We Have Free Will, Sent for Trial!

This week, the topic of 'Treatise on Destiny' from the Words Collection was discussed at the 'RİNAP Weekly Conversation' program organized by the Üsküdar Üniversitesi Risale-i Nur Research Platform (RİNAP). The program, held with the participation of Üsküdar Üniversitesi's Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, attracted great interest. During the program, Tarhan underlined that humans are responsible for their actions. Stating that humans are granted freedom of choice, Tarhan pointed out that Allah sent free will to humans for a trial. 

The program took place in the RİNAP meeting hall at Üsküdar Üniversitesi's South Campus. 

Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, and members of the management and advisory boards of the Risale-i Nur Research Platform (RİNAP) attended the meeting. 

Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “If we choose evil, we stray onto the wrong path”

Speaking at the program, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, stated that there is a mental jury in the human brain. Tarhan said: “The inclination limits of living beings are clear. Decisions such as eating, drinking, reproducing, and sheltering are genetically encoded. The limits of human inclination are not determined. Even if a person does not need to eat or drink, they can feel an inclination in that regard. For example, an inclination comes to take something that does not belong to them. In the frontal region of the brain, there is a decision-making mechanism that manages this inclination. It's called the brain's cockpit. When a thought comes, it says do-don't do, appropriate-not appropriate, valid-not valid. I liken it to a mental jury. This jury has four members. The first member is the scientist member. When that inclination comes, it decides whether it is real or not. The second member decides whether it is right or wrong. This is the religious or conscientious aspect. The third one looks at whether it is aesthetic or not. And the fourth one decides by looking at whether it is profitable or harmful. It identifies a good intention there. We are responsible for everything we do. We have a responsibility of choice. If the choice is bad, we are responsible for it. If we choose good, we have already done what we should do. If we choose evil, we stray onto the wrong path,” he said. 

“We are Responsible for Everything We Do”

Stating that humans are granted freedom of choice, Tarhan said: “Allah has given us the freedom to choose. For example, there's a football team playing in a computer game. There's the one who wrote the game. The person playing the game doesn't know if it will be a goal when they kick the ball, but the programmer knows at which coordinates and from which angle it will be a goal. That is determined. The software is written accordingly. The player thinks they scored the goal themselves. However, the program was written that way. They scored that goal because they conformed to those conditions. If they had conformed to other conditions, they wouldn't have scored. The universe is a simulation right now. We live in a simulation. In the universe simulation, we have the freedom to act or not act in accordance with the coordinates there. After acting, the energy in that computer program activates. Allah's name ‘Al-Qayyum’ makes it happen. We wish, Allah's name ‘Al-Qayyum’ makes it happen. He makes it happen with divine energy. Therefore, we have the right to choose or not to choose. We are responsible for everything we do,” he said.

“If One Becomes a Virtuous Person, the Rent of Our Existence is Paid”

Speaking about the importance of humans being able to manage their inclinations, Tarhan said: “The Quran centers the connection with Allah. The greatest characteristic of a human is their ability to manage their inclinations. There are good inclinations and bad inclinations. One day, I saw a sign in a minibus that read, ‘I don’t like money, but it’s good for my nerves.’ The person knows their inclination. They are struggling with it. Existence must be understood correctly. If what we call ‘self-consciousness’ has a connection with Allah, it takes on a relational meaning. Just as we look at the universe with a relational meaning, we must also look at the ‘ego’ in the same way. We have a free will that Allah sent to us for a trial. To be an honorable person, to be a good person, is the rent of our existence in this world. That is, it is something that a human must pay. However, only if one becomes a virtuous person is the rent of our existence paid. And that becomes evident at the end of life,” he said.
Ideas were exchanged during the program.