Dokuzuncu Mektup/en: Revizyonlar arasındaki fark

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    In His Name, be He glorified! And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.(17:44)
    بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ وَ اِن۟ مِن۟ شَى۟ءٍ اِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَم۟دِهٖ
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    [Again part of a letter he sent to the same sincere student of his.]
    (Yine o hâlis talebesine gönderdiği mektubun bir parçasıdır.)
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    '''Secondly:''' Your success, endeavour, and eagerness in spreading the lights of the  Qur’an are a divine bestowal, a wonder of the Qur’an, a dominical (rabbânî) favour. I congratulate  you! Now that we have come to  a discussion of wonder- working, bestowal, and favour, I shall tell you one of the differences between wonder- working and bestowal. It is like this:
    '''Sâniyen:''' Neşr-i envar-ı Kur’aniyedeki muvaffakiyetin ve gayretin ve şevkin, bir ikram-ı İlahîdir belki bir keramet-i Kur’aniyedir bir inayet-i Rabbaniyedir. Sizi tebrik ediyorum. Keramet ve ikram ve inayetin bahsi geldiği münasebetiyle, keramet ve ikramın bir farkını söyleyeceğim. Şöyle ki:
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    So long as there is no necessity for it, to display wonder-working is harmful. Whereas  to make known bestowal is to make known a divine bounty.
    Kerametin izharı, zaruret olmadan zarardır. İkramın izharı ise bir tahdis-i nimettir.
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    If someone honoured with wonder-working knowingly manifests an extraordinary matter and his evil-commanding soul is persistent, then since he relies on himself and on his soul and what he has disclosed and falls  into pride, it may be that Almighty God is drawing him on by at first granting him success.
    Eğer keramet ile müşerref olan bir şahıs, bilerek hârika bir emre mazhar olursa o halde eğer nefs-i emmaresi bâki ise kendine güvenmek ve nefsine ve keşfine itimat etmek ve gurura düşmek cihetinde istidrac olabilir.
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    If he displays a wondrous act unknowingly; for  example, a person has an unvoiced question and  involuntarily he gives an appropriate answer and afterwards realizes this, it  increases his confidence, not in himself but in his Lord and Sustainer. He says: “I have a Preserver who is training me better than I could myself,” and this increases his reliance on God. It is a harmless sort of wonder-working. He is not obliged to conceal it but should not  advertize it intentionally, because of pride. For since it is apparently associated with the  human power to act, he may ascribe it to himself.
    Eğer bilmeyerek hârika bir emre mazhar olursa mesela, birisinin kalbinde bir sual var, intak-ı bi’l-hak nevinden ona muvafık bir cevap verir; sonra anlar. Anladıktan sonra kendi nefsine değil belki kendi Rabbisine itimadı ziyadeleşir ve '''“Beni benden ziyade terbiye eden bir hafîzim vardır.”''' der, tevekkülünü ziyadeleştirir. Bu kısım, hatarsız bir keramettir; ihfasına mükellef değil fakat fahir için kasden izharına çalışmamalı. Çünkü onda zâhiren insanın kesbinin bir medhali bulunduğundan nefsine nisbet edebilir.
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    When it comes to bestowal, it is sounder than the second sort of wonder-working, the sound sort, and in my opinion is more elevated. To make it known it is to make known a bounty. The power to act has no connection with it, and the soul does not ascribe it to itself.
    Amma ikram ise o, kerametin selâmetli olan ikinci nevinden daha selâmetli, bence daha âlîdir. İzharı, tahdis-i nimettir. Kesbin medhali yoktur, nefsi onu kendine isnad etmez.
