my beautiful religion 2

7/31/2019 My Beautiful Religion 2

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Faruk SALMAN

Nazif YILMAZ

Recep ÖZDİREK

I AM LEARNING THE FUNDEMANTALS OF FAITH 1



Authors:

Faruk SALMANNazif YILMAZ

Recep ÖZDİREK

Editor:

Faruk SALMAN

Graphic and Cover Design:

Sami KAYA, Râsim ŞAKİROĞLU

Illustrations:

İsmail ÖZEN

Revision:Numan Nurullah ARASÖmer YALÇIN

Advisory Board:

Ali Can TATLIFaruk KANGERİsmail GÜNDAY

All rights reserved by Ufuk Eğitim ve Danışmanlık Hizmetleri LTD. ŞTİ.

Gülfem Hatun Mh. Hüdayi Mahmud Sk. No: 15 Üsküdar / İSTANBULTel: +90 216 553 04 16Phone: +90 216 553 0416

Istanbul 2010

Organize Sanayi Bölgesi Turgut Özal Cad. No: 117 Kat:2/CBaşakşehir / ISTANBULTel: +90 212 671 07 00 (Pbx) - Fax: +90 212 671 07 17

ERKAM

PUBLICATION



FOREWORD

Praise be to our Exalted Lord who has honored us with our beautiul religion, Islam! Peaceand blessings be upon the Prophet, who taught our religion to all o humanity by living it

in the best ashion, and to His amily and His Companions!

Dear Children!

Te biggest ortune that we have in this world is aith. Our biggest goal is to live aithully andto return to our Lord with this aith. Te love o God, the greatest love o all, and having aith in

Him is the essence o our religion. Faith begins in the heart and is reected in our behaviors. Telove o God in our hearts lead us to become kind human beings who obey God’s commands andprohibitions. In turn, our good deeds and worship enhance our love and aith.

Dear Children!

Te aith march that began with our Prophet (p.b.u.h.) has been continuing or generations.Each generation did their best to practice and pass on this religion to the next generation. Tus,Islamic knowledge has been passed down through hands, mouths and hearts, nally reaching us.

In the uture, you will continue with the blessed aith march that our beloved Prophet hadstarted. Our responsibility is to prepare you or this blessed march and transmit in the best ashionthe supreme messages o our religion, which encompasses all ages. Our work that we have begunwith this purpose continues, praise be to Allah the Exalted.

“I am learning My Prayers 1-2” books o the series My Beautiul Religion have been pub-lished beore and gained the appreciation o our readers and riends who analyzed them. New developments have taken place that we never beore could have imagined. Te books have beentranslated into Georgian, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uyghur, Chinese, French, and German.ranslations into other languages are in the works.

Te book “I am Learning the Fundamentals o Faith - 1” that you are reading is preparedto explain the undamental subjects o the aith. In this book, only the topics o religion, aith, be-lieving in Allah, and believing in the angels are covered. opics such as belie in Allah’s books, theprophets, judgment day, destiny and ate will be covered in “I am Learning the Fundamentals o the Faith 2.”1

During the preparation o this book, we had the advantage o reviewing previously writtenworks on the subject; however, we wanted to present the topics in a way that would bring a dier-ent taste to its readers. Tereore, we have taken into consideration the ollowing issues:

In order to learn about our beautiul religion with aection and interest, we began each topic

with a story.

1 ranslator’s Note: Te Islamic term qadha is translated as destiny and qadar as ate.



We presented in rames the verses rom the Quran, the most important source o our religion,and the sayings o the Prophet Muhammad in order to stress their importance.

Te undamentals o aith contribute a number o positive aspects to our lives. Tese are Wehave explained these contributions in light o Quranic verses and sayings o the Prophet.

We have provided as many examples, stories, analogies, drawings and illustrations as possibleto acilitate the readers’ comprehension.

We tried to bring sweet memories o our Prophet (p.b.u.h.), his loyal riends, and prominentnames in Islam into your hearts.

As appropriate, we explained the inormation with tables and graphs.

We included a poem in almost every section that you can enjoy reading and possibly memo-rize.

We chose a language that is easy and clear or you to understand when explaining the subjects.

We have not included the details and the topics that you will learn in the years to come.Praying is a part o worship that our Exalted Lord loves deeply; besides, it helps us commu-

nicate with Him. Prayer is the essence o our worship. It is the sign o our aith. We have includedpictures o riends who have risen up their hands to pray, so that you can join them in prayer.

At the end o each chapter, we included questions or you to quiz yourselves and see how much you know. We ask that you include in your thoughtul prayers everyone who has put eortor the preparation o this book, the “I am Learning the Fundamentals o the Faith – I” book rom the series “My Beautiul Religion.”.

We pray that your hearts ll with aith, your lie with Islam, and your soul with sincerity. May the angels be your companions, and nice people your riends! May Almighty God be your loverand helper. May God speed your way until Paradise…

Faruk SALMAN

Nazi YILMAZ

Recep ÖZDİREK

January 2009/ Üsküdar



Story: ahir and Mahir ............................................................................................................................ 8

Man and Religion .................................................................................................................................... 13

Contributions o Religion to us ............................................................................................................. 16

Story: Unused Soap ................................................................................................................................ 20

Te rue Religion: Islam ........................................................................................................................ 22

Poem: My Religion .................................................................................................................................. 24

Te Characteristics o the Religion o Islam ........................................................................................ 25

Prophet Muhammad is the Best Example o How to Practice the Religion ..................................... 28

QUESIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 31

Story: “So I was a Believer but not Aware o it” .................................................................................. 36

Faith .......................................................................................................................................................... 39

Story: His Lie Changed Like Tis ........................................................................................................ 42

Humans in erms o Faith ..................................................................................................................... 45

What Should We be Careul o Regarding Our Faith? ........................................................................ 47Story: Te Good News o the Prophet ................................................................................................. 49

What Should We do to Strengthen our Faith? ..................................................................................... 50

Poem: Te Most Blessed Word .............................................................................................................. 54

Story: A Man Who Knows How to Ask a Question ........................................................................... 57

What Our Faith has Contributed to Us ................................................................................................ 60

Te Prophet’s Sincerity in His Faith ...................................................................................................... 63

Story: Te Stranger with a White Dress ............................................................................................... 65

Te Fundamentals o the Faith .............................................................................................................. 66

QUESIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 67

THE WAY THAT LEADS US TO ALLAH:RELIGION/ 7

THE KEY TO PEACE IN WORD AND PARADISEIN HEREAFTER: FAITH/ 35

TABLE OF CONTENTS



Story: Te Kid who Believes in Allah ................................................................................ 72

Each Work o Art Indicates an Artist ................................................................................ 74

Poem: Allah .......................................................................................................................... 76

Story: Te Answer o Abu Hanie ......................................................................................77

Te Perect Order in the Internal and External World ....................................................79

Story: One Answer to Tree Questions .............................................................................81

We Know Allah the Exalted with His Attributes .............................................................. 83

Attributes o Allah ............................................................................................................... 84

Story: Te Daughter o the Milk Man ............................................................................... 86My Lord! I Acknowledge You and Believe You with all my soul .................................... 91

Story: Te Faith o the Young Man .................................................................................... 93 Te Most Beautiul Names (Al Asma ul Husna) Belong to Allah .................................. 96

Te Contributions o Faith in Allah .................................................................................. 99

Te Love o Allah ............................................................................................................... 102 Lie-Blood o Our Worship: Prayer (Duah ......................................................................104

Story: I will sweep, you will water .................................................................................... 106

Requirements o being a Muslim ..................................................................................... 108

Story: Who is going to save? ............................................................................................. 109

Te Prophet Loved Allah very much ............................................................................... 110

QUESIONS ...................................................................................................................... 113

Story: Te Voice o the Angel ........................................................................................................ 118

Visible and Invisible Creatures ....................................................................................................... 120

Faith in Angels .................................................................................................................................. 121

Te Contributions o Faith in Angels ............................................................................................. 125

Angels Pray or Believers ................................................................................................................. 129

Story: Angels, Satan, and Man ........................................................................................................ 131

Satan ...................................................................................................................................................134

Te Prophet and the Angels ........................................................................................................... 137

QUESIONS .....................................................................................................................................141

FAITH IN ALLAH:THE LORD OF ALL THE WORLDS/ 71

FAITH IN ANGELS:THE SYMBOL OF BENEVELONCE AND GOODNESS/ 117



THE WAY THAT LEADS US TO ALLAH:

RELIGION

• Definition of Religion

• Contributions of Religion to Us • Characteristics of the Religion of Islam

• The Prophet’s Exemplary Stance in Religion



8

My Beautiful Religion 2

Tere was a very nice town located at the

skirts o a volcano. Tere lived two brothers

named ahir and Mahir. According to scien-

tists, the volcano would blow up soon and de-

stroy and ruin the beauties o this town. ahir

used to believe that there would be anothertown whose beauties would not be destroyed.

Mahir did not want to live in a wrecked town.For these reasons, the two brothers decided toleave the town. One day, early in the morn-ing, they set o on their journey. Aer a while,the path divided into two. Tey met with awise man at a ork in the road. Tey askedhim which way was better. Te wise man an-swered:

TAHIR AND MAHIR



9

I am learning the fundemantals of faith 1

“Te right path goes to a very nice town.However, on this way, there are signs andrules. I you choose the right path, you shoulddenitely obey the rules, and avoid the prohi-

bitions. You should keep the places that youpass through clean and act nicely towardsother humans and animals. You should only eat rom the ood that is allowed. You shouldnever orget that there is an owner o this roadand everything on this road, and he is the onethat determined these rules. I you ollow thesignboards careully and obey the rules, youwould bypass all the danger and diculties

that you come across and reach to a town thatis lovelier that you could ever imagine.

On the le path, there are neither lawsnor rules. You may act as you wish and behavereely. However, there are dangerous passageson this path. You may encounter brigands andwild animals at any moment. Tey can harmyou or your valuables.”

ahir and Mahir gave a little thought aerlistening to what the wise man had told them.ahir decided to go down the right path. Tus,he secured himsel and his valuables and willlearn the ways o avoiding danger. He willreach his destination saely by traveling downthe secure path. Mahir was unable to standthe ga. He thought to himsel “Why should Iobey any rules when I can live reely and travel

as I wish?” According to Mahir, real peace wasto be able to act as one wished. He thoughtthat he could run away rom any danger thatcrossed his path, and this was the way that hewould save himsel. For this reason, he in-sisted on going down the le path. ahir toldhim that his decision was wrong and the endo the le path would be very bad. He also toldhim that the rules on the right path are or thesaety o the travelers. No matter how hard hetried to explain to his brother that real peace

and happiness could be ound in well-orderedand organized traveling, he could not makehim listen. Finally, they said goodbye to eachother and separated.

Mahir set o on his journey with the easi-ness o being ree. He did not have to obey any rules here. He was happy to act reely and con-tinued his journey as he leaped or joy rom thehills and dales. He was eating rom everythinghe came across with and did not care about thedamage he was causing to his surroundings.Just at that moment, he came to at and wide

moorland . While he was walking on the moor-land, he suddenly heard a voice. Ten, guesswhat he saw: A lion rom the orest runningtowards him. Mahir, who was shocked, start-ed to run away. I he continued at his speed,the lion was going to catch and tear him up.Nearby, he spotted one o the largest pits hehad ever seen beore. He reached one o theseholes beore the lion caught up with him. He

desperately jumped in.Te hole was so big that trees had grown

up its walls. Mahir held on to one o the treesas he slid down. Relieved that he had lost thelion, he closed his eyes or a moment and took a deep breath. However, his happiness didnot last long. What he saw was so devastat-ing: He looked down and there was a dragon.He looked up and the lion was at the edge o the pit. Te root o the tree that he was hold-ing onto was being eaten continuously by onewhite and one black mouse.

It was a very interesting tree; every kind o ruit one could imagine could be ound on itSeeing this wide variety o ruits made Mahirhungry.

Tere is a dragon i you look down andlion i you look up! And the root o the treeis being eaten. Mahir orgot this devastating



10


situation and continued to actas he did on the way. By block-ing his ears to the voice o hissoul and heart, he gave into his

appetite. Without worrying abouti it was harmul or not, he ate allthe ruits that he could get a holdo. He had already orgotten aboutthe dangerous situation that he wasin. Te temporary satisaction thatthe ruits gave him ooled him intothinking that he was happy and atpeace. Tough in reality, he was

surrounded by danger.

A tragic ending awaited him.I he climbs back up the tree, hesurely will be the lion’s prey, and i he alls down, he will be the dragon’s.Tere was no way he could avoid theending that was about to occur; and

because thetree was be-

ing eaten by mice, he was going to all.

But, what should he have done? How could hehave been saved rom this dicult situation?

Would eating whatever he wantedwithout having discern or the good

and harmul have made him happy?Would it be possible or him to savehimsel rom this devastating situa-tion by acting as he wished withoutacknowledging the laws and rules,and by disregarding the rules thatrule maker had ordained?

Let’s leave Mahir by himsel ora while and see what happened to hisbrother. What did ahir do? Did hereach the place that we wanted to go,

saely?



11


Since ahir believed that it would be saerto travel by obeying the laws and rules, he hadchosen the right way. He used to think thatunlimited reedom was impossible. He knew

well that people who live without laws andrules would harm either themselves or others.

ahir, who made the best decision o hislie, perormed the duties that was asked o him. He read the sign boards careully, ol-lowed the commands and prohibitions writ-ten on the boards, and learned the ways tosave himsel rom the dangers that he would

ace in uture.Finally, just like his brother, ahir’s path

also reached to at and wide moorland. ahirnoticed that a lion was coming towards him.However, he did not get scared like his broth-er. He knew that this moorland had an ownerand that the lion was under this owner’s com-mand. He would save himsel rom the lion i he asks or the owner’s help.

However, rst he needed to protect him-sel. By running away rom the lion, he jumpeddown into one o the pits whose walls were cov-ered with trees. He held on to a tree when hewas alling down. Just like in the hole that hisbrother jumped into, one white and one black mouse was eating the roots o the tree that hewas holding on to. Tere was a lion at the top

and a dragon at the bottom. Tere were thou-sands o kinds o ruits on the tree. Luckily, a-hir knew what to do when acing with such adangerous situation. Tis was a test that every one had to pass in order to reach that beautiultown that the wise man was talking about.

ahir understood that there is an owner o this moorland, hole, lion, and dragon and thatthe owner was testing ahir. He knew that heneeded to act with caution just like he did onhis way. He knew that the ruits on the tree in

this pit were just examples o the ruits at thebeautiul town he was going to. And some o the ruits were capable o putting him to sleep.Futher, those particular ruits that had a sleep-

ing agent in them were o the orbidden ruits.In the event that he were to eat one o thoseruits, he would have allen rom the tree. Forthis reason, ahir should not eat rom all o the ruits, but only rom those that are allowedand that would give him energy. It was writtenon one o the signs that there was a tunnel thatconnected this tree in the well to the beauti-

ul town. He needed some energy to nd thistunnel and reach the town. Te only thing thatahir would need to do was to try and nd thetunnel that would save him rom this tunneland to pray to the owner or everything to goright.

ahir started to search or the tunnel. Hedid the best he could. He both worked very hard and prayed to the owner rom very deepwithin his heart.

O the Lord o these places! I ollowed yourorders. I tried to ollow the right path. I stayedaway rom the acts that you have orbidden. Idid not harm anyone. Now, I need your help. Itrust in you and seek reugee in you.”

Tis prayer was giving hope to ahir and

making him eel stronger. Aer working hardand praying, ahir ound his way to the tun-nel, which looked like the dragon. He openedthe door. Now in ront o him, there were be-dazzling gardens. Tis town was incompara-bly more beautiul than the previous one.

Tereore, ahir received the gi o be-ing patient by obeying to the rules and pray-ing to the owner, the creator o everything. Hereached eternal peace and happiness in thistown.



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In this story, the journey o man in thisworld is characterized symbolically. Below

is an explanation o such sybolism.ahir: ahir represents aithul and sin-

cere Muslims who do good by using theirintellects, trusting in the Lord and obeyingHis rules.

Mahir: Mahir represents humans whodo not obey Allah’s rules, ollow their owndesires, and who made harmul and deny-ing acts their customs.

Te Path to the Right: Tis representsaith and Islam. It is characterized by therules that Allah commands. It is the way that Quran shows us that which our Lordwants us to ollow. It coincides with the liestyle that Islam promotes.

Te Path to the Le: Tis is the path thatAllah does not approve o. It is the proaneand rebellious path that Satan shows. Tispath is not approved o in Islam; it promotesa liestyle that is rebellious towards Allah.

Flat and wide moorland: Represents theworld that we live in.

ree: It is the lie span o every human.It is the lie that one experiences.

Black and White mice: Te black mouserepresents the night. Te white mouse rep-resents the day. Tey slowly eat away at hu-

man lie each day.Te lion: Te lion represents the death

o humans. It is the reality o death that sep-arates humans rom the material joys andloves.

Te dragon/the door: Te dragon rep-resents the grave, which is the door to theHereaer. It is a door that opens up romthis world o tests to gardens in Paradise or

those Muslims who ollow the way o Allah,shown in the Quran. It is a step towards at-

taining peaceand happiness,

and escaping di-culties.

Te ruits on the tree:Represent the blessings inthis world. Tey are exam-ples o the blessings in theHereaer. Te real bless-ings are in Hereaer.Tose who busy them-selves with these worldly blessings and look or satisactionin them only orget about the Hereaer,and thereore harm themselves, becausethey would be destitute o the better bless-ings that Allah the Exalted would give them.Tose who utilize the sae worldly blessingsand spend them on the right path to Allahreach the eternal blessings in Paradise.

Having thousands o kinds o ruits inone tree: It shows the power and grandeuro Allah the Exalted And that thousands o dierent kinds o blessings are abundant onthis earth.

Whoever acts like Tahir and lives his life as a believer according to our religion, reaches eternal peace and goes to Paradise.

Whoever acts like Mahir and disobey’st our beautiful religion’s sacred laws, lose eternal happiness and a place in Paradise. Their seat is in Hell.

WHAT DO THE SYMBOLS IN THE STORY REPRESENT?



13


Man is a creature composed o body and soul, the body representing the mate-

rial side and the soul representing the spiri-tual side. Our soul (spirit) is what separatesus rom other creatures and makes us hu-man.

We cannot perceive the soul with thesenses. Te relationship between our body and soul is similar to the relationship be-tween a lamp and electricity: We cannotsee electricity, but we recognize its exis-tence when the lamp is turned on. Just asthe lamp cannot be turned on without elec-tricity, a human cannot live without a soul.

Te soul has needs, just as the body has needs. Te body gets hungry, thirsty,and cold. Te body needs ood, drink, andwarmth. Te soul lives by experiencing joy,sadness, happiness, and sorrow. Te soulmust have some kind o innate happinessand inner peace.

Both the structure and the nourish-ments o the body and soul are very di-erent rom each other. Our body, whichis made out o clay, needs material nour-ishment, and our soul, which is an abstractbeing, needs spiritual nourishment. Wesatisy our body’s needs with the oods thatare provided rom the earth. We cansatisy our soul’s needs with the

spiritual nourishments such asbelieving in Allah, worship-ping, praying, being altruis-tic, having compassion andmercy. Only this way we canachieve the happiness andinner peace that our soulsneed.

Our bodies and souls are en-

trusted to us by Allah. As our ExaltedLord wants us to keep our bodies healthy,

MAN AND RELIGION

Our body is like a car, and the

soul the driver. Can we argue

that we have fed the driver when

we put gas into the car? Arguing

this would be obviously ridiculous.

Because we know very well that

the car needs fuel and the driver

needs food. Is it not more ridicu-

lous to assume that by feedingsomeone we also feed his soul?



14


He also wants us to nourish our souls withgoodness that will keep us away rom evil.Tis is only possible with religion.

Te Creator o All: Allah (j.j.)

Allah has created the universe in a per-ect order. He ordered the sky, the land,and all thats in between to be the wonderso the universe. He adorned our worldwith mountains, lowlands, canyons, riv-ers, and seas. He established an order inthe universe that even our intellects can-not athom. Tis perect system has beenworking without a problem or billions o

years. Night aer night, morning ollows;the sun has been rising in the East and set-ting in the West. Seasons come and go intheir designated order.

All o the creatures in universe havebeen acting according to the laws that Al-lah has decreed, thereore ullling theirduties perectly. A seed that is dropped toearth blossoms, grows, and satises the

needs o humans and animals. Animals areborn and they live a lie according to theirAllah’s unique plan. In summary, the universe continues in perect balance.

Te universe has been created to servehumanity. Te palace o world – with allits beauty – has been embellished or thispurpose. Well then, or what purpose wasthe human race created, to which countlessblessings have been given? What is the duty o humans in this world?

A great blessing was given to us orthe purpose o nding our Creator: Intel-

ligence

Man is dierentrom other creaturesin the universe. Hewas created as an in-

telligent being. Sincehe has an intellect, he

also has the reedom to worship his Creatoror not; he may choose how to behave inthis world as well. By using one’s intellect,

one can choose the right path; he can stearclear rom all and any evil. A human beingcan recognize the right and good path by using one’s intellect. It is or this reasonthat man is responsible or his actions.

Our guides that inorm us o the Exis-tence and Oneness o Allah: Prophets

Apart rom our intelligence, our Exalt-ed Lord also sent or us prophets. Proph-

Allah the Exalted says:

(Surah Al-Insan (Man), 76:1-2)

“Verily We created Man from a drop of

mingled sperm, in order to try him: So We

gave him (the gifts), of Hearing and Sight.

We showed him the Way: whether he be

grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will).”


(Surah Al-Baqara (The Cow), 2:164)

“Behold! in the creation of the heavens

and the earth; in the alternation of the

night and the day; in the sailing of the

ships through the ocean for the profit of

mankind; in the rain which Allah Sends

down from the skies, and the life which

He gives therewith to an earth that is

dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He

scatters through the earth; in the change

of the winds, and the clouds which they Trail like their slaves between the sky and

the earth;- (Here) indeed are Signs for a

people that are wise.”



15


ets have guided humans in nding the rightpath. Te rst human, His Excellency Adam,is also the rst prophet. Tose who use theirintellects and acknowledge the guidance o

prophets believed in the existence and one-ness o Allah. However, throughout humanhistory there have also been people whohave not used their intellects well, and werethereore not able to recognize the guidanceo the prophets. Tese people have deviatedrom the right path by worshipping naturalbeings, spirits, or idols instead o Allah.

A way that will make us happy in thisworld and the Hereaer: Religion

Our Exalted Lord has created the universe and put it in the service o humans.Unlike other creatures, He gave humans thereedom to believe or not, and to choosehow they should act. Man was created insuch a way that he is capable o acting both

arrogantly or servile.

Our Lord, who has innite mercy, didnot leave humans, who He provided withmany blessings, without help on the issueo having the reedom o choice. He gavehumans intellects so that they may makethe right choices. He also sent prophets. Hegave us rules and suggestions that make hu-

mans happy by leading them to good behav-iors and protecting them rom bad behav-iors. Te happiness o humanity lies underthese divine rules and counsel. When hu-mans learn and practice them, then they areable to keep their lives balanced. Tey may attain peace in this world as well as in theHereaer. Tese rules and counsel that ourExalted Lord provided us with in order orus to be happy in this world and Hereaeris called religion.


(Surah Ar-Rum (The Romans), 30:30)

“So set thou thy face

steadily and truly to the

Faith: (establish) Allah’s

handiwork according to

the pattern on which He

has made mankind…”


(Surah al-Nisa (Women), 4:165)

“Messengers of good cheer and of warn-

ing, in order that mankind might have

no argument against Allah after the mes-

sengers.”



