The Good Person - On Mindfulness and Mortality

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

The Flashes - The Seventeenth Flash - Third Note

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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

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I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed. In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most compassionate. All praise and thanks is due to Allah alone. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and his companions. We always begin with the name of God, with the name of Allah. I refer to God by the Quranic name Allah. Allah is not only the God of Muslims, but it's simply the personal name means the one God. But I feel more comfortable saying Allah. It's just because that I'm accustomed. But just for those who are non-Muslim out there in the world, Allah is also used by Christians in the Middle East. So it's not the God of Muslims alone. Allah simply is the personal name for the one God. And it means literally the one God. So Allah is the way that I will refer to the one creator. I love that word, Allah. So I begin always in the name of Allah. All Muslims begin in the name of Allah. So this week, yesterday, many of us were of course, saddened when we received the news about the earthquake in Turkey. Many of us love Istanbul. We've visited many times. Many of us have relatives there, friends and family. We are deeply connected to the city, to the land. It's a place of deep spirituality and piety. In Istanbul alone, everywhere, you'll see, you visit the graves of the pious people, most famously Ayyub al-Ansari radiallahu anhu, the companion of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. So it's absolutely saddening. But then also, as Muslims, as believers, we look around the world and the events of the world, and we know that every event, every experience, as tragic as it is, as horrific as it is, I speak from experience. I mean, many of you know that my daughter, Maryam, died tragically in an accident. And since then, I've always tried to approach my own tragedy, that experience, with the lens of the Quran. And how should I understand, as a believer, the message that unfolds? So I want to say that everything from a Quranic lens, from a Quranic perspective, speaks or tells us something about the divine, tells us something about Allah. Every event, every earthquake, every disaster, every incident, every experience, every tragedy in our lives has something to tell us about Allah. Because we know from the Quran, There is nothing, says the Quran, this is the verse from the Quran, is often recited in the Rasale-e-Nur. There is nothing that does not glorify Him. Everything in the universe, earthquakes, disasters, hurricanes, tornadoes, everything in the world has something to tell us about Allah, has deep messages for us each and individually. And as believers, we listen, we are alert to the messages of the universe that Allah sends us. And nothing happens without the decree of Allah. Nothing happens without anything that is ordained by Allah. Nothing happens outside his power because we affirm a belief in Allah the most wise, the most compassionate, the most merciful, the most powerful Creator, Almighty Allah. That is our firm conviction. And so when we affirm that, and the Quran invites us to situate everything, our reading of the events of the world always with a deep desire to understand what does this event, this incident tell me about Allah? How am I supposed to read this particular event that unfolds in front of me? Whether it's beautiful in itself or frightening or creating anxiety or fear. And of course, there were so many people, people left their buildings yesterday and there are tragedies, other tragedies happening around us in the world that we witness currently. But we should not be disinterested in the sense of that doesn't concern me. It should concern us. And when things are happening, like I said, with the permission of Allah, we are called as believers to read in the name of Allah. And this is the whole mission of the Risale-i Nur is to teach us how to read the events and events the incidents in the world in the name of Allah, in the name of the most compassionate, the most merciful. And mercy and compassion and wisdom are always there. They are always there. It is up to us to identify, to find the deeper meanings and the wisdom. That's what makes us as human beings so beautiful. We are constantly seeking meaning. We are seeking wisdom. Why did this happen? What was the reason? What's the purpose? What's the message here? And so that is an invitation by Allah to reflect, to ponder, to meditate. How does this event speak to me and my life? So yesterday in the gathering, we were reading this third note, which is from the book, The Flashes. And in the third note, it talks about the fact that that this world is a temporary world, an unstable world, an uncertain world. And many of the events around us remind us of the true nature of this world, that this dunya, which literally means the lowest, the lowest, is a very fleeting world, is unstable, uncertain. There's ups and downs. And as human beings, we seek certainty. We want stability. We want security. But whatever happens around us shows us that life is not certain, that life is very fragile, that anything can change any moment. So earthquakes are... keep us or anything that happens around us when we are exposed to death or introduced to these reminders, they are powerful moments for us to wake up, basically. And so this portion engages with that, and I would like to read it with you, and then hopefully we can reflect on that. The third note, O heedless sight! Oh, Said, who is in heedlessness. And of course, the author, Ustad Nursi, this is not false humility. And this is a scholar, a Muslim scholar, a Muslim thinker, a pious person who comes with this and calls himself heedless, Said, somebody who has dedicated his entire life, sacrificed his life for the cause of Islam, for... the well-being of people, trying to preserve faith. And this person is telling his own nafs, O heedless Said, somebody