Love And Brotherhood *

It is a known fact that within universal dimensions love is beneficial to the human soul and body. Babies that are brought up with love show greater development than babies who are deprived of love. In a large maternity hospital, they divided a number of babies born on the same day into two. For a couple of weeks, they fed one group while caressing, stroking and playing with them and gave the same amount of food to the other group without any attention. These babies were still only small, they were newly born; they were born on the same day and were all the same weight but the children fed with love and care developed more quickly than the babies fed with food alone; they developed faster than the second group. This shows that love is a physical power. This proves that love has medical, spiritual and physical power.

It has also been proven that love is extremely important in both domestic and social terms. This is a known fact by those who involved in science. All criminals are individuals who were deprived of love from their families; were excluded from society and grew up in an environment without love. All successful people are individuals who grew up in a loving environment; who were loved and supported by the people around them.

Thus, the physical aspect of love is an issue that should also be discussed. Furthermore, this is also an important issue in religious terms. Indeed, the reward and virtues of love are innumerous. Love is also beneficial for the hereafter. In this regard, as a Muslim it is important that our thoughts in this aspect are expressed, discussed, and applied.

Love is the inclination of the heart towards something it finds pleasurable and appealing. There is a fondness, there is a tendency, but this is due to admiration and affection. In Arabic, love is expressed with the words mawaddah and mahabbah.

The person who loves is referred to as muhib, the loved one mahbub. It is also known as habib or mawdud. One of the divine names of Allah is Wadud. This is the emotion of love expressed with these words. If this emotion is intense, if it is extreme it is known as Aşk or love.

A person that has extreme love is known as Aşık (Lover). His loved one is called Mashuk. In Turkish literature there is something known as Minstrel Literature ; this is the literature introduced by people who travel from city to city with their saz (stringed musical instrument) and sing about their love. Divan literature is equally appealing; it is filled with poems of love and affection.

The opposite of the emotion of love and affection in Arabic is hate. Whatever is disliked is called hateful. If this emotion is more intense, it is known as bughz or loathsome. Those who are disliked are called mabghuz, the opposite of mahbub. Those who are the subject of anger are called mubghiz, the opposite of muhib. If this anger is more severe, it referred to as maqt or abomination. This means intense hate, intense anger. In addition, the inner hatred of an individual against the person they despise is called ghayz or rage. Suppressing this ghayz, and controlling anger is called kazm al-ghayz, the person who controls his ghayz is called kazmin al-ghayz. A person being able to control anger, to suppress the emotion of anger is a great virtue.

Lastly, there is a word called adawat which is the opposite of love, it means resentment, hostility. Those who are the recipients of hostility are called aduww (enemy), plural of this is a’dâ. This issue is mentioned in the Qur'an, in hadith, and in Islamic literature with these words.

When we philosophize on love, on the nature of the heart’s tendency analyzing “How does the heart being attracted to something, liking something, finding pleasure in something occur? We see that there are 2 sources of love.

1. Humans loves what is complete, perfect and faultless.

If he looks at something and sees no deficiencies, he loves it because he thinks “that is exactly what I want, there are no deficiencies, no faults. In Arabic this is known as kamal or perfection. Humanity loves perfection, loves maturity, and loves completeness.

2. He also loves jamal. Jamal means beauty.

Beloved ones that are loved only for who they are, and without any other reason are called Mahbubun li-aynihi.

Certain aspects of love can also be beneficial to people. For example, humans love themselves. Human beings have a natural instinct to love, protect, survive and defend themselves. He loves his existence and is striving to preserve it. Allah bestowed this emotion upon humans from the time of their creation. Humans like everything that is to their advantage, that from which they benefit. Humans like something because they benefit from it. For example things like food, air, or water. He loves property, he loves money. Whereas doctors say "Money carries so many bacteria, if they could be seen you would not want to touch it.” But he still loves money. Because it will allow him to achieve something, to acquire other things he loves.

Therefore, the love which stems from another factor, love that is due to self-interest because it is beneficial is called mahbubun li-ghayrihi. That is, it is appealing for some other reason, even if it is unpleasant. Because other things we like are acquired with this.

