بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ اَجْمَعِينَ

ÎMÂN-BELIEF - 3

Introduction

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَاْلاِنْسَ اِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُونِ1

According to the mystery of this mighty âyah, the purpose and hikmah of human being sent to this world is recognizing Al-Khâliq of the universe and îmân (believing) in Him and performing ‘ibâdah to Him. Man’s duty of fitrah and the fardh incumbent upon him are Ma’rifatullah and îmân in Allah, to assent to His Being (wujûd) and wahdah by idh'ân and perfect certainty.

For man, who by fitrah desires living eternally and permanent life, who has unlimited hopes and boundless afflictions, any object or attainment must be regarded as lowly for man other than îmân in Allah, Ma’rifatullah and the means for attaining these, which are the fundament and key of eternal life. Indeed most of them have no value. Since this haqiqah has been proven with firm evidence in the Risale-i Nur, we refer exposition of it to that, setting forth here, within the framework of four questions, only two abysses that shake the certainty of îmân in this age and induce hesitation.

The means for salvation from the first abyss are these two Matters:

The First Matter: As proven in detail in the Thirteenth Flash of the Thirty-First Letter, in general matters, denial has no value in the face of proof and is extremely weak. For example, with respect to the sighting of the crescent moon at the beginning of Ramadhan the Noble, if two common men prove the crescent to have emerged by their witnessing it, and thousands of nobles and ‘ulamâ deny it, saying: "We have not seen it," their negation is valueless and without power to convince. When it is a question of proof each person strengthens and supports the other, and consensus results. But when it is a negation, there is no difference between one man and a thousand. Each person remains alone and isolated. For the one who affirms looks beyond himself and judges the matter as it is. Thus in the example we have given if one says "The moon is in the sky," and his friend then points his finger at the moon, the two of them unite and are strengthened. The one who engages in negation and denial, however, does not regard the matter as it is, and is even unable to do so. For it is a well-known principle that "a non-particularized denial, not directed to a particular locus, cannot be proven."

For example, if I affirm the existence of a thing in the world, and you deny it, I can easily establish its existence with a single indication. But for you to prove your negation, that is to prove the non-existence of that thing - it is necessary to hunt exhaustively through the whole world, and even to examine every aspect of past ages. Only then can you say, "It does not exist, and never has existed."

Since those who negate and deny do not regard the matter as it is but judge rather their own nafs, and their own mind and vision, they can in no way strengthen and support each other. For the veils and causes that prevent them from seeing and knowing are various. Anyone can say, "I do not see it; therefore, in my opinion and belief, it does not exist." But none can say, "It does not exist in actuality." If someone says this -particularly in questions of îmân, which look to all the universe- it is a lie as vast as the world itself, and he who utters it will be incapable both of speaking the truth and of being corrected.

In Short: The result is one and single in the case of proof, and every instance of proof supports all other instances.

Negation, by contrast, is not one but multiple. Multiplicity arises through each person's saying concerning himself, "In my opinion and view," or "In my belief," and leads to multiplicity of result. Hence each separate instance cannot support all other instances.

Therefore, with respect to the haqiqah with which we began, there is no significance in the multiplicity and apparent predominance of the kâfirs and deniers who oppose îmân. Now it is necessary to refrain from introducing any hesitation into the certainty and îmân of a mu’min, but in this age, the negations and denials of the philosophers of Europe have induced doubt in a number of unfortunate dupes and thus destroyed their certainty and obliterated their eternal felicity. Death and the coming of one's appointed hour, which afflict thirty thousand men each day, are deprived of their meaning of dismissal from this world and presented as eternal annihilation. The grave with its ever-open door constantly threatens the denier with annihilation and poisons his life with the bitterest of sorrows. Appreciate then how great a ni’mah is îmân, and the life of life.

The Second Matter: With respect to a matter subject to discussion in science or art, those who stand outside that science or art cannot speak authoritatively, however great, learned and accomplished they may be, nor can their judgements be accepted as decisive. They cannot form part of the learned consensus of the science.

