The Twelfth Ray
Quotations and selections from Said Nursi’s letters to or conversations with local authorities in Denizli and Afyon
In His Name, All-Glorified is He.
WE ARE A COMMUNITY WHOSE MEMBERS ARE TIED TO ONE ANOTHER through belief. Our members show, with complete veneration, their attachment to this community five times a day through the canonical Prayers. They hasten to assist one another with their supplications and spiritual gains. Our duty is to teach the believers the Qur’anic truths of belief in a certain, verified fashion, so that both we and they may be saved from eternal annihilation and everlasting solitary confinement in the Intermediate Realm of the grave. We have absolutely no connection with any worldly political society, secret committee, or covert organization.
If we had harbored any desire to interfere in worldly affairs, it would never have remained secret. Thus, if some have accused us of plotting and scheming for ulterior motives without having actually witnessed any untoward behavior on our part over the past eighteen years, it must only be on account of their hatred for us or because of some particular grudge they hold against us.
The Risale-i Nur should not be attacked because of my personal faults or the faults of some of my brothers. Its source is, after all, the Qur’an, and the Qur’an is bound to the Supreme Throne of God.
Moreover, the Risale-i Nur has been rendering valuable services to this country and thus should not be blamed for any personal faults of ours. Indeed, attacking it may cause irreparable harm to the country, which may then be deprived of its services. Its students never think of taking part in mutinous movements like those of Sheikh Said or Menemen.54
In short: Just as we do not interfere in the world of the worldly, the worldly should not interfere in our service of belief and our acts which are aimed at securing eternal life in the Hereafter.
Said Nursi
* * *
In His Name, All-Glorified is He.
Gentlemen!
We know with the unshakeable certainty that two times two equals four that for us believers, death has been transformed from eternal annihilation into a discharge from duties, and that for those who follow misguidance and oppose us because we are believers and servants of the Qur’an, death is either eternal execution if they do not have certain belief in the Hereafter, or dark and everlasting solitary confinement if they believe in the Hereafter but choose to follow instead the path of vice and misguidance. Is there a more important matter for humanity in this world than salvation from eternal punishment? Since there is not, do not strive to eliminate us! Even if you oppose us, our innate feelings of humanity demand that we take pity on those who insistently follow misguidance and try to eliminate those who work for the eternal happiness of others, simply because they are certain to go to the other world and suffer on account of their wrongdoing. I am ready to prove this to everyone, including the most celebrated scientists and philosophers. I offer the Treatise on the Fruits of Belief (The 11th Ray) as a single example. Read and study it carefully, and if your heart—your carnal soul is your own affair—does not affirm what I say, then I will remain silent.
Said Nursi
* * *
In His Name, All-Glorified is He.
They asked me: “What do you think about the Republic?” I answered: “If you look at the story of my life, you will see that I was a religious republican before any of you. I was living in retreat in an uninhabited tomb. Someone would bring me soup and I would give the vegetables to the ants in my room, content with dipping my bread in the water of the soup. Those who heard of this would ask me about it, and I would tell them: “These nations of ants and bees are like republics: I give the ants the vegetables and grains in my soup out of respect for their republicanism.”
So then they said: “You are opposing the early leaders of Islam.” I answered: “The Rightly-Guided Caliphs were both Caliphs and presidents of a republic. Surely Abu Bakr the Truthful, may God be pleased with him, was the president of a republic in which resided the dearest Companions of the Prophet, including the ten who were promised Paradise.55 And it was not some meaningless title: Abu Bakr and the other Rightly-Guided Caliphs were leaders of a religious republic, the cornerstone of which was laid on true justice and the freedom of conscience and speech.”
Said Nursi
* * *
In His Name, All-Glorified is He.
We have never had any intention to set up a political organization or a tariqa: the only thing we have tried to do is to work to save our belief. We have forged relationships with one another only through the bond of belief and the brotherhood (and sisterhood) which arises as a result of this belief. The expert report says: “There is nothing explicit or implicit in the writings of Said Nursi and the students of the Risale-i Nur which suggests that they have any intent to misuse religion or sacred matters, to encourage the breaching of state security or to establish a political organization. Said Nursi’s treatises are both sincere and politically disinterested, and have in no way departed from the principles of scholarship and religion. There is clearly nothing in them that exploits religion or suggests any concern with the formation of a political organization. The letters and correspondence between the students themselves and between the students and Said Nursi are in completely agreement with this general trend. The treatises expound Qur’anic verses or the true meanings of Prophetic Traditions. These are works written to explain belief in God, the Prophet, and the Resurrection using comparisons and parables. They also contain moral instructions for the elderly and for the youth of the country, using instructive incidents selected from his own life experiences.”
Religion does not consist only in belief; it also includes righteous action. Is fear of imprisonment or being seen and apprehended by a government detective sufficient to prevent people from committing the kind of grievous sins and crimes which poison society, such as murder, adultery, theft, drinking, and gambling? If this were the case, there would have to be a policeman or detective stationed permanently in every house, or at everyone’s side, even, so that rebellious souls would restrain themselves from committing these despicable acts. However, the Risale-i Nur places a permanent immaterial deterrent next to everyone—a deterrent which comes from belief and the duty to enjoin what is good and forbid what is illicit. By bearing in mind the existence of the awesome prison of Hell and Divine wrath people are able to preserve themselves from evil.
Said Nursi
* * *
Gentlemen!
Friendship, brotherly or sisterly gatherings, and sincere social relations for the sake of eternal happiness are the foundation stones of social life and an essential need of human nature; they forge a powerful and most vital bond between people, from family life to the life of the tribe, the nation, the religion, and humanity. Each of them serves as a point of support and means of consolation in the face of the assaults of material and immaterial things which cause anxiety and harm—things which prevent people from carrying out their human and religious duties and which individuals cannot fend off by themselves. Since these social relations and gatherings are not concerned with politics and exist simply for the sake of studying the truths of belief and the teachings of the Qur’an, which are certain to lead to happiness in both worlds, to accuse them of being political in nature is an act of sheer deception or willful enmity. It is not only hostile to Islam but it is also detrimental to our society and country and to humanity as a whole.
Said Nursi
54 Said Nursi refers to the provoked mutinous movements that took place in South-eastern Turkey in 1925 and in Menemen, a district of İzmir in Western Turkey, in 1930. (Tr.)
55 It is reported from Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, that the following ten persons would go to Paradise: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, ‘Ali (the four Rightly Guided Caliphs after the Prophet), Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas, Zubayr ibn ‘Awwam, Talha ibn ‘Ubaydullah, ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, Abu ‘Ubayda ibnu’l-Jarrah, and Sa‘id ibn Zayd. (Abu Dawud, “Sunna” 27; at-Tirmidhi, “Manaqib” 26.) (Tr.)