Author: nursischool

The Believers are but a single Brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; (Quran 49:10) Work together for the sake of virtue and piety. (Quran 5:2) And hold fast, all of you together to the rope of Allah and be not divided among yourselves and remember Allah’s favor on you, for you were enemies one to another, but He joined your hearts together so that by His Grace you became brethren. (Quran 3:103) We also read about the collective mentality of community, solidarity, unity, and brotherhood in the ahadiths, the following examples illustrate this: Prophet Muhammad (ASM) also said in a Hadeeth Qudsi: “Allah, the Exalted, says ‘Indeed, My Love shall be bestowed upon the ones who visit each other for My Sake. Indeed, My Love shall be bestowed upon the ones who love one another for My Sake. Indeed, My Love shall be bestowed upon the ones who approach one another in humility for My Sake. And, indeed, My Love shall be bestowed upon the ones that rush to help one another for My Sake.” (Musnad Imam Ahmad) “Shall I tell you about a status which is better than prayer, fasting and giving charity?” They said: “Please do”. He answered: “To maintain zat al-bain [essential community bonds] in good order”. He then added: “When zat al-bain is corrupted, it destroys all” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari in Al-adab al-mufarrad following Abu Al-Dardaa) The Messenger of Allah (ASM) said, “A Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the people are safe.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) We have a responsibility to ourselves, each other and to the entire planet to be caretakers and live in alliance with all beings as brothers. An egocentric orientation is harmful, destructive, limiting, and invariably leads to loss at multiple levels, there is no genuine benefit in greed, self-centeredness, egoism, arrogance, or the “me” mentality. On the other hand, living with a collective mind set, an “us” community mentality, allows all to prosper regarding the needs of all beings and humanity through mutual cooperation, assistance and sharing. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi elaborates further: “You and I are members of a collective personality such as that, worthy of the title of ‘perfect man.’ We are like the components of a factory’s machinery which produces eternal happiness within eternal life. We are hands working on a dominical boat which will disembark the Community of Muhammed (PBUH) at the Realm of Peace, the shore of salvation. So we are surely in need of solidarity and true union, obtained through gaining sincerity—for the mystery of sincerity secures through four individuals the moral strength of one thousand one hundred and eleven—indeed, we are compelled to obtain it. Yes, if three alifs do not unite, they have the value of three. Whereas if they do unite, through the mystery of numbers they acquire the value of one hundred and eleven. If four times four remain apart, they have a value of sixteen. But if, through the mystery of brotherhood and having a common goal and joint duty, they unite coming together shoulder to shoulder on a line, they have the strength and value of four thousand four hundred and forty-four. Just as numerous historical events testify that the moral strength and value of sixteen self-sacrificing brothers have been greater than that of four thousand. The underlying reason for this mystery is this: each member of a true and sincere union may see also with the eyes of the other brothers, and hear with their ears. As if each person of a true union of ten has the value and strength of seeing with twenty eyes, thinking with ten minds, hearing with twenty ears, and working with twenty hands.” -Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (from Brotherhood and Sincerity) –Dr. Osman Birgeoglu ]]>

to Him in worship. Without this understand and knowledge, we will face the epitome of anxiety, loss, pain, and suffering. Ustad Bediuzzaman Said Nursi provides an eloquent explanation to help us grasp this better: “O my soul! As we have stated repeatedly, since man is the fruit of the tree of creation, he is a creature which, like a fruit, is the furthest and most comprehensive and looks to everything, and bears the seed of a heart which holds within it the aspects of unity of everything, and whose face looks to multiplicity, transience, and the world. As for worship, it is a line of union which turns his face from transience to permanence, from creation to Creator, from multiplicity to unity, and from the extremity to the source, or it is a point of union between the source and the extremity. If a valuable, conscious fruit which will form a seed looks to the living creatures beneath the tree, and relying on its beauty throws itself into their hands; if being heedless, it falls; it will fall to their hands and be smashed, and will go for nothing like a common fruit. But if the fruit finds its point of support, and it is able to think that by the seed within it holding the aspects of unity of the whole tree, it will be the means of tree’s continuance and the continued existence of the tree’s reality, then a single seed within that single fruit will manifest a perpetual universal truth within an everlasting life. In the same way, if man plunges into multiplicity, is drowned in the universe and intoxicated by love of the world, is deceived by the smiles of ephemeral beings and casts himself into their arms, he certainly falls into infinite loss. He falls into both transitoriness, and ephemerality, and non-existence. In effect he sentences himself to death. But if he listens with the ear of his heart to the lessons in belief from the tongue of the Qur’an and raises his head and turns towards unity, he may rise through the ascension of worship to the throne of perfections. He may become an eternal man. O my soul! Since the reality is thus, and since you are a member of the nation of Abraham (Peace be upon him), like Abraham, say: I do not love those that set [disappear]. (6:76)  Turn your face to the Eternal Beloved and weep the following lines like me. The Persian verses to be included here have been included in the Second Station of the Seventeenth Word, and have not been repeated here.” -Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (from the Risale-i Nur Collection: Worship and the Prayers or The Words) Dr. Osman Birgeoglu ]]>

Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude for God’s Bounties. We, at the Risale-i Nur Institute of America with its two branches Nur Publishers and Nursi School of Theology, have much to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving Holiday. Announcement: Many will recall that we published Nur-the Light Magazine Copyright ©.  Historically, from 1974 through 2000, thousands of publications were reaching over 70 countries from Sweden to India, from Alaska to Australia and to the Philippines. Unfortunately, due to financial shortage, we ceased its publication some time ago. We have good news! We are now very excited and pleased to formally announce our plans to once again offer this extremely popular magazine. Plans are underway! You may look forward to the new edition of Nur-the Light Magazine © in the near future.  We give very much thanks to God for this. Alhamdulillah! Let us all remember throughout this Thanksgiving Holiday to be grateful to God for the immense service of all His Messengers, 124,000 to be exact. We will concentrate more in the near future on this very important topic of God’s Messengers. We extend in our warmest, most joyous wishes to all our readers, fans, and friends A Very Happy Thanksgiving! Dr. Osman Birgeoglu ]]>

an intense love of immortality. Even, because of his power of imagination, man fancies a sort of immortality in everything he loves. He cries out from the depths of his being whenever he thinks of or sees their passing. All lamentations at separation are expressions of the weeping caused by love of immortality. If there were no imagined immortality, there would be no love. It might even be said that the intense desire for immortality arising from that passionate love of immortality, and from the spontaneous general prayer for immortality, is a reason for the existence of the eternal realm and everlasting Paradise. The Eternal One of Glory accepted man’s intense, unshakeable, innate desire and his powerful, effective, general prayer, for He created an eternal realm for him, a transient being. Is it at all possible that the Munificent and Compassionate Creator would accept the insignificant wish of a tiny stomach and its supplication through the tongue of disposition for a temporary immortality by creating innumerable delicious foods, and not accept the intense desire of all humankind, which arises from an overpowering innate need, and its universal, constant, rightful, just prayer for immortality, offered through word and state? God forbid, a hundred thousand times! It is impossible that He would not accept it. Not to accept it would be in keeping with neither his wisdom, nor His justice, nor His mercy, nor His power. Since man is most desirous of immortality, all his perfections and pleasures are dependent upon it. And since immortality is particular to the Eternal One of Glory; and since the Eternal One’s names are enduring and immortal; and since the Eternal One’s mirrors take on the hue of the Eternal One, and reflect His decree, and manifest a sort of immortality; for sure the matter most important for man, his most pressing duty, is to form a relation with that Eternal One and to adhere to His names. For everything expended on the way of the Eternal One receives a sort of immortality. The second “O Eternal One, You alone are Eternal!” expresses this truth. In addition to healing man’s innumerable spiritual wounds, it satisfies the intense wish for immortality inherent in his nature.” -Ustad Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (More information can be found in the Lights of Reality, or The Flashes, Third Flash.) Dr. Osman Birgeoglu ]]>

