The Apocalypse in the Teachings of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

 

By Barbara Freyer Stowasser*

 

Eschatology is the belief in the end of time and a conception of the ultimate destiny and purpose of mankind and the world. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam God will bring the end of history and with it His judgment. The great Japanese scholar of the Qur'an Toshiko Isutzu wrote almost forty years ago that "the ethico-religious system of the Qur'an is, very broadly speaking, based on the conception of eschatology. In other words, the ethics of the present world is not simply there as a self-sufficing system; on the contrary, its structure is most profoundly determined by the ultimate (eschatological) end to which the present world (al-dunya) is destined. In the Islamic system the thought - or rather the vivid image - of the Hereafter should behave as the highest moral principle of conduct."

Both parts of this remark apply to the work of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. As the writings of the New Said (1920/1-1950) focused on the Qur'anic text, so did the theme of the "eschatological end to which the present world is destined" serve as constant and prominent reference point in Bediuzzaman's many and detailed definitions of truth, reality, and goodness, that is, morality. Indeed, his "first major treatise written in Barla" dealt with the theme of Resurrection and the Hereafter; this treatise is known as the Tenth Word which Bediuzzaman authored in Barla in 1926 at the beginning of his eight-and-a-half-year exile to that small village in the mountains of western Anatolia. It may perhaps be considered one of the cornerstones of the whole oeuvre of the New Said that is the Risale-i Nur.

The present paper is a brief examination of the theme of the apocalypse as an element in Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's conception of eschatology.

Apocalypse means disaster, cosmic catastrophe, the final conflagration, the end of the world; in scripture it is a vision of the future shape of eschatological events. The rich Jewish tradition of apocalyptic visions was inherited by Christ and his disciples, especially the second-generation figure of John of Patmos, author of the book of Revelations. In both Jewish and Christian scripture, the notion of the apocalypse is linked with the concept of millennialism, or millenarianism, the belief in the kingdom of holiness, peace, justice, and plenty that a messianic figure (David, or from the house of David, for the Jews; Christ at his Second Coming for the Christians) will establish on earth before the Last Judgment. Although the term millennium implies a thousand year kingdom, its duration is of secondary importance; what matters is that, initiated by signs portending the cataclysmic conclusion of ordinary time and after a preliminary period of purging and transformation, human society reaches its final state on earth when all conflicts are resolved and all injustices removed.

In Islam, the themes of the final struggle between good and evil, and the triumphant resolution of all terrestrial injustices by a messianic figure on earth are broadly outlined in the Qur'an, while the details are developed in the Hadith far beyond their Qur'anic base. The Qur'an identifies some of the "signs of the hour" as: disintegration of established familial, societal, and economic norms (80:34-37; 81:4; 70-10-14); a "Beast of [or/from] the earth" will arise (27:82); the nations Gog and Magog will break through their ancient barrier wall and sweep down to scourge the earth (21:96-97); and Jesus is "a sign of the hour." (43:61).

The Hadith provides more abundant information on the dissensions and trials (Fitan) of social disintegration and moral decay that signal the end. Among the Hadith-recorded "minor signs" of the Last Day are: "When untrustworthy people will be regarded as trustworthy and the trustworthy will be regarded as untrustworthy; when it will be hot in winter (and vice versa); when the length of days is stretched, i.e. a journey of a few days is covered in a matter of hours; when orators and lecturers lie openly; when people dispute over petty issues; when women with children become displeased on account of bearing offspring, and barren women remain happy on account of bearing no responsibility for offspring; when oppression, jealousy, and greed become the order of the day; when people blatantly follow their passions and whims; when lies prevail over truth; when violence, bloodshed, and anarchy become common; when immorality and shamelessness are perpetrated publicly; when legislation pertaining to religion is handed over to the worst elements in the community; and when offspring become a cause of grief and anger (for their parents). - Music and musical instruments will be found in every home; people will indulge in homosexuality; there will be an abundance of illegitimate children; there will be an abundance of critics, tale-carriers, back-biters and taunters in society; people will establish ties with strangers and sever relations with their near and dear ones; hypocrites will be in control of the affairs of the community, and evil, immoral people will be at the helm of business establishments; the Masjid will be decorated, but the hearts of the people will be devoid of guidance; the courtyards of Masjids will be built beautifully and high minbars will be erected; gangsters and evil people will prevail; and various wines will be consumed excessively..."

