Ustad Bediuzzaman Said Nursi was born in 1877 (AH 1293) in the city of Bitlis, Hizan Township, Nurs village. After staying with his family until the age of 9, he started his education under the care of his elder brother Molla (Scholar) Abdullah.
His short education in various madaaris in Eastern Anatolia with esteemed scholars drew attention due to his brilliant memory, acute mind, and brave attitude. In only 3 months, he managed to study and finish all the books which normally took an ordinary student of that period many years to complete.He was acknowledged in all the scholarly discussions he participated in, thanks to his higher abilities in questioning, reasoning and wisdom. He became prominent in every examination of the scholars. Due to his powerful memory and acute mind, his teacher Scholar Fathullah gave him the title of “Bediuzzaman” (The Unique of the Time). This title was approved by all the scholars of the time in the Eastern Anatolia.
After spending his youth busy with Islamic studies and asceticism (zuhud), Bediuzzaman Said Nursi visited various cities which were the centres of Islamic education, such as the city of Bitlis, Shirwan, Siirt, Tillo, Mardin and met with distinguished scholars. In those years, he memorized ninety volumes of Islamic texts regarding elementary sciences such as morphology(‘ilmu sarf), syntax (‘ilmu nahw) and the art of logic (‘ilm al-mantiq) together with Tafsir (commentary of the Qur’an) and ilm-al kalaam. By spending three hours a day , in three months he was able to finish the repetition of what he had memorized.
Upon the invitation of Hasan Pasha, he went to the city of Van. During this period, he negotiated with the governor and then with the statesmen; he came to the conclusion of Islam’s
being in need of today’s positive sciences in terms of preaching it to this generation and the youth of this century. Thereupon, he studied positive sciences such as mathematics, geology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, history, geography,and philosophy within the shortest time on his own.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi stayed in Van for 15 years, teaching in the madrassah of “Horhor” on the outskirts of the Castle of Van and also delivered sermons to the tribes and invited them to practice Islam. Whilst staying as a guest in the mansion of the Governor of Van, Tahir Pasha, he read in the newspaper some news that made a turning point of his life.
The British Minister of Colonies Sir William Ewart Gladstone is quoted as saying to the House of Commons as he brandished a copy of the Qur’an: “So long as there is this book (Qur’an) existing in the hands of Muslims, there will be no peace in the world. We will never be able to dominate them. We should find a way to take this Quran from their hands and do as much as possible to remove the Quran from being central to the life of Muslims and alienate them to it.”
This declaration of Gladstone made a huge impact upon the Imam of the century, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. He vowed: “I will demonstrate and prove to the world that the Qur’an is such an undying and inextinguishable sun!” And he devoted all his life to this mission.
In those times when the inner and outer enemies were trying to destroy the Great Islamic Ottoman Empire, their main aim was to abolish Islam. The solution Imam Al-Nursi set forth was to give such a powerful education covering the needs of the time, uplifting Muslims in science and thought, unite both hearts and minds that would turn the plans of the enemies upside down.
Bediuzzaman says: “The light of conscience is religious sciences. The light of wisdom is positive sciences. When these two are combined together, truth arises thereupon.. Effort of a student grows through these two. If there is a separation between religious and positive sciences, bigotry arises from the first and disbelief from the second.”[3] From this point of view, he declared it to be urgent to build a university in Eastern Anatolia which would combine positive and religious sciences and which he described as “a sister Islamic university to the Jamiu’l Azhar” and named as “Madrasatu’z-Zahra”. He went to Istanbul with the aim of realizing this idea of “The Islamic University”.
