بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

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

KÂFIR – UNBELIEVER - 1

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا اُنْزِلَ اِلَيْهِ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللّٰهِ وَمَلٰئِكَتِهِ

 وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لاَ نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ اَحَدٍ مِنْ رُسُلِهِ1

[to the end of the âyah]

An awesome ma’nawî question and a state arising from the unfolding of a vast Ilahî ni’mah were the causes of my explaining a universal, lengthy point about this comprehensive, elevated and sublime âyah. It was like this: it occurred to my rûh in a ma’nawî manner: why does one who denies a part of the haqiqah of îmân become a kâfir, and one who does not accept a part of them cannot be a Muslim? Whereas, îmân in Allah and the âkhirah should dispel the darkness like the sun. Also, why does a person who denies one of the pillars and haqiqah of îmân become a murtad and falls into kufr al-mutlaq, and quits Islam by not accepting it? Whereas if he has îmân in the other pillars of îmân, it should save him from kufr al-mutlaq?

The Answer: Îmân is a single haqiqah, which, composed of its six pillars, cannot be divided up. It is a universal that cannot be separated into parts. It is a whole that cannot be broken up. For each of the pillars of îmân proves the other pillars with the proofs that prove itself. They are all extremely powerful proofs of each other. In which case, a bâtil idea that cannot shake all the pillars together with all their proofs, in the view of haqiqah, cannot negate any one of the pillars, or even a single haqiqah, and cannot deny them. Under the veil of non-acceptance, one might only, by shutting his eyes, commit obstinate kufr. He falls into ‘kufr al-mutlaq’ by degrees and ruins his humanity, and goes to Jahannam, both physically and ma’nawî.” The Rays ( 256 )

 

“Both الحق يعلو 2 and Its Consequences Are Intended

Friend! One time, a questioner asked: "Since الحق يعلو3 is the haqq, why have the kâfir prevailed over the Muslim, and force over the haqq?"

I replied: Consider these four points and your difficulty will be resolved. The first point is this. It is not necessary that every means of every haqq is haqq.

Similarly, not every means of every bâtil has to be bâtil. This result emerges: a means which is haqq prevails over a bâtil means. In which case, a haqq is overcome by a bâtil. It occurs temporarily and indirectly; not essentially or permanently.

However, finally, it is always still the haqq's. Force possesses a haqq, there is a mystery in its creation. The second point is this:

While it is wâjib that all attributes of all Muslims are Muslim, outwardly it is not always thus.

Similarly, not all the attributes of all kâfirs have to be kâfir and to arise from their kufr.

So too, all the attributes of all fâsiq do not always have to be fâsiq and have arisen from their fisq.

This means a kâfir's Muslim attribute prevails over a Muslim's unlawful attribute. Indirectly, the kâfir prevails over him.

Furthermore, in this world, the haqq of life is general and all-embracing. It is a universal rahmah that has a meaningful manifestation, a mystery of hikmah, which kufr does not impede.

The third point is this: two of the Zuljalâl One’s attributes of perfection, two manifestations pertain to the Sharî’ah: the determining through His choice, which proceeds from the attribute of Irâdah, and that is the Takwînî Sharî’ah;

And the well-known Sharî’ah, which proceeds from the attribute of Kalâm.

Just as there is compliance and rebellion in the face of the commands of the latter, so there is compliance and rebellion before the Takwînî commands.

The reward and punishment for the latter are received mostly in the âkhirah, while the penalties and rewards of the former are suffered mostly in the realm of this world.

For example, the reward of patience is victory. The penalty for laziness is poverty; and the reward of toil is wealth.

The reward of constancy is victory. The penalty of poison is illness, the reward of its antidote is health.

Sometimes the injunctions of both Sharî’ahs are included in a single thing; it has faces looking to both.

That means obedience to the Takwînî command is a haqq. Obedience prevails; rebellion in the face of the injunction is a bâtil stand.

If a haqq has been the means to a bâtil, when it prevails, it will have been the means to a bâtil. Indirectly, a haqq is defeated by a bâtil, but not essentially.

This means that "the haqq prevails" means "essentially." Also, the end is intended, and the restriction of viewpoint is meant.

The fourth point is this: a haqq remained unexpressed, or powerless, or adulterated, or convoluted. It needed to be expressed and opened up, or given fresh strength.

In order to improve and gild it, bâtil had to be temporarily imposed on it, in order to, to assay that ingot of haqq.

