The Pen Magazine 6 April/June 2010 by Erkan Eniştekin

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The

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Year: 3 - Issue: 6 - aprıl / june 2010 - 5€ 5TL

Educational, Cultural, Quarterly Magazine

A Mercy to the Worlds

“And We have sent you but as a mercy towards all the worlds.” Al Anbiya, 107 12

Lost And Found: Science In Islam –Hamza BERAT

A Philosophical Perspective On The Literary Miracle Of The Qur’an –Hamza ANDREAS TZORTZIS

Model Person, Model Society: –Idris FERID

The Greatest Person In World History –Cemal ERSEN

Peace And Blessings Be Upon Him –Mahlis AYDIN

A Savior The World Was/Is Waiting For:

–DR. Hasan KARATAŞ – NEW YORK

III. International Symposium on Bediuzzaman and Risale-i Nur “Tenets of Faith in Risale-i Nur”

(5-6 JUNE, 2010 - KONYA)

SYMPOSIUM PROGRAMME 1st DAY

2nd DAY

1st SESSION (OPENING SESSION) * 1. Recitation of Holy Qur’an * 2. Introductory Movie of Hayrat * 3. Foundation * 4. Opening Speech * 5. The Life of Imam Bediuzzaman (Cinevision show) * 6. Protocol Speeches 2nd. SESSION (BELIEF IN ALLAH) * 1. All Sciences Witness the Existence of Allah * 2. All Beings Witness the Existence of Allah * 3. Endless Difficulty In Disbelief And Endless Ease in Faith * 4. The Fruits and Rewards of Belief in Allah 3rd. SESSION (BELIEF IN THE PROPHETS) * 1. The Prophethood, Necessity and Proof in Risâle-i Nur * 2. The Proof and the Indicators of The Prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH) * 3. “Forerunners of the Civilization”: Analysing The Miracles * 4. The Results of Belief In Prophets

1st SESSION (BELIEF IN DESTINY) * 1. The Importance of Belief in Destiny and Its Place in the Tenets of Faith * 2. The Reconciliation of Fate and Free Will of Man * 3. The Creation of Evil as a Matter of Destiny * 4. The Benefits of Belief in Destiny 2nd SESSION (BELIEF IN ANGELS) * 1. The Angels: Their Nature and Categorization in Risâle-i Nur * 2. The Proof and the Indicators of the Belief in Angels * 3. The Fruits and Rewards of Belief in Angels 3rd SESSION (BELIEF IN THE HEREAFTER) * 1. Proving the Hereafter and Resurrection in Risale-i Nur * 2. The Gate to the Hereafter: The Truth of Death in Risale-i Nur: * 3. The Realm of Hereafter in Risale-i Nur: Barzahk (Interval), Paradise and Hell * 4. The Worldly Benefits of Belief in the Hereafter 4th SESSION (BELIEF IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES) * 1. The Holy Scriptures, The Necessity and Proof in Risale-i Nur * 2. The Eloquence of the Holy Qur’an * 3. Analysing a Model Tafsir: ‘Isharat’ul I’jaaz’ * 4. The Questions raised about the Holy Qur’an and Answers

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E D IT O R

The World Needs HIM (PBUH)

oday, one in five of humanity and half of the earth call him “their Prophet!” and love him and obey him. The magnificence of the noor (light) of Muhammad (PBUH) has never diminished for fourteen hundred years. Although some deficiencies of the members of Muslim world have risen recently and the beauties of Islam are not being successfully reflected into every walk of life, the noor (light) of Muhammad has his power to function all the time and it is still the real source of hope to humanity. It is high time that the world learnt it deeply and searched it really. Endless thanks be to Allah that today humanity is on the eve of discovery of “Master of the Realms”…And Muslims are filled with excitement of rediscovery and refreshment of obedience to the compassionate Prophet who is “the best example” and people are to be “a good ummah” again. When the caricature crisis broke out in Denmark, many Muslims around the world reacted fiercely to that irritating event which slandered the Prophet (PBUH) unfairly. The pure and ultimate inheritance of our Prophet to us, his ideal way of life, which is Islam itself, has been under harsh attacks and we could not have waited closing our arms and watching in silence. The reactions, however, went beyond the purpose and unfortunately some undesired incidents took place. They should have expressed their aggrieved feelings in a milder way which would both convince the Europeans and would not put all the Muslims in an unfair position. Quite a number of convincing responses were given peacefully following those provoking caricatures, however some still go on drawing these kinds of caricatures and attacks in other ways in the name of freedom of speech. We, at The Pen magazine, are covering in the sixth issue, The Most Famous Person on Earth, Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him). The hostile propaganda of caricature, which is perpetrated by traditional so-called rivals of Islam and the Prophet, has a considerable role on preventing the message of Islam to be understood by common non-Muslim people. Therefore, we aim at presenting the different aspects of morale of Prophet Muhammad in this very issue so that fair-minded non-Muslims will have the chance to get true information about Prophet Muhammad from an authentic source, apart from orientalists’misguiding myths.

A. Cıhangır ısbılır editor@ thepenmagazine.net

We believe that there are millions of intelligent non-Muslims, who are eager to learn more about Prophet Muhammad, among the audience who will not be satisfied by that previously mentioned dark, narrow-minded, shallow and one-sided blaming propaganda. We hear these kinds of people think that they are being ridiculed by this narrow-minded flow of news and so they are conducting their own research about Islam. We intend to provide necessary information for those whom we implore guidance and the best for them from Allah. Of course Muslims will also benefit from the articles in this issue as well as non-Muslims. To learn and live by and represent the life and morale of Prophet (PBUH) is a universal duty of every Muslim. When the blessed personality of the Prophet is abused, just shouting and kicking people around or burning flags will not handle over the problem, will they? We do need to know what Prophet Muhammad did in similar events like in the example of a young boy kidding with the adhan (call to prayer) whilst it was being recited. He neither beat him nor scolded, but told him kindly. The easiest way is to read the story. Speaking of the content of this issue, Idris Ferid firstly defines the meaning of sunnah and then determines the place where sunnah should take place in our lives. You will read the miracles about the bounties of Allah (SWT) to His Prophet, which are seals of prophethood, in another article titled “Blend of Miracles” compiled by M. Said Yuksel extracted from Risale-i Nur’s Nineteenth Letter. Murat Inceimamoglu gives examples from the Prophet’s high morale which was defined by Aisha (RA) as the Qur’an. Lastly, Hasan Karatas points to the signs and cues in Biblical texts which refer to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). And you will read many more articles which we believe will broaden your knowledge about the Prophet and strengthen your love towards him. Clearly, The Pen Magazine walks its way improving issue by issue. Yet, we are aware of some mistakes and shortages, and the distance which we need to head. Indeed there is no end for improvement. However, we believe we will produce more satisfying issues with your support and comments. May Allah (SWT) guide us in the path of His Prophet (PBUH) forever.

The

April / June Year: 3 - Issue: 6

INDEX

The Stone And The Child –By Metin Said SERDENGECTI

Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

Being Young In This Century –By Mehlika YAGMUR

Lost And Found: Science In Islam –By Hamza BERAT-london

Imagine

Science Vs Islam ?

Raise Your Head, You Are Not Alone! –By Feride Karahan

The Governor And The Blacksmith

Are You Aware Of Your Biological Clock? –By H. Gokhan KARACIVI

A Philosophical Perspective On The Literary Miracle Of The Qur’an

Asma-Ul Husna The Beautiful Names Of Allah –By Yusuf BILEN

Model Person, Model Society:

The Greatest Person In World History –By Cemal ERSEN

The Glory Of The Universe

What Did They Say About The Messenger Of Allah (PBUH)?

–Interview By Hamza BERAT

–By Hamza ANDREAS TZORTZIS

–By Idris FERID

–By Dr. Yusuf Bahadır DEREN

THE

Seed And Fruit Of The Universe

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YEAR: 3 - ISSUE: 6 - APRIL / JUNE 2010 - 5€ 5TL

–By Mustafa YANKIN

Educational, Cultural, Quarterly Magazine

Bangles Of Kisra

Peace And Blessings Be Upon Him –By Muhlis korpe

–By Dr. Ali CERRAHOGLU

A Savior The World Was/Is Waiting For: –By DR. Hasan KARATAŞ –NEW YORK

A Prophet Of Mercy And His Wars –By Selahattin ozel

Does Allah Need Angels?

A MERCY TO THE WORLDS

“And We have sent you but as a mercy towards all the worlds.” Al Anbiya, 107 12

Lost And Found: Science In Islam –Hamza BERAT

A Philosophical Perspective On The Literary Miracle Of The Qur’an –Hamza ANDREAS TZORTZIS

Model Person, Model Society: –Idris FERID

The Greatest Person In World History –Cemal ERSEN

Peace And Blessings Be Upon Him –Mahlis AYDIN

A Savior The World Was/Is Waiting For:

–DR. Hasan KARATAŞ – NEW YORK

Year: 3 - Issue: 6 April / June The

Owner on behalf of Irfan Mektebi Yayincilik CAGLAYAN AVCIOGLU Editor-in-Chief A. CIHANGIR ISBILIR

Why Does Allah Hide Himself ? –www.askaquestionto.us

The Garden Of Truths

Responding To A Nasty Message

Managing Editors BERKANT OZTAS SELAHATTIN OZEL FERIDE KARAHAN YUSUF KARA Responsible Manager GOKHAN OZDEMIR Translation Board IBRAHIM DILFIRUZ, KORAY KAYA ENSAR GUMUŞ, ABDULLAH ESEN IZZET UNAL, ENGIN UYSAL MUSLUM CALISKAN

–By Zeynep EREN

–By Ahmet C. GULENAY - USA

Corrector SARAH KAYA Legal Board AHMET GULER Art Director ERDEM KOYMEN Photography Editor MUSTAFA YILMAZ Design O. GAZALI CAKMAK ERKAN ENISTEKIN SUMEYYE YILMAZ Tech Board BEKIR ARSLAN MEHMET CAKMAK Orders & Subscription BIROL OZDEMIR EMRULLAH SAKALAR Printed in FORART Yayinevi Tel: +90 212 501 8220 Head Office Halkalı Cd. No: 192/1 Sefaköy / ISTANBUL © All rights reserved. Articles from the magazine can be published in any other visual ways as long as the permission is given. Responsible of the advertisements are to the owners. THE PEN is published quarterly.

“So take what the Messenger gives you, and refrain from what he prohibits you. And fear Allah;

”

for Allah is strict in Punishment.

—Al-Hashr, 7

Contact PK 7 - 34290 Kücükcekmece / ISTANBUL Tel: +90 212 472 60 32 Fax: +90 212 696 13 86 Web www.thepenmagazine.net E-mail info@thepenmagazine.net The views expressed are those of the authors.

THE STONE AND THE CHILD

The Stone and the Child In the past, our ancestors wrested their living from the soil and stone. Through stone, our biggest sin had been committed. For centuries, in the world of humanity, Stone had a role as an object of polytheism. It became a symbol of rebellion against the unwanted. ÐBy Metin Said SERDENGECTI ms.serdengecti@thepenmagazine.net

he adventure of the stone had started when Cain took up it and hit Abel. Then, it has had a place among our musts in life. Sometimes it has built up the foundations of our houses, sometimes it has become the most patient guardant of our graves. At times, we have grinned and borne anything thanks to it, and at times we have fastened it onto our abdomens to suppress our feel of hunger. Until it becomes an object of protest in innocent small hands of children... In the past, our ancestors wrested their living from the soil and stone. Through stone, our biggest sin had been committed. For centuries, in the world of humanity, Stone had a role as an object of The

polytheism. It became a symbol of rebellion against the unwanted. Stone, as the symbol of weakness against rockets. Children began meeting with stone at streets, for the first time. We had five stones with which we juggled. Also, we had nine stones which we used to play, putting one stone onto another one and knocking them over with a ball. Just then, things have started to alter. Firstly, some of us have become stone-headed some others’ tongues. Later, hearts have turned to stone. While compassion used to melt stones as compassion reflected on stones; now, hearts which are the exhibition halls of compassion, have become stones. Nevertheless, cotton APRIL-JUNE 2010

hands of innocent children have also turned to stone. *** I am a little child, Oh people! You are the ones who made me meet with stone. You made me the child of streets in the streets of children. Supposedly, by giving stone to my hand, you modernized me, the innocent child of metropolis which has been also modernized, being filled with stones and concretes. While you introduce me the stones with which you constructed your past, you deconstruct “me”, who would construct your future. Yesterday, I was in Ta’if. The messenger of Allah, our Prophet (PBUH) honored our hometown. My heart, full of little emotions, www.thepenmagazine.net

THE STONE AND THE CHILD

started to beat rapidly with the delight of seeing Him. However, my older people told him “Get out of our hometown, go wherever you will! After your people and townsmen rejected what you declared, you have come here! We swear to god, we are going to stay away from you as much as we can and we won’t accept your requests!

just here I am in your streets. And I, who am looking forward to being the student of the information age, am –unfortunatelyholding the same stone. To you, is it important towards whom I will throw the stone? Or is the important question whether that I who, indeed, belongs to you throw stone is a shame?

My heart was broken. There was something hurting in me. But, unfortunately, my people in chief uttered those words recklessly. As if it was not enough, they asked me to throw stone to that great prophet with my little sinless hands. It was not me, Oh Allah. I was the sin of my people, my Lord. I was the dirt of past. That Glorious Person must have been so hopeful for gleam from future that he was praying as “Oh Lord, get the children of this country and meet them with your mercy”…

I am just an innocent child who has been brought up by my older people who are not able to like each other in a way, and brought up with the internet and computer houses where my friends play war games and with your televisions imposing violence and brutality. I am just made up of your reflections, oh my older people. I am your little pretty child and your imitator.

*** Since Yesterday and today, I have been in Palestine. The marbles which are played as toys in your country are in the shape of bomb here and I am the child which has been grown up with musket bomb rains. Stone is again my fate. Faith in my chest, stone in my hand and I am the child on the bosom of streets. Indeed, my stones are not like yours. Like the dust The Prophet threw towards the infidels, my stones are the ones that are thrown, with the faith in my heart, to the civilized world of missiles. “O Allah who is the most merciful among all the merciful! You are the only Lord of the helpless who are despised by many people. My Lord is also Thou. You have such a mercy that you do not let me fall in the hands of bad-tempered and wicked enemies.” This prayer of our Prophet (PBUH) is also mine and salvation is possible only with Faith. I am Palestinian child throwing stone; forgive my older people, O My Lord! *** I am the child of the town called as “the Caliphate” and today, The

The worldly life of which you are supposed to beware in the Qur’an is now really just a game for me. I am a child regarding everything as a game and an actor playing my role without questioning. I am you, Oh my mummy, my daddy! I am you, Oh my judge, my attorney! I am you, Oh my teacher, my brother! *** Oh people! Don’t ignore me as I am just a stone and please listen to me now. I am not only the foundation stone of your physical body but I am the indicator of your civilization as well. You cover your roads with me. You build your buildings with me. The most precious present for your friend is a stone. And your object of defense against your enemies is also me. However, it is completely your invention to combine me

with the child and thus generate a social problem. The stones of the child and me; I am not like the stone in your perception. I am the stone chanting in the hands of the Prophet (PBUH)I am the stone lying next to the Kaaba. I am the stone which heard and obeyed the first revelation with the Prophet(PBUH)I am also as sinless as your children, at least. *** Seeing that the stone and the child have announced their innocence and stepped aside, it is up to us to think over, in my opinion. Remember that our children are our future. Future will be woven on the workbench of Islamic civilization. Any thought or any person that is away from such an understanding is destined to stay behind the times. If we want to build a beautiful future, we are to bring up our children according to Islamic principles. I ask as a favor to care about firstly ourselves then our children to build our future together, pleading the following prayer of our Prophet (PBUH) to be remedy for our problems that we have brought up and we are facing now. The prophet invoked this prayer while he was coming from Ta’if. “My Allah! You are the only one whom I tell about and complain for I have no strength and I become helpless and people despised me. O Allah! As long as I will not fall victim to your wrath, I can tolerate anything. But your forgiveness and remission is so vast that you will not let me do these. My Allah! Until you are pleased, I beg for your pardon. O Allah! Any strength, any power is only existent with you.”

“O Allah who is the most merciful among all the merciful! You are the only Lord of the helpless who are despised by many people. My Lord is also Thou. You have such a mercy that you do not let me fall in the hands of bad-tempered and wicked enemies.” APRIL-JUNE 2010

www.thepenmagazine.net

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DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

poor and old villager had a legendary horse. The king of that area offered a great fortune for the horse but the villager did not want to sell it. One morning, when people woke up they realized that the horse was not in its usual place. The villagers came to the old man and said: “It was clear that they would not permit this horse to belong to you, If only you had sold it, you would live like a rich man till your death.” The old man said, “Do not hasten to decide and judge. Say only that ‘the horse is lost’. Because, that’s the only truth by now. More than left is your interpretation.” The villagers laughed at that answer. After a fortnight, the lost horse came out unexpectedly one night. It seemed that it had gone to the mountains and it returned together with 12 other wild horses. The villagers apologized to the old man and said: “You were right. Losing your horse has become your advantage.” The old man said “You again hasten to decide and judge. Just say that the horse has returned. What we know as a truth is this. We do not know anything other than this” Less than in even one week’s time, the only son of the old man fell and broke his leg while he was trying to tame the wild horses. The villagers said to the old man “You were right again. Due to these

horses your son will not able to use his leg for a long time. And there is nobody who will look after you. You will become poorer and more miserable.” The old man; “You have caught the illness of deciding and judging quickly. Do not hasten so much! My son has broken his leg. That’s the truth. The rest is your interpretation. But to what extend is it right?” After a couple of weeks, their enemies assaulted the country with a giant army. As a last hope, the king recruited all the young people to the army who were able to use weaponry. The officers came to the village and recruited all the youth in

the village to the army except for the old man’s broken legged son. All the villagers were mourning because it was impossible to defeat the enemy. The villagers came again to the old man and said: “You were right again. Your son’s leg is broken but at least he is with you. However, perhaps ours will never return.” The old man: “You are still deciding and judging. Yet nobody knows what will happen. There is one thing that we could know which is my son is with me and yours are in the army, but only Allah knows which one has the luck and which one has the bad fortune.” The famous wiseman Lao Tzu completes his story with following suggestion:

“Do not decide quickly. Otherwise, you will not have any differences from everybody. Avoid judging the whole life seeing only a tiny piece of it. The decision is a situation in which the mind pauses. When you decide, your mind stops thinking and developing. However, mind always forces people to decide. Because being in the process of development is hazardous, it bothers you. But the travel never ends. When a path ends another one begins. While a door closes, another opens. You reach a goal and you realize that a higher goal stands here.”

