Mawlana Sheikh Mehmed Adil. Translations.

Our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: المُؤمِنُ يَألَفُ وَيُؤْلَفُ The believer is someone who gets along well with others and who others get along well with. That is an exemplary Muslim. A Muslim is someone who does not harm other people and lives in peace with them. Rebelliousness has no place in Islam. Harming people is not allowed. The attribute of Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, is mercy. The attributes of the believer should correspond to the attributes of Allah, the Almighty and Exalted. He should be merciful, generous, and help people. That is the true Islam. Islam is not what is portrayed badly. It is the hypocrites and non-Muslims who do such things. The merciless, who know no mercy, are the hypocrites. On the one hand, they appear merciful. On the other hand, they inflict all kinds of evil on people without compassion. Therefore, a Muslim should not resemble them. The role models of a Muslim are the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his companions, the scholars, and the friends of Allah. One should follow their path and emulate them for the benefit of people. If one resembles the disbelievers and the merciless, what benefit is there? None. The most important thing is our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, he is the one who shows us the way. He is the best human being. Among all creatures, our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is the most honorable. We must follow him and become like him. As best as we can. Therefore, we must live together with people in kindness. With family, children, one should treat everyone well and live in kindness. This is the command of our Prophet, a beautiful command. Instead of living in rebelliousness all the time, one lives in peace and beauty in this way. Cultivate good relationships with people. That way, your own life will also be fulfilled. That is Islam. Islam commands nothing other than kindness and beauty. May Allah not let us follow our ego. May we follow the path of Islam and our Prophet, inshaAllah. May it be so forever, inshaAllah.

And the sun runs [on course] toward its stopping point. That is the determination of the Almighty, the All-Knowing. (36:38) And the moon - We have determined for it phases, until it returns [appearing] like the old date stalk. (36:39) Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, speaks to us, to mankind and jinn, to all who possess understanding. It is often said that many people live like grass, indeed, there are actually people who go through life so thoughtlessly. "Where do you come from, where are you going?" - These questions do not interest them at all, they do not care. Where did we come from? Some people ask this. "Where do we come from, where are we going?" We came from Allah, the Almighty and Exalted. To Him we return. From Him to Him. "From Hayy to Hu", as they say. People sometimes misunderstand this, they think it means "from nothing to nothing". As if they meant "came from nothing, went to nothing". But it is not like that. Hayy is Allah, the Almighty and Exalted. And Hu is also He. From Him to Him. There is no other destination. The whole universe came from Him and returns to Him. In the Holy Quran, it says they "hasten". All - the moon, the stars, the sun - they all move in one direction. Allah has given mankind certain sciences. The earth moves at many thousands of kilometers per hour. Together with the sun, hundreds of thousands of kilometers, and with the galaxy, even millions of kilometers per hour. Where is everything moving? Where did it come from, where is it going? People ask these questions. It comes from the power of Allah and returns to His power. It moves ceaselessly forward. There are also old, wise sayings. They say: "We are all sitting in the same boat and sailing towards the Day of Judgment." The Day of Judgment means standing before Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, inshaAllah. People should prepare themselves for that. They should know that it is not meaningless, not just a "back and forth". It is "Hayy" and "Hu". Not "back and forth", but "Hayy" and "Hu". From Him we came, to Him we return. Therefore, they should not waste their lives, not squander their days. They should neither cause suffering to other people, nor to themselves or their families. For all of this, they will have to answer. Faith is important. Faith is the most beautiful thing, and if Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, has gifted it to us, we must thank Him a million times over. Man is not an animal. But sometimes an animal stands at a higher level than some people, because it knows Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, and praises Him. Everything praises Allah, the Almighty and Exalted. Everything bows to His greatness. This world is moving towards Allah. Everything has an end. This end will be with Allah, the Almighty and Exalted. May Allah give us all faith and understanding, inshaAllah.

Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. (14:4) Allah, the Exalted, guides whom He wills to the right path. To some, He does not grant it. Whom He does not will, He does not grant guidance. The grace, generosity, and wisdom of Allah, the Exalted, are limitless. His secrets are endless. And you have not been given of knowledge except a little. (17:85) "You have only been given a little knowledge," says Allah, the Exalted. Knowledge is an endless ocean. People do two or three things and believe they are the smartest and wisest. That is not so. The knowledge of Allah, the Exalted, is limitless, unrestricted. Therefore, guidance is the most important thing. While Allah, the Exalted, values His guided servants, He does not value those who act arrogantly, do not acknowledge Allah, and reject the religion. Whoever it may be, even if the whole world were in his hands, his worth is not worth a penny. Therefore, the person to whom Allah grants guidance has attained a great favor. It is a great and beautiful gift from Allah. Guidance is Allah's gift to people. There can be nothing greater for guided people. Allah's wisdom is unfathomable. Allah's works are unfathomable. Some people talk bombastically. The confused are one thing, a confused person speaks as he pleases; but those who think they are clever and tell people "it is such and such"... Whoever interferes in Allah's matters and judges Allah arbitrarily brings no benefit. Such a person brings harm, not benefit. May Allah protect us from that. The important thing is that the guided person is grateful for Allah's grace and generosity and His mercy. This is the most important thing. One must be grateful to Allah. May Allah keep us steadfast on this path.

Indeed, Allah does not wrong the people (10:44). Whoever does righteousness, it is for his own soul; and whoever does evil, it is against it (41:46). Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, does not wrong anyone. May Allah protect us. Wrongdoing is not among the attributes of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. The attributes of Allah are goodness, mercy, patience, and all other excellent attributes. Wrongdoing and other bad attributes, may Allah protect us, are not befitting for Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. Our religious books clearly state which attributes belong to Allah and which do not. Wrongdoing is an attribute of the devil. It is the attribute of those who follow him. The greatest wrongdoing is the wrongdoing that a person inflicts upon himself, nothing else. Allah has gifted humankind and created them so that they may worship Him. But they abandon that and worship themselves, they adore themselves. Instead of worshiping Allah, they worship their own ego. By doing so, they commit wrongdoing, they inflict wrongdoing upon themselves. Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, is in need of no one and nothing. For He is the Creator. He is the Creator of this universe. We are not even like a speck of dust in this universe. And He has honored us, "And We have certainly honored the children of Adam" (17:70), so Allah says in the Holy Quran. "We have honored humankind, elevated and exalted them." Even the Earth is only like a speck of dust in this universe. In truth, it is not even like a speck of dust in Allah’s realm. Allah has honored us so much, has exalted us so much. But we ignore this. As if Allah were in need of our worship. And when people pray or perform other deeds, they take pleasure in it and believe they have accomplished something great. Allah has honored you, and your honor lies in performing your acts of worship. But know that whether your ego likes it or not, the worship that you perform, you do for your own benefit. The benefit is for no one but yourself; Allah does not need it. May Allah protect us! Everything is in His Hand. Allah has granted you this honor. Whoever does not do this, inflicts wrongdoing upon himself. The greatest oppressor is the person who oppresses himself. And unfortunately, most people do this. They judge hastily. They presume to judge, "This is so, that is so." "We are clever, we know everything," they say. Who are you to consider yourself so important? Not even the Earth is like a speck of dust in this universe. What are you then? Whoever turns to Allah is elevated. Whoever turns away from Him is humiliated. These are the verses that Allah has revealed. If a person does wrong, he does it to himself. May Allah protect us from that. May Allah guide humankind. People who think they are clever have no true wisdom as long as their minds are not on the path of Allah. May Allah protect us.

