At-Tawbah 123: Oh you believers! Fight with the infidels that are close to you and let them find harshness in you. Know that Allah is with the muttaqi.

Allah Almighty: O you who believe — not 'O people', He doesn't say that, look — O you who believe, of the unbelievers, fight those near you, and let them find in you harshness; Allah is with those who beware, He says. Now Allah Almighty's verses, he said, are upon letters.

To fully grasp the secret of the verse and interpret the verse is not possible either. But this little verse, this sentence, we can interpret by fitting it into pages. And when interpreting it, those who know nothing of the verses say Allah says: use violence against the unbelievers. And they respond with violence. Whereas Allah Almighty — Surah An-Nisa, verse 129, I think it will be. Surah An-Nisa. Let's see.

Yes. Verse 128. Look now, what does it say here?

If we interpret this verse as we please, how much it will contradict this verse. Whereas Allah Almighty's verses confirm one another, they don't contradict. Now what does it say here: O you who believe, those of the unbelievers near you — one must pay great attention to the words. Fight them, and let them find harshness in you, it says. In verse 128 in Surah An-Nisa, what does it say? If a woman fears ill-treatment from her husband or his turning away from her, there is no sin on them if they make peace between them. Peace is always better, it says. Here it says fight. Well, if peace is always better, which word matches which verse?

Now if you (?) the secret of the verses, then like this, the enemy you see, (?) strike his back, (?) him. Whereas what does it say? Whoever kills one soul is as if he killed all souls. This verse, too, comes out contrary. And whoever saves one soul, it says, is as if he saved all souls. Well, in that case, O you who believe! You saved a Muslim's life, but you saved all Muslims' lives — they don't say that. Whoever saves one soul is as if he saved all souls, it says. Now here it says fight. Kill those near you, it says. The meaning of killing here — as I said a moment ago, since Allah Almighty's word is upon letters — to those near you enjoin what is right.

The command in a sense, to those near you. Who is near? In the neighbourhood, the surroundings, the street, the building where you live intertwined, to the people, enjoin what is right. Beware, do not follow their way. Look, do not follow their way. Convey the truth to them. That is the meaning of the verse. That it has this meaning — Allah knows best — will be supported in many verses. It is already supported in these verses. Now in verse 123 of Surah At-Tawbah: O you who believe! Fight those of the unbelievers near you, and let them find in you harshness. Surah At-Tawbah, verse 123. One minute now.

Let's have a look. 123. The verse. Let's also read it from here: O you who believe, fight those of the unbelievers near you, and let them, in the moment of battle, find harshness in you — this 'in the moment of battle' he wrote as he pleased, he put it in brackets — so that they find harshness in you. Because it says near you, near you. It doesn't say battlefield here. That's how a person understands this. Actually there are more verses to correct like that, which we don't touch.

'In the moment of battle,' it says, let them find harshness in you. (?) will you make war on those near you? In the neighbourhood, sir, will you make war on your neighbour? Let's read this one too. (?) let them find severity. Know that Allah is with those who beware. Let's read verse 124 and see what it says. Whenever a surah is sent down, some of them say: whose faith among you did this increase? Whose faith among you did this increase? As for those who believe, this surah increases their faith and they rejoice, it says.

Look how beautiful what follows is. Now it supports. What? What we said. When a surah is sent down, it says, those unbelievers say: whose faith among you did this increase? And those who believe rejoice because their faith increased, it says. So where is the war here?

Where is war? So one must understand the verses well. If everyone gets up and tries to interpret the verse, he interprets it like this here, and then says: Hodja, here you said it like this — ah, that one is so and this one is so, he says. But the verses aren't 'that one is so and this one is so'. They will all confirm one another.

Now let's read the two verses once more. Look how beautifully Allah Almighty says the verses one after another. O you who believe, those of the unbelievers near you — it doesn't say battlefield, mind you — fight those near you, and to them, and let them find harshness in you. Here he puts brackets as he pleases: 'on the battlefield', he says. Know that Allah is with those who beware. You live intertwined with them, He says, but never go the way they go. They, He says, are astray anyway, they deny Allah anyway; if you go to them too, you follow him. You, and they too, He says: let them find harshness in you.

That is, don't go the way they go; convey the truth to them. That is the meaning. And the verse after it supports this. Now look how beautifully it supports it.