16


Saves us from the feeling of purpose-

lessness and emptiness.

Answers our questions on death and lie

aer death.

Teaches us how we will fulfill our ser-

vanthood towards Allah the Exalted.

Regulates our relationship with people

and other beings in the universe.

Helps us have good manners.

Shows us the way to be happy both inthis world and in the hereaer.

RELIGION

As our Exalted Lord did not create anything without a purpose, He did notleave humans without guidance. Te religious path was sent to us in order toteach us our purpose and our place in creation. According to our religion, theundamental purpose o our creation is to know our Lord and worship Him. Aslong as we live accordingly, our

lie maintains meaning.

Knowing that there is a pur-pose in our creation and livingaccording to this purpose saves usrom eelings o purposelessnessand aimlessness. Religion lls thespiritual voids in our hearts.


(Surah al-Qiyamah (Resurrection), 75:36)

“Does man think that he will be leuncontrolled, (without purpose)?”

WHAT RELIGION HAS CONTRIBUTED TO US



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Who am I?

Why am I here?

What will happen to me aerI die?

All o us question our purpose inlie by asking these and similar ques-tions. We want to realize our positionin the universe as intelligent beings.However, as our other abilities, our

intelligence is limited as well. Our mind lacks the capacity to nd the answers tothese questions. Te Exalted Lord, who created everything and knows everything,knows all the answers. Tereore, only a religion sent by Allah can answer our ques-tions about creation, death, and lie aer death.

We can nd the existence and oneness o Allah by using our intelligence.

By thinking about all His blessings, we can come to the conclusion that wemust thank Him or them. However, we may not know what would be the best andnicest way to thank and worship ourLord. Only religion teaches us how to be in the service o Allah. Tis isbecause our Exalted Lord is the Onewho knows about the orms o wor-ship necessary to show our love, re-spect, and loyalty to Him. He is theOne who determines when and how worship should be conducted. Welearn about how to worship with thereligion that He sent us.


(Surah Al-Mulk (Dominion), 67:2)

“He Who created Death and Life,that He may try which of you is best in deed…”


(Surah Al-Bayyinah (Evidence), 98:5)

“And they have been commanded no

more than this: To worship Allah, offer-

ing Him sincere devotion, being true (in

faith); to establish regular prayer; and to

practice regular charity; and that is the

Religion Right and Straight.”



18


We are not the only creatures that

live in this universe. We share thisworld with other humans and other

creatures. Tereore, our acts aect

many other living beings or nonliv-

ing creatures, whether we are aware o

them or not. Our behaviors have to be

organized in such a way that they are

benecial to humans and their sur-

roundings. Religion shows us the bestlie style by teaching us good and evil

and right and wrong. It teaches us to be nice and just towards each other, to act hu-

manly to animals, to protect the environment; in short, it shows us how to respect the

rights o every creature. It regulates our relation-

ships with one another and other creatures in the

universe.


(Surah An-Nahl (The Bee), 16:90)

“Allah commands justice, the doing of

good, and liberality to kith and kin, and

He forbids all shameful deeds, and in-

justice and rebellion: He instructs you,

that ye may receive admonition.”

Religion teaches us that we are

always and everywhere under the

control and supervision o our Lord.

It enorces our belie that Allah seesus, no one else, and that we will be

held accountable or our actions in

the Hereaer. Tis spiritual control

surrounds our inner lie. It enables

us to steer clearo wrongdoing and

makes us good-natured.


(Surah Luqman, 31:16)

“O my son!» (said Luqman), «If therebe (but) the weight of a mustard-

seed and it were (hidden) in a rock,

or (anywhere) in the heavens or on

earth, Allah will bring it forth: for Al-

lah understands the finest mysteries,

(and) is well-acquainted (with them).”



19


Whether rich or poor, human be-

ings sometimes eel a kind o emptinessand uneasiness in their inner-lives.Some people turn towards harmulthings, such as alcohol or drug abusein order to ll this emptiness insideo them. Tey think that they can ndhappiness in games and entertain-ment. Tey disregard the connectionbetween man and Allah. Tey orget

about the the reality o death and theHereaer. However, when they arealone and remember the reality o death, the supercial happiness that they havecreated in their minds comes to an end. Hence, the most important thing or hu-mans is to nd true and real happiness. Indeed, religion is the perect means toattain eternal happiness. Religion builds the connection between man and Allah. Itreminds us that death is not the end, but the beginning o a new lie. It establishesthe love o Allah in our hearts. It teaches us to look at the whole universe romthe window o this love. It shows us the way to happiness in this world and in theHereaer.



“And there are men who say: «Our Lord!

Give us good in this world and good in

the Hereafter, and defend us from the

torment of the Fire!»”



20


Aer perorming the Aernoon Prayer,Hasan Hodja, who gained the respect o all

ages in the town, was slowly walking to-wards the downtown Religious Administra-tion Building.

Te municipality had decided to installcurbstones on the streets downtown. Te

pavement in the middle o the town centerhad been broken up and everywhere resem-

bles a construction site. While shops werehappy thinking that in a ew days, down-town will look much better, the unexpectedrain made everywhere muddy. Te shop-keepers elt sorry or this situation but they could not do anything about it!

UNUSED SOAP



21


Hasan Hodja was trying to walk romthe concrete parts o the way in ront o the

shops but when these parts end, he had towalk on the muddy way. While he was try-ing hard not to get any mud on his clothes,he greeted the shopkeepers and inquiredabout their well-being.

When he came in ront o the electricianshop, Master Najib invited him to the shop.

- Come in hodja! Let’s have some tea.

How well you explained today in Friday Prayer: Only embracing the religion cansave humans. Also there are couples o questions that I would like to ask. I you are not in hurry, please come in!

- I have things to do in the Reli-gious Administration Building, butthey are not that urgent. Let’s have atea while we chat.

Mr. Ka-zim, who wasa soap sellerand at oddswith mosque andpraying, was the neighbor o master Najib. When he heardthe voice o Hodja, he came into theelectrician shop. As Mr. Najib was ordering

the teas, he interrupted:- Master! You say that religion provides

peace and happiness to humans. However,due to all those years, the world is still ullo bad people.

Hasan Hodja said,

- You have entered into an importantand deep subject.

He glanced over at the soap seller, turnedto him with condence as he showed him aman walking around with his muddy pantsand said,

- Te world has known about soap orhundreds o years. It has been said that soapcleans lth and dirt. However, there are still

many lthy and dirty things inthis world and many people be-

come dirty because o them,isn’t it so?

Te soap seller dis-agreed and said:

- Yes but soap worksonly when it is used. What

can soap do or thosewho consistently putthemselves in the mud?

Hasan Hodja now had the opportunity. Itwas the perect time to

make his point:

- You are right. What can soap or soapseller do or those who put themselves in the

mud? My child! Religion is like this, too. I it is practiced and lived, it brings happinessto the world. What can religion do or thosewho perorm orbidden acts, sins, cruelty,and injustice?



22


Te religion that is sent by Allahand commands to believe in and to worshipHim is called the true religion.

Allah is the only One who can establisha religion.

It is our Exalted Lord who created thestars in the universe, who created the crea-tures in the deep oceans. Everyday, scientistsdiscover new traits o creatures in the uni-

verse. We know that, the person who knowsthe computer best is the engineer who de-signed it. Our Exalted Lord who createdman rom nothing is the One who knowshim best. He is the One who knows ourbodies’ and spirits’ needs the best. Tere-ore, Allah is the only One who can estab-lish the most suitable rules, in other words,religion, which can make us happy both in

this world and in the Hereaer. No one ex-

cept He can have the power to establish a

religion, change the undamental rules o areligion, or abolish it.

Islam is the common name o the reli-

gions that all the prophets had brought.

Prophets are people who carry and live

the message o religion that they receive

rom Allah. Te rst man, Adam, was also

the rst prophet. Te religion that was de-clared to him was the “aith in one God: Al-

lah”, in other words “awheed.”

Te common name o the true religion

that Allah sent to humans by revelation is

“Islam.” Te verse “Te Religion beore Allah

is Islam” in Surah Ali Imran (Te Family o Im-

ran; 3:19) clearly states this.

THE TRUE RELIGION: ISLAM



23


Troughout history, there were timeswhere humans deviated rom the way o divine revelation. Tey contaminated the aithand pure morality that the religion taught.

Our Exalted Lord has sent new prophets tocorrect the wrong belies and the corruptedmoral values. All the prophets had claimedto their people that there is no deity but Al-lah and one must worship only Him. Tey letthem know that everyone will be account-able or their actions in the Hereaer. Teundamentals o aith, morals and valueslike justice, righteousness, and servitude,

which the prophets taught, never changedor diered rom one another.

Allah the Exalted had appointed therst human, Adam as a prophet. He taughthis people about Islam by explaining theoneness o Allah and how not to worshipanything else but Him. Our Prophet Mu-hammad (p.b.u.h.) was the last messengero Islam; no prophet aer him will come,

nor will any book aer Te Noble Quran berevealed.

Religions that do not command be-lieving in one Allah (awheed) are invalidreligions

Untrue religions that are not revealedby Allah are called invalid religions.

Tere are also religions that were latercorrupted by humans even i they were revealed by Allah. Some additions and su-perstitions are mixed into those religions.Many changes were made to the undamen-tals and practices o those religions and they are called “corrupted rom their originals.”Judaism and Christianity are religions thatare corrupted rom their originals.

Our Beloved Prophet said:

“My situation with regard to other

prophets is as ollows: Somebody

builds a very nice house. Te house is

completed but only one empty space

or one brick is lef in its corner. Ten,

upon seeing that empty spot, the peo-

ple who visit that house and admire it

say “Only i that one-brick wide spot

had not been lef empty!” Indeed, I amthat missing brick, I came and became

the last o the prophets.”

(Bukhari, Menakib, 18).


(Surah Al-Maida(The Table), 5:3)

“Tis day have I perected your religionor you, completed My avor upon you,and have chosen or you Islam as yourreligion.”


(Surah Ali Imran (The Family of Imran), 3:85)

“If anyone desires a religion other than

Islam (submission to Allah., never will

it be accepted of him; and in the Here-

after He will be in the ranks of those

who have lost (All spiritual good).”



24


MY RELIGION

My religion is exalted, I love my religion,

I consider it superior to other religions and praise it.

My religion is Islam, the best o all religions,

We say “Allah is one,” we say “Allah is one,”

Prophet Muhammad is the sun or both worlds,

Tere is no match to him among the prophets…

He is the one who brought this religion to us rom AllahLight shines on us rom the skies above, because o this religion.

Tis religion says “Be clean!” it says: “Be righteous!”

Our book is the Quran; we read it all the time,

Many thanks to Allah or making us Muslims…

Şeraeddin YALKAYA



25


1. Islam is a universal religion that addresses to era and everyone.

Our Prophet was sent to all humanity until

the end o time. Te religion that he had brought

has the characteristics that will satisy the needs

o all humanity. Islam commands to act nice to-

wards one’s parents, to show mercy and aection

to all living beings, to avoid extravagancy, to be

honest in trade, and to be just in whatever hap-

pens. Tese and similar principles are the unda-

mental human values that every society needs.

2. Islam is a religion that aims at making things easier or us. It demands rom us the thingsthat we are capable o.

Islam does not burden us with major respon-

sibilities that we cannot handle. For example, a sick

person who cannot stand up can perorm his prayer

while sitting. A person who cannot nd water to

make ablution can make tayyammum (ablution

with clean soil). A person who is traveling a long

distance can postpone the Ramadan asting or a-

ter the travel.


(Surah Al-Saba, 34:28)

“We have not sent thee but as a universal (Messen-

ger) to men, giving them glad tidings, and warning

them (against sin), but most men understand not.”



“Allah intends every facility for you; He

does not want to put to difficulties.”

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ISLAM

The last religion that Allah had sent to humanity is Islam. Some of

the important characteristics of Islam are the following:



26


3. Islam does not discriminate between

rich and poor, or strong and weak.

Islam does not recognize one’s race, language,

or skin color as superior to others. Tereore, ev-

eryone is equal beore the court. No matter whatone’s status in society is, no one person or group

has privileges. A perect example o this principle

o equality in Islam is seen in the Hajj (pilgrimage).

During the Hajj, millions o people dress in white

clothes (ihram) and worship shoulder to shoulder.

Discrimination is completely non-existent, and

this is what our religion commands.

4. Te goal o Islam is to make people hap-py both in this world and in the Hereaer

Islam encourages people to utilize the

bounties o this world and earn the Paradise

with them. Islam does not accept setting aside

the Hereafer or this world, or setting aside the

world or the Hereafer. It tries to incorporate a

perect balance.

5. Islam places great importance on clean-

liness.

Te practices commanded by Islam not only

sustains physical cleanliness but also cleanliness

o the heart and spirit. For example, wudhu (ab-lution), ghusl (ull ablution), salat (obligatory

prayers), sawm (asting), hajj, and zakat (alms)

puriy our souls and keep us away rom both

material and spiritual lth.

6. Te commands and prohibitions o Is-

lam is compatible with human nature

Islam prohibits alcohol, gambling, adultery,

lying, oppression, and injustice. Islam com-

mands goodness, altruism, and justice, behav-

ing well towards parents, and watching afer the

poor and the destitute.


(Surah Al-Qasas (The Narration),28:77)

“But seek, with the (wealth) which Allah

has bestowed on thee, the Home of the

Hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this

world.»



“For Allah loves those who turn to Him

constantly and He loves those who

keep themselves pure and clean.”


(Surah Ar-A’raf (The Heights), 7:157)

«… Prophet, for he commands them

what is just and forbids them what is

evil; he allows them as lawful what is

good (and pure) and prohibits them

from what is bad (and impure)...»

Our beloved Prophet says:

“O people! All mankind is from Adam

and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any su-

periority over an Arab; also a white has

no superiority over a black nor a black

has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.”

(The Farewell Sermon of Prophet Muhammad).



27


CHARACTERISTICS

OF ISLAM

Islam commandsgood and useulthings prohibitsevil and harmul

things.

6

Islam is a univer-

sal religion sentto all humanity.

1

Islam does notplace responsi-

bilities on peoplethat they cannot

bear.

2

Tere is no racial orclass based discrimi-

nation in Islam.

3

Islam considers the bal-ance between the world

and the hereaer.

4

Islam places impor-tance both on physi-

cal and spiritualcleanliness.

5

We can summarize the characteristics of Islam as follows:



28


Our beloved Prophet Muhammad, whowas sent to teach humans our beautiul reli-

gion Islam became an example to all o hu-

manity with his way o lie. All o his behav-

iors, acts, and good manners were shaped by

the divine standards in the Noble Quran. He

was the one who taught humans how to prac-

tice the religion.

Te Prophet was so careul when it came

to ullling the commands o our religionand avoiding acts that were orbidden. He

would avoid habits and extremes that did not

benet individuals or societies. He would

recommend Muslims to ollow the middle

way and to hold on rmly to the commands

o the religion. One day, three riends o the

Prophet came to his house and asked about

his supererogatory worship. When the ways

in with our Prophet worshiped were told tothem, they regarded their own worship as

too little and said,

- With regard to the messenger o Allah,who are we? His past and uture sins are or-

given. One o them said,

- For the rest o my lie, I will perorm

prayers the whole night without sleeping.

Another one said,

One day, our beloved Prophet picked

up a stick while sitting with his friends.

He drew a straight line on the ground.

He pointed out the line to his curious

friends and said:

- This is the

straight path of

Allah the Exalted.

Then he drew two

more lines to the each side of the

straight line and said:

- These are the paths of Satan.

Then, he put his blessed hands on the

middle line and recited the following

verse from the Quran:

“(Allah the Exalted says :) Verily, this is

My way, leading straight: follow it: fol-

low not (other) paths: they will scatter

you about from His (great) path: thus

doth He command you that ye may

be righteous.” (Surah Al-An’am (Cattle);

6:153)

Ahmed bin Hanbel, ııı, 397

THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD HAS SET THE BEST EXAMPLE

FOR HOW WE ARE TO PRACTICE THE RELIGION



29


- For the rest o my lie, I will ast every

day; there won’t be a day that I spend without

asting. Te third companion promised by

saying:

- For the rest o my lie, I will rerain

rom marital relations; I will never marry. A-

ter a while, our Prophet came over to them

and said:

“Are you the ones who said this and that?

I warn you! I swear to Allah and I am the one

who is the most fearful of Allah and the most re-

spectful to Him. However, I sometimes perform

supererogatory fasting and sometimes don’t. At night, I both pray andget some sleep. I marry

as well. Tose who turn their faces away from

my Sunnah (traditions) are not my followers.”

(Bukhari, Nikah 1)

Our beloved Prophet used to solve the

problems that he aced in lie within the con-

straints o Islam. When a question was asked

to him or when he wanted to solve issues be-

tween people, the rst resource that he wouldresort to was the Noble Quran. He would

say that our religion makes things easy, and

he would choose the easier solution over the

dicult. He also used to recommend to his

riends that they take the standards set by

Islam into consideration when solving their

problems.

Our Prophet used to consider religion to

be more important than his lie. He experi-

enced many hardships because o it, and he

withstood many diculties or the sake o Al-

lah.

During the rst years o Islam, unbeliev-

ers who did not accept the religion tortured

our Prophet. Tey threatened him with his

lie many times. Tey le our Prophet and his

ollowers to starve. Tey spread thorns to thepaths that he would pass through. In the city

o ai, they stoned him and his eet were cov-

ered with blood. Tey did many more tortu-

ous things. Despite all o these, our prophet

never stopped practicing, preaching, and

teaching Islam.

Te Prophet had raised an exemplary

generation that understood and practiced the

religion correctly. Te people who heard his

Noble message and had accompanied him

by accepting our beautiul religion are called

“the Companions (Sahaba).”

Te era beore Islam is called “the era o

ignorance.” At that time, in the Arabian pen-

insula, there were bloody battles and civil

wars that lasted or years. People used to live

in ear and anxiety. Tere was no security o

lie and property. Te rich used to mistreat

the poor, and the strong used to oppress the

weak. Free people used to torture slaves in all

ways imaginable. Islam, however, abolished

all o this negativity. It established a civiliza-

tion that honored humanity.

Even i our Prophet did not haveperorm miracles, the generation o Companions that he trained wouldbe enough to prove his prophet-hood.



30


Te Noble Companions struggled a lot

to practice their religion reely. Tey tried

to overcome the obstacles they were aced

with because o their aith. As our Prophet,

his riends too conronted hardship and mis-

treatment. Some o them were laid down on

burning hot sand. Some o them were orcedto renounce their aith by whipping. More-

over, they were aced with an economic boy-

cott. All trade and communication means

were taken away rom them. For three years,

they endured these days o hardship with our

beloved Prophet. Tey tied stones around

their bellies to ease their hunger pains. Tey

tried to survive by eating plants, leaves, and

pieces o dried skin. Tey had to leave behind

all their wealth and leave the town that they

were born and raised in. But they had experi-

enced the taste o aith…Some o them gave

up their lives or this path, but they never re-

nounced their religion.

Te Companions have sacriced their

wealth and lives in order to spread the to

the whole world the beauties that Islam had

brought them. Some o them became martyrs,like Yasir, Sumayyah, Mus’ab, and Hamza.

Tose who survived scattered in the direction

o the our winds in order to spread the beau-

ties o Islam to all o humanity. Our beautiul

religion has come to this day without any cor-

ruption due to their sacrices.

Our Exalted Lord has honored us with Is-

lam. He made us love our aith and engravedit in our hearts. He made us realize how bad

it is to sin and perorm mischievous acts. Our

Prophet has bequeathed us with the Noble

Quran and his exemplary lie by saying “I am

leaving for you two things. As long as you hold

on tight to them, you will never deviate from

your way. Tey are the book of Allah and sun-

nah (traditions) of His messenger.”

I we appreciate the blessings o Allah

and listen to the advice o the Prophet, then

we learn our religion in the best way, perorm

our worships, and stay away rom evil acts. As

a result, we become good Muslims.

Te companions who witnessed theage o ignorance (jahiliyyah) realized that

religion was the only path to salvation. By the virtue o our beautiul religion, they were saved rom the age o ignorancewhich was ull o cruelty and injustice.Tey demonstrated to all o humanity

how the religion needed to be practicedand how a society who practices the reli-

gion should be. Tey established an exem-plary generation or humans until the lastday. For this reason, the era that they livedin is called (the era o bliss)



31


QUESTIONS

1 Man is a creature composed o spirit and inding the right path.

2Our spirit is the part that separates us romother creatures and

considered the religion to be moreimportant than his lie.

3By using one’s intellect, a human being canrecognize

shows us the best way o lie.

4 Prophets have guided people in addresses every era and everyone.

5According to our religion, our purpose isto

For the things that they cannot do.

6By showing us what is good and bad, and theright and wrong, religion

what is right and good.

7 Islam is a universal religion that body.

8 Islam does not hold humans responsible are coherent with human nature.

9 Te commands and prohibitions o Islam makes our body human.

10 Prophet Muhammad know our Lord and worship Him.

Complete the sentences by connecting the right parts



32


(turn to Him constantly and repent / try / shameful deeds / Life / good-ness / Hell Fire / Islam / keep / your religion / doing good deeds)

“Our Lord! Give us …….in this world and in the Hereaer, and deend us rom thetorment o the…….!”

“For Allah loves those who …………..and He loves those who ……themselves pureand clean.”

“Tis day have I perected ……or you, completed My avor upon you, and have cho-sen or you …… as your religion.”

“He Who created Death and ….., that He may …. which o you is best in deed

“Allah commands justice, ……….., and liberality to kith and kin, and He orbidsall……., and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that ye may receive admonition.”

Fill in the blanks with the words in parenthesis.



33


ANSWER KEY

Let’s match.

1 Man is a creature composed o spirit and 4 inding the right path.

2Our spirit is the part that separates us romother creatures and

10considered the religion to be more im-portant than his lie.

3By using one’s intellect, a human beingcan recognize

6 shows us the best way o lie.

4 Prophets have guided people in 7 addresses every era and everyone.

5According to our religion, our purpose

is to

8 For the things that they cannot do.

6By showing us what is good and bad, andthe right and wrong, religion

3 what is right and nice.

7 Islam is a universal religion that 1 body.

8 Islam does not hold humans responsible 9 are coherent with human nature.

9Te commands and prohibitions o Is-lam

2 makes our body human.

10 Prophet Muhammad 5 know our Lord and worship Him.



34


Please ill in the blanks below using the words in parenthesis

1. goodness-Hell Fire 2. urn to Him constantly and repent-keep

3. Your religion-Islam 4. Lie-try 5. doing good deeds-shameul deeds



THE KEY TO SERENITY IN THE WORLD AND TO PARA-

DISE IN THE HEREAFTER

FAITH

• Al-Kalimah Al-Tawheed and Al-Kalimah Al-Shahadah

• Humans according to their Faith

• What Should We Pay Attention to in Faith?

• How Can We Strengthen Our Faith?

• Benefits of Faith

• Sincerity of Prophet Muhhamad in his Faith



36


At that time, I was not even twenty yearsold. I was going to the amous hot springso the Haruniye. Ten, not every driver wasbrave enough to drive through the curvedraods o this mountainous area. With just aew amilies, we ound a minibus and hit theroad aer loading our sleeping bags and oth-er belongings. Aer a while, we were on the

mountain roads where every tone o greenwas displayed in perect beauty. While lis-tening to the songs o leafoppers, we weretraveling slowly between the green moun-tain pines and leaving dust clouds behindus. Tank God no car was coming rom theopposite direction. Because in some places,the road was so narrow that two cars could

“SO I WAS A BELIEVER

BUT NOT AWARE OF IT”



37


not pass each other. As a matter o act, aswe made some sharp turns, the pebbles un-derneath the tires were ying o into thedepths o the river.

