بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

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

TASATTUR – COVERING - 1

(For the literal meaning of tasattur please refer to the dictionary)

“ اَلَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اْلاَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً 1 Consider this: by describing the vastness of As-Sâni’s Qoudrah, this indicates that it is spurring [the people] on to ‘ibâdah, and by mentioning His favours encouraging [them]. It is as though saying: "O man! The One who subjugates the earth and samâ' to you deserves your ‘ibâdah."

It also indicates man's fadhîlah and his high worth and his nobility in Allah's sight,…” Signs of Miraculousness ( 176 )

 

“Also, since we see with our eyes and understand with our minds that man is the final and most comprehensive fruit of the tree of the universe.. and in respect of the haqiqah of Muhammad ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm is its original seed.. and the âyah al-kubra2 of the Qur'an of the universe.. and he is its âyah al-kursî bearing al-ism al-â’dham.. and the most honoured guest in the palace of the universe.. the most active functionary empowered over the other inhabitants of the palace.. the official charged with overseeing the income and expenditure, and the planting and cultivation of the gardens in the quarter of the earth in the city of the universe.. and is its most noisy and responsible minister, equipped with hundreds of sciences and thousands of arts.. and an inspector and sort of khalîfah of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, under His close scrutiny, in the region of the earth in the country of the universe.” The Rays ( 238 )

 

“And since just as the universe's Owner has chosen the earth from the universe, and man from the earth, and bestowed on him a high rank and importance…” The Words ( 116 )

 

“Just as Janâb-i Haqq clothes His creatures with rûhs, other than man, with fitrî garments, to clothe men who are bared of artificial clothes at the arena of rising from the dead and assembling for judgment with a fitrî garment is the requirement of the Name of Hakîm. In the world, the hikmah of artificial clothes is not restricted to preserving from the heat and cold, and adornment and covering the awrah; rather an important hikmah of it is being an index or a list that indicates man's disposal over the other species, and his relationship with them, and commandership over them. He might otherwise have been clothed with an easy and cheap fitrî garment. For if it is not this hikmah, man who wraps and wears various rags on his body becomes a laughingstock in the view of conscious animals and in comparison with them; he makes them laugh in a ma’nawî manner. In the arena of the rise from the death and assembly for judgment, that hikmah and relation will not be present, so the list should not be present either.” The Twenty-Eighth Letter/The Eighth Matter which is the Eighth Risale/4th Subtle Point/Fourthly

 

Seventh Subtle Point: The Sunnah as-Saniyyah is good manners. There is no matter of it beneath which a nûr and a good manner are not to be found! Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm decreed اَدَّبَنِى رَبِّى فَاَحْسَنَ تَاْدِيبِى , that is: "My Rabb bestowed me good manners (adab) beautifully and instructed me of them."

Yes, one who pays attention to the Prophet's biography and knows the Sunnah as-Saniyyah certainly understands that Janâb-i Haqq gathered together all the varieties of good manners in His beloved (Habib). One, who abandons his Sunnah as-Saniyyah, abandons good manners. He verifies the rule 14 بِى اَدَبْ مَحْرُومْ بَاشَدْ اَزْ لُطْفِ رَبْ and falls into destructive ill manners.

Question: How can there be adab before Al-‘Allâm ul-Ghuyûb, Who sees and knows everything and from Whom nothing can be hidden? Situations that cause shame cannot be concealed from Him. One sort of adab is tasattur; it is to veil the states which are a cause of being loathed. There cannot be tasattur before Al-‘Allâm ul-Ghuyûb.

The Answer:

Firstly: Just as, giving it the greatest importance, As-Sâni’ Zuljalâl wants to show His art as beautiful, veils loathsome things and attracts attention to His ni’mahs by adorning them. So too, He wants to show His creatures and ‘abds as beautiful to other conscious beings. Their appearing in ugly situations is a kind of rebellion against His Names like Jamîl, Muzayyin, Latîf and Hakîm and is contrary to adab. Thus, the adab in the Sunnah as-Saniyyah is to assume a state of perfect manners (adab) within the bounds of As-Sâni’ Zuljalâl's Names.

