January 17, 2025 • 30 mins
Reflections from The Risale-Nur a Qur'an commentary by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi
The Flashes - The Fourteenth Flash - Second Station - Third Mystery
Download the Apps for the Collection here
You can also read along on my YOUTUBE channel
For an excellent introduction read Exploring Islam: Theology and Spiritual Practice in America by Salih Sayilgan
The German version of this podcast is HERE
Music credits: © "Uyan Ey Gözlerim" Duet Guitar And Ney, Vol.1 by Eyüp Hamiş
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
UNKNOWN (00:00):
music.
SPEAKER_00 (00:25):
The following I was listening on my drive to work
(00:48):
the other day.
I've read it just like many ofyou.
so many times, but it's always,you come back to this, this is
something like oxygen, air,water.
Every time you breathe it in,you hear, listen to the ders or
to the lesson or to the reading,there are always different
(01:11):
reflections because every dayyou're a different person, every
moment you are in a differentmode.
So while I was driving to workin the morning, I was reading or
listening to this section it isfrom the flashes and in the
flashes there is a section the14th flesh and it reflects on
(01:39):
the name Ar-Rahman basicallyfocusing on the sacred formula
of Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahimand particularly the name
Ar-Rahman which we know pertainsto the whole universe.
Like we know from the Muslimscholars that the name, the
(02:03):
quality of Allah's name,Ar-Rahman, is particularly
manifested in this world.
Rahim is a name that isreserved, a quality that will be
witnessed by the believers inthe hereafter.
So it's more...
towards the believers, the oneswho have affirmed God's
(02:25):
existence, Allah's existence inthis world.
But Ar-Rahman talks about thisvast expanse of compassion and
mercy of Allah in this world, inthis universe.
And so every time when we go outinto nature, which we many times
(02:45):
refer to as the book of theuniverse, a book that invites us
to read reflect and ponder.
That's a Quranic pedagogy,right?
The Quran invites us to reflecton the signs of the universe.
And when we do that, when weengage in that kind of sacred
reading in the art of noticingAllah's names and qualities, we
(03:09):
will encounter one of thegreatest names, which is
Ar-Rahman.
And so this third mystery fromthis 14th flesh, and invite you
to go back and reread it again,is dedicated to the discussion
of how we can understand thereflection of Ar-Rahman in the
(03:29):
universe.
Like, if you're not able to seeAllah's quality of Ar-Rahman,
and Ar-Rahman, we know, comesfrom the root word, which also
means to, refers to the motherlywomb, right?
The Rahm, basically, which isthe seed, the beginning of our
(03:53):
lives, basically.
When we come into this world,the mother's womb is also called
in our languages, the Rahm,right?
So even there, Allah shared thatquality with us.
We are also His preciouscreation that is able to display
(04:15):
and manifest the name ofAr-Rahman.
I believe I shared this a fewmonths ago where I related to
you this one incident in frontof my house where we walk with
my family and we saw this littlebird trapped in the mousetrap, a
total distress and anguishtrying to escape the mousetrap.
(04:37):
But it was basically trapped.
And so we were, as human beings,naturally, we were affected, but
just witnessing the distress andthe anguish and the pain this
little bird was feeling,experiencing in that moment.
And subhanAllah, so my daughterran and I ran to get a towel,
(05:00):
soft towel, and my husband triedto free her from that trap.
But then in that moment, Ithought, we all reflected about
the fact how beautiful the humanbeing is created, that we can
feel that rahmah, compassiontowards another being, another
tiny creature.
And then my husband saidsomething profound that stayed
(05:23):
with me.
He said, there are millions ofbirds, so many animals, but it
was us human beings who decidedto express compassion, rahmah,
towards this little bird.
And that's also, of course, amanifestation of being a human
being.
Allah has shared this qualityonly with us.
There were so many fellow birds,but they didn't care.
(05:46):
They didn't care.
They didn't stop to free theirfellow bird, their fellow
brother or sister in that momentof anguish.
It was us human beings.
And that also speaks to ourfitrah, of our innate nature, of
our capacity to show and expressthat amazing quality of Allah,
ar-Rahman.
towards one another, but alsotowards tiny little creatures
(06:10):
that we feel hesitant to stepeven on an ant, to crush a fly,
and that we feel affected by theemotional distress of another
fellow creature and that we feelcalled to help to do something
to relieve and alleviate theirsuffering.
That is the true meaning of ahuman being.
And that's also the beauty ofour human nature that we are
(06:33):
honored in such a way.
Ya Allah, I have it in me.
Ya Rahman, to show your holyname of Rahman.
Compassion to all beings,whether somebody is a
non-believer or not.
whether someone is a bird or ahuman being, doesn't matter,
that compassion, Allah calls usto apply to everyone.
And in this world, He gives itunconditionally to even to those
(06:58):
who deny Him, who neglect Him,who reject Him, who mock Him,
who accuse Him of so many, manythings, Allah, but still Allah
lets His rahmah flow.
And for us then, we are calledto imitate that rahmah.
Of course, we cannot be likeAllah.
Nothing is like him.
(07:20):
Nothing is like Allah, thecreator, the source of
compassion, the source of mercy.
But in that moment, it was me,the human being, who decided to
show rahmah to that tiny bird.
