The Eleventh Gleam
The stairway of the Sunna and antidote for the sickness of innovations in the Religion
In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.
There has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves; extremely grievous to him is your suffering, full of concern for you is he, and for the believers full of pity and compassion. (9:128)
This verse opens a highway and establishes a stairway to the Sunna, the way of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings.
Still, if they turn away from you (O Messenger), say: “God is sufficient for me; there is no deity but He. In Him have I put my trust, and He is the Lord of the Supreme Throne.” (9:129)
Say (to them, O Messenger): “If you indeed love God, then follow me, so that God will love you and forgive you your sins.” (3:31)
Of the hundreds of significant points these two mighty verses contain, eleven will be explained concisely.
First point
The noblest Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, declared, “Whoever follows my Sunna when my Community is corrupted, there is for him (or her) the reward of a hundred martyrs.”30
Certainly, following the Sunna of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, is of exceptional value. It is even more valuable particularly at times when innovations in the Religion are prevalent. Especially when the Muslim Community is corrupted, following even an ordinary practice of the Prophet signifies a strong belief in and deep reverence for Islam. Observation of the Islamic rules established by the Prophet and following his Sunna (his way of life) recalls the noblest Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings. This recollection leads one to feel the constant company of God. When one follows the Prophet even in dealings of the least significance and in the practices of daily life such as eating, drinking, or sleeping, such ordinary transactions and natural acts become meritorious acts of worship and actions of the Shari‘a. For, a person who follows the Prophet even in such everyday actions has thought about following the noblest Prophet, upon whom be peace and blessings, and considers these to be among the good manners of conduct commended by the Shari‘a. Then this thought causes them to recall the Prophet as the one who brought the Shari‘a. Through this recollection, their hearts turn to Almighty God, the Legislator of the Shari‘a. This gives some sort of spiritual satisfaction and sense of worship.
Thus, one who appropriately follows the Sunna as a way of life transforms even their habitual acts into worship, and can make their whole life fruitful and yielding of reward.
Second point
Imam Rabbani, Ahmad Faruqi,31 may God sanctify him, says, “While passing through the ranks in my spiritual journeys, I saw the most brilliant, magnificent, appealing, sound, and reliable among the groups of the saints to be those who follow the Sunna of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, as the principle of their path. Even the ordinary saints of this group appeared to be more magnificent than the distinguished saints of other groups.”
Imam Rabbani, the Renewer of the Second Millennium, may God sanctify him, speaks the truth. One who takes the Sunna as the basis of their path is on the way to the station of being a beloved of God under the guardianship of God’s Beloved, upon him be peace and blessings.
Third point
I once experienced an inner transformation, during which due to being devoid of a guide and to the pride of my evil-commanding soul, my intellect and heart were floundering amidst truths in an awful spiritual storm. They were being tossed about, rising and falling, sometimes from the Pleiades to the ground, sometimes from the ground to the Pleiades.
During this transformation, I observed that, like compasses used in ships to find the direction and to determine the course to follow, the principles of the elevated Sunna of the Prophet, including even those that are concerned with good manners, were like electric switches along the innumerable hazardous, dark ways. And whenever, during that spiritual journey, I found myself under great pressure, weighed down with extremely heavy burdens, I followed the principles of the Sunna concerning that situation and felt relaxed as if I had been freed from all those burdens. By submitting to them, I was saved from doubts, that is, the hesitations or anxieties about whether any certain course of action was right or beneficial. Whenever I abandoned following them, I noticed that there was intense pressure. There were numerous ways for which it was not possible to detect where they led. The burden was heavy, and I was utterly powerless. My sight was short, and the way to follow, dark. Whenever I held fast to the Sunna, everything was illuminated and the safe way to follow appeared. I felt the burden had been lightened and the pressure lifted. Through these observations of mine, I confirmed the conclusion Imam Rabbani drew in his spiritual journey.
Fourth point
Once, because of a mood produced by contemplating death, the affirmation of “Death is a reality,” and the transience and passing of the world, I envisioned myself in a strange world. I had a vision in which I was a corpse standing at the head of three huge corpses.
