Al-Baqarah 200: When you complete the worship of Hajj, remember Allah stronger than when you gathered, mentioned and praised your ancestors during your times of misguidance. There are those who say “oh Lord, give us on this earth.” Those people have no share in the hereafter.

Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 200: When you have completed the rites of Hajj, more strongly than you gathered in the age of ignorance and boasted of your forefathers, remember Allah. There are some who say: Our Lord, give us in this world, such people have no share in the Hereafter at all. Now, Allah Almighty is free of any deficient attribute. He has told us through verses of all the matters that could come to people's minds. With all His verses. Now what does it say? When you have completed the rites of Hajj, as you gathered in the age of ignorance and boasted of your forefathers, remember Allah even more strongly.

In the age of ignorance people would say, my forefather was like this, my grandfather was like that, and they would gather. They would tell of the heroic deeds those men did. And now Muslims, when they talk, have no prayer, no supplication, no fasting, nothing of their own. My grandfather was a scholar. My grandfather recited the Quran very beautifully. My grandmother prayed very beautifully. Well, my father used to count his prayer beads like this. So? How are you any different from those who boasted of their forefathers in the age of ignorance? What have you done yourself? Why did you come to Hajj? Look, what are you saying now with your tongue?

When you have completed the rites of Hajj — why did you come to Hajj? What do you say? O Allah, I have understood that there is no door to turn to other than You. I have also understood that there is no being other than You with whom one could boast.

I have understood that You are the Owner of all beings, the Owner of all that is created. Now, like the worship that my father, my grandfather, and, well, my relatives and kin offered to You, I have turned to worshipping You myself. I have understood that they cannot benefit me. I have understood. I have grasped that the worship each person does is for himself. So I have turned to You, O Allah — that is what you will say. You will remember Allah more strongly. Yes.

Before Islam people boasted of their lineage, their ancestry, perhaps, and their wealth. With this verse Allah Almighty says: O people! You have learned that the sole Owner and Creator of your lineage, your wealth and your property is Allah. You have also understood that your forefathers and your father cannot benefit you. In coming to Hajj you have grasped that apart from your Lord there is no one who can grant people mercy and forgiveness. So now you have also understood that from now on remembering your forefathers and boasting of them will bring you no benefit. Now give up remembering, mentioning and boasting of them.

Because you have grasped that their Owner too is Allah. From now on, just as you boasted of your forefathers in the age of ignorance, from now on boast of your Lord even more strongly than that, remember Him in your heart, so that you attain Allah's forgiveness.

Isn't that so? What my father did is for himself, what my mother did is for herself; no one is questioned for anyone else. Why? In fact the verse says: Fe men ya'mel miskâle zerratin hayran yerah. I will record your good of an atom's weight, He says. Ve men ya'mel miskâle zerratin şerran yerah. I will also record your evil of an atom's weight. He says: what you earn is the return of your own two hands. So boasting of my forefathers and grandfathers brings me no benefit. Whom shall I boast of? I will boast of my Lord. Because He created me, He created the worlds; the Owner of the worlds, and my Owner too — He created you.

So if the One who created you provides you every kind of sustenance, if the One who created you, expecting nothing from you, promises you very beautiful places in the Hereafter, does it befit you to deny that Lord of yours? So remember Him in the most beautiful way. Glorify Him. Say what? Sübhane Rabbiyel Azim. Remember Allah Almighty. Say Allah-u Ekber. Say: there is none greater than Allah. And say La İlahe İllallah. That is, say: O Allah, there is no god but You. Yes. Remember your Lord with the most beautiful attributes of Allah Almighty so that you attain Allah Almighty's mercy. When someone helps you, you circle around him like a moth to serve him.

And where needed you hold him up to people as an example. Well, your Lord has granted you a beautiful life. He gave you of His spirit and created you the noblest of creatures, protected you from every kind of evil and gave you glad tidings of a beautiful life; if you then turn your back on Him, does that even befit humanity? So we will praise our Lord; in return for these blessings He has given us, however much we praise our Lord, however much we remember Him, still we cannot fulfil our thanks to Him in return for the blessings our Lord has given us. But what shall we say? What shall we say? Look, what shall we say?

When the Prophet (peace be upon him) ascended on the Mi'raj, on the Mi'raj he praises Allah Almighty. And our Lord says it became like (?) for your ummah. At that moment, he says, between my lips a drop came. Whiter than snow, sweeter than sugar, he says. Exactly these words came forth from his tongue: I cannot praise Your Essence as You praise Your own Essence. Well of course — the way Allah Almighty lauds Himself, can we laud Him like that? Because He is the One who knows the secret and the essence of all beings. So we too, O Allah, however much we remember You, however much we declare our helplessness, however much we try to fulfil our thanks, we have no mind able to give You that thanks as You desire, as You want it.

