بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ اَجْمَعِينَ

WOMEN - 3

THIRD TOPIC: The two following matters are part of the examples given in the Twenty-Fifth Word showing the impotence of civilisation before the miraculousness of the Qur'an. They are two examples out of thousands proving how unjust is the law of civilisation, which opposes the Qur'an:

Just as the Qur'anic decree,فَلِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ اْلاُنْثَيَيْن 1 is pure justice, so too is it pure compassion. Yes, it is justice, for the overwhelming majority of men take a wife and undertake to provide for her. As for women, they take a husband and load their livelihood on him, and this makes up for the deficiency in what they have inherited. It is also mercy, for a weak girl is greatly in need of kindness from her father and brothers. The Qur'an decrees that she receives kindness from her father without worry. Her father does not consider her anxiously, thinking of her as "a harmful child due to whom half of his wealth will pass to the hands of a stranger." Anxiety and anger are not mixed with his kindness. She also receives her brother's kindness and protection free of rivalry and jealousy. He does not consider her "as a rival who will destroy half of the household and give an important part of our property to someone else." There will be no resentment and hostility mixed with his feeling of compassion and protection towards her. Thus, the girl, who is delicate and graceful by fitrah, weak and powerless by creation, is apparently deprived of a small part, but in place of it, she gains inexhaustible wealth in the form of the compassion and kindness of those close to her. Also, to give her more than her due with the idea of being more merciful to her than Haqq’s rahmah is not kindness, but a great wrong. Indeed, the savage greed of the present time, which recalls the appalling tyranny of burying girl children alive in the Age of Ignorance due to savage jealousy, may possibly open the way to merciless wickedness. Like this one, all Qur'anic rulings confirm the decree, وَمَا اَرْسَلْنَاكَ اِلاَّ رَحْمَةً لِلْعَاَلمِينَ   2

FOURTH TOPIC: فِلاُمِّهِ السُّدُسُ 3 This vile civilisation has caused an injustice by giving daughters more than their due, and it perpetrates an even greater injustice by not giving the mother what is her right. Yes, the compassion of mothers is a sweetest, subtle and lovely manifestation of Rabbânî rahmah, and among the haqiqahs of the universe, is one most worthy of respect and reverence. A mother is a so generous, so rahîm, so self-sacrificing friend that driven by her compassion she will sacrifice all her world, her life, and her comfort for her child. A timid hen, even, the simplest and lowest level of motherhood, will cast herself at a dog and attack a lion in order to protect her young, through a tiny manifestation of that compassion.

And so, to deprive a mother, who is the bearer of such an honourable and elevated haqiqah, of the property of her child is an appalling injustice, a most savage lack of respect, a compounded wrongful insult, an ingratitude for ni’mahs, that causes the ‘Arsh of Rahmah to tremble and adds poison to a most brilliant and beneficial cure for man's social life. If those human monsters who claim to love humanity cannot understand this, for sure true humans can. They know that Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm's command of, فِلاُمِّهِ السُّدُسُ 4 is pure haqq and pure justice.” The Letters ( 59 )

 

Second Question: I felt pity for some of the people associated with the Risale-i Nur. Why is it that although a man’s right over his father’s property is two thirds, what is the reason behind Ilahî Qadar partly depriving him from this right?

The answer given is this Although it is necessary that men should respect their parents and respond to the compassion of their fathers and mothers with utmost reverence and obedience, without any limits or conditions; in this age, by way of a strange inculcation, since that true respect and obedience has been mostly spoilt, men have been unfairly deprecated from receiving (the share of) two thirds. Qadar allowed this due to their mistake. As for women, despite having many mistakes in different aspects, due to their weakness, however, as they are in much need of protective and compassionate support, they possess a higher level of respect and sensitivity in feeling the need for their fathers and mothers. As a result, Qadar has permitted to temporarily hand over to them part of the rights of their brothers by the dhâlim hands of people.

Third Question: Why do certain religious men suffer much difficulty from their mahrams who have plunged into worldly life? There are so many of these sorts of incidents in this region.

The received answer: In this age of women’s freedom, as a requirement of their devoutness, Qadar has allowed those religious men to be struck by the hands of liberated women due to their mistake of meddling with the world by means of such liberated women. The remainder has been postponed due to an unintentional interruption by a blessed lady.

