Al-Baqarah 145: And if you were to bring all miracles to the people who were given the Book, they would not turn towards your qiblah. And you will not turn to their qiblah. They will also not face each other’s qiblah. If you were to turn to their desires after the knowledge that came to you, you would be among the oppressors.

Where did our lesson leave off? Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 145.

Allah Almighty, swearing by His Self: I swear that even if you brought the People of the Book every sign as a miracle, even if you brought every sign as a miracle,

still they would not turn to your qibla. Nor will you turn to their qibla, the verse says. As we continue, let us briefly state the essence of this verse. Briefly.

Allah Almighty created our souls in the realm of Lahut. When He said to them, "I am your Lord," since they expected the Lord of their own imagination, they did not obey Allah. For this reason their own desires, wishes and aims, in the sense of disobedience, in the sense of rebelling against Allah, became their destiny. And since no one can change this destiny, however many miracles you bring them, they will still never turn. Nor will you turn to their qibla. Why? Because after I made you too, of the people of faith, worship My Self for 78,000 years, I gave you of My spirit and took from you a promise that you would not part from My Self.

And I gave you those characters accordingly. So you will never turn that way, He says. You will never turn that way. In short, this is the meaning of the verse from its essence. From its essence.

Nor do they turn to each other's qibla. Just look at the pride. The pride. The pride in those people. Christians do not turn to the Hebrews', nor Hebrews to the Christians' qibla. If, after the knowledge that has come to you, you were to turn to their desires, which is not possible, Allah Almighty saying it this way is an address to his ummah, then you would be among the wrongdoers. Don't they become so? Don't they? They do. In Malatya there are people becoming Christian in masses, in masses.

Then you would be among the wrongdoers, He says. What wrongdoer? I do no wrong. Why would I be doing wrong if I turned to Christianity? Maybe even better, I would help people with the money they give. Help as much as you like. Not even both worlds together could do the wrong you have done to your own self. Have you left the religion of Islam? You have. Then however much aid you give, as I just explained, however many good deeds you do, you cannot save yourself from eternal Hell, from the fire of Hell, says Allah Almighty.

Yes.

To those who follow the People of the Book and turn away from the Holy Quran, Allah Almighty, swearing by His Self: even if you brought every sign as a miracle, the signs, when He says that, here it is not only verses.

The splitting of the moon in two, shaqq al-qamar, that too is a sign, a miracle. The miracles that Moses showed to Pharaoh, and the Prophet's conversations with trees, with wolves, with wolves, and besides that, as many miracles as you want, He says, even if We created them, still you do not have the power to turn them to your own language, He says. Yes. Still they will not turn to your qibla. Because those who follow the People of the Book and do not follow Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Quran, out of their (?) toward Allah and the love of kufr in their hearts, are hostile to Islam. What is the love of kufr in their hearts?

The craving that the whims of the nafs give a person, lust, drink, gambling, adultery, whatever evil traits there are, of kufr, of the unbeliever, these are the loves in the hearts of those (?) the non-Muslim. The lust of the world. All their thoughts, their gods are money, and living the same traits with that money. That is the love of kufr. But the love of faith of a believer: if Allah had bestowed wealth on him, with that wealth, to serve his Lord, he would build charitable buildings, soup kitchens as the great ones did, as we do, homes that shelter the elderly, what are they called, care homes, good nursing homes, mosques, madrasas, masjids, roads, fountains, inns, baths, he would have them built.

This is the love of faith. Look now at the love of kufr, and look here at the love of faith. Yes.

Out of the love of kufr they are hostile to Islam. Why? Because of the character of Islam and, toward it, its pride, seeing it as proud. Islam is not arrogant. They see it as haughty. Let us not say pride but proud bearing, for Allah Almighty says so too. When you come to the House of Allah, He says, your chests forward, your heads up, upright, in a proud posture, He says, perform tawaf. How beautiful. He has come into Allah's presence. He wants to see His servant so beloved. So when kufr sees the people of faith so proud, a feeling of inferiority comes over it. It shrinks, it is seized by a complex.

For this reason that person becomes an enemy of Islam. Of Islam.

Allah Almighty, who created the universe from nothing, our Lord who wrote our wishes and desires for us as destiny, knowing what the people who will come until the Day of Judgment will do, swearing by His Self, says that even if you brought them every sign as a miracle, still they would not turn to your qibla. Yes.