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    My brother! The divine bounties received by both you and me, particularly in our service of the Qur’an, which for a long time past I have seen and written about,  are bestowals, and to make them known is to make known a divine bounty. This is why – to make known the divine bounty – I am mentioning the success of both of us in our service. I always knew that it would encourage you to offer thanks and not make you proud .
    İşte kardeşim hem senin hakkında hem benim hakkımda, bâhusus Kur’an hakkındaki hizmetimizde eskiden beri gördüğüm ve yazdığım ihsanat-ı İlahiye bir ikramdır; izharı, tahdis-i nimettir. Onun için sana karşı tahdis-i nimet nevinden ikimizin hizmetimize ait muvaffakıyatı yazıyorum. Biliyordum ki sende fahir değil, şükür damarını tahrik ediyor.
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    '''Thirdly:''' I observe that the most fortunate person in this worldly life is he who sees the world as a military guest-house, and submits himself and acts accordingly. Seeing it in this way, he may rise swiftly to the rank of winning God’s pleasure, the highest rank. Such a person will not give the price of a lasting diamond for  something as  valueless as  glass, doomed  to be broken. He will pass his life uprightly and with pleasure.
    '''Sâlisen:''' Görüyorum ki: '''Şu dünya hayatında en bahtiyar odur ki dünyayı bir misafirhane-i askerî telakki etsin ve öyle de iz’an etsin ve ona göre hareket etsin. Ve o telakki ile en büyük mertebe olan mertebe-i rızayı çabuk elde edebilir. Kırılacak şişe pahasına, daimî bir elmasın fiyatını vermez; istikamet ve lezzetle hayatını geçirir.'''
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    Yes, matters to do with this world are like pieces of glass that  will be broken, while the lasting matters of the hereafter are as  precious as flawless  diamonds. The intense curiosity, fervent love, terrible greed, stubborn desires, and other intense innate human emotions were given to gain the matters of the hereafter. To direct them fervently towards the transitory things of this world is to give the price  of  eternal diamonds for doomed fragments of glass. A  point  has occurred to me in connection with this, so I shall recount it. It is like this:
    Evet dünyaya ait işler, kırılmaya mahkûm şişeler hükmündedir; bâki umûr-u uhreviye ise gayet sağlam elmaslar kıymetindedir. İnsanın fıtratındaki şiddetli merak ve hararetli muhabbet ve dehşetli hırs ve inatlı talep ve hâkeza şedit hissiyatlar, umûr-u uhreviyeyi kazanmak için verilmiştir. O hissiyatı, şiddetli bir surette fâni umûr-u dünyeviyeye tevcih etmek, fâni ve kırılacak şişelere, bâki elmas fiyatlarını vermek demektir. Şu münasebetle bir nokta hatıra gelmiş, söyleyeceğim. Şöyle ki:
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    Passionate love is an ardent sort of love. When it is directed towards transitory objects, it either causes its owner perpetual torment and pain, or, since the ephemeral (mecazî) beloved  is not worth the price of such fervent love, it causes the lover to search for an eternal one. Then passing love is transformed into true love.
    Aşk, şiddetli bir muhabbettir. Fâni mahbublara müteveccih olduğu vakit ya o aşk, kendi sahibini daimî bir azap ve elemde bırakır veyahut o mecazî mahbub, o şiddetli muhabbetin fiyatına değmediği için bâki bir mahbubu arattırır; aşk-ı mecazî, aşk-ı hakikiye inkılab eder.
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    Man possesses thousands of emotions, each of which has two degrees, one worldly  (mecazî), the other, true.
    '''İ'''şte insanda binlerle hissiyat var. Her birisinin aşk gibi iki mertebesi var: Biri mecazî, biri hakiki.
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    For example, everyone feels anxiety about the future. A person is intensely anxious about the future, but then sees that he has no guarantee  that  he will reach the  future he is  so  anxious  about. Also,  if  it  is  his livelihood he is worried about, anyway it is promised, and the brief future is not worth such terrible anxiety. So he turns away from the future towards the true future beyond the grave, which is long-lasting and which for the heedless has not been promised.
