Talk of 6 January 2024

Why am I not opening this?

It will come here like this.

Should the pages be restored? No.

Page 272, is where we left off, he says.

Hodja, I just want to ask a question. When it says to recite Surah Yasin a number of times, how can I find this number?

Hodja.

We said this part. We will start from here. Yes.

The place we left will show us where we stopped, inshallah.

We left off at verse 70 of Surah Al-Furqan, I think. Right?

He says 272.

Not on page 272; 273, on that page. Verse 70, right? Let's answer our questions like that, then.

Hodja, with your permission I'd like to ask a question. When it says to recite Surah Yasin a number of times, how can I find this number? And does too much sleep kill the heart?

Reciting any surah a set number of times is not right. No surah. These are from the Jews, to degenerate the religion of Islam, and some deviant, I'd say, or ignorant hodjas too say: if you recite this so many times you get so much reward, if you recite that so many times, see what will happen; and they fall into the Jews' game, their trap. Or they knowingly play into the Jewish trap. Verses are not recited by count. Whichever verse you want to recite, however much, recite the surah. The surah. Surahs recited by count unlock the codes of the jinn. And they come to haunt you. So there is no reciting of the noble Yasin by count.

There is no verse, nor any hadith saying: if such a surah is recited so many times, this will happen. So people who say such things are either deviants, or Jewish-minded people saying it to degenerate the religion, or those in the circle of ignorance who speak without weighing what others say: such people. Do not give them any value. These are words said to make things hard for people in the religion of Islam. Yes. And what else does he say here? How to find this number, and does too much sleep kill the heart, he says. Now, if you are a friend of Allah, if you are a friend of Allah.

What does it say here?

Yes, we found it. When someone sends something, the answers, the questions jump up. We search and find them again. So our request to you is: don't send your question before a question is finished.

If you are a friend of Allah, you don't sleep much at night anyway. At night you pray tahajjud prayers, you remember Allah. But Allah Almighty created the night for rest, and the day for working, getting tired, lying down in the evening, resting, and seeking your provision again the next day. One the night, one the day. So when you say I won't sleep much, you grow weak. You become unable to work by day; if you end up unable to provide your livelihood, that won't do either. That is only for those burning with love of Allah, who have risen to a certain level. In this way their nights, and even then a third, look, it doesn't say all of it, a third, or a little more or a little less, it says to the Prophet.

Spend it in worship, it says. And those who see you, it says, practise it the same way. They have hard work by day, it says. How beautifully it says it. So not every verse is for every person. When I say every verse, I mean some, very rare verses. For example it says: the believers, Allah pleased with them and they pleased with Allah, enter among My servants, it says. How beautiful, they enter paradise, it says. Well, these are people who are believers. So these words are for believers, not for all Muslims. But all Muslims, although it is also for all Muslims, they have not been able to become believers.

Look, the verses are actually for all people. Not to all Muslims. The verses are for all people. But to hold to the verses and be a person worthy of the verses, you must adjust yourself accordingly. Look, the Prophet (peace be upon him) says this about Ramadan. Don't fast the three months entirely and then enter the obligatory Ramadan weak, he says. How beautifully he says it. Here too he asks whether too much sleep at night kills the heart. If you work by day and get tired, and lie down at night, you won't even know how you got up in the morning. But if he is a friend of Allah, he spends the night anyway; he cannot lie down at night.

Even if he lies down, his right side aches, or his left, or his sleep flees and he gets up again. Still, a person must protect his own body. Allah Almighty says in a verse: for the way you used this trust I gave you I will call you to account. Our body is a trust given to us. We must protect it. "I'll sleep too much at night and my heart will die" – if I skip sleep, (?) I can't do the work I have to do. Either I'm dismissed from my job or I can't provide for my household. You must balance yourselves. Yes. Assalamu alaikum, Hodja. Hafizes are said to be given the right of intercession in the hereafter. Is this true?

And could you explain the importance of being a hafiz? I kiss your hands, he says.

There are hafizes who are saints. Who are believers. There are hafizes who wander in their commanding nafs. The right of intercession: certain ones, the believers, those who do what Allah Almighty declared binding in His verses, attain the right of intercession. This man is a hafiz, a hafiz of the Word, but he also tells lies. This man can't control his nafs either. Can you give this man the right of intercession? Yes, he is a hafiz, that's fine; being a hafiz is one thing, his actual deeds are another. Now what does he say: and could you explain the importance of being a hafiz, I kiss your hands, he says. A hafiz is a person far more connected with the Quran, the hafiz; that is, roughly, even if he doesn't understand its meaning, whenever it comes to mind he recites the Quran. Such people.