He will say, "Oh, I wish I had sent ahead [some good] for my life." (89:24) Man often regrets the things he hasn't done, saying, "If only I had done that." There are two things that a person regrets. Every worldly-oriented person, whether Muslim, believer, or non-believer, says: "If only I had done that, then I would be in a better position now." "If we had bought this property five years ago, we would have earned so much." "If we had invested in the stock market, we would have gained so much." Now there is this thing called cryptocurrency, and they regret: "If only we had invested, then we would have earned so much." This kind of regret brings absolutely nothing. Because it was not your destiny. Now you come to your senses, back then you had different thoughts. Man must understand this. Even if someone had told you in that moment: "Do this, do that," you wouldn't have done it. To say afterwards "If only we had done it this way or that way" is a useless regret. It brings absolutely nothing. The useful regret is the following: "If only we hadn't been so attached to worldly things, if only we had prayed more, if only we hadn't missed prayers, if only we hadn't neglected fasting." If you regret not following Allah's commands or doing bad things, Allah the Exalted will forgive you. If you ask for forgiveness, Allah forgives. That really brings something. If you regret worldly things and say, "We didn't do this, we didn't do that," it only makes you more unhappy and desperate. You just sigh: "Oh!" "If only we had done it." "Look how much this person earned, what all he has achieved." You can regret it as much as you want, this opportunity will not come again. What can be changed are the bad deeds - regret them and ask for forgiveness if you have wronged others. If you have wronged no one, ask Allah for forgiveness. If you repent for your sins, then it brings something. They will be erased. Good deeds will be recorded in their place. This is a mercy and grace of Allah the Exalted for people, and the reasonable person pays attention to it. He does not grieve over worldly things. For things that have not happened, you simply say: "It is over." As our late uncle Ahmed used to say: "The market in Bor is over, drive the donkey to Niğde." This market is over, go somewhere else. Earn somewhere else, if you can, but for the hereafter, there is always a chance. For that you should repent, ask Allah for forgiveness, and He will forgive. May Allah forgive us all, inshaAllah.

O Allah, do not hold us accountable for what the foolish among us have done. This is a wise saying. We reject the actions of the wrongdoers. Do not punish us like them. We implore Allah. For in the time of the Prophet Moses, an entire people was punished, even if only one committed a sin. Thanks be to Allah, this no longer happens today, through the grace of our Prophet. Nevertheless, a shadow hangs over us due to the misdeeds committed. What is our duty? We must reject evil. Our Prophet, peace be upon him, teaches: If you can change it with your hand, then do it. If you do not have the strength for that, then admonish with words: 'This is not good, do not do that.' And if even that is not possible, then at least reject it in your heart and think: 'This is reprehensible, I do not agree with it, I do not want that.' Of course, intervening with one's hand is impossible nowadays. Even trying to achieve something with words - it is pointless. They do not even want to hear it. For they consider their evil deeds to be good. They believe their transgressions against Allah and humanity are righteous. Therefore, a conversation with them is pointless. The least we can do is reject it in our hearts and not accept what we see. For they have managed to make it seem normal, and people are slowly getting used to it. But everyone should recognize the obvious evil as evil. One must recognize good as good in order to attain Allah's pleasure. This is the lowest level. A Muslim must at least be able to say in their heart: 'This is evil, this is forbidden, this is not right.' He must know that. He must be able to distinguish between what is forbidden and what is permissible. He must not accept what is forbidden. May Allah protect us from that. May Allah guide us. People commit all kinds of evil and are even proud of it. May Allah grant us reason and reflection. May Allah guide us. May Allah protect us and preserve our faith, inshaAllah. May Allah protect us from such conditions.

