Al-Baqarah 177: Good deeds are not to direct your faces towards the east and west. But good deeds (and worship) are to believe in Allah, in the hereafter, in the angels, in the Books that Allah has sent down and in the Prophets; it is to spend (for the sake of Allah) of the possessions that you love to those who are close (relatives), orphans, those who are needy, those who are stranded, those who beg and to slaves; it is to establish the prayer, to give zakah (obligatory alms), to fulfill an agreement and to be patient during times of calamity, sickness and war. The ones carrying these characters are the loyal ones and they are the muttaqi.

We had stopped at Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 177. What does Allah Almighty say? Turning your faces toward the east and the west is not goodness and obedience. Turn your face east and west as much as you like. I mean, the meaning of east and west here: Allah Almighty says this. First search for the qibla. If you cannot find the qibla, every direction belongs to Allah, it says. Every direction. In that case east and west are Allah Almighty's. In one verse it even says Allah is the Lord of the easts and the wests. Those with short reason say this about it; a person should not say something he doesn't know.

In winter the sun rises at such a place and sets at such a place, and in summer it rises nearer, rises later and sets. Since these easts change place, the easts and the wests, that is, with the sun changing place, whatever happens, Allah's; but it is not so. If the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, within the earth's axis it is east, it is west. 1-2 degrees to the left, 1-2 degrees, or 3-5 degrees to the right, 3-5 degrees to the left doesn't affect it. When He says Lord of the easts and wests, it means Lord both of this Hereafter, that is, of the world, and of the Hereafter. The world and the Hereafter. This realm and the hidden realm, the realm of the Hereafter, their Lord, of both realms.

So if a thousand years of this realm are like one day of the realm of the Hereafter, then there are day and night there too. That is, if this realm is the (?) and shadow of the Hereafter. In that case, when He says Lord of the easts and the wests, Allah Almighty is Lord both of this realm and of the realm of the Hereafter. So turning our faces east or west is not worship. Turn your face east and west as much as you like. Many turn to many easts and wests. Who? Non-Muslims who are outside Islam. Sir, they too have their own directions they turn to, qiblas according to their own minds. In this case Allah Almighty means these.

There is no goodness in your turning your face east and west, it says. Then where is goodness? Goodness rather, goodness and worship are the worship of those who believe in Allah, in the Hereafter, in the angels, in the books Allah sent down and in the prophets, it says. How beautifully it says it. So here Allah Almighty defines the religion of Islam. Of the religion of Islam. After the word of testimony there are the conditions of faith, right. Âmentü billâhi ve melâiketihî ve kütübihî ve rusülihî ve'l-yevmi'l-âhiri. Ve bi'l-kaderi hayrihî ve şerrihî minallâhi teâlâ. Ve'l-ba'sü ba'de'l-mevti hakkun.

Eşhedü en lâ ilâhe illallah. There is no god but Allah. Ve eşhedü enne Muhammeden abdühû ve resûlüh. It is the worship of the one who says Muhammad is His servant and messenger, and in this way turns his face east or west. Worship. Yes. Goodness is there, then. What is it? Goodness. It is the worship of those who believe in Allah, in the Hereafter, in the angels, in the books Allah sent down and in the prophets. Seeking Allah's pleasure, to relatives, to orphans, to the poor, to travelers in need, to those who ask, and to slaves, he spends of the wealth he loves, he prays, gives zakat, and when he makes an agreement keeps his word.

It is the goodness of those who are patient in times of hardship, illness and war.

So those who bear these qualities are the truthful who follow the Truth. And these are the God-fearing. How beautifully Allah Almighty lists them in the verse.

People turning their faces east and west does not mean it is their worship. Many people, with the intention of worshipping, their faces turn to many directions. Within their own ideologies outside Islam, there are those who make up a religion, say I am a member of that religion, and turn their faces to easts and wests, there are those who turn them. Yet what does Allah Almighty say? İnne'd-dîne indallâhi'l-İslâm. In My sight the religion is Islam. If the religion is Islam, if the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel are in the Quran, if they are in the Quran together with their originals,

if you deliberately deny one verse of the Quran, you become an unbeliever. In this case, if you believe in the books in their hands, that is, books written by human arrangement, and turn your back on the Quran that Allah sent as guidance to all the worlds, then whichever way you turn your face, there is no goodness in your worship.

