Said Nursî

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"Nursi" redirects here. For Estonian village, see Nursi, Estonia.

Said-i Nursi

Üstad • Bediüzzaman
Said Nursi 1956.jpg
Said Nursi
Personal
Born1877[1]
Nurs,[2][3] Bitlis Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died23 March 1960 (aged 82–83)[7]
Urfa, Turkey
ReligionIslam
Era19th–20th century[4]
RegionKurdistan[5]
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceShafi`i
CreedAsh'ari[6]
Main interest(s)Theology,[8] Tafsir,[8] Revival of Faith[9] Kalam, Eloquence
Muslim leader
Influenced by

Said Nursi (Ottoman Turkish: سعيد نورسی, Kurdish: Seîdê Nursî ,سەعید نوورسی[12][13]‎; 1877[1] – 23 March 1960), also spelled Said-i Nursî or Said-i Kurdî,[14][15] and commonly known with the honorifics Bediüzzaman (meaning "wonder of the age") and Üstad (meaning "master")[16] among his followers, was a Kurdish Sunni Muslim theologian who wrote the Risale-i Nur Collection, a body of Qur'anic commentary exceeding six thousand pages.[17][18] 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.[17][18][19]

Nursi inspired a religious movement[20][21] that has played a vital role in the revival of Islam in Turkey and now numbers several millions of followers worldwide.[22][23] His followers, often known as the "Nurcu movement" or the "Nur cemaati".[24] In a 2008 publication Nurcu worldwide adherents were estimated at 5 to 6 millions with numbers going up to 9 millions, with around 5500 dershanes or study halls where adherents would read Nursi’s writings collectively.[25]

He was able to recite many books from memory. For instance: "So then he [Molla Fethullah] decided to test his memory and handed him a copy of the work by Al-Hariri of Basra (1054–1122) — also famous for his intelligence and power of memory — called Maqamat al-Hariri. Said read one page once, memorized it, then repeated it by heart. Molla Fethullah expressed his amazement."[26]

Early life

Said Nursi was born in the Kurdish village of Nurs near Hizan in the Bitlis Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.[5] He received his early education from scholars of his hometown, where he showed mastery in theological debates. After developing a reputation for Islamic knowledge, he was nicknamed "Bediüzzaman", meaning "The most unique and superior person of the time". He was invited by the governor of the Vilayet of Van to stay within his residency.[27] In the library of the governor, Nursi gained access to an archive of scientific knowledge he had not had access to previously. Said Nursi also learned the Ottoman Turkish language there. During this time, he developed a plan for university education for the Eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire.[28] By combining scientific and religious (Islamic) education, the university was expected to advance the philosophical thoughts of these regions. Although subsequently he twice received funds for the construction of his university, and its foundations were laid in 1913, it was never completed due to war.[citation needed]

Contrary to the practice of religious scholars at that time, Nursi himself studied and mastered almost all the physical and mathematical sciences, and later studied philosophy. In the course of time, modern sciences had been dropped from the religious schools curriculum, which had contributed directly to the Ottoman decline relative to the advance of the West. Nursi’s endeavor was to prove and demonstrate that Islam is compatible with modern sciences and progress, the Holy Book was the source of true progress and civilization.[citation needed]

The years up to the end of the First World War were the final decades of the Ottoman Empire and were, in the words of Nursi, the period of the ‘Old Said’. In additions to his endeavors in the field of learning, he has had active involvement in social life and the public domain. In the War, he commanded the militia forces on the Caucasian Front against the invading Russians, for which he as later awarded a War Medal. He would enter the trenches himself despite heavy shelling which earned him the admiration of the troops he commanded. It was during these expereinces that he allegedly wrote his Koranic commentary, Signs of Miraculousness dictating to a scribe while on horseback. His commentary argues that the Koran encompasses the knowledge which allows for modern science. The commentary, in Nursi’s words, forms a sort model for commentaries he hoped would be written in the future fusing Islam and modern science. Nursi was taken prisoner in March 1916 and held in Russia for two years before escaping in early 1918, and returning to Istanbul via Warsaw, Berlin, and Vienna.[citation needed]

