Talk of 5 September 2023

Look, okay, right? Let's explain. There is, then. Now a (?) member says. The (?) member is asking a question. He says: Peace be upon you. And upon you be peace. (?) I kiss your hands. A married woman: although her husband's financial situation, his income, is at a normal level, and although he buys what is needed, the wife constantly complaining to her husband about her situation, not being grateful: does it block the man's provision? May Allah be pleased with you.

Now in the verse Allah Almighty says this: Would We ever diminish the wealth of the one who gives thanks, He says. What does He say? Would We ever diminish the wealth of the one who gives thanks? Then neither does He diminish the wealth of the one who does not give thanks. Because whatever that person's provision is in his covenant, Allah Almighty will give him his provision in full. But what does He do? If you give thanks, out of Allah's mercy, generosity and bounty He bestows on you.

What does He say? Would We ever diminish the wealth of the one who gives thanks? Hodja, can you give an example of this? Of course I will. Yes.

We will give the example. Job (peace be upon him), Job (peace be upon him) falls ill, as a test. The accursed one: allow me with him, since You love him so much, Allah Almighty; let us see whether he is a servant worthy of You, he says. With one breath on him he is covered in sores and wounds. What is this here? Sir, an update has come. What is this?

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Yes. Job's possessions are lost, his children die, he himself stays covered in sores for forty years. His wife says to him: You are a prophet, tell Allah Almighty and be rid of these sores. Wife, he says, does my Lord not see me? He does. It comes to such a state that they have no bread left to eat.

Being hungry, the woman goes to the baker. To the baker. She asks for bread on credit. He says: If you show me a strand of your hair, I will give you bread. Hungry. Job is hungry at home too. She shows a strand of her hair. Not like those today who bare their heads and bottoms. She shows one strand. The baker gives her bread. Job asks: Where did you get this? From the bakery. How did you get it? Like this. If I get up from here, I will strike you a hundred blows, he says. I will strike you a hundred blows, he says. And Allah Almighty says: O Job, strike the ground with your foot. He strikes the ground with his foot. Water springs out there.

Wash in it, He says. He washes in it.

Now let us come first to Job's promise. When he is to strike the hundred blows, O Job, He says, take a hundred ears of grain and strike at once, He says. He strikes with a hundred ears of grain at once. He has struck a hundred. Allah Almighty shows mercy to the woman too. Because all of it was Allah Almighty's test. And Allah Almighty gives him twice as much as he had. He regains his family, his children, his wealth, twice as much. So nothing happens to provision. Provision is provision. Allah cuts no one's provision. Nor does He give anyone more. If He gave more, the person would go astray. He would say: You gave me more and so I went astray like this.

When He gives little, he says: You gave me little, so I could not worship You. Whatever a person's provision is, He gives it in full, but if he gives thanks He also gives from His bounty. If he gives thanks. But if You gave me more, wouldn't I go astray? That grateful person, look what He says? We do not diminish the wealth of the one who gives thanks. He always knows Allah. He acts in the way of Allah. He makes no concessions on Allah. (?) You will not find him (?). That thanks only those who will give thanks give. Yes. How many Muslims eat a meal, say alhamdulillah and get up?

Count it right now. Think about the whole scene like this. Those who go to summer homes, as it were, those eating on beaches, those eating at home, just think. Whatever table was laid, how many of them got up from the table with thanks? Let me tell you. Maybe twenty percent,

a little less, a little more, that much.

(?) give thanks. The rest are finished now, finished. so the wife not being grateful to her husband, that is, to his wealth, increases her sin, increases the person's sin. Why does it increase her sin? because in her there is rebellion against what Allah gives, rebellion, she wants more, since she does not know what provision she would receive in her covenant when she made her covenant with Allah Almighty, she has given her heart to the world; people who fall under this verse, those who give their hearts to shining gold coins and yellow ears of grain, He says. These people have no gratitude. Because in their hearts, in the place of that gratitude that answers Allah's light of faith, there is love of the world and against Allah (?).

Let's see who else is here? A guest says: Peace be upon you, Hodja.

