At-Tawbah 80: (Oh Muhammad!) Ask for their forgiveness if you desire, or don’t. Even if you ask for their forgiveness seventy times, Allah will never forgive them. This is because of their denial of Allah and Allah’s Messenger. Nations that continue with great sins cannot attain Allah’s guidance.

Surah At-Tawbah, we have come to verse 80. Verse 80 of Surah At-Tawbah is one of the wrongly interpreted verses. First let us read the wrongly interpreted part, then let us read the correct one. 80. O Muhammad, whether you ask forgiveness for them or not, even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will never forgive them. Yes. That is because they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger. Allah does not guide the transgressing people, it says. The very last word, we'll say. The word corresponding to the verse has been wrongly interpreted. Communities that persist in transgression cannot attain Allah's guidance.

Not "Allah does not guide the transgressors". That makes it as though He does not accept the repentance of a transgressor either. Yet Allah Almighty is the One who accepts repentance abundantly. Here, when it says He does not guide the transgressing people, it now says, I don't accept your repentance either. And here it attributes a quality to Allah Almighty. Shall I say (?) — how clear this word of Allah is here. No one can attribute qualities to Allah. So communities that persist in transgression cannot attain Allah's guidance. Yes.

Now let us open this up here in some broader detail. That is, the verses. O Muhammad! "Astaghfirullah", it says. That is, whether you ask forgiveness for them or not.

The Prophet came as a mercy to the worlds, didn't he — a mercy. Although Allah Almighty knows that he will not ask forgiveness for them, since they were created from the soul of the Prophet (peace be upon him), out of the Prophet's compassion, because the wish to pray to Allah Almighty that they too attain guidance passes through his heart, Allah Almighty says this here. Whether you ask forgiveness or not. Look. Yes, a father, no matter how bad his child may be, wants his guidance.

Since all prophets are from the soul of the Prophet, and since people came into being from the souls of the prophets, indirectly all people being from the soul of the Prophet, and the Prophet having come as a mercy to the worlds, it passes through his heart: O Allah, grant these too Your mercy — so it passes. Despite knowing. Knowing what? Despite knowing that in the address "Alastu bi Rabbikum" they gave their covenant as deniers, despite knowing they gave it as deniers, despite knowing they gave it, despite knowing that there they are without anyone and alone, from his heart moved by compassion, despite not asking, despite not asking, despite submitting to the verse, because a lingering sorrow remains there, Allah Almighty says this.

Whether you ask forgiveness or not. Yes. What does it say? Whether you ask forgiveness or not. Even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will never forgive them.

Why won't He forgive? There is the verse: He does not speak idly. Our Lord also knows that the Prophet will not ask forgiveness.

But isn't there that point that remains as a lingering sorrow in his heart? Isn't there a lingering sorrow for those, his children, who will enter Hell? He says it like this to console his heart. They are not from you, leave them, He says. Leave them. Yes. That is because they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, it says. That is, they deny you. Leave them now. They are not from you, He says. Communities that persist in transgression cannot attain Allah's guidance. Yes. He is a transgressor. But if in the end they repented, they attain Allah's mercy. But as long as they continue like that, they themselves cannot attain Allah's mercy.

They themselves will have put out Allah's light. They will have turned their backs. They themselves — yes, what does it say? The state of them, the hypocrites, is like one who lights a fire on a dark night, it says. Like one who lights a fire. I am reading the wrong one first. I will read you the correct one too. The moment that fire burns and lights up its surroundings, Allah at once takes away their light and leaves them in darkness. They no longer see anything. Allah does not take away anyone's light. Now we will read the correct one; we will reinforce it with these verses. Isn't that so? Yes. We will read the correct one, we will reinforce it with these verses.