Al-Insanu abd’ul ihsan, "Man is the slave of the beneficence."

He likes those who are kind. For example, a person may not like you, there is hostility between you; coldness, there is ice, snowy mountains between you.

So what is the solution?

Giving a gift.

Our dear Prophet said: Tahaddu tahabbu. "Give gifts and love one another."

There is a great deal of room for love in the structure of the Islamic faith. There is love that is favorable, there is love that is unfavorable. So let’s begin by sequencing these from the first love we become familiar with:

Initially we learn love from our mothers; from the warm arms, the soft bosom of our mothers. First, we love our mother. Parents' love is an extremely desirable form of love. It is a love that Allah recommends and encourages; a love which please Him and for which He gives reward.

Another favorable love is the love of a spouse. It is desirable for a husband to love his wife, and for a wife to love her husband. This may surprise some members of the audience. This is an extremely favorable love and has great reward. It is a love encouraged by Allah and recommended by His Prophet.

A father who works for his wife and children is like a person who goes to Jihad for the sake of Allah. He is like a man who performs Hajj, performs Umrah, and participates in holy war. This was reported in the Hadith.

Another favorable, rewarding and beneficial love in Islam that I should remind you of is the love of friends. Friendship for the sake of Allah, friendship on the path of faith. This is called al-hubb fi’llah, al-uhuwwatu fi’llah. This is called, "Being friends, brothers for the sake of Allah, to love for the sake of Allah." This is one of the most rewarding forms of worship. You simply love one another; you do not spend any time, do not work, and do not get tired; you gain reward simply for being a friend. It is so rewarding. So let's read one of the Hadith regarding this:

Man ahabba ahan li'l-lahi fi'l-lah. "Whoever gets a Muslim brother and loves him for Allah, in the way of Allah." Kale inna uhibbuka li'l-lah. "And says I love you for the sake of Allah. Not for anything else; not for any worldly gain, but I love you for the sake Allah”; Fa-kad ahabbahu'l-lah. "And Allah loves him too." Fa-dahala jamiani'l-jannah. “They both go to heaven.”

Both the lover and beloved; both of these brothers will go to heaven.

This is one of the reasons for the existence of the Tariqah and Sufi systems. To obtain the benefits from this brotherhood love.

Those who love each other on the path of Allah will not be subjected to the congestion, the chaos on the Day of Judgement. We are aware that there will be chaos there. Everyone will sweat profusely; the sweat will rise until it reaches the level of the knees, necks, mouths, and ears. Sweat, congestion, chaos, heat and thirst. On that day, people who love each other for the sake of Allah will be shaded under the shadow of His throne. The people gathered on the Day of Judgement will watch them as if they are observing stars from below. When the Prophet said this, they asked:

"O Messenger of Allah! Are those shadowed by the shadow of the throne of Allah prophets or martyrs?" He replied:

"No!"

Hum al-mutahabbuna fillah "They are the brothers of one another in the hereafter, and they love each other for the sake of Allah."

Why do you love one another?

Because we also love one another for the sake of Allah, we are brothers.

This is also one of the favorable forms of love. Of course this is ordinary Muslims befriending one another. There is something I should have mentioned before: loving good servants. Loving Murshid-i kamil (perfect spiritual guides), scholars of Islam, saints of Allah, righteous people and those who perform good deeds. Loving martyrs and veterans. This is also a favorable love.

Fatih Sultan Mehmed, the Conqueror, we say may he go to heaven, we love him; The Prophet praised him. Then there is Sayyid Battal Ghazi, we love him, and we visit his tomb. We say Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, we have extreme love for him. Whenever I pass through Besiktas, I recite Fatiha for him, I have great love and respect for him. I love all of them because they are sacred people.

We should love our believing brothers even if they have faults. A person being a believer bears great value, in view of this his faults are trivial. Once a person becomes a believer, he is valued because of the element of faith; we should love believers even if they have faults. Every rose has its thorns. If we delve deep enough, we can faults in everyone. If a person rejects others due to their faults, he will have no friends.

