On İkinci Mektup/en

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.(17:44)

Peace be upon you and upon your companions.

My Dear Brothers!

You asked me a question that night and I did not reply, because it is not permissible to argue over questions of belief. Your discussion of them had turned into a dispute. For now I am writing very brief replies to your three questions, about which you were arguing. You will find the details in The Words; the chemist wrote down which. But it did not occur to me to mention the Twenty-Sixth Word, about divine determining and man’s faculty of will; have a look at that too, but don’t read it like a newspaper. The reason I advised the chemist to study of those Words is this:

doubts about matters of that sort arise from weakness of belief in the pillars of faith. Those Words prove all of them.

FIRST QUESTION

What wisdom does it spring from, Adam (Upon whom be peace) being expelled from Paradise and some of mankind, the sons of Adam, being sent to Hell? What was the reason for it?

The Answer:The reason for it concerns the charging of duties: the duty with which Adam was charged yielded such results as the unfolding of all human spiritual progress and the revealing of all human potentialities and man’s essential nature being a comprehensive mirror to all the divine names.

If he had remained in Paradise, his rank would have been fixed like that of the angels; man’s potentialities would not have been disclosed. In any case, the angels, with their unchanging ranks, are numerous and there is no need for man to perform their sort of worship. Since divine wisdom required a realm of accountability commensurate with the potentialities of man, who would traverse infinite degrees, he was expelled from Paradise for his well- known sin, sin being the requirement of human nature and contrary to that of the angels.

That is to say, just as it was pure wisdom and pure mercy that Adam should be expelled from Paradise, so is it just and right that the unbelievers should be sent to Hell.

As is mentioned in the Third Indication in the Tenth Word, the unbeliever only committed only one sin in his short life, but the sin comprised infinite wrongdoing. For unbelief is an insult to the whole universe; it negates the value of all beings, it denies the testimony to divine unity of all creatures, and is contempt towards the divine names, the manifestations of which are to be seen in the mirrors of beings.

Therefore, in order to avenge the rights of beings on the unbeliever, their monarch, the All-Compelling One of Glory, casts the unbelievers into Hell, and this is pure right and justice. For an infinite crime demands infinite punishment.

SECOND QUESTION

Why are devils created? Almighty God created Satan and evil; what is the wisdom in it? Isn’t the creation of evil, evil, and the creation of bad, bad?

The Answer: God forbid, the creation of evil is not evil, the acquisition of (kesb) or desire for evil, is evil. For creation and bringing into existence look to all the consequences, whereas such a desire looks to a particular result, since it is a particular relation.

For example, there are thousands of consequences of rain falling, and all of them are good. If due to misuse of their wills some people receive harm from the rain, they cannot say that the creation of rain is not mercy or that it is evil. For it is evil for them due to their mischoice and inclinations. Also, there are numerous benefits in the creation of fire and all of them are good. But if some people are harmed by fire due to their misuse of it and their wills, they cannot say that the creation of fire is evil; because it was not only created to burn them. Rather, they made a wrong choice and thrust their hands into the fire while cooking the food, and made that servant inimical to themselves.

In Short: A lesser evil is acceptable for a greater good. If an evil which will lead to a greater good is abandoned so that a lesser evil should not occur, a greater evil will have been perpetrated. For example, there are certainly some minor material and physical harms and evils in sending soldiers to fight a jihad, but the jihad leads to a greater good whereby Islam is saved from being conquered by infidels. If the jihad is abandoned due to those lesser evils, the greater evil will come after the greater good has gone, and that is absolute wrong. Another example: to amputate a finger which is infected with gangrene and has to be amputated is good and right, although it is apparently an evil. For if it is not amputated, the hand will be amputated and that would be a greater evil.

Thus, the creation and bringing into existence of evils, harms, tribulations, satans, and harmful things, is not evil and bad, for they are created for the many important results they yield. For example, satans have not been set to pester the angels, and the angels cannot progress; their degrees are fixed and deficient. However, in the world of humanity the degrees of progress and decline are infinite. There is an extremely long distance through which to progress, from the Nimrod’s and Pharaoh’s as far as the veracious saints and the prophets.

Thus, because of the creation of satans and the mystery of man’s accountability and the sending of prophets, an arena of trial and examination and striving and competition has been opened so that coal-like base spirits may be differentiated and separated out from diamond-like elevated spirits. If there had been no striving and competition, the potentialities in the mine of humanity, resembling diamonds and coal, would have remained equal. The spirit of Abu Bakr the Veracious at the highest of the high would have remained on a par with Abu Jahl at the lowest of the low.

This means that since the creation of satans and evils looks to vast, universal results, it is not evil or bad. The evils and instances of bad that arise from abuses and the particular causes known as man’s acquisition pertain to his voluntary actions not to divine creation.

If you ask?The majority of humanity become unbelievers due to the existence of Satan; they embrace unbelief and suffer harm, despite the sending of prophets. If, according to the rule “The majority has the word,” the majority suffers evil as a result, then the creation of evil is evil and it may even be said that the sending of prophets is not a mercy. Isn’t that so?

Elcevap: Kemiyetin, keyfiyete nisbeten ehemmiyeti yok. Asıl ekseriyet, keyfiyete bakar.