The state of them, the hypocrites, is like a fire burning on a dark night. When the fire lights up its surroundings — that is, Allah Almighty sends people, with a sound mind, to an unseen world where His Essence is not seen. Here this person, with his mind, is in darkness. He is not in a position to find his way and find the truth. That is the darkness. When the fire lights up its surroundings, that is, when Allah's verses come and enlighten the person, when they light up his surroundings,

when the fire lights up its surroundings, those who put out the fire, those who put out the fire, who hear the truth and yet bind themselves to falsehood, leave themselves in darkness and no longer see. Yes. Otherwise Allah does not leave darkness there. In this case these people, these transgressors, without repenting — these transgressors who think they will put out Allah's light, if they leave themselves in darkness like this, and do not submit to their Lord, to Him who created them, and do not ask Him for forgiveness, then when they pass on like this to the Hereafter, they cannot attain guidance.

Yes.

There are so many scholars; why don't they come out and explain Allah's verses? Do you ever hear it? Yes. In my own mind, it seems to me they would explain it once. They probably cannot comprehend it.

O you who believe, here too, look what we say: O you who believe — we start from there. People who pass on to the Hereafter without Islam, even if they are your mothers, your fathers, your brothers, your close relatives and those you know closely — if you set out to ask Allah's forgiveness for them, Allah will never forgive them. Never. Here, by saying it to the Prophet, He addresses those who believe in this verse. And we open up its meaning. Here too, you can say "O you who believe" or "O Muhammad", but at the beginning "O Muhammad" is in parentheses. Because here it doesn't say "O Muhammad" at the beginning.

Since the meaning of the verse corresponds to that, we say "O Muhammad" here in parentheses. Its meaning is the same for his community. And we, as his community — look, what do we say anyway? O you who believe, people who pass on to the Hereafter without Islam, even if they are your mothers, your fathers, your brothers, your close relatives and those you know closely — if you set out to ask Allah's pardon and forgiveness for them, Allah will never forgive them. Because if these people benefit from all the blessings Allah gives, yet with feelings of grudge and hatred bear a grudge against Allah, grow arrogant and boastful, and deny Allah and His Messenger, then even if their Muslim relatives who pity them ask forgiveness for them seventy times a day, Allah will certainly not forgive them.

Likewise, whoever says for a non-Muslim, O Allah, even if he is my father, forgive him — goes against the verse. Why? If, even though he is your father, because you pity him you ask Allah's forgiveness for him, ask forgiveness, then since Allah Almighty will not forgive him, you will also bear a grudge against Allah. In this case Allah Almighty, with His verse, protects the people who are Muslim, telling them, don't ask, don't ask forgiveness. In this case, if you submit to Allah's verse and do not ask forgiveness, you will have become one who has submitted to Allah, and you earn reward — reward. Even if he is my father, if I do not ask forgiveness for him but submit to Allah, according to this verse, since I submit to the verse, I become one who has submitted to Allah, and so I earn reward. But while he is alive, while my father is alive, if he is a non-Muslim, I ask Allah Almighty for him to be reformed.

For him to be reformed. If he went as an idolater, if he went as a non-Muslim — Your mercy is for everyone in the universe, but since he has gone to the Hereafter, and in the Hereafter it is only for the believer — in the Hereafter where Allah Almighty has cut off His mercy, to a person whose mercy He has cut off I will never turn and ask for mercy. Even if He gave me the right of intercession. Because since He says that there they are without anyone and alone, the friends of Allah will also abandon them. Because in the verse Allah Almighty says, concerning Abraham and Noah's son: they are not from your loins.

Yes, they are not from you.

Now

according to these verses, which Muslim will envy which non-Muslim, which Muslim will follow the path of the non-Muslim he envies and call him a thoroughly upright man and fall in step with his ways?

Today's Muslims have taken the non-Muslim as an example; instead of taking Islam as an example, they have taken the non-Muslim as an example and they follow along after them. How did they accomplish this? Who? The non-Muslims — how did they manage to drag Islam behind them? For centuries they strove. They placed non-Muslim hodjas among them. They placed Masonic hodjas among them. They turned the religion of Islam into superstition. They turned the religion of Islam into superstition. With words that flatter their nafs, they drove them away from the religion of Islam and made them envy the ways of the disbeliever.

