Last week we tried to conclude a delineation on the attributes of Allah Almighty, at least according to our understanding and what we managed to grasp from this domain. There is a group of attributes which I don’t intent to speak a lot about, but on our Islamic literature they are known as the cautious, warning attributes of Allah / Sifati haberiye. In this domain there are few mentioned attributes which are also mentioned in the Qur’an and we believe in those attributes since the Qur’an has mentioned them. Which are those? For instance, there is an attribute Yedun (yed means hand in Arabic), there is a verse in the Qur’an that says: “Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you, [O Muhammad] – they are actually pledging allegiance to Allah. The hand of Allah is over their hands. So he who breaks his word only breaks it to the detriment of himself. And he who fulfills that which he has promised Allah – He will give him a great reward”. (Al Fath 48:10) Another attribute in this group, is the attribute vajhun (vaj in Arabic means face), and the Qur’an says: “And there will remain the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor” (Ar Rahman, 55:27).
This leads us to various discussions and divergencies among Islamic beliefs on this issue. Some say that we should accept them as Allah Almighty has said, others claim we need to look into it directly and conduct hermeneutics in regard to these verses. And some others even say we should not even go into this topic at all; since Allah Almighty has not explained these matters there is no need for us to further analyze it. Our thoughts on this and most of the Muslims is that Allah Almighty, through these attributes, does not convey the shape of His physical appearance, His outer appearance, but through them He draws our attention about His dimensions of existence. Allah Almighty is the only one who truly knows the message of His words, we can never assume for sure and claim that He meant to say this / that. That is the reason why Islamic thinkers when they speak about the Qur’an they merely give their thoughts, and, in the end, they say, Allah Almighty knows best what He has tried to tell us. Why? Because the Qur’an is one universal book and in one certain time span, some parts of the Qur’an might not be applicable, but in another time span this might be applicable and understood. I will give you one example, there is one verse in the Ar Rahman Surah, in which Allah Almighty says: “O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass except by authority [from Allah].” (Ar Rahman, 55:33)
In some translations this word here used as authority, is also translated as Sultan. Some have translated this as” there is no way for you to accomplish this, as long as you lack the assistance of Allah Almighty”, by sultan the verse refers to the strengh and ability of Allah Almighty. The word sultan in Arabic means rule, power, enegy. A group of scientists and commentators of the Qur’an that have lived in the XX century have specifically commented these verses of the Qur’an when people of that time would prioritize and focus on technology, by saying that this word sultan corresponds to technology and if there is no innovative technology, people will not be able to reach the revelation beyond the skies. Some have even gone into details and said that the engine that drives the rocket, is the sultan. But we must be careful because each limitation of the sacred words, makes it archaic; it moves the word within certain time span and historic limitation. Whereas the Qur’an is universal, it is beyond the historic frame. This is one of the reasons why the comments about the scripture of the Qur’an are not so enchanting to us; since we are mainly connected and reflect upon the Qur’an itself. The prime and most important element necessary to believers and humankind in general, is a lively, organic transmission of the Qur’an. Humans can connect and obtain information and knowledge from the Qur’an, through an organic transmission. Socrat was once asked, why he had not written any books; he had replied by saying that the book does not reply back to him in question. When he asks the book a question, the book cannot answer him back. The organic and active commentor of the Qur’an is one prophetic tradition in continum. Oftentimes in Tasawwuf one word is used to describe the evliya / the man of God, that says that evliya are inheritans of the prophets. People have misunderstood this and oftentimes they would comment, “but how come this is true, are they prophets”? Of course, they are not prophets, but they are a continum of the prophetic constituive tradition. The constituive tradition of the Prophet (PBUH) continues to date. If the constituive tradition had stoped in time, nowadays we would not be circustized. My point here is that if it remained in historic dimension, today it would not be practiced; so, this has a continum and the most firm and solid tradition of the Prophet (PBUH) is the prophetic mentality, the Prophet’s (PBUH) mentality. I mentioned it the other day in the mosque on Friday that the as’habs / Prophet’s (PBUH) companionship were prepared by the Prophet (PBUH) himself and they were dedicated to religion in the highest philosophical realization. In the group of philosophers of the XX century we come across some schooling from the German philosophy, maybe some of you have read some of the works of Heidegger or Gadamer etc. These philosophers are hermeneuts (Max Weber, a sociologist, belongs to this group as well); they comprehend things as metaphors and dwell in their representation. The first hermeneut