those of a number of his students, together with letters to his students. The twenty months Bediuzzaman was held in Afyon Prison, from January 1948 to October 1949, were the harshest he suffered, yet despite his age, illnesses, and the appalling conditions, he wrote a treatise called The Shining Proof for his fellow-prisoners and students which became the Fifteenth and final Ray. In the manner of the Risale-i Nur, it contains brilliant proofs of divine unity and other important points of belief, which despite their profundity and extensiveness are set out and explained in a way readily understandable by everyone. Another aspect of the Fifteenth Ray is that many of the truths expounded are related to the obligatory five daily prayers of Islam, an approach which affords an added breadth and dimension to worship, and no doubt was intended as encouragement to his fellow-prisoners, many of whom, due to the teachings of Bediuzzaman and the fine example of himself and his students, reformed and started to perform the prayers regularly.

The very fact that every court case brought against Bediuzzaman and his students the prosecution put forward the same charges, despite previous acquittals, proved on the one hand their innocence, and on the other the determination of the authorities to convict them whatever happened. As Bediuzzaman pointed out in his defence in Afyon Court: "Three courts and three committees of experts have scrutinized closely over two years my books and letters of twenty years, and both we have been acquitted and the books and letters been returned.'

For the most part Bediuzzaman's defence was a defence of the Risale-i Nur and its way, the aim of which was purely to save and strengthen religious belief, and contravened no law. Such service, which was successfully combatting irreligion, cannot be made the tool of any political current or movement. In fact, he was always at pains to point out that it was a small minority of atheists who deceived the government and judiciary, making them move against himself and the Risale-i Nur because they were successfully foiling their covert plans to "establish absolute unbelief by making politics the tool of irreligion."

In the face of this destructive movement, whose aim was to bring about a state of anarchy, Bediuzzaman strove to impress on the courts the true nature of the case, and the overwhelming importance for the country of the Risale-i Nur and its service, for the maintenance of public order and strengthening the bonds of society. This had been established by its positive results everywhere it had spread.

Yes, as readers may see from the remaining Rays in this book, that is, the Second to the Seventh, the Ninth, the Eleventh, and the Fifteenth Rays. the Risale-i Nur consists only of brilliant explanations and proofs of the