Finally, our minibus completed climb-ing the steep hill in diculty and reachedthe plain. Aer a while, we were going togo down the hill. I wished that our journey would never end since I liked the scenic view a lot and I was breathing in the clean moun-tain air rom the open window. At that mo-ment, I saw something interesting. I was so

amazed, I looked again and again, and couldnot rerain mysel rom exclaiming:

- O my God, look at this pine tree! It ison top o a pointy rock and there is not evena handul o soil on the rock.”

While I was thinking out loud like this,the old man in the ront seat, angered by my excitement, said:

- What is all this excitement? Tere aremany trees like this here…”

- What do you mean what’s all the ex-citement? Look at the power o Allah! Hecreated a pure and crisp pine tree on top o this huge rock…”

- Are you kidding! What does this haveto do with Allah and His power?

- What else could it be? Who could haveplanted this pine tree in such an outrageousplace?

- Nobody kid… Why do you think someone has to create it? Tose are all ar-chaic and primitive ideas.

- But i Allah did not create and placethis pine tree there, who did?

- For example think like this: Onebird while ying with a pine tree seed in

his mouth dropped the seed on top o thisrock. Te seed gets stuck inside a crack onthe rock and took roots. Ten with the rootsunder the rock, it ourished.

— Even i it happened like that, isn’tthere a creator who did all this?

— O course there isn’t… Believing in aCreator in this era is shameul.

— How could someone say this at yourage? I can give you many examples on thistopic.

Tis talk turned into an argument andwe raised our voices as a result. As he raisedhis voice, so did I. Te other travelers whowere listening to us quietly were also join-ing in rom time to time. However, no one,except this educated old man denied Allah’sexistence. But they were wishing that wewould conclude the argument and be quietas soon as possible.

At this moment, our minibus began toaccelerate. Just at that moment, the pebblesthat go down to Jayhan River that lookslike a long string maybe a hundred metersbelow shocked us. While everybody waslooking at one another in silence, the driverturned back and said “I guess the brakes arenot working.” Tere was a hillside coveredwith pine trees on our right. At the end o

this hill, the water o the Jayhan River wasbubbling as it hit the big rocks. On our rightside, there was a precipitous slope with hugerocks. Aer a moment o silence, everybody started to scream. Some o us were recitingthe Al-Kalimah Al-Shahadah (testimony to the oneness o God and prophethood o Muhammad), some o us were reciting Bis-millah (in the name o Allah), some o uswere shouting out “Allah,” and some o uswere praying to Allah. Te man who had de-



38


nied Allah was also unconscious-ly repeating “O Allah! Save us my Lord.”

However, this situation didnot last long. In our amazement,the minibus started to slow downand then stopped on the side o theroad. Te travelers got out o theminibus in a panic. Everyone wassaying something:

- What was that?

— We thought the brakes

did not work!

- We were scared to death.

— Was this some kind o a joke?

Te driver came next to us. Heturned to the man that I argued withbeore and said:

- Aren’t you ashamed o yoursel aerdenying the existence o Allah? You were de-nying Allah beore, and when you thoughtthat the brakes were not working, you werethe one who recited the name o Allah themost! I there is no Allah, as you said, thenwhy were you asking or His help?

Ten he turned to us and came back tohis seat aer saying:

— I beg your pardon; the brakes arene. When I heard the argument, I wantedto teach this man a lesson.

When the minibus started again, wewould only hear the sounds o lea hop-pers. Everybody was so silent, and the oldwas lost in thought and his ace was red withembarrassment… When we came to the hot

springs and started to unload our belong-ings, the old man came to me and said:

— My son, I am sorry; or all thoseyears I thought I did not believe in Allah.Yes, I was a believer but not aware o it…You made me realize that. Ten he turnedto the driver and said “O driver! Tank you,too! You provided an opportunity or me torealize my aith.”

Vehbi VAKKASOĞLU (Te Notebook o a eacher)



39


Faith means to accept sincerely theexistence o Allah, that He is the only deity

and that Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) is His mes-senger.

The key to the eternal salvation:Al-Kalimah Al-Tawheed

Al-Kalimah Al-awheed is the sentencethat we use to express our aith in words.

Tere are two parts in Al-Kalimah

Al-awheed. By saying “La-ilaha illallah”we deny all other deities but Allah. Weexpress that we are thankul to Allah oreverything and that we will act accordingto His wishes. We acknowledge that Allah


(Surah Al-Mu’minun (The Believers); 23:1)

“The believers must (eventually) win through”

FAITH (AL-IMAN)

Al-Kalimah Al-Tawheed

“La-ilaha illallah,Muhammadan

Rasulullah.”“Tere is no god but Allah

and Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) is Hismessenger.”


“The most virtuous supplication is ‘La

Ilaha Illallah’ and the most virtuous

prayer is ‘Alhamdulillah.”

(Tirmizi Deavât 9)



40


is the only god that we should worship.When we say “Muhammadan Rasulullah,”we sincerely believe that Muhammad(p.b.u.h.) has been sent to us by Allah and

that he is an exemplary Prophet that willguide us in our lives.

Pondering the meaning o Al-KalimahAl-awheed and to remember Allah withthis sentence causes one earn many divinegis. Reciting the sentence “La ilaha illal-lah” sincerely makes one eel better andopens up one’s chest. It strengthens the

love o Allah in our hearts. Tereore webecome one o the loved ones by Allah.

How to express our aith in words:Al-Kalimah Al-Shahadah

Te best way to express that we believein Allah and His messenger is Al-KalimahAl-Shahadah. Al-Kalimah Al-Shahadah isexpressing in words that we are Muslimsand we announce it to all o humanity.With Al-Kalimah Al-Shahadah we an-nounce that we are Muslims and that weaccept the commands and prohibitions o Islam. We gain all the rights and responsi-bilities that Islam provides to Muslims. Webecome a member o the Islamic Nation

(Ummah).


“By reciting La ilaha illallah many

times, refresh your faith.”

(Ahmet Bin Hanbel, II, 359)


“Allah prohibits those who testify

that there is no god but Allah and

Muhammad is His messenger from

the fire.”

(Muslim Iman 47)



41


What is Al-Kal-imah Al-Shaha-

dah?

What is themeaning of Al-

Kalimah Al-Sha-hadah?

What would we

express by Al-Kali-

mah Al-Shahadah?

“Ash-hadu an-la ilaha ill-Allahuwa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan

‘Abdu-hu wa Rasuluhu.”

I bear witness that there is no god butAllah and I bear witness that Muham-

mad is His servant and messenger.

With Al Kalimah Al Shahadah

we espress that we believe in the

existence and oneness of Allah,

that no other being is worthy of worship except Allah, that we will

live a life consistent with His com-

mands and prohibitions, and that

we believe our master the Prophet

and the message he brought from

Allah.



42


It was the rst years o Islam. Te num-ber o Muslims were increasing each day.

With the uncle o our Prophet Hamza, thenumber o Muslims who accepted Islam hadreached thirty nine.

Hamza’s acceptance o Islam had putthe non-believers into a panic. Te leaderso the non-believers in Mecca had arrangeda meeting without losing any time. Tey dis-cussed how they would stop the spread o Islam and said:

— Muslims are increasing in numberand power each day. I we do not prevent thisnow, in the uture there will be a big prob-lem that will be unmanageable. We shouldnd a solution to this right away.

In this meeting where various ideashave been stated, the harshest idea came

rom Abu Jahl:

— Tere is no possible way except tokill Muhammad. Let’s announce that wewill give gold and a camel to whoever killshim. Upon this, Omar stood up and said:

— Only Omar, the son o Hattab, cando this, and he went to his home aer anapplause. He put on his weapon and went

on his way to kill the Prophet. On his way,he met with Nuaym, the son o Abdullah.Nuaym became suspicious aer noticing hisangry state and asked:

— Where are you going O Omar?

HIS LIFE CHANGED LIKE THIS



43


— I am going to get rid o the body o Muhammad, who plants the seeds o separa-tion between Arabs.

— Omar you plan to do something big.Muslims are always around Muhammad toprotect him. Tey would not let you go nearhim. Let’s say you did what you planned, doyou think that the Sons o Hashim would letyou live?

— Are you one o them too? Did youconvert to Muhammad’s religion too?

— You question your relatives rst!

Your brother-in-law Said and your sister Fa-tima became Muslims too! Tese words o Nuaym made Omar very angry. He did notknow what to do with his anger. He did notwant to believe that his brother-in-law andsister were Muslim too, but what i it was thetruth? What should he do now? o whomshould he go rst?

In order to nd this out, he changed his

way. He went directly to the house o hisbrother-in-law Said ibn Zayd. Te NobleQuran was being read inside. Habbab wasreciting the Quran to the household. WhenOmar was in ront o the door, he heardwhat was being read. He knocked on thedoor very hard. When they understood thatit was Omar at the door, they panicked. Tey hid Habbab in a hurry. Aer hiding the page

that they were reading rom the Quran, they opened the door.

Omar shouted with anger:

— What were you reading?!

— It was nothing, said his brother-in-law.

— So what I heard is correct, he said andgrabbed his brother-in-law by the throat. He

knocked him down with a punch. He startedto kick him with all o his anger. In orderto save her husband, his sister held Omar’s

hands. Upon this, Omar started to hit hissister. Fatima said with her ace covered inblood:

— O Omar! Yes, I and my husband be-came Muslims. Do whatever you can! Even i you kill us, we won’t change our religion.

Fatima’s sad look and what she said hadtouched Omar. His heart had soened. Hedropped himsel to the oor in shame orwhat he has done. With a peaceul voice, hesaid:

— Bring what you were reading, I want

to see it.

Habbab got out o his hiding place andsaid to Omar:

— O Omar! I heard the Prophet pray-ing: “O Allah! Strengthen the Ummah eitherthrough Abu Jahl or Omar, the son o Hat-tab!” I wish that our Prophet’s prayer or youwould come true. Fear Allah and become a

Muslim!

At that moment, his sister brought thepage o Quran that they have been hidingand gave it to Omar. On that page, the rst

verses o Surah aha were written.

Omar got the page and began read-ing. Aer completing it, he began thinkingdeeply thinking. He was so inuenced by the

verses. Now his heart elt so close to Islam,and he elt like a new person.

He could barely say:

— ake me to Muhammad.

Omar’s words made everyone so happy in the house. Without losing any time, they went o on their way.

Our beloved Prophet was at the house o Arkam. When Muslims saw that Omar wasgoing toward the house o Arkam with his



44


weapon on him, they panicked. Hamza en-couraged them by saying:

— I he is coming with good intentions,that’s good! I he is coming with bad inten-

tions, then let him come, there are things orhim to see. Tere is no reason to panic.

Omar, who came to the door o Arkam,was taken to the Prophet. Te Prophet askedhim why he had come. Omar said:

— I came to announce that I believe inAllah and His messenger. Ten he becameMuslim by saying “Ash-hadu an-la ilaha ill-

Allahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan‘Abdu-hu wa Rasuluhu.” Tose whowere there said Al-aqbir withhappiness. Te sound o “Allahu Akbar” rom thehouse o Erkam washeard in the streets o Mecca.

Omar had en-

tered into anotherlie; he had joinedthe Muslims. Terewas no sign o his an-ger towards Islam andthe Muslims. He had un-derstood the beauty o Islamand his heart had lled withaith. Te old Omar was gone; he wasa new person.

With Omar’s becoming Muslim, theUmmah became even stronger. Te Muslimswere even more encouraged when they hadOmar among them. By leaving the house o Arkam where they were learning and prac-ticing Islam secretly, they walked towardsthe Kaaba.

While the pagans were sitting close tothe Kaaba, they saw that the Muslims withOmar in ront o them were coming towardsthem. Tey thought that Omar was bring-

ing all the Muslims to them. However, it wasnot long beore they realized that they werewrong. Within the crowd that was approach-ing with the shouting o aqbir, Omar cameorward. He aced towards the leaders o Mecca and announced:

— Tose who do not know, hear it. I amOmar the son o Hattab. I became Muslimtoo. Ten, he recited Al-Kalimah Al-Shaha-

dah with a load voice.Te non-believers didnot know what to do

when they heard thenews. Tey were ex-

tremely shocked.Tey dispersedwithout sayinganything.

Te Mus-lims that came

to the Kaaba incongregation or

the rst time per-ormed a prayer there.

Omar had joined themtoo. He praised Allah or

honoring him with Islam.

H.E. Omar’s heart was ull o so muchhatred and dislike that he really could havekilled the Prophet. However, now the sameheart was ull o aith and love, as well as thewillingness to die on this path. Al-KalimahAl-Shahadah is the best symbol o this aithand love.



45


Humans are divided into two main groups according to their aith.

1. Tose that have aith

2. Tose that do not have aith

Humans According toTheir Faith

HOSE HA HAVE FAIH(MU’MIN-MUSLIM)

HOSE HA DO NOHAVE FAIH

Kaar(Tose Tat Deny)

Mushrik (Tose that associatepartners with Allah)

Munaq (Hypocrit) (Tose TatOnly Act as a Believer)

HUMANS ACCORDING TO THEIR FAITH

1. Those that have faithA mu’min or a muslim is someone

who sincerely believes in Allah, that He

is the only deity, Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) is

His Prophet and his message is the truth.

Mu’mins that believe and perorm good

deeds enter into Paradise in the Hereaer.


(Surah Al-Bayyina (Evidence); 98:1-8)

“Those who have faith and do righ-

teous deeds,- they are the best of

creatures. Their reward is with Allah.

Gardens of Eternity, beneath which

rivers flow; they will dwell therein for

ever; Allah well pleased with them,

and they with Him: all this for such as

fear their Lord and Cherisher.”



46


2. Those that do not have faithTose that do not have aith are divided

into three subcategories due to the dier-ences in their aith as Kafr, Mushrik, and

Munafq (hypocrites). Tose who deny Al-lah and His oneness, His messenger, and Hismessage are called Kafr .

As those who deny the undamen-tals o Islam are called kafr , those who deny any one o the commands in Islam are alsocalled kafr . Tose who die as a kafr will bepunished in the Hellre.

Tose who believe in Allah, butdeny His oneness and worship other gods aswell are called mushrik.

Allah is the only one who can createsomething out o nothing, provides oodand healing. Tose who believe that otherbeings have these powers are associatingpartners with Allah, which is called shirk. Itis also shirk to believe that Allah has some-thing equal or similar to Him, or that he hasa helper.

Tose who in reality do not be-lieve in Allah, but pretend as though they do when around other believers are calledmunafq. Due to their hypocrisy their pun-ishment in the Hereaer will be very severeindeed.


(Surah Al-Fatir (The Angels); 35:36-37)

“But those who reject ((Allah)) - for

them will be the Fire of Hell: No term

shall be determined for them, so

they should die, nor shall its Penalty

be lightened for them. Thus do We

reward every ungrateful one! There-

in will they cry aloud (for assistance):

“Our Lord! Bring us out: we shall

work righteousness, not the (deeds)

we used to do!” - “Did We not give

you long enough life so that he that

would should receive admonition?

and (moreover) the warner came to

you. So taste ye (the fruits of your

deeds): for the wrong-doers there is

no helper.”


(Surah Al-Nisa (Women); 4:116)

“Allah forgiveth not (The sin of) join-

ing other gods with Him…”



47


WHAT SHOULD WE PAY AT-TENTION TO IN MATTERS OFFAITH?

Once we accept the existence and one-

ness o Allah and that Muhammad (p.b.u.h.)is His Messenger, we will have aith. How-ever, just saying “I have aith” once is not su-cient. We need to protect our aith until

our very last breath.

We need to accept all thefundamentals of our faith and itsbasic rules

Believing in Allah, the angels, the proph-ets, the scriptures, the Hereaer, and destiny and ate are the undamental pillars o ouraith in our religion. Te obligatory and theprohibited acts are also the basic rules o ourreligion; Allah the Exalted has ordered ormso worship, such as salat (prayer), sawm (ast-ing), hajj (pilgrimage), zakat (alms), and ji-


“The Hypocrites will be in the lowest

depths of the Fire…” (Surah Al-Nisa (Wom-

en); 4:145)

“…That is because they believed,

then they rejected Faith…” (Surah Al-

Munafiqun (The Hypocrites); 63:3)


(Surah Al-Imran (The Family of Imran); 3:102)

“O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He

should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.”



48


had (struggle; striving in the way o Allah).

He has orbidden evil acts such as stealing,

murdering, gambling, drinking alcohol, en-

gaging in interest, and ornication and adul-

tery. For our aith to be legitimate, we need

to believe that all o these are Allah’s denite

commands and prohibitions. Disliking, not

accepting, mocking, or saying or perorming

acts that would imply denial o one or some

o these undamentals o belie and basic

rules can cause one to exit the religion and

become a kar.

We need to moderate betweenfeelings of fear and hope.

It is wrong to think that entering Paradise

is guaranteed simply through our worship and

good deeds. Similarly, it is wrong to see our-

selves as destined or the Hellre due to our

wrongdoings and sins. Being sure that Allahwill orgive or losing hope or His mercy may

cause us to lose our aith. Ten, we should be-

lieve that Allah the Exalted has innite mercy

and orgiveness, without ever orgetting that

He will torture the sinners. We must pray that

we enter Paradise and ear entering the Hell-

re. Tereore, the most appropriate way to

live is in moderation. We must try to be wor-thy o Paradise and steer clear o bad behavior

and sins that would lead us to Hell.


(Surah Al-Zumar (The Troops); 39:53)

“Say: “O my Servants who have trans-

gressed against their souls! Despair

not of the Mercy of Allah. for Allah for-

gives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving,

Most Merciful.”


(Surah Al-Baqara (The Cow); 2:85)

“Then is it only a part of the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest? but what is the reward for those among you who behave likethis but disgrace in this life?- andon the Day of Judgment they shallbe consigned to the most grievouspenalty. For Allah is not unmindfulof what ye do.”

I on the Day o Judgment it were to bedeclared that only one person would

enter Paradise, I would be hopeul thatI would be that person. Similarly, i it

were to be declared that only one person

would enter Hell, I would be earul o that person being me.

HE Omar (r.a.)



49


Amr ibn As, one o the Companionso the Prophet, was lying on his death bed.

Once, his riends came to visit him. Whenthey entered into his room, Amr ibn As hadturned his ace towards the wall and wascrying in deep sorrow. rying to consolehim, his son said:

— My dear ather! Didn’t the Messengero Allah give you this and that good news?Why are you sad?

Ten, turning his ace to his riend, Amr

ibn As said:

— Te most valuable ood that you pre-pare or the Hereaer is the word “La ilahaillallah, Muhammadun Rasulallah.” Ten,he told one o his memories:

“Once upon a time, there was no onewho hated and or held grudges against theProphet more than mysel. I was willing somuch to nd a way to kill him. I I had diedwhile in those thoughts I would have de-nitely been destined or Hell.

When Allah the Exalted placed in my heart the love o Islam, I came to ourProph-et and said:

— Lend me your hand; I will pledge al-legiance to you (I will promise that I willbelieve in you and obey you). When

the Messenger o Allah (a.s.) hadlent his hand, I pulled back my hand.

Upon this the Prophetasked:

— What happened,do you no longer believe?

I said:

— I will believe, buton one condition

He said:

— What is that condition?

I said:

— I want Allah to orgive me.

Upon this the Prophet said the ollow-ing:

Becoming a Muslim nullies all previ-ous sins, and so does migrating or the sakeo Allah. Similarly, perorming the pilgrim-age (Al Hajj) nullies all previous sins.

I was very glad to hear these wordsrom our Prophet. I held his blessedhands and believed in him. Withthis belie such a love appeared inmy heart that I had never experi-enced beore. I had never lovedanybody as much as I lovedhim.

(Muslim, Faith, 192)

THE GOOD NEWS OF THE PROPHET



50


Faith is the guide o our intellects andthe source o serenity in our hearts. Ourhappy passage rom this world to the in-nite world is only possible with belie.

Belie is the basis o all orms o worship.Worship gains value only through aith. Tebest ruits o our aith are the enjoyment o perormance o our worships, having goodmanners and behaviors, such as caring orAllah’s contentment in all the deeds we do.Similarly, these acts will cause our belie tobe strengthened.

Our belie resides in our hearts and im-pacts our lie depending on

Our closeness to our Lord,

Our worship,

Our attentiveness in staying away rom the prohibited acts.

Te love o Allah is the result o strongaith. Committing sins and neglecting wor-ship is a sign o the weakness o belie. Televel o belie o someone who cries with thelove and respect o Allah is not the same assomeone else who, without hesitating, vio-lates the prohibitions o Islam or neglectshis worship.

Faith is like a vulnerable sapling that is

greening and growing and sprouting in ourhearts. In order or this sapling to grow andbear ruits, we need to protect it and maintainit. Similarly, we need to eed and strengthenour aith using spiritual nourishment and pro-tect it rom all harmul thoughts and belies.Otherwise, just like how a sapling dries whennot maintained, aith that has not been pro-tected with care also –God orbid- disappears.

Our aith is our most valuable capital. Sa-tan who is our obvious enemy tries to destroy the aith in our hearts at every opportunity. For

WHAT SHOULD WE DO

TO STRENGTHEN OUR FAITH?


(Âl-i İmran sûresi, 139. âyet)

“So lose not heart, nor fall into de-

spair: For ye must gain mastery if ye

are true in Faith..”

Faith is both a guiding light and power.Te person who attains true belie can

challenge the whole universe.

Bediuzzaman



51


this reason, we should keep our aith alive atall times and preserve it until our last breath.

In turn, to accomplish this

We should perorm good deeds,

We should perorm our daily worshipregularly,

We should think deeply,

We should stay away rom sins and

prohibitions,We should always be in the company o

good people.

The common name of all the goodthings for the sake of Allah: Good Deeds

(Amal Saleh)

Faith is not a theoretical orm o knowl-edge. o reach the heights o aith depends ully

on worship and good deeds. Faith is kept aliveby rst embroiling it to the heart then acting on

it. We taste the true deliciousness o aith whenwe come to that point. For this reason, aith and

good deeds are generally mentioned together inthe Noble Quran and the Honorable Sayings o the Prophet (Hadith).

All the good and nice deeds that will gain

or us the contentment o Allah are called Amal

Saleh (good deeds). Accordingly, the ollowing

beautiul behaviors are among the good deeds:

Te ulllment o the commands o

Allah the Exalted,

Any good deed or the sake o Allahstrengthens our aith.


“If one of you lives Islam appropri-

ately, he earns from ten up to seven

hundred times the divine reward for

each good deed. On the other hand,

any evil act he commits is recorded

as it is until he reaches Allah.”

(Bukhari, Faith (Iman), 31)



52


o keep away rom the prohibitions o Allah the Exalted,

Being good mannered,

Showing mercy and compassion to-wards creation,

Learning and teaching knowledge,

Working or the betterment o hu-manity,

Helping people and caring or theirtroubles,

reating animals well,Keeping the environment clean.

Our aith is like a lamp that burns in ourhearts and lights our way, and good deedsare like a lamp shade that protects the lampand keeps the light alive. o protect andstrengthen our aith we need to increase ourgood deeds. Te light o the aith in our heart

increases as our good deeds increase and thelove or Allah and Prophet strengthens.

The opportunities to keep ourfaith alive: Our worships

Tere is a direct relationship betweenour aith and worships.Our will and sincerity in perorming our ritual

duties show the level o strength o the aith inour heart.

A believer who hasstrong aith enjoys wor-shipping. He worshipsin serenity and eelsa spiritual excitement

rom the worship. Tebeliever whose aith

is weak acts lazily when it comes to worship.Since he does not perorm his ritual dutiesregularly, his religious ervor weakens. Heends up committing sins without hesitation.

