Bediuzzaman Said Nursi along with offering his treatises for the benefit of humanity without differentiating women or men, he also wrote a book titled “A Guide for Women”.

In order to spread the Risala-i Nur service in Anatolia where it was started in 1926, female Nur students made serious contributions to spread it to 500.000 individuals by 1940. Observing the sacrifices of women with happiness, Master Bediuzzaman expresses how the women students who participate in the Risala-i Nur University by reading and transcribing are included in his dua’s and spiritual gains as the following:

“I decided to include all my sisters, who read and affirm and apply this treatise of me written for them (A Guide for Women) to their lives, in all my prayers and spiritual gains, like other Risala-i Nur students.” (A Guide for Women)

“As the compassion is essential in Risala-i Nur, women are at the advanced level in this aspect and attached to the Nur Treatises (attached to studying the Qur’an truths through Risala-i Nur Tafseer) earnestly. When I say “my siblings” I also intend my blessed sisters amongst them. They are my addressees in all my letters, as well.” (Emirdag Appendix)

WOMEN NATURE IN RISALA-I NUR

The true nature of women and their pure, innocent beauties are intended to be expressed in the best way in Risala-i Nur. In response to the Materialism’s restraining women only to the outer and materialistic beauties, Risala-i Nur attracts the attentions to their “morals” and “virtues” which are the real beauties of the women.

The Real Beauty of the Woman is her Compassion, Purity and Decency

To Bediuzzaman, the affection, one of the most pleasant, beautiful and delightful fruits of the divine mercy, is an enlightening potion and he notes how this particular trait is seen mostly on women as the following:

”Just as in heroism and sincerity women do not resemble men in respect of compassion, so men can in no way be compared with women in that regard.” (A Guide for Women)

“The sweetest beauty of a woman is her tenderness and purity peculiar to her femininity in sensitivity and courtesy, and the priceless and lovely attractiveness of her is the earnest, sincere, sublime and luminous compassion.” (A Guide for Women)

“A proof of this heroism of women with respect to compassion by demanding absolutely no recompense and payment in return and by their sacrificing their very spirits, which bears no meaning of individual benefit and no hypocrisy, is that a hen bearing a tiny sample of that compassion attacks a lion and sacrifices its life for its chicks.” (A Guide for Women)
Women are innocent by nature, they can never catch up with men in vice

“As honorable womankind is the source of high morals by nature, so does the woman almost lack the capacity for worldly pleasures in vice and dissipation. That means, they are a type of blessed creature created to lead happy lives in the family within the boundaries laid by Islam. Allah damn those committees who are trying to corrupt these blessed creatures! And may Allah the Almighty preserve my sisters from the evil of such dissolute wretches. (A Guide for Women)

“Innocent women can in no way be compared with men in vice. Therefore, they are heavily frightened of the strangers, by their natures and impotence.” (A Guide for Women)

Allah created women innocent and with high morals by nature. But nowadays, women are lowered as the symbols of immorality instead of morality. The reason for that is the desire of some dark powers to use women as the most effective weapon for their dark intentions. Inside of the Muslim societies, obscenity is generalized and women with lost-female-identities are formed under the cover of “Activities to Free the Women” by using so many ways to deceive a great deal of innocent Muslim women. As a matter of fact, what is being encouraged under the cover of “freedom” brought them nothing but the immorality and being the slaves of the shopping marketers.

A woman whose nature is uncorrupted doesn’t prefer the great pleasure in which she gets preserving her morality to the taste coming from the sins. The true pleasure for women is to preserve her morality and as to her dignity and honour; it is to provide a basis for the developed societies by raising generations.

Women are Steadfast and are for Haq (The Truth)

Allah created women more delicate and impotent in comparison to men. This delicate creation of them provides them be steadfast in truth and justice. Seeing the intangible Jannah (paradise) hidden inside of the good deeds (Amal-i Salih) and the intangible Jahannam (hell) inside of the sins with the help of their impotence in such a short time, women find the consolation of the hardships coming from the worldly life only in imaan and Islam. They do not seek consolidation in the dissipation by sinking in depths of sins.

“Just as they need the consolation and light (nur) in religion more than anyone; they are in need of the affectionate light of consolation found in religion, and its compliment, compassion, mercy, support, and assistance. Being steadfast is in their natures.” (A Guide for Women)

THE VALUE AND THE DUTY OF THE WOMEN IN THE SOCIETY IN RISALA-I NUR

Women are of the bravery level in compassion which is a nabawi (prophetic) attribution. So, through this heroism of them, their duty in “the deliverance (salamah) of the people’s imaan and moral highness of the society” poses a huge importance. According to Risala-i Nur, women in the last time (akhir zaman) will contribute a lot to the Qur’an and Imaan service with their compassion in the valor level and their developed Imaan.

As the innocent women preserve their imaan, the importance they posses in preserving Islam and in saving the societies imaan is explained in the treatise “A Guide for Women” as the following with a hadith:

“A hadith says: “At the end of time (akhirzaman) stick to the religion “of the elderly women.” That is to say; those compassion heroines, by their sincerity and ikhlaas arising from their compassion, will be a means of saving from the hazards of the hypocritical deviance of those times. They will adhere steadfastly to Islam.” (A Guide for Women)

“Since the self-sacrifice with that compassion expresses the meaning of sacrificing without demanding anything in return, it is of the highest importance at this time. Yes, a mother’s sacrificing herself with demanding nothing in return and sacrificing herself for her child in respect of her duty by nature with a genuine sincerity shows that women are capable of great heroism ( A Guide for Women)

These high moral qualities in women’s nature are so important that if ikhlaas and compassion which are the essence of the ethereal deeds and the Islamic Manners appear properly in Muslim ladies today, they would cause serious achievements and massive felicities.

FAMILY CONCEPT IN RISALA-I NUR

Marriage is a Sunnah. In order to provide it to be maintained in the best way, Master Bediuzzaman gives so many important reminders for the youth about this Sunnah which is corrupted by so many aspects nowadays:

“Each of your homes should be a small Madrasah-i Nuriyah (Nur University) and the centre of knowledge so that this Surmah is fully followed. Your children who are the fruits of the Sunnah-i saniyya may be intercessors for you in the hereafter. And in this world, having the true imaan may they be your true children. Otherwise, as has happened to an extent in this last thirty year-period, if the children are only given the worldly education, these children will be useless for you in this world and in the hereafter will complain about you by asking “why did not you save my imaan?”. Grieving the parents in this way is opposed to the wisdom of the Sunnah.” (A Guide for Women)

“As to one of the essentials of felicity, the marriage (nikah): Yes, what satisfies human’s needs most is the presence of a heart that is equivalent to his heart so that both sides can exchange their love, passion, enthusiasm and be partners in pleasure, helpers and assistants in sorrowful and mournful issues.

Yes; a man indulged in contemplation of something or astonished by something, be it mentally, wants someone to come and share that astonishment and contemplation. The tenderest, the most compassionate of the hearts is the woman heart called “the second part”. But; what grows this superficial and facile friendship intimate and completes the harmony of the soul and friendship and acquaintance is woman’s having no bad character with her chastity and away from nasty defections. (Isharatu’l Ijaaz)

A Qualified family can only be set with a morally upright woman

The shelter and the small world and a kind of paradise of human, especially of the Muslim, is his family life. (A Guide for Women)

Getting married to a woman for her Islamic life-style and a highly up-right moral, a family resembling to paradise can be established. When a woman is married just for her outer beauty, without caring for her religious and moral aspects, only a hell-like family can be obtained. Bediuzzaman reminds the young who get married that a woman having undistorted, pure nature brings the salamah of both worlds.

“The most beautiful and the permanent kind of woman’s outer beauty is her fine conduct (inner beauty) which is particular to her womanhood and compassion. (A Guide for Women)

Allah entrusted women to bring up morally upright, well-qualified, strong and trustworthy generations to compose the base for illuminated, cultural, developed, civilized nations. If woman, doing the internal affairs, covets some other duties leaving or neglecting her own duty, that would both be against her nature and she wouldn’t find any peace in this world. Such a lot of charming businesses done under the label of “socializing” turns out to be heavy for her shoulder to carry alone. Her tender nature would be damaged in the endless tortures of the soul; her delicate heart would always be broken easily. The best peace for a woman is to bring up morally up-right generations acting in the circles of Islam.

“The very basic characteristics of women are their being loyal and trustworthys, since being the director of home affairs, the woman is charged with protecting and preserving all her husband’s property and possessions.” (A Guide for Women)

“Innocent conversations with your innocent children at home are more pleasurable than a hundred cinemas” (A Guide for Women)

“That is to say, they are, each, some kinds of blessed creatures created to lead happy lives in the family within the bounds laid down by Islam.” (A Guide for Women)

Marriage means choosing your life partner for the eternal life

Master Bediuzzaman reminds that the most essential principal between a husband and wife in a marriage which means “choosing the ever-lasting life partner” is being appropriate in terms of religious and moral issues:

“No man of sense can build his love and affection for his wife on her fleeting, superficial beauty of five to ten years. He should build his love on her inner beauty and compassion which are the most permanent and best of beauty and particular to womanhood. In that way, when this unfortunate advances in years, the love of her husband will persist.” (A Guide for Women)

“This time is not like it used to be. For nearly half a century now, the wicked worldly education of this time resides in our society and Islamic education have been replaced by it, while a man should take a wife to be his companion in the afterlife as well as to help him catch the felicity of this life and preserve him from sinning, he loves the wretched, impotent woman only in her youth He piles her difficulties perhaps ten times greater than the ease of life he gives her. And if they are not compatible with each other, in Shari ‘a it is called “kufw’,” she spends her life in misery since the rulings of the Shari ‘a are ignored. Then if the jealousy also resides in this marriage, the situation would even be worse.” (A Guide for Women)

Bediuzzaman reminds the woman unable to find the appropriate spouse in terms of religious and moral as the following:

“O my sisters! Rather than entering under the domination of a dissolute, immoral, westernized husband due to struggles of living, try to economize and earn your own livelihood as the innocent peasant women do with the frugality and contentment which resides in your natures.” (A Guide for Women)

Unhappy the man who follows his wife sinking in the depths of sin, does not try to make her give it up, but joins her. And unhappy the woman who, seeing her husband’s sinfulness, follows him in another way. And alas for the wife and husband who are assisting one another in throwing each other into the Fire. That is, who are encouraging one another to embrace the evils of civilized nations.” (A Guide for Women)

JOB OF MATERNITY IN THE RISALA-I NUR TREATISES

Allah’s Apostle pointed out the importance of parents in child education with the following hadith: “Allah’s Apostle said, “Every child is born with a true faith of Islam (i.e. to worship none but Allah Alone) but his parents convert him to Judaism, Christianity or Magainism”.

The role of “mothers” loom large in child education, because women are the symbols of the next generation. There is a well known saying: “Who brings up a male, brings up a man, but who brings up a woman, brings up a generation”.

