A Tribute to an Heir of Ustad Bediuzzaman!
Mustafa Sungur Agabey (83) “Champion of the Nur” as Ustad Bediuzzaman Said Nursi called him, passed away December 1st, 2012 (18 Muharram 1434). Mustafa Sungur Abi was a true student of the Qur’an who’s sole purpose in life was to promote and strengthen the pillars of faith through the tafsir, The Risale-i Nur. A commander in the fortress of Iman defending against the currents of misguidance and dejjalic forces of ahirzaman, the end of time, as foretold by the Prophet Muhammad (SallAllahu alayhi wa sallam)
He went beyond borders, oceans, continents and languages overcoming all physical barriers to further the Sunnah of the Prophet (alayhissalatu wassalam) and explain the wisdom of the Qur’an. We witnessed throughout our lives this determined and resolute revivalist, who despite his old age and ongoing medical condition travelled from the distant places of Anatolia to the furthest cities in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, South East Asia and Australia to share and spread the message of Tawhid and the light and path of Nubuwwah (asm) and plant the seeds of the Tuba Tree of Paradise with the sincere and unnamed hero students of Nur around him emigrating to even further cities watering and guarding these seeds.
Sungur Abi visited Ustad and began serving the Risale-i Nur when he was 17. He personally assisted Bediuzzaman Said Nursi from 1954 up to 1960. For people such as Sungur Abi the value system attributed to matters in this world are completely different to ours. On this path, for him, exile was a secondment to be together with his dawa brothers on the same mission. Imprisonment for reading and understanding the signs of Allah was a privileged entrance into the School of Yusuf (as). The trials and tribulations were the means of becoming closer to Allah.
In the face of every event he upheld the truths of Iman and Islam through his life and practices. For Ustad Nursi, Sungur Abi was “Fana-finNur” which meant that he was “devoted to and identified with the Risale-i Nur,” the Quran’s lesson to the understanding of this age. He was a complete scholar and teacher of the Risale-i Nur. For students of the Quran his loss is a great one. For those who had the honor of meeting him in person, all would testify that he was a spiritual architect who sacrificed everything for the safety and security of our spiritual world; inviting us to an eternal and everlasting life, all the while we were busy burying ourselves under the veil of heedlessness in this temporary guesthouse.
Sungur Abi was one of the very few Bediuzzaman Said Nursi had chosen to become his absolute heir and represent his mission, his life and works during and after his passing. “My life will continue with yours” Ustad Bediuzzaman told Sungur abi.. and so it did. Today believers around the world are mourning the passing of not only Sungur Abi the believer, but also Sungur Abi the teacher and scholar of the Risale-i Nur and Sungur Abi the absolute heir of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi…
“O Allah! Forgive our living and our dead, those who are with us and those who are absent, our young and our old, our men and our women. O Allah! Whomever you keep alive from us keep him alive on Islam, and whomever you take away from us, take him as a believer. O Allah! Do not leave us bereft of his good and do not send us astray after them.” [Ibn Majah 1:480, Ahmad 2:368]
Huwal Baki !