such as that clearly would not permit such absolute ugliness.

Yes, one who wants to deny the Hereafter must first deny all the world and all its truths. Otherwise the world together with all its truths will give him the lie with a hundred thousand tongues, proving the compounded nature of his lie. As a result the existence of the Hereafter is as definite and indubitable as the existence of this world as proven by certain evidences.

Flashes, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Sozler Yayinevi
Translated by Sukran Vahide,

Our article on biorhythms and time management gives us a better understanding of how our body functions and what we can do to help it perform at its highest level. Becoming better managers of our time allows us to achieve our goals quicker and with less frustration. As a result, w can have more time to pursue the joys of life, such as enjoying our family, friends, and the beauties of nature.

Although it is a cliché to say that our children are our future, it nevertheless is true. One article explores ways to handle gifted children so that their full potential can be realized. The author asserts that this is not discrimination and does not disadvantage other children; rather, it is meeting the needs of those who will bring us the greatest benefit in the future.

Several articles deal with topics that people usually do not join together: religion and the environment, Sufism and quantum physics, and music as a tool for healing. Many people seem to be taking a renewed interest in nature. This is a positive development, especially for those who were raised on the idea that nature is dead matter that can be manipulated by people for their own benefit, instead of a display of Divine Mercy and Compassion that we are to benefit from as well as to enjoy.

Recent discoveries in physics have confirmed the Sufi view that the universe is essentially based on nothing but relationships between the infinite parts of creation. This begs the following question: If everything consists only of relationships, who or what holds it together? But even more importantly, who originally created the relationships? Modern science remains unable to answer this question, even though it has engaged the minds of humanity’s greatest philosophers and religious figures since the dawn of time.

Questions have been raised in various circles about the suitability of the latest literary sensation, Harry Potter, for children. This book is just the latest in a series of popular children’s books, television programs, and movies that deal with magic: Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Aladdin, Lord of the Rings, and many others. This genre of entertainment has a unique worldview: The replacement of an ordered universe run by God with a world that people with God-like powers can manipulate the laws of nature at will; the existence of people with special powers that make them superior to others instead of recognizing that all people are created equal and dependent upon God; and that such people can perform ‘miracles”exactly like those given by God to His Messengers and Prophets to confirm their status. Are these the types of ideas upon which we want our children to form their worldview?

Several of our shorter articles deal with individual reactions to the events of September 11th. Many people still find it hard to comprehend such a terrible tragedy. Let us hope that they soon find the wisdom to go beyond their anger and fear and begin to ask themselves and others why such a horrific event took place and how similar ones can be avoided in the future.

Love is the most essential component, most vivid light, and greatest power in every living creature. It can defeat any enemy.

Loveless spirits have no chance to become fully human. Even if they lived for hundreds of years, they would go no further than an infant in terms of maturity. Such love-deprived people can neither love others nor feel or sense love, and so remain trapped in their egos’ dark mazes unaware of the love cherished in creation’s heart.

The first thing all infants encounter is love. They sense the spirit of compassion and grow by leaning on hearts beating with love. Later on they may or may not find this love again, even though they search for and run after it constantly.

The sun’s face bears the marks of love. Water vapor rises toward that love, flies due to that love’s power, and then falls on the beloved Earth. All flowers smile at passers-by with that same love. The dew on the leaves twinkles and dances with love, while all animals and birds twitter together in a great choir of love.

Every creature tries to show and express a piece of this encompassing love through its perfectly composed and magnificent symphony.

Caring for others and sometimes living for others, very virtuous human qualities to which all should aspire, are the results of love. The greatest heroes are those who have a larger share of love in, as well as those who have removed hatred and malice from, their hearts.

The shortest way to conquer people’s hearts is that of love, the way followed by all Prophets. No door remains closed to such people. Even if it were possible that some doors might remain shut, thousands of others would be open on the other side. And if one could enter a heart through this way of love, every issue would be resolved successfully.

How fortunate are those who walk under the guidance of love, and how unfortunate are those who live blind and deaf to the love in their own spirits.

