Third Discussion

يَا اَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَاُنْثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا

لِتَعَارَفُوا مُنَاسَبَاتِ الْحَيَاةِ اْلاِجْتِمَاعِيَّةِ فَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَيْهَا لاَ لِتَنَاكَرُوا فَتَخَاصَمُوا

That is, "I created you as two groups, men and women, and different nations and different tribes, so that you should know one another and understand your relations concerning social life and assist one another. I created you as different tribes, not for you to regard each other as strangers by refusing to acknowledge one another and to nurture hostility and enmity."

This Third Discussion consists of ‘Seven Matters.’

First Matter: Since the elevated haqiqah that the noble âyah expresses concerns social life, I have been compelled to write it in the tongue, not of the New Said, who wants to withdraw from social life, but of the Old Said, who was connected with the social life of Islam, with the purpose to serve the Qur'an Great in Dignity and form a shield against the unjust attacks.

Second Matter: To explain “the principle of mutual acquaintance and the principle of mutual assistance," which the noble âyah indicates, we say this: just as an army is divided into divisions, the divisions into regiments, and the regiments into battalions, companies, and then into squads, so that every soldier’s different various connections and his duties according to those connections can be known.. so that the members of the army can truly perform a general duty governed by the principle of mutual assistance and their social life be guarded against the attacks of the enemy. However, this separation and division is not made for one company to compete with another, one battalion to be hostile towards another, or one division to act in opposition to another. In just the same way, the entire Islamic society is a big army that has been divided into tribes and nations. However, they have a thousand and one aspects of unity. Their Khâliq is one and the same, their Razzâq is one and the same, their Prophet is one and the same, their qiblais one and the same, their Book is one and the same, and their country is one and the same; one and the same to the thousands... Thus, all of these “one… one…” necessitate brotherhood, love and unity. It means that being divided into tribes and nations is for mutual acquaintance and mutual assistance, not for discord and mutual hostility.

Third Matter: The idea of nationalism has greatly advanced this century. The cunning European dhâlims, in particular, awaken this idea among Muslims in a negative fashion so that they can divide and devour them.

Furthermore, in the idea of nationalism, there is a pleasure of the nafs, a satisfaction containing ghaflah and an inauspicious power. Therefore, those occupied with social life at this time cannot be asked to abandon the concept of nationalism, but nationalism is of two kinds. One is negative, inauspicious and harmful; it is nourished by devouring others, persists through hostility to others, and is vigilant, and these are the causes of contention and conflict. It is because of this that the hadith decreed:

اْلاِسْلاَمِيَّةُ جَبَّتِ الْعَصَبِيَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةَ1

And the Qur’an decreed:

اِذْ جَعَلَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِى قُلُوبِهِمُ الْحَمِيَّةَ حَمِيَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَاَنْزَلَ اللّٰهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَعَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَاَلْزَمَهُمْ كَلِمَةَ التَّقْوَى وَكَانُوا اَحَقَّ بِهَا وَاَهْلَهَا وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا2

Thus, this noble hadith and âyah absolutely reject negative nationalism and the idea of racism. For positive, sacred Islamic nationhood leaves no need for them.

What race is there that has three hundred and fifty million members? And, in place of Islamic nationhood, how can the idea of racism cause the owner of that idea to gain so many brothers, who will be his eternal brothers? Yes, negative nationalism has caused much harm throughout history.

In Short: Since they mixed the idea of nationalism in their politics to an extent, the Umayyads offended the Islamic World, and they also suffered many calamities. Furthermore, in this century, the ghastly events of the Great War, alongside the perpetual and inauspicious enmity of the French and Germans, which stem from the European nations putting forward the idea of racism, showed how harmful negative nationalism for mankind is. And among us, in the early period of the Freedom3, — like, at the time of the destruction of the Fortress of Babel, “the nations splitting up into branches” called

تبلبل اقوام4

which resulted in their being scattered due to that splitting up into branches — various nationalist societies, foremost the Armenians and Greeks, known as "clubs," which were the cause of the division of the hearts, were formed, with the idea of negative nationalism. And from that time on, the state of those among them who have been devoured by the Europeans and rendered miserable by the Europeans has once more demonstrated the harmful effects of negative nationalism.

Now, however, among the Muslim nations and tribes — who are most in need of one another, and are more oppressed and poorer than each other and are crushed under European domination — to regard one another as strangers due to the idea of nationalism and to consider each other to be enemies is such a calamity that it cannot be described. Through such insanity as turning one's back on dreadful snakes so as not to be bitten by a mosquito and as struggling against the mosquito bites, at a time when the enormous dragons of Europe unleashed their insatiable greed, which is their claws, to attach no importance to those dragons, but rather to help them in a mana’wî manner, to nurture enmity against fellow citizens in the Eastern Provinces or fellow Muslims in the South with the idea of negative nationalism, and to take up positions opposed to them are extremely detrimental and perilous. However, there exist no enemies among the people of the South against whom a front should be taken. The nûr of the Qur'an comes from the South; the light of Islam came from there; it is present in us and is found everywhere.