BEING YOUNG IN THIS CENTURY

Being Young in This Century I tried to see these ill-mannered and dirty-minded youths as my relatives. Afterwards I felt much closer to those youths and tried to see them as my brothers and sisters. And later on I called them ``son, daughter'' feeling them as parts of my being. How could I get angry with them? How could it be possible? How could I condemn them? ÐBy Mehlıka YAGMUR m.yagmur@thepenmagazine.net

esterday I saw a group of young men. There were at least seven or eight in total. I guess they were at highschool. These days were Ramadan. They had sandwiches in their hands. They were attracting a lot of attention with their more than trebled earrings and tattered, worn and torn clothes. Their noise simply filled the whole street.

stubs and reflections of the rude and bad words they called each other. And a sheer silence… A strange and weird silence was this. It didn’t allow me say “Ohh!” I couldn’t say “Ohh, they are gone and peace is here.”…

After they left, there were only their leftovers, a couple of cigarette

I tried to see these ill-mannered and dirty-minded youths

The

Sadness was all they left to me… And the feeling of responsibility, compassion and supplication (du’a)…

APRIL-JUNE 2010

as my relatives. Afterwards I felt much closer to those youths and tried to see them as my brothers and sisters. And later on I called them “son, daughter” feeling them as parts of my being. How could I get angry with them? How could it be possible? How could I condemn them? How could I say “It is none of my business, they will go their own way.”? When my son or daughter walks through hell how could I stay uninterested? www.thepenmagazine.net

BEING YOUNG IN THIS CENTURY

When I see a young person who is level-headed, humble and decent, I feel good to him/her, relief and happiness occurs and makes our tongues say unintentionally ”Mashaallah”, Barakallah. But these impudent young people taught me a lesson that day. They taught my heart the compassion, my lips to pray, my conscience to live with what I know, to practice my knowledge. More compassion, more supplication and living what you preach in your life more than just speaking… CASUALTIES OF THE CORRUPTED CIVILIZATION Is the only reason for these innocent youths who were indeed born in the disposition of Islam to be constituted as the sinners society is their being insensible and ambitious to commit sins? And Is it only they who are responsible to them? Living in this century, there is more to being a youth in this century..! Suffering the pain of incapabilities while being surrounded by temptation and struggling not to lose mind. Being a young person belonging to a family which is supposed to be the seed of the society tree, but unfortunately dominated by the dissension and anxiety lacking of fondness, obedience, courtesy, safety and dialogue because of the negative effects of freedom lectures of today’s so-called civilized societies. And while desiring to escape from the uneasiness ending up in captivation of the civilization fantasies which result in the everlasting uneasiness. And then, to be a young person having parents who have forgotten that their child is a precious one given by Allah under their custody. There is a nation raised by the The

Today, civilization delivered all kinds of its toys in front of us. But it cannot feed the spiritual hunger in our souls of which sustenance is worshipping and remembering Allah. Yet again, we reach for the fantasies of civilization as though we wish to silence the “Eternity! Eternity!” clamors of our conscience ascending more day by day. parents who are gravitated by the temporary positions and grades. To be a generation, living under the attitudes and manners of parents who appear to be memorials of compassion, sometimes showing their dedication by divulging all the things that they have, but not even showing a little bit of worry about the true futures of their children which is the eternal life after the life of grave. Such that, being a young person in a society, in which ignorance is not regarded as strange, in which education is highly ignored, watching is preferred to reading. To be an individual in a society which is in a collapse in terms of morals and faith by the using even technological blessings for his/her retrogradation and destruction of his/her morals instead of improvement. The casualties of a corrupt civilization and the products of a mentality that only aims the joys of this world are we. Today, civilization delivered all kinds of its toys in front of us. But it cannot feed the spiritual hunger in our souls of which sustenance is worshipping and remembering Allah. Yet again, we reach for the fantasies of civilization as though we wish to silence the “Eternity! Eternity!” clamors of our conscience ascending more day by day. But, which fantasy of civilization has been able to silence APRIL-JUNE 2010

the clamors of our conscience so far? When the worldly pleasures we cravingly reach for leave us, we would fall in the middle of nowhere with bitter grief as we couldn’t find what we hope. And yet again, we would try to reach for another civilization toy to console ourselves, but we would be disappointed again and experience the same bitter frustration. And yet again, the toys of civilization.. Losing again.. Being-left-alone again. And pains and clamors and screams again… Thus, while the vain opposition of our souls is going, a society comes into existence out of the youth whose mental and spiritual health has already been distorted and who is scattered as a result of worldly pleasures and who doesn’t have any purpose and ideal in his life. If only we had heard the truth our hearts tried to announce: “All the cries coming from separation are the translators of the cries coming from eternal love.” So, our heart with its cries coming from separation announces that the corrupt civilization will never be able to give what the man desires because he is created for the eternity and desires the eternity. MORE COMPASSION, MORE PRAYER I strongly felt the importance of compassion in the solution of these problems while I was thinking of some of the reasons that give bad results for the youth. Yes, compassion www.thepenmagazine.net

CaptionYOUNG BEING Top HereIN THIS CENTURY

is such important thing; but how deficient are we in this lofty trait! Being the servants of Allah, who expresses his boundless compassion and mercy saying “My Tolerance supersedes My Wrath”, Why do we easily go beyond the limits by coming to be so bold in condemning others for the mistakes that they do? And, indeed, isn’t it with the blessing of Allah, who likes to forgive and who doesn’t hurry to punish, that we breathe and eat and drink despite of the fact that we are sinners? While we are praying with downcast eyes-crying and saying “What will we do in the hereafter?”, don’t we find ease and consolation by contemplating Our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)’s being much more compassionate than the other prophets and his wish to intercede and supplicate for his Ummah’s deliverance as stated in the verse “There has come to you such a (hon-

“There is a great fire in front of me; of which flames are reaching the sky. My son, my faith is burning inside. I am running to save my faith, to extinguish that fire. What importance is it that somebody wants to trip me up on the way and my feet hit him?” Bediuzzaman The

orable) prophet among yourselves that your grief weighs heavily to him; he is much concerned for you, much compassionate much merciful towards the believers.” [Surah al-Tawbah: 128] It is stated that Allah told Musa (as) in return of his compassion for the all beings: “I nullified you true, and treated with prophethood as a necessity of your mercy for all beings.” This shows that mercy is a kind of divine and prophetic attribution to attain the honour of prophethood. The prophetic attribution, mercy, is seen on the entities who are in the position of prophetic inheritance that a great example of this is his Excellency Bediuzzaman saying: “There is a great fire in front of me; of which flames are reaching the sky. My son, my faith is burning inside. I am running to save my faith, to extinguish that fire. What importance is it that somebody wants to trip me up on the way and my feet hit him?” Bediuzzaman is a great hero of mercy who sacrificed a lot for the salvation of future generations heroically preferring the cold and heartless laps of jails and exiles maybe with thousands of mothers’ mercy as the mercy of a chicken which attacks a dog in order to save its chick’s life. And as a result of this mercy, with the truths of faith and Qur’an that he is bestowed to write, he saves the faiths of millions of people and turns their worldly lives and afterlives into happiness, and we would be the witnesses of his being an inheritor of prophethood. ``HEY, YESTERDAY'S INNOCENT BOY!'' In comparison to that great mercy, I realized how dwarfed my mercy and compassion was despite being called as a female individuals of this society who are the heroes of mercy and I felt so ashamed of myself. How much do APRIL-JUNE 2010

we care for saving our contemporaries from the allures of the sins? How much do we care for the thousands of people who may lose their faith in their last breaths in the hands of the angel of death? How much do we pray for the youths whose faith, moral and humanity are in the thrones of death between the claws of civilization? More mercy, more prayers and living what you preach in your life more than just speaking… Nowadays, it is not easy to be a young person having eternal lofty ideals such as posing a good example of Islam and using his abilities and skills not only for his individual development but also for the development of Islam, thus who works for both the material and spiritual deliverance of the humanity. I know that it is not that easy for everyone to say “It is a duty and an honour to serve for faith. I must be honored by appointing it as the purpose of my life.” The value of a man is up to where his ideals and benevolence reach. No matter how perfect a man is, he is still nothing if he lives only for himself or only for his worldly life or bases his ideals only on the transient things. He lives, he dies and he is forgotten. I also am a young person. It is our destiny to be born into this world in a century in which the socalled civilization beast swallows the new generations. Well, then! What do you say to be Moses who was brought up in Pharaoh’s Palace and to be Asiya who brought up Moses? Hey, yesterday’s innocent boy! Take this compassionate hand and never leave it..! Don’t get lost in the transitory; don’t forget that eternity is created for you! www.thepenmagazine.net

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LOST AND FOUND: Scıence ın Islam

Lost and Found: Science in Islam ``As for other religions, it is quite to the contrary. That is to say, history shows that just as they increased in civilization and progressed in relation to their weakness in adhering to their religions and bigotry, so were they also subject to decline and revolution to the degree of their strength in adhering to them.'' Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (Damascus Sermon, The Letters) ÐBy Hamza BERAT-LONDON h.berat@thepenmagazine.net

“H

istory shows that the Muslims increased in civilization and progressed in relation to the strength of the truths of Islam; that is, to the degree that they acted in accordance with that strength. And history also shows that they fell into savagery and decline, and disaster and defeat amidst utter confusion to the degree of their weakness in adhering to the truths of Islam.” Bediuzzaman The hidden history of science, the gap between Greeks&Roman and modern times, has been revealed in an exhibition shown at the Museum of Science in LonThe

don. Many people named it as dark ages which has now been turned out to be The Golden Age of the Muslim world. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the Muslim inventors of the basics of camera as well as of the first engines, Astrolabes (forefathers of GPS), the founder of the first university in the world, the father of optics, the master of modern architecture the pioneering surgeon who invented the first catgut which is stil in use in operations, the first man who flew 1000 years before Wright brothers, the developer of mathematics and the founder APRIL-JUNE 2010

of algebra and modern trigonometry, the best ever experts of pharmacy and so on and so forth can be observed in this exhibition or can be read through the book named “1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World” by Salim T S Al-Hassani. “1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World” Exhibition opened in the Science Museum in London on 21 January 2010. The days followed by the opening were marked by a vibrant rush of the media, covering the exhbition and commenting on its different parts. This exciting cultural and educational event attracted thousands of www.thepenmagazine.net

LOST AND FOUND: Scıence ın Islam

people. The exhibition drew 15,000 visitors in its first week, showing thus the huge interest it raised among public. The landmark exhibition, which runs from 21 January to 25 April 2010, highlights the scientific heritage the world has herited from Muslim civilisation. The venue has been inundated with visitors and the Science Muesum’s Director, Professor Chris Rapley, has described thier latest attraction as a “blockbuster”. He added: “The thousand year period from the 7th century onwards was a time of exceptional scientific and technological advancement in the Muslim world, spanning China, India, Persia, Africa and Arabia. This is the period in history that gave us huge advances in engineering, mathematics, chemistry and physics.” The exhibition celebrates 1,000 years of science from the Muslim world, from about 700 to 1700. During this period, many of history’s finest scientists and technologists were

The

to be found in the Muslim world. In Europe the light of scientific inquiry had largely been extinguished with the collapse of the Roman Empire. But it survived, and indeed blazed brightly, elsewhere. From Muslim Spain across North Africa to Damascus, Baghdad, Persia, India, and all the way to China, scientists in the Muslim world were at the forefront of developmets in medicine, astronomy, engineering, hydraculics, mathematics, chemistry, map-making and exploration. For the project director at the Science Museum, Dr Susan Mossman, quoted by BBC, “there is a whole area of science that is literally just lost in translation”. She added: “Arabic and Muslim culture particularly is a little-known story in Britain.”

APRIL-JUNE 2010

Professor Salim Al-Hassani, the Chairman on FSTC and leader of the team who prepared the exhibition, qualifies the Global Educational Initiative 1001 Inventions as “edutainment” activity, namely a series of displays devoted to different aspects of science meant to be both educational and entertaining. He declared to the BBC: “We hope to inspire the younger generation to take up a career in science and techology and to be interested in improving the quality of societies.” THE LOST TREASURY OF SCIENCE FOUND AMONGST THE DUSTY SHELVES OF MUSLIM HISTORY It was the time of devoted and committed, trustworthy and hardworking people, and obedient Muslims to the sacred principles of the Holy Qur’an and to the practice of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

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LOST AND FOUND: Scıence ın Islam

It was the time when Muslims were leading and educating the world in every field of life. It was not the success of the time but of the good practice of Islam. If the people of Muslim countries practice Islam properly re-embracing the truths of the Qur’an, surely, the likes of Ibn Firnas, Ibn Haitham or Meriam al-Astraulabi will be doubled again without no question.. That reminds us of the famous quotation of Imam Bedizzaman Said Nursi or famously known as Ustad Bediuzzaman, where he uttered one of his books, Letters in the Risale-i Nur Collection as follows:

“The thousand year period from the 7th century onwards was a time of exceptional scientific and technological advancement in the Muslim world, spanning China, India, Persia, Africa and Arabia. This is the period in history that gave us huge advances in engineering, mathematics, chemistry and physics.” Professor Chris Rapley The

“History shows that the Muslims increased in civilization and progressed in relation to the strength of the truths of Islam; that is, to the degree that they acted in accordance with that strength. And history also shows that they fell into savagery and decline, and disaster and defeat amidst utter confusion to the degree of their weakness in adhering to the truths of Islam. As for other religions, it is quite to the contrary. That is to say, history shows that just as they increased in civilization and progressed in relation to their weakness in adhering to their religions and bigotry, so were they also subject to decline and revolution to the degree of their strength in adhering to them.” / Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (Damascus Sermon, The Letters, Risale-i Nur Collection) It can easily be argued that Ottoman time was the blossoming period of science and culture. Marcel Clerget in his book “La Turquie, Passe et Present”, Paris, 1938, says: “Proof of the high cultural level of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent is to be found in the development of science and law; in the flowering of literary works in Arabic, Persian and TurkAPRIL-JUNE 2010

ish; in the contemporary monuments in Istanbul, Bursa, and Edirne; in the boom in luxury industries; in the sumptuous life of the court and high dignitaries, and last but not least in its religious tolerance. All the various influences - notably Turkish, Byzantine and Italian mingle together and help to make this the most brilliant epoch of the Ottomans.” Speaking of the Muslim contribution to the human history of science, Phillip Hitti in ‘Short History of the Arabs’ states, “During all the first part of the Middle Ages, no other people made as important a contribution to human progress as did the Arabs, if we take this term to mean all those whose mother-tongue was Arabic, and not merely those living in the Arabian peninsula. For centuries, Arabic was the language of learning, culture and intellectual progress for the whole of the civilized world with the exception of the Far East. From the IXth to the XIIth century there were more philosophical, medical, historical, religious, astronomical and geographical works written in Arabic than in any other human tongue.” A Movie With Sir Ben Kingsley One main highlight and most popular parts of the exhibition features a short film with Sir Ben Kingsley: “1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets”. Oscar-winning actor and screen legend Sir Ben Kingsley has taken the starring role in this short feature film about the scientific heritage of Muslim civilisation. The mini-movie, on which Kingsley take the role of a mysterious and cantankerous librarian, telling about a group of school children on an enlightening journey to meet pioneering scientists and engineers form the history of Muslim civilization. The library then reveals to be 12th-century genius engineer Badi’al-Zaman Al-Jazari who lived in the city of Diyarbakir (a city in today’s southern Turkey). www.thepenmagazine.net

“F r e q u e n t ly m e n t i o n d e at h which dispels pleasure and m a k e s i t b i t t e r” Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (Tirmidhi, Zuhd 4)

~ I M A G I N E ~

Imagine yourself after you pass away Imagine your grave through night and through day Wishing that you did not do as they say Wishing that you had got up and had prayed.. Imagine, my friends, the day that you died Imagine all of the tears that they cried Remember how it felt when your body was tied Remember how it felt in the grave which you lied.. Imagine the day you’ll be called to account Imagine the sum to which your life will amount Think for a moment of the deeds which you mount Think for a moment how much they will count.. What will they say of you when you are dead? What will they say, what will be said? Will they speak of all the poor who you fed? Will they remember all the Qur’an that you read? Think not of them, but of Allah, Lord of mankind and jinn Think of Allah when tempted to sin Think of the paradise which you will dwell in Don’t wait till later to think what might have been… Anonymous

Scıence Vs Islam ?

[ Have Your Say ]

Science vs Islam? ``But, when I look back at the history here in this exhibition, muslims were not even busy with those which we dealt with. They were inventing robots, founding hospitals and universities.'' ÐInterview By Hamza BERAT h.berat@thepenmagazine.net

Swan, 56, Engineer, English

t’s nice to be here in such an informative exhibition. I’m impressed by it. I’m an engineer and knew many things about Muslim scientists already, however, I didn’t see some of the interesting ones before. Of course all of the items exhibited here are attractive, but, to me, the most attractive one is the elephant clock of Al-Jazari. Here I have seen that the period The

that people of Europe call the dark ages were only dark for us. We were poor. There were many diseases and people were dying out of hunger as well as epidemics and surely was in a bad situation. But, when I look back at the history here in this exhibition, muslims were not even busy with those which we dealt with. They were inventing robots, founding hospitals and universities, they APRIL-JUNE 2010

were having good life styles, inventing coffee and musical instruments which were all luxurious in those ages for us. There is only one thing that I cannot understand, howcome such a sophisticated and developed culture leant back? (To get the answer, please refer to the quotation in the headline, which was extracted from Ustad Bediuzzaman’s favourite work, Dawww.thepenmagazine.net

Scıence Vs Islam ?

mascus Sermon, at the very beginning of the article). Adam, 46, Civil Servant, English I like the Museum of Science and this exhibition as well. We have come here together with my wife and my son. It’s nonsense to blame all Muslims for terrorist

an important role in representing moderate Islam, or at least can inform people. Although I was raised in a Christian school, I am not very into it. Silvia, 40, PR, Swedish I have been living in London for ages, and science is important to me. It’s very good to see this exhibition here. This is the first time that I have seen an invention by a Muslim. I am surprised indeed. We are all affected by the image of Islam in the mainstream media. This exhibition is OK, but not enough really. Victor, 33, Economist, Polish I’m happy to be here in this exhibition, both entertaining and educating, it’s fine. I didn’t have a clue about those things in my life before coming here. I’m an economist and my wife is a scientist. We have brought our children as well. They are seeing the importance of science in the human history from the Islamic perspective. Islam, which is projected in the media, and Islam in reality are different from one another. This is what I learnt here. All those terror related incidents blamed on Muslims are not fair, I think. I went to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. They were all beautiful countries and I had no bad memories and experienced no hostility to non-Muslims there. I hope these kind of exhibitions will be done by Muslims so that people learn the real Islam.

attacks. My wife is from Ireland and as you know there were many incidents between England and Ireland. Blaming all Muslims for terrorist attacks is just like naming all the Irish people as terrorists. There may be rotten apples in every culture and it’s normal. To change the image of Islam in the eyes of the general public is a bit challenging to be honest, however, these kind of exhibitions and events play The

Editor’s Picks 1001 Inventions Camera Obscura – Ibn alHaytham used a dark room, later called camera obscura, to demonstrate that light rays emitted from visible objects enter our eyes. 10th century Elephant Clock – Engineer Al-Jazari invented this APRIL-JUNE 2010

mechanical clock which combines ancient Greek, Indian, Egyptian and Chinese ideas. Early 13th century Algebra – Mathematician Al-Kwarizmi laid the foundations of algebra – an abstract way to perform mathematics using symbols. 9th century Human Flight – History has it that Abbas ibn Firnas was the first man to fly, using glider wings. 9th century Surgical Tools – A thousand years ago, a surgeon called Al-Zahrawi wrote a book describing two hundred medical instruments. 10th century Map of America – The oldest-surviving detailed map showing Americas was drawn by Turkish naval captain Piri Re’is, using one of Columbus’ own maps. 16th century Trigonometry – Muslim scholars developed mathematical and trigonometric rules to help work out the direction of Mecca from everywhere on Earth. 9th century Astrolabes – Astrolabes helped people navigate by the stars. Muslim astrolabe-makers like Merriam al-Ljliya al-Astrulabiya drew on ancient Grek ideas. 10th century Fountain Pen – It’s said that the Egyptian Sultan Al-Mu’izz asked his craftsmen to create a pen that wouldn’t spill ink – and they invented the fountain pen. 10th century Toothbrush Miswak – It’s said that the Prophet Muhammad scrubbed his teeth with a twig of miswak before each prayer. 6th century Universities – One of the oldest universities is Al-Qarawiyin in Morocco, founded by Fatima al-Fihri who spent much of her fortune building it. 9th century www.thepenmagazine.net

RAISE YOUR HEAD, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Raise Your Head, You are not Alone! Do we feel lonely only when there is no one near us? Don’t we feel lonesome when we are with friends or when there are people near us? Yes, we do. There are times when we feel really lonely through the crowds. Don’t most of us feel lonesome at times though we are circled by such a lot of people and wonderful creatures?