Religion reconciles opposites: religion-science, this world-the next world, Nature-Divine Books, material-spiritual, and spirit-body. It can contain scientific materialism, put science in its proper place, and end long-standing conflicts. The natural sciences, which should lead people to God, instead cause widespread unbelief. As this trend is strongest in the West, and because Christianity is the most influenced, Muslim-Christian dialogue is indispensable.

Interfaith dialogue seeks to realize religion’s basic oneness and unity, and the universality of belief. Religion embraces all beliefs and races in brotherhood, and exalts love, respect, tolerance, forgiveness, mercy, human rights, peace, brotherhood, and freedom via its Prophets.

Islam has a Prophetic Tradition that Jesus will return during the last days. For Muslims, this means that such values as love, peace, brotherhood, forgiveness, altruism, mercy, and spiritual purification will have precedence. As Jesus was sent to the Jews and all Jewish Prophets exalted these values, dialogue with the Jews must be established, as well as a closer relationship and cooperation among Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

There are many common points for dialogue. Michael Wyschogrod writes that there are as many theoretical or creedal reasons for Muslims and Jews drawing closer together as there are for Jews and Christians coming together.¹ Furthermore, Muslims have a good record of dealing with Jews: There has been almost no discrimination, no Holocaust, denial of basic human rights, or genocide. In fact, Jews were welcomed in times of trouble, as when the Ottoman State embraced them after their expulsion from Spain.

Muslim Difficulties in Dialogue

•In the last century alone, far more Muslims have been killed by Christians than all Christians killed by Muslims throughout history.² Many Muslims, even educated and conscious ones, believe the West seeks to undermine Islam with ever-more subtle and sophisticated methods.

•Western colonialism is remembered. The Ottoman State collapsed due to European attacks. Foreign invasions of Muslim lands were followed with great interest in Turkey. The gradual “transformation” of Islam into an ideology of conflict and reaction or into a party ideology also made people suspicious of Islam and Muslims.

•Islam was the greatest dynamic for Muslim independence. It has been viewed as an element of separation, a harsh political ideology, and a mass ideology of independence that raised walls between itself and the West.

•Christendom’s historical portrayal of Islam as a crude distorted version of Judaism and Christianity, and the Prophet as a fraud, still rankle.

Dialogue Is a Must

For interfaith dialogue to succeed, we must forget the past, ignore polemics, and focus on gicommon points. The West’s view has changed. Consider Massignon, who says Islam is “the faith of Abraham revived with Muhammad.” He believed that Islam has a positive, almost prophetic mission in the post-Christian world, for: “Islam is the religion of faith. It is not a religion of natural faith in the God of the philosophers, but faith in the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Ishmael, faith in our God. Islam is a great mystery of Divine Will.” He believed in the Qur’an’s Divine authorship and Muhammad’s Prophethood.³

The West’s perspective on our Prophet also has softened. Such Christian clerics and people of religion like Charles J. Ledit. Moubarac, Irene M. Dalmais, L. Gardet, Norman Daniel, Michel Lelong, H. Maurier, Olivier Lacombe, and Thomas Merton express warmth for Islam and the Prophet, and support dialogue.

The Second Vatican Council, which Initiated this dialogue and so cannot be ignored, shows that the Catholic Church’s attitude has changed. In the Council’s second period, Pope Paul VI said:

“On the other hand, the Catholic Church is looking farther, beyond the horizons of Christianity. It is turning towards other religions that preserve the concept and meaning of God as One, Transcendental, Creator, Ruler of Fate and Wise. Those religions worship God with sincere, devotional actions…

“The Church reaffirms to them that in modern society in order to save the meaning of religion and servanthood to God-a necessity and need of true civilization-the Church itself is going to take its place as a resolute advoate of God’s rights on man…

“In our world that has become smaller and in which relations have become closer, people expect answers from religion regarding mysterious enigmas in human nature that turn their hearts upside down. What is man? What is the meaning and purpose of life? What is goodness and reward, what is sin? What is the source and point of suffering? What is the path to true happiness? What is death, what is the meaning of judgment after death and receiving the fruits of what one has done? What is the mystery surrounding the beginning and end of existence?…

“The Church encourages its children, together with believing and living as Christians, to get to know and support with precaution, compassion, dialogue and co-operation those who follow other religions and to encourage them to develop their spiritual, moral and socio-cultural values.”⁴

Pope John Paul II admits in his Crossing the Threshold of Hope that Muslims worship in the best and most careful manner. He reminds his readers that, on this point, Christians should follow Muslims.

