Lecture G

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate

THE OPINIONS OF THE POSITIVE SCIENCE

As per the findings of the cosmology in the year 1994:

All realms within the visible and invisible borders of the universe were as a COSMIC EGG or smaller than that, but did not lose their weights, kept them.

It has carried the weight of the whole universe in a small condensation. It has kept all the creatures; whose types and exact numbers are not known by us, with their material and gentle qualities. The universe we know had not existed yet….It possessed the potential energy, POWER and potential perfection to bring the universe into existence as in its current order and the conditions and with everything it carries and also to organize it with a magnificent order. It is assumed that there existed no creatures fifteen billion years ago and the Egg was The origin, nucleus, root, first existence and seed of the UNIVERSE.

Approximately fifteen billion years ago (more or less) a big bang happened. With this bang, a huge energy came out in a very short time. This energy was equal to 1032 º C. After some time, the energy turned into gas phase. By turning into gas, subatomic particles i.e. neutron, proton, electron, neutrinos, nucleus of the atom, quarks and photons appeared and started to move in the cavity of the atom (or we should say they started to dance with the joy of coming to the realm of creatures from the emptiness of nonexistence. These made the atoms be formed in their special structure. Atoms produced molecules and molecules formed the first matter.

Matter was consisted of more than one hundred simple ELEMENTS. Since atoms have electrons and neutrons with different structure in the subatomic structure, this caused their elements and their appearance independent and different objects. Afterwards, they turned into composite objects and stars were created. Stars formed galaxies (star islands) and galaxies formed COLONIES as constellation galaxies.

Colonies took their place as a different galaxy in the space. Then the space started to expand and galaxies started to get away -run away- from each other. The speed of the distance getting bigger for the initial galaxies is higher than that of subsequent galaxies. This process has been going on for FIFTEEN BILLION YEARS that is the space widens and the universe gets bigger and bigger. The getting away speed of the galaxy which is ten million light years away from us is 25 km per second. This speed is 250,000 km per second for the galaxies that are ten billion light years away from the world.

The temperature that arose in the first appearance time (after the Big Bang), i.e. at 1032 º C, started to diminish gradually throughout formation processes. Today that temperature has decreased to minus 273 centigrade degrees. It is assumed that everywhere in the space the temperature is at this degree, i.e. – 273 º C.

The information given above is the findings of the experts from different nations and different times. Each expert added his finding to what was already known and the level of the knowledge in 1994 (when this book was written) was reached. They might have said the wrong thing or their level of hitting the right thing may vary.

If their work suits the existence, unity and oneness of allah and the belief system of the community of sunnah of the religion of Islam, their service is not wasted, they will be rewarded. If they had no Islamic faith, they will be liable, because knowledge is dependent on what is already known and the owner of knowledge is Allah Taala. Identifying and establishing by the technological possibilities and equipments of our time an event which is called the big bang, which happened billions of years ago in the light of balanced, measured information does not mean creating or producing it. The details and greatness of that event must be sought after in the power of the PERFECT CREATOR who did it FIFTEEN BILLION YEARS ago.

The other side of the coin, even though parents seem to be the cause of birth, starting from one single synthesis cell and going through different phases and turning to a bodily organism as a perfect human, it is true that the parents are unaware of the art of creation and its processes.

Therefore, the groups of the scientists that accepted the theory of BIG BANG and cause this knowledge to reach to its current level are no different than the parents who cause the perfection of the structure of humans….

Actually their knowledge is only made up of READING THE BOOK OF THE UNIVERSE.

A person who reads a book can not claim possession of the knowledge in the book, i.e. he can not say ‘this information is mine’. He learns the information in the book from the author and appreciates and glorifies the author. The first thing to do for those who read the book to take lesson from is to know the owner of the book who innovated, constructed and produced the book and then to exalt him and to thank him and praise him. The venerable Allah Taala is the creator, the originator (AL MUBDI), the innovator, the knower of ghayb (the invisible things), powerful, Lord, Sultan, supreme, proprietor, the possessor of all known and unknown perfections, supra-super, supra-super and he will stay above supers for ever. Knowing Allah is the biggest happiness while being unaware of him is the greatest disaster. The keys of knowing Allah is the aforementioned three books: the revealed book, i.e. the noble Qur’an, the Book of the unıverse, ı.e. the creatıon, the talkıng book i.e. the venerable Prophet (peace be upon him) (his life and deeds) and his heirs – mature humans.

