Al-An'am 123: And thus, they take leadership in committing sins in every town to incite mischief there. They only deceive themselves, but they are unaware.

This too is one of the wrongly interpreted verses. Yes, what does it say? "Thus in every town" — first let's read the wrong one. Surah Al-An'am, verse 123. Now look how they ascribe attributes to Allah Almighty. "Thus in every town, so that they would spread corruption there, We made its sinners leaders," it says; "We made its sinners leaders," it says. Look: "Thus in every town, so that they would spread corruption there, We made its sinners leaders." Allah assigned them a duty. And they are carrying out that duty. Is there something here that contradicts Allah's (?)? Am I understanding it wrongly?

Allah assigns them a duty. What does it say? Look: "Thus in every town, so that they spread corruption there" — spread corruption, those who do it, to do it, to do it, to spread corruption. Now let me read it more clearly. It will be understood better. I always read the correct one, but my tongue slipped there. It doesn't reach (?). Now let's read (?) more clearly. "Thus in every town, so that they spread corruption there," it says — look, "so that they spread corruption." "We made its sinners leaders," it says. Allah Almighty made them the leaders of those places. "They deceive only themselves but do not perceive it," it says.

This time it says it correctly. Whereas: "Thus in every town, in order to spread corruption there, its sinners take leadership." Its sinners, the sinners of that place. "Thus in every town, in order to spread corruption there, its sinners take leadership. They deceive only themselves but do not perceive it." Yes. So Allah Almighty does not make them, its sinners, leaders. Those sinners bring themselves there as leaders. In order to spread corruption. But, it says, they deceive themselves but do not perceive it. Why do they deceive themselves? Among those peoples, those who gave Allah Almighty a good covenant exist. Since they deny Allah with their own reason, they think they will (?) those who gave a good covenant to themselves too.

This is where they are deceived, it says. Since no one can change anyone's destiny, they strive, they strive. They strive for years. Then they fizzle out like a balloon deflating.

These people who have remained in the darkness of unbelief, since they are enemies of Allah, when, with the opportunities that fall into their hands, they come to be leaders of people, such people, to start religious strife, to impose their own ideologies, put pressure on and oppress those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, and, behaving like the people of primitive ages, drown everything in corruption with religious strife. Yes, religious strife.

In this age, with this technology, in this beautiful life our Lord has granted, these have turned their backs on Allah and, just as in ancient times, wage religious strife.

Religious strife. A Muslim is far from this.

"Why, Hodja? Isn't spreading our religion fitting for us?" Spreading, yes, but turning people from their religion the way they do — with pressure, with money, with, let me say, promises — is very far from Muslims. Why? (?) Of course. What does it say? Lakum dinukum wa liya din. "To you your religion, to me mine," it says. And since no one can change anyone's destiny, they only enjoin what is right and never enter into religious strife. And they do not (?) to turn them to their own ideologies. Because: Lakum dinukum wa liya din. According to the verse: his religion is his, your religion is yours — from the verse, in Surah Al-A'raf, verse 72. Everyone made a covenant with Allah Almighty; their own wish and desire, what they wanted, was written for them as their destiny; unless Allah wills, no one can change their destiny. In this case, since Allah Almighty too will not change people's destinies again, and leaves people free in their partial will, and has written their wishes and desires, what they wanted, as their destiny, a Muslim, since he cannot change anyone's destiny, does not wage religious strife.

The Muslim (?). Lakum dinukum wa liya din. Yes. It is understood that way, too. Yes.

History is, in fact, nothing but a repetition. History. Nothing but repetition. People who do not take lessons from the past are fools who do not use their reason. Fools. Allah Almighty says so too. "Those who do not take lessons from the past are fools," it says. Fools. Yes. Those who applied so much oppression — in which of their ambitions did they succeed and manage to keep it alive? Those who applied so much oppression. And how far did they go? Let me tell you how far they went. They advanced so far as to subject their own nafs to the most severe punishment. They could do nothing else. Yes.

Will and wish belong to Allah.

Allah raises people to high positions where they are so that there they may increase their unbelief.

Yes. We say: those criminals. The criminals. Where they are, those criminals, where they are, come to high positions so that their unbelief increases. That is, so that they find their own thing, find their own level. Yes.

Allah, who provides people such arenas and positions, Allah, who provides such positions according to people's wishes and desires — if people had harmed others besides themselves, Allah, because of His attribute of justice, would surely have prevented these people from reaching these positions. So those oppressors come to the highest positions where they are so that they increase their unbelief. That is, so that they find their level. If they were in a position to harm others, then Allah Almighty would not have stood by the religion He keeps alive and would not have been able to protect those people. So every person inflicts torment and suffering on his own nafs. What a person does to himself, the two worlds together could not do.

So, since no one can change anyone's destiny, these poor people only increase their own oppression.

So if, at Qalu Bala, when people made a covenant with Allah Almighty, every soul had its own covenant written as its destiny, such people only lead in unbelief those who are like them in intention, and act as their leaders. Yes. They lead in unbelief those who are like them. For example, how much people talk today. They also talk in unbelief. But the people of faith see that they are in unbelief and do not pay attention to their talk, they turn their backs. But they listen to the one who speaks the truth. And the people of unbelief say, "He spoke very well." And follow him. Yes.

Those who are enemies of Allah and His Messenger, the revenge they cannot take from Allah Almighty, they try to take in this world from those who say "Allah" and live Islam, the oppressed who are powerless, trying to quench the hatred and grudge of their nafs. That's right. How would the man know me? He doesn't. He's my enemy. Why is he my enemy? He's not my enemy, he's the enemy of the word that comes out of my mouth. And because I say that word, he's my enemy. So isn't a person who is an enemy of that word an enemy of Allah? An enemy. How is he an enemy? Aduwwallahi wa aduwwakum? "Your enemies and those who are enemies of Allah," it says.

Yes. Our enemies may become our enemies out of their hatred, because of things we have done to them. And then there are those who are enemies of Allah. Those who are enemies of Allah — against the word of Allah that comes out of our mouths — those who are enemies of Allah become our enemies too. Yes.

So they take revenge on those within their reach, within their power. Such people increase their oppression in the hereafter. People like that. They increase their oppression in the hereafter. Because, by injustice with oppression, injustice — a person doing oppression to an unjust person, exceeding Allah's limits, denying Allah, doing oppression to the one who says "Allah" — in return a person increases his own oppression. These people are people who have deceived themselves. But they are not even aware of it. Yes. They think they are doing a very fine thing, they do it, but they do not even notice.