Islam’s resistance to materialist ideologies and its important role in the modern world has amazed Western observers. E. H. Jurji’s remarks are significant: “In its self-respect, self-maintenance, and realistic zeal, in its fight for solidarity against racist and Marxist ideologies, in its vigorous denunciation of exploitation, as in the preaching of its message to a wayward, bleeding humanity, Islam faces the modern world with a peculiar sense of mission. Not confused and not torn apart by a mass of theological subtleties, nor buried beneath a heavy burden of dogma, this sense of mission draws its strength from a complete conviction of the relevance of Islam.”⁵

Muslims and Christians have struggled with each other for almost 14 centuries. The West remembers Islam’s military might and invasions. Current Muslim opposition to and resentment of the West benefit no one. In our global village, the West cannot wipe out Islam and Muslim armies cannot attack the West. Both sides can benefit from each other. The West has scientific, technological, economic, and military supremacy; Islam possesses an uncorrupted and living spiritual tradition rooted in the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Religion has not escaped unbelief’s onslaught. Muslims cannot limit Islam to a political ideology or an economic system, or consider the West and other religious from a historical perspective and define their attitude accordingly. Those who adopt Islam as a political ideology do so usually out of personal or national anger or hostility. We must end this practice, and base our actions on Islam as a religion. The Prophet defined a true Muslim as one from whom others are safe, as the most trust-worthy representative of universal peace.

Muslims must stop acting out of ideological or political partisanship and dressing it up in Islamic garb, or represent mere desires as ideas. This has caused the West to adopt a distorted vision of Islam. For example, American universities teach Islam as a political system in their political science or international relations departments.⁶ Such a perception is found among Westernized Muslims and non-Muslim Asians and Africans. Strangely enough, many groups that have put themselves forward under the banner of Islam export this image and actually strengthen it.

Islam’s Ecumenical Call for Dialogue

Fourteen centuries ago, Islam made history’s greatest ecumenical call: Say: “0 People of the Book! Come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with Him; that we take not, from among ourselves lords and patrons other than God.” If they turn back, say: “Bear witness that we are Muslims (surrenders to God’s Will)” (3:64).

The Islamic statement of faith-There is no god but God-is a call not to do certain things, so that followers of revealed religions could end their separation. It represented the widest statement on which religious people could agree. If it was rejected, Muslims were to reply: “Your religion is for you; my religion is for me.”

Elmalili Hamdi Yazir, a famous Turkish Qur’an interpreter, observed: “Various consciences, nations, religions, and books can unite in one essential conscience and word of truth. Islam has taught the human realm such a wide, open, and true path of salvation and law of freedom. This is not limited to Arab or non-Arab. Religious progress is possible not by consciences being narrow and separate, but by their being universal and broad.”⁷

Islam gave these as gifts. Said Nursi explains this broadest scope of Islam from a contemplative observation:

“I thought about we in: You alone do we worship, and You alone

we ask for help (1:5), and my heart asked why we was used in place of I. Suddenly I discovered the virtue and secret of congregational prayer. By praying together at the Bayezid Mosque, every individual became a kind of intercessor for me. As long as I recited the Qur’an there, everyone testified for me. I took courage from its great and intense servitude to present my insufficient servitude to the Divine Court.

“Another reality unveiled itself: All of Istanbul’s mosques united and came under Bayezid’s authority. I felt they confirmed me in my cause and included me in their prayer. I saw myself in the earthly mosque, in circular rows around the Ka‘bah. I said: ‘Praise be to the Lord of the worlds. I have so many intercessors; all of us are saying the same words, and they are confirming me.’

