Ali 'Imran 136: Their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and remaining eternally in paradises below which rivers flow. How good is the reward for those who act in this way!

To those who carry out Allah's command, to those who fear Allah, to those who burn with love of Allah, Allah Almighty promises: Their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and, beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide forever, Gardens. How excellent is the reward of those who act thus, it says. What's wrong with that? Why shouldn't we be like this? Why shouldn't we make this world feel like a festival? Why, as slaves of our nafs, running after bad people, (?), should we drench the world in blood like this? What's the reason? And then remain subject to Allah Almighty's punishment. Yet why do we live in this world?

To find peace, to live well, for our end to be good, to worship Allah. We will both worship Allah and not give up the traits of our nafs? Will we then have loved Allah? If we had loved Allah, we would do what Allah says. So who loves Allah? Those God-fearing ones who do what Allah says, they have no habits. They spread a festival atmosphere on earth, and they live their own world, in their heart their own world. Within this world he lives a separate world, his own world. But not a world of fantasy. To grasp, with his Lord, the peace of the hereafter, relying on his Lord and living his life with Him, that person is the sultan of the hereafter, and at the same time, of this verse Allah Almighty speaks of, they become people who attain its promise.

What does it say? Their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and Gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide forever. Some people, it comes to my mind now, were saying: is "forever" in the Quran, for Paradise and for Hell too? And we told him, there are many verses saying "forever". Look, here it comes. Yes. How excellent is the reward of those who act thus, it says. Why? Allah Almighty says forever. Because His essence is eternal, His essence is that eternal one. Because He gave man a part of His essence, that too is eternal. But people whose minds can't grasp it, I always say, if they call this wahdat al-wujud, that one is a poor soul. I am not a follower of wahdat al-wujud.

We are mortal in this world. That is, we are mortal as bodies, as spirits we are not mortal. Those poor souls understand wahdat al-wujud like this: the body is immortal, look, it subsists through Allah, and in Paradise too. Yet because their minds can't grasp it, they enter Paradise with the body. Yet there is no entering Paradise with the body. Bodies are a trust given to us. That they are a trust: Allah Almighty says in a verse, these trusts I gave you, in which way you used them, for that I will call you to account. That's one. We give you life twice and death twice, it says. That's two. When the souls are paired, it says.

That is, body and spirit coming together. That's three. After the body has borne witness, saying, you are returned to the One who first created you, there is the body's death there, for a second time. That's four. So spirits are immortal. Look what it says. Every soul shall taste death. That is, it will taste the death of the body. And finally your return is to Me, it says. So spirits are immortal. But not bodies. Those who say wahdat al-wujud accept bodies that way too, and they invent it under the name wahdat al-wujud. Wahdat al-wujud: only one being, that is, wahda, one Allah. One Allah, yes. Hüve'l-evvelü ve'l-âhiru ve'z-zâhiru ve'l-bâtın.

You are created. You are a part of Him. A part; you subsist through Him. You subsist through Allah.

But not bodily, again. Spiritually. These are fine points. Yes.

These God-fearing, these people adorned with this character, Allah Almighty, with praise, the places they will be given in Paradise He describes, and declares that they will be placed in Gardens beneath which rivers flow, and in the delights of an eternal, immortal life they will go on living. Allah Almighty makes us long for those places. O My servants! Just as I granted you the life of this world, as I created the life of this world and sent you there, in the hereafter too, in the Gardens, there are such places, He says. So use your minds, compare. He says it to us like that. He brings it to that meaning.

He doesn't say it so, but brings it to that meaning. So, He says, use your minds, compare. This temporary life, or the abode of eternal bliss? He says. And He leaves the choice to our will. Out of the value He gave us. Yes.