Kastamonu Addendum 265

 

Civilisation does not accept polygamy. It considers the Qur'an's decree to be contrary to itself and opposed to mankind's benefits and hikmah. Yes, if the hikmah of marriage were only to satisfy lust, there should be polygamy. But as is testified to by all animals and corroborated by plants that marry, the hikmah and aim of marriage is reproduction. The pleasure of satisfying lust is a small wage given by rahmah to encourage the fulfilment of the duty. Since, according to haqiqah and hikmah, marriage is for generation and the perpetuation of the species, and since a woman, who can give birth only once a year, can be impregnated only half of the month and after the age of fifty falls into despair, is mostly insufficient for a man, who can mostly impregnate till a hundred years old, civilisation has been compelled to accept numerous houses of promiscuousness.

Third Principle: Unreasoning civilisation criticises the âyah because, in inheritance, the Qur'an apportions to women one-third. However, most of the laws concerning social life are according to the majority, and a woman mostly finds someone to protect her. As for the man, he is compelled to have a partnership with someone whose sustenance will be carried by him and who will be a burden on him. Thus, in this way, if a woman takes half of her brother’s from her father's legacy, her husband assures her of her shortfall. If the man receives two parts from his father, he will give one part of it to provide for the livelihood of the woman he has married; he becomes equal with his sister. Here, the justice of the Qur'an requires it to be thus; it has judged it in this way. {Note-1: This is a part of the defence I wrote to the Appeal Court that was against the court and silenced it. It became a note for this subject. “I say to the court of law: if there is any justice on the face of the earth, surely it will reject and demolish an unjust decision that has convicted a man who made the tafsir of a most sacred, right principle of Allah that has been in force in the social lives of three hundred and fifty million people in each century for one thousand three hundred and fifty years by relying on the confirmation and consensus of three hundred and fifty thousand tafsirs and following the beliefs of our forefathers for one thousand three hundred and fifty years.}

Fourth Principle: Just as the Qur'an severely prohibits the ‘ibâdah to idols, so does it forbid the ‘ibâdah to images, which is a sort of imitation of the ‘ibâdah to idols.5 Whereas, considering the images as one of its virtues, civilisation has wanted to dispute the Qur'an. But images, whether possessing shadow or not, are either dhulm transformed into stones, embodied riyâ, or embodied desires of the nafs. By whipping up the desires of the nafs, images encourage mankind to dhulm and riyâ and to follow the desires of the nafs. Moreover, in order to preserve the respect shown to them, the Qur'an compassionately commands women to wear the veil of hayâ so that those mines of compassion will not be crushed under the feet of the vile desires of the nafs nor be a worthless commodity that is an instrument satisfying lust. {Note-2: The Twenty-Fourth Flash of the Thirty-First Letter on the tasattur of the women has decisively proved that tasattur is appropriate for women’s fitrah and the abrogation of tasattur is contrary to fitrah.} As for civilisation, it has drawn women out of their homes, torn their veils and corrupted mankind, whereas family life can continue with the mutual love and respect of man and woman. But immodest dressing has destroyed sincere respect and love and poisoned family life. From the following, it can be understood that especially ‘ibâdah to images appallingly shakes morality and causes the degradation of rûh: just as looking lustfully and with desire at the corpse of a beautiful woman who is in need of pity and compassion destroys morality, so too does looking at the images of dead women or the images of living women, which are their little corpses, in a way that nurtures the desires of the nafs shake the elevated human feelings from their very roots and destroy them to that extent.

Thus, together with serving to ensure the happiness of mankind in this world, each of the thousands of matters of the Qur'an, like the above three examples, serves their eternal happiness. You can compare other matters to these.

The Twenty-Fifth Word/3rd Ray/2nd Radiance/Fourth Principle

 

Question: From the point of view of civilisation, foreigners adduce doubt and wahm about the Sharî’ah through using as a pretext certain matters like polygamy and slavery.

The Answer: The laws of Islam are of two sorts:

The First: Sharî’ah grounds the matters of it on a new foundation.  This sort is truly beautiful and pure khayr. 

