Achieving a constant state of happiness first requires a profound understanding of oneself and an acute awareness of one’s reality. Recognizing that there must be a purpose behind human creation, I realized that lasting happiness and inner peace could only be attained by discovering this purpose and aligning my life accordingly. I understood that every new situation presented an opportunity to progress toward life’s deeper beauties. This transformation in perspective allowed me to derive personal satisfaction irrespective of external circumstances or conditions.

Over time, it became evident that life does not always unfold according to one’s wishes. Nevertheless, I came to accept that if the events shaping my path were part of a divinely orchestrated destiny, then they inherently held meaning and purpose. In a life plan uniquely designed for me, it would be impossible for a situation to arise that did not ultimately serve my benefit or growth. Thus, I began to view each experience as a carefully crafted treasure trove of lessons. Embracing the viewpoint that a believer, whether tested by hardship or blessed with prosperity, is always in a position of gain, I perceived every situation as a form of divine grace. Consequently, my foremost responsibility was to internalize this reality and actively incorporate it into my daily life.

However, the true meaning of life and my own place within it became fully clear during a profound period of captivity. The circumstances that led to my imprisonment were deeply political, rooted in the systematic repression carried out by the Erdogan administration in Turkey, under which mass arrests and detentions targeted individuals not for violence or crime, but simply for dissent. Despite the suffering, captivity became the place where I discovered the genuine beauty and deeper purpose of life. This experience exposed my human weaknesses and made real the truth of the saying, “pain matures the soul.” By consciously giving meaning to what I lived through, I reached a powerful realization: none of my experiences were wasted. Each one was a meaningful chapter in a greater story written for my growth.

Significantly, I understood that the suffering and pain I had perceived were often a product of my own distorted interpretations and judgments. Life itself, in its essence, resembled a beautiful book; yet when its beauty went unrecognized, it became akin to a story abandoned after its first page—empty, meaningless, and devoid of value. This recognition illuminated the importance of perceiving life as it truly is, rather than as it appears through the lens of emotional distortions. In this context, the insight of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, a renowned Islamic scholar—”Those who see beautifully think beautifully, and those who think beautifully find joy in life”—emerged as a timeless guiding principle, highlighting the transformative power of perception.

People are asleep

My imprisonment became a means of awakening, an embodiment of the profound truth expressed by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in his saying, “People are asleep; they wake up when they die.” Within the solitude of confinement, I was afforded the rare opportunity to confront realities previously obscured by the distractions of daily life. I came face to face with what it truly meant to be human and acknowledged the deep dissonance between the truths I professed to know and the life I was actually living.

During this period of isolation, the words of Rumi resonated deeply within me: “Just as the thirsty yearns for water, the water also seeks lips to quench its own thirst.” In a similar vein, I came to believe that God had granted me this trial as an opportunity for my soul to quench its thirst for authentic meaning. All that remained for me to do was to offer boundless gratitude and praise to God for this unexpected blessing.

God-centered existence

The spiritual psychology expressed by Prophet Muhammad and some Islamic thinkers such as Nursi, and Rumi finds deep and striking parallels within Christianity and Judaism, revealing a shared understanding of suffering as a path to awakening and inner purification. In Christian theology, hardship is not viewed as meaningless pain but as a divine instrument through which the soul is refined and drawn closer to God, as reflected in St. Paul’s teaching that suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope. Similarly, Jesus’ life and suffering stand as the ultimate symbol of redemption, where pain becomes a gateway to spiritual rebirth.

Judaism likewise teaches that trials are a form of divine testing meant to purify the heart and strengthen faith, as expressed in Proverbs, which compares the human soul to silver refined by fire. This closely mirrors the Islamic belief that adversity matures the soul and unveils deeper truths hidden beneath the surface of comfort. In all three traditions, suffering is not a sign of abandonment by God, but rather an intimate form of divine engagement—an invitation to transcend the ego, correct one’s perception of reality, and awaken to a more meaningful, God-centered existence.

Crucible for awakening

Moreover, captivity revealed the extent of my spiritual thirst—for life, for belief, and for the values I claimed to cherish. Perhaps most startling was the realization that I had been completely unaware of this yearning. I had been consumed by worldly ambitions and fleeting pursuits, oblivious to how much of my life had slipped away. Prison, paradoxically, became the crucible for my spiritual awakening—a space where I recognized my inner desolation and began to take meaningful steps toward satisfying the deeper needs of my soul.

Upon recognizing the reality of my situation, profound regret washed over me. I mourned the years wasted in superficial pursuits; the time lost in the illusion of faith rather than its sincere practice. I wept for the lost opportunities to truly live by the teachings of the book of God, understanding belatedly that had I engaged with it with genuine reflection and earnestness, my life would have unfolded with far greater beauty and purpose. The realization that I had neglected such a profound gift for so long was devastating, yet also deeply transformative.

This confrontation with my own shortcomings revealed the fragility of my faith. The oft-repeated phrase “hanging by a thread” took on visceral meaning, deeply shaking my very foundations. I discerned how precarious my belief had become—despite having memorized the six pillars of faith in childhood, I had failed to internalize and live by them. I found myself grappling with profound questions: What does it truly mean to believe in God, in the Holy Books, in the Angels, in the Prophets, in the Day of Judgment, and in Divine Destiny? It became apparent that merely professing faith was insufficient; true belief necessitated active embodiment and practice.

This painful but necessary realization unveiled a critical gap between the beliefs I claimed to hold and the life I actually lived. In neglecting to live by my stated values, I had, instead, come to shape my beliefs around my experiences—believing as I lived, rather than living as I believed. Consequently, I had drifted far from the Scripture and the Prophetic path, relying instead on my own flawed interpretations. The life I had constructed was one of chaos and spiritual emptiness, starkly contrasting with the divine tranquility I had so long sought.

Through the struggles of imprisonment, I came to a profound understanding of divine testing. I realized that God tests His servants through hardship, not to break them, but to guide them back to Him. My life in prison was one such divine test, an opportunity for reflection and repentance. It was through this trial that I was blessed with an awakening—a renewed commitment to the values I once only claimed to uphold. For this extraordinary mercy, I offered unending thanks to God, fully aware that, had this trial not occurred, my life may have continued on a trajectory of unconsciousness and ultimate loss.

Having arrived at this realization, I turned to God with earnest supplication, seeking forgiveness, mercy, and the continued blessing of His guidance. I understood, with clarity and conviction, that enduring happiness and true peace, aligned with my faith, could only be attained through God’s favor and my unwavering commitment to live by the principles He revealed. In this, I found myself echoing the insight of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi: that the real journey is not outward, but a return from myself to myself, discovering that every search, every struggle, and every moment of distance was, in truth, a path leading back to my own heart and to the presence of God. Thus, what seemed an external quest resolved into an inner awakening, realizing that the One I sought was never absent, and that my true task is to purify the self, recognize His nearness, and walk, with humility and love, in the light of His guidance.