Then it could emerge pure and unadulterated from its origins. Even if bâtil prevails in this world, it cannot win the war. " العاقبة للمتقين "4 will strike them a blow!

So bâtil is defeated. The mystery of "haqq prevails" inflicts punishment on it; see, haqq prevails!” The Words (759-760)

 

“As is mentioned in the Third Indication of the Tenth Word, although the kâfir only committed one sin in a short life, within that sin, there is an infinite crime. For kufr is to insult the whole universe, is to diminish its value and is to deem false the testimony to wahdâniyyah of all creatures with art and is to contempt the Ilahî Names, the manifestations of which are seen in the mirrors of beings. Therefore, the sultân of beings, Al-Qahhâr Zuljalâl’s casting of the kâfirs into Jahannam, in order to avenge the rights of beings on the kâfir, is pure right and justice. For an infinite crime demands infinite punishment.” The Twelfth Letter-1st Question

 

“O you unhappy person who is alarmed at the great numbers of the kâfirs and their agreement in denying some of the haqiqah of îmân, and as a result is shaken in his faith! You should know that value and importance do not lie in quantity and number. For if man is not a true human being, he is transformed into a shaytan animal, and the more man increases in animal greed, -like some Europeans and their imitators-, he becomes the degree of more severe animal.5 You can see that with regard to quantity and number, men are extremely few in comparison to the boundless numbers of animals, and yet they are sovereign rulers over all the animal species and khalîfahs on earth.

Thus, the harmful kâfirs and those depraved wretches who follow in their way are a vicious species among Janâb-i Haqq's animals which Al-Fâtir Al-Hakîm has created for the development and prosperity of the world. He has made them a unit of measurement in order to let His Mu’min ‘abds know the degrees of the ni’mahs He has bestowed on them, and finally will consign those animals to the Jahannam they deserve.” The Flashes ( 166 )

 

Sometimes, a word may appear to be kufr, but the one who spoke it is not a kâfir.

“I do not have the time to weigh up the ideas of Mustafa Sabri and those of Musa Bekûf. I shall only say this much, that the one was ifrât, and the other was tafrît. Mustafa Sabri was right relatively to Musa Bekuf, but it is not right to denigrate someone like Muhyiddin who was a miracle of the Islamic ‘ilms.

Yes, himself, Muhyiddin was rightly-guided and acceptable, but in all his works cannot be the guide and murshid. Since he very often proceeded in the haqiqahs without balance, he opposed the rules of the Ahl al-Sunnah and some of the things he said apparently express dhalâlah. However, he himself is free of dhalâlah. Sometimes, a word may appear to be kufr, but the one who spoke it is not a kâfir. Mustafa Sabri did not take these points into consideration; he was tafrît concerning certain points of ahl al-Sunnah law, due to bigotry.

As for Musa Bekûf, due to being excessively in favour of renewal and because of the concessions he made to modernity in respect of his ideas, he was very much in error. He corrupts some of the haqiqahs of Islam with his false interpretations. By holding someone rejected like Abu'l-A'la al-Ma'arrî to be superior to muhaqqiqîn, and favouring disproportionately matters of Muhyiddin opposing the ahl al-Sunnah because they suited his own ideas, he went far to ifrât.

Muhyiddin said:  تَحْرُمُ مُطَالَعَةُ كُتُبِنَا عَلَى مَنْ لَيْسَ مِنَّا  قَالَ مُحْيِى الدِّينِ :   that is, Those who are not one of us and do not know our station should not read our books, for it may be damaging for them. Yes, at this time it is harmful to read Muhyiddin's books, especially the matters about the Wahdah al-Wujûd.” The Flashes ( 371 )

 

“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 Zabani6 .” The Rays ( 249 )

 

“Yes, the confrontation and interpenetration of khayr and sharr in the universe, and pain and pleasure, light and darkness, heat and cold, beauty and ugliness, and hidâyah and dhalâlah are for a vast instance of hikmah. For if there was no sharr, khayr would not be known. If there was no pain, pleasure would not be understood. Light without darkness would lack all importance. The degrees of heat is realized through the cold. Through ugliness, a single haqiqah of beauty becomes a thousand haqiqahs, and thousands of varying degrees of beauty come into existence. If there was no Jahannam, many of the pleasures of Jannah would remain concealed. By analogy with these, in one respect everything may be known through its opposite and a single haqiqah produce numerous shoots and become numerous haqiqahs. Since these intermingled beings pour from this transitory realm into the eternal realm, surely just as things like khayr, pleasure, light, beauty, and îmân are poured into Jannah; so harmful matters like sharr, pain, darkness, ugliness, and kufr flow into Jahannam, and the floods of this continuously agitated universe are emptied into those two pools.” The Rays ( 252 )

