Al-Baqarah 63: At one time, We made a covenant with you. We lifted Mount Sinai upon you and said, “Hold on steadily to what We gave to you and remember its contents so that you will abstain.”

God willing, if we live, we will tell you. Let us also explain verse 63 of Surah Al-Baqarah, and then move on to the talk for our Hijri New Year. Hodja, you said something there: you would hardly enter Paradise; you meant to say Hell. Yes. You would not enter Paradise. It's clear from how the words came out anyway. That sometimes there are (?). For instance, when we say he won't enter Hell — we won't enter Paradise — but from the flow of speech it is clear that he will not enter Hell. Yes. Those people of faith will hardly enter Hell. Hardly. Yes.

Once We took a covenant from you.

And We raised the Tur above you. You know, He had raised it as a shade from the Tur. Hold firmly to what We have given you and remember what is in it. Perhaps you will be protected.

That is, in this verse we have corrected them. We made a covenant with you. That is what it means. We are changing these anyway. In the primordial beginning, in Allah Almighty's making a covenant with people — this is what we are writing anyway. Rather than: once We took a covenant from you. That is, for anyone to give Allah Almighty the covenant and then go beyond it is impossible. As in: he gave Me a covenant, and then you went back on your word. In many Qurans there are verses explained wrongly like this. We have corrected these. This too is one of the wrongly explained verses. Well, in any case, we wrote these correctly.

We wrote it correctly in its commentary. We said we would change their translations later. So we wrote out the wrong translations. Now, up to the fourth volume, the wrong verses we have worked in. Up to the fourth volume. We worked them in under the commentaries. Tomorrow, God willing, in the fourth volume of our commentaries, those wrongly explained verses we will finish too, and probably within fifteen or twenty days the wrongly explained verses we will put into our commentaries. It will help you understand the commentaries better.

Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 63: Once We took a covenant from you. That is, We made a covenant with you. And We raised the Tur above you. Hold firmly to what We have given you and remember what is in it. Perhaps you will be protected.

So, some — one of the wrongly explained verses is here too. 'Perhaps', that is, as if Allah doesn't know, or 'it is hoped that'. That is, as if our Lord doesn't know. Here the meaning 'ta ki' — since it has no equivalent — fits better there. It stays outside of these. 'Ta ki', that is, like the salvation of those among you. That is, this word suits it. Ta ki you are protected. 'Ta ki', that is, of those among you who will be protected. In the primordial beginning, in Allah Almighty's making a covenant with people, by saying 'once We took a covenant from you', since He knew them, what they would do and what actions they would undertake, by reminding them in the material world, in fact as a message also to the people who will come until the Day of Judgment: We took a covenant from you.

That is, We made a covenant with you. Yes. And We raised the Tur above you as a shade. Yes. When you came to the world, since the events of the realm of the Hereafter are closed in memory, as a proof of Our existence and a remembrance for those to come, We raised the Tur above you. That is, as we said, as something in the past, to those who come after, to show the past as an example. This is a miracle that can only come from a strength and power. That is, there is one Allah, I mean. This Tur does not just rise up like that above people. And it does not come as a shade either. Or the sea, for example, does not split in two.

Well, the destruction of Pharaoh. The miracles He gave to Pharaoh were seven. Miracle. It was blood. Let me tell you. It was locusts. It was frogs. It was drought. For example, the water. The water in the Israelites' hands. Those who took it from their hands, not drinking, drinking — with Pharaoh's (?) men it turned to blood at once. They could not drink. It turned to blood. In their hands, at once. Well, these are things that can only happen by Allah's power and might. So We, once more proving Our existence to you: hold firmly to what I have given you. That is, the Torah.

His saying this — it is such a Book that it was sent by Him; addressing the people living His sharia in every age before Islam: My book hold fast to, carry out My commands and remember what is in it, that is, read it constantly. Each time the heavenly books are read, Allah Almighty is remembered and Allah sends peace down into people's hearts.

The heavenly books: the Gospel, the Torah and the Psalms.