He who searches for faultless friends will have no friends in the world

There is no perfect human, perfection is unique to Allah. Everyone has faults. In which case, we should learn to love a person with his faults, we should learn to appreciate the good aspects in people.

As prophet Isa (pbuh) was walking with his followers, they passed by a dead dog. The animal had died, it was bloated, and stunk. Everybody held their noses; "What a horrible smell!" they turned their heads and passed by. Hz. Isa (pbuh) said:

"But his teeth were as white as pearls. Did you notice?"

Seeing beauty even in such a situation. This is a lesson for us all. In fact, there are good aspects in everything, and this is what we must see!

Then loving people, even if they are sinners.

"Sir, I assume you're so enthusiastic because of your surname (Coşan), you've gone a little too far! Should we really love sinners? Shouldn’t we be angry towards sinners?"

We know from the hadith of the Prophet that we hate sin, but pity the sinner.

"What a shame! My brother will go to hell, what he is doing is so wrong. I pity him, it’s a shame.

We should hate sin, but pity the sinner, not be angry with him.

So what happens if a person shames a sinner?

Our Prophet said:

In Ayyarahu Ubtuliya Bihi. He will also commit the same sin, it will embarrass him. If a person shames a sinner, Allah will turn this around and make him commit the same sin as the one he shamed, and embarrass him. "You shamed him, but now you have committed the same sin!” Eventually he is afflicted with the same sin. We should never condemn others. Wa in radiya bihi sarakahu. "If he allows a sin, then a bad deed will be recorded for him as if he committed that sin himself." Although he did not commit the sin, even though he simply witnessed the sin, a bad deed will be recorded for him just because he allowed it. Wa ini'ghtabahu ashima. "If he discloses it, if he talks about the sin to others, he also becomes a sinner." You should not gossip so “You do not become a sinner.” You should not condemn others “So that sin is not recorded for you as a bad deed.” "You should not allow sins so that the same sin is not recorded in your book of bad deeds.”

So what should we do?

We should pity, strive to save the person from sin.

This is why we must love others. All of these people are our brothers, we are the sons of Adam; we should pity them.

Then, there is the love for creatures. This is also a favorable kind of love. This is also encouraged. We must show compassion, show mercy. A woman imprisoned a cat and killed it; she was the cause of its death. She didn’t “allow the cat to hunt, catch something, and eat it to survive." She didn't give the cat any food. She imprisoned the cat and was the cause of its death. Due to this she will go to hell. Therefore, we should have love and compassion for all creatures.

Some sheikhs give duties to their followers saying:

"You have accomplished this duty, well done! You have achieved this much, well done! Now let’s treat sick animals! Now let’s treat animals that have scabies! Now let’s dress the broken wings of the birds, care for them until they are well again!"

We must show love and compassion to every existence that has a heart, a soul and can feel pain.

Someone asked the Prophet:

"O Messenger of Allah! I have camels, I draw water from the well, my hands get sore."

When a person constantly draws water from a well, his hands become red, blisters appear, it becomes sore and he cannot draw water anymore.

He said "I'm drawing water and emptying it. There are other old and sick camels roaming around, they also come and drink the water." Our Prophet said;

"Let them drink it, because there is blessing, reward in giving water to every living creature."

This is an animal can no longer work, it is old, even its owner had set it free but there is great reward in giving it water.

There are also other things we love, that are beloved to us. If a person has appreciation, if he has a good character we call him tab’i salim- he has admiration for certain things. Each of the five senses appreciate what is perceives. For example, the eye loves beautiful colors and beautiful shapes. The nose likes beautiful smells. Our Prophet says; “There are 3 things in your world that were made attractive for me, one of them is a beautiful smell.”

Beautiful sounds, the sound of birds and flowing water. They say, "Music is nourishment for the soul." People love beautiful sounds, nice words. They like gentle things, polished things, cool things, hot things, silk, fur. This is natural, these are tendencies of human nature, the tendency of good taste, tendency of human appreciation. This is normal, it is natural to like such things. But this should be within certain boundaries, we should avoid excessiveness!

There is an Arab proverb:

Man lam ya ri fi sharra yaka'u fihi. "Evil will befall those who do not recognize it."

