Al-Baqarah 186: When My servants ask you about Me, I am very close to them. I answer the prayer of the one who prays. So, they should follow My call and they should believe in Me to find the right path.

We come to Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 186, the verse.

When My servants ask you about Me, I am very near to them. Look how beautifully He says it. Why am I near? In every particle of the universe Allah Almighty maintains, outwardly, the sovereignty of His manifest existence.

Allah did not create even a single particle separate from His essence. For this reason, the heavens and the earth and what is between them, surrounded by the Throne of Allah, every particle of them our Lord is aware of. How is He aware of such vast (?)? Although He gave you a small, partial intellect, if you make these computers and solve all the technology in these worlds, then Allah Almighty, (?), is capable of everything. How is He capable? In the matter of everything He created, in the matter of all He created, there are plus and minus electrodes. These electrodes, by spinning around their own axes, make a sound; even if we don't hear it, it remembers its Lord.

The heavens and the earth and what is between them have known the remembrance of their Lord, He says. By their remembering, Allah Almighty marks in this way that there is no god but Allah and that their Creator is their owner. Just as a factory produces a product and stamps its emblem on it.

Second, when those electrodes spin around their axis they emit a signal. Just as these frequencies, these telephones, are all connected to each other by a frequency, with receiver and transmitter, all these created beings are transmitters, and the universal receiver is Allah Almighty. When in any particle of the universe a stirring, a desire, a wish appears, it immediately becomes manifest to our Lord. And in that case Allah Almighty knows that desire and wish of the being He created, its intent. So in every particle of the universe Allah Almighty maintains the sovereignty of His existence in this way.

In this case, in the verse, He is capable of all things, it says. And in His verse again it says, He is the knower of all things. (?). When My servants ask you about Me, I am very near to them. Of course He is near. Nearer to me than myself. Good heavens, how can He be nearer to you than yourself? You maintain your existence. Ah, the One who created me, look now, the One who created me, who brought me from nothing into being. And who works my desires and wishes into me as character traits. And who, within those traits, writes my intent for me as destiny. And Allah, who knows what I will do until the end of the life of my destiny, is of course nearer to me than myself. Because I don't know even a moment ahead.

Nearer to me than myself, of course. What does it say? When My servants ask you about Me, I am very near to them. When he prays to Me, I respond to the wish of the one who prays. Look, He does not say, I accept the prayer of the one who prays. Look, listen. Listen well to the verses. What does it say? When he prays to Me, I respond to the wish of the one who prays. Here is a verse for you: people are very hasty. When they pray, they say, my prayer was not accepted, and they describe Allah as stingy, He says. Now, in line with this verse there is another verse. Did you think that every wish of yours would be given to you, He says.

How beautifully He says it. Look, all the verses always confirm one another. They never contradict one another. What does it say here now? When he prays to Me, I respond to the wish of the one who prays. O My servant, you ask of Me; I hear you, I know, I hear, He says. I see. And I will give you what is within your destiny, He says. But if it is outside your destiny, it will be no good to you. If I did give it, then I would be (?), He says. You are asking, but be patient. I will still give you what you asked for. I respond, He says. Look, I will still give you what you asked for. Where? If you are patient, on the Day of Judgement.

In the world of the hereafter. Many rewards will appear before you. You will say, my Lord, I didn't do these. What are these? You asked in the world, He says. Because it was outside your destiny, I did not give you these things. And because you were patient about them, I, He says, (?). Today these are the rewards of your deeds in return for your prayer. These are yours, He says.

So what does it say? I respond. That is, I speak with you in this case, I give to you, He says; He does not say, in return for your prayer I will give to you. So let them heed My call. So, He says, look, if I hear you and you ask of Me in prayer, then you too heed My call. What is your call? What is the call of Allah Almighty? Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah. I bear witness, he says, that there is no god but Allah. And ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh. Muhammad is His servant and His messenger. This is My call, He says. That you be honoured with the religion of Islam. Then you will perform your prayers, keep your fast, go on Hajj, give your zakat.