For example, the judgement of a great engineer on the diagnosis and cure of a disease does not have the same value as that of the lowliest physician. In particular, the words of denial of a philosopher who is absorbed in the material sphere, who becomes continually more remote from the ma’nawî matters and cruder and more insensitive to nûr, whose mind is restricted to what his eye beholds - the words of such a one are unworthy of consideration and valueless with respect to ma’nawî matters.

On sacred and ma’nawî matters that concern Tawhîd, there is a total accord among the hundreds of thousands of the people of haqiqah, such as Shaykh Jilânî (KS), who beheld Allah’s ‘Arsh al-â’dham while still on the earth, who is a sacred genius, who spent ninety years advancing in ma’nawî matter, and who unveiled the haqiqahs of îmân in the form of ‘ilm al-yaqîn, ‘ayn al-yaqîn and haqq al-yaqîn. This being the case, what value have the words of philosophers, who through their absorption in the most diffuse details of the material realm and the most minute aspects of multiplicity are choking and dazed? Are not their denials and objections drowned out like the buzzing of a mosquito by the roaring of thunder?

The reality of kufr that opposes the haqiqahs of Islam and struggles against them is a denial, an ignorance and a negation. Even though it may appear to be an affirmation of some kind and a manifestation of being, it is in reality negation and non-being.

Whereas îmân is ‘ilm and pertains to existence; it is proof and judgement. Every negating matter of îmân is the title and veil of a positive haqiqah. If the people of kufr who struggle against îmân attempt, with the utmost difficulty, to prove and accept their negative beliefs in the form of acceptance and admission of non-being, then their kufr may be regarded in one respect as a form of mistaken ‘ilm or error judgement. But as for non-acceptance, denial, and non-admission -something more easily is done- it is absolute ignorance and total absence of judgement.

In Short: The belief in kufr are then of two kinds:

The First pays no regard to the haqiqahs of Islam. It is an erroneous admission, a bâtil belief and a mistaken acceptance peculiar to itself; it is a dhâlim judgement. This kind of kufr is beyond the scope of our discussion. It has no concern with us, nor do we have any concern with it.

The Second kind opposes the haqiqahs of îmân and struggles against them. It consists in turn of two varieties.

The First is non-acceptance. It consists simply of not consenting to proof. This is an ignorance; there is no judgement involved and it occurs easily. It too is beyond the scope of our discussion.

The Second variety is acceptance of non-existence. It is to consent to non-existence, and a judgement is involved. It is a conviction and iltizâm. It is on account of this iltizâm that it is obliged to prove its negation. The negation comprises two types:

The First Type says: "A certain thing does not exist at a certain place or in a particular direction." This kind of denial can be proved, and it lies outside of our discussion.

The Second Type consists of negating and denying those doctrinal and sacred matters, general and comprehensive, that concern this world, the universe, the âkhirah, and the succession of different ages. This kind of negation cannot in any fashion be proved, as we have shown in the First Matter, for what is needed to prove such negations is a vision that shall encompass the whole universe, behold the âkhirah, and observe every aspect of time without limit.

The Second Abyss and the means for escaping from it: This too consists of two matters.

The First: Minds that become narrowed by absorption in ghaflah or in sin, or materiality, are unable to comprehend vast matters in respect of sublimity, grandeur, and infinity; hence taking pride in such ‘ilm as they have, they hasten to denial and negate. Since they cannot encompass the extremely vast, profound and comprehensive questions of îmân within their straitened and desiccated minds in a ma’nawî manner, their corrupt and dead hearts in ma’nawî matters, they cast themselves into kufr and dhalâlah, and choke.

If they were able to look at the true nature of their kufr and the reality of their dhalâlah they would see that, compared to the reasonable, suitable and indeed necessary sublimity and grandeur that is present in îmân, their kufr conceals and contains manifold absurdity and impossibility.

The Risale-i Nur has proven this haqiqah by hundreds of comparisons with the same finality that "two plus two equals four." For example, one who does not accept the necessary existence, the pre-eternity, and the comprehensiveness of attribute of Janâb-i Haqq, on account of their grandeur and sublimity, may form a creed of kufr by assigning that necessary being, pre-eternity, and the attributes of Ulûhiyyah to an unlimited number of beings, an infinity of particles. Or like the foolish Sophists, he can abdicate his intelligence by denying and negating both his own existence and that of the universe.

