Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan was a guest at the program titled “Living with the Quran and Sunnah Seminars 4,” held every second Saturday of the month at the İstanbul İlim ve Kültür Vakfı (Istanbul Science and Culture Foundation) conference hall by the foundation. Tarhan, making assessments under the title “Changing World, Youth, Family ‘What Awaits Us?’ ”, said; “Everything is changing very fast. If we want to keep young people within the belief system, we need to be good role models instead of giving them advice. Instead of giving them commands, we need to offer them options. In the family, this is called ‘opportunity education.’ We will turn every event into an opportunity and ponder on the child’s education.” Tarhan added that while our name is Muslim, our way of life is not, and we are culturally Muslim but not mentally, stating that this is not a time to save ourselves by escaping from the world.
“We are culturally Muslim, but not mentally.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, speaking about the importance of the concept of God in the hybrid program, which attracted great interest, said: “There are 4,300 religions in the world. All religions claim to be true. It is reasoning methods that will decide this. The concept of God is important. We find the correct concept of Allah among all religions by asking which one is true. All arrows lead science to Tawhid (Oneness of God). When we look at Tawhid, 55% of the Quran is Tawhid. It leads to Tawhid, and in Tawhid, if there must be a God, there must be an external reality with current reasoning methods. In such a case, what kind of God should there be to be able to create? It should not be a part of this universe and should not be of the same kind as the universe. Surah Al-Ikhlas states: “Allah will not be in need of anyone, everyone will be in need of Him. He will be able to control everything, and be closer to everything than its jugular vein.” Only such a concept of Allah is true. That is why Bediüzzaman Hazretleri insisted on Esmaül-Hüsna (the Most Beautiful Names of Allah) and Tawhid. Currently, most people in Turkey, even 80%, have a Western mindset. Their name is Muslim. We are culturally Muslim, but not mentally Muslim. Our current education system has no concern for raising sensitive, empathetic individuals. There is no such thing as raising people to find Allah by using their minds. Only the actors of traditional education have changed. We have a completely rotten education system. In such a situation, the young people growing up now are no different from a young person growing up in the Netherlands.”
“The world has seen the collapse of materialism”
Tarhan, stating that the world is in search of something new and that we need to offer this search, said: “Currently, in the US, intelligent design courses have been mandated in schools by court order because evolution does not explain everything. In 2014, Columbia and Arizona Universities jointly published a post-materialist science manifesto. Materialism does not explain everything. They published a manifesto stating that post-materialist science is necessary. We are in contact with them. We want to hold a meeting together. What does this mean? In fact, the world has seen the collapse of materialism. It is in search of something new, and we need to present this search to it. If we explain the truths to them using reasoning methods in this search, the path to truth should be opened. Therefore, prejudices have dispersed. Whatever the truths are, everyone will accept them. In such situations, not explaining the truth is a sin, but we will explain the truth correctly. For example, if you found a medicine, you need to administer it intravenously to the patient; if you give it orally, it will be useless. If you administer it intravenously, it will cure the patient. Therefore, you need to give the right medicine, in the right way, at the right time. Similarly, we need to present these truths correctly. Let's change our rote learning a bit. Of course, urban services are important and should continue. Beyond this, we need to think about how to explain this truth to Western minds and people who think like the West. We also need to clear the way for those who do this. In such situations, it is important not to immediately criticize them for a small thing and break their motivation.”
“Family life no longer exists, there is cohabitation”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, commenting on household fragility in the world and Turkey, said: “Currently, all decision-makers around the world are acting short-term and thinking short-term, not long-term. Therefore, there is a price for this, of course, but the CIA in the US conducts a global trends survey every year. According to that survey, it looks at where the world is going and positions itself accordingly. It writes or updates its strategy accordingly. We don't have such global trends. If we proceed in a ‘how do I save today’ manner, we will pay a higher price. Hopefully, we won't pay a heavy price. There are studies on household fragility in Northern European countries. 1-person, 2-person, 5-person households are given as examples. I also looked at household fragility in Turkey. In the last five years, household fragility has been rapidly increasing here. That is, 5-person households are decreasing, and 1-person households are increasing. Currently, in places like Sweden and Norway, most people are single-person families in terms of household fragility. There are no 2-3 person families. The rate of out-of-wedlock births is 59% in France, 69% in Iceland, and 56% in Sweden and Norway. These are born out of wedlock. In Norway, there are heated baby boxes. When a baby is born, they leave it there so it doesn't die. The state has provided baby boxes like that. Because family life no longer exists, there is cohabitation. As a result, the children growing up are without mothers, without fathers… In fact, in France, they no longer register as mother and father in the population, but as parent1 and parent2. In Sweden and Norway, children are taught ‘caregiver’ instead of the word ‘mother.’ Because when a child hears ‘mother,’ they look for a mother who embraces with compassion, hugs, and loves. We work with children under state protection here. All those children used to cling to us, calling us mother and father. Because there is a search for a safe haven, a mother and father. Those places cannot provide this. Personal care is very good, but they cannot provide spiritual care.”
