Is It Not Worth It?

For this reason, God granted us, blessed us, with faith.
It is not in our hands.
Some of us may have reached—in a way—a level of faith that was emulated through our parents’ manners and behaviour within the environment we were born in.
Some of us may have found a person or a guide with firm character and conviction.
‘Do not adhere to a random guide, lest he takes you through steep paths;
The path that the perfect guide takes you is indeed very smooth’ says Niyazi al-Misri.
God allowed some amongst us come across a guide who held their hands, answered their questions, removed their doubts and allowed them to see with clarity what they are required to see with God’s permission.
Is the Hizmet experiencing a period in which it will transform be metamorphosis from cocoon to butterfly similar to how your ancestors once did?
As stated by one of our friends just a moment ago:
‘Are we experiencing a metamorphosis at the moment?’
We were like a cocoon, in a tight space; are we living through a metamorphosis like the Kayı tribe in Söğüt (the beginning of the Ottoman Empire) that transformed into a butterfly from a cocoon then reached out to the whole of humanity and the world, I wonder whether we are walking on the same path?
Will God make us live this metamorphosis through the oppression, rejection, abandonment, torture, relocation, threats, banishments, imprisonments that we are witnessing?
As our friend said, God Almighty may really be subjecting us to a metamorphosis.
In a way He is saying:
‘Within a limited Turkey, you can only convey your message within the county’s limits and confines.
But the message you have pledged to convey is a universal one, one that needs to be conveyed all across the world.’
And each generation is responsible for carrying out this duty to the best of its ability, to wherever it may end up!
Someone who has a heartfelt devotion to such a cause will keep their aims high, and envisage great things.
In fact, such a devotee should have such lofty aims; they should say, ‘If God Almighty gives me the means and ability, and utilises me in creating a stairway of light, a helix of light that connects to the door of Paradise, I can aspire to make this a reality!’.
We should never curb our goals and aspirations; we should not be unambitious. We should ask for great things from God.
But at the same time, we should be as humble as possible in our opinions of ourselves.
‘O my Great Lord!
You alone are Great!
You are the Lord that allows termites to build large domes.
Why would you then not allow the human, whom you created in the perfect pattern, to build a roof that will stretch over all of humanity?
You have created the human in the perfect pattern; and not as an ant, or termite, or spider, or fly.’
Humanity, of which you praise and say: ‘Surely, we have certainly created man in the best of stature’ (At-Tin, 95:4). Humanity to whom you commanded the angels to ‘Bow down unto Adam’

To enable the human to achieve such lofty aims is not beyond God’s definite Divine Power, comprehensive Divine Will, All-Glorified Will, nor is it far from God’s All-Encompassing Knowledge that it is impossible to happen!
Yes, God Almighty has power over anything and everything.
With the permission and will of God, everything can happen with the simple command ‘Be’ within the spiritual machinery of ‘Be! And it is!’.
But how far will you be able to advance this cause? That is another matter.
Look at your predecessors!
The Rightly Guided Caliphs (may God be pleased with them all) were like halos or discs of light around the Luminous Moon, the noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
They advanced their cause to a certain point but at one point they were prevented from going any further.
They entrusted this responsibility to their successors; and their successors also advanced the cause to a certain point.
Others after them also advanced the cause to a certain point.
As I mentioned before, they kept their aims lofty, and did not deviate from their true path.
Those who were distracted in their journey fell stagnant and were superseded by many.
While they remained still, they were overtaken by the rest of the population.
Do not be disheartened by the doors that have shut for you in Turkey, for God is the ‘Opener of doors’, if God wills, a thousand opportunities will replace what has been foregone.
If the responsibility is upon your shoulders today, do not expect anything from those who are managing so and so.
They will, with their hunger for power and fame, resort to fifty different tricks in the name of establishing and strengthening their reign.
They will resort to fifty types of demagoguery and will act in a cunning fashion.
But you have devoted yourselves wholly to exalting the Word of God, spreading the majestic Name of God everywhere, like a banner in motion.
So that, the adhan of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is heard ubiquitously, may this message spread as does the sounds emanating from a minaret. Indeed, God, may His glory be glorified, will open many doors to those who act in consideration of this thought.
Because God is the ‘Opener of doors’.
So, don’t be disheartened by the closure of some doors in Turkey.
