Calling to Truth with Wisdom

M. Fethullah Gülen · Friday sermon · February 28, 1975 · Third sermon of the "Proofs of Tawhid" series

Allah created humankind so that people might see His art in the universe, applaud it, and worship Him; and the prophets explain to people the meaning of the universe and of themselves. In this sermon Hocaefendi unfolds what the verse "Call to the path of your Lord with wisdom" means, and shows how hearts hard as stone melted before the Messenger of Allah as he spoke with wisdom, through the story of two great commanders, Khalid ibn al-Walid and Amr ibn al-As, who became Muslims.

This post follows the video above section by section. The account keeps to the sermon itself; tables, Risale-i Nur parallels, and source notes are in the expandable boxes. In the video, the gold bands at the bottom of the screen show the corresponding passages from the Risale-i Nur, and the blue bands show source and word notes.

I — The purpose of creation

Why was humankind created?

The sermon opens with this sentence: Allah created people "to witness the subtleties of His art, to make them its applauders, and to give their witnessing a meaning." So that people might know the universe, grasp Allah in the universe and the meaning that belongs to the knowledge of Allah, and worship Him.

Because the human eye could not see most of the subtleties in the universe, nor the human mind grasp many of its truths, Allah took pity and showed grace: Allah, who shows Himself in the universe through the names Rahman and Rahim, sent His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), "exceedingly kind and merciful to the believers" (At-Tawbah 9:128), as He sent the prophets like him, to explain the meaning of the universe to people.

II — The way the Prophet showed

The way in keeping with human nature, the way against it

"The prophets explain to man the meaning of the universe, the meaning of man. They strive to show people the road that leads to Allah." If a person does not enter the way the prophets pointed out, the way to Allah, he has turned onto a road against his creation, his nature; such a person is called astray.

If he enters the way the Prophet pointed out, the means of his guidance, it means he has entered a path in keeping with Allah's good pleasure, with the purpose for which Allah created the universe.

III — Calling with wisdom

"Call to the path of your Lord with wisdom"

The Qur'an commands the prophets and His Prophet to be a means to His path, to right conduct and guidance: "Call people to Allah's path with wisdom and fair, reasonable counsel" (An-Nahl 16:125, Suat Yıldırım's translation). What is Allah's path? To grasp, in the creation of the universe, Allah's purpose; to perceive Allah's majesty; to be brought to one's knees before this greatness, to fall down in prostration, to confess one's servitude.

And to call with wisdom is this: explaining to people the purpose of their creation, explaining the meaning of the universe, showing the benefits and advantages in things, explaining the inner face of things, explaining the meaning of motion from the atom to the systems; and instilling all this according to their abilities, their capacities, their level of knowledge. The Noble Messenger conveyed the truth to his contemporaries at their level of understanding; "Truly, he fulfilled his duty in a way that would please every heart." Here the preacher prays: may Allah exalt the Praiseworthy Station, may He widen the circle of intercession, and may He make us too worthy of his intercession. (Praiseworthy Station, Maqam Mahmud: the praised station promised to our Prophet, the station of the great intercession; Al-Isra 17:79.)

IV — Circles of light

Many a glacier melted, many a rock became a meadow

The Messenger of Allah explained the Qur'an just as the Qur'an demands, and within a very short time circles of light formed around him; the great halo widened a little more every day. The preacher recalls Nâbî's couplet: "No preacher's pulpit in a mosque is the halo; the moon expounds the verse of light to the host of stars." He is not a moon that has drawn a halo around itself; he is a preacher who explains the truths to people, star by star. In his own words: "Ashabi ka'n-nujum," my Companions are like the stars.

"Many a glacier melted. Many a hard rock melted and became earth. And many a hard rock became a meadow. It began to serve as a planter for roses and flowers." The son of Abu Jahl (Ikrima) too had a heart full of hatred and loathing, a rock as hard as stone; before the Messenger of Allah, from whose mouth wisdom poured, he too melted, he too became a meadow.

V — Two commanders; Amr in Abyssinia

"How could I hand his envoy over to you?"

Among those who resisted the Messenger of Allah, who held out, who closed their ears and hearts to wisdom, one was Khalid ibn al-Walid, a rare man of Islam, and another was Amr ibn al-As, a great statesman. After Hudaybiyyah both had melted; the lightning had long since struck in their minds, but stubbornness was stubbornness.

Years earlier Amr ibn al-As had gone to Abyssinia and had seen there Amr ibn Umayya (may Allah be pleased with him), the envoy of the Messenger of Allah. He tells it himself: "Permit me, O glorious king, to strike the head of this follower of the Sabian." The Negus raised his hand and struck him on the nose so hard that his heart leapt into his mouth. "A prophet who tells what Moses told. A prophet who is the glad tidings of Jesus. A prophet who is the master of the universe. A prophet in whom I have believed. How could I hand his envoy over to you?" "Glorious king, do you believe in him?" "I believe in him." In Ibn Ishaq, Amr says: "I put out my hand there and pledged to the king." The lightning of light had long since struck in Amr's mind.

VI — Khalid's state

"How can a man as wise as Khalid remain a polytheist?"

Khalid describes his position at Hudaybiyyah: "While the Messenger of Allah was making the treaty there, I had again decided, with my brave horsemen, on an attack from behind. He rose, they stood for prayer, they performed the prayer of fear. Part of the army stood facing us, and part was praying in congregation. I was not allowed to attack." After the treaty he did not know what to do: "Until then, for five or six years, I had always drawn a curtain over the sun, closed my eyes, stopped my ears. Should I go to Abyssinia? Or should I go to Syria? Should I emigrate somewhere else? I lost my sleep."