Islam means peace. This essential disconnection, misunderstanding and profound twisting of God’s Truth is particularly seen in the phrase ‘Islam rules by the sword’ and in the term ‘jihad’. To eradicate these false claims, we will first reflect on what Ustad Bediuzzaman explains regarding two extremely important verses in the Quran that are most relevant to the misunderstandings:  “ Let there be no compulsion in religion; Truth stands out from error, whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy handhold, that never breaks. And God is All-Seeing, All-Knowing. God is the protector of those who have faith; from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into the light. While those who do not believe, their patrons are the evil ones; from the light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be companions of Fire, to dwell therein forever.” (Qur’an 2:256-7) Bediuzzaman states the meaning of these two verses quite clearly: “Furthermore, as far as the word khalidun —to dwell therein for ever, by repeating the contrast between light and darkness, and belief and darkness —the source and origin of all the comparisons in the Risale-i Nur and just like them— is a concealed sign that a great hero in the contest of the ‘mânevî jihad’ at that date is the Risale-i Nur, which bears the name of light. For its immaterial sword has solved hundreds of the mysteries of religion, leaving no need for physical swords.” -Ustad Bediuzzaman (from The Rays ) He also addresses this issue in his following quotes: “As for one who strikes with the sword, the sword turns back and hits his own innocent. Now victory is not with the sword. There is a place for the sword, but it is the hand of the mind.” -Ustad Bediuzzaman (Munazarat) “We are devotees of love; we do not have time for enmity.” -Ustad Bediuzzaman (The Damascus Sermon) I feel it’s also important to consider what our translator, Sukran Vahide, says to help Westerners anywhere understand Islam: “In answer to the question, then, of how Euro­peans need Islam to be presented, we would sug­gest that it needs to be presented to them as the rational explanation of this world, that is, our­selves and the universe. It needs to be presented to them as the Holy Qur’an directs. That is to say, it must be demonstrated that God Almighty did not create man with an intellect in order not to use it to increase his belief. Rather, he created this beautiful and wonderfully functioning universe and gave man intellect and sent prophets with revealed Books as guides, and finally the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) with the Holy Qur’an, in order that man might attain to rational and true belief. If the universe is presented as a book created as the means to introduce its Author, which human beings are invited to read using their intellects so as to be able to prove and understand rationally the truths of belief, then it will be clear that each person is directly responsi­ble to his Creator and that there is no need for any intermediary in the performance of his wor­ship and religion… …Any European who can begin to see Islam in this way, that is, on the level of belief, will soon be able to see through the web of lies and the false image of Islam that has developed over the centuries. He will see that, as was demonstrated above, Islam does not accept aggression on any level. In the same way that it sees the cosmos as it is, functioning according to a universal system of mutual help and cooperation, so does it also preclude aggression in any form in the actions of human beings. And so too, jihad, commonly known as ‘holy war’, may only be fought in defense against outside aggression. (As for Islamic dress for women, a source of much mis­understanding in the West, it shall be considered in the fifth section below.) Furthermore, if such a person’s intention is sincere, that is, a person who can begin to see Islam on the level of belief, he will also understand that, far from being alien, Islam is God Almighty’s final and complete revealed religion that is totally in accord with man’s nature as a creature and human being, and as such transcends any restriction of race, color, or class.” –Mary Weld [Sukran Vahide,  our translator] (Excerpts taken from Islam, the West, and the Risale-i Nur ) We simply must take an active role in helping to dispel the false ideologies of Islam. There is only One Truth which belongs to God. We cannot ignore the Islamophobia and the harm it results in worldwide. The Risale-i Nur contains light-scattering wisdom from which all mankind can benefit and come together in unity and peace. Dr. Osman Birgeoglu ]]>

