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The Fifth Word: The lesson I have received from the mutual consultation (mashwarah) conforming to Sharî'ah is this: in this age, one sin of one person does not remain as one; it sometimes grows, spreads and becomes a hundred sins. And sometimes, one good deed does not remain as one but rather multiplies into thousands. The mystery of the hikmah of this is as follows:

The freedom described in Sharî'ah and the mutual consultation (mashwarah) conforming to Sharî'ah have demonstrated the dominance of our true nationhood. As for the foundation and rûh of our true nationhood, it is Islam. And regarding the Ottoman Khilâfah and the Turkish army being the flagbearers of the nationhood of Islam, the two true brothers, Arabs and Turks, are the shell and fortress of the nationhood of Islam and the guards of that sacred fortress.

Thus, through the bond of this sacred nationhood, all the people of Islam become a single tribe. Like the members of a tribe, the nations of Islam are bound and connected through Islamic brotherhood (ukhuwwah). They assist one another in a ma’nawî manner, and when there is a need, they assist materially. It is as if all the nations of Islam are bound to each other with a luminous chain. Just as, if a member of a tribe commits a crime, all its members are accused in the eyes of another enemy tribe. The enemy tribe becomes the enemy of all of them; it is as if each member of the tribe had committed the crime. That single crime becomes thousands of crimes. However, when a member of the tribe performs a good act, which is the cause of pride and is connected to the value of the tribe, all its members take pride in it. Each person in the tribe takes pride in it; it is as if he performed that good deed.

It is because of this haqiqah that at this time, and particularly forty to fifty years1 later, evil and bad deeds will not remain with the perpetrator; rather, those evil and bad deeds will be transgressions against the rights of millions of Muslims. Numerous examples of this will be seen forty to fifty years later.

O brothers who are listening to these words of mine here in the Umayyad Masjîd! And O Muslim brothers in the masjîd of the world of Islam forty to fifty years later! Do not make excuses by saying, "We do no harm, but we do not have the power to give benefit; therefore, we are excused." Such an excuse will not be accepted. Your laziness and displaying no effort by saying, "What is it to me?" and your failure to display a spirit of energy through Islamic unity and true Islamic nationhood are the grievous harm you cause, and it is injustice.

Just as bad deeds rise to thousands in this way, so too do good deeds, which are good acts that are connected with the sacredness of Islam, at this time not remain restricted to the one who performs them. Indeed, such good deeds may give ma’nawî benefits to millions of mu’mins and may strengthen the bonds of their ma’nawî and material life. Therefore, this is not the time to throw yourselves on the bed of laziness by saying, "What is it to me?"

O my brothers here in this masjîd and my brothers forty to fifty years later in the mighty masjîd of the world of Islam! Do not suppose that I have come to this esteemed position of delivering lessons to give you advice; rather, I have come here to claim our rights from you. That is to say, the benefit and happiness in this world and the âkhirah of small nations, like the Kurds, are bound to Ustadhs, who are rulers, such as you, the Arabs and the Turks, who are great and esteemed nations. We, the Muslim nations, who are your helpless younger brothers, are harmed due to your inaction and indifference.

Especially, O esteemed and great Arabs, who have either been awakened or will be! First and foremost, I speak with you with these words because you were the Ustadhs and Imams for us and all the nations of Islam, and you were the mujâhidîn of Islam. Then, the esteemed Turkish nation assisted you in your sacred duty.

Therefore, your inaction is a great sin, and your good acts and deeds are also great and exalted. In particular, forty to fifty years later, we await with great expectation from the rahmah of Allah that the Arab nations will succeed in taking an exalted position, like the federal government system of America, and re-establishing Islamic rule, akin to previous eras, across half the globe of the earth and, indeed, throughout most of the world that is currently under captivity. If the qiyâmah does not erupt soon, the coming generation shall see it, InshâAllah.

Beware, my brothers! Do not think or imagine that with these words of mine, I am urging you to spend your endeavour on politics. Hâshâ! The haqiqah of Islam is above all forms of politics. All politics can only be its servants. No form of politics has any right to make Islam a tool for itself.

With my flawed understanding, I envision the Islamic society of this time as a factory with various wheels and machines. If any wheel of the factory lags behind or encroaches on another wheel, its fellow, the entire function and movement of the machine will be broken. Therefore, the right time is beginning for Islamic Unity. It is necessary not to focus on each other's personal faults.

I also say this to you with regret and sadness: just as certain foreigners have taken our valuable possessions and countries from us and have given us a rotten price in return. So too, they have taken from us our elevated moral values and part of our fine qualities that arise from our elevated moral values and are connected with social life, and they have made them the means of their progress. And it is their dissipated immorality and dissipated qualities that they have given us as a price for them.

For example, through the fine quality of nationalism that they have taken from us, a man from among them says, "If I die, let my nation live, for I have an everlasting life in my nation." They have taken these words from us, and it is the firmest foundation of their progress. They stole them from us. As for these words, they arise from the haqq religion and the haqiqahs of îmân. They are our property, the property of the mu’mins. However, because of the filthy and bad qualities of the foreigners that infiltrated us, a selfish man from among us says, "If I die of thirst, let it not rain again anywhere in the world. If I do not experience happiness, let the world go to rack and ruin as it wishes." These foolish words arise from irreligion and from not knowing the âkhirah. They have entered among us from outside and are poisoning us. Furthermore, through the idea of nationhood, which those foreigners took from us, an individual among them becomes as valuable as a nation because the value of a man is in proportion to his endeavour. A man whose endeavour is his nation is a small nation on his own.