Also the other: Sharî’ah equalizes. That is, Sharî’ah expels from a great savage and cruel form and moulds to a form, which is taken from the time and place, applicable to the nature of human and a lesser sharr and equated for transition to complete true beauty.

Because, to annul a matter together all of a sudden, that generally governs the nature of human requires to change together all of a sudden human nature. Consequently upon it, Sharî’ah has not established slavery, indeed it equated and deduced from a most savage form to a form, which can open the way to complete freedom and progress to it.

And also, with polygamy being conformable to nature, mind and hikmah, Sharî’ah did not increase from one to four {Man mostly can impregnate until a hundred years old. Women may be impregnated until fifty, although menstruates half of her time} but decreased from eight or nine to four. Especially, Sharî’ah put conditions to multiplying through conforming to them, it cannot cause any harm. If it is sharr in some points, it is still a lesser sharr and the lesser sharr is a relative justice.

Alas! There can not be pure khayr in every situation of this ‘âlam.

Sünuhat (95-97)

 

They also wrote, "One is guilty of irtijâ’ who says that reforms, such as the closure of the takkas6, zaviyes7 and the madrasas, the acceptance of secularism, the establishment of nationalist principles instead of Islam, the wearing of the hat, the abolishment of tasattur, the enforced use of the Latin alphabet in place of the Qur'anic alphabet, the adhan and iqâmah being recited in Turkish, the abolishment of religious instructions in schools, granting women the same inheritance and rights as men and the abolishment of polygamy are bid’ah, dhalâlah and ilhad.”

O unfair committee! If it is possible to deny numerous explicit âyahs of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition — the sacred samâwi guide of three hundred and fifty million people in every century, the programme of all their happiness and the sacred treasury of the life of the world and the âkhirah — that do not bear interpretation and are revealed about the tasattur, inheritance, polygamy, dhikr of Allah, instruction and dissemination of ‘ilm about the religion and the preservation of the shaâ’er, and if it is possible to make all mujtahids of Islam and all Shaykhs al-Islam guilty, and if you can abolish and remove the passage of time, the numerous court acquittals, the legal pardons, confidentiality and privacy, the freedom of conscience, the freedom of thought and intellectual and scholarly opposition from this country and governments, you can make me guilty of these things. Otherwise, in the court of haqiqah, haqq and justice, you will be terribly guilty!

The Fourteenth Ray/Short indications of some of the errors in the indictment

 

Women Left Their Homes and Led Mankind Astray, They Must Return To Their Homes

اِذَا تَاَنَّثَ الرِّجَالُ السُّفَهَاءُ بِالْهَوَسَاتِ ٭ اِذًا تَرَجَّلَ النِّسَاءُ النَّاشِزَاتُ بِالْوَقَاحَاتِ8

{*This is the basis of Risale on Tasattur. Twenty years later, a court of law that made that risale the cause of its author's conviction eternally shamed and convicted itself and its judges.}

Vile civilisation made womankind fly from their homes; it destroyed their blessedness and respect towards them and made them common goods.

As a rahmah, the Sharî’ah of Islam invites them to their real homes. It is there, they are respected;their comfort is in their homes, in family life.

Cleanliness is their adornment; goodness of character is their splendour; innocence is their grace and beauty; compassion is their perfection’s beauty; their children are their amusement.

Despite so many causes of corruption, she has to be as strong and firm as steel so that she can withstand them.

When a beautiful woman enters a gathering of brothers, riyâ, rivalry, envy and selfishness stir the veins. Sleeping desires of the nafs suddenly awaken.

Increased freedom of womankind has caused a sudden unfolding of bad morality in mankind.

Little corpses, the smiling deads, which are called images, have played a great role in the violent-tempered rûh of civilised mankind. {Just as to look lustfully at a dead woman shows extreme despicability of nafs, in the same way, to look with carnal desires at a beautiful picture of a helpless female corpse needy of compassion extinguishes the elevated feelings of the rûh.}

The statues and images prohibited by the Sharî’ah are either dhulm transformed into stones, embodied riyâ, or frozen desires of the nafs. Or it is a talisman attracting those evil rûhs.

 The Words-Gleams

 

In the riwâyât, it was mentioned that "in the âkhirzaman, one man will look after forty women."

