► (044) ◄
My Dear Loyal Brothers !
Ali Efendi, one of the Nur students from the village of Ali Köyü asks about a Qur'anic verse about the dissemblers. I don't have time at the moment to explain it at length, so am writing a couple of sentences briefly.
The verse, which states that the ritual prayers should not be performed for dissemblers when they die, refers to the dissemblers of that time who were known to be thus through divine revelation. It does not mean that the prayers cannot be performed for people who are merely said to be dissemblers or assumed to be. Anyone who pronounces "There is no god but God" is a Muslim (lit. people of the qibla). So long as they do not explicitly deny religion, or if they repent, the prayers may be performed for them. There are many Alevis in that village and some of them may be extreme (lit. Râfızî), but even the worst of them should not be said to be dissemblers. The dissembler has no belief, heart, or conscience. He opposes the Prophet (UWBP) like some atheists now. The extremist Alevis and Shi'is however, do not oppose the Prophet (UWBP); they rather nurture excessive love for his family. They go to extremes in the face of the dissemblers' neglect. When they exceed the bounds of the Shari'a they become not dissemblers but innovators; they become sinners, not disbelievers. It is enough that they do not attack Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman, whom 'Ali (May be God be pleased with him) held in respect for twenty years and accepted their rule when they held the position of Shaykh al-Islam, and that they hold those three Caliphs in respect as he did, and perform the obligatory prayers.
Moreover, since through the testimony of al-Jaljalūtiyya, [^37] the Risale-i Nur student's foremost master after the Prophet Muhammad (UWBP) is Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him), if the Shi'is and Alevis who claim to love him do not heed the lessons of the Risale-i Nur more than the Sunnis do, their claim to love the Prophet's family is false. Anyway, I heard several years ago that through the efforts of three Alis in that Alevi village, innocent children were writing out the Risale-i Nur and spreading it. I even included the village in my prayers at that time. God willing, through the efforts of our brother Ali, who wants to be Imam there, and the endeavours of brothers like Küçük Ali, the heir of the late Hâfız Ali, my supplications for them will not be in vain, and the two groups in the village, the Sunnis and Alevis, will unite.
[^37]:al-Jaljalūtiyya: see fn 35 above. [Tr.]
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