Our inner soul is not bound by time. Just as we consciously experience the present moment, we can also feel and live in the past or in the future. Since we don’t want to be hemmed in by the narrow measures of the present, and since we know that many inner and outer dynamics may ensure a future as we imagine it to be, we activate our timeless feelings in the depths of our spirits and seek ways to access the past and imagine tomorrows as joyful as they can be. As we do so, our imaginations are guided by faith, hope, and determination; and we rely on our heritage based on knowledge, culture, and sound spiritual essence.

Just as we believe in the radiant days of the past, those days that were rewarding with abundance and material-spiritual richness, so do we believe in the vastness and richness of our enlightened future. We believe so much so that we feel as though we can see the shiny and cheery climate of such a future, its brightest blue atmosphere and enchanting beauties popping up all around. It is as if we recognize the voices and words of the coming generations of “spirit and meaning” who will represent such a beautiful world. We imagine the past and coexist with those that came before us as simultaneously as we sense the presence of a future with its physical and metaphysical components and greet its diverse people.

My heart is deep in these thoughts and feelings, and I am closing my physical eyes. With the eyes of my soul, I visualize with my faith, hopes, and dreams, a golden slice of time in a future where human values are deeply established, human feelings focus on eternal life, and the human body cherishes the virtues of the spirit; an exquisite future made up of the best pieces of the “lost paradise” we have been searching for deep down; a future whose blessings come flowing into my dreams. I dream of a future with its fortunate people of profound faith, trust, and submission to God, who lead a life of enchanting spiritual pleasures as if they are the sole owners of them. Their hearts beat with goodness and beauty, eyes open and close with good thinking and forbearance, and they experience the world as paradise. I can imagine from this moment how they enjoy the most colorful of poems sung in their souls, in the souls of others, and rest of creation. When my hopes are at high tide, I take a share from their immense joy and smile at their fortune.

I am hoping the radiant tomorrows will be as spiritual, sweet, colorful, and rich as the days and nights of the past. Whenever such a future emerges before my eyes with its fine and blue air, my world of my imagination associates it with the blissful era of the Prophet. Then, I am filled with the lights of that era, the softness of its mercy, and the warmth of its tolerance and dialogue. As these young looking, tall, and azure days of this new spring that rise in my world of hope and faith take me to the unimaginable horizons of the heavens, I feel I am holding hands with all existence, greeting all creatures with compassion, embracing all human beings with love, and saying, “This must be why God created the universes.”

This world of my imagination is woven on the canvas of the golden eras of the past, and in that world there is no brute behavior, cruelty, overambition, obsessive love for the world, altercation, fight, treachery, dishonesty, unfairness, oppression, corruption, or embezzlement. In this world there is chivalry, refinement, determination to revive, love for life, moderation and dialogue, respect for truth, trust, loyalty, honesty, justice, and steadfastness. The people of this world have removed hatred and conflict from their vocabulary, and their lives rise on the foundations of love, tenderness, and establishing connections with others. They accept people as they are. For them, different understandings, different interpretations, and different behaviors exist not for conflict, but to give an opportunity to put on display the breadth of their own thoughts and show the ways human beings can live humanely.

In this world, sermons breathe the Muhammadi spirit, conferences and panels interpret the existence from a Qur’anic perspective, and forums and debates give out a Messianic life force. Anyone who happens to attend such a sermon suddenly becomes in their spirit like a Companion of the Prophet. Anyone fortunate enough to attend such a conference and panel understands that everyone and everything must be embraced with love. Anyone who is able to attend such a forum feels all the unifying components of their conscience come to life and expand so much so that they can embrace all of existence with compassion.

When I close my eyes, I feel and think life has risen again like the sun: dawn is breaking with beauty everywhere; flowers in red, pink, and yellow are swaying with smiles; daisies are dancing, and the Judas trees are taking a flame from the tulips. I feel that the general mood of the society has matured with goodness of all sorts and it fills our hearts with grace and the promise of happiness. Our souls overflow with an eternal serenity as we sense a “resurrection” brimming with lambs bleating, birds chirping, trees swishing, water running, and leaves rustling. It is a resurrection as sweet as a mother’s excitement, as joyful as a child, as magical and effective as in the faces of loved ones, as satisfying, convincing, kind, and fine as in loving souls. In the midst of all this revival, I roam from one pleasure to another, and I free myself from the constrictions of the present time I live in and feel like throwing myself into this harmony of beauties. Even if I don’t, the signs of the colorful, warm, pleasant, and azure days of this happy future have already emerged and they pour into my soul through the inlets of my dreams – they become my own with promises more euphoric than I can imagine.

I and those who think alike have always taken special delight in exploring our expansive, colorful future just as we did with our glorious past. In that future of my dreams, everything talks with the language of their heart, every picture inspires ingenious feelings, every face, every word, and every spectacle awaken in us the most humane aspirations as generative as our faithful reveries. Then, we journey through such marvelous moments that our hidden ideas and private sensations for eternity are awakened reminiscent of our past. Whenever we set sail to this vast future brimming with “spirit and meaning,” all our dormant feelings in the depths of our souls are stimulated with excitement. This is such an unlimited joy in our limited lives.

We consider our current situation as in an intermediary abode on the way to this world of eternal beauties. We spend our time in this temporary abode as if we are passing over an abyss, jumping from one beauty to another and weaving a life between realities and dreams. No noise and dreadful silence are ever heard in our ideal world; in this world people are almost always lively within silence and silent in action. Here, thanks to new considerations that emerge each and every moment, the connections of our spirits are always strong, objectives always fresh, and everything we see and hear are as uplifting as a festival. Reflecting on death or the afterlife is like a warm kiss upon the heart, a mysterious message that stirs our longing for eternity latent somewhere deep in our soul, or a cupbearer serving us from the rivers of Paradise.

In the most nightmarish moments of others when they feel everything is fading away in tears as if in autumn, it is the best time for us, we live the most colorful, cherished, impressive, and pleasurable moments of our lives.

In this world of our dreams, every sound speaks a new beginning and our hearts become enthused with hope. Life in this world echoes with eternity and meaning so much so that we listen to every moment of the present time like a poem or song. Then, we feel our spirits expand even more, taking us across the sweetest dreams and instilling in us deep down a need for love and reunion. Our glorious past is the soundest material for this magical dream, and there are thousands of living testimonies of a dawn breaking everywhere.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

O you who believe! Turn to God in true, sincere repentance. (66:8)

Philosophers and scientists have long mulled over the faculties that govern our actions and thoughts. They have identified these in different ways, and there is still endless debate over these tangible and intangible faculties. There seem to be conflicting forces within us – an “evil-commanding” carnal self and a “regulatory” conscience. These have been caricatured as the devil and angel on our shoulders. Freud called this phenomenon the id and the super-ego within us: i.e. the instinctual drive and the moralizing conscience. Unrestricted drives can lead to destruction, so moral laws and society impose certain rules and consequences for such actions.