اللّٰه أعلم بالصواب9, it has two ta’wîl:

First: Lawful marriage will decrease at that time, or, like in Russia, it will disappear. A man, who flees being tied to one woman and remains footloose, becomes a shepherd to forty unfortunate women.

Its second ta’wîl: It is an allusion that, at that time of fitnah, most men will be killed in wars, and as a consequence of a hikmah, most of the children born will be girls. Perhaps since the independence of women and their total freedom intensely inflame the women’s lust, they will acquire superiority over their men regarding their fitrah. Since it attracts the child’s gender to its mother, girl children will be more numerous through the command of Allah.

The Fifth Ray- Eleventh Matter

 

Both Dajjals will be supposed to possess tremendous power because they won the assistance of a secret committee of Jews, which seeks severe revenge against Islam and Christianity, and the help of another terrible committee, which is under the guise of women's liberation, and the Dajjal of Islam won even the aid of the Mason committees by deceiving them.

The Fifth Ray- The Third Aspect and Reason

 

One time, I was sitting by the window in Eskishehir Prison. The older girls of the high school opposite the prison were laughing and dancing in the schoolyard. I saw them as the houris of Jahannam in that Jannah of the world. Then, suddenly, their situation fifty years later appeared to me. Their laughter had turned into their excruciating weep. From this, the following haqiqah was uncovered. That is to say, with a ma’nawî and imaginary cinema, I saw their situation fifty years later. I saw that fifty of those sixty laughing girls were suffering torments in the grave and turned into earth, while ten of them, at seventy years old, had become ugly and were drawing everyone’s look of disgust. I wept for them.

The essence of the fitnah of the âkhirzaman appeared to me that the most terrible and attractive of that fitnah emerges from the shameless faces of women. Invalidating the will, they cast people into the fire of dissipation, like moths, and make them prefer one minute of the life of this world to years of eternal life.

One day, while watching the street, I felt a powerful example of that fitnah. I felt great pity for those young people I saw. While thinking, “These unfortunates cannot save themselves from the fire of this attractive fitnah, like a magnet,” the ma’nawî collective personality of apostasy that ignites the fitnah and teaches it has been embodied before me. I said to it and to those mulhids who receive lessons from it:

O you wretched who sacrifices his religion on the way of taking pleasure from Jahannam houris, plunges willingly into dhalâlah full of dissipation, accepts ilhad and irreligion on the way of the pleasures of the desires of nafs, worships life and is terrified of death, and who does not want to remember the grave and is on the brink of apostasy!...

Youth Guide 18-19

 

I knew that just as in order to harm the social life of Islam and thereby the religion of Islam, one or two committees work to lead youth astray and drive them to dissipation by using the desires of youth. In the same way, I felt that one or two committees effectively work under the veil in order to lead the ghâfil ones among women in the wrong ways, and I understood that a terrifying blow to this Muslim nation is coming from that aspect.

The Twenty-Fourth Flash- A Conversation with Women-2nd Subtle Point

 

It is understood from hadiths’ narrations that what will play the most terrible role in the fitnah of the âkhirzaman will be women and their fitnah. Yes, just as it is reported in the histories that, in ancient times, a group of soldiers composed of extremely skilled warrior women called ‘Amazons’ fought extraordinarily in battles. In the same way, at the present time, in the war of the dhalâlah of zandaqa against Islam, through the plan of nafs al-ammarah, the most fearsome group that is placed under the command of shaytan is half-naked women; with their naked legs, which are terrible knives, they attack and assault the people of îmân. By working to close the road to marriage and widen the road to houses of debauchery, they take many people’s nafs captive and wound their hearts and rûhs with kabâir; rather, they kill some of those hearts.

As a perfect punishment for displaying them to the desires of non-mahram men’s nafs, those legs with knives will be the logs of Jahannam and burn first. And since she has lost her trustworthiness and loyalty in this world, she can no longer find a suitable husband whom by her disposition, she wants and who, by her fitrah, she is in great need of. Even if she finds one, it only brings her trouble. It is even understood from hadiths’ narrations that as a result of this situation, in the âkhirzaman, due to marriage being neither sought after nor respected, women will be without a guardian, unimportant and valueless to the extent that one man will look after forty women in some places.

