Sead
Adanalić
THE VISION OF A BETTER PERSON
I
pray the Divine Creator for us to be
the ones who think and become
enlightened through knowledge and truth,
who are right and humane people
the ones who think and become
enlightened through knowledge and truth,
who are right and humane people
taking
others’ hearts by means
of our tenderness and goodness.
of our tenderness and goodness.
PREFACE
I survived a terrible war caused by the obnoxious
nationalists
and waged by the worst possible people -
haters, criminals, killers and rapists.
In the post-war period I have continued
to live
in the society with the disturbed state
of mind.
That experience has changed my
character, my soul.
I was thinking a lot about people and
their relationships,
about communities, authorities, social
systems,
religion, life principles and meaning.
I reached the conclusions and got the
ideas
which became the base for creating my
vision for better world.
Technological evolution in last decades
has enabled people to communicate
globally, without limitations,
to transfer their information, know-how,
thoughts,
ideas and visions directly, one-to-one,
so giving countless possibilities for
spreading the good
on one hand and the evil on the other hand.
The thoughts I presented here are
about a man’s need to have the Guide,
about the mission of believing in the
Creator,
the universal human values and a better
life grounded on them,
about sabur (patience) or active peace
as a desired state of soul
and about a man’s need to change to be
better.
If at least one reader thinks about my
words
and accepts a new value in his life
I will take it as my success
and at least a small contribution
in my struggle for the goodness and
love.
Let the Divine Creator show us the Right
way!
Sead Adanalić
GUIDE
1
People do not become better even after
one thousand year long evolution of science and civilization.
2
Always, from its birthday, a young human
being has been in need for the Guide in order to become a good person with the
best possible human characteristics.
3
It is hard to realize that education is
not a guarantee for a man to be a better person and that educated people are not
closer to benevolence, rightness and humaneness. The truth is there have always
been a lot of educated but bad people around. What is the way to bring up a
good man? How can we spread goodness among people?
4
What are the universal human values? They
are benevolence, rightness, nobility, compassion, honesty, perseverance,
responsibility, truthfulness, solidarity …
5
What is the Guide to show us the right
way to be good and to love, the Guide for a reasonable person, for our growing
up and for the whole life. Because the seitan (devil) has been always present around
us and we should resist him.
6
People are very inclined to bad actions
and irresponsible behavior at their own expense caused by their hypocrisy, intrigues,
greediness, criminal actions, gambling, using drugs, lust, trafficking, waging wars….
As a result there are unhappy people, scattered families and disordered communities.
On the other hand, there is a man with a soul full of peace and love, a
harmonious family, a rightful and prosperous community. How is it possible to
reach the latter?
7
A human being needs the Guide to make a
difference between the good and the bad from the very day of his birth, a
positive environment around him to grow up, an easy communication, promotion
and lessons about universal values.
A young person learns from his
surroundings everything that will become his characteristics through his life.
Will he learn about life from some abuser? While growing up in the middle of
gossip, hypocrisy, immorality, greediness, will he take over all those bad
characteristics? Everybody needs the Guide because a man becomes a man imitating
his closest relatives and while learning, communicating and thinking.
8
What is the Guide for Living Better? It
is a set of rules about a man’s relationships with himself, his family,
community, nature and the Creator. Those rules make a man’s life easier, show
him how to live in peace, to be helpful for others, to obey natural laws and
have a meaningful life. It is the set of universal human values.
9
A good man is the result of all those
people who spread word about the Guide and his own intellectual efforts, aimed
at understanding the truth and choosing the good between the good and the bad.
10
What is the right way to become a man?
To manage own instincts, to accept natural laws and responsibilities toward the
Creator, to learn from the everlasting source of the Creator’s creative power
and to make constant efforts in order to make a trace in other people’s souls
through love and benevolence.
11
We understand the Guide thanks to our
persistent considerations, but to follow the Guide a huge change must occur
within, in a man’s soul, and he must make efforts to change the burden of his
already applied practices.
SUPPORT
12
The Merciful, Greatest, Eternal and Ever
Present Creator is the best mainstay for a man in his life temptations for the
purpose of accepting natural laws and events and reaching peace both in and out
of himself.
13
Thinking about nature, natural phenomena,
beings, amazing diversification of plants and animals, complex organisms and
perfect forms brings us to a conclusion that they are not results of
coincidence but precise creations of the Creator.
