Ali 'Imran 26: Say “My Allah Who is the owner of all possessions. You give possessions to whoever desires from You and You take possessions from whoever desires from You; You raise those who desire from You and you lower those who desire from You. All goodness is in Your Hand. Truly, You have the power to do everything.

The twenty-sixth verse.

Surah Al-i Imran, the twenty-sixth verse. Let us see. Yes. One of the verses that has been explained wrongly. Here I will first read the wrongly explained version. Then we will read its correct version. Say, My Messenger: O Allah, the true owner of dominion. You give dominion to whom You will. There is no willing of Allah here.

If it were Allah's will here, He would be given attributes. If He gives to whom He wills, He should have given to me too. Then I would have worshipped like him. Since He did not give it to me, I did not worship. Would that work? Of course it would. He gets attributes. He is Allah, you cannot question Him. That is not how it is. Allah Almighty, Allah Almighty, alaysallahu bi-ahkami'l-hakimin, the Judge of judges. In Him you (?). You cannot find a deficiency in Him by your own reckoning, and you cannot encompass Him in your head. Yes. What is it? You give to whom You will. You take dominion from whom You will.

You exalt whom You will. You abase whom You will. All good is in Your hand. Truly You have power over all things, it says. Correct. He has power over all things. Now we will say the parts that are missing. Say, My Messenger: O Allah, the true owner of dominion. Correct. Because there is no other god. You give dominion to whoever wishes. Look at "whom You will". "Whoever wishes". Well, Hodja, is (?) right? Well? Does everyone who wishes get this dominion? Yes. Within his destiny, everyone who wishes gets it. Everyone who wishes. Within his destiny, everyone who wishes gets it. He even gets what he wishes outside his destiny.

How does he get it, Hodja? You said that when I go outside my destiny, then I will be carrying a burden that is not mine, and you say I am not responsible for it. Fine, correct. So which one is right? It will come before you in the hereafter. When you wished it in the world, when Allah Almighty did not give it to you, when you were patient, that will come before you in the hereafter. That is your wishing. This is the wishing of man.

Yes. And You take dominion back from whoever wishes. Well, who wants wealth so as to give back the wishing?

Allah Almighty, to test what kind of people we are, within our destiny, gives us what we wish, and when we wish, saying (?), and we to them say, I cannot want this, I even cannot bear it, He takes it from him. He takes from whom He wills too. He takes from whoever wishes too. There are many people. I know them. To one of them, when I was running a factory, I said: you are the boss of that place, you do this. I couldn't do it (?). How nice – we give it, he doesn't take it. Now, is this Allah's wishing or man's wishing?

You know Talip, he was close here too. Take this place, I said, stand at their head, and take those along too. I can't do it, I said. Well, tell me, he said, let me give them orders, let me be shown, let me do them, he said. So everyone has a wishing in proportion to his desire. The person desires it himself, and what he desired he also, with his own hand, pushes away, he doesn't want it. Actually, doesn't he take the world as a means? He takes the ready means, and while it's ready you will work. While working, you yourself will prove what kind of person you are. Now in this situation, if you, when it has come before you ready, push it away, you yourself did not wish for the world.

What are they shooting? Are they firing fireworks into the air? Close that door, my child. There must be a celebration outside. They are firing fireworks into the air.

He exalts whoever wishes. And You abase whoever wishes. He exalts whoever wishes. Well, if a person wants Allah to raise him, what does he do? He comes and submits himself to a teacher. He reforms his nafs. I mean, he pays attention to the lawful and the forbidden. He abides by Allah's religious rulings. He adds worship to his worship. Isn't this wishing now? Did Allah wish this upon him? Remember, each person had his own destiny. This one wished. He raised whoever wished. He gave. He is the Judge of judges, after all. He will give the recompense of what he did. He will raise him. And You abase whoever wishes.

Well, who wants to be abased? If you say that, Allah Almighty tells you not to gamble, not to drink, not to commit adultery. Don't eat what is forbidden, He says. Don't cheat this one or that one, He says. Well, if you do these things, did you wish for abasement, or did Allah wish abasement for you?

So, how beautifully the verses confirm one another, confirm (?). What does it say? What you earn is the reward of your two hands. If our Lord had willed these things for us, it would contradict the verse, what you earn is the reward of your two hands. Is that so? It is.