If one door closes, a thousand will open in its place, God willing.
God Almighty is the Opener of doors.
Indeed, if one door closes, a thousand will open in its place...
A saintly person says, ‘God Almighty is the Opener of doors’.
In turn you should say, ‘Our Lord who enables his servants to open the most unyielding doors, and overcome the steepest hills!
Unlock us doors containing good; grant us relief and dissipate our troubles’.
And ask God to open not only ‘the most promising doors’ but ‘many promising doors’.
And let there be no one left who hasn’t heard of Your exalted Name, and the exalted name of your beloved.
Let us take this name to everyone, in the appropriate manner.
From among those that you interact with, let there be those who say: ‘I am with you!’; ‘I feel sympathy for you!’; ‘We are not against you!’; ‘We can agree with you!’; ‘We do not think you are radical!’; ‘World peace can be restored with you!’
At every level this ‘acceptance’ is a triumph to you, and is a matter deemed important in the sight of God.
He, the Noble Spirit of the Master of Humankind, peace and blessings be upon him, can intercede on our behalf.
If you were invited to his table and referred by him as ‘my brothers and sisters’, would it not be worth all the strife, torture, persecution and hardships of migration?
Today one of your friends recounted a dream.
Until now, our noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has appeared in visions on hundreds of occasions.
On close to 500 occasions, sometimes directly, sometimes in visions and sometimes in dreams, our noble Prophet has visited the victims of persecution and oppression.
The Rightly-Guided Caliphs appear in these visions too, but from what I have heard our noble Prophet appears in more than 50% of them.
There was something that made me cry today; from among our peers someone described a dream he saw to a friend who then wrote it down and read it to me:
‘We are in a prison cell. We are in trouble here.’
Those who did not enter such cells and experience torture, be exposed to the attitudes of the guards, and be scorned and insulted cannot know of—in Freudian terms—the anguish in those prisons.
Our noble Prophet who represents the epitome of compassion comes every once in a while to say ‘Look, I am with you!’, so that they are not rattled by their experiences.
O cherished one!
If you are with us, we can stand every difficulty even if it continues for a life time.
And the numbers of those who have said this are countless.
According to what that friend explained, our noble Prophet once again honoured them with his presence, and said to those behind him:
‘Set three tables here!
Let my brothers from the cells and prisons be seated there!
And I will sit in the table in the middle.
And on the third table let my Companions be seated’.
From among my Companions, maybe one, or maybe a few will ask:
‘O Messenger of God!
Why is that?’
He says:
‘These are my brothers and sisters who have come at the end of time!’
I think it would be worth being crushed under planks and tracks if this is the regard with which one is esteemed.
If he, peace and blessings be upon him, is with you, let those whose ties have been severed with God be against you, and with an insatiable thirst for brutality, torture and torment you.
What does it matter if the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, is with you, if God’s favour is with you!
Those who just live for today can do so happily and carelessly, but in my opinion, those who have foresight will need to work for their tomorrows, tomorrows in the world, the grave, the afterlife, and beyond, for direct witnessing of the Divine Beauty and Perfectness on the sacred slopes of Fridays in Paradise.
May God elevate you with these ‘tomorrows’!
You should neither show ingratitude nor arrogance; testimony to the blessings of God will be your distinguishing characteristic.
Even if you do not say it out loud, you might be thinking:
We are already devoted to this cause, with God’s permission and grace.
Even if we do not see anything unusual, have any consolidating dream, or act with spiritual alertness in a state of wakefulness, a thousand praises and glorifications to God with regard to our current position.
He created us as Muslims, removed the love for worldly life from our hearts, he has forced our direction towards Him and then He said:
‘(Due to your transnational cause), you cannot fit into the tight borders of Turkey.
But you did not migrate using your free will so by giving you a slight slap of Divine Compassion I lead you to compulsory migration.
Spread around the whole world.
Promote the virtues of believers just as it was practiced in the Age of Happiness.
Show the world how there are people who can embrace all people from all kinds of races.’
Just as you saw in the International Festival of Language and Culture, white and black embrace each other.
At one point in history one race would assume that the other one would eat them.
In countries of white people, they would say, ‘Black people eat white people, they are cannibals!’
