Al-Ma'idah 42: They always listen to lies and they always consume that which is forbidden. When they come to you, if you desire, you can judge between them or you can turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot inflict any harm on you. If you judge between them, judge with justice. Allah likes those who are just.

Forty -second verse, in Surah Al-Ma'idah, what does Allah Almighty say? They always listen to lies. Because if they have denied Allah, these people cannot judge with what is right. They believe whoever tells whatever lie. They constantly consume what is forbidden, says Allah Almighty.

Let us read the verse through and then explain it. They always listen to lies. They constantly consume what is forbidden. If they come to you, either judge between them or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in any way. They cannot. And if you judge, judge between them with justice. Allah loves those who are just, it says.

I mean, this man had spoken against me. This man had insulted me. And now you have come to me? Should I now give you the ruling according to my own nafs? No, said the Prophet, Allah forbid, always with justice; Allah loves the one who judges with justice, it says. Now a story keeps coming to my mind, let me tell you that one too, he told that story just now as well, let us repeat it here. What does it keep saying? Allah loves the just, loves those who act with justice.

And if you judge, judge between them with justice, it says, judge with justice.

To learn the religion, a boy who followed his teacher at the Quran course goes to the bathhouse one day. He washes. He has no choice but to go and wash. (?)

He has no money either. He says, the (?) uncle will surely see that I am in need. I have no money, but if I ever have some, I will pay him, he says. He washes in the bathhouse, and on his way out he says, uncle, uncle, I truly have no money. I am a student at the Quran course in such-and-such place. Sir, let it be my debt to you, he says. But the uncle kicks the boy in the backside. Don't come here like this again, he says. Get out of here, he says.

Then one day, time passes quickly.

During this time, this bathhouse keeper had no child. If I have a child, he says, I will sacrifice an animal eight spans tall, he says, a sheep. Eight spans.

He cannot find a sheep eight spans tall. They tell him, for this ruling of yours there is a hodja in such-and-such place. That hodja will give you the ruling, they say. Is that so? It is. He sets off to the hodja effendi.

He says, hodja effendi — he doesn't recognize the boy, but this is the boy he kicked in the backside. He says, hodja effendi, I had no child. If I have a child, I said, I will sacrifice an animal eight spans tall. I have searched high and low, he says. I cannot find a sacrificial animal eight spans tall, he says. What shall I do, he says. Did you have a child, he asks. Yes.

To get out of this ruling, he says, you will bring your child here. All right. You will bring the sheep here too, bring a sheep as well. All right. And you will bring me the deeds to the land registered in your name, he says. The man hesitates a little, but because he fears Allah, he says all right too.

He comes with the child, the sheep and the deeds.

What did you say, he asks. A sheep eight spans tall. With this child's span, he says, with one span of his, the sheep. Oh, it comes to fifteen, twenty spans.

He has taken the deeds too. Do you recognize me, he asks. No, he says to the hodja effendi. I did not recognize you, he says. Remember, I once came to your bathhouse, he says. You kicked me in the backside, threw me out and told me never to come here again, he says. Yes, I am that boy, he says. Now take these deeds too; these deeds are not yours now, they belong to this child, he says. And this sheep, he says, by his span it comes to maybe 15–20 spans; slaughter this sheep. That way your (?) is fulfilled too. And then what does he say? Do not treat people who come like me this way again, he says.

What a just decision he gives. He teaches people a fine lesson. Yes, yes.

So people always listen to lies, they constantly consume what is forbidden; if they come to you, either judge between them, or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in any way. They cannot. Yes. And if you judge, judge between them with justice, says Allah Almighty. With justice.

This justice is very important. Justice. You must be able to overcome your nafs. Even if it is against you, you will rule on it. Not every brave man can do this. This is how Allah commands. Even if it is against you, judge with justice. Allah loves the just, it says. Give it even if it is against you. Give the ruling. Allah will love you. Because with that ruling you broke your nafs, you feared Allah and you told the truth. Even your enemy will love you. Yes. These people, to stir up discord, all they do is listen to lies and tire themselves out with lies. Because what will people who have strayed from (?) do?

