بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

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

WOMEN - 1

women are called the gracious sex and are weak and delicate.

“Thus, As-Sâni’ Zuljalâl has made all His creations by art in such a way that He causes most of them, and especially animate beings, to recite numerous Ilahî Names. It is as if He has dressed each creation by art in twenty different shirts, one on top of another or has enfolded them in twenty veils, and on each shirt or veil, He has inscribed different Names.

For example, as was demonstrated in the comparison, there are many pages in what is only apparent in the creation of a beautiful member of mankind's other half or of a beautiful flower. From these two small and particular examples you can draw analogies with other large and universal creatures.

The First Page: It is the state which demonstrates the general shape and proportion. It mentions the Names of O Musawwir! O Muqaddir! O Munadhdhim!

The Second Page: This is the plain and unadorned state of the human being and flower in the comparison, which occurs with the disclosure of the forms of all the different members of those two creatures. Many Names, like ‘Alîm and Hakîm, for example, are written on this page.

The Third Page: Through bestowing a different beauty and adornment on all the different members of those two creatures, many Names like Sâni’ and Bâri’, for example, are written on this page.

The Fourth Page: Such beauty and adornment are given to those two creations by art, it is as though they have become embodied favours and munificence. This page mentions and recites numerous Names, like for example, O Latîf! O Karîm!

The Fifth Page: Through attaching delicious fruits to the flower and lovable children and a fine character to the beautiful woman, this page recites Names like O Wadûd! O Rahîm! O Mun’im!

The Sixth Page: On this page of bestowal and giving ni’mahs, Names like O Rahmân! O Hannân! are recited.

The Seventh Page: Flashes of such beauty are apparent in these ni’mahs and results that they are worthy of a sincere shukr and pure love which have been kneaded with true desire and compassion. On this page, the Names of O Jamîl Zulkamâl! O Kâmil Zuljamâl! are inscribed and recited.

Thus, if the beautiful flower and beautiful human being display this number of Names, and that only in material and apparent form, you can conclude what exalted and universal Names all flowers and living creatures, as well as vast, universal beings, cause to be recited.” The Words ( 658 )

                                   

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 in eternal life. Since she is her husband's life companion in eternal life too, she surely should not attract the looks of other men to her beauties besides her husband, 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, devoting her beauties to his regard alone and restricting her love only to him is the requirement of humanity. Otherwise, she would gain very little but lose very much.

The Twenty-Fourth Flash - Second Hikmah

 

“Concerning marriage, one of man's most intense needs is to have someone respond to him with heartfelt love and to share with [his partner] pleasure and intimacy, and for them to together feel wonder and to ponder over them. You must have observed that if someone sees something unusual that amazes him and makes him tafakkur, he calls on someone if only mentally, to share his amazement and tafakkur. And the most gracious of hearts, and the kindest and warmest are those of mankind's other half. And those whose rûh will blend fully and hearts will achieve complete intimacy, and whose outward union will be pure and chaste are those of the mankind's other half who have been purified and cleansed of bad morals and unpleasant traits.” Signs of Miraculousness ( 216 )

 

Because her most essential moral quality should be loyalty and trustworthiness since, on account of being the domestic administrator in the family life, woman is an official in protecting all of her husband's possessions, his children and everything that belongs to him….

…Even courage and generosity, two beautiful moral qualities in men, are considered bad moral qualities if they are present in women 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.1

The Twenty-Fourth Flash/Fourth Hikmah

 

“love and cherish your life-companion as a companionable and gracious gift of Ilahî rahmah. But do not fasten your love to her physical beauty, which swiftly fades. Rather, woman's most attractive and agreeable beauty is the fineness of character that accompanies the delicacy and refinement peculiar to her. As for her most precious and sweet beauty, it is her earnest, sincere, sublime and luminous compassion. This beautiful tenderness and fineness of character continues and increases until the end of her days. Moreover, that weak and gracious creature's rights of respect will be protected by that love. Otherwise, when her superficial beauty fades the poor woman will lose her rights, even when she most needs them….

Your love for your life-companion. Since it will be built on her being a mine of compassion, a gift of Rahmah and on her fineness of character, if you have sincere love and affection for that companion, she too will have earnest love and respect for you. As the two of you approach old age these sentiments will increase, you will pass your life happily. But if it is otherwise, if it is love of a pretty face and for the sake of the nafs, then that love will be quickly destroyed and it will destroy good relations.

