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"Yaz 94" 47. Sayı

  • The Importance Of The Risale-i Nur For The West

    Şükran Vahide

    Man’s desire to make sense of himself and the world in which he findshimself is fundamental to his nature and is his greatest need. It is the driving force ofprogress and is manifested particularly in this age. More than at any time, man in themodern age wants to know the why’s and wherefore’s of everything and to learn theirpurpose. And indeed, his efforts to uncover the workings of the universe have beenrewarded by the astounding leaps forward made in every branch of sience. In the West,however, where these developments have taken place, material progress has not been matchedby progress in other areas; that is to say, although Western man has had this tremendoussuccess in unravelling the mysteries of the material universe, his success has not beenextended beyond this. Plunging further and further into matter, he has failed to findsatisfactory answers to the most basic and most important questions of all. Questions like"Why does the universe exist? What is the purpose of everything? What is the purposeof life? What is man’s purpose? Where does he come from, and where will go afterdeath?" have remained unanswered. Thus, though the material needs of those in theWest are met and the majority live in conditions of affluence, the most basic need remainsunanswered, and indeed becomes more acute as science daily displays more the astonishingorder, unity, and harmony, and complexity of the universe, and its alleged purposelessnessbecomes more untenable.

    The source of this inability to provide satisfactory answers for the mostbasic questions lies far back in the roots of Western civilization, which has as itsinspiration ‘man-made’ philosophy as opposed to divinely revealed religion. As sciencedeveloped in the West, it was seen as distinct and separate from religion. Science andreligion were ‘the material’ and ‘the spiritual’. So too Western civilization hastraditionally taken up a position opposed to the pure revelation of the Qur’an, the onlyuncorrupted revealed scripture that remains to man. However, what must be one of the mostexciting and encouraging things for Muslims today is that, despite these denials of moderncivilization, developments in science corroborate the statements of the Qur’an concerningthe universe and the beings within it, rather than contradicting them. And more than that,this agreement increasses the further science goes; the latest discoveries of physicspoint to the unity of being and acausality. That is to say, the science which the Westclaims as its own is proving the revealed knowledge of the Qur’an to be true; the Qur’an,which, showing there is no conflict between science and religion, provides the answers formodern man.

    As the final Book Almighty God has revealed to mankind, the Qur’anaddresses all men in every age. It Addresses particularly and directly each level and rankof mankind in every age, and their particular needs. As mentioned, the mark of the modernage is the spirit of enquiry, which, driving man to discover the wisdom and purpose ofthings, has led him to uncover the mysteries of the material universe to a degree whicheven now seems unbelievable. So too in every age Almighty God sends someone to renew Hisreligion of Islam and relate the Qur’an’s message; a regenerator who makes known thoseaspects of the Qur’an which look to that age in particular. Thus, in this modern age sucha renewer and regenerator is Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, the author of the Risale-i Nur,which, primarily pointing out the wisdom and purpose of things, relates and explains theQur’anic message for contemporary man.

    The Risale-i Nur is a true commentary on the Holy Qur an, expounding thoseof its verses which are concerned with the truths of belief, written particularly toanswer attacks made on them in the name of science. This it does in a way that addressesmodern man’s mentality, a mentality that has been permeated by ‘scientific thinking’, andso is uniquely fitted to convey the teachings of the Qur’an to Western man. For itexamines the universe and the beings within it, but in o doing concludes that the onlyrational explanation for them is that they are the creatures, the evidences, of a SingleCreator. It demonstrates that the very nature of the universe, its order, harmony, unity,the interdependence of its parts, excludes the possibility of all the various explanationsput forward by philosophy and materialism, that the concepts of chance and coincidence,Nature, and causality are irrational and precluded. The Risale-i Nur proves that nothing,be it ‘Nature’, or the laws and forces of Nature, or causes, can have a hand in thecreation of things, and become ‘a partner to God’. What are known as the laws of Nature,which give the universe its order, have no external existence, they exist only asknowledge, they have no power. The order in the universe is the way the Divine Will ismanifest, and ‘the forces of Nature’ manifestations of Divine Power.

