10th International Graduate Conference on Risale-i Nur Studies

In the opening program of the conference, the President of the IFSC Board of Trustees and personal student of Said Nursi, Mehmed Nuri Güleç, the Arabic translator of Risale-i Nur, İhsan Kasım Salihi, the President of the IFSC Executive Board Said Yüce, Prof. Dr. Dr. Ammar Cidal, and Dr. Mehmet Halil were among the prominent attendees. In addition there were a large number of listeners attended by nearly 30 academics from Turkey and participants from over 10 countries.

Mehmed Nuri Güleç was the first speaker in the program which started with the recitation of the Qur'an. He began his speech by welcoming the guests and also mentioning that after 70 years he had retained two important lessons that he had taken directly from Said Nursi. Mr Güleç said: "One is to read the universe book and the other is to act positively." Mehmed Nuri Güleç, addressing the international attendees at the event concluded by wishing for the wide propagation of the principles of the Risale throughout the globe.  "I thank you all for contributing towards sharing with the whole of humanity, such a valuable blessed table of bounty like the Risale-i Nur" he said.
 

In his opening speech, IFSC Executive President Said Yüce stated that the conference would provide an opportunity to listen to academic studies that aimed to follow the spirit of Said Nursi's perspective through their provision of remedies and solutions for the material and spiritual trials of this century. Mr Yüce also said that "On the one hand, Bediuzzaman saw that behind the apparent radiance of Western civilization lies an impotency and weakness. On the other hand, he dismissed the idea that the world was inherently dangerous for the existence of muslims and that instead, muslims have strived through history and have been tasked with creating a civilization based on compassion and charity". He went onto say that the Foundation has strived towards this aim through organizing workshops, seminars and conferences based on the source of the Qur'an and its thematic expounder, the Risale-i Nur.

 

In his opening speech, International Co-ordinator of the IFSC, Dr. Nafi Yalçın gave a summary to the attendees about the core activities of the Foundation - namely that of its conducting scientific, social, cultural and academic activities internationally as well as domestically:

"The primary aim is to educate and help develop, for the benefit of humanity, individuals who act for the sake of Allah rather than for worldly aims and purposes. Our various activities aim to utilise the light of the Qur'an towards resolving problems of humanity - with expert co-operation across nations, languages and cultures. Through the development of this one purpose, guided by the principles of the Risale-i Nur, we aim to foster the adoption of a common language.
Among other activities, the Foundation invites master and doctorate students from overseas institutions as a way of promoting Risale-i Nur's concepts and ideas in the academic world. Today is our tenth such graduate conference, here in Istanbul. "

Dr. Ammar Cidal from Algeria stated that "Studies of the Risale-i Nur should not merely be for worldly benefit, but rather their fundamental aim should be for strengthening personal faith and fortifying the position of the individual in the HereAfter. It should be an academic study motivationally geared towards obtaining the pleasure of the Almighty".
 

After the opening ceremony of the conference, the proceedings continued in Arabic and English in two separate rooms respectively.

In the English parallel session, Prof. Dr. Elmira Akhmetova from the History and Civilization Department at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) gave a presentation on Social Ills And Solutions From The Risale-i Nur. 

In the afternoon session, Fertina Santi, Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology, Politics and Ijtihad of Sciences Po Aix Institute in France, made her presentation titled "Representation of Muslim Women in French Ijtihad".

In the next session, Hossein Turner, PhD student in Civilization Studies at Ibn Haldun University and IFSC contributor, gave a presentation on "Critical Thinking in the Context of Risale-i Nur". Mr Turner summarised principles of analysis of author bias, context, tone, methods of evaluating evidence and arguments, oversimplification, and so on. It has been an unfortunate fact that for several years, papers presented to IFSC conferences have often lacked several features of academic critical thinking and evaluation. 

After each presentation, lively and sometimes heated discussions and discussions took place in the Q&A sessions.
The first session of the Arabic section of the International Postgraduate Conference on Risale-i Nur Studies began with the master thesis of Yasin İbrahim Muhammed from Uşak University on "The Nature, Duties and Fate of Man in theology of Kalam; The Case of Risale-i Nur".

In the Second Session, Elveshun Abdunnur, who prepared a doctorate at the University of Abu'l Kasim Sa'dallah from Algeria, continued with the presentation of his thesis titled "Scientific Method in Bediuzzaman Said Nursi". Following the presentation of the thesis, in the evaluation chapter, the teachers made recommendations to the researcher to correct any shortcomings or erroneous aspects of his thesis.
 

In the third session, PHD student Cemal Zevari Ahmed from Algeria Vadi University gave a presentation of his comparative doctoral dissertation titled "The effects of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi and Muhammad Al-Bashir al-Ibrahim's Reform Experience in the Awakening of the Islamic World".

The program will continue until the 1st of September.