14
The Creator has created nature and a reasonable
human being and tied him to the source of the endless creative power, giving
him an opportunity to choose between the good and the bad, between life in
peace with nature and life in misunderstanding and false satisfaction.
15
In all life situations, showing our
gratitude to the Creator and praying for His help we stimulate our abilities to
overcome life difficulties.
16
While praying we ask from the Creator to
help us to find that force to support our wish, our will-power, our vision,
from the source of the endless creative power.
17
A man needs a mainstay in his life.
Parent can be a mainstay for a child. Child can be a mainstay for a parent. Man’s
mainstay can be a friend. Spouse can be a mainstay. Beloved one can be a
mainstay. But the main mainstay for us is the Divine Creator.
18
We were all created by the One. We have
only one life. There is only one Creator. Only people are gifted with intellect
and our souls, our individualities, grow from our intellect, experience and
communication.
FAITH
19
What is the meaning of being religious
when somebody is a bad person?
What is the meaning of being unreligious
when somebody is a good person?
20
The essence of religion is seen in a
man’s permanent efforts to be better.
21
Regret, forgiveness, perseverance,
benevolence, truthfulness, gratitude, moderation, self-control, fear of God,
mercifulness, fairness and sabur (patience) – these are the characteristics of
real believers. That is the right way for a man striving to be a better person.
22
For many people religion is the result
of tradition and a very few of them consider it as a result of their
understanding and enthusiasm.
23
A believer is in harmony with nature and
in peace with the Creator through his actions, goodness and love.
24
When I say ‘’I believe in God’’ it means
that I believe in the goodness and love, I believe in the real way to
benevolence and love, I believe that truth and justice are a better choice for
a man than lies and injustice, I believe in the laws of nature which should be
obeyed. When I say it, I am enthusiastic about His endless creative power in
nature which surrounds me and which I admire.
25
Thinking enables us to reach religion.
26
The real religion is grounded on
humaneness.
27
Religion comes out of an honest heart.
28
Religion resides neither in church nor
in mosque, religion is not made of words and rituals, religion rests in the
soul of a man who wins the hearts of other people with his patience and
goodness.
29
Religion is not a matter of physical
presentation by means of clothes, beard, celebrations and religious
talkativeness. Religion is acknowledged by means of good behavior, honesty and
goodness, so seizing other people.
30
Mission of religion is to show people
how to differentiate between the good and the bad, because people are bad
inside and must constantly struggle against it.
31
People misuse everything including
religion, but it is not an excuse for denial of the positive mission of
religion for a man, his family and community.
32
Fear of God means responsibility toward
ourselves, our families, community, toward the Creator.
33
Gratitude makes the grounds for a man to
be satisfied with his life, gratitude to the Creator and to his parents. Feeling
grateful brings peace to our souls.
34
Thanks to religion I learned that killing
one man is considered as killing the whole world.
Thanks to religion I learned that
abusing is worse than killing.
Thanks to religion I learned to beware
of haram (forbidden) property.
Thanks to religion I learned to help
those in need.
Thanks to religion I learned that
džennet (paradise) is under my mother’s legs.
Thanks to religion I learned to keep close
relationships with my relatives.
Thanks to religion I learned to respect
my neighbors.
Thanks to religion I learned to feel regret
because of my sin.
Thanks to religion I learned to love
people.
Thanks to religion I learned that it is
better to forgive.
Thanks to religion I learned that
knowledge is the greatest gift of the Creator.
I learned about many things thanks to
religion
and I am grateful to the Creator for all
of them.
PATIENCE
35
Whole my life I was wrong because I
thought that anger, rage, sadness and frustration are natural and inevitable
feelings. After many life experiences, thinking about human feelings, I
realized that they are all poisons for my soul, useless and harmful for my
life, impairing a natural need of a reasonable human being to fill his life
with peace, happiness and love.
Growing awareness in his soul about the
truth that rage is an unreasonable feeling, a man is able to change himself to
be better, to regenerate and get rid of those parasites of his soul and to live
peacefully with himself and his family, with the Creator. It is unbelievably
easy and grounded but still people live constantly restless because, even when
they realize it, they need to make huge efforts to change their day-to-day
habits.
36
Expressing rage is a parasite for human
spirit. It is mostly harmful for those showing it, as it is contagious and
involves other souls as well. There is no excuse for rage, lucky people are
those who manage to suppress it with their sabur (patience).
