hamid. He states that there are three areas of literature. These are concerned with love and beauty, heroism and valour, and thirdly, the depiction of reality. As regards European literature, he says that in the first sort it does not know the meaning of true love, and merely excites the carnal appetites — though it purports to be high-minded and condemn such things as unfitting for man, while in the second, it does not favour right and justice, but exalts the concept of force.
In the depiction of reality, Bediuzzaman describes the Western view in greater detail. He points out that since European literature regards the universe not as Divine art but from the point of view of nature, it prompts materialism and the worship of nature. And the novel, whether in book form, or as theatre or cinema, is the only remedy it has been able to find for the distress of the spirit arising from this misguidance. He goes on to say that both produce feelings of sadness, but while the sadness produced by the Qur'an is of a lofty and elevated nature, that caused by European literature offers no hope. This again springs from the view of existence it expresses. The world is a wild and ownerless place; what inspires the sorrow is "deaf nature" and "blind force". It is the pathetic woe of an orphan, of the lack of friends, rather than their absence. And while both give pleasure and stir the emotions, where the Qur'an stirs the spirit and moves the higher emotions, European literature stimulates man's animal appetites and affords pleasure to his lower nature only. [^324]
[^324]:Nursi, Sözler, 686-8 (Eng. tr.: Words, 775); see also, Sözler, 382 (Words, 423-4).
The second aspect to be considered here is of a socio-economic nature. It concerns the injustice inherent in Western civilization and the remedy for its grievous consequences provided by Islam.
Bediuzzaman summarizes the root cause of the great social upheavals man has suffered, particularly this century, in two phrases. One is: "So long as I'm full, what is it to me if others die of hunger." And the other: "You struggle and labour so that I can live in ease and comfort." And he demonstrates that if they are to be eradicated, it will be through applying the Qur'anic injunction of almsgiving and prohibition on usury and interest. His argument is as follows:
By urging the wealthy classes to act in a cruel, oppressive, and arrogant manner towards the poor, the first phrase has been the cause of such sedition and strife that it has come close to overturning humanity. And the second phrase, by driving the poor to harbour hatred and envy towards the rich, has for several centuries destroyed public order and peace, and this