The most effective teacher is “Mother”

It attracts attention in Risala-i Nur that the very first and effective teacher of the human is his mother. Allah bestowed upon the women such a holy duty as “Motherhood”. No matter how old a man is, all the lessons and education he takes throughout his life is based on the education given by mum. The sense of humanity and showing mercy which are the signs of humanity are learned fundamentally from the behaviors of their mothers.

The first and most effective teacher of the person is his/her mother. Allah bestowed females a sacred duty as maternity. A person, no matter what age he reaches, builds the knowledge he has got so far and will get onto the education he gets from his mother. For example, Humanity firstly learns the important lessons such as the most essential signs of the humanity have pity, show mercy, have compassion from his mother’s conducts.

“The first master and most influential teacher of man is his mother.” (A Guide for Women)

“I am, in my eighty-year-old age and having received lessons from eighty thousand people, swearing that the truest and most unshakeable lessons I have received are those spiritually inculcated in me by my late mother, which are always refreshing themselves for me. They were planted in my nature as though they were seeds planted in my physical being. I observe that other instruction I have received has been constructed on thoconstructed on those seeds.” (A Guide for Women)

“Yes, by misusing the compassion of motherhood which bears genuine sincerity and self-sacrifice and by not taking the situation of the child in the hereafter which is a treasury of diamonds into account and to turn his innocent face towards this world, which is like temporary, transient fragments of glass, and showing her compassion to him in that way, is to misuse that compassion.” (A Guide for Women)

It is not healthy for a nation to promise prosperity when a woman, who is mother, starts his maternity job having no education and no knowledge about her job and without learning the true nature of his job. It must not be forgotten that a child who doesn’t have the healthy Islamic and moral education from his family will undergo so much hardship in his life about correcting his mistakes on moral aspects. For a person who is dealing only with positive sciences having no spiritual aspects and kept away from religion to practice Islam when he grows up would be hard as a non-Muslim’s embracing Islam.

“Especially if he realizes that his parents are not religious and if his mind is behaved only by the worldly education, it will be even more foreign to him” (A Guide for Women)

The Islamic world, composed of the Ottoman Empire as well as the countries which were colonized by imperialists at the very beginning of the century, suffered the most depressed time from World War I to World War II.

After the unfortunate collapse of the Ottoman Empire, all the other Islamic countries shattered like the beads of a rosary and were collonized by the Western countries. There were almost no independent Muslim countries in existence apart from Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan.

A new era started with the independence of Pakistan in 1947, we could say. Pakistan, was founded upon Islamic references, followed by the other Islamic countries and governed by various regimes and founded in different geographical areas and went on in this way until 1970.

The Islamic world was exposed to the intervention of Western countries in the last quarter of the century. The current international system was seriously criticized and questioned for the first time.

Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir, East Timor, Caucasia and many more problematic areas appeared in this period.

At this time, the Islamic countries decided to get together and The Organization of Islamic Conference was established upon a decision of the historical summit which took place in Rabat, Morocco in 1969 as a result of criminal arson of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In the aftermath of the Cold War, the concept of “Islamic World” has changed a lot and gained a broader meaning.

The Islamic World gained a wider geography and demographical movements with the joining of Bosnia Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo and Middle Asia which made them more active in the Western countries. From then on, the Islamic World had a meaning beyond the land limited to territories in one particular geography. We reached such a period that we can pronounce Baghdad and Paris, Damascus and London together, we can think of Istanbul and New York at the same time as the Islamic world. Now the term “Islamic World” is not only about demography but also about the culture. Muslims, for first time in the history, had to live with western societies in big numbers.

This brought about new opportunities as well as the challenges. Nowadays, the Islamic world, is to discover itself again and find responses to these questions below:

- Which mechanisms are needed for the Islamic world to act together and how?

-How could the rights of the Muslims in the West be asserted?

-What kind of a representation and presentation systems could be established in order to invite all of humanity to the authentic message of Islam?

-How could the authentic Islam and the truth within Islam be presented to humanity?

- How could Muslims tackle the challenges they face?

- How could the Islamic World improve spritually, materially, socially, culturally and politically?

The Pen started its adventure of publication upon the basis of answering all these questions, depending upon strong resources basically Qur’an and sunnah, and of establishing the luminous grassroots of brotherhood.

With the aforementioned vision and perseverence does it go on its journey.

Let’s join and share with us in our journey.

Wassalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

When the calendar shows 10th August 2009, the story starts with enormous excitement. The excitement of embracing each other from all over the world, the excitement of refreshing the ukhuwwah, the fellowship among the Ummah. No matter how easy it’s to say “We are one nation.” It is also that harder to provide it in reality. All of us know providing the unity is not as easy as saying it with the lips. But doesn’t each success start with a dream and followed by the action in itself? The UNIW has already taken a few steps for that sake by gathering the youth, opening discussion platforms for each one without fear. How to be a united Ummah again? How to raise the Ummah again from its roots? How to heal the broken branches? How to attain the treasure which was once our own? Touching your soul with their high spirit of dawah, enjoy yourself through the sentences of the promising youth. Muslim youth is coming with the power to enlighten society.

MOUNA AMBARI/Morocco

23-year old Mouna AMBARI is studying dentistry in Casablanca University in Morocco. She is also working for Al-Hıdn Foundation as a lecturer and a trainer. Let’s hear the following from her: “Before I came to Turkey, actually, I thought the Turkish people were living more of like European people. I thought there would be fewer hijabis. But now, I see there are a lot of Muslims and Muslimahs trying to live Islam in the best way. I want to thank The UNIW for its efforts to provide the information exchange among the Muslims throughout the world and trying to gather them up under one roof and one umbrella as a United Ummah. And The UNIW is trying hard to accomplish its aims. Unity dreams can come true, but the first step is to designate the problems and invent solutions for them. Just crying out of the problems doesn’t give a solution nor can help finding any. Then we must work hard, and make du’a so that Allah will send nussrah. Everything in this world is by Allah. Humans just work. If we want it Allah will give it us. If we have the spirit and the conscience to have it, he surely will give it us. The first step to accomplish something is to firmly believe to accomplish it. We have mind and we are all smart, why can’t we? We once were united, so why not again? And Allah says: “InnAllaha laa yughayyiru maa bi Qawmin hattaa yoghayyiroo maa bi anfusihim” (ar-Ra’ad: 11) “Allah will not change what is in any nation, until they all collectively make a change occur in what is in themselves.”

APRILIANA/ Indonesia

Apriliana from Indonesia is a representative of Kesatuan Aksi Mahasiswa Muslim Indonesia (The United Action of Indonesian Muslim Students) on 2nd Youth Gathering. Having finished her Master’s degree in leadership, she plans to apply for Ph.D. next year insha’Allah. She is a Chief of National Muslimah group in KAMMI’s headquarters; and is handling women’s affair for KAMMI. KAMMI is the biggest Muslim students’ movement organization in Indonesia where students play an important role. We ask her feelings about being here, she says:

“It was very exciting for me to be in Istanbul that used to be “Islambol” (Islam-all), very attractive and beautiful city. I know Turkey, especially Istanbul, as one of the last Centrum of Islamic civilization, the central of Ottoman Empire.” And she makes a confession over her thoughts. “I’ve been thinking that I would have a fascinating historical journey through Istanbul, and I’ve proved it.”

During this Youth Camp a lot of Turkish sisters accompanied them; we ask her thoughts about these young people, she passes her thoughts as the following: “One thing makes me very glad during our trip is there are wonderful youths from Istanbul accompanying us and helping. I felt their spirit to raise Islam in the Muslim world especially in Turkey. The historical places and the cultural centre are amazing. The people are very friendly (this is among the most memorable things), and the lecturers really have enlightened our horizon. In Muslimah group, we have a warm discussion and succeed to share spirit among the participants. We all believe that “we are one nation.” and one day, just like Rasulullah says, this Ummah will rise again. “

Ultimately, she adds her opinions about The UNIW with great excitement: “Two thumbs up for the UNIW, “it is an international organization with a huge vision and real actions”. I’ll stand beside The UNIW for rises the Ummah once again.”

IMAAN FAHDI/Morocco

Imaan Fahdi is 21 and studies Psychology in Morocco. She is also a member of Al-Mahdi Ben Aboud fa Studies Research and Information in the youth department of sociology, psychology, philosophy. She thinks in the unity of this Ummah, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi plays an important role by saying: “I don’t think The Unity is a dream. For now it seems to be so, but it is a dream which is worked on and struggled. We are working on it. We have this dream to be one Ummah.”

Mentioning the unity Imaan says the following: “In my opinion Said Nursi is the person who matters a lot for Turkey as he changed the mentality of most of the people in Turkey and through the world. Because of past actions against Islam, practicing Muslims have been undergoing hardships for a long time. But with the enlightening studies of Said Nursi and the treatises it seems to be getting better nowadays. Hamdulillah it is by Allah, he bestowed Nursi upon Turkey to change this mentality. I love Said Nursi because he, through his treatises, touches mind, heart and soul. He addresses all these 3 at the same time. You can see and feel his struggle about this dawah in his treatises clearly. And I congratulate Hayrat Foundation which is a rooted and professional foundation as they are advocating the Arabic scripture. They are giving very important messages and setting good examples for the Unity sacrificing a lot and being steadfast in following and adhering to the Sunnah, and trying to keep it alive.”

SAIMA ALEEM/Pakistan

Born in Islamabad in a family of Doctors, Dr. Saima Aleem is 28 years old. She gets the advantages of being born in a doctors family and she studies Dentistry, then she does her bachelor’s in dental surgery in 2004 from de’Montmorency college of dentistry, Lahore and her BSc from Punjab University of Pakistan. She has been working for Khubaib Foundation since April 2009 as a teacher and doctor in Khubaib College Skardu but presently is working in head office in Islamabad as an education officer. The foundation she is with, works in the areas of Education, Rehabilitation of Prisoners, Health, and Relief.

After the introductory sentences, we wish to start with The UNIW and her opinions about this organization being a member of it:

“I would like to relate my answer to the mission and vision statement of The UNIW as it ensures the cooperation, coordination , development of non-governmental organizations and ensure to protect the rights of society as well as introducing Islam and Islamic culture, I feel they have justified their mission as far.”

She explains how The UNIW tries to accomplish what it aims, why The UNIW looms large in contributing the unity: “In my view as foundation system is getting more and more popular and trustworthy in the world, The UNIW has successfully provided a common platform for all organizations from the Muslim world to come close and share their expertise and get a common vision. The most important thing is that The UNIW has given prime importance to Muslimhood and UMMAH and this is in my view is the bigger and by far the most important purpose of The UNIW that they gather everyone in the name of ALLAH which is our common identity. And all that they are trying to do is commendable.”

As it comes to ask the most memorable thing she will remember, she expresses how each moment of the camp means her a lot saying: “Well by far it’s the most difficult question because every moment I spent during camp is memorable and precious for me. If I mention one thing I feel it will be unjust to other moments.”

