Noting that we live in an era where egoism is at its highest in human history and selfishness is sanctified, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that selfishness is taught under the guise of individualism. Pointing out that when individuals cannot analyze themselves, a selfish love emerges, Tarhan noted that 'self-wisdom' is needed for a wise love. Stating that love is the highest emotion and needs to be managed, Tarhan said: “This emotion takes the shape of whatever container you put it in. Emotions need to be placed in the right container. If you put it in a metaphorical container, it becomes worldly love. If you put it in a real container, it becomes divine love.”
The International Symposium on Love from Metaphor to Reality was organized by Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies and Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Faculty of Theology on December 24 – 25 – 26. Academics from Turkey and America participated in the symposium, which consisted of opening presentations and panels. The symposium, held at Üsküdar University Central Campus Nermin Tarhan Conference Hall, concluded with a closing panel.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “It is very important for love to be considered as a discipline”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Founding Rector of Üsküdar University and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, expressed his hope that the Symposium on Love from Metaphor to Reality would continue in future years, during his speech titled “Is Love a language? Or a language of Helplessness and Need?”
Emphasizing the importance of the symposium being multidisciplinary, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, “Considering love as a discipline and offering an option to contemporary people living in an era of crises is of great importance. When Bakırköy Mental and Neurological Diseases Hospital was being established, the cost was very high. İsmet Pasha summoned Mazhar Osman, the founder of the hospital, and asked why the hospital was so expensive. Mazhar Osman replied that there were too many patients. When İsmet Pasha asked why the number of patients was increasing, Mazhar Osman responded, ‘You closed the dervish lodges, so the patients come to us.’ There is a saying that nature abhors a vacuum. Humans have psychological, spiritual, and emotional needs. For example, if a necessary institution like a medical faculty is closed, incompetent individuals emerge. If spiritual fields are left vacant, various illicit activities proliferate.” he said.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Universities have a role in correcting the error of generalization”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that it is very important for Sufism to be approached as a scientific discipline and discussed in a multidisciplinary manner at the university, saying, “In the past, the path of love and Sufism encountered some difficulties. It is necessary to separate the errors that arose from these difficulties. This is like punishing all tradesmen because of one tradesman who made a mistake. Therefore, an error of generalization occurred. Universities have a role in correcting this. This symposium was very beneficial in that regard. As psychiatrists, we are also a field that deals extensively with the problems of the emotion of love.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “The emotion of love takes the shape of whatever container you put it in”
Recalling the words of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, ‘I realized that this entire journey was from myself to myself,’ Prof. Dr. Tarhan said, “Modern people correct others. They neglected to know and change themselves. This situation was realized in the 2000s. While realizing this, emotions that were not previously considered scientific categories were accepted as such. Therefore, people need to learn emotional management. The highest emotion among feelings is love. This also needs to be managed. The emotion of love is an energy, an emotion, ranging from affection to passionate love. This emotion takes the shape of whatever container you put it in. Emotions need to be placed in the right container. If you put it in a metaphorical container, it becomes worldly love. If you put it in a real container, it becomes divine love.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Love is an emotion related to attachment”
Emphasizing that the human emotion of attachment is also scientifically proven, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, “The emotion of attachment has a physiology, such as secure, insecure, and anxious attachment. Love is actually related to attachment. How do we turn love into secure attachment? You feel emotion for a person, you feel attachment. Some people love their spouse so much that they say, ‘I hate you, don’t leave me.’ They are saying two contradictory things at the same time. There are avoided, inconsistent, coercive, and impossible loves. We need to ponder how to transform all these loves into mature love.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Love is one of the most important paths leading humanity to truth”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that love is one of the most important paths leading humanity to truth and continued his words: “It is also necessary to know the risks, dangers, and perils of love that leads people to truth. People who are victims of love come to us. We have cases admitted to the clinic due to pathological love, and there are treated cases. When we investigate the reasons for the situation, we see that a narcissistic love is experienced. People see the person they love as an extension of themselves. It becomes a love like a master-slave relationship. This love is actually a selfish love. It enslaves the person loved. It is a type of love that says, ‘You are either mine or dead.’ Most love-related murders occur due to jealousy. Most incidents of violence against women are caused by people who claim to love them. What kind of love kills? Therefore, it is necessary to manage love, which is a very important emotion.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “We live in an era where selfishness is sanctified”
Stating that self-centered loves are very important, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, “We live in an era where egoism is at its highest in human history and selfishness is sanctified. Selfishness is taught under the guise of individualism. Self-admiration was taught under the name of self-confidence. Self-confidence is a person’s ability to neither feel worthless nor superior in front of others. People cannot analyze themselves, and when they fail to do so, a selfish love emerges. This leads to harming the person they love. For love to be wise, ‘self-wisdom’ is needed.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “The most important disease of our time is worldliness”
Pointing out that the disease of worldliness is the disease of our time, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, “We can explain the disease of worldliness as people living as if they will never die. When such a person falls in love, they fall in love with money, property, and material concepts. When a person falls in love, they always want to control it and its continuity. Metaphorical things are not continuous because there is death.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “We teach silent benevolence to those who want to improve”