In the Hadith, the Beast from the earth is often identified as Dajjal, "the imposter," or al-Masih al-Dajjal, "the false messiah;" this antichrist is either beast, monster, or a human figure, in which case his appearance is often described in physical detail, such as that he is blind on one eye, or that his forehead bears the markings of the word kafir, "unbeliever." A few traditions also identify the apocalyptic enemy of God as Sufyan, or al-Sufyani. The antichrist seduces the Muslim community away from God's worship and establishes himself as their ruler for 40 years or perhaps 40 days. After this period of great danger and turmoil, the antichrist is drawn into battle, defeated, and annihilated by a messianic figure. According to a minority of traditions, Jesus is the eschatological savior whom the Hadith calls the Mahdi; according to most others, they are two different figures. Jerusalem and Damascus are places mentioned for Jesus' second coming, Mecca for the Mahdi's (re)appearance. Jesus, or Jesus and the Mahdi, will kill the antichrist.

According to many Sunni, and all Shi’a hadiths, the Mahdi is a man from the family of the Prophet. In post-tenth century Imamite (Twelver) Shiaism he is usually identified as the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad the son of Hasan al-Askari, who returns from occultation to fulfill the hopes of the Shi’a community and deliver mankind from degeneration. Earlier imams had been similarly awaited. A special eschatological place is also reserved for the third Imam, Husayn the great martyr and final avenger, whose return together with a group of loyal followers signals the "first resurrection" of the elect. The Mahdi's kingdom is that millennial band of time when peace and justice rule the earth, the authentic Sunnah is reestablished, and wealth is equally distributed. This period will last for 5, 7, 9, 40, or many more years before in a final cataclysm the earth is devastated and the process of creation reversed.

It is at this point, God's cosmic un-doing of the "old world" followed by the Last Judgment and creation of a "new world" of everlasting paradise and hell, that the Qur'anic revelation begins to provide an abundance of eschatological detail. In other words, while the terrestrial "signs of the hour" signaling the world's end are only broadly sketched-in in the Qur'an, with most of the detail provided by the Hadith, the major events of the destruction of the cosmos and cosmic time, resurrection, last judgment, and individual assignment to an eternal abode of beatitude or torment are very specifically and powerfully laid out in the revelation. This may in part explain why, for Bediuzzaman Said Nursi whose thinking focused mainly on the holy Qur'an itself, the topic of the Hadith-recorded "signs of the end" held less significance than did the Qur'anic doctrine on the end itself, especially the resurrection, last judgment, and the afterlife.

The Qur'an teaches that the time of the arrival of the end is not specified; "it [the Hour] is drawing near, none beside God can disclose it" (53:57-58), "knowledge of it is only with God" (43:85, 41:47, 31:34, 7:187, 33:63). Islamic history has witnessed many apocalyptic movements, Sunni as well as Shi’a, that came with messianic claims and promises of this-worldly redemption, when reformers or revolutionary activists, both Sunni and Shi'a, appropriated an apocalyptic framework for their activities. Since "round numbers" have traditionally played a role in social imagination the world over, and chronography and calendars often acquired symbolic meaning in the eschatological context, the timetable of "round numbers" -- numerology -- sometimes helped to sharpen the apocalyptic focus of religio-political events and movements, in Islam as well as elsewhere. To give two recent examples: the 1979 Iranian Revolution, that occurred at the end of the fourteenth century of the Hijra calendar, used apocalyptic material to communicate the urgency of its reformist message, while the 1979 takeover of the Holy Mosque in Mecca in the dawn hours of new year's day of A.H. 1400 was carried out by a group of mainly young, puritan Saudis who propagated that the Mahdi had arrived in the person of one of their leaders, Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-Qahtani, whose "signs" fulfilled the requirements, or conditions (shurut) of the eschatological Hadith.

By contrast, in the teachings of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, the notion of the apocalypse is not a political tool but a paradigmatic and kerygmatic device. In other words, he employed the themes of end-time societal disintegration, moral decay, and the final struggle between good and evil in order to analyze the ills of the world in which he lived, with the aim of developing the parameters of a better - spiritually and morally sound - system, through the means of teaching and preaching. Eschatology was a cornerstone in his program for moral re-armament and the struggle to resist the secular state, because for him the lesson of Qur'anic eschatology lay in the fact that the ethics of a godly society are determined by divine injunctions, not positive laws, and that the choice had eternal relevance. In this context, the apocalyptic Hadith provided for Bediuzzaman Said Nursi a language of powerful symbols and metaphors that he used to underline the seriousness of the confrontation between good and evil, faith and unbelief, spirituality and materialism, religion and secularism, which was the central message of his work.

