Ali 'Imran 100: Oh you believers! If you follow a group from those who were given a Book, they will lead you to denial after your belief.

O you who believe! A group of those who were given the Book — if you follow them, after your faith they will lead you back into disbelief. If you follow them.

Because they,

they, those outside Islam, unless you are one of them, will never befriend those (?) Islam.

Let us read this verse.

Let us end our lesson after this, with this verse. If you have questions, get your questions ready again.

We'll talk over your questions for another 10–15 minutes. Those who turn away from Allah, because they love their nafs and the world so much, to obtain it never refrain from committing every kind of wickedness for their own interests. Who are they? Non-Muslims. Yes. There is only one thing they worship, the one thing they worship is matter, money.

They take pride in the power of money, through the power of money they see themselves as somebody, through the power of money they draw strength, they never think of Korah. They never say: if Allah, who gave me this, sinks me into the ground, what will I do? Yes.

The more worldly goods they gain, the prouder they get, and among people, to satisfy their nafs, they appear (?), they appear ostentatious. Yes.

In one verse Allah Almighty says: let their strutting about the earth in pomp not make you envious. For their going about the earth is only for a short time — so it says.

Their going about the earth in pomp is only for a short time. That is, on earth they wanted it this way, they wanted this kind of life. And within their destiny We gave them these things. But their mentality and your mentality are not the same. Their well-ordered state like that came from their denying Me. Do not envy them. Their coming in pomp on that earth is only for a very short time, He says. Since a thousand years here are like one day of the Hereafter, it is a life of one, one and a half hours. Do not envy it. In the end their selves will come to ruin, but you will inherit the gardens I promised you, He says.

Yes.

What 'a short time' means, we explained in the earlier verses. Here we will only state the verse. A thousand years of this world are like one day of the Hereafter. So, those who, not remembering that in the end one goes before Allah Almighty, and that Day of Reckoning, say 'I am living in this world', turn away from Allah, commit every wickedness, and, by the verse 'every soul shall taste death', die and will give Allah account of what they did in the world — if people of faith envy them and follow after them, these people of faith will, after their faith, be led back into disbelief by those they envied.

They envy them. Do they envy them? Oh, oh, oh, there's admiration for Europe, admiration for the unbelievers, all sorts. That darkness and swamp — because in their own nafs there is rebellion against Allah — there are those who see it as so bright — that brightness, those who desire it, then, then in the Hereafter, when they realize it is a swamp, will say 'alas'. 'My Allah, is there no return to the world?' (?) He says: even if We sent you not once but several more times, you would do the same thing again. 'O my Lord, we have seen and learned here, why would we do the same thing? We will worship You.' Whatever your characters are, you are not going to change.

Again We will close this realm to you. When you start there from zero again, you will do the same again. Your life is like a video. Whatever TV, whatever computer you put that video in, that CD, the same events always play. It never changes. So if your character and your destiny and all those characters of yours are like this, even if I sent you not once but several more times, you would do the same, He says. That 'alas' is worth nothing then. So I say it again. We will use our reason, our reason. Yes.

The word we so much wanted to keep in mind a moment ago — let us say it now. When we said 'visit the graves', even those among us couldn't get it. Keeping ties of kinship. Keeping ties of kinship. It just didn't come to your mind. We say: if you have no relatives, go to the graves, visit them.

What is this? Keeping ties of kinship.

Yes. As I'm explaining, it comes to my mind and goes, like this. It comes and goes from my mind. So we couldn't figure this out? All right, I drifted off. We drift off somewhere, we go off like this. Keeping ties of kinship. It also opens a person's insight, says Allah Almighty. Keeping ties of kinship. Visit your acquaintances, your friends, your relatives, He says. Aren't there superstitions among your acquaintances, friends and relatives? Well, would the Prophet (peace be upon him) say: don't go to them, don't visit them even if they are ill? Yes. Can these be hadiths?

The human nafs takes pleasure in amusement and living. This living and amusement put out the light of faith in people's hearts.

Even though a person's reason warns them they are on the wrong path, in someone whose light of faith in the heart has gone out and lost its strength, the nafs has grown strong and, overpowering even reason, the friend of faith, the wrongs that reason has shown people people do not accept, and, not giving in on their nafs, knowingly drift after the crooked path.

What are we saying? We say: even reason, the friend of faith. How is reason the friend of faith? Now look at the verse, what does it say? Aduvvallâhi ve aduvvekum. Your enemies and the enemy of Allah, it says. Outwardly, in the first meaning, there are the enemies of Islam and at the same time those who are enemies of Allah. But they explain this backwards. Allah has become an enemy to them. In the second meaning, which is the true meaning, this is in the human being anyway.

What are your enemies? The enemy of Allah. Who is my enemy? The nafs, Satan and the world. They are enemies to man. They drag them into the swamp. The friends: reason, faith — that is, the path Allah has given and shown, faith — and, even against Satan, inspiration. Inspiration, our Lord's inspiration.

Now, your nafs tells you, let's say — well, your reason says: help a poor person. You have the money, and the man is destitute. And your nafs says: let him work and earn it; will you look after someone Allah doesn't look after? Leave it, it says. The world looks attractive to you, Satan gives you (?) too, and with stinginess frightens you. You'll need it, keep the money, he says. He will keep you from reward. Your faith: he is my brother. Your reason: yes, he is destitute, help him. And your inspiration: on the path where you help your Lord, when you strive in the way of Allah and His Messenger, when Allah Almighty says 'spend' — with that verse: while giving this help, will you take your place beside the enemy or beside your friends?

This is where people are being tested. Whichever you do, you have taken your place in that side's ranks. As I said a moment ago, the human nafs is very fond of amusement, and when it rises to worship on Allah's path, it seems to you like a load as big as mountains on your back. You seem to be crushed under that load, and dismay comes over you. Knowing this, our Lord says: though you rise for prayer sluggishly, He says, keep at it, He says. Keep at it, keep at it with patience, He says.

They hand their own will over to their nafs and to Satan. These, unable to free themselves from the world's adorned-looking amusements, in this state to death — when they taste death, they will have wronged their own selves. Let's read this paragraph up to here. A fine paragraph. The human nafs takes pleasure in amusement and living. This living and amusement put out the light of faith in people's hearts. Even though a person's reason warns them they are on the wrong path, in someone whose light of faith in the heart has gone out and lost its strength, the nafs has grown strong and, overpowering even reason, the friend of faith, the wrongs that reason has shown people, they do not accept, and, not giving in on their nafs, knowingly drift after the crooked path.

They hand their own will over to their nafs and to Satan. These, unable to free themselves from the world's adorned-looking amusements, when in this state they taste death, will have wronged their own selves. They will have traded the eternal, everlasting Hereafter for a few hours of worldly amusement. May Allah grant guidance to us all, we have said.