Sir, you will fulfil these conditions, He says. If you don't, you become a sinner, He says. So heed My call. Why heed it? I am not asking you to work for Me and give to Me, He says. You do your duty of servanthood. Know Me as great. Know Me as the Great One. Do not be ungrateful to Me, and I will grant you My Paradise in the hereafter, He says. How lovely, He is not asking you for money. You will say Allah, you will not associate partners with Him. You will not swindle Allah's servants, you will not deceive them. You will not lie, you will not commit adultery, you will not gamble, you will not drink.

You will try to be governed by the sharia ruling as far as you can. Whatever bad traits there are, you will try to give them up. Come on, these are not hard. These are the whims of the nafs, of the nafs. But the nafs sinks a person into such swamps that, because the person is used to that lie, that swindling, that filth, that swamp of his seems to him like a rose garden. Like what? For a moment a person sinks into a swamp, gets muddy, a rain falls, and he is freed from that mud. Like that. It passes right off him. Whereas a person should call himself to account looking back, and after deliberating with his own conscience before Allah what kind of person he is, try to be governed by Allah's commands.

That is what a human being is anyway. Yes, a human will err, a human errs. That human is not free of error. But the human who knows his error and turns back from it, and then turns to his Lord and says, my Lord, because of the errors I made knowingly or unknowingly, since there is no door to go to other than Your door, I have taken refuge at Your door. Forgive me, when you say this, as the Prophet said in the hadith, even if your sins reached the clouds in the sky, when you repent with a sincere heart, Allah Almighty changes them into good deeds, he says. Yes. So let them heed My call and believe in Me, so that they may find the right path.

Otherwise they will keep wandering in swamps, on those dark roads. They wrong their own selves. How did we explain it in the tafsir? Let us read the tafsir too. Allah Almighty is not apart from His creatures, that He should be far from them. He is present and watching in every particle of the universe. Indeed, in a verse He declares, We are nearer to you than your jugular vein. Allah, who created the universe with His knowledge, who (?) the states and movements of His creatures, who steers and governs them until the Day of Judgement: if He were apart from His creatures, if He took His gaze off them for one moment, the universe would become (?) and collapse into itself.

If He were apart from His creatures. Yes. He, as we said in Surah An-Nur, Allah is the illuminator of the heavens and the earth. He created the universe with His knowledge, and at every moment their states and movements He (?). For this reason all created things are in need of Allah Almighty. But Allah Almighty has no need of His creatures. This is Allah's attribute of al-Hayy. The attribute al-Hayy. That is, as Creator, Allah Almighty as Creator creates the universe, and every particle in the universe He created is in need of Allah. But Allah Almighty is beyond His creatures, beyond time and space, and those He created have life through Allah.

According to a report, a Bedouin comes to the Noble Messenger and Honoured Prophet (peace be upon him): O Messenger of Allah, is Allah near to us or far? If He is near, let us pray in a whisper. If He is far, let us pray by shouting, he says. They say this verse was revealed for this. Yes. I am nearer to you than your jugular vein.

In the Quran, so that the Quran may be better understood, Allah Almighty brings events about. In this way people understand Allah's verses better. His saying, when he prays to Me, I respond to the wish of the one who prays, shows that people are not far from Allah Almighty. That is, a person remembers Allah within his own being, his self. What does Ibrahim Fakrullah say? I kept searching for the Beloved. He was the soul within the soul. So let a person not look for Allah far away. He will look within himself. The attribute of tranquillity, of being at peace, the attribute of the believer, comes about in a person's heart through the manifestations of his Lord.