who was really, I mean, his whole vocation was to Islam and to faith and to Allah, but yet he calls himself heedless. I think when I read that as Zaynab, as a person, It teaches me to always be introspective, to turn to my own lower ego, to my own nafs. And we all have that, that little low ego that falls into heedlessness, ghafla, one of the vices, one of the things that the Quran labels as a moral disease, a spiritual disease. Somebody who is heedless So we all fall into moments of heedlessness in rafla. We want to fall into denial, some type of denial, or we want to forget about certain things that are real and true. And so Ustad Nursi reminds himself, his own ego, his own nafs, that we should not fall into heedlessness, into rafla, on forgetting. Where did we come from and why are we here and where we are going? Every moment we are leaving this world, we are going towards our destination. We are returning to Allah. So just even this, the way he talks to himself is for us a pedagogical model. We should always be introspective, always try to improve ourselves, to better ourselves. We cannot change the world. We can only change ourselves. And that even is very hard. We can't change people. And only by the permission of Allah and by the grace of Allah and His guidance are we able to control our nafs, our lower ego. So we turn to our nafs, our lower egos, and we say, listen, it's trying to be introspective for this moment. And if Ustad Nursi is doing that to his nerves, I think it's an invitation that each of us needs to do that. That is the spiritual DNA of the Quran, the method of the Risada-i-Nur is deep, individual, inward looking. Look into your own self and talk to your own lower ego. Because it's something that we all fall into, the heedlessness, this mode of forgetting and denying. So he says here, O heedless Zayit, O heedless Zaynab, you have illusions and see the exceedingly temporary world as undying and permanent. We all think that this earth is, because out of that heedlessness we have this illusion that this temporary world will always be here forever, undying and permanent. However, we constantly see change and we constantly see instability we constantly see fragility that you have your house today and tomorrow maybe your whole belongings are gone today you were very well settled and well established and tomorrow you might be a refugee i mean refugees immigrants are powerful embodied reminders that life is fragile. Life is absolutely fragile and uncertain. People did not see war coming or thought that they would always have safe and stable lives. And for us, of course, Even now in the United States, there is a climate maybe of fear and concern and anxiety. People may be having fear of losing their jobs or losing their safety, security. We don't know. Allah knows. But what is a matter of fact is that sometimes you fall into this mode of heedlessness and we perceive the world as if she's always be there. Always be eternal and permanent. Whereas everything around us is constantly reminding, like earthquakes, like disasters, like wars, like climate crisis, all of that, showing us that there is an element of the world that it's temporary. It had a beginning, it's going, and it will ultimately also age and die. That is the Earth's destination, but it's also our destination. And to continue, when you look around yourself at the world, you see it as stable to a degree and constant, right? We always, we just talked about the seasons always returning, never letting us down, never saying the spring will never return again. We experience an element of stability, right? always thinking, yes, fall will come again, the winter season will return again, spring will arrive again, and that gives us a sense of eternity, thinking that this will be forever. Whereas at the same time, we read about how the earth tells us that her resources are limited and that she's exhausted and that this doesn't mean that We should all fall into this extreme mode and deny living or just say, well, everything is going to die. I should not invest myself in the world. Quite contrary, because we know that life is fragile and the world is temporary, we should always be alert about the fact that this could be our last moment. Our last moment, literally. And this is why we should be fully present, fully engaged and fully invest into this world because of the hereafter, because of the akhirah. So avoiding the extreme of escaping the world or denying the world, but also avoiding the extreme of thinking that life will always go on and will always be stable and there will be a sense of security and safety. I mean, there's no such thing. I mean, just two weeks ago, we visited a sister who within a day lost her three-year-old son. Very fast, you know, something totally unexpected. And then your life changes within a minute, within a day. So we should not operate on this idea, tomorrow I'll start, or when I'm retired, I'll start, or when I'm 50, or this and that, I'll start, or when I'm more, when I have this resource, I will start, or... be a better human being or be a better Muslim. Life is now, this moment, time is now. The present is truly a present. It's a gift from Allah, is a trust. If I've been given these hours, they are precious. And how do I invest these gold pieces, the 24 gold pieces? We read about this in the Risale-i-Nur that we are each given 24 gold pieces And how do we invest them? Where do I invest them so that they are serving me in my eternal life? And to be mindful about where we are investing our energy, where we are investing our time, where we invest our passion and skills, and all these God-given resources and skills and talents we have, the time we have. Time is a precious blessing. Our health is a precious blessing. And those of us who reach the mid-forties are reminded by the declining bodies and aching bodies that health is a limited good, a limited blessing. So we are receiving the signs constantly, reminding us of the fragility of life, of the declining nature of this world. But sometimes we want to deny that. We want to forget and we become distracted by other things. We have to remind ourselves in this kind of healthy fellowship in community, through daily readings and engagement with the Quran, and asking ourselves when the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him was asked, when is