One: I was like a tombstone at the head of the immaterial corpse of all the living creatures that had had a connection with my life and entered the grave of the past.
Two: I was a point which would be swiftly erased, an ant which would quickly die, on the face of this century, which was the tombstone at the head of the grave of the past in the cemetery of the earth, where the huge corpses of all kinds of living creatures that had had a connection with the life of humankind were buried.
Three: Since the universe is certain to die on the Day of Resurrection, I envisioned that it had actually died. I found myself both in terror at the death agonies of that huge entity and in astonishment at its death, and saw my own death, which is certain to occur in the future, as having happened. Upon my death, as declared in If they turn away from you…., all beings, all my beloveds, turned their backs on me, abandoning me and leaving me alone. My spirit was being driven towards the future on the side of post eternity, which resembled a boundless ocean. It would be cast into it willingly or unwillingly.
While in that most strange and sorrowful mood, the verse, If they turn away from you, say: “God is sufficient for me; there is no deity but He. In Him have I put my trust, and He is the Lord of the Supreme Throne,” brought belief and the Qur’an to my aid. The verse became like a sound and reliable boat, and my spirit went inside the verse with complete confidence and joy. I came to understand that besides its apparent meaning, the verse had an allusive meaning, which had consoled me and given me satisfaction and serenity.
With its apparent meaning, the verse says to the noblest Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings:
If the people of misguidance turn away, diverge from your Shari‘a and Sunna, and do not heed the Qur’an, do not worry. Say, “God Almighty is sufficient for me. In Him I put my trust. He will raise up others in your place who will follow me. His Throne of rule encompasses everything. Neither the rebellious can escape its bounds, nor are those who ask for help left unaided.”
With its allusive meaning, the verse says:
O human and O leader and guide of people! If all beings abandon you and go to extinction along the way of mortality, if living beings depart from you and race down the way of death, if human beings abandon you and enter the cemetery, and if the people of heedlessness and misguidance do not heed you but fall into darkness, do not worry; say, “God Almighty is sufficient for me. Since He exists, everything exists. Since this is so, those who have left have not gone to non-existence. They are traveling to another of His realms. To replace them, that Owner of the Supreme Throne will send others from among His innumerable soldiers. Those who have entered the cemetery have not been utterly annihilated. They are on the way to another realm. He will send others who are duty-bound in their place. And in place of those who fall into misguidance, He can send His obedient servants who will follow the straight path. He substitutes for everything. All things cannot be equal to a single manifestation of His favor and regard.”
And so, thanks to the allusive meaning of the verse, the three awful corpses which had filled me with dread took on other forms. Life and death, and separations and departures, became a movement displaying wisdom, an instructive activity, a journey for the fulfillment of duties, a demobilization, and a charging with duties, under the rule, supervision, and guardianship of an All-Majestic One, Who is also the All-Wise, the All-Compassionate, the All-Just, and the All-Powerful, based on His Wisdom and Mercy. The universe does its duty in a whirl of activities, coming and going.
Fifth point
The mighty verse,
Say (to them, O Messenger): “If you indeed love God, then follow me, so that God will love you…” (3:31)
clearly proclaims how important and necessary it is to follow the Sunna. Among the logical syllogisms, this verse contains the most powerful and clearest of what are called conditional or exclusive syllogisms. It is as follows:
As an example of the conditional syllogism, it is said, “If the sun rises, it will be daytime.” The positive conclusion of this syllogism is, “The sun has risen, so it is daytime.” The negative conclusion is, “It is not daytime, so the sun has not risen.” Both of these conclusions are clear in their logic.
In just the same way, the above-mentioned verse says, “If you love God, you will follow God’s Beloved. If you do not follow him, this conclusively means that you do not love God.” Love of God entails following the elevated Sunna of God’s Beloved. One who believes in God will certainly obey Him. The most acceptable, the most straightforward, and the most direct and shortest way of obedience to Him is undoubtedly the way which God’s Beloved demonstrated and followed.
