An-Nisa 137: Those who believe and then turn away from it, then again believe and then again deny and reject more;, Allah will not guide them, and Allah will not forgive them (if they continue this behaviour).

Verse 137 has apparently been rendered wrongly here; we have corrected it. What does it say? Those who believe, then disbelieve, then believe again and disbelieve again, and then increase in disbelief — Allah will neither forgive them nor lead them to the right path, it says.

Allah Almighty leads no one to the right path. Know it this way, gentlemen.

Allah leads no one to the right path. 'Hodja, are you denying the verse?' They have rendered that verse wrongly. That is not the meaning of the verse. Allah shows people the right path. He does not lead them to the right path. If Allah led people to the right path, there would be no unbelievers left on earth today. No non-Muslims would be left. Allah's mercy is abundant. So, since He has left people free in their (?) will — free — since by their own judgments people (?) and incur sin, Allah Almighty does not lead people to the right path. Allah shows people the right path. What is the right path? The Holy Quran.

Look. The Holy Quran. He shows the right path. Through whom? Through His prophets. Through whom? Through His verses. Through whom? Through His scholars. He shows the right path. Now, who is Allah's deputy on earth? The prophets, right? The prophets who came. If they are His deputies, do they lead people to the right path? His deputy. The verses come to him, to the prophet. He shows the right path. If it had been left to the Prophet (peace be upon him), he would not have left a single unbeliever on earth.

What does Allah Almighty say? Not so that you use force, He says. Mercy — I sent you so that you convey it to them. Mercy is from Me. So he is charged with explaining Allah's verses. So neither does the prophet lead people to the right path, nor do Allah's friends, His saints, the heirs of the prophets lead people to the right path. Do you know what leading to the right path is? It is to remove a person's will and, using your own will over him, to steer him onto the path you want. To steer him onto the path you want. No created being can accomplish this, other than Allah. Here is the verse. If We do not will, you cannot will, He says.

This lies only in Allah's will. And since Allah Almighty has left everyone free in their own desires and deeds, in their aims, Allah does not lead people to the right path. He shows the right path. What does He do? He shows the right path. Yes. That is one. Second.

And then, to those who increase in disbelief, it says, Allah will neither forgive nor lead them to the right path, it says.

In this case, according to this verse — that is, we will say, according to what this one says. Not according to the verse (?).

According to what this one says, it removes Allah's (?) attribute from those people. He is a Muslim, he has become an unbeliever, again he is a Muslim, again he has become an unbeliever — this person, until the soul reaches the throat, until the door of repentance closes — what does it say? Look, the door of repentance closes — until the door of repentance closes, Allah Almighty, when these people turn to our Lord, their repentance He accepts. Why does He accept? Because there is no god other than Allah to whom they could take refuge. And what does Mevlana say? Even if you broke your repentance five hundred times, a thousand times, come again; this lodge is not a lodge of despair, he says.

Allah — if their souls depart in that state, it should say here: 'in that state': that is, those who believe and then disbelieve, then believe again and disbelieve again, and then increase in disbelief — they may increase it. Now we write the correct version. As long as they remain in that state, as long as they remain in that state, they will neither be able to come to the right path, nor will Allah forgive them. As long as they are in that state, they cannot come to the right path. When they (?) their state, they come to their senses, they repent and seek forgiveness: 'O my Lord, I broke my repentance three times, five times, ten times, a hundred times, but at last I understood that besides You I have no refuge, and besides You no door to go to.' If he says 'Forgive me', would Allah cast out that servant He created?

Do you know what I would say if He did not forgive? 'Weren't You at-Tawwab? Didn't You accept repentance abundantly? Was it not You but some other god who created me? Since You created me, if I am Your servant, I have taken refuge in You, my Lord, I have known You as Lord; what is my (?) from other people? You created me among the forgetful anyway, You created my mind incomplete anyway, (?) from deficiency I am helpless; from my helplessness I will err, and when I know You as my Lord, when I turn back, when I repent, You will forgive me; the attribute of creating — You will symbolize Your power of creating here.' In this case, even if you break your repentance a thousand times — until the soul reaches the throat, until that door of repentance closes, if you repent, your Lord will surely accept you.

Yes.

But this good side, bad side (?) is this: if a person has got used to this path — the pleasures of that path, pride, fame and renown, or those around him saying of him, 'Look, this man was an informer among us, a hypocrite,' his falling into an inferiority complex, fearing exclusion, and continuing on their way — this prepares that person's ruin. Such people cannot easily repent either. As long as they are in that state. That is why — what does Allah Almighty say? Their repentance done promptly — I accept their repentance. I accept the repentance of those who repent promptly. That is, turn back at every moment, He says. Turn back.

