The Eleventh Letter
• Involuntary thoughts and fancies
• The superiority of Qur’anic commandments over modern civil laws
In His Name.
There is nothing that does not glorify Him with His praise.
(This letter, which relates to the four gems from the treasuries of four Qur’anic verses, cures some spiritual illnesses.)
Dear Brother,
THE QUR’AN TAUGHT ME THE FOLLOWING FOUR MATTERS. I AM writing about them for those who would like some knowledge of them. This letter relates to four gems from the treasury of truths contained in four Qur’anic verses, each of which has a different form and use.
FIRST MATTER: Satan’s guile is ever feeble (4:76).
O my soul that suffers unease due to involuntary thoughts and fancies! Most of these things are involuntary. If they are good, they may have some positive effect on people and reflect in their conscience, just as a mirror reflects the sun’s heat and light. They do not penetrate into one’s soul if they are evil, just as a reflection of something foul is not foul and a reflected snake does not bite.
Thus conceiving of unbelief is not unbelief, just as imagining cursing is not really cursing. In particular, unintentional thoughts, fancies, and suppositions are harmless. According to the Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama‘a (the people of truth),20 something is ugly or vile and a sin only if forbidden by God. As involuntary thoughts are not included in Divine prohibitions, they are neither vile nor foul, regardless of how foul their reflections may be.
SECOND MATTER: This was inspired by pine, wild pine, and poplar trees on Barla’s plateau. It can be found in The Seventeenth Word’s Addendum.21
THIRD MATTER: This and the following section present two examples of the Qur’anic commandments’ superiority over modern civil law. For example, the Qur’an decrees that men, (in certain circumstances,) shall inherit twice as much as women (4:11). This is perfectly just and a perfect mercy for women. It is just because, in most cases and according to Islamic law, the husband provides for his wife and children, whereas the wife has no legal obligation to provide for her husband or herself. Thus she is compensated for inheriting half of what a man inherits.
It is a perfect mercy because a girl is delicate, vulnerable, and thus held in great affection by her father who, thanks to the Qur’anic injunction, does not see her as someone who will cause him a loss by carrying half of his wealth to others. In addition, her brothers feel compassion for and protect her without envy, for they do not see her as a rival when dividing the family’s possessions. Thus the affection and compassion she enjoys throughout her family compensates for her apparent loss in inheritance.
It is a great injustice to give her more than her due share out of unrealistic compassion—unrealistic because no one is more compassionate than God. If the Qur’anic bounds are exceeded, women may become vulnerable to family members’ exploitation and tyranny, especially considering the modern era’s barbaric selfishness, which can be as bad as the pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance’s tyranny, when infant girls were buried alive. All Qur’anic injunctions, like those pertaining to inheritance, prove the truth of: We sent you (O Muhammad) as a mercy to all beings (21:107).
FOURTH MATTER: Modern civilization, which is essentially a system of injustices (in most cases) because it lacks real human values, wrongs mothers more than girls by depriving them of their rights. Being the purest and finest reflection of Divine Compassion, a mother’s affection is creation’s most revered reality. A mother is so compassionate, self-sacrificing, and intimate a friend that she sacrifices everything, even her life, for her children. A timid hen, whose motherliness represents the lowest level, will attack a dog to protect her chicks.
Thus the truly human, unlike those who appear human but are bestial in essence, consider it a great injustice and shameful disrespect, a heart-rending ingratitude and harmful poison for social life, to deprive such a respected, dear being of her rightful share of her son’s wealth. The Qur’anic verse: And to his mother a sixth (4:11), accords perfectly with justice and universal truth.
The Everlasting: He is the Everlasting.
Said Nursi
20 The broad majority of Muslims. Also known as Sunnis. (Ed.)
21 Said Nursi, The Words.