The Twenty-Sixth Flash

Suddenly, Divine assistance once again hastened to our aid. It transformed that great prison into a Madrasa an-Nūriyya“The School of Light”; a term associated with the spiritual and educational mission of the Risale-i Nur, referring to a place or community where the truths of faith are studied, taught, and shared. and revealed it to be, in reality, a kind of Madrasa al-Yūsufiyya“The School of Yūsuf”; a spiritual term for prison, inspired by Prophet Yūsuf (as), who was unjustly imprisoned. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi used this expression to describe prison as a place of spiritual education, patience, worship, and reflection, where hardship can become a means of drawing closer to Allah., where the Risale-i Nur began to spread through the diamond-like pens of the heroes of the Madrasa az-Zahrā“The Radiant School”; a major educational project envisioned by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi to unite religious sciences with modern sciences. He hoped to establish it in eastern Turkey as a centre of learning that would strengthen faith, knowledge, and unity among Muslims..

Even under those difficult circumstances, one of the heroes of the Risale-i Nur produced more than twenty copies of the treatises The Fruits and The Defence within three or four months.

Both inside and outside the prison, the Risale-i Nur began to win over hearts and minds. Thus, Divine assistance transformed our losses into great gains and our anxieties into joy, once again manifesting the mystery of

عَسٰۤى اَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْBut perhaps you dislike something while it is good for you. — The Qur’an 2:216

Afterwards, the first committee of experts subjected us to severe criticism on the basis of mistaken and superficial reports, while the Minister of Education vehemently attacked us and even published a statement against us. Some reports went so far as to suggest that certain among us might be sentenced to death.

Once again, Divine assistance hastened to our aid. Instead of the severe criticism we had expected from the experts, particularly those in Ankara, we received an appreciative report.

Although they claimed to have found five or ten minor errors in five crates of Risale-i Nur treatises, we demonstrated during the trial that the points they had identified as errors were, in fact, in accordance with the truth, and that it was they who had been mistaken. Thus, we exposed five or ten errors of their own in their five-page report.

Moreover, we had sent the treatises The Fruits and The Defence to seven different authorities, while all the treatises of the Risale-i Nur had been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice, including the sensitive and forceful warnings contained in the confidential treatises.

Although we expected threatening orders in response, we received replies that were mild and even consoling.

Their responses were conciliatory in tone, as was evident from the letter we received from the Prime Minister. This demonstrated beyond doubt that, through the karāmahA miraculous event granted by Allah through a righteous believer who is not a prophet. of Divine assistance, the truths of the Risale-i Nur had prevailed over them and had, as it were, compelled them to read those truths.

Those truths had transformed the extensive circles of officialdom into something resembling madrasas and had saved the īmānFaith; belief in the six articles of faith: Allah, His angels, His revealed scriptures, His prophets, the Hereafter, and divine decree (qadar). of many who were troubled by doubt and confusion. For us, they transformed our difficulties into an abundance of spiritual joy and gain, a hundred times greater than the suffering we had endured.

Afterwards, our hidden enemies poisoned me. But Hāfiz AliHāfiz Ali Ergün (Ali Ergin); one of the earliest and closest students of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who played a crucial role in the writing, copying, and distribution of the Risale-i Nur. Nursi honoured him with the title “Owner of the Nur Factory.” — the shahīdMartyrs who die for their faith and for the sake of Allah and hero of the Nur — had sincerely supplicated that my life might be spared and that the burden of the trial might fall upon him instead. It was as though he had taken my place.

While I recovered unexpectedly, he fell ill and was taken to hospital, eventually departing in my stead for the ālam-i barzakhThe realm where the souls of the deceased await the Resurrection.. His passing caused us to weep with profound sorrow.