The Good Person - Homo Qur'anicus (The Qur'anic Human Being)

Reflections from The Risale-Nur  a Qur'an commentary by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi

The Words - The Twelfth Word - Second Principle

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For an excellent introduction read Exploring Islam: Theology and Spiritual Practice in America by Salih Sayilgan

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Music credits:  © "Uyan Ey Gözlerim" Duet Guitar And Ney, Vol.1 by Eyüp Hamiş

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

A'udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem Today, I wanted to continue our reflection on the good person. And this is so important because it comes down to good character. Maya already said in the introduction that we all want to improve ourselves. We constantly strive to be better, aspire to be better, better people, better individuals, improve in our roles, advance and progress and continuously be ambitious to be our best selves to reach our best selves and our true potential and to be the best version of ourselves in the islamic tradition we believe that we can do it by following quranic guidance and following the prophetic wisdom and the prophetic practice in the prophet peace and blessings be upon him we find the best example, the best character, the best embodiment of Quranic character. When his wife, Sayyidina Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, was asked, what was the Prophet's character like? Peace and blessings be upon him. She would ask, haven't you read the Quran? Didn't you read the Quran? His character was the Quran. She would respond. For me, that is such a profound statement that captures it all. He was someone who embodied the Quranic message fully in its entirety. He lived the talk. He preached the message fully. the divine wisdom first to his own nafs, to his own soul. And by embodying the message, by embodying the Quranic content, he made it alive, he made it real. He showed how to implement Quranic teaching into the different human aspects of our lives, how to be a good human being, how to be a a good son, a good husband, a good father, a good community member, a good brother, a good leader, a good businessman, a good community person, how to be in relationship with the creation. In all of these roles, he's an inspiration. He's a mercy to us. Like the Quran says, he is a mercy to the worlds, not just to the human world, but to all creation. He was sent to all creation. He has elevated, dignified, honored all creation. In his relationship to nature, to the animal world, to the plant world, we look up to him, how he engaged with the beings around him. how he was in dialogue with the creation, how he looked at the moon, how he pondered over the clouds, how he meditated in nature, how he contemplated in the creation. So his character was the Quran. And in this segment, I would like to reflect upon what does it mean to be a homo Quranicus, a homo Quranicus, a Quranic human being. There are many ways to be in this world. But as Muslims, we particularly strive to be Quranic beings, to make an intentional decision, to make a choice, to embrace the Quranic guidance. The Quran is about guidance, al-Huda. The Quran calls itself al-Huda, guidance. It is an invitation. It's not forcing us. It's an invitation, a guidance, a holy GPS, a holy and sacred map to navigate the seas of change, to navigate life, to navigate life and death. By being a Quranic human, we understand how to live with grace and dignity, but we also look up to the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, how to die with grace and dignity. He shows us both, both ways. He shows us how to be fully human, how to embrace our emotions and our difficult feelings, especially in this time where our hearts are so heavy. Every day we are being bombarded. We have to witness atrocities around the world. By being connected to the entire creation, we are affected, we are overwhelmed. We sometimes find ourselves in a dark moment, in a low moment. We grieve with those who suffer. We weep with those who lose their loved ones. We sit in agony and pain with those who are facing atrocities, are being murdered, massacred, slaughtered for no reason. Our hearts are heavy. I acknowledge that I personally, I find myself having a hard time. It's very difficult to be exposed to so much suffering and find meaning and purpose and wisdom in your world, in your life. especially witnessing death that are entirely preventable. I think that's the most painful thing for all of us, that moral evil that is in the world, that we know that things don't have to be this way, that we don't need to murder each other, massacre each other, annihilate each other, extinct each other, extinguish each other or difference and diversity or ways of living. There are ways to disagree and live and come to the table and uplift difference, uplift diversity. And we can all have our truth and our firm convictions and beliefs, but they do not need to lead to annihilation or extinction or extermination of a certain group. That's not who we are. That's not how Allah wants us to be in the world. To be Quranic means that you are rooted in your tradition, in your beliefs, in your convictions. in your truth and out of that rootedness, you are able to embrace the other. To be Quranic means that to expand in your compassion and in your humanity to such a degree that you are walking gently on the earth, humbly on the earth, that you respect the dignity of every living being on this planet. that you are so alert, so aware to not step or always step the rights and the dignity of other living beings, other living creatures. The homo-Qur'anicus, the Qur'anic human being, follows the Prophet's peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, a believer is like a honeybee. A believer, a mu'min, is like a honeybee. They are gentle and kind and they do not harm anyone. A mu'min, a believer, is the one from who other people are saved, are protected from his tongue and his hand. A believer, a true believer, somebody who truly internalized the Quranic message will not harm, hurt anyone with their tongue, speech, or action. They move gently and humbly