And maybe that tiny bird, onjudgment day, will say, Ya
Allah, don't throw Zainab intothe hellfire.
(07:41):
She showed me compassion.
Maybe it will intercede on mybehalf.
And maybe Allah will save me bythat tiny action because it came
really from a sincere place.
Otherwise, I can also beindifferent to the suffering of
other creatures.
That's also a choice.
But then we stop being human,right?
(08:04):
And so I want to reflect onthis.
What does it mean to see Allah'srahmah manifested?
in the creation, in the book ofthe cosmos.
But how do we become holymirrors of that rahmah, divine
mirrors of that rahmah?
And when we do that, we becomevaluable.
We become meaningful.
We attain worth and dignitybecause we are able to show and
(08:28):
extend Allah's compassion.
We are vessels of thatcompassion.
And alhamdulillah, all thanks beto Allah if we can do that.
And we can also see human beingswho make the choice not to show
compassion in this very momentas we speak, we see how human
(08:49):
beings can inflict suffering andinjustice on so many beings,
right?
Exploit, abuse, misuse.
So rachma should be always frontand center in our dealings, in
our interactions.
Just like Allah shows us rahmahin this world, even though we
are not deserving of it.
We are not deserving.
(09:11):
I didn't do anything by my ownmerit to acquire this life.
He gave me out of His rahmah andout of His mercy, out of His
generosity.
He honored me with life, butalso the highest human life.
So the third mystery here, I'mnot going to read the whole
section, But the invitationstands for us as human beings to
(09:36):
ponder and reflect and meditateon how Allah's rahmah is
reflected in the world.
And here in Maryland, it hassnowed.
And the other day, the othernight I was sitting, I was just
reading poems about snow.
And again, it just put me in aweof the human being.
Who sits and writes poetry aboutsnow?
(09:58):
It's the human being, the beautyof us human being, beauty and
our amazing futra capacity tosit down and write odes and
qasidas and music and nashidsand poems for the holy, for
Allah and honor his snow and hiscreation and reflect how his
(10:21):
beauty is manifested in thesnow, why he created the snow,
how every little snow crystal isa unique display of his oneness
of his ahadiyya, of hisuniqueness.
And for me, there are so manyways then that the human being
(10:42):
is honored.
It's me who sits down and writesa piece of poem to honor Allah.
And so it gets us thinking aboutwho am I?
What am I called to be in thisworld?
Am I here just to enjoy andenhance pleasure?
in enjoyment, for nafs, for mylower desires?
(11:02):
Or does Allah call me for thehigh life of the spirit?
Think, ponder, reflect.
That's what my duty is, to dothat kind of zikr and
remembrance, to glorify Allah,to remember Him, reflect on Him.
That's why we are here.
Our ultimate sacred duty is isto remember Allah, to know Him
(11:26):
and remember Him, and tostrengthen our Iman in Him.
That's our most sacred duty andresponsibility.
Otherwise, why are there so manychanges around us?
And nobody but us recognizes it.
Nobody but us is curious tolearn about it.
And that's the beauty also ofthe Risale-i Nur, that it
invites us in a Quranic fashion,think about who you are, and
(11:51):
your relationship with Allah andthe creation, and try to read
these holy signs, these sacredsigns of Allah.
So in the third mystery, theRasale-i-Nur here, it says, what
makes this boundless universerejoice is clearly divine mercy,
rahmah.
(12:13):
What makes this boundlessuniverse rejoice is clearly
divine mercy.
And let me expand on this.
Rahman.
Rahman.
(12:53):
So Sopana, it talks about us.
We are the fruit of thecreation.
We are the crown of thecreation.
And the whole in the universeruns towards us, assists us,
serves us.
If you imagine the creation asthis huge tree, everything in
(13:13):
the tree works for the fruit.
And everything in the tree iscontained in the fruit and also
can bring out another tree.
So Here, what it says,everything in the universe works
for the human being.
But who made the universe runand serve the human being?
(13:33):
Who?
It's certainly not blind, deafcauses.
They are not conscious.
They have no wisdom.
They have no power.
They have no will.
If we talk about so-calledMother Nature, Mother Nature is
soil, air, earth, water, fire.
Those are the universalelements.
But right now we observe, forexample, the moment we come into
(13:55):
this world, onto this planet,somebody takes care of us.
And it's not our mother, right?
Our mother is also serving us,the parents.
The moment we enter this world,Allah equips the source of
compassion, the mother, with theblessed milk, which is uniquely
(14:17):
fashioned for that newborn baby.
Now, who decides that?
Who is the cause of that?
Who thinks about that baby andits unique needs and its unique
desires for milk andnourishment?
And it's exactly programmedaccording to whether it's a
pre-EMI, if it's an earlynewborn or whatever the needs
(14:40):
are, the breast milk isaccordingly measured and created
in such a way.
Now, what's the ultimate causefor this?
Rahmah, divine mercy orcompassion.
Mercy, rahmah, somebody, he isnot forced to do it.
And also, like I said, if themost intelligent being is the
(15:05):
human being, in that case, themother, who is the most loving,
caring, selfless person in thatnew child's life, she even
doesn't know, I don't know howto create a drop of milk.
