Question: Master! The prayers for rain have not been any use; they have yielded no result. Three times clouds gathered and then dispersed without producing rain. Why is this?
The Answer: Drought marks the time for prayers of this sort; they are not the cause or purpose of rain. Just as the prayers known as khusuf and kusuf are performed at lunar and solar eclipses, and the evening prayer is performed at sunset; so times of drought are when the supplications and prayers for rain are offered. The reason for prayer and supplication, and
their result, is divine pleasure; their benefits look to the hereafter. If worldly aims are intended in prayer and worship and they are performed for that purpose alone, such prayers are null and void. For example, the evening prayers are not performed so that the sun should not set and the khusuf prayers are not performed for the moon's reappearance. Similarly, if the prayers in question are offered for rain, it would be wrong. The sending of rain is Almighty God's business. We did our duty; we may not interfere in His concerns.
It is true that the coming of rain is the apparent result of the prayers for rain, but the actual, true and most beneficial result, and its finest and sweetest fruit is this, that from those circumstances everyone understands that it is not his father or his house or his shop that provides his livelihood and food, but a Being who has disposal over the clouds as though they were sponges and the face of the earth as though it were an arable field; it is He who gives him his sustenance and nurtures him. A small child even, while pleading with his mother when he is hungry, understands in his tiny mind from that prayer for rain that the One who administers this world as though it were a house feeds him together with all the other children and their mothers. If He does not provide it, no one else can. In which case, the child tells himself that they should beseech Him. He becomes a full believer. Six points will now be explained in connection with this:
First Point: The price for divine bounties and mercy is thanks. We have not offered thanks as we should have done. Not only have we not paid the price of divine mercy; we have attracted divine wrath with our sins and wrongdoing. At the present time, the human race has earned a dreadful blow with its wrongdoing, destruction, disbelief and rebellion, and it has received such blows. For sure we too will receive our share.
Second Point: It says in a Hadith: "Even the fishes at the bottom of the sea complain about sinners and the iniquitous; it is due to this that the rains cease and our livelihoods diminish even." Indeed, at the present time such sins and iniquities are perpetrated on the face of the earth that we are ashamed to seek divine mercy; innocent animals even are in torment.
Third Point: It says in a verse: «Beware the calamity which when it descends will not afflict only the wrongdoers; the innocent and oppressed will also be destroyed» (Q 8:25). For the wisdom in religion would be nullified if in the midst of a general calamity the innocent were to remain untouched by the conflagration. Religion is a test, an examination. Otherwise evil people like Abu Jahl would affirm it, the same as those like Abu Bakr the Veracious (May God be pleased with him). This is the reason innocents suffer in general disasters.
Fourth Point: Since at the present time due to trickery, exploitation, and bribery, numerous illicit matters have become admixed in possessions and sustenance, and farmers cannot really lay claim to their own produce, and out of ten people only two or three truly deserve divine mercy, and out of those who profit from the farmer's produce, five or six lose their right to divine mercy due to wrongdoing and mixing in illicit things, or neglecting to offer thanks.
Fifth Point: The Risale-i Nur is a significant means of warding off calamities from this land of Anatolia. Just as almsgiving repulses calamities, so it has become clear through numerous signs and indications that its spreading and being read repulses heavenly and worldly disasters as a sort of universal almsgiving. This is a truth indicated by the Qur'an, Four times earthquakes occurred when its being written out and spread were being prevented, and when it was published again, they ceased. Then when it was being read almost throughout Anatolia, as indicated by Sura Wa'l-'Asr (Q 103), it was a means of the Second World War not reaching Anatolia. Then during this two-month drought when we were awaiting the totally free spread of the Risale-i Nur in confirmation of the Appeal Court's decision for its acquittal since it was beneficial for the country, it was blocked entirely contrarily to our expectations and the treatises held by the court were not returned to their owners. As a consequence, this universal nonmaterial almsgiving which is a means of repulsing calamities was not realized and the drought began as a result of our sins.
