Between the 28th and the 29th of January, our Foundation held the "2nd International Bangladesh Nursi Conference" which was also co-organised with Kushtia Islamic University.
The subheading and also the focus of the conference was titled as "Global Peace And Harmony from the Risale-i Nur Perspective" with over 1,200 people attending the opening ceremony along with scholars both from Bangladesh and Turkey as well as from the Middle East.
In his speech to the attendees of the opening ceremony, Prof. Dr. Alparslan Açıkgenç also spoke of how Bediuzzaman Said Nursi described the treatment for the great darkness of ignorance that often afflicts mankind. Stating that "For Nursi, the main problems of the muslim world are ignorance, poverty and conflict and the required way to solve and treat such problems is by educating our youth with religious studies and all the other sciences and humanities' subjects in a unique and harmonious way".
Bangladesh University Grants Commision President, Prof. Abdul Mannan reiterated the same point by emphasising that the central problem of humanity is ignorance and that the most needed thing to be propagated for the benefit of humanity, is knowledge. He also pointed out that Nursi's exposition of Qur'anic Wisdom contrasts greatly with and opposes the currents of materialist philosophy. In addition, the Qur'an establishes righteousness rather than power and dominance and mutual assistance instead of mutual conflict.
Rector of Kushtia Islamic University, Prof. Dr. M.d. Harun-ur Rashid Askari remarked that the conference would help deepen the level of intellectual engagement in Nursi studies as well as itself promote and contribute towards further harmony and peace for the muslim world as well as in Bangladesh.
He also stated that the thing that attracted him the most about Nursi is that he was a liberator for the world of Islam. Nursi shows that both the material and human sciences and the sciences of Islam can form a unity that forges the main path towards the attainment and preservation of humanity. Assistant Rector Prof. Dr. M. Shahinor Rahman added that Nursi both believed in and emulated the principles of true fraternity and brotherhood and it was such principles that contribute towards harmony in our world.
The two-day conference was held in both Arabic and English in separate conference halls for the attendance of academicians and observers. In the first session, Prof. Dr. Alparslan Açıkgenç gave a talk in English titled "Ways Of Knowledge And Thought in the Risale-i Nur and Positive Action". In the afternoon, Ihsan Kasim Salihi gave a talk in Arabic titled "Said Nursi's Efforts For The Cause of Islamic Unity". Overall, the speakers at the conference mostly focussed on the topic of philosophy of education and education reform, though other topics included the Qur'an and its miracles, Dawah, poverty elimination and brotherhood.
Following the closing of the conference, the Bangladesh Directorate Of Religious Affairs Shamim Mohammed Efdal gave the good news that the entire Risale-i Nur Collection will be published in the Bengali language. Stating that "Said Nursi is a great luminary of Islam in the same way as Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi...And if a muslim, who relies on the Risale-i Nur and emphasises its importance, becomes tainted - then he will fall from a great height into the very heart and world of corruption."
Mentioning the importance of educational reform in the Risale-i Nur he stated: "Just as Said Nursi required that Arabic be given equal pride of place alongside Turkish in the religious education of our youth, so too should the Bengali language be given the same status alongside Arabic in our case".
With respect to the publication of the Risale-i Nur in the Bengali language, Mr Afzal discussed the steps that were being taken to ensure that the process got underway and with appropriate follow-up and monitoring.
The esteemed individual involved in the translation work from Turkish to Bengali was actually visited, prior to the start of the conference, by our Turkish scholars from the IFSC. Retired Brigadier General Tebarek Beyi has lived in Bangladesh for some years though he was previously a military attache to Ankara in the 1990's. In those previous years he started to translate the Treatises on Sincerity and Brotherhood into Bengali and he shared the original translations with us. Such translations were not well accepted back in the 1990's and Brigadier Tebarek Beyi lived under quite difficult conditions and circumstances. The keen interest and desire of the Bangladesh government to be involved in printing and propagating the Risale-i Nur is a sign of a positive and encouraging turn of events.
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