By Dr Halil Ibrahim PIRAHMEDOGLU

Though modern science keeps metaphysical phenomena out of its domain of research and indeed Islam does not necessarily need the endorsement of science to validate its principles, it is very interesting to observe that recent findings in modern physics give clues about the theoretical possibility of the Mi’raj of the Prophet (PBUH).

While explaining the lofty aspects of the Mi’raj (the ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to the heavens) in his treatise on the Mi’raj, Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi says that he attempts to expound the issue without taking the deniers of Islam into consideration and he explains the reason for this attitude. Yet he sometimes pauses and responds to the questions which he thinks might come from those kinds of people whom he says are “among the audience”. This is like taking a break and deigning to make yourself get down into the dust and dirt for a while, when you are on top of the lofty and pure truths and ecstasy. That is, it is really self-sacrifice to engage with spiritually boring nuisances which doubt and denial implicate, while you are in the middle of the joy emanating from divine truths. As a compassionate man, Imam Nursi, not finding it in his heart to leave that denier in his darkness and eternal decline, wants to make a path and ignite a light for those kinds of people. Just as the respected imam spares time for bothersome questions, considering them important, we are going to support those answers with findings of the modern physics of today. Sciences like physics, which are products of human effort, may not explain thoroughly all the events that Islam reports with their limited area of coverage, but the case for the Mi’raj is different.

We are going to explain the aforementioned questions and answers in the treatise of the Mi’raj with the eye of a physicist. Then we will focus on the compliance of the results of the theory of relativity with the questions and answers. The findings that were proposed by the theory of relativity and verified by experiments and which are related to the nature of time and space are quite conducive to understanding the issue of the Mi’raj rationally. Later, we are going to present the speculative consequences of this theory which are theoretically possible and discussed by prominent physicists. These consequences have been verified mathematically, but they have not yet been confirmed experimentally (technically it is not possible yet); nevertheless, they endorse the Mi’raj strongly.

Another point which needs to be noted is that the questions which the Imam tries to answer are in the field of mechanical physics, which is now outdated due to the developments in physics in the last seventy years, thus rendering these questions meaningless. Today every student in natural sciences and engineering departments must have received the information that time and space are relative.

1. The aforementioned questions in the treatise of the Mi’raj and the dial watch issue

“And the following comes to mind: O atheist! You say: “Man is only able to ascend to a height of one or two kilometers with a thousand difficulties by means of a plane. How then could someone come and go bodily within a few minutes covering a distance that would normally take thousands of years?” When we consider this question in the treatise of the Mi’raj, we realize that time and space are regarded in the same category. The distance has been stated as thousands of years and ‘year’ is a unit of measurement for time. Imam Nursi responds summarily as follows: If Allah is able to make someone advance a distance of a thousand years within a year under the effect of the gravity of a mass like the Earth, He is able to make anybody advance any distance within any time frame if He wishes. We will see the term gravity used here in the theory of relativity in a different role as a key element. The Imam gives some numbers (distance with time unit). The annual average speed of the Earth is 30 km/s and the distance that it takes in a year is 940 million km and he measures this as a distance of twenty-five thousand years. When you consider time like space, you see it in the space and time chart of the Earth and the Moon (vertical axis time).

He does not forget the last part of this question and asks it again: “And it comes to mind: You say: ‘It is impossible to cover a distance of a thousand years within a couple of weeks’”. The response which is given points to the different speeds of beings among His creatures which Allah has made mobile, that is, the things which have different velocities at the same time period may cover different distances. For example, the speed of sound in the air is 300 m/s, and the speed of  light in a vacuum is 300000 km/s, and while  sound covers 300 meters in a second,  light travels 300000 km. The speed of the spirit and imagination has been neither defined nor measured by modern physics. We learn that the Mi’raj took place in the velocity of the spirit. By saying “it is clear that it takes a longer time to experience what you see in your dreams in a short moment” he puts an end to the issue. I do not know whether the Imam was aware of the theory of relativity which was written by Einstein in 1905. The consequences of this theory were later verified through experiments. The consequence of this theory is explained in the following way: Time may slow down and space may be folded up, just like bast’uz zaman – tayyu’l makan. As formulated by the Imam, “it means one single moment becomes a day for one man and a year for another. Yes, similar events have been confirmed through experiments, though they are not just in these scales.

The Imam wants to show that time may be different for two different people by means of the example of a dial watch. He describes a different system than the usual classical watch indicators. He wants us to imagine ten different watch indicators and each one of them is ten times longer than the other one consecutively, and all of them are fixed in the same focal point (to show that they move in the same time period). Technically, he comes up with a logarithmic scale of 60. A photo of a watch which does not suit this description, but has many stick indicators is next to this column. Since it must be technically difficult to make a watch which has many indicators fixed in the same centre, its small sticks have been fixed in different centers. But the centers must be synchronized harmoniously.

Let us make an explanation in order to figure out things clearly: Consider the racers on a two-meter running track. We will inspect the first moments when the racers turn with a thirty degree angle. The length of the arch that the farthest racer makes is twice as long as the arch of the racer who is in the middle, because their distance to the center which they turn around, that is the rate of semi-diameter, is two. Though the racers scan the same angle in one moment (say one second and their angular speed is the same) there are different length scales of arches responding to the same angle. Each circle that each racer draws is different (the length of the sticks represent the magnitude of velocity). For one second, the value of velocity from the outer to the inner is as follows: 2, 1, 1, 58, 1, 05, 0, 52 and 0 m/s.

Now, consider a stick as long as the semi-diameter of the orbit of the Earth and this stick draws an arch of 30 km and turns 0,000014 degrees when it turns one second. It seems as if the first meter of this stick almost remains in its place. 500000 km of the stick has taken only 1 km distance (drawn the arch) for the same angle. 5 thousand km of the stick has drawn a one-meter arch. In the same one second, the different places of the stick have drawn different arches and covered different distances and the places closer to center have hardly moved at all. Briefly, the Imam shows that things which have different velocities will cover different distances in the same moment through a one-system dial watch. Maybe he meant the picture next to the column by the watch with ten sticks, because they resemble the watch with ten sticks and they are not bad. The round values of their rotating around the Sun are as follows, from the closer to the farther away: 1/4, 1/2, 1 (guess which one?), 2, 12, 30, 84 and 165 years.

I will give two examples which will be helpful to understand this issue. In the event of a solar eclipse, the moon comes in front of the Sun and covers it. How can it ever be possible for the Moon to cover the Sun since it is smaller than the Sun? It can do so because when the centers of the Sun and the Moon stand in the same line, since they correspond to the same angle but have different arch lengths (corresponding to the semi-diameter of the Moon and Sun), in the eye of an observer, as it may be seen in the picture, the covering takes place. Another example is that rockets launched into space from the northern hemisphere are launched from the south as much as possible, because due to the rotation of the Earth around its own axis, the objects have a speed. That speed decreases towards the poles and it climaxes at the equator. Since the equator is the farthest point to the axis of the Earth, the speed gained is the greatest. Briefly, while a person covers 40075 km distance a day, his speed is 40075 km/day, as long as he goes to the north, his speed varies such as 10000 km/day, 500 km/day and 10 km/day. Thus, when the rocket is launched closer to the South Pole, it will have the greatest speed, that is, the most kinetic energy possible. In this way, the launching may be carried out with less energy.

The Imam concludes then as follows: “Now, since time is a colour or line of movement, any principle operating in movement also operates in time.” That is, “time also varies and differs like movement.” Today physics confirms this result but it infers it from a very different angle. Let me remind you of this; it is obvious that the dial watch example is given to rationalize the fact that time is not absolute and it may vary, otherwise, it is not important whether it has a physical reality or not.

2. Time and Space in the Theory of Relativity

Albert Einstein presented the consequences of special relativity in one of three important essays which he published in 1905. This theory considers the principle of the unchangeableness of the physical rules essential. Rather than stating that “everything is relative”, it was a theory based on unchangeableness! That is, the physical rules should have stayed unchanged in systems which move in a fixed speed comparatively. For example, are the formulas given to explain the fall of an apple through the angles of a man who is standing on the ground and a man who is walking at a fixed speed the same? While they are the same in Newton’s laws of motion, they are different in terms of electromagnetic laws. If you take the unchangeableness of these as a principle, then you need to keep the velocity of light fixed according to different references. Besides, the velocity of light should have been the ultimate speed for physical objects. Suppose an object is approaching us with half the velocity of light. If this object sends us light through its headlamps we do not see it coming with 1, 5 but with 1 velocity of light. There was a payoff of this consideration, that is, if velocity = space/time and the velocity of light is fixed, both the time and space will not be absolute and they need to vary according to moving persons. In the picture next to the paragraph it is seen that the dial in the watch in the spaceship extends further than the dial in the watch on the ground.

We have reached the point which the Imam wanted to explain through the dial watch in a very different way; “with regard to two men, it means one single moment becomes a day for one man and a year for another.” Without making it too complicated, the result that was reached is as follows: Suppose that one man sets off on a voyage with a craft in space, and the other man on the ground measures that time for the man in the spacecraft gets slower. You may calculate this measurement. If the man on the ground spends ten years, the man in the craft in space spends seven years (in the picture you see a dramatically aged old man). In the same way, the distance also must shorten according to a person moving fast (in the figure the diameter of velocity of the ball in the direction of movement, which is represented by v, is shortened as the velocity of light nears to c). Do these theoretical changes have practical correspondences? Yes, many examples of them have been discovered in the course of time. For example; after production of the atomic clock, that is, when the devices which calculate the nano-seconds were produced in the 70s, three of them were kept in a safe place and the other two of them were put in two different planes, one of them was orbiting around the world in accordance with its rotation direction and the other one was orbiting in the opposite direction. When the planes returned, a slowdown proportionate to the calculation of the theory of relativity was determined in the clocks. Today, unless the GPS system considers this slowdown percentage in time while locating specific points on the earth through satellite, it fails. Science magazine reported in 2006 that two magnetic stars were approaching each other by 7 mm every day. 7 mm is an extremely small number regarding the sensitivity of light-year distance. The time period, which was calculated as 0.059029997929613 of a second, was quite a sensitive test result (it nearly turns 20 times in a second) and the data which was discovered confirms the theory of relativity.