ÐBy Ferıde Karahan f.karahan@thepenmagazine.net

he was sitting in her armchair looking through the window. Actually, she was contemplating her life. She was trying to pinpoint exactly where all this frustration started in her life. She was reconsidering how she lived from the beginning up to now. What has she been doing lately? She thought about her life. Was it really the best of quality as she assumed? Yes, she did actually regard her life as the best. But, this mindset was coming from cultural values ingrained for years. Now, she was lonely. Alone with nothing. There was only God and her. Of whom she had hardly remembered the existence through all her life. "And now, lonely in her room in her 30s Sophia was." "She was getting filled with emptiness and a non-existent sense of self-worth.'' “I am a woman, at the threshold of a cold season, at the beginning of understanding the polluted existence of the earth...” She whispered to herself. She felt that she belonged entirely to herself. Instead of feeling lonesome among the crowds, she was all alone by herself on the other side of the world. “May be solitariness was an escape from myself.” she thought to herself, “Because, what I see in the eyes of others is only a reflection of myself whom I hate the most.” Was that really it? She was, now, more contradicted than ever before. Being in the middle of nowhere… Was she trying to follow a way? Was she trying to follow Islam’s way, or was she doing the reverse? Where was she? She realized that she was in The

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RAISE YOUR HEAD, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

the middle of nowhere… She was a Muslim, yet she was not aware of what Islam really was. She was a wife whom her husband loved most, a mother, a Muslimah… Yes, also a Muslimah she was… But where was she? Sophia tried to find herself. But her effort was in vain, it was no use trying. She silenced her thoughts. She started to listen to the sound of silence when her thoughts got silent. “Loneliness… Such a mysterious word and feeling… But, what does it mean anyway? “The disposition of being alone…” the dictionary says. But don’t we miss a point defining the loneliness. Do we feel lonely only when there is no one near us? Don’t we feel lonesome when we are with friends or when there are people near us? Yes, we do. There are times when we feel really lonely through the crowds. Don’t most of us feel lonesome at times though we are circled by such a lot of people and wonderful creatures? Is it really loneliness itself making us feel lonely or we feel lonely just because we crave for loneliness and the pain of loneliness though there are hundreds of people with us caring for us? Don’t you think we feel lonely because we cannot fathom the true meaning of the world and we cannot read, speak and listen to the creatures, so we feel God is far far away? Is God really far far away? Solitude is the feeling leading your way to pessimism and despair. And they are the sources from where satan is fed. Satan feeds himself on pessimistic and desperate thoughts of yours. And makes you feel run out of your inner power. Because, when you are desperate and pessimistic, you are vulnerable to satan’s misgivings. By making you feel lonely, in a complete solitude, satan gets the advantage of feeding himself on your weaknesses and vulnerability. When he catches you in despair, he whispers pessimism and more despair and sucks your inner power and soul. Thus, you become numb. You start to cancel your feelings. You start to self-loathe but can’t confess your self-loathing even to yourself let alone to the others. Thus, The

you forget to repent (make tawba), because you don’t know what your mistake is... Despair… Such a dreadful sickness it is… And it is despair which has killed our high morals and lofty goals. And it is despair that has destroyed our spiritual power which is our inner power. Despair is one of the most grievous sicknesses of the communities and nations, a cancer. It is an obstacle to perfections. Since this sickness has inflicted so much tyranny on us and is killing us, we shall totally shatter despair with the below verse: Say: “O my servants who have transgressed against their souls. Do not despair of the mercy of Allah (due to your transgression). Surely, Allah forgives all sins! Surely, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” (Zumar, 53)

Such a

dreadful sickness

it is…

(From Damascus Sermon Bediuzzaman Said Nursi) Sophia felt a little hungry; she grabbed a piece of bread and helped herself. She thought about her servant. Whenever her servant asked her whether she wanted something to eat, she always answered her in a tense voice as if she was scolding her. She was now getting ashamed of what she had done. And now she was sinking deeper and deeper in her loneliness as she kept thinking. She was trying to stand alone powerfully on her own. But then, she realized she forgot one thing. Making du’a… And placing her hopes and trusts only in Allah instead of the transient. She realized she had been in desperation so far. She realized there is only One to place the trust He was “Allah”. Only He was the Everlasting and Eternal. He Alone is the only reference to put faith in. “We are humans and there are times when we are tired of always being powerful on our own. We deeply feel the need for an Ever-lasting and Eternal entity to place our trust. And APRIL-JUNE 2010

Such a dreadful sickness it is… And it is despair which has killed our high morals and lofty goals. And it is despair that has destroyed our spiritual power which is our inner power. Despair is one of the most grievous sicknesses of the communities and nations, a cancer. It is an obstacle to perfections.

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RAISE YOUR HEAD, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

if we don’t know this Ever-lasting and Eternal Entity, and more importantly if we don’t know how to get to know and get closer to Him, we simply embrace some diversions to fill this blank in our hearts and souls. And the more we distract our heart, soul and brain with such diversions, the more we lose ourselves in the transient. Why do we distract ourselves with the life of this world whereas it is offering the people many pleasures hiding serious diseases in them? Getting trapped in the transient… World… Trapped in this distracting shade… World…

Sophie

slowly raised her head as if she

made a discovery…

Sophie slowly raised her head as if she made a discovery… And she opened the window in front of her looking at the scenery. This time she was not alone. She seemed to be born newly into this world. She was feeling light and free as though she could fly if she attempted. “Freedom and power springs from the belief.” She thought.

The

“A Shade… And transient… A transient shade… World is… World is a transient shade…” The puzzle in Sophie’s mind was now complete. Which technological development could fill that blank? Which civilization toy could be a cure for this infectious disease? A disease of which cure is only one thing… The Belief… The only way to freedom… She asked herself again the question: “Do you think you are really lonely?” “Allah is closer to His servants than their jugular vein.” “How can you feel lonely, how can you feel in an endless solitude when your Lord is that close to you.” Every inch of her was trembling. What was her age? Yet, she was newly realizing and discovering things about her life and herself. She thought “Sophia, you are here because someone cared about you and created you intentionally. Look around yourself. What do you see? Do you see nothing? Or do you see things which are not talking to you? Do you really think they are not talking to you? If you think they don’t speak to you, it means you don’t know how to listen to them. Raise your head! And see the seals of your Lord on each creature that your Lord sent you as messages and letters. Beautiful blessings… Be yourself beautiful, and you will find the world full of beauty.” There was a Qur’an near her, she took it and APRIL-JUNE 2010

randomly opened a page and read a random verse, it was saying: “No doubt that in the creation of the heavens and the earth, in the alteration (succession) of night and day, in the ships flowing through in the sea (loaded) with the things beneficial to people, in Allah’s sending down a water from the sky and giving life with it to the earth after its death, and in His spreading therein of the every moving living being, in the orientation of the winds, and in the clouds which are made obedient (to the order) between the sky and the earth; there are definite evidences (to the existence and Oneness of Allah) for a community that will reason.” (Surah al-Baqara, 164) Sophie slowly raised her head as if she made a discovery… And she opened the window in front of her looking at the scenery. This time she was not alone. She seemed to be born newly into this world. She was feeling light and free as though she could fly if she attempted. “Freedom and power springs from the belief.” She thought. Yes, she discovered a life… She discovered her life… She, now, was not listening to the sound of loneliness anymore. She was listening to her life and the creatures that were sent to her as messages from Allah. She was now able to realise these messages from her Lord. All this time she was not alone, she was surrounded by so many blessings… She thanked Allah that He gave her another chance in life… She was crying her heart out looking through the window… She was crying and praying deeply: “O My Lord! When my heart was hardened, and my courses constrained; I made my hope a stairway to Your forgiveness. My sin burdened me heavily, but when I measured it by Your forgiveness, my Lord, Your forgiveness was greater than my sins.” O Allah! Forgive me, conceal my mistakes and honor me with the best manner you consent. www.thepenmagazine.net

THE GOVERNOR AND THE BLACKSMITH

THE GOVERNOR AND

THE BLACKSMITH I do not need neither your help nor your refuge. I seek help from the One, who saved me from your unfairness, and I seek refuge in Him. The prison manager talked about a man whom he heard praying as “O my Lord, do not make those sleep a wink at their homes who prevented me sleeping at home. Shake their houses onto them till the morning!” The governor asks the blacksmith to come to his room, and the old man was brought to his room. He understood that the man was innocent. Before releasing him, the governor suggested the blacksmith: “From now on, make sure that if you face any kind of misunderstanding or if you are in trouble, please call me and I will protect you!”

ne day, an innocent blacksmith, who worked and got exhausted for sustenance of his children and was returning home innocently, was mistakenly arrested and imprisoned by the officers of the governor of Khorasan. They supposed he was among the ones who were breaching the peace and security of the city at that very moment of the night. He was in prison then. Performing salah (prayer) in his dark chamber with such a deep sorrow, the mistakenly arrested man raised his hands open and sincerely prayed: “O my Lord, do not make those sleep a wink at their homes who prevented me sleeping at The

home. Shake their houses onto them till the morning!” The governor, who had just lain down, realized that his house was trembling terribly and he got out of his home suddenly. Then, he realized that it is not an earthquake. He retuned and lay again whispering “thank God, it’s only a dream”. However as soon as he closed his eyes he felt the same tremor again and this situation went on till morning. The following day, the fairminded governor, thinking that there must have been a strange reason behind this incident, called his prison manager and asked him whether he tortured anybody innocent. APRIL-JUNE 2010

The answer of the blacksmith was moving and made the governor cry, which was: “Why am I to call for help from you? Are you not the wicked man who imprisoned me because of a crime which I never attempted? I do not need neither your help nor your refuge. I seek help from the One, who saved me from your unfairness, and I seek refuge in Him, who is the Most Powerful and the Answerer of All Prayers and the Supplier of all needs. Unless He had not accepted this weak and oppressed man’s prayer, and shaken your house on you, you would not have come and called me to your room, and most probably I would still have been suffering in the dark and dusty corners of the prison!” www.thepenmagazine.net

ARE YOU AWARE OF YOUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK?

Are You Aware of Your Biological Clock?

ÐBy H. Gokhan KARACIVI hg.karacivi@thepenmagazine.net

ur answers are ready when we are asked about our height, weight, age, working hours, average sleeping period and our internet password. The Society of Cardiology, related to heart health, arouses our attention to remind us of the vital importance of knowing about biological rates and levels in our body as we know some personal information such as our height, weight, birth date and shoe size in a brochure which was issued for raising consciousness about heart health. In my seminars, we try to find the best functional answers in fields of action to “how” questions which the life demands to be answered. At the end of the seminars, in question-answer sessions most of the answers are related individuals’ communications with themselves; we share our experiences in nourishment, relaxation, self care, worship, regularity, planning and discipline in lectures. What participants follow with high interest most is “our biological clock”. I shared the topic with my doctor colleagues recently and I believe sharing its details here will be beneficial. What is “our biological clock”? What provides this wonderful stabilization in nature is the pituitary gland located near the centre of the brain in living beings which The

APRIL-JUNE 2010

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ARE YOU AWARE OF YOUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK?

is a small and simple organ. This gland whose existence was known hundreds of years before the birth of Christ and which is as small and light as a pill exists in fish, reptilians, in animals living both in land and water, in birds and almost all mammals. The pituitary gland which regulates the biological rhythm is known for fulfilling its duty releasing ‘melatonin’ hormones. The amount of secretion of this hormone is determined by the day and night times or more correctly, the continuum of darkness and brightness surrounding it, that is, the body clock works simultaneously with the day light cycle. The regulation of secretion of hormones in a-24-hour period is called a “biological clock”. A disorder occurring in that cycle for to any reason causes the biological clock to be disconcerted. WHAT MAKES OUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK CONFUSED Let us get started with a general sample; ‘jet lag’ disorder after long distance travel with a plane is an event which is experienced due to the confusion of biological clock. Because, the hormones which raise the maximum and decrease minimum levels in particular moments in a-24-hour time period show level change in wrong moments in new time period when you just arrive. Until the body gets accustomed to a new time period, it staggers for a while. Suzanne Warner from Swinburne Technology University says that every individual has a genetic inclination towards waking up early or going to bed late but due to hormone changes in puberty, teenagers begin to go to bed later and wake up later as much as possible. Warner saying that environmental factors may cause problems in sleepThe

ing states also that the artificial lights like night light cause the melatonin hormone to be released lesser and the computers prevent the youngsters from caring about their sleep need. Warner suggests that parents diminish the light and turn off the computer and TV an hour before sleeping to cope with the sleeping problem of youngsters at least. Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar from North Carolina University in USA says that work or study at nights and sleeping while the lights on, leaving the biological clock of the body deactivated may lead to serious health problems. Sancar says that switching off the lights while sleeping is necessary for healthy functioning of the biological clock of the body and adds that for people who are afraid of darkness it is more appropriate to use red light as a night light. Leaving the TV on while sleeping causes you wake up without relaxation and for your biological clock to become confused. The functioning of our 24 hour biological clock is mentioned below. I believe you will read it with interest and revise all your attitudes, behaviours and social activities according to this 24-hour functioning programme. I remember when I learned about the biological clock for the first time I got angry with myself. Source: • • • •

•

www.saglikbilgisi.com www.serdaralkan.com What is the one-hour-routine of human body (Original: insan Vücudunun 1 Günlük Mesaisi) TUBİTAK The Scientific and Technological Research Magazine of Turkey, “What is the biological clock?” (Original: Biyolojik Saat nedir by Eren Açıkel) www.tumgazeteler.com/haberleri/ SuzanneWarner APRIL-JUNE 2010

What is

“our biological

clock”?

What is “our biological clock”? What provides this wonderful stabilization in nature is the pituitary gland located near the centre of the brain in living beings which is a small and simple organ. This gland whose existence was known hundreds of years before the birth of Christ and which is as small and light as a pill exists in fish, reptilians, in animals living both in land and water, in birds and almost all mammals. www.thepenmagazine.net

24 HOURS OF OUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK 05:00 – 06:00 › Preparation for the day Stress hormones increase six fold of its daily amount. The body embarks on acting. The energy which is spent throughout the night comes back. The metabolism gets into action and the energy and protein get ready for the work of the day. Now, we are ready to start for a new day.

07:00 › Breakfast time The organism has awakened but it is still weak. The muscles and joints are cold so we feel hard our body and stiffen our joints. We should avoid sports at that time. Instead of sports we can have a good breakfast. Digestion organs work well at that time and carbohydrates turn into energy without being stored.

08:00 › Pulse and blood pressure increases Heartbeats, which are 60 while we are asleep, increase 72-78 bands when we get up. This increase which is necessary for our work raises the risk of heart attack. Besides, cigarettes after breakfast contract the veins much more than any time.

09:00 – 10:00 – 11:00 › The most productive work hours The body reaches its highest temperature. “Short term memory” is in the best condition. These are the most appropriate hours for intense working. Concentration and logical thinking is at the highest level.

12:00 – 13:00 – 14:00 › Exhaustion comes out Concentration decreases and sleep overcomes. The blood amount which flows into the brain diminishes because the blood will be used for digestion in stomach. After lunch, drowsiness overcomes. The probability of getting an infraction of those who had a siesta at that time decreases 30 per cent.

15:00 › The happiest moment of the day In this hour, endorphin which is called happiness hormone climaxes. Our energy gets back for new works and our memory is up to the mark. We experience our second productive time period but this productivity level is less than in the morning.

16:00 – 17:00 › Adrenalin level is at its height. The muscles strengthen The activation of the organs is well. Our strength increases. Brain and muscle coordination is perfect. It is determined that most of the Olympic records are broken at that time. Blood pressure and circulation is in good condition. It is the moment when little muscles are most powerful and efficient.

18:00 › Exhaustion starts, it is time for dinner Our muscles begin to get weak. Our stomach releases acid the most at that time. It is a good time for dinner. The pancreas is especially much active at this hour.

You have realized the communication between the universe and our body, which is a little universe, through a different perspective. The Divine Power that created the universe provides our heart and pulse to beat.

19:00 – 20:00 › Life sweetens and sleep time approaches By the darkness of the weather our bodies prepare for the sleep. The blood pressure lessens and the pulse slows down. Digestion continues.

21:00 › When the eating is dangerous The digestion ends and daily routine of the organs comes to cease. The food eaten after this hour waits in stomach till morning without digestion. This is a dangerous situation. This food which is not digested decays in stomach and turns into harmful garbage. This harmful acid flows in the intestinal mucous.

22:00 › Immune system embarks on working efficiently The activity of leukocytes increases at this time. The body cannot discharge the poisons like nicotine after this time. These kinds of poisons stay in the body till morning and damage it.

23:00 › It is just time for sleep and rest The release of stress hormone stops. We calm down, relax and get easy at that time. The blood pressure and body temperature decrease. Ten minutes later after dozing off heartbeats and brain’s working slow down. 25 minutes later we dive deep into sleep.

24:00 › The body renew itself while we sleep The nutrition which we get at dinner is used for restoration of the cells. Hair grows and the cells renew themselves. All tissues which wear out during day renew during sleep. Missing the opportunity of renewal means to get older a little bit.

