There have been splendid eras in the history of Islam. The time of the four rightly guided Caliphs, the time of Omar bin Abdulaziz, the first 250 years in Andalusia and the first three centuries of the Ottoman Empire were all examples of these splendid eras.
There are two significant points that act as the basis of these successful eras:
The first one was the well-trained ideal Muslims and the second was serving Allah and His Religion.
At these times, educating people and serving Islam were never neglected. Many foundations (waqf) were established and these foundations brought service to humanity to remove their sorrow and misery, and even bringing service to animals with a great enthusiasm of worship.
On the other hand, there were eras of gloom in the history of Islam. There are two significant reasons for these eras of depression: a lack of well-educated Muslims and an insufficient number of foundations …
Therefore, it becomes more necessary to educate ideal people and to establish foundations for hidhmat (service). In the Qur’an, Allah the Almighty describes the efforts and service of these ideal hidhmat people’s as those who give Him a loan:
“And why aileth you that ye spend not in the way of Allah, when unto Allah belongeth the inheritance of the heavens and the earth?”(Qur’an:57/10)
“Who is he that will lend unto Allah a goodly loan, that He may double it for him and his may be a rich reward?”(Qur’an:57/11)
Allah the Almighty encourages the believers to do good deeds, to help others and serve to creatures with these verses from the Qur’an. Of course, Allah has no need to borrow from His servants. In fact, Allah is content in any means.As stated in the verse, everything belongs to Him. And Allah is pleased with the believers who work on the way of Allah and serve the needy with a humble manner and be good examples to others and to the next generations…
Allah wants us to be ideal humans… like Muhajir and Ansar…
THE MUHAJIRS AND ANSARS…
The Muhajirs were brave people who left their homes and countries without any deviation from their faith. On the other hand, the Ansars were monuments of sacrifice who generously spent of their lives and wealth for the Muhajirs… The fortunate people of the Era of Felicity… The architectures of the civilization of virtue…
They were a society who knew Allah and the Prophet of Allah very well. They were a society who constructed a civilization of virtues by taking the spiritual constitution of the Prophet of Allah as their example. Their time was a time of profound contemplation.
They succeeded in eliminating worldly interests, namely, the idols from their hearts by setting tawhid (the oneness of Allah) at the center of their thought and ideals. Wealth and life became a means. The pleasure of faith was obtained. Compassion became boundless. Service became a life style.
They exhibited a personality of sacrifice and Islam. They lived in a state of bidding to do what is right, one which is implied by compassion. They made sacrifices and gained knowledge. They traveled a distance of one month and returned back to understand just one hadith. They did not narrate the hadith that was narrated by one who deceived his horse for fun.
They learned
- Reflection and intense spirituality and,
- Aqrabiyyah (being close to Allah by the profound realization that Allah is closer to us than everything else), seeking the cause of Allah in every moment and breath from the Prophet of Allah.
Thus, good and truth with their complete beauty and evil and the untruth with its complete flagrancy became clear in their hearts.
They lived with a divine scale and understanding about Allah, the universe and the soul. They reflected the lofty state of the Prophet of Allah in every instance like the reflection of the sun in a small mirror. Excessive consumption, gluttony, luxury and ostentation were life styles about which the society and environment of the Prophet’s Companions had no knowledge. They realized that: “Tomorrow, the location of this soul will be the grave”. With this realization, the city state of Medina, which was founded by one thousand five hundred people, became one with a population of one hundred and fifty thousand in just ten years. The borders of the city state of one kilometer reached to Palestine and Iraq.
They reached the ultimate limit that the mind, spirit and soul can reach. They attained nafs al-kamilah by leaving behind nafs al-ammara.They became people who criticized their own souls. The barbarian and Bedouin people of the past gained an angelic-like state. Likewise, the hard-hearted Omar of pre-Islamic time became the softhearted Omar after Islam.
They set Allah and His prophet at the center of friendship. They became the apex of civilization although they had been illiterate. Abdullah bin Mas’ud was an ordinary camel herder. He founded the school of Qufa after he completed his education by the Prophet of Allah. Abu Hanifah and many scholars graduated from this school. They were so educated that Solon and Hammurabi, who were as the world’s most famous jurists, could only be pupils of Abu Hanifah.
These successes and values of the Companions of the Prophet were absolutely dependent on the strength and ardor of the idea of “what Allah wants us to do and in which condition the Prophet of Allah wants to see us”.
These characteristics, their era and their time were illuminated by the light of virtue. An era of felicity was granted to humanity.
This was because they harmoniously and simultaneously used the functions of the mind and the heart that cause the believers to reach spiritual maturity. They kept the reality of ardor and love alive.