Since the haqiqah is this. And since every beautiful one loves their beauty and wants to preserve it as far as they can and do not want it to be spoiled. And since beauty is a ni’mah, if shukr is offered for a ni’mah, it increases in a ma’nawî manner, while if shukr is not offered, it becomes ugly. For sure, if she has a mind, she will run away with all her strength from using her goodness and beauty to reap sins for herself and others, making her beauty and loveliness ugly and poisonous and turning that ni’mah due to ingratitude into a source of punishment. And to make her transient five or ten years of beauty permanent, she will offer shukr for that ni’mah by using it in a way that Sharî’ah permits; otherwise, in her old age, she will be detested for a long time and will weep despairingly.

It is indeed established in the hadiths that if her beauty is beautified with the adornment of Qur’anic âdâb within the sphere of Islamic tarbiyyah, that transient beauty will be eternal in a ma’nawî manner, and in Jannah, it will be given to her in a more graceful and shining fashion than the beauty of the houris. If such a beauty has even an iota of mind, she will not allow this beautiful, shining and eternal result to slip from her hand.

Youth Guide-An important matter that was suddenly warned

 

“There are many other examples, many pitfalls for the unfortunate young because of which they transform their sweet lives into the most bitter and pitiable lives.

Consider a vast state to the north; it has gained possession of the passions of its young people and is shaking this century with its storms. For it has made lawful for its youths the pleasing daughters and wives of upright people, and these youths act only according to their blind feelings, which do not see the consequences. By permitting men and women to go together to the public baths, they are even encouraging immorality. And they consider it lawful for vagabonds and the poor to plunder the property of the rich. All mankind trembles in the face of this calamity.” The Rays ( 475 )

 

In the riwâyât, it was mentioned that "the fitnah of the âkhirzaman will be so terrible that no one will restrain his nafs." It is because of this that all ummah have sought refuge with Allah (isti‘âdha) from that fitnah for one thousand three hundred years, on the command of the Prophet (asm). مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الدَّجَّالِ وَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ10 became the wird of the ummah after seeking refuge from the torments of the grave.

اللّٰه أعلم بالصواب11 , a ta’wîl of it is this: those fitnahs will attract the nafs of people to themselves and infatuate them. People will perpetrate them voluntarily, indeed, with pleasure.

For example, in Russia, men and women bathe naked together in public baths. And since, by fitrah, women have a strong inclination to show off their beauty, they willingly plunge themselves into that fitnah and are led astray. Men, too, who worship beauty in their fitrah, are defeated by their nafs and, with drunken joy, fall into the fire and are burned. By means of attraction, entertainment, kabâir and bid’ahs of that time, such as dance and the theatre, draw those who perform ‘ibâdah to their nafs around them, like moths, and daze them. But if this occurs through absolute compulsion, since the will is invalidated, it will not even be a sin.

The Fifth Ray- Sixth Matter

 

“... at the present time, the most fearsome of the group in the war of dhalâlah of zandaqa against Islam, the commandership of which has been given to shaytan through the scheming of the nafs al-ammarah, is half-naked women, who with their bare legs - those ghastly knives - attack and assault the people of îmân. By striving to close the road to marriage and widen the road to prostitution, they take the nafs of many people captive and wound their hearts and rûhs with kabâir. Indeed, they kill some of those hearts". 

Is this not true? Are we denying the prostitutes who promote fornication and destroy the institution of marriage? Is it not true that the government is working to fight against public and secret prostitution? Don't we have the Criminal Law, The Struggle against Prostitution Act and the Moral Police Officers struggling against this problem day and night.

'Yes, there is. However, we deal with this, not Allah?' says the prosecutor. Well, he can say all he wants. But the truth of the matter is that the law, the officials and prosecutor, seize criminals after the crime has been committed. That is after everything has happened; after the chastity has been lost and the murder has been committed. The law has no opportunity to deter anyone beforehand. But religiously you can deter people: Fear of Allah and religious practice. With this fear, one can prevent any type of humiliation. The religion of Islam commands this. It asks us to take preventative measures.