So, as He listed above, in Allah Almighty's angels, first in Allah, in His angels, His prophets, His books, the Hereafter, you must believe.

Many people, with the intention of worshipping, turn their faces to many directions. In the universe there is a single qibla, and that is the House of Allah. A single qibla. Before the House of Allah it was Masjid al-Aqsa; turn there, Allah Almighty was saying. Turn. Then, to distinguish between them, didn't Allah Almighty know beforehand that His House, the House of Allah, was in Mecca the Honored? He knew. But with the last one He would send, the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon him), so that they could be distinguished, that is, those who obey and those who don't could be separated, Allah Almighty later says, turn to the House of Allah.

And, as we told, in Medina the Radiant, in the Masjid al-Qiblatayn, Allah Almighty's (?) the Prophet (peace be upon him) by revelation, and the Messenger of Allah turning to the House of Allah while in prayer.

So on the earth, now with the Quran, for the people of the whole world, as a constitution, He sent down the ruling of the verses of the Quran. With the verses of the Quran Allah Almighty sent down His ruling to all people.

Between the verses of the Quran, that is, the sharia rulings of the Quran, and the states' laws there is a single difference. Apart from that there is no difference. If you go against a state's laws, they catch you at once and throw you into (?). Allah Almighty, for the mistakes or rebellions you will commit throughout your life, waits patiently, and at the end of your life He catches you. Whereas the state's laws catch you within your lifetime for the mistake you made. If you die, you're gone. The injustice you did stays with you. Whereas Allah Almighty does the exact opposite. What does He do? Within your life, do what you will, but in the end, with the verse every soul shall taste death and your return is to Me, He will catch you then.

There is a single (?) difference. Yes. So although Allah Almighty sent the Quran to all the people of the world as a leader and guide, as a light held before them so they may attain peace, despite this, people turning east and west, turning their faces, is not their worship. So there is a single qibla to turn to for worship. That is the House of Allah Almighty in Mecca the Honored. It is the House of Allah. Symbolically, His House. Apart from that, with their turning to (?) directions, what are we saying? Apart from that, their turning to (?) directions does not mean they are worshipping. Well, we Muslims, unknowingly, thinking we are turning to the qibla, turn west too, turn north too, turn south too, we turn, I mean, we turn east too. Then deeds depend on intention.

What does Allah Almighty say? First search, search. If you couldn't find it, turn to a side your reason judges best, it says. All directions belong to Allah, it says. Deeds depend on intention, so that gets him off the hook. Whichever side he turns to, let him turn. Yes. But the other one, whichever side he turns to, if he is outside the religion of Islam, his goodness is not goodness.

The meaning in this verse: Allah Almighty, that the good deeds and obedience, the worship done by those other than Islam have no validity in His sight, (?) to clearly emphasize, we said. If a person does good, isn't his good recorded? It will be recorded. What does Allah Almighty say? Fe men ya'mel miskâle zerratin hayran yerah. Whether unbeliever, idolater, Magian, religious or irreligious, whoever they may be, the atom's weight of good and the atom's weight of evil they did will be recorded. This is not exclusive only to Islam, or to unbelievers, or to those who hold ideologies outside Islam.

To all people. The verse speaks to all people. Why then is their worship not accepted? In the sight of Allah Almighty, a person who lives outside the religion of Islam and passes into the Hereafter that way, as we always say, even if he had rewards as big as this world, even more than this world, maybe many times more, since he would never turn to Allah, with that thinking, with those characters, the rewards they did are wiped out in Allah's sight, he becomes destined for Hell forever. That is, the fine deeds they did all go to waste. That is what Allah Almighty says in the verse. All the fine deeds they did have gone to waste.

