Çilingir Sofrası 40 / Din, Adalet, Mustafa Kemal (with English subtitles)

0:00Çilingir Sofrası 40 / Religion, Justice and Mustafa Kemal ***Translated by Prof.Dr.Nükhet Kardam***

0:02At one point UNESCO was interested in selecting the Person of the Century.

0:05A committee met to decide who should be selected.

0:06They came up with several names

0:08such as the American President who helped

0:10to overcome Hitler

0:12They came up with different names

0:14And then someone suggested it should be

0:16Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

0:21The person who suggested Mustafa Kemal as the Person of the Century was a Pole

0:23but a Russian representative objected

0:26He said

0:29That’s not a good idea

0:32Next time we would have to celebrate someone else

0:35Or something else, and will have to just keep going and it would be endless

0:37It would be hard to deal with

0:38That’s why let’s not do it

0:40Not because Mustafa Kemal is not a valuable choice

0:43The Pole says

0:44It is not that

0:48no one can be compared to Mustafa Kemal

0:49Since there wasn’t a vote

0:53the idea was dropped

0:54In the next meeting

0:57The Russian representative spoke again and said

0:59I did my research

1:00and found out that Mustafa Kemal was unique

1:02Sinan: It is good that he did his research

1:04We are not interested in praising Mustafa Kemal

1:06Sinan: Yes, it is good that the Russian did his research

1:08Of course, but the point here is

1:10We are not trying to applaud one person

1:13I am trying to bring out what is universal here

1:16Universality is only possible when people

1:19can see themselves as part of it

1:21not to praise a particular leader

1:24There are many leaders who saved their country

1:27What I mean by universality is

1:31when everybody’s rights and freedoms are protected.

1:34Justice means

1:36no one is allowed to attack the other.

1:39It means protecting the rights of each group

1:42That’s exactly what the Medina Charter was about

1:45Some say religion is no good

1:46That we should put religion aside

1:48I am trying to talk about the ‘essence’ of religion here

1:53not the religion of folklore,

1:55not the religion of anti revolution.

1:56We seem to think that religion is the religion of the Umayyad dynasty (Emevi)

1:58Those are the traditions and habits of Arabs.

2:03Sinan: Those traditions replaced religion

2:04There are the traditions of Turks, of Arabs, or the English

2:08If we are going to all live together, the question is are we going to live according to

2:11Turkish traditions,

2:12or British traditions or Germans or Indians?

2:15No,

2:16instead we need to live under a common legal document.

2:17A document of citizenship.

2:18that we have all agreed on

2:22and voted on.

2:23And believe that under such a constitution

2:25our rights would be protected

2:28Sinan: Universal Human Rights

2:30Yes, that’s very important

2:32The real goal of the Medina Charter was

2:36the universal protection of human rights and freedoms.

2:40When I look at the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights today

2:43It may not be sufficient

2:44in protecting human rights and freedoms

2:46but at the same time, it is the highest

2:48Medina Charter of today

2:51If I don’t put my signature under this document

2:52that means I don’t believe in the Prophet

2:54and I am not a friend of the Prophet Muhammad

2:57I am not a servant of Allah

3:01And follow the Prophet

3:05They say it was not Muslims who came up with that Declaration.

3:07The point is, what is our ideal here?

3:08The Medina Charter was the legal document that was created to protect the rights of diverse groups

3:11That’s why Medina was called ‘Medine-’i Munevvere’

3:13The City of Enlightenment

3:16because this Charter

3:18created justice.

3:22I hope I was able to explain this sufficiently

3:27Can: So justice is the basis of civilization

3:29That’s it, it is that simple, it is not hard!

3:32Can: If there is justice, there is civilization

3:34Yes, exactly, otherwise not

3:37They ask: does religion have a ‘religion’?

3:41Religion is an institution, how can it have its own religion?

3:43They asked this question to Imam Ali

3:46Individuals have religion

3:47they have certain responsibilities

3:51They can do certain things and not others

3:53But how can a state have a religion?

3:55Hz. Ali says yes, it can, its religion is justice.

3:58What does Ataturk say?

4:02The basis of ownership is justice.

4:04Since Allah owns everything,

4:06what does Allah want?

4:07Justice!

4:08Is it so difficult to figure out?

4:10Is this difficult? Why wouldn’t we want it?

4:13It is easy!

4:16But instead, we want everyone to be like us!

4:18If we want everyone to be like us

4:21We are rejecting justice

4:25We are rejecting the right to live together

4:28We end up being enemies of each other

4:31There is no Islam, Islam means peace

4:33What remains then is war

4:36Sinan: We are so unaware, even if we hear it five times a day, we don’t hear.

