Bediuzzaman Said Nursi as a Guide to the Youth and the Teachings of Morality

Details: Published: Monday, 30 November -0001 00:00

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi as a guide to the youth and the teachings of morality in Risal-e-Nur.

By Yasar Arafath Noorani*

"We Muslims, who are students of the Qur’an, follow proof; we approach the truths of belief through reason, thought, and our hearts."

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

The question of what is right and what is wrong is the central problem of discussions and studies since the beginning of human history. According to individuals and cultures, the answer of this question always may differ on different grounds such as nation, tribe, religion, people and so on.

Although the concept of morality may differ from society to society and from nation to nation, there are some common platforms where morality among the different nations and societies comes together. Here lies the importance of this paper.

Many scholars and religious thinkers have developed a great deal of investigation of morality and its proper influences on society. But the thoughts of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi about morality have got a different take.

Nursi, in his well known Damascus Sermon delivered at Umayyad Masjid in early 1911, the first thing he mentioned was famous Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) “I came to perfect morality”. And he added: That is “An important reason for my being sent to mankind by the Almighty was to perfect good conduct and morality, and deliver mankind from immorality and vice.”

Said Nursi finds six sicknesses that particularly the Muslim World and humanity at large are facing. The legendary work by Nursi, Risale-i-Nur also describes the excellent ways to eliminate all these problems and teaches the ways to lead a moral life in any circumstance.

In this way, Bediuzzaman becomes a complete guide to the young generation. This paper will deal with the importance of thought and approach of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi on morality as described in his book “Risale-i-Nur” and, as result, how Said Nursi becomes a complete guide to the young generation.

Usthad Badi’uzzaman Said Nursi (1873-1960) is one of the major architects of contemporary Islamic thinking and movement in Turkey. He never founded himself an Islamic movement like the Ikhwan al-Muslimin, or the Jamaat-i Islami. Nursi’s writing did not discuss a political or economic programme for social change. Yet his contribution in building the Islamic personality, Islamic vision and Islamic awakening in Turkey has been enormous and colossal. Recently, the messages brought by the unmatched thoughts and powerful writings by Ustad Said Nursi have been influencing thousands of people across the globe, especially among the young generation.

Ustad Badi’uzzaman was born in a Kurdish village of Nurs (due to which he was later on known as Nursi) near Bitlis in Eastern Anatolia. He began his education at the age of nine in Hizan. After finishing his formal education he visited a number of places and ultimately in 1890 took up residence in Bitlis in order to develop a new ‘ilm al-kalam. Later on, he moved to Van, where he wanted to develop an Islamic university on the shores of Lake Van. During the First World War, Van fell to the Russian invaders. Said Nursi was also arrested and taken as war captive. He spent about two years in Siberia. During the course he had a very interesting encounter with the Commander of the Russian forces. It is reported that the Commander visited the camp and everyone except Said Nursi stood up. Ustad Said Nursi told him that his religion did not allow him to stand up for an enemy of Islam. Consequently, he was ordered to be executed. His companions tried to persuade him to offer an apology, but he did not concede. Only desire he made was to be allowed to make two rakas before he was killed. The only strength of character and faith greatly influenced the Russian Commander, who came forward and told Ustad Badi’uzzaman that he had cancelled his orders and that he respected the views of Ustad Nursi.

The most important period of Ustad Said Nursi’s life begins with his writings, Rasa’il al-Nur, from 1925 onwards. The work began while he was in exile in Barla under very strict watch. From 1925 till 1933 during eight years of his exile, Ustad Said began the project of the Risale-i Nur. His frequent arrests, court hearings, and travels, exiled from one place to another did not stop him from continuing his interpretation of the Qur’an.

In 1908 Ustad Nursi was accused of rebellion, which was actually instigated by a shaykh of a Sufi tariqah known as Ittihad-i Muhammedî. He was later on acquitted when the Society of Union and Progress proposed constitutional reforms. Said Nursi supported the call for reforms against the rule of the Sultan. However, later on history proved that the Society of Union and Progress stood for a secular Turkey. When it was evident, Said Nursi shifted his support to the Democratic Party led by Adnan Menderes.