Stating that a person without “self-wisdom” experiences a feeling of omnipotence when in love, Tarhan said, “Omnipotence occurs in egocentric narcissistic individuals. This is also called the feeling of absolute power. We can also say that people with that feeling have a God complex. If that person has a feeling of omnipotence, they see themselves as important, superior, and deserving of everything. They also want to control everything. There are some perfectionist individuals who control everything. These people also have an underdeveloped sense of accountability. We teach silent benevolence to those who want to improve. When they do something, they want to announce it to everyone, but inner discipline emerges. We try to make such people realize their feelings of weakness, rights, and needs.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Love is not a cause but a result in marriage”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that narcissistic emotions in humans are the greatest enemy of self-wisdom and continued his words as follows:
“It is a very big problem for a person to see themselves as special, important, and with a God complex. It is very important to realize one's helplessness, weakness, and powerlessness. If a person does not realize this before entering the path of love, they cannot progress on that path. If a person knows their own helplessness, powerlessness, and weakness, they know their limits while progressing on the path of love. One who knows their limits also knows their Lord. The love of a person who does not know their limits, with thoughts like ‘I am perfect, everyone should fall in love with me, I am a good person, I must obtain the person I love,’ evaporates. We say that love is not a cause but a result in marriage. In modern teaching, when asked ‘Why didn't you get married?’, the answer given is ‘Because I didn’t fall in love.’ Love and cooperation eventually turn into lifelong love. But if there is love without cooperation, even if they are in love, that love evaporates within 6 months to 2 years. For love not to evaporate, there must be good cooperation. Good cooperation involves sharing, conciliation, and self-wisdom.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “A person with self-wisdom plays the role of a mirror”
Stating that a person with “self-wisdom” plays the role of a mirror, Tarhan said, “They do not claim the truth, inspiration, and beauties that come from Allah as their own. They say, ‘I am doing these, but it is Allah who makes them happen. I am only an intermediary, a means.’ If they can say this, they play the role of a mirror. Those who do not think this way and lead on the path of Sufism eventually gather that spiritual power in their hands and create a worldly domain for themselves. True Sufi leaders have always seen themselves as mirrors. They have been mirrors to the truth. In Urfa, people were kissing the wheels of the sheikh’s car. This causes misunderstanding. A person with the emotion of love should connect people to ideals, not to themselves. Allegiance should be to the cause, not to the person. I recommend psychological SWOT analysis for a person to understand their weaknesses, helplessness, and powerlessness.”
In the closing panel chaired by Prof. Dr. Reşat Öngören from Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies, Dr. Lecturer Dilek Güldütuna from Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies presented her paper titled “Observation of Divine Beauty in the Works of Samiha Ayverdi”; while Prof. Dr. Nimetullah Akın, Dean of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Faculty of Theology, gave his presentation titled “Dimensions of Love in the Language of the Prophet”.
Ahmet Özhan: “We need to regain the lost understanding of tawhid”
Ahmet Özhan, Lecturer at Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies and State Artist, stated in his presentation titled “Fesemme Vechullah AŞK” that Islam is the religion of tawhid, saying, “Allah is one. It is not possible to speak of another being alongside Him. He is Samad. Samadiyyah is actually explained as independence from need. This is true, but since there is nothing other than Himself, there is no question of need. Samadiyyah is an expression of being exalted above need. Allah Almighty is Lem yelid velem yuled. He has no beginning. He has no end. There is no creator for Him, no one who brought Him into existence.” Ahmet Özhan said, “First, we need to fully grasp tawhid. We need to regain the lost understanding of tawhid. Otherwise, all other measures will be temporary, daily measures, and they will not be sustainable. They come and go from human psychology. If you push a little, one gives up. But when it comes to tawhid in the dimension of faith, giving up is out of the question. Because you cannot abandon your faith.”
In the other afternoon panel chaired by Prof. Dr. İbrahim Baz, Secretary General of Şırnak University; Prof. Dr. Fulya Bayraktar, Dean of Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University Faculty of Fine Arts, gave her presentation titled “Semiha Cemal Hanım’s Philosophy of Love”.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer Osmanoğlu: “We need to realize that love is the most beautiful path to our maturity”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer Osmanoğlu from Üsküdar University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Philosophy, stated in his speech titled “Everyday Manifestations of Love” that love is one of the central topics of life, saying, “Love is an Arabic-rooted word. Love is actually the state of the beloved’s presence and memory enveloping and encompassing the heart. It is the state of being intertwined with them whether they are by your side or far away. Love is a state of giving one's heart, of being infatuated.” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer Osmanoğlu said, “Ontologically, we need to realize that love is a fundamental essence in our existence, and that love is the important force that sustains life, and that love is also the most beautiful path to our maturity. Perhaps we neglect this power within us and treat love as an ordinary phenomenon. Because we treat it as an ordinary event in the hustle and bustle of daily life instead of giving it that very valuable meaning, love does not elevate us. Love wears us out, makes us unhappy. In this sense, love is actually a journey. This journey, which you start with a person or a beauty, leads us to a beauty, to the most beautiful, to the most perfect. In this sense, love is a journey in terms of our perfection, our excellence, and reaching our nature.”
Dr. Lecturer F. Cangüzel Güner Zülfikar from Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies spoke about waqf (endowment) studies carried out during the Seljuk and Ottoman periods in her speech titled “Civilization of Love: The Waqf Institution and Culture of Establishing Waqfs”; while Dr. Lecturer Muhammed Bedirhan from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Faculty of Theology evaluated the concept of love in the context of Abdulghani al-Nabulsi’s work titled Gayetü’l Mahbub. The symposium concluded after a group photo session.