بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ اَجْمَعِينَ
THE PRINCIPLE OF IKHLAS -1
(For the literal meaning of ikhlas please refer to the dictionary)
The definition of ikhlas:
1) “The cause of gaining ikhlas is that the reason for one’s actions should be the command of Allah, and he should think that the result of his actions is Allah's acceptance and pleasure, and he should not interfere with the duty of Allah.” The Seventeenth Flash-13th Note-The Third Matter
2) “As for the ikhlas in ‘ibâdah: It is performing it only because it is commanded. Although each command comprises numerous hikmahs and each of these hikmahs can be a reason for obeying that command, ikhlas necessitates that the real and effective cause (‘illah) be the command to perform it. The ‘ibâdah is null and void if the hikmah becomes the reason to perform it, but it is permissible (jâiz) if those hikmahs and benefits remain as the reason for being preferred. ” Signs of Miraculousness-294
3) “the word تَتَّقُونَ1 alludes to…‘ibâdah is that which is [performed] with ikhlas. And it indicates that ‘ibâdah should be the sole aim, and not a means, and suggests too that ‘ibâdah should not be [performed in the hope of] reward or [to avoid] punishment.”Signs of Miraculousness ( 176 )
According to the above description of ikhlas, in order for actions to be considered ‘ibâdah and services to be accepted, they must be ordered or recommended in religion. According to the phrase in the second paragraph “only because it is commanded”, which is a condition of ikhlas, it is a necessity to know that if the action is commanded. An action’s being commanded or not commanded by religion can only be learned from the books. If a person performs a service and an act through his inclinations and ideas, it cannot be included in the definition of ikhlas. If the service performed is not in the book, to talk about ikhlas is deceiving or being deceived.
4) “When you speak on your own behalf due to ghaflah, know that the field of your movement is as thin as a hair and do not overstep your limits. But when you speak on behalf of Al-Mâlik Al-Mulk, load yourself with whatever you see according to His permission and Will not according to your own will. You should learn His permission and Will from His Sharî‘ah.” Al-Mathnawî Al-Nûrî (180)
5)“Yes, istiqâmah is certainly evident in all actions, words and states of Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm since he completely conformed to the command فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَٓا اُمِرْتَ.” The 11th Flash-11th Subtle Point
This âyah commands Rasûl of Allah (asm), hence the ummah, to act as it was commanded and orders the ummah to enter into the istiqâmah of the Qur’an through adhering to the injunctions clearly informed in the basic Sharî’ah books. The ummah, too, is the addressee of the âyah. If Fakhr al-‘âlam (asm), whose rank cannot be reached by anyone and is the highest of every kind of perfection, attained istiqâmah through obeying and conforming to the commands of Allah. What will be the situation of the people who follow their understandings and inclinations?
6) “In your action (‘amal), there must be the acceptance and pleasure of Allah. If He is pleased, it has no importance if the whole world turns its back on you. If He accepts it, it has no effect if the entire creation rejects it. After He accepted and is pleased, if He wishes and His hikmah requires, He makes the entire creation, too, accept it and pleases them with it, although you do not demand. Therefore, in this service, it is necessary to directly make the acceptance and pleasure of Janâb-i Haqq the only main aim." The Twenty-First Flash — Your First Principle
Ikhlas is fundamental:
Ikhlas requires submission to the explicit commands of the book. The actions will be ‘ibâdah and will attain the haqiqah of ‘ibâdah through that way.