Nursi's influence concerned the incipient leader of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,[29] which lead to Ataturk offering Nursi the post ‘Minister of Religious Affairs" for the eastern provinces of Turkey in attempt to make sure Nursi would not oppose Ataturk's regime, a post that Nursi famously refused.[30][31] This was the beginning of his split from the Kemalist circle.[citation needed] Conversely to the authority offered to Kursi, the secular government in the Republic of Turkey would later stigmatize his attempts to renew traditional faith. Modernization of intellectual culture in Anatolia thusly bifurcated along two approaches; assimilation of occidental understanding; and functionalization of extant liturgics.[citation needed] Nursi was the major contributor to the latter approach, and his early life as a memorization savant enabled him to use scripture for teaching with mnemonic metaphor.[citation needed] Friction between the two spheres of thought led to breakdowns of civility and the eventual reclusion of Nursi.[citation needed]

After arriving in Istanbul, Nursi allegedlydeclared: "I shall prove and demonstrate to the world that the Quran is an undying, inexhaustible Sun!",[32] and set out to write his comprehensive Risale-i Nur, a collection of Said Nursi's own commentaries and interpretations of the Quran and Islam, as well as writings about his own life.[33]

Teachings and movement

Some words and teachings of Said Nursi:

  • I can live without bread, but I can't live without freedom.
  • Distress teaches vice. Despair is the source of misguidance; and darkness of heart, the source of distress of the spirit.
  • Belief is not restricted to a brief affirmation based on imitation; rather, it has degrees and stages of development. It is like a seed growing into a fully grown, fruit-bearing tree; like the sun's image in a mirror or in a drop of water to its images on the sea's surface and to the sun itself.
  • Attributing to anything or anyone more good than God has attributed to them is not a positive move, nor does it mean that you have done them any good. A single grain of truth is preferable to a bumper harvest of false imaginings.
  • On the face of the universe, the face of the earth, and the face of man are three stamps of dominicality one within the other and each showing samples of the others.

-The First is the great stamp of Godhead, which is manifested through the mutual assistance, co-operation, and embracing and corresponding to one another of beings in the totality of the universe. This looks to “In the Name of God.”

-The Second is the great stamp of divine mercifulness, which is manifested through the mutual resemblance and proportion, order, harmony, favour and compassion in the disposal, raising, and administration of plants and animals on the face of the earth. This looks to “In the Name of God, the Merciful.”

-Then is the exalted stamp of divine compassionateness, which is manifested through the subtleties of divine beneficence, fine points of divine clemency, and rays of divine compassion on the face of man’s comprehensive nature. This looks to “the Compassionate” in “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.”[34]