In the Fifteenth Letter and the Twenty-ninth Letter, for example, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi answered inquiries about the nature and meaning of apocalyptic traditions. Both of these documents were written during his exile in Barla that lasted from 1926 to 1934. Here he identifies the antichrist, the "fearsome individual named the Sufyan," as the destroyer of the shari'a and leader of the dissemblers, who represent "the collective personality of the Sufyan." This is Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's Hadith-bound answer to the question. In the same context, he then employs the Hadith metaphorically to pinpoint the specific forms in which he sees these evil forces at work in Turkish society at the time: naturalist and materialist philosophies, individualism, self-aggrandizement, and hybris, including the hybris of a tyrannical leader figure who falsely but seductively claims to possess an almost god-like status. The figure of the Dajjal likewise symbolizes atheism; his seductiveness derives from the enticements and rewards of "civilization," while the true believers are thereby cast into danger, captivity, and indigence. Release comes to them in the form in religion. The true, a-historical Christianity (symbolized by Jesus) will unite with Islam, the former in the role of follower and the latter in the form of leader, and the great spiritual energy of these joint forces will defeat the powers of ungodliness.

In the Twenty-ninth Letter, the apocalyptic figure of the antichrist is likewise understood as symbol of secular ideologies imported from the West, in particular a separatist nationalism that amounts to racism. On the other hand, the figure of the Mahdi who defeats these forces is identified as both an individual and a collective representative of the Prophet's holy family, because the Mahdi of the end-time is but the last link in a blessed chain of spiritual guides and reformers who worked throughout history to preserve Islam and the shari'a.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's longest, most comprehensive and detailed treatise on the classical apocalyptic Hadith is found in his Fifth Ray. According to his biographer, this piece was probably put together, or "set in order," in Kastamonu in 1938, but had originally been written when Bediuzzaman was in Istanbul in the years of the Constitutional Revolution. It contains an Introduction and twenty-three 'Matters,' of which the former deals with the general nature of the apocalyptic Hadith and the latter with specific points that are recorded in the major Hadith collections. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi likens the apocalyptic Hadith to the "allegorical verses of the Qur'an," which means that their truth is hidden and their true meaning becomes clear only after the event. Over time, some people attached literal meanings to these allegorical traditions, which led them to false interpretations. In addition, some of the traditions themselves must be deemed faulty, when they contain words that represent an interpretation by an early transmitter rather than just those of the original text. Since the exact time of the end of the world is known only to God, all predictions of its imminence are faulty, even if some of the conditions specified in the traditions appear to be fulfilled. If this were not the case, all of mankind would suddenly turn into believers, when fear of death would unite the sinners with the righteous, placing them on a level of equality that would eliminate the requirement of true commitment.

In his replies to questions regarding specific apocalyptic details recorded in the Hadith collections, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi applied the methodology outlined in the chapter's Introduction by dealing with these traditions as allegorical and metaphorical texts. He provided examples as to how such allegories could be interpreted in his own time and society. To give a few examples:

- the hadith indicating that the Sufyan, whom Bediuzzaman calls "the Islamic antichrist," carries the mark of kafir on his forehead could mean that he wears the headgear of the unbelievers and forces all others to do likewise;

- That no one will remain at the end of time who says the world Allah! May signify the closing down of all places of worship in a society;

- The Dajjal's claim of being god-like can be likened to the personality cult surrounding irreligious leaders;

- The theme of social anarchy and dissension transmitted in the Hadith signifies the loose morals of a society in which gender relations and forms of public entertainment have undergone drastic change;

- The Sufyan's attribute of "learning" could be interpreted by the example of a ruler who decrees an education system stripped of all religious instruction;

- And the like. Mainly, however, those frightening apocalyptic figures referred to in the Hadith are metaphors for a vast collective personality that represents atheism and the materialist ideologies that come with it.

*Prof. Dr. Barbara Freyer Stowasser, Georgetown University-USA

Barbara Freyer Stowasser (Ph.D., Islamic Studies and Semitic Languages, Universitat Munster) is professor of Arabic in the Department of Arabic at Georgetown University. Since 1993, she has served as director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. She served as the 34th president of the Middle East Studies Association (1998-99). Her publications include a book length study on Women in the Qur'an: Traditions and Interpretation (Oxford University Press, 1994), an edited volume entitled The Islamic Impulse (CCAS, 1987), articles published in American, German, Arabic and Turkish journals and periodicals, and book chapters in collected volumes. CCAS recently published Dr. Stowasser's A Time to Reap: Thoughts on Calendars and Millennialism, an exploration of how Islam, Christianity, and Judaism have historically treated periods of apocalyptic imminence

 

Barbara F. Stowasser, 76, a Georgetown University professor and expert on Islam, died May 13, 2012 at Sibley Memorial Hospital. She had kidney failure, her son Andy Stowasser said.

Dr. Stowasser, an Arlington County resident, joined the Georgetown University faculty in 1966 and was considered a leading scholar of the portrayal of women in Islamic texts.