A person must know what the evil is, so he avoids it. These kinds of affection are favorable; we should love our friends, our parents, our wives, our children, our families. These are favorable kinds of love, but we should also learn about unfavorable kinds of love so we do not make mistakes.

There are undesirable loves that we are warned about in hadith and in verses of the Qur’an. Many people pursue these kinds of love, many people become infatuated with these loves, but they are unacceptable.

Hubb al-dunya ra'su kulli hatiatin. "Love for the world is the source, the beginning, the essence of all evil."

Of course, what we refer to as the world is not the "earth." The world is the things in our lives that tempt our hearts. If a person’s main objective is this world, he strives for this world, has love only for this world, and neglects the hereafter that we call the “other world”, then this is not an acceptable kind of love. In the Qur’an it reveals:

Zuyyina linnasi hubbuashshahawati mina annisa-i walbaneenawalqanateeri almuqantarati mina aththahabiwalfiddati walkhayli almusawwamati wal-anAAamiwalharthi thalika mataAAu alhayatiaddunya wallahu AAindahu husnualmaab "Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire - of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life, but Allah has with Him the best return.”

The things mentioned above are pertaining to this world, things that we cannot take to the hereafter. Man cannot take his belongings, property or his money to the hereafter. These are temporal, mortal things. A person’s main aim should be the hereafter, and he must have “zuhd” in this world.

So what does Zuhd mean?

It means “Abstaining from the love of this world."

Zuhd is the ability to say; "The world is not important to me, what is important is the pleasure of Allah. For me, money is not important, position or rank is not important. Instead of earning money by committing sin, I would rather not earn that money... Instead of gaining rank and position by committing sin, oppressing and aggrieving others I would rather not have that position.”

Zuhd means to be “satisfied”, "not focusing on this world." A Muslim should be content. He should not have tul al-amal, high expectations and ambitions.

Tul al-amal is a miserable feeling but not everyone is that familiar with what it actually means. When I asked, the more I studied it this is the conclusion I reached, Tulal-aemel is; “Not being aware that death may come suddenly and spreading our ambitions, our desires over many years.”

"How are you, how are things, what are you doing?"

"I'm fine. This year I plan to do this this, next year I plan to do this, I plan to do this in three years, I will get my son married in five years, I plan to go on the pilgrimage in ten years, I'll do so and so in 15 years."

How can you possibly know this? Have you got any guarantee that you will live until then?

Such a person has Tul al-amal, he believes he will live. Whereas, death comes suddenly, there is no certainty. It can come at a time and place where you least expect it. It can happen suddenly when you are conducting your daily routine activities.

A person must eliminate the emotion of Tul aI-amal. He must prepare himself saying "Death can come at any moment." This is an important sentiment; this is an extremely important sentiment for a good Muslim. So let’s conclude the subject of Tul al-amal, our ambitions should not be too far in the future, we should be vigilant, and be prepared that “death may come at any moment.”

Another hadith was narrated by Khatib Baghdadi from Jabir:

Man ahabba kavman alâ a'malihim hushira yawma al-kıyamah min zumratihim fa-husiba bi-hisabihim wa in lam ya'mal a'malahum.

And to love certain things excessively, beyond all measures is also unfavorable. For example, excessive love for food, we call this gluttony, is the lust of the stomach. For example lust for woman, for example, the passion for wealth. Everybody can be attracted to wealth, but to be fair, today this has turned into greed. This is totally unfavorable.

Property, possessions, wealth etc. are all temporary. At this point I must relate the words of Yunus:

Wealth owner, property owner,

Who is its original owner?

Wealth is lie, property is lie,

As you have some deceive yourself.

He expressed this excellently, the words are like a sermon. He concludes briefly saying: "Wealth is a lie, property is a lie. If you don't believe it, deceive yourself and you will regret it too." This should be in moderation.

Hubb al-jah, "The love of position."

We cannot demand a duty in Islam. If we are assigned with a duty, we ask Allah for help and try to fulfill this duty.

They wanted to make Imam-i Âzam a judge, he refused saying "I do not accept." We cannot demand position.