Hazrat Abdulqadir Gilani also says: those who recite the Quran, whether they know its meaning or not, do they draw near to You, he asks Allah Almighty. Our Lord answers: those who recite the Quran, He says, whether they know its meaning or not, draw near to Allah, He says. So the hafiz, the hafiz of the Word, has memorised the Quran from beginning to end. So he recites much more than other ordinary people. But if he can't control his nafs, he fills in from one side; a bucket with a hole in the bottom leaks out from another. Yes. So for hafizes, the hafizes of the Word, those who master their nafs must not grow proud or arrogant; when he says I know the Quran, he gets carried away by selfish feelings.

And Satan works hard on them. He shows them to themselves as privileged among people. Then the person acts out of ego. Those who are careful about this, who wish to draw near to Allah this way, stay away from such longings. So I can't say a hafiz, let me tell you, won't attain intercession, nor do I say a hafiz will attain intercession. There are many hafizes. There was a man I knew. I am a hafiz, he said. He drank, gambled, and knew nothing of being a hafiz.

He worked in another profession. He didn't work as a hafiz. Now, Allah Almighty in a verse also says to the Prophet: when I reveal to your heart, don't hurry and move your tongue with it. For I will settle it firmly in you and you will never forget, He says. You will never forget, mind you. Yes. And the beautiful side of the hafizes of the Word is this.

Allah Almighty says: We sent down the Quran. We are its guardian until the Day of Judgement. He says. And how does He guard it? Hafizes all over the world have memorised the Quran. No one can change a letter of this Quran. Yes.

A guest says: Assalamu alaikum, Hodja, my daughter asked me how the Quran, never corrupted, never undergoing any change, has come down to our day. I wanted to ask you, as you can answer this question so beautifully. I kiss your blessed hands. I explained this in the previous question. In the Quran, Allah Almighty decrees in a verse: We sent down the Quran. And We are its guardian until the Day of Judgement. Not one letter of it will be distorted or altered, He says. If Allah Almighty, the All-Knowing, created this universe from nothing, protecting the Quran is to Him like the buzz of a flying fly.

Yes. So the Quran does not undergo change. And the original of the Quran exists as well. According to the original, not a single letter is misprinted. (?) they keep sending. When they send, things jump away. Yes.

Here: how it came (?) up to knowing this. Yes. The guest asks again. Assalamu alaikum, sir. Yesterday, while praying the Friday prayer, we were in the very front row behind the hodja. Since we are students, – let me move this up so it's better. Okay. We were in the very front row behind the hodja. Since we are students, I said to the hodja: Hodja, what if a hodja who is both older and married came in our place, I said. The hodja said some things about this. Since I didn't know, I wanted to learn and asked you, sir. What should be the qualities of the one who will be the Fatih here, and in what order should one look?

Good. Look, you know this too. You're probably asking me so that I explain it to people. One meaning comes out of it. Another meaning is: do I know it or not. Let's go with the first thing we said, so people know. The man who stands behind the hodja, the imam, is called the Fatih. When something happens to the hodja, that is, when his ablution breaks and he sits down, the Fatih leads the prayer. When something happens to the Fatih, the one on his right leads the prayer. When something happens to him too, the one on the left leads the prayer. The Fatih need not necessarily have memorised the whole Quran.

He may not have. Behind him there must be someone able to lead the prayer: married, with good speech and recitation, older. But first, who leads the prayer? Let's say that. First, if there is a known saint, the saint leads the prayer. A saint. The wali leads. He leads regardless of his recitation. Why does he lead? Because such a friend of Allah prays his prayer in the presence of Allah, speaking with Allah. Yes. But in our religion, hodjas, imams are appointed to mosques. Behind these imams the congregation prays.

Now, since the Diyanet appoints the imam, we are necessarily obliged to follow them. We are obliged to follow the imams.

The person behind the imam must be someone able to lead the prayer, older, a good person. We call him the Fatih. When something happens to the hodja, he will lead. If he knows the verse where the hodja stopped, he'll continue from there. If he doesn't know it, reciting a surah of his choice, one he knows, he will complete the prayer.

