Çilingir Sofrası 2 / Bilinçli İhlas: İslam (with english subtitles)

0:00translated by Prof. Dr. Nükhet Kardam

0:00You can ask forgiveness if you have made a mistake. So if you have made peace with yourself

0:03Those who have made peace with themselves cannot lie.

0:06Everything is known by its opposite,

0:09And the opposite of Ihlas (sincerity) is lies.

0:12To be devoid of lies. So entering into religion

0:15Means that the first step is to be devoid of lies.

0:19What does Ihlas give birth to? It gives birth to Islam.

0:23Derived from s, l, and m, Islam means to submit Submit to what? Not to something outside

0:28No, it means to submit to one's own essence

0:35So to submit with sincerity.

0:38When one is in submission based on sincerity, what manifests is Certainty of Belief (Iman)

0:41So the order is: First Ihlas (Sincerity) then Islam (submission) and then Iman (certainty of belief)

0:45Now, we are capable of being sincere if we make the effort,

0:50and Islam means knowing the value of sincerity and being at peace with oneself.

1:03When you are at peace with yourself, you are conscious

1:09As babies, we are already sincere.

1:12But when we grow up and interact with our environment, we are separated from ourselves.

1:17Later, we can return to ourselves and become self-aware. Only conscious sincerity and being at peace with oneself

1:21May be called Islam. What does this mean? To be at peace with oneself

1:24Are we not normally at peace with ourselves? Are we our own enemies?

1:29Yes, we are our own enemies, as it says in the Qur'an Make peace with yourself. When we are at peace with ourselves

1:37We are capable of Ihlas (sincerity) And Islam

1:43But we are not capable of Iman (Certainty) Serhan, it is very interesting There is a surah in the Qur'an.

1:50I am inspired directly today. I didn't do anything.

1:57So some people came to the Prophet Muhammed And said: Could you please tell us about Islam?

2:01He explained it. They said that they really liked it. Very good. So that means we can be counted

2:05Among the believers too?

2:07Prophet Muhammed was puzzled. What should he say now?

2:13They accepted Islam. So he should say yes you are among the believers.

2:18But so that we would understand the difference between Islam and Iman A revelation came to the Prophet

2:23You can say you have accepted Islam but Iman (certainty of belief) Has not yet settled in your hearts

2:30So you see we are capable of Islam But not of Iman

2:39Iman has to do with the certainty of belief in our hearts It is not an intellectual endeavor whereas as Islam is based on the mind.

2:46We can accept certain rules We can agree, and co-sign a document

2:50Ünnemel mu'minune ihvetun (Surah el-Hucurat,10) Only those who are certain of each other are brothers and sisters

2:58Not those who submit to each other Those who are Muslims are not brothers and sisters

3:04But those who have iman, in other words those who are connected to each other In their hearts. Those who are unified in their hearts

3:11Are brothers and sisters. "Musahip" means this. You said it so well.

3:17Those who have iman are together in sohbet (heartful conversation) They are "sahabi" meaning they take care of each other

3:23internally and externally The are absolutely Emin (certain) of each other without a doubt

3:29Based on Ihlas (Sincerity) So this is the manifestation of

3:36Muhammed-ul Emin That is, Trustworthiness in people

3:42We have such a grand teaching In our hands

3:47And this encompasses all cultures What we call Symbol or word, the word that creates a wound

3:55The divine word That is remembered

4:02Or contemplated; Or spoken. Such a word

4:06Can only Be the result of Sohbet (heartful conversation)

4:13And Muhabbet (love). The brothers and sisters (ihvan) around the Prophet Muhammed

4:20Were both true believers of the divine word

4:29They are also "sahabi" "Sahabi" comes from the word sohbet but incorporates the notion of

4:37Taking care of each other Those who take care of each other are the ones engaged in Sohbet

4:42All right, does the word sohbet mean anything different than regular conversation?

4:50Can we say they conversed? We generally use the word sohbet

4:55In society; when say let's have a sohbet We mean let's go for coffee and gossip

4:58No That's not sohbet. Because inside the word sohbet

5:03is "muhabbet" (love) Without muhabbet, sohbet turns into every day conversation

5:08Muhabbet is divine love, Not love among humans

5:14Where divine love appears, the love that is, has no shape, no self interest, no hypocrisy

5:20Greeks call this "Agape" The last supper of Jesus

5:27is called "Agape". This is divine.

5:33In other words, where divine love Manifests. This is a table,

5:39where one drinks divine wine. Look at Jesus Christ's table

5:45There is divine wine there. What is meant by divine wine?

5:49Sufis might call it "meyhane" or "wine" or "mey"

5:56Even "dem". What does this mean? This is the kind of sohbet that incorporates divine love.

6:03And it makes people drunk.

6:05Those who participate in sohbet, after a while, stop following it intellectually

6:11And enter into a state as a result of the "muhabbet" (love). Now from this state,

6:19those who enter this state, after experiencing this many many times, it settles

6:25Into their hearts; so that even when no words are uttered,

6:31It becomes a "huy"(habit). This is what we really mean by ethics.

6:36"Huy" means habit or disposition. The plural is "Ahlak" (ethics) Nowadays we think of ethics or someone who is ethical as a person

6:41Who follows certain rules. After Iman comes Ikan.

6:47Very interesting that Ikan is derived from the surah That says that until you have certainty, you must pray to God

6:57So you see the prayers have an end So it is open ended, until we are ready

7:03No, continue but until.. what time? It is not endless

7:08Until you have certainty of God Just like how Ali was

7:13Yes, so to be Yaqin is to be "Mutmain" (satisfied self) When you are satisfied,

7:19You don't eat more food do you?