Sir, if I did not mishear, I remember hearing this somewhere. One day the students of Abdul Qadir Gilani ask him what love is. Abdul Qadir Gilani sends them to Ahmad al-Rifa'i. Thereupon Ahmad al-Rifa'i begins to whirl. While whirling he disappears and comes back. After that, when the students tell Abdul Qadir Gilani, Abdul Qadir Gilani says: Ahmad al-Rifa'i has probably surpassed us in love. What is the wisdom in this? Could you explain it, sir? May Allah be pleased with you. What wisdom are you looking for here?

What wisdom is there in this? Holding Abdul Qadir Gilani above Ahmad al-Rifa'i, and holding Abdul Qadir Gilani above Ahmad al-Rifa'i, and Abdul Qadir Gilani saying Ahmad al-Rifa'i has probably surpassed me, what? You look for wisdom. Their wisdom is with Allah. No one is superior to anyone. He is superior in Allah's sight. You cannot say this one is superior to that one and that one to this. These are the four Qutb al-A'zam. Abdul Qadir Gilani, Ahmad al-Rifa'i, Ahmad al-Badawi, Ibrahim al-Dasuqi. These are the four Qutb al-A'zam. Which will you hold above which, and look for wisdom between them?

Yes.

Say something such that you cite verses from the Quran. Cite hadiths from the Prophet. But whether it is fabricated, slander against the Prophet with people's words, or not, we will sort you out here. If you say this one is superior, that one is superior, what is the wisdom of this, of that, you make a decision in Allah's place, which no one can make. And if someone gives what you say a meaning in any way, you should slap him in the face too.

Yes.

We left off at verse 9 of Surah Al-Isra.

Surely this Quran guides to the most right path.

It gives good tidings to the believers who do good deeds that for them there is a great reward. Where is it wrong?

Where is it wrong? Look. Surely this Quran guides to the most right path.

The Quran is here.

It has no mind. The Quran. It has no life. This is Allah's word. Allah's word.

In Surah Al-Fatiha, verse 6: İhdina's-sırata'l-müstakim, Guide us to the right path, it says. Here too: neither does Allah guide you to the right path, nor does the Quran guide you to the right path.

Allah shows you the right path. And the Quran, being Allah's verses, shows you the right path. If the Quran is going to guide me to the right path because it is Allah's word, then when I say Allah, guide me to the right path, there was never any need, in the address of Elestü bi-rabbiküm, for Him to make a covenant with me.

He would have admitted us, all of us, into Paradise. He would not have made a covenant at all. in many places people say: My Allah, make me like this, give me that, make me like this, sir, grant me Your Paradise, sir, let me go forward on the right path, lead me on the right path, keep me on the right path. All the will is in the human being; a person will be called to account for what he did in the world by his will. So no one can say to Allah Almighty: make me like this, take me there, guide me to the right path, take me here. If he says it, does he commit a sin? No. He commits no sin. But he shows his ignorance.

He shows his lack of knowledge. And what does Allah say? I made a covenant with you. I sent you into the world according to your covenant, your covenant. Here I placed you from the people of Paradise, people of Paradise, and, being of Hell, into Hell, but to prove what kind of person you are in the world, to find Me free of deficient attributes, I sent you into the world; for what you did I will call you to account. Had I guided you to the right path, I would have abolished Hell; since My mercy is abundant, since it surpasses My wrath, Hell would be removed. I would have put all of you into My Paradise.

So there is no guiding. Then what? Show. Show. Show me the right path. Yes.

Is there another verse to support what you say? Of course there is. When you err, or, He says, in any matter, sir, when you get into a dead end, consult Allah and His Messenger, He says. What does this mean? Look at the verses in the Quran, see your way, it says. The Quran shows me the way; it does not lead me. It shows the way. The Prophet's hadiths show you the way too. Where will you find the Prophet? In his hadiths. Where will you find Allah? You will find Him in His verses.

Yes. Yes.

Having agreed on the wrong part, we read the correct one. We say: Surely this Quran shows the most right path. It gives good tidings to the believers who do good deeds that for them there is a great reward.