01:00 – 02:00 › The productivity and attention is in the lowest level Those who work still at that time make mistakes because the body adopt itself to sleeping. Eyesight gets weak, reactions slow down. Thus, traffic accidents take place a lot at that time.

03:00 › Time for metaphysical tension and introspection Release of melatonin hormone makes the body lazy and unstable. These are the hours when most suicides take place. This is the most appropriate time for tahajjud prayer.

04:00 › First dithers for the new day The stress hormone embarks on releasing again and we get back our energy. The body begins to prepare itself for the new day. The blood pressure increases and the veins tense. Thus, infarction crisis especially take place mostly between 04:00-06:00 bands. Cardiac and blood pressure patients should take care!

A Phılosophıcal Perspectıve on the Lıterary Mıracle of the Qur’an

A Philosophical Perspective on the Literary Miracle of the Qur’an The Qur’an is a miracle as its literary form cannot be explained via the productive capacity of the Arabic language, because all the possible combinations of Arabic words, letters and grammatical rules have been exhausted and yet the Qur’an’s literary form has not been imitated. The Arabs who were known to have been Arab linguists par excellence failed to successfully challenge the Qur’an. ÐBy Hamza ANDREAS TZORTZIS www.hamzatzortzis.com

illiam Shakespeare, who was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, is often used as an example of unique literature. The argument posed is that if Shakespeare expressed his poetry and prose in a unique manner and he is a human being - then surely no matter how unique the Qur’an is, it must also be from a human being.

Hamza ANDREAS TZORTZIS is an international public speaker on Islam. He is a writer with articles, essays and commentaries on political philosophy, the philosophy of religion and society. Hamza is an intellectual activist actively engaging on issues pertaining to religion, social cohesion and politics. The

However there are some problems with the above argument. It does not take into account the nature of the Qur’an’s uniqueness and it doesn’t understand the uniqueness of literary geniuses such as Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare composed poetry and prose that received an unparalleled aesthetic reception, the literary form he expressed his works in was not unique. In many instances Shakespeare used the common Iambic Pentameter (The APRIL-JUNE 2010

Iambic pentameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of five iambic feet. The word “pentameter” simply means that there are five feet in the line.) However in the case of the Qur’an, its language is in an entirely unknown and unmatched literary form. The structural features of the Qur’anic discourse render it unique and not the subjective appreciation of its literary and linguistic makeup. With this in mind there are two approaches that can show that there are greater reasons to believe that the Qur’an is from the divine and a miraculous text. The first approach is rational deduction and the second is the philosophy of Miracles. RATIONAL DEDUCTION Rational deduction is the thinking process where logical conclusions are drawn from a universally accepted statement www.thepenmagazine.net

A Phılosophıcal Perspectıve on the Lıterary Mıracle of the Qur’an

or provable premises. This process is also called rational inference or logical deduction. In the context of the Qur’an’s uniqueness the universally accepted statement supported by eastern and western scholarship is: “The Qur’an was not successfully imitated by the Arabs at the time of revelation” From this statement the following logical conclusions can be drawn: 1. The Qur’an could not have come from an Arab as the Arabs, at the time of revelation, were linguists par excellence and they failed to challenge the Qur’an. They had even admitted that the Qur’an could have not come from a human being. 2. The Qur’an could not have come from a Non-Arab as the language in the Qur’an is Arabic, and the knowledge of the Arabic language is a pre-requisite to successfully challenge the Qur’an. 3. The Qur’an could not have come from the Prophet Muhammad due to the following reasons: a. The Prophet Muhammad was an Arab himself and all the Arabs failed to challenge the Qur’an. b. The Arabs linguists at the time of revelation never accused the Prophet of being the author of the Qur’an. c. The Prophet Muhammad experienced many trials and tribulations during the course of his Prophetic mission. For example his children died, his beloved wife Khadija passed away, he was boycotted, his close companions were tortured and killed, yet the Qur’an’s literary character reThe

mains that of the divine voice and character. Nothing in the Qur’an expresses the turmoil and emotions of the Prophet Muhammad. It is almost a psychological and physiological impossibility to go through what the Prophet went through and yet none of the emotions are expressed in the literary character of the Qur’an. d. The Qur’an is a known literary masterpiece yet its verse were at many times revealed for specific circumstances and events that occurred. However, without revision or deletion they are literary masterpieces. All literary masterpieces have undergone revision and deletion to ensure literary perfection, however the Qur’an was revealed instantaneously. e. The hadith or narrations of the Prophet Muhammad are in a totally different style then that of the Qur’an. How can any human being express themselves orally over a 23 year period (which was the period of Qur’anic revelation) in two distinct styles? This is a psychological and physiological impossibility according to modern research. f. All types of human expression can be imitated if the blueprint of that expression exists. For example artwork can be imitated even though some art is thought to be extraordinary or amazingly unique. But in the case of the Qur’an we have the blueprint - the Qur’an itself - yet no one has been able to imitate its unique literary form. 4. The Qur’an could not have come from another being such as a Jinn or Spirit because the basis of their existence is the Qur’an and revelation itself. Their existence is based upon revelation and APRIL-JUNE 2010

The Prophet Muhammad experienced many trials and tribulations during the course of his Prophetic mission. For example his children died, his beloved wife Khadija passed away, he was boycotted, his close companions were tortured and killed, yet the Qur’an’s literary character remains that of the divine voice and character. Nothing in the Qur’an expresses the turmoil and emotions of the Prophet Muhammad. www.thepenmagazine.net

A Phılosophıcal Perspectıve on the Lıterary Mıracle of the Qur’an

not empirical evidence. Therefore if someone claims that the source of the Qur’an to be another being then they would have to prove its existence and in this case proving revelation. In the case of using the Qur’an as the revelation to establish Jinns existence then that would mean the whole rational deduction exercise would not be required in the first place, as the Qur’an would already have been established as a divine text, because to believe in Jinns existence would mean belief in the Qur’an in the first place. 5. The Qur’an can only have come from the Divine as it is the only logical explanation as all other explanations have been discarded because they do not explain the uniqueness of the Qur’an in a comprehensive and coherent manner. PHILOSOPHY OF MIRACLES The word miracle is derived from the Latin word ‘miraculum’ meaning “something wonderful”. A miracle is commonly defined as a violation of a natural law (lex

The Qur’an can only have come from the Divine as it is the only logical explanation as all other explanations have been discarded because they do not explain the uniqueness of the Qur’an in a comprehensive and coherent manner. The

naturalis); however this is an incoherent definition. This incoherence is due our understanding of natural laws, as the Philosopher Bilynskyj observes “…so long as natural laws are conceived of as universal inductive generalisations the notion of violation of a nature law is incoherent.” Natural laws are inductive generalizations of patterns we observe in the universe. If the definition of a miracle is a violation of a natural law, in other words a violation of the patterns we observe in the universe, then an obvious conceptual problem occurs. The problem is: why can’t we take this perceived violation of the pattern as part of the pattern? Therefore the more coherent description of a miracle is not a ‘violation’ but an ‘impossibility’. The Philosopher William Lane Craig rejects the definition of a miracle as a “violation of a natural law” and replaces it with the coherent definition of “events which lie outside the productive capacity of nature”. What this means is that miracles are acts of impossibilities concerning causal or logical connections. THE MIRACULOUS QUR’AN What makes the Qur’an a miracle, is that it lies outside the productive capacity of the nature of the Arabic language. The productive capacity of nature, concerning the Arabic language, is that any grammatically sound expression of the Arabic language will always fall within the known Arabic literary forms of Prose and Poetry. APRIL-JUNE 2010

The Qur’an is a miracle as its literary form cannot be explained via the productive capacity of the Arabic language, because all the possible combinations of Arabic words, letters and grammatical rules have been exhausted and yet the Qur’an’s literary form has not been imitated. The Arabs who were known to have been Arab linguists par excellence failed to successfully challenge the Qur’an. Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot who was a notable British Orientalist and translator states: “…and that though several attempts have been made to produce a work equal to it as far as elegant writing is concerned, none has as yet succeeded.”1 The implication of this is that there is no link between the Qur’an and the Arabic language; however this seems impossible because the Qur’an is made up of the Arabic language! On the other hand, all the combinations of Arabic words and letters have been used to try and imitate the Qur’an. Therefore, it can only be concluded that a supernatural explanation is the only coherent explanation for this impossible Arabic literary form – the Qur’an. When we look at the productive nature of the Arabic language to find an answer for the unique literary form of the Qur’an, we find no link between it and the divine text, thus making it an impossibility requiring supernatural explanation. So it logically follows that if the Qur’an is a literary event that lies outside the productive capacity of the Arabic language, then, by definition, it is a miracle. 1.

F. F. Arbuthnot. 1885. The Construction of the Bible and the Koran. London, p 5. www.thepenmagazine.net

Calligraphy: Yusuf BILEN

ASMA-UL HUSNA

The Beautiful Names of Allah

34. Al-Ghafoor

41. Aj-Jalil

• The One who forgives a lot.

• The One who is attributed with greatness of Power and Glory of status.

• The Forgiving, the Pardoner.

35. Ash-Shakur

• The Majestic. The honorable, the exalted.

• The One who gives a lot of reward for a little obedience.

42. Al-Karim

• The Grateful, the Thankful

• The One who is clear from abjectness.

36. Al-’Ali

• The most generous, the

• The One who is clear from the attributes of the creatures.

Bountiful.

• The most high, the exalted.

• The One that nothing is absent from Him. Hence it’s meaning is related to the attribute of Knowledge.

37. Al-Kabir • The One who is greater than everything in status.

43. Ar-Raqib

• The Guardian, the watchful.

• The great, the big.

Watcher.

38. Al-Hafiz

44. Al-Mujib

• The One who protects whatever and whoever He willed to protect.

• The One who answers the one in need if he asks Him and rescues the yearner if he calls upon Him.

• The Guardian, the preserver.

• The Responder. The re-

39. Al-Muqit

spondent, one who answers.

• The One who has the Power.

45. Al-Wasi’

• The maintainer, The Nour-

• The Englober. The enricher, the Omnipresent, the

isher

Knowledgeable.

40. Al-Hasib

46. Al-Hakim

• The One who gives the satisfaction.

• The One who is correct in His

• The noble, The Reckoner

• The most Wise, the Judicious.

The

doings.

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Our Prophet (PBUH) said â&#x20AC;&#x153;When my ummah deteriorates, the ones who follow my sunnah obtain the rewards of a hundred martyrsâ&#x20AC;? (Bayhaki).

M o d e l Pe r so n , M o d e l So c i e t y :

MODEL PERSON, MODEL SOCIETY: Following the Footprints of Prophet

(PBUH)

ÐBy Idrıs FERID i.ferid@thepenmagazine.net

MODEL PERSON, MODEL SOCIETY:

Sunnah is actions, expressions and confirmations of our Prophet (PBUH) related to every walks of life extending from etiquette of eating and drinking to the state administration. Sunnah encompasses the social, individual and family life as a whole.

n today’s world, there is unfortunately not an ideal Muslim society which has been shaped by the divine principles of the Holy Qur’an and the way Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) governed. Thus nations of the world cannot see a living model society inspired by the Companions of Prophet. Even though there are some societies trying to implement Islamic law and Islamic education, it is still far beyond to name them as a ‘model society of Islam’. COMPREHENDING THE SUNNAH AS A WHOLE Sunnah is actions, expressions and confirmations of our Prophet The

(PBUH) related to every walks of life extending from etiquette of eating and drinking to the state administration. Sunnah encompasses the social, individual and family life as a whole. To comprehend the sunnah, which encircles the every walks of life, better we can divide it into three parts as “worship”, “good moral”, and “practice”. It is told about the Prophet (PBUH) as “servant, human being and Messenger” in many verses of the Holy Qur’an. The Prophet (PBUH) is a servant of Allah APRIL-JUNE 2010

(SWT) with worship which he did for the sake of Allah (SWT); and he is a human being with his relationship with the other people and with his good moral; and he is a Messenger with his duty of receiving the wahy (the holy revelation) and practicing and disseminating it within the society. We, to be honoured as being his ummah, should remember these three aspects of him when we contemplate on “the Sunnah of the Prophet” and we should take him as sample for us in terms of these three aspects. As much as we can do, we should perform the www.thepenmagazine.net

MODEL PERSON, MODEL SOCIETY:

worships which he did and should adopt his good moral which Allah (SWT) praised thus: “thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life”. As best as we can do, we should learn the rules, disseminate and teach them. Otherwise, we cannot claim that we obey the sunnah to the full extent only observing the supererogatory and adab worships In the world of today, when it is told about the sunnah, people often think of the etiquette of eating and drinking. (the sunnahs such as using miswaq, donning the turban, reciting basmala beginning the meal makes up a little compartment of our life). Of course, sunnahs concerning drinking and eating are sunnahs and they should be observed but while caring about details we should not neglect the basics. Let’s suppose that we obey the adab sunnahs but we do not follow the sunnahs concerning moral, invitation to Islam and practicing it which we mentioned above, then can we claim that we obeyed the sunnah at full length? For example, are we able to control our anger when we get angry? Are we able to forgive the faults of our Muslim brothers? To control our anger, to forgive our brothers’ faults are all sunnah. Remember that when the Prophet (PBUH) conquered the Mecca city, he forgave the polytheist people who had treated him as enemy for twenty years. Are we able to show forgiveness for our brothers which he showed for his enemies? Our Prophet (PBUH) was told about a woman. “such-and-such woman prays at nights and fasts in days but disturbs her neighbours with her tongue.” The Prophet (PBUH) said “there is no any goodness in her, she is in fire (in Hell).” And then they talked about another woman : “such-and-such woman The

performs only fardh (obligatory) prayers, and fasts in month of Ramadan, and gives a piece of cheese as alms but she does not disturb anybody with her tongue.” The Prophet (PBUH) said for her “she is in Paradise.” (Ahmad, V.2. p.440, Hakim, V.4. p. 183 [Translated from Turkish Version]) If we pay attention to this narration, even though someone worships a lot, if s/he does not show a good moral, s/he cannot be a good servant. In the world of today, the ones who only worship and do not fulfill the task of invitation people

the part of sunnah which they oppose. Furthermore, they cause a false devoutness (or false concept of sunnah) to be spread in society.

Mo del P erso n, Mo del So ciety:

Our Prophet (PBUH) spoke “When my ummah deteriorates, the ones who follow my sunnah obtain the rewards of a hundred martyrs” (Bayhaki). This hadith shows us the easiest and quickest way of gaining the approval of Allah (SWT). But, to gain this reward it is necessary to comprehend and live by sunnah as a whole with its aspects of “worships”, “good moral” and “invitation to Islam”, instead of understanding and practicing it half and deficiently. TO BE ABLE TO BE PIONEER AND SAMPLE TO THE HUMAN WORLD

to Islam are in category of those who misunderstand the sunnah. Imam Ghazzali narrates such a hadith in his book Ihya: “Community of a country including 80 thousand people who prayed like the Prophets were tormented.” When asked “O Messenger of Allah (PBUH) “How did it happen?” he responded: “They did not get angry for the sake of Allah (SWT) (to the evils and denials which were commited) and they did not invite people to goodness and prevent them from commiting evils.” We confront to the people who do not concieve the sunnah as a whole and observe the sunnah partially (worship and adab [manners]) and oppose it in other points such as good moral and invitation. They think that they live by sunnah and they are pious people. (We also do not think differently.) However, they take reward for the part of the sunnah which they practice but they commit to sin and to be held responsible for APRIL-JUNE 2010

The “model figure” to be taken as sample is the Prophet (PBUH), and “the model society” is the community of companions (sahabas). The fact that the Prophet (PBUH) is the model figure for his ummah is cited in the following verse: “Verily, in the Apostle of Allah you have a good example for everyone who looks forward [with hope and awe] to Allah (SWT) and

Let’s suppose that we obey the adab sunnahs but we do not follow the sunnahs concerning moral, invitation to Islam and practicing it which we mentioned above, then can we claim that we obeyed the sunnah at full length? www.thepenmagazine.net

MODEL PERSON, MODEL SOCIETY:

During the emergence of Muslim society in Madina, the only “model figure” whom the Muslims took as sample was our Prophet (PBUH). The Madina community (the companions) which modelled him (PBUH) became model for the Muslims who lived in their time and who lived later. the Last Day, and remembers Allah (SWT) unceasingly.” (Al-Ahzab, 21) And that the companions are the model people for Muslim community is cited in the following verse: “YOU ARE indeed the best community that has ever been brought forth for [the good of] mankind: you enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and you believe in Allah (SWT).” (Al-i Imran, 110) While that verse puts the companions as samples for the Muslim ummah, it also implies that the Muslim ummah should be pioneer and model for all humanity. Concluding this verse we may say the following: Our Prophet (PBUH) is model for his companions and the companions community is model for the ummah and the ummah is model for all human kind. During the emergence of Muslim society in Madina, the only “model figure” whom the Muslims took as sample was our Prophet (PBUH). The Madina community (the companions) which modelled him (PBUH) became model for the Muslims who lived in their time

The

and who lived later. Their being model in the Muslim societies was not only in terms of the hereafter. They became model in every walks of life -in social life as well as in belief and worship. Thanks to the perfect structure of Islam in the social life, they and the ones who modelled them governed most of the world. The Muslim societies who modelled the companions impressed all the world nations in a short while, and they became pioneer and model for them. (A century later after the death of the Prophet (PBUH), the caliphs had founded a state which was larger than the Roman Empire of then. The Islam Caliphate was expanded from the North Africa to the India. The soil which Ottomans governed was 20 million square kilometres) The Muslim ummah enjoyed being the pioneer and model for human kind for centuries being inspired by the Prophet (PBUH) and the companions. But during last two hundred years in which we have been under influence of the west civilization, the Muslim ummah degraded to the position

APRIL-JUNE 2010

of “modelling” from the position of “being modelled”. (The Ottomans were the leader of the world nations and western nations also confirmed their supremacy in diplomacy indisputably. Now, their grandchildren long to integrate with European Union.) In the world of today there is not any ideal Muslim society which models the companions and is a model for world nations and which has been shaped by the Holy Qur’an and sunnah. Even though there are some societies who try to implement Islamic law and Islamic education, there are many obstacles for us to show them as ‘model society of Islam’ for world nations. Islam is perfect, good and excellent in all respects. But, the fact that perfectness, goodness and excellence are available inherently in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah theoretically is not sufficient to convince people of today. It is necessary to practice that excellence and provide people to see it. The Muslims should form such a community around the The Holy Qur’an and Sunnah, the other nations should