How excellent is the reward of the people who act thus; that is, bound by Allah's commands, acting thus in fear of Allah, thinking of the hereafter, in their Lord's presence at the Great Judgment, saying, how will I answer, with these thoughts, reforming their conduct and behaviour, adorned with taqwa, in return for the good works they did, they will go as heirs to the Gardens Allah Almighty has promised. How excellent is the reward of people who act thus. That is, how excellent is the place to be given to those who inherit those Gardens. Because Allah Almighty is very compassionate and merciful to people, the rewards He promised in the hereafter He will surely give; He tells people this in the world of creation through His verses, so that, by making them long for the hereafter's existence, people give shape and order to their lives in this world, knowing Allah as Allah, and to Allah Almighty's commands and prohibitions holding fast, find life.

And again in a verse: who, it says, is more faithful to his word than Allah?

Allah Almighty says in a verse: who is more faithful to his word than Allah? Yes. No one can be as faithful to their word as Allah. Why? Let's say, I said: Ahmet Efendi, tomorrow, if Allah grants, with you let's meet. Fine. That night I die, I can't meet him. Something comes up, I can't go. I can't go. Because I can't know what will happen a moment later. In this case, have I been true to my word? But Allah Almighty programmed the worlds, He knows what will happen until the Day of Judgment. Since He speaks within those programmes, to His word only Allah is faithful. Whatever He says, that's what it is.

Yes.

Allah Almighty's commands and prohibitions, though they are for us to know Allah as Allah, are in fact so that people, finding salvation through these laws, in the world of creation, during their lives, without meeting hardships, without suffering pain and torment, can carry on their lives. That is, our Lord's religious rulings, though they look like His commands, are in fact for our salvation.

For example, He says pray.

This is for our salvation. Allah has no need. We both move our body, the body, and in this bodily worship we also point to our Lord as well. For example, two married people who commit adultery, stone them, He says. Cut off the hand of the one who steals. And for us these are all (?). That is, so that we live comfortably. Let's live in peace. Live with honour and dignity. So that we live with honour. He tells us His laws. Is this law a bad law? And they fear religious rule coming, sharia coming. Where there's no sharia, the so-called human-rights laws neither give the human his right, nor are the laws they made with their own minds laws at all; it's before our eyes.

So when sharia is mentioned, sharia is law anyway. In Arabic it's sharia. In Turkish, law. They have instilled this in us. When sharia is mentioned: a man will take four wives. Right away, (?) four wives. Sharia is coming. In fact sharia is not for taking those four wives. It's the religion's enemies spewing the hatred they feel towards Allah Almighty. Putting that forward, they try to bring people, or women, to (?). Now today let's think with sound reason. (?), but not from the ego.

Eighty, ninety percent of men don't stay with their wives.

Because morals have decayed, because faith has weakened. Even because he has contact with those outside, he even neglects his home. It starts with discord, fights start. And that's exactly what the unbeliever wants. To break your family order, to make you rebellious against Allah Almighty and to break the order. Don't fear sharia, sharia will rule over your conscience, your conscience, and by bringing you closer to Allah it will protect people's rights and entitlements. The true law is Allah's law. Would you want a thief to come, and the money you saved,

a person whose blood isn't worth five cents, to take your wealth away, and drag your honourable life into a wretched state? Would you? But they put him in from here, they let that theft out from there, it suits them.

That's the law they call civil law.

Would you want them to kill your mother, kill your father? Would you? But in that law, whoever kills your mother, your father too, they will kill the killer. That's the law. Deterrent, deterrent. What a fine law. So don't fear sharia. Allah's law. If we are Muslims, we will live our Lord's laws in our own conscience. Yes.

What did we say? Allah Almighty's commands and prohibitions, though for us to know Allah as Allah, are in fact so that people, finding salvation through these laws, in the world of creation, during their lives, without meeting hardships, without pain and torment suffering, can carry on their lives. For us, for us.

Allah, protecting people with His laws, wants them always to live in salvation and peace. People who take on Allah Almighty's commands and observe Allah's laws: their morals become beautiful. As people reform their nafs, they are raised high in Allah's sight. By reaching the ranks of those He calls God-fearing, they attain the Gardens Allah Almighty has promised. Yes. Surah Al-i Imran, verse 136. Their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and Gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide forever. How excellent is the reward of those who act thus, it says. As we always say. They used to ask, are Paradise and Hell eternal?