Please remember two important points: 1. During the day of Arafat (Arefe) this Saturday, if you are able, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi recommends that we recite 1,000 Ikhlas (Surah 112). Inshallah, this will bring us abundant rewards. 2. The importance of Tekbirat: after each Fard prayer we say one Tekbir. This practice starts with the morning (Fajr) prayer on Saturday, the day of Arefe, and it ends after afternoon (Asr) prayer on the fourth (last) day of Eid-ul Adha, a total of 23 times. For further insight, we are including Ustad Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s words from the Fourth Ray of the Sixteenth Word: “FOURTH RAY  And so, O my lazy soul! Like the soldier in the previous comparison was received into the royal presence as a pure favour, the reality of the five daily prayers, which are like a sort of Ascension, are a being received into the presence of the All-Glorious One of Beauty, the Beauteous One of Glory, Who is the True Object of Worship, as an instance of pure mercy. Declaring, God is Most Great!, it is to traverse the two worlds either in fact, or in the imagination, or by intention, be divested of the restrictions of materiality, pass to a universal degree of worship or a shadow or form of universality, and being honoured with a sort of presence, it is to manifest the address, You alone do we worship (everyone according to his own capacity); it is a most elevated attainment. Through repeating, God is Most Great! God is Most Great! in the actions of the prayers, it is an indication to rising through the degrees, to spiritual progress, and to ascending from minor particulars to universal spheres, and is a concise title to the perfections of Divine Sublimity which are beyond our knowledge. It is as if each God is Most Great is an indication to traversing a step in the Ascension. To attain to a shadow or a ray of this reality of the prayers either in fact, or by intention, or with the imagination, is a great happiness. The frequent declaring of God is Most Great! during the Hajj is for the above reason. For the blessed Hajj is worship at a universal level for everyone. Just as on a special day like a festival a soldier goes to the king’s celebrations like a General in the sphere of General, and receives his favours, in the same way, a Hajji, no matter how lowly, is turned towards his Sustainer under the title Mighty Sustainer of every region of the earth, like a saint who has traversed all the degrees. He is honoured with universal worship. For sure, the universal degrees of Dominicality opened with the key of the Hajj, and the horizons of the tremendousness of Godhead which are visible to his eye through its telescope, and the spheres of worship which gradually unfold to his heart and imagination through its observances, and the heat, wonder, awe, and dread of Dominicality caused by the levels of sublimity and last stage of manifestation, can only be quieted by, God is Most Great! God is Most Great!, and those observed or imagined unfolded degrees can only be proclaimed by it. After the Hajj, this meaning is found in various exalted and universal degrees in the Festival (‘Eid) Prayers, the prayers for rain, and on the occasions of solar and lunar eclipses, and in prayers performed as a congregation. Thus, the importance of the marks and observances of Islam, also even if of the category of Sunna, lies in this reason.” -B. Said Nursi Dr. Osman Birgeoglu ]]>

“Tahiri Mutlu was special, he was like a saint to Bediuzzaman (once Bediuzzaman said about Tahiri Agabey: ‘He doesn’t know that he’s a saint.’) Tahiri Agabey didn’t talk much, he was always serious and quiet, but when he did speak his conversations were very informative and sweet, and we always listened carefully to what he had to say. In the early 1970’s I was visiting Tahiri Agabey and he told us one of his encounters with Bediuzzaman in Van. Bediuzzaman’s early students were not acting very seriously in their chores and Bediuzzaman turned to them and said: ‘YOU DON’T KNOW WHO I AM!’ And when Tahiri Agabey told us this particular quote, his voice was very loud and we knew that Bediuzzaman was upset with the students.” Dr. Osman Birgeoglu P.S. You may also view a video of Tahiri Agabey at:  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150165257382508      ]]>

In everything a window opens up onto knowledge of God. In some of the Words we have illustrated with the following comparison the differences between the way of the scholars of theology and the true highway taken from the Qur’an: in order to have water, some is brought from a distant place by means of pipes, tunnelling through mountains. And some of it is obtained by digging wells everywhere. The first sort is fraught with difficulties; the pipes become blocked or broken. But those who know how to dig wells and extract water can find water everywhere with no trouble. Similarly, utilizing the impossibility of causation and causal sequences, the scholars of theology cut the chains of causes at the extremities of the world and then proved the existence of the Necessarily Existent One. They travelled a long road. However, the true highway of the Wise Qur’an finds water everywhere and extracts it. All its verses cause water to flow forth wherever they strike, like the Staff of Moses. Each makes everything recite the rule: In everything is a sign indicating that He is One. Furthermore, faith (îman) is not gained only through knowledge; many of the subtle faculties have their share of it. When food enters the stomach, it is distributed in various ways to various members. Similarly, after entering the stomach of the mind, the matters of faith that come through knowledge are absorbed by the spirit, heart, inner heart, soul, and other subtle faculties; each receives its share according to its degree. If they do not receive their share, faith is deficient. Muhyi’l-Din al-‘Arabi was reminding Fakhr al-Din Razi* of this point.” -Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (more on this can be found in The Letters, Twenty-Sixth Letter, or  Lights of Reality ) * Bediuzzaman clarifies the teachings of both these scholars. Dr. Osman Birgeoglu ]]>