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when is judgment day? How did he respond to that question? He responded with another question. He said, what have you prepared for it? What have you prepared for it? I mean, my own death is my judgment day. I don't need to wait for the great resurrection. My moment, the moment I'm leaving this world is my ultimate departure. So what have I prepared? And what needs to go maybe that is weighing me down on this journey? So since looking with the same view, also consider your own transient self to be constant. You only take fright at doomsday. You are only frightened at that as though you were going to live till then. So this is exactly what the Hadith or the sacred narration of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, points to, that we should not just wait for judgment day or doomsday and be frightened, but we should wait be looking at our own nature and thinking, as a human being, I constantly see in front of me young people dying, children dying. Yes, old people die, but you go to the graveyard like me every week, you see the rows are being filled up. There are children dying, there are young people dying. We hear more and more young people dying of cancer. And so there is an element of rahmah, of mercy from Allah telling us who are left behind, Be prepared. As frightening as death is, as frightening as uncertainty is, as frightening as earthquakes are, there is an element of compassion keeping everybody almost now in alert mode. The healthy type of fear that Allah brings up, reminding us as human beings that life is fragile. We have one thing in the moment, but we can lose it. And how do we turn our attachments. We love our homes. We love our work. We love our children, our families, our parents. We love the beauty, our youth, our health. But how do we turn all that we love into a benefit in the hereafter? How can all these things that I'm attached to, how can they be of service to me now and in the hereafter? And then finding, trying to invest and use those blessings in a way that are pleasing to Allah. So for me, when I hear, receive the news of death and earthquakes, these are powerful reminders where the Quranic message comes alive and says, life is fragile. This world is temporary. Death is haqq. Death is truth. Your mortality is real. You have only this moment. Treat everyone with respect and dignity and love. Say your goodbyes. Slow down. Look people into their faces. Be fully present. Be fully emotionally, mentally invested in the moment. Make the most of your day. And then inshallah leave this world with a sense of peace and tranquility in your heart. Reconcile. Ask people for forgiveness often. because you might not see them again. Say thank you and please often and say I love you often. And so that is, I think, the life-giving element of death and those frightening moments where we are invited. I can be that person. I can tomorrow experience or today experience an earthquake and all what I cherish, all what I love would be gone in a minute. So the message is for all of us. And so the earth is alive. The Quran tells us that the earth is shaking by Allah's permission to speak, to tell us news about the uncertainty of the world. And only Allah is certain. And the eternal life is certain. And that all what we have will eventually ultimately return to Allah. and that we should make our preparations accordingly. So, the Qur'an tells us, and the Risale-i Nur in the same mode, that the earth is witnessing our behavior. The earth, the soil is alive. The minerals are alive. The trees are alive. The mountains are alive. The air and the water are remembering what we are doing. how we are walking on this earth. Are we walking humbly or are we walking arrogantly? They are witnessing over us and they will be asked about us and they will testify about us, against us or for us. And so we should remember when we go out or when we are people, we are constantly being recorded. Allah's name, Al-Hafiz, the preserver, the recorder, the one who saves every thought, every intention, every feeling of ours, also charges the universe to say, be witness over the conduct of human beings. So how do I walk outside? How do I treat the earth? How do I use the resources of the earth? Am I fulfilling my promise to take care of the trust of the amanah? All these are questions. And there are moments where the earth speaks that is maybe displeased with our behavior and reminds us of you are acting heedless. You are acting forgetful. You're losing sight of your real mission, which is to remember and know Allah in this world and love and worship Him and glorify Him and serve Him in the creation. Serve the creation in his name. And so then we are placed in all these positions, whether at work, in our families, in our communities. And are we making the earth proud or are we maybe abusing the trust? That's a question that we each have to ponder. So these moments where Allah allows the earth to speak or be shaken, invite us then in this mode of trust deep reflection and muhasabah of inner accountability, holding yourself accountable before you are held accountable by Allah. It says here, use your reason. You and your personal world are perpetually subject to the blows of death and decline. Your illusion and sophistry resemble this comparison. If you have a mirror and hold it up to a house or a town or a garden, the images will appear in it. If the mirror is moved the tiniest amount or the smallest change occurs to it, the images become confused and distorted. The fact that the actual house, town or garden outside the mirror continue and are constant is of no avail to you. For the house and the mirror in your hand and your town and garden are only in the scale and proportions which the mirror gives you. Your life is a mirror. Your life is the mirror. The support and mirror of your world and its center is your life. Every minute it is possible that the house, town, and garden will