Is there a verse, they'd say. He said, there are hundreds of verses like this. We always say it the same way. Look, Allah Almighty says forever. Eternal in Paradise, in Hell. (?) my daughter says: may Allah be pleased with you, Hodja. Yes. May Allah be pleased with all of us. Yes. Good.

Who are these? Their reward. These are righteous servants. Content with what comes from Allah. Heeding His commands and prohibitions. Remembering their Lord much,

reforming their nafs in Allah's way, striving, jihad, for Allah's sake; that is, when I say this jihad, not necessarily the sword,

be it in knowledge, be it in helping the orphan, the poor, the needy, be it helping those going to the army; even for people who help their state, it is jihad, jihad in Allah's way it is. Well, to his state, when? When it goes to war, to its soldiers, its equipment, those who help, or with their money its (?), (?) equipment, who have it bought.

Moreover,

let's watch out for halal and haram. That is, people adorned with taqwa. Believers. Believers. These believers are the people of whom the verse in Surah Al-Fath says: O soul at peace, your Lord pleased with you and you with your Lord, enter among My servants, enter My Paradise. These people. Though they are bodily in this world, their hearts fly in the hereafter, in the beyond. In their own inner world they are always in dialogue with my Lord. (?). They are in conversation. People in this state are righteous; what does Allah Almighty say? Forgiveness from their Lord and, beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide forever, Gardens.

How excellent is the reward of those who act thus, it says. Those who act thus. Well, what's happened to us that we shouldn't act thus? What's the problem? Will we take the world along behind us? Will the world's alluring swamp pull us in, where the nafs wrongs us, making us long for that swamp of the world, and leaving the Gardens Allah promised us, turning our backs on those Gardens, will we drive ourselves into the swamp? What's so hard about doing what Allah says? If you do what your Lord says, your Lord won't put on your back a load you can't bear, you know. Such a beautiful peace for you, so beautiful a (?), that you'll enjoy your worship, you'll enjoy remembering your Lord, and you'll never want to be apart from Him.

Who reaches that state? The God-fearing. And how excellent, it says, is the reward of people who behave so. These God-fearing, these people adorned with this character, Allah Almighty with praise describes their places in Paradise they'll be given, that in Gardens beneath which rivers flow they'll be placed, and in the delights of an eternal, immortal life they will go on living, He declares.

However long you live in this world, in the end we will die. We all know this. (?), still we can't reform our nafs and free ourselves from its (?). If someone says something to us, we immediately try to take revenge on him. When someone cheats us, tramples on our rights, at once on him we rain curses.

Instead of guiding people, instead of telling them truth and justice, whereas in a verse, what does Allah Almighty say? Spread truth and justice on earth. Let there be among you people who will explain truth and justice. In this case, instead of showing people Allah's verses, that luminous path of our Lord, at once we start, (?), to (?) them, or to take revenge, or to set up some traps for them. How is each person to prove what kind of person he is, instead of doing it with such actions? That person is a servant of Allah. Being one our Lord created, if you give him such value, and people (?), saying (?), and can let his mistake vanish in yourself like in a blind well, or (?), how happy for you, how beautiful.

Now what are we like? No fault in a comparison: a father's children; a father wants his children always to get along; if one child plays a mean trick on another, and that child plays one back, the father scolds both: he did this to you, but why didn't you (?) him, or why did you retaliate like that? So Allah Almighty created us, we are His servants; among ourselves, against each other, in hostility and grudge, from conditions that drown everything in discord and sin He wants us to keep away. In this case He has declared us brothers. What does He say? If one believer is at one end of the world and another at the other, the two are brothers, He says. So brothers' grudges against brothers, or their grief and gloom, sorrows, hostilities towards one another disappear.

They disappear. And Allah Almighty, strengthening people this way with the religion of Islam, in unity and togetherness, wants a festival atmosphere on earth.

Who brings this about? The God-fearing bring it about. The God-fearing.

The ill treatment done to them they attribute to their ignorance, to their childishness. But those people look down on the one who forgives them, who sees them so, and since they've satisfied their ego, consider themselves far above him. That's ignorance itself.