    Mesela, endişe-i istikbal hissi herkeste var; şiddetli bir surette endişe ettiği vakit bakar ki o endişe ettiği istikbale yetişmek için elinde senet yok. Hem rızık cihetinde bir taahhüd altında ve kısa olan bir istikbal, o şiddetli endişeye değmiyor. Ondan yüzünü çevirip kabirden sonra hakiki ve uzun ve gafiller hakkında taahhüd altına alınmamış bir istikbale teveccüh eder.
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    Man also displays intense ambition for possessions and rank, then he sees that the transient  property  which  has  been  put  temporarily  under  his  supervision,  and calamitous fame and  high rank, which are dangerous and lead to hypocrisy, are not worth such intense  ambition. He turns away from them towards spiritual rank and degrees in closeness to God,  which constitute true rank, and towards provisions for the hereafter, and good works, which are true property. Worldly ambition, which is a bad qualit y, is transformed into true ambition, a lofty quality.
    Hem mala ve câha karşı şiddetli bir hırs gösterir. Bakar ki muvakkaten onun nezaretine verilmiş o fâni mal ve âfetli şöhret ve tehlikeli ve riyaya medar olan câh, o şiddetli hırsa değmiyor. Ondan, hakiki câh olan meratib-i maneviyeye ve derecat-ı kurbiyeye ve zâd-ı âhirete ve hakiki mal olan a’mal-i salihaya teveccüh eder. Fena haslet olan hırs-ı mecazî ise âlî bir haslet olan hırs-ı hakikiye inkılab eder.
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    And, for example, with wilful obstinacy man expends his emotions on trivial, fleeting, transient things. Then he sees that he pursues for a year something not worth even  a  minute’s  obstinacy.  Also, just  to  be  obstinate,  he  persists  in  something damaging and harmful. Then he sees that this powerful emotion was not given to him for such things and that to expend it on them is contrary to wisdom and truth. So he utilizes his intense obstinacy, not on those unnecessary transient matters, but on the elevated and eternal truths of belief and  essentials of Islam and service and duties pertaining to the hereafter. Worldly obstinacy, a base quality, is transformed into true obstinacy; that is, ardent steadfastness and constancy in what is right, a fine and good quality.
    Hem mesela, şiddetli bir inat ile ehemmiyetsiz, zâil, fâni umûrlara karşı hissiyatını sarf eder. Bakar ki bir dakika inada değmeyen bir şeye, bir sene inat ediyor. Hem zararlı, zehirli bir şeye inat namına sebat eder. Bakar ki bu kuvvetli his, böyle şeyler için verilmemiş. Onu onlara sarf etmek, hikmet ve hakikate münafîdir. O şiddetli inadı, o lüzumsuz umûr-u zâileye vermeyip âlî ve bâki olan hakaik-i imaniyeye ve esasat-ı İslâmiyeye ve hidemat-ı uhreviyeye sarf eder. O haslet-i rezile olan inad-ı mecazî, güzel ve âlî bir haslet olan hakiki inada yani hakta şiddetli sebata inkılab eder.
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    As these three examples show, if man uses the faculties given to him on account of the soul and this world, and behaves heedlessly as though he were going to remain here for ever, they will be the cause of bad morals and will be misspent and futile. But if he expends the lesser of them on the matters of this world and the more intense of them on spiritual duties and tasks pertaining to the hereafter, they become the source of  laudable  morals  and  the  means  to  happiness  in  this  world  and  the  next  in conformity with wisdom and reality.
    İşte şu üç misal gibi; insanlar, insana verilen cihazat-ı maneviyeyi, eğer nefsin ve dünyanın hesabıyla istimal etse ve dünyada ebedî kalacak gibi gafilane davransa ahlâk-ı rezileye ve israfat ve abesiyete medar olur. Eğer hafiflerini dünya umûruna ve şiddetlilerini vezaif-i uhreviyeye ve maneviyeye sarf etse ahlâk-ı hamîdeye menşe, hikmet ve hakikate muvafık olarak saadet-i dâreyne medar olur.
