Al-Baqarah 161: However, for those who have denied and have died as infidels, the curse of Allah, the angels and people is upon them.

Verse 161 — what do we say? Allah Almighty makes Himself openly known; let us read the verse. As for those who disbelieved and died as disbelievers, upon them is the curse of Allah, of the angels and of people, it says.

The meaning here, as I said earlier, the verses always confirm and support each other. None of them contradicts another. The people from whom Allah Almighty removes His attribute of mercy, His attribute of mercy in the hereafter — those people are cursed by Allah, by Allah's friends and by the angels too. Because they too no longer turn to them. They give them neither intercession nor any help. So upon them is the curse of Allah, of the angels and of people. Allah Almighty makes Himself openly known, and being so vast and full of mercy, even though He forgives the sins arising from every kind of error and rebellion.

Yes.

Isn't that so? Even though He forgives.

Man still follows Satan's footsteps. He makes no concession from the grandeur of his nafs, he spends his life in pride and arrogance, and if he never turns his face to Allah, if they have denied Allah's verses, hidden them, prevented others from learning them, that is, become a three-legged taghut, and died in this state, then these have been unjust to their own selves and passed on to the hereafter as disbelievers. Upon such people Allah, Allah's friends and the angels lay a curse, He says. As I said earlier, the meaning of the curse here: neither in this world nor in the hereafter will Allah's friends be of help to them.

Such people, out of arrogance and pride, are captives to what their nafs enjoys. Man was created as the most honorable of the created beings.

Man's capability is provided by the spirit within him. People were also given emotions.

If people use these opportunities for good, those people are good. Otherwise, if they misuse them, they are bad people. If a person cannot develop his emotions with the light of faith, then, as the opposite of this, carnal feelings develop in that person.

So what does the Prophet (peace be upon him) say? If the worship you perform does not keep you from evil, it is a burden on you — if he says so, then if we cannot cleanse the evils in our nafs with the worship we perform, worship has not benefited us. Since man will surely occupy himself with something, since he will believe in something, if he cannot remove the evils in his nafs and find the truth, then instead, traits that commit kufr settle in his heart. That's why what does Allah Almighty say?

We put Our light in the hearts of those We love. What is this light? Removing the bad traits in one's heart through worship. Now let us put it this way.

Olive oil, or oils, are light compared to water, lighter. Let us take these oils as the evils in our nafs. The evils in our nafs. As we worship — imagine a bucket. In the bucket there are, say, two, three liters of oil. A ten-liter bucket. Three liters of oil in it. We began filling in water. Into the bucket. Let this water be our acts of worship. Our acts of worship. As you fill in water, unless it's a bucket with a hole in the bottom, as you fill in water, the oil rises above the water. As you fill more, the oil rises above the water. In the end, when we have put those 8-9 liters of water in it, the oil on top overflows out of the vessel.

So acts of worship polish the light of faith in the human heart and thus remove the evils of his nafs. If, however, they put into that bucket not oil but mercury — that is mercury, and this is water. However much water you put on top of it, that mercury won't rise above the water and overflow. The water you put in overflows from the bucket. That is, it did not benefit you. Acts of worship did not benefit you. The evils in your nafs are still there. Yes.

So that person's carnal feelings are like a raging flood, it says. What is it? In place of that light, as its opposite, carnal feelings develop in that person; that person's carnal feelings are like a raging flood. However much reason is a judge over people, even a judge, even if he remembers Allah, the Glorious and Holy, since there is no light of faith, his nafs overcomes his reason, he cannot say stop to his nafs. Though a person knows crooked from straight with his reason, from the grandeur of his nafs and that raging nafs he cannot save himself. Through the forbidden things and unjust gains he took by devoting his being to the world, gloom and dark winds live in that person's heart.

So this person has fallen into unrest. In these there is no peace.

So peace is in Islam. With your worship, with the good deeds you have done, since you fulfilled our Lord's command, your conscience is at ease. You coveted no one's right. You cheated no one. You wronged no one. So you are at peace. But these people who worship and get no benefit from it, since they live carnal feelings, without regard for lawful or unlawful, without heeding people's rights, they steal and grab for their own interests and try to keep their own life going. Ask them. Is there peace? Never. Why? As his evil deeds come to mind, he feels like going mad. So the light of faith and behavior like this cannot stand together.

