Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture
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In His Name, be He glorified!

Peace be upon you, and God's mercy and blessings!

Esteemed Ahmed Hamdi Efendi!

I am describing to you a spiritual experience I had: Many years ago, because yourself and the hojas in your profession favoured dispensations and gave up firm adherence to the Shari'a, your ideas were not congruent with my ideas. I used to be angry with them and with you, so did not send you the Risale-i Nur directly. But three or four years ago, I felt a critical, nagging sorrow in my heart, and the following was imparted to me:

"In accordance with the principle, 'the lesser of two evils,' some of your old medrese friends like Ahmed Hamdi performed their scholarly duties as far as they could to preserve sacred matters, so their reducing the danger fourfold will be atonement for the deficiencies and errors they were obliged to make." I received a severe admonishment. Ever since then, I began to look on you and those like you as my old medrese brothers and fellow-students. Because of this, when I reckoned this severe illness resulting from poison would lead to my death, I had the idea that you would a true protector and defender of the Risale-i Nur in my place, and three years ago I intended to send you a complete and perfect set. Now, although ill, I have partially corrected for you a set written out ten or fifteen years ago by three leading Nur students. It is not perfect or complete, but has almost all the parts. Those three students' pens are as valuable as ten sets. The price for the set is three things:

The First is to duplicate twenty or thirty sets, if possible in the old letters, and if not, in the new letters, on condition that one of my close friends is present to help with the corrections, They then should be given to the branches of the Directorate of Religious Affairs throughout the country, for it is the Directorate's duty to publish such works in the face of the influx of irreligious currents from abroad.

The Second: Seeing that the Risale-i Nur is a product of the medrese, and you are both the pillars, and the heads, and the students of the medreses, the Risale-i Nur is truly yours. For now, you may leave out any treatise you deem inappropriate.

The Third: Our Qur'an which shows the coincidences (tevâfuklu) should be printed photographically if possible so that the flashes of miraculousness in the coincidences may be clearly visible. The Turkish definition at the beginning should not be included, but printed separately as a pamphlet, either in Turkish, or translated into good Arabic. ∗∗∗

4–6 October 2026 · Istanbul

13th International Bediuzzaman Symposium

Visit the symposium website for the programme, papers and registration.