(?) the verses (?) knowledge we will learn. Even if it contradicts the superstitions we first learned, we will always use our minds. We will always use our minds. If we do not use our minds, we wrong ourselves. That is why the knowledge we are used to, if it is right in the light of the verses, we will abide by it. If it is truly the opposite in the light of the verses, we will wipe it away. Yes.

All good is in Your hand, it says. Of course. Allah Almighty always commands good. He never commands evil. He never commands evil. In this respect, all good is from Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty does not intend injustice for His creatures. Truly You have power over all things. Of course He has power over all things. How does He have power? Not even an atom He created is free of His essence; even those atoms, the atoms inside the atom, even their (?), Allah Almighty created, and He is aware of them. Yes.

O Allah, the true owner of dominion. We are coming to our lesson. Say, My Messenger: O Allah, the true owner of dominion, O Allah, worthy of praise and worship, besides whom there is no god, You give dominion to whoever wishes, and You take dominion back from whoever wishes. For the sake of testing people (?), Allah gives people wealth, property and children. These are the temporary blessings and amusements of the world. Temporary worldly blessing, amusement. What does one verse say? This world is nothing but play and amusement.

And in another verse it says, this world is not just play and amusement.

If you pay attention to the verses, they are different; it seems more or less the same, but it has been rendered with different words, in Turkish speech, or else since there is no exact equivalent for Allah's word, it is understood that way. Because both are correct verses. One says: We did not send you into the world, let us say, to indulge in pleasure. Look, in the sense that you have an owner. You have an owner. With every step you take, in every deed you do, you are responsible for the good deeds of even an atom's weight that you will do.

Because one day the decree of the Truth will come to pass, and finally, according to the verse in which He says, your return is to Me, on the Day of Judgment, in the hereafter, on the Day of Reckoning, you will give account before Me, He says. So this world is not just play and amusement. Then you say this world is nothing but play and amusement – my Lord, yes, it is nothing but play and amusement. Everyone had the script of the destiny he gave to Allah Almighty written. You are playing here as actors, He says about it. You are playing. This is a game. Like playing house. Like a game children play.

It is nothing but play and amusement. So use it well, He says. Well.

The meanings are different, and of course the way it is explained, the form of expression of the word, the way it is written – because no other word could be found in Turkish, it is written this way. But we explain them.

For the sake of testing people, Allah gives people wealth, property and children. These are the temporary blessings and amusements of the world. With the wealth and property Allah gives, people are tested, within their destiny, by what they wish.

Let me read the last words to you once more. With the wealth and property Allah gives, people are tested, within their destiny, by what they wish. Allah does not remove your own partial will from you and use His own will. With the decision you made with your own partial will, you earn good deeds and sins. There it is: with the wealth and property Allah gives, within their destiny, by what they wish. What does this "what I wish" mean? I wish for such and such a thing. Our Lord creates causes according to what you wish. Whatever you want, good or evil – that you will die without proving what kind of person you are, according to the verse (?), you prove what kind of person you are.

Allah Almighty created the causes by your wishing. And you carried them out. If Allah Almighty had manifested His own wishing upon you, outside your wishing, whatever He wanted from you – my Lord has power over everything. You made me do it. What sin do I have? There are those who say this too. (?) would not have made me do it. They blame Allah. (?) I would not have done this, would not have been made to do it.

What sin do I have, he says. Why did He bring me into the world, he says. He says these things, he says. That person does not know that long before, in the realm of lahut, in the realm of souls, he was created as a part from our Lord, and within his own will he gave his own judgment himself. His desire and wish, his intent became his destiny. Allah Almighty, who is free of any deficient attribute – so that those people do not say: my Lord, because I saw You here like myself, I could not know You as Lord in worship of You. Had You sent me to a lost world, I would have served You there as a servant.

That is why Allah, who is free of any deficient attribute, brought us into this world.

So that no one questions Allah Almighty. Allah's attribute of being Allah. So I will live my own life with the decisions I make. Otherwise, Allah Almighty did not take your will away from you and use His own will over you and drive you into a world of pleasure. Or drive the other into a world of worship. Or make one enter the religion of Islam and put another outside the religion of Islam.