Thus, all the haqiqahs of îmân and Islam, basing their matters on the grandeur and sublimity which are their requirement, deliver themselves from the awesome absurdities, the fearsome superstitions, and the tenebrous ignorance of kufr that confront them, and take up their place in sound hearts and mustâqim minds, through utmost idh'ân and submission.” The Rays (125 )

 

“According to the conditions of the time and by their fitrah, innocent children will be the foremost students of the Risale-i Nur. For if a child is not taught the lessons of îmân thoroughly when small, in later years he can only assimilate the pillars of Islam and îmân in his rûh with the greatest difficulty. Quite simply, it is as difficult as a non-muslim accepting Islam, for it seems strange. It is even stranger for him if he observes that his parents are not religious and his mind is being tarbiyyah only with the secular sciences. The child is then contemptuous of his parents in this world and is a sort of tribulation for them, longing for them to die. And in the âkhirah, he will be plaintiff against them, rather than a shafî’, saying: “Why didn’t you save my îmân through Islamic tarbiyyah?”

In accordance to this haqiqah, the most fortunate children are those who enter the fold of the Risale-i Nur, and serving and honouring their parents with good works, have merits written in their parent’s records of good deeds and become shafî’ for them in the âkhirah according to their degree.” Emirdağ Addendum (56)

 

In order to injure the value of the Risale-i Nur to an extent, some antagonists said to him: "Everyone knows Allah. An ordinary man believes in Allah just as an awliyâ does" and have tried to present the valuable and necessary emphasises of the Nur risales as excessive.

Now, in Istanbul, in order to deceive people and reduce the need for the haqiqahs of îmân within the Risale-i Nur, which everybody desperately needs like bread and water, some munafiqs, who harbour a far more terrifying idea of anarchy and have fallen into kufr al-mutlaq, want to oppose the Risale-i Nur by saying "Every nation and everybody know Allah. We do not really need new lessons about Him".

Whereas, to know Allah is to have a firm îmân in His rubûbiyyah encompassing the whole universe, and everything, particular and universal, from the particles to the stars being in the grasp of His control and coming into existence through His qoudrah and irâdah; it is to have îmân in the sacred phrase لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اللّٰهُ and its haqiqahs and His having no shariks in His possession; it is to confirm them by heart. 2

Otherwise, saying “There is one Allah” but dividing His possession among causes and nature and attributing it to them, and — Hâsha — accepting causes as His endless shariks and originators and not knowing His irâdah and ‘ilm, which are present with all things, and refusing His strict commands and not knowing His attributes and the messengers and prophets He has sent, surely, the haqiqah of îmân in Allah is not present in it in any way. Rather, he says such words to provide a degree of consolation for himself against the worldly torments of the ma’nawî Jahannam in kufr al-mutlaq.

Yes, not denying is one thing, but having îmân is entirely different. Yes, no conscious being in the universe can deny Al-Khâliq Zuljalâl to Whom every particle of the universe bears witness. If he does so, he will be silent and indifferent since all universe will refute him.

But to have îmân in Him is confirming Al-Khâliq with all His attributes and names by heart, relying on the testimony of the whole universe as the Qur’an Great in Dignity instructs; it is to accept the commands He has sent through His messengers and to offer tawbah and feel regret in the heart when he sinned and violated the commands. Otherwise, committing great sins freely but not offering istighfâr and being careless is a proof that he has no share from îmân.

Emirdağ Addendum-1 (202)

 

“KNOW, O FRIEND, that after acquiring the necessary ‘ilm of îmân, you must perform the ‘amal as-sâlih. Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm declares الَّذ۪ينَ اٰمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ 3 This short life suffices for only doing what is most important and necessary. Science and technology are necessary so far as they help satisfy essential needs, human progress, and human prosperity in both worlds. If they cause dissipation and sedition, they are harmful.” Al-Mathnawi Al-Nuri (163)

 

“With us, if someone became fâsiq, he is generally immoral and without conscience. For the desire to sin grows by silencing the voice of îmân in the conscience. This means that without shaking his conscience and ma’nawî life, and without holding them in contempt, he cannot commit a sharr completely voluntarily. It is for this reason that Islam considers the fâsiq to be traitorous, and does not accept their testimony. It considers the murtad to be poison and sentences them to death. While it recognizes Christian subjects and kâfirs who are signatories of a treaty. The Hanafi madhab accepts the testimony of a non-Muslim subject.