on the earth. They leave a light footprint. They leave a spiritual legacy, a moral legacy. They uplift the lives of others. And then they return to their Lord. and peace and contentment. For me, it really comes down to character, character, how we show up in the world for one another. And that also means how we at this moment of collective grief and sadness, where so many of us feel at times overwhelmed and helpless and even hopeless at times, to not surrender to darkness and hopelessness and division and hatred and enmity and hostility. That's not the Quranic way. That's not the Prophet. Peace and blessings upon him. That's not his way. His way is of reconciliation and bringing people together, bringing communities together, uplifting the lives of others. to be life-giving, to provide hope, to provide light and healing to those who are hurting. So I remind myself at this moment, yes, there's no denying that pain and evil and suffering exists in the world, but they do not have the last word. I am called at this moment, as a believer, to be in a constant state of service. And that service to others can have many forms. That activism and that life-giving attitude can have many different forms. That means for me to be a Quranic being. And I see that exemplified in the prophetic sunnah and the prophetic practice. I'd like to share with you a portion that has always spoken to me so profoundly when I think about the Homo Quranicus. To be a human being that is guided and informed by the Quranic wisdom, by the prophetic teachings, that is my direction. That is the way that informs my whole behavior, and I strive and aspire to that. So here Ustad Bedi Zaman in the 12th word shares with us in a nutshell, in this small paragraph, I encourage you to go back and read it, what it means to be a Quranic being in the world, a homo Quranicus. I like this Latin word actually, homo Quranicus. We are all homo sapiens, but there is a higher level of being. The Quran challenges us to rise up and aspire to be our best selves. And it shows us what success truly looks like, what moral progress truly looks like, what it means to be a true human being, especially when faced with adversity, calamity, evil, hardships. Suffering and injustice. How do I respond to that? How do I contact myself in a Quranic way? That is the ultimate question. And that is a choice we make. Willingly, freely, intentionally to say, Oh my Lord, Oh Allah, guide me. Hold me. Show me, teach me. Inspire me. In a holy narration, Allah says, when a believer wants to come close to Allah, and I'm paraphrasing, it's not the entire narration, I become the eyes with which he sees, the ears with which he will hear, and the tongue with which he will speak. So if we make that sincere intention to be Quranic, to immerse ourselves into the Quranic worldview, we will always find our way in the midst of darkness. We will always see the light and follow it. And Allah will infuse us, guide us with wisdom to respond in a way that honors His name, that honors the Prophet ﷺ. I've always said it, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, lived a miserable life according to worldly standards. He has suffered all hardships from early childhood on. He has not seen any worldly success or comfort. We all know that. Yet it is to him that Allah says he's the most beloved in the creation, Habibullah, the most beloved, who did not have an ounce of worldly goods, no material legacy, no material possession, yet he's the most beloved. What is it about him, about his character, that after 1,000, almost 1,500 years, has inspired and guided generations of scholars, pious people, of saints. And he speaks to us today. And this summary, I feel, captures it very well. And I'm going to share it with you and hopefully it gives us an idea of the Quranic akhlaq, the Quranic character that Allah invites us to be. to transform ourselves. And we can do it. We can reach that. Especially now, to never lose the dual vision on life. Yes, there is the dunya, the world, which can look ugly and chaotic and overwhelming and unjust and dark. Yet, when we turn our gaze to the world of the unseen, to the akhira, to the afterlife, we understand that there's another reality, that this world is not all what there is. And we always have to look with that dual vision on life. And then it is there where we can, or through that approach where we can find meaning and purpose and wisdom, in sickness, in illness, in separation, in loneliness, in hardship, in alienation, in isolation, in rejection, we can find sacred meanings. Those are the prophetic, these are the prophetic paths. These are the prophetic experiences. The road to paradise is plastered with hardships, as the Prophet ﷺ. God's peace and blessings be upon him. However, the sincere student, the sincere student of Quranic wisdom is a servant. But he does not stoop to worship even the greatest of creatures. I mean, look at this. There are already certain qualities mentioned here. First of all, the Quranic human being, one who has the vision of being Quranic, being guided by Allah's word and speech, is sincere. Sincerity. I have talked about sincerity before. That's the number one, that's the spirit of every action and every thought to be infused by that complete God awareness by taqwa. Once we are aware of Allah's presence, He's our focus in all what we do. And the most fundamental formula for this is, Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. I begin every action with the names of God. I begin everything in the name of Allah. I begin in the name of Allah. He's my focus. He's my purpose. He's my beginning. He's my end. He's my in-between. He's my direction. That is what sincerity is. Allah tells us in the Quran, the believers are those who perform sincere actions. Sincere actions. So every action needs to be guided by that intention. And every action is according to its intention. Says the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. So sincerity, is the number one feature of a Quranic human being. Oh my Lord, Ya Allah, only for you I live and breathe, I think and feel, I love and do. I am at this moment here right now just for you. I do this just for you. For your sake, oh my Lord, for your