As we mentioned in the verses we have passed, these people following their nafs, their eyes seeing nothing but the world, considering themselves right with the sins they committed, blaming Allah Almighty; just as these increase their kufr, so their inhuman lives pleasing to their nafs, disregarding their honour and dignity, living as they please and think, taking swampy paths for life, not remembering their Creator, never thinking of the One who keeps them alive and gives them sustenance, desiring kufr on these dark, swampy paths; since this pushes them into distress over fulfilling Allah's commands, they flee from Islam with all their strength and embrace the swamps of kufr their nafs desire.

Nicely written, isn't it? Yes.

Even if you showed these people every sign as a miracle, rationally, since in such a person the nafs has overcome the mind, they will never come to the path of truth, and they will never turn to the qibla of Islam. Because in terms of the nafs they resemble a rearing horse.

Or they resemble a bolting horse. You cannot hold that bolting horse. Their nafs too have bolted like that; using the thinking of reason, they can never master their nafs.

For the Noble Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him): nor will you turn to their qibla, He says. Because Allah Almighty, who created the worlds from the light of Muhammad (peace be upon him), gave him of His spirit and took him as a mirror to His Self, raised His Beloved Himself, and knowing how much His Beloved loves Allah Almighty, speaks on behalf of His Beloved: nor will you turn to their qibla, He says. How beautiful. This, Allah Almighty speaks on his behalf. On behalf of the Prophet (peace be upon him) He speaks. Is there a verse that He speaks on his behalf? If there weren't, I wouldn't write it anyway. He does not speak idly. So he always speaks what our Lord makes him speak. That is why he does not speak idly.

Allah Almighty making the light of His Beloved move on the forehead of Adam (peace be upon him), and with the coming into the world of the Noble Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him), this light ending in his person, sending him as "mâ erselnâke illâ rahmeten li'l- âlemîn", reflecting His light in the world through the Prophet to the worlds, and that character; that Allah who, willing His Self to be known through human beings, created Muhammad (peace be upon him) first, taking him as a mirror to His Self, by creating, before the worlds were created, His beloved Habib, the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon him), he is a prophet who attained the honour of Allah Almighty being known through Muhammad (peace be upon him), such a prophet.

Being known through the Prophet (peace be upon him), being known, Allah Almighty willed to be known through man. He programmed all that He created. He willed His Self to be known through man, into whose hand He gave free will. He did not program them, He did not program human beings. Human beings, according to their wishes and desires, in proportion to their aims, had themselves programmed. In this case, a person knowing his Lord through his own being elevates man. And in this case Allah Almighty gives man a part of His Self too, and by giving of His spirit human beings were created as the noblest of creation.

Now, in response to this word of mine, in response to this word of mine, those who set up Islamic websites and are poor people unaware of themselves, who put souls into trees, into animals, into birds, people living unaware of themselves, I say, close your website. Do not take on the sin. You are in no position to set up websites and answer people. If you love your Lord, if you love Allah, this fatwa, a fatwa is not like your knowing Arabic, a fatwa does not come from knowing the Quran by heart. So if with your half- baked mind you set out to give fatwas, if you set out to give meanings to verses, just as you ruin yourself, you ruin other people too, and take on their sin.

If others say to me, who are you, if the words coming out of my mouth cannot prove to you who I am, you will see that your mind too is a bare mind.

Yes. So be wise.

Yes, set up websites. I am not saying don't. Set up Islamic websites, teach the alphabet, teach children the Quran, teach children to memorize the Quran, teach, teach children Arabic, teach. But do not go and give meanings to verses, do not give fatwas, fatwas.

Once upon a time one of the sultans called a man who was a scholar of that time and said, as Shaykh al-Islam you will give fatwas. And the man said, I do not give fatwas. Whatever he did, the sultan could not make the man give fatwas. Because that scholar knew what giving a fatwa meant and, when he gave one, what responsibility it carried.

The sultan says, throw him in, and imprisons him. The scholar. And the man is old. The man goes to prison. He has a jailer watch over him. A jailer. He tells the jailer, you will check on him every day. You will report his condition to me. Do not fail in serving him, he says. The sultan. The man inside eats and eats. He lies down and rests.

The jailer says to the sultan, by God, he is content. Content with his state. Call his wife to me, he says. The scholar's wife comes before the sultan. Your husband, he says, what did he dislike, he says? My husband, she says, could never stand ignorant people. Ignorant people. The sultan has a town crier call out. He takes the most ignorant man in the land and throws him in with him.