  • The human mind, which plunges into causes, is bewildered at the upheavals of the passing of the world, and laments despairingly. While the conscience, which desires true existence, severs the connection with metaphorical beloveds and transient beings through crying like Abraham, I love not those that set, and it binds itself to the Truly Existent One, and Eternal Beloved.
  • O my ignorant soul! Know that the world and its beings are certainly ephemeral, but you may find a way leading to permanence in each ephemeral thing, and may see two flashes, two mysteries, of the manifestations of the Undying Beloved’s Beauty.
  • Yes, it is within the bounty that the bestowal is to be seen and the favour of the Most Merciful perceived. If you pass from bounty to bestowal, you will find the Bestower. Also, each work of the Eternally Besought One makes known the All-Glorious Maker’s Names like a missive. If you pass from the decoration to the meaning, you will find the One signified by way of His Names. Since you can find the kernel, the essence, of these ephemeral beings, obtain it.
  • Among beings there is no work which is not a most meaningful embodied word and does not cause to be read numerous of the Glorious Maker’s Names. Since beings are words, words of power, read their meanings and place them in your heart. Fearlessly cast words without meaning onto the winds of transience. Do not concern yourself looking behind them, needlessly occupying yourself.[35]
  • Minds should be enlightened with science, and hearts need to be illumined with religion. Words
  • If you want an enemy, the ego (nafs) is sufficient. If you want advice, death is sufficient.
  • Sin penetrates to the heart, darkens and hardens it until it extinguishes the light of belief. Each sin has a path that leads to unbelief. Unless that sin is swiftly obliterated by seeking God's forgiveness, it grows from a worm into a snake that gnaws at the heart.
  • Do what you do only for God's sake, start for God's sake, work for God's sake, and act within the sphere of God's good approval. ~ Said Nursi
  • The heart does not derive pure pleasure from what is impermanent. ~ Said Nursi
  • A thing's innate disposition does not lie. ~ Said Nursi
  • All true happiness, pure joy, sweet bounties, and untroubled pleasure lie in knowledge of God and love of God; they cannot exist without them.
  • The magnificent cosmos is a palace that has the sun and the moon as its lamps and the stars as its candles; time is like a rope or ribbon hung within it, on to which the Glorious Creator each year threads a new world.
  • Nature is a divine art; it cannot be the artist. It is a dominical book and cannot be the scribe. It is an embroidery and cannot be the embroiderer. It is a register and cannot be the accountant. It is the law and cannot be the power.
  • Sin penetrates to the heart, darkens and hardens it until it extinguishes the light of belief. Each sin has a path that leads to unbelief. Unless that sin is swiftly obliterated by seeking God's forgiveness, it grows from a worm into a snake that gnaws at the heart.
  • The fact that there is a unity in everything demonstrates that they are the works and artefacts of a single being. The universe is like a rosebud swathed in a thousand veils of unity. Or it is a single macroanthropos dressed in unities to the number of Divine Names and universal Divine works.
  • If knowledge lacks the insight of the heart, it is ignorance.
  • Do not suffer pain and torment without reason. Somebody All-Powerful and All-Compassionate owns everything. Rely on His Power and do not accuse His Compassion. Renounce grief and anxiety ad accept relief. Be rid of your troubles and find serenity.

Humanity faced the greatest corruption of this period and the danger of unbelief, which was the greatest threat to humanity. Therefore, according to him, the greatest service in this period was the service of faith rescue, and Risale-i Nur, who did this duty properly, represented the great Mahdism of the End Times.[36] However, he was carrying out the first and most important steps of this task, which he called "the service of faith and the Quran" with his books called "Risale-i nur", and was preparing the ground and program for another person to come after him.[36]

The period believed to be the "golden age of Mahdi" will come in the future, and after this period that will last 30–40 years, irreligion will prevail again. According to him, the Doomsday would fall on the heads of the atheists in the Hijri calendar between 1530 and 1540.[37]

Said Nursi was exiled to the Isparta Province for, amongst other things, performing the call to prayer in the Arabic language.[38] After his teachings attracted people in the area, the governor of Isparta sent him to a village named Barla[39] where he wrote two-thirds of his Risale-i Nur.[40] These manuscripts were sent to Sav, another village in the region, where people duplicated them in Arabic script (which was officially replaced by the modern Turkish alphabet in 1928).[38][40] After being finished, these books were sent to Nursi's disciples all over Turkey via the "Nurcu postal system".[41] Nursi repeatedly stated that all the persecutions and hardships inflicted on him by the secularist regime were God's blessings and that having destroyed the formal religious establishment, they had unwittingly left popular Islam as the only authentic faith of the Turks.[40]

Besides these writings themselves, a major factor in the success of the movement may be attributed to the very method Nursi had chosen, which may be summarized with two phrases: 'mânevî jihad,' that is, 'jihad of the word' or 'non-physical jihad', and 'positive action.'[42][43] Nursi considered materialism and atheism and their source materialist philosophy to be his true enemies in this age of science, reason, and civilization.[44] He combated them with reasoned proofs in the Risale-i Nur, considering the Risale-i Nur as 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,' Nursi 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. Said Nursi lived much of his life in prison and in exile, persecuted by the secularist state for having invested in religious revival.[45]

Later life

Alarmed by the growing popularity of Nursi's teachings, which had spread even among the intellectuals and the military officers, the government arrested him for allegedly violating laws mandating secularism and sent him to exile. He was acquitted of all these charges in 1956.[40]

In the last decade of his life, Said Nursi settled in the city of Isparta. After the introduction of the multi-party system, he advised his followers to vote for the Democratic Party of Adnan Menderes, which had restored some religious freedom.[40] Said Nursi was a staunch anti-Communist, denouncing Communism as the greatest danger of the time. In 1956, he was allowed to have his writings printed. His books are collected under the name Risale-i Nur ("Letters of Divine Light").