So their fine deeds will be recorded too, but if he departed denying Allah, His prophet and the Quran, that is, if he departed as an unbeliever, or departed holding any ideology outside the religion of Islam, the fine deeds they did have all gone to waste. In this verse, definitively, that their worship, their good and fine deeds are not accepted; whatever way other than the qibla of Islam they turn their faces, their good and fine deeds, their obedience and worship will never be of any benefit to them, it makes known. In the verse, turning your faces toward the east and the west is not goodness and obedience, says Allah Almighty.

Then where are goodness and worship? Goodness and worship. Why did Allah Almighty create man? He created him so that His Essence would be known. He created man so that His Essence would be known. Well then, so many angels; before creating man, first He created the angels and the jinn; wasn't He known through them? Allah Almighty was not known. Why was He not known? He programmed all His creatures Himself. Within that program He made His Essence known. But He would create such a being that He would give it of His own spirit. And the owner of that spirit, the owner of that partial spirit, would use his own will and decide by himself.

With the decision he made he would know his Lord.

And here lies the secret of the whole matter.

In this case, man's own decision to know his Lord, to obey Allah and recognize his Owner. So then, goodness, what is it? That person, within his own being, knowing the One who created him. Not the one who denies Him, who waits for the Lord of his imagination and, as if taking revenge on Allah, becomes an enemy of the followers of Islam; those who think they will extinguish the religion of Islam by blowing with their mouths: not their fate, not the deeds they do.

In Allah, the Hereafter, the angels, the books Allah sent down and the prophets, it is the worship of those who believe. That is, the worship of Muslims, of those who submit to Allah, who recognize their Owner, who say, You are my Lord. People who know that there is no god but Allah, and who set nothing equal to Him and associate nothing with Him, people who know Allah has no wife or child and know Allah accordingly. Their worship, their good deeds are good. Directly, by fulfilling the conditions of faith of Islam, that the obedience and worship of such people will be accepted in His sight, and that the obedience and worship, the good and fine deeds of people other than these are not accepted in Allah's sight, it clearly makes known. Also, seeking Allah's pleasure, help to relatives, to kinsfolk, mother, father, siblings, aunts and uncles, etc., the help one gives to one's close relatives is also a good deed.

What does Allah Almighty say? Keep the ties of kinship. That is, never cut your ties with your relatives.

So when doing good, what do we do? First we start with those closest to us. We start doing good with those closest to us. Let's say I am going to give zakat. My older sister is in need. While this is the case, I don't go and give it to my neighbor because he is in need too. What does it say? In the verse, first to your closest. If everyone starts like this, first with their closest, and if, sir, there is no one close to them to be helped, then by starting this time with his closest neighbor and giving help, Allah Almighty, in the religion of Islam, raises the level of social life. Yes.

Then to orphans: help given to orphans in need whose father or mother has died is also a good deed in Allah's sight. These are great good deeds. These are great good deeds. Because an orphan's heart is sorrowful. Sir, those children need someone to trust and take refuge in, a branch to hold on to. Children grow up with love. Sir, let's say they haven't even come of age yet. Sir, they need to be educated. They need to be looked after. Whoever looks after these orphans and educates them, the good deeds they do are, compared to other acts of worship, even more acceptable in Allah's sight. It says so right here anyway.

This is the good deed, it says. Helping orphans, the poor, travelers in need.

These are good deeds in Allah's sight. Winning the hearts of these orphans and the poor means winning Allah's pleasure. Isn't our worship and obedience for winning Allah's pleasure anyway? In this respect, watching over and protecting orphans and the poor, people's place in Allah's sight it elevates. Then to the poor: helping the needy who cannot provide their household's sustenance. Just as Allah Almighty gave wealth to the well-off, couldn't He have given to the poor too? He could. Allah Almighty has many unknown doors. If He wills, at any moment He gives whom He wills what He wills. This is Allah, the Owner of the worlds.

You can never understand where it comes from. So since we came to the world for a test, since in this test by the actual deeds we do we will prove what kind of person we are, so that we can pass this test in the best way: from the blessings and provisions Allah Almighty has given to individuals, helping one's brother in religion, feeding him, giving him drink and watching over him, that is, for Allah, the greatest worship those people perform. They are good deeds.