It is self-evident that the All-Generous One of Grace, Who fills up the universe with so many bounties, will demand thanks from conscious beings in return for the bounties. And the All-Wise One of Majesty, Who has adorned the universe with so many miracles of art, will certainly and clearly make the most distinguished of conscious beings His addressee and interpreter and the leader of His servants who will convey to them all that He wants them to do or not to do. Also, the All-Gracious One of Perfection, Who has favored the universe with the uncountable manifestations of His Grace and Perfections, will undoubtedly and clearly assign the most perfect duty of servanthood to the one who is the most comprehensive and has the most perfect measure and means of reflecting His Grace, Perfection, Names, and Art, which He loves and wants to display. He will make this being’s personality and conduct an excellent example for others and encourage them to follow him so that his personality and good conduct may also appear in them.
In short, love of God requires and results in following the elevated Sunna. How happy is the person whose share of following the Sunna is great! Woe to the one who does not appreciate the Sunna but indulges in religious innovations!
Sixth point
The noblest Messenger, upon him be blessings and peace, declared, “All innovations in the Religion are misguidance, and all misguidance will be in Hellfire.”32 That is to say, according to the verse, This day I have perfected for you your Religion (5: 3), after the rules of the Shari‘a and the principles of the Sunna have been completed, making new inventions or producing innovations in the Religion, which mean that one thinks these rules and principles are defective and can be improved upon, is misguidance and deserves Hellfire.
There are degrees in the Sunna. Some of its principles or decrees are imperative; they cannot be ignored or abandoned. They are described in detail in the illustrious Shari‘a. They are among the established, unquestionable rules of the Religion and can in no way be altered.
The other degree of the Sunna consists in supererogatory acts of worship and practices. These also fall into two categories. One category is composed of the Prophet’s supererogatory practices of worship, which are very meritorious and highly commendable for Muslims to perform. They are also described in the books of the Shari‘a. Changing them is innovation.
Another category comprises the Prophet’s practices that are regarded as good manners or good, commendable conduct. They are mentioned in the Prophet’s biographies. Not following them is not regarded as innovation, but it entails opposition to the Prophetic practices and good conduct and causes deprivation of the light that derives from these acts and from the principles of good conduct or manners. There is still another category of the Prophet’s good manners or conduct, which consists in everyday actions, behavior, and dealings of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, which are known through reliable, unanimously reported Traditions. For example, there are numerous Prophetic practices showing good manners in speaking, eating, drinking, sleeping, and concerning social relationships. One who follows these good manners in their daily life transforms their everyday practices into a form of worship, and derives significant spiritual radiations and benefits from them. Observing the least of them recalls the noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and imparts a light to the heart.
The most important among the rules and principles of the Sunna are those which are the public symbols or marks of Islam. These are acts of worship that the whole community of Muslims are required to perform, and are therefore included in the general social rights and duties. If some among the community do them, the whole community benefits from it, and, by contrast, if none perform such actions, then the whole community becomes responsible. There can be no hypocrisy or ostentation in the performance of such indications of Islam, and they are openly proclaimed and performed. Even if they are included in the supererogatory acts of worship, they are socially more important than personal obligatory acts.
Seventh point
Every rule and practice of the elevated Sunna indicates good conduct. There is nothing included in the Sunna that does not bear a light or teach good manners and conduct. The noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, declared, “My Lord has taught and educated me, and how well He has taught and educated me!”33 One who studies the Prophet’s biography and knows his conduct will certainly understand that God Almighty collected all varieties of good conduct in His Beloved. One who abandons his Sunna abandons good manners, and becomes the object of the saying, “An ill-mannered person is deprived of Divine favor.” This means self-ruin.
QUESTION: How can one preserve good manners before the Knower of whatever is unseen, Who sees and knows everything? Situations which cause shame and embarrassment cannot be kept hidden from Him. One sort of good manners is covering the parts of the body which we must cover and veiling the detestable states. It is impossible to conceal anything from the Knower of all that is unseen.
