#### Regenerator of Religion

Regenerator of Religion

In connection with its unparalleled role in strengthening and revitalizing belief in this century of severe attacks on religion, Bediuzzaman and the Risale-i Nur came to be recognized by many as fulfilling the requirements of Regenerator of Religion, promised by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the well-known Hadith: "At the start of each century Almighty God will send someone to this community [umma] to renew its religion." [^165] In addition to Bediuzzaman's students recognizing the Risale-i Nur as such, many established 'ulema and religious scholars also did not hesitate to speak out in its defence, recommending it in fulsome terms. Three may be mentioned. The first and most important was one of the highest of the Istanbul 'ulema and former head of the office for issuing fatwas. Fatwa Emini, Ali Rıza Efendi. He said after studying The Supreme Sign and the Twenty-Fifth Word on the Miraculousness of the Qur'an, and other parts of the Risale-i Nur:

[^165]:For example, in al-Hakim's Mustadrak, the Kitab al-Sunan of Abu Da'ud, and Bayhaqi's Shu'ab al-Iman, quoted in Nursi, Sikke-i Tasdik-i Gaybî, 14.

Bediuzzaman has performed the greatest service to the religion of Islam at this time. His works are absolutely correct, and no one else sacrificed themselves to this extent at this time, that is, given up the world and produced such a work. He is altogether worthy of congratulation. The Risale-i Nur is the Regenerator of Religion; may Almighty God grant him every success and blessing. [^166]

[^166]:Nursi, Kastamonu Lahikası, 143.

Another was Haji Hafız Hasan Sarıkaya. Known as 'the Golden Voiced Hafız', he had led the morning prayers for Sultan Abdulhamid II in Yıldız Palace before the Sultan's dethronement, and had known Bediuzzaman at that time. After the founding of the Republic and closure of the madrasahs he had persisted in teaching religion and the Qur'an, and had raised many hundreds of students. He told his son:

Bediuzzaman is the Imam and Renewer of this century. ... He is not merely a scholar. Every century has its Renewer, and he is the Renewer of this century. ... [^167]

[^167]:Haji Hasan Sarıkaya, in Son Şahitler, iv, 357-8.

A third example is the Mufti of Kahramanmaraş Hafız Ali Efendi. He told Mustafa Ramazanoğlu, one of Bediuzzaman's students, in the 1950's:

Such a work has not appeared for two hundred years; and it is not clear