4:40So Brahma is the creator of existence

4:43what exists is not existing forever

4:46but has manifested

4:50in other words, has been born

4:53Doga (nature) in Turkish or natura in Latin means

4:57to give birth,

5:00physis (nature) in ancient Greek also means to give birth, to become

5:04In Arabic, however, tabiat (nature) means something else

5:08Tabiat means to adapt, to follow

5:12Turks pronounce it differently, it means to be dependent on

5:17Phenomena are dependent on forces

5:21Phenomena are the manifestation of forces

5:24There are four essential forces behind all phenomena

5:27We know that

5:30from physics

5:32There is gravity

5:35Newton found the law of gravity

5:39The force was always there

5:40But he came up with the law of gravity

5:44Then there are weak

5:46and strong nuclear force

5:48and electromagnetic force

5:50These forces are what keeps nature going

5:52This is physical science

5:54So in religion there are four angels

5:57What does that mean?

5:59Check out the four angels and their meanings

6:01Gabriel, Mika’il, Azra’il, and Israfil

6:05This is equivalent to the four basic forces of nature

6:09Phenomena appear as a result of these forces

6:13which brought them into being

6:16Nature (tabiat) depends on these forces

6:18Isn’t that stupendous?

6:19Isn't that physics?

6:20Isn't that science?

6:25If you don’t understand concepts,

6:27do your research.

6:31If you reject them,

6:33you are rejecting yourself

6:34and your own culture

6:36and then you try to find another place or culture to belong to

6:38but no one would accept you

6:40Can: They are covering up these important elements instead of doing their research and instead of learning about them

6:43No, they are not covering it up,

6:45covering up means you cover up something you know.

6:48It is the Jews who have done that (covered up what they know)

6:50The Jews know the truth

6:52but they want to own it

6:55and cover it up.

6:55Prophet Muhammad said that about Jews

6:57He said to them: "You know the truth but you are not disclosing it to others."

6:59He wasn’t insulting the Jews

7:01What he said was, you know the truth

7:02but you are hiding it

7:05This is also in the Bible.

7:06Christ said that to the Jews,

7:07He himself was a Jew,

7:10you Rabbis, you Wise men,

7:13you are not going inside the truth

7:18you are not letting anyone in.

7:21So what we are talking about is knowing the truth but covering it,

7:24such people are ‘kafir’ (who covers the truth that comes from Allah)

7:28Can said that some people know the truth and knowingly cover it up.

7:31No, they don’t know the truth.

7:38First you need to know the truth, not pretending that you know

7:50The most dangerous person is the one who thinks he knows

7:54The one who knows is not dangerous

7:56The one who doesn’t know is not dangerous either.

7:57Those who know can teach those who don’t know.

8:00But what about those that claim they know when they don’t?

8:03What can you explain to them?

8:05I was talking with a professor once and asked him

8:09What difficulty do you have with your students?

8:11Under what circumstances?

8:13Do you feel that you are challenged?

8:16He said

8:17When there is ignorance that is not faced or acknowledged

8:21That’s impossible to deal with

8:25I said, what do you mean?

8:26You can debate with a person who is knowledgeable

8:31He or she might bring counter arguments

8:35Justifications

8:37explanations

8:39and we can have a productive debate

8:41but with an ignorant person, that is impossible

8:44I asked, what do you mean by an ignorant person?

8:46Is it someone who doesn’t know?

8:47No, it is someone who claims to know but is ignorant

8:49and rejects whatever I say

8:51So what does he do?

8:52Whatever I say,

8:54His response is no, it is not like that

8:56it is not like that! So I ask, so how is it then?

8:59He only keeps saying no

9:02it is not like that!

9:03I cannot communicate

9:06with such a person

9:10I don’t talk with ignorant people

9:14There is a song with that title

9:20[Müzik]

9:25Don’t you remember that song?

9:29I stopped conversing with ignorant people

9:32It is a great song (Neflet Ertafl)

9:34Can: We have a friend who said that

9:36If someone is pretending to be asleep,

9:39You cannot wake him up. Exactly

9:42He won’t wake up

9:43If he is pretending to be asleep, even if you pour water over him, he won’t wake up

9:46Bravo

9:49This is great, see teaching can come from anywhere

9:53Can: Selim Demirdelen, famous Turkish director, has said this.

9:55Teachers don’t have to be wearing special uniforms like the Pope.

10:03I received a teaching right now

10:06Sinan: Even if you pour water over him,

10:09he will continue to pretend he is asleep.

10:13So we are in India

10:16Can: How much time do we have left?

10:18Crew: We have eight minutes left.

10:21If wee have only 8 minutes, we may stop here.

10:22What shall we do during these eight minutes?

10:28Do you have the song I mentioned?

10:30Sinan: No

10:38What shall we do?

10:43Sinan: Let’s do another song from Malatyevi (Niyazi Misri)

10:46Sounds good

10:48We can’t leave this area after all

10:50Can: I wish I could accompany you in your music

10:56We are accompanying him, even if our voices are not always harmonious

10:59Sometimes we are interjecting some words from the song

11:01sometimes I am interjecting a word here and there

11:04You say ‘Hu’, I say ‘Ho’

11:09Sinan: That’s how it is, this is Çilingir Sofrası, it doesn’t have a beginning or an end.

14:33Allah Eyvallah

14:37You've set a magnificent sofra and it's beautiful. We also ate and drank at this sofra.

14:55Çilingir Sofrası 40 / Religion, Justice and Mustafa Kemal ***Translated by Prof.Dr.Nükhet Kardam***