Like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, there are some Muslims who frequently use the term, “Islamic terrorists”. In fact, this is the crux of our problems. On the one hand, of course, terrorism does not correspond with Islam, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said. A believer's heart can never be a terrorist; the more radical they become, the more they love, so much so that he comes to be identified with Prophet Muhammad and a friend of God.
On the other hand, however, there are terrorist organizations that bring Islam to the agenda with more violence, aggression and terror more than the examples embodying this fact / people who are identified with the Quran. For some reason, these are the ones we always see.
Those wondering where saints, intellectuals, the people of oneness, the people with innate knowledge, the Jonahs, Gaybis, Misris, Rumis, Karacaoğlans, Rûşeni Dedes, Somuncu Babas and Yesevis are wandering, have associated themselves with a sheikh who will make them dervishes soon.
As we go toward nothingness and absence and strip off all our characteristics, we must be identified with God, but instead we nourish and grow our egos with eagerness to become dervishes by cutting corners. This brings up cases of distinction between egos. We damage our stance on oneness and draw thin and thick lines by saying “your sect, my sheikh, that community and this path.”
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While the concept of beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we see the unfortunate fact that some seek enlightenment not in the heart, but in armed organizations. It is undoubtedly an ignorant and absurd view. But it has surrounded us all. The examples are plain to see and the experiences of mankind show this.
Although we say that these are the provocations and fighting traps of Western players, we all know that those killing innocent people in the name of religion and planning to go to heaven by becoming suicide bombers call themselves religionists. No matter how Erdoğan is right in his statement that “Islam can never be associated with terror,” in response to Merkel, Islamist organizations are continuing to kill people in the name of religion, even in the eyes of Muslims.
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Some believe they waste themselves in communities in order to save the faith of others by saying that "we practice the religion the best, we have a monopoly over the religion.” But somehow this theory of sacrifice has always boosted the esteem of relatives in their own community, expanded their opportunities of having a position in state institutions, and lined their pockets. However, others were continuously removed with slander and scam as they were regarded as a threat to their own order. This bigotry of congregation was such a thing that saving the afterlife of others somehow did not concern anyone.
There are so many examples. As a community, they were buying and paying for a book written by one of their members, a movie shot by them or an exhibition organized by them. But they did not even bother to read that book or go to that movie. They could not collectively be believers as a community: Likewise, they could not be art lovers and artists as a whole.
On July 15, we saw how they came to recklessly and horrifically open fire on their neighbors, relatives and brothers. What Islam are we talking about in this case? What religion? How much of our religion do we practice in our hearts as Muslims, while it comes up on the agenda through the interests of communities, with the high interests of the states and proxy terror organizations?
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Now, the referendum process has gone beyond the traditional rivalry between those who accept it and those who reject it and are dead set on the conflicts in the conservative circle. We cannot help but be surprised. We act as if we did not overcome coup attempts, assassination plots, and operations to seize the state with false evidence; as if we did not repel those attempting to murder Erdoğan and his family with the design of the Battle of Karbala; and as if we, so many civilians and innocent people, were not sacrificed to terror as we did not submit to the coup and invasion, and we are stabbing each other now.
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Unless individuals change their inner world, God does not change that community. Yunus Emre says, "I did not come for the cause," not, "You do not come for the cause.” This is because the cause of the person who does not find the truth in his soul is always destined to be superstitious and to spit blood at each other.
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As the discipline of the heart does not take place collectively, every nafs (soul) has its own journey. Irrespective of whether he serves the religion from the highest resorts, someone who remains at the level of inciting the nafs cannot go beyond transfer. Unfortunately, plain preaching without practice is not enough to complete the faith. We need those practicing what the Quran says rather than those reciting it.
Religion that will be complete with good morals begins with the individual accepting to discipline their nafs. The religion we preach without completing the journey to bring our nafs to the level of purity will at most reflect the degree our nafs has reached. Some terrorize, some approach the ore of beauty, some become beautiful and reflect the beautiful. There are thorny paths from the hearts of radical organizations to the hearts of radical lovers.