The stork's life passes in clattering, as they say; they too will just clatter. They will satisfy their own (?), they will run the world, they will talk against the course of people and states, they will resort to every kind of lie to make themselves look great, to make people take them for somebody. That is why these people, what does it say, do not do honest work; under every matter they prepare a plan and scheme. That is why it says these people use their minds to deceive people, in the ways of deception. In the ways of deception. Look at the swindlers. It has become their art. He presents himself as (?), as wealthy, does what you say, presents himself as honest, does business with you.

Sir, in the course of this business...

All right, come in, my daughter. May Allah be pleased with you. So what are these swindlers doing? They develop their minds in the direction of swindling. To swindle people, they find out where their weak points are, work on them from that side, and try to go after their rightful dues. Their whole business is always setting traps. Under every matter they prepare a plan and scheme. That is why they use their minds in the ways of deceiving people. By preparing plans through tricks, they take the lawful wealth people have earned and pass it into their own stomachs as forbidden. They cannot escape the forbidden in it.

What they eat and drink is always forbidden. The hearts of those fed on the forbidden like this are dead. Their hearts are dead. So what does Allah Almighty say in His verse? This corresponds to this verse: do not be with the dead, it says, with the dead. Who is this? The dead are not those lying in the grave, (?). People who have found no life in (?), these are the living dead, the living dead. Do not be with these dead, it says. Allah Almighty says to the Prophet: if they come to you to consult on a ruling, then to these people either give a ruling or, if you wish, turn away. He leaves it to his will.

Because Allah Almighty knows that it will not change. The reason is that these people do not come to the Prophet before they are in trouble. In their (?) they ask you for a ruling that suits their own interests. If he does not give them the ruling they want Let us state on the question board what I am to do, God willing.

Yes.

So for these people, the saying 'either decide or decide', and perhaps also in the verse: if it suits them, take it from him, it will be evidence in your hands; if it does not suit them, does not suit you, do not take it — it answers that statement of theirs. I mean, they will not listen to you anyway. They will take what suits them and not take what does not suit them. If you wish, decide about them; if you wish, (?), says Allah Almighty. Because they will not change either. Declare it for them, it says. What did it say in (?)? If they give you this, take it; if they give you that, beware of it.

Why? Because if he gives that in our favor, it will be proof in your hands, evidence, it says, on the Day of Judgment. And since Allah Almighty, as you give a just decision, just, in this case either decide about them or do not; if you give a just one, they will not follow you anyway. They will not come to you until they are in trouble. In this case, whether you give the decision or not, it is the same for them, it says.

Allah Almighty says to the Prophet: if they come to you to consult on a ruling, to these people either give a ruling or, if you wish, turn away. The reason is that these people do not come to the Prophet before harm befalls them. And in their harm they ask you for a ruling that suits their own interests. If he does not give them the ruling they want, they turn their backs and leave. That is why it is the same whether you give them a ruling or not. They will not heed you, says Allah Almighty. Yes.

In this verse Allah Almighty leaves the Prophet, in giving a decision, to his own discretion, within his own will. Because there is also a verse about him, about the Prophet, that he does not speak idly; there is that verse. In this case he has the choice, that is, even if you give the right decision, they will not act on it; even if you give a crooked one, they will not act on it. That is why it says either decide or don't — discretion. The outcome will not change now. Where the outcome does not change, Allah Almighty gives discretion.

Some scholars say that this verse was changed by verse 49 of this same surah, that is, abrogated, they say. There is no such thing. If one looks carefully at the verses, because the Prophet is ve mâ erselnâke illâ rahmeten li'l-âlemîn, in verse 49 the verse says: judge between them with what Allah has sent down and do not follow their desires, and the verse continues. For the translation of this verse, this verse should be consulted. Yes, so some say this verse, this verse was changed by verse 49. So what does it say? We gave you this instruction. Judge between them with what Allah has sent down.

