As is written at the beginning of A Guide for Youth, fifteen years ago a few youths visited me so that they might learn how to preserve their lives in this world and the next. So, for God's sake, I gave them instruction in the lesson from the Guide.
The importance of A Guide for Youth and there being no legal impediments to its free publication are proven by the following facts: with the exception of one or footnotes, its being acquitted by both the Isparta authorities, and Denizli Court, and Ankara Criminal Court, and the Appeal Court after having remained with it for two years, and the entire Risale-i Nur Collection, including the Guide, being returned to its owners; and as is written at the beginning of the Guide, with one copy of it coming into the hands of the Ankara police chief, although objections were raised about a single word, the truth of the matter being understood when the sentence at the end was read so no ruling was given preventing its free dissemination; and no harm being suffered anywhere nor objections raised although thousands of copies have been published; and in the town of Tarsus in Mersin Province, even, although several books from the Risale-i Nur were confiscated including A Guide for Youth and sent to Ankara for scrutiny, an official document being given on the orders of the governor's office saying the books were free; and when they were printed in Istanbul and in accordance with the law sent to five or six government departments where they remained for five or six months, no objections being raised to them.
Then more than a thousand youths in the schools in Ankara and other provinces profited from it in respect of country, nation, and morality, and no one at all suffered any harm. Yet suddenly, they misinterpreted one or two words that in no way could be deemed reprehensible, for instance, they laid charges concerning the title A Guide for Youth.
On the other hand, the work's author did not print it; some youths had it printed when he was lying sick in bed. They nevertheless said it was written to secure personal influence and declared this an offence, and wanted to send him, not those who printed the work, to the criminal court and have him brought there by force, although it was written fifteen years ago and was covered by the general amnesty and had been acquitted. This being the case, they harass its author completely illegally and as a consequence of some grudge or animosity.
So I say that very possibly the reason they so insistently summon me to court when I am ill and it is beyond my power, in a way that is illegal in ten respects, is to serve anarchy and irreligion because the Guide affords huge benefits for the country, nation, and public security.
To now bring me by force to Istanbul to the court, maliciously on account of illegality in the name of the law, although most certainly medically and scientifically my extreme old age, weakness, and severe illness from poison should excuse me, and on four occasions I have obtained reports to that effect which I have sent them, to still persistently compel and coerce me, afflicts my spirit grievously. It is beyond my power now to speak in the presence of the court and the authorities. If I do speak, I shall be obliged to throw it in the faces of those who strive to harm the country, nation, and public order, and illegally send me to trial. I can no longer endure such tyranny. This is another sort of illness. It is also possible that this non-physical illness may cause harm to the country.
My request now from the Public Health Committee: Those who know me and are closely connected with me and serve me know that my covert enemies have poisoned me on numerous occasions. I am unable to eat and cannot speak with my assistant even for more than five minutes. I have a persistent and severe cold in my head, and my eyes ache from it and water. I suffer from chronic lumbago and am ill from its acute pain. I am also extremely weak since I have remained in exile for twenty-eight years and do not accept the assistance of others and have lived in penury and deprivation. Unless there is no pressing need, I cannot speak for five minutes even; I get tired.
Previously I endured the trials and court cases for the sake of the Risale-i Nur and the Nur students, and did not divulge the truth entirely. I endured their oppression to an extent and did not throw their injustices in their faces. I practised patience so that no harm should come to the innocent and to public order, and I put up with all their various torments and persecution. But now the world of Islam has adopted the Risale-i Nur. And the Nur students no longer need my tolerance and my not attacking my enemies
and my remaining silent in the face of their oppression. So now when I am severely provoked, involuntarily and outside my will I am going to speak the truth frankly and openly to those who strive to punish me, utilizing the harms my covert enemies have caused me. (Silence ... this is not going to be disclosed for now.)
Since the fact of the matter is this, and since the Public Health Committee has knowledge of both my physical, spiritual, and nervous indispositions, and my coronary illness and sicknesses in my head, and my lumbago and pain, and my inability to speak in court, and since my official representatives are there, and those who printed the work are there, I request that a report be given describing medically my dangerous illnesses so that my evidence may be given in absentia.