This, this verse 63, let it stay here. Because there are many things to say here. Because time is short now I'm skipping through these; let's not skip. In fact, let's begin to explain this. We left off at verse 63. Once We took a covenant from you. And We raised the Tur above you. Hold firmly to what We have given you. And remember what is in it. Perhaps you will be protected. We have corrected these verses. There are mistakes here. But our commentaries, our commentaries are correct. That is, we have explained the verses in line with their correctness too. In the primordial beginning, in Allah Almighty's making a covenant with people, by saying 'once We took a covenant from you', since He knew them, what they would do and what deeds they would undertake, by reminding them in the material world, in the material world, in fact as a message also to the people who will come until the Day of Judgment: We took a covenant from you.

And We raised the Tur above you. 'We took a covenant' means His making a covenant with all souls in the address Elestü bi Rabbiküm. It is Allah Almighty's making a covenant with all souls.

Yes. In this case, in proportion to this covenant, this covenant must be known well, so that we know this lesson of ours well.

Allah Almighty made a covenant with people while they were in the world of souls. This covenant: a person's wish and will became his destiny. No being, no one can overstep his destiny and cross that line of destiny Allah Almighty has written. This is never possible. And it is programmed in the whole universe. No created being can go outside this program.

And We raised the Tur above you, it says. Well, when you came to the world, since the events of the realm of the Hereafter are closed in memory, as a proof of Our existence and a remembrance for those to come, We raised the Tur above you. This is a miracle that can only come from a strength and power. So We, once more proving Our existence to you, His saying 'hold firmly to what I have given you' — it was such a Book that it was sent by Him; to the people of every age before Islam living His sharia He says: hold fast to My book, My commands carry out, and remember what is in it. That is, read it constantly. Each time the heavenly books are read, Allah Almighty is remembered and Allah sends peace down into people's hearts.

Here, to the people of the Children of Israel, Allah Almighty, through Moses, sends the Torah. The Torah. In the Torah there are ten commandments, and He informs them of their duties. O Children of Israel, hold fast to what I have given you. Why does He say hold fast to what I have given you? Let us remind you of our earlier lesson. We explained it. We said the first book, the heavenly book, came with Moses to the Children of Israel. The first heavenly book. The ones after — those before it were prophets. That is, they would convey Allah Almighty's commands to them, to people. But what does He say to the Children of Israel?

Hold fast to what I have sent you, hold it firmly. Do not be the first to deny it. Why? Because the three books are with you; if you hold fast to this book, those after you will also say this is Allah's book, and to them, toward Allah's books, they will show respect. But if you set out to deny it, you will be bad examples to them, He says. You will be bad examples. In this case, what does He say? Hold fast to the Torah, the first of these heavenly books. Yes.

And remember what is in it. That is, read it constantly.

'Perhaps you will be protected' — that too is 'ta ki you are protected'.

Why? Ta ki — because when it says 'perhaps', Allah Almighty, as if He did not know they would be protected in their affairs, comes to such a state. Perhaps — as in, you might do this. Whereas Allah Almighty: until the Day of Judgment there is not a single living being of which We would not know what it will not do — according to that verse, 'ta ki', that is, since there is no Turkish equivalent: those among you who will be protected. Ta ki they are protected. Yes.

Now, in this case, this address is not only addressed to that time. Even though it seems to be to them, Allah Almighty's word until the Day of Judgment keeps its validity. In this case, the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel are in the Quran. So, just as Allah Almighty, in His language of speech, by addressing the Prophet (peace be upon him) in fact addresses all people, here too, by telling that people, Allah Almighty (says): O people, I sent them the Torah. Look, among them were those who were protected by it and those who were not. Now the Gospel, the Torah and the Psalms are in the Quran, and I have sent it to the worlds.

So what? He sent it to the worlds. To the worlds. What does He mean by worlds? To all humans and jinn. I sent this. Who? Whoever holds fast to it attains My mercy, He says. And whoever turns his back on it harms his own self. His own self. In this case, even though it is said as if to the people of Israel, in fact these words are for everyone. Allah Almighty says those who do not learn from their past are fools. Fools. So if He tells us history, from that history there is a story, a lesson for us. If from that lesson we cannot draw the moral as we should, we fall into the class of fools. We will have failed to use our minds.