Sixth Point: Drought is a calamity and the punishment for actions, and should be met with grief and sorrowful beseeching and supplication, and earnest repentance and prayers for forgiveness, and seeking refuge at the divine court within the bounds of the Sunna while shunning innovations, in the way specified by the Shari'a, and with the prayers and worship particular to the situation.
Also, since general calamities such as this result from the errors of the majority of people, they are repulsed by the majority of them repenting and seeking forgiveness.
We Risale-i Nur students do not attach much importance to this world and only look to the world for the sake of the Risale-i Nur, and therefore regard the present drought from this point of view, Thus, at the same time that a small part of the Risale-i Nur was returned to its owners in accordance with the decision given in Denizli Court, and here too a small number of people started writing out pieces from it, a small amount of rain fell. But because the freedom given the Risale-i Nur was partial, the divine
mercy also was minimal. God willing, in the near future, my copies will be returned too, and it will spread freely and fully and divine mercy will also be universal.
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
The Hizb al-Qur'an al-Mu'azzam possesses numerous characteristics like its both holding extraordinary importance and being extraordinarily beneficial; and no doubts occuring on its being read; and its comprising the Qur'an's most meritorious verses; and its bringing together all the principles and truths of the Risale-i Nur; and its being a sacred summary of the Qur'an for those who cannot always find the opportunity to read the whole Qur'an and who are not hafizes; and its being a small sample of the printed Qur'an showing the correspondences of words, and a bringer of good news; and its showing the brilliant inimitability of the Qur'an with regard to its words and meanings, and materially. During these blessed Three Months it is a means to many blessings, lights, and merits, and has earned much good for those who have been involved in its printing and publication.
For some reason or other, they have not included the following verses from Sura Al-i 'Imran, which are two brilliant, sacred supports of the Risale-i Nur, and springs of the water of life: «God testifies that there is no god but He, and the angels ...» (Q 3:18) and «Say, God is the Owner of all sovereignty ...» (Q 3:26). They should be included,
These days while reading page twelve, the verse "The dissemblers ..." (Q 4: 145) struck my eye. I looked at the preceding page, and saw: "Who is better in religion than he who submits to God" (Q 4:125). I looked at the back of the page and saw that there were four verses that pointed to the Risale-i Nur. They are explained in the First Ray. It occurred to my heart that this awesome verse looks particularly to this terrible, dark age of ours with its rife dissembling. I noted it carefully and felt certain. A sign is this: according to jafr and abjad reckoning, «Indeed the dissemblers will be in the very pits of the Fire ...» (Q 4: 145) coincides precisely with the dates of the four degrees of dissembling. As follows:
If the doublings are counted and if the hamzas which are not read and the ya' in the fi, which is not read, are not counted, it makes exactly one thousand three hundred and sixty-two, indicating this year.
If the doubling in «min an-nar» is counted as one nun and one lam, it makes one thousand three hundred and forty-two, coinciding exactly with the date of the First World War, which gave rise to terrible dissembling.
If the doubling is counted as two nuns, and the silent hamzas and the ya' are also counted, it makes one thousand three hundred and sixty-six, and coincides with a difference of four with the jafr value of the word "darknesses," which is the lowest level of this dark dissembling and is compared with "light (nur)" in many verses.
If the silent letters are counted and the doubling in an-nar is a lam, it makes one thousand three hundred and six exactly pointing the finger at and coinciding with the date of the terrible storms of disbelief and dissembling.
Yes, two ra's is four hundred; three fa's and two lams, three hundred; one qaf, two doubled nuns, three hundred; one mîm, one sîn; the other mîm, one ya', one nun, that's one hundred, too; two nuns, that's a hundred as well; and the total, one thousand three hundred. One lam, one kaf, fifty; a doubled dal, eight; and two long a's, two hamzas, four; and the total is one thousand three hundred and sixty-two. The other three numbers can be compared with this.