Scientists don't know how tocreate a drop of that precious
milk.
And everybody knows now, scienceconfirmed, the best thing you
(15:27):
can offer as sustenance, asnourishment for that newborn
life is the mother's milk.
But who makes everything servantto that human being who is so
full of needs and weak andvulnerable?
It's Rahma.
(15:49):
Divine mercy.
And this is not just me.
At this moment, as we arespeaking, there are thousands of
new life entering into thisworld.
None of them is neglected.
None of them is forgotten.
None of them is somehowdismissed.
This is divine mercy at play.
(16:10):
It's not mother nature or thehuman being or certain
scientists who can create thatdrop of milk.
It's Allah who knows you, yourneeds, and he's not forced to
send you that sustenance.
It's his will.
It's his wish.
It's his desire.
And what I always love, I'm athought of Allah.
(16:33):
He planned me.
He sent me.
He wanted me to be in thisworld.
Imagine sometimes you hear thestories of children who say, I
was not wanted.
I was an accident.
I was not planned.
SubhanAllah.
But of course, we know as Muslimbelievers that there's no such
(16:55):
thing.
But the idea, ultimate idea,that you are Allah's intention,
that you are His desire, Hiswill, that your existence was
His wish.
And then, not only then, Hesends you here, but then He also
makes sure that you are caredfor with divine mercy.
(17:17):
It's not conditioned.
It's out of his own nature, ofhis rahmah, that he wants to
take care of us, love us, carefor us.
And so, of course, our naturalresponse should be, who are you,
Ya Allah?
Why are you doing this?
How can I respond to that mercy,that love and care?
(17:39):
What can I do to show you mylove?
So then that follows, then theethical response is, Ya Allah,
allow me to also express my lovetowards you.
So everything in the universe,just from the first moment of
inception, our first moment ofentry into this world, shows us
that Rahmah is at the core ofhuman existence.
(18:05):
The way we are created.
We are coming to this worldready, equipped with hands,
arms, emotions, intellect,brain, feelings.
perfectly designed, our arms nottoo long, not too short, our
bodies perfectly fashioned.
Allah is the best shaper.
(18:26):
And then He doesn't make amistake that we somehow look
alike and sound alike and actalike.
No.
In His Rahmah, He gives us aunique identity to show how much
He is our personal Lord, ourpersonal Creator.
He didn't make me like a massfabrication.
(18:49):
I don't look somebody.
My voice is unique.
My eye color is unique.
Everything, my DNA is unique.
That's also an act of mercy.
We want to be special.
And Allah elevates us to bespecial.
You are special in your voice,in your character, in your
personality.
Yes, you carry the legacy ofyour ancestors with you.
(19:12):
quite literally in your DNA, butstill you are you.
You are still you.
You are uniquely you.
And that's also a great honor,which comes from mercy,
compassion, saying, I want toexpress how special you are, how
important you are to me as aunique creation.
And then we see our fingertips,our saliva, our DNA.
(19:36):
Everything says, the one, theone, the one.
Don't you see?
Who can create such a humanbeing?
And why should he create in sucha way?
Out of mercy.
Nobody forced Allah to do it.
Nobody intimidated Allah to doit.
(19:56):
Nobody compelled him to do it.
It was his own choice, his ownwill, his own decree, his own
desire.
How beautiful to be Allah'sdesire, his wish, his thought,
his irada, his power.
And that is manifested in ourexistence.
(20:17):
So, what does it say?
What fills and illuminatesboundless space and the empty,
vacant world and makes itrejoice is self-evidently divine
mercy.
And what designates ephemeralman for eternity and makes him
the addressee and beloved of thepre-eternal and post-eternal one
is self-evidently Divide mercy.
(20:41):
And then Allah chooses you ashis addressee.
Me, the human being.
Allah doesn't talk in the Quranto the animals and the trees and
the ants and the minerals.
He talks to us, to me, to you.
Isn't that something that is agreat honor?
And that comes also out ofcompassion, out of love.
(21:01):
And we don't say love because itdoesn't capture the
unconditional element of this.
Because love is something thatyou do something and you want
something in return.
But Allah's compassion, rahmah,is not conditioned in this
world.
It comes out of his nature.
He's not compelled.
He doesn't feel pity to dosomething.
(21:22):
It's not a reaction towardssomething or someone.
It comes out of his nature, hisholy nature.
His holy nature.
And then he chooses us as hisaddressee, as his muhabab, which
basically means I'm taking youseriously.
I'm talking to you.
I am taken in this divineaudience, in the sacred audience
(21:50):
where Allah chooses me as hisaddressee.
I mean, look at some people whenwe achieve a certain rank or
reputation or fame.
or if we are from a certainroyal family, people become very
arrogant and very, I mean, fullof greatness and full of, they
(22:12):
lose humility.
They don't even talk to youanymore.
Or even if you want to go see adoctor today, how long will you
talk?
When are you coming?
What is your concern?
If you don't have valid concernsand don't come, is that the case
with Allah?
Allah says in Hadith Qudsi,where are my servants who want
(22:32):
to call out to me so I canrespond to them in the third of
the night?
Who on earth, a friend, a dearfriend, can you call them in the
middle of the night if it'sabsolutely not an emergency?
Certainly not.
