Said Nursî

Muslim scholar Said Nursi
Born	Between January 5 and March 12, 1878 Nurs, Bitlis Province, Ottoman Empire (Hizan)
Died	March 23, 1960 (age 82) Urfa, Turkey
Era	Ottoman Empire, Turkish Republic, 19th-20th Century
Region	Anatolia
Creed	Sunnite (Shafi'ite),
Main interest(s)	Restoring Faith, theology, theosophy
Notable idea(s)	Risale-i Nur Collection
Influenced by Quran, Imam Ali, Abdul-Qadir Gilani, Al-Ghazali, Ahmad Sirhindi, Ash'ari
Influenced Fethullah Gülen,

Bediüzzaman Said Nursî (1878 – March 23, 1960), commonly known as Bediüzzaman (Badi' al-Zaman), which means "The Wonder of the Age" Sunni Muslim Kurd theologian who wrote the Risale-i Nur Collection, a body of Qur'anic commentary exceeding six thousand pages. Believing that modern science and logic was the way of the future, he advocated teaching religious sciences in secular schools and modern sciences in religious schools. Nursi inspired a faith movement that has played a vital role in the revival of Islam in Turkey and now numbers several million followers world wide.

The "Early Said"

Said Nursi after fleeing from prison camp of Russia in 1918.

He was born in Nurs, a Kurdish village in the Ottoman Bitlis Province in eastern Anatolia. He was educated by the district's best scholars, and he soon surpassed them in debates. His profound knowledge of religious and positive sciences which he learned at an early age was acclaimed by the scholars of his time, and due to his sharp intelligence, strong memory and superior abilities, he was called by the name “Bediuzzaman”, meaning “The most unique, superior person of the time.” He was invited by the governor of the Vilayet of Van to stay within his residency. In the governor's library, Nursî gained access to an archive of scientific knowledge he had not had access to previously. Moreover, Said learned proper Turkish there. During this time, he developed a plan for university education for the Eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire. By combining scientific and religious (Islamic) education, the university was expected to advance the philosophical thoughts of these regions. However, he was put on trial in 1909 for his apparent involvement in the 1909 events on the side opposing the Committee of Union and Progress but he was acquitted and released. He was active during the late Ottoman Caliphate as an educational reformer and advocate of the unity of the peoples of the Caliphate, Bediüzzaman was a worrying-enough influence for the incipient leader of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, to deem it necessary to seek to control him by offering him the position of ‘Minister of Religious Affairs’ for the eastern provinces of Turkey, a post that Nursi famously refused. This was the beginning of his split from the Kemalist Ideology. During World War I, he was a member of the Special Organization of the Ottoman Empire.

Said Nursi heard that a British Secretary for the Colonies, Gladstone, had even said in a newspaper: "So long as the Muslims have the Qur'an, we shall be unable to dominate them. We must either take it from them, or make them lose their love of it." Such threats caused him to declare: "I shall prove and demonstrate to the world that the Qur'an is an undying, inextinguishable Sun!" thus he decided to write his masterpiece, Risale-i Nur.

The "New Said"

He was finally exiled to the village Barla in the Isparta Province. His teachings attracted many people in the area. These manuscripts were sent to Sav, another village in the region where dozens of people duplicated them in Arabic script (which was officially replaced by the Latin script in 1928). After being finished these books were sent to Nursî's disciples all over Turkey via the "Nurcu postal system".^{[citation needed]} Bediuzzaman's study of science and involvement with philosophy should be seen in the context of the increasing Western influence in the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries and the attacks which were being made on the Quran and Islam in the name of science, materialism and Positivist philosophy in particular. Bediuzzaman's activity was intended to provide an Islamic answer to these attacks. When the leadership of Turkey came into the hands of Mustafa Kemal and his supporters at the founding of the Republic in 1923, the drive for Westernization received a strong impetus.

Besides these powerful writings themselves, a major factor in the success of the movement may be attributed to the very method Bediuzzaman had chosen, which may be summarized with two phrases: 'mânevî jihad,' that is, 'jihad of the word' or 'non-physical jihad', and 'positive action.' For Bediuzzaman considered the true enemies in this age of science, reason, and civilization to be materialism and atheism, and their source, materialist philosophy. Thus just as he combated and 'utterly defeated' these with the reasoned proofs of the Risale-i Nur, so through strengthening the belief of Muslims and raising it to the level of 'true, verified belief,' the Risale-i Nur was the most effective barrier against the corruption of society caused by these enemies. In order to be able to pursue this 'jihad of the word,' Bediuzzaman insisted that his students avoided any use of force and disruptive action. Through 'positive action,' and the maintenance of public order and security, the supposed damage caused by the forces of unbelief could be 'repaired' by the 'healing' truths of the Quran. For his beliefs, Said was arrested many times between 1930 and 1950.^{[citation needed]}

Said's Later Life

He was finally released in 1949. In the last decade of his life he settled in Isparta city. After the introduction of the multi-party system he advised his followers to vote for the Democratic Party of Adnan Menderes which gained the support of the rural and conservative populations. Because Said Nursî considered communism the greatest danger of that time, he also supported the pro-Western orientation of the Democrats, leading to his support of NATO, CENTO and Turkey's participation in the Korean war. He tried to unite Muslims and Christians in the struggle against communism and materialism therefore he corresponded with the Pope and the Greek Orthodox patriarch. In 1956 he was allowed to have his writings printed. His books are collected under the name The Collection Of Risale-i Nur (Letters of Light).