In this case, still, the people living the religion of Islam, living in superstitions, our young people whose minds work, these people who are in search of Islam, from the words of such pitiful people who teach within these superstitions turn away and look for the religion of Islam, the word of truth, elsewhere — they look for it. They look for it in the words of non-Muslims.

They have ruined us. They still tell superstitions. They know neither hadith nor verse.

Still superstitions. We tell them: you have so many errors. Please, you are at the head of the religion of Islam. Correct these.

It's not my job, it's so-and-so's job, they say. Where are you, then? Why do you stand at the head of this, at the head of Islam? Why don't you submit to the word of truth when you hear it? Or why don't you say, who are you to say this like that? Since you are responsible for this, you are the Shaykh al-Islam, you are at the head of this religion — ask about it. You bear the burden. You bear the burden.

That's why our task is hard.

People are bound by superstitions. People thirsting for the religion of Islam look at the ways of the non-Muslim and envy them. Some even say: if their religion weren't a real religion, would they have advanced this much? they say. My own ears hear this.

And we say to them: If their religion, we say, had been a real religion, Fatih, who destroyed the Middle Ages and opened the new age, could not have (?) the world, we say. Yes.

It was when superstitions entered the religion that we fell into this state. We fell into this state. How beautifully he puts it. Again it makes me search, makes me search. Let's see.

If I can find it, I'll tell you now.

I'm reading Atatürk's words. Please excuse me. Gentlemen, a nation without religion cannot survive. The religion of Islam is so lofty a religion that we are the community of a prophet who said, seek knowledge even if it is in China, he says. We did not fall behind because we are Muslims. Listen well. We did not fall behind because we are Muslims. When superstitions and innovations were added to our lofty religion, we were driven away from true Islam, he says. Yes. Then we were driven away from true Islam. That is why we fell into this state, he says. That is why we fell into this state. Yes. Look, Mustafa Kemal, it says.

And his signature is here too. Yes. Our religion is a lofty religion.

I always say it. We did not fall into this backward state because we are Muslims. To abolish the religion of Islam, the non-Muslims — tangling it up with superstitions, turning our religion into superstitions, bringing us to this state, making our young people trust them, so as to make them their servants — are spending trillions. Trillions. They are spending trillions. Wake up, Muslim, wake up. Wake up. Learn your religion, your religion. Not with a few people here. Not with a few people. If you are seeking your religion, if you love Allah, if you want to be of His Messenger's community, if you want to be treated rightly in the presence of Al-Haqq, learn your religion, your religion. Not with these comforts.

Yes.

We are Muslims. Don't envy the path the disbeliever, the non-Muslim, takes and follow after him. In this transient time — of this world that was laid down, was created, which within time Allah Almighty created as time — devoting yourself to this world's few hours of life, do not turn the abode of eternal bliss into a dungeon.

In this verse Allah Almighty declares that those who deny Allah and His Messenger will be subject to eternal Hell punishment, definitely and clearly. So listen to this verse; do not, deceived by the transient blessings of this world, abandon Allah and His Messenger; use your mind and think. To distinguish truth from falsehood you are equipped with the blessing of a mind. With the blessing of a mind. Yes.

Do not leave the truths and plunge into falsehood for your nafs and for transient worldly gain. Bound by Allah's commands, as the most honourably created being, a human, preserve your honour and dignity, befitting human dignity. Be upright and of good character, so that eternal bliss may be yours. The community of transgressors cannot attain Allah's mercy. Those who do what Allah Almighty does not want, who sow discord among people, who stir up discord on earth, who deny the Messenger of Allah, who don't believe there is resurrection after death, who, thinking life is this world, do whatever comes to mind as their nafs pleases — those who, toward people, commit oppression, cannot attain guidance.

Their dying in this state is their remaining, in the Hereafter, far from Allah's mercy. They will find neither an intercessor nor a helper. They go to the abode of eternal life seeking Allah's punishment. May Allah protect believing men and women from such an end.