1. In your opinion, would it be correct to suggest Eve was the inspiration of Adam, Hajrah the inspiration of Ishmael, Mary the inspiration of Jesus, Khadija the inspiration of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and Fatima that of Ali?
In my opinion, women are the most beautiful manifestations of God on earth. Most people fail to even realize that women are blessings; they are holding a diamond, yet they take it for a piece of glass. They do not realize how beautiful and precious women are. By their creation, women are superior in terms of elaborate thinking, elegance, patience, compassion, love, passion, profundity, art and countless other virtues. Their perfect sense of love and passion renders them utterly precious. Yet many women pass away without ever experiencing love in their lives. They pursue sincere love their whole lives, but all they find is a shallow, pretentious and senseless mentality. It is truly tragic. Historically, misogyny began with satan, and those who treated women with the utmost and most profound love were the Prophets. In every era, the Prophets' love, respect and attention towards women has always been the primary subject of nuisance for hypocrites and idolaters. In the time of Pharaoh, women's love and loyalty to the Prophet Moses and his appreciation for women would fill Pharaoh with envy for the Prophet Moses. The Prophets Solomon and David were also known for their loving and attentive treatment of women. Our Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (saas) appreciated women the most. Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Hasan and Hazrat Hussein all loved and cherished women and women would fall in love with their faith, sincerity, quality and profundity. Such great love basically drove all hypocrites mad. They harbored extreme envy and resentment towards our Prophet (saas) and the Ahl al-Bayt [the People of the House]. Our Prophet abolished all rules and traditions, the remnants of the era of ignorance, that oppressed women. However, soon after our Prophet (saas) passed away, the hypocrites reintroduced the misogyny of the era of ignorance back into Islam. And what’s more is that they did it through an extremely treacherous method. By making up superstitions in the name of our Prophet (saas), they led to the emergence of a terrible outlook towards women. They not only misrepresented women, the most beautiful of all God's creations, as half-witted, potentially guilty and sinful beings who deserve hell and should be beaten and contradicted in all issues, but also imposed this mistaken mentality upon women as well. However, the Qur'an does not preach such a mentality. On the contrary, God states that women should be safeguarded like a flower. According to the Qur'an, women can become leaders and be at the forefront in every aspect of life. This Qur'an -based sense of freedom and love that marked the time of our Prophet (saas) will occur once again in the End Times by virtue of the Mahdi. Our Prophet (saas) specifically heralded its glad tidings. Women will enjoy utmost freedom in the era of Hazrat Mahdi, insha'Allah.
2. What do you see as a future for Turkey in the Middle East peace process and the realization of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital?
Turkey is one of the countries that can play an important role in influencing the international community. Turkey always having a pro-peace attitude, looking out for brotherly relations, especially between Muslim countries, and lending a helping hand to all countries in need without discriminating against any religions, denominations, tribes or ethnicities is one of the great results of this wonderful quality. It is the most wholehearted wish of the entire Islamic world to see our Palestinian brothers and sisters lead their lives completely free in Jerusalem. In our ideal of Jerusalem, not only Muslims, but also Jews and Christians should enjoy the utmost freedom. All of them should be able to pray to God together and co-exist in harmony as brothers and sisters. It was achieved during Saladin's era and during Ottoman rule for 400 years. Why not today? The region is a vast area with enough land for everyone to co-exist peacefully. Let the Jews settle wherever they wish and the Palestinians live anywhere they want. Let us live as brothers and sisters instead of engaging in conflict. But, in order for this to be achieved, the way of God must be followed and this is only possible through abiding by the Qur'an, remembering that all Muslims are brothers and acting in unison.
What can bring salvation to Jerusalem is Islamic Union; otherwise, it will only lead to further wars and chaos. If the Islamic Union was established, Jews, Christians and Muslims would live together in harmony. We would adorn the whole region with verdant gardens, rebuild the Temple of the Prophet Solomon, restore and maintain the sites where the Prophets Abraham and all the other sacred prophets once walked upon; we would transform the entire region into a vibrant, lush, neat landscape. But currently it is only fraught with dissent and conflict, so much so that the whole region is inaccessible.