“As this reality was unveiled, I felt I was praying before the Ka‘bah. So, I took those worshippers as witnesses and said:

‘I witness that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is God’s Messenger.’ I entrusted this testimony of faith to

the Black Stone. While leaving this trust, another veil opened. I saw that the congregation I was in had separated into three circles.

“The first circle was a large group of believing Muslims and those who believe in God’s existence and Unity. The second circle contained all creatures performing the greatest prayer and invocation of God. Every class or species was busy with its unique invocation and litanies to God, and I was among them. The third circle contained an amazing realm that was outwardly small, but, in reality, large due to its duty and quality. From my body’s atoms to the outer senses, there was a congregation busy with servitude and gratitude.

“In short, the we in we worship pointed to these groups. I imagined our Prophet, the Qur’an’s translator and propagator, addressing humanity in Madina: 0 humanity, worship your Lord (2:2 1). Like everyone else, I heard his command in my spirit, and like me, everyone in the three groups replied: ‘You alone do we worship.’”⁸

Interacting with non-Muslims

The Qur’an says: This is the Book; wherein there is no doubt; a guidance to those who fear God (2:2). These pious ones are those: Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them; and who believe in what is sent to you and what was sent before you, and (in their hearts) have the reassurance of the Hereafter (2:3-4). At the very outset, the Qur’an calls people to accept the former Prophets and their Books. Having such a condition at the very beginning seems very important to me, especially in the matter of interfaith dialogue. God commands: And discuss not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation) (29:46). Here, the Qur’an describes how to proceed. Said Nursi’s view is significant: —Anyone who is happy about his opponent’s defeat in debate is without mercy.— He explains: —You do not gain anything by his defeat. If you were defeated and he was victorious, then you would have corrected one of your mistakes.— Debate should enable the truth to come out. Sarah Mumtahana says: God forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for God loves those who are just (60:8). Some Qur’anic verses criticize the People of the Book for wrong behavior, incorrect thought, resistance to truth, creation of hostility, and undesirable characteristics; the Bible contains even stronger expressions. However, immediately thereafter, the Qur’an uses very gentle words to awaken hearts to the truth and to plant hope. Its criticism and warning about some attitudes and behavior found among Jews, Christians, and polytheists also were directed toward Muslims who engaged in such behavior. All revealed religions are based on peace, security, and world harmony. War and conflict are aberrations to be controlled. An exception is made for self-defense, which must follow certain guidelines. Islam established rules to balance and limit war. For example, it takes justice and world peace as a basis: Let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from Justice (5:8). Islam developed a line of defense based on protecting religion, life, property, the mind, and reproduction. The modern legal system also has done this. Islam gives the greatest value to human life by saying that killing someone is the same as killing everyone, for one murder engenders the idea that anyone can be killed (5:32). Adam’s son Cain was the first murderer. The Bible gives more details of this event, which began the epoch of bloodshed. For this reason, a Prophetic Tradition states: —If a person is killed unjustly, without exception some of that sin will be credited to Cain, for he opened the way of unjust killing to humanity.—⁹