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    My guess is that one reason the advice and admonitions given at the present time have been ineffective is that those offering them say: “Don’t be ambitious! Don’t be greedy! Don’t hate! Don’t be obstinate! Don’t love the world!” That is, they propose something that is  apparently impossible for those they address like changing their inborn natures. If  only  they  would  say: “Turn these emotions  towards  beneficial things, change their direction,  their  channel,” both their advice would be effective, and they would be proposing something within those persons’ will power.
    İşte tahmin ederim ki nâsihlerin nasihatleri şu zamanda tesirsiz kaldığının bir sebebi şudur ki: Ahlâksız insanlara derler: “Hased etme! Hırs gösterme! Adâvet etme! İnat etme! Dünyayı sevme!” Yani fıtratını değiştir gibi zâhiren onlarca, mâlâyutak bir teklifte bulunurlar. Eğer deseler ki: “Bunların yüzlerini hayırlı şeylere çeviriniz, mecralarını değiştiriniz.” Hem nasihat tesir eder hem daire-i ihtiyarlarında bir emr-i teklif olur.
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    '''Fourthly:'''The differences between Islam and belief (or faith–êma\n) have been frequently discussed by Islamic scholars. One group has said that they are the same, while another has said that they are not the same but that you cannot have one without the other. They have expressed various ideas similar to this. I myself have understood the following difference:
    '''Râbian:''' Ulema-i İslâm ortasında “İslâm” ve “iman”ın farkları çok medar-ı bahis olmuş. Bir kısmı “İkisi birdir.” diğer kısmı “İkisi bir değil fakat biri birisiz olmaz.” demişler ve bunun gibi çok muhtelif fikirler beyan etmişler. Ben şöyle bir fark anladım ki:
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    Islam is a preference, while belief is a conviction. To put it another way, Islam is to take the part of the truth and is submission and obedience to  it, and belief is acceptance of and assent to the truth. Long ago I saw certain irreligious people who fervently supported the injunctions of the Qur’an. That is to say, by taking the part of the truth, such people were in one respect Muslim and were called “irreligious Muslims.” Then later I saw certain believers who did not evince support for the injunctions of the Qur’an nor take the part of them, and they reflected the epithet “non-Muslim believers.”
    '''İslâmiyet iltizamdır, iman iz’andır. Tabir-i diğerle İslâmiyet, hakka tarafgirlik ve teslim ve inkıyaddır; iman ise hakkı kabul ve tasdiktir.''' Eskide bazı dinsizleri gördüm ki ahkâm-ı Kur’aniyeye şiddetli tarafgirlik gösteriyorlardı. Demek o dinsiz, bir cihette hakkın iltizamıyla İslâmiyet’e mazhardı; “dinsiz bir Müslüman” denilirdi. Sonra bazı mü’minleri gördüm ki ahkâm-ı Kur’aniyeye tarafgirlik göstermiyorlar, iltizam etmiyorlar “gayr-ı müslim bir mü’min” tabirine mazhar oluyorlar.
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    Can belief without Islam be the means of salvation?
    Acaba, İslâmiyetsiz iman, medar-ı necat olabilir mi?
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    '''The Answer:''' Neither can Islam without belief be a means of salvation, nor can belief without Islam be a means.
    '''Elcevap:''' İmansız İslâmiyet, sebeb-i necat olmadığı gibi; İslâmiyetsiz iman da medar-ı necat olamaz.
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    All praise and bounty is God’s, through the grace of the Qur’an’s  miraculousness the comparisons of the Risale-i Nur have shown the fruits of the religion of  Islam and results of the Qur’anic truths in such a way that even if someone without religion does not  understand them, he cannot be unsympathetic towards them. And they have demonstrated proofs of belief and Islam in such powerful fashion that if even a non-Muslim understands them, he is sure to assent to them. While being a non-Muslim, he would believe.
    Felillahi’l-hamdü ve’l-minnetü, Kur’an’ın i’caz-ı manevîsinin feyziyle Risale-i Nur mizanları, din-i İslâm’ın ve hakaik-i Kur’aniyenin meyvelerini ve neticelerini öyle bir tarzda göstermişlerdir ki dinsiz dahi onları anlasa taraftar olmamak kabil değil. Hem iman ve İslâm’ın delil ve bürhanlarını o derece kuvvetli göstermişlerdir ki gayr-ı müslim dahi anlasa herhalde tasdik edecektir. Gayr-ı müslim kaldığı halde, iman eder.