THE ANSWER: First of all, the All-Majestic Maker, Who especially wills that His Art be shown as beautiful, veils detestable things and draws attention to His bounties by decorating them; He also wills that His creatures and servants be shown as beautiful to other conscious beings. Their appearance in ugly situations is a form of opposition to His Names, such as the All-Gracious, the All-Decorating, the All-Subtle, and the All-Wise, and is contrary to good manners. So, good manners according to the elevated Sunna of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, is to take on a purely good manner within the bounds of the All-Majestic Maker’s Names.
Secondly, as far as doctors are concerned, they may look at the most private member of someone who is not canonically forbidden to marry them; when necessary these can be shown to the doctor. This is not regarded as being opposed to good manners; rather, the nature of medicine requires this. But this same doctor cannot look at the forbidden members of that person outside their professional calling, nor do good manners allow them to be shown.
The All-Majestic Maker has numerous Names, and each Name has particular manifestations. For example, the existence of the Name the All-Forgiving means that there are sins to be forgiven, and the existence of the Name the All-Veiling indicates the existence of defects to be hidden. Likewise, the Name the All-Gracious and Beautiful does not desire that ugliness be seen, while Names that indicate beauty, grace, and perfection such as the All-Subtle, the All-Munificent, the All-Wise, and the All-Compassionate require that all beings should be beautiful and act in the best possible manner. The Names of grace, beauty, and perfection will the exhibition of beauties in front of angels, spirit beings, jinn, and humankind through the beautiful states and good manners of beings. Thus, the principles of good conduct or manners contained in the elevated Sunna are the indications and samples of these lofty manners.
Eighth point
Preceding, Still, if they turn away from you (O Messenger), say, “God is sufficient for me…,” the verse,
There has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves; extremely grievous to him is your suffering, full of concern for you is he, and for the believers full of pity and compassion. (9:128)
shows the perfect affection and kindness of God’s noblest Messenger towards his Community, and with Still, if they turn away from you…., it states as follows:
O humankind, and O Muslims! The affectionate Messenger guides you with boundless affection, expends all his power and energy for your benefit, and cures your spiritual wounds with the rules He brings and the principles of his elevated Sunna. Therefore, you must know how unfair and unreasonable it is to turn away from his Sunna and the rules he conveys in a way that means the denial of his self-evident affection and condemnation of his most visible kindness.
And O affectionate Messenger, O kind Prophet! If they do not recognize this immense affection and kindness of yours and if out of foolishness they do not support or listen to you, do not worry. The All-Majestic One, under Whose command are the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and the sovereignty of Whose Lordship rules from His all-encompassing Supreme Throne, is sufficient for you. He will muster around you His truly obedient troops, and make them heed you and accept your decrees.
Truly, there is no matter included in the Shari‘a of Muhammad and his Sunna which does not have numerous instances of wisdom. Despite all my defects and helplessness, I make this claim and am ready to prove it. In fact, the seventy to eighty Treatises of the Light (Risale-i Nur) that have been written so far are seventy to eighty truthful witnesses bearing testimony to how full of wisdom and true are the matters of the Sunna and Shari‘a of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. Not seventy, but even seven thousand treatises would not, if I were capable of writing them, be able to describe these instances of wisdom.
I have numerous experiences and observations that the rules of the Shari‘a and principles of the elevated Sunna are each the most beneficial cures for the diseases of the spirit, mind, and heart, and particularly for diseases of society. I have personally observed and explained, to the extent that I am capable, in the Treatises of the Light that other social and philosophical principles and theories cannot take their place. If there are some who doubt the truth of my claim, let them refer to the relevant parts of the Risale-i Nur.
It may be understood from this how profitable it is to follow, as far as possible, the Sunna of such a person, and how favorable and advantageous for our eternal life, how beneficial for our worldly life, this is.
Ninth point
Strictly following the entire Sunna in all its degrees and aspects can only be achieved by those most advanced in the Religion and in nearness to God. However, it is possible for all to follow it by intention and by supporting and admitting it as their way of life. We are religiously obliged to follow its imperatives or obligatory rules and principles. Even if there is no sin in not carrying out the supererogatory acts of worship established by the Sunna, such neglect causes considerable loss of reward. To change them is a grave error. As for the Prophet’s everyday practices, if we follow them, these practices become acts of worship. If we do not follow them, no punishment is incurred, but we benefit less from the light of the good conduct of God’s Beloved, upon him be peace and blessings.