The time interval for these distances is quite huge regarding the distance in the Mi’raj event. Yet these studies have shown that time between moving objects and persons is not the same and it may vary; that is, the result that the Imam tries to reach through the dial watch example exists as a matter of principle. Thus, “one single moment is one day for one man and one year for another man “.

We are going to give two examples to see how science comprehends the issue. It is mentioned in a popular physics book as follows: “It was impossible for people to reach to the stars before the theory of special relativity. But, space is relative – that is, it varies according to the one who moves. For the one who moves at a speed close to the velocity of light, space is shortened and time is extended, and thus there is an opportunity for future astronauts to journey to the stars and beyond. We are on the eve of new beginnings, like a child who opens the first page of a book. Newtonian physics has been able to take us to the moon, and the physics of Einstein shows the way to the stars. We are living in quite an exciting age (P. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics). Muslims have always been the exceptions to those who believed that “it was impossible…to reach to the stars”, because the Mi’raj event is an extremely interesting journey to beyond the stars! Another example is from the book titled About Time: Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution by Paul Davies (notice what is said about time): “The life-span of the neutrons is nearly 15 minutes and they cannot travel too much within this time period. Just at that point, time-wrap comes into play. If the neutron goes too fast its life-span extends enormously through our view. For example, if the neutron has trillions electron volt energy (the scientists tried to give that level of energy to protons in Cern) it gains a billion time-wrap, that is, 15-minute life-span of neutrons turn into 35 thousand years. That means such a neutron travels in space for 35 thousand years before being annihilated and this is enough for them to move from CygnusX-3 (a group of stars which is source of X-Ray) and reach Earth. This is a wonderful time-wrap.  If you go as fast as this neutron you are going to live a billion years with the time of the world.” It is represented in the next picture how attraction curves time and space; it even curves light and goes ahead in its way. A star seems like two from the world when it comes towards us as its light is curved.

Einstein later put forward his theory of general relativity. One consequence of this theory was that it foresaw the Big Bang event, and the other was that time is slowed down when the attraction is intense. This means that the watch of a man in space and of a man on the ground show different times, because since the man on the ground was strongly affected by the Earth’s gravity, his watch is slower compared to the watch on the man in space, even though the difference is small. Irrespective of the issue that we just mentioned above, this is another mechanism which shows that time slows down. Briefly, gravity’s shortening effect on time is explained in the treatises as follows: “Is not a wisdom which makes the quite heavy Earth travel around the sun like a whirling dervish with a divine law called the sun’s gravity able to elevate a body of a human being to the heaven of the Most Merciful like a lightning flash with the gravity of the compassion of the Most Merciful and the attraction of the love of the Eternal Sun?”

All these developments, such as the slowing down of time according to the movements of persons and objects and the gravity they are exposed to, are very well known as physical truths today. It is possible to use bast’ul zaman for the slowing down of time, that is, some work which takes one person a long time to do may be handled within a few minutes by someone else. In the words of the Imam, a day for one person may be a year for someone else. In this situation, when a speed calculation is made according to the theory of relativity, the speed of a man who lives a day must be 0.9999962469 times the velocity of light. This is nearly the velocity of light itself. It is obvious that time itself is subjected to the law of change which is available in movement. But the level of change is far from explaining the Mi’raj event as an extraordinary incident in terms of quantity. There are findings of physicists which they have reached through Einstein’s theory of relativity, and which show the possibility of a higher level of comprehension of the event of the Mi’raj. 

3. Some mathematical speculative studies and journey through time

Carl Sagan (1934 –1996) was famous in the field of astronomy, presented many TV shows on scientific topics and wrote science-fiction novels. In his novel “Contact”, which was later filmed, the protagonist is supposed to travel through galaxies/stars within a couple of years. Though the shortening of time which the special theory of relativity envisages may be considered to be possible, millions of years would be needed for something like that. Finally he called his friend Prof. Kip Thorne from the California Institute of Technology (CALTEC), one of the leading universities in the USA, and asked him whether it was possible to cover long distances in a short time through the general theory of relativity. We may suppose that if Sagan had asked the question in the following way, it would not have been wrong: “Dear Kip, I heard that the Prophet Muhammad of the Muslims travelled to places in space further than what the astronauts have discovered so far. Is this possible according to the last findings in science which you are aware of?” Carl Sagan asked a similar question. Kip Thorne, after working on the issue for a while, showed that such an event was possible through the theories of relativity and quantum. Although that was a theoretical work on paper, it was published in the most respected journals of physics.

What did Prof. Thorne find? He discovered a concept called a wormhole, which is a hypothetical topological feature of space-time that would be, fundamentally, a “shortcut” through space-time. Briefly, imagine the space that we live in as a two-dimensional flat held paper (like a map). We mark two opposing points on the edges, say one is al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the other is Mecca. You may go from one point to the other over the flat paper through one of several paths. According to the conception which Prof. Thorne found, it was possible to bring two points over each other leaving 2-3 cm between them by curving the paper, that is, he showed that it is possible to curve space like a flexible sheet and thus to bring together two points. When one point comes under the other one, it would be possible to travel from Mecca to al-Quds without spending any time. Of course, for such a curving to be possible, there would be a need for extreme gravity. Is there any reason for such a gravity to happen? In the same essay, it is explained why there could be such gravity. Prof. P. Davies summarizes the issue in the following way: “The idea of a wormhole is quite speculative and marginal, but we understand from the nature of gravity along with quantum physics that that kind of situation is theoretically possible. However, practically it is too expensive a proposal. To be able to carry out such a thing, you need to grab a black hole (an instantaneously interesting center of attraction!) and customize its inside to turn it into a wormhole. That is a kind of engineering in the scale of the cosmos. Briefly, if theoretically there is a wormhole, this fact shows the possibility of the paradox of tunneling in time.”

The fact that what Imam Nursi says about the journey of Mi’raj being theoretically verified by modern physics should be very interesting. Is something like that really possible? It is concisely stated in the same treatise as follows:  “Is not He able to elevate the body of a human being to the heaven of the Most Merciful like a lightning flash with the gravity of compassion of the Most Merciful and the attraction of the love of the Eternal Sun?” Besides, the conclusion which has been reached does resemble the passage in the Fifteenth Letter: “There are two ways to reach to Laylatul Qadr at last night: First: Travelling through all the year and reaching it. To be able to get this closeness you need to delete all the year and this is the path of the people of Sufism. The people of Sufism mostly prefer this path. Second: The corporeal body, which is bound to time, is isolated from his material cover and he rises up spiritually and experiences the Laylatul Qadr at last night along with the Laylatul Eid (Festival night) on the next day in the  present moment, because the spirit is not bound by time. Once the feelings of human being get to the level of the spirit, the present time expands. Time which is past and future for others becomes present time for him.” 

4. Conclusion

It is an indisputable fact that the truth of the Mi’raj is bound to the resolution of the mystery of time and space. In the question at the beginning of the article there was implicit acknowledgement of a concept of time which was streaming anyway in the universe and binding and controlling everything. Actually, this concept of absolute time was the assumption of the old physicists, especially Newton. With Einstein’s theory of relativity, time and space were dealt under the same category and these were not considered as absolute in themselves and could change according to mobile and immobile objects. The theory of relativity has shown that time can be slowed down with two different mechanisms, which were supported by experiments. In spite of all these explanations the physicists admit that they cannot solve the mystery of time completely. Briefly, modern physics responds positively to the question of ‘how a human being can go a thousand-years-distance within a couple of minutes’ and it verifies this fact with experiments which it carries out. When we contemplate deeply, we conceive that the ascension in the Mi’raj is beyond the comprehension of modern sciences. Nevertheless, the possibility of the event within the framework of physical principles is debated among prominent physicists.

Sceptics or critics may object, but we can’t help feeling the joy in this situation. Taking courage from the tawafuqaat (synchronicities) in Sikka-i Tasdiq-i Ghayby, a book of Nursi’s, we can say that: it is truly amazing to see how Allah (SWT) employs the smartest men in the most serious institutions of the world to clarify the ascension (Mi’raj) of His loved one (PBUH). A TV show called ‘Nova’ highlighting travel through time as a main theme was aired on the American TV channel PBS in 1999. Many scientists such as Prof. Carl Sagan and Prof. Kip Thorne were interviewed during the show. They related the “myths and legends” of classical and ancient civilizations, while mentioning travel through time and they said that there were various stories regarding this concept. I would like to end my article by quoting a little excerpt from that narration. This is a connection that a non-Muslim Western scientist makes between the Mi’raj event and travelling through time based on recent findings in modern physics.

“Ancient legends of time distortion are, in fact, quite common. One of the most poetic descriptions of time travel occurs in a popular medieval legend describing a monk entranced for a minute by the song of a magical bird. When the bird stops singing, the monk discovers that several hundred years have passed. Another example is the Moslem legend of Muhammad carried by a mare into heaven. After a long visit, the prophet returns to Earth just in time to catch a jar of water the horse had kicked over before starting its ascent.” (Time Travel, PBS, October 12, 1999)

An event that took place 1400 years ago and today can only be understood by science through complex theories of time and space, none of which were known at that time, must be the truth.

