URL : The author of the Risale-i Nur, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi was born in 1877 in Nurs, a village near Bitlis in eastern Anatolia. He received his early education from the best-known scholars in the region, displaying an extraordinary intelligence and ability to learn from an early age. He travelled throughout eastern Anatolia studying the religious sciences of the time and engaging in vigorous debates with other scholars. The first occasion he silenced the most distinguished of these was when he was only fifteen years of age by which time he had already gained a widespread reputation for his learning and uncompromising stand against oppression and irreligion.
Like most Muslim intellectuals and scholars in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Bediuzzaman was chiefly occupied with the reasons for the material backwardness of the Islamic world in comparison with the enormous advances in industrial, technological and economic fields made by European nations. In 1894 he was invited to Van by the Governor and he remained there for some thirteen years. During this period he increasingly turned his attention to the state of the Ottoman Empire and Islamic world, studying the newspapers and keeping in close contact with the Governor and other government officials. He one day read the following 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."
This explicit threat brought home to Bediuzza-man the true intentions of the leading European nations and the seriousness of the situation. It caused him to declare: "I shall prove and demonstrate to the world that the Qur'an is an undying, inextinguishable Sun!" And he was prompted to seek solutions at the most fundamental level. Education was an area obviously in much need of reform, particularly in eastern Anatolia. In order to prepare himself, therefore, he not only continued his study of all the traditional religious sciences but contrary to other religious scholars of the time he also took up the study of modern science. He excelled at mathematics in particular, but also at physics, chemistry and all the now familiar subjects. With his prodigious memory he memorized eighty books in three months, which he later described as "the steps by which to mount to the truths of the Qur'an."
Further to his own studies, Bediuzzaman's great desire was to establish a university for eastern Anatolia in which the religious and modern sciences would be taught side by side. He saw it to be absolutely essential that these two branches of learning were not separated from each other. The Medresetii'z-Zehra, as he called it, would act as a binding and reconciling force in several respects.
As regards its primary aim, it would expand and revivify basic learning. For, "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' endeavour 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 scepticism in the latter." The Medresetii'z-Zehra was also to be trilingual in nature, Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish, with particular emphasis on the first. And it was to be a fusion of the three distinct educational systems and groups of the time: it would be both a place of modern learning (mekteb), and of traditional religious science (medrese), and of Sufi learning (tekke or zawiye).
Bediuzzaman vigorously pursued the establishment of this university for many years, in fact till the end of his life. During that period he approached the Sultan several times on the matter and was finally allotted 19,000 gold liras. The foundations were laid at a site on the shores of Lake Van, but the building was not completed due to the outbreak of the First World War.
Bediuzzaman became an increasingly prominent Figure, especially after leaving Van or Istanbul in 1907, where he pursued his struggles for the revitalization of the Islamic world largely in the public domain and in the field of politics. The analyses he made of the state of Islam and the solutions he offered deserve a separate study, here it is only possible to show one or two of the points he made and to point out that he demonstrated the remedies for that unhappy state to all lie within the Qur'an and adhering to the Shari'a.
A major point he repeatedly stressed was that, contrary to the malicious lies put about by the enemies of religion, true progress could only be achieved through Islam. Social progress only occurred when the precepts of the Qur'an and Shari'a were followed. The same was true for material progress. Bediuzzaman pointed out that, by mentioning the miracles of the prophets, the Qur'an was informing mankind that those miracles were the forerunners of what would be achieved by progress in the future, and was urging mankind towards that progress. For example, the Prophet Solomon (Upon whom be peace)'s miracle of traversing the distance of two months in a day was demonstrating that this was possible and was possible and was encouraging man to discover the means to do likewise.
A further acute observation he made was in a major sermon he delivered to an audience numbering thousands on the same general subject in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus in 1911. He noted that as history testifies, the Islamic world advanced in civilization to the degree that it acted in accordance with the truths of Islam, and when it was lax in adhering to those truths it regressed and was defeated to the degree of its laxity. Whereas with other religions it was exactly the opposite: as much as they abandoned the dictates of their religion and their bigotry, to that degree they progressed, and vice versa.
He further stated, "In the future, when reason, science and technology prevail, that will surely be the time the Qur'an will gain ascendancy, which relies on rational proofs and invites the reason to confirm its pronouncements."
