Chapter Nine - The Supremacy of the Qur' an and Birth of the New Said

CHAPTER NINE

The Supremacy of the Qur'an and

Birth of the New Said

#### "The Strongest Voice will be Islam's

"The Strongest Voice will be Islam's"

In the September of 1919 Bediuzzaman had a "true dream" or sort of vision, which he subsequently recorded and included in Sünûhat. [^316] He tells us there that he was at the time greatly distressed at the course of events and was "searching for a light in the dense darkness." In his dream, he was summoned by "a great assembly" made up of representatives of the leading figures of Islam from each century and called upon to give an account of the present state of Islam. Contrarily to what might be expected, Bediuzzaman's reply pointed out positive aspects of the defeat, including the strengthening of Islamic brotherhood and the Ottomans being saved from being carried away to a greater extent on "the tyrannical current" of capitalism. Then, in order to show why Islam rejects modern Western civilization, which was epitomised by the ugly and exploitative capitalism and aggressive imperialism of the time, he made a comparison of the principles on which Western civilization and Islamic civilization are based and their results. This extremely interesting and original exposition was greeted with approval by the Assembly in the dream, and one of the deputies declared:

[^316]:Nursi, Sünûhat, 41-47.

"Yes, be hopeful! The loudest and strongest voice in the coming upheavals and changes will be that of Islam!"

The same comparison of Western and Islamic civilizations appears in different contexts in a number of Bediuzzaman's works of the period. From these and from other references to the same subject, we see in greater detail his views on the subject, and also the reasons for the optimism and hope for the future engendered by the dream.