7) “If regarding ikhlas and the acceptance and pleasure of Allah, which are the fundamental mystery of Islam, the actions and deeds concerning the rules and sacred haqiqahs that Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm teaches appear from him, and if the language of his being recites the âyahs of the Qur'an, in a ma’nawî manner, he will be included in and will have a share of the du'â اَللّٰهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَ الْمُؤْمِنَات4 which is a constant wird of each individual in the âlam of Islam and he will become connected to all of them in a brotherly fashion." The Twenty-Ninth Letter/The Sixth Section/First Wile
8) “even if he does not remove the love for rank and position from his heart, attains a sort of ma’nawî rank permitted by the Sharî’ah on condition that he takes ikhlas and the acceptance and pleasure of Allah as his principle and does not accept the love of position and rank as his aim; he attains a glorious rank at which he will perfectly satisfy the vein of the love of rank and position.” The Twenty-Ninth Letter/The Sixth Section/ First Wile
9) “The most important basis of the ways of walâyah and the branches of the tarîqah is ikhlas, for salvation from the hidden shirk is through ikhlas. One who does not obtain ikhlas cannot travel those ways.” The Letters ( 526 )
10) “The âyah:
بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
اِنَّا اَنْزَلْنَا اِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ فَاعْبُدِ اللّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ الدِّينَ اَلاَ لِلّٰهِ الدِّينُ الْخَالِصُ5
And the noble hadith (As he said):
6 هَلَكَ النَّاسُ اِلاَّ الْعَالِمُونَ وَهَلَكَ الْعَالِمُونَ اِلاَّ الْعَامِلُونَ وَهَلَكَ الْعَامِلُونَ اِلاَّ الْمُخْلِصُونَ وَالْمُخْلِصُونَ عَلَى خَطَرٍ عَظِيمٍ
Both indicate how important a principle ikhlas is in Islam” The Twentieth Flash
11) “In this world, in particular, in services pertaining to the âkhirah, the most important principle, the greatest strength, the most acceptable shafî’, the firmest point of support, the shortest way of haqiqah, the most acceptable ma’nawî du'â, the most karamât-full means of aims, the highest moral quality and the purest ‘ubûdiyyah is ikhlas.” The Twenty-First Flash
12) “the most valuable and most necessary principle amongst Islamic tarbiyyah and deeds pertaining to the âkhirah is ikhlas.” The Twenty-Fourth Flash- A Conversation with women-1th Subtle Point
13) “the basis of the Risale-i Nur's way is complete ikhlas and abandoning ananiyyah…” The Rays ( 327 )
14) “Hâsha!, vaunting one's own self, and making one's own self to be admired, and using effort to gain praise and vainglory is to damage the mystery of ikhlas, which is an important principle of the Risale-i Nur.” The Rays ( 645 )
15) “The greatest principle in our way after complete ikhlas is steadfastness and firmness.” Kastamonu Addendum (272)
16) “The principles of our way, that is, “khillah”, “ikhlas” and “brotherhood”…” Emirdağ Addendum (161)
17) “Especially the love of fame, which is an extraordinary riyâ, and to have a shining record in history and to be seen favourably by people, which are an alluring self-advertisement, are contrary to ikhlas, which is a principle of Nur and its way, and are opposed to it.” Emirdağ Addendum-1 (195)
18) “The foundation of our way is to attain the utmost ikhlas and abandoning ananiyyah. An ounce of ikhlas in an action (‘amal) is superior to tonnes of action without ikhlas. I keep clear away from people’s physical and ma’nawî gifts, reverence and from turning attention to myself and fame .” This mystery was perhaps the hikmah behind why he never accepted guests to visit him.” Biography (767)
The conditionality and necessity of ikhlas:
19) “Since you want many sawâb, take ikhlas as your foundation and think only of the acceptance and pleasure of Allah so that units of the blessed words within the air that issue forth from your mouth can be brought to life by ikhlas and truthful intention, and they can illuminate innumerable conscious beings by going to their ears and cause you to gain sawâb. …. If the acceptance and pleasure of Allah and ikhlas do not give life to those words in the air, they are not listened to, and sawâb, too, will be limited to the single word within the mouth.” The Twentieth Flash – 3rd Cause
20) “through the indication of a five-hundred-year distance of Jannah being bestowed and seventy thousand palaces and houris being given to a single man in the âkhirah and everyone among the people of Jannah being perfectly satisfied with his share, it is demonstrated that there is no cause for rivalry in the âkhirah, nor can there be rivalry. In which case, there cannot be rivalry in ‘amal as-sâlih belonging to the âkhirah; jealousy has no place in it. The one jealous is either a hypocrite; he seeks worldly results by means of ‘amal as-sâlih, or a faithful ignorant, he does not know where ‘amal as-sâlih looks towards and does not understand that ikhlas is the rûh and foundation of ‘amal as-sâlih.” The Twentieth Flash – 7th Cause
21) “Within the bounds of possibility, it has become the degree of wâjib for us to practise the principles of the Flash On Ikhlas and the mystery of true ikhlas with all our strength amongst ourselves and towards one another.” The Rays ( 498 )
22) “Intention is a “rûh” that causes ordinary deeds and customs to become “living” acts of ‘ibâdah. Its “rûh” is ikhlas. Salvation is found only in actions with ikhlas done in His cause.” Al-Mathnawi al-Nuri (131)
23) “I declare to you the precious sense of brotherhood, that is displayed by Hâfidh Ali Efendi about another brother of ours, who would be a rival of his.