Justice should be executed in the name of religion so that it may be effective over the mind, heart, and rûh, and they may conform to it. Otherwise, it affects only the wahm. A criminal is then frightened only of the penalty set by the state, if it is enacted, or he shrinks from the reproaches of the public; if they occur.4 ” The Damascus Sermon ( 124 )

 

“Q: What is our formest need?

A: Truthfulness.

Q: After that?

A: To not lie.

Q: And then?

A: Sidq, loyalty, ikhlas, steadfastness and cooperation.

Q: Why?

A: The essence of kufr is dishonesty. The essence of îmân is sidq. Isn’t this proof enough to show that the continuation of our lives rests on the continuation of îmân, sidq and cooperation.” Biography (95)

 

“This indication testifies truthfully to the severe effects of the poison of lying, for lying is the basis of kufr; indeed, kufr is a falsehood and the worst sort of lying, and it is the chief sign of nifâq. Lying is to slander Ilahî Qoudrah and it is the opposite of Rabbânî Hikmah. Lying destroys high morals. It transforms great enterprises into putrefying corpses. Its poison has spread through the Islamic world. It has overturned the affairs of mankind, and held back al-‘âlam of humanity from attaining its perfections, and prevented its advance and progress. It has cast down the likes of Musaylima the Liar to the asfal sâfilîn. It is a heavy burden on man's back hindering him from achieving his aims. It is the progenitor of riyâ and artificiality. These are the reasons it has been specified by that which was revealed from above al-‘Arsh, and why it is execrated and made the object of threats. So you people, and especially you Muslims!” Signs of Miraculousness ( 101 )

 

“This message to the parliamentarians added sixty more people to those who were regularly performing their salâh. The small room allocated for salâh had to be moved to a much larger one.

Having the pamphlet read by the parliamentarians, generals and ‘Ulamâ, upset the president and led to an altercation. One day, while in the president’s office, they were exchanging views with fifty to sixty other parliamentarians sitting around them. M. Kemal Pasha:

-“We are in need of a heroic hoja like you. We invited you here to benefit from your elevated ideas. But you came and immediately started writing things about the salâh. You have caused division amongst us.”

Bediuzzaman responded with a few words and then angrily jabbed his finger towards him saying:

-“Pasha! Pasha!5 After îmân, the most elevated haqiqah in Islam is the salâh. Those who do not perform the salâh are traitors, and the opinions of  traitors are to be rejected (merduth)” The Pasha responded apologetically and could not interfere.” Biography- 151

 

The freedom of the 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 recognise Allah will attribute a rubûbiyyah to everything and everyone in proportion to their degree, and he will cause them to worry him and attack himself. Yes, the freedom of the Sharî’ah is Janâb-i Haqq’s bounty through the manifestation of His Names Rahmân and Rahîm and is a characteristic of îmân.

The Damascus Sermon-61

 

“Q – How can freedom be a quality of îmân?

A – The honour and courage of îmân found in a person, who through the connection of îmân becomes the servant of the Sultân of the Universe, will not condescend himself in abasement before anyone. It would not allow him to accept and remain under the tyranny and despotism of anyone. In the same way, the compassion of his îmân will never allow him to transgress the freedom and rights of another person.

Indeed, an honest servant of a Sultân will never abase himself to being oppressed by a shepherd. So too will he never abase himself to oppressing a helpless person. Therefore, the more îmân is perfected, the greater freedom will shine. Take a look at the Era of Bliss (of the Prophet).” Biography (89)

 

“Îmân, as a point of support in the face of suffering and a point of assistance for realizing one's hopes, possesses three true characteristics:

The First: Dignity of one’s self, which arises from “the point of support”, and the mark of the dignity of one’s self is the absence of condescending to abasement.

The Second: Compassion, the mark of which is not to abase others or be contemptuous of them.

