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Heartstrings May 27, 2013
Ego... Ego... Ego... and Heroes of Self-Suppression
"If, by accident, a stone stubs a golden bowl,
the stone does not gain value, nor does the bowl become less valuable."
That is why,
some could try to tantalize even perfect people,
or reproach them.
This would reveal their true character.
What is important is for us,
with regard to our inward relationship with God,
is to be like the gold in a bowl.
Being a golden soul is vital.
Then the tantalizers can be denied.
Because "The stone does not gain value,
nor does the bowl become less valuable,"
as a poet and a friend of God puts it.
That's right.
The Qur'anic Commentary class this morning was about the beloved Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
Thousands of peace and blessings be upon him,
millions of peace and blessings,
billions of peace and blessings be upon him.
They called him a sorcerer.
They called him a soothsayer.
They regarded the Qur'an as poetry anthology.
They said: "Inna hadha la sihrun mubin." (Surely, this is clearly nothing but sorcery). just like others disrespectfully said to other Prophets;
Those golden bowls were always
kept under rains of stone.
Maybe I should say hails of stone, since rain means Divine Mercy.
Nevertheless, they have not lost any value at all.
The Pride of Humankind, despite being *** so much,
was never away from his duty of Messengership.
He arrived at the lofty horizon of his spirit when he passed away,
since there was no more room for improvement in this world;
he was promoted to the Highest Rank of Humanity,
in other words,
he was promoted to the company of God, glorified and exalted be He.
That's right.
That means, we have in fact so much to do.
We live in particularly troublesome times.
On the one hand, egotism is too powerful;
every individual has an ego the size of an iceberg.
Even if the sun shone on them a hundred times,
pouring down its roasting rays,
they have no intention of letting their egos melt.
Whenever they start talking,
sometimes by explicit reference,
at other times by implicit or indirect reference,
and at other, by implication,
they always want to speak of themselves, excessively and boastfully.
They want all signs and evidence
to point at their selves.
They would not even allow others to say
"You have an eyebrow above your eye" as a Turkish proverb says.
On the one hand, like I said,
egotism is so powerful.
On another hand, since all institutions of education and upbringing,
have collapsed,
we have become a nation that has suffered the absence of upbringing and manners.
We have lost it,
and have become "orphans of manners."
This was a second issue.
That is why, when one starts speaking of themselves,
they mention their egos.
I do not want to use harsh words to describe it
because doing so might upset your ears;
still, I must refer to such discourses as "grunt."
Please forgive me if you feel this is too rude.
When they start speaking,
they speak of themselves,
and their egos,
claim that they are purified.
Their words are so simple that
they are totally worthless.
It is a pity that they think they are priceless words.
They feel that their words are
sent down to their neurons, brain, and cortex from the Heavens
and they grant them to mankind.
Each sound they utter has the word "I" all over it: "I," "I," "I."
When they recite the Qur'an, they spell "I,"
when talking about their service, they spell "I,"
when they give a talk, they spell "I,"
and when they perform the Prayers, they spell "I."
When you worship,
if other considerations interfere,
those considerations overshadow your relationship with God,
and your Prayer becomes dominated by them.
That is what saints have witnessed.
Since it is servanthood that remains, one should nullify himself
so that the heart is not cast in its shadow.
It is true that we live in a diabolical era.
Since Islam shone forth,
it has not seen such a calamitous era;
neither when terrorized by the Crusades,
nor after the Mongol invasion.
The Islamic world has never been this oppressed.
"Modesty has been ruined, shamelessness is all around,
What ugly faces that thin veil proves to have disguised!
There is no fidelity, no loyalty to one's promises, not a hint of the word "trust."
Trustworthiness is a meaningless word, lying is prevalent.
Lies are favored, betrayal required, and right is out of sight.
How dreadful, my Lord, how shocking a revolution it is!
There is no religion, no faith left; religion has been destroyed, and faith razed to the ground."
says Mehmed Akif, may God's comprehensive mercy be upon him.
He takes a snapshot of our times, from our own perspective.
If we do not perceive it the same way as he did,
we cannot find motivation to struggle for improvement.
If one has a conceit of self-adequacy, integrity,
of being purified,
or perfected,
he cannot see his flaws and shortcomings.
Such people would never be able to realize their flaws and shortcomings.