If something happens to him, the one on the right, we said. If something happens to him, the one on the left. This is how the congregation spreads out behind. That is, "I must stand next to the one on the right, on the right" – there is no such thing as (?) "I'll stand on the right". The aim: the imam in the middle; if the congregation is more on the right, they fill the left side. If more on the left, they fill the right. They split evenly. That's how the row is completed. Otherwise the row is half. It drifts off to one side. This part is understood. Let's go on. What else does he say?

Hodja, in our place both older – yes, sir, here the person who will be Fatih, this part too: should one look. Could you explain? Sir, there was a hodja in the front row. That hodja, that hodja was at one end of the row. He would come from there and lead in my place, he said. I know the Fatih should stand directly behind the person. Is it right for him to say he'd come from one end of the row? It is not right. He can't come from one end of the row. That hodja said it from his own head. One who judges everything by his own mind is like a legless man with an artificial leg, it says. First of all, that hodja can't pass in front of people and get there.

Besides, when the hodja sits down, the hodja at the other end of the row won't even know he sat. So the person behind him at once takes one step with his right foot and moves forward. There he leads the prayer in the imam's place. If something happens to him, the one on the right leads from his place. And if something happens to him too, the one on the left – though such a thing hardly happens anyway. So the Fatih must be behind the imam. This is a must.

If a person who can't act as imam, saying "let me get more reward", stands behind the imam as Fatih, and something happens to the hodja, and this one is unfit, the whole congregation's prayer is invalidated. Yes. How can I explain this to this hodja? – just as I said, explain it. Sir, with the hodja, one person, two people, three people, or when there are more than three, with the hodja in front of the row, another one person, and two people, two, three or more people: in these cases how should we stand, could you explain? There is no one but the imam. There is one imam. Let's say. The imam is praying as imam.

Or there is one imam. And one more person. The iqamah is called. The imam stands for prayer. That one person stands behind the imam. He is the Fatih.

Now say it wasn't two people but three. The imam leading, the Fatih behind him, the next one stands on his right. A third person came, besides the imam. He stands on the Fatih's left. The third person. A fourth person came. He stands to the right of the one on the Fatih's right. A fifth person came. He stands to the left of the one on the Fatih's left. So the row grows evenly from the middle. If everyone stands on one side, the row stays half. Complete the row, he says. There must be no gaps in the row. And while the row has space, no row is formed behind.

The row is formed. There's no room left in the row. A person came later. What do we do?

One person cannot stand alone in a row. Then he'll pull a person from the front row by the arm, by the arm, he'll take him by the left arm. That person steps back with his right foot and brings his left foot beside it. The latecomer will stand on his right.

Those who come after continue on his left and right. Yes.

This is understood too, I suppose. You can ask about parts not understood.

Assalamu alaikum, sir. I respectfully kiss your blessed hands. Page 598, Surah Al-Qadr, verse 4 – could you explain this verse? Sir, it says: by the permission of their Lord, the spirit and the angels – I couldn't understand that part. Sir, he says. First, which book did you read? Our book? I mean, did you read what we wrote? Or did you read what's written in other books? For example, here is a translation. Look. Let's read. We'll say Surah Al-Qadr. Let's see here. Al-Qadr Surah. In it the angels and the spirit, by the permission of their Lord, from every command they come down, it says. What did you understand from this? All the books write something close to this.

Look, what does it say now? In it the angels and the spirit, by the permission of their Lord, come down from every command. Who is the Lord? Who is the spirit? Where did the spirit come down? These are all stories. But the verses are true. The words are wrong. And Allah is one thing, the Lord another. What does it say here? They, the angels and the spirit. By the permission of their Lord. The spirit is set apart. Now the Lord is separate. The spirit is separate. By the permission of their Lord. The angels and the spirit, it says. By the permission of their Lord. They come down from every command.

So Allah too comes down by a command. Because the Lord is Allah. Allah is the universal spirit. Here we explained our verse like this.

The angels rise to the spirit in a time of fixed measure. On the Night of Qadr – Surah At-Tariq (?) Well, Surah Al-Qadr. Look what it says; we explained the fourth like this. And here they explained it like this. That night, by the permission of their Lord, the angels and the spirit, Gabriel, it says, Gabriel, keep descending for every matter, it says. Look, for every matter, the angels and the spirit. And it says Gabriel. Whereas that night the spirit and the angels, the spirit and the angels, by their Lord's permission, keep descending for every matter. The spirit and the angels. Who is this?