2- The Qur’anic proofs verifying the Big Bang and the expansion of the universe:

“When He wills a thing, His command is to say to it 'Be', and it is” (Surah Yaseen, 36/82)

“And Our Order is but one word like the flashing of an eye.” (Surah Al Qamar, 54/50)

The judgments of Allah Taala that were predestined in his past eternal knowledge happen in the twinkling of a time and are carried out instantly.

The situation of all creatures before the creation is mentioned in a hadith occurring in the BUKHARI hadith book. (Volume 4, chapter 22)

“There had been only Allah and nothing else except his hidden existence….”

Kainat, Mehmet Eminoglu, pp:22

Here there is a referral to the degree at which Allah Taala is unknowable. This is the degree that Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi (may Allah be pleased with him) names as the degree of LA TAAYYUN (indefiniteness): There is the following information about the theory of the big bang.

“There were no time and space. …No matter and no energy… There was nothing. Even there was no a small point or emptiness. A small slight movement occurred. A tiny trembling, a slight waving, a hardly visible whirlpool…. The lid of this cosmic box was opened and the buds of the miracle of creation came out….

-…. There was nothing, but nothing in the universe, no planets revolving around the Sun, and no stars existing in the sky, no galaxies in the infinite depths of the space.

-The existing evidences of our time show that the universe started billions of years ago with the BIG BANG.

We have to accept that in a time in the pass all matters and energy accumulated in a certain body. Let us call this time in the past’ the zero time.’ This zero time is considered as the start of the universe”.

Taşkın Tuna, Uzayın Sırları, pp-12

The author of the Mawlid, SÜLEYMAN ÇELEBİ (A respectful person), expressed the aforementioned realities in summary:

“He ORDERED ‘be’, and the world existed,

If he says ‘do not be’, it is collapsed instantly”

Above we explained that under the heading of THE opinions of the positive science that before the universe was created, everything in the universe existed physically and as knowledge in the shape of a cosmic egg or point and as a potential power. It is said to be the first The root, essence, ORIGIN, NUCLEUS and seed of the UNIVERSE.

the seed contains all properties and qualities of the tree it belongs to… Similarly in the structure of male-female synthesis cell is all properties and qualities of the baby that will be born. Likewise the tree of the universe, too, contained all the properties and qualities in its de facto appearance, i.e. everything that made it the universe was in its seed before the BIG BANG whose essence and details are unknown to us.

If some one asks how the totality of huge creatures (the sun, etc) can fit into an egg with their physical structure and its supernatural corporeal structure? … There is nothing to say in addition to what our Celebi put it metaphorically as He said (ordered) ‘be’, and the world existed. There is no way to understand this issue through chemical analyses or physical sciences. The explanation made is not the knowledge that was brought out through some experiments. Knowing the structure of the tree after it comes to the realm of existence emanates from the rule of KNOWLEDGE IS DEPENDENT ON WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN. Does not it show how weak the humans are that even though humans know for sure that tree comes from the seed, but they do not know its causes, substance and inner realities?

It is now better understood the truth of the venerable Ibn Arabi (may Allah exalt his mystery) naming this degree as the degree of LA TAAYYUN, indefiniteness. Here is the private degree of the absolute God.

A verse says:

“Allah warns you to beware of Him, the arrival is to Allah” Surah Aali Imran, 3/28)

A noble hadith decrees:

“Do not reflect on the SELF of Allah”.

3- The expansion of the heart

Heart is defined as a truth that contains material realms and non-corporeal realms in its content. Therefore we have to take into account these two sides to explain the expansion of the heart.

a) The expansion of the heart by its immaterial structure.

This is the heart of humans. There is the quality of expansion as a potential power in the heart of humans. However, not every body owns this expansion de facto. The expansion of the grave when the person is put into the grave is a quality of the heart. When the believer reaches to the level to save his faith and get rids of the animal qualities, the grave of this believer expands and first he sees and watches the town and the house he lived in his lifetime, then the masjids and the places he prayed in, and during the holy nights the areas he can see increases by one degree, and during the Friday nights he can see the places as big as the area of Turkey, and if at further degrees he can see the whole world and ascends to the skies and sees the secrets of the universe in proportion to the degree of his prayers, knowledge and cognizance and up to the level allowed, he can see the angels and meets the inhabitants of the heavens. He can observe his place in the Heaven. What else can he see? Allah Taala knows its truth.

