Al-Baqarah 142: Surely, an ignorant group among people will say “what is it that makes people turn away from the qiblah (prayer direction) they faced?” Say “the east and the west belong to Allah. Whoever desires guidance enters the right path”.

We move on to our lesson. What does it say? Some of the people are brainless. Some of the people, those brainless ones. Who?

People outside the religion of Islam. The brainless. Why are they brainless? If they had brains, Allah Almighty would not have likened them to the four-legged creatures roaming the earth. Right? Yes. 'What has turned them from the qibla they were facing?' they will say. They will say.

Say: The east and the west belong to Allah. He guides whoever wishes to the straight path. Whoever wishes. Not whomever He wills. There is a mistake here. It is not whom Allah Almighty wills. As I said earlier, partial free will is in man. He willed that His being be known through man. Therefore, without applying any pressure, any tyranny, any hardship to people, through people's own wishes and desires, their own aim, He willed that our Lord be known. That is why He put partial free will into man's hands. If it were 'whom He wills' here, it would contradict this verse. What is it? Had We wished, We would have created you as a single community.

So Allah Almighty did not wish it. Look: had We wished, We would have created you as a single community. He would have. He would have programmed us just as He created the others. So, to know which of us is better than which, He created death and (?) to know us. He created life. So Allah Almighty's willing was lifted from man. So man's own willing came about. Where was the willing of man? When He willed to be known in His being, to be known through man, His willing was to create man. He willed, He created. After creating, He has no willing over man. If Allah Almighty had willing over man — to these brainless ones I now say this.

I am asking the brainless now. Is Allah Almighty unjust? God forbid, they say. Is Allah Almighty a wrongdoer? God forbid, they say. They do say it. Well, is Allah Almighty free of imperfect attributes? Yes, they say. Well then, if it were Allah's willing, why would He create the kafir as a kafir? Why would He leave him destined for eternal Hell? Indeed, since Allah is not a wrongdoer, since Allah is not unjust, since Allah is compassionate and merciful, then why did Allah not will him?

That is what one must ask these brainless ones. So Allah Almighty has no willing over man; man has his own willing. About that man's own willing, in a verse He says: did you think you would die without proving what kind of person you are? But He gives man his own will, partial free will. Anyway, that much we now know. What is willing? Willing. He guides whoever wishes to the straight path. Whoever wishes. Isn't that so? Didn't He send us the Holy Quran? He did. Didn't He send a prophet too? He did. Had He wished, He would not have sent a prophet. Nor a book. He would have programmed us all, created us there before we came to this world, and put us into Paradise. Put us into Paradise.

So there is the matter of people, by their own will, knowing or not knowing Allah Almighty, and so Allah Almighty, in His verse: He guides whoever wishes to the straight path. Whoever wishes.

The Prophet (peace be upon him), probably for roughly 5-6 months, 5-6 months, facing Al-Masjid al-Aqsa — when he came from Mecca to Medina, he prayed facing Al-Masjid al-Aqsa.

Their praying facing Al-Masjid al-Aqsa made the Jews arrogant.

They said Muhammad has lost his qibla. They said we are showing him the way. No. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was always waiting for Allah Almighty to let him turn toward Mecca and to appoint a new qibla for him, and Allah Almighty says in His verse: My Beloved, your face — your turning it to the sky, I am aware of it, He says. That is, I know, He says. He was always waiting for something. He was waiting for a command. And so this verse comes. What does it say? Some of the people, the brainless, will say: from the qibla they were facing, what has turned them away? Say: The east and the west belong to Allah.

He guides whoever wishes to the straight path. Now, before moving on to that qibla, the House of Allah, before how our qibla came about: Allah Almighty created the world in the shape of an alif. Alif. And He made it slightly tilted. Slightly tilted. (?) perfectly round, it would turn like (?), it would turn straight. He created this universe with such knowledge, this world with such knowledge He creates, that whichever direction you face from where you are, going round the world you arrive at the House of Allah. Whichever direction you turn, from whichever side you turn, your qibla comes to the House of Allah, it turns, the qibla comes to the House of Allah.

Just like İbrahim Fakirullah's student building that tower and making the sun shine on İbrahim Fakirullah's head from its rising in the east until its setting. Later, when it shifted from its place, no one could get it to that degree again. No one can hit that degree. So Allah Almighty created the universe such that, when He says the east and the west belong to Allah, two meanings emerge here.

East and west: the places where the sun rises and sets; plus, since He calls this world the likeness and shadow of the hereafter, the Owner of the hereafter also comes to light. In one verse He says: He is the Lord of the easts and the wests. There He uses the plural.