Believers who do good. There is no turning back for a believer. So do believers have a higher station? Of course. There is nafs-i radiya. (?) There is nafs-i mardiyya. A Qutb al-A'zam every 100 years. There is nafs-i safiya. There is the Qutb al-Aqtab who comes every 200 years, who removes falsehoods from religion. Yes.

And there are those who enter among the righteous servants. Who are these righteous servants? The prophets.

Such scholars, the heirs of the prophets, will be gathered with them.

Yes.

We have said the wrongly rendered part in this verse is this. This Quran guides to the most right path. The correct one is: this Quran shows the most right path. The Quran is the word of our Lord. Since our Lord does not interfere in what people do, how should His word guide people to the right path?

Allah does not interfere with you (?).

(?) why do we pray? Ha! The Companions also ask the Prophet. Since our covenant is written, people of Paradise or people of Hell, why then, they say, should we worship? The Prophet says: If you are of Paradise, the ways of Paradise are made easy for you, and with that faith you fulfil what your Lord says. If he is of Hell, he says, the ways of disbelief are made easy for him. They see the way to Hell by going outside what Allah says. We will pray too. (?) Lâ ya'lemü'l-gaybe illallah: since I do not know the unseen, we will ask Allah.

But if it is not outside my destiny, why should I ask? You cannot know that. Is it within your destiny or outside it? If it is outside your destiny, you will still receive reward. How does He give me reward for something that did not happen? When we are called to account in the hereafter, many rewards will appear before you. You will say: My Lord, I did not do these, I did not do them. What are these? Back then you prayed to Me for this, and I did not give it to you because it was outside your destiny. Had I given you this, you would have gone astray or done such and such. He shows him the ways. But you were patient.

Today, He says, you receive the reward for it. So there is no prayer that is not accepted. But what is within your destiny is accepted. And what is within your destiny also comes before you in the hereafter as an answer. That too is accepted. There. Nothing goes to waste. Its meaning is: I knew my Lord as great, I knew myself as helpless, lâ ya'lemü'l-gaybe illallah, I did not know the unseen, I asked my Lord. If it was outside my destiny, I was patient over what did not happen, I received its reward there. How beautiful. Yes.

Since our Lord does not interfere in what people do, how should His word guide people to the right path? If one person is to take another somewhere, he becomes his guide. He takes him wherever he wants. The guide takes the person he leads wherever he wants. Whereas the Quran is the word of our Lord. Had our Lord taken people to the right path, in the world not a single of our Lord's, not a single non-Muslim would remain in the world. but beforehand, that is, in the address, with our Lord, when we made the covenant, if our wishes and desires became our destiny, then in the world neither Allah Almighty nor the Quran guides us to the right path. Allah Almighty shows people the right path with His word; the person, by playing out in the world the script of the covenant he gave before, proves with his actual deeds what kind of person he is. Yes.

We have come to verse 11 of Surah Al-Isra.

People ask for evil as much as they ask for good. People are very hasty.

How does one ask for evil?

Look. Here the wrongly rendered part: many people ask for evil as much as they ask for good. Such people are not very hasty. What is the difference between the two?

Very hasty. What does it say? Many people. What does it say here? Such people. Now, people are very hasty. Very hasty. So there is no upright person. All are hasty. Allah could not create an upright person. It says that people ask for evil as much as they ask for good. People are very hasty.

Many people ask for evil as much as they ask for good. Such people are not very hasty. What happens? Now the parts have separated here. So Allah created good people too, but many are hasty. We have said this verse has been rendered wrongly from the start. People ask for evil as much as they ask for good.

People are very hasty. When the verse is rendered this way, our Lord could not create an upright person. When people ask for evil as they ask for good, everything becomes a mess. Whereas the correct rendering of the verse is this: Many people ask for evil as much as they ask for good. Such people are not very hasty. Not all people ask for evil. Many ask for evil as they ask for good. Patient people prevent much of the evil that such people would do.

Surah Al-Isra, verse 16, rendered wrongly: When We want to destroy a land, We command good to its ringleaders spoiled by wealth; despite this they commit evil there. So that land deserves destruction. And We shatter it. Now where is the wrong part here?