Doesn't it say the same here? Judge with justice.

Judge between them with what Allah has sent down. Anyway, isn't it ve mâ erselnâke illâ rahmeten li'l-âlemîn? Either decide or don't. Sir, judge with what Allah has sent down, do not follow their desires. Do not follow their desires. I mean, if you give me this, I'll acknowledge it, I'll take it. If you don't, I won't take it. Doesn't it come to the same meaning here? That they do not lead you astray from what He sent down to you, from some of the rulings He sent down — be careful. In the verse: that they do not lead you astray in part of it — remember, they used to change the places of the words.

If they turn away from the ruling, know that by this Allah only wants to bring trouble on them for some of their sins. This is wrong too. This too is a wrongly explained verse. By such actions, it says, by such lies of theirs, they bring trouble and calamity on themselves, it says. Yes, and many of them have already gone astray, it says. Know this: there is no abrogation in the Quran. If they cannot understand the verses, they say this abrogated that, that abrogated this, by their own reasoning.

Let us repeat once more a (?) we have repeated here. A person who measures everything by his own mind is like a legless man fitted with an artificial leg, it says. If Allah Almighty says about the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he does not speak idly, and if He himself abrogates this verse with that one — abrogated, changed — then He would have spoken idly here. And Allah Almighty took that one out and put this one in. With which mind of yours do you (?) Allah, saying by your own reasoning that He changed this for that, you say. And you are making Allah speak idly.

That is why we sometimes, with some (?), from Egypt, with the hodjas there, talk. When it comes to this abrogation, they are surprised too. Can there be abrogation in the Quran, Hodja, they say. Can there be abrogation in Allah's verses, they say. But look, when they explain it in Turkey, they say this was abrogated, that was abrogated. Very easily they pass judgment about Allah. They cannot think that Allah does not speak in vain. If Allah states His decision here, if He says this here, then the verse here (?). He would take it out and throw it away there. If He tells you something better, within the same surah or in another surah, you have squeezed Allah into your own mind.

You make Him say this here and that there. Yes.

In this verse He leaves the Prophet, in giving a decision, to his own discretion. Some scholars say that this verse was changed by verse 49 of this same surah, that is, abrogated. There is no such thing. If one looks carefully at the verses, because the Prophet is ve mâ erselnâke illâ rahmeten li'l-âlemîn, in verse 49 the verse says: judge between them with what Allah has sent down. Doesn't it say the same here? If you turn away, they cannot harm you in any way. Yes, if you judge, judge between them with justice. Between them. Judge with justice. Doesn't it say it like this? You say it abrogated this.

Because it says judge between them. This one too says judge between them, as any sound-minded person sees. Yes, judge between them with what Allah has sent down and do not follow their desires, and the verse continues. For the translation of this verse, this verse should be consulted. So now compare in your mind this verse with the translation of verse 49.

If they come to you, either judge among them or turn away from them — and in verse 49: judge with what Allah has sent down, do not follow their desires. There is no difference and no abrogation between them. Doesn't Allah Almighty say in His verse: judge with justice on earth? Allah loves the just. In all the verses He commands people to give rulings with justice. Saying either judge between them or (?) is Allah Almighty's giving the Prophet discretion within his own will. Since the Prophet will not go outside the verses, and since these people do not get a ruling that suits their interests, and since they will not follow the Prophet either — so he may give a ruling, or he may not.

Here it is our Lord speaking in such a way that His own words do not contradict one another. That is, our Lord's own words will not contradict one another. So they say, when they come to you, if he decides in your favor, take it, they say. Take it. Let it be proof in your hands. If it does not suit you, leave it, it says. Keep away from that too. Now in this case, with Allah Almighty giving the Prophet, in his judging these people with justice, discretion within his own will, is there any change in the meanings of these verses? Judge between them with justice, it says. Here too: if you judge, judge between them with justice.