What does Allah Almighty say? Do you not use your minds at all? Do you not reflect at all? Yes. We will put our minds to work. In this case, the Gospel, the Torah and the Psalms are gathered in the Quran. According to the verse Inne'd-dîne indallâhi'l-İslâm, no religions remain on earth; a single religion remains. That is Islam.

One of our children comes to us yesterday, visits us. Did I say yesterday? Yesterday. He tells us exactly this. He says: if, in the verse inne'd-dîne indallâhi'l- İslâm, if in Allah's sight the only religion is Islam, leküm dînüküm ve liye dîn — 'your religion is yours, my religion is mine' — so it recognizes his religion as a religion, he says.

These are either the product of ignorance, or the product of those brainwashed who have become satellites of others, or, to drive people away from Islam, fabrications — seditions put forward by people who make them, or else, with hostility to Islam, wanting to lead people's minds astray, people outside the religion of Islam who hold different ideologies — those. Well, Hodja, that boy said so, and you say this. Give me your proof. Of course I will. Nothing stands without proof. I will give proof. It's very clear anyway. First of all, what does it say? Inne'd-dîne indallâhi'l-İslâm. In My sight, religion is Islam.

Religion is Islam. Well then, the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel — are these not books sent by Allah? Yes. Books sent by Allah. Then are these also upon the religion of Islam? Yes, they too were upon the religion of Islam. Those who obey their prophets are upon the religion of Islam. Because their prophets, the verses corresponding to the verses in the Quran, told them. If the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel are in the Quran, since they too are within the Quran, if in the Quran religion in My sight is the religion of Islam, and the religion of Islam is ruled in the Quran, then it covers these too.

So those who obey their prophets are upon the religion of Islam. Just as Allah Almighty — those who slandered Abraham, some of them say of Abraham, he was a Magian. The other, what was it? A Nazarene. Allah Almighty answers at once. What does He say? Abraham was neither a Magian nor a Nazarene. He was a Hanif on the straight path, it says. Hanif. What does Hanif mean? In no way, even in his childhood, worshipping idols, obeying the one Allah, in that sense. Look how beautiful. He was a Hanif on the straight path, it says. In this case, those who make up religion as they please, those who make up religion as they please, who change Allah's book and, saying Allah said so, keep fabricated words in it, who deify their own nafs, chasing carnal desires, stepping outside the religion of Islam, making up religion as they please.

These — Allah Almighty addresses them like this. Your religion is yours, say it like that. That is, your belief is yours, your laws are yours, and my laws are mine, He says. What is my law? My Lord's commands. Allah's commands. So if I am ruled by my Lord's commands, if I have obeyed His command, if I have accepted Him within the religion of Islam and, with the declaration of faith, affirmed with my tongue and confirmed with my heart, my law is the law Allah has made known to me. What is your law? Your law — as religion, by your own head, to people, or (?) to yourself, the qualities Allah does not want by living them, making up, well, a religion by yourself — since you have fallen into the state of such a person, well, your religion and understanding are yours, He says.

Let that be yours. By saying it like this, in this sense, by saying this, at once, with a very short view. Very short. Look, Allah Almighty: your religion is yours, my religion is mine. So that means they have religions too. Since Allah Almighty calls it a religion. The person who could say this like that with such a short mind, such a short view is, as I said earlier, either deliberate, or a deceived satellite, or someone who follows another for gain, for self-interest, hypocrites and people kneaded in certain traits. Since there is no god but Allah — and Allah Almighty provides the proof of this too.

If there had been another god besides Allah, He says, that one would take his creatures, the other would take his creatures, and everything would be drowned in corruption, He says. All the heavens and the earth and what is between them, from the atom to the globe, if the nuclei of all atoms remember Allah, this is the sign that besides Allah there is no god. In this case, when Allah Almighty says my religion is mine, since besides Allah there is no god, and His rules are religion, and if I am ruled by that religion, I am on the path of truth, the straight path, a truly straight path, on a path that leads to Allah, within my Lord's commands.