That person came to me; I told him that the other one’s scribe is better than his. I said, “He will serve more”. I saw that Hâfidh Ali felt proud and pleased with his brother being superior with utmost sincerity and ikhlas. He also felt glad that his brother attracted his ustadh’s love. I looked carefully to his heart; I felt that he is sincere, not just displaying. I have offered shukr to Janâb-i Haqq, for among my brothers there are those who carry this elevated feeling. Inshallah, that sense will perform great service.” Barla Addendum ( 125 )
Ustadh says about a student of his:
24) “I was insisting on a glass of tea, he was refusing my persistence. I was asking “why are you doing this?” He was saying “We want to be with ikhlas, fîsabîlillah7 , through not entering any material benefits in our service.” Barla Addendum ( 200-201 )
25) “Instead of affording exceptional and extraordinary favourable thoughts and excessive lofty ranks that is beyond due, what is needed is exceptional loyalty and steadfastness, excessive connection and ikhlas. We should progress in this.” The Kastamonu Addendum (101)
26) “The rewards of those who enter the circle of the Risale-i Nur with loyalty and ikhlas are so great and universal through the mystery of partnership in deeds of the âkhirah, which is a fundamental principle of Risale-i Nur students, and as a consequence of the requirement of that principle and of the rahmah of Allah, the same amount of the gains of each of them is recorded in the book of good deeds of each of his brothers. Each one of them gains thousands of shares.” The Kastamonu Addendum (94)
27) “Through the law of ‘partnership in deeds of the âkhirah’ and the mystery of sincere and pure cooperation, which are the fundamental principles among true and loyal students of the Risale-i Nur — with every sincere and true student offering not with a single tongue, but rather through the ‘ibâdah and istighfâr with the tongues to the number of their brothers — each will respond with thousands of tongues against the onslaught of sins attacking them from a thousand aspects. In the same way, the certain malâikah perform dhikr with forty-thousand tongues; a sincere and true student who practices taqwâ, performs ‘ibâdah through the tongues of their forty thousand brothers and becomes deserving of salvation, and will, InshâAllah, be among the people of bliss. They can acquire that exalted and universal ‘ubûdiyyah, according to their degree of loyalty, service, taqwâ and abstaining from kabâir, within the circle of the Risale-i Nur. Certainly, in order not to lose this great benefit, they must work on taqwâ, ikhlas and loyalty.” Kastamonu Addendum ( 108 )
28) “Yes, in this age, through the barakah being withdrawn and the rise of poverty due to wastefulness, the lack of frugality, discontentment and greed, mankind’s vein of living and device for preserving life have been wounded, and that vein is harmed to such an extent due to the conditions of livelihood becoming heavier, and the people of dhalâlah have consistently made this temporary world the centre of attraction and drawn people’s attention to themselves to such a degree that the most insignificant need of this worldly life is made to be preferred over important matters of religion. In response to this strange illness and terrible disease of this bizarre age, the Risale-i Nur, which is the herald of the panacea-like remedies of the Quran of Miraculous Exposition, can withstand it; its firm, steadfast, sincere, loyal and sacrificing students can resist it. Thus, in order to save themselves from the effects of this strange illness, one must foremost enter the circle of the Risale-i Nur and adhere to it with loyalty, perfect steadfastness, utmost ikhlas and complete trust. ” Kastamonu Addendum (104)
29)“Since our way is utmost ikhlas; leave be egotism and ananiyyah, preferring an eternal matter of îmân being the necessity of utmost ikhlas, even if the sovereignty of the world was given.” Emirdağ Addendum-2 (246)
30) “The second phase: This phase started from the time of his seclusion in Van, and was forcefully exiled to Barla, a subdistrict of Isparta, which was the phase of “the writing and dissemination of the Risale-i Nur.” The service to îmân and ma’nawî jihâd of religion that he embarked upon through Risale-i Nur with utmost ikhlas, utmost self-sacrifice, utmost loyalty, resolve, attentiveness and frugality.” Biography (33)
31) “The service of îmân which Mullah Said was performing in the future was with complete ikhlas and consisting of this service, at that very young age, Ilahî rahmah has installed his rûh a summary index of the sacred principle of “never to receive anything in return for services pertaining to the âkhirah” Biography (38)
32) “since just Shûrâ8 results in ikhlas and solidarity, three 'alifs'9 become one hundred and eleven. Thus, three men between whom there are true solidarity and ikhlas may benefit the nation as much as a hundred men. Many historical events inform us that through the mystery of true ikhlas, solidarity and mashwarah10 , ten men may perform the work of a thousand.” The Damascus Sermon ( 57 )
33) “Q-What is our formest need?