Allah the Exalted created mankind. For their moral development and education, Allah sent prophets. Allah sent the prophets so that the wildness in people would disappear and they would instead develop good character traits. What does wildness in a person mean? The ego is like a wildly growing tree – you have to prune and cultivate it so that a person bears fruit and becomes useful. If you don’t, the ego will do everything it can to make a person think they are better or special. Pharaoh said, "I am your greatest god." That means he considered the others to be little gods when he said, "I am your greatest." That's how the ego is; the human ego considers itself to be a god. Mawlana Sheikh Nazim said, “If the ego were given free rein, everyone could claim like Pharaoh: ‘I am your highest god.’” Pharaoh was given this power, but others were not – that's why they can't do it. But if the opportunity were there, the ego could make anyone act like Pharaoh. That's why you have to educate your ego. Nowadays, however, it's said that no matter how much you inflate and praise your ego, it’s never enough. "There is no one better than me." That’s how the ego wants to present itself everywhere. It wants people to see everything it does. Oh you foolish being, oh you thoughtless person, what do you gain if they see it? It will not benefit you, it will harm you. The things you show are useless; they will bring you both the evil eye and misfortune. And it will bring others sorrow, envy, and jealousy. It brings nothing else. Therefore, the more a person educates their ego, the more useful it is for them. The more they inflate and exalt their ego, the greater the harm they suffer. What does it bring you if everyone says, “You are so special, you are so great”? When you die and leave, it will bring you no benefit. It will bring you harm. May Allah protect us from the evil of our ego. To believe that people who show off have achieved something great, and to want to imitate them, is nothing but pure foolishness. A wise person knows their measure and their limits. We are weak servants in the hand of Allah. No matter how strong a person may appear – they can claim what they want, ultimately they remain weak. You have to know that. You must be a servant of Allah. Our necks are in the hand of Allah, the Exalted. He takes us when He wants, brings us where He wants. May Allah assist us. May Allah protect us from following our ego and making fools of ourselves through foolishness. And may Allah not divert us from His path, inshaAllah.

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. (24:35) The light belongs to Allah, the Almighty and Exalted. He bestows the light upon the believers. They receive from His light. From the light of our Prophet, Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, created this universe. Light is faith, and whoever has no faith has no light. Among people, light is the sign of faith. It is, so to speak, the proof of faith. In an unbelieving person you will not find it. Whether white or black, whoever is a believer, even if he is dark-skinned, his face will shine brightly. Through the light of Allah, the Almighty and Exalted. Allah has bestowed this grace in this world upon the believers, but the unbelievers are not aware of it. Only the believers are aware of it. Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, has proclaimed through our Prophet, peace be upon him, that the light is with the believers. How can the unbelievers know about the light? They know nothing. They just live on, it was not granted to them. Whoever is granted it should be grateful. It is good to emulate the believers. Whoever tries to be like the believers will have a share in this light. He receives from their light. This light leads people to bliss. Allah is the Creator of all things. With Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, lies the wisdom. Everything lies with Him. He created people so that they would believe in the unseen. The people who believe in the unseen are granted the light of faith. This light will protect them from darkness in the Hereafter. And in this world, it also protects them with Allah's permission. Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, created everyone and wished that they would believe; but people were given free will. This too is among the secrets of His wisdom. Not even our imagination can approach Allah's secrets and His knowledge. Allah does not wrong anyone, He gives to those who ask for it. He has given the will so that man may strive for the light with this will. We cannot understand the secret of this wisdom. Whoever wants it can receive it. Some people always come up with 'ifs and buts' and look for excuses. Their excuses are invalid. They have no value. "Ask for the light," it is said. Also, Mawlana Sheikh Nazim said recently: "Ask for the light!" May Allah grant us light. Light means faith, means goodness, means the most beautiful. May Allah give us all of this light, inshaAllah. May Allah illuminate all our hearts.