The Pillars of Dialogue

Love is a person’s most essential element. It is a most radiant light, a great power that can resist and overcome every force. Love elevates every soul that absorbs it, and prepares it for eternity. Those who make contact with eternity through love seek to implant in others what they receive. They dedicate their lives to this, and endure any hardship for its sake. Altruism generates love. Whoever has the greatest share in this love is the greatest hero of humanity, one who has uprooted any personal feelings of hatred and rancor. Such heroes continue to live even after death, and during life are welcomed and loved by people. The most direct way to one’s heart is love, the way of the Prophets. Its followers are not rejected; even if they are rejected by some, they are welcomed by many. Once they are welcomed through love, they always attain their goal. As everything speaks of and promises compassion, the universe can be considered a symphony of compassion. Showing compassion to all living beings is a requirement of being human. Compassion exalts people. For instance, we hear from the Prophet that a prostitute entered Paradise because she gave water to a dog dying of thirst, while another woman entered Hell because she allowed a cat to starve to death. Forgiving also is a great virtue. As we say: —Errors from the young, forgiveness from the elder.— Being forgiven means a repair, a return to an essence, and finding oneself again. For this reason, the most pleasing action in the Infinite Mercy’s view is the activity pursued amidst the palpitations of this return and search. Creation was introduced to forgiveness via humanity. Just as God showed His attribute of forgiveness through individuals, He put the beauty of forgiving in their hearts. While Adam dealt a blow to his essence through falling, it was God’s forgiveness that elevated him to Prophethood. Whenever we err, seeking forgiveness and surmounting the shame of personal sin allows us to attain infinite mercy and overlook the sins of others. Jesus once said to a blood-thirsty crowd: Let he who is without sin cast the first stone (John 8:7). If we understand this, how can we —stone— others? Malice and hatred turn the land into a pit of Hell. We should carry forgiveness to those whose troubles are pushing them into the abyss. The excesses of those who have no forgiveness or tolerance made the past one or two centuries the most horrific ever. Thus, the greatest gift today’s generation can give is to teach their children how to forgive and be tolerant. We should ignore others’ faults, respect different ideas, and forgive what is forgivable. We should do this to touch hearts and benefit from contradictory ideas that force us to keep our heart, spirit, and conscience in good shape. Tolerance is the most essential element of moral systems, and a very important source of spiritual discipline and virtue. It causes merits to attain new depth and extend to infinity, and mistakes and faults to shrink into insignificance. God’s treatment passes through the prism of tolerance, and we wait for it to embrace us and all of creation. This embrace is so broad that a drunk suddenly shook himself free and became a Companion of the Prophet, and a murderer was turned toward the truth and reached the highest rank. We expect love and respect, tolerance and forgiveness, and liberality and affection, especially from God. But can we expect these if we do not first offer them to others?

The Last Word

Those who want to reform the world must first reform themselves; purify their inner worlds of hatred, rancor, and jealousy; and adorn their outer worlds with virtue. Those who lack self-control, self-discipline, and refined feelings may seem attractive and insightful at first. However, what they inspire in others disappears quickly. Goodness, beauty, truthfulness, and being virtuous are the essence of the world and humanity. Whatever happens, the world will one day find this essence. No one can prevent this.

Footnotes

1. Ismail R. Faruqi, Ibrahimi Dinlerin Diyalogu (trans.) (Istanbul: 1993), 51-3.
2. Graham E. Fuller and Ian 0. Lesser, Kusatilanlar-Islam ve Bati’nin Jeopolitigi (trans.) (Istanbul: 1996), 41-2.
3. Sidney Griffith, —Sharing the Faith of Abraham: The ‘Credo’ of Louis Massignon,— Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 8, no. 2: 193-210.
4. Translated from Suat Yildirim, —Kiliseyi Islam ile Diyaloga Iten Sebepler,— Yeni Umit, no. 16, 7.
5. Abu al-Fazl Izzeti, Islamin Yayilis Tarihine Giris (trans.) (Istanbul: 1984), 348.
6. Zaman. (Professor Griffith is director of the Institute of Christian Oriental Research, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC).
7. HakDini Kur’an Dili (Istanbul), 2: 1131-32.
8. Mektubat, 29; Mektub, 6; Nukte (Istanbul).
9. lmam al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari (see Diyat 2; Enbiya 1; Imam Muslim, Sahih Muslim (see Kasame 27).

Human beings are likely to lean toward certain circumstances in life. Sometimes individuals are like fields of crops that bend with the wind; at other times they are like large trees that have fallen over and rise again, despite their outward dignity and strength. Individuals give the angels many reasons for envying them; unfortunately, they also do things that sometimes cause even the devils to feel shame.

Although not desired, human nature makes sin inevitable. Given this, forgiveness is everything.

However beneficial it is for us to ask for and expect forgiveness, to moan and groan for what has escaped us, forgiving is a much greater attribute and virtue. Forgiveness cannot be separated from virtue, just as virtue cannot be separated from forgiveness. There is a very common, yet very profound, saying: “Errors from the small, forgiveness from the great.” How well this is said! Being forgiven means being repaired, returning to an essence, and finding oneself again. Given this, the most pleasing action in the view of the Infinite Mercy is the one-seeking forgiveness-pursued amidst the palpitations of this return and search.