The Noble Messenger (PBUH) declared His prophethood, and presented to humanity a decree as the Glorious Qur’an and manifest miracles which number, according to the scholars, one thousand. The occurrence of those miracles in their entirety is as certain as the fact that he (PBUH) declared himself prophet. In fact, as is shown by the words of the most obstinate unbelievers quoted in various places of the Wise Our’an, even they could not deny the occurrence of his miracles, but only called them -hasha wa kalla!-(Allah forbid) sorcery, in order to satisfy themselves, or to deceive their followers. The miracles of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have the certainty of confirmation by consensus of Ulama (scholars of Islam) to the hundredth degree. The Miracle is the confirmation by the CREATOR of the universe of his declaration of Prophethood; it has the effect of the words, ‘you have indeed spoken the truth!’ Suppose that you said in the assembly of a ruler, while being observed by Him, ‘The true ruler has appointed me to such and such position.’ At a time when you were asked to prove your claim, the word ‘Yes’ uttered by the ruler would sufficiently support you. Or, if the ruler changed his usual practice and attitude at your request, this would confirm your claim even more soundly and more definitely than would the word ‘Yes.’ In the same way, Allah’s Most Noble Messenger claimed: ‘I am the envoy of the Creator of this universe. My proof is that He will change His unbroken order at my request and my prayer. Now look at my fingers: He makes them run like a fountain with five spigots. Look at the moon: by a gesture of my finger, He splits it in two. Look at that tree: to affirm me, and to bear witness to me, it moves and comes near to me. Look at this food: although it is barely enough for two or three men, it satisfies two or three hundred. ‘Further he shows hundreds of similar miracles. However, the evidences of the veracity of this high being and the proofs of his prophethood are not restricted to his miracles. All his deeds and acts, his words and behaviour, his moral conduct and manners, his character and appearance prove to the attentive observers his truthfulness and seriousness. Indeed, many people such as Abdullah b. Salam, the famous scholar of the Children of Israel, came to belief merely by seeing him, and said, ‘No lie can hide in this face, nor can any fraud be found in it!’ Although many of the researchers have concluded that the proofs of the prophethood of Muhammad and his miracles number about one thousand, there are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of proofs of his prophethood. And hundreds of thousands of truth-seeking men (muhaqqiqiin) with varying opinions have affirmed his prophethood in an equal number of ways. The Wise Our’an alone demonstrates thousands of the proofs of his prophethood, in addition to its own forty aspects of miraculousness. Since prophethood is as a phenomenon of humanity, and hundreds of thousands of individuals who claimed prophethood and performed miracles have lived and passed away; then, the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH) is of a certainty superior to that of the prophethood of all the others. For whatever evidences, qualities and attributes became the means of the prophethood and messengership of all the messengers such as Prophet Isa (Peace be upon him) and Prophet Musa (Peace be upon him), they are all owned in a more perfect and comprehensive fashion by Muhammad (PBUH). And since the causes and means of prophetic authority exist more perfectly in the person of Muhammad (PBUH), this authority is to be found in him with more certainty than all the other prophets. (The Letters, 19th Letter, Second Sign)

Here are some examples of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad’s miracles (PBUH):

The Qur’an Miracle

Each prophet performed miracles on the most popular and most common issues of their eras.
For example, at the era of Prophet Isa (Jesus) (Peace be upon him), the medical science was in demand. That’s why; Prophet Isa’s greatest miracle was bringing the dead back to life as well as healing the blind and the leper.

In the era of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) four things were in demand in the Arabian Peninsula:
1. Eloquence (balaghat) and fluency (fasahat): art of fluent, forcible, elegant and persuasive speaking in an appropriate way to the addressee.
2. Poetry and elocution
3. Soothsaying and informing of the unseen
4. Acquainting of the past and the universal events.
The Holy Qur’an that is the greatest miracle of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) challenged the poems, elocutionists and soothsayers by giving information about the past and future events and anything related to the universe with its unique and inimitable eloquence and elocution. None of them could compete with even just one surah of the Qur’an and none could imitate even just one sentence. So they had to submit to and approve the Qur’an’s superiority with great respect and admiration.

The Ascension (Miraj) Miracle

As the greatest miracle of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that he performed for the dwellers of the earth is his splitting the moon into two, his greatest miracle performed for the dwellers of the heaven is “Ascension”.
According to the common points of the narrations reported in Bukhari and Muslim, the Ascension miracle occurred in this way:
One night, while the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was in Hijr (Hatim), the name of an area just next to Kaaba, in some narrations while he was sleeping and in some others while he was in a situation between sleeping and being awake, Jabrail (peace be upon him) came, split his chest and after washing it with zam-zam water he filled it with faith and wisdom and closed back. He helped the Prophet Muhammad mount on the ride called Buraq that could cover an incredibly vast distance with one leap. They travelled over than 1200 km in less no time and reached the Bait-ul Maqdis (Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem) where the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) performed two rakahs salah leading the previous prophets. Then, Jabrail brought two cups; milk in one and wine in the other. Upon Prophet’s choosing the milk cup, Jabrail said: “You chose the fitrah (what is natural to creation)”.
After that, our blessed Prophet (PBUH) commenced the next stage of his miraculous Night Journey with the accompany of Jabrail (peace be upon him). Jabrail took him from Bait-ul Maqdis and ascended to the heaven.
In each heaven they ascended, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) met the prophets in order of Adam, Isa, Yusuf, Idris, Harun (Aaron) and Musa (peace be upon all of them). Finally he met the Prophet Ibrahim in the seventh heaven where the Bait-ul Mamur is located in. When they reached Sidrat-ul Muntaha (lote-tree of the utmost boundary) where no human has ever been before, he heard the creaks of the writer angels’ pens. Then the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) left Jabrail and passed beyond the Sidrat-ul Muntaha alone, as the first and only creature stepping into that mysterious realm. There he (PBUH) stood in the presence of Allah (SWT) and talked to Him (SWT). Human words are not enough to describe the wonder of that realm and the human intellect isn’t capable enough to comprehend how it happened. There, Allah (SWT) bestowed 50 prayers a day upon the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and His Ummah. As he was descending after this incomparable holy meeting, he met the Prophet Musa and told him about the prayers. Musa (peace be upon him) said that it would be very hard for the Prophet Muhammad’s ummah and advised him to ask Allah (SWT) to ease it. So, our blessed Prophet applied to the presence of Almighty Allah (SWT) until He (SWT) increased the prayers to 5 times a day. (Bukhari: Salah, 1; Tawhid 37; Anbiya 5; Bad’ul-halk 7; Manakib 24/ Muslim: Iman 259,262-263; Fadaail 164)
According to a narration Allah (SWT) also revealed the last verses of Surat-ul Baqara in the Ascend (Miraj) and gave the glad tidings of the ones’ who don’t associate partners with Allah (SWT) being forgiven. (Musnad 1, 422; Muslim: Iman, 279)

Splitting the Moon

Narrated Ibn Masud: During the lifetime of Allah’s Apostle the moon was split into two parts; one part remained over the mountain, and the other part went beyond the mountain. On that, Allah’s Apostle said, “Witness this miracle.” (Bukhari; 60; 387)

“The hour drew night and the moon was rent in twain. And if they behold a portent they turn away and say: Prolonged illusion. They denied (the Truth) and followed their own lusts. Yet everything will come to a decision.” (Surah al Qamar, 54)

As stated in the previous verse, one of the greatest miracles of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was splitting the moon. This amazing miracle, which couldn’t be denied even by the unbelievers occurred in the following way:

The miracle of the splitting of the moon occurred before the migration to Medina upon the demands of the polytheists with the permission of Allah (SWT) and it was shown by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as narrated by many companions like Anas b. Malik,  Imam Ali, Huzayfa b. Yaman, Abdullah b. Mas’ud, Abdullah b. Abbas, Abdullah b. Umar, Abdullah b. Amr b. As, Jubayr b. Mut’im (May Allah be pleased with all of them).

Among Quraish polytheists, Walid b. Mughira, Abu Jahl. As b. Wail, As b. Hisham, Aswad b. Abdi Yaghus, Aswad b. Muttalib, Zama b. Aswad, Nadr b. Harith and others said to the prophet Muhammad (PBUH):

“If you truly are a Prophet that has been appointed by Allah, then split the moon in half. Let it be in such a way that one half will appear over the Mount Abu Qubais and the other half will be seen over Mount Quayqian.”

The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked:

“If I do it, will you become Muslims?”

The polytheists answered: “Yes, we will.”

It was the 14th night, when it was full moon. The Messenger of Allah stood supplicating to Allah (SWT). Allah (SWT) inspired him to sign towards the moon with his finger. When Almighty Allah (SWT) let the moon split in half, one half standing over Mount Abu Qubais and the other half over Mount Quayqian, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) shouted at Muslims:

“O Abu Salama b. Abdulasad! Arqam b. Abi’l Arqam! Bear witness!

And to the polytheists, he said, “Bear witness! So and so!

However, the polytheists said “This is one of the spells of Abu Kabsha’s Son.” “The son of Abu Kabsha cast a spell on you!” They said “Muhammad cast a spell on us!” Some of them also said:

“If Muhammad had cast a spell on us then, He couldn’t have cast a spell on everyone! Let us ask the wayfarers who came from the surrounding areas if they saw what we saw.”

They asked the travelers, who replied:

“Yes! We also did see the moon in that state! We saw the moon as split! They informed that the moon was split. However, the polytheists, who couldn’t deny the miracle occurred right in front of their eyes, rejected to be Muslims and to believe by saying: “This is a prevalent magic!”, they said “Abu Talib’s orphan affected the sky with his spell!” Since they couldn’t deny the miracle and since they couldn’t embrace Islam, they had to name it as “spell”.

( Muslim, 8/132 , Ahmad Ibn-i Hanbal, Musnad, 1/447, Ibni Kathir, Tafseer: 4/262, Tirmidhî, 5/398 , Kâdı İyaz, Shifa: 1/238 )

Informing about the future

According to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (PBUH) said to Fatima (RA): “You will be the first of my family to join me [after my death].”Six months later, what he said took place.

(Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba,101; Ibn Maja, Jana’iz, 64; Musnad, vi, 240, 282, 283; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 340)

He (PBUH) also told Abu Dharr: “You will be expelled from here [Medina], will live alone, and will die alone.” All this came true twenty years later.

(al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 345; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 343; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 700; al-‘Asqalani, al-Matalib al-‘Aliya, iv, 116 no: 4109; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya, v, 8-9; al-‘Asqalani, al-Isaba, iv, 64)

According to an authentic narration, he said: “Istanbul will be conquered, and blessed are the ruler and the troops that will conquer it.” He thus gave tidings that Istanbul would be conquered by Muslim hands, and that Mehmed the Conqueror would attain a high spiritual rank. His prediction again proved to be true.