The other, in these comforts, without any basis — since besides Allah there is no god, and outside Allah's commands there will be no command of any religion, the words people added in the name of a religion they made up, Allah Almighty speaks of. If your law is yours too, you have made a law for yourself, He says. If that is your religion, let that religion be yours, He says. But in the end every soul will taste death, will suffer loss, you will receive it, He says. Because when you get there — where is that? In that Supreme Court, when you come into your Lord's presence, the attribute of mercy — Allah Almighty will lift that attribute from you, and you will remain there alone and without anyone, He says.

Without anyone.

What happens if he is left without anyone? They have neither an intercessor nor a savior, He says. So what then? That person, by the passing few-hours' affairs of this world, was deceived, sold his self to the eternal punishment of the eternal realm.

So who is it, Hüseyin Ağurayan? people like this, who with such short views try to fit the verses into their own heads.

We continue. So in Allah's sight, religion is Islam. There is no other religion. Well, don't people make up religions? They do. That is why He says, your religion is yours. A made-up religion. Your religion is yours. If 'your religion is yours' means Allah, the religion he made, well, accepted as a religion, then it too has binding force. Binding force. Then contradictions would arise in Allah Almighty's word. What kind of contradiction, Hodja? Those who seek a religion other than Islam, let them seek a god other than Allah.

If one is valid with Allah, and since Allah among people with His justice will in no way discriminate, would He make one eat pork, blood, carrion, drink alcohol, gamble, commit adultery, make them do all of it, you are a (?) human, you are My beloved, these are free for you, and to the other: you will do this and this and this, you must; if you don't, I will punish you here — would He say this? Can there be such an Allah? Allah Almighty has made His rule known. Whoever pushes Allah's limits and steps outside them — what is this pushing? Stepping outside the religion of Islam. Then what is pushing? Then, they are like four-legged beasts roaming the earth, even more astray, He says — those made tools of all kinds of filth. Those who, in ways beyond our mind and memory, drown the earth in corruption. These. So Allah Almighty, for these, for the sake of the Prophet (peace be upon him), lifted the destructions.

The destructions. He is giving these calamities. Calamities.

Yes. In our explanation above, each time the heavenly books are read Allah Almighty is remembered and Allah sends peace down into people's hearts, we said. What did we say? This too, with this verse, that is, in these words of ours, yet a second proof emerges. There are many proofs, and this is one more proof emerging. Pay attention again. Points to pay attention to. One who lives Islam, reads Allah's book, struggles with his nafs, fears his Lord and wants to carry out His commands — in such a person's heart there is peace.

Apart from this, people who carry on their lives otherwise — their hearts are restless and scattered.

Just as a factory has a seal, its emblem. It stamps that seal, that stamp, and it belongs to that factory. These words I am saying are stamped like that too. They are established by verses. To people outside the religion of Islam, Allah Almighty says exactly this. They are lying disbelievers. That's the verse. Lying disbelievers. I said, is there not even one among them who tells the truth? Surely, if my Lord says liar, he is a liar, but what is the wisdom in this, I was wondering. Well, the wisdom: in that address Elestü bi Rabbiküm, Allah — he himself, that he himself was created, knowing that, and though he said I was created by a Lord, the Lord before him he denied and expected the Lord of his imagination; that is why these are liars.

Liars at the root. So their hearts are both restless and scattered.

There is the stamp for you, (?). So outside the religion of Islam there is no religion. Whoever makes up a religion, pay attention to their hearts. Those people are restless and scattered. Yes.

the books He had sent in the times before Islam, and their religions' validity. Islam. That too upon the nature of Islam.

Well.

We have mentioned a verse here. Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, that religion will never benefit him. How beautiful. So when He says leküm dînüküm ve liye dîn, when He says my religion is mine, when He says your religion is yours, whoever seeks a religion other than Allah's religion, that religion will never benefit him. The matter is closed.

According to the verse, the other religions no longer have binding force. There is no dialogue between religions. Meanwhile, to confuse people, them with all sorts of schemes, deceiving people, with material sides appearing attractive to people, those who want to turn people from their religion. Well, their own invented superstitions, showing them to people as religion, to those superstitions — by drawing those people to superstitions, the blow he will deal to the religion of Islam he considers a gain. Whereas this neither deals a blow to the religion of Islam, nor, by turning that person, well, from his religion, has he deceived that person.