The spirit is Allah Almighty. Why is that night called the Night of Qadr? People can hardly grasp this, but Allah Almighty too comes to visit the world. On earth. Together with the angels. That night.

When it says by the permission of their Lord, that is, by Allah's permission, that night, which is also the Night of Qadr, the night the Quran came down from the Preserved Tablet to the Sidrat al-Muntaha, to the place called Qadr. They come to visit. To visit. That's why people go from mosque to mosque, hoping they might come upon it. Hodja, have you ever come upon it? I have a witness too; I came upon it. Where did you come upon it, Hodja? In Istanbul, at Zuhurat Baba.

It was the Night of Qadr. There were people in i'tikaf. After the night prayer, we were to go to those in i'tikaf, chat with them, do a little dhikr of Allah, and return home. Everyone left. We closed the doors from inside. We saw someone inside.

There had been no one inside. Thirty, thirty, about thirty-five. Around forty. Thirty-five, forty. Beauty. We had closed the door. It didn't occur to me that he was an angel. What's going on? We closed the door. What are you doing here? I'm telling you his exact words. For us there is no closed door, he said. There you go. Then we came to our senses. But his duty is one thing, ours another. We are human. We were in no position to follow him. Eh? We didn't open the door either. He vanished.

We have witnessed many things. We explain the verses, but not haphazardly. Yes.

I had a question. One of the spouses. Wait, let me see. This is the circle, I suppose.

Why is this thing doing that?

This won't scroll down.

There's something here. Assalamu alaikum, sir, he says. Around page 272, Surah Al-Furqan, verse 70 – at the verse's footnote is where we left off, he says. This is Ömer Sefa. Yes. Assalamu alaikum, sir. I kiss your blessed hands. Page 598, Surah Al-Qadr. We just explained this too. We covered it, didn't we?

Hodja, they explained it wrongly. Let's wrap it up like that. They explained those verses wrongly. And we correct them properly. It's written in our translation. (?) If one of the spouses, over a very small reason, sulks and starts sleeping apart, is there a sin? Even when one tries to talk, the other thinks they're right and speaks hurtfully, he says.

Yes.

Within a family there are arguments. Within a family, towards each other, sometimes unknowingly, people speak hurtfully out of the feelings of the nafs. But family is not to be compared to the talk of people outside. Because this is family. There are children. They have to swallow some words to keep peace at home. In this case, if it's one of the spouses, whichever, if it's the man, what happens? If it's the man, and the woman comes to apologise or comes to talk, the woman takes the greater reward. And if the man won't talk, he's gripped by the feelings of the nafs and falls into sin. If the woman sleeps apart, the noble angels curse the woman who sleeps apart from her husband until morning, they say.

Yes. So within a family one doesn't sleep apart over trifles. They may sulk at each other for the moment, but they don't separate their beds. When are beds separated? The man tells his wife don't go there; the woman goes. He says don't do this; she does it. First he warns her. Then the woman again sets about doing the same thing. He beats her by lightly striking her buttocks. Now you can't raise your hand. Now they have set the verse aside. You can't raise your hand to a woman. Because she goes straight off and complains to family protection. The man is immediately removed from the home. Allah protect us.

This is the game the unbeliever plays on us. I have learned it. If she does none of what the man says, then the man separates his bed. That is different. At other times, when spouses sulk and separate their beds, whichever is at fault, Allah Almighty writes down that one's punishment.

We are Muslims. Do you know the meaning of Muslim? It means people who have submitted to Allah and obey. In one sense, those who have submitted to Allah are people with no attachment to their nafs. Whereas a person who can't master his nafs, in his commanding nafs, that is, in his drinking, gambling, fornication, lying, swindling, injustice and cruelty, carries on. His Islam is only on his tongue. When we say we are Muslims, we will abide by Allah's commands. There are obligations upon us. What are they? To recite the shahada. Have we? We will pray, fast, give zakat, go on hajj. Two of them cost money; the others involve obedience; He doesn't ask money of you. To protect your body He has you pray. Look, I'm 86, and by Allah I still walk about on my own feet.