The newspapers of that day reported his arrival to Istanbul as follows:
“The scarcely created exceptionally genius, Said Nursi has been seen on the horizons of Istanbul like the sun rising up behind the peak of the rugged, steep, steel-like mountains of the East”[4]
Bediuzzaman hung the sign over the door of the hotel he stayed in the Fatih district in Istanbul “All difficulties are solved, all questions are answered, but none is asked.” He answered the questions of those who heard of his fame and visited him with interest. By doing so, his aim was to provide support for the future Madrasatu’z-Zahra which he was planning to establish in Van or Diyarbakir by attracting the attention of the centre of the Caliphate to the people of Eastern Anatolia.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi knew that well-qualified education campaign was the only way out from the turbulence that the Great Ottoman State was being dragged into step by step. This project was the goal of his life; it would enable this noble people’s descendants, who carried the banner
of Islam over the centuries, to continually protect their own values.
He did not accept the salary that the Sultan offered him through the Minister of Interior Affairs. For he did not want himself to be protected nor backed up but he just desired his cause, the university, to be backed up and protected. Unfortunately, the people were not able to comprehend his mission. At the very beginning of the 20th century, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who was not able to find the support he had expected in the capital city, preferred to stay in Istanbul, “the capital of the Khilafat’ul-Islamiyyah” (The Islamic Caliphate) in order to serve Islam through politics rather than returning back to his hometown. (He changes his approach later. Instead politics, he gets the education of ummah as the prime goal.)
He wrote in the newspapers, met with the statesmen and warned them. In so many meetings and congresses, he played a conciliatory role. With his colleagues he joined the Ittihad al-Muhammadia Association after the declaration of Constitutionalism. This community expanded in such a short time and 50.000 people joined the community upon reading one of Said Nursi’s articles in the cities of Izmit and Adapazari.
Diwan Al-Harb Al- ’Orfi (The Military Tribunal Court)
When the well-known March 31st Incident occurred, although he acted in a conciliatory way and peaceful manner on the eve of the incident, he was arrested and tried in Diwan al-Harb al ‘Orfi (which was a court where criminals of war or political criminals are tried) due to the assumption that he was among the insurgents. He made a brave and stern speech after his being proved innocent:
“They asked me in the court: “You also wanted Shari’ah (Islamic law)?”
I said: “If I had 1000 souls, I would sacrifice them for the sake of even only one principle of Shari’ah. For Shari’ah is a “means of prosperity” and “pure justice” and “virtue”. But I never want it in the way that revolutionists did.”
They also asked: “Are you included in the Ittihad al-Muhammadia
Association (The Unity of Muhammad Association)?”
I said: “Proudly! I am one of the youngest individuals of it, but, in accordance with my description, not in accordance with the described revolutionists. And who does not participate in this association
other than infidels? Show me! [5]
Afterwards, he departed Istanbul. He went to Bitlis via Batum; and to Van. He visited the tribes, and raised consciousness among them through lectures on civilized society, social relations, and religious studies. These brilliant lectures were then published as a book entitled “The Debates.”
(Al-Munazarat)
After a while, he left Van for Damascus. Upon the insistence
of the scholars, he gave a splendid Khutba (Friday sermon) in the Umayyad Mosque (Jamiu’l Umawi) to a congregation of around 10,000 men amongst whom were around 100 scholars. His sermon was greatly welcomed and received great admiration. Later on, it was published with the title “Al-Khutba al-Shaamiyya, (The Damascus Sermon).” He then went back to Istanbul via Beirut.
He accompanied Sultan Reshad during the trip of Rumelia as the representative of the Eastern Provinces. In this way, he shared his aim to establish a university in the East and received approval. The ground-level construction began in Edremit at the edge of Lake Van, but this great attempt could not continue as World War I began. Although the university project was not to be finished, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi would thank Allah (SWT) that his sincere du’as (prayers) in terms of this university were granted via the establishment of hundreds of Nur Madaaris throughout the world.