for us are the as’habs / the Prophet’s (PBUH) companions, because they transmitted the hadeeth according to their meaning (manen). We have few hadeeths which are literarily transmitted from the Prophet (PBUH) (these are known as hadeeth lafdhi). Hadeeths are mainly manawi, hermeneutic hadeeths, which by its context have been transmitted by the Prophet (PBUH) and have reached us nowadays. The same thing goes for us here, for instance Fakir is teaching here and each one of you here draws his conclusions and maybe my words cannot be transmitted word by word, but the essence and gist of my words based on the primary concept and mentality can be transmitted further. There is something crucial (one important domain I want to highlight here), about when we speak about the Qur’an. If we want to comment about the Qur’an, there is one important rule; since everyone reads the translation of the Qur’an and wants to infer its meaning. There is no discussion about the Qur’an, until essentially the conditions are met about speaking on behalf of the Qur’an. In the classical sciences it is well known that for one person to comment on the Qur’an he needs: to be well acquainted with the revelation, secondly, to be well acquainted with the Arabic poetry, since the Qur’an has descended at a time when poetry was at its peak in the Arab world. Metaphors, stylistics, metrics and figures of speech have been used in the Qur’an, and these have been greatly present in the old Arabic poetry. The ones not well acquainted with metaphor and stylistic figures in the old Arabic poetry cannot comprehend the Qur’an. For instance, people speak about a specific verse of the Qur’an, and say they have come across that in the Qur’an. One cannot simply “see that verse” in the Qur’an because from the day of the Prophet till nowadays many thoughts have been shared regarding it, and if you have no knowledge of these shared opinions, you will start to believe that you are the first one that came up with that interpretation, and automatically one is in agony; you cannot judge righteously. Even from the scientific point of view, in the scientific search there are rules. For instance, even one candidate for Master studies or doctoral studies when he or she presents his work in front of the commission should cite the source, otherwise this will be called plagiarism. If the student or candidate has not cited the source but has highlighted it, this is a lie and if he has cited it, then his work will be valuable. Hence in order for us to discuss a matter of the Qur’an, of religion, we must comprehend the inherited mentality, the historic Islamic mentality. Not everyone can speak on behalf of the Qur’an. Albeit there is another element, and that is hermeneutics. We need to be hermeneutic to discuss about the Qur’an; these people were the As’habs of the Prophet (PBUH). The Prophet (PBUH) has said, “my companions are like the stars”, which infers that if each one of you loses the path, let him choose one of these starts, and the star will guide him; the star resembles itself at night guiding through the road. For one verse of the Qur’an to show us the path, we must be well acquainted about phenomenology, anthropology, sociology, the social sciences which are significant to the present human, and in this manner, we can manifest what Mehmet Akif Ersoy says in his two verses “Kur’andan alıp ilhamı, asrımıza indirmeliyiz islamı” / We should be inspired from the Qur’an and to descend the Qur’an in the century we live in”. this will enable us to breath along side Islam, since Islam is present in all spheres of life. Moreover, what is important is to know how to transmit this to our daily life. That is the reason why as’habs were the initial ones to be hermeneutics and in most cases when we actively discuss the Qur’an, we should always have these elements of hermeneutics in mind. This doesn’t mean that we are trying to be smarter than God, or what he has not delineated for us to try explaining it; we don’t comment here in regard to its semantic of terms, but we merely give a semiotic explanation, we decode the signs, messages which we receive from the revelation. While on the opposite the universality of the Qur’an will not be possible. For instance, Fakir in the lecture of Fridays at the mosque, I was explaining the verses that speak about Dawud (PBUH) and Goliath (Jalut), and in those verses that they are mentioned and that impressed me, it is said that Allah Almighty gave Talut (a king that came before Dawud (PBUH) and that God sent him to the Israeli people) “And their prophet said to them, “Indeed, a sign of his kingship is that the chest will come to you in which is assurance from your Lord and a remnant of what the family of Moses and the family of Aaron had left, carried by the angels. Indeed, in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.” (Al Baqarah 2:248). We have heard this for a long time now and this inheritance / bakiye refers to something that lasts, a positive last. We have heard stories about how Talut has fought, how Dawud has won the fights with Goliath and so on. But this verse here is speaking about a perennial philosophy, for a wisdom, which is everlasting / bakiye, one which has been transmitted from generation to generation. Our soul cannot cope with innovation, our minds like innovation but not our souls. The soul is like a painting, the older it is the more value it gains. We can draw 1000 Mona Liza now but none of them with have the same value as the original; in other words, the older something is for the soul, the closer is to the source for the soul, and the more original it is.