No illness, nothing. Because I have been praying ever since (?). Constant training, drill. This body Allah gave me, I both make it obey and protect it. I don't get carried away by the feelings of the nafs. Why? Because the feelings of the nafs drag a person into stress. They create unrest at home. When there's unrest, when there's stress, you are left open to every kind of germ. Your body weakens. Your immune system heads toward collapse. People today never leave the doctor's. They constantly take medicine. Medicine fixes one place and wrecks another. People have no peace. They are in a constant flurry.

So what happens? A you-versus-me fight at home. This doesn't exist in Islam.

We cannot live Islam.

And there's no one to explain it. To explain it. Yes.

This is understood too, I suppose. Here we go.

(?) Assalamu alaikum, sir. I have another question. Page 544, Surah Al-Hashr, verse 2. May Allah be pleased with you, sir. Let's open it. Does he say page 544?

544, Surah Al-Hashr, verse 2. The verse. Okay. 549, 544. Surah Al-Hashr, verse 4: This is because they, against Allah and His Prophet, set themselves in opposition. Whoever opposes Allah, let him know that Allah's punishment is severe, it says. There's nothing hard to understand here.

This is exactly what I was saying a moment ago. Allah's punishment is severe, but we can explain this part in a bit more detail. This is because they opposed Allah and the Prophet. Now, if with denial in the heart one opposes Allah and the Prophet, Allah's punishment is severe. But he has recited the shahada and knows Allah as Allah. And knows the Prophet as the Prophet. He doesn't oppose. But he neither holds to the Quran nor to the hadith, nor does what Allah says. Who are these? Those wandering in the commanding nafs who, if in the end they can depart as Muslims, will, with the burden of their sins, serve their punishment in hell: such people.

There's no such thing as Muslims not entering hell. So one wandering in his commanding nafs, who believed in Allah and His Messenger but neither prayed nor fasted nor gave zakat nor went on hajj, though he had all the means, and went far in cruelty and swindling people – if he goes like this, and as a Muslim he went, he has no reward. Because his sins are more, even if only a little, he goes to hell. Just like criminals here in prison, he serves his sentence. In the end he still goes to paradise. Why? Because he knew Allah as Allah and His Messenger as Messenger. The others, the others knew Allah as Allah but associated partners with Him.

That doesn't mean knowing Allah. So their place is eternal hell and fire. And a Muslim with torment, that is, with more sin, if he enters hell, the fire is forbidden to him. He does not burn in the fire. In verse 131 of Surah Al Imran, look what Allah Almighty says now. Surah Al Imran, 131,

verse. Al Imran 162, 152, 131, here.

Beware the fire prepared for the unbelievers, it says. Beware the fire prepared for the unbelievers, it says. So it is telling you: do not leave Islam.

Stay in Islam. At least, if he ends up in prison, let him not go to the fire, it says. Here is Allah's mercy, for Muslims. Now, Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 24 as well. You cannot do this; (?) you will not be able to. I mean, let's read from the verse before. If you are in doubt about the Quran We sent down to Our servant, then you too bring a surah like it. And, if you doubt the Quran, call your witnesses besides Allah to help, if you are true to your word. You cannot do this. That is, you cannot bring the equal of a surah. Surely you will not be able to. Because Allah's Word rests upon letters. Each letter has its own meaning.

And when a sentence is formed or a word is spoken, meaning upon meaning opens. Other meanings appear too. Then beware the fire, it says – look at the rest. Then beware the fire whose kindling, whose fuel is people and stones. It is prepared for the unbelievers.

Yes. So, since we are in a guesthouse in this world – every soul shall taste death, and since He says your return is to Me –

the adornment of this world, actually like the flower of a zaqqum tree blooming in a swamp, looks adorned to you; if you fix your eyes on the gains of this world, if you turn your back on the life of eternal bliss, on the journey you'll make if you go empty-handed, you will have prepared your place yourself.

Yes. If they brought you without giving you any money and put you in the middle of New York with not a penny in your pocket –

even if it were a country you know, whether you're Ahmet or Mehmet, under the justice there, a person with no money in his pocket will be punished. Look, a person with no money in his pocket will be punished. Or a person carrying smuggled money in his pocket will be punished. What is smuggled money? It is sin. So you've gone there. With smuggled money in your pocket. The law there seizes you, straight to hell. But if, as you go there, they've put in your pocket from here money to spend there, you find a place according to that money and live there. And imagine you have trillions. You live there in palaces like lords.