An important tool that aids this self-regulation is the feeling of guilt. However, the conscience can easily be manipulated and with some effort a rationale that justifies most actions can be found. A troubled conscience cannot be escaped forever. Non-conformity to established moral norms can be the greatest source of anxiety and guilt, and the cause of drastic internal conflicts.

In any case, everyone has something that they hold to be right and wrong, whether induced by society, revelation, or both.

For immigrants, such moral questions have an amplified effect. Living in a society that can have different moral norms to that of their cultural upbringing, which itself has variations from the religious moral values that they hold dear, can cause a turbulence of internal conflicts. “Who I am today,” and, “what made me this way?” are answered by a cohort of forces which are in perpetual conflict with one another. An immigrant realizes that their so-called innate urges, and even personality traits, are simply a set of influences that they need to learn to grow conscious of in order to truly find inner peace. During this process, however, they may develop a deep sense of guilt which they are not able to escape. The only way out could be to appeal to a higher being.

Projecting this situation onto myself, an idea came to me while I was contemplating why I am not able to get rid of my feeling of guilt. After I perceive myself to have sinned, I repent and feel sorrow for my sins, but then I repeat that sin. Why is it that I cannot stop this cycle? Is it possible, I thought, that deep in my subliminal mind, I feel at ease when I realize my weakness and inferiority before God because it is only then that I am able to truly connect with Him? If I stopped sinning, would the relief and comfort corrupt me and distance me from God?

My first reaction, of course, was that this idea must be a waswasa (a satanic whispering). Surely one’s connection to God is not merely one of embarrassment or fear, but involves qualities such as awe, gratitude, love, and rida (a satisfied resignation and submission). Also, how could I assume that I could attain a state of sinlessness when even the purest of the pure Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, felt the need to repent seventy or a hundred times a day?

What I repent for and what the Prophet repented for could not have been the same. So, I must have a misconception of what constitutes a sin. Sinning cannot simply be a case of misbehaviour or non-compliance with an order. One can make the following deduction: since sinning is unpleasant because it is accompanied by guilt (a troubled conscience), and since heartfelt guilt is as a result of immorality, then feelings of guilt can be treated as an inner motivation for repenting. Our troubled conscience is a result of a more expanded meaning of sinning, which included not just merely acting immorally but also entails things such as: lack of right action, vanity, being heedless, or even having unpleasant thoughts.

The example of Prophet David’s (peace be upon him) startling state of anguish seems to prove this point: “One day he asks God Almighty: ‘O Lord. How can I be thankful to You, since thanking You is another favour that requires thankfulness?’ The Almighty responded: ‘Just now you have done it.’”

It seems then that an extraordinary level of self-regulation and a true understanding of the meaning of repentance brings the conscious ones to bend down in modesty. They are greater sinners in their own eyes than I perceive myself to be. Alas, the only way to free myself from my deviations is to be sincere and resolute in growing conscious of my sins and to focus my attention on re-assessing my position in the face of God. At the end of the day, being conscious that God is seeing me, even at times when nobody else is, may be the only way of abstaining from sin. It is only then that I will realize there is so much more to my relationship with God than my fear and shame.

For a balanced and healthy state of mind, I have since realized that I must enrich and diversify my relationship with God. I can develop different areas of connection, for instance, through contemplating the manifestation of His names in His creation by studying the sciences; and then my astonishment of His might will be aroused and this will lead me to further gratefulness; and by turning to His word, I can establish a direct conversation with him and lend an ear to what He has to say to me. The benefits of having a concerned conscience need to be further discussed, but something is clear: if the feeling of heartfelt concern dies out and is replaced by vanity, then that is cause for serious concern.

Likewise, Aristotle considered metaphors a sign of language mastery and genius, but he also deemed them ornamental, appropriate for poetry but too enigmatic for philosophical or scientific discourse. On the contrary, Max Black articulated an influential alternative to traditional views of understanding metaphors. Having rejected Aristotle’s comparison as too simplistic, Black argued that metaphor is a communicative phenomenon operating not at the level of mere word meaning, but at the (ostensibly) deeper level of conceptual structure. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) put forward that metaphors establish the modal method through which the mind represents concepts that are not sensorial or perceptual in nature. Their conclusion is:

“Metaphor pervades our normal conceptual system. Because so many of the concepts that are important to us are either abstract or not clearly delineated in our experience (the emotions, ideas, time) we need to get a grasp on them by means of other concepts that we understand in clearer terms (spatial orientation, objects). This need leads to metaphorical definition in our conceptual system” (1980, 115).

Conceptual Metaphor has been the prime concern for translation scholars, academicians, and students. Scholars have tried to map and analyze conceptual metaphorical aspects in poetry and novels for a long time. But somehow, they face a series of confusions regarding the meanings of some conceptual metaphorical phrases. As Newmark (1988) holds, whilst the central problem of translation is the overall choice of a translation method for a text, the most important particular problem is the translation of metaphor. Conceptual Metaphor is often fully employed in literary texts and it is regarded as a challenge to ESL students and academicians.

According to Tone Aksberg Bjerkmo Johansen (2007), the process that constitutes a conceptual metaphor is when the knowledge of one field is epitomized onto another field. Conceptual Metaphors are normally used when expressions that represent our thoughts in a conventional way are being systematically used in everyday language. An example of conceptual metaphor is a metaphoric concept such as “Theories are buildings,” where we can partially conceptualize “Theories” in terms of “Buildings.” According to Lakoff and Johnson, metaphor has the tendency to highlight and hide certain aspects of the target concept. Another example is “A relationship is a journey,” which ascertains that the metaphor is measuring the progress in a relationship, but it does not give any idea of how this progress can be achieved. Metaphor is only a partial mapping as “not all the features of the source have analogs in the target,”

According to Apps (1995), metaphors have proven useful after examining different approaches to learning in adult education. Young (1996) states that, “Metaphors form visual constructs through which we associate, interpret and organize thought. They dominate and delimit our consideration of experience and phenomena. Because one’s metaphor of teaching and learning interacts with fundamental issues such as the nature of knowledge and the nature of persons, it impinges directly on the way pedagogical decisions are made” (p. 79).

Postman and Weingartner (1969) suggested that many adult educators conceptualize teaching and learning through the use of metaphors. Winner and Engel (1980) used a matching task where the classification of one item in terms of recurring similarity to another item was scored as metaphorical. Furthermore, Vosniadou and Ortony (1983) asked their participants to complete similarity statements, including similes. The expressions tested “were often constructed idiosyncratic metaphorical expressions instead of actual natural language expressions.”