There is a message for us here beyond the historical moment of Talut. Dawud and Goliath. There is a message here for us and note that each verse of the Qur’an is a message for us. There is nothing wrong with us to speak about a single verse, when we cannot speak about the Qur’an as a whole; we merely should not divide the verses and upon one verse conclude a matter which needs to have a consent and understanding from the Qur’an as a whole. This can lead us to conclusions which are not in the Qur’an. Hence, every message we draw from the verses are positive, because they reflect the universality of the Qur’an, and this is very important. Especially in the haberiye / cautious, warning, announcing attributes of Allah Almighty the following is very important “Yedulahi feuka eydihim” / God’s hand is above your hands”. When did this verse descend? This verse has descended in the sixth year after Hijr (Hijr or Al Hegra is the Prophet’s migration from Mecca to Medina, after the tortures Muslims faced they had decided to migrate from Mecca to Medina, and this day of Prophet’s (PBUH) migration has marked the first Islamic Calendar; nowadays we are in the 1439 year; 1439 is the year when the Prophet (PBUH) first moved from Mecca to Medina, and this is known as the Islamic calendar). In the sixth year, the Prophet (PBUH) together with his companions have gone to Haj, and when they have arrived at a place known as Hudeybiye, some mushriks / polytheists of Mecca have told them that year they cannot go to Haj. After a heated discussion they have decided to fight each other, and the Prophet (PBUH) has gathered his as’habs around a tree known as Ridwan and described them how they should fight against the polytheists of Mecca and had asked them to join him by takin his hand in a pledge. The hand of the Prophet (PBUH) has remained above their hands; in Tasawwuf this is known as beyat which means, commitment; pledge. The first example of this type of pledging / beyat is exactly this; under the Ridwan tree / beyat Ridwan / the pledge of Ridwan; the as’habs have taken Prophet (PBUH) hand and have pledged to him to death and shall not move from his word. This is the example of pledging in the Tasawwuf, in the Qur’an there is a verse about the pledge which says: “Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you, [O Muhammad] – they are actually pledging allegiance to Allah . The hand of Allah is over their hands. So he who breaks his word only breaks it to the detriment of himself. And he who fulfills that which he has promised Allah – He will give him a great reward” (Al Fath, 48:10). This shows us that the power of God is with those who pledge.
In most cases Tasawwuf is accused because of this; most of the people who lack understanding and who do not seek further understanding say that “we do not need this, we will connect directly with God, otherwise this is mediation”. This type of logic is very narrow. If we think like this, then why do we turn to Kaaba? Why is God only in front of the Kaaba? Is God only in Kaaba? Why don’t we turn to the mountain, for example? God is both in the mountain and Kaaba, but in our prayer / namaz we turn to Kaaba. Just like we need to turn to someone and something in namaz, in the same way, in our daily life and religious life, we need to follow someone.