We want to know more of her opinions about the unity and the requirements of it. Whether it is an unfulfillable dream shouldn’t even be attempted to or it is easy to achieve with no difficulties. Her response is wise as the others: “In my view, Muslims are supposed to work together towards a common goal set by the Quran and shown by the Prophet (PBUH) through his Sunnah. They are brothers and sisters because they are bonded by the common ideology of Islam. These are the foundational principles of Islam. The Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) require Muslims work for the unity of the Ummah. “Muslims are like the body where if any part hurts the whole body should feel the pain.” (Hadith). When we are believers of one Allah, I personally believe that no matter in which part of the world Muslims live, whatever their language is, no matter how many differences there are amongst us, we are already and always united by ALLAH. When we offer prayers five times a day in each and every part of this world, when we all recite Quran, we are united. If this is the base of our life how can we be separated from each other?”

At first sight, it sounds like the classical saying of “One Ummah”, but as she goes on, the sentences reveal what is behind them and the idea and the meaning shows itself clearly. The need for speed of this notion: “As a Muslim I strongly believe that even if we are not united today, we will be inshaallah. Our youth is now more aware of the need and importance of Islam in our lives and in every part of the world they are working for this cause. By far, they have many achievements which are appreciable but there is lot more to work for and achieve because Muslim Ummah has so many problems which can’t get solved overnight so endless work and effort is required for unity which I am sure The UNIW will achieve inshaallah.”

I can still remember the glint in her eyes while saying the followings at the dinner table towards Istanbul Bosporus with the wind blazing over her face: “There is nothing impossible in this world and the notion itself says “I’m possible” so how can we quit working for the reunion of the Ummah, when every dream can come to reality when worked on in this world.”

QUDASSI SMAHANE / Morocco

Another guest of the UNIW is Smahane, a 24-year-old dentist studying in Casablanca University for dentistry in her last year. She is also working for al-Hıdn Foundation which is especially for women and children (orphans) and is responsible for groups, a lecturer and trainer. Starting her interview she is warning us in a humorous manner saying: “We learn to speak French in Morocco as the second language and we learn English as the third place so, I am so sorry for my bad English beforehand and please correct my grammar while publishing it.” Then we laughed following this sincere, friendly environment.

Confessing that she didn’t have much opinion about Turkey before coming here, she adds: “Honestly before I came here I only knew The Prime Minister, Tayyib Erdogan. I didn’t have much opinion but I know many who know about Him because of His opinions and thoughts on Palestine. I like Him very much and I think people should be like him, brave. And when I came here I think that Turkey will be one of the most civilized and modern and developed countries. And may she will be the leader of the whole Islamic World as it was in the past.”

When we ask her opinions about this Youth Camp 2009 and The UNIW, she says: “The UNIW is to connect and unite the Islamic world and connects the countries where Muslims mostly live. So that everyone in any country can know what the problems of the rest of the Ummah are. And they will see and have solutions for different perspectives and points of view and different experiences. I note three objectives of the UNIW which I discovered in my humble observations through this ten-day Youth Camp: 1- To have connection with the world. 2- Discussion of problems and find solutions. 3- To unite Muslims all over the world. And I think The UNIW is fulfilling eighty percent of its aims.” Upon this sentence we ask her why she thinks it is not 100% but 80%. She answers in a clear way: “It is because of the world. The UNIW is doing its best but the rest is up to the people. And as to the people, the unity is not as easy as they say. It is not like saying “we are one nation, and one morning we wake up to unity.” No it is not that easy. But it is my humble opinion. We must work more than that. I mean we must work more than just saying “we are one nation.” Because just telling it wouldn’t be enough for the unity.”

And when the departure time comes at the airport, she expresses her feelings with an Arabic proverb; her eyes full of tears while saying good-bye and hugging us: “I will always remember what I experienced with you in Turkey until the Day of Judgment. It is Khitamuhu Misk sister, it is Khitamuhu Misk… (It finishes so sweet as the delicious perfume and flavour of musk, heightening the enjoyment.)”

How should we interpret the importance that our Prophet (PBUH) gave to knowledge?

The beauty, perfection, wisdom and thoroughness of everything relies on its relation to knowledge. The futility and uselessness of all things are harmful fruits of ignorance and lack of knowledge.

ZAKİR ÇETİN

The gracious Prophet (PBUH) has expressed the huge importance he gave to the knowledge in most of his hadiths. He is the one that has the biggest role in causing the Islamic civilization to rise on the foundations of knowledge by encouraging his companions and his entire ummah to increase their knowledge. Pointing to the merits of knowledge, he implied that the scholars were in the place of him, and he said: “He who visits a scholar is like one who has visited me. He who shakes hands with a scholar is like one who shook hands with me. He who sits in the company of a scholar is like one who sat beside me. He who sits beside me in the worldly life will be placed by Allah to sit beside me in the Paradise.” (Ianetu’t-Taibin)
“To keep oneself busy with knowledge for an hour is better than praying a hundred thousand rakahs of voluntary prayer, than a hundred thousand mantras, than to give away ten thousand chargers (war horses) in the way of Allah.” (Tariqat-ı Muhammadiyya)
Yes, if a person leads another person to faith by the knowledge he gains, he gains earnings “better than anything that the sun rises and shines upon”, as it was put in the hadith. Through Islam, which contains all sorts of true knowledge and is a mercy for the worlds, the gracious Prophet (PBUH) has shown that it is only with the knowledge that one leads others to the truth and right path as well as draw them away from evil. Disbelief and heresay have their roots in ignorance, and faith and true guidance are built upon principles of knowledge. The worldly happiness and the happiness of the afterlife can only be possible with knowledge. It is, again, with knowledge that one can get to know Allah, and rise to the highest perfection. It is with knowledge that the subtlest things can be straightened out properly, so the order of this seemingly infinite universe is with the principles of knowledge, too.
To summarize, we can simply say that the beauty, perfection, wisdom and thoroughness of everything rely on its relation to knowledge, and that anything is futile and useless is a harmful fruit borne by ignorance and lack of knowledge.

How do we understand the value of our Prophet (PBUH) in the sight of Allah?

HASAN GÜRDAL

Our gracious Prophet (PBUH) has quite an exalted rank. He has the highest rank among all beings. He is the source of pride for the universe. He is referred to as “Oh my lover, if I hadn’t created you, I wouldn’t create the universe” by our Lord. With this word, he has been announced to have a value in the eyes of Allah above all the creatures, and thus became a most lovable servant and lover. This is because the gracious Prophet has become a centre where the divine reasons of creation are clustered. Moreover, the Gracious Prophet is a wonderful guru that leads the humans, which are the fruits of the tree of universe, to eternal happiness. It is thanks to him that the meaning of the creation is revealed. It is thanks to him that the creation gains maturity. He is the greatest centre of the divine love, which is the light, base and the strongest tie of this universe.

How was our Prophet’s servitude to Allah?
Our Prophet would perform prayers at night till his feet swelled. He would fast every other day, eat little, sleep little and talk little. He would give away to people whatever he possessed.

AHMET EREM

Allah has programmed everything with a point of perfection. The perfect existence and the pleasure thereof are by acting in accordance with and moving around the divine circle of creation. Our Prophet has taught all the humanity that the dignity, maturity, happiness and pleasure of human nature lie in servitude. He said that the “big trust” is to fulfill the obligation of servitude. He asked from Allah to be a serving Prophet rather than be a Prophet who would have the authority of a king. The Prophet personally maintained the dignity of being an absolute servant throughout his life. He showed that the material and spiritual embroideries of the divine beautiful names concealed in humans became visible in the servitude programme. In a hadith, he summarized servitude as “Whoever shows humility for Allah, Allah will elevate him.” Many conceited people bowed before the humility of our Prophet. The deceitful and hypocritical traits of the human felt embarrassed and shrank before the glory of the Prophet’s servitude because it realized its mistakes and errors. It thus understood its true identity by prostrating itself before Allah, The Most High. Our Prophet would perform prayers at night until his feet swelled. He would fast every other day, eat little, sleep little and talk little. He would give away to people whatever he possessed. He would never accept being treated like he had a priviledge. He treated everyone equally, regardless of them being poor or rich, free or a servant. He said “I have been sent in order to complete the good moral.” He would never put on a sullen face; he would always smile and would never fall into despair. He would call on Allah most frequently. May Allah have all of us fulfil the obligation of servitude the same way as he did. Amen.

What is there to say about our Prophet being revolutionary?
The once bedouin society came to a point where they would be teachers and rulers of civilized societies like Byzantium and Iran. This social transformation alone is one of the greatest miracles of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

CEMAL ERŞEN

The tribe to which our Prophet was sent was, in the Arabian deserts, a savage and obstinate one which was far from the then civilized manners, ignorant, bedouin and so savage as to bury their daughters alive. The Prophet even had to migrate due to the stubbornness and fanaticism of his tribe. However, in a short time span of 23 years, that savage society remarkably turned180 degrees. Abandoning their antisocial behaviors and wild manners up to that point, those savage people transformed into a meritorious society which had no match in the history of the world and which was made up of righteous people with good morals. The era which came to be known as the Era of Ignorance became the Era of Bliss. What is more, after the Prophet passed away, this tribe, following the training and education of the Prophet, took this education to almost half of the world and predominated. The once bedouin society came to a point where they would be teachers and rulers of civilized societies like Byzantium and Iran. This social transformation alone is one of the greatest miracles of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This is because no person can cause such a big transformation without the big assistance of Allah. An example of such a transformation did not exist before the Prophet, nor did it exist after him.

How would the Prophet (PBUH) converse with youths?
Our Prophet (PBUH), who knew the value of youths so well, assigned Usame, a young companion who was about 18 or 20 years old, as the commander of an army made up of other companions like Abu Bakr and Omar.

SÜREYYA SALTIK

Our Prophet is a supreme personality qualified by Allah as Rauf (Most Affectionate) and Rahim (Forgiving) in the Glorious Qur’an. That is, he was most affectionate and forgiving towards his ummah. He would take care of people from all walks of life in a most closely interested way, would listen to their problems, treat them enthusiastically, protect them and defend them. He would take care of children, adults, youths and the elderly in such a way that one companion even thought he was the very person loved by the Prophet the most. Our Prophet (PBUH), who knew the value of youths so well and showed through his own practice that they were the assurance of the future, assigned Usame, a young companion who was about 18 or 20 years old, as the commander of an army made up of other companions like Abu Bakr and Omar. Having tested the tact and abilities of Muaz b. Jabal, he assigned him as the governor of Yemen. Young companions have been the ones to play the biggest role in transferring the beautiful sunnah of the Prophet, the most important source of our religion, to us. A convincing evidence of this is that people like Aisha, Anas, Abdullah b. Omar, Ibn-i Abbas reached the level of “muqthirun” (a word used to refer to people who narrated a great number of hadiths). Our glorious Prophet is also a sun of compassion in the way that he grasped the youths’ situation, understand their inner worlds and thus prevent them from being drawn to the fire like the moths drawn to a candle. When a young companion approached him saying “Oh Messenger of Allah, permit me to practice fornication”, the Prophet affectionately explained to the companion how unpleasant his will was without breaking his heart. From that day on, that particular companion was never interested in nasty actions like that.