Then there is the hadith on hubb al- riyasah "The love of power." Our Prophet said;

"He who has been a ruler over ten people-whether he is a good or bad person-will be brought shackled on the Day of Resurrection, until justice loosens his chains or tyranny- if he abused his duty, power and leadership- brings him to destruction."

These are unfavorable kinds of love. In which case, there are kinds of love that are favorable and loves that are unfavorable.

The examples given so far are positive and negative kinds of love that are visible among all people. They can be seen everywhere. These are not the fundamental objective in worldly life; these are mortal, they are delusions, they are unavailing. The real love is the divine love, is the love of Allah. But not everyone can comprehend this. In order to understand that Allah is the true beloved one, a person must make an effort! Not everyone can understand this, even if you tell them they cannot understand. Indeed, this is an issue concerning the level of maturity, it is not easy. Let me explain this further:

Allahu la ilâha illa hu, lah al-asma all-husna. "The best attributes belong to Allah."

Why do we love a person or love something? Don’t we like it because it has beautiful attributes?

Allah possesses the most beautiful attributes. From this verse, it is clear that those with the capability of understanding that Allah is the One we should love the most because He offers the most beautiful of everything, He is Owner of the most beautiful of all things.

This is why our elders categorized love into two:

The first is true love and the other untrue love.

True love is the love of Allah, this is real love. The others are transient loves. A person falls in love with someone, but later they can regret it and even become enemies. Then they go to court and get a divorce.

True love is the divine love. Because the most beautiful names belong to Allah, He has the most beautiful attributes, He is the most beautiful. Of course, it is impossible for us to perceive Him.

Laysa ka-mithlihi shay'un. There is no such thing similar to Him! Should we say appealing, pleasant or delightful? But we use them to "describe people." Girl your face is so appealing!

A minstrel said this, he resembled the face of his loved one to cream.

"Butter and honey is flowing from your mouth."

He likened her words to butter and honey. But this assimilation is certainly not appropriate for Allah. He is unique; there is nothing that resembles Him, nothing that can be likened to Him.

In the Qur’an it reveals Fala tadribu li'l-lahi al-amthala. "So do not assert similarities to Allah."

But how can we understand?

If it is impossible for humans to perceive the character of Allah, we can understand from His names, His actions. We understand from His wisdom, His dealings, we understand from His creatures, His manifestations. So with these, it is possible to perceive His beauty.

When we admire the rose, that beauty was created by Allah. Such a variety of colors, flavors emerge from the soil. He created the array of beauty that we see in the world; there are even more wonderful beauties in the hereafter that eyes have never seen and ears have never heard, and nobody can even imagine. Moreover, there is an invitation from Allah, He calls us all to His paradise .

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Wal-lahu yadu ila dariassalam. "Allah is inviting, calling all of you to the Home of Peace, His paradise."

His pledge is the truth, there is no going back on this pledge.

This is how it is in words, but perceiving the essence of the word, being affected by this, obtaining this is not a privilege granted to everyone. Not everyone can reach the love of Allah, the divine love.

For this reason, the great scholars, perfect guides and sheikhs strive to encourage their followers to comply with the Sunnah of the Prophet, they teach it to them so they can reach Allah. Eşrefoğlu Rûmî said;

"The Sheikh has two duties":

1. To ensure the servants love Allah,
2. To ensure Allah loves His servants.

So how can a servant be encouraged to love Allah?

If you read poetry, recite nasheeds; take pictures, show videos, reveal the wisdom of Allah and the beauties He creates; you say; "See, Allah has granted you all these blessings." Then the person will love Allah. Encouraging servants to love Allah is possible through explaining and teaching.

Who endears the servants to Allah?

One of the duties of the sheikh is to endear servants to Allah. Whose duty is this? Eşrefoğlu Rûmî explains. He said; "Sheikhs accomplish this by adapting their followers to the Sunnah of Prophet." Because there is a verse that reveals "Allah loves those who follow the Sunnah.” They say "O my brothers, O my dervishes! Follow the Sunnah." They explain that you can't reach anything if you don't follow the Sunnah.