Whenever a surah is sent down, some of them say: whose faith among you did this increase?

They say it this way to draw them to their own way. As for those who believe, this surah increases their faith and they rejoice, it says.

So it is not jihad. It is enjoining what is right. Fight against the one near you, it says. Fighting doesn't necessarily mean taking a sword in hand and killing people. The greatest jihad: those who fight in Allah's way with their wealth and property. Those who strive with their wealth and property. In the religion of Islam, waging war without cause, taking lives unjustly, spreading oppression on earth is a sin. Is that so? Of course, Allah is the Owner of justice. No one can usurp anyone's right. No one can kill anyone for being an unbeliever.

Now, an ignorant Muslim — an ignorant Muslim, I don't really want to say ignorant; the ignorant one is Satan, because the man has believed, become a Muslim. But it's better to say uninformed. An uninformed Muslim, a Muslim mixed up in superstitions, immediately says: kill the unbeliever. Well, as for killing the unbeliever — can't Allah kill him? Is He powerless? Why did Allah Almighty send us into the world? In the covenant of Elestü bi-Rabbiküm, does Allah Almighty not know whether we are believers or non-Muslims? There is not a single living being to come until the Day of Judgment of which We do not know what it will not do, He says.

Then why did He send us into the world? The reason: each person saw his Lord as like himself, and because he expected the Lord in his own imagination, he could not believe in Allah Almighty, our Lord who created him. He expected the Lord in his own imagination. And since Allah Almighty is free of imperfect attributes — so that you cannot say: O man, 'You created me like Yourself, I couldn't recognise You here; had You sent me to an unseen world where Your Being is not seen, I would have worshipped You so beautifully there.'

A world where his Lord is not seen.

So here people, people people bound by that (?) — is he an unbeliever? Drive the pickaxe into his back, kill him. You can't kill him. Because Allah Almighty says in His verse: what kind of person you are — did you think you would die without proving it? So, everyone, in that covenant of Elestü bi-Rabbiküm, when making the covenant with Allah Almighty, in return for the pledge he gave his Lord, if he had his wish and desire, his will, written for himself as destiny, in an unseen world, within a lifespan Allah Almighty gave him, he, carrying out his own deeds — what kind of man he is, to prove that, he was given that life.

You have no right to kill that person.

In this case, what does the verse say? Whoever saves one soul is as if he saved all souls. Is that so? And whoever kills one soul is as if he killed all souls. So no one can kill anyone unjustly. But those who set their eyes on your religion, your faith, your honour, your homeland, the unity and solidarity of your nation — such people, (?). Wage war on them. Fight against them, it says. Fight. But in time of peace no one has the right to kill anyone. Allah Almighty here, too — pay attention — O you who believe, to those of the unbelievers near you, He says. When they live intertwined. Fight them. That is, don't fall for the false belief they offer you. And you convey the truth to them.

The verse. But go, in other commentaries, other — leave aside other commentary. Look what this man here says, too. On the battlefield, he says, kill him, he says. On the battlefield. Yes. We read this paragraph once more now, so it's understood better. In the religion of Islam, waging war without cause, taking lives unjustly, spreading oppression on earth is a sin. Allah makes none of His creatures commit oppression unjustly. He does not let them take their lives. Instead of war on earth, Surah An-Nisa, verse 128 declares that peace is better. We read it to you, didn't we? Peace is better.

So what does Allah Almighty mean in this verse? Since Allah Almighty's word is upon letters, even if the verses seem close to one another, a change of a letter, or the same verse coming side by side with another letter, changes many meanings.

There is a sequence of letters. Although Allah Almighty uses His verses within sentences, they resemble none of our sentences that we use.

Is there proof? The verses have proof. If mankind and jinn gathered, they could not bring the like of one verse, it says. So the letters we have put together within the sentences we speak — (?) a letter.

In the sentences Allah Almighty has built by lining up letters, He shows us a way. He proves the existence of His Being. In every verse He proves the existence of His Being. Two, the third, in the first meaning it points to an outward meaning. In the second meaning, at a higher station, at a level people will understand, it explains. The same verse, in the third meaning, addresses the elite of the elite. The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh meanings, the seventieth meaning for the prophets, and beyond that, meanings belonging to Allah alone. Go ahead. Is your word the same as His word? That is why if mankind and jinn gathered, they could not bring the like of a verse.

