“Hacı Bektaş Veli, who says, ”The first station of the people of Marifet is manners," actually points to the moral basis of the human relationship with the truth. Because man reveals himself by how he speaks before what he defends.
The harsh, sometimes insulting rhetoric about Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in recent days reveals not only the limits of a political debate, but also the decency of society. Because criticism is one thing, discrediting is another; expressing an opinion is one thing, using immoral language is quite another.
The Sufi tradition's principle of “have your hand, your waist and your tongue” advises people to first know themselves, recognize their limits and weigh their words. This principle is not only an individual virtue; it is also an indispensable condition for social peace, mutual respect and a culture of coexistence.
At this point, the issue is no longer just words directed at a person. The real issue is the moral ground from which those words are produced. Because the language used reveals not only the addressee but also the character of the person using it.
The language directed at a name that has been associated with the principles of honesty, simplicity and public responsibility throughout his life should bear the same responsibility. Otherwise, what emerges is not a truth-seeking criticism, but the normalization of rudeness.
As Hacı Bektaş Veli points out, marifah is not just knowing; it is carrying knowledge with manners.
Today it is easy to access information, easy to generate ideas, easy to criticize...
What is difficult is to speak with decency, to judge with fairness and to speak without losing conscience.
This is precisely why the question that needs to be asked is this:
Are we really in pursuit of the truth, or are we captive to our anger?
Because when decency is lost, even the truest words lose their meaning.
But when decency is preserved, even the harshest criticism does not diminish a person; on the contrary, it elevates them.
And perhaps the most fundamental truth that all these debates should remind us of is this:
A language that loses its morality loses its credibility even if it defends the truth.
With respect
Kadir POLAT