Years of War
Bediuzzaman participated in the First World War as a Commander of a Volunteer Militia Force formed of his students. He fought against the Russians and Armenians on the Eastern front to defend the local villages from the atrocity of the occupiers. He composed his commentary on the Qur’an, “The Signs of Miraculousness” (Isharaatu’l I’jaaz), in the trenches, on horseback, in the mountains and streams of Pasinler, under the hail of bullets, among the martyrs and the soldiers soon to be martyred. In brief, he managed to compose it in very hard conditions which appeared to be outwardly impossible, but thanks to the Benevolence of Allah, he succeeded.
When the Russians took over Bitlis, he was wounded and got sent to Siberia as a prisoner of war. In Siberia, along the Volga River in Kostroma, he spent two and a half years in prison. During his life in captivity, he endeavoured to educate and enlighten the prisoners around him. Finally, he escaped and came back to Istanbul via the route Petersburg, Warsaw, and Vienna on June 25th 1918. Many people from the public as well as army and government officials visited him when he arrived back at Istanbul.
Following his return, without his prior knowledge, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi was appointed by the Shaikhu’l Islam (Chief Religious Official) Mustafa Sabri Efendi as a member to the “Daru’l-Hikmatu’l Islamiyyah”, “The Institution of Islamic Wisdom”. This high commission functioned as “The Highest Commission of Advisors and Fatawa” in the Great Ottoman State. It was the “Academy of Sciences” where scholars like the famous scholar and poet Mehmed Akif, Izmirli Ismail Hakki Efendi, Elmalili Hamdi gathered. At the end of the First World War, the allies of the Great Ottoman State were defeated; as a result the Ottomans were overcome. Soon after the Ottoman lands started to be invaded one by one by the Greek, French, Italian and British, the Independence War activities in Anatolia were accelerated. In the years when Istanbul was invaded by the British troops, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi performed effective activities against the British occupation and gave support to the militia forces in Anatolia.
By virtue of Nursi’s remarkable activities in Istanbul, the Cabinet in Ankara invited him. He went to Ankara and was welcomed with great enthusiasm and interest. An official ceremony was held in the Parliament for him. However, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi did not find what he expected in Ankara; most of the assembly members were ignorant of Islam and were not even performing prescribed daily prayers. He issued a 10-article declaration to explain the importance of the fardh (compulsory) prayers, upon which the number of people performing
prayer increased. The leaders in the Cabinet did not approve of the invitation to Salah and upon this speech they failed to reach an agreement with him.
The Independence War was won. The occupation forces were being deported, even so Bediuzzaman Said Nursi could see that the European style of thinking and living was spreading day by day whereas the attachment to Islam and faith was weakening. This situation was tearing his heart out.
Since he did not approve of the situation in Ankara, he decided to go back to Van, refusing many worldly offers to keep him in line with Ankara. Attractive offers with high salaries such as Deputyship, Consultation Membership in the Department of Religious Affairs, The Office of General Preaching were offered to him, but he never accepted them as they were only to keep him under the control of the new government. He was firm in his decision to go back to Van. In the city of Van, on Erek Mountain, he started to live in seclusion. It was a period of self-accounting. The effects of being on the eve of old-age on his soul combined with his political endeavours’ not giving fruitful consequences were pulling him into a secluded life, something he had intended to do whilst in captivity. It was as if he felt a spiritual revolution would soon take place and waiting for destiny to deliver to him his duty.No sooner than this, the Sheikh Said incident broke out. The Sheikh Said incident was a revolt against the then anti-Islamic government. The incident was quelled after bloodshed. Upon the offer of the revolter Sheikh Said to Bediuzzaman to join him, Ustad Bediuzzaman
Said Nursi said: “No sword may be drawn to the Turkish Muslim brothers, the descendants of those nobles who carried the banner of the Qur’an for ages.” Despite having no connection to or approval of this revolt, he was exiled to Istanbul, then to Burdur and Isparta. He was finally exiled to Barla, a small village of Isparta by the Lake Egirdir in 1925, upon the suspicions of politicians to keep him under surveillance and restrain him from negotiating with anyone.