Well, this place is temporary. The home of eternal bliss is the hereafter. So here, say Allah, don't (?) anyone, don't do evil. Always lead people in doing good. Help those in need as much as you can. If you know the Quran, recite it. If not, keep up your prayer and supplication. Allah asks nothing else of you. Then off you go.

But they keep making religion harder and harder. Oh, if you recite this surah so many times you get this, oh, if you recite that like this you get that – all stories upon stories. By Allah, my (?) gets tight when they say that. These superstition hodjas. Superstition. There's a hadith, you know. One who speaks ill of the hajji and the hodja behind their back is as if he played with his own head, it says in the hadith. Hodja, aren't you speaking ill of hodjas behind their backs? One gets fed up. I can't approve of them. They're neither hajjis nor hodjas. They're not hodjas. They're superstition. You'll recite the verse so many times, you'll recite this part so many times, and you'll get, let me tell you, so much reward, or such a thing will happen for you. But if that thing isn't in your destiny, even if the two worlds came together it still won't happen. You scoundrel.

Do you know these things? What destiny is. Do you know what the covenant is?

These are dishonourable. Scoundrels, these. I say it openly. Let them show one verse about this and they can have my head. Yes, these are, to degenerate the religion of Islam, clowns who have come out, or rather charlatans.

How else can we put it? Here we go. Assalamu alaikum, sir. Another question: page 544, Surah Al-Hashr, verse 2, the 2nd verse; may Allah be pleased with you, he says. Surah Al-Hashr, 544. Did we read verse 4? Verse 2, he says. Let's look at verse 2. Verse 2. Wait. Surah Al-Hashr, 544. Al-Hashr Surah. Verse 2: Those of the People of the Book who disbelieved, at the first exile, it is He who drove them out of their homes. It is He who drove those of the People of the Book who disbelieved out of their homes at the first exile. You did not think they would leave. And they thought their fortresses would protect them from Allah.

But Allah – His punishment came upon them from where they did not expect. This is the fortress of Khaybar.

In the fortress of Khaybar the Jews trusted greatly in themselves. And there were Jews who would back them. There were some tribes. We are with you, they said. History is history, and finally, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) surrounded the place, he first sent word. They didn't answer the message; there were people there they knew, and through them they sent word. Then they set about fighting, and saw that when the Prophet came with his army, those who were going to help them did not help them. They were left alone there. And the rest of the verse says this. Just so as not to hand their houses over to the Muslims, they demolished and wrecked their houses with their own hands.

You read the verse; that's how it is. And those who entered there. The spoils you took from there, it says, distribute to the poor and needy, it says. Yes.

Allah drove them out of there. Why? Because Allah was going to spread the religion of Islam. And this was inevitable; in Allah's program of the worlds it was there. Everything is the result of that program.

Let's come here.

Mustafa (?) says: Assalamu alaikum, Hodja, I ask with apologies. Was the one who knocked at the door on the Night of Qadr Gabriel? I couldn't understand. And how does Allah come down to the earth? I couldn't understand that.

I'll tell you a single verse and you'll understand how He comes down.

In a verse He says: We are always with you. There you go. But you cannot see. Because they see Me, perceive – perceive, but cannot see. Surah Al-An'am, verse 103. Let's see what it says. They explained that wrongly too, anyway. Let's say this part first. Then Surah Al-An'am for you. Here it is, look. (?) Yes. Look, what does it say? (?) Eyes cannot see Him. Yet He sees the eyes. He knows things very well. He is aware of everything, it says. Whereas the eyes encompass, see Him, and cannot perceive. Encompass: grasp. They see. They see like you, like me. But cannot know that He is Allah. Whereas He sees all eyes, sees all His creatures, encompasses and grasps them.

He is always with them. That's why, about His being present in every atom of the universe, in a verse it says: neither sleep nor drowsiness overtakes Him. There are very deep meanings here you can't understand; if we said them, you would call me a deviant too. So you can't bear it. I'm closing that part this way. The one who knocked at the door on the Night of Qadr, he says, was it Gabriel? Gabriel is different. Gabriel does not come. Gabriel goes to a person only by Allah's command. Let me tell you about Gabriel too. I have seen Gabriel too.

I'm in a high place. And Gabriel is tall, mind you. He has wings too. Two long wings. Like this. I said to him, have you ever come? I'm saying it to him up there. I came in two places, he said. By Allah's command I came in two places, he said. And I have forgotten what was said. Whatever I said would be a lie.