I also looked carefully at pages twelve and thirteen and I saw that they correspond so closely to the Risale-i Nur and its students that they have not only a symbolic and indicative meaning, but also look particularly to the present century quite explicitly, including it as a singular element in its universal meaning. I understood this with certainty and offered endless thanks. If the calamities that have befallen us up to now in this work with the Risale-i Nur had been a hundred times worse, it still would have been nothing; we are the winners. With the thought that by smashing our unimportant ephemeral glass fragments, those calamities are gaining for us everlasting diamonds in the hereafter, I knew that we should be pleased and offer thanks in patience.
Furthermore, I can give you the good news that their eighth attempt to poison me has again come to nothing. The guarantee of the Ghawth al-A'zam, "Indeed you are protected under the eye of divine grace" has once again been fulfilled.
I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers and pray for them
and seek their prayers in these blessed Three Months. From your brother who requests with all his spirit the innocent prayers of the many sinless children within the fold of the Risale-i Nur and of the blessed elderly, whose supplications are not rebuffed.
My Dear Brothers!
I wrote you two notes six hours before the Night of Regâib. For two months no rain had fallen and there had been continuous drought and everywhere the prayers for rain offered after all the prescribed prayers had remained unanswered, and everyone was weeping in their hearts in despair at their straitened circumstances. Then suddenly when the copy of Hizb-i Nuriye was handed over together with the paper, I am completely certain as a sort of miracle of the Prophet Muhammad (UWBP), on the Night of Regâib the angel of thunder uttered resounding, crashing glorifications the like of which I had never in my life heard before, nor had others heard it, and such mercy poured down that it proved the holiness of the night to the most obstinate person even, and the importance in the view of the whole universe and all the centuries of the Prophet's (UWBP) coming to this visible world (âlem-i şehadet) and that he was sent as a Mercy to All the Worlds. It showed that the cosmos applauded him that night.
I am curious to know whether Isparta, which was included in our prayers together with the country, had a share of these rains. Many signs indicate that the Risale-i Nur is a means to divine mercy, and this suggests that beneath the veil victories are being won and perhaps indicates its free publication. The increase here in the numbers of people writing out copies with eagerness aroused by The Flashes (Lem'alar) is also, God willing, a sort of acceptable prayer.
My Loyal, Unshakeable Brothers and Heirs!
There are three reasons for the oppression I now suffer:
The First: On the decision of the Cabinet, the order was received here to give me an allowance of two and a half liras a day for my living and other expenses and to build me a house according to my specifications. But I did not accept this and took only a sum for my travelling expenses from Denizli. They were angry with me and started to have me watched.
The Second Reason is ill-intentioned persons being unnecessarily worried that the people here will start to show an interest in me as they did in the Denizli region, in a way far exceeding my due, on account of the Risale-i Nur.
The Third are the malicious pretexts voiced by the governor of Afyon, intending to take revenge on me for the sake of that man who died. But divine determining transformed their tyranny into mercy for me, and advantages. Don't worry about me. One advantage is that they silence only me rather than the Risale-i Nur. But in my place it speaks wonderfully with hundreds of tongues, and its students with thousands; they teach these lights to those unilluminated heads. There are numerous signs that their obduracy has been broken by their starting to study other parts of the Risale-i Nur, on having been made curious by The Fruits of Belief, and especially by The Conclusive Proof of God Collection (Hüccetullahi'l-Bâliğa Mecmûası).
Just as their being busy with my person aids the Risale-i Nur's free spread to an extent, so their not allowing me to meet with my brothers is another advantage. In fact, it was truly advantageous that one of my brothers came all this way to see me, spending a hundred liras, and had to turn back without doing so. The groundless suspicions of malicious and mistrustful people would be aroused if the door were to be opened and visitors were to pour in from everywhere, and it would also be detrimental to our principles and way and the mystery of sincerity. My isolation is therefore an instance of divine grace for us.
The gains in these blessed months are a hundredfold. We have the greatest need for the prayers of our blessed brothers and sisters and the innocent children and respected elderly. God willing, you will shaken by no storms and your steely fortitude will not be undermined.