sake, Ya Allah, for your love, for your contentment, for your rida, for your satisfaction. If you are pleased with me, nothing else matters. That is radical monotheism. That is radical tawheed. Only for you I'm here. You sent me here. You called me to be here. You created me. And then, of course, the only natural and moral response, the ethical response is, of course, You are the sole reason for my existence. How can I not be informed by your love and by your guidance and by your teaching and by your call? How do you want me to be right now? How do you want me to think, to feel, to act, to behave? That then informs all our actions. Sincerity, number one. feature of a Quranic human being, of Quranic character, is ikhlas, sincerity. Absolute sincerity. Absolute commitment to Allah. Especially in times when things get tough. Just like now. Ya Allah, I am so committed to you. I know you are my light. I know you are my future. I know you act with wisdom in the world. I know, I affirm that you are in utter control. That is absolute commitment to Allah, to be in a relationship with him and say, I don't know your ways. I don't know your wisdom in the world. I am a deficient human being. I have a very narrow capacity to understand. I cannot question Allah. I can only be infused by trust, absolute trust. I've seen so much in my life that allows me to trust Allah. I've seen 80% of in my life that makes me realize, have a firm conviction that an absolute compassionate, merciful, all-wise creator is operating in the world. Everything else, even if it looks to me confusing and chaotic, is still embedded, infused by that wisdom. And so ikhlas is also to have that sincerity, that commitment to be guided by Allah's pleasure only, to say, I want to please Allah in all of my affairs, in my work, in my family, in my neighborhood, in my relationships, in all of the aspects of my human being. I want to... keep Allah as my sole focus. One of the ways to cultivate sincerity, ikhlas, is to remember death often. That's one way to cultivate ikhlas, sincerity, is to remember one's end. That mortality hovers over us and that we are ultimately destined to return to our Lord, to Allah. To Him we belong and to Him is our return. All of us collectively. This is the ultimate equalizer. There's no escape. There's no denying. We will all follow the ones who departed before us. So we better make sure that we are prepared for that meeting and put our intentions right. Even if in the past we have done things that were not sincerely for the sake and for the love of Allah, we can transform that. We can still change that. Right in this moment, just by acknowledging, Ya Allah, anything that I haven't done for you in the past, please transform it as if I have done it for you solely. Please accept it sincerely. Sincerely in a way as if I have made it for you, done for you. And forgive me my shortcomings. Forgive me my flaws. Forgive me my mistakes. Let me turn to you. Let me always return to you. If I'm misguided, let me turn back to you. Allah is Al-Hadi. He's the guide. He can always turn us back to Him. And Allah's doors of mercy and forgiveness are wide open till the last day. So sincerity is one aspect of good Quranic character. That Allah is our soul. purpose. He is our main focus, our main goal. If he's pleased with us, nothing else matters. And I have enough recognition. His honor is sufficient for me. Allah is sufficient for us. Allah's recognition, his validation, his love, his praise, his attention. His awards, his accolades, his praise is enough for me. I don't beg. I don't tremble. I'm not afraid. I'm not a victim. I don't beg for love. I don't tremble in front of the world's events. I know I'm taken care of. I know this creation is under the absolute control of the one Lord. رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ The Lord of the worlds, who's the most trustworthy disposal of affairs. أَسْبِيَ اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّاهُ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشَ الْعَظِيمِ That is something that the Prophet, that Allah calls the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to say, which we know from the Qur'an. And if they turn away from you, say, There will be moments where people will turn away from us. There will be moments where relationships will be lost. There will be moments where we will not get recognition for the words and actions. We will be dismissed, neglected, marginalized, rejected. Bring it on. It doesn't matter as long as Allah is pleased with us. As long as Allah is remembering us, honoring us, validating us, the world has no meaning. Because all of that is fleeting and transitory and passing. And they do not have any say over my final destiny. My destination is to Allah. My return is to Allah. So all my ambitions are directed towards Him. Be ambitious in the world. Yes, I'm ambitious in the world. I'm striving for a good career, for a good reputation, for a good recognition. But these are not goals in itself. or in themselves, they are a means to a higher goal. If you want money, wealth, youth, beauty, reputation, their cognition, honors, awards, yes, by all means. Those are not outside the realm of permissibility, but they are not a goal in itself. They can't be. They are a means, to reach that higher goal, which is God's love and pleasure and his satisfaction. That's what sincerity means, that in all our efforts and all our ambitions and all our striving and all our aspirations and all our struggles, he is our goal. His love is our highest goal. And that's it. That is the number one. feature of a Quranic student. However, the sincere student of Quranic wisdom is a servant. So another feature of a Quranic student, we are all always in a mode of learning. None of us has truly grown up. We are sometimes asked children, what do you want to be when you grow up? The truth is we are constantly growing. We are always growing. We are always changing. We are always evolving. We are always in need of acquiring new knowledge, new wisdom. There is no end to growth or progress or development. That is intrinsic to our nature. So we are all students. We all should be in a mode of learning and aspiring to learn useful knowledge. The