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Man and a Welcoming Attitude
İnsan (Man) and Hoşgörü (a Welcoming Attitude) “By the hand of God man is created with a resemblance to Him and will return to Him” (Epistle to Romans 8, 19-25); “So God created man in his own image” (Genesis, Chp 1); “Verily, We created man of the best stature (mould)” (at-Tin, Verse 4) Tasavvuf (Sufism) teaches us the inner meanings of these holly books and enables us to live those meanings. Tasavvuf explains that insan (man) is the essence of God’s meaning and that the reason why God has created universes is to reveal this essence. Thus a human being is the manifestation of the One that possesses everything. Since coming to this world mankind has been struggling to become a real insan (man) i.e Adam. In every man there exist God’s names and attributes i.e. Hakk (an attribute of God). On the way to meet one’s essence, one strives to submit God’s rights to God. In other words mankind possesses the honor of carrying the essence of the Creator’s omnipotence. Truly, We did offer Al-Amânah (the trust or moral responsibility or honesty and all the duties, which Allâh has ordained) to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it (i.e. afraid of Allâh's Torment). But man bore it. Verily, he was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results). (Ahzab, Verse 72). One can be considered as an insan (human being) only if he is aware of this honor entrusted to him. In order to have a welcoming attitude (hoşgörü) one should be able to value what is manifested in him and the others. What is really meant by ‘others’ here is every particle that has been created. Therefore, a mature human being (kâmil) should be able to ascend from the created to the Creator and deal with the others accordingly. Man is situated in between the created and the Creator. As Rûmi says in Divân-ı Kebir, “I refrain from calling man insan respecting aşk (love of God in man) and calling man God fearing Him.” Ascending from the created to the Creator causes desires and cravings to be focused on their real target. In other words one starts aiming at achieving the everlasting rather than the transitory. One starts doing everything for God and seeing in everything the God. Then he quits hurting others or being hurt. That is the essence of tasavvuf (Sufism) in Islam: not hurting and not being hurt. If one perceives that the heart of man is the residence of God, then he chooses his words accordingly. If one perceives that any behavior towards him is directed by God, he will say “My dear God has assigned that person as a means to warn me.” Then he does not focus on the means but deals with God only. Such a perception enables one to be armed against tolerance, which is compulsory forgiveness and brings about spontaneous acceptance. The word “hoşgörü” in Turkish which suggests a welcoming attitude is defined in dictionaries as accepting everything with an empathy as well as seeing everything with a pleasing eye. This word means beyond tolerance and forbearance. The words ‘tolerance and forbearance’ include meanings such as negligence and endurance. In such a welcoming attitude as in “hoşgörü”, the meaning goes beyond tolerance and suggests seeing the good in everything and thus automatically feeling pleased about anything you experience. In the terms of tasavvuf there exist the concepts of patience and consent. Patience means not complaining and consent means accepting with a loving attitude. One does not lose respect towards a loved one when reprimanded by him/her. On the contrary one considers this be it negative or positive as a greeting from the beloved, God. In brief, when looked from such a perspective everything and everyone can be considered as beloved. Kays was in love with Laila. She was the daughter of the landlord and he was their worker. One day when Laila was giving out food to all the workers, she just tapped his plate and gave no food to Kays. He was so pleased from this treatment that he felt as if he was drunk. The standbyers said, “If she had loved you, she would have given you some.” And Kays replied “Of course she wouldn’t have behaved the same to me.” For the true lover pleasure and suffering mean the same. Tasavvuf in Islam makes no distinction among religions. That is why it does not categorize people according to their religions. It only focuses on whether one lives honestly and honorably as in a Muslim way. One can see through tasavvuf numerous Christians, Jews and even atheists living Islam much more so called Muslims because when the Prophet Muhammad was asked what religion was, He replied, “Religion is good morals, being virtuous”. Those who are virtuous, are also faithful and Muhammedî (familiar to, apt to Hz. Muhammed). Since, in order to become Muhammedî one should first be familiar with Moses and Jesus Christ. Else if these conditions are not satisfied no one can allege that he/she is Muhammedî. As it is stated in the prayer Amentü, it is the primary conditions of Islam to believe in the holy books and the prophets of Allah. The fact that the Sufi masters such as Mevlâna (Rumi) have been the lovers of everyone, complies with the saying of Urfi. “You Urfi, become so beautiful that those worshipping fire would be yearning to burn you in the fire and the muslims would desire to wash you with the holy water ‘zemzem’, all accepting you as one of them.” This indicates that these masters have reached the ultimate point of tevhid (unification) and have got the ability of observing Allah in every creature. On the day of Mevlâna’s farewell “Şeb-i Arus” which he has