Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: "When you fast by understanding its philosophy, you find peace and tranquility"

President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan's 'Psychological Conversations from Existence to the Search for Meaning ' continues, which was held by the Conscience of the Age Club with the support of Üsküdar University Health, Culture and Sports Department. Prof. Tarhan, who shared important remarks within the context of the current month Ramadan, underlined that this month is an evaluation period within 11 months. Emphasizing that fasting worship has a philosophy like every worship, Tarhan said that fasting brings peace and tranquility if you fast by understanding its philosophy.

"Three terms are used for the month of Ramadan: fasting, sawm and siyam"

Tarhan, who made evaluations about the month of Ramadan based on Bediüzzaman Said Nursî's 'Risale-i Nur', made his remarks on the concepts of 'fasting, sawm and siyam' that are highlighted in the month of Ramadan. Tarhan said that "The connection of Ramadan and calamity. This earthquake is a calamity, and a pandemic is a calamity. This is really important how it will be connected with the month of Ramadan. Three terms are used for the month of Ramadan. Bediüzzaman says fasting, sawm and also siyam. If we know those concepts well, we will understand their differences better. What is most commonly meant by fasting is the fasting of the body. You restrict yourself to a certain period of time of the day from basic needs such as eating and drinking, and you stay away from them. The word sawm appears in the Holy Qur'an. The word sawm means not only to eat and drink, but also to fast for the five senses. Not to look at my tribute, to pay attention to my halal-haram, to pay attention to the word that comes out of the mouth. Then there is siyam. Siyam is the higher authority. If I am not mistaken, it is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. There, too, it means to evaluate the month of Ramadan in a way that leads to the evolution of the soul. It means to think of Ramadan as embellishing such a durable mood, high emotions, with high values in the development of the soul. All three dimensions of the Ramadan fast should be handled in this way. If all this happens, you are acting in accordance with the meaning of Ramadan."

"What scares people the most is uncertainty"

Pointing out that the feeling that scares people the most is the feeling of uncertainty, Tarhan underlined that one of the most important features of the Holy Qur'an is to eliminate the sense of uncertainty in people. Tarhan said that "Uncertainty is the thing that scares people the most, the thing that troubles them the most and the thing that upsets them the most. Earthquakes are not calamities like pandemics, there are uncertainty within them. If a person knows what will happen, that person takes precautions. At least, one can take their position, acts accordingly, removes uncertainty, stands stronger or runs away. The greatest fear is the fear of uncertainty, which is also stated in the Holy Qur'an. The Qur'an contains clear evidence of guidance and separates the truth from the superstitious, in other words, the Qur'an removes uncertainty. When we look at other books, philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, other sacred texts or other science books, it seems that there is no book like the Qur'an that is written with clear and definite boundaries. It is because a book that sent down in 23 years and the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) made the application of the book. For this reason, the Holy Qur'an and its application are so clear and unambiguous that they do not raise a question mark in people's minds. Let us know this in the same way in fasting. He finds a solution to his fear of uncertainty. This is where the meaningful and comforting properties of the Holy Qur'an come from. Yalom has a saying. He says there are four great fears and four great sources of stress in man. Like death, despair, desperate, it is all about uncertainty. You cannot give hope to a person when there is something uncertain, how can you give it? You cannot define it, you cannot explain it, its greatest philosophers have been the philosophers who have tried to solve uncertainty. In trying to solve uncertainty, they connect the mind and the heart, and they eliminate uncertainty. They find peace because one must eliminate uncertainty to find peace. You should have monotheism belief, and you should believe in one god. And that is not enough, you are going to surrender to Him. It is not enough, you will appoint him a deputy, you will give him a power of attorney, you will trust him, then peace comes. Therefore, the whole point is to capture this feeling in Ramadan, to catch the meaning of Ramadan.".

"Mankind, the most intelligent being in the universe, still has not been able to create a DNA"

