At the end of the Treatise on Sincerity, Bediuzzaman says: “We beseech the All-Compassionate, the Most Merciful, making all of His Most Beautiful Names our intercessors, that He may grant us complete sincerity.” [1] What is the wisdom behind invoking the Divine Names as intercessors in attaining sincerity?

Answer:

Sincerity (ikhlas) means performing deeds solely because God commands them and seeking only His good pleasure as their outcome. Beyond this, one does not set one’s heart on worldly interests or even on rewards in the Hereafter. For worshipping God is not the price paid for blessings to be granted later; rather, it is an expression of gratitude for the blessings that have already been bestowed.

Nevertheless, when the matter is considered from the perspective of human need and necessity, there is no harm in asking for the blessings of the Hereafter. Although we do not attach our acts of worship to such rewards, nor serve God merely to obtain them, it is certain that we are in profound need of them. Just as in this world we need to believe in God, to know and recognize Him, to love Him, to feel connected to Him, and to rely and trust in Him, so too in the next world we are in need of being among those brought near to Him. We know that the only place where we may draw near to Him, behold His Divine beauty, and be encompassed by the breezes of the verse, “God’s good pleasure is greater than all else” (Qur’an 9:72), is Paradise. Therefore, we hope for and ask for Paradise and its blessings from His grace. For we cannot do without Him; and just as we cannot do without Him, we cannot do without Paradise.

Seeking refuge in the Divine Names

Sincerity is, in essence, a designation for truly knowing God, aspiring to attain His good pleasure, and showing reverence for His commands. For this reason, sincerity holds vital importance for every believer. The wisdom behind Bediuzzaman’s invoking the Divine Names as intercessors while asking God for sincerity lies precisely in this point. When we ask for what we value most in our supplications, we naturally seek intercession through what we hold most precious.

Moreover, the Qur’an recommends that we include the Divine Names in our supplications and invoke them as a means of appeal. One verse states, “The Most Beautiful Names belong to God; so call upon Him by them” (7:180).

This indicates that the Divine Names possess a profound influence connected to the inner meaning of servanthood, and that we should seek refuge in them in our prayers. Similarly, in the supplication of Jawshan, it is said, “I ask You by Your Names,” after which the Divine Names are mentioned, and through their honor deliverance from Hell is sought.

Bediuzzaman’s emphasis on sincerity

In his works, Bediuzzaman repeatedly stresses sincerity on various occasions and highlights its importance in powerful terms. He states that even an atom’s weight of action performed with sincerity surpasses tons of deeds devoid of sincerity. Despite the small number of people around him, he attributes the manifold fruits of their service to their sincerity, describing how their efforts yielded results far beyond their apparent capacity. While expressing this truth, he says: “God willing, you will attain complete sincerity, and you will also help me attain complete sincerity” [2].

Through these words, Bediuzzaman demonstrates humility, appreciates his companions, and at the same time offers an important reminder. For no matter how sincere a person may be, attaining perfect sincerity is not easy. It requires that not even the slightest ulterior consideration be mixed into one’s deeds, that everything other than the Divine be set aside, and that one’s heart be fully directed toward God alone. Moreover, sincerity once attained can easily be lost without one even realizing it. Even when one is very careful, it is difficult to claim that one has reached complete sincerity (ikhlaṣ al-tamm) or perfected sincerity (ikhlaṣ al-atamm). This represents a horizon that we strive for but find difficult to reach. To attain it, one must overcome many demanding obstacles and loosen the bonds of bodily and worldly attachments. Such a degree of sincerity belongs only to the distinguished servants referred to as the mukhlasin—those purified in sincerity.

Bediuzzaman was a monumental personality who carefully observed events around him, continuously drew lessons from them, and offered guidance whenever necessary. On one occasion, he recounts the following experience concerning sincerity: when he told his student Hafiz Ali that another friend’s handwriting was more beautiful than his and that this person would therefore contribute more effectively to the service, Hafiz Ali responded with complete sincerity and heartfelt purity. Rather than feeling disturbed, he expressed joy and took pride in his brother [3].

This example shows that sincerity is closely connected with brotherhood and fellowship. If we wish to understand the degree of sincerity present in our own efforts in the path of God, we may ask ourselves the following question: If I were confronted with such a situation, would I be able to show the same attitude?

May God grant us the ability to transcend our egos, establish a deep connection with our Lord, and act with genuine sincerity at this level.