Yunus reached spirituality, Mevlânâ also reached spirituality, so did Eşrefoğlu Rûmî; it is obvious from their poetry. I have great admiration for Eşrefoğlu Rûmî.

O God! Don't set me apart from you.

Don't set me apart from your beauty.

A fish is alive only inside the water,

Don’t set it apart from the lake.

To love you is my religion, my faith

Oh our Lord! Don’t set me apart from this faith.

Eşrefoğlu is your helpless servant.

Divine! Don't set your servant apart from you.

Consider such a love! Love is flowing out from the words! Yunus is the same;

If they kill me.

They may throw my ashes into the air.

And my soil calls out immediately.

I need you alone, only you.

If they burn him, turn him into ash, throw his ashes into the sky, and the ashes are scattered everywhere, the particles of the ashes will say “Oh Allah! I need only you!”

They call Salah because Yunus has died,

The dead one is animal, lovers never die.

Look at these words! He says:

Assalatu wa as-salamu alayka ya Rasul Allah! Assalatu wa as-salamu Habib Allah

"Oh Muslim community! Remember there was someone called Yunus Emre?"

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un . They say "We inform you that he has died.”

"The dead one is animal, lovers never die."

There are two meanings of hayiwan or animal in Arabic, one meaning is life. In this verse it reveals:

Addara al-akhirata lahiya alhayawanu. "And indeed, the home of the Hereafter - that is the (eternal) life.”

This means this life has died; "The material life dies, the physical life dies." But as Yunus is a poet, he says this wittily. He means “If it’s an animal it dies, if it’s a human it does not die.”. He says "If he loves Allah, he will not die!"

So did Yunus die?

His name; he lives on in our hearts. The spirit doesn't die, but not everybody can understand this. So why can’t everyone understand? Because they are not worthy, Allah does not grant this privilege to everyone.

Shammatun min ma'rifatullahi hayrun min al-dunyu wa ma fiha. "A little understanding, knowledge, instinct and emotion regarding the wisdom of Allah is better than the world and what it contains."

The love of Allah comes from knowledge of Him. When a person becomes familiar with Allah, he loves Him. He says "How beautiful you are, O Lord!" Then he understands, and when he understands he loves Allah.

I will recite a poem by someone who loves:

O One of abundant grace

Welcome is your wrath, welcome are your blessings

Should your anger bring suffering

Or your kindness loving friendship

Both bring joy to my heart

Welcome is your wrath

Welcome are your blessings.

"Oh Lord! If You bring suffering, if I am subjected to Your wrath, or You bring joy or kindness."

Everything that comes to me from you is good

Whether it’s a rose or a thorn

A cloak of honor or a shroud

Welcome is your wrath

Welcome are your blessings.

See how a person loves when he really loves! Because when a person loves Allah, he loves unconditionally and becomes a true lover. Allah does not grant this emotion to everyone, He gives it to His eminent servants, His perfect servants. When a person rises in perfection, he perceives this emotion and is absorbed in this emotion.

Of course, there is a condition of reaching this. The path of reaching this is obedience to Allah.

If you rebel against Allah, would He love you?

Good manners is a Crown from the Light of Allah.

Wear that crown and be safe from every misfortune.

This comes before knowledge, good manners is essential!

There are some loves that are associated with the love of Allah. Essentially, a person who loves Allah finds himself in other loves. He who reaches the love of Allah loves the Prophet. Love for the Messenger of Allah. There are so many verses and hadith that I do not consider it necessary to read them. It is very important to love the Messenger of Allah.

The polytheists caught someone and took him to the desert to torture him. Swords in their hands; they were about to kill him. For the sake of conversation someone said;

"Don’t you realize? All this is because you believed in that Muhammad. Don't you wish that you were spared and Muhammad got this punishment? Would not you like that you were resting comfortably in your home, while he was killed in your place?"

So what was hiss reply? He said:

"By Allah, I cannot even imagine that a thorn should prick the foot of Muhammad while I rest in my home, I sacrifice my life for him”

This is the love they had for Prophet Muhammad. They guarded him against the arrows with their bodies during the wars and sacrificed their lives for him.

This love is essential!

In one of the hadith he said: "I wish I could meet my brothers!"

