At-Tawbah 70: Did the news not reach them about the ones before them, about Noah, the nations of Ad and Thamud, the nation of Abraham and the people of Madyan? Their Prophets had brought to them clear proofs. Thus, Allah was not committing oppression against them, but they were committing oppression against themselves.

Has the news of those before them not reached them — the peoples of Noah, Aad and Thamud, the people of Abraham, the people of Midian and the overturned cities? With what beautiful verses Allah Almighty addresses people.

The prophet had brought them clear miracles. So Allah was not one to wrong them. But they were wronging themselves, He says. Surah At-Tawbah, verse 60. This is probably — I guess so — one of the verses that were explained wrongly. Yes, let's look at verse 60. It turns out to be verse 70.

No, it is a correctly explained verse. So Allah (?) to wrong them, but they were wronging themselves. Yes, some verses have been explained well. Explained well. Then verses explained in this very same way have been explained wrongly in other places. Of course, they explained them by ascribing attributes to Allah.

Allah Almighty does not call anyone to account (?). This is the verse anyway. In this case, with the religion of Islam, which will keep its rule until the Day of Judgment, and the Holy Quran He sent, telling people the situations of those before, like a history, recounting past events, He commands that people take a lesson from them and enter the true religion of Islam and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah Almighty does.

So why did our Lord, our Lord, create us? He was going to create a being. A being.

Without compelling it in any way, without programming it Himself, that human being, with his own existence, his own will, his own desire and wish, would have his aim written for himself as destiny. That is, with the free thought He Himself gave, with his freedom, with the authority in his hands, with his freedom and authority, by his own will, the verdict on his deeds that earn reward and sin he would give himself. So in this case Allah Almighty, a hidden treasure, willed that His Essence be known. A person invents something, makes a robot. Even if he programs the robot down to its hand, even if he moves it as he wishes, by it the person is not known. But a person is known by those who come from his loins.

From his own loins. And Allah Almighty too, as His will, as His will, as His will for His Essence, creates the Prophet, the Prophet. By giving him of His light, to you of His spirit, He creates man as a part of His Essence. And wants to be known through him. This human being, with his partial will, will know his Lord, and by obeying or not obeying his Lord's command, will attain Allah Almighty's mercy or His punishment. Allah Almighty addresses people. What does He say? O people! Has the situation of the people of the past not reached you? Of Noah, of Lot, of Abraham, of the people of Thamud, of the people of Hud — has their situation not reached you?

Has the situation of Pharaoh not reached you? What does He mean? I am your Lord. They rebelled against Me. And We destroyed them. In the world too, Our punishment was upon them. Our curse was upon them. And in the hereafter too, upon them. So, O people, use your reason. Do not bring your Lord's curse upon yourselves in the world, nor be subjected to your Lord's curse in the hereafter. In this case the roads to paradise are open, He says. The roads to paradise. Whoever says Allah, submits to Allah, obeys Him, holds His Messenger true, holds the books true, believes in Him — My paradise is his, He says.

Is He asking something of you, then? Is He asking something of you? Does He say, work and give it to Me? If they accepted this, obeyed Allah, carried out His commands, Allah would make those servants of His His friends, and in paradise He would prepare palaces and mansions for them — which He already has; they stand ready. In this case Allah, with His attribute of the Rich, will drown His servants in mercy.

But man, by his own will, will draw his own path himself. In this case, unaware of Allah and His Messenger, with his own nafs-driven feelings, he will go on with his life. We look. He knows the holiday as a holiday. He knows Allah too, but he never gives up anything of his nafs. These are Muslims. He never gives up anything of his nafs. Today we look at people: holiday? What holiday is this? The Feast of Sacrifice, which is obligatory for Allah's sake. As a ransom for life we will offer a sacrifice from our Lord. And although you know this so well, whoever undresses more, whoever walks around more naked, has become more modern.

I cannot reconcile this understanding with this Islam. Yes. Why can I not reconcile it? Who are the causes of these? Who are the causes of these? Their causes: a cause will be created for everything. Satan too will pull people toward evil, tempt them, a cause will be created for it. Since a person draws his own path by his own decision, he will not be able to blame Satan; he will again blame himself. And a cause of these is that some people, people who pass themselves off as hodjas, do not explain the verses of Allah and the Messenger to them, and deceive people with Ahmet and Mehmet, saying "he did this, he did that," and distancing people from Allah's verses truly drowns one in sorrow, in sorrow.

I explain the verses to people, and one says, how do I know it is a verse, why should I believe you, he says. He knows nothing of the verse. He has no knowledge of the Quran at all. What does such a person resemble? You take him — a child, in whatever way you want, or you take an animal, you train it in whatever way you want. So: far from religion, far from Allah's verses. Made into people who know everything with their own mental capacity, raised in this way, such people, defending among people, have brought religion to this state. Muslim. What Muslim?