His support of Adnan Menderes did not stop him from criticizing the ruling party. He wrote ‘A Guide For Youth’ in 1952, in which the beauty and suitability of Islamic dress for women was emphasized. It also called for rejection of the policy of Westernization and secularism in Turkey. Said Nursi had to face the same kind of persecution at the hands of the Menderes government.

On March 23rd 1960 this great scholar breathed his last in Urfa, a place where he had majority of his followers. However, after a military coup, in 1960, the Army authorities fearing that his tomb might become a place of political importance secretly removed remains of his dead body from Urfa to an unknown place.

The message of Said Nursi gained strength with each attempt of persecution on the part of his executioners, which shows that truth can never be suppressed by those who claim power in their hands.

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.

Here, there are some striking features in Nursi’s thoughts for the youth. The terms like ‘Jihad of the word’, ‘positive action’ have a direct impact on the young minds. These terms are backed by science and reason which are in most cases the way of interpretation of the youth. Risale-i Nur has clearly mentioned that the need of having Jihad of word and positive action and keeping away from the movements motivated by just emotions. Thus the young generation goes for the emotionally motives and aggressive reactions by killings and attacks realizes the new ways of positive reaction which is a result of reasonable thinking based on Quranic teachings. That way, the possibilities of spreading negative reactions like suicide bombings and terrorist attacks are decreased. Instead, the youth starts thinking about the Jihad of words which is too fruitful in many ways.

The youth, irrespective of geographical boundaries, is closely fond of reasoning in the modern world. If religious issues are interpreted in a reasonable way, as Nursi has clearly done in Risale-I Nur, the young generation accepts it easily than the way of traditional interpretation of the teachings in Quran. Said Nursi never went beyond the tradition of Islam and its teachings but he followed a different but very interesting way of presentation. Positive reaction, thus, makes sense and Jihad of Word strikes the minds in a way the youth can easily think and practice it day today life.

Risale-i Nur reminds the young about using both mind and heart to know the creator and to lead a spiritual life in any situation. So, Said Nursi has suggested a variety of ways to achieve it and reminded moral crisis that young people face today. Said Nursi reminds that “The world is going through a moral crisis. A pestilential disease has been born in Western society, whose moral foundations have been shaken, and it will spread all over the world in the course of time. By what means will Muslim society oppose this contagious evil? I see the leaders are negligent. The fortress of the Faith cannot be supported by decayed columns of infidelity. I have, therefore, concentrated all my efforts on the cause of the Faith, emphasizing the inner life. Moral existence, conscience, and belief system of the nations based only on the oneness of God and other principles of the Faith shown by the Qur’an make up the foundation stone of Islam.”

No spiritual guidance is complete unless it has clearly mentioned about the obstacles of fulfilling some kind of special goals. For instance, guiding the youth needs reminding what are the obstacles in front of leading a faithful life. Said Nursi has, in this way, gone a complete way to inform the youth what kinds of obstacles they have to face and what the ways to solve it are. Above mentioned quotation of Said Nursi talks about the moral crisis of modern world and the diseases in Western society. Here Nursi never goes with problems only; instead, he clearly shows the ways to overcome it as telling, “By what means will Muslim society oppose this contagious evil? I see the leaders are negligent. The fortress of the Faith cannot be supported by decayed columns of infidelity. I have, therefore, concentrated all my efforts on the cause of the Faith, emphasizing the inner life.” The only concentration of Badiuzzaman is on the cause of faith and the need of emphasizing the inner life. Many of the young, even they are spiritually motivated; do not come this way of empowering inner life. Once the youth realizes the importance of inner life, they start leading a spiritual life rather than a life with “show-offs” in the name of spirituality. The base of Nursi’s guidance is, thus, sincerity in every movement.