New inventions in the ordinances concerning worship mean innovation, and since innovation is opposed to the verse, This day I have perfected for you your Religion (5:3), they must be rejected. However, the regular recitations and invocations adopted by the sound Sufi ways, even if they are in various forms and manners, are not considered to be innovations, provided they are originally based on the Qur’an and the Sunna and do not oppose the principles and fundamentals of the Sunna. Nevertheless, some scholars have included even these as innovations, but call them “acceptable innovations.” Imam Rabbani, the Reviver of the Second Millennium, may God be pleased with him, says:
While passing through the ranks in my spiritual journeys, I saw that the words reported from God’s noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, have a particular light; they are shining with the rays of the elevated Sunna. When I saw other bright and powerful regular recitations that were not reported from him and when I observed the spiritual states that belong to those who do not take following the Sunna as the absolute basis of their way, I saw that there was no such light from them. Even the brightest of this sort was not equal to the least of the former. I understood from this that the rays of the elevated Sunna are an elixir. Also, the Sunna is sufficient for those who seek light; there is no need to seek light outside it.
This conclusion of a hero of the truth and the Shari‘a such as Imam Rabbani shows that the elevated Sunna is the foundation of happiness in both worlds and the source of all excellence and perfection.
O God! Favor us by enabling us to follow the elevated Sunna.
Our Lord! We believe in what You have sent down and we follow the Messenger, so record us among the witnesses (of Your Oneness and Lordship, and of the truth You have revealed). (3:53)
Tenth point
The verse,
Say (to them, O Messenger): “If you indeed love God, then follow me, so that God will love you,
is a miracle of conciseness, for there are many sentences in this verse that is comprised of only three phrases. They are as follows:
The verse declares as follows:
If you have faith in God, may His Majesty be exalted, you will certainly love Him. If you love God, then you will act in the manner He loves. Doing so means resembling the person whom God loves in his acts. Resembling that person is possible by following him. If you follow him, God will love you. You must love God so that He will love you.
All of these sentences form only a brief, concise interpretation of the verse. What is being said here is that the most important and exalted goal for humans is being favored with the love of God Almighty. The verse decrees and shows that the way of achieving this most exalted goal is following God’s Beloved, following his elevated Sunna. The following three points will clearly demonstrate this truth.
FIRST POINT: Humankind has been created with a limitless, innate love for the Creator of the universe. For humankind innately loves beauty and grace, and adores excellence, perfection, and favor. This love increases in proportion with the degrees of beauty, grace, excellence, and favor, stretching up to its final point.
Furthermore, the tiny heart of the human can contain a love as great as the universe. The fact that the faculty of memory, which occupies a place in the mind the size of a lentil, can hold as many writings as there are in a library demonstrates that the human heart can contain the whole universe and bear love that great.
So, since human nature has a capacity to feel limitless love for favor, grace, beauty, and perfection; and since, as decisively demonstrated by His works exhibited in the universe, and as self-evidently established by the embroideries of His Art that is apparent in beings, and as clearly and demonstrably proved by the countless varieties of His bounties observed in animate creatures, the Creator of the universe has infinite holy grace, beauty, perfection, and favor, then it is certain that these demand limitless love from humankind, which is the most comprehensive, the most needy, the most thoughtful, and the most yearning of conscious beings.
Indeed, just as every human being has a capacity to love the All-Majestic Creator infinitely, so, too, due to His grace, beauty, perfection, and favor, the All-Majestic Creator has a greater right than everybody else to be infinitely loved. It can even be said that all the varieties of love and intense attachment a believing person has for their life, subsistence, and existence, and for their world and self, and for all creatures, are in fact manifestations of this capacity. More than that, the various intense emotions of humans are reflections of that capacity which have taken on different forms.