A thousand men become one man due to the carelessness of some of us, our adopting the damaging qualities of foreigners, and, despite our strong and sacred Islamic nationhood, everyone saying, "Me! Me!" and considering personal benefits, not the nation's benefits.

مَنْ كَانَ هِمَّتُهُ نَفْسُهُ فَلَيْسَ مِنَ اْلاِنْسَانِ ِلاَنَّهُ مَدَنِىٌّ بِالطَّبْعِ

That is, a man whose endeavour is limited to himself is not a human being because the fitrah of human beings is civilised. Man is compelled to consider his fellow humans. His personal life can only continue through the social life. For example, how many hands is he in need of to eat one loaf of bread, and in return for it, how many hands does he kiss in a ma’nawî manner? And how many factories is he connected to due to the clothes he wears? You compare! Since he cannot live with fur like an animal, he is connected by fitrah to his fellow humans and compelled to pay them a ma’nawî price. Therefore, by his fitrah, he maintains civilisation. One who confines his view to his personal benefits loses his humanity and becomes a cruel animal lacking all innocence. If it is not in his power to do anything, or he has a genuine excuse, that is an exception!

The Sixth Word: The key to the happiness of Muslims in the social life of Islam is the mutual consultation (mashwarah) that conforms to Sharî’ah. The noble âyah,

وَ اَمْرُهُمْ شُورَى بَيْنَهُمْ2

orders the Council (Shûrâ) as a fundamental principle. Just as in mankind, the mutual consultation (mashwarah) of the ages and centuries via history, which is called

تلاحق الأفكار ,3

formed the foundation of man's progress and sciences, so too one reason for the backwardness of Asia, the largest continent, was the failure to practice the true Council (Shûrâ).

The key and resolver of the continent of Asia and its future is the Council (Shûrâ). That is to say, just as individuals consult with one another, nations and continents must also practice this consultation. Because it is the mutual consultation (mashwarah) conforming to Sharî’ah and the freedom of the Sharî’ah born of the bravery, ingenuity and compassion arising from îmân that will loosen and remove the shackles and chains of the various forms of oppression fastened to the feet of three hundred, or rather, four hundred million Muslims. The freedom of Sharî’ah is to be adorned with the âdâb of Sharî’ah and to throw away the evils of dissipated western civilisation.

The freedom of Sharî’ah arising from îmân commands two principles:

اَنْ لاَ يُذَلِّلَ وَ لاَ يَتَذَلَّلَمَنْ كَانَ عَبْدًا لِلّٰهِ لاَ يَكُونُ عَبْدًا لِلْعِبَادِ لاَ يَجْعَلْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا

اَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللّٰهِ نَعَمْ اَلْحُرِّيَّةُ الشَّرْعِيَّةُ عَطِيَّةُ الرَّحْمٰنِ

That is, îmân necessitates not insulting others and making them fall into abasement through oppression and despotism, and not being humiliated by dhâlims. One who is truly an ‘abd of Allah cannot be an ‘abd to others. Do not take each other as your Rabb other than Allah! That is, one who does not acknowledge Allah will assign a rubûbiyyah to everything and everyone in proportion to their degree, and as a result, he will be dominated and overpowered by all.

Yes, the freedom of Sharî’ah is Janâb-i Haqq’s bounty through the manifestation of His names Rahmân and Rahîm and is a characteristic of îmân.

فَلْيَحْيَا الصِّدْقُ وَلاَ عَاشَ الْيَاْسُ فَلْتَدُومِ الْمُحَبَّةُ وَلْتَقْوَى الشُّورَى وَالْمَلاَمُ عَلَى مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْهَوَى وَالسَّلاَمُ عَلَى مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْهُدَى

Long live Sidq! Death to despair! Let love persist! Let the Council (Shûrâ) find strength! May all the blame and reproach be on those who follow their nafs and the desires of their nafs! May salâm and salâmât be on those who follow the way of Allah! Âmîn.

If it is said: Why do you attach this much importance to the Council (Shûrâ)? And how can the life and progress of mankind, particularly of Asia and Islam, be achieved through the Council (Shûrâ)?

The answer: As is explained in the Twenty-First Flash of the Risale-i Nur, the Risale on Ikhlas, since the Council (Shûrâ) conforming to the haqq results in ikhlas and solidarity, three men may give benefit to the nation as much as a hundred men through ikhlas and true solidarity — just as three 'alifs' become one hundred and eleven. Many historical events tell us that ten men performed the work of a thousand men through the mystery of true ikhlas, solidarity and mutual consultation (mashwarah).

Since the needs of man are endless and his enemies are infinite, and his power and capital are insignificant, and since the number of destructive, harmful humans, who have become monsters because of irreligion, has increased, his personal life can only resist with the point of support and the point of assistance arising from îmân against those infinite enemies and endless needs. In the same way, his social life can only live through the Council (Shûrâ) that conforms to Sharî’ah and emerges from the haqiqahs of îmân. The Council (Shûrâ) can halt those infinite enemies and open a way to secure those endless needs.