A hadith qudsi decrees:

“I did not fit into the earth and the heavens, but fit into the heart of my believer servant.”

Keşfül Hafa, Vol 2, pp.195, İrfan Gündüz-Gümüşanevi, pp-190

b) The expansion of the heart by its material structure.

Above it has been explained under the subject of THE opinions of the positive science that GALAXIES have billions of stars and for that reason they are called galaxies meaning the island of stars. As the space expands galaxies get away from each other as if they are running away. The fact that the SPACE keeps expanding, the universe keeps getting bigger and bigger, galaxies getting away from each other are the findings that cosmology accepts as absolutely true.

The expansion issue that the positive science accepts as absolutely true is mentioned in the Qur’an openly and clearly:

“It is We who have built the sky with (Our creative) power, and verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it”. (Surah ADH DHARIYAT, 51/47)

Heart has been favoured by action (Af’al) attributes of Allah with another facet.

The qualities, properties and perfections that exist potentially in the soul, which has been favoured by the positive attributes of Allah, appear by the action attributes of Allah and the material and immaterial actions of the heart. At the degree of appearance, the doer at the fourth degree is the action attributes of Allah. Above that is the positive attributes of Allah. It is permitted to say the doer at the third degree. Above that comes the second degree doer, which is THE LIGHT BELONGING TO the self of Allah Taala. It is the second degree and appearance place of everything, knowledge and objects. At the first degree above it, there is the ONENESS degree of the self of the Absolute God, the REAL DOER. Here everything finishes and comes to an end. There is only one thing we can do, KEEPING SILENCE after saying it is UNKNOWABLE and INDEFINITE. This being silent happens both by tongue and heart. Considering it like this gives pleasure, thinking about his essence and nature of him gives TORMENT and DISTRESS, because only Allah Taala knows by himself his truth at this degree. We, His servants, are not allowed to know this degree, the capacity and abilities of the structure of humans are not created as being able to know this degree.

The common manifest (Zahir) and hidden (Batin) qualities of the heart

a) The heart is favoured by the name of AL-‘ADL (The Just, The Equitable). It is the reason for the moderation of the body and the cause of the justice of nafs. ADL is one of the beautiful names of Allah Taala. Allah is just, God Forbid! He is exempt from cruelty. He gives everyone what they deserve.

In the terminology of the canonical law of Islam, justice means putting everything IN ITS PROPER PLACE, giving everyone’s right, paying regard to the rights and justice. Putting everything in its place is justice, namely all objects, putting things and creatures in the order of universe in their suitable places in accordance with the aim of their creation and the job they are expected to do as required by the order. If they are put in the wrong way, this would be wrongdoing.

For instance, the aim to manufacture a private car is to travel and carry some goods. To achieve this goal, first thousands of parts are manufactured separately and then they are assembled by putting each to its proper place. Manufacturing is a different thing, assembling the manufactured parts is another art. In this example, during the assembling, putting each part to its proper place in accordance with the purpose they are made for and the role they are required to play is the justice. If these parts change their places, the order is collapsed and the car does not run.

Likewise, it is necessitated by JUSTICE that all organs with various structure in the human body must be put in the correct place in order for them to conduct their job orderly. If you change the places of organs, the working of the body breaks down.

If you compare these two examples with the whole structure of the universe and the DIVINE order of this structure, it is JUSTICE that putting the Sun, the Moon, stars and galaxies in their proper place, setting the delicately-balanced distance between the world and the Sun and the distance between the World and the Moon correctly appropriate for the creation purpose of the creatures and in the capacity, width and abilities the order requires.

Besides the structure of immaterial organs in the gentle and spiritual structure of humans, in the invisible identity of men, their working and their quality of coexisting with the material structure as the order requires, and the other things we are unaware of are also a result of being JUST.

The balanced creation and working of everything from single-cell microscopic creatures to atoms and galaxies and the faculties of the soul, from the smallest order to the biggest systems emanates from the ATTRIBUTE OF JUSTICE and the JUSTICE name of THE HEART.

