4- The delusion coming in the form of doubt regarding issues of belief
The delusion regarding issues of belief
The delusion coming in the form of doubt regarding issues of belief
One of the issues about which delusion is seen the most is the delusionregarding issues of belief like the existence of Allah, angels and the hereafter, the Quran being the true book and Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) being the true prophet.
You hear the following from the people who suffer from this delusion. “When I pray, the following sentence always comes to my mind: If Allah does not exist, your prayer will be in vain. I always try to silence this voice but the more I try to silence it, the louder it gets. I even forget what rak'ah I am performing while trying to silence it.”
The people with this delusion always hear the following voice coming from inside them:
“What if Allah does not exist… what if the hereafter does not exist… what if the Quran is not the book of Allah… what if Hz. Muhammad is not a prophet… what if there is nothing like prophethood …. I have never seen any angels; what if angels do not exist?"
Unending delusions like the ones above and voices that cannot be silenced… The poor person who cannot silence these voices sometimes thinks escaping from the presence of Allah and moving away from worshipping as a solution and becomes a loser.
A person who suffers from this delusion confuses imagining and reasoning. That is, he thinks that a delusion or doubt that comes to his imagination has settled in his mind and has harmed his belief and creed. He regards this doubt shaped in his imagination as a doubt that harms his belief and that has been approved by his mind. However, this doubt is not in his mind and it is not approved by his mind; it cannot harm his belief and creed either. This doubt is a delusion caused by Satan.
He sometimes thinks as follows: “Could this realm exist on its own if Allah did not exist? Is it possible for a human being to write a book like the Quran?”, which can make a person exit the religion of Islam. He thinks this thought makes him exit the religion of Islam and makes him an unbeliever. That is, he regards meditation in order to understand the reason for denial and to understand that there is no true way except Islam, investigation, impartial reasoning between belief and unbelief as exiting the religion and unbelief.
Consequently, he is afraid of those delusions, which are the work of the suggestions of Satan, and says, “Alas! My heart has been spoiled; my belief has been harmed; I have exited the religion of Islam.” He falls into despair since those delusions are generally outside his will and since he cannot correct those delusions with his will.
The way of getting rid of this delusion
The salve for this wound is to know that imagining things that necessitate unbelief does not make a person exit the religion. Thinking of unbelief, that is, imagining denial and doubting do not harm the belief of a person. Thinking of unbelief and meditating on unbelief in order to evaluate whether it is possible or not do not make a person an unbeliever.
For, imagining, doubting, describing, meditating are different from the approval of the mind and the heart. The abilities of imagination, doubt, description and meditation are free to a certain extent and they do not submit to man's will and obey him. Man is not held responsible for what they do outside his will; and he will not be accounted for them. The following verse is evidence for it:
“On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear” (al-Baqara: 286) That is, thinking of a sin in one's heart is forgiven. Even the sins that are decided to be committed but then given up and repented are forgiven.
The Prophet (pbuh) stated the following:
“Allah forgives the things that a person thinks in his heart unless he does them or utters them.”It is understood from this hadith that the evil things and delusions that come to a person's heart outside his will are forgiven.
“But force not your maids to prostitution when they desire chastity, in order that ye may make a gain in the goods of this life. But if anyone compels them, yet after such compulsion, is Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (to them).” (an-Nur: 33)
The verse above states that if female slaves are forced to prostitute and they cannot resist it, Allah will not held them responsible and will forgive them because Allah does not place a burden greater than one can bear on anybody. That is, responsibility is based on a person's strength. Since man cannot expel the delusions that come to their heart regarding belief, they will not be held responsible for those kinds of doubts and delusions.
Once Ibn Abbas met Ibn Amr and asked him, “What is the most hopeful verse in the Quran in your opinion?” Ibn Amr said,
“O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (az-Zumar, 53) Ibn Abbas said, in my opinion, it is the following verse:
“Behold! Abraham said: "My Lord! Show me how Thou givest life to the dead. He said: "Dost thou not then believe?" He said: "Yea! but to satisfy my own understanding.” (al-Baqara 260)
That is the verse that I like the most. For, when Hz. Ibrahim said, “O Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead", Allah asked him, “Do you not believe?” Hz. Ibrahim said, “Yes, I do but I want tosatisfy my own understanding.” Allah was pleased with this statement of Hz. Ibrahim. It is understood from it that the thoughts and delusions that come to a person do not harm his belief.
It means approval is related to the will and it is dependent to a certain extent. Imagining, delusion, describing and meditating are not like approving. They are not subject to a criterion and a will. Then, they are not regarded as doubt and hesitation. However, if these delusions enter the will of a person, if they are repeated unnecessarily and if he is occupied with ideas and doubts like "if Allah does not exist, if the hereafter does not exist" willingly, a real kind of doubt occurs. And that person is harmed. By looking at the truths of belief impartially again and again, he will accept the opposite view in the end; he will not accept the truth, which is obligatory for him.
For instance, he says, "Could this realm exist on its own if Allah did not exist?" and starts to think about the answer to that question impartially. He will not be harmed if this reasoning ends up with the following view: “If Allah did not exist, this realm would not exist; since it exists, Allah exists, too.” However, if he spends a lot of time on issues like these unnecessarily and if he does not know the scholarly issues well, he will accept unbelief. Then, a person who wants to meditate on these issues willingly needs to learn about the evidences of belief regarding the issue first.
Those who try to find what is true and what is wrong through their limited knowledge without learning about the truth first can make a mistake.
Furthermore it should not be forgotten that the well-known rule, "a possibility that does not arise from any proof or evidence is of no importance" is one of the established principles of both the sciences of the bases of religion and the bases of jurisprudence. Since the delusions and doubts regarding truths of belief come to us outside our will and without being based on any evidence; then, they are of no importance.
In order to get rid of this trick of Satan's, it is necessary to read the books in which the truths of belief are explained, especially the Risale-i Nur Collection written by Badiuzzaman Said Nursi.
We have learnt the following so far:
1- The delusions and doubts about the truths of belief can never harm our belief and creed.
2- To imagine things that necessitate unbelief does not make a person exit the religion. To have the delusion of unbelief, that is, to suppose that one has denied the religion become an unbeliever does not harm his belief. To think about unbelief in the mind and to meditate on it in order to test its possibility does not make a person an unbeliever. For, imagination, delusion, description and meditation are different from confirmation by the mind and acceptance by the heart.
3- These delusions are not approved by the heart and the mind; they are the fruits of the imagination, which is free to some extent and which does not obey, delusion, description and meditation.
4- A possibility that does not originate from evidence is of no importance.
5- The verses of the Quran mentioned above state that delusion regarding issues of belief is not a sin.
6- It should not be forgotten that the vision of the snake in the mirror does not bite; the vision of the fire does not burn; the reflection of something dirty does not make the mirror dirty. Similarly, in the mirror of imagination and thought, the reflections of unbelief and polytheism, the shadows of deviation and the visions of ugly words like unbelief do not harm one's creed and belief and do not spoil his good manners.
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