The Third: Respect for the haqiqahs and ma’rifat of its worth. For the person who possesses something of high value possesses the haqiqah; he owns a unique jewel and will not be scornful of the haqiqah. For he is also dignified.

Similarly, the opposite of îmân, that is, nifâq, has three characteristics, the reverse of those of îmân: the lowliness of one’s self, the inclination to corrupt, and pride leading to contempt of others.” Signs of Miraculousness ( 113 )

 

Question: It is said that the Sahabah saw Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm, then they believed. However, we have believed without seeing him. In which case, our îmân is stronger. Also, there are riwâyât that indicate the strength of our îmân.

The Answer: While the general thoughts of the world were antagonistic and against the haqiqahs of Islam at that time, by only seeing Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm in the form of a human being, sometimes without miracles, the Sahabah gained such an îmân that all the general thoughts of the world could not shake their îmân and did not even give any waswasa to some of them, let alone doubts. As for you, you compare your îmân with the îmân of the Sahabah. There is no comparison between your îmân that falls into doubt and waswasa at the word of a European philosopher, although the general thoughts of Islam give strength to your îmân and are the proofs of your îmân and you see not the humanity and bodily form of Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm, which is the seed of the tûbâ-tree of nubuwwah but rather, with the mind's eye, his magnificent and luminous ma’nawî collective personality, which is illuminated through all the nûrs of Islam and haqiqahs of the Qur'an and surrounded by a thousand miracles, and with the îmân of the Sahabah that has not shaken in the face of the attacks of the entire world of kufr, Christians, Jews and philosophers. O the one who makes such a claim, there is no comparison between your faint îmân, which does not demonstrate the fardh completely on you due to being extremely weak, and with the intense taqwâ and perfect righteousness of the Sahabah, which demonstrate the strength of their îmân. But the hadith: "Those at the âkhirzaman who do not see me and believe are more acceptable" is about particular fadhîlah. It is about certain special individuals, while our discussion is in regard to general fadhîlah and the majority.

The Addendum to the Twenty-Seventh Word

 

“Towns are also households for their inhabitants. If îmân in the âkhirah does not govern among the members of that large family vices like malice, self-interest, false pretences, selfishness, artificiality, riyâ, bribery, and deception will dominate, displacing ikhlas, cordiality, fadhîlah, zeal, self-sacrifice, seeking Allah's pleasure and the reward of the âkhirah, which are bases of good conduct and morality. Anarchy and savagery will govern under the superficial order and humanity, poisoning the life of the town. The children will become troublemakers, the youth will take to drunkness6 , the strong will embark on oppression, and the elderly start to weep. By analogy, the country is also a household, and the fatherland, the home of the national family. If îmân in the âkhirah rules in these broad homes, true respect, earnest compassion, disinterested love, mutual assistance, honest service and social relations, charity without riyâ, fadhîlah, greatness without ananiyyah, and excellence will all start to develop.

It says to the children: "Give up messing around; there is Jannah to be won!", and teaches them self-control through instruction in the Qur'an.

It says to the youth: "There is Jahannam-fire; give up your drunkenness!", and brings them to their senses.

It says to the dhâlim: "There is a severe torment; you will receive a blow!", and makes them bow to justice.

It says to the elderly: "Awaiting you is everlasting happiness in the âkhirah far greater than all the happiness you have lost here, and immortal youth; try to win them!" It turns their tears into laughter.

It shows its favourable effects in every group, particular and universal, and illuminates them. The sociologists and moralists, who are concerned with the social life of mankind, should take special note. If the rest of the thousands of benefits and advantages of îmân in the âkhirah are compared with the five or six we have alluded to, it will be understood that it is only îmân that is the means of happiness in this world and the next and in the lives of both.” The Rays (246 )

 

“The thought of Jahannam and the fear it induces does not dispel the pleasures of the above fruits of îmân. For boundless Rabbânî rahmah says to the fearful man: Come to me! Enter the door of tawbah, then the existence of Jahannam will not frighten you, but make known completely the pleasures of Jannah, and avenge you and all creatures whose rights have been transgressed, and give you enjoyment. If you are so submerged in dhalâlah you cannot extricate yourself, the existence of Jahannam is still immeasurably better than eternal annihilation, and is also a sort of kindness for the kâfirs. For man, and even animals with young, receive pleasure at the pleasure and happiness of their relatives, offspring, and friends, and in one respect are happy.

