English Articles

Facelessness

I BELİEVE that one of the plainest and the clearest judgment as regards to the modern times was done by an Anatolian brave who is from one point of view rebel and from other one a hero.

As far as I am concerned, Köroğlu’s remark “As the riffle was invented, manliness spoiled” in fact, interprets aptly the spirit of modern times and x-rays it.

In the modern times, vileness has replaced with bravery.

One of the most important apparent reasons of this baseness, although a lot of pictures and images published in the newspapers, on television channels, on billboards, and in the many other places, is facelessness.

The modern times are ‘face’less times.

Behind of shamelessness’s repugnant, ugly face and of, known meaning its facelessness, there is a decisive role of this facelessness.

In the same way, for instance, as far as the war concerns, ever since the riffle, cannon, cannonball, bullet and bomb having been invented; the faces retreated the battle, instead of braveness; cowardliness, instead of bravery; treachery have spread.

Let’s remember that legendary behaviour that Caliph Ali displayed in the battleground: He was wielding sword against an unbeliever; at the very time he was overthrowing him, the latter spat on his face. Suddenly, he withdrew his sword from the man.

Then, the man asked why he did behave so.

When the man received the following answer from Ali, he entered Islam that he fought against till one minute ago: ‘I were to hit the sword to you for God’s sake, when you spat on my face I was afraid of hitting you for my soul’s sake, and I didn’t.’

Likewise, let’s remember, as a personality combining the knowledge, God-fearing behaviour, and jihad, Abdullah b. Mubarek’s struggle with an unbeliever that ending his reversion to Islam.

Is it possible to see that kind of instance ever since the riffle was invented?

Rather, the modern times are the eras in which one-by-one relationships are increasingly reducing.

Warrior in the past, was one-by-one fighter, and could be a heart hero who, via the manliness and braveness that he displayed, could win and conquest his enemy from inner. Whereas, the most favoured warrior of today is a sharp shooter.

Sharp shooter…

He is a man who is able to hit and kill target from insofar long distance.

Distance is so remote that it is not possible to speak to someone who is against us. Nor you can see his situation, face, eyes, neither you can read his heart via these eyes which are mirrors of it.

This is why the sharpshooters kill the young people shamelessly in Bosnia and anywhere else.

This is why the Enola Gay pilot brings down shamelessly the atom bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This is why the American pilots bring down the bombs, on the day before yesterday on Vietnam, yesterday on Afghanistan, and today on Iraq.

This is why, terrorist blows up his bomb, installing the remote control mechanism.

Rather, if they came to face to face, if they saw the face of human being who would be killed by their operation, if the distance were to be as short as they could see would-be victims face properly, above all, if they could watch the faces of children whom they kill shamelessly, when they are alive, would they be so shameless, so base, so treacherous, and cruel?

In modern times, if the death tolls are huge unprecedently, if the civil victim tolls resulting from wars are by all means enormous, is this related with facelessness, with invention of riffle, with leaving of the faces with each other; and, in this way, spoiling of the braveness?

Furthermore, this facelessness is not related to the wars exclusively.

Even the neighbour faces are remote from us.

In the buses, trains, trams, the officers look our hands instead our faces; whether we use tickets or tokens.

Instead, if the faces read, someone could see that some passengers have difficulty in finding the ticket price. Perhaps, they could see that some people hardly gathering the token fare.

Anymore, we make shop from markets instead of small shops.

We are shifting to the supermarkets, hypermarkets, and gross markets.

Do the cashiers look your faces? And, do you remember any cashier’s face leaving a mark in your memory?

If asked a driver, or a cashier, or a ticket officer, to identify what he can remember out of the thousands of faces that he faces in a day, the result wouldn’t be facelessness?

In the same way, if we asked that which faces could we remember from cashiers, drivers, ticket officers that we faced at that day, the result wouldn’t facelessness?

As one hadith narrates to us, the faces ‘having been created in the form of the All-Mercifull, and having been created in order to make known All-Merciful, All-Compassionate in the best way’ are disappearing from our lives.

As the faces disappear, compassion, understanding, sympathy, empathy, and affection are departing from our lives too.

As the faces disappear, lending someone money without interest and expending for the sake of God leave from lives.

The believer in this time, sends his infaq, fıtrah, udhiyyeh and alms to the people whom he don’t see, instead of his neighbour whom he does not see his face, as a result, doesn’t read his needs.

As a reality of modern times, hysteria of the credit cards should be read from this aspect too.

30/06/2009 14:18

Translated by

Muhammed Şeviker

  30.06.2009

© 2021 karakalem.net, Metin Karabaşoğlu

  1. Makalenin Türkçesi Bu yazının tercümesini okumak istiyorum.



© 2000-2021 Karakalem Yayıncılık Ltd. Şti.
Tel: (0212) 511 7141  GSM: (0543) 904 6015
E-mail: karakalem@karakalem.net
Program & tasarım: Orhan Aykut