His heart hardens and the light o aith in hisheart slowly diminishes.

Worshipping brings us closer to Allah. Itcauses us to attain His love and contentment.All orms o worship and good deeds, such asprayer, asting, mandatory and supererogatory alms giving, honesty, and treating riends withhonor and respect keep the spiritual bond withour Lord alive and strengthen our aith.

The horizon of human thought:Tafakkur (reflection)

Tafakkur (reflection) is thinkingabout the following and taking les-sons from them:

Te exaltedness o our Lord,

Te greatness o his power and

strength,

One day a man came to our beloved

Prophet and said;

- O the messenger of Allah, tell methe acts that will take away from Helland get one closer to Heaven.

Upon this, the Prophet said the following:

- One worships Allah without associating any partners with him. Oneprays, gives the mandatory alms,

and protects and cares for his relatives.

(Muslim, Faith, 14)



53


Te beauty o the universe and the

beings in it,

Te purpose o human creation,

Te world, death, and aerlie in the

grave,

Te Day o Judgment, being held ac-countable, and Heaven and Hell.

Tere is a great deal o evidence in the

creation o humans and other beings in the

universe o the existence and oneness o

Allah. When we reect upon the endless

universe and its perect structure we under-

stand how powerul and exalted our Lord

is. We comprehend our weakness and help-lessness. We understand how merciul and

benecent our Exalted Lord is to us even

though we are so helpless.

When we reect upon death and the

Hereaer, we recall that lie in this world is

temporary. We do not orget that we will be

held accountable in the Hereaer or all our

behaviors in this world. As a result o this

reection, we obtain a stronger aith. We

consider our lie as a great opportunity or

us to become well acquainted with our Lordand earn our places in Paradise. We behavewell towards our parents, siblings, riends,and others. We never hurt any being.

Protecting the heart rom stains: Avoid-

ing sin

Tere are behaviors that damage ourbody, spirit, society, other humans and liv-

ing beings. Our Exalted Lord has prohibitedus rom committing these acts.



“Men who celebrate the praises of Al-

lah, standing, sitting, and lying down

on their sides, and contemplate the

(wonders of) creation in the heavens

and the earth, (With the thought):

“Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thoucreated (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give

us salvation from the penalty of the

Fire.”

One moment o contemplation is betterthan a year’s extra devotion

without reection.



54


We were only a few,That did not fit in the skies.We were a few,Longing for the Paradise. We never quit saying,And take it out of our heart,The holiest word

La ilahe illallah

You became lover to my heart,You planted love in me.In the building of Tawheed,My heart is on yours.

We never quit saying,It can never be taken out from my heart,The holiest word,La ilahe illallah.

Our honesty,Is the nightmare of the disbeliever,If anyone is oppressed and hurt,

His cry touches us.

We never quit saying,It can never be taken out from my heart,The holiest word,La ilahe illallah.

THE HOLY WORD



55


Allah the Exalted has prohibited acts

such as associating partners with Allah, ly-

ing, not praying, and hurting others. When

we do not obey one o these commands and

prohibitions, we commit a “sin.”

Te sins we commit damage our aith.

Te sins that we make a habit o cause our

aith to weaken. As our sins increase, our

will to worship decreases, and our notion o

earing Allah’s torment weakens.

Sins that we commit create stains in our

hearts. When our heart becomes tainted, italso hardens, and when our heart hardens,

we lose our sensitivity towards sin. We start

seeing the sins that we were hesitating to

commit previously as unimportant. For this

reason, when we may sin knowingly or un-

knowingly, we should immediately repent

and ask or orgiveness rom our Lord. We

must remove the negative impact o the sinsin our hearts by engaging in beneciary and

good deeds

Good riends who remind us o Allah:

Te good believers

Tere are people with good morals and

manners who obey Allah’s commands, who

perorm their acts o worship regularly, and

who are sensitive to matters concerning

what is permissible and prohibited in reli-

gion.


“When a believer commits a sin, a

black stain appears in his heart. If

he quits that sin and asks from Allah

forgiveness, the black stain is erased,

his heart becomes as bright as it had

been. If he continues sinning, the

black stain increase and blacken the

heart completely. The rust Allah the

Exalted mentions in His verse “By nomeans! but on their hearts is the stain

of the (ill) which they do!” ((Surah Mu- taffifin, (Defrauding); 8 3:14) ) is this.


“Someone takes long trips for the sake of

Allah. He opens his hands to the sky in

an uncombed, dusty fashion, and prays,

O Lord! However, whatever he eats or

drinks, all his nutrition is haram (prohib-

ited). How can the prayer of someone

like this accepted?”

(Muslim Zakat 65)



56


Tese Muslims commit acts that are ben-ecial, rather than harmul. Tey are care-ul about what they say, and try their bestto avoid hurting the eelings o others. Tey love Allah the Exalted very much. Tese are,as the Quran puts it, “good servants.” Goodservants are exemplary people who our Ex-alted Lord mentions avorably and wantedus to be riends with.

A person is denitely inuenced by themanners and acts o the people they accom-pany and love. Being riends with peoplewith bad morals, who neglect their ritualduties and do not avoid prohibitions will a-ect us negatively, likely causing our aith toweaken and our morals to become corrupt.

Loving good believers and accompany-ing them, on the other hand, aects us posi-

tively. Tis is because the aithul spirits are

like tranquil and wide seas. Tere is light ontheir aces and serenity in their souls. Tespiritual beauties in their souls reect intheir appearance. Tese people exert posi-tive energy in their surroundings. Tey arereminds o Allah and the Hereaer and they are good examples with their speech and be-havior.

When we are riends with good ser-

vants our aith strengthens. Our love to-wards Allah increases. A eeling o hatredtowards the prohibitions o Allah arises inour hearts. Our manners become more ullo grace. Finally, we also become like thosegood believers who obey Allah’s commandsand prohibitions and achieve His content-ment.

The person eating haram (prohib-ited) becomes a haram (outlaw)

What we eat and drink has a great in-

uence on our inner world and religious

sensitivity. As our ood and drink is clean

and permissible (halal) so our religious lie

becomes beautiul, and our aith becomes

strong.

Let’s consider the gasoline that a ve-hicle uses. As the oreign materials in thegasoline hurt the operation o the vehicle,the prohibited ood items that enter ourstomach cause corruption in our thoughts.Te person who eats haram thinks evilthings. Tat person’s heart has a tendency towards evil. He commits bad acts. For thisreason, our ancestors had said “He, whoeats haram, becomes a haram (outlaw).”


(Surah Al-Tawba (Repentance); 9:119)

“O ye who believe! Fear Allah and be

with those who are true (in word and

deed).”


“People are influenced by the life styles

of their friends, so each of you should

pay attention to whom you will be-

friend!”

(Abu Dawud, Adab, 16)



57


Te calendar year was 630. When the

Prophet was conversing with his compan-ions in the Masjid Al Nabawi (Prophet’sMosque), a stranger appeared in ront o the mosque. His long knitted hair was hang-ing rom both sides o his head. He was abig strong man. He stepped down rom hiscamel in one swi move. Aer tying up hiscamel in the courtyard o the mosque, hecondently marched towards those sitting

and asked:- “Which one o you is Muhammad?”

It was apparent that he was not a Mus-lim because when Muslims addressed theProphet, they used to go with the title thatwas given to him by Allah the Exalted, “theMessenger o Allah,” not his name.

Te Noble Companions showed him

the Messenger o Allah and said:

- Here he is, the person with whitish

skin sitting down and leaning against the

wall. Te Prophet had no special place in

the Masjid Al Nabawi (Prophet’s Mosque),

nor did he wear any special item o clothing.

He used to sit with his companions as i he

was one o them. A stranger who had not

seen his rose colored ace beore would not

be able to recognize Him.

Te man approached the Messenger o

Allah and addressed him with the name o

his grandather:

- O the son o Abdul Muttalib!

THE PERSON WHO KNOWS

HOW TO ASK A QUESTION



58


Te Messenger o Allah responded tohis rude addressing:

- Go ahead, I am listening to you.

Te man said:- I will ask you certain questions. I I

ask you extreme questions please do not beoended.

When the messenger o Allah (p.b.u.h.)replied: “I will not be oended, ask whateveryou want”, the ollowing conversation took place between them:

- According to the messenger you sentto our tribe, you were saying that Allah sentyou as a prophet, I am asking in the name o your Lord and the Lord o those beore you.Is it Allah who sent you to all humanity?



59


- Yes, Allah sent me.

- Ten, who created these Heavens.

- Allah created them.

- What about the Earth?

- Allah created that, too.

- Who placed these mountains on theearth?

- Allah did.

- You are commanding only to worshipAllah by leaving aside the idols and without

associating any partners with Him. I amasking in the name o Allah. Did Allah re- veal these to you?

- Yes, Allah revealed them to me.

- Say or the love o Allah. Did Allahcommand you to pray ve times a day?

- Yes, Allah commanded me.

- Say or the love o Allah. Did Allahcommand you to ast during the month o Ramadan?


- Say or the love o Allah. Did Allahcommand you to take the mandatory alms(Zakat) rom our rich to give to our poor?


Te Noble Companions were care-ully listening to the logical questionswith straightorward explanations that thestranger was asking. Te man continued asollows:

- According to what the messenger thatyou sent to our tribe told us, you are ask-ing that those o us who have the nancial

means should visit the Kaaba; is that cor-rect?

- Yes, my messenger had told the truth.

- Say in the love o the One who sentyou as prophet. Did Allah command you allo these?


Te man who received armative re-sponses to each question he then stated theollowing as he looked at the Prophet withthe deepest sincerity:

- I certainly believe that there is no godother than Allah. I also certainly believe thatMuhammad (a.s.) is his servant and mes-senger. I have aith in all the commands youbrought rom Allah. I will perorm them cor-rectly. I will also stay away rom everythingyou orbid. I am Demam bin Salabah romthe tribe o Saad bin Bakr. I came to you asa representative o my tribe. I swear by thename o Allah who sent you as Prophet, Ido no more and no less than what you justsaid.

Demam stood up, untied his camel,hopped on and went back to his tribe.

While the Noble Companions werewatching behind him with amazement, asweet smile was seen on the Messenger o Allah. Te ollowing good news droppedrom his holy mouth:

- I this man with knitted hair is telling

the truth, then it means that he has already entered Paradise.

(Bukhari, Ilm, 6; Muslim, Iman, 10)



60


THE BENEFITS OF FAITH

Lie is not just comprised o thisworld. Lie that on average lasts about60-70 years in this world is an oppor-

tunity given to us to prepare or the ev-erlasting lie. Aer we die, we will nothave the opportunity to return to thisworld. Tose who miss the opportunity to utilize this world will regret it in the

Hereaer.

Te mun-dane world isa test. Tose

who believe and conduct good deeds in this world earntheir places in Paradise. Tose who disbelieve and conductevil deeds have earned their places in Hell. Our aith and

behavior in this world determines whetherwe will be happy in the Hereaer. Strongaith causes us to commit benecial andgood deeds. Such aith protects us romHell and helps us enter the Heaven.

Guarantees that we escape

Hell and enter the Heaven

Gives the strength to stand

against troubles and worries.

It revives our feelings of broth-

erhood and solidarity.

Affects positively our feelings,

thoughts, and behaviors.

FAITH


(Surah Al-Buruj (Constellations); 85:11)

“For those who believe and do righteous deeds, will be Gardens; beneath which rivers flow: That is thegreat Salvation, (the fulfillment of alldesires).”



61


Humans are weak by nature. Temundane world, consisting o tests, is ull

o diculties and worries. Everybody has their own troubles and problemsin the world. Te material and spiritualworries and afictions and calamitiesare part o our lives. Illness, death andnatural disasters are situations that wecan encounter at anytime.

Te unbeliever considers the trou-bles o this world an unbearable tor-ment. However, the believing person

looks at the world rom the perspectiveo aith. He knows that there is wisdomin everything that takes place. He sees allthe events that he is passing through as opportunities that will carry him to Heaven andaces them patiently. He does not lose control and hope in the ace o dicult situationssuch as illness, death, and natural disasters. Tis is because aith establishes in our heartsthe thought that there is ease and relie with every diculty. It teaches us that everythingwe encounter is a kind o test and that we need to be patient. It gives us the strength tostand against such troubles and calamities.


(Surah Al-Baqara (The Cow); 2:155-156)

“Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss ingoods or lives or the fruits (of your toil),but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere,

Who say, when afflicted with calamity:“To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return””

Faith orms an atmosphere o love and brotherhood with other people. It revives our eel-ings o brotherhood and solidarity.

Being a member o a community and sharing one’s troubles and worries with others makesa person eel relieved. When we believewe become a member o a community whose members are beautiul people.We understand that we are not alone

and helpless in this world. We share ourhappiness and sorrow with them and weproduce common solutions to our prob-lems.


“Believers are like a body when it comes

to loving, being merciful, and protecting

each other. Whenever a part of the body

is ill, the other parts of the body share its

pain with sleeplessness and fever.”

(Bukhari, Adab, 27)



62


Our belie shapes our eelingsand thoughts. Our behaviors are

also mirrors o these eelings andthoughts. Belie aects our emo-tions, thoughts, and behaviorspositively.

When we have strong aith,our thoughts are puried. As a re-sult, our speech, demeanor, andbehavior are puried. We becomehonest and helpulpeople, respect-ul o other people’s rights. Wedo not repeat bad words, and wedo not hurt anyone. No harmcomes rom our hands ortongues. We becomegood mannered. Tus,we both achieve Allahthe Exalted’s love andcontentment and gainthe love and respect o people around us.


“There is a small piece of flesh in thebody. When that piece is sound, thewhole body is sound. When that piece is corrupt, the whole body becomes corrupt. That piece of flesh isthe heart.”

(Bukhari, Iman, 39)

Be mindul o your thoughts, or they can transorm your eelings.

Be mindul o your eelings, or they can transorm your behaviors.

Be mindul o your behaviors, or they can transorm your habits.

Be careul o your habits, or they can transorm your manners and character.



63


Prophets are holy people selected by Allah the Exalted to invite all humanity toaith. Tey rst believe themselves, then, inturn, they tried to carry the light o belie to the hearts o other people. Muhammad

(p.b.u.h.) is the last o the Prophets selectedby Allah. As the other prophets, rst he be-lieved in the religion that he is supposed todeliver himsel. He never worshipped idols.He did not accept deities other than Allah.He wholeheartedly worked to spread the re-ligion o our Lord. He bore numerous tor-ments on the way.

Te pagans o Mecca tried numerousmethods to make our Prophet give up hiscause. However, in the ace o his sincerity in aith they were helpless. No power what-soever could make him give up his aith orgive up inviting people to the religion.

Prophet Muhammad would never re-main silent towards the attacks on aithand Islam even though he used to orgivethe evil committed against him personally. He would never give in to oppression; heused to ght against all kinds o injustice inthe best manner possible. He would nevereven hesitate sacricing his lie or the sakeo his aith; he used to see martyrdom as thehighest o ranks.

Te beloved messenger o Allah wouldto keep his aith resh by worship, ponder-

THE SINCERITY OF

THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD IN FAITH



“The Messenger believeth in what hath

been revealed to him from his Lord, as

do the men of faith. Each one (of them)

believeth in Allah, His angels, His books,

and His apostles.”

The pagans of Mecca tried numerous meth-

ods to make our beloved Prophet turn

away from faith. They succeeded in none of

them. At last, they decided to go to his un-

cle Abu Taleb. The Prophet loved his uncle,

who raised him since he was eight years

of age, very much. The pagans had hoped

that the Prophet would listen to Abu Taleb

and stop believing in Islam and inviting

people to it. They asked Abu Taleb to talk

to him. His uncle introduced the subject to

him. He informed him of what the pagans

had wished for. He warned him the end of

this matter would be very dangerous, and

he asked him to give up his cause. Our be-

loved Prophet responded as follows:

“Uncle! I swear to Allah that even if they

place the Sun in my right and the moon in

my left I would not give up my cause. Either

Allah the Exalted spreads this religion to the

whole world or I die in this cause!”

(Ibn-i Asir, Al-Qameel, II, 64)



64


ing, and invocation. He knew that he hadalways been watched by his Lord and triedto gain His love and contentment. He neverslacked o in his ritual duties and would

to look or opportunities to worship Allah.Worship and pondering used to make himorget the worries o this world and his heartwould nd serenity. Tis beauty and innerpeace provided by aith would reect in theholy ace o our beloved Prophet.

Our beloved Prophet had superiormorals. Te beauty in his manners was

the outer reection o the perect aith inhis heart. By saying “Te best o believers in

terms o aith is the one whose manners are

the best.” (irmizi, Rada, 11) he used to draw attention to the act that having aith en-tails being good mannered. Furthermore,he used to qualiy aith and good mannersas two brothers who would never part. Hewould state that good manners were pres-ent wherever there is aith, For this reason,he used to attach special value to the believ-ers with good manners. He used to assesspeople based on their aith and good man-ners, not on their poverty, richness, ranks,or social status.

Our Prophet, who shaped his lie o servanthood or God, used to see the world and

all that was happening in it through thewindow o aith.

In short, our beloved Prophet lived hisbelies in the best ashion. He became thebest example or us. His sincere aith andgood manners enlightened the horizon o all humanity like the sun.

At thetime o our Prophetthere was a poorCompanion who usedto live in the desert. He was not toohappy with his looks. Tis Companionused to love our Prophet so much, asour Prophet loved him. Whenever he visited Medina, he would stop by theProphet’s home just to bring small butsincere gis. Te Messenger o Allah,in turn, used to pay him back with agi worth even more.

One day the Prophet saw thisCompanion in the market. He ap-proached silently and closed his eyeswith his hands. Ten he said:

- Is there anyone who wants to buy this slave (meaning the slavery andservant o Allah)

Recognizing the Prophet’s voice,the Companion was very glad andsaid:

- O the Messenger o Allah, whowould buy an ugly person like me? You

cannot earn much by selling me.Aer releasing him, our Prophet

said:

- Perhaps those who are deceivedby looks may not give too much mon-ey, but your value in the sight o Allahis high!”



65


Omar said:

One day we were in the presence of

the Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.). At that

time, someone known by none of use

came by wearing a very white dress and

with very black hair. He came close to our

Prophet and sat knee to knee in front of

the Prophet. He put his hands on his own

knees and said:

- O Muhammad, tell me about Islam!

The Messenger of Allah

(p.b.u.h.) said:

Islam means that

you testify that the-

re is no deity ex-

cept Allah, and

that Muhammad

is the Messenger of Allah, perform

the ritual prayers

properly, give the

mandatory alms,

fast during the month

of Ramadan, and if you

have the means, perform

the Hajj (pilgrimage to the

Kaaba).

The man said:

- You are correct.

We found it strange that the man

both asked the question and approved

the answer. Then the man said: “Now tell

me about faith.” The Messenger of Allah

(p.b.u.h.) said:

- It is the belief in Allah, His Angels,

Scripture, Prophets, and the Hereafter.

It is also the belief in destiny and that

good and evil comes from Allah.

The man approved again by saying

“you are correct” and said

- So then what is ihsan, tell me about

that too. The Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.)

replied

- Ihsan means to worship Allah as if

you actually see Him. Even though youdon’t see Him, He definitely sees you.

Again, the man said:

“you are correct,” and

after asking a ques-

tion about the Day

of Judgment and

its signs, he si-

lently left. I was

startled and fro- zen for a while.

Afterwards, the

Prophet (p.b.u.h.)

asked

- “O Omar, do you

know who the person

who asked those questions

was?” I said Allah and His Mes-

senger knows.

The Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.)

said:

- It was Gabriel; he came to teach you

your religion.

(Muslim, Iman, 1 and 5. Also see Bukhari,

Iman, 37; Tirmizi Iman, 4; Abu Dawud, Sunnah,

16; Nesai, Mevakit, 6; Ibn Maja, Muqaddimah,

9)

THE MAN WITH THE WHITE DRESS



66


All the believers believe in the three principles of faith. These principles are found in

the supplication of Amantu:

I BELIEVE IN

DESINY

ALLAH

HISANGELS

HIS

SCRIPUE

HE DAY OFJUDGEMEN

HISPROPHES

THE PRINCIPLES OF FAITH

I believe in Allah, His angels, His scrip-

ture, His prophets, and in the Hereaer, in

destiny, that is, that good and evil happens by

the will o Allah the Exalted. Resurrection a-

ter death is true and real. I testiy that there

is no God other than Allah, and I also testiy

that Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) is His servant and

messenger.

AMANTU



67


QUESTIONS

1The expression that declares our faith in Allah and the Prophet

Neglecting the worships is an indicator

as the weakness of faith.

2Creating from nothing, provid-

ing sustenance,

continuously recall Allah and not to for-

get Him.

3 It is the continuity of our faith we end up having committed a “sin.”

4 Worships gain value enjoys worshipping.

5 The love of Allah only with faith

6 Violating the prohibitions and which will get us to endless bliss.

7 A believer who has strong faith against worries and calamities.

8Recitation of invocations (zikr) is

tois the result of a strong faith.

9Faith gives the power to with-

standsor healing belongs to Allah only.

10When we do not obey the commands and prohibitions of Al-

lah

is the testimony of faith (Al Kalimah AlShahadah).

Please match the following sentences below with theappropriate parts.



68


3.

I. Tat we believe in the existence and

oneness o Allah

II. Tat no other being other than Al-

lah is worthy o worship

III. Tat beings other than Allah can

also be deities.

IV. Tat we will live a lie that is in ac-

cordance with the commands andprohibitions o Allah

V. Tat we believe in the Prophet and

all the news he brought rom Allah

Which of the above do we expressin the testimony of faith?

A. Only I and II B. I, II, IV and V

C. II, III and V D. I, II, III, IV and V

4. Which one of the choices belowmeans “Oneness of God” (Al Kali-

mah Al Tawheed)?A. Alhamdu lillahi rabbil alemin.

B. Allahumma salli ala Muhammadinwa ala ali Muhammad

C. Ashadu al la ilaha illallah wa ashaduannah Muhammadan abduhu wa ra-suluh

D. La ilaha illallah Muhammadun rasu-

lullah

5. Which one of the below is not agood deed?

A. Being good mannered

B. Staying away rom Allah the Exalt-ed’s prohibitions

C. Misbehaving towards animals

D. Helping people

1. What is the meaning of the tes-

timony of faith?

A. I believe in Allah.

B. Tere is no deity other than Allah.

Muhammad (a.s.) is His servant and

messenger.

C. I certainly believe that there is no de-

ity other than Allah. I also certainly

believe that Muhammad (a.s.) is His

servant and messenger.

D. Allah is a witness to everything I do.

2.

I. Conducting good deeds

II. perorming the ritual worshipsregularly

III. Keeping busy with deep thinkingand invocations

IV. Participating in all kinds o un andgames

V. Staying away rom sins and

prohibitionsWhich one of the above strength-

ens our iman?

A. I, II, III and V B. II, IV and V

C. I, II, III and IV D. II, III, IV and V

Let’s try ourselves



69


Please fill in the blanks below using the words in parenthesis

(is sound / is the heart / good deed / creation / seven / befriend / good /hearts / his friend / recalling)

1. Tose who believe and perorm ………….. deeds are the best o …………..”

2. “Know this well that …………… nd serenity only by ………….. Allah.”

3. “A person is inuenced by the lie style o …………….. Ten, each o you should pay atten-

tion to whom you will ……………”

4. “I one o you lives Islam well with every …………… he perorms, he gains divine rewards

o ten to ……………hundred times.”

5. “Tere is a small piece o esh in the human body. When that piece ………………., the

whole body is sound. When that piece is corrupt, the whole body becomes corrupt. Tat

piece o esh ………………..”