Risale-i Nur (many years ago), although I was indeed a believer, I didn’t know the extent of the power of belief. Bediuzzaman puts belief into such a perspective that we understand the enormous importance of belief in God. When you learn the real power of belief, it gives you indescribable joy and greatly eases the pressures of life. With my belief, I always try to remember God and act accordingly which makes me feel very happy. It’s just an incredible experience to learn and appreciate the value of belief in God. Until the Risale-i Nur, I didn’t have such a deep understanding of the importance of belief. I really enjoy reading the section of the Risale-i Nur quoted below. Each time I read it I get more out of it, and although I’ve read it more than 100 times, I am still looking forward to reading it again and again. I just can’t get enough of it…. And here is the part I am talking about from Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s Masterpiece: Belief and Man from the Risale-i Nur Collection: “Belief is both light and strength. Yes, the person who acquires true belief may challenge the whole universe and be saved from the pressure of events in accordance with the strength of his belief. Saying, “I place my trust in God,” he travels through the mountainous waves of events in the ship of life in complete safety. He entrusts all his burdens to the hand of power of the Absolutely Powerful One, voyages through the world in ease, then takes his rest in the Intermediate Realm. Later he may fly up to Paradise in order to enter eternal happiness. But if he does not rely on God, rather than flying, the burdens of the world will drag him down to the lowest of the low. That is to say, belief necessitates affirmation of divine unity, affirmation of divine unity necessitates submission to God, submission to God necessitates trust in God, and trust in God necessarily leads to happiness in this world and the next. But do not misunderstand this, trust in God is not to reject causes altogether; it is to know that causes are a veil to the hand of power and have recourse to them. It is to know that to attempt causes is a sort of active prayer and to seek the effects only from Almighty God; to recognize that the results are from Him alone, and to be thankful to Him.” -Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (Belief and Man) Dr. Osman Birgeoglu ]]>

The Requirements of Belief  – [An extract from a letter written to some students of the Risale-i Nur at Istanbul university ] “In His name, be He glorified! AT the end of the The Staff of Moses, there is the answer I gave to the question of one of our brothers, Küçük Ali, small in name but great in spirit. Read it, for some critics said to him, in an effort to belittle the Risale-i Nur, “Everyone knows God; the common man believes in God just like the saint.”  They wished in this way to present the exalted, valuable and most essential discussions contained in the Risale-i Nur as superfluous. Now too in Istanbul, with a still more destructive intention, some hypocrites of anarchist persuasion, who have fallen prey to utter unbelief, wish cunningly to deprive everyone of the truths of the faith that are contained in the Risale-i Nur and are as essential to man as bread and water. They say: “Every nation and every individual knows God; we have no great need for new instruction in this matter.” To know God, however, means to have certain faith in God’s dominicality encompassing all beings, and in all things, particular and general, from the atoms to the stars, being in the grasp of His power, action and will; it means believing in the truths of the sacred words, “There is no god but God,” and assenting to them with one’s heart. But simply to say, “God exists,” and then to divide His kingdom among secondary causes and nature and attribute it to them; to recognize secondary causes as sources of authority, as if – God forbid – they were the partners of God; to fail to perceive His will and knowledge as present with all things; to refuse to recognize His strict commands, and to reject His attributes, and the messengers and prophets He has sent – this has nothing to do with the reality of belief in God. Rather the person who does all this, and says “God exists,” does so only in order to find some relief from the torment he suffers in the world after his unbelief has made it a hell for him. Not to deny is one thing, to believe is some­thing completely different. No being endowed with consciousness, in the whole universe, can indeed deny the All-Glorious Creator to Whom every particle of existence bears witness. Or if he does make such a denial, it will be refuted by all of creation, and hence become silent and diffident. But believing in him is, as the Qur’an of Mighty Stature informs us, to assent in one’s heart to the Creator with all of His attributes and names, supported by the testimony of the whole universe; to recognize the messengers He has sent and the commands He has promulgated; and to make sincere repentance and feel genuine regret for every sin and act of disobedience. Conversely, to commit every kind of sin, and then never to seek pardon for it or concern oneself with it, is a sure sign of the absence of any element of faith Thus my spiritual offspring, an important event has become the occasion for a brief exposition of a long and complex matter.” -Ustad Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (from The Fruits From the Tree of Light ) Dr. Osman Birgeoglu ]]>