Look, I read it again. When We want to destroy a land, to that land's ringleaders spoiled by wealth We command good.

Despite this they commit evil there. So that land deserves destruction. And We shatter it.

Because people cannot grasp the errors here, it seems very fine to them. Now I read the correct one. Let's see who finds it in the correct one. When a land becomes deserving of destruction, when it continues on that path, to that land's ringleaders spoiled by wealth We command good. Despite this they commit evil there. So that land deserves destruction. And We shatter it. Where is it wrong? Sir, Allah Almighty does not want a land to be governed. That land brings destruction on itself. Now look. Look at the very first word. When We want to destroy a land: so whether it is good or bad, (?) (?) Whereas Allah wants to destroy no one.

With what does He say He does not want it? Unless We send, He says, preachers to the centre of a land, We do not destroy that land, He says. This is another place, a verse supporting this. What does it say here? When We want to destroy a land, it says. Whereas when a land becomes deserving of destruction, that is, when it goes outside Allah's command, when it continues on that path, to that land's ringleaders spoiled by wealth We command good, it says. That is: do not do it. Look, We created you in the world as an honourable human being. We created you as the most beautiful, most honourable of Our creation.

We addressed you with Our own Self. We gave you a part of Our spirit. We made you honourable above the worlds. You turn your back on your honour. It is in the verse. If you seek honour, He says, honour is with Allah. But you turn your back on your honour, He says. It is in the verses. So all I am saying corresponds to verses. You have become spoiled, your course has gone outside humanity, turn back, He says, and sends a messenger. If they deny that messenger and carry on, He then destroys that town.

In our time, I mean in my childhood, that is, take it as 70 years ago, I am 86 now, take it as 70 to 75 years ago, among non-Muslims, when there was a calamity: it will come to us too, it will come to us too, they would say; it will come to us too; we did not have such calamities; and we said: how would it come to us, how? It turns out it comes if we follow them, it comes if we do what they do. does it come? It does. When We give destruction to a town, He says, when We destroy it, He cannot destroy it, when We give calamity, as they help one another, He says, if only they had asked help from Me too, He says. No, what do they say? It was from fault movements, it was from weather conditions, sir, from (?); and then: why did Allah give us this, this?

Would the Lord of the worlds destroy eleven cities? eleven cities went under and also, say Allah, say Allah, Hodja, are you their enemy? First of all I gave a million in help, (?) they too are our brothers, but we remind them: do not forget Allah, say Allah, our Owner is Allah. Look, fifty thousand people, fifty-two thousand people are gone. When and where we will go in is not known. Where did we go? Into Allah's presence. Every soul will taste death, your return is to Me; we will all go into Allah's presence. Allah created all of us, we are all Allah's servants. In this case, yes, if a calamity comes, I help even a disbeliever, because everyone will prove what kind of person he is. But when we remind them of Allah, those who are enemies of Allah become enemies of us too. Whereas by telling them the truth we (?). By showing him the ways of truth we try to bring him among the sultans of the hereafter.

Yet by being my enemy he is really an enemy of his own self. If only he could know this. So when a calamity befalls us, we will first remember Allah: why did this happen to us, what did we do? And if we turn back from what we did, then Allah (?) us, as He gave to Job. Yes. In this verse the wrongly rendered part is this: When We want to destroy a land. The correct one is: When a land becomes deserving of destruction. Our Lord wants to destroy no land, no people, no human being. Our Lord made a covenant with people beforehand and wrote their wishes and desires for them as their destiny. When the communities in a land go outside our Lord's command, when they overstep the limits Allah has set, that land becomes deserving of destruction.

Even then our Lord does not destroy that land at once. He warns the ringleaders of that land. So that they turn to the Truth, He sends them prophets and preachers. But that people and land does not listen to the envoys or preachers our Lord sends. When it keeps overstepping the limits our Lord has set, He destroys that region. Otherwise our Lord does not want to destroy a town for no reason. Yes.