70


Let’s fill in the blanks

1. C 2. A

3. B 4. D

5. C

Please fill in the blanks below usingthe words in parenthesis

1. good-creation 2. hearts-recalling

3. his friend-befriend 4. good deed-seven

5. is sound-is the heart

ANSWER KEY

Let’s match

1The expression that declaresour faith in Allah and the

Prophet

6Neglecting the worships is an indicator

as the weakness of faith.

2Creating from nothing, provid-

ing sustenance,8

continuously recall Allah and not to for-

get Him.

3 It is the continuity of our faith 10 we end up having committed a “sin.”

4 Worships gain value 7 enjoys worshipping.

5 The love of Allah 4 only with faith

6 Violating the prohibitions and 3 which will get us to endless bliss.

7 A believer who has strong

faith9 against worries and calamities.

8Recitation of invocations (zikr)

is to5 is the result of a strong faith.

9Faith gives the power to with-

stands2 or healing belongs to Allah only.

10When we do not obey thecommands and prohibitions of

Allah

1is the testimony of faith (Al Kalimah AlShahadah).



THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE

BELIEVING IN ALLAH

• Allah’s Existence and Oneness

• Allah’s Attributes and Names • Benefits of Believing in Allah

• Our Prophet’s Love of Allah



72


Tere lived a kid by the name o Abra-ham in Babylon. He used to draw every-

body’s attention with his good manners andhis intelligence. Te people o this country used to worship idols, the moon, the sun,the stars, re, water, and other things. Teirtemples were ull o pictures and sculptureso these alse deities. Tey abandoned Allahand kneeled down in ront o these picturesand sculptures that they believed to be God

and worshiped them. Tey used to pray ortheir wishes to come true or or these idols

to protect them rom evil.

Abraham would observe this weirdaith o the people in wonder and take les-sons. He did not make any sense out o why people had adopted these strange belies.Even Azar, the ather o Abraham, believedin these. Azar was a amous sculpturer. Heused to carve wood and stone to make idols,

and people used to worship them.When Abraham saw people kneel

down in ront o the idols and pray tothem, he elt sorry or them. “How can things that were just ordinary wood or rocks a while ago be godswhen they are turned into sculp-tures by an artist? How could they protect humans or grant their wish-

es?!”

Even though he was a kid,Abraham never worshiped idols. Hetried to convince others not to wor-ship idols either.

One day, Abraham went to thosewho worshiped heavenly bodies suchas the stars, the moon, and the sun.

Tose people were waiting or dark-ness or their gods to show up. Tey were getting ready to worship themand Abraham joined them.

Aer a while the sky got dark.Te evening star appeared while

people were curiously looking.Te evening star was more ap-

parent than the otherstars. While pointingto the sky, Abraham

THE KID WHO BELIVED IN ALLAH



73


said to the others who congregated aroundhim, “What a beautiul shining star this is!Tis must be my Lord.”

Tose who worship the evening starthought that Abraham had believed thesame as they believed and that he had oundthe right path. Aer a while, the eveningstar disappeared. Upon this, Abraham said“No, this can’t be my Lord. My Lord couldnot set. I do not like those that set.” Some o the people who heard these thoughtul andwise words agreed with him. Tis logical ex-

planation made some o them suspect theirown aith. Some o them got angry with him.Tey did not like this kid who questionedtheir gods in their own temples.

Aer a while the moon appeared. It wasmore shiny and beautiul compared to theevening star. Again, Abraham said audibly:

“Tis one is bigger and shinier! Tis

must be my Lord.”

Aer some time, the moon disappearedas well. Upon this, Abraham said “Tis onetoo disappeared as the star did. I my Lordhas not made me realize the truth, I wouldbe among those believing in something thatwas not real. Denitely, this one can’t be my Lord, either.” Aer his explanations, people

around him started to agree with him. How-ever, some o them did not want to changethe aith that they got used to, and thereorethey did not agree with his logical explana-tions.

When the sun was rising, Abraham said“Tis must be my Lord. Tis one is muchbigger and shinier!” Te people around himtried to persuade him by saying “Now youhave ound the truth. Te son is worth beingthe Lord.” However, at night aer the sun-

set, Abraham said to those who worship the

heavenly bodies:

“O my people! It is not smart to worship

these stars which do not have any controlover when to show up and when to disap-

pear and are not capable o doing anything.

For sure, I do not worship or show respect

to your gods. I believe in the one and only

Allah, the Lord o all the worlds, who has

created the heavens and the earth out o

nothing.”

Te people around him responded,“Abraham, what are you doing!? I you speak

like that you will become paralyzed. Our

gods will be oended and will harm you.

You will receive their wrath and be sorry or

what you have said.”

Abraham answered them, “You do not

believe in Allah who is all powerul and

omnipotent and has created the entire universe. Also, you acknowledge creatures that

do not have any power or strength and can-

not benet or harm anyone as your Lords.

You make them partners with Allah. You

are not concerned about the act that you

will be accountable or this wrong behavior.

For all that, do you think that I would be

scared o your alse Lords?! Come on; giveup your wrong belies. Believe in Allah, the

true Lord who created the earth and the sky,

who adorned the sky with stars, the moon

and the sun. I have turned my ace towards

Him who created the heavens and the earth

and never shall I give partners to Allah.”

(For verses in Quran on this topic, see Surah

An’am (Cattle), 6:74-79)



74


Every piece o art that is aesthetically pleasing to our eyes and beautiul in appea-

rance must have an artist, someone respon-

sible or its making; just as the carpenter is

responsible or the chair on which one sits

or the architect who is responsible or the

house or school, or the author o the book

that we are reading. Behind the events that

we observe in the universe, there is a Crea-

tor who is omniscient and omnipotent. It isimpossible to think that the perect system

o the universe was just a coincidence. Let’s

explain this with the ollowing example:

You go to the beach on a hot summer’s

day. Te blue sea is in ront o you, so calm

and clean. As you stroll the beach, you come

across a beautiul sand castle. You look

around, but no one is in sight. You wonderwho could have made this sand castle.

You can explain the existence o this

sand castle in two ways:

Te rst possibility: Tis

castle was made by putting some

eort and skills into it. Only so-

meone who are talented and ex-

perienced in making sand castles

could have done this. Te second

possibility: Tis castle came

about due to the waves that hit

the beach. While the waves hit

the beach one afer another, the

sand piled up and this beautiul

castle had happened by chance.

Which one o the two possibilities looks

more logical and acceptable to you?

Te castle in the picture is made by so-

meone who is talented in making sand cast-

les by working or hours. No one until this

day has seen or heard that waves can cause

such a sand castle by chance. Tis castle will

be destroyed by a strong wind or a small

wave. Knowledge, experience, and eort are

necessary or even this simple sand castle.

EVERY ART WORK INDICATES AN ARTIST



75


Now, let’s have a look at the mosque in

the picture.

Te Suleymaniye Mosque, located in

one o the hills o Istanbul that overlook thesea, was built by the great architect Sinan.

It is considered one o the most important

architectural works in the world, both or

its interior and exterior design. It impresses

everyone with its tall and aesthetic minarets,

huge dome, and magnicent view. Te qua-

lity o the materials used in the building and

the labor, the elegance among the dierent

sections, and the harmony with its surroun-dings ascinates everyone. It is impossible to

think or argue that such a masterpiece can

come along without an architect and an en-

gineer.

Well then, is it possible or the sky that

covers us like a dome, the world that we

live in, humans around us, animals, plants,

mountains, living things and sh that ndlie deep in the sea and ocean, sun, planets

and galaxies that decorate the vast outer spa-

ce, and many other creatures that we do not

know and see that make up the whole uni-

verse to happen by itsel as a coincidence?

Who did all this with a perect plan, delicate

art, superior power, in-depth knowledge and

glorious artwork?

Te only way we can answer this ques-

tion is: Tere is a creator o this universe that

is the product o detailed calculations and

superior design rom the smallest atoms to vast galaxies. Tis creator is Allah (j.j.) who

is omniscient and omnipotent.



76


ALLAH

You read a book, and

Want to know who the author is.

When you see a nice building,

You look for the person who made it.

Does no one own the heavens and earth?

One understands when one thinks.

Everything proves go us that,

There is a Great Powerful Allah.

It is our duty to ask and learn

The one who created us.It is our duty but

It’s religion that teaches us this.

İbrahim Alaattin GÖVSA



77


Imam Abu Hania, one o the proound

scholars o Islam, was living in Baghdad. He

raised many students there and gained thetrust and respect o everyone.

At that time, there was another scholar

who denied the existence o Allah and used to

argue about it with other scholars that he meton his travels.

THE RESPONSE OF ABU HANIFE



78


Tis non-believer scholar heard about the

ame o Abu Hania. He went to Baghdad in

order to discuss these issues with him. He be-

gan the discussion when he ound Abu Hania.

Abu Hania did not answer his propositionright away. He asked to meet the next day in

the same place. He was going to give his an-

swer then.

Te next day, Abu Hania did not show up

in the meeting place as he had prom-

ised. Te non-believing scholar

did not like this. When he

was about to leave, Abu

Hania showed up.

Te scholar said to

Abu Hania:

- Why did you come

so late? Were you scared

to debate with me?

Abu Hania answered:

-No, I was not scared. You know that

the river igris divides Baghdad through the

middle, and I live on the other side o the river.

Last night, the winds blew away the bridge on

the river. I wanted to build a new one right

away without any carpenters or engineers.

I commanded the trees and rocks over there

to build me a bridge. I said: “rees and rocks!

Hurry and make a bridge or me.” What I

wanted did happen but it took longer than Iexpected. I crossed that bridge and came here,

even it is late. Now, I am here.”

Te non-believer scholar laughed and

asked:

- O people! Is this the smartest among

you? Is it possible to build a bridge without a

carpenter and engineer?! Isn’t it stupid to be-

lieve this?

Abu Hania made his point right away:

- Hey unwise man! Since you argue that abridge cannot be built by itsel, how can you

argue that this magnicent universe can hap-

pen by itsel?!

Te non-believer scholar could not nd

anything to say. He could only say: “Tis

issue is over. Now, you show me Al-

lah and I too believe in Him.”

Abu Hania got a glass o milk and asked:

- ell me what is butter

made rom?

- For sure it is made rom

milk.

- Now, can you show me the

at in this milk?

- Tere is at in this milk or sure, but it

cannot be seen. Tat is because it is dissolved

in the milk, not compiled in a certain place.

- You believe that the at in this milk can-

not be seen. With the same reasoning, why

don’t you believe that the Almighty Creator

Allah exists but cannot be seen?

Upon these words, the scholar realized hismistake. He acknowledged that there is a cre-

ator o this world but that He cannot be seen.

By apologizing, he abandoned his claim. He

acknowledged the existence and oneness o

Allah.



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Te existence and oneness o Allah is an

unquestionable act. Examining ourselves andthis world careully is enough to realize the

existence, oneness, and greatness o Allah.

In the human body, which starts up with

a single cell, there are around 100 trillion cells.

In each cell’s nucleus, there is one DNA mole-

cule. Every detail about a human’s characteris-

tics is saved in the genes in these molecules.

In the human cell, there are around 3 billiongenes. In other words, there is hidden inor-

mation in 3 billion dierent topics in the DNA

o each cell. All the inormation about us rom

our skin color to our eye color and our genetic

illnesses are recorded in our DNA and trans-

erred to the next generations through our

DNA.

Countless bodily unctions, such as our

heartbeats happen without our having any

control over them. Nevertheless, there is a per-

ect order in all the systems that we have.

Everything we do, think, say, and eel hap-

pens in our brains. Te communication that

makes this possible in our brain is made by

the neurons in our brain. In a human brain,

there are around 100 billion neurons, or in

other words nerve cells. In order to perceive,

see, and eel, communication between these

cells is necessary. 100 billion neurons in our

brain communicate with each other through

100 trillion links o communication.

As you read these lines, billions o pro-

cesses are taking place in our eyes. Te light

rays that reach our eyes go through rst the

cornea, then the pupil, and then the lens. Te

light sensitive cells here transorm the light

rays into electric signals and send them to

nerve endings as an alert. Te brain connectsthe views that come rom both eyes into one

view. It identies the shape and the color o an

object. It determines how ar an object is loca-

ted. All o this processing just takes one tenth

o a second.

75% o the earth and around 70% o the

human body is composed o water. Water can

go into every cell in the human body and can

travel into every vein within us. It carries nu-

THE PERFECT HARMONY IN THE EXTERNAL AND

INTERNAL KINGDOM


(Surah Al-Mulk (The Sovereignty); 67:23)

“Say: “It is He Who has created you (andmade you grow), and made for you thefaculties of hearing, seeing, feeling andunderstanding.”



80


trition to each o the 100 trillion cells in the

human body and provides then with oxygenand energy. Water is an unmatched blessing

or our lives.

Fruits and vegetables that came out o the

same earth and watered with the same water

have unbelievable variations.

Te dierent tastes and scents o ruits

and vegetables that receive the help o earth,

water, and minerals, have been carried to thisday without deviation or mixing.

Every inormation about a plant is re-

corded in a tiny seed that produces it. Seeds

contain all the inormation about their specic

plant such as the shape o its bushes and lea-

ves, the color and thicknessl, the taste, scent,

and shape o its ruit. In order or a living orga-

nism to survive in this world, there are many

important requirements, such as the distancerom the sun, temperature between certain le-

vels, carbon, ozone, and water cycle, minerals

that microorganisms bring out, photosynthe-

sis, the critical slope o the earth, gravity, the

power that keeps the atom molecules together,

and many others. Te earth that we live in is

created in such a way that holds all o these

requirements and is protected by the atmos-

phere.

It is believed that there are 300 billion ga-

laxies in the universe. Te Milky Way is justone o them. Te Sun, which is 103 times the

size o Earth is just one o the 250 billion stars

in the Milky Way. Te distance between the

Sun and the planet Earth is 150 kilometers. All

o the heavenly bodies rotate on an axis in this

system.


(Surah Al-Mimunin (The Believers); 23:14)

“So blessed be Allah, the best to create!”


(Surah Al-Fussilat ((signs) Spelled Out); 41:53)

“Soon will We show them our Signs in

the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and

in their own souls...”



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In the old times, there was a man who did

not have aith. He would tell every child that

he came across that Allah did not exist, becau-se i He did, we would see Him.

Tis non-believer had a very nice neigh-

bor named Yunus. Yunus believed in Allah,

perormed his prayers, and never lied.

ONE ANSWER TO THREE QUESTIONS



82


He always acted kindly to everybody. He

used to gather the kids and ask them, “Who

created you?” I they didn’t know the answer,

he would teach them to say: “Allah has created

you, my son!”One day, the non-believer approached

Yunus and said the ollowing, thinking that

he would not answer his questions: “I will ask

you three questions about religion and aith.

Let’s see i you can answer them?” Jonah re-

plied with the courage and condence that he

received rom his aith:

- Ask, let’s see. He said to himsel “Ask and

get your answer!”

- My rst question: You argue that there

is Allah. I there was Allah, then we would see

Him. I say, since we don’t see Him, He does

not exist. I He does exist, then show me! My

second question: He says that Satan will burn

in Hell re as well, but you believe that Satan

was created out o re. How is re going to

burn in re? My third question: Sincegoodness and evil comes rom

Allah, why should I receive

punishment or not belie-

ving in Him?

Yunus who listened

to the questions calmly

said “Here is my answer

to all three questions” and

gathered some soil romthe ground and tapped it on

the non-believer’s head.

Te man sued Jonah. Tey went

to the court. Te judge asked to Jonah:

- Did you hit this man’s head with some

soil? Jonah answered:

- Yes sir! I hit his head. However, my act

was the answer to his three questions that he

asked me. He began explaining what had hap-

pened:

First o all, he told me that he does not be-

lieve in Allah because he cannot see Him. He

wanted me to show him Allah in order or himto believe in His existence. Ten, I hit his head.

Now, he tells us that his head hurts. Unless he

shows me his pain, I do not believe him. Since

he denies the things that he cannot see, I also

deny the pain on his head.

Second o all, he asked me how re can

burn Satan who was created out o re. Te

man was created rom soil. Since re cannot

burn re, the soil that I threw at his head can-

not hurt him.

Tirdly, he argued that his being a non-

believer was his destiny. He told me that it

does not make sense or him to receive any

punishment because o that. It looks like it

was also his destiny to have soil thrown on his

head. Why is he wasting the judge’s time with

this law suit?

Upon, this answer, the judge

asked the non-believer:

- What do you say to

this?

Te man was embar-

rassed by what he had said

and recognized his mis-

take:

- Yunus tells the truth sir!

He is right. I am not complaining

anymore. I want to be a Muslim as

well. Please let him help me.

Yunus and his neighbor exited the court

together and became very good riends.



83


Tere is a limit to our sensory organsthat help us to perceive matters. For this rea-son, we cannot see and hear everything.

For example, as we cannot see the germsand viruses around us, we cannot hear low sounds such as the ootsteps o an ant orhigh ones such as the sound o the Earth’srotating on its own axis.

As our sensory organs, our intelligencehas limits as well. One o the areas whereour intelligence is limited to understanding

is the Being (Person) and Characteristics o Allah.

We can reach the conclusion about theexistence o Allah and His oneness by usingour intellects and considering the evidencein the universe. However, we cannot orman opinion about His Being. We can only know Allah and believe in Him in the way

He allows us to, through his attributes.Our Magnicent Lord mentions His At-

tributes in the Noble Quran in order or us

WE KNOW ALLAH BY HIS ATTRIBUTES


(Surah Al-An’am (Cattle); 6:103)

“No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp

is over all vision...”

Our Beloved Prophet said

“Whatever comes to your mind

about the being of Allah, He is not

that. You think about the things that

Allah created. Do not think about

Him. That is because it is beyond our

comprehension.”

(Haythami, Mecmau’z-Zevaid, I, 81)



84


DIVINE ATTRIBUTESOF BEING OF ALLAH

Body (Al-Wujud)

He is the Existing One.

Seniority (Al-Qidam)There is no beginning of

His existence. He is the Pre-Eternal One.

Perpetuity (Al-Baqâ˛)

There is no ending to His existence.He is the everlasting One.

Oneness (Al-Wahdaniyyah)

Allah is one and only. He is the Unique One.

Resembling none(Al-Mukhalafatun lil Khawadith)

He is unlike the Created.

Needing none (Al-Qiyam bi’nafsihi)Allah does not need anyone or anything elsein order to exist. He is the Self-Existing One.

ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH

The Immutable Attributesof the Divine Essence of Allah

Divine Attributesof Being of Allah

I) Divine Attributes of Being of Allah (AL-SIFAT AL-DHATIYYAH)

Those are the characteristics of Allah specific to Him only. There are six ofthem:

to better understand Him. In order or us tounderstand Allah and believe in Him as weshould, we have to know these attributes.

We can examine the attributes o Allahin two groups, related to His entity, His cre-ation o this kingdom and His ruling it:



85


1. Body: Allah exists. His nonexistence

is impossible.

2. Seniority: Allah is eternal; there

is no beginning o His existence. No mat-ter how ar back in time one can imagine,

a time that Allah had not existed cannot be

thought o.

3. Perpetuity: Allah is everlasting;

there is no end to its existence. No mat-

ter how ar in the uture one can imagine,

a time that Allah will not exist cannot be

thought o.4. Oneness: Allah is one and only.

Tere is no other creator or being that pos-

seses His perect attributes.

5. Resembling none: Allah looks like

no being. He is beyond any shape or thought

that a human mind can conjure up.

6. Needing none: Allah’s existencedoes not depend on some other being. Allah

does not have a creator. His existence is due

to Himsel.


(Surah Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity); 112:1-4)

“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;

Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He be-

getteth not, nor is He begotten; And

there is none like unto Him.”


(Surah Al-Fatir (The Angels); 35:15)

“O ye men! It is ye that have need of

Allah. But Allah is the One Free of all

wants, worthy of all praise.”



86


Omar banned the practice o adding wa-ter into milk. One night, while he was walk-

ing in Medina in order to establish law andorder, he got tired. He leaned on the wall o a house to rest a bit. Unintentionally, he over-heard a conversation between a mother anddaughter.

Mother:

- Come on my daughter go and add somewater to the milk.

Te daughter:

- Come on mother! Did not khaliah an-nounce not to do that?

- My daughter! In this late hour, how is hegoing to see us?

- My mother! Even i khalia cannot seeus, can’t Allah see us?!

Omar le silently aer listening somemore. As soon as the sun had risen, he sentrelatives to ask or the girl’s hand or his son.One o the daughters rom this marriage hada son named Abdulaziz. Tis son is the Omarbin Abdulaziz who is also known as “the sec-ond Omar” in Islamic history. As his grand-

ather Omar, in the time o the presidency o Omar bin Abdulaziz, who was also known orhis justice, his people lived in happiness andpeace.

THE DAUGHTER OF THE MILKMAN



87


II) THE IMMUTABLE ATTRIBUTES OF THE DIVINE ESSENCEOF ALLAH (AL-SIFAT AL-THUBUTIYYAH)

Tese are the characteristics that are present in Allah in a perect and innite orm. Tese

characteristics help us to better understand how Allah created the universe and controls it.

THE IMMUTABLE ATTRIBUTES OF THEDIVINE ESSENCE OF ALLAH

Life (Al-Hayat)Allah is alive and is the source o all lie.

Knowledge (Al-Ilm)Allah has innite knowledge.

All Hearing (Al-Samî)Allah hears everything

All Seeing (Al-Baseer)Allah sees everything.

Allah sees everything.Allah wills and does as He wishes.

Omnipotency (Al-Qudrah)Allah has innite strength and power.

Speaking (Al-Kalam)Allah speaks.

Creating (Al-Takwin)Allah creates everything rom nothing.



88


1. Life: Allah is alive and living. Tere

is no beginning or end to His lie. His lie,

unlike the lie o creation, does not depend

on time, space, or causality. He gives lie to

all living beings, and everything nds liethrough Him.

2. Knowledge: Allah the Exalted

knows everything in the Heavens and Earth.

Tere is nothing that He does not know. He

has knowledge o the Heavens, the Earth, and

every living thing in between, all the laws o

the universe, and everything that happens.

As he knows the billions o stars in the Uni-

verse, he also knows the ciphers coded in ev-

ery living being, and also knows the secrets

people keep within themselves because He

is the Creator o all o us. Moreover, there is

no limit to Allah’s knowledge. Te order and

system, perection, and harmony seen in the

universe is proo o the innite knowledge

o Allah who created them.

3. All Hearing: Allah hears every-

thing perectly. Te concept o nearness or

distance does not exist. He hears and un-

derstands at all times what every being in

the universe says. He also hears the begging

and invocations inside o us. Allah does not

need a tool or an organ to hear. Te hearingpower o Allah is innite. His hearing o a

certain thing does not constitute an impedi-

ment or Him to hear something else.

4. All Seeing: Allah sees everything.

It does not matter or Him whether some-

thing is ar or near, hidden or clear, small or

big. He sees where we are and what we do.

He does not need an eye to see like we do.


(Surah Ya-Sin; 36:82)

“Verily, when He intends a thing, His

Command is, “be”, and it is!”


(Surah Al-Munim (The Believer); 40:20)

“Verily it is Allah (alone) Who hears

and sees (all things).”


(Surah Al-An’am (Cattle); 6:59)

“...He knoweth whatever there is on

the earth and in the sea. Not a leaf

doth fall but with His knowledge...”



89


5. Will: Everything happens with thewill o Allah the Exalted. Nothing can bedone without His will and command. Tereis wisdom in everything that he wishes and

does. Everything that He created has a causeas well as wisdom behind it. Tere is nopower that could reverse His will or stop Hiscommand.