All people are equal in Allah's sight. Each person's own desire and wish became his destiny. In proportion to their own desire and wish, in knowing or not knowing their Lord, people will be called to account before Allah and separated.

So this world is a place of testing. A lost world in which a person proves what kind of person he is.

What are we like?

We have many seeds in our hands. There are seeds. We don't know what these seeds are. We don't recognize the seeds. We sowed them in the soil. We looked and saw: from one came a pear, from one a lemon, from one a peach, from another an apricot, on and on. From one cabbage, from one spinach, from one lettuce, from one tomato. On and on. Then we sort them. You are (?), you are (?), you are (?), you are (?). So in terms of origin they are the same. The origin. But the nature after being sown in the soil is different. So the origin isn't the same either, Hodja. If you say, had the origin been the same the nature would be the same too – well, the origin is the same; unaware of ourselves, we will start here from zero.

Well, the natures are different; they were given to us back there, at the address Alastu bi-rabbikum. When we had our script written, destinies were given to us. That is why Allah Almighty knows what every living being that comes into the world will do until the Day of Judgment. Because He wrote their destinies. He programmed these worlds. Yes.

I hope it isn't getting confusing, is it? It is understood, I mean. The situation. The situations get separated, I mean. So we are also answering what you would ask.

So they are tested with dominion and with wealth and property, within their destiny, by what they wish. By the decisions people make within their own will.

He exalts whoever wishes. And let us say, You abase whoever wishes. Yes. In proportion to the covenant people gave Allah at Qalu bala, Allah exalts the one who gave a covenant close to His essence and beautiful. He exalts the one who gave Allah a beautiful covenant. Why does He exalt him? Because those characters were given (?) to their Lord. That person does not compromise on his Lord in the world. Because that is their character.

That person makes his world and hereafter flourish. If he did not know Allah and turned his back on Allah at Qalu bala, He abases him too, in proportion to his covenant. They are wretched both in the world and in the hereafter.

Hodja, there are such

non-Muslims whose worldly life is not wretched at all. He lives in pleasure. Shall I tell you a verse as well? Do not mind their strutting about in the world with pomp. According to the verse, their strutting about in the world with pomp is only for a short time. How can you say their world is wretched and their hereafter is wretched too? By Allah and by Allah, their world is wretched too. Here is another verse for you. Don't the verses contradict each other? They do not contradict. I will explain. Their hearts, it says, are scattered and restless. In the verse. So however much pomp they strut about with in the world, however much wealth and property they have, they are in conflict within themselves.

There is no peace in them, and their state is wretchedness. To dispel this wretched state they turn to drink, gambling, debauchery, travel. Finally, at the peak of material things, they kill themselves. They have attained everything now, life is nothing to them, and they commit suicide. Don't we see it, don't we hear it? So-and-so had so much wealth, committed suicide, did this and that.

So both their world and their hereafter are wretched. Yes.

How well we understand it, don't we? With the verses.

That's it. Not with words.

Good is only in Your hand, it says.

People turn to many beings other than Allah and expect help from them. Don't they expect it? He has abandoned Allah, the man has a mascot in his hand. And he is a so-called Muslim. A mascot. Here it is shameful to say it, but in terms of knowledge, in terms of people's situation, it is useful for me to tell it. The mascot is in the shape of a man with its private parts exposed; if he rubs it on his own private parts, it supposedly brings him fortune, brings him luck. Look at these dishonourable people.

Unbelievable.

And they have taken up this indecency, as long as it brings worldly gain. Muslims, these are Muslims. Muslim. Yes.

Whatever kind of Muslim that is.

I went over this part (?). (?) here this way would of course not be right. Normally we write it this way. People turn to many beings other than Allah and expect help from them.

They fall into shirk. Because no one other than Allah can give anyone anything. Why, Hodja? I am giving to him, aren't I? Allah's provision for him will take it from your hand. It has been decreed. Did you create it and give it to him? Look at the Creator. You look at the Creator. Taking or not taking, giving or not giving what is created belongs to those provisions. If you can give a person something, you would have to create something outside what Allah Almighty created in order to give it. And that is not possible. Creating belongs to Allah alone. Yes.

