بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

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

WOMEN - 3

1- Response to the objections of civilisation against the rulings of the Qur'an concerning women:

Question: Foreigners raise doubts and wahm on Sharî'ah from the perspective of civilisation by using issues such as polygamy and slavery as a pretext.

The Answer: The laws of Islam are of two kinds:

The First: Sharî'ah laid a new foundation for this kind of law. This kind is genuinely beautiful and pure khayr. 

As for the other: Sharî’ah adjusted them; that is, in order to facilitate a complete transition to true beauty, Sharî’ah has extracted the laws from a very savage and cruel form and shaped them into a mould which was the lesser sharr, adjusted and applicable to human nature and reflective of the context of the time and place because the sudden removal of a thing that is universally dominant in human nature requires an abrupt transformation of human nature.

Moreover, Sharî’ah did not establish slavery, but it reduced and adjusted slavery from a most brutal form to a form that would progress and lead to complete freedom.

Furthermore, while polygamy up to four wives {Men mostly can impregnate up to the age of one hundred, while women may be impregnated until the age of fifty, although menstruating half of the mounth.} is conformable to nature, mind and hikmah, Sharî’ah did not increase it from one to four but decreased it from eight or nine to four. Especially, Sharî’ah set such conditions for polygamy that, by adhering to those conditions, it will not lead to any harm. If it is sharr in some points, it is still a lesser sharr and the lesser sharr is a relative justice.

Alas! There cannot be pure khayr in every state of this ‘âlam.

Sünuhat-Tulûat-İşarât (95-97)

 

Civilisation does not accept polygamy. It considers that decree of the Qur'an to be contrary to itself and opposed to hikmah and the benefit of mankind. Yes, if the hikmah of marriage were only to satisfy lust, then polygamy would be necessary. However, it is proven, even with the testimony of all animals and the affirmation of plants that mate, that the hikmah and aim of marriage is reproduction. The pleasure of satisfying lust is a small wage given by Rahmah to encourage fulfilling that duty. Since, according to haqiqah and hikmah, marriage is for the sake of offspring and the continuation of the species, and since a woman, who can only give birth once a year, can only be impregnated half of the month, and becomes infertile after the age of fifty, and is often insufficient for a man, who can mostly impregnate till a hundred years old, civilisation is forced to accept numerous houses of promiscuousness.

Third Principle: Unreasonable civilisation criticises the âyah because the Qur'an allocates women one-third of the inheritance. However, most laws concerning social life are based on the majority, and most of the women find someone to protect them. As for the man, he is compelled to have a partnership with someone whose sustenance will be carried by him and who will be a burden to him. Thus, in this way, if a woman takes half of her brother’s share from her father's inheritance, her deficiency will be provided by her husband. If the man receives two portions from his father's inheritance, he will contribute one portion to support his wife's sustenance; he will be equal to his sister. It is what Quranic justice requires; this is how it has decreed.

Twenty-Fifth Word/First Light-Third Ray

 

These two matters are a part of the examples presented in the Twenty-Fifth Word that demonstrate the impotence of civilisation in the face of the miraculousness of the Qur'an. Here are two examples out of thousands that prove how unjust the law of the present civilisation is, which opposes the Qur'an:

Just as the decree of the Qur'an,

فَلِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ اْلاُنْثَيَيْن1

is pure justice, it is also pure mercy. Yes, it is justice because, by an absolute majority, a man takes a woman and guarantees her sustenance. And a woman goes to a husband and entrusts her sustenance to him; thereby, she compensates for her deficiency in inheritance. It is also mercy because that weak girl is in great need of compassion from her father and mercy from her brother. By following the command of the Qur'an, she receives compassion from her father without making him worry. Her father does not anxiously look on her as a harmful child who will cause half of his wealth to be passed into the hands of strangers. Worry or anger cannot interfere with his compassion. She also receives her brother's mercy and protection free of rivalry and envy. Her brother does not look on her as a rival who will destroy half of their lineage and hand over a significant portion of their wealth to strangers. He does not add grudge and resentment to his mercy and protection towards her. Thus, the girl, who by fitrah is gentle, lovable, powerless and vulnerable, may seem to lose a little, but instead, she gains an inexhaustible wealth from the compassion and mercy of her relatives.