For Allah Almighty to manifest Himself in that heart, that heart must be clean. Suppose the president or the prime minister were coming to my house. Oh, we would make preparations, have the house cleaned, wash it with rose water, sir. We would try to put the home in order the way we want. As far as our means allow, we would buy nice armchairs, nice who knows what, furnish our home. Well, of course, the guest coming is the crown on our head. And if the guest coming is the Lord of the worlds, you think about how that heart should be.

So, to be able to receive those manifestations, that heart must be cleansed of everything other than Allah. Then, when those manifestations come, you have attained the attribute of the believer. What does it say? Allah Almighty brings about events so that the Quran (?) In this way people (?) the verses of Allah Almighty more. His saying, when he prays to Me, I respond to the wish of the one who prays, shows that people are not far from Allah Almighty. We have said. People are always in need of their Creator. That is, in need of Allah Almighty. Imagine your Lord cut off your sustenance. And imagine He also made you immortal in this world.

Your sustenance is cut off. Wherever you go, doors close in your face, you are hungry and thirsty. There is no death either, and every kind of trouble has befallen you. And you are groaning within this trouble. You would wish for death a hundred thousand times, but you cannot die. So no being can do without Allah. Every created thing is in need of Allah. If a person uses his intellect, that Owner of ours has sent one percent of His mercy to the world. Ninety-nine percent our Lord has kept for Himself for the Day of Judgement. With that He will treat us. He will protect us with His mercy. Toward our sovereign who will show us so much mercy, our Being, our Creator, our Lord, why should we be devoid of worship in this world, and be heedless of remembering Him?

If someone helped you, took your hand in a difficult situation and lifted you up, until the end of your life you would not forget him. As far as you can, you would want to do him every kindness. But Allah Almighty has given you a good life, good health, given you good sustenance too. Within this sustenance, this life, this health, you forgot your Creator. You mingled with Allah's creatures and attached your love to Allah's creatures.

You have fallen into hidden shirk. You are not aware of it.

Yes. People are always in need of their Creator. A person's needs never end. Apart from need, Allah Almighty, to test people with one another and because they hold themselves as witnesses to themselves, also gives many afflictions. In the face of these afflictions, people look for a door or a strength to lean on. And since the door of strength and power to lean on is only Allah Almighty, people turn to Allah Almighty, ask Him for help and offer prayers.

Yes. So Allah: I am nearer to them than their jugular veins, and I respond to their needs, that is, their wants. I create their wishes for them, He declares. Within their destinies. I create their wishes for them. So let them heed My call.

Did they get unwell? Where did they go? (?). All right. So let them heed My call. That is, there is no god but Me, no other god who created you, who created all beings, that people should go and take refuge in him. So if you are in need, do what I say, says Allah Almighty. Doing what Allah Almighty says is not hard for the nafs, that is, not hard for a person. Why is it not hard? For one who knows Allah it is not hard for a person. Because Allah never intends injustice for a person. For a person who uses his intellect. What does it say? We do not load on your back a burden you cannot bear. So in this case, if Allah Almighty does not load on our backs a burden we cannot bear, what does He say? Let them heed My call and believe in Me, so that they may find the right path.

What will we do? If we are governed by Allah's commands, in the world our brow is clear, our heart is at peace, we lead a secure life under our Lord's mercy and attain peace. So peace is in Islam. Why in Islam? If you live Islam, it is in Islam. If you don't live Islam, there is no Islam, and no peace. Yes. Allah Almighty, who bestows so many blessings, created people so that His essence would be known, and made His essence the one they are addressed by. So, by let them heed My call and believe in Me, so that they may find the right path, what is meant is that the call of Allah Almighty is the religion of Islam.

And Islam has five pillars. So follow these five pillars of Islam, so that you find the truth. The five pillars of Islam: saying the testimony of faith. As we said at the beginning, ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh; performing the prayer, fasting, going on Hajj, giving zakat. So the call of Allah Almighty lies within these five things. Those who act outside of this cannot find the right path, and in the hereafter they come to ruin.

Yes, we have finished verse 186.