He died of exhaustion after travelling to Urfa.[46] He was buried in a tomb opposite the cave where prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) is widely believed to have been born.[47][48] After the military coup d'état in Turkey in 1960, a group of soldiers led by the later 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.[49][50]

In popular culture

A Turkish film Free Man based on Nursi's biography was made in 2011.[51]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Şükran Vahide, Islam in Modern Turkey: An Intellectual Biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, p 3. ISBN 0791482979
  2. ^ "Bediüzzaman Said Nursi'nin köyü Nurs, TRT'de" – via vimeo.com.
  3. ^ Ian Markham, Globalization, Ethics and Islam: The Case of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Introduction, xvii
  4. ^ Islam in Modern Turkey, Şükran Vahide (Suny Press, 2005)
  5. ^ a b Vahide, Sükran (2005). Islam in modern Turkey: an intellectual biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. SUNY Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-7914-6515-8. They [Said Nursî's parents] were among the settled Kurdish population of the geographical region the Ottomans called Kurdistan.
  6. ^ Ozgur, Koca. Said Nursi's Synthesis of Ash'arite Occasionalism and Ibn 'Arabi's Metaphysical Cosmology: "Diagonal Occasionalism," Modern Science", and "Free Will". UMI Dissertations Publishing. p. 217. ISBN 9781303619793.
  7. ^ Ian Markham, Engaging with Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: A Model of Interfaith Dialogue, p 4. ISBN 0754669319
  8. ^ a b Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, p482
  9. ^ Robert W. Hefner, Shari?a Politics: Islamic Law and Society in the Modern World, p 170. ISBN 0253223105
  10. ^ a b c David Livingstone, Black Terror White Soldiers: Islam, Fascism and the New Age, p. 568. ISBN 1481226509
  11. ^ M. Hakan Yavuz, John L. Esposito, Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Gülen Movement, p. 6
  12. ^ پەیامی حەشر سەعید نوورسی (in Kurdish). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Seîdê Kurdî ji ber piştgiriya Şêx Seîd hatiye sirgunkirin". Rûdaw. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  14. ^ Janet Klein (2011). The Margins of Empire: Kurdish Militias in the Ottoman Tribal Zone. pp. 106 & 116.
  15. ^ Şükran Vahide (2019). Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: Author of the Risale-i Nur. The Other Press. p. 195.
  16. ^ "nur.org". www.nur.org.
  17. ^ a b Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, p. 482. ISBN 0691134847
  18. ^ a b Ian S. Markham; Suendam Birinci; Suendam Birinci Pirim (2011). An Introduction to Said Nursi: Life, Thought and Writings. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, p 194. ISBN 978-1-4094-0770-6.
  19. ^ Said Nursi, Munazarat, p. 86 "The religious sciences are the light of the conscience; the modern sciences are the light of the mind; only on the combining of the two does the truth emerge. The students’ aspiration will take flight with those two wings. When they are parted, it gives rise to bigotry in the one, and skepticism and trickery in the other."
  20. ^ Omer Taspinar, Kurdish Nationalism and Political Islam in Turkey: Kemalist Identity in Transition (Middle East Studies: History, Politics & Law), p. 228. ISBN 041594998X
  21. ^ Serif Mardin, Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey: The Case of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, p. 23. ISBN 0887069967
  22. ^ Şükran Vahide, Islam in Modern Turkey: An Intellectual Biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, p. 425. ISBN 0791482979
  23. ^ Akyol, Mustafa (March 2007). "Render Unto Atatürk". First Things. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  24. ^ Balci, Bayram (June 2003). "Fethullah Gu¨len's Missionary Schools in Central Asia and their Role in the Spreading of Turkism and Islam". Religion, State and Society. 31 (2): 153. doi:10.1080/09637490308283. S2CID 145455130.
  25. ^ Banchoff, Thomas (2008). Religious Pluralism, Globalization, and World Politics. Oxford University Press. p. 237.
  26. ^ Şükran Vahide. (2005). Islam in Modern Turkey. State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-7914-6515-2
