The Fifth Ray1

[Thirteen years ago, {Note: It is now more than forty years.} the draft of the Barrier of Dhu'l-Qarnayn, Ya’juj and Ma’juj and Twenty Matters on the other signs of qiyâmah, which were discussed in the published Muhakemat-i Bedi'iye that was written thirty years ago2 , have been written as an addendum to Muhakemat. For the sake of an ‘azîz friend of mine, its fair copy was made and became the Fifth Ray.]

(The Fifth Ray of The Thirty-First Flash of The Thirty-First Letter)3

Warning: The Matters following the Introduction should be read first so that the purpose of the Introduction can be understood.

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

A subtle point of the âyâh فَقَدْ جَۤاءَ اَشْرَاطُهَا4 has been written in order to preserve the aqîdah of the ‘awâm mu’mins and protect them from doubts.

Like the mutashabihât of the Qur'an, some hadiths about the events that will occur at the âkhirzaman have profound meanings. They are not to be made tafsir like muhkamât âyâhs and not everyone knows their meanings. Their ta'wîl5 is made instead of tafsir. Through the mystery of وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَاْوِيلَهُ اِلاَّ اللّٰهُ وَ الرَّاسِخُونَ فِى الْعِلْمِ6 , their ta'wil is understood and what is intended by them is known only after they have occurred. And those who are well-grounded in ‘ilm disclose those hidden haqiqahs by saying,   آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّنَا7 .

This Fifth Ray contains an Introduction and Twenty-Three Matters. The Introduction consists of Five Points.

First Point: Since îmân and man's accountability are a test, a trial and a competition within the sphere of the will, secondary (nadharî) matters of religion that are veiled, profound and in need of minute examining and experiment surely cannot be evident. And they cannot be among dharûriyyah to the extent that everyone will affirm them necessarily so that the Abu Bakrs can rise to the a’lâ ‘illiyyin and the Abu Jahls descend to the asfal sâfilîn. If the will does not remain, there cannot be accountability. And for this mystery and hikmah, the miracles are given infrequently and rarely. Also, the signs of the qiyâmah that will be seen by eyes in the realm of accountability are veiled and only open to ta’wîl, like some mutashabihât of the Qur'an. Only because the rising of the sun from the west compels everyone to affirm to the degree of being evident, the door of tawbah will be closed; tawbah and îmân will no longer be accepted. Because the Abu Bakrs will be equal in affirmation with the Abu Jahls. Even Hazrat ‘Îsâ ‘Alayhissalâm being sent down and his being ‘Îsâ ‘Alayhissalâm are known through the attentiveness of the nûr of îmân; everyone cannot know. Even fearsome figures such as Dajjal and Sufyan do not know themselves to be such.

Second Point: The matters of the ghayb that are informed to the Prophet, some of them are informed in detail. This part can in no way be interpreted, and he cannot interfere with it. Like the muhkamât of the Qur'an and Hadith al-Qudsî8 . Another part of them is informed in summary; their explanation and definition are referred to his (asm) ijtihad, like the hadiths concerning the events of the world and the universe and the future events, which are not included among the haqiqahs of îmân. In this part, in the form of comparisons, our Prophet ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm explains and defines in a way that conforms to the hikmah of the mystery of accountability through his balâghat.

For example, one time, a deep rumble was heard in a conversation. He decreed: “This is the sound of a rock, which has been rolling towards Jahannam for seventy years, falling into the bottom of the pit of Jahannam.” Five or six minutes after this strange announcement, someone came and said, "O Rasûl of Allah, so and so munâfiq, who was seventy years old, has died. He has gone to Jahannam." and demonstrated the ta’wîl of the elevated words of the Prophet with balâghat.

Warning: Minor future events, which are not included among the haqiqahs of îmân, were considered unimportant by the Prophet (asm).

The Third Point consists of two Subtle Points:

The First: Since, in the course of time, some hadiths, which had been narrated in the form of comparisons and allegories, were understood in their literal meaning by the ‘âwam, they do not conform to reality. Although they are pure haqiqah, they appear not to be so. For example, two malâikah, who are among the bearers of the earth like the bearers of the ‘arsh and are called Ox (Thawr) and Fish (Hût) and represented by those animals, were imagined as a huge ox and a gigantic fish.

The Second: Although some hadiths point to the place of the Islamic government, the centre of the khilâfah, or the place where the Muslim majority live, they were supposed to be comprehending all the people in the world. Although they were particular in one respect, they were supposed to be universal and general.

For example, it says in a riwâyât, "A time will come; there will be no one remaining who says, Allah! Allah!" That is, "The places of dhikr will be closed, and adhan and iqâmah will be recited in Turkish."