My Esteemed, Blessed, Kind Master!
I am sending this letter with my brother Karakoçanlı Haji Sabri, who has connections with the Risale-i Nur and was one of my companions during the Hajj.
Firstly: I kiss your blessed hands and request that you include this powerless, faulty brother and student of yours in your acceptable prayers.
Secondly: I request that you also include your brother Haji Sabri and the rest of the new devotees in your prayers.
Thirdly: Praise be to God, I am apprised of the situation since my brother Husrev continues to send the letters of both your esteemed self and his other brothers, as you have ordered.
Fourthly: I have given the works sent by both my brother Husrev and Ceylan to the brothers, and I have sent them the money. I asked Urfa for a few more. Haji Sabri bought one set of them.
Fifthly: We beseech divine grace that the good news relayed by the President of the Republic's speech will be realized.
Sixthly: All praise be to God, we continue to be employed in the dissemination of the Risale-i Nur and in its conquests, in so far as our Compassionate and Munificent Lord permits.
Every evening, instruction from the Risale-i Nur continues for the people from the enlightened Nur community who come to our house.
During my trip to Malatya I explained the method of service to the people
there who are attached to the Risale-i Nur, When the adherents of Büyük Doğu proposed that I join them, I asked them whether or not their association was political. When they replied in the affirmative, I said the following: "With the help of the Risale-i Nur, I can only try to solve any problems you may have concerning questions of belief and the Qur'an, or to elucidate them. I am employed within the domain of the Risale-i Nur outside my own will and consciousness. That is my way. We are in agreement concerning the matters of belief and the Qur'an, but I cannot become involved in politics." There are some members of their group who take an interest in the Risale-i Nur. So I requested that we should work together, and that they should read the works, ask about the places they do not understand, and try to learn the Qur'anic script. With my poor writings, I encourage the people in Malatya, Urfa, and Antep to get hold of the works and increase their concern with it. My present work with the Risale-i Nur is thus.
Endless praise and thanks be to Almighty God that despite my countless faults, He deemed me worthy to be employed in this service of the Qur'an and belief. For sure, through the blessings proceeding from the prayers of our blessed, compassionate Master, I continue to be an impotent member of the Nur community, and in consequence will be one of those who gather under the banner of the Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace).
Again and again I respectfully kiss your blessed hands and offer my greetings, prayers, and respects to my brothers. I send my respects too to all the friends in your vicinity, who are near physically and spiritually. I constantly beseech our Lord, the Most Merciful of the Merciful, that He should be perpetually pleased with our esteemed, revered, and kind Master, and that all his wishes be achieved.
My Most Beloved, Compassionate Master!
Firstly: I congratulate you with my life and spirit on both the blessed Ten Nights and the holy festival, and respectfully kissing your hands, implore that you forgive my faults.
Secondly: I offer endless thanks to the Most Merciful of the Merciful that He has bestowed on this sinful, common, powerless, faulty, unworthy, wretched, and lazy student of yours the sacred truths of belief and the Qur'an found in the Risale-i Nur, and the material and spiritual training of our beloved Master, All praise be to God, this is from the grace of my Lord!
My beloved Master! However much I offer thanks to my Compassionate Lord for continually making us aware of the effects of your spiritual training, it is insufficient. I would like to say the following, to make known the bounty: I do not complain about my illness for it was the cause of learning in fact and in practice the truths of the Risale-i Nur, which is the light of my eye, the joy of my spirit, and sustenance of my heart,
Such pieces as the Treatise for the Elderly, every Hope of which sprinkled thousands of lights of divine unity and gleams of solace on my spirit and heart, for the terrible physical and spiritual sicknesses I am suffering in this fortieth year of my life; and the Treatise for the Sick, every Remedy of which contains infinite cures; and the Twentieth Letter, which with its eleven sacred Words, discloses in wondrous and unparalleled fashion the sacred secrets of divine unity and from each sentence of which the lights of divine unity pour forth; and the Twenty-Fourth Letter, which solves the most difficult, profound, and abstruse mysteries of the truths of belief, which left all the philosophers and even the sages of Islam in bewilderment; and the Seventeenth Word, which is a sacred panacea for all the wounds of the heart - these treatises came to my aid and began to cure my ills. They also made me feel certain that I had been made ill by divine mercy so that both I myself and those who came to visit me because I was sick, could receive those lessons from the Risale-i Nur and the above treatises. It was as though our beloved, compassionate Master had written the Treatise for the Elderly for the youth and the Treatise for the Sick for the healthy.
