Bediuzzaman Said Nursi :
New,
Author of the Risale Nur,
*[A5+] Large Paperback - 529 pages,
by Sukran Vahide,
Published by The Islamic Book Trust.
Highly Recommended!
Description :
This first full-length English biography of the great Turkish Muslim thinker and reformer Bediuzzaman Said Nursi is based on his own works and on accounts of those who have known or met him. It describes his life, works, and struggle, and places Bediuzzaman's ideas and activities in a historical context.
It describes his scholarly endeavours in the cause of the Ottoman Empire, particularly in the areas of education, constitutionalism and Islamic unity. It also traces Bediuzzaman's silent struggle through his commentary of the Qur'an collectively known as Risale-i Nur and his opposition of the irreligion of the Turkish republic's early years.
"Therefore, in the future, when the intellect,
science and technology prevail, of a certainty, that will be
the time the Qur'an will gain ascendancy, which relies on
rational proofs and invites the intellect to confirm
its pronounce" ---Bediuzzaman Said Nursi.
As in the authors’ introduction to Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s ‘official’ biography, written in the last years of his life, the first thing to state about the present biography also is that it by no means describes comprehensively this unique figure the importance of whom is increasingly being understood both within the Islamic world and beyond, as his life, works, and approach to the problems facing the Islamic world, and indeed all humanity, become better known.
One reason why the present work may be best described as an ‘Introduction’ to the life of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi is the many-sidedness of his character and the diverse and exceptional nature of his abilities, all of which he developed to the highest degree.
Bediuzzaman was a religious scholar of the highest standing who unusually among such scholars had wide knowledge of modern science and many areas of modern life and learning. He was a great mujahid; he fought for the defence of Islam and the Ottoman Empire on the battlefield. He fought also with his pen, producing many works, writing too for newspapers and journals. He gave sermons and speeches and addressed gatherings large and small. He was a famous debater, and was known as the solver of the most complex problems.
And while engaging in these active and scholarly struggles for the cause of Islam, he was also by nature a lover of solitude; he would retire into seclusion to devote himself to the worship and contemplation of his Maker. Foremost, Bediuzzaman was the last of the great saints, a spiritual figure of the greatest stature who takes his place in Islam alongside the Al-Gazzali’s, the ‘Abd al-Qadir Geylani’s, the Imam-i Rabbani’s, may Allah be pleased with them all. Indeed, he was their heir, carrying forward their legacy inherited from the Prophet Muhammad, ﷺ, and presenting it to the people of this age and the future.
However much Bediuzzaman shunned acclaim and wanted all attention to be directed away from himself to the Risale-i Nur, he embodied the Islamic virtues of courage, enterprise, self-sacrifice, humility, and unbending resolve in the face of the enemies of religion to such a high degree, reflecting in his life the practices of the Prophet Muhammad, ﷺ, to a degree rarely achieved this age, that the present work describes him and his characteristic practices at every stage of his life.
Since the intention is to portray a model Muslim, like a Companion of the Prophet, ﷺ, in the modern age, and his unmatched struggle for the cause of Islam, it is hoped it will be forgiven. Whatever the deficiences of the work, and they are bound to be many, they should be attributed to the author. Wa ma tawfiqi illa billah.
Table of Contents :
---Foreword,
---Abbreviations,
Part One – The Old Said,
---Chapter One – Childhood and Youth,
------Birth and Early Childhood,
------Said begins his Studies,
------Visit to Nurs,
------Yound Said's Independence,
------Said Dreams of the Prophet, ﷺ,
------Bayezit Medressah,
------Sirvan,
------Bitlis,
------Mullah Said and Mustafa Pasha,
------Notes.
---Chapter Two – Istanbul Before Freedom,
------Foreword,
------The Constitutional Movement,
------Tahir Pasha's Letter,
------The 'Sekerci Han'
------Proposals for Educational Reform,
------Toptasi and the 'Conversation with the Doctor,'
------Notes.
---Chapter Three – Freedom and Constitutionalism,
------Salonica,
------'Address to Freedom'
------Bediuzzaman's Ideas on Freedom and Constitutionalism,
------Bediuzzaman Combats Disunity and Secularism,
------"Europe is pregnant with Islam"
------Bediuzzaman Maintains Public Order,
------Notes.
---Chapter Four – Bediuzzaman and the Thirty-First of March Incident,
------Introduction,
------The Society for Muslim Unity,
------The Mawlid in Aya Sophia,
------Dervis Vahdeti,
------Background to the Revolt,
------The Revolt,
------Bediuzzaman Calls for Order,
------The Court Martial,
------Notes.
---Chapter Five – “The Future shall be Islam’s and Islam’s alone”
------Bediuzzaman Heads East,
------Among the Tribes of Eastern Anatolia,
------Questions on Minority Rights,
------Bediuzzaman Addresses the Generations of the Future,
------The Damascus Sermon,
------Notes.
---Chapter Six – The Medreset uz-Zehra,
------Return to Istanbul,
------The Rumelia Journey,
------Return to Van - 1913,
------'Arms and Books Side by Side'
------Notes.