Thus, hostility towards those fellow Muslims implicitly harms Islam and the Qur'an. And hostility towards Islam and the Qur'an is a kind of hostility towards the lives in this world and in the âkhirah of all those fellow citizens. To serve social life, destroying the keystones of two lives in the name of patriotism is not patriotism, but stupidity!

Fourth Matter: Positive nationalism arises from the inner needs belonging to social life and is the cause of mutual assistance, cooperation and solidarity; it ensures a beneficial strength and becomes a means for further strengthening the Islamic brotherhood (ukhuwwah).

This idea of positive nationalism must serve Islam; it must be its fortress and armour; it must not take its place. For within the brotherhood that Islam offers, there are a thousand brotherhoods, and this brotherhood becomes eternal in al-‘âlam al-baqâ and al-‘âlam al-barzakh. So, no matter how strong the national brotherhood is, it can only be a veil of the Islamic brotherhood (ukhuwwah). Otherwise, establishing it in place of an Islamic brotherhood is a foolish crime, akin to replacing the treasure of diamonds in the fortress with stones from the fortress and discarding the diamonds.

O sons of this land, who are the people of the Qur'an! As the flag bearers of Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm, you have challenged the whole world and proclaimed the Qur'an not for six hundred years, but for a thousand years since the time of the 'Abbasids. You have made your nationality the fortress for the Qur'an and Islam. You have silenced the whole world and repulsed terrible attacks, so you perfectly confirmed the âyah:

يَاْتِى اللّٰهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ اَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ اَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ يُجَاهِدُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ اللّٰهِ5

Now, you must beware and be afraid of confirming the address before this part of the âyah6 by following the intrigues of Europe and the munâfiqs who imitate and follow them!

A state worthy of attention: Although the Turkish nation has the largest population among Islamic nations, Turks all over the world are Muslims. They have not become divided into Muslims and non-Muslims like the other nations. Wherever there are Turk tribes, they are Muslims. Turks who have abandoned Islam or who are not Muslims have also abandoned the Turkish nationality, like the Hungarians. However, even among the small nations, there are both Muslims and non-Muslims.

O Turk brother! You especially should be careful! Your nationality has fused with Islam and cannot be separated from it. If you do separate them, you will be destroyed! All your actions of the past that you take pride in are recorded in the book of Islam. Even though these actions that you take pride in cannot be erased by any power on the face of the earth, do not erase them from your heart due to the waswasa and intrigues of shaytans!

Fifth Matter: In Asia, the awakening nations are embracing the idea of negative nationalism and imitating Europe in every respect, to a degree that they sacrifice many sacred matters in their actions. However, the stature of each nation requires a particular dress. Even if the fabric is the same, the design must be different. A woman cannot be dressed in a gendarme's uniform, just as an elderly hojacannot be clothed in the dress of an immodest woman. Blind imitation often leads to embarrassment and ridicule. The reasons for this are as follows:

Firstly: If Europe is a shop, a barracks, Asia is an arable field, a masjîd. A shopkeeper can go to dancing, but a farmer cannot. The situation of a barracks and that of a masjîd cannot be the same.

Furthermore, the emergence of the most prophets in Asia and the rise of the majority of philosophers in Europe is a sign, an indication of azalî Qadar, that what will awaken the Asian nations and cause them to progress and rule are religion and the heart. As for philosophy and science, they should assist religion and the heart, but not replace them.

Secondly: It is a grievous error to be indifferent towards religion, like in Europe, by comparing the religion of Islam with Christianity. Firstly, Europe protects its religion. European leaders, foremost Wilson, Lloyd George and Venizelos, being bigoted in their religion like priests, testifies that Europe stands forth as a protector of its religion and is even zealous in one respect.

Thirdly: To compare Islam with Christianity is to compare two things that do not resemble each other in any aspect; the comparison is wrong because Europe was not civilised when it was zealous in its religion; it gave up its zeal and then became civilised. Furthermore, religion caused three hundred years of internal war among them. And since in the hands of despotic tyrants, religion became a tool for oppressing the ordinary people, the poor and the thinkers, the majority of them became resentful towards religion temporarily. As for Islam — as history witnesses — it has not caused an internal war, excluding one time.

Moreover, whenever the people of Islam have earnestly protected their religion, they have progressed higher than the people in their time. Witness to this is the greatest ustadh of Europe, the Islamic State of Andalusia. And, whenever the Islamic community had been neglectful in religion, they had regressed through falling into misery.    

