The Good Person - On Mindfulness and Mortality

Reflections from The Risale-Nur  a Qur'an commentary by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi

The Flashes - The Seventeenth Flash - Third Note

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

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.

(00:26):
In the name of Allah, theMerciful, the Compassionate.
In the name of Allah, the mostmerciful, the most
compassionate.
All praise and thanks is due toAllah alone.

(00:46):
Peace and blessings be upon ourProphet Muhammad, his family and
his companions.
We always begin with the name ofGod, with the name of Allah.
I refer to God by the Quranicname Allah.
Allah is not only the God ofMuslims, but it's simply the
personal name means the one God.

(01:08):
But I feel more comfortablesaying Allah.
It's just because that I'maccustomed.
But just for those who arenon-Muslim out there in the
world, Allah is also used byChristians in the Middle East.
So it's not the God of Muslimsalone.
Allah simply is the personalname for the one God.

(01:29):
And it means literally the oneGod.
So Allah is the way that I willrefer to the one creator.
I love that word, Allah.
So I begin always in the name ofAllah.
All Muslims begin in the name ofAllah.
So this week, yesterday, many ofus were of course, saddened when

(01:56):
we received the news about theearthquake in Turkey.
Many of us love Istanbul.
We've visited many times.
Many of us have relatives there,friends and family.
We are deeply connected to thecity, to the land.
It's a place of deepspirituality and piety.
In Istanbul alone, everywhere,you'll see, you visit the graves

(02:21):
of the pious people, mostfamously Ayyub al-Ansari
radiallahu anhu, the companionof the Prophet, peace and
blessings be upon him.
So it's absolutely saddening.
But then also, as Muslims, asbelievers, we look around the
world and the events of theworld, and we know that every

(02:43):
event, every experience, astragic as it is, as horrific as
it is, I speak from experience.
I mean, many of you know that mydaughter, Maryam, died
tragically in an accident.
And since then, I've alwaystried to approach my own
tragedy, that experience, withthe lens of the Quran.

(03:05):
And how should I understand, asa believer, the message that
unfolds?
So I want to say that everythingfrom a Quranic lens, from a
Quranic perspective, speaks ortells us something about the
divine, tells us something aboutAllah.
Every event, every earthquake,every disaster, every incident,

(03:27):
every experience, every tragedyin our lives has something to
tell us about Allah.
Because we know from the Quran,There is nothing, says the
Quran, this is the verse fromthe Quran, is often recited in
the Rasale-e-Nur.
There is nothing that does notglorify Him.

(03:51):
Everything in the universe,earthquakes, disasters,
hurricanes, tornadoes,everything in the world has
something to tell us aboutAllah, has deep messages for us
each and individually.
And as believers, we listen, weare alert to the messages of the

(04:13):
universe that Allah sends us.
And nothing happens without thedecree of Allah.
Nothing happens without anythingthat is ordained by Allah.
Nothing happens outside hispower because we affirm a belief
in Allah the most wise, the mostcompassionate, the most
merciful, the most powerfulCreator, Almighty Allah.

(04:38):
That is our firm conviction.
And so when we affirm that, andthe Quran invites us to situate
everything, our reading of theevents of the world always with
a deep desire to understand whatdoes this event, this incident
tell me about Allah?
How am I supposed to read thisparticular event that unfolds in

(05:03):
front of me?
Whether it's beautiful in itselfor frightening or creating
anxiety or fear.
And of course, there were somany people, people left their
buildings yesterday and thereare tragedies, other tragedies
happening around us in the worldthat we witness currently.

(05:26):
But we should not bedisinterested in the sense of
that doesn't concern me.
It should concern us.
And when things are happening,like I said, with the permission
of Allah, we are called asbelievers to read in the name of
Allah.
And this is the whole mission ofthe Risale-i Nur is to teach us

(05:48):
how to read the events andevents the incidents in the
world in the name of Allah, inthe name of the most
compassionate, the mostmerciful.
And mercy and compassion andwisdom are always there.
They are always there.
It is up to us to identify, tofind the deeper meanings and the

(06:09):
wisdom.
That's what makes us as humanbeings so beautiful.
We are constantly seekingmeaning.
We are seeking wisdom.
Why did this happen?
What was the reason?
What's the purpose?
What's the message here?
And so that is an invitation byAllah to reflect, to ponder, to
meditate.
How does this event speak to meand my life?

(06:32):
So yesterday in the gathering,we were reading this third note,
which is from the book, TheFlashes.
And in the third note, it talksabout the fact that that this
world is a temporary world, anunstable world, an uncertain
world.

