The phrases of The Old Said, The New Said, and The Third Said, used for the life periods of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, have great importance in understanding Risale-i Nur service and determination of the concept map. These phrases, used by Said Nursi himself as appellations in different periods, point out his intrinsic conditions in these periods, and individual, social and political changes, and also his methodological differences that he designated about these changes, rather than certain periods of time.

It is important to put forward whether there is any interruption, conflict or contradiction among these three periods for the continuity of Risale-i Nur service. This condition makes it necessary to examine Said Nursi’s life periods in the light of historical and social facts.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s life up to 1923 is named The Old Said. It is noteworthy that the contents of the works written in this period are about social and political matters. It can be seen that Nursi, in these works, interprets the events happening in the wavering ages of the empire from the Qur’anic point of view, and, from this point of view, he reveals Qur’anic principles which can be adapted to all ages.

Between 1923 and 1949 is what Said Nursi called The New Said. This period is the one in which he focused on the works about the truths of faith against the understanding and oppression that established the Republic on positivist values. In this period, Risale-i Nur collection was written in spite of all the constraints, threats and imprisonments.

The period starting with Said Nursi’s release from Afyon Prison on September of 1949 is The Third Said. What the main factors in differentiating this period from The Old Said and The New Said periods are, what sort of road map Bediuzzaman established in the service of faith, on what level he continued his relation with the institution of politics, what kind of measures he brought in the relations with religion, politics and state, what kind of attitude he developed against the stereotypes and oppressions of the official ideology, how he handled the fact of congregation (jamaah), on what kind of social principles he relied in his actions in general, are important in respect of showing which methodology Risale-i Nur services will follow. That is because, in a period that we can mention a school and a philosophy of Bediuzzaman in a broader sense now, the arguments he developed in social and political fields and the principles he put forward shape the way of Risale-i Nur service even after his death. In this context, the questions like what principles Bediuzzaman built his style of service on in each one of three periods, and in what ways it differentiates from other styles and schools of service should be answered. It is important to put forward these principles, considering Bediuzzaman’s life style and the contents of the works in these periods, to be able to convey the main principles of Risale-i Nur school and disposition to our time.

As Kopru, we designated the subject of dossier of 112 th issue as “The Third Said”. We scrutinised the subject in the light of the terms like The Old Said, The New Said, The Third Said, constitutional monarchy, republic, democracy, liberty, justice, religion, politics, state, Democratic Party, unity of Islam, political Islam, the least bad of the evil things, school, disposition, service, loyalty, Mahdi, faith, life, Sharia, congregation (jamaah), followers of Said Nursi (Nurculuk), positive action, official ideology, and materialism.

We also tried to find answers to the following questions: What are the main reasons and events behind why Bediuzzaman Said Nursi divided his own life into certain periods? What are the main characteristics which differ The Third Said period from the The Old Said and The New Said periods? What are the characteristics of The Third Said period in relation to the publishing of Risale-i Nur and the service of Risale-i Nur? What is the route of Risale-i Nur service after 1950? What is the importance of following this route today? What is the framework of the meaning that Said Nursi attributed to the concept of congregation (jamaah)? What are the principles that the concept of congregation is based on? What are the characteristics of the contents of Bediuzzaman’s letters in this period? What is the outline of the concept of “positive action” that he emphasised in his last letter? Is it possible to relate the duties of Mahdi, as Bediuzzaman described, in the divisions of “Faith”, “Life” and “Sharia” to these three periods? What kind of political and social route did Bediuzzaman follow in The Third Said period? From this point of view, what are the noticeable characteristics of the period and what are the criteria that Nursi defined? What kind of relationship is there between Democratic Party and Bediuzzaman? What are the main factors behind the reasons why Bediuzzaman supported Democratic Party? What are the main reasons why Bediuzzaman addressed Adnan Menderes as “Hero of Islam”?

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ABSTRACTS OF THE ARTİCLES 

Three Life Periods of Bediuzzaman

Selim SÖNMEZ

Bediuzzaman himself distinctively named different eras of his own life. The changes in the conditions of the time, as well as the changes in Said Nursi’s subjective realm were effective in the formation of these periods. In this context, it is possible to explain with two parameters why he named certain parts of his life with different names. One of these parameters is about the changes seen in the milieu. The attitude of the state towards the people, in the period of transition from an empire to a national state, eventually effected the formation of the behaviours of the individuals. The second parameter is about the changes in Bediuzzaman’s subjective realm connected with his experiences of life. In this study, the periods of life of Bediuzzaman are analysed considering these two parameters.