How? By giving advice, warning them, teaching about Allah, instilling the fear of Allah in one's heart, the love of Allah, Jahannam-fire and eternal punishment, by embedding the desire for eternal happiness; making people aware of this and to teach them to love and to fear. They should fear so that their evil does not prevail, and so they can rescue themselves and their community. And so prosecutor and nation and government and citizens can be at ease. Prosecutors, government authorities and the nation will find relief. This is why one should instil the fear and love of Allah in people.

So how can this be done? By teaching it, writing and reading about it. But then this is labelled as propaganda. What will happen? These are commands of Allah and the hikmah of the Qur'an of Mighty Stature, right? Is it not your most natural right to practice religion? Who can prohibit you from this (the path of Allah)? They call this a crime. Is that so? Let us read the command of Allah:

اِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَ صَدُّوا عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللّٰهِ وَ شَاقُّوا الرَّسُولَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْهُدَى لَنْ يَضُرُّوا اللّهَ شَيْئًا وَ سَيُحْبِطُ اَعْمَالَهُمْ

It's meaning: Verily, those who disbelieve (kufr) and hinder men from the path of Allah and oppose the Rasûl, after the haqq has been made clear to them, they will not harm Allah in the least. But He will make their deeds fruitless.” Biography (698)

 

Even if we disregard the universal and vast Qur’anic service that Ustadh performed and assume that his entire occupation and service consisted solely of the lessons he gave to the people he met and the guidance he offered to them, it is still a service that is so great and effective that it is unparalleled. His service in this area is monumental. In Emirdağ and its surrounding villages, he had many sisters of the âkhirah, students and friends, just as men and women that he had accepted as students, brothers and sisters of the âkhirah while in Barla. He paid great attention to innocent children in particular.

Ustadh’s boundless ‘iffah and istiqâmah are testified to, proven and undeniable. Throughout his life, he strictly avoided talking to women or even looking at them. It is understood from one of his letters that, even in his youth, he was at the pinnacle of ‘iffah and istiqâmah as it was established through the testimony of the people who knew him and his life well.

By seeing this exemplary ‘iffah and istiqâmah of Ustadh, the townspeople showed him ma’nawî attachment for the âkhirah. Ustadh would always offer du'â for the women he accepted as his sisters of the âkhirah and the innocent children he considered his ma’nawî children and students. He would briefly inform them that women are the heroes of compassion; in this age, it is necessary for them to act within the sphere of tarbiyyah of Islam; they are responsible for their children’s lives in the âkhirah; if they were to raise them religiously, they would have a share in their children’s rewards. He would say to them that he is very ill. He would request their du'â and offer du'â for the elderly and young women who perform salâh and accept them as his sisters of the âkhirah. He would speak very few words. Through the innocence of their hearts, the blessed women would know that Said Nursî was an eminent person of ahl al-haqq and haqiqah.

Biography 464-465

 

“In older times there lived a person who resembled the Risale-i Nur students in this respect. Both he and his wife were of high ma’nawî rank, but due to their straitened circumstances, she stated to him their extreme need. Suddenly, a golden brick appeared before them. She exclaimed: “Look! A brick from our mansion in Jannah!” But then the blessed women said: “It’s true that we’re needy and that we’ll have loads of bricks like that in the âkhirah, but this one shouldn’t be wasted on this fleeting life so that it’s missing from our mansion there. Offer a du'â that it return to its place; we don’t need it!” It disappeared, and it is told that with their kashf they beheld it in its place.” Emirdağ Addendum (101)

 

“A hundred thousand shukr be to Janâb-i Haqq, the blessed mothers and women of that village have completely appreciated the full worth of the Risale-i Nur. The sacrifices made in spreading the Risale-i Nur by those blessed women and made valuable and sincere sisters of the âkhirah have made me and all of us cry with utter joy.