A being as beautiful, as honourable as man Allah did not create.

His head is just like a skull; a human head too is just like a skull. Like a skeleton, that is. It's the flesh that brings out the bone like that. Then I understood how beautiful man is. I understood that he is honourable. Indeed Allah Almighty says: if you seek might and honour, it is with Allah. One must know the verses very well. And when we explain, it's not from our own minds; what we have seen, in line with the verses, we tell. Yes.

Was it Gabriel, he says. Why would Gabriel come to your head, I mean to your door? And how does Allah come down into the earth? (?), he says.

Allah Almighty creates these worlds – and would He leave you alone?

Doesn't Allah Almighty say He is present and watching at every moment, everywhere? But you and I cannot know. Our forefathers also say: Take everyone who comes to your door for Khidr. And take every night for the Night of Qadr. If every night is Qadr, then who comes to your door, you will know. This happens in the time of Moses (peace be upon him), I think. Now.

Well,

one man says: My Allah, please, he says, come, he says, I love You so much, let me give out food, he says, You come too, he says, I've invited You, he says, come, he says, I will invite You, he says; he keeps begging and weeping. Allah Almighty says: all right, I'll come, I'll come on such-and-such day, He says. That day the cauldrons are boiling, the food is being made, at the door, inside, hosts are posted. At that moment Allah Almighty comes as an old, needy person.

And the man at the door says: go now, our guest is coming, he says, come back later, he says. He waits and waits; no Allah. He waits and waits; no Allah. (?), he says, You are faithful to Your word. What is this, he says. I came, He says, and you drove Me from your door, He says.

You can't recognise Him.

Well, sometimes one is compelled to speak, so let me tell it. Sometimes one is compelled to speak. Among those going on hajj, in a line, they say to one of them – going, coming back, it says – among themselves they agree. They're going to fool the naive one. Each has a document in hand. We got our document from Allah, they say. Did you get one too? No, he says. Then, they say, your hajj was not accepted. Oh no, he says. The man runs all the way back. To the House of Allah; Allah Almighty meets him. He says: what are you looking for here? He says: sir, people have got a document from Allah, he says. I didn't get a document, he says.

They told me my hajj was not accepted. So I've come to get a document from Allah, he says. Come, He says. He writes it, Allah stamps His seal on it and hands it over: take it, He says.

He comes and shows it to them. (?) They look, and they say: you got the real one, and we, they say, were mistaken. The others. Now come to me.

One day my Lord invited me in the spiritual realm. Come, He says. Is there a window? A window has opened. (?) inside. Someone is inside. One is Allah, the other the Prophet; come, He says to me. Anyway. The old ones know that. It's very hard. Permission came, and I went.

Two people had come from Riyadh. And I'm telling them about Allah so fervently, but it's such a realm.

It is none other than our Lord. I became convinced of that. Behind Him, the Prophet (peace be upon him). I know him already.

Smiling at me, He said: you've just come, haven't you? Welcome, He said, welcome, He said. He appeared with a beard, around 65 years old. He takes on every form. Every form. The opposite of the form you see, an opposite, another opposite. And I'm thinking, let them go, so I can tell about this. Yes, I said, I've just come, I said. Let them go, so I can tell.

Some time passed. No one there, nothing. Who could it be? (?) When I speak, I don't speak idly. I tell what I have lived through. Yes. And time is up. The last one. There's one more thing. Here. It happens everywhere. Assalamu alaikum, Hodja. Good evening. Someone else around us, er, did so too.

Some people around us say a woman doesn't work, that serving her husband at home is her only duty. But I want to be a woman who both stands on her own feet and serves her spouse. Should a woman take up a profession and practise it, or should she only stay at home? May Allah never let us be without you, he says. Yes. Yes. If you show a verse for what those people say, those people are right. But I will show you a verse. They've talked nonsense. There is a share for the woman from what she earns, and a share for the man from what he earns, it says. So women work too. This verse explains what it is.

Now here, if the man is able to support his home, look, if he's able to support his home, if they won't be in hardship, the woman's working is extra. We are all guests in this world. My late mother used to say to my father – "man", they don't say the name – "man, bring me a dry morsel, from what's lawful bring it." She said this every morning as she saw him off.