Prophet's prayer comes to mind Oh my Lord, grant me beneficial knowledge. Today we are in an age of overwhelming information and there's always this sense of that there's no end of information or end of knowledge. But the truth is there needs to be also time to say I need to stop here and start doing because there's no end to acquiring knowledge. So it's trying to to walk this fine line of, yes, learning is important, but also not making it an obstacle to say, oh, I don't know enough to do such and such or carry out this and that service. You know enough to do something meaningful, which is service. So being in service to others, losing ourselves in service to others, losing ourselves in the service of God, That is what a Quranic being is, a homo Quranicus. A Quranic student is a servant, always in a mode of service. What can I do? How can I serve Allah's creation? If you love Allah, serve His creation. Service is part of the spiritual DNA of a Quranic person. We look at the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he was always in a mode of service. That is intrinsic to the being of prophetic character. We cannot be in a state of apathy or disinterest or indifference. And service can mean many things. Such an expansive concept. Service can be in many ways. Sharing your knowledge, sharing your God-given knowledge, talents, your gifts, reaching out to neighbors, uplifting a heart, providing comfort. A smile as charity is an act of service. Uplifting, giving a shout out to some good act, something that aligns with your God-given talents and passions. But to make it a priority to always be in a mode of service to our families, our communities, to the creation, to be always in a state of compassion and seeking out opportunities. Life is an opportunity to serve, sacred service. What a beautiful moment to shine. Now it's my moment to shine. Now it's my moment to display my beautiful potential. Yalla, give me opportunities to show them, to express them. to express my God-given knowledge, to express my God-given talents, to share the wisdom and the spiritual gifts that I have, these treasures. What an honorable goal that is. And not to be just caught up in our own bubble. So service is intrinsic to the way of a Quranic student. constantly seek out opportunities and make it a priority to serve. And service doesn't mean to deliver a grand lecture. It's about fundamentally caring and being aware and conscious about the things that are going on. And it can be many ways. And this is something that is so core at our humanity. And so to avoid to be indifferent and to be in a mode of service. And the human being is such an extraordinary creation of Allah. We can heal in so many ways. We can serve in so many ways. just talking to a stranger for a couple of minutes, smiling, waving at each other, complimenting somebody, having eye contact with someone, in a time where there's so much social disconnect and social alienation, to expand our reach and our communities, to get out of our comfort zone, and also to engage with views and viewpoints, perspectives that are not necessarily in your own area of interest, meaning to listen to others and how they read the world and the events and how they make sense, what's going on in their universe. Just the act of listening to somebody, having a cup of tea and telling them, share your story. I want to listen to you and get to know you is a huge act of service. So I've talked about this before, about the reality of our social, that we are social beings, which also means that we are interdependent. We need one another. We crave one another. We feel better when we are in healthy company, in healthy human relationships. And so that's also... very important act of service. The sincere student of Quranic wisdom is a servant, but he does not stoop to worship even the greatest of creatures. So yes, the Quranic human being is a servant, is always in a mode of being an abd, a servant of Allah. And since Allah has created everything and everyone, he wants to please Allah, He or she, the person wants to please Allah by serving his creation, by serving God's creation, but they do not worship the creatures, right? A Quranic human being is not making creatures their goals of worship. That means I'm freed, I'm liberated. from pleasing others or flattering others or begging for attention or praise or recognition from others. No, I don't worship. I don't worship the creation. I worship my creator, the one and only God, but I serve him through the creation. So that's a very important thing distinction here and by doing so I am liberated I'm not making myself dependent on other people's whims and moods and expectations or expressions of gratitude or recognition or validation I'm not dependent on 500,000 Facebook likes or fake hearts This is not my goal. I'm not addicted to those social media dopamine pushes. I'm freed from that. I'm liberated. I'm a dignified human being. I don't tremble in front of the creation. I'm not afraid of the events in the world. Whatever happens to me is not without the permission of Allah because He has written my path. My only response is, My only duty is to respond properly, how I look at the events, how I read the events, and make the choice whether I want to find meaning and purpose and wisdom, or if I want to be a victim and be afraid and tremble in front of the creation. That is my choice. I choose whether something, an event or experience is either scary or sacred. And by sacred, I mean that I derive life-giving lessons for me, wisdom that helps me to thrive and improve and be better and aspire to reach higher and grow in my character, in my morality, in my outlook on life, in my relationship with Allah and come closer to Him. Anything that brings me closer to Allah is a blessing. Even if there is a very scary experience, a very trying experience, trauma, tragedy, there is still an opportunity for me to grow in that. There's something that we call post-traumatic growth. but also growing in my relationship with Allah, unearthing certain aspects of him that I haven't been aware of before. And I've witnessed it in my own life. As tragic as the death of my daughter is, as sad as I am, as much as tears are every day a