Third cause
The disagreement among the people of truth does not emanate from a lack of zeal or aspiration, nor does the agreement of misguided people arise from having lofty ideals or great endeavors for the same. Rather, the disagreement of the rightly-guided arises from the misuse of the endeavor for their lofty cause, while the agreement of the misguided comes from weakness and impotence that arises from not having an elevated cause and endeavoring for the same.
What causes the rightly-guided to misuse their endeavors for their cause and therefore leads to discord and rivalry among them is their extreme aspiration for eternal reward and the fulfillment of the duties pertaining to the Hereafter, which is regarded as a praiseworthy quality from the viewpoint of the eternal life. With the thought of “I will gain this reward; let me guide these people; let them listen to me,” they take up a position of rivalry to their true brothers and sisters who are in real need of their love, assistance, and brotherhood. The egotism of scholarly people, which engenders in them the feelings, “Why do my pupils go to him for learning and guidance? Why do I not have as many pupils as he has?”, makes them incline to taking up a place in people’s opinions or a love of position, which is an evil quality, and causes them to lose sincerity, opening to them the door of ostentation.
The cure for this error, this wound, this appalling spiritual disease, is as follows:
One can gain God’s good pleasure through sincerity, not through a multiplicity of followers or great success. For it is God Who will or will not confer these latter, and they cannot be demanded. It even sometimes happens that a single word may result in one’s salvation and obtaining God’s good pleasure. Therefore, quantity should not be given much importance. For the guidance of a single person may sometimes be as pleasing to God as the guidance of a thousand. In addition, sincerity and attachment to the truth require that we should earnestly desire Muslims to benefit from anyone or any school or path of guidance they can. Thinking, “Let them take lessons from me and cause me to gain reward!” is a trick of the carnal soul and egotism.
O human, greedy for eternal reward and feeling discontent with what you have done pertaining to the Hereafter! There were several Prophets who had only a limited number of followers but received the limitless reward of the sacred mission of Prophethood. So, the true success is not having a vast following but rather is gaining God’s good pleasure. What do you imagine yourself to be that by thinking, “Let everyone listen to me,” you forget your own duty and interfere in God’s Will? It is only God Who, if He wills, will make people accept you and gather around you. So mind your own duty, and do not interfere in God’s Will.
Furthermore, it is not only human beings who listen to the preaching of the truth and earn reward for those who preach it. God Almighty has innumerable other conscious beings like angels and other spirit beings that inhabit every corner of the universe. Therefore, if you desire much reward, take sincerity as the foundation of your actions and consider only gaining God’s good pleasure so that all the reflections in the air of the blessed words that issue forth from your mouth may gain life through your sincerity and purity of intention, and reach the ears of countless conscious beings, illuminating them and earning you reward. For when, for example, you say, “All praise and gratitude are for God,” millions of multiplied reflections of this statement are inscribed in the air by God’s leave. The All-Wise Inscriber, Who wastes not and does nothing useless or in vain, has created many ears to listen to those blessed words. If they gain life through sincerity and purity of intention, these words enter the ears of spirit beings like some tasty fruit. If there is no sincerity and God’s good pleasure does not give them life, they are not heard, and their reward becomes limited to the single, original utterance made by the mouth. This fact should particularly be considered by those who memorize the Qur’an but feel uncomfortable because their voices are not beautiful enough and few people listen to them.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi