In order for a person to be conscious, he/she must recognise himself/herself, his/her place and his/her destiny. Only after these recognitions will his/her other decisions about life be fully correct. For this reason, we have kept the slice of “recognitions” in the figure as a circle symbolising the whole, but separate from the others. In order to be strong, one must know how to use one’s health, money and time well. In order to live a peaceful life, one must choose one’s mate, job and friends correctly. Now let’s try to explain them briefly and with examples, inshallah.

DEFINITIONS

Recognise yourself

One needs to know oneself in order to form a personality and direct one’s life. Being content with only what people in the outside world recognise can make a person a hypocrite. To avoid this, you need to know what you personally like, what you would do in which situation, and what your purpose in life should be. You should learn these things in order to know yourself before others. If you do not know yourself well, you will be condemned to live and remain as others recognise you.

For example, if a person accepts and adopts that he is known as a strong person who fights around him, he will prevent himself from travelling in the name of gaining knowledge. Such discourses that are pleasing to the ego, fear-based respect and reverence will distract the person from the knowledge that will enable him to recognise himself, and will put distances between what the person knows and his deeds. For this reason, no bully can be a scholar. Because a scholar is the one who carries a sense of responsibility by doing what he knows.

When a student is convinced that he should be a singer because of the beauty of his voice or that he should be a footballer because he plays football well, from that moment on, he gradually loses interest in the lessons. He may become a singer or a footballer, but he will never be the person he wants to be because of his insufficient knowledge about himself. Because he has to lead an outwardly sensitive life as a result of his profession, one side of him always remains a loser. The personality that is not formed in time will not be as productive as it should be, even if it is tried to be reinforced with side supports.

This is the summary of the unhappy and restless lives of most of the people living in the world of art and mafia, and the stories that end in destruction. A mechanism that commands evil within a person is activated only when the person is not aware of the existence of this mechanism. Naturally, this mechanism prepares the mind of the person for the desires of his ego, not for creating the future he wants. He who knows his ego knows himself, and he who knows himself knows his Lord. For this reason, if you do not want to lead a life for others, you need to know yourself for the purpose of forming your personality.

The person who forms his personality by knowing himself will have knowledge about morality, nafs, heart, intention, sin, struggle, fear, fear, superiority, trust, shame, defect, moderation, friendship, ihllâs, unity, dignity, hayaa, truthfulness, humility, mercy, patience and perseverance[78].

A person who does not know himself will live his life unaware of hypocrisy, anger, hatred, praise, backbiting, slander, betrayal, arrogance, ambition, ridicule, idle talk, conjecture, snitching, sedition, flattery, mischief and lies, and will always consider himself right.

The Islamic ummah, which is pessimistic and hopeless in our time, really needs to know itself more than anything else. Self-awareness is the only way out for the prosperity and upliftment of the Ummah.

Recognising the environment (according to the time)

A person who does not recognise the environment well in accordance with the returns of the time will try to silence his mind instead of using his mind well. In order to direct himself towards the right and the beautiful, he will move towards the last and the direction he knows best. Since this departure will not be a preparation for the future, it will be a departure not towards the environment of his own time, but towards the time he lived in the past and desired. Perhaps you will be surprised because you do not look at it from this point of view, but there are millions of people living in this way today. People who lead this kind of life are not very intertwined with the society. Time for them is now stone and plain like a fixed building. They do not fight with the troubles of the time we are in, and they never fail to put forward the reason for these troubles as not living in the time they want. Whatever the subject matter, in their discourses, they constantly state the requirements of the time they want, and they complain about the lack of these requirements in the present time. Since these complaints accumulate continuously, they do not accept the notification made to them as adapted to this time. They characterise those who do not think like them and struggle with life as having fallen into heedlessness and look at them with pitying eyes. This kind of life causes them to gradually reduce their spirit of struggle and their ability to reason to the lowest levels.

People who do not orientate themselves according to the time and live according to the rules of the past time have their own types, which are differentiated according to time and place. Among them, there are those who live in the conditions of twenty years ago, as well as those who accept the benefits and outward appearances of the last thousand years as an indispensable lifestyle.

These people have programmed their inner worlds in this way and have made it a belief to live with this truth. Even if the solution to the problems of the past time has been found in the age we live in, they believe in the existence of a distance of need. There are even those who accept their dissatisfaction with the time they live in as worship. They are sceptical about modernisation and the use of technology. There are those who live as colonies[79] in mountainous regions and those who congregate in main cities with millions of people.

