The ‘Meşkûre Sargut Remembrance’ program, held for the 9th time this year, took place at Üsküdar University with the main theme of ‘Adab’. Speaking at the program, Cemalnur Sargut said, “The first thing my mother Meşkûre Sargut taught us was adab. Adab is the ability to see Allah in everything, everywhere.”
Assist. Prof. Dr. H. Dilek Güldütuna: “‘Adab’ is a word that encompasses all good within itself.”
Author Necmettin Şahinler: “Adab is for a servant to abandon objection to Allah and to be content with what comes from Allah.”
The ‘Meşkûre Sargut Remembrance’ program, organized for the 9th time this year in cooperation with Üsküdar University Institute of Sufi Studies, Kerim Foundation, and TÜRKKAD, took place at Üsküdar University Nermin Tarhan Conference Hall.
The opening speech of the program, organized with the aim of commemorating important figures who contributed to Sufi culture and literature, was delivered by Üsküdar University Rector's Advisor Cemalnur Sargut. Following the panel on ‘Adab’, moderated by Dr. Asuman Kulaksız and presented by Prof. Dr. V. Emre Ömürlü from Yıldız Technical University Mechatronics Engineering faculty, Assist. Prof. Dr. H. Dilek Güldütuna from Üsküdar University Institute of Sufi Studies, and Author Necmettin Şahinler, the second part of the program featured a conference by M. Mustafa Kayhan, Honorary President of Ahmet Kayhan Foundation, during the ‘Hacı Ahmet Kayhan Remembrance Program’, organized with the contributions and support of the Ahmet Kayhan Foundation.
Cemalnur Sargut: “Adab is the ability to see Allah in everything, everywhere”
Cemalnur Sargut began her opening speech with the words, “The first thing my mother Meşkûre Sargut taught us was adab.” She added, “Adab is the ability to see Allah in everything, everywhere.”
Stating that Meşkûre Sargut’s last words were ‘Let us meet in the love of Allah!’, Cemalnur Sargut expressed that unity and togetherness in society can only be achieved by meeting in the love of Allah.
Cemalnur Sargut: “Eat, drink, have fun, but realize that Allah is the giver of all, and do these if they are permissible”
In her speech, Cemalnur Sargut recounted the following memories:
“We never experienced any trouble or sorrow at home. We didn't perceive things negatively. When my father went to prison, my mother, with her head in prostration, said, ‘Thank God, we are accompanying Prophet Yusuf.’ We never even saw a negative expression on her face; she was always positive. The paradise of the self means ‘living while being aware that Allah is the giver of all pleasures in this world.’ In other words, eat, drink, have fun, but realize that Allah is the giver of all, and do these if they are permissible. Meşkûre Sargut also gave due to her self, living both this world and the other realm simultaneously. The thing she was most meticulous about was prayer (Namaz). If we were going to a country, she would first learn the prayer times. She would open the window, no matter how cold the weather, listen to the call to prayer (Adhan) from the mosque, and pray immediately.
One day when a thief broke into the house, she said, ‘Children, the thief must have been in great need, he took it and left; we should be happy for what is gone.’"
Cemalnur Sargut: “My mother considered speaking ill of someone as a means of purification”
“One day, a lady invited my mother to a wedding. My mother was not in a state to go at all, and just as she was about to apologize, the lady started speaking ill of me. She spoke so much against me that my mother said, ‘I will come to the wedding.’ When I asked why she went, she said, ‘Because she purified you, my daughter; she purified you so much that I owe her, and I will go to her wedding to bear witness.’ She considered speaking ill of someone as purification. She would say, ‘Don’t be sad, if you have a purpose, don’t think about what the left and right say about you, walk towards your goal, don’t give up what you know to be right.’ This is the kind of mother we grew up with.”
‘First, learn silence from the master of the heart’
Dr. Asuman Kulaksız, who opened the panel on ‘Adab’ with Ken’an Rifai’s poem on Adab, said, “As someone who was raised by Ken’an Rifai, who taught us the Muhammadi ethics perfectly in this world, ‘adab’ was Meşkûre Sargut's most prominent characteristic.”
The first speaker of the panel, Prof. Dr. V. Emre Ömürlü, who grew up alongside Meşkûre Sargut, discussed the topic of ‘The Manifestation of Speech and State in the Life of a Sufi’.