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    Yes, the Words show that the fruits of belief and Islam are as delectable as  the  fruits of the Tuba-tree of Paradise, and that their results are as agreeable as the pleasures of happiness in this world and the next. They therefore induce in those who see them and  know them a feeling of infinite partiality, support, and surrender. Demonstrating proofs as powerful as the chains of beings and numerous as minute particles, they give rise to infinite submission and strength of belief.
    Evet Sözler, Tûba-i cennetin meyveleri gibi tatlı ve güzel olan iman ve İslâmiyet’in meyvelerini ve saadet-i dâreynin mehasini gibi hoş ve şirin öyle neticelerini göstermişler ki görenlere ve tanıyanlara nihayetsiz bir tarafgirlik ve iltizam ve teslim hissini verir. Ve silsile-i mevcudat gibi kuvvetli ve zerrat gibi kesretli iman ve İslâm’ın bürhanlarını göstermişler ki nihayetsiz bir iz’an ve kuvvet-i iman verirler.
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    On certain occasions even, when testifying to belief while reciting the invocations of Shah Naqshband, and when saying: “In accordance with that we live, in accordance with it we shall die, and in accordance with it shall we be raised up on the morrow,” I have experienced an infinite feeling of partiality. If the whole world were given me, I would not sacrifice a single truth of belief. It causes me extreme distress to imagine the reverse of a single truth for a minute even.
    Hattâ bazı defa Evrad-ı Şah-ı Nakşibendî’de şehadet getirdiğim vakit عَلٰى ذٰلِكَ نَح۟يٰى وَ عَلَي۟هِ نَمُوتُ وَ عَلَي۟هِ نُب۟عَثُ غَدًا dediğim zaman, nihayetsiz bir tarafgirlik hissediyorum. Eğer bütün dünya bana verilse bir hakikat-i imaniyeyi feda edemiyorum. Bir hakikatin bir dakika aksini farz etmek, bana gayet elîm geliyor. Bütün dünya benim olsa bir tek hakaik-i imaniyenin vücud bulmasına bilâ-tereddüt vermesine, nefsim itaat ediyor.
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    Were the whole world to be given me, my soul would renounce it unhesitatingly for the existence of a single truth of belief. I feel an infinite  strength of belief when I say, “We believe in what You have sent through the Prophet, and we believe in what You have revealed through the Book, and we assent to it.” I consider the opposite of any of the  truths  of  belief  to  be  rationally  impossible, and  I  look  on  the  people  of misguidance as infinitely foolish and crazy.
    وَ اٰمَنَّا بِمَا اَر۟سَل۟تَ مِن۟ رَسُولٍ وَ اٰمَنَّا بِمَا اَن۟زَل۟تَ مِن۟ كِتَابٍ وَ صَدَّق۟نَا dediğim vakit nihayetsiz bir kuvvet-i iman hissediyorum. Hakaik-i imaniyenin her birisinin aksini aklen muhal telakki ediyorum, ehl-i dalaleti nihayetsiz ebleh ve divane görüyorum.
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    I send many greetings to your parents and offer them my respects. Let them pray for me. They are mother and father to me since you are my brother. And  I send greetings to the people of your village, especially all those who listen to you reading the Words.
    Senin valideynine pek çok selâm ve arz-ı hürmet ederim. Onlar da bana dua etsinler. Sen benim kardeşim olduğun için onlar da benim peder ve validem hükmündedirler. Hem köyünüze, hususan senden “Sözler”i işitenlere umumen selâm ediyorum.
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    اَل۟بَاقٖى هُوَ ال۟بَاقٖى
    اَل۟بَاقٖى هُوَ ال۟بَاقٖى
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    '''Said Nursî'''
    '''Said Nursî'''
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    <center> [[Sekizinci Mektup]] ⇐ | [[Mektubat]] | ⇒ [[Onuncu Mektup]] </center>
    <center> [[Sekizinci Mektup/en|The Eighth Letter]] ⇐ | [[Mektubat/en|The Letters]] | ⇒ [[Onuncu Mektup/en|The Tenth Letter]] </center>
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    11.23, 15 Ekim 2024 itibarı ile sayfanın şu anki hâli