As humans take pleasure in their own happiness, so too do they receive happiness from the happiness of others with whom they are connected. Also, as they love one who saves them from a disaster, so too do they love those who save their loved ones. If, considering this state of mind, out of the infinite varieties of Divine favor, a person should think about what follows:
As my Creator has saved me from non-existence, which is eternal darkness, and given me a particular, beautiful world, so too will He save me from going into non-existence, which is eternal extinction, when the appointed time comes for me to die, and accord me an eternal, most splendid world in the everlasting realm. Again, as He has also granted me external and inner senses and faculties with which to benefit from all the varieties of delight and beauty of that world and to wander throughout it and take pleasure in it, so too does He bestow countless bounties on all my relatives, loved ones, and fellow persons whom I love much and to whom I feel great attachment. These bounties are also accorded to me, as I feel happy and pleased with their happiness.
A person should think thus and say:
Since, as stated in the adage, “The human is the slave of kindness done to them,” everyone adores kindness, and if I had a heart as vast as the universe, it should be filled—indeed I wish to fill it—with love for all those countless bounties. Even if I am unable to feel that love, I feel it through my capacity and intention, and through belief in their Bestower and through appreciation of them, and through yearning for Him.
One should consider the love for the bounties I have briefly mentioned and conclude how great a love we should feel for the Divine Grace, Beauty, and Perfection. As for those who do not believe in God, because of their unbelief they are infinitely hostile to Him, and even bear a pitiless and insulting enmity towards the whole universe.
SECOND POINT: Love of God necessitates following the Sunna of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. For loving God means doing whatever pleases Him. The things that please Him are manifested and reflected in their perfect form in the person of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. We can resemble the Prophet Muhammad in his acts in two ways: The first: As required by His love, obeying God’s commands and acting within the sphere of the things that please Him necessitate following the Prophet, for the perfect leader in obedience to God is Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
The second: Since the person of Muhammad is the most important means for God’s favors upon humanity, he certainly deserves limitless love for God’s sake. A person wants, by nature, to resemble the one whom they love if it is possible for them to do so. Thus, those who love God’s Beloved must certainly try to resemble him by following his elevated Sunna.
THIRD POINT: Just as God Almighty has infinite compassion, so too does He have infinite love. As He makes Himself infinitely loved through the fine qualities and varieties of beauty He gives to all the creatures in the universe, so too does He love His creatures, including particularly the conscious ones who respond with love to His causing Himself to be loved. It can clearly and definitely be understood how important and exalted an aim it is to draw upon oneself the view of love of the One a single manifestation of Whose Mercy forms all of the subtleties, beauties, pleasures, and bounties of Paradise. Since He definitely decrees in His Word—the Qur’an—that one can be favored with His love only by following the Sunna of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, then it is evident that following it should be the ultimate aim of humanity and its most important duty.
Eleventh point
This Point consists of three matters.
FIRST MATTER: The Sunna of the noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, has three sources: his words, his acts, and his states or his conduct. With respect to the degrees of religious responsibilities, they fall into three categories: imperative, supererogatory, and good manners or his customary practices.
We are religiously obliged to follow those that are imperative; abandoning them incurs punishment and retribution.
As believers, we are also responsible for carrying out the supererogatory acts as meritorious decrees. However, there is no punishment or retribution for not doing them. If we perform such acts, we gain great rewards, but making any alteration in them is a great error, and misguided.
As for the Prophet’s customary practices or laudable manners, following or imitating him in his everyday life or manners is highly commendable from the perspective of wisdom and considering human personal and social life. For in each of his customary practices lie many benefits for life, and by following them, our everyday practices become like acts of worship.
Since, as both friends and foes agree, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, had all good morals or virtues to the highest degree; and since, as is unanimously agreed, he is the most distinguished and excellent member of humanity; and since, as his numerous miracles show, his personal excellences and the world of Islam that he founded bear witness, and the truths of the wise Qur’an, which he conveyed and explained, confirm, he is the most excellent, perfect person and the most perfect guide; and since, as a result of following him, hundreds of millions of people have ascended through the degrees of perfection and attained the happiness of both worlds; then surely his elevated Sunna, his way of life, is the most excellent example to follow, the safest guide to employ, and soundest set of laws to adopt. Happy is he whose share in following the Sunna is great. If one does not follow the Sunna because of laziness, this incurs a tremendous loss; considering the Sunna to be unimportant is a tremendous crime, and criticizing it in a way to suggest that one does not accept it is serious misguidance.