He died of exhaustion after traveling to Urfa. He was buried on the premises where according to Islamic beliefs prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) was born. After the military coup d'état in Turkey in 1960, a group of soldiers led by the later extreme right-wing politician Alparslan Türkeş opened his grave and buried him at an unknown place near Isparta during July 1960 in order to prevent popular veneration. His followers are reported to have found his grave after years of searching in the area, and took his remains to a secret place in an effort to protect his body from further disturbance. Now, only two followers of him know where he is buried. When one of them dies, the other one tells one more person the secret place of the grave, reducing the chance that the place be forgotten.^{[citation needed]} Interestingly enough, he wrote in a treaty (risala), that no one should know where his tomb is. "The Risale-i Nur Collection" revealing his claimed personal level of closeness to God. Although in letters circulating between the disciples many have been narrated instantly and are to be found within published letters combined under books called "Lahikalar". There are a few of these published "Lahikalar" named after where Said Nursi resided.

Said Nursi and the Republic of Turkey

Said Nursi's life, both while writing the Risale-i Nur (1925–48) and until his death in 1960, consisted of arrest and imprisonment, surveillance, and harassment. But he persevered. In the words of a person familiar with such anti-Said Nursi activities. Following is a brief chronology of this phase of his life:

· 1925-35: Kept under strict control at Barla, a very small, mountainous district, and forced to live alone.

· 1935: Arrested and imprisoned for 11 months with 125 students during their trial at Eskişehir Criminal Court.

· 1936-43: Following his release, began a 7-year exile in Kastamonu, where he spent the first 3 months at a police station After that, he was transferred to a house opposite to the police station.

· 1943: Arrested and tried with 126 students at the Denizli Criminal Court for having a treatise on God's existence printed secretly in Istanbul. He taught the other prisoner and produced his Fruits from the Tree of Light and other works on small pieces of paper torn from paper bags, which were then smuggled out. He was acquitted and exiled to Emirdag.

· 1948: Arrested in Emirdag with 53 students, and jailed for 20 months in Afyon prison. Now 72, Said Nursi endured solitary confinement in a cell with broken windows that were not fixed during the two harsh winters he stayed there. Sick and eventually poisoned, he had to serve his full term even though the Supreme Court had annulled his sentence. In 1956, they were declared innocent.

· In 1950: the multiparty system was introduced and restrictions on religion were relaxed. Said Nursi was arrested only once after this, and was acquitted by a unanimous decision.

· In 1960: He died on March 23, 1960 and buried to Halil-ur Rahman Dergahı in Urfa, the place where it is believed Abraham lived. However, on July 12, 1960 his body was taken out from his grave and buried to an unknown location by military junta of 1960 Turkish coup d'état. His grave location is still unknown to the public.

Bibliography

• Nereid, Camilla T., In the Light of Said Nursi:Turkish Nationalism and the Religious Alternative, London, C. Hurst Publishers, 1998.
• Sahiner, Necmettin, Son Şahitler 3, Nesil Yayinlari, 2004.
• Vahide, Sukran, Islam in modern Turkey: an intellectual biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. SUNY Press, 2005.
• Markham,Ian,An Introduction to Said Nursi ASHGATE, 2011.

Further reading

• Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi‘. Islam at the Crossroads Suny Press, 2003.
• Fred A. Reed. Anatolia junction: A journey into hidden Turkey. Talonbooks. 1999.
• Michel, Thomas, Said Nursi's Views on Muslim-Christian Understanding
• Ian Markham Engaging with Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, A Model of Interfaith Dialogue. Ashgate, 2009
• Ian Markham A Theology of Engagement. Blackwell, 2003
• Ian Markham Globalization,Ethics and Islam: The Case of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, 2005
• Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi‘. Spiritual Dimensions of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's Risale-i Nur. Suny Press, 2008.
• Barnett, Peter, Guardian of the Flame[2]
• Mardin, Serif, Religion and social change in modern Turkey: The case of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi. Suny Press, 1989.
• Kalın, Ibrahim, Islam in Turkey Oxford University Press, 2010.
• Şahin, Mustafa Gökhan, Said Nursi and the Nur Movement in Turkey: An Atomistic Approach [3]
• Turner, Colin, Horkuc, Hasan Said Nursi, Makers of Islamic Civilization Oxford, 2009.