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MODEL PERSON, MODEL SOCIETY:

envy of Muslims and model them, thinking ‘we also should be like Muslims’. Bediuzzaman says thus: “If we show the excellence of the moral of Islam and truths of belief through our actions then the followers of the other religions will convert into Islam group by group; perhaps some continents and states of the earth will enter into Islam.” (Damascus Sermon) It is a fact that forming a Muslim society which will be a model for the world will have great hardships. The societies of today, beyond being model, are in the grip of intestine fights and problems. Before being a model for the world, Muslims should come to an accommodation and solve their problems within themselves. In the world of today, the westerners have problems as well as Muslims. It is not exaggeration to say that the moral problems of West are bigger than the problems of Muslim world. As there is not a man without problem, there is not a society also without problem. But these problems differentiate in terms of being little or much. The healthiest society is the one which can minimize its problems. The importance of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah faces us here. the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah contain a potentiality to solve the problems in individual and social life. We need to produce solutions for the problems of today through the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah and form a dynamic society which is pioneer and model for human kind instead of longing and amusing ourselves for the times in which Islam was dominant. Briefly, the ummah should regain the role of being pioneer and model for the mankind. Every single Muslim has a task to reach this goal. The

Are we ready to fulfill our tasks as members of the ummah? THE SOURCE OF SUNNAH IS WAHY (REVELATION) Miqdam b. Ma’dikerb (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Prophet said: “Pay attention! I was given a book (by Allah (SWT)) and together with it another one fold (Sunnah) also was given me. Before long, a man who is full on food and sits on a chair will say “That the Holy Qur’an is sufficient to you. Consider halal (licit) whatever you see halal in it, and consider

haram (illicit) whatever you see haram in it.” (And he will deny my hadiths)” (Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud) In a narration it was said (what I made haram is like what Allah (SWT) made haram). This hadith which is famous as “Arika” hadith among hadith scholars is a miracle of our Prophet (PBUH) which gives information about ghaib (the unseen). It is possible to hear some people who are full on food and influential voice that kind of claims. Let us look at those verses which confirm the statements of our Prophet (PBUH): “and neither does he speak out of his own desire: that [which he conveys to you] is but [a divine] inspiration with which he is being inspired” (An-Najm, 3-4) “God has bestowed upon thee from on high this divine writ and [given thee] wisdom, and has imparted unto thee the knowledge of what thou didst not know. And APRIL-JUNE 2010

God’s favour upon thee is tremendous indeed.” (AnNisa, 113)

Mo del P erso n, Mo del So ciety:

Pay attention to this verse that it explains that our Prophet (PBUH) was given both the book and the wisdom by Allah (SWT). The book in question is the Holy Qur’an and there is not controversy fort hat. It is clear that the wisdom is his Sunnah. Concluding from this verse and the like the scholars agree on that the source of Sunnah is wahy; that is revelation. Bediuzzaman says so concerning this matter: “Revelation is divided into two parts: One is the clear revelation. The Prophet is interpreter, disseminator of it and he does not interfere with it, such as The Holy Qur’an and some hadith qudsis (sacred hadiths). Second part is implicit revelation. The gist and essence of that part depend on the revelation; but its details belong to the Gracious Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet Ahmad, himself, peace and blessings be upon him expounds the brief stuff which comes from revelation depending on

Islam is perfect, good and excellent in all respects. But, the fact that perfectness, goodness and excellence are available inherently in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah theoretically is not sufficient to convince people of today. They need to see an example society www.thepenmagazine.net

MODEL PERSON, MODEL SOCIETY:

Our Prophet (PBUH) said “May approval of Allah (SWT) be upon me and my successors!” We asked “O the Messenger of Allah! Who are your successors?” The Prophet (PBUH) answered “They are the ones who succeed me and narrate my hadiths and teach them to people” (Tabarani) again revelation or inspiration, or he explains with his insight.” THE IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVING SUNNAH IN THE FINAL PERIOD OF THE WORLD It is narrated by Abdullah b. Amr (may Allah be pleased with him): “What befell on the Jews will all befall on my ummah inch by inch. Even, when one of them fornicates with his mother, there will some in my ummah who will imitate him. The children of Israel divided into 72 fractions. My ummah will divide into 73 fractions. Except one, all of them are doomed to the hell.” They asked: “O Messenger of Allah (PBUH), which one of them (fractions) will be saved?” He replied: “The ones who follow me and my companions.” (Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Tabarani) “I left two things to you. If you stick them you won’t be misguided. One of them is the book of Allah (SWT) and the other one is the Sunnah of his Messenger.” (Muwatta) Amr b. Awf al-Muzani (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates

The

that the Prophet said so: “Whoever revives and enlivens one of my sunnah which was destroyed and if the people live by that sunnah, that man takes rewards in the number of the people who live by that sunnah. And the rewards of the ones who practice that sunnah will not decrease.” (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah) Rezin has narrated the hadith in the following way: “Whoever revives and enlivens one of my sunnah which was destroyed after me, that means s/he loves me. And whoever loves me, s/he is together with me (in the heaven)” Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (PBUH) said thus: “Whoever follows my sunnah when my ummah deteriorates and degrades will obtain the rewards of a hundred martyrs.” (Bayhaki) Jabir b Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that our Prophet (PBUH) said the following: “The religion of Islam set

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out strange and it will come back strangeness again in the end as it was in the beginning. The happy are those strangers.” They asked “O Messenger of Allah (SWT)! Who are those strangers?” The Prophet answered “They are ones who try to amend people when they degrade.” (Tabarani, Muslim narrate the first part of the hadith) It is said in narration of Taberani and Ahmad; “The strangers are sincere people among bad people whose obedients are few and the rebels are a lot.” It is said in the narration of Tirmidhi; “They are ones who amend my sunnah which people damages after me.” In Musnad Shihab it is said “they are ones who revive my sunnah and teach it to the servants of Allah (SWT).” OBEDIENCE TO PROPHET IS OBEDIENCE TO ALLAH (SWT) It is narrated by Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that our Prophet (PBUH) spoke thus: “Whoever obeys me, indeed s/he obeys Allah (SWT). Whoever obeys the official whom I appoint, indeed s/he obeys me. Whoever

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MODEL PERSON, MODEL SOCIETY:

rebels me, indeed s/he rebels Allah (SWT). Whoever rebels my official, indeed s/he rebels me.” (Ibn Abi Shayba, Bukhari, Muslim) This hadith is compatible with following verse: “Whoever pays heed unto the Apostle pays heed unto God thereby; and as for those who turn away - We have not sent thee to be their keeper.” (An-Nisa, 80) In many suras of the Holy Qur’an, there are verses which cite about obedience to Allah (SWT) and his Messenger (PBUH). The scholars say that obedience to Allah (SWT) means obedience to the Holy Qur’an and obedience to Messenger (PBUH) means obedience to Sunnah. “For, all who pay heed unto Allah (SWT) and the Apostle shall be among those upon whom Allah (SWT) has bestowed His blessings: the Prophets, and those who never de- viated from the truth, and those who [with their lives] bore witness to the truth, and the righteous ones: and how goodly a company are these!” (An-Nisa, 69) THE PLEASURE AND LOVE OF ALLAH (SWT) IS ONLY OBTAINED THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO SUNNAH It is stated in the Holy Qur’an thus: “Say [O Prophet]: ‘If you love Allah (SWT), follow me, [and] Allah (SWT) will love you and forgive you your sins; for Allah (SWT) is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.’” (Al-e Imran, 31) This verse puts forth clearly that the only way of obtaining the pleasure of Allah (SWT) is obedience to Sunnah. Bediuzzaman makes long explanations especially on this verse in 11th Flash, “Mirqatu’s The

Sunnah”, where he tells about the importance of Sunnah.

TO LEARN AND TEACH SUNNAH

Anas b. Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said so:

It is narrated by Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that our Prophet (PBUH) said the following:

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said to me thus: “O my child! If you are able to live without bearing grudge for anybody, do this!” And he continued, “O my child! That is my Sunnah. Whoever revives my Sunnah, that means s/he loves me, and whoever loves me, s/he is together with me in the heaven. (Tirmidhi) SUNNAH IS MILDNESS Our Prophet (PBUH)

has prevented his ummah from excess and negligence by saying “The best of deeds are ones which are mild and moderate”. Some companions talked about some worships among themselves. One of them said “I will pray all the nights till I die”. Another one said “I will spend my days by fasting till I die”. Another one said “I will keep myself away from women; I will never get married while I am alive.” The Prophet (PBUH) approached them and said: “Are you the ones who say soand-so? I swear to Allah (SWT) that the one who stands in awe of Allah (SWT) most among you is me and the one who fears of Allah (SWT) most (who has taqwa) is me. However, I fast and sometimes I don’t. I pray at nights, but I sleep, also. And I get married with women. Whoever turns away from and does not follow my sunnah s/he he is not my follower.” (Bukhari, Muslim) APRIL-JUNE 2010

Mo del P erso n, Mo del So ciety:

Our Prophet (PBUH) said “May approval of Allah (SWT) be upon me and my successors!” We asked “O the Messenger of Allah! Who are your successors?” The Prophet answered (PBUH) “They are the ones who succeed me and narrate my hadiths and teach them to people” (Tabarani) In another narration there is the phrase “the ones who revive my sunnah” in the place of “the ones who narrate”. Due to that hadith some hadith scholars (such as Bukhari, Ahmad b. Hanbal) were called as “Amir-ul Mu’minin (The leader of believers)” Abu Dharda (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet said so: “Whoever learns forty hadith to teach my ummah, Allah (SWT) will resurrect him in the hereafter as scholar and I will be witness and intercessor for him” (Bayhaki, Shuabu’l Iman)

Rezin has narrated the hadith in the following way: “Whoever revives and enlivens one of my sunnah which was destroyed after me, that means s/he loves me. And whoever loves me, s/he is together with me (in the heaven)” www.thepenmagazine.net

THE GREATEST PERSON IN WORLD HISTORY

The Greatest Person in World History Virtue is what even his enemies confirm” Now, although that man is a non-Muslim, since he searched with fairness he saw the clear virtues of our Prophet (PBUH) and showed these facts in his book in a clear way that everybody can understand. ÐBy Cemal ERSEN c.ercen@thepenmagazine.net

e will share the findings of a western non-Muslim scientist, Michael Hart, about our Prophet (PBUH) in this article. Ustad Bediuzzaman says; “Virtue is what even his enemies confirm” Now, although that man is a non-Muslim, since he searched with fairness he saw the clear virtues of our Prophet (PBUH) and showed these facts in his book in a clear way that everybody can understand. Assigning the first place to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in his book entitled “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History” he The

has announced a very accurate and important truth to the world. The other interesting point in article is that the features narrated as the proofs of choosing him first overlap one to one with the findings in the Seventh Droplet of the 19th Word where Ustad Bediuzzaman proved that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is a true prophet. Let us quote from Ustad: “Look! How he abolished wild and evil customs of those wild tribes APRIL-JUNE 2010

who were obstinate and bigoted in their customs and taught the best moral values and made them teachers to the whole world and masters to the civilized nations. He fulfilled this without pressure, conquering hearts and minds and souls. He became the beloved of hearts, teacher of minds, trainer of souls and sultan of spirits.” (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Words, 19th Word) We extracted the most interesting points of five pages below assigned for our Prophet (PBUH) from Michael Hart’s book: www.thepenmagazine.net

THE GREATEST PERSON IN WORLD HISTORY

THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD (571 - 632) Muhammad: The central human figure of Islam, regarded by Muslims as the messenger and last prophet of God. Active as a social reformer, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, and military leader. My choosing Muhammad as the first person of the list of the most influential people of the world may astonish some readers and even some may question this matter; but he was the unique person who excelled perfectly both in religious and secular fields. Muhammad, who originated from humble ancestors, established one of the greatest religions of the world, spread it and he became a very influential political leader. Today, thirteen centuries later after his death the power and extend of his influence continues. Most of the people in this book had the opportunity to be born as a member of nations which had high cultural, political and civilization values and they were trained according to these values. But, Muhammad was born in 571 in the city of Mecca, which was in the south Arabia and far away from trade, art and science centres and was a most underdeveloped area of the world. He was orphaned aged six and was brought up in humble conditions. Islam tradition says that he was illiterate. After he married a rich widow when he was twenty five, his economic situation improved. Nevertheless, until he was forty there were few signs indicating that he was an extraordinary man. (…) Arab Bedouins were known as formidable warriors. But they were few in number; clashes and devastating fights among them wreaked The

havoc on the area. They were not equal to the armies of kingdoms settled in the cultivated areas in the north. However, after being unified for the first time by Muhammad and their hearts filled with the enthusiasm of the faith of Allah these little Arab armies attempted the most surprising conquests of history of humanity. In the north-east of Arabia was the Great Persian Empire of Sassanids and in the north-west was Byzantium or East Roman Empire whose centre was Constantinople. In numbers, the Arabs were never equal to their adversaries. But in the battlefield everything was too different and the Arabs filled with excitement conquered all of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine. Until 642, the Persian armies were defeated in Qadisiya (637) and Nihawand (642) wars and Egypt was captured from Byzantium Empire. Even those conquests which were organized by Abu Bakr and Umar , the close friends and successors of the Prophet, did not suffice for the Arab armies. Until 711, they descended to Atlantic ocean conquering throughout the North Africa. They turned to the North here, passed Straits of Gibraltar and defeated Visigoth Kingdom. (…) Overflown with the discourse of their Prophet, these bedouins, in a war time lasting a century, established an empire extending from Indian borders to the Atlantic ocean; the greatest empire which the world had ever witnessed until that day. People largely converted into the new faith in the end where the armies conquered. (…) In the course of time the new religion went on spreading far APRIL-JUNE 2010

beyond the boundaries which Mo del P erso n, the first Muslim conquests Mo del So ciety: reached. Today, it has millions of believers in Africa and Middle Asia; and many more in Pakistan, North India and Indonesia. (…) So, how should the extension of influence of Muhammad on the history of humanity be evaluated? As all religions, Islam has a great influence on lives of its believers. This is a reason why founders of the great religions in the world come to the forefront in this book. At first glance it may seem strange that the Muhammad is before Jesus, although the number ofChristians living in the world were two times more than Muslims. There are two basic reasons for this preference. First; Muhammad had an important influence in the development of Islam much more than Jesus had in development of Christianity. However Jesus established basic moral and spiritual creeds in Christianity (separate from Judaism), the one who developed Christian theology and spread it and

Prophet Muhammad had an important influence in the development of Islam much more than Jesus had in development of Christianity. However Jesus established basic moral and spiritual creeds in Christianity (separate from Judaism), the one who developed Christian theology and spread it and wrote most of the New Testament was Saint Paul. www.thepenmagazine.net

THE GREATEST PERSON IN WORLD HISTORY

wrote most of the New Testament was Saint Paul.

Apart from this

Apart from this, Muhammad (differently from Jesus) was a leader in secular fields as well as he was in religion. Even, he deserves to be called as the most influential political leader of all times as the driving force behind the Arab conquests.

The

But Muhammad founded both theology and basic moral and spiritual principles of Islam. In addition, he played the most important role in recognition of new belief and settlement of Islamic worships. Furthermore, he is the writer of the Qur’an the holy book of Islam which was revealed to him and expresses his discourse. Most of his sayings were recorded largely accurately when he was alive and his hadiths which were ordinance were compiled not so long after his death and had become very effective. Thus, Qur’an reflects thoughts and teachings of Muhammad. We do not have Jesus’s authentic compiled teachings as in this way. Since the Qur’an means to Muslims the importance at least Bible means for Christians the effect which Muhammad created through Qur’an was much greater. It is likely that the relative effect which Muhammad had on Islam is greater than the effect that Jesus Christ and Saint Paul together had on Christianity. Thus, it is possible to say that Muhammad is influential on history of humanity as much as Jesus Christ is, just only in terms of religion. Apart from this, Muhammad (differently from Jesus) was a leader in secular fields as well as he was in religion. Even, he deserves to be called as the most influential political leader of all times as the driving force behind the Arab conquests. (…) Thus, we see that the Arab conquests in the seventh century have been playing an important role on history of humanity so far. This unmatched combination of secular and religious effects leads me to believe that Muhammad deserves the title “the most influential person in human history”. APRIL-JUNE 2010

*** Prof. Michael Hart, an American scientist who had repercussions across whole world with his book titled “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History” attended in an award ceremony in Cairo ten years later, after his book was first published. In the ceremony he was asked by correspondents of the Al- Ahram newspaper as following “It has been nearly ten years after you published your book. You assigned the first place to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in your “100 influential persons” book. Do you still preserve that as your approach?” Hart answered the following: “This is the first list of celebrities. If this number is raised to 200-300, the place of Muhammad in the top of the list is fixed. When I searched famous people, I determined some fixed criteria. One of these is the deep and comprehensive traces which they have on human history. The reason why I chose Muhammad as the famous of the celebrities is both his prophethood and excellent success in religious and secular fields. Human morality has never witnessed a perfect religion like Islam philosophically and judicial. After passing away of Muhammad Islam continued to spread in the east and west of the world. And still, many people prefer to convert into Islam with their minds and hearts. The religion to which Muhammad invited people emerged fourteen centuries earlier in an area which was far away from civilization and cultural centres. And it advanced suffering some difficulties. After all, Islam made progress in every area of the world. And I believe that a perfect man like Muhammad will never come again.” (The references are translations from “Dünya Tarihine Yön Veren En Etkin “100”, the Turkish version of the aforementioned book “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History”) www.thepenmagazine.net

THE GLORY OF THE UNIVERSE

Mo del P erso n, Mo del So ciety:

Since even voices cannot be raised in the presence of him, the Prophet (PBUH) should be mentioned with respect and, the most important point, it must be borne in mind that the Prophet (PBUH), who has a unique and special place and not ordinary for the Lord of the Worlds, can never be an ordinary man for us. ÐBy Dr. Yusuf Bahadır DEREN yb.deren@thepenmagazine.net to him in talk, as ye may speak aloud to one another, lest your deeds become vain and ye perceive not.”(Al-Hujraat, 2) So that such a man who has unique value cannot be disregarded and Divine Honour does not accept and forgive it.

xpressions we utilize for people involve serious clues divulging our emotions. The more we know people in our lives and give place to them in our lives, the more our expressions become very decent, pleasant and careful when we remember them. The expressions we chose divulge where we put people in our lives and what they mean to us. Especially, if a person which you mention has a value and worth for all humanity, the case is different. Especially, if he is the most superior, the worthiest of people and the most beloved of the Supreme Being, mediocrity is not possible for him. He cannot be mentioned like an ordinary man. Such the Glory of universe, Beloved of being glory, Messenger of being generous, Messenger of being magnificent, Glory of cosmos, Sultan of Messengers that while remembering the name of the Excellence of the Prophet MuhamThe

mad Mustafa (PBUH), certainly one of these trademarks should be mentioned. Because Messenger of Allah (PBUH) has such an immense value in the presence of our Lord (SWT) that universes are created for the sake of him, has meaning with him, has value with him and known with him. The AllGlorious Creator who creates all the worlds is told to its creations with him and praised and glorified with him. Otherwise, to disregard, to desecrate, and not to show the necessary respect could cause us bad consequences as it is clearly mentioned the verse below: ‫َي ا اَيُّهَا الَّ ِذي َن ا َمنُوا اَل تَرْفَ ُع وا اَ ْصوَاتَ ُكمْ فَوْ َق‬ َ‫ا‬ ‫ض‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ب‬ ‫ل‬ ٍ ْ َِ ْ‫ْر بَ ْع ِض ُكم‬ ِ ‫َصوْ ِت النَّبِ ِّي وَل تَ ْج َه ُروا لَ ُه بِالْقَوْ ِل َك َجه‬ ‫اَ ْن تَ ْحبَ َط‬ ‫اَ ْعمَالُ ُكمْ َواَنتُمْ اَل تَ ْش ُع ُرو َن‬ “O ye who believe! Raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak aloud APRIL-JUNE 2010

The Supreme Being, at the time that Messenger of Allah (PBUH) honoured the world before he ho ≠ oured our hearts and souls, did not allow Companions of the Prophet (R.A), who are mentioned in the Gospel and the Torah and praised in the Qur’an, to raise their voices in the presence of him (PBUH). Moreover, such a highly respected generation like Companions of the Prophet (R.A) are being warned ser ≠ ously with the order of this verse: ْ‫“ تَ ْحبَ َط اَ ْعمَالُ ُكم‬their deeds will go down the drain.” Since even voices cannot be raised in the presence of him, the Prophet (PBUH) should be mentioned with respect and, the most important point, it must be borne in mind that the Prophet (PBUH), who has a unique and special place and not ordinary for the Lord of the Worlds, can never be an ordinary man for us. So, we should mention about him accordingly. We sent thousands peace and blessings to our Prophet (PBUH), who is the most precious being of our lives and the sultan of our hearts, with the best respect and regard that can be shown in the presence of Allah (SWT), as well as sending endless glory and praise to the Supreme Being. www.thepenmagazine.net

WHAT DID THEY SAY about the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)?

