Page 90 - Knowing The Truth

88 KNOWING THE TRUTH

AISHA: We do nothing and we do everything, is that right?

MURAD: Aisha, there are two sides to the question. First, the
external side or appearance. From this angle, a person is responsible for
every action. We're physically bound to this world and our souls are
influenced by occurrences which happen in the world of impressions.
Allah gives us such a sense. When we are hungry, we have to fill the
physical impression with the impression of food. When we are physically
ill, we resort to the impressions of a doctor and medicine. There is an
eternal intelligence and reason for these things in Creation. The second,
and the hidden side of the question is to understand the basic meaning of
life – which is projected to us through impressions – and to see the truth.
A person who discovers this reality understands that there's no strength
apart from Allah, that he can never have direct experience of the original
of the external world, and that all power belongs to Allah. So, he correctly
evaluates this life and the world.

IBRAHIM: That is, a person who is aware of this matter also gets
sick, goes to a doctor and takes medicine but in doing this he knows that
he is basically following his fate; he realizes that Allah is the cause of the
illness and of its cure; and his reaction will be according to this
understanding. Is that right?

MURAD: What you said is revealed in Surat ash-Shu'ara in these
words: "(It is) He Who created me and guides me; He Who gives me
food and gives me drink; and when I am ill, it is He Who heals me; He
Who will cause my death, then give me life; He Who I sincerely hope
will forgive my mistakes on the Day of Reckoning." (Surat ash-Shu'ara:
78-82) A person who understands that all power belongs to Allah and that
there is no friend or helper besides Allah, attains a complete sense of
intimacy in faith and in the worship of Allah. So long as he remains
conscious of this, he will be protected from the damaging and destroying
influences of the world. He takes medicine but he knows that Allah is the