Feelings of Bairam
We have been having sad bairams for a long time. Again on the eve of a war, confused, we are looking for the beauties of bairam, we console ourselves with hopes. There are many reasons outside of our will, but can we perform what believers should do? Can we call people to Islam by setting examples with our ways of living?
I had listened to an interesting evaluation about the Prophet Abraham in a discourse of Fethullah Gülen. He was saying the following:
"It's very important to be as gentle and good-tempered as the Prophet Abraham. The Prophet Abraham was a man possessed of foresight, who doesn't have any negative thought even in his dreams, who used to give priority to the positive attitude inside and outside. He was of gentle nature. He always behaved gently in his relationships with the Prophet Lot, he didn't oppose to him. He thought of the Prophet Lot more than himself. He used to share the same lands with the Prophet Lot and they used to take care of their animals on the same field. The Prophet Abraham left everything to the Prophet Lot and went himself to the lands of today's Makka for fear that the Prophet Lot might think "this is his field", "he has got a lot of animals" and he might become sad. This was a choice and he preferred his brother to himself. If the Prophet Abraham hadn't made this choice, he wouldn't have been a prophet "whose efforts included his entire nation". I wish we were as gentle and good-tempered as the Prophet Abraham among friends and I wish we became sincere and intimate friends... Sodom and Gomorrah were smashed to pieces though they had a prophet as the head but the prophet of that time, master of determination, the Prophet Abraham didn't think anything negative towards the Prophet Lot."
"Anyone who has got faith is a friend. Those who come together on the line of Islam are obliged to be brothers. You cannot answer the evil by evil saying that this person is bad. Islam is life itself, it is to live. What is preferred is to live the Islam, not to talk about it."
The reality of "setting an example comes before preaching" Gülen reminded us is in fact what a big measure in explaining the troubles and pains we have been going through... Allah gives the believers so many opportunities, so many chances. The believers who get these opportunities, these chances in the name of serving the nation, religion, humanity, can they appreciate and evaluate these? It is maybe one of the subjects we must think over in a bairam contemplation.
The posts mustn't be the places of attaching himself to trivial things, following business affairs without thinking anything else and getting tired afterwards. One mustn't imprison himself within places and narrow his horizons. Desires and expectations mustn't take away anybody from the consciousness of worship to Allah. On the contrary, these times must reinforce solidarity, spirit of acting together and unity.
Allah doesn't deprive His creatures from his favors. But if His creatures didn't appreciate the favors, clung to trivial things, if those holding posts thought of themselves more than anything else, paid attention to each other's mistakes, exaggerated these and harmed the brotherhood, they always lost these favors and then blamed it on others, something witnessed by history.
The first thing the believer must do is to motivate and nourish himself spiritually. Nourishing of the soul and reinforcing of the faith are so important that it is at that time that the conscience speaks, the mercy starts functioning. Being more sincere, more tolerant, more patient and more reasonable depends on spiritual nourishing.
Feelings of bairam remind us of loving each other.
We must be able to love each other, not the world, for the approval of Allah. Gülen had expressed it in what a nice way: "If one asks for the world, it may or may not come. If one asks for Allah, the world comes afterwards..."
Let's complete the feelings of Kurban Bairam with one of his suggestions again:
"One day the whole world may turn towards you, you may be treated with respect and honor. But you mustn't feel dizzy..."
ZAMAN
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