What did They Say about the Messenger (PBUH) of Allah ?

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (may Allah be pleased with him) says in his Tafsir al-Kabir: is fame (PBUH) spreads to heaven and encompasses the earth, and his name is written on arsh a’la; and uttered with the name of Allah in Kalimat-ul Shahadah. Every muazzin recites his name in Adhan, every preacher recites it in his khutba and every author recites it at the beginning of his book. The one, too, who prays and recites his name at the beginning and end of his/her

“H The

prayer and only this way s/he can receive bounties of Allah (SWT).”

Imam Ghazali (may Allah be pleased with him) states in his Ihya:

Abd al-Karim al-Jili (may Allah be pleased with him) relates the following in his work named ``The Perfect Man'' (Al-Insanu l-Kamil):

“The Gracious Messenger was the gentlest and the most knowledgeable of people. He never touched the hands of women to whom he was not married. He was the most generous of the people. He never kept money even for a night, he used to give it to the poor immediately. When he was bestowed by Allah with bounties, he used to take the only amount which was enough for him for a day not for more. He was superior to all people in terms

“Wherever it is when I say alInsanu l-Kamil (the perfect man) what I mean is Sayyid ul-Wujud (the leader of beings) (PBUH). Because nobody has such great characteristics. APRIL-JUNE 2010

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WHAT DID THEY SAY about the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)?

of modesty (haya’) He was very humble, he used to respond to the invitations of all people regardless of their social status. Imam Ghazali (RA) says thus in his Kimiya-ye sa'adat (The Alchemy of Happiness): “Abu Said al Khudri (RA) says: The Messenger of Allah had meals with his servant. When his servant got tired, he helped the servant. He used to greet himself people first when he encountered somebody regardless of their richness or poverty. It didn’t matter whether they are young or old, he was the first to shake hands. He equally treated master and servant, the rich and the poor, the black and the white. He got on well with everybody and liked to do a favour for everybody. He was friendly and pleasantly spoken. While he was talking, he did not smile, he seemed sad. He was kind, generous and he did not waste. He pitied on everybody and expected nothing from anybody. Hakim Tirmidhi (RA) says in his Shamail-ul Kubra: “The pride of the universe (PBUH) used to speak quiet slowly and clearly and did not speak in vain. He respected bounties, and did not decry people, and did not get angry with anybody for the worldly matters. When he was to turn to somebody, he used to do this with his whole blessed body, and he used to point, if would, with his blessed hand. He smiled but did not burst into laughter. It is narrated by Anas b. Malik (RA) in the book named M. Masabih: I served to the Messenger of Allah for ten years. He never said to me “ugh!” even once. He was the best natured of the people. He used to visit patients and walk behind coffins of dead people” He (PBUH) said: “Feed the hungry, visit the ill, free the slave.” (250 Hadiths, D.I. Bsk. Yay.) The

Abu Huraira (RA) narrates: “We demanded him to pray that the infidels to be perished in a fight.” He said: “I was not sent to curse and cause people to be tormented. I was sent for mercy (goodness and salvation of everybody )

renovations) and consider hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) as a guide throughout your life.”

Mo del P erso n, Mo del So ciety:

Zunnun al-Mısri (RA) says :

Allah (SWT) spoke thus in the Surah al-Anbiya, verse 107:

“The one, who obeys the Beloved Messenger of Allah (PBUH) in his acts and manners, proves his love for Allah by doing so.”

“[O Prophet,] We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures.”

Maulana (RA) says so:

Anas (RA) narrates: “It was not heard that the Prophet said “no” when something demanded from him.” Imam Rabbani states in his book Maktubat: (RA)

“The truth about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the seed and essence of all the other truths.” Ka'b b. Zubair (RA) says in the Qasida al-Burdah (The Poem of the cloak): “He is the sword that Allah drew against the evil, and the world is filled with his Noor when sparkled” When I read this poem, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) wished to give me a present but he didn’t have anything with him, then he gave me his burdah (cloak).” Baha al-Din Nakshiband (RA) says: “Obey the orders and preventions in all your circumstances. Stick to the Sunnah and act in accordance with it, stay away from concessions and bid’as (bad

“I am the slave of the Holy Qur’an throughout my life and the dust of feet of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).” Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (Rahmatullahi Alayh) quotes about the Noor of Muhammad (PBUH): “Know O valuable person! If you envision that huge universe which you see as a great book, the light (Noor) of Muhammad (PBUH) is the ink of the pen of the author of that book. If that grand universe is imagined as a tree, the Noor of Muhammad (PBUH) is its both seed and fruit. If the world is assumed as an incarnate living being, that Noor is its soul. If it is envisaged as an immense human being, that Noor is his mind. If it is imagined as a beautiful, grandiose garden of paradise, Noor of Muhammad (PBUH) is its nightingale. If it is presumed as a quite grand palace, the Noor of Muhammad (PBUH) is the minister, bellman and usher of that palace which contains the sovereignty of pre-eternal Sultan, who is Allah (SWT). He invites all people. He describes all the ancient art pieces, wonders and miracles in that palace. He invites people to believe that owner of palace.

“It was not heard that the Prophet said “No” when something demanded from him.” APRIL-JUNE 2010

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Seed and Fruıt of The Unıverse

Seed and Fruit of The Universe

ÐBy Mustafa YANKIN m.yankin@thepenmagazine.net

“O

ur beloved Prophet (PBUH) is the seed of the universe, the universe was created out of his nur (noor) and he is the last and the most enlightened fruit of the universe.” Understanding this statement will help us to better understand the Prophet (PBUH). If you observe the universe The

with wisdom you can regard it as a tree. The realm of witnessing (the time which we live in now) is part of that universe tree. The elements (soil, air, water and fire) constitute the branches, Plants and trees make up the leaves and animals comprise the blossoms of that tree where the human being counts as the fruit of it. APRIL-JUNE 2010

A seed keeps the plan and the program of a tree in itself. So a tree gets shaped based on the plan in its seed just like the way a building gets constructed based on the determined plan. That law of Allah which is valid for trees is also valid for the great universe tree because this is the requirement of the Hakeem www.thepenmagazine.net

Seed and Fruıt of The Unıverse

(wise, sage) name, one of Allah’s (SWT) names. As a matter of fact, the universe tree also has a seed just like the trees that are formed out of a seed. That seed is the nur of our prophet (PBUH). It is wrong to regard this splendid reality as illogical, thinking “How can an immense universe be created from a small entity of a human being?” Because the Glorious and All-Powerful Allah creates the enormous pine tree from a seed which is small as a grain. Is it at all possible that He cannot create the universe from the nur of our Prophet (PBUH)? Since our Prophet (PBUH) is the seed of the universe tree, there are both physical features of universe tree and spiritual features of realms in that seed as well as samples from thousands of realms. It is again a requirement of his Hakeem name that the universe tree must has a fruit as it has its seed. Because seed exists inside the fruit. It cannot be naked all the time. That fruit is the mankind and the most distinguished one among human fruits is Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Since the universe tree’s root and trunk are on the top and its branches are at the bottom, like the Tuba tree, there is a luminous

connection from seed to fruit. The nur, which became the seed in the formation of the universe, appeared as the last fruit of the universe wrapping itself with the self of Prophet (PBUH). The self of Prophet Ahmad (PBUH) is the most perfect fruit and all fruits rise in value with him. Because all purposes would be fulfilled through him, the nur of the Gracious Prophet (PBUH) was created in the first place.

Prophet (PBUH), who is Mo del P erso n, the pride of the universe, is Mo del So ciety: the essence of the essence distilled from the life of the universe. His life is the life of the universe.

The outcome and fruit of something is considered beforehand. For instance, before a factory is established, the amount of product to be derived from that factory is taken into consideration and worked out. The product is the outcome and fruit of the factory. The outcome of the universe factory is our Prophet (PBUH). That’s to say; regarding bodily creation, our Prophet (PBUH) was created last, but spiritually first.

His people and his society are indebted to him

Life is an essence which is distilled from the universe. The conscious and the feeling are also distilled from the life and they are the essence of life. Mind, as well, is distilled from conscious and feeling, so it is the essence of conscious. And the soul is a pure and absolute essence of life as well as stable and independent entity of it. In the same way, the life of the

Our Prophet (PBUH) is the reason for the creation of the universe. So, we owe him for everything we have. By the words of Muhammad Akif, a famous Turkish poet:

All human kind is indebted to that innocent one O our lord! Resurrect us with this confession in the Judgment Day. May Allah (SWT) make us neighbour to his Gracious Beloved, who is the leader of two worlds and the pride of the two realms and means to the happiness in this world and the hereafter, in the heaven and benefit from his intercession. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet in the number of particles of the universe and in the number of objects that consists those particles and in the number of their tasbihats and praises which they perform.

That law of Allah which is valid for trees is also valid for the great universe tree because this is the requirement of the Hakeem (wise, sage) name, one of Allah’s (SWT) names. As a matter of fact, the universe tree also has a seed just like the trees that are formed out of a seed. That seed is the nur of our prophet (PBUH). The

APRIL-JUNE 2010

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BANGLES OF KISRA

Bangles of Kisra The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) came out and threw a handful of dust over them. None of them could see him and he passed through them. When the leaders understood that they had missed him, they sent their men to every corner of the land so that they would catch him. ÐBy Dr. Alı CERRAHOGLU a.cerrahoglu@thepenmagazine.net The Quraish did not tolerate this challenge. The leaders of the Quraish thought that the only way of destroying this challenge was possible by killing the prophet himself. Two hundred men, chosen from every tribe so that the blood revenge could not be pursued attacked the Prophet’s house under the leadership of Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) came out and threw a handful of dust over them. None of them could see him and he passed through them. When the leaders understood that they had missed him, they sent their men to every corner of the land so that they would catch him. There was a man named Suraqa among them who traced tracks well and who was courageous. They hired Suraqa promising a reward and wanted him to kill the Apostle of Allah (PBUH).

hen the apostle of Allah (PBUH) announced his prophethood, this announcement was a defiance not only to a tribe, a group of politicians, or a religion but to all sultans, kings and religions. However, at the beginning, it was a visible fact that he (PBUH) would suffer challenging difficulty in his cause while his The

tribe, kinsfolk and even his uncle were enemies to him. But, even though he (PBUH) was subjected to attempted assassinations many times and he was without bodyguards, he fulfilled his duty with great happiness and reached his goal and completed his mission. After a quick glance over his life we conclude that he (PBUH) was under a great protection. APRIL-JUNE 2010

When the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (R.A) went out of the cave Suraqa caught up with them in the way. Abu Bakr (R.A), with an unmatched loyalty and devotion, hovered around the Prophet (PBUH) and took all the precautions to protect him. When he saw Suraqa he was alarmed. The Apostle of Allah (PBUH) said to him “Don’t worry, Allah is with us” as he had said it in the cave. After the Prophet (PBUH) calmed Abu Bakr (R.A) down, he www.thepenmagazine.net

BANGLES OF KISRA

flashed at Suraqa and his horse’s legs were stuck in the ground. Then, he got rid off it and followed them again. His horse’s legs were stuck again and something like smoke came out of the ground. Then, Suraqa understood that neither he nor anybody could harm the Prophet (PBUH). Suraqa said “Help me!” and the Prophet (PBUH) forgave and gave a document to him stating that he was safe. And, then the Prophet (PBUH) said, “Go and distract the other chasers!” When Suraqa returned to go back, the Prophet (PBUH) said, “O Suraqa! How do you feel when you wear the bangles of Kisra and put on his waistband and don his crown.” When Suraqa asked with surprise “Belongings of Kisra bin Hurmuz, the king of kings?” the Prophet (PBUH) said “Yes!” and added, “Allah (SWT) heralded us that the territories of Persia would be conquered and the treasures of Kisra would be spoils for his companions. What did Suraqa think while he was returning? Did he say “Is it possible for me to wear the bangles of Kisra?” Kisra was then the king of a state which was one the superpowers of the world. They did not esteem the Arabs and insulted them on all occasions. However, he (PBUH) did not defeat even his tribe just a little while ago and had to emigrate because of their tortures and oppressions. But, the Prophet (PBUH) predicted that Kisra’s country would be conquered by his Ummah and Suraqa also would be in this conquest and Kisra’s bangles would be given to him. Years later, in the era of caliphate of Umar (R.A), the armies were sent to the Iranian frontline under the commandership of Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas (R.A). Once, the Muslim army came across the River Tigris when they would attack the Iran army. Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas The

(R.A) addressed to the army and ordered them to get in the water in order to get across the river and to implore “I seek help from Allah (SWT), He is enough for us, and what a fine helper He is…”

(RA) had the bangles of Mo del P erso n, Kisra and brought them to Mo del So ciety: Madina. Giving the bangles to Suraqa, Umar confirmed the Prophet’s (PBUH) prediction of the future.

The soldiers walked to the deep water in pairs and consecutively. The River Tigris had become very dark and bubbly. While the soldiers were passing through the river, they were chatting together as if they were walking on ground. They got across without any casualties. When the Persian soldiers saw the Muslims they were shocked and panicked terribly. They had thought that the Muslims could not pass the river. They were completely defeated with a sudden attack.

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH), who was the leader of a cause which was about to be destroyed during hijrah heralded his followers for both properties and sovereignty of this world and the hereafter. Those heralds were realized one by one, and in a very short time, his message reached every corner of the world.

Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas (R.A) sent three delegates upon the demand of Rustam, the commander-inchief on the Iranian frontline. The Iranians prepared a pompous tent to meet the delegates. They wore their jewelleries, laid precious rugs to the ground, furnished cushions. They set a golden throne and put golden brocaded pillows on it. They thought to impress and humiliate Muslims by doing so. The first delegate Rib’i b. Amir (R.A) came on an ordinary and humble horse and wearing modest clothes. They told him to dismount his horse. Rib’i (R.A) did not. He got on the rugs with his horse and pierced two cushions, and fastened his horse to these cushions. He walked on the rug hitting his spear on the ground. Since the tip of his lance was acute, it riddled the cushions and rugs with holes. To be treated in this way by Muslims, whom they insulted relying on world sovereignty, power and splendour, defeated them even before the battlefield. After these attacks, Iran was conquered. Allah (SWT) granted all treasures of Kisra and lands of Iran to Muslims. Caliph Umar APRIL-JUNE 2010

The spirits inspired and trained by him (PBUH) were not fearful against the barriers in the way of spreading his message (PBUH). Allah (SWT) cherished them against all the states and kings of the world. We implore that Allah (SWT) grant us the dignity, honour, zeal and spirit of the companions (R.A).

After these attacks, Iran was conquered. Allah (SWT) granted all treasures of Kisra and lands of Iran to Muslims. Caliph Umar (RA) had the bangles of Kisra and brought them to Madina. Giving the bangles to Suraqa, Umar confirmed the Prophet’s (PBUH) prediction of the future. www.thepenmagazine.net

PEACE AND BLESSINGS BE UPON HIM

Peace and Blessings be Upon Him Sending Greetings to our Prophet Muhammad Everybody knows that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who is fond of us more than ourselves, has such a high level of compassion for his Ummah. When he was born, his mother and other ladies near Him witnessed that he said: ``My Ummah! My Ummah!'' ÐBy Muhlıs KORPE m.aydin@thepenmagazine.net

arrated by Jabir (RA): ‘’Do not get me such as a water container, which a rider of an animal hangs behind of the animal. Because, the rider of the animal fills up his water container, loads his goods to the animal, then fastens the water container behind the saddle. When thirsty, he drinks water or when necessary he takes ablution, when he does not need water to drink or take ablution, he pours it away (do not remember me like this man remembers that water container). But before, in the middle of and after prayer, remember me by sending the peace and blessings.’’ Almighty Allah says in the Holy Qur’an: Undoubtedly, Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet. O believers! You (too) send your blessings upon him and salute him with all respect. Everybody knows that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who is fond of us more than ourselves, has such a high level of compassion for his Ummah. When he was born, his mother and other ladies near Him witnessed that he said: ‘My Ummah! My Ummah!” The Prophet (PBUH) informed us that he will say ‘’My Ummah! My Ummah!” whereas everybody will be saying ‘My soul! My soul! after seeing the Hell in the hereafter. He also asked the happiness of his Ummah from Allah (SWT), when Prophet (PBUH) was honoured by seeing his Lord at Mi’raj. The

Scholars who reached “perfection” as a spiritual state said that the way to reach truths could be achieved by sending many peace and blessings to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). They expressed that they witnessed lots of abundances of the blessings and they got good results in this world .Even some of them bequeathed their students to send peace and blessings. Allah (SWT) sends blessing upon His Messenger (PBUH), who is “mercy” to the world with every aspect. That is to say, He appreciates the duty of the Prophet (PBUH), who protects him, shows mercy to him, upgrades his honour APRIL-JUNE 2010

and gives him more of His bounty. Allah praises his Prophet (PBUH) among his angels Angels also send him (PBUH) blessings. That is to say, they pray to Allah (SWT) to exalt his Glory and to make his works easy. Moreover, they bow in the presence of the Prophet (PBUH) and pray to Allah (SWT) to show him mercy. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is both servant and prophet of Allah (SWT).In terms of being servant; he wants mercy from Allah (SWT). This mercy is concerned with the endless need of his Ummah in eternal life. Not only does he deal with the happiness of his Ummah but also he deals with their problems. www.thepenmagazine.net

PEACE AND BLESSINGS BE UPON HIM

Especially he deals with the problems which his Ummah will be exposed to in the eternal world. Although he is shown endless mercy, he wanted a lot of blessings from his Ummah because of the eternal needs of them. All the salutations to him (PBUH) are invitations from the table spread of Maqam Mahmud (the High Station of Praise to which Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) will be raised on the Day of Judgement). In terms of his prophethood, he wants salutation from us which means to renew our pledge, to surrender his duty , to verify his mission and to be safe from all kinds of evil against his mission.

prayer, remember me by sending the blessings. In another hadith: ‘’the supplication which is done between two salutations on me (PBUH) is not refused.” The Virtues of the Salutation Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says: “He who invokes blessings upon me once, Allah showers ten blessings upon him and obliterates (his) ten sins and elevates him by ten ranks’’ “The one who will be nearest me on the Day of Resurrection will be the one who invoked most blessings on me’’

When should we send salutations on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)?