    Western man wants proof and evidence if he is to accept an idea. Thus, theRisale-i Nur sets forth all these matters as reasoned arguments; it puts forward aproposition, argues it with logical proofs, and comes to reasoned conclusions. An exampleof this is the following, which is part of a proof of Divine Unity:

    "If all things are not all together attributed to the Pre-EternalAll-Powerful One, the One Knowing of All Things, then as well as having to gather togetherin a particular measure from most of the varieties of beings in the world the body of thetiniest thing like a fly, the particles which work in that tiny fly’s body will have toknow the mysteries of the fly’s creation and its perfect art in all its minutest details.For as all the intelligent agree, natural causes and physical causes cannot create out ofnothing. In which case, if they do create, they will gather [the being] together. Andsince they will gather it together whatever animate being it is, there are within itsamples of most of the elements and most of the varieties of beings, for living creatureare quite simply like a seed or essence of the universe, it will of course be necessaryfor them to gather together a seed from the whole tree and an animate being from the wholeface of the earth sifting them through a fine sieve and measurin them with the mostsensitive balance. And since natural causes are ignorant and lifeless, and have noknowledge with which to determine a plan, index, model, or programme according to whichthey can smel and pour the particles which enter the immaterial mould [of the being inquestion], so they do not disperse and spoil its order, it is clear how far it is frompossibility and reason to suppose that, without mould or measure, they can make theparticles of the elements which flow like floods remain one on the other in the form of anorderly mass without dispersing, for everything has a single form and measure amdpossibilities without calculation or count…"1

    In addition to proving these truths according to logic and with reasonedarguments, the Risale-i Nur examines, ‘reads’, the universe looking at it through the eyesof science. Considered in the light of all the physical sciences, it demonstrates it to bethe creation of a single Creator and the manifestation of His Most Beautiful Names. Itshows that in describing some aspect of the universe’s functioning, each science makesknown some aspect of the Creator. The source of each is one of the Divine Names; itsdevelopment is the manifestation of that Name. Far from there being any contradiction, thesciences are a means to knowledge of God.

    When looked at in this way, the cold, dark, meaningless world ofphilosophy makes way for a universe illumined with wisdom and purpose. The Risale-i Nuruses the analogy of the universe as a book, with the pages of the heavens and the earthand of the seasons, the lines of night and day, the words of the creatures on the earth,the letters of fruits, and dots of seeds. With many books contained in one page, wholepages contanied in a word, and an index of the whole in a dot. This vast, interlinking,complex, unified, perfect book is written in this way so that each part of it, even theletters and dots, make known and loved its Author and Inscriber. World within world, it isa perfect indivisible whole, a unity, making known its Single Creator. The book addressesman; its aim is that he should read the book and its parts, and respond with universalworship, love, and thanks to this desire of its Author to make Himself known. So too mostof the benefits and purposes of things look to man, he attains to that universal worshipby uncovering, discovering the order in the book, and displaying the functioning of beingsand the workings of the universe by means of science.

    To explain this further, the Risale-i Nur also likens the universe to atree, with the elements as its branches, plants as its leaves, animals as its flowers, andman as its fruit, with his heart as its mirror-like seed. All the Divine Names aremanifested within it. As its fruit, man with his comprehensive disponition has thepotentiality also to manifest all the Names. His superiority over all creatures lies inthis. By displaying the parts of the tree and the book, the sciences make known the DivineNames. And man also reflects them as his potentialities unfold. The aim of the universe isrealized as man uncovers and recognizes all the Namas manifested in the vast Divine workswhich bring all beings to perfection, and responds to them with love and worship. And sois man’s ultimate aim realized, which is to attain to that worship through knowledge andprogress. Isn’t then the Risale-i Nur important for people in the West by thus explainingthese exalted aims and purposes and instances of wisdom in the universe, and by pointingout to path of true progress through worship, showing them the way to save themselves frommeaninglessness and the contradictions of misguidance?