part of my life now, constant sadness and grief are constant. There are no closure. that heartache that will never go away, that painful longing that will never go away. You just come to accept, this is now part of my life. It's scary to be walking around with this painful longing and yearning. But as scary and as painful as it is, It's also the most important opening for me to come closer to the divine. So many things that were abstract before or theoretical now like really sit in my blood and bones. Such a profound, deep experience. Such a painful transformation and evolution in my life, but yet there's also so much beauty in it. Do I want to go? Do I want this to go away? No, I don't want, because that pain is also a beautiful opening to a divine window, to understand Allah's nature better, to understand the reality more of this world, to see the naked reality of this world. That comes something that is a painful experience. but in a way also an experience that had made me thrive and grow in ways that I have never imagined before. So ultimately we decide if something remains scary or if we derive sacred meanings out of it. And as horrible as grief and suffering is, it's also an invitation to make us better. Yesterday in a gathering, we talked about how the most celebrated virtue of human beings is forgiveness. Forgiveness, such a beautiful human virtue. Amazing that somebody in the face of so much atrocity and suffering and evil, can rise up so high and say, I am willing to forgive that person who has harmed me, persecuted me, tortured me. And those are the people that we look up to. Those are the people who are inspirations to us. In the midst of so much darkness and suffering, Those are the beautiful people that we look up to. Beautiful people don't just happen. Those are the ones who experience loss and suffering and hardship, yet refuse to surrender to darkness and evil or let hatred enter their hearts. They guard their hearts. They don't want any negativity, destructive feeling, enmity towards others. What they are feeling is pity, compassion, And we see that with the Prophet

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He was persecuted by his own people, his own community. He suffered so much. So many of his friends and companions were tortured in front of his eyes. Grief was a constant in his life. He faced starvation, he experienced hunger, poverty, ridicule. Yet when he conquered Mecca on the day of conquest, he declared, today I forgive you like Yusuf, peace be upon him, had forgiven his brothers. Nobody was harmed. Nobody was executed. Nobody was tortured. Nobody was hurt. or injured. This is in our collective memory. This is why Allah praises him as the most beloved. He, he rise up so high that he understood in order to root out evil, you have to first start in your heart. In your heart, if you can't eliminate that ounce of dark thought or negative thought, then you will always be in prison. You will always be a slave to your lower ego. But to be in true service to others and help them to come closer to Allah, that was his only goal and concern. His only goal and concern and vision is to make others remember Allah, and help them to come closer to Allah and not be an obstacle on that road. Quite the contrary, to foster that, to help them and push them to come closer and gain greater proximity and nearness to Allah. That was his sole concern, his holy concern, his holy vision. And when someone approached him and asked for forgiveness, he was able to grant that. because he didn't want to be in the way of this person to come closer to Allah. That's what true success looks like, to be able to lift up that heart and be a gateway to the divine. Isn't that amazing? For me, this is one of the most profound lessons of his life. This is his enduring spiritual legacy, somebody who went through so much suffering, so much hardship, so much adversity, who had not seen an ounce of comfort in this life, yet his sole concern was for others to be comfortable in the afterlife. Such expansive compassion and truly liberated human being, free, free from any anguish, free from any any hatred, free from any harsh feelings towards others, no. We are aspiring to be like that. We want to emulate the emotional sunnah. We want to adopt that attitude. We want to follow His path in the midst of darkness. How can we lift up another human being and help them to come closer to the divine? How can we cultivate forgiveness towards others? That's such a great obstacle, such a huge barrier. We carry resentment and bitterness towards others. We replay the harm and hurt they afflicted on us. And we can't... It seems... almost impossible to liberate us from these negative feelings of the past, which we constantly bring back into the moment. And that's a strategy of Shaitan who creates these block ways and wants to tempt us into staying where we are and not developing into better human beings. To continue, he, the Quranic student, is an esteemed slave who does not take a supreme benefit like paradise as the aim of his worship. Now, the term and concept of slave, of course, has negative connotations. And so here we have to understand it as a person. The Quranic person is someone who is entirely, completely devoted to Allah alone. complete devotion, giving themselves fully and freely into the compassionate hands of Allah, into his compassionate care. And that is such a high aim that they do not take even a benefit like paradise as aim of their worship. So imagine the Quranic student or Quranic human being reaches a level so high a spiritual level degree so high that they are not even interested in the reward of paradise. They say, oh my Lord, ya Allah, I'm not interested in paradise. All I want, you. All I want is you, your grace, your presence, your bliss, your love. There's a famous story of the mystic saint woman. Rabia al-Adawiyah, who was a very pious woman, a saintly person who lived in Basra, in Iraq. And one day, people saw her running in the streets of Basra with a bucket of water and a piece of fire in her hands, like wood on fire. And people asked her, Rabia, what are you doing? What is that in your hand? What are you holding? And she responded, with this bucket of water, I