    Diğer diller:

    In His Name, be He glorified! And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.(17:44)

    [Again part of a letter he sent to the same sincere student of his.]

    Secondly: Your success, endeavour, and eagerness in spreading the lights of the Qur’an are a divine bestowal, a wonder of the Qur’an, a dominical (rabbânî) favour. I congratulate you! Now that we have come to a discussion of wonder- working, bestowal, and favour, I shall tell you one of the differences between wonder- working and bestowal. It is like this:

    So long as there is no necessity for it, to display wonder-working is harmful. Whereas to make known bestowal is to make known a divine bounty.

    If someone honoured with wonder-working knowingly manifests an extraordinary matter and his evil-commanding soul is persistent, then since he relies on himself and on his soul and what he has disclosed and falls into pride, it may be that Almighty God is drawing him on by at first granting him success.

    If he displays a wondrous act unknowingly; for example, a person has an unvoiced question and involuntarily he gives an appropriate answer and afterwards realizes this, it increases his confidence, not in himself but in his Lord and Sustainer. He says: “I have a Preserver who is training me better than I could myself,” and this increases his reliance on God. It is a harmless sort of wonder-working. He is not obliged to conceal it but should not advertize it intentionally, because of pride. For since it is apparently associated with the human power to act, he may ascribe it to himself.

    When it comes to bestowal, it is sounder than the second sort of wonder-working, the sound sort, and in my opinion is more elevated. To make it known it is to make known a bounty. The power to act has no connection with it, and the soul does not ascribe it to itself.

    My brother! The divine bounties received by both you and me, particularly in our service of the Qur’an, which for a long time past I have seen and written about, are bestowals, and to make them known is to make known a divine bounty. This is why – to make known the divine bounty – I am mentioning the success of both of us in our service. I always knew that it would encourage you to offer thanks and not make you proud .

    Thirdly: I observe that the most fortunate person in this worldly life is he who sees the world as a military guest-house, and submits himself and acts accordingly. Seeing it in this way, he may rise swiftly to the rank of winning God’s pleasure, the highest rank. Such a person will not give the price of a lasting diamond for something as valueless as glass, doomed to be broken. He will pass his life uprightly and with pleasure.

    Yes, matters to do with this world are like pieces of glass that will be broken, while the lasting matters of the hereafter are as precious as flawless diamonds. The intense curiosity, fervent love, terrible greed, stubborn desires, and other intense innate human emotions were given to gain the matters of the hereafter. To direct them fervently towards the transitory things of this world is to give the price of eternal diamonds for doomed fragments of glass. A point has occurred to me in connection with this, so I shall recount it. It is like this:

    Passionate love is an ardent sort of love. When it is directed towards transitory objects, it either causes its owner perpetual torment and pain, or, since the ephemeral (mecazî) beloved is not worth the price of such fervent love, it causes the lover to search for an eternal one. Then passing love is transformed into true love.

    Man possesses thousands of emotions, each of which has two degrees, one worldly (mecazî), the other, true.

    For example, everyone feels anxiety about the future. A person is intensely anxious about the future, but then sees that he has no guarantee that he will reach the future he is so anxious about. Also, if it is his livelihood he is worried about, anyway it is promised, and the brief future is not worth such terrible anxiety. So he turns away from the future towards the true future beyond the grave, which is long-lasting and which for the heedless has not been promised.

    Man also displays intense ambition for possessions and rank, then he sees that the transient property which has been put temporarily under his supervision, and calamitous fame and high rank, which are dangerous and lead to hypocrisy, are not worth such intense ambition. He turns away from them towards spiritual rank and degrees in closeness to God, which constitute true rank, and towards provisions for the hereafter, and good works, which are true property. Worldly ambition, which is a bad qualit y, is transformed into true ambition, a lofty quality.