Then my father passed away. My mother – we are seven siblings. Seven siblings. And my mother only around forty. Single-handed, she went to work at a tobacco warehouse. She cared for us. Raised us. She cared for and raised seven orphans. Now, can one say a woman doesn't work?

Yes, if in the family the man's work can't support the home, there is no harm in the woman working too. But in an enclosed place. Yes, in a way that does no harm to her honour.

Allah does not intend oppression for people.

This is understood too, I suppose. Assalamu alaikum, sir. At Friday prayer, with the hodja, if his prayer breaks because of ablution, I had said the hodja sits down. Yes, sir, I wanted to ask whether what I said is right. It's right. Sir, then if something other than ablution happens and his prayer breaks, like a heart attack or illness, can one break one's prayer and help the hodja? Or an earthquake – he can't help in any case. He can't help in this either. He'll continue his prayer.

Because when the hodja's prayer broke, he couldn't get out through the row either. He sits where he is. The Fatih behind him leads the prayer. That's what I had said, sir. I wanted to ask if what I said is right, sir. Then, if something other than ablution happens and his prayer breaks, like a heart attack or illness, can one break the prayer and help the hodja? You can't. He stays there. After the prayer ends you step in. Or if there's an earthquake, or an enemy comes at us, must we break the prayer? Now, in an earthquake too you can't break it. When can you break it in an earthquake? When the building shakes and starts to collapse, you run as fast as you can.

Then you protect your life. Because a mosque doesn't collapse in every earthquake. Now, an enemy is about to kill you, say with a machine gun, or they'll shoot you with a rifle. In that case you break your prayer and take measures against them. The front row continues its prayer. The hodja and the front row continue their prayer. If there's no front row at all, they all break their prayer. Because first you must protect your life against the enemy. If an earthquake or an enemy comes upon us, must we break the prayer? I wanted to ask the ruling on breaking the prayer. In what kind of situation can it be broken?

The prayer, sir; may Allah be pleased with you. The prayer – say, for example, your urine, (?), escaped. Can it happen? You break your prayer. For example, you passed wind; it escaped. You break it. If blood came out, you can't break it. You say "with the Shafi'i intention" and continue. With the Shafi'i intention. Now, someone has pulled a pistol on you and is going to (?). You break your prayer. To protect yourself. In these cases you may break your prayer. At other times you may not break your prayer.

Here's one: Assalamu alaikum, sir. At Friday prayer, with the hodja, if his prayer breaks because of ablution, the hodja sits down, saying – we've read this part. Sir, what is the wisdom in the sema? They do it for this. Could you explain, sir? May Allah be pleased with you. I've never heard of wisdom in the sema, so how could I explain the wisdom in the sema? What would wisdom be doing in the sema?

Where is wisdom in the sema? Who says this? What is he saying? I mean, there's a wisdom, there's something – what are they trying to say? No, no, there are those who go into space; maybe that's what they meant. He's talking about the wisdom in the sema. When it says wisdom, it comes from Allah. Let the man who goes up into the sema search there with wisdom. Now, when it says sema, this covers the sky. To whomever We give knowledge, We give wisdom, He says. Listen well. To whomever We give knowledge, We give wisdom. What does this wisdom mean? We let that person know what those verses mean, He says.

We let him know. Yes. So is there soul and life in the sema, that Allah gave it the verses and gave it wisdom too? Who said this? Which – people who say, sir, I'm a Muslim, and then follow superstitions said it. What does this mean? Explain its meaning to me. Sir, what is the wisdom in the sema, he says. As if there's wisdom in the sema, he's asking me about it. If he said, Hodja, why did Allah create more seas – if you said that, I'd tell him. What they mean is what Alevi citizens do, he's saying. They call it sema, you know, turning around. He means that.

You shout so loudly that, by Allah, I got a fright. I'm telling you, don't shout. My ears (?), speak to me normally.

Those Alevi citizens turn around like this, you know. I understood you. When it says sema here, he'll mean this. If he'd said: citizens doing sema, those who turn. Now, they're one thing, this is another. What harm if he'd said it. For Allah's sake, when there's a headset in your ear, look, for Allah's sake, I'm saying. Look, you're saying okay. Look, speak like this. It's like an explosion in your ear.

It truly gives me a fright. Wondering what happened. (?) (?) You suddenly burst out like this. Time is up, children. Good night to you. Lillahi Teâlâ el-Fatiha.

Amin.