One day, the famous Ottoman Sultan Suleiman (aka ‘The Magnificent’) was taking a breather in one of the gardens of Topkapi Palace. Whilst observing the trees and contemplating about them (e.g. what a miracle of God they were!), he realised that one of them was surrounded by ants.
He did not like the idea of ants feeding on his trees and thought of poisoning them. However he was a wise man and knew never to act in a hurry; thus he would always seek advice from the Sheikh-ul Islam of the time, Ebussuud Efendi. He expressed his intentions with a short poem (get a Turkish friend to read it for you):
Suleiman:
Meyve ağaçlarını sarınca karınca (When ants invade a tree)
Günah var mı karıncayı kırınca? (Is there permission to kill them?)
His advisor Ebussuud Efendi replied with this:
Yarın Hakk’ın divanına varınca (When the time to meet the Lord comes)
Süleyman’dan hakkın alır karınca. (Suleiman will be made to pay)
And the result was Suleiman, the greatest ruler at the time, could not kill the ants due to his fear of God Almighty. Today, some groups kill innocent people in the name Islam – I guess they understand Islam better than the Ottoman rulers and their advisors.
Certainly not! They are deluded people being used by dark forces who want to bring chaos in to countries they’re interested in, serving their ultimate aim of stealing their underground resources and treasures.
