9th International Graduate Risale-i Nur Studies Conference for English Speakers

The Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture held its 9th International Risale-i Nur Studies  Conference on July 2-6.  The programme was in English and was geared towards international graduate students who have been in the process of writing academic papers (from a variety of disciplines) that are relevant to Nursi studies. The conference series, which started with the opening speeches of Mehmet Fırıncı, the student of Bediuzzaman, İİKV Chief Executive Said Yüce, Dr. Elmira Akhmetova, Dr. Colin Turner and Dr.Nevzat Tarhan, the President of Üsküdar University continued with the presentations of the thesis studies of the Risale-i Nur by young academicians who came from Indonesia, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India.



          

Dr. Farid Alatas from Singapore, Prof. Colin Turner from England, Dr. Elmira Akhmetova from Malaysia, and Shumaila Majeed from Pakistan evaluated the attendees’ papers during the conference. In addition to the presentations of young academics, the types of knowledge and in which context the Risale-i Nur is included, the critical thinking and the points that academicians should pay attention to in Risale-i Nur studies were explained in detail by Turner, Alatas andAkhmetova during the conference.

Shumaila Majeed from Pakistan who made her doctoral dissertation on Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s social ideas said: “The Risale-i Nur is very different from our familiar commentaries. I stayed 6 months in Istanbul to learn about it. The sisters here were very helpful for me to understand the Risale-i Nur. It was like a spiritual awakening for me.” She also expressed a very impressive point: “We always learn about ihlas (sincerity). What is sincerity? How to be sincere? I have never seen an example of this until I came here and met with the students of Risale-i Nur. They are experiencing the practice of sincerity.”