Waggoner, Messe, and Palermo (1985) found out that the recollection and the construction of meaning for both literal and metaphorical expressions depends on the supporting contexts, such as extended and appropriately structured stories. Stones (1989) used short stories with familiar concrete nominal metaphors as targets and he found out that participants perform better when they are asked to paraphrase rather than explain the meaning of the metaphor. However, this has one drawback for children, as the meta-cognitive abilities that paraphrasing required usually develop late in childhood. Thus, such reasons could prevent participants from scoring well in the task.

For students who do not have a cultural orientation of the western background, metaphors from English Linguistics or English Literature textbooks might create confusion. According to Brown, “cultural knowledge” is too vast to teach in the context of English Literature, thus, ESL students should be taught “explicit strategies for making inferences from language” (1990, 11-17). Furthermore, Murray (1985, 7) states that without the inculcation of such strategies, students will interpret the texts according to their own background. Murray’s recommendations are based on the “Schema Theory” (Adams Collins 1979), which is the body of research into reading comprehension. According to Adams and Collins (1979), a schema can be characterized as an “abstract knowledge structure” in the memory and it functions by interpreting, storing, and retrieving new information. This theory concludes that texts on their own do not provide meanings, but rather they direct to readers the construct meaning based on what they have acquired previously.

References

• (n.d.). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th Ed.). Retrieved June 23, 2007, from Dictionary.com website.
• Kaal, Anna Albertha. 2012. Metaphor in conversation. VU University Amsterdam.
• Lakoff, George and Johnson, Mark. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Lakoff, George. 1993. Metaphor and Thought. 2nd Ed. Cambridge University Press.
• Lakoff, George and Turner, Mark. 1989. More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Lakoff, George. 1993. “The contemporary theory of metaphor.” In A. Ortony (Ed.) Metaphor and Thought. (pp. 202-251) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [second edition]
• Lakoff, George and Johnson, Mark. 1980. “Conceptual Metaphor in Everyday Language.” (Vol. 7). The Journal of Philosophy.
• McGlone, Matthew S. 2006. What is the explanatory value of conceptual metaphor? The University of Texas.
• Erna. 1996. “The limits of literal meaning.” Danish Yearbook of Philosophy.
• Pierson, Cheri. 2008. “Reflections on Educational Metaphors for Teaching English as a Second Language to Adult Learners.” (Vol.17). PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning.
• Short, Mick. 1996. Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose. Longman.
• Van, Engen Robert B. 2008. Metaphor: A Multifaceted Literary Device used by Morgan and Weick to Describe Organizations. (Vol. 1). Regent University.
• Winberg, Christine. 1994. The comprehension of figurative language in English literary texts. Rhodes University.

Once I could see God in one thing – even though it was the vastest, most mysterious, and perhaps most obvious example in creation – I was able to see God in almost anything.

Before, there was no meaning. There was no cohesion. There was no contentment. Instead, there was sorrow. There was an endless search for pleasure. There was a fear of death, but also a fear of life. And there were questions. There were always questions. And the answers I found only made me ask more and more questions. I was under the impression that there was no certainty, no order, no higher meaning – that I was asking questions that were not meant to be asked.

To put it another way, during this time in my life, I had the perception that knowledge and belief were incompatible – a relatively common idea, as I have found. Many will say that science goes against religion. Some will choose religion; I chose science, because in many ways, it appeared to be the more difficult one to dismiss. In retrospect, I know that my conception of religion was simply wrong, that the two really can be, and are, compatible. After all, not only did God give us intellectual capacities for a reason, but also, the book of divine revelation cannot contradict the book of creation. Would that not undermine God’s wisdom? Regardless, at the time, my belief had melted away due to my increasing awareness not only of science, but also that scientific accuracy was lacking in my faith. As a result, a never-ending barrage of questions ceaselessly entered my head.

To me, life had no real meaning. Everyone at some point asks, “Why am I here?” Before, my answer to this question was, “To make myself happy.” Therefore, my life was centered on myself – I was the center of the universe. No one else mattered. All of my time was spent on seeking pleasure – physical pleasure, material pleasure, intellectual pleasure. I was focused on finding happiness, and I thought this happiness would be found in gaining the acceptance of others, in having many possessions, in being well liked, in indulging in worldly pleasures. In my career path, I did not desire to make a difference in the world nor was I concerned with earning lots of money, strangely enough – I simply wanted a job that I adored: a job that made me happy. Mind you, what this job was, I did not know, but this was my goal and my primary concern.

I did not know the meaning of life, nor did I know why or how I got here, so seemingly, the only reasonable solution was to enjoy the life that I had. Why I had this life was of little import. So, I set off on a journey in search of lasting, worldly happiness, but I did not find it. Instead, I found that this abstract entity was very elusive. When it seemed I had found real and genuine happiness, I would lose it. The pleasures I partook in on this journey were only transitory, so when the contentment I found in them was gone, there was only pain. This left me still feeling empty, feeling that there was no real deep and lasting contentment to be had in this world. It was akin, in a way, to an addiction. I was always trying to get my “fix,” and over time, it became increasingly difficult to satisfy myself, to hide the pain – pain that resulted from wanting, from desiring even, to live a life of higher meaning, all the while not knowing how to attain it.

Regardless of the fact that, initially, it was knowledge and questioning that caused my belief to wither, during this time, I was not at all interested in increasing my knowledge – not in reading or in learning. I was simply apathetic; perhaps I had become burnt out due to knowledge causing me to ask questions that seemed unanswerable. Pondering frustrating existential questions was not pleasurable, nor was it, seemingly, a path to happiness, so I just ignored my thirst for knowledge and answers. In lieu, I spent my time on shallow frivolities, but this got very old, very fast.

Despite my pulling away from intellectual endeavors and from belief, there were still some topics that occasionally caught my interest. It was my seemingly innate fascination with space, with the universe, that made me reconsider my belief in God. I could not look at the order and perfection inherent there and think that it was all just a random occurrence. This was simply impossible to me. There are innumerable examples, but for one, if the earth were any closer to the sun, it would be too hot to sustain life, and gravity would be too strong. If it were any further away, the opposite would be true – it would be too cold and gravity would be too weak. As I see it, the earth’s distance from the sun could not have been a mere coincidence. In the words of Nursi, the universe is a “macro Qur’an,” and I was able to discern this even before my personal beliefs were solidified; I could clearly see that the universe is brimming with God’s signs, and that the sheer vastness of it is a testament to His infinity and oneness.

Once I could see God in one thing – even though it was the vastest, most mysterious, and perhaps most obvious example in creation – I was able to see God in almost anything: the tides of the ocean, the composition of the atmosphere, a seed sprouting into a small tree, the uniqueness of a fingerprint, the utter complexity inherent in an atom, despite its size, or even the varieties of difference – and remarkable similarity – between people. To emphasize this, God repeats over and over, “Then which of the favors of your Lord will you deny?” And it had thus become clear – I cannot deny any of them because all of creation is a reflection of its Creator.