There is no difference between what we call religious and worldly, among the Muslims. Because even when we eat we conduct ibadah, even if we only say Bismilahir Rahmani Rahim, we still gain the same advantages as if we were to conduct namaz. Which means that this yed, mentioned here for Allah Almighty tries to tell us that God is with you when you rely on Him (Allah knows better) but the majority of the Islamic thinkers believe that strength, energy, support of Allah Almighty is with those who commit and ledge to the Prophet (PBUH) and his companions who together with the Prophet (PBUH) will follow his path until death, especially the evliyas; this verse in the Qur’an goes to them…This verse has a mystical / Sufi meaning, whereas in the verse which says: “Everything will be destroyed but the face of God”, refers to philosophical issues of man. The issue of man is one philosophical problem. For instance, Sufis are oftentimes accused for saying Huu; Hu is a singular and personal pronoun of third person which means He and resembles the individuality of God. Vajhi / the Face, mentioned on the Qur’anic verse (vajhi / face) and Huu have the same connotation, because they speak of Dhat / the individuality of Allah Almighty. We spoke about the attributes, but we need to also mention that on the day of Judgment many of the attributes of God will not be in function, but dhat / His personality will be. This is another reason why we say that everything will be halak, it will be destroyed, except the face. Through the face of God, the dhat, the personality of God is represented, which reflects the essence; it is the pivot around which the existence is concentrated. Among European nominalists this is known as: natural education of concepts. The natural educational concepts deal with questions like: where this arises from, how has it come to our knowledge nowadays, why we haven’t dealt with another concept instead, and surely that within this education of concepts we must refer to the Qur’an. Vajd in the Qur’an is used in other concepts as well, Allah Almighty says: “On the day of Judgment, one group of faces (we translate this as one group of people, but it says in the Qur’an, one group of faces) will be enlightened”. Why? “Because they will see their Creator”. In our classical terminology we call this: Ruyutullah fil ahirat / seeing Allah Almighty in the hereafter. Later on, some philosophers have called this the beautiful vision / the beautiful vision is the meeting between Creator and his creatures. What do we infer by the individuality, in philosophy? We infer an individual being composed of shape and essence and through this verse, Allah Almighty tells us that our rebirth will be both with body / flesh and soul. Where it says, the faces will see, it means that the persons will see; people are composed of both shape and essence. Even when Allah Almighty speaks of himself, he says vajh / face, why? He knows best of course, but we are merely conducting hermeneutics here, and we believe that He is trying to tell us that the opinion of the pantheists which claim that God has no persona, and that everything that is God is a principle, is not true. God is not a principle; God is dhat / individuality and with this purpose the term vajd, has been used, in order for this individuality / dhat to be understood. There is another verse of the Qur’an, which I don’t intent to prolong and discuss now, but I will merely mention it, so we can be aware about it. In the attributes cautious, warning of God / haberiye, there is another attribute istiva. Istiva means standing above. And God in the verse from the Taha chapter of the Qur’an says: ” The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established”. (Taha, 20:5). The literal translation of this verse contradicts the Qur’an completely and does not transmit the wisdom of the revelation.
The mercy of God (it doesn’t say here dhat) it has encompassed the Throne, but it says the Merciful. What we do mean by Throne? Most people believe that the throne is seated in the sky where God is found. This is not right. in the Ayati Kursi God says: “Allahu la ilaha ila huval hayyul kayyum”, in the end of the verse Allah Almighty tells us what the Throne is. So, what does this tell us? (This is the reason why I tell you that in order to speak about the Qur’an we need to thoroughly know it, because the best interpration of the Qur’an, is the Qur’an itself). The verse says: “Versia kursiyyuhussamawati wal ard” / The Throne of God is spread out among all skies and Earth; it encompasses the skies and Earth. This verse refers to one attribute of Allah Almighty, which is mercy. Why mercy? Among the attributes of Allah Almighty, the most triumphing / sifat galeb attribute of God is mercy; this is the most solid attributes of all, because He is the one who has mercy. That is why even those who do not answer His call, God still does not limit their abundance, because he is merciful. Even people who have committed sins for 50 years and then they say: “Ya Rabb, I seek repentance”. God can forgive this person. If we act according to justice this man needs to be punished, but God’s mercy is strongest attribute and that is one of the reasons we should never lose hope from being on God’s mercy. But we have to be careful not to believe that we will be forgiven and to keep sinning; this is not going to be accepted by God. We should not wait until the last moment to ask for forgiveness, because this is not a contract with God. Even if we had a contract, why shouldn’t we coexist end live our life by God’s word. There is no greater joy than living life by God’s side; there is no greater joy than commitment to God. That’s why the sooner we commit, the sooner we draw closer to him, the more joy we shall experience on this life. A Christian professor from the University of Zagreb, Daniel Bucan, once told me in 1990 when I was a soldier in Zagreb, something that is still with me nowadays, he said, “Believes don’t know how it’s like to live without God” There is not a single more difficult thing than to live without God. Even those who have the belief in God more as a tradition than commitment is much more relieved than us who have lived years without God”. That is the reason why it’s difficult to live without God. Living without God, rejecting God is like living without light/ nur; this destroys us. God willing / inshallah we remain with God always. Thank you.