A Muslim by identity card. In them, faith has weakened so much that it has become a dot. Become a dot. And the nafs has covered them so much that it has choked faith. If he will not do what the nafs desires, if that faith raises its head against the nafs and shows that person the truth, the person goes through a crisis. A crisis — and to get away from what that faith says, to the point of destroying himself, to get away from Allah, everything he can, his nafs-driven feelings, he does. May Allah protect us.

Yes.

We witness these, we see them.

Allah Almighty does not call anyone to account (?).

In this case, with the religion of Islam, which will keep its rule until the Day of Judgment, and the Holy Quran He sent, by telling people the situations of those before, past events like a history, our Lord commands that people take a lesson from them and enter the true religion of Islam and obey Allah and His Messenger. Whoever does not take a lesson from these events, does not believe in and obey Allah and His Messenger — that their place is eternal hell, and that this hell will surround them, that is, that people who go there will find no way out to escape from it, Allah Almighty declares.

Yes, hell will surround them, He says, it will surround. May Allah protect us, there is no way out of there again. What does surround mean? It means imprisoning you there. Yes.

For this reason, the peoples who incurred Allah's calamities, Allah Almighty in this verse of His lists. For this reason, the peoples who incurred Allah's calamities, as He listed above: the people of Aad, the people of Hud, the people of Thamud, the people of Abraham, the people of Lot — sir, He lists them there. They spoke the truth. Prophets came to these peoples and spoke the truth. And Allah Almighty says in His verse: before destroying a land, without sending messengers to the centre of that land, We never destroy them, He says. Without sending messengers, that is, without sending prophets, without warning them, without warning them, We are not ones to destroy that land, He says.

Yes. Prophets came to these peoples and spoke the truth. Although they invited them to Allah, these peoples who wanted to see miracles, even though their prophets showed them miracles from Allah, still persisted in not believing. This is a great sorcerer, they said. A great sorcerer. And we have not seen such a thing from our forefathers, they said. In His verse Allah Almighty gives such a fine answer to those who speak like that too. Even if, He says, their forefathers knew nothing? He says. They knew nothing. Even then? Yes.

If a prophet asks Allah for a miracle so that his people believe in Allah, and his people do not believe it, the believers are saved upon the nature of Islam, for when Allah Almighty is going to destroy there, the believers He takes out of there, from among the peoples He will destroy. Like those who followed Salih among his people, like those of Lot's people who followed Lot, from there He saves them. Yes.

Those who do not believe become disbelievers.

And Allah Almighty, these peoples, like a (?), He says, seizing them, destroying. I am reading this sentence from the start. For this reason, the peoples who incurred Allah's calamities, Allah Almighty in this verse of His lists. Prophets came to these peoples and spoke the truth. Although they invited them to Allah, these peoples who wanted to see miracles, even though their prophets showed them miracles from Allah, still persisted in not believing. And Allah Almighty seized these peoples like a (?) and destroyed them. For if a people asks Allah Almighty for a miracle, and Allah Almighty shows that people that miracle, and they still do not believe, destruction (?) upon that people.

Yes. If a prophet asks Allah for a miracle so that his people believe in Allah, and his people do not believe it, the believers are saved upon the nature of Islam. Those who do not believe become disbelievers. They perish there. Because of the unbelievers, those in this people are not destroyed all together. If his people ask their prophet for a miracle so that they believe in Allah, and Allah fulfils this miracle, if the people who asked for the miracle do not believe it, then that people, like a (?), are seized and destroyed all together. The peoples here too asked Allah, through their prophets, that a miracle appear. Although Allah showed them these miracles, these unbelieving peoples: He saved the prophet among them and those who believed in him, and the others He destroyed.

Yes.

Of these peoples: Noah, a prophet, came to his own people as a prophet. Living a long life among his people, in this life he invited people to the truth. Noah (peace be upon him), in one narration, among his people — according to one narration, Noah (peace be upon him) lives 960 years among his people and finally calls out to Allah Almighty: O my Lord, I have been overcome by this people. They called me a liar, he says, and Allah Almighty commands him to build a ship. By taking those who believed in him and a pair of each animal onto the ship, Allah Almighty gives Noah — we call it Noah's flood — a flood.

With waters gushing from the sky and the earth, all creatures, every living thing, all of them finally — to Allah, together with those who believed in Noah — (?), and after Adam, after Noah, they begin to multiply again. According to one narration — this one, that he lived to 1200 — yes, living a long life of 1200 years, he truly invited them. With advice, (?). (?) the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him). Allah (?) Noah (peace be upon him).