The companions were surprised and asked;

"O Messenger of Allah! Are we not your brothers?" He replied

"No, you are my companions. My brothers are those who have faith in me although they never saw me.”

He loved us from many centuries ago, and we love him although many centuries have passed. He is the beloved one of Allah, the Messenger of Allah. We love him as a result of our love for Allah.

A hadith narrated by Ibn Abbas (ra) has narrated, and confirmed by Tirmidhi says:

Ahibbu'l-laha lima yaghzukum bihi min-ni amihi wa ahibbuni bi-hubbi'l-lah wa ahibbu ahli bayt bi-hubbi. “Love Allah for the blessings He has poured on you, love me due to your love for Allah and love the members of my household due to your love for me!”

The person who loves Allah will love His Prophet.

In a hadith, they asked:

"Oh Messenger of Allah! What is faith? Explain this to us."

Kala an yakuna'l-laha wa rasuluhu ahabba ilayka mimma sivahuma. "Faith is that Allah and the Messenger of Allah will be dearer to you than anything else."

This is true faith. He replied "Allah and His Messenger being dearer to you than anything else.” That is faith! This is extremely important.

Then, the person who loves Allah accepts his fate; he is content with his fate and submits to Allah.

Those who love Allah want to meet Allah. In the hadith it reveals.

Man ahabba likaallah, ahabb al-ahu likaahu wa man kariha likaallah, karih a-lahu likaahu. According to the person’s emotions "Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him, loves him. And whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah also hates meeting him, He doesn't like him."

Allah the Almighty (swt) revealed;

Ana inda zanni abdi bi. "I am to my servant as he thinks of me."

Man arada an ya' lama ma lahu inda'l-lahi azza wa jalla fa'l-yanzur ma li'l-lahi azza wa jalla indahu. "If a person is curious as to what is his status in the eyes of Allah, he should consider his own regard, his devotion to Allah; he should consider 'How devoted he is to Allah?' He should consider “How much he values Allah.”

As you know, Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî begins his Masnavi by describing the reed flute.

Bişnev ez ney çün hikayet mî kuned

Ez cüdayîhâ şikâyet mî kuned.

Listen to the reed and the tale it tells,

how it sings of separation. So what is separation?

Kez neyistan tâ merâ be-borîde end

Der nefîrem merd ü zen nâlîde end.

“Ever since they cut me from the reed bed, my wail has caused men and women to weep.” Flute players don't say "playing the flute," they say, "blowing the flute." When the flute is blown water drips out from underneath.

Âteşest în bang nây u nîst bâd

Her ki în âteş nedâred nîst bâd.

This is a great couplet.

This flute is played with fire, not with wind,

without this fire you would not exist!

Have we achieved this? Have we really succeeded in being as sensitive as a small reed flute with holes?

It says "Whoever does not have this fire inside him, he does not exist!”

What is the cause of that fire?

Due to the longing for its original habitation; it yearns for its source and wants to return. Humans should also have the same sentiment saying "I am a servant of Allah", and want to meet Allah.

We should generate a huge campaign of love!

We must learn to love, and teach love to our children!

We should raise our children with love; as individuals that appreciate love, recognize love. They should perceive love.

We must act in a way that is loved! The way we sit, act, speak, remain silent, and serve should be in a manner that is loved!

We should behave in a way that is loved, act in a way that is loved. We should learn to speak in a way that is loved.

We must know, learn how to speak pleasantly!

Then, we must strive to attain the knowledge of Allah, the love of Allah. This is an important task, an extremely important duty. This is not fantasy, not an accessory of the believer; it is the flame deep in the heart, the ignition of the heart. It is the source of energy, the essence of the truth. We must strive to achieve this.

We should be like Yunus Emre, like Mevlânâ, like Eşrefoğlu Rûmî.

As brothers, we must be familiar and love each other; we should be close to one another, we should unite, cooperate with one another.

And we should unite for the sake of these divine goals.

There must be cooperation in love!

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* This text was compiled from Prof. Dr. Mahmud Es’ad Cosan’s speech on 15.03.1997 in Munich, Germany.