 

“There is no contradiction between the existence and ghastly torments of Jahannam, and infinite rahmah, true justice, and hikmah with its balance and absence of waste. Indeed, rahmah, justice, and hikmah require its existence. For to punish a dhâlim who tramples the rights of a thousand innocents and to kill a savage animal who tears to pieces a hundred cowed animals, is for the oppressed a thousandfold rahmah within justice. While to pardon the dhâlim and leave the savage beast free, is for hundreds of wretches a hundredfold pitilessness in place of that single act of misplaced mercy.

Similarly, kâfir al-mutlaq who among those will enter Jahannam through his kufr transgresses the rights of the Ilahî Names by denial, and transgresses their rights through denying the testimony of beings to those Names, and violates their rights by denying the elevated duties of those creatures before the Ilahî Names, in a manner of tasbîh, and transgresses their rights through denying their being mirrors to the manifestation of Ilahî Rubûbiyyah and responding to the manifestation of Ilahî Rubûbiyyah with their ‘ubûdiyyah, which is the purpose of the universe's creation and a reason for its existence and continuance. His kufr is, therefore, a crime and dhulm of such vast proportions it may not be forgiven, and deserves the threat of the âyah,اِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَغْفِرُ اَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ 7 Not to cast him into Jahannam would comprise innumerable instances of mercilessness to innumerable claimants whose rights had been transgressed, in place of a single misplaced act of mercy. Just as those claimants demand the existence of Jahannam, so do dignity of Jalâl and majesty of Kamâl most certainly demand it.” The Rays ( 250 )

 

“Forty years ago, the year before the Proclamation of the Constitution, I came to Istanbul. At that time, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese army had asked the 'ulamâ of Istanbul some questions concerning religion. The Istanbul hojas asked me about them. They asked me many things in that connection.

For instance, they asked me about a Hadith which says: "At the âkhirzaman, a fearsome individual will rise in the morning and on his forehead will be written: 'Hadha kâfir.' 8 I told them: "This extraordinary person will come to lead this nation; he will rise in the morning, put a hat on his head, and make others wear it."

After receiving this answer, they asked me: "Won't those who wear it be kâfirs?" I said: "They will be made to wear the hat and be forbidden to sajda in salâh. But îmân in the heads of those wearing the hat will make the hat sajda, and Inshallah will make it Muslim."  The Rays ( 381 )

 

“It says in riwâyât: "A fearsome person at the âkhirzaman will rise in the morning and on his forehead will be written 'hadha kâfir.'9 Allahu a'lam bissawab10 , this may be interpreted as follows: the Sufyan will wear the headgear of Europeans and makes everyone else wear it. However, since it will be generally adopted under compulsion and the force of the law, when that headgear is taken into sajda, it will become rightly-guided, Inshallah, so that those who wear it -unwillingly- will not become kâfir .” The Rays ( 103 )

 

“There are riwâyât which say: "At the âkhirzaman, no one will remain who will say: Allah! Allah!" 11 لاَ يَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ اِلاَّ اللّٰهُ, an interpretation of this must be as follows: the takkas12 , the places of dhikr, and the madrasas will be closed, and a name other than 'Allah' will be used in the shaâ’er, such as the adhan and iqâmah. It does not mean that all mankind is going to fall into kufr al-mutlaq, for denial of Allah is as irrational as denying the universe. It is not reasonable to suppose it should be thus even with the majority of people, let alone all of them. The kâfirs do not deny Allah, they are in error only concerning His attributes.

