Bediuzzaman, many times, asserted during his lifetime the truth of everything he had written, saying, “I also abide by these as a student of the Treatise of Light.” Each treatise is a book published in many editions. If, therefore, he openly states, “I know I am not a sayyid” in his works, then it would be a vile insult and slander against Bediuzzaman Said Nursi for certain people to say: “Bediuzzaman’s statements are untrue; he called us one day and said that he was both a sayyid and a sharif and the Mahdi (as).” Because this would be equivalent to claiming that what such a worthy and moral individual as Bediuzzaman had written was a “lie.” A claim to the effect that, contrary to what he wrote over hundreds of pages, Bediuzzaman “only told two or three people that what he had written was a lie,” is a grave imputation against those who make such claims. No claim to the effect that “Bediuzzaman deceived millions of people, but only told a handful of people the truth,” is completely unacceptable.
On the other hand, it is sufficient for Bediuzzaman to say, “I am not the Mahdi (as)” to put the record straight. It is nonsensical to maintain that such a holy personage “wrote detailed and comprehensive lies overe hundreds of pages, and what he wrote is all a deception.” Such a grave insult is unacceptable, even if made out of love.
It is completely out of the question for a reviver of such deep faith as Bediuzzaman to have written the exact opposite of what he thought and believed in his works. Therefore, it is a grave slander, albeit made out of love for Bediuzzaman, albeit with the very best of intentions, to make such a claim years after his death. An attitude that accuses him of lying and maintains that he spent hundreds of pages deceiving the public cannot be accepted by any conscience.
In addition, various unrealistic claims regarding the Prophet Jesus (as) may also be made in order to support this groundless claim. As we know, we are told in the hadiths of our Prophet (saas) that the Prophet Jesus (as) will return to Earth during the time of the Mahdi (as). The Prophet Jesus (as) and the Mahdi (as) will pray together, with the Mahdi (as) acting as imam, and they will rule together on Earth for seven years. However, none of these developments took place while Bediuzzaman was alive. Bediuzzaman did not live alongside the Prophet Jesus (as). Various attempts are made to explain this anyway. Unfounded ideas, such as that the Prophet Jesus (as) will return only in spirit, or that he lived, died and was buried during Bediuzzaman’s lifetime, are put forward. The fact is, however, that Bediuzzaman has made it crystal clear, and many times, in his works that the Prophet Jesus (as) will return to Earth as “a person,” with his human body. He also stated that the Prophet Jesus (as) would forge an alliance with Christian leaders and fight against and intellectually neutralise the antichrist. In one of these statements, Bediuzzaman says that the Prophet Jesus (as) will be a person, not a spiritual entity:
... THE PROPHET JESUS (as), who is in the world of the heavens WITH HIS PHYSICAL BODY, will assume the leadership of the true.... (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Letters, p. 60)
In addition, in those extracts in which Bediuzzaman refers to the Prophet Jesus’ (as) struggle against the antichrist, he speaks not of a struggle between one spiritual entity and another, but of one between the true person of the Prophet Jesus (as) and the personage of the antichrist:
... Those whose faith is weak find it hard to believe that “the Prophet Jesus (as) will come and labour with the law of Islam and will slay the antichrist,” as is reported in a hadith of absolute trustworthiness. If the truth of that is set out, no room for doubt will remain. (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Letters, pp. 58-59)
In another extract, Bediuzzaman says that the influence of the antichrist can only be done away with by a Prophet possessed of the power of miracles, and once again states that the Prophet Jesus (as) will be a person with the attribute of working miracles, and not a spiritual entity:
... he can only be A PERSON possessed of marvels and miracles and accepted by the people; THAT PERSON is THE PROPHET JESUS (as), the most concerned and the Prophet of most people... (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Rays, p. 463)
Such claims as these, pointing to private conversations as evidence, despite Bediuzzaman's unequivocal words regarding the coming of the Prophet Jesus (as)and Hazrat Mahdi (as) are very dangerous interventions that may cast doubt on all the treatises written by such a valuable reformer. How valid can these be if many people come up with very different claims, saying, “Bediuzzaman Said Nursi may have said this here, but this is only a stratagem, a lie; he told us the truth”? Not long after this, anything at all will be able to be said about any matter in the Treatise of Light, and Bediuzzaman’s works will increasingly lose their true meaning and wisdom. The only way to forestall this danger is to accept the words of such a worthy Islamic scholar, written and confirmed by himself, at their face value. Indeed, in his works, Bediuzzaman has recalled that the treatises contain the most truthful exposition of this subject, as they do of all others, and has stated that when someone reads what is written in the treatises they can acquire the most accurate information, just as if they were speaking to him in person.
Each book in the Treatise of Light is a Said. Whichever book you look at, you can benefit from it ten times more than by speaking to me in person, and you will really have spoken to me in truth. The Treatise of Light leaves no need for me. (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Emirdag Addendum, p. 159)
… because he says: "If anyone wishes to speak with me, about the Hereafter, or the Treatise of Light, the Treatise of Light has left no need for me at all. The millions of copies are as much use as ten Saids… If it regards serving or disseminating the Treatise of Light, it is enough for true followers who serve me and my spiritual children and brothers to deal with my counterpart, there is no need for me… (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Emirdag Addendum, p. 214)
Bediuzzaman also devoted space in his works to the words of his students who expressed the same fact. Some of these read:
O teachers and people of the heart! You can find the answers to your questions in the Treatise of Light. One of those who, as a blessing from Allah, know secret, invisible truth, asks someone as helpless as me about the Mahdi (as), “When will he come?” He knows nothing of the Mahdi (as) and does not know who the Dabbat al-Ard is. There is a description of this in the treatises. Look for the answer to every difficult question in the treatises, and you will find it there. (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Barla Addendum, p. 143)
… On this subject, may I submit that, in sometimes reading to a disciple from the Treatise of Light, our teacher Bediuzzaman would not explain it, saying: “The Treastise of Light explains matters of faith sufficiently and deeply. The teacher of the Treatise of Light is the Treatise of light itself. The Treatise of Light leaves no need to study with anyone else.” (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Words, p. 772)
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