Secondly: Just as a doctor, in the point of being a doctor, examines the most private part of a non-mahram, and if there is a necessity, it is shown to him. It is not said that it is contrary to adab. Rather, it is said that the adab of the medicine requires it. But that doctor cannot look to those non-mahrams with the title of being a man, or under the name of the preacher, or the attribute of the hoja. Adab cannot issue a fatwa about its being shown. To show him in that aspect is lack of hayâ.

In the same way, As-Sâni’ Zuljalâl has numerous Names. Each Name has a different manifestation. For example, just as the Name Ghaffâr requires the existence of sins and the Name Sattâr, the existence of faults, so too, the Name Jamîl does not wish to see ugliness. Names pertaining to His beauty (Jamâl) and perfection (Kamâl) like Latîf, Karîm, Hakîm and Rahîm require beings to be in the most beautiful form and best situation among the possible ones. And as for those Names pertaining to His beauty (Jamâl) and perfection (Kamâl), they want to display their beauty in the view of malâikah, rûh beings, jinn and man through the beautiful conditions and fine manners of beings.

Thus, the âdâb in the Sunnah as-Saniyyah are the signs of this elevated adab and its principles and samples.

 The Eleventh Flash-Seventh Subtle Point

 

“The world is going through a ma’nawî crisis. The sickness, a dark disaster of death and plague continues to spread throughout the world born in western civilization in which its ma’nawî pillars have been shaken. What kind of solutions are there for the Islamic community so that it can prevent this contagious disease? Does the solution lie in the rotten, putrid and dispersed formula of the West? Or is the solution to be found in the fresh principles of îmân amongst the Islamic communities. I see the great leaders in a state of ghaflah. The decayed pillars of kufr cannot hold the fort of îmân. That is the reason why I have dedicated all my time on îmân.

They do not understand the Risale-i Nur or do not want to understand it. They think I am a hoja of a madrasa sunk in a scholastic swamp. I have studied all the positive sciences, including present-day sciences and philosophy and I have resolved the most complex issues on this matter. I even published a number of books on these topics. However, I do not know these games of logic. Neither do I care about the deceptions of philosophy. I express matters about the community’s domestic life, its ma’nawî existence, its conscience and its îmân. Since the Islamic communities main pillar is the Qur’an which lays the foundation of tawhîd and îmân, I speak only of this. The day this is shattered, there will be no community.

They say: “Why did you irritate these people?” I am not aware. There is an enormous fire in front of me. The flames are reaching the skies. It is my child burning in this fire; it is my îmân engulfed in flames. I am running to save my îmân and to extinguish that fire. If there is somebody who wants to trip me on the way and my foot gets tangled; how important is this? In comparison to this enormous fire, what value can this little hindrance have? Narrow thoughts! Narrow views!

Do they think I am an arrogant man working only to save his own nafs? I have sacrificed my world and my âkhirah for the salvation of the community’s îmân. All my life for eighty-odd years I have not had any worldly pleasure. My whole life was spent on battlefields, in prison camps, in the federal penitentiary and in high courts. There is no hardship or pain that I have not endured. I was treated like a savage at the Military Courts and was exiled from one place to another like an outcast. I was restricted from seeing anyone for months in prisons of this country. I was poisoned on many occasions and I was subjected to an array of scorn. At times, I would prefer death a thousand times more than life. If my religion did not forbid me from suicide, today Said would have already rotted beneath the soil.