37
Rage is like a fire – it can be easily
extinguished while it is a tiny flame, but when fire overtakes a soul, it
destroys everything like an uncontrolled force. Accordingly, let us extinguish
our rage while it is still a tiny flame.
38
Each time when we are overwhelmed by
rage, nervousness or frustration, we should immediately ask ourselves, before
fire captures us, if there is any use of our showing rage. The reply is always
negative and then we must stop and simply accept that it happened naturally. If
some loss is in question, it is good that it is not more than that. If it deals
with somebody’s sickness we should accept it because people get sick but can
recover. It is also a natural situation and we will do our best for the sick person
to get well.
39
Sabur (patience) is a magic word for a
perfect life! Sabur is a man’s ability to accept life difficulties in peace
with himself and with his surroundings. Current issues are accepted as
inevitable natural events, as God’s determination, because rage is useless and
cannot fix anything but it can make a serious damage to a man’s health.
40
When I say ‘’I believe in God’s
determination’’ I believe in the natural flow of life. All events are irretrievable.
During tragic life events, when a man gets depressed and suffers a lot,
religion allows him to be patient, to keep peace in his soul, to remain
dignified and normal.
41
If people could reach peace with
themselves it would bring peace in their families, in their countries and in
the whole world. Peace is the key word for life harmony, life without rage,
anger, stress, regardless how difficult is some situation. The answer is peace in
our souls and searching for solutions in peace with the Creator. Peace, selam
(hello), shalom …
42
A patient man has nice words about
everybody. He is optimistic about all challenges of life and forgives
everybody. What a sublime state of soul!
43
Make a break and look around. You can
see people passing by, you can see changeable nature. Everything elapses and
changes with you as a part of it, as being only a wave in the river of life always
changing its shape in order to transcend itself.
44
There is a small number of people
speaking the language of soul, which causes so many misunderstandings.
45
We demand to be found, in love.
46
I am going to earn love and the ones not
knowing how to do that will remain poor.
47
Do not look for your happiness in this
consumer society for we are all fish there, prepared to be trapped. And what is
the feeling of those fish?
48
Death follows a man like a shadow from
the moment of his coming to life in his mother’s stomach. Death is an integral
part of life. Once we come to life we get our time in this world and we live
it. A believer believes in life in the other world, that death is not an end and
that he will be revived in the Doomsday in order to be judged for his actions
in this world. The people who did more good than bad things will be rewarded and
go to džennet (paradise), and live eternally in well-being. A believer accepts to
leave this world in peace with nature and the Creator. Let us think about death
the same as about all other natural laws. Let us spend our time in peace until our
very last breath.
SOUL
49
Our soul is our light.
Soul is made of our characteristics
And for us to change to be better
we need to know what is the way
for a man to become a good man.
50
Soul begins getting its shape
once a child comes to life in his
mother’s stomach.
The Creator’s Spirit is meant for all of
us and
makes the grounds for our living,
while our souls are different.
Soul represents a man’s character.
51
Souls are shaped through communications
of a man with his surroundings.
People have a limited set of
characteristics
at various levels, so when we look
around
we can see a lot of people
and none of them has the same soul,
as each soul is a combination of
various characteristics at various levels.
52
Playing with river stones
I was thinking about
numberless waves of high river
hitting the stones which,
while moving and tumbling,
rub and get round slowly but
persistently,
striving clearly to turn into cobbles.
The same way a man’s soul
is shaped by the waves of his destiny.
53
Soul is made of a man’s characteristics,
wishes, efforts, choices, thoughts,
sadness, happiness and dreams.
If it is filled with goodness, rightness
and love,
then it is a broad soul,
but if it has hatred, envy, intrigue and
meanness,
then it is a narrow soul.
Soul is burdened and updated with
experience.
Thinking and becoming aware of his needs
a man can improve his soul, himself.
54
A man’s soul travels through life,
meeting other souls,
sending its characteristics to other
souls and
other souls send their characteristics
to it.
Many people contribute to shaping a
soul,
and in the world of global
communications
complete humanity is responsible
for each and every individual.
55
Soul needs the Guide
to be directed to its right way,
to find its sabur (patience).
56
Soul grows and raises itself while
living.
Some souls grow as broad souls
full of goodness and love.
Some souls receive poisons,
guilt, vanity, depression, disbelief,
resentfulness and anxiety from their
surroundings,
and suffer during their life.