(06:53):
And many of the events around usremind us of the true nature of
this world, that this dunya,which literally means the
lowest, the lowest, is a veryfleeting world, is unstable,
uncertain.
There's ups and downs.

(07:16):
And as human beings, we seekcertainty.
We want stability.
We want security.
But whatever happens around usshows us that life is not
certain, that life is veryfragile, that anything can
change any moment.

(07:37):
So earthquakes are...
keep us or anything that happensaround us when we are exposed to
death or introduced to thesereminders, they are powerful
moments for us to wake up,basically.

(07:58):
And so this portion engages withthat, and I would like to read
it with you, and then hopefullywe can reflect on that.
The third note, O heedlesssight! Oh, Said, who is in
heedlessness.
And of course, the author, UstadNursi, this is not false
humility.

(08:18):
And this is a scholar, a Muslimscholar, a Muslim thinker, a
pious person who comes with thisand calls himself heedless,
Said, somebody who has dedicatedhis entire life, sacrificed his
life for the cause of Islam,for...

(08:38):
the well-being of people, tryingto preserve faith.
And this person is telling hisown nafs, O heedless Said,
somebody who was really, I mean,his whole vocation was to Islam
and to faith and to Allah, butyet he calls himself heedless.

(09:00):
I think when I read that asZaynab, as a person, It teaches
me to always be introspective,to turn to my own lower ego, to
my own nafs.
And we all have that, thatlittle low ego that falls into
heedlessness, ghafla, one of thevices, one of the things that

(09:23):
the Quran labels as a moraldisease, a spiritual disease.
Somebody who is heedless So weall fall into moments of
heedlessness in rafla.
We want to fall into denial,some type of denial, or we want
to forget about certain thingsthat are real and true.

(09:45):
And so Ustad Nursi remindshimself, his own ego, his own
nafs, that we should not fallinto heedlessness, into rafla,
on forgetting.
Where did we come from and whyare we here and where we are
going?
Every moment we are leaving thisworld, we are going towards our

(10:06):
destination.
We are returning to Allah.
So just even this, the way hetalks to himself is for us a
pedagogical model.
We should always beintrospective, always try to
improve ourselves, to betterourselves.

(10:26):
We cannot change the world.
We can only change ourselves.
And that even is very hard.
We can't change people.
And only by the permission ofAllah and by the grace of Allah
and His guidance are we able tocontrol our nafs, our lower ego.
So we turn to our nafs, ourlower egos, and we say, listen,

(10:51):
it's trying to be introspectivefor this moment.
And if Ustad Nursi is doing thatto his nerves, I think it's an
invitation that each of us needsto do that.
That is the spiritual DNA of theQuran, the method of the
Risada-i-Nur is deep,individual, inward looking.

(11:11):
Look into your own self and talkto your own lower ego.
Because it's something that weall fall into, the heedlessness,
this mode of forgetting anddenying.
So he says here, O heedlessZayit, O heedless Zaynab, you
have illusions and see theexceedingly temporary world as

(11:35):
undying and permanent.
We all think that this earth is,because out of that heedlessness
we have this illusion that thistemporary world will always be
here forever, undying andpermanent.
However, we constantly seechange and we constantly see

(11:57):
instability we constantly seefragility that you have your
house today and tomorrow maybeyour whole belongings are gone
today you were very well settledand well established and
tomorrow you might be a refugeei mean refugees immigrants are
powerful embodied reminders thatlife is fragile.

(12:21):
Life is absolutely fragile anduncertain.
People did not see war coming orthought that they would always
have safe and stable lives.
And for us, of course, Even nowin the United States, there is a
climate maybe of fear andconcern and anxiety.
People may be having fear oflosing their jobs or losing

(12:45):
their safety, security.
We don't know.
Allah knows.
But what is a matter of fact isthat sometimes you fall into
this mode of heedlessness and weperceive the world as if she's
always be there.
Always be eternal and permanent.
Whereas everything around us isconstantly reminding, like

(13:06):
earthquakes, like disasters,like wars, like climate crisis,
all of that, showing us thatthere is an element of the world
that it's temporary.
It had a beginning, it's going,and it will ultimately also age
and die.
That is the Earth's destination,but it's also our destination.

(13:29):
And to continue, when you lookaround yourself at the world,
you see it as stable to a degreeand constant, right?
We always, we just talked aboutthe seasons always returning,
never letting us down, neversaying the spring will never
return again.
We experience an element ofstability, right?