My fitrah cannot stand abasement and insults. The honour and heroism of Islam strictly prohibit me from such states. When I fall into this state I do not care who is in front of me; it can be the most oppressive dhâlim or even greatest enemy commander, I will not allow them to abase me. I will launch his dhulm and his savagery back to his face. They can throw me into dungeons or take me to the gallows; it is of no importance. And that is what happened- I went through all of this.” Biography ( 667-668 )

 

“I say this to the Appeal Court that “which convicts someone who expounded (tafsir) Qur'anic âyahs which in each century for one thousand three hundred and fifty years have acted as sacred, true Ilahî principles in the social life of three hundred and fifty million Muslims, and expounded (tafsir) them relying on the consensus and affirmation of three hundred and fifty thousand Qur'anic tafsirs and following the beliefs of our forefathers for one thousand three hundred years,” If there is any justice on the face of the earth, it will quash this decision and abolish it, I exclaim, the deaf ears of this century can hear too. Is it not a denial of Islam and a betrayal of our millions of religious and heroic forefathers to convict, because he expounded (tafsir) those âyahs, someone who according to reason and learning does not accept certain European laws applied temporarily due to certain requirements of the times and who has given up politics and withdrawn from social life, and is it not to insult millions of Qur'anic tafsirs?” The Rays ( 445 )

 

They also wrote that "a person is guilty of irtijâ’ if he calls bid’ah, dhalâlah, andilhad, the reforms, such as the closure of the takkas4 and zaviyes5 and the madrasas; the acceptance of secularism; the establishment of nationalist principles instead of Islam; the wearing of the hat; the banning of tasattur; the enforced use of the Latin alphabet in place of the Qur'anic alphabet; the adhan and iqâmah being recited in Turkish; the prohibition of religious instruction in schools; the recognition of equal rights for women and in inheritance; and the abolition of polygamy."

O unfair committee! If it is possible to deny numerous sarîh âyahs of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, which is the sacred samâwi guide of three hundred and fifty million people in every century, the programme of all their happiness and the sacred treasury of the life of the world and the âkhirah, revealed about the tasattur, inheritance, polygamy, dhikr of Allah, instruction and dissemination of ‘ilm on the religion and the preservation of the shaâ’er, the sarîh âyahs of the Qur'an, which do not bear interpretation, and if it is possible to make all Islamic mujtahids and all Shaykhs al-Islam guilty and if you can abolish and remove the passage of time, the numerous court acquittals, the legal pardons, confidentiality and privacy, the freedom of conscience, the freedom of thought and intellectual and scholarly opposition from this country and governments, you can make me guilty of these things. Otherwise, in the court of haqiqah, haqq and justice, you will be terribly guilty!

The Fourteenth Ray

 

 

The Twenty-Fourth Flash - The Risale on Tasattur

Concerning Tasattur

While being the Second and Third Matters of the Fifteenth Note, in consequence of its importance it has become the Twenty-Fourth Flash.

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

يَا اَيُّهَا النَّبِىُّ قُلْ ِلاَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلاَبِيبِهِنَّ6

to the end thereof... This âyah orders the tasattur. As for the dissolute civilization, it opposes this decree of the Qur'an. It does not consider the tasattur to be appropriate to fitrah; it says: “It is a slavery”. {Part of the defence that is written to the Appeal Court, which opposed the Court and silenced it: "I say to this court of law that if there is justice on the face of the earth, it will surely refute this unjust decision and overrule this judgement, which convicts a man who through relying on the confirmation and consensus of three hundred and fifty thousand tafsirs and following the beliefs of our ancestors in the space of one thousand three hundred and fifty years, has made the tafsir of a most sacred, true and right principle of Allah applied in the social life of three hundred and fifty million people, in every age, for one thousand three hundred and fifty years!..."}

The Answer: We shall declare only four of the many hikmahs which indicate that this decree of Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm is completely appropriate for the fitrah and the opposite of it is contrary to the fitrah.

FIRST HIKMAH:

Tasattur is appropriate for the fitrah of women and their fitrah requires it. Because since women are weak and delicate by creation, and they are in need of a man's protection and assistance for themselves and for their children whom they love more than their own lives, they have an inclination in their fitrah not to be subjected to detest, to make themselves loved and not to be hated.