The Great Prophets,
the reputable saints,
the respected scholars of purity,
and the ones nearest to Him should be taken as guideposts
to evaluate our own Muslimness,
and the validity of our own objectives.
How did the Great Prophets work?
How did the Respected Companions act?
How did the saints, the scholars of purity, and the Godly act?
These should be our guidelines.
Without these guidelines, you cannot see your flaws and shortcomings,
and as a result,
you do not even think of overcoming them,
or cannot improve your integrity.
Islam is a collection of systems
that has taken root with the claim of perfectness.
It has been bestowed to humanity
with a promise of excellence.
That perfectness and excellence
has been honored with God's Consent and Contentment.
The Qur'an says "Wa raditu lakumu'l Islama dina." (I have been pleased to assign for you Islam as religion).
after "Al'yawma akmaltu lakum dinakum." (This day I have perfected for you your Religion).
and "Wa atmamtu alaykum ni'mati." (I have completed My favor upon you).
"Wa raditu lakumu'l-Islama dina" (al-Maedah 5:3). (I have been pleased to assign for you Islam as religion).
If we do not aim for such perfectness and excellence,
and we do not try to reach it,
may God protect us from it,
from egotism, selfishness, conceit, hubris, self-pride,
and vanity paralyzing us.
This state of paralysis
can get even worse thanks to the compliments of flatterers
sycophants,
or adulators.
It deteriorates us without us noticing.
This resembles the sycophants who cheer "Allah, Allah" in parrot fashion for some reciters of the Qur'an.
Had they been to the sheltering period of the Messengership,
they would realize
that when the Pride of Humankind recited the Qur'an, he would chasten
even Archangel Gabriel with his exceptional recitation, as even Gabriel could not articulate it like him.
They would also see that none of his Companions? who like us could not comprehend the essence,
the spirit or the vastness of his recitation? would ever cheer "Allah, Allah, Allah."
And these Companions include Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, may God be pleased with them a thousand times.
Those cheerers sound like background music,
which enthuses the reciter,
and his hypocrisy grows worse, may God protect us from it.
Selfishness, selfishness, selfishness. Conceit, conceit, conceit.
Egotism, egotism, egotism.
Trust me when I say,
people who have followers like these,
can never raise the statue of their souls.
They first need to purify their carnal souls; which means,
they need a purification of their elementary, passionate nature.
Bediüzzaman prescribes the rationale of self-purification as
"Do not be proud of your services to God's religion."
Our noble Prophet says: "Inna'llaha layuayyidu hadha'd-din
bi yadi'r-rajuli'l-fajir."
meaning "God may as well sustain Islam through a shameless dissolute man."
Since you are not refined,
that is, since you have not refined and developed your soul in purity,
you should consider the possibility that you are that shameless dissolute person.
This should be the rationale.
It is also a principle of the Qur'an,
of the Prophetic tradition,
and of a Prophetic viewpoint.
Without it, everything works
to support the ego.
This brings about spurious attitudes of egotism.
It means you present your ideals through your egotism,
and this unwillingly reminds me of grunting sound.
If you do so, may God protect us from it,
the spurious grunting sounds of egotism are heard.
When you examine the present state of the world
you will see that every corner suffer from this grunting sound.
That people are in the vicious cycle of challenging each other's egos.
It is never possible for someone whose ego is challenged to say "Thank you,"
or for someone to say, just like Bediüzzaman:
"I appreciate that you alerted me to the scorpion that was about to sting me.
I, honestly, had not thought this through
with all of its aspects,
and come up with a good strategy,
hence I could not realize all the good deeds accordingly.
We should be grateful
to those who brought us around."
Have you ever heard someone say these things?
You used to hear these, until three centuries ago.
The Muslims three centuries ago used to say such things constantly.
The Muslims of the present time
have suppressed these virtues, in favor of their egos.
They have blocked them all out
so they could never be unsuppressed.
Possessing an evil-commanding soul that has not been refined,
a self-loving person cannot admire others,
and hence, cannot be admired by others.
This is the disarrayed and disordered state of our present time.
This was also mentioned in some hadiths of our beloved Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
in the Book of Trials and Fierce Battles.
He pictured
how Muslims would suffer
such a vicious circle,
and how we cannot raise the statue of our souls.