57
Everybody who has ever surrounded me
is responsible for who I am today.
And I have also become a part of you.
58
I wonder what is the reason for a man to
have the soul of a rapist, a criminal?
What is the environment in which he lives?
What are the circumstances causing for a
human to become a being without compassion, without sympathy, without
humaneness?
59
A man must take the lead in his soul,
to make order in his mind,
to define his priorities,
to find his right way and true desires,
to find out what makes him satisfied and
inspired.
Many people resolve their soul issues
thanks to their sabur (patience).
Sabur brings life without rage,
in peace with nature and the Creator,
and without the parasites of souls:
frustrations, anger, hatred and stress.
We can only accept things we are unable
to change
and persist in our way to be good and to
love.
60
Once we understand how our personality
and our characteristics
came to existence
we will establish a foundation
for changing ourselves to be better.
61
Happiness is within us,
in our relationship with the Creator,
in His endless creative power.
Happiness is the state of mind
and a man’s ability to recognize it.
To be happy a man
has to accept his life
and all life hardships
and to be patient (sabur).
62
There is no room for hatred
in the soul full of love.
It is impossible to find even a small
piece of love
in the soul poisoned with hatred.
63
When alone, a creative person
contemplates
and a narrow-minded person is bored.
Loneliness is a desirable state
in which a man, while contemplating,
communicates with himself,
makes order in his mind,
makes plans,
learns about himself and his soul.
In the hours of solitude a man ties with
the Creator
through His endless creative power and
prays.
64
When you tell me about your life
I will know who you are.
Your soul is composed of many souls
you meet during your life.
CHANGE
65
After a comprehensive life experience,
thinking about life and the world around me has opened me the ways to
understand myself, the universal human values and the meaning of life. I
realized how important it is for a man, even in his young age, to find his
right way, the way to be good and love, and to create his life in full peace
with nature. There are so many mistakes, small and day-to-day useless,
unnecessary errors which make life miserable with a lot of consternation, fear,
rage, uncertainties, hatred, resentment, greed, arrogance, envy, pain and
sadness. And we are convinced that it has to be like that, but it is not true. Grounded
on our considerations and thanks to the Guide, which we can certainly find in
our belief in the Creator, calling on peace and patience, love for all people,
good deeds and good behavior, our life will improve. Love will come where rage
resided and peace will come where consternation used to be. Let us think about
ourselves and our actions. Are we able to do it better? Yes, we definitely are,
and it is where the meaning of life can be found.
66
We understand the Guide thanks to our
persistent considerations, but to follow the Guide a huge change must occur
inside, in a man’s soul. We must make efforts to change our difficult daily
practices in order to improve our life.
67
When you love and are loved, when you are
with those in love and when you dream about love, you are happy wherever that
love touches you.
68
When I recognize a good man or a good
deed, power and joy fill my growing heart.
69
A nice word, like a little stone making water
waves, can cause positive vibrations among people. So let us speak nicely and
everybody will feel better.
70
Present time is not the best time for
living but we should never forget that it is the only time we have and that we
have right to find our happiness in it.
71
Every day we should ask ourselves if we
are on the right way, the way of goodness, and how we can be better. With his
goodness, nice communication with people and patience a man calls on others to
be the same.
72
Every moment in life could be a jewel if
we use it for hard working, learning or making good deeds. If we waste it, make
bad deeds and harm others, that moment is a simple stone. It is up to us what
kind of necklace we will make during life, having in mind that there is only
one opportunity for every moment.
73
There is a seitan (devil) in every man,
waiting for an opportunity to make him to do something bad. It depends on the
man if he will resist it. I seek refuge in God from the accursed seitan!
74
Every night we should ask ourselves if
we have earned halal money that day, if we have been unfair to or insulted
somebody, if we slandered or did something bad to somebody. It is an obligation
of a fair man, the one who searches for his right way to be good and to love.
75
After experiencing somebody’s good deed
I am ashamed of all my bad deeds. Each good deed made in real world is so big
and important for me.
76
Each our concern must be supported by
our confidence in God in order to avoid to put burden on our souls.
77
People can do many good things to each
other once they begin to notice each other in this temporary life.
78
When somebody insults me I will return
him the same way and that is how evil is spread around. Using bad words as
answers is a trigger for other person to continue the same way. A nice word or
avoiding an answer makes an opportunity to reduce a negative feeling and for a
man to change himself in order to be better.
