Diyanet TV guested the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş on the live broadcast program for the first sahur night of the month of Ramadan that is a climate of mercy and forgiveness.

Attending the TV program named “Bereket Vakti” which was live broadcast from Istanbul Sultanahmet square, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş expressed his gratitude to Allah for letting us enjoin with the month of Ramadan again and said, “If Allah permits, the warmth that is created in our hearts in the month of Ramadan is going to continue increasingly. If Allah permits, I wish that this pandemic is going to be eliminated thanks to our duas, contemplation, and precautions as soon as possible.”

Expressing that the worships are occasions for salvation, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş said that among all the worships, prayer, fasting, zakat and hajj have priority.

The President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş continued his words as follows by emphasizing the importance of Muslims’ making evaluation of their lives,

“We need to question ourselves before we are questioned. Because when it is said ‘’Read your book!’’, which is mentioned in the Surah al-Isra, the book here is the book of deeds. When our book of deeds is brought before us, when the scales is set up, when the moment of accounting for our deeds comes, we are going to be told, ‘’Now read your book!’’. We are going to see in our book of deeds what we did, what we didn’t do and what we didn’t do although we were supposed to do. Let me give an example here, let’s say, we had to establish prayers but we didn’t. We had to fast but we didn’t. All these are going to be brought before us. Therefore, it is necessary to be ready for this. We need to be ready for that day. These days when we are fasting require making more evaluation. The month of Ramadan is an evaluation month. The month of Ramadan is an examination month. The month of Ramadan is a worship month. The month of Ramadan is a Qur’an month. These are some of the most important reasons why we call it the sultan of eleven months.’’

“The more the world moves away from Islam, the more the balance of the world is going to be distorted.”

Uttering the fact that the balance of the world is being distorted day by day, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş made the evaluation of, “Maybe it is going to sound very challenging to some people but I would like to express this especially. The more the world moves away from Islam, the more the balance of the world is going to be distorted. Because Islam is a religion of balance. The Almighty Allah sent Islam to keep the world in balance by means of all the Prophets. The Almighty Allah created the sustenance of all creatures, not only that of human beings, but also that of all beings and all living things. Prophet Muhammad said, ‘’No living creature may die before eating the sustenance created for it.’’ Well, why is there so much hunger, so much poverty and misery? Because justice rules are not obeyed in this world. The Almighty Allah commands justice, benevolence, and looking after relatives. If you limit being relatives only to blood ties, they have priority but after them, no matter in which part of the world they are, we need to take care of the poor and the miserable. Here, these are the principles of Islam which keep the world in balance. As long as we embrace these principles, the world is going to be in balance and the great gap between people is going to end.’’

“We are guided by the Holy Qur’an”

Reminding that the High Board of Religious Affairs determined the fitrah (zakat al-fitr) amount for this year as 28 TRY, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş stated that this amount is the minimum limit.

Explaining the fact that the Holy Qur’an was sent down in the month of Ramadan by giving examples from the verses, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş used the following expressions, “We understand from the verses that the Holy Qur’an is a guide. Then we need to benefit from this guide at every moment of our lives. We are guided by the Holy Qur’an. Why were we created, why do we believe in Allah, what are our responsibilities towards the Almighty Allah? Belief, worship, moral principles… The Holy Qur’an guides us about all these aspects of life.’’

“The most important evaluation is a life tested by the Holy Qur’an”

Underlining the need to turn the month of Ramadan into an opportunity in terms of learning and understanding the Holy Qur’an, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş expressed the following points, "If there are Muslims who don’t know how to recite the Holy Qur’an, please let us learn it within this month of Ramadan. Let us make good use of this month of Ramadan as the month of the Holy Qur’an. Our brothers and sisters who don’t know how to recite it should learn and recite the Holy Qur’an a lot and should also try to understand it. Of course, what is our final goal here? Our final goal is reaching a Qur’anic life and living according to the Holy Qur’an. Let us evaluate whether our actions and behaviors are in accordance with the Holy Qur’an or not. The most important evaluation is a life tested by the Holy Qur’an. We need to evaluate ourselves whether our lives are in line with the Holy Qur’an or not, we need to make an evaluation for this, too.’’

“Our work titled ‘’Themed Tafsir of the Holy Qur’an’’ made up of 5 volumes is being printed”

Expressing that the Presidency of Religious Affairs has prepared a themed tafsir of 5 volumes, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş continued his words as follows, “If Allah permits, it is going to be published in the future months. If Allah permits, we are going to present it to our nation as a treat. Diyanet publications has carried out a very nice work. With the contributions of more than a hundred scholars, the work is going to be published with the title of ‘’Themed Tafsir of the Holy Qur’an’’, actually it is being printed now. Whatever subject you are interested in, all the verses in the Holy Qur’an related to that subject is listed and the tafsir of those verses are also present in it.”

Uttering that the Presidency of Religious Affairs has determined the theme of the month of Ramadan to be ‘’the Month of Healing’’, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş used the following expressions, “Every year we determine a theme for the month of Ramadan. And we share that theme with our nation by means of our activities that are carried out both inside and outside mosques throughout the month of Ramadan. This year we decided the theme as ‘Ramadan: The Month of Healing’. Why? Because the disease still continues. We ask healing of all patients from the Almighty Allah. The month of Ramadan brings healing especially with fasting. The month of Ramadan brings healing also with zakat. All of these worships heal the body and soul of believers individually. Considering these, we wanted to center this matter this time.”

“Believers must stand by the truth”

Pointing out that the struggle between truth and falsehood is going to continue until the Day of Judgment, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş made the following statements, “The Holy Qur’an encourages believers to command benevolence and eliminate the evil. That where believers stand is important. Believers must stand by the truth. If they are believers and believe in the Almighty Allah, they are deemed as standing by the truth. However, sometimes the devil approaches to believers and tries to drag them to the falsehood. Then, believers need to be aware of everything and must stand by the truth. And declare, ‘The truth has come and falsehood has vanished.’ The truth needs to be upheld in order to vanish the falsehood. The truth needs to be made alive in order to vanish the falsehood. If there is a weakness in this respect, if those who stand by the truth become lazy and weak, then falsehood is going to rise. We should not allow this.”

“We are bringing benevolence”

The President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş expressed the following by stating that generosity is one of the most important qualifications of believers,

“Turkiye Diyanet Foundation has been organized in all provinces and districts across Turkey. Now, our organization includes 81 provincial mufti’s offices and 922 district mufti’s offices. Therefore, we have 1003 branches. Of course, there is no place where we cannot reach within Turkey. Alhamdulillah, we have opened branches in 149 countries so far. Do you know what does this mean? It means bringing the generosity of this nation to 149 countries. We are bringing the name and fame of our nation there. In the month of Ramadan this year, our colleagues distribute Ramadan packages to the poor and the miserable people in 75 countries worldwide, along with the activities we carry out in every province and every district of our country. We are bringing benevolence.”