Another factor influence the youth by Nursi’s thoughts is struggle. As the young minds always look for adventure and struggle, Bediuzzaman has a clear vision on the concept of struggle described in Quran. The teachings of struggle by Said Nursi are based on peace. Said Nursi participated in a number of armed campaigns against the British and the Soviets. On some occasions while he was leading Muslim armies against the enemy he was the survivor while all his comrades lost their lives. But Said Nursi did not submit to the invaders nor did he make any compromise. On one such occasion he was finally captured by the Russians and taken as prisoner-of-war to Siberia. After spending several years he was able to escape imprisonment and return to Turkey.

However, within the country we find him engaged in a battle of arguments. He was summoned to Law Courts and Marshal Law Courts, practically every other day, during his life. He spent over twenty-eight years of his life in imprisonment. He, at one occasion, was sentenced to death, but later on his executioners changed it to life imprisonment with all possible torture and oppression. Yet he did not like the use of force. He often defended his own case in Law Courts and used these occasions to spread his message. On one occasion he made the following statement:

“The truth that we, the students of the Nur School of Culture have learned from the Qur’an al-Hakim is that the justice of the Qur’an forbids burning a ship on which there is one innocent person among ten murderers, as the right of one innocent must be protected. Should anyone burn a house or ship to kill ten innocents because of the inclusion of one murderer? Would that not be an act of tyranny, injustice, and perfidy? We wholeheartedly try to maintain public order so that the lives of the innocent may not be endangered because of one person or criminal, for Divine justice and the truth of the Qur’an absolutely forbids this.”

The Madrasas set up by Nursi movement across Turkey and other parts of the world have already moulded many young people who have been leading an Islamic life. The system of these institutions is brilliantly executed as it guided many of the students in to a new life with knowledge and spirituality. The students studying in these Madrasas read, learn and experience what Ustad Said Nursi has taught and practice it in their day today life. The common nature of the young people is going for unrighteousness and immoral things. When the world around the youth, as Nursi put it, attracts the young generation to the evils, the Madrasa system changes them and bring them in to the light of knowledge and wisdom under the guidance of Nursi’s thoughts and teachings. A new way of struggle is also seen in this practical wisdom of Bediuzzaman.

Ustad Said Nursi is perhaps unique among leaders of contemporary Islamic movements in suggesting a methodology for social change which does not focus on political struggle. This does not mean he separates between Islam and politics. On the contrary, realization of a true Islamic personality, family and society is his explicit objective. His emphasis and focus on iman and development of ethical and spiritual strength should be understood as a methodological priority.

Ustad Nursi’s priority should be understood in this context. He knew very well that Islam calls for social as well as political change, but from where to begin and how to break the vicious circle of Secularism, Materialism, and Hedonism occupies his mind and in all sincerity he feels first things must come first and, therefore, emphasis on iman makes not only sense but appears the most appropriate methodological step.

This should not lead us to think that he was suggesting some kind of mystical approach in his Rasa’il al-Nur. He has very clearly indicated that he would like to construct a total Islamic society and system and not a partial or limited reform. Commenting on the dichotomy between ‘Shari‘ah’ and ‘tariqah’ he makes a simple statement: “No one can enter Paradise without iman, but there will be many who will enter Paradise without tasawwuf. One cannot survive without a staple diet, but one can live without eating fruit.”Therefore it is incorrect to think that his emphasis on iman creates a mystical approach among his followers.

Ustad Nursi also waged a jihad against the secular wave of nationalism all over the world. He rejected the idea of nationalism based on blood, ethnicity, colour, race or language. His approach was very simple. Looking into the history of Turkish people, he mentioned the on-going process of migration and settlement of Turks and others in the area. He raised the question of how could we determine the purity of blood or ethnicity when millions of people have moved into Turkey and similarly millions of them have moved out of Turkey.

It appears his understanding of the Muslim Ummah was based on his interpretation of the Qur’anic ayah from Surah al-Hujurat which declares very clearly that it is the Creator Himself who has caused human beings to be in tribes and nations, but what makes them superior is their Allah’s consciousness (49:13). This approach indicates his deep understanding of the meaning of the Ummah and his desire to see the Muslim Ummah lead others in not only iman and taqwa but in all possible developmental activities.

