At-Tawbah 9: They bought a little value (worldly possessions and what they desire) in return for Allah’s verses, and they prevented (people) from Allah’s path. Indeed, vile is what they are doing!

We now come to our lesson. Surah At-Tawbah, verse 9. A small price in exchange for Allah's verses. A small price in exchange for Allah's verses. What is this small price against Allah's verses? It's not human speech, mind you. Well, this world, the world, the world. Look what it says. A small price against Allah's verses. They bought worldly goods and the desires of the nafs. They wrote this part wrong too; with the desires of the nafs they bought the world. With the desires of the nafs. They didn't buy the desires of the nafs. He already has the desires of the nafs in himself. They bought, and they turned people away from His path.

Truly, how evil is what they have been doing, it says. Yes. Look how beautifully the verses explained all this time come to light.

You will speak the truth. The truth. And those people, those superstitionists will stand up against the truth. Against the verses, as if they themselves knew the verse. If you, blessed one, stand against these verses, if you know them so well, why don't you write a tafsir yourself, or why can't you grasp the mistakes in a translation?

You tie everything to Allah, and your own will, the decisions you'd make with your own will, you lift off yourself. And then you blame Allah too. Allah will put whom He wills into Paradise and whom He wills into Hell. Allah is supposed to have created many of mankind and jinn for Hell, and Allah is supposed to guide none of the disbelieving people. And you, from that (?) of yours, will support these, confirm them. Of course, if you understand it that way. Whereas if you remove our Lord's attribute of justice from people, if you remove the will, the partial will, that Allah Almighty gave people from them and tie it to Allah, you blame Allah.

How nicely the superstitions have made you swallow this. How nicely they made you swallow it. We are tearing down their efforts of years, of centuries. We trample them underfoot, the words of those superstitions. Of course, will they just stand by? They spent trillions, trillions. Of course they will stand up against you. But the most painful thing, the most painful, is not that they stand up. Fine, they lived through the age of ignorance and, within their own ideologies, a little spent their lives that way and gave their covenant that way; they will stand up against you. You take their standing up as normal, but especially, not of Islam, being bound by superstitions, those who want to learn the truths of Islam, the true religion, those poor people standing against these truths pains a person.

Yes.

If they paid a little attention to themselves, just a little, if to their own selves they did wrong. Yes, in exchange for Allah's verses a small price, they bought worldly goods and the desires of the nafs, and turned people away from His path. Truly, how evil is what they have been doing. Today superstitions have stood up against the truth,

and before verses their minds can't grasp, they fall into kufr by accusing a person they don't know. A person they don't know. Because they can't grasp it, and since they can't, they keep making slanders. And then, and then, from the one who speaks the truth, they demand repentance.

Look at this, would you cry or laugh?

If you know this much, why don't you come out and explain it? If you know this much, a few shortcomings, a few, what are these few shortcomings? This man gave Allah attributes, he says He is like a human. A shortcoming by his own reasoning, though. This is the truth. But Allah Almighty not having one specific attribute, one specific attribute. The verse saying "However you know Me, I am a (?) of that, a (?) of that", people too pitiful to grasp even that. Look how it says: however you know Me, I am a (?) of that. So why is it so? So that you don't say Allah Almighty has this attribute, make the shape of that attribute and worship it as a shape.

Then, and where you worship, where (?), it does not remain in one fixed form. Yes. But there is another verse those superstitionists can't grasp. He rose up in his true form, it says.

They say it's Gabriel. Gabriel goes from form to form. Just look. Gabriel (peace be upon him), who came and went to the Prophet, goes from form to form, and supposedly rose up in his true form. When he said, "If I go one ant's length further to Sidrat al-Muntaha, I will burn," and when it says what covered the Sidrah was covering it, they made him cover the Sidrah too. So what are these if not superstitions, I ask. So am I wrong when I say they have no knowledge of the Quran? So when I say they are in ignorance before the knowledge of the Quran, am I saying something wrong?

Yes, come to your senses a bit, pay a little attention to what this man speaking says; if you can't grasp it, please ask questions. Look, I'm telling you: if I don't answer your questions with verses as (?), then accuse me however you like. Well, in talks like these of mine, do you see in me any disturbance of mental balance? Do you see me speaking in a way where the words don't fit together?

If superstition can't grasp it before the truth, instead of sitting down, taking his head between his hands and thinking, drawing Allah's wrath upon himself and slandering Islam and that person, does it suit the one who thinks he holds a certain privilege in religion, does it? Yes, these are pitiful people. People who, by their own ways, by their own reasoning, want to invent religion. this man supposedly talks with Allah. I talk with Him, I don't deny it, but I don't talk the way you think, I don't talk with Him appearing before me. With what do I talk? Let me tell you one more verse: most people do not know inspiration, it says; so He does speak, Allah.

So does Allah Almighty raise scholars? You can't deny it. He does. Are there unlettered ones? There are. You can't deny that.

So if the person before you, to you, those scholars', if He raises those scholars, does Allah raise them without speaking to them?

Didn't He speak to the Prophet? With verses, with revelation. So his heirs, the scholars too, doesn't He speak with them through inspirations? Superstitious one! Your mind can't reach there. Your minds can't reach there. In that case, pull yourselves together. I have a piece of advice for you. Listen to this advice carefully. This advice. Very good, listen carefully. And if you heed this advice, you might perhaps get away. Try not to stand up against the truth with superstitions and block the truth. This is one, this is my first counsel to you. Try not to stand up against the truth with superstitions and block the truth.

