O you unhappy person who is alarmed at the great numbers of the unbelievers and their agreement in denying some of the truths of belief, and as a result is shaken in his faith! You should know that value and importance do not lie in quantity and number. For if man is not a true human being, he is transformed into a diabolical animal, and the more he increases in animal greed, the more animal he becomes – like some Europeans and their imitators. You can see that in number, men are extremely few in comparison to the countless animals, and yet they are sovereign rulers over all the animal species and vicegerents of the earth.
The harmful unbelievers and those depraved wretches who follow in their way are a vicious species among Almighty Allah’s animals which the All-Wise Maker has created for the development and prosperity of the world. He has made them a unit of measurement in order to make known to His believing servants the degrees of the bounties He has bestowed on them, and finally will consign those animals to the Hell they deserve.
There is no power in the unbelievers and misguided denying or disputing any truth of belief. Their agreement lacks power; a thousand deniers are equal to one denier. Even if the whole population of Istanbul, for example, denies seeing the new moon at the beginning of Ramadan, the proven testimony of two witnesses invalidates that great multitude’s negation and agreement. In reality unbelief and misguidance are negation and denial, so are ignorance and non-existence, and the agreement of large numbers of unbelievers even has no significance. Since matters of belief are true and established, and their validity is proven, the judgement of two believers based on certain witnessing takes preference and prevails over the agreement of those vast numbers of the misguided. The reason for this is as follows:
Superficially, the claims of those who deny are the same but in fact they are diverse and cannot unite and so gain strength. While the claims of those who affirm unite and receive strength from each other. This is because a person who does not see the new moon of Ramadan in the sky says: “In my view, there is no moon. It has not appeared that I can see.” And another says: “In my view, the moon has not appeared.” And so does another. Each says that in his view, there is no moon. Since the view of each is different, and the causes that prevent them seeing it may also be different, their claims are all different as well; each claim cannot reinforce the other claims. But those who are affirming it are not saying: “In my view and opinion the new moon is there,” but, “The new moon has actually appeared in the sky.” Those who sight it all make the same claim and say: “In actuality...” That is to say, all the claims are the same. But since the views of those who are denying it are all different, their claims also are different. They are not making the judgement according to what actually is. Because a negation of what actually pertains cannot be proved; for that, an all-embracing proof is necessary.
It is an established rule that “absolute non-existence can only be proved with extreme difficulty.” Yes, if you claim that a particular thing exists in the world, it is enough to merely point that thing out. But if you say it does not exist and you deny it, the whole world has to be sifted through in order to demonstrate it so that the denial can be proved. It is in consequence of this that the unbelievers denying a truth is like solving a problem or passing through a narrow hole or jumping over a ditch; it makes no difference whether there is one man or a thousand, because they cannot help one another. But since those who affirm look at the heart of the matter and reality of the situation, their claims unite and the individual strength of each of them combines and assists all. It resembles lifting a great boulder: the more hands there are, the stronger they are and the easier it becomes.
Source: 17th Flash, Flashes, Risale-i Nur Collection
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