► (030) ◄

Our Dear, Loyal Brothers, Ziya and Abdülmuhsin!

Our Master says:

"Eşref Edip [^5] has been a companion of mine in serving belief for forty years; he now writes articles in Sebilürreşad and represents some of our acclaimed brothers who have now died, and is a true mujahid of Islam. He is a protector of the Risale-i Nur, and if I am to die, I find true consolation in Eşref Edip being among the Nurjus.

[^5]:Eşref Edip (1882-1971). The famous Islamist journalist and writer who was co-founder of the journal Sırat-ı Müstakîm following the Constitutional Revolution of July 1908, the name of which was changed in 1911 to Sebilürreşad. After it resumed publication in 1948 after 23 years, Eşref Edip published several articles about Bediuzzaman. He also published several books about him in the 1950s and 1960s. [Tr.]

"Nevertheless, since the Risale-i Nur and the Nurjus have nothing to do with politics, and the Risale-i Nur can be the tool of nothing apart from divine pleasure, those attached to it do not want to get involved in social and political movements as far as they can. Only, in so far as mujāhids like Sebilürreşad and Büyük Doğu [^6] try to defend the truths of belief against the attacks of the people of misguidance, we praise and applaud them with all our lives and spirits, and are friends and brothers to them; but not in respect of politics. For those who come to receive instruction in belief may not be considered in biased fashion. While receiving lessons, there is no difference between friend and foe. Political bias damages this; sincerity is harmed. For this reason, the Nurjus have endured unparalleled torments, yet have exploited the Risale-i Nur for nothing. They have never grasped the club of politics. It was imagined that because the Risale-i Nur had broken absolute disbelief and eliminated the anarchy underlying it and the absolute despotism above it, that it had some sort of connection with politics. Whereas the Risale-i Nur's interpreter has claimed in courts of law that he would not exchange a single matter of belief for rule over the whole world, and has proved it with the way he has lived for twenty-five years and with other indications.

[^6]:Büyük Doğu was a religious journal with literary and political leanings which started publication in 1943 and continued, with various closures, until 1978. [Tr.]

The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!

Your brothers,

Sâdık, İbrahim, Zübeyir ∗∗∗