Since the most important principle of the method of the Risale-i Nur is compassion, and since women are repositories of compassion, for a long time I was expecting al-‘âlam of women to realise the nature of the Risale-i Nur. Lillah’il Hamd the women in this area are also actively working in full with an ardour that is much greater than the men nearby, thereby demonstrating they are the sisters of the blessed people of Sav. Both these manifestations at this time are positive signs that the Risale-i Nur will beam and triumph in those repositories of compassion.” Kastamonu Addendum (107)

 

“I will tell you of an incident that is subtle, beautiful and elegant. The elderly women in this city and the innocent young women who, like the elderly women, have clung on to Risale-i Nur in a self-sacrificing way far more than the men, have used classical gilded threads and valuable prices from their trousseau to decorate the cover of the Risale-i Nur books, making it appear as though all the risale covers were glittered with gold. For the ma’nawî beauty of the Risale-i Nur, and for the glittering beautiful writings of Husrev and Tahiri and the Ali’s and of our brothers like Hasan Atif and Asim, they too have added another charming adornment over its cover. There are many sisters here that work very hard for the Risale-i Nur who are the equivalent of Ummuhan and Sahide, which Hafiz Ali has referred to in his letter. Students of the Risale-i Nur such as Asiye, Saniye, Ulviye, Lutfiye, Aliye for example, pass on their salam and du'â to their sisters and brothers there.” Kastamonu Addendum (169)

 

“During the early stages of the Risale-i Nur being written, when I was in Barla, the late wife of the chief scribe Shamli Hâfidh Tevfik would carry the logs in his place and attend to his duties, in order for Hâfidh to continue his writing. Since then, in return for this favour of hers, we have included his late wife in our du'â among the students of the Risale-i Nur who have passed away, and will continue to do so.” Kastamonu Addendum (260)

 

“Yes, Nur students believe that they are though employed on a Rabbânî ship delivering the Ummah of Muhammad (asm) to the shore of salâmât. Their greatest aim in life is to perform the service of the Qur'an and îmân to facilitate a life of prosperity and happiness for the Ummah of Muhammad (asm). During these years of the Risale-i Nur’s dissemination through handwritten copies, there were people who had been writing and disseminating the Risale-i Nur for seven to eight years without leaving their homes. It was these times in which the thousands of Nur students in the vicinity of Isparta, the men and women, young and old, in fact, the whole village of Sav, which was a Nur darshane in itself, duplicated copies of the Risale-i Nur with a thousand pens for years. (Twenty years after writing, the Risale-i Nur was published with duplicating machines and was printed in publishing houses thirty-five years later. Inshaallah a time will come when the Risale-i Nur collection will be written in gold and be broadcast in different languages, transforming the face of the globe into a vast Nur darshane.)

The blessed women were also honoured to make significant sacrifices in the dissemination of the Risale-i Nur. There were, in fact, some heroic women who came to Hazrat Ustadh saying: "Oh Ustadh! I will try and take on the burden of the worldly affairs under my husband's care. Let him be yours, he is for the Risale-i Nur" and offered greater opportunities for their husbands to work in the service of the Risale-i Nur. With every bit of effort, they would share in the service of religion and îmân engaged by their husbands, by holding the candlelight while their husband's scribed the Risale-i Nur at nights. Women and the girls demonstrated self-sacrificing efforts to write out copies of the Risale-i Nur by hand and as blessed scribes performed great service to further the cause of îmân.

In fact, there were such female Nur Students who passionately studied the Nur Risales, which through the nûr of îmân will attain for them a favourable end in their last breaths, that they fervently read and introduced them to other sisters of religion. By disseminating the Nur among women, they performed a heroic service and became the means of the enlightenment of many women through the nûr of îmân and Qur'an. By reading and teaching the Risale-i Nur, they advanced in the levels of iman like having reached the level of a murshid.

With purity of heart and ikhlas women have been bound to the brilliant and nûr of the Qur'an with faydh in the Risale-i Nur purely to attain the pleasures of Allah. With the inextinguishable love and affection to their hearts towards it, they have attained a fortunate position both in this world and the âkhirah. The value of majesty of the Risale-i Nur was engrained in their pure hearts so much that, the more they read and listened to it, the more they found themselves overflowing with nûr and faydh, and become enlivened and overwhelmed with tears of joy.