Perhaps in the countries of black people they would assume, ‘Do not go to the countries of the white people, they eat human beings like cannibals’.
But at the IFLC—you probably saw it as well—I witnessed white people and black people crying while saying goodbye to each other.
This kind of unity, just like the bricks in a dome; and building a similar global dome

If God has willed for you to be utilised in such a high cause; in this cause everything is worth enduring and instead of complaining you should be grateful in the face of trials.
At the same time you might be thinking, ‘Who am I to take part in such a high cause, one with such lofty ideals?’
This is also one of your virtues which shows the magnitude of your cause.
On one hand you recognise the divine blessings and benevolence and on the other you are aware that all of these come from God.
If you do not recognise these blessings, it will be considered ingratitude whereas if you do recognise and attribute them to yourself it will be considered arrogance and pride, which is a spiritual illness that causes spiritual destruction.
Therefore, in order for you not to be ungrateful and not to fall into pride and arrogance at the same time, you should say:
‘Yes, these beauties exist!
But I am not the source of these beauties; they are the favours of God’.
Once, a man had worn a fancy robe and it suited him well; the style and shape was perfect, thus he exclaimed, ‘O my God, I’ve become beautiful’.
When Bediüzzaman is explaining this topic, he says, ‘Yes, I have become beautiful,
but the beauty belongs to the garment, therefore true beauty belongs to the One who has clothed me with it’. This must be said to testify God’s blessings and to avoid falling into the pit of pride and ingratitude.
With this is mind, one must say ‘all praise be to God’, ‘thanks be to God’ and ‘all pleading be to God’.
With these considerations, you will be able to remember the blessings of God, praise and glorify Him and transition into the state of spiritual alertness.
Regarding those who have been forced to migrate, is it considered abasement to seek refuge from non-Muslim individuals or governments?
Our noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, migrated from the noble Mecca to the Luminous City of Medina.

In those days, Medina was surrounded by Jews; the Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Qurayza, Banu Nadir alongside Khaybar.
The majority of the Aws and Hazraj tribes were not yet Muslim.
The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, left the place of his birth, his twin (the Ka’ba) and migrated to Medina were there were only eighty to a hundred believers, assuming that they would provide him protection.
He felt the sorrow of separation as he left.
As you know, as he was leaving Mecca, he turned around towards ‘The House of God’ and said:
‘If my people had not forced me to separate from you, I would never have left you!’.
Then tears began pouring out of his eyes.
He was human.
He was patient, he was resilient, he had a strong immune system, his belief in God, knowledge of God, love of God and spiritual joy was immaculate, but he was human.
His place of birth, his mother’s home, the abode of his friends and brothers

They were planning to assassinate him in Mecca, he was forced to leave.
This is not abasement; in a sense, it was the beginning of a journey that would allow his name to blossom.
With the will and permission of God, after some research and evaluation, he was able to find security in Medina.
A time came, and Medina, which was considered to be one-tenth the city of Mecca, became the capital of the world.
Until that day, Medina was called Yathrib, but then, all of a sudden it was re-named Medina, ‘the centre of civilisation’.
It was called Medina; the name had changed.
Its people also experienced emotional changes.
Everything changed there, everything changed to gardens of roses.
He, peace and blessings be upon him, experienced a forced migration as well.
Seeking asylum in non-Muslim individuals and states...
No, he was actually in pursuit of dignity and honour; he did so with the order of the All-Just God.
Considering this, we do as he does; to make things harder for the oppressor, not to give more opportunities to the oppressor, with the intention to confuse them.
These were forms of defence; these were different forms of engagement; these were different styles of defence.
Hence, it would lead to new and different formations.
The Messenger of God who migrated to Medina was honourable; the Respected Companions who took refuge in Abyssinia were beloved; the compulsory migrants of our day are light years away from humiliation and are heroes of a cause.
In this respect, these migrants are a response to the modern plague of those radical and delirious people—who try to express themselves by slaughtering innocents in front of television cameras—those brutal souls darkening the face of Islam, there was need for people who would show the pure face of our belief with their own light.
God has scattered you like seeds to all corners of the world, so that you can show the beautiful countenance of Islam.
Whether by the hands of nations or unstable individuals the seeds have been scattered to many parts of the world, implanted like seedlings; and when the season is right, those seeds would bear fruit.