Why do we not take an oath?
Let us all take an oath for God's sake,
that we will express sincere gratitude
to anyone who points out our mistakes and viciousness,
in accordance with the Qur'an and the Prophetic tradition
and the main highway of the Righteous Predecessors;
that we will say "That is very kind of you
to alert us to the scorpion or snake that was about to hurt me.
I cannot imagine
what would happen if you did not."
That's right.
We need to regulate ourselves in this direction.
Otherwise, we will collapse
just like others who have collapsed before us.
This would impair our cause,
and demolish all that we have been trying to build?may God protect us from it.
It would take another hundred years
for a new generation to build it again.
That's why, I am in a quandary of hope and hopelessness.
In an interview with Bediüzzaman, Eşref Edip asked,
"Are you not hopeful that your movement has gained such magnitude?"
He answered in prudence:
"I am not entirely hopeless."
Not entirely hopeless!
This is, however, in contrast to
some of his words about some tactless people like myself,
like "O you inauspicious, moving corpses!
Clear out of the path of the coming generation.
You are bound for your graves.
Clear out, so that
the new generation can come up.
They will wave the flag of the Qur'anic truths
all around the universe."
He always dreamed of a new generation,
one that is incorrupt,
one that is not defective,
one that is intact,
one that has not indulged in sins,
and one who is self-critical.
Speaking of self-criticism has just reminded me
of Muhammed Lütfi Efendi.
I may have quoted this before, by degrading it with my own words though.
My words cannot convey that person of stature and high standing.
When he passed away, I was a kid, around 16?17 years old.
He inspired me in so many ways, regardless of my young age.
Each piece of inspiration I got from him is so strong that it remains in my cortex, even at present,
and it shows me the right direction.
The way he looked, he spoke, he gestured
was exceptionally well-mannered.
That's why, when I quote from him,
I might be diminishing the importance of his words, as I am nowhere near his stature.
In a manner of speaking, this is a disrespect towards his great personage.
Listen to what he says:
"I do not have any knowledge, or good deeds..."
He was around his eighties, when he wrote these.
He was one of the vicegerents
of Kufrawis, and also of Shaykh Hamza of Qadiris.
He was an important Naqshi and Qadiri master
who enlightened East Anatolia.
He took up arms
against the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, just like Bediüzzaman.
He did the same during World War I.
During peacetime,
he worked towards the greater jihad, which means struggling against carnal desires.
He guided his people,
and called them to true humanity.
My youth
overlapped his later life,
when I was not able to fully comprehend it.
He says "I do not have any knowledge, or good deeds,
nor do I have the vim for deeds or worship.
I am drowned in defiance,
and full of sin.
I have my heart in my mouth about my fate in the Day of Judgment."
This is the way great people think.
You see this is no different from "Since you have not refined your soul in purity, you should consider the possibility of being that shameless dissolute person."
That's right.
"I do not have any knowledge, or good deeds,
nor do I have the vim for deeds or worship.
I am drowned in defiance,
and full of sin.
I have my heart in my mouth about my fate in the Day of Judgment."
Another example is Mehmet Niyazi Misri,
who is an important sheikh of Halwatis, that lived during the Ottoman times.
He says "I had concluded no trade;
the capital of life was all wasted away."
He regards his life as some sort of capital, i.e. money.
"I found the road only to find the caravan had moved on while I had been unaware.
Lamenting, I too set off, all alone, a stranger;
With eyes weeping, heart in anguish, mind bewildered and unaware."
He claims to be unaware
of anything,
and tactless.
Such a self-critical person
would neither cause problems for other people,
nor trigger their problematic motivations.
He, on the contrary, in the eyes of God,
is such a person of stature, and a prospect for the Highest Rank of Humanity.
On the one hand,
he has waywardness, ***, a carnal soul, the desires of the flesh,
and lustfulness;
and on the other hand, he is a prospect for the Highest Rank of Humanity,
with his wings wide open, like a turtledove, aiming higher and higher.
The angels who see him cannot help asking "Who are you?
How did you surpass this corporality?
How did you surpass this waywardness?"
This is also among the things Bediüzzaman reminds us:
"Since this is the truth,
be freed from animality,
restrict your carnal appetites,
and enter the level of the life of the heart and spirit.