6. Omnipotency: Allah has innitestrength and power. Tere is nothing Hecannot do. Tere is no impediment or Himto do as He wishes. It is sucient or a personto examine the universe and the phenomenainside it to understand the inniteness andlimitlessness o Allah’s power. Orbiting o stars and planets that are millions o tons inweight and Man’s creation rom one cell are just examples o Allah’s power.

7. Speaking: Allah the Exalted hadthe power to deliver His speech without theneed or the organs and bodily unctionsthat we humans need to deliver speech.None o his words can be compared to thewords o humans. Our Exalted Lord speakswith each being with a language that it canunderstand. By commanding the Heavensand the Earth, and, small or big, all creationHe announces His words. He spoke to theprophets via the holy books He revealedand through the prophets, He spoke to all o humanity. Te Noble Quran and the heav-enly books revealed to all humanity are His

words.8. Creating: Allah is the Creator o the

universe and all that exists in the universe.Allah created everything rom the living be-ings that can only be seen with a microscopeto the great starts that are thousands o timesgreater than Earth. He is the One who cre-ates, causes to live, the One in which we eedon, the One who brings all existence to lie.

Tere is no creator other than Him.

Allah the Exalted is His own attribute,the Creator. He creates rom nothingness.Te technological tools and inventions thatAllah’s subjects put orth, no matter how

wonderul they are, are simply bringing to-gether the already existing things, bringingabout the ready energy and ability, and re-shaping things.


(Surah Al-Hashr (Exile, Banishment); 59:24)

“He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolv - er, the Bestower of Forms (or

Colours).”



90


A ather gathered his children to-gether and gave each one o them a very precious ring. He wanted them to hidethe rings somewhere, so that no onecould nd them and use them aer hedied. Aer taking the rings, the chil-dren looked or a hiding place or them.wo o the kids hid their rings amongtheir personal belongings, careully, andcame back to their ather. Tey waited

or the third sibling. Aer a long timehad passed, the other child did not re-turn. Evening had arrived and just whenthey started to get worried about him,he showed up with the ring in his hands.When they saw that it had taken him thislong to hide a simple ring, they mockedhim:

- Our brother looked everywhere

but could not nd a place to hide thering. At the same time, they were proudo themselves or doing what their atherhad asked them to do in such a short pe-riod o time.

Aer staring careully at his threesons, the ather told the son who couldn’tnd a hiding place or the ring:

- My son! Look, your brotherswere able to hide the rings. Why did youbring the ring back?

- Father! Did you not want us tohide the rings somewhere so that no onecould see or nd them?

- Yes.

- Father, I looked everywhere. Icould not nd such a place. Tat is be-

cause wherever I went, I realized thatthe magnicent Allah sees me. Tat iswhy I brought the ring back.

Te ather, being very pleased withwhat his son told him, said:

- Good job my son! With this smalltest, I wanted to remind you that Allahsees us everywhere and all the time.

ALLAH SEES EVERYTHING



91


O My Lord! You exist. You do not needanything to exist. You are the One who creat-

ed us and inormed us about Your existence.

Everything except you exists because o You.

You are the One who created everything and

who sustains their lives. I You want to, You

can destroy them all.

O My Lord! You do not have a be-

ginning or an end. You are the starter andnisher. You are the One who created time

and who ends time. Innity is only or You.

Everything else except You is temporary. Ev-

eryone who is born will die and everything

will perish. You are the only One who is ev-

erlasting.

O My Lord! You are One and Only.

You do not have partners and nothing is

like You. All the power and strength is

Yours. You are the One who created every-

thing and the One who controls everything.

Tis perect system and continuous balance

in the universe is Your work; and it’s a testi-

mony that there is no god but You.

O My Lord! We cannot know Your

person. What we do know is that You are

dierent rom all that we know. You are ar

rom anything imaginable. Your existence

comes rom You. You are the One who does

not look anything like Your own creation,

You are incomparable and Exalted. We know

You as our only God and we believe in You.

O My Lord! We cannot know Your

person. What we do know is that You are

dierent rom all that we know. You are ar

rom anything imaginable. Your existence

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH

Allah is our rst word,

Our essence is aithul.

All work begins in the name o Allah,

And ends delightully,

When waking up in the morning,

I immediately say “BISMILLAH (in thename o Allah).”

While eating or drinking,

Opening my book...

I always recite Basmalah (Bismillah)

I never orget, even once.

I turn to my Lord,

Power comes to my heart.

With Allah, even a little becomes a lot,

Diculties disappear,

Someone who recites Basmalah,

Is hand in hand with success.

I never quit reciting it, and

Allah lends me a hand.

M. Asım KÖKSAL

MY LORD! I ACCEPT YOU AND BELIEVE

IN YOU WITH ALL MY HEART



92


comes rom You. You are the One who does

not look anything like Your own creation,

You are incomparable and Exalted. We

know You as our only God and we believe

in You.

O My Lord! You are the One who wantssomething and creates it out o nothing. Ev-erything exists because You want them to.Tere is wisdom in everything You do. Youare Omnipotent and Almighty. Tere is noone who can stand up to or change Your de-cisions.

O My Lord! You are the One who saysthe truest words o all. By being merciulto Your subjects, You are the One who sentYour words and books to us. I all the trees

become pens and all the seas become ink, itis not enough to write down Your words.

O My Lord! You are the One whocreates out o nothing and who can destroy anything that exists. You create everythingwithin a certain balance and control themwith Your almighty power.

O Lord! Please puriy our hearts rom thoughts that would not t your grandeur! Pleaseallow us to live our lives worshipping You and die as Muslims!

Please do not embarrass us due to our sins and shortcomings!

Please orgive the sins that we conceal or let be known!

Please help us in richness and poverty!

You are the one who knows all our wants and hears all our prayers.Please accept our prayers!

Âmeen



93


One day, the Messenger o Allah(p.b.u.h.) told the ollowing story to his

Companions.

Among the previous nations, there wasa king and his magician. When tthe magi-cian got old, he said to the king:

- I am old now. Send me someoneyoung or me to teach him my magic.

Upon this wish, the king sent him ayoung man. When the young man was on hisway to see the magician, he came across toa priest in a deserted place. Te priest, who

THE FAITH OF A YOUNG MAN



94


believed in one God, had revolted againstthe king who claimed to be God. Te priesthad hidden here rom the torture o the kingand his men.

Te young man then made it a habbitto visit this priest whenever he went to themagician. He liked what the priest was tell-ing him. He had some diculty leaving thepriest and sometimes was late to his meet-ings with the magician. Whenever the youngman was late, the magician would get angry and beat him.

One day the young man saw a big andwild animal that blocked the way to the pas-sengers. He said to himsel “Now I will learnwho is superior, the priest or the magician”and got a stone rom the ground. He threw the stone at the animal and said: “O My Al-lah! I you like what the priest does betterthan what the magician does, then kill thisanimal so that people can go their way.” Tewild animal died and people continued their

way. Ten, the young man told to the priestwhat had happened. Te priest said:

- Young man! I saw that you have ris-en to a higher level. Now, you are superiorto me. I guess, in a short period o time, youwill become troubled. I this happens, don’tever tell anyone where I am.

Te young man was healing the blind

and chlorotic and other illnesses as well. Atthat time, the king also had an acquaintancethat was blind. Te blind man heard abouthim and went to the young man with valu-able gis and said to the young man:

- I you heal my eyes, all o these valu-ables will be yours.

Te young man said:

- I can’t heal anyone by mysel. Only Al-lah the Exalted heals. I you believe in Al-

mighty Allah, I would pray to Him or you,and He shall heal you.

Te blind man believed in Allah. Allahthe Exalted healed him. Te man went to the

king and as in the old times, and receivedhis seat in the senate.

Te king asked:

- Who healed your eyes? Te man said:

- My Lord!

Tis time the king shouted:

- Do you have a Lord besides me?

Te man said:

- Allah the Exalted is my Lord andyours.

Te king got mad upon hearing thesewords and imprisoned the man. Tey tor-tured him until he told them where theyoung man was. When he nally divulgedwhere the young man was, they brought the

young man to the kind. Te king asked:- Young man, looks like your magic is

so advanced that you can even heal the blindand chlorotic. I heard that you do a lot o, isthis correct?

Te young man said:

- No, I cannot heal anyone. Allah theExalted is the one who provides healing.

Te king imprisoned him thinking thathe received this knowledge rom the priest.Tey tortured him until he told where thepriest is.

Tey brought the priest and told him toreject his aith. Te priest did not accept this.Upon this, the king ordered him to be slicedinto hal with a saw. Ten, the man o theking was brought. Tey said to him as well:“Reject your aith!” When he did not accept,



95


he was also sliced into hal with a saw. Ten,the young man was also brought and wassubject to such threats as “Reject your aithor die!” Te young man resisted. Te king

delivered the young man to his men and or-dered:

- ake this man to the top o thismountain. I he rejects his aith, that isgood or him! Otherwise, roll him down themountain.

Te soldiers took the man to the top o the mountain.

Te young man prayed:- My Allah! Save me rom their hands

however You wish! Upon this, the moun-tain vibrated and the soldiers ell rom themountain. Te young man was saved andwalked back to the king. Te king said:

- What happened to my men?

Te young man said:

- Allah saved me rom their hands.Upon this, the king delivered him to

other soldiers and said:

- ake this man to the middle o the sea.I he denies his aith, that is good or him!Otherwise, throw him into the sea.

Tey took the young man. He prayed:

- My Allah! Save me rom their hand asYou wish!

Te ship turned upside down with itscrew, and everybody sank except the youngman. He returned to the king.

When the king saw him, he asked:

- What happened to my soldiers?

Te young man said:

- Allah saved me rom their hands, andcontinued:

- Unless you do the things I told you so,you cannot kill me.

Te king asked:

- What are they?

Te young man:

- Gather your people in a court. ieme to a date log, take an arrow rom yourquiver, throw the arrow at me saying “in thename o this young man’s Lord.” Only thenwill you be able to kill me.

Te king gathered his people in a court,tied the young man in a date log,

then took an arrow rom the quiver o the young man and placed it in his arc. Hethrew the arrow as he said “in the name o this young man’s Lord, Allah.” Te arrow hitthe young man on his temple. Te youngman put his hand to his temple and died

right away. Upon this, the people said:- We believe in the young man’s Lord.

Te man o the king inormed himabout that and said:

- Did you see what happened? What youwere scared o happened; the people believein Allah.

(Muslim, Zuhd, 73)



96


THE NAMES OF ALLAH (AL ASMA AL HUSNA)

ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NAMES OF ALL

Our Exalted Lord introduced Himsel to us with His names and attributes. Tesenames, which Allah the Exalted inormsus o in the Quran and Prophet Muham-mad had also taught us, are called Al AsmaAl Husna (the most beautiul names). It isasked in the Noble Quran by commanding“Te most beautiul names belong to Al-lah. So call on him by them...” (Surah Ara

(Te Heights), 7:180) that we should recite His

beautiul names when praying and suppli-cating to Allah.

Our Prophet said by inorming us o thenames o Allah the Exalted:

“Allah the Exalted has ninety nine names.Whoever memorizes them and recites them

goes to Paradise.”

(Bukhari, Deavat, 76; Muslim, Zikr, 5-6)

Te purpose o “memorization and rec-itation” in our Prophet’s saying is to know Allah by His beautiul names and to remem-

ber these names and attributes, thereoreconstantly reminding us o Him. It helps usto look at this lie and happenings rom theperspective o Allah’s names. For example,the purpose is to remember in the com-passion and mercy o a mother the names“Rahman” and “Raheem,” when we obtainbeautiul bounties the name “Razzak,” whenwe ask or orgiveness o our sins the name“Ghaur,” each time we reach the season

Spring, the name “Muhyi,” and in the ace o death the name “Mumit.”

I we learn these names and their mean-ings, and correct our manners accordingly,we can be among those servants who Allahloves. Tus, we can deserve the good newso our Prophet and go to Paradise.

Come on, let’s open up our hands andpray to our Lord by reciting some o His

beautiul names…



97


O ALLAH!

O My Allah, who has collected all thebeautiul names and attributes in Him!

We pray to youin your GreatestName. Please

accept ourprayers!

O RAHMAN!O RAHEEM! O My Allah, who treats all o creation with

compassion and mercy! Please havemercy on us,both in this

world and in theHereaer!

O RAZZAQ!

O my Allah, who gives lie to all o creation!

Accorde-nousune subsistance

abondante etlicite!

O HAFEEZ!

O my Allah, who protects and cares or ev-erything!

Please protectme, my amily,

and all theMuslims rom allkinds o trouble

and evil!



98


O MUSAVVİR!Please beautiy my

manners as you didmy looks!

O MUJIB!Please make us

among the slaveswho pray to You

sincerely and

whose prayers areaccepted!

O HADI! Please do notseparate us romthe true path o

Islam, honesty, andthe honest ones!

O HAYYUM!

O KAYYUM!Please make us

among those whospend the lie thatcomes rom You inYour way. Please donot let our hearts to

be attached to thetemporal!

O WADUD!

Please always makeus love the ones youlike, dislike the ones

you dislike, andmake us the beloved

o those who Youhave matured!

O my Allah, whohears and accepts allkinds o prayers that

come to hearts ordrop rom lips!

O my Allah, whoshows the true path

and who will have usreach the true path!

O my Allah,who is alwaysalive and thesource o lie,who rules the

whole universe!

You are the sourceo love. You are theOne who is worthy o love, my Allah!

O My Allah, who

created everythingin the most beautiulmanner!



99


THE BENEFITS OF BELIEVING IN ALLAH

Believing in an Exalted power andleaving the rrest to Him is a terricsource o condence or us humanswho are weak by nature. Everything isin the hands o Allah the Exalted andbecause o Him. He never disappointsthose who trust him. Unless our Ex-alted Lord wants, no one can harm usor provide benets to us.

As believers, we believe in Allahin this way. Tis aith gives us a eel-ing o innite trust. It makes us openup our eyes with excitement to eachday by the principle “Allah is enough.

He is the best fduciary o all.” It makes our lives peaceul by saving us rom laziness,depression, and the stress o undue concerns and doubts.

It gives us an innite sense o con-

dence

It makes us act with mercy and com-

passion towards other creatures.

It makes us control our actions.

It makes us righteous and trustwor-thy human beings.

BELIEVING IN ALLAH



“If Allah helps you, none can over-

come you: If He forsakes you, who is

there, after that, that can help you?

In Allah, then, Let believers put their trust.”



100


We believe that all o the creatures are the result o Allah’s eternal mercy and a-ection. Such a aith makes us merciul and aectionate towards other creatures.Tat is because, or us, every kind o creature is the mark o Allah’s mercy and theproo o His existence and oneness.

From now on, we look at every creature that Allah gave lie to romthe perspective o Allah’s mercy. Ourhearts ll with mercy. We do notharm our environment, our amily,our riends, nor even a single ant. Weknow that nonliving creatures are theblessings that our Exalted Lord hasprovided or our service. We avoidmisusing or wasting them.

Our beloved Prophet said:

“Once a man became very thirsty while

walking. He found a well, went into

it, drank the water from it and then

climbed out . Right then he saw a dogbreathing heavily. The dog was licking

the moist soil because it was so thirsty.

The man felt empathy for the dog who

was thirsty just as he was. He climbed

down into the well again and used his

shoe to get some water for the dog. He

climbed out of the well with the shoe in

his mouth, and then let the dog drink

from the shoe. Allah became pleased

with him because of his selfless act andforgave his sins.”

(Bukhari, Musakat, 9.)



101


Our Lord who is closer to us than our

jugular vein is the One who sees everything

and the Provider o everything. Nothing in

the universe exists outisde o His knowledge

and control.

Knowing that our Lord knows every-

thing makes us control and watch our acts.

As humans, we check our clothing or acts

even while taking a picture or recording with

a camera, this way we gain an auto-control

system. We do not orget that we are under

divine supervision and pay attention to our acts, behaviors, and thoughts. We shape our behaviors

not according to law and order or others, but with the consciousness o knowing that Allah sees

us at all times. We worship Allah with the knowledge that Allah sees us and our acts even though

we cannot see Him. We strive to do everything in the most perect way and to be qualied and

competent human beings.

When we believe in Allah, we shapeour lives according to His commandsand prohibitions. Due to our love o ourExalted Lord, we try to gain His content-ment. We are araid o causing His angerand rom His Hellre and avoid the actsthat He does not like. Tereore, we gaina consciousness called aqwa (avoidanceo disobeying Allah’s commands) in our

hearts. Having such aith makes us righ-teous and trustworthy human beings. We become part o those people who areknown to be righteous in their words andacts. Whatever happens, we do not devi-ate rom the righteous path by cheating.We do not have bad characteristics such as lying or raud. We take good care o the thingsthat are entrusted unto us. Just like our beloved Prophet, we can become trustworthy Muslims who are loved and respected in the society, who say what they think, exemplary due to their righteousness and honesty.


(Surah Al-Hadid (Iron); 57:4)

“...And He is with you wheresoever ye may

be. And Allah sees well all that ye do.”


(Surah Ahqaf (The Wind-curved Sandhills,The Dunes); 46:13-14)

“Verily those who say, “Our Lord is Al-

lah,” and remain firm (on that Path),-

on them shall be no fear, nor shall

they grieve. Such shall be Companions

of the Gardens, dwelling therein (for

aye): a recompense for their (good)

deeds.”



102


Allah is the One who created us, the

One who created our souls and placed love

our hearts. One o His beautiul namesis”Wadud.” In other words, He is both the

lover and the beloved.

Our magnicent Lord, the source o

love, loves us, His servants very much. He

has proven His love by providing us with

His countless blessings and by inorming us

about better blessings in the Hereaer. In re-

turn, He wants us to believe in Him, worship

Him as He wants us to and love Him.

We love Allah as a requirement o our

aith and indication o our thanks. Tat is

because He is the one who is most worthy o

being loved.

o love Allah is the zenith o one’s aith.

Loving Him is the beginning o all nice and

beautiul things. As Muslims that we believe

in Allah rom the bottom o our hearts, we

love Him more than everything else, even

more than our lives. We know that the love

o our mothers, athers, spouses, children,

riends and others are the blessings that our

Exalted Lord provided or us. We can never

compare the love o Allah to other kinds o love.

A lover always remembers the loved one.

He gets pleasure rom reciting his name. He

never orgets the loved one. As a believer, we

too remember our Lord through our wor-

ship, prayers, recitations o the Quran and

supplications. We think about His greatness

and power with His beautiul names. We

show our love by remembering Him.

THE LOVE OF ALLAH


“There are three characteristics. Who-

ever has them gets the taste of faith:

Loving Allah and His Messenger more

than anyone else. To love the things

one loves just for Allah. Seeing return-

ing to disbelief after Allah saves him

from the quagmire of disbelief as badand dangerous as being burned in the

fire.”

(Bukhari, Iman, 9)



“But those of Faith are overflowing

in their love for Allah.”



“Say: “If ye do love Allah, Follow me:

Allah will love you and forgive you

your sins: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving,

Most Merciful.””



103


Tose who love Allah ollow the path

o His Prophet. Islam is a path that teaches

love. Te teachers o this path o love are the

prophets who are the most virtuous and su-perior humans in the world. Our Prophet

Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) was the “Habibullah,”

that is, “the beloved subject o Allah.” As we

continue in the path o our Prophet we both

show our love or Allah and gain His love.

When our hearts are lled with the love

o Allah, our lives become meaningul, our

behaviors become more mature, and ourmanners become better. We try to please

Allah because o our love or Him. We obey

our Lord’s words, ollow His prophets, and

do not part rom the true path that He has

shown us. When we act like this, Allah also

loves us and accepts us along with the other

servants whom he loves. We become one o

His select slaves and riends. We gain the

love o believers and angels.


(Surah Ar-Rad (The Thunder); 13:28)

“Those who believe, and whose hearts find

satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah. For

without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do

hearts find satisfaction.”


(Surah Al-Maryam (Mary); 19:96)

“On those who believe and work

deeds of righteousness, will ((Allah))

Most Gracious bestow love.”

One o the riends o Allah said:

- I know when my Lord remem-bers me. Ten, people gatheredaround him and asked:

- How do you know this? He an-swered as ollows:

- It is very easy to understandthis. When I remember my Lord, My Lord remembers me.



104


Supplication is to accept our weaknesses

and all that we are incapable o, and to turn to

Allah the Exalted, asking Him or help. It is one

o the moments that we are closest to our Lord.We open our hands, beg, and invoke. We pass on

our wishes to Allah through supplications.

Tere are no certain conditions, special

times or place or oering supplications. We

may oer supplications anytime and anywhere.

However, some periods and locations are good

opportunities or oering supplications. Te holy

days and nights, Fridays, times o ast breaking

(ifhar) or pre-dawn meals beore the ast are

important opportunities or supplications. Holy

places, such as the Kaaba and Araah in Mecca

are places where supplications are accepted.

Allah the Exalted accepts wholehearted

and sincere supplications. Allah does not return

empty handedly a servant who prays wholehear-

tedly. However, one should not hasten to see the

results o their supplications, because Allah is

the one who knows best what is most benecial

or his servant. In this respect our beloved Pro-phet says: “Unless one o you hurries and says

‘I prayed so many times to my Lord, but He did

not accept it,’ His prayer is accepted.”

(Bukhari, Deavat, 22)

Supplication is a orm o worship that keeps

our contact alive with our Lord at all times. Just

when we remember the Exalted Allah in our di-

cult and anxious times we remember Him in

times o ease and comort and pray to Him at

every opportunity.

It is just as important to obtain the prayers

o others as it is to pray. Acts such as helping

our mothers set the table, oering water to our

elders, nding a solution to one o our riends’

troubles, are all good opportunities to obtain the

prayers o others. Ten, starting with our pa-

rents, we need to try to gain the prayers o our

elders, righteous and knowledgeable people, tea-

chers, guests, neighbors, orphans, the destitute,and poor people. We, in turn, should pray or

them and or our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Our beloved Prophet commands:

“Prayer is the essence of worship.”

(Tirmizi, Deavat,1)

Our beloved Prophet commands:

“Remember Allah when you are in ease

and comfort so that He remembers you

when you are in difficulty and anxi-

ety.”

(Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Musned, I,)

THE LIFEBLOOD OF OUR WORSHIP: SUPPLICATION



“When My servants ask thee concerning Me,

I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the

prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on

Me...”

O my Allah! Please protect the Nation o Muhammad! Please orgive them. Please do not

hold back your help and mercy on them.



105


One Muslim used to wake up every

night and remember to pray to Allah.Satan said to this Muslim:

- O man who loves Allah very much,even i you recite the name o Allah allnight long, is there anyone who answersyour prayers? Not even one answer iscoming to you, how long are you goingto continue praying?

Te man became sad. He put downhis head and went to sleep. In his dream,he heard:

- Wake up! Why did you abandonyour prayers? Why did you get tired?

Te man said:

- Tere is no one answering “ell memy servant!” I am scared o being de-nied. Upon this he heard:

-I you can say “Allah,” it is only because He says “Say my servant.”I He had not said “Say my servant,”you would not have been able to say “Allah” and pray to Him. Your invocations are due to His sending awish to your soul or doing so. Youreorts, your search or solutionstake place because Allah wants

you to get closer to Him andHe unties your eet. Withyour every prayer begin-ning with “O my Lord,”Allah answers “ell Memy servant.” A personwhose soul is away romworship and prayers isalso away rom the sup-

plication: “O my Lord!” Tis is because

he has not been blessed with saying “Omy Lord!” Tere is a lock in his mouth,and also in his tongue and soul.

Perhaps Allah did not give him trou-bles, aches, pain, sorrow, and sadness sothat he would not cry and whine whenhe is hurt. Understand rom here thatthe troubles and worries that cause youto pray to and call Allah, are better than

the kingdom o this world. Te suppli-cation without troubles is cold. Te sup-plication when oered during times o trouble comes directly rom the heart.

Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi

TELL ME MY SERVANT



106


For months,

not even a single

drop of rain had fallen. For animals, the-

re was no water left ex-

cept the muddy water

in the pond. Humans,

on the other hand, were

trying to survive with

the water in the wells,

which was nearly fi-

nished. They believed

that there is no way out of this except by

praying to Allah. For days, they prayedfor it to rain, sacrificed animals, gave

alms, made orphans happy, but so-

mehow nothing wor-

ked.

They did not

know what to

do. A few villages

came together

and prayed onemore time for it to

rain. From children

to elderly, young

to old, the whole

village gathered

in the threshing

field. The reli-

gious leaders of

the village and nei-

ghboring villages ga-

thered together as well.

They recited Surah Yasin from

the Quran and mawlids (narra-

tions of Prophet’s life and virtues).

They distributed alms and sacrificed

animals. They prayed for hours. All eyes

were fixed on the sky. Yet, still, night hadnot fallen.

The next day, they had planned to pray for it to rain one more time. The sun had

risen and everywhere was bright. That

day, the weather looked even warmer.

The women were waiting in the line early

in the morning for the water that they

needed. The men completed their work

in their homes and they were about to go

out to praying for some rain. Also, today

some famous masters and religious leaders were going to come from the city.

SWEEPING IS FROM ME AND

WATERING IS FROM YOU



107


Towards midmorning, people of the nei-

ghboring villages started to come. The

guest masters had come too. The prayer

service was about to begin. At that mo-

ment, an old lady opened her door as sheheld her back. Due to her age and illness,

she was not able to go to the threshing

field. She was so sad about not getting

any rain and continuously was asking for

forgiveness from Allah. She used to keep

her spirits high and say that Allah is mer-

ciful to His subjects and one day it will

rain.

In spite of her aching back, she swept the

front of her doorway with difficulty. While

raising her back a little bit, she looked at

the sky with her wet eyes. She used to

first wet the floors with some water

before sweeping the front of her

house in order to keep

the dust from getting

everywhere. However,

due to lack of water, she

could not do that this timeand some dust had gotten

into her throat. She wanted

to have one sip of water

so much! At that time she

said: “O my Lord! Let the

sweeping be from me

and the water be from

You.”

That was all she said.Black clouds were

seen from afar even

though she had

not entered her

house yet. In a

few minutes,

the black rain

clouds have

covered the

who-

le sky. In half an hour, it was raining cats

and dogs. The crowd in the threshing

field was both surprised that it started rai-

ning before they started to pray and get

wet. They were returning to their houseswhile both thanking Allah and crying out

of happiness and amazement, not being

quite able to fathom the mystery behind

how it happened.



108


WHAT DOES BEING A MUSLIM ENTAIL?

WE,

* Owe everything we have to Allah as His subjects.

* Do not associate partners with Allah.

* Do not accept any other god but God.

* Love Allah more than anything else.

* Worship only Him.

* Pray only to Allah and ask for help only from Him.

* Trust in Allah and believe that He will not leave us alone and

helpless.

* Know that all the goodness comes from Allah and thank only

Him.

* Only perform our prayers for Him and prostrate only to Him.

* Hope for His mercy and fear His anger.

* Perform our Almighty Lord’s commands.

* do not do the things that our Lord prohibits.

* Love Allah a lot and recite His name everywhere and in every

situation.* Try to read, listen, and understand the word of Allah, the Noble

Quran.

THAT IS BECAUSE WE ARE MUSLIMS.



109


Te Prophet had organized a military

expedition to the Najd region o Arabia.When they were returning to Medina, the

soldiers who completed the expedition got

very tired. Te weather was hot and they still

had a long way to go. It was noon. As soon

as they reached a place with trees and shade,

they took a break. In order or our Beloved

Prophet to be comortable, the Companions

le the best place or him. Tey themselves

relaxed under the shade urther away.

Te Muslim soldiers went to sleep right

away due to the long and tiring travel and

the eects o the hot weather. Our Prophet

had relaxed under a tree with dense leaves.

He hung his sword rom the tree and went

to sleep.

Te enemy was secretly ollowing the

Muslim soldiers. For the enemy who was

waiting or the right timing, this was the

time. By encouraging one o the non-believ-

ers among them whose name is Gavres, they

wanted to kill our Prophet. Gavres got very

close to our Prophet without being noticed

by anyone. He got the sword hanging rom

the tree. He was about to hit the Prophet

when he opened up his blessed eyes. Gavresasked:

- O Muhammad! Now, who is going to

save you rom me?

Our Prophet answered the enemy who

wanted to kill him without getting scared or

worried:

- “Allah!”

Te enemy who was thrilled by the un-

bending aith o our Prophet and his trust inAllah dropped the sword. Our Prophet got

the sword and asked the man:

- Now, who is going to save you rom

me?

Te man who did not understand what

had happened said:

- Stop! Don’t punish me right away! Te

Messenger o Allah asked:

- Will you acknowledge that there is no

god but Allah and that I am His messen-

ger?

Te man said:

- No, I would not. However, I can prom-

ise that I will not ght with you and will not

join in any army that will ght with you.

Upon that, our Prophet reed the man

who was about to kill him. At that time,

the Companions who heard the noise came

there. Te man le there among the shocked

looks o the Companions. Te man was so

touched rom this merciul and orgiving

act. When he returned to his riends, he

said:- Now, I am coming rom the place o

the Best Human. (Bukhari, Cihad, 84)

WHO IS GOING TO SAVE?



110


Te Prophet loved Allah more than any-thing else. He never compared the love o Allah with anything else. In order to protect

this state o love he used to pray to Allah, “O

my Lord! Make your love more superior to me

than my lie, my amily, and cold water!” (ir-

mizi, Deavat, 72)

Te thought o gaining the love o Allahwas the underlying idea or the Prophet in

his relations with the universe, humanity,the animal kingdom, and all other creatures.Since he loved Allah very much, he acted with

mercy and compassion towards His creatures.

He wanted to please Allah in each o his

acts and always prayed, “O my Lord! I wish

rom You to love You, to love those who love

You, and love the acts that make me reach Your

love.” (irmizi, Deavat, 72)

Te Prophet used to recite the nameo Allah and also said “Te die-rence between those who recite thename o Allah and those who donot is like the dierence betweenthe living and the dead.” (Bukhari,

Deavat, 66) He used to begin all o his

acts with the name o Allah and would

get pleasure rom reciting His beautiul na-

mes and attributes.

Our beloved Prophet was very ear-

ul o disobeying Allah’s commands. He

always kept in his heart the worry o

losing Allah’s love and mercy. His

heart used to shiver rom the respect

and love o our Almighty Lord. He

would not ail in respect and obe-

dience and used to say “I am the onewho knows. He would not orget about

the magnitude o the torment o Allah. When

strong winds blew, thunder squalled or dark

clouds appeared. He remembered how

some o the previous nations were

ruined. In these kinds o situations,

he used to pray and supplicate in

ear o Allah’s anger. Sometimes,

when he read or listened to the

Noble Quran, or while praying, his

heart used to shiver with the ear o

Allah, and he used to burst into tears.

Our Prophet usedto trust Allah’s helpand mercy at all times

and submit himsel toAllah. Our Prophet and

Abu Bakir were hiding rom

some Meccan non-believers. Abu

Bakir was worried that the non-believers

who were standing right in ront o the en-

trance o the cave that they were hiding in

THE PROPHET LOVED

ALLAH VERY MUCH


“O my Allah! You are my Lord. There is

no deity that is worthy of worship other

than You. You have created me. I am

your subject. I still keep my promise and

vow that I gave you in the eternal past

as much as I am able to. I seek refugein You from my faults. I thankfully ac-

knowledge Your blessings in Your pres-

ence, and confess my sins. Forgive me!

There is no doubt that You are the only

One who can forgive sins.”

(Bukhari, Deavat, 2)



111


would harm the Prophet. Te Prophet said to

Abu Bakir “Don’t worry! Allah is with us.”

While the Prophet knew that Allah’s an-

ger is severe, he never lost hope in His mercy.

He lived a balanced lie between ear andhope. He used to say that he also would be sa-

ved only with Allah’s mercy even i he was a

prophet. He said that “Prayer is the essence o

religion” (irmizi, Deavat, 1) and used to pray to

Allah at every chance or being a good servant

to Him. He used to ask or His help, mercy,

and orgiveness.

Our Prophet would always give the mostthanks to Allah. He showed his love o Allah

by worshipping him day and night. In or-

der to thank Allah, he would not just

practice the required ritual duties,

but he also would practice supe-

rerogatory acts. He would ast on

certain days o each month and

perorm prayers during the ni-

ghts. Even his eet sometimes

used to swell due to standingup or long periods o time.

Once it was asked to him

that “Even though his past

and present sins are orgi-

ven, why he was tiring him-

sel so much,” he answered

“Should I not be a servant

who thanks Allah?” (Bukha-

ri, aseer, Sure 48, 2)

Prophet Muham-

mad, the best example

and leader in every sub-

ject, taught us that the

real thanksgiving would

be with obeying and

worshipping Allah. He

wanted to be a servant

that always thanked. Heused to pray, “My Allah!

Help me to remember You, be thankul or Your

blessings, and worship You in the best manner!”

and recommended us to pray like this as well.

He thanked Allah at time o difculty and

when times were easy. He used to say “Al-hamdulillah” or every blessing that Allah had

provided and expressed what was in his heart.



112


In the name o God, Most Gracious, Most Merciul.

God! Tere is no god but He, -the Living, the Sel-subsisting, Eternal.

No slumber can seize Him nor sleep.

His are all things in the heavens and on Earth.

Who is there can intercede in His presence expect as He permitteth?

He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) beore or aer or behind them

Nor shall they compass aught o His knowledge except as He willeth.

His Trone doth extend over the heavens and the earth,

And He eelth no atigue in guarding and preserving them or He is the Most

High, Te Supreme (in glory.)

(Surah Al-Bakara (Te Cow); 2:255)



113


QUESTIONS

(be / leaf / love / Prayer / love / (furthest) regions (of the earth) / close (to

them) / hearts / Allah / their own souls)

1. “Soon will We show them our Signs in the…………, and in…....”

2. “He knoweth whatever there is on the earth and in the sea. Not a ….doth all butwith His knowledge.”

3. “Verily, when He intends a thing, His Command is, “…..”, and it is!”

4. “But those o Faith are overowing in their love or…...”

5. “Say: “I ye do ……Allah, Follow me: Allah will ……..you and orgive you yoursins.

6. “Tose who believe, or without doubt in the remembrance o Allah do …….ndsatisaction.”

7. “……is the essence o worship.”

8. “When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed……: I listen to the prayero every suppliant when he calleth on Me.”

Fill in the blanks with the words in the parenthesis



114


Let’s Test Ourselves

1. Which one of the following when

observed in a Muslim, would giveone a taste of faith?

a. To love Allah and His Messenger more

than anyone else.

b. To love for the sake of Allah.

c. To see abandoning the religion as dan-

gerous as burning in fire.

d. All of the above.

2. Which one of the following is

wrong regarding prayer?a. It is not necessary to have a certain place

and time to pray.

b. It is necessary to make ablution before

offering a supplication.

c. It is necessary to make ablution before

offering a supplication.

d. Let’s pray when we have plenty so that

our Lord will help us through difficult

times.

3. Let’s pray when we have plenty so

that our Lord will help us through dif-

ficult times.

a. He used to recite the name of Allah all

the time.

b. He aimed to gain the consent of Allah in

all of his acts and words.

c. He was the leader (imam) of his Noble

Companions during the five daily pra-

yers.

d. He always prayed and worshiped Allah

in thanks.

4. Which one of the following is not

among the benefits of believing inAllah?

a. It makes us loved by all humans.

b. It gives us an endless feeling of confi-

dence.

c. It makes us act with mercy and compas-

sion towards other creatures.

d. It makes us control our behaviors.



115


5. Which one of the below cannot besaid to express the existence andoneness of Allah?

a. Every piece of art has an artist who pro-

duced it. There is a creator of this uni-

verse, too.

b. The perfect form and system in the hu-

man body cannot happen by itself. This

proves the existence of a creator.

c. It is impossible for the sun to rise and set,

the night and day and seasons to occur

by themselves. The perfect system in

the universe is proof of a creator.

d. Everybody has the right to choose good

or evil.



116


THE ANSWER KEY

Fill in the blanks with the words in parenthesis.

1. their own souls - (furthest) regions (of the earth) 2. leaf

3. be 4. Allah

5. Love / love 6. hearts

7. Prayer 8. close (to them)

Kendimizi Deneyelim

1. d 2. b 3. c 4. a 5. d



THE SYMBOL OF GOODNESS AND BEAUTY

BELIEVING IN THE ANGELS

• Visible and Invisible Creatures

• Believing in the Angels

• The Properties and Duties of the Angels

• The Benefits of Believing in the Angels

• The Characteristics of Satan

• The Prophet and the Angels



118


Halil was a smart and careul child

who enjoyed thinking. He looked or thecauses o certain events that he witnessed orthoughts that would crossed his mind, andmost o the time, he would come up withconclusions that were good and benecial.

One day, he said to his ather:

- Father, when I see my mother work-ing hard or us and getting tired, I becomeso sad.

At those times, I want to help my moth-er. And I do help my mother. But sometimes,even though I know that my mother needsmy help, I want to go out and play, and I do just that. I do not understand how I can actthis way since I love my mother very much.

His ather was used to Halil askingquestions like these. He liked his son’s sin-

cerity by talking openly without hiding hiseelings. He said to Halil:

- Tis condition is not specic to youmy son, everybody is like this.

- Is that right? Actually, I am very happy. I was blaming mysel thinking that Iwas the only one like this. However, I won-der about the reason or this. Aren’t these

such opposing thoughts?- Tey sure are. Humans think like

these opposing thoughts since they are un-der the inuence o two opposing beingswhom they cannot see. Te rst o these be-ings are the angels and the other one is Sa-tan.

- What do angels do, ather?

- Angels give us good advice. Tey say: Be good! Perorm these acts o kind-ness! Tey do not want us to perorm any

bad acts. I we do something bad, the angels

become very sad.- What does Satan do?

- He suggests that we do bad things.He wants us to say bad words and hurt oth-ers’ eelings. He wants us to disobey Allah’scommands. He is happy when we disobey the elderly and do not listen our parents.

- But ather! When I want to do some-

thing good or bad, I do not hear a voice thatsays “do this!” or “don’t do that!”

- Te voices o the angel and Satan donot sound like human voices. Tey inu-ence our minds directly. Let’s work on theexample that you gave me.

Whenever you think, “My mother istiring hersel too much. She does not have

anyone to help her; I want her to relax a littlebit. She works hard or us. Let me help her alittle!” you should know that this is the voiceo angel. While you see your mother likethat, i you think:

“Why do I care i my mother gets tired?I am in no position to help anyone rightnow,” you should know that Satan is tryingto ool you. Sometimes, Satan works hard

and makes you act the way that you neverwould want and makes you think suchthoughts as:

“I she is working hard, she is doing itor her home. Everybody is doing their part.What can I do i she gets tired?” At thattime, we should pull ourselves together andwithout alling into Satan’s trap.

In order or you to dierentiate betweenthe voice o the angel and the voice o Satan,I will give you another clue.

THE VOICE OF THE ANGEL



119


I ever we want to do the things that Al-lah wants us to do and our Prophet wouldhave wanted us to do, we should know thatwe eel this way due to the inuence o the

angels. I we eel the opposite, this is be-cause o Satan’s inuence. Satan wants us todistance ourselves rom religion, in otherwords, the good and nice things in lie.

- Why can’t we see the angels and Sa-tan, my ather? Can you tell me more aboutangels and Satan?

- We cannot see them since theirorms are dierent rom ours. I will explainthis some other time since I have to go towork now.

Halil thanked his ather and started tothink about the angels and Satan…

M. Yaşar KANDEMİR



120


Allah has created all o the creatures andregulated the whole universe. Almighty Al-

lah has created an innite number o crea-

tures that are both visible and invisible to our

eyes.

We can see and comprehend some o the

creatures with our sensory organs. However,

not all creatures are ones that we can sense.

Tere are also creatures that we cannot see

and comprehend.

In order to acknowledge the existence o

something, we do not have to see it. Tere are

many things whose existence we acknowledge

even i we cannot see them. For example, we

cannot see our intelligence, love, mercy, and

happiness. However, we all accept their ex-

istence. We also cannot see electricity trav-eling through the wires, or the sound waves

in the air. Tese examples show us that the

creatures are not just the ones that are visible

to our eyes.

Humans, animals, plants, mountains,

oceans, trees, owers, the Moon, the Sun, and

the stars are all examples o visible creatures.

Te angels and Satan are among the invis-

ible creatures. Te reason why we cannot seethem is because our eyes are not made to see

them. We cannot see the angels and Satan,

but we believe that they exist. Tis is because

our Lord inormed us about the existence o

angels and Satan in the Noble Quran.

VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE BEINGS



121


Te angels were created under Allah’s

order to perorm certain duties. We cannot

sense angels with our sensory organs andcannot see them with our eyes. For this rea-

son, we can get inormation about them only

rom the Noble Quran and our Prophet.

Believing in the existence o angels is one

o the principles o aith in Islam. Denying the

existence o angels is the same as indirectly

denying the divine revelation, prophets, and

the books that are revealed to the prophets,

and the religion that they announce. Tat isbecause Allah had revealed His messages to

prophets via angels. Tereore, those who be-

lieve in the divine revelation, prophets, and

books should also believe in angels.

Properties o the Angels

Te angels have some properties that are

dierent rom humans and other creatures.

Te angels are created rom divine light.

Tey are very strong and powerul. Tey can

move extremely quickly. For this reason, they

can travel long distances in short periods o

time.

Angels are creatures that ulll the duties

that Allah commands them to do. Tey are

always busy obeying and worshipping Allah.

Tey do not disobey the commands o Allah.

Tey do not commit any sins by violating any

o the prohibitions o Allah. Tey never harm

any creature.

Tey do not have a gender. Tey do noteat, drink, or sleep. Tey never get tired rom

working and worshipping.

Te Duties o Angels

Te duty o the angels is to be servants

o Allah and to ulll His commands. An-

gels ulll the commands o Allah precisely.

While they ulll their duties, they do not

get bored, weary, or tired. Tey continuously worship Allah and never disobey Him.

Te main duty o angels are worshipping

Allah and obeying Him. Apart rom these

main duties, there are some angels that are

appointed or special duties. Te most im-

portant o these are the our high-ranking

angels.

Gabriel (Jibra’il): Tis angel was given

the responsibility o relaying the revelationso Allah’s messages to the prophets. At the

same time, Gabriel delivers the messages and

commands o Allah to other angels.

Te Angel o Death (Azrael): With the

permission o Allah, Azrael’s responsibility

is to take the souls at the time o death. For

BELIEVING IN THE ANGELS


“Angels were created from divine light,

jinn from fire, and Adam from earth.”

(Muslim, Zuhd, 10)



122



(Surah Al-Infitar (The Cleaving, Bursting Apart); 82:10-12)

“But verily over you (are appointed an-

gels) to protect you, Kind and honour - able,- Writing down (your deeds): They

know (and understand) all that ye do.”


(Surah Al-Tahrim (Banning, Prohibition); 66:6)

“... angels stern (and) severe, who flinch

not (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do (precisely) what

they are commanded.”

this reason, this angel is called “the angel o

death” in the Noble Quran.

Michael (Mikail): Tis angel in charge

o the ormation o some natural phenomena

and the growth o vegetation / creature’s daily

sustenance.

Raphael (Israfl): Tis angel has been in

charge o the task o blowing the trumpet (al-

Tur) on Doomsday (al-Qiyamah) to let ev-

eryone know that the Hereaer has started.

Apart rom these our high-ranked an-

gels, there are many others that are appointedspecial jobs. Some o them are as ollows:

Al-Kiram’an-Katibin: Tey are the an-

gels that record our good and evil deeds.

Tey are the angels that are located on the

right and le shoulders o humans. Te an-

gel on the right shoulder records our nice

words, acts, and behaviors. Te angel on the

le shoulder records our bad words, works,

and acts. When we are held accountable or

the good and bad behaviors, these angels will

be our witnesses.

Al-Haadhah Angels: Tey are the pro-

tective angels. Tey are appointed to protect

humans that take reuge in and trust in Al-

lah. Tey protect humans rom accidents and

trouble with the permission o Allah.

Al-Munkar and Al-Nakir: Tey are the

questioning angels. Tese are two angels that

are responsible or questioning us in our

graves. Tey will ask questions such as “Who

is your Lord? What is your book?” and will

act according to our answers.

Other angels: Other than those that areexplained above, there are many other angels

that are appointed to ulll many other tasks.

For example, some angels inspire humans’

hearts towards the right path and ruth,

while some angels record the greetings (sala-

wat) that are sent to our Prophet, and some

angels carry out the duties regarding Para-

dise and Hell.



123


One morning, the cousin and son-in-law o our Prophet, Ali, met with hisriend Saeed bin Iaka. By holding hishand, Ali said:

“Saeed! oday, let’s go to visit a sick person. Hassan is sick. Let’s visit him.”

Tey hit the road. When they reachHassan’s house, Abu Musa el-Ash’ari

(r.a.) was there too.Ali asked:

- O Abu Musa! Did you come withthe intention o visiting a sick per-son, or did you just stop by or something else? AbuMusa said:

- I came to visit

him because he issick.

Upon this,Ali told thegood news

that he heard rom the Messenger o Al-lah:

“I one Muslim visits in the morning another Muslim who is sick, seventy thou-sand angels prays or him and asks or his

orgiveness until the evening. I he visitshim in the evening, seventy thousand an-

gels will pray or him until the morning. Also, or this person, there will be ruits

collected in the heaven.”

(irmizi, Janaiz, 2)

Angels Pray for Those Who Visit the Sick



124


Te Prophet who was careul abouthis neighborly relations used to visit hisneighbors as much as he could. Once,he blessed the house o Ummu Umarawho is also called Lady Nasiba and a-mous or her bravery in the Uhud War.Ummu Umara who was so pleased withthe Prophet’s visit prepared somethingto eat right away. She oered the ood

to our Prophet and the others who werewith him. Our Prophet wanted the hostto eat rom the ood as well and oeredsome ood by saying:

- Come on, you eat too! Ummu Um-are said:

- I am asting.

Since Ummu Umara was perorminga supererogatory asting, she could not join the supper. Upon this, the Prophetgave us the good news,

“I some ood is eaten next to someonewho is asting, angels pray or the personwho is asting until others fnish their ood or become ull.”

(irmizi, Sawm, 66)

Angels Pray for Those Who Fast



125


Angels continuously worship andobey Allah. Some o them are always inprostration and others are in a bowingposition. Tey remember Allah withoutstopping and ask or the orgiveness o the believers. Believing in angels thathave these properties makes us be-come more conscious o our servitudeor Allah and encourages us to wor-ship Him. It encourages us to ask or

His orgiveness or our aults and sinsand to be the persons He wants us to be.It encourages us to utilize our days andnights better. We look up to the angelsand try to be one o those servants whoworship Allah all the time.

Increases our consciousness

of servanthood and gives us the

love of worshipping.

Keeps us away from wrongacts.

Corrects our manners.

Encourages us to work andgives us positive energy.

BELIEVING

IN THE ANGELS

THE BENEFITS OF BELIEVING

IN THE ANGELS


(Surah Al-Anbiya (The Prophets); 21:19-20)

“Even those who are in His (very) Pres- ence are not too proud to serve Him,nor are they (ever) weary (of His service): They celebrate His praises night and day, nor do they ever flag or in- termit.”