They lived with the cognition that this world was a form of examination. Hearts became familiar with the embroideries of the divine magnificence and power. For the sake of al-’amr bil ma’ruf wa al-nahy ‘an al-munkar (bidding to do what is right and lawful, and forbidding what is wrong and unlawful), they went to China and Samarqand and the ones after them went to Andalusia. That ignorant society became of the ones “who really know”. Night turned into day. Winter became spring. Contemplation improved and profound contemplations about the formation of the human being from a drop of water, of a bird from a simple egg and of tree and fruit from an almost non-existent seed began. Life was indexed to the sake of Allah. Compassion, mercy and depth of the performance of true actions reached their zeniths.
For the Sahabah (the Companions of Prophet), the best and most meaningful instances of life were to convey the message of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). The Sahabah thanked a priest who asked for a three-minute delay at the moment of the execution of his punishment and they said: “Thus, we have three minutes to call him to Islam”
In conclusion, they lived with the Qur’an and for the Qur’an and devoted their lives to the Qur’an. They showed unique action; they were subjected to torture, torment and tyranny, but they did not deviate from the values in which they believed. They migrated to live in accordance with the verses bestowed by Allah, abandoning their wealth and homes. They did not abandon the Qur’an, even in the most dangerous instances. Every rule of the religion was a source of limitless pleasure for them. There was always the Qur’an at the center of their lives.
Abu Talha narrated as following:
“One day, I went to the Prophet of Allah. He was bent double from hunger and had put a stone on his stomach to keep his back straight. He was giving a lecture on the Qur’an to the Ashab-i Suffa in this condition. The Sahabah took this characteristic as an example and Medina was filled with Qur’anic scholars.”
Their loyalty, love, ardor and enthusiasm for the Qur’an were so great that a verse revealed was like a feast from the Heavens. All efforts were to understand, live and convey the verses. They preferred praying at night and reading the Qur’an at dawn to sleeping in their beds. Thus, those who passed near their homes heard the sounds of dhikr and recitation of the Qur’an like the buzzing of bees. (Ibn-i Sa’d and Ibn-i Asir)
To sum up, the essence of their virtue and value can only be expressed with the following recognition:
THE EDUCATIONAL MIRACLE OF PROPHET OF ALLAH
One of the most important methodologist of Islamic law, Qarafi, says that:
“Even if the Prophet of Allah had not performed any other miracles than his Companions, they would have been enough to prove the prophethood of the Prophet of Allah.”
Here, with such miraculous characteristics, they performed service in the best way and spent their all efforts to serve the religion of Allah in the best form. To give their own wealth and lives as charity for the sake of Allah was a pleasure for them.
Supporting this, the All-Compassionate Creator says “…and those who followed them in goodness…” (Qur’an:9/100). In other words, the All-Compassionate Creator mentions those who follow the way of the Muhajirs and Ansars by taking them as an example; those who share the goodness of the holy Sahabah compliment and appreciate them.
To attain this compliment, it is necessary to live a life worthy of Our Prophet, the Muhajirs and the Ansars. What has Allah given us as capital? Our minds, intelligence, and physical and spiritual powers… It is necessary to use these in serving the sake of Allah. Concerning the measure of this, the All-Compassionate Creator states the following:
“By no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which ye love” (Qur’an:3/92)
Man gives to one who he loves as much as he loves. Thence, we should ask: How much do we love Our Lord?
The following question should contain our answer:
HOW MUCH CAN WE GIVE FOR ALLAH?
In the Qur’an, it is indicated that we should pray: “Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear!”(Qur’an:2/286).
Our Lord states in the first part of the same verse: “On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear.”
This means that the All-Compassionate Creator does not place a burden greater than our strength, but He wants us to do as much as we can. He places a burden as great as we are able to bear.
If this is so, then it is necessary to give to charity whatever the All-Compassionate Creator has given to us.
We will give from what we have, be it physical, economical or intellectual... Not only from the physical things we have, but from every possession and all the bounties we have…
About this, it is stated in a verse:
“And on that Day you will most surely be called to account for [what you did with] the boon of life!” (Qur’an:102/8)
To go through that accounting with a good name it is a must to fulfill His call and service with every possession that He has given us. Concerning service, a believer should not seek any excuse; rather, they should seek for opportunities to serve. Namely, in every case, it is must to be in search of “which possession has Allah given to me and how I can serve the sake of Allah with this possession?”