These struggles of the 'Old Said' continued up until 1914 as did his endeavours for the establishment of the Eastern University. On the entry of the Ottomans into the First World War he returned to eastern Anatolia, where he took up command of a volunteer regiment. For the next two years he led his men, many of whom were his students with almost reckless courage. In this jihad against the invading Russians, he inspired them with his characteristic audacity and absolute lack of fear in the face of death, for which he was later decorated. At the same time as conducting this warfare, he wrote his celebrated commentary on the opening suras of the Qur'an, dictating in Arabic to a scribe while on horseback and in the trenches. This was published following the War under the title Signs of Miraculousness (Isha-ratu'i-I'jaz). He was later captured by the Russians, and after two years as a prisoner-of-war in Russia, escaped.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi returned to Istanbul via eastern Europe in 1918, the year of the collapse and dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. On his return, Bediuzzaman refused offers of government position but did accept his appointment to the Darii'l-Hikmeti'l-hlamiye, an institution of scholars and other notables that assisted the Shaykh al-Islam. On the occupation of Istanbul by the British, he opposed them relentlessly, publishing sustained attacks in the press, supporting also the War of Independence and National Struggle. However, this period saw the transition, not only from the Ottoman State to the new Turkish Republic, but also from the 'Old Said' to the 'New Said'. While still in Istanbul and carrying out his duties for the DariiT-Hikmet, he began to withdraw more and more from public life. He published several treatises in Arabic during this period.
In recognition of his services to the National
Snaggle Bediuzzaman was repeatedly invited to Ankara by the Ankara Government, and finally left Istanbul for Ankara in 1922. On his arrival he was greeted with a special ceremony at the National Assembly and he remained there for several months. However, what he found may best be described in his own words: "When I went to Ankara in 1922, the morale of the people of faith was extremely high as a result of the victory of the army of Islam over the Greeks. But I saw that an abominable current of atheism was treacherously trying to subvert, poison and destroy their minds. 'O God,' I said, 'this monster is going to harm the fundamentals of belief.'"
In an address to the Assembly, therefore, Bediuzzaman stressed that at this time of victory, having fought to defend the Qur'an, they should now adhere to it and conform to its commands, like to the obligatory prayers. He warned against neglecting communal prayer and against following the imitators of Europe, for this would cause disunity, both within the Muslim world and within the country. The unbelievers had unsuccessfully attacked the Muslim world with all their forces, including their civilization, philosophy and sciences, but that if the deputies did not revive and protect all the practices of Islam, they would be unwittingly supporting the enemy, who was fully aware of what he was doing.
While in Ankara he persisted in his aim of establishing the Medresetii'z-Zehra, the university in the east. Out of the 200 deputies in the Assembly, 163 agreed to allot it 150,000 liras. A number objected arguing that the need was now for western-type education, and since this was now the prevailing policiy, again it failed to materialize. Said Nursi then realized that he could do nothing further in Ankara and left for Van. There he went into seclusion for two years, concentrating on prayer and the inner life.
In 1925, because of his influence, he was approached by tribal leaders who wanted to rise against the government. He attempted to dissuade them saying that they were all Muslims and it was not permitted that brother should fight brother. The only means for salvation at that time, he said, was to guide through the truths of belief and the Qur'an, it was to dispel ignorance, which was the greatest enemy. But despite his admonishments, they continued. In the aftermath, Bediuzzaman was falsely charged with inciting rebellion and was exiled to western Anatolia.
Thus began a long period of harassment and oppression by the authorities that was to continue until Bediuzzaman's death in 1960. The anti-Islamic policies of the Turkish government, in particular from 1925 to 1950, are well-known. Suffice it to say here that under the mask of secularism, the intention was to cut off Turkey from its Islamic past and to destroy the very roots of Islam. The publishing of Islamic literature of any sort was prohibited, as were all kinds of religious activities.
As a result of these policies Said Nursi was successively exiled to various places in Anatolia, kept under continual surveillance, and arrested and sent to trial on a number of occasions on fabricated charges. He was poisoned, imprisoned and suffered every sort of indignity. However the 'New Said' that had been born in the days following the First World War now became fully realized. For the next twenty-five years he completely withdrew from political activity of every kind, not even reading newspapers or enquiring after their contents. In spite of the extreme difficulties of his enforced isolation, Bediuzzaman concentrated all his effort, ability and learning on writing the Risale-i Nur, and, as far as was possible, on explaining it to this students and encouraging its dissemination. He himself wrote: "Now I see clearly that most of my life has been directed in such a way - outside my own free-will, ability, comprehension, and foresight - that it might produce these treatises to serve the cause of the Qur'an. It is as if all my life as a scholar has been spent in preliminaries to these writings, which demonstrate the rniraculousness of the Qur'an."