Since they see information as a package, they accept it only for the purpose of transferring it to others. These people have very weak research and questioning mechanisms. They show unquestioning and unquestioning loyalty to their chosen leaders. They reach the truth by showing their submission to their chosen ones. For this reason, they consider it a blunder to ask their chiefs or leaders about any subject.

In order not to be like this, you need to know well how recognising the environment according to time adds dimensions to your beliefs and traditions. In other words, it is necessary to determine the time-space relationship well. Otherwise, man will lose the ability to understand the purpose for which he was created and the responsibility imposed by the Creator. While it is necessary to know and practice the faith in the way that the time requires, to continue the tawhidic struggle in this way and to determine the life in accordance with the purpose of creation, not recognising the place in the time in which you live means being exempt from all that has been explained.

Recognising your destiny

I will follow the advice of our Master (a.s.m.) to the believers and will not go into the subject of fate in general. As we shall deal with it, fate[80] means measure, form and programme. What is meant by this recognition is that you should consider destiny as a part of the general destiny and determine your own destiny accordingly.

You can recognise your destiny in two ways. The first is the destiny presented with the knowledge of personality and place determined for you. The second is the destiny that will be determined as a result of your defining your person and your place according to the time you are in.

There are many people who do not recognise themselves and try to be someone who is recognised by the people around them. The fact that the person aims to fulfil the expectations of others, while he should determine what he can do himself, will lead the person to determine his destiny in this direction. Because when a person sets out to achieve the position offered to him, it means that he has determined his destiny in direct proportion to that path. Recognising destiny can be a disaster for those who think that they know themselves and their environment. Having embarked on such a path often becomes irreversible. Despite the distance travelled, there are also those who realise their mistakes and make an effort to turn back. The world is full of those who try to return by losing a lot of themselves because of their delusions. In this sense, life is really cruel. Even if one makes an effort to change the place and start again, either his/her past will constantly confront him/her or his/her inner world will not allow him/her to build a new life.

For example, a little girl may make decisions that will ruin her future as a result of not knowing herself and her environment well, although she wants to be a bride when she grows up or professions such as doctor, nurse, teacher, etc. Either because of her pursuit of fame or because of the people she thinks she can trust, she can ruin her life. For this reason, there is a profession called “prostitution” even in the oldest times, but no young girl has ever said “I will be a prostitute when I grow up”.

Then there are those whose fate is determined by others. The difference between these people and others is that they have never felt the need to determine their destiny. Because there are other people who determine their destiny. As such, they never have the opportunity to determine their destiny. Either they accept the options presented to them as their destiny or they are forced to act on the route determined for them and live with the belief that they determine their own destiny.

First-degree relatives such as fathers, mothers, grandfathers, etc. can take on the role of determining fate, or fate can be determined by the beliefs or rulers of the society in which they live.

Such is the fate of the majority of women living in different regions of our country in today’s jahiliyyah. They are treated as creatures whose right to choose and be elected has been taken away from them and whose ability to think, reason and criticise has been restricted.

With the encouragement or pressure of those who have a decisive role in determining destiny, it is constantly seen that those who would not be able to become merchants become politicians, and those who would be scholars cannot even become tradesmen. This is the main factor in the collapse of societies wherever and whenever it happens.

Allah (swt) has created enough scholars, tradesmen, artisans, sportsmen, shoemakers, cooks, scientists, etc. for a society. He makes this calculation serially in order to increase the welfare level of societies and further progress. But when the people or authorities who determine the destiny of the societies try to change it in accordance with their own ego, we see those whom Allah (swt) created to be scholars at the grocery stalls and those whom He created to be artisans in the political arenas.

The second method is to recognise your fate with the options that arise as a result of knowing yourself and the place you are in well. Someone who knows these will minimise the available options. Acting in the light of the measures and definitions he has set for himself after the determination will also lead him in the right direction. When a person says, “I don’t understand or can’t do such and such profession”, it means that he/she has determined the place and time by recognising himself/herself in a real sense. Even if there is misdirection, thanks to these determinations, the return will be with the least damage.

[78] Being determined

[79] A people who have left their country and settled in another country

[80] In terms of lexical meaning

[81] He is quick in reckoning.