104-105

The Second Matter: In the explanation of the indication of the Thirty-third âyah, in the discussion of 1 يَسْتَحِبُّونَ الْحَيٰوةَ الدُّنْيَا , it was said: a characteristic of this age is such that it makes one prefer the life of the world over the eternal life knowingly. That is, it has become a principle for people to knowingly prefer a piece of glass soon to be shattered over eternal diamonds. I used to be amazed at this. It has been warned in recent days that:

Just like when a human organ is ill or is injured, all other organs partly hold off their own duties and run to its aid. In the same way, a device belonging to man placed in his fitrah that carries the greed for life and its preservation, the pleasure of life and its love have been injured due to many reasons. It has started to degrade all other faculties by preoccupying them with itself and is trying to make them forget their own actual duties.

And if there were an attractive, dissipated and glamorous intoxicating entertainment, and if people occupying high positions and even covered women, like children and layabouts, were to suspend their actual duties and participate in the entertainment by being drawn to its attraction. In the same way, man’s life in this age, his social life in particular, has taken such a terrifying, but attractive and grievous, yet curious state that it drags man’s elevated subtle faculties, his heart and his mind to follow his nafs al-ammarah and, like a propeller, pushes them into the fire of fitnah.

Indeed, to preserve the life of this world, there is rukhsah in Sharî’ah for temporarily preferring the life of this world over some of the matters of the âkhirah on the condition that it is at the degree of dharûrah. However, this preference cannot be made due to a simple need alone or harm that will not cause a person to perish; there is no rukhsah for it, whereas this age has injected into the man’s vein to such a degree that for the smallest of needs and the most insignificant harm to worldly life, he abandons the matters of religion, which are like diamonds.

Yes, in this age, through the barakah being withdrawn and the rise of poverty due to wastefulness, the lack of frugality, discontentment and greed, mankind’s vein of living and device for preserving life have been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.