At this realization – that God does indeed exist, for He manifests Himself everywhere – my thirst for knowledge made a swift resurgence, but first I had to forget everything I had previously known about my beliefs, my desires, my goals, my life’s purpose – I even had to forget everything I knew about myself. I had to gain a new mindset and refine my worldview. I had to reevaluate my own personal motto. I had to change even the minutest aspects of my daily routine. There was so incredibly much to learn, as there had been so much time that I had wasted. The turnaround seemed hasty or even abrupt, but it had been in the works, covertly, for a long, long time. Those times when I pushed aside my questions? They were the final moments of calm before my life would be flipped upside down, losing every last bit of resemblance to my previous life.

Now, I feel guilt if I waste too much time. I have, seemingly, almost a compulsion to learn something new every single day. I read – constantly – about anything and everything. My desire for knowledge is no longer in a vacuum, as it was before, because now I know that knowledge could be used to increase faith and belief, and faith and belief could be used to increase knowledge. For every question of faith or of the nature of life that knowledge led me to ponder, belief gave me answers – answers that satisfied me. The satisfaction was in seeing how knowledge and faith were not only compatible – they were intertwined. I could see the perfect order in everything created by God, and I could see all of the problems inherent in the society created by man – materialism, narcissism, and a lack of faith. But these problems were not only on the macro scale of society; on the micro scale, they had been my problems. They had been the obstacles to my happiness and contentment. I had life, and I had knowledge. Faith was the missing piece.

I still partake in worldly pleasures – I am not an ascetic, nor do I claim to be. These pleasures, however, are not the means to happiness. Belief is the means to happiness. Worldly pleasure is a gift from God, and so I experience pleasure for what it gives me – temporary pleasure. I no longer expect it to give me lasting contentment. Faith gives me that. Life for me is no longer this endless search for worldly satisfaction because happiness cannot be found among things of this world; it can only be found through certainty of belief. With certainty of belief, I now know that even pain and suffering has a greater purpose – everything has a greater purpose.

Before, I wanted happiness at any cost. That was my motto. Now, I focus on increasing my belief and my faith. I study, read, and reason since exercising my intellectual capacities is a way to do that and because I must not waste the gifts I have been given. My life has a different purpose now – to contribute to the greater good, to use my free will responsibly, to live rationally and reasonably, and to remember God in everything I do. One can always strive for this and never tire of it because there are infinite rewards and there is infinite room for improvement. So now, the motto that I live by is “knowledge to increase faith, faith to increase contentment.” Now, I have found all of the missing pieces.

If you want to know why some of us are so poetic, while others are strictly straightforward, then read on this unprecedented discussion and see how the Left Brain and the Right Brain discuss their differences.

Moderator – Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, we have two guests that have long been the focus of media attention: Left Brain and Right Brain. We are going to discuss their opinions on various issues. Without losing much time, I want to get to the first question. Many public figures who have inspired people go through a period of self discovery, after which they define their identities and their surroundings anew. Did you have a similar self-discovery period? And if yes, how do you define yourself now?

Left Brain – I guess I never had a distinct enlightenment period, but I kept building on top of what I already knew about myself. So, my self discovery starts with my babyhood, really. For example, as the eyes gained the ability to distinguish colors and to focus on objects at different distances, I realized that I can collect information about the outside world through colors, shapes, and distances. As the muscles became stronger, I felt free to move my body and developed the notion of being distinct from other things around me. I also realized that I can gather data about what is where, how I can find what I need… When I learned to speak, I developed the notion that there are other people like me out there, for whom I am the other. And so on…

Right Brain – Before I say anything, I would like to bring to your attention that the way I am named is not something I came up with or something I am delighted by. For me, there isn’t a left-right distinction. There is a brain, and that’s it. And actually, I would not call the eyes separate organs. They are only a different part of the same organ, i.e. the brain. Muscles are alike. They are not distinct entities. We are all part of the same organ. So, for me too, self discovery started with my babyhood, but realizing my new abilities forced me to redefine myself, again and again. For example, when I discovered my legs, I did not become a brain with legs, but opened my eyes to a new dimension of my existence. I realized that I was not just about what I thought I was. The same goes for vision, or smell. When you smell something for the first time, that is a creative act. When you taste a fruit for the first time, that is an invention for you. All these culminate in a notion in which everything unifies. Walking is thinking, thinking is walking. Seeing is tasting, tasting is seeing. So, for example, if you cannot solve a problem, try smelling it, tasting it, walking it.

Left Brain – Let’s not get poetic here. If you cannot solve a problem, that’s because you either haven’t gathered enough data or haven’t yet developed a known pattern of solution. It’s also possible that your attention, in the moment, is distracted, due to things like walking, smelling, tasting; you know what I mean?

Moderator – Let’s not lose our focus here. The next topic I want to bring forward is a little more subtle: love and marriage. What do you think love is, and why are marriages today more restrained than before?

Left Brain – There are different categories of love. For instance: the love between couples, the love between parents and their children, and the love between friends are not the same kinds of love. So I am assuming that you are specifically talking about the one between couples. Even in this type of love, there are various facets. Sometimes, it means dedication to support each other. Sometimes it is being valued by the other. You can extend this list. Love is like light. The same phenomenon can display itself in different colors and strength. Today, there is a lot of research about the physical manifestations of love, and the properties of successful marriages. There are also studies on divorces. It seems that, for the moment, there is no predictor of the fate of a given marriage in the long run. Having said that, I should admit that there are some proxies of an imminent divorce. For instance, addiction or a lack of intimacy often lead to divorce. Aside from the factors that are related to the conscience of individuals, there are more subtle factors that need extra focus. The fast pace of change in modern life versus the slow change of cultural settings definitely brings stress to many couples. The norms and expectations from each other depend on one’s cultural and emotional baggage. Whether one can fulfill those expectations given the modern conditions is another story. All these are playing a role in restraining the family in our times.

Right Brain – Like anything else in the universe, we look for unity. If you love someone, you want to be with them, because love is a realization that part of your existence is in the other. We all crave for being one with those we love. But why don’t we feel such emotions for anyone but only for certain people? Perhaps, this is one of the points where the veils before destiny are pulled open. When we tell someone that we love them, we actually mean, “I need you… and I need to be needed.” This is a two-way hunger which is quenched by the unity of the lovers. This is why love inherently demands continuity; for unity is only established when all separations in time and space are eliminated. And this is why, perhaps, marriages are most troubled today. Life conditions and individual choices are not made in order to nourish continuity. Staying side by side is mistaken for unity.

Moderator – Have you ever fallen in love?