Otherwise, to give her more than her right, as if we can show her more mercy than the rahmah of Al-Haqq, is not mercy towards her but severe dhulm. Indeed, the savage greed of the present time, reminiscent of the cruel dhulm of burying daughters alive in the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah) due to savage jealousy, will lead to a merciless abominable act. All the decrees of the Qur'an, like these, confirm the decree,

وَمَا اَرْسَلْنَاكَ اِلاَّ رَحْمَةً لِلْعَاَلمِينَ2

Fourth Matter: فِلاُمِّهِ السُّدُسُ3

Here is how this vile civilisation causes such an injustice by giving daughters more than their right, and it perpetrates an even more terrible injustice by cutting off the right of the mother:

The compassion of mothers, which is the most honourable, sweetest, gentlest and most lovable manifestation of the rahmah of Allah, is indeed the most sacred and honoured haqiqah among the haqiqahs of the universe. A mother is such a noble, generous, merciful and self-sacrificing companion that, through her compassion, she sacrifices her entire world, her life and comfort for her child. Even the most cowardly hen, the simplest and lowest level of motherhood, will throw herself forward to protect her chick through the tiny flash of the compassion of motherhood and attack a dog or a lion.

Thus, to deprive a mother, who carries such a sacred and esteemed haqiqah, of her child's property is an injustice of terrible magnitude, a most cruel disrespect, a most wrongful insult to that sacred haqiqah and a denial of ni’mah (kufr an-ni’mah) that causes the ‘arsh of Rahmah to tremble. And it is to put poison into a most brilliant and beneficial panacea for the social life of man.

If the human monsters who claim to be humanitarians do not understand this, then surely the true humans will. They will acknowledge that the decree of Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm,

فِلاُمِّهِ السُّدُسُ4

is pure haqq and pure justice.

The Eleventh Letter

 

There are two causes, as stated in the Risale on Qadar, in everything, in every disaster, especially the cruel calamities caused by humans:

One is the humans who look only to the apparent causes.

The other is Ilahî Qadar. Humans look to the apparent causes; sometimes they make mistakes and commit dhulm. However, Qadar looks at different points and acts justly. Here are three matters currently associated with the Risale-i Nur circle that evoke a deep sense of concern and are warned to me as a response to the ma’nawî question regarding the justice of Qadar.  

…

Second Question: I felt pity for some people associated with the Risale-i Nur. Although the right of a man over the assets of his father is two-thirds, why did Ilahî Qadar allow him to be deprived his right partially?

The answer received: while it is necessary to show respect to one's parents and unconditional, complete respect and obedience in return for the kindness of one's father and mother, at this century, a strange inoculation has led to the corruption of genuine respect and obedience in the majority of the people. Consequently, they have been deprived unjustly of their rightful share of two-thirds. Qadar allowed this due to their mistake. Since the girls, although they have many flaws in other respects, are in greater need of protective and compassionate hands due to their weakness, and they increased their respect and need for their fathers and mothers sensitively, Qadar has permitted some of the rights of their brothers to be given temporarily to the girls by the dhâlim hands of mankind.

The Kastamonu Addendum (264-265)

3. The Qur’an rejects the ‘ibâdah to images as it rejects the ‘ibâdah to idols:

Just as the Qur'an severely prohibits the ‘ibâdah to idols, it also forbids the ‘ibâdah to images,5 which is a kind of imitation of the ‘ibâdah to idols. Civilisation, however, considered the images to be its virtues and wanted to dispute the Qur'an. However, images, whether possessing shadow or not, are either dhulm transformed into stones, embodied riyâ, or embodied desires of nafs. By whipping the desires of nafs, images encourage mankind to dhulm and riyâ and to follow the desires of nafs. Moreover, to preserve the respect shown to women, the Qur'an compassionately commands them to wear the veil of hayâ so that those mines of compassion will not suffer humiliation under the feet of the vile desires of nafs nor be a worthless commodity that is an instrument to satisfy 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.} Civilisation, however, has brought women out of their homes, torn down their veils and corrupted mankind. However, family life continues with mutual respect and love between man and woman. But immodest dressing has destroyed sincere respect and love and poisoned family life. Specifically, from the following, the extent to which ‘ibâdah to images seriously undermines morality and leads to the decline of rûh can be understood: Just as looking lustfully and with desire at the corpse of a beautiful deceased woman who is in need of pity and compassion destroys morality, so too does looking at the images of dead women or the images of living women, which are their little corpses, in a way that nurtures the desires of nafs, deeply shake and destroy the elevated human feelings.