(al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 422; Bukhari, Ta’rikh al-Saghir, no: 139; Musnad,  iv, 335; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, vi, 218)

Food multiplication

We will give a few examples from among the Prophet’s (PBUH) miracles that relate to his effecting increase in food and that are definite

Anas b. Malik (RA) reported:

My mother Umm Sulaim prepared hais and placed it in an earthen vessel and said: Anas, take it to Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) and say: My mother has sent that to you and she offers greetings to you, and says that it is a humble gift for you on our behalf, Messenger of Allah. So I went along with it to Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) and said: My mother offers you salutations, and says that it is a humble gift for you on our behalf. He said: Place it here, and then said: Go and invite on my behalf so and so and anyone whom you meet, and he even named some persons. He (Anas) said: I invited whom he had named and whom I met. I (one of the narrators) said: I said to Anas: How many (persons) were there? He (Anas) said: They were about three hundred persons. Then Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) (said to me): Anas, bring that earthen vessel. They (the guests) then began to enter until the courtyard and the apartment were fully packed. Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said: Make a circle of ten (guests), and every person should eat from that nearest to him. They began to eat, until they ate to their fill. A group went out (after eating the food), and another group came in until all of them had eaten. He (the Holy Prophet) said to me: Anas, lift it (the earthen vessel), so I lifted it, but I could not assess whether it had more (food) when I placed it (before Allah’s Messenger) or when I lifted it (after the people had been served out of it). (Muslim; Nikah; 3335)

It is narrated either on the authority of Abu Huraira or that of Abu Sa’id Khudri. The narrator A’mash has narrated this hadith with a little bit of doubt (about the name of the very first narrator who was in direct contact with the Holy Prophet. He was either Abu Huraira or Abu Sa’id Khudri. Both are equally reliable transmitters of the traditions). He (the narrator) said: During the time of tabuk expedition, the (provisions) ran short and the men (of the army) suffered starvation; they said: Messenger of Allah, would you permit us to slay our camels? We would eat them and use their fat. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Do as you please. He (the narrator) said: Then ‘Umar came there and said: Messenger of Allah, if you do that (if you give your consent and the men begin to slay their camels), the riding animals would become short. But (I would suggest you to) summon them along with the provisions left with them then invoke Allah’s blessings on them (different items of the provisions). It is hoped Allah shall bless them. The Messenger of Allah replied in the affirmative. (the narrator) said: He called for a leather mat to be used as a table cloth and spread it out. Then he called people along with the remaining portions of their provisions. He (the narrator) said: Someone was coming with handful of mote, another was coming with a handful of dates, and still another was coming with a portion of bread, till small quantities of these things were collected on the table cloth. He (the narrator said): Then the messenger of Allah (SWT) invoked blessing (on them) and said: Fill your utensils with these provisions. He (the narrator) said: They filled their vessel to the brim with them, and no one amongst the army (which comprised of 30,000 persons) was left even with a single empty vessel. He (the narrator) said: They ate to their fill, and there was still a surplus. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) remarked: I bear testimony that there is no god but Allah and I am the messenger of Allah. The man who meets his Lord without harbouring any doubt about these two (truths) would never be kept away from Paradise. (Muslim; Iman; 42)

Water runs from his fingers like fountain

Narrated Salim: Jabir said “On the day of Al-Hudaibiya, the people felt thirsty and Allah’s Apostle had a utensil containing water. He performed ablution from it and then the people came towards him. Allah’s Apostle said, ‘What is wrong with you?’ The people said, ‘O Allah’s Apostle! We haven’t got any water to perform ablution with or to drink, except what you have in your utensil.’ So the Prophet put his hand in the utensil and the water started spouting out between his fingers like springs. So we drank and performed ablution.” I said to Jabir, “What was your number on that day?” He replied, “Even if we had been one hundred thousand, that water would have been sufficient for us. Anyhow, we were 1500.’  (Bukhari; Book 59; 473)

Water multiplication

Mu’adh b. Jabal reported that he went along with Allah’s Apostle (PBUH) in the expedition of tabuk and he (the Holy Prophet) combined the prayers. He offered the noon and afternoon prayers together and the sunset and night prayers together and on the other day he deferred the prayers; he then came out and offered the noon and afternoon prayers together. He then went in and (later on) came out and then after that offered the sunset and night prayers together and then said: God willing, you would reach by tomorrow the fountain of tabuk and you should not come to that until it is dawn, and he who amongst you happens to go there should not touch its water until I come. We came to that and two persons (amongst) us reached that fountain ahead of us. It was a thin flow of water like the shoelace. Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) asked them whether they had touched the water. They said: Yes. Allah’s Apostle (PBUH) scolded them, and he said to them what he had to say by the will of God. The people then took water of the fountain in their palms until it became somewhat significant and Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) washed his hands and his face too in it, and then, took it again in that (fountain) and there gushed forth abundant water from that fountain, until all the people drank to their fill. He then said: Mu’adh, it is hoped that if you live long you would see its water irrigating well the gardens.  (Muslim; Book 30; Hadith 5662)

Trees listen to his orders

Burayda reports:

“When we were with the Noble Messenger (PBUH) on an expedition, a Bedouin came and asked for a sign, that is, a miracle. The Messenger (PBUH) said: ‘Tell that tree that Allah’s Messenger summons it!’ Then he pointed to a tree; it swayed to right and left, heaved itself out of the ground with its roots, and came to the Messenger (PBUH), saying: ‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!’ The Bedouin said: ‘Now let it go back to its place!’ He commanded, and it went. Then the Bedouin said: ‘Allow me to prostrate before you.’ The Messenger (PBUH) replied: ‘No one is permitted to do that.’ The Bedouin said: ‘Then I will kiss your hands and feet,’ and he permitted him.”

(Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 299; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’, iii, 49)

Reported by Imam b. Fawrak, known for his excellence in interpretation as the foremost scholar of his time and the second Shafi‘i:

“While travelling on horseback one night during the Ta’if expedition, sleep overcame Allah’s Noble Messenger (PBUH). While in that state a lote-tree loomed up before him. To make way for him and not to hurt his horse, the tree split in two, and the Noble Messenger (PBUH) passed between the two parts of the tree on the horse.” The tree has remained with two trunks, in that honoured position, up to our time.  (Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 301; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 619; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’,  iii, 57)

Crying of the stem of the Date-palm tree

Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah:

The Prophet used to stand by a tree or a date-palm on Friday. Then an Ansari woman or man said. “O Allah’s Apostle! Shall we make a pulpit for you?” He replied, “If you wish.” So they made a pulpit for him and when it was Friday, he proceeded towards the pulpit (for delivering the sermon). The date-palm cried like a child! The Prophet descended (the pulpit) and embraced it while it continued moaning like a child being quietened. The Prophet said, “It was crying for (missing) what it used to hear of religious knowledge given near to it.”  (Bukhari; Book 56, Hadith 784)

Mountains and rocks say “Peace be upon you! Oh! Messenger of Allah”

In Imam Ali’s chain of narration, it says:

“Whenever we went around in the environs of Mecca in the early of days of his prophethood, the trees and rocks we encountered would declare: ‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah!’”

(Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Darimi, Muqaddima, 4; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, viii, 260; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 607; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 628)

While in his chain of transmission, Jabir says: “Whenever the Noble Messenger (PBUH) came across rocks and trees, they would prostrate before him, that is, demonstrating obedience to him, they would declare: ‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah!’”

(Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 307; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’, iii, 71)

Staff’s and baton’s turning into swords

While fighting the idolaters during the great Battle of Badr, itself a source of wonders, ‘Ukkasha b. Muhassin al-Asadi had his sword broken. Allah’s Noble Messenger (PBUH) gave him a stout staff in place of it, saying: “Fight with this!” Suddenly, with Allah’s leave, the staff became a long white sword, and he fought with it. He carried the sword on his person for the rest of his life until he fell as a martyr during the Battle of al-Yamama

(Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 333; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 671; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’, iii, 156; Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, i, 637; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma’ad (Tahqiq: Arnavudi), iii, 186)

A handful of earth entered the eyes of an army

“And when you (O Messenger) threw (dust at them at the start of the battle), it was not you who threw but Allah threw.”(Anfal, 8:17) As established by the researches of all Qur’anic commentators and the reports of the scholars of Hadith, this verse refers to the following incident that occurred during the Battle of Badr:

Allah’s Noble Messenger (PBUH) took up a handful of earth and small stones and threw them at the army of the unbelievers, saying: “May your faces be deformed!”, and just as these words entered the ears of all of them despite being a single phrase, so too the handful of earth entered all their eyes. They all became preoccupied with their eyes, and although on the attack, the army suddenly turned tail and fled.  (al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, vi, 84)

Curing the old and ill people

In the Battle of Uhud, Qatada b. Nu‘man was hit in the eye by an arrow; it was struck out of his head, so that it was sitting on the side of his face. God’s Messenger (PBUH) took the eye in his blessed, healing hand and placed it in its socket; it was healed as though nothing had happened to it and became the better of his two eyes. This event became very widely known. A grandson of Qatada, even, once described himself to ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz as, “I am the grandson of one who, when Allah’s Most Noble Messenger (PBUH) placed his eye back in its socket after it had been struck out, it was suddenly healed and became his best eye.”

(Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 322; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, vi, 113; al-Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal, xii, 377; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma’ad (Tahqiq: Arnavudi), iii, 186-7; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 295)

Peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad thousands and thousands of times, to the number of good deals of his community, to whom was revealed the All-Wise Criterion of Truth and Falsehood, from One Most Merciful, Most Commpassionate, from the Sublime Throne; whose Prophethood was foretold by the Torah and Bible, and told by wondrous signs, the voices of jinn, saints of man, and soothsayers; at whose indication the moon split; our master Muhammed! Peace and blessings be upon him thousands and thousands of times, to the number of the breaths of his community; at whose beckoning came the tree, on whose prayer rain swiftly fell, and whom the cloud shaded from the heat; who satisfied a hundred men with his food; from between whose fingers three times flowed water like the Spring of Kauthar; and to whom Allah made speak the lizard, the gazelle, the wolf, the torso, the arm, the camel, the mountain, the rock, and the clod; the one who made the Ascension and whose eye did not waver; our master and intercessor, Muhammed! Peace and blessings be upon him thousands and thousands of times, to the number of the letters of the Qur’an formed in the words represented with the permission of the Most Merciful in the mirrors of the airwaves at the reciting of all the words of the Qur’an by all reciters from when it was first revealed to the end of time. And grant us forgiveness and have mercy on us, O Allah, for each of those blessings. Amin.