In His Name, be He glorified!
Peace be upon you and God's mercy and His blessings!
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
Question: Why don't you display any interest in currents both at home and abroad and especially in political groups? And why do you prevent as far as is possible the Risale-i Nur and its students from getting involved in them? Whereas if you did show concern and were in touch with them, thousands of people would enter the fold of the Risale-i Nur and would spread its shining truths, and also you wouldn't be the target of so many needless troubles.
The Answer: The chief reason for this lack of concern and avoidance is sincerity, which is the basis of our way; it prevents us. For at this time of heedlessness, the person with partisan ideals in particular exploits everything for his own worldly way, even his religion and otherworldly movement. Whereas the truths of belief and the sacred service of the Risale-i Nur can be exploited for nothing in the universe; they can have no aim other than divine pleasure. But it has become difficult at this time of partisan conflict between the political currents to preserve the true meaning of sincerity and not exploit religion for the world. The best solution is to rely on divine grace and assistance, rather than the strength of political currents.
One of the many other reasons for our avoidance of political involvement is one of the four principles of the Risale-i Nur: to be compassionate and not to act tyrannically or cause harm. For «No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another» (Q 6: 164 etc.), that is, no one, not even a relative, is guilty because of another's fault and does not deserve punishment. But in the face of this principle of divine will, at this time, in accordance with the meaning of «Man is indeed given up to injustice and ingratitude» (Q 14:34), some people retaliate with extreme ferocity. Because of one person's crime, out of feelings of partisanship others are hostile towards not only his relations but all those who support him. If they can, they ill-treat them. If they have the power, they bomb a village because of one man's mistake. However, the rights of one innocent person may not be sacrificed due to a hundred criminals; he may not be ill-treated because of them.
Present-day conditions cause a hundred innocents to be harmed on account of a handful of criminals.
For example, it is opposed to the principle of compassion to crush the hapless elderly parents and innocent children of a faulty man, and to ruin them and nurture partisan hatred for them. But partisan currents among Muslims are the cause of such innocents being wronged; they cannot be saved from oppression. Especially situations that give rise to revolution, they altogether spread and escalate the wrongdoing.
In jihad - even if it is in the name of religion - the position of [non- Muslim] women and children is the same. They may be considered as booty and Muslims may include them in their property. But within the realm of Islam, even if a person is irreligious, his family cannot be claimed as property; their rights may not be infringed. For owing to the ties of Islam, they are bound not to their irreligious father, but to Islam and the Islamic community. [Outside the realm of Islam] unbelievers' children are surely among those who will be saved, but according to the law those innocents may be made prisoner and taken into possession at the blow of jihad, since they are dependants of and bound to their fathers, so long as they are alive.
I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers and congratulate them on the Holy Night of the Ascension, which yields thousands of merits. Convey my condolences to the family of the late Haji İbrahim, like Re'fet Bey, and tell them that the deceased is within the fold of the Risale-i Nur, perpetually receiving the prayers of all. And we are offering prayers for him especially.
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
A short answer to one of our brother's question:
Question: How can the wonders (kerâmet) apparent in the coincidences (tevâfuk) be definitely established?
The Answer: If coincidings are apparent in something, it is a slight sign of intention and will and that it is not a chance happening. If such a coincidence
has several aspects to it, the sign strengthens considerably. And especially if within a hundred possibilities two things correspond fully in a way particular to them, the resulting sign becomes a clear indication that the coincidence has occurred through intention and will and for a purpose, allowing no possibility of chance.
It was just like that on the Holy Night of the Ascension: the coinciding of the divine mercy of rain with the Nights of Regâib and the Ascension and only on those two nights and neither before nor after, and its coinciding with a time of extreme need, and occurring at the same time as the reading, writing out, and publication of the treatise about the Ascension (Miraciye Risalesi), and those two holy nights corresponding with each other in several respects, and the rain's falling although it was unseasonal with extraordinary rolling and rumbling thunder and indescribable reverberations of the earth in a way that both threatened and consoled their cries, and its coinciding perfectly with the believers' search for solace in their despair and their seeking moral strength in the face of their weakness and the whispering doubts caused by the assaults of misguidance, and as a rebuke to those who behave disrespectfully towards the marks of Islam and those two nights. The universe and heavens and atmosphere showed their respect with that abundant rain so that anyone with even a grain of fairness would know that there were an intention and will in the matter, and a particular instance of grace and mercy for the believers, leaving no possibility for chance or coincidence.
