Faith is the right way
I created not jinn and mankind except that they might worship me.According to the meaning of this mighty verse, the purpose for the sending of manto this world and the wisdom implicit in it, consists of recognizing the Creator of allbeings and believing in Him and worshipping Him. The primordial duty of man and theobligation incumbent upon him are to know God and believe in Him, to assent to HisBeing and unity in submission and perfect certainty.For man, who by nature desires permanent life and immortal existence, whoseunlimited hopes are matched by boundless afflictions, any object or accomplishmentother than belief in God, knowledge of God and the means for attaining these,which are the fundament and key of eternal life — any such object or accomplishmentmust be regarded as lowly for man, or even worthless in many cases.Since this truth has been proven with firm evidence in the Risale-i Nur, we referexposition of it to that, setting forth here, within the framework of four questions, onlytwo abysses that shake certainty of faith in this age and induce hesitation.
The means for salvation from the first abyss are these two Matters:
The First Matter: As proven in detail in the Thirteenth Flash of the Thirty-FirstLetter, in general questions denial has no value in the face of proof and is extremelyweak. For example, with respect to the sighting of the crescent moon at the beginningof Ramadan the Noble, if two common men prove the crescent to have emerged bytheir witnessing it, and thousands of nobles and scholars deny it, saying: “We have notseen it,” their negation is valueless and without power to convince. When it is aquestion of proof each person strengthens and supports the other, and consensusresults. But when it is a question of negation, there is no difference between one manand a thousand. Each person remains alone and isolated. For the one who affirmslooks beyond himself and judges the matter as it is. Thus in the example we havegiven, if one says “The moon is in the sky,” and his friend then points his finger at themoon, the two of them unite and are strengthened.The one who engages in negation and denial, however, does not regard the matteras it is, and is even unable to do so. For it is a well-known principle that “a nonparticularizeddenial, not directed to a particular locus, cannot be proven.”For example, if I affirm the existence of a thing in the world, and you deny it, Ican easily establish its existence with a single indication. But for you to justify yournegation, that is to establish the non-existence of the thing — it is necessary to huntexhaustively through the whole world, and even to examine every aspect of past ages.Only then can you say, “It does not exist, and never has existed.”Since those who negate and deny do not regard the matter as it is but judge ratherin the light of their own souls, and their own intelligence and vision, they can in noway strengthen and support each other. For the veils and causes that prevent themfrom seeing and knowing are various. Anyone can say, “I do not see it; therefore, inmy opinion and belief, it does not exist.” But none can say, “It does not exist inactuality.” If someone says this —particularly in questions of belief, which look to allthe universe— it is a lie as vast as the world itself, and he who utters it will beincapable both of speaking the truth and of being corrected.In Short: The result is one and single in the case of affirmation, and everyinstance of affirmation supports all other instances.Negation by contrast is not one, but multiple. Multiplicity arises through eachperson’s saying concerning himself, “In my opinion and view,” or “In my belief,” andleads to multiplicity of result. Hence each separate instance cannot support all otherinstances.
Therefore, with respect to the truth with which we began, there is no significancein the multiplicity and apparent predominance of the unbelievers and deniers whooppose belief. Now it is necessary to refrain from introducing any hesitation into thecertainty and faith of a believer, but in this age the negations and denials of thephilosophers of Europe have induced doubt in a number of unfortunate dupes and thusdestroyed their certainty and obliterated their eternal felicity. Death and the coming ofone’s appointed hour, which afflict thirty thousand men each day, are deprived of theirmeaning of dismissal from this world and presented as eternal annihilation. The gravewith its ever-open door, constantly threatens the denier with annihilation and poisonshis life with the bitterest of sorrows. Appreciate then how great a blessing is faith, andthe very essence of life.
The Second Matter: With respect to a problem subject to discussion in scienceor art, those who stand outside that science or art cannot speakauthoritatively, however great, learned and accomplished they may be, nor can theirjudgements be accepted as decisive. They cannot form part of the learned consensus ofthe science.For example, the judgement of a great engineer on the diagnosis and cure of adisease does not have the same value as that of the lowliest physician. In particular, thewords of denial of a philosopher who is absorbed in the material sphere, who becomescontinually more remote from the non-material or spiritual and cruder and moreinsensitive to light, whose intelligence is restricted to what his eye beholds — thewords of such a one are unworthy of consideration and valueless with respect to nonmaterialand spiritual matters.On matters sacred and spiritual and concerning the Divine unity, there is totalaccord among the hundreds of thousands of the People of Truth, such as ShaykhGilani (May his mystery be sanctified), who beheld God’s Sublime Throne while stillon the earth, who spent ninety years ad-vancing in spiritual work, and who unveiledthe truths of belief in all three stations of certainty. This being the case what value havethe words of philosophers, who through their absorption in the most diffuse details ofthe material realm and the most minute aspects of multiplicity are choking and dazed?Are not their denials and objections drowned out like the buzzing of a mosquito by theroaring of thunder?The essence of the unbelief that opposes the truths of Islam and struggles againstthem is denial, ignorance, and negation. Even though it may appear to be anaffirmation of some kind and a manifestation of being, it is in reality negation and nonbeing.Whereas belief is knowledge and a manifestation of being; it is affirmation andjudgement. Every negating aspect of belief is the gate to a positive truth or the veilcovering it. If the unbelievers who struggle against faith attempt, with the utmostdifficulty, to affirm and accept their negative beliefs in the form of acceptance andadmission of non-being, then their unbelief may be regarded in one respect as a formof mistaken knowledge or erroneous judgement. But as for non-acceptance, denial,and non-admission —something more easily done— it is absolute ignorance and totalabsence of judgement.