Left Brain – Is there anyone who hasn’t? As one colleague of mine says, “we are wired for love and belonging; that’s why we are here.” Love is one way of becoming a part of something bigger than us: having a family, raising children, and contributing to the well-being of our society through various love-inspired activities. Even ascetics and saintly people pursue a path of love inspired by God. So, love is all around us.

Moderator – But I asked if you ever “fell in love.” I understand if you don’t want to go that deep into your private life.

Left Brain – (pauses for a second) … I might have felt special things for some people. But, in the long run, I saw that those feelings did not bear any meaning for the real life. And this realization gave me immunity towards those special feelings. If you can stand back, and take a deep breath… Oh yes, and let me say this as an aside: this is how love works. You cannot step away from the situation and breathe deeply or think clearly. Love only works when you can’t think clearly. This loss of brain power is eliminated when you hit the bottom of the love you are falling into. So, what was I saying? If you stand back and take a deep breath, you’ll see that there are thousands of people with whom you can get along with at least as well as the one you are with at that moment. Nobody is irreplaceable. There is always another one more beautiful, friendlier, more generous, more sacrificing, etc. There is always going to be another love following the current one. So, no need for falling!

Moderator – What about you, Right Brain? Have you ever fallen in love?

Right Brain – I can’t breathe without love! For me, life and everything in it gains meaning only through love. And this meaning is not always visible at first sight. “L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur.” As the fox tells the Little Prince, what’s essential is invisible to the eye; one only sees well with the heart. So, falling in love reveals the meanings hidden behind objects and events. It’s not that you fall in love with something that is extraordinary, but that love makes the ordinary things extraordinary. It is the intertwining of their destinies that make people special for each other. Imagine this: the Great Author of the universe is writing a love story of you and your beloved one. What greater meaning can you ask for? For me, each and every person I fell in love with is special, no matter how the story ended. I always keep a room reserved for them in my heart.

Moderator – In the last century, scientific thought and technological achievements led many people to question their religious teachings and affiliations. Their faiths were shaken as a result of their experiences in intellectual and social areas. I even remember a book titled Youth’s Faith Is Stolen by Questions. My question to you is: how do you define the relationship between religion and science?

Left Brain – This question has been asked on many other occasions. For me, this is a straightforward issue. Personally, I am a believer. For me, science gathers information about the outside world. Religion tells me about the purpose of the world. A more cliché way of saying the same thing is, “science answers how, religion answers why.” Therefore, I don’t see why the two should contradict or clash. You can have a user’s manual for a car or a computer. But what you are going to do with it is totally up to you. Science and technology are like that manual. From them, we learn to make use of what is available here in this world. But religion guides us in what we should do, or how we should do it.

Right Brain – If you go back in history, you’ll see that religion and science were not different entities. Even the several branches of science we have today were united as a single body. If you were a knowledgeable man, you knew everything. Of course, with the accumulation of more and more information, a classification was needed, but unfortunately this classification led to oblivion among these different classes. Nowadays, people are rediscovering the value of the unity of knowledge through interdisciplinary studies. The same, I think, is true for religion and science. Had things taken a different route in history, one in which the sense of unity was essential, the definitions we are using today would have been completely different. Science would not be the study of how the universe functions but how God executes his will in the physical realm. Similarly, instead of being perceived as a set of rules that bound both God and people, the laws of nature would be defined as the stable patterns (straight paths) of creation that host the travelers in life. Accordingly, those stable paths would be a restriction for us, as humans, but not for the Lord of the worlds. Such an understanding would have, perhaps, fostered a completely different history than what we have now. Reading the creation as verses from the Perfect Designer, treating life events as personal instant messages from the closest Friend would transform our journey in this world from a merciless struggle of survival to being the hero of our stories, which are produced by the Supreme Sustainer.

The same goes for how religion is perceived and practiced. Instead of becoming a set of precise actions and words, religion would be the way to educate our conscience and will in order to be respectful lovers of God. Instead of becoming a formula that “ensures” heaven solely for its followers, religion would be the means to spread peace and prosperity to everyone, just like the All-Merciful one sustains even those who deny His existence.

Moderator – Finally, I would like to ask you the ultimate question. Where is the world headed regarding its current economic, ecological, and political unrest? Do you see hope for the future?

Left Brain – Oh, absolutely! People have been voicing similar concerns for such a long time. Even when the world population was a third of what it is now, there were debates on whether food would be enough, and so on… But today, we are here with 7 billion people. It may be painful, but I am sure in the long run, things will get settled.

Moderator – Painful? What do you mean by that?

Left Brain – Of course there are wars , and there is a disparity in the distribution of wealth, and healthcare is not accessible in many places. So, it is going to take some time until a global welfare and healthcare system is established to cover everyone. But with the advent of technology in communications and transportation, this is going to become easier over time, and we’ll get there. Until that point, though, there are going to be losses.

Right Brain – There is an old saying: “If He didn’t want to give, He wouldn’t give us the need to ask from Him.” I think the fact that we are yearning for a better tomorrows is a sign that we’ll get there.

Moderator – Then, would you blame the turbulence of today to yesterday’s lack of desire for better tomorrows?

Right Brain – You’re making me smile. Desire for a better tomorrow is not the same thing as desire for a better income. If everybody dreams for a better tomorrow, then this becomes a global prayer for peace and prosperity. If everybody wants what’s best for themselves, things don’t add up. This is even worse if some people think of their prosperity at the expense of others. So, in this sense, I think we can talk about a lack of desire for a better tomorrow, which governed the world for most of the last century. Today, though, through the growing means of communication and transportation, interfaith and intercultural dialogue activities are blossoming. These carry the potential to initiate a global prayer for peace and prosperity. When that happens, I am hopeful that that prayer will be answered.

Moderator – Thank you Left Brain and thank you Right Brain for allowing us to have a peek into your personal worlds.

While Fethullah Gulen is revered by many for his authority as a scholar and for his achievements in education and intercultural dialogue, his views on language should earn him equal renown as a philosopher of language. Linguistics offers an analysis of a language’s system – its structure, sounds, grammar, and semantics – but the philosophy of language describes the way language creates meaning. Gulen is anchored in the optimistic tradition of the philosophy of language that establishes the relationship between language, belief, truth, and the meaning of life.

Gulen draws insights on the nature of language from the Qur’an. For Gulen, God has created with a purpose; such is also true of language. He echoes the Qur’an in this sense, in which glad tidings of paradise are given to believers who, “will hear therein neither vain talk nor falsehood” (78:35). In Gulen’s writings there is always a conscious effort to awaken in his audience an awareness of our relationship to God and of our duties towards humanity and the world.