The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception. (3:185) The earthly life, Allah the Exalted says, is nothing more than a game and a distraction. The worldly life has no true value. As Allah the Exalted says, we may live in this world, but it has no lasting value. For the world is not permanent. What is not permanent has no true value. For this world, people wage wars, kill each other, and inflict suffering on one another. That too has no value whatsoever. The Hereafter has value. What is truly valuable in this world are the houses of Allah the Exalted. The Kaaba in Mecca, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Wherever there are mosques, they are valuable before Allah. These are the valuable things in this world. Outside of that, the world has no value whatsoever. It has no standing. These holy sites - the mosques and houses of worship - although they are on Earth, actually belong to the Hereafter. All these holy sites - be it the Prophet's Mosque, peace and blessings be upon him, the other mosques and houses of worship, the Dergahs or the Turbahs of the saints - they all exist for Allah's pleasure. Since they are not meant for the world, they make up the true value on Earth. Neither skyscrapers nor cities... Nor palaces... None of that has any value with Allah the Exalted. And it should not have any for people either. But people do the opposite: they do not value what is valuable. They value what is worthless. People leave their homes without it being necessary and go elsewhere, just chasing after the world, just for worldly things. However, if the place where you live prevents you from practicing your religion, then Allah's earth is vast, and you can go to another place. But to leave for a more luxurious life, for worldly gain, that means chasing after the worldly. That brings no benefit. Allah is not pleased with that. Allah provides sustenance everywhere. Wherever one is, Allah provides sustenance. Therefore, pay attention to the things that concern the Hereafter. People say to themselves: "I must go somewhere else to live better." Allah is the Provider. Allah gives you your sustenance wherever you are. If you still want to emigrate, you have to be careful. "Will my religion be preserved?" "Will I remain true to my faith?" "Will my children remain true to the faith?" "If my children remain faithful, will my grandchildren also?" - this is what one must pay attention to. Wherever a person goes, he should always stay in the places that Allah the Exalted loves. Mosques, Dergahs, houses of worship... Wherever they are in the world, that is where one should seek refuge. Allah will help. Allah will protect, inshaAllah. May Allah help all Muslims, inshaAllah. May we preserve our faith. May the faith of our children and descendants be preserved, inshaAllah.

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (51:56) I do not want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me. (51:57) Many people, indeed most, do not know why Allah the Exalted created us and what the purpose of our creation is. Allah the Exalted says: "I have only created mankind and jinn to worship Me." That is the wisdom behind it. Whoever understands this does not rack their brains and does not fall into despair. Whoever does not understand this leads a life without true benefit. Sometimes they even take their own lives and think: 'I don't understand the meaning of this life, I suddenly came into this world' and wander around as if there is no one and nothing in this world. They do not know that Allah the Exalted exists. They must believe in Allah. If they believe in Allah, all good will come to them. But whoever is without faith, who has no idea of anything, acts as a denier and still expects good. Where is good supposed to come from for you? Even if the whole world belonged to you, you could not free yourself from this distress. To be freed from distress, you must worship Allah. Worship means to honor Allah the Exalted. You must also honor the Prophet to lead a life of wisdom. In a life without wisdom, there is nothing of significance. Many people say to their parents: "Why did you bring me into this world?" May Allah forgive us! Your parents did not bring you here, Allah the Exalted created you. He only chose them as a means. The only thing you should do towards them is to respect them. You should treat them with reverence for the sake of Allah. People who live only for worldly things do wrong to their parents and insult them. The fault lies with themselves. If Allah the Exalted had not created you, how could your parents have brought you forth? Is it easy to create a human being? There is no creator other than Allah the Exalted. Allah the Exalted creates when He wills, and that is how you come into the world. There is nothing else than this. If Allah says "Be not", it will not be. If Allah says "Be", then it will be. That too one must know. That is the wisdom of life: We were created to worship Allah; to worship Him in devotion. Worldly matters are not of great importance. The essential thing is a person's understanding of the purpose of his creation: We are here to worship Allah the Exalted. In this certainty lies true peace of mind. Otherwise there is no peace. One runs here and there. One does this and that. But one sees that there is no rest, no contentment in the heart. How does one attain contentment? Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured. (13:28) Contentment comes through the remembrance of Allah the Exalted, through constant remembrance of Him. May Allah guide us all, all of humanity. May they follow this beautiful path; Allah has opened this path for everyone. It is not that it is only for you or only for me - anyone who wants to can take this path and find peace, Allah willing.