want to erase the fire of hell. And with this fire, I want to burn down the gardens of paradise so people only worship Allah for His own sake, for His own love, for His sole love, just to attain His love and pleasure. and rada and satisfaction and His contentment. For me, this is just mind-blowing, this highest ideal. So just to clarify, there's nothing wrong for wanting to have Jannah, for wanting to have eternal happiness and reward, divine favor. And Allah in His grace and His mercy and boundless compassion and generosity, he will grant that because this is just his nature to all those who are seeking that eternal joy and happiness. But there's a level higher for the devout servant of the Quran who says even Jannah, even paradise is just a glimpse of Allah's beauty and perfection. That's not the origin. I want the real source of beauty and perfection. Paradise is only a dim reflection of Allah's beauty and love. It's another expression, but it's not Him. So the devout servants of Allah, they really aspire higher. They want to be in the Jamal, in the holy presence of Allah. Just to be in his presence is the greatest favor. It's sufficient, more than enough. It's the greatest honor bestowed on a human being. So here we see how the Quranic student or Quranic person is striving for the highest ideal, has this highest goal in mind. It's not even interested in paradise or they don't do things because they are afraid of the hellfire. They are not guided by fear of hell or pleasures in paradise. And to stress, there's nothing wrong with these kind of incentives. The Quran, Allah talks about them. Yes, punishment accountability is real. It's an element of Islamic faith. It's an element of the Islamic creed to believe in moral accountability. Our choices matter. What we do in this world matters. Our actions have an impact on others. Our outlooks, our words, our ethical and moral conduct has positive or negative impacts and influences on other beings. And God, in his sovereignty, in his authority, in his majesty, in his capacity as a lawgiver, which we witness all around us, we witness there are laws in place that all beings respect these bounds and boundaries and limitations and God-given laws. They don't act outside these laws. They behave and conduct themselves perfectly. They don't step on each other's foot. They don't disturb anyone's rights. They don't harm us, burden us. They don't disturb us. It's only the human being, by misusing the beautiful trust of human free will, that imbalance and chaos and disasters and suffering and evil comes into existence. The human being is seeking that out, the inclination towards evil that then results in the suffering and in the cruelty of others. And that is something that the creation is witnessing. The creation is witness over the crimes of humanity. It will not stay silent. The Quran says on judgment day, creation will speak, will bear witness for us or against us. The whole world is alive. The creation is alive. We know that trees are speaking. This is a new field in ecology. It's called biosemiotics. The science of how the beings or the other beings in the universe are speaking, communicating, collaborating, cooperating. That is something that the Quran always said. Now we know that trees are communicating through their fungi, through their very intricate system, but the whole creation is alive and watches carefully. over human character and action and conduct and is recording and observing and witnessing and very much alive. We know that the creation acts in solidarity based upon the oneness of God. Everything acts in sync and harmony There's a divine symphony in place. There is a beautiful arrangement, attunement, responding to one another's needs, embracing of one another's being. Those are the things that the Quran constantly tells us. The birds are a community, are an ummah like you, says the Quran. They are an ummah, a community like you. And it's only when the human being decides to seek out evil that we have imbalance in the creation, we have atrocities in the creation. Yes, the greatest trust is human freedom. We are the only ones who can decide to be either constructive or destructive. to be oppressive or uplifting, to be life-giving or life-denying. And we have elements of this in our lives. We have these inner struggles constantly within us. We make conscious decisions which route to take. That is always in front of us. And that's why it says here, the Quranic student is humble, is humble. He is righteous and mild. Allah says in the Quran to the human being, walk humbly on the earth. Humility means, that's not a false humility. It means to internalize, to acknowledge that all what I have been given, existence, life, faith, belief, all these God-given talents, all of this, All my potential, all my capacities, all my abilities, all my faculties, all my emotions, my brain, my intellect, my volition, my power to choose and decide, all of this has been given to me, entrusted to me. And that leads me to utter humility. Ya Allah, you have blessed me. You have honored me. You have endowed me with this amazing potential. I don't claim ownership of any of this. I can't. I am only in charge of how to use it, my intention, which brings us back to sincerity. How do I use these God-given abilities and functions? How do I use the God-given resources, water, energy, light, soil? How do I take care of the creation, as a caretaker, as a khalifa, as somebody who has been chosen and honored and dignified as a caretaker. That leads to humility. Humility means also to understand that I'm by nature deficient. I am weak. I am ignorant. I'm in constant need of God's guidance, of God's wisdom of God's provision. I cannot create a drop of water. I cannot create an ounce of clean air. I cannot create endless minerals and vitamins and the beings and the animals that I am in need of. I am not capable to control the planets and the galaxies and everything around me that sustains my life and existence on this planet, that is true humility. And that then humbles one to act in a way that honors Allah's greatness. And humility encourages us to constantly seek forgiveness. Istighfar is something that the Prophet ﷺ has always done. Every