But Allah in His Rahmah takes usas His addressee, as His
(22:56):
beloved.
and takes us seriously and says,for any occasion, any time, any
moment, I'm here for you.
I'm accessible to you.
I'm present to your life, thesmall and the great.
You don't need an appointment.
You don't need to tell me howlong you want to talk to me.
(23:16):
You don't need to tell me howsevere situation is.
Whatever the topic, I'm here foryou.
Gharib.
Like the Quran says, my servantsask you about me.
I'm paraphrasing.
Tell them I am near.
I'm the most near.
I am al-qareeb.
Whenever they want to talk tome, I'm here.
I'm listening.
I'm hearing.
Wherever I am, nothing isinappropriate.
(23:39):
And Allah calls us to ask fromHim.
He loves to give.
Again, why?
Because out of His rahmah, thisvast, expansive rahmah,
compassion, that has such adesire to be in connection with
us, But do we say, Ya Allah, Iwant to be also in relationship
with you.
I want to be talking to you.
(24:00):
I want to be in conversationwith you.
So, O human being, since divinemercy is such a powerful,
inviting, sweet, assisting,lovable truth, say, In the name
of Allah, the merciful, thecompassionate.
Say, Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
(24:20):
So whenever we utter thesewords, we should remember how
much rahmah is at play.
How much rahmah is in our lives.
It's a constant.
We are constantly surrounded byrahmah.
We are constantly treated byrahmah.
I'm saying it because sometimesin this moment, as people look
around the world and the therepression and the suffering and
(24:41):
the evil and the injustice, thequestion can come up, or the
doubt or suspicion, is Allah'srahmah truly at play?
Is He present?
Is He listening?
Is He seeing our suffering?
Certainly He is, because rahmahis all around us.
You just have to open your eyes,look inwardly, outwardly, and
(25:03):
you will see it manifested, andthen you will have no doubt, no
questioning, no fear, thatRahmah will always be having the
last word.
SubhanAllah, I look at the birdnests outside here of my yard.
Snowstorms came, rain came,thunderstorms came, but Allah in
His Rahmah still has them upprotected high in the tree.
(25:27):
According to causes, they shouldhave been falling down.
They should not be stable.
They should not be hangingthere.
But if Allah's Rahmah decidesand desires that you will stand
and you will be preserved andyou still will be hanging there.
You will be.
You will be standing strong.
Just like that tiny littlefragile bird nest.
(25:52):
So for me, that's explanation,the manifestation of Ar-Rahman.
If Allah is preserving in Hismercy, in His vast compassion,
that tiny little bird nest, thenHe surely will not neglect my
needs.
He surely will not dismiss myneeds and desires, my prayers,
my tears, my struggle.
(26:14):
Of course not.
The Rahmah that is all around usis seen.
The moment I enter this worldwho sustains me with vitamins,
minerals, with enough sunlight,enough rain, the perfect soil,
who has prepared this earth in away that makes it livable and
(26:34):
makes it able that we caninhabit it.
It's Allah's rahmah.
And nobody asked for it.
Nobody knows even how it works.
We are so clueless and ignorantabout the workings in the
cosmos, in the universe.
We think we know it all, but wedon't.
Still, a lot, majority of theknowledge is still uncovered for
(26:55):
us.
And yet we make huge claimsabout the invisible world, the
alam al-ghayb, the world of theunseen.
So to conclude, oh man, oh humanbeing, Since divine mercy is
such a powerful, inviting,sweet, assisting, lovable truth,
say in the name of Allah, theMerciful, the Compassionate,
(27:17):
adhere to this truth and besaved from absolute desolation
and the pains of unending needs.
Draw close to the throne of thepre-eternal and post-eternal
monarch and availing yourself ofthe compassionate and grace of
divine mercy, become hisaddressee, his friend, and his
beloved.
(27:38):
And we see who is that ultimatemanifestation, Habibullah peace
and blessings be upon him.
The Prophet is this ultimatemanifestation of Rahmah.
We have not sent you except as amercy to the worlds.
And if we imitate and imitatethe sunnah of the Prophet, peace
(28:01):
and blessings be upon him, wetoo need to become that embodied
mercy to all the creatures inthe world.
And you see that with him.
Tiny little beings towards themountains, trees, to every human
being.
His compassion, his tenderness,his kindness, his generosity is
(28:23):
awe-inspiring.
It's a model for us, a rahmah.
And through his rahmah, He is amanifestation of Allah's rahmah
because Allah doesn't need tosend him to us.
But Allah in his mercy shows usan embodied example of rahmah
and tells us, if you want to bea true human being, this is the
(28:45):
way to live.
If you want to live like a truehuman being, here's your model.
Here is a human example of torise up to your full potential,
how to be in relationship, withall creatures, the sky, the
moon, the mountain, the animals,people of different faith,
(29:05):
people from differentbackgrounds.
And then it is really acompassionate guide to navigate
life and death.
So to see in the ProphetSallallahu Alaihi Wasallam this
holy map, a sacred map, whoshows us, who teaches us how to
orient ourselves in the world,how to make sense of life's
(29:26):
struggles, pain, sorrow,injustices, and what was his
reaction towards that?
What did he say?
What was his conduct?