Throw a stone into the sea from the pier. It grows wave by wave. This — widen these waves as far as you can. So Allah's word: the verse where that stone falls — its meaning, its frame, as our limited mind can understand it, within that wave are the capacities, or the ripples. After that the elite, after that the elite of the elite, because it widens. After that the meaning gets ever deeper. In that case no one can restrict Allah Almighty's verse to a certain capacity and say: this is it. Whoever says this squeezes Allah Almighty into his own limited mind, and commits a sin. He goes into kufr.

Yes.

Having opened this up this far, let's read this paragraph once more. Right? It's understood better. So what does Allah Almighty mean in this verse? Since Allah Almighty's word is upon letters, even if the verses seem close to one another, this change of letter, or the same verse standing beside another letter, changes many meanings. In this respect, those not versed in the knowledge of the Quran, when interpreting these verses, according to Arabic grammar interpreting the verses, get both the verse's translation wrong and its meaning, that is, its commentary, wrong.

Such as? Such as?

You cannot marry idolaters until they believe, it says. Allah's sacred law. And in one place it says you may marry the People of the Book. Aha, he says. This was abrogated by that, he says, this verse. That's how he understands it. Idolater, People of the Book. He understands it as unbeliever. Whereas an idolater is a pagan. He recognises no God, no book, no prophet. The People of the Book know Allah but associate partners with Him. You know, Mary his wife, or Jesus his son; the Gospel, the Torah or the Psalms, a book sent by Allah. Allah Almighty permits this. You may marry from the People of the Book, He says.

Because (?). But an idolater, until he believes, you cannot marry, He says. Well, here, if you put idolater and unbeliever in the same basket and understand Allah's verse by your own mind, how can you say this abrogated that?

From whom did you (?) this abrogation? From whom did you see it? If, from the past scholars, from the imams, a single one says this abrogation exists, I take back everything I have said.

Today at Al-Azhar University in Egypt, too, they accept that there is no abrogation. There is no abrogation, they say. Why not? Allah Almighty is free from imperfect attributes. Is that so? No one can ascribe imperfection to Him. Allah Almighty says in His verse: whatever Our custom was in the beginning, in eternity too it is that. So Allah Almighty, who makes no distinction whatsoever among His creatures, among His creatures — from our father Adam, from the people of the first age whose minds did not work, to the people who will come until the Day of Judgment — in no way doing injustice, Allah Almighty, His justice over people, continues to rule.

So then: earlier people You let marry the idolater. Then to the ummah of the Messenger of Allah, which (?) an ummah, You forbid the idolater and let them marry the unbeliever. Or You make earlier people accept this, let them marry. And people coming in this age You don't let marry. Well, what is the difference between those people and these people? Would Allah Almighty not be doing injustice between those people and these people? In a state's law there are Turks, Georgians, Abkhaz, Circassians, Laz. Do the laws say: you're Laz, you don't get this, you're Georgian, you get this? Is there such a thing in its laws?

That state's law covers them all. Likewise, if we are servants Allah Almighty created, then among us, without making distinctions, the verses cover us all. So you can't fit these verses into your short head and say this abrogated that. This doesn't fit Allah's justice, and also Allah's attributes (?). One. Second. Second. Allah Almighty, about the Beloved of the Almighty, the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon him), says: he does not speak idly.

What does He say? He does not speak idly.

The prophet He created — perfect towards the worlds, imperfect towards His Being — the Beloved of the Almighty, the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon him), if he does not speak idly, if he is imperfect only in relation to our Lord, how can you ascribe imperfection to Allah Almighty, making Him rule with injustice among people, having Him give that one that, and this one this?

Those who studied and say 'I've licked ink', those who say 'I have (?)' — they, it's they who brought these people to this state. And they come out saying 'I'm a professor'. Professor. They say: we do hadith from Muslim. We do hadith from Bukhari, they say. Although in the books of Muslim and Bukhari many words that don't agree with each other appear as hadith, despite the Prophet's (peace be upon him) descriptions, these people stuck in that circle of ignorance, who, like the seeds of the Abu Jahls, want to spread falsehood over the truth — these people, with slanders against the Messenger of Allah, accepting as hadith words he never said and trying to spread them over falsehood as the truth — wretched people.