Fourth Point: Just as matters concerning the ghayb, such as death and the appointed time for the end of one's life, remain hidden for many benefits and hikmahs, so qiyâmah that is the sakârat and death of the world and the death and appointed time for the end of the life of mankind and the animal nation has been concealed for many benefits. Yes, if the appointed time for the end of one's life was specified — the first half of life in absolute ghaflah and the second half of it in absolute terror due to taking one step further towards the gallows every day to be executed — the beneficial balance of hope and fear that is full of hikmah would be destroyed. In exactly the same way, if the time of qiyâmah that is the sakarât and the appointed time for the end of the world's life had been specified, the early and middle ages would not have been affected by the thought of the âkhirah. And the later ages would be in absolute terror; no pleasure or value would remain in the life of the world, nor would ‘ubûdiyyah with obedience through the will amidst hope and fear have any importance or hikmah. Furthermore, if it were specified, some of the haqiqahs of îmân would be evident and everybody would affirm involuntarily. The mystery of man's accountability and the hikmah of îmân that are tied to the will and irâdah would be nullified. Thus, since matters concerning the ghayb remained hidden for numerous benefits, like this, everyone can work both for this world and the âkhirah since he can think every minute about the appointed time for the end of his life as well as the continuation of his life in this world; in the same way, since, in each age, everyone can think that both the qiyâmah will occur and the world will continue, he can work for eternal life amidst the transitoriness of the world and for building the world as though he will never die.

Furthermore, if the time of calamities were specified, the man afflicted with the calamity would suffer a ma’nawî calamity perhaps ten times greater than the actual calamity by its expectation. Therefore, the time of calamities is concealed and veiled by the hikmah and rahmah of Allah so that one would not suffer the calamity arising from its expectation. And giving news from the ghayb has been prohibited because the majority of the events of the ghayb pertaining to the universe contain such hikmahs. For not being disrespectful and disobedient to the principle لاَ يَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ اِلاَّ اللّٰهُ 9, even those who — with the permission of Ar-Rabb — give news about the matters concerning the ghayb that the man is not accountable for and are not included among the haqiqahs of îmân have given veiled and obscure news about those matters in the form of an indication only.

Even the good tidings and news about our Prophet in the Tawrah10, the Injil11 and the Zabûr12 were veiled and obscure to an extent that some followers of those books made forced interpretations and did not believe. However, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition and its Glorious Interpreter (asm) inform the matters of the âkhirah in detail and the future events of the world concisely because the hikmah of man's accountability necessitates informing the matters included in the creeds of îmân explicitly and repeatedly and making their tablîgh clearly.

Fifth Point: Also, since the wonders of both Dajjals, which belong to their centuries, have been narrated in connection with their persons and in the discussions about them, it has been understood and imagined that those wonders will originate from their persons; therefore, those riwâyât became mutashabih and their meanings were concealed. For example, his travelling by aeroplane and train.

And, for example, it is well-known that when the Dajjal of Islam dies, the shaytan who serves him will shout out the news to the whole world from Dikili Tas, the obelisk in Istanbul, and everyone will hear the voice: “He died.” That is, the news will be shouted out by radio, which is bizarre and leaves even shaytans in astonishment.

Also, since the strange states and fearsome activities of Dajjal's regime and the committee and government he formed have been narrated by relating them to his person, the meaning of riwâyât has been concealed. For example, it is narrated: "He is so powerful and continues so long that only Hazrat ‘Îsâ (as) can kill him; there cannot be any other solution." That is, it is only a samâwî and elevated, pure religion, which will emerge among the followers of ‘Îsâ (as) and unite with the haqiqah of the Qur'an and follow it, will destroy and kill Dajjal’s way and predatory regime; through Hazrat ‘Îsâ ‘Alayhissalâm being sent, such irreligious way will be destroyed and die. Dajjal himself can otherwise be killed by a germ or by the flu.

Also, the explanations and judgements of some narrators that were made through their interpretations, which can be an error, have been mixed up with the words of the hadith; they have been supposed to be the hadith, therefore the meaning was concealed. It does not appear to be conformable to reality and becomes mutashabih.

Also, in early times, since the social life and ma’nawî collective personality of the community had not developed as it has at present and the individual ideas were predominant, and since the immense attributes and great actions of the community are attributed to the leader of the community, and since conforming to and being worthy of those wondrous and universal attributes one should possess a huge strange body and terrifying stature and colossal power and strength a hundred times surpassing their own, they were depicted as such. The hadith does not appear to be conformable with reality, and that riwâyât become mutashabih.

Also, although the states and attributes of the two Dajjals differ from each other, they have been confused in riwâyât that have come down to us in a form expressing the meaning in its widest sense; one has been supposed to be the other. Also, the circumstances of the Great Mahdi do not conform with the riwâyât indicating the previous Mahdis, and these have become mutashabih hadiths. Only Imam 'Ali (ra) mentions the Dajjal of Islam.

The Introduction is finished. Now we start with the Matters.

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[For now, with the help of Ar-Rabb, out of hundreds of examples of those events concerning the ghayb that mulhids disseminated with the idea of corrupting the aqîdah of the ‘awâm,  Twenty-Three Matters will be declared very concisely. I beseech the rahmah of Rabb that those matters will cause no harm, as the mulhids surmised, but will strengthen the aqîdah of the ‘awâm when it is seen that each of them is a flash of the miraculousness of the Prophet and their true ta’wîls are proven and made clear. And I beseech my Rabb Ar-Rahîm that He forgives my faults and errors and grants His maghfirah.]

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