Of Surah Al-Isra,

there's no question here, is there? No, not here. what is this Yes. In verse 18 of Surah Al-Isra there is a wrongly rendered part. Whom shall I ask? Let me see whom I ask that this was rendered wrongly. One of you tell me. Well, if he wishes this swiftly passing world, to him, that is, to whomever We wish, as much as We wish, He gives at once in the world, then We put him into Hell, which he will enter condemned and rejected.

(?) wishes this swiftly passing world: that is right, there are those who wish it. To him, that is, to whomever We wish, as much as We wish in the world at once He gives. Then We put him into Hell, which he will enter condemned and rejected.

Here the wishings are mixed up. Let's open it up. If he wishes the world: correct. If the person wishes. To him, that is, to whomever We wish; look here, to him, it says. Then, that is, that is not it either; to whomever We wish, it says. Whereas here I will say: to the one who wishes. To the one who wishes, as much as We wish; not as much as We wish, but as much as he wishes, he wishes; we made the covenant in the address of Elestü bi-rabbiküm, didn't we? Yes. We give at once in the world. Then We put him into Hell, which he will enter condemned and rejected. Let's read the correct one now. Whoever wishes this swiftly passing world, to him, that is, to the one who wishes, within his destiny, did you see?

Within his destiny, the destiny he wished, He gives at once in the world.

Then, condemned and rejected, into the Hell he will enter We put him. How beautiful. (?) (?) Words, words are very important. Allah is not to be given attributes. Now to this one above, Mr. Halis Demir's even if it is a verse, if it goes against my reason, I say it is not a verse. He says that, doesn't he? And I say to this: it is not a verse. This is not a verse. Because Allah has been given attributes. He has made distinctions among servants. And Allah is not such an Allah. So this is not a verse. I say it is fabricated. This is fabricated. The man spoke right. Plus, right, look. You cannot deny the Arabic text of the actual verse.

If you deny its text, you become a disbeliever. If you deny the Arabic text of a verse, you become a disbeliever. Why, Hodja? We sent down the Quran. We are its guardian until the Day of Judgement. In a single letter of it there is neither distortion nor distortion. You can neither erase nor write it wrong. In its text. The guardian of the text is Allah. You cannot deny it. But if the person rendering the verse has given Allah attributes, you say: this is no verse. This is not a verse. What are you doing to Allah? You are protecting Allah, who is free of deficient attributes.

And Allah Almighty answers what I say with this verse. Whoever says Allah said this when Allah did not say it, his place is prepared in the fire, that is, in the punishment. It is prepared. Look, we always bring a verse for what we say.

Rendering verses is no child's play.

Protecting Ahl al-Sunnah is not taking on superstitions and sprinkling superstitions over the truth.

Ahl al-Sunnah: if it is Ahl al-Sunnah, let it do scholarship, let it do scholarship; it needs knowledge. You cannot be the guardian of Ahl al-Sunnah.

You have a long way to go; do not call yourself Ahl al-Sunnah and turn the religion into superstitions.

And if, before reaching a certain place in Allah's sight, you say I will defend Ahl al-Sunnah, you prepare your punishment in Hell.

The wrongly rendered part in this verse is this. Whoever wishes this swiftly passing world, to him, that is, to whomever We wish, as much as We wish, He gives at once in the world. The correct one: Whoever wishes this swiftly passing world, to him, that is, to the one who wishes, within his destiny, as much as he wishes, He gives at once in the world. How beautiful. Now in verse 172 of Surah Al-A'raf, when writing that we made a covenant with Allah Almighty, there I use a word: in full. The meaning of "in full" is as much as the person wishes, neither above nor below.

The word "in full" saves us from ascribing attributes to Allah.

Because, as I said before, if He gave more and not exactly in full, he would grow spoiled and say I did this. If He gave less, he would say I had no time to worship You, I did not do it.

That is why the words must fit exactly in place. Isn't that right, Gülay? Are you thinking of something else? You drifted off. Yes. (?) do not drift off. As we always say, the world is not a place of torment and hardship on all four sides.

Three sides are torment and hardship, one side is joy and pleasure, joy and pleasure. So if a person sets out to struggle with its three sides of torment and hardship and fixates on it, (?), he ruins himself. What will he say? If I am with the one side of joy and pleasure within the three sides of torment and hardship, I will find my Lord. Otherwise, if with these three sides of torment and hardship I set out to struggle: with Satan will you struggle? Will you struggle with the world? Will you struggle with your nafs? Look: three sides of torment and hardship.