Thirdly: I send greetings to every one of our worthy friends who are
there and are in the service of our beloved Master, and I congratulate them on the festival. I kiss our beloved Master's hands, and the eyes of our brothers.
In His Name, be He glorified!
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
Someone wrote me a long letter in the new letters, but did not say who he was. He was doubtful about three points and had given them a wrong meaning, which inferred criticism, so was as though alerting us to them. Since according to our way we do not engage in dispute and argument, and since we are grateful to those who correctly point out our faults, I wanted to explain the truth concerning those three points and correct his error.
First Principle: On the wishes of some of the students, a number of Qur'anic verses which are the Risale-i Nur's master and source and for a long time past have been an invocation of Said were written out and put together in the form of a hizb. It was later printed, and neither the scholars of the experts' committees appointed by four or five courts, nor the committees of the Directorate of Religious Affairs and of the Istanbul fatwa office which scrutinize religious publications, nor any religious scholar have objected to it. They rather approved of it and applauded it. For foremost the Prophet's (UWBP) Companions and Usama, who is mentioned in Majmû'ât al-Ahzâb, had collections of Qur'anic verses (hizb) of which they read a portion every day. In the same book and in the same volume of Majmû'ât al-Ahzâb is a hizb of Imam al-Ghazali, and as is well-known, numerous saints (ehl-i velâyet) collated their own hizbs of suras and verses, suitable to their ways and outlooks.
Some of the Nur champions like the late Hâfız Ali, who died as a martyr ten years ago, wanted to collect together my personal invocations and the main verses that were the Risale-i Nur's masters and sources. I subsequently sent them to them and they had them printed. For not everyone can always find the time to read the whole Qur'an, but if they can get hold of such a Qur'anic collection (hizb), they can profit from it at any time. With this idea, verses and suras were included in it that yield the greatest merits. In fact, one of the Qur'an's miracles is that all the people of reality and of perfection who have their own ways, can find in the Qur'an a Qur'an and a collection of verses and a master which is apposite for their ways. It is as though there are thousands of Qur'ans in the single Qur'an.
The inner meaning of the above miracle is this: the All-Wise Qur'an's verses and phrases have relationships not only with those contiguous with them but with numerous other verses, phrases, and words. This profound matter has been demonstrated to an extent in the commentary Ishârât al-I'jâz (Signs of Miraculousness), which is part of the Risale-i Nur. That is to say, the Qur'an does not resemble other speech; every one of its verses has a face and an eye that looks to thousands of other verses.
This characteristic of the Qur'an is the basis of numerous truths. Some of the followers of the Sufi paths and the people of reality have had their own particular hizbs from within the universal Qur'an. The Qur'anic hizb of the Risale-i Nur is one such collection. The late Hâfız Ali, who was one of the saints, wanted to print it without delay so as to disseminate it. For there was a sort of miracle of the Qur'an in the coincidences (tevâfuk) disclosed by the Risale-i Nur in a handwritten Qur'an, so they printed this hizb preliminary to printing that Qur'an, giving the good news of it. Yes, for the past fifteen years we have been trying to print our Qur'an, which was written by Husrev and is quite wondrous and miraculous with respect to the coincidences. But since most of the Nurjus are not wealthy and twenty-five thousand liras were needed to print it photographically, our Qur'anic hizb was printed first as a precursor, bearing the glad tidings of our miraculous Qur'an. The Directorate of Religious Affairs examined it and very much approved of it. And the scholars who scrutinize written Qur'ans in the fatwa office in Istanbul considered it to be very fine, and studying it with due attention returned it to us with the necessary corrections. God willing, it will soon be printed and will be published throughout the world of Islam as the gift of the Risale-i Nur.
