Introduction
In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.
I have not created the jinn and humankind but to (know and) worship Me (exclusively). (51:56)
According to this mighty verse, humankind has been created and sent to this world in order to recognize the Creator of the universe, and to believe in and worship Him. Thus, the primordial duty of humankind is to know God and believe in Him, and to confirm His Existence and Unity with perfect certainty.
Since humanity has an innate desire to live eternally, and since they cherish limitless aspirations and suffer endless pains, anything or any other attainment other than belief in and knowledge of God, which are key to the eternal happiness in the eternal life, is lowly for humanity. Indeed, many of the things other than belief in and knowledge of God may be said to be have no value.
Referring this truth to other parts of the Risale-i Nur, where it has been discussed convincingly, here we will discuss two modern obstacles which prevent humanity from attaining certainty of belief or harm it. Each of the obstacles contains two matters.
THE FIRST OBSTACLE AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT
This consists of two matters.
THE FIRST MATTER: As explained in detail in The Thirteenth Gleam, negation or denial in matters of general concern and acceptance has no value in the face of the establishment and demonstration of the truth. For example, if two common persons see the crescent at the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan and testify to it, and thousands of nobles and scholars deny it, saying: “We have not seen it,” this negation has neither value nor power. For in the matter of the establishment and demonstration of the truth, each person strengthens and supports the other, thus providing a consensus. However, whether one person denies something or a thousand people deny it, the value—or, rather, lack of value—of that denial is the same. Each person who denies is isolated. For the one who establishes and demonstrates something is referring to that which actually exists and is judging the matter as it is. Thus, in the example above, if one says, “The moon is in the sky,” and another confirms this, the two of them unite and are strengthened.
The one who negates or denies, however, does not refer to something that actually exists, and it is a well-known principle that “The denial of something which is not possible to specify in a particular place or position cannot be established.” For example, if I affirm the existence of something and you deny it, I can easily establish its existence by merely producing an example of it. But in order to establish the non-existence of the same thing, you will have to scour the entire world in order to deny it, even going so far as to examine the past thoroughly. Only when you have done this can you say: “It does not exist and has never existed.”
Since those who negate and deny do not regard the actual reality, but judge rather according to their own perspective or their arbitrary opinion or knowledge, they can in no way strengthen or support each other. For the veils and causes which prevent seeing and knowing are various. Anyone can say, “I do not see it; therefore, in my opinion and belief, it does not exist.” But no one can say, “It does not exist in actuality.” If someone makes such a claim—particularly in matters of belief that pertain to the whole universe—it will be a lie as vast as the world itself and anyone who makes that claim will never be able to confirm it or have it confirmed by others.
In short: In the case of affirmation or establishment, the result is one and every instance of affirmation supports and is supported by all other instances. But a denial or negation is based on personal, arbitrary opinions or perspectives and is not supported by other denials. Since everyone who denies says, “In my view or opinion,” or “according to my belief,” the results multiply but do not corroborate each other.
It is because of this reality that the number of those who oppose belief is of no significance: the fact that they exist in their multitudes should not cause any doubts or hesitation in the certainty of believers. Nevertheless, in this age, the negations and denials of some European philosophers have caused doubt in a number of their unfortunate imitators, thus damaging their certainty of belief and destroying their eternal happiness. They assume that death, which comes upon tens of thousands of people each day, is to be seen not as a discharge from worldly duties but as eternal annihilation. By acting as a constant reminder to those deniers of their eternal annihilation, the grave, whose open door can never be closed, poisons their lives with the bitterest of sorrows. Understand from this how great a blessing belief is, and why it is the very essence of life.
THE SECOND MATTER: In a controversial matter concerning a particular branch of art or science, those who are not specialists in it have no authority, however great, knowledgeable or skillful they may be in other branches; nor can their judgments be accepted as decisive or form part of the learned consensus.
For example, the view of a great engineer cannot have as much weight as that of the lowliest physician in the diagnosis and treatment of a disease. In particular, the words of denial of a philosopher who is absorbed in material matters and whose reason is restricted to what he sees with his eyes, and who has therefore become insensitive to the light (of truth) and gradually more and more distant from spiritual issues—his pronouncements on spiritual matters are worthless and should be given no consideration whatsoever.
In view of this reality, with regard to sacred matters and spiritual issues concerning Divine Unity, on which there is total agreement among hundreds of thousands of the people of truth, such as Sheikh al-Jilani, may his mystery be sanctified, who spent ninety years advancing on the spiritual path and was able to observe God’s Supreme Throne while still on the earth, and who discovered the truths of belief at the degree of certainty of knowledge or observation or even experience, what value can the words of philosophers have, whose thoughts are scattered and lost among numerous concerns that focus solely on the material world? Are their denials not as weak as the buzzing of a mosquito compared to the roar of thunder?