Accept us as we are, O Allah, we say. Accept it so. In the best way we declare our helplessness to You and, well, fulfil our thanks; the way we give You our thanks, in the way You want, accept the way we fulfil our thanks to You, we say. Because sometimes, for thanking, or else for praising Allah, my tongue is not enough. I don't even know what to say. At that moment I say this: My Lord, You know me better than I know myself. You know better what passes through my heart that I cannot put into words. This tongue of mine is helpless, my Lord; since You know better than me how I worship You from my heart, add me to those who worship You in the most beautiful way, I say.

Sometimes my tongue is helpless; it is not enough to praise Him. You know, whatever I say, I see it falls short. Whatever I say falls short. Then I (?) my heart to my Lord.

Yes. So it means not as people boasted of their lineage and ancestry in that age of ignorance. Since you know that there is no god but your Lord, and that the sole Owner of your lineage, your ancestry and your being is Allah, then turn to your Lord, to your Lord, so that you find life. Remember Him and mention Him.

Yes.

There are some who say: Our Lord, give us in this world. Aren't there? Who said there is a Hereafter, he says.

Who has gone there and come back, he says. Paradise is here, he says. If you've lived, you've lived, he says. If you've lived, you've lived. Paradise is here. Paradise is here. If you've lived, you've lived. With that deficient mind, to bring your ignorance even more out into the open — you need to reflect just a little so that you find the truth. Like what? If paradise is here — since you say who has gone to the Hereafter and been raised — how did you come into this world? We say: this here is a telephone; can you say about it: no one made this? Can you say that? You cannot. If you do, you're mad.

Why? Because this did not come about by itself. Someone made this, that is, made it. Did you see the one who made it? No. How do you believe so strongly? I believe that this cannot happen by itself. And you came into the world by yourself? This human body, equipped with knowledge, well, a treasury of knowledge — by itself what? Well, it came into being — by itself what? It came to life and arranged this? With such a small reflection, how can you deny the One who created you? This is a small reflection.

That is why a person needs to be sensible.

What does it say? Our Lord, give us in this world, they say. These are truly ignorant people living in misery. Misery. Misery does not necessarily mean poverty. It does not mean living in want. Those who live in the misery of mindlessness. What does this misery of mindlessness mean? A thousand years of this world are like one day of the Hereafter. So even if you live here 70 years, 100 years, 2-3 years, it is like 2 to 2.5 hours — you live a life like that. You live a life of about 3 hours. How can you trade your eternal and endless life for this 3-hour life? This is the misery of mindlessness.

That is the greatest misery. The other is material misery, poverty. That is temporary. But what about this misery of mindlessness? That's what it says: give me in this world. What would I do with the Hereafter? Ah, live then.

They have no share in the Hereafter, it says. Look how beautifully Allah Almighty says it. They have no share in the Hereafter. Such people know Allah, their minds bear witness that Allah exists, but they rebel with their nafs.

With the feelings of the nafs — that Allah does not exist and that after death there will be no resurrection — trying to convince themselves of this, they live in doubts. Because their nafs desire the world, desire living.

Things outside Allah's command, outside decency, they desire. They turn into the desires of the nafs. For this reason they don't even want to remember Allah.

When people remind them of Allah, they say: oh, is now the time? Look, look, look — is now the time? The time for what? Allah Almighty never says to you: is now the time? I mean, for what you'll eat. Is now the time? For living out these desires of the nafs. He never says that. Allah Almighty keeps giving, keeps giving.

In return for His constant care, is it right for you to say to the one who reminds you of your Lord is now the time? Yes.

Even though their minds know their Lord's existence, they say: my Lord, give me in this world, what would I do with the other side? Who has gone to the Hereafter and come back? I've suffered so much here, after suffering, what does it matter whether the other side exists or not, they say. They both know Allah and cannot give up denial. Why can't they give it up? Because they are in doubt about the Hereafter. For this reason, in that list of doubt, out of weak faith they desire the world. As for people outside Islam, in complete contrast to these, they eat and drink in the world and never think about the rest at all.

We said these are foolish people, fools, that is, those who do not use their minds. Coveting the things of this passing world, in a short lifetime their eternal and lasting life for the world, for worldly life they trade away. So if they weren't fools, they would not end up in such states. So what was it: coveting the things of this passing world, in a short lifetime trading their eternal and lasting life for the world, for its life — those who trade. While a person cannot bear hunger and thirst in the world, while a person cannot endure a little harm and pain done to the body, in the Hereafter, in eternal life, how will he endure these?

Well, here these pains will pass too. But in the Hereafter these pains will never pass.