Learn the verses well. And do not heed people's nonsense talk. Judge by the verses.

After Muhammad (peace be upon him) came from Mecca to Medina, the Muslims, for about 16 or 17 months — not 5-6 months.

Blessed Kandil to you, (?). You shouldn't call at this hour on days like these. Peace be upon you, good day.

These people won't understand even if you slap them.

What does it say? For about 16 and 17 months they prayed facing the city of Jerusalem. Toward Jerusalem. This made the Jews arrogant. Muhammad could not know his qibla, where his qibla was; we showed them the way — with such words they spread it around. And they spread it around.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed to Allah Almighty that his own qibla be given. Upon this Allah Almighty commands the Messenger of Allah, while praying, to turn toward Mecca. In Medina there is the Qiblatayn mosque. Qiblatayn. The two-directional qibla. Some time ago, not long. I was in Ordu. When the Qiblatayn mosque was mentioned, someone says: when the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned to his qibla, well, didn't the Prophet end up behind the rows, he says. Didn't he end up behind the rows? For example, say it was east: if the Prophet (peace be upon him) was facing east, when he turned he would be facing west.

Right? What happens? Then the congregation would be in front of him. But in the Qiblatayn mosque it is not like that. One is to the right, one slightly to the left. Side by side like this. The congregation is behind him anyway — you see my hand, right? The congregation is behind him anyway, like this; this hand of mine, the Prophet (peace be upon him) — take it as him. And take this hand as the congregation. When the Prophet turns like this, to this side, the congregation turns to this side too, again behind him. Yes. So Allah Almighty, at the place called the Qiblatayn mosque, while the Messenger of Allah was praying with his companions, our Lord commands him to turn to the House of Allah.

And the Prophet (peace be upon him), on the big toe of his right foot, turns to the House of Allah. Yes. Upon this, Allah Almighty commands the Messenger of Allah, while praying, to turn toward Mecca. Upon this the Messenger of Allah, on the big toe of his right foot, toward Mecca turns. Seeing this, the companions, without breaking their prayer, they too, on the big toes of their right feet, imitating the Messenger of Allah, turn toward the qibla. This event took place in the Qiblatayn mosque in Medina. Qiblatayn means the two-directional qibla.

Actually, since Allah Almighty knew before creating these worlds that these events would happen like this, binding events to causes, [He knew] in the first barzakh that people's qibla was the House of Allah; but out of mercy to people, in ages when today's technology did not exist, so that those who knew or did not know Mecca would not each set a direction by their own heads and break their unity, so that they would not face different places, He directed people to Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, which Solomon built. Because it was known, known by everyone, He made their qibla that direction.

That was the first meaning. In the second meaning: just as when Allah Almighty said 'I am your Lord', when in the address Alastu bi-Rabbikum He said 'I am your Lord', according to whether the people there believed in Him or not — with the religion of Islam that the eternal qibla would be the House of Allah; since He would direct people to the bayt, that is, the house of Allah Almighty — when the command came to those people, which of them would carry out Allah's command, and which again would not carry out Allah's command. Yes, (?). Peace be upon you. Blessed Kandil. (?) Good evening. Yes.

So, this... take this phone, will you. Take it, take this. Turn it off.

They make you forget what you were going to say. Yes. So Allah Almighty — which people would obey His command and which would not obey His command — with the last one He sent, Muhammad (peace be upon him), whether they would obey the commands of the Holy Quran and the Prophet (peace be upon him) or not, again as a test, when He said to people: come now, today, to the House of Allah turn — who will heed Allah's house, who will not? Just as those who believe in the books in my hands yet do not [accept] the Prophet's (peace be upon him) prophethood, who knowingly deny, who despite knowing do not believe in the Quran, who invent a religion by their own minds and obey it, who change the books in their own hands — these people will of course again rebel against Allah Almighty's command on earth too. In that case they will have wronged their own selves.

So Allah guides not whom He wills; We guide whoever wishes. If among them there were one who found guidance, would Allah Almighty say: you were a kafir, you did not believe in Me, I do not accept you into My presence today — would He say that? Would He say that?

How do we know He does not? In Surah Al-Waqi'ah He says: when the soul reaches the throat. The soul. Where to? According to one report, up to this thigh area. According to another, up to this (?) bone. Allah Almighty keeps the door of repentance open. He still waits for people to repent and return to Allah. When is that? When the door of repentance closes. And why did it close? Because then Allah Almighty shows you, of the Alastu bi-Rabbikum address, the worlds. He shows the worlds of the hereafter. Then you say: send me back once more. See how I will worship You, he says. Yet he is lying. Why is he lying? Who can know as Allah Almighty does?