How excellent is the reward of people who act thus, says Allah Almighty. Because Allah Almighty is very compassionate and merciful to people, the rewards He promised in the hereafter He will surely give; He tells people this in the world of creation through His verses, so that, by making them long for the existence of the hereafter, people put their lives in this world in order, knowing Allah as Allah, holding fast to Allah Almighty's commands and prohibitions, and find life. How beautiful. He makes us long for those worlds. What does He say? O people! In any case you are mortal in this world. That is, you are mortal.

One day you will die. However lavishly you live. Build a palace on every hill if you like. That's what He says anyway. Do you build a palace on every hill? He says. I went to Arabia, and really, on the hills are the kings' palaces. On every hill a palace. Of the kings. What will come of it? A palace on every hill. Let it be of gold, of ruby, of emerald, if you like.

What is this like? While I'm standing here, an agha comes. Open your palm, he tells me. Open. I open it. He puts the world's most precious jewels on my hand. Take it, it's yours. Take these, he says. And I took them. What then? I could eat, I ate; I didn't eat. It stayed here and was gone. Then that, Allah's property, remained Allah's. What did I take to the hereafter? Nothing. But Allah Almighty says: O people! If you do good deeds, I'll give you a place (?) what you imagine. Whatever you imagine. If you obey Allah, if you become a righteous servant. So is the wealth that man placed in your palm valuable?

Or is it more valuable to possess the treasures of the abode of eternal bliss? The treasure here will run out and go; use it over your lifetime as much as you like. In the end it'll run out. But that of the hereafter won't run out. So never be deceived by this world. Deceived by this world's fleeting beauty and pleasures, don't cheat your brothers. Don't betray them. Don't do evil to them. Don't speak badly. And for Allah's sake their sins, or sins, I don't know, their faults, forgive. For Allah's sake. So that you may be among those near to Allah. Yes.

Allah Almighty, by making people long for the hereafter in this way, wants people on earth to live together with one another like brothers.

Allah Almighty says in a verse, who is more faithful to his word than Allah? He says. No one can be.

And no one can fully adopt Allah Almighty's character. Abu Bakr as-Siddiq says so to the Prophet too. When he asks, how many are in me too, he says, in you six or seven are missing. Now (?), whereas when the Prophet (peace be upon him)'s character was asked, (?) takes the Quran and comes. His character was this, it is said. The Quran.

But still no one can be as faithful to his word as Allah. Why? Because He created these worlds, He programmed them, He speaks knowing where what will happen. That is, He speaks knowing the unseen. Because we don't know the unseen, we can only make promises by saying God willing. Indeed Allah Almighty says the keys of the unseen are in Allah's hand. In Allah's hand. So no created being can be as faithful to his word as Allah. But we will try to take on Allah's character. To please Allah. That is, to please the owner who created us.

If He is pleased with us, He loves us, grants us His mercy, forgives our sins, frees us from punishment. Yes.

Allah Almighty's commands and prohibitions, though for us to know Allah as Allah, are in fact so that people, finding salvation through these laws, in the world of creation, during their lives, without meeting hardships, without suffering pain and torment, can carry on their lives. As I said earlier, although Allah Almighty tells us so, although my Lord tells us to worship His essence, in fact He says it for our own benefit. Yes. So Allah, protecting people with His laws, wants them always to live in salvation and peace. People who take on Allah Almighty's commands and observe Allah's laws: their morals become beautiful. As people reform their nafs, they are raised high in Allah's sight.

What did we say? The nafs never wants Allah's command carried out. Yes. In this case the nafs, like a (?) adze, always wants to cut towards itself. But if a person reforms his nafs, in Allah's way he has prepared for jihad, and attains our Lord's mercy. People who take on Allah Almighty's commands and observe Allah's laws: their morals become beautiful. As people reform their nafs, in Allah's sight they are raised high. By reaching the ranks of those He calls God-fearing, the Gardens Allah Almighty promised they attain.

Yes.