The Second Matter about which that anonymous person entertained doubts:
A hundred times I have rejected the praiseworthy attributes which, far
exceeding my due and owing to their inordinately good opinions of me, many Nurjus imagine in me, and I have offended them. But because for twenty-eight years the politicians have considered the Risale-i Nur's way, which pertains only to belief and the hereafter, to be incompatible with their ideas of civilizing the population, and because they have attempted to prevent the Risale-i Nur's spread for twenty-eight years by intimidating the Nurjus with imprisonment, court cases, surveillance, and baseless accusations, and maligning my person, I have fallen into unprecedented circumstances. Semi-literate and the object of false allegations, I reject the acclaim of my person and so as not to lose the Nur students completely, tell them that it may be due to the Risale-i Nur. It is a commentary on one true aspect of the All-Wise Qur'an. And just as renewers have appeared every century who have served religion and belief to the full, so at this strange time of aggressive secret societies and the collective personalities of misguidance, a renewer is needed in the form of a collective personality. The present does not resemble former times. However wondrous an individual person is, he may be defeated in the face of a collective personality. Since there is a strong possibility that the Risale-i Nur is a sort of renewer in this respect, those attributes could not be mine; rather, as I have written repeatedly, my life may be a sort of seed of the Risale-i Nur. Through the Qur'an's emanations and divine grace, out of that seed the Risale-i Nur became a fruit-bearing, valuable tree through divine creation. I was a seed; I rotted and departed. All the value belongs to the Risale-i Nur, which is the All-Wise Qur'an's meaning and is a genuine commentary on it.
The Third Doubt of that person who neglected to make himself known:
As published by Büyük Cihad and Sebilürreşad, I stated that I have not exploited the services we have performed for religion and belief and the Risale-i Nur for world politics, or even for elevated spiritual ranks and attainments, or making it a means of winning eternal happiness and being saved from Hell, which everyone deems licit. I was compelled at this time to make it a tool of nothing save the seeking of divine pleasure and complying with the divine command, so that we might preserve the essence of true sincerity, which is the Risale-i Nur's true strength. As Abu Bakr, the supremely veracious one (May God be pleased with him), said: "I beseech
Almighty God that my body so expands in Hell that no room will remain for the believers and that it suffers torments in their place!" So that I myself might attain an atom's worth of his holy self-sacrifice, I said that I would agree to Hell to save, through belief, a handful of people from its fire. In any event, worship may not be performed to enter heaven or be saved from Hell; to do so invalidates it. It may only be performed as compliance with the divine command and to seek divine pleasure.
To return to discussion of our collection of Qur'anic verses:
Usama (May God be pleased with him), one of the Most Noble Prophet's (Upon whom be blessings and peace) leading commanders, compiled a collection of verses from various of the Qur'an's suras, and one day recited those about praise of God (hamd), one day those about seeking forgiveness, one day those about glorification of God, one day those about reliance on God, one day those about greetings of peace, one day those about the affirmation of divine unity, one day those about the phrase: "There is no god but God," and one day about the word Lord and Sustainer (Rabb). He made this an invocation for himself. That is to say, the Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave his sanction to such collections (hizb).
Furthermore, since this hizb of ours has been collated of verses about the truths of belief and particularly of verses from the beginnings of suras, "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate" is written at its head. The collection fires enthusiasm to read the whole Qur'an; it does not diminish it. Also, since some of the desired verses about belief that could be recited only in twenty days, may be read in this collection in one or two days, I took some of those verses as an invocation for myself together with other verses from the beginnings of some of the suras, and they only subsequently assumed the form of a hizb.
