Al-Baqarah 201: And there are those who say “Oh Lord, give us goodness on this earth and in the hereafter. Protect us from the torment of the hell!”

Now we come to Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 201.

Let's explain this one too. After that, if you have questions, get your questions ready. After this verse, let us answer your questions. Yes. And some of them say: Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter. Protect us from the punishment of hell. That is the best. That is the best. You have come into the world, and in the world you ask mercy from your Lord. That is, you ask for the lawful, for conduct that pleases Allah. And you also know the (?) of the ranks of the Hereafter. How beautiful. That is the best. Protect us from the punishment of hell, they say, it says. Yes.

And some people ask Allah Almighty both for their world and for their Hereafter. Allah the Creator needs nothing. Allah Almighty.

When a person asks from Allah, and Allah Almighty, within that person's destiny, gives it to him — if only you knew our Lord's joy at His gift to that person. His joy. He both gives and rejoices. If only you knew His joy. Look. Even I, being human, when I help people, and see the faces of the destitute smile, as if you had granted their inner world, I bow my head, and in my Lord's presence — that He has His servant helped with what He gave, that He has help given through our hands, overwhelms me with great joy. I cannot taste a greater joy, a greater love, in this world.

This has become my character. Think: Allah has created His servants. And that servant asks from Him. When he asks, and He gives to him within his destiny — our Lord's joy.

But because people perceive Allah Almighty differently, what I say seems very strange to people. Yes.

Allah the Creator needs nothing. His creations are in need of His divine Essence. They are in need of Allah. If a person does not ask from Allah, he has not shown his need of Allah; he falls into the position of one who doesn't need Allah — whereas in a verse Allah Almighty says: Or do you own a single atom of your world? Yes.

If it were so, nothing of your world would have been given to you. So according to this verse our Lord says: ask. Ask. Ask. Know your helplessness. Recognise Me as the Creator, and whatever you ask, if it is within your destiny, We will give it to you. If it is outside your destiny, in the Hereafter, for your patience in the world, We will give it to you as reward, says Allah Almighty. We will die. (?) The word (?) is meaningful and thought-provoking. We say. It is thought-provoking. What makes it thought-provoking: are you a being equal to your Lord? God forbid. Did you create anything in the world from nothing (?), holding that knowledge between your two hands?

No. You couldn't do that either. So by not asking from your Lord, don't you fall into the position of one who doesn't need Him? Or if you both take from Him and don't render Him your thanks, don't you fall into ingratitude? So this verse is truly very thought-provoking. So we will pray to Allah Almighty. Give us in this world, they say, and in the Hereafter. Well, we will say: protect us from the punishment of hell. That there is no god but Allah, and that we turn our faces only to our Lord and lay all we have before Him — to our Lord we will affirm it. We will bring joy.

Allah Almighty's purpose in this verse: O people! Are you able to create a single atom of your world? That is, do you have the power to bring any atom into being from nothing, to create it? If you had the power to create an atom from nothing, nothing of your world would have been given to you. Because one who created that atom could create other things too, and you would meet your own needs yourself and not show your need to Me, decrees Allah Almighty. So sensible people are those who know with certainty that they will meet their Lord. Sensible people: one day we will meet Allah Almighty. I am this old.

If you ask me how long I have lived, through sweet and bitter days, I lived as if one, one and a half days. In my own understanding. Like one, one and a half days. That is, like taking a single breath, I say. Because when I look back like this, I was born in Samsun. In our street I used to play tip-cat. I always remember those. Those days when I played. I always remember my childhood. How much time has passed since then, what duties I performed, what bitter and sweet days I went through. All of it became a dream. A dream. I remember those days of my childhood and it's as if it were yesterday, like yesterday.

Let me tell you another story.

I have a niece, the daughter of my late elder sister, my niece.

She had a child, she got married of course; I thought I'd take her a present. A present. I'm telling you what happened to me.

I'll bring it today, I'll bring it tomorrow, today, tomorrow. About five or six months passed. In my own reckoning, mind you. In my own reckoning. Five or six months.

One day I bought a present, a wedding present. I put it in my car to take it to her.

We're sitting in her home, a child came in.

About 7 or 8 years old. She said: Uncle, this is my son. I paid no attention. Since I came late, she's teasing me, I thought. (?) Allah Almighty keeps us alive, you see — 9 or 10 years old, another child came in; this is my son too, she said again; I paid no attention; then behind him another child, 11 or 12 years old, came in; this one too is my son, she said, and I couldn't take it anymore; look here, I said. Would you pull your ears, I said. No, by Allah, uncle, she said, these are my sons. My girl, when did you get married? Uncle, it's been this long since I married, she said, and I wanted to sink into the ground with shame.

And I didn't give her the present. It stayed in the car. Because I was bringing a wedding present. To me, 5 or 6 months had passed. Well, I lived through this. That's what I don't forget. That is the world. With its bitter days and sweet days, it will pass. And Allah Almighty reminds us of these things with His verse. He says: when you are raised in the Hereafter, you will ask one another. How long did we lie in the world, that is, under the ground? Some of you will say one day, some a little less than a day. The exact number of how long you lay under the ground is asked of the angels in charge.

So Allah Almighty, who creates time within time, in this world makes people live like this too.

This world will go anyway. So, to the swamp of this passing world that looks so pompous and alluring, to that rotten filth, if a person (?) and makes it his companion, boasts with his Lord's creation and shows off to people, they are the fools themselves.

One must think well. One must think well.

Yes.

So sensible people are those who know with certainty that they will meet their Lord. So that's it. They know with certainty. Our Lord! Give us in this world too. That is, do not make us dependent on the unworthy. We have been honoured with the religion of Islam. You created Islam honourable. That is, You created people honourable, and the people of Islam are noble, dignified, honourable, chaste people. Do not make us dependent on others. As followers of this religion, with the dignity to live our religion, grant us our world, we will say. Bestow our world upon us. Not to follow them. So that we can live Your verses, which You sent us in the most beautiful way, give us our worldly needs in this world, O Allah, we will say.

Because what does the Prophet (peace be upon him) say? Poverty came close, close — came close to kufr, he says. To kufr. Yes.

Give us in this world too. Because we are weak. We are the ones who show their need to You. Do not make us dependent on the unworthy; do not load on our backs the burden of poverty and afflictions that we cannot bear, O Allah, we will say. Along with that, they say, make our Hereafter flourish too. That is, in his prayer, his supplication, his fasting, his ablution, well, his zakat, his Hajj, his charity — that is a human being. How beautiful. He will not think ill of people, will not harbour suspicions about people, will not backbite people, will always reach out his hand to them, will share his bread with them.

Yes, he will remove from his heart what is other than Allah, the evils, will pay no heed to Satan's temptation, will not bow to the desires of the nafs, will strengthen his will and by Allah's command be governed.

And also praying: keep us firm on the straight path. That is, keep us firm on a perfectly straight way. Receive us with a smiling face in the Hereafter, O Allah — so pray they. Now, when we say sırat-ı müstakim, they take it as the Sirat bridge, you know; we say there is none to them. Those who slip from it fall. Of course they go to hell if you stray from the sırat-ı müstakim, the right path. But this is not a bridge. You know, they say it shakes our Islamic creed. That it contradicts it — Allah protect us. That's it: ignorance is a bad thing.

Such people, in this way, make both their world and their Hereafter flourish. May Allah Almighty grant all of us these ranks. Amin.