Thus, years before when he had analysed the state_ of the Islamic world that had inevitably led to the present condition, he had found the root cause of that dire state to lie in the weakening of the foundations of the structure of Islam. Damage had occurred over a long period of time within the structure itself, and the fundamentals of belief too had sustained damage. And, as we showed, Bediuzzaman had further seen all the cures and remedies to lie within the Qur'an itself. And so, with his immense learning and knowledge, not only of all the traditional religious sciences and of modern science, but also of modern man and his life and mentality, he was uniquely fitted to write a contemporary commentary on the Qur'an in order to repair that damage, to explain its truths to that bewildered creature, modern man, in a manner that would correspond to his understanding and answer all his doubts and questions.
The university that Bediuzzaman had tried for so many years to establish in eastern Anatolia never came to fruition but it found a sort of immaterial embodiment in the Risale-i Nur. For, bringing together the traditional religious sciences and modern science, the Risale-i Nur uniquely teaches that if the method of the Qur'an is followed, all the truths of belief may be proved rationally.
The Holy Qur'an addresses the reason, as well as man's other inner faculties. It directs man to consider 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, then, is the method that Bediuzzaman employed in the Risale-i Nur. He explained the true nature of the universe as signs of its Creator and demonstrated through clear arguments that when it is read as such all the fundamentals of belief may be proved rationally. When this method is followed, a person attains a true belief that will be sound and firm enough to withstand any doubts that may arise in the face of the subtle attacks of materialism, naturalism, and atheism, or of material and scientific advances. For all scientific and technological advances are merely the uncovering of the workings of the cosmos. When the cosmos is seen to be a vast and infinitely complex and meaningful unified book describing its Single Author, rather than causing doubt and bewilderment, all these discoveries and advances reinforce belief, they deepen and expand it.
Said Nursi thus demonstrated that religion and science cannot be separated: religion without the rational proofs and understanding of science becomes mere bigotry and prejudice, while science without religion causes doubt and confusion, and it becomes a treacherous tool in the hand of the forces of evil. Further, in a section of the Risale-i Nur on the nature of the human ego, Bediuzzaman explained that thoughout the history of mankind there have been two currents or lines of thought, that of prophethood and religion (wahy or revelation), and that of philosophy and science. These correspond to the faculties in man of the heart and the intellect. When they have been united, that is when the line of philosophy has been obedient to and of service to the line of prophethood, mankind has experienced true harmony and happiness. Whereas, when they have become separated goodness and light have been drawn to the latter, and evil and misguidance to the former.
Currents of philosophy had infiltrated into the structure of Islamic thought from a relatively early date. The damage this had caused to belief together with the sustained attacks, largely in the name of science and progress, from the West at a more recent date had had devastating effects as we have seen. And so, in order to repair the damage at the most fundamental level, Bediuzzaman pointed out that the effects are also much more subtle than most believers realize, that the great majority of them are deeply imbued with Western or materialist philosophy without their even realizing it.
The Qur'an teaches us that every single being in the universe is engaged in the worship and glorification of its Creator. In numerous places in the Risale-i Nur there are explanations as to what this means. How each being, from the vastest galaxies to the minutest particles, are perfoiming intricate, complex and constantly changing duties. These duties have numerous aspects, many of which look to the rest of the universe. Said Nursi points out that, however it is termed, unless every single being in the creation is seen as being continously created by One, all-Powerful, All-Knowing, All-Wise Creator, the universe becomes logically impossible. However, to attribute a single event or an effect to a cause, or to Nature, or to the laws or forces of Nature immediately contradicts this fact and logically makes the whole universe meaningless, a confused agglomeration of chance causes, which is manifestly absurd. And so to do is a form of materialism, the basis of which causality. Bediuzzaman demonstrated with simple and clear proofs the plain absurdity and irrationality of supposing that causality could function at any level.
And so, by following the method of the Qur'an and considering the functioning of the universe, Bediuzzaman showed that the universe itself furnishes the proofs of the fundamentals of belief, such as Divine Unity. The intellect is the servant of revelation and should be used to confirm the truths of faith. In this way the Risale-i Nur may be seen to be demonstrating some of the miracu-lousness of the Qur'an. What other remedies are there for the mighty structure of Islam other than recementing and strengthening its foundations thus?