3. What is your position on the two-state solution endorsed by the Arab League, and 70.5% of the UN General Assembly and the OIC?
Jerusalem belongs to all of humanity, all Muslims, Christians and Jews. It is best that Jerusalem becomes a hub of friendship, brotherhood and worship, where people of all religions can co-exist peacefully, practice their religions and pray to God side by side. Jerusalem is an ancient, religious city, and it should always stay true to its roots.
It should be refrained from turning it into a political center. It will be better if Palestine and Israel declare the outskirts of Jerusalem within their respective borders as their capital. The historical texture of the city should remain unspoiled. The heart of Jerusalem should remain as a city of worship. Let's expand Jerusalem outwards, away from the city center, and relocate the political offices to the outer districts so that the texture of the city remains untouched. Let's gentrify the city center without spoiling its historical fabric. Let's spruce the city up and embellish it with olive groves, gardens and orchards, attracting people from all around the world. Let Christians, Jews and Muslims perform their prayers side by side. Let's live together in Jerusalem peacefully.
I would like to emphasize once more that Jerusalem is a center of worship and holy lands for all three religions. It is vital to refrain from any actions that will throw the city into disarray and avoid falling for any scheme that seeks to provoke conflict between Muslims and Jews.
4. With the recent modernization efforts in Saudi Arabia, the world has come to believe in the probability of fundamental ideological reforms. In parallel with this, is it possible for Israel to discard its fixed and archaic ideas about Zionism and adopt a more pluralistic approach? Given its close relations to Israel (minus some major differences relating to the Palestinian issue) as an ally, how can Turkey lead in its implementation as a form of de-radicalizing the State of Israel and thereby subsequently major Western powers [which supports Zionism]?
It would be much more accurate to call it a return to the roots of the religion rather than a reform. Looking closely, one will see that the underlying cause of the issues seen in the Islamic world is the fact that a majority of Muslims have departed from Qur'anic values and adopting some erroneous customs, superstitions and hearsay as religion, which in turn brings about dissents and conflicts. As a matter of fact, in the 30th verse of Surah al-Furqan, God says that our Prophet (saas) only have one complaint about his Umma: "My Lord, my people treat this Qur’an as something (a Book) to be ignored." However, the Qur'an, the Word of God, is sufficient and only the hadiths that are in compliance with the Qur'an are valid. When Muslims adhere to the way of God, they will see that the problems they face in any aspects of life will disappear one by one.
To answer your question, Zionism also has to be defined accurately. The Zionism as believed by pious Jews is the worldly dominion of the party of God and belief in God. In this sense, Zionism is not something that Muslims need to worry about because the Qur'an deems Jews as the People of the Book and allows Muslims to eat their food and marry Jewish women. Therefore, Muslims and Jews are not enemies, but brothers and sisters in their belief in one God and their descent from the line of Prophets. But if the ideology in question is a race-based one that proposes the dominance of a single race and promotes an erroneous mentality that causes injustice, it should be opposed by all conscientious people. I am always against all forms of oppression, no matter whom it is carried out by. I believe that an alliance among, and joint effort by, those who love God, the party of God, will bring about a permanent solution to all problems and completely eliminate radicalism.
As for your question on the de-radicalization of Turkey, to tell the truth, Turkey is the only country in the Islamic world that is capable of undertaking such a mission. Turkey holds an Islamic conception where democracy, secularism, freedom of thought and the Qur'an co-exist in harmony. Atatürk did an invaluable service in this regard. As it is with almost every Islamic country, Turkey, too, occasionally sees the rise of the bigoted mentality, albeit among a very small minority and with no success. Especially the latest statements of President Erdogan on how the Qur'an and the hadiths in compliance with the Qur'an are the only source of reference for Muslims and his explicit criticism of those who come forth with fabricated hadiths falsely attributed to our Prophet (saas) have been a significant step against radicalism. There is no other country except Turkey that follows such a sharp discourse against radicalism on leadership level. Therefore, Turkey is leading the Islamic world by example in this respect.
http://therahnuma.com/2018/04/06/jerusalem-reform-zionism-preadamism-exclusive-with-adnan-oktar/