Also, six or seven out of ten women are either old or ugly, they do not want to show their old age and ugliness to everyone. Or they are jealous; they do not want to appear ugly compared to those who are more beautiful than themselves, or they fear aggression or being accused; they want tasattur by fitrah so as not to be subjected to attacks, nor to be accused of betrayal by their husbands. Indeed if observed carefully, those who hide themselves mostly are the elderly. And out of ten women, only two or three can be found who are both young and beautiful and not embarrassed to display themselves.

It is well-known that people are embarrassed and affected by the looks of men who they do not like or detest. Even if a beautiful woman dressed immodestly likes the looks of two or three out of ten men, she detests seven or eight of them. Also, since a beautiful woman, whose morality is not corrupted and who is not tainted, is sensitive and quickly affected, she will certainly be embarrassed by the poisoning dirty looks the effects of which have been physically experienced. We even hear that in Europe, the place of immodest dressing, by being annoyed with this intense look, many women complain to the police, saying: "These vile men are harassing us with their stares." This means that civilization's abrogation of tasattur is contrary to fitrah. Together with the Qur'an's command of tasattur being appropriate for the fitrah, with tasattur, it saves women, who can be the mines of compassion and worthy eternal companions, from degradation, abasement, ma’nawî slavery and misery.

Also, women have timidity and fear of strange men by fitrah. As for the fear, it requires tasattur by fitrah. Because together with suffering for eight or nine months the heavy load of a child with difficulty, which will exceedingly make the eight or nine minutes pleasure bitter there is the possibility of suffering the calamity of eight or nine minutes illicit pleasure for eight or nine years with the tarbiyyah of a child without a protector. And since this happens frequently, their fitrah truly fears non-mahrams intensely and their natural disposition wants to avoid them. And their weak creation commands and strongly warns not to excite the appetites of non-mahrams and not to give any opportunity for their aggression. And, it shows that their shield and fortress is their charshaf (jilbâb).

As I heard: The bare-legged wife of a highly worldly ranked man being molested in the centre and capital city of government, in the bazaar, in the daytime, in front of everyone, by an extremely vile shoe-painter, gives a slap to the shameless faces of those who are against tasattur!

SECOND HIKMAH:

The extremely essential and intense relationship, love and connection between man and woman are not only based on the needs of worldly life. Yes, a woman is a life companion of her husband not only in worldly life but also she is a life companion in eternal life. Since she is also her husband's life companion in eternal life, she surely should not attract the looks of others to her beauties besides her husband, who is her eternal friend and companion, and should not offend and make him jealous.

Since in consequence of the mystery of îmân, her mu’min husband's connection to her is not confined to worldly life, and his love is not only animal-like, temporary and restricted to the time of her beauty but rather he is attached to her with true and earnest love and respect in terms of her being his life companion in eternal life. He bears that earnest love and respect for her not only during her youth and at the time of beauty but also at the time of oldness and ugliness. Indeed, in return for this, appropriating her beauties to his regard alone and restricting her love only to him are the requirement of humanity. Otherwise, she would gain very little but lose very much.

According to the Sharî’ah, the husband should be equivalent to the wife, that is, they should be suitable for each other. The most important aspect of this equivalence is the point of being religious. Happy is the husband who sees the piety of his woman and imitates her, and he becomes pious in order not to lose his companion in eternal life.

Fortunate is the woman who sees the piety of her husband and enters taqwâ in order not to lose her eternal friend. 7

Alas for the man who enters dissipation, which will cause him to lose his sâliha woman eternally. How unfortunate is the woman who does not follow her muttaqî husband and loses her blessed eternal friend.

A thousand alas for that unfortunate husband and wife; they imitate the fisq and dissipation of each other. They help one another to be thrown into the fire!