One of my friends recently died at his 30. I attended his funeral. First, the corpse was washed and shrouded. Then we performed the funeral prayer. Finally, the deceased was put in to the grave. Everybody started to bury the corpse in turn. Shortly it was buried under the earth. I was astonished that it took such a short time. What’s the rush? It seemed like everyone wanted to leave that place as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, I started to contemplate the dead. The corpse would decay after a while, leaving behind nothing but bones. Then the bones would decompose, too. Every part of the corpse would mix in the soil.

But how in the world that decayed body would be revived and given life again? That question distressed me greatly. Whereas I believe in the hereafter and the resurrection, it has been the first time that this issue disturbed me. I realized that I was not satisfied with the belief in resurrection. I don’t think it is because of weakness of my faith. Because Prophet Ibrahim, one of the great messengers, was not exactly satisfied with this issue and wanted the help of Allah (SWT). It is mentioned in the Qur’an as follows:

“When Abraham said, ‘My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.’ [Allah] said, ‘Have you not believed?’ He said, ‘Yes, but [I ask] only that my heart may be satisfied.’ ” (Baqarah, 2:260)

Resurrection is one of the four fundamental subjects of the Qur’an (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Signs of Miraculousness); and it has been the second important cause of the prophets after the belief in Allah. However, it has also been the creed that the people had most hesitation to believe in. Because, the revival of the bones when they have rotted away is something that the people cannot easily comprehend. Therefore, the hesitation that people have is not a result of weakness of their faith, but rather it is because of the difficulty of the issue. And that is why the Qur’an dwells on the resurrection a lot; and gives many examples and tells stories so that people can understand and accept the resurrection.

The Food and Drink of Uzair (Ezra) (peace be upon him)

One of the stories about resurrection told in the Qur’an is as follows:

“Or (as another proof that it is Allah alone Who gives and takes life, and will restore life to the dead, call to mind) him who passed by a town that had fallen into utter ruin, and asked himself (in bewilderment): “How will Allah restore life to this town that is now dead?” So Allah made him remain dead for a hundred years and then raised him to life, and asked him: “How long did you remain in this state?” He said: “I remained so for a day or part of a day.” Allah said: “No, you have rather remained thus for a hundred years. But look at your food and drink: it has not spoiled; and look at your donkey! So We would make you a sign for the people (that they might understand how We have created them and will restore life to them after their death.) And look at the bones, how We will set them up, and then clothe them with flesh.” Thus when the truth became clear to him, he said: “I know that Allah has full power over everything.” (Baqarah, 2:259)

One aspect that draws our attention in this story that the life of Uzair (peace be upon him) was taken for a hundred years and then his life was given back to him. Another interesting point is that although the food decays much faster than animal body, his donkey rotted while his food and drink did not. Another remarkable point is that although both man and animal body are composed of flesh and bones, Uzair (peace be upon him)’s donkey decayed, but his body did not.  Moreover his decayed donkey was revived under his eyes. We have not seen that incident but we believe in it as if we saw it. As our Lord says we read this evidence of resurrection and increase our faith.

Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Four Birds

The second story is as follows:

And recall when Abraham said: “My Lord, show me how You will restore life to the dead!” Allah said: “Why? Do you not believe?” Abraham said: “Yes, but that my heart may be at rest.” He (his Lord) said: “Then take four of the birds (of different kinds), and tame them to yourself to know them fully. Then (cut them into pieces and mix the pieces with each other, and) put on every one of the hills a piece from each, and then summon them, and they will come to you flying. Know that surely Allah is All-Glorious with irresistible might, All-Wise.” (Bakarah, 2:260)

The People of The Cave

According to a story told in the Qur’an seven young men escaped from a tyrant and irreligious king, and took refuge in a cave and stayed there sleeping for hundreds of years. (Kahf, 18:10-26) This story is also mentioned as an evidence for the resurrection. Because Allah (SWT) says, “And in this way We disclosed them to the people so that they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about (the coming of) the Last Hour.” (Kahf, 18:21)

There is too much to say about these stories, however we want to draw attention to the following verse:

Look, then, at the imprints of Allah’s Mercy – how He revives the dead earth after its death: certainly then it is He Who will revive the dead (in a similar way). He has full power over everything. (Rum, 30:50)

One of the imprints of Allah’s Mercy is mentioned as follows:

Allah is He Who sends forth the merciful winds, so that they set clouds to move, and We drive them towards a dead land and (thereby) We revive the earth after its death (with the rain carried in the clouds by the wind). Even so will the Resurrection be. (Fatir, 35:9)

The verses in the Qur’an tell us that the resurrection which we have difficulty to understand is that easy. It is as easy as the revival of the earth with the cloud’s bringing rain. As a matter of fact this occurs again and again every year, and we observe it. The universe is actually full of these examples of resurrection as long as we look around us from this perspective.

Having perfectly read the book of universe Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi interprets the verse “He Who has made for you fire from the green tree, and see, you kindle fire with it.” (Yasin, 36:80) as follows:

“Oh you who deny resurrection! Look at the trees! One Who raises to life and makes green in spring numberless trees which are dead in winter and like bones, and in each single tree even shows three examples of resurrection through the leaves, blossoms, and fruit – the Power of such a One cannot be challenged with denial or considering resurrection improbable. And it cannot be considered unlikely of the One Who demonstrates that none of these is independent and acts of its own accord that He should raise man from the earth once again, who was made from earth and later returned to the earth. He may not be challenged with rebellion.” (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The 25^th Word) Because when our Lord wills a thing to be, He but says to it “Be!” and (in the self-same instant) it is. (Yasin, 36:82)

The  issue of qadar (fate) and human free will and their reconciliation with each other is one of the most challenging issue of history of theology of not only Islam but all religions. Imam Nursi’s approach to issue clarifies why it has been an essential and indispensable component of Islamic Creed.

Throughout the Islamic history, only one of the pillars of Islamic Creed has been discussed by Muslim scholars and that is the belief of fate. The Jabariyah (Necessitarians) school has denied the human will by attributing everything to fate. On the other hand, Mu’tazilah school has refused the existence of fate and said ‘human creates his own actions’. However, the Sunni school of Islam has accepted the existence of fate and they have said human has a free will, and he chooses the good and evil through this will and after man makes his free choice, Allah (SWT) creates the actions. From this aspect, the Sunni school of Islam has has made a combination of free will and fate which is a true path between the Mu’tazilah and Jabariyah.

The idea of Jabariyah, since it is contradictory to the shariah and reason, has not maintained. However, discussions about belief of fate among the Mu’tazilah and Sunni schools of Islam hold an important place in the Islamic Intellectual history. Throughout the centuries, the argument about fate between Mu’tazilah and Sunni Islam has remained popular.

The Sunni school of Islam has argued that the belief of fate is a pillar of Islamic Creed and tried to prove this argument through rational and documental evidences opposing the Mu’taziah which rejects the concept of fate. But none of the scholars has explained why the fate is discussed among the matters of faith. It is probable that if an explanation was put forth like Imam Bediuzzaman’s, those discussions would turn into agreement; at least, they would be considerably reduced.

The reason  why the fate is among the pillars of belief

A different apect of Imam Bediuzzaman from the classic time ‘kalam (Islamic theology)’ scholars

about the fate is his explanation about the inclusion of the fate in the pillars of faith.

As is known, the fate  (qadar) is that Allah knows every event that will happen to us with his pre eternal knowledge; and writes on ‘lawh’al mahfuz’. And, the qadha is realization of the recorded events when their time is up. Qadar is determined by Allah’s will and knowledge; qadha is determined through His limitless power. From this point of view, it can be said that belief of Allah’s pre-eternal knowledge, His divine will and infinite power requires also belief of fate. So, it seems that the belief of fate, as an distinctive issue, is something redundant. However, indeed, it is necessary. Belief of fate has a characteristic which affects and guides human nature, morals and behaviours.

Imam Bediuzzaman says at the very beginning of Fate Treatise:

“Divine Determining and the power of choice are aspects of a belief pertaining to state and conscience which show the final limits of Islam and belief; they are not theoretical and do not pertain to knowledge. That is to say, a believer attributes everything to Almighty Allah, even his actions and self, till finally the power of choice confronts him, so he cannot evade his obligation and responsibility. It tells him: ‘You are responsible and under obligation.’ Then, so that he does not become proud at his good deeds and his achievements, Divine Determining confronts him, saying: ‘Know your limits; the one who does them is not you.’ Yes, Divine Determining and the power of choice are at the final degrees of belief and Islam; the former has been included among the matters of belief to save the soul from pride, and the latter, to make it admit to its responsibility.”

There are some statements which need explanation in this paragraph of Imam. They are as follows:

The expression belonging to Imam which is “Divine Determining and the power of choice are aspects of a belief pertaining to state and conscience” is misunderstood by some people and they have said: ’Qadar cannot be comprehended rationally, and it cannot be proven, it only can be felt by conscience, and then, is accepted.’ However, the Imam is trying to find an answer to the question ‘Why is the qadar one of the pillars of belief?’, not to the question ‘Can the qadar be proven?’ The qadar is not a truth which cannot be proven rationally and documentarily. Quite the contrary, it can be proven rationally and documentarily. The Qur’anic verses and hadithes of Prophet Muhammad are abundant and they are enough to prove the qadar documentarily.  Also, the Imam says ‘the evidences about qadar are so many that they cannot be counted or calculated’ in the Treatise of Qadar (26th Word, The Words) and he rationally proves and explains divine determining.

Imam Nursi, by the expression ’the qadar is pertaining to state and conscience’,  states that belief of fate is not theoretical but practical, is not related to the past and the future but is related to the present state. In other words, a believer has to make preferences in every state, and he always asks the question ‘Shall I do, or not? Shall I choose the good or the evil?’ to himself. He has to decide himself what to do through his conscience. The reason why he asks that question is his belief of fate, because he is obliged to prefer the good and avoid the evil. If he does good deeds, he will take rewards and vice versa.