And then we also realized thathe was this huge expression of
Allah's rahmah.
So I will stop here andinshallah we can reflect on
(29:47):
this.
But there is so much more to besaid.
I think the major invitation isthat we have to cultivate a deep
learning, and reflection abouthow to see Ar-Rahman reflected
in our lives.
music.
SPEAKER_00 (00:25):
The following I was listening on my drive to work
(00:48):
the other day.
I've read it just like many ofyou.
so many times, but it's always,you come back to this, this is
something like oxygen, air,water.
Every time you breathe it in,you hear, listen to the ders or
to the lesson or to the reading,there are always different
(01:11):
reflections because every dayyou're a different person, every
moment you are in a differentmode.
So while I was driving to workin the morning, I was reading or
listening to this section it isfrom the flashes and in the
flashes there is a section the14th flesh and it reflects on
(01:39):
the name Ar-Rahman basicallyfocusing on the sacred formula
of Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahimand particularly the name
Ar-Rahman which we know pertainsto the whole universe.
Like we know from the Muslimscholars that the name, the
(02:03):
quality of Allah's name,Ar-Rahman, is particularly
manifested in this world.
Rahim is a name that isreserved, a quality that will be
witnessed by the believers inthe hereafter.
So it's more...
towards the believers, the oneswho have affirmed God's
(02:25):
existence, Allah's existence inthis world.
But Ar-Rahman talks about thisvast expanse of compassion and
mercy of Allah in this world, inthis universe.
And so every time when we go outinto nature, which we many times
(02:45):
refer to as the book of theuniverse, a book that invites us
to read reflect and ponder.
That's a Quranic pedagogy,right?
The Quran invites us to reflecton the signs of the universe.
And when we do that, when weengage in that kind of sacred
reading in the art of noticingAllah's names and qualities, we
(03:09):
will encounter one of thegreatest names, which is
Ar-Rahman.
And so this third mystery fromthis 14th flesh, and invite you
to go back and reread it again,is dedicated to the discussion
of how we can understand thereflection of Ar-Rahman in the
(03:29):
universe.
Like, if you're not able to seeAllah's quality of Ar-Rahman,
and Ar-Rahman, we know, comesfrom the root word, which also
means to, refers to the motherlywomb, right?
The Rahm, basically, which isthe seed, the beginning of our
(03:53):
lives, basically.
When we come into this world,the mother's womb is also called
in our languages, the Rahm,right?
So even there, Allah shared thatquality with us.
We are also His preciouscreation that is able to display
(04:15):
and manifest the name ofAr-Rahman.
I believe I shared this a fewmonths ago where I related to
you this one incident in frontof my house where we walk with
my family and we saw this littlebird trapped in the mousetrap, a
total distress and anguishtrying to escape the mousetrap.
(04:37):
But it was basically trapped.
And so we were, as human beings,naturally, we were affected, but
just witnessing the distress andthe anguish and the pain this
little bird was feeling,experiencing in that moment.
And subhanAllah, so my daughterran and I ran to get a towel,
(05:00):
soft towel, and my husband triedto free her from that trap.
But then in that moment, Ithought, we all reflected about
the fact how beautiful the humanbeing is created, that we can
feel that rahmah, compassiontowards another being, another
tiny creature.
And then my husband saidsomething profound that stayed
(05:23):
with me.
He said, there are millions ofbirds, so many animals, but it
was us human beings who decidedto express compassion, rahmah,
towards this little bird.
And that's also, of course, amanifestation of being a human
being.
Allah has shared this qualityonly with us.
There were so many fellow birds,but they didn't care.
(05:46):
They didn't care.
They didn't stop to free theirfellow bird, their fellow
brother or sister in that momentof anguish.
It was us human beings.
And that also speaks to ourfitrah, of our innate nature, of
our capacity to show and expressthat amazing quality of Allah,
ar-Rahman.
towards one another, but alsotowards tiny little creatures
(06:10):
that we feel hesitant to stepeven on an ant, to crush a fly,
and that we feel affected by theemotional distress of another
fellow creature and that we feelcalled to help to do something
to relieve and alleviate theirsuffering.
That is the true meaning of ahuman being.
And that's also the beauty ofour human nature that we are
(06:33):
honored in such a way.
Ya Allah, I have it in me.
Ya Rahman, to show your holyname of Rahman.
Compassion to all beings,whether somebody is a
non-believer or not.
whether someone is a bird or ahuman being, doesn't matter,
that compassion, Allah calls usto apply to everyone.
And in this world, He gives itunconditionally to even to those
(06:58):
who deny Him, who neglect Him,who reject Him, who mock Him,
who accuse Him of so many, manythings, Allah, but still Allah
lets His rahmah flow.
And for us then, we are calledto imitate that rahmah.
Of course, we cannot be likeAllah.
Nothing is like him.
(07:20):
Nothing is like Allah, thecreator, the source of
compassion, the source of mercy.
But in that moment, it was me,the human being, who decided to
show rahmah to that tiny bird.
And maybe that tiny bird, onjudgment day, will say, Ya
Allah, don't throw Zainab intothe hellfire.
(07:41):
She showed me compassion.
Maybe it will intercede on mybehalf.
And maybe Allah will save me bythat tiny action because it came
really from a sincere place.