All good is from Allah. No being other than Allah is capable of anything.

Why, Hodja? I have buildings built, I have this built – am I not capable of these? Allah's creations are, for you to prove yourself within your own destiny, an amusement for you, play and amusement. There you have the play and amusement of the world. And while doing them you will prove yourself before their owner. Yes.

In this respect, Allah Almighty, who meets the needs of all the beings He created, with this verse: O people! That there is no god but Allah, that no being other than Me can benefit you, that all your doors of need are known by My essence, and from My mercy to you it is a favour of Mine. Well then, Hodja, I am in poverty. Is this a favour too? Is this a favour too? Yes. That is a favour too. Within my own destiny. Your wishing, your will and the decision you made. With decisions. Remember, the partial will was with me, remember, our Lord did not interfere in the things we would do; had He interfered, since all people are His servants, Allah Almighty would have abolished Hell, and since He is the owner of mercy, He would have admitted everyone to Paradise.

He would not have brought us into the world at all.

So everyone, within his destiny, will carry out his own actions, his deeds.

He warns: do not turn your faces to anyone other than Me.

Whoever hopes for help from anyone other than Allah,

makes vows to saints, to awliya, (?), to tombs, these fall into shirk without knowing it.

What does it say? Allah Almighty in the verse: Everything not slaughtered in Allah's name is forbidden. They are not to be eaten, it says. So if you vow a rooster to a saint, to a tomb, if you vow, say, a sacrifice, those are not to be eaten. You will vow to Allah, to Allah.

So shouldn't we visit them, Hodja? Oh, I will go. You will visit them. But visiting has its manners and etiquette. They are the sultans of the earth until the Day of Judgment. Because they have been exalted in Allah's sight. And in the world they became friends of their Lord. In that case you go. O so-and-so, son of so-and-so, O blessed one.

For me they are alive. They are souls that have gained strength. For your honour's sake too – my Lord, for the sake of those You love, grant me Your favour. Saying "for the sake of those You love", not only he but all of them are included, and again you will have asked of your Lord. You also recite a Fatiha for them, give it to their souls, and you both attain their intercession tomorrow on the Day of Judgment and earn reward.

So these are its manners and etiquette. Otherwise, saying, O, if this matter of mine works out I will slaughter a vow for you, I will slaughter a sacrifice for you – and then, well, this matter of mine worked out, I went to the saint and made a vow, now I will slaughter a sacrifice for him, he says. He slaughters a sacrifice. What happened? A sacrifice was slaughtered in the name of someone other than Allah. Neither may its meat be eaten nor does its life reach Allah. That person has fallen into shirk.

Everything has its manners and etiquette. Yes.

So whatever happens, in any case, a person will not turn his face away from Allah. He will also visit the friends of Allah. Although they have no need of people, they have been exalted in their Lord's sight. Since they are the sultans of the earth until the Day of Judgment – look, the names of the other sultans disappear. Don't they? The sultans of states, those who come and go, disappear. But theirs remain until the Day of Judgment.

If this world is a likeness and shadow of the hereafter, today when you go to a minister whom you don't know, someone says, he is my friend. Well, take me to him, you say. An intermediary. You go with someone who knows him. In the same way, since those saints, those in the tombs, are friends of their Lord, no intermediary comes between Allah and the person, but you will say, for the sake of those You love. You are still saying it to your Lord. For the sake of those You love. Since one comes to visit those He loves. I have such and such a matter, my Lord. You say, or else, by visiting those He loves, reciting a Ya-Sin for them or reciting a Fatiha, honouring them, honouring them with those verses, indicates that one will attain their intercession too in the hereafter.

Yes.

Truly You have power over all things. Allah Almighty has power over all things. Surely Allah, who knows the state of all His creatures and keeps them under His rule, has power over all things. Allah Almighty has not created any being outside His rule. Even if it were an atom, an atom, if it had come to be outside our Lord's rule and He were not aware of its state, Allah would be given attributes, and what He created would suffer. It would suffer. That is why whatever there is, from the atom to the (?), Allah Almighty has created within His own rule. So in this case too, Allah has power over all things.

Allah is the knower of all things. Lillahi Ta'ala, Al-Fatiha.