That anonymous person imagined to be egotism my defending the dignity of learning against some arrogant little egotists. He fancied that my being unable to completely destroy the Nur students' good opinion of me to be self-conceit. And because, with the idea of securing the confidence of the students in my expositions of the truths of belief, I felt compelled to disclose the nearly one thousand signs and indications of the saints and of a number of verses, he supposed my explaining a part of these to my closest brother to be a form of self-advertisement.
Yes, it is a great crime and treachery at this time in our defensive position to display modesty and humility in the face of those whose egos are as swollen as the pharaoh's and who attack belief and the Risale-i Nur on
account of irreligion. Such modesty would be shameful abasement. Could it in any way be self-advertisement to display in the face of them heroic fortitude and moral strength in order to preserve religious pride and the honour of learning? Could it be fame-seeking or love of self, so that person imagined it to be thus? Also, of those who need the Risale-i Nur and seek it in order to strengthen their belief and to save it, three or four out of ten look not to my person but suffice with the decisive proofs of the Risale-i Nur, and five or six look to me because they do not know the value of those proofs. So is it egotism if I draw a veil over my hidden faults and do not destroy their good opinion of me, so as to prevent them from wondering whether or not I am deceiving them or saying what is true?
In accordance with the verse, «Nor do I absolve my own self [of blame]: the [human] soul is certainly prone to evil» (Q 12:53), I do not trust my evil-commanding soul. The soul is always faulty. But in my defence, at this time when secret atheistic societies like dragons and demons are on the attack, to dwell on the faults apparent in me that have the importance of a fly's wing means assisting in their destructive assaults. It also means depriving five or six out of ten needy people of the remedies of the Risale-i Nur. Relying not on my own strength and virtues in this matter, but solely on the truth of the Qur'an and on the truths of belief which expound it, I proclaim to the whole world that were all irreligious people to gather together, I would not shrink back from them but would challenge them. I would not bow before them, nor violate the honour of learning. Even if this was egotism, it would in no way pertain to me; it would not be egotism. It would be firm strength of belief. Just as I deny nature in respect of creative power, and the Risale-i Nur has proved this decisively; so I deny the holding of power that drives men to pride, egotism, and arrogance. Human beings possess only an insignificant acquisition (kesb) due to genuine need, which is a sort of active prayer and sort of acceptable supplication. Almighty God accepts this. That He bestows the wonders called discoveries which are necessary for humanity has been proved by the scholars of the science of the principles of religion in their discussions of divine determining and human choice (kader ve cüz'-i ihtiyarî). Similarly, because I have become absolutely certain through the effulgence of the Qur'an and proofs of the Risale-i Nur that the sense of self and power in firstly myself and then in others is only a veil for divine creativity, bestowal, and assistance, I have proclaimed to my brothers and the Risale-i Nur that I was merely a seed; I rotted, and in consequence of powerlessness, need, sincere seeking, and active prayer, the Most Merciful of the Merciful created
the Risale-i Nur from that seed, and bestowed it. All the sections in the Letters of the Risale-i Nur describing the reasons for praise pertain to that illuminating tree. My share in it could in no way be pride; it could be thanks and thanks alone. So, All thanks be to God! All praise be to God to the number of beings in existence!
In His Name, be He glorified!
Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings, for ever and ever!
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
Firstly: Owing to numerous signs and a number of incidents it is now certain that the enemies of the Risale-i Nur and of the Nur students have devised numerous plans in order to induce the some of the select students to give up their service of the Risale-i Nur or to weaken their resolve by discovering some of their weak veins of character, We shall describe one or two of them as a warning lesson.
First Example: So as to turn the attention and thought of a few of our select brothers who are unshakeably attached to the Risale-i Nur in another direction, or to occupy them with a pleasurable, spiritual way and impair their devotion to their duties in serving belief, some people are preoccupying these brothers with phenomena like communicating with the dead and with jinns, which is known as spiritualism, and even conversing with the great saints and even prophets, which formerly was the realm of the soothsayers (kâhin), who are now known as mediums.