And the man, that scholar, says, oh, at the end of my life I have found someone to pass my knowledge to, he says. For days he toils, teaches him alif. After teaching alif he moves on to ba. For days he teaches ba as well. When he goes back he sees he has forgotten alif. After much struggle the scholar shouts. Jailer, jailer, he says. Jailer. Get me out of here, I have agreed to give fatwas, he says. If scholars like this flee from giving fatwas, when you are unaware of yourself, what Islamic website will you set up and answer people's questions? You are unaware of yourself, of yourself.

Do you know what "you are unaware of yourself" means? You don't know that either, so let me explain it to you. You, a person who has not risen to the tranquil nafs, not come to know the divine manifestations, not seen the face of the Prophet (peace be upon him), will get up and set up a website, this person will give fatwas. That is how a person gives fatwas that will cost him his own head.

That is why I say, you are unaware of yourself. If you were aware of yourself, you would not make such big blunders. You are sleepwalkers. If everyone knew his duty, the religion of Islam would spread a festive air across the earth. A festival. Your duty: if you know Arabic, teach Arabic; if you know the Quran, teach the Quran script, but do not put your finger where you have no knowledge. What was it? So, of His spirit He gave. He took His Self as a mirror to His Self and willed His Self to be known through man. He created him the noblest of creation.

How do you put the spirit in him into an animal? How do you put these souls into living things in nature? If souls are immortal, where do you put these souls in the hereafter? Poor people, truly poor people. Yes. Of course such a prophet will not turn to their qibla, but will direct people to the qibla of Islam to bring them to guidance. That is, to the people who will listen to the religion of Islam, to Allah's command, the Prophet (peace be upon him) will show the qibla too. What is our Lord's command? The House of Allah. They will turn there. Nor do they turn to each other's qibla. The intent in the wording of this verse, that there is no qibla but the House of Allah in Mecca the Honoured and that the other People of the Book have no qibla, is what Allah Almighty emphasizes.

Had there been one more qibla: look, Allah Almighty showed a qibla here too, this is their qibla too, they would say, and be proved right in their words. There is only one qibla on earth. Just as inne'd-dîne inda'llâhi'l-İslâm, the religion with Allah is Islam. So with Allah there is also only one qibla. That is the House of Allah in Mecca the Honoured. There is no other qibla.

Nor do they turn to each other's qibla. Had Allah Almighty declared in His verse that the People of the Book also had a qibla, the religion they believe in would have had validity. For this reason, the religion with Allah is Islam. In one verse He says that whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, that religion will never benefit him. So they have no qibla, and the rites they perform, believing them to be religion, are a wrong against their own selves.

Yes. Which man of religion will say these things? The truth, the truth, Allah's verses. Who says this in this age?

Either he fears for his robe, or for his skullcap, or for his position, or for his circle. Then he says, I live Islam. On top of that he sets up a website. On top of that he gives fatwas. On top of that he occupies certain positions. If it were me, rather than going before Allah like that, I would prefer to sink seven layers beneath the earth.

Tomorrow, in that realm of truth, before Allah Almighty, how will he convince himself of the answer he will give?

He can't believe it himself. Then with what face will he stand before Allah? And a person does have shame.

Yes.

If, after the knowledge that has come to you, you turn to their desires, then you will be among the wrongdoers; the intent in this verse: the Noble Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him), because he was very soft-hearted and very merciful, might, by making concessions to those rebelling against Allah, want to draw them to Islam, to warm their hearts to Islam. So, O My Beloved, even if you showed them every sign as a miracle, they will never be with you unless you follow them, He says. Unless you follow them. So if, though you know they will not turn to Islam, you make concessions to them, take your place beside them, you will have wronged your own self; with this verse, in Allah Almighty's art and style of speech, this verse seems to be said to Muhammad (peace be upon him), but in fact it is addressed to his ummah.

It is Allah Almighty's language of speech. I said it before, didn't I. Yes. So, in our capacity as Muslims, those who are Muslim, who say I am a Muslim, living in a way worthy of Islam, in a way that does not impair the verse "We made Islam witness over the other nations", are obliged to live Islam. As for Islam: envying the lives and morals of those outside Islam, without remembering the day we will give account before Allah Almighty on the Day of Judgment, let us not carry on our lives. When we pass to the hereafter after completing our life in this world, let us not, on the path of not being servants to Allah, wrong our own selves by living outside Islam.

May Allah Almighty grant all of us to live Islam and to go before Allah Almighty with Him pleased with us, we said. Yes.