Furthermore, since Islam always protects the poor and ordinary people with thousands of compassionate tenets, such as zakat being wâjib and interest (ribâ) being haram, and since through phrases, such as

اَفَلاَ يَعْقِلُونَ ٭ اَفَلاَ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ ٭ اَفَلاَ يَتَدَبَّرُونَ7

it summons the mind and knowledge (‘ilm) as witnesses and warns them and protects people of knowledge (‘ilm), Islam has always been the fortress and place of refuge for the poor and the people of knowledge (‘ilm). Therefore, there is no reason to be resentful towards Islam.

The mystery of the hikmah behind the aspect of differences between Islam and Christianity and other religions is this:

The essence of Islam is pure Tawhîd; it does not attribute a real effect to causes and intermediaries, nor does it attribute value to them with regards to creation and position. Christianity, however, attributes value to causes and intermediaries since it accepts the idea of waladiyyah8; therefore, it does not break ananiyyah. It quite simply attributes a manifestation of the rubûbiyyah of Allah to its saints and great personages. They became confirmatory for the âyah:

اِتَّخَذُوا اَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ اَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللّٰهِ9

Therefore, together with maintaining their pride and ananiyyah, those who occupy the highest worldly ranks among Christians can be zealous and religious, like former American president Wilson. In Islam, the religion of pure Tawhîd, those at the high worldly ranks should either abandon their ananiyyah and pride, or abandon their religion to an extent. For this reason, some of them remain neglectful, or even become irreligious.

Sixth Matter: To those who fell into ifrât in the idea of negative nationalism and racialism, we say this:

Firstly: The face of the earth, especially this land of ours, has been subjected to numerous migrations and changes in population since ancient times. Furthermore, other nations were drawn, like moths, and settled in this country after the establishment of the Islamic government's centre here. Therefore, only if al-lawh al-mahfûdh is revealed can the true races be distinguished from each other. For this reason, to build actions and patriotism on the basis of the idea of true race is both meaningless and extremely harmful. It is for this reason that one of the leaders of the negative nationalists and those who support racism, who is very neglectful towards religion, was compelled to say, "If the language and religion of the people are the same, their nation is the same." Since this is so, what should be taken into consideration is not the true race but the connections of language, religion and country. If the three are the same in one person, he already possesses a strong nation. And if one is absent, he is still within the sphere of nationhood.

Secondly: As examples, we shall declare two of the hundreds of benefits the sacred Islamic nationhood brings to the social life of the sons of this land:

The First: While being twenty or thirty million, what caused this Islamic state to preserve its life and existence against all the great states of Europe was this idea of its army that arose from the nûr of the Qur'an: "If I die, I shall be a shahîd, and if I kill, I shall be a ghazi." They met death with perfect eagerness and love by laughing in its face. They always made Europe tremble. I wonder, is there anything in the world that can give rise to such elevated self-sacrifice in the rûh of simple-minded and pure-hearted soldiers? What patriotism can be established in place of it? Can any form of patriotism make those soldiers willingly sacrifice their lives and all of their world?

The Second: Whenever the dragons (great states) of Europe dealt a blow at this Islamic state, they made three hundred and fifty million Muslims weep and cry out. And in order not to make them weep and suffer, those colonialists have drawn back their hands; they have lowered their hands while raising them to strike. What alternative power can be established in place of this perpetual ma’nawî power — which should never be underestimated — of support as soldiers ready to assist you from behind? Show it! Yes, that enormous ma’nawî power of support as soldiers poised to assist you from behind must not be offended by negative nationalism and patriotism in a manner of supposing that you do not need their help.

Seventh Matter: We say to those who display excessive zeal in negative nationalism: if your love for this nation is genuine, and you are truly compassionate towards them, uphold such zeal that it would be compassion towards the majority of the people of this nation. Otherwise, to serve the fleeting social life in ghaflah of the minority, who require no compassion, in a manner of showing no mercy for the majority is not an act of patriotism. For the acts of patriotism performed with the idea of negative racism may be temporarily beneficial for two out of eight of the nation; they receive the compassion arising from that patriotism of which they are not worthy. While the remaining six out of eight are either elderly, or sick, or struck by calamities, or are children, or are weak, or are muttaqî people thinking seriously of âkhirah; these people want a nûr, a solace, compassion, in the face of the life in barzakh and âkhirah that they turned to more than the worldly life; they need blessed, patriotic hands. What patriotism would allow their light to extinguish and destroy their solace? Alas! Compassion for the nation, self-sacrifice for the nation, where are they?

Hope in the rahmah of Allah must not be lost. Because, due to temporary impediments, InshâAllah, Janâb-ı Haqq would not let the magnificent army and mighty community of the people of this land perish, whom He employed for a thousand years in the service of the Qur'an and appointed as the flagbearers of it. He will once again rekindle that nûr and make them continue their duty.

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