Licit love for your life-companion in this world is sincere love in consequence of her delicate compassion, fine virtues and good character, together with your protecting her from being nushûz2 and sinning. The Absolutely Rahîm has promised that as a result of this licit love your life-companion shall be given to you as an eternal life-companion in the âkhirah, the realm of bliss. She will be in a form more beautifully adorned and attractive than the Houris. You will relate to one another in delight your former adventures in the world, bringing to mind old memories. She will be an intimate, gracious and eternal friend, who loves and is beloved. And, most certainly, that which He promises shall definitely be given.” The Words (669-674 )

 

“Also, everyone's home is a small world for him, and even a small Jannah. If îmân in the âkhirah is not at the basis of the happiness of that home, the members of the family will suffer anguish and anxiety to the extent of their compassion, love, and attachment. Their Jannah will either turn into Jahannam, or they will put their minds to sleep with temporary amusements and dissipation. Like the ostrich, who sees the hunter but can neither fly nor escape and sticks its head in the sand so as not to be seen, they plunge their heads into ghaflah so that death, fading and separation do not spot them. They find a way out by temporarily blocking out their feelings in lunatic fashion. Because, for example, the mother trembles constantly at seeing her children, for whom she would sacrifice her rûh, exposed to dangers. While the children all the time feel sorrow and fear at being unable to save their father and brother from unceasing calamities. Thus, in the upheavals of this worldly life, the supposedly happy life of the family loses its happiness in many respects, and the relations and closeness in this brief life do not result in true loyalty, heartfelt ikhlas, disinterested service and love. Moral declines proportionately, and is even lost. Whereas if îmân in the âkhirah enters that home, it illuminates it completely, and its members have sincere respect, love, and compassion for each other, are loyal and disregard each other's faults, in the measure not of their relations, closeness, kindness, and love in this brief life, but of their continuation in the realm of the âkhirah, in everlasting happiness, and their moral increases accordingly. The happiness of true humanity starts to unfold in that home.” The Rays ( 246 )

 

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

Furthermore, six or seven out of ten women are either old or ugly, and 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; by fitrah, they want tasattur so as not to be subjected to attacks nor to be accused of betrayal by their husbands. As evidence, it may be mentioned that, if observed carefully, the old are the ones who hide themselves the most. 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 women are embarrassed and affected by the looks of men who they detest or do not like. Even if a beautiful woman dressed immodestly likes the looks of two or three out of ten men, she surely detests seven or eight of them. Furthermore, 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 poisonous dirty looks, the effects of which have been physically experienced…

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

The 24th Flash-The First Hikmah

 

“Here the Qur'an is saying: "Janâb-i Haqq is absolutely Samî’; He hears everything, even, through the Name of Haqq, a wife arguing with you and complaining about her husband, a truly insignificant matter. And since women are the place of the subtlest manifestations of rahmah and are mines of the haqiqah of self-sacrificing compassion, He hears through the Name of Rahîm the rightful claim of a woman and her complaint to Him, and through the Name of Haqq takes it seriously, affording it the greatest importance." Thus, in order to make this particular aim universal, One outside the sphere of contingency of the universe Who hears and sees a minor incident among creatures, must of necessity hear and see all things, and One Who is Rabb of the universe of necessity sees the suffering of insignificant creatures within the universe who are wronged and hears their cries. One who does not see their suffering and does not hear their cries for help cannot be Ar-Rabb.” The Words ( 440 )

 

If a twelve-month-old baby had intelligence and was asked, "What is the most pleasurable and sweetest state of yours?" he might say, "It is the state in which I still take refuge in my mother’s tender breast, through understanding my impotence and weakness, although I fear my mother's gentle slap." But the compassion of all mothers is only a flash of the manifestation of rahmah.

The Seventh Word

 

“It is well-known that a mother gently scares her infant, for example, and draws it to her breast. The fear is most pleasurable for the child because it drives him to her tender breast. Whereas the compassion of all mothers is but a flash of Ilahî rahmah.” The Words ( 368 )

 

“It is also apparent that the working of the manifestation of all-embracing rahmah in the fashion of all mothers, in the vegetable, animal and human realms, with their rahîm compassion and tarbiyyah of the weak and powerless infants with the delicate nurture of milk. {The fact that a hungry lion will prefer its offspring to its nafs, and give to it a piece of meat it would otherwise have eaten; that the cowardly hen will attack to a lion or a dog in order to protect its young; that the fig-tree contents itself with mud while giving pure milk to its offspring, the fruit - this shows to anyone not blind that they act in accordance with the commands of a Being infinitely Rahîm, Karîm and solicitous. Again, the fact that even unconscious plants and beasts function in the wisest and most conscious of fashions demonstrates irrefutably that One Utterly ‘Alîm and Hakîm has set them to work, and that they are acting in His name.}” The Words ( 75 )

 

Also, the one who has compassion and mercy takes pleasure to the degree of the comfort of the creatures to whom he has shown mercy. For example, the pleasure a mother takes from the happiness and comforts of her children, by means of compassion, is strong to such an extent, it brings her to a degree of sacrificing her rûh for their comfort. The pleasure of such compassion even makes a hen attack a lion in order to protect her chicks.

