We were in a program in Sav madrasa in Isparta. One evening an elder brother, Hafiz Bekir, called me and said, “I have an atheist nephew. He is a teacher, and he is with me now. He is an outspoken man and says, ‘If you prove me the existence of Allah, I will believe.’” This elder brother wanted me to meet his nephew; and I said OK. We met in our senior brother Süleyman Semiz’s house at 9 pm. With a deep compassion and affection towards this man, we started…
Read MoreAuthor: Muhammed Zakir Çetin
Rights of the Wife over Husband
Husband must be friendly, kind, generous and nice to his wife. First of all, I believe we must know that the law of the family is for ensuring the happiness of the whole family. Therefore, in what way the happiness is brought it is the most important and basic thing to do. If we will further violate the rights of children and family members while trying to seek our rights, in that case, the family peace must be our priority instead of seeking our right. In fact, when someone’s right…
Read MoreNationalism In the light of Risale-i Nur
Nationalism and ethnic conflicts is one of the most grieving agonies that the Islamic world is experiencing. The position of Islam on the issue needs to be highlighted and stressed clearly. “O humankind! Surely We have created you from a single (pair of) male and female, and made you into tribes and families so that you may know one another (and so build mutuality and co-operative relationships, not so that you may take pride in your differences of race or social rank, or breed enmities).” (Hujurat, 49:13) We can explain…
Read MoreThe Truth about Mediation in Islam
By Zakir Cetin Mediation and mentioning the names of blessed people, things and places while praying to Allah (SWT) has been dealt with in many verses and hadiths. We will try to analyse what people do and live within the frames of rububiyyah (divine administration) and ubudiyyah (worship) in terms of creed and causes. What is the status of demanding something either from the living or the dead, or of making them mediators for our demands, according to Islam? “O you who believe! Keep from disobedience to Allah in reverence…
Read MoreThe Wisdom Behind Calamities
Disasters are facts of life and they are not meaningless. If we try to read the messages that they convey to us, we may receive the wisdom behind them. وَاتَّقُواْ فِتْنَةً لاَّ تُصِيبَنَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ مِنكُمْ خَآصَّةً وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَاب “And fear a trial which will not strike those who have wronged among you exclusively, and know that Allah is severe in penalty.” (Anfal, 8:25) لو أن عبادي أطاعوني لأسقيتهم المطر بالليل ، وأطلعت عليهم الشمس بالنهار ، ولم أسمعهم صوت الرعد “If My servants were to obey…
Read MoreThe Spiritual Jihad
While in the past, under certain conditions, Muslims were ordered to engage in jihad against their enemies as a defence, in today’s world of chaos, uncertainty and lack of final authority, Muslim individuals are responsible for disciplining their own souls and fighting an intellectual battle against unbelief. “O you who have believed, shall I guide you to a commerce that will save you from a painful punishment? [It is that] you believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive (make jihad) in the cause of Allah with your wealth and…
Read MoreThe Real Guide: Qur’an
وَلاَ رَطْبٍ وَلاَ يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ “There is nothing fresh or dry (green or withered) but is (inscribed) in the Clear Record (in the Qur’an according to one saying).” (An’am, 59) Also, Muslim scholars said that just as everything is included in the Qur’an, in the same way, the entire Qur’an is included in the Surah al-Fatihah. So, it is also included in the formula BismillaherRahmanerRaheem, so too this formula is included in the letter “B” that comes at the beginning. As for the meaning of letter “B”,…
Read MoreThe Principles of Invitation to Islam
The activity of invitation to Islam has been described in a tafseer1 based upon the principles expressed in the verses of the Qur’an and hadiths. Reading those, we can highlight some principles. For me, the following are the most important ones of these principles: 1. To start with faith as it is the essence of the religion. 2. To explain the truths of faith from a viewpoint convincing both the mind and the heart. 3. To live what we say so as to make our words influential. 4. To act…
Read MoreAllah is the Unique God to be Worshipped
The person who does not accept and believe in Allah has to accept all the other things as his god and worship them but the one who believes in the owner of the universe and just worships Him, in contrast, is safe from worshipping any other things. Understanding that all the creatures are servants bestowed to him by Allah for His mercy’s sake, he ascends to the position of The Caliph of the World. With an example, I want to explain the fact which was stated in the following sentence of…
Read MoreEnlightenment Method of Risale-i Nur
As it was common sense to live in an Islamic way in the era of Salaf al-Salihin (the righteous predecessors of the first generations of Islam), everybody had beliefs even though some of these were imitative. Thus it was sufficient for those people to speak about the existence of Allah and His Uniqueness, about the existence of heaven and its happy life and blessings to encourage them towards prayer and it was sufficient to speak about hell and its torments to keep them away from sins.
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