THIRD HIKMAH:

The happy life of a family continues through mutual trust between husband and wife and sincere respect and love. Lack of tasattur and immodest dressing destroy trust and spoil mutual respect and love. Because out of ten immodestly dressed women, only one does not try to make herself liked by strangers since she does not see any better one than her husband. Nine of them see others who are better than their husbands. And only one out of twenty men does not see a more beautiful one other than his wife. Then, it can awaken an extremely ugly and extremely base feeling besides losing sincere love and mutual respect. It is as follows:

By fitrah, man cannot bear a lustful feeling towards his mahrams like his sisters. For, since the face of a mahram makes a man feel the compassion and licit love in the aspect of her being mahram and of kinship, it breaks the lustful inclinations of the nafs. But, to leave the parts of the body bare like the legs, which are not permissible (jâiz) to show even to mahrams according to the Sharî’ah, can awake an extremely ugly feeling in the inferior nafs. Because the face of a mahram is a reminder of being forbidden in terms of close kinship, and it does not look like a non-mahram. But, for example, a bare leg is the same as that of non-mahrams. Since it does not bear any distinguishing mark, which will be a reminder of being a mahram, it may awaken a bestial, lustful look in mahrams with inferior nafs. Such a look is a hair-raising deviation of humanity.

FOURTH HIKMAH:

It is well-known that the abundance of generations is desired by everyone. There is no nation or government that does not support the multiplicity of successive generations. Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm decreed: تَنَاكَحُوا تَكَاثَرُوا فَاِنِّى اُبَاهِى بِكُمُ اْلاُمَمَ  (As he said) That is: "Marry and increase, for in the qiyâmah I will take pride in your great numbers." However, the abrogation of tasattur does not increase marriage but decreases it greatly. Because even the most dissolute and secular young man wants a chaste life companion possessing a keen sense of honour. Since he does not want her to be secular like himself, that is, he does not want her to dress immodestly, he remains unmarried and even enters fornication.

The woman is not like that, she cannot restrict her husband to that extent. Because since, on account of being the domestic administrator in the family life, the woman is an official in protecting all of her husband's possessions, his children and everything that belongs to him, her most essential moral quality is loyalty and trustworthiness. Immodest dressing destroys this loyalty; she loses trustworthiness in her husband’s eyes and makes him suffer the torment of conscience. Even if courage and generosity, which are two beautiful moral qualities in men, are found in women, they are considered bad moral qualities since they damage loyalty and trustworthiness. But her husband's duty is not loyalty and not being a treasurer to her, but rather protection, mercy and respect. Therefore, he cannot be restricted. He can marry other women as well.

Our country cannot be compared with Europe. Because, there, amid the immodest dressing, honour is preserved to a degree by violent means such as the duel. One who looks at the wife of an honoured man with impure eyes wraps his shroud to his neck and then looks. Also, in Europe, which is a place of cold countries, the characters are cold and frigid like those countries. Asia, that is, the continent of the world of Islam, has relatively warm countries. It is well-known that the environment has an effect on the character of the man. Immodest dressing for sharpening appetites and stimulating animal desires might not result in waste and misuse in those cold countries and those cold people. But immodest dressing that will continually excite the desires of the nafs of the quickly affected and sensitive people in warm countries is certainly the cause of much waste, misuse, weakness of generation and a loss of strength. Instead of the need of fitrah, which is once a month or twenty days, he supposes himself to be obliged to waste every few days. Then, since he is obliged to avoid his wife for fifteen days every month due to occurrences like her menstrual cycle, he will even incline to promiscuity if he is defeated by his nafs.

The urban people cannot abrogate tasattur by comparing themselves with the rural people or nomads. Because, in the villages and amongst nomads, due to the occupation of livelihood, working physically and being tired, innocent working women, who are coarse to an extent and comparingly less attractive than urban women, being partially open does not excite desires of the nafs. And since dissolute and vagrant men are few, one-tenth of the corruption of the city cannot be found among them. Therefore, they cannot be compared with them.