 The Thirty-Second Word/2nd Station/The 3rd Aim/4th Allusion

 

“love and respect for parents, when for the sake of the hikmah and rahmah that compassionately fitted you out and caused them to tarbiyyah you with tender care, pertain to Janâb-i Haqq's love. The sign that this love, respect and compassion are for Allah’s sake is that when they are old and are of no more use to you and bring you only trouble and difficulty, you are even more loving, kind and compassionate towards them. The âyah, اِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِنْدَكَ الْكِبَرَ اَحَدُهُمَا اَوْ كِلاَهُمَا فَلاَ تَقُلْ لَهُمَا اُفٍّ 3 summons children to respect and be kind to their parents in five degrees, and demonstrates how important are the rights of parents in the eyes of the Qur'an, and how ugly ingratitude is towards them.

A father desires only his son, and no one else, to be much better than himself, however, the son cannot claim any rights over his father in return for this. That is to say, there is no inherent cause for dispute between parents and child. This is because dispute arises from ghibtah4 and envy and there is nothing of this in the father towards his son. Or it arises from the abuse of rights and the son has no rights that he can claim against his father. If he considers his father to be unjust, he may not rebel against him. That is to say, one who does rebel against his father and causes him pain is a monster, a corrupted human being…

…Your love for your father and mother. Since it will be for Janâb-i Haqq's sake, it will be both ‘ibâdah and the older they grow the more your love and respect for them will increase. If you earnestly desire and offer du'â, with the noblest of sentiments and most manly zeal, that they will live far into old age, and even kiss their hands with sincere respect and say, "Let me gain even more reward on their account", it will obtain for you a most elevated pleasure of the rûh. But if it is otherwise, and for the sake of the nafs and this world, when they grow old and approach the time of becoming a burden for you, if you show them, with the most base and despicable sentiment, that they are a nuisance and then wish for the deaths of those respected people, who were the cause of your life, it will be savage and grievous pain for the rûh…

…The result of licit love for parents and children: Through the nass of Qur'an, Janâb Arham Ar-Râhimîn bestows on that happy family, even though their ranks are different, the pure pleasure of each other's company in the form of a beautiful life together that is worthy of Jannah in the eternal realm through an eternal union.

And, the children who die before reaching the age of fifteen, that is, before reaching the age of puberty, He will give them to the arms of their fathers and mothers as the children of Jannah and in a manner worthy of Jannah, most beautifully adorned and lovable that is expressed with  وِلْدَانٌ مُخَلَّدُونَ5 He gratifies their child-cherishing feeling and gives them that pleasure and delight eternally. Since those children had not reached the age of responsibility, they will remain eternally as lovable and sweet children.

Every pleasurable thing in this world will be found in its highest form in Jannah. Some people surmise that since Jannah is not appropriate for reproduction, there will be none of this cherishing of children, which is so sweet, that is, the pleasure of loving and caressing them. But it will be there too and in the most delightful and sweet form. This then is good news for those whose children die before puberty.” The Words (668-679 )

 

 

اِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِنْدَكَ الْكِبَرَ اَحَدُهُمَا اَوْ كِلاَهُمَا فَلاَ تَقُلْ لَهُمَا اُفٍّ وَلاَ تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُلْ لَهُمَا قَوْلاً كَرِيمًا ٭ وَاخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ الذُّلِّ مِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ وَقُلْ رَبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًا ٭ رَبُّكُمْ اَعْلَمُ بِمَا فِى نُفُوسِكُمْ اِنْ تَكُونُوا صَالِحِينَ فَاِنَّهُ كَانَ ِلْلاَوَّابِينَ غَفُورًا6

O ghâfil, in whose house is an elderly parent or an invalid or someone no longer able to work from among his relations or brothers in îmân! Study the above noble âyahs carefully and see how on five levels in different ways it summons children to be kindly towards their elderly parents. Yes, the highest haqiqah in this world is the compassion of parents towards their children, and the most elevated rights, their rights of respect in return for their compassion. For they sacrifice their lives with great pleasure, spending them for the sake of their children's lives. In which case, every child who has not lost his humanity and been transformed into a monster honours those respected, loyal, self-sacrificing friends, serves them sincerely, and tries to please them and make their heart happy. Uncles and aunts, maternal and paternal, are like parents…

