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As it was common sense to live in an Islamic way in the era of Salaf al-Salihin (the righteous predecessors of the first generations of Islam), everybody had beliefs even though some of these were imitative. Thus it was sufficient for those people to speak about the existence of Allah and His Uniqueness, about the existence of heaven and its happy life and blessings to encourage them towards prayer and it was sufficient to speak about hell and its torments to keep them away from sins. The ego, senses and feelings couldn’t be strengthened enough by sins and indulgence to take the mind and the soul under the cover of their tyranny. So, a little lesson like this could have been beneficial for them.
But nowadays, one to ten or one to twenty people may get benefits from that kind of lesson in such an era of perversion originating from unbelief and scientific claims, and an era of stubbornness originating from indulgence and immorality. If he gets benefits from this kind of a lesson, he returns and says “Allah is All Forgiving and Merciful. He will excuse our sins. And Hell is still far away”. Then he continues to commit sins.
Well, humankind is addicted to sudden bounty. If someone asks a question like “Do you prefer a spoonful of honey at the moment or do you prefer a jar of honey one year later?”
He prefers the present spoonful of honey by the lure of his feelings. Humankind also prefers a future one year sorrow of imprisonment in order to escape from a present pain of a slap or an overnight surveillance. Not only does man prefer present pleasure, but he also escapes from present sorrow.
It is not obviously demonstrated by the kind of lessons given in the era of Salaf al-Salihin that heaven and heavenly pleasures and happiness could be experienced even in this world through belief and prayer, and hell and hellish torments are present inside unbelief and sins.
But Risale-i Nur proves it and makes the Muslim realise that belief contains heaven and prayers contain heavenly pleasures. Also it proves in a reasonable way that unbelief contains hell and sins contain hellish torments, and non-believer lives their whole lives in hellish misery.
BELIEF MAKES MAN INTO MAN
For example, “Belief makes man into man; indeed, it makes man into a king. Hence, man’s basic duty is belief and supplication. Unbelief makes man into an extremely weak beast.” Let us discuss the sentence and, at the same time, one of many realities of the verse through the window of the Risale-i Nur.
“Allah is the protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness (depths of unbelief) he will lead them forth into light (faith). Of those who reject faith the patrons are the Taghut (evil) ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depth of darkness. They will be companions of the Fire to dwell therein (forever).” (Al-Baqarah, 257)
Well, unbelief and denial of non-believers make certain that death would be an edict of execution in their eyes; because, non-believer does not believe in the resurrection and the afterlife. As they believe the sick philosophy that “humankind comes onto this world as plants, they grow they live and they pass away”, they assume that this deportation is an execution and inexistence.
However it is known that, if someone is told he will be executed in five years time and has no chance of amnesty, the situation will be a source of misery and torment for the man whenever he remembers the execution during those five years. He certainly lives the torment of execution thousands of times a day. Pleasures, ornaments and wealth of this world can not overcome his misery and can not give him happiness.
As it is stated in the Risale-i Nur, “a man about to be executed can not enjoy the beauties of the decorations of the gallows.” As it is so, the denial implies that death would be an edict of execution for the non-believer, even for his relatives and loved ones, even for all humankind, even for all creatures, even for the entire universe.
As known that humankind gets happy and joyful for the joy and happiness of his beloveds, so he suffers for the sorrow of his beloveds. As the non-believer suffers every time from inexistence by the thought of his own death, he also suffers from the inexistence of his whole relatives and all the humankind and all the creatures and the entire universe.
BELIEF PROVIDES HEAVEN IN BOTH WORLDS
As if the unbelief loads the whole universe with the sorrow of inexistence of all the creatures, then it fills that sorrow into the mind and the heart of non-believer. This makes him feel hellish torments because of his unbelief as long as he lives.
It is mentally and logically impossible to refuse that unbelief has a consequence like that. Thus Risale-i Nur shows everybody if they didn’t lose their minds that unbelief presently contains the hell and hellish torments inside of them. And it becomes a means of salvation originating from the Qur’an for the people who didn’t lose their minds to renounce from unbelief.
Non-believer usually plunges himself into extravagant pleasures or drunkenness to escape from the sorrow and torment of unbelief. Or he tries to numb his mind. Even, they consider it as the greatest insult to remind the death to them, since this would remind all the inexistence one day they would encounter.
Belief, on the other hand, proves that the death is an acquittal from execution for the believer. And Risale-i Nur shows to that believer that his beloveds, relatives and friends, and also all the creatures and the entire universe are saved from inexistence through his belief. As the belief causes that believer to earn the heaven in the afterlife, it also provides heavenly pleasures to believer in this world as long as he lives.
So as belief causes the believer to earn heaven, it bears the seed of a Tuba Tree of Heaven. Even so it bears the seed of the heaven itself. It takes place in the heart of the believer as a heaven, and makes him to enjoy the pleasures and happiness of the heaven. But unbelief, as it bears the seed of a Zaqqum Tree of Hell, it results the hell, so it holds a hell in itself. Then it bothers that unbeliever by hellish torments even in this world.
Consequently, when we appreciate the Risale-i Nur, we will find that all the debates and judgments on belief and unbelief are carried out in this way. We have tried to show a little drop of samples to reflect that ocean. Only one sign is enough for a wise man.
Oh, Allah! Make us to love the belief and make it the ornament of our hearts. Empower us against unbelief and sins and denial. Keep us away from them. Amen
Amen
Bi hurmeti seyyidil murselin.
(By the honour of the greatest of all messengers)