One side of joy and pleasure. What is it? Against the three sides of torment and hardship, you have faith. You have reason. You have Allah's inspiration. And what will you be with these? Leave the enemies; let the enemies wear themselves out. Isn't that so? Yes. Otherwise the world pulls you in like a swamp. As Satan gives you (?), your nafs likes it. Your nafs, like a horse gone wild, drives you, as it were, into hardships and you ruin yourself.

But patience,

inspiration and your reason show you the right paths. Yes.

Whoever wishes this swiftly passing world: some people put the hereafter behind them, keep the world in the foreground. They want to own the world as if they would never die.

Never to die.

I say this with sorrow, but here those who strip stark naked always come to my mind when I read these. They clung to the world, called it living, stripped on beaches and lay stark naked, took lovers, in hotels they were in (?), took their pleasure with seaside pleasures, forgot Allah's blessing on the human being, forgot that man will return to Allah, were caught up in the joy and pleasure of this swiftly passing world, and in this swamp thought they were living. In this life, if a pebble pierced his foot, knowing how it hurts, just as he pulls his foot away from there, if a fine hair pressed into this delicate eye, how he protects that eye; if only he knew. In this world and in the hereafter's endless life, for this eternal punishment, for a few passing minutes here, how can you strip stark naked and ruin your hereafter?

When I speak like this, they become my enemies. Do not be my enemy, be the enemy of your own nafs. Your nafs is being hostile to you. Satan is being hostile to you. Because Satan is man's enemy, Allah says. The world is being hostile to you. It appears adorned to you. Allah says that too. Yellow gold, shining wheat, shining gold, yellow wheat: those who give their hearts to them. The world is pulling you into a swamp. You never think: to betray the One who created you this way and to strip naked the body He gave you and bring it to the state of a rag, is it fitting for a person? Is it fitting? Ahl al-Sunnah. If you speak, speak like this.

Ahl al-Sunnah. How are you Ahl al-Sunnah?

Yes. what do we say: Whoever wishes this swiftly passing world: some people put the hereafter behind them, keep the world in the foreground, want to own the world as if they would never die. How was the verse rendered? To whomever We wish, We give at once in the world the destiny We wish, in the world, his destiny, no: it says We give at once in the world as much as We wish. There are two errors in what is said here. One: to whomever We wish. Second, it says as much as We wish.

Not to whomever We wish, but to the one who wishes, within his destiny We give the destiny he wished.

The verse rendered correctly has to be like this. Because the verse that follows proves this. Then We put him into Hell, which he will enter condemned and rejected, He says. That is, not Allah's wishing, not the destiny Allah wished, but the person's wished destiny is given within the destiny he wished. Then We put him into Hell condemned. I am stating the verses.

Yes.

Now when the verse is rendered in its wrong form, both Allah Almighty will give the person He wishes as much as He wishes in the world, then He will wish this person, and because of the blessings He gave, He will condemn him and put him into Hell. How is the meaning?

What did this person do of himself to be condemned? You gave as much as You wished, and he used what he wished.

This person used what our Lord gave. Whereas the true meaning of the verse is as we rendered above. Whoever wishes this swiftly passing world, to him, that is, to the one who wishes, within his destiny, as much as he wishes He gives at once in the world, because He has given a body; He will give his provision within that body, and while securing his provision he will prove what kind of person he is.

Then We put him into Hell, which he will enter condemned and rejected. Yes. So this world is a market place for trade.

A market place where a person trades with his own nafs.

If in this world this trade of his, with the command of the Truth, on the straight path, to win our Lord's pleasure, watching over the state of His creatures, giving to those in need with self- sacrifice, thinking of those people while selling his goods, and the needy one too, when buying the goods, not giving more than its value, regardless of whether he is rich or poor, the person selling his goods always thinking of what is right, then: I have such servants that neither trade nor commerce keeps them from My remembrance; the verse, he comes into the state of the person it describes. So the person himself, in the world, is in a bargain with his trading, with his actions.