What is the first thing that should occur to our minds when we consider the mercy of the Prophet towards his ummah?
Thanks to the Prophet’s mercy and fondness for them, the glorious companions reached a level where they would willingly sacrifice their lives for the Prophet without a single doubt.

MUHAMMED YUMURTACI

One of the greatest things that proves our Prophet was a genuine Prophet is the affection and mercy that he showed towards his ummah throughout his life. Thanks to the Prophet’s mercy and his being fond of them, the glorious companions reached a level where they would willingly sacrifice their lives for the Prophet without a single doubt. Among their most frequent words of endearment was “my mother, my father and my life be sacrificed for you, o Messenger of Allah!” He showed love and mercy for every single person in such a way that they all said to themselves “The Prophet loves me the most”. The Good Lord refers to his attitude in a verse as such: “Truly, a Messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering distresses him: he is deeply concerned for you and full of kindness and mercy towards the believers.” According to reliable sources, the first words he uttered right after he was born were “My ummah, my ummah!” Even, when everybody including the Prophets are concerned about their own problems due to the fright of the resurrection area, he will stand between his ummah and the Hell uttering “My ummah! My ummah!”, he himself narrates to us. Therefore, we have been fortunate to be among the ummah of such an affectionate messenger. In return for this huge affection and mercy, what we need to do is follow him by following his sunnah and imitate his morals. May Allah give all of us the chance to take advantage of his intercession on the Day of Judgment. Amen!

What should occur to our mind when our Prophet’s trustworthiness is in question?
Now that the Prophets are the leaders and guides in conveying the message of faith to people, we too are supposed to emulate them and be trustworthy people.

İDRİS TÜZÜN

Prior to his Prophethood, our Prophet stood out among other people with his good morals and trustworthiness. He did not worship the idols, nor did he drink, so he kept away from the objectionable habits of jahiliyya (the era of ignorance). He kept his promises, he did not abuse any trust, and he would stretch out his helping hand to anybody. The entire Quraysh tribe agreed on his not lying, his being trustworthy and having good morals. They would refer to him as Al-Ameen rather than his name, Muhammad. Even the senior people among the Quraysh would consult him as a referee regarding their serious issues as well as controversial ones. In one hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) said : “By Allah, I am a trustworthy person on the earth as well as in the heavens.” In a short span of time like 23 years, the Prophet made a remarkable change of faith and behavior in all walks of the Arabian social life. In the roots of this change of behavior lies in his having won the trust and love of the people. All the other Prophets, too, who were sent to announce the orders of Allah to people were trustable and lovable personalities in their own societies. Now that the Prophets are the leaders and guides in conveying the message of faith to people, we too are supposed to emulate them and be trustworthy people.

How did our Prophet pray?

SAİD YAVUZ

Our Prophet, the pride of the universe, too, was obliged to fulfil the duties of servitude he proclaimed to other people such as faith, worship and praying. None among his ummah has been able to catch up with or surpass the Prophet in fulfilling these duties. Yet his ummah won honour as they succeeded at achieving the Prophet’s supreme rank as regards servitude. The Prophet cannt be matched in terms of his level of faith, his knowing Allah and his servitude and so will he be. For instance, it is impossible to catch up with him in praying, the foundation of servitude next to faith. He would beseech to his Creator so much that no person from the time of Adam could attain to his rank in prayer, even though there have been millions of holy people that have come ever since, and these people can benefit from the prayers of others. The Prophet was praying so perfectly that even if there had been no reason or situation to create the afterlife, Allah was going to create the afterlife for the sake of a single prayer of him.
Finally, I would like to bring up a miracle of him, which is a prayer he uttered in the Era of Bliss, in the hope that it will help explain our point: The Glorious Prophet covered Hadrati Abbas and his four sons (Abdullah, Ubaydullah, Fadhl, Kusem) with a cloth called “mulaat” and said: “Oh Lord, this is my uncle and he’s my father’s full brother. And these are his sons. As I cover them with my cloth, you too cover them from the hellfire.” All of a sudden, the roof, doors and walls of the house joined the prayer by saying “Amen, amen!”.

Could you tell us a little bit about the courage of our Prophet?

CUMA YÜKSEL

According to Ustad Bediuzzaman, “The source of courage, as is the source of all sorts of genuinely good deeds, is faith and servitude.” Since the faith and servitude of our Prophet is unique and cannot be matched, so is his courage. He himself is a unique hero of courage. Ali (radhiallahu anh), Allah’s lion, narrates his courage as such: “When the war was tumultuous and fearful, we would take shelter behind our Prophet.” We see another example of the Prophet’s courage in the Hunain War. When the Islamic army was defeated and began to retreat anxiously in the valley of Hunain, our Prophet called the companions and led them to get together from anew, thus enabling them to gain victory against the enemy. It could be said that the victory of Hunain war is a result of the courage that the Prophet showed during that very moment of defeat. Another example is that one night, it was rumored that the enemy was attacking. When the courageous horsemen looked around, they saw the Prophet coming. It turned out that the Prophet had gone in search of the enemy before everyone else did, so he was only on his way back. It was learned from him that there was no danger. This unique courage of the Prophet, however, never led him astray to extremities nor did he mistreat anyone being overcome by his anger. Just like his other habits, he maintained the middle way and kept away from exaggerations and extremities. For the sake of his unique courage, May Allah give all of us the same courage.

This piece of news made a great impact on Bediuzzaman’s soul. It was this time that he made a decision saying “I will prove to the whole world that the Qur’an is an inextinguishable spiritual light.” and he devoted his life to prove this claim.

Bediuzzaman’s remedy against the idea of Europe to eliminate the Ottomans, in other words Islam, was to establish a kind of education which would be suitable for the needs of the era and which would put the Muslims superior to the west in terms of ideology and science. So he adopted the idea that an Islamic university should be established and this university should include the madrassa, the dervish lodge and school, which are the three basic educational institutions in the Eastern Anatolia, and he called this university as “Madrassatuz Zahra”.

It is possible to discuss his university project in three elements: the projection period; the partial application period; and the application period in the future. Now we would like to review these three periods briefly.

1. PROJECTION PERIOD OF MADRASSATUZ ZAHRA

Ustad Bediuzzaman wanted to realise three things in the Madrassatuz Zahra University:

a. Blending the religious sciences with material sciences: The young people who studied in European-style schools,established after the Political Reforms in the Ottomans,were having faith-related doubts in their hearts because of the effect of the sciences, which gave prominence to the “causes”. In the madrassas, some things, although proven by science, were welcomed with doubts or they were refused, and sometimes the people who were interested in these sciences were announced to be non-believers and this was all because of the fanaticism in the madrassas. Bediuzzaman who thought it was essential to blend the two sorts of sciences together in order to eliminate the contradiction between the schools and madrassas. With this blend, he wanted to get rid of the hostility between the two sides and eliminate the missing points of both sides, and make the two sides share their richness. Regarding this issue, he said: “The light of conscience is with the religious sciences. The light of the mind is with the sciences of civilizations. By the blend of this two, truth becomes visible. The success of the student rises with the two sides. When the two sides separate, first one results in fanaticism, and the second one results in trickery and causes doubts.”

b. Uniting the Dervish lodges with Madrassa: Ever since the first periods of Islam, madrassa and dervish lodge have existed as two educational institutions. These two bodies have co-existed peacefully for centuries and there were times when they disagreed on certain issues as well. In the last period of the Ottoman Empire, these disagreements happened and this situation destroyed the unity and solidarity of Muslims. Ustad Bediuzzaman wanted to blend the madrassa and dervish lodge together as well as the material and religious sciences. In the Munazarat treatise, he says that Madrassatuz Zahra is both a madrassa and school, and that it also bears the characteristics of a lodge so that these three institutions can benefit from each other by making peace under the same roof.

c. The Unity of Islam: Another goal of Bediuzzaman was to attract students from Saudi Arabia, India, Iran, Caucasia, Turkistan and all the Islamic countries and revive the unity and solidarity between Muslims. Regarding this issue, he says: “Azhar University is a big madrassa in Africa. Asia is larger than Africa. So Asia needs an Islamic university, a bigger centre for sciences so that Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia, India, Iran, Caucasia, Turkistan and the land of Kurds are not harmed by racism, and the rule of the Quran “Believers are brothers” can become true by the Islamic nation, which is the true, positive, sacred and collective.

Ustad Bediuzzaman presented his project to Sultan Rashad, who succeeded to the throne during the Constitutional Monarchy Period. Sultan Rashad supported this kind of university. So the foundations of Madrassatuz Zahra University were laid, but this attempt was left only half-finished due to the outbreak of the First World War. Ustad Bediuzzaman put this project on the agenda again during the years of The War of Independence. 163 representatives out of 200 in the new government in Ankara supported the establishment of this university. Nevertheless, it was not possible to realise this, and the madrassas were closed.

2. THE EMERGE OF MADRASSATUZ-ZAHRA AS A SPIRITUAL UNIVERSITY

Ustad Bediuzzaman wrote a many of the 130 pieces of the Risalei Nur Collection, accepted as an innovation in the Kalam sciences, in the Barla village of Isparta where he was exiled in 1926. We can say that Bediuzzaman realised, with these treatises, a big portion of what he wanted to achieve in the Madrassatuz Zahra University.

The Kalam science, taught in madrassas, was explaining the faith-related issues with reason, but did not emphasize Ma’rifatullah (knowledge of Allah) and Muhabbatullah (love of Allah). Tasawwuf , as opposed to Kalam, was making a bigger point of the heart and emphasizing Mari’fatullah and Muhabbatullah, and yet did not emphasize the importance of proving faith-related issues. Risale-i Nur, on the other hand, has blended the mind and heart, proved the faith-related issues with reasonable strong evidences and also put enough emphasis on Ma’rifatullah and Muhabbatullah issues. So we can say that Ustad Bediuzzaman has followed a way which connected the Kalam Science and Tasawwuf. Regarding this issue, he says: “As opposed to the books of other scholars, Risale-i Nur does not teach by using reason alone or it does not proceed by the discoveries and pleasures of the heart like the saints do. Contrarily, it teaches by uniting and blending the mind and heart, and with the harmony of the spirit and other senses, it flies to the highest point in the skies and reaches the points where the predominant philosophy cannot ever reach. Thus it shows the truths of Faith even to the blind.”

When Ustad Bediuzzaman explained the faith-related issues, he always brought examples from stars, the atmosphere, winds, rains, animals and plants, all studied by the positive sciences. So we can say that Ustad has blended the positive and religious sciences.

In conclusion, the treatises of Risale-i Nur are related to Kalam (madrassa) in terms of proving the faith-related issues, it is related to tasawwuf (Derwish Lodge) because it gains the knowledge and love of Allah, and it is also related to material sciences (School) because it brings the evidences from the outer world, plants and animals.