The good is attributed to Allah (SWT) and the evil is attributed to the man

Imam Bediuzzaman, says it is necessary to attribute the good deeds to the fate, and the bad actions to our free will according to following verse ‘Whatever good, (O man!) happens to you is from Allah; but whatever evil happens to you is from yourself’ (Nisa, 4:79); he says that for this reason divine determining and the power of choice have already been among the pillars of belief.

A question may come to mind here:

While evils are attributed to our free will, why are good deeds attributed to the fate? Isn’t it necessary to attribute both to our free will?

The Answer: The Imam claims that good deeds, since they are positive and related to creation, should be attributed to the fate; and evils and sins should be attributed to our power of choice since they are negative and sort of destruction. Consider  the following analogy to comprehend the issue better:

Imagine that a merchant ship, on which a hundred people are working, moves from Istanbul to Cairo with its commercial products and gets a profit of 100 thousand dollars. When the helmsman of the ship says ‘If it was not for me, this ship couldn’t reach to Cairo and that much of profit couldn’t be made; so 99% of the profit should be mine.’; all other workers of the ship will object and say ‘We too worked here as much as you. If it was not for us, you too couldn’t bring the ship here. So we must divide the profit into 100 equal parts, only one percent can be yours.’

On the way of returning back, the helmsman gets drunk and causes the sink of the ship and he says ‘We divided the profit into 100 parts, so we should divide the loss also into 100 parts’. His worker friends will say ‘We divided the profit because everyone of us worked for that profit. But here the only responsible for the loss is you, because we all did our duty but you didn’t; because of your fault we get into disaster. Therefore 100% of the guilt and loss is yours.’

Just like this example, human body is like a ship. His power of choice is like the helmsman of this ship. In order for an action to happen the human power of choice has a big role but it is not enough for an action to happen. For the performance of an action, together with our free will, also all our organs, limbs and senses have roles. The creator of our limbs, organs, senses and the actions produced by them is Allah (SWT). Among these, what has not been created and attributed to the human is only our free will.

If human uses his free will for good things and he causes the good to happen, his role on this good is only 1%, just like in abovementioned analogy.

As Imam Nursi says, “What wants and requires the good deeds is Divine mercy, and what creates them is dominical power. Both request and reply, reason and cause, are from Allah (SWT). Man only comes to have them through supplication, belief, consciousness, and consent”

Since his involvement in formation of the good is very little, he does not have any right to be proud of that. We can compare these practices to all other qualities and perfections.

On the other hand, if a person uses his free will for evil and causes evil to happen, all the guilt belongs to him, simply like the helmsman who sinks the merchant ship.

Because evil things and sins are sort of destruction. Although evil actions are being created by Allah (SWT), since this creation is depended on man’s wish, the responsibility belongs to man. From this perspective, the creation of evil is not evil; but demanding, committing, and gaining evil is evil. Because of this reason, all the guilt belongs to the man.

However, today those who do not know the reason why the fate and power of choice are among the pillars of belief, present the reverse of this fact; they take goodness and perfection for themselves and attribute the evils and sins to the fate.

We are going to conclude this issue by quoting some paragraphs from Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi as follows:

“If the one speaking of Divine Determining and the power of choice has perfect belief and is aware of the Divine presence, he attributes the universe and himself to Almighty Allah, knowing them to be under His disposal. He has the right to speak of them. For since he knows himself and everything to be from Almighty Allah, he assumes the responsibility, basing it on his power of choice. He accepts that it is the source of evils and proclaims his Sustainer free of fault. He remains within the sphere of worship and undertakes the obligations with which he is charged by Almighty Allah.

Moreover, he does not become proud at his good deeds and achievements; he rather looks to Divine Determining and offers thanks. He sees Divine Determining in the calamities that befall him, and endures them in patience.

However, if the one speaking of Divine Determining and the power of choice is one of the heedless and neglectful, then he has no right to speak of them. For, impelled by his misguidance, his evil-commanding soul attributes the universe to causes and divides up Allah’s property among them. And he attributes the ownership of himself to himself. He ascribes his acts to himself and to causes. His responsibility and faults, he refers to Divine Determining.

He will finally ascribe the power of choice to Almighty Allah, and he will consider Divine Determining last of all; thus discussion of them becomes meaningless. To discuss them is only a trick of the soul which is entirely contrary to the wisdom in them, in order to save such a person from responsibility.”

As a work on the philosophy of naturalism’s pitfalls and fallacies, the Treatise on Nature of Imam Nursi is very effective in revealing the inner workings of this intellectually poisonous ideology.

When Bediuzzaman went to Ankara in November 1922, he noticed that an appalling idea of irreligion was spreading in the parliament and that there was a secret plot against the very foundations of belief. Ziya Gokalp, an ideologue of the modern Turkish Republic, was one of the people who was working privately to spread these irreligious ideas. Said Nursi mentioned a debate between them in the Index Treatise:

“30 years ago in a gathering in Ankara, an extreme atheist, Ziya Gökalp, lost the debate against the Second Word (from Risale-i Nur) and he could not even answer back.”

Said Nursi described the dire things he witnessed in Ankara as follows:

“I went to Ankara in 1338 AH (1922 AD). I realized that an very terrible irreligious ideology was working to spoil and poison the faith of Muslims, while they were enjoying the victory of the Islamic army over the Greece. ‘Alas!’ said I. ‘This dragon is going to attack the tenets of faith.’” (The Flashes, 185)

In order to confront that intrigue of irreligious thought, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi consulted the Qur’an, and being inspired he wrote an Arabic treatise titled Zayl az-Zayl; and then published it in 1923 in Ankara. Later, in 1934, Said Nursi translated Zayl az-Zayl into Turkish and named it The Treatise on Nature.

Based on the Quranic verse “Can there be any doubt about (the Existence, Oneness, and Absolute Sovereignty of) Allah?” (Ibrahim, 14:10) Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi proved in this treatise how unreasonable the idea that “Nature makes everything” is, which is the keystone of all their thoughts. His method of proving this is truly great here. First he draws our attention to the ongoing creation around us. There are four different ways of thinking about how these wonderful beings exist:

1-      A being comes into existence by itself

2-      It exists by the effects of various causes

3-      Nature makes it

4-      It is created by a Divine Creator

The method that Said Nursi used here is first to prove the impossibility of the first three ideas and that there is no possibility other than the fourth option, the creation of a Creator. Then he proved the oneness of the Creator without a doubt by manifesting that it is a rational obligation that the creation of the things must only be attributed to Allah (SWT). Said Nursi expressed the success of this treatise as follows:

“It puts the idea of the irreligion (naturalistic atheism) to death with no chance of revival, and totally shatters the foundation stones of unbelief.” (The Flashes, 185)

The Treatise on Nature shows the ninety impossibilities under nine titles, and proves that beings cannot come into existence by themselves; they cannot exist coincidentally by means of the elements like earth, water, air, fire and light; and they cannot be created by the law of nature which does not materially exist, because creation of a living being from the cell and its sub-particles to the whole body is the result of such complex and difficult operations that only a limitless knowledge, will and power can carry out. The need for limitless knowledge, will and power show that only Allah (SWT) can do it. These wonderful creations cannot be the products of lifeless, powerless, and unconscious coincidental causes and natural laws.

A few of the impossibilities which the Treatise on Nature depicts for us can be indicated as follows:

- Reason cannot comprehend that the medicines in a pharmacy, which are made up with highly delicate scales, could be formed by the random spilling of phials containing chemical ingredients coincidentally without the intervention of a pharmacist. Just in the same way, without a Creator, for living beings which have more complex body structures to come into being simply by means of the coming together of elements such as air, water and earth is even more incomprehensible.

- It is not possible for the bricks of a great and beautifully decorated palace which is to be renovated to place themselves without the intervention of an architect, or for this magnificent palace to change into a new form. Just in the same way, the body of a living being, whose cells and atoms and parts are renewed and developed and changed in a harmonious way, cannot conduct all these activities on its own. There must be a Creator to run all these works.

-It is nonsensical to claim that the establishment and running of a wonderful palace which has lots of rooms filled with excellent antiquities and decorated with spectacular embroideries is conducted by the principles which are recorded in the scheme book which shows how the palace needs to be built. In the same way, it is more nonsensical to expect that the formation and running of the wonderful palace of the universe is conducted by natural laws, because those laws neither have life nor consciousness. Thus, there must be a great master who has limitless power, knowledge and will and who created this immense universe with the scales of those rules and runs it by installing them in it, and this master is Allah (SWT).

As can be seen in these three analogies, the Treatise on Nature shows by means of clear evidence that all the options for explaining the formation of beings by other than Allah’s creating them are proved to be impossible, and otherwise we are going to come to accept nonsense conclusions.

With this treatise Imam Nursi has completely refuted the philosophy of naturalism, which is the basis of the irreligious ideas which have been emanating from Europe to the world for the last two centuries. We believe that anyone who has doubts that Allah created the universe and all the things in it will be completely persuaded and satisfied if he reads this treatise.

Islamic non-governmental organizations should develop projects for enhancing the mechanisms of appropriate promotion and efficient representation in every field and on every topic of Islam in the fight against Islamophobia.

ISLAMOPHOBIA: A THREAT OR AN OPPORTUNITY?

Islamophobia is a compound word formed from the Greek word ‘phobia’, which means ‘baseless fear’, and Islam. Their combination together in one word is daunting, and the reality has become one of the gravest threats of our times. Unless it is defined properly and fought against with a strategic action plan, this relatively recent ‘phobia’, which was formed with an image of Islam through the effects of anti-Islamic political actions, publications and broadcastings in the press and other media, and even in productions of literature and art, may be interpreted as indicative of even bigger challenges.

Today, in a time when it is impossible for anything to remain local when the necessary conditions are provided and transactions are applied, threats like Islamophobia may be transformed into opportunities. The most efficient way of achieving this goal is to at least  conduct actions which are as systematic, extensive, appropriate and sustainable as the actions of those who are inciting this fictitious fear.

Regarding this issue, the vital tasks fall to the civil society institutions which take their strength from the society, whose activities reflect on it and whose relations with society are much stronger than those of the state bureaucracy. It is possible to analyze these tasks under three headings: ‘Appropriate Promotion’; ‘Efficient Representation’ and ‘Advocacy of Rights’.