(13:51):
always thinking, yes, fall willcome again, the winter season
will return again, spring willarrive again, and that gives us
a sense of eternity, thinkingthat this will be forever.
Whereas at the same time, weread about how the earth tells
us that her resources arelimited and that she's exhausted

(14:15):
and that this doesn't mean thatWe should all fall into this
extreme mode and deny living orjust say, well, everything is
going to die.
I should not invest myself inthe world.
Quite contrary, because we knowthat life is fragile and the
world is temporary, we shouldalways be alert about the fact

(14:40):
that this could be our lastmoment.
Our last moment, literally.
And this is why we should befully present, fully engaged and
fully invest into this worldbecause of the hereafter,
because of the akhirah.
So avoiding the extreme ofescaping the world or denying

(15:03):
the world, but also avoiding theextreme of thinking that life
will always go on and willalways be stable and there will
be a sense of security andsafety.
I mean, there's no such thing.
I mean, just two weeks ago, wevisited a sister who within a
day lost her three-year-old son.

(15:25):
Very fast, you know, somethingtotally unexpected.
And then your life changeswithin a minute, within a day.
So we should not operate on thisidea, tomorrow I'll start, or
when I'm retired, I'll start, orwhen I'm 50, or this and that,
I'll start, or when I'm more,when I have this resource, I

(15:46):
will start, or...
be a better human being or be abetter Muslim.
Life is now, this moment, timeis now.
The present is truly a present.
It's a gift from Allah, is atrust.
If I've been given these hours,they are precious.
And how do I invest these goldpieces, the 24 gold pieces?

(16:09):
We read about this in theRisale-i-Nur that we are each
given 24 gold pieces And how dowe invest them?
Where do I invest them so thatthey are serving me in my
eternal life?
And to be mindful about where weare investing our energy, where

(16:32):
we are investing our time, wherewe invest our passion and
skills, and all these God-givenresources and skills and talents
we have, the time we have.
Time is a precious blessing.
Our health is a preciousblessing.
And those of us who reach themid-forties are reminded by the

(16:55):
declining bodies and achingbodies that health is a limited
good, a limited blessing.
So we are receiving the signsconstantly, reminding us of the
fragility of life, of thedeclining nature of this world.
But sometimes we want to denythat.
We want to forget and we becomedistracted by other things.

(17:18):
We have to remind ourselves inthis kind of healthy fellowship
in community, through dailyreadings and engagement with the
Quran, and asking ourselves whenthe Prophet peace and blessings
be upon him was asked, when is

UNKNOWN (00:00):
,

SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
when is judgment day?
How did he respond to thatquestion?
He responded with anotherquestion.
He said, what have you preparedfor it?
What have you prepared for it?
I mean, my own death is myjudgment day.
I don't need to wait for thegreat resurrection.
My moment, the moment I'mleaving this world is my

(17:59):
ultimate departure.
So what have I prepared?
And what needs to go maybe thatis weighing me down on this
journey?
So since looking with the sameview, also consider your own
transient self to be constant.
You only take fright atdoomsday.

(18:20):
You are only frightened at thatas though you were going to live
till then.
So this is exactly what theHadith or the sacred narration
of the Prophet, peace andblessings be upon him, points
to, that we should not just waitfor judgment day or doomsday and
be frightened, but we shouldwait be looking at our own

(18:40):
nature and thinking, as a humanbeing, I constantly see in front
of me young people dying,children dying.
Yes, old people die, but you goto the graveyard like me every
week, you see the rows are beingfilled up.
There are children dying, thereare young people dying.
We hear more and more youngpeople dying of cancer.

(19:02):
And so there is an element ofrahmah, of mercy from Allah
telling us who are left behind,Be prepared.
As frightening as death is, asfrightening as uncertainty is,
as frightening as earthquakesare, there is an element of
compassion keeping everybodyalmost now in alert mode.

(19:23):
The healthy type of fear thatAllah brings up, reminding us as
human beings that life isfragile.
We have one thing in the moment,but we can lose it.
And how do we turn ourattachments.
We love our homes.
We love our work.
We love our children, ourfamilies, our parents.

(19:46):
We love the beauty, our youth,our health.
But how do we turn all that welove into a benefit in the
hereafter?
How can all these things thatI'm attached to, how can they be
of service to me now and in thehereafter?
And then finding, trying toinvest and use those blessings

(20:10):
in a way that are pleasing toAllah.
So for me, when I hear, receivethe news of death and
earthquakes, these are powerfulreminders where the Quranic
message comes alive and says,life is fragile.
This world is temporary.
Death is haqq.