79
If we send the message that this world
is full of bad people, then they will accept the fact they exist as something normal.
If we say there are good people around us and how good it is to be a charitable
person, and if that message is spread around the world, there are good chances
for the world to become better.
80
‘’When somebody greets you with selam
(hello), you should return him with even nicer words’’, Qur’an says. In this
consumer society people burdened with worries pass by each other with formal
greetings and communications, and in fact they are absent-minded as if they do
not live in this world, because something has been always distracting them from
current moment.
81
If people would notice each other in
real world they could exchange tiny pleasures every single day! But very few
people bless others with their greetings.
82
Have you talked to your old mother or
father today? Have you talked to your child, your wife today? Have you visited
the old woman from your neighborhood who is ill? Have you smiled at known and
unknown people? Have you given some money to a poor man? If you said to
yourself ‘’I will do it tomorrow’’, there is no tomorrow. There is only this
moment, today, when you pay attention to people around you. I know you are so busy
– you have your job, obligations, without their understanding. They want from
you to be their slave because they live without feelings, like machines. And
only the things you give to others belong to you. Your time you give to them
and each good thing you do for them, it is all your wealth in the better world.
83
If we have to choose between speaking
and smiling in our communication with people, smile is always a winning
combination. When speaking a lot a man makes many mistakes. Our speech entraps
us and it is difficult to stay untouched afterwards.
84
Oh it is so hard to be resentful. If we
would memorize all bad things, intrigues and delusions in our minds, there
would be no place for a bit of goodness there. So let us not poison our lives
with bad thoughts. Let evil we experienced belongs to the past.
85
Let us not allow for the past to eat up
our presence. The demons of our past poison the souls of people and their
collective awareness. Everything what belongs to past time should vanish in
haze, except for our positive experiences and love inspiring us all.
86
The Divine Creator forgives everybody.
How come that people do not forgive each other? Because forgiveness releases a
man’s soul from all poisons and makes his life in this world easier.
87
When you are stressed, depressed, sad or
angry, go to nature far away from people, sit down somewhere in the meadow and
be silent. Look around yourself and watch herbs growing, smell the flowers and
soil, listen to the birds and crickets singing and think about life. Think and
in a moment you will feel as if your burdens ease and you become free from
them. Then you will begin to understand life, that each present moment is yours
only, the moment when you feel peace with your life and the Creator, when you
realize how life is beautiful.
88
To have a vision of better world and to
live in the imperfect world, surrounded by imperfect people struggling between
the good and the bad and not accepting it as a real life lived by many others
before us, is not a good choice in a short man’s life. This world really is
imperfect but I am happy I can recognize good people and beauty of broad souls,
and I want to live with that feeling. Because happiness can be felt in this
polarized world, since in the ideal world there would not be any difference,
and that difference is very important.
89
Being inspired by beautiful things
results in a meaningful life. Somebody is inspired by love or benevolence,
somebody is inspired by music or job and somebody by science or religion. Each
inspiration has love inside.
90
Loving life often leads a man toward
consternation. Understanding and acceptance of life bring happiness to a man.
91
If they ask me how long I would like to
live, I will say ‘’as long as I can move, be rational and inspired to do
something nice on daily basis’’.
92
Every person has a possibility to become
good. Somebody gets that possibility and uses it, while somebody fails to do so.
And somebody else encourages others to become good people.
93
We should see our children in each
child. We should see our mothers in each mother. We should recognize our pain
in everybody’s pain. That is the enlightened view of the surrounding world.
94
Let us not allow that all the world’s
bad things mist our view. Let us be inspired by doing good things and
recognizing good people and their actions.
95
Let us not think that we are eternal,
because temporariness is a basic characteristic of all of us, our temporariness
in life, job position and wealth. Knowing that, it will be much easier for us
to live.
96
Oh my Divine Creator, if You did not
give me common sense, what would I be in my life without a possibility to drink
from the fountain of Your creative power?
Oh my Almighty God, if You did not give
me eyesight, how much would I lose in my life because I would be unable to see
all beauties of this world?
Oh Creator of all worlds, if You did not
give me sense of hearing, how unhappy would I be for I could not hear the voice
of my beloved and birds singing?
I can never be grateful enough for all
the blessings You, the Giver of Mercy, awarded me!
97
Thinking about yourself and your
actions, about nature and life, you should understand a need for changing your
being in order to make the world better.