7:28Such a person is alone with the alone, There is no duality,

7:33Therefore there is no need for prayer. There is no need to eat because there is no duality.

7:38These things have to be experienced. Otherwise they are

7:43Veiled So it is necessary to lift this veil, this curtain

7:49With a spiritual journey (seyr-i suluk) This is an internal journey

7:54Not an external journey Internally the journey begins in darkness.

7:58Close your eyes and it is dark, because it starts in darkness, it is necessary

8:03to have light, someone who holds a lantern, A Diogenes. So that he can hold a lantern

8:08In front of you and you can follow Isn't that right? Only in this way doors open

8:14The locksmith is hidden You don't see the locksmith but

8:20Now the door is open So we talked about Ikan

8:24How it comes about We began with Ihlas (Sincerity)

8:28Continued with Islam We made peace with ourselves and if Iman

8:33Settled into our hearts and we have reached the level of mutmain (satisfied self) That's when Ikan comes, i.e. meeting God

8:42In the process of Yaqin, it is God who is approaching us right?

8:49Yes, God is approaching us and human being is making an effort as well. Until Yakin, we make an effort

9:00We worship God We try to be good human beings.

9:06But we don't know if we have reached Yaqin. Until there is the "light of Ikan" in other words

9:14a sign from God comes to us.

9:19There is a surah about this. Yes

9:23Different surahs call on different people. They are called on separately

9:30Some call on nonbelievers Others on hypocrites

9:35Those who say they believe but don't So there is the mention of separation

9:46There is one surah That addresses those who are mutmain (satisfied selves)

9:51You who are the mutmain, those who are satisfied

9:56Those who are believers, who have Iman, those are the people who are addressed.

10:01There is a relationship between the surahs and those that are addressed in these surahs So different surahs address different people, they are not for everyone

10:07When the Qu'an says "You Nonbelievers?" They know themselves and realize God is addressing them

10:11When hypocrites are called, the nonbelievers Know that they are not the ones being called.

10:16Those that are sincere, those who are believers (iman) Or those who rebel, whoever they are they know themselves

10:23Not every surah is for everyone, When the Quran calls on the "mutmain" (satisfied selves)

10:29That means He is only calling them and says to them

10:34O soul, one that is at peace Return to your Lord, who can do that? One that is

10:46Well pleased And Well Pleasing

10:52You are pleased with Him He is pleased with you

11:05Enter among my servants, the people of Sohbet, and enter my Garden

11:12So that is where heaven is. This is called The heaven of Irfan (direct knowledge, direct perception)

11:19There are eight different heavens Many different heavens

11:25Yes, yes but there is also the heaven of the people of Irfan. That's why Niyazi Misri says

11:34Those who enter heaven of Irfan now, what do they care about the heaven filled with huris tomorrow?

11:41But the heaven of Irfan is for those who aspire to reach this level of perception.

11:48Everyone aspires for something different. When are we in heaven? When our desires are satisfied.

11:56My teacher used to say: if you take a villager to a palace, he is actually in pain. You think you brought him to heaven. He doesn't know what fork or knife to use with what food.

12:03So he is in hell. Don't try to give everything

12:08to everyone and think they will be happy That's not how it works out

12:15So light of Ikan appeared and you are pleased with Him, He is pleased with you. Then what? We come to the fifth principle.

12:24Ihsan In fact, the five principles of Islam are really these five.

12:28The fifth one is Ihsan The light of beauty

12:35This can't be acquired by our own effort. We are not owed anything. We can't say we prayed well

12:41or we did this beneficial act. And therefore God will give me something in return

12:44We are not owed anything Because we haven't even paid for our existence

12:51Did we pay anything in return for our existence? So how can we be owed anything?

12:57We even owe our lives to God. So Ihsan gives birth to beauty.

13:08That's why I had thought about the first title of our sohbet? I had originally thought that the title of our sohbet.

13:16Should be "Hunters of Pearls and Corals"? There is a surah in the Qur'an that talks about the

13:22two seas that meet But don't merge with each other.

13:27Because, there is the "Barzakh" in between

13:32One has sweet and the other salty water But there are pearls and corals in both seas

13:36So what that means for the people of Marifet is that, one sea symbolizes the Light of Guardianship (Velayet)

13:43Which comes with Imam Ali And the other sea symbolizes the Light of Risalet (Prophethood) which comes with the Prophet Muhammed

13:50They meet but don't merge because there is the "Barzakh" in between.

13:55Fatima al Zahra symbolizes The barzakh

14:01She gave birth to both lights, those are Hz.Hasan and Hz.Huseyin uniting these lights

14:10Hz.Hasan is the pearl, symbolizing peace.

14:15And Hz. Huseyin is the one who sacrifices, he is

14:19the red coral symbolizing love Not white, is not about peace but is there to give up, to sacrifice his soul.

14:26That's why both names, Hasan and Hüseyin

14:32Come from the word "Ihsan?" Signifying God's beauty

14:37And God's beauty is Love and Peace.

14:42So we talked about the Five Principles of Islam. These are the five principles for the people of Marifet

14:49Not only this, but we have different levels of the nafs

14:54In the spiritual journey and each of these levels have their own five principles Marifet will be discussed more extensively in the next sohbet.

15:01translated by Prof. Dr. Nükhet Kardam