SURAH AN-NAS
For several weeks we have now spoken on the first verses of the last Surah of the Noble (Adhimishan) Qur’an, the Surah An-Nas. It is one of the Surah which both from the physical content and its coded metaphysical aspect shields us from evil which has potential to embrace us. (In the last lecture in the Mosque I also mentioned that Muslims in the last century have mainly encountered matters of cosmology, they have been greatly preoccupied with the presence of God in the cosmos, with the argumentation of the existence of God in the universe, but very few of them have encountered anthropology, a little number of them have been preoccupied with the presence of God in man and mankind, unity with God in the social human process). This is one weakness, with special emphasize in the final century, thereupon there takes place a phenomena which cannot be delineated, it cannot be explained. For instance we have people who nowadays read more the translation of the Qur’an in the English / Albanian language, they can thus understand it but they are still less better Muslims than my grandfather who lived 100 years ago who did not have any knowledge whatsoever and who was illiterate. This shows he was less religious and we need to begin thinking on this issue. We ought to observe why this occurs? I, Faqir think that this takes place since we have mainly been preoccupied with the argumentation and presence of God outside ourselves, in the outer dimension, and very little have we been preoccupied with the presence of God within our being, very little have we been preoccupied with Islamic anthropology.
This is Faqir’s last book (we are taking about the book “In the beginning there was only Love”) which was published a couple of months ago and there is a chapter in this book speaking on the Anthropology of Islamic spirituality, anthropology on understanding man, manners of man. Inasmuch this Surah is a key, a code, which has the possibility to prevent several elements which might interfere our spirituality.
Do you know why I mentioned this? For in the recent periods there has developed this new sector, where people use the Qur’an on everything, apart the real purpose why the revelation descended. This problem does not arise only among people who are not preoccupied with theology, but it takes place also among those who study theology. The Qur’an, we ought to have this clear, in essence is remedy against blasphemy, from not believing, from the ill manners. The Qur’an as a healing tool is for this dimension; the purpose of the Qur’an is the religious healing and not that biological or psychological. In essence the Qur’an is a religious book which guides us hither contentment in this world and in the hereafter. If we lead our lives having the Qur’an for our basis and reference point, we shall then rejoice in contentment both in this world and the hereafter. Once we understand the religious dimension of the Qur’an we can then discuss the other dimensions of the Qur’an, which are clearly secondary compared to this one dimension we just encountered.
Do you know what happens with us? Oftentimes it occurs that the Qur’an is discussed in its scientific dimension, the linguistic dimension, for different purposes and yet the scope of the Qur’an which corresponds to being religious is not even found. (Let me bring an example: each time religious lectures have more jamaat (public) compared to listening of the Qur’an being recited in the Mosque). From the religious point of view, being closer to God, it is more sawab (reward) to listen to the recitation of the Qur’an rather than listening to me, or someone else speak on religion. To listen or read the Qur’an alone is the connection established with Almighty Allah. Do you know how this is established? Gradually. We cannot directly and instantly experience the joy of spirituality. To open the Qur’an and immediately for us to experience the spiritual bliss from having it read. As a result to think: “I have read it yet I did not feel / experience anything”. No, this is a process which only gradually is lightened within man and thus engenders spiritual capacity. Spiritual capacity is identical to the stamina of the body; one cannot run a marathon without any training, this marathon instead requires a well conducted training. It is the same from the spiritual scenario. The spiritual marathon cannot be conducted all at once, it thus requires a process and time, and to this reason man needs a guider who shall prepare him for this marathon, and not to receive any spiritual inflammation in lungs.
This is highly important. Earlier this day I told one friend of ours that religion is more close to art than science. One learns art from a living organism, if you do not have one good professor, vital and alive, which shall teach you how to play the violin, then there are slight chances you will become a precedent violist; one must teach you. And you know why? Since art is manifested through the sacred buoyance. It is alike the flower, when your flower is out in the garden it is beautiful, if you cut that flower and leave it somewhere in your room, you will observe that the same flower which a couple of hours ago gave you pleasure, it does not give you joy any longer, since it withers. And why does it wither? Because it loses touch with the living universe, respectively with Almighty Allah. In the universe everything attains livingness from Almighty Allah. It is the identical situation in arts and religions.
The Prophet (PBUH) gives the Qur’an its vitality, the Prophet (PBUH) delivers the true vivacity, and thus religion shall always be in need of a guider, in need of a good teacher, who shall usher onto the right path. Precisely to this reason I mentioned above that this Surah aside from its rational meaning, from its spiritual domain is moreover a code which prevents certain evils to reach man in this world.