Well, what is he doing then, Hodja? One: Allah Almighty, in His verse: by blowing with their mouths, did they think they would extinguish Allah's light, He says? Allah will complete His light until the Day of Judgment, He says. That's one. Well, by deceiving that person, did he not strike a blow at the religion? In fact these, according to the verse 'have you not seen the one who deifies his nafs', by turning him from his religion, he steers him toward his own interest. Because in the religion of Islam, no Muslim can be used by any non-Muslim as a satellite. The Muslim is free. With his free thought he becomes no one's satellite.

Free. In the verse: those disbelievers, it says, did they think they would take the Muslims as friends, it says. What a beautiful thing it says. Knowing this, this disbelieving non-Muslim, (?) by turning him from his religion, will make him his own satellite. With that satellite he will use him as he wishes. In line with his own interest, again he will secure his worldly gains.

That is what he is busy with. Yes.

That is why Allah Almighty warns us very well. With verses. Their nafs and, rebelling against Allah Almighty, in the direction their own nafs likes, people still (say): I, the religion you learned of old, will follow. That is, by saying I will follow what was sent to Jesus or Moses or David — we will explain these in detail later on — a state of not listening to Allah Almighty's very commands and rebelling against Him arises, so that to such people Allah Almighty, in the Quran: they have become disbelievers, says.

We said Allah Almighty does not discriminate among people. All the beings He created are His servants. So, according to the time, according to people's understanding, books and commands He sent them — Allah Almighty, since when minds have advanced He will no longer send people a prophet and a book, gathering all books in the Quran, to the people who will come until the Day of Judgment: now your (?), your book, your law, and — a state has a certain constitution. This is your constitution, He says. Whoever acts outside this will be punished by Me, He says. This is Allah's law. So: I, to David's Psalms, or Jesus's Gospel, or I will follow the Torah Moses brought — when you say that, see that Allah Almighty, in the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel, with their originals, in the Quran.

If you believe in those originals, since all of them are in the Quran, you will obey the Quran. No — if you, by your own mind, by your nafs, following Satan's footsteps and accepting him as a guide over you, his path you will go on, then (?), He says. Why, Hodja? He leaves him free. He has given man partial will. That is, with the judgment he gives himself, a person himself will drag himself either to salvation or to punishment. So this is Allah Almighty's — at the summit, which no being He created could attain — a state of creation. People cannot create, but they make inventions, robots. But unless they can load a program into them, from those robots you can get nothing.

So Allah, the Creator, on condition of never interfering with what He created, by putting His will into the hands of those people, a person's own wish and desire, his will, He wrote for him as destiny. Yes. In this case Allah Almighty would have settled their accounts in the realm of the Hereafter, without sending them to the world. Why didn't He, Hodja? Allah Almighty is free from deficient attributes. Since our Lord created us close to His essence, out of arrogance and pride (he) did not recognize Allah Almighty as Allah. He waited for the Lord of his imagination. In this case, those people (might say) to Allah Almighty: You created me close to Your essence.

If You had sent me to an unseen world and made Your essence known, I would have worshipped You there — so that they would not say that, Allah Almighty created these worlds. Now He closed those worlds in our memory. In fact they are in us. All of them are in memory. He closed those worlds to us. He raised us outwardly, bodily, from zero in this world. And Allah Almighty, through His prophets, His books, His scholars, to people the existence of His essence He had explained. He had it proven. Every mind recognizes and knows Allah. That is, it knows that it was created by a being. But people who are rebellious in their own nafs, in their nafs, though — rebellious people, although they know Allah Almighty, that besides Allah there is no other god, from associating partners with Him do not refrain.

And why do they associate partners, Hodja? If the human nafs has not found perfection, it is selfish. It always wants to do what the nafs says. The world seems attractive to a person. And Satan puts the yoke on a person's neck, and draws the nafs to the world. In this case, a person — since the words Allah says, the verses, seem heavy to him — turns to the side his own nafs likes. In this case, this passing world of his, for the punishment of the realm of the Hereafter, he will have sold.

You, remember what is in it.

