109-110

(This is an addendum to the two parts previously written about preferring worldly life over the life of the âkhirah.)

This bizarre age has made life and living everyone's greatest aim and purpose at all times by burdening the life of the world and making the conditions of livelihood heavier, as well as making inessential needs essential due to custom and making people addicted and dependent on those inessential needs. With these, this bizarre age builds a barrier against religious life, eternal life and the life of the âkhirah, or reduces them to the second or third degree of priority. As a penalty for this mistake, it received such a terrible slap that turned their world into Jahannam.

Thus, in this terrible calamity, even the people of religion fall into the abyss, and they partly do not understand.

In short, I saw that some individuals from among the people of religion and the people of taqwâ had a great regard for us. I saw in those individuals that they desire religion and like to practice it so that they can be successful in their worldly life and gain fortune in their work. They even desire tarîqah for the sake of kashf and karâmât. It means that they make the desire for the âkhirah and the fruits of religious duties pertaining to the âkhirah a pedestal and a stepping stone to gain the life of the world. They do not know that wordly benefits arising from the haqiqahs of religion, which are the means for happiness in this world as well as happiness in the âkhirah, can only be at the degree of encouragement and cause of preference. If they rise to the level of being the real cause (‘illah) and if that benefit becomes the purpose of that good deed, it will annul the deed. It will at the very least shatter ikhlas; the sawâb of that deed will vanish.

Forty-thousand witnesses can attest that the most proven saviour from the calamity, plague, tyranny and darkness of this sick, cruel and unfortunate age is the nûr disseminated from the scales and comparisons in the Risale-i Nur. It means that if those who are close to Risale-i Nur's circle do not enter it, there is a great risk of danger.