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ADVICE
TO THE YOUNG AND PRISONERS
In
His Name, be He glorified.
Pitfalls
before the young
Indeed,
youth follows emotions rather than reason, and emotions and
desires are blind; they do not consider the consequences. They
prefer one ounce of immediate pleasure to tons of future
pleasure. They kill for one minute’s satisfaction of revenge,
then suffer for eighty thousand hours the pain of imprisonment.
One hour of dissolute pleasure of rape may result in a lifetime’s
contentment being destroyed through distress at the fear of both
prison and enemies.
Like
those mentioned above, there are many pitfalls for the
unfortunate young because of which they transform the sweetness
of life into a most bitter existence that will bring remorse. In
particular, a huge and mighty state to the north is misusing the
passions of the young and shaking this century with its storms.
For it has made lawful for the young, who are motivated by
emotions that are blind to all consequences, the beautiful
daughters and wives of upright, innocent people. Further, by
allowing men and women to go together to public baths, it
encourages immorality. It also regards it as lawful for vagabond
and the poor to freely use, even plunder, the property of the
rich. All mankind tremble in the face of this calamity.
So it is
most necessary in this century for all Muslim youths to act
heroically, and to respond to this two-pronged attack with “sharp
swords” like the “Fruits (of Belief)” and the “Guide
for Youth” from the Risale-i Nur. Otherwise those
unfortunate youths will destroy both their future, their
happiness in this world and in the next, their eternal
afterlife, and transform both into torment and suffering. They
will wind up in hospitals because of their abuse of their
energies and dissipation, and in prisons because of their
excesses. In their old age, they will weep copiously with sighs
of regret. If, by contrast, they protect themselves with Qur’anic
training and the Islamic truths some of which the Risale-i Nur
is trying to expound, they will become truly heroic youths,
perfect human beings, prosperous Muslims, and in some ways
masters over the rest of animate beings.
Let’s
suppose a young man spends one hour out of the twenty-four of
each day on the five prescribed prayers and-in addition to the
imprisonment preventing him from many sins-repents and seeks God’s
forgiveness for the mistake that was the cause of his disaster.
And let’s suppose he abstains from other harmful, painful
sins. Just as this will be of great benefit for both his life,
and his future, and his country, and his nation, and his family
and relatives, so also will he gain with his fleeting youth of
ten to fifteen years an eternal, brilliant youth. The Qur’an
of Miraculous Expression primarily included, all the revealed
Scriptures give this glad news decisively.
If a
young man demonstrates his gratitude for the delightful blessing
of youth by following the Straight Path in obedience to God,
this will cause both increase of this blessing, and its becoming
eternal and more pleasurable. Otherwise, it will bring
calamities, pains, grief, and become a nightmare, and then it
will disappear. It will cause him to become like an aimless one,
harmful for both his relatives, and his country, and his nation.
Conversation
with prisoners
If the
prisoner has been sentenced unjustly, provided he performs the
five prescribed prayers, each hour he has spent in prison will
be the equivalent of a day’s worship, and the prison will be
like the cell of a recluse for him. He may be counted among the
pious hermits of old times who retired to caves in order to
devote themselves to worship. If he is poor, aged, and ill, and
desirous to learn the truths of belief on condition he repents
and asks God’s forgiveness for his previous sins and crimes
and performs the five prescribed prayers, each hour of his will
be the equivalent of twenty-hours’ worship. The prison will be
like a rest-house for him, and by reason of his friends there
who regard him with affection, a place of friendliness,
training, and education. He will probably be happier staying in
prison than being free, for outside he is perplexed and
subjected to the attacks of sins from all sides. He may receive
a perfect education in prison, and on being released, he will no
longer be a murderer, one thirsting for revenge, but he will be
released as someone, repentant, matured, well-behaved, and
useful to his nation. The Denizli prisoners attained this rank
in a short period through the moral instruction they had. For
this reason, giving such moral instruction to prisoners for
fifteen weeks should always be preferred to putting them in
prison for fifteen years.
Death
for believers and unbelievers
Since
death does not die, and the appointed hour is unknown, it may
come at any time. The grave cannot be closed, and people enter
it troop after troop. It has been shown through the truths of
the Qur’an that for the believers death changes into documents
of discharge from worldly duties or from execution for eternal
punishment. For the corrupt and misguided, on the other hand,
death is execution for everlasting torment and unending
separation from their loved ones and all other creatures. The
most fortunate person is surely he who thanks God in patience,
and fully benefiting form his time in prison, takes the
necessary moral and religious teaching to serve the Qur’an and
his belief on the Straight Path.
O man who
is addicted to enjoyment and pleasure! Being seventy-five years
of age, I have come to know with utmost certainty from thousands
of experiences and proofs that true enjoyment, pure pleasure,
grief-free joy, and happiness of life, are only to be found in
belief and within the sphere of the truths of belief. Whereas a
single worldly pleasure yields numerous pains; as if delivering
ten slaps in return for a single grape, it mars the pleasure of
life.
O you
unfortunate people who are suffering from the misfortune of
imprisonment! Since you are mourning in the world and your life
is bitter, derive enough benefit from prison so that you may not
mourn in the Hereafter and your eternal life may be sweet. In
the same way that an hour’s watch under severe conditions in
the face of the enemy is sometimes equivalent to a year’s
worship, the hardship of each hour of yours spent in worship
under such severe conditions in prison multiplies and changes
that hardship into mercy.
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Last Updated on November 14, 2000
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