Depending on the depth of sincerity, the sown seeds will grow exponentially, with God’s permission and grace, ‘one’ in your country will become seven hundred elsewhere.
Forced migration is now, in a way, a migration attached to this intention.
It is now a grand purpose of life.
Sadly, before today, we did not evaluate things in this way; we didn’t migrate voluntarily in the appropriate scope.
Homesickness has grieved us greatly.
As the well-known words of Izzet Molla state:
‘I will not tire of torment and will perceive it as the apple of my eye, but
We all at one point get tired of suffering, as the body is human!’
It is normal; homesickness may cause us grief.
But when one considers the blessings of striving and serving in the field of the All-Just God and especially in terms of what he has promised for his future,
And in light of the ‘tables’ and those who are sitting at them that we mentioned earlier, I would ask you earnestly, don’t give up this desire!
Don’t give up the desire to be one of the people referred to as, ‘My brother and sisters!’
If you are to be blessed with this rank, it will be through temporary challenges, distress and pain, similar to a mother’s pain when she gives birth to a child.
Once the baby is pressed to the bosom, all the pain and distress is forgotten;
In a way, the mother herself experiences the feeling of being reborn.
Temporarily, it is like the pains of labour!
Yes, there is a temporary pain; however if there is going to be such a result, in my opinion, ‘thanks!’ should be said, ‘all praise be to God’ should be said, ‘all thanks be to God’ should be said.
God willing you will see this in the near future.
One; the issue should be approached with this mindset.
The migration of the Respected Companions to Abyssinia can also be considered from this perspective.
The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, also tried to go to Taif; however the people there were such that they understood neither words nor niceties.
They acted disrespectfully towards him.
However, in Abyssinia, they first accepted them as guests from outside.
Then when they sensed their emotions

Just as when people of different regions open their hearts when they sense your friends’ emotions and thoughts.
When they asked Jafar ‘What are your thoughts regarding the noble Messiah?’, and he recited the related verses.
In the Chapter Maryam (19:16-36) and Al Imran (3:35-63) it is described in detail.
When he heard the events related to Maryam and the Messiah from the Qur’an, the Negus could not hold his tears; he fell to the floor, Jafar ibn Abi Talib came near him.
The Negus pointed with the stick in his hand; ‘By God, the difference between you and us is no greater than this line!’ he said.
Now this again, through migration, in truth, was scattering seeds over the land; planting seedlings; preparing some seedlings for exile.
And one day, they will spread themselves and become a shade for many, God willing.
They went under the leadership of Jafar ibn Abi Talib.
His whole life passed like this.
He returned to The Luminous City of Medina during the siege of Khaybar.
And five-six years later while commander of the army at Muta he left the material world behind and marched to the horizon of his spirit.
And he had no other concerns.
The older brother of the Ali, the eldest of the sons of Abi Talib, Jafar ibn Abi Talib; he completed his mission.
Our friends who have gone to all four corners of the world, with these feelings, God willing, with this mindset, will complete this mission that is incumbent on them; this migration is neither abasement nor an inferiority complex.
Would making other nations aware of the tyranny in our country that has extended to women and babies be counted as complaining to others?
May I give up my life for that homeland of mine!
That which is ‘the homeland of mothers’.
The beautiful homeland, Anatolia,
which is also called ‘Minor Asia’.
Mothers of that homeland always gave birth to children full of inspiration who served their community in a way that made Malik ibn Nabi say, ‘Unless the Sublime State of the Ottomans were in north of the Islamic World, Islam would not remain on the earth!’
Anatolia birthed those children.
That Anatolia is such a homeland, that nation is such a nation.
However, it is currently haunted a government, which is another matter.
A small clique in the government, who approve and engage in cruelty, corruption and waylaying.
It seems to me that if and when they are shook by an earthquake, when they scatter after fault-line cracks, there would be only around twenty people left on the front.
The others will, just we have witnessed in the past, use the internet to declare:
‘Please forgive us, we were unfair to you, we happened to speak improperly and inconveniently about you. You have not been offended by our ‘nagging’, have you?’
They will say, ‘We were nagging and talking out of turn!’
Now, taking a stand against ones nation and homeland is its own matter, at the same time, taking a stand against those who approve of cruelties is another matter.