Stating that the most intelligent being within the reasons in the universe is human beings, but one has not yet been able to make a DNA, Tarhan emphasized the unlimited power and will of the creator of the universe. Tarhan said that "Man, the smartest being, has not been able to make DNA so far, they are sequencing it, but it is not coming to life. As you know, there is a statue of David, a 15-meter statue in Rome. Michelangelo made the statue so perfect that he reflected the anatomy of the body so beautifully that he thought the statue was alive from a distance. Michelangelo also get pumped up about it and told the statue to come to life, and when it did not come to life, he threw the hammer in his hand and the finger of the statue was broken. Mankind looks at it like that, everyone admires what I did, and thinks as ‘why does not it come alive?’. He considers himself so capable. He waits for him to speak, he waits for him to come alive, he says why it does not revive. They sequence the DNA, they say come alive, it does not come alive. Either the smartest person among the reasons has not yet been able to solve the secret of this rubbishness, let alone the quantum, of DNA. In other words, there is a high scholar who does not manifest himself in the universe, and even in this quantum it is called the 'Fermi Paradox'. They look at the whole universe, the earth is smaller than one point in this universe. When they study other planets, there is no other planet as beautiful as Earth, as lively, cheerful, moving, lush, having water. Now, what people want that ‘according to my mathematical mind, in such a big universe it is only a paradox that the world is in this way. They call it the 'Fermi Paradox'. According to this paradox, there are living beings and lives in the universe, and we cannot see them. The paradox is that our mathematical mind suggests that there must be other living things. There are superior communities that use high computer technology, and they say they can come to earth and invade the world. Because they do not believe in monotheism. If they knew it, if they knew that Allah is Almighty, that He is omnipotent, that He is omniscient, that He is the absolute powerful, that He has the absolute knowledge and the absolute will, that is, His unlimited power and will, they will think that the One creating this universe cannot be a kind within this universe. The creator must be free from time and space. If it is independent of time and space, it can only manage this universe.".

"In Ramadan, we will apply the method stop, think, re-evaluate"

Stating that the month of Ramadan is a period of reconsidering our lives within a one-year period, Tarhan noted that it is necessary to stop, think and re-evaluate in Ramadan. Tarhan said that "We are immersed in the routine. We go out in the morning, we work, and then, we come home in the evening. According to innovation rule, it is said that if a person is doing a job for ten hours, they should think about the work they do for an hour and a half. If you want innovation and entrepreneurship, you should apply the fifteen percent rule. You sould think about the philosophy of what you are doing, and you must think about business. You will determine its policy. For example, we produce the most hazelnuts in the world, but we do not determine the hazelnut policies. We produce the most boron mines in the world, but we do not determine the policies. Those who set that policy have taken the time to do so, they have invested in time, they have established a market, they have managed, they are lowering the price as they want. It is in this way to know Allah, to recognize Allah's Lordship, to recognize Allah's Mercy and Grace in Ramadan. It pushes us to search for meaning. In Ramadan, we will stop, think and re-evaluate. This is called a moratorium in human life, taking a break. You will take a break from what you are doing and look at it again, and then you will start again. Ramadan tells us to declare a moratorium on your life for a month, reconsider your life, correct your imperfections, then continue again. He says dedicate one month a year and one hour in twelve to a moratorium. This is actually for us again. Allah does not do this because we know it or not, but because He does it for the exams in the world, for us to understand and find ourselves. Otherwise, Allah already knows what we will encounter if we do it. Just like a computer game, the creator of the game knows that when you hit that ball at that coordinate while you are playing the game, the creator of the game knows that there will be a goal, but the player does not know the game. The world is a simulation of God knowing the fate in advance. Allah has written that simulation, and we know from which angle we will hit from which position and whether we will reach the result. Understanding fate became much easier after learning this simulation theory.".

"If you fast in accordance with its philosophy, it provides meaning and peace"

Stating that fasting worship has a philosophy like every worship, Tarhan stated that fasting, which is performed by understanding the philosophy, brings peace and tranquility. Tarhan said: "There is a philosophy of fasting, if you perform it in line with the philosophy of fasting, it gives meaning, it gives peace. We need to fast according to its philosophy. If we organize the philosophy of life accordingly, fasting gives meaning to us, gives peace, gives consolation and gives a great serenity at the same time. It gives not only a calm sense of peace, but a lively peace, a serene peace. It makes us calm. They said to the ostrich (literal translation of Turkish word is ‘camel bird’) that you are a bird, so fly. The ostrich said I am a camel. Then, they said if you are a camel, then carry this load. It said I am a bird.  Thus, such negligence or manipulation prevents human beings from seeing the truth. Indeed, most people have good intentions, but they forget, they get caught up in the routine. Losing yourself to routine, connecting it to automatic, is one of the tricks of the devil. That is why, Allah gives a calamity in between while living in such an automatic way. Allah shakes us off so that we can wake up from the negligence, and so that we can see the truth. A divine warning against the one who leaves the flock in order to break down a kind of veil of negligence. Misfortunes are not given to us to make us suffer, but to wake us up from negligence. If one looks at it from this point of view, a meaning is given to the calamity, and one understands its wisdom. When one understands its wisdom, one finds the comfort. You see, during Ramadan, when the call to prayer is recited at the same time, everyone who is in that parallel is in that meridian worships together with millions of people. It is similar to waiting for spring to understand the flower. The month of Ramadan is also a very good time to understand some of the attributes of Allah if you look at it with that perspective. Of course, you cannot see it if you do not look at it with that eye. It is all about perspective, where you look at it.”.

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)