Wretched people. Whereas how beautifully the Prophet (peace be upon him) puts it. If someone (?) a hadith to me and it does not correspond to the verses, it is not from me, he says. There's a hadith for you. Hadith. Whoever believes that there is no god but Allah, that the prophets are true, that the books came from Allah, hellfire is forbidden to him, he says. Hadith. Corresponding to what? To a verse. Which verse is it?

O you who believe, do not go towards the fire prepared for the unbelievers, it says. So the fire is forbidden to the Muslim. Look what it says: do not go towards the fire prepared for the unbelievers. Well, in that case the Messenger of Allah, too, says it so beautifully. The hadith is the counterpart of the verse. Do you understand hadith? Do you understand the verse, that you call this hadith and those superstitions over the truth you try to spread? Among five thousand, seven thousand hadiths, among the words called hadith — I don't say hadith — among seven sentences, let's say, seven thousand, find three hundred hadiths and break my tooth, find three hundred hadiths.

Yes, so if people understand like this, if they squeeze the verses into their minds this way, if they squeeze Allah into their own mind, this is what happens.

Yes.

Then we read that paragraph once more. So it's better understood. Because (?) here in a limited way, we write the paragraphs for the public, sentence by sentence. These are all the counterparts of verses. So what does Allah Almighty mean in this verse? Allah Almighty's word is upon letters.

Since it is upon letters, even if the verses seem close to one another, a change of a letter, or the same verse coming beside another letter, many meanings it changes. In this respect, those who cannot master the knowledge of the Quran, when interpreting these verses, interpreting the verses according to Arabic grammar, get both the verse's translation wrong and its meaning, that is, its commentary, wrong.

Now we say: the meaning in this verse. We are coming to this verse. Now, educating people step by step, in a way their minds can accept, we make introductions. Then we build the sentence here. That is, here we explain what the verse means. So what does Allah Almighty mean in this verse? Allah Almighty's word — right, the meaning in this verse: fight those near you. The nearness here is living intertwined, those in the same town living together. Together. So if we live together, it is impossible for us to fight one another; we live in peace. In the Messenger of Allah's time, too, they lived intertwined with the Jews.

Were they fighting? Those they lived intertwined with. Yes.

That this verse has this meaning, the next verse clearly shows. Do not follow them. Enjoin what is right against their bad conduct. Tell them the truth. Be harsh against the immoral acts they commit, so that when they see harshness in you, they don't sow discord among you, among you. So that they don't spread immorality. If you (?) tolerate their actions, that, that (?) who pursue the cause of tolerance. I now call them (?). Why? That's what I say. Even though I explained the cause of tolerance so much, still stubbornly those who go after the cause of tolerance. You cannot tolerate a non-Muslim's filth.

You cannot tolerate a non-Muslim's filth. There is no cause of tolerance here. Tolerance is among brothers in Islam. Tolerance. Because he is a believer, she is a believer, a Muslim; Allah created him imperfect. Accepting his imperfection as it is, tolerating him, embracing him — that is there. Conveying the truth to him — that is there. When he conveys the truth, his seeing the truth and bowing his head — that is there. But an unbeliever's pride and arrogance, grandeur, fame and glory, love of the world — even if he sees the truth he does not bow his head, he resists it.

In this case, you cannot tolerate the unbeliever's filth. Yes.

Be harsh against the immoral acts they commit, so that when they see harshness in you they don't sow discord among you, don't spread immorality; if you turn a blind eye to their actions and tolerate them, in the end they will turn you to themselves. Indeed, in the ages up to our time, the Muslims, because they compromised their religion, because they tolerated what these did, because they followed them, suffered all kinds of calamities. They even fell into captivity. If the immoral actions of unbelievers and hypocrites are not frowned upon by Muslims and no voice is raised against them, in the end they turn the Muslim to themselves and make them abandon their religion.

Can you give an example of what you said, Hodja? Recently, Iraq.

It did not fight.

And Allah was with them.

Then they had neither honour nor (?) left.

That is when a person has (?) against his own self. Because Allah loves people, He warns the people of faith. And by warning the Muslims, the evil in the path the unbeliever and hypocrite take He shows. So every person of reason, from the verses Allah has made known, for himself drawing lessons, should arrange his life accordingly. Yes.