work, Münâzarat, Bediuzzaman stated that they should be tri-lingual, with Arabic being "compulsory", Kurdish "permissible", and Turkish "necessary". [^95] In the same work, he also stated that Kurdish scholars who were trusted by Turk and Kurd should be selected as teachers, as well as those who knew the local languages, and that it was necessary to take into account the capacity and cultural level of the community they were to serve. Also these medreses should be on an equal footing with the official secular schools, and like them, their examinations should be recognized. The basis of the system Bediuzzaman was proposing, however, was the combined teaching of the religious and modern sciences.

[^95]:Nursi, Münâzarat, 71.

In the course of time, the medrese syllabi had become narrow and sterile, with modern developments in science being rejected altogether. So that at the beginning of the twentieth century, the medreses were producing 'ulema who believed, together with the Europeans, that there was a clash and contradiction between certain "externals" of Islam and certain matters of science — matters as basic as the Earth being round. This false idea had caused feelings of hopelessness and despair, and had shut the door of progress and civilization. "Whereas", pointed out Bediuzzaman, "Islam is the master and guide of the sciences, and the chief and father of all true knowledge." [^96]

[^96]:Nursi, Muhâkemat, 8.

On a human level, Bediuzzaman saw religion as representing the heart and conscience, and science, the reason; both were necessary for true progress to be attained. He explained it as follows:

The religious sciences are the light of the conscience, and the modern sciences are the light of the reason. The truth becomes manifest through the combining of the two. The students' endeavour will take flight on these two wings. When they are separated it gives rise to bigotry in the one, and wiles and scepticism in the other. [^97]

[^97]:Nursi, Münâzarat, 72.

On a wider scale, the Medresetü'z-Zehra would unite the three traditions in the educational system by representing "the most superior mekteb by the reason, the very best medrese by the heart, and the most sacred zawiya by the conscience." [^98] As a result of its unique value for the Islamic world, it would in time gain financial independence by reason of the donations and pious bequests it would receive.

[^98]:ibid, 74.

The benefits of such a system would be manifold: just as it would