Ustad Bediuzzaman did not suffice with writing treatises that united the three institutions. He also succeeded to spread the treatises to so many parts in this country and gathered a mass of students around himself. For those who wanted to become his student, he asked them “to write , to get others to write and to spread the treatises in the community” as a condition. In other words, he often said this time is the time for communities and encouraged the students to gather around these treatises and form a collective personality. The self-sacrificing students in Isparta were writing the treatises and expanding the circle of students by delivering the treatises to Anatolia. Risalei Nur activities which began in a distant village in 1926, had reached 500,000 students according to the records of court and public prosecutors in spite of the great pressures, hardships, prisons and exiles of that time.

Ustad couldn’t establish the university he was imagining as a building, but he managed to build a spiritual university in Isparta with his students gathering around the Risale-i Nur Treatises that he wrote. Ustad praises Allah in some of his letters saying: “With the help of Allah, Barla became a chair, Isparta became a Madrassatuz Zahra and an Azhar University, and many cities turned into a madrassa.” He, many times, addressed his students as “pillars of Madrassatuz Zahra”. Some of his expressions in this matter are as follows:
The reality of Madrassatuz Zahra, which is the spirit and the basis of the Treatise of Munazarat was to prepare a base and a ground for Risale-i Nur that will rise in the future, and was unintentionally being directed to it. With an extrasensory perception, it was looking for that luminous reality in a material form. Allah the All-Merciful has created the spiritual identification of that madrassa in Isparta and bestowed Risale-i Nur.

“My glorious and loyal brothers, we praise Allah a hundred thousand times that you, the pillars of Madrassatuz Zahra, fully reflect the spiritual reality of Madrassatuz Zahra, which is the aim of my imagination for fifty five years and the consequence of my life.”

Although Ustad said that Isparta is a “Madrassatuz Zahra”, he didn’t give up the concrete establishment of Madrassatuz Zahra. In some of his letters, he willed his students to build Madrassatuz Zahra as a university. Here are some of his statements about this issue:

Oh Saids, Hamzas, Omars, Othmans, Yusufs, Ahmads, and so on. I am talking to you, who hide behind the supreme century after the year of three hundred, and who are silently listening to me and watching me with a hidden and unseen eye.

I am talking to you with the wireless telegraph which extends from the past rivers that are called history to your supreme future. What shall I do! I hurried and came in the winter. You, inshaAllah, will come in a paradise-like spring. The Noor seeds that are now planted will blossom in your time. I ask from you that you visit my grave when you are on your way to the past. Place some of those flowers on the top of the gravestone that is the doorman of the soil which hosts my bones.

Ustad explains that he means Madrassatuz Zahra as he says a flower in his speech as following: That is, Oh people who will come after a hundred years! Build a flower of the Madrassatuz Zahra on the top of Van castle. In other words, build the Madrassatuz Zahra concretely, which hasn’t revived bodily, but is living in a spiritually eternal and wide community.
InshaAllah, Risale-i Nur Students will manage to establish the concrete form of that supreme reality in the future.

3. TODAY AND THE PROJECT OF MADRASSATUZ ZAHRA
Our prophet (p.b.u.h) qualifies himself as an educator and a teacher in one of his sayings: “I was sent down as a teacher.” His Suffa (group of scholars) was both a madrassa and dervish lodge. He was training students in this Suffa who would spread Islam to the whole world, and encouraging them to teach and learn. Moreover, he didn’t led them to only religious knowledge, but to also intellectual and worldly knowledge saying, “Go study science even if it is in China.!” and “Wisdom is the lost thing of the believer, he grasps it wherever he finds it.”
In the first century of Islam, Muslims obtained an high rank over all communities with the developments in culture and civilization as a result of the understanding taught by their prophet (p.b.u.h). Their madrassas became examples for the western universities and their science and culture formed the basis of western civilization.
The Risalei Nur-centered Madrassatuz Zahra project of Ustad Bediuzzaman is a project that is similar to the Suffa of our Prophet (p.b.u.h) and to the scientific and cultural attitude of the first years of Islam. Even though 100 years has passed, this project still preserves its authenticity, refreshment and importance. All the Islamic countries from Morocco to Algeria, from Egypt to Pakistan, from Middle Asia to Indonesia, whether in the east or in the west are in need of this project of Bediuzzaman.

Madrassatuz Zahra project is one that contains beauties not only for the Islamic world but also for the whole world. In our time when the western civilization went bankrupt, all the humanity is facing big social problems. Islam is the only religion that can answer these problems. The German Muslim Dr. Murad Hofmann says “Islam not only sees itself as an alternative for the western society. It is actually the only alternative.” in his book titled “Islam: The Real Alternative”. Madrassatuz Zahra project has a reasonable, perfect structure that defends the Islamic truths in a most wonderful way. The Madrassatuz Zahra project promises the healtiest future for the individuals, families and societies in the world.

As a conclusion, we can say that Islam is the alternative for western civilization which has been bankrupted in terms of spiritual values. And Madrassatuz Zahra University is the alternative for western style, secular universities. We hope that the world listens to these alternatives.

One of the fundamental reasons which urged Nursi to expound his ideas in Risale-i Nur is his the sudden realization of the greatness of the Qur’an after reading a report of a statement made in the British house of Commons by the Minister of State at the Colonial Office: “So long as the Muslims have the Qur’an, we shall be unable to dominate them. Either we must take it from them or we must make them lose their love of it.” Struck by the strong message of the statement, Nursi set up to prove and demonstrate to the world that the Qur’an is undying, inextinguishable Sun.

Nursi believes that the Holy Qur’an addresses the very essence of human being namely his reason and induces human reason to reflect everything that exists around him. It directs man to examine the universe and its functioning in order to learn its true nature and purposes as the creation, and thus to learn the attributes of its Single Creator and his own duties as a creature. This is the method employed by Nursi in Risale-i Nur. He imitates the Qur’anic method by provoking the human mind to think through the creations of God. The universe is seen as a valuable source and proof to demonstrate the true nature of the Creator. Using empirical and demonstrative proofs in understanding God will further help the believers in facing the challenges coming from the modern scientific worldviews. In other words, Nursi is trying to push the Muslims not to merely accept the principles of faith laid down by the Qur’an and traditionally preached by the religious teachers, but to support this faith with the rational and logical proofs. This will also bring their faith at par with the development of the scientific discovery took place in this time.

2. HARMONIOUS RELATION BETWEEN REASON AND REVELATION

Apart from the absolute nature of the Qur’an, Nursi also based his framework on the premise that there is no contradiction between what is revealed by God and what is inherently given by God to man which is his intellect. He believes that the messages given by God through the revelation must be in line with reason. The Qur’an, which is comprehended through the organ of the heart, is the absolute sources of religion, while the reason whose object of comprehension will develop into scientific knowledge would ultimately lead to the affirmation of the revealed truth.

According to Nursi, throughout the history of mankind there have been two important ways to find truth. The first is prophethood and religion and the second one is philosophy and science. This corresponds respectively to the faculties in man of the heart and the intellect. Nursi believes when philosophy obeys and gives its service to prophethood and religion, mankind will experience true harmony and happiness. Whereas when mankind separate goodness and light from philosophy and they are drawn more to philosophy rather than the prophethood and religion, evil and misguidance will be resulted. Therefore, whenever the philosopher follows the way of prophethood and does not challenge sacredness, it produces fruitful outcomes for humanity, otherwise it will lead people into misguidance, atheism and the swamp of nature.

It is thus necessary, Nursi reminds, to bring both philosophy and science closer and subservient under religion. What has happened is that the western philosophy and science has been very far from religion, imbued with materialistic, atheistic philosophy, and when it has infiltrated into the Islamic thought, it has caused great confusion among the Muslim without them realizing it. Therefore only by truly understanding the Qur’an as the true source of religion the confusion can be remedied and the harmonization of religion and philosophy can be achieved.

Nursi manifests this harmonization clearly in his exposition:
The religious sciences are the light of the conscience, and the modern sciences are the light of the reason. The truth becomes manifest through the combining of the two. The students’ endeavor will take flight on these two wings. When they are separated it gives rise to bigotry in the one, and wiles and skepticism in the other.

NATURE AND SCIENCE AS THE ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE QUR’AN

As the Qur’an itself affirmed that there are a lot of lessons and proofs of the existence and the greatness of God in the nature, Nursi set out to examine in the maximum manner this open book of God and used them as parables in his proofs of the truth of Islam. The nature or the cosmos according to Nursi is a vast open book which is to be pondered, understood and interpreted. As the open book of God, the universe furnishes proofs of the fundamentals of belief such as the Divine Unity. He also relates this open book of cosmos with the Divine Names of God. All sciences and arts demonstrate each of the Divine Names, such as the true science of philosophy is based on the Name of All-Wise, the true medicine on the name of Healer, and geometry on the Name of Determiner and so on.

Therefore there is a great parallelism between the development and discoveries of science and the truth of religion. The more we go extensively and intensively in the scientific matters, the closer we will be to the religious truth:

The religious sciences are the light of the conscience, and the modern sciences are the light of the mind; truth becomes manifest through the combining of these two. The students’ endeavor will take flight on these two wings. For when they are separated it gives birth to bigotry and prejudice in the former and wiles and skepticism in the latter.

Nursi believes that in the future when reason, science and technology prevail, that surely be the time the Qur’an will gain ascendancy. This belief is reflected in his strong commitment in looking at the deeper understanding of scientific knowledge during his educational life which saw him excelled in his study on the scientific knowledge of his days such as mathematics, science, physics and philosophy. It is due to this well-equipped knowledge of the modern sciences he possessed that enabled him to elaborate in the excellent manner the religious truth through the language of modern science as clearly reflected in his Risale-i Nur. He also believes that a proper combination between religious and modern sciences will finally result the true wisdom.

The conscience is illuminated by the religious sciences, and the mind is illuminated by the sciences of civilization and wisdom occurs from the combination of these two’
In addition to that, he also used his strong logical and philosophical ability plus his strong memory and imagination to present those religious ideas through allegory, parables and stories which is closer to the understanding of the common people:

The reasons for my writing these treatises in the form of metaphor, parables and the stories are to facilitate comprehension and to show how rational, appropriate, well-founded and coherent are the truths of Islam. The meaning of the stories is contained in the truths that conclude them; each story is like an allusion pointing to its concluding truth. Therefore, they are not mere fictitious tales, but veritable truths.

If al-GhazĀli could destroy the philosophical basis of the Greek philosophy which is widespread at his time through his well-grounded knowledge of that very science, Nursi, through his well-grounded knowledge on the modern scientific knowledge, was also able to launch a strong attack on the ideas underlying the modern science such as the idea of absolute causality. He has destroyed the myth of the materialists by attacking the idea of the mechanistic nature of the universe. It is absurd, according to Nursi, to attribute a single event or an effect to a cause, or to nature, or to laws or forces of nature. It will make the whole universe meaningless, a confused agglomeration of chance causes, which is rationally impossible.