The methodology of social change suggested by Ustad Said Nursi should be taken as a viable model for such situations where the political process may have been frustrated due to internal or external factors. It gives flexibility in developing strategies which ultimately leads us to total change in personality, society and institutions. This makes his ideas fresh, relevant and applicable even after over thirty-five years of his passing away.

At the same time, Ustad Nursi was a symbol of simplicity, humbleness, wisdom, and hikmah, which is a necessary character of a dai’yah. His ideas were instrumental in development of contemporary Islamic awakening, particularly in the form of establishment of the Justice Party and National Salvation Party under the leadership of Dr. Necmeddin Erbakan, who presently spearheads the Islamic movement in Turkey. Dr. Erbakan has also challenged the forces of secularism, Westernization, and socialism at a global level. It appears that the Islamic movement inspired by the writings of Said Nursi has developed a comprehensive plan for social change.

Here, the youth tends to awaken by the simple techniques of Ustad Nursi. As the life of Nursi was based on Quranic teachings and Prophetic directions, there are some important aspects in his life to the youth. Simplicity, humbleness and wisdom that he kept have a direct impact on the youth. The youth can simply follow these valuable characteristics if they have to initiate some kind of a spiritual life. Another thing is ‘hikmah’. Apart from these personal matters which will improve spiritual personality, Nursi has talked about secularism, westernization and socialism at a global level. This has clearly shown the aspects of Nursi’s thoughts with both spiritual and academic ideas. It is also very important to realize that he never made a distinction between what Islamic and physical education. Every moment in our life should be in the way of Almighty so that everybody will be able to suffer any thing in life. The legendary life of Nursi also had many incidents which can be role models for the youth. Read Nursi’s sufferings and Islamic way of defence:

“My suffering, my only suffering, is from the danger which Islam is facing. To resist these dangers was easy in the past, for they were coming from outside, but today they are inside. Since the rottenness has crept into the body, it has become difficult to struggle against them. I am afraid that the structure of the body will be unable to endure by misconstructing the enemy and assuming the most dangerous enemy to be a friend. The stronghold of faith will be in danger if the society lacks foresight to such an extent. This is what makes me suffer.”

The immediate concern of Ustad Nursi was to kindle the fire of iman in the hearts of the young generation, who were dangerously exposed to the evil of secularism and atheism. With a futurist approach, Said Nursi also wanted to establish an Islamic university. His aim was to produce a generation of Nur youth, who not only know the Qur’an and its message, but also practise it. He proposed this university to be established in Anatolia with emphasis on three languages, Arabic, Turkish, and Kurdish. The university, Medresetü’z-Zehra, as to have provision for traditional Islamic disciplines as well as modern physical and natural sciences. He was of the view that the two parallel traditions, one dealing with purely religious texts and the other dealing with secular sciences was contrary to the interest of Islam. He was able to get support from the Sultan, who provided nineteen thousand liras for the project. The breaking out of the First World War delayed the project for several decades. During the reign of Adnan Menderes, there were better chances of its realization, but the government did not provide enough support and the project had to be deferred.

Since for the people of belief and obedience the grave, which is always before their eyes, is the door to an everlasting treasury and eternal happiness, and since, by reason of the 'belief coupon', a ticket from the pre-eternal lottery of Divine Determining for millions upon millions of pounds worth of gold and diamonds has come up for each of them, they all the time await the word, "Come and collect your ticket" with a profound and true pleasure and real spiritual delight. This pleasure is such that if it materialized and the seed became a tree, it would be like a private paradise. However, one who abandons the delight and great pleasure due to the drives of youth, and chooses in a dissolute and licentious manner temporary illicit pleasures, which resemble poisonous honey polluted with those innumerable pains, falls to a degree a hundred times lower than an animal.