The ascending spiral of sincerity

If, like Bediuzzaman, we carefully take a look around us, we will encounter many heroes of sincerity whose hearts beat for God. We admire their state and strive to be like them. There have been many such heroes who set out for many parts of the world without considering salary, often without even knowing the countries to which they were going, and they undertook journeys of migration devoted to altruistic service. Their attitude inspired us, revived us, and helped us regain our sense of purpose. No matter how much we thank God for granting us the blessing of being among so many dedicated individuals, it would still be insufficient. Indeed, if there had not been such devoted and sincere people, so many beautiful outcomes would not have emerged. This shows that the fruits arising from such service are extra favors granted by God to sincere intentions.

If sincerity is the foremost quality that the Divine seeks from us, and if it is like an ascending spiral that lifts a person toward His good pleasure, then it should also be our foremost aim. We must constantly ask God for sincerity. Especially at night, we should place our foreheads upon the prayer mat and say: O God, make us among Your servants who seek sincerity and who are granted sincerity.

We should seek sincerity in all of our actions and spend our entire lives striving for perfected sincerity (ikhlaṣ al-atamm). In our supplications, we ask God for matters such as livelihood, health, and family. There is no harm in these requests; however, none of them is as important as attaining sincerity, the Divine good pleasure, and knowledge of the Divine Creator. Therefore, at least as much as we pray for worldly needs and desires, we should also pray to obtain these higher aims.

It should also not be forgotten that sincerity is connected to faith. The stronger one’s faith, the stronger one’s sincerity will be. From this perspective, we must first believe in God with certainty surpassing mathematical certainty; in proportion to our faith, we should attain knowledge of Him (ma‘rifah), and in proportion to that knowledge we should establish a deep connection with Him. If we wish to attain perfected sincerity, we should strive to elevate our faith from certainty through knowledge (‘ilm al-yaqin), to certainty through direct perception (‘ayn al-yaqin), and finally to certainty through realized truth (haqq al-yaqin). If faith becomes deeply rooted within our being and we remain close to God, neither Satan nor the evil-commanding self (nafs al-ammarah) will be able to damage our sincerity.

Just as every precious thing is difficult to obtain, sincerity is not easily acquired. Yet the paths leading to it are not closed; they remain open. It is possible to reach sincerity through faith, knowledge, love, reflection, and prayer.

References

1. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Lem’alar, p. 208 (The Twenty-First Flash – Treatise on Sincerity).
2. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Lem’alar, p. 203 (The Twenty-First Flash, Third Principle).
3. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Barla Lahikası, p. 146. At that time, his Epistles of Light collection were written and reproduced by hand due to the political pressure and persecution directed against religious expression.

Some of the philosophers use the terms “effusion” and “manifestation” identically and mean “emanation” by both. That is, according to them—God forbid such an assertion!—existence has emanated from God, and what is meant by “effusion” or “manifestation” is that emanation.

Others among them rightly attribute effusion to the Divine Will and Decree, but place several intermediaries of creative effect between God’s initial origination of things and events and their coming into existence.

Still others restrict themselves to the external existence of things and events, and conclude that—God forbid such a conclusion!—the aforementioned Divine effusions occur naturally and necessarily. That is, according to them, God naturally and indispensably originates things and events. Thus, they ignore the absolute freedom of the Divine Will in doing or not doing something.

Others conceive of the Divine Being only as the First Cause, without personal existence, and claim that everything and event emanates from this Being in a certain order.

Still others attribute the initial effusion or, in their terminology, emanation, to an Intellect, which they call the First Intellect, and they talk about a trinity: (1) the Intellect itself, (2) the Intellect’s thought of an initial cause, (3) a second Intellect’s emanation from this thought.

Yet others think of many Intellects (the Ten Intellects), from the first one to the supposed spirits of realms or spheres of existence, and thereafter to the Active Intellect. They also insert a Soul among those Intellects.

All such assertions by philosophers imply a random guessing at the Unseen, and they are impossible to reconcile with the essence of the Religion. Furthermore, they are of no practical use for true or sound knowledge and faith, knowledge of God, or spiritual pleasures.

Even though some Muslim thinkers have, now and then, busied themselves with such matters, neither these philosophies nor similar trends of thought have made any contribution to Sufi life or experience, which is another way of expressing the Islamic life of the heart and spirit. More than that, they have muddied some simple minds, damaged the spirit of some principles of faith, and caused several trends of falsehood to emerge.