…O man, come to your senses! If you do not die earlier, you too will become old. If you do not honour your parents, in accordance with the mystery of, اَلْجَزَاءُ مِنْ جِنْسِ الْعَمَل 7 your children will not be dutiful towards you. If you love your âkhirah, this is an important treasury for you: be dutiful towards them and gain their pleasure. While if it is this world that you love, still try to please them, so that through them your life will be easy and your rizq will be with barakah. For if you are contemptuous of them, wish for their deaths, and wound their sensitive and easily hurt hearts, you will manifest the mystery of the âyah, خَسِرَ الدُّنْيَا وَ اْلآخِرَةَ 8 If you want the rahmah of Ar-Rahmân, be merciful towards those in your house whom He has entrusted to you.” The Letters ( 308 )

 

O those who look after and serve the innocent sick children and the elderly, who are like innocent children! You have before you an important trade of the âkhirah. Obtain such trade through enthusiasm and endeavour!

It is established by the people of haqiqah that the illnesses of innocent children have many hikmahs pertaining to the child's worldly life like training and riyâzah for their delicate bodies and a Rabbânî tarbiyyah and an injection to make them resist the future upheavals of the world, and instead of the kaffârah adh-dhunûb in adults, which will be the means of the life of their rûh and purification of their life, the sawâb arising from illnesses, which are ma’nawî injections that are the source of their ma’nawî progress in the future or in the âkhirah, enters into the book of good deeds of their fathers and mothers and particularly of the mother who through the mystery of compassion prefers the health of her child to her own health.

As for looking after the elders, it is established by sahîh riwâyât and many historical events that together with receiving immense sawâb, gaining the du‘âs of those elders — especially if they are the father and the mother — and making their hearts happy and serving them loyally are the sources of happiness in both this world and the âkhirah. And it is established by many events that a fortunate child who completely obeys his elderly father and mother will see the same state from his children and if an unfortunate child hurts his parents, he will receive his punishment through many disasters in this world besides the torment in the âkhirah. If a mu’min — since through the mystery of îmân there is the true brotherhood — encounters a venerable sick old person, who is in need of him, It is a requirement of Islam to serve such an old person with heart and rûh, let alone looking after the elders, innocents and his relatives.

The Twenty-Fifth Flash/Twenty-Fourth Remedy

 

 

“The meaning and the mystery of the phrase, وِلْدَانٌ مُخَلَّدُونَ9 in Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm is this: with this phrase, this noble âyah indicates and gives the good news that the children of mu’mins who die before reaching maturity will remain perpetually as eternal, lovable children in a form worthy of Jannah; that they will be an everlasting source of happiness in the embrace of their fathers and mothers who go to Jannah; and will ensure that their parents receive the sweetest of pleasures, the loving and caressing of children; and that all pleasurable things will be found in Jannah; that those who say that since Jannah is not the place for reproduction, there will be no loving and caressing of children are not correct; and that gaining millions of years of pure, pain-free loving and caressing of eternal children instead of a brief ten years or so of loving them mixed with the sorrows of this world is a great source of happiness for the people of îmân.” The Letters ( 100 )

 

The brother asks some questions. The Risale-i Nur leaves no need for questions and answers everything in my place.

Only for his question about the âyah يَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِمْ وِلْدَانٌ مُخَلَّدُونَ10 in the risale on the condolence for the death of a child, some old tafsirs say that, in Jannah, from the children to the elderly, everyone will be thirty-three years of age. 11 اللّٰه أعْلَم , the haqiqah of it should be this:

The phrase وِلْدَانٌ12 in the sarîh âyah expresses that the children, for whom it is not compulsory to perform the fardh of the Sharî’ah and who do not perform them since they are Sunnah for them and who die before the age of puberty, will always be lovable children worthy of Jannah. But it is in the Sharî’ah that, in order to familiarise the children, parents should encouragingly command a child who reached the age of seven to perform fardh such as the salâh, and when he reaches ten years old, they should strongly make him perform salâh and accustom to it. That is to say, in order to receive great rewards like pious adults, children, from the age of seven until the age of puberty, who perform salâh and hold sawm like adults, which is nawâfil and is not wâjib for them, will be thirty-three years old in Jannah. Some tafsirs included all children, without elucidating this point. It was supposed to be general, although it is specific.

Emirdağ Addendum-2 (66)

 

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