If We sent you back not once but several times more, you would again do the same thing. Because there you did not recognize Allah Almighty, you waited for the Lord of your imagination and lived like that in the world too; when those worlds are closed to you again, your traits will not change, you will do the same things again; from now on there is no return. So, Allah Almighty, abundant in mercy, if until the moment of death, until a moment before showing you those worlds, He waits for your repentance, if that Sovereign abundant in mercy treats you this way, then other than your own will, wronging your own self, no one has done you any harm.

Who is harming whom? A person harms his own self himself. Himself. And here is a verse for you. What you earn is the return of your own two hands, it says. Yes.

Then, with Muhammad (peace be upon him), people turning to the House of Allah as their qibla was commanded.

We say the qibla of people. Note, we do not say the qibla of Muslims. It is the qibla of people. Those who accept and those who do not become people who (?) their own selves or who reform their own selves. In fact, it is established by events that the qibla is the site of today's House of Allah. When Adam came from Paradise to the world, he met our mother Eve at Arafat. When together they came to the site of today's House of Allah, our father Adam wanted to worship Allah Almighty and said: O Lord of the worlds, when I was in Paradise, around that pillar of light I circled and worshipped You — that pillar of light, for worship, send it to me, my Allah, he says.

And Allah Almighty accepts Adam's prayer. Actually He programmed everything in a program; by having Adam ask for this, He actually signals to us that the qibla, all the way to the Day of Judgment, within Allah Almighty's program, will be there. But as I said earlier, (?), and so that Allah Almighty could test people on earth — Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, which Solomon built, had the jinn build — with the Torah He sent there, the Psalms or the Gospel, He says: this is your qibla. Go on, turn here. Whoever turned there obeyed Allah. Allah. Then, now, He says, I have gathered your books in the Quran; I will send neither another prophet nor another book.

Now your qibla is the House of Allah, He says, to all people. (?) have come into play, haven't they; until the Day of Judgment Allah will keep His religion firm, until the Day of Judgment. Do they think, He says, they can extinguish Allah's religion by blowing with their mouths? Allah will keep His religion alive until the Day of Judgment, He says. So now, until the Day of Judgment, so that the call of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is exalted and his religion remains until the Day of Judgment, here, He says to all people, your qibla is the House of Allah. Whoever wishes accepts it, whoever wishes does not.

There is no compulsion. In the end every soul will taste death. Ultimately your return is to Me, He says. So people who make their own decisions climb the gallows and pull their own rope. No one can do to a person what he does to himself. So a person should use his mind and keep obeying Allah. Because there is no god but Allah, and since our return is to Allah, since in this world we are travelers, since we are guests in this world, surely our journey to the hereafter, our true homeland, will begin. Just as when we go somewhere and our time there is up, we come back home; or we go on leave, a month, fifteen days, twenty days, whatever, and when it is over we come back and start work again.

Likewise we are on leave in the world until the end of our life. That is, we are people trying to prove ourselves within our will. In the end, is the leave over? That means the decree of Allah has (?). The work is done. The real questioning will begin there, after this. The wise one thinks of his hereafter, looking ahead, and conducts his affairs in the world accordingly. The wise one. Who are the foolish? The foolish, even if all the intelligence in the world were theirs, who bankrupt their hereafter and load the burden of the world on their backs — those porters are the foolish. So shouldn't we work, Hodja?

No, you will work. You will work hard, you will build up the world, your ability — by Allah Almighty creating you as a human — your ability you will prove. And never forgetting the One who created you, you will praise and glorify Him.

Yes.

Then the pillar of light disappears after a certain time. When does it disappear? In the time of Seth. In the time of Seth. It remains until the time of Seth. In the time of Seth, Seth sees that in place of the pillar of light a black stone stands. Seth (peace be upon him) knew what the surroundings of the House of Allah were like. That is, how big, how many meters, how many centimeters, how high. He builds the same thing out of wood. And that black stone, the stone we call Hajar al-Aswad, he places there. Seth builds a four-walled building, the same size as the pillar of light. With Noah's flood it stays under the sand for a long time.

Then Allah Almighty has Abraham find the House of Allah. In Abraham's time the House of Allah is built up in its present form. When I say built up in its present form, I mean it is brought out in its present form, cleared of the sand. But later, of course, it is continually renovated. It is repaired as it wears. Just as every year its satin, the covering on it, is changed, over time, when it wears out, of course it is repaired. In fact, in past years the House of Allah was repaired from the inside. They brought me some of the stones that came out of the House of Allah. I have them. So it is an event programmed beforehand.

