Umrah essentially refers to the Muslim pilgrimage to the Kaaba. Also known as a mini hajj, the umrah can be performed any time of the year except for five particular days: The day of Arafah, the day before Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), and the four days of Eid al-Adha.
Özkök's umrah attracted attention because he speaks as a representative of the “secular segment of society.” First, we must note that it is incorrect for a Muslim to say, “I am a sincere and respectful secularist.” We can understand when people say, “I am a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu, agnostic or atheist”; however, it is incorrect for a person to say, “I am a secularist.” The proper way to say it is, “I embrace or defend secularism,” because secularism is not a belief system but rather the ground in democracies that comprises the living area of differences. A person can belong to different religions, faiths or to no religion but defend coming together on democracy, secularism, the state of law and universal human rights.
A certain mentality in Turkey has used secularism as a tool against religion since the founding of the republic. Religious people were suppressed by being accused of reactionaryism and obscurantism. Secularism became a mechanism for the state to enforce certain views on the meaning of being a Muslim and how Islam should be practiced. In debates regarding the headscarf, it led to polarization. But the kind of secularism Europe advocates is “democratic secularism,” and it actually refers to respecting religions. It is for this reason that if Özkök writes about his impressions on umrah as “a Muslim that embraces and defends secularism,” then it will prevent from the very beginning new misunderstandings and debates from emerging.
There are some people that harshly criticized Özkök for performing umrah. I am not going to mention the criticisms, because I do not agree with them. It is wrong to say to a person, “You may perform this kind of worship, but we know what your real intentions are.” This would mean you could read intentions, but only God knows what is in people's hearts. A person may have been a denier before, they may have even made unkind comments about the Prophet Muhammad or may possibly have exhibited stances and attitudes that saddened, denigrated and belittled Muslims, but in religion there is repentance, sincere remorse and God's mercy. Those who fought against Muslims when Prophet Muhammad was alive and who martyred his uncle Hamza later converted to Islam and became known as the sahabah, the companions of Prophet Muhammad. When one of his companions killed a nonbeliever even after he had recited the shahadah, the declaration of faith, on the grounds that he had only recited it out of fear of being killed, the Prophet reproved him, saying, “Did you split open his heart so that you know whether he truly meant it?”
I have conveyed this message from the estimable Fethullah Gülen before. He said: “Uttering curses is not expected from people of merit, as it will degrade one's merit. What is proper is to pray: ‘O my God! Lead them to the straight path. Remove their inclination toward evil acts and pour goodness into their hearts. If this is Your choosing, it is You who knows best.”
We are in the month of Ramadan. Let us not utter any curses at anyone. Let me convey another statement from Gülen: “No matter how big a sin may be, Allah's benevolence [His mercy, compassion and kindness] is greater. Those who seek to be forgiven, who beg on their prayer rugs to be forgiven, should know how to forgive others. The person that does not love is not worthy of love; the person that does not forgive is not worthy of being forgiven. You can only enter the hearts that you have forgiven. Forgiveness is a profound ele ment of the Divine character. In a hadith, the Prophet says, ‘If one goes one step toward God, God comes two steps toward that one; if one goes walking toward God, God comes running to him'.”
For believers, the meaning of life is faith, worship and winning God's approval. It is about competing to perform good deeds, chasing after goodness and trying to prevent evil. Let us conclude with another quotation from Gülen: “Without a connection to God, life is a big lie. There is nothing in hand.”