***

 

In Shorts: Just as in terms of compassion, women do not resemble men in heroism and ikhlas, and men, too, cannot reach them in such heroism, so too, innocent women can in no way reach men in dissoluteness. Because of this, by their fitrah and weak creation, they severely fear non-mahrams and consider themselves compelled to shelter themselves beneath the charshaf (jilbâb).

 The Twenty-Fourth Flash- A Conversation with Women-2nd Subtle Point

 

Women Left Their Homes and Led Mankind Astray, They Must Return To Their Homes

اِذَا تَاَنَّثَ الرِّجَالُ السُّفَهَاءُ بِالْهَوَسَاتِ ٭ اِذًا تَرَجَّلَ النِّسَاءُ النَّاشِزَاتُ بِالْوَقَاحَاتِ8

{*This is the basis of Risale on Tasattur. Twenty years later, a court of law that made that risale the cause of its author's conviction eternally shamed and convicted itself and its judges.}

Vile civilization made womankind fly from their homes; it destroyed their blessedness and respect towards them and made them common goods.

As a rahmah, the Sharî’ah of Islam invites them to their previous homes. It is there, they are respected, their comfort is in their homes, in family life.

Cleanliness is their adornment; goodness of character is their splendour; innocence is their grace and beauty; compassion is their perfection’s beauty; their children are their amusement.

Despite so many causes of corruption, she has to be as strong and firm as steel so that she can withstand them.

When a beautiful woman enters a gathering of brothers, riyâ, rivalry, envy and selfishness stir the veins. Sleeping desires of the nafs suddenly awaken.

Increased freedom of womankind has caused a sudden unfolding of bad morality in mankind.

Little corpses, the smiling deads, which are called images, have played a great role in the violent-tempered rûh of civilized mankind. {**Just as to look lustfully at a dead woman shows extreme despicability of nafs, in the same way, to look with carnal desires at a beautiful picture of a helpless female corpse needy of compassion extinguishes the elevated feelings of the rûh.}

The statues and images prohibited by the Sharî’ah are either petrified dhulm, embodied riyâ, or frozen desires of the nafs. Or it is a talisman attracting those evil rûhs.

 The Words-Gleams

 

Just as the Qur'an severely prohibits the ‘ibâdah to idols, so does it forbid the ‘ibâdah to images, which is a sort of imitation of the ‘ibâdah to idols. 9 Whereas, considering the images as one of its virtues, civilisation has wanted to dispute the Qur'an. But images, whether possessing shadow or not, are either petrified dhulm, embodied riyâ, or embodied desires of the nafs; by whipping up the desires of the nafs, they encourage mankind to dhulm and riyâ and to follow the desires of the nafs. Moreover, in order to preserve the respect shown to them, the Qur'an compassionately commands women to wear the veil of hayâ so that those mines of compassion will not be trodden under the feet of the vile desires of the nafs nor be a worthless commodity that is an instrument of satisfying lust. {Note-2: The Twenty-Fourth Flash of the Thirty-First Letter on the tasattur of the women has decisively proved that tasattur is appropriate for women’s fitrah, and the abrogation of tasattur is contrary to fitrah.} As for civilisation, it has drawn women out of their homes, torn up their veils and corrupted mankind, whereas family life can continue with the mutual love and respect of man and woman. But immodest dressing has destroyed sincere respect and love and poisoned family life. From the following, it can be understood that especially ‘ibâdah to images appallingly shakes morality and causes the degradation of rûh: just as looking lustfully and with desire at the corpse of a beautiful woman who is in need of pity and compassion destroys morality, so too does looking in a way that nurtures the desires of the nafs at the images of dead women or the images of living women, which are their little corpses, shake to that extent the elevated human feelings from their very roots and destroy them.

The Twenty-Fifth Word/3rd Ray/2nd Radiance/Fourth Principle

 

 

 

May Janâb-i Haqq save us and you from the alluring fitnah of this time, and preserve us from them. Amen

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

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا اِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