“This is not a time to save ourselves by escaping from the world”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, emphasizing that we need to explain to humanity that Western verses are not the solution, said: “We will take risks for Allah. We will be present in social life, and we will tell the truths. It is the same on the internet. If you display your food, yourself on the internet, your ego swells, which is very dangerous. The American Psychological Association currently considers making more than three self-descriptive posts a day on social media as “narcissism.” If you talk about your cause, your ideal, good and beautiful things instead of yourself, you are serving even here. Someone emailed recently; ‘I have a 15-year-old nephew. The child attended primary and secondary school where values education was emphasized. Now the child, at 15, has started drinking alcohol, doesn't come home, and says he has become an atheist. What should we do?’ he asked. When you investigate, there are so many background reasons for this. It means we couldn't make the child love good things. If we can't make them love it, we can't make them do it. Mehmet Akif has a very beautiful saying; ‘To convince Western people, you must first know the Western verses. You will show the errors of the Western verses and then explain the Quranic verses.’ It is a tremendous observation. The West currently has values it accepts as verses. Against this, we have the verses of the Quran. We will explain to humanity that Western verses are not the solution. Then we will say, this is the solution. This happens by living, not by avoiding. This is not a time to save ourselves by escaping from the world…”
“Our name is Muslim, but our way of life is not like a Muslim’s”
Tarhan, stating that the Metaverse, if it catches on, will usher in a new era in the world, said: “Something called Metaverse has emerged. We see classic views saying these are games of the Dajjal (Antichrist), Dajjal's work, and so on. However, the metaverse is technology. Technology itself is neutral. If you use it for good, it serves good; if you use it for bad, it serves bad. It changes according to your intention here. The Metaverse is such that, if it really takes hold, it will start a new era in the world. Because everyone will have an avatar, they will go there with that avatar, wander around, shop, use bitcoins. They will open a fixed account in their name, and for example, many places in the Bosphorus of Istanbul have been sold there. They sold them for money, and they were cheap. If it takes hold, it will make life easier. Currently, whether we want it or not, because the West is a place for searching for truth, it will come and find the Quran. Either the apocalypse will happen, or it will find it. Therefore, we should at least offer a solution saying, ‘Look, it exists.’ This is the only thing we can do. Currently, our name is Muslim, but our way of life is not like a Muslim’s. Let's think about Turkey in particular. We get many patients because of this health crisis. I see that currently, 'wardrobe Islam' (superficial adherence) is dominant in terms of appearance.”
“This world is actually the Metaverse of the afterlife”
Tarhan, stating that an intelligent person will invest for the afterlife, said: “When we look at it, the afterlife is the real life; we came to this world wearing our avatars. When the world ends, we will shed our avatars and move to real life. The world is an illusion, a misconception, and a delusion. Everything we currently call matter, everything we do here, is all together like a fake thing, like the Metaverse. Real life awaits us. What does an intelligent person do? They invest for the afterlife. A person who does not invest for the afterlife means they are not using their mind, and they will pay the price for it. Therefore, the most important trade is spiritual trade. But this also changes with pure intention. You will pay attention to what is forbidden and permissible, you will perform your religious duties and obligations, and then your daily work when you wake up in the morning and go to work, your demeanor if you are a teacher – everything you do becomes a form of charity. There is such a tremendous opportunity, spiritual trade. And since it is like giving a loan to Allah, Allah can return the loan to any servant He wishes, many times over.”
“Justice begins at home, not in court”
Tarhan, stating that the expression of love must be just, said: “Especially Northern European countries are much more advanced in terms of work ethic, keeping promises, and not lying. It is worse for us. Our ancestors 200 years ago were not like that. They were examples of good morals. Why did this deteriorate? What corrupts morals is injustice. If there is injustice in the family, if a parent favors their children, there will be injustice, and the other child will start lying. They turn to intrigues. They make this a habit, and their morals deteriorate. If we want to raise our children to be moral, justice begins at home, not in court. For example, we always read Surah Yusuf from the perspective of Prophet Yusuf. Let's also read it from the perspective of Prophet Yaqub. Prophet Yaqub loved Prophet Yusuf very much. He loved him so much that he doted on him to not lose him. His other 11 brothers started to envy him and went and threw him into the well, and Prophet Yaqub's excessive love became his test. The Messenger of Allah did not do that, for example. He goes to the house of a Sahabah (companion). Children come one after another. He looks at one child and acts coldly. He shows more interest in the other children. The Messenger of Allah says; ‘Do you want your children to love you equally?’ He says, ‘I do.’ When he says that, he says; ‘Then you also love your children equally.’ The expression of love must be just. You can love one more, but you must express your love fairly.”
Tarhan also signed his books…
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan answered participants’ questions after the program. While a gift was presented to Tarhan for his participation and contributions, Tarhan’s book ‘Conscience of the Age’ was also distributed to the participants.
Tarhan, who received great interest, signed his book for his readers. The seminar ended after souvenir photos were taken.