Yes.

If he wishes, he does not give it, it says. In this way, in this way, thus. There is an extra (?) here. Let me delete that.

Yes. So there is no difference at all between these two verses. It is not befitting Allah Almighty's majesty to take back something once He has given it to a person. Those who cannot grasp the meanings of the verses well, ascribing attributes to Allah, say this verse was changed with that one, this verse with this one, as if Allah did not know these would turn out like this. As if, according to people's actions, Allah — God forbid — saw a deficiency of His. And then changed that verse with this verse. I mean. Even people's tongues cannot bring themselves to this; I mean a person who knows himself cannot bring himself to say the verse was abrogated. O man, use your mind, lend the verses a good ear. Allah Almighty: there is a Book with Us, preserved in the Preserved Tablet, and nothing is added to it or taken from it afterwards, He says; according to that verse, this verse was changed by another verse, its ruling removed from force — why would He keep that verse preserved in the Preserved Tablet?

If its ruling has been lifted from (?), why would He keep it preserved in the Preserved Tablet? Am I not telling you? Am I not telling you that nothing is added to it afterwards nor taken from it? When we cannot tell apart the fine points in the verses, should we at once ascribe attributes to Allah Almighty? Should we never think what the (?) is between this verse and such-and-such verse? Will we never think about this? Let us ask one another and learn what we cannot understand. Let us not ascribe attributes to Allah. But learning, a person learning, weighs heavy on a person's pride. Yet ascribing attributes to Allah and pleasing his nafs is pleasing to a person. That is why it is also not possible for us to save ourselves from Allah's punishment. When we please our nafs and ascribe attributes to Allah's verses, we cannot save ourselves from Allah's punishment.

If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in any way. Because their hearts are restless and scattered. They cannot easily approach people who have unity and togetherness. They fear unity. Islam, however, commands unity and being one body. That is why the enemies of Islam, by sowing discord within Islam, drove Islam away from Islam. Then they hunt them down one by one and destroy them. Or they bring them under their rule and make them work for themselves. Today, today we see it everywhere. In Libya they killed Gaddafi. Who killed him? His own men. Why did they kill him? People who are afraid of going there and fighting place among them a mason, a man within their own will; they take that man, they shower him, they put the world at his command, with this money they put him at the head of the people, and then this person starts a revolution together with those around him, and then they kill one another. They topple that regime and, within their own will, destroy the people who would use their own state's interests, like Saddam Hussein, like the situation in Iraq, like now in Libya. They destroy (?), and then they themselves come in to take control.

O wretched people, who kill one another and are blind to the outside, who do not see the events unfolding before your eyes, who have become tools in the unbeliever's game, if a believer's life, property and honor are forbidden to another believer, which brother of yours, under this label of Islam, are you killing, and with what? However bad Gaddafi may have been, however bad Gaddafi may have been, that man — the older people know it, the newspapers write it too — drove foreign capital out. He drove the English out of his state. He nationalized the oil. Yes, he may have money abroad, money in banks.

He may have more money than a state's treasury, perhaps. But he did not let the unbeliever trample your state. The unbeliever. He did not steer you by the unbeliever. He steered you with an Islamic consciousness. I will protect my state to the end. If I die, I will be a martyr in my state, he said. And so it was. So let us not be fooled by the game, the game. Let us not kill one another. Let us embrace one another. The unbeliever is making room for himself today. Caesar says so too. Let me make a place for my foot. Look what I will do, he says. Those today who fear for the future of the world, who seek new lands, who, to make the Middle East their home, make people kill one another.