We have discussed now several verses and now we have stopped at the verse Alladhee juwas wisu fee sudurin-nas. As we already said that by this Surah man seeks refuge in God from the evil whisperer, inner voices and impetuses. If man attains the position to be in peace with his inner domain, he shall then have no issues defining his outer sphere. For his inner self is a mirror through which man experiences, perceives the outer world, man is the mirror upon which the light of existence is reflected and subject to them the latter perceives existence. You now are not apperceiving me as I truly am in essence, rather you see me with prejudices, paradigms with which you recognize me, including stereotype, thus depending on what information you have on me, I shall be witnessed as such, hence do not think that what exists in the outer sphere man judges it objectively. Precisely to this, absolute objectivity on this world is improbable. Contemporary science predominantly speaks on objectivism, yet it is rather engrossed in subjective substance, the physical domain, which thus shows that it is under the influence of the paradigms of senses which can be tricky to a great extent.
In the past, in the middle ages, antics, it was mainly, let us say from the aspect of recognizing, a subjective world, and mostly from the intuit aspect in a number of cases also subjective, but our contemporary times have this physical, substance subjectivism, which means that they accept as existential only what they can apperceive. This is not valid. This book which I have now with me, is not like it is in itself, it is the way you see it. Each one of you sees this book in a different way. There is one Turkish professor of psychology who gives lectures in the Washington University in the United States; Professor Dogan Cuceloglu, he has a number of important works. I think his works have been translated into English, but Faqir read them in Turkish. If one of you has the opportunity to visit Turkey you can look for his books, his works have also easy tittles to remember, for instance: (“Iyi düşün doğru karar ver” – “Think well and make a right decision”, another book he has “From man hither man”, he has one other work “Yeniden insandan insana” – “Anew from man hither man”). When he speaks on paradigm in psychology (Do you know what paradigm is? It is the glasses through which we perceive things, the prejudices which we hold, our previous knowledge on things with which we articulate things. The author gives one example on paradigm: Take three cats and leave them in the end of the room. Then take three little children with you and tell them: Look at the end of the room there are three infected cats, do not approach them. What will these children do? The children will try to find a way to take the cats away from them. But if you leave the same cats and take another group of children and tell them that at the end of the room there are three beautiful cats, the children will try to approach them).
Hence this shows that the problem is one from within, when we shall overcome problems which live within us, and this we can achieve, then we do not have any problems with people outside.
When God has cursed the accursed devil, the latter asked for one thing. He said: “I seek from You (God) that when people open their eyes, they will see before them, yet not see towards themselves.” You can see this yourself, the moment you open your eyes, you see that which is before you; it is much easier to speak on the weaknesses of the person standing against you, it is harder to lower your eyes and acknowledge your own weaknesses. Whereas, the adherent, the believer, the Muslim is mainly preoccupied with his own weaknesses, he is never preoccupied with the weaknesses of others. If you speak on the weaknesses of others, than you automatically conduct gibet / vilification, and this is strictly prohibited in Islam. Resultantly, the unwavering adherent, the genuine man, for to be a good adherent means to be a good person, is never overwhelmed with others but rather only with himself. Be assured that the person who in his community does not succeed to engender positive energy, to have friends, he is asocial; he is not involved with others, and thus he is one not characterized as a good religious follower. Hence, this positive energy of the creation of man motions through the path of faith, where a predominant importance beholds the systemization of the innerness of man.
There once was this case when in this school in India. Nearby the school a foreigner had walked, he had walked inside and has seen there was a ceremony taking place, a manifestation of giving the diplomas – ijazah. He had gone inside and had observed the physiognomy of people receiving their diplomas – ijazah. He saw that the individuals experienced a viable joy, a joy so great it spread across the four angles of the place where they were found. He was overwhelmed. He had gone close to one person to see what was in that diploma. When he had opened it he saw that there was nothing in it, it was empty. He had gone to the master, the shaykh of the school and had told him: In the letters there is nothing written, the diplomas are empty, why are these persons receiving these diplomas so fascinated? The shaykh told him: You should come and undergo the educational process, in order for you to also receive the diploma like them and then you shall understand their state of joy. He latter accepted. He had stayed there for 4-5 years, or even 10 years, the necessary years it requires for him to stay in that school, he had then finished his educational process and when he had received the diploma, he had also experienced the same state of joy and the same light – nur had been emitted from his body. Do you know what he had seen in that diploma? He had seen a white piece of paper, which has been a mirror and in this mirror he had seen himself, this shows he had reached the state to acquaintance, knowing himself. Yunus Emre, one mystical poet, a Sufi, which as written in Turkish, yet he is one of the predominant poets who has inspired our Albanian Bejtexhinj (Turkish for poem. A genre developed in the 18th Century in Albania), he follows: “Ilim ilim bilmektir, ilim kendin bilmektir, sen kendini bilmessen, bu nice okumaktir” – “Knowledge means knowing yourself, if you do not know who you are, then how have you read, how have you learned.”