B) The emanation of fayz (blessing) from the heart and its spreading to all parts of forms:

Fayz is the attribute of all creatures and the zones of the skies having and maintaining the MATURITY, ENVIRONMENT and POWER to be able to carry out their jobs in the divine order. It happens with the disposal of the name of AL-QAYYUM (The self-existing by who all subsist). It is the MATERIAL and GENTLE faculties of the heart that enables the flower to maintain its existence with its colour and smell; it also enables the humans to keep the knowledge and each action in his memory, to see, to talk, and to be the most honourable and perfect creature among all creatures.

All creatures in the universe CARRY OUT and MAINTAIN their duty by FAYZ (blessing) just like all bulbs and electrical equipments need the power electricity to run and maintain their existence. As when the electricity is cut off, all cities are covered by darkness, the devices running by electromagnetic power lose their vitality instantly, when the fayz is cut off, all order of universe turns into inactivity and absence. This happens in the twinkling of an eye, namely in a very short time. The word of the author of the Mawlid, Suleyman Çelebi is valid here, too. “He said ‘be’, and the world existed, If he says ‘do not be’, it is collapsed instantly”.

c) HEART is favored by the noble name of ALLAH.

As the name of ‘ALLAH’ contains all beautiful names of Allah and includes all of them in its content; heart, too, contains all creatures of the HIDDEN realms, to put it in other (synonymous) words, it contains all material, gentle and invisible creatures. That is why it looks like the name of Allah.

HEART is from the action attributes of Allah with the names of al- hayy (the ever-living, the alıve), AL-‘alim (the all-knowing), al-Qadir (the omnipotent, the able), al-murid (It is who wills), as-sami’ (the all-hearing), al-basir (the all-seeing), Al MutaKALLIM (the speaking) and has the action authority. That is all actions in the order of the universe that are cited above turn into action from capacity through the means of the heart.

d) Heart is the isthmus between the manifest and the hidden

Isthmus means passageway and passage.

Let us think about a building that is built through different stages.

First the idea of making a building comes to the heart, inner side of the human. This idea does not come by is own initiative but by the ABSOLUTE WILL of Allah.

Then he evaluates this idea with the capacity in his knowledge repertory. Then he decides TO BUILD THE BUILDING with his subtle faculties like intellect, mind, memory, imagination, wahm (suspicion, fear), i.e. the subtle creatures. We can call this stage THE MIND OF BODY, because its existence is formed in the brain. The part of the job has happened so far in the hidden or invisible, or to put its synonym, supernatural immaterial structure of the human. There is no material structure of intellect, mind, memory and the like.

Now the second stage of our building starts.

Getting a land for the building, making a house plan, getting the license to build the house, workmanship, financing and providing the necessary materials like iron, cement, lime, bricks, making the installations of plumbing, bathroom and electricity, then plasters etc), then paying the insurance, getting the dwelling permission from the municipal authorities, and finally FURNISHING the house with furniture. These cited above constitute the MATERIAL side and part of the building.

TAKING THE DECISION OF MAKING A BUILDING happens with the idea, intellect, memory and the like, that is the part that occurs with our interior side. The part that comes out with material equipments is related to our EXTERIOR structure. The existence of both is required for the building to come into existence. Until the building process finishes, it is the heart as an isthmus between the exterior and the interior that regulates the communication, relations and connection between the Exterior and Interior. That is the heart is a bridge and passageway between the two. The building will come into existence by co-working of the two. There is no alternative to this. This is the explanation and reality of THE heart being an isthmus.

The dominating side in humans’ two-sided living is his interior side, because it is the ruler and sultan, it is influential, its words are obeyed. Our exterior side is CONDEMNED and functionary. It caries out the orders of its chief, that is our interior side. It can not object to the orders, actually it has no power to do so. The intellect being the ruler and commander orders the eye to look at something, and then the eye takes the picture and sends them to our imagination faculty and leaves them there for evaluation. All of our organs in our bodily structure are like in the example of the eye.

In the Islamic religion, the faith is valid after the heart confirms it. Even though the tongue does not say it, what is respected is the confirmation of the heart and this is enough for a non-muslim to be a believer. Since the tongue is a translator, what is translated is taken as essential and nothing else is added to it.