Wealth and property, the sovereignty of the entire universe belongs to Allah. Of course He could also give these poor the wealth and property He gave the rich. So Allah Almighty, who tests us through one another: the well-off people, with their good deeds, giving from their wealth to poor people, is in fact these people giving their wealth not to poor people but to Allah Himself. So in this case, if only they could imagine the place of such people in Allah's sight. Oh Hodja, what kind of talk is this? Now, by giving to a person am I giving to Allah? Yes; because you carry out Allah Almighty's command, because you want to win your Lord's pleasure, you are giving not to that poor person, but to Allah Himself.

To Allah Himself, because you carry out His command. And the poor person is not taking from you. Look, from whom does he take? He takes from Allah. If you think, I gave to the poor and the poor took from me, and you-and-me enters into it, don't expect any good from those good deeds. The desires of the nafs, pride, arrogance and fame, superiority over people: a person's good deeds, just like straw given to the wind, fly away. That is why when a person looks after that poor person: my Lord, this is Your command, this is Your servant, this is my brother. I am giving not to him but to You, he says, and gives to that poor person.

He doesn't even look back. He doesn't even remember that he gave to him. And the poor person says: if you didn't know your Lord, if my Lord hadn't protected me, would you have given me this? he says. My Lord, praise and glory be to You, thanks be to You, he says. You watched over me, he too says. What happened? Both the giver and the receiver received from their Lord. That is what mutual help in Islam is like. In Islam there is no class difference between the poor, the needy and the rich. Class difference exists only among the wretched who don't know themselves. Allah Almighty did not create people with class differences.

He created them all equal. Their difference is in whether or not they know their Lord. Their ranks in Allah's sight. Yes, then to travelers in need; there are such people who are well-off, but during a journey dropped their money and at that moment are helpless. If only we could imagine that person's joy at a friendly hand reaching out to him at that moment, or the man is poor, has no money to go to his hometown, no food, no bread, no place to sleep. Again, if only we could grasp that person's joy at a friendly hand reaching out to him. These are acts of worship accepted in Allah's sight. So whoever gladdens Allah's servants like this, Allah on the Day of Judgment, Allah too will gladden them on the Day of Judgment.

Whoever gladdens them. What does it say? Whoever finishes a task for one of My servants in the world, I too will finish his task in the Hereafter, it says. Allah Almighty values that person this much. What does it say now in a verse: Whoever feeds an orphan, a poor person and a captive for Allah's sake, in the next world I Myself will meet him with a smiling face, He says. How beautiful. Allahu akbar. What a great compliment. May Allah grant all of us to attain these states.

They tell the way this verse was revealed like this. Hasan and Husayn fell ill. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and our mother Fatima said, if our son recovers, we will fast one day for Allah's sake. Thereupon Hasan and Husayn recover. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and our mother Fatima fast. That day a few grains of wheat come into his hands. He sends them home. Our mother Fatima pounds them and makes bread. They will eat it in the evening. Right at the time of iftar the door opens. They have sat down at the table. They are about to eat. And the meal is one loaf of bread. Nothing else.

There's a knock at the door. Who is it? he says. I am an orphan. I am hungry. Give me something, he says. An orphan. Hungry. What do they do? They say, we have been hungry for one day. Who knows how many days this one has been hungry. This is an orphan. Let's give him our bread, they say. Fine, they fill the orphan's stomach. They themselves, fasting, break their fast with water. There is nothing at all for them to eat. The next day they continue fasting.

A few dates come into his hands. In the evening, dates that won't fill two people but will fully fill one. They will break their fast with those. Again, right at the time of breaking the fast, there's a knock at the door. Who is it? says Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). I am a miskin, that is, I am poor, he says. I have been hungry for days, he says. For Allah's sake give me something so I can eat, he says. At once they give him that too. Sir, we can endure without food. He can't endure it, he says. The miskin has been hungry for how many days. Sir, afterwards they again break their fast with water.

They continue fasting. On the third day, just as they are about to break their fast, they have sent some barley. Again it won't fill two people but will fully fill one. They made bread. Our mother Fatima made bread.

