Fifth cause
The disagreement of the rightly-guided people does not arise from their weakness, nor does the powerful agreement of the misguided people arise from their strength. Rather, the lack of agreement among the rightly-guided people is due to their strength which results from the point of support that is provided by perfect belief, while the agreement of the people of heedlessness and misguidance comes from their weakness and impotence that results from the fact that they can find no point of support in their hearts. The weak form powerful unities because they desperately need alliance and agreement. But since the powerful do not feel this need much, their unity is weak. Lions do not need union, nor do foxes, and therefore they live as individuals, whereas wild goats (and oxen) form herds to protect themselves against wolves and lions. This means that the community and collective personality of the weak is strong, while the community and collective personality of the powerful is weak.6 The Qur’an makes a subtle allusion to this fact. Although the feminine form of the verb should have been used for the community of women where there are two instances of femininity (women is a feminine noun, and as a plural subject requires the feminine form of the verb in Arabic), it uses the masculine form of the verb in, And women in the city said (12: 30). While in The desert Arabs said (49: 14) the feminine form of the verb for the community of men is used. This usage delicately implies that the community of weak, feeble, and tender women gains strength, toughness, and sternness with togetherness, and so acquires some sort of manliness. As it therefore appropriates the masculine form of the verb, the Qur’anic use of this form is the best suited. By contrast, since strong men, particularly those of the desert Arabs, rely on their own individual strength, their community suffers from weakness, to which cautiousness and the feeling of a lack support only add. This is why their community takes on a kind of femininity and requires the feminine form of verb; again, the Qur’an has used this form most appropriately.
Thus, due to their submission to and trust in God, which is provided by belief in God, and which is a most powerful point of reliance, the people of truth do not display neediness before others or ask for their help. Even if they sometimes feel needy, they do not need to hold fast to this help. But since the worldly people are neglectful of the true source of support for humanity in worldly affairs, they suffer weakness and impotence, and therefore cooperate sincerely and even with self-sacrifice in dire need of external help and support.
In short, the people of truth, who do not consider or seek the rightful power that lies in agreement, fall into disagreement as an evil and harmful result of this lack of consideration. But the people of misguidance, who follow false ways, perceive the power of agreement due to their weakness, and attain agreement, and this is an extremely important means for the attainment of goals.
The cure for this disease of the people of truth is to adopt as guidance in life the powerful Divine prohibition in, Do not dispute with one another, or else you may lose heart and your power and energy desert you (8: 46), and the wise Divine command for social life in, Help one another in virtue and goodness, and righteousness and piety (5: 2). We should also consider how harmful to Islam disagreement is, and how it facilitates the triumph of the misguided people over the people of truth, and join the caravan of the people of truth sincerely and self-sacrificingly in awareness of our innate powerlessness. Also, renouncing self-centeredness and forgetting individual selfish interests, we should be freed from ostentation and pretension, and thus acquire sincerity.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
6 Among the most powerful and influential organizations in the West is the American Organization for Women’s Rights and Liberty, even though women form the fair and weak sex among humankind. Likewise, despite being the weakest and least populous among nations, the Armenian committees display the greatest sacrifice and commitment. These two facts provide another proof for our thesis.