Furthermore, such a person will not be like unbelieving foreigners, for if they deny the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), they may recognize the other prophets. And if they do not know God, they may possess some good qualities which are the means to certain perfections. But a Muslim knows both the prophets, and his Sustainer, and all perfection by means of Muhammad the Arabian (PBUH). If one of them abandons the Prophet's instruction and puts himself outside his chain, he will not recognize any other prophet, neither will he recognize God. Nor will he know any of the fundamentals within his spirit which will preserve his perfections. For, since Muhammad (PBUH) is the last and greatest of the prophets, and his religion and summons are for the whole of mankind, and since he is superior to all with regard to his miracles and religion, and acts as teacher to all mankind in all matters concerning reality, and has proved this in a brilliant manner for fourteen centuries, and is the cause of pride for mankind, a Muslim who abandons Muhammad (PBUH)'s essential training and the principles of his religion will most certainly be able to find no light, nor achieve any perfection He will be condemned to absolute decline.

And so, you unfortunates who are addicted to the pleasures of the life of this world, and with anxiety at the future, struggle to secure it and your lives! If you want pleasure, delight, happiness, and ease in this world, make do with what is licit. That is sufficient for your enjoyment. You will surely have understood from other parts of the Risale-i Nur that in each pleasure which is outside this, and is illicit, lies a thousand pains. If the events of the future- for example, of fifty years hence-were also shown in the cinema in the same way that they show at the present time the events of the past, those who indulge in vice would weep filled with horror and disgust at those things which now amuse them.

Those who wish to be permanently, eternally happy in this world and the Hereafter should take as their guide the instruction of Muhammad (PBUH) within the sphere of belief. There are many incidents in the life of Said Nursi in this manner which are some of the best examples for Nursi’s effects on the young generation.

One day a number of bright youths came to Nursi, seeking an effective deterrent in order to guard them- selves against the dangers arising from life, youth, and the lusts of the soul. Like he had told those who had previously sought help from the Risale-i Nur, he also said to these youths:

“Your youth will definitely leave you, and if you do not remain within the sphere of the licit, it will be lost, and rather than its pleasures, it will bring you calamities and suffering in this world, in the grave, and in the Hereafter. But if, with Islamic training, you spend the bounty of your youth as thanks honorably, in uprightness and obedience, it will in effect remain perpetually and-will be the cause of gaining eternal youth.”

As for life, if it is without belief, or because of rebelliousness belief is ineffective, it will produce pains, sorrows and grief far exceeding the superficial, fleeting enjoyment and pleasure it brings. Because, since, contrary to the animals, man possesses a mind and he thinks, he is connected to both the pre- sent time, and to the past and the future. He can obtain both pain and pleasure from them. Whereas, since the animals do not think, the sorrows arising from the past and the fears and anxieties arising from the future do not spoil their pleasure of the present. And especially if the pleasure is illicit; then it is like an altogether poisonous honey.

That is to say, from the point of view of the pleasure of life, man falls to a level a hundred times lower than the animals. In fact, life for the people of misguidance and heedlessness, and indeed their existence, rather their world, is the day in which they find themselves. From the point of view of their misguidance, all the time and universes of the past are non-existent, are dead. So their intellects, which connect them to the past and the future, produce darkness, blackness for them. And, due to their lack of belief, the future is also non-existent. Further- more, because they think, the eternal separations resulting from this non-existence continuously produce darkness for their lives.

Whereas, if belief gives life to life, then through the light of belief, both the past and the future are illuminated and find existence. Like present time, it produces elevated and spiritual pleasures and lights of existence for the spirit and heart-in respect of belief. There is an explanation of this truth in the 'Seventh Hope' in the Treatise for The Elderly. You may refer to that. And so, life is thus. If you want the pleasure and enjoyment of life, give life to your life through belief, and adorn it with religious duties. And preserve it by abstaining from sins.

Concerning the fearsome reality of death, which is demonstrated by deaths every day, in every place, at all times, Said Nursi shall explain it to the youth with a comparison, in the same way that he told the other youths.

For example, a gallows has been erected here in front of your eyes. Beside it is a lottery office, but one which gives tickets for truly huge prizes. We people here are ten people, whether we like it or not, we shall be summoned there; there is no other alternative. They will call us, and since the time is secret, any minute they may say either: "Come and collect the ticket for your execution! Mount the gallows!" Or: "A ticket to win a prize of millions of dollars' worth of gold has come up for you. Come and collect it!" While waiting for them to say this, two people suddenly appear at the door. One of them is a scantily dressed woman, beautiful and deceiving. In her hand is some apparently extremely delicious, but in fact poisonous, halva, which she has brought wanting us to eat it. The other is an undeceiving and undeceivable serious person. He enters behind the woman, and says:

"I have bought you a talisman, a lesson. If you study it, and if you do not eat that halva, you will be saved from the gallows. With this talisman, you will receive your ticket for the matchless prize. Look, you see with your own eyes that those who eat the honey mount those gallows, and until that time they suffer dreadful stomach pains from the poison of the halva. And who it is that will receive the ticket for the large prize is not apparent; it seems that they too mount the gallows. But there are millions of witnesses who testify that they can enter the prize arena easily. So, look from the windows! The highest officials and the high-ranking persons concerned with this business proclaim with loud voices: 'Just as you see with the clear certainty of your own eyes those mounting the gallows, so also be certain as daylight, with no doubt or misgiving, that hose with the talisman receive the ticket for the prize.' "

Thus, like the comparison, since the dissolute pleasures of youth in the sphere of the illicit, which are like poisonous honey, lose belief, which is the ticket for an eternal treasury and the passport for everlasting happiness, a person who indulges in them descends to death, which is like the gallows, and to the tribulations of the grave which is like the door to eternal darkness. And since the appointed hour is unknown, its executioner, not differentiating between young and old, may come at any time to cut off your head. If you give up illicit desires, which are like the poisonous honey, and acquire belief and perform the religious duties, which are the Qur'anic talisman, one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets (upon whom be peace) together with innumerable saints and people of truth have unanimously announced that you shall receive the ticket for the treasury of eternal happiness which comes up from the extraordinary lottery of human destiny. And they have pointed to traces of it.

And in place of a very minor ability to receive, belief puts a document into the hand of the limited, partial power of choice so that it may rely on an infinite Power and be connected to a boundless Mercy in the face of those innumerable enemies and layers of darkness. Indeed, belief is a document in the hand of the partial power of choice. And although this human weapon of partial choice, is in itself both short, and powerless, and deficient, just as when a soldier utilizes his partial strength on account of the state, he performs duties far exceeding his own strength, so too through the mystery of belief, if the limited, partial power of choice is used in the name of Almighty God and in His way, it may gain also a Paradise as broad as five hundred years.

And belief takes from the hands of the body the reins of the partial power of choice, which cannot penetrate to the past and future, and hands them over to the heart and spirit. Since the spirit and heart's sphere of life is not restricted to present time like the body, and included within it are a great many I years from the past and a great many years from the future, the partial power of choice ceases being partial and acquires universality. Just as through the strength of belief it may enter the deepest valleys of the past and repel the darkness of its sorrows, so also with the light of belief it may rise as far as the farthest mountains of the future, and remove its fears.

So, the elderly brothers and sisters who are suffering the difficulties of old age. Since, praise be to God, we are believers, and in belief there are this many luminous, pleasurable, agreeable, and gratifying treasures; and since our old age impels us even more to the contents of the treasure, for sure, rather than c nothing is proposed by God which is unbearable; and since a safe way is preferable to a harmful one; and since worldly friends and position continue only to the door of the grave, for sure, the most fortunate person is he who does not forget the Hereafter for the sake of this world, nor sacrifice the Hereafter for this world, nor spoil his eternal life for the sake of his life here,. nor waste his life on trifles, but considers himself to be a guest and acts in accordance with the commands of the guest-house's owner, 7 opens the door of the grave with safety, and enters eternal bliss.