(20:30):
Death is truth.
Your mortality is real.
You have only this moment.
Treat everyone with respect anddignity and love.
Say your goodbyes.
Slow down.
Look people into their faces.
Be fully present.
Be fully emotionally, mentallyinvested in the moment.

(20:51):
Make the most of your day.
And then inshallah leave thisworld with a sense of peace and
tranquility in your heart.
Reconcile.
Ask people for forgivenessoften.
because you might not see themagain.
Say thank you and please oftenand say I love you often.

(21:12):
And so that is, I think, thelife-giving element of death and
those frightening moments wherewe are invited.
I can be that person.
I can tomorrow experience ortoday experience an earthquake
and all what I cherish, all whatI love would be gone in a
minute.

(21:33):
So the message is for all of us.
And so the earth is alive.
The Quran tells us that theearth is shaking by Allah's
permission to speak, to tell usnews about the uncertainty of
the world.
And only Allah is certain.
And the eternal life is certain.

(21:55):
And that all what we have willeventually ultimately return to
Allah.
and that we should make ourpreparations accordingly.
So, the Qur'an tells us, and theRisale-i Nur in the same mode,
that the earth is witnessing ourbehavior.
The earth, the soil is alive.
The minerals are alive.

(22:17):
The trees are alive.
The mountains are alive.
The air and the water areremembering what we are doing.
how we are walking on thisearth.
Are we walking humbly or are wewalking arrogantly?
They are witnessing over us andthey will be asked about us and

(22:37):
they will testify about us,against us or for us.
And so we should remember whenwe go out or when we are people,
we are constantly beingrecorded.
Allah's name, Al-Hafiz, thepreserver, the recorder, the one
who saves every thought, everyintention, every feeling of

(23:01):
ours, also charges the universeto say, be witness over the
conduct of human beings.
So how do I walk outside?
How do I treat the earth?
How do I use the resources ofthe earth?
Am I fulfilling my promise totake care of the trust of the

(23:22):
amanah?
All these are questions.
And there are moments where theearth speaks that is maybe
displeased with our behavior andreminds us of you are acting
heedless.
You are acting forgetful.
You're losing sight of your realmission, which is to remember

(23:44):
and know Allah in this world andlove and worship Him and glorify
Him and serve Him in thecreation.
Serve the creation in his name.
And so then we are placed in allthese positions, whether at
work, in our families, in ourcommunities.
And are we making the earthproud or are we maybe abusing

(24:07):
the trust?
That's a question that we eachhave to ponder.
So these moments where Allahallows the earth to speak or be
shaken, invite us then in thismode of trust deep reflection
and muhasabah of inneraccountability, holding yourself

(24:28):
accountable before you are heldaccountable by Allah.
It says here, use your reason.
You and your personal world areperpetually subject to the blows
of death and decline.
Your illusion and sophistryresemble this comparison.
If you have a mirror and hold itup to a house or a town or a

(24:48):
garden, the images will appearin it.
If the mirror is moved thetiniest amount or the smallest
change occurs to it, the imagesbecome confused and distorted.
The fact that the actual house,town or garden outside the
mirror continue and are constantis of no avail to you.

(25:10):
For the house and the mirror inyour hand and your town and
garden are only in the scale andproportions which the mirror
gives you.
Your life is a mirror.
Your life is the mirror.
The support and mirror of yourworld and its center is your
life.
Every minute it is possible thatthe house, town, and garden will

(25:32):
die and be destroyed.
Their condition is such that anyminute they may collapse on your
head and your doomsday willcome.
Since it is thus, do not burdenthis life and world of yours
with loads they cannot raise andsupport.
This is a very important wisdomhere.
Do not burden this life andworld of yours with loads, with

(25:55):
weight they cannot raise andsupport.
So asking ourselves, what am Itaking?
What am I taking on?
What am I taking on thisjourney?
Am I even aware of my journey?
Or do I act as if I'm going tostay here forever?
Or am I thinking, I'm leavingthis world any moment.
Have I prepared?
Did I thought about how ifalhamdulillah we have so many

(26:20):
blessings, whether it's wealth,property, knowledge, did I pass
that on to the next generation?
Do I leave a spiritual legacy?
Am I supporting others after me?
Am I raising the next generationof students and scholars?
Because I have benefited so muchfrom Allah's knowledge, from the

(26:40):
blessing of education.
Am I looking after them?
Am I supporting the youngergeneration?
Am I helping raising otherchildren?
What's this going to do with thefuture of faith?
Am I being part of that?
Do I have a concern of theeternal afterlife of other

(27:00):
people?
Am I helping them reach theirfull potential?
So there are so many questionswhen we think about what we take
on And also our relationships.
Are there relationships in mylife that do not serve me on my
journey?
Are they maybe weighing me down?
Are they a burden?
Are they toxic?