In our times, there is a great need for service and service organizations. To be with the homeless, poor and orphaned with compassion and mercy as well as educating ideal personalities, the greatest needs of humanity, is the most important service in our time. This is because, today, humanity is lacking in terms of moral and humanitarian characteristics and this is because every beauty, virtue and divine feeling is somehow under the tyranny of the nafs and Satan. Namely:
SATAN IS A PARTY TO MANY THINGS…
In the Holy Qur’an, when describing how Satan disturbs human beings, it is said that he becomes a party to the wealth and offspring of negligent people. (Qur’an:17/64)
Is not Satan a party to wealth? What kind of commercial life is there? In what kind of capitalist trap has society fallen? How do enormous possessions come into existence? Consumed, oppressed, weak people… Capitalism is a tyrannical system. Every means, both legal and illegal, is being sacrificed for that system. There is an expression that explains unfairness and tyranny: “Survival of the fittest”. Today, this approach controls almost the entire economic system, that is, it is tyrannical capitalism. This is a commercial approach in which Satan is a shareholder.
In the verse above, it is stated that Satan is a party to offspring in addition to wealth/commerce. Satan has a share in all of today’s traps and dangers that lay in wait for children, doesn’t he? Today, there are so many things that beckon to our children… Foremost, the harmful media programs take a share of our children. Children are educated by television and the internet.
What about the streets? To what degree do the streets give positive or negative energy? The answer is obvious. How much does the education system spiritually train or damage them? The answer to this is obvious as well.
Thus, today, the importance of educating ideal human beings and of fulfilling service is very important. In other words, the main service is to inoculate health into the spirits and hearts and to hand life jackets to those who are about to drown spiritually.
Regarding educating ideal people, we have to start first with our children, as the religion will continue with them and they are the future. If the future generations are not educated properly, religion will die away. All these factors are connected to one another. Observe the world! There are many lessons to be seen.
Today, to save future generations and to educate them ideally has become an urgent religious obligation. To be able to educate a generation that is made up of believers, which serves Allah and follows the Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions is necessary, at least in terms of the future.
those who Keep the societies alive are the ideal people...
People admire character and personality. They follow those who have a strong character or personality. They imitate such aspects. Understanding without an example is impossible. With an example, the good and the bad become clear. So, when a prophet came to a people everyone would admire his demeanor, the behavior, the character and personality of the prophet. Everyone would say “This person is the most righteous person” or “this person would never lie”. Consequently, all of society follows that person as an example.
For this reason, particularly during the jahiliyya times, Allah Almighty sent prophets to humanity. Societies attained peace and salvation through these ideal people who were the peak of humanity. It was almost as if they were lifted from the depths of the Indian Ocean to the highest peaks of Everest. Although the world experiences constant manifestations of wisdom, divine lessons and knowledge, whenever it falls into the pitch of the jahiliyya it is in greater need of the divine breath to extricate itself.
Yesterday, the divine breath that cured the age of the ferocious jahiliyya and turned it into an asr al-saadat (time of happiness) was Prophet Muhammad; today the breath that will save the world is his breath of mercy.
Today, the world is once again in a state of jahiliyya. All of humanity is again in need of the prophet, who was a “mercy to the worlds”. During the French Revolution, Lafayette called out to our Prophet in the following words:
“O, great man! No one yet in the world has realized the justice that you have delivered”
Actually this lament was a search for the ideal man. If Lafayette had known him better, he would have thrown himself on the threshold of hidaya. He himself would have been an ideal human; everyone who affiliated with the prophet with love and drank from his kauthar of life, hidaya, morality and worship became an ideal and exceptional person. They lived with the endeavor of nurturing people. For this reason they did not die, even after bidding farewell to this world. Like Rumi...
Year 2007 was announced as the year of Rumi. According to a proposition from Unesco, 2007 became the year of Rumi. Why? Because, people who are drowning in today’s jahiliyya are in search of an ideal human who will show them safe passage. Rumi is the right name. It should be stated that Islam has raised the most ideal humans in this world. Those who are looking for ideal humans can protect the dignity of their humanity in correlation to what they find. If these ideal humans are not found and new ones are not raised, societies cannot continue their existence within a frame of good identity. For this reason:
RUMI CONSTANTLY searched for the ideal human
Rumi narrates:
“It was night time. I left home. I wandered in the fields. I saw a man going around with a lantern. I asked: ‘What are you looking for in the dark of the night?’ He replied: ‘I’m looking for a human.’ I said to him: ‘Pity! You are tiring yourself for naught... I left my homeland and still cannot find him. Go home... go to bed and do as you please. Your search is useless; you will not find him anywhere!’
The man looked with grief and said: ‘I too know that I will not find him. But, even searching him with yearning gives me pleasure. It eases me to know that what I am looking for is him... ’”
Mentioning the attributes of an ideal person, this time Mevlana tells us the same story with a difference:
“Once upon a time there was a man whose heart was ablaze with love. During the daytime, he would go around the marketplace with a lantern in his hand. Someone asked him: ‘What are you looking, searching in every shop with a lantern in your hand at midday? What are you looking for with a candle in daylight? Are you making fun of people? What is wrong with you?’