All of creation was introduced to forgiveness through humanity. Just as God showed His attribute of Forgiveness through us, He put the beauty of forgiving into our hearts. While Adam and Eve dealt a blow to their human essence through falling, which was somehow a requirement of their human nature, it was forgiveness that came from the Heavens in response to the remorse they felt in their consciences and pleadings.

For centuries, we have preserved this Divine gift received through the first couple as a hope and a consolation. Whenever we sin, we can mount on the magic transport of seeking forgiveness and surmount the shame and despair caused by sin. We attain to Infinite Mercy and show our generosity by covering our eyes to the sins of others.

Thanks to this hope of forgiveness, we can rise above the dark clouds invading our horizon and see light in this world. Those fortunate ones who are aware of the uplifting wings of forgiveness live amidst melodies that gladden their spirits.

Those who devote themselves to seeking forgiveness cannot help but think of forgiving others. Just as we like to be forgiven, we also like to forgive. How can we not forgive when we know that salvation from the fire of suffering in our inner worlds, caused by our own mistakes, is possible only by drinking from the river of forgiveness? And even more so, if we know that the road to being forgiven passes through forgiving?

Those who forgive are honored with forgiveness. Those who do not pardon cannot expect or desire to be pardoned. Those who close the road of tolerance are beasts who have lost their humanity. Such brutes, who have never felt inclined to take themselves to task for their sins, will never experience the high solace of forgiveness.

Jesus said to a crowd with rocks in their hands, as they were taking a sinner to be stoned: “Let one who has never sinned throw the first stone” (John 8:7) Can anyone who understands this binding, fine point even think of stoning someone else when there is already a head to be stoned-namely, his or her own? If only those unfortunate ones who spend their lives putting the lives of others to a litmus test could understand this!

It is true that a criminal deserving punishment will be punished. However, no one cannot say that there is a sentence for stoning those upon whom our malice and hatred have passed judgment. Unless we destroy the idol in our ego as courageously as Abraham did, we will never be able to make a correct decision in the name of our ego or in the name of others.

Forgiveness emerged with humanity and reached perfection through humanity. In this respect, we witness in the greatest people the greatest forgiveness and impeccable tolerance.

Malice and hatred are seeds of hell scattered in society by evil people. In contrast to those who encourage malice and hatred and turn the land into a pit of hell, we should run with forgiveness to rescue those who have uncountable troubles and are being pushed into the abyss. The excesses of those who do not forgive or show tolerance made the past one or two centuries the dirtiest and most unpleasant in history. It is impossible not to be chilled by the thought that these unfortunate ones may rule the future.

For this reason, the greatest gift today’s generation can give to its children and grandchildren is to teach them how to forgive even the crudest behavior and the most upsetting events. However, thinking of forgiving those monstrous, ill-natured people who enjoy making others suffer would involve showing disrespect to the very idea of forgiveness. As we have no right to forgive them, forgiving them would be showing disrespect to humanity. I do not believe that anyone would consider as acceptable an act that shows disrespect to forgiveness.

Members of a generation raised in an environment characterized by hostility always saw horror and brutality in the arenas of the dark world into which they were pushed. They saw blood and pus even at daybreak. What could be learned from a society whose voice, breath, thought, and smile were tainted with blood?

Everything presented to them was exactly opposite and contrary to what they needed and desired. Such people have assumed a second nature due to years of neglect and wrong suggestions, and the disorder and sedition they made has become a flood. If only at this moment we could understand them. Alas! Where is such insight?

Forgiveness and tolerance will heal most of our wounds, but only if this celestial instrument is in the hands of those who understand its language. Otherwise, the incorrect treatment we have used until now will create many complications and continue to confuse us.

Know the illness, then set out to treat it medically:
Do you think any ointment is a cure for any wound?
(Ziya Pasha)