day, daily. Astaghfirullah. God, forgive me. I'm not deserving of all of this, yet you honored me. I fail to honor you properly. I fail to glorify you properly. I fail to worship you in a way that is worthy of you. I fall short in reaching out to others and helping others. I am limited in my capacity to understand. Those are not ways to bash oneself or beat up oneself. These are ways of beautiful growth. It's a humility that is authentic and that puts somebody into the right place to grow constantly and to come closer. This is an aspect that Allah loves. He loves the humble servant, the one who acknowledges his shortcoming and his flaws constantly. And we are in our nature, we are in constant need of Allah, in constant spiritual poverty. We are weak and we are needy. We have so many endless needs, so many endless wants, and our weakness is existential. We are not to create the conditions for us to live and thrive, sustain also. We are not able to create an apple. We are not able to bring the seasons into existence or put the sun into a place, exact place where it has to sit for us to, for it to grow our food and cook our food and all the blessings. We are not able to create the soil in a manner or put it into the right consistent where it's not too dry or not too soily or not too muddy. We can't do any of this. So we have to go back and read ourselves carefully. Who are we in this world? And who is the one who provides and sustains us? Who cares for us? Who protects us? Allah and when we humbly acknowledge that we should be in a constant state of prostration like the Prophet SAW one day his wife said why are you constantly in sujood she woke up at night and she saw him in prostration hours hours what did he respond shall I not be a grateful servant of Allah He was promised his paradise, but yet he was the most serious in his worship, the most intense, the one who out of preference would not eat or sometimes, you know, would not take on unnecessary worldly things. And he is also righteous and mild. That is also a prophetic description that Allah wants us to copy and emulate, that we act justly in the world, righteous in the world, which means to respond in appropriate ways, to be in harmony with others, to live in sync with others, to uplift others, to live in solidarity with others, to be not indifferent to their concerns and pains and suffering, to be mindful of how we use our water, our light, our energy, how we dress ourselves, how we walk in the neighborhood, in the community, how we act. Righteously means to act in a way that does not become a disturbance, a disruption, or a burden to others. And that we are mild in our conduct. Mild and gentle, like the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He was so gentle with everyone. He was compassionate and caring. He was not rough with anyone. Such a beautiful example for us to follow, to emulate. And how to be righteous in the world? We'll just look at the book of the creation. How are they so in harmony with each other, uplifting one another, embracing one another? Respecting each other's uniqueness. Respecting each other's particular way of being without harming each other, hurting each other. When I go out, when I step out into nature, I'm overwhelmed by the amazing, extraordinary peace that I witness. Peace. So much peace that comes as a result when all beings sincerely function in a way where they only want to please Allah, the oneness of God. Everybody in such beautiful divine sync and harmony. This is orchestrated. This is choreographed. This is not just a coincidence. This is not happening randomly. Not one of those beings steps outside of its bounds. Not one of them Rarely after dark becomes a disturbance or makes disturbing noises or is disturbing or a burden to other beings. No, you can't see that. All what we are witnessing is justice, balance, harmony, order, a complex web of life that is acting in peace. But it is because of Allah's command. They respect Allah as the lawgiver. When we follow Quranic guidance and laws, prophetic teachings, we are not oppressing ourselves or oppressing others. Quite the contrary. We are making it so much easier. We make life bearable. We make it... This is the life-giving response because... Allah's divine wisdom, rules, and regulations are there to advance life, to make sure everybody can thrive and flourish. And there's no harshness in his laws. It's perfectly in place, attuned, and pay particular attention to everyone's life circumstances and conditions. So that's what it means to be righteous and mild. Yet outside the limits of his maker's leaf, the Quranic student would not voluntarily lower and abase himself before anything other than his maker. And the Quranic student is weak and in want. Like I said earlier, we are in our nature, we are existentially poor. We are existentially needy beings. We are always, we are poor, we cannot, create a drop of pure water. We cannot create an apple. We always read the example of the apple in the Risale or the apple can only come into existence, all the blessings actually, if you can create a certain amount of rain and water. If you have the perfect soil with the important minerals, If you have the galaxies and planets in the perfect constellation for the seasons to come into existence, then you need the perfect fine measured heat of the sun, which has to be in a very exact position, delicate, intricate system, all of this. They all have to act in harmony. Too much or too less of it results in zero outcome. So for an apple to exist, I need the perfect sun and the perfect heat in the exact perfect place. Too close or too far will not work. Same true for rain, same true for air, same true for soil. The galaxy sends the constellations. If you ask the tree, the tree has no consciousness, has no knowledge. The tree has no wisdom. The tree didn't study the human body. How does the tree know my needs? How does the tree know how to flatter my senses? The apple smells good, tastes good, is packaged well. There is no waste. You can use the peel and everything else for compost and it becomes part of the creational cycle and nourishes other beings and the soil and the earth. Nothing is wasted. Everything is protected. In order for an apple