Thus, like these three examples, each of the thousands of matters of the Qur'an serves not only to ensure human happiness in this world but also to serve their eternal life. You can compare other matters to the ones mentioned above.

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

 

The increased freedom of women has led to a sudden unfolding of immorality in mankind.

Little corpses, the smiling deads, which are called images, have played a great role in the violent-tempered rûh of civilised mankind. {**Just as looking with lust 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 Sharî’ah are either dhulm transformed into stones, embodied riyâ, or frozen desires of nafs. Or it is a talisman that attracts those evil rûhs.

The Gleams

 

To the Directorate of the Court of Appeal

[Once again, I was not permitted to speak during the session regarding our appeal against the unjust judgment issued by the Afyon Court. They forced us to listen to the third oppressive indictment against us. They also did not allow anyone to come to assist me with writing. Now, despite my poor handwriting, I present this complaint, which I wrote while unwell, as a petition for appeal to your Court, which has previously shown me complete justice on two occasions.]

بِاسْمِهِ سُبْحَانَهُ

[This is a petition to the Supreme Court on the day of the rising from the dead and assembling for judgment and a complaint to the Court of Allah. Let the Court of Appeal, as well as the future generations and the enlightened teachers and students at universities, listen. Here, I am presenting ten of the hundred torturous calamities over the twenty-three years to the just Court of Al-‘Âdil, Who is Hâkim Zuljalâl, along with my complaints.]

The First: Despite all my flaws, I have dedicated my life to the happiness of this nation and the salvation of its îmân. And I worked for it with all my strength through the Risale-i Nur, saying, "May my head too be sacrificed for a haqiqah, the haqiqah of the Qur'an, for which millions of heroic heads have been sacrificed." I endured all the cruel torments through the assistance of Allah and did not retreat.

For example: One instance of the terribly cruel treatments I experienced during my trial and imprisonment in Afyon: although they forced me and the innocent Risale-i Nur students, who were awaiting solace from justice, to listen to their malicious and slanderous indictments against us three times, each session lasting nearly two hours, they refused to allow us to speak, despite my repeated requests to defend our rights for five or ten minutes. They did not allow me to speak for more than a couple of minutes.

Although I was kept in absolute isolation for twenty months, only one or two of my friends were permitted to visit me for three or four hours; they helped me a little bit in writing my defence.  Then they were forbidden as well and punished with exceedingly brutal treatments. They forced us to listen to the indictment against us, which was malicious and based on misinterpretations, false accusations and slanders, as if they were trying to collect water from a thousand different sources, and in which I proved eighty-one errors on its fifteen pages. They did not allow me to speak. If they had allowed me, I would have said:

• Although under the pretext of freedom of conscience and freedom of thought you do not interfere with Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, especially the anarchists, murtads and munâfiqs {Note: O Ustadh! You have defended the material and ma’nawî rights of not just twenty million but three hundred and fifty million people, for the sake of Allah, with the nûr of the Quran. A proof that it is for the sake of Allah is that Janâb-i Haqq has made you successful in the Quranic service. Just as Mûsâ (as) found salvation from Pharaoh's cruelty, Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm saw the corpses of the munâfiqs, and especially, he killed the leader of the munâfiqs with his own blessed hand and sent him to Jahannam. So, the Risale-i Nur, with the Risale of Munajat6 in Eskişehir, the Risale on the Fruits of Îmân7 and the Hujjats8 in Denizli, and this plea in Afyon, sent the souls of the kufr al-mutlaq of the zandaqa and the rebels to Jahannam. The Risale-i Nur tore down their principles and regime, spreading all over the world. Alhamdulillah. Junior Ali.} currently under the guise of Bolshevism, who both deny your religion and insult your ancestors by accusing them of being in dhalâlah and reject your Prophet (asm) and the laws of your Qur'an,
• and although, with the lessons of the Qur’an, millions of Muslims, who live in the territories governed by a tyrannical state like Britain, bigoted in Christianity, consistently reject all the bâtil beliefs of the British and their kâfir rulings, their courts do not interfere with them,
• and although the opposition present in every government is not obstructed by the courts of those governments in their efforts to disseminate their ideas openly,
• and although the Isparta authorities, the Denizli Court, the Ankara Criminal Court, the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Court of Appeal (twice, or three times) thoroughly examined my forty years of life, my one hundred and thirty books and my most private risales and letters, and all copies of the Risale-i Nur, both private and published ones, have been in their hands for two or three years and they could not show a single matter that would warrant a minor penalty,
• and although I am extremely weak, oppressed, defeated and am enduring the heaviest conditions,
• and although these books of the Risale-i Nur in your hands and our four hundred-page defences, which have demonstrated themselves to be the strongest, most solid and genuine guide for two hundred thousand genuine and self-sacrificing students that gives benefit to our homeland, nation and public order, prove our innocence,