claimed it to be his ‘wedding night’, he submitted his body to the ground and his meaning to Allah. On this special day the Muslims, the Jewish, the Christians and even atheists all danced in semâ (the ritual dance performance of the whirling dervishes) which shows us tevhid (unification) is genuinely realized in Islam. The words of Mevlana (Rumi) “I am like a compass, one of my feet is fixed on the rules of Islam (sheria) and with the other one I go along together with all seventy two nations. All of them listen to their secrets from us.” explain how the meaning of ‘Rabb-ül Âlemin’(God of universes) in Islam is comprehended in tasavvuf. If the ones calling themselves Muslims did not achieve this profound and boundless meaning of Islam, they wouldn’t be able to utilize tevhid (unification) in their life. Because of this failure they carry the revenge of their hell inside to outside which may result in even destroying other people, unfortunately in the name of Islam. Therefore, one can conclude that living the meaning of Islam is important, rather than using -hence abusing- its name. Mevlana (Rumi) in his work ‘Divan-ı Kebir’ addresses those who do not respect and perceive the wisdom displayed in the opposite names and events. He says to them with a scolding tone “How can you conceive the realities of the religion while you are unaware of even the first letter ‘k’ of the word ‘küfür’ (blasphemy)?” However, his scolding is in the limits of hoşgörü (welcoming attitude), which does not hinder him from pointing out the wrongs. Tevhid (unification) advises to keep away from repeating sins while on the other hand, it suggests the sins to be a must in the maturing process of human. Say: "O 'Ibâdî (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allâh, verily Allâh forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Zumar, Verse 53). Hz. Muhammed explains that there is a tendency to sins and bad deeds in the nature of human so we should be tolerant about them, with his saying “If you didn’t commit a sin, Allah would destroy you and create a new society that repents after their sin.” Tevhid (unification) is the ability to see God everywhere and the power to save man from being fearful and passive. A true Muslim is free from fear and does not hesitate to do what he believes to be true knowing that he will give the account of his deeds only to God. Thus he is an active man who is not afraid of taking risks. The prophet’s confidence and trustworthiness derive from his being so sure of God. Hoşgörü (welcoming attitude) takes place as a result of tevhid (unification). The one who is so sure and feels secure possesses hoşgörü (welcoming attitude). Our Prophet went to Taif on invitation but was exposed to some bad manners. Children threw stones at him. His companions wanted him to curse at them but He said, “They do not know. Oh God! Please show them the way and create such a generation out of them that they will know and understand you.” When our Prophet was talking to the chief of a tribe who came to learn Islam, he wanted our Prophet to continue after his revealing nature before Him. Prophet’s companions were about to draw their swords but He stopped them and let the man do so. Our Prophet continued to explain Islam to him. Being exposed to such a treatment, the chief became Muslim with all his tribe. When Hazrat Ali was on his way to Morning Prayer, he saw an old Jewish man walking in front of him. Despite the fact that he was in a hurry, he did not pass the man and walked slowly behind him thinking that passing an elderly may mean disrespect to God. Meanwhile, our Prophet had started the first unit of prayer and was prostrating with his forehead on the floor when Gabriel appeared and pressed his shoulders preventing him from raising his head. The prophet asked Gabriel the inner meaning of this incident and Gabriel answered: “Ali is on his way to the mosque now and an old Jewish man is walking slowly in front of him. Because of his respect, Ali does not pass the old man. Allah is so pleased with his behavior that He is making you wait for Ali so that he does not miss the prayer. Hazrat Mevlana (Rumi) responds similarly when the prostitutes in the streets of Konya greet him. Mevlana addresses them by the name of the great woman saint Rabia, saying, “Rabia, Rabia, how brave of you? You are heroes. If it were not for you, who would supress the enraged nafs (ego, self) of men and save the honor of the honorable?” During a sema (ritual practice of whirling dervishes) circle, a drunk Christian, rolling, bumps into Hz. Mevlana and keeps disturbing him. When others try to hinder the drunk man, Mevlana says; “Don’t touch him. He has drunken the wine and you are acting as if you are drunk.” One day Mevlana rushes out of a hammam (Turkish bath). People ask; “You had just entered the hammam, why did you come out so soon?” He answered; “The hammam attendant drove away some of the people in order to spare me some space. I was so ashamed that I left the hammam.”
The result of hoşgörü (welcoming attitude) is nothingness. Nothingness is being everything. The Pharaoh who believed in one God shows his daughter a blank white wall and asks her; “What do you see on this wall dear?” His daughter answers; “Nothing.” He then asks; “What can you draw on it?” She answers; “I can do anything on it.” Then the Pharaoh says; “See my dear, everything is in this nothing!” The essence of man is insan (human being), his birth is beşer (the outer appearance of human). His maturity is hoşgörü (welcoming attitude) and his ultimate goal is to realize his nothingness and humbleness. |