Promptly — the soul reaching the throat (?) promptly. Turn back, He says. Turn back. Turn back. But if you persist in it, if you (?), you cannot easily turn back, He says. Yes. People know the way of Allah and His Messenger, become Muslim, then, drawn by worldly interests or the whims of their nafs, run after lust and filth, then regret what they did. They suffer the pain of it. They regret. If they become Muslim again, after becoming Muslim they again long for their old life. That is, they long for that unbelief. If they return to unbelief and, within the unbelief they returned to, increasing their insolence — within the unbelief they returned to, increasing their insolence — they target Allah and His Messenger. If they speak against the religion of Islam, use up their life on this path this way, and reach the time the door of repentance closes without repenting, the opportunity is lost.

That is it. As an unbeliever he has departed.

Now, is he an unbeliever? A hypocrite? An idolater? Allah knows best. If we say unbeliever, perhaps among the unbelievers there will be those on the topmost level in Hell. But the hypocrites are on the lowest level; here, if we call his departure that of an unbeliever, perhaps he departed as a hypocrite. Allah knows best, then. Yes.

These, without finding the truth, because of the whims of their nafs, their worldly loves, the temptation of Satan, at the end of a passing life they took for real living, have wronged themselves and, without coming to the right path, have completed their lives as deniers. Yes.

Allah Almighty will not forgive such people. That is, He will not forgive those who depart as deniers.

Allah Almighty has the attributes ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim. His mercy in the universe is for everyone; in the hereafter, He says, only for the believer.

When He lifts His mercy from them, no Muslim, He says, none of the people of faith — to those from whom Allah has lifted His mercy — will give intercession or help, He says. So there they are without anyone and alone. If Allah has lifted His mercy from them, Allah has dissociated Himself from them. So, since the Muslims and the people of faith are also dissociated from him, they have there neither a helper nor an intercessor.

What people are capable of, that such people exist — both to these turncoats and to people, by showing these as examples — that they not fall into such errors, that they not be deceived by the passing beauties of this mortal world — insistently, with warnings to people, He makes this known. Allah Almighty. He holds a light before people with verses. Yes. Through His scholars too, Allah Almighty so that people explain His verses more beautifully to people, has them explained. Yes. Woe if people turn out to be liars and hypocrites. That is, at the address Elest-i Rabbiküm, when 'I am your Lord,' Allah Almighty said, there. Let that person not (?) Allah.

Let him not betray Allah. What does He say in the verse? My beloved, (?) their denying you — they betrayed Me too, in their time, He says. What does betraying mean? Each person — although with the ability of his reason he knows that a being created him, a Lord created him — isn't his denying the Lord who created him a betrayal of Him? Yes. Woe if people turn out to be liars and hypocrites. That is, (?) having had the stamp put on themselves this way from the start. For their own interests these take on every colour and stir up all kinds of people.

These are the strife of the earth. From them every kind of evil rubs off on people. One must be cautious around such people. At the same time, such people are hypocrites. If three traits come together in a person and he makes them his character, that person is a hypocrite. Three traits will come together and become your character. One: the person will lie — lying. Two: he will betray a trust.

That is, the quality of being trustworthy will vanish from you. Someone saw you as trustworthy; when he entrusts you with something, you will betray him. 'No, you did not give this to me. This was mine anyway,' he will say. Third: he will not keep his word.

If these three traits are found in a person, this person is a hypocrite.

If you want to be a (?) Muslim — many traits can be found in a person. If you want to be a thoroughly upright Muslim, make the traits other than these three your character. That is, make their opposites your character. One: those who lie. Never lie, ever. Say: 'I am ashamed before people, or I lie for my own benefit — yet before Allah, who sees me constantly, am I not ashamed?' Make this your motto. 'Although my Lord gives my sustenance, how could I lie to people and, coveting the few coins in their hand, lie?' — you will say. You will cut lying out of yourself. Two: you will not betray a trust.

You will show yourself to people as an upright, trustworthy person. And people will say, 'This person is a loyal person' — you will make them say it of you. You will make them say of you, 'He is a faithful person.' Third: you will be very careful about your word.

If these three traits, these three fine traits, appear in a person — if you keep your word, if you do not lie, if you do not betray a trust — the other traits will fall away from you of their own accord anyway. They pass and go. Then you rise spiritually too. You grow strong in faith. You are cut off from evils. The (?) in your heart disappear. In their place, Allah's light fills it.

Yes.

These three traits describe the hypocrite himself. And Allah keeps such hypocrites far from His mercy in the hereafter. Yes.