Some of the people, the brainless, will say: what has turned them from the qibla they were facing? Accordingly He says: the east and the west belong to Allah. Allah Almighty commands people first to search for the qibla for worship. As I explained earlier, people will first search for the qibla. That is this verse. When you cannot estimate the qibla, when you cannot know it, search. Then, by your judgment, He says, wherever the qibla is, that is Allah's qibla, He says. Your direction — the east and the west belong to Allah. That is your qibla. One day I was going to Samsun, from Ankara I set out, and on the road I searched.

I turned to the qibla where I judged it to be. Apparently I had turned a bit to the right. Two men came. Hahahaha! They are laughing. Look now, look at the ignorance, the ignorance. Two men laughing, ha ha ha. He's got the qibla wrong, look where he's turning for the qibla, he says. In the car (?), clearly strangers, a 34 licence plate. These are ignorance itself. After praying, I said: gentlemen, you are truly utterly ignorant, I said. I am a traveler, I searched for my qibla. By my judgment. Look what Allah Almighty says in His verse. First search, then every direction is Allah's direction. Turn there as the qibla, He says.

If you knew the verses, if you knew the religion of Islam, you would have said to me exactly this: Sir, the qibla is a bit to your left, turn a bit left, turn a bit more, turn a bit more. Okay, now the qibla is here, you would say, and I, on the big toe of my right foot, would have fulfilled the noble Sunnah. Just like in that Qiblatayn mosque, on the big toe of my right foot, you would have turned me to the qibla. And, ignorant people, I said, tell those who come after this way too, I said. Yes.

So we had something to teach them too. Allah Almighty directed us that way, and we taught them.

Allah Almighty commands people first to search for the qibla for worship. If people cannot find the qibla and are in doubt, it is the direction their minds and hearts, they themselves, determine as the qibla. Once they are convinced, they are to stand for worship, to stand facing the qibla in Allah's presence. Because all directions belong to Allah. The east and the west belong to Allah. A group of people, the brainless, leaving the qibla Allah directed them to, who are they? Though Allah Almighty says 'turn to the House of Allah', and within the religion of Islam, until the Day of Judgment, through the Holy Quran that will maintain His religion's rule, has made His command known, you go against His command and do not turn. Those brainless ones, leaving the qibla Allah directed, turned to the place they themselves chose.

Their saying so is nothing other than these people satisfying their own selfish feelings, nothing else. Allah Almighty is abundant in mercy. His pardon and forgiveness are great. Every person who wishes, if he goes on the path Allah Almighty showed and submits to Allah, Allah forgives the sins committed in the time of ignorance. There is no created being who will pardon or forgive sins, or forgive mistakes, as Allah does. What does the Prophet (peace be upon him) say? Even if your sins reached the clouds in the sky, when you, with a (?) heart, repent: My Allah, I lived through a time of ignorance.

I did not know. From now on I will never leave Your path. As far as my mind reaches, I will not compromise Your religion. My Lord, forgive me my past sins — when you say this, Allah Almighty turns those sins of yours that He calls hasana, that He calls sayyi'a, into good deeds. Such a Sovereign, abundant in forgiveness. Here is a verse about this for you. Do not mock any people. That is, do not ridicule. It may be that that people is better than you, it says. That is, look, this person is into drink, gambling, or here and there. Do not mock him, it says. You may see him repent and come to a higher state than you.

Like Bishr al-Hafi. He never left drink, they say. He drank morning and evening. In the end he repents and seeks forgiveness. He attains tayy al-makan. In Baghdad, for his sake, animals would not foul the roads. When Bishr al-Hafi died, they saw animal droppings on the roads. Alas, they said, Bishr al-Hafi has died. Because Bishr al-Hafi (?) barefoot. Yes. We give examples from people here, to show that Allah Almighty's pardon and forgiveness are abundant, that we have no other door to go to but His, and (?) all people, all living beings, with death, that our return is to Allah — our Lord tells us so.

He grants His mercy to those who turn to Him. Every person who wishes, every person, whatever state he is in, with a sincere repentance says to Allah: O my Lord, I regret what I did. Now I have seen the truth. Not to leave Your path, to advance on the straight path, I have (?). Forgive me my sins — if he says this, there is no god other than Allah for this person to turn to instead — and would Allah then not forgive him? Since there is no other door to go to, it is not befitting of Allah Almighty not to forgive him. May Allah grant guidance to us all. Yes.