Therefore, O mulhid! Because of your dhalâlah, you will either tumble into non-being at your eternal execution, or you will enter Jahannam! As for non-existence, which is absolute sharr, since it consists of the annihilation together with yourself of all your relatives, forbears and descendants, whom you love and at whose happiness you are to an extent happy, it causes pain to your rûh, heart, and essence severer than a thousand Jahannams. For if there was no Jahannam, there would be no Jannah. Through your kufr, everything falls into non-existence. If you go to Jahannam and remain within the sphere of existence, those you love and your relatives will be happy in Jannah or will be the recipients of compassion in some respects within the spheres of existence. This means you should support the idea of the existence of Jahannam. To oppose it is to support non-existence, which is to support the elimination of innumerable friends' happiness.

Yes, Jahannam is an awesome, majestic, existent land which performs the wise and just function of being the place of incarceration of Al-Hâkim Zuljalâl of the sphere of existence, which is pure khayr. It performs numerous other functions, besides that of prison, and fulfils many hikmahs and carries out many duties connected with al-‘âlam al-baqâ. It is also the awe-inspiring habitation of many living creatures like the Zabani7 .” The Rays ( 249 )

 

“The Risale-i Nur’s elevated and valuable service of îmân provided them sufficient conviction. The acute basîrah of the heart of those students understand this haqiqah that: Service with the Risale-i Nur saves îmân. Whereas the path of tarîqahs and shaikhs induce levels of walâyah. To save the îmân of a single person is more important and more rewarding than to raise ten mu’min’s to the level of walâyah. Since îmân gains eternal happiness, it secures for a mu’min an eternal dominion as large as this world. Whereas walâyah will broaden a mu’min’s Jannah and will embellish it. In the same way that making one person a sultân, is far greater than making ten people governor; saving the îmân of a single person is a more rewarding service than to make ten people awliyâ.” Kastamonu Addendum  ( 95 )

 A warning arising from a despairing memory that bears good news.

It has come to my mind in recent times that: “Whatever they encounter, those who enter social life will mostly be exposed to sins. Sins surround a person easily from all directions. How can a single person’s ‘ibâdah and taqwâ be enough to stand against this many sins?” And I despairingly began to ponder.

I started thinking about the state of Risale-i Nur students in social life and began reflecting on the strong signs of the Qur’an and the good news by Imam ‘Ali and Ghawth al-A'dham regarding the salvation of Risale-i Nur students and that they will be from the people of bliss. I said in my heart: “By using only their individual tongue, how can each respond to the sins coming from a thousand aspects; how can they be victorious and find salvation?” and was left bewildered. In response to my bewilderment, it was warned that:

Through the law of ‘partnership in deeds of the âkhirah’ and the mystery of sincere and pure cooperation, which are the fundamental principles among true and loyal students of the Risale-i Nur — with every sincere and true student offering not with a single tongue, but rather through the ‘ibâdah and istighfâr with the tongues to the number of their brothers —each will respond with thousands of tongues against the onslaught of sins attacking them from a thousand aspects. In the same way, the certain malâikah perform dhikr with forty-thousand tongues; a sincere and true student who practices taqwâ, performs ‘ibâdah through the tongues of their forty thousand brothers and becomes deserving of salvation, and will, InshâAllah, be among the people of bliss. They can acquire that exalted and universal ‘ubûdiyyah, according to their degree of loyalty, service, taqwâ and abstaining from kabâir, within the circle of the Risale-i Nur. Certainly, in order not to lose this great benefit, they must work on taqwâ, ikhlas and loyalty.

The Kastamonu Addendum (108)

 

اَللّٰهُمَّ يَا اَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ وَ ارْحَمْ اُمَّةَ مُحَمَّدٍ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ وَ نَوِّرْ قُلُوبَ اُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ بِنُورِ اْلاِيمَانِ وَ الْقُرْآنِ وَ نَوِّرْ بُرْهَانَ الْقُرْآنِ وَ عَظِّمْ شَرِيعَةَ اْلاِسْلاَمِ آمِينَ