Who are they? (?) Who are they? Barbarians far removed from humanity. If you ask them, they are human. Yes. Human in form, animal in character. If you, as Muslims, as human beings, fall into their games, woe to you. Your future, your children, those children you love more than your life, will be ruined. So never fall in behind the unbeliever. Do not break our unity and togetherness. Today, in the affair called the PKK, those who stirred up the Kurdish-Turkish issue, those who want to break unity and togetherness — if they were separated today, if they were separated, first Armenia, and its immediate supporter Israel — what would they do to them, I wonder?

To realize its Greater Israel map reaching as far as Konya, to remove certain looks directed at itself, for example to make the Mavi Marmara matter go away — the people those cowards support.

Isn't it a pity? The people there too, I mean those called the PKK, they too are Muslims. Except the Armenians among them, except the non-Muslims. He kills his own brother, they destroy themselves, and against what this fine homeland, this fine state has done for them, they rise up in rebellion. Although it is not rebellion against the state and people, even if it looks so, if only they knew that they are rebelling against Allah. Against Allah. Because for a Muslim, a Muslim's property, life and honor are forbidden.

Yes.

In the Battle of Gallipoli the English load Pakistanis onto ships and bring them. They portray the Turks as unbelievers: fight against the unbelievers, they say. They are Muslims, you see, the Pakistanis. The Pakistanis realize these are Muslims and lay down their weapons. Do you know what that English unbeliever does? He gathers them, loads them onto a ship, and in the middle of the sea, the middle of the Mediterranean, sinks it. That is the kind of unbelievers they are. That Pakistani did not draw a weapon on you, calling you brother. You, within the same land, under the governance of the same state, take what the same state eats, drinks and gives you, and you are ungrateful to it and rebel. This does not befit a human being.

This does not befit a Muslim. Yes. So we as Muslims will come to our senses. We will not break our unity and togetherness. The further we move from our unity and togetherness, the more strength we lose, the more blood we lose, the weaker we become against the unbeliever, and we become unable to protect ourselves.

Yes, look how beautiful the verses are. How beautifully Allah Almighty shines a light before us.

That is why the enemies of Islam, by sowing discord within Islam, drove Islam away from Islam. Then they hunt them down one by one and (?) destroy them. Or they bring them under their rule and make them work for themselves. They have pursued these plans throughout history. Allah, pointing to this, says they can do nothing to you. Because in the time of the Messenger of Allah, in the time of the Messenger of Allah, the Companions, like one body, formed fortresses of flesh around the Prophet. O, may my mother, my father, my life be sacrificed for you, they would say. This is the unity and togetherness of Islam.

That is why the enemies of Islam were bewildered in the face of a situation they were not used to. Moreover, the master of the two worlds, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), our Lord would protect and guard him. That is why even if the worlds united, they still could not harm him. And we, as his community, if we follow in the Prophet's footsteps, our Lord is behind us; your back will never touch the ground, do not fear. But if you leave his path, then (?) seizes us by the collar.

That is why even if the worlds united, they still could not harm him. Because he came as a mercy to the worlds. Yes.

If you judge, judge between them with justice; Allah loves the just — according to this verse, as we explained above, since all people are from the Prophet's spirit, the Messenger of Allah, having discretion in his hands, among non-Muslims would not hold back from giving rulings. Yes, because for the Seal of the Prophets, the master of the two worlds, who came to the worlds as a mercy, it is not befitting a Prophet that one who brings his need to him he should turn away and not remedy his difficulties. That is not possible.

A father, however bad his children may be, that father always waits for his children to turn to good, and warns his child at every opportunity he gets. The Prophet is the most compassionate and merciful of all created beings. Seeing all people as a part of himself, like a father with his children, he would look after people. Because he is the most compassionate and merciful of created beings, so that people would not stray onto bad paths, he would entrust the truth to them and call them to salvation. That is why he is a Prophet who sacrificed his life on this path. How could a person not love such a great one, the Messenger of Allah, and not attach his heart to him?

May Allah lift the veil from our eyes and grant us to see the truth with guidance, we have said. Yes.