by what law, by what conscience, by what interest, and for what crime are you condemning us to heavy sentences, very severe betrayals and confinement? Indeed, you will be questioned about this at the Supreme Court on the day of the rising from the dead and assembling for judgment.

The Second: The reason they proposed for my punishment was my tafsir written as a response to the objections of civilisation to the sarîh âyahs of the Qur'an about tasattur, inheritance, the dhikr of Allah and polygamy that would silence them.

I am repeating the following paragraph, which I wrote fifteen years ago to the Eskişehir Court and the Ankara Court of Appeal, and which they included in the court's decision against me. As a complaint to the Supreme Court on the day of the rising from the dead and assembling for judgment, and as a warning to the enlightened teachers of the future, and together with Al-Hujjat Az-Zahrâ9 as a sort of addition to my petition to the Court of Appeal, which justly and fairly listened to our cries and judged with our two acquittals, I repeat this paragraph verbatim to the committee of judges who prevented me from speaking and sentenced me to two years of heavy imprisonment, absolute solitary confinement and two years of exile elsewhere and house arrest under close surveillance with the malicious indictment that we proved to have eighty errors.

Thus, I say to the Court of Appeal:

“I exclaim that if there is any justice on the face of the earth, it will indeed reject and abolish this wrong judgment that convicts a man who — by relying on the consensus and affirmation of three hundred and fifty thousand tafsirs and by following our ancestors’ beliefs they had for one thousand three hundred and fifty years —  made the tafsir of a sacred and haqq principle of Allah, which, in each century, for one thousand three hundred and fifty years, was applied in the social life of three hundred and fifty million Muslims. The deaf ears of this century, too, should hear!”

I wonder, wouldn't it be a denial of Islam and a betrayal of our one billion devout and heroic ancestors, and wouldn't it lead to the accusation of millions of tafsirs to convict a man — because of the tafsir of those âyahs —  who intellectually and scientifically rejects some European laws that are accepted temporarily due to the requirement of certain compulsions of this time and who has abandoned politics and withdrawn from social life?

The Fourteenth Ray

 

They also wrote, "One is guilty of irtijâ’ who says that reforms, such as the closure of the takkas10, zaviyes11 and the madrasas, the acceptance of secularism, the establishment of nationalist principles instead of Islam, the wearing of the hat, the abolishment 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 abolishment of religious instructions in schools, the granting of inheritance and rights to women on an equal basis with men and the abolishment of polygamy, are bid’ah, dhalâlah and ilhad.”

O unfair committee! If it is possible to deny numerous explicit âyahs of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition — 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 — that do not carry interpretation and that are about the tasattur, inheritance, polygamy, the dhikr of Allah, the lessons and dissemination of ‘ilm and the preservation of Shaâ’er, and if it is possible to make all mujtahids of Islam and all Shaykhs al-Islam guilty, and if you can abolish and remove from this country and governments the expiration of the statute of limitations, the numerous court acquittals, the legal pardons, confidentiality and privacy, intellectual and scholarly opposition, the freedom of conscience and the freedom of thought, 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/Short indications of some of the errors in the indictment