With whom? In a trade with Allah's commands. He has forgotten this, in the world: whom can I deceive? From whom can I get more money? If I deceive this one more, I will go to that place of joy and pleasure. I will buy a top-model car like this. I will go to a beach there for sea pleasures. Go. did you think you will give account for it? Yes.

So we have turned our backs on Allah. We do not remember Allah. These blessings Allah gave us, this provision He rained down, we have forgotten. We take it all ourselves. We do it by our own effort. But if this provision is not in your destiny, run as much as you like, you cannot get it. (?) your destiny, you wished it anyway; your Lord gives it to you. With any step you take you get that provision. So do not say "mine". Your Lord created what you wished and gave it to you. And while taking it you made a trade. What trade is this? Did you remember your Lord and take what is forbidden? Or did you take the forbidden without remembering your Lord?

Did you take the lawful remembering your Lord? That is a trade. But let no one think about this.

Yes.

We have come to verse 21 of Surah Al-Isra. Look, it says. Look. How We have made some people superior to others. How beautiful still.

Allah made some superior to others. The Children of Israel too (?).

Not knowing the meanings in the verse, they say: the Children of Israel We made superior over people.

And it also says there were the people of the Sabbath there. They were turned into apes, it says. We made them superior over them.

If people cannot know the truth, by their own reason they make up made-up things.

Had the Children of Israel been superior over people, they would not have been cursed. If the Children of Israel were superior over people, Allah Almighty would not have said this verse. The Children of Israel have the right to live within Muslim countries, it says. They have the right to live under the rule of Muslims.

If they were a superior people: Allah sends superior people as rulers to people. For example, the prophets. Right? They are superior.

For example, the Children of Israel imprisoned in the desert of Tih: Allah Almighty sends Saul to them as commander; look at their mentality. While we have wealthy people among us, how can he become a commander over us, they say. And what does Moses say? He is a person superior to you, he says. And with their children beside him, by defeating Goliath, he frees them from prison, frees them from the desert of Tih. So where was superiority? With Allah. Superiority among people: all the people Allah created are equal in the realm of lahut. Pay attention to my words. I am not saying in the world. When created in the realm of lahut they are equal.

Because Allah gave all of them of His spirit. For this reason the human being was created with honour above the worlds. There, when He said I am your Lord and they divided into three classes, those whose faith was strong are close to Allah. Those whose faith is strong. Those who affirm Allah's oneness. Two sentences. Who are they? Fe ashâbü'l-meymeneti mâ ashâbü'l-meymeneh, those on the right.

And Ve's-sâbikûne's-sâbikûn, ülâike'l-mukarrabûn, fî cennâti'n-naîm, the class of those brought near, as He says; the other, ve ashâbü'l-meş'emeti mâ ashâbü'l-meş'emeh, as He says: those on the left. When I say "the left", my stomach turns, my stomach.

Yes.

There is much to say, but do you know what (?) says? I would say a lot, but, he says, I am afraid (?).

Look, we say. How We have made some people superior to others.

And surely the hereafter is greater in degrees and in differences of superiority.

Correct. Now look: how some people are superior to others. How some people are superior to others. And surely the hereafter is greater in degrees and in differences of superiority. Even, I said it is right, didn't I: whoever is superior to another, his degree is higher. Look how beautiful: superior by what a person earns, by what he does. Yes. Whereas it says how We have made some people superior to others. (?) What does it say? It is greater in degrees and in differences of superiority. Even their saying the opposite contradicts each other. Even in rendering the verses their words contradict each other.

The wrongly rendered part here is this. How We have made some people superior to others. If Allah was going to make people superior one over another, why did He address us in the address of Elestü bi-rabbiküm, saying I am your Lord? Why did He leave our own will free in ourselves? Why did He give us will, and not program us as He programmed the angels as He wished? Which is what He says anyway. Had We wished, He says, We would have created you as a single community. That is, as We program the angels, you would have stayed so. Why? He gave us will. Because He gave of His spirit. In that person there will be fame, renown, pride, arrogance, ego, grandeur, worldly desire.