---Chapter Seven – War and Captivity,
------Bediuzzaman and the War,
------Events on the Eastern Front,
------The Front,
------"Signs of Miraculousness"
------Bediuzzaman and his militia move South,
------The Fall of Bitlis and Capture of Bediuzzaman,
------The Prisoner-of-War Camps,
------Notes.
---Chapter Eight – Return and Appointment to the Darü’l-Hikmeti’l-Islamiye,
------The Escape and Return Journey,
------Istanbul,
------An Outline of Events from 1918 - 1922,
------Bediuzzaman and the Darü’l-Hikmeti’l-Islamiye,
------Fatwa and Counter-Fatwa,
------Great Crescent Society and Madrasah Teachers' Association,
------Bediuzzaman's Ill Health,
------Document Concerning the Curriculum Vitae, of Officials, Clerks and Employees of the Ottoman State,
------A Memorandum of the Ottoman State,
------Notes.
---Chapter Nine – The Supremacy of the Qur’an & Birth of the New Said,
------'The Strongest Voice will be Islam's'
------The Absolute Sovereignty of the Qur'an,
------Birth of the New Said,
------Notes.
---Chapter Ten – Opposition to the British and Move to Ankara,
------Bediuzzaman's Dagger,
------Bediuzzaman Opposes an Autonomous Kurdistan,
------Bediuzzaman Combats the British,
------Ankara,
------Notes.
Part Two – The New Said;
---Chapter One – When Arriving in Van,
------The Shaykh Sa'id Revolt,
------The Journey to Exile,
------Burdur,
------Isparta,
------Notes.
---Chapter Two – Isolation in Barla,
------The Attempt to Uproot Islam,
------The Risale-i Nur,
------Ressurection and the Hereafter,
------Life in Barla,
------Abdurrahman's Death and Bediuzzaman's Students,
------The Risale-i Nur Spreads,
------'Divine Favours' Associated with the Writing of the Risale-i Nur,
------The Authorities Increase their Pressure on Bediuzzaman,
------Bediuzzaman's Relations with the World and the Worldly,
------Notes.
---Chapter Three – Eskishehir: The Arrests Start,
------Eskishehir Prison,
------The Prison became Like a Mosque,
------Eskishehir Court,
------Bediuzzaman's Defence,
------Notes.
---Chapter Four – Life in Kastamonu,
------The Way of the Risale-i Nur and it's Function,
------The Supreme Sign,
------'Regenerator of Religion'
------Mawlana Khalid Baghdadi's Jubbah,
------More on the Risale-i Nur's Function and Bediuzzaman's Advice to His Students Concerning This,
------Aloofness from Political Life,
------Sincerity and the Collective Personality of the Students of the Risale-i Nur,
------More Glimpses of Bediuzzaman's Life in Kastamonu,
------The Risale-i Nur Becomes Established,
------Part of the Risale-i Nur Written in Kastamonu,
------Increased Harassment and Arrest,
------Bediuzzaman is Arrested,
------Kastamonou - Ankara - Isparta,
------Notes.
---Chapter Five – Denizli,
------Introduction,
------Life in Denizli Prison,
------Denizli Court,
------Extracts from Bediuzzaman's Defence,
------The 'Fifth Ray'
------The True Nature of the Case,
------The Acquittal,
------The Sehir Hotel,
------Notes.
---Chapter Six – Emirdag,
------Introduction,
------Arrival in Emirdag,
------The Risale Nur,
------Conditions,
------Increased Harassment and Prelude to Afyon,
------Notes.
---Chapter Seven – Afyon Prison,
------Life in Afyon Prison,
------Bediuzzaman is seen Outside the Prison,
------The Flag Incident,
------Afyon Court,
------The Experts' Report,
------The Trial Continues,
------The Court's Verdict,
------Notes.
Part Three – The Third Said;
------Introduction,
------Emirdag,
------Korea,
------Aksehir Palas and Resadiye Hotels,
------Emirdag,
------Pakistan Deputy Education Minister's Visit,
------Istanbul,
------Isparta,
------The Publishing of the Risale-i Nur and Other Activities,
------The Risale-i Nur's 'Positive' Method of Service, and Relations with the Democrat Government,
------Bediuzzaman's Support for the Baghdad Pact,
------Other Matters in Which the 'Third Said' Addressed the Democrats,
------Further Victories and the Struggle Continues,
------Sincerity and Bediuzzaman's Health and State of Mind,
------Bediuzzaman's Will and His Wish for an Unknown Grave,
------Bediuzzaman's Trips to Ankara, Istanbul and Konya,
------Bediuzzaman's Last Days,
------Arriving in Urfa,
------Bediuzzaman is Buried in the Halilurrahman Dargah,
------The Military Junta Orders the Removal of Bediuzzaman's Body to an Unknown Spot,
------Notes.
---Conclusion.
---Addendum,
------Selections from the Risale i Nur,
------1. The Order in the Universe,
------2. Part of Bediuzzaman's Refutation of Nature,
------3. Proofs of Divine Unity,
------4. An Explanation of Divine Oneness,
------5. The Renewal of Belief and the Highway of the Qur'an,
------6. The Three Faces of the World,
------7. Philosophy and the Qur'an,
------8. On the Nature of Man,
--------First Point,
--------Second Point,
--------Third Point,
---Bibliography,
---Index.
*Dimensions : 23 x 15.4cm.