The believer is demanded to seek knowledge, for the reason to make that person be human. Knowledge is merely a tool which bolsters our deity on God. If knowledge was to astray us from God, we are not in need of it. For instance if we learn to become a doctor, for tomorrow we can bribe and through this habit become rich, this knowledge is not in any use for us, for this knowledge shall only put us astray from God.
Knowledge beholds importance for the adherent only, because it bridges the distance with God. Knowledge which helps dwell man with God, makes an individual truly human. This knowledge is hence obligatory – fards for the believer alike namaz (prayer), moreover the purpose is identical to conducting namaz: reaching God. Moreover if we only conduct namaz, for the act as namaz itself, we are committing idolatry. Namaz cannot be performed only as the act itself, namaz is given for it serves the purposes of deity and reaching Almighty Allah. Moreover if we only conduct namaz, just so we say that we have conducted our obligation, then this shall put us astray from Allah Almighty. In the Qur’an God says: “So woe to those who pray, [But] who are heedless of their prayer – Those who make show [of their deeds]” (Surah Al-Ma’un verses 4, 5, 6).
Namaz ought to penetrate within our genes, in our innerness in addition to generate an adequate personality who shall have a prudent face and forehead in order to reach Almighty Allah.
Al ladi yuwas wisu fi sudurin nas, means I seek refuge in God from the impetuses and whispers within man, those found in the breast of the individual, of man. In this verse the word breast is used, sadr. The Arabic language has a great number of synonyms, it is a language full metaphor, which in most cases we do not succeed to translate, or perhaps we are the ones who do not know the English / Albanian language well enough in order to adequately translate them. Inasmuch sadr, refers to the heart, the inner breast which is wide, and ways of inner perception, of the mischievous whisperer which occludes the chest. Allah Almighty in one of the verses of the Qur’an says: “So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts.” (Surah Al-Haj, verse: 46).
A number of elements which belong to the soul, is impossible to try and recognize them with our eyes, but we can still perceive them with the eyes of the heart. This heart, this chest, beholds great important and indubitably it ought to be lustrated and delivered prudent from all anomalies, envies, lust, and man’s nefs (ego) which separates man from the pleasures of this world.
“Minal jinnati wan Nas”– the last verse says: “I seek refuge In God, from those among the jinn and man”. To be honest, I was intending to speak tonight more on the jinns. The jinns, are spiritual creatures which are not visible from the physical dimension; we cannot see them. They are creatures, which for us Muslims is an obligation to believe that they exist, just as angels exist. Moreover jinns alike the angels have their world. Man, throughout history attained a certain spiritual state, it has been also said that man have had contact with the jinns and even nowadays it is claimed that people have contact with the jinns.
This relation amid man and jinns is abstract, upon which we cannot claim that there is still no contact whatsoever, nor can we state that there is contact.
Moreover it ought to be clear that a person who in a direct way, taking this surah for reference, has a connection with God and thus his inner self is purified, amid this person and God nothing else can arise, nothing else could ever take place, nothing can cause harm to this person. Yet in the case when this inner self is in need for its spirituality, longs for a certain spiritual feeding and in addition is suffocated by the worldly elements, then there is space and possibility for a foreign intervention within man, as a result of jinns as well. Where is the problem here? The problem stands when this manner of communication becomes subject to doing business. In our recent times, due to the weakened spirituality of people, subject to the religious weakening, and subject to the weakened connection with Almighty Allah and the creature, appear people who wish that through various fashions, believes, to repair these connections. The connection with God cannot be repaired in such manner of conduct. A man who for the past 20, 30, 40 years has had no connection with God whatsoever cannot possible repair this abyss by a mere reciting and religious singing and giving a haymali (you have heard of these cases recently taking place), this man cannot grow devotional in this manner; or to tell him: “just pray namaz and you shall be relaxed.” No, this is not how it is done. This rather requires a longer process to take place, in order for us to feed our soul before the problem has arrived. If we do not give this food, our soul becomes the fountain of various diseases, various depressions, different stresses which after some time cause serious problems and are harder to heal. It heals in difficulty, for even when you break you finger, and each time the weather worsens your finger hurts, and can you imagine breaking your brains, your soul, this cannot be healed immediately, but it leaves a scar which shall be there from one year and onto the next and so forth.