(27:22):
Then maybe I need to reconsiderthese relationships.
If those relationships distractme from Allah, if they take me
away from Allah, if they onlymake me focus on instant
gratification and pleasure andonly on my lower desires, then
maybe I need to reconsider.
Maybe it's a burden.

(27:42):
Maybe I need to find otherrelationships in my life.
So these are the questions thenthat mortality poses to us, our
own mortality, meaning that wewill die.
And how are we preparing forthat?
We should not think it'shappening to others.

(28:06):
Many of us know and see thatthere's constant decline.
And we see the blows of death.
We see catastrophes and warsaround us.
We see crises around us.
We see that.

(28:26):
And this is not to mean to fallinto darkness and despair and
hopelessness, but to realize,read this question and say, I
want stability in my life.
I want absolute security in mylife.
I want absolute safety in mylife.
I want an amazing life wherehappiness is guaranteed, but

(28:49):
also the happiness of others.
That's what I want.
I want a life where justice ismirrored.
I want a life where absolutecompassion, where everyone is
fed and taken care of.
But this world I look around me,It's constantly up and down.
There are people who are goingthrough immense suffering and

(29:11):
injustice.
And can a world in which a childhas been born into suffering and
dies in suffering, can such aworld be my ultimate place of
happiness?
I mean, for me, myself, I rejectthat.
I cannot.
I cannot imagine that a world inwhich Not all children are

(29:35):
thriving, can ever be my home.
I can't.
Cannot be.
So there must be a place, theremust be a dimension, there must
be a life, an afterlife, ahereafter, where all my desires,
all my yearning for compassion,love, and for all...

(29:58):
goodness of humanity, wherethere is satisfaction.
That's a deep desire of myheart, my longing.
I want others to achieve thathappiness and have opportunities
and have access to that amazingjoy and pleasure.
But here in this world,throughout your day even, I tell

(30:21):
sisters, sometimes friends, oneday and within one day you can
experience so many ups anddowns.
One hour you are happy.
And then the next moment,somebody says something, some
hurtful behaviors, and then thehappiness is gone.
It's a very unstable.
And there's blessing for that.
There's gratitude for thesemoments of joy.

(30:43):
Don't get me wrong.
I'm deeply grateful about mylife, despite all the lows,
because they bring out thebeauty of the highs.
But ultimately, even throughoutthe day, even throughout the
hour, you go through these kindof interesting changes and
turmoils, your inner turmoil,your emotional upheavals, and

(31:06):
then you realize, why is that?
Just a moment ago, I was sojoyful, and now I'm here ending
up in misery.
So these are signs from Allah.
Even the changes of our heartare a reflection of the changes
in the universe, the changes inour heart even, that there is no
stability, that our emotionalworld can be upside down, right?

(31:30):
You start off in the morninghappy and maybe throughout the
day, there are moments where youfeel experience hurt and pain or
sadness.
And that is not what makes anultimate absolute happy life,
right?
There's not like 100%fulfillment, 100% satisfaction.

(31:52):
We don't have it all here.
We want it all, but it's nothere.
And so these type of signals inour heart and around us, these
messages tell us that this worldis a world of constant change,
of instability and uncertainty.

(32:12):
And while we can alwaysexperience joy and pleasure and
alhamdulillah, I live such afulfilled life, but at the same
time, I know that This world isnot ultimately which fulfills
all my desires, all my longings.
I mean, the fact that mydaughter is not with me is

(32:34):
enough for me to say I'm not100% fulfilled and satisfied.
I want this person to be with meenjoying that happiness and that
moment of joy.
So that being said, whateverhappens around us, Whatever
happens within us, Allah tellsus, within you I have given
ayat.

(32:56):
Within your nafs there are signsof God, like meaning there are
moments where we experience thatthis world does not fully
capture or fully satisfy ourdesires.
And then we also, we turn on theTV or something happens around
us, and then we realize again,oh, I'm waking up.

(33:17):
Now I'm seeing again.
I'm made aware.
that this world is temporary andchanging and that ultimately I
will be leaving and then to comeback to this fundamental insight
that my return is to Allah and Ihave to be prepared any moment.

(33:40):
Subhanaka la imma lana illa malamtana innaka anta al-alimu
al-hakim wa akhru dawana anilhamdulillahi rabbil alameen
Glorified are you, O Allah.
We have no knowledge except thatwhat you have taught us.
Indeed, you are the All-Wise,the All-Knowing.