Mesela, yüz hurma çekirdeği bulunsa toprak altına konup su verilmezse ve muamele-i kimyeviye görmezse ve bir mücahede-i hayatiyeye mazhar olmazsa yüz para kıymetinde yüz çekirdek olur. Fakat su verildiği ve mücahede-i hayatiyeye maruz kaldığı vakit, sû-i mizacından sekseni bozulsa yirmisi meyvedar yirmi hurma ağacı olsa diyebilir misin ki suyu vermek şer oldu, ekserisini bozdu? Elbette diyemezsin. Çünkü o yirmi, yirmi bin hükmüne geçti. Sekseni kaybeden, yirmi bini kazanan, zarar etmez; şer olmaz.

Hem mesela, tavus kuşunun yüz yumurtası bulunsa yumurta itibarıyla beş yüz kuruş eder. Fakat o yüz yumurta üstünde tavus oturtulsa sekseni bozulsa yirmisi, yirmi tavus kuşu olsa denilebilir mi ki çok zarar oldu, bu muamele şer oldu, bu kuluçkaya kapanmak çirkin oldu, şer oldu? Hayır öyle değil belki hayırdır. Çünkü o tavus milleti ve o yumurta taifesi, dört yüz kuruş fiyatında bulunan seksen yumurtayı kaybedip seksen lira kıymetinde yirmi tavus kuşu kazandı.

İşte nev-i beşer bi’set-i enbiya ile sırr-ı teklif ile mücahede ile şeytanlarla muharebe ile kazandıkları yüz binlerle enbiya ve milyonlarla evliya ve milyarlarla asfiya gibi âlem-i insaniyetin güneşleri, ayları ve yıldızları mukabilinde; kemiyetçe kesretli, keyfiyetçe ehemmiyetsiz hayvanat-ı muzırra nevinden olan küffarı ve münafıkları kaybetti.

Üçüncü Sualiniz

Cenab-ı Hak musibetleri veriyor, belaları musallat ediyor. Hususan masumlara hattâ hayvanlara bu zulüm değil mi?

Elcevap: Hâşâ! Mülk onundur. Mülkünde istediği gibi tasarruf eder. Hem acaba sanatkâr bir zat, bir ücret mukabilinde seni bir model yapıp gayet sanatkârane yaptığı murassa bir libası sana giydiriyor, hünerini, maharetini göstermek için kısaltıyor, uzaltıyor, biçiyor, kesiyor; seni oturtuyor, kaldırıyor. Sen ona diyebilir misin ki beni güzelleştiren elbiseyi çirkinleştirdin; bana, oturtup kaldırmakla zahmet verdin? Elbette diyemezsin. Dersen divanelik edersin.

Aynen öyle de Sâni’-i Zülcelal göz, kulak, lisan gibi duygularla murassa gayet sanatkârane bir vücudu sana giydirmiş. Mütenevvi esmasının nakışlarını göstermek için seni hasta eder, müptela eder, aç eder, tok eder, susuz eder; bu gibi ahvalde yuvarlatır. Mahiyet-i hayatiyeyi kuvvetleştirmek ve cilve-i esmasını göstermek için seni böyle çok tavırlarda gezdiriyor. Sen eğer desen: “Beni ne için bu mesaibe müptela ediyorsun?” Temsilde işaret edildiği gibi yüz hikmet seni susturacak.

Zaten sükûn ve sükûnet, atalet, yeknesaklık, tevakkuf; bir nevi ademdir, zarardır. Hareket ve tebeddül; vücuddur, hayırdır. Hayat, harekâtla kemalâtını bulur; beliyyat vasıtasıyla terakki eder. Hayat cilve-i esma ile muhtelif harekâta mazhar olur, tasaffi eder, kuvvet bulur, inkişaf eder, inbisat eder, kendi mukadderatını yazmasına müteharrik bir kalem olur, vazifesini îfa eder, ücret-i uhreviyeye kesb-i istihkak eder.

İşte, münakaşanızın içindeki üç sualinizin muhtasar cevapları bu kadardır. İzahları otuz üç adet “Sözler”dedir.

Aziz kardeşim, sen bu mektubu Eczacıya ve münakaşayı işitenlerden münasip gördüklerine oku. Benim tarafımdan da yeni bir talebem olan Eczacıya selâm et, de ki:

Mezkûr mesail gibi dakik mesail-i imaniyeyi, mizansız mücadele suretinde cemaat içinde bahsetmek caiz değildir. Mizansız mücadele olduğundan tiryak iken zehir olur. Diyenlere, dinleyenlere zarardır. Belki böyle mesail-i imaniyenin itidal-i demle, insafla, bir müdavele-i efkâr suretinde bahsi caizdir.

Ve de ki: Eğer senin kalbine bu nevi mesailde şüpheler gelirse ve Sözler’den de cevabını bulmazsan hususi bana yazarsınız.

Hem Eczacıya de ki: Merhum pederi hakkında gördüğü rüya için hatırıma şöyle bir mana geldi ki: Merhum pederi doktor olmak münasebetiyle, çok salih ve mübarek, belki veli insanlara faydası dokunmuş ve ondan memnun olan ve menfaat gören o mübareklerin ervahları, onun vefatı hengâmında kuşlar suretinde en yakın akrabası olan oğluna görünmüş, onun ruhuna şefaatkârane bir hoşâmedî nevinden bir istikbal ettikleri hatırıma geldi.

O gece burada beraber bulunan bütün dostlara selâm ve dua ederim.

اَل۟بَاقٖى هُوَ ال۟بَاقٖى

Said Nursî

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