A: Truthfulness.
Q: After that?
A: To not lie.
Q: And then?
A: Sidq, loyalty, ikhlas, steadfastness and cooperation.” Biography-95
The causes to attain ikhlas:
34) “Whereas for those employed in the Qur'anic service, either the world must turn its back on them or they must turn their back on the world so that they can earnestly perform the Qur'anic service with ikhlas.” The Tenth Flash
35) “frugality produces the consequence of contentment… Also, by means of contentment, due to having istighnâ from people, he does not seek their attention. The door of ikhlas is opened; the door of riyâ is closed.” The Nineteenth Flash
36) “Thus, the salve and remedy for this terrible disease is ikhlas. That is to say, one succeeds in gaining ikhlas by preferring the ‘ibâdah of haqq over the ‘ibâdah of nafs and manifesting the mystery of اِنْ اَجْرِىَ اِلاَّ عَلَى اللهِ11 through the sake of Haqq being victorious over the sake of the nafs and ananiyyah and manifesting the mystery of وَمَا عَلَى الرَّسُولِ اِلاَّ الْبَلاَغُ12 through displaying istighnâ from the material and ma’nawî reward received from people and knowing that the points of favourable acceptance and effect and gaining people’s attention are the duty of Janâb-i Haqq and His favour, and they are not included in the tablîgh, which is one's own duty, nor necessary, nor is one charged with gaining them. Otherwise, he will lose ikhlas.” The Twentieth Flash – First Cause
37) “Here, the only remedy for preventing the consequences of this terrible cause is Nine Commands:
1. To act positively, that is to say, acting through the love of one's own way. Enmity for other ways or criticism of others should not interfere in his thought and ‘ilm, nor should he occupy with them.
2. Rather, considering the numerous bonds of wahdah, which will be the means of love, brotherhood and alliance, regardless of the person’s path within the circle of Islam, it is to unite.
3. To take as a guide the rule of justice, which the follower of any haqq way has the right to say about another’s way: "My way is haqq or more beautiful", but cannot say: "My way alone is haqq" or "My outlook alone is beautiful" which imply the falsity or ugliness of the way of another.
4. To consider that alliance with the people of haqq is a cause of the guidance and assistance of Allah and a means of dignity within the religion.
5. At the time of the attack of the people of dhalâlah and injustice by the genius of a strong ma’nawî collective personality in the form of jamâ’ah arising from their solidarity, to preserve justice and truth by realising that individual resistance of the most powerful person succumbs to that ma’nawî collective personality and by creating a ma’nawî collective personality against that fearsome ma’nawî collective personality of dhalâlah with an alliance on the side of people of haqq.
6. In order to preserve haqq from the attack of bâtil,
7. by abandoning his nafs and ananiyyah
8. and his dignity, which he considered wrong,
9. and his insignificant feelings, which arise from the rivalry, one can gain ikhlas and can properly perform his duty." The Twentieth Flash - Second Cause
سُبْحَانَكَ لاَعِلْمَ لَنَۤا اِلاَّ مَاعَلَّمْتَنَا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيم
وَاٰخِرُ دَعْوٰيهُمْ أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
اَللّٰهُمَّ احْفَظْنَا مِنْ شَرِّ النَّفْسِ وَالشَّيْطَانِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ الْجِنِّ وَاْلاِنْسَانِ
1 (They may fear Allah)
5 (Indeed, We have sent down the Book to you with the haqq, therefore perform ‘ibâdah to Allah alone, offering Him your obedience with ikhlas.)
6 (All men will perish, except the ‘âlims, and all ‘âlims will perish except those who act in accordance with their ‘ilm, and all of them will perish except those who have ikhlas, and even those who have ikhlas are in great danger.)
7 (On the way of Allah, for Allah)
8 (Consultation, council)
9 (Alif: the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, written with a single vertical stroke alif)
10 (Consultation, mutual deliberation)
11 (Verily my reward is from Allah alone)
12 (No more is the Prophet bound to do than deliver the message)
Dictionary / Arabic - Turkish Terminology