126


Believing in al-Kiram’an-Kati-

bin angels who are located on ourright and le shoulders and recordour acts, and also in al-Munkarand al-Nakir angels who will ques-tion us in our graves, will keep alivethe eeling o being responsible orHereaer. It reminds us that wewill be accountable or our acts oneday. Believing in angels as a Muslim

makes it easy or us to balance andcontrol our words, acts, and rela-tions with others. It enablesus to shape ourselves andstay away rom wrong doings. Believing inangels makes us hu-mans “like angels.”In order not tobother the angelsthat stays withus, we stay away rom bad andmean words. Wedo not backbiteor tease anyone.We avoid being un- just and do not actrude to anybody.


(Surah Qaf; 50:17-18)

“Behold, two (guardian angels) appointed to learn (his doings) learn (andnoted them), one sitting on the right and one on the left. Not a word doeshe utter but there is a sentinel by him,ready (to note it).”



127


Angels inspire us to do good,beautiul, righteous, and truthulacts. Tey get happy rom each o our good acts that we do by obey-ing our Almighty Lord’s and ourProphet’s commands. Tey pray toAllah or our orgiveness. When weact nicely or the sake o Allah suchas when we are nice to our parents,

when we help our riends and pray or them, when we visit our relativesor the sick, when we perorm ourprayers, when we recite the NobleQuran, or when we seek knowledge,angels pray or us and ask Allah toorgive us. Knowing and believingthat our good deeds are acknowl-edged and appreciated makes us eel

better. It encourages us to act evenbetter; it corrects our manners.


“Both Satan and Angels inspire some feelings and thoughts into humans’ hearts.The job of Satan is to invite humans towrong doing, incline them to do thingswhich turn out to be bad and harmful at the end, and keep them away from thetruth. The job of an angel is to invite humans to truth, to beautiful, and to good-

ness, and to keep them away from wrongdoing. Whoever hears a voice in themthat invites him to goodness, he shouldknow that this is the voice of an angel. Heshould listen to this voice immediately andthank Allah. Whoever hears a voice that invites them to wrongdoings, he shouldknow this is the voice of Satan. He shouldnot listen to this voice and take shelter in

Allah’s protection.”

Tirmidhî, Tafsir, 3.



128


Allah is the One who gives theenergy to work. Tereore, every

success is due to Him. Our Lordis always with those who are goodand work hard. Tat is because, Heloves His servants’ work and giveswhat those servants ask or. Whenwe intend to do something good,the Almighty Allah helps us. Teangels that He appointed stay withus and they inspire nice and goodthoughts. Tey are happy when weperorm benecial and nice acts.Tey pray to Allah or our success.Tey help us with the permissiono our Lord in dicult times. Inthe Noble Quran, we are inormedthat ve thousand angels were ap-pointed to help Muslims, to give the good news o victory, and to give moral supportin the Battle o Badr. Believing that Almighty Allah will send angels to help us inour hard times encourages us to work and gives us positive energy. We do not eel

exhausted and hopeless when we ace hardships.


(Surah Fussilat (signs) Spelled Out); 41:30-31)

“In the case of those who say, “Our Lordis Allah., and, further, stand straight andsteadfast, the angels descend on them(from time to time): “Fear ye not!” (they suggest), “Nor grieve! but receive theGlad Tidings of the Garden (of Bliss),the which ye were promised! “We are your protectors in this life and in the

Hereafter: therein shall ye have all that your souls shall desire; therein shall yehave all that ye ask for!”



129


Angels pray or Muslims to be protect-ed rom wrongdoings and sins and to reach

goodness. Our Almighty Lord inorms usabout it as ollows:

“Tose who sustain the Trone (o Al-lah. and those around it Sing Glory andPraise to their Lord; believe in Him; andimplore Forgiveness or those who believe:“Our Lord! Ty Reach is over all things, inMercy and Knowledge. Forgive, then, thosewho turn in Repentance, and ollow Ty

Path; and preserve them rom the Penalty o the Blazing Fire!

And grant, our Lord! that they enter theGardens o Eternity, which Tou hast prom-ised to them, and to the righteous amongtheir athers, their wives, and their poster-ity! For Tou art (He), the Exalted in Might,Full o Wisdom.

And preserve them rom (all) ills; andany whom Tou dost preserve rom ills thatDay,- on them wilt Tou have bestowedMercy indeed: and that will be truly (orthem) the highest Achievement”.”

(Surah Mumin (or Ghar), Te Believer (or Te

Forgiver (god))); 40:7-9)


“The prayer that is made by a Muslim

for his Muslim brother who is not with

him at that time gets accepted. As the

Muslim prays for his brother in religion,

the appointed angel that is with him

prays as: ‘May Allah accept your prayer!

May the same be given to you, too.’”

(Tirmizi, Tefsir, 3)

D o y o u

w a n t t o

recei ve the pr a y e r s o f a n g e l s ?

ANGELS PRAY FOR BELIEVERS

Our beloved Prophet advised us to

pray in every chance, and gave us the

good news that angels say ‘amen’ to

all of our prayers. He advised us to ask

for good and nice things from Allah:

“When you pray, pray for only nice

and good things for yourself. That

is because angels say ‘amen’ to your prayers.”

(Tirmizi, Tafseer, 3)

A n g e l s

Sa y ‘Amen’ to O u r P r a y e r s



130


Our beloved Prophet inorms usthat angels especially pray or believerswho seek knowledge and try to practicewhat they have learned:

“I someone travels to seek knowl-edge, Allah makes the way to Paradise

easy or him. Angels get very pleasedrom this act. Tey take those who seek knowledge under their wings. Every-thing on the heaven and earth and evensh in the oceans pray to Allah or theorgiveness o that scholar.”

(Abu Dawud, Ilm, 1)

Angels Pray to Those Who Seek Knowledge



131


Man was not created yet. Allah wantedto create Man to know and worship Him. Hesaid to angels:

- I will create a vicegerent on the earth.Te angels said:

- Are you going to create someone thatwill cause problems and shed blood, O my Lord? We always gloriy You and obey You.Allah said:

- I know things that you do not know.Te angels silenced. Ten they told eachother:

- For sure our Lord knows everything,and does not create things without a rea-son.

Ten, Allah said to them:

- O my angels! I will create the man out

o earth, shape it, and make him alive. Show him the respect that he deserves and pros-trate to him by ullling my command. Teangels said all at once:

- O our Almighty Lord! We obey Yourcommands and ulll them.

Satan did not like this command o Al-lah. Satan was ull o himsel, being haughty,and considering himsel to be superior to

the other creatures that Allah had created.

Finally, Allah had created the man.By obeying Allah’s command, the angelsshowed respect to Adam and prostratedbeore him. Satan became haughty and re-belled. He did not prostrate beore Adam.By this, he disobeyed Allah. Te Almighty Allah said to Satan:

- Why did you not listen to me? What isstopping you rom prostrating? Satan said:

- You have created me rom re and himrom earth.

I am superior to him. Upon this, theAlmighty Allah dismissed Satan rom Hispresence.

Later, Allah put Adam into Paradise andcreated Eve as his spouse. He said to Adam:

- O Adam! You and your spouse canstay in Paradise. You can eat rom every-thing as much as you want. However, do notcome close to this tree; otherwise you will beamong those who ruin themselves.

Te Almighty Allah gave permissionto eat rom everything else except romone tree. Tis way, He was teaching man tocontrol his desires and strengthen his sel-control.

Adam and Eve were living in Paradise inpeace. Tey did not know what getting tiredor scared meant. Tey were eating whateverthey desired. Te Almighty Allah warnedAdam about Satan.

- O Adam! For sure Satan is your andyour spouse’s enemy. Be careul, so he won’tlead you out o Paradise. Otherwise, you willbe sad. I you stay in Paradise, you neitherwill eel hungry or naked. In Paradise, youwon’t stay under the sun or eel thirsty.

Adam and Eve lived in Paradise orsome time. However, Satan was busy andwas devising some evil plans. Once he cameclose to them and said:

- O Adam! Do you want me to show you the tree o eternity and the eternal king-dom?

Adam looked at Satan and said:

ANGELS, SATAN, AND MAN



132


- What is it? Let me see it.

When Satan showed the tree that Allahhad orbidden, Adam did not believe himand sent him away. However, Satan would

not quit. He came to them one more timeand whispered:

- Do you know why your Lord prohib-ited you rom eating o this tree? I you eat

the ruits it bears, you can stay here orever.



133


In order or this not to happen, he prohib-ited you rom eating its ruits. Tink well,and eat rom this tree now!

Adam and Eve did not listen to Satan.

Tey went away rom there. Satan ollowedthem. By promising in the name o Allah,Satan said:

- Believe me, or sure I am giving yougood advice.

When Satan promised in the name o Allah, Adam and Eve said to each other:

- It is not possible or someone to prom-

ise in the name o Allah while lying. Maybehe is telling the truth. Ten, they started toeat rom the tree that Allah had prohibited.

- When they ate rom the tree, the covero Paradise was removed and they becameaware o their private parts. Tey elt soashamed. Tey tried to cover themselveswith the big leaves o the tree. Tey did notknow what to do.

Allah said:- Did I not orbid you to eat rom that

tree? Did I not tell you that Satan is yourenemy? Why didn’t you listen to my com-mands? Adam and Eve said:

- O my Lord! Please orgive us.

Almighty Allah said to them:

- I commanded you and you did not

obey my commands.Adam and Eve begged:

- O my Lord! We ruined ourselves. I You do not orgive us and show mercy tous, or sure we will be among those who arelost.

Almighty Allah said to Adam:

- I gave you my biggest blessing, Para-

dise. I provided whatever you wished or.

Was not what I gave you enough, that youhad to eat rom that tree?

Adam said:

- I swear I could not imagine that some-one would lie and swear in the name o You.

Almighty Allah said to Adam who wasbegging:

- I swear that you will go to Earth andearn your lie by working hard and sweat-ing.

Ten, Almighty Allah said:

- You all go to Earth. You will stay thereor a while and earn your lie.

Adam became so sad. He started to cry,sorrowul or what he had done. He begged:

- O my Lord, please orgive me! O my Lord, please orgive me!

At the end, Allah orgave Him by ac-cepting his prayers. Tat is because Allah

orgives those who regret what they havedone and repent by asking or orgiveness.He is merciul.

(Religious Stories rom Noble Quran,Seyyid Kutub – Abdullah Joodah as-Sah-har)

(For the related verses in Quran see:

Surah Baqara (Te Cow); 2:30-37 and SurahA’ra (Te Heights); 7:11-25)



134


One o the invisible creatures is Satan.Te other name o the Satan that is men-

tioned in the Noble Quran is Iblis. Satan wasexpelled rom the presence o Allah sincehe disobeyed Allah’s command and did notprostrate to the rst human Adam. He wascreated rom re. He is the symbol o evil.

Te reason or Satan’s dismissal romthe presence o Allah is his being arrogantand disobeying Allah’s command. However,Satan became an enemy to humans, arguing

that humankind was the reason or his pun-ishment by Allah. For this reason, Satan triesevery lie, trick, and cheat to prevent humansrom nding the right path. Satan wantshumans to sin by disobeying Allah’s com-mands. By doing this, Satan wants to takerevenge by causing Adam and his bloodlineto go to Hell. Our Lord warns us o Satan’shostility and tricks:

“Verily Satan is an enemy to you: sotreat him as an enemy. He only invites hisadherents, that they may become Compan-ions o the Blazing Fire.” (Surah Fatir; 35:6)

Satan is not a powerul creature thatwe should be scared o. Satan only invokesnegative eelings and thoughts in our hearts.Satan puts worry in our hearts. Satan makesbad and evil acts appear good. He tries to

make us orget about Allah and the Herea-ter. Whereas, we humans have intelligenceand sel-control. With these characteris-tics, we are more powerul than Satan. Eventhough Satan’s orm is dierent and invisible,he does not have the power to push us to dowrong. Satan cannot orce us to do wrong.Allah the Exalted inorms us o this act asollows:

“No authority has he over those whobelieve and put their trust in their Lord.His authority is over those only, who takehim as their patron and who join partnerswith Allah.” (Surah Nahl (Te Bee); 16:99-100)

I we use our intellects and sel-control,without becoming inuenced by the eelingsand thoughts that Satan invokes within us,we will not perorm bad and evil acts. Tus,we would win the struggle between Satanand humankind. However, we should notorget that it is not enough to win this strug-

gle once. Tis is a struggle that will last untilthe end o our lives.

SATAN


(Surah Kahf (The Cave); 18:50)

“They bowed down except Iblis. He

was one of the Jinns, and he broke the

Command of his Lord...”



135



(Surah Fussilat ((signs) Spelled Out); 41:36)

“And if (at any time) an incitement to discord is made to thee by theEvil One, seek refuge in Allah. He isthe One Who hears and knows allthings.”


(Surah Falaq (The Daybreak, Dawn), 113:1-5)

“Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the

Dawn, From the mischief of created

things; From the mischief of Darkness

as it overspreads; From the mischief of

those who practise secret arts; And from

the mischief of the envious one as he

practices envy.


(Surah An-Nas (Mankind); 114:1-6)

“Say: I seek refuge with the Lord and

Cherisher of Mankind, The King (or

Ruler) of Mankind, The Allah (for judge)

of Mankind, From the mischief of the

Whisperer (of Evil), who withdraws (af -

ter his whisper), (The same) who whis-

pers into the hearts of Mankind, Among

Jinns and among men.”

And Satan will say when the matters

are conducted and decided in the Herea-ter: “It was Allah Who gave you a prom-ise o ruth: I too promised, but I ailedin my promise to you. I had no authority over you except to call you but ye listenedto me: then reproach not me, but reproach

your own souls. I cannot listen to your

cries, nor can ye listen to mine. I rejectyour ormer act in associating me withAllah. For wrong-doers there must be agrievous penalty.”

(Surah Abraham; 14:22)

The Confession of Satan

I TAKE REFUGEE IN ALLAH FROM SATAN



136


Seleme bin Aslam (r.a.) narrates:

One o the beloved riends o theProphet, Sa’d bin Muaz (r.a.), had passedaway. When the Prophet heard the badnews o Sa’d, he went to his house rightaway with his riends. Prophet was inront o us and we were ollowing him.We came to the door, and our Prophet

entered into the room. Tere was noone else in the room except the cono Sa’d bin Muaz. However, our belovedProphet was walking careully as i try-ing not to step on anyone. When he saw that I was trying to enter the room, hesignaled me with his hands to stay whereI was. I stopped and signaled the otherswho were behind me to stop.

When the Prophet stepped out, Isaid “O the Messenger o Allah! I did notsee anyone. However, you were walk-ing as i you were trying to get throughmany people’s shoulders.” the Prophetsaid: “In order to carry the con o Sa’d,seventy thousand angels that never cameto Earth beore have come. I could notnd anywhere to sit. One o the angels

opened up a place or me to sit, so I wasable to sit.”

Our beloved Prophet was so happy due to the rank that Sa’d b. Muaz (r.a)had gained, he oen said reerring tohim “O Eba Amr! How nice or you! OEba Amr! How nice or you! O Eba Amr!How nice or you!”

(Ibn Sa’d, III, 428-430)

The Noble Companion ofOur Prophet Whose Coffin was Carried by the Angels

Let’s live such a lie so that our cofnsalso can be carried by the angels.



137


Te angels that showed respect to Adamshow respect to every Muslim that comes

rom his bloodline. Tey too love the goodpeople that Almighty Allah loves. Tereore,angels love and show respect to prophets themost.

Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) was the lastProphet that Allah the Exalted sent to hu-manity. He was chosen by Allah to be themost beautiul example to humanity. He hadgood manners that can make angels envious.

Allah loved him and made his servants lovehim as well. Angels also loved the Prophetsince his childhood and gave the good newso his prophethood to each other.

Te intense communication o the mes-senger o Allah with angels started with therevelation o the Noble Quran. Our Proph-et was around orty years old. He used toretreat or a ew nights into a cave calledHira. He would remember Allah and pon-der deeply about the universe and the situ-ation o humanity.. In one o the nights thathe was staying in the cave, Allah appointedGabriel, the messenger angel, and the angelcame to our Prophet towards the morning.Gabriel wanted our Prophet to read. OurProphet told Gabriel that he did notknow how. Gabriel repeated

that he must read a ew times. Upon receiv-ing the same answer rom our Prophet, Ga-

briel recited the rst verses o Quran. Aerreceiving the rst revelation, our belovedProphet came out o the cave and saw thatGabriel (a.s) had covered the whole sky. Fortwenty three year aer this rst revelation,Gabriel came to our Prophet many times,and revealed the verses and chapters o theNoble Quran, in other words, the messageso Allah the Exalted.

Every year, the Prophet used to reciterom his memory to Gabriel the verses thatwere revealed until then in the month o Ra-madan. In the year that he would pass away,he had recited the whole Quran twice andrecited it together with Gabriel.

Gabriel (a.s.) sometimes appeared toour Prophet in human orm. One day, whileour beloved Prophet was with his Compan-ions, Gabriel came in white, clean clothes.He asked questions about aith, Islam, be-nevolence, and the day o judgment. Aerreceiving the answers, he disappeared. OurProphet inormed his Companions that he

THE PROPHET AND THE ANGELS



138


was Gabriel and came to teach them someknowledge about religion.

In order to make our Orophet eel bet-

ter and support him, Allah the Exalted usedto send angels to him in dicult times. Tebest example o this had been experiencedduring the Migration (Al Hijrah). Te Mec-can unbelievers came right in ront o thecave that our Prophet was hiding in. I they had leaned orward just a bit more than they had, they would have seen him. Allah the Ex-alted gave our Prophet trust and peace. He

supported him with invisible angel armies.Allah the Exalted supported our beloved

Prophet and his Companions with armies o angels in many wars including the Battle o Badr. In the Battle o Hunayn, when Mus-lims were in a very dicult situation, Allahsent armies o angels and helped the Mus-lims.

Our beloved Prophet used to say that

angels come to places where people act ac-cording to Allah’s commands. He used toinorm us that the angels would come toplaces where knowledge is sought, the No-ble Quran is recited, Allah is worshipped,and good deeds are perormed. Our Prophetgave the good news that angels pray to thosewho are present in the above mentionedplaces, and brought peace and happiness to

their hearts. He would advise that we stay away rom acts that will bother the angelsand he too paid attention not to perormthose acts. Our prophet did not want thosewho ate smelly oods such as onion or gar-lic to enter prayer rooms until their breathsmelled nice. He expressed that humans andangels should not be bothered.

Our beloved Prophet had been sent as

a blessing to the whole universe. Our Lord,who gloried our Prophet with His mercy

and content, made the angels love him aswell and wanted the angels to recite the sup-plication that asked Allah to send blessings

to Him (salawat). For this reason, angelspray and appeal or mercy and wish or hislevel to be elevated. Tere are even angelsappointed to determine the believers whorecite salawat to the Prophet and deliverthem to him.


(Surah At-Tahrim (Banning, Prohibition); 66:4)

“...truly Allah is his Protector, and

Gabriel, and (every) righteous oneamong those who believe,- and fur-

thermore, the angels - will back (him)

up.”



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Te Battle o Badr was the rst battlebetween the Meccan unbelievers and theMuslims. Te number o pagan soldiersthat came to Badr was three times morethan the number o soldiers in the Mus-lim army. Tey were planning to destroy the Muslims all together.

Te battle had started and the twoarmies were ghting. Te Muslims wereghting or their lives. Our belovedProphet raised his hands to Heaven andwas repeatedly praying as ollows: “O my Lord! Here is the tribe o the Qurayshand with all its power it’s trying to de-stroy Your religion. Tey are challengingYou. Tey are denying Your Prophet. My Lord! Please ulll Your promise thatYou will help Your prophets. Makeus victorious. I this hand-

ul o people is destroyed,there won’t be anyonele on this earth to wor-ship You and be Yourservant.”

Allah the Exaltedgranted our Prophet’sprayer. Allah had sentangels in groups dur-

ing the most diculttimes o the battle.He supported theMuslim with atotal o ve

thousand angels. Te Muslims won thebattle. Our Almighty Lord mentions inthe Noble Quran the support He sentwith angels:

“Allah had helped you at Badr, when ye were a contemptible little orce…Allahmade it but a message o hope or you,and an assurance to your hearts: (in any case) there is no help except rom Allah.Te Exalted, the Wise.”

(Surah Al-i Imran (Te Family O ‘Imran),3: excerpt rom verses 123-126)

THE HELP THAT COMES WITH THE ANGELS



140


Allahumma salliala sayyidina Muham-

madin Nabiyy’il-ummiyyi wa ala alihi wa

sahbihi wa sallim.

O my Allah! Please send blessings and

greetings to our illiterate Prophet Muham-

mad (p.b.u.h.), His family and His compa-

nions.

The supplication below is called Salah Al Ummiyyah:

Let us pray or the Prophet’s(p.b.u.h.) status to be elevated beoreAllah, just as the angels do. Let ussend our most beautiul and sinceregreetings by entrusting them to thewings o the angels with divine light.


(Surah Al-Ahzab (The Clans, The Coalition,

The Combined Forces); 33:56)

“Allah and His angels send blessings

on the Prophet: O ye that believe!

Send ye blessings on him, and salute

him with all respect.”

AMEEN



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QUESTIONS

(amen / Satan / record / angel / enemy / authority / Satan / partners/ word / angels / enemy)

1. “There are two angels who ......., located at the right and left sides of everyone. They

watch humans and record every …. they say right away.”

2. “Verily ………. is an enemy to you: so treat him as an ….. He only invites his adhe-

rents, that they may become Companions of the Blazing Fire.”

3. “Satan has no …….. over those who believe and put their trust in their Lord. His

authority is over only those, who take him as patron and who associate ……with

Allah.”

4. “When you pray, pray only for nice and good things, because …………say

……………..to your prayers.”

5. Whoever hears a voice in them that invites him to goodness, he should know that this

is the voice of an …..…. He should listen to this voice and thank Allah. Whoever he-

ars a voice that invites them to wrongdoings, he should know this is the voice of …......He should not listen to this voice and take shelter in Allah’s protection.”

Fill in the blanks with the words in parenthesis



142


1- Which one of the properties ofangels is wrong?

a) They do not eat or drink.

b) They do not sleep.

c) They are neither male nor female.

d) They have the ability to disobey Allah.

2- Which one of the following is notamong the duties of angels?

a) To be an example to humans

b) To protect humans

c) To pray for believers

d) To carry messages to the prophets

3-I- Increases our consciousness of being

servants of Allah

II- Encourages us to be more hard wor-

king

III- Keeps us away from wrongdoings

IV- Purifies our manners

Which one of the above is amongthe benefits of believing in the an-gels?

a) I-II-IV b) I-III-IV

c) I-II-IV d) I-II-III-IV

4-

I- Micheal (Mikail)

II- Rapheal (Israfil)

III- Al-Munkar and Al-Nakir

IV- Gabriel (Jibra’il)

V- Azrael (Azrail)

VI- Yunus (Jonah)

Which one of the above are notamong the four high-ranking an-gels?

a) I -IV b) II-VI

c) III-VI d) IV-V




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5- Often when we want to do nice

and good deeds, we think of somecounter thoughts. Satan and an-gels invoke thoughts within us.Which one of the following comesfrom Satan?

a) By doing this, you will feel peace and

relief in your heart.

b) You will be a good example to others.

c) It won’t benefit you in this world.

d) You will earn the love and divine gifts

of Allah.



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ANSWER KEY

Fill in the blanks with the words in the parenthesis.


1. record / word 2. Satan / enemy

3. authority / partners 4. angels / amen

5. angel / Satan

1-d 2)a 3) d 4) c 5)c

my beautiful religion 2

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