One of the marvellous services of Said Nursi to the youth all over the world is the writing of an excellent work - ‘A Guide For Youth’. He wrote this guide in 1952, in which the beauty and suitability of Islamic dress for women was emphasized among other important teachings for the youth in a complex modern world. It also called for rejection of the policy of Westernization and secularism in Turkey. Said Nursi had to face the same kind of persecution at the hands of the Menderes government.

‘A Guide for Youth’ clearly mentions that what makes this boundless universe rejoice is clearly Divine Mercy. And what illuminates these dark beings is self-evidently again Divine Mercy. And what fosters and raises creatures struggling within these endless needs is self-evidently again Divine Mercy. And what causes the whole universe to be turned-towards man, like a tree together with all its parts is turned towards its fruit, and causes it to look to him and run to his assistance is clearly Divine Mercy. And what fills and illuminates bound- less space and the empty, vacant world and makes it rejoice is self-evidently Divine Mercy. And what designates ephemeral man for eternity and makes him the addressee and beloved of a Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal One is self-evidently Divine Mercy.

In exactly the same way, a person who, through incorrect choice and the lunacy of misguidance, is intoxicated with unbelief, imagines this hospice of the world, which belongs to the All-Wise Maker, to be the plaything of chance and natural forces. He fancies the passage of creatures into the World of the Unseen, that is in fact renewing the manifestation of the Divine Names, to be execution and annihilation. He supposes the echoes of those creatures' glorification of God, who are accomplishing their duties with the passing of time, to be the lamentations of death and eternal separation. He deems the pages of created beings, which are inscriptions of the Eternally Besought One, to be meaningless and confused. He imagines the door of the grave, which opens onto the world of mercy, to be the entrance to the darkness of nonexistence. And he deems the appointed hour, which is in reality an invitation to join his true friends, to be the onset of separation from all of them.

Such a person both brings upon himself grievous and ghastly torments, and denies, denigrates and insults all beings and God's Names and His inscriptions. He is, therefore, not only unworthy of compassion and sympathy but also deserving of severe punishment. He is not in any way worthy of pity.

Nursi also tells to the wretched people of misguidance and dissipation what accomplishment of theirs, what art, what perfection, what civilization, what progress, can confront this awesome silence of the grave, this crushing despair? Where can you find that true consolation that is the most urgent need of the human spirit?

What nature, what causality, what partner ascribed by you to God, what discovery, what nationality, what false object of worship, in each of which you place so much trust and to which you attribute God's works and His sustaining bounties, which of them can deliver you from the darkness of death that you imagine to be eternal annihilation? Which of them can enable you to cross the frontiers of the grave, the boundaries of the intermediate realm, the marches of the plain of resurrection, the Bridge of Sirat? Or can bring about your eternal happiness? But know that most definitely you will travel on this path for you cannot close the door of the grave. And a traveller on such a path ought to rely on one whose control and command embraces this entire vast sphere and its extensive boundaries.

The moral teachings in Risale-i Nur are more of practical in every youth’s life. Nursi has directed, as seen in ‘A Guide for Youth’, practical moral teachings with the concrete concepts of faith rather than just giving advices. He talked about here after world, grave, true pleasure of life, lusts of the soul and everything regarding the proper guidance to the youth. These moral teachings are never limited to the young people who live within certain geographical boundaries; instead, it has spread over Europe, Asia and Africa. So that the movement of Ustad Said Nursi has, recently, been spreading with an active participation of young people. As the most of the students in his life time were the young in the history, Nursi still guides the youth properly through his thoughts and teachings.

After Bediuzzaman has become a role model to the young believers who have realized the value of following a legendary life, the Nursi movement has, after all, strengthened by youth. It is contemporary fact that when the thoughts and teachings of Ustad Nursi empowered the youth in all means, the movement of Nursi itself has got a faster growth all over Turkey in the beginning and other parts of the globe later on.

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*Yasar Arafath Noorani

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication,

School of Journalism and New Media Studies,

Indhira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India.