to exist, you have to create the entire universe. That is what Ustad Bejusam always gives us, this most beautiful, profound example. For an apple to exist, you have to create the whole creation. the whole universe, which is fine-tuned, finely measured, exact in alignment with each other, such an intricate system for us to enjoy these endless blessings that only just satisfy the needs of our stomach, just that. How many different flavors of apples do exist? Outs of all seasons, many of us go to the farms to pick apples. We should reflect on that. Read the book of the Quraysh. The apple is an embodiment of Allah's Quranic science, speaking a sign language to us. Who do you think created me? Who do you think knows your nose and your sense of taste? and your body needs to equip me with these vitamins and important nutritional elements that you need to thrive. Who can do that? And then we look at mother nature, which is blind, deaf, has no consciousness, has no knowledge, has no insight, has no understanding about the human body, yet we claim It is mother nature, which we imply there is compassionate work, because without compassion, my wants cannot be addressed. So this is similar to seeing a book, but ignoring, denying the author. Seeing a book, an encyclopedia, and ignoring and denying the writer, the scientist find it. You're seeing a pair of glasses and you deny the optician. You see an amazing piece of poetry, amazingly written eloquence and the speech, and you deny the poet. You ignore the poet. You see an amazing piece of art painting and you ignore and deny the artist, the painter. You see and taste and experience an amazing cake and you deny the baker. You see an amazing, extraordinary, historic building, marvelous piece of architecture, and you deny and ignore the architect, the amazing engineer. But yet this is what we are doing when we are arguing otherwise, saying this extraordinary human being endowed with extraordinary, amazing, unique faculties, abilities, feelings, emotions, intellect, capacity to imagine and dream and innovate and write. We say, if you don't accept Allah, that he is just a cosmic accident of some biochemical reactions or however you wanna call it. But this is basically how the argument would go. And by saying these things, we degrade and dishonor the creation. We devalue the creation. We diminish the importance and significance of the creation as an important book of the universe. that each and every living being is an important servant of Allah, is an honorable creation of Allah, and we basically claim they are nothing, they are meaningless. We degrade and dishonor, devalue them. We annihilate them. We don't see their true value and meaning and purpose, their holy, sacred position. And so that then, in the context of the Risale-i-Noor, as we talked about awareness of God, is an endless crime towards the whole equation. It's a diminishment, a dishonoring, devaluing, degradation of the creation. Endless. Unlimited crime. Not only against God, but also against the creation. If some state official would stand in front of my door, and I would not recognize their high degree and position, it would be a major accusation and crime, and probably put me in jail if I don't receive the important message, because I'm someone, I'm acting in the name of the highest authority, yet you ignore me, you deny me, you lie about me, you devalue me, And this is unacceptable. That's why in the Quranic perspective of things, kufr, unbelief, which means basically to cover up the truth, to cover up, to conceal the truth, is the greatest crime of a human being. Denying God, the Creator, and the creation as meaningless, as nothingness, is a huge crime. We need to reflect on this. Oh, what a kind of unethical behavior response status. And so, we are weak and in want, but the Quranic servant knows his weakness and poverty, expresses it to Allah. Like, Ya Allah, I am poor. Oh my Lord, I'm poor. I am in need of you. I am weak. I'm overwhelmed. I am insufficient. I am deficient. I'm ignorant. That's a declaration of of God's greatness. There's nothing wrong about this type of self-awareness. This is a beautiful type of self-awareness, that knowing intrinsically, I have it in my human nature, that I am in fundamental need. I'm dependent on God. I need Him. I'm poor. I can't live without my Lord's, my Creator's help and guidance and sustenance and provision. And to finish up, and the Quranic servant is self-sufficient because he knows the wealth which his all-generous Lord has stored up for him in the hereafter, and he is strong since he relies on his master's infinite power. So in my nothingness, in my ignorance, I connect to God's infinite power and wisdom and knowledge, and my weakness becomes a gate, an intercessor to connect with the divine, with the creator. And he is so generous. All generous, Allah is Al-Kareem, the most generous. He will open doors of opportunities, wisdom, guidance, strength. The person will think, how am I able to accomplish this? And then that kind of self-awareness of knowing, My existential poverty, my intrinsic weakness connects me to God's power and strength and wisdom and knowledge. I'm protected. I'm taken care of. I'm seen. I'm not lonely. He is my companion. He is my intimate. He is my caretaker. He is my rabbi. He is the one who guides me to maturity. He is the one who guides me to wisdom and knowledge. I'm not left alone. I'm not abandoned. I'm not marginalized. I'm seen. I'm honored. I'm valued. I'm validated. I'm recognized. And he acts and strives only for God's sake, for God's pleasure and for virtue. Plus the training the two give may be understood from the comparison of the two students. This is the response of the angels who respond to Allah when Allah creates the first human being, Prophet Adam, peace be upon him, and then calls the angels and asks them, tell me the names of of these things if you are truthful. And what do they say? Glorified are you, O our Lord. We have no knowledge. We have no knowledge except what you have taught us. Indeed, you are the all-knowing, all-wise. Such a beautiful prayer to end this reflection because all knowledge, all beauty, all wisdom is from Allah alone and all flaws and faults are mine.