My second counsel: if you don't understand certain events that your mind can't grasp and that are beyond your capacity, then refrain from slandering the person before you; until you learn its origin, never slander anyone. this is my second counsel to you, to you all.

Yes. Pay attention to these.

Allah Almighty, in this verse, already supports this counsel I gave. Do not (?) any people. It may be that that people is better than you, it says. So, toward people who speak words of truth that superstition doesn't take in, that are beyond its mind, beyond that capacity, if, though his own mind can't grasp them, in the way of the truth he becomes a hindrance, and to those spreading the truth, before those removing falsehoods from religion, a curtain he becomes, that person harms his own self.

May these superstitionists try to grasp these two counsels of mine very well and try to abide by them. This is my counsel to them. Yes.

A small price in exchange for Allah's verses.

Because of their nafs's desires they bought worldly goods and turned people away from His path. Truly, how evil is what they have been doing, it says.

Preferring worldly goods, of little value against the verses of Allah Almighty, and the desires of the nafs, they turned people away from Allah's path and turned their backs on Allah's verses. They turned their backs on Allah's verses. That in the verse of Allah Almighty the small value of the world is mentioned:

on the Day of Judgment the world, wearing its finest garments, that is, with its mountains, its stones, its rivers, its plants, adorned with flowers, will say, "Grant me to one of Your saintly servants," it will say. Allah Almighty will say: the servant you call saintly didn't look at you while in the world, so should I now give him to you? He will fold it up like an old rag and throw it into Hell. That's what we say anyway. We say we'll (?) that world on the earth, bring it down and throw it into Hell, we say.

So, Allah Almighty, of a world destined for Hell, what is its small value in Allah's sight? Because it's destined for Hell. Can a world destined for Hell have value in Allah's sight? Allah, who created this whole universe, created it in return for knowledge and effort. Effort. Now those superstitionists may say this. Look, look, look, he gave Allah an attribute. He contradicted the word "Be!"

We said we will remove superstitions from religion, Allah willing. I used to wonder how these superstitions would come out; I didn't understand. It turns out, by confusing people's minds in exchange for such verses, you know, Allah, always "that happened so, this happened so", you know, their children, (?) with (?), they make them kill each other, what they do to each other, toward them they always raise them with such worlds of fantasy. And they understand it that way anyway. If Allah had not put in effort, He would not have said, "We created the earth in two days, the heavens in two days, and what is between them in two days." So He created within a framework of knowledge.

And before creating, Allah knows best, for however long, He made a program. He created, and then it began. There's His program. And there's bringing it to life. Bringing it to life: six days. The heavens, the earth and what's between them: six days. Not by the worldly realm; if a thousand years of the world are like one day of the hereafter, if it's speaking by the days there, He created it in six thousand years. So since He created the earth in two days, He created it in two thousand years. Isn't this effort? But since He mentions the world as a place offered for people's livelihood, Allah Almighty, that two thousand years of effort, as against a small value sees it.

A small value. Because (?) it will sink into Hell. Why did He prepare it, then? He prepared it for people. They will come into the world. They will prove what kind of people they are. On the earth He placed the provision that will secure every kind of livelihood for them, placed its materials, and created this realm. This realm comes as a small value in people's sight. How (?) people are in Allah's sight. Yes. So there is effort, isn't there? There is effort here, that is. Yes. That effort becomes a small value.

By "a small value" for the world He means His effort, emphasizing that He created nothing in vain, we say. So if people, not turning toward Allah's (?), to obtain the world that Allah created and did not value, prefer the ways of the nafs and Satan and turn people away from the path of Allah and His Messenger, a person is gathered with whom he loves. What happens? A person is gathered with whom he loves. According to the hadith, whoever keeps company with what Allah and His Messenger do not want, and desires it, what they desire is destined for Hell; and since it is, their place too will be the fire of Hell.

That's right. A person will be gathered with whom he loves. With whom he loves. What is it he loves? The world. The world. "I don't want Hell." "Who wants Hell?" he will say. "What I desired was the world." Well, if the world is Hell, that means you are of Hell too. Instead of desiring the world, "or do you own a speck of the world?" according to that verse? "All these souls will die; the heavens, the earth and what is between the two, their inheritance will remain to Allah," according to the verse. You took what Allah created from Allah and thought it your own? In that case, the world He offered to your (?), you give it value, deify it, and turn your back on your Lord who provides you these provisions.

Then, together with that world where you too will go, (?).

Truly, how evil is what they have been doing, it says. So Allah Almighty, on that Day of Reckoning that will finally come, when such people, Allah willing, will have at the Supreme Court neither any proof to defend themselves nor any helpers, reminding of that day: how evil the deeds they are doing are, that, carried away by worldly goods and the feelings of the nafs, to find strength beside people and, seeking refuge in people, to win their favor, those who turn the people of faith away from their path, how evil are the deeds they do?

Such people, to obtain worldly goods of little value and to satisfy the feelings of their nafs, in exchange for the eternal, deathless abode of the hereafter, the life of this world are buying. Such people have no share at all in the hereafter realm. At the same time, there they are alone and without anyone.