Ta ki you are protected. Ta ki you are protected. That is, there are those within who will be protected. Well, what is the benefit of remembrance? Remembering. And now, to Mehmet Efendi, Mehmet Efendi whom I've just met — I said Mehmet once, I didn't say it again. I forgot Mehmet, I forgot his name too. But if I say to Mehmet Efendi a few times, Mehmet, Mehmet, Mehmet, this Mehmet settles in my memory. Then his features too settle in my (?), settle in memory. If I don't see him for a long time, I forget Mehmet Efendi. When I remember again: there's someone, but what was his name? I say. So Allah Almighty, who created us of the forgetful kind: you constantly remember My book.

Don't put Me out of your minds. Know Me as the Creator. Be grateful for the provision I have given you. Don't be ungrateful.

Why does He say this, remember constantly? So that you don't put Me out of your minds. What if we don't put Him out? If we don't, we attain Allah's mercy. A servant who constantly remembers his Lord, surrenders to Him, is grateful for what comes from Him, and if a person remembers Allah, Allah remembers him too. Whoever remembers Me, I remember him, He says.

Whoever remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in such a gathering, He says, I remember him in a gathering better than the one he remembered Me in, He says. Whoever remembers Me within himself, I remember him within My essence, He says.

Wouldn't you want to know the One who created you? Wouldn't you want to reach the One who created you, as His servant? Wouldn't you want to attain Him? So read the book Allah sent a lot. Remember it. so that you are not separated from it. Yes.

Pay attention again.

Does Allah Almighty cut off the provision of His creatures?

Each of us, all these living things, receive their provision in the universe. They eat, drink, roam about. In no way does Allah Almighty, over His creatures, His (?) reduce.

Well, our Lord, so much universe — although to His creatures every moment their provision He gives, the one who takes that provision and, in pleasure and delight, eats it, if he does not see the Giver and is not grateful, would this not be ingratitude?

Yes. So if we remember our Lord a lot, that before the provision given to us by Allah, Owner of this whole universe, in rendering thanks to Him we are incapable, we understand. So whenever you perceive your Lord's blessings upon you and, before the blessings He gives, the thanks you have given you find you cannot render, that you remain in helplessness, the moment you know this, you have given Allah Almighty the best thanks. But only if you attain those feelings.

Yes. Otherwise no one can thank Allah fully, in perfection, for the blessings He gives. One more thing: Allah Almighty, to those who remember His essence, immediately responds. That person does not know it.

You remember Allah. Allah Almighty addressing you: Labbayk, My servant, you command, He says, command. Tell! Tell! What do you want? I have come! I knocked on the door of Mehmet Efendi, of Hasan Hüseyin Efendi. From inside: who is it? It's me. Who are you? A guest of God. Come in. What do you want? He says, doesn't he? That person tells him something. So whoever remembers Allah, Allah too (says) to him: Labbayk, My servant. Tell. What do you want? Just tell. What you need, which is in the deepest cell-corner of your heart, and which you are unaware of, I know, He says. But ask from Me. Tell. So then remember Allah, remember the One who grants you blessings, read His book and hold fast to it.

That is our very self, closer than our jugular vein, our life — that book, Allah's book. How does it become my life? If a thorn pricks your hand you writhe from the pain of the thorn; if you hold to the book, by Allah's mercy you attain His Paradise; if you step outside it, you will be subject to His punishment; while in that punishment, that punishment seeing, you will say: my Allah, take my life so I may be saved — be saved, but you will be subject to the punishment of a deathless life that has no death again. Well then, isn't that book my life? Isn't it even beyond my life? It gives me life.

So I say again: to Allah's book, the Quran, hold fast. Never, as Allah's book — as the Gospel, as the Torah, as the Psalms — take those into your hands.

Their originals are in the Quran. In the Gospel, in the Torah, in the Psalms — in the Quran. Take the Quran in hand and you will have read the Torah, read the Psalms, and the Gospel too you will have read.

Yes. Don't be misled by these words of mine and, by the fatwas those short minds give by their own lights, saying read Allah's book, and this too is Allah's book, never understand it as the Gospel, the Torah, the Psalms.

Yes.

Yes.