In Short: The convictions underlying unbelief are then of two kinds:The First pays no regard to the truths of Islam. It is an erroneous admission, abaseless belief and a mistaken acceptance peculiar to itself; it is an unjust judgement.This kind of unbelief is beyond the scope of our discussion. It has no concern with us,nor do we have any concern with it.The Second Kind opposes the truths of belief and struggles against them. Itconsists in turn of two varieties.The First is non-acceptance. It consists simply of not consenting to affirmation.This is a species of ignorance; there is no judgement in-volved and it occurs easily. Ittoo is beyond the scope of our discussion.The Second variety is acceptance of non-being. It is to consent to non-being withone’s heart, and a judgement is involved. It is a conviction and a taking the part ofsomething. It is on account of this partiality that it is obliged to affirm its negation.The negation comprises two types:The First Type says: “A certain thing does not exist at a certain place or in aparticular direction.” This kind of denial can be proved, and it lies outside of ourdiscussion.The Second Type consists of negating and denying those doctrinal and sacredmatters, general and comprehensive, that concern this world, all beings, the hereafter,and the succession of different ages. This kind of negation cannot in any fashion besubstantiated, as we have shown in the First Matter, for what is needed to substantiatesuch negations is a vision that shall encompass the whole universe, behold thehereafter, and observe every aspect of time without limit.
The Second Abyss and the means for escaping from it: This too consists oftwo matters.The First: Intelligences that become narrowed by absorption in neglect of Godand in sin, or the material realm, are unable to comprehend vast matters in respect ofsublimity, grandeur, and infinity; hence taking pride in such knowledge as they have,they hasten to denial and negation. Since they cannot encompass the extremely vast,profound and comprehensive questions of faith within their straitened and dessicatedintellects, their corrupt and spiritually moribund hearts, they cast themselves intounbelief and misguidance, and choke.If they were able to look at the true nature of their unbelief and the essence oftheir misguidance they would see that, compared to the reasonable, suitable and indeednecessary sublimity and grandeur that is present in belief, their unbelief conceals andcontains manifold absurdity and impossibility. The Risale-i Nur has proven this truthby hundreds of comparisons with the same finality that “two plus two equals four.”For example, one who does not accept the Necessary Being, the pre-eternity, and thecomprehensiveness of attribute of God Almighty, on account of their grandeur andsublimity, may form a creed of unbelief by assigning that necessary being, pre-eternity,and the attributes of Godhead to an unlimited number of beings, an infinity of atoms.Or like the foolish Sophists, he can abdicate his intelligence by denying and negating both his ownexistence and that of the universe.Thus, all the truths of belief and Islam, basing their matters on the grandeur andsublimity which are their requirement, deliver themselves from the awesomeabsurdities, the fearsome superstitions, and the tenebrous ignorance of unbelief thatconfront them, and take up their place in sound hearts and straight intellects, throughutmost submission and assent.The constant proclamation of this grandeur and sublimity in the call to prayer, inthe prayers themselves and in most of the rites of Islam,Allahu akbar, God is Most Great!God is Most Great! God is Most Great!the declaration of the Sacred Tradition that “Grandeur is My shield and Sublimity Mycloak;”5 and the statement of the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) — hismost inspiring communing with God, in the eighty-sixth part of Jawshan al-Kabir:6O You other than Whose Kingdom no kingdom exists;O You Whose Praise cannot be counted by His slaves;O You Whose Glory cannot be described by His creatures;O You Whose Perfection lies beyond the range of all vision;O You Whose Attributes exceed the bounds of all understanding;O You Whose Grandeur is beyond the reach of all thought;O You Whose Qualities man cannot fittingly describe;O You Whose Decree His slaves cannot avert;O You Whose Signs are manifest in everything—Be You glorified; there is no god other than You—Protection, protection, deliver us from the Fire!— all these show that grandeur and sublimity constitute a necessary veil.
The-Rays 125 From Risalei Nur Collections Bediüzzaman Said Nursi(R.A)
https://www.rnur.net/faith-is-the-right-way