So a person with a mind — my Lord, give me in this world — does not say that. What does he say? O Allah, in this world, on the unworthy, do not make me dependent. Do not make my right eye dependent on my left eye. You know me better than I know myself.

To carry out Your command in this world, to live the religion of Islam in the best way, give me abundant provision. The children You entrusted to me, perhaps, unable to bear poverty, so that they don't rebel — I am content with everything that comes from You, You know me, but so that they can worship You, for their provision, so that they turn to You in the best way, give us abundant provision, O Allah — you say. That is, you ask it from Allah. You ask for that. That's what I used to say. To Allah Almighty: O Lord, even if between two millstones You grind me, I am content with what comes from You.

Because You do not load on our backs what we cannot carry. But maybe our children will rebel in this poverty. Well, perhaps I would be doing them an injustice. Perhaps in working, perhaps in my responsibility. In a feeling of (?) toward them, perhaps a regret, let's say. Give for their sake, O Allah, I used to say. Give. You give to me, and I will give to Your servants, I used to say, O Allah. Let me give. Give. We are continuing with this. We see this. And we continue.

Allah gives this. He has many unknown doors. He opens them upon people. You cannot know where it comes from. Allah gives. Yes.

Yes.

Such people have no share in the Hereafter at all. You know, when they say give me in this world, what would I do with the Hereafter, they have no share in the Hereafter at all. All the fine deeds they did have gone to waste — so says the verse.

Such people have sold their Hereafter in exchange for worldly goods.

In the world they eat, drink and indulge in pleasure. They do not heed Allah's commands, they are never with Allah, they never turn their face to Allah Almighty. We said such people fall into two groups.

The first group: people who deny Allah, who are hostile to Islam. That is, non-Muslims. Allah Almighty describes such people as eternally destined for hell. They have no religion; they are people holding separate ideologies.

We stress this point. There is no religion other than Islam. İnne'd-dîne inde'llâhi'l-İslâm. So the Torah, (?) and the Gospel — and in the Quran, their originals are in the Quran, and if what they hold contains fabrications, of these — as our Lord's constitution, for all the worlds His constitution He sends down. To Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Seal of the Prophets, the Holy Quran as the sum of the four books, to all people He sends it as a guide, as light, and when people (?) their Lord's command, the books in their hands and their religions have no validity. After Muhammad (peace be upon him) came, the books in their hands and the worship they perform have no validity.

They are openly without religion. They have no religion. Let them say as much as they like that they worship. One, we prove that they have no religion. One, there is no god but Allah.

You cannot associate partners with Allah. You cannot say the greatest of three. You cannot say Jesus is the son of Allah. You cannot say David is the son of Allah.

And you cannot say we are Allah's close ones. You cannot call Mary Allah's wife. If you say so, you are (?). There is no such god. There is no such Allah. There is no Allah with wife and children. Your saying Allah does not mean you know Allah. You are without religion. What we know, what our Lord has told us in His verse: Allah has neither wife nor child. He is one in His Essence. So these are without religion. Let them dance the horon as much as they like. That's what I say. Worship in crowds as much as you like, hold rituals. It's just like dancing the horon.

What are we saying here? These have no religion; they are people holding separate ideologies. We say. We don't elaborate much here. Now we are telling you here. You too reflect on it here. What are we saying here? The first group are people who deny Allah, who are hostile to Islam. That is, non-Muslims. Allah Almighty describes such people as eternally destined for hell. They have no religion; they are people holding separate ideologies. The second group of people have accepted Islam. But love of the world has made that person forget the Hereafter. Love of the world. If they come to their senses in the last moments of their lives, repent and find the truth, they are saved. Otherwise, if they continue their lives at the same pace and prefer the world to the Hereafter, even if they are Muslim — Allah knows best — if they depart rebelling against the religion of Islam, they are mushrik.

If they depart as Muslims, they will be sinners. Pay close attention to the words. What can I say, we are opening up the words here. What do we say? No. They continue their lives at the same pace. That is, if he says what would I do with the Hereafter, give me in this world, if he says so, if they prefer the world to the Hereafter, even if they are Muslims, that is, even if their appearance as Muslims (?), we say of them: Allah knows best. That is, how they will depart is unknown. Will they go to the Hereafter as Muslims? Will they go as mushrik? So if they depart rebelling against the religion of Islam, this time, if they depart in rebellion, they are mushrik.

Who is called mushrik? Those who associate partners with Allah. These too worshipped the world. They worshipped the world, matter. They worshipped Allah's creations. Those who worship them are mushrik. Mushrik. Yes. If they depart as Muslims — that is, in the end he turned back and became repentant. You know, the door of repentance was open until the soul reached the throat; so if he turned back and understood life — that too, Allah knows best, of course. These who depart. These, we say, are those who depart as sinners.