(IN THE CHAPTER OF THE QUALITIES OF THE HEART- the issues that are written as headings have been taken from FUSUS-I HIKEM, Ahmet Avni Konuk, Vol.3, pp-19).

c) The branches and degrees of the heart

We find sufficient what has been written so far in the chapter of the truths of the heart within the limits of what is allowed to know in terms of mastership attributes of Allah in OUTER WORLD and INNER SELF (NAFS). However, the great wise Sufis from the esteemed people determined the BRANCHES and DEGREES of the heart and developed it as a system of training. The venerable Allah Dhul Jalal wal Ikram (Possessor of Majesty and Honour) manifests and appears at everything he creates with his Al-Mubdi name (the Originator). Even though so many people are created with the same laws of creation and haqqiyyah , their appearance with distinguished (different from each other) qualities of LIFE and DISPOSITION are the manifestations of the creative art of Allah Taala.

The height and weight of humans, their appearance, finger prints and spiritual structures are created differently that is they are easily discernible and recognizable among others.

The venerable Allah does not look like anything and any of his creatures by his Self, while his creatures, too, in mathematical terms, are not hundred percent identical with any member of their kinds or species. The art of innovation rests with Allah.

Each one of the various flowers in the garden has a different beauty, smell and appearance. Even though in terms of their origin they come out of the soil, their quality of being a flower differs, the venerable saints of Allah, too, have different dispositions in spite of the fact that they have common sides in terms of their submission to the Qur’an, piety, worshipping and sincerity.

THE BRANCHES AND LAYERS OF THE HEART

Our author, our spiritual guide venerable Visali touches upon this topic with the expression of the layer of the heart in explaining mystic sides of his Eulogy of Surah Ash-Shams:

The seven layers of the heart should know the road of ascension (the Mi’raj)

One of them is called ‘Sadr’, the mine of the light of Islam

The second one is called ‘FUAD’, the mine of discovery by eyes,

It is the dream of those who remember Allah a lot, the lights of the manifestation of the names

The third is the self of the heart, the mine of the light of faith

If his faith is mature, witnessing the manifestation of actions

The fourth one is called SHAGAF, the mine of the divine love

The lights of love covers, and he can not see anything else than the God,

The fifth is THE NUCLEUS of THE HEART (HABBAT-UL KALB), the mine of the love of Allah

The light and essence of the truths of the things, the witnessing of Muhammad,

The sixth is the BALCK POINT, the mine of the mystic knowledge

Witnessing the secrets of the fate, the degree of two bow-lengths away, or even nearer

The seventh IS BAYT-Al ‘izzAH, the mine of secret knowledge

THE TREASURY OF ALLAH, THE DEGREE OF ONE SELF.

1- SADR is known as BOSOM and CHEST in terms of its dictionary meaning. It is the branch of the heart that enables the person to know the principles of Islam, or the verdicts of so called The actions of Mukallafeen (the accountable), i.e. Obligation (fard), wajib, sunnah, laudable, lawful, canonically undesirable, unlawful, mufsid (corrupt). When heart attains opening up, the exhilaration of the heart occurs. Then accepting, understanding, digesting and practicing of the above mentioned and all other Islamic principles follow and ascending to the degrees of the knowledge of certainty, the eye of certainty and the truth of certainty happens. The heart is enlightened by the lights of the divine cognizance. The opening up of the venerable Muhammad (peace be upon him) (the miracle of opening up of Sadr) caused the exhilaration of his heart at most perfect and most complete degree.

As the noble verses in the Qur’an says.

“'25 Lord,' said Moses, 'expand my chest,

26 and ease my task for me.

27 Unloose the knot upon my tongue,

28 that they may understand my speech.” (Surah Taaha, 20/25-28)

Moses (peace be upon him) prayed for possessing the matters explained above: Lord, expand my chest. This praying bears importance as the prayer of a great and glorious prophet.

The following decreed in the Surah Al-'Inshirah

“Have We not expanded your chest for you (Prophet Muhammad)” (94/1)

The Wajib Taala tells that he granted his glorious venerable prophet OPENING UP OF HIS SADR as a GIFT and KINDNESS. This is also the expansion of the heart. However, it is understood from the above verse that the opening up a heart can only occur as a result of the MUNIFICENCE, FAVOUR and GIFT of Allah Taala.