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION: NURSI’S FRAMEWORK AS AN IMPORTANT FOUNDATION OF A SYSTEMATIC ISLAMIC WORLDVIEW

Undoubtedly, the framework of thinking which is based on a strong theological and spiritual basis as manifested in Nursi’s thought is pertinent in the process of reviving the true understanding of religion. This framework is also reflected in the works of many other modern Islamic thinkers who tried to revive the understanding of religion such as Muhammad Iqbal, Fazlur Rahman and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. Despite their differences in the detail of their approaches, all of them have strongly emphasized this theologico-spiritual framework in one way or another in the exposition of their ideas. Their writings of this sort have proven to linfluence substantially the minds of the later scholars not only in their respective countries but also in the Muslim world as a whole. Similarly, Nursi’s emphasis on these two aspects mainly through his Risala-e Nur has proven to give a strongest impact on the mind of the followers.

The reason for the importance of these dimensions is mainly due to the fact that they are the basis of man’s epistemology which, in turn, will form the most important aspect of his worldview. In the Islamic context, the formation of a proper worldview is very pertinent for it will determine the Muslim conception of important matters such as God, man, universe, religion, life and others. The Islamic worldview must not only include the physical realm of existence as reflected in the modern secular worldview of the Western civilization, but it must include spiritual and metaphysical dimensions. It is only through the proper epistemological method based on the acceptance of the theological and spiritual aspects of existence that a proper worldview of a person can be properly constructed. In other words, what Nursi is attempting, following the tradition of the great thinkers of the past, is to reconstruct the worldview of Islam based on the necessary need and context of the contemporary Muslims.

Therefore, one most fundamental lesson the contemporary Muslims can learn from Nursi’s intellectual legacy is the great need to properly identify and explain in a clear and systematic manner the important elements of Islamic worldview to the Muslims. This is due to the fact that the development of a worldview, as argued by Alparslan Acikgenc, in Muslim societies has taken place haphazardly whereas it should rather develop in a more systematic manner. A proper worldview should be developed through a proper inculcation in the individual of a society through concepts, ideas and doctrines whose clear and transparent definitions are provided by a systematically organized body of knowledge. According to Acikgenc, there are two ways in which the rise of a worldview can take place: 1. In a natural way where the mind uses its natural capacity to develop a perspective for itself and there is no conscious effort by the individual, thus a worldview is formed as a matter of habit that is dominant in his life, through his culture, technology, scientific, and speculative ideas. 2. In a systematic way in which the worldview systematically inculcated through a system which mainly developed through proper education.

In the case of contemporary Muslim society who are very much dependant on the western framework of thinking only through the development of a proper worldview based on appropriate framework of thinking based on well planned Islamic educational system, we can stop the influence by the western worldview which are encroaching into various walks of life of the contemporary Muslims. What Nursi was doing through his Risale-i Nur and what al-GhazĀli was doing nearly a thousand years earlier through his IhyĀ-i Ulûm al-Dîn were great efforts to revive the Islamic worldview through the theologico-spiritual framework which must be continued by the contemporary Muslim scholars. Only through the continuation of this Islamic tradition the faith of the Muslims can be preserved and the great Islamic civilization can be rebuilt.

Our time is the darkest and the most terrifying of all times. Of course, the struggle with the evil-commanding soul has become even harder. Furthermore, the individual has scattered and divided his attention to many unnecessary and useless things.

Ustad Bediuzzaman was born in such a troublesome time and he has offered, with the will and permission of Allah, faithful and Qur’anic remedies for the material and spiritual diseases, which have accumulated become most apparent in our century. Bediuzzaman also suggested many cures and remedies, which have been experienced and found useful, regarding the struggle with the evil-commanding soul.

Before stating the methods and suggestions concerning the struggle with evil-commanding soul, let us review some basic features of it:

The evil-commanding soul only loves itself in the real sense and praises itself endlessly;

It never wishes to take any blame or faults and it defends itself endlessly;

It always considers the good thing as though it comes from itself and it feels proud;

It regards itself as a separate, independent thing and supposes that it is self-existed. So it claims divinity in a way and rebels to its Lord in a hostile way.

Evil-commanding soul prefers a little amount of pleasure in the present compared to the big amount of pleasure that will be given to him in the future. It avoids the fear of a ready slap more than one year of torment in the future.

Evil-commanding soul always listens to the Satan.

Let us now review what Bediuzzaman said regarding how we can train a evil-commanding soul which adores itself to such a degree that it almost thinks itself as the Lord. All that we will review is quoted from Risale-i Nur.

First of all, there is no such concept as killing the evil-commanding soul in the training method of Bediuzzaman. Instead, it is necessary to discipline and improve it. While explaining the reason for this, Bediuzzaman says that after killing the evil-commanding soul, worship will be too simple for it and so the wisdom explaining why the evil-commanding soul has been given to the human will be lost.

Bediuzzaman started to discipline his own evil-commanding soul at first, saying “He who does not discipline his evil-commanding soul cannot discipline others.” Then he disciplined his evil-commanding soul with the permission of Allah and he gave us all a beautiful lesson teaching that we should start by disciplining ourselves rather than others.

CONDEMNING

A method that Bediuzzaman frequently uses on the issue of disciplining the evil-commanding soul is to condemn and blame it as the verse indicates “Verily, the (human) self is inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His Mercy (upon whom He wills).(12:53).” We can see this method of condemning in many parts of the Risale-i Nur. For instance:

“O my foolish soul, charmed at glory, enamoured of fame, addicted to praise, and without equal in egotism! If it is a just claim that the source of the fig and its thousands of fruits is its tiny seed, and that all the grapes in their hundred bunches hanging from a dry branch of the vine are produced through the skill of the branch, and that those who benefit from them should praise and esteem the branch and the seed, then perhaps you have the right to be proud and conceited about the bounties with which you are loaded. But in fact you deserve to be constantly chided, because you are not like the seed and the branch: since you have the faculty of will, you reduce the value of those bounties through your pride. Through your conceit, you destroy them; through your ingratitude, you nullify them; through claiming them as your own, you lay hands on them unlawfully.” Or

“Oh my proud evil-commanding soul! Oh my lazy evil-commanding soul! Oh rebellious evil-commanding soul! Oh the most selfish evil-commanding soul! Oh evil-commanding soul, which indulges in heedlessness and sees this world sweet and forget about the afterlife! Oh my ignorant evil-commanding soul! Oh my unfortunate evil-commanding soul! Oh my greedy evil-commanding soul! Oh my impatient evil-commanding soul! Oh my foolish evil-commanding soul! Oh my evil-commanding soul, which is crazy for the world”. With expressions like these ones, Ustad Bediuzzaman always condemned his evil-commanding soul and never regarded his achievements as coming from his own self.

PERSUASION

A second method Bediuzzaman uses in order to discipline the evil-commanding soul is the method of persuasion. We can see this original method in many parts of Risale-i Nur. For example, Ustad says: “At one time when I was struggling with my evil-commanding soul, imagining the bounties which it saw in itself to be its own property, my soul became conceited, proud and boastful. I said to it: “This property is not yours; it is in trust.” So then the soul gave up its conceit and pride but became lazy, it said: “Why should I bother about someone who is not mine? Let him perish, what is it to me?” Suddenly I saw that a fly had alighted on my hand and had started to thoroughly clean its eyes, face, and wings, which were its trust from God. The fly was washing itself just like a soldier cleans his rifle and uniform thoroughly, which belong to the state. I said to my soul: “You look at that!” It looked and learned a good lesson. As for the fly, it became my conceited and lazy soul’s teacher and instructor.” Another example:

“Since the sphere of the lawful is sufficient for all the pleasures, delights and joys of the spirit, heart and soul, do not approach the sphere of the illicit. For one pleasure within that sphere sometimes leads to a thousand pains. It will also cause the loss of the All-Merciful One’s favours, which are true and lasting pleasures.”

Another example: Addressing his own evil-commanding soul, Bediuzzaman said: “O my soul! Foremost God’s Beloved, and all your friends, are beyond the grave. The one or two who remain will also depart for there. So do not be frightened of death, be anxious at the grave, and avert your head. Look manfully at the grave, and listen to what it seeks. Laugh in death’s face like a man, and see what it wants. Beware, do not be heedless and resemble the second man.

O my soul! Do not say, “The times have changed, this age is different, everyone is plunged into this world and worships this life. Everyone is drunk with the struggle for livelihood.” For death does not change. Separation is not transformed into permanence and does not become different. Man’s impotence and poverty do not change, they increase. Man’s journey is not cut, it becomes faster.

Also, do not say, “I am like everyone else.” For everyone befriends you only as far as the grave, and the consolation of being together with everyone else in disaster has no meaning beyond the grave.” There are many other similar examples with which Ustad managed to persuade his evil-commanding soul and he has shown us with his actions how to discipline the evil-commanding soul.

THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN HEART AND EVİL-COMMANDİNG SOUL AND THE VERİFİED BELİEF

Ustad Bediuzzaman says in some of his statements:

“Yes since faith places a permanent spiritual prohibitor in the heart and mind, they say “it is forbidden” as bad inclinations come out of senses and evil-commanding soul, and dismisses them. Yes, the actions of humans are produced by the inclinations of the heart and evil-commanding soul. Those inclinations come from the fields of expertises and the needs of the spirit. Spirit moves with the light of belief. It does something if it is good otherwise tries to pull itself back. Any more, blind feelings can’t direct it to wrong ways or surpass it.” “If feelings become prevalent in humans, he doesn’t listen to the judgments of his mind, his inclinations and delusions prevail, and prefers a very little and a present unimportant pleasure to a great reward. And he abstains from a slight pain more than he abstains from a big torture in the future. Because delusions, inclinations and feelings don’t see the future and deny it. When the evil-commanding soul also help, the heart and the mind, which are the places of faith, will remain silent.”

The heart, mind and spirit of the Nur students do not condescend to these low, harmful and inferior things. But everybody has a evil-commanding soul, in other words an evil- commanding soul.. Sometimes the feelings of the evil-commanding soul hide in the veins. It dominates the person to a certain degree in spite of the heart and mind. I am not necessarily accusing your hearts, spirits and minds. Because I trust you due to the effect Risale-i Nur gives you.

“Progress is not as the people of misguidance imagine, to plunge into the life of this world in all its minute details and in order to taste every sort of pleasure, even the lowest, make subject to the evil-commanding soul all the subtle faculties and the heart and intellect, and make them assist it; to do this is not progress, it is deterioration.”

In his statements, some of which are stated above, Ustad Bediuzzaman says that two things are always in struggle and jihad with each other. One of these elements is the heart, the other one is the evil-commanding soul. The heart is helped by the mind and spirit, and evil-commanding soul is supported by the inclination, desires and the feelings. The struggle between the heart and evil-commanding soul is another way of expression of the world examination for hereafter. That is, either heart or evil-commanding soul will prevail in humans. Prevailing of human’s evil-commanding soul -may Allah protect us from that-means that human fails in the exam and his life in the hereafter will be ruined.