Otherwise, I can also beindifferent to the suffering of
other creatures.
That's also a choice.
But then we stop being human,right?
(08:04):
And so I want to reflect onthis.
What does it mean to see Allah'srahmah manifested?
in the creation, in the book ofthe cosmos.
But how do we become holymirrors of that rahmah, divine
mirrors of that rahmah?
And when we do that, we becomevaluable.
We become meaningful.
We attain worth and dignitybecause we are able to show and
(08:28):
extend Allah's compassion.
We are vessels of thatcompassion.
And alhamdulillah, all thanks beto Allah if we can do that.
And we can also see human beingswho make the choice not to show
compassion in this very momentas we speak, we see how human
(08:49):
beings can inflict suffering andinjustice on so many beings,
right?
Exploit, abuse, misuse.
So rachma should be always frontand center in our dealings, in
our interactions.
Just like Allah shows us rahmahin this world, even though we
are not deserving of it.
We are not deserving.
(09:11):
I didn't do anything by my ownmerit to acquire this life.
He gave me out of His rahmah andout of His mercy, out of His
generosity.
He honored me with life, butalso the highest human life.
So the third mystery here, I'mnot going to read the whole
section, But the invitationstands for us as human beings to
(09:36):
ponder and reflect and meditateon how Allah's rahmah is
reflected in the world.
And here in Maryland, it hassnowed.
And the other day, the othernight I was sitting, I was just
reading poems about snow.
And again, it just put me in aweof the human being.
Who sits and writes poetry aboutsnow?
(09:58):
It's the human being, the beautyof us human being, beauty and
our amazing futra capacity tosit down and write odes and
qasidas and music and nashidsand poems for the holy, for
Allah and honor his snow and hiscreation and reflect how his
(10:21):
beauty is manifested in thesnow, why he created the snow,
how every little snow crystal isa unique display of his oneness
of his ahadiyya, of hisuniqueness.
And for me, there are so manyways then that the human being
(10:42):
is honored.
It's me who sits down and writesa piece of poem to honor Allah.
And so it gets us thinking aboutwho am I?
What am I called to be in thisworld?
Am I here just to enjoy andenhance pleasure?
in enjoyment, for nafs, for mylower desires?
(11:02):
Or does Allah call me for thehigh life of the spirit?
Think, ponder, reflect.
That's what my duty is, to dothat kind of zikr and
remembrance, to glorify Allah,to remember Him, reflect on Him.
That's why we are here.
Our ultimate sacred duty is isto remember Allah, to know Him
(11:26):
and remember Him, and tostrengthen our Iman in Him.
That's our most sacred duty andresponsibility.
Otherwise, why are there so manychanges around us?
And nobody but us recognizes it.
Nobody but us is curious tolearn about it.
And that's the beauty also ofthe Risale-i Nur, that it
invites us in a Quranic fashion,think about who you are, and
(11:51):
your relationship with Allah andthe creation, and try to read
these holy signs, these sacredsigns of Allah.
So in the third mystery, theRasale-i-Nur here, it says, what
makes this boundless universerejoice is clearly divine mercy,
rahmah.
(12:13):
What makes this boundlessuniverse rejoice is clearly
divine mercy.
And let me expand on this.
Rahman.
Rahman.
(12:53):
So Sopana, it talks about us.
We are the fruit of thecreation.
We are the crown of thecreation.
And the whole in the universeruns towards us, assists us,
serves us.
If you imagine the creation asthis huge tree, everything in
(13:13):
the tree works for the fruit.
And everything in the tree iscontained in the fruit and also
can bring out another tree.
So Here, what it says,everything in the universe works
for the human being.
But who made the universe runand serve the human being?
(13:33):
Who?
It's certainly not blind, deafcauses.
They are not conscious.
They have no wisdom.
They have no power.
They have no will.
If we talk about so-calledMother Nature, Mother Nature is
soil, air, earth, water, fire.
Those are the universalelements.
But right now we observe, forexample, the moment we come into
(13:55):
this world, onto this planet,somebody takes care of us.
And it's not our mother, right?
Our mother is also serving us,the parents.
The moment we enter this world,Allah equips the source of
compassion, the mother, with theblessed milk, which is uniquely
(14:17):
fashioned for that newborn baby.
Now, who decides that?
Who is the cause of that?
Who thinks about that baby andits unique needs and its unique
desires for milk andnourishment?
And it's exactly programmedaccording to whether it's a
pre-EMI, if it's an earlynewborn or whatever the needs
(14:40):
are, the breast milk isaccordingly measured and created
in such a way.
Now, what's the ultimate causefor this?
Rahmah, divine mercy orcompassion.
Mercy, rahmah, somebody, he isnot forced to do it.
And also, like I said, if themost intelligent being is the
(15:05):
human being, in that case, themother, who is the most loving,
caring, selfless person in thatnew child's life, she even
doesn't know, I don't know howto create a drop of milk.
Scientists don't know how tocreate a drop of that precious
milk.
And everybody knows now, scienceconfirmed, the best thing you
(15:27):
can offer as sustenance, asnourishment for that newborn
life is the mother's milk.
But who makes everything servantto that human being who is so
full of needs and weak andvulnerable?
It's Rahma.