In essence, unbelief that opposes and struggles against the truths of Islam is denial, ignorance, and negation. Even though it may appear to be an affirmation of some sort, it is in reality a negation and thus devoid of any established facts. However, belief is knowledge and is based on established, observable facts: it is an affirmation and an objective judgment. Any aspect of belief which negates its opposites is either a description of a positive truth or a screen upon which that truth is manifested. Even if, despite the extreme difficulties involved, the unbelievers who struggle against belief attempt to affirm their negative beliefs or negation and rejection of belief in the form of the acceptance and affirmation of non-being (the non-existence of God or afterlife or angels or Prophethood and Revelation, for example), then their unbelief can be regarded as nothing more than a form of mistaken knowledge or erroneous judgment. But, non-acceptance and non-affirmation, both of which can be assented to easily and without thinking, are absolute ignorance and a display of a complete lack of judgment.
In short: unbelief is of two kinds:
THE FIRST has no concern with the truths of Islam. It is a personal, erroneous conviction, a false belief, a mistaken acceptance and an unjust judgment. This kind of unbelief is not included in our discussion. It is not relevant to our discourse here and we have no concern with it.
THE SECOND kind opposes the truths of belief and fights against them. This kind of unbelief is itself of two kinds:
The first is non-acceptance. It consists simply of not affirming the truths of belief. It is a kind of ignorance—a sort of “non-judgment”—and as such is something which people fall into easily. This particular sub-branch of unbelief does not concern us here either.
The second sort is the acceptance of non-being. To accept non-being means to confirm the non-existence of the Divine Being or another object of belief. This sort of unbelief is a judgment and a conviction, and involves taking up opposition to belief. Those who take up such opposition are obliged to affirm their unbelief or denial.
As for this sort of denial or negation, again there are two types:
The first type is to deny the truth of any cardinal belief with respect to a particular matter, place, position, or time. This type of denial can be taken into consideration, and it is therefore outside of our discussion.
The second type consists of negating and denying the sacred, basic, and universal truths or matters of belief which concern both this world and the Hereafter, and all times and places. This kind of negation or denial can in no way be substantiated, as we have shown in The First Matter, for there must be a vision that is able to encompass and observe the whole universe, the Hereafter, and all of the past thoroughly.
THE SECOND OBSTACLE AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT
Minds that are absorbed in negligence, sin, and materiality become restricted and narrowed with regard to issues such as Divine Supremacy, Grandeur, and Infinity, and are unable to comprehend extensive or substantive matters. Because of this, they deviate toward denial and negation, puffed up by arrogance on account of the knowledge they believe they possess. Since such people cannot encompass the extremely vast, profound, and comprehensive matters of belief within their spiritually desiccated and narrowed minds or their corrupt and spiritually dead hearts, they throw themselves into unbelief and misguidance and they drown.
If they were able to look at the essence of their unbelief and the true nature of their misguidance, they would see how manifestly absurd and impossible their denial is in comparison with the reasonableness and sublimity of belief. The Risale-i Nur has shown this truth convincingly through its explication of hundreds of comparisons. For example, one who is unable to accept vast truths of belief, such as the absolutely necessary Existence, Pre-eternity, and all-encompassing Attributes of God Almighty simply on account of their sheer grandeur and sublimity, may form a creed of unbelief either by attributing the necessary Existence, Attributes, and Pre-eternity of God to uncountable material beings or atoms or nature or certain concepts such as chance, or like the foolish Sophists, they may even renounce reason by denying and negating both their own existence and that of the universe.
Thus, all of the truths of belief and Islam, issuing from and based on Divine Grandeur and Sublimity, secure their own freedom and that of their essential results from the enormous absurdities, the terrifying superstitions, and the dark ignorance of unbelief that confront them, establishing them in sound hearts and minds through utmost assent and submission.
God’s Grandeur and Sublimity are constantly proclaimed in most of the public symbols or rites of Islam such as the call to Prayer and the Prayers themselves through the phrases like God is the All-Great, God is the All-Great. Also, it is declared in a hadith qudsi (sacred Tradition) that “Sublimity is My robe and Grandeur is My cloak.” In addition, in his invocations, for example, in the eighty-sixth part of al-Jawshanu’l-Kabir, Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, pronounces God’s Grandeur and Sublimity in such an elevated way that it reveals the profundity of his knowledge of God as follows:
O You other than Whose dominion there is no dominion;
O You Whose praise and laudation His servants are unable to fulfill;
O You Whose Majesty His creatures are unable to describe;
O You Whose Essence lies beyond the reach of minds;
O You Whose Perfection visions are unable to comprehend;
O You Whose Attributes intellects are unable to grasp;
O You Whose Grandeur minds are unable to perceive;
O You Whose Qualities of laudation humans are unable to describe;
O You Whose Decree His servants are unable to avert;
O You Whose evidences and signs are manifest in everything
—All-Glorified are You; there is no deity but You—
We seek refuge in You, We seek refuge in You, deliver us from the Fire!
All of these show that Grandeur and Sublimity constitute a necessary veil (before God Almighty and His acts).
Said Nursi