SECOND MATTER: God Almighty proclaims in the wise Qur’an: You are surely of a sublime character and do act by a sublime pattern of conduct (68: 4). According to authentic, reliable narrations, when a distinguished Companion like ‘A’isha, may God be pleased with her, described the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, she would say, “His character is the Qur’an.”34 That is, the concrete example of all virtues or excellent moral qualities that the
Qur’an mentions is the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. He is the one who conforms to them best of all; it is he whose nature is a perfect embodiment of them.
Thus, while every one of the deeds, states, words, and acts of such a person is worthy to be a model for humankind, even the insane can understand how unfortunate are those heedless people who believe in him and belong to his Community, yet attach no importance to his Sunna or who want to change it.
THIRD MATTER: The noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, had a perfect nature that was perfectly balanced, and he strictly obeyed the Divine order, Pursue, then, what is exactly right (in every matter of the Religion) as you are commanded (by God) (11: 112), and his biography clearly demonstrates that he was always balanced and straightforward in all his actions and states. He continuously avoided going to all sorts of extremes.
For example, completely free of both stupidity and demagogy or sophistry, the two extreme points of intellect that entail its corruption, his intellect or power of reason always worked in accordance with wisdom; this is the point of balance, upon which uprightness is based. Likewise, his power or faculty of anger, completely removed from both cowardice and rage, the extreme points of this power which signify its corruption, always acted with blessed courage, which is the middle point. Similarly, his power of passion, absolutely purified of both frigidity and dissipation, which are the extreme points of this power, and therefore indicate its corruption, always and strictly followed chastity as the middle way or the point of balance. And so on…. In short, in all aspects of his Sunna, his natural states and everyday practices, including his speech, eating, and drinking, and in all the ordinances of the Shari‘a, he always chose the balanced way and avoided all kinds of extremes and wastefulness, which entail wrongdoing and cause “darkness.” Thousands of books have been written about the details of this matter. Following the adage, “A hint is enough for one who is wise and intelligent,” we see this drop from the ocean as being sufficient and cut the story short here.
O God, bestow blessings on the one who has all moral excellences, and was honored with the Divine declaration, “You are surely of a sublime character and act by a sublime pattern of conduct.” It is he who said: “Whoever follows my Sunna when my Community has been corrupted, there is for him (or her) the reward of a hundred martyrs.”
They say: “All praise and gratitude are for God, Who has guided us to this (prosperity as a result of the guidance with which He favored us in the world). If God had not guided us, we would certainly not have found the right way. The Messengers of our Lord did indeed come with the truth.” (7:43)
All-Glorified are You. We have no knowledge save what You have taught us. Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Bediuzzaman said Nursi
30 at-Tabarani, al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat, 5:315; al-Bayhaki, Sunan, “Zuhd” 118. (Tr.)
31 Imam Rabbani, Ahmad Faruq al-Sarhandi (d. 1624): Accepted by many as “The Reviver of the Second Millennium,” especially in Islamic spirituality. Born in Sarhand (India) and well-versed in Islamic sciences, he removed many corrupt elements from Sufism. He also taught Shah Alamgir or Awrangzeb (d. 1707), who had a committee of scholars prepared the most comprehensive compendium of Hanafi Law. (Tr.)
32 an-Nasa’i, “Iydayn” 22; at-Tabarani, al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir, 9:97. (Tr.)
33 al-Munawi, Fayd al-Qadir, 1:225; al-Qurtubi, al-Jami‘ li-Ahkam al-Qur’an, 18:228. (Tr.)
34 Muslim, “Musafirun” 139; Ibn Maja, “Ahkam” 14; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 6:91, 163. (Tr.)