    As with the existence of God and Divine Unity, the Risale-i Nur proves theother main truths of belief through pointing out their evidences in the universe. It showsthe way to gaining rational belief in such pillars of faith as the resurrection of thedead and the life of the Hereafter, prophethood and the revealed scriptures, the angles,and Divine Decree and Determining, sometimes known as fate and destiny. It shows thatthese matters can be understood and proved rationally. This is one reason the Risale-i Nurand its author have earned the name of Regenerator of Religion in the present age. And itis another reason the Risle-i Nur is particularly fitting to convey the truths of theQur’an to Western man, who, deprived by Christianity of rational belief in these matters,thirsts for such explanations.

    There is no question more pressing for man than that of life after deathand eternal happiness. Since, inspired by the Our’an, the Risale-i Nur has found a way toprove this rationally, included here by way of illustration is Bediüzzaman’s ownexplanation of the method followed. The work referred to is the Tenth Word, the Treatiseon Resurrection and the Hereafter.

    "Each [of the ‘Twelve Truths’ of which the main part of the work iscomposed] proves three things at the same time. Each proves both the existence of theNecessarily Existent One, and His Names and attributes, then it constructs theresurrection of the dead on these and proves that. Everyone from the most obdurateunbeliever to the most sincere believer can take his share from each Truth, because ineach, the eye is turned towards beings, works. Each says: ‘There are well-ordered acts inthese, and a wellordered act cannot be without an author. In which case they have anAuthor. And since those acts have been carried out with order and balance, their Authormust be Wise and just. Since He is Wise, He does nothing in vain. And since He acts withjustice, He does not permit rights to be violated. There will therefoxe be a greatgathering, a supreme tribunal. "The Truths have been tackled in this way. They aresuccinct, and thus prove fhe three things at once."2

    Together with proving the main pillars of faith singly, Bediüzzaman alsodemonstrates in the Risale-i Nur that they are all interconnected and each is a proof ofthe others. Thus, by "reading" the events and Divine works in the world aroundus and recognizing the Divine existence and Names and gaining certain belief in them, itis possible through observation, thought, and contemplation to gain certain and rationalbelief in resurrection and the life to come. How the universe becomes alive and meaningfulwhen it is seen in this light! What better way is there to call Western man to belief inthe Our’an than showing him that if he "reads" the universe, which he hasariyway been trained to observe, in the way the Our’an directs, it becomes illuminatedwith meaning and purpose and becomes a means to gaining rational belief, thus saving himfrom a meaningless life overshodawed by the blackness of non-existence, death? Throughoutthe Risale-i Nur, Bediüzzaman explains how to "read" the universe in this way,to read it as meaningful missives and letters from its Author, so that its readersconstantly take lessons from the world around them and constantly increase in knowledge oftheir Maker and strengthen their belief and certainty in the fundamentals of faith.

    To continue with the theme of resurrection and the Hereafter, the Risale-iNur offers a coherent, rational, total view of existence, that is, this world and the nextworld, the worlds of the Unseen and the Manifest World, and sets man and his actionswithin it. This is a point of the greatest importance for Western man. For in the West,due to the influence of Materialist and Naturalist philosopy, which look to multiplicity,causes, and Nature, the view is focussed on this world and the life of this world; Westernman is submerged in matter. and even those who turn to Christianity or other religionscannot extricate themselves from it. Its consequences are grievous for man, who by hisnature is pained by transience and looks beyond the material to eternity.

    The Risale-i Nur describes the world as having three faces. One looks tothe Divine Names, and is a mirror reflecting their "embroideries". Transience,separation, and non-existence can find no place in this face; there is only renewal. Thesecond face looks to the Hereafter and the worlds of eternity; it is like the seed-bed forthem, and the tillage of Paradise. It produces enduring crops and fruits, serves eternity,makes transitory things immortal. There is no death and transience in this face either,rather, the manifestations of life and eternity. As for the third face, this looks totransient beings, that is, us. It is the beloved of the worldly who follow their lowerinstincts and the place of trade examination for the aware and the conscious. Thus, forthose who for any reason do not see the first two faces, the world presents this painfuland ugly third face, which telIs only of transience, death, and seperation. In regard tothe first two faces, they are seen in relation to their Creator; that is to say, they areseen beyond or behind the veil of causality and Nature. The constant change and flux inthis world, which when seen in the view of the third face gives rise to transience anddeath, serves many profound purposes. Bediüzzaman describes the passage of beings likethis:

    "At its Sustainer’s command, the universe is in continuous motion.With Divine permission, all creatures are unceasingly flowing in. the river of time. Theyare being sent from the World of the unseen, being clothed with extarnal existence in theManifest World, and are then being poured in orderly fashion into the World of the Unseen,and it is there that they alight. And, at their Sustainer’s command, they continuouslycome from the future, stop by in passing pausing for a bereath, and are poured into thepast."3

    Thus, beings do not go to non-existence; they pass from the visible worldto the unseen world. They have existence in the world of the unseen and Divine Knowledge;at the manifestation of Divine Power and Will, they are given external existence in thismanifest world, where they are recorded, then they pass on to the sphere of Knowledge andthe worlds of the Here after and the Unseen. This constant flood and passage of beings isbeing made from top to bottom with instances of wisdom, benefits, aims and purposes. TheRisale-i Nur describes how the All-Wise Maker created the world in this way so that hemight exhibit the endless embroideries of His Divine Names in a limited field and writeinfinite signs which point to infinite meanings on a small page. He created the face ofthe earth as an arable field and prepared it in such a way that it would produceever-fresh crops, so that He might sow and reap the numberless miracles of His Power anddisplay endless gifts from the infinite treasury of His Mercy. And through the flood ofbeings, He grows in this small world vast quanties of crops suitable for the endlessworlds of the Hereafter. So too He displays infinite Divine perfections and endlessmanifestations of His beauty and glory and countless Dominical glorifications in finitetime and in a limited field.

    As with other creatures, man’s deeds and actions pour into the worlds ofthe Hereafter. This awesome fact Bediüzzaman explains like this:

    "Heaven and Hell are the two fruits of the branches which stretch outfrom the tree of creation towards eternity. They are the two results of the chain-likeuniverse. They are the two storehouses of this flood of events. They are the two pools ofbeings which flow tumbling towards eternity. They are two places of manifestation, the oneof Divine Favour, the other of Divine Wrath. When the Hand of Pwer shakes up the universewith a violent motion, thoe two pools will fill up with the appropriate matters."4

    This brings us to a further important point about the Risale-i Nur, whichis that it explains these profound matters in such a way that each person can understandthem according to his level. Through the use of comparisons and allegories, it bringsdistant and vast truths close like a telescope. all the atters are illustrated with aptcomparisons, examples, or stories, so that the reasoning and logic are easy to follow andthe conclusions easy to grasp. Its whole tone is mild and persuasive, and with itsflawless arguments, convinces utterly. It concerns truth and reality, and it rings true.For the West, where the religion of Islam is so misrepresented and misunderstood, therecan be no more fitting means of conveying its truths. Anyone who comes to know Islam andthe Qur’an through the Risale-i Nur will corne to love them.

    In addition, the Risale-i Nur makes comparisons of religion and philosopy,belief and unbelif, guidance and misguidance, in many contexts and on many levels, andshows that in every case, truth and reality, as well as true benefit, happiness, andprogress for man lie orıly in the former. Philosopy, in whatever form, cannot answer thefundamental questions it is in man’s nature to ask and offer him true happiness.Restricting its view to this world, it drowns in matter, and condemns the world and man tomeaninglessness and purposelessness. Thus a work which points out the contradictions andirrationality of concepts such as Nature and causality by which philosophy attempts toexplain existence, and demonstrates by pointing out the grand purposes and instances ofwisdom in all things that the only rational explanation of the universe and man is that ofDivine Unity, is certainly of the utmost importance for the people of the West. Indeed, asscience progresses and man wakes up to the contradictions of Western philosopy, theimportance of the Risale-i Nur, which bringing together science and religion, explains soappropriately the Our’an’s message of Divine Unity, will increase.

    Footnotes

    1. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said, Lem’alar, İstanbul,1986,230

    2. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said, Barla Lahikası, İstanbul,1960,160

    3. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said, Mektûbat, İstanbul,1981,220

    4. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said, Sözler, İstanbul,1980,498-9