1 – APPROPRIATE PROMOTION

When the surveys and publications on Islamophobia are analyzed carefully, it may be readily inferred that lack of appropriate information on Islam plays a significant role in the instigating of Islamophobic policies and the publications of anti-Islamic centres. There are important studies indicating that this ‘ignorance’ and the resulting ‘biases’ or ‘preconceived opinions’ are extremely widespread, not only in non-Muslim countries, but also in Islamic countries.

A reason for this situation, which may also be explained by referring to the shortcomings of da’wa institutions, is the inappropriate promotion of Islam or the inability to determine and establish ‘appropriate promotion’ mechanisms and methods.

An appropriate promotion level which may be provided through the interpretation of the truths of Islam and the Qur’anic and prophetic messages, in a way which is suitable to the necessities of the age and the understanding of the people of the age, and through efficient use of the media of the age will be the best antidote to Islamophobic thoughts and actions, as long as it encompasses all strata of the society and has a power which does not leave a vacuum.

When the civil society organizations which focus their attention on da’wa/tabligh (propagating Islam) have appropriate promotion systems, whether in Islamic or non-Islamic countries, they will leave no room for Islamophobic policies and actions, and will overshadow them. When the flexible and efficient civil society organizations with greater room for manoeuvring and shorter decision-making mechanisms are combined with appropriate methods and a volunteering spirit, the results will far exceed the intellectual and physical effort expended. It has been observed that it is the organizations which are focusing on just one particular issue and one group of society that are having the most success, rather than the civil society organizations which are conducting da’wa activities in all fields and for all strata of society, this may be because we live in an age that favours specialization.

2 – EFFICIENT REPRESENTATION

It is obvious that today the Islamic world has a representation problem in just about every sphere of life. The representation problem in the fields of science, art, media, economy, politics and religion is a bitter consequence of the artificial alienation and disunity between Islamic countries and communities.

Although the establishment of strong institutions and the emergence of influential figures in the aforementioned fields sometimes seems to repair this problem, these are only temporary or partial solutions, which do not totally remove the problem. The weakness of civil and bureaucratic institutions, the waste of energy and resources brought by disunity and lack of cooperation, and most importantly the unfortunate inability to develop capacity, as well as the lack of institutional progression caused by the absence of the necessary level of sharing experiences, may be mentioned as factors responsible for this problem.

The efficiency of representation is as important as its legitimacy. Recognition or election of a representative institution or figure by society is not enough; they need to have the capacity and mechanism to be worthy representatives of  the people and ideas that they represent.

It is vital that non-governmental organizations which are in an interactive relationship with society pay close attention to the task of efficient representation. The mere worth of the values in themselves is not enough to transfer them to the other communities. It is necessary to establish appropriate promotion and efficient representation mechanisms proportionate to the worth and strength of the values.

Islamophobic crises have caused us to see the problem of representation more clearly. The lack of efficient representative institutions which are able to both prevent Islamophobic publications and broadcastings before any crisis occurs, and provide legitimate protests to stay within a legitimate framework after a crisis, put the Islamic world in the position of the accused, while in fact they are often in the right.

3 – ADVOCACY OF RIGHTS

Islamophobia and the ideas, publications, policies, as well as the legal regulations and social reaction caused by these elements, which are result of anti-Islamic feeling and which feed into Islamophobia, offend and disturb the Muslims, contravene their basic human rights, restrain their living space and disrupt their social status.

The existence and professionalism of civil society organizations which are established in order to advocate the rights of Muslims whose rights and honour have been violated, and who are offended and discriminated against and affected by Islamophobic practices and publications, and who struggle in the political and legal arena as a result, is an issue which has vital importance in the fight against Islamophobia and anti-Islamism.

The number and quality of those kinds of Islamic non-governmental organizations which work for advocacy of the rights and struggle against discrimination is still quite minimal, both in Islamic and non-Islamic countries. Working for the advocacy of rights against these kinds of discrimination, which is thought to be more widespread in countries where Muslims are a minority, but contrarily is also quite widespread in Islamic countries, is extremely difficult, risky and demands professionalism.

An important feature of Muslim non-governmental organizations which struggle for advocacy of human rights, which increases their strength and efficiency, is that their ‘civil’ aspect is strong and they are remarkably closed to political manipulations. Although this is the case for every organization, it is more effectual for organizations which work for human rights.

CONCLUSION

Although legal regulations are a disincentive and impediment to an extent, they are not the formula for a permanent, effective and ongoing solution. In the struggle against Islamophobia and anti-Islamism, important duties fall to the civil society organizations, as much as political circles, governments and media which they have the capability to influence.

Carrying out these tasks, which were analyzed under the three headings above, entails well-researched projects. Today, unfortunately, the Islamic world has not yet produced a project which is able to influence the whole world in the struggle against Islamophobia. For that reason, what we see are only reflex reactions, and since the projects that have been developed are not yet strong and successful enough, the effect of these projects is only limited and temporary.

In fact, the Islamic world is experiencing a great scarcity of projects in this field. The non-governmental organizations should develop projects for enhancing the mechanisms of appropriate promotion and efficient representation in every field and on every topic of Islam, such as the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet (PBUH). The powerful business and investment circles in the Islamic world should support these kinds of projects, and programs for the training of qualified manpower to take charge of these projects. In addition, the governments and communities of the Islamic world should encourage the establishment and strengthening of institutions which will work for the advocacy of human rights and fight against discrimination.

As long as the non-governmental organizations will take on their responsibilities in these fields, and back up their work with appropriate methods and means, we have every hope that Islamophobia will be weakened.

Nationalism and ethnic conflicts is one of the most grieving agonies that the Islamic world is experiencing. The position of Islam on the issue needs to be highlighted and stressed clearly.

“O humankind! Surely We have created you from a single (pair of) male and female, and made you into tribes and families so that you may know one another (and so build mutuality and co-operative relationships, not so that you may take pride in your differences of race or social rank, or breed enmities).” (Hujurat, 49:13)

We can explain the principles of the knowing each other, mutuality and cooperation based on Risale-i Nur commentary which this verse expresses as follows:

We know that an army is divided into corps, divisions, legions, battalions, brigades, sections, teams and squads so that the relations and duties of every soldier are recognized and known. By that way, the individuals in this army carry out a true duty by following the principle of solidarity for their state. By this means the community life is guarded from onslaught of enemy. Otherwise, the divisions in army are not for a division to compete with the others or a battalion to nurture hostile feelings for the others.

Just in the same way, the Islamic community is like a great army which is divided into different nations and ethnicities. There are more than one thousand common values which bind these nations in this army with each other such as their creator (Khaliq), The All Provider (Ar Razzaq) and all Most Beautiful Names of Allah (SWT) and His messenger and holy book and Qiblah. All these common values require the fraternity and love, unity and togetherness of Muslims.

Thus, division of Muslims into nations serves to knowing each other and solidarity which the verse above announces and it is not for rejection and enmity.

Ruining the bonds of love, unity, togetherness and fraternity of religion among Muslims because of unimportant reasons equals to disregarding all these bonds of unity and holding unimportant causes above faith and Islam which are uniting factors and it is disrespectfulness and carelessness for these values.

Unfortunately, the idea of nationalism is widespread today. Especially, the deceptive Western powers employ these nationalistic feelings to manipulate Muslims so that, at the end, they could disintegrate and destabilize these communities. In addition to the fact that there are many historical records to verify that concern, the current miserable situation of Iraq is a teaching example for those who are still sensitive about these issues. They avoid resolving the problems among themselves which equals to bite of a fly and by that way they throw themselves into the mouths of snakes and dragons by inviting their enemies to their countries. They did the evil to themselves which their enemies will not. We need to be more careful in order not to be deceived by the luring games of our enemies.

There are two kinds of idea of nationalism. One is a negative nationalism which is indeed racism which Islam does not condone. This kind of nationalism is evil and harmful. It gets strengthened by swallowing the others. It feeds on the other nations. This kind of nationalism leads to disunity and chaos. For that reason it has been stated in a hadith as follows:

It means Islam has rooted away and abolished asabiyyah (racism) in the time of ignorance which is the period of polytheism and heresy.” (Bukhari, ahkam, 4)

“The one who invites to racism is not one of us” (Abu Dawud)

“The one who fights for racism is not one of us” (Abu Dawud)

“The one who dies seeking racial superiority is not one of us” (Abu Dawud)

The scholars have said as follows about these hadiths: “What is meant with asabiyyah (racism) is one’s favouring his tribe whether it is deserved or undeserved. Since favouring in an undeserved position is haram (illegal) if anyone considers this haram action as halal (legal) he loses his religion. If he goes on practicing it, knowing that it is haram this makes him a performer of a big sin and that means that he does not follow the path of the Prophet straightforwardly.”

The Prophet (PBUH) said: “The most blessed of you is one who defends his tribe to encourage them practice Islam unless they commit a sin.” (Abu Dawud)

The Qur’an says:

“When those who disbelieved harboured in their hearts fierce zealotry (coming from egotism, tribalism, and feuding), the zealotry particular to the Age of Ignorance, Allah sent down His (gift of) inner peace and reassurance on His Messenger and on the believers, and bound them to the Word of faith, piety, and reverence for Allah. They were most worthy of it and entitled to it. And Allah has full knowledge of everything.” (Fath, 48:26)

Now, the hadiths and verse above reject strictly the idea of negative nationalism and racism because the second kind of nationalism which is glorified Islamic nationalism suffices to all Muslims.

Yes, which tribe or nation does have 1.5 billion members? And, does that idea of nationalism gain anybody such a great number of brothers and sisters?

May not Allah make us defeated to our sentiments and make us follow and practice the Truth.

In the face of regime’s oppression Risale-i Nur movement has adopted the positive attitude as a way of existence and performing service to faith.

The positive attitude in Risale-i Nur movement can be defined briefly as follows: To carry out our service without causing chaos, anarchy or violence, infringing the security and rights of other people and focusing on our duty with patience and endurance without being persistent about the results which are determined by will of Allah (SWT). Positive attitude means to establish the peaceful and safe atmosphere in which people are persuaded with free thinking and dialogue. Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi explains this subject in the following way: “(In conventional classic wars), an external attack is retaliated by force because the properties and offspring of the enemy are regarded as the spoils of war. However, the case for interior issues is not the same. The action plan for the interior issues is to act against the spiritual, moral and religious deterioration sincerely with positive and intellectual methods. Activism for religious and moral causes is dealt with differently than the jihad with conventional methods against the external attacks. Now, Allah (SWT) has granted me millions of true disciples. We are going to act positively with intention of protecting order and safety in public life with all our strength. For today, the difference between jihad against external attacks and activism for religious causes is immense.”