Stating that he started attending Meşkûre Sargut's talks in 1983, Prof. Dr. Ömürlü recounted that in one of her talks, Meşkûre Sargut said, ‘Everyone's disposition and taste are different; you are not obliged to conform to a disposition contrary to your own, but you are obliged to not harm others on the path of Allah. Strive for this, preserve adab morally and spiritually. Let them call you 'fool'; there is no harm in it. Just say 'Allah' and remain steadfast.’ In another talk, she reportedly said, ‘First, learn silence from the master of the heart; the master of the heart teaches us two kinds of silence: one is the silence of the tongue, meaning not to utter futile words, to protect the tongue from gossip. The silence of the heart, on the other hand, is to find good in everything that happens, to accept everything, pleasant or unpleasant, with the heart.’
Assist. Prof. Dr. H. Dilek Güldütuna: “Adab means to gather all good deeds”
Assist. Prof. Dr. H. Dilek Güldütuna, who gave a presentation titled ‘Adab as the Sum of All Goodness’, provided the following information:
“Just as in the 20th century, from the early periods of Sufism, Sufism is defined as the acquisition of divine adab and good manners. Since Sufism is a science of spiritual states, it cannot be acquired by reading or speaking, but only through guidance, that is, through a master of adab. Allah continued to teach adab to His prophet until he reached the station of divine adab. When he reached that station, Prophet Muhammad said, ‘Allah has taught me adab, and how beautifully He has taught me adab.’ Adab means to gather all good deeds. When Prophet Muhammad said, ‘Allah has taught me adab,’ he meant, ‘He gathered all good deeds in me,’ and when he said, ‘how beautifully He has taught me adab,’ he indicated the meaning ‘He made me the place of all good deeds.’"
Necmettin Şahinler: “Adab is knowing one’s limits”
Author Necmettin Şahinler, who gave a presentation on ‘Examples of Adab in the Quran from the Language of the Prophets’ at the panel, began his speech by expressing how much he was affected by Meşkûre Sargut’s words, ‘Sufism is the heart abandoning objection to Allah,’ during his first encounter with Meşkûre Sargut.
“If the heart has abandoned objection to Allah, it means everything is complete,” said Şahinler, continuing his speech as follows:
“If Sufism is adab, and if there is a plaque in all dervish lodges that says ‘Adab, Yâ Hû’, then the answer to the question ‘What is true adab?’ can be summarized as ‘for the servant to abandon objection to Allah and to be content with what comes from Allah.’ There is an expression in the Quran as ‘Allah’s boundaries.’ If adab is Allah’s boundaries, then knowing one’s place before Allah is the most beautiful adab. Not crossing these boundaries is also adab. Adab is knowing one’s limits. The adab of Sharia is to stop saying ‘I,’ the adab of Tariqa is to stop saying ‘you,’ and the adab of Haqiqah is to go beyond ‘ours,’ meaning not to consider the visible as the ultimate truth. Adab is for the heart not to deny what the eye sees.”
M. Mustafa Kayhan: “To describe the sun, one must burn like the sun”
Speaking at the ‘Hacı Ahmet Kayhan’ remembrance program held in the second part, M. Mustafa Kayhan, Honorary President of the Ahmet Kayhan Foundation, said, “In this section, we will strive to introduce the perfect human, Hacı Ahmet Efendi. However, introducing such figures is quite difficult. When introducing the sun, it is not enough to talk only about its light, warmth, and rays; to describe the sun, one must burn like the sun.”
M. Mustafa Kayhan, speaking about Hacı Ahmet Kayhan Efendi’s understanding of Sufism, provided the following information:
“In Hacı Ahmet Kayhan Efendi’s understanding of Sufism, it is believed that the key to reaching Allah lies in living Sufism with an intense life of worship bound by Sharia, staying away from unlawful gain and unlawful desires, serving all people, and approaching all beings with mercy and compassion without discrimination. He stated that one cannot be a person of Sufism without strictly fulfilling the commands of the Quran and the prophet.
Ahmet Efendi approached all humanity with love, mercy, and compassion, without distinction of race, language, or religion. He said, ‘We are all children of Adam, there is no distinction,’ and commanded, ‘Everything that exists is a servant of Allah, one must work for all of them.’ He attached great importance to human values, seriously emphasized a person's duties towards their environment and humanity, and especially made a great effort to instill the science of adab and ethics in his students.”
At the end of the program, a plaque was presented by Üsküdar University Rector's Advisor Cemalnur Sargut to M. Mustafa Kayhan, Honorary President of the Ahmet Kayhan Foundation, and Şeref Bahşi, the foundation's chairman of the board of trustees, for their contributions.