2- The self of the heart is the centre of the gem of faith

Believing in the principles of AMENTU (the Islamic creed), i.e. believing in Allah, his angels, his HOLY books, his prophets, fate, and believing in that good and evil comes from Allah is one of the properties of heart. The cited principles of Amentu are ATTRACTED and the heart is ATTRACTIVE. The heart that has ability to accept Islam and the faith summons and attracts the principles of amentu and believes in them immediately. How a magnet pulls the mines like iron and steel onto itself and then does not leave them, heart, too, attracts the principles of amentu with THE LIGHT OF FAITH in it, and does not depart from them. The faith has SIX DEGREES and FIVE TYPES. Heart thinks about and reflects on the details of the truths of the faith including these (aforementioned degrees and types). In the coming chapters, while explaining the 54 obligations (fard) that are extracted from the principles of amentu, we will go into the details of this subject.

3- SHAGAF, The centre of love and affectıon. there are fıve degrees of ıt.

a) Fulfilling the wishes (the orders of Allah) of the beloved one

b) Allocating the affection (not giving any place to anyone other than him)

c) Being the enemy of Allah’s enemies

d) Being the friend of Allah’s friends

e) Not revealing the affairs between the lover and the beloved

4- FUAD, the place of watching the divine manifestations.

The noble verse decrees:

“The (servant’s) heart (FUAD) did not give lie to what he saw” (Surah An-Najm, (53/11)

As the heart is the scene of the divine manifestations and SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS as comprehension, observation, DISCOVERY and inspiration:

In one of his oral preaching, during his travel from Ödemiş to İzmir, he read PRAYERS and TOLD THE ROSARIES for some time and when he finished he said (WE repeat remembrances (dhikr) and spiritual revenues come). FUAD is a branch of the heart, the place where spiritual discoveries, spiritual thoughts and knowledge of saints appear. The books written by Muhyiddin Ibn’ul Arabi, by Mawlana, and by the great saints that have their Anthologies and eulogies, all come from the divine treasury as inspiration. The books that are revealed to the prophets (peace be upon them) and the knowledge sent to the men of the spiritual discovery, all come from the same source. The strongest one is the Glorified (Al- Majid) Qur’an, then THE HADITH QUDSIS, then respectively the hadith of the prophet, and lastly COMPREHENSION AND INSPIRATION. The ANTHOLOGY OF VISALI that we try to write a commentary on is, too, a divine gift that came to the FUAD branch of the heart through inspiration.

Let us mention an incident that we partially witnessed personally. We give here the eulogy that ŞEMSİ TEBRİZİ (may Allah be pleased with him) made our master MEHMED RUHİ AKHAN write during our visit to his tomb in Konya in 1959:

THE ONE WHO LOOKS ON THE WORLD’S KING IN SIX DIRECTIONS IS ME.

….

This poem confirms the truthfulness of the inspirations and discoveries that come to the FUAD branch of the heart.

5- (NUCLEUS OF THE HEART) HABBAT-UL KALB

Al-Habb means SEED, GRAIN, and NUCLEUS in lexicon. As the seed bears all properties and qualities of the tree as potential, this branch of the heart, too, preserves in the outer realms the truths of the branches of the heart and of the degrees (those that will be mentioned below) of heart (heart- soul- secret- concealed- occult- the subtleties of nafs, the subtleties of all) as it is written in the past eternal knowledge. It is also the source of the love of Allah. Besides it is like an isthmus between the mentioned branches and DEGREES.

6- SUVAYDA (BLACKNESS)

Suvayda means BLACKNESS. It refers to the BLACK POINT which is supposed to exist in the centre of the heart. It is also known as the place of sin and rebellion for those who rebel against Allah, and the place of comprehension, foresight and mystic knowledge for the believers.

7- MUHJAT-UL KALB- BEYT-UL ‘IZZAH

This is the place of the manifestation of the divine lights. It is the source of the mysterious knowledge. All the creatures in the physical realm and in the invisible realm are created by the LIGHT (AN-NUR) name of Allah, and wore the cloth of body, special to themselves. Therefore, all branches of the heart, too, possessed their structure in the environment enabling them to perform their allocated duty by THE LIGHT that manifests and deigns in the MUHJAT-UL KALB branch. It is the degree of the self of the One.