Said Nursî facts for kids

"Nursi" redirects here. For the Estonian village, see Nursi, Estonia.

Quick facts for kids Said-i Nursi
Said Nursi
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni
Personal
Born	1877 Nurs, Bitlis Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died	23 March 1960 (aged 82–83) Urfa, Turkey
Parents	Sofi Mirza (father) Nuriye Hanım (mother)
Senior posting
Successor	Ahmet Husrev Altınbaşak

Said Nursi (Ottoman Turkish: سعيد نورسی, Kurdish: سەعید نوورسی, romanized: Seîdê Nursî‎; 1877 – 23 March 1960) was a Kurdish Sunni Muslim scholar. He is often called Bediüzzaman (meaning "wonder of the age") and Üstad (meaning "master") by his followers. He wrote the Risale-i Nur Collection, which is a large set of books explaining the Qur'an. These books are over six thousand pages long.

Nursi believed that modern science and logic were very important for the future. He thought that religious subjects should be taught in regular schools. He also believed that modern sciences should be taught in religious schools.

Nursi started a religious movement that helped Islam become stronger in Turkey. Now, millions of people around the world follow his ideas. His followers are known as the "Nurcu movement." In 2008, it was estimated that there were 5 to 9 million Nurcu followers worldwide. They often meet in study halls called dershanes to read Nursi's writings together.

Nursi divided his life into three main periods:

The "Old Said" period was from his birth until the early 1920s. During this time, he was involved in politics. He believed he could help Islam through political actions. This period was during and after World War I, when the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.
The "New Said" period began after this time of big changes. He stopped being involved in politics completely. Instead, he focused on writing the `Risale-i Nur` collection. He used logic and reason to show that Islam is true. He spent most of this time in jail or forced exile. This period ended when he was released from prison in 1949.
The "3rd Said" period was from 1949 until his death in 1960. During this time, he had more freedom. This period also saw the first democratic elections in Turkey.

Said Nursi's Early Life
Said Nursi's "New Said" Period
- His Teachings and Movement
Said Nursi's Later Life
- Growing Influence and Final Years
See also

Said Nursi's Early Life

Childhood and Learning

Said Nursi was born in 1877 in a Kurdish village called Nurs. This village was near Hizan in the Ottoman Empire. His parents, Mirza and Nuriye, were believed to be descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Said was a very bright student. When he was young, he went to a religious school. His teacher, Mullah Fathullah, was amazed by his intelligence. Said could answer any question from many different books. He could even memorize a whole page after reading it just once.

News of his amazing memory spread quickly. The scholars in Siirt gave him the title "Bediuzzaman." This means "Wonder of the Age."

When he was only 13 or 14 years old, he finished the entire school curriculum in just three months. This curriculum usually took 10 to 15 years to complete! Said's way of learning was to understand the main ideas from his teacher. Then, he would study the rest of the book by himself.

Said Nursi with his nephew and student Abdurrahman

Later, the governor of Van invited Nursi to stay with him. The governor had a large library. Here, Nursi could study many scientific books he had never seen before. He learned about history, geography, math, geology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, and philosophy. He also memorized about 90 of these books.

Nursi also learned the Ottoman Turkish language there. During this time, he came up with a plan to build a university. This university would be in the eastern parts of the Ottoman Empire. He called it "Madrasat-uz Zahra." It would teach both science and religious (Islamic) subjects. He hoped it would improve education in those regions. He even got money from the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V for this project. Construction started in 1913, but World War I stopped it.

Nursi was very upset when he read a newspaper report. It said that a British official named William Gladstone claimed Muslims could not be controlled as long as they had the Qur'an. Gladstone supposedly said, "We must either take it from them or make them lose their love of it." Nursi reportedly declared, "I shall prove to the world that the Quran is an undying, inexhaustible Sun!" This motivated him to write his huge work, the `Risale-i Nur`. This collection contains his own explanations of the Qur'an and Islam. It also includes writings about his life.

Said Nursi and World War I

When World War I began, Russia attacked the eastern part of Turkey. Nursi and his students formed a group of volunteers to fight back. He even went into the trenches himself during battles, which made his soldiers admire him. It is said that he wrote part of his Qur'anic commentary, Isharatul Icaz, during these times. He would dictate it to a writer while riding a horse or back in the trenches.

One day, he broke his leg in combat and had to surrender to Russian forces. He became a prisoner of war and spent two and a half years in a prison camp in Russia. One day, the Russian Commander-in-Chief, Nicolai Nicolaevich, came to inspect the camp. Nursi did not stand up, unlike the other prisoners. Nicolaevich asked if he knew who he was. Nursi replied that he did, but as a Muslim scholar, he believed a person with faith was superior to one without. Standing up would be disrespectful to his own faith.