How fortunate are those women who, having worked in the Risale-i Nur's sacred service of îmân, will forever be commemorated and have nûrs sent to their âkhirah, their graves will be filled with Jannah-like nûr and they will rise to the highest levels in the âkhirah Inshallah. Together with being included in the du'âs of foremost Ustadh Hazrat Bediuzzaman, through the mystery of the ma’nawî corporation formed among Nur Students, their book of deeds will be recorded with so many khayr. The sincere connections they have toward the Risale-i Nur make those self-sacrificing women the recipients of the du'âs performed by millions of Nur Students. By reading and causing others to read the Risale-i Nur they would achieve great ma’nawî gains and exalted levels. Inshaallah it is our firm belief, hope and plea from the rahmah of Allah that most women will follow suite.” Biography (172)

 

“You sent me a copy of The Staff of Mûsâ which is not bound and has only a yellow paper cover. The handwriting slightly resembles Husrev’s, but it has the name Mustafa at the top. Who is it? Which Mustafa? The copy also has “thirteen-year-old Hatice, Ahmed’s daughter” written on it. Which Ahmed is this? Thousand Bârakallah12 be upon Him and his daughter. It is heroic for one of the innocent children to write out at that age such a long book most carefully, beautifully and correctly, and with the tawâfuq. Whoever sees it will applaud it. It will also fire the enthusiasm of the women here who have been to school.” Emirdağ Addendum (152)

 

“In another field (in the ‘âlam of women), Kastamonu’s Zehras, Hajers, Lutfiyas, Ulviyas, and Najmiyas accompany Feyzi in serving the Risale-i Nur…

…Our worthy sister Zehra who has come here twice in connection with the Risale-i Nur serve and her giving two hundred liras to cover the paper expenses of the Madrasatu’z Zehra shows that among the women are Husrevs, Feyzis, and Ahmeds.” Emirdağ Addendum (221)

 

“My ‘Azîz, Siddîq Brothers and Nur Students of the ma’nawî Madrasatu’z Zehra!

When I arrived in Isparta, I received the news that a school for Imam and Wâiz was going to be opened. This gave me the idea that since most of the students who would register for the school would be Nur-jus, a Nur madrasa should be opened unofficially in the vicinity of the school and that school can be made into a sort of madrasa of Nur. A day or two later, a rumour spread that I was going to teach, and it was understood from the streams of men and women from all around who came to listen that if such a semi-official, General madrasa of Nur were to be opened, such a thronging crowd would form that it would become impossible. So the idea was abandoned due to the possibility of unnecessary crowds gathering, as they did when we went to the court in Afyon. A second haqiqah was imparted to my heart. It was this:

If anyone had a household of four or five people, he should make his house into a small madrasa of Nur. If he does not have such a household and is alone, he should unite with three or four of his neighbours who show much interest, and they should make the house they gather in a small madrasa of Nur. If at least when they are not working, they spend even five or ten minutes, reading or writing out the Risale-i Nur, or listening to it, they will receive the rewards and honour of true tullâb al-‘ulûm13, and they will also be performing the five sorts of ‘ibâdah described in the Risale on Ikhlas. It was imparted to my heart that like true tullâb al-‘ulûm, even their daily activities when working for their livelihoods may become a sort of ‘ibâdah. So I am telling this to my brothers.” Emirdağ Addendum (375-376)

 

“Because compassion is a basic principle of the Risale-i Nur and women are more advanced in that respect, they embrace the Risale-i Nur earnestly. When I say my brothers, I mean that sisters are included among the brothers. They too are addressed in all my letters.” Emirdağ Addendum (175)

 

“A strong reason for this event was that since the Risale-i Nur gives great importance to family life and ensures that women pass their lives with ‘iffah, honour, modesty and happiness, mainly women show demand for the Risale-i Nur. A good example of this is how enemies of religion saw a few articles for women that had been published and they launched an attack on account of communism on some cooked up pretexts. But they will in no way succeed. For contrary to their aims, the Risale-i Nur is spreading wondrously among both men and women.” Emirdağ Addendum-2 (219)

 

May Janâb-i Haqq save us and you from the alluring fitnah of this time, and preserve us from them. Amen.

اَللّٰهُمَّ يَا اَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ وَ ارْحَمْ اُمَّةَ مُحَمَّدٍ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ وَ نَوِّرْ قُلُوبَ اُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ بِنُورِ اْلاِيمَانِ وَ الْقُرْآنِ وَ نَوِّرْ بُرْهَانَ الْقُرْآنِ وَ عَظِّمْ شَرِيعَةَ اْلاِسْلاَمِ آمِينَ

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا اِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