Entering the level of the life of the heart and spirit...
This guidance comes from the owner of a heart and conscience, who has experienced it,
who has aimed for the highest of the high, like a turtledove,
who keeps flying higher and higher, and at the same time, keeps asking for more,
who was admitted to an assembly of Prophets, peace and blessings be upon them,
and who more or less experienced God's company
in the depths of his conscience;
yet, he has not stopped
asking for more, and more, and more.
Ghadai says
"Whoever takes a sip of that holy wine,
feels the pure light of the universe shine down on his heart at once,
granting them an eternal life.
I have burnt away, so give me some water!
I have burnt away, so give me some water!"
One more bowl, please.
One more bowl,
and one more bowl.
The architects of the future
will be the heroes
of this understanding, this philosophy, and this way of thinking;
not grandstanders,
or ill characters revealing conceit.
Pardon me for my displeasure
but if I was allowed, I would refer to such people
as "tactless."
In this context, these heroes
are those who have surpassed their own selves,
who have managed to purify their carnal souls,
who censure themselves as harshly as their enemies,
who blame themselves for anything that goes wrong.
For instance, if rains pour out of season,
they say "Since my state might be the reason for this disorder,
I believe I am the reason for the rains pouring out of season."
They are such heroes of the heart.
If it does not rain,
they would say, like Caliph Umar,
"Since I am the leader of the community, it does not rain."
If there are such and such
accidents or fires,
or seditious events and internal conflicts happen,
they would relate them to the possibility of
not fulfilling their positions.
They have integrity,
they are courageous,
they are vigorous and in a strong relationship with God.
They are full of life.
The dead cannot bring others to life.
Being alive is bound up with one's relationship with God;
or in other words, it is directly proportional to one's relationship with God.
That's right: The dead cannot give life.
Unless you are vigorous, you cannot bring others to life.
It means birth after death,
the Israfils of which are the Prophets, and their true inheritors.
Vigorous people...
They always bear the elixir of vigor,
and wherever they go
they distribute it
to others, as if they provide oxygen
to revive people.
We refer to this understanding
as "communicating the inspirations of their hearts to those of others."
They are heroes of revival
and of birth after death.
God willing, I hope
your generation and the one that follows
will be the ones that will wave the flag
of Qur'anic truths across the world;
thus, you will please
that personality, in the horizon of his spirit,
who envisioned
that generation as a lofty ideal,
and you will realize it
as the architects of the future.
"Do not lose hope!
The loudest and strongest voice in the coming upheavals and changes,
will be the voice of Islam."
He entrusted
the realization of this ideal with you.
"I am fully certain that the heavens and earth of the future
will together surrender to Islam's clear, shining hand."
There is a nuance in a different reading of the original text:
I am fully certain that the skies and the land of Asia
will together surrender to Islam'《 clear, shining hand."
He says he hopes that both the heavens and the earth
will give in to
the authority of Islam,
to its bright hand, like the Staff of Moses,
which cast
sparkles of light around him.
He lived with this grand purpose of life.
He used the term "grand purpose of life"
in place of the word "ideal" in English,
and of its equivalent "mafkura," by Ziya Galp.
The grand purpose of life...
Those who realize it
will be pleasing
him, his predecessors, and their Exalted Guide,
who is the Perfect Guide
of all of the righteous guides
in the Hereafter.
This is provided that you escape from the confinement of self-adoration
and the world of multiplicity,
as stated in, "O spiritual wayfarer! Proceed, escape from the world of multiplicity.
Walk persistently in the path of the All-Independent and the Unique."
Escape from multiplicity,
head for unity,
find Him,
and deliver yourself from your self.
Those who cannot deliver themselves from their selves
will fall into eclipse.
God willing,
your generation and the next one, the new generation will become a means for goodness,
and will realize Bediüzzaman's cause;
hence, you will please him,
please the Pride of Humankind,
and of course,
first and foremost
and above all,
you will win the pleasure of God.
When you go to the other world,
I hope He says "I am pleased with you,"
personally, and to your face.
This was mentioned in the morning.
When you go to the other world, He says, "I am pleased with you,"
personally, and to your face.
This is something for which
we shall sacrifice our souls,
our worldly and bodily pleasures,
our freedom in this world.
We shall sacrifice all.