The Russian military court ordered his execution. Nursi asked to say his last prayer. After a few minutes, they tried to blindfold him, but he refused. He said he wanted to look at paradise. Nicolaevich was impressed by his brave attitude. He understood that Nursi did not mean to insult him, but was showing self-respect. Nicolaevich immediately stopped the execution and apologized. Nursi was then allowed to stay in a nearby mosque.

After some time, he managed to escape from the Russian camp. He traveled through several European cities to reach Istanbul. He was welcomed as a hero there.

Opposing the British in Istanbul

After World War I, Istanbul was taken over by foreign forces. Nursi spoke out strongly against this. He said that foreign powers were trying to trick religious leaders to weaken Turkey's fight for independence. The Ottoman government, pressured by the British, even issued a religious order (fatwa) against the independence movement. But Nursi bravely spoke against this fatwa and said it was not valid.

Said Nursi's "New Said" Period

His Teachings and Movement

Nursi believed that humanity faced a great danger: people losing their faith. He thought that helping people keep their faith was the most important thing to do. His `Risale-i Nur` books were written to do this. He argued that the Qur'an contains knowledge that fits with modern science.

The `Risale-i Nur` talks about big questions like: Does God exist? What is the soul? What is the purpose of life? It answers these questions in a way that makes people think and feel inspired. The `Risale-i Nur` does not ask for blind faith. Instead, it uses reason and logic to show the truth of belief. This makes it helpful for people from all backgrounds.

In `Risale-i Nur`, he explains that if you see a painting, you know there must be a painter. A painting cannot exist without someone who made it. He says that nature is like a beautiful artwork, but it is not the Artist itself. There is a hidden hand behind everything that is created. For example, cows can turn grass into milk, which is important for humans. Trees can grow from tiny seeds and carry water up to very high leaves. These amazing abilities cannot come from the animals or trees themselves. They must come from their Creator. He uses these kinds of examples and logic to prove God's existence.

Nursi believed that everything in the universe is connected. He said, "The One who created the eye of the mosquito must be the One who created the Sun."

He taught that the Muslim world had three main enemies:

Ignorance (not knowing things)
Poverty (being poor)
Division (people being split apart)

To defeat these enemies, he said Muslims should use three weapons:

Education
Art
Unity

Besides the `Risale-i Nur`, Nursi's method also helped his movement grow. He called it 'spiritual jihad' or 'non-physical jihad,' and 'positive action.' Nursi saw materialism (focusing only on physical things) and atheism (not believing in God) as his real enemies. He fought them with logical proofs in the `Risale-i Nur`. He believed his books were the best way to protect society from these harmful ideas.

To do this 'spiritual jihad,' Nursi told his students to never use force or cause trouble. Through 'positive action' and keeping public order, he believed the damage caused by unbelief could be fixed by the healing truths of the Qur'an. Said Nursi spent more than 20 years of his life in prison and exile. He was treated badly by the government because he wanted to bring back religious values. He told his students to keep spreading the `Risale-i Nur` books and teaching people about them, even when they were in jail. Most of the `Risale-i Nur` collection was written while he was in exile or prison.

In 1911, someone asked him what he thought about Armenians becoming governors in Ottoman states. He replied that there was no harm in it, just as there was no harm in Armenians being engineers or watchmakers.

The leader of the new Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was concerned about Nursi's growing influence. Atatürk offered Nursi a job as 'Minister of Religious Affairs' to try and make sure Nursi would not oppose his government. But Nursi famously turned down the offer.

Said Nursi was sent away to the Isparta Province. One reason was that he performed the call to prayer in Arabic, which was against new rules. When his teachings became popular there, the governor sent him to a village called Barla. In Barla, he wrote two-thirds of his `Risale-i Nur`. These handwritten books were sent to another village, Sav. There, people copied them by hand in Arabic script. (The modern Turkish alphabet officially replaced Arabic script in 1928). Once finished, these books were sent to Nursi's followers all over Turkey through a special "Nurcu postal system." Nursi often said that the difficulties he faced from the government were actually blessings from God. He believed that by trying to stop formal religious groups, the government had accidentally made popular Islam the only true faith for Turks.

Said Nursi's Later Life

Growing Influence and Final Years

As Nursi's teachings became more popular, even among educated people and military officers, the government became worried. They arrested him, saying he broke laws about keeping the state separate from religion. He was sent into exile again. However, he was found innocent of all these charges in 1956.

In the last ten years of his life, Said Nursi lived in the city of Isparta. When Turkey started having more than one political party, he told his followers to vote for the Democratic Party. This party, led by Adnan Menderes, had brought back some religious freedom. Said Nursi was strongly against Communism, saying it was the biggest danger of his time. In 1956, he was finally allowed to have his writings printed. His books are gathered together under the name Risale-i Nur ("Letters of Divine Light").

He died in Urfa after a long journey. He was buried in a tomb near a cave where prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) is believed to have been born. After a military takeover in Turkey in 1960, a group of soldiers opened his grave. They reburied him in an unknown place near Isparta in July 1960. They did this to prevent people from visiting his grave and honoring him.