He writes that his concept of “speech” is an effort to expound on the following verse in the Qur’an: “The All-Merciful. He has taught the Qur’an. He has created the human. He has taught him speech” (Rahman 55:1–4). In his book Speech and Power of Expression, Gulen writes, “In creating humankind, the Most Merciful gave us the ability to speak of the human essence, our inner depths, the entire cosmos, and the truth beyond material existence before sending us to the dimension of external existence” (p. 1)

The “Referential paradigm of language” that was an offshoot of Positivism’s exclusive reliance upon rationalism and science looks at language as an empirical object of investigation only and limits meaning to the word-object relation only, reducing reality to mere physical phenomenon that can be quantitatively measured and explained (Medina, 2005:40). However, Gulen writes that language is not only a tool for describing facts and performing vocative functions – it also defines and constitutes our humanity. It “gives voice to our thoughts, it is the rhythm of our feelings, and the excitement of our hearts; it is the interpreter in our communication with God Almighty. Language is a reflection of the Divine Archetype and is the repository of divine knowledge. By virtue of the faculty of language, humankind has been elevated to the rank of vicegerent on this earth” (p. 8).

In this sense, Gulen argues that language not only reveals and expresses the Divine and the Transcendental; it can also establish a relation between the Creator and the created. Gulen writes, “It is through speech that human beings have become the addressee of God and it is thanks to this faculty that they can address Him” (p. 1).

This constructive and creative view of language is a counter to the extreme form of postmodern philosophy of language that presents a pessimistic view of language, denies the divine origin of language, and reduces language to empty signs and elusive images – turns it into chimeras unanchored in any reality or purpose or meaning. This reductive view of language that looks at texts as auto-referential only turns language into a closed system of self-referring signs that endlessly defer meaning. The result is nihilism, solipsism, and the coarsening of the values that define our humanity. Virtues like duty, love, sacrifice, and the idea of the sacred are dismissed as mere linguistic projections.

Gulen, on the other hand, presents an optimistic view of language and writes, “By means of the faculty of speech bestowed in our nature, the facility has been afforded for humans to express and interpret everything at their discretion… Speech is an instrument by way of which truth is acknowledged as the highest reality and all beings become a musical instrument as if in a symphony, thereby removing the veil over things, enabling them to express themselves” (p. 2).

The “Luciferan thrust” of Postmodernism dismisses the ideals of beauty, sacredness, duty, sacrifice, the truth of the heart, and virtue as mere flattering words that mask and hide selfish motives. Freud dismissed the idea of the sacred as “infantile fantasy,” the hangover of the primitive mind, and Karl Marx described religion as the opiate for the masses. The result is a shuddering collapse of all the values that define our humanity, reducing the universe to a “Wasteland,” a “Flatland” inhabited by alienated, depressed “hollow men” who can “connect nothing with nothing.”

But Gulen does not look at beautiful language as mere simulacrum, as empty of meaning. In his account, language is “one of the most precious of gifts” from God, and words are underpinned by ideas and values. Language can inculcate moral values. There is a relationship between language, belief, meaning, and understanding. Language nourishes our aspirations, which arise from “our distinctive foundational essence”; language lends a wing “to our ideals” and takes “their feet off the ground to the heavens”; lifting us to “the upper reaches of a spiritual ascension and preparing for us thrones in realms beyond the material world.” Gulen repeatedly highlights the higher spiritual function of language. He says, “Responding to our desire for eternity, speech enriches our feelings in an indescribable manner and gives our souls a depth that cannot be bound by the dimensions of corporeality” (p. 7-8).

The reductive and degrading views of human nature put forth by the pseudo prophets of modernity, who define the essence of humanity in terms of libido, monetary profit, or class struggle, cannot explain how good literature stirs the soul and uplifts the heart. According to Gulen, literature that wells from, and voices what is in, our hearts will always remind us of the Divinity that was breathed into human beings and forms the quintessence of humanity. The constructive use of language is like “a strong gust” of wind that lifts people up “in the sky where kites wander,” “and they enjoy the freedom and ease of a bird taking wing in the spacious sky…they experience constant transformations and perceive the magnificence of transcendent life through the colorful dimensions of speech…” (p. 6).

Gulen cites the Holy Qur’an as an excellent example of the zenith of language that has an immense depth of meaning, and whose “voice is heard beyond ramparts and echoes in even the most obstinate and bigoted of hearts. There is such dazzling magic in the presentation of its themes that it is impossible not to be impressed upon hearing it.”

According to Gulen, language that embeds lofty ideals and noble goals “is as expansive as the skies, as full of vigor as the earth, as lustrous as silk, and as comforting as a mother’s embrace. It articulates to us the glory of our faith, the riches of our society, the purity and integrity of our fellow companions, the struggle of our ancestors, and our values that make us unique. Good speech that originates directly from, and voices what is in, our hearts will always remind us of our Divine origin. To the extent of the sacredness of its color, wealth, and goals, good speech will echo in our hearts like celestial voices providing us with proofs of its origin” (p. 8).

Western literary theory and Positivist epistemology support each other in looking at literature as auto-referential; they view literature as self-reflexive and not referring to any meaning outside it. It is parasitic and, in the words of the French poet Valery, it is like a dance that leads nowhere.

On the other hand, Gulen establishes a relationship between literature and axiology. He says that literature not only describes and creates beauty, it also tells us about our relationship to life and the purpose of life. He rejects the concept of Art for the sake of Art, which is exclusively concerned with creating elegance of form only.

Equally emphatic is his rejection of naturalism in literature that, in the name of realism, puts the emphasis on the sordid, mean, and brutal aspects of life. He advises that literary people should “put their language skills and artistic talents at the service of the right, good, and beautiful, instead of hurting the souls of the masses…by describing what is corrupt, or contaminating people’s pure thoughts with dirty images, and condemning them to the slavery of materialism with descriptions of carnal desires” (p. 15-16).

Gulen exhorts artists to take the prophets and writers of Sufi literature as role models, because all of them have, “acted in cooperation and are united in building prosperous cities from speech, weaving lace from the silken threads of language, and stringing exquisite necklaces with the jewels of words” (p. 5).

Language is an instrument given exclusively to humankind. It has tremendous power and can perform diverse and contradictory functions. In this context, Gulen quotes a hadith that says that a believer must guard his speech because it can be equally used as a remedy and as a weapon. The range of its power can extend in opposite directions: it can revive and kill, establish peace and start war, disclose and hide, liberate and imprison, construct and destroy, exaggerate and downplay. It is therefore necessary to keep watch that one’s language is not misused. When the use of language is yoked to an agenda of self-aggrandisement, or the acquisition of power or monetary profit, it is severed from its divine purpose of pursuing Truth and serving humanity. It degenerates into the rhetoric of hatred and misrepresentation, and generated suspicion, deception, competition and aggression. It becomes an instrument of manipulation and exploitation. Gulen emphasises that we need to use language in a constructive way. He argues for promoting interfaith and intercultural dialogue, because language has tremendous power to make people understand others and to change their perception. It can persuade people to work for peace. It is, in the words of Gulen, “the sword of humankind,” and, “wherever the flag of speech waves, the most powerful armies are defeated and scattered. In the arenas in which speech shouts out, the sounds of cannon balls become like the buzzing of bees. From behind the battlements on which the banner of speech has been raised, the sound of its drums are heard. In the precincts where its march reverberates, kings shake in their boots” (p. 2).