That is to say, the reality of the Ascension is a miracle of Muhammad (UWBP) and his greatest instance of wonder-working, and just as his rising to the skies on the staircase of the Ascension demonstrated His (UWBP) eminence and stature to the dwellers of the heavens, so the Ascension this year displayed a wonder and marvel and demonstrated to the earth and to the people of this country the esteem and respect in which he (UWBP) is held by the universe.
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
According to The Hidden Indications of the Ghawth al-A'zam and Imam 'Ali (İşârât-ı Gaybiye-i Gavsiye ve Aleviye), that the writing of the Risale-i Nur will be completed in '64. This means that after that date only explanations, appendices, and glosses will be written. In this connection, and by way of a reminder, two points occurred to my heart.
The First: The Risale-i Nur will have students conformably with contemporary conditions and the nature of things, and foremost innocent children. For if a child is not taught the questions of belief thoroughly when small, in later years he can only assimilate the pillars of Islam and belief in his spirit with the greatest difficulty. Quite simply, it is as difficult as a non-Muslim accepting Islam, for its seems alien. It is even stranger for him if he observes that his parents are not religious and his mind is educated only with the secular sciences. The child is then contemptuous of his parents in this world and is a sort of tribulation for them, longing for them to die. And in the next world, he will be a plaintiff against them, rather than an intercessor, saying: "Why didn't you give me Islamic training and save my belief?"
In consequence, the most fortunate children are those who enter the fold of the Risale-i Nur, and serving and honouring their parents with good works, have merits written in their parents' records of good deeds and become intercessors for them according to their degree.
The Second Group of Risale-i Nur Students are women, who by nature need the Risale-i Nur since they may have shied away from the world or felt vexed with it. Especially if they are getting old, the Risale-i Nur may offer them true spiritual sustenance. For one of its four principles is compassion, which proceeds from the manifestation of the divine name of Most Compassionate (Rahîm), and compassion is the most essential quality of women and the leaven of their natural duties.
The Third Group are the sick and the elderly, for even if not an innate need but due to their situations, they need the Risale-i Nur as they do medicine and sustenance. For it makes known eternal life as clearly as the sun as well as the transitory nature of worldly life, and those of them whose worldly lives have been stricken by illness or old age imagine out of their heedlessness or misguidance that death is the end. They are thus truly in
need of the Risale-i Nur and receive such consolation and light from it that it makes them prefer illness and old age to health and youth.
The Second Point that was advised: Since we are now in 1364 according to the Arabic [Hijri] calendar, according that sign from the Unseen, the Risale-i Nur is now complete. If it refers to the Rumi calendar, we have two more years. Important places remain in the Risale-i Nur to be filled by treatises that have not yet been written or have been postponed. For instance, the places of the Thirtieth Letter, the Thirty-Second Letter, and the Thirty-Second Flash are all empty. It was inspired in my heart that the Arabic Qur'anic commentary, Signs of Miraculousness (Isharat al-I'jaz), which has been printed and was the Old Said's chief work and the first part of the Risale-i Nur, should be the Thirtieth Letter, and so it is. It occurred to me that Lemeât, which was the Old Said's last work and was written in twenty days during Ramadan, should be the Thirty-Second Flash; and that the sizeable Arabic collection comprising Katre, Habbe, Şemme, Zerre, Hubab, Zühre, Şu'le and their appendices, which were the first works of the New Said and were inspired in his heart from reality (hakikat) at the degree of witnessing (şuhûd), should be the Thirty-Third Flash.
