Some sentences are not meant to be understood but to evoke a vague feeling and leave an impact. Such sentences fill a great void in our lives and give us strength. The best example of this is the expression, "There is a ‘me’ inside me." Every person senses something within themselves, but when they try to explain what it is, they fail. These sentences are used when we embark on a journey toward the unknown within our emotional world. Undoubtedly, being "unknown" brings a unique pleasure to a person: There is no reckoning, no accountability, no obligations – and, most importantly, there is absolute equality. Through the "me" inside us, we attain the most powerful domain of authority.
Does a person truly know themselves? The answer may be found in those who are believed to possess knowledge about the question, "Who am I?" – for example, the famous Turkish dervish Yunus Emre. If a person is merely a biological or social being, they define themselves by saying, "I am the son of so-and-so, the father of so-and-so, the sibling of so-and-so," and so on. But is a person truly just a part of a network of relationships?
Muslim metaphysicians believed that to answer the question "Who am I?" one must look beyond this network and ask a deeper question: "What is a human being?" As long as we define ourselves as part of a pre-existing whole, we do not truly speak of ourselves. A person seeking the answer to "Who am I?" needs a calm mind capable of self-definition in solitude, the courage to face loneliness and the dignity to confront the result. "Who am I?" is a question that requires us to summon all our courage to answer. Muslims aim to answer this question during the Hajj pilgrimage: By wearing the ihram, which symbolizes stepping outside all status and social networks, they seek to discover who they truly are.
A person's journey to self-knowledge is never complete. Life itself is the process of searching for an answer to this question. We spend our entire lives seeking it! If we find it, then our life has not been wasted. To ensure that the answer we find is truly the one we seek, we rely on two fundamental pieces of knowledge.
First, without becoming a moral person, the question "Who am I?" remains unanswered. The answer to "Who am I?" must be: "I am a human being." The answer to "What is a human being?" must be: "A moral being."
Morality is a system of actions and behaviors unique to humans. To call oneself human, one must exhibit virtues such as intelligence, contemplation as a manifestation of reason, justice, beauty, goodness and compassion. Being compassionate or good is not an additional virtue for a human – it is the very answer to the question "Who am I?"
In Islam, the ideal example of morality is the Prophet Muhammad and in metaphysical knowledge, he embodies the answer to "Who am I?" — "I am a moral being!" Therefore, compassion, justice, goodness, generosity and virtue are fundamental elements of defining a human. To know oneself is to fully embody these virtues.
The second part of the issue arises in our relationship with God. When a person recognizes themselves through morality, they gain a second piece of knowledge. At this stage, the question "Who am I?" transforms into a metaphysical inquiry, becoming the wisdom of existence. Without asking "What is existence?" or "What is the meaning of existence?" the question "What is a human?" remains incomplete. In this process, the truth we encounter when defining ourselves is God. Knowing God makes the answer to "What am I?" meaningful, allowing us to understand existence through him. This is what the Sufis mean when they say, "One who knows themselves knows their Lord."
To truly know oneself, a person must step outside social networks – at least mentally. In doing so, we recognize ourselves as moral beings and can confidently say, "I am human." At this point, by knowing the one who grants me my humanity, my existence gains definitive meaning. The brotherhood of humanity and social peace can only be achieved through the realization of this truth.