Another interpretation is this: so that they do not experience its terror, the rûhs of the mu’mins will be seized a little previously to the qiyâmah.13 Qiyâmah will erupt over the heads of the kâfirs.” The Rays ( 104 )

 

“Riwâyât state that the terrible fitnah of the Dajjal will occur among Muslims so that all the Ummah have sought refuge with Allah from it. لاَ يَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ اِلاَّ اللّٰهُ 14 , an interpretation is this: the Muslims' Dajjal is different. In fact, like Imam 'Ali (ra), some ahl al-tahqîq said that the Muslims' Dajjal is the Sufyan. He will appear from among the Muslims and will carry out his work through deception. The great Dajjal of the kâfirs is different. For those who do not bow to the absolute force and compulsion of the great Dajjal are shahîd, and those who submit unwillingly are not kâfirs and not sinners.”  The Rays ( 106 )

 

“The Great Dajjal will have compelling qualities which are a sort of spiritualism. While the Islamic Dajjal will have fascinating, hypnotic powers in one eye. It even says in riwâyât "The Dajjal will be blind in one eye." By drawing attention to this and pointing out that one of the Great Dajjal's eyes will be blind, and one eye of the other Dajjal will be blind in comparison with his other eye, the Hadith is indicating that since they will be kâfir al-mutlaq, they will have only one eye and their sight will be restricted to this world, and they will have no eyes that see the âkhirah and consequences of actions.

I too saw the Islamic Dajjal in a ma’nawî ‘âlam. I observed with my own eyes that he possessed a spellbinding hypnotic power in one of his eyes, and I understood him to be a total denier of Allah. He will attack religion and the sacred with a boldness and insolence arising from his absolute denial. But since the ‘awâm will not know the haqiqah of the matter, they will suppose it to be an extraordinary power and courage.” The Rays ( 116 )

 

 

A haqiqah which has turned around those who due to (the faculty of) compassion, have deviated to the paths of bid’ah and dhalâlah which are outside the principles of Islam

Since human compassion is a manifestation of Rabbânî rahmah, indeed it is necessary that it does not exceed the limits of rahmah and does not cross the boundary of the level of compassion held by the one who is ‘Rahmah al-lil’âlamîn’15 (asm). If the compassion exceeds its limit and overflows its boundary; then it is certainly no longer rahmah or compassion, but rather a sickness of rûh and sickness of the heart which spreads and leads to dhalâlah and ilhad.

For example; to treat matters like the burning of kâfirs and munâfiqs in Jahannamfire, and the subjects of punishment and jihâd, as incompatible with personal compassion and to deviate by interpreting them; just as it is a denial and refutation of a major part of the Qur’an and revealed religions, it is also a great dhulm and extreme mercilessness. Because to show a defensive compassion to monsters who devour innocent animals is to be extremely unmerciful and unscrupulously vicious to those helpless animals. To compassionately sympathise with and to pray to pardon the punishment of people who destroy the eternal lives of thousands of Muslims, and lead hundreds of people of îmân to their perilous destruction and to terrible sins, is indeed a fearsome mercilessness and cruel injustice to those oppressed people of îmân.16

It has been decisively proven in Risale-i Nur that kufr and dhalâlah is a major insult to the universe, a great dhulm against all creation, a cause of being severed from rahmah, and leads to befalling of disasters. In fact, it is said in sahîh riwâyât; fish beneath the ocean complain and say against (such) criminals: “They have made us lose our peace and comfort.” Therefore, those who express pity and compassion for the punishment of kâfir display endless mercilessness to the countless innocents truly deserving of compassion. There is this point, however, that when disaster strikes those deserving it, the innocent also suffer; and one cannot help but pity them. However, there is a hidden mercy beneath the harm suffered by those who have been wronged due to the punishment of criminals.17

One time, during the Great War, I used to feel deeply saddened at the murders and dhulm perpetrated by the enemies against the people of Islam, particularly to their families and children. As I had an intense sense of compassion and pity in my fitrah I would feel unbearable torment. Suddenly it was imparted to my heart that: Those innocents who are murdered will be shahîds and become awliyâ; their transitory life in this World is transformed into an everlasting life, and their lost possessions would be a form of sadaqa and be exchanged with eternal possessions. And even if those wronged were kâfirs – in return for the suffering they thought they experienced from that worldly calamity, such rewards from the treasury of Ilahî rahmah await them in the âkhirah that – if the veil of the ghayb was raised, those who were wronged would see the great manifestation of rahmah in store for them and say, “Oh Rabb, Shukr be to you, Alhamdulillah”.

I understood this and became convinced with complete certainty. And I was saved from the intense sadness and distress arising from ifrât of compassion.” Kastamonu Addendum (85-86)

 

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا اِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ

رَبَّنَا لاَ تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ اِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ

وَصَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ عَلَى رَسُولِكَ اْلاَكْرَمِ مَظْهَرِ اِسْمِكَ اْلاَعْظَمِ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ اَصْحَابِهِ وَ اِخْوَانِهِ وَ اَتْبَاعِهِ آمِينَ يَا اَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