It also occurred to me that The Fruits of Belief should be the Eleventh Ray, and the Denizli defence speeches, the Twelfth Ray, and the collection of short letters, the Thirteenth Ray. I refer these to my brothers for their consideration. This means that for some positions the door is still open and we may be made to write better supplements.
I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers. I see myself and my brothers in Kastamonu and its environs as being always together, as we used to be. They should not worry; the Risale-i Nur never ceases from activity, and hidden from sight, it wins many victories. Our difficulties attract greater attention to its lessons and it has itself read in wider circles, Therefore our two brothers, father and son, who are so hard-working, especially the father, should feel proud at all the hardships they suffer and should not be upset at the temporary arrest from activity. In my view and our view, they retain their former positions in every respect.
We said above that children are the natural students of the Risale-i Nur. An example of this is Ceylan, who is writing this letter in the new alphabet as I dictate because I am unable to write it myself since I am unwell. Another is the innocent Küçük Ali, who wrote him a letter; and another is the young Nur School (Medrese-i Nuriye) student Küçük Mehmed, who this time wrote me an excellent and careful letter. I call them blessed, fortunate children and congratulate their parents.
In His Name, be He glorified!
Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings!
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
During this summer time, when one is heedless and preoccupied with earning one's living, and during these Three Months, the time of highly meritorious worship, and at this time when the storms raging over the earth are conducted by diplomacy not weapons, if one does not persevere in one's sacred duties with the Risale-i Nur with truly powerful tenacity, a slackness, an idleness, a cessation sets in to the detriment of that service.
My dear brothers! You should be certain that the duty with which the Risale-i Nur and its students are occupied is greater than all matters of serious concern on earth. Do not, therefore, look to worldly, curiosity-arousing matters and slacken in your duty. Frequently read the Fourth Topic of The Fruits of Belief so that your morale is not weakened.
Yes, since all the supreme matters of the worldly are cruel, pitiless, and sacrifice religion for this world in consequence of the tyrannous principle of struggle, divine determining bestows a sort of hell on them within those crimes of theirs. The Risale-i Nur proves as certainly as twice two equals four that death, which is the veil concealing eternal life, for which its students are working in place of transient life, and the executioner of the appointed hour, which is truly terrible for the worshippers of this worldly life, are merely veils and means to the believers' everlasting happiness. It is this truth that we have been demonstrating up to now.
In Short: The people of misguidance strive for this fleeting life, while we struggle with the light of the Qur'an against death. Even their most momentous questions are transient and cannot be compared with the very least of our matters, because ours look to eternity. Since in their madness, they do not condescend to interfere in our greatest questions, why should we evince curiosity about their inconsequential matters and follow them to the detriment of our duties?
The verse, «If you follow [right] guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who stray» (Q 5: 105), means that the misguidance of others cannot harm your right-guidedness; so you should not concern themselves with their misguidance unnecessarily. And the important Islamic principle, "Those who comply with harm should not be assisted," means that anyone who looks favourably on harmful things should not be supported; they
should not be pitied or shown leniency. These rules forbid us to pity those who knowingly condone and are happy at things that cause harm. We, therefore, should concentrate all our strength and curiosity and time on our sacred duty, and know that everything outside of it is trivial and not waste our time on such things. For we hold light in our hands, not clubs. We cannot attack others, and if we are attacked, we show light. Our duty is a sort of luminous defence.
One of the reasons this supplement was written was this:
I put one of the Risale-i Nur students to the test; I asked him a couple of things about the Bosphorus question to learn what the excitement was and to find out what he thought about the political situation. I saw from his answer that he was interested and well-informed. I said to myself: "What a shame! This will be harmful for the work of the Risale-i Nur." Later, I gave him a severe warning.
We have a principle: "I seek refuge with God from the Devil and from politics!" If you feel pity for people, the principle cited above shows that they are not deserving of it. Just as Paradise seeks people, so does Hell seek them.
(The matters mentioned in the Fifth Ray are again becoming apparent.)