Key Words: The Old Said, The New Said, The Third Said, Glory of Islam, religion, politics, Service

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Contents and Principles of Risale-i Nur Service according to the Works in The Third Said Period of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

Asst. Assoc. Dr. Yakup ASLAN/Harran University

In this article, the principles of service, as the method, in Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s The Third Said period are analysed, by surveying the works of this period like the part after Afyon imprisonment in “Bediuzzaman Said Nursi” (Tarihce-i Hayat), and the second part of “The Supplement of Emirdag” (Emirdag Lahikasi) which was published after Afyon imprisonment, Fifteenth Ray and “A Key to the World of Light”.

Key Words: Risale-i Nur Service, The Third Said, politics, positive action, congregations, Democratic Party

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Three Periods Three Appellations

İbrahim KAYGUSUZ

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, in his own choice, used the appellations of The Old Said, The New Said, and The Third Said in different periods of his life. Nursi experienced different states of heart and soul in each one of these periods. Bediuzzaman used the three appellations for the three periods of his life with a divine guidance, rather than a volitional choice. The changes in the world, especially in the Islamic world, were the driving forces for the changes in him. The Old Said, The New Said and The Third Said, as the reflections of the attitudes that Bediuzzaman assumed on those changes, can be seen as the milestones in his journey of restoration and construction of the civilisation of Qur’an. In this study, the three periods in the life of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi are analysed.

Key Words: The Old Said, The New Said, The Third Said, politics, Zubeyir Gunduzalp

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Bediuzzaman and the Art of Ruling the State

Prof. Dr. Ahmet BATTAL

In this article, Bediuzzaman’s view of politics and of institution of politics and his relations to this institution are dealt with, accompanied by the questions like “What were the ways and levels of the relations of Bediuzzaman and of his followers to the concept and the institution of politics? How should it be like from now on?” Therefore, firstly, some basic information about the politics and the art of ruling is conveyed, and then Bediuzzaman’s three periods of life are examined in this context.

Key Words: Art of ruling, politics, state, The Old Said period, The New Said period, The Third Said period, counselling (mashwarah)

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The Third Said and Politics with “Indicative Meaning” (Mana-yi Harfi)

Dr. Hakan YALMAN

Throughout the history, it can be seen that there have been close connections between the individuals, who played role in the formation of the collective personality of humanity affecting the societies, and the time period and the age they lived. Therefore, the changes in the leader personalities and the time they were in and the events happened in those ages as well as the changes in the world of thought and behaviour of the leader personality should be examined within this context. If the periods in the life of Bediuzzaman, who is the most important personality of our era and the standard-bearer of the path of the prophethood, is examined in this way, a better understanding will be achieved. In this way, the debates whether Bediuzzaman changed his attitudes according to the conditions and acted according to the conjunctures will be conducted on the safe grounds with this point of view. In this article, Bediuzzaman’s life periods are analysed and his understanding of politics are scrutinised with this point of view.

Key Words: Personality, “Indicative Meaning” (Mana-yi harfi), “Nominal Meaning” (Mana-yi ismi), politics, The Third Said

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The Difference of The Old Said and The New Said in the Appraisal of the Passing on “The Earth is on the Bull and the Fish”

Prof. Dr. Ali BAKKAL/Harran University

In consideration of the periods, although the most important changes in Bediuzzaman are related to subjects about politics and religious service, it can be seen that there are some differences in the approaches of the appraisal of dogmas as well. As a matter of fact, Bediuzzaman did not appraise the passing on “The earth is on the Bull and the Fish” as genuine hadith in The Old Said period, whereas, he appraised the same hadith as genuine. In this study, the difference of appraisal of the passing on “The earth is on the Bull and the Fish” in The Old Said and The New Said periods are exposed with its reasons.

Key Words: “Bull-Fish” hadith, passing on, genuine hadith, ahad hadith, Isra’iliyat

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Why Menderes is a “Hero of Islam”?

Mehmet Abidin KARTAL

It is matter of curiosity why Bediuzzaman called Menderes “Hero of Islam”. To understand the answer of this question better, it is necessary to analyse the decisions and practices preceding and during the period of Menderes. The differences in the approaches towards religion and the practices of secularism between these two the periods will clarify the subject. In this article, with comparisons, the reasons why Menderes was called “Hero of Islam” are examined.

Key Words: “Hero of Islam”, Menderes, Democratic Party, secularism, call to prayer

Source: This article is the editorial writing of the akademic magazine Köprü/Autumn 2010