External links

• SaidNur.com A comperehensive page about Said Nursi and Risale-i Nur Collection in many languages
• Suffa Vakfi Said Nursi based Organization.
• Questions On Islam Based on Principles of Said Nursi.
• [4] The European Court of Human Rights. Application no. 1413/08 by Ibragim IBRAGIMOV and CULTURAL EDUCATIONAL FUND “NURU-BADI” against Russia lodged on 3 December 2007.
• Risale-i Nur
• [5] A web page including Risale-i Nur Collection in various languages
• [6] A web page including Risale-i Nur Collection in English
• NursiStudies Academic Researches on Said Nursi
• [7] A web site serving in United States
• [8] A letter about ban of Risale-i Nur Collection to President of Russia Medvedev
• Bediuzzamansaidnursi.org

Sufism and Tariqa
Ideas Abdal Baqaa Dervish Dhawq Fakir Fanaa Haal Keramat Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Kashf Lataif Manzil Marifa Nafs Noor Qalandar Qutb Silsila Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Sulook Tazkiah Wali Yaqeen
Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqaba Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat
Sufi orders Akbarī Alevī Alians Ashrafia Azeemia Ba 'Alawī Bayramī Bektashī Chishtī Galibī Gulshanī Ḥurūfī Idrīsī Jelvetī Jerrahī Khalidī Khalwatī Kubrāwī Madarī Malāmatī Mawlāwī Mourīdī Noorbakshia Naqshbandī Naqshbandi Uwaisī Nasuhī Ni'matullāhī Nuqtawī Qadirī Qalāndārī Rifa'ī Safāvī Shadhilī Shattārī Suhrawardī Sunbulī Tijanī Ussakī Uwaisī Zahedī
Notable early Sufis Abdūl-Khāliq Ghujdawanī Zarruq Abdullah Ansari Abdūl-Qādir Gilanī Abūl-Khāyr ad-Dağhestānī Afaq Khoja Ahmad Ghazālī Ahmed Yasavī al-Badawi Al-Ghazālī Al-Hallaj Amīr Kulal Ali-Shir Nava'i Fozail al-Khārāqānī Al-Qāsim al-Qayṣarī al-Qunawī Ardabilī Ata Allah Attar Balım Sultan Baba Fakruddin Baha ūd-Dīn Naqshband Bande Nawāz Baqī Billah Bayazid Bastamī Bhita'ī Bulleh Shah Dehlāvī El-Desoukî Erbili Erzurumī Farīd ūd-Dīn Fuzûlî Gālib Gharīb Nawāz Ghulam Farīd Gül Baba Hajji Bayram Hajji Bektash Hāfez-e Shīrāzī Halidī Bağdādī Haddad Hamadānī Hansvī Harabatī Baba Harooni Hujwirī ibn Adham ibn ʿArabī Iraqi Jābir ibn Hayyān Ja'far al-Sadiq Jahangasht Jamī Jan-e-Jānāān Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani Mir Sham ud-Din Iraqi ‎ Karkhī Magtymguly Pyragy Jazoulī Jilī Junayd Baġdādī Kākī Kaliyarī Omar Khayyam Khusrow Kubrā Mahmud Hüdayī Nāimī Najib al-Suhrawardī Nasir Khusraw Nasīmī Nasreddin Hoca Nathar Vali Ni'matullāh Wali Nizām ūd-Dīn Nurī Nursī Otman Baba Pir Sultan Qutb ūd-Dīn Haydār Qutb ūd-Dīn Shīrāzī Rabbānī Rabia Basri Razī Rifa'ī Rukn-e-Alam Rūmī Saadī Salman al-Farisī Sanai Noorbaksh Sarı Saltuk Sheik Edebali Semnanī Silistrevī Shadhilī Shah Waliullah Shahāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī Shams Tabrizī Shiblī Sultan Walad Surkh Bukharī Taj al-Dīn Gilanī Umar al-Suhrawardī Sahl al-Tustari Yunus Emre Zakariya Zū'l-Nūn al-Misrī
Notable modern Sufis Baba Rexheb Abdal Hakīm Murad Abdalqadir as-Sufi Ahmet Kayhan Dede Abdullah Naqshbandi Ahmad al-Alawi al-Shaghouri Ashfaq Ahmed Qalandar Baba Auliya Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Feisal Abdul Rauf Fethullah Gülen Gohar Shahi Galip Hassan Kuscuoglu Ghulam Mustafa Hafiz Qamaruddin Hisham Kabbani Mai Safoora Meher Ali Muhammad Madani Miya Ashrafi al-Jilani Muhammad Malikī Nazīm Al-Haqqanī Peer-e-Noorbakshia Syed Waheed Ashraf Nuh Keller Nooruddeen Durkee Omar Shah Osman Nuri Topbaş Pir Zulfiqar Qadeer Piya Raza Khan Reshad Feild Saheb Qibla Fultali Said Afandi al-Chirkawi Shahab Sufi Barkat Ali Syed Shujaat Tahir ul-Qadrī Tahir Allauddin Tajuddin Babaī Waris Ali Shah Wasif Zaheen
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