A Report On A Risale-i Nur Programme In Indonesia

The academic committee from the Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture spent the third day of their Indonesia visit attending a symposium at the Darunnejah Medrese.

PROTOCOL OF COLLABORATION SIGNED BETWEEN THE IFSC AND DARUNNAJAH

The director of the medrese, Dr. Sofwan Manaf and IFSC Executive President Said Yüce gave opening speeches followed by talks from Prof. Dr. Alparslan Açıkgenç on Qur'anic cosmology, humanity and the universe, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kayacık on the Medrese Al-Zahra (Nursi's education system), Dr. Osman Yapar on fundamental principles of contemporary Qur'anic education, and Dr. H. Busthomi Ibrahim on Qur'an and Science. 

After the talks (which gathered great and keen interest), the director of Darunnajah Islam High School, Dr. Duna Izfanna signed a protocol of collaboration with our foundation in the area of future educational projects and joint seminars/symposia. 

The director of the school, Dr. Sofwan Manaf said in his speech that the number of essays making use of Nursi's Risale-i Nur treatises or drawing inspiration from it has been constantly rising. "Like a light of Bediuzzaman's mind that illuminates our way", was how he expressed the development.

In his opening speech, IFSC Executive President Said Yüce mentioned that the fundamental aim of Nursi's work was to make the meaning of the Qur'anic verses understandable and implementable in the lives of modern people. He also showed how Bediuzzaman Nursi effectively made an exegesis of six hundred and twenty verses from the Qur'an as well as referred to thousands of other verses throughout his work. The pivotal and core themes of the Risale-i Nur, he mentioned, are "The Resurrection", "Unity", "Prophethood" and "Justice". Yüce mentioned that in his earlier exegesis Nursi focussed more briefly on declaring, demonstrating and concisely explaining the truths of the Qur'an and Belief with strong arguments. "Nursi established a link and association between Revelation and the universe", explained Mr. Yüce. Stating also that "Said Nursi's method of exegesis allowed him to effectively communicate the Qur'ans message to the wider society. Yet, Nursi was not a person to allow himself to become obliged to follow the predominant paradigms of his century nor that of the expectations of his society."

THE QUR'ANIC COSMOLOGY OF MANKIND AND THE UNIVERSE

In his presentation on "Qur'anic cosmology: Man and the universe", Prof. Dr. Alparslan Açıkgenç stated that the frequent mentioning of the expression "Lord Of The Worlds (Rabbu'l Alemin)" in the Qur'an shows clearly the existence of many worlds in creation. Such an expression causes us to be reminded of our relationship with these many worlds. He went onto say that there were other similar phrases in the Qur'an that require much examination and contemplation, and cause people to think about the ontological reality of the Qur'an as well as its cosmological reality. Also it signifies an understanding of how such worlds can be relevant to human beings as well as indicating their ontological realities. Açıkgenç also mentioned aspects of Nursi's work from an anthropological perspective, explaining how such a perspective could be inferred from Nursi's work. Also, the idea of what constitutes "human nature" was discussed as well as how the Risale-i Nur reflected this in its language as well as his discussing how cosmology intertwined with these conceptions of humanity.

Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kayacık discussed Nursi's proposed university project, the "Medresetul Zahra" as one of the most prominent aims and efforts in Bediuzzaman's life. Prof. Kayacık described the essential characteristics, aims and methods of potential implementation of this proposed university. Nursi's plans for integrating religious sciences with the modern secular sciences as well as the incorporation of behavioural values from Islamic spirituality and sufism was also discussed. Such an education system, because of its multi-lingual and multi-disciplinary approach, yields a greater sense of brotherhood amongst muslims of differing societies and backgrounds. The establishment of such an institution at a level of global accessibility - can help alleviate much of the conflict, misunderstanding and tensions between muslims.

THE RISALE TEACHES US HOW TO CONTEMPLATE ON GOD'S CREATION

In his talk, Dr. Osman Yapar (representing the IFSC) talked about the increasing awareness of modern conditions that impact the education of the Qur'an and Islam in our times. Bediuzzaman exerted great effort to rescue people from the problems of ignorance and heedlessness through adopting certain techniques in his teachings that would reach the people of his age. Dr. Osman explained how Nursi incorporated the concepts of "mana-yi harfi" and "mana-yi ismi" as a method of explaining the relationship between the human being, God and creation. For instance, the former concept means "other-indicative" and the latter means "self-referential". If we are only looking at things in and of themselves and claiming that they are not contingent then we are seeing it in a secularistic and materialistic mindset. However, if we see them as "other-indicative" then we are seeing them as windows to the names of God. Dr. Osman also described how Nursi used the relationship between "actor and agent" as well as "art and artist" as a tool of expounding the truths of the Qur'an and the universe. Human beings are not just based on rational intellect, but have many faculties including the imagination and the spiritual senses. This allows us to interpret the creation in a holistic and truthful fashion and to distinguish ourselves from being mere animals. Our current modern education systems do not allow for the proper use of the intellect and other faculties in examining and encountering the created world.

The representatives of the Darunnajah institute and other institutions present talked about the way in which the Qur'an contains all types of sciences and knowledge within it. Everything of significance in creation is given value in the Qur'an (even the most mundane everyday facts) and mankind can make use of this, they said. They mentioned that this world has wrongly been understood within the framework of "nature" and "cause and effect" and that instead it is more Qur'anic to see things as following the command and law of Allah (i.e. "Sunnet Allah". This is the path to success.