It is not about taking a stand against Damascus or Medina, but if it is about taking a stand against somebody, the point is to take a stand against Hajjaj, Yazid or Marwan, and to an extent standing against Abdulmalik.
This does not mean you are against the people of that country or town.
How can you be?
The Umayyads in Damascus conquered Andalusia with Tariq ibn Ziyad,
and in eight centuries they turned it into a realm that was a model for the Renaissance.
How can you say?
How can we simply say the Abbasids destroyed other lands and then set up a reign in Baghdad but they also prevented the spread of the Rafida.
Moreover, they enhanced scientific research at such a pace that their people could measure the diameter of the earth by the fifth century of Islam.
Banu Musa calculated how many meters the diameter of the earth is.
With God’s permission and grace, this is how advanced they were.
They carried out flight trials.
They raised people like Avicenna, Khawarizmi and Al-Razi.
For seven to eight centuries the books of Avicenna were studied as canon in medicine.
The books of Al-Razi were studied for seven to eight centuries as well.
Therefore, may my life be ransom for the women and men, the young and old of those nations.
That nation is a nation I will give up my life for!
But sometimes that nation has faced misfortunes. People with no qualification and merit have infested it.
However, the innocent, naive people have fallen prey to think that those in power are the only representatives and therefore have been trapped into negligence.
Trying to spread word of a persecution we have no control over and cannot stop is not a sin, nor is it disrespectful to the nation.
Yes, in this case, it is not a disrespect to the nation.
Surely this persecution must be communicated to different people, until the world says ‘Stop!’ to it.
May God protect the sacred land country and region from segregation, from disintegration!
It is our country.
They may have taken over our houses and our assets, this is not important.
We don’t have the desire for worldly assets anyway.
Even if they take everything, as long as the country is ours, that is enough!
However, those in charge have shown that they are not adequate for that role.
They have proven that they are not adequate; they have found themselves in a spiral of problems and are now struggling to remain in power.
‘Should we be begging to this foreign power or another?’
In the process of trying to destroy you, while throwing money in the name of hatred they have made the whole world aware of their indecency.
I have had to engage in and use inappropriate remarks. If you have been bothered by this, please forgive me.
I think in different parts of the world various institutions are currently engaged in a variety of efforts in regards to this.
As they are becoming more aware of what is going on, they are raising their voices.
The world is slowly becoming more aware that there are so many children in prison, in the arms of their mothers, struggling to be fed, crying out and being offered no support from society.
If both the father and mother of those children have been arrested, they make sure to keep them separate from each other, this way they have engaged in cruelty that has never been witnessed by other criminals.
Certainly, this needs to be communicated to other nations without holding our whole nation responsible.
Especially when engaging with people from legal, managerial, security and financial backgrounds, there is nothing wrong with asking them to investigate the fairness of these punishments. ‘Go ahead and ask the people in dungeons and hear their side of the story’. This is their legitimate right.
This right is neither a sin, nor a wrongdoing, nor a blasphemy towards our nation and homeland.
It is a right; in fact to not use this right, and to remain silent in the face of oppression can be considered a wrongdoing.
As long as oppression and cruelty are not made public, because the oppression will continue, maybe God will question us:
‘Why did you not explain yourselves?
Why did you not announce those tyrants to the world?’
In this respect, the innocent souls who have been exiled to different corners of the world, of course have the right to announce the cruelty being committed by tyrants in order to not make their tyranny any easier.
For, facilitating the evil of the wrongdoer is among the biggest sins.
All that can be done to not make the work of the oppressor easier must be done.
In order to not make the job of the tyrant easier, Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, did not turn back and say, ‘I am sorry O Amenophis!
You chased us for a while, suffered hardship because of this, I apologise!’
Prophet Noah, peace be upon him, did not say this.
Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, did not say this.
Our noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not say this.
No one has said this.
That is to say, to apologise to a tyrant, is to participate in tyranny.
May God grant them true guidance!
May He allow them to be distinguished with the Divine Truth of ‘Guide us to the Straight Path’!
May He allow them to successfully turn away from this wrong path!
And may He favour us with good patience!
The path is right; the method is right; the goal is right.
There are some hardships being suffered; let it be, there is no need to worry!
It will be redemption for our sins; let it be!
‘Outside of unbelief and going astray, praise be to God for every condition’.