These are the people who fall into depression. And the depression of the unbelievers is from this; with no light of faith, he gives himself entirely to drink, gambling, adultery, the filth of every vice, and does not refrain from any charlatanry to get the world. These too: fame, glory, pride, arrogance, grandeur at their extreme, love of the world, of living, at its extreme; as our Lord says in the verse, even if they had a thousand years of life, they would want to live it. They don't want to leave the world. So, in order to live the world, these in no way protect even their own chastity. They have no notion of honor, no notion of family.

That's why we see it. He sent his wife to the summer house. To the summer house. One of our students asks him. You sent your wife. Well, what if someone else sleeps with the woman there? Could be, he says. She has needs too, he says.

People of this mentality can have no notion of family and no honor, no chastity, no dignity. So how beautifully Allah Almighty awakens us with His verses. How beautiful. However much man is a created being — all that are created are created beings —

(?) is Allah Almighty. People misunderstand this. (?) Allah Almighty shows as (?). (?) in proportion to His will. So the one who creates in proportion to His will is Allah, (?). Who creates in proportion to His will. And created beings are those created, other than Allah. But among created beings, he is the noblest of creatures. This attribute of noblest of creatures is due to the partial spirit our Lord gave to man. That's why people are not animals. They are not animals. But who are the animals?

To those who are human in form and animal in character, Allah Almighty says this: They are like four-legged beasts roaming the earth, He says. Yes, so these people, those living outside the religion of Islam, let gloomy and dark winds blow in their hearts. So this person has fallen into unrest. If we cite a verse here: the hearts of the disbelievers are restless and scattered, our Lord declares. To be able to remove this unrest and escape it and live for a moment, as I said earlier, by running after vices like drink, gambling and adultery they drag themselves further to ruin with each passing day.

With the aim of forgetting their unrest for a moment, they resort to such filthy paths, swampy paths. Upon those who die in this state, Allah, the angels and people lay a curse, He says. So we say to people of sound reason. What do we say to people of sound reason?

Think well, use your reason, we say. Ender, our son, asks a question. Hodja, how do we know whether the hole in the bucket is small or big? Can we know? If the hole is small and it's possible to speed up the flow of water, can it be made to overflow without plugging the hole? It can be made to overflow. It can be made to overflow. After that, after that, since the water coming in is more and what leaves through the hole is less, your bucket stays full. What is this? Until a person dies, the nafs struggles with him. The nafs. No one, even a friend of Allah, even a prophet, can kill his nafs. Because the nafs — for man to bring out what kind of being he is, struggling with his nafs is a must.

Otherwise man turns into a vegetable. If he kills the nafs, he becomes a vegetable. If the nafs had died, it would not have been said to the Prophet (peace be upon him) either, I have forgiven your future sins too. So in the Prophet the hole has become so small, perhaps in that bucket a hole like the eye of a needle, so small it can't be seen. And the good overflows to the worlds. What is it? In that bucket a hole even finer, invisible, the size of a needle's eye, and since the good deeds done overflow the bucket all the more, he becomes a mercy to the worlds.

So as good deeds increase, the hole shrinks. The hole shrinks. Because what makes the hole shrink? If the states of one's nafs are bad, the hole opens. As you restrain your nafs and throw out those evils in you, the hole shrinks. The good begins to increase. With the worship you do, or as long as you master your nafs, the hole shrinks, worship increases, and again you have thrown out the evils in your nafs. That is, if you have gossip in you, you don't do it; if backbiting, you don't do it; if lying, you don't do it; if cheating this one and that, you don't do it; you don't (?) alcohol; if gambling, you don't do it. What happened? As the evils go, the hole shrinks, the hole.

Character grows strong, character. The strengthening of these characters brings out in a person's heart, toward his Lord, feelings of compassion, feelings of love and affection. So as long as you abstain from evils, that hole in the bucket shrinks. Your acts of worship increase. And because you remove these evils from your heart, your characters join with the good ones and grow strong. Yes, Ender.