Bülent Sezgin: Our live broadcast continues insha'Allah. We have a very valuable guest from the United States. Allow me to introduce my guest, Mr. Oktar.
Adnan Oktar: Go ahead please.
Bülent Sezgin: Journalist Jeff Gardner is the chairman of the board of directors of the international humanitarian media and communications company Catholic Media. In 2013, he launched "The Picture Christians Project", which aims to educate society about the lives of Christians around the world and to find solutions to their unique conditions. Jeff Gardner works as a reporter in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. He is one of the few photographers and media specialists who travel to the Middle East and document the experiences of Christians, refugees and terror victims. Mr. Gardner's writings and photographs are published in numerous national and international media outlets and publications. Welcome.
Adnan Oktar: Mr. Gardner is a very versatile man and the works he does are magnificent.
Adnan Oktar: Your face shows purity and Divine light, which is due to your faith, your love for Jesus Messiah.
Jeff Gardner: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me, thank you.
Adnan Oktar: It is an honor for me.
Jeff Gardner: Thank you. Mr. Oktar, you stand out, I would say, almost unique, not just here in Turkey but in many parts of the world in your passionate pursuit, concerning the origins of life, and a combative approach to Darwinism. Let me ask you to start, you know, questions. How long have you been doing this, and why do you do this? Why the passion?
Adnan Oktar: Even though it is perfectly obvious that God is the Creator, fully grown men ignore this fact and try to base everything on coincidences in their explanations as if they are tricking children. Because I've understood that it is an insult to our intelligence to say that plants, fruits, people, animals, vacuoles, mitochondria etc. all came into existence with all their details by chance, I respond to this impertinence, try to mend this injustice with all my strength.
Jeff Gardner: Okay, in addition to your work concerning the origins of life, you have also developed a reputation as someone that reaches out to other phase. You routinely have leading members of the Christian and Jewish communities on your program. Why do you do that? Why do you feel that outreach is important?
Adnan Oktar: I have love for everyone who has love for God.
Jeff Gardner: Very straightforward and on that topic specifically you and your organization have published the following, let me read this; “We represent a
peaceful voice of Islam. We are opposed to all acts of violence,
including radicalism and terrorism." Now many in the West and around the world, they would look at the violence perpetrated by Muslims with horror and I think incomprehension. They don’t understand why. Could you, what would you say to them, especially people in the West, about, you know, how did they make sense out of violence being committed in the name of Islam? This is something that really puzzles the people of the West.
Adnan Oktar: Radicalism is a different religion, it is not Islam. Islam is the religion that is explained in the Qur'an. In the religion explained in the Qur'an, love and compassion are the main purposes. I mean, God's sole purpose is love. Since the sole purpose of radical Islam, as it looks like, is violence and horror, we do not consider it as Islam, we can only regard those people as people who exploit Islam. Therefore, we can consider radicalism as a pagan religion, an idolatrous religion. It has nothing to do with true Islam.
Jeff Gardner: And again, many in the West, they see the violence and they see, it seems to be getting worse. And then often it seems to be that the response of the West to the violence is violence. I suspect that you would say there is a different way, a different path to resolve this violence than responding by violence. Is that the case, is that so?
Adnan Oktar: It is the method of the antichrist to eradicate violence through violence. But according to Islam, according to Islamic faith, evil should be eradicated by goodness. Lovelessness is cured with love, mercilessness with mercy, and foolishness with wisdom. Therefore, responding to foolishness with more foolishness would be a foolish effort.
Jeff Gardner: So really, you know, wise action, in response to an unwise action, is what you’re saying.
Adnan Oktar: Yes, it is love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness that is wise. However, self-defense is a different subject; against sudden attacks or assaults, may God forbid, one may indeed defend oneself. But the principle I mentioned is the principle of the Qur'an, the Gospel, and the Torah. This is the essential law of God.
Jeff Gardner: Very sensible. You now, I think that the question that I will finish with was a question that I thought of first: You have been doing this for some time now, many years. How will you now when your work is done? Do you ever give any thought to retirement, to stopping? How will you know when you reached the goal, the objective that you set out to reach?
Adnan Oktar: When we are in the Presence of God, when we are in the hereafter, we will know that we have retired.
Jeff Gardner: I think I‘ve understood that.
Jeff Gardner: There you go. You’ll be finished, in other words I think you're saying, you'll be finished when God is finished with you.
Adnan Oktar: Yes.
Adnan Oktar: Yes.
Jeff Gardner: Very good. Very good. Well, thank you very very much. Thank you.
Adnan Oktar: I thank you too. I have so much love for Christians, they are pure and saintly people. As you know, they are praised in the Qur'an too. In the verse God says, "they are humble" as the justification, and He also says "You will find the people most affectionate to Muslims are those who say, ‘We are Christians.'" Therefore, based on the verses of God, I have so much love for you.
Jeff Gardner: Thank you. Well I think there is tremendous need for this type of dialog and exchange. I think just events in the Middle East or even here in your own country make that evidence. I think that's very well said.
Adnan Oktar: We are striving with insistence to spread this kind of dialog. We are trying to reach as many places as we can and we indeed strike a good balance, if I may say. If God permits it will get even better. And also we have so much love for the Jews. They also have profound love for God. We can see that they are too under oppression throughout the world. This deeply disturbs us. This is evil. We are striving to fight against this oppression towards Jews as well. It is a fact that Christians and Jews are oppressed in many Islamic countries. But we are heading towards days where this oppression will be no more, and we will all live together as brothers and sisters. This good news is heralded in the Qur'an, in the Gospel, and in the Torah.
Jeff Gardner: Let us hope. Thank you very very much for your time this evening.
Adnan Oktar: It is a great honor and delight for me.
Adnan Oktar: Bediüzzaman Said Nursi teaches us that in the End Times Muslims and Christians will be allies.
Adnan Oktar: As you know, in Matthew 5:9 God says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." We will be able to witness those times insha'Allah.
Adnan Oktar: And in Paul‘s Letters to Romans 12:17-18 God says; "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." We are following this path.
Jeff Gardner: Very good. Very good. Thank you.
Adnan Oktar: I thank you too. May God prolong your life, may God make us brothers in heaven.
Jeff Gardner: Very good. Thank you, thank you.
Adnan Oktar: OK. Let's take a short break and then we can continue.
Bülent Sezgin: We thank our guest Mr. Jeff Gardner for his participation in our program. Our program continues with short videos.
