It would not be wrong to describe each state as a Divine gift and the breeze of nearness to God one feels in the heart, and each station as one’s continuous and stable experience of this breeze and the acquisition of a second nature. Like life, light, and mercy, each state is a direct gift of the Almighty and leads to the conviction of Divine Unity. By contrast, since each station depends on a purposeful effort, it cannot reflect the truth so manifestly. Therefore, without viewing stations as being obtained by a personal effort, a believer’s feeling of the spiritual occurrences in his or her heart, and a believer’s opening a new way in his or her heart to the One known by the heart at every moment, results in a deeper appreciation of the Source of those occurrences than would be possible by shaping them according to one’s own capacity and character, which may lead to ostentation and conceit.

The most truthful and confirmed one, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, once declared: “God considers not your bodily statures, but your hearts.”¹ These words direct our attention to what is important for the Truth, and show people how to reach the main target. The Tradition narrated through a less reliable channel is: “God considers your hearts and actions.”² This is a reference to a station reached after cycles of state.

A state consists of Divine manifestations occurring at times determined by the absolute Will. These manifestations are reflected in the heart and in the believer’s perception and consciousness, which pursue and cast them into a mold. For this reason, while a station signifies stability and subsidence after waves of state, a state can be likened to groups of waves of different lengths and colors coming from the Sun, appearing and then disappearing, being dependent on the absolutely dominant Will.

Sensitive souls and those whose consciousness is alert or awakened to the knowledge of God discern the waves of state upon their hearts, just as they see the Sun’s reflections on water, and respond to these waves according to their level and manner of perception. Those who have not corrected the imbalance of their hearts, and thus live disconnected from the Almighty, may regard these waves of state as illusions and fancies, while those who see existence with the light of the Truth view them as manifest, experienced realities.

The greatest hero of state, upon him be peace and blessings, who regarded each spiritual gift received as less when compared to the one that followed-may God illuminate our hearts with the light of his gifts he regarded as less-declared: “I ask God’s forgiveness seventy times a day.”³ It was impossible for a perfectly pure soul who felt the need for an everlasting mount and an eternal light in a never-ending journey toward the Infinite Being to have done otherwise.

Notes

1. Muslim, Birr, 33, 34.
2. Ibid.; Ibn Maja, Zuhd, 9.
3. Bukhari, Dawa‘at, 3; Tirmidhi, Tafsir al-Qur’an, 47.

Let me remind you that the broad circle of our readers are not interested much in Islamic dogma, but rather in everyday realities, which sometimes are tragic. Unlike Christianity, Islam is not Orthodox (from the Greek “orthos,” meaning correct and “doxa” meaning opinion), but rather Orthopracsic (from the Greek “pracsis,” meaning practice or activity). The latter means that in Islam not only are there postulated specific, and quite clear concrete, dogmas of faith, but there are also obligations that all Muslims must follow in their everyday life; these are the norms of behavior as prescribed by Islam. Fifteen hundred years of staunch Islamic belief and its practical implementation in everyday life and politics have ensured, to a larger extent, the stable development of Islamic civilization and contributed in particular into putting an end to the shameful yoke of colonialism for humanity.

In the last quarter of the twentieth century and more specifically at the turn of the millennium, and in connection with the activated radical-and sometimes extremist-tendencies in the Islamic world, voices can be heard-more often in the media than in science-that claim that Islam is an almost ideal ground for the military and political conflicts and for its extreme form of personal terrorism, under the guise of martyrdom, jihad, etc.

The current collection reveals in full and in detail the concept of incompatibility and non-acceptance for a faithful Islamic believer, from the position of the Holy Qur’an, to attempt to take away the highest gift of the Almighty, a human life. For the first time, a mass readership is able to acquaint itself with the five ultimate values of perfect Islam: Faith, life, family, mind, and property. The comparison made within the collection between the perceptions envisaged in the Qur’an and the Bible (made with a scientific basis and provable via the holy texts of the Qur’an and the Bible) is one of the assets of the work.

In the same balanced and dialectic way (based on the Qur’an and the hadith) the thesis concerning the idea that suicide is an act of revenge on the “infidels” is rebuffed; this is shown to be a product of profanity, propagated by child-killers and outcasts without faith and honor. The authors being Muslim, and reputable scholars themselves, support the principle idea that life is exclusively in the Hands of God, contrary to the belief of kamikaze terrorists, and underline the fact that murder is unacceptable for a true Muslim believer. Those who hide behind the name of God and deprive others of life, in particular children, women, elderly people, as well as themselves, arbitrarily assume the responsibility of the Creator. But indeed, “God does not love those who trespass the limits” (Baqara 2:190). A terrorist commits five sins: Against God, humanity, the specific victims, regardless of their religion, to themselves and their family.

The published articles written by the well-known Turkish experts in the matters of religion, sociology and psychology are of value not only due to a complex description of the prime postulates, but to the very aura of care for humanity, life, and our civilization, which is adherent to those who are truly elated and caring about the integrity of our world scientists and preachers.

Several decades of our research have revealed the existing link between the self-organization of the Earth and the external management of outer space. Our common home, the Earth is a dynamic system that is managed by the universal laws of nature. In the framework of this brief introduction, it does not seem proper to discuss the place of God in this system. It is important to point out that the reason for all kinds of criticism and conflict situations in today’s society, including the very phenomena that has upset the balance of the stable development of the world, a imbalance that comprises the misunderstanding of the essence of Islam with the extremism that is the terrorism of those who feel that they can speak on behalf of the whole of Islam, is a lack of correspondence between the decisions and programs with the laws of nature and the Almighty.

Independently from each other, we and our Turkish colleagues have been involved in natural and scientific research; we have all come to the same conclusion about the absolute necessity to follow the universal laws of nature for the benefit of the stable development of humanity. The authors have proved that an ugly and dangerous distortion of God’s Will and the natural laws, as revealed in the present work, are rebuffed by the Almighty and contradict the fundamental principles of existence.

Merhaba and thank you to the authors and editors of this useful work. I wish mutual understanding, peace, and harmony for all readers.

*Oleg L. Kuznetsov holds a Ph.D. on Technical Sciences and currently teaches at the Moscow State University. He is the President of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Rector of the International University of Man, Nature and the “Dubna” society, President of the UNEP/UN Russian Committee.