die and be destroyed. Their condition is such that any minute they may collapse on your head and your doomsday will come. Since it is thus, do not burden this life and world of yours with loads they cannot raise and support. This is a very important wisdom here. Do not burden this life and world of yours with loads, with weight they cannot raise and support. So asking ourselves, what am I taking? What am I taking on? What am I taking on this journey? Am I even aware of my journey? Or do I act as if I'm going to stay here forever? Or am I thinking, I'm leaving this world any moment. Have I prepared? Did I thought about how if alhamdulillah we have so many blessings, whether it's wealth, property, knowledge, did I pass that on to the next generation? Do I leave a spiritual legacy? Am I supporting others after me? Am I raising the next generation of students and scholars? Because I have benefited so much from Allah's knowledge, from the blessing of education. Am I looking after them? Am I supporting the younger generation? Am I helping raising other children? What's this going to do with the future of faith? Am I being part of that? Do I have a concern of the eternal afterlife of other people? Am I helping them reach their full potential? So there are so many questions when we think about what we take on And also our relationships. Are there relationships in my life that do not serve me on my journey? Are they maybe weighing me down? Are they a burden? Are they toxic? Then maybe I need to reconsider these relationships. If those relationships distract me from Allah, if they take me away from Allah, if they only make me focus on instant gratification and pleasure and only on my lower desires, then maybe I need to reconsider. Maybe it's a burden. Maybe I need to find other relationships in my life. So these are the questions then that mortality poses to us, our own mortality, meaning that we will die. And how are we preparing for that? We should not think it's happening to others. Many of us know and see that there's constant decline. And we see the blows of death. We see catastrophes and wars around us. We see crises around us. We see that. And this is not to mean to fall into darkness and despair and hopelessness, but to realize, read this question and say, I want stability in my life. I want absolute security in my life. I want absolute safety in my life. I want an amazing life where happiness is guaranteed, but also the happiness of others. That's what I want. I want a life where justice is mirrored. I want a life where absolute compassion, where everyone is fed and taken care of. But this world I look around me, It's constantly up and down. There are people who are going through immense suffering and injustice. And can a world in which a child has been born into suffering and dies in suffering, can such a world be my ultimate place of happiness? I mean, for me, myself, I reject that. I cannot. I cannot imagine that a world in which Not all children are thriving, can ever be my home. I can't. Cannot be. So there must be a place, there must be a dimension, there must be a life, an afterlife, a hereafter, where all my desires, all my yearning for compassion, love, and for all... goodness of humanity, where there is satisfaction. That's a deep desire of my heart, my longing. I want others to achieve that happiness and have opportunities and have access to that amazing joy and pleasure. But here in this world, throughout your day even, I tell sisters, sometimes friends, one day and within one day you can experience so many ups and downs. One hour you are happy. And then the next moment, somebody says something, some hurtful behaviors, and then the happiness is gone. It's a very unstable. And there's blessing for that. There's gratitude for these moments of joy. Don't get me wrong. I'm deeply grateful about my life, despite all the lows, because they bring out the beauty of the highs. But ultimately, even throughout the day, even throughout the hour, you go through these kind of interesting changes and turmoils, your inner turmoil, your emotional upheavals, and then you realize, why is that? Just a moment ago, I was so joyful, and now I'm here ending up in misery. So these are signs from Allah. Even the changes of our heart are a reflection of the changes in the universe, the changes in our heart even, that there is no stability, that our emotional world can be upside down, right? You start off in the morning happy and maybe throughout the day, there are moments where you feel experience hurt and pain or sadness. And that is not what makes an ultimate absolute happy life, right? There's not like 100% fulfillment, 100% satisfaction. We don't have it all here. We want it all, but it's not here. And so these type of signals in our heart and around us, these messages tell us that this world is a world of constant change, of instability and uncertainty. And while we can always experience joy and pleasure and alhamdulillah, I live such a fulfilled life, but at the same time, I know that This world is not ultimately which fulfills all my desires, all my longings. I mean, the fact that my daughter is not with me is enough for me to say I'm not 100% fulfilled and satisfied. I want this person to be with me enjoying that happiness and that moment of joy. So that being said, whatever happens around us, Whatever happens within us, Allah tells us, within you I have given ayat. Within your nafs there are signs of God, like meaning there are moments where we experience that this world does not fully capture or fully satisfy our desires. And then we also, we turn on the TV or something happens around us, and then we realize again, oh, I'm waking up. Now I'm seeing again. I'm made aware. that this world is temporary and changing and that ultimately I will be leaving and then to come back to this fundamental insight that my return is to Allah and I have to be prepared any moment. Subhanaka la imma lana illa ma lamtana innaka anta al-alimu al-hakim wa akhru dawana anil hamdulillahi rabbil alameen Glorified are you, O Allah. We have no knowledge except that what you have taught us. Indeed, you are the All-Wise, the All-Knowing.