Seven traits. That person will wrestle with those traits. He will know his Creator and submit to Him. He will know his helplessness and see his Lord as exalted. And his love and affection will be for his Lord. He will not go outside what He says. He will submit to his elder. With manners and courtesy. Here is the example: the world, the world is the likeness and shadow of the hereafter. A child will obey his mother and father. He will not go outside what they say. Unless they lead to evil. And in this case, when their old age passes beside you, do not even say "uff" to them, it says.

Now children respect neither mother nor father. They have left the religion. No manners or courtesy is left. Allah set up the order, but they have gone outside His order. And how beautifully the verse says it anyway.

So there is no superiority among people. When creating, when Allah said I am your Lord, by people's own will, in knowing or not knowing Allah Almighty, superiorities begin.

In not obeying Allah Almighty, superiorities begin. So I too, not being deceived by this passing worldly life, in order to be a superior servant in Allah's sight, need to put the world behind me. Well, Hodja, then why do you live? Putting the world behind me does not mean I have left the world. Allah Almighty says: build up your world. You will work hard for the world too. Hodja, I understood nothing from what you said, open this up a little. One of the poets says: there cannot be guest upon guest. What does it mean? In a house, he says, there cannot be two guests, there cannot be two (?); under one arm two watermelons cannot be carried. One of the watermelons you will hold. So one of the watermelons, or the master of the house: the master of the house is the faith in his heart, between Allah and himself, his faith.

With what? In the address of Elestü bi-rabbiküm, the covenant the spirit, the nafs and the soul gave to the one Allah Almighty, clothed in the body's outward part, as flesh and bone in the world, has entered into your and my appearance, and with practical reason in the world, to earn a living, of course it will work for the world. But when it works for the world, it will not forget its Owner.

Let's read this too. Let's end our lesson here. This is a little sad, but never mind. The correct one is: look how some people are superior to others. And surely the hereafter is greater in degree and in the difference, the differences of superiority.

The hereafter is greater in superiority and differences.

In the world there are degrees too. What degrees? A man is a director, general director, member of parliament, minister, prime minister, and president or sultan or king.

What does it say here? And surely the hereafter, in degrees and differences of superiority, is greater. So the degree above these degrees, the worldly degrees, is in the hereafter greater. I may be a shepherd here. I may be mending old shoes here. Perhaps because my family went hungry that day I may ask Ahmet or Mehmet for three kuruş, five kuruş on credit. But if my heart is with Allah, if I am a servant Allah loves, if he is also a saintly servant of Allah, he is superior in degree to your king here. That is, the hereafter is superior. this is a passing realm; here even if a person is in a barrel of needles, if for Allah he swallows it; as one of the poets says: from the beloved's hand even poison is drunk, he says; he says it to the nafs: if your love is for Allah, even if it is poison you drink it; it becomes healing for you.

And your Lord holds you among His superior servants both in this world and in the hereafter.

The wrongly rendered thing here is this. How We have made some people superior to others. The correct one is: how some people are superior to others. By their own wishes and desires, their wills. Our Lord holds no one, no people superior. Because when people made a covenant with our Lord in the address of Elestü bi-rabbiküm, according to each one's degree of faith, our Lord wrote people's destinies. In this case, those with more faith who obey our Lord, who love our Lord more in their hearts, our Lord knows. Because (?) those who love our Lord more in their hearts: it is our Lord. Because in the verse our Lord: We know the secrets of your hearts, He declares.

In this case our Lord does not hold those nearer, nearer to our Lord, and those of low degree of faith with those low, as one. Just as in the world, although working people get the return for their work, those whose earnings are very high and those whose earnings are low and who barely get by are not the same, in the hereafter realm, when they made the covenant with our Lord, these people's degrees of faith in our Lord are not the same either. In this case, not "how We have made some people superior to others"; the verse's correct rendering is "how some people are superior to others".

Because they rendered all such verses wrongly, they accused our Lord of injustice, making Him discriminate among people. We end our lesson here.

Stay well, be entrusted to Allah. Lillahi Teâlâ el-Fâtiha.