Fundamentals Of Rumis Thought by Sefik Can

Author:Sefik Can [Can, Sefik]
Language: tur
Format: epub
Tags: Islam, Rumi, Mevlevi, Sufism
ISBN: 9781932099799
Publisher: Tughra Books
Published: 2006-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Belief and Unbelief

There are many different religions and creeds in our world inhabited by billions of people. All over the world, there are mosques, churches, and synagogues. Since the earliest times of history, people of many different colors and many different nations have been worshipping in innumerable houses of worship, praying to idols that they themselves made in countless temples. It is an undeniable fact that humans have a need to worship. A person who does not believe will surely feel an emptiness inside. After losing his religious faith, Tevfik Fikret, the well-known Turkish poet of the twentieth century, felt the need to believe and complained as follows, “All is empty, earth is empty, sky is empty, heart and consciousness are empty, I’d like to hold on, but there is no point in front of me.” Mehmet Akif (the author of the Turkish national anthem) said, “A faithless, rusty heart is nothing more than a burden in the chest.”

Even today, no matter how materialistic they have become, people are still unable to stay away from religious belief. Russia is a most recent example of this fact for the whole world. Religion, which was banned by the communists, could not be eliminated. Despite all efforts, the view that says “Religion is the opiate of the masses” proved wrong.

How did Rumi view these “religious feelings” the inevitable spiritual need of human beings? Since Rumi saw humans as beings that carry the Divine Entrustment, he loved people no matter to which faith or creed they belonged, and therefore respected all religions. It is for this reason that behind the coffin of that great saint, not only Muslims but also Christians and Jews shed tears. As Aflaki writes, a preacher in Konya, when speaking of Christians, said, “Praise be to God that He did not create us among the Christians.” When they related this statement to Rumi, Rumi said about that preacher, “He is wrong himself and also makes others go astray. He is weighing himself with the balance of the Christians and boasting because he happens to be one gram heavier. If he came and weighed himself with the balance of the prophets and saints, then he would realize his real value.”

Since everything, all beings, reflect the manifestations of Divine Attributes, events that seem to be contradictory are based on a supreme wisdom our minds may not comprehend. Everything is under God’s control; everything comes from Him. The followers of all religions and creeds are carrying out His orders and walking on the line of destiny that He has drawn. We have no right to criticize anybody in this regard. Every follower of a creed has known his belief as right and walked on that path although it is wrong with respect to other creeds. Rumi explains this matter in the following couplets of the Mesnevi:

In the world there are invisible ladders, (leading) rung by rung up to the summit of Heaven.

There is a different ladder for every class, there is a different heaven for every (traveler’s) way.

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