“Whosoever asks for peace on me one time, it is as if he has freed a slave.’’

These places can be listed as after tashahhud, before and after prayer, at the times of trouble, when the name of the Prophet is mentioned, entering the Masjid, at the time of adhan and iqamah and in funeral prayers. As a consequence, ‘’When one of you pray, he should start with praise and respect. Then he should send salutations to the Prophet and then he should read pray for whatever he wants’’

“I know some tribes, whom visit me, with their multitude of salutation on me.’’

Hadrat Umar ibn Al Khattab (RA) narrated that: ‘The supplication is stopped between the heaven and the earth and nothing of it ascends, till you invoke blessing on your Prophet.” Narrated by Jabir (RA): ‘’Do not get me such as a water container which a rider of an animal hangs behind the animal. Because, the rider of the animal fills up his water container, loads his goods to the animal , then fastens the water container behind the saddle. When thirsty, he drinks water or when necessary he takes ablution, When he does not need water to drink or take ablution, he pours it away (do not remember me like this man remembers that water container). But before, during and after The

“The first of you to be rescued from fear and stops of Dooms Day is the one who sent more blessings to me’’ Bad Results of Not Sending Blessings Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says: “Let his nose be smeared with dust, in whose presence I am mentioned, and he does not invoke blessings upon me’’ “The most tight-fisted of you is the one who does not invoke blessings upon me when my name is mentioned in his presence’’ “If people sit in an assembly in which they do not remember Allah (SWT) nor invoke a blessing on their Prophet(PBUH), Allah(SWT) gives them lack and if Allah(SWT) wishes them to give punishment or to forgive.’’ Salutations Reaches Him (PBUH) Narrated from Ibn Mas’ud (RA): “There are angels APRIL-JUNE 2010

travelling on earth who extend the greetings of my followers to me’’

Mo del P erso n, Mo del So ciety:

Narrated from Ibn Umar (RA): “Increase your peace on me every Friday because on that day Angels present them to me.’’ It is mentioned in a hadith: “The Prophet (PBUH) said:” Invoke blessings upon me abundantly on Friday and Friday nights because Angels present your greetings to me day and night. Allah (SWT) has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of prophets. There is no Muslim that sends blessings to me and one angel does not present it to me and does not tell his name to me. Even the angel says ‘such and such people say like this’ A man whose inside and outside is full of noor (light) hears and responds to every blessing, at that time being, sent by his Ummah.. I would like to end with a question: How much blessings should we send to a man who helps and demand for our goodness in every moment of his life and death. “There are angels travelling on earth who extend the greetings of my followers to me’’

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is both servant and prophet of Allah (SWT).In terms of being servant; he wants mercy from Allah (SWT). This mercy is concerned with the endless need of his Ummah in eternal life. www.thepenmagazine.net

A Savıor the World was/ıs Waıtıng For:

A Savior the World was/ is Waiting For: Who else Besides Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)? The evidence in the biblical texts can roughly be classified into two; those making explicit or implicit references to Muhammad’s names and titles, and those insinuate him by describing his life, deeds and community of believers (ummah). ÐBy Dr. Hasan KARATAS – NEW YORK h.karatas@thepenmagazine.net

ecently a controversy among the American Christian missionaries sparked over reaching out to Muslims all around the world. It is about an evangelizing a strategy called the Camel Method, which uses verses from the Quran to convince Muslims that what the Christian Bible says about Jesus is true. Ironically, the Camel Method, actually had been and is still being used by Muslims in their conversations with their fellow people of the book. Muslims, however do differ from Christian missionaries in two ways. Firstly, Islam does not approve of institutionalized and aggressive missionary activity as exemplified by certain Christian sects of today. Still it is a duty of every Muslim to reach out to his fellow people of the book and in some cases defend his beliefs, but in a non-coercive manner and with respect to his opponents’ religion. And secondly Muslim’s use of this method is more prone to success due to the reasons that happen to be the central theme of this article. Let us take a closer look at the evidence provided by the biblical texts first.1 Here I will deliberately avoid quoting or making specific references to biblical verses because I don’t want to engage in a lengthy and potentially boring list of quotations. Moreover, the nature of biblical texts could easily pull one into an endless and useless The

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): The Last Messenger in The Bible

polemic. Biblical texts, unlike the Quran, are numerous, multilingual and sometimes in contradiction with each other. For exact references, there exists a considerable literature for those who might want to consult them. The evidence in the biblical texts can roughly be classified into two; those making explicit or implicit references to Muhammad’s names and titles, and those insinuate him by describing his life, deeds and community of believers (ummah.) Biblical texts are either in the ancient near eastern languages such as Aramaic, Syriac, Hebrew or in Greek used by Byzantines. Especially in the texts APRIL-JUNE 2010

in ancient near eastern languages, we witness explicit or near explicit use of the word “Muhammad” in describing the prophet to come after Jesus or to complete the religion of Moses. “Mushaffaf ” in Syriac or “Munhamanna” in Hebrew can be given as examples to near explicit references to the name of the expected prophet. In these languages they have the same meaning with what Muhammad means in Arabic, i.e. the praised one. This is not surprising as Arabic belongs to the same linguistic family with these languages. Similarly other titles of Prophet Muhammad, such as Ahmad, Mustafa are used in these texts, of course in ancient near eastern languages. The prophet www.thepenmagazine.net

A Savıor the World was/ıs Waıtıng For:

himself acknowledges this fact by saying “In the Qur’an, my name is Muhammad, in the Indjil Ahmad, and in the Tawrat Ahyad.” The second set of references to the coming of Muhammad in biblical texts, describe his life, deeds and followers. In these texts, the coming Prophet is expected from the line of Hagar, referring to the ethnic origins of Muhammad. Also he is to be “shined forth from Mount Paran” where flocks of believers from all nations around the world will make pilgrimage; a clear a reference to the mount Arafat and Muslim hajj. The most famous among these prophecies is found in Greek bibles, with the word describing Muhammad as “Paraclete”, meaning the one who distinguishes good from evil or the conformer. This word, along with other descriptions of the coming Prophet as the temporal and spiritual ruler of the world who would bring justice with his sword, is pointing out to the life and deeds of Prophet Muhammad and his followers. A cynic might argue against the degree of justice Prophet Muhammad brought, but can never deny that he is the only historical figure who came after Jesus and combined both temporal and spiritual authority in himself. Here, one might have a right to accuse Muslims as being inaccurate and dismiss their reasoning with the liar’s paradox. A Greek philosopher once asked: A man says that he is lying. Is what he says true or false? Similarly one might ask: How come Muslims argue that biblical texts are distorted and still bring evidence from those texts? If biblical texts are distorted, why do Muslims trust them when their verses support their argument? If biblical texts are reliable, why would Christians and Jews need another holy text and a prophet? These questions might seem valid at first glance. However, one should consider that Muslims never argue the full distortion of biblical The

texts. The distortion was always partial, never full, so these texts still keep bits of truth in them. Still, as Muslims we are faced with the accusation of subjective selectivity when treating these texts. In other words, Muslims seem as they select whichever biblical verse is fitting to their argument. Bediuzzaman offers the perfect answer to this accusation. According to Bediuzzaman, two facts should never be underestimated. First of all, the Quran challenges the scholars of the people of the book to bring evidence against the prophethood of Muhammad. “Say, ‘Bring the Torah and read it, if you are men of truth’” [Qur’an; 3:93] “Say, ‘Come, let us gather together -our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: then let us earnestly pray and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!’” [Qur’an 3:61] To the challenge of Quran, the scholars and men of religion of Christians and Jews either chose silence or forceful interpretation. If they had found real evidence against the challenge of Quran, Bediuzzaman argues and none of us would disagree, the Quran’s opponents would advertise it all around the world, twenty four hours a day. The second fact, according to Bediuzzaman, is the conversion of prominent men among them to Islam or their simple admission of the prophethood of Muhammad. Among these men is Heraclius the Great of Byzantines as well as a prominent Jewish scholar named Abdullah ibn Salaam. We should never lose sight of the fact that these people, were the contemporaries of Muhammad, who at the time just a leader of the weakest Arabian city. Muhammad was nothing close to a political threat APRIL-JUNE 2010

to them. Furthermore, these Mo del P erso n, people witnessed the relative- Mo del So ciety: ly less distorted versions of the biblical texts. They were the first hand witnesses the signs of the veracity of Muhammad’s claim in their books. To sum it up, this author believes that signs of the coming Muhammad (PBUH) in the testaments are clear and without doubt. Historically speaking, Muhammad is the only person who realized the promise of biblical texts. He combined in his personality, both the temporal and spiritual authority. He and his community of believers filled the world with justice for centuries. Who else could claim to be the expected savior of humanity besides Muhammad? 1. In recounting the biblical evidence of Muhammad’s prophethood and their veracity, I shall follow the reasoning of a late Ottoman scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (d.1960.) In his treatise titled “The Miracles of Muhammad”, Bediuzzaman recounts more than three hundred miracles of Prophet Muhammad, among them are the “irhasat”, i.e. signs of his prophethood before his declaration of that. Among these signs, the most potent one are those provided in the biblical texts about the arrival of the last prophet.

“Say, ‘Come, let us gather together -our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: then let us earnestly pray and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!’” [Qur’an 3:61] www.thepenmagazine.net

A PROPHET OF MERCY AND HIS WARS

A Prophet of Mercy and His Wars When Lesley asked her guest ``We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?'' The response that she got was shocking: ``I think this is a very hard choice, but the price—we think the price is worth it.'' ÐBy Selahattın ozel s.ozel@thepenmagazine.net

esley Stahl hosted Madeleine Albright, thenthe Secretary of State of USA, in a news programme. They talked on the US sanctions against Iraq after first Gulf war in which many children lost their lives due to lack of nutrition and medicine. When Lesley asked her guest “We have heard that a half million chilThe

dren have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?” The response that she got was shocking: “I think this is a very hard choice, but the price—we think the price is worth it.” -- 60 Minutes (5/12/96) From time to time, you hear APRIL-JUNE 2010

some people claim that the religions have always been the source of clash, unrest and division in societies. They do not stand there and you see that they use some historical facts (death tolls in religious wars) to prove their claims. Indeed, what they do is a biased and naïve reading the historical facts. Even a slightest glance at www.thepenmagazine.net

A PROPHET OF MERCY AND HIS WARS

modern, secular international or world wars will suffice to see the truth about the wars. The atrocities committed against innocent civilians for nothing except for “highly worldly interests!” in the last ten years show us how humankind may turn into a murder machine for his lustful contemptible passions. To reach his mean goals he tries, legal or illegal, every kind of vehicle. The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after the World War II to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. Such an organization that was founded for aforementioned lofty goals was one of the perpetrators of the brutality which I mentioned in the entry of the article. This ferocity in Iraq was committed with UN resolution taken by USA leverage. According to World Health Organization report, 794 thousand children died due to the embargo between 1991 and 1998. In this report you can see the death numbers during all these years in a detailed way. For example, only in 1998, 250 thousand children under five died in silence in Iraq. What is the most saddening is all these took place with the awareness and confirmation of the international public opinion. Everybody took it as a natural, ordinary incident. I have not yet mentioned the other state murders happened during these last ten years and it is not necessary to talk about it actually. Keeping going on talking about numbers, tolls and reports causes us get used to the deaths of people and The

makes them appear to be routine. We read the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through many different sources. When we do not pay a special attention to the death numbers in the wars during the life of Prophet we may have a false impression. Personally, I thought without a deliberate conviction that thousands of people lost their lives during these wars. When I learned for the first time the exact number of the people who died during these wars from both sides I was very surprised. Only four hundred people had died in all the wars, clashes and campaigns when the Prophet was alive. 150 of them were Muslims and the other 250 were the idolaters who were all warriors. Namely, the ones who were equipped and armed to fight and the ones who fought against each other had lost their lives, but nearly none of the civilians was deliberately killed. In Islam, the war is not something desired or commanded unless you are assaulted by your enemies. Indeed, in Arabic, the equivalent of the term “war” is “jihad”, but war is only one connotation of jihad. Jihad is broadest meaning is to struggle and endeavor in the way of Allah with your money, time and body, so Muslims can perform many things to make jihad such as founding charity organizations, schools and buildings, teaching knowledge to people and most importantly to control your lustful soul. War is only one sort of jihad and it is applied only when it is necessary. The following hadith of the Prophet (PBUH) is clear about this matter: “O people, do not hope to confront your enemies, demand goodness from Allah, and when you confront them have paAPRIL-JUNE 2010

tience for hardship against them and know that the heaven is under the shadows of the swords!”

Mo del P erso n, Mo del So ciety:

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) installed a law of war because he was a Prophet of Mercy as well as he was a commander of a state. To fight against his enemies had become inevitable for the security of Muslims and Islam but to provide the security of Muslims could not be an excuse to kill people arbitrarily. He would say “I am the prophet of mercy. I am prophet of war.” He meant I would fight against my enemies, not the civilians or the other people. The first group of people which we will discuss in Islam’s law of war is prisoners of war (POWs). There are a couple of ways of treatment which applied to POWs. They are either ransomed or exchanged with other prisoners or liberated without any payment. Furthermore, the bodies of dead enemies were not left on the ground and they are buried.

Such an organization that was founded for aforementioned lofty goals was one of the perpetrators of the brutality which I mentioned in the entry of the article. This ferocity in Iraq was committed with UN resolution taken by USA leverage. www.thepenmagazine.net

A PROPHET OF MERCY AND HIS WARS

The Prophet Muhammad

(PBUH)

Concerning the women and children during wars, the position of the Prophet was very clear. It was forbidden to kill women and children in the wars. Abdullah bin Umar (RA) narrates: “In one of the battles of the Prophet, a woman was found to be killed. Upon this, he prohibited to kill the women and children in the wars.” The other group of people who are banned to be given damage are senile people. Since they can not judge what is right and what is wrong, they are not responsible for what they do. Besides, the people who are too old are also forbidden to be killed because they are like children. Anas bin Malik (RA) narrates: “When the Prophet sends off a troop detachment or an army he used to say: “Set off with the name of Allah. Fight in the name of Allah and for the religion of Allah. Do not kill old men!” Another narration is from Abdullah bin Abbas (RA): “When the apostle of Allah sends off his army he used to say to them: “Do not kill the children and the people of chapels.” Here, “people of chapel” means people who withdraw from the social life and devote themselves to a belief. If they are not a part of the army against the Muslims, the Prophet inhibits his soldiers to harm them. The other groups of people are workers and servants. If these people do not carry the intention to attack Muslims, it is illegal for Muslims to attack them. Their being together with enemy army is not enough to consider them as enemy. The Prophet used to command his soldiers and say “do not kill workers and slaves”. While the Prophet was alive this was the way of Muslims’ treatAPRIL-JUNE 2010

ing these groups of people during the wars. Of course, throughout history some Muslim armies may have committed some injustices and even some ferocities. However, what I stress is the law of war which the Prophet (PBUH) implemented in Islam is the standard code of conduct in wars. Today, in Europe and USA some so-called “experts of Islam!” bombard the society with misinformation about Islam and its prophet, Muhammad (PBUH). Especially, the men such as Robert Spencer, Daniel Pipes and Geert Wilders both distort the facts and use some hadiths and verses out of context to stain the Islam in the eyes of people. What is interesting is that those men and some radical Muslim elements whom they consider as enemy are unanimous in this distorted interpretation of Islam. On the other hand, accusing radicals of both sides and keeping watching them or staying in the position of defense will not prevent these things from happening. As mainstream Muslim society we should use all legal ways and instruments to show real morality of our Prophet (PBUH). Arts, literature, sports, education and cyber world: All these fields wait us to make feel our existence as Muslims. SOURCES: 1. “The issue of protecting civilians in the battles that Prophet Muhammad attended” (Original: Hz. Peygamberin Katıldıgı Savaslarda Sivillerin Korunması Meselesi), EKEV, I/1, Asst. Prof. Mustafa Agırman 2. “What is that then?” (Original: Peki bu ne o zaman?), İbrahim Karagül, 16.08.2007, Yeni safak Daily www.thepenmagazine.net

News from the UNIW r Visit for more www.theunity.org

Memorandum of Understanding between UNIW - WCMP March 2010, QATAR A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW) and World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists (WCMP) in Doha, Qatar. According to the memorandum, UNIW and WCMP intend to run collaborative projects and activities when conditions are suitable and welcome the attendance of one another, as observers, at each

other’s organisations. Moreover, it is resolved in the memorandum that projects developed by any Non-governmental Organisations are to be evaluated by UNIW before submission to WCMP for consideration. UNIW Secretary General made the following speech regarding the memorandum: “The Muslim World needs to develop correct projects and deliver

its resources in a reliable manner to the most appropriate communities. Reliable communities and right and effective projects will give strength and life to the sense of donation and philanthropy. Through this memorandum, we hope to encourage projects in favour of the Muslim World and find sufficient resources for these projects.”

UNIW Delegation Visit Turkish Prime Minister March 2010, TURKEY His Excellency Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkish Republic accepted the delegation of the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW) headed by Secretary General Necmi Sadıkoglu. At the beginning, Secretary General Necmi Sadıkoglu thanked to H.E Erdogan for accepting

UNIW delegation consisting of the Deputy Secretary General Ali Kurt and General Coordinator Cihangir Isbilir. Sadıkoglu informed the Prime Minister about the activities of the UNIW in 2009 giving some details about its international programmes, institutional structure and future programmes.

For his part, H.E Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated his pleasure to host UNIW delegation and see successful programmes carried out in five years. Erdogan shared his success wishes with Sadikoglu and his secretariat.

President of Turkey Accepts UNIW Delegation February 2010, TURKEY The delegation of the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW) headed by Secretary General Necmi Sadikoglu and council members visited His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Gul the President of the Republic of Turkey in Cankaya Palace. Having offered his thanks for accepting the delegation, Secretary General Necmi Sadikoglu stated

that UNIW performed many successful international organizations, conferences and symposiums since its establishment. He also mentioned about their upcoming organizations. In his speech the president pointed out the importance of NGOs as representatives of the public as well as the necessity of coordination and cooperation in

the Islamic World and the importance of working on the Islamophobic activities through constructing close relationships with Western NGOs and through representing UNIW in major international conferences, programs and events.”