So what should be done to end the sultanate of evil-commanding soul on our body and let people succeed in the exam for hereafter? At this point we can clearly understand from the advices of Ustad, which is given above, we should reach to a degree of faith that can’t be separated from us and support the heart and soul with that powerful faith. As Ustad mentions: “When some bad feelings, thoughts havr come up to our mind and desirous soul, faith says “it is forbidden” and prevents them from approaching sins.” So what is the result of this?
We will answer again in the same way of Ustad. “Insha’Allah some more blind feelings will not direct him to the wrong way.

TRAINING EVİL-COMMANDİNG SOUL BY SHOWING THE BAD SIDE OF HERESY

Ustad Bediuzzaman says “one of the sickness of this age is preferring glass to diamond even people know it is diamond.” Unfortunately many people at this time choose the worldly life and the pleasures of it with a great desire. But at the same time those people have known about Allah and have faith in hereafter. How can we prevent these people, who knows Allah and have the faith of hereafter and the sorrows of hereafter, from their invalid path? Because when we talk about Allah, they will say “We know Allah” When we talk about the sorrow of the hell they will say “We already believe in hereafter.” Ustad has a prescription for those people who got stuck on this cycle: we should show them bad sides and the hell like sorrows in the sins that has effects here rather than showing them the sorrows of hereafter. This way, feelings may surrender to the mind and heart which has been fed by the faith and those people may find the right path and give up those sins and flawed way. Let’s hear that important topic from Ustad Bediuzzaman:

The only way to take those heedless people from their flawed way is to show the exact hell like pain in their actions. Because their feelings and self which prefers a little pleasure at present time rather than a pleasure in the future time, are superior to their mind and heart. Because people will still be continuing their sins even they know the existence of Allah and aware of the existence of hell. This is mainly the result of absolute blasphemy and denial which is caused by science and addictive debauchery. This way you may reach only one in ten or twenty. Others will still continue doing what they do and they say “Allah is Merciful and Forgiving and hell is not that close” their soul and heart are beaten by their feelings.
So that many of the treaties in Risale-i Nur has been showing those sorrowful sides of the sins in the worldly life and they convince the feelings of most stubborn people, if they sincerely wish. As a result of this guidance those people will have hatred in their hearts for the sins.

SUCCESS ON TRAINING OF EVİL-COMMANDİNG SOUL

Are those principles, which we try to summarize from the Risale-i Nur, applicable to train Evil-commanding soul? To what extent can we reach success if we apply those and others which we could not mention due to the lack of time?

Let’s hear the answer again from Ustad Bediuzzaman;

“My evil- commanding soul and Satan has surrendered to those facts. Those which have such an effect on my soul should also be convincing you.”
“My mind and imagination, even my evil- commanding soul and my desirous wills have surrender together with Satan.”

Those who see the Risale-i Nur’s style and explanations cannot remain indifferent to it. It not only makes the mind and heart submit like other works, it also conquers the soul and emotions. Even my soul agrees to sacrifice for a truth that concerns the whole Islamic world not only the life of this world but if necessary that of the next, and to sacrifice through the Risale-i Nur my own happiness for that of the people of belief.

My evil- commanding soul could not endure this Risale’s power of style and explanations and was compelled to persuasion. My Satan also yelled as ”Is there any place to escape from this situation?“ Your evil- commanding soul and Satan are not more rebellious and desperate than mine.

Risale-i Nur tries to persuade first of all its writer. Then it persuades others. Undoubtedly, a lesson which persuades its own writer’ evil- commanding soul completely and isolates misgiving is so powerful and sincere that can defeat the collective personality of the people of misguidance.

“I broke away as victorious from fighting against evil- commanding soul and Satan.”

We have cited above a statement from Hadhrat Bediuzzaman’s Risale-i Nur commentary. This is clearly explained by powerful truth and enormous evidence against the evil- commanding soul and Satan. As he says: Since our evil- commanding soul and Satan cannot be more furious than him, Insha’Allah we may be able to defeat our evil-commanding soul and Satan.

This century is so horrible that keeping faith as difficult as holding a handful of coal by bare hands.; A man leaves his home as a believer in the morning , he may turn back to his home as a non-believer in the evening, disbelief and depravity spread throughout the world by attacking, under this circumstances Risale-i Nur preserved hundred thousand people’s faith . (According to Afyon prosecutor: Risale-i Nur preserved five hundred thousand people’s faith in 1948) like the ship of prophet Nuh (pbuh) and protects the world from the horrible ,spiritual fire and storm .Also, these people mobilized for war against that spiritual darkness by selling their souls and goods to Allah and sacrificed their life for this mission. They spent their life in prisons, which started to become a sort of school and madrassa over time. Even prisons were named as “School of Joseph (peace be upon him) ” among Risale-i Nur students.

Thousands of people who were found guilty of many kinds of physical and spiritual crimes, met Risale-i Nur in prison ,as named “School of Joseph”. They rehabilitated by Risale-i Nur and after that they become a person who even could not injure any ant or bedbug.

It is impossible to do this type of heroism without rehabilitating evil-commanding souls and silencing Satans. That means Risale-i Nur has succeeded in training the evil-commanding soul, like the other issues it explains, with the permission of Allah.

I would like to finish with a quotation from Ustad Bediuzzaman” The soul is baser than everything, and the duty higher…”

Just as the influence of the Ottoman Empire had declined to the point of being labelled as the “sick man of Europe” towards the 19th century, a divinely-inspired Turkish scholar, Said Kurdi (as he was of Kurdish ethnicity) appeared in the wilderness of Turkey. Imbued with both spiritual and scientific knowledge, Said Nursi (as he became widely known for being born in the province of Nurs) easily humbled contemporary scholars in debates on any subject, thus earning him the title, Bediuzzaman, which means “the wonder of the age.”

A proponent of Islamic resurgence in Turkey, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s activities earned the wrath of the newly installed secular government Averse to anything Islamic, the government put him under close surveillance, imprisoning and banishing or exiling him to the remote mountainous regions of Turkey whenever the authorities felt he had crossed the line. Worst still, he was poisoned while under solitary confinement but survived the ordeal by Allah’s Leave. Several underhand tactics were applied to silence and isolate him from his students and mass supporters. But through sheer guts and determination, all obstacles and deprivations applied by the adversary to frustrate his activities and spiritual outlook dismally failed. His students always managed to follow him wherever he was imprisoned or banished. Therefore, the publication and dissemination of his treatises on Islam, especially his masterpiece, Risale-i Nur (commentary on the Holy Qur’an), never ceased, but may have only been delayed for sometime.

Gifted with Divine inspiration and wisdom, most of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s expositions were extemporaneous, without the aid of reference books or research materials. But the substance of his works was beyond reproach, as they were found to be scientifically accurate as well as spiritually and philosophically excellent.

Exponent of non-violence

An advocate of non-violence, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi never even insinuated that he would take revenge for the suffering he had gone through. Any human being subjected to such inhuman treatment that he had suffered in the hands of his detractors would have thought of violent reprisals or retaliation in whatever form. But he never advocated violence especially against his own people and the Turkish government, rather he only taught his students to embrace patience and self-restraint in face of any provocation either coming from the government or their compatriots. His rationale is that rulers come and go, and even the Constitution of any nation could change. His concern was always for nationalism, peace and the peoples’ subservience to the rule of law. For these and many other reasons, his legacy as an advocate of freedom and non-violence must have dwarfed the achievements of some internationally recognized icons, like Mahatma Gandhi of India and the like.

However, Said Nursi was against foreign invaders that threatened to overthrow the Constitutional government in his native Turkey. He was also avidly anti-communist. He supported the anti-communist war in Korea, and was even proud to send one of his students to fight against the atheists to ensure that posterity is free to live in a free and democratic environment. He also saw in it the opportunity to introduce “Risale-i Nur” to non-Muslim friends and governments in the region.

Vision of Future

Undoubtedly, the Holy Qur’an is the greatest miracle mankind has ever received from God Almighty. The Qur’an embodies the relationships between the creatures and the Creator and His greatness over all His creations. So far, no other human being has surpassed the achievements of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi in having digested the Holy Qur’an more extensively and comprehensively in a commentary than the “Risale-i Nur”. The visionary Bediuzzaman had to fathom the success and greatness of Islam in the Holy Qur’an, in comparison to the other great religions in future. Hence, in the race to gain more adherents, he foresaw that Islam would prevail over all other religions being propagated throughout the world today. What Bediuzzaman foretold over half a century ago, Western and European governments and their mainstream media are now admitting that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the West.

In Malaysia , the greatest sign of Islam’s superiority was exemplified by the bold attempt of the Christian Consultative Council, the Catholic Church in particular, to use the name “ALLAH” in reference to God in their publications and for other spiritual purposes. The Muslims, through the government Islamic Affairs Department and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), however, protested vigorously against the idea as the attributes of God in Christianity fall far short of what ALLAH really meant in Islam.

The triumph of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s patience and perseverance in the struggle to carry on the torch of Islam amidst unbearable obstacles applied by the forces of darkness aimed at suppressing and scuttling the sacred light of Islam in Turkey, is unprecedented in the annals of Islamic history after the advent of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). His selfless sacrifices and the unfailing support of his students and the masses are not only worth emulating, but must also be kept alive as topics for group discussions and for orientations of Islamic workers, especially those involved in “Jihad Fi-Sabilillah.” Said Nursi’s “Risale-i Nur” is a testament to his Divine Inspiration, a treatise par excellence on Islam’s transition to the future.

*Ahmad Azam Abdulrahman is the Chairman of  Future Global Network Foundation and Board Member of Union of NGOs of Islamic World (UNIW)

THE DECREASE OF THE DIVINE DISPATCH AND PROPHET STIMULATION

Human being were created with a desire to (be able to) work. Action is essential in the universe. Waiting uselessly is inconvenient. Because of that, it is widely observed that the indolent man becomes disgraced and ashamed. Our ability to work is stated in the Quran as: “That man can have nothing but what he strives for”. (Surah An-Najm, 39)So, people have always been encouraged to work. It is indicated that we were created with the inclination and desire to work and that we shouldn’t give up working and contradict our nature.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) encourages us saying “The one who works and earns is highly appreciated by Allah”, which is also is parallel with the Divine Dispatch. Unfortunately some people destroyed this zeal with misleading inspirations, while there are Divine Dispatch and prophet stimulation. Since we stopped the lawful working, unlawful laziness invaded us. Poorness captured us.

To get rid of that, we should obey the Divine Dispatch and Prophet stimulation and should listen to the suggestions leading us to the cells of laziness.