In spite of frequent illness and the extremely harsh conditions in which Bediuzzaman Said Nursi passed these years of exile, he continued to write the Risale-i Nur with unfailing energy. Three-quarters of its one hundred and thirty parts were completed in the first eight years, including the celebrated Treatise on Resurrection, which proves the resurrection of the dead and existence of the Hereafter. Also in spite of the efforts of the authorities to completely segregate him, he acquired ever-increasing numbers of students, who distributed the sections of the Risale-i Nur as they were written, eventually throughout Anatolia.
Bediuzzaman would dictate at speed to scribes who would then secretly take the copies to neighbouring vilages. There, those who were able of the villagers, including women and schoolchildren, would copy them by hand in the Arabic script, which was itself illegal at that time. The copies were then taken back to Bediuzzaman, who would correct them. It is an indication of the veracity and power of the Risale-i Nur that these Nur Talebeleri, or Students of the Risale-i Nur, found that as they read it, their belief was strengthened and expanded so that their very lives became changed. They recognized it as a Divine grace and mercy in those black days and worked with selfless courage and devotion for its dissemination. By 1950, the students numbered hundreds of thousands from all corners of Anatolia and something in the region of 600,000 copies of different sections of the Risale-i Nur had been copied by hand or reproduced on duplicating machines.
During this period of twenty-five years Bediuzzaman was arrested and brought to trial three times and spent a total of three and a half years in prison. Many of his students were arrested with him and many others suffered constant illegal harassment, arrest and torture. The conditions they endured in prison were physically appalling, and they were subject to a multiplicity of injustices, such as being kept without food for twelve days. However, they were undaunted and endured it all with patience and fortitude. Said Nursi named prison the Medrese-i Yusufiye, after the patron of prisoners, the Prophet Joseph (Upon whom be peace). For although he was kept largely in solitary confinement, he continued to teach his students, and his influence made itself felt to such a degree that many of the ordinary prisoners began to reform. They began to perform the five daily prayers, and his students taught them how to recite the Qur'an and to read and write. Bediuzzaman also continued to write the Risale-i Nur, several important parts of which were written under those conditions, including the Fruits of Belief. They were frequently written on scraps of paper and smuggled out in matchboxes.
The most apt comment on the nature of the charges brought against Said Nursi is that the courts were never able to substantiate them and the trials always ended in acquittals, or in the sentence being annulled. The only exception to this was the trial in 1936 which resulted in his being sentenced to eleven months' imprisonment on the pretext of a treatise on the wisdom of Islamic dress for women he had written several years before the Republic had been founded and the new laws introduced! He was charged with forming a secret society with the intention of harming the state, and with exploiting religion for political ends. He was also charged with forming a new Sufi order, all the orders of course being banned during that period.
At all his trials, Bediuzzaman conducted his own defence, eloquently refuting all the charges. His speeches are masterpieces in the defence of Islam against the covert attacks of the forces of irreligion made in the name of justice. The charge that he had formed a new Sufi order was plainly contrived. There was no structure of any kind among the Nur Talebeleri, nor any of the practices associated with the orders. Also, due to his enforced isolation during these twenty-five years, although certainly many thousands of students wished to visit him, in fact relatively few were successful. And he himself frequently insisted that he like them was student of the Risale-i Nur, that he himself was of no importance since all of himself had gone into its writing. He furthermore considered Sufism to be inappropriate for the needs of the age, saying, "This is not the era of the Sufi orders, rather it is the time in which belief must be saved. There are many who enter Paradise without belonging to a Sufi order, but none who enter it without belief. Therefore, it is necessary to work for belief." And also, "A man cannot live without bread, but he can live without fruit. Sufism is like fruit, the truths of the Qur'an like basic sustenance."
As far as the other charges were concerned, he denied that any work concerning faith should be a tool for anything other than seeking God's pleasure. He pointed out time and time again that the Risale-i Nur concerned only belief and the Qur'an and was in no way concerned with politics, and as such was the source of the highest morals, which resulted in public order and social harmony rather than the reverse. He insisted that he was defending the truths of faith against the atheism of certain European philosophers, and those who make it their business to disturb public order and make politics serve the cause of atheism.
Despite the fact that each trial ended in acquittal, the persecution and pressure of the authorities increased as time passed and the influence of the Risale-i Nur and the activities of its students became more extensive. These culminated in twenty months' imprisonment in 1948-9 under the most severe conditions. Bediuzzaman was then over seventy years of age.
1950 saw the first free elections of the Republic, which were won by the Democrat Party with a large majority. A reversal of the anti-Islamic and anti-religious policies of the previous regime was eagerly awaited by the majority of the population, and indeed some restrictions were lifted. For example, the call to prayer in Arabic was heard once more throughout the land.