  27. ^ Vahide, Şükran (2011). Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. Islamic Book Trust. p. 28. ISBN 978-967-5062-86-5.
  28. ^ İbrahim M. Abu-Rabi, ed. (2003). Islam at the crossroads: On the life and thought of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. SUNY Press. pp. xvii, 6. ISBN 978-0-7914-5700-9.
  29. ^ David Tittensor, The House of Service: The Gulen Movement and Islam's Third Way, p 37. ISBN 0199336415
  30. ^ David Livingstone, Black Terror White Soldiers: Islam, Fascism and the New Age, p. 569. ISBN 1481226509
  31. ^ Vahide, Sükran (2005). Islam in modern Turkey: an intellectual biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. SUNY Press. He offered Nursi Shaikh Sanusi’s post as ‘general preacher’ in the Eastern Provinces with a salary of 300 liras, a deputyship in the Assembly, and a post equivalent to that he had held in the Darü’l-Hikmeti’l-Islamiye, together with various perks such as a residence. Part 1;Childhood and Early Life,chapter 8
  32. ^ Vahide, Sükran (2005). Islam in modern Turkey: an intellectual biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. SUNY Press.
  33. ^ "Said Nursi'nin Yeşilay'ın kurucusu olduğu doğru mudur? Bu teşkilatın Kurtuluş Savaşı ile hiçbir ilgisinin olmadığı söylenmektedir. Buna ne dersiniz?" [Is it true that Said Nursi was the founder of the Green Crescent? It is said that this organization has nothing to do with the War of Independence. How about that?]. Sorularla Risale (in Turkish). 25 February 2012.
  34. ^ The Words, The First Word, p. 18-19
  35. ^ Said Nursi, The Words, The Seventeenth Word, p. 229-230
  36. ^ a b "SORU VE CEVAPLARLA RİSALE-İ NUR'DA MEHDİYET » Sorularla Risale". Sorularla Risale. 13 October 2010.
  37. ^ Kastamonu Lahikası, s.26
  38. ^ a b David McDowall (14 May 2004). A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition. I.B.Tauris. pp. 210–211. ISBN 978-1-85043-416-0.
  39. ^ Sükran Vahide, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, p. 230. ISBN 967506286X
  40. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P.; Lecomte, G. (1995). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. VIII (Ned-Sam) (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 144. ISBN 978-9004098343.
  41. ^ Awang, Ramli; Yusoff, Kamaruzaman; Ebrahimi, Mansoureh; Yilmaz, Omer (2015). "A Challenge from Teaching to Social Movement: Bediüzzaman Said Nursi's Struggles for Modification in Turkey". Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. 6 (6): 446. doi:10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s1p444.
  42. ^ Ian S. Markham, Engaging with Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: A Model of Interfaith Dialogue, p 15 [Quoting Şükran Vahide, The Biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: the author of the Risale-i Nur (Istanbul, Sozler Publications 1992), p. 352]. ISBN 0754669319
  43. ^ Arvind Sharma, The World's Religions After September 11. p 92. ISBN 0275996212
  44. ^ Ian S. Markham, Suendam Birinci, Suendam Birinci Pirim, An Introduction to Said Nursi: Life, Thought and Writings. p 46. ISBN 1409407713
  45. ^ Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, p. 482.
  46. ^ Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi, Islam at the Crossroads: On the Life and Thought of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, p. xxiv. ISBN 0791457001
  47. ^ Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi, Islam at the Crossroads: On the Life and Thought of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, p. xxiii. ISBN 0791457001
  48. ^ Ian S. Markham; Suendam Birinci; Suendam Birinci Pirim (2011). An Introduction to Said Nursi: Life, Thought and Writings. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, p 17. ISBN 978-1-4094-0770-6.
  49. ^ Nursi's Letters Found in Yassiada Archives Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Zaman
  50. ^ Yes to 27 May No to 28th (in Turkish), Turkish Newspaper Yeni Şafak, 16 August 2003, last accessed 17 June 2014
  51. ^ "Free Man (2011) - IMDb" – via m.imdb.com.

Sources

Further reading

External links


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