This phenomenon proceeds from philosophy and from Europe, and can be extremely harmful to the believers. It is open to exploitation of many sorts, and if it contains one truth, this is mixed with ten falsehoods. For since there is no touchstone, no criterion, to differentiate between truth and falsehood, the jinns which assist evil spirits and Satan may possibly cause harm both to the hearts of those who busy themselves with it, and to Islam. For there are disclosures which they call spiritual matters but which are contrary to the truths of Islam and general beliefs. Evil spirits present themselves as good spirits or even as great saints and may attempt to cause harm to the basic principles of Islam by saying things opposed to them. They may twist the truth and deceive ingenuous people completely.
For instance, the sun appears in a fragment of glass with its light, heat, and shape. But if the tiny image of the sun in the fragment were to speak and say: "My light floods the whole world, my heat warms everything!' And if it were to say that it was a million times larger than the globe of the earth, it would be understood just how contrary to the truth it was. In exactly the same way, while a prophet resides in his true station which is like the sun, the appearance of a manifestation of it that accords with the fragment-like capacity of a spiritualist or medium cannot speak in the name of that reality. If he does, it would be contrary to it a hundred times over. The insignificant manifestation reflected in spiritualism or mediumship can in no way be compared with the sacred nature of the non-material Sun that is the recipient of revelation. For a fragment of glass at the lowest of the low cannot be brought side by side with the reality of that non-material sun at the highest of the high, To attempt to do so is utter disrespect. Only, drawing close to the station of prophethood by progressing through spiritual journeying, some of the saints like Jalal al-Dîn al-Suyuti were graced with the Sun's conversation. But as is proved in the Risale-i Nur, such progress, a sort of conversation through the sainthood of the Prophet (UWBP), occurs in accordance with the saints' degrees and their capacities.
The reality of prophethood is far higher than sainthood; the communications and conversation experienced by means of spiritualism or spiritual advancement, can in no way approach communication with true prophets and so cannot be a basis of new rulings of the Shari'a.
The calling up of spirits does not come from religion but from the sensitivity of philosophy, and is an action that is opposed both to truth, and to good conduct. It is a grievous insult and lack of respect to attract those at sacred stations at the highest of the high to the Ouija boards, the seat of lies, at the lowest of the low. It is just like summoning the king to a hovel. What is pure truth, decency, respect, and benefit is such persons as Jalal al-Dîn al-Suyuti, Jalal al-Dîn Rumi, and Imam Rabbani rising through
their spiritual journeyings like the journeyings of spirit beings, and their drawing close to those holy prophets and profiting from them.
Evil spirits and Satan cannot assume the form of prophets in true dreams. But when spirits are called up, evil spirits may say that they are prophets and may speak in a way that is contrary to the Prophet's (UWBP) Sunna and the Shari'a's injunctions. If what they say is contrary to them, it is clear evidence that the ones speaking are not good spirits. They are not believing and Muslim jinns; they are evil spirits, and imitate them in this
Secondly: The Nur students are not now in need of instruction in such matters. The Risale-i Nur explains the truth about everything and leaves no need for other expositions. The Risale-i Nur is enough for them. It is, however, imperative that people other than the Nur students do not heed the suggestions in those communications that are contrary to the Shari'a and Prophet's (UWBP) Sunna. For to do so may lead to serious errors.
A Warning: The fierce warnings in this letter against communicating with spirits, are against an approach that purports to be spiritual, and has appeared from the West, and from philosophy, spiritualism, and mesmerism. The criticism is not of the Sufism of a very few Sufis which proceeds from Islam and tasawwuf and other followers of the Sufi path, and resembles somewhat the communication with spirits, and has been exploited to some extent with the interference of the outsiders. It is true that they can harm others in some ways, but they do not deceive like the others and they harbour no intentions of harming Islam. As for that approach of foreign provenance, it is opposed to both Islam and the Sufi paths, and it attempts to obstruct the way of the Sufis mentioned here, and devalue it, Those Sufis who are weak and do not adhere to the Sunna should be careful not to allow themselves to resemble them.