UNIW Introductory and Consultation Meeting February 2010, TURKEY Introductory Meeting of the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW) has been held in Ankara with participation of Secretary General, Council members, the Speaker of the parliament of Turkey, the mayor of Istanbul, bureaucrats, diplomats, statesmen, foreign representatives, NGO presidents, political party representatives, journalists and reporters.

Mehmet Ali Sahin, the speaker of the Grand Assembly of Turkish Parliament said in his speech: “NGOs should make great efforts in order to settle the superiority of the law, democracy, improvement of basic human rights and freedoms in the Islamic geography.” He also talked about the current situation of the Islamic World giving information about its problems and their solutions.

He also stressed the need for unity in the Islamic World, while also pointing out the importance of UNIW in the sense that they should wake the state up in order to altogether remove obstacles and unfavourable situation in the Islamic World by using common intellect.”

Does Allah Need Angels?

hough Allah is Omnipotent, why does He get angels to do the works in the universe?

is the Omnipotent. He creates anything by his Omnipotence. And he maintains his creations as he wishes.

“But His command, when He intends a thing, is only that he says unto it: Be! And it is.” (Ya-sin: 82)

The Duty of the Angels Is to Worship Allah

“Allah, the eternally besought of all!” (Ikhlaas: 2) Allah, the Creator of the Heavens and the earth, is not dependant on his angels as he is not dependent on anything. Allah The

Most of the angels are entrusted with tasbih (glorifying) and dhikr (remembrance) of Allah (swt). Angels called “Amala” (workers) are both entrusted with the control of the universe and execution of the laws of nature (Adatullah), and along with that APRIL-JUNE 2010

they keep on their constant duty of glorifying and praising Allah. “Amala” angels serve by attending themselves in execution of the laws which are under the administration of any creature from a cell to the giant planets. Angels’ applying these laws is their worship. They don’t ever have the right to administrate as they will. Each situation and event that occurs is under the control of Allah. Everything is by the will and order and the creation of Allah. www.thepenmagazine.net

Does Allah Need Angels?

Angels Are the Servants of Allah Reflecting His Perfect Names and Arts Each Beauty loves to see his beauty. For instance, when an artist formed a unique art, he would first want to see it himself. And he gets pleasure of this. Likewise, Allah watches the unique and awe-inspiring art wonders Himself first. Because the high ability, perfection and beauty of the angels are belong to Allah and the flashes reflected from the names of Allah. Allah’s watching his angels while they are working means he is watching his own Omnipotence, mercy, administration and sovereignty in his arts. Allah watches the magnificent action of His names on the angels. There is absolutely no other greater pleasure than of Allah’s executing His angels and supplying them with their needs and giving them blessings. This pleasure being peculiar to Allah the Almighty is a “Holy Pleasure of Him” seeing His servants rejoicing with their blessings. And human mind is far from understanding this. Angels worship Allah with great enthusiasm by applying the glorious divine laws in the universe. The Universe is an exhibition centre of Allah full of exceptional and marvelous creation of arts. Each artist wishes there would be viewers understanding and appreciating the delicacy and fineness of his art. The appreciation and contemplation of the humans and the jinns are not enough for the fine arts of this wonderful universe. For this duty, Allah has chosen the angels residing from the centre of the earth to the seven layer Heavens. The

Along with accomplishing their missions given by their Lord, they also contemplate their Lord’s names and attributes through these missions. And they appreciate His arts and works by glorifying and thanking Him. For instance; Lightening is a glorification of Ra’d (lightening) Angel declaring the Omnipotence of Allah. Angels Are the Screens Displaying Excellence and Magnificence of Allah Though Allah Himself does everything, He creates causes as coverings to prevent His Excellence and Magnificence from bad ascriptions. Because human beings, with their superficial opinions and narrow minds, can regard some issues as mistakes and shallow; though they are far from being as they are assumed. And Humans are impotent in fathoming His Magnificence by saying: “Why Allah is occupying Himself with things like that?” And no matter how bad and evil they seem to be at first sight, there are events having so many wisdoms behind them. Allah creates them as coverings to preserve His Excellence. So that He prevents His Magnificence and Compassion from being criticized and blamed unmercifully by those impotent minds. Because some people are unable to see the wonderful wisdom behind the things which seem to be bad and evil at first sight, they come to criticize the Excellence and Magnificence of Allah. This also should be known that angels are the pure and clean coverings of Allah. So, Allah created causes (illnesses, accidents…) which are the coverings for His angels in order not to subject them to the complaints of humans. APRIL-JUNE 2010

Allah’s watching his angels while they are working means he is watching his own Omnipotence, mercy, administration and sovereignty in his arts. Allah watches the magnificent action of His names on the angels.

www.thepenmagazine.net

Why Does Allah Hıde Hımself ?

Why Does Allah

Hide Himself?

Ð WWW.ASKAQUESTIONTO.US

hy does God (Allah) hide Himself ? Why cannot we see Allah?

“I was a Treasure unknown then I willed to be known so I created a creation to which I made Myself known; then they knew Me.” (Ajlouni– Hadith Qudsi) Allah (God) hides Himself in a way that we cannot see with our The

physical eye. However, He created human beings with equipments enough to search and find Him, to know and recognize Him. So, Allah does not really keep Himself hidden; just the opposite, he wants to be known. He created the universe as a display of His names and attributes. And He is not like His creation and not within His creation. APRIL-JUNE 2010

The World of Test and Tribulations Requires This The real reason man cannot see God is because this world is a world of test and tribulations. If Allah (God) had created human beings in a way that they could see Him, then the mystery of the tests and tribulations would be meaningless. Whoever saw Allah www.thepenmagazine.net

Why Does Allah Hıde Hımself ?

with his own eyes would become a believer anyway. In such a case, we couldn’t talk about test and tribulations. The test of human beings is to believe or not to believe in Allah even though he cannot see Allah. As a result of this, believers and non-believers, the thankful ones and those who do not thank Allah, the good and the bad are separated. Allah Manifests Himself with His Arts Allah (God) hides Himself from the physical eye but manifests His existence to the “eye of the mind” through His names and attributes sealed on His creations, through the books and prophets that he sent. Whoever reads Allah’s books, listens to His prophets, examines the book of universe that He creates carefully, can recognize Allah with His names and attributes. Those who take their minds out of the dark tunnels of their “selves” and look at the universe can see Allah clearly. They can comprehend that Allah hides Himself because of the enormous magnitude of His manifestations. Allah Is Nearer to Man Than His Jugular Vein For the right of My Glorious Might, (we) created man, and we know what misgiving his carnal self gives to him! For, we are closer to him than his jugular vein! (Qaf, 16) Sun, with its rays is nearer to man than the apple of his own eyes. But man is further than 149 million kilometers to sun. And so, Allah is nearer to man than his jugular vein. But man is infinitely far from Allah. That’s why Allah is assumed to be hiding Himself. The

However, unless man refuses with his own will, he can feel Allah’s existence every instant because Allah is in the hearts of the believing servants. And consequently, he never forgets Allah. Allah Manifests Himself by Answering Prayers “(My Beloved! O Muhammad!) If My servants ask of Me to you, there is no doubt that I am very close (to them). I answer the supplication of the suppliant when he prays to Me; therefore they should (also) comply (to My call) (for My sake) and believe in Me so that they may find the true path.” (Al-Baqara, 186) Allah declares His existence by answering the prayers of all creations. There is an Entity who answers all prayers, from the prayer of seed to become a tree to the prayer of a man asking for Jannah (Paradise). Even though man cannot see that Entity, he certainly knows His existence. Man Cannot Endure to See the Magnitude of Allah's Greatness “When Moses came at the time We appointed and his Master addressed him, he said: “My Master! Show (yourself) to me, let me see you!” He (his Master) declared: “(You) can never see Me (in this world); but look upon the mountain, if (it) is able to stand (in its place), then you can see Me (you, too)!” As his Master manifested unto the mountain, He smashed into bits; and Moses collapsed (to the ground) unconsciously! When he comes to himself, he said: “(My Master!) Glory be unto You! I repented to you APRIL-JUNE 2010

(because of what I requested) and I am first of those who believe!” (Al-Araf: 143) Even though Allah manifests proofs of His existence throughout the universe, He does not show Himself openly because, in this mortal and material world, man’s eyes do not have the ability to grasp the greatness of Allah. Thus, Moses could not even endure the relative manifestation through a mountain and fainted. If there had been a complete and absolute manifestation of Allah Himself, probably the whole universe would be destroyed. Allah (God) Has No Peers or Opposites Another reason of Allah’s hiding Himself is that He has no peers or opposites. Human beings can only see and know things by the existence of peers and opposites of those things. For example; if there was no cold, we wouldn’t know the meaning of hot. If there was no hot we wouldn’t know the meaning of sweet. If there was no darkness we wouldn’t know the meaning of light. In addition, when you describe someone something that he has never seen, he tries to get clues about the true nature of that thing by asking questions such as “What is it like?”, “What does it look like?” These prove that there are two ways people can identify objects. The first one is trying to identify it by comparing it to something similar. The other one is by contrasting it to something opposite. That is why it is not possible for human beings to grasp the complete meaning of Allah’s Entity because he has no peers or opposites. www.thepenmagazine.net

THE GARDEN OF TRUTHS

–By Zeynep EREN z.eren@thepenmagazine.net

Honey of the world, molasses of the hereafter Flies never would perch on Abdul-Qadir Gilani. One of those who were aware of this situation asked: “We have never seen that a fly perched upon you. What is the reason behind this? That blessed man gave such a good response: “Why should it perch on me? I carry neither honey of the world nor molasses of the hereafter on me...”

Codes of Success

For a happy marriage 1. Believe that the marriage is a sacred establishment. 2. Remember always that your spouse and children are the trustees of Allah (SWT) to you. 3. What is important in marriage is to preserve the family happiness and peace. 4. A sustainable marriage is dependent on mutual love, respect and tolerance. 5. Have respect for your spouse’s thoughts, feelings and aims and share them with her/him. 6. Allocate time absolutely for your spouse and children. The

1- Whatever you do, the ultimate goal should be the pleasure of Allah (SWT). 2- Consumption is not the goal of life; it is an instrument for life. Instead of being a beast of consumption, you should be a person of da’wah by adopting goals which will add meaning into your life… 3- The success is not a mere chance. It is the result of both hard work and good idea. 4- A work which you do not follow up will not be completed. In order to get a positive result you should insist on following up. 5- Trusting one person is fine but checking what he’s doing is also needed. Trust is not an obstacle for checking. 6- You need good communication ability as well as good education. 7- Nobody knows everything. Two minds are better than one. There is benefit and mercy in consultation.* *(Source: Omar Bolat, Liderlik Gönül İsidir, Hayat Pub.)

APRIL-JUNE 2010

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The Mirror and the Soil

THE GARDEN OF TRUTHS

The soil said to the mirror: “I envy of you! Whoever looks at you sees himself, but the ones who look at me see only me!” The mirror responded the soil: “O black soil! Why do you get worried for a futile trouble! Do not you know that I show today of those who look at me but you show them their future?!” Although the soil liked this response it asked again: “It is obvious you speak to calm me down. Answer me, do those who look at you ever look at me?” And the mirror said the following with a bitter smile: “Do not worry! Those who do not have face to look at me will always look at you.”

The House of Our Prophet Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi performs the fajr prayer and returns home and asks his wife “do we have something to eat for breakfast?” His wife answers “You know that there is nothing to eat at home!” Upon this Maulana says “Al hamdu lillah, today our home is similar to the prophet’s”

Why Cannot You be Left Dinner Table

Your Child’s Best Friend? The dinner table of Abdurrahman b. Avf (ra), who was one of those ten companions who were heralded with the heaven, was adorned with several kinds of foods to break his fast. He felt sorry for this and said the following: “Mus’ab b. Umair became martyr in the battle of Uhud. He was virtuous than me, however he had nothing except for a cardigan as a cerement. And when we covered his head with this cardigan his feet were left naked. Now, everything was granted us for world life. Indeed, I fear that we are taking the rewards of our good deeds in the world!” After these words Abdurrahman b. Avf (ra) left the table. The

You cannot be a friend to your child because you cannot share anything! You always speak and never listen to him/her because you always act bossy. Since you forget your faults you never tolerate their faults and forgive them. You cannot spend a qualified, enjoyable, special time with him/her because you are negligent or you are too busy! You do not charge him/her with a duty (even a duty heavier then he/she can do!) because you are coward and hesitant! You neglect physiological contact with him/her which shows love and compassion and you do not huge him/her tightly because that’s the way you were treated in your family!

APRIL-JUNE 2010

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RESPONDING TO A NASTY MESSAGE

Responding to a Nasty Message Back to our question, in my opinion, the authorities picked the wrong way to send their message. Because as they overemphasize the so called link between Islam and terror, people like Jay Howard are responding in a different way which is unexpected for them.

ÐBy Ahmet C. GULENAY - USA ac.gulenay@thepenmagazine.net

n case you haven’t heard it, The United States of America witnessed another plane involved in an incident last month. That is right; planes are becoming quite popular for any kind of action. However it wasn’t popular enough for national media which covered the story literally for 5 minutes far less than Tiger Woods’ public apology. As the headline indicated an ordinary accident, most of the people including me did not pay any attention to it; “Plane Crash in Austin”. Obviously an innocent pilot must have lost the control of plane and “crashed” to the ground. But after digging into the story online, it turned out to be a completely different case. A man named Joseph Stack, who got furious about corporate crimes and unfair taxes, “intentionally” flew his plane into The

Joseph Andrew Stack, the man who flew an airplane into an IRS office building in Austin, Texas February 18, 2010. the IRS Building. The picture was nothing but a reminder of 9/11; smoke from a huge building. Now as far as I know, if a man intentionally flies his plane into a building and kills civilians by blowing it up, you use a lot stronger words than a crash. “Terror” and “attack” are the ones that I am very familiar with. However, I was unable to see these two words in the details of the story. So if the expression “terrorist attack” cannot be associAPRIL-JUNE 2010

ated with this event, what is it then? Well, you don’t have to be genius to answer that question. By definition, the incident must include a Muslim name (like Umar) and the word Islam, in order to be defined as a terrorist attack. The message that the US authorities try to give its citizens is crystal clear: Stay away from Islam. The burning question is how effective is that message? Before answerwww.thepenmagazine.net

RESPONDING TO A NASTY MESSAGE

The message that the US authorities try to give its citizens is crystal clear: Stay away from Islam. The burning question is how effective is that message? Before answering that question let me tell you one more story you possibly missed.

AP Photo - Jack Plunkett- Photo Echelon Building in Austin, Texas Feb. 18, 2010. ing that question let me tell you one more story you possibly missed. After Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab got arrested for the attempt of igniting explosives on board, a national radio called NPR conducted an interview with the passenger 19B, Jay Howard, who was sitting right next to him. In this interview, Howard told two strange things to the reporter. First, he said Umar was a typical passenger until the last ten minutes and after that, he The

didn’t seem to know what he was doing because the expression on his face was drugged and shocked. The second and the strangest thing is that the young college student, who is a pure white American, refused to use the word “terrorist” for Umar just like the national media refused to use the same word for Joseph Stack. Back to our question, in my opinion, the authorities picked the APRIL-JUNE 2010

wrong way to send their message. Because as they overemphasize the so called link between Islam and terror, people like Jay Howard are responding in a different way which is unexpected for them. Consider a society where at least a couple of priests are pleading guilty for the child molestation or sexual abuse charges in every single month. Moreover they are confessing that they have been doing this for years to a number of children. As a result the percentage of American adults who identify themselves as Christians dropped below 60% and the confidence in the church has hit an all-time low. In this environment, as they use terror and Islam in the same sentence 5 times in a day on average, it is backfiring from some people whose IQ is above 90. Those people are being motivated to discover Islam as the attacks are becoming persistent. For instance a recent convert to Islam in South Texas, who was raised in a Catholic family then became a rock&roll punk with tattoos and piercings, says he decided to take a history class called Muslim Spain after terror-Islam related broadcasts. With his own words, as he was introduced to Ibn Al-Arabi’s mind-blowing philosophy, he started to read Quran and became a Muslim. Hence, it seems like the plan to keep the society away from Islam is not working, so let me see the plan B please. www.thepenmagazine.net

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 3

9 10

13 14 17

26 27

29 31

30 32

25. messenger (7) 28. be in dept (3) 29. as well (3) 32. coloured liquid used for writing, printing or drawing (3)

W A

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M A

P I H

D O

D L

W A 3

SOLUTION

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A E

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27 24

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17 1

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22. a speech or sermon (6)

1. a way of thinking, an attitude or oppinion (7) 2. pray (7) 3. an Arabic prefix (2) 4. the eternal place of torture for disbelievers (4) 5. conceal (4) 6. a preposition (2) 7. past (7) 10. relating to the sky (9) 12. operator (7) 14. a conjunction (2) 15. to feel that there is no hope at all (7) 18. clutter, disorder (9) 20. the great Islamic scholar who lived during the Seljuks period and

wrote a refutation of philosophy (7)

Down

G N

The

2. to clean (4) 5. tradition of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) (6) 8. the term refered to anything that is worshiped as god other than Allah (SWT) (4) 9. to prepare a book, piece of film etc (4) 10. symbol of chlorine (2) 11. the prophet who had the miracle of giving life to the death (5) 13. not believing in Allah (SWT) (9) 14. short for ‘identification’ (2) 16. a long pole used for rowing a boat (3) 17. proof (8) 19. horror (4) 21. a number (3) 23. nervous and embarrassed about doing something (3) 24. the call for prayer (5) 26. imam of hanafi school in doctrine (8) 27. a machine that can move and do some of the work of a person (5) 30. path (3) 31. a conjunction (2) 32. illiteracy (9) 33. a preposition (2) 34. symbol (4) 35. something used to lock or unlock something or somewhere (3) 36. modest (6)

Across

Ð By Yakup KARACA y.karaca@thepenmagazine.net

www.thepenmagazine.net

Risale-i Nur Collection in Arabic

The collection was translated into Arabic from the original copies in Ottoman language by Altinbasak Academic Research and Translation Board whose members are both expert on Risale-i Nur and competent in Arabic language.

Even the slightest points in original texts were considered.

It was revised by an expert editorial staff.

“

A rewarding collection A rewarding collection of books ofguidance guidance of books of through the the way of faith through way of faith in today’s challenging in today’s challenging world. world. Altinbasak Publication

Halkali Cd. No: 192 Sefakoy / ISTANBUL Tel: (+90) 212 696 13 70 Fax: (+90) 212 696 13 71 www.altinbasaknesriyat.com

SAVE THE DATE!

5-6TH JUNE

2010

‘‘The Truths of Faith in Risale-i Nur’’ III. International Symposium on

Bediuzzaman and Risale-i Nur http://www.risaleinursymposium.com