There's a knock at the door. Right at iftar time. Fatima and Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) look at each other. Thinking, this is a test for us from our Lord. The same thing passes through both their hearts. And if the one who has come is truly in need, let's give him this too, they say. In their hearts. These pass through. Again Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) says, who is it? I am a captive, he says. I have been hungry for days, he says. For Allah's sake give me something so I can eat, he says. He gives him that barley bread too. Again they break their fast with water. On the fourth day, at the afternoon prayer, the Prophet (peace be upon him) is praying, with Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) behind him, and this verse comes.

Ve yut'imûne't-ta'âme alâ hubbihî miskînen ve yetîmen ve esîrâ. Whoever, for Allah, it says, feeds the orphan, the poor and the captive, in the next world I Myself will meet him with a smiling face, He says. Yes.

That is why to these poor and needy, as much as we can, we must reach out our hand. Then to those who ask: you can't know what state people are in. If a person asks you for something, if you are able, give him what he asks. Deeds depend on intention. Even if the person you help is wealthy. If Allah, the Lord of Majesty, the Most Holy, says give to those who ask too, then you give. To those who ask. Let us not say, no, he is wealthy, no, sir, let him work, his hands and feet work, and make up all kinds of excuses, follow Satan's footsteps, and fall short of the good deeds we would do. Such good deeds are the provisions of the realm of the Hereafter.

It is winning Allah Almighty's pleasure; so to win that pleasure we must do our best. So that we will have sent something ahead of us for ourselves to the realm of the Hereafter. Today we look at people: yes, look at that man, his hands and feet work, he's healthy, go and work, they say. Either he couldn't find a job where he went, or truly his body is, sir, not fit for him to work; yes, the skeleton looks complete, but you go and look at the troubles in his body. Can you know that? Now, I never forget this, many (?) have passed in our lives, and, you know, I tell it to those who talk that way: in Bayrampaşa.

I'm driving. Heavy traffic. We stop at the light. I look, a man up ahead wants to ask for something. He approaches the cars but can't get close. He can't ask. He wants to approach. He can't approach. He has gone completely pale like this. A man gone pale. I understood the situation. He wants to ask for something but out of modesty he can't. The man is ashamed. He is bashful.

Traffic. As we move on, the light turns. We got close to the man. When we got close, I called him. He came to me. But he doesn't ask any of them. Whichever one he wants to go to, he can't. I gave him some money. The man vanished. Gone. At home my wife and kids are hungry, he himself is hungry. Well, Allah knows best. Give. Give to the one who asks. You can't know people. Even if he is worth trillions. Deeds depend on intention. Why did you give? For Allah's sake. The burden of it is on him. Not on you. Yes.

Then to slaves. Slaves were not born slaves either. All people were born free. But people are unjust.

For the world's money they either stole them and took them away, or with their power sold them as slaves. That is, people, sir, they restricted their freedom. Every person is free in Allah's sight. With his own partial will he is responsible to Allah Almighty. Look at the beauty of Islam. It is its abolishing slavery by valuing human rights. Every individual, with his own being, is in the position of a commander. He is directly responsible to Allah Almighty. In this respect, if you saw a slave and were able to free him and did, Allah too will free your sins, forgive them. If not, you were able but could not free him, yet he has needs and you met them, by devoting your heart to Allah's command and helping him, Allah too will meet your needs.

Moreover, you win Allah's pleasure.

They laid Bilal the Abyssinian on the sand, put heavy stones on his chest. When they invited him to deny Allah, he still says Ahad, Ahad. He is One. And Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. He sends two hundred gold coins, two hundred gold coins. The value of slaves was apparently fifty or sixty gold coins. Not a hundred gold coins, two hundred gold coins. He takes Bilal the Abyssinian from there. Yes. So, within Islamic brotherhood in the religion of Islam, the proof that one's neck is thinner than a hair before Allah Almighty. For that reason, the value given to a person for Allah's sake.