His brother Walid ibn al-Walid had become a Muslim before him and wrote him a letter: while performing the make-up pilgrimage, the Messenger of Allah had said: "How can a man as wise as Khalid remain a polytheist? Should a man like Khalid not join this circle? Should he not take his place among my messengers?" Khalid: "When I heard this, it was as if the whole world had been granted to me. I was tired of going to the tavern every day. I was tired of doing the things of disbelief. I was tired of never prostrating, of not remembering Allah; the rust of my heart and conscience wore me down."

VII — A companion for the road and the night journey

"Let me go, but how can I go alone?"

Khalid looked for a companion. Safwan ibn Umayya dug in his heels: "By Allah, even if I am left alone, I will not believe in him." Khalid told him: "The world is unraveling. Slowly, slowly the world will give him esteem." The great commander had seen these days; he had, as it were, seen two thirds of the globe come under his sovereignty. Safwan too would follow: at the conquest of Mecca he too was brought to his knees and said, "Labbayk, O Messenger of Allah." Ikrima said nothing but Safwan's words. Finally Khalid went to Talha ibn Uthman: "Fine, I will come along."

They went in the dark of night, unseen by anyone: What if they get ahead of us, what if they stop us, what if, before we reach him, before we taste the moment of union, death comes and seizes us? In a valley they pitched their tents and began to wait. Here the preacher adds a reminder: the Messenger of Allah too had one day slipped out secretly from those valleys on such a dark night, out of fear of Khalid and of Amr ibn al-As. A few years later they were passing silently through those desolate valleys behind him, in the same state of mind.

VIII — Two commanders on the same night

"You don't say! That is why I set out too"

On the same night, in the same indecision, Amr ibn al-As too was leaving his house: "I too am sick of this disbelief. Sick of this prayerlessness. I am sick and tired of my heart's Allahlessness. Let me go to Medina and find satisfaction there." He set out from another dark valley. Amr tells: "Seeing the shape from afar, I thought, 'Oh no, I'm caught!' When I slowly drew close, I came face to face with Khalid ibn al-Walid. He was my comrade in jihad. At Badr we had stood together against the Messenger of Allah; at Uhud together we had struck him from behind; at the Trench we were together; at Hudaybiyyah we played the same game together."

"Where to, O Khalid?" "Nowhere, I came out for a walk. And you?" "I was out walking too." The preacher adds: "A drifter, a man who does not believe in Allah, wanders; he only wanders, and wanders for nothing." Then they open up: "I am sick, O Khalid, sick of living in disbelief. Let me go and follow the Messenger of Allah; let me go and say 'La ilaha illallah, Muhammadun Rasulullah,' the remedy of hearts." "You don't say! That is why I set out. I too was heading that way." The two commanders embrace, they shed tears on each other's shoulders, and they go on together hand in hand on the journey to eternity.

IX — Medina and Sayfullah

"I felt as if I had entered Paradise"

Allah, who binds heaven and earth to one another and rivets east and west firmly together, had sent His angel and had long since informed the Messenger of Allah. Khalid is met from afar: "The Messenger of Allah awaits you." "We camped at Aqaba. Then we went to Medina and entered the presence of the Messenger. The Noble Messenger welcomed us radiantly. As soon as I sat in front of him (may Allah make my own self say it too), I said: 'Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh.' I felt as if I had entered Paradise."

"But there was a pain within me." Neither Amr nor Khalid could lift his face to look at him. Amr: "O Messenger of Allah, I wronged you greatly. I have no strength to face you. Seek forgiveness for me." Khalid said the same. The Messenger of Allah raised his hands: "Allahumma ighfir li-Khalid ibn al-Walid," "O Allah, forgive Khalid ibn al-Walid." From that day on the Messenger of Allah entrusted him as a sword laid upon the neck of disbelief and called him "Sayfullah." Armies melted before him, stones melted; Allah's name, become a banner on the shoulder, was carried to the horizons and shown in the universe through Khalid and Amr ibn al-As.

X — Explain with wisdom

Everything will bow down

"Yes, explain the truth with wisdom, the Qur'an with wisdom. Explain the Prophet Muhammad, with wisdom on his tongue showing itself as sparkles of diamond and pearl, as brilliants. Glaciers will melt, mountains will melt, stones will melt; everything and everyone will join in the universe's resounding roar. Everyone will say 'La ilaha illallah, Muhammadun Rasulullah'" and the secret of the verse "Nothing fails to glorify Him with praise" (Al-Isra 17:44) will be understood. "Everything will bow down before Allah's majesty. If only you explain it fully."

The sermon closes with a prayer: may the Almighty, for hearts torn by misguidance, disbelief, rebellion and vice, split open and rendered useless, for the afflicted humanity of the twentieth century and especially its afflicted Muslims, make them drink this spirit into their hearts and fill them with it; may He grant their hearts tranquility; and before the truths of faith they have heard, may He exalt them with zeal to embrace faith, to instill it in others, to tell it to others. Then the closing formula of the sermon and Al-A'raf 7:204 are recited: "When the Qur'an is recited, listen to it at once, and keep silent, so that you may be shown mercy."

XI — How the video was made

The audio is original, the visuals are drawn in code

The audio is the original recording of the sermon of February 28, 1975 (Çınar Media); it has not been altered. The Arabic recitations appear on screen in Arabic script, with their meanings in the subtitles. The transcript was produced with Whisper, and doubtful places were corrected one by one by listening to the recording.

The visuals are animated slides drawn in code with artificial intelligence (Anthropic Claude): circles of light, melting glaciers and blooming flowers, the road from Mecca to Abyssinia, the rows of the prayer of fear, a tent in a night valley, two roads meeting at one point, Sayfullah. The gold bands at the bottom of the screen give the parallel in the Risale-i Nur, and the blue bands give source and word notes; these are not the preacher's words. The subtitles are in seven languages.

Concepts

Sources