(15:49):
Divine mercy.
And this is not just me.
At this moment, as we arespeaking, there are thousands of
new life entering into thisworld.
None of them is neglected.
None of them is forgotten.
None of them is somehowdismissed.
This is divine mercy at play.
(16:10):
It's not mother nature or thehuman being or certain
scientists who can create thatdrop of milk.
It's Allah who knows you, yourneeds, and he's not forced to
send you that sustenance.
It's his will.
It's his wish.
It's his desire.
And what I always love, I'm athought of Allah.
(16:33):
He planned me.
He sent me.
He wanted me to be in thisworld.
Imagine sometimes you hear thestories of children who say, I
was not wanted.
I was an accident.
I was not planned.
SubhanAllah.
But of course, we know as Muslimbelievers that there's no such
(16:55):
thing.
But the idea, ultimate idea,that you are Allah's intention,
that you are His desire, Hiswill, that your existence was
His wish.
And then, not only then, Hesends you here, but then He also
makes sure that you are caredfor with divine mercy.
(17:17):
It's not conditioned.
It's out of his own nature, ofhis rahmah, that he wants to
take care of us, love us, carefor us.
And so, of course, our naturalresponse should be, who are you,
Ya Allah?
Why are you doing this?
How can I respond to that mercy,that love and care?
(17:39):
What can I do to show you mylove?
So then that follows, then theethical response is, Ya Allah,
allow me to also express my lovetowards you.
So everything in the universe,just from the first moment of
inception, our first moment ofentry into this world, shows us
that Rahmah is at the core ofhuman existence.
(18:05):
The way we are created.
We are coming to this worldready, equipped with hands,
arms, emotions, intellect,brain, feelings.
perfectly designed, our arms nottoo long, not too short, our
bodies perfectly fashioned.
Allah is the best shaper.
(18:26):
And then He doesn't make amistake that we somehow look
alike and sound alike and actalike.
No.
In His Rahmah, He gives us aunique identity to show how much
He is our personal Lord, ourpersonal Creator.
He didn't make me like a massfabrication.
(18:49):
I don't look somebody.
My voice is unique.
My eye color is unique.
Everything, my DNA is unique.
That's also an act of mercy.
We want to be special.
And Allah elevates us to bespecial.
You are special in your voice,in your character, in your
personality.
Yes, you carry the legacy ofyour ancestors with you.
(19:12):
quite literally in your DNA, butstill you are you.
You are still you.
You are uniquely you.
And that's also a great honor,which comes from mercy,
compassion, saying, I want toexpress how special you are, how
important you are to me as aunique creation.
And then we see our fingertips,our saliva, our DNA.
(19:36):
Everything says, the one, theone, the one.
Don't you see?
Who can create such a humanbeing?
And why should he create in sucha way?
Out of mercy.
Nobody forced Allah to do it.
Nobody intimidated Allah to doit.
(19:56):
Nobody compelled him to do it.
It was his own choice, his ownwill, his own decree, his own
desire.
How beautiful to be Allah'sdesire, his wish, his thought,
his irada, his power.
And that is manifested in ourexistence.
(20:17):
So, what does it say?
What fills and illuminatesboundless space and the empty,
vacant world and makes itrejoice is self-evidently divine
mercy.
And what designates ephemeralman for eternity and makes him
the addressee and beloved of thepre-eternal and post-eternal one
is self-evidently Divide mercy.
(20:41):
And then Allah chooses you ashis addressee.
Me, the human being.
Allah doesn't talk in the Quranto the animals and the trees and
the ants and the minerals.
He talks to us, to me, to you.
Isn't that something that is agreat honor?
And that comes also out ofcompassion, out of love.
(21:01):
And we don't say love because itdoesn't capture the
unconditional element of this.
Because love is something thatyou do something and you want
something in return.
But Allah's compassion, rahmah,is not conditioned in this
world.
It comes out of his nature.
He's not compelled.
He doesn't feel pity to dosomething.
(21:22):
It's not a reaction towardssomething or someone.
It comes out of his nature, hisholy nature.
His holy nature.
And then he chooses us as hisaddressee, as his muhabab, which
basically means I'm taking youseriously.
I'm talking to you.
I am taken in this divineaudience, in the sacred audience
(21:50):
where Allah chooses me as hisaddressee.
I mean, look at some people whenwe achieve a certain rank or
reputation or fame.
or if we are from a certainroyal family, people become very
arrogant and very, I mean, fullof greatness and full of, they
(22:12):
lose humility.
They don't even talk to youanymore.
Or even if you want to go see adoctor today, how long will you
talk?
When are you coming?
What is your concern?
If you don't have valid concernsand don't come, is that the case
with Allah?
Allah says in Hadith Qudsi,where are my servants who want
(22:32):
to call out to me so I canrespond to them in the third of
the night?
Who on earth, a friend, a dearfriend, can you call them in the
middle of the night if it'sabsolutely not an emergency?
Certainly not.
But Allah in His Rahmah takes usas His addressee, as His
(22:56):
beloved.
and takes us seriously and says,for any occasion, any time, any
moment, I'm here for you.
I'm accessible to you.
I'm present to your life, thesmall and the great.
You don't need an appointment.