Then, if he prays, if he fulfills the duty of servanthood to Allah; again, according to the verse where Allah Almighty says, if not for your worship, what would We do with you; if he binds himself wholeheartedly to Allah's verses, if he performs his five daily prayers, the command of Allah Almighty, between each prayer the minor sins they committed are forgiven them. So prayer wipes out the minor sins committed between two prayers. It removes them. The one who prays, those who carry out their Lord's command.

Allah Almighty, through the prayer, the ascension of the one who comes into His divine presence, purifies them of their sins and accepts him into His presence sinless. Just as when we go to a minister, a prime minister, a president, or to some business, we put on our finest clothes and take off the dirty clothes we have on. Our clothes in our Lord's presence are not these clothes you see, but the garment of piety, piety.

So our Lord too, within that garment of piety, has those sins of yours taken off your shoulders and accepts you into His presence in purity. So if that person, in that understanding of ascension, turns to his Lord in repentance and asks forgiveness, he finds our Lord very pardoning, forgiving, absolving, and he is freed of his sins.

Yes, this is the virtue of prayer.

At the same time, prayer is the pillar of a person's religion. A pillar, a pillar; remembering every day that five times you come into your Lord's presence, remembering Allah every day and reciting the verses and carrying out His command in your Lord's presence, of course has tied you to that door. How? You know, no offense in the comparison, we tie an animal to a tree, we drive a stake into the ground and, by tying a rope to it, fix it there. It cannot leave there. So prayer too is the pillar of our religion. This is how we are tied to our Owner. To our Owner. Who is our Owner? Allah. Not Ahmet or Mehmet, our Owner.

Our Owner is Allah. Because He is the one who created us. Not Ahmet, Mehmet and so on, as people claim ownership. When we say our Owner, I mean the Owner of the worlds (?). Look, how beautiful: the Owner of the worlds. Allah is our Owner. Yes. Those who abandon prayer, however careful they are not to sin, even if people make the utmost effort to keep the clothes on them from getting dirty, over time it is seen that people's clothes get dirty. People too, by not praying, over time their hearts darken and their faith in Allah weakens. Those who spend their lives not praying are like a building without foundation pillars.

The building cannot bear the slightest blow; it collapses. In this case a person cannot control his nafs either; the nafs and Satan drag the person to destruction. Then to those who give zakat: because Allah Almighty loves His servants, He is pleased with Muslims helping one another. In this respect too, since He created His servants by making them need one another, since their desires and wishes are like that, since He makes them live among one another, let's say, their helping one another pleases our Lord. Just as a father's sons, suppose the father is watching his sons: his sons, some engineers, some doctors, some merchants, some, sir, jobless; you see that the rich ones support their other brothers, help him, sir, try to open a shop for him, try to open a line of work.

How proud that father is! When he sees the bonds between his children, that strengthening, he is proud. So Allah Almighty too loves such mutual help among people. In this respect He also instituted zakat. Zakat. It both cleanses the forbidden things people unknowingly mixed into their money, cleanses the small forbidden things. And it also makes people help others.

For this, Allah Almighty commands the well-off to give zakat. And zakat shows our mutual help in our social life. If people had fully given in charity to the poor, under the worship of zakat, the material blessing Allah Almighty gave to people, among Islam there would be no poor people left. Zakat at the same time causes people's wealth to be purified and their wealth to increase. Today we see that people give zakat. But they look for a way to dodge. They find an excuse for that from here, an excuse for this from there. Let me tell you, he calculates that this way, this that way. Come on, just calculate it directly, man.

Just calculate it directly. What's going to happen? If you have 50 kuruş, give on the basis of 60 kuruş, 60 kuruş. So what? Allah will give you more. But he can't grasp this. Sir, no, this happened like this, and that happened like that, and what came of it, and so on; he regretted it. What would happen if you gave three kuruş more? Though Allah is the Owner of this world, He pours it down on you. Starting with your health. Your health.

You can never finish counting the blessings He has given you. In this case. What (?)? From where? Which material thing are you hiding from whom? Whom are you trying to fool? Your own nafs. Allah Almighty knows what every atom will do until the Day of Judgment. What does it say? What is in your hearts that you yourselves do not know, those secrets of your hearts We know, it says. So be generous. Generous. Instead of giving 10 kuruş, give 12 kuruş. Give eleven kuruş. Give, give more. In your Lord's sight. Surely you will find your Lord very forgiving, and find Him increasing your wealth. Yes.