NOT BEING ABLE TO REALIZE THE MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT

Each era has its own rule. When we look at the pages of the history, we will see that especially prophets (Prophet Noah built a ship, Prophet Dawood made armour and shaped the iron and Sultan Mehmed Fatih made huge cannons) gave importance to the material development. One of the most important ways to serve Allah’s religion is to realize the material development and act in accordance with it. This development must be in the fields of science, civilization, technique, economy and culture. Those who couldn’t see this fact threw themselves into the prisons of laziness. They couldn’t develop a service model suitable to their time and remained deprived of serving the cause of Allah. The development of today did not occur because they didn’t like the principles of Islam and Sunnah, but they are based on serving the humanity. (The developments throwing humanity to immorality, dissipation and uneasiness are out of our question, but they are also making the same mistake by advancing in material development). The service that the ancient nations made can hopefully be performed in a short time by material development with the permission of Allah. The happiness and security of both worlds and the secrecy of carrying out services that can only be made in so long a period are today directly proportional to attaching importance to the material development.

THE WRONG EVALUATION OF SUBMISSION AND CONTENTMENT

The religion of Islam praises the effort and sweat on one’s brow. It accepts all lawful works as worship. It orders us to be content with the product while contentment with the effort is regarded badly. Because some Muslims are contented with the outcome, result and product, their zeal to work decreased. They were satisfied with little work saying “That is enough for me and my children.” and they spent most of their time in indolence. The remedy is to expect the result from Allah and be contented with the outcome after applying the reasons.

TO FORGET THAT THE MEANS ARE THE REAL CAUSE

Just as it is important that the cause of someone on which he sets his heart and endeavors should be right and legitimate, in the same way, the means, ways and methods employed by him should be right and lawful.
It is an undeniable fact that success and victory can only be achieved by taking the right way and adhering right means.
We should be patient while applying the right ways. Obtaining a result is only possible through right methods. A curved sword cannot have a straight shadow. Hadrat Bediüzzaman expresses this reality as follows: “Our failure is because of our irregularity.” If we cannot obtain something, reach our aim and even lose our values although we work; it is because of our irregularity. Upon leaving the right ways, some Muslims could not be successful in the past few centuries. They got poor. The solution is to find and apply the right methods with patience.

TO ACT IN CONTRARY TO THE NATURE OF THE OBJECTS

We call the laws that Allah put to the creation of the universe and objects as Adatullah. To act according to the laws in the nature is quite important to be successful. In other words, playing the game according to its rules. The reward of obeying these rules and punishment of the contrary are given in this world. It doesn’t matter whether it is Muslim or not. To work according to the rules of something while working on it is a law laid by Allah in this universe. Such as wealth in working, death in drinking poison and cure in using medicine, etc. Non-Muslims get their rewards in this world, because they- although unintentionally- obey Allah’s natural laws, the creation of the things and the rules of the task, which are the signs of the Divine Will. In this world, the divine favour is together with those who obey these laws laid by Allah. Those who do not conform to them will get a negative response.

TO BE UNAWARE OF THE SECRECY OF “MY UMMAH, MY UMMAH!”

The value of the human is evaluated with his enthusiam. As the zeal increases, so does his value. If the zeal of somebody is for his nation, then he is alone a nation. If it is for ummah, he is alone an ummah. The determination, struggle and working zeal of humans are directly proportional to their zeal. There is energy in everybody that could rescue the humanity. To stimulate this present energy is only possible with a high zeal. Nevertheless, while the mercy upon the ummah should stimulate every individual to labour for the ummah, it is not possible to comprehend this secrecy because efforts have been focused on the elimination of personal needs in the past few centuries, Muslims got poor. Because they cut down their mountain-like zeals. Our prophet proved this reality with his own life and gave a favourable lesson to his ummah and commanded us to work for whole humanity saying ‘My ummah, My ummah!’

TO SET EYES ONLY ON STATE SERVICE

Although the wealth resources of a state are trade, art, agriculture and industry, etc., we have set our eyes on the state service to work, which looks good for our souls, fondles our prides and causes us laziness in one respect. Of course it is necessary to serve the state. However one must be serious about serving the nation. Otherwise, I think it is wrong to see it only as a means of a livelihood resource. We should give importance to trade, art and agriculture that give us production in society.

I have always been happy to be a Muslim. I have always been proud of being an individual in a Muslim society. As a matter of fact I have always suffered from not being a real Muslim. I haven’t been able to identify myself with the Muslims in the past. I have always admired them but I haven’t been able to present a qualified picture of the history in my mirror.
I have always read biographies of Prophets, our Prophet’s (pbuh) close companions and very famous people, listened to their life accounts in radio theatres and watched films narrating their lives. I have said: “I am on their side and I am one of them, so are they.” But when I closed the book and the film finished, I was the same person as before. Somehow I have always had difficulty in practicing my feelings and thoughts. It was as if I had an alter ego. I got damaged due to the blows of feeling waves from ebbs and flows of the outer world until that sentence entered my ears, resolved in my mind and quivered the belief cords in my heart.

“Particularly when the Prophet’s Community (ummah) is corrupted, to comply with a small matter of conduct of his Practices signifies a powerful belief and fear of God.”
Three points were remarkable in that sentence at least for me. 1- When Prophets’ community (ummah) is corrupted. 2- A small matter of conduct of His Practices. 3- A powerful belief and a fear of Allah.

THE TIME AND THE SITUATON OF UMMAH

I have discovered that the most remarkable difference between me and the people in the past is time and humanity, and especially the situation of the ummah namely the society that I live in. I recognized that the best thing for the people in the past is the parallels that can be drawn between the inner and the outer world. There was a response of a lesson taken from school or home in the society. Thought and practice, home and public area, lesson and teacher were harmonious. Tradition, culture, and customs got their power from belief. Justice, liberty found their ideal meanings in Islam.

However, what we see and live today is not the same as the past. The lessons taught at school, home and mosque have almost no equivalent in the society. What I witness and what I hear are completely different from each other. Yes I am a Muslim. I listen to a sermon in a mosque, am advised at home; take Quran, catechism, and tafseer lessons, but these lessons stay in the shade of the lessons that I take from society.

Time has changed, the century has transformed. Everybody is different. Strictly forbidden actions in the Quran have become ordinary in life. There has never been gambling, obscenity, casinos, night life, murder, betrayal in my life, but there is no prohibition for them on TV at home. Interest is forbidden, but banks are among the indispensible elements in life. I say:” Thank Allah I am a Muslim.” Then I think, “Am I right?”

As the time went by, I have seen that what I call a Muslim way of life is no more than the customary and traditional things. That there is no relationship between what I feel in my inner world and what I see in the outer world is the most important basis of the conflict I experience. I see but I can’t understand; I know but I can’t form the equation, which is the cause of the contradiction in my life.

As is said in a hadith, I was born with a true faith of Islam like all believers. May Allah be pleased with my parents! They didn’t hesitate to do their best to transfer to me what they knew. But they also found themselves in a catastrophe, in the middle of atheism which encircled the world.

We wasted the consequences of the atheism which encircled the world among sociological circumlocutions, that we couldn’t draw necessary lessons. Ignoring this point paved the way for contradictions, conflicts, and discomfort in me as an individual and in the society as a whole.

Thank Allah I had a contact with the Risale-i Nur, which forms opinions based on the truths of belief, which regards the basis of socio-psychology in terms of not only material needs but primarily moral and spiritual needs. I have re-discovered the true descriptions of ‘I’ and human being, time and end of time, deity and idol, truth and delusion. I have had an opportunity to evaluate and search all Islamic literature through the brand new point of view. Thank Allah I have found something which mentions my trouble and presents its remedy.

THE SMALL VIEW GIVES SOME CLUES ABOUT THE WHOLE PICTURE

In time, habits predominated in my life. Having no criteria assigned or perception made all my actions legitimate. As the time went on, I and they got rid of that delusion even if I encountered some people’s attitudes from the outer world, or the time we caught a point, we concealed it considering a delusion.

All I had in my life began small. For example I was small, I grew up, and so did my habits such as: a cigarette, first roaming in the streets, and many actions coming after sentences beginning by saying just for one time. They all grew up with me and became bigger.

I was in the middle of the cliff between the “I” which was described by those coming from my inside and the “I” which reflected into the outer world. Another world where gales blow. Conflict, expectation and hope all together.

Atheism fire has changed culture which reflects the character of society and actions which show the individual’s picture. The things that I had to accept mentally were encircled by feeling, desire and delusion; they couldn’t come into action by the help of my soul and Satan. The lost in “I” grew up as “we”. The things that we brought up in “we” made us find excuses in each other as if they were always in “we”. We called it civilization, Europeanization…

It is easy to get habits of carnal soul and Satan. They don’t require much effort from you. Those are what have always deceived us. Laziness, and Egocentrism.

Please remember the two sentences above which don’t mention religious obligations such as (fard) and wadjeb (incumbent duty on a Muslim) but mention a small matter of conduct of His Practices, a very small one. Obeying them is exalted, that is to say, getting rid of inertia. They mention being conscious of the criteria according to which we will perform them.
We have a lot of ordinary jobs, actions and methods. We have probably learned the way of doing them from people around us. We have learned some of them quickly from films unconsciously. If we are asked why we do them so, we can’t answer.

The most important part is there. Being able to be aware of what and why to do, even if it is a small matter of conduct of His Practices. That is the most difficult part of it. Otherwise, everybody eats, sleeps and goes to work. The missing part behind them is that those actions have no meaning in a real sense.

Thank Allah; my entire world has been illuminated by a sentence in the Risale-i Nur. My whole life has gained a meaning. I don’t only eat but also comply with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and I always remember being a member of His ummah (inshaallah). So I find peace and comfort complying with our Lord’s order “Follow my beloved one!” As I understand small things take me to the owner of everything, I grasp the importance of the Risale-i Nur one more time.

TAQWA (FEAR OF ALLAH) AND FAITH

Newton says: “I’ll lift the world if you let me a supporting point.” Our century requires a strong taqwa and faith for complying with a small matter of conduct of our Prophet’s practices. It signifies a taqwa which knows what to get protected against and a faith needed upon discovering the magnitude of the destruction.

This century is a period that deprives much with little. On the other hand, this period which requires strong fear and belief of Allah against the magnitude of the terror is an era when keeping faith is as hard as keeping burning coal in a palm. It is an era which doesn’t require imitative belief that is shaped by traditions but a verified and strong belief.

It is easy to be a traditionalist, be an ordinary one, to behave as everybody does. What is hard is that I can’t understand the detail in combining two “I”s, and can’t transform expression into a proper action.

How could it be possible without knowing the century, our roles in that century and the necessary information? Watching religious film and living in the past is not enough. But it seems that the point is to recognize the century without breaking off our essence, to find the one who recognizes the century, to know and understand him, to look through windows but not plunging into and live in the same environment but stay in yours.

I reread the verse in the Quran “O you who believe! Believe in Allah.” Prophet Jesus (pbuh) said that:” Those who were not reborn cannot be regarded as a believer. Thank Allah I was reborn that day, because I took a totally different approach to everything and life. The Globe is a world of opposites bearing the paradise and the hell. The essence of the matter is walking on the stones of the paradise. The others’ description is in taqwa.