    And, for example, with wilful obstinacy man expends his emotions on trivial, fleeting, transient things. Then he sees that he pursues for a year something not worth even a minute’s obstinacy. Also, just to be obstinate, he persists in something damaging and harmful. Then he sees that this powerful emotion was not given to him for such things and that to expend it on them is contrary to wisdom and truth. So he utilizes his intense obstinacy, not on those unnecessary transient matters, but on the elevated and eternal truths of belief and essentials of Islam and service and duties pertaining to the hereafter. Worldly obstinacy, a base quality, is transformed into true obstinacy; that is, ardent steadfastness and constancy in what is right, a fine and good quality.

    As these three examples show, if man uses the faculties given to him on account of the soul and this world, and behaves heedlessly as though he were going to remain here for ever, they will be the cause of bad morals and will be misspent and futile. But if he expends the lesser of them on the matters of this world and the more intense of them on spiritual duties and tasks pertaining to the hereafter, they become the source of laudable morals and the means to happiness in this world and the next in conformity with wisdom and reality.

    My guess is that one reason the advice and admonitions given at the present time have been ineffective is that those offering them say: “Don’t be ambitious! Don’t be greedy! Don’t hate! Don’t be obstinate! Don’t love the world!” That is, they propose something that is apparently impossible for those they address like changing their inborn natures. If only they would say: “Turn these emotions towards beneficial things, change their direction, their channel,” both their advice would be effective, and they would be proposing something within those persons’ will power.

    Fourthly:The differences between Islam and belief (or faith–êma\n) have been frequently discussed by Islamic scholars. One group has said that they are the same, while another has said that they are not the same but that you cannot have one without the other. They have expressed various ideas similar to this. I myself have understood the following difference:

    Islam is a preference, while belief is a conviction. To put it another way, Islam is to take the part of the truth and is submission and obedience to it, and belief is acceptance of and assent to the truth. Long ago I saw certain irreligious people who fervently supported the injunctions of the Qur’an. That is to say, by taking the part of the truth, such people were in one respect Muslim and were called “irreligious Muslims.” Then later I saw certain believers who did not evince support for the injunctions of the Qur’an nor take the part of them, and they reflected the epithet “non-Muslim believers.”

    Can belief without Islam be the means of salvation?

    The Answer: Neither can Islam without belief be a means of salvation, nor can belief without Islam be a means.

    All praise and bounty is God’s, through the grace of the Qur’an’s miraculousness the comparisons of the Risale-i Nur have shown the fruits of the religion of Islam and results of the Qur’anic truths in such a way that even if someone without religion does not understand them, he cannot be unsympathetic towards them. And they have demonstrated proofs of belief and Islam in such powerful fashion that if even a non-Muslim understands them, he is sure to assent to them. While being a non-Muslim, he would believe.

    Yes, the Words show that the fruits of belief and Islam are as delectable as the fruits of the Tuba-tree of Paradise, and that their results are as agreeable as the pleasures of happiness in this world and the next. They therefore induce in those who see them and know them a feeling of infinite partiality, support, and surrender. Demonstrating proofs as powerful as the chains of beings and numerous as minute particles, they give rise to infinite submission and strength of belief.

    On certain occasions even, when testifying to belief while reciting the invocations of Shah Naqshband, and when saying: “In accordance with that we live, in accordance with it we shall die, and in accordance with it shall we be raised up on the morrow,” I have experienced an infinite feeling of partiality. If the whole world were given me, I would not sacrifice a single truth of belief. It causes me extreme distress to imagine the reverse of a single truth for a minute even.

    Were the whole world to be given me, my soul would renounce it unhesitatingly for the existence of a single truth of belief. I feel an infinite strength of belief when I say, “We believe in what You have sent through the Prophet, and we believe in what You have revealed through the Book, and we assent to it.” I consider the opposite of any of the truths of belief to be rationally impossible, and I look on the people of misguidance as infinitely foolish and crazy.

    I send many greetings to your parents and offer them my respects. Let them pray for me. They are mother and father to me since you are my brother. And I send greetings to the people of your village, especially all those who listen to you reading the Words.

    اَل۟بَاقٖى هُوَ ال۟بَاقٖى

    Said Nursî


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