Good speech influences people to make the best of their potential, removes misunderstandings and false consciousness, helps them expand tolerance and promote cooperation, encourages collaboration, and establishes peace. Gulen expresses the educative value of language in these words, “foxes take their leave of deception, and lions are terrified, seeking shelter in their dens.” No “combatant has ever possessed a weapon mightier than speech” (p. 5).

Cognitive linguistics postulates that language is inseparable from thought, and Gulen writes, “Speech is the key that opens the locks on the doors of the treasury of thought” (p. 2). As the famous linguist Wittgenstein said, “My world ends where my language ends.” In Gulen’s view, since language is intertwined with thought, it should be developed and enriched to empower a nation intellectually and morally. He notes and cautions that nations which do not think and speak become dependent on others: “Societies which do not think and speak will find others speak and think on their behalf” (p. 18). Imported views estrange us from our own rich heritage. It is of supreme importance for a nation to be respectful towards the history of its language.

However, language has to go beyond historical value and respond positively to every positive new development. For, as Gulen says, “reaching out to the future at full speed requires catching up with industrialization, global commerce, and technological warehouses.” If language and thought, both living phenomena, do not evolve with the times, they will become stagnant, as solidified as rock, and will lose their soul. Nations that can manage to develop their language and make it accommodating, while at the same time staying faithful to the roots of it, are the most dynamic in thought and influence.

Language can serve both genealogical and teleological functions. As a symbol making activity, language not only embodies, but also preserves, all of our core values and cognitive and intellectual reserves. It also renews our link with our origins and traditional heritage. With its new developments and transformations, language looks to the future – just as our heritage of wisdom, ethics, and ideals can give direction to future, too.

Gulen compares the teleological function of language to a “golden-winged turtledove released by our hopes to the future” (p. 8). The core values of every society are embedded in the symbols of its language. Gulen argues, “Language is not only a means of speech and thought; it is a bridge with the significant function of bringing the wealth of the past to our day and conveying today’s heritage and our new compositions to the future” (p. 17).

Language is an important tool for humankind in our efforts to better understand the cosmos and events both holistically and analytically. The relationship between language and thought comprises cognitive and intellectual reflections on existence and events, transforming these reflections into sources of information, and becoming productive while forming links between the cosmos and our knowledge. The future prospects of a nation are very much dependent on evaluating these relationships. Language is one of the fundamental dynamics in the composition of a culture. We should not cast everything that is old into oblivion, nor turn our face to the past and close our doors to what is new. Let us embrace the past with the utmost sincerity and at the same time salute the coming days with their open, new developments and transformations.

I will conclude with summing up Gulen’s message – Let us use language as a bridge between different cultures and religions to establish peace. Let us use language as a beacon house to illuminate minds and souls, and as a bond to bring people together on the basis of shared human values: compassion, tolerance, harmony, and peace.

References

• Gulen, M. Fethullah. 2010. Speech and Power of Expression: On Language, Esthetics, and Belief, NJ: Tughra Books.
• Medina, Jose. 2005. Language: Key Concepts in Philosophy, Continuum.

Whatever the conditions may be, a believer should not go out of the frame of good manners, civility, and decency, for others ascribe all of their actions to faith. Thus, even in the face of the most grave situations or unyielding cases, believers should not swerve from their direction. Examining the life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, we see that he never changed his manners, even at times when he was challenged by Abu Jahl, the man who did all possible evil to oppose the Prophet.

There is occasionally a bitter tone in some of the Qur’anic passages as far as unbelief and unbelievers are concerned. However, we should clarify here that this harsh style is for devious thoughts and ideas, not for individuals. The Qur’anic message does not position any individual as an opponent just because of who they are. It is profane thoughts and views of denial – which are not unique to certain individuals but which have always existed and will continue to exist – that the Qur’an deals with rather harshly. This is a lesson believers should learn from the Qur’an in their engagement with others.

This is an attitude to be adopted not among people only, but among states, too. Let us reify the concept by an example from the Qur’an. God’s message to Moses, peace be upon him, concerning his encounter with the Pharaoh was, “but speak to him with gentle words, so that he might reflect and be mindful or feel some awe (of me, and behave with humility)” (Ta Ha 20:44). Speaking with gentle words and softly, even if it is the Pharaoh you are going to deal with – the Pharaoh who afflicted you and your nation with all possible oppression and violence. Another remarkable point here is that the Qur’an binds reflection and God-consciousness to “gentle words.” By a reverse conceptualization, we could induce the meaning that “in case you advance towards him in virulence, he shall neither reflect nor stand in awe.” So, benignity and tolerance are indispensable articles to communicate a message, whoever the addressee is.

That is, a believer always has to stand in the climate of a gentle attitude, gentle state, gentle heart, gentle conscience, and gentle words, so that they can serve others with true guidance. Otherwise, all the states and attitudes of those who have not been softened, melted, and molded in this Prophetic spirit will be artificial and theatrical. Such insincere people may smile for a while, but they will expose their teeth and present their genuine nature when their tails are stepped upon. Indeed, for how long could a firefly deceive astronomers that it is a star?

In the light of these criteria, it is also possible to read the descent of the Messiah on earth in the latter times with a message of being “without a hand to those who beat you, without a speech to those who curse you, and no hearts for those who break hearts,” even if some may consider this out of balance.

The example of Bediuzzaman, the sufferer of the age, is unique. Even towards those who had been his most merciless, inhumane torturers he managed to communicate the truths of faith and was never offended. Indeed, have believers not exerted every single effort to shine the inspirations of their souls to those who dug ditches and pushed them in?¹

Communicating with someone, or spreading a message, is impossible by raving or clamoring, violence or anger. Maybe violence was once a method or tool; but time has invalidated it. Today, the principle of persuasion is, and will be, dominant ever after. Today’s devotees of love should reach the level framed above, and should make abundant practices about that.

As as pointed out above, in the latter times, the Messiah will surely descend on earth in order to fulfill that significant mission, even, say, if he is in the remotest corner of the Hereafter. But this descent is dependent upon the meaning and spirit within your representative, collective body. Yes, he will descend to be the mold for that meaning. If that spirit is missing, I think, his corporeal descent will not mean anything. To conclude, we should know that a resurrection in the latter times will be realized by the reviving breaths of the heroes of love who represent gentle states, gentle attitudes, gentle hearts, and gentle words.

1- See 85:4 in the Qur’an for the short passage on tyrants who dug ditches of fire and killed believers.

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.