Though Imam Bediuzzaman had a character which could not stand insult and bullying and was ready to sacrifice his life unblinkingly for dignity of Islam, he responded to insults, oppression and psychological tortures which were aimed to provoke him with patience and positive attitude in order to run the mission of protecting the faith safely in his second period of life called New Said but again with protecting the dignity of Islam. His following statement is a good witness to this conclusion: “My nature does not endure abasement and insult. Dignity and honour of Islam prevents me definitely being in such a situation. If I get into such a situation I do not care who I am faced, even if he is the cruellest tyrant or a bloodthirsty commander of enemy, I shout out his cruelty and oppression to his face. He may throw me into prison or send me to the gallows, it doesn’t matter.” In spite of this independent character of his, he even did not curse those who had persecuted him and wish their damnation and he declared that he would not seek re-compensation for his rights in the judgement day. Anti-religionist authorities distressed and tried to provoke Imam Nursi in a lot of ways so that he would react negatively and by that way they would find the opportunity and excuse to destroy him. Imam relates these events as follows: “The authorities try my patience and make me fed up. My endurance and not getting involved with worldly matters already annoys them. They nearly say “why does he not interfere with these issues? He should do, so that we can touch him.”

Imam Nursi did not get agitated by provocations and he acted positively and by that way he invalidated the authorities’ plots. He always used to suggest his students to work for faith and religion with sincerity and patience. He said, “You should not lead to damage of hundreds of people by your reckless actions”. For that reason, in spite of all those strict persecutions, not any kind of reaction came from Imam and his disciples. In spite of all those negative propaganda made through press and radio, not any kind of news report was heard which was informing the Risale-i Nur students got involved with any kind of crime.

THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE PRINCIPLES IN THE RISALE-I NUR SERVICE

1. Any follower of any path may say (in terms of not reviling at the other paths), “my path is righteous one” but he cannot say “the only righteous path is mine” implying that the other paths are wrong.

2. Feeling love and interest for our path but staying away from animosity towards the other paths.

3. Carrying out our duty instead of focusing on successful results which is determined by Allah’s will. It is Allah’s will which will make us successful or not. We are obliged to perform our duties and it is to serve to faith within the frameworks of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

4. In line with the principle which is “the man does wrong but the fate imposes justice”, we need to take precautions against the evil actions of people but we should be content with the ruling of the fate with patience and gratitude considering that the troubles and evils that we are involved with are the result of will of Allah. We should focus on mercy, wisdom and justice aspects of the events.

5. Avoiding disorder among Muslims and establishing safety in the society and bearing nuisances for that reason.

6. We should invite non-Muslims to Islam with a positive attitude but while doing this we should not make concessions for our religion for the sake of ingratiating ourselves into their favour. Imam Nursi says as follows regarding this issue: “Do not get closer to Westerners with concessions and emulation in religious issues because the valley between us is quite deep. You cannot establish a meeting point by filling this deep valley. Either you have to join them or you lose your destination and go astray. (Mathnawi Nuriya)

7. We should unite and avoid conflicts with the other groups within Islam in the face of irreligion and we should focus on common values.

8. We should give up competitive feelings and egotism for the sake of dignity of righteousness.

9. We should be supportive of Muslims’ benefiting from every kind of Islamically legal and appropriate sources.

10.All what you say should be true but it is not right to say all what is true in every circumstances because sometimes it provokes some people and makes counter effect. For that reason, we should determine what to say, how to say and when to say.

11. We should be calm in the face of untrue and inappropriate claims. In those situations, we should keep our temper and should not try to refute the figures that the claimers cherish.

12. We should not seek vengeance for those who have hostile feelings for us and wish guidance for them.

The following recommendation of Imam Nursi regarding this item is remarkable: “Many of my students had to suffer a lot of persecution along with me. They were tormented a lot. I request them to relinquish their rights in the judgement day because they served our cause and the spreading of the truths of faith without conceiving deep manifestations of divine will. Our duty is to wish guidance for them. I suggest my students not to carry any slightest desire of vengeance in their hearts for those who persecuted us and instead work for the Risale-i Nur with loyalty and obedience. (Emirdag Appendix)

Imam Bediuzzaman was addressing to those who put him in prisons and exile for the service that he did to the Qur’an as follows:

“I have just one purpose. That is; I have been hearing the sounds of Bolshevik owls in this country which is a land of Islam in a time when I am approaching to death. These sounds give damage to the essentials of faith of Islamic world. They enchain the people, especially the youth, by making them faithless. I am inviting the youth and Muslims into faith by struggling with those anarchists with all I have. I would like to go into the presence of Allah (SWT) with this struggle. That is all I do. Those who want to prevent me from what I do must only be the Bolsheviks. Set me free. Let us serve all together to the rehabilitation of the youth poisoned by communism, to the faith of the country and to the unity of Allah (SWT).”

The Risale-i Nur students act positively

[This is the last sermon that Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi delivered to his disciples before his decease.]

My honourable brothers!

Our duty is to act positively, not negatively. And, it is to serve to faith to get the pleasure of Allah (SWT) and submit His will. We are obliged to show patience and gratitude for every kind of trouble in service to faith which results in public order.

I would like to give my experience as an example: I have not submitted to tyranny and insolence since my youth. Many events in my life prove that I cannot bear tyranny. For example, I did not come to my feet when the commander came in to inspect when I was in Russia as a prisoner. In another one, I disregarded the questions of pashas in the military court when I was faced with death sentence and also this careless attitude of me towards four mighty commanders after independence war of Turkey shows my disregard of tyranny. But, for thirty years, in the name of acting positively and not involving the will of Allah; I have responded to persecutions carried out against me with patience and contentment. I resisted them with patience and contentment like Prophet Gergis (peace be upon him) and the companions in the battles of Badr and Uhud.

For example; I did not wish damnation for the false accusations of a public prosecutor whose eighty one mistakes I found and declared in the court because what matters is the spiritual and intellectual jihad of today that we are performing and to prevent the spiritual damage that it inflicts. By that way, we are aiming to contribute to ensuring public order with all we have. Yes, there is strength in our cause but this strength is for ensuring the public order. By depending on the principle which is that “No soul, as bearer of burden, is made to bear the burden of another” (Isra’, 17:15) I have been trying to ensure the public order through all my life. This strength can’t be used for internal purpose but it can be employed against external intervention. Our duty is to help the public order to be ensured domestically. For that reason, the civil wars have been rare in the Islamic history and if it was, it was caused by difference of interpretation. The biggest prerequisite of spiritual jihad is not to question the will of Allah.

I have learned from the Qur’an Just like Jalal ad-Din Khwarezm Shah that my duty is performing the service for faith; it is Allah’s will to make me successful or not.

(In conventional classic wars), an external attack is retaliated by force because the properties and offspring of the enemy are regarded as the spoils of war. However, the case for interior issues is not the same. The action plan for the interior issues is to act against the spiritual, moral and religious deterioration sincerely with positive and intellectual methods. Activism for religious and moral causes is dealt with differently than the jihad with conventional methods against the external attacks. Now, Allah (SWT) has granted me millions of true disciples. We are going to act positively with intention of protecting order and safety in public life with all our strength. For today, the difference between jihad against external attacks and activism for religious causes is immense.

We are not interested in world life. When we deal with worldly matters we intend to help people. We are helping to ensure the public order. Because of these facts, we should condone even if they torture us.

(Kastamonu Appendix)

A new issue, new themes and a fresh enthusiasm…

It is a good news that we are at the eve of the three blessed months of Islamic calender. The sacred and spiritual aura of three months will engulf our souls soon and we will have more opportunities to perform prayers and good deeds which will make us closer to Allah (SWT). These three months are a time period in which there are spiritually beautiful moments through which we can find a channel to develop our spirituality. One of these moments is the event of Mi’raj which the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) performed during a single night around the year 621.

The realization of Mi’raj and details about it are told in authentic hadith collections and later commentaries of Islamic scholars and mujtahids. In this 18^th issue of The Pen magazine, we have decided to take a different perspective on the event of Mi’raj.

It is a truth that new discoveries in modern physics altered our perspectives on science and how we should evaluate the relations between material beings. Especially Einstein’s theory of special and general relativity and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle shook deeply our conceptions of time and space and old static perception of universe. Extending and shrinking space, accelerating and slowing hours and the principles of uncertainty and probability made us confront the fact that the reality is not unique. The more we understand ourselves and the universe that we live in, the more we turn from plurality to unity, from chaos to order and from reductionism to integrity.

Though modern science keeps metaphysical phenomena out of its domain of research and indeed Islam does not necessarily need the endorsement of science to validate its principles, it is very interesting to observe that recent findings in modern physics give clues about the theoretical possibility of the Mi’raj of the Prophet (PBUH). Focusing on the analogy which Imam Nursi uses to explain rationally the event of Mi’raj, the researcher Dr Halil Ibrahim Pirahamedoğlu shows these scientific clues in his article by giving samples from academic and popular sources.

We hope that the 18^th issue of The Pen magazine which also contains many other interesting themes will take your attention and contribute to the expansion of your horizon.

The young man answered, “Since you are a foreigner in this town, let me tell you. I was on my way to Hejaz with my father. He died on the way. I stayed and cried over him without burying him until nightfall. Then I was overwhelmed by the need for sleep and so I slept.

I realized that my father’s face was dark. I shivered from fear whenever I looked at his face. Later, I saw a man approaching us. He was saying salawat while raising and lowering his feet. He approached and uncovered the veil from his face.

He rubbed my father’s face and then his face became pure white. When he was leaving, I ran after him and asked, “Please tell me, who are you?”

He said: “I am Muhammad, the son of Abdullah! Your father was a sinful man, but he used to say much salawat on me when he was alive. I give help in their hard times to those who say salawat on me.”