You don't need to tell me howlong you want to talk to me.
(23:16):
You don't need to tell me howsevere situation is.
Whatever the topic, I'm here foryou.
Gharib.
Like the Quran says, my servantsask you about me.
I'm paraphrasing.
Tell them I am near.
I'm the most near.
I am al-qareeb.
Whenever they want to talk tome, I'm here.
I'm listening.
I'm hearing.
Wherever I am, nothing isinappropriate.
(23:39):
And Allah calls us to ask fromHim.
He loves to give.
Again, why?
Because out of His rahmah, thisvast, expansive rahmah,
compassion, that has such adesire to be in connection with
us, But do we say, Ya Allah, Iwant to be also in relationship
with you.
I want to be talking to you.
(24:00):
I want to be in conversationwith you.
So, O human being, since divinemercy is such a powerful,
inviting, sweet, assisting,lovable truth, say, In the name
of Allah, the merciful, thecompassionate.
Say, Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
(24:20):
So whenever we utter thesewords, we should remember how
much rahmah is at play.
How much rahmah is in our lives.
It's a constant.
We are constantly surrounded byrahmah.
We are constantly treated byrahmah.
I'm saying it because sometimesin this moment, as people look
around the world and the therepression and the suffering and
(24:41):
the evil and the injustice, thequestion can come up, or the
doubt or suspicion, is Allah'srahmah truly at play?
Is He present?
Is He listening?
Is He seeing our suffering?
Certainly He is, because rahmahis all around us.
You just have to open your eyes,look inwardly, outwardly, and
(25:03):
you will see it manifested, andthen you will have no doubt, no
questioning, no fear, thatRahmah will always be having the
last word.
SubhanAllah, I look at the birdnests outside here of my yard.
Snowstorms came, rain came,thunderstorms came, but Allah in
His Rahmah still has them upprotected high in the tree.
(25:27):
According to causes, they shouldhave been falling down.
They should not be stable.
They should not be hangingthere.
But if Allah's Rahmah decidesand desires that you will stand
and you will be preserved andyou still will be hanging there.
You will be.
You will be standing strong.
Just like that tiny littlefragile bird nest.
(25:52):
So for me, that's explanation,the manifestation of Ar-Rahman.
If Allah is preserving in Hismercy, in His vast compassion,
that tiny little bird nest, thenHe surely will not neglect my
needs.
He surely will not dismiss myneeds and desires, my prayers,
my tears, my struggle.
(26:14):
Of course not.
The Rahmah that is all around usis seen.
The moment I enter this worldwho sustains me with vitamins,
minerals, with enough sunlight,enough rain, the perfect soil,
who has prepared this earth in away that makes it livable and
(26:34):
makes it able that we caninhabit it.
It's Allah's rahmah.
And nobody asked for it.
Nobody knows even how it works.
We are so clueless and ignorantabout the workings in the
cosmos, in the universe.
We think we know it all, but wedon't.
Still, a lot, majority of theknowledge is still uncovered for
(26:55):
us.
And yet we make huge claimsabout the invisible world, the
alam al-ghayb, the world of theunseen.
So to conclude, oh man, oh humanbeing, Since divine mercy is
such a powerful, inviting,sweet, assisting, lovable truth,
say in the name of Allah, theMerciful, the Compassionate,
(27:17):
adhere to this truth and besaved from absolute desolation
and the pains of unending needs.
Draw close to the throne of thepre-eternal and post-eternal
monarch and availing yourself ofthe compassionate and grace of
divine mercy, become hisaddressee, his friend, and his
beloved.
(27:38):
And we see who is that ultimatemanifestation, Habibullah peace
and blessings be upon him.
The Prophet is this ultimatemanifestation of Rahmah.
We have not sent you except as amercy to the worlds.
And if we imitate and imitatethe sunnah of the Prophet, peace
(28:01):
and blessings be upon him, wetoo need to become that embodied
mercy to all the creatures inthe world.
And you see that with him.
Tiny little beings towards themountains, trees, to every human
being.
His compassion, his tenderness,his kindness, his generosity is
(28:23):
awe-inspiring.
It's a model for us, a rahmah.
And through his rahmah, He is amanifestation of Allah's rahmah
because Allah doesn't need tosend him to us.
But Allah in his mercy shows usan embodied example of rahmah
and tells us, if you want to bea true human being, this is the
(28:45):
way to live.
If you want to live like a truehuman being, here's your model.
Here is a human example of torise up to your full potential,
how to be in relationship, withall creatures, the sky, the
moon, the mountain, the animals,people of different faith,
(29:05):
people from differentbackgrounds.
And then it is really acompassionate guide to navigate
life and death.
So to see in the ProphetSallallahu Alaihi Wasallam this
holy map, a sacred map, whoshows us, who teaches us how to
orient ourselves in the world,how to make sense of life's
(29:26):
struggles, pain, sorrow,injustices, and what was his
reaction towards that?
What did he say?
What was his conduct?
And then we also realized thathe was this huge expression of
Allah's rahmah.
So I will stop here andinshallah we can reflect on
(29:47):
this.
But there is so much more to besaid.
I think the major invitation isthat we have to cultivate a deep
learning, and reflection abouthow to see Ar-Rahman reflected
in our lives.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.