He replied: ‘I am looking for the genuine man who is full of the divine breath. Actually, I am looking for a human whose heart is full of the divine gift!’
The other man asked: ‘Is there such a person?’
Another person who heard this said: ‘O free sage! Do you not see that this market, these shops are full of men?’ The man with the lantern replied: ‘I am looking for the person who does not rage when he is furious and wrathful when standing at the crossroads, for the person who can contain himself and stand against all kinds of worldly desires when he is in the hands of desire and lust!
‘Where is the man who can contain himself and be patient when he is furious or driven by lust? I am looking for such a man in every street and every neighborhood. Show me the man who can resist, withstand and show patience against these feelings (fury and lust) and I will give my life for him!’”
As long as the search for the ideal human continues, they will exist, new ones will be raised and societies will continue to exist. Societies are always in need of ideal humans. Today the most important struggle is to raise ideal humans. Such a person is a servant to “Haq” and attains the manner of looking at the creation with the Creator’s vision… It is necessary to raise a human being that delivers compassion and kindness... To raise a human who will turn misery into happiness, ease the agony of the suffering and grant healing to worn out hearts...
The ebbs and tides of life weakened the values that are essential for an ideal human and many grave matters have subsided.
Although it is a divine order, the brotherhood of religion has weakened. It is a religious and a conscientious obligation to ask oneself the questions: “How can I serve my brother/sister, what is my obligation to him/her? How can I fulfill this order?” But people are living a brotherhood that belongs only to good moments and comfortable times. The brotherhood of hard times is forgotten. This has weakened when it is most necessary for relieving the pain of our siblings. The weakened condition of the ideal human is the seal of this bond.
On the other hand, good conduct has weakened. Yet, religion is conduct. The model of the Qur’an and Sunnah should reflect on every aspect and every moment of our lives.
As each day is torn out from the calendar of our lives we should question ourselves, asking “How much for myself and how much for others today?” Unfortunately today, family life, commercial life, economic life and social life have also weakened.
As a result, the idea of taking responsibility or sharing a brother’s burden has weakened. Sacrifice has decreased. This is all because the concept and structure of the ideal human has weakened.
The number of real and living ideal humans has declined. Perseverance, ideals and virtues have been buried in comfort and ease. About this Ikbal says: “Throw yourself onto the grindstone.”
Muhammad Ikbal, the intellectual founder of Pakistan, tells a story that draws attention to the point at which an ideal human is matured with grief and suffering and through difficulty and trials:
“A gazelle pouring out his grief to another gazelle said: ‘I have had enough of the wickedness of these hunters. They lie in ambush in meadows and follow our tracks day and night. From now on I will live in the Ka’ba. Hunting is forbidden in Mecca. I will live and graze there. I want to be safe from the worry of hunters. I want a moment of peace in my heart!... ’
The wise and experienced gazelle that was listening to this said:
‘O my clever friend! If you want to live, live in danger! Throw yourself on the grindstone; live sharper than a sword that is from clean metal. Danger tests strength. (Dangers, anguish and calamities test your character, personality and belief.) This strife will show you what the body and soul is capable of’”
Sufyan as-Sawri relates this truth as follows: “It is more profitable for you to go to Horasan and make tabligh than to live in Mecca.”
Although it may seem like a threat to the tranquility of this world to live a life feeling sorrow for the pain of others, to go through difficulty and anguish is a blessing for the hereafter.
On the other hand, not caring about pain and anguish and being drowned in comfort and ease is actually not real comfort, but a danger that will diminish our eternal share. Allah Almighty warns us against this danger:
“Spend your wealth for the cause of Allah, and be not cast by your own hands to ruin!” (Qur’an:2/195)
This is the measure for the ideal human!
All calamities turn into benefaction where there is an ideal human who has been raised within these measures. Abundance replaces privation. Unease submits to peace.
Wickedness yields to good. Satan and the self are imprisoned in labyrinths of weakness. The roads to hell are blocked and the roads to heaven are opened wide. In short, the ideal human bears tomorrows ideal.
If an upcoming generation is raised within the measures of an ideal human, not spending its strength with brute force or selfish pleasures and faces Haq, for them is the best of futures. That generation’s society has a bright future. But if youth is overtaken by brute force and selfish pleasures then the future is dark.
Accordingly; If we love our religion, if we want to protect our iman, we need to raise a beautiful generation. It has to be a generation that makes us proud and puts our hearts at ease when we look back so that we will have a beautiful smile on our face!
