century, due to the struggle between capital and labour, has given rise to disaster and disorder on a vast scale. The role of zakat and the prohibition on interest in rectifying this situation is this:

The most important factor in maintaining the order of society as a whole is not allowing an unbridgeable gulf to develop between the various classes. The upper classes and the rich should not become so far removed from the lower classes and the poor that the lines of communication are broken, as happened in European civilization. "Despite all its societies for good works, all its establishments for the teaching of ethics, all its severe discipline and regulations", it could neither reconcile those two classes, nor heal the two wounds in human life caused by the two phrases above. However, through making the payment of zakat obligatory and prohibiting interest, Islam establishes relations between rich and poor, and forges links of respect and sympathy between them. By not allowing the classes to draw far apart, it maintains the order and balance of society. It "uproots" the two phrases and heals the wounds they have caused in mankind. [^325]

[^325]:Nursi, İşârâtü'l-İ'caz (Turk. tr.), 47-9, (Eng. tr.: Signs of Miraculousness, 53); Sözler, 380, (Eng. tr.: Words, 421-2).

How is it then that while Islam comprises true civilization, it was materially defeated by Western civilization? In his dream, Bediuzzaman was questioned concerning this. He was asked by one of the deputies in the Assembly: "With which of your actions did you issue a fatwa to Divine Determining so that it ordered this disaster for you?" He replied that it was their neglect of three of the 'pillars of Islam' — the prescribed prayers, fasting in Ramadan, and payment of zakat that had brought it upon them. [^326] And he afterwards added a note to this, including neglect of the Hajj.

[^326]:Nursi, Sünûhat, 47-8; Sözler, 667 (Eng. tr.: Words, 748).

#### The Absolute Sovereignty of the Qur'an

The Absolute Sovereignty of the Qur'an

Many reasons have been touched on in describing Bediuzzaman's thought and works up to here for the decline of the Islamic world and the Ottomans in particular. Broadly speaking they can be classed under two main headings. One is despotism and the other is religion, or rather the failure to adhere to its principles in various areas. The two are interconnected. Despotism, together with its numerous, far-reaching, and negative consequences, and the solutions for them in the form of Constitutionalism and Freedom within the sphere of the Shari'a worked for with such dedication by Bediuzzaman, we have discussed in some detail, With regard to religion, many areas of decline may be included under this heading, and these