Some of the rigorous restrictions on Bediuzzaman Said Nursi were also lifted and for the last ten years of his life he named himself the "Third Said.' For during this period, though still under surveillance, he was to some extent freer to move around and could receive the thousands of visitors that flocked to see him from all over Turkey. Also in his support for the Democrat Party's positive policies towards Islam, he exerted some influence over the world of politics. For instance, he encouraged the government to endorse the proposal to set up CENTO in 1955 as a gesture towards Islamic Unity and a means of combating racialism and negative nationalism.
Bediuzzaman had never abandoned his hopes for the establishment of the Eastern University, the need for which increased as time passed. With the coming to power of the new government he exerted what influence he could that this might finally be achieved. With this intention he approached the new President who agreed, saying that every problem should be surmounted for the establishment of such an institution in the eastern provinces and that it should be started in the forthcoming financial year. When finally a university was opened at Erzurum in 1958, Bediuzzaman greeted it positively, although it was not entirely in the form he proposed. It was his great hope that sometime in the future the Students of the Risale-i Nur would be successful in founding a university such as the Medresetu'z-Zehra.
Bediuzzaman continued to teach and expound the Risale-i Nur, both in person and by letter, to his students and to encourage its duplication and distribution. He urged his many visitors to read the Risale-i Nur, always stressing that all the importance lay there and not in himself. This period saw a large expansion in the number of the Risale-i Nur Students, particularly among university and other students and the young generally in the cities of Istanbul and Ankara.
During these years Said Nursi particularly concentrated on guiding the young. He visited Istanbul and Ankara on several occasions, when large numbers of them were able to visit him. He wrote numerous letters answering their questions, explaining the Risale-i Nur and many other subjects such as the true nature of modern civilization. He:was sent to trial for the fourth and final time, in 1952, on this occasion in Istanbul, which provided the opportunity for thousands of students and others to demonstrate their solidarity and support. It again resulted in acquittal.
In 1956, the "Third Said' saw some of the fruits of the long years of the 'New Said's' struggles. For in that year after eight years of scrutiny and deliberation the Department of Religious Affairs submitted its report to Afyon Court. This report completely vindicated the 'New Said' by repeating what he had claimed all along, that the Risale-i Nur consisted only of matters concerning Islam and belief and contained nothing legally objectionable. Whereupon the Court declared all Bediuzzaman's writings to be free of restriction and returned all confiscated copies to their owners. On receipt of this news, students of the Risale-i Nur in Istanbul, Ankara and two other cities prepared to have the Risale-i Nur printed in the new (Latin) script. And so to Bedizzaman's great joy the proofs of three major parts of it, Soz-ler (The Words), Mektubat (Letters), and Lem'alar (Flashes) were brought to him to be checked and corrected, and were then published.
However, as the Nur movement gained strength in the 1950's, the negative currents by no means declined, on the contrary they were making greater inroads into the structure of Islam. After one trip to Istanbul, Bediuzzaman was asked whether he was troubled by what he had found there. He replied as follows:
"The only thing that troubled me was the danger to which Islam is exposed. In the past, dangers came from outside and were therefore easily resisted. But now the danger comes from inside. The worm has entered the body so it has become difficult to resist it. I am frightened that the structure of the Muslim community will be unable to withstand it because it does not perceive the enemy. It supposes to be its friend its greatest enemy, that has its teeth in its arteries and is drinking its blood. If the Muslim commuity has become so blind, then the citadel of belief is in danger. My one and only worry is this then, I do not have time to even think of my own troubles and difficulties. Would that I had a thousand difficulties like those I now suffer and that the citadel of belief could therefore remain secure in the future."
And when asked whether his hundreds of thousands of believing students did not give Mm comfort and hope for the future, he replied:
"Yes, I am not altogether without hope."
Bediuzzaman continued with his work right up until the time of his death on 23rd March, 1960. He was then over eighty years of age and had spent his long life in tireless and unremitting service to the cause of Islam. Because he so clearly understood the nature of the diseases afflicting the Muslim world, which manifested themselves with such ferocity in Turkey, and perhaps more importantly, where the remedies should be sought, he was able to produce a body of writing that without doubt can be said to have played a major role in preserving the Islamic faith in that country. Further to that, in the Risale-i Nur, he left a legacy to the Muslim world that clearly points to the direction to be taken if it is to regain its health and vigour.
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