We also come across some Sufi guides who are reported to have written or talked about emanations from God and His self manifestation as a visible Being. I think that either such contorted ideas have been inserted into their works by others, or they themselves have approached the matter from a different viewpoint in relation to the Divine Oneness and Will and have lapsed into seeing such approaches as harmless. For neither the Qur’an nor the Sunna contain such considerations, nor did the scholars of the earliest times make any mention of them. For this reason, such philosophical approaches to creation can only represent some contaminated information that has found its way into our religious heritage from the legacies of earlier traditions.

As Bediuzzaman Said Nursi points out, the false doctrine of “only one entity emanates from one entity” lies in the essence of such trends of thought. They regard the All-Independent, absolutely Powerful Lord of the worlds to be in need of some powerless means or intermediaries, and present material or immaterial causes, which are in fact veils before the acts of His Lordship, as if His partners. To explain further, these approaches accept the existence of an Intellect besides God, an Intellect which emanated from Him, and they consider God to be inactive—God forbid such conceptions!—ascribing His dominion over all parts and dimensions of existence and all His acts to different means and causes. This is impossible for any believer in God to accept.

As the explanations of the Qur’an and the Sunna concerning creation are so clear as to cause no misunderstandings, so too are the views and conclusions of true Muslim thinkers and scholars regarding this matter so obvious that they make no way for such misconceptions. According to the Qur’anic way of thinking, or the Islamic viewpoint, whatever exists—with all its punctuation, letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, and parts—has been created by the All-Sublime Creator, and receives from Him whatever it needs to subsist; and all that exists is under the control, direction and disposal of His Will and Power at every second of its life, without excluding the partial, free will of conscious, responsible beings. The creation and direction of all the visible and invisible realms of existence belong to God, Who is the sole Source of all gifts and blessings that reach every existent thing and being. With the exception of some misunderstandings that arise from certain ambiguous expressions, all the explanations concerning this matter agree upon this cardinal truth. Sound minds have thought so, sound senses have received the same sensations, and the order, harmony, and instances of wisdom in existence have always expressed it.

Everyone who is able to observe carefully will feel and see that everything—from the multicolored faces of flowers, which send smiles to passers-by, to the swaying of trees in the manner of brides, from the frightening roars of thunderbolts to the delicate, penetrating songs of birds and insects echoing in our souls, from light, heat, gravity, electricity, and chemical processes to biological activities, from humans’ observable potential and abilities to their feelings and conscious, spiritual activities—all indicate and bear witness to the Existence of God and His absolute dominion over all things and events. Everyone will feel and see this truth and quiver in awe.

If humans can evaluate the sounds and scenes which come to their ears and touch their eyes by passing through the sensitive filters of the conscience—the sounds and scenes from the terrifying roars of the seas to the enchanting howls of the forests, from the contemplative silence of bays and coves to the awe-inspiring stature of mountains, from the flirtatious gestures of multicolored flowers to the loving kindness of birds and insects, from the world that is a book to study, an exhibition to watch, a palace to visit, and a field to sow and harvest, to humans, who are honored with abilities, to numerous subtle purposes for and instances of wisdom in the existence of all these things—then they will be able to feel and understand that all these have originated from the Sacred and Most Sacred Source of effusion through the Knowledge and Will of God, and go into raptures at the knowledge of the love of God and yearn for Him and for the spiritual pleasures that invade their spirits.

In short, whether spiritual or material, animate or inanimate, large or small, every existent thing or being has come into existence through an effusion from God and continues to exist through constant manifestations that originate in Him, thus pursuing a fixed goal. Coming into existence from non-existence depends on a certain effusion and manifestation, and taking care of everything or being that has been sent into existence is dependent upon another, different effusion and manifestation. Furthermore, the opening of ways to belief, knowledge of God, and love by means of the Prophets is the result of another gift of effusion—while it is yet another gift of effusion that the same truths brought by the Prophets are presented by saints, verifying, saintly scholars, and true guides to the level of comprehension of every age according to changing time and conditions. It is also another, particular effusive gift that all the means and possibilities down to the slightest ones are used to form a pool of mysteries and enable everyone to benefit from them.

The Creator has boundless gifts that come in effusion,

And in every effusion is a different manifestation.

Whatever we see is a mystery throughout,

Every mystery is clearer than the other for those who are aware of it.

Our Lord! Grant us mercy from Your Presence and arrange for us in our affairs what is right and good!  Our Lord! Grant us a way out and salvation in our affairs!  Bestow your blessings and peace on our master, Muhammad, and on his Family, and Companions, all of them!