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Nursi Heads East By the end of May 1909 Nursi was free of prison and the court-martial. Despite his bidding farewell to Istanbul at the end of his defense and declaring that he was returning to the East, there now follows a period of nine or tenth months before he made his return journey to Van, about which to date no clues as to his movements have been found. He set out the following spring by way of the Black Sea accompanied by two of his students, stopping off, among other places, at ÿnebolu,1 Of, and Rize.2 In ÿnebolu, Nursi had a warm reception from one of its leading religious scholars, Haji Ziya, and on leaving was accompanied as far as the quay by a large crowd.3 On reaching Tiflis (Tblisi), the capital city of Georgia, while making his way from Batum to Van, Nursi made the following interesting observations to a policeman. He had climbed a prominent hill known as Shaikh Sanan, which has a commanding view of the city of Tiflis and the valley of the River Kura in which it is situated, together with all the surrounding countryside. Plunged in thought, he was gazing at the view when approached by a Russian policeman. The following exchange ensued. It began with the policeman asking: “Why are you studying the land with such attention?” Nursi replied: “I am planning my medrese.” “Where are you from?” “I’m from Bitlis.” “But this is Tiflis!” “Bitlis is one of Tiflis’s brothers.” The policeman was bewildered: “What do you mean?” Nursi explained: “Three lights are beginning to be revealed one after the other in Asia and the world of Islam. While with you three layers of darkness will start to be peeled back, one after the other. The veil of despotism shall be rent; it will shrink back and I shall come and build my medrese here.”4 This only increased the policeman’s bewilderment. “I’m sorry for you,” he said. “I’m astonished that you should entertain such a hope.” “And I’m astonished at your not understanding!” replied Nursi. “Do you think it possible for this winter to continue? Every winter is followed by spring, and every night by day.” 83 C H A P T E R 4 The Future Shall Be Islam’s “But the Islamic world is all broken up and fragmented.” “They have gone to study. It is like this: India is an able son of Islam; it is studying in the high school of the British. Egypt is a clever son of Islam; it is taking lessons in the British school for civil servants. Caucasia and Turkestan are two valiant sons of Islam; they are training in the Russian war academy. And so on. You see, after these noble sons of Islam have received their diplomas each will lead a continent, and waving the banner of Islam, their just and mighty father, on the horizons of perfection, they will proclaim the mystery of pre-eternal wisdom inherent in mankind in the view of preeternal divine determining and in the face of obstinate fate.”5 This short anecdote gives the tenor of Nursi’s main message for the tribes and ulama of eastern Anatolia, and of his celebrated sermon in Damascus early the following year—namely, encouragement and hope for the future. Despite his disillusion with developments in Istanbul, Nursi was unwavering in his conviction that constitutionalism was the way to further the cause of Islam and preserve the empire by securing progress and unity. Indeed, he predicted that according to all the signs, Islam and Islamic—or, true—civilization would prevail in the future, and that a large segment of mankind would accept and join the religion of Islam. He said: “In the future when reason, science, and technology hold sway, that will surely be the time the Qur’a\n will gain ascendancy, which relies on rational proofs and makes the reason confirm its pronouncements.”6 While as a means of social mobilization constitutionalism and freedom constituted the remedy for the common people, Nursi had a whole set of proposals for the ulama, “the upper class” (havass) of Kurdish society, which aimed “to polish up Islam” and bring their thinking up to date. Moral renewal, hope, and unity were his main messages for the Arabs of Damascus, the third main group Nursi addressed on this trip. Among the Tribes of Eastern Anatolia On his return to Van, Nursi...

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