Henceforth the Surah An-Nas, is one Surah for which the Prophet (PBUH), along with the surah Al-Falaq, says that when you shall read these surahs (in complete rectitude) you shall deport from you all of those who wish you ill.
Minal jinnati wan Nas – means not only from the jinn. Let it be clear to you that man can cause far more harm than jinns. Man can cause greater harm, in reality they can defile everyone. For instance man causes harm without be given this opportunity, whereas the jinn could not cause harm without giving the occasion. This opportunity is granted when we are astray from our spirituality, and then we adopt a literature which has been engendered in recent periods, the artificial literature. Thereupon I am saying to you that this is a Surah, when read in rectitude and candor and hence evidently believe in it, it shall erase from us all the elements which are potential for iniquity to take place in our lives. Inasmuch we ought to be prepared and never allow to welcome those evil alluding thoughts onto our breasts.
The Qur’an is one entity. One of the greatest harms caused to Islam is partition, the partial acceptance of the verses of the Qur’an. The surah An-Nas is moreover an entire encompassment. It begins with God, begins with a dialogue which we have with God, He says to us Kul, He says to the Prophet (PBUH) but in addition to us as well as: Say, I seek refuge in Allah Almighty and I seek help from Allah Almighty, who is sustainer of all mankind, this shows that my educator is He who delineates and shows to me how I ought to live my life; Malikin Nas – My sovereign and administrator and of all mankind. I shall seek His help even in the things which prevent me reaching the path hither Him; Ilahin Nas – God of all mankind, and my God; Min sharril waswasil hannas – from the evil, the evil whisperers, words, impetuses within our breasts, this in addition infers to the whispers which I myself possess within me, not only those which others assign and direct to me.
In this manner, with this drive we embrace this Surah, inasmuch Allah Almighty does not allow for anything to come amid our path. It is to this reason why in the above I said that the Qur’an is one entity, and hence by its entire encompassing elements we ought to embrace it as one entity.
I will tell you one occurrence and with this I will end it for tonight.
Once one of our friend, who in the past claimed to be an atheist, but still Albanian atheists are not very dangerous. And do you know why? Because Albanian atheists are rather ignorant, those in the West are well aware of what they speak whereas those among us here do not have any particular knowledge. When you ask them: why are you an atheist? They cannot give you an answer. They have not read neither on atheism nor religion. In Turkey I had one profess, his name is Mehmet Aydin, a very significant teacher from Turkey. He told us a story when he used to study in Edinburg, in England. He was listening to a lecturer give a lecture on religion, more specifically on Jesus’s position in Christianity. Professor Mehmet Aydin was among the PhD students, and in their group they had another person from Turkey who claimed to be an atheist, an ignorant one. The professor had spoken on atheism and concluded that he himself is an atheist for his pure logic cannot possibly accept the incarnation and anthropomorphism of God as it happens with trinity among Christians. Then he had asked the students if among them there was any atheist, the student from Turkey had said that he is atheist for the very same reasons as the professor. From his answer one can conclude that the latter has no knowledge whatsoever on religion, he is unaware that in Islam there is no anthropomorphism nor trinity.
Thereupon those among us here in these communities who claim to be atheists, or recently they are using the modern term, agnostic. One of them now is a believer, he prays namaz 5 times a day, praise be to God, he is rather older than us, one day told me: “ Hoja Efendi, (I was an imam then, a young imam): I have read somewhere in the Qur’an that there will be extract from grapes in Heaven. I told him: You haven’t read correctly, this is not right. The Qur’an says that in Heaven there will be wine, even the word hamr means wine. Then I told him that the verse of which he is referring is in the Surah Muhammad, in the last part of the Qur’an, and the same Qur’an in the first half, in the eight part, says that precisely that wine is prohibited for Muslims in this world. So how did you manage to see that in heaven there will be wine in the last part of the Qur’an and you could not notice that it said that it is forbidden for this world, the text part which states this in the first part of the Qur’an?! Thereupon the Qur’an ought to be taken under consideration as a thorough one entity, both from the scope of the text and from the scope of the metaphysical code.
If we wish to be free from any malevolence, both from people or the jinns, then we ought to have breathed with Surah onto our lives. Not only to read this Surah at night when we are scared but also continuously to be together amid the message and the verses and thus to be together with Allah Almighty. This is the only way which shall enable for us to perceive the Qur’an as it ought to be grasped and thus to subsist with it in our lives. If these words which we are discussing here, we succeed to practice them in our lives, then please be assured that nothing can cause us harm. Even when something will do us harm, we shall know that it cannot actually cause harm and it is merely a challenge from Allah Almighty. Thank you.
