The Misunderstanding

The Misunderstanding 

The Final Prophet (peace be upon him), Mercy to the Worlds, and all the prophets who came before him called for faith in the unseen, in the One absolute God without partners. After this fundamental invitation, they first established and taught the Greater Struggle (Jihad), the highest form of striving, which involves the transformation of the self, the illumination of the heart, and spiritual growth. Only when a person is inwardly illuminated by the light of God can they bring justice, mercy, and divine wisdom into their actions.  

The Lesser Struggle (Jihad) was always a last resort, conducted only under prophetic guidance, solely with divine permission, and only when resisting the dominance of an oppressor became absolutely necessary as a final recourse. Unfortunately, people failed to grasp the prophets' mission of spiritual elevation and spreading divine enlightenment. Instead, they appointed themselves as enforcers of faith in the name of the Lesser Struggle.

They assumed that divine revelation was sent merely as written words rather than as the luminous manifestation within the Prophet’s soul. Yet, the profound and eternal wisdom of divine message can only be fully understood through inner purification and spiritual absorption from the Prophet’s heart.  

They fail to comprehend that without the Greater Struggle, without self-discipline, spiritual illumination, and inner purity, humans cannot truly care for others. In such a case, the Lesser Struggle becomes mere siurce of bloodshed, fueling conflict, injustice, strife , and tyranny rather than establishing peace and social justice.  

Those who claim to establish God's system on earth, while lacking inner illumination and divine guidance, are incapable of doing so. Without purifying themselves, embodying divine light, and overcoming their base desires, their so-called justice often results in oppression.  

For a believer, merely professing faith or engaging in outward rituals is insufficient. When a person becomes a slave to the impulses of their base self, they seek to enslave others as well. Like a cunning fox, they mask their personal ambitions, and political power struggle as divine will, falling into the deception of their rebellious ego. Such a person ultimately fails in the Greater Struggle, and tragically, this failure spreads in the name of religion, where evading the Greater Struggle and imposing the Lesser Struggle by force is mistakenly seen as the pinnacle of righteousness.

God sent prophets to manifest the light of revelation and spread spiritual growth among humankind, guiding humans in both outward and inward connection with the Divine. God does not require failed individuals for the establishment of His will on earth. His dominion does not depend on the intervention of imperfect people. The Sovereign has granted every soul the free will to turn toward Him or not, to embrace His light or remain in darkness, to cultivate inner purity or neglect it. The prophets were sent to illuminate the world with divine wisdom of revelation.  

Moral clarity is greater than military superiority. The true struggle is the one waged within, the struggle that transforms the base self into the tranquil self, that brings the heart closer to God, the mind to sound reason, and one's actions to justice. When a person succeeds in this struggle, they become a perfect follower of the perfect Prophet and reflect divine light, compassion, social justice, and spiritual awakening. At that point, the spread of faith or the preservation of believers requires little need for force. Even If they ever engage in physical resistance against oppression, they remain firmly grounded in justice and humanity.

A Turkish proverb states: "If you learn religion from a fox, you will gradually believe that stealing chickens is an act of righteousness."  

For a seeker of truth, religion is neither a tool for exploitation nor an exercise in rhetoric, deception, or trickery. It is a self-effacing love for God that calls the heart to love, compassion, humility, simplicity, sacrifice, and sincerity. For the seeker, the true treasure lies in the recognition of God hidden within the depths of the soul, the eternal covenant of soul made with Him at the beginning of existence. This is not about intellectual showmanship or debates. No one rises by belittling others; instead, they degrade themselves.  

To the seeker, mere outward display of religious piety is like the schemes of foxes who entrap people in worldly greed and deception under the guise of faith. True adherence to religion lies in the purity of the heart and the radiance of the soul. If we seek guidance from such foxes, they will slowly convince us that both in this world and the hereafter, being entangled in materialistic pursuits is the ultimate virtue and the final destination. But the seeker remains above the materialistic transactions of both this world and the next, striving for the heights of divine unity with nothing but God.

Foxes prioritize material interests and the external over the internal. They seek to entrap people in transient worldly affairs and even for material persuits in the afterlife, chaining them to the desire for material reward and status. Sufis neither denies paradise nor hell, but they reject the commodification of worship, where acts of devotion and righteousness become mere transactions for materialistic gains. While the initial desire for paradise may serve as motivation, the seeker ultimately strives for worship and adherence driven solely by love for God, where the quest is for divine closeness, not material comfort in this world or the next.  

Those who equate righteousness with material pursuits and mere outward form of religiosity, both here and in the afterlife, run a trade like a merchant whose scales are forever busy calculating material gain. The seeker, however, moves beyond the caged chickens of illusion and befriends the soaring dove of ultimate reality, whose destination is not wealth, palaces, heaven, or pleasures for body, but the eternal closeness of the transendent Creator. For them, the pleasures for body in both on earth or in paradise serve the self, but the soul's true fulfillment lies in nearness to the Divine, an intimacy greater than any treasure, paradise, or material reward.

The laws of acceptance and elevation in the heavens differ from those of the earth. Often, those rejected and shunned by the world are the cherished and beloved ones in the celestial realm.