Then, when he makes an agreement, he keeps his word; people who, when they make an agreement, keep their word: these are entirely the group of the truthful, the group of the truthful; doing all of these truthful things together, you will do all of them together, but, I mean, if you (?) a slave you will free the slave if you can afford it. If not, you will meet his needs. You will help the poor. As much as you can. If not, you will be patient. That is, all these things listed. If you have zakat due, you will give it. If not, nothing can be said to him. But you will perform your prayer. Sir, if all the qualities we have listed are found in one person, they belong to the group of the truthful.

Then those who, when they make an agreement, keep their word. A Muslim does not lie. Because they know that lying is a very bad thing. The basis of all evil lies in lying. Lying is one of the signs of hypocrisy. Not keeping one's word is also a kind of lying. If three traits are found together in a person, that person is a hypocrite. One, if he lies. Two, if he betrays a trust. Three, if he is not faithful to the word he gave. If these three are found in a person, he is a hypocrite. If they are found one by one, it is a sign of hypocrisy.

So look at what Allah Almighty says in the verse. Who is as faithful to his word as Allah? No one can be. Why? Because Allah Almighty knows all that will happen until the Day of Judgment, and speaks and says accordingly. That is why He is faithful to His word. We cannot know the (?) even a moment later; we give our word, and you see it turns out the opposite. That is why no one can be as faithful to his word as Allah. But as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, take on the morals of Allah, he says. So we will strive. Since we don't know the unseen, we are not responsible for it. That is why, when we give our word about the unseen, we say inshallah.

Inshallah, so as not to turn out a liar. Because we don't know the unseen. In this case we will try to be faithful to our word. We will not promise anyone anything we cannot do. As far as possible, except for death, illness and emergencies, we will try to keep our word. In this respect, for a person as a Muslim to be able to show himself and those around him the dignity and nobility of Islam, it is possible through his conduct, his speech, his living Islamically, paying utmost attention to Allah's commands and not falling short. So that he can live the majesty of Islam. So if people, paying attention to Allah's religion in this way, are ruled by Allah's verses, they too join the class of the God-fearing.

Then it is the goodness of those who are patient in times of hardship, illness and war. Those who, when people fall into straits and distress, accept their own falling into hardship as a test from Allah; those who, when the body Allah gave them falls ill, while taking measures to protect it, say this is from Allah and are patient with their illness; those who, without rebelling against Allah, say surely this is my Lord's test of me. That is, those who are content with what comes from Allah. What does a person say now? Even if he has been struck by the greatest calamity, he will say this. My Lord does not put on our backs a load we cannot bear.

If this is a great calamity for me, surely it is a great mercy of my Lord to me. It is a great mercy. Surely, if I am patient with this, when He gives a calamity to someone else like me and that one is not patient, He will show me to him as an example. That is why let me be patient with what comes from my Lord and try to win His pleasure, he says; he is content with what comes from my Lord. Yes.

Those who, in times of war, strive in jihad for Allah with their wealth and lives. Saying these possessions and lives of people are a trust Allah gave to people, and with the belief that in the end our return is to Allah, the good deeds of those who are patient in this cause are good. In time of war, what use is it that you had wealth, (?)? If you don't help those going to war, if you can't go yourself, or if you yourself don't go, if you don't strive with your wealth and your life, then, as we see around us today, as in Bosnia, in Iraq, neither their wealth remained nor their lives, and most important of all, nor their honor remained.

Yes.

So those who bear these qualities are the truthful who follow the Truth. And these are the God-fearing. Those bound to Allah with their hearts. Those who, while living in the world, work to win the Hereafter. Those who hold fast to Allah's religion. Those who gather in themselves all the qualities Allah Almighty listed are Allah's close ones. All these qualities are to be in one person. So these are the God-fearing, the truthful. Those who are included among the righteous.