supported by the testimony of the whole universe; to recognize the messengers He has sent and the commands He has promulgated; and to make sincere repentance and feel genuine regret for every sin and act of disobedience. Conversely, to commit every kind of sin and then never to seek pardon for it or concern oneself with it, is a sure sign of the absence of any element of belief.

Thus my spritual offspring, an important event has become the occasion for a brief exposition of a long and complex matter. I now look on you as important students of the Risale-i Nur. It is most fortunate that Mustafa Oruç so quickly found you, to work according to his system in his spirit and with his seriousness. Now there are ten Mustafas,

S a i d   N u r s i ∗∗∗

► (152) ◄

My Dear, Esteemed Brother!

I read your lengthy treatise-like, comprehensive, precisely researched and eager letter with the greatest interest. In the first place I have to tell you that Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) is the Risale-i Nur's master, and with his symbolic allusions in his ode al-Jaljalutiya shows much concern for the Risale-i Nur and is my particular master in the truths of belief. In accordance with the verse, "Say: I ask no recompense of you save love of close kin" (Q 42:23), love of the Prophet's (UWBP) family is a fundamental principle of the Risale-i Nur and our way, so Wahhabism should not be espoused in any way by any true Nur student. Since at the present time atheists and the people of misguidance profit from differences and confuse the believers, and corrupting the marks of Islam, form powerful currents opposed to the Qur'an and belief, the door of disputed minor questions should not be opened in the face of this awesome enemy.

Moreover, the Sunnis stated that there is no need to vilify the dead, for they have departed for their place of punishment in the hereafter, and love of the Prophet's (UWBP) family does not necessitate publicizing their faults harmfully and unnecessarily; they opposed discussion of the dissension that occurred at the time of the Companions. The Sunnis said that since at the Incident of the Camel, Zubayr, Talha, and 'A'isha al-Siddiqa (May God be pleased with them) of the ten promised paradise were present, the war resulted from an independent ruling (ijtihād), so even if Imam 'Ali was right and the other side was wrong, it would be forgiven.